Benthonic foraminiferal faunal and isotopic data for the postglacial evolution of the Champlain Sea

Benthonic foraminiferal faunal and isotopic data from Champlain Sea sediments (approximately 12,500 to 10,000 yr B.P. in age) in two piston cores from Lake Champlain provide a detailed, apparently continuous record of the evolution of the Champlain Sea. Cassidulina reniforme and Islandiella helenae are the dominant benthonic foraminifera during the initial phase of the Champlain Sea, and are replaced by Elphidium excavatum forma clavatum and Protelphidium orbiculare as the dominant species during the remainder of the sea's history. The oxygen-isotopic data show a gradual decrease in δ¹⁸O between approximately 12,500 and 10,900 yr B.P., followed by a more rapid decrease during the interval 10,900 to 10,000 yr B.P. The δ¹³C data have a similar trend as δ¹⁸O, with generally decreasing values up the section. The isotopic and faunal data suggest that nearly marine conditions were present in the initial plase of the Champlain Sea, followed by gradually decreasing salinities and increasing temperatures as the sea evolved. The beginning of the rapid isotopic decrease at approximately 10,900 yr B.P. marks the onset of the largest environmental change in the history of the Champlain Sea, probably reflecting a major pulse of meltwater from the Laurentide Ice Sheet.     

Age of granitic activity associated with copper–molybdenum mineralization at Malanjkhand, Central India

The Malanjkhand copper–molybdenum deposit in the Bhandara Craton, Central India, is hosted by a granite complex which consists of regionally dominant grey granitoid and pink granitoid confined to the mineralized zone. New SHRIMP RG data on zircons from both granite types are inferred to have crystallized during the same magmatic pulse at ca 2.48 Ga. The discrepancy between zircon age and earlier obtained Rb–Sr whole-rock age is attributed to modification of the Rb–Sr system by hydrothermal overprint. Similarity in petrographic features and chemical affinity in combination with identical age strongly indicate that the pink granite is the hydrothermally altered variety (microclinization and silicification) of the grey granite. The spatially associated, main Cu–Mo mineralization event at Malankhand appears to be broadly contemporaneous with and genetically related to the emplacement of the host granitoids at about 2.48 Ga.     

Changes in benthos following the clean-up of a severely metalpolluted cove in the Hudson River estuary: Environmental restoration or ecological disturbance?

We studied changes in macrobenthic communities following the environmental clean-up of metal-polluted (cadmium, nickel, and cobalt) sediments in Foundry Cove, a small inlet within the Hudson River estuary of New York. We used a BACI-style experiment to test the hypotheses that high levels of cadmium in sediments change macrobenthic assemblages relative to unpolluted areas, and removal of metals (especially cadmium) by dredging will restore the benthos, such that benthic fauna in Foundry Cove are not different from unpolluted areas. In 1984, prior to the restoration work, there were no significant differneces between macrobenthic assemblages in polluted and unpolluted locations, indicating that cadmium had little effect on community structure. The lack of an observed toxicity effect may have been caused by the compensatory evolution of resistance to cadmium in dominant organisms. Six years after the restoration work and despite a substantial reduction in metal pollution, there were lower abundances of oligochaetes, nematodes, and chironomids and a higher abundance of polychaetes at Foundry Cove relative to reference locations. Correlative analyses identified greater sediment compaction caused by dredging at Foundry, Cove as a possible cause of faunal differences. The results demonstrate that it is difficult to accurately predict, the effects of anthropogenic disturbances and restorations in complex natural systems and that unforeseen side effects are inevitable. Documenting these unpredicted effects and experimentally understanding their causes in past restorations will greatly improve the success and cost-effectiveness of future projects of a similar type.     

Stepwise use of GFLOW and MODFLOW to determine relative importance of shallow and deep receptors

A stepwise modeling approach is implemented in which a regional one-layer analytic element model is used to simulate the flow system and to furnish boundary conditions for an extracted local three-dimensional model. In this case study the stepwise approach is used to evaluate the fate of recharge in the Menomonee Valley adjacent to Lake Michigan. Two major receptors exist for recharge that flows through contaminated valley fill: the surface water estuary and a tunnel system constructed approximately 75 to 110 m below land surface to store storm runoff. The primary objective of the modeling is to delineate the contributing areas of recharge to each receptor. Of interest is the ability of the one-layer regional model to furnish flux boundary conditions to the local three-dimensional model despite the presence of vertical flow conditions at the boundaries of the local model. Sensitivity analysis suggests that the local model was insensitive to the vertical distribution of the flux. Each step of the modeling approach demonstrates that both receptors play an important role in capturing valley recharge. The pattern of capture of the one-layer model differed in shape from that delineated by the multi-layer local model in the presence of a flow system with pronounced vertical anisotropy and with sinks drawing water from different elevations.     

