Syntectonic Mobility of Supergene Nickel Ores of New Caledonia (Southwest Pacific). Evidence from Garnierite Veins and Faulted Regolith

Supergene nickel deposits of New Caledonia that have been formed in the Neogene by weathering of obducted ultramafic rocks are controlled by fracture development. The relationship of tropical weathering and tectonic structures, faults and tension gashes, have been investigated in order to determine whether fractures play a passive role only, as previously thought; or alternatively, if brittle tectonics was acting together with alteration. Observation of time‐relationship, textures, and mineralogy of various fracture fills and fault gouges shows that active faulting has played a prominent role not only in facilitating drainage and providing room for synkinematic crystallization of supergene nickel silicate, but also in mobilizing already formed sparse nickel ore, producing the very high grade ore nicknamed “green gold”.     

High heat flow anomalies on an old oceanic plate observed seaward of the Japan Trench

Thirty-three new measurements on the seaward slope and outer rise of the Japan Trench along a parallel of 38°45′N revealed the existence of high heat flow anomalies on the subducting Pacific plate, where the seafloor age is about 135 m.y.. The most prominent anomaly with the highest value of 114 mW/m² is associated with a small mound on the outer rise, which was reported to be a kind of mud volcano. On the seaward slope of the trench, heat flow is variable: high (70–90 mW/m²) at some locations and normal for the seafloor age (about 50 mW/m²) at others. The spatial variation of heat flow may be related to development of normal faults and horst/graben structures due to bending of the Pacific plate before subduction, with fluid flow along the fault zones enhancing the vertical heat transfer. Possible heat sources of the high heat flow anomalies are intra-plate volcanism in the last several million years like that discovered recently on the Pacific plate east of the Japan Trench.     

The Epi－continental arc of Southeast China and relevant earthquakes

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Measurements of peroxyacetylnitrate in the marine boundary layer over the Atlantic

The atmospheric concentration of peroxyacetylnitrate (PAN) was measured during a cruise of the R.S. Polarstern from Bremerhaven (Germany) to Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) in September/ October 1988. The measurements were made in-situ by a combination of electron capture gaschromatography with a cryogenic preconcentration step. The theoretical lower limit of detection (3) was 0.4 ppt. The mixing ratios of PAN varied by more than three orders of magnitude from 2000 ppt in the English Channel to less than 0.4 ppt south of the Azores (38° N). South of 35° N, PAN levels were below the detection limit, except at 30–31° S off the eastern coast of South America. Here, PAN mixing ratios of 10 to 100 ppt were detected in continentally influenced air masses. Detectable levels of PAN were mostly observed in air masses of continental or high northern origin. Changes in the wind directions were usually associated with substantial changes in the PAN mixing ratios.     

Seasonal variation of atmospheric dimethylsulfide at Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean

Daily measurements of atmospheric concentrations of dimethylsulfide (DMS) were carried out for two years in a marine site at remote area: the Amsterdam Island (37°50S–77°31E) located in the southern Indian Ocean. DMS concentrations were also measured in seawater. A seasonal variation is observed for both DMS in the atmosphere and in the sea-surface. The monthly averages of DMS concentrations in the surface coastal seawater and in the atmosphere ranged, respectively, from 0.3 to 2.0 nmol l^-1 and from 1.4 to 11.3 nmol m^-3 (34 to 274 pptv), with the highest values in summer. The monthly variation of sea-to-air flux of DMS from the southern Indian Ocean ranges from 0.7 to 4.4 mol m^-2 d^-1. A factor of 2.3 is observed between summer and winter with mean DMS fluxes of 3.0 and 1.3 mol m^-2 d^-1, respectively.     

Spatial and temporal variability of Holocene temperature in the North Atlantic region

The early Holocene climate of the North Atlantic region was influenced by two boundary conditions that were fundamentally different from the present: the presence of the decaying Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) and higher than present summer solar insolation. In order to assess spatial and temporal patterns of Holocene climate evolution across this region, we collated quantitative paleotemperature records at sub-millennial resolution and synthesized their temporal variability using principal components analysis (PCA). The analysis reveals considerable spatial variability, most notably in the time-transgressive expression of the Holocene thermal maximum (HTM). Most of the region, but especially areas peripheral to the Labrador Sea and hence closest to the locus of LIS disintegration, experienced maximum Holocene temperatures that lagged peak summer insolation by 1000-3000 years. Many sites from the northeastern North Atlantic sector, including the Nordic Seas and Scandinavia, either warmed in phase with maximum summer insolation (11,000-9000 years ago) or were less strongly lagged than the Baffin Bay-Labrador Sea region. These spatially complex patterns of Holocene climate development, which are defined by the PCA, resulted from the interplay between final decay of the LIS and solar insolation forcing.     

