Eocene-Pliocene time scale and stratigraphy of the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) and the Swiss Molasse Basin (SMB)

We present a general stratigraphic synthesis for the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) and the Swiss Molasse Basin (SMB) from Eocene to Pliocene times. The stratigraphic data were compiled both from literature and from research carried out by the authors during the past 6 years ; an index of the stratigraphically most important localitites is provided. We distinguish 14 geographical areas from the Helvetic domain in the South to the Hanau Basin in the North. For each geographical area, we give a synthesis of the biostratigraphy, lithofacies, and chronostratigraphic ranges. The relationships between this stratigraphic record and the global sea-level changes are generally disturbed by the geodynamic (e.g., subsidence) evolution of the basins. However, global sea-level changes probably affected the dynamic of transgression–regression in the URG (e.g., Middle Pechelbronn Beds and Serie Grise corresponding with sea-level rise between Ru1/Ru2 and Ru2/Ru3 sequences, respectively) as well as in the Molasse basin (regression of the UMM corresponding with the sea-level drop at the Ch1 sequence). The URGENT-project (Upper Rhine Graben evolution and neotectonics) provided an unique opportunity to carry out and present this synthesis. Discussions with scientists addressing sedimentology, tectonics, geophysics and geochemistry permitted the comparison of the sedimentary history and stratigraphy of the basin with processes controlling its geodynamic evolution. Data presented here back up the palaeogeographic reconstructions presented in a companion paper by the same authors (see Berger et al. in Int J Earth Sci 2005).     

Late Pleistocene fluvial dynamics in the Hochrhein Valley and in the Upper Rhine Graben: chronological frame

During the Pleistocene, the Rhine glacier system acted as a major south–north erosion and transport medium from the Swiss Alps into the Upper Rhine Graben, which has been the main sediment sink forming low angle debris fans. Only some aggradation resulted in the formation of terraces. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating have been applied to set up a more reliable chronological frame of Late Pleistocene and Holocene fluvial activity in the western Hochrhein Valley and in the southern part of the Upper Rhine Graben. The stratigraphically oldest deposits exposed, a braided-river facies, yielded OSL age estimates ranging from 59.6 ± 6.2 to 33.1 ± 3.0 ka. The data set does not enable to distinguish between a linear age increase triggered by a continuous autocyclical aggradation or two (or more) age clusters, for example around 35 ka and around 55 ka, triggered by climate change, including stadial and interstadial periods (sensu Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles). The braided river facies is discontinuously (hiatus) covered by coarse-grained gravel-rich sediments deposited most likely during a single event or short-time period of major melt water discharge postdating the Last Glacial Maximum. OSL age estimates of fluvial and aeolian sediments from the above coarse-grained sediment layer are between 16.4 ± 0.8 and 10.6 ± 0.5 ka, and make a correlation with the Late Glacial period very likely. The youngest fluvial aggradation period correlates to the beginning of the Little Ice Age, as confirmed by OSL and radiocarbon ages.     

Fifteen days of continuous activity survey at Stromboli volcano, Italy, in late September 2000: Doppler radar, seismicity, infrared, soil humidity, and mapping of the crater region

The intention of our study was to gain new insight into the complex interplay between different types of eruption of the Stromboli volcano by combining detailed field observation with different geophysical methods. We recorded more than 600 eruptions by use of continuous Doppler radar measurements. We detected the onset of the seismic precursor and the beginning of the visible eruption by use of seismic and infrared data. Two soil samples per day were used to monitor the effect of humidity on the eruptive style. We mapped the crater region as a reference base for the long-term morphological changes of the active region and for the exact positions of our measurement systems. Two distinct types of eruption were distinguished from each other on the basis of seismic and radar data - short, wide-angle Strombolian explosions and pulsating, sharp angle fountain-like eruptions. Data and visual observations imply that weather conditions significantly effect volcanic activity. We also interpret the intensification of eruptive activity during our field study as replenishment of the reservoir with a new batch of magma in late September 2000.     

