The use of bisnorhopane as a stratigraphic marker in the Oseberg Back Basin, North Viking Graben, Norwegian North Sea

This paper discusses the occurrence of 28,30-dinor-17α,18α,21β-hopane (bisnorhopane) in stratigraphically, fairly well preserved Viking Group sections from wells in local depressions in the North Viking Graben Area. The results show the presence of high relative amounts of bisnorhopane in the “Syn-rift sections”, whilst the “Post-rift sections” contain little or no bisnorhopane. Since most exploration wells are drilled on structural highs, primarily penetrating the “Post-rift Draupne”, this may explain why many analyzed source rock sections in this area contain little bisnorhopane.As a correlation of Draupne sections using the vertical, relative bisnorhopane distributions, it is suggested to be a potential stratigraphic marker for the area, indicating the presence of “Syn-rift Draupne” sediments.The relative bisnorhopane amounts follow a logarithmic reduction with depth and thermal maturity. The bisnorhopane signal is nearly extinguished at 3700 m depth at a maturity of R_o = 0.9–1.0%.     

A crystal-chemical basis for Pb retention and fission-track annealing systematics in U-bearing minerals, with implications for geochronology

This study develops an empirical crystal-chemical framework for systematizing the kinetics of Pb loss and fission-track annealing in U-bearing minerals. Ionic porosity, Z (the fraction of a mineral's unit-cell volume not occupied by ions) potentially accounts for kinetic behavior by monitoring mean metal-oxygen bond length/strength. Various tests of a general kinetics-porosity relationship are presented, based upon diverse mineral data including: (1) Pb diffusion parameters; (2) measured closure temperatures (T_C) for fission-track annealing and (3) retentivities of both Pb and fission tracks, from apparent-age data. Every kinetic parameter (including T_C and mineral age for both the U/Pb and fission-track systems) is inversely correlated with Z within the sub-assemblage: zircon (Z ≈ 29%), titanite ( 34%) and apatite ( 38%). Assuming a diffusional closure model, Pb isotopic transport phenomena are described by a T_C-Z scale “calibrated” with field-based T_C data for titanite (≥ 680 ± 20°C) and apatite ( 500°C). Extrapolation of this scale yields T_C estimates for the following minerals: staurolite (T_C ≥ 1060°C, Z ≈ 25%); garnet (≥ 1010°C, 26.5%); zircon (≥900°C); monazite, xenotime, and epidote (≥ 750°C, 32%); and Ca-clinopyroxene (≥ 670 ± 30°C, 34 ± 1%, depending on composition). These empirical results imply that a (U/)Pb/Pb date for staurolite or garnet records the time of mineral growth, not post-growth isotopic closure, as also concluded in recent field studies. Because Z systematizes fission-track annealing, this recrystallization process, like volume-diffusion, must also be rate-limited by the strength of chemical bonds. The extent to which other recrystallization processes are likewise rate-limited is important to U/Pb geochronology because they potentially compete with diffusion as mechanisms for Pb-isotopic resetting in nature.     

Is the North Atlantic Oscillation reflected in Scandinavian glacier mass balance records?

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is one of the modes of climate variability in the North Atlantic region. The atmospheric circulation during the winter season in this region commonly displays a strong meridional (north–south) pressure contrast, with low air pressure (cyclone) centred close to Iceland and high air pressure (anticyclone) near the Azores. This pressure gradient drives the mean surface winds and the mid‐latitude winter storms from west to east across the North Atlantic, bringing mild moist air to northwest Europe. The NAO index is based on the difference of normalised sea‐level pressures (SLP) between Ponta Delgada, Azores and Stykkisholmur, Iceland. The SLP anomalies at these stations are normalised by division of each monthly pressure by the long‐term (1865–1984) standard deviation. Interannual atmospheric climate variability in northwest Europe, especially over Great Britain and western Scandinavia has, during the last decades, been attributed mainly to the NAO, causing variations in the winter weather over the northeast North Atlantic and the adjacent land areas. A comparison between the NAO index and the winter (December–March) precipitation between ad 1864 and 1995 in western Norway shows that these are strongly linked (correlation coefficient 0.77). Variations in the NAO index are also reflected in the mass balance records of glaciers in western Scandinavia. The NAO index is best correlated with mass balance data from maritime glaciers in southern Norway (e.g. Ålfotbreen R² = 0.51). The record of Holocene (last ca. 11 500 cal. yr) glacier variations of maritime glaciers in western Scandinavia is thus a proxy of pre‐instrumental NAO variations. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental Geology

The mining environment, medical geology and urban geochemistry form a group of related scientific disciplines that have developed strongly during recent years in the Nordic countries. Modern legislation controls the environmental issues. Close co-operation of researchers and legislators has improved the quality and safety of life in the societies of the Nordic countries. In mining environmental studies, methods that are suitable in Arctic conditions have been developed; in medical geology, the input from the Nordic countries has made it an appreciated scientific discipline throughout the world, and in the case of the urban environment, methods developed by our geochemists have especially improved the health conditions, particularly of children.     

