Periglacial climate at the 2.5 Ma onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation inferred from the Whippoorwill Formation, northern Missouri, USA

The Whippoorwill Formation is a gleyed diamicton that is present locally within bedrock depressions beneath the oldest glacial till in northern Missouri, USA. Stratigraphy, paleomagnetism, and cosmogenic-nuclide burial ages show that it was deposited between the Matuyama-Gauss magnetostratigraphic boundary at 2.58 Ma and the first advance of the Laurentide ice sheet into Missouri at 2.47 ± 0.19 Ma. High cosmogenic-nuclide concentrations also show that the constituents of the Whippoorwill Formation experienced long exposure at a stable landscape surface with erosion rates of 1-2 m/Ma. However, cosmogenic-nuclide concentrations are invariant with depth below the Whippoorwill Formation surface, indicating active mixing of the soil profile shortly before burial by till. The Whippoorwill Formation retains numerous features indicative of cryoturbation. Therefore, we interpret it as a buried Gelisol, a soil formed under periglacial conditions in the presence of permafrost. At the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation, climate cooling established permafrost conditions and accelerated erosion by inducing landscape instability. Thus, weathered regolith materials were mobilized and redeposited by gelifluction shortly before the ice sheet overrode the landscape.     

晚古生代古亚洲洋俯冲作用:来自珲春前山镁铁质侵入岩的年代学和地球化学记录

珲春地区前山镁铁质侵入岩主要由橄榄辉长岩、苏长岩和辉长闪长岩组成,形成年龄273±2Ma,为早二叠世侵入岩。该岩体显示出岛弧拉斑玄武岩的元素地球化学特征,弱富集LREE且正Eu(Eu/Eu*=1.05～1.44)异常的REE配分模式,在不相容元素中富集大离子亲石元素(LILE)如Ba和Sr,亏损高场强元素(HFSE)(La/Nb=2.8～4.8;Zr/Sm=8.0～22.5),与起源于流体交代地幔楔部分熔融的岛弧低钾拉斑玄武岩类似。在同位素特征上低放射成因Sr,高放射成因Nd和Hf(87Sr/86Sr(i)=0.70295～0.70375;εNd(t)=+4.5～+6.4;εHf(t)=+9.6～+14.6),反映其来源于同位素组成亏损的交代地幔。结合区域地质背景,我们认为前山镁铁质岩形成于晚古生代期间古亚洲洋向华北板块的俯冲作用背景,其亏损Nb-Ta、Zr-Hf及Hf-Nd同位素解耦特点说明该岩体最有可能来源于俯冲流体交代的地幔楔。     

吉林东南部晚中生代中酸性火山作用成因的地球化学制约

详细的主、微量元素和Sr-Nd-Pb同位素研究结果显示,延吉地区晚中生代(早白垩世)中酸性火山岩具有岛弧型微量元素特征(富集轻稀土(LREE)、大离子亲石元素(LILE)和亏损高场强元素(HFSE)),和中等放射成因Sr、Pb及类似于硅质地球的Nd同位素组成(~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr(i)=0.70437～0.70525;~(206)Pb/~(204)Pb(i)=18.19～18.37,~(207)Pb/~(204)Pb(i)=15.54～15.57,~(208)Pb/~(204)Pb(i)=38.13～38.22;ε_(Nd)(t)=-2.75～+1.61)。其Sr-Nd-Pb同位素组成特征类似于区域同期基性火山岩和大兴安岭地区同时代火山岩。这些广泛分布于吉林南部的晚中生代中酸性火山岩是岩石圈地幔来源岩浆经分离结晶或地壳物质混染/AFC过程的产物。吉林省东南部晚中生代不同区域火山岩的Sr-Nd-Pb同位素对比结果显示,辽源-延吉与通化地区分属不同构造单元,其中辽源-延吉一带则为中亚造山带的东段,而通化地区为华北克拉通的一部分,夹皮沟-松江断裂可能是华北克拉通东北缘的边界。     

