Subduction initiation and ophiolite crust: new insights from IODP drilling

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 352 recovered a high-fidelity record of volcanism related to subduction initiation in the Bonin fore-arc. Two sites (U1440 and U1441) located in deep water nearer to the trench recovered basalts and related rocks; two sites (U1439 and U1442) located in shallower water further from the trench recovered boninites and related rocks. Drilling in both areas ended in dolerites inferred to be sheeted intrusive rocks. The basalts apparently erupted immediately after subduction initiation and have compositions similar to those of the most depleted basalts generated by rapid sea-floor spreading at mid-ocean ridges, with little or no slab input. Subsequent melting to generate boninites involved more depleted mantle and hotter and deeper subducted components as subduction progressed and volcanism migrated away from the trench. This volcanic sequence is akin to that recorded by many ophiolites, supporting a direct link between subduction initiation, fore-arc spreading, and ophiolite genesis.     

Modelling the influence of glacial isostasy on Late Weichselian ice‐sheet growth in the Barents Sea

A fully integrated ice‐sheet and glacio‐isostatic numerical model was run in order to investigate the crustal response to ice loading during the Late Weichselian glaciation of the Barents Sea. The model was used to examine the hypothesis that relative reductions in water depth, caused by glacio‐isostatic uplift, may have aided ice growth from Scandinavia and High Arctic island archipelagos into the Barents Sea during the last glacial. Two experiments were designed in which the bedrock response to ice loading was examined: (i) complete and rapid glaciation of the Barents Sea when iceberg calving is curtailed except at the continental margin, and (ii) staged growth of ice in which ice sheets are allowed to ground at different water depths. Model results predict that glacially generated isostatic uplift, caused by an isostatic forebulge from loads on Scandinavia, Svalbard and other island archipelagos, affected the central Barents Sea during the early phase of glaciation. Isostatic uplift, combined with global sea‐level fall, is predicted to have reduced sea level in parts of the central Barents Sea by up to 200 m. This reduction would have been sufficient to raise the sea floor of the Central Bank into a subaerial position. Such sea‐floor emergence is conducive to the initiation of grounded ice growth in the central Barents Sea. The model indicates that, prior to its glaciation, the depth of the Central Deep would have been reduced from around 400 m to 200 m. Such uplift aided the migration of grounded ice from the central Barents Sea and Scandinavia into the Central Deep. We conclude that ice loading over Scandinavia and Arctic island archipelagos during the first stages of the Late Weichselian may have caused uplift within the central Barents Sea and aided the growth of ice across the entire Barents Shelf. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Weichselian Glaciation of the Russian High Arctic

A numerical ice-sheet model was used to reconstruct the Late Weichselian glaciation of the Eurasian High Arctic, between Franz Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya. An ice sheet was developed over the entire Eurasian High Arctic so that ice flow from the central Barents and Kara seas toward the northern Russian Arctic could be accounted for. An inverse approach to modeling was utilized, where ice-sheet results were forced to be compatible with geological information indicating ice-free conditions over the Taymyr Peninsula during the Late Weichselian. The model indicates complete glaciation of the Barents and Kara seas and predicts a “maximum-sized” ice sheet for the Late Weichselian Russian High Arctic. In this scenario, full-glacial conditions are characterized by a 1500-m-thick ice mass over the Barents Sea, from which ice flowed to the north and west within several bathymetric troughs as large ice streams. In contrast to this reconstruction, a “minimum” model of glaciation involves restricted glaciation in the Kara Sea, where the ice thickness is only 300 m in the south and which is free of ice in the north across Severnaya Zemlya. Our maximum reconstruction is compatible with geological information that indicates complete glaciation of the Barents Sea. However, geological data from Severnaya Zemlya suggest our minimum model is more relevant further east. This, in turn, implies a strong paleoclimatic gradient to colder and drier conditions eastward across the Eurasian Arctic during the Late Weichselian.     

Constraints on a plume in the mid-mantle beneath the Iceland region from seismic array data

Teleseismic P waves passing through low-wave-speed bodies in the mantle are refracted, causing anomalies in their propagation directions that can be measured by seismometer arrays. Waves from earthquakes in the eastern Pacific and western North America arriving at the NORSAR array in Norway and at seismic stations in Scotland pass beneath the Iceland region at depths of ∼ 1000–2000 km. Waves arriving at NORSAR have anomalous arrival azimuths consistent with a low-wave-speed body at a depth of ∼ 1500 km beneath the Iceland–Faeroe ridge with a maximum diameter of ∼250 km and a maximum wave-speed contrast of ∼ 1.5 per cent. This agrees well with whole-mantle tomography results, which image a low-wave-speed body at this location with a diameter of ∼ 500 km and a wave-speed anomaly of ∼ 0.5 per cent, bearing in mind that whole-mantle tomography, because of its limited resolution, broadens and weakens small anomalies. The observations cannot resolve the location of the body, and the anomaly could be caused in whole or in part by larger bodies farther away, for example by a body imaged beneath Greenland by whole-mantle tomography.     

