Strontium isotope ratios of planktonic foraminifera from ODP Site 119-744 on the Kerguelen Plateau, Indian Ocean (Table 1)

87Sr/86Sr ratios of well-preserved early Miocene-Oligocene planktonic foraminifers from Site 744 in the southern Indian Ocean provide the highest southern latitude Sr isotope record of this age. The isotopic data have been calibrated with the site magnetostratigraphy. 87Sr/86Sr ages were also determined using the Sr isotope-age equations of Miller et al. (1988, doi:10.1029/PA003i002p00223) and Hess et al. (1989, doi:10.1029/PA004i006p00655). There is good agreement between the calculated ages from 87Sr/86Sr measurements using these equations and those derived from magnetobiostratigraphy. In addition, these equations were useful for inference of sediment ages in intervals where the paleomagnetic record is not well resolved and the biostratigraphy is inconclusive. The Site 744 87Sr/86Sr record can be used for correlation of Antarctic and low-latitude sequences and biostratigraphical zonation of foraminifers, radiolarians, diatoms, and calcareous nannofossils. This record will assist in the development of the high southern latitude biochronology.

Composition of airborne material from yellow snow fallen in the Russian North

Large amounts of dust responsible for bright colors of atmospheric precipitation in the temperate, subpolar and polar zones of the northern hemisphere have been rarely observed. In the twentieth century and in the beginning of the twenty first century in the Northern European Russia such events were not registered up to March 25-26, 2008. At that time in some parts of the Arkhangel'sk region, Komi Republic, and Nenets Autonomous Area atmospheric precipitation as sleet and rain responsible for sand- and saffron colors of ice crust formation on the snow surface was observed. During detailed mineralogical, geochemical, pollen, diatom and meteorological investigations it was established that semidesert and steppe regions of the Northwest Kazakhstan, Volgograd and Astrakhan' regions, and Kalmykia are the main sources of the yellow dust.

Geochemistry of hydrate gas and water at DSDP Hole 84-570

Molecular and isotopic measurements of gas and water obtained from a gas hydrate at Site 570, DSDP Leg 84, are reported. The hydrate appeared to be Structure I and was composed of a solid framework of water molecules enclosing methane and small amounts of ethane and carbon dioxide. Carbon isotopic values for the hydrate-bound methane, ethane, and carbon dioxide were -41 to about -44, -27, and -2.9 per mil, respectively. The d13C-C1 values are consistent with void gas values that were determined to have a biogenic source. A significant thermogenic source was discounted because of high C1/C2 ratios and because the d13C-CO2 values in these sections were also anomalously heavy (or more positive) isotopically, suggesting that the methane was formed biogenically by reduction of heavy CO2 . The isotopically heavy hydrate d13C-C2 is also similar to void gas isotopic compositions and is either a result of low-temperature diagenesis producing heavy C2 in these immature sediment sections or upward migration of deeper thermogenic gas. The salinity of the hydrate water was 2.6 per mil with dDH2O and d18OH2O values of +1 and +2.2 per mil, respectively.

(Table 1) Neodymium and Strontium measurements from sediment core MD01-2451

In the nineties, cold-water coral mounds were discovered in the Porcupine Seabight (NE Atlantic, west of Ireland). A decade later, this discovery led to the drilling of the entire Challenger cold-water coral mound (Eastern slope, Porcupine Seabight) during IODP Expedition 307. As more than 50% of the sediment within Challenger Mound consists of terrigenous material, the terrigenous component is equally important for the build-up of the mound as the framework-building corals. Moreover, the terrigenous fraction contains important information on the dynamics and the conditions of the depositional environment during mound development. In this study, the first in-depth investigation of the terrigenous sediment fraction of a cold-water coral mound is performed, combining clay mineralogy, sedimentology, petrography and Sr-Nd-isotopic analysis on a gravity core (MD01-2451G) collected at the top of Challenger Mound. Sr- and Nd-isotopic fingerprinting identifies Ireland as the main contributor of terrigenous material in Challenger Mound. Besides this, a variable input of volcanic material from the northern volcanic provinces (Iceland and/or the NW British Isles) is recognized in most of the samples. This volcanic material was most likely transported to Challenger Mound during cold climatic stages. In three samples, the isotopic ratios indicate a minor contribution of sediment deriving from the old cratons on Greenland, Scandinavia or Canada. The grain-size distributions of glacial sediments demonstrate that ice-rafted debris was deposited with little or no sorting, indicating a slow bottom-current regime. In contrast, interglacial intervals contain strongly current-sorted sediments, including reworked glacio-marine grains. The micro textures of the quartz-sand grains confirm the presence of grains transported by icebergs in interglacial intervals. These observations highlight the role of ice-rafting as an important transport mechanism of terrigenous material towards the mound during the Late Quaternary. Furthermore, elevated smectite content in the siliciclastic, glaciomarine sediment intervals is linked to the deglaciation history of the British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS). The increase of smectite is attributed to the initial stage of chemical weathering processes, which became activated following glacial retreat and the onset of warmer climatic conditions. During these deglaciations a significant change in the signature of the detrital fraction and a lack of coral growth is observed. Therefore, we postulate that the deglaciation of the BIIS has an important effect on mound growth. It can seriously alter the hydrography, nutrient supply and sedimentation processes, thereby affecting both sediment input and coral growth and hence, coral mound development.

