Glacial history of interior Jameson Land, East Greenland

The plateaus between 400 and 800 m a.s.l. around the water-divides on central and eastern Janieson Land are covered by the 'Jameson Land Drift' up to 50 m thick glacial. placiotluvial and glaciolacustrine deposits. A high content of far-travelled wcsterii rocks indicates the overriding by extensive glaciers channelled from the west through the Scoresby Sund basin. The Jameson Land Drift deposits have bccn lithostratigraphically divided into two groups. each representing the sedimentary successions from one glaciation in the wider sense of the word. sediments from the lower Lollandselv glaciation are upwards delimited by a distinct periglacial surface. TL-dates suggest a prc-Saalian (approximately isotope stages 11–9) age. The following Scoreshby Sund glaciation . when most of the studied Jameson Land Drift sediments were laid down. is of Saalian age (e. isotope stages 8 6). The deposits from the Scoresby Sund glaciation are interpreted as representing a complete glaciation deglaciation succession, including proglacial sandur and glaciolacustrine sediments. followed by till deposition, with an overlying succession of glaciolacustrinc and glaciofluvial sediments. From 200–250 m to c . 400 m a.s.l. there is a driftless area, exposing Jurassic sandstones, probably a result of intensive and long-lasting periglacial erosion. Extensive occurrences of tors and of glaciofluvially (subglacially as well as subaerially) eroded canyons and channels characterize the landscape. A similar. although less well defined. upper driftless zone is found above c 500 m a.s.l. on northern Jameson Land, north of the drift-covered plateaus. During the Wcichsclian (isotope stages 5d 2). thick glacial. fluvial and marine deposits were laid down in a coastal zone below c . 200 m a.s.l., and only cold-based local ice caps seem to have existed on the interior plateaus of Jameson Land. The now driftless areas were characterized by periglacial erosion during this period.     

Early Holocene insect and plant remains from Jameson Land, East Greenland

Fluvial and deltaic sediments from Jameson Land in East Greenland contain the first record of the leaf beetle Phratora o f. polaris , not presently found in Greenland; the ground beetle Bembidion grapii , north of this species' present northern range limit; and the true bug Nysius gruenlandieus . In addition, there is a rather diverse flora. All of these records are in sediments of Early Holocene age. We suggest that most of these animals and plants immigrated to East Greenland in the Early Holocene by long-distance chance dispersal, mostly from northwest Europe. The environment was physiognomically similar to that of today, but Salix aretica and Cassiope tetragonu that are important dwarf shrubs today had not yet immigrated.     

Eemian-Weichselian stratigraphy of the Flakkerhuk ridge, southern Jameson Land, East Greenland

The coast-parallel Flakkerhuk ridge on southern Jameson Land revealed a succession of four marine formations separated by tills and glaciotectonic deformation zones representing glacier advances. Paleontological evidence. supported by 32 luminescence datings, indicates that deposition took place during the Eemian and Early Weichselian. A pronounced rise in sea-level due to glacio-isostatic depression is evidenced within the Late Eemian part of the sequence, indicating buildup of ice commencing while interglacial conditions still prevailed. A diamicton interpreted as a till deposited by a glacier moving from the interior of Jameson Land and overlying the interglacial deposits would seem to suggest the presence of a local ice cap on Jameson Land at the last interglacial/glacial transition. Three ice advances from the fjord onto the coast were identified following the last interglacial. The glaciers at no time advanced beyond 2–3 km inland from the coast in the investigated area. This demonstrates that the glaciers advancing through the Scoresby Sund fjord during the Weichselian were relatively thin, with a low longitudinal gradient. Glacier advances onto the coast were apparently strongly influenced by local topography and relative sea-level. The Flakkerhuk ridge is mainly an erosional landform originating from continued fluvial downcutting of former drainage channels from along the Early Weichselian ice margin. Only the very top of the ridge is considered to he a constructional ice marginal ridge, related to the Flakkerhuk glaciation.     

