Geophysical evidence for Holocene lake-level change in southern California (Dry Lake)

Bird, B. W., Kirby, M. E., Howat, I. M. & Tulaczyk, S. 2009: Geophysical evidence for Holocene lake-level change in southern California (Dry Lake). Boreas , 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2009.00114.x. ISSN 0300-9483.
Ground penetrating radar (GPR) data are used in combination with previously published sediment cores to develop a Holocene history of basin sedimentation in a small, alpine lake in southern California (Dry Lake). The GPR data identify three depositional sequences spanning the past 9000 calendar years before present (cal. yr BP). Sequence I represents the first phase of an early Holocene highstand. A regression between <8320 and >8120 cal. yr BP separates Sequence I from Sequence II, perhaps associated with the 8200 cal. yr BP cold event. Sequence II represents the second phase of the early-to-mid Holocene highstand. Sequence IIIa represents a permanent shift to predominantly low lake stands beginning ∼5550 cal. yr BP. This mid-Holocene shift was accompanied by a dramatic decrease in sedimentation rate as well as a contraction of the basin's area of sedimentation. By ∼1860 cal. yr BP (Sequence IIIb), the lake was restricted to the modern, central basin. Taken together, the GPR and core data indicate a wet early Holocene followed by a long-term Holocene drying trend. The similarity in ages of the early Holocene highstand across the greater southern California region suggests a common external forcing – perhaps modulation of early Holocene storm activity by insolation. However, regional lake level records are less congruous following the initial early Holocene highstand, which may indicate a change in the spatial domain of climate forcing(s) throughout the Holocene in western North America.     

重力方法在太原南部地热开发中的应用

物探方法于已广泛应用地热能资源开发。太原南部地热开发方式是利用深部地热资源进行循环水供热,因田庄断裂垂向断距＞1 500 m,是影响太原南部地热资源分布的重要因素,其下降盘含热层深度＞4 000 m,开发成本极高,因此需要利用地球物理方法查明断层位置及走向。在城市进行物探工作,方法选择是需要考虑的关键因素之一,因此选取以重力为主、地震方法或CSAMT方法验证的方案。田庄断裂较为陡立,利用经2个已知孔剖面的重力水平一阶导数求取上断点位置,再利用剖面追踪布设方式确定断裂走向,结合CSAMT方法及已知钻孔资料综合拟合新生界覆盖层厚度。结果表明：田庄断裂由北东东向转北东向,田庄村东侧发现断裂错位,且方向发生改变;研究区东北—西南方向,沿田庄断裂覆盖层厚度逐渐增大。断裂位置及新生界厚度得到了西-GXWL探-1孔及后期施工钻孔的验证。     

Macroalgal bloom dynamics in a highly eutrophic southern California estuary

A 16-mo long monitoring study was carried out in Upper Newport Bay estuary (UNB), Orange County, California, to quantify the macroalgal community of a southern California estuary. Quarterly sampling began December 1996 at 8 stations along the main channel and tidal creeks ranging from the head to the lower end of UNB. At each station, two strata (one at high and one at low elevation) were surveyed. Macroalgal species abundance (% cover and biomass) and algal tissue nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) were measured. The algal community changed from sparse macroalgal cover during winter 1996 to larger patches dominated byEnteromorpha intestinalis in spring 1997. The community was characterized by a thick cover of macroalgae comprised ofE. intestinalis andUlva expansa in summer 1997 andU. expansa andCeramium spp. in fall 1997. UNB returned to sparse macroalgal cover by spring 1998. In summer and fall 1997, biomass ofE. intestinalis andCeramium reached over 1,000 g wet wt m⁻² each, andU. expansa biomass exceeded 700 g wet wt m⁻². Tissue N was high inE. intestinalis andU. expansa collected from UNB (≈3% dry wt) and higher inCeramium (≈3.5% dry wt). Tissue P in all three algae ranged from 0.24–0.28% dry wt. Tissue N∶P (molar) ratios inE. intestinalis andU. expansa ranged from 16.4 to 30.0 and inCeramium from 21.8 to 40.1. A field experiment was conducted in whichE. intestinalis was used as a bioassay of N and P availability. Algal tissue was cultured under known conditions and samples were deployed throughout the estuary and left for 24 h. Tissue N of algae from these bags showed a nominal increase in N with proximity to the primary nutrient input to the system, San Diego Creek (p=0.0251; r²=0.200). Our data indicate that UNB is already a highly eutrophic estuary, but macroalgal blooms in UNB may increase if more N is added to the system.     

