Hydrogeologic delineation of habitats for endangered species: the Comal Springs/River System

 We delineate 18 distinct habitats for the endangered fountain darter in the Comal Springs/River system based upon a combination of vegetative, geologic, and hydrologic criteria. Comal Springs are the largest natural discharge from the Edwards aquifer of central Texas; they issue along faults which penetrate the confined portion of the aquifer. The springs are the head of the Comal River which is an important economic and recreational resource to the local community. The spring/river system is the home of the fountain darter, a federally listed endangered species. Previous studies of this system were on a large scale and lacked detail necessary for characterization. The fountain darter and other fauna in the Comal Springs/River system are threatened by the possibility of diminished flows and the concomitant habitat change. The 18 habitats are defined by the dominant species of vegetation, the substrate, and the flow conditions. Human alterations and spring discharge control the morphology of the river and the substrates. Stream velocities determined substrate conditions and, thus indirectly, the distribution of vegetation and habitats. In this system, hydrochemical parameters were uniform as were the soils adjacent to the stream; these factors were not important to the habitat delineation. The range of stream velocities necessary to maintain the habitats can be estimated with the Hjulstrom diagram. The darters were associated with a number of these habitats. We surmise that significant alteration of the system's habitats will occur if discharge conditions change. Received: 22 January 1996 · Accepted: 4 March 1996     

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.     

Dynamics of the Late Weichselian ice sheet on Svalbard inferred from high-resolution sea-floor morphology

High-resolution bathymetric mapping of the fjords and continental shelf around the Svalbard archipelago shows an extensive pattern of large- and medium-scale submarine landforms formed by differences in ice-flow regimes. Mega-scale glacial lineations, lateral moraines, transverse ridges and glaciotectonic features are superimposed on the large-scale fjord, shelf and cross-shelf trough morphology of the margin. From these landforms we have inferred the flow and dynamics of the last ice sheet on Svalbard. Major fjords and their adjacent cross-shelf troughs have been identified as the main routes for ice streams draining the ice sheet. On the west coast of Svalbard major pathways existed along Bellsund, Isfjorden and Kongsfjorden. Along the northern Svalbard margin most of the ice drained through the Woodfjorden cross-shelf trough and Wijdefjorden-Hinlopen strait. Extensive areas with trough-parallel glacial lineations in the cross-shelf troughs suggest fast ice flow by palaeo-ice streams. Lateral ice-stream moraines, several tens of kilometres in length, have been mapped along the margins of some of the cross-shelf troughs, identifying the border zone between fast ice flow and stagnant or slow-flowing ice on intervening banks. Several general implications can be drawn from the interpretation of the glacier-derived submarine landforms around Svalbard. Firstly, the Late Weichselian ice sheet was partitioned into fast-flowing ice streams separated by slower moving ice. Secondly, our submarine morphological evidence supports earlier sedimentological, stratigraphical and chronological studies in implying that a large ice sheet reached the shelf edge around almost all of western and northern Svalbard in the Late Weichselian. The idea of a relatively restricted ice sheet over Svalbard, with ice-free conditions in some areas of the west coast at the Last Glacial Maximum, is therefore unlikely to be correct. Thirdly, the ice sheet appears to have retreated more rapidly from the cross-shelf troughs and outer fjords, although sometimes this occurred in a punctuated pattern indicated by grounding-zone wedges, and more slowly from the intervening shallower banks. In addition, a grounding zone for the ice sheet has been mapped at the shelf edge 10-20 km off the northwest coast of Svalbard, suggesting that ice did not reach the adjacent Yermak Plateau during the Late Weichselian.     

The Geochemistry of the Igneous Rock Suite of St Martin, Northern Lesser Antilles

