three dimensional velocity imaging of the kachchh seismic zone gujarat india abstract to understand the causative mechanism of the continued occurrence of earthquakes in kachchh gujarat for the last six years we estimated high resolution three dimensional vp vs and vp vs structures in the aftershock zones of the 2001 mw7 7 bhuj and 2006 mw5 6 gedi earthquakes we used 13 862 p and 13 736 s wave high quality arrival times collected from the seismograms of 2303 aftershocks recorded at 5 18 three component seismograph stations during 2001 06 seismic images revealed a marked spatial variation in the velocities from 20 to 14 in vp from 12 to 13 in vs and from 12 to 12 increase in vp vs in the 0 34 km depth range beneath the bhuj aftershock zone relatively more increase in vp than vs resulting in an increase in vp vs in the crust beneath the seismically active causative fault north wagad fault nwf zone of 2001 bhuj mainshock suggests a rigid mafic crust beneath the region they also delineate an increase of 8 in vp and 14 in vs and a decrease of 4 in vp vs in the almost vertical rupture zone of the 2006 gedi earthquake extending up to 12 km depth this high velocity body associated with the gedi mainshock is inferred to be a gabbroic intrusive the banni region and the wagad uplift are found to be associated with high velocity intrusive bodies inferred to be mafic extending from 5 to 35 km depth which might have intruded during the rifting in early jurassic 160 ma aftershock activity is mainly confined to the zones characterized by high vp high vs and low vp vs ratio which might be representing the strong competent and brittle parts of the fault zone intrusive bodies that could accumulate large strain energy for generating aftershocks for more than six years it is inferred that the crustal stress concentrations associated with the intrusive bodies are contributing significant perturbation to the crustal stress regime to generate the intraplate earthquakes in the kachchh rift zone a few patches of slow vp and vs and high vp vs between 10 to 30 km depth have also been detected on the causative 45 south dipping north wagad fault nwf for the 2001 mainshock which may be attributed to the fluid filled fractured rock matrix interestingly the 2001 bhuj mainshock hypocenter is found to be associated with such a low velocity patch thus it is inferred that the occurrence of 2001 bhuj mainshock might have facilitated by the presence of fluids at hypocentral depth

a low seismic wavespeed anomaly beneath northwestern india a seismic signature of the deccan plume abstract seismic tomography of the indian region using p wave arrival times reveals an approximately cylindrical region of lowered seismic velocities in the upper mantle to the north of the gulf of cambay and the present exposure of the deccan flood basalts this anomaly with low velocities interrupts the characteristically high seismic velocities in the lithosphere beneath peninsular india and extends from shallow depth down to a more extensive low velocity zone beneath 200 km the centre of the low velocity anomaly lies just below the earliest alkaline magmatism which has been directly associated with the deccan plume in the northern portion of the cambay graben these magmatic events precede the main deccan flood eruptions by at least 3 myr the lowered seismic wavespeeds link into the ancient narmada lineament and to some extent to the south but here unfortunately the tomographic image runs out of resolution synthetic tests indicate that such a zone of lowered wavespeeds can be recovered with some loss of amplitude towards the south the association of the current seismic anomaly with the deccan traps is intriguing since the cambay graben remains a place of raised heat flow one explanation would be that the seismic anomaly represents the signature of the initial conduit through which plume material forced its way through the lithosphere beneath the cambay rift the zone of lowered seismic velocities beneath the indian lithosphere might then represent the remains of the initial plume head which would need to have moved with india over the 65 myr since the deccan eruptions

glacier changes in southeast alaska and northwest british columbia and contribution to sea level rise 1 the digital elevation model dem from the 2000 shuttle radar topography mission srtm was differenced from a composite dem based on air photos dating from 1948 to 1987 to determine glacier volume changes in southeast alaska and adjoining canada srtm accuracy was assessed at 5 m through comparison with airborne laser altimetry and control locations measured with gps glacier surface elevations lowered over 95 of the 14 580 km2 glacier covered area analyzed with some glaciers thinning as much as 640 m a combination of factors have contributed to this wastage including calving retreats of tidewater and lacustrine glaciers and climate change many glaciers in this region are particularly sensitive to climate change as they have large areas at low elevations however several tidewater glaciers that had historically undergone calving retreats are now expanding and appear to be in the advancing stage of the tidewater glacier cycle the net average rate of ice loss is estimated at 16 7 4 4 km3 yr equivalent to a global sea level rise contribution of 0 04 0 01 mm yr

an oceanic model for lithological and faunal changes tested on the silurian record a model for oceanic cycles is presented the cycles are expressed as changes between more humid low latitude and cooler high latitude climates p episodes and dryer low latitude and warmer high latitude climates s episodes the cyclicity may be self regulating through changes in the co 2 storage capacity of the deep ocean due to temperature changes and through changes in the oceanic input and output of dissolved carbonate the model permits over 30 predictions regarding observable changes in both deep water and shelf lithologies and variations in the abundance diversity and extinction rate of planktic and benthic faunas sedimentary changes involve fluctuations in the rate of clay deposition and carbonate production the advance and retreat of carbonate deposition on the shelf edge the timing of oolite reef and black shale formation and changes between oxic and anoxic deep water faunal effects include both iterative evolution and intermittently widespread taxa lazarus taxa these predictions agree well with changes observed in well known sequence of wenlock and ludlow age as well as changes seen in selected older and younger sequences

landforms as extended composite phenotypes biotic influences on geomorphology and vice versa are ubiquitous this paper explores whether landforms may be extended composite phenotypes of biota based on four criteria process form relationships between biota and landforms evolutionary synchrony selective pressure via ecosystem engineering and niche construction and positive feedback benefitting the engineer organism s coral reefs peat bogs biomantles insect mounds grassland soils salt marshes mangrove swamps and some vegetation dependent sand dune types clearly meet these criteria karst landforms meandering rivers and tree uprooting pit mound systems meet the first three criteria but positive feedback to engineer organisms has not been established research in biogeomorphology will surely identify other extended phenotypes implications are that biological evolution will continue to drive landscape metamorphosis the appearance of new landform types and presumably the disappearance of extended phenotypes associated with extinct species independently of extended phenotypes tightly coupled geomorphological ecological interactions such as coevolution and biogeomorphic forms of ecosystem engineering and niche construction are common the toposphere encompassing earth s landforms is partly a biotic construct some elements would be present in an abiotic world but the toposphere would not exist in anything resembling its contemporary state without a biosphere this raises important questions with respect to earth system evolution the bio litho atmo hydro topo and pedospheres coevolve at the global scale major biotic events have driven revolutions in the other spheres but the atmosphere and the global hydrological system seem to have been relatively steady state at the global scale the toposphere and pedosphere have not this suggests that perhaps landforms and soils provide the major mechanisms or degrees of freedom by which earth responds to biological evolution landforms and soils may thus be the voice of the biosphere as it authors planetary change even if clear biotic signatures are lacking copyright 2015 john wiley sons ltd

magnetostratigraphy susceptibility of the přidolian lochkovian silurian devonian gssp klonk czech republic and a coeval sequence in anti atlas morocco abstract the magnetosusceptibility event and cyclostratigraphy msec record for the p idolian lochkovian silurian devonian global boundary stratotype section and point gssp klonk prague basin czech republic is described and used to establish a magnetostratigraphy susceptibility profile for the gssp gssp msec data are summarized into three magnetozones msz the tma msz late p idolian with 13 msszs mssz the klonk msz latest p idolian and earliest lochkovian with 17 msszs and the voskop msz early lochkovian with 7 msszs the base of klonk mssz 2 is coincident with the base of lochkovian and the devonian the proposed magnetostratotype for the p idolian lochkovian boundary is supported by ms data from a nearby core through the gssp sequence and into the upper ludlow three additional mszs are recognized for the portion of the core sequence older than the gssp boundary sequence the extension of the mszs and msszs away from the proposed magnetostratotype is tested by comparison with a lochkovian sequence in the western sahara of southeastern morocco mszs are the result of global sea level fluctuations that alter base level and the pattern of erosion and influx of detrital paramagnetic mineral components into the marine environment large scale transgressive and regressive patterns interpreted from the msec data establish that the silurian devonian boundary in the barrandian region falls between a short lived transgressive pulse in the latest p idolian and an equally short lived regressive pulse in the earliest lochkovian msszs identified in the gssp and core sequences are the result of variation in climate cycles and the resulting periodicity can explained by either the 38 9 ka silurian and devonian equivalent of the modern 54 ka obliquity cycle or the eccentricity cycle of 106 ka periodicity use of the obliquity periodicity gives a duration for the barrandian lochkovian of 4 46 ma which agrees with the most recent geochronometric estimate of 4 5 ma for the lochkovian use of the eccentricity periodicity gives a duration for the barrandian lochkovian of 12 16 ma which agrees with the previous geochronometric estimates of 12 2 and 12 5 ma for the lochkovian in any case the cyclic nature of the msec data established by the msszs can be explained by variations in the rate of supply of weathered terrigenous paramagnetic grains to the marine system these variations in supply occurred due to climate changes resulting from the either the obliquity or eccentricity of the earth s orbit knowledge of the periodicity of lochkovian cycles in the barrandian area allows estimation of the rates of sediment accumulation the duration of fossil ranges and the rates of evolution depending on the choice of obliquity or eccentricity to explain the cyclicity in the barrandian lochkovian the estimated rate of sediment accumulation in the gssp outcrop averaged either 51 or 140 ka m the range of the graptoloid monograptus uniformis angustidens wholly contained within the lochkovian sequence at the gssp is also estimated at either 51 or 140 ka

rift basins in western margin of india and their hydrocarbon prospects with special reference to kutch basin the western continental margin of india can be classed as a divergent or passive margin the western continental shelf is an extensive carbonate bank bombay offshore basin passing into clastic sediments on the north and south three craton margin embayed basins kutch cambay and narmada in the northern part of the shelf are filled predominantly with clastic sediments these basins occupy grabens bounded by faults diverging seaward the grabens were formed by three rift systems along major precambrian tectonic trends the rifting developed sequentially from north to south around the saurashtra horst kutch basin was formed in the early jurassic followed by cambay basin in early cretaceous time and the narmada in the late cretaceous it appears that these rifting ev nts occurred at successive stages during the northward migration of the indian plate after its break from gondwanaland in late triassic or early jurassic it is inferred that these rift basins opened up successively as a result of the counterclockwise drift of the indian craton bombay offshore and cambay are two major oil producing basins in the western margin these basins are characterized by high geothermal gradients attributed to the shallowness of the mantle in this region oil has not been found in kutch basin which is mainly an onshore mesozoic basin the basin depocenter shifted offshore at the northwestern part of the continental shelf where the shelf is wide

