Assessment of the molecular composition of particulate organic matter exchanged between the Saeftinghe salt marsh (southwestern Netherlands) and the adjacent water system

In this study the chemical composition of seston, transported by tidal water between an estuarine salt marsh and the adjacent water system, was assessed. The analytical techniques used are Pyrolysis in combination with Gas Chromatography and/or Mass Spectrometry. Interpretation of the Py-MS data was aided by discriminant analysis.The presented results indicate that throughout the year a dominant refractory fraction is present in the seston, but that seasonal additions can be distinguished. Apart from this seasonal pattern, differences between ebb and flood can be visualized by the use of discriminant analysis. During summertime, flood seston is enriched with lipids and recently synthesized polysaccharides, while during the rest of the year the flood tide samples contain more (remains of) lignin and polysaccharides than their ebb tide counterparts. The lignin markers comprise only fragments with extremely altered (reduced) character.These results, which highlight the molecular composition of the exchanged seston but do not offer exact quantitative budget estimations, provide no evidence for export of lignin-rich particulate halophytic material from the marsh to the water system. On the contrary, based on seston compositions, the water system seems to supply lignin-rich particles to the marsh during a considerable part of the year.     

Mantle plumes link magnetic superchrons to phanerozoic mass depletion events

The four most recent large mass extinction events in the Phanerozoic – the Cretaceous–Tertiary (KT), the Triassic–Jurassic (TJ), and the Permo-Triassic (PT) and Guadalupian–Tatarian (GT) doublet – are associated with a major flood basalt eruption, with the timing of peak volcanic activity corresponding within measurement uncertainties to the extinction event. Three magnetic superchrons precede the four largest Phanerozoic extinctions. The Cretaceous Long Normal Superchron (duration  35 Myr) precedes the KT and the Permian Kiaman Long Reversed Superchron ( 50 Myr) precedes the PT–GT doublet. In addition, the newly recognized Ordovician Moyero Long Reversed Superchron ( 30 Myr) precedes the end-Ordovician extinction event. There is a 10–20 Myr delay between the end of each superchron and the subsequent mass depletion event, both of which represent distant outliers from their respective populations. We propose that deep mantle plumes link these seemingly unrelated phenomena. Long-term ( 200 Myr) variations in mantle convection possibly associated with the Wilson cycle induce temporal and spatial variations in heat flow at the core–mantle boundary. Polarity reversals are frequent when core heat flow is high and infrequent when it is low. Thermal instabilities in the D”-layer of the mantle increase core heat flow, end the magnetic superchron, and generate deep mantle plumes. The plumes ascend through the mantle on a 20 Myr time scale, producing continental flood basalt (trap) eruptions, rapid climatic change, and massive faunal depletions.     

Comparison of free-surface and rigid-lid finite element models of barotropic instabilities

The main goal of this work is to appraise the finite element method in the way it represents barotropic instabilities. To that end, three different formulations are employed. The free-surface formulation solves the primitive shallow-water equations and is of predominant use for ocean modeling. The vorticity–stream function and velocity–pressure formulations resort to the rigid-lid approximation and are presented because theoretical results are based on the same approximation. The growth rates for all three formulations are compared for hyperbolic tangent and piecewise linear shear flows. Structured and unstructured meshes are utilized. The investigation is also extended to time scales that allow for instability meanders to unfold, permitting the formation of eddies. We find that all three finite element formulations accurately represent barotropic instablities. In particular, convergence of growth rates toward theoretical ones is observed in all cases. It is also shown that the use of unstructured meshes allows for decreasing the computational cost while achieving greater accuracy. Overall, we find that the finite element method for free-surface models is effective at representing barotropic instabilities when it is combined with an appropriate advection scheme and, most importantly, adapted meshes.     

In situ anaerobic degradation of petroleum alkanes in marine sediments: preliminary results

The degradation of acyclic petroleum hydrocarbons was studied during a 24-month experiment in Mediterranean coastal sediments (Gulf of Fos). Sediment cores entirely contaminated with oil (Arabian Light Crude Oil) were incubated in situ. The use of conservative tracers of sediment's particles reworking (luminophores) allowed the distinction of the reworked layer from the anoxic deeper sediments. Using the 17α,21βC₃₀ hopane (C₃₀H) as an inert internal reference, we could demonstrate that, after 24 months of experiment, acyclic petroleum hydrocarbons can be degraded under natural anaerobic conditions. The reactivity of individual alkanes appeared to depend on their chemical structure. To cite this article: D. Massias et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).To cite this article: D. Massias et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Geology, petrology and isotope geochemistry of massif-type anorthosites from southwest Madagascar

