Current continental palaeoclimatic research in the Nordic region (100 years since Gunnar Andersson 1909) – Introduction

Seppä, H., Birks, H. J. B., Bjune, A. E. & Nesje, A. 2010: Current continental palaeoclimatic research in the Nordic region (100 years since Gunnar Andersson 1909) – Introduction. Boreas, Vol. 39, pp. 649‐654. 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00170.x. ISSN 0300‐9483.     

The surface geometry of the Last Glacial Maximum ice sheet in the Andøya-Skånland region, northern Norway, constrained by surface exposure dating and clay mineralogy

Blockfields, weathering boundaries and marginal moraines have been mapped along a longitudinal transect from northern Andøya to Skånland in northern Norway. The degree of rock-surface weathering above and below glacial trimlines, clay-mineral assemblages and surface exposure dating based on in situ cosmogenic ¹⁰Be have been used to reconstruct the vertical dimensions and timing of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet in this region. The cosmogenic exposure dates suggest that the lower blockfield boundary/trimline along the Andøya-Skånland transect represents the upper limit of the Late Weichselian ice sheet, with an average surface gradient of c . 9.5 m/km. The surface exposure dates from Andøya pre-date the LGM, suggesting that the LGM ice sheet did not reach mountain plateaux at northwest Andøya. The results thus support evidence from lake sediment records that the northern tip of Andøya was not covered by the Scandinavian Ice Sheet during the LGM.     

The Klippfisk Formation—a new lithostratigraphic unit of Lower Cretaceous platform carbonates on the Western Barents Shelf

A new Lower Cretceous lithostratigraphic unit of the Western Barents Shelf, named the Klippfisk Formation, is formally introduced. The formation represents a condensed carbonate succession deposited on platform areas and structural highs, where it consists of limestones and marls, often glauconitic. The limestones may have a nodular appearance, and fossil debris, which are dominated by Inoceramus prisms, may be abundant. The Klippfisk Formation is composed of two members: the Kutling Member defined herein from cores drilled on the Bjarmeland Platform, and the coeval Tordenskjoldberget Member described on Kong Karls Land. The base of the formation is defined by the abrupt decrease in gamma-ray intensity, where the dark shales of the underlying Hekkingen or Agardhfjellet formations are replaced by marls. It is often unconformable. The Klippfisk Formation is of Berriasian to Early Barremian age and appears to be time-transgressive over parts of the Western Barents Shelf (including Kong Karls Land). It passes laterally into the basinal Knurr Formation. On Kongsøya (Kong Karls Land) a thin shale unit, bounded by unconformities, earlier included in the Tordenskjoldberget Member, represents the northernmost extension of the overlying Kolje Formation in the Barents Shelf.     

A preliminary history of Holocene colluvial (debris-flow) activity,Leirdalen, Jotunheimen,Norway

A stratigraphic succession of alternating peat and minerogenic sediments at the foot of a steep mountain slope provides the basis for the reconstruction of a preliminary colluvial history from the alpine zone of Jotunheimen, southern Norway. Layers of silty sand and sandy silt, typically 5–10 cm thick and interpreted as distal debris-flow facies, are separated by layers of peat that have been radiocarbon dated. Deposition from at least 7500 to about 3800 ¹⁴C yr BP of predominantly minerogenic material suggests relatively infrequent but large-magnitude debris-flow events in an environment warmer and/or drier than today. Particularly low colluvial activity between about 6500 and 3900 ¹⁴C yr BP was terminated by a succession of major debris-flow events between about 3800 and 3400 ¹⁴C yr BP. Unhumified peats indicative of higher water tables, separate six debris-flows that occurred between about 3300 and 2300 ¹⁴C yr BP and signify a continuing high frequency of colluvial activity. Uninterrupted peat accumulation between about 2400 and 1600 ¹⁴C yr BP indicates reduced debris-flow activity; subsequent renewed activity appears to have culuminated in the ‘Little Ice Age’ after about 600 ¹⁴C yr BP. This pattern of colluvial deposition demonstrates a long history of natural Holocene low-alpine landscape instability, suggests an increase first in the magnitude and then in the frequency of debris-flow activity coincident with late Holocene climatic deterioration, and points to the potential of debris-flow records as a unique source of palaeoclimatic information related to extreme rainfall events. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Water-deficient Calc-alkaline Plutonic Rocks of Northeastern Superior Province, Canada: Significance of Charnockitic Magmatism

