Development peculiarities of the magmatism synchronous to the formation of the North Atlantic passive margins

Magmatism synchronous to the formation of passive margins of the North Atlantic is discussed. The main features and causes of the geochemical enrichment of the primary magmas at the margins have been established. This paper is based on the published data on the Norwegian-Greenland tectonotype of volcanic margins and the West Iberia-Newfoundland tectonotype of nonvolcanic margins. In the first tectonotype the hot rifting and active magmatism gave rise to the formation of a thick crust at the margin and the adjacent oceanic zone. The second tectonotype is characterized by cold amagmatic rifting and slow initial spreading, which led to the widespread occurrence of ancient continental complexes and serpentinized mantle rocks at the margin, as well as the thin and disturbed oceanic crust nearby. In order to characterize the magmatism and initial oceanic opening, the geological and geochemical data pertaining to the reference sections chosen for each margin were compared in detail. In particular, the geochemical and isotopic data on the flood basalts and suites of parallel dikes related to the pre- and synbreakup magmatic phases were involved for the Norwegian-Greenland region. The predominance of tholeiites enriched in lithophile elements and radiogenic isotopes, as well as a significant contribution of continental material to them, are typical of the volcanic margins. No less than two enriched magma sources for the lower part of the volcanic complex are suggested, whereas a depleted or slightly enriched source is established for the upper part. A more enriched source as compared with the volcanic margins of the Norwegian-Greenland region is suggested for the low-volume magmatic manifestations at the nonvolcanic Iberian margin. The tectonic settings of margins development and their relationships with the effect of deep plumes and the propagation of the extension zone toward the cold Atlantic lithosphere are discussed.     

A revision of lunar reference points

A selection of 50 points on the lunar surface, considered as appropriate for high accuracy selenodetic measures, is presented.     

Groundwater mixing in a sand-island freshwater lens: density-dependent flow and stratigraphic controls

This paper focuses on a small back-barrier sand-island on the southeast coast of Queensland. The freshwater lens in the study area exhibits anomalously high short-range salinity gradients at shallow depths, which cannot be explained using a standard seawater intrusion model. The island groundwater system consists of two aquifers: a semiconfined aquifer hosting saline to hypersaline groundwater and an overlying unconfined freshwater aquifer. The deeper aquifer is semiconfined within an incised paleovalley, and groundwater flow is restricted to an east – west direction. Tidal response observations show that the tidal signal propagates far more rapidly and is of much higher magnitude in the semiconfined aquifer than the unconfined aquifer. The tidal wave-pulse amplitude is also subject to greater attenuation in the unconfined aquifer. A conceptual hydrogeological model illustrates how upwelling of hypersaline groundwater, induced by density-dependent flow and tidal pumping, has contaminated the shallow groundwater resource. Salinisation at shallow depths is restricted to an area proximal to the paleovalley aquifer. The spatial distribution of lithological heterogeneity is an initial limiting control on the movement of the upwelling saline plume. The extent of shallow groundwater contamination is also limited by the presence of a baroclinic field, resulting from lateral variations in fluid density. Hydrochemical signatures have been used to support the model hypothesis and link the salinisation of fresh groundwater with the semiconfined aquifer as opposed to the surrounding estuarine surface water. The geometry and thickness of the freshwater lens are further controlled by the presence of the largely impermeable bedrock paleosurface between 9 and 12 m depth. The combination of hypersaline groundwater and hydraulically restrictive lithology at shallow depths has produced excessive thinning of the freshwater lens, demonstrating that the application of a model such as the Dupuit – Ghyben – Herzberg relationship would grossly overestimate the available groundwater resource.     

A new Late Holocene sea-level record from the Mississippi Delta: evidence for a climate/sea level connection?

A detailed relative sea-level (RSL) record was constructed for the time interval 600–1600 AD, using basal peat to track sea level and containing 16 sea-level index points that capture ～60 cm of RSL rise. The study area is in the Mississippi Delta where the spring tidal range is ～0.47 m, the impact of ocean currents on sea-surface topography is limited, and crustal motions are well constrained. Age control was obtained by AMS ¹⁴C dating and most ages represent weighted means of two subsamples. Sample elevations were determined by combining differential GPS measurements with optical surveying. All index points were plotted as error boxes using 2σ confidence intervals for the ages, plus all vertical errors involved in sampling and surveying, as well as the indicative range of the samples. A striking clustering of sea-level index points between ～1000 and ～1200 AD suggests a possible acceleration in the rate of RSL rise. Removal of the long-term trend (0.60 mm yr^?1) allows for the possibility of a sea-level oscillation with a maximum amplitude of ～55 cm. However, given the size of the error boxes the possibility that oscillations did not occur cannot be entirely ruled out. Comparison of the new RSL record with various proxy climate records suggests that sea level in this area may have responded to hemispheric temperature changes, including the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age. However, given the error margins associated with this reconstruction, it is stressed that this causal mechanism is tentative and requires corroboration by high-resolution sea-level reconstructions elsewhere.     

