Mammal fauna during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in the far northeast of Europe

The paper summarises materials on the mammal remains in northeastern Europe, dated by radiocarbon. Altogether, 23 local faunas of small mammals and 47 local faunas of large mammals were analysed. Multidimensional statistical analysis shows a strong correlation between changes in small mammal fauna composition and climate changes throughout time. The correlations with the spatial gradients, however, are less pronounced. The faunas are classified into three groups: (1) faunas of Holocene age; (2) Late Pleistocene ‘stadial’ assemblages; and (3) Late Pleistocene ‘interstadial’ assemblages. In some cases, changes in species abundance are better understood in terms of biotic interrelations rather than of climatic effects. The most pronounced change in small mammal fauna composition and structure occurred at the Preboreal/Boreal boundary, and a less conspicuous alteration took place at the LGM/Lateglacial transition. The most noticeable transformation in the large mammal fauna composition is dated to the early Holocene. Less significant changes are observed at the Middle Weichselian/LGM transition and at the LGM/Lateglacial transition. It is safely concluded that variations in the faunas of small and large mammals recorded in NE Europe during the last 35 000 years occurred synchronously and unidirectionally.     

REE in fluid inclusions of quartz from gold deposits of north-eastern Russia

Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been used to determine rare earth element concentrations in aqueous solutions extracted from fluid inclusions. Quartz has been sampled from ores of three major types of polygenic gold hydrothermal systems of North-Eastern Russia: (1) gold-quartz-sulphide (Au-Q, Nezhdaninsk); (2) gold-antimony (Au-Sb, Sarylakh) and (3) intrusion-related gold-bismuth-siderite-polysulphide (Au-Bi-Sid, Arkachan) large deposits located in terrigenous rocks of the Verkhoyansk fold belt. The total concentration of REE in the fluid inclusions is not high (up to 52 ppm). The contribution of LREE dominates in REE balance (??LREE/??HREE=7.4?C112.1). The chondrite-normalized REE patterns of inclusion fluids for the Au-Q and Au-Bi-Sid deposits are characterized by LREE enrichment with a positive or negative Eu anomaly. REE patterns for the regenerated quartz from Au-Sb deposits are characterized by pronounced differentiation between light and heavy lanthanides in fluid inclusions. Significant total REE concentration decreasing (on 1?C2 order) from early to late stages of Nezhdaninsk and Arkachan deposits is revealed. The positive correlations of total REE concentrations with Rb, Cs, Li and B contents in fluid inclusions are shown. The REE distribution in fluid inclusions can be used as indicators of the contribution of magmatic fluid in the hydrothermal system.     

Thermodynamic data for phases in the FeO-MgO-SiO2 system and phase relations in the mantle transition zone

Based on the available experimental data on phase equilibria in the FeO -MgO -SiO₂ system the mixing properties of the solid solutions (olivine, β- and γ-spinel, pyroxene, majorite, ilmenite and perovskite and magnesiowustite), the enthalpies of FeO and fictive FeSiO₃ phases with ilmenite and majorite structures have been assessed. The entropies, temperature dependance of heat capacities for fictive FeSiO₃ end-members were estimated from structural analogies. The calculated phase diagrams for Mg₂SiO₄-Fe₂SiO₄ and MgSiO₃ — FeSiO₃ systems at pressures up to 30 GPa and temperatures between 1000 and 2100 K are quite consistent with the available experimental determinations except for the fine features of the phase diagram at 2073 K.     

Delineation of riparian vegetation from Landsat multi‐temporal imagery using PCA

A deficiency in crucial digital data, such as vegetation cover, in remote regions is a challenging issue for water management and planning, especially for areas undergoing rapid development, such as mining in the Pilbara, Western Australia. This is particularly relevant to riparian vegetation, which provides important ecological services and, as such, requires regional protection. The objective of this research was to develop an approach to riparian vegetation mapping at a regional scale using remotely sensed data. The proposed method was based on principal component analysis applied to multi‐temporal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index datasets derived from Landsat TM 5 imagery. To delimit the spatial extent of riparian vegetation, a thresholding method was required and various thresholding algorithms were tested. The accuracy of results was estimated for various Normalized Difference Vegetation Index multi‐temporal datasets using available ground‐truth data. The combination of a 14‐dry‐date dataset and Kittler's thresholding method provided the most accurate delineation of riparian vegetation.     

Removal of trace elements from landfill leachate by calcite precipitation

Spontaneous precipitation of secondary calcite (CaCO₃) has been observed in 25 samples of landfill leachate-polluted stream waters. During the 6-month precipitation experiment, the formation of calcite acts as a principal trace-element scavenging process. The concentrations of Fe, Sr, Ba and Mn and other trace elements in solution significantly decreased as calcite formed during the experiments. The PHREEQC-2 geochemical code indicated high supersaturation of the initial leachate-polluted waters with respect to calcite. The chemical/mineralogical study (SEM/EDS, XRD, ICP MS) revealed that this newly formed calcite contains considerable amounts of metals and metalloids removed from solution. Such a geochemical process can be considered to be important for spontaneous decontamination in landfill-affected environments (stream sediments, soils) or landfill technical facilities (settling basins). This removal takes place especially during dry periods with low rain precipitation, when the landfill waters exhibit both higher alkalinity and higher trace element concentrations.     

