Contribution of storms to groundwater recharge in the semi‐arid region of Karnataka,India

This paper describes the application of environmental isotopes and injected tracer techniques in estimating the contribution of storms as well as annual precipitation to groundwater recharge and its circulation, in the semi‐arid region of Bagepalli, Kolar district, Karnataka. Environmental isotopes ²H, ¹⁸O and ³H were used to study the effect of storms on the hydrological system, and an isotope balance was used to compute the contribution of a storm component to the groundwater. Some of the groundwater samples collected during the post‐storm periods were highly depleted in stable isotope content with higher deuterium excess relative to groundwater from the pre‐storm periods. Significant variation in deuterium excess in groundwater from the same area, collected in two different periods, indicates the different origin of air masses. The estimated recharge component of a storm event of 600 mm to the groundwater was found to be in the range of 117–165 mm. There was no significant variation in environmental tritium content of post‐storm and pre‐storm groundwater, indicating the fast circulation of groundwater in the system. After completion of the environmental isotope work, an injected radiotracer ³H technique was applied to estimate the direct recharge of total precipitation to the groundwater. The estimated recharge to the groundwater is 33 mm of the 550 mm annual precipitation during 1992. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palaeotemperature reconstructions of the European permafrost zone during marine oxygen isotope Stage 3 compared with climate model results

A palaeotemperature reconstruction based on periglacial phenomena in Europe north of approximately 51 °N, is compared with high‐resolution regional climate model simulations of the marine oxygen isotope Stage 3 (Stage 3) palaeoclimate. The experiments represent Stage 3 warm (interstadial), Stage 3 cold (stadial) and Last Glacial Maximum climatic conditions. The palaeotemperature reconstruction deviates considerably for the Stage 3 cold climate experiments, with mismatches up to 11 °C for the mean annual air temperature and up to 15 °C for the winter temperature. However, in this reconstruction various factors linking climate and permafrost have not been taken into account. In particular a relatively thin snow cover and high climatic variability of the glacial climate could have influenced temperature limits for ice‐wedge growth. Based on modelling the 0 °C mean annual ground temperature proves to be an appropriate upper temperature limit. Using this limit, mismatches with the Stage 3 cold climate experiments have been reduced but still remain. We therefore assume that the Stage 3 ice wedges were generated during short (decadal time‐scale) intervals of extreme cold climate, below the mean temperatures indicated by the Stage 3 cold climate model simulations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sea‐surface temperature and salinity changes in the northwest Pacific since the Last Glacial Maximum

The oxygen isotope records of both benthic and planktonic Foraminifera in five piston cores, collected from the region between the Oyashio and Kuroshio Currents near Japan, clearly show the marked latitudinal shifts of these two currents during the past 25 kyr. Under the present hydrographic condition, a clear relationship between the sea‐surface temperature (SST) and oxygen isotope differences from benthic to planktonic Foraminifera is observed in this region. Using this relationship, we find decreased SSTs of 12–13°C (maximum 15°C) in the southernmost core site at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), indicating the Oyashio Current shifted southward. The SSTs at the southern two core sites abruptly increased more than 10°C at 10–11 ka, suggesting the Kuroshio Current shifted northward over these sites at 10–11 ka. In contrast, the northern two core sites have remained under the influence of the cold Oyashio Current for the past 25 kyr. With the reasonable estimate of bottom‐water temperature decrease of 2.5°C at the LGM, the SSTs estimated by this new method give exactly the same SST values calculated from Mg/Ca ratio of planktonic Foraminifera, allowing palaeosea‐surface salinities to be reconstructed. The result suggests that the ice volume effect was 1.0 ± 0.1‰ at the LGM. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The importance of oxygen isotope provenance in relation to solute content of bulk meltwaters at Imersuaq Glacier,West Greenland

Stable oxygen isotope analysis and measurement of several dissolved cations and anions of bulk meltwater samples have provided information about the hydrochemical environment of the glacial hydrological system at Imersuaq Glacier, an outlet tongue from the Greenland ice‐sheet, West Greenland. The samples were collected at frequent intervals during the period 20–28 July 2000 in a small (<20 L s^?1) englacial meltwater outlet at the glacier margin. The results document the following findings: (i) a marked diurnal variation of δ¹⁸O is related to the composition of oxygen isotope provenances, mainly near‐marginal local superimposed ice and basal up‐sheared ice further up‐glacier; (ii) a relationship is seen between all base cations (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺), SO₄^2? and δ¹⁸O, indicating that solute acquisition is provided by solid–solution contact with the up‐sheared ice—as the relationship with Cl^? is weak the influence of seasalt‐derived solutes is small in the area; (iii) when the melt rate is high, two diurnal maxima of δ¹⁸O values and solute concentrations are measured, and it is suggested that a snow meltwater component is responsible for the second maximum of δ¹⁸O—a short residence time leads to a delayed decrease in ion concentrations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Methane‐related microbial gypsum calcitization in stromatolites of a marine evaporative setting (Münder Formation,Upper Jurassic,Hils Syncline,north Germany)