The influence of flow discharge variations on the morphodynamics of a diffluence–confluence unit on a large river

Bifurcations are key geomorphological nodes in anabranching and braided fluvial channels, controlling local bed morphology, the routing of sediment and water, and ultimately defining the stability of their associated diffluence–confluence unit. Recently, numerical modelling of bifurcations has focused on the relationship between flow conditions and the partitioning of sediment between the bifurcate channels. Herein, we report on field observations spanning September 2013 to July 2014 of the three‐dimensional flow structure, bed morphological change and partitioning of both flow discharge and suspended sediment through a large diffluence–confluence unit on the Mekong River, Cambodia, across a range of flow stages (from 13 500 to 27 000 m³ s^?1). Analysis of discharge and sediment load throughout the diffluence–confluence unit reveals that during the highest flows (Q = 27 000 m³ s^?1), the downstream island complex is a net sink of sediment (losing 2600 ± 2000 kg s^?1 between the diffluence and confluence), whereas during the rising limb (Q = 19 500 m³ s^?1) and falling limb flows (Q = 13 500 m³ s^?1) the sediment balance is in quasi‐equilibrium. We show that the discharge asymmetry of the bifurcation varies with discharge and highlight that the influence of upstream curvature‐induced water surface slope and bed morphological change may be first‐order controls on bifurcation configuration. Comparison of our field data to existing bifurcation stability diagrams reveals that during lower (rising and falling limb) flow the bifurcation may be classified as unstable, yet transitions to a stable condition at high flows. However, over the long term (1959–2013) aerial imagery reveals the diffluence–confluence unit to be fairly stable. We propose, therefore, that the long‐term stability of the bifurcation, as well as the larger channel planform and morphology of the diffluence–confluence unit, may be controlled by the dominant sediment transport regime of the system. © 2017 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Characterisation of ground motion recording stations in the Groningen gas field

The seismic hazard and risk analysis for the onshore Groningen gas field requires information about local soil properties, in particular shear-wave velocity (V_S). A fieldwork campaign was conducted at 18 surface accelerograph stations of the monitoring network. The subsurface in the region consists of unconsolidated sediments and is heterogeneous in composition and properties. A range of different methods was applied to acquire in situ V_S values to a target depth of at least 30 m. The techniques include seismic cone penetration tests (SCPT) with varying source offsets, multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) on Rayleigh waves with different processing approaches, microtremor array, cross-hole tomography and suspension P-S logging. The offset SCPT, cross-hole tomography and common midpoint cross-correlation (CMPcc) processing of MASW data all revealed lateral variations on length scales of several to tens of metres in this geological setting. SCPTs resulted in very detailed V_S profiles with depth, but represent point measurements in a heterogeneous environment. The MASW results represent V_S information on a larger spatial scale and smooth some of the heterogeneity encountered at the sites. The combination of MASW and SCPT proved to be a powerful and cost-effective approach in determining representative V_S profiles at the accelerograph station sites. The measured V_S profiles correspond well with the modelled profiles and they significantly enhance the ground motion model derivation. The similarity between the theoretical transfer function from the V_S profile and the observed amplification from vertical array stations is also excellent.     

Simulation of the hydrological impacts of climate change on a restored floodplain

Thirty UK Climate Projections 2009 (UKCP09) scenarios are simulated using a MIKE SHE/MIKE 11 model of a restored floodplain in eastern England. Annual precipitation exhibits uncertainty in direction of change. Extreme changes (10 and 90% probability) range between ?27 and +30%. The central probability projects small declines (相似文献   

Future river flows and flood extent in the Upper Niger and Inner Niger Delta: GCM-related uncertainty using the CMIP5 ensemble

A semi-distributed hydrological model of the Upper Niger and the Inner Niger Delta is used to investigate the RCP 4.5 scenario for 41 CMIP5 GCMs in the 2050s and 2080s. In percentage terms, the range of change in precipitation is around four times as large as for potential evapotranspiration, which increases for most GCMs over most sub-catchments. Almost equal numbers of sub-catchment–GCM combinations experience positive and negative precipitation change. River discharge changes are equally uncertain. Inter-GCM range in mean discharge exceeds that of precipitation by three times in percentage terms. Declining seasonal flooding within the Inner Delta is dominant; 78 and 68% of GCMs project declines in October and November for the 2050s and 2080s, respectively. The 10- and 90-percentile changes in mean annual peak inundation range from ?6136 km² (?43%) to +987 km² (+7%) for the 2050s and ?6176 km² (?43%) to +1165 km² (+8.2%) for the 2080s.