Paleolakes on Mars

Observational evidence such as outflow channels and valley networks suggest that in the past there was flowing water on Mars. The images of fluvial features on Mars logically suggest that there must exist downstream locations in which the water pooled and the sediment load deposited (i.e. lakes). Sediments and morphological features associated with the martian paleolakes are believed to occur in Valles Marineris, and several large basins including Amazonis, Chryse and Elysium planitia. As Mars became progressively colder over geological time, any lakes on its surface would have become seasonally, and eventually perennially ice-covered. We know from polar lakes on Earth that ice-covered lakes can persist even when the mean annual temperature falls below freezing. Thus, the most recent lacustrine sediments on Mars were probably deposited in ice-covered lakes. While life outside of the Earth's atmosphere has yet to be observed, there is a general consensus among exobiologists that the search for extraterrestrial life should be based upon liquid water. The inference that there was liquid water on Mars during an earlier epoch is the primary motivation for considering the possibility of life during this time. It would be of enormous interest from both an exobiological and paleolimnological perspective to discover lakes or the evidence of former lakes on another planet such as Mars. Limnology would then become an interplanetary science.     

青藏高原古近纪—新近纪古湖泊的特征及分布

通过野外地质调查,结合前人资料和遥感影像解译,对青藏高原古近纪—新近纪湖相地层进行了划分与对比,确定了湖相地层的地域分布。根据古近纪—新近纪湖相地层的展布范围,初步圈定出了63个古湖泊,划分出5个成湖阶段、13个成湖期,其统计总面积大于200×104km2。古湖泊的规模、形态、展布方向明显受构造和古地理的制约。研究表明,古近纪时期的古湖泊主要分布在高原的东北部地区,新近纪时期的古湖泊主要分布在高原的西南部地区,两者之间为过渡地带。青藏高原古近纪—新近纪古湖泊的演化,从时间上讲,有从老到新面积逐渐加大的趋势;从迁移方向上讲,有古湖泊的湖相沉积由东北向西南方向逐渐迁移、古湖泊的年龄由老变新的规律。     

Proxy Evidence for Easterly Winds in Glacial Lake Algonquin,from the Black River Delta in Northern Lower Michigan

We examined a large, Late Pleistocene delta in northern Lower Michigan, formed by the Black River in Glacial Lake Algonquin. Today, this sandy, arcuate, wave-influenced delta stands several meters above the lake floor. The Black River transported mainly well-sorted, medium, and fine sands to the delta—at remarkably rapid rates. Our subsurface data, taken at 153 sites across the delta, show subtle and consistent trends in sediment texture across the delta surface. Although found in low amounts, gravel and very coarse sands are concentrated near the shoreline, presumably eroded by waves from the till and bedrock that crop out there. Sediments of very fine sand size (and finer) exist in higher concentrations near the eastern shore, sourced from eroded tills and also carried there on longshore currents. A clear sediment plume of medium and finer sands also traverses the delta SE to NW, which we interpret as evidence of sand transport by longshore currents flowing east to west, driven by easterly winds. High, perched spits on the head of the delta also suggest westerly longshore drift. These paleoclimate proxy data support previous interpretations of strong easterly winds here during the Late Pleistocene, probably in association with a glacial anticyclone.     

Lacustrine and palustrine carbonate petrography: an overview

Lacustrine limestones were formerly identified by their faunistic (limnea, planorbis) and floristic (Charophytes) content. For 30 years, indications of pedogenesis have been found in many lacustrine deposits, and consequently the concept of palustrine limestone was defined.Lacustrine fabrics are not that numerous: varved, laminated, homogeneous, peloidal, brecciated, gravelly, bioturbated (burrows), bioclastic, algal, and stromatolitic. Detrital beds are sometimes present and are interpreted as bottomset deposits. Palustrine fabrics result from exposure and pedogenesis of lacustrine mud. The main processes involved in this evolution are: cracking, with planar, curved, craze and skew planes, colonization by plants resulting in root traces, marmorization (redistribution of iron due to water table fluctuation), and redistribution of carbonates (needles, subspherical or cylindrical vertical nodules, carbonate coatings, early and late diagenetic crystals, Microcodium). Carbonate palustrine features can be associated with other minerals: palygorskite, gypsum, or silica. Alternation of lacustrine sedimentation and exposure/pedogenesis leads to the pseudo-microkarst facies resulting from enlargement of the complex network of root traces and horizontal cracks. The voids in the pseudo-microkarst facies are infilled with a polyphased internal sediment composed of carbonate and vadose silt and phreatic and vadose cements. Traces of exposure and pedogenesis are less in evidence in lacustrine bioclastic sands and algal-stromatolitic limestones. Finally, under certain conditions, the surficial laminar horizon and its associated perlitic crust (ooids) develops on palustrine muds and form a desert stromatolite.     

青藏高原古近纪—新近纪古湖泊的特征及分布

通过野外地质调查,结合前人资料和遥感影像解译,对青藏高原古近纪-新近纪湖相地层进行了划分与对比,确定了湖相地层的地域分布.根据古近纪-新近纪湖相地层的展布范围,初步圈定出了63个古湖泊,划分出5个成湖阶段、13个成湖期,其统计总面积大于200×104km2.古湖泊的规模、形态、展布方向明显受构造和古地理的制约.研究表明,古近纪时期的古湖泊主要分布在高原的东北部地区,新近纪时期的古湖泊主要分布在高原的西南部地区,两者之间为过渡地带.青藏高原古近纪-新近纪古湖泊的演化,从时间上讲,有从老到新面积逐渐加大的趋势;从迁移方向上讲,有古湖泊的湖相沉积由东北向西南方向逐渐迁移、古湖泊的年龄由老变新的规律.     

The lacustrine depression at Annecy (France), geological setting and Quaternary evolution

The Annecy lacustrine depression lies in a tectonic transverse valley of structural origin, linking the present day towns of Annecy and Ugine and bounded by the Bauges and Bornes massifs. Only the last two major glacial periods are represented in the stratigraphic and geomorphic evidence from the area, but its successive glaciations that have been largely responsible for the form of the valley within which the present day lake lies. Of particular importance were the lobes of the Arve glacier, one shaping the depression from the south-east; the other from the north. The retreat of the glaciers left behind a more extensive precursor of the present day Lac d'Annecy, which latter constitutes the residual body of open water after lake level lowering, partial infilling and drainage diversions within the catchment. The drainage basin of the extended lake formed shortly after the last glacial maximum (LGM) in the region. Its extent can be determined from field sampling and coring and its elevation can be established at 460 m above present day sea level. The present day lake is more isolated, since the Fier river, to the north, no longer drains into it. To the southeast, the course of the Chaise river has also been diverted, leaving the lake's drainage basin reduced to half its post-LGM size. The major paleogeographical events in the Late-Quaternary evolution of the basin are described in chronological sequence.     

Holocene Lakes from Ramlat as-Sab'atayn (Yemen) Illustrate the Impact of Monsoon Activity in Southern Arabia

Paleoecology and paleohydrology of the Ramlat as-Sab'atayn (Southern Arabia) are reconstructed from a comparative study including sedimentology, mineralogy, stable isotope ratios of carbonates, and palynology of lacustrine sediments recovered from the al-Hawa depression. The section dates from 8700 to 7200 yr B.P. and records an early phase of flooding followed by distinct lacustrine development from 7800 to 7200 yr B.P., coeval with maximum activity of the Indian monsoon. Comparison of the pollen record with modern pollen deposition suggests that regional vegetation was then already of desert type and was related to strong seasonal trade winds.