The Mordor Alkaline Igneous Complex,Central Australia: PGE-enriched disseminated sulfide layers in cumulates from a lamprophyric magma

The Mordor Alkaline Igneous Complex (MAIC) is a composite intrusion comprising a body of syenite and a funnel-shaped layered mafic–ultramafic intrusion of lamprophyric parentage, the Mordor Mafic–Ultramafic Intrusion or MMUI. The MMUI is highly unusual among intrusions of lamprophyric or potassic parentage in containing primary magmatic platinum-group element (PGE)-enriched sulfides. The MMUI sequence consists largely of phlogopite-rich pyroxenitic cumulates, with an inward dipping conformable layer of olivine-bearing cumulates divisible into a number of cyclic units. Stratiform-disseminated sulfide accumulations are of two types: disseminated layers at the base of cyclic units, with relatively high PGE tenors; and patchy PGE-poor disseminations within magnetite-bearing upper parts of cyclic units. Sulfide-enriched layers at cycle bases contain anomalous platinum group element contents with grades up to 1.5 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 1-m intervals, returning to background values of low parts per billion (ppb) on a meter scale. They correspond to reversals in normal fractionation trends and are interpreted as the result of new magma influxes into a continuously replenished magma chamber. Basal layers have decoupled Cu and PGE peaks reflecting increasing PGE tenors up-section, due to increasing R factors during the replenishment episode, or progressive mixing of between resident PGE-poor magma and more PGE-enriched replenishing magma. The presence of PGE enriched sulfides in cumulates from a lamprophyric magma implies that low-degree partial melts do not necessarily leave sulfides and PGEs in the mantle restite during partial melting. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Giant submarine landslide grooves in the Neoproterozoic/Lower Cambrian Phe Formation, northwest Himalaya: Mechanisms of formation and palaeogeographic implications

Giant groove casts have been found in the upper Proterozoic to Lower Cambrian Phe Formation (Haimanta Group), a siliciclastic sandstone/shale succession in the Tethyan Zone of the Higher Himalaya tectonic unit. The grooves are among the largest linear erosion structures related to submarine mass-movements observed in the geologic record. They are up to 4 m wide, about 0.2 m deep and can be traced for more than 35 m without changing their character. The grooves are straight, subparallel to cross-cutting striations with shallow semi-circular cross-sections and well-defined superimposed minor ridges and grooves. Groove casts exist on the soles of several sandstone beds within a 73 m thick logged section, commonly associated with flute casts. Their characteristics were compared with several other types of ancient and modern submarine linear erosion structures. A sand-rich, non-channelized basin floor depositional environment is inferred from the lithofacies, the combination of sedimentary structures, the lack of coarse-grained pebbly facies, the lateral continuity of beds, and the lack of channel structures. The grooves probably formed by laminar debris flows/concentrated density flows dragging blocks of already lithified sediment across the basin floor. When the bedding is structurally rotated back to horizontal, the groove casts show consistent North–South oriented palaeocurrent trends, with South-directed palaeocurrent directions indicated by flute casts. These palaeocurrent orientations contrast with previous palaeogeographic reconstructions of this area, which propose sediment delivery from the South. We therefore suggest a new “double provenance” model for the spatial relationship of late Proterozoic to Early Cambrian strata of the Himalaya, in which Lesser and Tethyan Himalayan age-equivalent sediment was deposited in a connected basin, where the former received detritus from the South, and the latter from a hitherto unknown source in the North. One possible candidate for this northern source is the South China Block and an associated Neoproterozoic volcanic arc.     

Development of the mixed conifer forest in northern New Mexico and its relationship to Holocene environmental change

Chihuahueños Bog (2925 m) in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico contains one of the few records of late-glacial and postglacial development of the mixed conifer forest in southwestern North America. The Chihuahueños Bog record extends to over 15,000 cal yr BP. An Artemisia steppe, then an open Picea woodland grew around a small pond until ca. 11,700 cal yr BP when Pinus ponderosa became established. C/N ratios, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values indicate both terrestrial and aquatic organic matter was incorporated into the sediment. Higher percentages of aquatic algae and elevated C/N ratios indicate higher lake levels at the opening of the Holocene, but a wetland developed subsequently as climate warmed. From ca. 8500 to 6400 cal yr BP the pond desiccated in what must have been the driest period of the Holocene there. C/N ratios declined to their lowest Holocene levels, indicating intense decomposition in the sediment. Wetter conditions returned after 6400 cal yr BP, with conversion of the site to a sedge bog as groundwater levels rose. Higher charcoal influx rates after 6400 cal yr BP probably result from greater biomass production rates. Only minor shifts in the overstory species occurred during the Holocene, suggesting that mixed conifer forest dominated throughout the record.     

High resolution paleoenvironmental and chronological investigations of Norse landnám at Tasiusaq, Eastern Settlement, Greenland

High-resolution paleoenvironmental data from a peat profile with a small pollen source area are used to reconstruct the impacts of landnám on vegetation and soils at a Norse farm complex (∅2 at Tasiusaq) comprising two farms in the Eastern Settlement of Greenland. Analyses include the AMS ¹⁴C dating of plant macrofossil samples and the use of Bayesian radiocarbon calibration to construct improved age-depth models for Norse cultural horizons. The onset of a regional landnám may be indicated by the clearance of Betula pubescens woodland immediately prior to local settlement. The latter is dated to AD 950-1020 (2σ) and is characterised by possible burning of Betula glandulosa scrub to provide grassland pasture for domestic stock. Clearance and grazing resulted in accelerated levels of soil erosion at a westerly farm. This was followed by an easterly migration of settlement and agriculture. Site constraints prevent an assessment of the demise of the easterly farm, but pressures of overgrazing and land degradation may have been the major factors responsible for the abandonment of the earlier farm.     

