Origin and age of bornhardts,Southwest Western Australia

Most of the granitic residuals of the Wheat Belt of southwestern Western Australia are bornhardts, with some nubbins developed at the western margin and occasional poorly developed castellated forms. Their origin and age can be deduced from their structure and their relationship to a weathered (lateritic) land surface and various palaeochannels. The bornhardts are massive and most stand lower than local palaeosurface remnants. They are best interpreted as having formed by differential fracture density controlled weathering beneath the weathered land surface in pre‐Eocene times. They were exposed by the stripping of the regolith beginning in the Eocene. Many are clearly stepped, indicating that their exposure took place not all at once, but episodically. A few bornhardts stand higher than the weathered land surface. They pre‐date the Eocene and the stepped morphology preserved on some suggests that their crests are much older.     

Sedimentology, stratigraphy and landscape evolution of a Holocene coastal dune system, Lodbjerg, NW Jutland, Denmark

The stratigraphy and landscape evolution of the Lodbjerg coastal dune system record the interplay of environmental and cultural changes since the Late Neolithic. The modern dunefield forms part of a 40 km long belt of dunes and aeolian sand‐plains that stretches along the west coast of Thy, NW Jutland. The dunefield, which is now stabilized, forms the upper part of a 15–30 m thick aeolian succession. The aeolian deposits drape a glacial landscape or Middle Holocene lake sediments. The aeolian deposits were studied in coastal cliff exposures and their large‐scale stratigraphy was examined by ground‐penetrating radar mapping. The contact between the aeolian and underlying sediments is a well‐developed peaty palaeosol, the top of which yields dates between 2300 BC and 600 BC . Four main aeolian units are distinguished, but there is some lateral stratigraphic variation in relation to underlying topography. The three lower aeolian units are separated by peaty palaeosols and primarily developed as 1–4 m thick sand‐plain deposits; these are interpreted as trailing edge deposits of parabolic dunes that moved inland episodically. Local occurrence of large‐scale cross‐stratification may record the head section of a migrating parabolic dune. The upper unit is dominated by large‐scale cross‐stratification of various types and records cliff‐top dune deposition. The nature of the aeolian succession indicates that the aeolian landscape was characterized by alternating phases of activity and stabilization. Most sand transported inland was apparently preserved. Combined evidence from luminescence dating of aeolian sand and radiocarbon dating of palaeosols indicates that phases of aeolian sand movement were initiated at about 2200 BC , 700 BC and AD 1100. Episodes of inland sand movement were apparently initiated during marked climate shifts towards cooler, wetter and more stormy conditions; these episodes are thought to record increased coastal erosion and strong‐wind reworking of beach and foredune sediments. The intensity, duration and areal importance of these sand‐drift events increased with time, probably reflecting the increasing anthropogenic pressure on the landscape. The formation of the cliff‐top dunes after AD 1800 records the modern retreat of the coastal cliffs.     

Reappraisal of Precambrian sheet‐braided rivers: Evidence for 1·9 Ga deep‐channelled drainage

