VARIATION IN SURFACE ELEVATION OF THE NISQUALLY GLACIER MT. RAINIER,WASHINGTON

Abstract

Variation in surface elevations of the Nisqually Glacier has been recorded since 1942 by the annual measurement of three profiles across the glacier, designated as nos. 1, 2, and 3, located 0.5, 1.0, and 1.7 miles respectively from the terminus, at approximate mean elevations of 5,250,6,000, and 6,800 feet. A fourth profile, 2-A, located 1.4 miles from the terminus at an approximate mean elevation of 6,450 was measured from 1948 to 1954. These profiles cross the glacier approximately normal to the direction of flow. Additional data are available from measurements made at profiles no. 1 and no. 2 in 1931, 1932 and 1941. The results of these measurements show that a wave or surge has been moving down the glacier.

The mean elevation at profile no. 3 began to increase in 1945 and continued through 1951 when it was 83 feet higher than in 1944. The general trend from 1952 to 1959 has been a decrease in elevation with a net change of 30 feet since 1951. The surface elevation at profile no. 2 continued to decrease through 1948, but began to increase in 1949 and continued to do so through 1957 in which year the mean elevation was 102 feet higher than in 1948. The wave became apparent at profile no. 1 in 1954 or 9 years after it first became evident at profile no. 3. The mean elevation has continued to increase and in 1959 was 70 feet higher than in 1954. The increase in surface elevation has been accompanied by a pronounced increase in rate of movement of the glacier.     

Stepping stones and pitfalls in the determination of an anticlockwise P-T-t-deformation path: the low-P, high-T Cooma Complex, Australia

Abstract Low-pressure/high-temperature (low-P/high-T) metamorphic rocks of the Cooma Complex, southeastern Australia, show evidence of an anticlockwise pressure-temperature-time-deformation (P-T-t-D) path, similar to those of some other low-P/high-T metamorphic areas of Australia. Prograde paths are reasonably well constrained in cordierite-andalusite schists, cordierite-K-feldspar gneisses and andalusite-K-feldspar gneisses. These paths are inferred to be convex to the temperature axis, involving increase in pressure with increase in temperature. Evidence of the retrograde path is inconclusive, but is consistent with approximately isobaric cooling, as are available isotopic data on the Cooma Granodiorite, which indicate initially rapid cooling following attainment of peak temperatures. The retrograde path is inconsistent with either a clockwise P-T-t-D path involving rapid or even moderate decompression immediately post-dating the peak of metamorphism, or a path in which the retrograde component simply reverses the prograde component, because both these paths should cross reactions forming cordierite from aluminosilicate, for which no evidence has been observed. Determination of the deformational-metamorphic history of the complex is not straightfoward and depends on careful examination of critical samples. Evidence necessary for successful elucidation of the prograde, and part of the retrograde, deformational-metamorphic history in the Cooma Complex includes: (1) sequentially grown porphyroblasts that can be timed relative to surrounding foliations; (2) partial replacement microstructures providing relative timing of metamorphic reactions that cannot be timed relative to foliation development; (3) a tectonic marker foliation (S4 at Cooma) that allows correlation of foliations from one location to another; and (4) single samples containing all of the foliations and all generations of porphyroblast growth within a single metamorphic zone. The latest two or three foliations involve low strain accumulation, allowing relative timing relationships between foliations and porphyroblasts to be more clearly determined. Sequential porphyroblast growth and foliation development in the cordierite-andalusite schists is examined for situations involving rotation and non-rotation of porphyroblasts relative to geographically fixed coordinates. Although the number of foliations developed varies in the rotational situation, depending on the deformation history proposed, the sequential order of porphyroblast growths does not differ from the non-rotational situation. Thus, whether or not porphyroblasts rotated in the Cooma rocks, the sequence of reactions, and therefore P-T-t paths inferred from the relative timing of porphyroblast growths, remain the same, for the deformational histories evaluated.     

The origin of olivine-plagioclase coronas in metagabbros from the Adirondack Mountains, New York

