Regional tree growth and inferred summer climate in the Winnipeg River basin, Canada, since AD 1783

A network of 54 ring-width chronologies is used to estimate changes in summer climate within the Winnipeg River basin, Canada, since AD 1783. The basin drains parts of northwestern Ontario, northern Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and is a key area for hydroelectric power production. Most chronologies were developed from Pinus resinosa and P. strobus, with a limited number of Thuja occidentalis, Picea glauca and Pinus banksiana. The dominant pattern of regional tree growth can be recovered using only the nine longest chronologies, and is not affected by the method used to remove variability related to age or stand dynamics from individual trees. Tree growth is significantly, but weakly, correlated with both temperature (negatively) and precipitation (positively) during summer. Simulated ring-width chronologies produced by a process model of tree-ring growth exhibit similar relationships with summer climate. High and low growth across the region is associated with cool/wet and warm/dry summers, respectively; this relationship is supported by comparisons with archival records from early 19th century fur-trading posts. The tree-ring record indicates that summer droughts were more persistent in the 19th and late 18th century, but there is no evidence that drought was more extreme prior to the onset of direct monitoring.     

Magmatic Differentiation at an Island-arc Caldera: Okmok Volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Okmok volcano is situated on oceanic crust in the central Aleutianarc and experienced large (15 km³) caldera-forming eruptionsat 12 000 years BP and 2050 years BP. Each caldera-forming eruptionbegan with a small Plinian rhyodacite event followed by theemplacement of a dominantly andesitic ash-flow unit, whereaseffusive inter- and post-caldera lavas have been more basaltic.Phenocryst assemblages are composed of olivine + pyroxene +plagioclase ± Fe–Ti oxides and indicate crystallizationat 1000–1100°C at 0·1–0·2 GPain the presence of 0–4% H₂O. The erupted products followa tholeiitic evolutionary trend and calculated liquid compositionsrange from 52 to 68 wt % SiO₂ with 0·8–3·3wt % K₂O. Major and trace element models suggest that the moreevolved magmas were produced by 50–60% in situ fractionalcrystallization around the margins of the shallow magma chamber.Oxygen and strontium isotope data (¹⁸O 4·4–4·9,⁸⁷Sr/ ⁸⁶Sr 0·7032–0·7034) indicate interactionwith a hydrothermally altered crustal component, which led toelevated thorium isotope ratios in some caldera-forming magmas.This compromises the use of uranium–thorium disequilibria[(²³⁰Th/ ²³⁸U) = 0·849–0·964] to constrainthe time scales of magma differentiation but instead suggeststhat the age of the hydrothermal system is 100 ka. Modellingof the diffusion of strontium in plagioclase indicates thatmany evolved crystal rims formed less than 200 years prior toeruption. This addition of rim material probably reflects theremobilization of crystals from the chamber margins followingreplenishment. Basaltic recharge led to the expansion of themagma chamber, which was responsible for the most recent caldera-formingevent. KEY WORDS: Okmok; caldera; U-series isotopes; Sr-diffusion; time scales; Aleutian arc     

A record of the Messinian salinity crisis in the eastern Ionian tectonically active domain (Greece,eastern Mediterranean)

This integrated study (field observations, micropalaeontology, magnetostratigraphy, geochemistry, borehole data and seismic profiles) of the Messinian–Zanclean deposits on Zakynthos Island (Ionian Sea) focuses on the sedimentary succession recording the pre‐evaporitic phase of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) through the re‐establishment of the marine conditions in a transitional area between the eastern and the western Mediterranean. Two intervals are distinguished through the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the pre‐evaporitic Messinian in Kalamaki: (a) 6.45–6.122 Ma and (b) 6.122–5.97 Ma. Both the planktonic foraminifer and the fish assemblages indicate a cooling phase punctuated by hypersalinity episodes at around 6.05 Ma. Two evaporite units are recognized and associated with the tectonic evolution of the Kalamaki–Argassi area. The Primary Lower Gypsum (PLG) unit was deposited during the first MSC stage (5.971–5.60 Ma) in late‐Messinian marginal basins within the pre‐Apulian foreland basin and in the wedge‐top (<300 m) developed over the Ionian zone. During the second MSC stage (5.60–5.55 Ma), the PLG evaporites were deeply eroded in the forebulge–backbulge and the wedge‐top areas, and supplied the foreland basin's depocentre with gypsum turbidites assigned to the Resedimented Lower Gypsum (RLG) unit. In this study, we propose a simple model for the Neogene–Pliocene continental foreland‐directed migration of the Hellenide thrusting, which explains the palaeogeography of the Zakynthos basin. The diapiric movements of the Ionian Triassic evaporites regulated the configuration and the overall subsidence of the foreland basin and, therefore, the MSC expression in this area.     

