Distinctive microbial structures and the pre-phanerozoic fossil record

The live and sedimentary components of the flat laminated microbial mat at Laguna Figueroa have been studied since the late sixties. This paper reports the observation and isolation of a variety of micro-organisms, both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The microbes were taken from the flat laminated mats submerged under at least one meter of water due to the spring rains of 1979 and 1980. Both in situ and enrichment culture observations were made using light and electron microscopic techniques. New strains of the following microbes are reported here: Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus licheniformis, Arthrobacter simplex and Paratetramitus jugosus. Several pseudomonads were isolated, some of which form distinctive subsurface colonial structures. Regular distinctive colony morphologies and desiccation resistant cysts were often observed, several types of which grow to characteristically large sizes and resemble objects found in the pre-Phanerozoic fossil record.Some colonies of manganese oxidizing bacilli and other bacteria are reminiscent of microfossils of the 2 Ga-old Gunflint Iron formation such as Metallogenium, Eosphaera tyleri, Eoastrion and Huronispora. Some manganese oxidizing bacteria form colonial structures that might be mistaken for individual organisms in the tens to hundreds of microns size range. The diversity of microbial structures, including those with preservation potential, must be kept in mind when interpreting the microfossil record.     

Hurricane effects on seagrasses along Alabama's Gulf Coast

In November 2004, we evaluated the effect of Hurricane Ivan on seagrass meadows in Alabama by surveying all coastal locations known to support seagrass prior to Hurricane Ivan's Iandfall in September 2004. We found that 82% of the sites containing seagrass in 2002 still supported seagrass, and that, as in 2002, the most abundant species wasHalodule wrightii (shoalgrass). We also found more sites containingRuppia maritima (widgeongrass) than previously recorded. We confirmed the existence ofThalassia testudinum (turtlegrass) in Little Lagoon, Alabama, whose first record in the state had been noted in 2002. A resurvey of the western half of Alabama's coastal waters in October 2005 after Hurricane Katrina found no loss of seagrass, with all sites that supported seagrass in 2004 still containing seagrass in 2005. There was no major loss of Alabama's seagrass resources due to Hurricanes Ivan or Katrina, even though both category 3 hurricanes severely affected the northern Gulf Coast.     

A non-linear numerical model of the tuned liquid damper

The Tuned Liquid Damper (TLD) is modelled numerically as an equivalent tuned mass damper with non-linear stiffness and damping. These parameters are derived from extensive experimental results described in References 1 and 2. This Non-linear Stiffness and Damping (NSD) model captures the behaviour of the TLD system adequately under a variety of loading conditions. In particular, the NSD model incorporates the stiffness hardening property of the TLD under large amplitude excitation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electron Microprobe/SIMS Determinations of Al in Olivine: Applications to Solar Wind,Pallasites and Trace Element Measurements

Electron probe microanalyser measurements of trace elements with high accuracy are challenging. Accurate Al measurements in olivine are required to calibrate SIMS implant reference materials for measurement of Al in the solar wind. We adopt a combined EPMA/SIMS approach that is useful for producing SIMS reference materials as well as for EPMA at the ~ 100 µg g^?1 level. Even for mounts not polished with alumina photoelectron spectroscopy shows high levels of Al surface contamination. In order to minimise electron beam current density, a rastered 50 × 100 µm electron beam was adequate and minimised sensitivity to small Al‐rich contaminants. Reproducible analyses of eleven SIMS‐cleaned spots on San Carlos olivine agreed at 69.3 ± 1.0 µg g^?1. The known Al mass fraction was used to calibrate an Al implant into San Carlos. Accurate measurements of Al were made for olivines in the pallasites: Imilac, Eagle Station and Springwater. Our focus was on Al in olivine, but our technique could be refined to give accurate electron probe measurements for other contamination‐sensitive trace elements. For solar wind, it is projected that the Al/Mg abundance ratio can be determined to 6%, a factor of 2 more precise than the solar spectroscopic ratio.     

Concentrations of Artificial Sweeteners and Their Ratios with Nutrients in Septic System Wastewater

This study reports the first comprehensive data set of characteristic concentrations of four artificial sweeteners: acesulfame (ACE), sucralose (SUC), saccharin (SAC), and cyclamate (CYC), and their ratios with nutrients, for untreated septic system wastewater. Samples were collected from the tanks of 19 different septic systems from across Ontario, Canada; these had a variety of usages, from single‐family cottages to multiple‐dwelling (campground or resort) facilities and had no additional treatment systems. The artificial sweetener concentrations and their relative proportions were highly variable in some cases, both temporally for several individual tanks and from site‐to‐site. Variability tended to be lower for multiple‐dwelling compared to single‐dwelling systems. This variability likely reflects differing use of artificial sweetener‐containing products. The median concentrations for the complete data set of all four artificial sweeteners (in a range of 10 to 60 μg/L) were of a similar order of magnitude, but slightly higher, than has generally been reported for wastewater treatment plant influent (though these vary substantially globally). Both SUC and ACE provided adequate positive linear relationships for dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus in the septic tanks, while a summation of ACE and SUC concentrations also gave a strong correlation. In contrast, CYC and SAC showed poor linear correlation with these nutrients. These reported ranges for artificial sweetener concentrations and ratios with nutrients may be used in future studies to estimate the contributions of nutrients or other wastewater constituents (e.g., pharmaceuticals, bacteria, and viruses) from domestic septic systems to groundwater, including water supply or irrigation wells, and nearby surface water bodies.     

