Insights into magma chamber processes from the relationship between fabric and grain shape in troctolitic cumulates

The strength of foliations defined by shape preferred orientation of plagioclase in troctolitic cumulates from the Layered Series of the Skaergaard intrusion, and the Rum Eastern Layered Intrusion, increases as the grains become more tabular, due either to the greater propensity of highly non-equant grains to be re-arranged by magmatic currents or tectonic disruption of poorly consolidated mush, or by the effects of a pre-existing shape preferred orientation on final grain shape in fully solidified rocks. The stratigraphic evolution of grain shape, microstructures and fabrics in the lowest 320m of the Skaergaard Layered Series records the progressive inflation of the chamber to its final size. During the earliest stages of solidification, the extent of in situ nucleation and growth on the chamber floor decreased upwards through the stratigraphy, due to the development of a thermally insulating blanket of mush on the floor. An upwards increase in foliation strength as the chamber inflated to its final size was a result of the increasing strength of convection of the bulk magma and an increasing contribution to the floor mush of crystals derived from the walls of the enlarging magma chamber. Plagioclase in the troctolites in the open-system magma chamber of the Rum Eastern Layered Intrusion is generally more equant than that in the Skaergaard intrusion, perhaps related to the slower crystal growth on the margins of the continuously replenished Rum chamber. Significant sub-solidus modification of original igneous microstructures is observed in Rum troctolites from parts of the stratigraphy recording frequent replenishment events

Icequake source mechanisms for studying glacial sliding

Improving our understanding of glacial sliding is crucial for constraining basal drag in ice dynamics models. We use icequakes, sudden releases of seismic energy as the ice slides over the bed, to provide geophysical observations that can be used to aid understanding of the physics of glacial sliding and constrain ice dynamics models. These icequakes are located at the bed of an alpine glacier in Switzerland and the Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica, two extremes of glacial settings and spatial scales. We investigate a number of possible icequake source mechanisms by performing full waveform inversions to constrain the fundamental physics and stress release during an icequake stick-slip event. Results show that double-couple mechanisms best describe the source for the events from both glacial settings and the icequakes originate at or very near the ice-bed interface. We also present an exploratory method for attempting to measure the till shear modulus, if indirect reflected icequake radiation is observed. The results of this study increase our understanding of how icequakes are associated with basal drag while also providing the foundation for a method of remotely measuring bed shear strengt

Quantifying the relationship between short‐wavelength dynamic topography and thermomechanical structure of the upper mantle using calibrated parameterization of anelasticity

Oceanic residual depth varies on ≤5000 km wavelengths with amplitudes of ±1 km. A component of this short‐wavelength signal is dynamic topography caused by convective flow in the upper ~300 km of the mantle. It exerts a significant influence on landscape evolution and sea‐level change, but its contribution is often excluded in geodynamic models of whole‐mantle flow. Using seismic tomography to resolve buoyancy anomalies in the oceanic upper mantle is complicated by the dominant influence of lithospheric cooling on velocity structure. Here, we remove this cooling signal from global surface wave tomographic models, revealing a correlation between positive residual depth and slow residual velocity anomalies at depths <300 km. To investigate whether these anomalies are of sufficient amplitude to account for short‐wavelength residual depth variations, we calibrate an experimentally derived parameterization of anelastic deformation at seismic frequencies to convert shear wave velocity into temperature, density, and diffusion creep viscosity. Asthenospheric temperature anomalies reach +150°C in the vicinity of major magmatic hotspots and correlate with geochemical and geophysical proxies for potential temperature along mid‐ocean ridges. Locally, we find evidence for a 150 km‐thick, low‐viscosity asthenospheric channel. Incorporating our revised density structure into models of whole‐mantle flow yields reasonable agreement with residual depth observations and suggests that ±30 km deviations in local lithospheric thickness account for a quarter of total amplitudes. These predictions remain compatible with geoid constraints and substantially improve the fit between power spectra of observed and predicted dynamic topography. This improvement should enable more accurate reconstruction of the spatio‐temporal evolution of Cenozoic dynamic topography

Thermal behaviour of iron arsenides under non-oxidising conditions

Fe2As has been studied in situ by synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) over the range of temperatures 25–850 °C and under a neutral atmosphere to understand its thermal behavior, which is potentially important for gold extraction. For the first time, incongruent high-temperature reactions of Fe2As are observed as it breaks down and the existence of a previously undiscovered high-temperature FeAs phase with an NiAs-type structure has been determined experimentally. No evidence has been found for the existence of the high-temperature Fe3As2 phase. Hence, the previously published phase diagram for the Fe–As system has to be modified accordingly

