The prospect of high‐precision Pb isotopic dating of meteorites

Abstract— The radiogenic ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ratio is the only extant nuclide chronometer with sufficient time resolution for studies of the solar nebula accretion and early asteroidal differentiation and metamorphism. Pb isotopic dates can be used to link the dates obtained from extinct nuclide chronometers to the absolute time scale. The factors that control precision and accuracy of Pb isotopic dates of meteorites: instrumental mass fractionation in isotopic analysis, mass spectrometer sensitivity, removal of common Pb, multi‐stage evolution of U‐Pb systems, disturbances caused by diffusion, alteration, and shock metamorphism, and uncertainties in decay constants and the natural ratio of the U isotopes are reviewed. The precision of Pb isotopic dates of meteorites attained with currently available techniques and methodology is ±0.5–1.0 Myr in favorable cases. The accuracy of time interval measurements is approximately the same. The most serious limitation on precision and accuracy of Pb isotopic dates is placed by the presence of common Pb of uncertain and/or variable isotopic composition. Improvement in precision and accuracy of Pb isotopic dates would be possible through combined advancement of techniques of isotopic analysis (most importantly, better control over instrumental mass fractionation) and more effective techniques for the removal of common Pb, together with a better understanding of the effects of thermal metamorphism, shock metamorphism, and aqueous alteration on the U‐Pb system in meteorites.     

Robust Scalings in Compressible Flux Pile-Up Reconnection

Flux pile-up magnetic reconnection is traditionally considered only for incompressible plasmas. The question addressed in this paper is whether the pile-up scalings with resistivity are robust when plasma compressibility is taken into account. A simple analytical argument makes it possible to understand why the transition from a highly compressible limit to the incompressible one is difficult to discern in typical simulations spanning a few decades in resistivity. From a practical standpoint, however, flux pile-up reconnection in a compressible plasma can lead to anomalous electric resistivity in the current sheet and flare-like energy release of magnetic energy in the solar corona.     

Some results obtained on the study of the chemical composition of Eurasian oils depending on the depth and age of the reservoir rock

The sulfur, paraffin, resin and asphaltene contents of some 6570 Cenozoic, Mesozoic and Paleozoic Eurasian oils were analysed statistically in terms of reservoir age and depth. The database includes all principal oil-bearing basins from 60 Eurasian countries. The results of the studies of the relationships between the distribution of oils with different sulfur, paraffin, resin and asphaltene contents and the reservoir age and depth are presented. Predictive trends are established allowing polynomial predictions of average properties.     

Unique Marine Olenekian-Anisian Boundary Section from South Primorye, Russian Far East

INTRODUCTION LateOlenekianandAnisianmarinedepositsin SouthPrimoryewerefirststudiedbyD.L.Ivanov,thechiefofageologicalteammakingreconnaissance workfortheconstructionofthetrans Siberianrail road.HecollectedEarlyandMiddleTriassicam monoidsonRussianIsland.Arep…     

Strain and competence contrast estimation from fold shape

A new method to estimate strain and competence contrast from natural fold shapes is developed and verified by analogue and numerical experiments. Strain is estimated relative to the nucleation amplitude, A_N, which is the fold amplitude when the amplification velocities caused by kinematic layer thickening and dynamic folding are identical. A_N is defined as the initial amplitude corresponding to zero strain because folding at amplitudes smaller than A_N is dominantly by kinematic layer thickening. For amplitudes larger than A_N, estimates of strain and competence contrast are contoured in thickness-to-wavelength (H/λ) and amplitude-to-wavelength (A/λ) space. These quantities can be measured for any observed fold shape. Contour maps are constructed using existing linear theories of folding, a new nonlinear theory of folding and numerical simulations, all for single-layer folding. The method represents a significant improvement to the arc length method. The strain estimation method is applied to folds in viscous (Newtonian), power-law (non-Newtonian) and viscoelastic layers. Also, strain partitioning in fold trains is investigated. Strain partitioning refers to the difference in strain accommodated by individual folds in the fold train and by the whole fold train. Fold trains within layers exhibiting viscous and viscoelastic rheology show different characteristic strain partitioning patterns. Strain partitioning patterns of natural fold trains can be used to assess the rheological behaviour during fold initiation.     

