The detailed palaeoecology of a mid‐Wisconsinan interstadial (ca. 32 000 14C a BP) vegetation surface from interior Alaska

We present a multi‐proxy reconstruction from a well‐preserved vegetation surface (ca. 32 000 ¹⁴C a BP) from the Fox Permafrost tunnel near Fairbanks, Alaska. A thick litter layer of plant material on the vegetation surface is consistent with the vegetation lacking evidence of disturbance. Plant macrofossils and graminoid cuticle analysis show the presence of a graminoid assemblage consistent with phytolith data. The pollen data indicate that trees were not local to the site and that Artemisia sp. was present in the region. The insect and bryophyte reconstructions are consistent with the vascular plant reconstruction, indicating the site was at least periodically wet. δ¹³C values from the graminoids present show a large range encompassing both the wet and dry range displayed by modern graminoids in Alaska. Sequential δ¹³C analyses conducted along the length of leaves attached to the vegetation surface indicate a seasonal shift towards relatively higher water use efficiency. The lower water use efficiency earlier in the growing season may have stemmed from the use of winter season meltwater by plants at the site – a scenario consistent with the site's cryostratigraphy. Our multi‐proxy reconstruction contributes to the limited palaeoecological data available for graminoid‐dominated vegetation present in Eastern Beringia and particularly the interior of Alaska during the mid‐Wisconsinan interstadial. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The late Pleistocene environment of the Eastern West Beringia based on the principal section at the Main River,Chukotka

Chukotka is a key region for understanding both Quaternary environmental history and transcontinental migrations of flora and fauna during the Pleistocene as it lies at the far eastern edge of Asia bordering the Bering Sea. The now submerged land bridge is the least understood region of Beringia yet the most critical to understanding migrations between the Old and New Worlds. The insect fauna of the Main River Ledovy Obryv (Ice Bluff) section, which is late Pleistocene in age (MIS 3-2), is markedly different from coeval faunas of areas further to the west, as it is characterized by very few thermophilous steppe elements. From the fauna we reconstruct a steppe-tundra environment and relatively cold conditions; the reconstructed environment was moister than that of typical steppe-tundra described from further west. The data from this locality, if typical of the Chukotka Peninsula as a whole, may indicate that a barrier associated with the environments of the land bridge restricted trans-Beringian migrations, particularly the more thermophilous and xeric-adapted elements of the Beringian biota, supporting the hypothesis of a cool but moist land-bridge filter inferred from evidence from several other studies.     

Lost and found

Consulting type specimens is a necessary element of taxonomic research in palaeontology. Every taxonomist from time to time has to examine the types to make sure that the identifications are correct. This can be a difficult proposition when the fossils in question were collected in the early nineteenth century. But just because a historical fossil collection is said to be 'lost', doesn't mean it cannot be found.     

Uranium in Saline Lakes of Mongolia and Adjacent Areas

正1 Introduction Increasing demand for uranium raw materials for the nuclear industry has stimulated interest in non-traditional sources,including hydromineral ones[Qin,2009].Those are saline lakes located in the uranium ore districts.Accumulation of uranium in such lakes results from the leaching of uranium from the rocks by surface and ground     

KREEPy lunar meteorite Dhofar 287A: A new lunar mare basalt

Abstract— Dhofar 287 (Dho 287) is a new lunar meteorite, found in Oman on January 14, 2001. The main portion of this meteorite (Dho 287A) consists of a mare basalt, while a smaller portion of breccia (Dho 287B) is attached on the side. Dho 287A is only the fourth crystalline mare basalt meteorite found on Earth to date and is the subject of the present study. The basalt consists mainly of phenocrysts of olivine and pyroxene set in a finer‐grained matrix, which is composed of elongated pyroxene and plagioclase crystals radiating from a common nucleii. The majority of olivine and pyroxene grains are zoned, from core to rim, in terms of Fe and Mg. Accessory minerals include ilmenite, chromite, ulvöspinel, troilite, and FeNi metal. Chromite is invariably mantled by ulvöspinel. This rock is unusually rich in late‐stage mesostasis, composed largely of fayalite, Si‐K‐Ba‐rich glass, fluorapatite, and whitlockite. In texture and mineralogy, Dho 287A is a low‐Ti mare basalt, with similarities to Apollo 12 (A‐12) and Apollo 15 (A‐15) basalts. However, all plagioclase is now present as maskelynite, and its composition is atypical for known low‐Ti mare basalts. The Fe to Mn ratios of olivine and pyroxene, the presence of FeNi metal, and the bulk‐rock oxygen isotopic ratios, along with several other petrological features, are evidence for the lunar origin for this meteorite. Whole‐rock composition further confirms the similarity of Dho 287A with A‐12 and A‐15 samples but requires possible KREEP assimilation to account for its rare‐earth‐element (REE) contents. Cooling‐rate estimates, based on Fo zonation in olivine, yield values of 0.2–0.8°C/hr for the lava, typical for the center of a 10–20 m thick flow. The recalculated major‐element concentrations, after removing 10–15% modal olivine, are comparable to typical A‐15 mare basalts. Crystallization modeling of the recalculated Dho 287A bulk‐composition yields a reasonable fit between predicted and observed mineral abundances and compositions.     

