Nannofossils: the smoking gun for the Canarian hotspot          下载免费PDF全文

Valentin R. Troll  Frances M. Deegan  Steffi Burchardt  Kirsten Zaczek  Juan‐Carlos Carracedo  Fiona C. Meade  Vicente Soler  Mario Cachao  Jorge Ferreira  Abigail K. Barker 《Geology Today》2015,31(4):137-145

The origin of volcanism in the Canary Islands has been a matter of controversy for several decades. Discussions have hinged on whether the Canaries owe their origin to seafloor fractures associated with the Atlas Mountain range or to an underlying plume or hotspot of superheated mantle material. However, the debate has recently come to a conclusion following the discovery of nannofossils preserved in the products of the 2011–2012 submarine eruption at El Hierro, which tell us about the age and growth history of the western‐most island of the archipelago. Light coloured, pumice‐like ‘floating rocks’ were found on the sea surface during the first days of the eruption and have been shown to contain fragments of pre‐island sedimentary strata. These sedimentary rock fragments were picked up by ascending magma and transported to the surface during the eruption, and remarkably retained specimens of pre‐island Upper Cretaceous to Pliocene calcareous nannofossils (e.g. coccolithophores). These marine microorganisms are well known biostratigraphical markers and now provide crucial evidence that the westernmost and youngest island in the Canaries is underlain by the youngest sediment relative to the other islands in the archipelago. This finding supports an age progression for the onset of volcanism at the individual islands of the archipeligo. Importantly, as fracture‐related volcanism is known to produce non‐systematic age‐distributions within volcanic alignments, the now‐confirmed age progression corroberates to the relative motion of the African plate over an underlying mantle plume or hotspot as the cause for the present‐day Canary volcanism.  相似文献   

Chronology,stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental interpretation of a Late Pleistocene to mid‐Holocene cave accumulation on Kangaroo Island,South Australia     

Matthew C. McDowell  Erick A. Bestland  Fiona Bertuch  Linda K. Ayliffe  John C. Hellstrom  Geraldine E. Jacobsen  Gavin J. Prideaux 《Boreas: An International Journal of Quaternary Research》2013,42(4):974-994

Chronological, sedimentological and geochemical analyses of a clastic infill from Kelly Hill Cave (5K1), Kangaroo Island, document a palaeoenvironmental record that spans from the Late Pleistocene to the middle Holocene. We AMS radiocarbon‐dated bone collagen and U–Th‐dated speleothem to determine that fossiliferous sediments were deposited between >20 ka and 7 ka ago. Most of the 15 sedimentary layers are dominated by sand‐ and silt‐sized quartz that is physically and geochemically comparable with surface soils in the Kelly Hill area. Late Pleistocene and Last Glacial Maximum strata are represented primarily by homogeneous, poorly sorted quartz‐rich sediments that contain little organic matter, but include a thin layer composed largely of silt‐sized clay pellets that resemble sediments deflated from playa lakes. Microstructures observed in petrographic slides indicate that, with the exception of one layer, all sediments experienced little reworking once deposited in the cave. Some layers display pedogenic microstructures such as redeposited clays and opaline silica infilling that indicate postdepositional modification; that is, cave‐floor soil development. Overlying Holocene‐aged sediments also consist mainly of quartz but have much greater organic matter content. Some of these sediments have been strongly influenced by re‐precipitated organic matter that appears to have been transported into the cave via vadose drip water. The presence of dissolved organic matter in soil/vadose waters suggests a high vegetation density and acidic soils, which are congruent with the more equitable climatic conditions characteristic of the Holocene. The sediments described here provide a valuable palaeoenvironmental record that will facilitate future interpretation of associated vertebrate fossils.  相似文献   

Geochemistry of meteoric diagenesis in carbonate islands of the northern Bahamas: 1. Evidence from field studies     

Fiona F. Whitaker  Peter L. Smart 《水文研究》2007,21(7):949-966

Processes driving carbonate diagenesis in islands of the northern Bahamas are investigated using major ion, dissolved oxygen and dissolved organic carbon analyses of water samples from surface and ground waters, and measurements of soil gas P. Meteoric waters equilibrate with aragonite, but reactions are water controlled rather than mineral‐controlled and drive dissolution rather than concurrent precipitation of calcite. Surface runoff waters equilibrate with atmospheric P and rapidly recharge the vadose zone, limiting subaerial bedrock dissolution to only 6·6–15 mg l^?1 Ca. P of soil gas measured in the summer wet season ((7·4 ± 3·7) × 10^?3 atm) is elevated compared with that of the atmosphere, despite the thin skeletal organic nature of the soil and the discontinuous soil cover. Soil waters retained in surface pockets are equilibrated with respect to aragonite and have dissolved 51 ± 19 mg l^?1 Ca. This is substantially less than the 93 ± 18 mg l^?1 Ca in samples from pumping boreholes that sample meteoric waters from the freshwater lens. The high P of the freshwater lens ((16 ± 8·3) × 10^?3 atm for pumping boreholes) suggests that significant additional CO₂ may be derived by oxidation of soil‐ and surface‐derived organic carbon within the lens. The suboxic nature of the majority of the freshwater lens and the observed depletion in sulphate support this suggestion, and indicate that both aerobic and anaerobic oxidation may take place. Shallow lens samples from observation boreholes are calcite supersaturated and have a lower P than deeper lens waters, indicating that CO₂ degasses from the water table, driving precipitation of calcite cements. We suggest that the geochemical evolution of waters in the vadose zone and upper part of the freshwater lens may be determined by the presence of a body of ground air with P controlled by production in the freshwater lens and soil and by degassing to the atmosphere. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Exceptional fidelity of preservation in a reworked fossil,Chalk drift,South London,England     