Calc-alkaline batholiths of the Archaean Minto block, northeasternSuperior Province, Canada, have pyroxene- and hornblende-bearingmineral assemblages inferred to have crystallized from hot,water-undersaturated magmas at 2·729–2·724Ga. A regional amphibolite- to granulite-facies tectonothermalevent at 2·70 Ga resulted in mild to negligible metamorphiceffects on the dominantly granodioritic units. Geochemical,textural and thermobarometric studies define the crystallizationhistory in compositions ranging from cumulate pyroxenite throughquartz diorite, granodiorite, granite, and syn-magmatic gabbroicdykes. Early magmatic assemblages include orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene,plagioclase, biotite, Fe–Ti oxides and ternary feldspar,indicating crystallization from magmas containing <2 wt %H₂O at 1100–900°C. Water enrichment in the residualmelt induced hornblende crystallization at 5 ± 1 kbar,800–600°C. Characterized by a continuum of large ionlithophile element (LILE)-enriched, high field strength element(HFSE)-depleted compositions, the I-type suite resembles moderncontinental arc batholiths in composition and size but not primarymineralogy. Magmatic arcs produced between 2·75 and 1·85Ga commonly have charnockitic components, possibly because slab-derivedfluids interacted with mantle wedges at ambient temperatureshigher by 100°C than at present, producing large volumesof water-deficient magma. KEY WORDS: granitoid rocks; igneous pyroxenes; water-undersaturated magma; charnockite     

Geology and palynology of the Triassic succession of Bjørnøya

The Triassic succession of Bjørnøya (200 m) comprises the Lower Triassic Urd Formation (65 m) of the Sassendalen Group, and the Middle and Upper Triassic Skuld Formation (135 m) of the Kapp Toscana Group. These units are separated by a condensed '.'Middle Triassic sequence represented by a phosphatic remainé conglomerate (0.2m).
The Urd Formation consists of grey to dark grey shales with yellow weathering dolomitic beds and nodules. Palynology indicates the oldest beds to be Diencrian; ammonoid faunas in the middle and upper part of the formation arc of Smithian age. The organic content (c. 1 %) includes kerogen of land and marine origin, reflecting a shallow marine depositional environment.
The Skuld Formation is dominated by grey shales with red weathering siderite nodules. There are minor coarsening upwards sequences; the highest bed exposed is a 20 m thick, very fine-grained sandstone. Palynomorphs indicate a late Ladinian age for the lower part of the formation, and macrofossils and palynomorphs indicate Ladinian to Carnian ages for the upper part. Sedimentary structures, a sparse marine fauna and microplankton indicate deposition in a shallow marine environment. The organic residues contain dominantly terrestrially derived kerogen.     

The type section of the Vikinghôgda Formation: a new Lower Triassic unit in central and eastern Svalbard

The Vikinghøgda Formation (250 m) is defined with a stratotype in Deltadalen-Vikinghøgda in central Spitsbergen. The Vikinghøgda Formation replaces the Vardebukta and Sticky Keep Formations of Buchan et al. (1965) and the lower part of the Barentsøya Formation of Lock et al. (1978) as extended geographically by Mørk, Knarud et al. (1982) in central Spitsbergen, Barentsøya and Edgeøya. The formation consists of three member: the Deltadalen Member (composed of mudstones with sandstones and siltstones), the Lusitaniadalen Member (dominated by mudstones with thin siltstone beds and some limestone concretions) and the Vendomdalen Member (composed of dark shales with dolomite interbeds and nodules). The Lusitaniadalen and Vendomdalen members replace the former Sticky Keep Formation/ Member in the siirne areu. The Vikinghøda Formation can be followed through central and eastern Spitsbergen to Barentøya and Edgeøya and includes all sediments between the chert-rich Kapp Starostin Formation (Permian) and the organic-rich shales of the Botneheia Formation (Middle Triassic). The subdivision into three members is also reflected in the organic carbon content and palynofacies. Upwards. each succeeding member becomes more distal, organic-rich and oil-prone than the one below.
The Vikinghøda Formation is well-dated by six ammonoid zones. although the transitional beds between the Deltadalen and Lusitaniadalen members lack age diagnostic macrofossils. Corresponding palynozonation and magnetustratigraphy have also been determined. The overall stratigraphical development correlates well with other key Triassic areas in the Arctic, although intervals in the late Dienerian and early Smithian may be condensed or missing.     

