Minimum Bedrock Exposure Ages and Their Implications: Larsemann Hills and Neighboring Bolingen Islands, East Antarctica

<正>Considerable controversy exists over whether or not extensive glaciation occurred during the global Last Glacial Maximum(LGM) in the Larsemann Hills.In this study we use the in situ produced cosmogenic nuclide ~(10)Be(half life 1.51 Ma) to provide minimum exposure ages for six bedrock samples and one erratic boulder in order to determine the last period of deglaciation in the Larsemann Hills and on the neighboring Bolingen Islands.Three bedrock samples taken from Friendship Mountain(the highest peak on the Mirror Peninsula,Larsemann Hills;～2 km from the ice sheet) have minimum exposure ages ranging from 40.0 to 44.7 ka.The erratic boulder from Peak 106(just at the edge of the ice sheet) has a younger minimum exposure age of only 8.8 ka.The minimum exposure ages for two bedrock samples from Blundell Peak(the highest peak on Stornes Peninsula,Larsemann Hills;～2 km from the ice sheet) are about 17 and 18 ka.On the Bolingen Islands(southwest to the Larsemann Hills;～10 km from the ice sheet),the minimum exposure age for one bedrock sample is similar to that at Friendship Mountain(i.e.,44 ka).Our results indicate that the bedrock exposure in the Larsemann Hills and on the neighboring Bolingen Islands commenced obviously before the global LGM(i.e.,20-22 ka),and the bedrock erosion rates at the Antarctic coast areas may be obviously higher than in the interior land.     

Development of sediment–landform associations at cold glacier margins,Dry Valleys,Antarctica

The impact of modern cold glaciers on arid periglacial landscapes has received little attention compared with other glacial regimes, and there is a widely held assumption that cold glaciers are not effective geomorphological agents, despite recent studies to the contrary. This paper focuses on the processes operating at the margins of a number of glaciers in the Dry Valleys of Victoria Land, notably the Wright Lower Glacier. The glaciers are entraining primarily older drift deposits and highly weathered regolith which texturally are sandy gravels, as well as well‐sorted sands of fluvial origin. Despite basal temperatures of the order of ?16°C, frozen layers and blocks of sand and gravel are being incorporated into the base of the glaciers by folding and thrusting. The sedimentary products are ridges and aprons several metres high within which the principal lithofacies are sand, gravel, foliated glacier ice, lake ice and snow. These facies are glaciotectonized strongly. Draped over these landforms is a veneer of well‐sorted aeolian sand up to half a metre thick. Supraglacial streams flowing off the glaciers incise these landforms and the sediment is redeposited as alluvial fans, lake deltas and lake‐bottomset deposits. Overall the sediment/landform association differs markedly from those of other glacial regimes, with sand and gravel being the dominant facies, while the usual indicators of glacier working (such as facets and striations on clasts) are lacking. The preservation potential for these landforms on a thousand‐year time scale is high, as modification in this arid regime by slope processes and running water is limited. Sublimation of buried ice is so slow that ridge features are likely to remain ice‐cored almost indefinitely, modified only by wind transport and weathering.     

航空地球物理勘探在南极调查中的应用

航空地球物理勘探是认识极地区域构造的重要技术手段.在回顾和分析南极航空地球物理勘探发展历史与现状的基础上,总结归纳了航空地球物理勘探在南极地区取得的主要成果.归纳出南极地壳结构研究、南极古大陆重建与恢复、南极火山与岩浆作用调查和南极冰架与地质相互作用研究等4方面典型实例,航空地球物理勘探为南极地区域地质构造研究提供了有...     

