Chemical and physical studies of type 3 chondrites—VI: Siderophile elements in ordinary chondrites

The abundances of Fe, Ni, Co, Au, Ir, Ga, As and Mg have been determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis in 38 type 3 ordinary chondrites (10 of which may be paired) and 15 equilibrated chondrites. Classification of type 3 ordinary chondrites into the H, L and LL classes using oxygen isotopes and parameters which reflect oxidation state (Fa and Fs in the olivine and pyroxene and Co in kamacite) is difficult or impossible. Bulk compositional parameters, based on the equilibrated chondrites, have therefore been used to classify the type 3 chondrites. The distribution of the type 3 ordinary chondrites over the classes is very different from that of the equilibrated chondrites, the LL chondrites being more heavily represented. The type 3 ordinary chondrites contain 5 to 15 percent lower abundances of siderophile elements and a compilation of the present data and literature data indicates a small, systematic decrease in siderophile element concentration with decreasing petrologic type. The type 3 ordinary chondrites have, like the equilibrated ordinary chondrites, suffered a fractionation of their siderophile elements, but the loss of Ni in comparison with Au and Ir is greater for the type 3 chondrites. These siderophile element trends were established at the nebula phase of chondritic history and the co-variation with petrologic type implies onion-shell structures for the ordinary chondrite parent bodies. It is also clear that the relationship between the type 3 and the equilibrated ordinary chondrites involves more than simple, closed-system metamorphism.     

The cost of meeting increased cooling-water demands for CO2 capture and storage utilizing non-traditional waters from geologic saline formations

Deep (> ～800 m) saline water-bearing formations in the United States have substantial pore volume that is targeted for storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and the associated saline water can be extracted to increase CO₂ storage efficiency, manage pressure build up, and create a new water source that, once treated, can be used for power-plant cooling or other purposes. Extraction, treatment and disposal costs of saline formation water to meet added water demands from CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) are discussed. This underutilized water source may be important in meeting new water demand associated with CCS. For a representative natural gas combined-cycle (NGCC) power plant, simultaneous extraction of brine from the storage formation could provide enough water to meet all CCS-related cooling demands for 177 out of the 185 (96 %) saline formations analyzed in this study. Calculated total cost of water extraction, treatment and disposal is less than 4.00 US Dollars (USD) m^?3 for 93 % of the 185 formations considered. In 90 % of 185 formations, treated water costs are less than 10.00 USD tonne^?1 of CO₂ injected. On average, this represents approximately 6 % of the total CO₂ capture and injection costs for the NGCC scenario.     

A comparison of the sedimentary records of the 1960 and 2010 great Chilean earthquakes in 17 lakes: Implications for quantitative lacustrine palaeoseismology

Seismically‐induced event deposits embedded in the sedimentary infill of lacustrine basins are highly useful for palaeoseismic reconstructions. Recent, well‐documented, great megathrust earthquakes provide an ideal opportunity to calibrate seismically‐induced event deposits for lakes with different characteristics and located in different settings. This study used 107 short sediment cores to investigate the sedimentary impact of the 1960 M_w 9·5 Valdivia and the 2010 M_w 8·8 Maule earthquakes in 17 lakes in South‐Central Chile (i.e. lakes Negra, Lo Encañado, Aculeo, Vichuquén, Laja, Villarrica, Calafquén, Pullinque, Pellaifa, Panguipulli, Neltume, Riñihue, Ranco, Maihue, Puyehue, Rupanco and Llanquihue). A combination of image analysis, magnetic susceptibility and grain‐size analysis allows identification of five types of seismically‐induced event deposits: (i) mass‐transport deposits; (ii) in situ deformations; (iii) lacustrine turbidites with a composition similar to the hemipelagic background sediments (lacustrine turbidites type 1); (iv) lacustrine turbidites with a composition different from the background sediments (lacustrine turbidites type 2) and (v) megaturbidites. These seismically‐induced event deposits were compared to local seismic intensities of the causative earthquakes, eyewitness reports, post‐earthquake observations, and vegetation and geomorphology of the catchment and the lake. Megaturbidites occur where lake seiches took place. Lacustrine turbidites type 2 can be the result of: (i) local near‐shore mass wasting; (ii) delta collapse; (iii) onshore landslides; (iv) debris flows or mudflows; or (v) fluvial reworking of landslide debris. On the contrary, lacustrine turbidites type 1 are the result of shallow mass wasting on sublacustrine slopes covered by hemipelagic sediments. Due to their more constrained origin, lacustrine turbidites type 1 are the most reliable type of seismically‐induced event deposits in quantitative palaeoseismology, because they are almost exclusively triggered by earthquake shaking. Moreover, they most sensitively record varying seismic shaking intensities. The number of lacustrine turbidites type 1 linearly increases with increasing seismic intensity, starting with no lacustrine turbidites type 1 at intensities between V½ and VI and reaching 100% when intensities are higher than VII½. Combining different types of seismically‐induced event deposits allows the reconstruction of the complete impact of an earthquake.     

