Isotope and trace element geochemistry of sediments from the Barbados Ridge-Demerara Plain region,Atlantic Ocean

Twenty-four piston core sediment samples and 13 sediments and 3 basalts from DSDP Leg 78 Site 543 were analyzed for Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions. The results show sediment with highly radiogenic Pb${}^{206}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ up to 19.8) and rather radiogenic Sr and unradiogenic Nd has been deposited in the region since the Cretaceous. The source of this sediment is probably the Archean Guiana Highland, which is drained by the Orinoco River. Pb and Sr isotopic compositions and sediment thickness decrease and${}^{143}\text{Nd}{}^{144}\text{Nd}$ increases northward due to a decrease in turbiditic component. This decrease is partly due to the damming action of basement ridges. Rare earth concentrations in the sediments are somewhat low, due to the abundance of detrital and biogenic components in the sediment and rapid sedimentation rates. Both positive and negative Ce anomalies occur in the surface sediments, but only positive Ce anomalies occur in the Site 543 sediments. It is unlikely that sediment subducted to the source region of Lesser Antilles arc magmas could be the cause of negative Ce anomalies in those magmas.Isotopic compositions of Site 543 basalts show some effect of contamination by seawater-basalt reaction products and sediments. Beyond this, however, they are typical of “normal” depleted MORB.     

Hafnium/rare earth element fractionation in the sedimentary system and crustal recycling into the Earth's mantle

Among long-lived radioactive parent-daughter element pairs, the ratio Lu/Hf is strongly fractionated relative to constant Sm/Nd in the Earth's sedimentary system. This is caused by high resistance to chemical weathering of the mineral zircon (Zr,Hf)SiO₄. Zircon-bearing sandy sediments on and near continents have very low Lu/Hf, while deep-sea clays have up to three times the chondritic Lu/Hf ratio. Turbidity currents mechanically carry the low-Lu/Hf sandy material onto the ocean floor. The results are important for the crust-to-mantle recycling discussion, where most recycled materials would be subducted oceanic sediments. Such sediment should be capable of explaining the HfNd mantle isotopic variation by mixing with peridotite, but in fact any average pelagic sediment has Nd/Hf and Lu/Hf too high to allow mixing curves to pass through the Hf/Nd isotopic array. The array could only be reproduced by subduction of turbidite sandstone with pelagic sediment in the approximate ratio 1.2 to 1, and by maintaining a good mixture between the two components. At least today, turbidites are available for subduction only at locations quite different and distant from those where pelagic sediments may be recycled; furthermore, mantle isotopic variation shows that the mantle often cannot mix itself well enough to homogenize these widely-separated sedimentary components to the degree required. The Lu/Hf fractionations place a severe restriction on the ability of recycled sediments to explain mantle isotopic patterns.     

Automatic sampling of stream water during storm events in small remote catchments

In order to study the relationship between water composition and stream flow rate, it is desirable to sample at a frequency related to flow rate, especially during storm events. In a rural catchment of 18 ha near Oxford, the rate of rainfall was found to be linearly related to discharge on the rising limb of the stream hydrograph. A sampling system was therefore designed in which electrical pulses from a tipping-bucket raingauge were used to initiate and control the action of an automatic water sampler. A threshold rainfall intensity is set above which sampling commences. Sampling then continues at regular increments of rainfall until the intensity drops below the threshold, after which sampling occurs at regular intervals during the period that the stream flow reverts to normal. The CMOS electrical circuits which control the sampling also operate a cassette tape recorder which records the time of each tip of the raingauge and operation of the sampler. Since the sytem is designed to impose very little additional load on the battery which powers the water sampler, and can operate unattended for at least a fortnight, it is ideal for use in small, remote catchments. The system has been extended to include measurements of water temperature and could provide other measurements as well.     

