Sequence stratigraphy and architecture of a late Early–Middle Aptian carbonate platform succession from the western Maestrat Basin (Iberian Chain, Spain)

The attributes of a ‘four-systems-tract’ sequence are at times difficult to identify in outcrop-scale carbonate successions. Poor exposure conditions, variable rates of sediment production, erosion and/or superposition of surfaces that are intrinsic to the nature of carbonate systems frequently conceal or remove its physical features. The late Early–Middle Aptian platform carbonates of the western Maestrat Basin (Iberian Chain, Spain) display facies heterogeneity enabling platform, platform-margin and slope geometries to be identified, and provide a case study that shows all the characteristics of a quintessential four systems tract-based sequence. Five differentiated systems tracts belonging to two distinct depositional sequences can be recognized: the Highstand Systems Tract (HST) and Forced Regressive Wedge Systems Tract (FRWST) of Depositional Sequence A; and the Lowstand Prograding Wedge Systems Tract (LPWST), Transgressive Systems Tract (TST) and subsequent return to a highstand stage of sea-level (HST) of Depositional Sequence B. An extensive carbonate platform of rudists and corals stacked in a prograding pattern marks the first HST. The FRWST is constituted by a detached, slightly cross-bedded calcarenite situated at the toe of the slope in a basinal position. The LPWST is characterized by a small carbonate platform of rudists and corals downlapping over the FRWST and onlapping landwards. The TST exhibits platform backstepping and marly sedimentation. Resumed carbonate production in shelf and slope settings characterizes the second HST. A basal surface of forced regression, a subaerial unconformity, a correlative conformity, a transgressive surface and a maximum flooding surface bound these systems tracts, and are well documented and widely mappable across the platform-to-basin transition area analyzed. Moreover, the sedimentary succession studied is made up of four types of parasequence that constitute stratigraphic units deposited within a higher-frequency sea-level cyclicity. Ten lithofacies associations form these basic accretional units. Each facies assemblage can be ascribed to an inferred depositional environment in terms of bathymetry, hydrodynamic conditions and trophic level. The architecture of the carbonate platform systems reflects a flat-topped non-rimmed depositional profile. Furthermore, these carbonate shelves are interpreted as having been formed in low hydrodynamic conditions. The long-term relative fall in sea-level occurred during the uppermost Early Aptian, which subaerially exposed the carbonate platform established during the first HST and resulted in the deposition of the FRWST, is interpreted as one of global significance. Moreover, a possible relationship between this widespread sea-level drop and glacio-eustasy seems plausible, and could be linked to the cooling event proposed in the literature for the late Early Aptian. Because of the important implications in sequence stratigraphy of this study, the sedimentary succession analyzed herein could serve as an analogue for the application of the four-systems-tract sequence stratigraphic methodology to carbonate systems.     

Sediment cascades and the entangled relationship between human impact and natural dynamics at the pre-pottery Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe,Anatolia

This study presents a meta-analysis of radiocarbon ages for the environs of Göbekli Tepe – one of the oldest monumental structures worldwide – using cumulative probability functions to diachronically assess phases of geomorphodynamic activity as controlled by natural or anthropogenic drivers. We employ sediment cascades as a heuristic framework to study the complex responses of the geomorphological system to various triggers at local to supra-regional scales. Possible triggers include climatic variability as documented by supra-regional hydroclimatic proxy data, regional demographic trends, and local to regional socioeconomic developments such as the emergence of sedentism or the introduction and dispersal of livestock herding. Our results show that phases of intensified geomorphodynamic activity occurred between ca. 7.4–7.0 and 5.8–3.3 ka BP. These phases roughly coincide with phases of population growth in southern Turkey and climatic variations in Turkey and the Levant. The phase between ca. 5.8–3.3 ka BP also corresponds to the time when organized agriculture and the seeder plough were introduced. Also, the identified phases are in agreement with the general trend of varying geomorphodynamic activity in the Eastern Mediterranean as driven by human impact and climatic change. However, neither the Younger Dryas–Holocene transition nor the development of herding during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic left a clear signature. We demonstrate how the different depositional environments in the studied landscape compartments vary with respect to their spatiotemporal coverage and discuss challenges when trying to understand processes that once shaped landscapes of past societies. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

Modelling of sediment supply from torrent catchments in the Western Alps using the sediment contributing area (SCA) approach

