A chronology for glacial Lake Agassiz shorelines along Upham's namesake transect

Four traditionally recognized strandline complexes in the southern basin of glacial Lake Agassiz are the Herman, Norcross, Tintah and Campbell, whose names correspond to towns in west-central Minnesota that lie on a linear transect defined by the Great Northern railroad grade; the active corridor for commerce at the time when Warren Upham was mapping and naming the shorelines of Lake Agassiz (ca.1880–1895). Because shorelines represent static water planes, their extension around the lake margin establishes time-synchronous lake levels. Transitions between shoreline positions represent significant water-level fluctuations. However, geologic ages have never been obtained from sites near the namesake towns in the vicinity of the southern outlet. Here we report the first geologic ages for Lake Agassiz shorelines obtained at field sites along the namesake transect, and evaluate the emerging chronology in light of other paleoclimate records. Our current work from 11 sampling sites has yielded 16 independent ages. These results combined with a growing OSL age data set for Lake Agassiz's southern basin provide robust age constraints for the Herman, Norcross and Campbell strandlines with averages and standard deviations of 14.1 ± 0.3 ka, 13.6 ± 0.2 ka, and 10.5 ± 0.3 ka, respectively.     

3D representation of geochemical data, the corresponding alteration and associated REE mobility at the Ranger uranium deposit, Northern Territory, Australia

Interrogation and 3D visualisation of multiple multi-element data sets collected at the Ranger 1 No. 3 uranium mine, in the Northern Territory of Australia, show a distinct and large-scale chemical zonation around the ore body. A central zone of Mg alteration, dominated by extensive clinochlore alteration, overprints a biotite–muscovite–K-feldspar assemblage which shows increasing loss of Na, Ba and Ca moving towards the ore body. Manipulation of pre-existing geochemical data and integration of new data collected from targeted ‘niche’ samples make it possible to recognise chemical architecture within the system and identify potential fluid conduits. New trace element and rare earth element (REE) data show strong fractionation associated with the zoned alteration around the deposit and with fault planes that intersect and bound the deposit. Within the most altered portion of the system, isocon analysis indicates addition of elements including Mg, S, Cu, Au and Ni and removal of elements including Ca, K, Ba and Na within a zone of damage associated with ore precipitation. In the more distal parts of the system, processes of alteration and replacement associated with the mineralising system can be recognised. REE element data show enrichment in HREE centred about a characteristic peak in Dy in the high-grade ore zone while LREEs are enriched in the outermost portions of the system. The patterns recognised in 3D in zoning of geochemical groups and contoured S, K and Mg abundance and the observed REE patterns suggest a fluid flow regime in which fluids were predominately migrating upwards during ore deposition within the core of the ore system.     

Distribution of platinum-group elements in magmatic and altered ores in the Jinchuan intrusion, China: an example of selenium remobilization by postmagmatic fluids

The division of platinum-group elements (PGE) between those hosted in platinum-group minerals (PGM) versus those in solid solution in base metal sulfides (BMS) has been determined for ores from the PGE-bearing Ni-Cu-rich Jinchuan intrusion in northwest China. All the BMS are devoid of Pt and Ir, and magmatic BMS are also barren of Rh. These PGE may have been scavenged by arsenic to form PGM during magmatic crystallization of the BMS. Pd, Os, and Ru are recorded in BMS and Pd is predominantly in solid solution in pentlandite. Unlike the fresh magmatic ores, in altered or serpentinized ores, Pd-PGM are present. Froodite is hosted in magnetite, formed during alteration of BMS, accompanied by sulfur loss and liberation of Pd. Michenerite ([Pd,Pt]BiTe), sperrylite (PtAs₂), and Au-bearing PGM are located in altered silicates. Irarsite (IrAsS) occurs mainly enclosed in BMS. Padmaite (PdBiSe), identified at the junctions of magnetite and BMS, was the last PGM to form and locally partially replaces earlier non-Se-bearing PGM. We propose that padmaite formed under oxidizing conditions during late local remobilization of Se from the BMS. Se-bearing PGM are rare and our review shows they are frequently associated with carbonate, suggesting that Pd and Se can be mobilized great distances in low pH oxidizing fluids and may be precipitated on contact with carbonate. S/Se ratios are used by researchers of magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE ores to determine sulfur loss, assuming Se is immobile and representative of magmatic sulfur content. This study shows that Se as well as S is potentially mobile and this should be considered in the use of S/Se ratios.     

Scientific Bases for Numerical Chlorophyll Criteria in Chesapeake Bay

In coastal ecosystems with long flushing times (weeks to months) relative to phytoplankton growth rates (hours to days), chlorophyll a (chl-a) integrates nutrient loading, making it a pivotal indicator with broad implications for ecosystem function and water-quality management. However, numerical chl-a criteria that capture the linkage between chl-a and ecosystem impairments associated with eutrophication (e.g., hypoxia, water clarity and loss of submerged aquatic vegetation, toxic algal blooms) have seldom been developed despite the vulnerability of these ecosystems to anthropogenic nutrient loading. Increases in fertilizer use, animal wastes, and population growth in the Chesapeake Bay watershed since World War II have led to increases in nutrient loading and chl-a. We describe the development of numerical chl-a criteria based on long-term research and monitoring of the bay. Baseline chl-a concentrations were derived using statistical models for historical data from the 1960s and 1970s, including terms to account for the effects of climate variability. This approach produced numerical chl-a criteria presented as geometric means and 90th percentile thresholds to be used as goals and compliance limits, respectively. We present scientific bases for these criteria that consider specific ecosystem impairments linked to increased chl-a, including low dissolved oxygen (DO), reduced water clarity, and toxic algal blooms. These multiple lines of evidence support numerical chl-a criteria consisting of seasonal mean chl-a across salinity zones ranging from 1.4 to 15 mg m^?3 as restoration goals and corresponding thresholds ranging from 4.3 to 45 mg m^?3 as compliance limits. Attainment of these goals and limits for chl-a is a precondition for attaining desired levels of DO, water clarity, and toxic phytoplankton prior to rapid human expansion in the watershed and associated increases of nutrient loading.     

