Supplemental Data - Bioremediation of polluted air from an industrial plant using rotating biofilter reactor-based technology

Two microbial isolates (HDB, Hydrogen-Degrading Bacteria) obtained from industrial wastewater were inoculated into the rotating biofilter reactor 'Biowheel 2.0' and tested for the ability to purify gaseous flows containing benzene and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) released at an industrial plant. Different classes of gaseous flow were tested, namely 'cold box', 'in shell', and 'mix', all of them associated with the industrial process of 'mold-casting'. A significant increase in Removal Efficiency (RE) was recorded for benzene and NMVOCs in the inoculated 'Biowheel 2.0' biofilter, compared to uninoculated control. For each type of gaseous flow, odor impact was evaluated in the inlet and outlet flows at the industrial plant, using the test panel method and electronic nose technology. A significant drop in the amount of Olfactometric Units (O.U.) m-3 occurred in the gaseous flows treated with the bacterial consortium. The reported data demonstrate the ability of the consortium to degrade hydrocarbons, revealing its potential for bioremediation of polluted air emissions occurring at industrial plants.

Chemical analysis and argon geochronology from dive SAR_1 on Cornacya seamount of the Sardinia Channel

Sarcya 1 dive explored a previously unknown 12 My old submerged volcano, labelled Cornacya. A well developed fracturation is characterised by the following directions: N 170 to N-S, N 20 to N 40, N 90 to N 120, N 50 to N 70, which corresponds to the fracturation pattern of the Sardinian margin. The sampled lavas exhibit features of shoshonitic suites of intermediate composition and include amphibole-and mica-bearing lamprophyric xenoliths which are geochemically similar to Ti-poor lamproites. Mica compositions reflect chemical exchanges between the lamprophyre and its shoshonitic host rock suggesting their simultaneous emplacement. Nd compositions of the Cornacya K-rich suite indicate that continental crust was largely involved in the genesis of these rocks. The spatial association of the lamprophyre with the shoshonitic rocks is geochemically similar to K-rich and TiO2-poor igneous suites, emplaced in post-collisional settings. Among shoshonitic rocks, sample SAR 1-01 has been dated at 12.6±0.3 My using the 40Ar/39Ar method with a laser microprobe on single grains. The age of the Cornacya shoshonitic suite is similar to that of the Sisco lamprophyre from Corsica, which similarly is located on the western margin of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Thus, the Cornacya shoshonitic rocks and their lamprophyric xenolith and the Sisco lamprophyre could represent post-collisional suites emplaced during the lithospheric extension of the Corsica-Sardinia block, just after its rotation and before the Tyrrhenian sea opening. Drilling on the Sardinia margin (ODP Leg 107) shows that the upper levels of the present day margin (Hole 654) suffered tectonic subsidence before the lower part (Hole 652). The structure of this lower part is interpreted as the result of an eastward migration of the extension during Late Miocene and Early Pliocene times. Data of Cornacya volcano are in good agreement with this model and provide good chronological constraints for the beginning of the phenomenon.