Magnetic properties of lake sediments from Lake Chalco,central Mexico,and their palaeoenvironmental implications

Lake Chalco (99.0°W, 19.5°N) in the Basin of Mexico, was formed during the Pleistocene after the emplacement of the Chichinautzin volcanic field that closed the former drainage system. The lake sediment record has been influenced by a number of factors, including glacial–interglacial cycles, local volcanism, erosion of soils and anthropogenic disturbances. The magnetic properties of the lake sediments and the associated tephra layers of the last 16500 yr have been studied. It is found that the magnetic properties of the Lake Chalco sediments are very distinctive. Magnetic concentration varies by a factor of 1000 and magnetic stability also varies over an extremely wide range. The predominant magnetic mineral is titanomagnetite in addition to an imperfect antiferromagnetic phase, possibly goethite. An unusually large range of coercivities is found in certain of the tephras. Down‐core variations in magnetic properties closely follow climatic/environmental changes previously established by other proxy methods. The late Pleistocene and late Holocene lake sediments display a higher concentration of magnetic minerals than the early–middle Holocene sediments. In the non‐volcanic sediments, fluctuations in the magnetic concentration reflect changes in both the intensity of erosion, as represented by ferrimagnetic and paramagnetic minerals, and by the maturing of soils, as represented by geothite. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Land biotas of the last interglacial/glacial cycle on Jameson Land, East Greenland

Macrofossil plant and insect remains from nearshore marine sediments in Jameson Land, central East Greenland show that the land biotas of the last interglacial stage, the Langelandselv stage, were more diverse than those of the Holocene. Rich dwarf shrub heaths with a diverse assemblage of ericaceous plants occupied low land areas with copses of Betula pubescens on sheltered sites. Many southern extra-limital species were present, and the mean summer temperature was c . 5°C higher than today. The subarctic bioclimatic zone was displaced from southernmost Greenland/Iceland to central East Greenland. The diverse beetle fauna was of palaearctic affinity and strikingly different from the Plio-Pleistocene and the Holocene Greenlandic beetle faunas. A few fossil assemblages from the Hugin Sø Interstade, which is correlated with oxygen isotope stage 5c (early last glacial stage), point to poor, perhaps entirely herbaceous vegetation with a mean summer temperature that was perhaps 3 4°C lower than today.     

The Eemian and Weichselian stratigraphy of the Langelandselv area, Jameson Land, East Greenland

Coastal Jameson Land is characterized by thick Quaternary deposits from the last interglacial/glacial cycle. The successions at the mouth of Langelandselv exhibit a key stratigraphy where sediments from the Langelandselv interglaciation (Eemian) are overlain by three till units interbedded with glacimarine and deltaic interstadial successions. Immediately after the retreat of glaciers after the extensive Scoresby Sund glaciation (Saalian). advection of warm Atlantic surface water surpassed what is known from the Holocene. The two lowermost Weichselian tills, deposited during the Aucellaelv and Jyllandselv stades (Early Weichselian), reflect short-lasting readvances of fjord glaciers. Luminescence dates and correlation with adjacent areas suggest ages of 110–80 ka and 70–60 ka for the Hugin Sø and the Møselv interstades, respectively.     

Bryophytes from the last interglacial/glacial cycle, Jameson Land, East Greenland

Subfossil bryophyte remains from Jameson Land, central East Greenland reveal diverse moss floras from the Langelandselv interglacial and the Hugin Sø interstadial. Around 30 species are reported as new subfossils from Greenland, indicating our insufficient knowledge of earlier bryophyte floras in the area. Among the species found from the Langelandselv interglacial. Several are southern and do not reach as far north as Jameson Land today, thus indicating a slightly warmer climate than at present in the area. The climate indications for the Hugin Sø interstadial are less clear, and further studies are necessary before delinitivc conclusions can he drawn. A large proportion of the found taxa indicate mineral-rich or intermediately mineral-rich conditions. Several wetland species indicate moving water, and a few sometimes or exclusively ( Sanionia nivalis ) occur in connection with late snow beds or meltwater brooks. Abundant material or the Polytrichaceae and of Racomitrum indicates that more or less unstable soil. with sparse vascular plant cover, was relatively abundant.     

Late Pleistocene stratigraphy and depositional environments of the Fynselv area, Jameson Land, East Greenland

Deposits of Late Pleistocene age were investigated near the Fynselv river on the southwestern coast of Jameson Land. East Greenland. The deposits are of fluvial, deltaic shallow marine and glacigenic origin. Four stratigraphic units are recorded. Unit I consists of deltaic and shallow marine deposits reflecting a relative sea level of at least 20 m above the present. Elevated fluvial deposits represent the subaerial part of the depositional system. The system existed during full interglacial and subarctic conditions as indicated by remains or flora and Fauna and unit I is correlated with the Langelandselv interglaciation (isotopic substage 5e). Unit II consists of a till deposited by a glacier in the Scoresby Sund Fjord during the beginning of the Early Weichselian referred to as the Aucellaelv stade. The glacier probably melted in a marine environment. Unit III represents a marine delta system during the Hugin Sø interstade. and reveals a relative sea level of at least 62 m above the present. Unit IV consists of till and kame deposits assumed to be deposited by a glacier in the Scoresby Sund Fjord during the Flakkerhuk stade. probably a Late Weichselian glacier advance.     

