一个晚元古代水下冰足刻蚀作用的记录——水下冰推垄

在现代高纬陆棚冰海区的海底底床上,有大量由海冰形成的水下冰足机械刻蚀迹,但在古代冰期地层中却极少报道。笔者在湖南省石门县中岭乡杨家坪的震旦系剖面上发现一丘状构造,经分析,推断为一水下冰足刻蚀记录(图1)。该构造出露于南华大冰期的下冰期地层东山峰组底界以下约60m,在渫水河组上部。     

OBSERVATIONS ON THE QUATERNARY GEOLOGY OF THE LADAKH RANGE, NORTHWEST INDIAN HIMALAYA

OBSERVATIONS ON THE QUATERNARY GEOLOGY OF THE LADAKH RANGE, NORTHWEST INDIAN HIMALAYA     

Benthic foraminifers in upper Quaternary sediments of the southern Bering Sea: Distribution and paleoceanographic interpretations

Composition and distribution of benthic foraminifers, being coupled with isotopic-geochemical data on Upper Pleistocene and Holocene sediments from the southern Bering Sea (Core GC-11; 53°31′ N, 178°51′E, water depth 3060 m), demonstrate variations in bottom water properties during the last 54 kyr. Their abundance increased to some extent during short periods corresponding to warm Dansgaard-Oeshger interstadials 14, 12, 8, and 2 of marine isotopic stages (MIS) 3 and 2. The first and second deglaciation phases separated by the Younger Dryas cooling episode are marked by significant abundance peaks of benthic foraminifers (an order magnitude higher than in the glacial period), although their share in community of benthic and planktonic foraminifers taken together decreases. Species typical of stable high-productivity areas gain the dominant position. A significant proportion of agglutinated species in the Holocene sediments is indicative of Ca ions deficiency that accelerates dissolution of carbonate tests up to their disappearance approximately 2.5–3 ka ago.     

中亚黄土沉积与西风区末次冰期快速气候变化

气候快速变化过程与机制一直是古气候研究的热点科学问题,随着不同地区高分辨率地质记录的增多,年代学方法的改进,此类快速气候变化事件的区域差异性日益突出,对比和认识这些区域之间的变化细节,有助于认识快速气候变化的规律和驱动机制。文章以中亚黄土为主要研究对象,根据黄土沉积特征与现代气候特征,将中亚黄土分为西部、北部和东部3个亚区,在总结中亚西风区黄土古气候研究进展的基础上,回顾了近年来中亚地区末次冰期西风区气候突变事件研究现状与问题,初步探讨了在亚轨道尺度上末次冰期快速气候变化发生过程和机制。结果表明,粒度、矿物学、地球化学等指标均指示中亚这3个黄土亚区末次冰期确实存在千年尺度的快速气候波动信号,但在年代和变率上存在区域差异,这种差异除了缺乏精确的年代学控制外,还与区域水热组合和区域地形结构有关。这些冷暖的快速气候变化与北大西洋高纬地区冰盖收缩扩张、西伯利亚高压强度和范围的变化导致风动力变化和西风带南北迁移有关。今后需进一步加强高分辨率年代序列的建立,进一步遴选中亚黄土中有效的、能够独立反映风力强度、源区信息、古温度、古降水等代用指标,并结合古气候模拟试验研究其驱动机制。

     

The Carrancas Formation,Bambuí Group: A record of pre-Marinoan sedimentation on the southern São Francisco craton,Brazil

The Carrancas Formation outcrops in east-central Brazil on the southern margin of the São Francisco craton where it comprises the base of the late Neoproterozoic Bambuí Group. It is overlain by the basal Ediacaran cap carbonate Sete Lagoas Formation and was for a long time considered to be glacially influenced and correlative with the glaciogenic Jequitaí Formation. New stratigraphic, isotopic and geochronologic data imply that the Carrancas Formation was instead formed by the shedding of debris from basement highs uplifted during an episode of minor continental rifting. Reddish dolostones in the upper Carrancas Formation have δ¹³C values ranging from +7.1 to +9.6‰, which is a unique C isotopic composition for the lowermost Bambuí Group but similar to values found in the Tijucuçu sequence, a pre-glacial unit in the Araçuaí fold belt on the eastern margin of the São Francisco craton. The stratigraphic position below basal Ediacaran cap carbonates and the highly positive δ¹³C values together indicate a Cryogenian interglacial age for the Carrancas Formation, with the high δ¹³C values representing the so-called Keele peak, which precedes the pre-Marinoan Trezona negative δ¹³C excursion in other well characterized Cryogenian sequences. Hence, The Carrancas Formation pre-dates de Marinoan Jequitaí Formation and represents an interval of Cryogenian stratigraphy not previously known to occur on the southern margin of São Francicso craton. Documentation of Cryogenian interglacial strata on the São Francisco craton reinforces recent revisions to the age of Bambuí Group strata and has implications for the development of the Bambuí basin.     