Holocene river development and environmental change in Upper Wharfedale,Yorkshire Dales,England

This paper provides the first radiometrically dated evidence of Holocene alluvial landform development in Upper Wharfedale, Yorkshire Dales. Four river terraces are identified. Terraces 1 and 2 are closely linked to Late Devensian and early Holocene environmental change, with gravel reworked from local glacial and periglacial sources prior to cementation by carbonate‐rich waters. U‐series dating of cement provides age estimates for cementation of between ca. 5.1–7.4 kyr BP for Terrace 1 and ca. 3.6–>8.0 kyr BP for Terrace 2. U‐series dating of tufas overlying Terraces 1 and 2 produced ages of ca. 4.2–4.5 kyr BP and ca. 2.1–2.2 kyr BP respectively, and provide upper age limits for terrace formation. Terrace 3 marks a change in sediment calibre, supply and sedimentation style, and ¹⁴C dating suggests that the principal source of fine‐grained material may be agricultural expansion in the Yorkshire Dales from ca. ad 600 (1350 cal. yr BP). Radiocarbon dates indicate that Terrace 4 was deposited from the eleventh century, with initiation of the contemporary floodplain between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries ad. Both these lowest units contain sediments contaminated with heavy metals as a result of mining activities within the catchment. The evidence presented in this study is comparable to that of research undertaken in upland environments elsewhere in northern and western Britain, thereby adding to the corpus of information currently available for evaluating the fluvial geomorphological response to climate and vegetation change during the Holocene. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The mid- to late Holocene paleoceanographic changes in the northern North Atlantic

A high-resolution diatom record from core MD99-2275 shows a general paleoceanographic change in the northern North Atlantic since 5000 cal. a B.P. by Principle Component Analysis. Sea surface temperature (SST) increased gradually during 5000 and 3000 cal. a B.P. on the North Icelandic shelf as a result of increasing influence of warm Atlantic water mass from the Irminger Current. It apparently started to decrease since 3000 cal. a B.P. due to the weakening influence of warm water and enhanced influence of the Polar and Arctic water masses from the East Greenland Current and the East Icelandic Current. Abrupt decreases in SST and intrusions of Polar and Arctic water superimposed on the late Holocene cooling trend during 3000-2600, 1300-1000 and 600-200 cal. a B.P.. The paleoceanographic record revealed from core MD99-2275 corresponds well with δ¹⁸O record from the GISP2 and is generally consistent with other SST records based on diatom on the North Icelandic shelf. __________ Translated from Marine Science Bulletin, 2008, 27(5) [译自:海洋通报]     

Monazite–xenotime thermochronometry: methodology and an example from the Nepalese Himalaya

