Controls on upper Campanian–Maastrichtian chalk deposition in the eastern Danish Basin

Detailed facies analysis of a 350 m long core of upper Campanian–Maastrichtian chalk at Stevns Peninsula, eastern Denmark, shows that four mudstone and wackestone chalk facies account for close to 95% of the succession, and that bioturbated mudstone chalk alone accounts for nearly 55% of the sediment. Sedimentation took place in deep water, below the photic zone and storm‐wave base, and is characterized by decimetre to metre‐scale variations in facies and trace fossil assemblages indicating repeated shifts in depositional environment. Integration of facies with published data on sea‐surface temperature and accumulation rates suggests that sea‐surface temperature is the most important parameter in controlling stratification of the water column and thereby, indirectly, the observed variations in depositional facies. However, bioturbated mudstone chalk occurs in all stratigraphic levels independent of accumulation rates and sea temperatures and is interpreted to represent a very broad set of deep water environmental conditions with an ample supply of calcareous nannofossil debris and intense bioturbation. Longer term shifts in deposition are best expressed by distribution of clay, flint and bioturbated micro‐wackestone, bioturbated wackestone and laminated mudstone chalk facies, whereas the trace fossil assemblages appear less useful. The data set indicates overall shallowing over time with two distinctive events of clay influx to the basin during the late Campanian–earliest Maastrichtian and late Maastrichtian.     

Experimental Study on the Wake Meandering Within a Scale Model Wind Farm Subject to a Wind-Tunnel Flow Simulating an Atmospheric Boundary Layer

The phenomenon of meandering of the wind-turbine wake comprises the motion of the wake as a whole in both horizontal and vertical directions as it is advected downstream. The oscillatory motion of the wake is a crucial factor in wind farms, because it increases the fatigue loads, and, in particular, the yaw loads on downstream turbines. To address this phenomenon, experimental investigations are carried out in a wind-tunnel flow simulating an atmospheric boundary layer with the Coriolis effect neglected. A \(3 \times 3\) scaled wind farm composed of three-bladed rotating wind-turbine models is subject to a neutral boundary layer over a slightly-rough surface, i.e. corresponding to offshore conditions. Particle-image-velocimetry measurements are performed in a horizontal plane at hub height in the wakes of the three wind turbines occupying the wind-farm centreline. These measurements allow determination of the wake centrelines, with spectral analysis indicating the characteristic wavelength of the wake-meandering phenomenon. In addition, measurements with hot-wire anemometry are performed along a vertical line in the wakes of the same wind turbines, with both techniques revealing the presence of wake meandering behind all three turbines. The spectral analysis performed with the spatial and temporal signals obtained from these two measurement techniques indicates a Strouhal number of \(\approx 0.20 - 0.22\) based on the characteristic wake-meandering frequency, the rotor diameter and the flow speed at hub height.     

Role of the global oceans and land–atmosphere interaction on summertime interdecadal variability over northern Argentina

This study uses experiments with an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) to address the role of the oceans and the effect of land–atmosphere coupling on the predictability of summertime rainfall over northern Argentina focusing on interdecadal time scales during 1901–2006. Ensembles of experiments where the AGCM is forced with historical sea surface temperature (SST) in the global, Pacific and tropical-North Atlantic domains are used. The role of land–atmosphere interaction is assessed comparing the output of simulations with active and climatological soil moisture. A maximum covariance analysis between precipitation and SST reveals the impact of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and the equatorial–tropical South Atlantic on rainfall over northern Argentina. Model simulations further show that while the dominant influence comes from the Pacific basin, the Atlantic influence can explain a large transition from dry to wet decades over northern Argentina during the beginning of the 1970s. Analysis of anomalies before and after the transition reveals an upper level anticyclonic circulation off the Patagonian coast with barotropic structure. This circulation enhances the moisture transport and convergence in northern Argentina and, together with enhanced evaporation, increased the rainfall after 1970. The SST pattern is dominated by cold conditions in the equatorial Atlantic and warm eastern Pacific and South Atlantic. We also found that land–atmosphere interaction leads to a representation of the long term rainfall evolution over northern Argentina that is closer to the observed one. Moreover, it leads to a smaller dispersion among ensemble members, thus resulting in a larger signal-to-noise ratio.     

Natural speciation of Ni, Zn, Ba, and As in ferromanganese coatings on quartz using X-ray fluorescence, absorption, and diffraction

