Tectonic and sedimentary processes along the ultraslow Knipovich spreading ridge

2D multichannel seismic data and bathymetric records from the glaciated western Svalbard margin and the rift valley region of the ultraslow, and oblique-spreading, Knipovich Ridge are in this study interpreted to infer differences in seafloor spreading mechanisms and to identify sedimentary processes. Our results show that the rift flank geometry, the rift valley elevation and the active magmatism are closely linked. The inferred magmatic segments of the Knipovich Ridge exhibit high and steep rift flanks, whereas the rift flank heights of the proposed tectonic-dominated segments are lower and less steep. In addition, we observe significant rift flank asymmetry across the rift valley which can be partly explained by subsidence due to sediment loading. The identification of a huge sedimentary wedge on the western rift flank suggests that the oldest parts of these sediments have been transported from the western Svalbard margin and across the rift valley. However, we suggest that most of these sediments are glacimarine/hemipelagic sediments which have been deposited in the time period after the rift valley flanks had developed sufficiently to cut off the direct transport routes from the western Svalbard margin. We also observe thick current depositions on the western side, suggesting a strong along-slope influence of the West Spitsbergen Current during the Plio–Pleistocene time period.     

Advances in Holocene mountain geomorphology inspired by sediment budget methodology

The sediment budget, which links sediment sources to sediment sinks with hydroclimatic and weathering processes mediating the response, is applied to the analysis of sediments in three alpine lakes in British Columbia. We provide two ways of using the sediment budget as an integrating device in the interpretation of mountain geomorphology. These approaches differ in their resolution and ability to budget the major components of the fine-sediment cascade in glaciated environments. Taken together, they provide an integrated index of landscape change over the Holocene. The first example compares the hydroclimatic controls of lake sedimentation for the last 600 years (A.D. 1370–1998) preserved in varved sediments from two of the lake basins. This hydroclimatological approach incorporates contemporary monitoring, air photo analysis, and detailed stratigraphy of sedimentation events within a single varve to infer the timing, sources, and preferred pathways of fine-grained sediments reaching the lake basins. The results indicate that glaciers, hillslope, and channel instability within the major subbasins are the principal sediment sources to the lake basins. Transitory sediment storage of glacially derived sediments within the channels is believed to modulate the episodic and more frequent delivery of sediments from adjacent hillslope and fluvial storage sites and direct routing of glacial rock flour during years of prolonged glacial melt. The second example, relying on the phosphorus geochemistry of sediments in an alpine lake basin, considers the evolution of phosphorus forms (from mineral to occluded and organic fractions) as a function of the soil development, inherent slope instability, and repeated cycles of glaciation and neoglaciation over the Holocene. This geochemical approach demonstrates that both neoglaciation and full glaciation have essentially zeroed the system in such a way that a high proportion of mineral phosphorus remains in the present lake sediments and the bioavailability of phosphorus (a key to ecosystem development) is low. Both examples illustrate the importance of variable sediment sources; the seasonality, frequency, and magnitude of sediment transfers; and the profound influence of ice cover over contemporary, neoglacial and Pleistocene time scales. They also signal the value of including both clastic and dissolved components in the sediment budget.     

Continental margin off Western India and Deccan Large Igneous Province

Massive, transient late syn-rift-to-breakup volcanism during separation between the Seychelles microcontinent and India formed the Deccan continental flood basalts and their equivalents on the Seychelles-Mascarene Plateau and on the conjugate continental margins, i.e. the Deccan Large Igneous Province. We estimate an original extrusive area of at least 1.8×10⁶ km², and a volume >1.8×10⁶ km³, and suggest a plate tectonic model comprising: (1) development of the Seychelles microplate by fan-shaped spreading in the Mascarene Basin, and continental extension followed by fan-shaped spreading between India and the Seychelles during A29-27 time. (2) Cessation of fan-shaped spreading just after A27 time, followed by spreading along the India-Seychelles plate boundary. (3) Margin subsidence, modified south of Goa by the persistent, time-transgressive effects along the plume trail. The margin is divided into three regional provinces by the prolongation of regional transforms which formed the east and west boundaries of the Seychelles microplate during breakup and early sea floor spreading. In some aspects, the conjugate margins are different from other volcanic margins; e.g. regional wedges of seaward dipping reflectors along the continent-ocean transition have not yet been reported. We ascribe this to the eruption of the most voluminous lavas during chron 29r, i.e on continental lithosphere in a late syn-rift setting. The enigmatic Laxmi Ridge is a complex marginal high comprised of both continental and oceanic crust. It was probably created during breakup, but may have experienced later magmatic and/or tectonic deformation.     

An extinct,Late Mesoproterozoic,Sveconorwegian mantle wedge beneath SW Fennoscandia,reflected in seismic tomography and assessed by thermal modelling

A channel‐like, low‐velocity zone in the lithospheric mantle beneath W Norway coincides spatially with the extension of a recently discovered 200 × 50 km granite batholith, which formed as a result of oceanic subduction beneath the SW Fennoscandian margin between 1.07 and 1.01 Ga. Based on results from numerical modelling, we argue that the low‐velocity zone, at least in part, reflects the thermal (radioactive) effects of the refertilized mantle wedge of this magmatic arc. The geological record in SW Fennoscandia suggests that active‐margin magmatism terminated as a result of rapid slab rollback and trench retreat starting at ca. 1 Ga. The rapid shift from active‐ to passive‐margin processes was probably critical in preserving the mantle wedge, and its identification can therefore shed light on how active‐margin processes terminated in ancient orogens.     