Monazite-xenotime thermochronometry involves the integration of petrographic, geochronological, and geochemical techniques to explore the thermal evolution of igneous and metamorphic rocks containing these accessory minerals. The method is illustrated in this paper by application to an orthogneiss sample from the Everest region of the Nepalese Himalaya that contains leucogranitic segregations produced by in-situ anatexis. Observations of phase relationships and the internal structure of accessory minerals made using both transmitted light and electron microscopy revealed the existence of multiple generations of monazite and xenotime and guided microsampling efforts to isolate grain fragments of Himalayan (Tertiary) and pre-Himalayan age. Nearly concordant U-Pb isotopic ratios for 13 single monazite and xenotime grains ranged in age from 28.37 to 17.598 Ma, making determination of the timing of anatexis difficult without additional information. Presuming that monazite and xenotime were in equilibrium over that entire interval, temperatures estimated from the yttrium contents of dated monazites range from 677-535 °C. Only the highest temperatures are consistent with experimental constraints on the conditions necessary to produce anatectic melts of appropriate composition, implying that the ~25.4-24.8 Ma dates for the grains with high apparent equilibration temperatures provide the best estimates for the age of anatexis. Two monazite crystals yielded ²⁰⁷Pb/²³⁵U dates that are statistically indistinguishable from the ²⁰⁷Pb/²³⁵U dates of coexisting xenotime crystals, permitting the application of both quantitative Y-partitioning and semi-quantitative Nd-partitioning thermometers as a cross-check for internal consistency. One of these sub-populations of accessory minerals, with a mean ²⁰⁷Pb/²³⁵U date of 22.364ǂ.097 Ma, provides inconsistent Y-partitioning (641ᆻ °C) and Nd-partitioning (515-560 °C) temperatures. We suspect the discrepancy may be caused by the high Th concentration (6.12 wt% ThO₂) in this subpopulation's monazite. The Y-partitioning thermometer was derived from experimental data for the (Ce, Y)PO₄ binary and may be inappropriate for application to high-Th monazites. For the other subpopulation (mean ²⁰⁷Pb/²³⁵U date=22.11ǂ.22 Ma), the Y- and Nd-partitioning temperatures are indistinguishable: 535ᇅ and 525-550 °C, respectively. This consistency strongly suggests that the sample experienced a temperature of ~535 °C at 22.11 Ma. This finding is tectonically important because temperatures at higher structural levels were much higher (by ~100 °C) at the same time, lending support to earlier suggestions of a major structural discontinuity within the upper part of the Himalayan metamorphic core at this longitude. An additional finding of uncertain importance is that inherited monazite and xenotime yielded U-Pb discordia with indistinguishable upper intercept ages (465.5NJ.7 and 470ᆟ Ma, respectively) and application of the Y-partitioning thermometer to the inherited monazites produced a restricted range of model temperatures averaging 470 °C. Whether or not these temperatures are geologically meaningful is unclear without independent corroboration of the assumption of equilibrium between the inherited monazites and xenotimes, but it appears that monazite-xenotime thermochronometry may be useful for "seeing through" high-grade metamorphism to extract temperature-time information about inherited mineral suites.     

Résultats préliminaires sur la sédimentation pélagique de l'Atlantique tropical au Crétacé et au Tertiaire (plateau de Demerara,Leg ODP 207)

Five sites located on a bathymetric transect of the distal Demerara Rise were studied by ODP Leg 207. Albian sediments of essentially terrigenous nature (clay, siltstone, sandstone) are the oldest drilled stratigraphic levels and form apparently the top of the synrift sequence. They are overlain by Cenomanian to Santonian finely laminated black shales, rich in organic matter of marine origin, which accumulated on a thermally subsiding ramp. Early Campanian hiatuses are thought to be the result of final disjunction of Demerara Rise (South America) from Africa and the onset of deep water communication between the two Atlantic basins (south and central). The overlying Uppermost Cretaceous–Oligocene chalk includes rich and diversified calcareous plankton assemblages, as well as two radiolarian-rich intervals (Late Campanian and Middle Eocene). A complex erosional surface developed during the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene. Sedimentation was impeded since then on the intermediate and deep sites of Demerara Rise, possibly due to the action of deep submarine currents. To cite this article: T. Danelian et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Benthic macrofaunal communities in partially impounded salt marshes in Delaware: Comparisons with natural marshes and responses to sediment exposure