Multitransition study and new detections of class II methanol masers

We have used the ATNF Mopra antenna and the SEST antenna to search in the directions of several class II methanol maser sources for emission from six methanol transitions in the frequency range 85–115 GHz. The transitions were selected from excitation studies as potential maser candidates. Methanol emission at one or more frequencies was detected from five of the maser sources, as well as from Orion KL. Although the lines are weak, we find evidence of maser origin for three new lines in G345.01+1.79, and possibly one new line in G9.62+0.20.
The observations, together with published maser observations at other frequencies, are compared with methanol maser modelling for G345.01+1.79 and NGC 6334F. We find that the majority of observations in both sources are consistent with a warm dust (175 K) pumping model at hydrogen density ∼10⁶ cm⁻³ and methanol column density ∼ 5×10¹⁷ cm⁻². The substantial differences between the maser spectra in the two sources can be attributed to the geometry of the maser region.     

Petrogenesis of Na-rich paralava formed by methane flares associated with mud volcanism, Altyn-Emel National Park, Kazakhstan

High-Na slag-like rocks (paralava) with 4.5–11 % Na₂O from the Altyn-Emel mud volcanic field, Kazakhstan, are the products of melting of sediment + salt mixtures by methane flares associated with mud extrusion. The main minerals of the paralavas are diopside and wollastonite which have quench morphologies. Other high-temperature phases (crystallizing from melt and vapour phase) are tridymite, cristobalite, chlorapatite, alkali feldspar, pyrrhotite, native iron and silicon, iron phosphides, titanite, rutile, and carbon. The paralavas lack the Na–Ca silicates devitrite and combeite, but have high-Na and Na–K glasses that have not been homogenized despite low viscosities of <10^?3.5 Pa s. The large number of ignition foci in the Altyn-Emel mud volcano field indicates gas venting from small, shallow reservoirs. The methane flares are inferred to have been small and the fire events short-lived. Fires were extinguished once overpressure released during eruption, methane venting stopped and melted rocks rapidly quenched. The periodicity of eruptions and methane flaring most likely depends on the recurrence of earthquakes (M < 5) which are frequent in this tectonically active area.     

Geology, mineralization, stable isotope geochemistry, and fluid inclusion characteristics of the Novogodnee–Monto oxidized Au–(Cu) skarn and porphyry deposit, Polar Ural, Russia

The Novogodnee–Monto oxidized Au–(Cu) skarn and porphyry deposit is situated in the large metallogenic belt of magnetite skarn and Cu–Au porphyry deposits formed along the Devonian–Carboniferous Urals orogen. The deposit area incorporates nearly contemporaneous Middle–Late Devonian to Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous calc-alkaline (gabbro to diorite) and potassic (monzogabbro, monzodiorite- to monzonite-porphyry, also lamprophyres) intrusive suites. The deposit is represented by magnetite skarn overprinted by amphibole–chlorite–epidote–quartz–albite and then sericite–quartz–carbonate assemblages bearing Au-sulfide mineralization. This mineralization includes early high-fineness (900–990?‰) native Au associated mostly with cobaltite as well as with chalcopyrite and Co-pyrite, intermediate-stage native Au (fineness 830–860?‰) associated mostly with galena, and late native Au (760–830?‰) associated with Te minerals. Fluid inclusion and stable isotope data indicate an involvement of magmatic–hydrothermal high-salinity (>20 wt.% NaCl-equiv.) chloride fluids. The potassic igneous suite may have directly sourced fluids, metals, and/or sulfur. The abundance of Au mineralization is consistent with the oxidized character of the system, and its association with Co-sulfides suggests elevated sulfur fugacity.     

Lacustrine sediments and lichen transplants: two contrasting and complimentary environmental archives of natural and anthropogenic lead in the South Urals, Russia

Lead (Pb) concentrations and isotope ratios of two different geochemical archives are compared; lake sediment cores and lichens (Hypogymnia physodes, naturally growing and transplanted) from a ca. 80 km-long transect centred on the Cu smelter and former mining town of Karabash, Ural Mountains, Russia. Lead concentrations in sediment cores from 10 lakes were generally low near their base and show an abrupt increase in their upper portions interpreted to coincide with the onset of large-scale smelting operations in 1910. Lead isotope ratios derived from ²⁰⁴Pb, ²⁰⁶Pb, ²⁰⁷Pb, ²⁰⁸Pb of the bottom layers differed significantly from those of the top. The top sediments have isotope ratios that show distinct end members, one of which was the stack dust from the Karabash smelter, which is similar to the Pb derived from ores from Sibay, a major mine in the Urals. The composition of the bottom sediment layers generally fall slightly off a mixing line between the top sediments and average Earth’s upper crust. Lichens transplanted from a reference site, as well as naturally growing lichens, sampled from southwest of the smelter have isotope ratios similar to those of the stack dust. Lichens to the northeast contained Pb from the smelter, but are increasingly influenced by other sources probably leaded petrol and local soils, and a signature derived from a source enriched in ²⁰⁷Pb. Vegetables collected from local kitchen gardens contained Pb from an additional atmospheric source, possibly coal. Our work confirms that: (1) Pb isotopes in lake sediments provide a long-term record of inputs and allows the characterisation of natural and anthropogenic sources; (2) Pb isotopes in lichens provide a short-term record of local and long-range atmospheric deposition at high spatial resolution and short time scales as they replace their Pb content within a few months; (3) determination of all four stable Pb isotopes is necessary for the identification of the sources of Pb and is extremely sensitive for discerning minor source signatures, even in an area with a dominant source such as a smelter. Particularly significant for the Karabash area is that ore-smelter-derived airborne Pb is a major component in the lake sediments and lichens but its contribution reaches insignificant levels ca. 40 km from the smelter.