Separation of rifting and lithospheric folding signatures in the NW-Alpine foreland

The development of the Alpine mountain belt has been governed by the convergence of the African and European plates since the Late Cretaceous. During the Cenozoic, this orogeny was accompanied with two major kinds of intraplate deformation in the NW-European foreland: (1) the European Cenozoic Rift System (ECRIS), a left-lateral transtensional wrench zone striking NNE-SSW between the western Mediterranean Sea and the Bohemian Massif; (2) long-wavelength lithospheric folds striking NE and located between the Alpine front and the North Sea. The present-day geometry of the European crust comprises the signatures of these two events superimposed on all preceding ones. In order to better define the processes and causes of each event, we identify and separate their respective geometrical signatures on depth maps of the pre-Mesozoic basement and of the Moho. We derive the respective timing of rifting and folding from sedimentary accumulation curves computed for selected locations of the Upper Rhine Graben. From this geometrical and chronological separation, we infer that the ECRIS developed mostly from 37 to 17 Ma, in response to north-directed impingement of Adria into the European plate. Lithospheric folds developed between 17 and 0 Ma, after the azimuth of relative displacement between Adria and Europe turned counter-clockwise to NW–SE. The geometry of these folds (wavelength = 270 km; amplitude = 1,500 m) is consistent with the geometry, as predicted by analogue and numerical models, of buckle folds produced by horizontal shortening of the whole lithosphere. The development of the folds resulted in ca. 1,000 m of rock uplift along the hinge lines of the anticlines (Burgundy–Swabian Jura and Normandy–Vogelsberg) and ca. 500 m of rock subsidence along the hinge line of the intervening syncline (Sologne–Franconian Basin). The grabens of the ECRIS were tilted by the development of the folds, and their rift-related sedimentary infill was reduced on anticlines, while sedimentary accumulation was enhanced in synclines. We interpret the occurrence of Miocene volcanic activity and of topographic highs, and the basement and Moho configurations in the Vosges–Black Forest area and in the Rhenish Massif as interference patterns between linear lithospheric anticlines and linear grabens, rather than as signatures of asthenospheric plumes.

A Probabilistic Approach for Identifying Independent Remote Compressions in an Intraplate Region: The Iberian Chain (Spain)

The discrimination between distinct remote compressions and multiple local stress deviations within a single compressive stress field has been carried out in the central-eastern Iberian Chain, by using structural criteria, computing palaeostress directions, identifying and ‘filtering’ stress deviations, and analysing time relationships. A probabilistic analysis based on a systematic comparison of real and expected frequencies of coexistence of two compressions is applied by means of the χ ² Test. This allows us to identify those tectonic compressions that behave as independent events from the probabilistic point of view. The results suggest that among five initially defined compression directions only three can be considered as representative of distinct (although partially superposed) externally applied intraplate stress fields: Iberian s.l. (NE-SW), Betic s.l. (NW-SE), and Pyrenean (N-S to NNE-SSW).     

Dinophysoid dinoflagellates from subphotic depths: Amphisolenia sp. aff. brevicauda,Dinofurcula tricornuta sp. nov., and Dinophysis profunda sp. nov. (Dinophysales,Dinophyceae)

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - Three species of dinophysoid planktonic dinoflagellates are described from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Amphisolenia sp. aff. brevicauda was collected at...     

Predicted present-day evolution patterns of ice thickness and bedrock elevation over Greenland and Antarctica

This paper discusses predicted evolution patterns of present-day changes of ice thickness, surface elevation, and bedrock elevation over the Greenland and Antarctic continents. These were obtained from calculations with dynamic 3-D ice sheet models which were coupled to a visco-elastic solid Earth model. The experiments were initialized over the last two glacial cycles and subsequently averaged over the last 200 years to obtain the current evolution. The calculations indicate that the Antarctic Ice Sheet is still adjusting to the last glacial-interglacial transition yielding a decreasing ice volume and a rising bedrock elevation of the order of several centimetres per year. The Greenland Ice Sheet was found to be close to a stationary state with a mean thickness change of only a few millimetres per year, but the calculations revealed large spatial differences. Predicted patterns over Greenland are characterized by a small thickening over the ice sheet interior and a general thinning of the ablation area. In Antarctica, almost all of the predicted changes are concentrated in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is still retreating at both the Weddell and Ross Sea margins. Over most of both ice sheets, the model indicates that the surface elevation trend is dominated by ice thickness changes rather than by bedrock elevation changes.     

南极海冰面积变化特性及其与赤道太平洋海表面温度的联系

南极海冰面积变化特性及其与赤道太平洋海表面温度的联系陈锦年,乐肯堂,于康玲,张彦臣（中国科学院海洋研究所,青岛２６６０７１）（青岛海洋大学,青岛２６６００３）关键词南极海冰面积,赤道太平洋海表面温度,厄尔尼诺１引言８０年代以前,人们对南极实地考察、资...     

Spatial Distribution of Shelf- and Slope-Dwelling Fishes Collected by Bottom Longline off Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

Abstract. A total of 1789 fish belonging to 38 families and 73 species were collected at depths between 18 and 1102 m during 216 bottom longline operations off Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, between February 1994 and December 1995. For each species the depth distribution is provided. Length-weight and depth-size relationships are reported for three shelf-dwelling species. The bigger-deeper relationship found in two of them contrasts with the bigger-shallower pattern of the deeper living trichiurid Lepidopus caudatus . In November 1997, nine additional bottom longline operations were carried out off eastern Fuerteventura at depths between 805 and 1217 m. In this area, after earlier studies in October 1995, a spawning aggregation of the morid Mora moro was encountered for the second time. The catches of 1997 revealed a strongly male-biased sex ratio. Also, the males showed a significantly lower gonadosomal index than two years earlier. These findings indicate slight interannual variations in reproductive timing and an earlier arrival of male Mora moro at the spawning grounds. Clear variations in the number of fish collected at adjacent sites possibly reflect a preference for distinct microhabitats. Preliminary evidence of local upwelling of cold water above the spawning grounds is provided by satellite imagery.     

用定量遥感方法监测UNDP试区小流域水土流失研究

简要介绍了水土流失定量遥感方法的组成和基本原理,重点叙述了它在小流域治理试区的应用作业和应用结果,并讨论了它的适应性、准确性、实用性和应用前景等。该法的监测模型可与美国近年刊出的RUSLE相媲美,且其因子算式算法系由我国实测资料所建,故更适合我国水土流失实际的应用效果,尤其适用于遥感和GIS数据的微机处理。其应用结果,不仅有比常规调查法和定性遥感法更准确实用的流失总量、各级面积的统计数据和流失现状图,而且还有流失治理规划的防治强度预报图。在UNDP试区应用表明,该法所建立的系统,也可对小流域(大于7km2)每年实施监测,以获水土流失变化动态的准确信息。     

Nomogram for the Height of the Daytime Mixed Layer

A method to construct a nomogram of the daytime mixed-layer-height evolution is presented. The nomogram will be specific for a given location and land surface type and is intended to be an easy tool to achieve a general understanding of mixed-layer behaviour. Also it is a pedagogical graphical one-pager that displays the bulk of data that controls the evolution of the mixed layer. Nomograms from northern, central and southern Europe are presented and discussed. Comparison with data from two sites shows good agreement although the nomograms overestimated the mixing height when it was low.