The seasonal cycle in coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models

We examine the seasonal cycle of near-surface air temperature simulated by 17 coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). Nine of the models use ad hoc “flux adjustment” at the ocean surface to bring model simulations close to observations of the present-day climate. We group flux-adjusted and non-flux-adjusted models separately and examine the behavior of each class. When averaged over all of the flux-adjusted model simulations, near-surface air temperature falls within 2?K of observed values over the oceans. The corresponding average over non-flux-adjusted models shows errors up to ～6?K in extensive ocean areas. Flux adjustments are not directly applied over land, and near-surface land temperature errors are substantial in the average over flux-adjusted models, which systematically underestimates (by ～5?K) temperature in areas of elevated terrain. The corresponding average over non-flux-adjusted models forms a similar error pattern (with somewhat increased amplitude) over land. We use the temperature difference between July and January to measure seasonal cycle amplitude. Zonal means of this quantity from the individual flux-adjusted models form a fairly tight cluster (all within ～30% of the mean) centered on the observed values. The non-flux-adjusted models perform nearly as well at most latitudes. In Southern Ocean mid-latitudes, however, the non-flux-adjusted models overestimate the magnitude of January-minus-July temperature differences by ～5?K due to an overestimate of summer (January) near-surface temperature. This error is common to five of the eight non-flux-adjusted models. Also, over Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude land areas, zonal mean differences between July and January temperatures simulated by the non-flux-adjusted models show a greater spread (positive and negative) about observed values than results from the flux-adjusted models. Elsewhere, differences between the two classes of models are less obvious. At no latitude is the zonal mean difference between averages over the two classes of models greater than the standard deviation over models. The ability of coupled GCMs to simulate a reasonable seasonal cycle is a necessary condition for confidence in their prediction of long-term climatic changes (such as global warming), but it is not a sufficient condition unless the seasonal cycle and long-term changes involve similar climatic processes. To test this possible connection, we compare seasonal cycle amplitude with equilibrium warming under doubled atmospheric carbon dioxide for the models in our data base. A small but positive correlation exists between these two quantities. This result is predicted by a simple conceptual model of the climate system, and it is consistent with other modeling experience, which indicates that the seasonal cycle depends only weakly on climate sensitivity.     

Fluid salinities obtained by infrared microthermometry of opaque minerals: Implications for ore deposit modeling — A note of caution

Infrared microthermometry of opaque minerals has revealed that temperatures of phase changes vary with the infrared light source intensity, resulting in an overestimate of fluid salinities and an underestimate of homogenization temperatures. Failing to recognize this analytical artifact during infrared microthermometry may result in meaningless geological models. A fluid inclusion investigation on enargite from a high-sulfidation epithermal deposit is used as an example to document this. Fluid salinities obtained during an early investigation ranged between 6.3 and 20.4 wt.% NaCl, which were interpreted as intense boiling or as evidence for the involvement of a magmatic brine during ore formation. Fluid inclusion salinities obtained with improved analytical settings, i.e. low light intensities, fall between 1.1 and 1.7 wt.% NaCl and are in better agreement with fluid salinities obtained in quartz from similar deposits, and recent modeling suggesting vapor transport of Au and Cu from deep porphyry-Cu environments to shallower high-sulfidation epithermal deposits.     

Provenance of the Bosnian Flysch

Sandwiched between the Adriatic Carbonate Platform and the Dinaride Ophiolite Zone, the Bosnian Flysch forms a c. 3000 m thick, intensely folded stack of Upper Jurassic to Cretaceous mixed carbonate and siliciclastic sediments in the Dinarides. New petrographic, heavy mineral, zircon U/Pb and fission-track data as well as biostratigraphic evidence allow us to reconstruct the palaeogeology of the source areas of the Bosnian Flysch basin in late Mesozoic times. Middle Jurassic intraoceanic subduction of the Neotethys was shortly followed by exhumation of the overriding oceanic plate. Trench sedimentation was controlled by a dual sediment supply from the sub-ophiolitic high-grade metamorphic soles and from the distal continental margin of the Adriatic plate. Following obduction onto Adria, from the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition onwards a vast clastic wedge (Vranduk Formation) was developed in front of the leading edge, fed by continental basement units of Adria that experienced Early Cretaceous synsedimentary cooling, by the overlying ophiolitic thrust sheets and by redeposited elements of coeval Urgonian facies reefs grown on the thrust wedge complex. Following mid-Cretaceous deformation and thermal overprint of the Vranduk Formation, the depozone migrated further towards SW and received increasing amounts of redeposited carbonate detritus released from the Adriatic Carbonate Platform margin (Ugar Formation). Subordinate siliciclastic source components indicate changing source rocks on the upper plate, with ophiolites becoming subordinate. The zone of the continental basement previously affected by the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous thermal imprint has been removed; instead, the basement mostly supplied detritus with a wide range of pre-Jurassic cooling ages. However, a c. 80 Ma, largely synsedimentary cooling event is also recorded by the Ugar Formation, that contrasts the predominantly Early Cretaceous cooling of the Adriatic basement and suggests, at least locally, a fast exhumation.     