Noble gas composition,cosmic-ray exposure age, 39Ar-40Ar,and I-Xe analyses of ungrouped achondrite NWA 7325

Northwest Africa (NWA) 7325 is an anomalous achondrite that experienced episodes of large-degree melt extraction and interaction with melt under reducing conditions. Its composition led to speculations about a Mercurian origin and provoked a series of studies of this meteorite. We present the noble gas composition, and results of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and ¹²⁹I-¹²⁹Xe studies of whole rock splits of NWA 7325. The light noble gases are dominated by cosmogenic isotopes. ²¹Ne and ³⁸Ar cosmic-ray exposure ages are 25.6 and 18.9 Ma, respectively, when calculated with a nominal whole rock composition. This ³⁸Ar age is in reasonable agreement with a cosmic-ray exposure age of 17.5 Ma derived in our ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating study. Due to the low K-content of 19 ± 1 ppm and high Ca-content of approximately 12.40 ± 0.15 wt%, no reliable ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age could be determined. The integrated age strongly depends on the choice of an initial ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar ratio. An air-like component is dominant in lower temperature extractions and assuming air ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar for the trapped component results in a calculated integrated age of 3200 ± 260 (1σ) Ma. This may represent the upper age limit for a major reheating event affecting the K-Ar system. Results of ¹²⁹I-¹²⁹Xe dating give no useful chronological information, i.e., no isochron is observed. Considering the highest ¹²⁹Xe*/¹²⁸Xe_I ratio as equivalent to a lower age limit, we calculate an I-Xe age of about 4536 Ma. In addition, elevated ¹²⁹Xe/¹³²Xe ratios of up to 1.65 ± 0.18 in higher temperature extractions indicate an early formation of NWA 7325, with subsequent disturbance of the I-Xe system.     

Lichenometry in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru: “Little Ice Age” moraine chronology

This paper is a comparison and compilation of lichenometric and geomorphic studies performed by two independent teams in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, in 1996 and 2002 on 66 “Little Ice Age” moraines of 14 glaciers. Using eleven new control points, we recalibrated the initial rapid growth phase of the previously established Rhizocarpon subgenus Rhizocarpon growth curve. This curve was then used to estimate the age of “Little Ice Age” moraines. The time of deposition of the most prominent and numerous terminal and lateral moraines on the Pacific-facing side of the Cordillera Blanca (between AD 1590 and AD 1720) corresponds to the coldest and wettest phase in the tropical Andes as revealed by ice-core data. Less prominent advances occurred between AD 1780 and 1880.     

Thermal state and complex geology of a heterogeneous salty crust of Jupiter's satellite, Europa

The complex geology of Europa is evidenced by many tectonic and cryomagmatic resurfacing structures, some of which are “painted” into a more visible expression by exogenic alteration processes acting on the principal endogenic cryopetrology. The surface materials emplaced and affected by this activity are mainly composed of water ice in some areas, but in other places there are other minerals involved. Non-ice minerals are visually recognized by their low albedo and reddish color either when first emplaced or, more likely, after alteration by Europan weathering processes, especially sublimation and alteration by ionizing radiation. While red chromophoric material could be due to endogenic production of solid sulfur allotropes or other compounds, most likely the red substance is an impurity produced by radiation alteration of hydrated sulfate salts or sulphuric acid of mainly internal origin. If the non-ice red materials or their precursors have a source in the satellite interior, and if they are not merely trace contaminants, then they can play an important role in the evolution of the icy crust, including structural differentiation and the internal dynamics. Here we assume that these substances are major components of Europa's cryo/hydrosphere, as some models have predicted they should be. If this is an accurate assumption, then these substances should not be neglected in physical, chemical, and biological models of Europa, even if major uncertainties remain as to the exact identity, abundance, and distribution of the non-ice materials. The physical chemical properties of the ice-associated materials will contribute to the physical state of the crust today and in the geological past. In order to model the influence of them on the thermal state and the geology, we have determined the thermal properties of the hydrated salts. Our new lab data reveal very low thermal conductivities for hydrated salts compared to water ice. Lower conductivities of salty ice would produce steeper thermal gradients than in pure ice. If there are salt-rich layers inside the crust, forming salt beds over the seafloor or a briny eutectic crust, for instance, the high thermal gradients may promote endogenic geological activity. On the seafloor, bedded salt accumulations may exhibit high thermochemical gradients. Metamorphic and magmatic processes and possible niches for thermophilic life at shallow suboceanic depths result from the calculated thermal profiles, even if the ocean is very cold.     

A search for unique objects in nearby galaxies

A list of 171 stars in the galaxy M33 is presented. The stars could be considered as candidates for unique objects, such as SS 433, S Dor, P Cyg stars and possibly new kinds of peculiar objects. All these stars have been selected on the basis of the similarity to SS 433, free from interstellar absorption: OB star with strongH emission or with HeII 4686 and CIII, NIII 4630 - 4660 emission lines; a hot star inside a supernovae remnant or radio nebula. The variability of these stars has been used as an additional criterion of the selection. It is important to carry out spectral observations of the presented stars, which will allow us to select stars with intrinsicH emission.