Interpretation of Nd,Sr and Pb isotope data from Archean migmatites in Lofoten-Vesterålen,Norway

Sm-Nd data for the Archean granulite and amphibolite facies migmatites of Langøy and Hinnøy in Vesterålen are presented which indicate that their protoliths formed ～2.6 AE ago. Rubidium and U loss during a granulite facies metamorphism at ～1.8 AE caused serious disturbance of total-rock U-Pb and Rb-Sr systems. Therefore these systems do not provide any precise age information for the granulite facies migmatites. For the amphibolite facies migmatites of Vesterålen both SmNd, RbSr and PbPb total-rock systems give model ages of ～2.6 AE. The results on both granulite and amphibolite facies rocks are thus in agreement. Previous interpretations based on PbPb data, which indicated an age of 3.41 AE for the Archean terrane of Vesterålen, are not valid.One SmNd model age from the granulite facies migmatites at Moskenesøy in Lofoten indicates that the protoliths of these migmatites formed ～2.0 AE ago and are thus not related to the Vesterålen migmatites.     

Initiation and development of the southern California uplift along its northern margin

Analysis of three first-order leveling lines that traverse the White Wolf fault (site of the 1952 M = 7.7 earthquake), each resurveyed nine times between 1926 and 1974, reveals probable preseismic tilting, major coseismic movements, and a spatial association between these movements and the subsequently recognized southern California uplift. In examining the vertical control record, we have both searched for evidence of systematic errors and excluded from consideration portions of the lines contaminated by subsurface fluid and gas extraction. Movements have been referred to an invariant datum based on the 1926 position of tidal BM 8 in San Pedro, corrected for subsequent eustatic sea-level change.An 8 μrad up-to-the-north preseismic tilt (6 cm/7.5 km) was apparently recorded on two adjacent line segments within 10 km of the 1952 epicenter between 1942 and 1947. It is possible, however, that this tilt was in part caused by extraction-induced subsidence at one of the six releveled benchmarks. Data also show evidence of episodic tilts that are not earthquake related. At the junction of the Garlock and San Andreas faults, for example, an ≥5 μrad up-to-the-north tilt (7.2 cm/≤16 km) took place between Lebec and Grapevine within three months during 1964.Comparison of the 1947 and 1953 surveys, which includes the coseismic interval, shows that the SW-fault end (nearest the epicenter) and the central fault reach sustained four times the uplift recorded at the NE end of the fault (+72 cm SW, +53 cm Central, +16 cm NE). A regional postseismic uplift of 4 cm extended ≥25 km to either side of the fault after the main event, from 1953 to 1956. An interval of relative quiescence followed at least through 1959, in which the elevation change did not exceed ±3 cm.The detailed pattern of aseismic uplift demonstrates that movement proceeded in space—time pulses: one half of the uplift at the SW-fault end and extending southward occurred between 1959 and 1961, one half of the uplift at the NE-fault end and extending eastward occurred between 1961 and 1965, while the central fault reach sustained successive pulses of subsidence, uplift, and collapse (−4 cm, 1953–1960; +7 cm, 1960–1965; −2 cm, 1965–1970). In addition, the number of aftershocks concentrated near the fault ends increased in the NE relative to the SW from 1952 to 1974. These observations suggest that the aseismic uplift may have migrated northeastward from 1959 to 1965 at an approximate rate of 7–16 km/yr.Evidence for a mechanical coupling between the earthquake and the subsequent aseismic uplift is equivocal. At both fault ends, the major NWbounding flexure or tilted front of the southern California uplift is spatially coincident with the coseismic flexure that preceded it. In addition, the postulated migration of vertical deformation is similar to the 1952 seismic event in which the rupture initiated at the SW end of the fault and then propagated to the NE-fault end. However, the spatial distribution of aseismic uplift, nearly identical at both fault ends and to the south and east, and near zero in the central fault reach, is distinctly different from the nonuniform and localized coseismic deformation.     

