The Holme Pierrepont sand and gravel and the timing of Middle and Late Devensian floodplain aggradation in the English Midlands

This paper provides the first detailed, multi-proxy environmental record for the character of Lateglacial conditions in the lowest Pleistocene terrace of the main valley floor of the River Trent at Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham. The analysis of pollen, plant, insect and mollusc remains preserved within organic channels near the base of the terrace, named the Holme Pierrepont Sand and Gravel by the British Geological Survey (historically known as the Floodplain Terrace), provided evidence of cool, though not fully arctic climatic conditions and a largely treeless landscape, roamed by large herbivores. Radiocarbon dating indicates that these sediments were deposited during the Loch Lomond Stadial (Younger Dryas GS-1). Comparison of these dates from Holme Pierrepont with those from morphostratigraphically similar deposits in the wider Trent catchment suggests that the Holme Pierrepont Sand and Gravel may have been laid down in two separate pulses of braidplain aggradation either side of the ‘Last Glacial Maximum’. It has been demonstrated from historical documentation and riverine archaeological evidence that the middle Trent has been particularly sensitive to changing flood frequency and magnitude associated with climatic oscillations during the late Holocene; this study demonstrates that such sensitivity appears to extend back into the late Pleistocene. The timing of fluvial aggradation recorded at Holme Pierrepont agrees broadly with that recorded from other sites across England and north-west Europe.     

Origin of the acidic volcanics of the Tolfa district,Tuscan Province,central Italy: an elemental and Sr-isotopic study

Volcanic rocks from the southern part of the Tuscan Province, the Tolfa district, range in composition from dacites to rhyolites. They have relatively high contents of many incompatible elements and their ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios vary between 0.7129 and 0.7148 (28 analyses) with one analysis of 0.7112. The four major eruption centres of the district can be distinguished geochemically. It is shown that the variation of major and trace elements within each area can be explained by fractional crystallization without significant crustal assimilation. The geochemical patterns of the incompatible elements of the investigated volcanics have a close similarity to the alkaline undersaturated volcanics from the nearby Roman Province. The geochemical and isotopic similarity between the Tolfa volcanics and those of the Roman Province suggests a common origin for these components of the magmas. It is suggested that, while the origin of the LIL-element enrichment of the Roman Province magmas is a mantle which was metasomatised by fluids or melts derived from upper crustal material of sedimentary origin recycled into the mantle by subduction, the Tolfa volcanics were derived directly from the subducted material by melting.     

粤中三水盆地构造-岩浆事件与矿集区形成

粤中三水盆地喜山期银矿化粗面质凝灰岩中锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb年龄90～3175 Ma.火山岩中锆石主要为其在形成及上升过程中捕获围岩中的碎屑锆石.火山岩中锆石U-Pb年龄表明粤中三水盆地基底含太古宙的残余错石(2489 Ma±30 Ma,3175 Ma±38 Ma),华夏陆块元古宙基底存在与Grenville造山运动相对比的构造岩浆事件(955～1148 Ma)及在新元古代(798 Ma±12 Ma,883 Ma±10 Ma)发生了较强烈的岩浆活动.粤中三水盆地经历了加里东期构造岩浆事件(438.0 Ma±6.8 Ma),之后至少经历了燕山早期(-160 Ma)、燕出境期(98.2Ma±1.1Ma)及喜山期3次构造岩浆事件.三水盆地多期次构造岩浆活动与成矿事件有一定的耦合关系,是控制矿床形成的主要因素.华南褶皱带岩浆活动强烈,经历新生代成矿作用,中新生代盆地边缘是找矿有利靶区.     

Geological structure and kinematics of normal faults in the Otway Basin,Australia, based on quantitative analysis of 3‐D seismic reflection data

The Otway Basin in the south of Victoria, Australia underwent three phases of deformation during breakup of the southern Australian margin. We assess the geometry and kinematics of faulting in the basin by analysing a 3‐D reflection seismic volume. Eight stratigraphic horizons and 24 SW‐dipping normal faults as well as subordinate antithetic faults were interpreted. This resulted in a high‐resolution geological 3‐D model (ca. 8 km × 7 km × 4 km depth) that we present as a supplementary 3‐D PDF (Data S1). We identified hard‐ and soft‐linking fault connections over the entire area, such as antithetic faults and relay ramps, respectively. Most major faults were continuously active from Early to Late Cretaceous, with two faults in the northern part of the study area active until at least the Oligocene. Allan maps of faults show tectonic activity continuously waned over this time period. Isopach maps of stratigraphic volumes quantify the amount of syn‐sedimentary movement that is characteristic of passive margins, such as the Otway Basin. We show that the faults possess strong corrugations (with amplitudes above the seismic resolution), which we illustrated by novel techniques, such as cylindricity and curvature. We argue that the corrugations are produced by sutures between sub‐vertical fault segments and this morphology was maintained during fault growth. Thus, they can be used to indicate the kinematics vector of the fault movement. This evidences, together with left‐stepping relay ramps, that 40% of the faults had a small component (up to 25°) of dextral oblique slip as well as normal (dip‐slip) movement.     