(Table 1) Organic geochemistry of ODP Hole 134-832B and Site 134-833

Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 134 was located in the central part of the New Hebrides Island Arc, in the Southwest Pacific. Here the d'Entrecasteaux Zone of ridges, the North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge and South d'Entrecasteaux Chain, is colliding with the arc. The region has a Neogene history of subduction polarity reversal, ridge-arc collision, and back-arc spreading. The reasons for drilling in this region included the following: (1) to determine the differences in the style and time scale of deformation associated with the two ridge-like features (a fairly continuous ridge and an irregularly topographic seamount chain) that are colliding with the central New Hebrides Island Arc; (2) to document the evolution of the magmatic arc in relation to the collision process and possible Neogene reversal of subduction; and (3) to understand the process of dewatering of a small accretionary wedge associated with ridge collision and subduction. Seven sites were occupied during the leg, five (Sites 827-831) were located in the d'Entrecasteaux Zone where collision is active. Three sites (Sites 827, 828, and 829) were located where the North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge is colliding, whereas two sites (Sites 830 and 831) were located in the South d'Entrecasteaux Chain collision zone. Sites 828 (on North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge) and 831 (on Bougainville Guyot) were located on the Pacific Plate, whereas all other sites were located on a microplate of the North Fiji Basin. Two sites (Sites 832 and 831) were located in the intra-arc North Aoba Basin. Results of Leg 134 drilling showed that forearc deformation associated with the North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge and South d'Entrecasteaux Chain collision is distinct and different. The d'Entrecasteaux Zone is an Eocene subduction/obduction complex with a distinct submerged island arc. Collision and subduction of the North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge results in off scraping of ridge material and plating of the forearc with thrust sheets (flakes) as well as distinct forearc uplift. Some offscraped sedimentary rocks and surficial volcanic basement rocks of the North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge are being underplated to the New Hebrides Island forearc. In contrast, the South d'Entrecasteaux Chain is a serrated feature resulting in intermittent collision and subduction of seamounts. The collision of the Bougainville Guyot has indented the forearc and appears to be causing shortening through thrust faulting. In addition, we found that the Quaternary relative convergence rate between the New Hebrides Island Arc at the latitude of Espiritu Santo Island is as high as 14 to 16 cm/yr. The northward migration rate of the d'Entrecasteaux Zone was found the be ~2 to 4 cm/yr based on the newly determined Quaternary relative convergence rate. Using these rates we established the timing of initial d'Entrecasteaux Zone collision with the arc at ~3 Ma at the latitude of Epi Island and fixed the impact of the North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge upon Espiritu Santo Island at early Pleistocene (between 1.89 and 1.58 Ma). Dewatering is occurring in the North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge accretionary wedge, and the wedge is dryer than other previously studied accretionary wedges, such as Barbados. This could be the result of less sediment being subducted at the New Hebrides compared to the Barbados.

(Table 1) 40Ar-39Ar incremental heating ages for ODP Hole 163-988A basalt and plagioclase

Results of 40Ar-39Ar Ar dating constrain the age of the submerged volcanic succession, part of the seaward-dipping reflector sequence of the Southeast Greenland volcanic rifted margin, recovered during Leg 163. At the 63ºN drilling transect, the fully normally magnetized volcanic units at Holes 989B (Unit 1) and 990A (Units 1 and 2) are dated at 57.1 ± 1.3 Ma and 55.6 ± 0.6 Ma, respectively. This correlates with a common magnetochron, C25n. The underlying, reversely magnetized lavas at Hole 990A (Units 3-13) yield an average age of 55.8 ± 0.7 Ma and may correlate with C25r. The argon data, however, are also consistent with eruption of the lavas at Site 990 during the very earliest portion of C24. If so, the normally polarized units have to be correlated to a cryptochron (e.g., C24r-11 at ~55.57 Ma). The lavas at Holes 989B and 990A have typical oceanic compositions, implying that final plate separation between Greenland and northwest Europe took place at ~56 Ma. The age for Hole 989B lava is younger than expected from the seismic interpretations, posing questions about the structural evolution of the margin. An age of 49.6 ± 0.2 Ma for the basaltic lava at Site 988 (~66ºN) points to the importance of postbreakup tholeiitic magmatism at the rifted margin. Together with results from Leg 152, a virtually complete time frame for ~12 m.y. of pre-, syn-, and postbreakup volcanism during rifted margin evolution in Southeast Greenland can now be assembled. This time frame includes continental type volcanism at ~61-60 Ma, synbreakup volcanism beginning at ~57 Ma, and postbreakup volcanism at ~49.6 Ma. These discrete time windows coincide with distinct periods of tholeiitic magmatism from the onshore East Greenland Tertiary Igneous Province and is consistent with discrete mantle-melting events triggered by plume arrival (~61-60 Ma) under central Greenland, continental breakup (~57-54 Ma), and passage of the plume axis beneath the East Greenland rifted margin after breakup (~50-49 Ma), respectively.