The island of St Martin lies inthe inactive part of the northernLesser Antilles island arc. The island consists of volcaniclasticsediments overlain and intruded by volcanic and plutonic rocks,which are in turn overlain by Miocene limestones. The extrusiveand intrusive rock suites are closely spaced in time (around27 Ma) although field relations suggest that the volcanic rockswere intruded by the plutons. Pluton emplacement gave rise tothermal metamorphism of the volcanic and volcaniclastic carapace,and to widespread hydrothermal alteration throughout the island. Geochemically, the igneous rocks of St Martin form a mildlytholeiitic to calc-alkaline typical subduction-related suite.The extrusive rocks are basalts to andesites, and the magmasappear to have differentiated largely through fractional crystallizationof plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and olivine. The REE displayflat chondrite-normalized patterns, with no significant Eu anomalydespite convincing evidence for plagioclase fractionation. Theplutonic rocks are more silica-rich diorites to granites, containingplagioclase, amphibole, and, less commonly, K-feldspar, sphene,zircon, and pyroxene. REE patterns are slightly LREE enrichedbut display distinct negative Eu anomalies. The fractionationof amphibole and accessory phases may have been important inthe evolution of the plutonic suite, as REE contents do notincrease overall with differentiation. Sr and Nd isotopic ratios of the St Martin suite form restrictedranges which vary little with differentiation, or between theextrusive and intrusive suiteSi ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are slightlyhigher and ¹⁴³Nd/^l44Nd slightly lower than for volcanic rocksuites from the currently active northern Lesser Antilles volcanicarc. Some of the high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are explained in termsof hydrothermal alteration involving a high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr fluid,associated with pluton emplacement. Pb isotope ratios are similarto those of the currently active northern Lesser Antilles arc,and correlate with SiO². Such correlations, together with largeranges of incompatible (and immobile) trace element ratios suggestthat open-system differentiation occurred during the evolutionof the St Martin suite. The composition of magma sources in the northern Lesser Antillesarc apparently has not changed significantly over the last 30Ma, despite a westward shift in the locus of arc magmatism.Addition of a slab-derived fluid to the mantle wedge is responsiblefor the high relative abundances of large ion lithophile elements(LILE) and enrichment in radiogenic Pb and Sr relative to mid-oceanridge basalt (MORB). Subsequent differentiation may involveassimilation of the arc basement in St Martin, which is believedto consist of Cretaceous to early Tertiary arc material, similarto that encountered in the Greater Antilles. ^*Present address: Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721     

Holocene glacial advances and moraine formation at Albrechtbreen, Edgeøya, Svalbard

Terrace remnants close to the marine limit as well as two separate moraine ridges are observed in front of the glacier Albrechtbreen. The stacking of marine sediments from an original elevation of ca. 60–80 m a.s.l. into the Little Ice Age Moraine gives evidence for a considerably smaller glacier following the early Holocene deglaciation compared to that of the present. The outer moraine is composed of glacial diamicton. Radiocarbon datings of whale ribs, shell fragments and a log taken from sediment in front of Albrechtbreen indicate that the initial deglaciation occurred before 9, 400 B.P. and that the outer moraine was formed during a younger Holocene glacial advance. Lithological differences between the two moraine ridges suggest that the first ice advance occurred during a period with limited permafrost, whereas permafrost was more extensive during the Little Ice Age.     

Effective methods for assessing ecological quality in intertidal soft-sediment habitats

Impacts of anthropogenic pollution on marine ecosystems are being addressed by legislation to protect and restore coastal and transitional waters. A range of biological measures have been investigated for their ability to indicate anthropogenic disturbance in subtidal soft-sediment habitats, but little work to date has focussed in intertidal habitats. This study investigated the sensitivity of communities, individual taxa, diversity indices and biotic indices to nutrient and organic enrichment in intertidal soft-sediment habitats. Variation in macrofaunal communities was more strongly associated with anthropogenic stressors than with natural environmental variation. Two multimetric indices, M-AMBI and IQI, were more closely associated with nutrient and organic pollution than the AMBI and ITI indices. Intertidal monitoring based on existing monitoring tools offers a cost effective alternative to subtidal monitoring and has potential to form the basis for an ecosystem level approach.     

Late Paleozoic tectonic evolution in northern Korean Peninsula

Since Late Proterozoic era, the Korean Peninsula has been evolved into a state with relatively stable regions and orogenic beltswhich were developed differently each other. The Late Paleozoic (Late Carboniferous－Early Triassic) sediments are well developed in the Korean Peninsula, and called the Pyongan System. The Pyongan System from Late Carboniferous to Lower Triassic is distributed in the Pyongnan and Hyesan-Riwon Basins, and Rangrim Massif, and divided into Hongjom (C2 ) , Ripsok (C2 ) , Sadong (C2-P1 ) , Kobangsan and Rokam ( Taezhawon) ( P2-T1 ) sequences. The sediments of the Tumangang Orogenic Belt are called Tuman System which is composed of the Amgi Series, consisting of clastic formation with mafic effusive material, overlaid by the Kyeryongsan Series, consisting mainly of mafic volcano sediments. The Songsang Series which rests on the Kyeryongsan Series mainly consists of clastic formation with minor felsic effusive material. In the Tuman- gang Orogenic Belt the tectonic movement, called Tumangang Tectonic Movement, occurred in the Lower Permian－Lower Triassic.     

Animating ground water levels with Excel

This note describes the use of Microsoft Excel macros (programs written in Excel's internal language, Visual Basic for Applications) to create simple onscreen animations of transient ground water data within Excel. Compared to many specialized visualization software packages, the use of Excel macros is much cheaper, much simpler, and can rapidly be learned. The Excel macro can also be used to create individual GIF files for each animation frame. This series of frames can then be used to create an AVI video file using any of a number of graphics packages, such as Corel PhotoPaint. The technique is demonstrated through a macro that animates changes in the elevation of a water table along a transect over several years.