Drought and institutional adaptation in the Great Plains of Alberta and Saskatchewan, 1914–1939

Agriculture in the southern Great Plains of Canada has been particularly vulnerable to prolonged episodes of drought. Using climate data and a precipitation minus potential evapotranspiration index, the extent of the region’s exposure to drought is examined. Between 1914 and 1917, the Dry Belt was particularly vulnerable to drought, whereas after 1928, a much larger region known as the Palliser Triangle covering most of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan was much more exposed to drought. These droughts provoked major institutional adaptation, in particular the establishment of the Special Areas Board by the Government of Alberta, and the creation of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration by the Government of Canada. Both organizations have proved to be relatively permanent public adaptations to the natural hazard of drought in the region. Moreover, these earlier experiences with prolonged drought as well as institution-building may be of value in helping the residents of the Palliser Triangle adapt to predicted climate changes in the future as well as anticipate some of the barriers to effective institutional adaptation.     

Variability in oceanographic and ecological processes in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago

This paper brings together unpublished historical data sets and published literature to review the role of climatic, oceanographic and ecological processes in the marine ecosystem of the eastern Canadian Archipelago. Physical data include characteristics of the water masses, circulation patterns, sea ice conditions, and climatic records from 1950s onward. Biological data include unpublished data sets on nutrients, primary and secondary production, and sedimentation, which were collected during the 1980–1990s in the eastern Canadian Archipelago. These results show high year-to-year variability in nutrient inventories and ratios, the magnitude of the ice algae and phytoplankton bloom, the timing of ice algae sedimentation in the spring, and the composition of the zooplankton community. The significance of this high interannual variability and its effect on pelagic–benthic coupling processes is discussed in the context of climatic and oceanographic forcing, with emphasis on recent (past decade) Arctic changes. An estimate of total primary production in the Archipelago is also presented, along with published production estimates for other Arctic shelves, showing that the Archipelago may support up to 32% of the total primary production of Arctic shelves. The high year-to-year variability in production and carbon transfer pathways (e.g. pelagic versus benthic) in the Archipelago suggest that the system might be resilient to the increased variability in climatic conditions occurring in the past decade. However, this increased variability combined with directional change in climatic and oceanographic conditions might also modify the existing balance of ecological processes. For example, shifts in the timing of events appear to have already occurred in the past decade, with potential cascading effects throughout the ecosystem.     

Asymmetric vegetation responses to mid-Holocene aridity at the prairie-forest ecotone in south-central Minnesota

The mid-Holocene (ca. 8000-4000 cal yr BP) was a time of marked aridity throughout much of Minnesota, and the changes due to mid-Holocene aridity are seen as an analog for future responses to global warming. In this study, we compare the transition into (ca. 9000-7000 yr ago) and out of (ca. 5000-2500 yr ago) the mid-Holocene (MH) period at Kimble Pond and Sharkey Lake, located along the prairie forest ecotone in south-central Minnesota, using high resolution (∼ 5-36 yr) sampling of pollen, charcoal, sediment magnetic and loss-on-ignition properties. Changes in vegetation were asymmetrical with increasing aridity being marked by a pronounced shift from woodland/forest-dominated landscape to a more open mix of grassland and woodland/savanna. In contrast, at the end of the MH, grassland remained an important component of the landscape despite increasing effective moisture, and high charcoal influxes (median 2.7-4.0 vs. 0.6-1.7 mm² cm^− 2 yr^− 1 at start of MH) suggest the role of fire in limiting woodland expansion. Asymmetric vegetation responses, variation among and within proxies, and the near-absence of fire today suggest caution in using changes associated with mid-Holocene aridity at the prairie forest boundary as an analog for future responses to global warming.     

The electrical structure of the Slave craton

The Slave craton in northwestern Canada, a relatively small Archean craton (600×400 km), is ideal as a natural laboratory for investigating the formation and evolution of Mesoarchean and Neoarchean sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). Excellent outcrop and the discovery of economic diamondiferous kimberlite pipes in the centre of the craton during the early 1990s have led to an unparalleled amount of geoscientific information becoming available.

Over the last 5 years deep-probing electromagnetic surveys were conducted on the Slave, using the natural-source magnetotelluric (MT) technique, as part of a variety of programs to study the craton and determine its regional-scale electrical structure. Two of the four types of surveys involved novel MT data acquisition; one through frozen lakes along ice roads during winter, and the second using ocean-bottom MT instrumentation deployed from float planes.

The primary initial objective of the MT surveys was to determine the geometry of the topography of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB) across the Slave craton. However, the MT responses revealed, completely serendipitously, a remarkable anomaly in electrical conductivity in the SCLM of the central Slave craton. This Central Slave Mantle Conductor (CSMC) anomaly is modelled as a localized region of low resistivity (10–15 Ω m) beginning at depths of 80–120 km and striking NE–SW. Where precisely located, it is spatially coincident with the Eocene-aged kimberlite field in the central part of the craton (the so-called “Corridor of Hope”), and also with a geochemically defined ultra-depleted harzburgitic layer interpreted as oceanic or arc-related lithosphere emplaced during early tectonism. The CSMC lies wholly within the NE–SW striking central zone defined by Grütter et al. [Grütter, H.S., Apter, D.B., Kong, J., 1999. Crust–mantle coupling; evidence from mantle-derived xenocrystic garnets. Contributed paper at: The 7th International Kimberlite Conference Proceeding, J.B. Dawson Volume, 1, 307–313] on the basis of garnet geochemistry (G10 vs. G9) populations.