Traditional and New Ways to Handle Uncertainty in Geology

The paper presents an overview of the main types of uncertainty in geology. The best guess and uncertainty oriented approaches are outlined. Traditional methods of uncertainty analysis—deterministic and probabilistic—are discussed with special references to their limitations in geology. New mathematical methods, developed during the last decades are suitable to handle uncertainty in geology in scalar, spatial, and spatial-temporal conditions, such as uncertainty intervals, fuzzy sets, probability bounds, neural networks, hybrid arithmetic and fuzzy geostatistics. Geological applicability of these methods is discussed. Uncertainty of risk analysis for geological purposes also is outlined.     

Fundamental solutions to Helmholtz's equation for inhomogeneous media by a first-order differential equation system

Helmholtz's equation with a variable wavenumber is solved for a point force through use of a first-order differential equation system approach. Since the system matrix in this formulation is non-constant, an eigensolution is no longer valid and recourse has to be made to approximate techniques such as series expansions and Picard iterations. These techniques can accommodate in principle any variation of the wavenumber with position and are applicable to scalar wave propagation in one, two and three dimensions, with the latter two cases requiring radial symmetry. As shown in the examples, good solution accuracy can be achieved in the near field region, irrespective of frequency, for the particular case examined, namely a wavenumber which increases (or decreases) as the square root of the radial distance from source to receiver. Finally, the resulting Green's functions can be used as kernels within the context of boundary element type solutions to study scalar wave scattering in inhomogeneous media.     

Currents in the high drag environment of a coastal kelp stand off California

The physical environment within a California kelp bed is modified from that of the region by the large drag of the massed plants. The change is greatest for longshore motions, where velocities diminish with distance upcoast of the leading edge of the bed in a manner consistent with the damping expected for coastally-trapped waves. Cross-shore velocity fluctuations are more important for the movement of material between offshore waters and the kelp bed interior. Results suggest that penetration of water for distances of 400 m into the kelp is common. The importance of water motions for ecological processes ranging from enhancing boundary layer transport to kelp blades to moving planktonic larvae implies that size of a kelp bed and position within it are important for the kelp ecosystem.     

Algorithms for staggered-grid computations for poroelastic,elastic, acoustic,and scalar wave equations

Heterogeneous wave equations are more complicated numerically than homogeneous wave equations, but are necessary for physical validity. A wide variety of numerical solutions of seismic wave equations is available, but most produce strong numerical artefacts and local instabilities where model parameters change rapidly. Accuracy and stability of heterogeneous equations is achieved through staggered-grid formulations. A new pseudospectral staggered-grid algorithm is developed for the poroelastic (Biot) equations. The algorithm may be reduced to handle the elastic and acoustic limits of the Biot equations. Comparisons of results from poroelastic, elastic, acoustic and scalar computations for a 2D model show that porous medium parameters may affect amplitudes significantly. The use of homogeneous wave equations for modelling of a heterogeneous medium, or of a centred rather than a staggered grid, or of simplified (e.g. acoustic) wave equations when elastic or poroelastic media are synthesized, may produce erroneous or ambiguous interpretations.     

Seismic stratigraphy and coastal drainage patterns in the Quaternary section of the southern Delmarva Peninsula, Virginia, USA

Seismic-stratigraphic analysis of the coastal zone and inner shelf of Virginia's southern Delmarva Peninsula has revealed three geochronologically significant surfaces of post-Tertiary age that impose a relative chronostratigraphic framework on Quaternary marine transgressive and regressive events. Characteristics of these surfaces indicate that two are sequence boundaries, and one is a ravinement surface.

