Weichselian stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments at Bellsund, western Svalbard

A coastal cliff facing the ocean at the west coast of Spitsbergen has been studied, and seven formations of Weichselian and Holocene age have been identified. A reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment and glacial history shows that most of the sediments cover isotope stage 5. From the base of the section, the formation 1 and 2 tills show a regional glaciation that reached the continental shelf shortly after the Eemian. Formation 3 consists of glacimarine to marine sediments dated to 105,000–90,000 BP. Amino acid diagenesis indicates that they were deposited during a c . 10,000-year period of continuous isostatic depression, which indicates contemporaneous glacial loading in the Barents Sea. Foraminifera and molluscs show influx of Atlantic water masses along the west coast of Svalbard at the same time. Local glaciers advanced during the latter part of this period, probably due to the penetration of moist air masses, and deposited formation 4. A widespread weathering horizon shows that the glacial retreat was succeeded by subaerial conditions during the Middle Weichselian. Formation 5 is a till deposited during the Late Weichselian glacial maximum in this area. The glaciation was dominated by ice streams from a dome over southern Spitsbergen, and the last deglaciation of the outer coast is dated to 13,000 BP. A correlation of the events with other areas on Svalbard is discussed, and at least two periods of glaciation in the Barents Sea during the Weichselian are suggested.     

DAMOCLES: a DAshing MOnolith Cutter for fine sectioning of peats and sediments into LargE Slices

Simple cutting devices such as used in the printing industry allow precise and fine sectioning of frozen peats and sediments, thus enabling research with high temporal resolution. Large slices are useful in the collection of multiple synchronous subsamples for multidisciplinary research. This article describes the apparatus (called DAMOCLES) and its operation, and presents some examples from practice. These include combined microfossil, macrofossil and chemical analyses of the same sample with a sample resolution of 0.5 cm (temporal resolution c. 1 year): rapid changes occur that would have remained unnoticed with a coarser sampling distance. The final example presents a sample resolution of only 0.5 mm. These examples illustrate the possible uses of the DAMOCLES apparatus in palaeoecological research.     

A stable isotope record from freshwater lake shells of the eastern Tibetan Plateau, China, during the past two centuries

Lake Xingcuo is a small, closed, hardwater lake situated in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Stable isotope data (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) from the freshwater snail Gyraulus sibirica (Dunker) in a 34-cm-long, radioactive isotope-dated sediment core represent the past 200 years of Lake Xingcuo environmental history. Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in the shells of the snail yield information on the isotopic composition of the water in which the shell was formed, which in turn relates to climatic conditions prevailing during the snail's life-span. Living and fossil shells from Lake Xingcuo were collected. δ¹⁸O values in the living shells from Lake Xingcuo are in equilibrium with ambient waters, while δ¹³C values may trace snail dietary carbon. On comparing δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C in the shell of Gyraulus sibirica with monitored data for the period 1954-1995, we found that the δ¹⁸O composition in the shell is an efficient proxy revealing air temperature during the warmer months from April to September. There is a positive correlation between the δ¹⁸O in the shells of Gyraulus sibirica and the running average temperature of the warmer months. Climatic variability in the eastern Tibetan Plateau for the past two centuries has been inferred from the δ¹⁸O record from the freshwater snails in the sediments of Lake Xingcuo. As such, the last 200 years' palaeoclimatic record for this region can be separated into three periods representing oscillations between warm and cool conditions consistent with the Guliya ice record in the Tibetan Plateau.     

Micromorphological evidence supporting Late Weichselian glaciation of the Northern North Sea

Thirteen samples from three cores and boreholes are examined using micromorphology to test existing interpretations of Late Quaternary sedimentary sequences from the Norwegian Channel, North Sea Fan and the North Sea Plateau. Previous studies have interpreted these sediments using arbitrary parameters as reflecting Late Weichselian subglacial and glacimarine conditions associated with the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and Norwegian Channel ice stream. This study develops existing micromorphological criteria to interpret the samples as reflecting specific processes of subglacial deformation and proximal and distal glacimarine sedimentation during and subsequent to the Last Glacial Maximum. The study concludes by outlining diagnostic criteria for the identification of these sediment types from core and borehole samples of other Quaternary sediments.     

Seismic modeling of Tertiary sandstone clinothems, Spitsbergen

Two-dimensional seismic modelling has been undertaken on an overall progradational succession of sloping mudstone and sandstone units from the Palaeogene of Spitsbergen. The modelling shows that the main geometric features of the section would be resolved at 1500 m depth (with frequencies below 60 Hz, which is common in seismic data at these depths). However, interference between the base and top of lithological units gives lateral amplitude variations and discrepancies between the seismic image and the geometrical model. This is particularly prominent in low-frequency models. Terminations of reflectors, resembling toplap and onlap, may be interpreted, but are artefacts of the general convergence of lithological units present in the geometrical model. The geological section causes a seismic pattern resembling sigmoid progradational seismic facies. Two-dimensional seismic modelling is an efficient tool in bridging the gap between outcrop observations and subsurface data. Hence, modelled outcrop sections are important as reference points' for improved seismic stratigraphic interpretation.     