Empirical tests of carbon isotope thermometry in granulites from southern California

Abstract ‘Peak’metamorphic carbon isotope fractionations between calcite and graphite (Δ_Cal–Gr) in marbles and calc-silicates from the Cucamonga granulite terrane (San Gabriel Mountains, California) range from 3.48 to 2.90%. The data are used to test three previously published calibrations of the calcite–graphite carbon isotope thermometer. An empirical calibration of the calcite–graphite carbon isotope thermometer gives temperatures of 700–750°C; a theoretical–experimental calibration of the system gives temperatures of 760°–870°C; an experimental calibration gives temperatures of 870–1300°C. Temperatures calculated using the empirical calibration are in agreement with those calculated from garnet-based cation exchange thermometry when uncertainty is considered. Temperatures calculated using the theoretical–experimental calibration overlap the upper range of cation exchange thermometry temperatures and range to 50°C higher. The experimental calibration yields temperatures from 50 to 480°C higher than those from cation exchange thermometry. Moreover, temperatures from the experimental calibration are also inconsistent with mineral and melt equilibria in the granulite phase assemblage. Despite the better agreement between cation exchange thermometry and the empirical calibration of the calcite–graphite system, temperatures calculated using the theoretical–experimental calibration may be real peak metamorphic temperatures. If retrograde diffusion partially reset garnet-based cation exchange thermometers by c. 50°C, then the cation exchange temperatures are consistent with those from the theoretical–empirical calibration. Thermometric evidence from biotite dehydration melting equilibria is consistent with either the empirical calibration if melting was fluid-present, or the theoretical–experimental calibration if melting was fluid-absent.     

Exploring the metamorphic consequences of secular change in the siliciclastic compositions of continental margins

Shale and greywacke compositions from the Archean to Phanerozoic record a secular change in the siliciclastic material that comprises much of Earth's continental margins, past and present. This study explores the metamorphic consequence of these compositional changes, by comparing phase equilibrium models constructed for average Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic shale and greywacke compositions equilibrated along two Barrovian-type geotherms: 1330℃/GPa(A) and 800 ℃/GPa(B). Our models show that Archean siliciclastic rocks can retain up to 4 vol.% water at middle to lower crustal conditions, nearly twice that of Proterozoic and Phanerozoic compositions. The increased ferromagnesium content of Archean siliciclastic rocks stabilizes chlorite to higher temperatures and results in a biotite-rich assemblage at solidus temperatures. Accordingly, water-absent biotite dehydration melting is predicted to play a greater role in the generation of melt in the metamorphism of Archean aged units,and water-absent muscovite dehydration melting is of increasing importance through the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic. This secular variation in predicted mineral assemblages demonstrates the care with which metamorphic facies diagrams should be applied to Archean compositions. Moreover, secular changes in the composition of shale and greywacke is reflected in the evolution of anatectic melt towards an increasingly less viscous, Ca-rich, and Mg-poor monzogranite.     

Crustal structure across southern Mexico inferred from gravity data

We present a gravity model of the crustal structure in southern Mexico based on interpretation of a detailed marine gravity profile perpendicularly across the Middle America Trench offshore from Acapulco, and a regional gravity transect extending into continental Mexico across the Sierra Madre del Sur, the central sector of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Coastal Plain, and into the Gulf of Mexico. The elastic thickness of the Cocos lithospheric plate was found to be 30 km. In agreement with a previous seismic refraction study, no major differences in crustal structure were observed on both sides of the O’Gorman Fracture Zone. The gravity high seaward of the trench is interpreted as due to the incipient flexure and crustal thinning. The gravity low at the axis of the trench is explained by the increase in water depth and the existence of low-density accreted or continental-derived sediments (2.25 and 2.40 g/cm³). A gravity high of 50 mGal extending about 100 km landward is interpreted as caused by local shoaling of the Moho. The crust attains a thickness of 42 km under the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt but thins beneath the Coastal Plain and the continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico. Gravity highs around the Sierra de Tamaulipas are interpreted in terms of relief of the lower–upper crustal interface, implying a shallow basement.     