attenuation of coda waves in the saurashtra region gujarat india the attenuation characteristics based on coda waves of two areas jamnagar and junagarh of saurashtra gujarat india have been investigated in the present study the frequency dependent relationships have been developed for both the areas using single back scattering model the broadband waveforms of the vertical components of 33 earthquakes mw 1 5 3 5 recorded at six stations of the jamnagar area and broadband waveforms of 68 earthquakes mw 1 6 5 recorded at five stations of the junagarh area have been used for the analysis the estimated relations for the junagarh area are qc 158 5 f 0 99 0 04 lapse time 20 s qc 170 4 4 f 0 97 0 02 lapse time 30 s and qc 229 6 6 f 0 94 0 03 lapse time 40 s and for the jamnagar area are qc 178 3 f 0 95 0 05 lapse time 20 s qc 224 6 f 0 98 0 06 lapse time 30 s and qc 282 7 f 0 91 0 03 lapse time 40 s these are the first estimates for the areas under consideration the junagarh area appears to be more attenuative as compared to the jamnagar area the increase in qc values with lapse time found here for both the areas show the depth dependence of qc as longer lapse time windows will sample larger area the rate of decay of attenuation q 1 with frequency for the relations obtained here is found to be comparable with those of other regions of the world though the absolute values differ a comparison of the coda q estimated for the saurashtra region with those of the nearby kachchh region shows that the saurashtra region is less heterogeneous the obtained relations are expected to be useful for the estimation of source parameters of the earthquakes in the saurashtra region of gujarat where no such relations were available earlier these relations are also important for the simulation of earthquake strong ground motions in the region

creating realistic models based on combined forward modeling and tomographic inversion of seismic profiling data amplitudes and shapes of seismic patterns derived from tomographic images often are strongly biased with respect to real structures in the earth in particular tomography usually provides continuous velocity distributions whereas major velocity changes in the earth often occur on first order interfaces we propose an approach that constructs a realistic structure of the earth that combines forward modeling and tomographic inversion fm ti using available a priori information we first construct a synthetic model with realistic patterns then we compute synthetic times and invert them using the same tomographic code and the same parameters as in the case of observed data processing we compare the reconstruction result with the tomographicimage of observed data inversion if a discrepancy is observed we correct the synthetic model and repeat the fm ti process after several trials we obtain similar results of synthetic and observed data inversion in this case the derived synthetic model adequately represents the real structure of the earth in a working scheme of this approach we three authors used two different synthetic models with a realistic setup one of us created models but the other two performed the reconstruction with no knowledge of the models we discovered that the synthetic models derived by fm ti were closer to the true model than the tomographic inversion result our reconstruction results from modeling marine data acquired in the musicians seamount province in the pacific ocean indicate the capacity and limitations of fm ti

tectonics and crustal structures related to bhuj earthquake of january 26 2001 based on gravity and magnetic surveys constrained from seismic and seismological studies abstract gravity and magnetic data of the kachchh basin and surrounding regions have delineated major e w and nw se oriented lineaments and faults which are even extending up to plate boundaries in the north arabian sea and western boundary of the indian plate respectively the epicentral zone of bhuj earthquake and its aftershocks is located over the junction of rann of kachchh and median uplifts viz kachchh mainland and wagad uplifts which are separated by thrust faults gravity data with constraints from the results of the seismic studies along a profile suggest that the basement is uplifted towards the north along thrust faults dipping 40 60 south similarly gravity and magnetic modeling along a profile across wagad uplift suggest south dipping 50 60 basement contacts separating rocks of high susceptibility and density towards the north one of these contacts coincides with the fault plane of the bhuj earthquake as inferred from seismological studies and its projection on the surface coincides with the e w oriented north wagad thrust fault a circular gravity high in contact with the fault in northern part of the wagad uplift along with high amplitude magnetic anomaly suggests plug type mafic intrusive in this region several such gravity anomalies are observed over the island belt in the rann of kachchh indicating their association with mafic intrusions the contact of these intrusives with the country rock demarcates shallow crustal inhomogeneities which provides excellent sites for the accumulation of regional stress a regional gravity anomaly map based on the concept of isostasy presents two centers of gravity lows of 11 to 13 mgal 10 5 m s2 representing mass deficiency in the epicentral region their best fit model constrained from the receiver function analysis and seismic refraction studies suggest crustal root of 7 8 km deep crustal inhomogeneity under them for a standard density contrast of 400 kg m3 it is therefore suggested that significant amount of stress get concentrated in this region due to a buoyant crustal root b regional stress due to plate tectonic forces and c mafic intrusives as stress concentrators and the same might be responsible for the frequent and large magnitude earthquakes in this region including the bhuj earthquake of january 26 2001

trends cycles and nonstationarities in isotope signals of phanerozoic seawater abstract the new set of 87 sr 86 sr 18 o and 13 c experimental data for phanerozoic seawater the bochum ottawa isotope dataset has been tested by wavelet discontinuity and sliding window correlation dimension analyses for cyclicities and nonstationarities in the isotope signal the tests indicate discontinuities in the strontium isotope signal at 500 340 288 210 65 and 28 ma while for the oxygen and carbon isotopes they are at 500 385 290 210 and 65 ma these discontinuities often coincident with major stage boundaries reflect mostly single likely tectonic events that do not affect the structure of the underlying system the two most pronounced nonstationarities in all isotope systematics are at 65 and 210 ma respectively that is at the k t and norian rhaetian transitions wavelet analysis for all three isotope systems yields a long term quasi periodicity at 94 125 ma best developed during the paleozoic with superimposed intermittent 48 57 and 29 35 ma oscillations all likely a reflection of plate reorganizations within the caledonian hercynian and alpine tectonic cycles

the late devonian frasnian famennian f f biotic crisis insights from δ13ccarb δ13corg and 87sr 86sr isotopic systematics a severe biotic crisis occurred during the late devonian frasnian famennian f f transition f367 myr here we present d 13 ccarb d 13 corg and 87 sr 86 sr isotopic systematics from identical samples of two sections across f f boundary in south china which directly demonstrate large and frequent climatic fluctuations 200 kyr from warming to cooling during the f f transition these climate fluctuations are interpreted to have been induced initially by increased volcanic outgassing and subsequent enhanced chemical weathering linked to the rapid expansion of vascular plants on land which would have increased riverine delivery to oceans and primary bioproductivity and subsequent burial of organic matter thereby resulting in climate cooling such large and frequent climatic fluctuations together with volcanic induced increases in nutrient e g biolimiting fe toxin sulfide and anoxic water supply and subsequent enhanced riverine fluxes and microbial bloom were likely responsible for the stepwise faunal demise of f f biotic crisis d 2005 elsevier b v all rights reserved

construction of the silurian and devonian seawater 87sr 86sr curve the estimated path of seawater 87sr 86sr during the silurian and devonian is based on 86 analyses 84 whole rocks presented here and in other published results the seawater 87sr 86sr rose steadily throughout the silurian from a poorly constrained value near 0 70793 sw 114 at the ordovician silurian boundary the 87sr 86sr value at the silurian devonian boundary is near 0 70871 sw 36 based on an earliest devonian limestone suite from new york the 87sr 86sr falls through the early devonian to reach a low near 0 70772 sw 135 in the eifelian and givetian and rises to near 0 70803 sw 104 in famennian time the seawater 87sr 86sr at the devonian mississippian boundary is estimated to be near 0 70805 sw 102 the middle paleozoic sample suite is judged less suitable for defining seawater 87sr 86sr than those from other paleozoic periods the middle paleozoic seawater 87sr 86sr variation indicates domination of continental sr contributions during the silurian and later devonian the high ratio continental sr contribution is controlled by the climate and the area age and composition of exposed crystalline rocks the dominance of the oceanic low ratio sr during the early and part of middle devonian is coincident with a reported increase in continental volcanism the estimated rise and fall of sealevel leading to flooding or exposure of the continents does not appear to control seawater 87sr 86sr during the middle paleozoic

charcoal in the silurian as evidence for the earliest wildfire rare basal pridoli plant fossils which resemble the rhyniophytoid hollandophyton colliculum and have exceptional three dimensional cellular anatomy are preserved as charcoal as such these fossils from ludford lane in the welsh borders are evidence of the earliest recorded wildfire and are the first documented from before the devonian the fossils represent the charred remains of a low growing low diversity in situ rhyniophytoid or cryptospore bearing plant vegetation charred during a low temperature fire

silurian strontium isotope stratigraphy a sample set of 164 calcitic brachiopod shells covering the entire silurian period 30 m y with a resolution of about 0 7 m y was collected from stratotype sections at anticosti island canada wales united kingdom gotland sweden podolia ukraine latvia and lithuania they show 87sr 86sr values ranging from 0 707930 to 0 708792 that progressively increase with time this may indicate an increasing riverine flux of radiogenic sr into the ocean from weathering of continental sialic rocks due to progressive warming of the climate exceptionally high increases in 87sr 86sr values were observed in early llandovery rhuddanian late llandovery telychian and late ludlow gorstian ludfordian boundary samples partial linear regressions based on a stepwise climbing pattern with local drops around the llandovery wenlock boundary and in latest ludlow time were used to estimate relative ages with a resolution of about 2 biozones 1 5 2 m y the sr isotope curve shows distinct inflection points in earliest wenlock and mid pridoli time these may be used to correlate the llandovery wenlock boundary in the united kingdom gotland and lithuania and the kaugatuma ohesaare boundary in the baltic states and podolia

ultra high resolution multivariate record and multiscale causal analysis of pridoli late silurian implications for global stratigraphy turnover events and climate biota interactions abstract the upper silurian and especially pridoli epoch is a critical interval for the understanding the evolution of earth s biota since it witnessed series of powerful extinction events global reorganizations of paleocommunities and expansion of new clades which assumed dominance in the subsequent devonian period the stratigraphic record of the eastern part of the silurian baltic basin represents an excellent candidate for the fine scale analysis of paleoecological and paleoceanographic dynamics therefore we presenting here stratigraphic record of the milaiciai 103 core south western lithuania of conodonts brachiopods 13ccarb 18ocarb and a series of various geochemical and geophysical proxies most of which were sampled at a very high resolution 11 ka spanning uppermost ludlow pridoli and the lowermost devonian the analysis revealed that the pridoli was characterized by four distinct long term dynamic states here named i normal pridoli i ii silal negative carbon isotopic excursion and extinction event iii normal pridoli ii and iv klonk positive stable carbon isotopic event and excursion the most significant change in most variables is detected approximately in the middle of the pridoli at the beginning of the delotaxis detorta zone at the recovery after silal event of conodonts and at the onset of collapse of brachiopod communities the analysis of dynamic complexity revealed the strong evidence for the presence of 405 ka metronome milankovitch cycles in the record of 13ccarb which constrains the duration of the pridoli epoch to 4 3 0 2 ma the recurrence plot analyses revealed deterministic coordination between 13ccarband conodont paleocommunity dynamics at all scales finally lead lag analysis using conditional joint recurrence revealed that conodont dynamics as a rule were driven by perturbations in the carbon cycle although silal event interval shown opposite pattern thus confirming the unusual nature of this previously unrecognized coordinated climatic and biotic event

