Temporal instability of temperature singularities in a long-term series at Prague-Klementinum

The recent study of meteorological singularities in the Czech Republic—?ezní?ková et al. (Theor Appl Climatol 88:179–192, 2007)—is supplemented with respect to findings concerning temporal stability of air temperature singularities. A long-term daily series at Prague-Klementinum is examined over 1881–2000, adopting the same statistical background for the detection of singularities. A procedure that reduces the dependence of results on the choice of a reference period is proposed. It is shown that nearly all temperature singularities found over the period since 1961 and/or the whole period of 1881–2000 are temporally unstable, and a lot of them should be treated as statistical properties of particular data samples (time periods) reflecting sampling variability rather than stable and recurrent anomalies related to distinct circulation patterns. The most important singularities are identified, occurring on 4 days in year only (around St. Médard’s Day, 8 June), and they are linked to intraseasonal variations in the occurrence of circulation patterns conducive to warm and cold temperature anomalies. A sharp increase (decrease) in the frequency of north (south) circulation types after 8 June leads to the most robust irregularity in the mean annual cycle of temperature.     

Neoproterozoic microfossils from the margin of the East European Platform and the search for a biostratigraphic model of lower Ediacaran rocks

A ca. 600 m thick siliciclastic succession in northern Russia contains abundant and diverse microfossils that document early to middle Ediacaran deposition along the northeastern margin of the East European Platform. The Vychegda Formation is poorly exposed but is well documented by a core drilled in the Timan trough region (Kel’tminskaya-1 borehole). Vychegda siliciclastics lie unconformably above Tonian to lower Cryogenian strata and below equivalents of the late Ediacaran Redkino succession that is widely distributed across the platform. The basal 10 m of the formation preserve acritarchs and fragments of problematic macrofossils known elsewhere only from pre-Sturtian successions. In contrast, the upper, nearly 400 m of the succession contains abundant and diverse large acanthomorphic acritarchs attributable to the Ediacaran Complex Acanthomorph Palynoflora (ECAP). This distinctive set of taxa is known elsewhere only from lower, but not lowermost, Ediacaran rocks. In between lies an additional assemblage of relatively simple filaments and stratigraphically long ranging sphaeromorphic acritarchs interpreted as early Ediacaran in age. Bearing in mind that knowledge of late Cryogenian (post-Strurtian/pre-Marinoan) microfossils is sparse, the Vychegda record is consistent with data from Australia and China which suggest that diverse ECAP microfossil assemblages appeared well into the Ediacaran Period. Accumulating paleontological observations underscore both the promise and challenges for the biostratigraphic characterization of the early Ediacaran Period.     

Stratigraphy and sedimentology of a dry to wet eolian depositional system, Burns formation, Meridiani Planum, Mars

Outcrop exposures of sedimentary rocks at the Opportunity landing site (Meridiani Planum) form a set of genetically related strata defined here informally as the Burns formation. This formation can be subdivided into lower, middle, and upper units which, respectively, represent eolian dune, eolian sand sheet, and mixed eolian sand sheet and interdune facies associations. Collectively, these three units are at least 7 m thick and define a “wetting-upward” succession which records a progressive increase in the influence of groundwater and, ultimately, surface water in controlling primary depositional processes.The Burns lower unit is interpreted as a dry dune field (though grain composition indicates an evaporitic source), whose preserved record of large-scale cross-bedded sandstones indicates either superimposed bedforms of variable size or reactivation of lee-side slip faces by episodic (possibly seasonal) changes in wind direction. The boundary between the lower and middle units is a significant eolian deflation surface. This surface is interpreted to record eolian erosion down to the capillary fringe of the water table, where increased resistance to wind-induced erosion was promoted by increased sediment cohesiveness in the capillary fringe. The overlying Burns middle unit is characterized by fine-scale planar-laminated to low-angle-stratified sandstones. These sandstones accumulated during lateral migration of eolian impact ripples over the flat to gently undulating sand sheet surface. In terrestrial settings, sand sheets may form an intermediate environment between dune fields and interdune or playa surfaces. The contact between the middle and upper units of the Burns formation is interpreted as a diagenetic front, where recrystallization in the phreatic or capillary zones may have occurred. The upper unit of the Burns formation contains a mixture of sand sheet facies and interdune facies. Interdune facies include wavy bedding, irregular lamination with convolute bedding and possible small tepee or salt-ridge structures, and cm-scale festoon cross-lamination indicative of shallow subaqueous flows marked by current velocities of a few tens of cm/s. Most likely, these currents were gravity-driven, possibly unchannelized flows resulting from the flooding of interdune/playa surfaces. However, evidence for lacustrine sedimentation, including mudstones or in situ bottom-growth evaporites, has not been observed so far at Eagle and Endurance craters.Mineralogical and elemental data indicate that the eolian sandstones of the lower and middle units, as well as the subaqueous and eolian deposits of the Burns upper unit, were derived from an evaporitic source. This indirectly points to a temporally equivalent playa where lacustrine evaporites or ground-water-generated efflorescent crusts were deflated to provide a source of sand-sized particles that were entrained to form eolian dunes and sand sheets. This process is responsible for the development of sulfate eolianites at White Sands, New Mexico, and could have provided a prolific flux of sulfate sediment at Meridiani. Though evidence for surface water in the Burns formation is mostly limited to the upper unit, the associated sulfate eolianites provide strong evidence for the critical role of groundwater in controlling sediment production and stratigraphic architecture throughout the formation.     

