Phase Modulation Effect of the Rubincam Insolation Variations on Climate Change

Summary For astronomical seasons, Rubincam insolation deviations at latitude 65° N varied from 218.50 Wm⁻² to 225.75 Wm⁻² (3%). The periodicity of the insolation cycles varied from 36.7 Kyr to 44.7 Kyr (20%) due to phase shift. Phase shift of insolation variations can induce asymmetry of the insolation cycles, permitting rapid melting and prolonged glaciation of ice sheets to occur. For instance, an abnormal decrease of the insolation frequency during the longer period of glacial interval would prolong glaciation into deep ice age. In this study, we apply Rubincam’s insolation equations to investigate the phase shift effect of insolation variations on climate change. Using complex transforms of the changing insolation, we have detected a phase modulation signal in the insolation variations. As a result, an especially new and interesting series of the phase-related insolation pulsation is established. The phase modulated insolation is then introduced as a forcing function into energy balance climate models. Results of model computations shed new insights into the spectrum of the paleoclimatic proxy-data. It is shown that phase modulation of the insolation may provide an appropriate and complete external forcing mechanism to which the climate system would respond. The 100 Kyr cycle of the frequency modulation of the Rubincam’s insolation variations does seem adequate to change the climate. Received July 16, 1997 Revised May 18, 1998     

On the Importance of Geolithological Features for the Estimate of the Site Response: The Case of Catania Metropolitan Area (Italy)

The evaluation of seismic site response in the urban area of Catania was tackled by selecting test areas having peculiar lithological and structural features, potentially favourable to large local amplifications of ground motion. The two selected areas are located in the historical downtown and in the northern part of Catania where the presence of a fault is evident. Site response was evaluated using spectral ratio technique taking the horizontal- to-vertical component ratio of ambient noise. Inferences from microtremor measurements are compared with results from synthetic accelerograms and response spectra computed at all drillings available for this area. Such method is particularly suitable in urban areas where the nature of the outcropping geological units is masked by city growth and anthropic intervention on the surface geology. The microtremor H/V spectral ratios evaluated at soft sites located within the downtown profile tend to be smaller than that usually reported in the literature for such soils. A tendency for amplifications to peaks near 2 Hz is observed only in some sites located on recent alluvial deposits. Evidences for amplifications of site effects (frequency range 4–8 Hz) were observed in the sampling sites located on the fault, with a rapid decrease of spectral amplitude just a few tenths of metres away from the discontinuity. Numerical simulations evidenced the importance of geolithological features at depth levels even greater than 20–30 m. Besides this, the results strongly confirm the importance of the subsurface geological conditions, in the estimate of seismic hazard at urban scale.     

雅鲁藏布中新生代深水沉积盆地形成和演化(Ⅰ)——喜马拉雅造山带沉积特征及演化

通过对喜马拉雅三叠纪到第三纪区域沉积特征分析,阐明了雅鲁藏布喜马拉雅特提斯造山带从裂谷—被动大陆边缘—前陆盆地的沉积盆地演化史。随着以雅鲁藏布带为代表的喜马拉雅特提斯打开,三叠纪到早侏罗世为特提斯早期裂开的大陆边缘裂谷盆地。早期裂谷中心部位不是现在大陆缝合线的雅鲁藏布一带,而在低分水岭带。晚侏罗世到早白垩世,雅鲁藏布江南测为典型被动大陆边缘,其沉积盆地沉降、海平面变化与沉积作用相吻合。晚白垩世到第三纪为前陆盆地演化阶段,从沉积作用可以识别出晚白垩世晚期为造山第一暮,第三纪初为第二幕。     

U-Pb-Hf isotopic data from detrital zircons in late Carboniferous and Mid-Late Triassic sandstones,and also Carboniferous granites from the Tauride and Anatolide continental units in S Turkey: implications for Tethyan palaeogeography

