Characteristics and implications of some Loch Lomond Stadial moraine ridges and later landforms,eastern Lake District,northern England

Moraine ridges and mounds of inferred Loch Lomond Stadial (LLS) age have been mapped at three sites (Fordingdale, Swindale and Wet Sleddale) in part of the eastern Lake District, northern England, and indicate glaciers were more widespread than envisaged by Sissons (1980, Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, Vol. 71, pp. 13–27). The moraines delimit closely the downslope/downvalley limits of the former glaciers but there is no geomorphological evidence with which to define their upslope/upvalley margins. The former glaciers are considered to have been nourished within the confines of their individual valley, cirque and hillside embayment respectively, rather than being outlet glaciers of plateau icefields. Estimated equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) are within the range of values determined previously for LLS glaciers in the Lake District and do not necessitate revision of established palaeoclimatic parameters. Individual ELAs were probably influenced by local factors; all three former glaciers had accumulation-area aspects between north and east, limiting the impact of direct solar radiation during the ablation season, and were adjacent to extensive areas of high ground to the west and/or south that would have facilitated transfer of snow to their surfaces by winds from those directions. In Fordingdale, three essentially contemporaneous depositional landforms occur upslope of the moraines and are considered to represent hillslope adjustments following wastage of glacier ice from the site. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palaeomagnetism of igneous rocks of the Lake District (Caledonian) terrane,Northern England: palaeozoic motions and deformation at a leading edge of Avalonia

The Lake District terrane of northern England comprises Upper Cambrian–Silurian sediments and volcanics accumulated at the northern margin of the Avalonian Plate during growth and demise of the Iapetus Ocean. Ocean closure and suturing resulted in Late Ordovician and Acadian tectonism and were accompanied by emplacement of a large regional batholith. Palaeomagnetic study of intrusive igneous rocks, including application of thermal demagnetization, field tests and principal component analysis, identifies a history of Ordovician to Devonian magnetization. Late plutons (Shap and Skiddaw granites and/or aureoles) record a shallow dipolar (A3) axis (mean declination/inclination (D/I=278/+17°) dating from emplacement in late Early Devonian times (c. 395 Ma). Although this axis is recorded as a sporadic overprint in older rocks, no pervasive remagnetization is attributable to batholith emplacement. Instead, the Carrock Fell Complex Layered Gabbros have a mid- to late Ordovician (A1) remanence (D/I)=17·4/−58·1°, 36 samples, α₉₅=4·8°) predating regional F2 folding. Later events in this igneous complex comprise the Carrock Fell Granophyre with a post-folding Ordovician remanence, and Round Knott Dolerite with a remanence linked to hydrothermal alteration late in the Ordovician magmatic episode. A Late Ordovician (Ashgill) palaeofield is also defined by remanence (A2) in the Threlkeld–St John's Microgranite and aureole (438 Ma, D/I=236·5/63·3°, 41 samples, α₉₅=4·7°). Other intrusions carrying a remanence predating the Acadian deformation include the Great Cockup Picrite (458 Ma, D/I=43·2/−31·8°, 31 samples, α₉₅=7·7°) and basic intrusives in the aureole of the Eskdale Granite (429 Ma, D/I=174·5/25·8°, 32 samples, α₉₅=8·8°). Collectively the palaeomagnetic data from this terrane identify a hairpin in the apparent polar wander path during Late Ordovician (Caradoc–Ashgill) times corresponding to ‘soft’ closure of the Iapetus suture and accompanying deformation. The same motion is recognized in contemporaneous data from the Welsh Caledonides where declinations are rotated by c. 55° relative to contemporaneous results from the Lake District. Adjustment for this (probable late Acadian) rotation beings fold trends of the Paratectonic Caledonides into alignment and identifies a parallel mid- to late Ordovician destructive plate margin comprising forearc (Lake District) and backarc (North Wales). This arc was oriented latitudinally in mid-southerly latitudes during formation and the bulk of the magmatism occurred during a single normal-polarity chron. The relationships between magnetization and folding in both the Lake District and Welsh Borderlands identify the importance of Late Ordovician deformation along this arc during collision of Avalonia and Laurentia. Arc-related volcanism was succeeded in Silurian times by parallel foreland basins embracing the Welsh Basin and southern Lake District as the Laurentian Plate overrode the Avalonian Plate. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The geomorphological impact of Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stadial plateau icefields in the central Lake District,northwest England

