Sea-level rise impacts on longitudinal salinity for a low-gradient estuarine system

Climatic Change - Salinity response to sea-level rise is evaluated for a low-gradient, tidally active estuary, the lower St. Johns River, Florida. A high-resolution numerical model is forced by...     

Design of a 3D Chirp Sub-bottom Imaging System

Chirp sub-bottom profilers are marine acoustic devices that use a known and repeatable source signature (1–24 kHz) to produce decimetre vertical resolution cross-sections of the sub-seabed. Here the design and development of the first true 3D Chirp system is described. When developing the design, critical factors that had to be considered included spatial aliasing, and precise positioning of sources and receivers. Full 3D numerical modelling of the combined source and receiver directivity was completed to determine optimal source and receiver geometries. The design incorporates four source transducers (1.5–13 kHz) that can be arranged into different configurations, including Maltese Cross, a square and two separated pairs. The receive array comprises 240 hydrophones in 60 groups whose group-centres are separated by 25 cm in both horizontal directions, with each hydrophone group containing four individual elements and a pre-amplifier. After careful consideration, it was concluded that the only way to determine with sufficient accuracy the source–receiver geometry, was to fix the sources and receivers within a rigid array. Positional information for the array is given by a Real Time Kinematic GPS and attitude system incorporating four antennas to give position, heading, pitch and roll. It is shown that this system offers vertical positioning accuracy with a root-mean-square (rms) error less than 2.6 cm, while the horizontal positioning rms error was less than 2.0 cm. The system is configured so that the Chirp source signature can be chosen by software aboard the acquisition vessel. The complete system is described and initial navigational and seismic data results are presented. These data demonstrate that the approach of using fixed source-receiver geometry combined with RTK navigation can provide complete 3D imaging of the sub-surface.     

Geochemistry of igneous rocks associated with ultramafic–mafic-hosted Cu (Co, Ni, Au) VMS deposits from the Main Uralian Fault (Southern Urals, Russia)

Ultramafic–mafic- and ultramafic-hosted Cu (Co, Ni, Au) volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits from ophiolite complexes of the Main Uralian Fault, Southern Urals, are associated with island arc-type igneous rocks. Trace element analyses show that these rocks are geochemically analogous to Early Devonian boninitic and island arc tholeiitic rocks found at the base of the adjacent Magnitogorsk volcanic arc system, while they are distinguished both from earlier, pre-subduction volcanic rocks and from later volcanic products that were erupted in progressively more internal arc settings. The correlation between the sulfide host-rocks and the earliest volcanic units of the Magnitogorsk arc suggests a connection between VMS formation and infant subduction-driven intraoceanic magmatism.     

Palynology of Triassic–Jurassic boundary sections in northern Switzerland

A first palynostratigraphic scheme of Upper Triassic deposits in northern Switzerland was established based on spore-pollen associations and dinoflagellate cyst records from the upper part of the Upper Triassic Klettgau Formation and the lower part of the Lower Jurassic Staffelegg Formation. Drill cores from the Adlerberg region (Basel Tabular Jura) and from Weiach (northern part of Canton Zurich) as well as from an outcrop at the Chilchzimmersattel (Basel Folded Jura) were studied and five informal palynological associations are distinguished. These palynological associations correlate with palynological association of the Central European Epicontinental Basin and the Tethyan realm and provide a stratigraphic framework for the uppermost Triassic sediments in northern Switzerland. Throughout the uppermost Triassic to Jurassic palynological succession a remarkable prominence of Classopollis spp. is observed. Besides Classopollis spp. the three Rhaetian palynological associations A to C from the Upper Triassic Belchen Member include typical Rhaetian spore-pollen and dinoflagellate taxa (e.g., Rhaetipollis germanicus, Geopollis zwolinskae, Rhaetogonyaulax rhaetica, and Dapcodinium priscum). Association B differs from association A in a higher relative abundance of the sporomorph taxa Perinopollenites spp. and the consistent occurrence of Granuloperculatipollis rudis and Ricciisporites tuberculatus. Spore diversity is highest in the late Rhaetian palynological association C and includes Polypodiisporites polymicroforatus. A Rhaetian age for the Belchen Member is confirmed by palynological associations A–C, but there is no record of the latest Rhaetian and the earliest Jurassic. In contrast to the Rhaetian palynological associations the Early Jurassic associations W and D include Pinuspollenites spp., Trachysporites fuscus (in association W), and Ischyosporites variegatus. In the view of the end-Triassic mass extinction and contemporaneous environmental changes the described palynofloral succession represents the pre-extinction phase (associations A and B) including a distinct transgression, the extinction phase (association C) associated with a regression, and the post-extinction phase (association W).     

