Late-Pleistocene and Holocene remains of Hysterocarpus traski (Tule Perch) from Clear Lake,California, and inferred Holocene temperature fluctuations

The remains of scales of Hysterocarpus traski Gibbons (Tule perch) were found throughout a 27.44-m core from Clear Lake. Most scales occurred between the mud surface and deposits approximately 11,000 years old. Changes in growth rates of the animals were examined by measuring scale annuli and applying an empirically established regression of fish length on scale radius. The data indicate a pattern of accelerating growth rates, reaching a peak between ?4000 and 2800 BP. After ?2800 BP, growth rates decline markedly. Because the growth rates of these animals are essentially dependent on temperature, the changes observed in the patterns of growth probably reflect changes in climate in the northern Coast Range. The general pattern of inferred temperature increase during the early and middle Holocene, ending between ?4000 and 2800 BP, is consistent with evidence from tree-line studies and palynology indicating higher temperatures in parts of the western United States during this period.     

Nickel, Copper, Zinc and Cadmium Cycling with Manganese in Lake Vanda (Wright Valley, Antarctica)

Lake Vanda is a closed-basin, permanently ice-covered lake located in the Wright Valley of Antarctica. The lakes more important geochemical features include the fact that it is fed by a single glacial melt water stream for only 6–8weeks out of the year; that it has remained stratified for more than a millennium; and that, like other lakes in the region, it is remote from anthropogenic influence. These, together with the fact that it is among the least biologically productive lakes in the world, make it an ideal system for examining the transport, cycling and fate of trace metals in the aquatic environment. Like others before us, we view this lake as a natural geochemical laboratory, a flask in the desert. This paper presents the first set of closely spaced, vertical, profiles for dissolved and particulate Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd in the water column. Despite the absence of an outflow, metals in the fresh upper waters of the lake have extremely low concentrations, in the pico-molar to nano-molar range, and are partitioned largely into dissolved rather than particulate phases. Efficient metal scavenging by particles from these oxygen-rich waters is indicated. Significant increases in metal concentrations begin to appear at depth, between 57 and 60m, and these increases coincide with the onset of manganese oxide dissolution in oxic, but lower pH waters. Vertical profiles suggest that the entire suite of trace metals (Ni, Cu, Zn, and Cd) is being released from manganese oxide carrier phases. Thermodynamic analysis indicates that Mn3O4 (i.e., the mineral hausmannite) may be important in metal sequestration and recycling in the deeper waters of Lake Vanda. Manganese-reducing organisms reported by Bratina etal. (1998) are active in the zone of metal release and these could also contribute to the observed cycling.     

Mg-enriched erythrite from Bou Azzer,Anti-Atlas Mountains,Morocco: geochemical and spectroscopic characteristics

Mineralogy and Petrology - Supergene Mg-enriched erythrite, with an average composition (Co2.25Mg0.58Ni0.14Fe0.04Mn0.02 Zn0.02) (As1.97P<0.01O8)·8H2O, accompanied by skutterudite,...     

El Chichón volcano, April 4, 1982: volcanic cloud history and fine ash fallout

This retrospective study focuses on the fine silicate particles (<62 µm in diameter) produced in a large eruption that was otherwise well studied. Fine particles represent a potential hazard to aircraft, because as simple particles they have very low terminal velocities and could potentially stay aloft for weeks. New data were collected to describe the fine particle size distributions of distal fallout samples collected soon after eruption. Although, about half of the mass of silicate particles produced in this eruption of ~1 km³ dense rock equivalent magma were finer than 62 µm in diameter, and although these particles were in a stratospheric cloud after eruption, almost all of these fine particles fell to the ground near (<300 km) the volcano in a day or two. Particles falling out from 70 to 300 km from the volcano are mostly <62 µm in diameter. The most plausible explanation for rapid fallout is that the fine ash nucleates ice in the convective cloud and initiates a process of meteorological precipitation that efficiently removes fine silicates. These observations are similar to other eruptions and we conclude that ice formation in convective volcanic clouds is part of an effective fine ash removal process that affects all or most volcanic clouds. The existence of pyroclastic flows and surges in the El Chichón eruption increased the overall proportion of fine silicates, probably by milling larger glassy pyroclasts.     