Detailed geomorphological mapping has revealed evidence for the development of plateau icefields in the central fells of the English Lake District during the Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stadial (ca. 12.9–11.5 ka). The largest plateau icefield system, which covered an area of approximately 55 km² (including outlet glaciers), was centred on High Raise. To the west, smaller plateau icefields developed on Grey Knotts/Brandreth and Dale Head, covering areas of 7 km² and 3 km² respectively. The geomorphological impact of these plateau icefields appears to have been minimal on the summits, where the survival of blockfields and other frost‐weathered debris (mostly peat‐covered) implies the existence of at least patches of protective, cold‐based ice. Ice‐moulded bedrock at some plateau edges, however, documents a transition to wet‐based, erosive conditions. Prominent moraine systems were produced by outlet glaciers, which descended into the surrounding valleys where their margins became sediment traps for supraglacial debris and inwash. In some valleys, ice‐marginal moraines record successive positions of outlet glaciers, which actively backwasted towards their plateau source. This interpretation differs from that of previous workers, who assumed an alpine style of glaciation, with reconstructed glaciers emanating from corries and valley heads. It is likely that plateau icefields were more common at this time in upland Britain than hitherto has been appreciated. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Significance of snowblow in the generation of Loch Lomond Stadial (Younger Dryas) glaciers in the western Pennines,northern England

Geomorphological mapping has identified the former existence of five cirque glaciers that formed during the Loch Lomond Stadial in the western Pennines, northern England. Landforms in Mallerstang, which previously have been interpreted as moraine ridges, are shown to be better explained as large complex landslides. Reconstruction of these former glaciers has allowed the calculation of the former equilibrium line altitudes (ELA) by a number of different methods. Values for the ELA show a range across the area from 311 m to 608 m OD, but with low values (311 m and 428 m) for the two western glaciers. These are explained by the existence of large plateau areas adjacent to the former glaciers, which contributed additional mass to the glaciers by snowblow on to the glacier surfaces. Delimitation of the potential snowblow area for each glacier shows that it has a distinct orientation, with the western sector (225–315°) being statistically significant with the ELA indicating the importance of winds from this direction in determining the existence of these palaeoglaciers. The significance of snowblow for the generation of small glaciers in marginal areas means that such local factors must be investigated before regional firn line trends are determined in former glaciated areas.     

Relict rock glaciers in Wasdale, western Lake District, northwest England: geofact or geofantasy

Field examination of four landforms in the Wasdale area of the western Lake District that have previously been classified as relict rock glaciers indicates that such designation is no longer appropriate. Two of the features consist of bedrock with clusters of locally derived boulders; another is largely the product of glacial deposition with some evident fluvial modification; the fourth resembles a series of solifluction lobes, which may also have undergone some fluvial alteration. Use of these features to draw palaeoclimatic inferences concerning permafrost and temperature is no longer tenable.     

The stratigraphy and composition of the Latterbarrow and Redmain sandstones,Lake District,England

The Latterbarrow Formation, 400 m thick, has been mapped and subdivided informally into three members. These consist of quartz wacke sandstone and, in the upper member only, intercalated mudstones. The formation unconformably overlies the fossiliferous Skiddaw Group of late Tremadoc to middle Arenig age and is overlain disconformably by volcanic rocks that have been attributed to the Borrowdale Volcanic Group. Chemically, the sandstones are characterized by very low concentrations of CaO, Na₂O, and K₂O and unusually high total iron. MnO and MgO, such that iron, as Fe₂O₃, exceeds Al₂O₃. Mudstone in the upper member is illite rich, has a high K₂O content and is compositionally similar to K-bentonites derived from volcanic ash. Sedimentary structures and petrography suggest that the sediments were deposited in a sandy estuary and were derived from a similar source area to that of the Skiddaw Group. Throughout the succession there is evidence of distal volcanism, probably representing the earliest eruptions of the Borrowdale volcanic episode. The Redmain Formation, 100 m thick, is unconformably overlain by Carboniferous rocks but its relationship to the underlying Skiddaw Group is unknown. Though this lithic arenite shows some petrographic and geochemical similarities with the Latterbarrow sandstone, differences are such that it is possible they are not equivalent in age. The Redmain sandstone may be derived from the erosion of Skiddaw Group rocks.     

