Conodont biostratigraphy of the Crawford Group, Southern Uplands, Scotland

Extensive new conodont collections from the Crawford Group, the oldest succession in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, support the previously documented biostratigraphical ages for the included formations. The Raven Gill Formation is lower Whitlandian, Arenig (comparable in age to the Dounans Limestone in the Highland Border Complex) and the Kirkton Formation is latest Llandeilian-Aurelucian, Llanvirn to Caradoc in age. It is concluded that there is a significant stratigraphical gap within the Crawford Group. The restricted and probably fault-bounded nature of the Raven Gill outcrops suggests that these may represent olistoliths within a mélange of Llandeilian-Aurelucian age. The chert-bearing succession of the Northern Belt of the Southern Uplands thus represents the juxtaposed sedimentary records of two entirely separate basins – the oldest pre-dates the Grampian assembly of the Laurentian margin, and the younger, the Northern Belt Basin sensu stricto, entirely post-dates this event

Documenting the History of Inca Precious Metal Production using Geochemical Techniques from Lake Sediments in the Andahuaylas Region of Peru

The process of studying heavy metal concentrations in lake sediments in order to reconstruct pollution history has been used in a variety of environments and locations. Laguna Pacucha is one in a series of metal pollution studies from Peru and Bolivia, an area with a rich history of metallurgy. Laguna Pacucha lies in the Andahuaylas region of Peru, 145 km west of Cuzco, the Inca capital, and 20 km west of Curamba, a presumed ancient smelting site. The sediment record of Laguna Pacucha reveals a metal record that dates beyond 1225 AD. A major density change ~1225 AD, concurrent with a known period of drought, inhibits the possibility of a reliable age model below this point. Increases in Zn, As, and Cu after ~1225 AD could be indicative of local copper smelting, which supports separate evidence of the Curamba archeological site (near Laguna Pacucha) as a potential copper smelting site. These concentrations drop around the time of the Spanish conquest, and then the concentrations of a number of different metals increase after ~1600 and decrease by ~1850 AD, which could indicate smelting, but more likely indicates a change in land use. Our results provide a complex record of a changing Andean environment, and indicate a need for further study in the Andahuaylas region

Spherulite formation in obsidian lavas in the Aeolian Islands, Italy

The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge Andy Tindle (The Open University) for assistance with EMP analyses, and Richard Darton and David Evans (Keele University) for assistance with XRD and Prof Alun Vaughan and Nicola Freebody (University of Southampton) with Raman analyses. LAB is grateful to Sophie Blanchard for support with MATLAB. The authors acknowledge support from Keele University, and grants from the Mineralogical Society (UK and Ireland) and Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group. The authors thank Silvio Mollo and Francesca Forni for their detailed and helpful comments.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The fate of William Whewell’s four palætiological domains : a comparative study

In 1847, the British polymath William Whewell pointed out that the sciences for which he, in 1837, had coined the term “palætiological” have much in common and that they may reflect light upon each other by being treated together. This recommendation is here put into practice in a specific way, to wit, not by comparing the palaetiological sciences that Whewell distinguished himself but by comparing the general historical development of the scientific study of the four broad palætiological domains that he enumerated in 1847: the solar system, the Earth, its vegetable and animal creation, and man. For wide and various as their subjects are, it will be found that [the palætiological sciences] have all certain principles, maxims, and rules of procedure in common; and thus may reflect light upon each other by being treated together. William Whewell ( 1847 , 1, p. 640

Scientific divers quantify first known outbreaks of cold-water coral disease

Coral diseases are widely reported in the tropics but the first incidence of cold-water coral disease was not noted until 2002 when divers recorded an outbreak at 10-28 m depth off Lundy in a NE Atlantic marine protected area. The seafan Eunicella verrucosa exhibited coenchyme necrosis and subsequent diving surveys of \u3e600 colonies at 13 sites since revealed that disease outbreaks were widespread in SW England to depths of 50 m from 2003-2008, possibly caused by infection by Vibrio bacteria at high temperatures

Bringing the Field into the Classroom by Using Dynamic Digital Maps to Engage Undergraduate Students in Petrology Research

This article describes the use of Dynamic Digital Maps (DDMs) in undergraduate petrology courses. A DDM is a stand-alone computer program that presents interactive geologic maps, digital images, movies, animations, text and data. DDMs were developed for use in two undergraduate research projects, and impacts on student learning were evaluated by administering assessments on students before and after participation in one of the projects. Researchers found significant gains in both students' confidence in their ability to do research and to understand petrology, and noted that DDMs are versatile and can potentially be adapted effectively from 100-level introductory geology labs to research-oriented gradute level courses and in a variety of geologic subdisciplines. Educational levels: Graduate or professional, Graduate or professional

Oxygen Isotope Variations of Basaltic Lavas and Upper Mantle Rocks

This chapter summarizes the oxygen isotope geochemistry of terrestrial basalts and their mantle sources, including the conceptual framework for interpreting such data and the phenomenology of known variations. In particular, the first section outlines the motivations for and first-order results of oxygen isotope studies of terrestrial and lunar basalts over the last 30 years; the second section reviews oxygen isotopic fractionations among phases relevant for studying basalts and mantle rocks; the third summarizes variations in δ^(18)O of various crustal rocks that may contribute to the petrogenesis of basalts either as subducted source components or lithospheric contaminants; and the final and longest section describes observed oxygen isotope variations of major classes of terrestrial basalts and related mantle nodules with an emphasis on data generated within the last six years using laser-based fluorination techniques. In the interests of brevity, I do not describe in detail methods for oxygen isotope analysis or changes in δ^(18)O of volcanic rocks caused by sub-solidus alteration; however, these issues are important practical considerations for anyone studying oxygen isotope compositions of basalts and interested readers are directed to the following references: analytical methods: Sharp (1990), Mattey and Macpherson (1993), and Valley et al. (1995); basalt alteration: Muehlenbachs (1986), Alt (1993), and Staudigel et al. (1995)

Book reviews and Book notice

Book reviews and Book notice from Volume 2, Number 2, 1968 of Earth Science Journal