Response of Southern Ocean circulation to global warming may enhance basal ice shelf melting around Antarctica

We investigate the large-scale oceanic features determining the future ice shelf–ocean interaction by analyzing global warming experiments in a coarse resolution climate model with a comprehensive ocean component. Heat and freshwater fluxes from basal ice shelf melting (ISM) are parameterized following Beckmann and Goosse [Ocean Model 5(2):157–170, 2003]. Melting sensitivities to the oceanic temperature outside of the ice shelf cavities are varied from linear to quadratic (Holland et al. in J Clim 21, 2008). In 1% per year CO₂-increase experiments the total freshwater flux from ISM triples to 0.09 Sv in the linear case and more than quadruples to 0.15 Sv in the quadratic case after 140 years at which 4 × 280 ppm = 1,120 ppm was reached. Due to the long response time of subsurface temperature anomalies, ISM thereafter increases drastically, if CO₂ concentrations are kept constant at 1,120 ppm. Varying strength of the Antarctic circumpolar current (ACC) is crucial for ISM increase, because southward advection of heat dominates the warming along the Antarctic coast. On centennial timescales the ACC accelerates due to deep ocean warming north of the current, caused by mixing of heat along isopycnals in the Southern Ocean (SO) outcropping regions. In contrast to previous studies we find an initial weakening of the ACC during the first 150 years of warming. This purely baroclinic effect is due to a freshening in the SO which is consistent with present observations. Comparison with simulations with diagnosed ISM but without its influence on the ocean circulation reveal a number of ISM-related feedbacks, of which a negative ISM-feedback, due to the ISM-related local oceanic cooling, is the dominant one.     

Si+4 Content of natural phengites

The chemical compositions of white micas separated from adjacent rocks of glaucophane and greenschist facies are compared with respect to their Si⁺⁴ content. The micas are predominantly phengitic, i.e. between muscovite, K[Al₂Si₃AlO₁₀(OH)₂] and celadonite, K[(R⁺²R⁺³)Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂] in composition. Constancy of Si content in micas coming from rocks of different bulk chemical composition but closely similar physical conditions indicates that the silica content of a potassic dioctahedral mica can be used to indicate the pressure and temperature conditions of its formation. This conclusion is in part based upon previous experimental data obtained for synthetic phengites.     

Major-element composition of the Åmål granitoids and possible constraints on the growth of the Baltic Shield

The Åmål granitoids in southwest Scandinavia form a calc-alkaline group. Based on 71 major-element analyses their chemical range seems to be constrained to less evolved and somewhat less aluminous compositions than the Svecokarelian synkinematic granitoids. The Åmål granitoids occur in three occurrence types: rather homogeneous massifs, intermingled with other rocks, and as bands in banded gneiss complexes. No statistically confident difference in chemical composition can be proved as a function of occurrence type. The K/K+Na-ratio increases somewhat towards the former Baltic continent. Some of the possible interpretations of this observation are discussed. Most of the chemical variation is due to magmatic differentiation, the mentioned K-Na variation is the most important additional variable. A discussion of geological, isotopic, and paleomagnetic data to the background of ideas on Earth development suggests a nonactualistic model for the generation of the granitoids.

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Zusammenfassung Die südwestskandinavischen Åmål Granitoide stellen eine typische kalkalkalische Reihe dar. Das Resultat von 71 Hauptelementeanalysen ergibt einen Variationsbereich, der im Vergleich mit den svekokarelischen synkinematischen Granitoiden weniger differenziert erscheint. Sie sind im Vergleich mit diesen Gesteinen auch aluminiumärmer. Die Åmål-Granitoide kommen in mehr oder weniger homogenen Massiven vor, aber auch mit anderen Gesteinen vermischt oder als Glieder von Bändergneisen. Es ist nicht möglich, eine statistische Differenz als Funktion des Vorkommens nachzuweisen. Das K/K + Na-Verhältnis erhöht sich etwas gegen den älteren Baltischen Kontinent. Die chemische Variation beruht hauptsächlich auf Differentiation, die genannten K-Na-Variationen sind die wesentlichsten Zusatzvariablen. Eine Diskussion der geologischen, isotopenchemischen und paleomagnetischen Daten im Rahmen der Entwicklung der Erdkruste führt zu einem nichtaktualistischen Modell der Granitoidgenese. Das Modell wird hier nicht weiter erörtert.

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Résumé Les granitoïdes d'Åmål, dans le Sud-Ouest de la Scandinavie, constituent une série calco-alcaline typique. 71 analyses chimiques portant sur les éléments majeurs montrent que l'ampleur de leur variation est moins différenciée que celle des «granitoïdes syncinématiques svécokaréliens»; ils sont aussi plus pauvres en aluminium que ces derniers. Les granitoïdes d'Åmål se présentent en massifs plus ou moins homogènes, et aussi mélangés à d'autres roches ou comme composants des gneiss rubanés. Il n'est pas possible de faire apparaître statitisquement une différence en fonction de leur occurrence. Le rapport K/K+Na croît vers l'ancien continent baltique. Il est possible d'interpréter l'observation de façons différentes. La différenciation explique la majeure partie de la variation chimique; les variations K/Na mentionnées sont les autres variables principales. Les résultats sont discutés dans le cadre des données géologiques, de la chimie des isotopes, et du paléomagnétisme sur la base du développement de l'écorce terrestre, ce qui conduit, pour la genèse des granitöïdes, à un modèle de type non actualiste.