Lying at depths of 18–70 m (msl datum), the LP_b surface (a late Pleistocene basal unconformity) represents the sequence boundary separating the Tertiary Chesapeake Group from the overlying late Pleistocene Nassawadox Formation. High relief (approximately 50 m) on the LP_b surface is associated with large fluvial channels. Higher in the stratigraphic section, the LP_r, surface is found at depths of 6–28 m, and corresponds to a late Pleistocene transgressive, or ravinement surface. The surface dips southeastward with a regional dip of 0.04° and has local relief of less than 2 m. The LP_r surface may represent a ravinement which extended to the west side of the Chesapeake Bay prior to the development of the Nassawadox barrier spit. However, the LP_r surface may steepen between the axis of the southern Delmarva Peninsula and the Holocene lagoon to form a shoreface attached to one of several known late Pleistocene shorelines. Lying at depths of 0–20 m, the H_b surface is a basal unconformity that marks the Holocene sequence boundary. It deepens seaward, with maximum local relief of about 15 m, and has a topographic expression very similar to the present-day lagoonal drainage pattern.

Maximum thicknesses of Holocene and Pleistocene sediments (12 and 70 m, respectively) are found above channels on the H_b and LP_b surfaces. The Pleistocene channels are large and limited in number and represent high-order channels of a drainage system that drained the Piedmont and Coastal Plain. The greater density of low-order stream channels on the H_b surface suggests a relationship to much smaller drainage basins that were confined to the seaward part of the Coastal Plain east of the Delmarva Peninsula. These late Wisconsinan smaller H_b channels do not re-occupy the former drain paths of the much larger high-order LP_b channels.     

A Raman spectroscopic study of shocked single crystalline quartz

We have carried out a Raman Spectroscopic study of single crystalline quartz samples shocked to peak pressures up to 31.4GPa. Samples shocked to above 22 GPa show shifts in peak positions consistent with the quartz being under tensile stress, and new broad bands associated with the formation of high density SiO₂ glass appear in the spectra. These changes are accompanied by an increase in the lattice parameters of the quartz. Formation of the diaplectic glass could be due to a metastable melting event, or spinodal lattice collapse on attainment of a mechanical stability limit of crystalline quartz, as suggested by previous studies of pressure-induced amorphization in static pressurization experiments on SiO₂ and GeO₂ polymorphs.     

Dielectric constants of crystalline and amorphous spodumene,anorthite and diopside and the oxide additivity rule

The dielectric constants and dissipation factors of LiAlSi₂O₆, CaAl₂Si₂O₈ and CaMgSi₂O₆ in both the crystalline (α-spodumene, anorthite, and diopside) and amorphous forms were determined at 1 MHz using a two-terminal method and empirically determined edge corrections. The results are: spodumene κ′ ₁₁=7.30 tan δ= 0.0007 κ′₂₂=8.463 tan δ= 0.0002 κ′₃₃ =11.12 tan δ= 0.0007 anorthite κ′ _a ^*=5.47 tan δ= 0.0009 κ′_b ^*=8.76 tan δ= 0.0010 κ′_c ^*=7.19 tan δ= 0.0013 diopside κ′₁₁=9.69 tan δ= 0.0016 κ′₂₂ = 7.31 tan δ= 0.0007 κ′₃₃=7.29 tan δ= 0.00019 LiAlSi₂O₆ κ′=8.07 tan δ= 0.047 amorphous CaAl₂Si₂O₈ κ′=7.50 tan δ= 0.0024 amorphous CaMgSi₂O₆ κ′=8.89 tan δ= 0.0021 amorphous The dielectric properties of a spodumene glass, progressively crystallized at different conditions, were also determined. As the crystallization temperature was increased from 720 to 920° C, κ′ increased from 6.22 to 6.44. The dissipation factor, tan δ, remained constant at 0.020. Similarly, as the crystallization time at 750° C increased from 0.5 hr to 6.0 hr, κ′ increased from 6.28 to 6.35. The deviations of the measured dielectric polarizabilities as determined from the Clausius-Mosotti equation from those calculated from the sum of oxide polarizabilities according to α _D(mineral, glass) = σ α _D(oxides) are +7.4% for α-spodumene, +1.2% for diopside, and +28.0, +19.6 and +15.9% for amorphous spodumene, anorthitie and diopside compositions, respectively. Positive deviations in α-spodumene and anorthite are consistent with lower than normal apparent cation bond valence sums and are believed to be evidence for loosely bonded “rattling” Li and Ca ions. Diopside, with Ca and Mg ions having normal bond valence sums, exhibits no abnormal deviation from additivity. Larger positive deviations in amorphous SiO₂, LiAlSi₂O₆, CaAl₂Si₂O₈ and CaMgSi₂O₆ are postulated to arise from a combination of loosely bonded cations and disordered O⁼ ions where the oxygen dielectric polarizability increased from its normal value of 2.0 ų in well-behaved oxides to 2.2–3.0 Å₃ in the amorphous phases.