Sedimentology, geochemistry and paleomagnetic of ODP Hole 151-913B

The Eocene and Oligocene epochs (55 to 23 million years ago) comprise a critical phase in Earth history. An array of geological records (Zachos et al., 2001, doi:10.1126/science.1059412; Lear et al., 2000, doi:10.1126/science.287.5451.269; Coxall et al., 2005, doi:10.1038/nature03135; Pekar et al., 2005; doi:10.1130/B25486.1; Strand et al., 2003, doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(03)00396-1) supported by climate modelling (DeConto and Pollard, 2003, doi:10.1038/nature01290) indicates a profound shift in global climate during this interval, from a state that was largely free of polar ice caps to one in which ice sheets on Antarctica approached their modern size. However, the early glaciation history of the Northern Hemisphere is a subject of controversy (Coxall et al., 2005, doi:10.1038/nature03135; Tripati et al., 2005, doi:10.1038/nature03874; Wolf-Welling et al., 1996, doi:10.2973/odp.proc.sr.151.139.1996; Moran et al., 2006, doi:10.1038/nature04800). Here we report stratigraphically extensive ice-rafted debris, including macroscopic dropstones, in late Eocene to early Oligocene sediments from the Norwegian-Greenland Sea that were deposited between about 38 and 30 million years ago. Our data indicate sediment rafting by glacial ice, rather than sea ice, and point to East Greenland as the likely source. Records of this type from one site alone cannot be used to determine the extent of ice involved. However, our data suggest the existence of (at least) isolated glaciers on Greenland about 20 million years earlier than previously documented (Winkler et al., 2002, doi:10.1007/s005310100199), at a time when temperatures and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were substantially higher.

Pleistocene-Pliocene strontium-isotope ratios of ODP Site 107-653 (Table 1)

Strontium isotopic determinations were made on samples from the Pliocene-Pleistocene sequence recovered at ODP Hole 653A, the proposed "deep-sea type section" for the Mediterranean region. Biostratigraphic correlations can be combined with the patterns of variations in the 87Sr/86Sr values to delineate the following: (1) the earliest Pliocene (MP11 to basal MP12 zones) is distinguished by fluctuations in the ratio, probably related to the unstable paleoceanographic conditions following the Zanclean flooding and initial in-filling of the Mediterranean after the Messinian desiccation, (2) during most of the Pliocene between approximately 4.5 and 2.4 Ma (MP12 to MP15 zones) the 87Sr/86Sr values remain relatively constant, producing a plateau in the strontium isotope-depth curve for this period, and (3) beginning at approximately 2.4 Ma (across the MP15/MP16 boundary) and continuing into the latest Pleistocene, the 7Sr/86Sr values increase significantly but show fluctuations that have both positive and negative slopes. The presence of a plateau in the curve generated for the Mediterranean type section duplicates in greater detail the late Neogene results reported by DePaolo (1986, doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1986)14<103:DROTNS>2.0.CO;2). The virtual lack of change in the ratio between 4.5 and 2.4 Ma essentially eliminates strontium isotopes as a high-resolution correlation method for this period. The fluctuations in the ratio beginning at 2.4 Ma may be a reflection of major climatic changes occurring in the latest Pliocene-Pleistocene. The relationship between glacial-interglacial cycles and seawater 87Sr/86Sr values suggested by DePaolo (1986) and Capo and DePaolo (1987) is uncertain but should be tested as significant increases and decreases in 87Sr/86Sr of seawater have apparently occurred since 2.4 Ma.

Fe-Mn crusts from the Atlantic Ocean

Mineral and chemical compositions of a set of crust samples collected from the North, Central and South Atlantic were examined by means of analytical electron microscopy and ICP-MS, chemical, and microchemical elemental analysis. Vernadite, asbolane, and goethite are dominant mineral phases of the crusts, ferrihydrite is minor, hematite and feroxyhyte are rare. The samples show wide variability in major and trace element contents; however, their characteristic geochemical signatures indicate hydrogenous origin. A comparison between compositions of oceanic hydrogenous and hydrothermal crusts and metalliferous hydrothermal sediments from different ocean areas suggests that the geochemical approach may be insufficient in some cases and fail to identify hydrothermal input in ferromanganese crusts of mixed composition.

Bismuth, lead, and tin tellurides : a literature search /

A total of 699 references are included to journal articles and reports dealing with properties of bismuth, lead, and tin tellurides. The references are arranged by sujbect. Author and report-number indexes are included.

Strontium-90 on the Earth's surface : summary and interpretation of a world-wide soil sampling program /

"TID-6567."

Heat Transfer to molten lead-bismuth eutectic in turbulent pipe flow /

"Contract No. AT-(40-1)-1061 Part 2."

The mineral industry of the British empire and foreign countries. Statistics, 1919-1921. Strontium minerals.

At head of title: Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau.

The mineral industry of the British empire and foreign countries. Statistics, 1920-1922. Strontium minerals.

At head of title: Imperial mineral resources bureau.

The mineral industry of the British Empire and foreign countries. Statistics, 1920-1922. Bismuth.

At head of title: Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau.