Late Quaternary record of Indian summer monsoon-induced stratification and productivity collapse in the Andaman Sea

During each summer monsoon, the northeastern Indian Ocean receives a huge amount of rain and river discharge, resulting in strong stratification and prevalence of oligotrophic conditions. These water column changes impact upper ocean productivity which is reflected in the planktonic foraminifera distribution, providing an opportunity to study the effect of monsoon forcing and stratification history. Analogous to modern-day stratification, very intense water column stratification and productivity collapse were observed associated with Indian summer monsoon (ISM) evolution. This paper reports significant stratification events during MIS 3 (37.0 to 33 and 27 to 24 cal ka), Bølling/Allerød (B/A), early Holocene (10.0 to 8.0 cal ka) and mid-Holocene (7.0 to 5.0 cal ka) which slowly muted upwelling and productivity. The deglacial intensification of the ISM started in the early stages of the Bølling/Allerød (B/A) followed by slight weakening during the Younger Dryas and regained strength during the early Holocene, coinciding with the highest summer insolation at 30°N. A progressive decline in the abundances of productivity and salinity proxies from 4.2 to 2.0 cal ka suggests a gradual weakening of the ISM. The late Quaternary productivity variations in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea are primarily controlled by salinity-related stratification.     

The biosphere: A homogeniser of Pb-isotope signals

Rock, soil, and plant (terrestrial moss, European mountain ash leaves, mountain birch leaves, bark and wood, and spruce needles and wood) samples, collected at 3 km intervals along a 120 km long transect (40 sites) cutting the city of Oslo, Norway, were analysed for their Pb concentration and Pb-isotope ratios. A general decrease in ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb, ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁷Pb and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁸Pb ratios, with a characteristic low variability in all plant materials and the plant-derived O-horizon of soil profiles, compared to rocks and mineral soils, is observed along the transect. It is demonstrated that minerogenic and biogenic sample materials belong to two different spheres, the lithosphere and biosphere, and that geochemical processes determining their chemical and isotopic compositions differ widely. Background variation for both sample materials needs to be established and documented at the continental and global scale before the anthropogenic influence on the geochemistry of the earth’s surface can be reliably estimated.     

Completeness of citizen science biodiversity data from a volunteered geographic information perspective

Observations of living organisms by citizen scientists that are reported to online portals are a valuable source of information. They are also a special kind of volunteered geographic information (VGI). VGI data have issues of completeness, which arise from biases caused by the opportunistic nature of the data collection process. We examined the completeness of bird species represented in citizen science observation data from eBird and iNaturalist in US National Parks (NPs). We used approaches for completeness estimation which were developed for data from OpenStreetMap, a crowdsourced map of the world. First, we used an extrinsic approach, comparing species lists from citizen science data with National Park Service lists. Second, we examined two intrinsic approaches using total observation numbers in NPs and the development of the number of new species being added to the data-set over time. Results from the extrinsic approach provided appropriate completeness estimations to evaluate the intrinsic approaches. We found that total observation numbers are a good estimator of species completeness of citizen science data from US NPs. There is also a close relationship between species completeness and the ratio of new species added to observation data vs. observation numbers in a given year.     

Melt production during granulite-facies anatexis: experimental data from “primitive” metasedimentary protoliths

We conducted fluid-absent partial melting experiments, at 0.5 and 1.0?GPa in the temperature range 750 to 1000?°C, to investigate the influence of bulk rock Mg ? [100Mg/(Mg+Fe)] and the effects of additional TiO₂ on the granulite-grade anatectic evolution of relatively magnesian metapelites and metagreywackes. In these experiments, melting began between 780 and 830?°C by the incongruent breakdown of biotite to produce quartz-saturated, granulite-facies residual mineral assemblages in equilibrium with H₂O-undersaturated granitic melt. The glass (quenched melt) compositions produced in this study vary little. Generally, the glasses have compositions similar to those of many natural strongly peraluminous leucogranites. The solidus temperatures in both rock types increase with increasing Mg ?, but are unaffected by the presence or absence of a TiO₂ component. At 0.5?GPa the metapelites melted at temperatures up to 50?°C lower than the equivalent metagreywackes, but at 1?GPa there was no discernible difference. This study suggests that the fluid-absent solidus has a steep positive dP/dT slope in metapelites and steep negative dP/dT slope in metagreywackes. The pattern of melt production with increasing temperature is strongly controlled by the upper limit of biotite stability. In TiO₂-free compositions this was found to increase by 15 to 20?°C in the metapelites and by 30 to 40?°C in the metagreywackes, as a function of increasing Mg ? from 49 to 81. The presence of a TiO₂ component increases the upper limit of biotite stability by ～50?°C in the metapelites and by ～80?°C in the metagreywackes, over that observed in the equivalent TiO₂-free compositions. In consequence, in the TiO₂-free samples large pulses of melt (up to 35 wt%) are produced over narrow temperature ranges (as little as 15?°C in these experiments) between 830 and 875?°C. In the TiO₂-bearing samples the major pulse of melt production occurs more gradually between 830 and >900?°C.     