Olivine-plagioclase coronas in metagabbros from the Adirondack Mountains, New York (USA) are spatially well-organized reaction textures consisting most commonly of sequential layers of orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, plagioclase, and garnet; the textures are characteristic of diffusion-controlled reaction kinetics. Although similar coronas have been interpreted by previous workers in terms of an isochemical steady-state diffusion model, petrographical relations and material-balance calculations establish that coronas in the Adirondack metagabbros cannot be treated as isochemical and do not form in a single-stage steady-state process; instead they evolve through time in a complex open-system reaction. In this study, the isochemical diffusion model is modified to account for elemental fluxes across the outer boundaries of the coronal reaction band, thereby approximating the open-system behaviour of the coronas. The sequence and relative proportions of product minerals calculated by the open-system steady-state model correspond closely to those observed in coronas of the Adirondacks, over a wide range of values for the relative diffusivities of chemical components involved in the reaction, regardless of the particular method used to determine material balance in the reaction texture. Despite this correspondence, petrographical evidence for successive replacement of coronal product layers reveals that the Adirondack coronas evolved through one or more transient states, rather than forming in a single-stage steady-state process. There is no evidence that the successive replacement of coronal product layers resulted from changes in pressure or temperature, but there is petrographical evidence that these changes resulted from modification of the composition of reactant plagioclase as the corona-forming reaction proceeded. This is confirmed by the fact that the evolution of the coronas over time can be replicated with the open-system diffusion model by simulating the effect of the gradual exhaustion of plagioclase as a source of the Ca and Si components required for reaction. These simulations suggest that successive stages in the evolution of the coronas are characterized by these product sequences: (i) orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene-plagioclase-garnet; (ii) orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene-garnet; and (iii) orthopyroxene-garnet. All of these stages, and the transitions between them, are observed petrographically. Coronas in Adirondack metagabbros appear, therefore, to have originated in a complex, open-system, diffusion-controlled reaction in which the product assemblages changed as the reaction progressed.     

Petrogenesis of Tholeiitic Lavas from the Submarine Hana Ridge, Haleakala Volcano, Hawaii

Hana Ridge, the longest submarine rift zone in the Hawaiianisland chain, extending from Maui 140 km to the ESE, has a complexmorphology compared with other Hawaiian rift zones. A totalof 108 rock specimens have been collected from the submarineHana Ridge by six submersible dives. All of the rocks (76 bulkrocks analyzed) are tholeiitic basalts or picrites. Their majorelement compositions, together with distinctively low Zr/Nb,Sr/Nb, and Ba/Nb, overlap those of Kilauea lavas. In contrast,the lavas forming the subaerial Honomanu shield are intermediatein composition between those of Kilauea and Mauna Loa. The compositionalcharacteristics of the lavas imply that clinopyroxene and garnetwere important residual phases during partial melting. The compositionsof olivine and glass (formerly melt) inclusions imply that regardlessof textural type (euhedral, subhedral–undeformed, deformed)olivine crystallized from host magmas. Using the most forsteriticolivine (Fo_90·6) and partition coefficients     

High fO2 Metasomatism During Whiteschist Metamorphism, Zambezi Belt, Northern Zimbabwe

The Kadunguri Whiteschists are a group of talc- and kyanite-bearinglithologies that occur in the Chewore Inliers from the ZambeziBelt of northern Zimbabwe. They crop out on the southern marginof the Chewore Ophiolite Terrane, a Mesoproterozoic ophioliteand island arc, as a 5 km x 1·5 km, southeasterly dipping,semi-continuous block, and contain the second known naturaloccurrence of yoderite. Major element analyses define the whiteschistswithin the relatively simple MFASH system. Major and trace elementanalyses indicate that the whiteschists originate from the metasomaticalteration of alkalic ocean-island-type metabasalts similarto those in the underlying Ophiolite Terrane. Synmetamorphicor metasomatic mineral parageneses indicate peak P–T conditionsof between 13 and 15 kbar at 550–600°C, and the highlyoxidizing nature of all reactions indicates the presence ofa high fO₂ metasomatic fluid. The peak P–T conditionsrequire that this synmetamorphic, exotic metasomatic fluid wasavailable at depths near 55 km. The age of high-pressure metamorphismis constrained within the Pan African tectonothermal cycle at550–520 Ma. Tectonometamorphism in the Zambezi Belt isrelated to a period of extensive crustal thickening possiblyrelated to amalgamation of Gondwanaland. KEY WORDS: Congo Craton; high pressure; Kalahari Craton; metasomatism; whiteschist; Zambezi Belt     

Stratigraphy,sedimentology, age and palaeoenvironment of marine varved clay in the Middle Swedish end‐moraine zone