Deep-probing MT data from the lake bottom instruments infer that the conductor has a total depth-integrated conductivity (conductance) of the order of 2000 Siemens, which, given an internal resistivity of 10–15 Ω m, implies a thickness of 20–30 km. Below the CSMC the electrical resistivity of the lithosphere increases by a factor of 3–5 to values of around 50 Ω m. This change occurs at depths consistent with the graphite–diamond transition, which is taken as consistent with a carbon interpretation for the CSMC.

Preliminary three-dimensional MT modelling supports the NE–SW striking geometry for the conductor, and also suggests a NW dip. This geometry is taken as implying that the tectonic processes that emplaced this geophysical–geochemical body are likely related to the subduction of a craton of unknown provenance from the SE (present-day coordinates) during 2630–2620 Ma. It suggests that the lithospheric stacking model of Helmstaedt and Schulze [Helmstaedt, H.H., Schulze, D.J., 1989. Southern African kimberlites and their mantle sample: implications for Archean tectonics and lithosphere evolution. In Ross, J. (Ed.), Kimberlites and Related Rocks, Vol. 1: Their Composition, Occurrence, Origin, and Emplacement. Geological Society of Australia Special Publication, vol. 14, 358–368] is likely correct for the formation of the Slave's current SCLM.     

Meteoric diagenesis and dedolomite fabrics in precursor primary dolomicrite in a mixed carbonate–evaporite system

Dedolomitization is a common diagenetic process in shallow burial environments and is often associated with sulphates in mixed carbonate‐evaporite successions. In these settings, elevated Ca²⁺/Mg²⁺ ratios necessary for dedolomitization result from the dissolution of sulphate phases by the incursion of undersaturated groundwater. Reported dedolomite textures from other studies are varied, but the most prevalent is a rhombic texture interpreted to result from the partial to complete pseudomorphic replacement of secondary dolomite rhombs formed in the burial diagenetic realm. In this study of primary cryptocrystalline to finely crystalline dolomicrites in the Prairie Evaporite Formation of north‐eastern Alberta, dedolomitization has resulted in sutured to loosely packed mosaics of dedolomite that range from subhedral to distinctly euhedral (rhombic) crystal fabrics; however, no prior aggrading neomorphism producing dolomite rhombs is evident in the precursor dolomicrites. Non‐pseudomorphic dedolomitization of the dolomicrites results in textures that include rhombic dedolomite crystals with cloudy cores comprising remnant dolomicrite and clear rims. These textures are similar to those observed in the pseudomorphic dedolomitization of secondary dolomite rhombs. The Prairie Evaporite Formation of north‐eastern Alberta has experienced extensive karstification near the erosional margin of the sedimentary succession. Dedolomitization of dolomicrites occurs in marker beds within the Prairie Evaporite succession associated with evaporite karstification. Along with stratigraphic and petrographic considerations, stable isotope results support the interpretation of a shallow dedolomitization event influenced by meteoric waters derived from the basin margin. Negative δ ¹⁸O and low δ ¹³C values (averages of −13·6‰_VPDB and 0·5‰_VPDB, respectively) of the dedolomite, compared with those of the primary dolomicrite (averages of −6·0‰_VPDB and 1·2‰_VPDB, respectively), point to isotopically light diagenetic fluids. These results show that rhombic dedolomite textures can form through shallow, non‐pseudomorphic dedolomitization of dolomicrites by meteoric fluids in the presence of sulphates, with resulting textures that are similar to the pseudomorphic dedolomitization of secondary dolomite rhombs.     

Distribution of general aerobic heterotrophic bacteria in sediment core taken from the Canadian basin and the Chukchi Sea

The occurrence percentage and abundance of General Aerobic Hetero- trophic Bacteria （GAB） were determined by using the method of MPN for 182 sub- samples from 10 sediment cores taken from the Canadian basin and the Chukchi Sea at two different culturing temperatures. The results showed that the general occurrence percentage of GAB was quite high, average abundanees of GAB at cultured temperatares of 4℃ and 25℃ were 4.46 ×10^7 and 5.47×10^7 cells·g^-1（wt）, respectively. The highest abundance of GAB occurred at 20 -22 cm section in the sediment. GAB abundances changed among the section of sediments, but there is a trend ： the a-bundances at the middle or lower sections were lower than those at upper section. Cultivation at 25℃ could improve the occurrence percentage and abundances of GAB, which suggests that the increasing of temperature may change the living circum-stances of GAB. The differences of GAB among the latitudes areas indicated that occurrence percentage and abundances of GAB in middle latitude areas were higher than those in the higher or lower latitude areas, and were more obvious at 4℃ than those at 25℃. The GAB abundances in sediment under the shallower water seemed to be low- er than those in sediments under the deeper water and this status was more obvious at 25℃ than that at 4℃.     

楚科奇海和加拿大海盆表层沉积物中好气异养细菌的地理分布

本文用MPN法测定楚科奇海和加拿大海盆表层沉积物中好气异养细菌(GAB)的含量,并对其地理学分布进行分析。结果表明,研究区GAB的检出率高达100%。4℃时GAB的含量范围、平均含量为4.00×102-2.40×106个.g-1、1.71×106个.g-1。25℃时GAB的含量范围、平均含量为2.40×105-2.40×107个.g-1、1.10×107个.g-1。无论是含量范围,还是平均含量,均是25℃时的培养结果大于4℃时的培养结果。GAB含量的地理分布趋势是随纬度增高,含量呈降低趋势。在经度变化上则为由东向西,含量呈降低趋势。对沉积物所处水深的分析,表明其在4℃培养得出来的GAB含量随水深增加有下降的趋势,25℃培养出来的GAB含量受环境影响较小,与水深变化关系不明显。