Packrat middens from Canyon de Chelly,northeastern Arizona: Paleoecological and archaeological implications

In western North America, pollen data from highland lakes are often used to reconstruct vegetation on the adjacent lowlands. Plant macrofossils and pollen from packrat middens now provide a means to evaluate such reconstructions. On the basis of pollen diagrams from the Chuska Mountains, H. E. Wright, Jr., A. M. Bent, B. S. Hansen, and L. J. Maher, Jr., ((1973), Geological Society of America Bulletin, 84, 1155–1180) arrived at conservative estimates for late Pleistocene depression of highland conifers. In their interpretation, a proposed slight depression of 500 m for lower tree line precluded expansion of Pinus ponderosa into elevations now in desertscrub. Instead, it was suggested that pinyon pine and Artemisia occupied the lowland plateaus. Packrat midden records on either side of the Chuskas fail to verify this model. Early Holocene middens from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, and a terminal Pleistocene midden from Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, show that blue spruce, limber pine, Douglas fir, dwarf juniper, and Rocky Mountain juniper expanded at least down to 1770 m elevation Neither Colorado pinyon nor ponderosa pine was found as macrofossils in the middens. Artemisia pollen percentages are high in the terminal Pleistocene midden, as they are in the Chuska Mountain pollen sequence, suggesting regional dominance by sagebrush steppe. Of 38 taxa identified, only 3 are shared by middens dated 11,900 and 3120 yr B.P. from Canyon de Chelly, indicating a nearly complete turnover in the flora between the late Pleistocene and late Holocene. Although corn was previously thought to have been introduced to the Colorado plateaus after 2200 yr B.P., the midden dated 3120 yr B.P. contains pollen of corn and other indicators of incipient agriculture.     

Q'gas: a minicomputer-based system to aid in the interpretation of exploration-oriented geochemical data

The past few years have seen an increasing application of computer-based procedures in the processing and interpretation of geochemical data. In many cases this has been carried out by non-geologists using large, general purpose computers remote from the exploration effort. In such situations, appreciation of the geological nature of the problems is often inadequate and in a number of cases misapplication of procedures has resulted. The present paper describes the Q'GAS system which consists of a minicomputer and a series of compatible interactive programs. These programs can be used independently by geologists who have a minimum of experience with computers allowing them the opportunity to carry out personally the processing and interpretation of geochemical data and to ensure that the methodology is based on a firm geological framework. The expense of such a system is relatively low: approximately $25,000 capital costs, and $3500 per year running costs including a maintenance contract. In addition approximately one man-month per year is required for supervision and up-keep.The system has the capability of: (a) selecting subgroups of samples that meet specified criteria (e.g. specific rock type or value ranges); (b) transforming data (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, logarithms, exponentiation and random number generation); (c) making statistical computations; and (d) producing graphical displays (e.g. histograms, X-Y plots, symbol maps etc.). Flexible diskettes are used for data storage and communication with the system is achieved through a video terminal. Hard-copy output is produced on a small printer. The system presently includes programs for data management, univariate statistics with histograms, correlation analysis, X-Y plots, line printer symbol maps, line printer geochemical profiles, multiple linear regression, discriminant analysis, and R-mode factor analysis. Attention is presently being given to developing programs that use a pen plotter for producing better quality maps and diagrams at any scale.Experience has shown that the simpler programs for construction of maps, graphs, and diagrams can provide an immediate improvement in the quality, thoroughness, and speed of data interpretation as well as significantly reducing the tedium associated with manual methods. The multivariate statistical techniques, as always, require a higher level of expertise and many more man hours if they are to be used successfully.     

SrCa and MgCa ratios in polygenetic carbonate allochems from a Michigan marl lake

Rapid accumulation of CaCO₃ is occurring in Littlefield Lake, a marl lake located in central Michigan. The sediment, which is 95% CaCO₃, primarily consists of eight different genetic groups of carbonate allochems. These include calcite muds, sands, algal oncoids and Chara encrustations, as well as the dominant aragonitic gastropods Valvota tricarinota. Gyraulus deflectus and Amnicola integra. and the dominant aragonitic pelecypod Sphaerium partumeium. Samples of each of these groups were analyzed for Ca, Sr and Mg. Molar $\text{Mg}\text{Ca}$ ratios are primarily controlled by allochem mineralogy, with calcitic forms having $\text{Mg}\text{Ca}$ ratios 5–10 times larger than aragonitic (shelled) forms. The $\text{Sr}\text{Ca}$ ratios are primarily controlled by biochemical fractionation, and are significantly lower than $\text{Sr}\text{Ca}$ ratios of inorganically precipitated aragonite from other settings. Partition coefficients were determined for both Sr and Mg for each carbonate allochem group and, based on comparisons with results reported by other workers, the partition coefficients determined here are generally considered ‘typical’ or representative values for biogeneous freshwater carbonates. An analysis of variance of the data indicates that most genera and species of carbonate-secreting organisms in marl lakes have highly characteristic $\text{Sr}\text{Ca}$ and $\text{Mg}\text{Ca}$ ratios. These ratios can potentially serve as geochemical tracers in future investigations of lacustrine carbonate diagenesis. Both Sr and Mg are influenced by grain size and/or surface area, probably due to the presence of these elements in non-lattice-held (exchangeable) positions.     