Abrupt climate change: An alternative view

Hypotheses and inferences concerning the nature of abrupt climate change, exemplified by the Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events, are reviewed. There is little concrete evidence that these events are more than a regional Greenland phenomenon. The partial coherence of ice core δ¹⁸O and CH₄ is a possible exception. Claims, however, of D-O presence in most remote locations cannot be distinguished from the hypothesis that many regions are just exhibiting temporal variability in climate proxies with approximately similar frequency content. Further suggestions that D-O events in Greenland are generated by shifts in the North Atlantic ocean circulation seem highly implausible, given the weak contribution of the high latitude ocean to the meridional flux of heat. A more likely scenario is that changes in the ocean circulation are a consequence of wind shifts. The disappearance of D-O events in the Holocene coincides with the disappearance also of the Laurentide and Fennoscandian ice sheets. It is thus suggested that D-O events are a consequence of interactions of the windfield with the continental ice sheets and that better understanding of the wind field in the glacial periods is the highest priority. Wind fields are capable of great volatility and very rapid global-scale teleconnections, and they are efficient generators of oceanic circulation changes and (more speculatively) of multiple states relative to great ice sheets. Connection of D-O events to the possibility of modern abrupt climate change rests on a very weak chain of assumptions.     

Diversity and stages in evolution of conodontophorids and bivalve mollusks in Triassic seas of Siberia and the Far East

Comparative analysis of taxonomic diversity dynamics of condontophorids from Boreal (Arctic regions of Russia) and Tethyan (Northwest Pacific) paleobasins showed that they had most favorable habitat environments in tropical seas. In the Boreal realm, condontophorids went through three stages of evolution comprising probably four substages and four phases, whereas three stages with six substages and twelve phases are distinguished in the Tethyan realm. The most important abiotic factors that controlled development of conodontophorids are paleotemperature of seawater and paleogeographic settings. Renewals in taxonomic composition conodontophorids and diversification of their assemblages have been confined to moments of paleotemperature and/or sea level rise. The comparative analysis of stages in evolution of conodontophorid and bivalve assemblages has been carried out. As is established, the peak taxonomic diversity of bivalves in Boreal seas was in the Late Triassic after the diversity minimum of the Early Triassic time. In contrast, conodontophorids were most diverse in the Olenekian Age.     

2004年印度洋海啸印尼亚齐省灾情遥感监测与分析

2004年12月底印尼苏门答腊岛西北海岸发生里氏9.0级地震,引发印度洋沿岸的印尼、斯里兰卡、泰国、印度等国家先后遭受强烈海啸。印度尼西亚亚齐省是遭受海啸灾害最严重的地区之一。为了评估海啸灾害造成的严重影响,应用遥感和地理信息系统技术,以2005-01-07英国DMC小卫星遥感影像为基础数据源,结合收集到的该地区灾前(2001年)LandsatETM 遥感影像,对亚齐省进行了监测和快速评估。监测结果表明距离震中位置较近的亚齐省苏门答腊岛西海岸遭受影响较严重,亚齐省苏门答腊岛西海岸由于距离震中位置较近遭受严重影响,而苏门答腊岛东海岸则影响较轻,受灾最严重的地区是亚齐省首府班达亚齐市附近。经统计,整个亚齐省遭受海啸严重影响的地区面积约为483km2,其中城市建成区受淹面积约为26·2km2,乡村(镇)地区受淹面积约为430·5km2。文章的最后还结合数字高程模型对海啸灾情的结果进行了分析。结果表明,绝大多数因海啸而受淹地区高程低于20m。     

Outlier detection algorithms and their performance in GOCE gravity field processing

The satellite missions CHAMP, GRACE, and GOCE mark the beginning of a new era in gravity field determination and modeling. They provide unique models of the global stationary gravity field and its variation in time. Due to inevitable measurement errors, sophisticated pre-processing steps have to be applied before further use of the satellite measurements. In the framework of the GOCE mission, this includes outlier detection, absolute calibration and validation of the SGG (satellite gravity gradiometry) measurements, and removal of temporal effects. In general, outliers are defined as observations that appear to be inconsistent with the remainder of the data set. One goal is to evaluate the effect of additive, innovative and bulk outliers on the estimates of the spherical harmonic coefficients. It can be shown that even a small number of undetected outliers (<0.2 of all data points) can have an adverse effect on the coefficient estimates. Consequently, concepts for the identification and removal of outliers have to be developed. Novel outlier detection algorithms are derived and statistical methods are presented that may be used for this purpose. The methods aim at high outlier identification rates as well as small failure rates. A combined algorithm, based on wavelets and a statistical method, shows best performance with an identification rate of about 99%. To further reduce the influence of undetected outliers, an outlier detection algorithm is implemented inside the gravity field solver (the Quick-Look Gravity Field Analysis tool was used). This results in spherical harmonic coefficient estimates that are of similar quality to those obtained without outliers in the input data.