Is there enough zooplankton to feed forage fish populations off Peru? An acoustic (positive) answer

The Northern Humboldt Current system (NHCS) produces more fish per unit area than any other region in the world. Although the system produces enough macrozooplankton to sustain its high production of forage fish, the paucity of information on macrozooplankton hampers research into the system. In this study, we estimated the biomass of the epipelagic crustacean macrozooplankton from the NHCS during both austral summer and spring 2005. To do this, we developed a bi-frequency acoustic method and extracted high-resolution information on the biomass and the patterns of distribution of crustacean macrozooplankton, fish and other marine compartments. We found that, although macrozooplankton comprises a number of distinct organisms, the euphausiids were the zooplankton group that better fitted the patterns from independent net sampling zooplankton data. Also, the similarities between the nocturnal patterns of size and biomass macrozooplankton distribution from this study and the known patterns of euphausiids, in particular Euphausia mucronata, suggest that euphausiids were the main constituent of the estimated nocturnal acoustic macrozooplankton biomass even if other organisms such as large copepods may have contributed considerably to the macrozooplankton biomass. The total macrozooplankton biomass was estimated to about 105 g m⁻², i.e., two to five times more than previous estimates. This direct biomass estimation of macrozooplankton is in agreement with the new findings in trophic ecology indicating that forage fish consume mainly macrozooplankton. This high biomass also supports the current hypotheses explaining the NHCS high fish production. Using the method, we are able to revisit present-day and historical acoustic databases and extract high-resolution data on macrozooplankton, a key ecological compartment of the ecosystem. Since zooplankton is the link between the physically driven primary producers and the biologically driven tertiary consumers, this information is essential to achieve a mechanistic understanding of the system, from physics to top predators.     

The stability of sapphirine-quartz and hypersthene-sillimanite-quartz assemblages: an experimental investigation in the system FeO−MgO−Al2O3−SiO2 under H2O and CO2 conditions

Phase relations and mineral chemistry involving the phases garnet (Gt), spinel (Sp), hypersthene (Hy), sapphirine (Sa), cordierite (Cd), sillimanite (Sil) and quartz (Qz) have been experimentally determined in the system FMAS (FeO−MgO−Al₂O₂−SiO₂) under low fO₂ and for various H₂O/CO₂ conditions. Several compositions were studied with 100 (Mg/Mg+Fe) ratio ranging from 64 to 87 with excess quartz and sillimanite. Our data do not show any differences in Gt−Cd stability and composition as a function of H₂O, CO₂ and H₂O−CO₂ (±CH₄) content, in good agreement with a previous experimental study at lower temperature (Aranovich and Podlesskii 1983). At 1,000° C and 11 kbar, under CO₂-saturated conditions, cordierite grew from a crystalline mix unseeded with cordierite. Thus, under water-absent conditions, cordierite will have a high-P stability field in the presence of CO₂. If water has a pressure stabilizing effect on cordierite, then our results would indicate that the effects of H₂O and CO₂ are of the same magnitude at high temperature. Our data support the theoretical P-T grid proposed by Hensen (1986) for high-T metapelites and are largely consistent with the high-temperature experimental data of Hensen and Green (1973). The univariant boundary Gt+Cd=Hy+Sil+Qz, which marks the disappearance of Hy−Sil−Qz assemblages, has a negative dP/dT slope above 1,000° C and a positive one below this temperature. Extrapolation of our data to iron-free systems shows that the high-P breakdown limit of Mg-cordierite has a negative slope in the range 1,025–1,300° C and probably positive below 1,000° C. This indicates a maximum of stability for Mg-cordierite at around 1,000° C and 13 kbar. Because of the curvature of the univariant reactions En+Sil=Py+Qz, Mg−Cd=En+Sil+Qz and Gt+Cd=Hy+Sil+Qz, the iron-free invariant point involving the phases Py, En, Cd, Sil and Qz probably does not exist. Sapphirine—Qz-bearing assemblages are stable only at temperatures above 1,050° C. At 1,075° C, the joint Gt−Sa is stable up to 11 kbar. At higher pressure, garnet, sapphirine and quartz react according to the reaction Gt+Sa+Qz=Hy+Sil. Reequilibrated sapphirines are more aluminous than the theoretical endmember Mg₂Al₄SiO₁₀ due to AlAl=MgSi substitutions [100(Al₂O₃/Al₂O₃+FeO+MgO) in experimental sapphirines ranges from 50.5 to 52.2]. Sapphirine in the assemblage Sa−Cd−Sil−Qz shows a decrease in Al content with decreasing temperature and pressure, such that the alumina isopleths for sapphirine have a slight negative dP/dT slope. A similar decrease in Al content of sapphirine with temperature is also observed in Sa−Sil−Qz assemblages.     