The stratospheric version of LMDz: dynamical climatologies, arctic oscillation, and impact on the surface climate

A climatology of the stratosphere is determined from a 20-year integration with the stratospheric version of the Atmospheric General Circulation Model LMDz. The model has an upper boundary at near 65 km, uses a Doppler spread non-orographic gravity waves drag parameterization and a subgrid-scale orography parameterization. It also has a Rayleigh damping layer for resolved waves only (not the zonal mean flow) over the top 5 km. This paper describes the basic features of the model and some aspects of its radiative-dynamical climatology. Standard first order diagnostics are presented but some emphasis is given to the model’s ability to reproduce the low frequency variability of the stratosphere in the winter northern hemisphere. In this model, the stratospheric variability is dominated at each altitudes by patterns which have some similarities with the arctic oscillation (AO). For those patterns, the signal sometimes descends from the stratosphere to the troposphere. In an experiment where the parameterized orographic gravity waves that reach the stratosphere are exaggerated, the model stratosphere in the NH presents much less variability. Although the stratospheric variability is still dominated by patterns that resemble to the AO, the downward influence of the stratosphere along these patterns is near entirely lost. In the same time, the persistence of the surface AO decreases, which is consistent with the picture that this persistence is linked to the descent of the AO signal from the stratosphere to the troposphere. A comparison between the stratospheric version of the model, and its routinely used tropospheric version is also done. It shows that the introduction of the stratosphere in a model that already has a realistic AO persistence can lead to overestimate the actual influence of the stratospheric dynamics onto the surface AO. Although this result is certainly model dependent, it suggests that the introduction of the stratosphere in a GCM also call for a new adjustment of the model parameters that affect the tropospheric variability.     

The junction of Fensch and Moselle rivers,France; mineralogy and composition of river materials

The Moselle river flows in the north-east of France, from Vosges Mountains to neighboring countries Luxembourg and Germany. One of its tributaries, the Fensch river, drains a highly industrialized watershed, strongly impacted by mining, smelting and surfacing activities. The objective of this work, part of a general research program on Moselle watershed (Zone Atelier Moselle) was to assess the impact of the polluted Fensch river on the global quality of the Moselle river. For that purpose, water, sediments and suspended particulate matter were sampled in both rivers, upstream and downstream the junction. Four main sampling campaigns were carried out, in winter during a flood event and in spring at low water level. On a first step, mineralogical analyses (XRD and FTIR) and chemical analyses (ICP-MS, ICP-AES), were performed on sediments, suspended particulate matters and filtered waters. Major and trace elements concentrations were obtained on two different granulometric fractions (0–2 mm and 0–50 μm) revealing the enrichment in heavy metals of fine particles. From one collecting campaign to another, seasonal variations could be evidenced on suspended matter composition even though major minerals (calcite, quartz and kaolinite) were always present. Furthermore, spatial variations were evidenced for Fensch and Moselle downstream sediments. Thus, very fine-grained sediments, poorly crystallized, displaying at the same time higher metal concentrations and higher organic matter content than in Fensch river material, were collected downstream, in a low hydrodynamic conditions zone, assumed as a preferential sedimentary zone or even as a placer. Strong correlations could be revealed between iron content and contaminant concentrations, confirming the origin of polluted material.     

Garnet reequilibration and growth in the eclogite facies and geodynamical evolution near peak metamorphic conditions