西藏尼玛北部图北湖一带硅质岩中发现中三叠世放射虫化石

在龙木错-双湖缝合带之北图北湖一带的一套浅变质劈理化石英砂岩、粉砂质泥岩、(含砾)长石岩屑杂砂岩夹硅质岩、安山岩、含砾基性岩屑凝灰岩、安山质岩屑凝灰岩、玄武岩等组合中发现中三叠世拉丁期放射虫动物群Sepsagon robustum Lahm,Triassocampe cf.coronata,T.cf.levigata,Pararuesticyrtium cf.trattoense,Hindeosphaera spinulosa。放射虫化石的发现对北羌塘地区三叠纪地层的划分对比和地质构造发展演化的研究具有重要意义。     

'Pseudobreccias' revealed as calcrete mottling and bioturbation in the Late Dinantian of the southern Lake District, UK

Two types of ‘pseudobreccia’, one with grey and the other with brown mottle fabrics, occur in shoaling‐upward cycles of the Urswick Limestone Formation of Asbian (Late Dinantian, Carboniferous) age in the southern Lake District, UK. The grey mottle pseudobreccia occurs in cycle‐base packstones and developed after backfilling and abandonment of Thalassinoides burrow systems. Burrow infills consist of a fine to coarse crystalline microspar that has dull brown to moderate orange colours under cathodoluminescence. Mottling formed when an early diagenetic ‘aerobic decay clock’ operating on buried organic material was stopped, and sediment entered the sulphate reduction zone. This probably occurred during progradation of grainstone shoal facies, after which there was initial exposure to meteoric water. Microspar calcites then formed rapidly as a result of aragonite stabilization. The precipitation of the main meteoric cements and aragonite bioclast dissolution post‐date this stabilisation event. The brown mottle pseudobreccia fabrics are intimately associated with rhizocretions and calcrete, which developed beneath palaeokarstic surfaces capping cycle‐top grainstones and post‐date all depositional fabrics, although they may also follow primary depositional heterogeneities such as burrows. They consist of coarse, inclusion‐rich, microspar calcites that are always very dull to non‐luminescent under cathodoluminescence, sometimes with some thin bright zones. These are interpreted as capillary rise and pedogenic calcrete precipitates. The δ¹⁸O values (?5‰ to ?8‰, PDB) and the δ¹³C values (+2‰ to ?3‰, PDB) of the ‘pseudobreccias’ are lower than the estimated δ¹⁸O values (?3‰ to ?1‰ PDB) and δ¹³C values of (+2‰ to +4‰ PDB) of normal marine calcite precipitated from Late Dinantian sea water, reflecting the influence of meteoric waters and the input of organic carbon.     

Deglaciation of the younger dryas or Loch Lomond Stadial ice-field in the northern Highlands,Scotland

When viewed from the air, Scottish ‘hummocky moraine’ can be resolved into a series of linear ridges that resemble those found at the margins of actively retreating glaciers today. Recent work has supported the interpretation of these linear ridges as ice-marginal landforms and the authors believe that the majority of ‘hummocky moraine’ deposits can be interpreted in this way. Consequently the pattern of deglaciation can be established fairly precisely from the pattern of linear ridges. This approach is applied to the landforms of the northern part of the Loch Lomond Stadial ice-field in order to reconstruct the regional pattern of deglaciation. This leads to important inferences about the significance of topographic control during deglaciation and more importantly it provides fresh insight into the environment of the British Isles during the Loch Lomond Stadial.     

赣北鄱阳湖地区土塘剖面第四纪红土地球化学特征及古气候意义

赣北鄱阳湖地区土塘剖面发育第四纪红土,自下而上可分为强网纹红土层、弱网纹红土层、微网纹红土层、均质红土层和下蜀黄土层。基于常量元素、粒度分析数据以及前人年代框架,初探土塘剖面化学风化特征及其古气候意义。(1)土塘剖面粒度组分均一,常量元素含量相近,风化淋溶强烈。(2)土塘剖面各地层间化学风化强度存在差异:下蜀黄土层为初期的去Na、Ca阶段;均质红土层为中期的去K阶段;微网纹红土层由去K阶段向去Si阶段过渡;网纹红土层已完全进入晚期去Si阶段。剖面常量元素的相对迁移能力为:Na₂O>MnO₂>CaO>P₂O₅>MgO>K₂O>SiO₂>Al₂O₃>TiO₂>Fe₂O₃。(3)中更新世以来赣北鄱阳湖地区气候总体上由暖湿趋于干冷,期间伴随多个明显的干湿旋回佐证强烈的淋溶与干湿交替作用是网纹红土发育的重要驱动因子。     

