contrasting noble gas compositions of peridotitic and eclogitic monocrystalline diamonds from the argyle lamproite western australia abstract he ne ar compositions were determined in diamonds from the argyle lamproite western australia to assess whether subducted material affects the noble gas budget and composition of stable old sub continental lithospheric mantle sclm twenty diamonds both peridotitic and eclogitic were characterized for their carbon isotopic compositions and n abundance and aggregation from which 10 eclogitic growth zones and 5 peridotitic growth zones were analysed for their he ne ar compositions the eclogitic diamonds have 13c values of 4 7 to 16 6 indicating a subduction signature whereas the peridotitic diamonds have mantle like compositions of 4 0 to 7 8 mantle residence temperatures based on n in diamond thermometry showed that the eclogitic diamonds were mainly formed at 1260 1270 c or above 1300 c near the base of the lithosphere whereas the peridotitic diamonds generally formed at lower temperatures mostly 1135 1230 c a noble gas subduction signature is present to various extents in the eclogitic diamonds and is inferred from a hyperbolic mixing relationship between r ra and 4he and 13c values concentrations with a predominance of low r ra values

late quaternary glacial interglacial changes in sediment composition at the east greenland continental margin and their paleoceanographic implications stable isotope records and sedimentological and organic geochemical investigations of marine sediments from the east greenland sea at 70 n provide important information about glacial interglacial variations of paleoenvironments through the last 225 kyr the oxygen isotope records established on the planktonic foraminifer n pachyderma sin show some excursions from the global climate pattern probably due to local regional overprint by meltwater supply the cold low saline east greenland current and fluctuations in sea ice covering were a crucial element controlling the carbonate production in the subsurface surface water column in the east greenland sea over the last 225 kyr the beginning of termination ia is ams 14c dated at about 15 8 kyr b p and interpreted as a greenland ice sheet meltwater signal the stage 2 3 boundary is dated at about 25 kyr b p the timing of the onset of the last deglacial meltwater event is about 800 years earlier than that of the barents shelf ice sheet meltwater signal recorded in the fram strait several major pulses of increased supply of coarse grained terrigenous material by glacio marine processes occurred during the last 225 kyr the supply of coarse grained ice rafted debris at the east greenland continental slope reached maximum values during the last glacial maximum stage 2 weichselian 15 19 kyr b p the drastic climatic change and the gradual retreat of continental ice masses glaciers during the last deglaciation termination i are clearly documented in the marine sedimentary sequences from shelf and upper slope environments this process resulted in distinctly decreased supply and deposition of ice rafted debris in the open shelf upper slope environments during termination i the sea ice cover also decreased causing an increase in surface water productivity indicated by increased organic carbon and biogenic opal deposition

quaternary sediments and environments on the continental shelf off northern norway abstract based on lithologic palaeontologic and chronostratigraphic investigations of close to 200 gravity cores from troughs deep banks and shallow banks the following late quaternary environment can be outlined in the weichselian deposition of basal tills was followed by deposition of laminated clay in a sea ice environment later a pebbly pelite was deposited in the troughs at the same time as the banks were iceberg ploughed then 13 000 yrs b p a period with incipient winnowing occurred on the deep banks and deposition of sandy pelite took place in the troughs the holocene commenced with a marked environmental change due to intrusion of atlantic water the fauna changed from arctic to boreal high energy winnowing forming a lag deposit took place on the banks and high accumulation rates in the troughs occurred due to the winnowing and sediment influx from the downwasting continental icesheet during the later part of the holocene the winnowing diminished on the deeper banks on the shallow banks and on the shelf break it still prevails and in the troughs calcareous sandy mud is being deposited the surface sediments comprise three main facies bouldery and pebbly sand sand and sandy mud whose distribution mainly depends on the prevailing bottom current regime the composition of the older quaternary sediments is demonstrated by some selected seismic profiles

dispersal concentration and deposition of suspended matter in the north sea suspended matter comes into the north sea from the atlantic ocean from the channel rivers seafloor erosion coastal erosion the atmosphere and from primary production the contribution of the last source is temporarily large when phytoplankton growth is abundant but is soon decomposed mineralized or consumed so that over the year the net effect is small accumulation and deposition of suspended matter occurs predominantly in only a few areas the waddensea the german bight the skagerrak norwegian channel the remainder of the north sea floor consists of pleistocene and early holocene relict deposits and of reworked sands and gravels the mechanisms resulting in accumulation and deposition are discussed there are strong indications that the amount of suspended matter flowing out from the north sea into the norwegian sea along the norwegian coast is only little more or the same as the amount coming in from the north atlantic although its composition may be different

carbon cycling and burial in the glacially influenced polar north atlantic 1 we have collated published records of carbon storage wt calcium carbonate and organic carbon in polar north atlantic sediments in order to assess the role that the glacial history of greenland and fennoscandia may have had on carbon cycling in this oceanographically important region the proportion of carbonate in sediment varies between 0 and 50 while that of organic carbon varies between 0 and 2 0 the spatial variation of the concentration and accumulation of both constituents is markedly different bulk accumulation shows a strong relationship with depth distance offshore and the location of major glacial outlets on neighboring landmasses therefore ice sheet dynamics and erosion influence carbon especially organic carbon storage strongly during the late weichselian 27 12 14c ka via their impact on sedimentation rates and constituents in contrast water mass characteristics are important in determining the pattern of carbon storage during the holocene carbonate fluxes to the polar north atlantic sediment column fall by 50 during glacials to 1 1 1013 kg kyr 1 but organic carbon storage is maintained at or greater than interglacial levels 4 6 1011 kg kyr 1 this represents a 100 change in the ratio of preserved inorganic to organic carbon when combined with reduced deep water ventilation respiration of this relatively greater organic carbon flux in both the water and sediment columns provides a good explanation for the observed periodic enhanced dissolution of carbonate in polar north atlantic late weichselian sections perhaps enhancing co2 storage in deep waters

concurrent evolution of 3he 4he ratio in the earth s mantle reservoirs for the first 2 ga the differences in 3he 4he ratios between mid oceanic ridge basalts morbs and ocean island basalts oibs require the existence of at least two distinct mantle reservoirs that have been preserved over long periods of the earth s history however it is unclear how the 3he 4he ratios have evolved in the mantle over time and when these reservoirs acquired their present day signatures here we report the results of our model calculation for helium evolution in the mantle and show that from the time of the earth s formation to the late archean 2 ga the 3he 4he ratios in both the morb and oib mantle reservoirs evolved in a rather homogeneous fashion in contrast to previous models our model suggests that the distinction in 3he 4he ratios between the morb type source and the plume type source is a relatively recent characteristic of the earth s mantle

radiocarbon constraints on ice sheet advance and retreat in the weddell sea antarctica we report here the results of a study aimed at providing radiometric age control on glacial events in the weddell sea during the late quaternary sediment cores from the eastern continental shelf where the east antarctic ice sheet was grounded have recovered glacial marine sediments resting on tills and the latter deposits predate the isotope stage 2 last glacial maximum sediment cores from the continental slope and rise sampled a prominent ice rafted debris layer and radiocarbon ages indicate that this ice rafting event took place prior to 26 000 yr b p thus the combined data indicate that significant deglaciation of the weddell sea continental shelf took place prior to the last glacial maximum our data also suggest that the ice masses that border the weddell sea are more extensive than they were during the previous glacial minimum

origin and consequences of cyclic ice rafting in the northeast atlantic ocean during the past 130 000 years deep sea sediment cores recovered from the northeast atlantic ocean were examined in order to elucidate the influence of the earth s orbital parameters on major ice rafting analyses of coarse grained ice rafted debris and planktonic foraminifers revealed a strong reaction to the precession signal since 130 000 yr b p dropstone layers have been deposited each half period of a precessional cycle 11 000 1000 yr ice rafting occurs during times of winter minimum summer maximum insolation and summer minimum winter maximum insolation in the first case high summer insolation forces meltwater discharge from the ice sheets into the polar seas which subsequently enhances formation of sea ice during the winter in the second case growth of continental ice enhances iceberg production which also leads to a salinity reduction of surface seawater both situations result in a southward penetration of polar water thus the marine record of dropstones documents ice rafting not only during weichselian stades but also during cold events within interstades the regularity of ice rafting yields a useful framework to calibrate and elucidate climatic changes not only in the region of the north atlantic ocean but also in remote areas such as the pacific ocean and the antarctic

