The importance of oxygen isotope provenance in relation to solute content of bulk meltwaters at Imersuaq Glacier,West Greenland

Stable oxygen isotope analysis and measurement of several dissolved cations and anions of bulk meltwater samples have provided information about the hydrochemical environment of the glacial hydrological system at Imersuaq Glacier, an outlet tongue from the Greenland ice‐sheet, West Greenland. The samples were collected at frequent intervals during the period 20–28 July 2000 in a small (<20 L s^?1) englacial meltwater outlet at the glacier margin. The results document the following findings: (i) a marked diurnal variation of δ¹⁸O is related to the composition of oxygen isotope provenances, mainly near‐marginal local superimposed ice and basal up‐sheared ice further up‐glacier; (ii) a relationship is seen between all base cations (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺), SO₄^2? and δ¹⁸O, indicating that solute acquisition is provided by solid–solution contact with the up‐sheared ice—as the relationship with Cl^? is weak the influence of seasalt‐derived solutes is small in the area; (iii) when the melt rate is high, two diurnal maxima of δ¹⁸O values and solute concentrations are measured, and it is suggested that a snow meltwater component is responsible for the second maximum of δ¹⁸O—a short residence time leads to a delayed decrease in ion concentrations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High resolution paleoenvironmental and chronological investigations of Norse landnám at Tasiusaq, Eastern Settlement, Greenland

High-resolution paleoenvironmental data from a peat profile with a small pollen source area are used to reconstruct the impacts of landnám on vegetation and soils at a Norse farm complex (∅2 at Tasiusaq) comprising two farms in the Eastern Settlement of Greenland. Analyses include the AMS ¹⁴C dating of plant macrofossil samples and the use of Bayesian radiocarbon calibration to construct improved age-depth models for Norse cultural horizons. The onset of a regional landnám may be indicated by the clearance of Betula pubescens woodland immediately prior to local settlement. The latter is dated to AD 950-1020 (2σ) and is characterised by possible burning of Betula glandulosa scrub to provide grassland pasture for domestic stock. Clearance and grazing resulted in accelerated levels of soil erosion at a westerly farm. This was followed by an easterly migration of settlement and agriculture. Site constraints prevent an assessment of the demise of the easterly farm, but pressures of overgrazing and land degradation may have been the major factors responsible for the abandonment of the earlier farm.     

Re-exposed basement landforms in the Disko region, West Greenland — disregarded data for estimation of glacial erosion and uplift modelling

Classifications of large-scale landscapes in Greenland have traditionally been based on type and intensity of glacial erosion, with the general idea that present landforms are mainly the result of erosion from ice sheets and glaciers. However, on southern Disko and in areas offshore in Disko Bugt, a basement surface has preserved remnants of weathered gneiss and pre-Paleocene landforms, recently exhumed from Paleocene basalt. Isolated hills and lineaments have been mapped in a digital terrain model and aerial photographs. Offshore have hills been mapped from seismic lines. The medium size bedrock forms on southern Disko as tors, clefts and roche moutonées have been studied in the field. Remnant saprolites were inventoried, sampled and analysed according to grain size and clay mineralogy. The basement surface retains saprolites up to 8 m thick in close relation to the cover rocks. The landforms in the basement rocks belong essentially to an etched surface only slightly remodelled by glacial erosion and, below the highest coastline, also by wave action. The outline of hills is governed by two lineament directions, ENE–WSW representing the schistocity of the gneiss and NW–SE fracture zones. These structures are thus interpreted to have been exploited by the deep weathering while the frequent N–S lineaments have not and thus might be younger. Main ice-flow has been from the NE and has resulted in plucking of SW facing lee sides, however the resulting bedrock forms are mainly controlled by structures and orientation of joints. The identification of re-exposed sub-Paleocene etch forms on Disko and the hills of similar size offshore, forming a hilly relief, have implications for identification of a hilly relief south of Disko Bugt, its relation to younger planation surfaces as well as for conclusions of uplift events.     

东格陵兰盆地油气资源评价

东格陵兰盆地陆上和近海地区是目前北极与深水油气勘探的热点地区,但油气勘探程度和资源认识程度低。美国地质调查局(2000、2007年)油气资源评价结果表明该区具有很大的油气资源潜力,同时油气勘探具有高风险和不确定性。通过收集整理东格陵兰盆地、北海盆地油气地质资料及油气田勘探开发数据,从区域上对两个地区的油气成藏条件进行了对比,并采用地球化学方法与类比法,评价了东格陵兰盆地的油气资源潜力。东格陵兰盆地属于晚古生代—中生代的裂谷盆地,呈现两坳一隆的构造格局,与挪威陆架盆地在进入被动陆缘阶段之前具有相同的地质发育过程,沉积环境类似,共同经历古生代和中生代裂谷及裂后的热沉降。东格陵兰盆地发育晚古生代湖相烃源岩、上侏罗统海相烃源岩,储层主要为中侏罗统浅海相砂岩和白垩系深海浊积砂岩,圈闭类型主要为伸展构造圈闭、地垒断块圈闭、盐构造圈闭以及地层圈闭等。东格陵兰盆地油气成藏条件优越,油气资源潜力较大,具有较好的勘探前景。在影响东格陵兰盆地油气资源认识的诸多地质因素中,有利圈闭类型、必要数量的烃源岩以及油气生成条件和适当埋藏史还待进一步证实。     

冬季格陵兰以东区域海冰与北太平洋风暴轴的关系

对45个冬季格陵兰以东区域海冰密集度场与北太平洋500 hPa位势高度滤波方差场作奇异值(SVD)分析.结果表明:SVD得到的第1对空间典型分布反映了冬季格陵兰以东区域海冰异常与北太平洋风暴轴异常变化密切相关.进一步的合成分析显示:海冰异常导致大气环流调整,气压梯度、急流、850 hPa天气尺度涡动热量经向通量和垂直通量、局地斜压性均发生改变,从而对北太平洋风暴轴的强度及中心位置位移造成影响.     