The repetitive sedimentology of many Precambrian sheet‐dominated fluvial sandstones favoured their attribution to unconfined depositional processes. This article presents outcrop evidence for deep‐channelled drainage in the 1·9 Ga Burnside River Formation of Kilohigok Basin, Arctic Canada. On the ground, sheet‐like sandbodies with ubiquitous cross‐bedding are at first consistent with classic, unconfined depositional models. However, satellite and oblique‐aerial imagery of sections up to 15 km wide and 500 m thick reveals the occurrence of incised palaeovalleys hosting clustered, kilometre‐scale, channel bodies with attached large foreset bars pointing to downstream‐lateral accretion, sand sheets with aspect ratios (i.e. width to thickness) as high as 2500, and scattered aeolian intervals. The genetic association of these architectural elements points to aggradational fluvial piedmonts composed of low‐relief unit bars generated by braidplain channels several metres deep. Preservation of aeolianites was facilitated by fluctuating groundwater table and accommodation. Fluvial piedmonts were transected by weakly sinuous channel belts up to 25 m deep and characterized by through‐going or tributary planform. Aspect ratios comparable with those of late Palaeozoic to modern braided channels disprove the inference that all Precambrian streams readily widened in response to increased discharge. Previous facies models for large‐scale Precambrian sheet‐braided rivers failed to depict entire channel forms, possibly because they could not be resolved by ground‐based observations. Based on their limited geomorphic variability and abundance of architectural elements with very high aspect ratios, this study recommends that large sheet‐braided fluvial systems should still be considered separately from their post‐Silurian (i.e. vegetated) braided counterparts. Parallels between sheet‐braided and modern dryland rivers do not, however, reconcile with the deep, perennial, channelized processes described here. Yet, distal sand‐bed and perennial reaches of modern sandur plains remain the closest analogue to sheet‐braided rivers. This conjecture contradicts the assumption that all Precambrian rivers were prone to simulate seasonal behaviours independently from their actual climate regime.     

Retrogression characteristics of landslides in fine-grained permafrost soils, Mackenzie Valley, Canada

Thirteen landslides (retrogressive thaw flows) were investigated to study the behavior of thaw retrogression in permafrost in the Mackenzie Valley, Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. Those landslides are all in fine-grained ice-rich permafrost soils. Such landslides usually start from small-scale slope failures followed by retrogressive thaw flows when ice-rich permafrost soils are exposed to the atmosphere. The landslides were marked with survey stakes to measure their retreat rates for the thawing season of 2007. Two correlations are presented: one is between scarp wall height and retreat rate; another is between overall slope angle and retreat rate. It was found that thaw flow retrogression rate increases with increase in scarp wall height and slope angle up to a certain limit. It was also confirmed that thaw flow retrogression is not influenced by slope orientation.     

Behaviour of retrogressive thaw slumps in northern Canada—three-year monitoring results from 18 sites

Eighteen (18) retrogressive thaw slumps (typical landslides in ice-rich permafrost) in northern Canada were monitored for 3 years to investigate the characteristics of their retrogressive behaviour. The head scarp retreat distances and scarp wall heights were measured annually. The first year monitoring results from 13 of the sites were released earlier, which demonstrated a correlation between thaw retrogression rate and scarp wall height. More data were obtained from a subsequent 2 years of monitoring and with five monitoring locations added. The additional data enhanced the initial findings that the retrogression rate increased with the increase of the scarp wall height. An updated correlation between the retrogression rate and scarp wall height is presented in this paper. The effect of slope orientation on thaw slump retrogression was also investigated. The data provided evidence that the occurrence of the retrogressive thaw slumps had no preference over slope orientation. The retrogression rates were also not affected by the slope facing direction.     

Investigation on the usage of different rock aggregates as abrasive materials in natural stone aging process

The process of giving an antique look, a worn and “old” appearance, to natural stone surfaces, which can be observed by abrasion in natural ways through a long time, is called artificial aging. Natural stone processing facilities that involve mass production usually prefer vibration aging machines. This study examines the utilization of various rock aggregates and abrasive residuals instead of synthetic abrasives used in aging machines. Natural stone samples with different properties were aged in a vibration aging machine using andesite, granite, sandstone, pebble stone, abrasive stone residuals, and ceramic abrasives. At the end of the study, the aging performance of different rocks was determined; granite was found to be the most effective. Rock aggregates were ranked in terms of their abrasiveness (aging) performance, from the most effective to the least effective as: granite, ceramic abrasive, sandstone, andesite, pebble stone, and abrasive stone residuals. It was observed that rock aggregates can be used in the aging process instead of synthetic ceramic abrasives, with desired performance.     

