Convergent flow of ice within the Astrolabe subglacial basin, Trre Adélie, East Antarctica: an hypothesis derived from nummerical modelling experiments

The existence of a large subglacial lake beneath the antarctic Ice Sheet at Terre Adélie indicates the presence of basal ice at its pressure-melting temperature. A numerical model of the ice-sheet thermal regime is employed using the balance velocity of the ice sheet as an initial model input in order to calculate ice-sheet basal temperatures. However, the results from this model show the Terre Adélie area to be characterised by basal freezing. Heat in addition to that accounted for in the model is thus required at the ice-sheet base in order for pressure melting temperatures to be attained. The sources for such heat are (1) an enhanced geothermal heat flux and (2) an increase in frictional heating caused by the flow of ice. In this paper the latter possibility is expanded by hypothesising that subglacial topography induces convergent ice flow around Terre Adélie, causing enhanced basal ice velocities. Model experiments indicate that an increase in ice velocity (from 7 to at least 42 m yr⁻¹) is required to raise the temperature of the basal ice to the pressure melting value. Increased ice velocity, and consequent frictional heat production due to convergent ice flow, may therefore be important in explaining the location of the subglacial lake in this region. These results allow the process of convergent ice flow within a contemporary ice sheet to be quantified. A verification (or otherwise) of the model results may be possible if ice surface velocity measurements from modem GPS methods are made.     

Modelling tidal current‐induced bed shear stress and palaeocirculation in an epicontinental seaway: the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin,Central Europe

Lower to Middle Turonian deposits within the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin (Central Europe) consist of coarse‐grained deltaic sandstones passing distally into fine‐grained offshore sediments. Dune‐scale cross‐beds superimposed on delta‐front clinoforms indicate a vigorous basinal palaeocirculation capable of transporting coarse‐grained sand across the entire depth range of the clinoforms (ca 35 m). Bi‐directional, alongshore‐oriented, trough cross‐set axes, silt drapes and reactivation surfaces indicate tidal activity. However, the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin at this time was over a thousand kilometres from the shelf break and separated from the open ocean by a series of small islands. The presence of tidally‐influenced deposits in a setting where co‐oscillating tides are likely to have been damped down by seabed friction and blocked by emergent land masses is problematic. The Imperial College Ocean Model, a fully hydrodynamic, unstructured mesh finite element model, is used to test the hypothesis that tidal circulation in this isolated region was capable of generating the observed grain‐size distributions, bedform types and palaeocurrent orientations. The model is first validated for the prediction of bed shear stress magnitudes and sediment transport pathways against the present‐day North European shelf seas that surround the British Isles. The model predicts a microtidal to mesotidal regime for the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin across a range of sensitivity tests with elevated tidal ranges in local embayments. Funnelling associated with straits increases tidal current velocities, generating bed shear stresses that were capable of forming the sedimentary structures observed in the field. The model also predicts instantaneous bi‐directional currents with orientations comparable with those measured in the field. Overall, the Imperial College Ocean Model predicts a vigorous tide‐driven palaeocirculation within the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin that would indisputably have influenced sediment dispersal and facies distributions. Palaeocurrent vectors and sediment transport pathways however vary markedly in the different sensitivity tests. Accurate modelling of these parameters, in this instance, requires greater palaeogeographic certainty than can be extracted from the available rock record.     

Late Weichselian ice-sheet sensitivity over Franz Josef Land, Russian High Arctic, from numerical modelling experiments

A numerical ice-sheet model was run in order to produce reconstructions of the Late Weichselian ice coverage of Franz Josef Land, Russian High Arctic. The model grid covers the archipelago and surrounding shelf, but does not include the whole Barents-Kara region or the extensive ice cover that may have built up there. One experiment, where rates of iceberg calving at the grounded margin were curtailed because of the assumed presence of permanent thick sea ice, yielded a single I.8 km-thick ice dome which covered the entire archipelago and surrounding sea. If, however, iceberg calving were included in the model's environmental input, the extent of the ice sheet would be limited to the periphery of the archipelago. If a large ice sheet existed over Franz Josef Land, the deglaciation of the islands may have been linked to the decay of the adjacent Barents-Kara Sea Ice Sheet, permitting iceberg calving (enhanced by relative sea-level rise) to occur. The introduction of a water-depth-related iceberg calving function at 15 000 yr ago forced an initial rapid rate of ice-sheet decay of 30 000 km³ 1000 yr'. However, as the ice sheet thinned, and isostatic rebound began, the calculated rate of iceberg calving was reduced such that ice remained over the archipelago at 8000 yr ago. The model's failure to simulate complete ice-sheet decay by 8000 yr ago is at variance with radiocarbon-dated raised terraces on Franz Josef Land, which indicates the complete deglaciation of the islands at this time.     

Problems of moraine morphology: Rogen moraine and Blattnick moraine

In Västerbotten County, Sweden, both Rogen moraine and Blattnick moraine are common in the inner part of the county. Rogen moraines are found primarily in basins and upslope positions, whereas the Blattnick type (first found in the Blattnicksele area in the county) mostly occurs in broader, more plain-like areas. Moreover, both types show a great variety of individual forms, due to topography, basal conditions and ice tectonics. Most Rogen moraine ridges are characterized by features due to active ice. The Blattnick moraine type is characterized by broader and more drumlinized ridges. They are often proximally higher and laterally-distally extended, thus merging into streamlined mounds or hills. The material composition of Rogen and Blattnick moraines is similar. The authors have found the following sequence of transitional forms from the Scandinavian mountains in the west towards the east: (1) Rogen moraines, (2) crescent ridges, (3) Blattnick moraines, (4) drumlins.     

