Paleosol at the Archean—Proterozoic contact in NW India revisited: Evidence for oxidizing conditions during paleo-weathering?

A number of fine-grained sericite bearing pelitic, schistose lithologies occur along the Archean (Banded Gneiss Complex)-Proterozoic (Aravalli Supergroup) contact (APC) in the Udaipur valley in NW Indian craton. These Al-rich lithologies (subsequently metamorphosed) have been described as ‘paleosols’, developed over a 3.3 Ga old Archean gneissic basement and are overlain by Paleoproterozoic Aravalli quartzite. The paleosol was developed between 2.5 and 2.1, coincident with the globally recognized Great Oxidation Event (GOE). In previous studies these paleosol sections were interpreted to have developed under reducing environment, however, the finding of a ‘ferricrete’ zone in the upper part of Tulsi Namla section (east of Udaipur) during the present study (in addition to earlier reported lithologies) has led to an alternative suggestion of oxygen-rich conditions during paleosol development. The Tulsi Namla paleosol section shows all the features characteristic of a complete paleosol section described from other Archean cratons. The paleosol includes sericite schist with kyanite as the prevalent Al-silicate in the lower part of profile while chloritoid and Fe-oxides typify the Fe-rich upper part. Alumina has remained immobile during the weathering process while Fe and Mn show a decrease in the lower part of the section and an abrupt rise in the upper part, in the ferricrete zone. The field and geochemical data indicate that the Tulsi Namla section is an in situ weathering profile and at least the upper part shows evidence of oxidizing conditions.     

Seasonal evolution of the transverse thermohaline asymmetry in the Ria de Pontevedra (northwestern Spain)

A quasi-permanent transverse asymmetry in the thermohaline properties of the Ria de Pontevedra (northwestern Spain) was measured from October 1997 to October 1998 during 23 cruises. On average, the density increased form north to south. This asymmetry was maintained by salinity during the wet season, and by salinity and temperature during the dry season. The density difference between coasts (Δσ_t = σ_tsouth − σ_tnorth) and the river discharge were positively correlated (correlation coefficient, approximately 0.6) throughout the year. The density difference was negatively correlated with the upwelling index during the wet season (correlation coefficient, approximately −0.45) and positively correlated during the dry season (correlation coefficient, approximately 0.55).     

Influence of upwelling and river runoff interaction on phytoplankton assemblages in a Middle Galician Ria and Comparison with northern and southern rias (NW Iberian Peninsula)

The first oceanographic research (hydrography, nutrient salts, chlorophyll, primary production and phytoplankton assemblages) in a Middle Galician Ria was carried out in Corme-Laxe during 2001, just a year before the Prestige oil spill, being the only reference to evaluate eventual changes in the phytoplankton community. Due to the small size of this ria (6.5 km²), oceanographic processes were driven by the continental water supplied by Anllons River during the wet season (20–30 m³ s⁻¹ in winter), and the strong oceanic influence from the nearby shelf during the dry season. The annual cycle showed a spring bloom with high levels of chlorophyll (up to 14 μg Chl-a L⁻¹) and primary production (3 g C m⁻² d⁻¹) and a summer upwelling bloom (up to 8 μg Chl-a L⁻¹ and 10 g C m⁻² d⁻¹) where the proximity of the Galician upwelling core (<13.5 °C at sea surface) favors the input of upwelled seawater (up to 9 μM of nitrate and silicate) to the bottom ria layer, even during summer stratification events (primary production around 2 g C m⁻² d⁻¹). Thus, phytoplankton assemblages form a “continuum” from spring to autumn with a predominance of diatoms and overlapping species between consecutive periods; only in autumn dinoflagellates and flagellates characterized the phytoplankton community. In the Middle Rias as Corme-Laxe, the nutrient values, Chl-a, primary production and phytoplankton abundance for productive periods were higher than those reported for the Northern (Ria of A Coruña) and Southern Rias (Ria of Arousa) for year 2001; this suggests the importance of the hydrographic events occurring in the zone of maximum upwelling intensity of the Western Iberian Shelf, where a lack of annual cycles studies exists.     