Sm-Nd, Pb-Pb and Rb-Sr Isotopic Dating and Its Dynamic Implications for the Proterozoic Augen Granite in the Yunkai Area, Western Guangdong Province

The samples of ductile-rheologic deformational augen granite from the Yunkai uplift area, western Guangdong province, were determined by the whole-rock Sm-Nd, Pb-Pb and Rb-Sr isotopic dating to have an Sm-Nd isochron age of 1414±68 Ma, a Pb-Pb isochron age of 1388±90 Ma and a Rb-Sr isochron age of 490±36 Ma. The first two ages are interpreted as the formation age of this suite of granite and the last age represents the timing of the tec-tono-thermal event of Caledonian ductile-rheologic shear partial melting. It is indicated that in the study area not only an orogeny took place in the Caledonian, but also a more important tectono-magmatic activity occurred in the Meso-proterozoic there , which may be related to the subduction-collision between the Yangtze block and Cathaysia block.     

Origins and environments of pediments

Three types of pediment have been recognised. The first are cut bedrock surfaces, veneered (and hence smoothed and protected) by coarse alluvial debris. Characteristically developed in the Brachina area of South Australia, they form in the piedmont zone in areas of mixed sedimentary outcrop and in areas where there are large variations in river and stream discharge, including occasional high floods. They are not restricted to any conventionally defined climatic region or regions, though their development is favoured by stream regimes characteristic of arid and semiarid lands.

The second and third types are typical of granite regions. The debris veneer of the second form, well developed around Ucontitchie Hill, mainly consists of weathered rock in situ, though in places there is also a thin discontinuous veneer of transported material. The mantis consists of grus and is readily eroded, exposing the weathering front as a rock platform or pediment, such as that found adjacent to Corrobinnie Hill. The mantled and rock forms are well developed in arid and semiarid tropical and subtropical lands, though it is suggested that they have their congeners in cooler mid latitude areas.

Brachina type pediments characteristically occur in flights, and they persist in the landscape, as also do rock pediments. But the Ucontitchie type is readily eroded and is a single cycle form. Brachina and Ucontitchie type pediments are the most common members of an isomorphous series. Similarly, the Ucontitchie and Corrobinnie types of granitic areas are end members of a continuum.

None of three pediment forms indentified is necessarily associated with scarp retreat.     

Post-Neogene tectonism along the Aravalli Range, Rajasthan, India

The Aravalli Range runs southwest from Delhi for a distance of about 700 km. Its western margin is well defined, but the eastern margin is diffuse. Five geomorphic provinces are recognized in the study area: the western piedmont plains; the ridge and valley province which in the Central Aravallis occurs at two different heights separated by a fault scarp; the plateau province demarcated from the former by a fault scarp, confined to the Southern Aravallis, and occurring for a short stretch at two heights across another fault scarp; the BGC rolling plains east of the Range; and the BGC uplands south of the above. The scarps coincide with Precambrian faults. A series of rapids and water-falls, together with deeply entrenched river courses across the scarps and the youthful aspects of the escarpments with no projecting spurs, or straight river courses along their feet, all point unmistakably to a recent or post-Neogene vertical uplift along pre-existing faults. Presence of knickpoints at a constant distance from the Range in all west-flowing rivers, the ubiquitous terraces, and river courses entrenched within their own flood-plain deposits of thick gritty to conglomeratic sand, are indicative of a constant disturbance with a gradual rise of the Range east of the knickpoint, wherefrom the coarse materials were carried by the fast west-flowing streams. There is a differential uplift across the plateau scarp together with a right-lateral offset.This epeirogenic tectonism is ascribed to the collision of the Eurasian and the subducting Indian plates and to a locking of their continental crusts. By early Pleistocene, with the MBT gradually dying off, continued plate movement caused a flexural bending of the plate by a moment generated at the back, and a possible delinking of the continental crust along the zone of subduction. The felexural bending ripped open the Precambrian regional faults. The differential uplift and the difference in the distances of the nodes on two sides of the major reactivated fault were possibly caused by a difference in the values of the flexural rigidity and the foundation modulus owing to a slight compositional difference of the constiuent rocks in the two sectors.     