Stephen K. Donovan  Fiona E. Fearnhead 《Geological Journal》2015,50(1):104-106

Reworking of fossils commonly leads to loss of morphological detail and inferior preservation; the main contributions of such specimens to geology are in sedimentology, regional geology and neoichnology. A reworked specimen of the Late Cretaceous (chalk) sponge boring Entobia cretacea Portlock is unusually well preserved. This specimen is from superficial deposits and is well enough preserved that delicate apertural and intercameral canals are apparent. Two factors are recognized as important in maintaining the fine features of this trace fossil: preservation in flint and, presumably, minimal fluvial transport. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Describing long-term trends in precipitation using generalized additive models     

Fiona M. Underwood 《Journal of Hydrology》2009,364(3-4):285-297

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Report of the Science Community Workshop on the proposed First Sample Depot for the Mars Sample Return Campaign     

Prepared by the MSR Campaign Science Group  A. D. Czaja  M.-P. Zorzano  the rest of the MCSG team  with Chairs  G. Kminek  M. A. Meyer  Members  D. W. Beaty  E. Sefton-Nash  B. L. Carrier  F. Thiessen  T. Haltigin  A. Bouvier  N. Dauphas  K. L. French  L. J. Hallis  R. L. Harris  E. Hauber  L. E. Rodriguez  S. P. Schwenzer  A. Steele  K. T. Tait  M. T. Thorpe  T. Usui  J. Vanhomwegen  M. A. Velbel  S. Edwin  K. A. Farley  D. P. Glavin  A. D. Harrington  L. E. Hays  A. Hutzler  M. Wadhwa 《Meteoritics & planetary science》2023,58(6):885-896

The Mars 2020/Mars Sample Return (MSR) Sample Depot Science Community Workshop was held on September 28 and 30, 2022, to assess the Scientifically-Return Worthy (SRW) value of the full collection of samples acquired by the rover Perseverance at Jezero Crater, and of a proposed subset of samples to be left as a First Depot at a location within Jezero Crater called Three Forks. The primary outcome of the workshop was that the community is in consensus on the following statement: The proposed set of ten sample tubes that includes seven rock samples, one regolith sample, one atmospheric sample, and one witness tube constitutes a SRW collection that: (1) represents the diversity of the explored region around the landing site, (2) covers partially or fully, in a balanced way, all of the International MSR Objectives and Samples Team scientific objectives that are applicable to Jezero Crater, and (3) the analyses of samples in this First Depot on Earth would be of fundamental importance, providing a substantial improvement in our understanding of Mars. At the conclusion of the meeting, there was overall community support for forming the First Depot as described at the workshop and placing it at the Three Forks site. The community also recognized that the diversity of the Rover Cache (the sample collection that remains on the rover after placing the First Depot) will significantly improve with the samples that are planned to be obtained in the future by the Perseverance rover and that the Rover Cache is the primary target for MSR to return to Earth.  相似文献   

Farmer-driven Innovation in New South Wales,Australia     

Fiona McKenzie 《The Australian geographer》2013,44(1):81-95

Knowledge generation and the interactions that allow for knowledge exchange are key processes of innovation. Yet these processes are not well understood at the farm level, nor are they well reflected in policy approaches for agricultural innovation. Farmers in New South Wales have used diverse ways to implement innovations in land management. They employ a range of strategies including observing signals from the landscape, independent testing and trialling, use of agronomists, participation in farmer groups and in farmer-driven research programmes. Steps to foster farmer-driven innovations and knowledge-intensive agricultural systems require greater subtlety to enable flexibility, the incorporation of contemporary scientific knowledge and support for sustainable initiatives. More research on innovation and on policy engagement is required to foster on-farm innovative capacity.  相似文献   

Adaptation of water resources systems to changing society and environment: a statement by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences     

Serena Ceola  Alberto Montanari  Tobias Krueger  Fiona Dyer  Heidi Kreibich  Ida Westerberg 《水文科学杂志》2013,58(16):2803-2817

ABSTRACT

We explore how to address the challenges of adaptation of water resources systems under changing conditions by supporting flexible, resilient and low-regret solutions, coupled with on-going monitoring and evaluation. This will require improved understanding of the linkages between biophysical and social aspects in order to better anticipate the possible future co-evolution of water systems and society. We also present a call to enhance the dialogue and foster the actions of governments, the international scientific community, research funding agencies and additional stakeholders in order to develop effective solutions to support water resources systems adaptation. Finally, we call the scientific community to a renewed and unified effort to deliver an innovative message to stakeholders. Water science is essential to resolve the water crisis, but the effectiveness of solutions depends, inter alia, on the capability of scientists to deliver a new, coherent and technical vision for the future development of water systems.