Cenozoic evolution of the central Myanmar drainage system: insights from sediment provenance in the Minbu Sub‐Basin

Located at the southern edge of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, the Central Myanmar Basin (CMB) is divided into several Tertiary sub‐basins that have been almost continuously filled since the Indo‐Asia collision. They are currently drained by the Irrawaddy River, which flows down the eastern Tibetan Plateau and the Sino‐Burman Ranges. Tracing sediment provenance from the CMB is thus critical for reconstructing the past denudation of the Himalayan‐Tibetan orogen; it is especially relevant since a popular drainage scenario involves the capture of the Tsangpo drainage system in Tibet by a precursor to the Irrawaddy River. Here, we document the provenance of sediment samples from the Minbu Sub‐Basin at the southern edge of the CMB, which is traversed by the modern stream of the Irrawaddy River. Samples ranging in age from middle Eocene to Pleistocene were investigated using Nd isotopes, trace element geochemistry and sandstone modal compositions. Our data provide no evidence of a dramatic provenance shift; however, sandstone petrography, trace element ratios and isotopic values display long‐term trends indicating a gradual decrease of the volcanic input and its replacement by a dominant supply from the Burmese basement. These trends are interpreted to reflect the progressive denudation of the Andean‐type volcanic arc that extended onto the Burmese margin, along the flank of the modern Sino‐Burman Ranges, where most of the post‐collisional deformation of central Myanmar is located. Though our results do not exclude an ephemeral or diluted contribution from a past Tsangpo‐Irrawaddy connection, sedimentation rates suggest that this hypothesis is unlikely before the development of a stable Tsangpo‐Brahmaputra River in the Miocene. These results thus suggest that the central Myanmar drainage basin has remained restricted to the Sino‐Burman Ranges since the beginning of the India‐Asia collision.     

Hydrous partial melting in the sheeted dike complex at fast spreading ridges: experimental and natural observations

In ophiolites and in present-day oceanic crust formed at fast spreading ridges, oceanic plagiogranites are commonly observed at, or close to the base of the sheeted dike complex. They can be produced either by differentiation of mafic melts, or by hydrous partial melting of the hydrothermally altered sheeted dikes. In addition, the hydrothermally altered base of the sheeted dike complex, which is often infiltrated by plagiogranitic veins, is usually recrystallized into granoblastic dikes that are commonly interpreted as a result of prograde granulitic metamorphism. To test the anatectic origin of oceanic plagiogranites, we performed melting experiments on a natural hydrothermally altered dike, under conditions that match those prevailing at the base of the sheeted dike complex. All generated melts are water saturated, transitional between tholeiitic and calc-alkaline, and match the compositions of oceanic plagiogranites observed close to the base of the sheeted dike complex. Newly crystallized clinopyroxene and plagioclase have compositions that are characteristic of the same minerals in granoblastic dikes. Published silicic melt compositions obtained in classical MORB fractionation experiments also broadly match the compositions of oceanic plagiogranites; however, the compositions of the coexisting experimental minerals significantly deviate from those of the granoblastic dikes. Our results demonstrate that hydrous partial melting is a likely common process in the root zone of the sheeted dike complex, starting at temperatures exceeding 850°C. The newly formed melt can either crystallize to form oceanic plagiogranites or may be recycled within the melt lens resulting in hybridized and contaminated MORB melts. It represents the main MORB crustal contamination process. The residue after the partial melting event is represented by the granoblastic dikes. Our results support a model with a dynamic melt lens that has the potential to trigger hydrous partial melting reactions in the previously hydrothermally altered sheeted dikes. A new thermometer using the Al content of clinopyroxene is also elaborated.     

Adjusting chlorophyll-a estimates through temporal weighting based on the seasonal development of phytobiomass

North-temperate lakes have been shown to progress through a general cycle of chlorophyll-a phenology. Because estimates of seasonal means are often based on only a few samples collected against this variable background, these estimates can be biased or uncertain. Our goal was to reduce the seasonal uncertainty and thereby produce more accurate estimates of chlorophyll concentration by defining a correction for phenological development. Time-series data from 149 lake-years were used to develop equations from which chlorophyll values could be corrected to the seasonal mean in relation to their particular date of measurement. However, we found the seasonal correction to be ineffectual in reducing uncertainty about nutrient-response regressions. After reviewing a number of hypotheses, we conclude that the correction derived from the average response for many lakes will be inadequate to adjust for the seasonal pattern occurring within any particular lake. This occurs because the temporal weighting correction, generated through repeated averaging, underestimates the seasonal variability which exists among individual lakes. An effective correction, if it is developed will have to be based on patterns within single lakes or possibly different lakes within a single region.     

