Sequential and climatic framework of the growth and demise of a carbonate platform: implications for the peritidal cycles (Late Jurassic,North‐eastern France)

The Middle Oxfordian of the eastern Paris Basin constitutes a remarkable example of the growth and demise of a carbonate platform. Fischer plots, sedimentary and diagenetic features allow the identification of four depositional cycles (S5 to S8) in the Transversarium Zone; they are inserted in a lower frequency cycle of increased/decreased accommodation space (SoIII). The long‐term period of accommodation creation occurred during the older S5 and S6 cycles, the maximum accommodation zone being located in the lower part of the S6 cycle. This high accommodation period was tectonically controlled and was coeval with local distensive activity of a Hercynian fault. A major minimum accommodation zone exists during the S8 cycle. At that time, the platform was isolated and presented both a windward and a leeward margin. The growth of the platform was favoured by a warm and arid climate, oligotrophic conditions and reduced siliciclastic input during a highstand in relative sea‐level. These palaeoenvironmental features favoured the proliferation of phototrophic organisms producing carbonate material. The death of the platform was generated by a reduction in the carbonate production surface during a lowstand in relative sea‐level and by the appearance of mesotrophic conditions induced by the increase in siliciclastic inputs at the beginning of a period with a cooler and more humid climate. In the eastern Paris Basin, during the Middle Oxfordian, the parasequences are ordered and present ‘greenhouse’ characteristics. In contrast, at the beginning of the S8 cycle, the randomness in the thickness of contiguous parasequences increased. Decreased carbonate production during the lowstand caused by a transition from photozoan to heterozoan benthic communities certainly favoured this randomness and the appearance of catch‐down parasequences.     

Rice domestication and climatic change: phytolith evidence from East China

Fossil rice phytoliths have been identified from a lateglacial to Holocene sequence of epicontinental sediments in the East China Sea that were probably transported by the Yangtze River from its middle and/or lower reaches. The rice phytoliths occurred first in the sequence at about 13900 cal. yr BP and disappeared during the period of 13000-10000 cal. yr BP, implying the earliest domesticated cereal crops of the world ever reported. Based on the records of phytoliths, pollen, diatoms and foraminifera from the sequence, the climate between 13000 and 10000 cal. yr BP was notably colder (Younger Dryas). The coincidence of disappearance of domesticated rice phytoliths with cold climate conditions may suggest a great climatic influence on human activities during that time. Warmer and wetter conditions during the period 13900 to 13000 cal. yr BP and after 10000 cal. yr BP have probably favoured rice domestication in the area.     

Fluid infiltration and regional metamorphism of the Waits River Formation, north-east Vermont, USA

Abstract The Siluro-Devonian Waits River Formation of north-east Vermont was deformed, intruded by plutons and regionally metamorphosed during the Devonian Acadian Orogeny. Five metamorphic zones were mapped based on the mineralogy of carbonate rocks. From low to high grade, these are: (1) ankerite-albite, (2) ankerite-oligoclase, (3) biotite, (4) amphibole and (5) diopside zones. Pressure was near 4.5kbar and temperature varied from c. 450° C in the ankerite-albite zone to c. 525° C in the diopside zone. Fluid composition for all metamorphic zones was estimated from mineral equilibria. Average calculated χ_co2[= CO₂/(CO₂+ H₂O)] of fluid in equilibrium with the marls increases with increasing grade from 0.05 in the ankerite-oligoclase zone, to 0.25 in the biotite zone and to 0.44 in the amphibole zone. In the diopside zone, χ_CO2 decreases to 0.06. Model prograde metamorphic reactions were derived from measured modes, mineral chemistry, and whole-rock chemistry. Prograde reactions involved decarbonation with an evolved volatile mixture of χ_CO2 > 0.50. The χ_CO2 of fluid in equilibrium with rocks from all zones, however, was generally <0.40. This difference attests to the infiltration of a reactive H₂O-rich fluid during metamorphism. Metamorphosed carbonate rocks from the formation suggests that both heat flow and pervasive infiltration of a reactive H₂O-rich fluid drove mineral reactions during metamorphism. Average time-integrated volume fluxes (cm³ fluid/cm² rock), calculated from the standard equation for coupled fluid flow and reaction in porous media, are (1) ankerite-oligoclase zone: c. 1 × 10⁴; (2) biotite zone: c. 3 × 10⁴; (3) amphibole zone: c. 10 × 10⁴; and diopside zone: c. 60 × 10⁴. The increase in calculated flux with increasing grade is at least in part the result of internal production of volatiles from prograde reactions in pelitic schists and metacarbonate rocks within the Waits River Formation. The mapped pattern of time-integrated fluxes indicates that the Strafford-Willoughby Arch and the numerous igneous intrusions in the field area focused fluid flow during metamorphism. Many rock specimens in the diopside zone experienced extreme alkali depletion and also record low χ_CO2. Metamorphic fluids in equilibrium with diopside zone rocks may therefore represent a mixture of acid, H₂O-rich fluids given off by the crystallizing magmas, and CO₂-H₂O fluids produced by devolatilization reactions in the host marls. Higher fluxes and different fluid compositions recorded near the plutons suggest that pluton-driven hydrothermal cells were local highs in the larger regional metamorphic hydrothermal system.     