dynamics of atlantic water advection to the norwegian greenland sea a time slice record of carbonate distribution in the last 300 ky abstract short term variability in volume and configuration of atlantic water advection to the norwegian greenland sea ngs has recently been identified as a new and significant element for northern hemisphere glacial interglacial climatic fluctuations the amount of salt heat and moisture transferred by atlantic waters to the high arctic effectively influences northern hemisphere climates and is critical for the overall oceanic turnover rate in particular determining the extent and duration of atlantic water intrusions in the ngs is essential because of 1 its effect on the climate of the nordic continents and 2 its trigger function on the stability of the ice sheets with a weak inflows of atlantic water during glacials promoting an increase in ice volume by moisture supply to polar areas and b positive feed back mechanisms of atlantic water intrusions during ice sheet decay in this study the dynamics of surface water mass regimes in the ngs have been reconstructed for the past 300 ky by means of time slice compilations of calcium carbonate distribution and micropaleontologic proxies in addition carbonate preservation records are used to quantify deep water ventilation and production rates in contrast to the climap scenario but in accordance with many recent publications results of this study indicate that atlantic water advection was also a common feature during most glacial periods but varied strongly in volume and configuration significant modes recognized are 1 the full interglacial mode with a wide inflow of warm atlantic waters covering a broad area in the eastern sector of the ngs and extending far north combined with excellent carbonate preservation and very efficient deep water formation stages 1 and 5 5 1 2 the moderate interglacial mode with a rather small extension of atlantic waters along a narrow corridor in the southeastern sector of the ngs but still very efficient deep water exchange stages 9 isotopic events 7 5 7 3 7 1 5 3 and 5 1 3 pronounced cool phases during interglacials with only a very narrow inflow of atlantic waters into the southeastern ngs while the coastal areas off norway were still affected by iceberg drift substages 7 4 and 5 2 carbonate preservation records indicate ongoing deep water formation in the ngs 4 the normal glacial mode characterized by a variable but persistent inflow of cool temperate atlantic water lower stage 8 repetitively during stages 6 4 3 1 and 2 carbonate preservation records indicate ongoing deep water formation in the ngs 5 short glacial and deglacial periods characterized by episodic high inputs of ird evidenced by a wide coverage of diamicton deposition and strong carbonate dissolution e g episodically within stages 10 6 and 2 the 6 5 4 3 and 2 1 transitions some of these ngs diamicton layers correlate with heinrich layers in the north atlantic but generally ngs diamicton layers occur more frequently than heinrich layers the role of atlantic water influence during these events remains enigmatic but atlantic water influence is frequently found just above and below these sections a scenario with rapid ice sheet disintegration induced by atlantic water advection via increase of the thermal regime along the ice margin possibly triggered by small scale sea level rise might be envisaged more obviously the short term cessation of deep water formation in the ngs as evidenced by the dissolution spikes may be correlated with contemporaneous ventilation minima in the north atlantic

the norwegian greenland sea continental margins morphology and late quaternary sedimentary processes and environment the continental margins surrounding the norwegian greenland sea are to a large degree shaped by processes during the late quaternary the paper gives an overview of the morphology and the processes responsible for the formation of three main groups of morphological features slides trough mouth fans and channels several large late quaternary slides have been identified on the eastern norwegian greenland sea continental margin the origin of the slides may be due to high sedimentation rates leading to a build up of excess pore water pressure perhaps with additional pressure caused by gas bubbles triggering might have been prompted by earthquakes or by decomposition of gas hydrates trough mouth fans tmf are fans at the mouths of transverse troughs on presently or formerly glaciated continental shelves in the norwegian greenland sea seven tmfs have been identified varying in area from 2700 km2 to 215 000 km2 the trough mouth fans are depocentres of sediments which have accumulated in front of ice streams draining the large northwest european ice sheets the sediments deposited at the shelf break upper slope by the ice stream were remobilized and transported downslope mostly as debris flows the trough mouth fans hold the potential for giving information about the various ice streams feeding them with regard to velocity and ice discharge two large deep sea channel systems have been observed along the norwegian continental margin the lofoten basin channel and the inbis channel along the east greenland margin several channel systems have been identified the deep sea channels may have been formed by dense water originating from cooling sea ice formation and brine rejection close to the glacier margin or they may originate from small slides on the upper slope transforming into debris flows and turbidity currents

source of sediment and sediment transport on the east coast of england significant or coincidental phenomena abstract some interesting coincidences occur in the geological phenomena of the eastcoast of england and the adjacent offshore areas of the north sea the boundaries between sands of different compositions on both the coast and in the offshore areas occur at approximately the same position furthermore that of the coastal sands coincides with a change in coastal quaternary geology both coastal and offshore boundaries between sands of different compositions are in the same general area as various dynamic boundaries of changing directions of coastal littoral drift offshore tidal current bed load partings for sand and inferred net sand transport changes due to lag effects produced by clockwise or anti clockwise tidal current vector rotation the relationships of the various phenomena indicates the likelihood of the importance of onshore transport along the lincolnshire coast and north norfolk coasts as far east as sheringham cromer area and offshore transport east of that location

geologic and topographic controls on fast flow in the laurentide and cordilleran ice sheets ice streams are fast flowing arteries which play a vital role in the dynamics and mass balance of present day ice sheets although not fully understood fast flow dynamics are intimately coupled with geologic topographic thermal and hydrologic conditions of the underlying bed these are difficult observables beneath contemporary ice sheets hindering elucidation of the processes which govern ice streaxn behavior for past ice sheets the problem is antithetic geologic evidence of former ice streams exists but spatim and temporal histories are uncertain however detailed knowledge of bed geology and topography is available in many places we take advantage of this information to compile terrain characteristics relevant to fast flow dynamics in the laurentide and cordilleran ice sheets using seed points where fast flowing wisconsinan ice has been geologically inferred discriminant analysis of a suite of north american geologic and topographic properties yields a concise measure of ice bed coupling strength our analysis suggests that the interior plains and continental shelf regions of north america have low basal coupling relative to areas of variable relief or exposed bedrock in the cordillera and on the canadian shield we conclude that the interior plains and continental shelves are both topographically and geologically predisposed to large scale basal flows i e ice streaxns or surge lobes this result holds independent of whether the mechanism of fast flow is sediment deformation or decoupled sliding over the bed

indications of long term episodic suspension transport of sand across the norfolk banks north sea abstract predicted 50 year maximum storm surge currents and the currents resulting from their combination with strong tidal currents are veered and amplified as they pass over the norfolk banks they therefore drive sand off the crest of well bank in a wide arc of directions between north east and south southwest this arc corresponds to that seen in the cross bedding dip directions known from the lee slope of well bank and to the northeasterly growth of the well bank the strength of these currents is such that some sand may even pass from bank to bank in the series this is facilitated by the proximity of the upper part of the sand banks to the sea surface such that their crests act as stepping stones where sand suspensions originate during storm surge episodes it is postulated that this new sand transport path oblique to the path of the peak tidal currents probably commences at the coast of east anglia and provides a route for transporting sand for up to about 100 km seaward

tidal and residual currents around a norfolk sandbank currents on either side of well bank were recorded for 41 days in may june 1981 in order to distinguish locally tidally generated asymmetries pertinent to maintenance of the bank from larger scale and wind driven flows semi diurnal currents were dominant nearly rectilinear and slightly inclined to the bank axis fourth diurnal currents were consistent with previously observed and computed fourth diurnal tides for the area overall amplitudes varied as the square of the semi diurnal amplitude hence they appear to be generated by tides but only a small part locally residual currents average over a tidal cycle were always in the sense of clock wise circulation around the bank consistent with simple models and giving strong evidence of local generation by tides this circulation combines with the semidiurnal currents to maintain the bank the slow increase of the residuals with the semi diurnal amplitude is interpreted as an effect of strong semi diurnal currents a persistent component onto the bank 7 m above the bottom at one position may indicate distortion of the frictional layer by the sloping bottom or by bank curvature

late quaternary architecture of trough mouth fans debris flows and suspended sediments on the norwegian margin abstract trough mouth fans are the main marine depocentres for glacier derived sediments in the polar north atlantic but their growth through the late quaternary is complex glacigenic debris flows gdfs are sourced from a common and homogeneous part of the upper fan and only develop as coherent individual flows after downslope transport their genesis and mode of deposition mean that gdfs are confined to particular areas of trough mouth fans accumulation of these subglacial sediments is controlled by a combination of margin glaciology and fan morphology although most of the fan sediment is deposited as gdfs during glacials considerable areas of trough mouth fans are dominated by sedimentation of suspension deposits associated with extensive meltwater release from a warm based ice sheet and probable contour current activity the depositional sequence of these two sediment types may be important in generating the long run out distances of gdfs which are initiated and sustained over low gradients furthermore emplacement of gdfs is interpreted to be a relatively low frequency event and temporally at least fans are not dominated by this mode of sediment emplacement whilst ice sheets are at the shelf break large scale trough mouth fan development is therefore asynchronous and non uniform a result of the interaction between glaciology morphology and oceanography

