Multi-mineral geochronology: insights into crustal behaviour during exhumation of an orogenic root

Under rare conditions, reworked cratons and their margins preserve the orogenic roots of ancient mountain-building events. However, based on the preservation of high-temperature (~?800?°C), middle and lower crustal metamorphic assemblages, present day exposure of these terrains is not simply a result of protracted denudation, but also must reflect a multifaceted exhumational history. In situ analysis within thin section preserves the textural setting of target minerals that can be used as thermochronometers such as U-Pb of zircon, monazite, titanite and apatite, and Sm-Nd of apatite. In situ analyses of these chronometers has the potential to provide critical timing constraints on exhumation processes related to decompression, melting and cooling across large metamorphic terrains. The Repulse Bay block of the Rae craton preserves a large composite amphibolite–granulite area (50,000 km²) of Archean orthogneiss, migmatite, and slivers of Proterozoic metasediments that underwent high-grade metamorphism, partial melting, ductile flow and finally exhumation during the Paleoproterozoic Trans-Hudson Orogeny. The granulite domain preserves dry granitoid assemblages, whereas the amphibolite domain is dominated by hydrated migmatites and orthogneiss. Metasediments occur in both domains and preserve mineral assemblages that are consistent with having undergone tectonometamorphic conditions of ~?9 kbar/800?°C during burial. U-Pb thermochronometers document identical cooling histories of the granulite and amphibolite domains through the U-Pb closure temperatures of titanite (~?650?°C) and apatite (~?450?°C). This suggests that melt-loss from the underlying granulite domain and melt-gain to the amphibolite domain prior to cooling through 650?°C are a controlling factor of the metamorphic assemblages across the composite granulite–amphibolite terrains such as the Repulse Bay block, rather than significant differences in burial history, cooling history, and/or reorganization of the crust.     

A New Zealand test of the track-etch® method of prospecting for geothermal steam

The Track Etch® system for radon detection was evaluated as a geothermal exploration technique in a known geothermal resource area in New Zealand called the Craters of the Moon (previously known as “Karapiti”). Very strong radon anomalies spaced along mapped fault traces were detected using 60-m sample spacings. Such radon anomalies may indicate good areas to drill for steam. The anomalies detected in these tests were located inside a larger area known to have above-back-ground concentrations of radon and thought to be a generally favourable area for finding shallow steam. Track Etch® radon cups with an improved type of detector were found to be usable in ground temperatures as high as 60°C. There was no direct correlation of radon concentrations with resistivity measurements, but a moderate correlation with near-surface temperature measurements. Varying vegetation cover had no significant effect on the results but there was an apparent correlation with superficial pumice deposits. It is concluded from the tests that the Track Etch method shows promise in vapour-dominated areas for improving drill-hole siting and thus reducing the economic loss of drilling non-productive holes.     

The response of vegetation cover and dune activity to rainfall,drought and fire observed by multitemporal satellite imagery

The stable longitudinal dunes in the northern Simpson Desert, Australia, were observed in satellite imagery to become more active after vegetation cover was reduced by fire and drought. Subsequent rainfall events also resulted in significant vegetation regrowth and dune stabilization. These switches between more active and stable conditions have not been previously described in the largely vegetated dune fields of central Australia. The observations, made on 12 dune sites, relied on high spatial resolution satellite imagery to observe dune crest activity, and seasonal Landsat fractional cover imagery to observe vegetation cover changes. The non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV) component of the fractional vegetation cover images revealed significant changes in hummock grass cover on the dunes between 1988 and 2018, with a positive relationship with the three-year cumulative rainfall, disrupted by two periods of patchy burning. Only those sites that had burnt became active, and only after vegetation cover had remained low (NPV < 16%) during the ‘Millennium Drought’. There is no threshold in vegetation cover, below which dune crests become active, but active dune features require four-years of low NPV cover (< 16%) to develop. The large rainfall event that ended the drought increased NPV cover, stabilizing the dunes. Similar hummock grass covered dunes are present across large areas of the arid zone, and are likely to respond in similar ways, given that fire and drought are common occurrences in Australia. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of Managed Aquifer Recharge Site Suitability Using a GIS and Modeling

We completed a two‐step regional analysis of a coastal groundwater basin to (1) assess regional suitability for managed aquifer recharge (MAR), and (2) quantify the relative impact of MAR activities on groundwater levels and sea water intrusion. The first step comprised an analysis of surface and subsurface hydrologic properties and conditions, using a geographic information system (GIS). Surface and subsurface data coverages were compiled, georeferenced, reclassified, and integrated (including novel approaches for combining related datasets) to derive a spatial distribution of MAR suitability values. In the second step, results from the GIS analysis were used with a regional groundwater model to assess the hydrologic impact of potential MAR placement and operating scenarios. For the region evaluated in this study, the Pajaro Valley Groundwater Basin, California, GIS results suggest that about 7% (15 km²) of the basin may be highly suitable for MAR. Modeling suggests that simulated MAR projects placed near the coast help to reduce sea water intrusion more rapidly, but these projects also result in increased groundwater flows to the ocean. In contrast, projects placed farther inland result in more long‐term reduction in sea water intrusion and less groundwater flowing to the ocean. This work shows how combined GIS analysis and modeling can assist with regional water supply planning, including evaluation of options for enhancing groundwater resources.     