Lateglacial and early Holocene palaeoclimatic reconstruction based on glacier fluctuations and equilibrium‐line altitudes at northern Folgefonna,Hardanger, western Norway

Northern Folgefonna (c. 23 km²), is a nearly circular maritime ice cap located on the Folgefonna Peninsula in Hardanger, western Norway. By combining the position of marginal moraines with AMS radiocarbon dated glacier‐meltwater induced sediments in proglacial lakes draining northern Folgefonna, a continuous high‐resolution record of variations in glacier size and equilibrium‐line altitudes (ELAs) during the Lateglacial and early Holocene has been obtained. After the termination of the Younger Dryas (c. 11 500 cal. yr BP), a short‐lived (100–150 years) climatically induced glacier readvance termed the ‘Jondal Event 1’ occurred within the ‘Preboreal Oscillation’ (PBO) c. 11 100 cal. yr BP. Bracketed to 10 550–10 450 cal. yr BP, a second glacier readvance is named the ‘Jondal Event 2’. A third readvance occurred about 10 000 cal. yr BP and corresponds with the ‘Erdalen Event 1’ recorded at Jostedalsbreen. An exponential relationship between mean solid winter precipitation and ablation‐season temperature at the ELA of Norwegian glaciers is used to reconstruct former variations in winter precipitation based on the corresponding ELA and an independent proxy for summer temperature. Compared to the present, the Younger Dryas was much colder and drier, the ‘Jondal Event 1’/PBO was colder and somewhat drier, and the ‘Jondal Event 2’ was much wetter. The ‘Erdalen Event 1’ started as rather dry and terminated as somewhat wetter. Variations in glacier magnitude/ELAs and corresponding palaeoclimatic reconstructions at northern Folgefonna suggest that low‐altitude cirque glaciers (lowest altitude of marginal moraines 290 m) in the area existed for the last time during the Younger Dryas. These low‐altitude cirque glaciers of suggested Younger Dryas age do not fit into the previous reconstructions of the Younger Dryas ice sheet in Hardanger. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Degree of rock surface weathering as an indicator of ice-sheet thickness along an east—west transect across southern Norway

Rock surface weathering, as reflected by rock surface hardness and roughness, was measured at six mountains along an east-west transect across southern Norway. At most sites the results show significant differences in rock surface weathering across the autochthonous blockfield boundary, suggesting that the areas above the boundary have been exposed to subaerial weathering for a considerably longer time span that the areas below. The results are interpreted as reflecting the surface profile of an asymmetric, west-centred, low-gradient ice sheet.     

Acoustic tomography for monitoring the Sea of Japan: a pilot experiment

A pilot experiment was conducted in the Sea of Japan (also called the East Sea) in September-October 1999, to assess the possibility of using acoustic tomographic techniques for monitoring water mass structure and dynamics. Acoustic m-sequence signals at various frequencies between 250 and 634 Hz were transmitted from bottom-mounted acoustic sources in shallow water off the coast of Vladivostok to vertical-array receiving systems deployed off the north coast of Ulleung-Do island (S. Korea), 558 km to the south. The data are analyzed for temporal correlation, time spread, and transmission loss and are interpreted in terms of a tomographic system for monitoring the East Sea.     

Cirque glacier activity in arctic Norway during the last deglaciation

Numerous cirques of the Lofoten–Vesterålen archipelago in northern Norway have distinct moraine sequences that previously have been assigned to the Allerød-Younger Dryas ( 13,400 to 11,700 yr BP) interval, constraining the regional distribution of the equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) of cirque and valley glaciers. Here we present evidence from a once glacier-fed lake on southern Andøya that contests this view. Analyses of radiocarbon dated lacustrine sediments including rock magnetic parameters, grain size, organic matter, dry bulk density and visual interpretation suggest that no glacier was present in the low-lying cirque during the Younger Dryas-Allerød. The initiation of the glacial retreat commenced with the onset of the Bølling warming ( 14,700 yr BP) and was completed by the onset of Allerød Interstade ( 13,400 yr BP). The reconstructed glacier stages of the investigated cirque coincide with a cool and dry period from  17,500 to 14,700 yr BP and a somewhat larger Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) advance possibly occurring between  21,050 and 19,100 yr BP.