The margin between Senja and Spitsbergen fracture zones: Implications from plate tectonics

Analysis of multichannel seismic data from the continental margin off Svalbard between the Senja and Spitsbergen fracture zones suggests that the transition between continental and oceanic crust is located at or close to the Hornsund Fault Zone. In the Late Paleocene/Early Eoeene (57 m.y.) the region between Svalbard and Northeast-Greenland was subjected to regional shear movements associated with a transform system between the young Lofoten-Greenland Basin and the Arctic Ocean. Approximately 50 m.y. ago the spreading axis migrated to the northeast creating a deep basin north of the Greenland-Senja Fracture Zone forming the passive margin between Bear Island and 76.5°N. North of 76.5°N the regional transform was maintained. At the time of the main reorganization of relative plate motion (36 m.y.) the northern margin evolved. A continental fragment was possibly cut off from the Svalbard margin forming a small microcontinent. The microcontinent appears as the submarine ridge which has been associated with the Hovgaard Fracture Zone. It is suggested that the sediments west of the Hornsund Fault Zone are not older than Eocene in the south and mid-Oligocene in the north. The position of the spreading axis has greatly influenced the margin sedimentation.     

Photometry of the asteroid 1976 AA at 0.56 and 2.2 μm

We report observations at 0.56 and 2.2 μm of the Apollo asteroid 1976 AA made during its discovery apparition. We derive a 2.2-μm relative spectral reflectance (scaled to unity at 0.56 μm) of R(2.2 μm) = 1.5 ± 0.3. This 2.2-μm reflectance is not compatible with a carbonaceous surface composition. However, it is compatible with a wide variety of meteoritic types including ordinary chondrites, stony irons, and mesosiderites. Thus, 1976 AA may have a silicate surface similar to other Apollo-Amor objects.     

Remembering Tore Gjelsvik (1916–2006)

Tore Gjelsvik, former director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, died at the beginning of this year. He is fondly remembered by a great many people. In this piece, Olav Orheim recalls the man and his key role in Norwegian polar activities. Orheim was head of Antarctic Research at the Norwegian Polar Institute in 1972–1993 and was the institute's director from 1993 to 2005.     

Progress in optical dating of guano-rich sediments associated with the Deep Skull, West Mouth of the Great Cave of Niah, Sarawak, Borneo

The West Mouth of the Great Cave of Niah is one of the major archaeological sites in Southeast Asia; the radiocarbon chronology of this site currently places the earliest presence of Homo sapiens (a Deep Skull find) in Southeast Asia at about 45 ka BP. An optical dating programme using sand-sized quartz was initiated in the West Mouth to complement the radiocarbon chronology. This paper reports on the progress in dating a key sample (sample 376r) that was taken from deposits containing the Deep Skull. A somewhat novel procedure was developed to separate and clean quartz grains from the unusual guano-rich deposits. From this, only a small quantity of quartz grains could be recovered and 36 aliquots (1 mm in diameter) were prepared, each consisting of 80 grains. This sample was dated by means of the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) method using the protocols of Murray and Wintle [2000. Luminescence dating of quartz using an improved single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol. Radiation Measurements 32, 57–73], and of Choi et al. [2003. Luminescence dating of well-sorted marine terrace sediments on the southeastern coast of Korea. Quaternary Science Reviews 22, 407–421]. The results showed a wide distribution of equivalent doses; this distribution is inferred to be due to bioturbation, variable bleaching at deposition, and to local variations in the dose rate within the sample site. Dose rates were measured using both field (in-situ γ-ray spectrometry, IGRS) and laboratory (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry/atomic emission spectrometry, ICP-MS/AES; and isotope dilution, ID) methods. There was significant disagreement between the concentrations of radioisotopes found using laboratory and field measurements, indicating sediment heterogeneity and also possible disequilibrium in the ²³⁸U decay chain. Future work in the West Mouth should therefore concentrate on taking sediment samples of at least 500–600 cm³, improving the dose rate estimates (e.g. by high-resolution γ-ray spectrometry) and investigating other luminescence signals (e.g. red thermoluminescence) as potential geochronometers.     