ABSTRACT

Zircons from Carboniferous sandstones (three samples) and Mid-Late Triassic sandstones (four samples) from the Tauride and Anatolide continental units were analysed for U-Pb-Hf isotopes. For comparison, zircons were also analysed from Carboniferous granites of the Afyon Zone, Anatolides (three samples). A NE African/Arabian source is inferred for both the Carboniferous sandstones of the Taurides (Alada?) and the Anatolides (Konya Complex). In contrast, the Carboniferous Karaburun Melange is characterised by a NW African provenance. A prominent Devonian population occurs in the Carboniferous Karaburun Melange, characterised by mainly positive ε_Hf(t) values that differ significantly from those of the Devonian granites of the Sakarya continental crustal unit (Pontides). Middle-Late Triassic Tauride sandstones include minor Palaeozoic and Early Mesozoic zircons. In contrast, Devonian and Carboniferous zircons are relatively abundant in Late Triassic sandstones of the Karaburun Peninsula. The Hf isotopic compositions of 25 Carboniferous-aged zircons from three samples of Mid-Late Triassic sandstone and one of Late Carboniferous age (one sample) overlap with the ε_Hf(t) values of Carboniferous arc-type granites in the Anatolides. Taking account of the available U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopic data from comparative crustal units, the Devonian zircon populations from the melanges in the Karaburun Peninsula and the Konya Complex are inferred to have a westerly source (e.g. granitic rocks of Aegean region or central Europe). A tectonic model is proposed in which Palaeozoic Tethys sutured during the late Carboniferous in the west (Aegean region westwards), leaving an eastward-widening oceanic gulf in which sandstone turbidites accumulated, including Devonian zircons.     

Application of FLATModel, a 2D finite volume code, to debris flows in the northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula

FLATModel is a two-dimensional shallow-water approximation code with corrections and modifications that create a simulation tool adapted to debris-flows behaviour. FLATModel uses the finite volume method with the numerical implementation of the Godunov scheme and includes correction terms regarding the effect of flow over high slopes and curvature. Additionally, the stop-and-go phenomenon, the basal entrainment and a correction regarding the front inclination of the final deposit are incorporated into FLATModel. In addition, different flow resistance laws were integrated in the numerical code including Bingham, Herschel–Bulkley and Voellmy fluid model. Firstly, our numerical model was validated using analytical solutions of a dam-break scenario and published data on a laboratory experiment. Secondly, three real events, which occurred in the northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, were back-calculated. Although field observations of the three events are not very detailed, the back-analyses revealed interesting patterns on the flow dynamics, and the numerical results generally showed good agreement with field data. Comparing the different flow resistance laws, the Voellmy fluid model presents the best behaviour regarding both the flow behaviour and the deposit characteristics. Preliminary simulation runs incorporating the effect of basal entrainment offered satisfactory results, although the final volume is rather sensitive on the selected friction angle of channel-bed material. The outcomes regarding the correction of the calculated front inclination of the final deposit showed that this implementation strongly improves the simulation results and better represents steep fronts of final deposits.     

Seismic image of the deep crust at the eastern margin of the Alps (Austria): indications for crustal extension in a convergent orogen

A 39-km-long deep seismic reflection profile recorded during two field campaigns in 1996 and 2002 provides a first detailed image of the deep crust at the eastern margin of the Eastern Alps (Austria). The ESE–WNW-trending, low-fold seismic line crosses Austroalpine basement units and extends approximately from 20 km west of the Penninic window group of Rechnitz to 60 km SSE of the Alpine thrust front.The explosive-source seismic data reveals a transparent shallow crust down to 5 km depth, a complexly reflective upper crust and a highly reflective lowermost crust. The upper crust is dominated by three prominent west-dipping packages of high-amplitude subparallel reflections. The upper two of these prominent packages commence at the eastern end of the profile at about 5 and 10 km depth and are interpreted as low-angle normal shear zones related to the Miocene exhumation of the Rechnitz metamorphic core complex. In the western portion of the upper crust, east-dipping and less significant reflections prevail. The lowermost package of these reflections is suggested to represent the overall top of the European crystalline basement.Along the western portion of the line, the lower crust is characterised by a 6–8-km-thick band of high-amplitude reflection lamellae, typically observed in extensional provinces. The Moho can be clearly defined at the base of this band, at approximately 32.5 km depth. Due to insufficient signal penetration, outstanding reflections are missing in the central and eastern portion of the lower crust. We speculate that the result of accompanying gravity measurements and lower crustal sporadic reflections can be interpreted as an indication for a shallower Moho in the east, preferable at about 30.5 km depth.The high reflectivity of the lowermost part of the lower crust and prominent reflection packages in the upper crust, the latter interpreted to represent broad extensional mylonite zones, emphasises the latest extensional processes in accordance with eastward extrusion.     