late weichselian submarine debris flow deposits on the bear island trough mouth fan sedimentary processes on the bear island trough mouth fan during the last glacial were studied using high resolution reflection seismics and gravity cores the fan succession is dominated by large debris flow deposits of up to 24 km in width and 50 m thick debris lobes can be followed over 100 km downslope and the largest cover an area of 1880 km2 the large debris flows were generated when the barents sea ice sheet reached the shelf break glacigenic sediments transported to the grounding line were temporarily stored on the upper slope due to the high sedimentation rate the sediments were unstable and earthquakes oversteepening and or build up of excess pore pressure triggered sediment release generating large debris flows sediments were also eroded and incorporated during the downslope flow debris flows were the most important sediment distributing process due to the relatively high shear strength low flow mobility of the glacigenic diamicton and the low fan gradient the weichselian evolution of the fan was characterized by a relatively low sedimentation rate during the early and mid weichselian the barents sea ice sheet might have reached the shelf break twice during the late weichselian on average one large debris flow comprising 18 km3 of sediments was released between every 35 to 75 years during the last glacial maximum

estimates of extreme conditions of tide and surge using a numerical model of the north west european continental shelf abstract estimates of extreme currents and water levels due to tides storm surges and their combination are required for the design of offshore structures and other purposes techniques are described which provide such estimates for the north west european continental shelf the techniques employ spatial distributions of tide and surge from an established numerical sea model and existing statistical analyses of coastal sea level data the assumptions embodied in the method are discussed and an indication given of the probable magnitude of the associated errors the few observational estimates available provide limited verification of the results

a noble gas study of cubic diamonds from zaire constraints on their mantle source cubic diamonds are known to contain fluid in submicrometer inclusions which are thought to originate from the mantle beneath the continental crust noble gas elemental and isotopic compositions of sixteen cubic diamonds from zaire are noticeably different from those in morb the 3he 4he ratios observed in the diamonds are 5 12 10 6 and lower than the typical morb value of 1 10 5 the 20ne 22ne ratios 11 and the 21ne 22ne ratios 0 06 show a rough linear correlation and have a slope that is lower than that defined for morb the excess 21ne responsible for the shallower slope may be produced by nuclear reactions either in the source mantle or in the fluid trapped in the diamonds a nucleogenic origin for excess 21ne in the cubic diamonds relative to morb is consistent with their lower 3he 4he ratios positively correlated excesses of 129xe and 131 136xe of up to 10 relative to the atmospheric xe ratios are also observed they are attributed to the decay of extinct 129i and to spontaneous fission of extinct 244pu and or extant 238u respectively xenon isotopic data for the cubic diamonds lie on the same correlation line as that defined for morb in the three isotope diagram of 136xe 130xe vs 129xe 130xe very high 40ar 36ar ratios of up to 35000 are found and are similar to the expected value for the morb source mantle from the 3he 4he and 40ar 36ar ratios some constraints can be made on the origin of cubic diamonds the observed ratios can be explained if the cubic diamonds crystallized in a fluid which separated from a mantle source previously enriched in incompatible elements this is consistent with the previously suggested model for the origin of fluid bearing diamonds the 38ar 36ar ratios in the cubic diamonds are slightly but significantly higher than the atmospheric ratio this high 38ar 36ar ratio may represent the primordial isotopic ratio preserved in the mantle alternatively the observed excess 38ar may be attributed to the nuclear reaction 35cl p 38ar in the fluid phase if the production rate of nucleogenic 38ar is about ten times higher than the previously reported value and the age of the fluid inclusions is quite old 109 yr

sedimentation beneath ice shelves the view from ice stream b abstract ice shelf development is favored by rapid flow of cold ice from outlet glaciers or ice streams into protected embayments with localized high spots basal melting of ice shelves is rapid near the ice front and may occur near the grounding line ice from outlet glaciers may contain significant englacial debris that is deposited as a dropstone diamicton in regions of basal melting englacial debris is sparse or absent in ice streams evidence from ice stream b draining into the ross ice shelf of west antarctica suggests that the rapid ice velocity arises from deformation of a several meter thick water saturated basal till layer that is eroding an unconformity on sediments beneath and that has deposited a till delta tens of meters thick and tens of kilometers long at the grounding line sea level fall would cause conveyor belt recycling of this till delta and grounding line advance across the ross sea to the edge of the continental shelf forming an ice sheet with a low ice stream profile resting on a several meter thick deforming till layer eroding an unconformity the modern ross sea is characterized by a regional unconformity overlain by a diamicton of probable latest pliocene pleistocene age measuring several meters to tens of meters thick we hypothesize that this diamicton is a deformed glacial till and that the ross sea sediments record one or more expansions of the till lubricated west antarctic ice sheet to the edge of the continental shelf

the east greenland continental margin 65 n since the last deglaciation changes in seafloor properties and ocean circulation nine gravity cores collected on the east greenland continental margin off kangerdlugssuaq fjord reveal a drastic decrease in average sedimentation rates from the cross shelf through the continental slope from 43 2 cm kyrs to 2 2 cm kyrs respectively since the last deglaciation beginning at 2g cm2kyrs at 4000 yrs b p both caco3 and non caco3 accumulation rates became high g cm2kyrs since 3000 yrs b p these rates distinctly decreased melting of glaciers and current activity which drastically changed in space and time controlled the terrigenous sediment input and thus the grain size distribution and the physical properties of sediments across the shelf these observations suggest that current winnowing on sediments is one of the dominant processes at present this is seen in the acoustic reflectivity and in the acoustically hard seafloor particularly at the upper continental slope in addition icebergs transported southward along the continental margin have scoured the sediment surface in water depths 350m

helium neon and argon systematics of the european subcontinental mantle implications for its geochemical evolution in this study we present a comprehensive noble gas study of mantle xenoliths from various european cenozoic volcanic provinces the main body of samples is from the massif central france and the eifel germany smaller subsets of samples are from spitsbergen and the graz basin austria in all the helium neon and argon isotopic abundances of a total of forty five mantle xenoliths phenocrysts and xenocrysts were determined the 3he 4he ratios within each volcanic province are very uniform irrespective of the diverse lithologies and p t conditions which are represented by our sample suite mean 3he 4he ratios of the massif central eifel spitsbergen and kapfenstein are 6 53 25 6 03 14 6 65 25 and 6 1 7 1 times the atmospheric ratio ra respectively the strontium and neodymium isotopic composition of some of the cpx separates are highly variable and therefore in contrast to the uniform he signature we thus conclude that he and probably also the other noble gases in the xenoliths are effectively decoupled from the non volatile elements therefore the he signature that is preserved in the xenoliths is actually that of their host magmas published strontium neodymium and lead isotope data of the unevolved host magmas of the xenoliths correlate well with our xenolith he data the position of the fields of the investigated volcanic provinces in hesr hend and hepb variation diagrams depict ternary mixtures between dmm em himu endmembers as the source the host magmas and their volatiles the neon isotopic composition of the gases released from the xenoliths is in most cases atmospheric and probably reflects atmospheric contamination only a few samples reveal indications for morb type ne or evidence of mass fractionation the 40ar 36ar ratios of the xenoliths are mostly radiogenic with the highest ratio being 17 000 however all samples have suffered a certain degree of atmospheric contamination we calculate that the uncontaminated 40ar 36ar ratio of the european subcontinental mantle is 30 000 the4he 40ar ratios have been fractionated since with values around 0 25 they are below both the current production ratio and the morb ratio they cannot be explained by atmospheric contamination as the samples with high 40ar 36ar ratios also have low 4he 40ar ratios helium and ar were probably fractionated during initial closed system degassing of the host magma we calculate the original unfractionated 4he 40ar ratios of the massif central and eifel magma source which are 2 56 18 and 2 71 17 respectively the noble gas systematics are compatible with the notion that addition of crustal material has modified a former morb source signature we use our mean 3he 4 he ratios and reconstructed 4he 40ar ratios to model the time and degree of contamination of a morb like source with crustal material combining our model with evidence from published oxygen strontium neodymium and lead isotope data we judge that the source of the massif central and eifel magmas became enriched in k u and th shortly prior or during the variscan orogeny pre collisional collisional in this case the enrichment in these elements is therefore most probably related to subduction of crustal material in a destructive continental margin setting

