An ice-core based history of Siberian forest fires since AD 1250

Forest fires play a key role in the global carbon cycle and thus, can affect regional and global climate. Although fires in extended areas of Russian boreal forests have a considerable influence on atmospheric greenhouse gas and soot concentrations, estimates of their impact on climate are hampered by a lack of data on the history of forest fires. Especially regions with strong continental climate are of high importance due to an intensified development of wildfires. In this study we reconstruct the fire history of Southern Siberia during the past 750 years using ice-core based nitrate, potassium, and charcoal concentration records from Belukha glacier in the continental Siberian Altai. A period of exceptionally high forest-fire activity was observed between AD 1600 and 1680, following an extremely dry period AD 1540–1600. Ice-core pollen data suggest distinct forest diebacks and the expansion of steppe in response to dry climatic conditions. Coherence with a paleoenvironmental record from the 200 km distant Siberian lake Teletskoye shows that the vegetational shift AD 1540–1680, the increase in fire activity AD 1600–1680, and the subsequent recovery of forests AD 1700 were of regional significance. Dead biomass accumulation in response to drought and high temperatures around AD 1600 probably triggered maximum forest-fire activity AD 1600–1680. The extreme dry period in the 16th century was also observed at other sites in Central Asia and is possibly associated with a persistent positive mode of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). No significant increase in biomass burning occurred in the Altai region during the last 300 years, despite strongly increasing temperatures and human activities. Our results imply that precipitation changes controlled fire-regime and vegetation shifts in the Altai region during the past 750 years. We conclude that high sensitivity of ecosystems to occasional decadal-scale drought events may trigger unprecedented environmental reorganizations under global-warming conditions.     

Sedimentation patterns of diatoms in Lake Holzmaar, Germany - (on the transfer of climate signals to biogenic silica oxygen isotope proxies)

The seasonal sedimentation pattern of diatom valves in Lake Holzmaar was investigated during 1995 by deploying sediment traps at three different lake depths. According to the sedimentation pattern, the major reproduction zone of diatoms was restricted to the upper 6 m of the water body. The population growth started late in April and blooms of Cyclotella cf. comensis Grun., which dominates the plankton diatoms, and Fragilaria crotonensis Kitton were collected in traps during June and September, and July, respectively. During summer, the seasonal sedimentation pattern of each taxon, as collected in the upper traps, was reflected in the concentrations in the lowest trap. However, in May and from September onwards, the community composition in the lowest trap and augmented trapping rates suggest both sediment focusing and resuspension of bottom sediments.The temperature signals as recorded by 18O values of diatom valves should, therefore, reflect integrated temperatures between 0 and 6 m depth. However, temperatures during summer and autumn are expected to be accentuated in the sedimentary record since the isotopic signal is weighted by both the number and the weight-mass of the valves. During summer, the transfer of these signals by the sedimenting diatoms retains the information pattern recorded, while in spring and autumn/winter additional influxes caused by resuspension may somewhat alter those temperature informations. The proxy signals finally stored in the sediments, may, therefore, not precisely represent the successive temperatures currently recorded during 1995 within mid-lake.     

Role of melt during deformation in the deep crust

Deformation in the deep crust is strongly influenced by the presence of melt. Injected melt (or magma) weakens the crust because strain will tend to localize where melt is present. The amount of strain a pluton may accommodate is dependent on the length of time it takes for a pluton to crystallize and the strain rate. For plutons that intrude into rocks which are near the solidus temperature of the melt, crystallization times can be quite long (> 1Myr).
Partial melting of deep crustal rocks can lead to melt-enhanced embrittlement. This occurs because the volume change for most melting reactions is positive. Therefore, when the rate of melt production outpaces the rate at which melt can leave the system, the melt pressure increases. Eventually, the melt pressure may become sufficiently high that the melting rocks behave in a brittle fashion and fracture.
Conjugate sets of dilatant shear fractures filled with melt occur in migmatite from the Central Gneiss belt (Canada); this suggests that melt-enhanced embrittlement occurred in these rocks. An expression which relates the magnitude of differential stress to the angle between conjugate dilatant shear fractures is derived. Assuming that migmatite has a small tensile strength, differential stresses are ≤ 20 MPa in migmatitic rocks at the time melt-enhanced embrittlement occurs. The occurrence of melt-enhanced embrittlement shows that a switch in deformation mechanism from plastic flow to cataclasis is possible in the deep crust during melting. Furthermore, repeated episodes of melt-enhanced embrittlement in migmatitic rocks may be an efficient mechanism for extracting melt from partially melted terrains.     

Phase relationships in granulitic metapelites from the Ivrea-Verbano zone (Northern Italy)

