Stratigraphy and palynostratigraphy, Karoo Supergroup (Permian and Triassic), mid-Zambezi Valley, southern Zambia

The Karoo Supergroup outcropst in the mid-Zambezi Valley, southern Zambia. It is underlain by the Sinakumbe Group of Ordovician to Devonian age. The Lower Karoo Group (Late Carboniferous to Permian age) consists of the basal Siankondobo Sandstone Formation, which comprises three facies, overlain by the Gwembe Coal Formation with its economically important coal deposits, in turn overlain by the Madumabisa Mudstone Formation which consists of lacustrine mudstone, calcilutite, sandstone, and concretionary calcareous beds. The Upper Karoo Group (Triassic to Early Jurassic) is sub-divided into the coarsely arenaceous Escarpment Grit, overlain by the fining upwards Interbedded Sandstone and Mudstone, Red Sandstone; and Batoka Basalt Formations.Palynomorph assemblages suggest that the Siankondobo Sandstone Formation is Late Carboniferous (Gzhelian) to Early Permian (Asselian to Early Sakmarian) in age, the Gwembe Coal Formation Early Permian (Artinskian to Kungurian), the Madumabisa Mudstone Late Permian (Tatarian), and the Interbedded Sandstone and Mudstone Early or Middle Triassic (Late Scythian or Anisian). The marked quantitative variations in the assemblages are due partly to age differences, but they also reflect vegetational differences resulting from different paleoclimates and different facies.The low thermal maturity of the formations (Thermal Alteration Index 2) suggests that the rocks are oil prone. However, the general scarcity of amorphous kerogen, such as the alga Botryococcus sp., and the low proportion of exinous material, indicates a low potential for liquid hydrocarbons. Gas may have been generated, particularly in the coal seams of the Gwembe Coal Formation, that are more deeply buried.     

Nitrogen flow and the interaction of Boston harbor with Massachusetts Bay

This paper summarizes evidence that most of the considerable nitrogen loading (～8, 470 mmol total N m^?2 yr^?1) to Boston Harbor (Massachusetts, USA) is expelled to shallow shelf waters of Massachusetts Bay, where it strongly influences ecological dynamics. Examination of nitrogen concentrations in the harbor, compared with loading, indicated that removal processes are active in the harbor. Comparison to other estuarine systems showed that the harbor’s nitrogen concentrations are consistent with its loading, if they are corrected for tidal flushing effects on the water residence time. Furthermore, extensive measurements of sediment denitrification confirmed that rates of N₂ gas loss are high in an absolute sense (～600–800 mmol N m^?2 yr^?1) but nonetheless remove only a small portion (<10%) of the annual land-derived nitrogen loading. Burial in sediments apparently removes only about 2% of the N input, implying export to offshore environments as the major removal process (～88–90% of N input). Western Massachusetts Bay receiving waters were examined for a signature of export from the harbor. Data consistently show a gradient of decreasing nitrogen concentrations from the harbor to about 10–20 km into the bay. In many cases, plots of nitrogen concentrations versus salinity show nearly conservative mixing character, which implies virtual export. Seasonally, the data suggest most of the export from the harbor in winter is as dissolved inorganic forms (NH₄ ⁺, NO₃ ^?, NO₂ ^?). In summer, export is dominated by the outflow of organic nitrogen forms. Chlorophyll export is evident as well, suggesting that the nutritional coupling of the harbor and bay in summer involves organic fertilization of the bay’s surface water. Finally, high-resolution studies over different stages of the tidal cycle help refine understanding of the advection of chlorophyll and stimulation of in situ chlorophyll growth at the seaward edge of the tidal excursion into the bay.     