the glacier influenced scoresby sund fan east greenland continental margin evidence from gloria and 3 5 khz records a major submarine fan gradient about 2 offshore of the scoresby sund fjord system is indicated by the crescentic shape of the shelf break gloria long range side scan sonar imagery was obtained over about 20 000 km2 of the fan along with 1000 km of 3 5 khz records three acoustic facies were defined from gloria backscatter signatures and sea floor morphology and sediment acoustic character on 3 5 khz records facies 1 includes a series of acoustically transparent features 0 5 2 km in width elongate downslope with irregular surface topography which are interpreted as debris flows this makes up the bulk of relatively recent sedimentation on the upper fan diamictic sediments in a core support a debris flow origin facies 2 is featureless on gloria images 3 5 khz profiles reveal irregular former sea floor morphology above which is a draping unit 15 m thick this northern region of the fan is a less active area where hemipelagic sediments and limited ice rafted debris overlie older material formed by past debris flow activity the more distal area of the adjacent ocean basin has a flat floor with parallel sub bottom reflectors of facies 3 this facies is probably an area of low energy hemipelagic sedimentation punctuated by occasional ice rafting and turbidity current activity the debris flows interpreted from gloria and 3 5 khz data are basic building blocks in the long term development of the scoresby sund fan glacier influenced fan volume is about 15 000 5000 km3 based on seismic reflection studies during full glacials in east greenland the inland ice sheet advances to fill the scoresby sund fjord system and extends across the shelf to reach the shelf break in some glacial cycles debris flows form in areas of most rapid sediment flux the scoresby sund fan is relatively similar to the storfjorden fan on the eastern polar north atlantic margin but differs from the larger bear island fan in having a steeper fan gradient much smaller debris flows and no large scale slides

paleoceanography of the last interglacial glacial cycle in the polar north atlantic abstract using to its position close to the sites of waxing and waning of the major northern hemisphere ice sheets during the late quaternary climatic cycles the polar north atlantic plays a key role in driving global change therefore analyzing the present day sedimentation processes and reconstructing the late quaternary paleoceanography in this region has been a focus of major scientific interest through the last fifteen years this paper aims to combine the vast amount of new results about modern sediment fluxes surface sediment distribution and the paleoceanographic record and to present a comprehensive overview of the paleoceanography in the polar north atlantic through the last 200 000 years which is based on the basinwide analysis of carbonate and ice rafted detritus records during the last fifteen years the climap paleoceanographic view of the glacial polar north atlantic as an almost permanently isolated sea covered by heavy sea ice throughout the year has been shifted to a much more dynamic view of the environmental conditions a meridional current system similar to the present day conditions secured the exchange of water ice and heat between the polar north atlantic and the alantic and arctic oceans although affected by variations in strength and intensity this meridional current pattern resulted in an almost permanent presence of at least some seasonally ice free areas with all the consequences for e g marine life and deep water formation in addition the development of the continental ice sheets namely the fennoscandian and the barents sea ice sheets is closely related to this dynamic circulation pattern during the so called nordway events the pronounced inflow of temperate waters from the south provided moisture for the growth of the ice sheets the most prominent of these events stage 6 stage 4 and substage 3 1 2 ended in major glaciations reflected in the terrestrial sequences and in the deep sea ird records

depositional regimes in the norwegian greenland sea the last two glacial to interglacial transitions various models of surface and deep water circulation in the norwegian greenland sea ngs have been proposed for the last two glacial to interglacial transitions although much progress has been made in understanding the sedimentary response to climatic and oceanographic changes conflicting interpretations have been developed to clarify some of these discrepancies and to test or modify the existing circulation concepts a multiparameter approach is applied combining sedimentological micropaleontological organic geochemical and isotopic methods on the basis of indicative properties a combined litho and organofacies concept is developed and calibrated with modern depositional settings beneath different surface water masses sedimentary regimes are then derived for glacial and deglacial settings

noble gas constraints on the evolution of the atmosphere mantle system abstract we present a model on the evolution of atmosphere mantle system assuming a significant degassing from the less depleted mantle based on the recent results of the he ar systematics proposed by matsuda and marty 1995 the degassing fluxes of noble gases are represented by the concentrations in the mass flow which follows the model of porcelli and wasserburg 1995a porcelli and wasserburg 1995b however we have not assumed the steady state and have assumed the mass transfer as an exponential function of time the degassed amount from the less depleted mantle is related to the mixed amount of mass between the less depleted mantle and the depleted mantle the amount of mixing is constrained from the k abundances in each mantle reservoir consequently the degassed amount from the less depleted mantle is also constrained the following conclusions are obtained from this model the initial elemental ratio 3 he 36 ar is likely to be in cosmic abundances and the initial concentration of 36 ar in the earth is constrained to be 1 10 12 atoms g the present fraction of 36 ar in the depleted mantle reservoir is calculated to be at most 2 4 10 3 of the initial inventory the 40 ar 36 ar ratio in this reservoir is estimated to be less than 1 3 1 4 10 5 the less depleted mantle reservoir also degassed and the present amount of 36 ar is calculated to be at most 1 3 10 1 of the initial inventory the 40 ar 36 ar ratio in the less depleted mantle reservoir is estimated to be less than 3 7 10 4 to explain the difference between the neon isotopic ratios in the atmosphere and those observed in the mantle rocks isotopic fractionation during the escape from the atmosphere and or significant contribution of late accreted materials possessing planetary ne is necessary in our model ne degassing from both mantle reservoirs would have provided at least 50 90 times the amount of 22 ne in the present atmosphere therefore the fraction supplied by late accreted material would be negligible which is contrary to the model proposed by porcelli and wasserburg 1995b we conclude that isotopic fractionation model during escape from the atmosphere provides the best fit to the observations

the andoya slide and the andoya canyon north eastern norwegian greenland sea based on gloria side scan sonar imagery echo sounder records 3 5 khz profiles multichannel seismics and gravity cores the andoya slide and andoya canyon north eastern norwegian greenland sea were mapped and interpreted the andoya slide covers an area of about 9700 km2 of which the slide scar area comprise ca 3600 km2 the slide has a total run out distance of about 190 km slope failure is inferred to have occurred during the holocene because the slide scar has prominent relief on the present sea floor the area of sediment removal is characterised by an irregular relief were relatively consolidated sediments are exposed at the sea floor little or no unconsolidated sediments overlies the slide deposits earthquake activity is inferred to have triggered the slide a holocene age of the andoya slide implies that three giant slides the storegga traenadjupet and andoya slides have occurred along the continental slope of norway during the last 10 000 years a large canyon the andoya canyon is located immediately south of the andoya slide on the upper slope the canyon has been incised about 1000 m in the bedrock and the maximum width at the bottom and between the canyon shoulders is 2 and 12 km respectively the andoya canyon represents the upper part of the lofoten basin channel based on analogy with other deep sea canyon channel systems the andoya canyon lofoten basin channel is possibly of pre quaternary age holocene sediments recovered from within the canyon and draping the flanking channel deposits indicate that the andoya canyon is not presently active and has probably not been active during the holocene during the holocene the canyon acted as a trap for sediments settling from the winnowing norwegian current

glacigenic debris flows on the north sea trough mouth fan during ice stream maxima abstract numerous short sediment cores which penetrate through the glacimarine section and into glacigenic debris flow debrites gdfs on the north sea fan are investigated the sampled gdfs represent the uppermost of several sequences of these stacked bodies many hundreds of metres thick the gdfs occurred over slopes from 0 3 to 0 7 and examples are found from the shelf break at the mouth of the norwegian channel to the norway basin floor 300 km distant the gdf diamicts are structureless and homogeneous in terms of grain size magnetic susceptibility nrm bulk density water carbonate foraminiferal and rock fragment content this applies both from gdf to gdf across the fan and in a proximal distal sense comparison of the investigated lithologic parameters with weichselian till from a borehole in the norwegian channel 200 km up ice shows striking similarity to the gdf debrites ams 14c dates at the gdf glacimarine contact and stratigraphic relationships indicate voluminous deposition before 18 ka continuing possibly uninterrupted until ca 16 ka and a final phase halting just before 15 ka when the norwegian channel became ice free this chronology the comparable lithologic character between till and gdf debrites and a seismic continuity confirms inferences that the gdfs are directly associated with glacial ice at the shelf break the glacial efflux has not been subject to subsequent sorting and the homogeneity of the gdf is thought to reflect thorough mixing in a deforming till layer beneath a fast flowing ice stream the glacimarine section subsequent to gdfs shows no indications of turbidity flow observations are compatible with a slow non disintegrating cohesive plug flow transport mechanism with little sediment water interaction on the upper surface minor distal differentiation might reflect a change in flow process deposition on the fan margins from water borne glacimarine processes simultaneous with gdf deposition is limited

depositional facies of late pleistocene heinrich events in the labrador sea late pleistocene heinrich ice rafting events produced layers rich in ice rafted debris in major parts of the north atlantic north of 40 n a high detrital carbonate content points to the hudson strait outlet of the laurentide ice sheet as a dominant source of the icebergs heinrich events were coupled with short term climate fluctuations during the last and penultimate glaciations and provide evidence for cryosphere hydrosphere atmosphere interaction in pleistocene climate change an unsolved problem with heinrich layers has been their high concentration of fine grained detrital carbonate 80 of the total detrital carbonate which cannot have been delivered by icebergs alone we propose combinations of different processes that deposited four sedimentologically different types of heinrich layers ice rafting alone for the coarser sand to gravel sized fractions and the fine fractions in distal regions type iv heinrich layers whereas nepheloid flows deposited the bulk of the fine sediment in regions proximal to the hudson strait type i heinrich layers on the labrador slope turbidity currents spilling over from canyons were also involved in transporting the fine grained carbonate rich material causing an alternation of mud turbidites and thin laminae of ice rafted debris in type ii heinrich layers on the levees of the northwest atlantic mid ocean channel the thickness relationship is reversed mud turbidites deposited by occasional spillover of currents from the channel are thin and alternate with thicker laminae of ice rafted debris type iii heinrich layers

