ESC Publications - Cambridge Univesity
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Obliquity pacing of the western Pacific Intertropical Convergence Zone over the past 282,000 years
No full textThe Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) encompasses the heaviest rain belt on the Earth. Few direct long-term records, especially in the Pacific, limit our understanding of long-term natural variability for predicting future ITCZ migration. Here we present a tropical precipitation record from the Southern Hemisphere covering the past 282,000 years, inferred from a marine sedimentary sequence collected off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea. Unlike the precession paradigm expressed in its East Asian counterpart, our record shows that the western Pacific ITCZ migration was influenced by combined precession and obliquity changes. The obliquity forcing could be primarily delivered by a cross-hemispherical thermal/pressure contrast, resulting from the asymmetric continental configuration between Asia and Australia in a coupled East Asian-Australian circulation system. Our finding suggests that the obliquity forcing may play a more important role in global hydroclimate cycles than previously thought
Evidence of micro-continent entrainment during crustal accretion
No full textSimple models involving the gradual outboard accretion of material along curvilinear subduction zones are often inconsistent with field-based evidence. A recent study using 3-D geodynamic modelling has shown that the entrainment of an exotic continental fragment within a simple subduction system can result in a complex phase of growth. Although kinematic models based on structural mapping and high-resolution gravity and magnetic maps indicate that the pre-Carboniferous Tasmanides in southeastern Australia may have been subjected to this process, to date there has been little corroboration from crustal scale geophysical imaging. Here, we apply Bayesian transdimensional tomography to ambient noise data recorded by the WOMBAT transportable seismic array to constrain a detailed (20 km resolution in some areas) 3-D shear velocity model of the crust beneath southeast Australia. We find that many of the velocity variations that emerge from our inversion support the recently developed geodynamic and kinematic models. In particular, the full thickness of the exotic continental block, responsible for orocline formation and the tectonic escape of the back arc region, is imaged here for the first time. Our seismic results provide the first direct evidence that exotic continental fragments may profoundly affect the development of an accretionary orogen
Mapping the Ice-Bed Interface Characteristics of Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica, Using Microseismicity
No full textFlow dynamics of the ice streams which drain the Antarctic Ice Sheet are heavily in uenced by the processes happening at the bed. Natural seismic activity generated beneath an ice stream is associated with the motion of the ice over its bed and can be used to map the characteristics of the ice-bed interface and to understand these basal processes. Basal microseismicity was recorded over a 34-day period on Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica, using ten three-component geophones 40 km upstream of the grounding line. Around 3000 microseismic events were located in discrete spatial clusters near the ice-bed interface. The activity of each cluster varies with time, and the source mechanism for the events is interpreted as sub-horizontal, low-angle faulting, slipping in the ice ow direction. Cluster locations are interpreted as `sticky spots' of stiff basal sediment at the ice-bed interface, where ice movement is accommodated by stick-slip basal sliding. The `sticky spots' occur in areas where independent active-source seismic surveys show low porosity sediments at the bed. We show that the `sticky spots' probably accommodate only a small amount of the total basal motion. Our results suggest that most of the ice motion is accommodated by aseismic deformation of soft,dilatant basal sediment or by a well-lubricated, stiffer be
Coupled measurements of δ^18O and δD of hydration water and salinity of fluid inclusions in gypsum from the Messinian Yesares Member, Sorbas Basin (SE Spain)
No full textWe studied one cycle (Cycle 6) of gypsum–marl deposition from the Messinian Yesares Member in Sorbas Basin, Spain. The objective was to reconstruct the changing environment of deposition and its relation to astronomically-forced climate change. The δ18O and δD of gypsum hydration water (CaSO4 • 2H2O) and salinity of fluid inclusions were measured in the same samples to test if they record the composition of the mother fluid from which gypsum was precipitated. Water isotopes are highly correlated with fluid inclusion salinity suggesting the hydration water has not exchanged after formation. The relatively low water isotope values and fluid inclusion salinities indicate a significant influence of meteoric water, whereas δ34S, δ18OSO4 and 87Sr/86Sr support a dominant marine origin for the gypsum deposits. The discrepancy between water and elemental isotope signatures can be reconciled if meteoric water dissolved previously deposited marine sulfates supplying calcium and sulfate ions to the basin which maintained gypsum saturation. This recycling process accounts for the marine δ34S, δ18OSO4 and 87Sr/86Sr signatures, whereas the low δ18O and δD values of gypsum hydration water and fluid inclusion salinities reflect the influence of freshwater
Bayesian source inversion of microseismic events