Geoarchaeology of the Nehalem spit: Redistribution of beeswax galleon wreck debris by Cascadia earthquake and tsunami (∼A.D. 1700), Oregon,USA

A coincidence of the Beeswax galleon shipwreck (ca. A.D. 1650–1700) and the last Cascadia earthquake tsunami and coastal subsidence at ∼A.D. 1700 redistributed and buried wreck artifacts on the Nehalem Bay spit, Oregon, USA. Ground‐penetrating radar profiles (∼7 km total distance), sand auger probes, trenches, cutbank exposures (29 in number), and surface cobble counts (49 sites) were collected from the Nehalem spit (∼5 km² area). The field data demonstrate (1) the latest prehistoric integrity of the spit, (2) tsunami spit overtopping, and (3) coseismic beach retreat since the A.D. 1700 great earthquake in the Cascadia subduction zone. Wreck debris was (1) initially scattered along the spit ocean beaches, (2) washed over the spit by nearfield tsunami (6–8 m elevation), and (3) remobilized in beach strandlines by catastrophic beach retreat. Historic recovery of the spit (150 m beach progradation) and modern foredune accretion (>5 m depth) have buried both the retreat scarp strandlines and associated wreck artifacts. The recent onshore sand transport might re‐expose heavy ship remains in the offshore area if the wreck grounded in shallow water (<20 m water depth of closure). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Woodcutters goldfield: Gold in an Archaean granite,Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

The 43 t (1.4 Moz) of gold in the Woodcutters goldfield 50 km north of Kalgoorlie has wide geological significance in terms of gold in Archaean granite, as well as its local commercial and exploration significance. Woodcutters is already one of the largest Archaean gold systems in granite, and is unusual in being so far laterally from the nearest greenstone belt. Gold in the Federal zone, one of the deposits making up the Woodcutters goldfield, is hosted in hornblende‐biotite granodiorite,6 km from the mapped contact with greenstone. In Federal open pit, the granodiorite is coarse‐grained in the northern half, and a fine‐grained granodiorite in the south, with both hosting gold. These two types of granodiorite are rather similar in both mineralogy and geochemistry. There is also a subordinate fine‐grained monzodiorite. The Federal gold mineralisation is in a northwest‐striking, northeast‐dipping (315° strike/60°E dip) shear zone in the Scotia granite. Variation in grainsize of the host rocks might have affected the style of deformation with more brittle fabrics in the coarse‐grained phase and more ductile fabrics prominent in the fine‐grained granodiorite. Hydrothermal alteration is extensively developed around the Federal deposit and is a useful vector towards gold mineralisation. Distal epidote alteration surrounds a proximal muscovite‐biotite alteration zone that contains quartz‐sulfide veins. The alteration shares some of the common alteration characteristics of Archaean greenstone‐hosted gold, but differs in that carbonate‐chlorite alteration is only weakly developed. This difference is readily explained in terms of host‐rock composition and lower concentrations of Fe, Mg and Ca in the granite compared with greenstone. Fluid‐inclusion studies demonstrate that the fluids associated with the hydrothermal alteration at Woodcutters shared the common characteristics of fluids in Archaean greenstone gold, namely low‐salinity and dominant H₂O–CO₂. Fluid inclusions with moderate salinity were found in one fresh sample away from mineralisation, and are inferred to represent possible magmatic fluid. There is no evidence of a granite‐derived fluid being responsible for gold mineralisation. The granodiorite host rock had cooled, crystallised and had at least started to undergo deformation prior to gold introduction. The distribution of gold mineralisation in the Woodcutters goldfield has the style, shape and orientation comparable with greenstone‐hosted gold deposits in the same region. The northwest trend, the quartz veining and simple pyrite mineralogy are all features common to other greenstone‐hosted gold deposits near Kalgoorlie such as Mt Pleasant. The alteration fluid appears to have penetrated the granite on the scale of many hundreds of metres, causing large‐scale alteration. Woodcutters gold mineralisation resulted from the same metamorphic fluid processes that led to formation of greenstone gold deposits. In this metamorphic model, granitic rocks are predicted to be less‐favourable gold hosts than mafic rocks for two reasons. Granitic rocks do not generally fracture during regional deformation in such a way as to create large‐scale dilation. Furthermore, with less iron and no carbon, granitic rocks have lower potential to precipitate gold from solution by wall‐rock reaction. The metamorphic model predicts that those granite types with higher Fe should host better gold deposits, all other factors being equal. Accordingly, tonalite‐trondhjemite and hornblende‐bearing granodiorite should provide better environments for major gold deposits compared with monzogranite, and granite sensu stricto, as borne out by Woodcutters, but mafic rocks should be better hosts than any of these felsic to intermediate rocks.     