Internal structure of subtidal sandwaves revealed by high-resolution seismic reflection

ABSTRACT
Bedforms of the Surtainville area, off the Cherbourg peninsula, include subtidal sandwaves, which are a good example of mega-structures associated with the strong tidal currents prevailing in the English Channel. A fine-scale study using a high-accuracy echo-sounder and side-scan sonar shows that some of these sandwaves have a crescentic shape and a strong asymmetry indicating a sand movement toward the north. The sandwaves range in height from about 3.5 m to 7.5 m, in width from 100 m to 500 m and in length from 70 m to 200 m; their internal structure, revealed by the simultaneous use of a high-resolution seismic source, is characterized by large 'foreset' beds dipping in the same direction as the lee sides of the sandwaves. Groups of foresets are limited by reactivation surfaces which we interpret as erosional surfaces created by subordinate tides. The presence of horizontal erosional reflectors inside the sandwaves and the truncation of the present-day profiles may reflect the effects of storms. The asymmetry of the tide in the area studied, shown by long-term current measurements, indicates that these sandwaves belong to classes III or IV of Allen's (1980a) classification; the observed structures correspond very well to the prediction of Allen's conceptual model, but we suggest that long term phenomena like equinox cyclicity, associated with storms, may be responsible for their origin rather than the neap-spring-neap tidal cycles responsible for the internal structure of intertidal bedforms.     

Infiltration-Driven Metamorphism in Northern New England, USA

Mineral reactions at the biotite isograd were investigated inpelitic schists, micaceous sandstones, micaceous limestones,and metaigneous rocks from three stratigraphic units over anarea of 10000 km² in north-central New England. The biotiteisograd in north-central New England represents a metamorphicdecarbonation front that affected all major rock types in eachstratigraphic unit. Pressure at the isograd was near 3500 bat the northern end of the study area and near 5500 b in thesouth. Temperature was in the range 400–450?C. Equilibriummetamorphic fluids were approximately CO₂-H₂O mixtures withX_CO2=0?04–0?07. Volumetric fluid]-rock ratios were calculatedfor more than 70 samples of all major rock types from each formationusing measured progress of the prograde reactions and the estimatedP-T-X_CO2, conditions of metamorphism. Regardless of stratigraphicunit, limestones record low values of 0–0?2, pelites andmetaigneous rocks generally record high values of 1–3,and standstones record intermediate values of 0?2–1. With exception of the limestones, all samples from the biotitezone record fluid-rock ratios significantly greater than likelyrock porosity during metamorphism. The prograde decarbonationreactions therefore were driven by infiltration of rock by reactiveaqueous fluids. The observed correlations between fluid-rockratio and rock type indicate that significant permeability contrastsoccurred during low-grade metamorphsim with permeability increasingin the order: limestones<sandstones<pelites rocks. Asa corollary, reactive fluid flow must have been channelizedwith enhanced flow in pelites and metaigneous rocks relativeto sandstones and limestones. Results of this study in north-centralNew England taken together with studies of the biotite isogradin south-central Maine (Ferry, 1984, 1986a, 1988) demonstratethat low-grade metamorphism over much of the northern Appalachianorogen was infiltration-driven.     

