RbSr and KAr ages of paleozoic glauconites from Ohio—Indiana and Missouri,U.S.A.

Glauconite pellets from the Lower Silurian Brassfield Formation on both limbs of the Cincinnati Arch in Ohio and Indiana give a RbSr age of 370 ± 11 Ma, which is substantially younger than the stratigraphic age of the formation. The age is concordantcwith conventional KAr ages of 355 ± 6 and 368 ± 5 Ma for two of the same glauconites. Concordant ages were also obtained from the Viburnum Trend in Missouri, where glauconite pellets from the Davis Formation in an ore-zone collapse structure into the underlying Bonneterre Formation give a RbSr age of 387 ± 21 Ma and conventional KAr ages of 368 ± 5 and 369 ± 5 and 369 ± 5 Ma. A third suite of glauconite from the Bonneterre Formation in the Old Lead Belt ～ 10 km from the nearest ore body has given a RbSr age of 423 ± 7 Ma and slightly older conventional KAr ages of 434 ± 6, 445 ± 6 and 441 ± 11 Ma.Because these glauconite-bearing rocks have been buried to depths of less than 1 km, thermal resetting of the RbSr and KAr systematics appears unlikely. The initial ${}^{87}\text{Sr}{}^{86}\text{Sr}$ ratios of the RbSr isochrons are similar to the ratios for vein- and vug-filling dolomite and calcite. This is consistent with resetting of the RbSr and KAr systems during diagenetic changes which included the isotopic equilibration (perhaps by cation exchange) of the Sr in the glauconite with that in the diagenetic and Mississippi Valley-type ore fluids. This interpretation implies that the age of the Mississippi Valley-type mineralization in the Viburnum Trend is Devonian rather than Carboniferous—Permian as has been inferred from paleomagnetic measurements.Cation-exchange experiments with a dilute Sr-bearing solution and an artificial oilfield brine indicate that glauconite adsorbs large amounts of Sr, some of which is sufficiently strongly attached to the glauconite lattice as to resist leaching with ammonium acetate. The introduction of this strongly attached Sr may be the first step in the resetting of the RbSr systematics of glauconite by cation exchange.     

Biogeographic implications of a packrat midden sequence from the Sacramento Mountains, south-central New Mexico

Thirteen packrat (Neotoma spp.) and two porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) middens from 1555 to 1690 m elevation from the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico, provide an 18,000-yr vegetation record in the northern Chiuahuan Desert. The vegetation sequence is a mesic, Wisconsin fullglacial (18,000–16,000 yr B.P.) pinyon-juniper-oak woodland; a xeric, early Holocene (ca. 11,000–8000 yr B.P.) juniper-oak woodland; a middle Holocene (ca. 8000-4000 yr B.P.) desert-grassland; and a late Holocene (ca. 4000 yr B.P. to present) Chihuahuan desertscrub. The frequency of spring freezes and summer droughts in the late Wisconsin probably set the northern limits of Pinus edulis and Juniperus monosperma at about 34°N, or 6° south of today's limit. Rising summer tempratures in the early Holocene eliminated pinyon and other mesic woodland plants from the desert lowlands and allowed the woodland to move upslope. At this time pinyon-juniper woodland and pine forest dominated by Pinus ponderosa probably began their spectacular Holocene expansions to the north. Continued warming in the middle Holocene led to very warm summers with strong monsoons, relatively dry, cold winters, and widespread desert-grasslands. Desertscrub communities in the northern Chihuahuan Desert did not develop until the late Holocene when the biseasonal rainfall shifted slightly back toward the winter, catastrophic winter freezes decreased, and droughts in all seasons increased. The creosote bush desertscrub corridor across the Continental Divide between the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts was probably connected for the first time since the last interglaciation.     

Stability classification by acoustic remote sensing

Two different Doppler acoustic sounders have been operated at the Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe (KfK) since 1982. It has been investigated whether meteorological data from these sounders can be used for dispersion modeling and monitoring in the environment of pollutant-emitting plants. Data from the sounders and from a 200 m high meteorological tower have been sampled continuously for intercomparison.Two schemes of stability classification are presented. They are based on 30-min mean values of the following meteorological data measured by the acoustic sounders: (a) standard deviation σ_w of the vertical wind speed and horizontal wind speed u, at a height of 100 m; and (b) standard deviation σ_φ of the vertical wind direction at a height of 100 m and vertical profile of the backscattered amplitude A_w.The class limits applied in these schemes are determined by “statistical equivalence” with a standard classification scheme. This standard scheme is based on σ_φ, measured by a vector vane at the 100 m level of the tower. Statistical equivalence in this context means that the frequency distributions of the classes are approximately equal at the same site and during the same period.The reliability of these schemes is investigated and compared to the standard scheme by correlation analysis. Finally, the schemes are compared with other commonly applied classification methods.     

Petrochemistry of the silicic-mafic complexes at Vesturhorn and Austurhorn, Iceland: evidence for zoned/stratified magma

Within the Austurhorn and Vesturhorn silicic intrusions of southeastern Iceland are composite complexes that consist of pillow-like bodies of mafic and intermediate rock entirely surrounded by silicic rock. The pillows with cuspate and chilled boundaries are interpreted to indicate a liquid-liquid relationship with a silicic magma. Some pillow-like bodies have a chilled and sharp cuspate boundary, whereas others have a distinct chemical and visible gradational contact with the silicic rock. The visible scale of mixing is of the same order of magnitude as the size of the pillows enclosed in the silicic rock (mm to meters).Two important types of chemical variation in the pillows are recognized. The first type of variation occurs from mafic pillow interiors to margins and into the surrounding silicic rock. These variations are due to mechanical mixing between mafic magma and the silicic magma. The second type of chemical variation occurs between individual pillows. Large variations occur between pillows in P and Ti at nearly constant silica. These variations cannot have resulted from in situ simple magma mixing or crystal fractionation, and must have originated at depth below the present level of exposure. These compositions could have been derived from separate mafic (or intermediate) magma bodies or from a single zoned and/or stratified magma body. Because the Austurhorn, Vesturhorn, and Ardnamurchan composite complexes all exhibit similar variations in P and Ti and because these occurrences are separated in space and time, they are thought to have had similar processes occur during their evolution. The chemical variations are interpreted to have resulted from mafic magma that has underplated silicic magma and become zoned/stratified due to the effects of magma mixing and cooling-crystallization.     

An evaluation of flow-stratified sampling for estimating suspended sediment loads

Flow-stratified sampling is a new method for sampling water quality constituents such as suspended sediment to estimate loads. As with selection-at-list-time (SALT) and time-stratified sampling, flow-stratified sampling is a statistical method requiring random sampling, and yielding unbiased estimates of load and variance. It can be used to estimate event yields or to estimate mean concentrations in flow classes for detecting change over time or differences from water quality standards. Flow-stratified sampling is described and its variance compared with those of SALT and time-stratified sampling. Time-stratified sampling generally gives the smallest variance of the three methods for estimating storm yields. Flow-stratified sampling of individual storms may fail to produce estimates in some short-lived strata because they may have sample sizes of zero. SALT will tend to give small samples and relatively high variances for small stroms. For longer and more complex hydrographs, having numerous peaks, flow-stratified sampling gives the lowest variance, and the SALT variance is lower than that of time-stratified sampling unless the sample size is very large. A desirable feature of flow-stratified sampling is that the variance can be reduced after sampling by splitting strata, particularly high flow strata that have been visited just once, and recalculating the total and variance. SALT has the potential to produce the lowest variance, but cannot be expected to do so with an auxiliary variable based on stage.