Fossil stromatolites may reveal information about their hydrochemical palaeoenvironment, provided that assignment to a specific microbial community and a corresponding biogeochemical mechanism of formation can be made. Tithonian stromatolites of the Münder Formation at Thüste, north Germany, have traditionally been considered as formed by intertidal cyanobacterial communities. However, thin sections of the stromatolites show elongated angular traces of former gypsum crystals in a dense arrangement, but no algal or cyanobacterial filament traces. Moreover, high Fe²⁺ and Mn²⁺ contents, oxygen‐isotope and sulphur‐isotope ratios of carbonate‐bound sulphates, and sulphurized hydrocarbon biomarkers of the stromatolitic carbonate indicate that CaCO₃ precipitation occurred near the oxic–anoxic interface as a result of intensive bacterial sulphur cycling rather than photosynthetic activity. Furthermore, anaerobic oxidation of methane by Archaea may have driven CaCO₃ precipitation in deeper parts of the biofilm community, as reflected by high concentrations of squalane with a strongly negative δ¹³C in conjunction with evaporite pseudomorphs showing extremely low δ¹³C_Carb ratios. Consequently, the Thüste stromatolites are now interpreted as having initially formed by gypsum impregnation of biofilms. Subsequently, early Mg‐calcitic calcitization within the biofilms occurred because of combined bacterial iron, manganese and sulphate reduction, with an increasing contribution of anaerobic oxidation of methane with depth. This model plausibly explains the prominent preservation of signals derived from oxygen‐independent metabolic pathways, whereas virtually no geochemical record exists for an aerobic community that may, nevertheless, have prevailed at the stromatolite surface. Photic‐zone stromatolites with a prominent signal of anaerobic oxidation of methane may be common in, and indicative of, oxygen‐depleted sulphate‐bearing environments with high rates of methane production, conditions that possibly were fulfilled at the Archaean to Proterozoic transition.     

Decoupling of stalagmite-derived Asian summer monsoon records from North Atlantic temperature change during marine oxygen isotope stage 5d

The Asian monsoon is an important component of the global climate system. Seasonal variations in wind, rainfall, and temperature associated with the Asian monsoon systems affect a vast expanse of tropical and subtropical Asia. Speleothem-derived summer monsoon variation in East Asia was previously found to be closely associated with millennial-scale change in temperature in the North Atlantic region between 75 and 10 ka. New evidence recovered from East Asia, however, suggests that the teleconnection between summer monsoon in East Asia and temperature change in the North Atlantic region may have significantly reduced during 120 to ~ 110 ka, a period directly after the full last interglaciation and corresponding roughly to marine oxygen isotope stage 5d. This reduction may be due to the low ice volume in the North Hemisphere at that time, which makes the millennial-scale change in temperature in the North Atlantic region less effective in influencing the Asian summer monsoon. This is important for investigating the mechanisms controlling the Asian summer monsoon and the paleoclimatic teleconnection between East Asia and the North Atlantic region, and for predicting monsoon-associated precipitation in East Asia under a global-warming trend.     

Belemnites from the lower middle Cenomanian of Hoppenstedt, northern Germany: significance and integrated correlation

The belemnite species Praeactinocamax primus (Arkhangelsky, 1912) and Belemnocamax boweri Crick, 1910 are described from the Cenomanian of the abandoned limestone quarry section of Hoppenstedt (Sachsen-Anhalt, northern Germany). They co-occur in the upper part of a prominent tripartite bioclastic limestone bed associated with the ammonite Acanthoceras rhotomagense, indicating the primus Event of the lower middle Cenomanian A. rhotomagense ammonite Zone. An integrated stratigraphical calibration including carbon stable isotope correlation to southern England suggests that the belemnite event horizon at Hoppenstedt occupies exactly the same chronostratigraphical position as elsewhere, highlighting the strictly isochronous character of the primus Event across northwestern Europe. Furthermore, stratigraphical gaps in the Hoppenstedt succession are evaluated.     

