Search results for "Ocean"

Palaeogeographical relationships between Alpine and Jura glaciers during the two last Pleistocene glaciations

1992

Abstract Two main moraine complexes are usually defined in the northwestern Alpine piedmont: the External Moraine Complex (EMC) dated to the penultimate glaciation (“Riss” sensu lato) and the Internal Moraine Complex (IMC) dated to the last glaciation (“Wurm”). Until recently the prevalent concept was that these two complexes had been built by glaciers originating in the central Alpine zone. This paper presents a new palaeogeographical diagram, based on mapping and petrographical studies of these two moraine complexes, and especially on the relationships between Alpine and Jura tills. We reach the following conclusions. 1. (1) The Jura glaciers were independent of the Alpine glaciers during…

Late Proterozoic and Silurian basement units within the Serbo-Macedonian Massif, northern Greece: the significance of terrane accretion in the Hellen…

2006

Os isotopes and highly siderophile elements (HSE) in the Ligurian Ophiolites, Italy.

2000

The Os isotopic and highly siderophile element (HSE) concentration systematics of the upper mantle have been the focus of much recent interest. However, little systematic study has addressed the combined HSE and Os isotopes in mantle rocks from MOR ophiolites. The Ligurian ophiolites in northern Italy represent an important class of ophiolites representing, like Zabargad or the Galicia margin, crust with clear ocean ridge affinity floored by older mantle with arguably more continental affinities [Rampone et al., J. Petrol. 36, 18–105, 1995; Rampone et al., Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 123, 61–67, 1996]. We have studied a suite of 15 geochemically and geologically well characterized mantle peri…

Tidal currents in the Malta - Sicily Channel from high-frequency radar observations

2015

Two years of sea surface current measurements acquired since August 2012 by High-Frequency SeaSonde radars over the relatively shallow shelf area dividing the Maltese Islands from Sicily (the Malta - Sicily Channel), are used to characterize the surface tidal currents in the region. Tidal currents are generally weak and concentrated in the semidiurnal and diurnal bands, barely exceeding 3cms-1 in the semidiurnal band (M2, S2), and below 6cms-1 in the diurnal band (K1, O1). In the middle part of the basin, the M2 currents oscillate along the main Channel axis; on the contrary the S2 oscillations are oriented along the energetic Atlantic Ionian Stream (AIS) flow. Diurnal tides have a more cir…

Inversion of gravity anomalies over spreading oceanic ridges

2005

Abstract Models of spreading ocean ridges are derived by Bayesian gravity inversion with geophysical and geodynamic a priori information. The aim is to investigate the influence of spreading rate, plate dynamics and tectonic framework on crust and upper mantle structure by comparing the Mid Atlantic Ridge (MAR), the Indian Ocean Ridge (IND) and the East Pacific Rise (PAC). They differ in mean spreading rate, dynamic settings, as attached slabs, and plume interaction. Topography or bathymetry, gravity, isostasy, seismology and geology, etc. are averaged along the ridges and guide the construction of initial 2D models, including features as mean plumes, i.e. averaged along the ridge. This is …

A continuous high-resolution dust record for the reconstruction of wind systems in central Europe (Eifel, Western Germany) over the past 133 ka

2009

[1] The last glacial cycle in Central Europe is dominated by processes of aeolian dust transport and accumulation. These dust deposits are preserved in soils and lake sediments and provide detailed information about the climate variability during cold and dry periods. Especially the transitions from warm into cold periods are characterized by turbulent climate conditions. The main problems of terrestrial paleoclimate reconstructions are the completeness of the core material and a sampling resolution. To detect single dust storms we use a particle detection method, which allows high resolution, sub-annual analyses of sediment structures in undisturbed samples. The ELSA (Eifel Laminated Sedim…

Control of Seasonality and Interannual to Centennial Climate Variability in the Caribbean During the Holocene—Combining Coral Records, Stalagmite Rec…

2014

This study aimed at quantifying the amplitudes of seasonality and interannual to centennial climate variability in the Caribbean region throughout the Holocene, by using marine (shallow-water corals) and terrestrial (speleothems) climate archives, and climate model simulations (COSMOS). Sea-surface temperature (SST) variability on interdecadal to multidecadal timescales was more pronounced during the mid-Holocene compared to the late Holocene. The amplitude of the SST annual cycle was within the present-day range throughout most of the last 6,000 years. Exceptions include slightly increased SST seasonality at 6,200 years ago, which can be attributed mainly to insolation forcing on orbital t…

Sedimentation in a fluvially infilling, barrier-bound estuary on a wave-dominated, microtidal coast: the Oueme River estuary, Benin, west Africa

2002

The Oueme River estuary is located on the seasonally humid tropical coast of Benin, west Africa. A striking feature of this microtidal estuary is the presence of a large sand barrier bounding a 120 km2 circular central basin, Lake Nokoue, that is being infilled by heterogeneous fluvial deposits supplied by a relatively large catchment (50 000 km2). Borehole cores from the lower estuary show basal Pleistocene lowstand alluvial sediments overlain by Holocene transgressive–highstand lagoonal mud and by transgressive to probably early highstand tidal inlet and flood-tidal delta sand deposited in association with non-preserved transgressive sand barriers. The change in estuary-mouth sedimentatio…

Controls on modern carbonate sedimentation on warm-temperate to arctic coasts, shelves and seamounts in the Northern Hemisphere: Implications for fos…

1995

In contrast to the well studied tropical carbonate environments, interest in non-tropical carbonate deposition was rather low until the basic ideas of theForamol-concept were outlined byLees & Buller (1972). In the following two decades studies on non-tropical carbonate settings evolved as a new and exciting branch of carbonate sedimentology (seeNelson 1988). This is archieved in a great number of publications dealing on temperate carbonate deposits from numerous coastal and open shelf settings on both hemispheres. The existence of wide extended carbonate depositional systems and even reefal frameworks in Subarctic and Arctic seas which are in focus by our research group made it possible to…

The building blocks of continental crust: Evidence for a major change in the tectonic setting of continental growth at the end of the Archean

2013

Abstract Oceanic arcs are commonly cited as primary building blocks of continents, yet modern oceanic arcs are mostly subducted. Also, lithosphere buoyancy considerations show that oceanic arcs (even those with a felsic component) should readily subduct. With the exception of the Arabian–Nubian orogen, terranes in post-Archean accretionary orogens comprise  50%) produced in continental arcs. Felsic igneous rocks in oceanic arcs are depleted in incompatible elements compared to average continental crust and to felsic igneous rocks from continental arcs. They have lower Th/Yb, Nb/Yb, Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios, reflecting shallow mantle sources in which garnet did not exist in the restite during m…