Caledonian eclogite-facies metamorphism partially reworking Grenvillian granulite-facies anorthosite allows us to study the processes of garnet reequilibration at high pressure and to reconstruct the evolution of the unit near metamorphic peak conditions. Our results indicate that eclogite-facies metamorphism happened in two successive phases: first, inherited granulitic garnet was fractured and reequilibrated from their boundaries (crystal or fracture rims); then eclogite-facies minerals were crystallised in the fractures as overgrowths on inherited garnets. The reequilibration of inherited garnets is achieved through Fe²⁺Mg⁻¹ exchange, whereas eclogite-facies garnets crystallised during the subsequent phase are notably richer in Ca than un- and re-equilibrated granulitic garnet. Pseudosection construction shows that this lack in Ca reequilibration cannot be related to variations in thermodynamic conditions (a _H2O, reacting system composition) between the two phases. From the compilation of the available data, the reequilibration of granulitic garnet seems to be controlled by the inefficient intra- and inter-granular transport properties of Ca compared to Fe²⁺ and Mg. While these kinetic factors confine garnet reequilibration to Fe²⁺Mg⁻¹ exchange, the extent of reequilibration along this exchange vector is controlled by partitioning with adjacent omphacite. On the contrary to the diffusional reequilibration of granulitic garnet that lasted for several My according to our modelling of the diffusional relaxation, the strong compositional gradients between eclogite-facies and reequilibrated garnets, which are almost unaffected by diffusional reequilibration, provide evidence that rapid exhumation followed the crystallisation of eclogite-facies minerals. We propose that the movement reversal itself, from burial to exhumation, and associated deformation and fluid flow, triggered this crystallisation event. The resulting evolution near metamorphic peak conditions is therefore strongly asymmetrical: on the one hand, the prograde diffusional relaxation profiles indicate slow movement during the last stages of burial, whereas the unaffected retrograde overgrowth indicates fast exhumation rates.     

Response of littoral chironomid communities and organic matter to late glacial lake—level,vegetation and climate changes at Lago dell’Accesa (Tuscany,Italy)

This study focuses on the response of lacustrine littoral chironomid communities to late glacial changes in limnological, environmental and climate conditions in the Mediterranean context. Late glacial chironomid (Diptera: Chironomidae) assemblages, organic petrography and geochemistry were analysed in a sediment core from the littoral zone of Lago dell’Accesa (Tuscany, Italy), where the lake-level fluctuations and the vegetation history have been previously reconstructed. Comparison of the chironomid stratigraphy to other proxies (pollen assemblages, organic petrography and geochemistry, lake-level) and regional climate reconstruction suggested the predominant influence of lake-level changes on the littoral chironomid fauna. The main lowering events that occurred during the Oldest and the Younger Dryas were followed by higher proportions of taxa typical of littoral habitats. A complementary study of organic matter suggested the indirect impact of lake-level on the chironomids through changes in humic status and habitat characteristics, such as the type of substrate and aquatic macrophyte development. Several chironomid taxa, such as Glyptotendipes, Microtendipes and Cricotopus type patens, were identified as possible indicators of low lake-level in the late glacial records. Nevertheless, this study suggested that parallel analyses of organic matter and chironomid assemblages may be needed to circumvent misinterpretation of littoral chironomid assemblage stratigraphy. There was a weak response of the chironomid assemblages to small lake-level lowerings that corresponded to the Older Dryas and Preboreal oscillations. A higher level of determination, e.g. to the species group level, may be necessary to increase the sensibility of the indicators to lake-level changes.     

Origin and stratigraphy of phreatomagmatic deposits at the Pleistocene Sinker Butte Volcano, Western Snake River Plain, Idaho