The production of coarse sediment in mountain landscapes depends mainly on the type and activity of geomorphic processes and topographic and natural conditions (e.g. vegetation cover) of these catchments. The supply of sediment from these slopes to mountain streams and its subsequent transport lead to sediment connectivity, which describes the integrated coupled state of these systems. Studies from the Northern Calcareous Alps show that the size of the sediment contributing area (SCA), a subset of the drainage area that effectively delivers sediment to the channel network, can be used as a predictor of sediment delivery to mountain streams. The SCA concept is delineated on a digital elevation model (DEM) using a set of rules related to the steepness and length of slopes directly adjacent to the channel network, the gradient of the latter and the vegetation cover. The present study investigates the applicability of this concept to the Western Alps to identify geomorphologically active areas and to estimate mean annual sediment yield (SY) in mainly debris-flow-prone catchments. We use a statistical approach that shows a parameter optimisation and a linear regression of SY on SCA extent. We use a dataset of ~25 years of assessed coarse sediment accumulation in 35 sediment retention basins. In the investigated catchments, sediment transport is governed by several factors, mainly by the extent of vegetation-free areas with a minimum slope of 23° that is coupled to the channel network with a very low gradient of the latter. With our improved framework, we can show that the SCA approach can be applied to catchments that are widely distributed, in a large spatial scale (hectare area) and very heterogeneous in their properties. In general, the investigated catchments show high connectivity, resulting in significant correlations between long-term average yield and the size of the SCA.     

The dark matter environment of the Abell 901/902 supercluster: a weak lensing analysis of the HST STAGES survey

We present a high-resolution dark matter reconstruction of the   z = 0.165  Abell 901/902 supercluster from a weak lensing analysis of the Hubble Space Telescope STAGES survey. We detect the four main structures of the supercluster at high significance, resolving substructure within and between the clusters. We find that the distribution of dark matter is well traced by the cluster galaxies, with the brightest cluster galaxies marking out the strongest peaks in the dark matter distribution. We also find a significant extension of the dark matter distribution of Abell 901a in the direction of an infalling X-ray group Abell 901α. We present mass, mass-to-light and mass-to-stellar mass ratio measurements of the structures and substructures that we detect. We find no evidence for variation of the mass-to-light and mass-to-stellar mass ratio between the different clusters. We compare our space-based lensing analysis with an earlier ground-based lensing analysis of the supercluster to demonstrate the importance of space-based imaging for future weak lensing dark matter 'observations'.     

Simulated circum-Arctic climate changes by the end of the 21st century

This study investigates future changes of the Arctic climate by the end of the 21st century, simulated by the regional climate model HIRHAM forced with the ECHAM5/MPI-OM general circulation model and assuming the SRES A1B emission scenario. This assessment provides the regional patterns of future circulation, temperature, and precipitation in the Arctic by the end of the 21st century. The magnitude of winter and summer temperature and precipitation is projected to increase, while their interannual variability is projected to change seasonally and is regionally dependent. The regional-scale response of the temperature and precipitation is associated with changes in storm tracks and atmospheric baroclinicity. During winter, the regions of strongest baroclinicity are shifted northward and strengthened. Changes in the seasonal temperature and precipitation are accompanied by changes in their extremes. Extreme warm and cold events are significantly projected to change, with relative changes of seasonal precipitation being larger than those of precipitation extremes.     

Deposition and early diagenesis of microbial mud in the Florida Everglades

Microbial carbonate mud in the modern (<4 kyr) palustrine environment of the Florida Everglades is surprisingly susceptible to early diagenetic alteration. The low‐Mg calcite crystals show an open, trellis‐like crystal structure that yields a high surface area to volume ratio. This textural complexity, likely to be a result of organic influence, leads to abundant reaction sites vulnerable to both dissolution and subsequent precipitation. Rapid degradation of organics is attributed to both aerobic and anaerobic metabolisms. Geochemical signatures suggest increased denitrification within the freshwater environment and increased sulphate reduction at the (slightly) brackish mangrove transition zone. A transition from a freshwater to brackish depositional environment is likely to follow the Holocene sea‐level transgression. The textural complexity in these microbial carbonates causes an unexpectedly low preservation potential of original textural and geochemical signatures, even in low‐Mg calcite. Given the potential for early diagenesis of palustrine and perhaps other microbial carbonates, they should be used cautiously as archives for palaeoenvironmental proxies.     

