On the sensitivity of the sedimentary system in the East Frisian Wadden Sea to sea-level rise and wave-induced bed shear stress

The paper addresses the individual and collective contribution of different forcing factors (tides, wind waves, and sea-level rise) to the dynamics of sediment in coastal areas. The results are obtained from simulations with the General Estuarine Transport Model coupled with a sediment transport model. The wave-induced bed shear stress is formulated using a simple model based on the concept that the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) associated with wind waves is a function of orbital velocity, the latter depending on the wave height and water depth. A theory is presented explaining the controls of sediment dynamics by the TKE produced by tides and wind waves. Several scenarios were developed aiming at revealing possible trends resulting from realistic (observed or expected) changes in sea level and wave magnitude. The simulations demonstrate that these changes not only influence the concentration of sediment, which is very sensitive to the magnitude of the external forcing, but also the temporal variability patterns. The joint effect of tides and wave-induced bed shear stress revealed by the comparison between theoretical results and simulations is well pronounced. The intercomparison between different scenarios demonstrates that the spatial patterns of erosion and deposition are very sensitive to the magnitude of wind waves and sea-level rise. Under a changing climate, forcing the horizontal distribution of sediments adjusts mainly through a change in the balance of export and import of sediment from the intertidal basins. The strongest signal associated with this adjustment is simulated North of the barrier islands where the evolution of sedimentation gives an integrated picture of the processes in tidal basins.     

Activity-composition relationship in Tschermak's substituted Fe biotites at 700°C, 2 kbar

The reaction-displacement technique was applied to the end-member reaction annite = sanidine + magnetite + H₂ in order to determine the activity of the annite component (a _Ann) in iron biotites with variable degrees of the Tschermak's substitution (^[6]Fe + ^[4]Si = ^[6]Al + ^[4]Al). Based on the simplified relation a _Ann = f _{H 2}/foH₂ (foH₂ = hydrogen fugacity of the end-member reaction at P, T), two types of experiments were performed at 700°C / 2 kbar: Type I used Fe-Al biotites of known starting composition together with sanidine + magnetite + H₂O. This assemblage was exposed to various f _{H 2} conditions (f _{H 2} < foH₂) produced in the pressure vessel either by using different ratios of water/oil as pressure medium (f _{H 2} in this case was measured by the hydrogen sensor technique), or by the Ni′NiO buffer. The composition of the Fe-Al biotites changed through incorporation or release of the annite component in response to the externally imposed f _{H 2}. By using opposite biotite starting compositions, the equilibrium composition as a function of f _H2 was bracketed. For type II, f _{H 2} in equilibrium with a specific combination of fine-grained Fe-Al biotite (+ sanidine + magnetite + H₂O) was measured internally by application of the hydrogen sensor technique. Both type I and type II experiments yield consistent results demonstrating that a fine-grained assemblage of Fe-Al biotite (+ sanidine + magnetite + H₂O) is able to act as a sliding-scale buffer. The final chemical composition of the Fe-Al biotite after the experiments was determined by electron microprobe and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The ^[4]Al and ^[6]Al in the biotites are coupled according to the Tschermak's substitution. In the tetrahedral sheet 0.1 Al-atoms per formula unit are present in excess to the amount required to balance ^[6]Al, and all Fe-Al biotites contain 8–10% Fe³⁺. Therefore, they are not members of the pure annite - siderophyllite join, but have an almost constant amount (15 Mol%) of two additional Fe³⁺-bearing components (ferri-siderophyllite and a vacancy end-member). The volume - composition relationship obtained does not indicate excess molar volumes of mixing for the annite (Ann) - siderophyllite (Sid) binary. The data are consistent with a molar volume of annite of 15.46 ± 0.02 Jbar^–1 and of 15.06 ± 0.02 Jbar^–1 for siderophyllite. The experimentally determined activity - composition relation shows that biotites on the join annite - siderophyllite deviate negatively from ideality. A symmetric interaction parameter W_AnnSid is sufficient to represent the data within error. This was constrained as: W _AnnSid = –29 ± 4 kJmol^–1. This is in contradiction to empirical interaction parameters derived from natural assemblages for this binary that predict positive deviation from ideality. Reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.     

Age constraints on the evolution of the Austroalpine basement to the south of the Tauern Window

The Austroalpine basement to the south of the Tauern Window once was part of the northern margin of Gondwana. It includes the “Altkristallin” and the phyllitic Thurntaler Complex. In the Altkristallin (AMU, MPU), suites of arc-related metamafic sequences occur together with calc-alkaline metagranite. SHRIMP U–Pb dating of zircon from calc-alkaline metagranite associated with an eclogitic amphibolite give an age of 470 ± 3 Ma interpreted as the age of protolith emplacement. In the Thurntaler Complex, metaporphyroids occur together with tholeiitic as well as alkaline within-plate basalt-type metabasite. The metaryholites of this association give a crystallization SHRIMP age of 477 ± 4 Ma, which suggests contemporaneity of arc-related and extensional settings in the Austroalpine basement units. The age data demonstrate widespread magmatic activity associated with the Early-Ordovician amalgamation at the end of the 550–470 Ma subduction–accretion–collision cycle. The Pb–Pb and U–Pb systematics of step-wise leached staurolite and kyanite from the peak-metamorphic assemblage of the Altkristallin indicate that (1) step-wise leaching of staurolite and kyanite yields the age of inclusions rather than the host; (2) zircon inclusions in staurolite suggest an Ordovician or older age for the precursor of the staurolite-schists; (3) the weighted average of the ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U data of the various leaching steps yields a Variscan age for the inclusions (ilmenite, biotite, and andesine). Since these inclusions are part of the metamorphic mineral assemblage, this age provides a minimum estimate for staurolite growth, i.e., metamorphism. Thus, the Pb–Pb and U–Pb systematics of staurolite provide evidence for a Variscan metamorphism of the Austroalpine basement, e.g., MPU, AMU and Thurntaler Complex, to the south of the Tauern Window.     

The Northern end of the Dead Sea Basin: Geometry from reflection seismic evidence

Recently released reflection seismic lines from the Eastern side of the Jordan River north of the Dead Sea were interpreted by using borehole data and incorporated with the previously published seismic lines of the eastern side of the Jordan River. For the first time, the lines from the eastern side of the Jordan River were combined with the published reflection seismic lines from the western side of the Jordan River. In the complete cross sections, the inner deep basin is strongly asymmetric toward the Jericho Fault supporting the interpretation of this segment of the fault as the long-lived and presently active part of the Dead Sea Transform. There is no indication for a shift of the depocenter toward a hypothetical eastern major fault with time, as recently suggested. Rather, the north-eastern margin of the deep basin takes the form of a large flexure, modestly faulted. In the N–S-section along its depocenter, the floor of the basin at its northern end appears to deepen continuously by roughly 0.5 km over 10 km distance, without evidence of a transverse fault. The asymmetric and gently-dipping shape of the basin can be explained by models in which the basin is located outside the area of overlap between en-echelon strike-slip faults.     

Provenance of Austroalpine basement metasediments: tightening up Early Palaeozoic connections between peri-Gondwanan domains of central Europe and Northern Africa

International Journal of Earth Sciences - New U–Pb and Lu–Hf detrital zircon data together with whole-rock geochemical and Sm–Nd data were obtained for paragneisses of the...