Unique achondrite Northwest Africa 11042: Exploring the melting and breakup of the L chondrite parent body

Northwest Africa (NWA) 11042 is a heavily shocked achondrite with medium‐grained cumulate textures. Its olivine and pyroxene compositions, oxygen isotopic composition, and chromium isotopic composition are consistent with L chondrites. Sm‐Nd dating of its primary phases shows a crystallization age of 4100 ± 160 Ma. Ar‐Ar dating of its shocked mineral maskelynite reveals an age of 484.0 ± 1.5 Ma. This age coincides roughly with the breakup event of the L chondrite parent body evident in the shock ages of many L chondrites and the terrestrial record of fossil L chondritic chromite. NWA 11042 shows large depletions in siderophile elements (<0.01×CI) suggestive of a complex igneous history involving extraction of a Fe‐Ni‐S liquid on the L chondrite parent body. Due to its relatively young crystallization age, the heat source for such an igneous process is most likely impact. Because its mineralogy, petrology, and O isotopes are similar to the ungrouped achondrite NWA 4284 (this work), the two meteorites are likely paired and derived from the same parent body.     

Freshwater and Atlantic water inflows to the deep northern Barents and Kara seas since ca 13 C ka: : foraminifera and stable isotopes

Foraminiferal stable isotopes and assemblages from Franz Victoria and St. Anna troughs provide a valuable record of freshwater and Atlantic Water flows to the northern Barents and Kara seas from deglaciation to present. The δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C of planktonic Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (s) and benthic Elphidium excavatum were up to 1.4‰ lower than present at ca 13, 11.5, and 10 ¹⁴C ka (global sea-level corrected), mostly reflecting substantial freshwater inputs coincident with glacial–marine sediment deposition. Cassidulina teretis exceeded 40% of benthic foraminifera ca 13 and 10 ¹⁴C ka, indicating subsurface penetrations of Atlantic Water. The transition to postglacial marine conditions is marked by a 1‰ rise in foraminiferal δ¹⁸O and a sharp fall in % C. teretis soon after 10 ¹⁴C ka. These changes imply reduced inputs of freshwater and Atlantic Water. Subsequent isotopic and foraminiferal assemblage variations reflect changing Atlantic Water conditions “upstream” in the Nordic Seas and shifts between the warm Fram Strait and cold Barents Sea branches of Atlantic Water. We hypothesize that glacial-isostatically induced deepening by up to 150 m influenced Atlantic Water inflows to the northern Barents Sea during deglaciation and the Holocene. Thus, effects of isostatic recovery have to be factored into paleoceanographic reconstructions.     

Episodes of late Holocene aridity recorded by stalagmites from Devil's Icebox Cave, central Missouri, USA

Two stalagmites from Devil's Icebox Cave, central Missouri, display similar δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values and trends during the late Holocene. Positive δ¹³C excursions at 3.5-2.6 ka and 1.2-0.9 ka are interpreted to reflect drier conditions. These elevated stalagmite δ¹³C values could have plausibly been driven by increasing C₄ plant abundances over the cave or an increased contribution of bedrock carbon, both of which could reflect decreased effective moisture. A lack of corresponding oxygen isotopic anomalies during these intervals suggests that neither mean annual temperature nor the seasonality of precipitation changed concomitantly with dryness. Both of the δ¹³C excursions identified in our stalagmite record are roughly coincident with dry intervals from a number of sites located across the Great Plains.     

Younger Dryas to mid-Holocene environmental history of the lowlands of NW Transylvania, Romania

Pollen, micro-charcoal and total carbon analyses on sediments from the Turbuta palaeolake, in the Transylvanian Basin of NW Romania, reveal Younger Dryas to mid-Holocene environmental changes. The chronostratigraphy relies on AMS ¹⁴C measurements on organic matter and U/Th TIMS datings of snail shells. Results indicate the presence of Pinus and Betula open woodlands with small populations of Picea, Ulmus, Alnus and Salix before 12,000 cal yr BP. A fairly abrupt replacement of Pinus and Betula by Ulmus-dominated woodlands at ca. 11,900 cal. yr BP likely represents competition effects of vegetation driven by climate warming at the onset of the Holocene. By 11,000 cal yr BP, the woodlands were increasingly diverse and dense with the expansion of Quercus, Fraxinus and Tilia, the establishment of Corylus and the decline of upland herbaceous and shrubs taxa. The marked expansion of Quercus accompanied by Tilia between 10,500 and 8000 cal yr BP could be the result of low effective moisture associated with both low elevation of the site and with regional change towards a drier climate. At 10,000 cal yr BP, Corylus spread across the region, and by 8000 cal yr BP it replaced Quercus as a dominant forest constituent, with only little representation of Picea abies. Carpinus became established around 5500 cal yr BP, but it was only a minor constituent in local woodlands until ca. 5000 cal yr BP. Results from this study also indicate that the woodlands in the lowlands of Turbuta were never closed.     

Statistically correct determination of long-period trends in geophysical data series

Linear trend analysis of geophysical time series is considered in connection with the problem of determining long-period variations (possibly of man-made origin) in the presence of short period noise of larger amplitude. Criteria for testing hypotheses about linear trends are presented for the cases of independent observations and of the observations whose correlation function is known. The possibility of increasing the precision of the results using area-averaged values is investigated. Examples are given of the long time series analysis of air temperature, carbon dioxide and water vapor content. Time series of total atmospheric ozone content at some stations are also considered, and conditions for correct statistical analysis of such data are given.     