Regional Metamorphism of the Waits River Formation, Eastern Vermont: Delineation of a New Type of Giant Metamorphic Hydrothermal System

Metamorphic isograds and time-integrated fluid fluxes were mappedover the 1500 km2 exposure of the Waits River Formation, easternVermont, south of latitude 4430'N. Isograds based on the appearanceof oligoclase, biotite, and amphibole in metacarbonate rocksdefine elongated metamorphic highs centered on the axes of twolarge antiforms. The highest-grade isograd based on the appearanceof diopside is closely associated spatially with synmetamorphicgranitic plutons. Pressure, calculated from mineral equilibria,was fairly uniform in the area, 7 1.5 kb; calculated temperatureincreases from {small tilde} 480C at the lowest grades in thearea to {small tilde} 575C in the diopside zone. CalculatedX_co2f equilibrium metamorphic fluid increases from <0-03at the lowest grades to 0.2 in the amphibole zone and decreasesto 0.07 in the diopside zone. Time-integrated fluid fluxesincrease with increasing metamorphic grade, with the followingmean values for each metamorphic zone (in cm³/cm²): ankerite-oligoclasezone, 1 x 10⁴; biotite zone, 7 x 10⁴; amphibole zone, 2 x 10⁵;diopside zone, 7 x 10⁵. The mapped pattern of time-integrated fluxes delineates twolarge deep-seated ({small tilde} 25-km depth) regional metamorphichydrothermal systems, each centered on one of the major antiforms.Fluid flowed subhorizontally perpendicular to the axis of theantiforms from their low-temperature flanks to their hot axialregions and drove prograde decarbonation reactions as they went.Along the axes of the antiforms fluid flow was further focusedaround synmetamorphic granitic intrusions. In the hot axialregion fluid changed direction and flowed subvertically outof the metamorphic terrane, precipitating quartz veins. Estimatesof the total recharge, based on progress of prograde decarbonationreactions, nearly match estimates of the total discharge, basedon measured quartz vein abundance, (2-10) x 10¹² cm3 fluid percm system measured parallel to the axes of the antiforms. Withinthe axial regions fluids had lower X_CO2 and rocks record greatertime-integrated fluxes close to the intrusions than at positionsmore than {small tilde} 5 km from them. The differences in bothfluid composition and time-integrated flux can be explainedby mixing close to the intrusions of regional metamorphic fluidsof X_CO2/ with fluids from another source with X_CO2{small tilde}0 in the approximate volume ratio of 1:2.     

Holocene tree‐limit and distribution of Abies alba in the inner French Alps: anthropogenic or climatic changes?

The expansion of silver fir (Abies alba) during the 20th century in the European inner Alps calls into question the causes of the observed dynamics. We investigate the past distribution of Abies alba via analysis of wood charcoal buried in natural soils (identification, weighing, dating) and of pollen and macro-remains from peat to help us understand its present-day expansion. Material was sampled in the driest areas of the inner French Alps - some samples from calcareous sites, and most from southern exposures that should exclude Abies alba, which is a drought and carbonate intolerant species. The regional tree limit of the silver fir has not changed significantly since the middle Holocene. Abies alba grew on southern exposures, even on calcareous soils, but its importance was higher on northern slopes. From 4000 to 2000 cal. yr BP, depending on sites, the species has experienced local extinction associated with fire history. Human impact, more than climate, appears to be the main factor for local extinction, indicating that the marked present-day expansion of silver fir may result from land-use abandonment.     