Pollen indicators of land-use change in southern Connecticut

Changes in fossil pollen assemblages from a 2-m core from Linsley Pond, North Branford, Connecticut, are compared with historically documented land use changes in the lake watershed. Dating with ²¹⁰Pb and ¹⁴C reveals two sedimentation rate changes in the core which are associated with the arrival of European farmers; the building of cabins and suburban housing subdivisions on the lake shore. At European settlement in 1700 Ambrosia and Rumex pollen first appear, Gramineae-type pollen increases, and Tsuga decreases. Just before the beginning of agricultural disturbance Fagus pollen declines. The chestnut blight of 1913 causes a reduction of Castanea pollen and a subsequent vegetational succession through Betula to Quercus. The sedimentation rate determined by the chestnut blight horizon is consistent with the rate deduced from ²¹⁰Pb analysis.     

Fire and vegetation history on Santa Rosa Island,Channel Islands,and long‐term environmental change in southern California

The long‐term history of vegetation and fire was investigated at two locations – Soledad Pond (275 m; from ca. 12 000 cal. a BP) and Abalone Rocks Marsh (0 m; from ca. 7000 cal. a BP) – on Santa Rosa Island, situated off the coast of southern California. A coastal conifer forest covered highlands of Santa Rosa during the last glacial, but by ca. 11 800 cal. a BP Pinus stands, coastal sage scrub and grassland replaced the forest as the climate warmed. The early Holocene became increasingly drier, particularly after ca. 9150 cal. a BP, as the pond dried frequently, and coastal sage scrub covered the nearby hillslopes. By ca. 6900 cal. a BP grasslands recovered at both sites. Pollen of wetland plants became prominent at Soledad Pond after ca. 4500 cal. a BP, and at Abalone Rocks Marsh after ca. 3465 cal. a BP. Diatoms suggest freshening of the Abalone Rocks Marsh somewhat later, probably by additional runoff from the highlands. Introduction of non‐native species by ranchers occurred subsequent to AD 1850. Charcoal influx is high early in the record, but declines during the early Holocene when minimal biomass suggests extended drought. A general increase occurs after ca. 7000 cal. a BP, and especially after ca. 4500 cal. a BP. The Holocene pattern closely resembles population levels constructed from the archaeological record, and suggests a potential influence by humans on the fire regime of the islands, particularly during the late Holocene. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tidal flat macrofaunal communities and their associated environments in estuaries of southern California and northern Baja California, Mexico

Several tidal flats in both Estero de Punta Banda and Bahia de San Quintín, Baja California, and one in Mission Bay, southern California, were sampled for macrofaunal properties (taxonomic composition, density, species richness, and functional groups for animals ≥0.3 mm) and associated environmental variables (sediment properties, salinity, plant belowground biomass, and cover ofZostera marina) in order to establish a benchmark data set for these areas. The grouping of macrofauna into higher taxonomic or functional groups for these comparisons reduced variability and revealed stronger relationships. Each estuary had a fairly distinct macrofaunal assemblage, with that of Estero de Punta Banda being different from Bahia de San Quintín and Mission Bay primarily due to dominance by a capitellid polychaete, lower proportions of surface deposit feeders, and higher proportions of fauna with a planktonic stage. The flats in Mission Bay and Bahia de San Quintín were dominated by peracarid crustaceans, oligochaetes and polychaetes and had higher proportions of direct developers and macrofauna with mobile adult stages than did Estero de Punta Banda. There was an overlap of the environmental characteristics among estuaries, with more variability of sediment and vegetation properties within than among estuaries. Within Bahia de San Quintín, there was an oceanic to back-bay distribution gradient of macrofauna that was similar to that found in estuaries in wetter climates, despite the lack of a salinity gradient in San Quintín. A decoupling of the benthos and the assumed anthropogenic stresses was observed with the degraded site, Mission Bay, being most similar to the relatively pristine Bahia de San Quintín. Selection of reference sites and sampling variables should be made cautiously because effects of disturbance factors on the benthos may be site-dependent, scale-dependent, or negligible.     

