A 5000 year record of intertidal peat stratigraphy and sea level change from northwest Alaska

Coastal environments of northwest Alaska preserve a detailed record of sea level change during the past 5000 ¹⁴C yr. Rapid burial of intertidal marshes by storm overwash processes, a short open water period, and the arctic maritime climate contribute to the preservation of marine and eolian facies. Eustatic and storm-controlled changes in sea level can be identified from interbedded sequences of marsh peat and coastal flood deposits on barrier islands and estuaries along northwest Seward Peninsula. Mean eustatic sea level has risen about 1.5 m during the last 5000 years, at an average of ca. 0.028 cm yr⁻¹, based on the depth and age relationship of a suite of 23 peat horizons sampled from a 140 km-long reach of coast. Nearshore erosion and sedimentation are controlled by secular variations in wave climate. Peaks in tidal amplitude and storminess correlate with transgressive sedimentary regimes and occurred during the periods 3300–1700, 1200–900, and since about 400 ¹⁴C yr BP. Short-term fluctuations in relative sea level are superimposed on the long-term regional eustatic trend, and record the coastal response to variable rates of sea-level change during the late Holocene.     

The geological evolution of southern McMurdo Sound — new evidence from a high-resolution aeromagnetic survey

Magnetic anomaly data are presented from a new helicopter-borne high-resolution aeromagnetic survey in southern McMurdo Sound. Anomaly data have been acquired at a common 305 m elevation above the McMurdo and southern McMurdo ice shelves and draped over the volcanic islands that pin them. The resulting anomaly patterns provide a significant advance in the understanding of the rift related geology beneath the floating ice shelves. More extensive Erebus Volcanic Province (McMurdo Volcanic Group) rocks are indicated along with a significant blanket of glaci-volcaniclastic sediment on the seafloor between the volcanic islands in southern McMurdo Sound. These glaci-volcaniclastic sediments are inferred to originate from former grounding of the southern McMurdo Ice Shelf as a marine ice sheet. A strong N–S fabric is also observed in the anomaly data suggesting that the rift structure observed in the Victoria Land basin persists to the south beneath the McMurdo and southern McMurdo ice shelves. W–N–W transfer faults identified within the Transantarctic Mountain rift flank to the west are not obvious in the aeromagnetic data set, implying that the 'Discovery Accommodation Zone' may be restricted to the region between a southward extension of the range bounding fault that marks the limit of the Victoria Land Basin and the right lateral offset in the Transantarctic Mountain front in southern Victoria Land.     

Palaeomagnetism of the loess/palaeosol sequence in Viatovo (NE Bulgaria) in the Danube basin

The results of a palaeomagnetic investigation of a 27 m thick loess/palaeosol sequence in Viatovo (NE Bulgaria) are presented in this paper. The sequence consists of topsoil S₀, seven loess horizons (L₁–L₇) and six interbedded palaeosols (S₁–S₆) overlying a red clay (terra rossa) complex. Magnetic viscosity experiments, IRM acquisition, AMS analysis and NRM stepwise alternating and thermal demagnetisation experiments of pilot samples were implemented for precise determination of the characteristic remanence and construction of a reliable magnetostratigraphical scheme. Analysis of IRM acquisition curves using the expectation – maximization algorithm of Heslop et al. [Heslop, D., Dekkers, M., Kruiver, P., van Oorschot, H., 2002. Analysis of isothermal remanent magnetization acquisition curves using the expectation – maximization algorithm. Geophys. J. Int., 148, 58–64] suggests that the best fitting is obtained by three coercivity components. Component 1 corresponds to SD maghemite/magnetite, while component 2 is probably related to the presence of oxidised detrital magnetites. The third component shows varying coercivities depending on the degree of pedogenic alteration of the samples and probably reflects the presence of detrital magnetite grains oxidised at different degree.

The relevance of the Viatovo section as a key representative sequence for the loess cover in the Danube basin is confirmed by the presence of geomagnetic polarity changes in the lower part of the sequence. The youngest one recorded in the seventh loess unit L₇ can be identified as corresponding to the Matuyama/Brunhes palaeomagnetic polarity transition. Two normal magnetozones were found in the red clay complex, probably corresponding to the Jaramillo and Olduvai subchronozones of the Matuyama chron.     

Broadband seismic source data acquisition and processing to delineate iron oxide deposits in the Blötberget mine-central Sweden

A prototype electromagnetic vibrator, referred to here as E-Vib, was upgraded and developed for broadband hardrock and mineral exploration seismic surveys. We selected the iron oxide mine in Blötberget, central Sweden, for a test site in 2019 for the newly developed E-Vib because of the availability of earlier seismic datasets (from 2015 to 2016) for verification of its performance for hardrock imaging purposes. The two-dimensional data acquisition consisted of a fixed geometry with 550 receiver locations spaced at every 5 m, employing both cabled and wireless seismic recorders, along an approximately 2.7 km long profile. The E-Vib operated at every second receiver station (i.e. 10 m spacing) with a linear sweep of 2–180 Hz and with a peak force of 7 kN. The processing workflow took advantage of the broadband signal generated by the E-Vib in this challenging hardrock environment with varying ground conditions. The processed seismic section shows a set of reflections associated with the known iron oxide mineralization and a major crosscutting reflection interpreted to be from a fault system likely to be crosscutting the mineralization. The broadband source data acquisition and subsequent processing helped to improve signal quality and resolution in comparison with the earlier workflows and data where a drophammer seismic source was used as the seismic source. These results suggest new possibilities for the E-Vib source for improved targeting in hardrock geological settings.     