Late Quaternary moisture export across Central America and to Greenland: evidence for tropical rainfall variability from Costa Rican stalagmites

We present a high-resolution terrestrial archive of Central American rainfall over the period 100–24 and 8.1–6.5 ka, based on δ¹⁸O time series from U-series dated stalagmites collected from a cave on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Our results indicate substantial δ¹⁸O variability on millennial to orbital time scales that is interpreted to reflect rainfall variations over the cave site. Correlations with other paleoclimate proxy records suggest that the rainfall variations are forced by sea surface temperatures (SST) in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in a fashion analogous to the modern climate cycle. Higher rainfall is associated with periods of a warm tropical North Atlantic Ocean and large SST gradients between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Rainfall variability is likely linked to the intensity and/or latitudinal position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). Periods of higher rainfall in Costa Rica are also associated with an enhanced sea surface salinity gradient on either side of the isthmus, suggesting greater freshwater export from the Atlantic Basin when the ITCZ is stronger and/or in a more northerly position. Further, wet periods in Central America coincide with high deuterium excess values in Greenland ice, suggesting a direct link between low latitude SSTs, tropical rainfall, and moisture delivery to Greenland. Our results indicate that a stronger tropical hydrological cycle during warm periods and large inter-ocean SST gradients enhanced the delivery of low latitude moisture to Greenland.     

Strontium and oxygen isotopic systems in waters of mud volcanoes of the Taman Peninsula

Ten of eleven analyzed water samples from mud volcanoes of the Taman Peninsula are characterized by ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio within 0.70734–0.70957, which overlaps the values typical of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary carbonates, but sharply differs from the value in the clayey sediments of the Maikop Group (0.7157 ± 0.0022). These data indicate that the strontium isotopic composition is mainly defined by carbonate reservoirs, with relatively little effect of elision solutions, input of which is noticeable only in the water of Gladkovsky Volcano (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.71076). The high δ¹⁸O in mud volcanic waters (up to 14.2‰) can also be attributed to ionic exchange with sedimentary carbonates at temperatures around 150°C.     

The eastern extent of the Barents–Kara ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum based on seismic-reflection data from the eastern Kara Sea

We present sub-bottom profiling (sparker and Parasound) results from the eastern Kara Sea, on the Eurasian Arctic margin, which enable the identification of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ice extent. The analysed profiles show that glacigenic diamicton is ubiquitous at the seafloor, east of about 95°E and 78°N. The eastern margin of this diamicton is expressed in a conspicuous morainic ridge at the entrance to the Vilkitsky Strait, and to the south the diamicton projection aligns with the LGM limit mapped at the north-western Taymyr. The bottom of the Voronin Trough further north is also covered with diamicton and has numerous erosional bedforms, indicating a streamlined flow of grounded ice along the trough. Accurate dating of the diamicton is not attainable, but the correlation of pre-diamict sediments to well-dated sections in the Laptev Sea, and available ¹⁴C ages from sediments on top of the diamicton, indicate its LGM age. These results support the palaeogeographic reconstruction that assumes the extension of the LGM Barents–Kara ice sheet as far east as Taymyr. This configuration implies that LGM ice blocked the drainage of the Ob and Yenisey rivers on the Kara shelf. This inference is consistent with the presence of large (>100 km wide) lenses of basin infill adjacent to the southern margin of the diamicton. However, the limited distribution of the eastern Kara ice lobe, not extending on Severnaya Zemlya, suggests that the ice was fairly thin and short-lived: insufficient for the accumulation of the gigantic proglacial lakes that occurred during earlier glaciations.     

Helium isotopes in gases of Mineral Waters in the western Caucasus

The He isotope composition as an indicator of mantle-derived component was studied in gases from mineral springs, stratal waters, and mud volcanoes developed west of the Teberda River valley (10 objects) and two springs in the central segment of the Greater Caucasus orogen between the active El’brus and Kazbek volcanoes. In the western segment of the orogen, the values of ³He/⁴He = R_corr vary in the range of (46–114) × 10⁻⁸ = (0.33–0.81)R_atm, where R_atm =1.4 × 10⁻⁶ is the atmospheric ratio. They are substantially lower as compared with values in the vicinity of El’brus and Kazbek and close to those in samples from the central segment equal to (70–134) × 10⁻⁸ = (0.50–0.96)R_atm, as well as to the values previously recorded in the Caucasian Mineral Waters (CMW) area. Moreover, the content of ³He in them is notably higher as compared with its crustal radiogenic level characteristic of mud volcanoes in the Taman Peninsula, where R = (1.4–2.8) × 10⁻⁸ = (0.01–0.02)R_atm. Nitrogen-methane gas from northern piedmonts of the western Caucasus also contain nonatmogenic components, including the radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar (⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar = 900), “excess” nitrogen (∼87% of the total N₂ concentration in sample) and the mantle He. These data specify the distribution of mantle derivates along the orogen strike and age of intrusive magmatic activity in its different segments.     

Isotopic composition of noble gases in geothermal fluids of the Krušné Hory Mts., Czechoslovakia,and the nature of the local geothermal anomaly

The contents and isotopic composition of all noble gases in the fluids from two localities (Karlovy Vary and Franti?kovy Lázně) in Western Czechoslovakia are given. The data show: (1) atmospheric Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe, which indicates meteoric recharge; (2) excess He, attributed to radiogenic contributions; (3) a small excess of Ne, but the data shed no light on its origin. Even though there is no evidence of any juvenile component in these mineral waters, part of the dissolved He is believed to be of deep (mantle) origin.Correlation between the ratio ${}^3\text{He}{}^4$He and heat flow has been reported in the literature: our data enabled a direct test of this relationship and proved its fairly good validity. The combined interpretation of the heat flow and isotopic composition shows that the local heat flow anomaly in the Kru?né Hory graben is of deep origin and was produced by the mass outflow which occurred during the Alpine activation of the Bohemian Massif.