Longitudinal dispersion compensation for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer

The Very Large Telescope Interferometer [1,13] will be operated in air which will introduce small optical path fluctuations due to internal turbulence [4,6] and dispersion effects. Both may contribute to fringe contrast decrease. Longitudinal dispersion effects can be corrected by inserting an appropriate glass of variable thickness in one arm of the interferometer [3,5,11,12]. This paper presents a new method applied to VLTI in order to select the optimum glass, according to both the observing wavelength and the spectral bandpath, and to calculate its thickness. Results are presented in terms of improvement on the fringe contrast.     

Spurenelemente in der Aare (Schweiz)

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used for the determination of more than 20 trace and minor elements in water and silt samples (suspended load) of the river Aare. The samples were collected at four different locations along the river between its source and the lake of Bienne. The principal results are: 1. The concentrations of all elements investigated are much lower than WHO-limits for drinking water. 2. Human activities are responsible for an increase of some elements along the river. 3. The concentrations of dissolved trace elements are generally anticorrelated with the water flow rate. 4. The concentrations of the trace elements in particulates (in μg/l) are correlated with the flow rate of water. Except for Ca?Sr there are no significant interelement correlations for all four sampling stations.     

Structural and metamorphic evolution of the Sierras Australes (Buenos Aires Province/Argentina)

The Precambrian Basement Complex rocks as well as the Early to Late Palaeozoic cover sediments of the Sierras Australes were affected by one dominant folding and shearing event verging northeastward during Middle to Late Permian times. Strain estimates point to a minimal flattening and lateral shortening of the sedimentary cover sequence of c.20% and c.24% respectively. Continuing rotational deformation within first and second shear and thrust zones is documented by second and third folding and shearing. To the SW the fold belt changes into a fold and thrust belt where imbrication involves the basement. The deformational events were accompanied and outlasted by anchizonal to greenschist facies metamorphism proven by illite crystallinity and quartz deformation and recrystallization data. A temperature increase from ENE to WSW and also from N to S allowed a more ductile deformation of the rock sequence due to different deformation mechanisms operating. The folding and thrusting events were followed by strike-slip shearing on subvertical shear planes and shear zones under an overall sinistral transpressive regime. A model for the tectonic evolution of the Sierras Australes is proposed and some implications for its setting in the Gondwana reconstruction are given.

---

Zusammenfassung Das präkambrische Basement sowie die alt- und jungpaläozoischen Deckschichten der Sierras Australes wurden während des Mittl. bis Ob. Perm von einer NE vergenten Faltung und Scherung erfaßt. Strain-Abschätzungen deuten auf eine minimale Plättung und laterale Verkürzung der Sedimentfolge von ca. 20% bzw. 24%. Die fortlaufende relationale Deformation in den ersten und zweiten Scher- und Überschiebungszonen ist durch zweite und dritte Faltung mit Scherung dokumentiert. Der Sierras Australes-Faltengürtel geht nach SW in einen Falten-Überschiebungsgürtel über, dessen nach NE gerichtete Imbrikationen das Basement einbeziehen. Daten der Illit-Kristallinität und Quarz-Deformation/-Rekristallisation zeigen, daß die Deformationen von anchizonaler bis seicht-grünschieferfazieller Metamorphose begleitet und überdauert wurden. Mit der von ENE nach WSW bzw. N nach S zunehmenden Temperierung setzten verschiedene Deformationsmechanismen ein. Sie ermöglichten eine zunehmend duktile Verformung der Gesteinsfolgen. Auf die Faltungen und Auf-/Überschiebungen folgten Lateralverschiebungen an subvertikalen Scherflächen und -zonen unter einem sinistralen transpressiven Regime. Für die tektonische Entwicklung der Sierras Australes wird ein Modell vorgeschlagen, und die Folgerungen für die Stellung in der Gondwana-Rekonstruktion werden angeführt.