Sampling the Cape Verde Mantle Plume: Evolution of Melt Compositions on Santo Antao, Cape Verde Islands

The volcanic history of Santo Antão, NW Cape Verde Islands,includes the eruption of basanite–phonolite series magmasbetween 7·5 and 0·3 Ma and (melilite) nephelinite–phonoliteseries magmas from 0·7 to 0·1 Ma. The most primitivevolcanic rocks are olivine ± clinopyroxene-phyric, whereasthe more evolved rocks have phenocrysts of clinopyroxene ±Fe–Tioxide ± kaersutite ± haüyne ± titanite± sanidine; plagioclase occurs in some intermediate rocks.The analysed samples span a range of 19–0·03% MgO;the most primitive have 37–46% SiO₂, 2·5–7%TiO₂ and are enriched 50–200 x primitive mantle in highlyincompatible elements; the basanitic series is less enrichedthan the nephelinitic series. Geochemical trends in each seriescan be modelled by fractional crystallization of phenocrystassemblages from basanitic and nephelinitic parental magmas.There is little evidence for mineral–melt disequilibrium,and thus magma mixing is not of major importance in controllingbulk-rock compositions. Mantle melting processes are modelledusing fractionation-corrected magma compositions; the modelssuggest 1–4% partial melting of a heterogeneous mantleperidotite source at depths of 90–125 km. Incompatibleelement enrichment among the most primitive magma types is typicalof HIMU OIB. The Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions of theSanto Antão volcanic sequence and geochemical characterchange systematically with time. The older volcanic rocks (7·5–2Ma) vary between two main mantle source components, one of whichis a young HIMU type with ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 19·88, 7/4 =–5, 8/4 0, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0·7033 and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd= 0·51288, whereas the other has somewhat less radiogenicSr and Pb and more radiogenic Nd. The intermediate age volcanicrocks (2–0·3 Ma) show a change of sources to two-componentmixing between a carbonatite-related young HIMU-type source(²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 19·93, 7/4 = –5, 8/4 = –38,⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0·70304) and a DM-like source. A more incompatibleelement-enriched component with 7/4 > 0 (old HIMU type) isprominent in the young volcanic rocks (0·3–0·1Ma). The EM1 component that is important in the southern CapeVerde Islands appears to have played no role in the petrogenesisof the Santo Antão magmas. The primary magmas are arguedto be derived by partial melting in the Cape Verde mantle plume;temporal changes in composition are suggested to reflect layeringin the plume conduit. KEY WORDS: radiogenic isotopes; geochemistry; mantle melting; Cape Verde     

Seasonal changes in crop content of the Svalbard Ptarmigan Lagopus mutus hyperboreus

Crop contents of Svalbard Ptarmigan have been examined. For chicks younger than 25 days the crops contained almost exclusively bulbils of Polygonum viviparum . High incidence of this food item was also found in crops from adult birds during late summer and autumn (July-October). Midwinter (November-February) crops contained a mixture of plant species dominated by herbs like Saxifraga oppositifolia and S. cespitosa , but with a significant contribution from Salix polaris . The proportion of 5. polaris increased throughout the winter and became highly dominant in spring (May-June). During all seasons the birds ingested plant parts of high nutritional value. The change in crop content from P. viviparum to 5. polaris via different herbs was associated with a decrease in the content of crude protein from 20–25% in July-August to about 16% in March-April, and a corresponding increase in crude fibre from about 10% to about 15%. The content of inorganic constituents (P, Mg, Ca, K, Na) varied insignificantly with season and was fairly high.     

The vertical extent of ice sheets in Nordfjord, western Norway: measuring degree of rock surface weathering

Degree of rock surface weathering was measured on sites in Oldedalen and Brigsdalen, where dates of deglaciation have been estimated. and on an altitudinal transect on the slopes of Skåla. representing one of the highest supra-marine reliefs in western Norway. The Schmidt hammer is useful only for distinguishing sites deglaciated during the Little Ice Age from those deglaciated during the Lateglacial and early Holocene. Degree of roughness of granitic augen gneiss bedrock surfaces was quantified from profiles measured in situ using a micro-roughness-meter and profile gauge. There is a significant increase in surface roughness above a clear trimline at c. 1350 m a.s.I. but no significant increase above a higher trimline previously proposed as the vertical limit of the last ice sheet in this area (c. 1560 m a.s.I.). The roughness of boulder surfaces on the summit blockfield does not direr significantly from the roughness of bedrock surfaces downslope as far as the lower trimline. These unexpected results suggest that bedrock surfaces between the two trimlines were not glacially abraded during the Late Weichselian, so that the upper trimline is unlikely to represent the vertical limit of ice during either the Late Weichselian or a subsequent readvance. Preliminary results of ¹⁰Be dating of surface quartz samples from above the lower trimline support the proposal that the site was not abraded during the last glaciation. The results can be interpreted in two ways: (1) The upper trimline represents the vertical limit of a pre-Late Weichselian advance. During the Late Weichselian the mountains were completely covered but surfaces down to the lower trimline were protected by cold-based ice. (2) The lower trimline marks the vertical limit of the Late Weichselian ice and the upper limit an older and more extensive glaciation.