Thermodynamic properties of snow cover on sea ice during the austral summer in Prydz Bay,East Antarctica

The thermodynamic properties of snow cover on sea ice play a key role in the ice-ocean-atmosphere system and have been a focus of recent scientific research. In this study, we investigated the thermodynamic properties of snow cover on sea ice in the Nella Fjord, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica(69°20′S, 76°07′E), near the Chinese Antarctic Zhongshan Station. Our observations were carried out during the 29th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition. We found that the vertical temperature profile of snow cover changed considerably in response to changes in air temperature and solar radiation during the summer. Associated with the changes in the temperature profile were fluctuations in the temperature gradient within the upper 10 cm of the snow cover. Results of previous research have shown that the thermal conductivity of snow is strongly correlated with snow density. To calculate the thermal conductivity in this study, we measured densities in three snow pits. The calculated thermal conductivity ranged from 0.258–0.569 W?m-1?K-1. We present these datasets to show how involved parameters changed, and to contribute to a better understanding of melting processes in the snow cover on sea ice.     

Contrasting geochemical signatures on land from the Middle and Late Permian extinction events

The end of the Palaeozoic is marked by two mass‐extinction events during the Middle Permian (Capitanian) and the Late Permian (Changhsingian). Given similarities between the two events in geochemical signatures, such as large magnitude negative δ¹³C anomalies, sedimentological signatures such as claystone breccias, and the approximate contemporaneous emplacement of large igneous provinces, many authors have sought a common causal mechanism. Here, a new high‐resolution continental record of the Capitanian event from Portal Mountain, Antarctica, is compared with previously published Changhsingian records of geochemical signatures of weathering intensity and palaeoclimatic change. Geochemical means of discriminating sedimentary provenance (Ti/Al, U/Th and La/Ce ratios) all indicate a common provenance for the Portal Mountain sediments and associated palaeosols, so changes spanning the Capitanian extinction represent changes in weathering intensity rather than sediment source. Proxies for weathering intensity chemical index of alteration, ?W and rare earth element accumulation all decline across the Capitanian extinction event at Portal Mountain, which is in contrast to the increased weathering recorded globally at the Late Permian extinction. Furthermore, palaeoclimatic proxies are consistent with unchanging or cooler climatic conditions throughout the Capitanian event, which contrasts with Changhsingian records that all indicate a significant syn‐extinction and post‐extinction series of greenhouse warming events. Although both the Capitanian and Changhsingian event records indicate significant redox shifts, palaeosol geochemistry of the Changhsingian event indicates more reducing conditions, whereas the new Capitanian record of reduced trace metal abundances (Cr, Cu, Ni and Ce) indicates more oxidizing conditions. Taken together, the differences in weathering intensity, redox and the lack of evidence for significant climatic change in the new record suggest that the Capitanian mass extinction was not triggered by dyke injection of coal‐beds, as in the Changhsingian extinction, and may instead have been triggered directly by the Emeishan large igneous province or by the interaction of Emeishan basalts with platform carbonates.     

东南极拉斯曼丘陵镁铁质麻粒岩的变质作用演化

拉斯曼丘陵（Larsemann Hills）位于东南极普里兹构造带的中部,研究该区麻粒岩的变质作用演化对于理解普里兹带的构造属性至关重要。通过对该区含石榴石镁铁质麻粒岩转石详细的岩相学观察表明,峰期前进变质阶段矿物组合（M1）由角闪石+斜方辉石+单斜辉石+斜长石+黑云母+钛铁矿±石英±磁铁矿组成,其峰期矿物组合（M2）为石榴石+斜方辉石+单斜辉石+角闪石+钛铁矿±磁铁矿±石英,而代表后期与降压有关的叠加变质组合（M3）为斜方辉石+斜长石+单斜辉石+黑云母+钛铁矿±磁铁矿。矿物化学分析,结果显示其中石榴子石和斜方辉石具有弱的成分环带特征。利用THERMOCALC软件在NCFMASHTO体系下对该麻粒岩进行了详细的热力学模拟,结合传统温压计和平均温压计算结果,得出不同阶段温压条件分别为650~750℃/5.5~6.5kb （M1）,850~950℃/8~8.5kb （M2）,800~900℃/5.5~7.5kb （M3）。其变质作用演化为典型的峰期后近等温减压的（ITD）顺时针P-T轨迹。通过区域上镁铁质麻粒岩的对比分析,我们认为该镁铁质麻粒岩可能来源拉斯曼丘陵基岩露头。结合已有的年代学资料,表明该镁铁质麻粒岩的峰期变质事件可能对应于晚元古代格林威尔期构造事件,而后期退变质作用与早古生代的泛非期构造事件有关,意味着泛非期普里兹带可能是陆内造山带。     