The morphometric and stratigraphic framework for estimates of debris flow incidence in the North Cascades foothills, Washington State, USA

Active debris flow fans in the North Cascade Foothills of Washington State constitute a natural hazard of importance to land managers, private property owners and personal security. In the absence of measurements of the sediment fluxes involved in debris flow events, a morphological-evolutionary systems approach, emphasizing stratigraphy, dating, fan morphology and debris flow basin morphometry, was used. Using the stratigraphic framework and 47 radiocarbon dates, frequency of occurrence and relative magnitudes of debris flow events have been estimated for three spatial scales of debris flow systems: the within-fan site scale (84 observations); the fan meso-scale (six observations) and the lumped fan, regional or macro-scale (one fan average and adjacent lake sediments). In order to characterize the morphometric framework, plots of basin area v. fan area, basin area v. fan gradient and the Melton ruggedness number v. fan gradient for the 12 debris flow basins were compared with those documented for semi-arid and paraglacial fans. Basin area to fan area ratios were generally consistent with the estimated level of debris flow activity during the Holocene as reported below. Terrain analysis of three of the most active debris flow basins revealed the variety of modes of slope failure and sediment production in the region.Micro-scale debris flow event systems indicated a range of recurrence intervals for large debris flows from 106−3645 years. The spatial variation of these rates across the fans was generally consistent with previously mapped hazard zones. At the fan meso-scale, the range of recurrence intervals for large debris flows was 273−1566 years and at the regional scale, the estimated recurrence interval of large debris flows was 874 years (with undetermined error bands) during the past 7290 years. Dated lake sediments from the adjacent Lake Whatcom gave recurrence intervals for large sediment producing events ranging from 481−557 years over the past 3900 years and clearly discernible sedimentation events in the lacustrine sediments had a recurrence interval of 67−78 years over that same period.     

Feeding behaviour of adult Centropages hamatus (Copepoda, Calanoida): Functional response and selective feeding experiments

The feeding behaviour of adults of the marine calanoid copepod Centropages hamatus was studied in laboratory experiments with ciliates and phytoplankton as food sources. The ingestion rate of algal (flagellates, diatoms) and ciliate prey (oligotrichs) as a function of prey concentration could be described by a Holling type III functional response, with close to zero ingestion rates at concentrations below 5 µg C l^− 1. In general, ingestion of ciliates was higher than ingestion of algae, and maximum feeding rates by adult males reached were half the feeding rates of adult females at prey concentrations exceeding 50 µg C l^− 1. When diatoms and ciliates were offered together C. hamatus (both sexes) fed exclusively on ciliates as long as they contributed with more than 5% to the mixture. This indicates the capability of active prey selection and switching between suspension feeding and ambush predation. Therefore, the feeding behaviour of adult C. hamatus can be characterised as omnivorous with a preference for larger motile prey. This implies a trophic level above two, if there is a sufficient abundance of protozoan food available.     

Cellular plagioclase intergrowths as a result of crystal-magma mixing in the Proterozoic Åland rapakivi batholith,SW Finland

Finely cellular plagioclase intergrowths have been studied in xenocrystic andesine (An₃₂) and andesine mantled K-feldspars within mafic magmatic enclaves in a quartz-feldspar porphyry from the Proterozoic subvolcanic Hammarudda complex, Åland rapakivi batholith, SW Finland. The cellular intergrowths usually occur as 0.2–2.0 mm mantles around xenocrysts but also as entirely cellular grains, and are built up of a network of two distinct phases: one relatively Na-rich (An₃₁) and one relatively Ca-rich (An₅₀). The grains are also covered by a thin (0.08–0.12 mm), continuous, normally zoned rim outside the cellular mantle. Small inclusions (0.01–0.05 mm) of Fe–Mg minerals are concentrated in the Ca-rich part of the network. Compositionally, the Na-rich phase of the network is close to the inner non-cellular andesine of the xenocrysts. However, it has a lower Or- and a slightly lower An-content. The Ca-rich phase has the same composition as the inner part of the normally zoned rim, which outwards grades into lower An-contents that overlap the An-content of the matrix plagioclases. The cellular network was developed after the andesine xenocrysts (or andesine mantled K-feldspars) were engulfed in mafic magmatic enclaves during a mixing event. The xenocrysts became heated to a temperature just below the liquidus of the mafic magma. Dissolution of the xenocrysts developed a spongy cellular texture which was penetrated by enclave magma. Ca-rich plagioclase crystallized in the cells in equilibrium with the enclave magma, trapping Fe–Mg-rich melt. As the enclaves cooled the outermost thin rim and matrix plagioclases crystallized from the mafic melt. These processes operated in fairly large enclaves, as the one studied here, which has a diameter of 70cm. Smaller enclaves, on the other hand, were cooled more rapidly to temperatures close to the solidus of the enclave magma, and consequently had no time to dissolve the xenoxrysts.