palynology organic geochemistry and carbon isotope analysis of a latest ordovician through silurian clastic succession from borehole tt1 ghadamis basin southern tunisia north africa palaeoenvironmental interpretation abstract palynological and palynofacies analyses combined with organic carbon isotope measurements have been performed on terminal ordovician through silurian clastic sediments from the north african margin of gondwana southern tunisia a first carbon isotopic signal 13corg from gondwanan silurian sedimentary sequences is presented showing interesting correlation with existing coeval isotopic curves from other areas changes in lithology palynofacies characteristics palynomorph diversity carbon isotope developments and organic geochemistry parameters appear to be all causally linked and to reflect changes in palaeoceanographic conditions in particular the detailed chronostratigraphic correlation and the observed similarities in patterns of carbon isotopic developments and palyno and litho facies changes through the study section has permitted to identify the supposedly global earliest wenlock ireviken event and late ludlow lau event isotopic excursions for the first time in high latitude gondwana this confirms that these excursions were linked to global changes in the oceanic system the present results suggest that from rhuddanian to early wenlock times an extended period of black shale deposition occurred over the north african gondwanan margin progressively transgressing from basin palaeodepressions to basin palaeohighs palynofacies and organic geochemistry support a coastal upwelling promoted productivity increase during this interval associated to a decrease in diversity of the marine microplanktonic communities the earliest wenlock strong positive isotopic shift appears associated with this protracted period of massive black shale deposition and thus of organic carbon burial on continental platforms located in high latitude settings this could well explain the apparent paradox between excessive carbonate deposition simultaneous to a carbon isotopic shift towards lighter values observed in low palaeolatitude localities laurentia and baltica the strong distinct isotope excursion occurring in late ludlow times is possibly linked to the well know lau event evidence for extensive organic carbon burial is lacking to explain this strong excursion some significant changes in the marine palynomorph communities are recorded in connection to the increase in stable isotope values 13corg additionally a strong correlation between abundance of terrestrially derived palynomorphs miospores and 13corg development is recorded which seems to support increased clastic input from a terrestrial source

carbon isotope stratigraphy across the silurian devonian transition in podolia ukraine evidence for a global biogeochemical perturbation the carbon and oxygen isotope composition of marine carbonates 13 c and 18 o respectively are studied in the fossiliferous stratigraphically well constrained and remarkably expanded successions of podolia sw ukraine spanning the silurian devonian transition significant isotopic shifts are directly comparable to previously published global secular trends in well preserved brachiopod calcite isotopic ratios from this region and therefore may be taken as a reliable primary record of seawater 13 c changes the sections reveal a major positive 13 c excursion with an amplitude above 6 beginning in the upper pridoli and reaching peak values as heavy as 4 2 in the lowermost lochkovian this turnover in carbon cycling is followed by a general trend toward more negative 13 c values in the upper lochkovian the podolian isotopic signals provide strong support for the previously inferred global biogeochemical perturbation across the silurian devonian transition reflecting a complex combination of palaeogeographical biogeochemical and evolutionary processes in the late caledonian geodynamic setting with a likely undervalued role of the expanding vegetation in vast near coastal shallows and deltas

recent volume loss of british columbian glaciers canada 1 we use the shuttle radar topography mission srtm data and digital terrain models from aerial photography to quantify the change of glacier volume in british columbia bc canada for the period 1985 1999 we note substantial elevation bias in the srtm elevations typically on the order of 12 m km 1 the bias corrected thinning rate is 0 78 0 19 m a 1 which yields an annual volume loss of 22 48 5 53 km 3a 1 this rate of glacier volume loss is 65 of the estimate uncorrected for elevation bias 34 7 km 3a 1 and cautions against the use of uncorrected srtm data for glacier change studies glacier recession in bc could account for ca 0 67 0 12 mm of sea level rise over the period 1985 1999 0 05 0 009 mm yr 1 or about 8 3 of the contribution from mountain glaciers and ice caps the recent rate of glacier loss in the coast mountains 17 0 km 3a 1 is approximately double that observed for the previous two decades

early devonian trace fossils in marine to non marine redbeds in podolia ukraine palaeoenvironmental implications abstract lochkovian redbeds in the dnester formation in podolia ukraine record an upward transition from marginal marine to fluvial conditions a 60 m thick section through transitional strata reveals a regressive stack of three facies associations laid down in offshore lagoon inshore lagoon or bay and a fluvial estuarine plain the offshore lagoonal association shows green to variegated alternation of fossiliferous bioturbated limestones quartz arenites and shales numerous coquinas contain schizohaline ostracods vermiform gastropods lingula charophyte gyrogonites all mixed with fragments of marine forms such as articulate brachiopods tabulates goniatites and leiospheres trace fossil assemblages contain abundant skolithos spirophyton teichichnus and simple tubular forms the inshore lagoon or bay association is a largely non fossiliferous locally bioturbated red succession of interbedded mudstones and sandstones which are arranged in coarsening up units capped by thin channelized sandstones the presence of lockeia monomorphichnus rusophycus and skolithos suggests that the coarsening up units could have originated as small bayhead deltas and washover fan channel complexes a new ichnospecies monomorphichnus podolicus described here occurs also in these deposits in the overlying fluvial estuarine association the only trace fossil recorded is skolithos which occurs in dense clusters along upper levels of cross bedded ribbon shaped channel fills until now piperock has been considered as an ichnofabric of the skolithos ichnofacies that is typical of sandy beaches bars and spits whereas the findings presented here expand landwards the environmental range of skolithos piperocks into more intracoastal marine influenced settings

estimation of site response in the kachchh seismic zone gujarat india abstract the horizontal components of s wave data from 38 aftershocks m w 3 0 5 6 of the 2001 bhuj earthquake m w 7 7 recorded at 18 strong motion sites in the kachchh seismic zone gujarat india were analyzed to estimate the site response in the frequency range 0 2 10 0 hz using the reference site generalized inversion technique the site response values thus obtained at each site were averaged logarithmically over two frequency bands 0 2 1 8 and 3 0 7 0 hz respectively to study the spatial variation of site response in the kachchh seismic zone in the 0 2 1 8 hz frequency band the high site response values 1 0 1 7 were observed to be associated with the regions south of the kachchh mainland fault that suffered extensive ground failure during the 2001 m w 7 7 bhuj earthquake in the 3 7 hz frequency band the average site response estimates in the area of jurassic and quaternary formations vary from 0 22 to 1 53 whereas those of tertiary formation lie between 0 60 and 1 30 the maximum site response values at both 0 2 1 8 hz 1 7 and 3 7 hz 1 53 are estimated at the sikara site which lies in a zone of geological contact between jurrassic and tertiary formations the deamplification observed at the ams station in the 0 2 10 hz frequency band could be attributed to a very localized geological variation of the soil type or geometry of the basin near the site it is apparent that in both 0 2 1 8 and 3 7 hz frequency bands the presence of geological contacts and sediment thicknesses controls the site responses in the kachchh seismic zone it is also inferred that larger site response 1 2 values in the 0 2 1 0 hz frequency band could be indicating the probable presence of soil class c and d 180 v s 360 m sec in the kachchh basin according to 1997 national earthquake hazards reduction program nehrp provisions

palaeozoic landscapes shaped by plant evolution fluvial landscapes diversified markedly over the 250 million years between the cambrian and pennsylvanian periods the diversification occurred in tandem with the evolution of vascular plants and expanding vegetation cover in the absence of widespread vegetation landscapes during the cambrian and ordovican periods were dominated by rivers with wide sand beds and aeolian tracts during the late silurian and devonian periods the appearance of vascular plants with root systems was associated with the development of channelled sand bed rivers meandering rivers and muddy floodplains the widespread expansion of trees by the early pennsylvanian marks the appearance of narrow fixed channels some representing anabranching systems and braided rivers with vegetated islands we conclude that the development of roots stabilized the banks of rivers and streams the subsequent appearance of woody debris led to log jams that promoted the rapid formation of new river channels our contention is supported by studies of modern fluvial systems and laboratory experiments in turn fluvial styles influenced plant evolution as new ecological settings developed along the fluvial systems we suggest that terrestrial plant and landscape evolution allowed colonization by an increasingly diverse array of organisms

biotic enhancement of weathering atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide in the neoproterozoic 1 it has been suggested that biological colonization of the land surface began in the neoproterozoic 1000 544 million years ago ma we hypothesize that this colonization involved selective weathering of p from rocks as well as an amplification of overall weathering rates we show that two recent models despite differences in the feedback mechanisms represented predict that an increase in the weathering flux of p to the ocean would have caused a rise in atmospheric o2 in the neoproterozoic this in turn may have provided a necessary condition for the evolution of animals with hard skeletons seen in the cambrian explosion increased weathering of silicate rocks would also have caused a decline in atmospheric co2 which could have been a causal factor in the neoproterozoic glaciations

results from local earthquake velocity tomography implications toward the source process involved in generating the 2001 bhuj earthquake in the lower crust beneath kachchh india to comprehend the source processes of the 26 january 2001 bhuj earthquake sequence of m w 7 7 and its influence on the seismic hazard of the kachchh we estimate various seismological parameters using reliable and accurate aftershock data the estimated parameters led to several important findings including the delineation of an east west trending south dipping 45 fault north wagad fault nwf which touches the surface about 25 km north of kachchh mainland fault kmf the aftershock zone is confined to a 60 km long and 40 km wide region lying between the kmf to the south and nwf to the north extending from 10 to 45 km depth focal mechanism solutions of the mainshock and 25 significant aftershocks of m w 3 0 obtained from waveform inversion of broadband data and local earthquake moment tensor inversion suggest that the region between the kmf and nwf is mainly characterized by reverse faults with east west trend and southerly dip matching with the geological faults in the region the tomographic inversion technique is used to invert 5516 p wave travel times and 4061 s p travel time differences from 600 aftershocks recorded at 8 18 stations tomographic results suggest a regional high velocity body characterized by high v p 7 0 8 5 km sec high v s 4 0 4 8 km sec and low 0 24 0 26 with a head extending 60 km in north south and 40 km in east west at 10 40 km depths this high velocity anomaly is inferred to be a mafic pluton rift pillow which might have intruded during the rifting time 135 ma this crustal mafic pluton must be contributing significantly in accumulating large crustal stresses resulting in the generation of large earthquakes in this intraplate area another important result of our study is the detection of a low velocity zone low v p 6 5 7 0 km sec low v s 3 6 4 0 km sec large 0 26 0 265 within the mafic body at the hypocentral depth of the mainshock 18 25 km which is inferred to be a fluid filled trapped aqueous fluid resulting from metamorphism fractured rock mass the analysis of depth distribution of b values suggests a high b value zone between 15 and 25 km depths which further supports this contention hence the presence of fluids at the hypocenter might have facilitated the occurrence of the 2001 bhuj earthquake within the inferred mafic body in the lower crust

