Low-background gamma counting: applications for210Pb dating of sediments

Sediment cores from three lakes were dated with²¹⁰Pb using a constant rate of supply (CRS) model. We used low-background gamma counting to measure naturally occurring levels of²¹⁰Pb,²²⁶Ra, and¹³⁷Cs in sediment samples because sample preparation is simple and non-destructive,²²⁶Ra activity provides a direct measure of supported²¹⁰Pb activity for each sample analyzed, and¹³⁷Cs activity may provide an independent age marker for the 1962–1963 peak in atmospheric fallout of this radionuclide. In one core supported²¹⁰Pb activity was estimated equally well from²²⁶Ra activity of each sampling interval or from the mean total²¹⁰Pb activity of constant activity samples at depth. Supported²¹⁰Pb activity was constant with depth in this core. In a short freeze core, determining²²⁶Ra activity of every sample proved advantageous in estimating supported²¹⁰Pb activity because supported²¹⁰Pb activity could be estimated from²¹⁰Pb measurements only at the deepest sampling interval. Supported²¹⁰Pb activity estimated from²²⁶Ra activity also yielded more precise estimates of highly variable sedimentation rates. In the third core²²⁶Ra activity exceeded²¹⁰Pb activity at the top of the core and varied 20 fold with depth. This high input of²²⁶Ra in disequilibrium with²¹⁰Pb is attributed to recent erosion of radium-bearing materials in the drainage basin. These data invalidate the assumption that supported²¹⁰Pb activity is constant in sediment cores and can be estimated from the mean total²¹⁰Pb activity at depths where²¹⁰Pb activity is constant. We recommend using gamma counting or another independent assay of²²⁶Ra to validate the assumption of constant supported²¹⁰Pb activity in sediment cores if there is reason to expect that²²⁶Ra activity varies with depth.This is the fourth of a series of papers to be published by this journal following the 20 ^th anniversary of the first application of²¹⁰Pb dating of lake sediments. Dr. P.G. Appleby is guest editing this series.     

Inputs of dissolved and particulate 226Ra to lakes and implications for 210Pb dating recent sediments

Gamma spectroscopy was used to measure radioisotope (²¹⁰Pb, ²²⁶Ra, ¹³⁷Cs) activities in sediment cores from 20 lakes and a wetland in Florida, USA. Nine profiles display relatively low (<5 dpm g^–1) and constant ²²⁶Ra activities, whereas 12 show high (>5 dpm g^–1) and variable ²²⁶Ra activities. In the latter group, most display up-core increases in activity. Upper sediments from two lakes (Round and Rowell) possess very high (>20 dpm g^–1) ²²⁶Ra activities that exceed total ²¹⁰Pb activities, clearly illustrating disequlibrium between ²²⁶Ra and supported ²¹⁰Pb. Supported ²¹⁰Pb activity is generally thought to come from in situ, ²²⁶Ra-containing detrital mineral particles, and is typically assumed to be in secular equilibrium with ²²⁶Ra activity. Since 1966, Round Lake has been augmented hydrologically with ²²⁶Ra-rich (6.2 dpm L^–1) groundwater pumped from the local deep aquifer. Adsorption of dissolved ²²⁶Ra to recent Round Lake sediments probably accounts for the high measured ²²⁶Ra activities and the pronounced disequilibrium between ²²⁶Ra and supported ²¹⁰Pb in topmost deposits. We suspect that many Florida waterbodies receive some ²²⁶Ra-rich runoff and seepage from groundwater pumped for irrigation, residential use, industrial applications, and mining. This may account for up-core increases in ²²⁶Ra activity measured in sediment cores from some Florida lakes. Significant groundwater pumping began within the last century, and there has been insufficient time for supported ²¹⁰Pb to come into equilibrium with adsorbed ²²⁶Ra in uppermost deposits. Input of ²²⁶Ra-rich groundwater to lakes may occur in any geographic region where local bedrock contains ²³⁸U and its daughters. When dissolved ²²⁶Ra adsorbs to recent sediments, it complicates accurate estimation of supported ²¹⁰Pb activity, and confounds calculation of unsupported ²¹⁰Pb activity that is used in dating models.     