江苏南部区域重力场特征及其地质意义

以江苏南部1：20万重力资料为基础,通过对区内岩石及地层密度特征的归纳与分析,对区内重力场形成的地质因素作了讨论。对区内重力场进行了分类、分区及地质解释。通过进一步对区内重力资料的数据处理,一方面对区内莫霍面及印支一燕山面的埋深、形态特征及其地质意义作了讨论,另一方面对区内断裂构造及变质基底分布格局也作了推断解释。     

Early history and reactivation of the rand thrust,southern California

The Rand thrust of the Rand Mountains in the northwestern Mojave Desert separates an upper plate of quartz monzonite and quartzofeldspathic to amphibolitic gneiss from a lower plate of metagraywacke and mafic schist (Rand Schist). The Rand thrust is considered part of the regionally extensive Vincent/Chocolate Mountain thrust system, which is commonly believed to represent a Late Cretaceous subduction zone. The initial direction of dip and sense of movement along the Vincent/Chocolate Mountain thrust are controversial. Microfabrics of mylonites and quartzites from the Rand Mountains were analyzed in an attempt to determine transport direction for this region, but the results are ambiguous. In addition, the southwestern portion of the Rand thrust was found to have been reactivated as a low-angle normal fault after subduction. Reactivation might have occurred shortly after subduction, in which case it could account for the preservation of high-pressure mineral assemblages in the Rand Schist, or it could be related to mid-Tertiary extension in the western United States. In either event, the reactivation might be responsible for the complicated nature of the microfabrics. The Rand Schist exhibits an inverted metamorphic zonation. Isograds in the schist are not significantly truncated by the reactivated segment of the Rand thrust. This indicates that other segments of the Vincent/Chocolate Mountain thrust should be re-evaluated for the possibility of late movement, even if they show an apparently undisturbed inverted metamorphic zonation.     

Structure and neotectonics of the western Santa Ynez fault system in southern California

Geologic, geomorphic and seismologic data indicate that west of Lake Cachuma the Santa Ynez fault branches into several major W- and NW-trending splay faults. Two of the faults bracket the wedge-shaped Santa Maria basin. The most compelling evidence for the existence of these two faults is the fact that the Santa Maria basin is floored by Franciscan basement overlain only by Miocene and younger sedimentary rocks, whereas across the inferred traces of each of these faults, the adjacent terrains consist of Franciscan basement overlain by thick sequences of Early Tertiary strata, as well as by Miocene and younger rocks. The third splay fault strikes northwestward through the central Santa Maria basin. Narrow zones of tightly appressed, left-stepping en-echelon folds are locally adjacent to the faults along the south edge, and through the center of the basin. The geometrical arrangement of these folds is indicative of formation over buried sinistral wrench faults. Evidence for Holocene surface rupturing is lacking or nebulous at best, but epicenters of damaging historical earthquakes are spatially, and by inference, genetically related to the central Santa Maria basin faults, indicating that they comprise the presently active strands among the several splay faults.     

Late Weichselian environmental change in southern Sweden and Denmark

A synthesis is presented of the envronmental and climatic variations that are inferred to have occurred in southern Sweden (up to latitude 59°N) and Denmark during the Weichselian Late-glacial (14-9 ka BP). The chronology and characteristics of the main phases of deglaciation, sea-level change, periglacial activity, soil development, vegetation cover and climate change are summarised. A curve representing the main changes in temperature, including quantitative estimates based upon beetle data and using the ‘mutual climatic range’ method, is presented.     