Simulating ground water-lake interactions: approaches and insights

Approaches for modeling lake-ground water interactions have evolved significantly from early simulations that used fixed lake stages specified as constant head to sophisticated LAK packages for MODFLOW. Although model input can be complex, the LAK package capabilities and output are superior to methods that rely on a fixed lake stage and compare well to other simple methods where lake stage can be calculated. Regardless of the approach, guidelines presented here for model grid size, location of three-dimensional flow, and extent of vertical capture can facilitate the construction of appropriately detailed models that simulate important lake-ground water interactions without adding unnecessary complexity. In addition to MODFLOW approaches, lake simulation has been formulated in terms of analytic elements. The analytic element lake package had acceptable agreement with a published LAKI problem, even though there were differences in the total lake conductance and number of layers used in the two models. The grid size used in the original LAKI problem, however, violated a grid size guideline presented in this paper. Grid sensitivity analyses demonstrated that an appreciable discrepancy in the distribution of stream and lake flux was related to the large grid size used in the original LAKI problem. This artifact is expected regardless of MODFLOW LAK package used. When the grid size was reduced, a finite-difference formulation approached the analytic element results. These insights and guidelines can help ensure that the proper lake simulation tool is being selected and applied.     

Distribution and significance of chlorophyll derivatives and oxidation products during the spring phytoplankton bloom in the Celtic Sea April 2002

The abundances and distributions of chlorophyll a and its common transformation products have been profiled by high performance liquid chromatography during the disruption, re-establishment, growth and senescence of a phytoplankton bloom in the Celtic Sea during April 2002. Transformation products of chlorophyll a indicative of herbivory of the phytoplankton bloom have been identified using atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation liquid chromatography-multistage mass spectrometry and chlorophyll oxidation products, formed by autoxidation, are present in increasing abundance in samples collected during the later stages of bloom development. The formation of oxidation products during the earliest stages in the chlorophyll transformation pathway identifies water column processes as sources of these early intermediates in the formation of geologic aetioporphyrins and/or cycloalkanoporphyrins.     

Analysis of radionuclide migration through a 200-m Vadose zone following a 16-year infiltration event

Atomic weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site has introduced many tracers for quantifying subsurface hydrologic transport processes in arid climates. In 1975, groundwater adjacent to the Cambric test, conducted beneath Frenchman Flat 10 years earlier, was pumped steadily for 16 years to elicit information on the migration of residual radioactivity through the saturated zone. Radionuclides in the pumping well effluent, including tritium, ¹⁴C, ³⁶Cl, and ⁸⁵Kr, were extensively monitored prior to its discharge in an unlined ditch, where approximately a third of the flow infiltrated over a distance of 1 km. Radionuclide infiltration through a 220-m thick vadose zone created a second, and rather unique long-term field experiment. Effluent data have been utilized in conjunction with geologic data, new radionuclide measurements, isotopic age-dating estimates, and vadose zone flow and transport models to better understand the movement of radionuclides between the ditch, the water table and a nearby groundwater monitoring well. Detection of tritium in the monitoring well occurred approximately 16 years after its initial discharge into the ditch. Modeling and tritium age dating have suggested 3–5 years of this 16-year transit time occurred solely in the vadose zone. They also suggest considerable recirculation of the pumping well discharge back into the original pumping well. Notably, there have been no observations of ¹⁴C or ⁸⁵Kr in the monitoring well, suggesting their preferential retention or volatilization during transit to the water table.     