Late Cretaceous reactivation of major crustal shear zones in northern Namibia: constraints from apatite fission track analysis

Namibia's passive continental margin records a long history of tectonic activity since the Proterozoic. The orogenic belt produced during the collision of the Congo and Kalahari Cratons in the Early Proterozoic led to a zone of crustal weakness, which became the preferred location for tectonism during the Phanerozoic. The Pan-African Damara mobile belt forms this intraplate boundary in Namibia and its tectonostratigraphic zones are defined by ductile shear zones, where the most prominent is described as the Omaruru Lineament–Waterberg Thrust (OML–WT). The prominance of the continental margin escarpment is diminished in the area of the Central and Northern Zone of the Damara belt where the shear zones are located. This area has been targeted with a set of 66 outcrop samples over a 550-km-long, 60-km-broad coast-parallel transect from the top of the escarpment in the south across the Damara sector to the Kamanjab Inlier in the north. Apatite fission track age and length data from all samples reveal a regionally consistent cooling event. Thermal histories derived by forward modelling bracket this phase of accelerated cooling in the Late Cretaceous. Maximum palaeotemperatures immediately prior to the onset of cooling range from ca. 120 to ca. 60 °C with the maximum occurring directly south of the Omaruru Lineament. Because different palaeotemperatures indicate different burial depth at a given time, the amount of denudation can be estimated and used to constrain vertical displacements of the continental crust. We interpret this cooling pattern as the geomorphic response to reactivation of basement structures caused by a change in spreading geometry in the South Atlantic and South West Indian Oceans.     

Sr-gorceixite,a weathering product in rich iron ores from the Córrego do Feijão Mine,Minas Gerais,Brazil

A sulfate-bearing Sr-Ba phosphate (Sr-gorceixite) formed by supergene alteration in rich iron ores from Minas Gerais, Brazil, has been studied by means of microprobe techniques. Analytical data and the structural formula are presented.     

Polymetamorphose und Deckenbau der Strand-Halbinsel/SW-Norwegen

Zusammenfassung Die Metamorphite der Halbinsel Strand / SW-Norwegen gehören zu einem Deckensystem präkambrischer Gesteine, das während der kaledonischen Orogenese von NNW her auf den Baltischen Schild geschoben worden ist (Sigmond Kildal 1978). Eine hangende Deckeneinheit umfa\t Metagranite, Melagabbroide und Gneise. Ihr granulitfazieller Mineralbestand (Metamorphosealter 1,5 Milliarden Jahre) wurde wahrscheinlich vor 1,18 Milliarden Jahren grünschieferfaziell retrograd überprägt. Die Decke ist nur noch in kleinen Erosionsinseln vorhanden. Eine liegende Dekkeneinheit besteht aus metasedimentären Gesteinen. Sie weist Mineralbestände der höheren Amphibolitfazies auf, die ebenfalls grünschieferfaziell überprägt wurden. Die Al^VI-Gehalte der bei beiden metamorphen Prozessen gebildeten Amphibole deuten bei Anwendung eines Diagramms vonRaase (1974) an, da\ die retrograde Metamorphose hier bei höheren Drücken ablief als die ältere Metamorphose. Ein Gesamtgesteinsalter von 1,16 Milliarden Jahren scheint für diese grünschieferfazielle Metamorphose das gleiche orogene Ereignis anzuzeigen wie für die hangende Einheit. Produkt der schwachen kaledonischen Metamorphose (400 Millionen Jahre) ist Stilpnomelan, der auch im Grundgebirge des Baltischen Schildes auftritt.