Sedimentology of subaqueous volcaniclastic sediment gravity flows in the Neogene Santa Maria Basin, California

Subaqueous tuff deposits within the lower Miocene Lospe Formation of the Santa Maria Basin, California, are up to 20 m thick and were deposited by high density turbidity flows after large volumes of ash were supplied to the basin and remobilized. Tuff units in the Lospe Formation include a lower lithofacies assemblage of planar bedded tuff that grades upward into massive tuff, which in turn is overlain by an upper lithofacies assemblage of alternating thin bedded, coarse grained tuff beds and tuffaceous mudstone. The planar bedded tuff ranges from 0.3 to 3 m thick and contains 1-8 cm thick beds that exhibit inverse grading, and low angle and planar laminations. The overlying massive tuff ranges from 1 to 10 m thick and includes large intraclasts of pumiceous tuff and stringers of pumice grains aligned parallel to bedding. The upper lithofacies assemblage of thin bedded tuff ranges from 0.4 to 3 m thick; individual beds are 6-30 cm thick and display planar laminae and dewatering structures. Pumice is generally concentrated in the upper halves of beds in the thin bedded tuff interval. The association of sedimentary structures combined with semi-quantitative analysis for dispersive and hydraulic equivalence of bubble-wall vitric shards and pumice grains reveals that particles in the planar bedded lithofacies are in dispersive, not settling, equivalence. This suggests deposition under dispersive pressures in a tractive flow. Grains in the overlying massive tuff are more closely in settling equivalence as opposed to dispersive equivalence, which suggests rapid deposition from a suspended sediment load. The set of lithofacies that comprises the lower lithofacies assemblage of each of the Lospe Formation tuff units is analogous to those of traction carpets and subsequent suspension sedimentation deposits often attributed to high density turbidity flows. Grain distributions in the upper thin bedded lithofacies do not reveal a clear relation for dispersive or settling equivalence. This information, together with the association of sedimentary features in the thin bedded lithofacies, including dewatering structures, suggests a combination of tractive and liquefied flows. Absence of evidence for elevated emplacement temperatures (e.g. eutaxitic texture or shattered crystàls) suggests emplacement of the Lospe Formation tuff deposits in a cold state closely following pyroclastic eruptions. The tuff deposits are not only a result of primary volcanic processes which supplied the detritus, but also of processes which involved remobilization of unconsolidated ash as subaqueous sediment gravity flows. These deposits provide an opportunity to study the sedimentation processes that may occur during subaqueous volcaniclastic flows and demonstrate similarities with existing models for sediment gravity flow processes.     

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of Proterozoic diabase in the southern Death Valley region of California

Diabase sills and dikes of Proterozoic age intrude crystalline basement and the overlying Crystal Spring Formation in the southern Death Valley region of California. Despite pervasive deuteric alteration, analyses of relict plagioclase (An_66-45), titaniferous augite, and ilmenite permit the calculation of initial crystallization temperatures of 1,165±25° C for plagioclase and 1,110±25° C for augite with an oxygen fugacity of 10^–11 atm. The early crystallization of plagioclase is consistent with the generally subophitic texture of the diabase.Geochemical arguments show that deuteric alteration has had little effect on the whole rock chemistry which has a mildly alkaline, transitional character. Mathematical models support the interpretation that chemical variations are principally the result of flow differentiation. Also, about 15 to 25% olivine or augite may have fractionated from the melt prior to intrusion. The mildly LREE enriched composition (normalized La/Yb=4.27 to 6.13) is best modelled by a 5% melt fraction from a moderately LREE-enriched source. Melt derived from a model garnet peridotite with accessory amphibole is compatible with the observed major and trace element chemistry. The diabase is compositionally akin to other middle Proterozoic basaltic rocks in North America which formed in extensional settings, and it is interpreted as a manifestation of widespread extensional tectonism.     

