Reconstruction of deglacial sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific from selective analysis of a fossil coral

The Sr/Ca of coral skeletons demonstrates potential as an indicator of sea surface temperatures (SSTs). However, the glacial-interglacial SST ranges predicted from Sr/Ca of fossil corals are usually higher than from other marine proxies. We observed infilling of secondary aragonite, characterised by high Sr/Ca ratios, along intraskeletal pores of a fossil coral from Papua New Guinea that grew during the penultimate deglaciation (130 +/- 2 ka). Selective microanalysis of unaltered areas of the fossil coral indicates that SSTs at similar to 130 ka were &lt;= 1 degrees C cooler than at present in contrast with bulk measurements ( combining infilled and unaltered areas) which indicate a difference of 6-7 degrees C. The analysis of unaltered areas of fossil skeletons by microprobe techniques may offer a route to more accurate reconstruction of past SSTs.</p

Magma Ascent along a Major Terrane Boundary: Crustal Contamination and Magma Mixing at the Drumadoon Intrusive Complex, Isle of Arran, Scotland

The composite intrusions of Drumadoon and An Cumhann crop out on the SE coast of the Isle of Arran, Scotland and form part of the larger British and Irish Palaeogene Igneous Province, a subset of the North Atlantic Igneous Province. The intrusions (shallow-level dykes and sills) comprise a central quartz-feldspar-phyric rhyolite flanked by xenocryst-bearing basaltic andesite, with an intermediate zone of dark quartz-feldspar-phyric dacite. New geochemical data provide information on the evolution of the component magmas and their relationships with each other, as well as their interaction with the crust through which they travelled. During shallow-crustal emplacement, the end-member magmas mixed. Isotopic evidence shows that both magmas were contaminated by the crust prior to mixing; the basaltic andesite magma preserves some evidence of contamination within the lower crust, whereas the rhyolite mainly records upper-crustal contamination. The Highland Boundary Fault divides Arran into two distinct terranes, the Neoproterozoic to Early Palaeozoic Grampian Terrane to the north and the Palaeozoic Midland Valley Terrane to the south. The Drumadoon Complex lies within the Midland Valley Terrane but its isotopic signatures indicate almost exclusive involvement of Grampian Terrane crust. Therefore, although the magmas originated at depth on the northern side of the Highland Boundary Fault, they have crossed this boundary during their evolution, probably just prior to emplacemen

Refined model of incremental emplacement based on structural evidence from the granodioritic Newry igneous complex, Northern Ireland

Although many intrusions are now known to have been incrementally emplaced, the mechanisms through which this takes place are generally poorly understood. The Newry igneous complex was incrementally emplaced within the Southern Uplands-Down-Longford terrane of Northern Ireland during late Caledonian sinistral transtension. This study uses a variety of new and existing data and techniques to provide a fuller and firmer understanding of incremental emplacement than has previously been available, addressing both deep-crustal processes and those operating within the emplacement site. Host-rock orientations suggest that some of the accommodation space for the Newry igneous complex was generated due to pull-apart tectonics operating within the Southern Uplands-Down-Longford terrane. Local host-rock deflections, concentric igneous foliations, and concentric linear anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS)fabrics show that inflation due to magma overpressure also generated significant space. Strong AMS fabrics close to the boundaries of some magma pulses in turn suggest that inflation was accomplished by injection of individual magma pulses and was thus incremental. The dome-like orientations of mineral foliations within plutons and the truncation of steep local host-rock tracts by the Newry igneous complex imply that the complex consists of four laccolithic bodies. On a larger scale, it is suggested that the deep-seated Argyll and Newry lineaments represent faults that allowed magma generated at depth to ascend to the crustal level of the Southern Uplands-Down-Longford tract boundaries. It is also inferred that sinistral movement along the Argyll and Newry lineaments may have produced the releasing bend within the Southern Uplands-Down-Longford terrane. Higher in the crust, reduced confining pressure resulted in tectonic opening along this releasing bend. This local stress field induced horizontal magma flow and emplacement of the Newry igneous complex as laccolithic bodies. This study suggests that simplistic emplacement models should largely be abandoned in favor of holistic models incorporating the multiple interdependent processes operating during magma ascent and emplacement

Vitamin D Deficiency and Exogenous Vitamin D Excess Similarly Increase Diffuse Atherosclerotic Calcification in Apolipoprotein E Knockout Mice