Ar/Ar dating of alkaline and tholeiitic magmatism of Saudi Arabia related to the early Red Sea Rifting

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau-ages at 27–28 Ma obtained on feeder dykes and one lava flow of the alkaline massif of Harrat Hadan are in agreement with the assumed age partly deduced from the conventional K/Ar data of the early activity of other alkaline volcanic massifs from Saudi Arabia. This magmatic activity is spatially distributed over a large area, along the western edge of the Arabian plate, and their N-S to NW-SE volcano-tectonic directions are similar to those of the future Red Sea Rift.Preliminary results obtained on tholeiitic lava flows, dykes and plutons gave 17 plateau-ages which, combined with 6 ages deduced from more disturbed age-spectra, display a main histogram peak from 24 to 21 Ma, much narrower than that obtained with conventional K/Ar ages on the same formations. Therefore, a strong tholeiitic activity affected a narrow linear area following the actual eastern Red Sea coast, over nearly 1700 km, during a brief period of time, and without showing any apparent migration. The main volcano-tectonic features of the future Red Sea are strongly outlined during this event. Such brief magmatic episodes related to continental rifts have also been documented by precise ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar analyses on the British Tertiary Igneous Province, the Deccan traps and the eastern Central Atlantic.     

Temporal and spatial variations of the atmospheric dust loading throughout West Africa over the last thirty years

The dust haze conditions, typical of the African atmosphere south of the Sahara, are a result of wind-generated dust from arid lands. The magnitude of the dust haze is evaluated for the 30-year period beginning in 1957 by calculating the number of occurrences where the observed visibility was reduced below threshold values of 10 km and 5 km. The frequency of low visibility was several times greater for the 1977–1986 period than for the 1957–1966 period. Large decreases in visibility are observed after the severe droughts of 1972–1973 and 1982-1984. Contrasting regional differences of the dustiness evolution are noticed. These differences are closely related to the differences in the regional rainfall evolution. The increase in dustiness is believed to arise from dust produced in new desertic areas which result from rainfall shortages along the southern border of the Sahara.     

Time of maximum Late Wisconsin glaciation, West Coast of Canada

New data from a deep-sea core in the eastern North Pacific Ocean indicate that the western margin of the Late Wisconsin Cordilleran Ice Sheet began to retreat from its maximum position after 15,600 yr B.P. Ice-rafted detritus is present in the core below the 15,600 yr B.P. level and was deposited while lobes of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet advanced across the continental shelf in Queen Charlotte Sound, Hecate Strait, and Dixon Entrance. The core data are complemented by stratigraphic evidence and radiocarbon ages from Quaternary exposures bordering Hecate Strait and Dixon Entrance. These indicate that piedmont lobes reached the east and north shores of Graham Island (part of the Queen Charlotte Islands) between about 23,000 and 21,000 yr B.P. Sometime thereafter, but before 15,000–16,000 yr B.P., these glaciers achieved their greatest Late Wisconsin extent. Radiocarbon ages of late-glacial and postglacial sediments from Queen Charlotte Sound, Hecate Strait, and adjacent land areas show that deglaciation began in these areas before 15,000 yr B.P. and that the shelf was completely free of ice by 13,000 yr B.P.     