Stable isotope constraints on the Al2SiO5'triple-point' rocks from the Proterozoic Priest pluton contact aureole, New Mexico, USA

The Priest pluton contact aureole in the Manzano Mountains, central New Mexico preserves evidence for upper amphibolite contact metamorphism and localized retrograde hydrothermal alteration associated with intrusion of the 1.42 Ga Priest pluton. Quartz–garnet and quartz–sillimanite oxygen isotope fractionations in pelitic schist document an increase in the temperatures of metamorphism from 540 °C, at a distance of 1 km from the pluton, to 690 °C at the contact with the pluton. Comparison of calculated temperature estimates with one‐dimensional thermal modelling suggests that background temperatures between 300 and 350 °C existed at the time of intrusion of the Priest pluton. Fibrolite is found within 300 m of the Priest pluton in pelitic and aluminous schist metamorphosed at temperatures >580 °C. Coexisting fibrolite and garnet in pelitic schist are in oxygen isotope equilibrium, suggesting these minerals were stable reaction products during peak metamorphism. The fibrolite‐in isograd is coincident with the staurolite‐out isograd in pelitic schist, and K‐feldspar is not observed with the first occurrence of fibrolite. This suggests that the breakdown of staurolite and not the second sillimanite reaction controls fibrolite growth in staurolite‐bearing pelitic schist. Muscovite‐rich aluminous schist locally preserves the Al₂SiO₅ polymorph triple‐point assemblage – kyanite, andalusite and fibrolite. Andalusite and fibrolite, but not kyanite, are in isotopic equilibrium in the aluminous schist. Co‐nucleation of fibrolite and andalusite at 580 °C in the presence of muscovite and absence of K‐feldspar suggests that univariant growth of andalusite and fibrolite occurred. Kyanite growth occurred during an earlier regional metamorphic event at a temperature nearly 80 °C lower than andalusite and fibrolite growth. Quartz–muscovite fractionations in hydrothermally altered pelitic schist and quartzite are small or negative, suggesting that late isotopic exchange between externally derived fluids and muscovite, but not quartz, occurred after peak contact metamorphism and that hydrothermal alteration in pelitic schist and quartzite occurred below the closure temperature of oxygen self diffusion in quartz (<500 °C).     