Sinker Butte is the erosional remnant of a very large basaltic tuff cone of middle Pleistocene age located at the southern edge of the western Snake River Plain. Phreatomagmatic tephras are exposed in complete sections up to 100 m thick in the walls of the Snake River Canyon, creating an unusual opportunity to study the deposits produced by this volcano through its entire sequence of explosive eruptions. The main objectives of the study were to determine the overall evolution of the Sinker Butte volcano while focusing particularly on the tephras produced by its phreatomagmatic eruptions. Toward this end, twenty-three detailed stratigraphic sections ranging from 20 to 100 m thick were examined and measured in canyon walls exposing tephras deposited around 180° of the circumference of the volcano.Three main rock units are recognized in canyon walls at Sinker Butte: a lower sequence composed of numerous thin basaltic lava flows, an intermediate sequence of phreatomagmatic tephras, and a capping sequence of welded basaltic spatter and more lava flows. We subdivide the phreatomagmatic deposits into two main parts, a series of reworked, mostly subaqueously deposited tephras and a more voluminous sequence of overlying subaerial surge and fall deposits. Most of the reworked deposits are gray in color and exhibit features such as channel scour and fill, planar-stratification, high and low angle cross-stratification, trough cross-stratification, and Bouma-turbidite sequences consistent with their being deposited in shallow standing water or in braided streams. The overlying subaerial deposits are commonly brown or orange in color due to palagonitization. They display a wide variety of bedding types and sedimentary structures consistent with deposition by base surges, wet to dry pyroclastic fall events, and water saturated debris flows.Proximal sections through the subaerial tephras exhibit large regressive cross-strata, planar bedding, and bomb sags suggesting deposition by wet base surges and tephra fallout. Medial and distal deposits consist of a thick sequence of well-bedded tephras; however, the cross-stratified base-surge deposits are thinner and interbedded within the fallout deposits. The average wavelength and amplitude of the cross strata continue to decrease with distance from the vent. These bedded surge and fall deposits grade upward into dominantly fall deposits containing 75–95% juvenile vesiculated clasts and localized layers of welded spatter, indicating a greatly reduced water-melt ratio. Overlying these “dryer” deposits are massive tuff breccias that were probably deposited as water saturated debris flows (lahars). The first appearance of rounded river gravels in these massive tuff breccias indicates downward coring of the diatreme and entrainment of country rock from lower in the stratigraphic section. The “wetter” nature of these deposits suggests a renewed source of external water. The massive deposits grade upward into wet fallout tephras and the phreatomagmatic sequence ends with a dry scoria fall deposit overlain by welded spatter and lava flows.Field observations and two new ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar incremental heating dates suggest the succession of lavas and tephra deposits exposed in this part of the Snake River canyon may all have been erupted from a closely related complex of vents at Sinker Butte. We propose that initial eruptions of lava flows built a small shield edifice that dammed or disrupted the flow of the ancestral Snake River. The shift from effusive to explosive eruptions occurred when the surface water or rising ground water gained access to the vent. As the river cut a new channel around the lava dam, water levels dropped and the volcano returned to an effusive style of eruption.     

The Cloud Ice Mountain Experiment (CIME) 1998: experiment overview and modelling of the microphysical processes during the seeding by isentropic gas expansion

The second field campaign of the Cloud Ice Mountain Experiment (CIME) project took place in February 1998 on the mountain Puy de Dôme in the centre of France. The content of residual aerosol particles, of H₂O₂ and NH₃ in cloud droplets was evaluated by evaporating the drops larger than 5 μm in a Counterflow Virtual Impactor (CVI) and by measuring the residual particle concentration and the released gas content. The same trace species were studied behind a round jet impactor for the complementary interstitial aerosol particles smaller than 5 μm diameter. In a second step of experiments, the ambient supercooled cloud was converted to a mixed phase cloud by seeding the cloud with ice particles by the gas release from pressurised gas bottles. A comparison between the physical and chemical characteristics of liquid drops and ice particles allows a study of the fate of the trace constituents during the presence of ice crystals in the cloud.In the present paper, an overview is given of the CIME 98 experiment and the instrumentation deployed. The meteorological situation during the experiment was analysed with the help of a cloud scale model. The microphysics processes and the behaviour of the scavenged aerosol particles before and during seeding are analysed with the detailed microphysical model ExMix. The simulation results agreed well with the observations and confirmed the assumption that the Bergeron–Findeisen process was dominating during seeding and was influencing the partitioning of aerosol particles between drops and ice crystals. The results of the CIME 98 experiment give an insight on microphysical changes, redistribution of aerosol particles and cloud chemistry during the Bergeron–Findeisen process when acting also in natural clouds.