Campanian Climatic Change: Isotopic Evidence from Far East, North America, North Atlantic and Western Europe

Paleoclimatic settings have been reconstructed for the Campanian using original oxygen-isotopic analyses of well-preserved molluskan and foraminifera shells from Russian Far East, Hokkaido, USA, Belgium and some DSDP holes (95, 98, 102, 390A, and 392A) in North Atlantic. Early Early Campanian climatic optimum has been recognized from data on high bottom shelf water paleotemperatures in middle latitudes of both the western circum-Pacific (to 24.2°C) and the eastern circum-Pacific (to 26.4°C) areas and high bottom shallow water paleotemperatures in high latitudes of the Koryak Upland (22.4–25.5°C), which agrees with the data on the Campanian Barykovskaya flora in high latitudes (Golovneva and Herman, 1998) and Jonker flora and its equivalents in middle latitudes. Judging from the data on comparatively high bottom shallow water paleotemperature values in high latitudes, South Alaska (19.4°C) and the Koryak Upland (22.4–25.5°C), we also expect Latest Campanian temperature maximum, which has not been confirmed, however, for low and middle latitudes by neither of isotopic nor paleobotanic data now. Main climatic tendency during the Campanian (with the exception of Latest Campanian) has been learned from isotopic composition of Campanian aragonitic ammonoid shells from the Hokkaido-South Sakhalin (Krilyon) marine basin. In contrary to Huber’s et al. (2002) assumption, we expect warm greenhouse conditions during the most part of the Campanian.     

Influence of anthropogenic pressure and seasonal upwelling on coral reefs in Nha Trang Bay (Central Vietnam)

The growing coastal development, dredging and dumping activities, overfishing and expansion of marine cage culture in Nha Trang Bay (NTB) of Central Vietnam since the beginning of the 2000s have resulted in a dramatic decrease of live coral cover. Surveys conducted in April–May 2013 and the same period in 2014 revealed that with an increase in distance from the outer part of the bay towards the mainland, the rivers’ influxes and dredged areas, coral cover decreased from 75% to 0.6% and species richness from 63 to 5, while the abundance of macroalgae increased from 0% to 56%. These changes correlate with differences in the concentration of suspended sediments on the same gradient. The abundance of the crown‐of‐thorns starfish Acanthaster planci and of the echinoid Diadema setosum significantly increased between the first estimation in 1998 and the survey in 2014, from 0 to 1.7 individuals (ind.) per 100 m^?2 and from 50.8 to 94.5 ind. per 100 m^?2, respectively, contributing to coral loss and intensive bioerosion of the reef framework in the bay. The large sizes of adult colonies of tabulate Acropora on the remote stations with negligible sedimentation and eutrophication loads were inconsistent with the assumptions that temperature‐induced coral bleaching or cyclones could be the major impacts in Nha Trang Bay. Analysis of the 16‐year thermal history of the bay did not reveal any instances in which the coral thermal bleaching threshold had been exceeded up to the present study. Seasonal upwelling, which occurs annually in the vicinity of Central Vietnam, may contribute to mitigation of thermal anomalies within NTB and to the maintenance of healthy coral communities on the remote reefs with relatively low anthropogenic impact.     

Formation of intracratonic basins by lithospheric shortening and phase changes: a case study from the ultra‐deep East Barents Sea basin

The origin of large subsidence in intracratonic basins is still under debate. We propose a new and self‐consistent model for the formation of those basins, where lithospheric shortening/buckling triggers metamorphism and densification of crustal mafic heterogeneities. We use a forward thermo‐mechanical finite element technique to evaluate this mechanism for the typical example of the East Barents Sea basin (EBB) where a very large and compensated subsidence, accommodating an up to 20‐km‐thick sediment succession, is observed. The lower crust in the dynamic model is modelled with petrologic‐consistent densities for a wet mafic gabbroic composition that depend on pressure and temperature taking into account dehydration at high PT conditions. The model successfully explains the main characteristics of the EBB, notably the large anomalous and fast subsidence during the Late Permian–Early Triassic, its present‐day geometry and the absence of a significant gravity anomaly.