Index properties, shear strenghts and consolidation characteristics of ODP Hole 164-995A sediments

Geotechnical properties of sediment from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 164 are presented as: (1) normalized shipboard strength ratios from the Cape Fear Diapir, the Blake Ridge Diapir, and the Blake Ridge; and (2) Atterberg limit, vane shear strength, pocket-penetrometer strength, and constant-rate-of-strain consolidation results from Hole 995A, located on the Blake Ridge. This study was conducted to understand the stress history in a region characterized by high sedimentation rates and the presence of gas hydrates. Collectively, the results indicate that sediment from the Blake Ridge exhibits significant underconsolidated behavior, except near the seafloor. At least 10 m of additional overburden was removed by erosion or mass wasting at Hole 993A on the Cape Fear Diapir, compared to nearby sites.

Plankton biomass in the Mamala Basin (Oahu Island, Hawaii Islands) under antropogenic influence in August-September of 2002-2004

Anthropogenic impact on biomass of coastal plankton communities caused by submerged disposal of urban sewage waters (dumping) was studied. Observations were carried out in August-September of 2002-2004 in the Mamala Bay (Oahu Island, Hawaii Islands) using satellite and straight sea measurements. An analysis of variability of integral indicators of the water column determined on the basis of on-board measurements allowed us to divide them into two groups: elements most sensitive to pollution (heterotrophic bacteria (H-Bact), phototrophic cyanobacteria Synechococcus spp. (SYN), and chlorophyll a (CHLa)) and elements that manifested episodic positive dependence on inflow of polluted waters (heterotrophic unicellular eukaryotes, small unicellular algae, phototrophic green bacteria Prochlorococcus spp., as well as total biomass of microplankton). It was shown that submerged waste water disposal in the region of the diffuser of the dumping device led to insignificant (aver. 1.2-1.4 times) local increase in integral biomass of H-Bact, SYN, and in concentration of CHLa. Similar but sharper (aver. 1.5-2.1 times) increase in these parameters was found in water layers with maximal biomasses. Possible pathways of disposed waters (under the pycnocline, at its upper boundary, and in the entire mixed layer) were analyzed on the basis of studying vertical displacement of biomasses of H-Bact, SYN, and prochlorophytes. Possibility of using optical anomalies distinguished from satellite data as markers of anthropogenic eutrophication caused by dumping was confirmed. Application of such markers depends on water transparency and on shapes of curves of vertical distribution of autotrophic organisms.

Physical, chemical and biological characteristics of disturbed and undisturbed Arctic lakes, Northwest Territories

1. Global warming is predicted to cause changes in permafrost cover and stability in the Arctic. Zones of high ion concentration in regions of ice-rich permafrost are a reservoir of chemicals that can potentially be transferred to fresh waters during thawing. Consequently, input of enriched runoff from the thaw and sediment and vegetation from the landscape could alter lakes by affecting their geochemistry and biological production. 2. Three undisturbed lakes and five lakes disturbed by retrogressive permafrost thaw slumps were sampled during late summer of 2006 to assess the potential effects of thermokarst shoreline slumping on water and sediment chemistry, the underwater light regime, and benthic macrophyte biomass and community structure. 3. Undisturbed lakes had sediments rich in organic material and selected micronutrients, while disturbed lakes had sediments richer in calcium, magnesium and strontium, greater transparency of the water column, and a well-developed submerged macrophyte community. 4. It is postulated that enriched runoff chemistry may alter nutrient availability at the sediment-water interface and also the degradation of organic material, thus affecting lake transparency and submerged macrophytes. The results suggest that retrogressive permafrost slumping can significantly affect food webs in arctic tundra lakes through an increase in macrophyte biomass and development of a more complex benthic habitat.