Johnson, M. D. & Ståhl, Y. 2009: Stratigraphy, sedimentology, age and palaeoenvironment of marine varved clay in the Middle Swedish end‐moraine zone. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2009.00124.x. ISSN 0300‐9483 Deglaciation of the Middle Swedish end‐moraine zone and age of the sediment in and between the moraines have been discussed for about a hundred years. The goal of this project was to determine the stratigraphy and age of the sediment in and between the moraines. Inter‐moraine flats are underlain by clay, 10–25 m thick, overlying thin sand and gravel or till on bedrock. The clay is overlain by a few metres of sand and gravel. Much of the clay beneath the flats consists of rhythmites that grade from grey to red and are 2–74 cm thick. Our interpretation of these rhythmites as being varves is supported by grain size and mineralogical and elemental variations. Foraminifera and ostracods show that the clay was deposited in an arctic marine environment, while radiocarbon dating of the microfossils indicates that the clay was deposited 12 150 cal. ¹⁴C years ago, during the Younger Dryas chronozone (YD). Most of the optical stimulated luminescence dates on the clay are much older, containing quartz sand that was insufficiently bleached. The stratigraphy indicates that the moraines are composed of YD clay pushed into ridge forms during ice‐front oscillations. It is not possible to determine how far north the Scandinavian Ice Sheet retreated prior to the YD advance. We neither support nor reject the suggestion that the ice margin retreated to the northern edge of Mt. Billingen during the Allerød, causing the Baltic Ice Lake to drain.     

Terrestrial ages of meteorites from the Nullarbor region,Australia, based on 14C and 14C–10Be measurements

Abstract– We have investigated the terrestrial ages, or residence times, of 78 meteorites (representing 73 discrete falls) recovered in Western Australia, and one from South Australia, using both ¹⁴C measurements and also ¹⁴C/¹⁰Be. The samples studied included two ureilites, one CK and one EL chondrite. We have included ¹⁰Be measurements from 30 meteorites, including some meteorites for which the ¹⁴C terrestrial age was previously determined. We find that the ¹⁴C/¹⁰Be terrestrial ages are more precise than ¹⁴C alone, as we can correct for shielding effects. In general, the two different age determinations age by ¹⁴C–¹⁰Be are precise to 0.5–1 ka and ¹⁴C alone within 1–2 ka. However, measurement of the ¹⁴C age alone gives good agreement with the ¹⁴C–¹⁰Be for most samples. The study of the terrestrial ages of meteorites gives us useful information concerning the storage and weathering of meteorites and the study of fall times and terrestrial age. We have compared the terrestrial ages to weathering, degree of oxidation (estimated from Mössbauer studies) and Δ¹⁷O. In this study, we found that weathering is not well correlated with terrestrial age for Nullarbor meteorites. However, there is a good correlation between degree of oxidation and Δ¹⁷O. The implications for the study of terrestrial ages and weathering from other desert environments will be discussed.     

Tufa as a record of perennial fresh water in a semi-arid rift basin, Kapthurin Formation, Kenya

Lithological and biological features of a fossiliferous tufa in the Kapthurin Formation, Baringo, Kenya, reveal the presence of a lush wetland in a semi-arid environment during the Middle Pleistocene ( ca 500 ka) in this portion of the East African Rift Valley. Four geological sections, each between 3 m and 8 m in thickness, exposed over a distance of 0·5 km, reveal a 1 to 2 m thick paludal tufa which is composed of three carbonate beds, two dark grey silty claystones and a reddish-brown silty palaeosol. High resolution stratigraphic analysis, carbonate petrography, stable isotope and elemental geochemistry, clay mineralogy and fossil remains (molluscs, ostracods, diatoms and charophytes) reveal a ground water-fed system that fluctuated in depth and periodically disappeared altogether. Oxygen isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O) of tufa matrix range from −4·5‰ to −8·0‰ (Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite) and become more positive up section, indicating the decreasing influence of fault-related fluids and increasing residence time or freshness of wetland water, rather than evaporative enrichment. This spring was situated on a lake margin during low lake levels, thrived during periods of increased ground water input and was ultimately replaced by an alkaline lake. The wetland would appear to have existed during a cool interval within the generally warm Marine Isotope Stage 13 or perhaps during the warm second half of Marine Isotope Stage 13. The ground water source of this wetland arose through a fault system. Thus, the position of the tufa deposit is controlled structurally but the timing and duration of the wetland system may have been influenced by both climatic and tectonic factors.     

Partial Melting of Metapelitic Rocks Beneath the Bushveld Complex, South Africa

Metapelitic rocks in the aureole beneath the Bushveld Complexpreserve evidence for both high- and low-a_H2O anatexis. Theaureole is characterized by an inverted thermal structure inwhich suprasolidus rocks potentially interacted with an H₂O-richvolatile phase derived from underlying, dehydrating rocks. Atlower grade (T < 700°C) the rocks contain fibrolite matsand seams that record local redistribution of volatiles. Incongruentreactions consuming biotite produced small quantities (<1mol %) of liquid and peritectic cordierite that remained trappedwithin the mesosome. Larger volumes of melt (3–4%), preservedas coarse-grained discordant leucosomes, were produced by congruentmelting following a structurally focused influx of H₂O. Subhorizontalvolatile-phase flow was concentrated within thin (