Occurrence of an exceptional carbonate dissolution episode during early glacial isotope stage 6 in the Southeastern Atlantic

Concentration and mass accumulation rate profiles from Southeastern Atlantic sediment cores located off Namibia show that an exceptional episode in benthic carbonate dissolution occurred during early glacial isotope stage 6 (substages 6.6 and 6.5) between about 186 000 and 170 000 yr BP. Although this episode is restricted to or is more pronounced in this region than in other areas of the Atlantic Ocean, its exceptional character with respect to older and younger climatic episodes at the same site cannot be fully explained by local factors alone, but requires a combination of local and global influences. The onset of the carbonate dissolution episode is related to a more efficient transfer of organic matter from surface eutrophic areas to the lower and is due to low sea level, while its termination relates to a change in either global ocean alkalinity or bottom water circulation. An evaluation of the magnitude of this local carbonate dissolution episode suggests that its contribution to a global alkalinity change may have been significant. Carbonate dissolution was probably amplified by stronger upwelling activity of the Benguela System linked to an exceptional northern excursion of the boreal summer ITCZ during early glacial isotope stage 6. This low latitude global linkage may explain how this carbonate dissolution event as well as other ‘anomalies’ observed for early stage 6, like an important Dole effect minimum or a ‘cold’ Mediterranean sapropel, are related.     

Subsurface hydrology of tile-drained headwater catchments: Compatibility of concepts and hydrochemistry

Concepts and terms used in previous multidisciplinary studies of tile-drained aquitard-dominated catchments (TDADC) are inconsistent and confusing. We provide a well-defined, comprehensive conceptual model of the subsurface hydrology of TDADC by selecting seven mutually compatible and consistent concepts. These concepts are: (1) groundwater as the main source of baseflow in headwater streams, (2) dominance of ‘pre-event’ water in stormflow, (3) importance of both macropores and matrix, (4) changes in flowpaths with rate of stream discharge, (5) dominance of shallow, lateral subsurface flow, (6) interactive nature of subsurface water, (7) transpiration of groundwater. This conceptual model was successfully ‘field-tested’ by examining data collected in a TDADC in a rural area of southern Ontario, Canada. The data consist mainly of chemical and isotopes tracers in water samples (headwater streams, groundwater, precipitation, tile water, soil-surface water), supplemented by water levels and meteorological data.     

Structure and metamorphism of the Karakorum gneisses in the Braldu-Baltoro Valley (North Pakistan)

Abstract

The Karakorum gneisses outcrop north of the complex suture separating the Indian-Pakistan plate from the Europe-Asia block; they grade to deformed earlier members of the Karakorum batholith ranging in age from Cretaceous to Miocene and are cross-cut by its later members. The main interest of the region lies in the fact that very young high-grade gneisses (Miocene), outline the southern edge of the Europe-Asia Plate. The tectonic and metamorpic evolution of the Braldu-Baltoro region is interpreted here as resulting from a poly phased history. The following structural sequence has been defined : - (1) A Dl isoclinal folding was accompanied by subparallel healed shear zones and by intense boudinage, and cross-cut by a dense net of post-Dl hetero-geneous leucogranitic veins and stocks; - (2) a major phase of EW trending recumbent folds (D2), is followed by (3) large open D3 folds generating EW trending domai structures (Dassu and Panmah domes); and (4) a late set of brittle to locally more ductile structures such as the southern thrust contact of the Karakorum gneisses with the Shyok suture zone. The sequence proposed here differs from other interpretations (Rex et al. 1988). We consider that the Dl event only may be attributed to the main India-Asia collision and that the D2-D3 events, interpreted as having occurred in a continuum, correspond to a late reactivation of the major thrusts and sutures related to continuing continental subduction.