Longues séries d'insolation homogénéisées en France

Prior to have long-term sunshine-duration series, data rescue effort has to be engaged. Eighteen series have been homogenized over the period 1931–2000. These series complete the set of diagnoses on climate change at a regional scale, confirm part of the diagnosis established for the temperatures, and offer new tracks for the mechanisms of climate change. To cite this article: J.-M. Moisselin, C. Canellas, C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Phytoplankton reference communities for Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries

Phytoplankton reference communities for Chesapeake Bay were quantified from least-impaired water quality conditions using commonly measured parameters and indicators derived from measured parameters. A binning approach was developed to classify water quality. Least-impaired conditions had relatively high water column transparency and low concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and orthophosphate. Reference communities in all seasons and salinity zones are characterized by consistently low values of chlorophylla and pheophytin coupled with relative stable proportions of the phytoplankton taxonomic groups and low biomasses of key bloom-forming species. Chlorophyll cell content was lower and less variable and average cell size and seasonal picophytoplankton biomass tended to be greater in the mesohaline and polyhaline reference communities as compared to the impaired communities. Biomass concentrations of the nano-micro phytoplankton size fractions (2–200 μm) in 12 of the 16 season-specific and salinity-specific reference communities were the same or higher than those in impaired habitat conditions, suggesting that nutrient reductions will not decrease the quantity of edible phytoplankton food available to large consumers. High (bloom) and low (bust) biomass events within the impaired phytoplankton communities showed strikingly different chlorophyll cell content and turnover rates. Freshwater flow had little effect on phytoplankton responses to water quality condition in most of the estuary. Improved water column transparency, or clarity, through the reduction of suspended sediments will be particularly important in attaining the reference communities. Significant nitrogen load reductions are also required.     

Late Pleistocene variations in Antarctic sea ice II: effect of interhemispheric deep-ocean heat exchange

Variations in production rates of warm North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) have been proposed as a mechanism for linking climate fluctuations in the northern and southern hemispheres during the Pleistocene. We have tested this hypothesis by examining the sensitivity of a thermodynamic/dynamic model for Antarctic sea ice to changes in vertical ocean heat flux and comparing the simulations with modified CLIMAP sea-ice maps for 18 000 B.P. Results suggest that changes in NADW production rates, and the consequent changes in the vertical ocean heat flux in the Antarctic, can only account for about 20%–30% of the overall variance in Antarctic sea-ice extent. This conclusion has been validated against an independent geological data set involving a time series of sea-surface temperatures from the subantarctic. The latter comparison suggests that, although the overall influence of NADW is relatively minor, the linkage may be much more significant at the 41 000-year obliquity period. Despite some limitations in the models and geological data, we conclude that NADW variations may have played only a modest role in causing late Pleistocene climate change in the high latitudes of the southern hemisphere. Our conclusion is consistent with calculations by Manabe and Broccoli (1985) suggesting that atmospheric CO₂ changes may be more important for linking the two hemispheres.     

Epiclastic deposits and ‘horseshoe-shaped’ calderas in Tahiti (Society Islands) and Ua Huka (Marquesas Archipelago), French Polynesia

Occurrences of debris avalanche deposits newly identified in Tahiti (Society Islands) and Ua Huka (Marquesas Archipelago) are described and interpreted here. In both islands, the breccias are located within horseshoe-shaped residual calderas. In Tahiti, the epiclastic formations, up to 500 m thick, lie on the floor of the central depression and in the valley of the northwards running Papenoo River. In Ua Huka, the breccias crop out within a depression limited by a semicircular crest in four bays along the southern coast. Their thickness is ca. 100 m. A few clasts collected in the Tahitian breccias and some rocks forming their substratum have been dated (K–Ar datings) and analysed (major and trace elements, Sr–Nd isotopes) for this study. Using these data, we show that the debris avalanche(s) occurred in Tahiti Nui at the end of the growth of the shield volcano (between 570 000 and 390 000 years ago), maybe in consequence of the emplacement of the plutonic body which occupies the central part of the caldera. In Ua Huka, the collapse took place nearly 3 Ma ago, between the construction of the shield volcano and that of the inner one. The southwards orientation of the caldera, like that of the neighbouring island Nuku Hiva, might reflect a preferential direction of weakness in the substratum of the central Marquesas.     

Tunnel channels in southeast Alberta, Canada: : evidence for catastrophic channelized drainage

Tunnel channels in southeast Alberta are attributed to erosion by channelized, subglacial meltwater flows. An anabranching tunnel channel network dissects the preglacial drainage divide of the ancestral Milk River. Channel morphology and landform associations are used to evaluate competing hypotheses of tunnel channel formation. Mechanisms that invoke subaerial channel incision, direct glacial erosion or steady state, time-transgressive erosion at the ice margin cannot explain convex-up longitudinal channel profiles, anabranching channel networks or confinement to the preglacial drainage divide. Results conclude that the tunnel channel network in southeast Alberta represents late-stage erosion by a channelised subglacial flow of catastrophic dimensions. Interpretations for this tunnel channel network are in agreement with conclusions obtained for the regional subglacial landform assemblage.