Late Quaternary glacial history of the central west coast of Jameson Land, East Greenland

The Late Quaternary ( c . 130,000–10,000 BP) glacial history of the central west coast of Jameson Land, East Greenland, is reconstructed through glacial stratigraphical studies. Seven major sedimentary units are described and defined. They represent two interglacial events (where one is the Holocene). one interstadial event and two glacial events. The older interglacial event comprises marine and fluvial sediments, and is correlated to the Langelandselv interglacial, corresponding to oxygen isotope sub-stage 5e. It is followed by an Early Weichselian major glaciation during the Aucellaelv stade, and subsequently by an Early Weichselian interstadial marine and deltaic event (the Hugin Sø interstade). Sediments relating to the Middle Weichselian have not been recognized in the area. The Hugin Sø interstade deposits have been overrun by a Late Weichselian ice advance, during the Flakkerhuk stade, when the glacier, which probably was a thin, low gradient fjord glacier in Scoresby Sund, draped older sediments and landforms with a thin till. Subsequent to the final deglaciation, some time before 10,000BP, the sea reached the marine limit around 70 m a.s.l., and early Holocene marine, fluvial and littoral sediments were deposited in the coastal areas.     

Palaeoenvironments and changes in relative sea level during the last interglaciation at Langelandselv, Jameson Land, East Greenland

Coastal cliffs and stream cut sections at Langelandselv on Jameson Land show a 22 m thick sedimentary succession reflecting the development of shallow marine and fluvial environments during the last interglaciation. The shallow marine sediments were deposited in upper shoreface, back-barrier, and delta environments during a rise in the relative sea level from 0 to 18 m. The interglacial succession ends with glaciotectonically dislocated fluvial sand, and is capped by alternating beds of lodgement till and fluvial sand, deposited during the Early Weichselian. The age is determined by palacoceanographic correlation of molluse and foraminifer faunas with isotopic substage 5e in the deep sea record, supported by luminescencs and U/Th dates and amino acid analysis.     

格陵兰东部Jameson Land盆地铜多金属矿床地质特征与成因

研究区位于格陵兰东部成矿带Jameson Land盆地,盆地内已发现铜、铅、锌等多种矿产资源。对研究区矿床地质特征研究表明,铜、铅、锌等金属地表矿化特征明显、矿化强度大、分布范围广、矿化层位厚度大,具多赋矿层位、多矿化类型的特点,且矿化主要受上二叠统Foldvik Creek组(FC组)灰岩和下三叠统Pingo Dal组(PD组)砂砾岩控制,具备形成大型甚至超大型Cu-Pb-Zn矿床的条件,找矿潜力巨大。在详细研究矿体地质特征、矿石特征的基础上,对矿床成因进行了讨论,为研究区找矿提供了理论依据和思路。     

The lower Jyllandselv succession: evidence for three Weichselian glacier advances over coastal Jameson Land, East Greenland

Detailed investigations of sediments exposed along river sections in the coastal part of Jameson Land have revealed a Saalian to Holocene glacial history. Eleven sedimentary units have been distinguished. most of which are found in superposition at one single large section. Four subglacially formed till beds are recognized; three of which are of Weichselian age. All the tills are considered to have been deposited at the base of fjord glaciers restricted to the Scoresby Sund basin. The tills are separated by marine, fluvial or deltaic sediments, and demonstrate changes in the depositional environnient considered to represent changes in relative sea level during the ice-free periods. The fossil content. supported by a series of luminescence dates, suggest that most of the succession is of Eemian and Early Weichselian age. From the luminescence dates, a short duration of <10ka is suggested for the Early Weichselian glacial stades. Sedimentation during this period was partly controlled by glacio-isostatic subsidence caused by net growth of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The Middle Weichselian is represented by a large hiatus. whereas the Late Weichselian is represented by a subglacial till.     