co2 forced climate thresholds during the phanerozoic abstract the correspondence between atmospheric co2 concentrations and globally averaged surface temperatures in the recent past suggests that this coupling may be of great antiquity here i compare 490 published proxy records of co2 spanning the ordovician to neogene with records of global cool events to evaluate the strength of co2 temperature coupling over the phanerozoic last 542 my for periods with sufficient co2 coverage all cool events are associated with co2 levels below 1000 ppm a co2 threshold of below 500 ppm is suggested for the initiation of widespread continental glaciations although this threshold was likely higher during the paleozoic due to a lower solar luminosity at that time also based on data from the jurassic and cretaceous a co2 threshold of below 1000 ppm is proposed for the initiation of cool non glacial conditions a pervasive tight correlation between co2 and temperature is found both at coarse 10 my timescales and fine resolutions up to the temporal limits of the data set million year timescales indicating that co2 operating in combination with many other factors such as solar luminosity and paleogeography has imparted strong control over global temperatures for much of the phanerozoic

sedimentary corg p ratios paleocean ventilation and phanerozoic atmospheric po2 the corg p ratios of organic rich facies tocn1 exhibit considerable variation through the phanerozoic from b10 1 in the permian phosphoria formation to n1000 1 in some devonian black shales relative to the composition of phytoplankton c p 106 1 which provide the bulk of organic c and p to organic rich marine sediments the range of phanerozoic sedimentary corg p ratios largely reflects the influence of benthic redox conditions on diagenetic pathways of c and p remobilization enhanced preservationoforganiccatlowerredoxpotentials combinedwithenhancedsedimentaryretentionofremineralizedorganicpathigher redox potentials results in a strong relationship between benthic redox conditions and sedimentary corg p ratios the strong secular coherence of the phanerozoic corg p record i e limited variation within narrow time slices suggests that these ratios are controlled primarily by factors influencing benthic redox conditions on a global scale such as atmospheric po2 inversion and scaling of the phanerozoic corg p record yields a new atmospheric po2 model that has strong similarities to existing models based on elemental and isotopic mass balances yet differs in some potentially significant respects in particular the new model suggests that atmospheric po2 wasmarkedlylowerduringtheearlytomiddlepaleozoicthanpreviouslyinferred duringmostofthedevonian atmospherico2levels mayhavebeensufficientlylow b13 astopreventthesustainedcombustionofplantmaterial thisfeatureofthemodelmayaccount for ananomalous gapinthefossilcharcoalrecordduringthedevonian theredox dependentburialofpintheoceanresults inpositive and negative feedback mechanisms that tend to stabilize atmospheric oxygen concentrations on geologic timescales temporal variations in the burial of p relative to c suggest that the strength of these feedback mechanisms varied over the phanerozoic 2007 elsevier b v all rights reserved

regional uplift associated with continental large igneous provinces the roles of mantle plumes and the lithosphere the timing and duration of surface uplift associated with large igneous provinces provide important constraints on mantle convection processes here we review geological indicators of surface uplift associated with five continent based magmatic provinces emeishan traps 260 million years ago ma siberian traps 251 ma deccan traps 65 ma north atlantic phase 1 61 ma and phase 2 55 ma and yellowstone 16 ma to recent all five magmatic provinces were associated with surface uplift surface uplift can be measured directly from sedimentary indicators of sea level in the north atlantic and from geomorpholocial indicators of relative uplift and tilting in yellowstone in the other provinces surface uplift is inferred from the record of erosion in the deccan north atlantic and emeishan provinces transient uplift that results from variations in thermal structure of the lithosphere and underlying mantle can be distinguished from permanent uplift that results from the extraction and emplacement of magma transient surface uplift is more useful in constraining mantle convection since models of melt generation and emplacement are not required for its interpretation observations of the spatial and temporal relationships between surface uplift rifting and magmatism are also important in constraining models of lip formation onset of surface uplift preceded magmatism in all five of the provinces biostratigraphic constraints on timing of uplift and erosion are best for the north atlantic and emeishan provinces where the time interval between significant uplift and first magmatism is less than 1 million years and 2 5 million years respectively rifting post dates the earliest magmatism in the case of the north atlantic phase 1 and possibly in the case of siberia the relative age of onset of offshore rifting is not well constrained for the deccan and the importance of rifting in controlling magmatism is disputed in the emeishan and yellowstone provinces in these examples rifting is not a requirement for onset of lip magmatism but melting rates are significantly increased when rifting occurs models that attempt to explain emplacement of these five lips without hot mantle supplied by mantle plumes often have difficulties in explaining the observations of surface uplift rifting and magmatism for example small scale convection related to craton or rift boundaries edge driven convection cannot easily explain widespread 1000 km scale transient surface uplift emeishan deccan north atlantic and upper mantle convection initiated by differential incubation beneath cratons the hotcell

high resolution late silurian correlations between gotland sweden and the broken river region ne australia lithologies conodonts and isotopes high resolution correlations partly with a precision better than 10 ka are achieved between late ludfordian sequences on gotland sweden on baltica and a section cog through the coral gardens formation along the broken river northeastern australia on gondwana despite these sections having been on different palaeocontinents facing different oceans the interval is characterised by rapid very large faunal isotopic and lithologic changes lithologies are remarkably similar in the two areas consisting of in order from below marls with thin limestone beds flaggy limestones oncoidal crinoidal limestone oncoidal marls terrigenous clastics silty clay mudstone sandstone oolite and cliff gorge forming limestones further independent correlation dates several of the lithological changes as coeval the 813 c excursion in whole rock carbonates is one of the three largest ones known during the phanerozoic the increase in delta c 13 is very similar in the two areas from below 1 parts per thousand to c 9 parts per thousand vpdb though two gotland samples yielded 9 71 parts per thousand and 10 54 parts per thousand the corresponding cog interval included fewer carbonate layers than needed to definitely exclude that this difference is due to a lack of suitable rocks for sampling compared with the lithologies and the delta c 13 curves the conodont faunas display some divergence but key taxa permit precise correlations for much of the studied interval the conodont assemblages change stepwise from very diverse in the polygnathoides siluricus zone to a low diversity fauna dominated markedly by a single taxon upper icriodontid subzone returning abruptly to a comparatively diverse ozarkodina snajdri zone fauna a method resembling graphic correlation in some respects is used to propose a similarly high resolution correlation through a longer interval for future testing c 2006 elsevier b v all rights reserved less

carbon and oxygen isotope record across pridoli to givetian stage boundaries in the barrandian basin czech republic abstract carbon and oxygen isotope composition and the chemistry of limestones clayey limestones and shales were studied across stage boundaries from pridoli to givetian in the barrandian basin no substantial isotopic shifts were found at the pragian emsian and emsian eifelian boundaries a gradual shift in 13c values from 2 6 to 3 6 was observed in pridoli and lochkovian limestones this shift is inferred to have been related to a combination of higher productivity increased deposition of organic matter and shallowing of the basin the global kacak otomari event just below the eifelian givetian boundary is marked by an abrupt change in carbon isotopic values from about 1 to 3 in pelagic carbonates no 13c shift was found in shallow water carbonates at the eifelian givetian boundary high 18o values up to 1 3 in pragian emsian and early eifelian limestones indicate that the barrandian basin was relatively isolated from the world ocean during those intervals lower 18o values up to 7 5 in late eifelian limestones may indicate the end of isolation

evidence for rapid environmental changes in low latitudes during the late silurian lau event the burgen 1 drillcore gotland sweden erosional outliers are an important component of the ludlow late silurian stratigraphy of gotland sweden however due to the poor degree of exposure outcrop studies have not revealed a detailed section from any of these outliers the first complete stratigraphy of such an erosional remnant the burgen outlier is presented here based on the recently recovered burgen 1 drillcore stratigraphical units encountered are from oldest to youngest the uppermost hemse group 35 m eke formation 0 4 m burgsvik formation 3 4 m and the basal hamra formation 12 in preserved based on carbon stable isotopes and lithological correlation to nearby outcrops that are zoned by conodonts it can be concluded that the most profound late ludlow sedimentary changes took place shortly after the onset of the globally recognized lau event delta 13 c values reach 8 7 parts per thousand in the lower hamra formation sedimentary changes include development of discontinuity surfaces widespread occurrence of an intraclastic conglomerate increased microbial activity rothpletzella and wetheredella and influx of clastics to the basin these changes are linked to substantial base level changes during the event a general comparison with the prague basin suggests contemporaneous sedimentary changes on baltica and on cratonic elements from peri gondwana during the event

crustal seismic structure beneath the deccan traps area gujarat india from local travel time tomography abstract the gujarat region in western india is known for its intra plate seismic activity including the mw 7 7 bhuj earthquake a reverse faulting event that reactivated normal faults of the mesozoic kachchh rift zone the late cretaceous deccan traps one of the largest igneous provinces on the earth cover the southern part of gujarat this study is aimed at bringing light to the crustal rift zone structure and likely origin of the traps based on the velocity structure of the crust beneath gujarat tomographic inversion of the gujarat region was done using the non linear passive source tomographic algorithm lotos we use high quality arrival times of 22 280 p and 22 040 s waves from 3555 events recorded from august 2006 to may 2011 at 83 permanent and temporary stations installed in gujarat state by the institute of seismological research isr we conclude that the resulting high velocity anomalies which reach down to the moho are most likely related to intrusives associated with the deccan traps low velocity anomalies are found in sediment filled mesozoic rift basins and are related to weakened zones of faults and fracturing a low velocity anomaly in the north of the region coincides with the seismogenic zone of the reactivated kachchh rift system which is apparently associated with the channel of the outpouring of deccan basalt

palaeoceanographic linkage of geochemical and graptolite events across the silurian devonian boundary in bardzkie mountains southwest poland abstract the silurian devonian s d transition in the bardzkie mountains is developed as deep water graptolitic black shales the highest silurian transgrediens zone and the first devonian uniformis zone are separated by a thin 30 cm interval of a linograptid interregnum thirteen samples from the s d transition have been analysed for major and minor elements si al si al toc ga al 2 o 3 v v ni ratios and toc mn zr ti re mo cd cu and ree have been found to correlate with the habitat replacement of the graptolite assemblages the linograptid burst accompanied by changing sediment geochemistry across the s d boundary are attributed to short term shallowing of the upwelling system which introduced specific nutrient rich waters into the mixed layer

characteristics of deformation and past seismicity associated with the 1819 kutch earthquake northwestern india the 1819 earthquake in kutch northwestern india is one of the most significant events to have occurred in a plate interior setting despite being the second largest among the stable continental region scr earthquakes this event has not been analyzed within the context of present day understanding of earthquake seismology coseismic changes related to this earthquake include massive ground deformation in a wide low lying tidal flat area although detailed historic accounts of this earthquake exist many questions regarding the mode of deformation and the seismic history of the region remain unresolved we explored the region nearly 180 years after the earthquake and the information gathered adds to our understanding of this event and provides a fresh perspective on this unique intraplate seismogenic zone a 90 km long tract of elevated land with a peak height of 4 3 m is the most visible surface expression of this earthquake we surveyed and analyzed the morphological features of this scarp and also carried out exploratory trenching in this region the scarp morphology is suggestive of a growing fold related to a buried north dipping thrust rather than a discrete fault that could have resulted from a surface rupture the extensive liquefaction field associated with the earthquake offered an ideal setting to explore the paleoearthquake history age data of liquefaction features suggest that a previous event of comparable size must have occurred 800 1000 years ago seismic activity appears to be related to the reactivation of an ancient rift in a stress regime that is dominated by nearly north south compression