Sm-Nd isotopic evolution of chondrites

The¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios have been measured in five chondrites and the Juvinas achondrite. The range in¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd for the analyzed meteorite samples is 5.3 ε-units (0.511673–0.511944) normalized to¹⁵⁰Nd/¹⁴²Nd= 0.2096. This is correlated with the variation of 4.2% in¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.1920–0.2000). Much of this spread is due to small-scale heterogeneities in the chondrites and does not appear to reflect the large-scale volumetric averages. It is shown that none of the samples deviate more than 0.5 ε-units from a 4.6-AE reference isochron and define an initial¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratio at 4.6 AE of0.505828 ± 9. Insofar as there is a range of values of¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd there is no unique way of picking solar or average chondritic values. From these data we have selected a new set of self-consistent present-day reference values for CHUR (“chondritic uniform reservoir”) of (¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd)_CHUR⁰ = 0.511836and(¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd)_CHUR⁰ = 0.1967. The new¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd value is 1.6% higher than the previous value assigned to CHUR using the Juvinas data of Lugmair. This will cause a small but significant change in the CHUR evolution curve. Some terrestrial samples of Archean age show clear deviations from the new CHUR curve. If the CHUR curve is representative of undifferentiated mantle then it demonstrates that depleted sources were also tapped early in the Archean. Such a depleted layer may represent the early evolution of the source of present-day mid-ocean ridge basalts. There exists a variety of discrepancies with most earlier meteorite data which includes determination of all Nd isotopes and Sm/Nd ratios. These discrepancies require clarification in order to permit reliable interlaboratory comparisons. The new CHUR curve implies substantial changes in model ages for lunar rocks and thus also in the interpretation of early lunar chronology.     

Late Quaternary growth and decay of the Svalbard/Barents Sea ice sheet and paleoceanographic evolution in the adjacent Arctic Ocean

The paleoceanography in the Nordic seas was characterized by apparently repeated switching on and off of Atlantic water advection. In contrast, a continous influx of Atlantic waters probably occurred along the northern Barents Sea margin during the last 150?ka. Temporary ice-free conditions enhanced by subsurface Atlantic water advection and coastal polynyas accelerated the final ice sheet build-up during glacial times. The virtually complete dissolution of biogenic calcite during interglacial intervals was controlled mainly by CO2-rich bottom waters and oxidation of higher levels of marine organic carbon and indicates intensive Atlantic water inflow and a stable ice margin.     

Arctic sea ice and Eurasian climate: A review

The Arctic plays a fundamental role in the climate system and has shown significant climate change in recent decades,including the Arctic warming and decline of Arctic sea-ice extent and thickness. In contrast to the Arctic warming and reduction of Arctic sea ice, Europe, East Asia and North America have experienced anomalously cold conditions, with record snowfall during recent years. In this paper, we review current understanding of the sea-ice impacts on the Eurasian climate.Paleo, observational and modelling studies are covered to summarize several major themes, including: the variability of Arctic sea ice and its controls; the likely causes and apparent impacts of the Arctic sea-ice decline during the satellite era,as well as past and projected future impacts and trends; the links and feedback mechanisms between the Arctic sea ice and the Arctic Oscillation/North Atlantic Oscillation, the recent Eurasian cooling, winter atmospheric circulation, summer precipitation in East Asia, spring snowfall over Eurasia, East Asian winter monsoon, and midlatitude extreme weather; and the remote climate response(e.g., atmospheric circulation, air temperature) to changes in Arctic sea ice. We conclude with a brief summary and suggestions for future research.     

Solar Flux Emergence Simulations

We simulate the rise through the upper convection zone and emergence through the solar surface of initially uniform, untwisted, horizontal magnetic flux, with the same entropy as the nonmagnetic plasma, that is advected into a domain 48 Mm wide by 20 Mm deep. The magnetic field is advected upward by the diverging upflows and pulled down in the downdrafts, which produces a hierarchy of loop-like structures of increasingly smaller scale as the surface is approached. There are significant differences between the behavior of fields of 10 kG and 20 or 40 kG strength at 20 Mm depth. The 10 kG fields have little effect on the convective flows and show small magnetic-buoyancy effects, reaching the surface in the typical fluid rise time from 20 Mm depth of 32 hours. 20 and 40 kG fields significantly modify the convective flows, leading to long, thin cells of ascending fluid aligned with the magnetic field and their magnetic buoyancy makes them rise to the surface faster than the fluid rise time. The 20 kG field produces a large-scale magnetic loop that as it emerges through the surface leads to the formation of a bipolar, pore-like structure.     