The Development of Laser Ablation ICP-MS and Calibration Strategies: Examples from the Analysis of Trace Elements in Volcanic Glass Shards and Sulfide Minerals

This contribution presents a review of the recent developments in laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. We describe the important developments which have occurred in the laser systems used, leading to a spatial resolution of around 20 (im, and give an overview of the major instrument developments which have affected the geological applications of laser ablation ICP-MS. We describe the calibration of laser ablation for the analysis of trace elements in two different matrices: volcanic glass shards and sulfide minerals. We show how single glass shards can be analysed using the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) glass certified reference materials for calibration and demonstrate the effect of using single spot analyses compared to rastering of the calibration sample. We show the importance of inter-shard variation and demonstrate that averaged single shard analyses produce data which compare well with bulk analyses. The calibration of the laser system for sulfide mineral analysis is discussed and two different strategies are proposed, one using spiked pressed powder pellets of sulfides and the other metal reference materials. We present conclusions and recommendations for the calibration of laser ablation ICP-MS instruments.     

Depositional history and stratigraphical evolution of the Sakoa Group (Lower Karoo Supergroup) in the southern Morondava Basin, Madagascar

The Sakoa Group is the lowermost stratigraphical succession of the Karoo Supergroup and the oldest sedimentary unit in Madagascar, spanning the Late Carboniferous through Early Permian epochs. The Sakoa Group is exposed in the southern Morondava Basin. It is predominantly a siliciclastic sequence comprising seven lithofacies associations: (1) diamictites; (2) conglomeratic sandstones; (3) sandstones; (4) interbedded thin sandstones and mudstones; (5) mudstones; (6) coals; and (7) limestones. These facies represent deposition in the early extensional stages of continental rift development. The sediments were deposited predominantly on alluvial fans, and in braided to meandering stream and overbank environments. Locally lacustrine and coal swamp environments formed in low areas of the basin floor during rift initiation. Subsidence rates remained fairly constant throughout the Early Permian and were accompanied by a gradual reduction in relief of the basin margins and an increased geomorphic maturity of the fluvial systems flowing across the basin floor. Near the end of the Early Permian the southern Morondava Basin was inundated by a marine transgression , which resulted in deposition of the Vohitolia Limestone. Subsequent tectonic uplift and erosion resulted in a regional unconformity between the Sakoa Group and the overlying Sakamena Group.     

Colonization and evolution of lakes on the central Norwegian coast following deglaciation and land uplift 9500 to 7800 years B.P.

Invertebrate colonization of lakes following the uplift of land from the sea was studied in four lakes, currently situated between 39 and 24 m a.s.l., on the central Norwegian coast. The lakes were isolated from the sea between 9500 and 7700 years B.P. Animal and algal remains picked from core samples showed that the first colonizers preserved as fossils were usually members of the Chironomidae, Daphnidae/Chydoridae, Acarina, Porifera (Ephydatia mülleri and Spongilla lacustris), Bryozoa (Cristatella mucedo and Plumatella spp.) and Charophyta (Chara sp.). Of the chironomids, the genus Chironomus was present in the oldest lacustrine layers of all four lakes, but other genera recorded at the marine/lacustrine boundary were Dicrotendipes, Procladius (?), Einfeldia, Microtendipes, and Glyptotendipes. Remains of the caddis fly family Limnephilidae were also present in the earliest lacustrine sediments in Kvennavatnet and Kvernavatnet. The oldest invertebrate fauna is typical for mesotrophic lakes. However, chironomids and mites have been present in this area from at least about 10?500 years B.P. A diverse chironomid community was established between 300 and 800 years after isolation from the sea at Kvernavatnet on the island of Hitra, while only between 80 and 120 years passed before a comparably diverse community developed at Kvennavatnet on the mainland coast. A similar development of the invertebrate fauna occurred in Kvennavatnet, Kvernavatnet and Storkuvatnet. However, Litjvatnet deviates greatly from the ‘normal’ pattern because a tsunami disturbed the bottom sediments and fauna. The tsunami, a gigantic sea wave, was caused by a submarine slide from the Norwegian continental slope. It reached Litjvatnet, today located 24 m a.s.l., but was not traced in Storkuvatnet at 30 m a.s.l. This event happened about 7200 years B.P.     

