Late Holocene sea-level changes and isostatic crustal movements in Atlantic Canada

It has long been recognised that sea levels along the shores of Atlantic Canada have been rising rapidly during the Holocene in response to isostatic crustal movements. New sea-level data for the Bay of Fundy coast of southern New Brunswick (Little Dipper Harbour) and the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia (Chezzetcook Inlet) show that late Holocene average rates of sea-level rise in these areas have been 1.0 and 2.5 m per 1000 yr, respectively. Numerical model calculations suggest that the high rates of sea-level rise are due to crustal subsidence produced by the combined effects of Laurentide ice loading (forebulge collapse) and ocean loading of the Scotian shelf. Although ice loading is the dominant contributor to the regional sea-level pattern, ocean loading is also important, contributing up to 40% of the total crustal subsidence in some areas. Tide gauges record rates of sea-level rise during the 20^th century that are 0.7–1.9 mm/yr higher than late Holocene trends, with the highest residuals occurring in the Bay of Fundy.     

Mineral/melt partitioning of trace elements during hydrous peridotite partial melting

This experimental study examines the mineral/melt partitioning of incompatible trace elements among high-Ca clinopyroxene, garnet, and hydrous silicate melt at upper mantle pressure and temperature conditions. Experiments were performed at pressures of 1.2 and 1.6 GPa and temperatures of 1,185 to 1,370 °C. Experimentally produced silicate melts contain up to 6.3 wt% dissolved H ₂O, and are saturated with an upper mantle peridotite mineral assemblage of olivine+orthopyroxene+clinopyroxene+spinel or garnet. Clinopyroxene/melt and garnet/melt partition coefficients were measured for Li, B, K, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, and select rare earth elements by secondary ion mass spectrometry. A comparison of our experimental results for trivalent cations (REEs and Y) with the results from calculations carried out using the Wood-Blundy partitioning model indicates that H ₂O dissolved in the silicate melt has a discernible effect on trace element partitioning. Experiments carried out at 1.2 GPa, 1,315 °C and 1.6 GPa, 1,370 °C produced clinopyroxene containing 15.0 and 13.9 wt% CaO, respectively, coexisting with silicate melts containing ~1–2 wt% H ₂O. Partition coefficients measured in these experiments are consistent with the Wood-Blundy model. However, partition coefficients determined in an experiment carried out at 1.2 GPa and 1,185 °C, which produced clinopyroxene containing 19.3 wt% CaO coexisting with a high-H ₂O (6.26±0.10 wt%) silicate melt, are significantly smaller than predicted by the Wood-Blundy model. Accounting for the depolymerized structure of the H ₂O-rich melt eliminates the mismatch between experimental result and model prediction. Therefore, the increased Ca ²⁺ content of clinopyroxene at low-temperature, hydrous conditions does not enhance compatibility to the extent indicated by results from anhydrous experiments, and models used to predict mineral/melt partition coefficients during hydrous peridotite partial melting in the sub-arc mantle must take into account the effects of H ₂O on the structure of silicate melts.     

Spatial Variability of Trends in the Rainfall-Runoff Relationship: A Mesoscale Study in the Mosel Basin

The spatial variability of observed trends in rainfall structure over the last 5 decades and its effects on the spatial variability of maximum daily water levels in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg (Europe) were investigated in 9 sub-basins of the Mosel river. Over the past 25 years, an increase in westerly atmospheric circulation types during winter months has caused an increase in winter rainfall totals, duration and intensity. More specifically, the spatial variability of trends having affected winter rainfall totals, duration and intensity have led to spatially varying positive trends in maximum daily water levels. Observed trends in rainfall characteristics and maximum daily water levels during winter show closely linked spatial patterns that are strongly related to the topography of the study area.     

Wine, regions and the geographic imperative: The Coonawarra example

Abstract:   The growth of the global wine trade has focused attention on regional origin in the production, marketing and consumption of wine. This paper presents a case study of the regulatory processes around the development of one particular South Australian wine region: Coonawarra. The process of the delineation of the Coonawarra region illustrates the tensions between treating wine regions as biophysical entities, and the realities of the economic, political, legal and cultural forces that shape regions. The paper highlights how ambiguities in the physical and social criteria that frame regional definition legislation can lead to boundaries that form through a process of judicial accretion rather than relating directly to any of the criteria themselves.     

20th Century sea-level change along the eastern US: Unravelling the contributions from steric changes, Greenland ice sheet mass balance and Late Pleistocene glacial loading

We have considered the influence of ocean temperature and salinity changes, mass changes of the Greenland ice sheet (GIS) and the isostatic response of the solid earth to the most recent glacial cycle on 20th century sea-level change along the US east coast with the intention of better understanding the observed signal as well as determining the potential of the tide gauge data for constraining the recent (past 50–100 yr) mass balance of the GIS and earth viscosity structure. Our results show that the signal due to steric changes is large and displays a complex spatial variation which can account for a significant portion of the observed signal. In contrast, that due to changes in the GIS is relatively small and insensitive to the specific geometry of the mass balance model adopted. As a consequence, the tide gauge data alone are not capable of providing useful constraints on either the magnitude or form of recent GIS mass balance. Our inference of mantle viscosity structure based on the tide gauge data was affected dramatically when the steric effect was accounted for: An earth model with an upper mantle viscosity of 8 × 10¹⁹ Pa s and a lower mantle viscosity of 5 × 10²² Pa s produced the best fit to the steric-corrected data; the optimal fit to the uncorrected data was obtained for upper and lower mantle viscosities of 5 × 10²⁰ Pa s and 10²² Pa s, respectively.     