Postmagmatic cooling and late Cenozoic denudation of the North Patagonian Batholith in the Los Lagos region of Chile, 41°−42°15′S

Zircon and apatite fission track (FT) thermochronology was applied to investigate the history of cooling and denudation of the Southern Andes between 41° and 42°15′S in relation to the late Cenozoic activity of the Liquiñe-Ofqui fault zone (LOFZ) and the northward migration of the Chile Triple Junction (CTJ). Fifty-six zircon and 51 apatite FT ages, plus 37 apatite confined track-length distributions were obtained mainly from plutonic rocks of the North Patagonian Batholith (NPB) in the main Andean Cordillera. Apatite FT ages and track lengths indicate a stage of rapid cooling at ∼5--3 Ma along both sides of the LOFZ, whereas older Miocene ages with monotonous cooling histories were obtained further away from the fault. Zircon FT ages range from Cretaceous to Pliocene, with marked differences observed along and across the LOFZ. Three different types of temperature-time histories characterise the post-magmatic cooling of the NPB in the region: deep intrusions with moderate and steady cooling rates, intrusions in the upper crust with very slow cooling rates following a stage of initial rapid cooling, and rapidly cooled and exhumed shallow intrusions, the latter with younger ages towards the fault zone. The most prominent denudation episode along the LOFZ is late Miocene to Pliocene, coeval with plate tectonic reconstructions for the arrival and subduction of the Chile Rise beneath the Taitao Peninsula.     

Late Quaternary glacial and environmental history of Kongsøya, Svalbard

On western Kongsøya, Svalbard, three coarsening-upwards sequences of marine to littoral sediments, separated by tills, are recognised in sections at ca 50-92 m above present sea level. These sequences show major glaciations in the northern Barents Sea, resulting in substantial glacioisostatic downpressing of Kongsøya. Till fabrics indicate ice movements controlled by the local topography, while glaciotectonic deformations suggest that ice moved from an ice divide northeast of Kongsøya. independent of the local topography. The stratigraphical evidences show two pre-Holocene ice-free periods, when the climate was similar to or slightly warmer than at present. The age of these periods is not clear. It is suggested that the elder ice free interval is older than isotope stage 5e. The younger ice free interval could be of Eemian or Early Weichselian age. The uppermost succession of sublittoral-littoral sediments is of early Holocene age. It relates to the high (≥100 m) postglacial marine limit, dated to approximately 10,000 bp.     

Garnet evolution in pre-Variscan pelitic rocks from the Lake Emosson area, Aiguilles Rouges Massif, Western Alps

Abstract The chemical evolution of garnets from pelitic rocks of probable Palaeozoic age corresponds to a complex metamorphic evolution of the host rocks.
Among the almandine-rich garnets (Alm_60–80), two main types of evolution can be distinguished. Early Mn-rich garnets coexisting with kyanite may be replaced by plagioclase and then, during a late stage, by biotite and/or sillimanite. The second type of evolution corresponds to an overgrowth of Mn-poor late-stage garnet on older Mn-rich garnets which corresponds to a thermal peak with sillimanite-type of metamorphism. This new garnet may appear either as an overgrowth with a strong discontinuity, or as small, new euhedral garnet or as skeletal garnet.
This chemical evolution of garnet corresponds to an early collisional stage of metamorphism (of high pressure type with high Mn values) of probable Ordovician age followed by uplift and a thermal peak (low Mn values) in Devonian times.     

MEASUREMENT OF FROST-INDUCED SNOWMELT RUNOFF IN A FOREST SOIL

Snow interception in a coniferous stand leads to considerable short-range variability in snowcover depth, which in turn affects the water and heat regime of the soil. To study the coupling between snow accumulation, frost penetration, and hydrological response, plot-scale experiments were conducted in a subalpine spruce forest. The stony, sandy–loamy Spodosol was highly permeable and had an organic layer of 5–15 cm thickness. Within two plots, one underneath a tree crown and one in a canopy gap, we measured near-surface runoff, soil temperature, and liquid water content. Snow and frost depths varied more in space than between two winter periods at given locations. Frost penetration was greater near the trunk, where a higher portion of snowmelt water drained downslope close to the surface than in the gap due to frost-induced reduction of infiltration. In both years, the spring snowmelt occurred over two distinct periods. During the first snowmelt, the water percolated primarily through the frozen layer and part of it probably refroze within the frozen layer, thereby raising the total water and ice content. During the second event, near-surface runoff was more pronounced.     

Glacial history and marine environmental change during the last interglacial-glacial cycle, western Spitsbergen, Svalbard

Superimposed glacial and marine sediment exposed in coastal cliffs on Brøggerhalvøya, west Spitsbergen, contain four emergence cycles (episodes D, C, B, and A) that are related to glacial-isostatic depression and subsequent recovery of the crust. Tills are found in episodes C and B; in each case glaciation began with an advance of local glaciers, followed by regional glaciation. The marine transgression following episode C deglaciation reached 70 to 80 m above sea level. Glacial-marine and sublittoral sands within episode C contain a diverse and abundant microfauna requiring marine conditions more favorable than during the Holocene. We define this interval as the Leinstranda Interglacial. Based on the fauna, sedimentology and geochronology (radiocarbon, amino acid racemization, and uranium-series disequilibrium) we conclude that the Leinstranda Interglacial occurred during isotope substage 5e. Episode B deglaciation occurred late in isotope stage 5 (c. 70 ± 10 ka ago), and was followed by a marine transgression to about 50 m above sea level. The associated foraminifera, mollusca, and vertebrate fauna require seasonally ice-free conditions similar to those of the Holocene, but less ameliorated than during the Leinstranda Interglacial. A significant influx of Atlantic water into the Norwegian Sea, augmented by a local insolation maximum late in isotope stage 5, are required to produce shallow-water conditions similar to those of the Holocene. There is no evidence for major glacial activity during the Middle Weichselian (isotope stages 4 and 3), and we conclude that ice margins were not significantly different from those of the late Weichselian, but the record for this interval is scant. The extent of ice at the Late Weichselian maximum was less than during either of the two preceding episodes (B or C). Late Weichselian deglaciation (episode A) began prior to 13 ka B.P. Oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns conducive to large-scale glaciation of western Spitsbergen are not well understood, but those patterns that prevailed during isotope stages 4,3, 2, and 1 did not produce a major glacial advance along this coast.