Population Structure and Secondary Production of the Mediterranean Octocoral Lophogorgia ceratophyta (L. 1758)

Abstract. The gorgonian Lophogorgia ceratophyta thrives in turbid water at Tinetto Rock, La Spezia Gulf, Ligurian Sea. Its age structure suggests that the population is in a steady state; nevertheless, it is difficult to discern whether the main factors controlling this population are biological or event-related. Secondary production was estimated by means of an increment-summation method and yielded 0.54 g ash-free dry weight (AFDW)*m^-1 a^-1. This estimate does not take into account biomass losses due to reproductive output and non-lethal predation. Standing stock biomass was 5.44 g AFDW e m^-2. The annual P/B ratio was 0.10 and turnover time about 10a     

Consequences of winter upwelling events on biogeochemical and phytoplankton patterns in a western Galician ria (NW Iberian peninsula)

The consequences of two upwelling events in mid- (MW) and late (LW) winter on biogeochemical and phytoplankton patterns were studied in the Pontevedra Ria and compared with the patterns measured under typical winter conditions and under a summer upwelling event. Thermohaline patterns measured during the mid-winter upwelling event (MW-up) revealed the intrusion of saltier seawater (35.9) into the ria associated with the Iberian Poleward Current (IPC). During the late-winter upwelling event (LW-up), the seawater which had welled up into the ria showed characteristics of the Eastern North Atlantic Central Water mass (ENACW). In both cases the measured water residence time (4 days during MW-up and 10 days during LW-up) was related to both meteorological and fluvial forcing. This residence time contrasts with that of summer upwelling (7 days) and with that estimated under unfavorable upwelling atmospheric conditions (2–4 weeks). During MW-up, the ria became poor in nutrients due to continental freshwater dilution, associated with the shorter residence time of the water, and the intrusion of IPC, which is a water body poor in nutrient salts: 2.9 μM of nitrate, 0.1 μM of phosphate and 1.5 μM of silicate. During this event, the ria exported 3.4 mol_DIN s⁻¹, compared with 6.9 mol_DIN s⁻¹ in non-upwelling conditions. Phytoplankton showed a uniform distribution throughout the ria, as during unfavorable upwelling conditions, and was characterized by the dominance of diatoms, mainly Nitzschia longissima and Skeletonema costatum. During LW-up, a nutrient depletion in the photic layer also occurred, but as a result of a phytoplankton spring bloom developing at this time. The ria was a nutrient trap where 4.1 mol_DIN s⁻¹ were processed by photosynthesis. This budget is three times higher than the one under non-upwelling conditions. In contrast with the MW-up, which had no effect on primary production, during LW-up the ria became more productive, although not as productive as during a summer upwelling event (9.9 mol_DIN s⁻¹). The taxonomic composition of the phytoplankton community did not change noticeably during LW-up and the summer upwelling, with the same species present and changing only in relative proportions. Diatoms were always the dominant microphytoplankton community, with Pseudonitzschia pungens, Thalassionema nitzschioides and several species of Chaetoceros as characteristic taxons.     

Growth of the Mediterranean Gorgonian Lophogorgia ceratophyta (L., 1758)

Abstract. Growth of the shallow-water gorgonian Lophogorgia ceratophyta was investigated in an infralittoral station located in La Spezia Gulf, Ligurian Sea. Mean annual height growth rate was estimated to be 2.57 cm · a^-1. The fractal dimension of the colonies was found to gradually evolve in complexity, exhibiting a simpler branching pattern in younger specimens. The maintenance of a low, invariable ramification complexity as an optimal choice in managing relationships between water and the colony's living tissues is also discussed.     

Palaeolimnology of Lake Piene-Kuuppalanlampi (Kurkijoki, Karelian Republic, Russia): isolation history, lake ecosystem development and long-term agricultural impact

The post-glacial history of Lake Pieni-Kuuppalanlampi, western Lake Ladoga region, was studied by means of stratigraphic pollen and diatom analyses. Diatoms were analysed to track the isolation history of the basin and the limnological effects of the early land-use phases indicated by pollen analysis. Chrysophycean stomatocysts and Isoëtes spores were also employed in the limnological reconstructions. Sediment dating was provided by six conventional radiocarbon dates.The lower part of the 370-cm long sediment sequence represents early Holocene, large lake conditions: the (freshwater) Yoldia and Ancylus stages of the Baltic basin, with a short-term lagoonal or isolation phase at the end of Yoldia. The basin was isolated due to Ancylus lake regression at 9785 cal B.P. For the small-lake sequence (0–250 cm) we used diatom inferences (WA-method) for hindcasting water chemistry. The post-isolation limnology of Pieni-Kuuppalanlampi reflects the development of vegetation on its small hill-top catchment. In its early development, the lake was mesotrophic, but became more acidic (pH about 6) and oligotrophic after the decline of temperate hardwood trees and the spread of spruce to the area after around 5000 B.P. The lake ecosystem appears to have reacted sensitively to agricultural land-use in the catchment from AD 400–800 onwards: inferred total phosphorus levels and pH both rise during these periods.     

