Beschreibung: Publication date: 15 February 2017 Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 460 Author(s): Shucheng Xie, Thomas J. Algeo, Wenfeng Zhou, Xiaoyan Ruan, Genming Luo, Junhua Huang, Jiaxin Yan Microbial communities are known to expand as a result of environmental deterioration during mass extinctions, but differences in microbial community changes between extinction events and their underlying causes have received little study to date. Here, we present a systematic investigation of microbial lipid biomarkers spanning ∼20 Myr (Middle Permian to Early Triassic) at Shangsi, South China, to contrast microbial changes associated with the Guadalupian–Lopingian boundary (GLB) and Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB) mass extinctions. High-resolution analysis of the PTB crisis interval reveals a distinct succession of microbial communities based on secular variation in moretanes, 2-methylhopanes, aryl isoprenoids, steranes, n -alkyl cyclohexanes, and other biomarkers. The first episode of the PTB mass extinction (ME1) was associated with increases in red algae and nitrogen-fixing bacteria along with evidence for enhanced wildfires and elevated soil erosion, whereas the second episode was associated with expansions of green sulfur bacteria, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and acritarchs coinciding with climatic hyperwarming, ocean stratification, and seawater acidification. This pattern of microbial community change suggests that marine environmental deterioration was greater during the second extinction episode (ME2). The GLB shows more limited changes in microbial community composition and more limited environmental deterioration than the PTB, consistent with differences in species-level extinction rates (∼71% vs. 90%, respectively). Microbial biomarker records have the potential to refine our understanding of the nature of these crises and to provide insights concerning possible outcomes of present-day anthropogenic stresses on Earth's ecosystems.

Beschreibung: Publication date: 15 February 2017 Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 460 Author(s): Andrew A. Delorey, Nicholas J. van der Elst, Paul A. Johnson Tidal triggering of earthquakes is hypothesized to provide quantitative information regarding the fault's stress state, poroelastic properties, and may be significant for our understanding of seismic hazard. To date, studies of regional or global earthquake catalogs have had only modest successes in identifying tidal triggering. We posit that the smallest events that may provide additional evidence of triggering go unidentified and thus we developed a technique to improve the identification of very small magnitude events. We identify events applying a method known as inter-station seismic coherence where we prioritize detection and discrimination over characterization. Here we show tidal triggering of earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault. We find the complex interaction of semi-diurnal and fortnightly tidal periods exposes both stress threshold and critical state behavior. Our findings reveal earthquake nucleation processes and pore pressure conditions – properties of faults that are difficult to measure, yet extremely important for characterizing earthquake physics and seismic hazards.

Beschreibung: Publication date: 15 February 2017 Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 460 Author(s): Santanu Kumar Bhowmik, Sumit Chakraborty Tectonic styles in an early hot Earth were different from the present-day situation governed by plate tectonics. Processes in such hot settings remain poorly understood because they often occur on timescales that are below the resolution of conventional isotopic clocks, the rock records are fragmentary, and these have been superposed by later high-temperature events. We have developed a tool based on diffusion kinetics to overcome these difficulties and reconstruct sequences of short-lived episodes. Application of the method to a rock from the ultra-hot c.1.6 Ga orogenic domain of the Central Indian Tectonic Zone, where additional data are available to verify the results, shows that pulses of approach and roll-back of colliding plates preceded the final closure and collision. We demonstrate that cooling from ultra-high temperature metamorphic conditions in the orogen took place in multiple pulses that occurred with a periodicity of about 10 Myr at rates that vary between 100's to 10's °C/Myr, and burial-/exhumation-rates that vary between 30 and 2 km/Myr, respectively. Such details of tectonic processes in the Precambrian, with quantification of variable heating-, cooling-, burial-, and exhumation-rates of individual stages, have not been accessible until now. Application of this method to other regions would provide a means of exploring the thermal viability of the inferred long durations (>100 Myr) for some ultra-high temperature orogenies.

Beschreibung: Publication date: 15 February 2017 Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 460 Author(s): Navid Hedjazian, Fanny Garel, D. Rhodri Davies, Edouard Kaminski The depth of the oceanic lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB), as inferred from shear wave velocities, increases with lithospheric age, in agreement with models of cooling oceanic lithosphere. On the other hand, the distribution of radial anisotropy under oceanic plates is almost age-independent. In particular, radial anisotropy shows a maximum positive gradient at a depth of ∼70 km, which, if used as a proxy, indicates an age-independent LAB depth. These contrasting observations have fueled a controversy on the seismological signature of the LAB. To better understand the discrepancy between these observations, we model the development of lattice preferred orientation (LPO) in upper mantle crystal aggregates and predict the seismic anisotropy produced by plate-driven mid-ocean ridge flows. The model accounts for the progressive cooling of the lithosphere with age and can incorporate both diffusion and dislocation creep deformation mechanisms. We find that an age-independent distribution of radial anisotropy is the natural consequence of these simple flows. The depth and strength of anisotropy is further controlled by the deformation regime – dislocation or diffusion creep – experienced by crystals during their ascent towards, and subsequent motion away from, the ridge axis. Comparison to surface wave tomography models yield constraints on rheological parameters such as the activation volume. Although not excluded, additional mechanisms proposed to explain some geophysical signatures of the LAB, such as the presence of partial melt or changes in water content, are not required to explain the radial anisotropy proxy. Our prediction, that the age-independent radial anisotropy proxy marks the transition to flow-induced asthenospheric anisotropy, provides a way to reconcile thermal, mechanical and seismological views of the LAB.

