Trace contaminant concentrations in the Kara Sea and its adjacent rivers, Russia.

Trace organic (chlorinated pesticides, PCBs, PAHs and dioxins/furans) and trace metal concentrations were measured in surficial sediment and biological tissues (i.e., worms, crustaceans, bivalve molluscs, and fish livers) collected from the Russian Arctic. Total DDT, chlordane, PCB and PAH concentrations ranged from ND to 1.2, ND to <0.1, ND to 1.5 and <20-810 ng g(-1), respectively, in a suite of 40 surficial sediment samples from the Kara Sea and the adjacent Ob and Yenisey Rivers. High sedimentary concentrations of contaminants were found in the lower part of the Yenisey River below the salt wedge. Total dioxins/furans were analysed in a subset of 20 sediment samples and ranged from 1.4 to 410 pg g(-1). The highest trace organic contaminant concentrations were found in organisms, particularly fish livers. Concentrations as high as 89 ng g(-1) chlordane; 1010 ng g(-1) total DDTs; 460 ng g(-1) total PCBs; and 1110 ng g(-1) total PAH, were detected. A subset of 11 tissue samples was analysed for dioxins and furans with total concentrations ranging from 12 to 61 pg g(-1). Concentrations of many trace organic and metal contaminants in the Kara Sea appear to originate from riverine sources and atmospheric transport from more temperate areas. Most organic contaminant concentrations in sediments were low; however, contaminants are being concentrated in organisms and may pose a health hazard for inhabitants of coastal villages.     

Evidence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure in fish from the Antarctic peninsula

PAH exposure was assessed in fish from Arthur Harbor, Antarctica and sites remote from human activities by measuring the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolites in bile and PAH in tissues and stomach contents. The highest concentrations of biliary metabolites and tissue PAH were present in fish captured near an Argentine supply ship (Bahia Paraiso) that ran aground in Arthur Harbor in 1989. The presence of biliary PAH metabolites in fish collected near Palmer Station, a small US scientific station in Arthur Harbor, suggests low level exposure to contaminants. However, PAH tissue concentrations in fish from Palmer Station were similar to those from remote sites. Both tissue PAH and metabolite concentrations were low in fish captured at sites remote from human activities. The confirmation of PAH metabolites in the bile of fish from Arthur Harbor is direct evidence that the presence of humans has resulted in Antarctic fish being exposed to petroleum-derived PAH.     

Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seep communities—IX. Sterol biosynthesis of seep mussels and its implications for host-symbiont association

The sterol analysis of six hydrocarbon seep mussels (mytilid II and mytilid Ib) from the Alaminos Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico is reported. The sterol composition of the mussel-symbiotic bacteria complex reflects a preponderant synthesis of 4α-methyl sterols (seep mytilid II), and a predominant biosynthesis of 4-desmethyl sterols with some amounts of 4α-methyl sterols (seep mytilid Ib). This suggests a methane-based symbiotic relationship between the mussels and methanotrophic bacteria. It also suggests that the biosynthesis of sterols in the mussel-bacteria complex is completed to the level of cholest-5-en-3ß-ol (mytilid II) or 5α-cholestan-3ß-ol (mytilid Ib).     

A tertiary lamprophyre dike with high pressure xenoliths and megacrysts from Wiedemanns Fjord,East Greenland

Lamprophyric dikes, mainly of camptonite/monchiquite affinities occur in the Wiedemanns Fjord area. One example contains a complex assemblage of olivine-orthopyroxene-chrome spinel nodules, megacrysts of kaersutite, diopside, strongly reverse-zoned green salite and various spinel phases. Microprobe analyses are presented for all these phases and for the lilac-coloured titansalites and strongly-coloured kaersutites of the groundmass. It is concluded that these minerals record evolution under various P, T and oxidation regimes during the formation of a lamprophyric parent magma. The nodules provide evidence for deep fractures in this area supposedly associated with early rifting in the North Atlantic.     

A novel approach to estimate iron distribution within different pore domains of structured media

The Fe content of soils and aquifer solids is usually quantified using different extraction solutions performed with homogenized samples in a well-mixed batch experiment. For structured media where preferential flow prevails over the matrix flow, however, the Fe content determined from homogenized samples may not well represent the Fe available for biogeochemical reactions. In this study ammonium oxalate extraction was performed on a core of intact saprolite where physical structure was preserved. An unsaturated flow setup was modified with the intent of allowing the extraction under two pore tensions, 15 and 0 cm of water, although a malfunctioning vacuum regulator made this more difficult than anticipated. Approximately 85% of the oxalate-extractable Fe was contained within the finer pore domain (matrix potential larger than 15 cm). Less than 15.5% of the extracted Fe mass (an upper bound) was present in domains of pore tension less than15 cm. To the extent that Fe(III) oxides play an important role in contaminant biogeochemistry and solute transport, their distribution in structured subsurface media is critical to the understanding of these processes.     

