Variable near-surface deformation along the Commerce segment of the Commerce geophysical lineament, southeast Missouri to southern Illinois, USA

Recent studies have demonstrated a plausible link between surface and near-surface tectonic features and the vertical projection of the Commerce geophysical lineament (CGL). The CGL is a 5- to 10-km-wide zone of basement magnetic and gravity anomalies traceable for more than 600 km, extending from Arkansas through southeast Missouri and southern Illinois and into Indiana. Twelve kilometers of high-resolution seismic reflection data, collected at four sites along a 175-km segment of the CGL projection, are interpreted to show varying amounts of deformation involving Tertiary and some Quaternary sediments. Some of the locally anomalous geomorphic features in the northern Mississippi embayment region (i.e., paleoliquefaction features, anomalous directional changes in stream channels, and areas of linear bluff escarpments) overlying the CGL can be correlated with specific faults and/or narrow zones of deformed (faulted and folded) strata that are imaged on high-resolution seismic reflection data. There is an observable change in near-surface deformation style and complexity progressing from the southwest to the northeast along the trace of the CGL. The seismic reflection data collaborate mapping evidence which suggests that this region has undergone a complex history of deformation, some of which is documented to be as young as Quaternary, during multiple episodes of reactivation under varying stress fields. This work, along with that of other studies presented in this volume, points to the existence of at least one major crustal feature outside the currently defined zone of seismic activity (New Madrid Seismic Zone) that should be considered as a significant potential source zone for seismogenic activity within the midcontinent region of the United States.     

Detrital footprint of the Mozambique ocean: U–Pb SHRIMP and Pb evaporation zircon geochronology of metasedimentary gneisses in eastern Madagascar

The southern East African Orogen is a collisional belt where the identification of major suture zones has proved elusive. In this study, we apply U–Pb isotopic techniques to date detrital zircons from a key part of the East African Orogen, analyse their possible source region and discuss how this information can help in unravelling the orogen.U–Pb sensitive high-mass resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) and Pb evaporation analyses of detrital zircons from metasedimentary rocks in eastern Madagascar reveal that: (1) the protoliths of many of these rocks were deposited between 800 and 550 Ma; and (2) these rocks are sourced from regions with rocks that date back to over 3400 Ma, with dominant age populations of 3200–3000, 2650, 2500 and 800–700 Ma.The Dharwar Craton of southern India is a potential source region for these sediments, as here rocks date back to over 3400 Ma and include abundant gneissic rocks with protoliths older than 3000 Ma, sedimentary rocks deposited at 3000–2600 Ma and granitoids that crystallised at 2513–2552 Ma. The 800–700 Ma zircons could potentially be sourced from elsewhere in India or from the Antananarivo Block of central Madagascar in the latter stages of closure of the Mozambique Ocean. The region of East Africa adjacent to Madagascar in Gondwana reconstructions (the Tanzania craton) is rejected as a potential source as there are no known rocks here older than 3000 Ma, and no detrital grains in our samples sourced from Mesoproterozoic and early Neoproterozoic rocks that are common throughout central east Africa. In contrast, coeval sediments 200 km west, in the Itremo sheet of central Madagascar, have detrital zircon age profiles consistent with a central East African source, suggesting that two late Neoproterozoic provenance fronts pass through east Madagascar at approximately the position of the Betsimisaraka suture. These observations support an interpretation that the Betsimisaraka suture separates rocks that were derived from different locations within, or at the margins of, the Mozambique Ocean basin and therefore, that the suture is the site of subduction of a strand of Mozambique Ocean crust.     

