Browsing by Author "Davies, S"

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    Holocene dynamics of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds and possible links to CO2 outgassing
    (Springer Nature, 2018-07-23) Saunders, KM; Roberts, SJ; Perren, B; Butz, C; Sime, L; Davies, S; van Nieuwenhuyze, W; Grosjean, M; Hodgson, DA
    The Southern Hemisphere westerly winds (SHW) play an important role in regulating the capacity of the Southern Ocean carbon sink. They modulate upwelling of carbon-rich deep water and, with sea ice, determine the ocean surface area available for air–sea gas exchange. Some models indicate that the current strengthening and poleward shift of these winds will weaken the carbon sink. If correct, centennial- to millennial-scale reconstructions of the SHW intensity should be linked with past changes in atmospheric CO2, temperature and sea ice. Here we present a 12,300-year reconstruction of wind strength based on three independent proxies that track inputs of sea-salt aerosols and minerogenic particles accumulating in lake sediments on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island. Between about 12.1 thousand years ago (ka) and 11.2 ka, and since about 7 ka, the wind intensities were above their long-term mean and corresponded with increasing atmospheric CO2. Conversely, from about 11.2 to 7.2 ka, the wind intensities were below their long-term mean and corresponded with decreasing atmospheric CO2. These observations are consistent with model inferences of enhanced SHW contributing to the long-term outgassing of CO2 from the Southern Ocean. © 2021 Springer Nature Limited
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    Towards characterising rhyolitic tephra layers from New Zealand with rapid, non-destructive μ-XRF core scanning
    (Elsevier, 2019-04-04) Peti, L; Augustinus, PC; Gadd, PS; Davies, S
    Tephra layers are of importance for the construction of reliable age control in late Quaternary paleoenvironmental and volcanic hazard studies, especially in volcanically-active settings such as the North Island of New Zealand. However, their identification involves time-consuming and destructive processing steps, making the application of non-destructive μ-XRF core scanners potentially advantageous for tephra identification. Here, we investigate the potential of the Itrax μ-XRF core scanner to differentiate between rhyolitic tephra layers sourced from various northern New Zealand rhyolitic volcanic centres deposited in maar lakes of the Auckland Volcanic Field. In their macroscopic form these tephra layers are usually visibly distinct when surrounded by a dark, organic-rich sediment matrix, although their attribution to source volcanic centre and eruption typically requires examination of their mineral assemblages, combined with chemical fingerprinting of the rhyolite glass shards. We demonstrate that μ-XRF core scanning of rhyolitic tephra layers from the Taupo Volcanic Zone and Tuhua Volcanic Centre can also allow identification, and sometimes differentiation, of the tephra using μ-XRF-derived elemental counts, especially high Si, K, Ca and very low Br and Ti. Different rhyolite tephra layers vary in their relative abundances of major, minor and trace elements as is evident from electron microprobe and LA-ICP-MS analyses of their glass shards. Mo-tube based μ-XRF cannot detect Na nor Mg and is of lower reliability for the lighter elements (Ca, Al) which play an important role in traditional tephra fingerprinting. Nevertheless, we are able to demonstrate that μ-XRF core scanning data can distinguish between previously identified tephra layers using multivariate statistics. Furthermore, the study emphasises the need for a standard protocol for μ-XRF core scanning of tephra layers for this approach to be more widely applicable, especially to aid or be a substitute for conventional geochemical approaches used for tephra fingerprinting. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.