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The Strand Peninsula, Stavanger district, Southwestern Norway, has become well known, when V. M.Goldschmidt (1920) published his hypothesis of regional metasomatism. All rocks of the Strand area were assumed to be situated in autochthonous position. The main point ofGoldschmidt's hypothesis was progarde metamorphism of argillaceous sediments and their transformation to albite schists and plagioclase gneisses by metasomatic solutions given off from intruded trondhjemitic magmas.However, in contrast toGoldschmidt's ideas, the granitoid sill of the Ormakam-Moldhesten area, Strand Peninsula, and its wall rocks, which played an important role inGoldschmidt's discussion, are now found to be parts of a polymetamorphous thrust unit.Granulite facies assemblages, mainly consisting of orthopyroxene +clinopyroxene+plagioclase+hastingsite±orthoclase and quartz, have been partially replaced by lowgrade assemblages. Probably, the high-grade metamorphism has an age of about 1.5 Ga (Andresen &Heier 1975) whereas the age of the greenschist facies event may be conform to an orogenic cycle at about 1.15 Ga (Sigmond Kildal 1978).A lower nappe, covering the Strand Peninsula for its most parts, was subject of a petrologic re-examination using the microscope and the microprobe analyser. Its contacts with the hanging nappe as well as those with the underlying gneissic basement are characterized by thrust planes and horizons of phyllonites and cataclasites inside of the nappe and by local brecciation in the uppermost zones of the basement.The rocks of the lower nappe have been formed a long with the upper amphibolite facies as indicated by the following mineral assemblage: andesine + hastingsite and Mg-hornblende + quartz +biotite.Obviously, an inverse order of temperature regimes is recognizable in the allochthonous units. Maximum temperature of the upper nappe reached 800C (Müller &Herbert 1984) whereas T_max of the lower nappe did not exceed 750C.Using a diagram ofRaase (1974) the Al^VI-contents of the primary hastingsitic hornblendes of the lower nappe rocks indicate pressures which range distinctly below 5 kbars, whereas the secondary pargasitic hornblendes were formed at pressures of about 5 kbars. Probably the thrusting happened before the formation of secondary hornblendes took place. The load pressure in the lower nappe (< 5 kbars) was distinctly increased when the upper nappe was thrusted upon the lower one. Consequently the Al^VI-contents of secondary hornblendes indicate increased pressure ( 5 kbars).In the gneisses of the lower nappe late fractures were filled by stilpnomelane, chlorite and quartz. Very probably this depends on thrust movements during the Caledonian orogeny.Verschure et al. (1980) found a similar stilpnomelane formation in adjacent terrains of the basement and proposed a weak Caledonian metamorphism of about 400 my.

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Résumé Les roches métamorphiques de la presqu'Île de Strand (sud-ouest de la Norvège) appartiennent à un empilement de nappes formées de roches pré-cambriennes et charriées vers le SSE sur le bouclier baltique au cours de l'orogenèse calédonienne (Sigmond Kildal 1978).Une nappe supérieure comprend des métagranites, des mélagabbroÏdes et des gneiss. Leurs paragenèses, du facies des granulites (âge du métamorphisme: 1,5 Ga) ont été rétromorphosées dans le facies des schistes verts il y a probablement 1,18 Ga. Cette nappe ne subsiste qu'en petits fragments épargnés par l'érosion.Une nappe inférieure est composée de roches métasédimentaires. Ces roches présentent des paragenèses du faciès supérieur des amphibolites, également rétromorphosées dans le facies des schistes verts. L'application du diagramme de Raase (1974) aux teneurs en Al^VI des amphiboles formées lors des deux processus métamorphiques indique que la rétromorphose s'est déroulée à une pression supérieure à celle du métamorphisme ancien. Un âge de 1,16 Ga sur roche totale semble indiquer que le mÊme processus orogénique a servi de cadre à la rétromorphose en facies des schistes verts dans les deux nappes.Du stilpnomélane, présent tant dans la nappe inférieure que dans le bouclier baltique autochtone, témoigne d'un métamorphisme calédonien (400 Ma) de faible degré.

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Strand ( ) , NNW (Sigmond KILDAL, 1978). , . - 1,5 , 118 , . . . , . Al^VI , , RAASE (1974) , , . 1,6 , , , . (400 ) , .

     

Quantificational reductionism as a risk in geography and cartography

A reductionistic concept is being pursued in the 125 000 geomorphological mapping of the Federal Republic of Germany. Complex landscape elements with a base length greater than 100 m are broken down into partial elements and re-interpreted in terms of quantificational or abstractly defined, theoretically neutral map symbols. The genetic aspect is expressed by areal colouring. In this way it aims to achieve an interdisciplinary utilization of such information. This reduction has proved to be too drastic insofar as it gives rise to irretrievable loss of information. The claim that use-oriented, ecologically relevant information would be derivable from the GMM-25 has not been substantiated. As ecologically justifiable evaluation must also consider as its most fundamental indicators the quality and distribution of biotopes. These are not even rudimentarily included in the GMM-25. The uncontextualized blending of information units which only make sense in heterogeneous contexts to produce a single map is antithetical to the principle of subject related selection of relevant characteristics and prevents comprehension of the systematic relationships.The underlying concept of the GMM-25, derived from an uncritical incorporation of physico-mathematical total predictability principles, leads to an irreversible renunciation of the necessarily complex constituents of a high geomorphological level of integration.     

