Zoned ternary feldspars in the Klokken intrusion: exsolution microtextures and mechanisms

The microtextures developed during relatively slow cooling as a function of bulk composition in zoned ternary feldspars from syenodiorites and syenites in the Klokken intrusion, described in the preceding paper, were determined by TEM and their origin and evolution deduced. The feldspars normally have a plagioclase core and an alkali feldspar rim; cores become smaller and rims larger and the An content of both decrease with distance from the contact of the intrusion. The following microtextural sequence was observed. The inner plagioclase cores are homogeneous oligoclase-andesine with Albite growth twins only, but are crypto-antiperthitic towards the outer core. At first small platelets of low sanidine a few nanometres thick and up to 10 nm long occur sporadically only on Albite-twin composition planes. With further increase in bulk Or they are homogeneously distributed in the plagioclase. Thicker, through-going plates in platelet-free areas are found, which induce Albite twins in the surrounding plagioclase. The microtextures in the rims are regular cryptomesoperthitic, with (¯601) lenses or lamellae, depending on the bulk Or-content, of low sanidine in Albite-twinned low oligoclase-andesine. Albite and Pericline twins in plagioclase in an M-twin relationship, together with lenticular low sanidine, were found in only one small area. The overall diffraction symmetry of the mesoperthites is monoclinic, showing that exsolution started in a monoclinic feldspar, whereas that of the antiperthites is triclinic. The intermediate zone between the core and rim is more complex and microtextures vary over distances of a few micrometres.The cryptomesoperthites are very regular where Or-rich and probably arose by spinodal decomposition. The platelets in the outer cores arose by heterogeneous nucleation on twin composition planes and by homogeneous nucleation elsewhere. Near the intermediate zone they coarsened to give larger plates which induced Albite-twins in the plagioclase. Because of the zoning, microtextures that were initiated in areas of given composition, can propagate laterally into zones of different composition. A diagram is given showing the relationship between ternary bulk composition and the microtexture developed in coherent perthitic alkali feldspars and plagioclases from slowly-cooled rocks.CRPG contribution 730     

Climate variability and marine ecosystem impacts: a North Atlantic perspective

In recent decades it has been recognized that in the North Atlantic climatic variability has been largely driven by atmospheric forcing related to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The NAO index began a pronounced decline around 1950 to a low in the 1960s. From 1970 onward the NAO index increased to its most extreme and persistent positive phase during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Changes in the pattern of the NAO have differential impacts on the opposite sides of the North Atlantic and differential impacts in the north and south. The changes in climate resulting from changes in the NAO appear to have had substantial impacts on marine ecosystems, in particular, on fish productivity, with the effects varying from region to region. An examination of several species and stocks, e.g. gadoids, herring and plankton in the Northeast Atlantic and cod and shellfish in the Northwest Atlantic, indicates that there is a link between long-term trends in the NAO and the productivity of various components of the marine ecosystem. While broad trends are evident, the mechanisms are poorly understood. Further research is needed to improve our understanding of how this climate variability affects the productivity of various components of the North Atlantic marine ecosystem.     

Scaling and multivariate analysis of medium to large landslide events: Haida Gwaii, British Columbia

Gimbarzevsky (1988) collected an exceptional landsliding inventory for Haida Gwaii, British Columbia that included over 8,000 landsliding vectors covering an area of approximately 10,000 km². This database was never published in the referred literature, despite its regional significance. It was collected prior to widespread application of GIS technologies in landsliding studies, limiting the analyses undertaken at the time. Gimbarzevsky identified landslides using 1:50,000 aerial photographs, and transferred the information to NTS map sheets. In our study, we digitized the landslide vectors from these original map sheets and connected each landslide to a digital elevation model. Lengths of landslide vectors are compared to the landsliding inventory for Haida Gwaii analyzed in Rood (1984), Martin Y et al. BC Can J Earth Sci 39:289–305 (2002); the latter inventory is based on larger-scale aerial photographs (~1:12,000). Rood’s database contains a more complete record of smaller landslides, while the inventory of Gimbarzevsky provides improved statistical representation of less frequent, medium to large landslides. It is suggested that combined landslide delineation at different scales could provide a more complete landslide record. Discriminant analysis was undertaken to assess which of nine predictor variables, chosen on the basis of mechanical theory, best predict failed versus unfailed locations. Seven of the nine variables were found to be statistically significant in discriminating amongst failed and unfailed locations. Results show that 81.7% of original grouped cases were correctly classified.     

The relationship between gravity and bathymetry in the Pacific Ocean

Summary. Surface-ship and satellite derived data have been compiled in new free-air gravity anomaly, bathymetry and geoid anomaly maps of the Pacific Ocean basin and its margin. The maps are based on smoothed values of the gravity anomaly, bathymetry and geoid interpolated on to a 90 × 90 km grid. Each smoothed value was obtained by Gaussian filtering measurements along individual ship and subsatellite tracks. The resulting maps resolve features in the gravity, bathymetry and geoid with wavelengths that range from a few hundred to a few thousand kilometres. The smoothed values of bathymetry and geoid anomaly have been corrected for age. The resulting maps show the Pacific ocean basin is associated with a number of ENE–WSW-trending geoid anomaly highs with amplitudes of about ± 5 m and wavelengths of about 3000 km. The most prominent of these highs correlate with the Magellan seamounts–Marshall Gilbert Islands–Magellan rise and the Hess rise–Hawaiian ridge regions. The correlation between geoid anomaly and bathymetry cannot be explained by models of static compensation, but is consistent with a model in which the geoid anomaly and bathymetry are supported by some form of dynamic compensation. We suggest that the dynamic compensation, which characterizes oceanic lithosphere older than 80 Myr, is the result of mantle convection on scales that are smaller than the lithospheric plates themselves.     

