Absence of β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid in cleaned foraminiferal shells: Implications for use as a chemical criterion to indicate removal of non-indigenous amino acid contaminants

The amino acids β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid are known to compose only a very minor proportion of the total amino acid content in living matter. In deep-sea sediments, however, their abundance in high proportions is ubiquitous. The organic material within foraminiferal calcite tests that are recovered from marine sediments has been found to contain no β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid. This observation provides a chemical check that can be used to ensure that the tests have been thoroughly cleaned. Such checks are important because the amino acid composition of organic material contained within the test is currently being used to establish schemes for chronology and taxonomy of foraminifera.     

Sulphur isotope geochemistry of carbonatites

Sulphur isotopic data for sulphides and barite from several carbonatites (Mountain Pass, Oka, Magnet Cove, Bearpaw Mountains, Phalabora) show that individual carbonatites have different mean sulphide or barite isotopic compositions which deviate from the meteoritic mean $\text{δ}{}^{34}\text{S(0‰)}$.Classification of carbonatites in terms of T,?O₂ and pH during formation of the sulphur-bearing assemblages indicates that with decreasing T and increasing relative ?O₂ the mean δ³⁴S sulphide becomes increasing negative relative to the mean magma δ³⁴S. Only barite-free high temperature carbonatites (Phalabora) in which the mean δ^34S sulphide approaches the mean magmaδ³⁴S as a consequence of the paucity of oxidized anionic sulphur species in the magma can be used to directly estimate the mean isotopic composition of the source material.Barites from the Mountain Pass carbonatite show an increase in δ³⁴S with sequence of intrusion of the carbonatite units; dolomitic carbonatite (mean δ³⁴S, + 5.4‰), calcitic carbonatite (+ 4.8%.), silicified carbonatite (+ 6.9‰), tabular carbonatite dikes (+ 8.7‰), mineralized shear zones (+ 9.5‰). Within each of these units a spread of 6.8%. is evident. Isotopic trends in this low temperature (300°C) carbonatite are evaluated by treating the system as a hydrothermal fluid. The observed isotopic variations can be explained by removal of large amounts of sulphur from a fluid whose mean δ³⁴S is 0 to + 1‰     

Crustal contamination as an indicator of the extent of early Archaean continental crust: Pb isotopic evidence from the late Archaean gneisses of West Greenland

Ph isotopic analyses are reported for 119 samples of late Archaean (ca. 3000-2800 Myr) calc alkaline orthogneisses and associated anorthosites from southern West Greenland. Over most of the area. $\text{Pb}\text{Pb}$ whole rock isotope systematics indicate derivation of the magmatic precursors of the gneisses and anorthosites from a source region with a typically mantle-type $\text{U}\text{Pb}$ ratio (μ₁ value of 7.5) at. or shortly before, ca. 3000-2800 Myr ago. In contrast, in the Godthaabsfjord region, late Archaean Nûk gneisses and associated anorthosites were emplaced into or through early Archaean (ca. 3700 Myr) Amîtsoq gneisses, and crystallised with variable proportions of two isotopically distinct types of Pb which commenced their respective crustal developments at ca. 3000-2800 Myr and at ca. 3700 Myr ago. Isotopic and other geochemical constraints demonstrate that Nûk gneisses and their temporal equivalents were not produced by reworking or melting of Amîtsoq gneisses. Mixing of early and late Archaean Pb results from contamination of the magmatic precursors of Nûk gneisses and anorthosites (characterised by mantle-type Pb at time of emplacement) with ancient, unradiogenic Pb derived from ca. 3700 Myr-old Amîtsoq-type continental crust invaded by the Nûk magmas. The contaminant is considered to be a trace-element enriched fluid phase released from dehydrating older continental crust during progressive burial and heating by emplacement of calc alkaline magmas in the late Archaean ‘accretion differentiation superevent’. This was followed by mixing of the released fluids with younger Nûk magmas.Pb isotopic compositions of late Archaean gneisses and anorthosites outside the Godthaabsfjord region provide no evidence for the presence of early Archaean Amîtsoq-type continental crust in southern West Greenland in areas more than a few tens of km outside the known outcrop of Amîtsoq gneisses. We suggest that early Archaean crust does not exist at depth in late Archaean areas with undisturbed Pb-isotope systematics, either in Greenland or elsewhere in the North Atlantic craton.Pb-isotope evidence for crust magma interaction, involving selective extraction of certain trace elements by a fluid phase from wall rock and subsequent mixing between magma and contaminant fluid, provides a powerful tool for detection, sub-surface ‘mapping’, and geochronological and geochemical characterisation of deep, ancient continental crust.     

Short Note: Potentialities of a Neglected Igneous Database IGBADAT5

Natural Resources Research -     

Geochemistry of groundwater,Burdwan District,West Bengal,India

Hydrogeochemical investigations are carried out in the different blocks of Burdwan district, West Bengal, India in order to assess its suitability for drinking as well as irrigation water purpose. Altogether 49 representative groundwater samples are collected from bore wells and the water chemistry of various ions viz. Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, CO₃²⁻, HCO₃⁻, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻ and NO₃⁻ are carried out. The chemical relationships in Piper and Gibbs diagram suggest that the groundwater mainly belongs to alkali type and Cl⁻ group and are controlled by rock dominance. A comparison of groundwater quality in relation to drinking water quality standards proves that most of the water samples are suitable for drinking water purpose whereas groundwater in some areas of the district has high salinity and high sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), indicating unsuitability for irrigation water and needs adequate drainage.     

Long-term Trends of Benthic Habitats Related to Reduction in Wastewater Discharge to Boston Harbor

A combination of methods (infaunal grabs and sediment profile cameras) were used to monitor the response of Boston Harbor benthic habitats to reductions in wastewater associated with movement of the outfalls to the mouth of the harbor and then offshore. From 1992 to 2006, there was strong evidence that benthic habitats within Boston Harbor have shifted from a more anaerobic state to a more aerobic state and that these changes are directly related to changes in carbon loading associated with outfall placement and improvements in wastewater treatment. Over the period of 1992 to 2000, when the ocean outfall started to operate, there was >90% reduction in organic loadings to Boston Harbor from 11,400 to 1,200 t C per year. There were also corresponding decreases in primary production due to reduced nutrient loadings. The most apparent change in harbor benthos was the widespread increase in 1992 and subsequent decline by 2005 in Ampelisca spp. tube mats. The long-term increase in thickness of the apparent color redox potential discontinuity layer was consistent with reductions in organic loading and increases in bioturbation. The optimal organic loading for maintaining large areas of amphipod tube mats and high bioturbation rates was around 500 g C per square meter per year. Above and below this level, the area of tube mats in Boston Harbor declined.     

Multivariate analysis as a tool to infer hydrologic response types and controlling variables in a humid temperate catchment

We assess the ability of multivariate statistical analyses applied to event hydrographs parameters, to characterize a catchment hydrological behaviour. Motivation for such an approach lies in the fact that streamflow records have yet to be exploited to their full potential towards hydrological interpretation and can be used to infer a catchment state of connectivity from a qualitative standpoint. We have therefore processed 96 event hydrographs from a small headwater temperate humid forested catchment using principal component analysis, variation partitioning and classification tree analysis. These techniques prove to be promising in discriminating contrasted types of hydrologic responses (e.g. low‐ vs high‐magnitude events, slow vs quick timing events), identifying the main hydro‐meteorological variables that control these responses and determining thresholds values of the hydro‐meteorological variables leading to a switch between catchment response types. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.