Quaternary changes in level of the upper Taylor Glacier, Antarctica: implications for paleoclimate and East Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics

Glacial drifts perched alongside outlet glaciers that drain through the Transantarctic Mountains constrain inland polar plateau ice elevations. The Taylor Glacier, which heads in the Taylor Dome (a peripheral dome of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet), drains East Antarctic ice into the Dry Valleys sector of Transantarctic Mountains and terminates in central Taylor Valley, about 24 km west of the Ross Sea. Five gravel-rich drifts (including 39 distinct moraine ridges) fringe a lateral lobe of the Taylor Glacier in the lower Arena Valley, Quartermain Mountains, southern Victoria Land. ³He and ¹⁰Be exposure age dating (from Brook et al . 1992), together with Arena Valley stratigraphy and soil morphologic data, provide chronologic control for these drifts and constrain maximum Quaternary thickening of the inland Taylor ice dome to less than 160 m. These minor Quaternary expansions of Taylor Glacier were out-of-phase with outlet glaciers that pass through the Transantarctic Mountains and terminate in the Ross Sea north and south of the Dry Valleys region. Textural analyses suggest that drift deposition occurred from cold-based ice, even though Taylor Glacier advances most likely occurred during global interglaciations. The thermal regime of former Taylor Glacier ice lobes, the character of geomorphic features superimposed on individual drifts, the chemical composition of soils developed on Taylor drifts, and the stability of in situ moraine ridges on steep valley walls suggest that the present cold-desert climate in Arena Valley has persisted for at least the last 2.2 Ma.     

Gould Pond, Maine: late-glacial transitions from marine to upland environments

Gould Pond sediments are unusual in North America in that they include a continuous record of change from marine to freshwater conditions during the late-glacial period, with a wide array of micro- and macrofossils deposited during a period of high sedimentation rate. Marine waters, much colder than those in the present Gulf of Maine, covered the site at the time of deglaciation (c. 13,200 BP). Plants characteristic of modem tundra grew on nearby uplands. Marine recession, due to isostatic rebound of the land, occurred from c . 12,800–12,200 BP. The lake water was completely freshened by 12,000 BP. A sparse shrub-herb tundra became established around Gould Pond as marine waters receded. Subsequent to 11,300 BP, sedges and other herbs became more abundant, and willow and Dryas less abundant, signifying increased warmth and decreased frost action. At least six tree species, all now common in the area, arrived around Gould Pond between c . 10,800 and 10,500 BP. This rapid transition was coincident with the most rapid major non-anthropogenic change of vegetation at sites across eastern North America during the postglacial period.     

Distribution of Late Silurian (?) and Early Devonian grey-green sandstones in the Liefdefjorden-Bockfjorden area, Spitsbergen

Lithologic, petrographic and paleontologic data for the various areas of late Silurian (?) and early Devonian grey-green sandstones (greywackes) in the Liefdefjord area of northern Spitsbergen are evaluated. A number of new localities with fossil fauna have been detected in these sandstones, both to the north and south of Liefdcfjordcn. It is shown that vertebrate and invertebrate fossils occur at lower levels than hitherto believed. Differences in the amounts of plagioclase and potash feldspar in the sandstones north and south of the fjord, as well as the finds of fossils, suggest that the Siktefjellet Sandstone is restricted to the type area north of Liefdefjorden. The grey-green sandstones south of Liefdefjorden are correlated with the Andreebrecn Sandstone Formation of the Red Bay Group.     

EXAMINING LARGE DATABASES:A CHEMOMETRIC APPROACH USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS

Principal component analysis is used to examine large multivariate databases.The graphical approachto exploratory data analysis is described and illustrated with a single example of chemical compositiondata obtained on environmental dust particles.While the graphical approach to exploratory data analysishas certain advantages over the numerical procedures,the empirical approach described here should beviewed as complementary to the more robust treatments that statistical methodologies afford.     

Flashfloods, earthquakes and uplift in the Pakistan Himalayas

Catastrophic flooding of parts of the frontal plains of the Pakistan Himalayas has occured throughout the historical past. The largest recorded flood (1841) originated from an earthquaketriggered landslip from the flanks of Nanga Parbat, which blocked the Indus river for six months. The earthquake probably occurred on the Liachar thrust, which has been responsible for uplifting the amphibolite facies Nanga Parbat gneisses to the Earth's surface in the last 10 million years. These movements raise serious problems for hydroelectric engineering project in this and other active mountain belts.     

Solubility of Anhydrite, CaSO4, in NaCl-H2O Solutions at High Pressures and Temperatures: Applications to Fluid-Rock Interaction

Anhydrite solubility in H₂O–NaCl solutions was measuredat 6–14 kbar, 600–800°C and NaCl mole fractions(X_NaCl) of 0–0·3 in piston–cylinder apparatus.Solubilities were determined by weight changes of natural anhydritein perforated Pt envelopes confined with fluid in larger Ptcapsules. In initially pure H₂O at 10 kbar and 800°C, CaSO₄concentration is low (0·03 molal), though much largerthan at the same temperature and 1 kbar. Hematite-buffered experimentsshowed slightly lower solubilities than unbuffered runs. CaSO₄solubility increases enormously with NaCl activity: at 800°Cand 10 kbar and X_NaCl of 0·3, CaSO₄ molality is 200 timeshigher than with pure H₂O. Whereas CaSO₄ solubility in pureH₂O decreases with rising T at low T and P, the high-P resultsshow that anhydrite solubility increases with T at constantP at all X_NaCl investigated. The effects of salinity and temperatureare so great at 10 kbar that critical mixing between sulfate-richhydrosaline melts and aqueous salt solutions is probable at900°C at X_NaCl 0·3. Recent experimental evidencethat volatile-laden magmas crystallizing in the deep crust mayevolve concentrated salt solutions could, in light of the presentwork, have important implications regarding such diverse processesas Mount Pinatubo-type S-rich volcanism, high-f O₂ regionalmetamorphism, and emplacement of porphyry Cu–Mo ore bodies,where anhydrite–hematite alteration and fluid inclusionsreveal the action of very oxidized saline solutions rich insulfur. KEY WORDS: anhydrite; sulfur; solubility; metamorphic brines; granulites