Some Statistical Calculations Concerning The Determination of Trace Constituents

The magnitude of sampling errors involved in the determination of trace constituents in parti-culate geochemical materials is derived in relation to the concentration of trace element, the size of the contaminant particles and the sample size. The derivation, which is based on an assumed Poisson distribution for the number of contaminant particles in the sample, is extended to cover a continuous size distribution of contaminant particles and is then applied in detail to four British Chemical Standards.     

Palaeoecology and post-Weichselian shore-level changes on the coast of Møre, western Norway

Pollen analysis, macrosubfossil determinations and radiocarbon datings from a 0.95 m thick peat deposit resting on sand and buried by a 1.3 m thick beach ridge at Haramsøy (an outer-arc island off the coast of Møre og Romsdal province), reveal changes in the local vegetation and in the groundwater level of the landward lagoon-like area. These are considered to reflect the relative shore-level changes between late Preboreal and early Atlantic times: an initial section with a high groundwater level reflecting the early Boreal high shore level, an intervening section with a low groundwater level, from the time of the Boreal regression minimum, and a final section, with a rising groundwater level, reflecting the late Boreal eustatic rise in sea level, which led to complete burial of the peat and the formation of an extensive Tapes beach ridge. Radiocarbon dates reveal that the basal sand (approx. 8 m above sea level) rose above sea level at approx. 9500 B. P. and that the top of the peat (approx. 9 m above sea level) was transgressed by the sea at approx. 7300 B. P. The spread of alder ( Alnus ) within the area may have been delayed by a thousand years compared with other regions in south Norway.     

HABITAT ISLANDS AND THE PRESERVATION OF NEW ZEALAND'S AVIFAUNA*

ABSTRACT. Numerous avifauna species face extinction on New Zealand's two main islands, owing largely to forest clearance and to introduced mammals. In response, New Zealand selects certain offshore islands for the relocation of threatened native birds, first purging them of mammalian predators. Over the past few decades, this procedure has evolved to become fairly successful. Protected habitat “islands” within mainland forested areas are also being created, but with success less certain. As historic habitats are lost, small biopreservation islands may become a standard mechanism for protecting threatened species, a process that can be termed the “miniaturization” of nature.     

De-bugging the 'millipede' porphyroblast microstructure: a serial thin-section study and 3-D computer animation

ABSTRACT Seventy-five spatially orientated, serial thin sections cut from a single rock containing ‘millipede’ porphyroblast microstructure from the Robertson River Metamorphics, Australia, reveal the three-dimensional (3-D) geometry of oppositely concave microfolds (OCMs) that define the microstructure. Electronic animations showing progressive serial sections of the 3-D microstructure are made available via the World Wide Web. The OCM amplitudes decrease regularly from a maximum in near-central sections to a minimum in near-marginal sections, whereas the OCM interlimb angles increase regularly from a minimum in near-central sections to a maximum in near-marginal sections. These observations illustrate that the OCMs are noncylindrical surfaces with culminations located in near-central sections. Because the porphyroblast cores appear to have been present before significant development of the syn-OCM foliation, all of the OCMs were formed by heterogeneous extension around these cores. The overall geometry of the OCMs described here reflects the strain state, and cannot be used to constrain deformation paths.     

Shallow subsurface diagenesis of Pleistocene periplatform ooze: northern Bahamas

Previous studies on early submarine diagenesis of periplatform carbonates have implied that these originally polymineralic (aragonite, magnesian calcite, calcite) sediments are susceptible to early diagenesis only in current-swept open seaways or where surficially exposed by erosion on the seafloor. It has also been proposed that while in the shallow subsurface, periplatform oozes retain their original mineralogy for at least 200,000–400,000 yr and remain unlithified for tens of millions of years. Evidence is reported here for extensive calcitization and selective lithification of periplatform oozes of late Pleistocene age in two piston cores collected from water depths of ～ 1,000 m north of Little Bahama Bank. It is shown that shallow (<30 m) subsurface diagenesis can significantly alter the original mineralogy of periplatform oozes to predominantly calcite in less than 440,000 yr, and that cementation by calcite can produce chalk-ooze sequences within the same time-frame. Periplatform oozes that originally contain a high percentage of bank-derived magnesian calcite appear to have a higher diagenetic potential than those originally low in magnesian calcite. Shallow subsurface calcitization and fithification greatly reduce the diagenetic potential of periplatform carbonates, and chalk-ooze sequences apparently can persist for tens of millions of years and to burial depths of at least 300 m. Shallow subsurface diagenesis, at water depths > 1,000 m, proceeds via dissolution of magnesian calcite and aragonite and reprecipitation of calcite as allochem fillings, exterior overgrowths and cement. It is speculated that density-driven ‘Kohout convection‘, where seawaters under-saturated with respect to magnesian calcite and aragonite and saturated/supersaturated with respect to calcite flow through the margins of carbonate platforms, is the primary driving mechanism for shallow subsurface diagenesis. Removal of Mg during early stages of deep seafloor and shallow subsurface diagenesis should increase the Mg content of interstitial waters which is likely to increase the ‘dolomitizing potential’ of Kohout convection fluid flow.     

ESTIMATION OF SOIL PARAMETERS FOR ASSESSING POTENTIAL WETNESS: COMPARISON OF MODEL RESPONSES THROUGH GIS

A geographic information system (GIS) is utilized to model wetness potential for a portion of Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina. The wetness index is derived from TOPMODEL, a hillslope-scale runoff simulation model. The wetness index is a distributed-parameter model, with the input parameters obtained from a digital elevation model (DEM) and Soil Conservation Service (SCS) soils data. The primary objectives of the research are to: (1) compare methods of estimating soil parameters for input into the wetness potential model; and (2) determine how the model outputs vary spatially as a consequence of different methods of estimating soil parameters. Three methods of estimating soil parameters are used: (a) assuming uniform soil properties; (b) using SCS data presented as ranges; and (c) using alternative literature-based estimates of soil parameters. Results indicate that the wetness model responds similarly regardless of how the soil parameters are estimated, but differences in the spatial variability of the wetness potentials occur as a result of estimating soil parameters through alternative approaches. Correlation, pair-wise regression and analysis of regression residuals are used to compare model responses within a GIS environment.     

Last Interglacial stratigraphy at Ristinge Klint, South Denmark

Past environmental changes in the Baltic area are discussed on the basis of foraminifera and ostracods as well as pollen and spores in marine sediments in cliff sections at Ristinge Klint, Langeland, southern Denmark. The sediment succession represents Jessen & Milthers' (1928) pollen zones d-g or Andersen's (1961, 1975) zones E2-E5, and a correlation with the annually laminated Bispingen sequence indicates that the sequence spans about 3400 years. Marine conditions seem to have occurred at c. 300-365 years after the beginning of the Eemian Interglacial, close to fully marine conditions developing by c. 2500 years. This early date of the marine ingression pre-dates that of most previous studies in the region by several hundred years, but it post-dates the initial marine ingression in the easternmost Baltic. A marked change in salinity at c. 650 years after the beginning of the Eemian was presumably caused by an opening of the Danish Belts. An indication of a major alteration in current activity is registered at c. 3000 years after the beginning of the interglacial. The recognition of the relative timing of these events may be significant for the understanding of the opening of connections between the North Sea, the Baltic and the White Sea.