No full textRapid stress release at the source of an earthquake produces seismic waves. Observations of the particle motions from such waves are used in source inversion to characterise the dynamic behaviour of the source and to help in understanding the driving processes. Earthquakes either occur naturally, such as in volcanic eruptions and natural geothermal fields, or are linked to anthropogenic activities including hydrofracture of gas and oil reservoirs, mining events and extraction of geothermal fluids. Source inversion is very sensitive to uncertainties in both the model and the data, especially for low magnitude, namely microseismic, events. Many of the uncertainties can be poorly quantified, and are often not included in source inversion. This thesis proposes a Bayesian framework enabling a complete inclusion of uncertainties in the resultant probability distribution using Bayesian marginalisation. This approach is developed for polarity and amplitude ratio data, although it is possible to use any data type, provided the noise model can be estimated. The resultant posterior probability distributions are easily visualised on different plots for orientation and source-type. Several different algorithms can be used to search the source space, including Monte Carlo random sampling and Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. Relative information between co-located events may be used as an extension to the framework, improving the constraint on the source. The double-couple source is the commonly assumed source model for many earthquakes, corresponding to slip on a fault plane. Two methods for estimating the posterior model probability of the double-couple source type are explored, one using the Bayesian evidence, the other using trans-dimensional Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. Results from both methods are consistent with each other, producing good estimates of the probability given sufficient samples. These provide estimates of the probability of the source being a double-couple source or not, which is very useful when trying to understand the processes causing the earthquake. Uncertainty on the polarity estimation is often hard to characterise, so an alternative approach for determining the polarity and its associated uncertainty is proposed. This uses a Bayesian estimate of the polarity probability and includes both the background noise and the arrival time pick uncertainty, resulting in a more quantitative estimate of the polarity uncertainty. Moreover, this automated approach can easily be included in automatic event detection and location workflows. The inversion approach is discussed in detail and then applied to both synthetic events generated using a finite-difference code, and to real events acquired from a temporary seismometer network deployed around the Askja and Krafla Volcanoes, Iceland
Tooth counts through growth in diapsid reptiles: implications for interpreting individual and size-related variation in the fossil record
No full textTooth counts are commonly recorded in fossil diapsid reptiles and have been used for taxonomic and phylogenetic purposes under the assumption that differences in the number of teeth are largely explained by interspecific variation. Although phylogeny is almost certainly one of the greatest factors influencing tooth count, the relative role of intraspecific variation is difficult, and often impossible, to test in the fossil record given the sample sizes available to palaeontologists and, as such, is best investigated using extant models. Intraspecific variation (largely manifested as size-related or ontogenetic variation) in tooth counts has been examined in extant squamates (lizards and snakes) but is poorly understood in archosaurs (crocodylians and dinosaurs). Here, we document tooth count variation in two species of extant crocodylians (Alligator mississippiensis and Crocodylus porosus) as well as a large varanid lizard (Varanus komodoensis). We test the hypothesis that variation in tooth count is driven primarily by growth and thus predict significant correlations between tooth count and size, as well as differences in the frequency of deviation from the modal tooth count in the premaxilla, maxilla, and dentary. In addition to tooth counts, we also document tooth allometry in each species and compare these results with tooth count change through growth. Results reveal no correlation of tooth count with size in any element of any species examined here, with the exception of the premaxilla of C. porosus, which shows the loss of one tooth position. Based on the taxa examined here, we reject the hypothesis, as it is evident that variation in tooth count is not always significantly correlated with growth. However, growth trajectories of smaller reptilian taxa show increases in tooth counts and, although current samples are small, suggest potential correlates between tooth count trajectories and adult size. Nevertheless, interspecific variation in growth patterns underscores the importance of considering and understanding growth when constructing taxonomic and phylogenetic characters, in particular for fossil taxa where ontogenetic patterns are difficult to reconstruct
Elastic and magnetoelastic relaxation behaviour of multiferroic (ferromagnetic + ferroelectric + ferroelastic) Pb(Fe0.5Nb0.5)O3 perovskite
No full textResonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy has been used to characterize elastic and anelastic anomalies in a polycrystalline sample of multiferroic Pb(Fe0.5Nb0.5)O3 (PFN). Elastic softening begins at ~550 K, which is close to the Burns temperature marking the development of dynamical polar nanoregions. A small increase in acoustic loss at ~425 K coincides with the value of T* reported for polar nanoregions starting to acquire a static or quasi-static component. Softening of the shear modulus by ~30–35% through ~395–320 K, together with a peak in acoustic loss, is due to classical strain/order parameter coupling through the cubic → tetragonal → monoclinic transition sequence of ferroelectric/ferroelastic transitions. A plateau of high acoustic loss below ~320 K is due to the mobility under stress of a ferroelastic microstructure but, instead of the typical effects of freezing of twin wall motion at some low temperature, there is a steady decrease in loss and increase in elastic stiffness below ~85 K. This is attributed to freezing of a succession of strain-coupled defects with a range of relaxation times and is consistent with a report in the literature that PFN develops a tweed microstructure over a wide temperature interval. No overt anomaly was observed near the expected Néel point, ~145 K, consistent with weak/absent spin/lattice coupling but heat capacity measurements showed that the antiferromagnetic transition is actually smeared out or suppressed. Instead, the sample is weakly ferromagnetic up to ~560 K, though it has not been possible to exclude definitively the possibility that this could be due to some magnetic impurity. Overall, evidence from the RUS data is of a permeating influence of static and dynamic strain relaxation effects which are attributed to local strain heterogeneity on a mesoscopic length scale. These, in turn, must have a role in determining the magnetic properties and multiferroic character of PFN