---

Résumé Les roches du socle précambrien ainsi que la couverture sédimentaire éo- à tardi-paléozoïque des Sierras Australes ont été affectées, au cours du Permien moyen à supérieur, d'un plissement et d'un cisaillement à vergence nord-est. Les déformations sont estimées à au moins 20% d'aplatissement et 24% de raccourcissement latéral. Dans la première et la deuxième zone de cisaillement et de charriage, la déformation rotationnelle continue s'exprime par les deuxième et troisième plissements. Vers le SW la ceinture plissée passe à une ceinture plissée et charriée qui comporte des imbrications du socle. Les déformations ont été accompagnées et suivies d'un métamorphisme de faciès d'anchizone à «schistes verts», ainsi qu'en attestent la cristallinité de l'illite et la déformation et recristallisation du quartz. L'accroissement de la température de l'ENE vers l'WSW ainsi que du N vers le S a donné lieu à des mécanismes de déformation de caractère de plus en plus ductile. La phase de plissement et de charriage a été suivie par un régime de cisaillements décrochants sénestres le long de plans et de shear-zones subverticaux. Les auteurs proposent un modèle de l'évolution tectonique des Sierras Australes et discutent de son insertion dans la reconstruction du Gondwana.

---

NE , . 20 24%. . , , , . : , - . ENE WSW N S, . . . .

     

Petrology,geochemistry and U–Pb geochronology of magmatic rocks from the high-sulfidation epithermal Au–Cu Chelopech deposit,Srednogorie zone,Bulgaria

The Chelopech deposit is one of the largest European gold deposits and is located 60 km east of Sofia, within the northern part of the Panagyurishte mineral district. It lies within the Banat–Srednegorie metallogenic belt, which extends from Romania through Serbia to Bulgaria. The magmatic rocks define a typical calc-alkaline suite. The magmatic rocks surrounding the Chelopech deposit have been affected by propylitic, quartz–sericite, and advanced argillic alteration, but the igneous textures have been preserved. Alteration processes have resulted in leaching of Na₂O, CaO, P₂O₅, and Sr and enrichment in K₂O and Rb. Trace element variation diagrams are typical of subduction-related volcanism, with negative anomalies in high field strength elements (HFSE) and light element, lithophile elements. HFSE and rare earth elements were relatively immobile during the hydrothermal alteration related to ore formation. Based on immobile element classification diagrams, the magmatic rocks are andesitic to dacitic in compositions. Single zircon grains, from three different magmatic rocks spanning the time of the Chelopech magmatism, were dated by high-precision U–Pb geochronology. Zircons of an altered andesitic body, which has been thrust over the deposit, yield a concordant ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 92.21 ± 0.21 Ma. This age is interpreted as the crystallization age and the maximum age for magmatism at Chelopech. Zircon analyses of a dacitic dome-like body, which crops out to the north of the Chelopech deposit, give a mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 91.95 ± 0.28 Ma. Zircons of the andesitic hypabyssal body hosting the high-sulfidation mineralization and overprinted by hydrothermal alteration give a concordant ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 91.45 ± 0.15 Ma. This age is interpreted as the intrusion age of the andesite and as the maximum age of the Chelopech epithermal high-sulfidation deposit. ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf isotope ratios of zircons from the Chelopech magmatic rocks, together with published data on the Chelopech area and the about 92-Ma-old Elatsite porphyry–Cu deposit, suggest two different magma sources in the Chelopech–Elatsite magmatic area. Magmatic rocks associated with the Elatsite porphyry–Cu deposit and the dacitic dome-like body north of Chelopech are characterized by zircons with ɛHf_T90 values of ∼5, which suggest an important input of mantle-derived magma. Some zircons display lower ɛHf_T90 values, as low as −6, and correlate with increasing ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages up to about 350 Ma, suggesting assimilation of basement rocks during magmatism. In contrast, zircon grains in andesitic rocks from Chelopech are characterized by homogeneous ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf isotope ratios with ɛHf_T90 values of ∼1 and suggest a homogeneous mixed crust–mantle magma source. We conclude that the Elatsite porphyry–Cu and the Chelopech high-sulfidation epithermal deposits were formed within a very short time span and could be partly contemporaneous. However, they are related to two distinct upper crustal magmatic reservoirs, and they cannot be considered as a genetically paired porphyry–Cu and high-sulfidation epithermal related to a single magmatic–hydrothermal system centered on the same intrusion.     