fossil contourites a critical review abstract despite three decades of study there is still great controversy over the recognition and interpretation of fossil contourites exposed in ancient series on land in order to best examine this problem we briefly review the evidence from modern systems including the many examples of cenozoic contourites that have been recovered from dsdp odp drilling on major drifts in the present day oceans the range of contourite facies described from both deep water 2000 m and mid water 300 2000 m drifts are mostly fine grained bioturbated and homogeneous often with a distinct bedding cyclicity and with some coarser grained sandy contourites developed under higher energy bottom currents there are also a number of current controlled sediment bodies that have formed in outer shelf upper slope settings 50 300 m under the influence of counter currents underflows and major surface currents these are not considered contourites sensu stricto but may be mistaken as such in ancient examples the most commonly described fossil contourites in the literature have been interpreted by the authors concerned as bottom current reworked turbidites however a critical review suggests that these are the facies most subject to misinterpretation and many of the sediments claimed as fossil contourites are almost certainly fine grained turbidites whereas others were more likely formed under outer shelf upper slope current systems there remain very few ancient examples that are more closely comparable to modern contourites these include the cretaceous talme yafe formation in israel the ordovician jiuxi drift in china and parts of the paleogene lefkara formation cyprus and the neogene misaki formation in japan we present a set of possible criteria for the recognition of fossil contourites and bottom current reworked turbidites

ice sheet numerical modeling and marine geophysical measurements of glacier derived sedimentation on the eurasian arctic continental margins long range side scan sonar images of the barents sea continental margin have been analyzed in conjunction with results from previous geophysical investigations to determine a qualitative model for sedimentation over the bear island and storfjorden trough mouth fans these data indicate that gravity driven debris flows are major processes in the downslope transport of glacial material delivered to the shelf break when ice sheets advanced across the continental shelf during late weichselian time 4000 km 3 of sediments were deposited over the bear island fan 280 000 km 2 while 700 km 3 of sediments were deposited over the storfjorden fan 40 000 km 2 a numerical ice sheet model including sediment deformation and transport beneath ice streams reconstructs the glacial conditions required to transport large volumes of sediment to the late weichselian eurasian continental margin model results indicate that glaciation of the eurasian high arctic occurred after 28 ka and that ice streams within bathymetric troughs were active by ca 25 ka the maximum ice sheet thickness over the barents sea was about 1400 m there was a secondary dome 1 0 13 cm yr 1 averaged over the fan the rate was 6 cm yr 1 equivalent to 0 6 cm yr 1 over the fan over the storfjorden trough mouth the modeled sediment volume at the continental margin of the bear island and storfjorden troughs agrees well with the volumes of late weichselian sediment inferred from seismic records from these large prograding submarine fans sensitivity experiments show that adjustments to model environmental inputs do not significantly affect the results

late weichselian depositional processes fluxes and sediment volumes on the margins of the norwegian sea 62 75 n abstract quaternary continental margin sedimentation in the norwegian greenland sea has been a response to a combination of tectonic oceanographic and glacial activity using geophysical survey data 6 5 khz side scan sonar and 3 5 khz penetration echo sounding in association with bathymetric datasets the magnitude and frequency of the main forms of margin sedimentation into the lofoten and norwegian basins of the norwegian sea during the late weichselian and holocene are estimated by comparing these geophysically determined estimates of sediment fluxes with numerically modelled ice sheet sediment delivery the role of ice sheets in shaping the processes acting on this margin is assessed sediment flux at the shelf edge during the late quaternary is dominated by ice sheet delivery of sediments focused at the mouths of fast flowing ice streams formed in bathymetric troughs interglacials are by contrast characterised by comparatively little sediment accumulation submarine fans at the margins of cross shelf troughs are major depocentres on this glacier influenced margin however occasional large scale failures of the continental slope account for approximately 75 of the basin sediment accumulation during the past 30 000 yr by eroding substantial quantities of pre quaternary deposits trough mouth fan and a combination of hemipelagic and glacimarine processes are responsible for the accumulation of the remaining 15 and 7 of basin sediments respectively

the origin of massive diamicton facies by iceberg rafting and scouring scoresby sund east greenland almost 90 of 39 m of core material recovered from scoresby sund and the adjacent east greenland shelf is massive diamicton interpreted to be formed predominantly by the release of iceberg rafted debris and reworking by iceberg scouring there is also likely to be a contribution from suspension settling of fines derived from glaciofluvial sources model calculations suggest that the 14c derived holocene sedimentation rate of 0 1 0 3 m 1000 yr 1 in scoresby sund can be accounted for mainly by iceberg rafting of debris a further 4 of core material is of gravel or coarse sand lenses interpreted to reflect iceberg dumping of debris intensive iceberg scouring which reworks sea floor sediments is observed on acoustic records from over 30 000 km2 of the scoresby sund fiord system and the adjacent east greenland shelf 69 72 n and 75 n the rate of iceberg production from greenland ice sheet outlet glaciers and iceberg drift tracks on the shelf suggests that iceberg rafting and scouring may be important over a significant proportion of the 500 000 km2 area above the shelf break the relatively extensive modern occurrence of massive diamicton formed by iceberg rafting and scouring together with suspension settling of fines suggests that it may also be a significant facies in the glacier influenced geological record the recognition in the geological record of the massive diamicton facies described above may also indicate the former presence of fast flowing ice sheet outlet glaciers

history of a stable ice margin east greenland during the middle and upper pleistocene abstract the east greenland record of glaciation and environmental change is based on a combination of onshore and offshore studies glaciological work on contemporary outlet glaciers provides background for interpreting the glaciation styles of the past the scoresby sund fjord system the single largest outlet of the inland ice in east greenland and the adjacent continental shelf and slope were the main working areas the regionality of these results was tested with onshore and offshore work on sites further to the north in the east greenland fjord zone the record spans the period since isotope stage 7 ca 240 ka the most extensive glaciation phases were the lollandselv and scoresby sund glaciations isotope stages 7 and 6 the langelandselv interglaciation isotope substage 5e comprises shallow marine sediments at more than 20 sites onshore and cibicides wuellerstorfii carrying sediments on the continental slope summer temperatures were 2 3 warmer than the holocene optimum and there was vigorous advection of warm atlantic water into the fjords the warm period seems to be accompanied by a eustatic sea level rise of ca 20 m during the weichselian there were three major glacier advances the aucellaelv jyllandselv and flakkerhuk stades isotope substages 5d 5b and stages 3 2 all three advances mark a shift from one topographically determined stable position to another in each phase the glaciers occupied almost the same space in the fjord basins and had their fronts on the inner shelf but the glacial regime and duration was different the aucellaelv stade lasted ca 10 ka and the regime resembled that of present day outlet glaciers 600 km further to the north the flakkerhuk stade lasted for ca 50 ka but left only thin and sporadic till as well as glaciolacustrine sediments in ice dammed river valleys the regime was polar similar to present day glaciers in antarctica its culmination the last glacial maximum in the period between 22 and 14 ka is shown by a maximum in ird deposition on the continental slope after 12 ka and before 10 ka the outer fjord basins in the southern fjord zone had been abandoned by the glaciers and at ca 9 5 ka the last resurgence the milne land stade had ended

bioturbation and holocene sediment accumulation fluxes in the north east atlantic ocean benthic boundary layer experiment sites bioturbation and holocene sediment accumulation are quantified in the three experimental areas of the benthic boundary layer benbo programme by means of the natural radionuclides 14c and 210pb and the artificial radionuclides 137cs and 241am the holocene accumulation rates determined by the radiocarbon method are 4 4 and 6 5 cm kyr 1 at sites b rockall plateau 1100 m water depth and c feni drift 1925 m water depth respectively accumulation at site a situated between feni drift and porcupine bank at 3570 m water depth was interrupted by an erosional event in the mid holocene which removed 0 25 m or more of the uppermost sediment present at that time the estimated accumulation rate since that event is 2 1 cm kyr 1 different estimates of surficial bioturbation mixing depths at site b are returned by the 210pbexcess and 14c methods with the former indicating 10 cm and the latter unusually deep at 17 cm at site c 210pbexcess and the fallout radionuclides 137cs and 241am are present in two distinctly separated depth zones with the deepest mixing down to 15 cm similar to the 14c mixed layer depth this is ascribed to deep burrowing by sipunculid or echiuran worms at site c and similar deep mixing is inferred to be necessary at site b to produce the differences in mixed layer depths derived from the longer and shorter lived radionuclide profiles although the deep burrowing episodes must be rare 1 event per 102 yr the greater accumulation rate at site c compared with site b is produced by an enhanced flux of current driven clay and silt sized material this fine material both dilutes the caco3 content of the site c sediment and is responsible for the higher corg content observed at site c compared with site b unlike the site b and c sediments which are fine grained the coarse 63 125 m size fraction is the most abundant size class in the late holocene sediments at site a suggesting that the sediments at this location are winnowed

