The Timing of the Palaeoproterozoic Great Oxidation Event using Dykes,Sills and Bolcanics of the Ongeluk Large Igneous Province,Kaapvaal Craton

正The Neoarchaean to Palaeoproterozoic Transvaal Supergroup of the Kaapvaal Craton,southern Africa,is one of the best-preserved and most complete stratigraphic records across a critical in juncture in the Earth’s history.     

The Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic passive margin Lajeado Group and Apiaí Gabbro,Southeastern Brazil

The Lajeado Group in the Ribeira Belt,southeastern Brazil,corresponds to an open-sea carbonate platform,comprised of seven overlapping siliciclastic and carbonatic formations,intruded in its upper portion by the Apiai Gabbro.These rocks have a Neoproterozoic tectonometamorphic overprint related to arc magmatism and the Brasiliano collisional orogeny.Geochronological constraints are given by new UPb SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS data for Lajeado Group detrital zircons and for magmatic zircons from the Apiai Gabbro.The youngest detrital zircons in the Lajeado Group are 1400-1200 Ma,and constrain its maximum age of deposition to be 1200 Ma,whereas the 877 ± 8 Ma age for magmatic zircons in the Apiai Gabbro give the minimum age.Detritus source areas are mainly Paleoproterozoic(2200-1800 Ma)with some Archean and Mesoproterozoic contribution(1500-1200 Ma),with distal or tectonic stable cratonic character.The Lajeado Group should be a Stenian-Tonian carbonate platform passive margin of a continent at this time,namely the Columbia/Nuna or the Rodinia.The Apiai Gabbro displays similar age to other intrusive basic rocks in the Lajeado and Itaiacoca groups and represents tholeiitic MORB-like magmatism that we relate to the initial break-up of a Mesoproterozoic continent and the formation of the Brasiliano oceans.     

Geochemistry and Petrogenesis of Intracontinental Basaltic Volcanism on the Northwest Arabian Plate,Gaziantep Basin,Southeast Anatolia,Turkey

Volcanism along the northwest boundary of the Arabian Plate found in the Gaziantep Basin, southeast Turkey, is of Miocene age and is of alkaline and calc-alkaline basic composition. The rare earth element data for both compositional series indicates spinel–peridotite source areas. The rare earth and trace elements of the alkaline lavas originate from a highly primitive and slightly contaminated asthenospheric mantle; those of the calc-alkaline lavas originate from a highly heterogeneous, asthenospheric, and lithospheric mantle source. Partial melting and magmatic differentiation processes played a role in the formation of the petrological features of these volcanics. These rocks form two groups on the basis of their ~(87) Sr/~(86) Sr and ~(143) Nd/~(144) Nd isotopic compositions in addition to their classifications based on their chemical compositions(alkaline and calc-alkaline). These isotopic differences indicate a dissimilar parental magma. Therefore, high Nd isotope samples imply a previously formed and highly primitive mantle whereas low Nd isotope samples may indicate comparable partial melting of an enriched heterogeneous shallow mantle. Other isotopic changes that do not conform to the chemical features of these lavas are partly related to the various tectonic events of the region, such as the Dead Sea Fault System and the Bitlis Suture Zone.     

Estimation of peak relative velocity and peak absolute acceleration of linear SDOF systems

In the seismic analysis and design of structures, the true velocity and absolute acceleration are usually approximated by their corresponding pseudo-values. This approach is simple and works well for structures with small damping (say, less than 15%). When the damping of a structure is enhanced for the purpose of response reduction, it may result in large analysis and design errors. Based on theory of random vibration and the established mechanism of seismic response spectra analysis, a method is developed (1) to predict the relative velocity spectra with any damping ratio level directly from the 5% standard pseudo-acceleration spectrum; and (2) to estimate the peak absolute acceleration. The accuracy of both is validated by using two selected ensembles of ground motion records.     

Stratigraphy of the Lower Cretaceous Sediments from the Carpathian Bend Area, Romania

The Lower Cretaceous sediments of the Ceahl?u Nappe (from the bend region of the Romanian Carpathians) were investigated from lithological and micropaleontological (calcareous nannoplankton) points of view. Our investigations revealed that the studied deposits were sedimented within the latest Tithonian-Albian interval. The calcareous nannofossil assemblages of the turbidite calcareous successions (the Sinaia Formation) were assigned to the NJK-?NC5 calcareous nannofossil zones, which cover the Late Tithonian-Early Barremian interval. The sandy-shaly turbidites, which followed the calcareous turbidites of the Sinaia Formation, are Early Barremian-Early Albian in age (interval covered by the ?NC5-NC8 calcareous nannofossil zones). Because the studied deposited are mainly turbidites, many reworked nannofossils from older deposits are present in the calcareous nannofloras. Thus, some biozones (i.e., NC5), defined based on the last occurrences of nannofossils, could not be identified. The calcareous nannofossil assemblages are composed of Tethyan taxa (which dominate the nannofloras) and cosmopolitan taxa. During two intervals (the Late Valanginian and across the Barremian/Aptian boundary), Tethyan and cosmopolitan nannofossils, together with Boreal ones, were observed. This type of mixed calcareous nannoplankton assemblage is indicative for sea-level high-stand, which allows the nannofloral exchange between the Tethyan and Boreal realms, within the two-above mentioned intervals.     

Habitat continuity effects on gradients of fish biomass across marine protected area boundaries

Marine protected areas (MPAs) could be useful as fisheries management tools for the exportation of pelagic eggs, larvae and adult fish. A decreasing gradient of fish biomass across MPAs boundary may indicate export. We determine whether gradients of decreasing biomass of fish assemblage occurred in Tabarca Marine Reserve over two habitats with different continuity across the boundaries, to test if the patchy nature of the marine environment might act as a barrier for the fish export. In general, significant decreasing gradients in total fish biomass and biomass of some species were observed on P. oceanica and rocky substrates, independently of their different continuity through the reserve boundaries. Changes in the multivariate structure of the fish assemblage were correlated with the distance from integral reserve. All of these results support the hypothesis that the exportation of adult fish from Tabarca Marine Reserve occurs, and this process may influence the surrounding fished areas.     

Argo floats revealing bimodality of large-scale mid-depth circulation in the North Atlantic

Analysis of Argo float trajectories at 1 000 m and temperature at 950 m in the North Atlantic between November 2003 and January 2005 demonstrates the existence of two different circulation modes with fast transition between them. Each mode has a pair of cyclonic - anticyclonic gyres. The difference is the location of the cyclonic gyre. The cyclonic gyre stretches from southeast to northwest in the first mode and from the southwest to the northeast in the second mode. The observed modes strongly affect the heat and salt transport in the North Atlantic. In particular, the second mode slows down the westward transport of the warm and saline water from the Mediterranean Sea.     

Challenges in the Detection and Attribution of Northern Hemisphere Surface Temperature Trends Since 1850

Since 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) has heavily relied on the comparison between global climate model hindcasts and global surface temperature(ST) estimates for concluding that post-1950s global warming is mostly human-caused. In Connolly et al., we cautioned that this approach to the detection and attribution of climate change was highly dependent on the choice of Total Solar Irradiance(TSI) and ST data sets.We compiled 16 TSI and five ST data sets and found by alter...