Episodic granite accumulation and extraction from the mid‐crust

The processes of long‐range granitic magma transfer from mid‐ and lower crustal anatectic zones to upper crustal pluton emplacement sites remain controversial in the literature. This is partly because feeder networks that could have accommodated this large‐scale magma transport remain elusive in the field. Existing granite ascent models are based largely on numerical and theoretical studies that seek to demonstrate the viability of fracture‐controlled magma transport through dykes or self‐propagating hydrofractures. In most cases, the models present very little supporting field evidence, such as sufficiently voluminous near‐ or within‐source magma accumulations, to support their basic premises. We document large (deca‐ to hectometre‐scale), steeply dipping and largely homogeneous granite lenses in suprasolidus (~5 kbar, ~750 °C) mid‐crustal rocks in the Damara Belt in Namibia. The lenses are surrounded by and connected to shallowly dipping networks of stromatic leucogranites in the well‐layered gneisses of the deeply incised Husab Gorge. The outcrops define a four‐stage process from (i) the initial formation and growth of large, subvertical magma‐filled lenses as extension fractures developed at high angles to the subhorizontal regional extension in relatively competent wall‐rock layers. This stage is followed by (ii) the simultaneous lateral inflation and (iii) subcritical vertical growth of the lenses to a critical length that (iv) promotes fracture destabilization, buoyancy‐driven upward fracture mobilization and, consequently, vertical magma transport. These field observations are compared with existing numerical models and are used to constrain, by referring to the dimensions of the largest preserved inflated leucogranite lens, an estimate of the minimum fracture length (~100 m) and volume (~2.4 × 10⁵ m³) required to initiate buoyancy‐driven brittle fracture propagation in this particular mid‐crustal section. The critical values and field relationships compare favourably with theoretical models of magma ascent along vertical self‐propagating hydrofractures which close at their tails during propagation. This process leaves behind subtle wake‐like structures and thin leucogranite trails that mark the path of magma ascent. Reutilization of such conduits by repeated inflation and drainage is consistent with the episodic accumulation and removal of magma from the mid‐crust and is reflected in the sheeted nature of many upper crustal granitoid plutons.     

Geochronology and petrogenesis of Pan-African, syn-tectonic, S-type and post-tectonic A-type granite (Namibia): products of melting of crustal sources, fractional crystallization and wall rock entrainment

The Oetmoed Granite–Migmatite Complex (OGMC), Central Damara Orogen, Namibia, consists mainly of 526 to 516 Ma garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite and subordinate 488 to 494 Ma hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite in the form of planar sheets and dykes. Additionally, a slightly elongated granite body occurs in the center of the complex. The garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite has major- and trace-element characteristics of S-type granite but the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite has higher HFSE and REE contents similar to A-type granite. Whereas the garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite contains numerous restitic xenoliths, the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite is xenolith-free. The country rocks are cordierite–sillimanite–K-feldspar–garnet-bearing metasedimentary rocks and migmatite. Cordierite- and garnet-rich xenoliths in the S-type granite do not represent primary restite, their depleted chemical composition is best explained by varying and large degrees of partial melting of incorporated country rocks. Most chemical variations among the garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite can be explained by processes linked with fractional crystallization of plagioclase, biotite and accessory phases, mostly monazite and zircon. Major and trace element data and high δ ¹⁸O values suggest that the least evolved members of the garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite were derived from metapelitic rocks at ca. 800°C as inferred from monazite and apatite dissolution thermometry. Higher CaO and Na₂O but lower SiO₂ contents and lower Rb/Sr ratios as well as lower δ ¹⁸O values of the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite suggest that they are more likely generated by partial melting of non-pelitic sources (metagranitoids?) at temperatures in excess of 900°C. Decreasing TiO₂, Na₂O, FeO_tot., MgO, CaO, total REE content but increasing Al₂O₃ and K₂O indicate fractionation of mainly hornblende and titanite in the case of the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite. The differing compositions of the garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite and the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite are attributed to different source rocks (metapelite instead of metagranitoid) and different temperatures during melting as inferred from accessory phase dissolution thermometry. Furthermore, significant entrainment of country rock in some samples played a major role during petrogenesis of the garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite but was not important during the evolution of the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite. Intrusion of such hot, felsic magmas close to the inferred peak of metamorphism has probably caused, in part, the high temperature metamorphism and anatexis of the country rocks at relatively low pressures.     