the early cambrian bradore formation of southeastern labrador and adjacent parts of quebec architecture and genesis of clastic strata on an early paleozoic wave swept shallow marine shelf abstract strata of the bradore formation have been interpreted in terms of a marine transgression developed at the onset of spreading of iapetus ocean with a basal member of fluvial origin a middle member of lagoonal origin and an upper member of tidal channel origin in labrador the formation rests directly on a low relief surface developed on metamorphic rocks of the grenville orogen with no well developed paleosoils re examination of the architecture of pebbly sandstones in the basal blanc sablon member indicate that these formed on an open storm influenced wave swept shelf as part of a low relief sand sheet with evidence of multiple accretionary events structure in sandstones in the middle crow head member is largely obscured by a high density of skolithos linearis domichnia abundance of hummocky cross stratification indicates deepening with a transition to an open storm influenced shallow shelf large scale cross stratification in the glauconite bearing upper l anse au clair member reflects shoaling with a return to deposition of medium scale marine sandwave complexes with no clear evidence of any tidal signature strata of the bradore formation were at least partly lithified prior to deposition of reefal and platformal carbonates in the overlying forteau formation paleocurrent indicators in the upper and lower members suggests that during the initial drift phase of iapetus this segment st lawrence promontory of the laurentian margin was swept by both geostrophic and storm influenced currents largely oriented parallel to the paleocoastline

sedimentology and stratigraphy of a tidal sand bank in the southern north sea abstract a set of 125 vibrocores collected on the basis of a dense grid of high and very high resolution seismic coverage over a tidal sand bank the middelkerke bank provides a unique opportunity to reconstruct the stratigraphy and sedimentary facies succession of such a large tidal sand body five sedimentary facies are distinguished they range from clay to pebble and display various types of bedding and lithologies corresponding to different depositional environments a succession of four late quaternary units are defined on the basis of the stratigraphic framework given by the seismic grid the first unit represents the infill of a palaeovalley system by tidally influenced sedimentary facies it is followed by extensive and thick lagoonal or sub tidal deposits the third unit reveals the development of a landward prograding storm dominated sand bar this unit is dominated by clean fine sand the last unit corresponds to the present day tidal sand bank it shows the typical offshore tidal sand bank facies cross bedded sand prograding in an offshore direction like other banks located in a more offshore position the middelkerke bank is a composite bank incorporating facies which do not occur in classic tidal sand banks

glacimarine sedimentary processes and facies on the polar north atlantic margins abstract major contrasts in the glaciological oceanic and atmospheric parameters affecting the polar north atlantic both over space between its eastern and western margins and through time from full glacial to interglacial conditions have lead to the deposition of a wide variety of sedimentary facies in these ice influenced seas the dynamics of the glaciers and ice sheets on the hinterlands surrounding the polar north atlantic have exterted a major influence on the processes rates and patterns of sedimentation on the continental margins of the norwegian and greenland seas over the late cenozoic the western margin is influenced by the cold east greenland current and the svalbard margin by the northernmost extent of the warm north atlantic drift and the passage of relatively warm cyclonic air masses in the fjords of spitsbergen and the northwestern barents sea glacial meltwater is dominant in delivering sediments in the fjords of east greenland the large numbers of icebergs produced from fast flowing outlets of the greenland ice sheet play a more significant role in sedimentation during full glacials sediments are delivered to the shelf break from fast flowing ice streams which drain huge basins within the parent ice sheet large prograding fans located on the continental slope offshore of these ice streams are made up of stacked debris flows large scale mass failures turbidity currents and gas escape structures also rework debris in continental slope and shelf settings even during interglacials both the margins and the deep ocean basins beyond them retain a glacimarine overprint derived from debris in far travelled icebergs and sea ice under full glacial conditions the glacier influence is correspondingly stronger and this is reflected in the glacial and glacimarine facies deposited at these times

metallogeny of the sarsuk polymetallic au deposit in the ashele basin altay orogenic belt xinjiang nw china constraints from mineralogy fluid inclusions and he ar isotopes the sarsuk polymetallic au deposit is located in the devonian volcano sedimentary ashele basin of the altay orogenic belt aob xinjiang mineralization in the deposit is confined to an area of 400 m long and 50 120 m wide and occurs as dense massive banded disseminated stockwork and veinlet ore structures exhalative sedimentary subvolcanic hydrothermal and supergene periods have been distinguished although syn depositional ores can be found the main orebodies from this period have been eroded thus the orebodies being mined are hosted mainly in a rhyolite porphyry subvolcanic intrusion within the volcanic conduit of a hydrothermal system electron microprobe analysis of the main ore minerals indicates that pyrite is the main au bearing mineral the au occurs mainly as either inclusions or in fissures in the form of tellurides and is closely associated with ag zn fe ratios of sphalerite vary from 11 37 to 251 36 with an average of 96 65 and the formation temperatures of chlorites are 155 206 c with an average of 175 c the compositions of sphalerite and chlorite indicate that the main mineralization occurred in a low to moderate temperature environment homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions from ores of the main mineralization stage vary generally from 130 c to 390 c with peaks at 140 c 190 c and 310 c their corresponding salinities range from 3 0 to 10 0 wt nacl equivalent with densities from 0 56 to 1 03 g cm3 the main mineralizing fluid of the deposit is characterized by high low temperatures moderate low salinities and moderate low densities the 3he 4he ratios of fluid inclusions in pyrite are 0 02 to 0 44 ra and the percentage of mantle derived he ranges from 0 06 to 7 45 40ar 36ar ratios range from 319 6 to 458 5 and the percentage of 40ar varies from 7 53 to 35 55 both fluid characteristics and he and ar isotope compositions suggest that the ore forming fluids were a mixture of magmatic fluid and seawater the co2 rich fluids in the ores suggest that boiling occurred the mixing of a high temperature and high pressure magmatic fluid with deeply circulating seawater caused a decrease in temperature and phase separation in the ore forming fluids thus the precipitation of the most economically important ore materials was the result of this mixing process

iceberg scouring in scoresby sund and on the east greenland continental shelf modern and relict scours produced by iceberg keels have been reported from a number of high latitude continental shelves in the northern hemisphere and antarctica but observations are largely absent from the east greenland shelf about 18 km3 yr 1 of icebergs are calved into the scoresby sund fjord system east greenland these icebergs have submarine keels with drafts up to 550 m modern iceberg contacts with the sea floor are inferred from calculated keel depths and stationary icebergs identified on sequential landsat imagery acoustic profiles parasound 3 5 khz of the sea floor show that scouring is a significant process in water depths 550 m iceberg scouring intensity varies inversely with water depth the most intense scouring occurs at depths of 300 400 m iceberg scours were observed on over 25 000 km2 of the east greenland shelf at 69 72 n and 75 n scours are being actively produced on the modern shelf but relict scours probably dating back to the late weichselian are also present the rate of iceberg production from greenland ice sheet outlet glaciers and iceberg drift tracks on the shelf suggests that iceberg scouring is important over a significant proportion of the 500 000 km2 area above the shelf break around greenland

continental slope sedimentation adjacent to an ice margin iii the upper labrador slope abstract the upper labrador slope is the key area for sediment transfer from the northeastern margin of the pleistocene laurentide ice sheets lis to the deep basin it is subdivided from north to south into 8 sectors based on relief differences and echo character on 750 line km of continuous sleeve gun and 3 5 khz seismic profiles high to moderate relief sectors 2 and 4 and in part 6 and 8 are seismically transparent and well stratified with continuous individual high amplitude reflections and deep penetration low relief sectors 1 3 5 and 7 show strong bottom reflections and with the exception of sector 1 low seismic penetration poor stratification and low amplitude if any subbottom reflections the lateral distribution of these alternating high to moderate and low relief sectors reflects fundamental differences in the sediment transfer mechanisms through outlets from the lis onto the slope low relief slope sectors represent debrite and turbidite slopes and are located in front of ice outlets on the slope and adjacent regions to the north they originate from mass wasting on the upper slope of glacial detritus with a significant coarse component originally delivered as englacial or subglacial material and deposited in end moraines or as bedload by subglacial or supraglacial rivers high to moderate relief sectors originate from fall out of suspended sediment from turbid surface plumes tsp and preferentially occur off the southern half of outlets and south of major outlets as exemplified by sector 2 south of the hudson strait outlet this asymmetry is caused by the south flowing labrador current which entrains the buoyantly rising turbid meltwater plumes at the glacier front the present high relief topography which shows a dendritic pattern of upslope canyon branching is the result of retrograde headward canyon erosion by mass wasting processes of an originally much smoother mud blanket surface the sediment is remobilized by slumping and entrained in debris flows and turbidity currents the occurrence of tsp deposits on the high to moderate relief upper slope sectors requires a summer sea surface not frozen over during major parts of the pleistocene including glacial maxima tps deposition on the upper slope ice rafting and a plethora of ice margin depositional phenomena many of which give rise to mass wasting and mass flow phenomena are the main features that make high latitude continental slopes adjacent to continental ice sheets different from their lower latitude counterparts