Bluff evolution and long-term recession rates,southwestern Lake Michigan

Where eroding cohesive sediments are present, Lake Michigan bluffs range up to 40 m in height, exposing multiple glacial stratigraphic units. Following the model presented here, bluffs form as a wave-cut terrace erodes inland from a point near the original shoreline. The erosion plane is nearly horizontal, in contrast with the eastward dip of the glacial units inherited from underlying bedrock. Therefore, terraces eroding inland produce progressively higher bluffs and expose successively older units at the toe and beneath the lake. This process was repeated several times as lake levels sequentially dropped to their modern stage. The initial modern shoreline, and hence the width of the wave-cut terrace, was determined from four offshore seismic and bottom-sampling profiles. It was picked as an inflection point in the lake bed, occurring offshore of dipping reflectors intersecting the lake bottom. The calculated average recession rate over a 2500-year duration of the modern stage is 1.5 m/yr in contrast to average rates of approximately 0.6 m/yr measured over the last century. Thus rates decrease through time as the terrace widens and wave energy is dampened. By correlating bluff height to recession distance, a third rate of approximately 2.7 m/yr for the first 940 years of recession is calculated from relict Nipissing bluffs. The three rates define a steeply decaying exponential curve in early stages of bluff retreat, flattening into a nearly linear function after 1000 years.     

Do conservative solutes migrate at average pore-water velocity?

According to common understanding, the advective velocity of a conservative solute equals the average linear pore-water velocity. Yet direct monitoring indicates that the two velocities may be different in heterogeneous media. For example, at the Camp Dodge, Iowa, site the advective velocity of discrete Cl- plumes was less than one tenth of the average pore-water velocity calculated from Darcy's law using the measured hydraulic gradient, effective porosity, and hydraulic conductivity (K) from large-scale three-dimensional (3D) techniques, e.g., pumping tests. Possibly, this difference reflects the influence of different pore systems, if the K relevant to transient solute flux is influenced more by lower-K heterogeneity than a steady or quasi-steady water flux. To test this idea, tracer tests were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. Under one-dimensional flow conditions, the advective velocity of discrete conservative solutes equaled the average pore-water velocity determined from volumetric flow rates and Darcy's law. In a larger 3D flow system, however, the same solutes migrated at approximately 65% of the average pore-water velocity. These results, coupled with direct observation of dye tracers and their velocities as they migrated through both homogeneous and heterogeneous sections of the same model, demonstrate that heterogeneity can slow the advective velocity of discrete solute plumes relative to the average pore-water velocity within heterogeneous 3D flow sytems.     

A systematic field-based testing program of hydraulic conductivity and dispersivity over a range in scale

In a small watershed underlain by relatively homogeneous (nonlayered), sandy, glacial outwash, hydraulic conductivity (K) and longitudinal dispersivity (α _L) were systematically measured over a range in scale. Test methods employed in the investigation are conventional and/or based on accepted principles, measurement scales are those typically encountered in applied field problems, and the hydrogeologic setting is typical of large areas within the northern hemisphere and similar to many alluvial environments worldwide. The results show that K measured under radial flow is scale-dependent up to a radius of influence (r _i) of approximately 15 m but reaches an asymptotic value above this threshold. This asymptotic value of K is consistent with results obtained at the regional scale (～10⁴ m) for the same aquifer using non-radial three-dimensional techniques; the initial increase appears to reflect increasing dimensionality of the radial tests with larger r _i. Although α _L was evaluated over a much smaller interval relative to K, α _L proved to be independent of scale over the full range tested, from 2 to 29 m, an unexpected result. The findings support the idea that there is, as yet, no predictable relationship between scale effects in K and α _L at scales normally encountered in applied field hydrogeology.     

浙闽沿海晚中生代伸展构造的岩石学标志:东极岛镁铁质岩墙群

在浙江舟山群岛之东极岛上,出露大规模的镁铁质岩墙群,它们沿晚中生代花岗岩和火山碎屑岩的节理侵位,产状近于直立且与围岩截然接触,指示岩墙岩浆以主动方式沿构造裂隙侵入。东极岛镁铁质岩墙群的岩性主要是角闪辉绿岩,全岩Ar-Ar年龄为93.4Ma。在地球化学上,它们属弱碱性系列,SiO_2含量为46.88%～52.55%,CaO 5.40%～7.82%,Al_2O_316.30%～17.31%,TiO_2 1.53%～1.18%,(Na_2O+K_2O)4.62%～6.88%,Mg~#=34～42;具有轻稀土元素和大离子亲石元素(LILE,如Sr、K、Rb、Ba等)富集、高场强元素(HFSE,如Nb、Ta等)亏损等特点,它们的I_(Sr)为0.7084～0.7098,ε_(Nd)(t)为-3.21～-8.11,与福建沿海的镁铁质岩墙群及浙闽沿海晚中生代基性岩浆岩(辉长岩/辉绿岩和玄武岩)相似。它们由起源于受消减作用影响的岩石圈地幔部分熔融而产生并受地壳混染的玄武岩浆,在伸展构造环境中形成,是浙闽沿海晚中生代伸展构造的重要岩石学标志。