Background: Observational data associate lower levels of serum vitamin D with coronary artery calcification, cardiovascular events and mortality. However, there is little interventional evidence demonstrating that moderate vitamin D deficiency plays a causative role in cardiovascular disease. This study examined the cardiovascular effects of dietary vitamin D deficiency and of vitamin D receptor agonist (paricalcitol) administration in apolipoprotein E knockout mice. Methods: Mice were fed atherogenic diets with normal vitamin D content (1.5IU/kg) or without vitamin D. Paricalcitol, or matched vehicle, was administered 3× weekly by intraperitoneal injection. Following 20 weeks of these interventions cardiovascular phenotype was characterized by histological assessment of aortic sinus atheroma, soluble markers, blood pressure and echocardiography. To place the cardiovascular assessments in the context of intervention effects on bone, structural changes at the tibia were assessed by microtomography. Results: Vitamin D deficient diet induced significant reductions in plasma vitamin D (p<0.001), trabecular bone volume (p<0.01) and bone mineral density (p<0.005). These changes were accompanied by an increase in calcification density (number of calcifications per mm2) of von Kossa-stained aortic sinus atheroma (461 versus 200, p<0.01). Paricalcitol administration suppressed parathyroid hormone (p<0.001), elevated plasma calcium phosphate product (p<0.005) and induced an increase in calcification density (472 versus 200, p<0.005) similar to that seen with vitamin D deficiency. Atheroma burden, blood pressure, metabolic profile and measures of left ventricular hypertrophy were unaffected by the interventions. Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency, as well as excess, increases atherosclerotic calcification. This phenotype is induced before other measures of cardiovascular pathology associated clinically with vitamin D deficiency. Thus, maintenance of an optimal range of vitamin D signalling may be important for prevention of atherosclerotic calcification

Precessional cyclicity of seawater Pb isotopes in the late Miocene Mediterranean

Astronomical tuning in the Mediterranean region is primarily based on organically‐mediated proxies, such as cyclicity of organic rich layers or changes in foraminiferal assemblages. Both during and post deposition, organic proxies can be affected by complex processes not immediately related to the changes in precession (insolation) they are assumed to reflect. Here we present an isotopic proxy which exhibits precessional cyclicity yet is inorganic. Seawater lead (Pb) isotope records over four precessional cycles between 6.6 and 6.5 Ma, from bulk sediment leachates of three Messinian, circum‐Mediterranean marginal locations, show variations consistent with precessional cyclicity. During insolation minima, the Pb isotope signatures from all three sites converge to similar values, suggesting a regional process is affecting all three locations at that time. Data from the marginal sites are compared with new data from ODP Site 978 and published data from a variety of geological archives from the Mediterranean region to determine the mechanism(s) causing the observed variability. While the comparisons are not fully conclusive, the timing of events suggest that increased dust production from North Africa during insolation minima is the most likely control. This hypothesis implies that authigenic marine Pb isotope records have the potential to provide a reliable inorganic tie point for Mediterranean cyclostratigraphy where sub‐precessional resolution is required. An inorganic tie point could also provide the means to resolve long‐standing problems in Mediterranean stratigraphy on precessional and sub‐precessional timescales which have been obscured due to post‐depositional changes (e.g., sapropel burn‐down) or suboptimal ecological conditions (e.g., the Messinian Salinity Crisis)

Petrogenesis of the Loch Bà ring-dyke and Centre 3 granites, Isle of Mull, Scotland