helium isotopic evidence for a lower mantle component in depleted archean komatiite archean magnesium rich komatiites require hot and presumably deep mantle sources but their trace element composition and radiogenic isotope composition are similar to those of modern mid ocean ridge basalts which originate in the upper mantle the isotopic composition of helium extracted by sequential crushing of fresh olivines separated from two archean and one mid proterozoic komatiites varies over three orders of magnitude between a radiogenic end member rich in helium 4 and a component rich in helium 3 such helium 3 enrichment suggests the presence of a lower mantle component in archean komatiites

helium and argon isotope systematics of the central lau basin and valu fa ridge evidence of crust mantle interactions in a back arc basin abstract we report helium and argon isotope analyses of fresh lau basin volcanic glasses from six sites within the central basin 18 s six localities along the valu fa ridge 21 22 4 s and a single site from the northeastern basin 15 s central basin basalts have 3 he 4 he ratios r between 8 2 8 5 r a r a air 3 he 4 he 40 ar 36 ar ratios significantly greater than atmosphere up to 4900 and 4he contents from 3 5 9 4 10 6cm3 stp g similar to n morbs worldwide these results are consistent with trace element and other radiogenic isotope data on these samples which indicate derivation from a depleted mantle source region in contrast evolved lavas from the valu fa ridge all have r r a and show evidence of mixing with a component rich in radiogenic helium there is a clear relationship between the 3 he 4 he ratios of these samples and their chemistry basaltic andesites have 6 02 r c r a andesites have lower ratios 2 37 2 65 ra and a dacite has the lowest value of the entire sample suite 1 19 ra all lavas have 40 ar 36 ar ratios similar to the atmospheric value and low helium concentrations from 3 11 10 8cm3 stp g or between 30 and 300 times less than the central basin basalts although the helium isotope results of the valu fa lavas mirror the shift to more radiogenic values of other isotope systems e g 206 pb 204 pb 87 sr 86 sr which indicate addition of subducted sediment to these magma sources we find no evidence that the radiogenic helium has a mantle or slab derivation or is in any way coupled to these other tracers instead the most plausible mechanism to explain its incorporation into the valu fa lavas is by assimilation of old lau crust in the near surface environment by previously degassed magma we argue that this mechanism has general applicability and can explain a number of hitherto apparently paradoxical geochemical features of some back arc and ocean ridge lavas such as their high volatile and lil element contents with low rare gas concentrations and their mantle 3 he 4 he ratios with hydrated oceanic crustal d h values the realisation that the helium and argon systematics of the valu fa lavas are controlled by crust mantle interactions has important implications for distinguishing between a number of models proposed for the formation of such evolved lavas and we show that fractional crystallisation processes can most readily account for the low concentrations of and systematic trends in the mantle derived helium and argon component of these lavas in addition because pre existing crust in the lau basin must be old and or altered enough to supply the radiogenic helium and atmospheric like 40 ar 36 ar component to the valu fa lavas the occurrence of crust mantle interactions implies that old forearc crust may have been trapped within the lau basin such a scenario has a clear bearing on ideas of the tectonic development of the basin finally because of the potential of crust mantle interactions to modify 3 he 4 he and 40 ar 36 ar ratios of mantle derived melts we assess the implications for using he and ar tracers to characterise mantle sources in arcs back arcs and spreading ridges and consider the consequences for the combined use of rare gases with other radiogenic isotopic tracers of magma provenance at such settings the basaltic andesite from the northeastern basin may also be influenced by the same kind of crustal interaction as the valu fa lavas as it falls within the 3 he 4 he range 6 9ra of the other basaltic andesites interestingly other helium isotope studies indicate that this part of the basin is characterised by a wide range in 3 he 4 he ratios from morb values up to 22ra the low 3 he 4 he ratio of the basaltic andesite therefore serves to illustrate the possible effects of magma chamber processes on the rare gas and other volatile characteristics of hotspot lavas an observation which is important not only for this part of the lau basin but for other localities worldwide

benthic pelagic coupling in the greenland norwegian sea and its effect on the geological record the sedimentation pattern of organic material in the greenland norwegian sea is reflected in the surface sediments although less than 0 5 of the organic matter is buried in the sediment maximum fluxes and benthic responses are observed during june and or august september following the pattern of export production in the pelagial zone the annual remineralization rate on the voring plateau is 3 0 g c m 2 a 1 freshly settled phytodetritus as detected by chlorophyll measurements is rapidly mixed into the sediment and decomposed it stimulates the activity of benthic organisms especially foraminifera the mixing coefficient for this material is db 0 2 cm2 d 1 which is two to three orders of magnitude higher than that estimated from radiotracer methods the effect on the geological record however is likely to be small chlorophyll containing particles are at first very evenly distributed on the seafloor after partial decomposition and resuspension a secondary redistribution of particles occurs which can result in the formation of a high accumulation area with an up to 80 fold increase in the sedimentation rate by lateral advection this is mainly due to physical processes because biodeposition mediated by benthic animals increases sedimentation by only a factor of two or three

sediment reworking on high latitude continental margins and its implications for palaeoceanographic studies insights from the norwegian greenland sea geological evidence indicates that sediment reworking is common around the continental margins and abyssal depths of the norwegian greenland sea a high latitude setting with glacier influenced margins detailed analysis of 22 cores up to 5 in long placed in context by accompanying geophysical data including high resolution sub bottom profiles swath bathymetry and backscatter maps indicates that reworking is variable and ranges from debris flows and turbidity currents to bottom current activity as well as iceberg scouring reworking by debris flows appears to be restricted mainly to the main trough mouth fans and sediment slides elsewhere turbidity current activity frequently dominates although iceberg ploughing down to 600 in depth and current winnowing assume increasing significance on continental shelves reworking in the norwegian greenland sea reflects variations in ice sheet dynamics that in turn influence the rate of sediment delivery and location of depocentres spatial variations in the style of reworking may also reflect the influence of continental slope gradient and bedrock geology on continental shelves the widespread nature of sediment reworking has important implications for palaeoceanographic investigations in the region as reworking can result in erosion and disturbance of the sediment column it is estimated that less than 7 of material delivered to the norwegian greenland sea since the late weichselian is derived from hemipelagic and pelagic sedimentation this problem is significant where continuous high resolution records of hemipelagic and pelagic sedimentation are required and attempts are made to correlate with other high resolution proxy records such as ice cores at sub millennial scales bioturbation results in the smoothing of high resolution records and imposes a maximum resolution for sediment core time slices of generally 400 years or more in the norwegian greenland sea areas of high sedimentation such as trough mouth fans or contourite drifts are commonly associated with extensive reworking identification of reworking is particularly important where attempts are made to link records of iceberg rafted debris to past ice sheet dynamics as bottom current winnowing and mass flow processes can increase the concentration of coarse grained iceberg rafted debris such localized accentuation of the iceberg rafted debris signal may lead to erroneous palaeo environmental interpretations it is therefore critical that palaeoceanographic interpretations are firmly underpinned by an explicit sedimentological assessment of reworking

noble gas state of the ancient mantle as deduced from noble gases in coated diamonds cores and coats of five coated diamonds one from botswana and four from zaire were separately analyzed for their noble gases noble gases in the diamonds are essentially of a trapped origin including radio and nucleogenic components such as4he 40ar 21neexcess and excesses in xe isotopes 129 131 136 the fairly precise elemental and isotopic abundances allow us to infer the noble gas state in the ancient mantle 20ne 22ne ratios are fairly constant 11 8 0 4 and very close to that of sep solar energetic particle ne but distinctly different from the atmospheric ratio 21ne 22ne ratios range from 0 028 to 0 06 which is attributed to nucleogenic 21ne from 18o n 21ne and 24mg n 21ne reactions the difference in 20ne 22ne between atmosphere and mantle can be attributed to the hydrodynamic escape of hydrogen from the primitive atmosphere during the very early stage in the earth s history 38ar 36ar and kr isotopic ratios are identical to the atmospheric values within 1 after correction for 238u or 244pu fission xe the 131 136xe abundance ratios are indistinguishable from atmospheric ratios lighter xe isotopes 124 128xe are also likely to be atmospheric but a final conclusion must wait until better data are obtained in a 136xe 130xe 129xe 130xe diagram diamond data lie on the same line as defined for morb the observed identical correlation for both diamonds and morb s appears to suggest that the progenitor of the excess131 136xe is 244pu but not238u though the direct xe isotopic measurements was not precies enough to decide unanimously the progenitor

