Little Ice Age subsidence and post Little Ice Age uplift at Juneau, Alaska, inferred from dendrochronology and geomorphology

Application of dendrochronology and geomorphology to a recently emerged coastal area near Juneau, Alaska, has documented a Little Ice Age (LIA) sea-level transgression to 6.2 m above current sea level. The rise in relative sea level is attributed to regional subsidence and appears to have stabilized by the mid 16th century, based on a sea-cliff eroded into late-Pleistocene glaciomarine sediments. Land began emerging between A.D. 1770 and 1790, coincident with retreat of regional glaciers from their LIA maximums. This emergence has continued since then, paralleling regional glacier retreat. Total Juneau uplift since the late 18th century is estimated to be 3.2 m. The rate of downward colonization of newly emergent coastline by Sitka spruce during the 20th century closely parallels the rate of sea-level fall documented by analysis of local tide-gauge records (1.3 cm/yr). Regional and Glacier Bay LIA loading and unloading are inferred to be the primary mechanisms driving subsidence and uplift in the Juneau area. Climate change rather then regional tectonics has forced relative sea-level change over the last several hundred years.     

Composition and origin of organic matter in surface sediments of Lake Sarbsko: A highly eutrophic and shallow coastal lake (northern Poland)

We present an organic geochemical study of surface sediments of Lake Sarbsko, a shallow coastal lake on the middle Polish Baltic coast. The aim was to provide evidence concerning the origin of the organic matter (OM) and its compositional diversity in surface deposits of this very productive, highly dynamic water body. The content and composition of the OM in the bottom sediments were investigated at 11 sampling stations throughout the lake basin. OM sources were assigned on the basis of bulk indicators [total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), δ¹³C_TOC and δ¹⁵N and extractable OM yield], biomarker composition of extractable OM and compound-specific C isotope signatures. The source characterization of autochthonous compounds was verified via phytoplankton analysis. The distribution of gaseous hydrocarbons in the sediments, as well as temporal changes in lake water pH, the concentration of DIC (dissolved inorganic carbon) and δ¹³C_DIC were used to trace OM decomposition.The sedimentary OM is composed mainly of well preserved phytoplankton compounds and shows minor spatial variability in composition. However, the presence of CH₄ and CO₂ in the bottom deposits provides evidence for microbial degradation of sedimentary OM. The transformation of organic compounds in surface, bottom and pore waters via oxidative processes influences carbonate equilibrium in the lake and seasonally favours precipitation or dissolution of CaCO₃.The data enhance our understanding of the relationships between the composition of sedimentary OM and environmental conditions within coastal ecosystems and shed light on the reliability of OM proxies for environmental reconstruction of coastal lakes.     

Molecular transport in fracture processes

The Asymmetric Continuum Theory based on deformation fields includes the strain rotation as an equally important deformation part as the shear and confining strains; all these fields can be related to their origin in the fracture processes by some displacement motions in a source. Some of these motions may belong to an individual process, some to complex correlated events; in this latter case the displacements related to these strains could be shifted in phase. Moreover, we may expect an appearance of some molecular transport motions; the molecular transport may be helpful for understanding an interaction of the molecular processes and related molecular momentum flux. These correlated events should be mutually related in a source by the release-rebound mechanism. In particular, we consider the point fracture events as associated with a confining load or/and with the shear and rotation processes; we discuss the related effects and their meaning when discussing the fault plane mechanism and emitted waves. It is to be pointed out that such molecular motions are too small to be observed by the existing seismological networks.     

Physics of basic motions in asymmetric continuum

We consider the advantages of a formalism based on concept of the asymmetric continuum and we present some equivalence theorems relating it to the asymmetric elasticity and to micropolar and micromorphic theories as founded by Nowacki, Cosserats and Eringen. We consider the basic processes in an asymmetric continuum which could be reduced to the point basic motions/deformations. The co-action of spin and shear motions is assumed to play the main role in fracturing process, while the constitutive relation between the antisymmetric stresses and rotations replaces the friction constitutive law.     

Rotation and strain seismology

Asymmetric continuum theory points to the equal roles of the rotation motions and those related directly to shear or confining strains. The strain motions could be quite independent or mutually related with the eventual phase shifts, while the displacements have only a mathematical sense; a real displacement may appear along the fracture slip only. Formally, any deformation could be presented as related to the displacements; however, its origin in a fracture source should be considered either as belonging to an individual process or to complex correlated events; in these cases, the confining, shear and rotation strains can be related mathematically to the different displacement fields. Some of these related deformations could be emitted from a source with a phase shift, while the observed displacements (deduced from records) result as a sum of these independent displacements. An important influence on a source process and on the premonitory micro-events has the material defects, their distribution, and mobility. The defect arrays lead to a concentration of stresses and their local reorganization. Thus, in this paper, we consider the induced stresses and strains related to defect content and to its modification and redistribution. Moreover, an important role in understanding the complex correlated events in a source plays the release?Crebound mechanism. The release?Crebound mechanism in an earthquake source processes leads to a possible direct or phase-shifted correlations between the emitted motions; in this aspect, a propagation of the coupled strain and rotation waves is discussed. In particular, we consider the point fracture events as related either to a confining load or/and to the shear and rotation processes; we discuss the related effects and their meaning when discussing the fault plane mechanism and emitted waves. In some important seismic regions, we have the recording system which permits to record the strains and rotations. However, we should point that the wordwide seismological network is not adequate to record the complex strain deformations released in the fracture processes and remains quite insufficient to understand the global stress changes and related strain waves of a very low period. Consideration on a recording mechanism of the long displacement waves indicates the insufficiencies of the present global recording system and points that recording of the global strain and rotation waves is an important and urgent task.     