Stable isotopes and trace elements in modern ostracod shells: implications for reconstructing past environments on the Tibetan Plateau,China

Stable isotopes and trace elements in ostracod shells have been used widely in paleolimnological investigations of past lake hydrochemistry and climate because they provide insights into past water balance and solute evolution of lakes. Regional differences in lake characteristics and species-specific element fractionation, however, do not permit generalization of results from other regions or ostracod species to the southern Tibetan Plateau, in part because most common taxa from the southern Tibetan Plateau are endemic to the area. This study evaluated relations between present-day environmental conditions and the geochemical composition of modern ostracod shells from the southern Tibetan Plateau, to assess the suitability of using shell chemistry to infer hydrological conditions. We studied nine lakes and their catchments, located along a west–east transect in the south-central part of the Tibetan Plateau. Stable oxygen and carbon isotope values and trace element concentrations in recent shells from the four most abundant ostracod species (Leucocytherella sinensis, ?Leucocythere dorsotuberosa, Limnocythere inopinata, Tonnacypris gyirongensis) were measured, together with hydrochemical properties of host waters at the time of sampling. Results revealed significant between-species differences in stable isotope fractionation and trace element incorporation into shell calcite. Stable oxygen and carbon isotope values of ostracod shells were correlated significantly with the stable isotope composition of the respective water body \( \left( {\updelta^{18} {\text{O}}_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}} \,{\text{and }}\updelta^{13} {\text{C}}_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}} } \right) \), reflecting salinity and productivity, respectively. Offsets between δ¹⁸O_shell and δ¹³C_shell and inorganic calcite, the latter representing isotopic equilibrium, suggest shell formation of T. gyirongensis during spring melt. L. sinensis reproduces throughout the monsoon season until September and shows several consecutive generations, and L. inopinata molts to the adult stage after the monsoon season in August/September. The influence of pore water δ¹³C was displayed by L. inopinata, suggesting shell calcification within the sediment. Mg/Ca_shell is primarily influenced by water Mg/Ca ratios and salinity and confirms the use of this shell ratio as a proxy for precipitation-evaporation balance and lake level. In addition, Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca can be used to infer changes in salinity, at least in closed-basin lakes with calcite saturation. Observed effects of water Sr/Ca and salinity on Sr/Ca incorporation are biased by the presence of aragonite precipitation in the lakes, which removes bioavailable Sr from the host water, resulting in low Sr/Ca_shell values. Changes in carbonate mineralogy affect the bioavailability of trace elements, a process that should be considered in paleoclimate reconstructions. Oxygen isotopes and Mg/Ca_shell ratios were unaffected by water temperature. Positive correlations among Fe/Ca, Mn/Ca and U/Ca in ostracod shells, and their negative correlation with δ¹³C, which reflects organic matter decay, show the potential to infer changes in redox conditions that can be used to reconstruct past oxygen supply to bottom waters and thus past water-circulation changes within lakes. The intensity of microbial activity, associated with organic matter decomposition, can be inferred from U/Ca ratios in ostracod shells. These findings highlight the value of fossil ostracod records in lake deposits for inferring paleoenvironmental conditions on the southern Tibetan Plateau.     

Origin of a unique impact-melt rock—the L-chondrite Ramsdorf

Abstract— We have studied a unique impact-melt rock, the Ramsdorf L chondrite, using optical and scanning microscopy and electron microprobe analysis. Ramsdorf contains not only clast-poor impact melt (Begemann and Wlotzka, 1969) but also a chondritic portion (>60 g) with what appears at low magnification to be a normal, well-defined chondritic texture. However, detailed studies at high magnification show that >90 vol% of the crystals in the chondritic portion were largely melted by the impact: the chondrules lack normal microtextures and are ghosts of the original features. The only relics from the precursor chondrules are olivine crystals, which have the highest melting temperature (～1620 °C). Pyroxene-rich chondrules were so extensively melted that no phenocrysts were preserved and the melt crystallized in situ before significant mixing with exterior olivine-rich melts. Fine-grained pyroxene chondrule ghosts have sharper boundaries with the matrix than porphyritic olivine and pyroxene chondrule ghosts, probably because pyroxene-rich melts are significantly more viscous. Complex textures that formed by injection of melt along cracks and fractures in relic olivines suggest that the chondritic portion of Ramsdorf formed directly from petrologic type 3–4 material by strong shock. We infer that Ramsdorf was largely melted by shock pressures of ～75–90 GPa and that chondrule ghosts and relic olivine phenocrysts were locally preserved by rapid cooling. Quenching was not due to the addition of cold clasts into the melt but to heterogeneous shock heating that only caused internal melting of large olivines and pyroxenes. Ramsdorf appears to be one of the most heavily shocked meteorites that has retained some trace of its original texture.