Variability of rainfall from tropical cyclones in the eastern USA and its association to the AMO and ENSO

Tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall along the eastern USA exhibits a high degree of variability with the potential to produce precipitation amounts in excess of 100 % of the annual mean at locations ranging from the immediate coastline to hundreds of kilometers inland. However, the spatiotemporal distribution of TC rainfall variability has not yet been fully characterized for this region, particularly with regard to large-scale climate teleconnections (e.g., El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO)). The objectives of this study are to (1) assess temporal variability and trends in TC rainfall since 1960, and (2) characterize the spatial variability of TC rainfall during varying AMO and ENSO regimes. Kendall tau-b analysis highlighted the presence of statistically significant positive trends in TC rainfall at a number of locations. Principal components analysis revealed that AMO exhibited significant linkages to TC rainfall in northern New England as well as along the US Gulf Coast, while ENSO was most strongly linked to TC variability in Texas. Results illustrate the varied nature of TC rainfall across the eastern USA and the complex linkages to large-scale climate mechanisms at interannual and decadal time scales.     

Cretaceous and Cenozoic cooling history across the ultrahigh pressure Tongbai–Dabie belt, central China, from apatite fission-track thermochronology

The crystalline terrane of the Tongbai–Dabie region, central China, comprising the Earth's largest ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) exposure was formed during Triassic collision between the Sino–Korean and Yangtze cratons. New apatite fission-track (AFT) data presented here from the UHP terrane, extends over a significantly greater area than reported in previous studies, and includes the (eastern) Dabie, the Hong'an (northwestern Dabie) and Tongbai regions. The new data yield ages ranging from 44 ± 3 to 142 ± 36 Ma and mean track lengths between 10 and 14.4 μm. Thermal history models based on the AFT data taken together with published ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar, K–Ar, apatite and zircon (U–Th)/He and U–Pb data, exhibit a three-stage cooling pattern that is similar across the study region, commencing with an Early Cretaceous rapid cooling event, followed by a period of relative thermal stability during which rocks remained at temperatures within the AFT partial annealing zone (60–110 °C) and ending with a possible renewed phase of accelerated cooling during Pliocene to Recent time. The first cooling phase followed large-scale transtensional deformation between 140 and 110 Ma and is related to Early Cretaceous eastward tectonic escape and Pacific back arc extension. Between this phase and the subsequent slow cooling phase, a transition period from 120 to 80 Ma (to 70 to 45 Ma along the Tan–Lu fault) was characterised by a relatively low cooling rate (3–5 °C/Ma). This transition is likely related to a tectonic response associated with the mid-Cretaceous subduction of the Izanagi–Pacific plate as well as lithospheric extension and thinning in eastern Asia. The present regional AFT age pattern is therefore basically controlled by the Early Cretaceous rapid cooling event, but finally shaped through active Cenozoic faulting. Following the transition phase the subsequent slow cooling phase pattern implies a net reduction in horizontal compressional stress corresponding to increased extension rates along the continental margin due to the decrease in plate convergence. Modelling of the AFT data suggests a possible Pliocene–Recent cooling episode, which may be supported by increased rates of sedimentation observed in adjacent basins. This cooling phase may be interpreted as a response to the far-field effects of the frontal India–Eurasia collision to the west. Approximate estimates suggest that the total amount of post 120 Ma denudation across the UHP orogen ranged from 2.4 to 13.2 km for different tectonic blocks and ranged from 0.8 to 9.7 km during the Cretaceous to between 1.7 and 3.8 km during the Cenozoic.     