An empirical sapphirine-spinel Mg---Fe exchange thermometer and its application to high grade xenoliths in the Popes Harbour dyke, Nova Scotia, Canada

Spinel-sapphirine-corundum-rutile parageneses in metapelitic xenoliths from the lamprophyric Popes Harbour dyke are enclosed by feldspathic (±rare quartz) haloes that embay aluminosilicates and biotite. These feldspathic haloes contain plagioclase (An_20–40) and/or an alkali or ternary (hypersolvus) feldspar, and show a variety of igneous and devitrification textures, suggesting an anatectic origin. The spinel-bearing parageneses are interpreted as the refractory residue formed by the incongruent melting of biotite, aluminosilicates and associated phases.

Equilibration temperatures of these assemblages are estimated from an empirical sapphirine-spinel Mg---Fe exchange thermometer derived from literature data on both silica-saturated and undersaturated sapphirine granulites. Linear regression (R=0.81) of the calibrant data yields the expression T(°C) = [800 + (228^*InKd)] − 273 where

Kd=(X^sp_Fe/X^sp_Mg)/(X^sa_Fe/X^sa_Mg)

Precision is estimated at ± 100°C, but will likely be less for highly oxidized sapphirine granulites owing to (1) errors in the stoichiometric estimation of X_Fe³⁺ from microprobe data and (2) the formation of magnetite at the expense of spinel or sapphirine, leading to an increase in X_Mg in either or both phases during cooling. Application of this expression to the reduced (graphite-bearing) Popes Harbour xenoliths yields T of 725–795°C. Anatexis is attributed to thermal metamorphism by the lamprophyric magma prior to and/or during entrainment of xenolith material in the dyke. Higher-T assemblages were quenched before the xenoliths attained thermal equilibrium with the magma, consequently prograde reaction textures and compositional zoning patterns are preserved.     

Physical properties of the particles composing the Martian dust storm of 1971–1972

Infrared spectra obtained from the Mariner 9 spacecraft during the 1971–1972 dust storm are used to derive information on the composition and particle size distribution of the dust and to study the time evolution of the storm. The dust is not composed of pure granite, basalt, basaltic glass, obsidian, quartz, andesite, or montmorillonite. The infrared spectra suggest that the dust is a mixture of materials, dominated by igneous silicates with >62;60% SiO₂, or weathering products such as clay minerals, but the dust could possibly have a significant component of lower SiO₂ materials such as basalt. Substantial quantities of carbonates, nitrates, or carbon suboxide are excluded from the mixture. All infrared, visible, and ultraviolet data on the Martian surface composition seem consistent with a mixture of basalt and clay minerals or high SiO₂ igneous rocks, with a surface patina of oxides of iron. For all candidate compositions, the data are best matched with a size distribution that approximates a differential power law function of slope ?4. This size distribution is quite similar to terrestial size distributions in regions remote from sources of dust. The relative abundance of particles between 1- and 10-μm radius did not change during the Mariner 9 mission; thus suspended particles did not experience Stokes-Cunningham fallout but instead were supported by turbulence with an eddy diffusion coefficient, $\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>e</mtext>}}\text{? 7 × 10}{}^6\text{cm}{}^2\text{sec}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$. The aerosol optical depth, standardized to 0.3-μm wavelength, varied from about 1.5 early in the mission to about 0.2 at Orbit 200.     

Surface color variations of the Galilean satellites

Color variations of the four Galilean satellites have been monitored during the summer of 1971 with the McDonald Observatory area-scanning photometer. All were found to vary with orbital phase, with the exception of Europa in B-V. The curves suggest complex variations in surface make-up with some large features, possibly the result of interaction with the Jovian environment.     