A tschermakite-bearing high-alumina olivine tholeiite from the southern Cascades,California

The first occurrence of amphibole-bearing basalt in the southern Cascade volcanic province has been found in the Medicine Lake area of California. Little Mount Hoffman, a late Pleistocene cinder and scoria cone, has erupted high-alumina olivine tholeiite, the petrography of which yields a paragenetic phenocryst sequence of amphibole→olivine→plagioclase. The amphibole is compositionally a tschermakite. Comparison with available experimental data indicates an initial depth of crystallization somewhere between 40 and 100 km, temperature near 1000 °C, and f _{O 2} near the Ni-NiO and QFM buffers. Contribution No. 124     

Palynological evidence for early Holocene aridity in the southern Sierra Nevada, California

Sediments of Balsam Meadow have produced a 11,000-yr pollen record from the southern Sierra Nevada of California. The Balsam Meadow diagram is divided into three zones. (1) The Artemisia zone (11,000–7000 yr B.P.) is characterized by percentages of sagebrush (Artemisia) and other nonarboreal pollen higher than can be found in the modern local vegetation. Vegetation during this interval was probably similar to the modern vegetation on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada and the climate was drier than that of today. (2) Pinus pollen exceeded 80% from 7000 to 3000 yr B.P. in the Pinus zone. The climate was moister than during the Artemisia zone. (3) Fir (Abies, Cupressaceae, and oak (Quercus) percentages increased after 3000 yr B.P. in the Abies zone as the modern vegetation at the site developed and the present cool-moist climatic regime was established. Decreased fire frequency after 1200 yr B.P. is reflected in decreased abundance of macroscopic charcoal and increased concentration of Abies magnifica and Pinus murrayana needles.     

The azimuthal variation of teleseismic P-residuals in southern California: Implications for upper-mantle structure

The azimuthal variation of teleseismic P-delays has been investigated for stations of the USGS-Caltech Southern California Seismographic Network. Normalized residuals show azimuthal variations as large as 1.2 s, and must be explained in terms of upper mantle structure. The observed azimuthal dependence implies the presence of a region of depressed velocity beneath the Imperial Valley, and regions of increased velocity below the Sierra Nevada, southwest Arizona, and much of the Transverse Ranges. The last is a major high velocity ridge-like structure, extending from a depth of ~40 km to over 100 km, which crosses, but is not offset by, the San Andreas Fault. This suggests that the plate boundary at depth may diverge from its surface expression. The horizontal shear resulting from the divergence of crust and mantle plate boundaries may be accommodated by a zone of decoupling associated with the regionally observed 7.8 km/s (P_n) layer.     

Pre-Middle Jurassic accretionary metamorphism in the southern Klamath Mountains of northern California, USA

Abstract High- P/T metamorphic parageneses are preserved within two late Palaeozoic to early Mesozoic assemblages of the southern Klamath Mountains that show contrasting structural styles and mineral parageneses reflecting formation in different parts of a subduction-zone regime. Blueschist facies tectonites of the Stuart Fork terrane represent a coherent subduction complex formed at relatively deep crustal levels, whereas the chaotic metasedimentary mélange of the eastern Hayfork terrane contains a diverse range of metamorphic parageneses reflecting complex structural mixing of metamorphic components at shallower levels. The convergent-margin-type accretionary metamorphism evident in both terranes pre-dates Middle Jurassic low- P/T metamorphism resulting from regional tectonic contraction and magmatism.
The epidote- to lawsonite-zone Stuart Fork blueschists (and eclogites locally) formed at pressures of about 6-11 kbar and temperatures of 250-400° C. Deformed matrix material of the eastern Hayfork mélange formed at similar temperatures but lower pressures, on the order of 3-6 kbar. The mélange contains a diverse assemblage of tectonic blocks that formed under a range of P-T conditions, including those of the blueschist, pumpellyite-actinolite, greenschist and upper greenschist to amphibolite facies.
The succession of mineral parageneses and inferred P-T conditions of the eastern Hayfork blocks reflect those of igneous protolith formation, structural mixing, subduction-zone metamorphism, olistolith transport, and tectonic and erosional denudation. Although temporal relations are not well constrained, the evolution of these terranes is consistent with formation within a single convergent-margin system.