Provenance and diagenesis of the evaporite-bearing Burns formation, Meridiani Planum, Mars

Impure reworked evaporitic sandstones, preserved on Meridiani Planum, Mars, are mixtures of roughly equal amounts of altered siliciclastic debris, of basaltic provenance (40 ± 10% by mass), and chemical constituents, dominated by evaporitic minerals (jarosite, Mg-, Ca-sulfates ± chlorides ± Fe-, Na-sulfates), hematite and possibly secondary silica (60 ± 10%). These chemical constituents and their relative abundances are not an equilibrium evaporite assemblage and to a substantial degree have been reworked by aeolian and subaqueous transport. Ultimately they formed by evaporation of acidic waters derived from interaction with olivine-bearing basalts and subsequent diagenetic alteration. The rocks experienced an extended diagenetic history, with at least two and up to four distinct episodes of cementation, including stratigraphically restricted zones of recrystallization and secondary porosity, non-randomly distributed, highly spherical millimeter-scale hematitic concretions, millimeter-scale crystal molds, interpreted to have resulted from dissolution of a highly soluble evaporite mineral, elongate to sheet-like vugs and evidence for minor synsedimentary deformation (convolute and contorted bedding, possible teepee structures or salt ridge features). Other features that may be diagenetic, but more likely are associated with relatively recent meteorite impact, are meter-scale fracture patterns, veins and polygonal fractures on rock surfaces that cut across bedding. Crystallization of minerals that originally filled the molds, early cement and sediment deformation occurred syndepositionally or during early diagenesis. All other diagenetic features are consistent with formation during later diagenesis in the phreatic (fluid saturated) zone or capillary fringe of a groundwater table under near isotropic hydrological conditions such as those expected during periodic groundwater recharge. Textural evidence suggests that rapidly formed hematitic concretions post-date the primary mineral now represented by crystal molds and early pore-filling cements but pre-date secondary moldic and vug porosity. The second generation of cements followed formation of secondary porosity. This paragenetic sequence is consistent with an extended history of syndepositional through post-depositional diagenesis in the presence of a slowly fluctuating, chemically evolving, but persistently high ionic strength groundwater system.     

The Vendian record of Sr and C isotopic variations in seawater: Implications for tectonics and paleoclimate

New Sr and C isotopic data, both obtained on the same samples of marine carbonates, provide a relatively detailed record of isotopic variation in seawater through the latest Proterozoic and allow, for the first time, direct correlation of these isotopic changes in the Vendian ( 540–610 Ma). The strong isotope variations determined in this study record significant environmental and tectonic changes. Together with a fairly poorly constrained Nd isotopic record, the Sr and C isotopic records can be used to constrain rates of erosion, hydrothermal alteration and organic C burial. Further, comparison of these records with those of the Cenozoic permit investigation of the general relationship between global tectonics and continental glaciation. In particular, results of this study show a very large change in the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of marine carbonates from low pre-Vendian ( > 610 Ma) values ( 0.7066) to high Middle Cambrian values ( 0.7090). This change is greater in magnitude than the significant increase in seawater ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr through the Cenozoic. Both changes are attributed to high erosion rates associated with continent-continent collisions (Pan-African and Himalayan-Tibetan). In the latest Proterozoic these high erosion rates, probably coupled with high organic productivity and anoxic bottom-water conditions, contributed to a significant increase in the burial rate of organic C. Ice ages mark both the Neoproterozoic and Cenozoic, but different stratigraphic relationships between the Sr isotopic increase and continental glaciation indicate that uplift-driven models proposed to explain Cenozoic climatic change cannot account for the latest Proterozoic ice ages.     

Natural and Anthropogenic Sources of Seismic,Hydroacoustic, and Infrasonic Waves: Waveforms and Spectral Characteristics (and Their Applicability for Sensor Calibration)

Surveys in Geophysics - The record of seismic, hydroacoustic, and infrasonic waves is essential to detect, identify, and localize sources of both natural and anthropogenic origin. To guarantee...     

Periphyton and sphagnicolous protists of dystrophic bog lakes (Brandenburg, Germany): I. Annual cycles, distribution and comparison to other lakes

The periphyton of acid, dystrophic bogs was investigated. Glass-slides were exposed in four different bog lakes about 100 km north of Berlin, Germany, in order to examine the species composition and the annual cycle of the protist community. The annual cycles of the periphyton in bog lakes were comparable to those in other mesotrophic lakes: During the winter months small heterotrophic flagellates (HF) dominated the periphyton community. Besides that bacterivorous ciliates were present as typical pioneer species. At the end of the ice covering, almost exclusively unicellular green algae colonized the slides. In May high abundances of ciliates and choanoflagellates were observed. At the same time, a maximum of species was reached. From August to October peritrich ciliates significantly contributed to the periphyton. Their number decreased when early frosts occurred.

The four investigated bog lakes exhibit very similar species compositions, almost all of the species were present in each of the four lakes. Differences were only distinct concerning the dominance of some protistan groups. The largest deflections, however, occurred not between two lakes, but between two habitats within one lake: The upper 30 cm of the Sphagnum mat comprise two very different protistan communities, determined by a strong vertical zoning. Due to the different light and nutrient conditions, the slides of the upper region exhibited a denser colonization, mainly consisting of autotrophic cryptomonads and vagile ciliates. In contrast to this, the slides of the deeper region were mainly colonized by heterotrophic flagellates and sessile peritrich ciliates.