local controls on carbon cycling in the ordovician midcontinent region of north america with implications for carbon isotope secular curves abstract the carbon isotope record from ancient epicontinental seas may contain much more of a local scale carbon cycling signal than is generally appreciated a unique opportunity exists to examine this issue in the case of the late ordovician mohawkian sea of eastern laurentia where the millbrig k bentonite stratigraphic framework has been used to delineate a time slice at 454 ma extending over 1 500 000 km2 of the eastern united states across the time slice carbonate and organic carbon 13c vary by 4 5 and 7 5 respectively a spatial variation that is as large as temporal secular changes in epeiric sea 13c that have been reported in the past these new data are considered in the context of geographic variations in lithological biological and other geochemical sediment characteristics collectively these sediment properties distinguish regions of the mohawkian sea which likely differed in terms of the nature and relative importance of carbon cycling processes water column depth and structure and barriers to free exchange of water across the mohawkian sea may have been overarching factors in the development of these regions raising the possibility that changes in circulation patterns such as those caused by sea level change played a role in driving secular carbon isotope excursions by changing the rate of exchange of dissolved inorganic carbon between water masses if the observed effects of local carbon cycling on the distribution of mohawkian sea 13c were commonplace in ancient epicontinental marine environments it would imply that local scale carbon cycling may have left a nontrivial imprint on epeiric sea records of secular variations in 13c in addition to the imprint left by changes in the global carbon cycle this may have contributed to the broad scatter in 13c values observed in the paleozoic portion of the global carbon isotope secular curve

early forest soils and their role in devonian global change a paleosol in the middle devonian aztec siltstone of victoria land antarctica is the most ancient known soil of well drained forest ecosystems clay enrichment and chemical weathering of subsurface horizons in this and other devonian forested paleosols culminate a long term increase initiated during the silurian from silurian into devonian time red clayey calcareous paleosols show a greater volume of roots and a concomitant decline in the density of animal burrows these trends parallel the decline in atmospheric carbon dioxide determined from isotopic records of pedogenic carbonate in these same paleosols the drawdown of carbon dioxide began well before the devonian appearance of coals large logs and diverse terrestrial plants and animals and it did not correlate with temporal variation in volcanic or metamorphic activity the early paleozoic greenhouse may have been curbed by the evolution of rhizospheres with an increased ratio of primary to secondary production and by more effective silicate weathering during silurian time

the early paleozoic carbon cycle a review of o c sr and s isotope trends for the entire phanerozoic shows that the present day values of isotope signals are similar to those at the proterozoic termination the sharp rise in 87sr 86sr since 65 ma has been attributed to an uplift and subsequent metamorphism and erosion associated with the himalayas and tibet this orogenic evolution has been postulated to have influenced the global organic and inorganic carbon cycles and climate as well a similar large scale orogeny the pan african event also dominated the neoproterozoic vendian times and the similarity of modern and neoproterozoic isotope values for seawater may therefore have had a comparable tectonic cause in this contribution we present the results of a numerical model of the coupled c alkalinity s sr cycles suggesting that the early paleozoic from early cambrian to late devonian evolution of sr o c and s seawater isotope signals could have been the consequence of progressive oxidation of a large reduced carbon reservoir exhumed during the pan african orogeny the 18o measured in brachiopod shells is used as a forcing of the model postulating that any change in the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater is the result of a disequilibrium in the organic carbon subcycle through the coupling of the oxygen isotopic and carbon cycles the calculated 13c 87sr 86sr and 34s are in good agreement with the data as is the reasonable calculated history for atmospheric pco2 and its relation to global climate

isotopic chemostratigraphy across the early middle frasnian transition late devonian on the south polish carbonate shelf a reference for the global punctata event abstract the coupled high resolution carbon isotope data from whole rock limestone and organic matter samples of the transitans early frasnian punctata and the earliest hassi zones middle frasnian from the south polish carbonate shelf successions reveal the presence of a large multi part 13 c excursion one of the largest known carbon cycle disturbance of devonian period this early middle frasnian e mf 13 c perturbation consists of two positive excursions a minor event i and a major event iii and two negative shifts events ii and iv the major positive excursion up to 5 begins near the e mf boundary and the onset of middlesex transgressive anoxic event the latter broader scale positive 13 c perturbation correlates with the worldwide punctata event documented across eastern and western laurussia as well as northern gondwana the large magnitude of the punctata isotopic event paired with negligible biotic effects is similar to the silurian biogeochemical perturbations but contrasts markedly with the younger kellwasser events the distinctive protracted about 1 ma e mf 13 c variations may be only partly explained by escalated sea water exchange between epeiric seas and the anoxic open ocean during successive transgressive pulses very high 13 c plateau values of the punctata event correspond to a positive 87 sr 86 sr shift as well as elevated clastic input proxies and magnetic susceptibility suggesting altogether that delivery of tectonically promoted land derived nutrients to marine basins was a key factor stimulating the biogeochemical perturbation extreme increases in primary productivity and enhanced organic matter burial in restricted deeper basinal settings would promote a gradual drawdown in surface water as well as atmospheric p co 2 and consequently a climatic cooling by 5 c as indicated by the high resolution 18 o phosphate record

mountain building enhanced continental weathering and organic carbon burial as major causes for climatic cooling at the frasnian famennian boundary c 376 ma the late devonian was a period of drastic environmental changes as exemplified by a major biotic crisis at the frasnian famennian boundary ffb and the onset in famennian times of glaciations across southern gondwana worldwide evidence for the coeval development of the major acadian eovariscan belt led us to propose a model relating the late frasnian famennian environmental perturbations to extensive continental uplift through two atmospheric co2 depleting mechanisms 1 the intensification of silicate weathering on the continental areas as attested by a major rise in the 87 sr 86 sr composition of sea water at the ffb and 2 the massive burial of organic carbon kellwasser events in partially confined basins due to the collisional induced reduction of equatorial oceanic communications between the palaeotethysian and panthalassic oceans this process is also suggested to have been controlled by an important primary productivity connected to an increased nutrient availability triggered by the enhanced continental run off

assessing mechanisms of environmental change palynological signals across the late ludlow silurian positive isotope excursion δ13c δ18o on gotland sweden abstract the silurian is characterised by strong environmental changes as indicated by several pronounced positive 13c and 18o excursions the mechanisms responsible for these isotopic shifts are a matter of much debate the purpose of the present study is a quantitative high resolution evaluation of the palynomorph distribution across the late ludlow ludfordian isotope excursion on gotland marine and terrestrial palynomorphs have been chosen as palaeoenvironmental indicators because they are widely distributed and exceptionally well preserved moreover the combined analysis of marine and terrestrial palynomorphs allows the reconstruction of contemporaneous palaeoenvironmental change in the marine and terrestrial realms to correlate our results with the carbon isotope stratigraphy we have sampled only localities with published isotope data from diagenetically unaltered brachiopod shells our results show that fluctuations in the composition of the acritarch assemblages are closely correlated with the stable isotope development low abundances of acritarchs occur in times of high stable isotope values and vice versa indicating that an increase in marine productivity cannot have been the reason for the positive 13c excursion the results are in good agreement with climatic models for the silurian assuming alternating humid and arid climatic conditions in low latitudes times of high stable isotope values correspond to arid climatic conditions in low latitudes with low input of terrestrial nutrients resulting in impoverished acritarch and conodont communities whereas times of low stable isotope values correlate with humid climate high nutrient input and abundant and diverse acritarch communities the major change in acritarch communities took place during the increase of the stable isotope values after hemipelagic planktonic or nektonic organisms graptolites conodonts have been affected this indicates that environmental changes connected with the stable isotope excursion first affected deeper water settings and later the photic zone the absolute abundance of terrestrial spores closely mirrors the marine 13c and 18o development showing that both the marine and the terrestrial realm were synchronously affected by the climatic changes the high abundance of spores during the isotope excursion might be explained by increased aeolian input

fluctuations in epeiric sea carbonate production during silurian positive carbon isotope excursions a review of proposed paleoceanographic models positive excursions in the carbon isotopic ratio of marine carbonates 13ccarb are commonly attributed to an increase in the burial ratio of organic versus carbonate carbon in the global oceans regardless of whether this increased deposition of organic carbon was oceanographically or biologically induced the fact that high carbon isotope values are most often attributed to the sequestration and burial of organic carbon remains the notion that high 13ccarb values should be the result of organic rich deposition in epeiric sea settings is not surprising considering that the overwhelming majority of organic carbon burial in the modern oceans occurs in continental shelf and margin settings what is surprising is that major positive carbon isotope excursions during the silurian are recorded in clean carbonate successions with little to no appreciable black shale deposition in epeiric seas in fact silurian 13ccarb excursions occurred during intervals of prolific reef development and an overall expansion of carbonate platform environments globally this discrepancy has sparked considerable debate among silurian carbon isotope specialists but has offered a valuable opportunity to re examine the intricate connections among nutrients primary productivity carbonate sedimentology and the global carbon cycle in the lower paleozoic here we consider several sedimentological and geochemical features of one of these silurian positive carbon isotope 13ccarb excursions and discuss the broader implications of current silurian 13ccarb models to the interpretation of lower paleozoic carbonate sequences

the importance of ocean temperature to global biogeochemistry variations in the mean temperature of the ocean on time scales from millennial to millions of years in the past and projected for the future are large enough to impact the geochemistry of the carbon oxygen and methane geochemical systems in each system the time scale of the temperature perturbation is key on time frames of 1 100 ky atmospheric co2 is controlled by the ocean co2 temperature dependent solubility and greenhouse forcing combine to create an amplifying feedback with ocean temperature the caco3 cycle increases this effect somewhat on time scales longer than f5 10 ky the co2 t feedback can be seen in the climate record from vostok and a model including the temperature feedback predicts that 10 of the fossil fuel co2 will reside in the atmosphere for longer than 100 ky timing is important for oxygen as well the atmosphere controls the ocean on short time scales but ocean anoxia controls atmospheric po2 on million year time scales and longer warming the ocean to cretaceous temperatures might eventually increase po2 by approximately 25 in the absence of other perturbations the response of methane clathrate to climate change in the coming century will probably be small but on longer time scales of 1 10 ky there may be a positive feedback with ocean temperature amplifying the long term climate impact of anthropogenic co2 release d 2004 elsevier b v all rights reserved