This two-part study examined the benthic macrofaunal community in Delaware salt marsh impoundments having partial tidal restriction. The first part compared abundance, diversity, and taxonomic composition in three habitat types in impoundments—creeks, vegetated creek banks, and ponds—to those found in natural marshes. Impoundment effects were present but were habitat-specific. Abundances were higher in natural marsh creeks than in impoundment creeks, and diversities were higher in impoundment ponds than in natural marsh ponds. Vegetated bank communities in impoundments were about 50% insects and arachnids and 50% oligochaetes, while natural bank communities were primarily oligochaetes and the polychaeteManayunkia aestuarina. This is likely due to the decrease in flooding of the vegetated high marsh caused by partial impoundment. Pond and creek community composition also showed impoundment effects: in comparison with natural marshes, impoundments had higher proportions of the burrowing anemoneNematostella vectensis, nemerteans, andTubificoides sp. oligochaetes and lower proportions of the oligochaeteClitellio arenarius. The second part of the study compared benthic macrofauna in an impoundment before, during, and after the water level was lowered so that some bottom sediments were exposed and some covered with just a few centimeters of water for several weeks. During this event, macrofaunal abundances were reduced and the community shifted from being dominated by annelids, anemones, and nemerteans toward one dominated by annelids and insects. About 6 wk after reflooding, persistent effects of this disturbance were still suggested by greatly increased abundances and 96% dominance by one species of oligochaete,Paranais litoralis. Impoundment management plans calling for periods of sediment exposure or very low water may want to consider the potential for strong and persistent effects on the macrofaunal community.     

Interpreting the Viking Age to Medieval period transition in Norse Orkney through cultural soil and sediment analyses

The transition from the Viking Age (ca. A.D. 800–1050) to the Medieval period (ca. A.D. 1050–1500) saw the development of widening trade activities that incorporated peripheral North Atlantic polities into mainstream Europe and contributed to the intensification of marineresource exploitation and agricultural production in these localities. As yet, there is only limited understanding of these intensification processes and their interrelationships, particularly at a local, site‐based level. Through the micromorphological analysis of cultural soils and sediments at Quoygrew, Westray, Orkney, we explore the characteristics of farming and fishing activity during the Viking Age–Medieval transition period and establish their chronological relationships. The study demonstrates: (1) that intensification took place from ca. A.D. 966–1162 on an already existing Viking Age settlement, (2) that intensification of fishing activity occurred prior to the intensification of arable agriculture, and (3) that the Quoygrew site continued throughout this period as an economically diverse permanent settlement. When viewed in a wider North Atlantic context, these findings indicate that intensification of different economic activities proceeded at different rates and that intensification of specialized economic activities during the transition from the Viking Age to the Medieval period was dependent on existing knowledge of local environments. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Oyster (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Crassostrea virginica</Emphasis>) Aquaculture Shifts Sediment Nitrogen Processes toward Mineralization over Denitrification

Filter-feeding bivalves, like oysters, couple pelagic primary production with benthic microbial processes by consuming plankton from the water column and depositing unassimilated material on sediment. Conceptual models suggest that at low to moderate oyster densities, this deposition can stimulate benthic denitrification by providing denitrifying bacteria with organic carbon and nitrogen (N). While enhanced denitrification has been found at oyster reefs, data from oyster aquaculture are limited and equivocal. This study measured seasonal rates of denitrification, as well as dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), and dissolved inorganic N fluxes at a rack and bag eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) aquaculture farm. Consistent with models, denitrification was enhanced within the farm, with an average annual increase of 350% compared to a reference site. However, absolute denitrification rates were low relative to other coastal systems, reaching a maximum of 19.2 μmol m^?2 h^?1. Denitrification appeared to be nitrate (NO₃ ^?) limited, likely due to inhibited nitrification caused by sediment anoxia. Denitrification may also have been limited by competition for NO₃ ^? with DNRA, which accounted for an average of 76% of NO₃ ^? reduction. Consequently, direct release of ammonium (NH₄ ⁺) from mineralization to the water column was the most significant benthic N pathway, with seasonal rates exceeding 900 μmol m^?2 h^?1 within the farm. The enhanced N processes were spatially limited however, with significantly higher rates directly under oysters, compared to in between oyster racks. For commercial aquaculture farms like this, with moderate oyster densities (100–200 oysters m^?2), denitrification may be enhanced, but nonetheless limited by biodeposition-induced sediment anoxia. The resulting shift in the sediment N balance toward processes that regenerate reactive N to the water column rather than remove N is an important consideration for water quality.