Changing lake dynamics and sequence stratigraphy of synrift lacustrine strata in a half-graben: an example from the Triassic Ischigualasto–Villa Unión Basin, Argentina

Well‐exposed Triassic rift strata from the Ischigualasto–Villa Unión Basin (NW Argentina) include a 80 to ca 515 m thick lacustrine‐dominated package that can be correlated across a half‐graben using key stratigraphic surfaces (sequence boundaries, lacustrine flooding surfaces and forced regressive surfaces). The characteristics of the synrift lacustrine fill in different parts of the half‐graben have been examined and the mechanisms controlling sedimentation inferred. A variety of sedimentary environments are recognized including; volcaniclastic floodplain, mildly saline lake and playa lake, offshore lacustrine, delta front to fluvial‐dominated and wave‐dominated deltas, distributary and fluvial channel, and interdistributary bay. The succession can be divided into four stratigraphic sequences (SS1 to SS4), the oldest of which (SS1) contains volcaniclastic, fluvial and saline lake deposits; it is thickest close to the western border fault zone, reflecting more rapid subsidence here. Accommodation exceeded sediment and water input during SS1. The second and third sequences (SS2 and SS3) mark the onset of widespread lacustrine sedimentation, reflecting a balance between accommodation creation and water and sediment fluxes. Sequences SS2 and SS3 are represented by offshore meromictic lacustrine and deltaic deposits, the latter mostly sourced from the flexural and southern axial margins of the half‐graben. The presence of stacked parasequences bound by lacustrine flooding surfaces is related to climatically induced lake‐level fluctuations superimposed on variable rates of subsidence on the controlling rift border fault zone. The youngest sequence (SS4) is represented by the deposits of littoral lacustrine and shallow shelf deltas distinguished by a change in lithofacies, palaeocurrents and sandstone composition, suggesting a switch in sediment supply to the footwall margin to the NW. The change in the sediment source is related to reduced footwall uplift, the possible presence of a relay ramp and/or supply from a captured antecedent drainage network. During SS4, the rate of creation of accommodation was exceeded by the sediment and water discharge. The stratigraphic evolution of lacustrine strata in the half‐graben was mainly controlled by tectonic processes, including subsidence rate and the growth and evolution of the border fault zone, but changing climate (inducing changes in water balance and lake level) and autocyclic processes (delta lobe switching) were also important.     

Anticlockwise P-T Path of Granulites from the Monte Castelo Gabbro (Ordenes Complex, NW Spain)

The study of mafic and aluminous granulites from the Monte CasteloGabbro (Órdenes Complex, NW Spain) reveals an anticlockwiseP–T path that we interpret as related to the tectonothermalactivity in a magmatic arc, probably an island arc. The P–Tpath was obtained after a detailed study of the textural relationshipsand mineral assemblage succession in the aluminous granulites,and comparing these with an appropriate petrogenetic grid. Additionalthermobarometry was also performed. The granulites are highlyheterogeneous, with distinct compositional domains that mayalternate even at thin-section scale. Garnets are generallyidiomorphic to subidiomorphic, and in certain domains of thealuminous granulites they show overgrowths forming xenomorphiccoronas around a more or less idiomorphic core. Both types ofgarnets show significant Ca enrichment at the crystal rims,which, together with the other mineralogical and textural characteristics,is compatible with a pressure increase with low T variation.P–T estimations indicate a peak of T > 800°C andP     

Low‐dimensional representation of error covariance

Ensemble and reduced‐rank approaches to prediction and assimilation rely on low‐dimensional approximations of the estimation error covariances. Here stability properties of the forecast/analysis cycle for linear, time‐independent systems are used to identify factors that cause the steady‐state analysis error covariance to admit a low‐dimensional representation. A useful measure of forecast/analysis cycle stability is the bound matrix , a function of the dynamics, observation operator and assimilation method. Upper and lower estimates for the steady‐state analysis error covariance matrix eigenvalues are derived from the bound matrix. The estimates generalize to time‐dependent systems. If much of the steady‐state analysis error variance is due to a few dominant modes, the leading eigenvectors of the bound matrix approximate those of the steady‐state analysis error covariance matrix. The analytical results are illustrated in two numerical examples where the Kalman filter is carried to steady state. The first example uses the dynamics of a generalized advection equation exhibiting non‐modal transient growth. Failure to observe growing modes leads to increased steady‐state analysis error variances. Leading eigenvectors of the steady‐state analysis error covariance matrix are well approximated by leading eigenvectors of the bound matrix. The second example uses the dynamics of a damped baroclinic wave model. The leading eigenvectors of a lowest‐order approximation of the bound matrix are shown to approximate well the leading eigenvectors of the steady‐state analysis error covariance matrix.     

NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION SIGNATURES IN WESTERN IBERIAN TREE-RINGS

Exactly dated ring-width chronologies derived from Pyrenean oak and sweet chestnut trees growing in northern Extremadura, Spain, were evaluated for their potential as proxies for regional precipitation and North Atlantic Oscillation variability. The relationships among tree-rings, instrumental climatic records, and three versions of the NAO index were computed for different time subperiods over the last century. The results indicate that tree-ring records reflect, with variable intensity, both short-term and long-term variations in climate. Multiple correlation and regression analysis revealed that summer precipitation appeared to be the major factor affecting tree growth at inter-annual timescales. Moreover, since fluctuations in accumulated variability in annual rainfall over southwest Iberia are controlled by winter precipitation, the accumulated rainfall (August of the year n -1 to July of year n ) and winter NAO indices are also strongly correlated with tree-ring records at interdecadal timescales. This relationship appears to be especially strong during the second half of the 20th century, which is consistent with an increase of the NAO signal in the annual precipitation during the later part of the century. These results indicate that tree-rings from western Iberia are potential proxies of the NAO variability, useful to be included in palaeoclimatic model studies.     

RECENT TRENDS IN TREE-RING RECORDS FROM HIGH ELEVATION SITES IN THE ANDES OF NORTHERN PATAGONIA

A new set of tree-ring records from the Andes of northern Patagonia, Argentina (41° S) was used to evaluate recent (i.e., last 250 years) regional trends in tree growth at upper treeline. Fifteen tree-ring chronologies from 1200 to 1750 m elevation were developed for Nothofagus pumilio, the dominant subalpine species. Samples were collected along three elevational transects located along the steep west-to-east precipitation gradient from the main Cordillera (mean annual precipitation >4000 mm) to an eastern outlier of the Andes (mean annual precipitation >2000 mm). Ring-width variation in higher elevation tree-ring records from the main Cordillera is mainly related to changes in temperature and precipitation during spring and summer. However, the response to climatic variation is also influenced by local site factors of elevation and exposure. Based on the relationships between Nothofagus growth and climate, we reconstructed changes in snow cover duration in late spring and variations in mean annual temperature since A.D. 1750. Abrupt interannual changes in the mean annual temperature reconstruction are associated with strong to very strong El Niño-Southern Oscillation events. At upper treeline, tree growth since 1977 has been anomalously high. A sharp rise in global average tropospheric temperatures has been recorded since the mid-1970s in response to an enhanced tropical hydrologic cycle due to an increase in temperature of the tropical Pacific. Temperatures in northern Patagonia have been anomalously high throughout the 1980s, which is consistent with positive temperature anomalies in the tropical Pacific and along the western coast of the Americas at c.a. 40° S latitude. Our 250-year temperature reconstruction indicates that although the persistently high temperatures of the 1980s are uncommon during this period, they are not unprecedented. Tropical climatic episodes similar to that observed during the 1980s may have occurred in the recent past under pre-industrial carbon dioxide levels.