滇西北石鼓片岩变质变形特征及其划分

滇西北金沙江结合带东侧的石鼓变质岩系，可划分为石鼓岩群和巨甸岩群。石鼓岩群受区域动力热流变质作用改造，主期变形环境为中、深部构造相；巨甸岩群受区域低温动力变质作用改造，与之相伴的构造形迹属中、浅部构造相。石鼓岩群包含羊坡岩组和露西岩组，巨甸岩群可进一步划分为陇巴岩组和塔城岩组。同一岩群的岩组，变质作用、构造变形特征相同，但变质岩石组合及原岩特征却有明显差别。     

Characterisation of the Dabla Granitoids, North Khetri Copper Belt, Rajasthan, India: Evidence of Bimodal Anorogenic Felsic Magmatism

The Palaeoproterozoic Dabla granitoid pluton of the North Khetri Copper Belt is located to the east of a NNE-SSW trending lineament with numerous albite-rich intrusives, the intraplate ‘albitite line’. The Dabla pluton is essentially made up of calcic amphibole-bearing granitoids, displaying a concentric bimodal distribution of alkali-feldspar granites, comprising a microcline-albite granite and an albite-granite. The dominant rock type is pink-coloured granite, which is characterised by quartz, microcline, albite and hastingsitic hornblende, and occurs in the marginal parts of the pluton. The volumetrically subordinate albite-granite in the central part of the pluton is invariably white in colour, non-foliated and is mainly composed of quartz, albite and amphibole of actinolite to ferro-actinolite composition. The albite-granite is characterised by low K₂O (0.06-0.09%), Rb (<5 ppm) and Ba (<20 ppm), high Na₂O (7.19-7.36%) and high Na/K ratios (122.4-185.2) as compared to the granite. These rocks are not subjected to any metamorphic overprint, especially the albite-granite, which shows pristine abundances of major and trace elements. The rocks are highly evolved as reflected in their high SiO₂ (72 to 78%) contents and high DI (89.5-97) values. The Dabla granitoids are characterised by similar REE and spider patterns, displaying LREE enriched slopes, flat HREE profiles and strong negative Sr, P, Ti and Eu anomalies suggesting their comagmatic nature. Nevertheless, the granite is relatively more fractionated [(La/Yb)_N = 3.89-8.19] and show higher REE abundances (466-673 ppm) as compared to the albite-granite [(La/Yb)_N = 1.97-2.96; REE = 220-277 ppm]. Distinctive features of these rocks are their low Ca (0.21-1.53%), Mg (<0.02-0.19%), Al (11.84-12.96%) and Sr (12-46 ppm) abundances, high Zr (155-631 ppm), Y (67-156 ppm), Nb (14-91 ppm), and Ga (20-31 ppm) concentrations and high Fe*-number, high Ga/Al ratio and high agpaitic index (AI) values. These features, coupled with their ferroan, alkaline and metaluminous nature, are typical of within-plate aluminous A-type granites. The geochemical data further indicate that the Dabla magma was generated at fairly high temperature, apparently in an upper mantle region, under relatively low H₂O activities and reduced conditions and emplaced at a shallow depth in an extensional tectonic environment.     

Petrology, geochemistry and isotopic ages of eclogites from the Dulan UHPM Terrane, the North Qaidam, NW China

The Dulan eclogite–gneiss region is located in the eastern part of the North Qaidam eclogite belt, NW China. Widespread evidence demonstrates that this region is a typical ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane. Eclogites occur as lenses or layers in both granitic and pelitic gneisses. Two distinguished sub-belts can be recognized and differ in mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry. The North Dulan Belt (NDB) has tholeiitic protoliths with high TiO₂ and lower Al₂O₃ and MgO contents. REE patterns and trace element contents resemble those of N-type and E-type MORB. In contrast, eclogites in the South Dulan Belt (SDB) are of island arc protoliths with low TiO₂, high Al₂O₃ and show LREE-enriched and HFSE-depleted patterns. Sm–Nd isotope analyses give isochron ages of 458–497 Ma for eclogite-facies metamorphism for the two sub-belts. The ages are similar to those of Yuka and Altun eclogites in the western extension of the North Qaidam-Altun eclogite belt. The Dulan UHP metamorphic terrane, together with several other recently recognized eclogite-bearing terrenes within the North Qaidam-Altun HP-UHP belt, constitute the key to the understanding of the tectonic evolution of the northern Tibetan Plateau. The entire UHP belt extends for more than 1000 km from the Dulan UHP terrane in the southeast to the Altun eclogite–gneiss terrane in the west. This super-belt marks an early Paleozoic continental collision zone between the Qaidam Massif and the Qilian Massif.