Magma mixing in mafic alkaline volcanic rocks: the evidence from relict phenocryst phases and other inclusions

Green clinopyroxenes, commonly rounded and anhedral and richer in Fe, Na and Mn than the pyroxenes of the surrounding groundmass are a common feature of mafic alkaline volcanic rocks (e.g. basanites, monchiquites, leucitites). Some are accompanied by one or more of the following phases: Fe-rich kaersutite and biotite, anorthoclase, sodic plagioclase, apatite, magnetite, sphene, which are believed to be cognate with the green pyroxenes. We review evidence that these minerals have crystallized from mugearite, trachyte or phonolite magmas, and their presence in mafic alkaline rocks is due to magma mixing. The intermediate and salic magmas may sometimes be generated at mantle depths, possibly by melting of mantle material enriched in Fe, Na and volatiles.     

Fission track dating,thermal histories and tectonics of igneous intrusions in East Greenland

Fission track ages have been measured for 12 sphenes, 18 zircons and 25 apatites separated largely from Lower Tertiary magmatic rocks of East Greenland, with a few examples from Caledonian rocks. The sphene and zircon ages of Caledonian rocks agree with other radiometric ages but apatite is strongly discordant indicating that these rocks cooled very slowly over a 200 m.y. period. It was not until the Permian/Lower Jurassic that they finally cooled below 100 ° C, possibly as a consequence of uplift and erosion at this time in connection with extensive rifting. No evidence of a Tertiary imprint has been found in these rocks.Layered gabbros, such as Skaergaard, were emplaced at about the same time (ca. 54 m.y.) as the latest plateau basalts. Some evidence of syenitic activity from this period occurs in the Angmagssalik area ca. 400 km to the south but the syenites of Kangerdlugssuaq cluster around 50 m.y. The Gardiner ultramafic alkaline complex and some of the offshore gabbros apparently also were emplaced at about 50 m.y. Late dykes in the Kangerdlugssuaq area were emplaced over a considerable time span (43-34 m.y.) in keeping with their variable petrographic character, and the Kialineq centre was formed at 36.2±0.4 m.y.Intrusions of the Masters Vig area differ in age. Kap Simpson and Kap Parry to the northeast were emplaced around 40 m.y. whereas the Werner Bjerge complex is the youngest igneous activity so far identified in Greenland with an age of 30.3±1.3 m.y.Many apatites give strongly discordant ages of about 36 m.y. and these are concentrated in the area of a major domal uplift centred on Kangerdlugssuaq. The uplift is older than these ages but on field evidence post-dates the basalts. It probably formed in conjunction with alkaline magmatism at ca. 50 m.y. Cooling below ca. 200 ° was slow for these intrusions and was probably controlled by a number of factors including erosion of the dome, high heat flow caused by continuing dyke injection and regional plateau uplift. The last is believed to have taken place about 35 m.y. ago at the time of emplacement of the Kialineq plutons and last dykes. Renewed rapid erosion and declining heat flow at this time led to rapid cooling of the rocks now at the surface to below 100 °.     

Biogeochemical anomalies in fennoscandia: A study of copper, lead and nickel levels in Melandrium dioicum and Viscaria alpina

Herbarium specimens (over 700) of Melandrium dioicum and Viscaria alpina from throughout Fennoscandia were analysed for their Cu, Pb and Ni content. About 80 specimens had anomalous levels of one or more of these elements as determined by cumulative frequency plots. Inspection of collection localities of plants with anomalous heavy metal levels showed that some of the main copper mining districts of Norway and Sweden had been identified as well as several major ultrabasic regions of Fennoscandia. Although over half of the observed anomalies could be explained from previous knowledge of nearby sulphide mineralization, it is suggested that the more promising of the remainder are worthy of follow-up investigations.     

Post-breakup basaltic magmatism along the East Greenland Tertiary rifted margin

Mafic and ultramafic intrusions in East Greenland adjacent to the offshore Greenland–Iceland ridge were emplaced 5–9 My after continental breakup at 55 Ma [1]. Rare earth element (REE) concentrations determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry are reported for cumulus clinopyroxene from these intrusions, and the data are used to estimate REE abundance in equilibrium melts using available partitioning data. Estimated equilibrium melts from intrusions have strongly fractionated REE patterns with Nd/Dy(N) in the range 2 to 5.6 and Yb/Dy(N) 0.55 to 0.92, similar to values for coeval basalts. These melts have markedly higher Nd/Dy(N) than earlier breakup related flood basalts. The moderately low Yb/Dy(N) for the post-breakup volcanism is indicative of residual garnet in the source, while their high Nd/Dy(N) ratios can best be explained by aggregating low degree melts from a light-REE-enriched garnet- and spinel-bearing mantle source. We also report He, Sr, and Nd isotopic data for the intrusions. The highest ³He/⁴He ratios (>10 R/R_a) are found in the samples whose REE data reflect the largest proportion of melts from a garnet-bearing source, and having Sr and Nd isotopic compositions identical with the radiogenic Sr and unradiogenic Nd isotope end of the Iceland compositional field. There is no indication of a MORB-type mantle in the source of the intrusions. We postulate that post-breakup volcanism along the East Greenland coastline reflects the increasing proximity of the mantle plume to the East Greenland continental margin. The low degree of melting at high mean pressure inferred for the parental melts for the intrusions may reflect re-thickening of the lithosphere, which in turn was caused by the vigorous volcanism during breakup, with accompanying depletion of upper mantle and underplating of the crust at the continental margin.