Beschreibung: Publication date: 15 February 2017 Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 460 Author(s): Xiting Liu, Rebecca Rendle-Bühring, Holger Kuhlmann, Anchun Li During the Holocene, the most notably climatic change across the African continent is the African Humid Period (AHP), however the pace and primary forcing for this pluvial condition is still ambiguous, particularly in East Africa. We present a high-resolution marine sediment record off Tanzania to provide insights into the climatic conditions of inland East Africa during the Holocene. Major element ratios (i.e., log-ratios of Fe/Ca and Ti/Ca), derived from X-Ray Fluorescence scanning, have been employed to document variations in humidity in East Africa. Our results show that the AHP is represented by two humid phases: an intense humid period from the beginning of the Holocene to 8 ka (AHP I); and a moderate humid period spanning from 8 to 5.5 ka (AHP II). On the basis of our geochemical record and regime detection, the termination of the AHP initiated at 5.5 ka and ceased around 3.5 ka. Combined with other paleoclimatic records around East Africa, we suggest that the humid conditions in this region responded to Northern Hemisphere (NH) summer insolation. The AHP I and II might have been related to an eastward shift of the Congo Air Boundary and warmer conditions in the western Indian Ocean, which resulted in additional moisture being delivered from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans during the NH summer and autumn, respectively. We further note a drought event throughout East Africa north of 10°S around 8.2 ka, which may have been related to the southward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in response to the NH cooling event.

Beschreibung: Publication date: 15 February 2017 Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 460 Author(s): Martin Reyners, Donna Eberhart-Phillips, Phaedra Upton, David Gubbins How the thickened crust of a large igneous province on an incoming oceanic plate is accommodated at a subduction zone remains an open question. New Zealand is one of the few places to study this, as at ca. 105 Ma the ca. 35 km-thick Hikurangi Plateau impacted the Gondwana subduction zone in what is now the South Island. Here we report on results from a forty-station portable seismograph array in the southern South Island, designed to delineate the leading edge of the subducted plateau. Three-dimensional images of Vp and Vp/Vs reveal the southwestern part of the plateau was a relatively narrow salient, and the first part to be subducted. The plateau then rotated clockwise about this salient until the southern edge of the plateau was parallel to subduction strike and subduction ceased at ca. 100 Ma. Our results suggest that the global-scale plate reorganization event at 105–100 Ma was due to a cessation of subduction caused by the Hikurangi Plateau choking the Gondwana subduction zone, rather than the subduction of mid ocean ridges as previously proposed. The choking of Gondwana subduction by the plateau also led to a concentration of slab pull in the adjacent subducted oceanic crust, explaining the episode of basin opening and intraplate magmatism there that occurred at the same time. Our study underlines the havoc caused by impact of a large igneous province with a subduction zone.

Beschreibung: Publication date: 15 February 2017 Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 460 Author(s): Elizabeth C. Christeleit, Mark T. Brandon, David L. Shuster Apatite thermochronometry and synthetic maps of ages and rates for thermochronometric data are used to estimate the timing of incision of valley relief in the Andes. Central Patagonia offers a unique location to study the feedbacks between long-term climate, topography, and erosion due to the high relief and well-resolved mid-latitude glacial history. New apatite (U–Th)/He ages from two vertical transects and two 4 He/ 3 He release spectra in the fjord network around 47°S reveal fast cooling (15–30 °C/Ma) from ∼10 to 5 Ma. Samples currently at the surface cooled below ∼35 °C by ∼5 Ma, indicating slow cooling and little erosion in those regions since 5 Ma. We show that these very low-temperature thermochronometric data are useful indicators of changes in topography, and insensitive to deep thermal processes, such as migration of the Chile triple junction. Map-based predictions of the thermochronometric signatures of disparate topographic scenarios show the distribution of sample data necessary to resolve the timing of relief change. Comparisons to predicted cooling ages and rates indicate that our new apatite He data are most consistent with a pulse of early glacial incision, with much of the observed valley relief in Patagonia carved between 10 and 5 Ma. Early onset of glaciation in Patagonia is supported by glacial till with bracketing ages of 7.4 and 5 Ma. We therefore conclude that the observed thermochronometric signal of fast cooling from 10 to 5 Ma is likely due to an increase in valley relief coinciding with these early glaciations in the Andes. In other glaciated areas at lower latitudes, studies have found a dramatic increase in valley relief at ∼1 Ma. This timing has generated the idea that incision of glacial valleys may be related to the mid-Pleistocene transition, when the global glacial cycle changed from 40 to 100 ka periods. Our results from a higher latitude indicate an alternative, that glacial valleys incised rapidly after the onset of alpine glaciation.