Cenozoic ostracoda of ODP Leg 104 holes

Ostracodes are less common than might be normally expected at Sites 642, 643, and 644, perhaps pointing to the fact that the marine habitat below the overlying Pleistocene ice covers was a severe environment. This explanation, however, would not apply to the Pliocene and Miocene deposits from which ostracodes are just as poorly represented. In the latter case the Iceland-Faeroe Ridge might still have acted as a submerged barrier that did not allow an open ocean circulation of bottom waters. Thus the barrier presumably prevented an exchange of cold subarctic bottom water with that of the open Atlantic and therefore benthic deep-sea migration from the south was impeded. Some Quaternary species are, for the first time, recorded to extend to the Pliocene and/or Miocene.

Temperature tolerance of western Baltic Sea Fucus vesiculosus - growth, photosynthesis and survival

Fucus vesiculosus L. (Phaeophyceae) is the most abundant and hence ecologically most important primary producer, carbon sink and habitat provider in the western Baltic Sea. All F. vesiculosus L. specimens were collected on 23 April 2014 from a depth of 0.2-1 m in the non-tidal Kiel Fjord, western Baltic Sea (54°27'N; 10°12'E), where this species forms dense and almost monospecific stands on stones. After sampling the algal thalli were stored in a refrigerator box with water from the sampling site, transported to Bremerhaven and stored at 10 °C for one day in filtered seawater. Experiments were conducted with vegetative apical tips (6.7±0.5 cm length), the actively growing region of F. vesiculosus, which were randomly selected and cut from 144 different individuals prior to the experiments. These tips were acclimated to laboratory conditions for three days in filtered seawater at 10 °C before the start of the experiment. Furthermore, 30 additional vegetative apices were freeze-dried to document the initial biochemical status of F. vesiculosus in its native habitat. A temperature gradient was installed in a walk-in constant cooling chamber (15 °C) in nine water baths (5, 10, 15, 20, 24, 26, 27, 28 and 29 °C ± 0.1 °C) which were tempered by thermostats (5, 10 and 15 °C: Huber Variostat CC + Pilot ONE, Peter Huber Kältemaschinen GmbH, Offenburg, Germany; 20 and 28 °C: Haake DC3, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Waltham, USA; 24, 26, 27 and 29 °C: Haake DC10). Every temperature treatment consisted of four 2 L glass beakers (n = 4). In each beaker four F. vesiculosus apices were grown in 2 µm-filtered North Sea water diluted with demineralized water in a ratio of 1:1 and enriched with nutrients after Provasoli (1968; 1/10 enrichment), leading to a salinity of about 15.6 which equaled habitat conditions. The algae were exposed to an irradiance of 130 µmol photons m-2 s-1 ±10 % (Powerstar HGI-TS 150 W, OSRAM GmbH, Bad Homburg, Germany) measured at the top of the beaker under a 16:8 h L:D cycle. The media in the beakers was changed every third or fourth day and aerated with artificial air containing 380 ppm CO2 (gas mixing device; HTK Hamburg GmbH, Hamburg, Germany). Before the experiment, the algae were acclimated to the final temperatures in steps of 5 °C for 2 days each, beginning at 10 °C. After 21 days exposure time, three out of four samples per replicate were freeze-dried for further biochemical analyses, and afterwards the thermostats were turned off to reduce the temperature to 16±0.4 °C for another 10 days permitting growth under post-culture conditions.

