Experimental calibration of oxygen isotope fractionation between quartz and zircon

We report the results of an experimental calibration of oxygen isotope fractionation between quartz and zircon. Data were collected from 700 to 1000 °C, 10–20 kbar, and in some experiments the oxygen fugacity was buffered at the fayalite–magnetite–quartz equilibrium. Oxygen isotope fractionation shows no clear dependence on oxygen fugacity or pressure. Unexpectedly, some high-temperature data (900–1000 °C) show evidence for disequilibrium oxygen isotope partitioning. This is based in part on ion microprobe data from these samples that indicate some high-temperature quartz grains may be isotopically zoned. Excluding data that probably represent non-equilibrium conditions, our preferred calibration for oxygen isotope fractionation between quartz and zircon can be described by:

This relationship can be used to calculate fractionation factors between zircon and other minerals. In addition, results have been used to calculate WR/melt–zircon fractionations during magma differentiation. Modeling demonstrates that silicic magmas show relatively small changes in δ¹⁸O values during differentiation, though late-stage mafic residuals capable of zircon saturation contain elevated δ¹⁸O values. However, residuals also have larger predicted melt–zircon fractionations meaning zircons will not record enriched δ¹⁸O values generally attributed to a granitic protolith. These results agree with data from natural samples if the zircon fractionation factor presented here or from natural studies is applied.     

A Mesocyclone over the Northern Sea of Japan in February 2013

Oceanology - The article considers a particular event in the influence of a mesoscale cyclone (MC) on the northern Sea of Japan on February 10–11, 2013. The passage of the MC was accompanied...     

A mineral equilibria study of the hydrothermal alteration in mafic greenschist facies rocks at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

The influx of a H₂O–CO₂‐dominated fluid into actinolite‐bearing metabasic rocks during greenschist facies metamorphism in the Kalgoorlie area of Western Australia resulted in a zoned alteration halo around inferred fluid conduits that contain gold mineralisation. The alteration halo is divided into two outer zones, the chlorite zone and the carbonate zone, and an inner pyrite zone adjacent to the inferred fluid conduits. Reaction between the fluid and the protolith resulted in the breakdown of actinolite and the development of chlorite, dolomite, calcite and siderite. In addition, rocks in the pyrite zone developed muscovite‐bearing assemblages as a consequence of the introduction of potassium by the fluid. Mineral equilibria calculations undertaken using the computer software thermocalc in the model system Na₂O–CaO–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–CO₂ show that mineral assemblages in the outer zones of the alteration halo are consistent with equilibrium of the protoliths with a fluid of composition X_CO2 = CO₂/(CO₂ + H₂O) = 0.1–0.25 for temperatures of 315–320 °C. The inner zone of the alteration halo reflect equilibrium with a fluid of composition X_CO2≈ 0.25. Fluid‐rock buffering calculations show that the alteration halo is consistent with interaction with a single fluid composition and that the zoned structure of the halo reflects the volume of this fluid with which the rocks reacted. This fluid is likely to have also been the one responsible for the gold mineralisation at Kalgoorlie.     

The Structure of the Bazhenov Horizon in the Northeast Part of West Siberia

A new variant of the structural-facies zonation of the Bazhenov horizon (Tithonian–Lower Berriasian) in the northeastern part of West Siberia was considered using lithofacies and structural analysis. The low content of terrigenous sedimentary material in the high-carbon facies of the Bazhenov Formation is explained by the capturing of the material by the relatively deep Pur–Taz Paleobasin, where the fan of the Yenisei–Khatanga strait was formed. The Pur–Taz Paleobasin was filled by the sediments of the Yanovstanov Formation. In the northeast the basin borders the vast and relatively shallow Ob Paleobasin, where the black shales of the oil-source Bazhenov Formation were accumulated.     

Implications of trace fossil assemblages from Late Paleozoic Glaciomarine Talchir Formation, Raniganj Basin, India

The trace fossil assemblages of the ice-marginal shallow marine sediments of the Talchir Formation (Permo-Carboniferous), Raniganj Basin, India, record the adverse effect of extreme climatic conditions on biota. The glaciomarine Talchir succession starts with glacial sediments near the base and gradually passes to storm-laid shallow marine sediments up-section. The fine-grained storm sediments host abundant trace fossils. Although the studied ichnites characteristically show marginal marine affinity, the ichnodiversity and bioturbation intensity suggest a lower than normal shallow marine trace fossil population. Further, endobenthic annelids, worms and crustaceans are identified as dominant trace-makers.