Morin-type transition in 5C pyrrhotite

We report the discovery of a low temperature spin-flop transition in 5C pyrrhotite at ~155 K that is similar to those seen in hematite at 260 K and FeS (troilite) at 440 K. The 5C crystal was produced by annealing a 4C pyrrhotite crystal at 875 K, to produce a change in the vacancy-ordering scheme that developed during cooling. The 5C structure is confirmed by single crystal x-ray diffraction and the stoichiometry and homogeneity by electron microprobe and SEM BSE mapping. RUS, heat capacity and magnetisation measurements from room temperature down to 2 K are reported. The transition is marked by a steep change in elastic properties at the transition temperature, a peak in the heat capacity and weak anomalies in measurements of magnetisation. Magnetic hysteresis loops and comparison with the magnetic properties of 4C pyrrhotite suggest that the transition involves a change in orientation of moments between two different antiferromagnetic structures, perpendicular to the crystallographic c-axis at high temperatures and parallel to the crystallographic c-axis at low temperatures. The proposed structures are consistent with a group theoretical treatment that also predicts a first order transition between the magnetic structures

The Biogeography of Coelurosaurian Theropods and Its Impact on Their Evolutionary History

The Coelurosauria are a group of mostly feathered theropods that gave rise to birds, the only dinosaurians that survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event and are still found today. Between their first appearance in the Middle Jurassic up to the end Cretaceous, coelurosaurians were party to dramatic geographic changes on the Earth’s surface, including the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea, and the formation of the Atlantic Ocean. These plate tectonic events are thought to have caused vicariance or dispersal of coelurosaurian faunas, influencing their evolution. Unfortunately, few coelurosaurian biogeographic hypotheses have been supported by quantitative evidence. Here, we report the first, broadly sampled quantitative analysis of coelurosaurian biogeography using the likelihood-based package BioGeoBEARS. Mesozoic geographic configurations and changes are reconstructed and employed as constraints in this analysis, including their associated uncertainties. We use a comprehensive time-calibrated coelurosaurian evolutionary tree produced from the Theropod Working Group phylogenetic data matrix. Six biogeographic models in the BioGeoBEARS package with different assumptions about the evolution of spatial distributions are tested against geographic constraints. Our results statistically favor the DIVALIKE+J and DEC+J models, which allow vicariance and founder events, supporting continental vicariance as an important factor in coelurosaurian evolution. Ancestral range estimation indicates frequent dispersal events via the Apulian route (connecting Europe and Africa during the Early Cretaceous) and the Bering land bridge (connecting North America and Asia during the Late Cretaceous). These quantitative results are consistent with commonly inferred Mesozoic dinosaurian dispersals and continental-fragmentation-induced vicariance events. In addition, we recognize the importance of Europe as a dispersal center and gateway in the Early Cretaceous, as well as other vicariance events such as those triggered by the disappearance of land bridges

Calcium isotopes in deep time: Potential and limitations

Calcium is an essential element in the biogeochemical cycles that regulate the long-term climate state of Earth. The removal of CO2 from the ocean-atmosphere system is controlled by the burial of carbonate sediments (CaCO3), ultimately linking the global calcium and carbon cycles. This fundamental link has driven the development of the stable calcium isotope proxy with application to both ancient skeletal and non-skeletal bulk carbonate sediments. Calcium isotope ratios (δ44/40Ca) have been used to track long-term changes in seawater chemistry (e.g., aragonite vs. calcite seas) and to elucidate short-term climatic perturbations associated with mass extinction events. However, developments in the calcium isotope proxy have shown that δ44/40Ca values in carbonate minerals also are sensitive to changes in precipitation rates, mineralogy and diagenesis, thereby complicating the application of the proxy to the reconstruction of global cycles. First, inorganic carbonate precipitation experiments have demonstrated that carbonate δ44/40Ca values are sensitive to precipitation rates with higher rates generally leading to larger fractionation. Second, δ44/40Ca values are sensitive to carbonate mineralogy with inorganic aragonite and calcite being on average ~ 1.5‰ and ~ 0.9‰ depleted relative to contemporaneous seawater, respectively. The effects of both changes in carbonate mineralogy and precipitation rates affect primary and secondary minerals, but are particularly pronounced during carbonate diagenesis where relatively slow rates of recrystallization and neomorphism can lead to significant changes in bulk sediment δ44/40Ca values. Third, changes in faunal composition expressed in skeletal fossil archives can lead to large changes in carbonate δ44/40Ca values that are decoupled from changes in global cycles. Nevertheless, when these factors are appropriately considered the application of calcium isotopes in ancient carbonate sediments becomes a powerful tool for understanding biogeochemical processes that operate over many scales; from diagenetic changes within the sediment pore-space, to regional changes across ancient carbonate platforms, and to global changes in seawater chemistry through time. Importantly, the processes that contribute to variability in carbonate δ44/40Ca values are likely to impact other carbonate-bound proxies, highlighting the potential for calcium isotopes as a hint to better understand the variability of other isotope systems

Dislocation interactions during low-temperature plasticity of olivine and their impact on the evolution of lithospheric strength.