The project was supported by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) and by the Swedish Research Council (VR). Open Access funding provided by Uppsala University.The Loch Bà ring-dyke and the associated Centre 3 granites represent the main events of the final phase of activity at the Palaeogene Mull igneous complex. The Loch Bà ring-dyke is one of the best exposed ring-intrusions in the world and records intense interaction between rhyolitic and basaltic magma. To reconstruct the evolutionary history of the Centre 3 magmas, we present new major- and trace-element, and new Sr isotope data as well as the first Nd and Pb isotope data for the felsic and mafic components of the Loch Bà intrusion and associated Centre 3 granites. We also report new Sr, Nd and Pb isotope data for the various crustal compositions from the region, including Moine and Dalradian metasedimentary rocks, Lewisian gneiss, and Iona Group metasediments. Isotope data for the Loch Bà rhyolite (87Sr/86Sri = 0.716) imply a considerable contribution of local Moine-type metasedimentary crust (87Sr/86Sr = 0.717–0.736), whereas Loch Bà mafic inclusions (87Sr/86Sri = 0.704–0.707) are closer to established mantle values, implying that felsic melts of dominantly crustal origin mixed with newly arriving basalt. The Centre 3 microgranites (87Sr/86Sri = 0.709–0.716), are less intensely affected by crustal assimilation relative to the Loch Bá rhyolite. Pb-isotope data confirm incorporation of Moine metasediments within the Centre 3 granites. Remarkably, the combined Sr–Nd–Pb data indicate that Centre 3 magmas record no detectable interaction with underlying deep Lewisian gneiss basement, in contrast to Centre 1 and 2 lithologies. This implies that Centre 3 magmas ascended through previously depleted or insulated feeding channels into upper-crustal reservoirs where they resided within and interacted with fertile Moine-type upper crust prior to eruption or final emplacement.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Seismic and geochemical evidence for large-scale mantle upwelling beneath the eastern Atlantic and western and central Europe

Seismic tomography and the isotope geochemistry of Cenozoic volcanic rocks suggest the existence of a large, sheet-like region of upwelling in the upper mantle which extends from the eastern Atlantic Ocean to central Europe and the western Mediterranean. A belt of extension and rifting in the latter two areas appears to lie above the intersection of the centre of the upwelling region with the base of the lithosphere. Lead, strontium and neodymium isotope data for all three regions converge on a restricted composition, inferred to be that of the upwelling mantle

Coupled CO2-leakage and in situ fluid-mineral reactions in a natural CO2 reservoir, Green River, Utah

Spectroscopic studies and atomistic simulations of (hydr)oxide surfaces, which show that some aqueous cations bind to two or four surface oxygen atoms, have increased interest in multi-dentate surface complexation models (SCMs) [1-3]. However, it remains unclear how the (fitted) values of intrinsic equilibrium constants K int/m (referenced to infinite dilution) for δ-dentate M surface-binding reactions (δ >1) depend on the choice of concentration scale. In existing SCM codes, a surface complex may be treated in scales of either: molarity/molality ([]); site coverage fraction (Θ); surface mole fraction (x); molecular surface density (Γ, in mol•m-2); or relative density Γ/Γo (o, where Γo = 2 •10-5 mol•m-2 is the reference adsorbed density [4]). Our aim was to investigate, for ‘denticities’ 1≤ δ ≤4, how to convert the K int,δ values fitted for a given titration data set (the same solid concentration cS, specific surface area As, and monolayer site density ΓC) between different concentration scales. For single-site monodentate surface binding reactions, K int/m expressed in all concentration scales ([], Θ, x, Γ, o) reduce to the same value K M int,1. For the binding with δ≤2, conversion factors from xKM int,δ to ΘKM int,δ are about δ. From []KM int,δ to any other scale, they involve (csAsΓx)δ-1 which is ca. 10-5 for δ = 2 or 10-15 for δ = 4 at typical cS = 1 g•dm-3, As = 10 m2g-1, and ΓC = 10-6 mol•m-2. Conversions of K/int from [], Θ and x scales into the Γ scale involve (ΓC)1-δ, which has a value ranging from 10/5 to 10/18 at 10-6 < ΓC < 10-5 mol•m-2. The K/int conversions from [], Θ and x to the o scale include (Γo/ΓC)δ-1 which vanishes if ΓC = Γo (then oKM int,δ = xKM int,δ). Our findings show that the use of published KM int,δ (δ ≥ 2) in SCMs may lead to erroneous results, if concentration scales are not precisely defined both in the original fitting and in the subsequent application. At trace ion concentrations, using formally monodentate surface species would be safe especially on ‘strong’ sites, for which the density is typically adjusted to reproduce multi-site isotherms. Our results from comparative fitting of KM/int,δ with SCM codes using different scales show the magnitudes of ‘denticity effects’; we discuss ways to correct for these effects in re-using, comparing or correlating values of KM/int,δ. In a further thermodynamic treatment, e.g. deriving the entropy effect of the adsorption reaction from KM/int,δ fitted for different temperatures, the constants must first be made dimensionless and independent of δ and ΓC by converting them into the (o) scale.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2010.04.036University of Tennessee; Oak Ridge National Laborator