Tektonische Forschungen in den Appalachen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Looking beneath the Stawell and Bendigo zones in Victoria,Australia: a view through the granite window

Abstract

Information, mainly from the granitic and silicic volcanic rocks in the Stawell, Bendigo and Melbourne structural zones in the state of Victoria, shows that the sources of both the S- and I-type rocks of the Stawell and Bendigo zones (SBZ) contrast in ages and chemistry with the sources of similar granitic rocks in the Melbourne Zone, consistent with the absence of the mainly Proterozoic Selwyn Block beneath most of the SBZ. Below a mid-crustal décollement in the SBZ, the crust is evidently highly variable and possibly includes thinned Proterozoic crust. There is geochronological evidence for ca 400 and ca 370?Ma granulite-grade metamorphic events here, and, after this double bout of metamorphism, and depletion in the silicic melt component, the constituents of the entire deep crust of the SBZ would have densities similar to those of overlying, much lower-grade Cambrian metabasaltic to boninitic rocks. Thus, granitic magmas may have formed here by partial melting of a variety of rock types, probably with back-arc affinities, with ages that may extend back to the Proterozoic. Therefore, the basement of the SBZ is unlikely to consist solely of thick ocean-floor rocks, as in some current interpretations.

1. KEY POINTS

2. The sources of the Devonian granitic rocks of the Stawell and Bendigo zones (SBZ) contrast in ages and chemistry with those of the Melbourne Zone granites.

3. Two Devonian granulite-facies events left the melt-depleted deep SBZ crust with densities similar to those of overlying Cambrian metabasaltic rocks.

4. The SBZ Devonian granitic magmas probably formed by partial melting of heterogeneous Proterozoic to Cambrian arc-related crust, below the mid-crustal décollement.

     

Pb-concentrations and Pb-isotope ratios in soils collected along an east–west transect across the United States

Analytical results for Pb-concentrations and isotopic ratios from ca. 150 samples of soil A horizon and ca. 145 samples of soil C horizon collected along a 4000-km east–west transect across the USA are presented. Lead concentrations along the transect show: (1) generally higher values in the soil A-horizon than the C-horizon (median 21 vs. 16.5 mg/kg), (2) an increase in the median value of the soil A-horizon for central to eastern USA (Missouri to Maryland) when compared to the western USA (California to Kansas) (median 26 vs. 20 mg/kg) and (3) a higher A/C ratio for the central to eastern USA (1.35 vs. 1.14). Lead isotopes show a distinct trend across the USA, with the highest ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratios occurring in the centre (Missouri, median A-horizon: 1.245; C-horizon: 1.251) and the lowest at both coasts (e.g., California, median A-horizon: 1.195; C-horizon: 1.216). The soil C-horizon samples show generally higher ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratios than the A-horizon (median C-horizon: 1.224; A-horizon: 1.219). The ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb-isotope ratios in the soil A horizon show a correlation with the total feldspar content for the same 2500-km portion of the transect from east-central Colorado to the Atlantic coast that shows steadily increasing precipitation. No such correlation exists in the soil C horizon. The data demonstrate the importance of climate and weathering on both Pb-concentration and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb-isotope ratios in soil samples and natural shifts thereof in the soil profile during soil-forming processes.     

Klimazeugen aus dem jüngsten Präkambrium und Unterkambrium in S-Marokko

Zusammenfassung In Gesteinen des jüngsten Präkambriums und Unterkambriums (mit einer Diskordanz nach dem pC III) sind im Antiatlas Marokkos wiederholt Anzeichen für eine Sedimentation bei warmem (semiarid bis arid) Klima zu finden. Klimaindikatoren sind Rotsedimente, CaSO₄- und NaCl-Pseudomorphosen sowie Sedimente vom Sabkha-Typ.Paläomagnetische Daten weisen zu dieser Zeit auf Südpolpositionen in diesem Gebiet hin.Vereisungsrelikte in Nachbargebieten entsprechen möglicherweise einer Sedimentationslücke nach dem pC III im Antiatlas.

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In the Antiatlas region of Morocco rocks of Late-Precambrian and Lower-Cambrian age (with a discordance after the pC III) show evidence for sedimentation under warm (semiarid to arid) climate. Climate indicators are redbeds, sabkha-sediments and pseudomorphoses after CaSO₄ and NaCl.Paleomagnetic data showed that at this time southpole positions were distributed in this area.In nearby regions documents of glaciation are possibly correspondend with a time of non-sedimentation after the pC III in the Antiatlas.

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Résumé Les roches du Précambrien supérieur et du Cambrien inférieur de l'Antiatlas du Maroc (avec une discordance après le pC III) présentent de nombreuses évidences d'une sédimentation sous des conditions climatiques chaudes (semiarides à arides). Les indicateurs climatiques sont des couches rouges, des sédiments de sabkha et des pseudomorphoses de CaSO₄ et NaCl.Les études paléomagnétiques démontrent que l'emplacement du pôle sud se trouvait à cette époque dans cette même région.Les restes de glaciation dans les régions voisines paraissent corréspondre à une periode de nonsédimentation après le pC III dans l'Antiatlas.

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— III- ( ) . , CaSO₄ NaCl, Sabkha. , . , , — 800–900 .