The strength of the lithosphere is typically modelled based on constitutive equations for steady-state flow. However, models of lithospheric flexure reveal differences in lithospheric strength that are difficult to reconcile based on such flow laws. Recent rheological data from low-temperature deformation experiments on olivine suggest that this discrepancy may be largely explained by strain hardening. Details of the mechanical data, specifically the effects of temperature-independent back stresses stored in the samples, indicate that strain hardening in olivine occurs primarily due to long-range elastic interactions between dislocations. These interpretations provided the basis for a new flow law that incorporates hardening by development of back stress. Here, we test this hypothesis by examining the microstructures of olivine samples deformed plastically at room temperature either in a deformation-DIA apparatus at differential stresses of ≤ 4.3 GPa or in a nanoindenter at applied contact stresses of ≥ 10.2 GPa. High-angular resolution electron backscatter diffraction maps reveal the presence of geometrically necessary dislocations with densities commonly above 10 14 m-2 and intragranular heterogeneities in residual stress on the order of 1 GPa in both sets of samples. Scanning transmission electron micrographs reveal straight dislocations aligned along slip bands and interacting with dislocations of other types that act as obstacles. The stress heterogeneities and accumulations of dislocations along their slip planes are consistent with strain hardening resulting from long-range back-stresses acting between dislocations. These results corroborate the mechanical data in supporting the form of the new flow law for low-temperature plasticity and provide new microstructural criteria for identifying the operation of this deformation mechanism in natural samples. Furthermore, similarities in the structure and stress fields of slip bands formed in single crystals deformed at low temperatures and those formed at high temperatures suggest that similar hardening processes occur in both regimes, providing a new constraint for models of transient creep at high temperatures

A Chronostratigraphic Framework for the Rise of the Ediacaran Macrobiota: New Constraints from Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve, Newfoundland

The Conception and St. John’s Groups of southeastern Newfoundland contain some of the oldest known fossils of the Ediacaran macrobiota. The Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve UNESCO World Heritage Site is an internationally recognized locality for such fossils and hosts early evidence for both total group metazoan body fossils and metazoan-style locomotion. The Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve sedimentary succession includes ∼1500 m of fossil-bearing strata containing numerous dateable volcanogenic horizons, and therefore offers a crucial window into the rise and diversification of early animals. Here we present six stratigraphically coherent radioisotopic ages derived from zircons from volcanic tuffites of the Conception and St. John’s Groups at Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve. The oldest architecturally complex macrofossils, from the upper Drook Formation, have an age of 574.17 ± 0.66 Ma (including tracer calibration and decay constant uncertainties). The youngest rangeomorph fossils from Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve, in the Fermeuse Formation, have a maximum age of 564.13 ± 0.65 Ma. Fossils of the famous “E” Surface are confirmed to be 565.00 ± 0.64 Ma, while exceptionally preserved specimens on the “Brasier” Surface in the Briscal Formation are dated at 567.63 ± 0.66 Ma. We use our new ages to construct an age-depth model for the sedimentary succession, constrain sedimentary accumulation rates, and convert stratigraphic fossil ranges into the time domain to facilitate integration with time-calibrated data from other successions. Combining this age model with compiled stratigraphic ranges for all named macrofossils within the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve succession, spanning 76 discrete fossil-bearing horizons, enables recognition and interrogation of potential evolutionary signals. Peak taxonomic diversity is recognized within the Mistaken Point and Trepassey Formations, and uniterminal rangeomorphs with undisplayed branching architecture appear several million years before multiterminal, displayed forms. Together, our combined stratigraphic, paleontological, and geochronological approach offers a holistic, time-calibrated record of evolution during the mid−late Ediacaran Period and a framework within which to consider other geochemical, environmental, and evolutionary data sets

Barium isotopes in cold-water corals

Recent studies have introduced stable Ba isotopes (delta(138)/Ba-134) as a novel tracer for ocean processes. Ba isotopes could potentially provide insight into the oceanic Ba cycle, the ocean's biological pump, water-mass provenance in the deep ocean, changes in activity of hydrothermal vents, and land-sea interactions including tracing riverine inputs. Here, we show that aragonite skeletons of various colonial and solitary cold-water coral (CWC) taxa record the seawater (SW) Ba isotope composition. Thirty-six corals of eight different taxa from three oceanic regions were analysed and compared to delta(138)/Ba-134 measurements of co-located seawater samples. Sites were chosen to cover a wide range of temperature, salinity, Ba concentrations and Ba isotope compositions. Seawater samples at the three sites exhibit the well-established anti-correlation between Ba concentration and delta(138)/Ba-134. Furthermore, our data set suggests that Ba/Ca values in CWCs are linearly correlated with dissolved Ba] in ambient seawater, with an average partition coefficient of D-CWC/SW = 1.8 +/- 0.4 (2SD). The mean isotope fractionation of Ba between seawater and CWCs Delta(138)/Ba-134(CWC-SW) is -0.21 +/- 0.08 parts per thousand (2SD), indicating that CWC aragonite preferentially incorporates the lighter isotopes. This fractionation likely does not depend on temperature or other environmental variables, suggesting that aragonite CWCs could be used to trace the Ba isotope composition in ambient seawater. Coupled Ba] and delta(138)/Ba-134 analysis on fossil CWCs has the potential to provide new information about past changes in the local and global relationship between Ba] and delta(138)/Ba-134 and hence about the operation of the past global oceanic Ba cycle in different climate regimes. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved