Rate of sediment yield following small‐scale volcanic eruptions: a quantitative assessment at the Merapi and Semeru stratovolcanoes,Java, Indonesia

Sediment yields were calculated on the ?anks of Merapi and Semeru volcanoes in Java, Indonesia, using two different methods. During the ?rst year following the 22 November 1994 eruption of Merapi, a sediment yield in excess of 1·5 × 10⁵ m³ km^?2 yr^?1 was calculated in the Boyong River drainage basin, based on the volumes of sediment that were trapped by ?ve check dams. At Semeru, sediment discharges were assessed in the Curah Lengkong River from direct measurements on the lahars in motion and on the most signi?cant stream?ows. The calculated rate of sediment yield during one year of data in 2000 was 2·7 × 10⁵ m³ km^?2 yr^?1. Sediment yields are dominated by rain‐triggered lahars, which occur every rainy season in several drainage basins of Merapi and Semeru volcanoes, mostly during the rainy season extending from October to April. The return period of lahars carrying sediment in excess of 5 × 10⁵ m³ is about one year in the Curah Lengkong River at Semeru. At Merapi, the volume of sediments transported by a lahar did not exceed 2·8 × 10⁵ m³ in the Boyong River during the rainy season 1994–95. On both volcanoes, the sediments are derived from similar sources: pyroclastic‐?ow/surges deposits, rockfalls from the lava domes, and old material from the riverbed and banks. However, daily explosions of vulcanian type at Semeru provide a more continuous sediment supply than at Merapi. Therefore, sediment yields are larger at Semeru. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocene and historical earthquakes on the Boconó fault system, southern Venezuelan Andes: Trench confirmation

The Boconó fault system is a major NE-SW, right-lateral strike-slip tectonic feature whose trace extends northeastward for 500 km, from the Tachira depression at the Colombian-Venezuelan border (near the city of Cúcuta) to the town of Morón (located on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela), within the Venezuelan (or Mérida) Andes, and slightly oblique to its main axis. The Boconó fault is morphologically expressed by a continuous straight alignment of longitudinal valleys, linear depressions, pull-apart basins, fault scarps, trenches, sag-ponds, linear ridges and saddles that suggest that this major tectonic feature is active. Moreover, several destructive earthquakes (e.g., 1610, 1812, 1894, 1932 and 1950) affecting the Andean region have been usually attributed to it, without any geological confirmation. Therefore, exploratory trenching on this major fault, the only reliable means of corroborating seismotectonic associations, were carried out at two different sites: slightly north of La Grita and few kilometres north of Cordero (Fundo Mis Delirios); both villages being located between the cities of Mérida and San Cristobal, in the southern part of the Venezuelan Andes. Both trenches revealed that the Boconó fault system has been active during Holocene time. On the one hand, the La Grita trench has particularly demonstrated that: a) the 1610 and 1894 earthquakes occurred along the single trace of the Boconó fault in this region; b) the magnitude of those two earthquakes can be estimated between M = 7.1 and 7.3; c) their return period is about 300 yr; and d) the Holocene oblique-slip rate ranges between 4.3 and 6.1 mm/yr (5.2 ± 0.9 mm/yr) along this segment of the fault system. On the other hand, the Boconó fault at the Mis Delirios trench does not show any deformation associated with the 1610, 1894 or any other historical earthquakes. The complexity of the Boconó fault trace—three active strands have been mapped around the Mis Delrios trench—may account for the lack of such recent ruptures on the excavated strand. However, the occurrence of two to three previous Holocene earthquakes on this fault strand is recorded in the alluvial deposits dug at the trench site.     

On the formation of a stably stratified layer near the core-mantle boundary

Within the framework of a model of liquid immiscibility in the outer core, we calculate a stably stratified layer about 11 km thick near the core-mantle boundary and discuss its reflection and scattering properties for seismic waves.     

Structure of the Mérida Andes, Venezuela: relations with the South America–Caribbean geodynamic interaction

For over 50 years, several models based on diverse geologic concepts and variable quality of data have been proposed to explain the major structure and history of the Mérida Andes (MA), in western Venezuela. Lately, this chain growth and associated flexural basins deepening have been related to incipient type-A subductions of either polarity, accounting for the across-chain asymmetry. However, these recent models have not well integrated the present tectonically active setting driven by neighboring major plate interactions. At present, this chain exhibits ongoing strain partitioning where cumulative right-lateral slip along chain axis is as much as half of, or about the same, as the transverse shortening since late Miocene, thus implying that the NNE-directed Maracaibo block extrusion with respect to the South America (SA) plate is not a secondary feature. Consequently, this paper discusses some limitations exhibited by the SE-directed continental subduction models—Maracaibo crust underthrusting the Mérida Andes—in the light of available geological and geophysical data. Besides, it is herein proposed that the Mérida Andes structuration is related to a NW-directed, gently dipping, incipient type-A subduction, where chain growth and evolution are similar to those of a sedimentary accretionary wedge (i.e., Barbados), but at crustal scale and with ongoing strain partitioning. This continental subduction is the SE portion of a major orogenic float that also comprises the Perijá range and the Santa Marta block.     