palaeozoic low oxygen high latitude carbonates silurian and lower devonian nautiloid and scyphocrinoid limestones of the anti atlas morocco abstract high latitude silurian and lowermost devonian basinal limestones of northern gondwana are characterised by mass accumulations of orthocone nautiloids bivalves and planktonic crinoids scyphocrinoids extensive exposures in the anti atlas of morocco reveal this basinal facies passes up gradient into an iron rich bioclastic facies associated with distal shelf siliciclastics and into crinoid brachiopod dominated bioclastic blankets and shoals the limestones formed in a cool water setting in which upwelling of nutrient rich waters during sea level lowstands is interpreted to have triggered the abundance of nautiloids and scyphocrinoids preservation of organic matter in under and overlying graptolite shales as well as iron precipitation in the neighbouring shallower water sub oxic zone the nautiloid limestones proved to be good correlation markers on a regional to global scale contemporaneous siliciclastic supply into the neighbouring facies belt as well as new biostratigraphic data are taken as evidence that these limestones can be correlated to 2nd order eustatic sea level lowstands and the following transgression the low oxygen basinal facies disappeared more or less abruptly during the early devonian pragian and was replaced by a well oxygenated basinal lowstand facies suggesting the end of upwelling at the same time the first reefal build ups coral biostromes and mud mounds appear in north africa indicating a significant rise in water temperatures the change from low oxygen lowstand mass accumulations to well oxygenated basinal facies with a concomitant rise in water temperature is in accordance with recent models of a cool silurian to earliest devonian lochkovian ocean with oscillating oxic to anoxic ventilated to poorly circulated oceanic states and a warm ocean with anoxic to euxinic poorly ventilated to stagnant ocean waters from the beginning of the pragian onwards

a chronology of paleozoic sea level changes sea levels have been determined for most of the paleozoic era 542 to 251 million years ago but an integrated history of sea levels has remained unrealized we reconstructed a history of sea level fluctuations for the entire paleozoic by using stratigraphic sections from pericratonic and cratonic basins evaluation of the timing and amplitude of individual sea level events reveals that the magnitude of change is the most problematic to estimate accurately the long term sea level shows a gradual rise through the cambrian reaching a zenith in the late ordovician then a short lived but prominent withdrawal in response to hirnantian glaciation subsequent but decreasingly substantial eustatic highs occurred in the mid silurian near the middle late devonian boundary and in the latest carboniferous eustatic lows are recorded in the early devonian near the mississippian pennsylvanian boundary and in the late permian one hundred and seventy two eustatic events are documented for the paleozoic varying in magnitude from a few tens of meters to 125 meters

interpreting carbon isotope excursions carbonates and organic matter abstract variations in the carbon isotopic compositions of marine carbonate and organic carbon provide a record of changes in the fraction of organic carbon buried through time and may provide clues to changes in rates of weathering and sources of organic carbon paired carbonate and organic carbon isotope determinations provide a possibility of interpreting not only changes in the global carbon cycle through time but changes in atmospheric pco2 as well interpretations of these types of data are typically rather qualitative a quantitative basis is required to develop a better understanding of changes in the carbon cycle for this purpose we employ a simple model of the global carbon cycle which is subjected to a number of different perturbations each lasting 500 ky i e much longer than the residence times of carbon and phosphorus in the ocean atmosphere system in addition to standard considerations of carbon mass and isotopic fluxes to the ocean atmosphere system from weathering and volcanism and fluxes of organic carbon and carbonate carbon to sediments the model incorporates sensitivity of the photosynthetic carbon isotope effect to changes in pco2 the inclusion of this parameter leads to unexpected carbon isotope responses to forcing that causes increased rates of organic carbon burial a series of simple to more complex simulations illustrates the significant effects of varying differences between the carbon isotopic composition of sedimented carbonate and organic carbon b with constant b a 50 increase in organic carbon burial produces a parallel increase in carbonate and organic carbon isotopic compositions however the same simulation with b responsive to pco2 changes produces an initial parallel 13 c increase but this is followed by an even greater 13 c enrichment in organic carbon because pco2 falls in response to increased organic carbon burial the counterintuitive overall result of the enhanced organic carbon burial event is that the carbonate carbon isotopic composition actually decreases because of the more substantial increase in 13 c org in addition we illustrate the effects on carbon isotopic compositions of the oceanic inorganic carbon reservoir and buried organic matter of a 50 increase in volcanic co2 outgassing a 50 increase in weathering rate with coupled phosphate and riverine carbon flux responses a 50 decrease in shale associated organic carbon weathering a 50 decrease in silicate weathering rate and the possible effects of the rise in abundance of c4 plants in the late miocene to recent we compare the model simulated carbon isotopic responses for some of these experiments to paired carbonate and organic carbon records to illustrate how these records might be interpreted in light of the model response

paleoenvironmental changes in the silurian indicated by stable isotopes in brachiopod shells from gotland sweden ratios of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in brachiopod shells more than 370 specimens esp atrypa reticularis from the silurian of gotland sweden have been analysed preservation of biological skeletal ultrastructures observed in sem micrographs and cathodoluminescence analyses indicate that usually no diagenetical alteration occurs the silurian of gotland consists of 440 m carbonate deposits spanning the late llandovery to late ludlow epochs 431 411 m y repeatedly uniform sequences of micritic limestones and marks are interrupted by complex structured reefs and adjacent platform sediments previously the alteration of facies is interpreted as the result of sea level fluctuations caused by a gradual regression with superimposed minor transgressive pulses the silurian sequence of gotland exhibits principally parallel carbon and oxygen isotope records corresponding closely to the topostratigraphic units lower values occur in periods dominated by deposition of marly sequences higher values are observed in periods dominated by reefs and extended carbonate platforms the isotope ratios are influenced by local as well as global factors the oxygen isotope ratios are interpreted to reflect paleosalinity changes due to varying freshwater input rather than changes in paleotemperature consequently the facies distribution of gotland is interpreted as resulting from changes in terrigenous input caused by different rates of continental weathering and freshwater runoff rather than by sea level fluctuations periods of arid climate and therefore anti estuarine downwelling of oxygenated surface water appear as short episodes of reef growing 1 5 m y in an epoche characterized by a tropic humid climate which causes an estuarine circulation and the upwelling of co2 rich deep water carbon isotope ratios are obviously connected to these changes in circulation by the advection of 13c rich surface water arid episodes or upwelling of 13c depleted deep water humid episodes of a silurian ocean which itself reveals generally euxinic deep water conditions due to the burial of organic carbon in black shales

carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of silurian brachiopods gotland sweden palaeoceanographic implications abstract one hundred and seventy two non luminescent brachiopod shells from the silurian sequence of gotland were investigated for their carbon and oxygen isotopic composition diagenetic alteration of the shell calcite was excluded by means of petrographic trace element and cathodoluminescence analysis oxygen and carbon isotopic signals vary considerably within the uppermost llandovery to the ludlow average 18o and 13c values of well defined stratigraphic units range from 2 4 to 5 9 and 1 to 8 respectively we observed parallel trends in the carbon and oxygen isotope curves with the most prominent shifts occurring in the lower wenlock upper wenlock and middle ludlow average 18o values 2 4 to 2 9 recorded in the middle ludlow are among the highest 18o values reported for the early palaeozoic the recorded 18o variations cannot solely be explained by changes in sea surface temperature and salinity the variations in the isotopic signals correlate negatively with changes in sea level heavy carbon and oxygen signals coincide with sea level lowstands whereas light signals are recorded during sea level highstands sea level highstands were probably characterized by the formation of warm saline waters on subtropical epicontinental shelves inducing oxygen deficiency in the basins alumshale facies the low 18o values are attributed to 18o depletion in surface waters owing to the storage of 18o enriched saline waters in the basins low 13c values are explained by a low surface water productivity since nutrients were not supplied to the photic zone but rather stored in the deeper ocean during sea level lowstands colder waters that formed in higher latitudes may have represented the main intermediate water source a better ventilation of the basins is documented by the deposition of well aerated sediments whereas the high 18o values are explained by the change in oceanic circulation the high 13c values are attributed to an enhanced primary productivity and possibly to an enhanced burial of corg the model discussed here may provide an attractive scenario for accounting for the recorded short term variations in the isotopic signals without the necessity of introducing an isotopic correction factor for silurian sea water

upper cretaceous carbon and oxygen isotope stratigraphy of hemipelagic carbonate facies from southern tibet china a high resolution carbon isotope curve derived from upper cretaceous hemipelagic sediments cropping out at tingri southern tibet shows similarities to patterns established on other continents notably in the presence of a well defined positive excursion across the cenomanian turonian boundary where 13 c values exceed 3 5 from the upper turonian to the lower campanian 13 c values generally decline apart from a minor positive excursion in the middle coniacian a trend that departs from that recorded from europe relatively low 13 c values c 1 at the santonian campanian and campanian maastrichtian boundaries in tibet define a prominent broad positive excursion centred in the middle campanian and terminated by an abrupt fall towards the close of the stage when compared with data from europe and north africa the 13 c values of the tibetan section are generally lower by c 1 5 except for the middle campanian positive excursion where values 13 c c 2 are comparable with those documented from europe and north africa these differences are interpreted as reflecting variable mixing of water masses carrying different carbon isotope signatures such that areas close to the major sinks of marine organic carbon recorded higher 13 c values than those located in more distal regions oxygen isotope ratios albeit affected by diagenesis may record a palaeotemperature signal

oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of silurian brachiopods implications for coeval seawater and glaciations we collected 236 calcitic brachiopod shells covering the entire silurian period 30 m y at high temporal resolution from stratotype sections from anticosti island canada wales united kingdom the oslo region norway gotland sweden and podolia ukraine estonia latvia and lithuania data from petrography scanning electron microscopy cathodoluminescence isotopes and trace elements all confirmed that there was excellent preservation in most shells thus arguing for retention of primary isotope signals exceptions were samples from the oslo region the d18o and d13c values for the well preserved samples range from 2 to 6 5 and from 1 to 7 5 peedee belemnite respectively in terms of temporal trends oxygen and carbon isotopes vary in parallel with a slight decrease with declining age of 1 through silurian time with superimposed short term oscillations that are negatively correlated with sea level changes three successive positive d18o shifts in early aeronian latest aeronian and early wenlock time correlate with sea level lowstands and with glacial diamictite deposits in the amazon basin and in africa the high d18o and d13c values are attributed to cold episodes with low sea levels and low values to warm episodes with high sea levels during warm silurian episodes the d18o value of seawater is suggested to have been about 3 5 standard mean ocean water smow and the global tropical temperatures of about 20 30 c similar to the present day values in summer during glacial episodes seawater is proposed to have had a d18o value of 2 5 smow and temperature of about 14 23 c comparable to tropical temperatures proposed for the last glacial episode 14 to 28 c three positive d13c peaks in early and late wenlock and late ludlow time likely of regional to global significance appear to coincide with sea level lowstands but we are as yet unable to propose a convincing causative geologic scenario that would explain their origin