Silicon isotopes in the inner Solar System: Implications for core formation, solar nebular processes and partial melting

We report Si isotopic data on a suite of terrestrial mantle-derived samples, meteorites and a lunar sample. Our data on co-existing mantle minerals, peridotites and basalts demonstrate lack of any resolvable high temperature fractionation during igneous processes. We show that the δ³⁰Si of the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) is identical, within analytical uncertainties, to carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites (CHUR). Based on our data the difference between δ³⁰Si_BSE and δ³⁰Si_CHUR is 0.035 ± 0.035. Whole-rock differentiated meteorites from different parent bodies (Mars, Vesta) and a lunar breccia sample also show similar δ³⁰Si suggesting broad-scale Si isotope homogeneity in the inner Solar System with an average δ²⁹Si = −0.20 ± 0.01 and δ³⁰Si = −0.39 ± 0.02 relative to the NBS28 Si isotope standard.A difference between δ³⁰Si_BSE and δ³⁰Si_CHUR of 0.035, as observed in our study, translates to less than 1.67 wt.% Si in the core considering a continuous accretion model whereas estimates using a batch model are even lower. Within uncertainties (±0.035‰) in the δ³⁰Si difference between the BSE and CHUR, a maximum of 3.84 wt.% Si could be present in the Earth’s core whereas at δ³⁰Si_BSE-δ³⁰Si_CHUR = 0, there is no requirement of Si in the Earth’s core. Such low Si in the core necessitates the presence of other light elements in the core to explain its density deficit. Our data also places constraints on the oxidation state of the Earth’s mantle during core segregation. The uncertainties in estimating the concentration of oxidized Fe in the mantle during the first 90% of accretion arise from uncertainties in the estimates of the equilibrium partition coefficient of silicon between metal and silicate at conditions relevant to core formation. For δ³⁰Si_BSE-δ³⁰Si_CHUR = 0.035 ± 0.035, the concentration of oxidized Fe in the mantle during the first 90% of accretion could be as low as ∼1%. However, at δ³⁰Si_BSE-δ³⁰Si_CHUR = 0, the Si isotope data do not require any change in the mantle concentration of oxidized Fe during accretion from the present day value of 6.26%.     

Place Meanings and Participatory Planning Intentions

Interest in integrating human connections and natural areas into resource management decision making has steadily increased. While efforts to validate place meaning dimensions have identified meanings beyond established place dependence and identity concepts, further research to identify tangible and intangible meanings of nature-based recreation areas is needed. This study sought to examine place meanings as a second-order construct consisting of ecological integrity, economic dependency, place dependence, family identity, community identity, and place identity and to determine the influence of place meanings on participatory planning intentions (PPI). Data were collected from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation area visitors. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that six factors were reliable and valid, representing place meanings as an overarching concept. Structural equation modeling showed a significant association between place meanings and PPI. These findings demonstrated the importance of understanding place meanings that influence behavioral intentions, which is relevant to understanding participation in planning processes.     

Clay minerals as indicators of late quaternary sedimentation constraints in the Mendeleev Rise, Amerasian Basin, Arctic Ocean

The results of study of six cores taken from different morphostructural zones in the Mendeleev Ridge area are discussed. Average contents of minerals of the illite group, chlorite, kaolinite, and smectite are about 60, 21, 12, and 5%, respectively. It was found that fluctuations of minerals along the section correlate with variations in sedimentation constraints in the Late Quaternary. Peaks of kaolinite usually coincide with increased contents of the sand fraction, probably, due to its delivery by icebergs. In contrast, illite shows good correlation with the pelite fraction, testifying to its transport mainly by ices and currents. Minerals of the chlorite and smectite groups in the studied cores are less informative.