SENSITIVITY OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS TO CLIMATIC AND ANTHROPOGENIC CHANGES: THE BASIN AND RANGE,AMERICAN SOUTHWEST AND MEXICO

Variability and unpredictability are characteristics of the aquatic ecosystems, hydrological patterns and climate of the largely dryland region that encompasses the Basin and Range, American Southwest and western Mexico. Neither hydrological nor climatological models for the region are sufficiently developed to describe the magnitude or direction of change in response to increased carbon dioxide; thus, an attempt to predict specific responses of aquatic ecosystems is premature. Instead, we focus on the sensitivity of rivers, streams, springs, wetlands, reservoirs, and lakes of the region to potential changes in climate, especially those inducing a change in hydrological patterns such as amount, timing and predictability of stream flow. The major sensitivities of aquatic ecosystems are their permanence and even existence in the face of potential reduced net basin supply of water, stability of geomorphological structure and riparian ecotones with alterations in disturbance regimes, and water quality changes resulting from a modified water balance. In all of these respects, aquatic ecosystems of the region are also sensitive to the extensive modifications imposed by human use of water resources, which underscores the difficulty of separating this type of anthropogenic change from climate change. We advocate a focus in future research on reconstruction and analysis of past climates and associated ecosystem characteristics, long-term studies to discriminate directional change vs. year to year variability (including evidence of aquatic ecosystem responses or sensitivity to extremes), and studies of ecosystems affected by human activity. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GERMAN GREAT–POWER RELATIONS IN THE PAGES OF SIMPLICISSIMUS, 1896–1914*

ABSTRACT. Wilhelmine Germany had a powerful economy and, after 1898, began construction of a fleet to challenge Great Britain's global power. This article analyses Germany's cultural “will to power” in the period through the eyes of the avant‐garde, Munich‐published weekly magazine Simplicissimus as it examined the series of security crises between 1896 and the outbreak of war in 1914. The magazine was no fan of Wilhelmine militarism, its principal artist having been jailed for criticism of the kaiser, but it showed a deep support for Germany's rise to power on moral grounds. Many illustrations dealt with global power projection through the navy and the need for a suitable security partner within Europe. Its illustrators depicted Great Britain as an immoral world power only Germany might check and France as its preferred security partner to keep Europe at peace.     

The Range of Spinel Compositions in Terrestrial Mafic and Ultramafic Rocks

Compositional fields for spinels from a wide variety of mafic–ultramaficigneous rock types and tectonic environments have been determinedfrom a global database of over 26 000 analyses. These fieldsare defined using contoured data density plots based on thespinel prism, and plots of T iO₂ vs ferric iron, for mantlexenoliths, ophiolitic rocks, continental layered intrusions,alkalic and lamprophyric rocks, tholeiitic basalts, Alaskanultramafic complexes and komatiites. Several trends appear regularlyin the various environments: a trend of widely variable Cr/(Cr+ Al) at low Fe²⁺/(Mg + Fe²⁺) (the Cr–Al trend); increasingFe³⁺, Fe²⁺/(Mg + Fe²⁺) and T iO₂ at constant Cr/(Cr + Al) (Fe–Ti trend); a trend found primarily in kimberlites, similar toFe–T i but at constant Fe²⁺/(Mg + Fe²⁺); and an unusualtrend of increasing Al found only in layered intrusions. TheCr–Al and Fe–T i trends are both found to varyingdegrees in tholeiitic basalts. The Cr–Al trend is prevalentin rocks that have equilibrated over a range of pressures, whereasthe Fe–T i trend is dominantly due to low-pressure fractionation.The most Cr-rich chromites found in nature occur in boninites,diamond-bearing kimberlites, some komatiites and ophioliticchromitites. Exceptionally reduced chromites are found in somekomatiites and in ophiolitic chromitites. Detrital chromitesfrom the Witwatersrand conglomerates are of komatiitic provenance. KEY WORDS: basalt; chromite; kimberlite; ophiolite; spinel     

赞比亚伊索卡南部Kachinga长石砂岩碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄、地球化学特征及地质意义

赞比亚东北部伊鲁米德带是一个北东向延伸的中元古代构造活动带,起自赞比亚中部,向北东一直延伸至赞比亚-坦桑尼亚边境,并进入马拉维北部;其东北部以古元古代乌本迪构造带为界;西北部以班韦乌卢地块为界;西部和西南部受新元古代的达马拉-卢菲利安弧-赞比西构造事件的影响。Kachinga长石砂岩位于伊鲁米德带的东北部伊索卡南部。本文获得Kachinga长石砂岩的416颗碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄多集中在1749±25～1920±23Ma之间,Kachinga长石砂岩的形成时代可能晚于1331±26Ma,属于中元古代。Kachinga长石砂岩碎屑锆石CL图像表明,大部分锆石为岩浆结晶锆石,少部分锆石颗粒为增生-混合型锆石,表明其经历了多期构造-热事件的改造。锆石中存在有一部分磨圆度较好的颗粒,表明其经历了多次搬运和沉积过程,从而指示了古老沉积岩为Kachinga长石砂岩提供了物源。主量元素、微量元素和稀土元素构造环境判别及物源分析表明了Kachinga长石砂岩物源主要为上地壳大陆长英质源区,并且可能混有古老沉积物成分,物源区构造背景为大陆岛弧环境。     

Variations in the discharge and organic matter content of stalagmite drip waters in Lower Cave,Bristol

Six drip waters, which were actively depositing stalagmites in Lower Cave, Bristol, were analysed both for discharge and luminescence properties. Drip discharges were determined for two different years, and show a complex response to surface precipitation variations. Inter annual variability in drip discharge is demonstrated to be significantly higher than intra-annual variability, and discharge was demonstrated both to increase and decrease non-linearly with increased precipitation. Drip waters demonstrate a correlation between their luminescence intensity and drip discharge, with increased luminescence in winter as more organic matter is flushed through the aquifer. The strength of the relationship between luminescence intensity and discharge increases with increased discharge. The results presented here have implications for the palaeoenvironmental interpretation of annual growth laminae and the growth rates of stalagmite samples. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Late Quaternary catastrophic flood in the Lahul Himalayas

Impressive flood deposits are described resulting from a catastrophic lake outburst in the Upper Chandra valley in the Lahul Himalaya, northern India. Reconstructions of the former glacial lake, Glacial Lake Batal, and the discharges were undertaken using landforms and sediment data. The glacial dam burst released 1.496 km³ of water in 0.72 days, with peak discharges of between 21000 and 27000 m³ s⁻¹ at Batal. Dating by OSL suggests the flood occurred ca. 36.9 ± 8.4 to 43.4 ± 10.3 ka ago. This cataclysmic flood was responsible for major resedimentation and landscape modification within the Chandra valley.