The importance of oxygen isotope provenance in relation to solute content of bulk meltwaters at Imersuaq Glacier,West Greenland

Stable oxygen isotope analysis and measurement of several dissolved cations and anions of bulk meltwater samples have provided information about the hydrochemical environment of the glacial hydrological system at Imersuaq Glacier, an outlet tongue from the Greenland ice‐sheet, West Greenland. The samples were collected at frequent intervals during the period 20–28 July 2000 in a small (<20 L s^?1) englacial meltwater outlet at the glacier margin. The results document the following findings: (i) a marked diurnal variation of δ¹⁸O is related to the composition of oxygen isotope provenances, mainly near‐marginal local superimposed ice and basal up‐sheared ice further up‐glacier; (ii) a relationship is seen between all base cations (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺), SO₄^2? and δ¹⁸O, indicating that solute acquisition is provided by solid–solution contact with the up‐sheared ice—as the relationship with Cl^? is weak the influence of seasalt‐derived solutes is small in the area; (iii) when the melt rate is high, two diurnal maxima of δ¹⁸O values and solute concentrations are measured, and it is suggested that a snow meltwater component is responsible for the second maximum of δ¹⁸O—a short residence time leads to a delayed decrease in ion concentrations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geochronological evidence for late‐Grenvillian magmatic and metamorphic events in central Taimyr,northern Siberia*

U–Th–Pb analyses of zircons from six granites and one metasediment collected in the accretionary Central belt of Taimyr, Arctic Siberia, demonstrate that Neoproterozoic (c. 900 Ma) granites intrude late Mesoproterozoic/early Neoproterozoic amphibolite facies metamorphic rocks. This is the first time in the Mamont–Shrenk region that Neoproterozoic ages have been recognized for these lithologies, previously thought to be Archaean/Palaeoproterozoic in age. The Mamont–Shrenk Terrane (MST) represents a Grenvillian age (micro?) continent intercalated with younger Neoproterozoic ophiolites during thrusting and accreted to the northern margin of the Siberian craton sometime before the late Vendian. Basement to the MST may have been derived from the Grenvillian belt of east Greenland. Viable tectonic reconstructions must allow for an active margin along northern Siberia (modern day coordinates) in the middle Neoproterozoic.     

The Leonard Award Address Presented 1996 July 25, Berlin,Germany: The elemental composition of stony cosmic spherules

Abstract— Five hundred stony cosmic spherules collected from deep-sea sediments, polar ice, and the stratosphere have been analyzed for major and some minor element composition. Typical spherules are products of atmospheric melting of millimeter sized and smaller meteoroids. The samples are small and modified by atmospheric entry, but they are an important source of information on the composition of asteroids. The spherules in this study were all analyzed in an identical manner, and they provide a sampling of the solar system's asteroids that is both different and less biased than provided by studies of conventional meteorites. Volatile elements such as Na and S are depleted due to atmospheric heating, while siderophiles are depleted by less understood causes. The refractory nonsiderophile elements appear not to have been significantly disturbed during atmospheric melting and provide important clues on the elemental composition of millimeter sized meteoroids colliding with the Earth. Typical spherules have CM-like composition that is distinctively different than ordinary chondrites and most other meteorite types. We assume that C-type asteroids are the primary origin of spherules with this composition. Type S asteroids should also be an important source of the spherules, and the analysis data provide constraints on their composition. A minor fraction of the spherules are melt products of precursor particles that did not have chondritic elemental compositions. The most common of these are particles that are dominated by olivine. The observed compositions of spherules are inconsistent with the possibility that an appreciable fraction of the spherules are simply chondrules remelted during atmospheric entry.     

Realisation of a celestial system based on VLBI geodynamics programs

The relative orientations of various VLBI celestial reference frames are evaluated on the basis of coordinate differences of common sources. It is shown that an accuracy better than 0.001 can be achieved. Possible regional deformations in the different catalogues are investigated; they are found to reach a few 0.001 in some restricted zones. The application of these studies to the realisation of a combined celestial reference frame consistent with the BIH Terrestrial System is outlined.     

THE ANALYTICAL ORIENTATION OF A LUNAR MODEL

An analytical relative orientation of a stereo-pair of photographs was computed in an unusual system of co-ordinates. The disparity in the widely mismatched photographs, their tilts and narrow angles subtended resulted in a rather weak solution from which sections of the lunar surface have been plotted. The results were not good but were better than expected. The main outcome of the work is a, probably unique, demonstration of the versatility of analytical photogrammetry.     

Models of the Southern Oscillation in the 300–100 mb layer and the basis of seasonal forecasting

Summary The geometry of the principal Upper High (near the Indian Occean) in the 300–100 mb layer appears to account for the Southern Oscillation (S.O.), and models of its behaviour are presented. Significant features of these models include the equatorial points of upper convergence (C) and divergence (D), a pressure discontinuity (CNDS) forming «arcs» and an «enclosure» around the high, and, lastly, encircling «crescents» both outside and inside the enclosure. The geography of the seasonal sucession can thus—in a qualitative manner—be interpreted in the light of known wind and contour patterns near the tropopause. With a few general principles, the established empirical rules of long-range forecasting then follow by deduction. The models and the terminology are useful likewise in the interpretation of solar-terrestrial relations and of climatic fluctuations.