Ar-Ar and I-Xe ages and thermal histories of three unusual metal-rich meteorites

Portales Valley, Sombrerete, and Northwest Africa (NWA) 176 are three unrelated meteorites, which consist of silicate mixed with substantial amounts of metal and which likely formed at elevated temperatures as a consequence of early impacts on their parent bodies. Measured ³⁹Ar-⁴⁰Ar ages of these meteorites are 4477 ± 11 Ma and 4458 ± 16 Ma (two samples of Portales Valley), 4541 ± 12 Ma, and 4524 ± 13 Ma, respectively (Ma = million years; all one-sigma errors). The Ar-Ar data for Portales Valley show no evidence of later open system behavior suggested by some other chronometers. Measured ¹²⁹I-¹²⁹Xe ages of these three meteorites are 4559.9 ± 0.5 Ma, 4561.9 ± 1.0 Ma, and ∼4544 Ma, respectively (relative to Shallowater = 4562.3 ± 0.4 Ma). From stepwise temperature release data, we determined the diffusion characteristics for Ar and Xe in our samples and calculated approximate closure temperatures for the K-Ar and I-Xe chronometers. Adopting results and interpretations about these meteorites from some previous workers, we evaluated all these data against various thermal cooling models. We conclude that Portales Valley formed 4560 Ma ago, cooled quickly to below the I-Xe closure temperature, then cooled deep within the parent body at a rate of ∼4 °C/Ma through K-Ar closure. We conclude that Sombrerete formed 4562 Ma ago and cooled relatively quickly. NWA 176 likely formed and cooled quickly ∼4544 Ma ago, or later than formation times of most meteorite parent bodies. For all three meteorites, the Ar-Ar ages are in better agreement with I-Xe ages and preferred thermal models if we increase these Ar-Ar ages by ∼20 Ma. Such age corrections would be consistent with probable errors in ⁴⁰K decay parameters in current use, as suggested by others. The role of impact heating and possible disruption and partial reassembly of meteorite parent bodies to form some meteorites likely was an important process in the early solar system.     

Tektonische Beziehungen zwischen Harzrand und Harzvorland

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Depositional setting,provenance, and tectonic-volcanic setting of Eocene–Recent deep-sea sediments of the oceanic Izu–Bonin forearc,northwest Pacific (IODP Expedition 352)

New biostratigraphical, geochemical, and magnetic evidence is synthesized with IODP Expedition 352 shipboard results to understand the sedimentary and tectono-magmatic development of the Izu–Bonin outer forearc region. The oceanic basement of the Izu–Bonin forearc was created by supra-subduction zone seafloor spreading during early Eocene (c. 50–51 Ma). Seafloor spreading created an irregular seafloor topography on which talus locally accumulated. Oxide-rich sediments accumulated above the igneous basement by mixing of hydrothermal and pelagic sediment. Basaltic volcanism was followed by a hiatus of up to 15 million years as a result of topographic isolation or sediment bypassing. Variably tuffaceous deep-sea sediments were deposited during Oligocene to early Miocene and from mid-Miocene to Pleistocene. The sediments ponded into extensional fault-controlled basins, whereas condensed sediments accumulated on a local basement high. Oligocene nannofossil ooze accumulated together with felsic tuff that was mainly derived from the nearby Izu–Bonin arc. Accumulation of radiolarian-bearing mud, silty clay, and hydrogenous metal oxides beneath the carbonate compensation depth (CCD) characterized the early Miocene, followed by middle Miocene–Pleistocene increased carbonate preservation, deepened CCD and tephra input from both the oceanic Izu–Bonin arc and the continental margin Honshu arc. The Izu–Bonin forearc basement formed in a near-equatorial setting, with late Mesozoic arc remnants to the west. Subduction-initiation magmatism is likely to have taken place near a pre-existing continent–oceanic crust boundary. The Izu–Bonin arc migrated northward and clockwise to collide with Honshu by early Miocene, strongly influencing regional sedimentation.