Anomalous phosphorus episodes during Callovian-Oxfordian times in the Kachchh Basin,western India: Implications for palaeoclimate,productivity, and weathering

The Upper Callovian-Oxfordian strata of the Kachchh Basin, western India, record three positive excursions of phosphorus. They have been documented in three sections of the Chari Formation from different parts of the basin. Corroboration of field and petrographic data with trends of major and trace elemental data and elemental ratios of the strata revealed that these excursions were coeval with reduced chemical weathering in the source area and significant reduction of siliciclastic influx to the depositional sites. The study also revealed the intrabasinal source of P, and minor sea-level fluctuations and resultant episodic sediment recycling as the causative factors. Considering the geographic locations of the three sections, the phosphorus anomalies seem to be controlled by a regional and/or basin-scale process, if not linked with global signals. Temporal resolution of these anomalies suggests that the processes were episodic and related to short term climate/relative sea-level cycles, the durations of which could be unraveled with high-resolution biostratigraphic data.     

Rubidium-Strontium-Altersbestimmungen an Biotit-Muskowit-Granitgneisen (Typus Augen- und Flasergneise) aus dem nördlichen Großvenedigerbereich (Hohe Tauern)

Zusammenfassung An vier Proben aus dem Augen- und Flasergneiskomplex in Großvenedigergebiet (Hohe Tauern) wurden Rb–Sr-Altersbestimmungen durchgeführt. Die Biotit-Alterswerte lagen bei zirka 20 M. J. Sie sind der alpidischen Tauernkristallisation zuzuordnen. Eine Gesamtgesteinsisochrone von drei typischen Augen- und Flasergranitgneisen ergab 246 M. J. und wird als Bildungsalter eines magmatischen Granitkörpers interpretiert. Es muß daher zur Perm-Zeit in den westlichen Hohen Tauern ein ausgedehnter Granitmagmatismus angenommen werden. Auf die Schwierigkeiten, dieses Ereignis in das derzeitige geologische-Entstehungsbild einzuordnen, wurde hingewiesen.

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Rubidium-strontium age determinations on biotite-muscovite-gneisses (Augen-and Flaser-gneisses) from the Northern Grossvenediger region (Tauern, Austrian Alps)

Summary Rb–Sr ages were determined for 4 samples from the Augen- and Flaser-gneiss complex of the Grossvenediger region, Hohe Tauern, Austria. The biotite ages of 20 m. y. may be attributed to the Tauern-crystallization of Alpidic age. A total rock isochrone of 246 m. y. based on 3 typical Augen- and Flaser-granite gneisses is interpreted as the age of a granite body. Thus extensive granite magmatism is assumed to have prevailed in the western part of the Hohe Tauern during the Permian. There are, however, difficulties in correlating this event with the present picture of the geologic evolution in this region.

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Mit 2 Abbildungen     

Human response to environmental change in the perspective of future, global climate

Human response to severe environmental stress is conceived and implemented by individuals, but must be approved by the group. These decisions are made with respect to perceived circumstances. Societies are enmeshed within adaptive systems that provide a matrix of opportunities and constraints for a wide range of potential behavioral variability. Such systems repeatedly readjust to short-term crises, e.g., droughts, but persistent and severe environmental stress may require substantial revision of adaptive strategies. The Sahel drought of 1968–1973 is an example of a brief but severe crisis, recurring along the Saharan margins perhaps once every 30 years. Closer inspection shows links between intensified intertribal warfare and ecological stress in the lower Omo Valley. The decline of the Egyptian New Kingdom during the 12th century B.C., in response to economic stagnation, sociopolitical instability, dynastic weakness, foreign pressures, and poor Nile floods over 50–70 years, represents a more complex and fundamental modification, with systemic simplification lasting 450 years. Such insights can be applied to future, global climatic change due to increasing atmospheric CO₂. Simulation and paleoclimatic experience suggest a drier climate for the North American and Soviet breadbaskets, to threaten world food supplies at a time of maximum demographic pressures and declining resources. Public perception and remedial planning should receive the attention of Quaternary scientists, in order to preempt an involuntary, global, systemic simplification.