Preliminary results from the MEMO multicomponent measurements of waves on-board INTERBALL 2

The MEMO (MEsure Multicomposante des Ondes) experiment is a part of theINTERBALL 2 wave consortium. It is connected to a total of six electric and nine magnetic independent sensors. It provides waveforms associated with the measurement of two to five components in three frequency bands: ELF (5–1000 Hz), VLF (1–20 kHz), LF (20–250 kHz). Preliminary analyses of low and high resolution data are presented. The emphasis is put on the estimation of the propagation characteristics of the observed waves. VLF hiss emissions are shown to be mainly whistler mode emissions, but other modes are present. An accurate estimation of the local plasma frequency is proposed when the low L = 0 cutoff frequency is identified. AKR emissions observed just above source regions are studied. R-X and L-O modes are found: the first at the lowest frequencies and the second at the highest. Both propagate with wave normal directions weakly oblique or quasi-parallel to the Earths magnetic field direction. Propagation characteristics are also determined for a (non-drifting) fine structure of AKR. There is no fundamental difference with structurless events. Night-side and dayside bursts of ELF electromagnetic emissions are presented. It is not clear whether the two emissions belong to the lion roar emissions or not.     

The influence of water on melting of mantle peridotite

This experimental study examines the effects of variable concentrations of dissolved H₂O on the compositions of silicate melts and their coexisting mineral assemblage of olivine + orthopyroxene ± clinopyroxene ± spinel ± garnet. Experiments were performed at pressures of 1.2 to 2.0 GPa and temperatures of 1100 to 1345 °C, with up to ∼12 wt% H₂O dissolved in the liquid. The effects of increasing the concentration of dissolved H₂O on the major element compositions of melts in equilibrium with a spinel lherzolite mineral assemblage are to decrease the concentrations of SiO₂, FeO, MgO, and CaO. The concentration of Al₂O₃ is unaffected. The lower SiO₂ contents of the hydrous melts result from an increase in the activity coefficient for SiO₂ with increasing dissolved H₂O. The lower concentrations of FeO and MgO result from the lower temperatures at which H₂O-bearing melts coexist with mantle minerals as compared to anhydrous melts. These compositional changes produce an elevated SiO₂/(MgO + FeO) ratio in hydrous peridotite partial melts, making them relatively SiO₂ rich when compared to anhydrous melts on a volatile-free basis. Hydrous peridotite melting reactions are affected primarily by the lowered mantle solidus. Temperature-induced compositional variations in coexisting pyroxenes lower the proportion of clinopyroxene entering the melt relative to orthopyroxene. Isobaric batch melting calculations indicate that fluid-undersaturated peridotite melting is characterized by significantly lower melt productivity than anhydrous peridotite melting, and that the peridotite melting process in subduction zones is strongly influenced by the composition of the H₂O-rich component introduced into the mantle wedge from the subducted slab. Received: 7 April 1997 / Accepted: 9 January 1998     

Looking Down the Light Cone: Can Deep Redshift Surveys Alone Measure the Power Spectrum?

We analyse the window functions for the spherical harmonic mode estimators of all-sky, volume-limited surveys, considering evolutionary effects along the past light-cone which include the deviation of the distance scale from a linear relationship with redshift, linear peculiar velocity corrections, and linear evolution of the density perturbations. The spherical harmonic basis functions are considered, because they correspond most closely to the symmetries of typical survey geometries and of the light-cone effects we consider. Our results show substantial broadening of the windows over that expected by ignoring light-cone effects, indicating the difficulty of measuring the power spectrum independently from cosmology. We suggest that because of light-cone effects, deep redshift surveys should be analysed either in conjunction with CMBR data which determines the cosmological parameters, or by using a Bayesian likelihood scheme in which varying cosmological parameters and a simple parametrization of the primordial power spectrum are assumed as the priors, so that observed data can be mapped from redshift to real space. The derived power spectrum can then be compared with underlying models of fluctuation generation and growth in structure formation to evaluate both these models and the cosmological priors.     

Relationship between subcellular cadmium distribution in prey and cadmium trophic transfer to a predator

We tested the hypothesis that exposure-related alterations in the subcellular Cd distribution in prey relate to changes in Cd absorption by a predator. Oligochaete worms,Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri were exposed for 1 wk or 6 wk to 0.5 μg Cd 1^?1, 47 μg Cd 1^?1, or 140 μg Cd 1^?1 (including¹⁰⁹Cd as a tracer) and relationships between oligochaete subcellular Cd distribution and Cd absorption by a predator, the grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio), were determined. Concentration and duration of Cd exposure had direct effects on oligochaete subcellular Cd distribution. Changes in oligochaete subcellular Cd distribution were characterized by increases in both the amount and proportion of Cd bound to the cytosolic fraction. The induction of Cd-binding proteins (e.g., metallothioneins) were suspected to be responsible for these changes. We found 1∶1 relationships between the amount and percentage of Cd in oligochaete cytosol and the amount and percentage of Cd adsorbed by shrimp. These results demonstrate that only metal bound to the soluble fraction of prey is available to higher trophic levels, and that factors influencing subcellular metal distribution in prey will directly alter metal trophic transfer to predators.