Climate, agriculture, and cycles of human occupation over the last 4000 yr in southern Zacatecas, Mexico

Scholars attribute the growth and decline of Classic period (AD 200-900) settlements in the semi-arid northern frontier zone of Mesoamerica to rainfall cycles that controlled the extent of arable land. However, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. We present phytolith, organic carbon, and magnetic susceptibility analyses of a 4000-yr alluvial record of climate and human land use from the Malpaso Valley, the site of one such Classic frontier community. The earliest farming occupation is detected around 500 BC and appears related to a slight increase of aridity, similar to the level of the modern day valley. By AD 500, the valley's Classic period Mesoamerican settlements were founded under these same dry conditions, which continued into the Postclassic period. This indicates that the La Quemada occupation did not develop during a period of increased rainfall, but rather an arid phase. The most dramatic changes detected in the valley resulted from the erosion associated with Spanish Colonial grazing and deforestation that began in the 16th century. The landscape of the modern Malpaso Valley is thus primarily the product of a series of intense and rapid transformations that were concentrated within the last 400 yr.     

A Terrestrial Analogy for Martian “Accublation Zones” Revealed by Airborne Ice-Penetrating Radar from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet

The surface of the northern martian ice cap is known to contain alternating white-dark scarp-trough features, and one method of their formation involves spatially coherent patterns of ice accumulation and ablation via sublimation. In this so-called “accublation” model, the internal ice sheet layers submerge into the ice sheet across the accumulation zone and emerge to the ice surface across the ablation region. Here we report on an Antarctic analogy to the martian accublation model, which demonstrates that surface mass balance conditions actually affect internal ice-sheet structure as predicted by D. A. Fisher (2000, Icarus144, 289-294). This analogy shows how it is possible for ancient ice to become exposed at the surface of an ice sheet, allowing the paleoclimate record stored within the ice to be measured without the need for deep ice coring.     

Elevated sedimentation on coral reefs adjacent to a beach nourishment project

An increasingly common method to restore eroding beaches is nourishment, a process by which lost sand is replaced with terrestrial or offshore sediments to widen beaches. The southeastern Florida coastline contains shore-parallel coral reef communities adjacent to eroding beaches. Scleractinian corals and other reef-associated organisms are known to demonstrate sensitivity to elevated sedimentation levels. Sediment traps were used to examine spatio-temporal sedimentation patterns and assess the effects of nourishment (dredge and fill) activities. Several environmental variables correlated with among-site spatial variability of sediment parameters. Intra-annual variability correlated with wind velocity and direction. Nourishment activities showed localized effects, with sites in close proximity to dredging areas exhibiting significantly higher collection rates and lower percent fines than control sites. A regional increase in sedimentation occurred while nourishment activities were ongoing. Due to concurrent impacts of hurricanes, only one during-construction sampling interval revealed substantially higher collection rates relative to corresponding pre-construction sampling intervals.     

Persistence of vinyl chloride in ground water at the Woodlawn landfill Superfund site,northeastern Maryland,USA

Since landfill operations ceased in the early 1980s at the Woodlawn landfill Superfund site in northeastern Maryland, USA, the carcinogen vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) has persisted in the site ground water at concentrations in places greater than 100 ppb. Investigations of VCM concentrations from monitoring well data from 1981 through 1991, which were published in 2001, concluded that concentrations were cyclic and were not dissipating. Data from 1991 to 2000 confirm VCM persistence, showing concentration peaks as late as 1997 in the eastern part of the site. These values are significantly above both drinking water standards (>MCL of 2 ppb) and lifetime excess cancer risk (E-6 risk level) from exposure since birth (>0.024 ppb). Sources for VCM are landfill wastes (PVC-sludge) and effluent from an on-site transfer station. In addition to direct release of VCM from wastes, other chlorinated hydrocarbons, trichloroethene and perchloroethene (TCE and PCE) are also present in the ground water, and these compounds can degrade into VCM. Persistence of VCM concentrations is the result of leachate generation, mostly from multi-source wastes in the vadose zone, with subsequent infiltration into the regional aquifer. Increases in VCM concentrations (new leachate generation) alternated with decreases in VCM concentrations (infiltration without leachate) in a cyclic fashion, during this 20-year period.