Precambrian fluvial deposits: Enigmatic palaeohydrological data from the c. 2–1.9 Ga Waterberg Group, South Africa

Precambrian fluvial systems, lacking the influence of rooted vegetation, probably were characterised by flashy surface runoff, low bank stability, broad channels with abundant bedload, and faster rates of channel migration; consequently, a braided fluvial style is generally accepted. Pre-vegetational braided river systems, active under highly variable palaeoclimatic conditions, may have been more widespread than are modern, ephemeral dry-land braided systems. Aeolian deflation of fine fluvial detritus does not appear to have been prevalent. With the onset of large cratons by the Neoarchaean–Palaeoproterozoic, very large, perennial braided river systems became typical. The c. 2.06–1.88 Ga Waterberg Group, preserved within a Main and a smaller Middelburg basin on the Kaapvaal craton, was deposited largely by alluvial/braided-fluvial and subordinate palaeo-desert environments, within fault-bounded, possibly pull-apart type depositories.

Palaeohydrological data obtained from earlier work in the Middelburg basin (Wilgerivier Formation) are compared to such data derived from the correlated Blouberg Formation, situated along the NE margin of the Main basin. Within the preserved Blouberg depository, palaeohydrological parameters estimated from clast size and cross-bed set thickness data, exhibit rational changes in their values, either in a down-palaeocurrent direction, or from inferred basin margin to palaeo-basin centre. In both the Wilgerivier and Blouberg Formations, calculated palaeoslope values (derived from two separate formulae) plot within the gap separating typical alluvial fan gradients from those which characterise rivers (cf. [Blair, T.C., McPherson, J.G., 1994. Alluvial fans and their natural distinction from rivers based on morphology, hydraulic processes, sedimentary processes, and facies assemblages. J. Sediment. Res. A64, 450–489.]). Although it may be argued that such data support possibly unique fluvial styles within the Precambrian, perhaps related to a combination of major global-scale tectono-thermal and atmospheric–palaeoclimatic events, a simpler explanation of these apparently enigmatic palaeoslope values may be pertinent. Of the two possible palaeohydrological formulae for calculating palaeoslope, one provides results close to typical fluvial gradients; the other formula relies on preserved channel-width data. We suggest that the latter will not be reliable due to problematic preservation of original channel-widths within an active braided fluvial system. We thus find no unequivocal support for a unique fluvial style for the Precambrian, beyond that generally accepted for that period and discussed briefly in the first paragraph.     

Pressure effect on Ti- or P-rich accessory mineral saturation in evolved granitic melts with differing K2O/Na2O ratios

The solubility of Ti- and P-rich accessory minerals has been examined as a function of pressure and K₂O/Na₂O ratio in two series of highly evolved silicate systems. These systems correspond to (a) alkaline, varying from alkaline to peralkaline with increasing K₂O/Na₂O ratio; and (b) strongly metaluminous (essentially trondhjemitic at the lowest K₂O/Na₂O ratio) and remaining metaluminous with increasing K₂O/Na₂O ratio (to 3). The experiments were conducted at a fixed temperature of 1000 °C, with water contents varying from 5 wt.% at low pressure (0.5 GPa), increasing through 5–10 wt.% at 1.5–2.5 GPa to 10 wt.% at 3.5 GPa. Pressure was extended outside the normal crustal range, so that the results may also be applied to derivation of hydrous silicic melts from subducted oceanic crust.

For the alkaline composition series, the TiO₂ content of the melt at Ti-rich mineral saturation decreases with increasing pressure but is unchanged with increasing K content (at fixed pressure). The P₂O₅ content of the alkaline melts at apatite saturation increases with increased pressure at 3.5 GPa only, but decreases with increasing K content (and peralkalinity). For the metaluminous composition series (termed as “trondhjemite-based series” (T series)), the TiO₂ content of the melt at Ti-rich mineral saturation decreases with increasing pressure and with increasing K content (at fixed pressure). The P₂O₅ content of the T series melts at apatite saturation is unchanged with increasing pressure, but decreases with increasing K content. The contrasting results for P and Ti saturation levels, as a function of pressure in both compositions, point to contrasting behaviour of Ti and P in the structure of evolved silicate melts. Ti content at Ti-rich mineral saturation is lower in the alkaline compared with the T series at 0.5 GPa, but is similar at higher pressures, whereas P content at apatite saturation is lower in the T series at all pressures studied. The results have application to A-type granite suites that are alkaline to peralkaline, and to I-type metaluminous suites that frequently exhibit differing K₂O/Na₂O ratios from one suite to another.     