FINDING CAUSES OF OUTLIERS IN MULTIVARIATE ENVIRONMENTAL DATA

Multivariate outliers in environmental data sets are often caused by atypical measurement error in a singlevariable.From a quality assurance perspective it is important to identify these variables efficiently so thatcorrective actions may be performed.We demonstrate a procedure for using two multivariate tests toidentify which variable‘caused’each outlier.The procedure is tested with simulated data sets that havethe same correlation structure as selected water chemistry variables from a survey of lakes in the WesternUnited States.The success rates are evaluated for three of the variables for sample sizes of 50 and 100,significance levels of 0.01 and 0.05 and various amounts of mean shift.The procedure works best forhighly correlated variables.     

Metamorphic Evolution of Iron-rich Mafic Cumulates from the Otztal-Stubai Crystalline Complex, Eastern Alps, Austria

Olivine-rich rocks containing olivine + orthopyroxene + spinel+ Ca-amphibole ± clinopyroxene ± garnet are presentin the central Ötztal–Stubai crystalline basementassociated with eclogites of tholeiitic affinity. These rockscontain centimetre-sized garnet layers and lenses with garnet+ clinopyroxene ± corundum. Protoliths of the olivine-richrocks are thought to be olivine + orthopyroxene + spinel dominatedcumulates generated from an already differentiated Fe-rich () tholeiitic magma that was emplaced into shallowcontinental crust. Protoliths of the garnet-rich rocks are interpretedas layers enriched in plagioclase and spinel intercalated ina cumulate rock sequence that is devoid of, or poor in, plagioclase.U–Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe dating ofzircons from a garnet layer indicates that emplacement of thecumulates took place no later than 517 ± 7 Myr ago. Aftertheir emplacement, the cumulates were subjected to progressivemetamorphism, reaching eclogite-facies conditions around 800°Cand >2 GPa during a Variscan metamorphic event between 350and 360 Ma. Progressive high-P metamorphism induced breakdownof spinel to form garnet in the olivine-rich rocks and of plagioclase+ spinel to form garnet + clinopyroxene ± corundum inthe garnet layers. Retrogressive metamorphism at T 650–680°Cled to the formation of Ca-amphibole, chlorite and talc in theolivine-rich rocks. In the garnet layers, högbomite formedfrom corundum + spinel along with Al-rich spinel, Ca-amphibole,chlorite, aspidolite–preiswerkite, magnetite, ilmeniteand apatite at the interface between olivine-rich rocks andgarnet layers at P < 0·8 GPa. Progressive desiccationof retrogade fluids through crystallization of hydrous phasesled to a local formation of saline brines in the garnet layers.The presence of these brines resulted in a late-stage formationof Fe- and K-rich Ca-amphibole and Sr-rich apatite, both characterizedby extremely high Cl contents of up to 3·5 and 6·5wt % Cl, respectively. KEY WORDS: cumulates; Variscan metamorphism; SHRIMP dating; högbomite; saline brines     

1991年皮纳图博火山灰沉降物对南海海洋环境及硅藻生长的影响

通过对菲律宾皮纳图博(Pinatubo)火山1991年6月爆发前后南海表层沉积物及沉降颗粒物中的硅藻丰度及群落组成进行分析,试图揭示皮纳图博火山爆发对南海硅藻生长的影响.研究发现,火山爆发后南海沉积物中硅藻相对丰度显著减少,原因主要在于皮纳图博火山喷发物大量沉积于南海深海,显著提高了南海沉积速率,同时稀释了沉积物中生源...     

Ribbon sandstones in the Pennsylvanian Waddens Cove Formation, Sydney Basin, Atlantic Canada: the influence of siliceous duricrusts on channel-body geometry

Channelized bodies up to 9 m thick in the Pennsylvanian Waddens Cove Formation show low width: thickness ratios (8:1 to 14:1), up to four vertically stacked storeys, and deep incision into associated floodplain strata. The presence of lateral accretion sets up to 6 m thick indicates that the migration of bank-attached bars was a major channel-filling process. The progressive rise in elevation of the basal part of the accretion surfaces where the sets adjoin the steeply inclined sides of the channel bodies shows that the channel floor aggraded progressively as the bars approached the channel sides. In planform, the river system probably showed a low-sinuosity, incised valley within which the channel followed a more sinuous and partially confined course. The alluvium surrounding the channel bodies includes sandstone sheets attributed to crevasse splay and levee accumulation. The upper strata of many sheet's and some channel bodies contain siliceous duricrusts (ganisters) which formed by pedogenic lithification of sandy material commencing shortly after the landforms became inactive. The channel bodies contain duricrust-bearing slumpblocks and show stepped margins over duricrusts. The stepped nature of the banks suggests that duricrusts were an important factor in confining the reach, and we suggest that channel-body geometry was influenced, although not necessarily controlled, by the presence of the lithified layers. Alternation in the Waddens Cove Formation of grey, coal-bearing zones with red, duricrust-rich zones is attributed to water-table fluctuation in response to base-level changes. The low width: thickness ratios and aggradation mode'of the channel bodies may in part reflect channel incision and subsequent aggradation resulting from these allocyclic events.