Reconstructing the ancestral Yellowstone plume from accreted seamounts and its relationship to flat-slab subduction

Recent geodynamic analyses have emphasized the relationship between modern flat-slab subduction zones and the overriding of buoyant oceanic crust. Although most models for the evolution of the Late Mesozoic–Cenozoic Laramide orogeny in the southwestern United States involve flat-slab subduction, the mechanisms proposed are controversial. An examination of the geological evolution of the 60–50-Ma Crescent terrane of the Coast Ranges indicates that it was formed in a shallowing-upward Loihi-type oceanic setting culminating in the eruption of subaerial lavas. Plate reconstructions indicate that the Crescent terrane was emplaced into ca. 20-Ma crust, and the presence of subaerial lavas implies an uplift due to the plume of ca. 4.2 km, which we use to calculate a minimum buoyancy flux of 1.1 Mg s⁻¹, similar to that of the modern Yellowstone plume.Published paleomagnetic data indicate that the Crescent terrane was formed at a paleolatitude similar to that of the Yellowstone plume. The Crescent seamount was accreted within 5 My of the cessation of plume magmatism. Plate reconstructions indicate that it would have originated about 750 km to the west of the North American plate margin if it developed above a fixed Yellowstone plume, and are therefore consistent with the recorded very short interval between its formation and tectonic emplacement.We interpret the Crescent terrane as due to the ancestral Yellowstone plume. Such a plume would have generated an elongate swell and related plateau that would have been overridden by the North American margin. Taken together, the relationship between flat-slab and overriding of oceanic plateau in Laramide times would have been analogous to the relationship between modern Andean flat-slab subduction zones and the Juan Fernandez and Nazca oceanic plateaus.     

Tethyan, Mediterranean, and Pacific analogues for the Neoproterozoic–Paleozoic birth and development of peri-Gondwanan terranes and their transfer to Laurentia and Laurussia

Modern Tethyan, Mediterranean, and Pacific analogues are considered for several Appalachian, Caledonian, and Variscan terranes (Carolina, West and East Avalonia, Oaxaquia, Chortis, Maya, Suwannee, and Cadomia) that originated along the northern margin of Neoproterozoic Gondwana. These terranes record a protracted geological history that includes: (1) 1 Ga (Carolina, Avalonia, Oaxaquia, Chortis, and Suwannee) or 2 Ga (Cadomia) basement; (2) 750–600 Ma arc magmatism that diachronously switched to rift magmatism between 590 and 540 Ma, accompanied by development of rift basins and core complexes, in the absence of collisional orogenesis; (3) latest Neoproterozoic–Cambrian separation of Avalonia and Carolina from Gondwana leading to faunal endemism and the development of bordering passive margins; (4) Ordovician transport of Avalonia and Carolina across Iapetus terminating in Late Ordovician–Early Silurian accretion to the eastern Laurentian margin followed by dispersion along this margin; (5) Siluro-Devonian transfer of Cadomia across the Rheic Ocean; and (6) Permo-Carboniferous transfer of Oaxaquia, Chortis, Maya, and Suwannee during the amalgamation of Pangea. Three potential models are provided by more recent tectonic analogues: (1) an “accordion” model based on the orthogonal opening and closing of Alpine Tethys and the Mediterranean; (2) a “bulldozer” model based on forward-modelling of Australia during which oceanic plateaus are dispersed along the Australian plate margin; and (3) a “Baja” model based on the Pacific margin of North America where the diachronous replacement of subduction by transform faulting as a result of ridge–trench collision has been followed by rifting and the transfer of Baja California to the Pacific Plate. Future transport and accretion along the western Laurentian margin may mimic that of Baja British Columbia. Present geological data for Avalonia and Carolina favour a transition from a “Baja” model to a “bulldozer” model. By analogy with the eastern Pacific, we name the oceanic plates off northern Gondwana: Merlin (≡Farallon), Morgana (≡Pacific), and Mordred (≡Kula). If Neoproterozoic subduction was towards Gondwana, application of this combined model requires a total rotation of East Avalonia and Carolina through 180° either during separation (using a western Transverse Ranges model), during accretion (using a Baja British Columbia “train wreck” model), or during dispersion (using an Australia “bulldozer” model). On the other hand, Siluro-Devonian orthogonal transfer (“accordion” model) from northern Africa to southern Laurussia followed by a Carboniferous “Baja” model appears to best fit the existing data for Cadomia. Finally, Oaxaquia, Chortis, Maya, and Suwannee appear to have been transported along the margin of Gondwana until it collided with southern Laurentia on whose margin they were stranded following the breakup of Pangea. Forward modeling of a closing Mediterranean followed by breakup on the African margin may provide a modern analogue. These actualistic models differ in their dictates on the initial distribution of the peri-Gondwanan terranes and can be tested by comparing features of the modern analogues with their ancient tectonic counterparts.