Sediment reworking near the ice-grounding line, extremely cold climate, high-energy storm sedimentation and anomalous water chemistry hindered organic colonization during the early phases of Talchir sedimentation. Later, climatic amelioration ushered in a favourable ambience for the benthic community to colonize within or beyond the storm weather wave-base in the outer shoreface–shelf environment. Fluctuating storm energy dominantly controlled the availability and influence of other environmental stimuli in the environment, and thus, governed the distribution, abundance and association of the studied ichnites. However, impoverished ichnodiversity, sporadic distribution of the traces, overall smaller burrow dimensions, absence of body fossils, dominance of worms and annelids as trace-makers all indicate a stressed environmental condition, induced by cold climate and lowered marine salinity due to influx of glacier melt-out freshwater during climatic amelioration, in the Permo-Carboniferous ice-marginal sea.     

Global ENSO-streamflow teleconnection,streamflow forecasting and interannual variability

Abstract

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been linked to climate anomalies throughout the world. This paper presents an overview of global ENSO-streamflow teleconnection and identifies regions where the relationship may be exploited to forecast streamflow several months ahead. The teleconnection is investigated by fitting a first harmonic to 24-month El Niño streamflow composites from 581 catchments worldwide and the potential for forecasting is investigated by calculating the lag correlation between streamflow and two indicators of ENSO. The analyses indicate clear ENSO-streamflow teleconnections in many catchments, some of which are consistent across large geographical regions. Strong and regionally consistent ENSO-streamflow teleconnections are identified in Australia and New Zealand, South and Central America, and weaker signals are identified in some parts of Africa and North America. The results suggest that the ENSO-streamflow relationship and the serial correlation in streamflow can be used to successfully forecast streamflow. The streamflow forecasts can be used to help manage water resources, particularly in systems with high interannual variability in Australia, southern and drier parts of Africa and some areas of North America.     

Seismicity of the northern part of Russian plate and its glaciostatic nature

The comparison of seismological materials with the front boundary of the latest continental glaciation has shown that all revealed really tectonic earthquakes occur exclusively in the occurrence area of a thick cover of this glaciation. The thickness of the glacier at a distance of about 50–100 km from its front could have reached 1 km, and the amplitude of glacioisostatic lowering and subsequent uplifts could have reached 0.3 km. The total amplitude of these movements, which were taking place during 20 thousand years, is comparable with the amplitudes of vertical neotectonic movements, which were taking place during 35–37 million years and on the average were three orders of magnitude more intense than neotectonic movements. With such amplitudes and speeds of vertical glacioisostatic movements, it looks quite plausible that the buried rupture zones could be revived recently (including in Holocene) with block movements of crystalline basement with an amplitude of a few tens of meters. This explains the localization of modern seismicity, which is a hazard to construction, within the occurrence domain of the latest glacial shield.     

Basement structure and sedimentary cover seismostratigraphy in the northern part of the Japan Basin in the region of the Tarasov Rise (Sea of Japan)

The results of continuous seismic profiling thermodynamics performed in the northern part of the Japan Basin in the region of the Tarasov Rise and the data of a micropaleontological examination of the diatom remains encountered in the sediment samples from the rise and continental slope are presented. In the area studied, the topography of the acoustic basement features a vast rise (plateau) buried under the sedimentary cover outlined by the depth contour 5.8 s. The plateau has a relatively smooth top surface crossed by a series of rises of the acoustic basement. The two largest rises are represented by the ridges of the Tarasov Rise. The plateau is separated from the continental slope by a depression in the acoustic basement with a depth up to 6.8 s. From the end of the Middle Miocene up to the beginning of the Paleocene, the region of the plateau represented an area of active volcanism; it coincided in time with the stage of subsidence of the floor of the acoustic basement depression. At the end of the Late Miocene, the ridges of the Tarasov Rise started to sink. In the Pliocene, this process accelerated, and, at the beginning of the Pleistocene, it stopped. In the Middle Miocene-Early Pleistocene time, the portion of the continental slope adjacent to the plateau remained stable and suffered no significant vertical movements.