Siderophile and chalcophile metal variations in Tertiary picrites and basalts from West Greenland with implications for the sulphide saturation history of continental flood basalt magmas

Sixty-five million year old continental flood basalts crop out on Qeqertarssuaq Island and the Nuussuaq Peninsula in West Greenland, and they include ～1,000 m of picritic lavas and discrete 10- to 50-m-thick members of highly contaminated basalts. On Qeqertarssuaq, the lavas are allocated to the Vaîgat and Maligât Formations of which the former includes the Naujánguit member, which consists of picrites with 7–29 wt% MgO, 80–1,400 ppm Ni, 5.7–9.4 ppb Pt and 4.2–12.9 ppb Pd. The Naujánguit member contains two horizons of contaminated basalts, the Asûk and Kûgánguaq, which have elevated SiO2 (52–58 wt%) and low to moderate MgO (7.5–12.8 wt%). These lavas are broadly characterized by low Cu and Ni abundances (average, 40 ppm Ni and 45 ppm Cu) and very low Pt (0.16–0.63 ppb) and Pd (0.13–0.68 ppb) abundances, and in the case of the Asûk, they contain shale xenoliths and droplets of native iron and troilite. The contaminated basalts from Nuussuaq, the B0 to B4 members, are also usually Ni-, Cu-, and platinum-group elements (PGE)-depleted. The geochemical signatures (especially the ratios of incompatible trace elements such as Th/Nb) of all of the contaminated basalts from Qeqertarssuaq and some of those from Nuussuaq record what appears to be a chemical contribution from deltaic shales that lie immediately below the lavas. This suggests that the contamination of the magmas occurred during the migration of the magmas through plumbing systems developed in sedimentary rocks, and hence, at a high crustal level. Nickel, Cu, and PGE depletion together with geochemical signatures produced by crustal contamination are also a feature of Siberian Trap basalts from the Noril’sk region. These basalts belong to the 0- to 500-m thick, ～5,000- to 10,000-km³ Nadezhdinsky Formation, which is centered in the Noril’sk Region. A major difference between Siberia and West Greenland is that PGE depletion in the Nadezhdinsky Formation samples with the lowest Cu and Ni contents is much more severe than that of the West Greenland contaminated basalts. Moreover, the volumes of the contaminated and metal-depleted volcanic rocks in West Greenland pale is significant when compared to the Nadezhdinsky Formation; local centers rarely contain more than 15 thin flows with a combined thickness of <50 m and more typically 10–20 m, so the volume of the eruptive portions of each system is probably two orders of magnitude smaller than the Nadezhdinsky edifice. The West Greenland centres are juxtaposed along fault zones that appear to be linked to the subsidence of the Tertiary delta, and so emplacement along N–S structures appears to be a principal control on the distribution of lavas and feeder intrusions. This leads us to suggest that the Greenland system is small and segregation of sulphide took place at high levels in the crust, whereas at Noril’sk, the saturation event took place at depth with subsequent emplacement of sulphide-bearing magmas into high levels of the crust. As a consequence, it may be unreasonable to expect that the West Greenland flood basalts experienced mineralizing processes on the scale of the Noril’sk system.     

利用SWARM卫星高低跟踪探测格陵兰岛时变重力信号

GRACE重力卫星任务即将结束,后续GRACE Follow-On卫星计划于2017年发射,在此期间,迫切需要一个新的卫星计划继续对全球时变重力场进行连续监测,以保证时变重力场信息时间序列的连贯性.SWARM计划包括三颗轨道高为300~500 km的近极轨卫星星座,类似于三颗CHAMP卫星,具有接替时变重力场探测的潜力.本文首先分析SWARM(模拟)、CHAMP、GRACE反演至60阶时变重力场球谐系数的误差特性及不同高斯平滑半径对高频误差的抑制效果,然后分别利用SWARM、CHAMP、GRACE的时变重力场模型恢复全球质量变化,结果表明,SWARM模拟观测数据的高频误差低于CHAMP观测数据,探测时变重力场的整体精度优于CHAMP,略低于GRACE探测精度;其次,对比2003年1月—2009年12月期间CHAMP(hl-SST)和GRACE(ll-SST)时变重力场模型反演格陵兰岛冰盖质量变化趋势,结果显示,CHAMP数据得到格陵兰岛冰盖质量变化趋势为-50.2±2.0 Gt/a,GRACE所得结果为-41.2±1.6 Gt/a,两者相差21.8%;最后,对比2000年1月—2004年12月间SWARM模拟数据和"真实"模型数据反演的格陵兰岛冰盖质量变化趋势,结果表明,两者相差19.2%.本文研究表明,利用SWARM hl-SST数据探测时变重力场可以达到20%相对精度水平,有潜力用于填补GRACE和GRACE Follow-On期间探测地球时变重力场的空白.