regional tectonic framework structure and evolution of the western marginal basins of india abstract the kutch saurashtra cambay and narmada basins are pericontinental rift basins in the western margin of the indian craton these basins were formed by rifting along precambrian tectonic trends interplay of three major precambrian tectonic trends of western india dharwar nnw sse aravalli delhi ne sw and satpura ene wsw controlled the tectonic style of the basins the geological history of the basins indicates that these basins were formed by sequential reactivation of primordial faults the kutch basin opened up first in the early jurassic rifting was initiated in late triassic along the delhi trend followed by the cambay basin in the early cretaceous along the dharwar trend and the narmada basin in late cretaceous time along the satpura trend the evolution of the basins took place in four stages these stages are synchronous with the important events in the evolution of the indian sub continent its breakup from gondwanaland in the late triassic early jurassic its northward drifting during the jurassic cretaceous and collision with the asian continent in the early tertiary the most important tectonic events occurred in late cretaceous time the present style of the continental margins of india evolved during early tertiary time the saurashtra arch the extension of the aravalli range across the western continental shelf subsided along the eastern margin fault of the cambay basin during the early cretaceous it formed an extensive depositional platform continuous with the kutch shelf for the accumulation of thick deltaic sediments a part of the saurashtra arch was uplifted as a horst during the main tectonic phase in the late cretaceous the present high thermal regime of the cambay bombay high region is suggestive of a renewed rifting phase

lithospheric anisotropy structure inferred from collocated teleseismic and magnetotelluric observations great slave lake shear zone northern canada 1 accurate interpretation of sks shear wave splitting observations requires inherently indeterminate depth information magnetotelluric electrical anisotropies are depth constrained and thereby offer possible resolution of the sks conundrum mt and teleseismic instruments deployed across the great slave lake shear zone northern canada investigated lithospheric anisotropy and tested a hypothesis that seismic and electrical anisotropy obliquity can infer mantle strain shear sense lithospheric mantle mt strike n60 e differs significantly from crustal mt strike n30 e sks splitting vectors outside the shear zone exhibit single layer anisotropy with fast axis parallel to upper mantle mt strike and oblique to present day plate motion n135 w back azimuth sensitivity at sites within the 30 km wide shear zone imply more complex layering with two layer inversion yielding an upper layer of n20 e and a lower layer of n66 e the mt data help to constrain the depth location of sks anisotropy and taken together support a model of fossil lithospheric anisotropy

a tomographic image of indian lithosphere break off beneath the pamir hindukush region summary the p and s seismic anomalies in the upper mantle beneath the pamir hindukush collision zone and surrounding areas are investigated using more than 4 10 5 traveltimes from 5775 events located in the study region recorded by the stations of the worldwide seismic network and reported in the isc catalogue all available epicentral distance ranges of seismic rays are considered all sources are relocated using an algorithm which includes the double difference method in addition source parameters are corrected in the main inversion step simultaneously with the velocity models the high reliability of the resulting p velocity images is confirmed by various tests the s model provides much smoother patterns which are however generally consistent with p anomalies our model shows a complex image of lithospheric plate under the study region under sw hindukush the northwards subducting indian plate is imaged throughout the upper mantle and transition zone further to the ne within a 300 km wide zone the upper part of the plate overturns and then the slab breaks off after it narrows at 250 km depth the tomographic model also provides evidence for the southward subduction of the lithosphere beneath the southern tien shan down to at least 250 km depth to the north of tarim we observe a northward dipping of the tarim plate down to 500 km depth at the crustal depth our model shows alternating belts of high and low velocities parallel to the main thrusting faults which indicate complex crustal structure in this region

multiphase silurian bentonites in the baltic palaeobasin abstract the mineral composition of altered volcanic ash beds bentonites deposited in marine environments is typically characterized by smectite or illite smectite type clay minerals silurian bentonites from an unmetamorphosed normal marine sedimentary sequence in the eastern baltic palaeobasin however show a complex and varied mineral composition with illite smectite k feldspar and kaolinite as the dominant authigenic phases the whole rock xrd study of 52 bentonite beds from two drill cores ruhnu and ohesaare southwestern estonia reveals a range of compositions varying between different beds as well as laterally within a single bed the observed variations are found to reflect the bentonite development and diversification during initial stages of volcanic ash transformation and diagenesis that was probably overprinted by a later k metasomatic event

carbon isotope stratigraphy of lochkovian to eifelian limestones from the devonian of central and southern europe lower to middle devonian carbonates of the prague syncline the carnic alps the montagne noire and the cantabrian mountains were investigated for 13ccarb and 13corg these values were measured on bulk rocks selected components and cements many carbonates exhibit primary marine values but some are altered by diagenesis a 13c curve can be presented for the latest pridolian to emsian time interval several sharp or broad positive excursions are obvious in the woschmidti postwoschmidti sulcatus kitabicus late serotinus and kockelianus conodont zones the excursion at the silurian devonian boundary is known worldwide and therefore considered global in nature some of the others are described for the first time from central and southern europe and their global nature has to be verified by further investigations in other regions most excursions relate to and or started during major regressions whereas sea level highstands correspond to minimal 13c values similar relationships between sea level changes and 13c have been observed from other early palaeozoic intervals the transgressive chotec and kacak events are marked by positive isotope excursions this type of combination is usually observed in late palaeozoic to cenozoic black shale events

the 2001 bhuj earthquake tomographic evidence for fluids at the hypocenter and its implications for rupture nucleation 1 the january 26 2001 bhuj earthquake mw 7 6 is one of the most catastrophic indian earthquakes we have investigated the 3 d seismic velocity and poisson s ratio structures of the bhuj source area to understand the probable cause of triggering the earthquake we used 1948 p and 1865 s wave high quality arrival times from 331 aftershocks recorded at a temporary seismic network significant variations up to 5 in velocity and 10 in poisson s ratio are revealed in the aftershock area the mainshock is located in a distinctive zone characterized by high vp low vs and high poisson s ratio in the depth range of 20 to 30 km and extending 15 to 30 km laterally this feature is very similar to that of the 1995 kobe earthquake zhao et al 1996 the anomaly may be due to a fluid filled fractured rock matrix which might have contributed to the initiation of the bhuj earthquake

the diversification of paleozoic fire systems and fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen concentration by comparing silurian through end permian 250 million years myr charcoal abundance with contemporaneous macroecological changes in vegetation and climate we aim to demonstrate that long term variations in fire occurrence and fire system diversification are related to fluctuations in late paleozoic atmospheric oxygen concentration charcoal a proxy for fire occurs in the fossil record from the late silurian 420 myr to the present its presence at any interval in the fossil record is already taken to constrain atmospheric oxygen within the range of 13 to 35 the fire window herein we observe that as predicted atmospheric oxygen levels rise from 13 in the late devonian to 30 in the late permian so too fires progressively occur in an increasing diversity of ecosystems sequentially data of note include the occurrence of charcoal in the late silurian early devonian indicating the burning of a diminutive dominantly rhyniophytoid vegetation an apparent paucity of charcoal in the middle to late devonian that coincides with a predicted atmospheric oxygen low and the subsequent diversification of fire systems throughout the remainder of the late paleozoic first fires become widespread during the early mississippian they then become commonplace in mire systems in the middle mississippian in the pennsylvanian they are first recorded in upland settings and finally based on coal petrology become extremely important in many permian mire settings these trends conform well to changes in atmospheric oxygen concentration as predicted by modeling and indicate oxygen levels are a significant control on long term fire occurrence

geocarbsulf a combined model for phanerozoic atmospheric o2 and co2 abstract a model for the combined long term cycles of carbon and sulfur has been constructed which combines all the factors modifying weathering and degassing of the geocarb iii model berner r a kothavala z 2001 geocarb iii a revised model of atmospheric co2 over phanerozoic time am j sci 301 182 204 for co2 with rapid recycling and oxygen dependent carbon and sulfur isotope fractionation of an isotope mass balance model for o2 berner r a 2001 modeling atmospheric o2 over phanerozoic time geochim cosmochim acta 65 685 694 new isotopic data for both carbon and sulfur are used and new feedbacks are created by combining the models sensitivity analysis is done by determining 1 the effect on weathering rates of using rapid recycling rapid recycling treats carbon and sulfur weathering in terms of young rapidly weathering rocks and older more slowly weathering rocks 2 the effect on o2 of using different initial starting conditions 3 the effect on o2 of using different data for carbon isotope fractionation during photosynthesis and alternative values of oceanic 13c for the past 200 million years 4 the effect on sulfur isotope fractionation and on o2 of varying the size of o2 feedback during sedimentary pyrite formation 5 the effect on o2 of varying the dependence of organic matter and pyrite weathering on tectonic uplift plus erosion and the degree of exposure of coastal lands by sea level change 6 the effect on co2 of adding the variability of volcanic rock weathering over time berner r a 2006 inclusion of the weathering of volcanic rocks in the geocarbsulf model am j sci 306 in press results show a similar trend of atmospheric co2 over the phanerozoic to the results of geocarb iii but with some differences during the early paleozoic and for variable volcanic rock weathering lower co2 values during the mesozoic atmospheric oxygen shows a major broad late paleozoic peak with a maximum value of about 30 o2 in the permian a secondary less broad peak centered near the silurian devonian boundary variation between 15 and 20 o2 during the cambrian and ordovician a very sharp drop from 30 to 15 o2 at the permo triassic boundary and a more or less continuous rise in o2 from the late triassic to the present

glacial changes of five southwest british columbia icefields canada mid 1980s to 1999 this study adjusts and compares digital elevation models dems created from photogrammetric and interferometric synthetic aperture radar techniques to determine volume and surface elevation changes of five icefields in a remote region of southwest british columbia canada between the mid 1980s and 1999 preliminary differences between the dems in ice free and vegetation free areas indicated variable elevation offsets with increasing altitude 11 m km 1 and with increasing slope 2 7 m 108 1 results indicate a surface elevation change of 6 0 2 7 m 0 5 0 2 m a 1 and a total volume loss of 19 4 8 8 km 3 1 5 0 7 km 3 a 1 which represents a potential sea level rise contribution of 0 004 0 002 mm a 1 temperature and snowfall data from four nearby meteorological stations indicate that increased temperatures and decreased snowfall throughout the late 1980s and 1990s are a likely cause of the thinning glacier terminus positions were compared between a historical map 1927 and satellite images 1974 1990 91 and 2000 01 all observed glaciers were in retreat between 1927 and 1974 as well as between 1990 91 and 2000 01 but many glaciers advanced or significantly slowed in their retreat between 1974 and 1990 91