多接收器电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定镉标准溶液中镉的同位素组成

建立了多接收器电感耦合等离子体质谱仪对Cd标准溶液同位素组成进行分析的实验方法。仪器的质量分馏校正采用Standard-Sample Bracketing法。实验结果用δ114/110Cd来表达。在此研究基础上,以SPEX Cd标准溶液为参考标准,对国外4种Cd标准溶液进行了测定。结果表明,实验测定的精度在0.07‰~0.13‰(δ114/110Cd),与目前文献报道的结果具有相似的精度。以最新SPEX Cd标准样品(δ114/110Cd=0)为基准,计算的δ114/110CdJMC、δ114/110CdSPEX-1、δ114/110CdBAM1012和δ114/110CdM櫣nster的值分别为0.55‰、0.56‰、-0.65‰和5.14‰,说明不同批次SPEX标准溶液的Cd同位素组成是明显不同的,最新的SPEX Cd标准溶液与SPEX-1 Cd的δ114/110Cd值存在着0.56‰的差别。将以SPEX Cd为参考标准的δ114/110CdBAM1012和δ114/110CdM櫣nster转化为以SPEX-1或JMC为参考标准后,得到的结果与文献报道的结果在误差范围内一致。     

内蒙古敖包吐萤石矿床的Sr、Nd、Pb同位素地球化学特征

敖包吐萤石矿床是内蒙古北部苏莫查干地区单一萤石矿集区中的一个代表性矿床,产于早二叠世大石寨组火山-沉积岩与早白垩世敖包吐花岗岩的接触带上。文章通过分析该矿床岩、矿石的微量元素和稀土元素,揭示出萤石的成矿作用可分为2个阶段,即交代作用和充填作用。交代作用过程中大石寨组的结晶灰岩可能为萤石的形成提供了部分Ca来源,萤石矿石的稀土元素配分模式与海水基本类似,具有Ce负异常;成矿作用后期主要表现为充填作用,形成颗粒粗大的萤石,表现为重稀土元素富集的特征,并随着萤石的沉淀析出,稀土元素总量逐渐下降,反映出成矿流体经历了较长期的演化过程。各地层单元、花岗岩体和萤石矿石的Sr、Nd、Pb同位素研究表明,萤石的放射性同位素组成具有壳、幔源混合的特点,成矿物质来源具有多源性。早白垩世敖包吐花岗岩可能是萤石中F的主要来源,而大石寨组的结晶灰岩则可能提供了Ca。另外,Pb、Nd同位素的极大不均一性,有可能是成矿流体在运移过程中对艾力格庙群放射性组分的选择性吸收的结果。萤石成矿作用与钾玄岩的时空关系暗示了萤石的成矿过程可能是中国东部岩石圈减薄和下地壳的置换地质事件的结果。在构造转型的过程中,燕山中期富碱的酸性花岗岩浆的活动分异出富含F的成矿流体,与幔源流体混合,沿区域重新活化的深大断裂和大石寨组的层间破碎带上升,交代其间的灰岩透镜体,从而形成敖包吐中型萤石矿床。     

新疆阿尔泰蒙库铁矿床的成矿流体及成矿作用

蒙库大型铁矿床赋存于上志留统—下泥盆统康布铁堡组变质火山-沉积岩系中,容矿岩石为石榴子石矽卡岩、变粒岩、浅粒岩和大理岩。矿体总体顺层分布,空间上与矽卡岩密切相关。研究表明,矽卡岩期石榴子石以发育玻璃质熔融包裹体、流体熔融包裹体和流体包裹体为特征,晚期矽卡岩阶段矿物中发育液相包裹体,变质期矿物中主要发育液相包裹体和含子矿物包裹体。矽卡岩期熔融包裹体的均一温度为1100℃,早期矽卡岩阶段流体包裹体均一温度变化于193～499℃,在450℃、350℃和230℃出现峰值。中期矽卡岩阶段均一温度变化于236～550℃,峰值为350℃。区域变质期均一温度介于132～513℃,在350℃、230℃和190℃出现峰值。流体包裹体的盐度w(NaCleq)介于1.23%～60.31%,流体密度变化于0.60～1.16g/cm3。石榴子石、石英和方解石的δ18OSMOW变化于0.2‰～8.4‰,δ18OH2O介于-5.1‰～5.33‰,δD为-127‰～-81‰,表明矽卡岩期成矿流体主要是岩浆水,混合少量大气降水;变质期流体主要为大气降水,为混合变质水。方解石δ13CPDB变化于-6.1‰～-2.3‰,表明流体中碳来自深部或地幔。成矿时代为早泥盆世早期(略晚于404～400Ma),成矿作用与矽卡岩的退化变质作用有关。