Hydrogeochemical modelling of an active system of uranium fixation by organic soils and sediments (Needle's Eye,Scotland)

Uranium accumulation in organic-rich sediments can be closely modelled by assuming that the dominant effect of the uranium-organic matter interaction is the direct or indirect reduction of uranyl compounds to form U(IV) minerals, especially uraninite-pitchblende. Application of this model to the Needle's Eye (Scotland) site where uranium is actively accumulating in Quaternary sediments demonstrates that uranium accumulation is both effective and rapid in environments involving shallow, organic-rich, reducing horizons. The period of uranium deposit formation at Needle's Eye is estimated to be as short as 5000 years. The transport of uranium to the site of deposition by oxidizing groundwaters and the channelling of these oxidizing uraniferous groundwaters are identified as important factors involved in the rapid accumulation of uranium. The regional hydrogeological model indicates that a fault in the area appears to act as a hydraulic screen for the uraniferous groundwaters. On one side of the fault the Quaternary sediments are well drained whilst on the other the flow of groundwater seeps out creating a major flux just at the bottom of the organic-rich layers. The local hydrogeological model shows that the groundwater flow is vertical in this area. A third significant factor in the development of these uranium accumulations is the presence of a significant nearby source of leachable primary uranium. In the case of the Needle's Eye site this is in the form of some thirty 185 ±20 Ma, pitchblende-bearing veins.     

31P solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of aluminum phosphate minerals

This study examines the links between ³¹P solidstate NMR studies of aluminum phosphate minerals and their crystallographic structures. We found that ³¹P isotropic chemical shift values, _iso, carry little information about mineral structures. There seems to be no relation between the chemical shift anisotropy, =₃₃–₁₁ (₃₃>₂₂> ₁₁), and indicies of phosphate-tetrahedra distortion. ³¹P¹H heteronuclear magnetic dipole interactions, on the other hand, carry important information about hydrous phosphate mineral structures, information that should prove to be quite valuable in studies of phosphate adsorbed on mineral surfaces. This interaction can be measured through a variety of qualitative and quantitative experiments. It appears that spin diffusion is so rapid that subtle differences in hydrogen-bonding environments cannot be resolved.     

Carbonate platform evolution: from a bioconstructed platform margin to a sand-shoal system (Devonian, Guilin, South China)

ABSTRACT The depositional organization and architecture of the middle–late Devonian Yangdi rimmed carbonate platform margin in the Guilin area of South China were related to oblique, extensional faulting in a strike‐slip setting. The platform margin shows two main stages of construction in the late Givetian to Frasnian, with a bioconstructed margin evolving into a sand‐shoal system. In the late Givetian, the platform margin was rimmed with microbial buildups composed mainly of cyanobacterial colonies (mostly Renalcis and Epiphyton). These grew upwards and produced an aggradational (locally slightly retrogradational) architecture with steep foreslope clinoforms. Three depositional sequences (S3–S5) are recognized in the upper Givetian strata, which are dominated by extensive microbialites. Metre‐scale depositional cyclicity occurs in most facies associations, except in the platform‐margin buildups and upper foreslope facies. In the latest Givetian (at the top of sequence S5), relative platform uplift (± subaerial exposure) and associated rapid basin subsidence (probably a block‐tilting effect) caused large‐scale platform collapse and slope erosion to give local scalloped embayments along the platform margin and the synchronous demise of microbial buildups. Subsequently, sand shoals and banks composed of ooids and peloids and, a little later, stromatoporoid buildups on the palaeohighs, developed along the platform margin, from which abundant loose sediment was transported downslope to form gravity‐flow deposits. Another strong tectonic episode caused further platform collapse in the early Frasnian (at the top of sequence S6), leading to large‐scale breccia release and the death of the stromatoporoid buildups. Siliceous facies (banded cherts and siliceous shales) were then deposited extensively in the basin centre as a result of the influx of hydrothermal fluids. The platform‐margin sand‐shoal/bank system, possibly with gullies on the slope, persisted into the latest Frasnian until the restoration of microbial buildups. Four sequences (S6–S9), characterized by abundant sand‐shoal deposits on the margin and gravity‐flow and hemipelagic deposits on the slope, are distinguished in the Frasnian strata. Smaller‐scale depositional cyclicity is evident in all facies associations across the platform–slope–basin transect. The distinctive depositional architecture and evolution of this Yangdi Platform are interpreted as having been controlled mainly by regional tectonics with contributions from eustasy, environmental factors, oceanographic setting, biotic and sedimentary fabrics.     

A high‐resolution pollen and geochemical analysis of late Holocene human impact and vegetation history in southern Cumbria,England

The historic era, which in Cumbria begins with the Roman invasion of AD 71, is a frequently neglected period in palaeoecological research, but its study can bring benefits in improving knowledge of landscape history and in understanding the significance and limitations of palaeoecological records. Pollen and geochemical data are presented for late Holocene records from Deer Dyke and Hulleter Mosses in southern Cumbria. The records show initially low levels of anthropogenic impact, followed by a phase of forest clearance and mixed agriculture from the 7th to 11th centuries AD. The timing of these clearances suggests that they were initially Anglo‐Saxon in origin, rather than Norse. Further clearances in the 16th century AD are interpreted as a response to monastic dissolution and late Tudor population pressures; the landscapes reached their contemporary form following extensive clearances in the 17th century AD. Silicon and titanium concentrations at Deer Dyke Moss were used to reconstruct past levels of atmospheric dust loading, which is broadly related to soil erosion. Geochemical influx was found to peak during periods of landscape transition rather than from established land use. This relationship with pollen data is thought to reflect the predominantly low levels of anthropogenic impact in the region, which changes as substantial woodland clearances during the 16th century AD and continuous land use pressure since then have greatly increased the supply of airborne dust. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stability of end-bearing piles in a non-homogeneous elastic foundation

The stability of end-bearing piles that are supported laterally along their entire length by an elastic Winkler foundation is investigated for the case when the coefficient of horizontal subgrade reaction varies linearly with depth. A pattern of clustering of buckling modes is shown to occur and the approximate modelling of the elastic foundation by averaging the stiffness of the subgrade is discussed. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.