Lithospheric controls on magma composition along Earth's longest continental hotspot track
No full textHotspots are anomalous regions of volcanism at Earth's surface that show no obvious association with tectonic plate boundaries. Classic examples include the Hawaiian-Emperor chain and the Yellowstone-Snake River Plain province. The majority are believed to form as Earth's tectonic plates move over long-lived mantle plumes: buoyant upwellings that bring hot material from Earth's deep mantle to its surface. It has long been recognized that lithospheric thickness limits the rise height of plumes and, thereby, their minimum melting pressure. It should, therefore, have a controlling influence on the geochemistry of plume-related magmas, although unambiguous evidence of this has, so far, been lacking. Here we integrate observational constraints from surface geology, geochronology, plate-motion reconstructions, geochemistry and seismology to ascertain plume melting depths beneath Earth's longest continental hotspot track, a 2,000-kilometre-long track in eastern Australia that displays a record of volcanic activity between 33 and 9 million years ago, which we call the Cosgrove track. Our analyses highlight a strong correlation between lithospheric thickness and magma composition along this track, with: (1) standard basaltic compositions in regions where lithospheric thickness is less than 110 kilometres; (2) volcanic gaps in regions where lithospheric thickness exceeds 150 kilometres; and (3) low-volume, leucitite-bearing volcanism in regions of intermediate lithospheric thickness. Trace-element concentrations from samples along this track support the notion that these compositional variations result from different degrees of partial melting, which is controlled by the thickness of overlying lithosphere. Our results place the first observational constraints on the sub-continental melting depth of mantle plumes and provide direct evidence that lithospheric thickness has a dominant influence on the volume and chemical composition of plume-derived magmas. © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited
Graphitization of small carbonate samples for palaeoceanographic research at the Godwin Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Cambridge
No full textA new radiocarbon preparation facility was set up in 2010 at the Godwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, at the University of Cambridge. Samples are graphitized via hydrogen reduction on an iron powder catalyst before being sent to the Chrono Centre, Belfast, or the Australian National University for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) analysis. The experimental set-up and procedure have recently been developed to investigate the potential for running small samples of foraminiferal carbonate. By analysing background values of samples ranging from 0.04-0.6mgC along with similar sized secondary standards, the set-up and experimental procedures were optimised for small samples. ‘Background’ modern radiocarbon contamination has been minimised through careful selection of iron powder, and graphitization has been optimised through the use of ‘small volume’ reactors, allowing samples containing as little as 0.08mgC to be graphitized and accurately dated. Graphitization efficiency/fractionation is found not to be the main limitation on the analysis of samples smaller than 0.07mgC, which rather depends primarily on AMS ion beam optics, suggesting further improvements in small sample analysis might yet be achieved with our methodology
Revisiting diagenesis on the Ontong Java Plateau: Evidence for authigenic crust precipitation in Globorotalia tumida
No full textThe calcite tests of foraminifera lie in marine sediments for thousands to millions of years, before being analyzed to generate trace element and isotope paleoproxy records. These sediments constitute a distinct physio-chemical environment from the conditions in which the tests formed. Storage in sediments can modify the trace element and isotopic content of foraminiferal calcite through diagenetic alteration, which has the potential to confound their paleoceanographic interpretation. A previous study of Globorotalia tumida from the Ontong Java Plateau, western equatorial Pacific, found that preferential dissolution of higher-Mg chamber calcite and the preservation of a low-Mg crust on the tests significantly reduced whole-test Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca. Here we revisit specimens with a combination of synchrotron X-ray computed tomography (sXCT) and electron probe microanalyses to reevaluate the nature of their diagenetic alteration. The dissolution of higher-Mg calcite with depth was directly observed in the sXCT data, confirming the inference of the previous study. The sXCT data further reveal a thickening of the chemically and structurally distinct calcite crust with depth. We propose that these crusts have a diagenetic origin, driven by the simultaneous dissolution of high-Mg chamber calcite and precipitation of low-Mg crust from the resulting modified pore water solution. While the breadth of the study is limited by the nature of the techniques, the observation of both dissolution and reprecipitation of foraminiferal calcite serves to demonstrate the action of two simultaneous diagenetic alteration processes, with significant impacts on the resulting paleoproxy signals