Onshore climate change during the Late Triassic marine inundation of the Central European Basin

Sedimentological, pedological and palynological evidence reveal radically increasing onshore humidity during the Rhaetian marine invasion of central Europe along the north-eastern margin of the Central European Basin (southern Sweden). Pre-Rhaetian aridity favoured the formation of Carnian redbeds with calcrete, which were succeeded by Norian hematite-cemented conglomerates, arkoses, arkosic wackestones, and smectititic mudstones deposited on braidplains and in lakes. Superimposed autochthonous coals and gleysols indicate the Rhaetian onset of year-round humidity. Chemically mature sandstones, kaolinitic mudstones and luvisols also formed at this time, influenced by a permanent vegetation cover which lowered soil pH and strongly intensified chemical weathering. The Rhaetian deposits accumulated in floodplain lakes repeatedly subjected to sediment infill, plant colonization and palaeosol development. The humidity shift resembles that contemporaneously recorded in the North Sea region.     

Episodic intraplate deformation of stable continental margins: evidence from Late Neogene and Quaternary marine terraces,Cape Liptrap,Southeastern Australia

The Waratah Fault is a northeast trending, high angle, reverse fault in the Late Paleozoic Lachlan Fold Belt at Cape Liptrap on the Southeastern Australian Coast. It is susceptible to reactivation in the modern intraplate stress field in Southeast Australia and exhibits Late Pliocene to Late Pleistocene reactivation. Radiocarbon, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), and cosmogenic radionuclide (CRN) dating of marine terraces on Cape Liptrap are used to constrain rates of displacement across the reactivated Waratah Fault. Six marine terraces, numbered Qt₆–Tt₁ (youngest to oldest), are well developed at Cape Liptrap with altitudes ranging from ～1.5 m to ～170 m amsl, respectively. On the lowest terrace, Qt₆, barnacles in wave-cut notches ～1.5 m amsl, yielded a radiocarbon age of 6090–5880 Cal BP, and reflect the local mid-Holocene sea level highstand. Qt₅ yielded four OSL ages from scattered locations around the cape ranging from ～80 ka to ～130 ka. It formed during the Last Interglacial sea level highstand (MIS 5e) at ～125 ka. Inner edge elevations (approximate paleo high tide line) for Qt₅ occur at distinctly different elevations on opposite sides of the Waratah Fault. Offsets of the inner edges across the fault range from 1.3 m to 5.1 m with displacement rates ranging from 0.01 mm/a to 0.04 mm/a. The most extensive terrace, Tt₄, yielded four Early Pleistocene cosmogenic radionuclide (CRN) ages: two apparent burial ages of 0.858 Ma ± 0.16 Ma and 1.25 Ma ± 0.265 Ma, and two apparent exposure ages of 1.071 Ma ± 0.071 Ma (¹⁰Be) and 0.798 Ma ± 0.066 Ma (²⁶Al). Allowing for muonic production effects from insufficient burial depths, the depth corrected CRN burial ages are 1.8 Ma ± 0.56 Ma and 2.52 Ma ± 0.88 Ma, or Late Pliocene. A Late Pliocene age is our preferred age. Offsets of Tt₄ across the Waratah Fault range from a minimum of ～20 m for terrace surface treads to a maximum of ～70 m for terrace bedrock straths. Calculated displacement rates for Tt₄ range from 0.01 mm/a to 0.04 mm/a (using a Late Pliocene age, ～2 Ma), identical to the rates calculated for the Last Interglacial terrace, Qt₅. This indicates that deformation at Cape Liptrap has been ongoing at similar time-averaged rates at least since the Late Pliocene. The upper terraces in the sequence, Tt₃ (～110 m amsl), Tt₂ (～140 m) and Tt₁ (～180 m) are undated, but most likely correlate to sea level highstands in the Neogene. Terraces Tt1–Tt4 show an increasing northward tilt with age.The Waratah Fault forms a prominent structural boundary in the Lachlan Fold Belt discernible from airborne magnetic and bouger gravity anomalies. Seismicity and deformation are episodic. Episodic movement on the Waratah Fault may be coincident with sea level highstands since the Late Pliocene, possibly from increased loading and elevated pore pressure within the fault zone. This suggests that intervals between major seismic events could be on the order of 100 ka.