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Origin of chemically distinct granites in a composite intrusion in east-central Sweden: geochemical and geothermal constraints

A few tens of millions of years after the intrusion of the Early Svecofennian (1.87–1.85 Ma) granitoids in central Sweden, a renewed magmatic activity resulted in the emplacement of the Late Svecofennian granites, the tectonic setting of which remains obscure. S-type granites dominate this group, but both I-type and transitional granites are common. This study deals with one of these intrusions in east-central Sweden; a composite pluton that is insignificantly deformed and hosts both I- and S-type granites. One of the I-type granites shows a compositional trend from granodiorite to granite, which is uncommon among the Late Svecofennian granites. Major element and incompatible trace element compositions and _Nd data show that two different sources, one igneous and one sedimentary, were involved. An important conclusion is that nearly coeval granites derived from different sources are found in close connection. The granites are suggested to have formed by partial melting in a thickened continental crust that was formed in an early stage of the Svecofennian event. Thermal models suggest that the slightly older, high-temperature I-type granite (granodiorite) was formed deeper in the crust than the S-type granite. The coexistence of essentially pure I- and S-type granites, rather than transitional mixtures, reflects the relative depths of the proposed sources and the varying thermal parameters of the lithologic units in the Svecofennian crust.     

Spatial and Temporal Variability of Benthic Respiration in a Scottish Sea Loch Impacted by Fish Farming: A Combination of In Situ Techniques

The effects of fish farm activities on sediment biogeochemistry were investigated in Loch Creran (Western Scotland) from March to October 2006. Sediment oxygen uptake rates (SOU) were estimated along an organic matter gradient generated from an Atlantic salmon farm using a combination of in situ techniques: microelectrodes, planar optode and benthic chamber incubations. Sulphide (H₂S) and pH distributions in sediment porewater were also measured using in situ microelectrodes, and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fluxes were measured in situ using benthic chambers. Relationships between benthic fluxes, vertical distribution of oxidants and reduced compounds in the sediment were examined as well as bacterial abundance and biomass. Seasonal variations in SOU were relatively low and mainly driven by seasonal temperature variations. The effect of the fish farm on sediment oxygen uptake rate was clearly identified by higher total and diffusive oxygen uptake rates (TOU and DOU, respectively) on impacted stations (TOU: 70 ± 25 mmol O₂ m^?2 day^?1; DOU: 70 ± 32 mmol O₂ m^?2 day^?1 recalculated at the summer temperature), compared with the reference station (TOU: 28.3 ± 5.5 mmol O₂ m^?2 day^?1; DOU: 21.5 ± 4.5 mmol O₂ m^?2 day^?1). At the impacted stations, planar optode images displayed high centimetre scale heterogeneity in oxygen distribution underlining the control of oxygen dynamics by small-scale processes. The organic carbon enrichment led to enhanced sulphate reduction as demonstrated by large vertical H₂S concentration gradients in the porewater (from 0 to 1,000 μM in the top 3 cm) at the most impacted site. The impact on ecosystem functions such as bioirrigation was evidenced by a decreasing TOU/DOU ratio, from 1.7 in the non-impacted sediments to 1 in the impacted zone. This trend was related to a shift in the macrofaunal assemblage and an increase in sediment bacterial population. The turnover time of the organic load of the sediment was estimated to be over 6 years.     

Redox cycling of iron and manganese in sediments of the Kalix River estuary, Northern Sweden

Iron and manganese redox cycling in the sediment — water interface region in the Kalix River estuary was investigated by using sediment trap data, pore-water and solid-phase sediment data. Nondetrital phases (presumably reactive Fe and Mn oxides) form substantial fractions of the total settling flux of Fe and Mn (51% of Fe_total and 84% of Mn_total). A steady-state box model reveals that nondetrital Fe and Mn differ considerably in reactivity during post-depositional redox cycling in the sediment. The production rate of dissolved Mn (1.6 mmol m^–2 d^–1) exceeded the depositional flux of nondetrital Mn (0.27 mmol m^–2 d^–1) by a factor of about 6. In contrast, the production rate of upwardly diffusing pore-water Fe (0.77 mmol m^–2 d^–1) amounted to only 22% of the depositional flux of nondetrital Fe (3.5 mmol m^–2 d^–1). Upwardly diffusing pore-water Fe and Mn are effectively oxidized and trapped in the oxic surface layer of the sediment, resulting in negligible benthic effluxes of Fe and Mn. Consequently, the concentrations of nondetrital Fe and Mn in permanently deposited, anoxic sediment are similar to those in the settling material. Reactive Fe oxides appear to form a substantial fraction of this buried, non-detrital Fe. The in-situ oxidation rates of Fe and Mn are tentatively estimated to be 0.51 and 0.16–1.7 mol cm^–3 d^–1, respectively.     

A possible relationship between augen gneisses and postorogenic granites in S.E. Sweden

Augen gneisses occur east of the postorogenic Småland granites in south-eastern Sweden. These augen gneisses are generally folded conformably with the surrounding rocks but in several areas they seem to pass transitionally into the otherwise cross-cutting postorogenic granites. The augen gneisses in the Finspång area are suggested to be caps or down-pointing flukes of the postorogenic granites in a structure similar to one of Ramberg's (1967) centrifuged model experiments. Several factors suggest that these granites intruded as congealing magmas. The proposed evolutionary model has some features in common with the balloon tectonic model (Ramsay 1981). However, rather than the magma expanding an outer skin around a simple balloon-like structure, the concept is extended to include the magmatic inflation and distortion of the cap resulting also in down pointing, folded fluke structures.If the proposed relationship can be established, it follows that extensive metamorphism and deformation took place in southeast Sweden as a marginal effect of the intrusion of the Småland granites.     

17th International Cartographic Conference 10th General Assembly of ICA

Reports

17th International Cartographic Conference 10th General Assembly of ICA