Age estimates of coastal terraces in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and their tectonic implications

The great Indian Ocean earthquake of December 26, 2004 caused significant vertical changes in its rupture zone. About 800 km of the rupture is along the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which forms the outer arc ridge of the subduction zone. Coseismic deformation along the exposed land could be observed as uplift/subsidence. Here we analyze the morphological features along the coast of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in an effort to reconstruct the past tectonics, taking cues from the coseismic effects. We obtained radiocarbon dates from coastal terraces of the island belt and used them to compute uplift rates, which vary from 1.33 mm yr^− 1 in the Little Andaman to 2.80 mm yr^− 1 in South Andaman and 2.45 mm yr^− 1 in the North Andaman. Our radiocarbon dates converge on  600 yr and  1000 yr old coastal uplifts, which we attribute to the level changes due to two major previous subduction earthquakes in the region.     

Structural analysis of the gravity field over the American-Antarctic Ridge

This paper discusses the structure of the American-Antarctic Ridge based on analysis of the gravity field. Analysis of the gravity field in different reductions and its transforms allowed the revelation of zonal, regional, and local specific features in the field’s structure and their correlation with contemporary notions on the tectonic zoning of the American-Antarctic Ridge and adjacent regions. The lineament structures of the field allowed locating the areas of spreading zones and principal transform and fracture zones. Comparison between the location of these structural features and the interpretation results of shipboard magnetic measurements confirmed the reliability of the received data. Results of the performed investigations presented in the form of structural schemes are a basis for constructing a model of the tectonosphere under the American-Antarctic Ridge.     

The Finnmarkian Orogeny revisited: An isotopic investigation in eastern Finnmark, Arctic Norway

The Scandinavian Caledonides have been viewed as resulting from either a single Silurian (i.e. Scandian) event or from polycyclic orogenies involving several collisions on the margin of Baltica. Early studies of the Kalak Nappe Complex (KNC) in Finnmark, Arctic Norway, led to the hypothesis of an Early Cambrian-Early Ordovician (520-480 Ma) Finnmarkian Orogeny, though the nature of this tectonic event remains enigmatic. In this contribution we have employed in situ UV laser ablation Ar-Ar dating of fine-grained phyllite and schist from the eastern Caledonides of Arctic Norway to investigate the presence of pre-Scandian tectonometamorphic events. U-Th-Pb detrital zircon and whole rock Sm-Nd analyses have been used to test the regional stratigraphic correlations of these metasedimentary rocks. These results indicate that the Berlevåg Formation within the Tanafjord Nappe, previously assumed to be part of the KNC, was deposited after 1872 Ma and prior to a low temperature hydrothermal event at 555 ± 15 Ma. It has a likely provenance on the Baltica continent, lacks any Grenville-Sveconorwegian detrital zircons, and thus cannot be part of the KNC which contains abundant detritus in this age range. Instead the Berlevåg Formation is interpreted as part of the Laksefjord Nappe Complex, which structurally underlies the KNC. Laser-ablation argon-argon dating also shows that late Caledonian (i.e. Scandian) tectonometamorphism affected both the KNC and its immediate footwall at c. 425 ± 15 Ma. This is corroborated by a step-heating argon-argon muscovite age of 424 ± 3 Ma which is interpreted as dating cooling. However, within two samples from the KNC, an earlier (Middle-Late Cambrian) metamorphic event is also recorded. A biotite-grade schist yielded an Ar-Ar inverse isochron age of 506 ± 17 Ma from whole rock surfaces, in which the mineral domains are too fine-grained to date individually. An early generation of muscovite from a coarser-grained amphibolite-facies sample yielded an inverse isochron of 498 ± 13 Ma. Both isochron ages have atmospheric argon intercept values. Previous studies have documented similar Cambrian ages in the Caledonian nappes below the KNC. These results suggest correlative tectonometamorphic events in the eastern KNC and its footwall at c. 500 Ma. This Cambrian event may reflect the arrival of the Kalak Nappe Complex as a previously constructed exotic mobile belt onto the margin of Baltica. Combined with recent studies from the western Kalak Nappe Complex, the results do not support the traditional constraint on the Finnmarkian Orogeny sensu stricto. However they vindicate classic tectonic models involving a Cambrian accretion event.     

Thermal stability of ladderane lipids as determined by hydrous pyrolysis

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) has been recognized as a major process resulting in loss of fixed inorganic nitrogen in the marine environment. Ladderane lipids, membrane lipids unique to anammox bacteria, have been used as markers for the detection of anammox in marine settings. However, the fate of ladderane lipids after sediment burial and maturation is unknown. In this study, anammox bacterial cell material was artificially matured by hydrous pyrolysis at constant temperatures ranging from 120 to 365 °C for 72 h to study the stability of ladderane lipids during progressive dia- and catagenesis. HPLC-MS/MS analysis revealed that structural alterations of ladderane lipids already occurred at 120 °C. At temperatures >140 °C, ladderane lipids were absent and only more thermally stable products could be detected, i.e., ladderane derivatives in which some of the cyclobutane rings were opened. These diagenetic products of ladderane lipids were still detectable up to temperatures of 260 °C using GC-MS. Thus, ladderane lipids are unlikely to occur in ancient sediments and sedimentary rocks, but specific diagenetic products of ladderane lipids will likely be present in sediments and sedimentary rocks of relatively low maturity (i.e., C₃₁ hopane 22S/(22S + 22R) ratio <0.2 or ββ/(αβ + βα + ββ) ratio of >0.5).