风化作用对铁陨石矿物学特征影响的探讨

本文对南丹IIICD铁陨石的矿物学特征进行了研究,并与同为铁陨石但化学分类不同的阿根廷IAB铁陨石和西伯利亚IIB铁陨石进行了对比,重点探讨了风化作用对铁陨石矿物学特征的影响.首先用偏光显微镜、静水称重、扫描电镜观察了样品的基本矿物学特征和微形貌特征,然后用振动式样品磁强计、X射线衍射与电子探针能谱半定量测试研究了样品的磁学性质、物相和化学组成.研究结果表明,南丹铁陨石在较强的自然风化作用下,光泽变弱为土状光泽,相对密度降低;风化产生的反铁磁性物质会使陨石的磁性下降;另外,样品表面物相组成也发生较大变化,以针铁矿(FeOOH)和磁铁矿(Fe₃O₄)等铁的次生矿物为主;但风化壳以下的矿物物相及化学成分均未发生明显变化,以Fe、Ni为主的铁纹石、镍纹石物相存在.     

东南极普里兹湾1990年1—2月大风过程与气旋和锋面活动分析

本文用澳大利亚墨尔本气象中心,苏联南极青年站地面天气图和NOAA-10,NOAA-11极轨卫星云图确定了东南极普里兹湾及其附近海域1990年1—2月份气旋中心位置;讨论了这些气旋的活动特征。分析了实测大风对应的天气系统,天气形势和卫星云图特征,指出普里兹湾沿海存在气旋、锋面以及锋面云和气旋先后相继的影响。锋面及锋面、气旋先后相继影响与500hPa上的强高压脊天气形势、强风与锋面带中纹理非常不均匀区域有密切关系。     

Glacial Lake Victoria,a high‐level Antarctic Lake inferred from lacustrine deposits in Victoria Valley

We present evidence of a large lake (Glacial Lake Victoria) that existed in Victoria Valley in the dry valleys region of Antarctica between at least 20 000 and 8600 ¹⁴C yr BP. At its highstands, Glacial Lake Victoria covered 100 km² and was ca. 200 m deep. The chronology for lake‐level changes comes from 87 AMS radiocarbon dates of lacustrine algae preserved in deltas and glaciolacustrine deposits that extend up to 185 m above present‐day lakes on the valley floor. The existence of Glacial Lake Victoria, as well as other large lakes in the dry valleys, indicates a climate regime significantly different from that of today at the last glacial maximum and in the early Holocene. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Volcanic eruption frequency over the last 45 ky as recorded in Epica-Dome C ice core (East Antarctica) and its relationship with climatic changes

The sulphate glacio-chemical profiles constitute a reliable proxy marker for reconstruction of past volcanic history, assuming a reliable method to distinguish sulphate spikes and to evaluate the flux of individual events is set up. The resulting volcanic event profile is used to reconstruct past event frequencies, and to investigate possible links between volcanism and climatic changes. Volcanic event signatures are useful also in comparing time scales from ice cores drilled at different locations. In this paper, a new method to pick out volcanic signals is proposed. It improves on methods based on the calculation of a threshold using a general mean value plus a multiple of the standard deviation by adding: (1) quantification of nonvolcanic sulphate contributions; (2) sulphate fluxes, instead of concentrations, accounting for accumulation rate changes; (3) data treatment using a log-normal statistic, instead of a Gaussian-type distribution, to take into account the real sulphate distribution; (4) a smoothed curve (weighted fitting) to better understand the residual variability of the sulphate background.This method is used to detect volcanic events throughout the 45 ky time span of the EDC96 ice core, drilled at Dome C on the East Antarctic plateau. A total of 283 volcanic signatures are recovered, with a mean of 6.3 events per millennium. The temporal event frequencies indicate that the last 2000 years were probably characterized by the highest volcanic activity in the period covered by the core and that there is no clear link between number of events recorded and climatic changes.