Basait generation at the Apollo 12 site,Part 2: Source heterogeneity,multiple melts,and crustal contamination

Abstract— The petrogenesis of Apollo 12 mare basalts has been examined with emphasis on trace-element ratios and abundances. Vitrophyric basalts were used as parental compositions for the modelling, and proportions of fractionating phases were determined using the MAGFOX program of Longhi (1991). Crystal fractionation processes within crustal and sub-crustal magma chambers are evaluated as a function of pressure. Knowledge of the fractionating phases allows trace-element variations to be considered as either source related or as a product of post-magma-generation processes. For the ilmenite and olivine basalts, trace-element variations are inherited from the source, but the pigeonite basalt data have been interpreted with open-system evolution processes through crustal assimilation. Three groups of basalts have been examined: (1) Pigeonite basalts — produced by the assimilation of lunar crustal material by a parental melt (up to 3% assimilation and 10% crystal fractionation, with an “r” value of 0.3). (2) Ilmenite basalts — produced by variable degrees of partial melting (4–8%) of a source of olivine, pigeonite, augite, and plagioclase, brought together by overturn of the Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) cumulate pile. After generation, which did not exhaust any of the minerals in the source, these melts experienced closed-system crystal fractionation/accumulation. (3) Olivine basalts — produced by variable degrees of partial melting (5–10%) of a source of olivine, pigeonite, and augite. After generation, again without exhausting any of the minerals in the source, these melts evolved through crystal accumulation. The evolved liquid counterparts of these cumulates have not been sampled. The source compositions for the ilmenite and olivine basalts were calculated by assuming that the vitrophyric compositions were primary and the magmas were produced by non-modal batch melting. Although the magnitude is unclear, evaluation of these source regions indicates that both be composed of early- and late-stage Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) cumulates, requiring an overturn of the cumulate pile.     

The NLTE Formation of Iron Lines Used in Solar Polarimetry

We study in some detail one-dimensional NLTE effects in solar Fei lines. The lines selected are frequently used in solar polarimetry, and also in studies of line asymmetries and for abundance determinations. Our model atom for Fei–Feii–Feiii is realistic: it takes account of multiplet structure and it includes over 200 bound–bound and bound–free transitions in detail. We use very efficient iterative methods for the self-consistent solution of the kinetic and radiative transfer equations (Auer, Fabiani Bendicho, and Trujillo Bueno, 1994). We have applied these fast methods of solution because they are suitable for the investigation of 2D and 3D NLTE transfer effects with multilevel atoms, which constitutes the next step of our ongoing research project on the iron line formation problem.     

Determining a tilt in Titan’s north-south albedo asymmetry from Cassini images

Analysis of Titan’s hemispheric brightness asymmetry from mapped Cassini images reveals an axis of symmetry that is tilted with respect to the rotational axis of the solid body. Twenty images taken from 2004 through 2007 show a mean axial offset of 3.8 ± 0.9° relative to the solid body’s pole, directed 79 ± 24° to the west of the sub-solar longitude. These values are consistent with recent measurements of an implied atmospheric spin axis determined from isothermal mapping by [Achterberg, R.K., Conrath, B.J., Gierasch, P.J., Flasar, F.M., Nixon, C.A., 2008. Icarus 197, 549-555].     

‘Box‐Profile’ Ion Implants as Geochemical Reference Materials for Electron Probe Microanalysis and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

Although electron probe microanalysis and secondary ion mass spectrometry are widely used analytical techniques for geochemical and mineralogical applications, metrologically rigorous quantification remains a major challenge for these methods. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) in particular is a matrix‐sensitive method, and the use of matrix‐matched reference materials (RMs) is essential to avoid significant analytical bias. A major problem is that the number of available RMs for SIMS is extremely small compared with the needs of analysts. One approach for the production of matrix‐specific RMs is the use of high‐energy ion implantation that introduces a known amount of a selected isotope into a material. We chose the more elaborate way of implanting a so‐called ‘box‐profile’ to generate a quasi‐homogeneous concentration of the implanted isotope in three dimensions, which allows RMs not only to be used for ion beam analysis but also makes them suitable for EPMA. For proof of concept, we used the thoroughly studied mineralogically and chemically ‘simple’ SiO₂ system. We implanted either ⁴⁷Ti or ⁴⁸Ti into synthetic, ultra‐high‐purity silica glass. Several ‘box‐profiles’ with mass fractions between 10 and 1000 μg g^?1 Ti and maximum depths of homogeneous Ti distribution between 200 nm and 3 μm were produced at the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research of Helmholtz‐Zentrum Dresden‐Rossendorf. Multiple implantation steps using varying ion energies and ion doses were simulated with Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (SRIM) software, optimising for the target concentrations, implantation depths and technical limits of the implanter. We characterised several implant test samples having different concentrations and maximum implantation depths by means of SIMS and other analytical techniques. The results show that the implant samples are suitable for use as reference materials for SIMS measurements. The multi‐energy ion implantation technique also appears to be a promising procedure for the production of EPMA‐suitable reference materials.