Identification and significance of a visible,basalt‐rich Vedde Ash layer in a Late‐glacial sequence on the Isle of Skye,Inner Hebrides,Scotland

This paper reports the discovery of a visible, tephra horizon of Late‐glacial age from the site of Loch Ashik in the Isle of Skye, the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. Although the tephra shards have a bimodal geochemical composition identical to that of the Vedde Ash (a well known marker horizon within Late‐glacial sequences. The horizon at Ashik is dominated by basaltic shards and devitrified tephra shards, giving the layer its characteristic black colour. Only rhyolitic shards have previously been reported from Vedde Ash horizons in the British Isles. This new evidence raises some important questions about the factors that govern the distribution and accumulation of basaltic tephra, and about the methods used to detect ash shards in basins distal to centres of volcanic activity. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Histopathology of the skin of UV-B irradiated sole (Solea solea) and turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) larvae.

Larval stages of two economically important flatfish, the sole (Solea solea) and turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) were exposed to ambient and elevated levels of UV-B. Sole larvae, which naturally occur in the plankton in early spring, demonstrated skin lesions at elevated levels of UV-B. Histopathology of the sole revealed cellular changes in the integument, characteristic of sunburn damage, with a reduction in the size of mucus-secreting cells and an increased epidermal thickening, especially at the highest doses of UV-B (2.15 KJ bio eff/m2). Pigmentation in the sole is restricted to a few isolated melanocytes. The integrity of the heavily pigmented skin of turbot appeared to be unaffected by comparable doses of UV-B. Both species have protective mechanisms, which minimize the effects of naturally-occurring levels of UV-B. However, sole appear to be poorly adapted to accommodate any further increase in solar radiation.     

Holocene vegetation and volcanic activity,Auckland Isthmus,New Zealand

A 12 000 to 4000 yr BP pollen and tephra-bearing profile from Auckland, New Zealand, provides insights into the vegetation history and evidence for early Holocene volcanic activity in this area centred on the Mount Wellington basaltic volcano. Possibly 500 yr separated initial scoriaceous ash deposition (ca. 9500 yr ago) and subsequent major lava flows (ca. 9000 yr ago) from Mount Wellington. The local vegelation, topography, and drainage patterns were substantially modified during this time, and damming by the lava flows resulted in the formation of Lake Waiatarua in a shallow valley head ca. 9000 yr ago. Diatom evidence indicates that this lake was initially deep (> 5 m) but was shallowing around 4000 yr ago. In contrast to the Mount Wellington eruptions, tephra deposition resulting from distant rhyolitic volcanic activity of the central North Island and Mayor Island has had little effect on the Auckland vegetation during this time interval (12 000–4000 yr ago). Between ca. 12 000 and 10 000 yr ago, conifer-angiosperm forest was the predominant vegetation cover on Auckland Isthmus, but during the early Holocene, forest dominated by Metrosideros expanded, probably on to fresh volcanic surfaces resulting from the Mount Wellington eruptions. At this time, swamp forest communities developed in Waiatarua valley basin, and included species indicative of moist, mild, relatively frost-free climates. Some taxa show histories consistent with other records from the northern New Zealand region, including the rise of Ascarina lucida ca. 11 000 to 9000 yr ago, and its subsequent decline, and the expansion of Agathis australis (kauri) forest communities from ca. 6000 yr ago. Taken together the history of local and regional vegetation points to a mild, moist and weakly seasonal early Holocene climate, which subsequently became drier with greater seasonal temperature extremes.     

Restricted shallow-water sedimentation of Early Archean stromatolitic and evaporitic strata of the Strelley Pool Chert,Pilbara Block,Western Australia

The 3.4 Ga-old Strelley Pool Chert is a 25-m thick sedimentary unit near the top of the predominantly volcanic Warrawoona Group in greenstone belts of the eastern Pilbara Block, Western Australia. It is here subdivided into 5 members containing 13 lithofacies. The basal Member, I, is composed of quartzose sandstone deposited in a high-energy wave- or tide-dominated shallow-water system. Overlying this are Members II and III, which make up the bulk of the formation and were deposited in a low-energy, partially restricted hypersaline basin. They record a predominantly regressive succesion of deposits including subaqueous laminite, stromatolite and evaporite; stromatolite, carbonaceous laminite, black-and-white banded chert, evaporite and intraformational detrital units deposited under intermittently to predominantly exposed conditions; and subaerially deposited windblown sand, evaporite and evaporite-solution layers. Members IV and V record the progradation of a volcaniclastic alluvial fringe.The Strelley Pool Chert represents an association of sedimentary environments directly comparable to that observed in modern, low-energy, shallow-marine carbonate-evaporite systems, such as along the Trucial Coast of the Persian Gulf, and abundantly developed in Phanerozoic carbonate platform deposits. There is no evidence, however, that uniquely identifies the environment as having been marine. Deposition may have taken place in either a large hypersaline lake or a restricted marine basin. Evidence of predominantly low energy depositional conditions and a paucity of terrigenous detritus indicate that sedimentation was dominated by orthochemical and biological processes. Silicified evaporites, including coarsely crystalline layers resembling Messinian selenite, are widespread and similar to younger evaporite deposits. They clearly indicate that evaporites were common within shallow-water Archean sequences. The presence of an assemblage of biogenic deposits, including organic laminite, stromatolites, encrusting carbonaceous mats, carbonaceous granules and oncolites, deposited under conditions ranging from fully subaqueous to nearly subaerial and locally evaporitic, points to the existence of an ecologically and probably biologically diverse microbial community 3.4 Ga ago.     

Sedimentology of the Middle Marker (3.4 Ga), Onverwacht Group,Transvaal, South Africa

The Middle Marker is a thin (3–6 m) sedimentary unit at the base of the Hooggenoeg Formation in the 3.4 Ga old Onverwacht Group, Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa. The original sediments consisted largely of current-deposited volcaniclastic detritus now represented by green to buff-colored silicified volcaniclastic rock and fine-grained gray chert. Black chert, possibly formed by the silicification of a non-volcaniclastic precursor, makes up a significant part of the unit. The Middle Marker is underlain and overlain by mafic and commonly pillowed volcanic flowrock. Although the original sediment has been replaced by and/or recrystallized to a microquartz, chlorite, sericite, carbonate and iron oxide mosaic under lower greenschist-grade metamorphism, sedimentary textures and structures are remarkably well preserved. Textural pseudomorphs indicate the primary volcaniclastic sediment consisted of a mixture of crystal, vitric and lithic debris. Middle Marker sediments were deposited as a prograding, cone-flanking volcaniclastic sedimentary platform in a relatively-shallow and locally current/wave-influenced subaqueous sedimentary environment. Available paleocurrent data indicate a largely bimodal, orthogonal distribution pattern which is quite similar to both ancient and modern shallow marine/shelf systems. Diagnostic evidence for tidal activity is lacking. As felsic volcanic activity waned, an extensive airfall blanket of fine-grained volcanic ash and dust was deposited in a low-energy subaqueous environment. The sedimentary cycle was terminated with a renewal of submarine mafic volcanism. Middle Marker volcaniclastic sediments accumulated in an anorogenic basin removed or isolated from the influence of continental igneous and metamorphic terranes. Although compositionally dominated by a volcanic source, Middle Marker sediments owe their final texture and sedimentary structures to subaqueous sedimentary rather than volcanogenic processes.