Unknown large ancient earthquakes along the Kurai fault zone (Gorny Altai): new results of palaeoseismological and archaeoseismological studies

Palaeoseismological and archaeoseismological studies in the Kurai fault zone, along which the Kurai Range is thrust onto Cenozoic deposits of the Chuya intramontane basin, led to the identification of a long reverse fault scarp 8.0 m high. The scarp segments are primary seismic deformations of large ancient earthquakes. The scarp’s morphology, results of trenching investigations, and deformations of Neogene deposits indicate a thrusting of the piedmont plain onto the Kurai Range, which is unique for the Gorny Altai. Similarly for Northern Tien Shan, we explain this by the formation of both a thrust transporting the mountain range onto the depression and a branching thrust dislocation that forms the detected fault scarp. In a trench made in one of the scarp segments, we identified the parameters of the seismogenic fault – a thrust with a 30° dipping plane. The reconstructed displacement along the fault plane is 4.8 m and the vertical displacement is 2.4 m, which indicates a 7.2–7.6 magnitude of the ancient earthquake. The ¹⁴C age of the humus-rich loamy sand from the lower part of the colluvial wedge constrains the age of the earthquake at 3403–3059 years BP. Younger than 2500 years seismogenic displacements along the fault scarp are indicated by deformations of cairn structures of the Turalu–Dzhyurt-III burial mound, which was previously dated as iron age between the second half of I BC and I AD.     

Climatic catastrophes in Earth history: two great Proterozoic glacial episodes

Near the beginning and end of the Proterozoic Eon (2.5 Ga–542 Ma) the Earth went through dramatic climatic perturbations. The Palaeoproterozoic (Huronian) glaciations are best known from the Canadian Shield where there is evidence of at least three such episodes. Glacial deposits of comparable age are also known from Fennoscandia, South Africa and Western Australia. In the type area, the Huronian glacial deposits are preserved in an ancient rift system that preceded break‐up of the supercraton, Kenorland, whereas those in the southern hemisphere may have been deposited in a foreland basin setting. Detailed correlations between the two hemispheres must await more geochronological data. Following a long period (~1.5 Ga) with little evidence of glaciation, the climatic upheavals of the Neoproterozoic Era began. The two most widespread glacial events are known as the Sturtian and Marinoan. The Neoproterozoic glaciations also took place on a supercontinent (Rodinia). Some were accompanied by unexpected rock types such as dolomitic cap carbonates and iron formations, both of which show evidence of hydrothermal influence. Major influences on surface temperatures on Earth include solar luminosity (increasing throughout geological history) and the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases such as CO₂ (generally diminishing with time). It is suggested that the two great Proterozoic climatic oscillation periods resulted from perturbations of the balance between these two variables, triggered by drawdown of atmospheric CO₂ during intensive weathering of supercontinents. A weathering‐related negative feedback loop resulted in multiple glaciations with intervening warm periods. Climatic stability only returned after the supercontinent broke apart and reduced continental freeboard moderated continental weathering. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ostracods: The ultimate survivors

Ostracods are tiny crustacean arthropods just a few millimetres long, with a bivalved carapace made of calcium carbonate that covers the whole body, and into which the animal can retreat from the world outside. Because of their diminutive size they are largely overlooked as fossils, but they have a fascinating history. Silent witnesses to life in the seas since the time of trilobites, they have a fossil record extending back to the Early Ordovician, and possibly the Cambrian. Ostracods have survived nearly 500 million years of Earth history including the ‘big five’ mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic Eon; they are true survivors. They are almost perfectly adapted for the aquatic environments in which they live, and can be found from the ocean abyssal plains to damp leaf litter. The ostracod carapace is a triumph of biological engineering that has been re‐configured into myriad different morphologies according to environment. Streamlined and agile species plough through the ocean water column, sometimes reaching a ‘giant’ size of a centimetre in length, whilst their tinier sea bottom cousins make elaborately ornamented carapaces to withstand the pressures of living at the seabed, or shape their carapaces into forms that facilitate burrowing into sediment. Ostracods are key components of aquatic ecosystems. As primary consumers they are food for larger animals both in seabed and planktonic habitats, and they recycle much of the organic detritus produced by larger animals and plants. Delve into the history of ostracods and it is possible to find pioneers who triumphed in the plankton, early colonisers of terrestrial aquatic ecosystems, and ostracods that literally conquered the land. And in more recent times, ostracods have even hitched rides on rockets into space.     