Abundance of benthic Foraminifera in the Kara Sea

Taxonomic composition and structure of assemblages of the present-day benthic Foraminifera in the Kara Sea has been studied on the base of 37 samples of surface sediments. Three assemblages have been distinguished by composition of dominant species. The assemblage Cribrostomoides subglobosus-Tritaxis nana with prevalence of agglutinating forms, typical for abyssal areas of the World Ocean, occurs in brown oozes in the deep western part of the sea at depths 70-375 m under conditions of considerable bottom stratification. The assemblage Elphidium clavatum-Cassidulina reniforme consists predominantly of species with calcareous shells and is characterized by a wide range of species; this assemblage occurs in the eastern part of the sea at depths 30-90 m in a well-aerated area. Species typical for sublittoral areas of polar regions are dominant. The assemblage Elphidium clavatum-Haynesina orbiculare occupies the littoral estuarine part of the sea. This assemblage is poor in species and not abundant, and it occurs under influence of freshened water masses undersaturated with dissolved carbonaceous matter.

Composition of bottom sediments and their exchange with seawater in the Amur and Zolotoy Rog bays, Sea of Japan

Transition of Zn, Cu, Cd, and Pb into solution is studied for experimental suspensions of coastal marine sediments with different degrees of pollution from the Amur Bay (Sea of Japan) over 30-70 days. Concentrations of dissolved metals were measured by a voltammetry method. Transition of Zn and Cd into solution was shown to be linearly dependent on initial pollution of sediments with these metals. Cadmium mobilization is due to gradual degradation of organic matter from sediments. Under degradation processes Zn quickly goes into solution during sedimentation and from silts, while in case of polluted sediments it is slowly mobilized during oxidation of sulfides. Behavior of Cu is complex because of binding of mobilized metal by dissolved organic compounds. Transition of lead into solution is negligible. Calculation of potential transition of metals from sediments into water on the basis of experimental data and its comparison with downward sedimentary flux showed that in the studied area secondary pollution of water by aerobic degradation of sediments is possible only for Cd.

Late Cretaceous dinoflagellate cysts of ODP Hole 120-748C

At Ocean Drilling Program Hole 748C in the Southern Indian Ocean, a total of 171 Late Cretaceous dinoflagellate taxa were encountered in 38 productive samples from Cores 120-748C-27R through 120-748C-62R (407-740 mbsf). Four provisional dinoflagellate assemblage zones and five subzones were recognized based on the character of the dinoflagellate flora and the first/last occurrences of some key species. Isabelidinium korojonense and Nelsoniella aceras occur in Zone A together with Oligosphaeridium pulcherrimum and Trithyrodinium suspect urn. Zone B was delineated by the total range of Odontochitina cribropoda. Zone C was separated from Zone B by the presence of Satyrodinium haumuriense, and Zone D is dominated by new taxa. The dinocyst assemblages bear a strong affinity to Australian assemblages. Paleoenvironmental interpretations based mainly on dinocysts suggest that during the ?Santonian-Campanian to the Maestrichtian this portion of the Kerguelen Plateau was a shallow submerged plateau, similar to nearshore to offshore to upper slope environments with water depths of tens to hundreds of meters, but isolated from the major continents of the Southern Hemisphere. Starting perhaps in the late Cenomanian (Mohr and Gee, 1992, doi:10.2973/odp.proc.sr.120.196.1992), the Late Cretaceous transgression over the plateau reached its maximum during the late Campanian. The plateau may have been exposed above sea level and subjected to weathering during the latest Maestrichtian. The studied dinocyst assemblages characterized by species of Amphidiadema, Nelsoniella, Satyrodinium, and Xenikoon together with abundant Chatangiella (the large-size species) and Isabelidinium suggest that a South Indian Province (tentatively named the Helby suite) may have existed during the Campanian-Maestrichtian in comparison with the other four provinces of Lentin and Williams. One new genus, three new species, and two new subspecies of dinocysts are described.