Composition and age of tertiary sills and dykes, Jameson Land Basin, East Greenland: relation to regional flood volcanism

The Paleozoic–Mesozoic Jameson Land Basin (East Greenland) is intruded by a sill complex and by a swarm of ESE trending dykes. Together with dykes of the inner Scoresby Sund fjord, they form a regional Early Tertiary intrusive complex located 200–400 km inland of the East Greenland rifted continental margin. Most of the intrusive rocks in the Jameson Land Basin are geochemically coherent and consist of evolved plagioclase–augite–olivine saturated, uncontaminated high-Ti basalt with 48.5–50.2 wt.% SiO₂, 2.2–3.2 wt.% TiO₂, 5.1–7.4 wt.% MgO, 9–17 ppm Nb and La/Yb_N=2.8–3.6. Minor tholeiitic rock types are: (a) low-Ti basalt (49.7 wt.% SiO₂, 1.7 wt.% TiO₂, 6.8 wt.% MgO, 2.6 ppm Nb and La/Yb_N=0.5) akin to oceanic basalts; (b) very-high-Ti basalt (48.6 wt.% SiO₂, 4.1 wt.% TiO₂, 5.1 wt.% MgO and 21 ppm Nb); and (c) plagioclase ultraphyric basalt. The tholeiitic dolerites are cut by alkali basalt (43.7–47.3 wt.% SiO₂, 4.1–5.1 wt.% TiO₂, 4.9–6.2 wt.% MgO, 29–46 ppm Nb and La/Yb_N=16–17) sills and dykes.Modelling of high-field-strength and rare-earth elements indicate that the high-Ti basalts formed from 6–10% melting of approximately equal proportions of garnet- and spinel-bearing mantle of slightly depleted composition beneath thick continental lithosphere. Conversely, dolerite intrusions and flood basalts of similar compositional kindred from adjacent but more rift-proximal occurrences in Northeast Greenland formed from shallower melting of dominantly spinel-bearing mantle beneath extended and thinned continental lithosphere. These variations in lithospheric thickness suggest the continent–ocean transition of the East Greenland rifted volcanic margin is sharp and narrow.⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar dating and paleomagnetism show that the high-Ti dolerites were emplaced at 53–52 Ma (most likely during C23r) and hence surprisingly postdate the main flood volcanism by 2–5 Ma and the inception of seafloor spreading between Greenland and Europe by 1–2 Ma. The formation of tholeiitic and alkaline magmas emplaced into the Jameson Land Basin corroborates to the importance of post-breakup magmatism along the East Greenland volcanic rifted margin. Upwelling of the ancestral Iceland mantle plume under central Greenland at 53–52 Ma (rather than under the active rift), perhaps accompanied by a failed attempt to shift the rift zone westward towards the plume axis, may have triggered post-breakup continental magmatism of the Jameson Land Basin and the inner Scoresby Sund region, along preexisting structural lineaments.     

The distribution of different glacial landscapes on southern Jameson Land, East Greenland, according to Landsat Thematic Mapper Data

Four geologic units previously mapped in southern Jameson Land. _East Greenland (Funder 1978, 1990) are identifiable on a false colour composite of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) spectral hands TM5. TM4 and TM1. The area covered by the Weichselian glaciations has a fresh glacial morphology and a less developed drainage system than the older landscape. The Weichselian glaciers reached more than 200 m a.s.l. in the west. but only about 100 m a.s.l. in the east. A contextual analysis (local frequency and local orientation) was included in a Maximum Likelihood classification (M-L) to map the extent of the Weichselian glaciations. Deposits correlated with the Saalian Scoreshy Sund glaciation are found on the central plateaux of Jameson Land. Landsat TM geological mapping of the surficial distribution of deposits from the Scoreshy Sund glaciation and of weathered Jurassic sandstone or deposits with a high percentage of such sandstone was done using a supervised Maximum Likelihood procedure. Except for the mapping of thc extent of the Late Weichselian Flakkerhuk glaciation, the Maximum Likelihood boundaries between units are in general agrecnient with earlier mapping or with the visual interpretation of the false colour composite. A strong vegetational influence. and similar spectral reflectance lrom deposits of different age due to similarities in lithological composition reduced the possibility of an independent remote sensing approach. Taking already existing general geological knowledge and chronology into account allowed successful Landsat TM geological mapping.     

Weathering of surface clasts as an indicator of the relative age of glacial deposits on Jameson Land, East Greenland

The relative age of glacial deposits on Jameson Land was investigated by weathering-based techniques. Two related methods, measurement of rind thickness and of Schmidt hammer rebound values. were added to a dating programme of luminescence-, amino acid- and ¹⁴C-analyses. Rind thicknesses differ significantly between areas which represent three glacial phascs, spanning a time interval from late Saale to Late Weichselian. Rebound values are more susceptible to external factors than the rind values but may, if these external factors are known, serve as a complement to the interpretation of rind development.     