Regional stratigraphy and subsidence of Orphan Basin near the time of breakup and implications for rifting processes

The stratigraphic, subsidence and structural history of Orphan Basin, offshore the island of Newfoundland, Canada, is described from well data and tied to a regional seismic grid. This large (400 by 400 km) rifted basin is part of the non‐volcanic rifted margin in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, which had a long and complex rift history spanning Middle Jurassic to Aptian time. The basin is underlain by variably thinned continental crust, locally <10‐km thick. Our work highlights the complex structure, with major upper crustal faults terminating in the mid‐crust, while lower crustal reflectivity suggests ductile flow, perhaps accommodating depth‐dependent extension. We describe three major stratigraphic horizons connected to breakup and the early post‐rift. An Aptian–Albian unconformity appears to mark the end of crustal rifting in the basin, and a second, more subdued Santonian unconformity was also noted atop basement highs and along the proximal margins of the basin. Only minor thermal subsidence occurred between development of these two horizons. The main phase of post‐rift subsidence was delayed until post‐Santonian time, with rapid subsidence culminating in the development of a major flooding surface in base Tertiary time. Conventional models of rifting events predict significant basin thermal subsidence immediately following continental lithospheric breakup. In the Orphan Basin, however, this subsidence was delayed for about 25–30 Myr and requires more thinning of the mantle lithosphere than the crust. Models of the subsidence history suggest that extreme thinning of the lithospheric mantle continued well into the post‐rift period. This is consistent with edge‐driven, small‐scale convective flow in the mantle, which may thin the lithosphere from below. A hot spot may also have been present below the region in Aptian–Albian time.     

A tephra-based correlation between the Faroe Islands and the Norwegian Sea raises questions about chronological relationships during the last interglacial

Marine ash zones from the last interglacial period have been described from cores from the North Atlantic and an ash zone from the middle part of the interglacial has been observed in connection with a major cooling event. Here we present evidence for a coeval ash zone in a terrestrial site on the Faroe Islands. The investigated sediments are correlated with the upper part of oxygen isotope stage 5e and the beginning of stage 5d. The Eemian climatic optimum is represented in the lower part of the sequence close to the first occurrence of the ash zone. A tephra-based correlation suggests that the climatic optimum was synchronous with the marine record from the Norwegian Sea, but several thousand years later than in Eemian sections of west central Europe. However, many questions on the chronological relationship between the Eemian and oxygen isotope stage 5e still remain to be answered.     

Characterizing Atmospheric Aerosols off the Atlantic Canadian Coast During C-FOG

Boundary-Layer Meteorology - Marine aerosols play an important role in the Earth’s climate, but their effects remain highly uncertain due to a poor understanding of their sources, properties,...     

A Lagrangian Cloud Model for the Study of Marine Fog

A large-eddy simulation model is coupled with a Lagrangian cloud model to study marine fog. In this model, aerosols and droplets are treated from a Lagrangian frame of reference, in contrast to the traditional bulk and bin microphysical models. Droplet growth via condensation is governed by Köhler theory and environmental conditions local to the droplet. Coupling to the vapour and temperature fields of the flow ensures mass, momentum, and energy conservation between the air and droplet phases. Based on the recent C-FOG field campaign, a simulation is performed which highlights the benefits and potential of this type of model. By initializing the simulation with the measured aerosol size distribution and making assumptions about the chemical composition of the multiple peaks, the simulations provide a clear explanation for the observed bimodal droplet distribution during C-FOG: high supersaturation levels cause condensational growth of nearly all coarse-mode aerosols (presumed to be composed of marine salt), as well as a large number of accumulation model aerosols (presumed to be of continental origin with a lower hygroscopicity). The largest peak in the resulting droplet distribution is created from coarse-mode aerosols with high hygroscopicity, while the secondary peak is only possible due to the limited impact of the largest peak on saturation levels inside the fog. Thus, for the simulated levels of supersaturation, it is the limited number of coarse-mode aerosols which is responsible for the emergence of a larger second peak.