Occurrence of tethyan radiolarian species in early Cretaceous sediments of ODP Hole 123-765C in the Northeast Indian Ocean (Fig. 4)

During ODP Leg 123, abundant and well-preserved Neocomian radiolarians were recovered at Site 765 (Argo Abyssal Plain) and Site 766 (lower Exmouth Plateau). Assemblages are characterized by the numerical dominance of a small number of non-tethyan forms and by the scarcity of tethyan taxa. Remarkable contrasts exist between radiolarian assemblages extracted from claystones of Site 765 and reexamined DSDP Site 261, and faunas recovered from radiolarian sand layers, only found at Site 765. Clay faunas are unusual in their low diversity of apparently ecologically tolerant (or solution resistant?), ubiquist species, whereas sand faunas are dominated by non-tethyan taxa. Comparisons with Sites 766 and 261, as well as sedimentological observations, lead to the conclusion that this faunal contrast resulted from a difference in provenance, rather than from hydraulic sorting or selective dissolution. The ranges of 27 tethyan taxa from Site 765 were compared to the tethyan radiolarian zonation by Jud ( 1992 ) by means of the Unitary Associations Method. This calculation allows to directly date the Site 765 assemblages and to estimate the amount of truncation of ranges for tethyan taxa. Over 70% of the already few tethyan species of Site 765, have truncated ranges during the Valanginian-Hauterivian. Radiolarian assemblages recovered from claystones at Sites 765 and 261 in the Argo Basin apparently reflect restricted oceanic conditions during the latest Jurassic-Barremian. Neither sedimentary facies nor faunal associations bear any resemblance to what we know from typical tethyan sequences. We conclude that the Argo Basin was paleoceanographically separated from the Tethys during the Late Jurassic and part of the Early Cretaceous by its position at higher paleolatitudes and/or by enclosing land masses. Assemblages recovered from radiolarian sand layers are dominated by non-tethyan species that are interpreted as circumantarctic. Their first appearance in the late Berriasian-early Valanginian predates the oceanization of the Indo-Australian breakup (M11, late Valanginian), but coincides with a sharp increase in margin-derived pelagic turbidites. The Indo-Australian rift zone and the adjacent margins must have been submerged deeply enough to allow an intermittent influx of circumantarctic cold water into the Argo Basin, creating increased bottom current activity. Cold-water radiolarians carried into the Argo Basin upwelled along the margin, died, and accumulated in radiolarite layers due to winnowing by bottom currents. High rates of faunal change and the sharp increase of bottom current activity are thought to be synchronous with possible pronounced late Berriasian-early Valanginian lowstands in sea level. Hypothetically, both phenomena might have been caused by a tendency to glaciation on the Antarctic-Australian continent, which was for the first time isolated from the rest of Gondwana by oceanic seaways as a result of Jurassic-Early Cretaceous sea-floor spreading. The absence of most typical tethyan radiolarian species during the Valanginian-Hauterivian is interpreted as reflecting a time of strong influx of circumantarctic cold water following oceanization (M 11) and rapid spreading between Southeast India and West Australia. The reappearance and gradual abundance/diversity increase of tethyan taxa, along with the still dominant circumantarctic species are thought to result from overall more equitable climatic conditions during the Barremian-early Aptian and from the establishment of an oceanic connection with the Tethys Ocean during the early Aptian.

Composition of rocks and minerals from the Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island (New Siberian Islands)

In the southeast of the Bolshoi Lyakhovsky Island there are outcrops of tectonic outliers composed of low-K medium-Ti tholeiitic basic rocks represented by low altered pillow basalts, as well as by their metamorphosed analogs: amphibolites and blueschists. The rocks are depleted in light rare-earth elements and were melted out of a depleted mantle source enriched in Th, Nb, and Zr also contributed to the rock formation. The magma sources were not affected by subduction-related fluids or melts. The rocks were part of the Jurassic South Anyui ocean basin crust. The blueschists are the crust of the same basin submerged beneath the more southern Anyui-Svyatoi Nos arc to depth of 30-40 km. Pressure and temperature of metamorphism suggest a setting of "warm" subduction. Mineral assemblages of the blueschists record time of a collision of the Anyui-Svyatoi Nos island arc and the New Siberian continental block expressed as a counter-clockwise PT trend. The pressure jump during the collision corresponds to heaping of tectonic covers above the zone of convergence 12 km in total thickness. Ocean rocks were thrust upon the margin of the New Siberian continental block in late Late Jurassic - early Early Cretaceous and mark the NW continuation of the South Anyui suture, one of the main tectonic sutures of the Northeastern Asia.