Storage diagenesis versus sulphide authigenesis: possible implications in environmental magnetism

Experiments involving the gradual drying out of controlled mixtures of soil and organic lake sediment during storage at room temperature show that this leads to a loss of magnetic susceptibility and isothermal remanence greatly in excess of the initial values for the sediment components of the mixtures. We conclude that during storage in the moist state, soil-derived, fine-grained, ferrimagnetic iron oxides (magnetite and/or maghemite) are transformed to paramagnetic and/or imperfect antiferrimagnetic minerals. The imperfect anti-ferromagnetic component of the initial mixtures, which probably includes goethite, appears to survive and may even increase during storage. The experimental results compare well with the previously documented effects of storing wet sediment from the site, Peckforton Mere, Cheshire, U.K., over a comparable time interval. We conclude that transformation of fine grained ferrimagnets during storage diagenesis may be responsible for many of the examples of loss of magnetic susceptibility and remanence attributed by other authors solely to the oxidation of an iron sulphide such as greigite. Only where greigite is positively identified is it valid to infer a contribution from it to the magnetic properties of lake sediments: loss of susceptibility or remanence during storage is not alone a sufficient basis for such an inference. Early drying of samples will normally avoid the effects of storage diagenesis; and recent sediment samples so treated will, where greigite formation, bacterial magnetite and magnetite dissolution are insignificant, provide a valid basis for source identification on the basis of magnetic properties.     

A power function model for the basic geometry of solution dolines: considerations from the classical karst of south‐central Slovenia

Solution doline geometry is generally too complex to be expressed in terms of a few parameters. A methodology previously designed by the author, based on acquisition of specific field data and subsequent processing by various Fourier techniques, enabled doline geometry to be considered in its entirety. This paper sets out to investigate which simple rotational body (rotated power function) best fits the geometry of 38 dolines studied within the Classical Karst of Slovenia. It transpires that doline radius to depth ratio changes as a function of volume, whereas the mode of change remains stable regardless of the actual dimensions of individual dolines, and is basically the same at different locations. Doline volumes are very close of those of regular cones of the same dimensions, growing relatively deeper as the volume increases. Two poly‐segment models implied by the power function model and based on earlier work are discussed. It transpires that the studied dolines may be relict forms superimposed upon pre‐existing hidden shafts formed by epikarstic water. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

利用陆面岩石中生成的宇生同位素重建冰川漂砾运动历史的尝试

冰川漂砾的形成年代通常难以直接测定，并且漂砾形成以后是否被再次搬运或者移动过，更是无法知道。本文研究发现，通过测试砾石不同部位的宇生同位素，不仅可以测定砾石形成的时代，而且可以确定砾石再次被搬运或者被翻转的年代，从而恢复砾石运动的历史。本文以石英中生成的宇生同位素^10Be，对青藏高原东南部海子山的冰川漂砾进行了探讨，结果表明该砾石形成于倒数第二次冰期(186～128ka BP之间)，在末次冰期中再次被冰川搬运，使之反转。该方法不局限于^10Be和冰川漂砾，也适用于其他陆面岩石中生成的宇生同位素以及其他成因的石块或者砾石。因此为探讨冰川作用、泥石流活动、重力崩塌等过程提供了一种重要的方法和技术途径。     

大别山北部黄土岭片麻岩的锆石U-Pb年龄和氧同位素组成：古老的原岩和多阶段历史

利用阴极发光和离子探针技术，对大别山北部黄土岭片麻岩的锆石进行了内部结构、U-Pb年龄和氧同位素组成的系统分析。黄土岭片麻岩的锆石具有核-幔-边三层结构，核部是原岩的岩浆锆石，形成时代为-2800Ma；幔部是变质重结晶的产物，变质作用的时代为-2000Ma；边部则是在-110Ma从部分熔融体里结晶出来的增生锆石，是受大别山燕山期构造-岩浆事件影响的反映。黄土岭片麻岩和麻粒岩中-2800Ma和-2000Ma的年龄，以及麻粒岩中约3400Ma的残留锆石年龄均可以与扬子崆岭群变质岩对比。由此可以推断，北大别在构造属性上属于扬子板决，扬子与华北板决的缝合线应在北大别以北。锆石的核-幔-边具有不同的氧同位素组成，氧同位素数据表明黄土岭片麻岩的原岩是S型花岗岩，在-2000Ma和-110Ma的事件中都有外来物质(流体或熔体)的加入。     

Hydrogen Isotopic Compositions of Pyroxenes in Nushan Peridotite Xenoliths,SE China

Hydrogen isotopic compositions of pyroxenes in peridotite xenohths from the Nushan volcano, Anhui Province, SE China have been obtained using an ion probe (Cameca 1270). D/H ratios are constant within a single grain and among the different grains from the same sample. The lack of correlation between the D/H ratios and the hydrogen contents indicates that the hydrogen isotopic compositions are inherited from their mantle source. Combining with the δD values of coexisting amphiboles, it is inferred that the Nushan mantle experienced at least a two-stage metasomatic event.One was responsible for formation of amphiboles with extremely variable δD values, and the other was probably responsible for the high δD values (up to -20‰) of some clinopyroxenes from peridotites, clinopyroxene and mica megacrysts. High δD values point to a subduction-related fluid being involved in one metasomatic event. The primary δD values (-90‰ to -140‰) of the Nushan pyroxenes, together with data gleaned from the literature, suggest that the D/H ratios of the nominally anhydrous mineral reservoir might have differed from that of the other mantle hydrogen in being relatively depleted in D.