A dated cave sediment record of Pleistocene transgressions on Berry Head,Southwest England

Berry Head, a limestone headland in Torbay, southwest England, exhibits a series of subaerial marine erosion platforms and raised beaches spanning an altitude range of 97 m. Solution caves on the headland show preferred horizontal development at elevations that are correlated with the marine erosion platforms, and developed in a marine/freshwater mixing zone whose position was controlled by high sea-level still-stands. Corbridge Cave in Berry Head Quarry lies below the raised beaches in Torbay, and contains evidence of three marine transgressions in the form of fine-grained marine ponding deposits with a marine microfauna. Uranium-series dating of intercalated speleothems indicates that a transgression during oxygen isotope stage 5e reached an elevation of 5.8 m OD, while an earlier transgression (probably during stage 7) reached at least 7.2 m OD. These findings are used to constrain possible interpretations of the aminostratigraphy of raised beaches in Southwest Britain, and a correlation of the Unnamed Stage of Bowen, Sykes, Reeves, Miller, Andrews, Brew and Hare with oxygen isotope stage 5e is proposed.     

Detailed seismic stratigraphy of Lago Puyehue: implications for the mode and timing of glacier retreat in the Chilean Lake District

Lago Puyehue is a glacigenic lake in the Chilean Lake District (40°S) with a complex deglaciation history. A detailed seismic–stratigraphic study of its sedimentary infill indicates a much earlier retreat of the glacier from the Lago Puyehue basin than the neighbouring glacier from the Lago Rupanco basin. Because of their close proximity, Rupanco meltwater streams played an important part in the depositional processes of Lago Puyehue. A timing discrepancy between the in‐lake ages of a sediment core and the outer‐lake ages of moraine deposits (re)opens the discussion on the timing of deglaciation in the Southern Hemisphere. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于遥感的毛乌素沙地红碱淖面积变化趋势及其影响因素分析

红碱淖是毛乌素沙地最大的内陆湖泊,是集旅游、渔业和生态湿地于一体的功能区。近年来,红碱淖面积萎缩,影响了其综合功能的发挥。为了查明红碱淖面积的变化趋势及其影响因素,在收集前人资料和研究成果的基础上,借助MODIS遥感数据反演了湖面面积,建立了2000年以来红碱淖面积的时间序列。在分析红碱淖面积的变化特征和影响因素后发现,早期红碱淖面积变化主要受气象因素的影响,湖泊面积呈周期性有规律的变化;后期在自然因素的基础上叠加了上游截流、地下水开采等人为因素的影响,湖泊面积在周期性变化的基础上总体呈现出萎缩的趋势。     

Timing of emplacement and deformation of the Tia Granodiorite,southern New England Fold Belt,NSW: Implications for the metamorphic history

The Tia Granodiorite, a Hillgrove Suite pluton in the southern New England Fold Belt, intruded complexly deformed metasediment and metabasite belonging to the Tia Complex, which at the time of intrusion had already been affected by two deformation events at low‐T moderate‐P metamorphic conditions and two overprinting deformation events at high‐T low‐P metamorphic conditions. Emplacement took place during D₅ thrusting associated with limited uplift as low‐P amphibolite facies metamorphism prevailed. Large‐scale warping during D₆ was followed by a second penetrative thrusting event (D₇) that caused further uplift and was initiated under lower amphibolite facies conditions.

The granodiorite has been dated at ～ 300 Ma using magmatic zircon, an age which is thought to approximate the emplacement age and thus D₅. Biotite grains associated with D₇ uplift yield a Rb/Sr age of 264±1.3 Ma. D₅ and D₇ appear to have formed during one extended high‐T metamorphic event because intervening retrogression is lacking in spite of extensive hydrous fluxing, as indicated by numerous syn‐D₆ quartz veins. This thermal event coincided with the opening of the extensional Permian basins.     