Erosion-driven uplift of the modern Central Alps

We present a compilation of data of modern tectono-geomorphic processes in the Central European Alps which suggest that observed rock uplift is a response to climate-driven denudation. This interpretation is predominantly based on the recent quantification of basin-averaged Late Holocene denudation rates that are so similar to the pattern and rates of rock uplift rates as determined by geodetic leveling. Furthermore, a GPS data-based synthesis of Adriatic microplate kinematics suggests that the Central Alps are currently not in a state of active convergence. Finally, we illustrate that the Central Alps have acted as a closed system for Holocene redistribution of sediment in which the peri-Alpine lakes have operated as a sink for the erosional products of the inner Central Alps.While various hypotheses have been put forward to explain Central Alpine rock uplift (e.g. lithospheric forcing by convergence, mantle processes, or ice melting) we show with an elastic model of lithospheric deformation, that the correlation between erosion and rock uplift rates reflects a positive feedback between denudation and the associated isostatic response to unloading. Thus, erosion does not passively respond to advection of crustal material as might be the case in actively converging orogens. Rather, we suggest that the geomorphic response of the Alpine topography to glacial and fluvial erosion and the resulting disequilibrium for modern channelized and associated hillslope processes explains much of the pattern of modern denudation and hence rock uplift. Therefore, in a non-convergent orogen such as the Central European Alps, the observed vertical rock uplift is primarily a consequence of passive unloading due to erosion.     

I S L A An Astronomical World Space Observatory for The First Century of the 3 rd Millenium

ISLA will be an astronomical observatory, operating at the upper limit of our planet Earth atmosphere, offering space like observing conditions in most aspects. ISLA can be maintained easily, modified easily if necessary, always kept at the state of the art and operated for very extended periods without polluting the stratosphere. ISLA is ideally suited to become the first world space observatory as the observing conditions are very much space-like – diffraction limited angular resolution, very low ambient temperature, remote control – however ISLA is easily accessible, telescopes and instruments can be continuously improved and ISLA's costs corresponds only to those of ground-based modern astronomical installations like the ESO-VLT-, KECK- and GEMINI-observatories. The cost of observing and experimenting on ISLA will be orders of magnitudes lower than those of building and operating any space telescope, allowing the astronomers of developing nations to participate in the ISLA observatory within their limited financial possibilities as competent and full partners. ISLA's 4-m and 2-m telescopes will operate diffraction limited from 0.3 μm in the optical, over the infrared, far-infrared to the sub-mm spectral range. ISLA's individual telescopes will permit imaging with 20 milli-arcsec spatial resolution in the optical, 5 times better than the Hubble Space Telescope. ISLA's telescopes can be combined to form an interferometer with a maximum baseline of 250 m with nearly complete coverage of the u,v plane. Interferometric resolution will be of the order of 20 micro-arcsec for the optical. ISLA will thus offer spatial resolution comparable or better than the intercontinental VLBI radio interferometers. ISLA's telescope efficiency will be many orders of magnitude better than comparable ground-based telescopes. The light collecting power of ISLA's interferometric telescopes will be orders of magnitudes greater than the future space interferometers under discussion. ISLA, being an aviation project and not a space project, can be realised in the typical time scale for the development of aviation: about 5 years. ISLA's cost for the whole observatory, including its movable ground station etc. will be of the order of a typical medium size ESA space mission. ISLA's lifetime will be in excess of many decades, as it can easily be maintained, modernised, repaired and improved. ISLA will become the origin of a new astronomical international organisation with worldwide participation. ISLA's telescopes will be of the greatest importance to all astronomical fields, as it will permit to study much fainter, much more distant objects with microscopic spatial resolution in wavelength regions inaccessible from ground. ISLA's many telescopes permit easily simultaneous observations at many wavelengths for rapidly varying objects, from continuously monitoring the surfaces of the planets in our solar system, surfaces of close-by stars, nuclei of galaxies to QSO's. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Benthic nutrient fluxes along the Laurentian Channel: Impacts on the N budget of the St. Lawrence marine system

Water column concentrations and benthic fluxes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and oxygen (DO) were measured in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Upper and Lower St. Lawrence Estuary (USLE and LSLE, respectively) to assess the nitrogen (N) budget in the St. Lawrence (SL) system, as well as to elucidate the impact of bottom water hypoxia on fixed-N removal in the LSLE. A severe nitrate deficit, with respect to ambient phosphate concentrations (N*∼−10 μmol L⁻¹), was observed within and in the vicinity of the hypoxic bottom water of the LSLE. Given that DO concentrations in the water column have remained above 50 μmol L⁻¹, nitrate reduction in suboxic sediments, rather than in the water column, is most likely responsible for the removal of fixed N from the SL system. Net nitrate fluxes into the sediments, derived from pore water nitrate concentration gradients, ranged from 190 μmol m⁻² d⁻¹ in the hypoxic western LSLE to 100 μmol m⁻² d⁻¹ in the Gulf. The average total benthic nitrate reduction rate for the Laurentian Channel (LC) is on the order of 690 μmol m⁻² d⁻¹, with coupled nitrification-nitrate reduction accounting for more than 70%. Using average nitrate reduction rates derived from the observed water column nitrate deficit, the annual fixed-N elimination within the three main channels of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and LSLE was estimated at 411 × 10⁶ t N, yielding an almost balanced N budget for the SL marine system.