The DEEP2 galaxy redshift survey: evolution of the colour–density relation at 0.4 < z < 1.35

Using a sample of 19 464 galaxies drawn from the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey, we study the relationship between galaxy colour and environment at  0.4 < z < 1.35  . We find that the fraction of galaxies on the red sequence depends strongly on local environment out to   z > 1  , being larger in regions of greater galaxy density. At all epochs probed, we also find a small population of red, morphologically early-type galaxies residing in regions of low measured overdensity. The observed correlations between the red fraction and local overdensity are highly significant, with the trend at   z > 1  detected at a greater than 5σ level. Over the entire redshift regime studied, we find that the colour–density relation evolves continuously, with red galaxies more strongly favouring overdense regions at low z relative to their red-sequence counterparts at high redshift. At   z ≳ 1.3  , the red fraction only weakly correlates with overdensity, implying that any colour dependence to the clustering of  ∼ L *  galaxies at that epoch must be small. Our findings add weight to existing evidence that the build-up of galaxies on the red sequence has occurred preferentially in overdense environments (i.e. galaxy groups) at   z ≲ 1.5  . Furthermore, we identify the epoch  ( z ∼ 2)  at which typical  ∼ L *  galaxies began quenching and moved on to the red sequence in significant number. The strength of the observed evolutionary trends at  0 < z < 1.35  suggests that the correlations observed locally, such as the morphology–density and colour–density relations, are the result of environment-driven mechanisms (i.e. 'nurture') and do not appear to have been imprinted (by 'nature') upon the galaxy population during their epoch of formation.     

An Inter-Laboratory Assessment of the Thorium Isotopic Composition of Synthetic and Rock Reference Materials

We present a concerted international effort to cross-calibrate five synthetic Th isotope reference materials (UCSC Th "A", OU Th "U", WUN, IRMM-35 and IRMM-36), and six rock reference materials (UCSC TML, Icelandic ATHO, USGS BCR-2, USGS W-2, USGS BHVO-2, LV18) using multi-collector inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). We then compare our new values with a compilation of literature mass spectrometric data for these reference materials and derive recommended "consensus"²³⁰Th/²³²Th values for each. We also present isotope dilution U and Th concentration data for four rock reference materials (UCSC TML, Icelandic ATHO, USGS BCR-2, USGS W-2).     

Velocity Mapping Toolbox (VMT): a processing and visualization suite for moving‐vessel ADCP measurements

The use of acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP) for discharge measurements and three‐dimensional flow mapping has increased rapidly in recent years and has been primarily driven by advances in acoustic technology and signal processing. Recent research has developed a variety of methods for processing data obtained from a range of ADCP deployments and this paper builds on this progress by describing new software for processing and visualizing ADCP data collected along transects in rivers or other bodies of water. The new utility, the Velocity Mapping Toolbox (VMT), allows rapid processing (vector rotation, projection, averaging and smoothing), visualization (planform and cross‐section vector and contouring), and analysis of a range of ADCP‐derived datasets. The paper documents the data processing routines in the toolbox and presents a set of diverse examples that demonstrate its capabilities. The toolbox is applicable to the analysis of ADCP data collected in a wide range of aquatic environments and is made available as open‐source code along with this publication. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

Stone movement on hillslopes in the Mojave Desert,California: A 16-year record

Previous research has shown that either hydraulic action or creep may be the dominant process transporting coarse debris down hillslopes in the American Southwest. This study analyses the movement over 16 years of painted stones on two hillslopes in the central Mojave Desert to ascertain which of these two processes dominate in this region. The distance moved (M) is found to be directly related to length of overland flow (X) and hillslope gradient (S), and inversely related to particle size (D). The fact that M is more highly correlated with X than with S suggests that hydraulic action rather than creep is the dominant process. It is concluded that this is probably the case over most of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts on slopes up to at least 24°, and that it is only at higher elevations where winters are more severe that creep may become dominant.     

The effect of a shallow low viscosity zone on the apparent compensation of mid-plate swells

A simple model for mid-plate swells is that of convection in a fluid which has a low viscosity layer lying between a rigid bed and a constant viscosity region. Finite element calculations have been used to determine the effects of the viscosity contrast, the layer thickness and the Rayleigh number on the flow and on the perceived compensation mechanism for the resulting topographic swell. As the viscosity decreases in the low viscosity zone, the effective local Rayleigh number for the top boundary layer of the convecting cell increases. Also, because the lower viscosity facilitates greater velocities in the low viscosity zone, the low viscosity layer produces proportionally greater horizontal flow near the conducting lid, causing the base of the conducting lid to appear like a free boundary. The change in the local Rayleigh number and in the effective boundary condition both cause the top boundary layer to thin. Through a Green's function analysis, we have found that the low viscosity zone damps the response of the surface topography to the temperature anomalies at depth, whereas it causes the gravity and geoid response functions to change sign at depth counteracting the positive contributions from the shallower temperature variations. By increasing the viscosity contrast, the conbined effects of the thinning of the boundary layer and the behaviour of the response functions allow the apparent depth of compensation to become arbitrarily small. Therefore, shallow depths of compensation cannot be used to argue against dynamic support of mid-plate swells. Furthermore, we compared the distribution of the effective compensating densities, which is used to obtain the geoid, to that of Pratt compensation, which is often used to calculate the depth of compensation from geoid and topography data for mid-plate swells. For all of our calculations including those with no low viscosity layer, the effective gravitational mass distribution is more complex than assumed in simple Pratt models, so that the Pratt models are not an appropriate gauge of the compensation mechanism.