Four massif-type anorthosite bodies 25–100 km² in area occur within high-pressure granulite facies supracrustal gneisses in southwestern Madagascar. Two of these bodies (Ankafotia and Saririaky) appear to have been pulled apart by 40 km in a ductile shear zone, but structural features such as sub-vertical stretching lineations indicate an origin by intense west-directed flattening and pure shear. Country rocks (Graphite Series) include abundant graphite schist (some with >60% graphite), marble, quartzite, and minor amphibolite and leucogneiss. Comagmatic granitoids (e.g. charnockites) are conspicuously absent. The anorthosite bodies are dominated by coarse grained anorthosites and leuconorites (feldspars typically 3–5 cm, up to 1 m); minor norites and oxide-rich ferrogabbros occur near the margins, but ultramafic rocks are absent. Typical mineralogy of the anorthositic rocks is: plagioclase (An_41–54) + orthopyroxene (En_38–66) ± augite (Mg♯ = 32–68) ± ilmenite ± magnetite ± apatite. High-alumina (to 6.1 wt% Al₂O₃) orthopyroxene megacrysts are widespread; most have exsolutions of calcic plagioclase (An_72–85) but some contain garnet lamellae. Metamorphism has produced abundant recrystallization and sporadic coronitic garnet (Mg ♯=12–36) + clinopyroxene assemblages. Rb-Sr isotopic analyses of whole-rocks and minerals reveal no meaningful age relationships. The age of late Neoproterozoic metamorphism is best constrained at 559 ± 50 Ma by a 6-point Sm-Nd mineral isochron (whole rock, plag, pyx, ilm, apat, gar) from a Saririaky oxide-rich gabbro. The igneous crystallization age of the anorthosites is estimated at 660 ± 60 Ma by a 19-point combined whole-rock and mineral Sm-Nd isochron for samples from both the Ankafotia and Saririaky bodies. Initial isotopic ratios calculated at 0.66 Ga among 13 whole rocks are: _Nd=+2.6 to +5.2 (mean=+3.7) and I_Sr=0.70328–0.70407 (mean=0.70347), indicating derivation of the Malagasy anorthosites from a depleted mantle source, and little, if any, contamination with Archean crustal material. One anorthosite sample with _Nd=−1.4 and I_Sr=0.70344 (calculated at 0.66 Ga) probably reflects the effects of assimilation of Early to Middle Proterozoic crustal basement, but typical surrounding graphite schist (_Nd=+0.3, I_Sr=0.70636, both at 0.66 Ga; T_DM= 1131 Ma) represents only a minor potential contaminant for the anorthosite bodies. T_DM model ages of the Malagasy anorthosites (797–1280 Ma; mean of 14 samples=949 Ma), as those of most other massif-type anorthosites, are older than the true crystallization age, because of crustal contamination effects. Our isotopic data, together with recent U-Pb data from the anorthosites and surrounding country rocks, are consistent with emplacement of the Malagasy anorthosite bodies at or before the start of a protracted, high-grade metamorphic event or series of events between about 630 and 550 Ma. This period coincides with the collision between, and amalgamation of, East and West Gondwana. Received: 19 December 1997 / Accepted: 12 June 1998     

Effects of the Little Ice Age on avalanche boulder tongues in the French Alps (Massif des Ecrins)

Lichens of the subspecies Rhizocarpon geographicum s.l were measured on 25 avalanche boulder tongues in the Massif des Ecrins to elucidate the Little Ice Age history of avalanche activity. Results show: (1) an increase of lichen size from the median to the distal zone of deposits, and a decrease from the edges to the centre; (2) three types of lichen settlement. From the uppermost to the median zone, lichens are absent, because avalanche activity is very active. Down‐slope, lichens occur in two different zones: the median zone is colonized by 5–20 mm size lichens on sides of blocks protected from the abrasional action of avalanches, while in the distal zone lichen diameters are largest (>30 mm) and occur on all sides of the blocks. The spatial distribution of the lichens and their size according to elevation make it possible to distinguish different phases during which avalanche activity has increased. At high elevation, the avalanche activity was at a maximum before ad 1650 and between ad 1730 and 1830. During these two periods avalanches had suf?cient magnitude to reach the basal zone of the deposits. At low elevation since ad 1650 the magnitude and frequency of avalanches have declined. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

地下洞室群对地面运动影响问题的级数解答-P波入射.

采用波函数展开法，给出了平面P波入射下半空间中洞室群对地面运动影响问题的一个级数解答. 数值结果表明，地下洞室群对附近地面运动具有显著的放大作用．建议地铁等地下工程在规划和设计时，考虑工程建设后对沿线地面运动的影响．      

The growth of point source plumes at Rayleigh numbers up to 108 and Prandtl numbers up to 1000

Two-dimensional numerical simulations were conducted of the growth of thermal plumes from a point heat source at Rayleigh numbers up to 108 and Prandtl numbers up to 1000. Scaling the convection equations by the free fall velocity rather than the thermal diffusivity, increased the Prandtl number range available to numerical simulation by one order of magnitude from Prandtl number 100 to 1000. We present animations showing how the plumes grow with time for different Prandtl numbers. Plumes with Prandtl numbers around 7 (water) were found to be unstable to sinuous instabilities; whereas those at Prandtl numbers of 1000 had straight stems and fewer sinuous instabilities. Wavelet analysis was used to analyze the scales at which plumes initiated, and the scales at which sinuous instabilities occurred. The scale of both the plume structures and instabilities was found to decrease with Prandtl number.