Coherent slumping of early postglacial lake sediments at Hall Lake, Ontario, Canada

Cores of organic postglacial sediment from Hall Lake, southern Ontario, Canada, are described. The laminated, calcareous sediments deposited between 9,000 and 8,000 B.P. have coherently slumped into the deep part of the lake, causing overturning and replication of parts of the sequence. This process may be considered as a mechanism for sediment focusing, since it involves reworking of marginal sediments into deeper areas. Unlike previously described mechanisms, it may be a source of error in the interpretation of diagrams of pollen percentages as well as accumulation rates. The slumping has only been recognized through the distortion of the laminae. It might not be possible to recognize slumping in unstratified sequences.     

Clay minerals in Lake Frome sediments of Australia and their paleoclimatic implications

Clay minerals in 32 samples collected from the upper 6 meters of drill core LF 82/1-3 in Lake Frome, Australia have been examined using X-ray powder diffraction techniques. The results show that the clay mineral species are predominated by illite, kaolinite and a small amount of montmorillonite. Minor chlorite and vermiculite can also be identified in some of the samples. In terms of clay mineral species, crystallinity and other characteristics, the upper 6-m core can be divided into 3 sections, the boundaries of which are marked at depths of about 125–150 cm and 415–455 cm with ages of 14 and 19 thousand years B.P., respectively. The middle section at a burial depth of 150–415 cm may have been deposited under moist conditions while the other two under relatively dry conditions. Additionally, some slight climatic fluctuations seem possible in different stages.     

Luminescence dating of Late Quaternary sediments from East Greenland

Luminescence dating based on K-feldspars and using both TL and OSL methods have been performed on 94 sediment samples from East Greenland. The ages go back more than 380 ka, but are mainly from the last interglaciation and the subsequent period and include both shallow-marine/coastal-fluvial and ice proximal meltwater sediments. Independent age control indicates that the dates in the first group generally fall within ± 15% of the expected age, although a few samples show larger deviations. The ice proximal sediments, on the other hand, show a much larger spread and exaggerated ages, probably owing to incomplete bleaching. OSL may give better results than TL in these sediments.     

青海湖钻孔沉积物中的羟基甘油二烷基甘油四醚类化合物及其环境意义

来源于古菌细胞膜脂的类异戊二烯甘油二烷基甘油四醚类化合物（isoGDGTs）是古环境重建的有力工具。最近的研究发现,自然环境中还存在着一类isoGDGTs烷基长链上含有羟基的OH-GDGTs,其相对含量与温度负相关,具有示踪古温度的潜力。然而,目前湖相环境中关于OH-GDGTs的研究还很少。我们通过高效液相色谱-大气压化学电离-质谱分析,在青海湖8ka以来沉积物中检测到了OH-GDGTs的存在,其含量（相对含量% OH-GDGTs及浓度）与奇古菌特征标志物crenarchaeol相对含量和奇古菌amoA基因丰度一致,表明青海湖中的OH-GDGTs可能主要来源于奇古菌。进一步与湖泊水位指标对比显示,青海湖中% OH-GDGTs的变化可能主要反映了湖水深度变化导致的古菌群落的变化。因此,认为湖泊沉积物中的OH-GDGTs可指示古水文条件变化。

     

Recent foraminifera in shelf sediments of the Scoresby Sund fjord, East Greenland

A study of sea-bottom samples from shallow waters in the northern part of Scoresby Sund, off Jameson Land, East Greenland, reveals four different foraminiferal assemblages between 1.3 and 35.6 m water depth. The shallowest samples. Assemblage SA (1.3–2.2 m), contain only very few foraminifera, presumably due to the annual repeated formation of an ice foot. Assemblage SB (3.7 and 4.3 m) is characterized by the calcareous species Haynesina nivea and H. orbiculare , while the arenaceous species Spiropleclammina biformis, Reophax arctica , and Recurvoides turbinatus dominate all the faunas of Assemblage SC (9.3–25.9 m depth). The change in fauna to the succeeding Portatrochammina bipolaris - Spiropleclammina biformis fauna (Assemblage SD, 29.6 and 35.6 m) presumably corresponds to the transition from the shallow Fjord water layer to the deeper and relatively more stable Polar water. Elphidiella hannai (Cushman & Grant) is recorded live for the first time in recent assemblages from the Atlantic Ocean.