Submicromolar Oxygen Profiles at the Oxic–Anoxic Boundary of Temperate Lakes

Elements involved in biogeochemical cycles undergo rapid turnover at the oxic–anoxic interface of stratified lakes. Here, the presence or absence of oxygen governs abiotic and biotic processes and rates. However, achieving a detailed sampling resolution to precisely locate the oxic–anoxic interface is difficult due to a lack of fast, drift-free sensors in the working range of 10 to a few 1,000 nmol O₂ L^?1. Here, we demonstrate that conventional amperometric and optical microsensors can be used to resolve submicromolar oxygen concentrations in a continuous profiling mode. The amperometric drift was drastically reduced by anoxic preconditioning. In situ offset correction in the anoxic layer and a high amplification scheme allowed for an excellent detection limit of < 10 nmol L^?1. The optical microsensors also showed a similar performance with a detection limit of < 20 nmol L^?1. Their drift stability allowed for a laboratory calibration in combination with a minor in situ anoxic offset correction. The two different sensor systems showed virtually identical profiles during parallel use in stratified lakes. Both sensors were able to resolve the fine-scale structure at the oxic–anoxic interface and revealed hitherto unnoticed extended zones of submicromolar oxygen concentrations even below a steep oxycline. The zones extended up to several meters and showed substantial vertical variability. These results underline the need of a precise localization of the oxic–anoxic interface on a submicromolar scale in order to constrain the relevant aerobic and anaerobic redox processes.     

Magnetic anomalies and rock magnetism of basalts from Reykjanes (SW-Iceland)

This study presents rock magnetic properties along with magnetic field measurements of different stratigraphic and lithologic basalt units from Reykjanes, the southwestern promontory of the Reykjanes peninsula, where the submarine Reykjanes Ridge passes over into the rift zone of southwestern Iceland. The basaltic fissure eruptions and shield lava of tholeiitic composition (less than 11500 a old) show a high natural remanent magnetization (NRM, J_r) up to 33.6 A/m and high Koenigsberger ratio (Q) up to 52.2 indicating a clear dominance of the NRM compared to the induced part of the magnetization. Pillow basalts and picritic shield lava show distinctly lower J_r values below 10 A/m. Magnetic susceptibility (κ) ranges for all lithologies from 2.5 to 26×10⁻³ SI.     

Mechanisms of Archean crust formation inferred from high-precision HFSE systematics in TTGs

It has been proposed that Archean tonalitic-trondhjemitic-granodioritic magmas (TTGs) formed by melting of mafic crust at high pressures. The residual mineralogy of the TTGs (either (garnet)-amphibolite or rutile-bearing eclogite) is believed to control the trace element budget of TTGs. In particular, ratios of high-field-strength elements (HFSE) can help to discriminate between the different residual lithologies. In order to place constraints on the source mineralogy of TTGs, we performed high-precision HFSE measurements by isotope dilution (Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf) together with Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd measurements on representative, ca. 3.85-2.8 Ga TTGs and related rock types from southern West Greenland, W-India and from the Superior Province. These measurements are complemented by major and trace element data for the TTGs. Texturally homogeneous early Archean (3.85-3.60 Ga old) and Mesoarchean (ca. 3.1-2.8 Ga old) TTGs have both low Ni (<11 ppm) and Cr contents (<20 ppm), indicating that there was little or no interaction with mantle peridotite during ascent. Ratios of Nb/Ta in juvenile Eoarchean TTGs range from ca. 7 to ca. 24, and in juvenile Mesoarchean TTGs from ca. 14 to ca. 27. Even higher Nb/Ta (14-42) were obtained for migmatitic TTGs and intra-crustal differentiates, most likely mirroring further fractionation of Nb from Ta as a consequence of partial melting, fluid infiltration and migmatisation. In the juvenile TTGs, positive correlations between Nb/Ta and Gd/Yb, La/Yb, Sr/Y, Zr/Sm and Zr/Nb are observed. These compositional arrays are best explained by melting of typical Isua tholeiites in both, the rutile-bearing eclogite stability field (>15 kbar, high Nb/Ta) and the garnet-amphibolite stability field (10-15 kbar, low Nb/Ta). With respect to the low end of Nb/Ta found for TTGs, there is currently some uncertainty between the available experimental datasets for amphibole. Independent of these uncertainties, the TTG compositions found here still require the presence of both endmember residues. A successful geological model for the TTGs therefore has to account for the co-occurrence of both low- and high-Nb/Ta TTGs within the same geologic terrane. An additional feature observed in the Eoarchean samples from Greenland is a systematic co-variation between Nb/Ta and initial εHf(t), which is best explained by a model where TTG-melting occured at progressively increasing pressures in a pile of tectonically thickened mafic crust. The elevated Nb/Ta in migmatitic TTGs and intra-crustal differentiates can shed further light on the role of intra-crustal differentiation processes in the global Nb/Ta cycle. Lower crustal melting processes at granulite facies conditions may generate high-Nb/Ta domains in the middle crust, whereas mid-crustal melting at amphibolite facies conditions may account for the low Nb/Ta generally observed in upper crustal rocks.     