Optical properties of some terrestrial rocks and glasses

The optical constants of five naturally occurring rocks have been determined in the spectral range between 0.2 and .50 μm. Between 0.2 and 5 μm, the real and imaginary parts of the index of refraction were found from a combination of reflectivity and transmission measurements by using Beer's law and the Fresnel reflectivity equation. At wavelenths beyond 5 μm only reflectivity measurements could be made and both constants were found from an application of classical dispersion theory. These optical constants will be valuable for studies of the interaction of light with rock surfaces, atmospheric dust and interplanetary and interstellar dust grains.     

The astronomical theory of climatic change on Mars

We examine the response of Martian climate to changes in solar energy deposition caused by variations of the Martian orbit and obliquity. We systematically investigate the seasonal cycles of carbon dioxide, water, and dust to provide a complete picture of the climate for various orbital configurations. We find that at low obliquity (15°) the atmospheric pressure will fall below 1 mbar; dust storms will cease; thick permanent CO₂ caps will form; the regolith will release CO₂; and H₂O polar ice sheets will develop as the permafrost boundaries move poleward. At high obliquity (35°) the annual average polar temperature will increase by about 10°K, slightly desorbing the polar regolith and causing the atmospheric pressure to increase by not more than 10 to 20 mbar. Summer polar ground temperatures as high as 273°K will occur. Water ice caps will be unstable and may disappear as the equilibrium permafrost boundary moves equatorward. However, at high eccentricity, polar ice sheets will be favored at one pole over the other. At high obliquity dust storms may occur during summers in both hemispheres, independent of the eccentricity cycle. Eccentricity and longitude of perihelion are most significant at modest obliquity (25°). At high eccentricity and when the longitude of perihelion is close to the location of solstice hemispherical asymmetry in dust-storm generation and in polar ice extent and albedo will occur.The systematic examination of the relation of climate and planetary orbit provides a new theory for the formation of the polar laminae. The terraced structure of the polar laminae originates when eccentricity and/or obliquity variations begin to drive water ice off the dusty permanent H₂O polar caps. Then a thin (meters) layer of consolidated dust forms on top of a dirty, slightly thicker (tens of meters) ice sheet and the composite is preserved as a layer of laminae composed predominately of water ice. Because of insolation variation on slopes, a series of poleward- and equatorward-facing scarps are formed where the edges of the laminae are exposed. Independently of orbital variations, these scarps propagate poleward both by erosion of the equatorward slopes and by deposition on the poleward slopes. Scarp propagation resurfaces and recycles the laminae forming the distinctive spiral bands of terraces observed and provides a supply of water to form new permanent ice caps. The polar laminae boundary marks the furthest eqautorward extension of the permanent H₂O caps as the orbit varies. The polar debris boundary marks the furthest equatorward extension of the annual CO₂ caps as the orbit varies.The Martian regolith is now a significant geochemical sink for carbon dioxide. CO₂ has been irreversibly removed from the atmosphere by carbonate formation. CO₂ has also benn removed by regolith adsorption. Polar temperature increases caused by orbital variations are not great enough     

Snow-avalanche impact landforms, deposits and effects at Urdvatnet, southern Norway: implications for avalanche style and process

An unusual assemblage of landforms and deposits is described from upper Norangsdalen, Sunnmøre region, southern Norway, and interpreted as the product of snow‐avalanche events that vary in magnitude, frequency and debris content. An avalanche impact plunge pool, proximal scar and distal mound are associated with a coarse gravel deposit covering part of the valley floor. Landforms in this debris spread include gravel ridges, boulder lines, beaded ridges, fine sediment banked against and covering large boulders, and gravel clumps. Many of these landforms are aligned, indicating across‐valley transport radiating from the plunge pool. Features were mapped in the field and samples analysed for grain size and heavy‐mineral content. The debris spread is attributed to deposition by high‐energy, debris‐rich snow‐avalanche events that collect debris from large areas of the valley side, lower slopes and plunge pool. Aligned landforms develop through sediment transport in a basal shear zone, and randomly distributed gravel clumps represent melt pits following debris transport in the avalanche body. Air displacement ahead of larger avalanches is thought to have felled and tilted trees on the lower slopes of the distal valley side. Approximate ages of damaged trees allowed estimation of the frequency of snow‐avalanche events: (1) small, frequent events (several per annum) carry debris to the lower valley slopes and the plunge pool; (2) moderate events with an annual to decadal frequency maintain the pool–scar–mound complex; and (3) large, debris‐rich events with a decadal to centennial frequency add material to the debris spread.