Global Forces in Eruptive Solar Flares: The Lorentz Force Acting on the Solar Atmosphere and the Solar Interior

We compute the change in the Lorentz force integrated over the outer solar atmosphere implied by observed changes in vector magnetograms that occur during large, eruptive solar flares. This force perturbation should be balanced by an equal and opposite force perturbation acting on the solar photosphere and solar interior. The resulting expression for the estimated force change in the solar interior generalizes the earlier expression presented by Hudson, Fisher, and Welsch (Astron. Soc. Pac. CS-383, 221, 2008), providing horizontal as well as vertical force components, and provides a more accurate result for the vertical component of the perturbed force. We show that magnetic eruptions should result in the magnetic field at the photosphere becoming more horizontal, and hence should result in a downward (toward the solar interior) force change acting on the photosphere and solar interior, as recently argued from an analysis of magnetogram data by Wang and Liu (Astrophys. J. Lett. 716, L195, 2010). We suggest the existence of an observational relationship between the force change computed from changes in the vector magnetograms, the outward momentum carried by the ejecta from the flare, and the properties of the helioseismic disturbance driven by the downward force change. We use the impulse driven by the Lorentz-force change in the outer solar atmosphere to derive an upper limit to the mass of erupting plasma that can escape from the Sun. Finally, we compare the expected Lorentz-force change at the photosphere with simple estimates from flare-driven gasdynamic disturbances and from an estimate of the perturbed pressure from radiative backwarming of the photosphere in flaring conditions.     

Mapping bedrock lithologies through in situ regolith using retained element ratios: a case study from the Agnew-Lawlers area,Western Australia

Large, high-quality multi-element geochemical datasets are becoming widely available in the exploration industry, and afford excellent opportunities to investigate geochemical processes. A dataset of over 2500 analyses of unweathered and variably weathered mafic and ultramafic rocks for over 50 elements has been collected by Gold Fields Ltd. in the auriferous Agnew-Lawlers area of the eastern Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia. This dataset is used to investigate changes in element abundances and inter-element ratios through varying degrees and styles of weathering in an area of thick regolith characterised by deep in situ weathering. Systematic interrogation of the data, using lithostratigraphic controls derived from regional mapping and geophysics, reveals that a suite of elements, including Ti, Al, Zr, Th, La, Sc and Nb, and to a lesser extent Cr and Ni, behave as essentially immobile components during saprolite formation. In some cases diagnostic element ratios persist into siliceous duricrust. Ratios of these elements are used as reliable discriminants of bedrock type, and delineate features such as cryptic layering within fractionated sills and subtle geochemical variants in a sequence of tholeiitic and komatiitic basalts. Mapping on the basis of discriminant element ratios greatly extends previous trace-element ratio-based schemes for rock type discrimination. The potential to determine several of these elements with adequate precision and accuracy using portable XRF technology opens a potentially useful technique for rapid geochemical bedrock mapping in residual terrains.     

Apatite as an indicator mineral for mineral exploration: trace-element compositions and their relationship to host rock type

Over 700 apatite grains from a range of rock types have been analysed by laser-ablation microprobe ICPMS for 28 trace elements, to investigate the potential usefulness of apatite as an indicator mineral in mineral exploration. Apatites derived from different rock types have distinctive absolute and relative abundances of many trace elements (including rare-earth elements (REE), Sr, Y, Mn, Th), and chondrite-normalised trace-element patterns. The slope of chondrite-normalised REE patterns varies systematically from ultramafic through mafic/intermediate to highly fractionated granitoid rock types. (Ce/Yb)_cn is very high in apatites from carbonatites and mantle-derived lherzolites (over 100 and over 200, respectively), while (Ce/Yb)_cn values in apatites from granitic pegmatites are generally less than 1, reflecting both HREE enrichment and LREE depletion. Within a large suite of apatites from granitoid rocks, chemical composition is closely related to both the degree of fractionation and the oxidation state of the magma, two important parameters in determining the mineral potential of the magmatic system. Apatite can accept high levels of transition and chalcophile elements and As, making it feasible to recognise apatite associated with specific types of mineralisation. Multivariate statistical analysis has provided a user-friendly scheme to distinguish apatites from different rock types, based on contents of Sr, Y, Mn and total REE, the degree of LREE enrichment and the size of the Eu anomaly. The scheme can be used for the recognition of apatites from specific rock types or styles of mineralisation, so that the provenance of apatite grains in heavy mineral concentrates can be determined and used in geochemical exploration.     

Rare gas abundances in MORB

Data are presented for He, Ar and Xe in a number of MORB glasses and crystalline rocks. The rare gases in the latter group are characterized by atmospheric Ar and Xe, coupled with loss of trapped mantle He, Ar and Xe. The glass data also show clear signs of an atmospheric-like component for Ar and Xe. A reasonably constant world-wide average trapped mantle gas value of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar ˜15000 ±3000 is suggested. Anomalies are seen in the ¹²⁹Xe/¹³²Xe ratio, but at least part of this might be due to mass fractionation rather than to ¹²⁹I decay. Correlating the data with those from oceanic island basalts in Ar-Xe space indicates that the latter samples are probably also greatly influenced by an atmospheric component rather than (or in addition to) trapping gases from an undepleted mantle source.