Rates of Deglaciation during the Last Glaciation and Holocene in the Cordillera Vilcanota-Quelccaya Ice Cap Region, Southeastern Perú

Moraine chronology is combined with digital topography to model deglacial rates of paleoglacier volumes in both the Huancané Valley on the west side of the Quelccaya Ice Cap and the Upismayo Valley on the northwest side of the Cordillera Vilcanota. The fastest rates of deglaciation (39×10⁻⁵ to 114×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹ and 112×10⁻⁵ to 247×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹ for each valley, respectively) were calculated for the most recent paleoglaciers, corresponding to the last few centuries. These results are consistent with observations in the Venezuelan Andes showing high rates of deglaciation since the Little Ice Age. These rates also fall within the range of 20th century rates of deglaciation measured on the Quelccaya Ice Cap (29×10⁻⁵ to 220×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹, Brecher and Thompson, 1993; Thompson, 2000). These results imply that rates of deglaciation may fluctuate significantly over time and that high rates of deglaciation may not be exclusive to the late 20th century. Equilibrium line altitude (ELA) depressions for the ice volumes of the last glaciation modeled here were computed as 230 m for the Quelccaya Ice Cap and 170 m for the Cordillera Vilcanota. Maximum ELA depressions are lower than previously published: <500 m for the Cordillera Vilcanota and <400 m for the Quelccaya Ice Cap. These lower values could imply a topographic control over paleoglacier extent.     

Copper partitioning in a melt-vapor-brine-magnetite-pyrrhotite assemblage

The effect of sulfur on the partitioning of Cu in a melt-vapor-brine ± magnetite ± pyrrhotite assemblage has been quantified at 800 °C, 140 MPa, f_O2 = nickel-nickel oxide (NNO), logf_S2=-3.0 (i.e., on the magnetite-pyrrhotite curve at NNO), logf_H2S=-1.3 and logf_SO2=-1. All experiments were vapor + brine saturated. Vapor and brine fluid inclusions were trapped in silicate glass and self-healed quartz fractures. Vapor and brine are dominated by NaCl, KCl and HCl in the S-free runs and NaCl, KCl and FeCl₂ in S-bearing runs. Pyrrhotite served as the source of sulfur in S-bearing experiments. The composition of fluid inclusions, glass and crystals were quantified by laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Major element, chlorine and sulfur concentrations in glass were quantified by using electron probe microanalysis. Calculated Nernst-type partition coefficients (±2σ) for Cu between melt-vapor, melt-brine and vapor-brine are , , and , respectively, in the S-free system. The partition coefficients (±2σ) for Cu between melt-vapor, melt-brine and vapor-brine are , , and , respectively, in the S-bearing system. Apparent equilibrium constants (±1σ) describing Cu and Na exchange between vapor and melt and brine and melt were also calculated. The values of are 34 ± 21 and 128 ± 29 in the S-free and S-bearing runs, respectively. The values of are 33 ± 22 and60 ± 5 in the S-free and S-bearing runs, respectively. The data presented here indicate that the presence of sulfur increases the mass transfer of Cu into vapor from silicate melt. Further, the nearly threefold increase in suggests that Cu may be transported as both a chloride and sulfide complex in magmatic vapor, in agreement with hypotheses based on data from natural systems. Most significantly, the data demonstrate that the presence of sulfur enhances the partitioning of Cu from melt into magmatic volatile phases.     

Analyzing CO2 emissions mitigation by technology improvement in Central and Eastern Europe

As a legacy of the centrally planned economy, the economies in transition of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have a unique potential to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through the improvement in their high energy intensities. Since much of this `low-hanging fruit' in energy-efficiency improvements can be highly cost-effective, many developed countries facing difficulties in meeting their greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets domestically are eager to find such opportunities in the CEE region. Therefore, studies analysing the potentials and costs of carbon dioxide reduction through technology improvement in the region have come into the limelight. While there are a few excellent studies in the region aimed at analysing climate change abatement potentials, they all embark on different assumptions, methodologies and boundary conditions. It is hence difficult, if not impossible, to compare and analyse the results of these studies across different authors, countries or time horizons. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to place four leading studies on GHG mitigation through technology improvement from the CEE region into an internationally comparable framework. Four studies were selected from three countries, Poland, Hungary and Estonia, which are all the results of major national and international efforts to assess costs and potentials of GHG reduction. The paper places their assumptions, methods and final results into a framework which enables policy-makers and project designers to compare these across geographical and technological boundaries. Since other studies from around the globe have been analysed in this framework in the literature, this paper provides a vehicle for the findings of these four studies to be compared to others worldwide. In addition, the paper highlights a few areas where similar studies to be completed in the future in the region may be enhanced by incorporating features used in GHG mitigation research in other parts of the world. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.