The glacilacustrine sedimentary environment of Bowser Lake in the northern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada

Bowser Lake, a fiord lake in the northern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, contains a thick Holocene fill consisting mainly of silt and clay varves. These sediments were carried into the lake by proglacial Bowser River which drains a high-energy, heavily glacierized basin. Sedimentation in the lake is controlled by seasonal snow and ice melt, by autumn rainstorms, and by rare, but very large jökulhlaups from glacier-dammed lakes in the upper Bowser River basin which complicate environmental inferences from the sedimentary record. Sediment is dispersed through the deep western part of the lake by energetic turbidity currents. The turbidity currents apparently do not overtop a sill that separates the western basin from much shallower areas to the east. Large amounts of silt and clay are deposited from suspension in the eastern part of the lake, but sediment accumulation rates there are much lower than to the west. Several strong acoustic reflectors punctuate the varved fill in the western basin; these may be thick or relatively coarse beds deposited during jökulhlaups or exceptionally large storms. The contemporary sediment yield to Bowser Lake, estimated from sediments in the lake, is about 360 t km^-2a^-1. This is a relatively high value, but it is less than yields insome other, similar montane basins with extensive snow and ice cover.The most likely explanation for the difference is that large amounts of sediment have been, and continue to be, stored on the Bowser delta andin small proglacial lakes.     

The forward problem of electromagnetic induction: accurate finite-difference approximations for two-dimensional discrete boundaries with arbitrary geometry

We describe finite-difference approximations to the equations of 2-D electromagnetic induction that permit discrete boundaries to have arbitrary geometrical relationships to the nodes. This allows finite-difference modelling with the flexibility normally ascribed to finite-element modelling. Accuracy is demonstrated by comparison with finite-element computations. We also show that related approximations lead to substantially improved accuracy in regions of steep, but not discontinuous, conductivity gradient.     

Wide-angle seismic velocities in heterogeneous crust

Seismic velocities measured by wide-angle surveys are commonly used to constrain material composition in the deep crust. Therefore, it is important to understand how these velocities are affected by the presence of multiscale heterogeneities. The effects may be characterised by the scale of the heterogeneity relative to the dominant seismic wavelength (λ); what is clear is that heterogeneities of all scales and strengths bias wide-angle velocities to some degree. Waveform modelling was used to investigate the apparent wide-angle P -wave velocities of different heterogeneous lower crusts. A constant composition (50 per cent felsic and 50 per cent ultramafic) was formed into a variety of 1- and 2-D heterogeneous arrangements and the resulting wide-angle seismic velocity was estimated. Elastic, 1-D models produced the largest velocity shift relative to the true average velocity of the medium (which is the velocity of an isotropic mixture of the two components). Thick (width > λ) horizontal layers, as a result of Fermat's Principle, provided the largest increase in velocity; thin (width ≪λ) vertical layers produced the largest decrease in velocity. Acoustic 2-D algorithms were shown to be inadequate for modelling the kinematics of waves in bodies with multiscale heterogeneities. Elastic, 2-D modelling found velocity shifts (both positive and negative) that were of a smaller magnitude than those produced by 1-D models. The key to the magnitude of the velocity shift appears to be the connectivity of the fast (and/or slow) components. Thus, the models with the highest apparent levels of connectivity between the fast phases, the 1-D layers, produced the highest-magnitude velocity shifts. To understand the relationship between measured seismic velocities and petrology in the deep crust it is clear that high-resolution structural information (which describes such connectivity) must be included in any modelling.     

Yucatán karst features and the size of Chicxulub crater

The buried Chicxulub impact structure is marked by a dramatic ring of sinkholes (called cenotes if containing water), and adjacent less prominent partial rings, which have been shown to coincide with maxima in horizontal gravity gradients and a topographic depression. These observations, along with the discreteness and spacing of the features, suggest a formation mechanism involving faulting in the outer slump zone of the crater, which would thus have a diameter of approximately 180 km.
An opposing view, based primarily on the interpretation of gravity data, is that (he crater is much larger than the cenote ring implies. Given the association of the known cenote ring with faults, we here examine northern Yucatan for similar rings in gravity, surface features and elevation, which we might expect to be associated with outer concentric faults in the case of a larger, possibly multiring, structure.
No such outer rings have been found, although definite patterns are seen in the distribution of karst features outside the crater rim. We explain these patterns as resulting mainly from deformation related to the block fault zone that parallels tbe shelf edge of eastern Yucatan.