modeling the carbon and sulfur isotope compositions of marine sediments climate evolution during the devonian abstract a model of global biogeochemical cycles coupled to an energy balance climatic model modified after the combine model godderis y joachimski m m 2004 global change in the late devonian modeling the frasnian famennian short term carbon isotope excursions palaeogeogr palaeoclimatol palaeoecol 202 309 329 is used to calculate the short term evolution of atmospheric p co 2 during the devonian the geochemical cycles for carbon alkalinity phosphorus sulfur and oxygen are included in this model with also 13 c and 34 s cycles high resolution records of 13 c of marine carbonates and 34 s of marine sulfates are used as forcing parameters of the geochemical cycles in an inverse modeling atmospheric p co 2 and p o 2 at the end of the silurian are calculated to have been 3000 ppmv and 0 165 bar 0 75 pal respectively a long term decrease in p co 2 is modeled for almost the entire devonian short term lowering of p co 2 to concentrations around 2000 ppmv is calculated for the silurian devonian transition and the pragian contents around 900 ppmv are modeled for the eifelian givetian givetian frasnian and frasnian famennian boundaries as a consequence of enhanced organic carbon burial during deposition of lochkovian eifelian and frasnian grey and black shales organic carbon burial is enhanced by the increase of phosphorus delivery to the ocean triggered by short term sea level falls the corresponding short term global climatic cooling at the silurian devonian boundary at the end of the pragian and the givetian frasnian as well as frasnian famennian boundaries reached 2 c at the equator the rapid colonization of continental surface by land plants during the middle and late devonian increasing chemical alteration of the continents and co 2 consumption by silicate weathering is assumed to have caused cooling of surface seawater as suggested by the 18 o values of biogenic apatites

oxygen isotope evolution of biogenic calcite and apatite during the middle and late devonian oxygen isotope ratios of well preserved brachiopod calcite and conodont apatite were used to reconstruct the palaeotemperature history of the middle and late devonian by assuming an oxygen isotopic composition of 1 v smow for devonian seawater the oxygen isotope values of eifelian and early givetian brachiopods and conodonts give average palaeotemperatures ranging from 22 to 25 c late givetian and frasnian palaeotemperatures calculated from 18o values of conodont apatite are close to 25 c in the early frasnian and increase to 32 c in the latest frasnian and early famennian oxygen isotope ratios of late givetian and frasnian brachiopods are significantly lower than equilibrium values calculated from conodont apatite 18o values and give unrealistically warm temperatures ranging from 30 to 40 c diagenetic recrystallization of shell calcite different habitats of conodonts and brachiopods as well as non equilibrium fractionation processes during the precipitation of brachiopod calcite cannot explain the 18o depletion of brachiopod calcite moreover the 18o depletion of brachiopod calcite with respect to equilibrium 18o values calculated from conodont apatite is too large to be explained by a change in seawater ph that might have influenced the oxygen isotopic composition of brachiopod calcite the realistic palaeotemperatures derived from 18o apatite may suggest that biogenic apatite records the oxygen isotopic composition and palaeotemperature of palaeozoic oceans more faithfully than brachiopod calcite and do not support the hypothesis that the 18o 16o ratio of devonian seawater was significantly different from that of the modern ocean

palaeophytogeographical and palaeoecological implications of a miospore assemblage of earliest devonian lochkovian age from saudi arabia abstract palynological samples from two boreholes drilled in the eastern part of saudi arabia contain a rich assemblage of cryptospores and trilete spores they are dated as most probably lochkovian in age intriguingly the cryptospores are very similar to those from a coeval continental palynomorph assemblage from the old red sandstone continent whereas the trilete spores show a strong affinity with miospore assemblages from western gondwana it is suggested that cryptospore producing plants inhabited confined damp biotopes and had a wide range of climatic tolerance on the other hand trilete spore producing plants inhabited a wider variety of biotopes but were more sensitive to climatic variations the high degree of similarity between old red sandstone and saudi arabian cryptospore assemblages favours palaeogeographic reconstructions where there is close proximity between western gondwana and euramerica and or a land connection between these palaeoplates climatic differences between the old red sandstone continent and the northern part of western gondwana can be invoked to explain the variations in the trilete spore assemblages

a global biogeochemical perturbation across the silurian devonian boundary ocean continent biosphere feedbacks abstract the large scale global biogeochemical perturbation across the silurian devonian s d boundary recorded in the major positive excursion of the 13c time curve klonk event of an amplitude of 2 5 to 3 0 max 4 0 in europe and up to 5 0 in north america reflects a unique combination of palaeogeographic biogeochemical and evolutionary processes in the late caledonian geodynamic setting the steady sulfur isotopic ratios show an overall stability of the s d oceanic geochemical system as a whole and do not indicate any synchronous changes in anoxic deep oceanic and sediment processes therefore this led us to a hypothesis that the crucial changes that contributed to the recorded carbon cycling turnover are related to rapidly evolving ocean continent biosphere feedback coastal zones of the latest silurian epicontinental seas accumulated considerable quantities of organic carbon from early vascular vegetation which explosively expanded to inhabit vast near coastal shallows and deltas large primary production of these early terrestrial plants and rapidly enhanced sedimentary burial of organic carbon were also responsible for co2 drawdown which have resulted in reversed greenhouse effect and a global climatic cooling tendency this feedback was blocked when the sea level gradually dropped and led to shrinking of the silurian epicontinental seas and the growing climatic deterioration during the s d transition limited primary production furthermore continued processes of regressive abrasion and erosion limited the storage of organic carbon as well as the efficiency of the carbonate factory during the following early devonian greenhouse interval marine regression and active latest caledonian tectonism promoted progressive weathering of the sedimentary organic matter the oxidation of c rich deposits caused the subsequent growth of co2 levels in the early devonian culminating in the warming of global climate

silurian δ13c stratigraphy a view from north america three positive shifts in 13 c are recognized in well dated carbonate successions in north america and can be confidently correlated with shifts in the baltic region by using conodont and graptolite zonations the 13 c excursions reach distinct peaks of 3 to 4 at the ends of the amorphognathoides and siluricus conodont zones and within the ludensis graptolite zone the three events are associated with the most significant extinction horizons in the silurian and occur near clastic carbonate transitions that mark eustatic or oceanographic changes the magnitudes of the two oldest 13 c peaks compare well with the baltic region however the end siluricus excursion reaches far greater values of as much as 11 in sweden likely reflecting local modification of the global seawater signature

the ireviken event in the lower silurian of gotland sweden relation to similar palaeozoic and proterozoic events abstract for a long time the silurian was thought to represent a time of stable environmental conditions in the greenhouse period that followed the late ordovician glaciation during the past decade knowledge about the silurian has increased markedly and today it is known that the conditions in the silurian were much more variable than previously assumed detailed isotopic investigations have revealed several distinct positive excursions in both carbon and oxygen isotope values in low latitudes these periods of high c and o isotope values are in many cases characterised by the growth of reefs and the formation of extended carbonate platforms the sediments deposited during these excursions contain impoverished fossil assemblages especially with respect to conodonts graptolites and trilobites a conspicuous isotope excursion coincident with facies changes and a marked mass extinction is observed near the llandovery wenlock boundary this event is called the ireviken event after its type locality on the island of gotland sweden jeppsson l 1987 in palaeobiology of conodonts ellis horwood ltd chichester pp 129 145 here isotope data from nine sections at the nw coast of gotland are presented that cover the time interval of the ireviken event the 13c mean values rise from 1 4 to 4 5 and the 18o values increase from 5 6 to 5 0 the relative timing of stable isotope development extinctions and facies development is discussed it is shown that first extinctions precede the isotope excursion this indicates that extinction events and stable isotope development are only indirectly connected but might reflect the same causes other events characterised by similar relationships between positive isotope excursions mass extinctions and facies development are found in younger parts of the silurian late wenlock and ludlow in the late ordovician the late cambrian and with some reservations in the proterozoic the similarities between these events indicate analogous controlling mechanisms for the silurian climatic changes between humid and arid conditions in low latitudes were postulated in an earlier study of the authors a palaeoceanographic climatic model was postulated which is consistent with most of the sedimentological palaeontological and geochemical data here we demonstrate that this model may be applicable also for the older events

sensitivity of the epeiric sea carbon isotope record to local scale carbon cycle processes tales from the mohawkian sea ancient marine carbon isotope records derived from epeiric sea carbonates can bear a strong influence of local scale carbon cycling processes across the late ordovician mohawkian sea of eastern laurentia the carbon isotope compositions d 13 c of contemporaneous sediments range from 2x in the interior of the sea to 2 5x along the margin here we use a box model to explore the relative importance of carbon fluxes within the mohawkian sea from a mass balance perspective in the model the mohawkian sea carbon reservoir is coupled to but distinct from the ocean and atmosphere carbon reservoirs at initial steady state conditions the residence time of carbon in the mohawkian sea is less than 10 years we find that to produce model d 13 c values representative of the range in d 13 c across the mohawkian sea we must divide the sea into an inner region and an outer region and limit dissolved inorganic carbon dic exchange between the two to 15 of the initial steady state unrestricted exchange rate it is also necessary to supply low d 13 c carbon 29x to the inner region of the sea at a rate of 17 4 10 12 mol c yr 1 the required flux of low d 13 c carbon could not have been sustained over the long term by remineralization of organic carbon stored in sediments of the inner region of the mohawkian sea and the geographic d 13 c pattern is unlikely to have been generated by upwelling along the sebree trough rather the low d 13 c flux might have been derived from bryophytedominated terrestrial ecosystems suggesting an important role for terrestrial carbon cycling prior to the advent of vascular plants aninterestingfeatureofthemodelisthattheisotopiccompositionsofboththeepeiric seaandthelargerocean atmospheresystem are sensitive to changes in exchange rates within the epeiric sea this has important implications for interpreting global d 13 c

chemostratigraphic and u pb geochronologic constraints on carbon cycling across the silurian devonian boundary abstract the devonian period hosts extraordinary changes to earth s biosphere land plants began their rise to prominence with early vascular vegetation beginning its colonization of near shore environments in the latest silurian across the silurian devonian pridoli lochkovian transition carbon isotope analyses of bulk marine carbonates c carb 13 from laurentian and baltic successions reveal a positive c carb 13 shift known as the klonk event values reach 5 8 making it one of the largest carbon isotope excursions in the phanerozoic assigning rates and durations to these significant events requires a robust precise devonian time scale here we present 675 micritic matrix and 357 fossil specific c carb 13 analyses from the lower devonian helderberg group of new york and west virginia that exhibit the very positive c carb 13 values observed in other silurian devonian basins this chemostratigraphic dataset is coupled with 66 id tims u pb dates on single zircons from six ash falls intercalated within helderberg sediments including dates on the stratigraphically lowest devonian ashes yet developed in this work we a demonstrate that matrix and fossil specific c carb 13 values track one another closely in the helderberg group b estimate the silurian devonian boundary age in new york to be 421 3 1 2 ma 2 including decay constant uncertainties and c calculate the time required to evolve from baseline to peak c carb 13 values at the onset of the klonk event to be 1 00 0 25 myr under these constraints a steady state perturbation to the global carbon cycle can explain the observed excursion with modern fluxes as long as dic concentration in the devonian ocean remained below 2 the modern value therefore potential drivers such as enhanced burial of organic carbon need not rely on anomalously high total fluxes of carbon to explain the klonk event