evidence for massive discharges of icebergs into the north atlantic ocean during the last glacial period sediments in the north atlantic ocean contain a series of layers that are rich in ice rafted debris and unusually poor in foraminifera1 here we present evidence that the most recent six of these heinrich layers deposited between 14 000 and 70 000 years ago record marked decreases in sea surface temperature and salinity decreases in the flux of planktonic foraminifera to the sediments and short lived massive discharges of icebergs originating in eastern canada the path of the icebergs clearly marked by the presence of ice rafted detrital carbonate can be traced for more than 3 000 km a remarkable distance attesting to extreme cooling of surface waters and enormous amounts of drifting ice the cause of these extreme events is puzzling they may reflect repeated rapid advances of the laurentide ice sheet perhaps associated with reductions in air temperatures yet temperature records from greenland ice cores appear to exhibit only a weak corresponding signal moreover the 5 10 000 yr intervals between the events are inconsistent with milankovitch orbital periodicities raising the question of what the ultimate cause of the postulated cooling may have been

influence of subglacial geology on the position of a west antarctic ice stream from seismic observations ice streams drain much of the interior west antarctic ice sheet and buffer the main ice reservoir from oceanic influences1 2 the slow flowing interior feeds the floating ross ice shelf with ice via fast flowing ice streams3 that are believed to modulate sea level change through their control of inland ice storage understanding ice stream behaviour and predicting the response to climate change4 requires a better knowledge of the subglacial geology5 6 it is known that a thawed ice bed and high pressure basal water are necessary but not sufficient conditions to cause ice streaming7 8 moreover it has been hypothesized that a soft sedimentary bed is also required because of its intrinsic low frictional resistance to flow9 and owing to its high erodibility so as to generate till that can deform and lubricate ice motion10 11 or to bury rough features and smooth the bed for sliding here we use seismic observations to provide evidence that one margin of the upglacier part of an ice stream is directly above the boundary of a basin with such sedimentary fill the ice stream is within the basin and the ice outside the basin is slow flowing the basin fill presents an order of magnitude lower frictional resistance to ice flow than the subglacial material outside the basin we conclude that the ice stream position is dependent on subglacial geology

the origin of heinrich layers evidence from h2 for european precursor events recent well dated isotopic sr nd fingerprinting of heinrich layer ice rafted detritus ird on the european margin indicates supply from european ice sheets as precursors to laurentide ice sheet lis supply f e grousset et al geology 28 2000 123 126 h snoeckx et al mar geol 158 1999 197 208 these precursorevents lead lis input by up to 1 5 ka f e grousset et al geology 28 2000 123 126 and have been interpreted to indicate lis collapse during heinrichevents stimulated by events originating on the european side of the atlantic f e grousset et al geology 28 2000 123 126 such phasing of ird supply from different sources within heinrich layers therefore has implications for the origin and mechanics of heinrichevents we present evidence here that the ird comprising heinrich layer 2 h2 20 21 14c ka bp on the european continental margin contains detrital campanian upper chalk deriving from bedrock sources eroded on the celtic shelf by the british ice sheet bis in addition to lithic material sourced from the lis high resolution radiocarbon chronology indicates chalk grain deposition as discrete pulses both before and coincident with supply of lis sourced detritus the specificity of the chalk fingerprint to the bis enables a 700 1000 yr lag between the bis and lis events to be identified this phasing indicates a more rapid response of the outlet lobes draining the smaller bis than those draining the lis and implicates external climatic forcing of heinrichevents it is unlikely that this precursorevent represents ird event 18 the recently identified 1 2 ka ird cycle event which immediately precedes h2 because the lag between precursor and main event is here less than 1 5 ka and because such pervasive periodicity is not apparent in european continental margin ird records the later synchroneity between the bis and lis input in h2 identifies glacio eustatic sea level rise associated with lis discharges as a possible feedback mechanism causing destabilisation of ice streams elsewhere during heinrichevents

attenuation of millennial scale events by bioturbation in marine sediments the discovery of large millennial scale oscillations 1 10 kyr period in climate records from ice cores and marine sediments in the north atlantic has motivated the search to understand their cause and evaluate the geographic extent of this variability one uncertainty in comparing marine geologic records of millennial scale variability is the extent to which mixing of sediment by organisms at the seafloor bioturbation may attenuate millennial scale events in the stratigraphic record evidence of attenuation of millennial variability can be found in cores with sedimentation rates in the range of 5 15 cm kyr modeling the attenuation of a hypothetical input time series similar to gisp2 using a moderate level of mixing provides estimates of attenuation as a function of sedimentation rate the amplitude of a 4 kyr duration event is reduced by 50 for sedimentation rates10 cm kyr and reduced by 20 for sedimentation rates of 20 cm kyr minimal attenuation 5 is achieved only when the sedimentation rate exceeds 50 cm kyr for a 4 kyr duration event and 70 cm kyr for a 2 kyr duration event the intensity of mixing plays a role in determining how much attenuation occurs the amplitude of a 4 kyr duration event in a 10 cm kyr core is reduced by 75 under strong mixing or reduced by 25 under weak mixing this study indicates that the original amplitude of dansgaard oeschger do millennial scale events observed during the last glacial may be twice the observed amplitude for cores with sedimentation rates 10 20 cm kyr that have experienced moderate bioturbation regional comparisons of the amplitude of millennial scale variability will require cores with weak mixing or sedimentation rates exceeding 50 cm kyr in order to avoid biased estimates of the amplitude of millennial scale 4 kyr duration variability

water and sediment movement in the vicinity of linear sandbanks the norfolk banks southern north sea geophysical surveys current meter measurements and fluorescent sand tracer experiments were undertaken in the vicinity of the broken bank the data are used to establish localised and regional patterns of water and sediment movement the results obtained confirm mechanisms proposed previously for sandbank growth with particular reference to the north sea these include the clockwise circulation of water and sand with convergence at the crestline secondary helical water circulations do not appear to be a dominant process influencing sandbank maintenance however such circulation may still be important in the initial formation of linear sandbanks and or at some stages in the bank development on a regional basis residual currents bedform asymmetries and tracer dispersion indicate an offshore sediment transport component this observation supports the hypothesis of other investigators formed on the basis of geomorphological observations and numerical model predictions concerning the movement of sand under extreme conditions moreover these transport pathways may persist under low wave and tidally dominated conditions as opposed to being restricted to storm activity

trough mouth fans palaeoclimate and ice sheet monitors abstract trough mouth fans are fans at the mouth of transverse troughs channels on glaciated continental shelves on the northwest european glaciated continental margin eight trough mouth fans varying in size between 2700 and 215 000 km 2 have been identified the trough mouth fans are depocentres dominated by debris flows accumulated in front of ice streams draining the former large northwest european ice sheets the debris flow units are separated by hemmipelagic interglacial interstadial sediments it is inferred that the number of debris flow units record the number of shelfbreak positions of the ice sheet margins the number found varies between three in the south and eight in the north typical trough mouth fans and related debris flow units seem to have been formed later than the early mid pleistocene thus the north european ice sheets did not form ice streams extending to the shelfbreak in any appreciable length before the mid pleistocene besides being loci for sediment deposition the trough mouth fans were also the main sites of fresh water supply to the ocean in the form of icebergs during the mid late pleistocene ice ages

zooming in on heinrich layers theories explaining the origin of the abrupt massive discharges of ice rafted detritus ird into the glacial north atlantic the heinrich layers hls generally point to the laurentide ice sheet as the sole source of these events until it was found that the irds also originated from icelandic and european ice sheets bond and lotti 1995 snoeckx et al 1999 grousset et al 2000 this apparent contradiction must be reconciled as it raises fundamental questions about the mechanism s of hl origin we have analyzed two 12 cm thick hls in an ultrahigh resolution mode 1 2 century intervals in a mid atlantic ridge piston core the 18o record n pachyderma left coiling reveals strong excursions induced by the melting of the icebergs these excursions are associated with a strong decrease in the amount of planktic foraminafersand with a 3 c cooling of the surface waters counts of coarse detrital grains reveal that ird are deposited according to a typical sequence 1 volcanic glass 2 quartz and feldspars 3 detrital carbonate that implies a chronology in the melting of the differentpan atlantic ice sheets sr and nd isotopic composition confirm that in both heinrich layers h1 and h2 precursor ird came from first europe iceland followed then by laurentide derived ird an internal cyclicity can be identified during h1 and h2 about four to six major abrupt discharges occurred roughly on a century timescale the 13c and 15n records reveal that dominant inputs of continent derived organic matter are associated with ird within the hls hiding the plankton productivity signal