Structure and metamorphism of the Calliope Volcanic Assemblage: Implications for middle to Late Devonian orogeny in the northern New England Fold Belt

The Late Silurian to Middle Devonian Calliope Volcanic Assemblage in the Rockhampton region is deformed into a set of northwest‐trending gently plunging folds with steep axial plane cleavage. Folds become tighter and cleavage intensifies towards the bounding Yarrol Fault to the east. These folds and associated cleavage also deformed Carboniferous and Permian rocks, and the age of this deformation is Middle to Late Permian (Hunter‐Bowen Orogeny). In the Stanage Bay area, both the Calliope Volcanic Assemblage and younger strata generally have one cleavage, although here it strikes north to northeast. This cleavage is also considered to be of Hunter‐Bowen age. Metamorphic grade in the Calliope Volcanic Assemblage ranges from prehnite‐pumpellyite to greenschist facies, with higher grades in the more strongly cleaved rocks. In the Rockhampton region the Calliope Volcanic Assemblage is part of a west‐vergent fold and thrust belt, the Yarrol Fault representing a major thrust within this system.

A Late Devonian unconformity followed minor folding of the Calliope Volcanic Assemblage, but no cleavage was formed. The unconformity does not represent a collision between an exotic island arc and continental Australia as previously suggested.     

Carboniferous palaeomagnetism of the Rocky Creek Block,northern Tamworth Belt,and the New England pole path

Palaeomagnetic, rock magnetic and magnetic fabric results are presented for a Carboniferous (Visean to Westphalian) succession of felsic, mainly ignimbritic, volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks from the Rocky Creek Block of the northern Tamworth Belt, southern New England Orogen. Detailed thermal demagnetisation of 734 samples from 64 sites show three groups of magnetic components with low (<300°C), intermediate (300–600°C) and high (500–680°C) unblocking temperature ranges. Well‐defined primary magnetisations have been determined for 28 sites with evidence of four overprint phases. The overprints arise from a mid‐Tertiary weathering event (or possibly recent viscous origin), and from fluid movements associated with the Late Cretaceous opening of the Tasman Sea, thrusting during the Middle Triassic main phase of the Hunter‐Bowen Orogeny, and latest Carboniferous — Early Permian formation of the Bowen‐Gunnedah‐Sydney Basin system. Rock magnetic tests establish that the primary magnetisation carriers in the volcanic rocks are mainly magnetite (predominantly single domain, or pseudo‐single domain, and little or no multidomain) and hematite. Optimal magnetic cleaning is achieved at high to very high temperatures, with subtle, but systematic, directional and statistical differences between primary components derived from the mainly hematite fraction and pseudo‐components derived from the mainly magnetite fraction. The 28 primary magnetisation results are presented as six mean‐site results, summarised below and representing 25 sites, and three single‐site results. Fold tests could be applied to five mean‐site results. These are all positive, but one of these results may represent a secondary magnetisation. The primary magnetisation results define a Visean to Westphalian pole path. This long pole path indi cates extensive latitudinal and rotational movement for the Rocky Creek Block, and potentially for the New England Orogen, as follows: (i) Yuendoo Rhyolite Member (Caroda Formation, Visean) pole 235.8°E, 27.7°S, ED₉₅ = 9.0°, n = 3; (ii) Peri Rhyolite Member/Boomi Rhyolite Member (Clifden Formation, Namurian, 318.0 ± 3.4 Ma) pole 177.4°E, 63.4°S, ED₉₅ = 5.2°, n = 3; (iii) tuffaceous beds above Boomi Rhyolite Member (Clifden Formation?, Namurian) pole 162.2°E, 59.1°S, ED₉₅ = 10.2°, n = 3; ((iv) upper Clifden Formation/lower Rocky Creek Conglomerate (Namurian/Westphalian) pole 95.3°E, 49.6°S, ED₉₅ = 8.1°, n = 3 (possible overprint)); (v) Rocky Creek Conglomerate (Westphalian) pole 136.5°E, 57.6°S, ED₉₅ = 5.3°, n = 5; (vi) Lark Hill Formation (Westphalian) pole 127.0°E, 50.4°S, ED₉₅ = 4.8°, n = 8.