The effect of whole-rock MnO content on the stability of garnet in pelitic schists during metamorphism

Garnet-bearing mineral assemblages are commonly observed in pelitic schists regionally metamorphosed to upper greenschist and amphibolite facies conditions. Modelling of thermodynamic data for minerals in the system Na₂O–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O, however, predicts that garnet should be observed only in rocks of a narrow range of very high Fe/Mg bulk compositions. Traditionally, the nearly ubiquitous presence of garnet in medium- to high-grade pelitic schists is attributed qualitatively to the stabilizing effect of MnO, based on the observed strong partitioning of MnO into garnet relative to other minerals. In order to quantify the dependence of garnet stability on whole-rock MnO content, we have calculated mineral stabilities for pelitic rocks in the system MnO–Na₂O–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O for a moderate range of MnO contents from a set of non-linear equations that specify mass balance and chemical equilibrium among minerals and fluid. The model pelitic system includes quartz, muscovite. albite, pyrophyllite, chlorite, chloritoid, biotite, garnet, staurolite, cordierite, andalusite, kyanite. sillimanite, K-feldspar and H₂O fluid. In the MnO-free system, garnet is restricted to high Fe/Mg bulk compositions, and commonly observed mineral assemblages such as garnet–chlorite and garnet–kyanite are not predicted at any pressure and temperature. In bulk compositions with X_Mn= Mn/(Fe + Mg + Mn) > 0.01, however, the predicted garnet-bearing mineral assemblages are the same as the sequence of prograde mineral assemblages typically observed in regional metamorphic terranes. Temperatures predicted for the first appearance of garnet in model pelitic schist are also strongly dependent on whole-rock MnO content. The small MnO contents of normal pelitic schists (X_Mn= 0.01–0.04) are both sufficient and necessary to account for the observed stability of garnet.     

东海DGKS96—03岩心中微体化石的古海洋学特点、δ~(18)O曲线与AMS~(14)C测年

运用微体化石的研究结果辨识岩心不同的沉积阶段的沉积特征及古海洋学特点 ,并辅以δ18O曲线及AMS14 C测年去探讨岩心的沉积时代。该岩心是 1996年 5月中国、法国、韩国科学家一起利用法国L’ATALANTE号海洋调查船在东海陆架获取的 17个岩心中的一个 ,分别做了粒度、矿物、CaCO3、微体化石、δ18O、AMS14 C测年等分析 ,初步分析认为 :依据微体化石的冷、暖水种的丰度变化 ,可以辨识出该岩心气候的 7个冷期 (C1、C2 、C3、C4 -1、C4 -2 、C5、C6、C7) ,然后结合岩心中的矿物成份、CaCO3 含量、粒度变化、AMS14 C的测年数据把岩心划分为 4个沉积阶段 ,1.晚更新世早玉木冰期沉积。 2 .玉木亚间冰期沉积。 3 .晚更新世玉木冰期沉积。 4.全新世冰后期沉积。另外 ,利用浮游有孔虫壳体对不同的沉积阶段所做的AMS14 C测年结果分别为 96 90aBP、12 980aBP ,2 6 35 0aBP ,2 796 0aBP ,37410aBP ,412 6 0aBP .     

Holocene gelifluction in a snow-patch environment at the Forest-Tundra Transition along the eastern Hudson Bay Coast, Canada

The Holocene chronology of gelifluction events in a snow-patch environment of the Richmond Gulf area, eastern Hudson Bay Coast (northern Québec), has been constructed using sixty radiocarbon-dated buried organic horizons. The samples were recovered from nine soil trenches located along an altitudinal gradient associated with a chronosequence as determined by the regional land emersion curve. The most significant gelifluction activity occurred after c. 2,800 B. P. Gelifluction events occurred around 5,600, 5,000, 4,500, 3,150, 2,500, 1,550, 1,200 and 450 B.P., and at present. According to the frequency of ¹⁴C dates. gelifluction has been particularly active between 2,800-2,300, 1,700–900 and 600-300 B.P., and at present. Gelifluction occurrence seems to be closely related to well-bracketed cold episodes in northern Québec. The increase in frequency of ¹⁴C dates associated with burial of organic matter through gelifluction after c. 2,800 B. P. substantiates the colling trend depicted elsewhere, both in northern Québec and in the northern hemisphere.