Geochemistry of highly-undersaturated ocean island basalt suites from the South Atlantic Ocean: Fernando de Noronha and Trindade islands

The volcanic rocks of the South Atlantic Ocean islands of Fernando de Noronha and Trindade comprise a diverse magmatic series ranging from nephelinites and basanites to phonolites and, on Fernando de Noronha, trachytes. All rock types are highly silica undersaturated with the exception of Fernando de Noronha trachytes_, and have high abundances of incompatible trace elements and strongly LREE (light rare earth element)-enriched REE patterns. Crystal fractionation of parental basanitic magmas produced evolved phonolites and trachytes which display severe trace-element fractionation, even among trace elements (Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf) which normally behave highly incompatibly during crystallisation of alkaline magmas. Moderately to highly evolved compositions develop strongly MREE (middle REE)-depleted REE patterns, and become increasingly depleted in elements such as Nb and, in particular, Ta. Ratios of Nb/Ta and Zr/Hf are highly fractionated in phonolites (60–65, 64–77 respectively in Fernando de Noronha phonolites) compared to ratios in basanites (14, 45 respectively). The compatibility of Nb, Ta, and the REE, and the strong fractionation of Nb/Ta and Zr/Hf ratios and the MREE, during crystallisation from basanite to phonolite are attributable to the crystallisation of small amounts (<5%) of sphene. Trace-element behaviour is relatively insensitive to the major phenocryst phases, and is controlled by minor phases in highly undersaturated alkaline suites. Incompatible trace-element ratios (e.g. La/Nb, Th/Ta) in nephelinites and basanites from Fernando de Noronha and Trindade are generally comparable with those in basaltic and hawaiitic OIB (ocean island basalt) lavas from other South Atlantic islands, but are distinct from those of Gough and Tristan da Cunha OIB. The mantle source for the highly undersaturated volcanism on Fernando de Noronha and Trindade is similar in trace-element characteristics to the typical OIB source which produces alkaline lavas with significant relative enrichment in Nb and Ta compared to other trace elements (as expressed by low La/Nb, Ba/Nb and Th/Ta ratios). The highly undersaturated nature of the magmas and the slight fractionation of some incompatible-element ratios (elevated Ba/Nb, Ba/Rb, Ba/Th etc.) is consistent with a smaller degree of melting of a typical OIB source, but with residual phlogopite in the source to account for significant K depletion and LIL-element fractionation.     

Aspects of Rift Valley faulting and volcanicity in North Tanzania: report of a Geologists’ Association Field Meeting in 2008

The African Rift Valleys results from Neogene-Recent breakup up the African Plate due to continental extension. Compared with the western sector, in the eastern or Gregory Rift Valley the fracturing is accompanied by a large amount of volcanic activity and, in northern Tanzania, the volcanic rocks are relatively young compared with those in Ethiopia and Kenya where the products of the earliest stages of mantle melting are buried beneath older, more-extensive volcanic formations. The volcanic rocks vary from Pliocene and early Pleistocene intraplate basalts and trachytes to late Pleistocene/Holocene nephelinites and carbonatites.     

Mapping the archaeological soil archive of sand and gravel mineral reserves in Britain

Primary sand and gravel deposits in Britain play an important role in preserving our cultural heritage and are also a valuable aggregate resource. While an understanding of the extrinsic properties of the soil archive (such as pH, redox, groundwater) can provide a firstorder assessment of the potential risk to any archaeologically sensitive deposits, we have very poor definition of spatial variations in the extrinsic properties of soil that influence archaeological preservation at a regional and national scale. Developments in digital geological mapping, remote sensing, and geochemical survey data undertaken by the British Geological Survey (BGS) have, however, significantly extended capabilities in this respect and can potentially be used to provide a primary assessment of the sensitivity of the present soil archive and the potential risk from changes to the soil process on cultural material in areas earmarked for aggregate extraction. Two of the major factors affecting archaeological preservation—soil acidification and groundwater—can be mapped or predicted at scales of better than 1:50,000 across increasingly large parts of the country using a combination of regional hydrogeological, geophysical, and geochemical data. Additional data from site investigations may further refine preservation potential as a function of changes in redox potential and acidity. These data, maps and models can be used to (1) better establish a baseline for archaeological preservation at a regional and national scale and (2) improve our understanding of how the physical and chemical properties of the near surface environment can be managed to sustainably preserve archaeological materials in areas impacted by sand and gravel extraction. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.