Spatial Variation in the Optical Properties of Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) in Lakes on the Canadian Precambrian Shield and Links to Watershed Characteristics

In the present study, we explored the use of various optical parameters to detect differences in the composition of the dissolved organic matter (DOM) in a set of lakes that are all located on the Canadian Precambrian Shield, but within which Cu and Ni speciation predictions were previously shown to diverge from measured values in some lakes but not in others. Water samples were collected with in situ diffusion samplers in 2007 (N = 18 lakes) and 2008 (N = 8 lakes). Significant differences in DOM quality were identified between the sampling regions (Rouyn-Noranda, Québec and Sudbury, Ontario) and among lakes, based on dissolved organic carbon concentrations ([DOC]), specific UV absorbance (SUVA₂₅₄), fluorescence indices (FI), and excitation–emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence measurements. Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) of the EEM spectra revealed four components, two of which (C3, oxidized quinone fluorophore of allochthonous origin, and C4, tryptophan-like protein fluorescence of autochthonous origin) showed the greatest inter-regional variation. The inter-lake differences in DOM quality were consistent with the regional watershed characteristics as determined from satellite imagery (e.g., watershed-to-lake surface area ratios and relative percentages of surface water, rock outcrops vegetative cover and urban development). Source apportionment plots, built upon PARAFAC components ratios calculated for our lakes, were used to discriminate among DOM sources and to compare them to sources identified in the literature. These results have implications for other areas of research, such as quantifying lake-to-lake variations in the influence of organic matter on the speciation of trace elements in natural aquatic environments.     

Seasonal uranium distributions in the coastal waters off the Amazon and Mississippi Rivers

The chemical reactivity of uranium was investigated across estuarine gradients from two of the world’s largest river systems: the Amazon and Mississippi. Concentrations of dissolved (<0.45 μm) uranium (U) were measured in surface waters of the Amazon shelf during rising (March 1990), flood (June 1990) and low (November 1991) discharge regimes. The dissolved U content was also examined in surface waters collected across estuarine gradients of the Mississippi outflow region during April 1992, August 1993, and November (1993). All water samples were analyzed for U by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). In Amazon shelf surface waters uranium increased nonconservatively from about 0.01 μg I^?1 at the river’s mouth to over 3 μg I^?1 at the distal site, irrespective of river discharge stage. Observed large-scale U removal at salinities generally less than 15 implies a) that riverine dissolved U was extensively adsorbed by freshly-precipitated hydrous metal oxides (e.g., FeOOH, MnO₂) as a result of flocculation and aggregation, and b) that energetic resuspension and reworking of shelf sediments and fluid muds on the Amazon shelf released a chemically reactive particle/colloid to the water column which can further scavenge dissolved U across much of the estuarine gradient. In contrast, the estuarine chemistry of U is inconclusive within surface waters of the Mississippi shelf-break region. U behavior is most likely controlled less by traditional sorption and/or desorption reactions involving metal oxides or colloids than by the river’s variable discharge regime (e.g., water parcel residence time during estuarine mixing, nature of particulates, sediment storage and resuspension in, the confined lower river), and plume dispersal. Mixing of the thin freshwater lens into ambient seawater is largely defined by wind-driven rather than physical processes. As a consequence, in the Mississippi outflow region uranium predominantly displays conservative behavior; removal is evident only during anomalous river discharge regimes. ‘Products-approach’ mixing experiments conducted during the Flood of 1993 suggest the importance of small particles and/or colloids in defining a depleted U versus salinity distribution.     

Distribution and petrogenetic behaviour of trace elements in granitic pegmatite quartz from South Norway

The present study documents that the trace-element distribution in granitic quartz is highly sensitive to CAFC processes in granitic melts. Igneous quartz efficiently records both the origin and the evolution of the granitic pegmatites. Aluminium, P, Li, Ti, Ge and Na in that order of abundance, comprises >95% of the trace elements. Most samples feature >1 ppm of any of these elements. The remnant 5% includes K, Fe, Be, B, Ba and Sr whereas the other elements are present at concentrations lower than the detection limit. Potassium, Fe, Be and Ti are relatively compatible hence obtain the highest concentrations in early formed quartz. Phosphorous, Ge, Li and Al are relatively incompatible and generally obtain the highest concentrations in quartz that formed at lower temperatures from more evolved granitic melts. The Ge/Ti, the Ge/Be, the P/Ge and the P/Be ratios of quartz are strongly sensitive to the origin and evolution of the granitic melts and similarly the Rb/Sr and the Rb/K ratios of K-feldspars may be utilised in petrogenetic interpretations. However, the quartz trace element ratios are better at distinguishing similarities and differences in the origin and evolution of granitic melts. After evaluating the different trace element ratios, the Ge/Ti ratio appears to be most robust during subsolidus processes in the igneous systems, hence probably should be the preferred ratio for analysing and understanding petrogenetic processes in granitic igneous rocks.Editorial responsibility: J. Hoefs     

Fracture activity: A possible triggering mechanism for slope instabilities in the Eastern Atlantic?

The largest known submarine slope instabilities occur on gently inclined slopes or in the deep sea. The sedimentation rates are mostly too low to induce an excess pore-water pressure sufficient to create failure. A possible triggering mechanism for these instabilities is additional horizontal ground acceleration caused by earthquakes. Old zones of weakness, represented by fracture zones, can be reactivated by isostatic movements and induce seismic activity. The distribution of some major slope instabilities and the trend of fracture zones in the Eastern Atlantic are compared and Fracture activity is suggested as the main triggering mechanism for these slope instabilities.