Long-term thermal consequences of the redistribution of heat-producing elements associated with large-scale granitic complexes

Crustal thermal regimes are sensitive to both the amount and distribution of heat producing elements (HPEs). Since a significant proportion of the crustal complement of HPEs is contained within granites, granite generation and emplacement should lead to significant long‐term changes in the thermal structure of the crust. Using HPE concentrations appropriate to representative Australian Proterozoic granites we show that granite segregation leads to changes in the temperature field of the crust of up to c. 50 °C, producing long‐term cooling in the source regions and heating at emplacement levels, relative to the pre‐granite conductive thermal regime. Because of the intimate connection between thermal regime and lithospheric strength, granite‐assisted redistribution of HPEs is likely to be fundamental to cratonisation.     

Rapakivi granites in the geological history of the earth. Part 1, magmatic associations with rapakivi granites: Age, geochemistry, and tectonic setting

Rapakivi granites characteristic practically of all old platforms are greatly variable in age and irregularly distributed over the globe. Four types of magmatic associations, which include rapakivi granites, are represented by anorthosite-mangerite-charnockite-rapakivi granite, anorthosite-mangerite-rapakivi-peralkaline granite, gabbro-rapakivi granite-foidite, and rapakivi granite-shoshonite rock series. Granitoids of these associations used to be divided into the following three groups: (1) classical rapakivi granites from magmatic associations of the first three types, which correspond to subalkaline high-K and high-Fe reduced A₂-type granites exemplifying the plumasitic trend of evolution; (2) peralkaline granites of the second magmatic association representing the highly differentiated A₁-type reduced granites of Na-series, which are extremely enriched in incompatible elements and show the agpaitic trend of evolution; and (3) subalkaline oxidized granites of the fourth magmatic association ranging in composition from potassic A₂-type granites to S-granites. Magmatic complexes including rapakivi granites originated during the geochronological interval that spanned three supercontinental cycles 2.7?1.8, 1.8?1.0 and 1.0?0.55 Ga ago. The onset and end of each cycle constrained the assembly periods of supercontinents and the formation epochs of predominantly anorthosite-charnockite complexes of the anorthosite-mangerite-charnockite-rapakivi granite magmatic association. Peak of the respective magmatism at the time of Grenvillian Orogeny signified the transition from the tectonics of small lithospheric plates to the subsequent plate tectonics of the current type. The outburst of rapakivi granite magmatism was typical of the second cycle exclusively. The anorthosite-mangerite-charnockite-rapakivi granite magmatic series associated with this magmatism originated in back-arc settings, if we consider the latter in a broad sense as corresponding to the rear parts of peripheral orogens whose evolution lasted from ～1.9 to 1.0 Ga. Magmatism of this kind was most active 1.8?1.3 Ga ago and represented the distal effect of subduction or collisional events along the convergent boundaries of lithospheric plates. An important factor that favored the emplacement of rapakivi granites and anorthosites in a huge volume was the thermal and rheologic state of the lithosphere inherited from antedating orogenic events, first of all from the event ～1.9 Ga ago, which was unique in terms of heat capacity transferred into the lithosphere. Anorthosite-mangerite-rapakivi granite-peralkaline granite magmatism is connected with activity of the mantle plums only. Degradation of the rapakivi granite magmatism toward the terminal Proterozoic was controlled by the general cooling of the Earth in the course of the steady dissipation of its endogenic energy, as these processes became accelerated since the Late Riphean