Improved magnetic anomalies of the Antarctic lithosphere from satellite and near-surface data

The Antarctic magnetic anomaly map compiled marine and airborne surveys collected south of 60°S through 1999 and used Magsat data to help fill in the regional gaps between the surveys. Ørsted and CHAMP satellite magnetic observations with greatly improved measurement accuracies and temporal and spatial coverage of the Antarctic, have now supplanted the Magsat data. We combined the new satellite observations with the near-surface survey data for an improved magnetic anomaly map of the Antarctic lithosphere. Specifically, we separated the crustal from the core and external field components in the satellite data using crustal thickness variations estimated from the terrain and the satellite-derived free-air gravity observations. Regional gaps in the near-surface surveys were then filled with predictions from crustal magnetization models that jointly satisfied the near-surface and satellite crustal anomalies. Comparisons in some of the regional gaps that also considered newly acquired aeromagnetic data demonstrated the enhanced anomaly estimation capabilities of the predictions over those from conventional minimum curvature and spherical harmonic geomagnetic field models. We also noted that the growing number of regional and world magnetic survey compilations involve coverage gaps where these procedures can contribute effective near-surface crustal anomaly estimates.     

Progress in isotope paleohydrology using lake sediment cellulose

Recent advances in sample preparation techniques and mass spectrometry have fostered more routine oxygen isotope analysis of aquatic cellulose in lake sediment cores, a proxy for lake water oxygen isotope history. These methodological developments have significantly increased the feasibility of incorporating this approach into high-resolution, multi-site, and multi-proxy studies, which are frequently necessary to answer complex hydrological, hydroecological and hydroclimatic questions requiring a paleoenvironmental perspective. Direct translation of lake sediment aquatic cellulose oxygen isotope composition into lake water oxygen isotope composition offers appreciable opportunity for quantitative paleohydrological reconstructions, as evidenced by studies conducted over the past 15 years that span Holocene and pre-historical timescales.     

Paleolimnological assessment of human impacts on an urban South African lake

North End Lake is a polluted and eutrophic freshwater system located in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Since the lake is expected to be used for recreational/tourist purposes by 2010, a rehabilitation program will have to be designed. For this reason, we retrieved a sediment core from the central region of the lake to decipher the effect of historical human impacts on the water body. Pre-disturbance paleolimnological inferences indicate that the lake was likely mesotrophic. After ∼1831, when sheep farming activities were undertaken in the catchment, increases in trophic state and changes in sediment composition were observed. After ∼1937, increases in trace metal levels, organic matter, spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCP) and changes in sediment composition were recorded. The system became eutrophic as indicated by the dominance of the diatom Actinocyclus normanii, a cosmopolitan species often observed in systems where water quality has been dramatically degraded. The conditions worsened after 1986 because of the construction of a storm-water retention system, which intentionally channeled storm-water runoff into the lake. Because of this, extremely high values of fecal coliforms (i.e. 2 × 10⁶ every 100 ml) have been measured in the water column. The paleolimnological information identified the sharp increase in organic content in the uppermost section of the core, and this could be correlated to the operation of the storm-water retention system. Therefore, as an immediate management measure, we suggest that the storm-water retention system should either no longer be utilized, or the storm-water runoff should be treated before disposal into the lake. In addition, an effective sewage system has to be constructed.     

Mesozoic interaction of the Kula plate and the western margin of north america

Oceanic crust west of North America at the beginning of the Jurassic belonged to the Kula plate. The development of the western margin of North America since the Jurassic reflects interaction with the Kula plate, the Kula-Farallon spreading center and the Farallon plate. The Kula plate ceased to exist in the Paleocene and later developments were caused by interaction of the Farallon plate and, subsequently, collision with the East Pacific Rise.At the beginning of the Jurassic, when spreading between North and South America began, the Kula-Farallon-Pacific triple junction moved to the north relative to North America, and the eastern end of the Kula-Farallon spreading center swept northwards along the continental margin.During the Paleocene, Kula-Pacific spreading ceased and the Kula plate fused to the Pacific plate. Throughout the Mesozoic, subduction of the Kula plate took place along the Alaskan continental margin. When the Kula plate joined the Pacific plate a new subduction zone formed along the line of the present Aleutian chain.Wrangellia and Stikinia, anomalous terrains in Alaska and northwestern Canada respectively, were emplaced by transport on the Kula plate from lower latitudes. Hypotheses which require transport of these plates in the Mesozoic from the “far reaches of the Pacific” ignore the problem of transport across either the Kula-Pacific or Kula-Farallon spreading centers. The interaction of the Kula plate and western North America throughout the Jurassic and the Cretaceous should result in emplacement of these terrains by motion oblique to the continental margin. Tethyan faunas in Stikinia must come from the western end of Tethys between North and South America, not the Indonesian region at the eastern end of Tethys.As the northeastern end of the Kula-Farallon ridge moved northward, the sense of motion changed from right lateral shear between the Kula and North American plates to collision or left lateral shear between the Farallon and North American plates. Left lateral shear along zones analogous to the Mojave-Sonora megashear may have been the means by which anomalous terrains were transported to the southeast into the gap between North and South America forming present day Central America. Such a model overcomes the overlap difficulties suffered in previous attempts to reconstruct the Mesozoic paleogeography of Central America.     

Quantitative studies of weathering in saprolitized charnockites associated with a landslip zone at the porthimund dam,India

Studies on saprolitized charnockites associated with a landslip observed in the Blue Mountains in close proximity of the Porthimund Dam (11°22'E 76°34′30″N), Nilgiris District, Tamilnadu State, South India, are reported.Laboratory investigations of the geotechnical properties were carried out to evaluate the nature and degree of weathering quantitatively for estimating the soundness of the charnockites constituting the slip zone. The results of per cent decomposed product of the crest, scarp and toe portions of the slip denote positive correlations with porosity and compressibility; and negative correlations against density, wave velocity, Young's modulus, compressive strength and tensile strength. It is also seen that in the absence of the information on decomposed product, weatherability could still be evaluated considering the per cent change of any physical parameter.Such studies should prove valuable in the mapping of weatherability zones and the assessment and determination of foundation conditions.     

New Find of Cuticular Coal in the Franz Josef Land

Coal pebbles found in 1994 in the Greham Bell Island (Franz Josef Land Archipelago) are made up of the Barzas-type cuticular liptobiolith. The coal belongs to the initial stage of catagenesis and is characterized by high content of cutinite (up to 70%) with very low reflectance (R_o= 0.1%). Maceration products show some tegillate elements of Arthropodaand individual Devonian spores. It is supposed that plant cuticle and Arthropoda exocuticle are present in this coal. The obtained data suggest the presence of Paleozoic rocks in the sedimentary sequence, although they are not yet recovered. These data complement the available information on the distribution of specific Devonian coals and allow us to have a new insight into the zoogenic material involved in the coal formation.     

Peri-Gondwanan Blocks in the Structure of the Southern and Southeastern Framing of the East European Platform

Geotectonics - Synthesis of the results of U–Pb dating of detrital zircons (dZr) from the Uppermost Precambrian–Phanerozoic strata of the southern and southeastern framing of the East...     

Fold–Thrust Deformations of New Siberia Island (Novosibirsky Islands,Russia): Age,Morphology, and Genesis of Structures

Geotectonics - Detailed lithological, stratigraphic, and structural studies of the fold-thrust structures were conducted on New Siberia Island. We have established that the jointly deformed...