Lu-Hf garnet geochronology of eclogites from the Balma Unit (Pennine Alps): implications for Alpine paleotectonic reconstructions

Three samples of eclogite from the Balma Unit, an ophiolite sheet on top of the Monte Rosa Nappe in the Pennine Alps, were investigated in terms of their P-T evolution, geochemistry, and Lu-Hf geochronology. The paleogeographic origin of this unit is controversial (North Penninic vs. South Penninic). It has been interpreted as a piece of Late Cretaceous oceanic crust, on the basis of ca. 93 Ma U-Pb SHRIMP ages of synmagmatic zircon cores in an eclogite. Trace element and isotope data suggest a mid ocean ridge (MOR) rather than an intraplate or OIB setting for the protoliths of the eclogites. Electron microprobe analyses of representative garnets show typical prograde zoning profiles. Estimated peak metamorphic temperatures of 550–600 Cº most likely did not exceed the closure temperature of the Lu-Hf system. Hence, Lu-Hf ages most likely reflect garnet growth in the studied samples. To minimize inclusion effects on age determinations, a selective digestion procedure for garnet was applied, in which zircon and rutile inclusions are not dissolved. The ages obtained for three samples, 42.3 ± 0.6 Ma (MSWD: 0.47), 42 ± 1 Ma (MSWD: 3.0) and 45.5 ± 0.3 Ma (MSWD: 0.33), are younger than all Lu-Hf ages reported so far for South Penninic Units. Metamorphic zircon domains of the 42.3 Ma sample (PIS1) were previously dated by U-Pb SHRIMP at 40.4 ± 0.7 Ma, indicating that the growth of metamorphic zircon post-dated the onset of garnet growth.These new data put important constraints on the paleogeographic reconstruction of the Alps. The MORB character of the rocks, together with their previously published protolith age, imply that oceanic spreading was still taking place in the Late Cretaceous. This supports a North Penninic origin for our samples because plate tectonic models predict Cretaceous spreading in the North Penninic but not in the South Penninic Ocean. If the Balma Unit is indeed North Penninic, the new Lu-Hf data, in combination with published geochronological data, require that two independent subduction zones consumed the South and North Penninic oceans.     

ANAEROBIC DECHLORINATION OF PCBs IN SEDIMENTS OF KINNICKINNIC RIVER, WISCONSIN

1 INTRODUCTION Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been used for several decades in a variety of industrial applications such as for transformers, capacitors, and hydraulic fluids (Rachdawong and Christensen, 1997). Because of their stability and desirable hydraulic and dielectric properties, PCBs were used extensively. However, later it became clear that they can be toxic and can have deleterious reproductive effects on biota and humans. They may also display dioxin-like toxicity…     

Combining airborne laser scanning and Landsat data for statistical modeling of soil carbon and tree biomass in Tanzanian Miombo woodlands

Background

Soil carbon and biomass depletion can be used to identify and quantify degraded soils, and by using remote sensing, there is potential to map soil conditions over large areas. Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager satellite data and airborne laser scanning data were evaluated separately and in combination for modeling soil organic carbon, above ground tree biomass and below ground tree biomass. The test site is situated in the Liwale district in southeastern Tanzania and is dominated by Miombo woodlands. Tree data from 15 m radius field-surveyed plots and samples of soil carbon down to a depth of 30 cm were used as reference data for tree biomass and soil carbon estimations.

Results

Cross-validated plot level error (RMSE) for predicting soil organic carbon was 28% using only Landsat 8, 26% using laser only, and 23% for the combination of the two. The plot level error for above ground tree biomass was 66% when using only Landsat 8, 50% for laser and 49% for the combination of Landsat 8 and laser data. Results for below ground tree biomass were similar to above ground biomass. Additionally it was found that an early dry season satellite image was preferable for modelling biomass while images from later in the dry season were better for modelling soil carbon.

Conclusion

The results show that laser data is superior to Landsat 8 when predicting both soil carbon and biomass above and below ground in landscapes dominated by Miombo woodlands. Furthermore, the combination of laser data and Landsat data were marginally better than using laser data only.

     

Patterns of growth in cold-seep vestimenferans including Seepiophila jonesi: a second species of long-lived tubeworm

Seepiophila jonesi is a vestimentiferan tubeworm (Siboglinidae: Polychaeta) inhabiting the cold seeps of the upper slope of the Gulf of Mexico. It commonly co‐occurs with Lamellibrachia luymesi, which is among the most long‐lived non‐clonal animals known. The growth pattern of S. jonesi is best described by a model including a size‐specific probability of growth and an average growth rate that does not vary with individual size. This model, based on growth data from in situ staining and collection approximately 1 year later, predicts that S. jonesi is very slow growing and may attain ages comparable with L. luymesi. The efficacy of this model in describing L. luymesi growth rate was assessed, but the previously employed model of declining growth rate with individual size provided the better fit to the empirical data. Comparisons of both S. jonesi and L. luymesi growth rates among sites and among aggregations within a site indicate that there is some degree of habitat variability contributing to differences in growth rates. However, position of the anterior end of the worm within an aggregation did not have a significant effect on growth rate in comparisons among groups of L. luymesi from different distances from the center of an aggregation. The evolution of longevity in these species of vestimentiferans was favored by the relative stability of the seep habitat and sulfide sources, in contrast to the hydrothermal vent environment inhabited by relatively short‐lived and fast‐growing vestimentiferan species.     

Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) as an indicator organism of trace metals in the Limfjord,Denmark

The concentrations of Pb, Cu, Cd and Zn were determined in above- and belowground parts of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) at forty stations in a shallow, brackish water area (the Limfjord, Denmark). The concentrations of the trace metals were significantly elevated near the cities of Aalborg (Pb, Cu) and Struer (Cd). Trace metal concentrations in above and belowground parts of eelgrass were log-normal distributed and the concentrations of Cd, Cu and Zn in aboveground parts were significantly higher than in belowground parts. Furthermore, a significant correlation between trace metal concentrations in above- and belowground parts was found. The background level of trace metal concentrations in eelgrass in the Limfjord was estimated.The application of eelgrass as a monitoring organism is discussed; it is suggested that the concentration of some trace metals in above- and belowground parts of eelgrass may be used as a measure of the bioavailable fraction of these trace metals in ambient and interstitial water (sediment), respectively.     

Mobile layer thickness in sheet flow beneath random waves

The erosion depth and the sheet flow layer thickness represent two characteristic parameters for transport processes in oscillatory sheet flow. Formulas for these parameters under regular waves have been applied to obtain characteristic statistical values under random waves. The applicability of the method for practical purposes is illustrated by two examples using data typical for field conditions at water depths of 70 m (Ekofisk location in the North Sea) and 15 m, respectively. Two fictive storms based on the Dohmen-Janssen and Hanes [Dohmen-Janssen, C.M., Hanes, D.M., 2005. Sheet flow and suspended sediment due to wave groups in a large wave flume. Cont. Shelf Res. 25, 333–347] data from large scale wave flume tests have also been utilized to demonstrate how the return period of the sheet flow layer thickness observed in their experiments can be estimated.