Paragneisses of the Ivrea-Verbano zone exhibit over a horizontal distance of 5 km mineralogical changes indicative of the transition from amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism. The most obvious change is the progressive replacement of biotite by garnet via the reaction: a $${\text{Biotite + sillimanite + quartz }} \to {\text{ Garnet + K - feldspar + H}}_{\text{2}} {\text{O}}$$ which results in a systematic increase in the modal ratio g = (garnet)/(garnet + biotite) with increasing grade. The systematic variations in garnet and biotite contents of metapelites are also reflected by the compositions of these phases, both of which become more magnesian with increasing metamorphic grade. The pressure of metamorphism has been estimated from the Ca₃Al₂Si₃O₁₂ contents of garnets coexisting with plagioclase, sillimanite and quartz. These phases are related by the equilibrium: b $$\begin{gathered} 3 CaAl_2 {\text{Si}}_{\text{2}} {\text{O}}_{\text{8}} \rightleftharpoons Ca_3 Al_2 {\text{Si}}_{\text{3}} {\text{O}}_{{\text{12}}} + 2 Al_2 {\text{SiO}}_{\text{5}} + {\text{SiO}}_{\text{2}} \hfill \\ plagioclase garnet sillimanite quartz \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ which has been applied to these rocks using the available data on the mixing properties of plagioclase and garnet solid solutions. Temperature and f _{H 2O} estimates have been made in a similar way using thermodynamic data on the biotite-garnet reaction (a) and the approximate solidus temperatures of paragneisses. Amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism in the Ivrea-Verbano zone took place in the P-T ranges 9–11 kb and 700–820 °C. The differences in temperature and pressure of metamorphism between g= 0 and g = 1 (5 kms horizontal distance) were less than 50° C and approximately 1 kb. Retrogression and re-equilibration of garnets and biotites in the metapelites extended to temperatures more than 50° C below and pressures more than 1.5 kb below the peak of metamorphism, the degree of retrogression increasing with decreasing grade of the metamorphic “peak”. The pressure and temperature of the peak of metamorphism are not inconsistent with the hypothesis that the Ivrea-Verbano zone is a slice of upthrusted lower crust from the crust-mantle transition region, although it appears that the thermal gradient was too low for the zone to represent a near-vertical section through the crust. The most reasonable explanation of the granulite facies metamorphism is that it arose through intrusion of mafic rocks into a region already undergoing recrystallisation under amphibolite facies conditions.     

Activity-composition relationships for pyrope-grossular garnet

Activity coefficients () for grossular in pyrope-grossular garnet have been determined experimentally using the divariant assemblage garnet-anorthite-sillimanite (kyanite)-quartz. Values of for garnets with 10–12 mole % grossular have been obtained at 1000 °, 1100 °, 1200 ° and 1300 ° C at pressures between 15 and 21 Kb. The data are consistent with a symmetrical regular solid model for grossular-pyrope solid solutions. The interaction parameter (W) increases linearly with decreasing temperature and is given by W = 7460-4.3 T cals (T in °K). A solvus in the pyrope-grossular solid solution is predicted with a temperature of critical mixing of 629°C±90 ° C.     

Plio-Pleistocene transpressional reactivation of Paleozoic and Paleogene structures in the Rhine-Bresse transform zone (northern Switzerland and eastern France)

Pliocene to recent uplift and shortening in the southern Rhinegraben is documented by deformation of Pliocene fluvial gravels, deposited on a nearly planar surface, as well as by progressive deflection and capture of rivers. This deformation is suggested to result from thick-skinned tectonic movements as evidenced by observations on seismic records, which demonstrate a spatial coincidence between en-échelon anticlines at the surface and faults located in the crystalline basement. These findings contradict the often invoked thin-skinned tectonism in the recent tectonic history of the Rhinegraben. In particular the transfer zone between the Rhinegraben and the Bressegraben is very suitable for reactivation under the present day stress field. Thick-skinned reactivation of faults in the basement is also expressed by focal plane mechanisms of recent earthquakes showing strike-slip- rather than reverse faulting characteristics. This is of importance for the densely populated and industrialised southern Rhinegraben, previously affected by large earthquakes in historical times (e.g. Basel 1356).     

Cladoceran stratigraphy in two shallow brackish lakes with special reference to changes in salinity, macrophyte abundance and fish predation

Sub-fossils of Cladocera and Foraminifera were used to reconstruct changes since 1870 in the trophic dynamics of two brackish lakes, Glombak and Han Vejle, located in the Vejlerne nature reserve, Denmark, a site of international conservation importance. After creation of the lakes in the mid-1870s following land reclamation, the two lakes have developed quite differently; today Glombak is turbid, while Han Vejle is clear. In both lakes, stratigraphic changes in the assemblages of foraminifers and cladocerans indicate an abrupt shift from marine to brackish conditions at the end of the 19th century, coinciding with land reclamation. However, the composition of the fossil invertebrate assemblages in the 20th century implies differences in the exposure to salinity, in fish predation and in habitat diversity. In Glombak, the cladoceran record suggests relatively saline conditions in the first quarter of the last century and high macrophyte abundance followed by lower salinities and subsequently a major decrease in macrophyte abundance and an increase in fish predation during the past ca. 40 years. By contrast, in Han Vejle low salinity, high abundance of macrophytes and only minor changes in fish predation seem to have prevailed throughout most of the 20th century. The results are consistent with recent contemporary data, the few historical records, as well as with trends in the records of diatoms and macrofossils. This study highlights the potential of using crustacean remains as indicators of long-term changes in the trophic dynamics of brackish lakes.     

Estimation of elevation-dependent satellite antenna phase center variations of GPS satellites

A method for the estimation of the phase center variations of GPS satellite antennas using global GPS data is presented. First estimations have shown an encouraging repeatability from day to day and between satellites of the same block. Thus, two different satellite antenna patterns for Block II/IIA and for Block IIR with a range of about 4 cm and an accuracy of less than 1 mm could be found. The present approach allows the creation of a consistent set of receiver and satellite antenna patterns and phase center offsets. Thereby, it is possible to switch from relative to absolute phase center variations without a scale problem in global networks. This changeover has an influence on troposphere parameters, reduces systematic effects due to uncorrect antenna modeling and should diminish the elevation dependence of GPS results. AcknowledgmentsThe authors thank Prof. G. Seeber (University of Hannover) and Dr. G. Wübbena (Geo++ GmbH) and their groups for their kindness in making available the absolute field calibration results derived from robot measurements.