Landslide inventory in a rugged forested watershed: a comparison between air-photo and field survey data

Landslide inventories are routinely compiled by means of aerial photo interpretation (API). When examining photo pairs, the forest canopy (notably in old-growth forest) hides a population of “not visible” landslides. In the present study, we attempt to estimate how important is the contribution of landslides not detectable from aerial photographs to the global mass of sediment production from mass failures on forested terrain of the Capilano basin, coastal British Columbia. API was coupled with intensive fieldwork for identification and measurement of all landslides. A 30-year framework was adopted. We show that “not visible” landslides can represent up to 85% of the total number of failures and account for 30% of the volume of debris mobilised. Such percentages display high sub-basin variability with rates of sediment production varying by one order of magnitude between two sub-basins of the study area. This is explained qualitatively by GIS-based analysis of slope frequency distributions, drainage density, and spatial distribution of surficial materials. Such observations find further support in the definitions of transport-limited and supply-limited basins. As a practical consideration to land managers, we envisage that supplementary fieldwork for landslide identification is mandatory in transport-limited systems only. Fieldwork has demonstrated that gully-related failures have a greater importance than one could expect from API.     

Coarse-scale data assimilation as a generic alternative to localization

Coarse-scale data assimilation (DA) with large ensemble size is proposed as a robust alternative to standard DA with localization for reservoir history matching problems. With coarse-scale DA, the unknown property function associated with each ensemble member is upscaled to a grid significantly coarser than the original reservoir simulator grid. The grid coarsening is automatic, ensemble-specific and non-uniform. The selection of regions where the grid can be coarsened without introducing too large modelling errors is performed using a second-generation wavelet transform allowing for seamless handling of non-dyadic grids and inactive grid cells. An inexpensive local-local upscaling is performed on each ensemble member. A DA algorithm that restarts from initial time is utilized, which avoids the need for downscaling. Since the DA computational cost roughly equals the number of ensemble members times the cost of a single forward simulation, coarse-scale DA allows for a significant increase in the number of ensemble members at the same computational cost as standard DA with localization. Fixing the computational cost for both approaches, the quality of coarse-scale DA is compared to that of standard DA with localization (using state-of-the-art localization techniques) on examples spanning a large degree of variability. It is found that coarse-scale DA is more robust with respect to variation in example type than each of the localization techniques considered with standard DA. Although the paper is concerned with two spatial dimensions, coarse-scale DA is easily extendible to three spatial dimensions, where it is expected that its advantage with respect to standard DA with localization will increase.     

4D Arctic: A Glimpse into the Structure and Evolution of the Arctic in the Light of New Geophysical Maps,Plate Tectonics and Tomographic Models

Knowledge about the Arctic tectonic structure has changed in the last decade as a large number of new datasets have been collected and systematized. Here, we review the most updated, publicly available Circum-Arctic digital compilations of magnetic and gravity data together with new models of the Arctic’s crust. Available tomographic models have also been scrutinized and evaluated for their potential to reveal the deeper structure of the Arctic region. Although the age and opening mechanisms of the Amerasia Basin are still difficult to establish in detail, interpreted subducted slabs that reside in the High Arctic’s lower mantle point to one or two episodes of subduction that consumed crust of possibly Late Cretaceous–Jurassic age. The origin of major igneous activity during the Cretaceous in the central Arctic (the Alpha–Mendeleev Ridge) and in the proximity of rifted margins (the so-called High Arctic Large Igneous Province—HALIP) is still debated. Models of global plate circuits and the connection with the deep mantle are used here to re-evaluate a possible link between Arctic volcanism and mantle plumes.     

IMO legislation and its implementation: Accident risk,vessel deficiencies and national administrative practices

The article takes as its point of departure the apparently contradictory findings in recent research about accident rates in shipping and IMO implementation records. It is argued here that although IMO conventions have probably greatly improved shipping safety, they cannot credibly be held to be the chief cause of reduced accident rates as claimed in a recent Marine Policy article, when the documented failures of flag state and port state implementation continue to leave vessels sailing with grave deficiencies. The present analysis posits and corroborates a cluster of linked tendencies that jointly undermine IMO implementation. The core problem is IMO’s weak connection to the national maritime administrations, leading to broadly discretionary practices, exacerbated by language difficulties. Adding new rules is no panacea, as new rules in some cases negatively affect the functioning of existing regulations, and sometimes seem motivated mainly to show political alertness. The structural weakness of the IMO/member state link is the core implementation problem that urgently needs to be dealt with if marine safety is to be improved. The concluding section proposes a reform to bring the IMO out of this conundrum and ensure effective implementation.     

A generalized theory for line formation in a homogeneous magnetic field

The formation of spectral lines in a homogeneous magnetic field has been studied. A new method for solving the transfer equations for polarized light has been found. Using this method, the Stokes parameters may be derived without any special assumptions regarding the model atmosphere. With the line formed by pure absorption, the expressions for the Stokes parameters may easily be adapted to numerical calculations. In order to illustrate the method, the line profile for the Zeeman triplet 5250 has been calculated using a photospheric model atmosphere.