Beschreibung: Publication date: 15 February 2017 Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 460 Author(s): Bérengère Mougel, Frédéric Moynier, Christa Göpel, Christian Koeberl Non-mass dependent chromium isotopic signatures have been successfully used to determine the presence and identification of extra-terrestrial materials in terrestrial impact rocks. Paleoproterozoic spherule layers from Greenland (Grænsesø) and Russia (Zaonega), as well as some distal ejecta deposits (Lake Superior region) from the Sudbury impact ( 1849 ± 0.3  Ma ) event, have been analyzed for their Cr isotope compositions. Our results suggest that 1) these distal ejecta deposits are all of impact origin, 2) the Grænsesø and Zaonega spherule layers contain a distinct carbonaceous chondrite component, and are possibly related to the same impact event, which could be Vredefort ( 2023 ± 4  Ma ) or another not yet identified large impact event from that of similar age, and 3) the Sudbury ejecta record a complex meteoritic signature, which is different from the Grænsesø and Zaonega spherule layers, and could indicate the impact of a heterogeneous chondritic body.

Beschreibung: Publication date: 15 February 2017 Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 460 Author(s): Ian H. Campbell, D. Rhodri Davies The changes that occur at the boundary between the Archean and Proterozoic eons are arguably the most fundamental to affect the evolution of Earth's continental crust. The principal component of Archean continental crust is Granite–Greenstone Terranes (GGTs), with granites always dominant. The greenstones consist of a lower sequence of submarine komatiites and basalts, which erupted onto a pre-existing Tonalite–Trondhjemite–Granodiorite (TTG) crust. These basaltic rocks pass upwards initially into evolved volcanic rocks, such as andesites and dacites and, subsequently, into reworked felsic pyroclastic material and immature sediments. This transition coincides with widespread emplacement of granitoids, which stabilised (cratonised) the continental crust. Proterozoic supra-crustal rocks, on the other hand, are dominated by extensive flat-lying platform sequences of mature sediments, which were deposited on stable cratonic basements, with basaltic rocks appreciably less abundant. The siliceous TTGs cannot be produced by direct melting of the mantle, with most hypotheses for their origin requiring them to be underlain by a complimentary dense amphibole–garnet–pyroxenite root, which we suggest acted as ballast to the early continents. Ubiquitous continental pillow basalts in Archean lower greenstone sequences require the early continental crust to have been sub-marine, whereas the appearance of abundant clastic sediments, at higher stratigraphic levels, shows that it had emerged above sea level by the time of sedimentation. We hypothesise that the production of komatiites and associated basalts, the rise of the continental crust, widespread melting of the continental crust, the onset of sedimentation and subsequent cratonisation form a continuum that is the direct result of removal of the continent's dense amphibole–garnet–pyroxenite roots, triggered at a regional scale by the arrival of a mantle plume at the base of the lithosphere. Our idealised calculations suggest that the removal of 40 km of the amphibole–garnet–pyroxenite root would have raised the average level of the continental crust by ∼3 km. The emergence of the continental crust was an essential precursor to the rise of oxygen, which started some 200 Myr later.

Beschreibung: Publication date: 15 February 2017 Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 460 Author(s): Gordon N. Inglis, Margaret E. Collinson, Walter Riegel, Volker Wilde, Alexander Farnsworth, Daniel J. Lunt, Paul Valdes, Brittany E. Robson, Andrew C. Scott, Olaf K. Lenz, B. David A. Naafs, Richard D. Pancost Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) are increasingly used to reconstruct mean annual air temperature (MAAT) during the early Paleogene. However, the application of this proxy in coal deposits is limited and brGDGTs have only been detected in immature coals (i.e. lignites). Using samples recovered from Schöningen, Germany (∼48°N palaeolatitude), we provide the first detailed study into the occurrence and distribution of brGDGTs through a sequence of early Eocene lignites and associated interbeds. BrGDGTs are abundant and present in every sample. In comparison to modern studies, changes in vegetation type do not appear to significantly impact brGDGT distributions; however, there are subtle differences between lignites – representing peat-forming environments – and siliciclastic nearshore marine interbed depositional environments. Using the most recent brGDGT temperature calibration (MAT mr ) developed for soils, we generate the first continental temperature record from central-western continental Europe through the early Eocene. Lignite-derived MAAT estimates range from 23 to 26 °C while those derived from the nearshore marine interbeds exceed 20 °C. These estimates are consistent with other mid-latitude environments and model simulations, indicating enhanced mid-latitude, early Eocene warmth. In the basal part of the section studied, warming is recorded in both the lignites (∼2 °C) and nearshore marine interbeds (∼2–3 °C). This culminates in a long-term temperature maximum, likely including the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO). Although this long-term warming trend is relatively well established in the marine realm, it has rarely been shown in terrestrial settings. Using a suite of model simulations we show that the magnitude of warming at Schöningen is broadly consistent with a doubling of CO 2 , in agreement with late Paleocene and early Eocene p CO 2 estimates.