Microfabric analysis of Mn-carbonate laminae deposition and Mn-sulfide formation in the Gotland Deep, Baltic Sea

The manganese carbonate deposits of the anoxic Littorina sediments of the Gotland Deep have been commonly related to the periodic renewal of deep water by inflowing saline water from the North Sea. The use of scanning electron microscopy-based techniques allows identification of small-scale sedimentary and geochemical features associated with Mn-carbonate laminae, which has significant implications for models of Mn-carbonate formation. Varves occurring in the Littorina sequence contain up to four laminae that may be placed in a seasonal cycle, and kutnahorite laminae occur within varves only as a winter-early spring deposit. This kutnahorite laminae seasonality is in agreement with the seasonal distribution of major Baltic inflow events recorded in historical records, and a direct causal link between inflows and kutnahorite deposition is implied. Benthic foraminifera tests are found to be heavily encrusted in kutnahorite, implying that benthic recolonization during oxidation events occurs concurrently with kutnahorite formation. The relatively common occurrence of small (50 to 100 μm) hexagonal γ-Mn-sulfide pseudomorphs, associated with 13% of kutnahorite laminae studied, is reported in Gotland Deep sediments for the first time. Although Mn-sulfide crystals are not usually preserved in the sediment, the discovery of Mn-sulfide pseudomorphs suggests that initial formation of Mn-sulfide in the Gotland Deep may occur much more commonly during the process of kutnahorite formation than previous reports of Mn-sulfide occurrence have implied.     

Improving and Extending Home Range and Habitat Analysis by Integration with a Geographic Information System

The minimum convex polygon and fixed kernel techniques for analysing animal home range (HR), and the Schoener index independence test, are integrated as functions into the ArcView GIS. The ArcView Spatial Analyst, 3DAnalyst, SmartImage, Movement and Xtools extensions are used, as is the Avenue customization language. HR is calculated in surface area and presented over a virtual model of the landscape. The efficiency of HR analysis, interpretation and understanding is greatly improved within a GIS, eliminating the need to engage in the traditional multi-procedural approach using external packages. A case study is undertaken using observational data from four eastern grey kangaroos ( Macropus giganteus ). The GIS, through use of query and partitioning functionality, enables a deeper understanding of the parameters influencing each HR estimate. Geo-referenced multiple data overlay is shown to significantly enhance comparison of estimates of more than one animal and the identification of error.     

Time-scales of assembly and thermal history of a composite felsic pluton: constraints from the Emerald Lake area, northern Canadian Cordillera, Yukon

Knowledge of the time-scales of emplacement and thermal history during assembly of composite felsic plutons in the shallow crust are critical to deciphering the processes of crustal growth and magma chamber development. Detailed petrological and chemical study of the mid-Cretaceous, composite Emerald Lake pluton, from the northern Canadian Cordillera, Yukon Territory, coupled with U–Pb and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology, indicates that this pluton was intruded as a series of magmatic pulses. Intrusion of these pulses produced a strong petrological zonation from augite syenite, hornblende quartz syenite and monzonite, to biotite granite. Our data further indicate that multiple phases were emplaced and cooled to below the mineral closure temperatures over a time-scale on the order of the resolution of the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar technique (1 Myr), and that emplacement occurred at 94.3 Ma. Simple thermal modelling and heat conduction calculations were used to further constrain the temporal relationships within the intrusion. These calculations are consistent with the geochronology and show that emplacement and cooling were complete in less than 100 kyr and probably 70±5 kyr. These results demonstrate that production, transport and emplacement of the different phases of the Emerald Lake pluton occurred essentially simultaneously, and that these processes must also have been closely related in time and space. By analogy, these results provide insights into the assembly and petrogenesis of other complex intrusions and ultimately lead to an understanding of the processes involved in crustal development.     

Insights into river bank erosion processes derived from analysis of negative erosion‐pin recordings: observations from three recent UK studies

Recent studies of river bank erosion in three catchments in the UK have been characterized by the persistent occurrence of negative erosion‐pin results. The cause of these negative recordings is considered with reference to field data from the Afon Trannon, Nant Tanllwyth and River Arrow, and to a laboratory study of freeze–thaw and desiccation processes. It seems that there is potential for, and in some cases evidence of, a number of different circumstances that generate negative results, but none of these alone is sufficient to explain all incidents. Factors considered include: deposition of sediment during high flows; soil fall from the upper parts of the bank on to lower erosion pins; loosening of the soil surface and expansion/contraction of the soil mass with fluctuations in temperature and moisture content; movement of the erosion‐pin within the bank and human interference. Each has its own implications for the use of erosion pins. Further issues arise when including negative data in subsequent data analysis, and it is demonstrated that attempts to correlate erosion rates with hydro‐meteorological data in order to ascertain causes of erosion will be influenced by the way in which negative data are handled. It is thus suggested that any study of river bank erosion using erosion pins should state whether or not negative data were obtained, and if so, how they were included in data analysis. Failure to include this information could lead to comparison of mean erosion rates that reflect bank processes very differently. The studies presented here offer a clear example of the value of ‘anomalous’ field data: results which do not appear to fit expected patterns can reveal as much about the processes in operation as those that do. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Extraction of hysteretic properties of seismically isolated bridges from quick‐release field tests