Geochemistry on rocks from Shackleton Range

During the GEISHA expedition (Geologische Expedition in die Shackleton Range 1987/88), the Pioneers Escarpment was visited and sampled extensively for the first time. Most of the rock types encountered represent amphibolite facies metamorphics, but evidence for granulite facies conditions was found in cores of garnet. These conditions must have been at least partly reached during the peak of metamorphism. For the Pioneers Escarpment a varicolored succession of sedimentary and bimodal volcanic origin is typical. It comprises: quartzites muscovite quartzite, sericite quartzite, fuchsite quartzite, garnet-quartz schists etc.; pelites: mica schists and plagioclase or plagioclase-microcline gneisses, aluminous schists; marls and carbonates: grey meta-limestones, carbonaceous quartzites, but also pure white, often fine-grained, saccharoidal marble, or a variety of tremolite marble, olivine (forsterite) marble, diopside-clinopyroxene-tremolite marble, etc.; basic volcanic rocks: amphibole fels, amphibolite schist, garnet amphibolite, and acidic to intermediate volcanic rocks: garnet-biotite schist, epidote-biotite-plagioclase gneiss, microcline gneiss. These rocks are considered to be a supracrustal unit, called the Pioneers Group. In the easternmost parts of the Pioneers Escarpment, e.g. at Vindberget, nonmetamorphic shales, sandstones and greywackes crop out, which are cover rocks of possibly Jurassic age. These metasediments, which represent a quartz-pelite-carbonate (QPC) association, indicate that deposition took place on a stable shelf, i.e. on the submerged rim of a craton. Marine shallow-water sedimentation including marls and aluminous clays form the protoliths. The volcanics may be part of a bimodal volcanics-arkose-conglomerate (BVAC) association. Geochemical analyses support the assumption of volcanic protoliths. This is demonstrated especially by the elevated amounts of the immobile, incompatible high-field-strength elements (HFSE) Nb, Ta, Ti, Y, and Zr encountered in some of the gneisses. Microscopic investigation suggests the existence of ortho-amphibolites. This is confirmed by the geochemistry. A bimodal volcanic association is evident. The amphibolites plot in both the tholeiite and calc-alkaline fields. The acidic volcanics are mainly rhyolitic. The sediments and volcanics were subjected to conditions of 10-11 kbar and 600°C during the peak of metamorphism, i.e. granulite facies metamorphism, which can be deduced from the Fe mole ratios of 0.71-0.73 in the garnet cores. Due to the relatively low temperatures, no anatectic melting took placc. The rims of the garnets show a Fe mole ratio of 0.84-0.86, and the coexisting mineral association garnet-biotite-staurolite-kyanite indicate amphibolite facies. The thermobarometry shows P-T conditions of 5-6 kbar and 570-580°C for this stage. The metamorphic history indicates deep burial at depths down to 35 km (subduction?) i.e. high pressure metamorphism, followed by pressure release due to uplift associated with retrograde metamorphism. This may have happened during a pre-Ross metamorphic event or orogeny. The Ross Orogeny at about 500 Ma probably just led to the weak greenschist facies overprint that is evident in the rocks of the Pioneers Group. Finally, sedimentation resumed in the area of the present Shackleton Range, or at least in the eastern part of the Pioneers Escarpment, probably when detritus from erosion of the basement (Read Group and Pioneers Group) was deposited, forming sandstones and greywackes of possibly Jurassic age. There is no indication that these sediments belong to the former Turnpike Bluff Group.