The rheology of polymineralic rocks — an approach

Deduced from empirical and theoretical work, a model is proposed for the rheology of bi- and polyphase rocks based on the rheology of the components, their volume fractions, and their geometrical distribution. The model is formulated for the common case where some minerals deform by crystall plasticity at steady state and others, stronger ones, deform in the vincinity of the brittle-ductile transition.The model results from a combination of a load-carrying framework model and a two-block model. The first model is valid for the field, where stress is mainly accommodated by interconnecting stronger phases. The second model describes the case where strain is concentrated mainly within the weaker phase. The transition-point from one partial-model to the other depends on the material properties of the minerals involved. With increasing strain, it shifts first to higher then to lower contents of weaker materials, due to an increase of contrast in competence and to the development of a mechanically induced compositional foliation. Finally, the rheology of the resulting well foliated rock is dominated by the rheology of the weakest component.

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Zusammenfassung Basierend auf empirischen und theoretischen Arbeiten wird ein Modell für zwei- und mehrphasige Gesteine vorgestellt, mit dem die Gesamt-Rheologie als Funktion der Rheologien der einzelnen Phasen, ihren volumenmäßigen Anteilen am Gesamtgestein und ihrer geometrischen Verteilung formuliert werden kann.Das Modell entsteht durch die Verbindung zweier Teil-Modelle. Das eine nimmt ein tragendes Gerüst, aufgebaut durch härtere, vorwiegend spröd bis kataklastisch deformierende Mineralien an. Das zweite gilt für den Bereich, wo die Verformung vollständig durch weiche Komponenten aufgenommen wird.Der Übergang vom Gültigkeitsbereich des einen in denjenigen des anderen Teilmodells ist eine Funktion der Materialeigenschaften der beteiligten Mineralien. Er verlagert sich mit zunehmender Deformation zuerst in Richtung höherer, dann in Richtung niedrigerer Anteile von weicheren Komponenten, bedingt einerseits durch einen zunehmenden Kompetenzkontrast, andererseits durch die zunehmende, mechanisch bedingte Ausbildung einer Stoffbänderung. Die Rheologie des schlußendlich vollständig gebänderten Gesteins wird weitgehendst von der Rheologie der weichsten Komponente kontrolliert.

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Résumé L'auteur, à partir de données empiriques et de travaux théoriques, présente un modèle de la rhéologie des roches biet poly-phasées, dans lequel cette propriété apparaît comme une fonction de la rhéologie de chacune des phases, des proportions en volume de celles-ci et de leurs relations géométriques. Ce modèle s'applique au cas le plus répandu dans lequel certains minéraux ont un comportement proche de la transition cassant-ductile, tandis que les autres fluent plastiquement à contrainte constante à l'intervention de processus intra-cristallins.Le modèle est la synthèse de deux modèles partiels. Le premier correspond au cas où la phase compétente forme un squelette absorbant la plus grande part de la contrainte («load-carrying framework model»). Le deuxième s'applique au cas où la déformation se concentre presque uniquement dans la phase incompétente («two bock model»). La transition d'un modèle partiel à l'autre dépend des propriétés physiques de ces deux phases. Lors d'une déformation progressive cette transition se déplace dans un premier temps vers les plus grandes teneurs en matériau moins compétent, en raison de l'accroissement de la différence de compétence. Puis elle glisse, au contraire, vers les plus petites teneurs en raison du développement d'un rubanement compositionnel d'origine mécanique. Finalement la rhéologie d'une roche ainsi entièrement rubanée est déterminée essentiellement par la rhéologie du matériau le moins compétent.

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Mapping Energy: Cartographies of Energy Into The Twenty‐First Century

“Energy” presents a number of complex and interrelated challenges regarding the environment, economy, and politics. In this paper, we argue that cartography should help clarify our understanding of energy issues, but ask whether this has in fact been the case. In a review of over 100 articles pulled from twenty‐three peer‐reviewed geography journals, we qualitatively assess energy maps published since the early 20^th century, examining trends in topic and cartographic technique. Energy maps in geography journals have focused on North America and Western Europe while relying on proportional symbols, grayscale production, and the analysis of energy phenomena at the national scale—tendencies that in many instances have limited our understanding of the ways in which energy is actually consumed. Simultaneously, cartographers are limited to the energy data available to them, frequently precluding small‐scale consumption analysis or consideration of diurnal and seasonal trends. We argue that the future of energy cartography relies on access to consumption data coupled with greater user interactivity.