A simple procedure for identifying hysteretic properties of seismically isolated bridges from full‐scale quick‐release tests is presented in this paper. An analytical solution for the quick‐release response of a SDOF system with a bilinear spring is derived. Based on the solution, some characteristics of such systems are obtained. A time domain optimization method is employed to identify the hysteretic properties of the lead–rubber bearings installed in seismically isolated bridges. The total damping effects of the isolation system are expressed as a combination of the rate‐independent (hysteretic) damping and the linear viscous damping. The Menegotto–Pinto (MP) model and bilinear model are used to represent the force–displacement relation of the lead–rubber bearings. In both the longitudinal and transverse directions the bridges have been idealized as single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems. Time histories recorded from the field quick‐release tests on two bridges are used for the examples presented herein. The hysteretic loops of the isolators obtained from laboratory tests are compared with those obtained using the optimization method, and they agree well. In conclusion, the procedure shown in this paper can be used to identify the essential in situ hysteretic characteristics of isolation bearings from quick‐release field testing. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards an integrated environmental assessment for wetland and catchment management

This paper develops a decision support system for evaluation of wetland ecosystem management strategy and examines its, so far partial, application in a case study of an important complex coastal wetland known as the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, in the east of England, UK. Most managed ecosystems are complex and often poorly understood hierarchically organized systems. Capturing the range of relevant impacts on natural and human systems under different management options will be a formidable challenge. Biodiversity has a hierarchical structure which ranges from the ecosystem and landscape level, through the community level and down to the population and genetic level. There is a need to develop methodologies for the practicable detection of ecosystem change, as well as the evaluation of different ecological functions. What is also required is a set of indicators (environmental, social and economic) which facilitate the detection of change in ecosystems suffering stress and shock and highlight possible drivers of the change process. A hierarchical classification of ecological indicators of sustainability would need to take into account existing interactions between different organization levels, from species to ecosystems. Effects of environmental stress are expressed in different ways at different levels of biological organization and effects at one level can be expected to impact other levels, often in unpredictable ways. The management strategy, evaluation methodologies and indicators adopted should also assess on sustainability grounds whether any given management option is supporting, or reducing, the diversity of functions which are providing stakeholders with the welfare benefits they require.     

Mars landscape evolution: influence of stratigraphy on geomorphology in the north polar region

Lithology and physical properties of strata exposed at the Earth's surface have direct influence on the erosion and geomorphic expression of landforms. While this is well known on our planet, examples on Mars are just coming to light among the tens of thousands of airphoto-quality images (resolutions 1.5–12 m/pixel) acquired since 1997 by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC). Specific examples occur among martian north polar layered materials, which MOC images reveal are divided into two distinct stratigraphic units: a lower, dark-toned layered unit and a younger, upper, lighter-toned layered unit. The lower unit is less resistant to wind erosion than the upper unit. The upper unit most likely consists of stratified dust and ice, while the lower unit contains abundant, poorly cemented sand. Sand is more easily mobilized by wind than dust; the lower resistance to erosion of the lower unit results from the presence of sand. Where wind erosion in polar troughs has penetrated to the lower unit, geomorphic change has proceeded more rapidly: sand has been liberated from the lower unit, and arcuate scarps have formed as the upper unit has been undermined. Wind erosion of the lower unit thus influences the geomorphology of the north polar region; this result likely explains the genesis of the large polar trough, Chasma Boreale, and the relations between dunes and arcuate scarps that have puzzled investigators for nearly three decades. The properties of the stratigraphic units suggest that the upper limit for the amount of water contained in the north polar layered materials may be 30–50% less than previously estimated.