A Dl-related intermediate pressure assemblage is preserved (Grt-St-Ky) in the upper levels of the tectonic pile; the estimated PT conditions determined are 10-4 Kb and 700°--525°C. In the core of the large D3 domes, late granoblastic recrystallization is widespread together with almost complete S1-S2 transposition, incipient melting and development of a low-pressure sillimanite-bearing assemblage where relicts of higher pressure minerals are locally preserved. Corresponding PT conditions are 650°-550°C and a lower pressure (5.5 to 2.5 Kb). As most of the observed structures at the lower levels (mineral lineations, boudinage) are clearly associated with (or reworked by) D2 and accentuated by D3 which was accompagnied by partial melting, D2 and D3 are interpreted as representing a continuum developed in the same PT field. It can be assumed also that the Baltoro granite was emplaced by the end of this combined D2-D3 event. From the Miocene ages published for the Baltoro granite (20 Ma to 8 Ma), the low-pressure evolution of the Karakorum gneisses may represent a very young high-grade assemblage. The age of Dl is less defined but at least older than 36 Ma old leucogranites.

The sharp contact along the Shyok Suture zone, interpreted as a large thrust (Main Karakorum Thrust - MKT) of this young high-grade metamorphic terrene against the older (older than 30-45 Ma from late undeformed intrusives) Kohistan-Ladakh island-arc domain, is interpreted, following Mattauer (1985), as resulting from the interaction between the still-ongoing northward movement of the Indo-Pakistan plate and an opposite southward continental subduction, seismically active, operating in Pamir.     

Major and Trace Element and Sr, Nd, Hf, and Pb Isotope Compositions of the Karoo Large Igneous Province, Botswana-Zimbabwe: Lithosphere vs Mantle Plume Contribution

We report major and trace element abundances for 147 samplesand Sr, Nd, Hf, and Pb isotope compositions for a 36 samplesubset of basaltic lava flows, sills, and dykes from the Karoocontinental flood basalt (CFB) province in Botswana, Zimbabwe,and northern South Africa. Both low- and high-Ti (TiO₂ <2 wt % and > 2 wt %) rocks are included. MELTS modeling showsthat these magmas evolved at low pressure (1 kbar) through fractionalcrystallization of gabbroic assemblages. Whereas both groupsdisplay enrichment in light rare earth elements (LREE) relativeto heavy REE (HREE) and high field strength elements, and systematicnegative Nb anomalies, they differ in terms of contrasting middleREE (MREE) to HREE fractionation, which is greater for the high-Tibasalts. This reflects different depths of melting of slightlyenriched mantle sources: calculations suggest that the low-Tibasalts were generated by melting of a shallow spinel-bearing(2 % spinel) lherzolite, whereas the high-Ti magmas originatedfrom a deeper-seated garnet-bearing (2–7% garnet) lherzolite.In most isotope plots, the high-Ti lavas together with the picritesdefine a common trend from Bulk Silicate Earth (BSE) to compositionswith strongly negative Nd_i and Hf_i akin to those of some nephelinitesand lamproites. The low-Ti rocks are shifted from BSE-like tomore radiogenic Sr isotope ratios, indicative of upper crustalcontamination. Trace element and isotope characteristics ofthe Karoo magmas require a combination of enrichment processes(subduction induced?) and long-term isolation of the mantlesources. We propose two distinct scenarios to explain the originof the Karoo province. The first calls for polybaric meltingof spatially heterogeneous, partially veined, sub-continentallithospheric mantle (SCLM). Calculations show that mixing betweenSCLM (BSE) and a strongly Nd–Hf unradiogenic nephelinite-likecomponent (sediment input?) could account for the compositionalvariations of most of the high-Ti group lavas, whereas the mantlecomposition responsible for the low-Ti magmas is more likelyto be similar to a vein-free, metasomatically enriched SCLMcomponent. The second scenario involves mixing between two end-membersrepresented by the SCLM and its deep-seated alkalic veins anda sub-lithospheric (asthenospheric- or ocean island basalt-like?)mantle plume. In this case, the data are compatible with anincreasing mantle plume contribution as the plume rises andexpands through the lithosphere. Regardless of which of thetwo scenarios is invoked, the spatial distribution of the low-and high-Ti magmas matches the relative positioning of the cratonsand the Limpopo belt in such a way that strong control of thelithosphere on magma composition and distribution is a mandatoryrequirement of any petrogenetic model applied to the Karoo CFB. KEY WORDS: Karoo; large igneous province; flood basalts; dyke swarms; major and trace elements; Sr; Nd; Hf; and Pb isotopes