Delineating subsurface heterogeneity at a loop of River Steinlach using geophysical and hydrogeological methods

Stratigraphic heterogeneity is a key controlling factor for flow and transport in groundwater systems. In this case study, we have combined two- and three-dimensional images of electric resistivity with hydrogeological data to delineate such stratigraphic heterogeneity at a loop of River Steinlach close to Tübingen, Germany, where we estimated spatially varying aquifer parameters using established evaluation techniques. We developed a three-layer stratigraphic model consisting of heterogeneous sandy gravel overlain by a fine alluvium including top soil, and underlain by sandstone weathered at its top. The sandy gravel makes up the aquifer unit while we interpret the sandstone as aquitard. We classified the area into two stratigraphic segments based on resistivity data. The Southern segment consists of a thicker alluvium where the aquifer material contains more clay than in the Northern segment. Two different stratigraphic structures were also delineated at the Southern and Northern segments, respectively. These structures are visible in inversion results as low-resistivity features trending in the SE–NW in the Southern segment and NE–NW in the Northern segment. Both structures may be previous flow paths of River Steinlach, and the low permeability material overlying them may impair flow exchange in the area. We performed slug and pumping tests to estimate the hydraulic conductivity (K) of the aquifer. The K distributions show slight variation with higher values obtained at wells within the Northern segment and close to the river bank. A qualitative comparison of measured hydraulic conductivities with the resistivity distribution shows good agreement of the spatial patterns. The stratigraphic and hydraulic heterogeneities delineated in this work are important for experimental and modeling studies of flow, transport, and hyporheic exchange at the site.     

Teleconnections and predictive characteristics of Australian seasonal rainfall

A new methodology is proposed that allows patterns of interannual covariability, or teleconnections, between the intraseasonal and slow components of seasonal mean Australian rainfall and the corresponding components in the Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation to be estimated. In all seasons, the dominant rainfall–circulation teleconnections in the intraseasonal component are shown to have the characteristic features associated with well-known intraseasonal dynamical and statistical atmospheric modes and their relationship with rainfall. Thus, for example, there are patterns of interannual covariability that reflect rainfall relationships with the intraseasonal Southern Annular Mode, the Madden-Julian Oscillation and wavenumber 3 and 4 intraseasonal modes of variability. The predictive characteristics of the atmospheric circulation–rainfall relationship are shown to reside with the slow components. In all seasons, we find rainfall–circulation teleconnections in the slow components related to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Each season also has a coupled mode, with a statistically significant trend in the time series of the atmospheric component that appears to be related to recent observed trends in rainfall. The slow Southern Annular Mode also features in association with southern Australian rainfall, especially during austral winter and spring. There is also evidence of an influence of Indian Ocean sea surface temperature variability on rainfall in southeast Australia during austral winter and spring.     

Damage identification using inverse analysis in coupled thermo‐hydro‐mechanical problems applied to masonry dams

In this paper, we propose a method to detect the damage and estimate the degree of damage by means of a multifield‐based inverse analysis. The fields being considered are displacement, temperature, and water pressure. Furthermore, the uncertainties due to the size of the damage, the errors in the measurement data, and the errors in the model parameters are also investigated. The uncertainty due to the measurements is quantified by assuming different sources of noise in the measurements. The inverse problem is solved repeatedly by a sampling process. The uncertainties in the inverse solutions can be quantified by their probability distributions. This method can be applied to identify damages in masonry dams using coupled nonlinear thermo‐hydro‐mechanical problems.     

Did the 1999 earthquake swarm on Gakkel Ridge open a volcanic conduit? A detailed teleseismic data analysis

In 1999, a seismic swarm of 237 teleseismically recorded events marked a submarine eruption along the Arctic Gakkel Ridge, later on also analyzed by sonar, bathymetric, hydrothermal, and local seismic studies. We relocated the swarm with the global location algorithm HYPOSAT and analyzed the waveforms of the stations closest to the events by cross-correlation. We find event locations scattered around 85°35^′ N and 85° E at the southern rift wall and inside the rift valley of the Gakkel Ridge. Waveforms of three highly correlating events indicate a volumetric moment tensor component and highly precise referenced double-difference arrival times lead us to believe that they occur at the same geographical position and mark the conduit located further southeast close to a chain of recently imaged volcanic cones. This result is supported by station residual anomalies in the direction of the potential conduit. Seismicity is focused at the crust–mantle boundary at 16–20 km depth, but ascending toward the potential conduit during the beginning of April 1999, indicating an opening of the vent.