Subglacial emplacement of tills and meltwater deposits at the base of overdeepened bedrock troughs

The sedimentary infills of subglacially eroded bedrock troughs in the Alps are underexplored archives for the timing, extent and character of Pleistocene glaciations but may contain excellent records of the Quaternary landscape evolution over several glacial–interglacial cycles. The onset of sedimentation in these bedrock troughs is often reflected by diamicts and gravels directly overlying bedrock in the deepest basin segments. Subglacial or proglacial depositional environments have been proposed for these coarse‐grained basal units but their characteristics and origin remain controversial. This article presents results from drill cores that recovered a coarse‐grained basal unit in a major buried bedrock‐trough system in the Lower Glatt Valley, northern Switzerland. The excellent core recovery allowed a detailed study combining macroscopic, microscopic and geochemical methods and gives unprecedented insights into the transition from erosion to deposition in overdeepened bedrock troughs. These results show that the basal infill comprises diamicts, interpreted as subglacial tills, separated by thin sorted interbeds, originating from subglacial cavity deposition. The stacking of these units is interpreted to represent repeated switching between a coupled and decoupled ice–bed‐interface indicating an ever‐transforming mosaic of subglacial bed conditions. Decoupling in response to high basal water pressures is probably promoted by the confined subglacial hydraulic conditions resulting from the bedrock acting as aquitards, the narrow reverse sloping outlet and a large catchment area. While stratigraphic and lithological evidence suggests that erosion and the onset of basal sedimentation occurred during the same glaciation, different scenarios for the relative timing of infilling in relation to formation and glaciation of the bedrock trough are discussed. Overlying deltaic and glaciolacustrine sediments suggest deposition during subsequent deglaciation of the bedrock trough. The basal sediment characteristics are in agreement with previous reports in hydrogeological and seismic exploration and suggest the occurrence of similar basal successions in other subglacially overdeepened basins in the Alps and elsewhere.     

Late Quaternary glaciation and equilibrium-line altitudes of the Mayan Ice Cap, Guatemala, Central America

The Sierra los Cuchumatanes (3837 m), Guatemala, supported a plateau ice cap and valley glaciers around Montaña San Juan (3784 m) that totaled ∼ 43 km² in area during the last local glacial maximum. Former ice limits are defined by sharp-crested lateral and terminal moraines that extend to elevations of ∼ 3450 m along the ice cap margin, and to ca. 3000-3300 m for the valley glaciers. Equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) estimated using the area-altitude balance ratio method for the maximum late Quaternary glaciation reached as low as 3470 m for the valley glaciers and 3670 m for the Mayan Ice Cap. Relative to the modern altitude of the 0°C isotherm of ∼ 4840 m, we determined ELA depressions of 1110-1436 m. If interpreted in terms of a depression of the freezing level during maximal glaciation along the modern lapse rate of − 5.3°C km^− 1, this ΔELA indicates tropical highland cooling of ∼ 5.9 to 7.6 ± 1.2°C. Our data support greater glacial highland cooling than at sea level, implying a high tropical sensitivity to global climate changes. The large magnitude of ELA depression in Guatemala may have been partially forced by enhanced wetness associated with southward excursions of the boreal winter polar air mass.     

气候地层划分和命名的脆弱性

中国东部是否存在第四纪冰川作用之争论,自从李四光1934年提出该学说以来已经持续达65年之久,迄今尚未终结。本文认为冰川时间单位实际上只是一个地质时（geochron）.由于冰川是缓慢前进和后退的,因而冰期和间冰期的时间值从北向南随地而异,其界线是穿时的。通常承认冰期是一个单位,但不是时间岩石单位。中国东部第四纪冰川学说存在不肯定性暴露了气候地层划分和冰川地层单位命名的脆弱性。作者建议使用术语“杂砾岩”来取代“冰碛层”一词。     

莲沱砂岩——南华大冰期前气候转冷的沉积记录

湖北宜昌地区出露的莲沱组中上部细屑岩的化学蚀变指数(CLA)介于60～70之间,表明是在寒冷干燥的气候条件下沉积的。比较莲沱组与板溪群中下部沉积岩的主化学成分和 CIA 值表明,板溪群源区遭受过强烈的化学风化,相应的古气候是温暖湿润的,而莲沱组源区化学风化弱,可见两者形成时的古气候环境明显不同。根据 CIA 值推测,地层层序上莲沱组位于板溪群的中上部,莲沱砂岩的 CIA 研究表明南华大冰期前全球气候已经从温暖湿润转变为寒冷干燥,CIA 值继续降低预示着全球性的冰期到表,不久就发生了"雪球地球"事件。     

Last Glacial snowlines in the Tibetan Plateau: an argument against an extensive coalescing icesheet

Two opposing theories are circulating with regard to the extent of the Last Glacial ice cover in the Tibetan Plateau. One says that only less than 20% of plateau was covered with ice, and another insists that the plateau be completely covered with an extensive coalescing icesheet. The extent of the ice cover is thought to be significant in shaping global climatic systems, and a further discussion on this issue may help to understand the earth's surface feedback mechanisms to the global climates. This paper focuses on the Last Glacial snowline reconstruction and uses the reconstructed snowline to argue against the existence of an extensive coalescing icesheet. The reconstructed Last Glacial snowlines suggest that the snowlines dropped 500–700 m in the western and northern marginal mountains and about 1000 m in the southern and eastern marginal mountains of the Tibetan Plateau. However, the magnitude of the snowline dropping decreases dramatically towards the interior of the plateau, from 300–400 m in those mountains adjacent to the marginal mountains to about 100 m in the driest area in the interior. This means that the snowlines were too high and associated glaciers were too limited to extend to the vast intermountainous basins. To be blamed are weakened summer monsoons and lowered condensation elevations, both of which were probably responsible for not bringing in an adequate amount of precipitation into the interior for developing an extensive coalescing icesheet. The relatively high radiation in these relatively low latitudes could be a major negative force to prevent the snow and ice from forming a coalescing icesheet. In contrast, the enhanced plateau blockade to the monsoons may have helped to significantly lower the snowlines and expand the glaciers in the outer slopes of the southern and eastern marginal mountains. The westerlies may have greatly helped those glaciers in the western and northern marginal mountains. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.