The mineralogy of natural ferromanganese coatings on quartz grains and the crystal chemistry of associated trace elements Ni, Zn, Ba, and As were characterized by X-ray microfluorescence, X-ray diffraction, and EXAFS spectroscopy. Fe is speciated as ferrihydrite and Mn as vernadite. The two oxides form alternating Fe- and Mn-rich layers that are irregularly distributed and not always continuous. Unlike naturally abundant Fe-vernadite, in which Fe and Mn are mixed at the nanoscale, the ferrihydrite and vernadite are physically segregated and the trace elements clearly partitioned at the microscopic scale. Vernadite consists of two populations of interstratified one-water layer (7 Å phyllomanganate) and two-water layer (10 Å phyllomanganate) crystallites. In one population, 7 Å layers dominate, and in the other 10 Å layers dominate. The three trace metals Ni, Zn, and Ba are associated with vernadite and the metalloid As with ferrihydrite. In vernadite, nickel is both substituted isomorphically for Mn in the manganese layer and sorbed at vacant Mn layer sites in the interlayer. The partitioning of Ni is pH-dependent, with a strong preference for the first site at circumneutral pH and for the second at acidic pH. Thus, the site occupancy of Ni in vernadite may be an indicator of marine vs. continental origin, and in the latter, of the acidity of streams, lakes, or soil pore waters in which the vernadite formed. Zinc is sorbed only in the interlayer at vacant Mn layer sites. It is fully tetrahedral at a Zn/Mn molar ratio of 0.0138, and partly octahedral at a Zn/Mn ratio of 0.1036 consistent with experimental studies showing that the ^VIZn/^IVZn ratio increases with Zn loading. Barium is sorbed in a slightly offset position above empty tetrahedral cavities in the interlayer. Arsenic tetrahedra are retained at the ferrihydrite surface by a bidentate-binuclear attachment to two adjacent iron octahedra, as commonly observed. Trace elements in ferromanganese precipitates are partitioned at a few, well-defined, crystallographic sites that have some elemental specificity, and thus selectivity. The relative diversity of sorption sites contrasts with the simplicity of the layer structure of vernadite, in which charge deficit arises only from Mn⁴⁺ vacancies (i.e., no Mn³⁺ for Mn⁴⁺ substitution). Therefore, sorption mechanisms primarily depend on physical and chemical properties of the sorbate and competition with other ions in solution, such as protons at low pH for Ni sorption.     

Mineral paragenesis of the Kalahari managanese field, South Africa

The mineralogy of the managanese ores of the giant Paleoproterozoic Kalahari manganese deposit of the Transvaal Supergroup has been subject of many studies and up to now 135 different ore and gangue minerals have been described, of which eight represent new mineral species. Through correlation of different mineral assemblages with specific geological events and by determining relative ages of minerals in outcrop, hand specimen and under the microscope an attempt is made in this publication to construct a paragenetic sequence for this complex mineral assemblage. Sedimentation and early diagenesis of the Hotazel Formation, composed of interbedded iron formation and braunite lutite, was followed by low-grade metamorphism and associated stratabound metasomatism. Braunite lutite of sedimentary origin, comprising 97% of the total ore reserve, is composed of braunite, hematite and kutnahorite, and abundant early diagenetic kutnahorite and manganoan calcite forming laminae and ovoids. Fluid flow during late diagenesis or lower greenschist facies metamorphism led to stratabound metasomatic oxidation of Mn-bearing carbonates to hausmannite and Mn-poor calcite. Three structurally controlled hydrothermal alteration events succeed metamorphism. These events are referred to as Wessels, Mamatwan and Smartt events. The Wessels alteration event is the oldest of the three events and it is of great economic importance because virtually all of the high-grade ore (> 42% Mn), 3% of the total ore reserve, formed during this event through alteration of carbonate-rich low-grade Mamatwan-type ore (braunite lutite) to high-grade, carbonate-poor Wessels-type manganese ore. This Wessels hydrothermal alteration event took place in the northwestern part of the Kalahari deposit, associated with a system of major north-south- and minor east-west-striking normal faults. The Mamatwan alteration event is observed throughout the Kalahari manganese deposit but alteration is very localized. Reduction halos and discolouration of braunite lutite around fracture or joint-hosted sulphide-carbonate mineralization are typical of the Mamatwan alteration event. In contrast, the Smartt alteration event is characterized by oxidation of braunite lutite and the formation of todorokite and manganomelane. Syn- and Post-Kalahari supergene alteration has taken place below the suboutcrop of the Hotazel Formation against the calcretized sediments of the Cenozoic Kalahari Formation. Cryptomelane and pyrolusite are the predominant products of surficial weathering.     

Stratigraphy and noncultural site formation at the Shurmai Rockshelter (GnJm1) in the Mukogodo Hills of North-Central Kenya

The Shurmai rockshelter (GnJm1) is located in the semiarid Mukogodo Hills region of north central Kenya. The rockshelter cavity is formed in Precambrian granite gneiss. The site contains a stratified sequence of sediments and archaeological materials that date from the end of the African Middle Stone Age (at or before ca. 45,000 yr B.P.) to modern times. The stratigraphic sequence at the Shurmai rockshelter is described and the principal noncultural formation processes responsible for its creation are reconstructed. Extant rockshelter sediments consist predominately of coarse angular rubble produced by rock fall, and additional sands and gravels produced by granular disintegration, slopewash, debris flow activity, and, to a lesser extent, human activity. The more identifiable aspects of the geologic history of the shelter include a number of episodes of rock fall deposition, in situ rock fall weathering, and erosional truncation. The reconstruction of the formation processes active at the Shurmai Rockshelter is used to illustrate how such geoarchaeological analysis clarifies understanding of prehistoric human occupation in rockshelter contexts in general, and in granitic terrane in particular. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Landforms and archaeological site location in the little Missouri badlands: A new look at some well-established patterns

Patterns in the distribution of archaeological sites in the Little Missouri Badlands of North Dakota have previously been attributed to prehistoric cultural preference for certain landforms. These patterns include the concentration of Plains Archaic sites in upland settings and the predominance of Late Prehistoric sites in the alluvial lowlands. An understanding of Holocene stratigraphy provides new insights into these patterns, and other spatial/temporal aspects of the archaeological record. These insights in turn illustrate the need for comprehensive stratigraphic studies prior to the formulation of prehistoric settlement models in highly eroded environments. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.