Sand blows as a potential tool for magnitude estimation of pre-instrumental earthquakes

A worldwide database of liquefaction-induced sand blows has been compiled to generate empirical relationships between earthquake parameters and sand blow geometries. Curves resulting from these empirical relationships can be used afterwards for the study of historic and pre-historic earthquakes that formed sand blows. This database only incorporates instrumental earthquakes inducing sand blows, characterised in terms of magnitude (Mw), hypocentral location and focal mechanism solution. Two relationships are herein presented. The first curve, minimum likelihood of liquefaction occurrence (magnitude/epicentral distance), displays a logarithmic behaviour, as others already proposed. The second curve of sand-blow diameter vs epicentral distance is the first proposal of this kind, whose shape follows a negative power-law. Magnitude estimations of (pre-)historic earthquakes then may be attempted through these empirical relationships. Resulting magnitudes derived from these curves should be mostly considered as underestimated. The curves will reflect actual magnitudes only if, correspondingly, the farthest and largest blow has ever been reported during the after-earthquake survey. Following the same principle, a magnitude estimation resulting from the measuring of a sand blow can only be considered as minimal because it is almost impossible to ascertain that the measured feature is the biggest one produced by the earthquake under evaluation. Finally, these results call for thorough surveys of induced effects after every future moderate-to-large earthquake, as any empirical relationship simply improves by incorporating new data.     

CO2-Laser Extraction-Static Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Ultra-Low Concentrations of Nitrogen in Silicates

A new installation for the analysis of picomole quantities of nitrogen has been designed and constructed. It permits the simultaneous analysis of N and rare gases extracted from silicates by heating. The extraction procedure involves the use of a CO₂ laser as a heater, and the analysis is made by static mass spectrometry using a high sensitivity, high resolution mass spectrometer. Procedural blanks of 2 picomoles N₂ (60 picogram N) allow us to analyse routinely N in mg-sized samples such as mantle-derived and meteoritic minerals, and Lunar soil grains.     

First experimental determination of iron isotope fractionation between hematite and aqueous solution at hydrothermal conditions

Although iron isotopes provide a new powerful tool for tracing a variety of geochemical processes, the unambiguous interpretation of iron isotope ratios in natural systems and the development of predictive theoretical models require accurate data on equilibrium isotope fractionation between fluids and minerals. We investigated Fe isotope fractionation between hematite (Fe₂O₃) and aqueous acidic NaCl fluids via hematite dissolution and precipitation experiments at temperatures from 200 to 450 °C and pressures from saturated vapor pressure (P_sat) to 600 bar. Precipitation experiments at 200 °C and P_sat from aqueous solution, in which Fe aqueous speciation is dominated by ferric iron (Fe^III) chloride complexes, show no detectable Fe isotope fractionation between hematite and fluid, Δ⁵⁷Fe_{fluid-hematite} = δ⁵⁷Fe_fluid − δ⁵⁷Fe_hematite = 0.01 ± 0.08‰ (2 × standard error, 2SE). In contrast, experiments at 300 °C and P_sat, where ferrous iron chloride species (FeCl₂ and FeCl⁺) dominate in the fluid, yield significant fluid enrichment in the light isotope, with identical values of Δ⁵⁷Fe_{fluid-hematite} = −0.54 ± 0.15‰ (2SE) both for dissolution and precipitation runs. Hematite dissolution experiments at 450 °C and 600 bar, in which Fe speciation is also dominated by ferrous chloride species, yield Δ⁵⁷Fe_{fluid-hematite} values close to zero within errors, 0.15 ± 0.17‰ (2SE). In most experiments, chemical, redox, and isotopic equilibrium was attained, as shown by constancy over time of total dissolved Fe concentrations, aqueous Fe^II and Fe^III fractions, and Fe isotope ratios in solution, and identical Δ⁵⁷Fe values from dissolution and precipitation runs. Our measured equilibrium Δ⁵⁷Fe_{fluid-hematite} values at different temperatures, fluid compositions and iron redox state are within the range of fractionations in the system fluid-hematite estimated using reported theoretical β-factors for hematite and aqueous Fe species and the distribution of Fe aqueous complexes in solution. These theoretical predictions are however affected by large discrepancies among different studies, typically ±1‰ for the Δ⁵⁷Fe _{Fe(aq)-hematite} value at 200 °C. Our data may thus help to refine theoretical models for β-factors of aqueous iron species. This study provides the first experimental calibration of Fe isotope fractionation in the system hematite-saline aqueous fluid at elevated temperatures; it demonstrates the importance of redox control on Fe isotope fractionation at hydrothermal conditions.     

Precise Determination of Silicon Isotopes in Silicate Rock Reference Materials by MC‐ICP‐MS

A HF‐free sample preparation method was used to purify silicon in twelve geological RMs. Silicon isotope compositions were determined using a Neptune instrument multi‐collector‐ICP‐MS in high‐resolution mode, which allowed separation of the silicon isotope plateaus from their interferences. A 1 μg g^‐1 Mg spike was added to each sample and standard solution for online mass bias drift correction. δ³⁰Si and δ²⁹Si values are expressed in per mil (‰), relative to the NIST SRM 8546 (NBS‐28) international isotopic RM. The total variation of δ³⁰Si in the geological reference samples analysed in this study ranged from ‐0.13‰ to ‐0.29‰. Comparison with δ²⁹Si values shows that these isotopic fractionations were mass dependent. IRMM‐17 yielded a δ³⁰Si value of ‐1.41 ± 0.07‰ (2s, n = 12) in agreement with previous data. The long‐term reproducibility for natural samples obtained on BHVO‐2 yielded δ³⁰Si = ‐0.27 ± 0.08‰ (2s, n = 42) on a 12 month time scale. An in‐house Si reference sample was produced to check for the long‐term reproducibility of a mono‐elemental sample solution; this yielded a comparable uncertainty of ± 0.07‰ (2s, n = 24) over 5 months.     

Weathering of sandstone lotus petals at the Angkor site: a 1,000-year stone durability trial

This article is based on field investigations carried out at Ta Keo and Banteay Srei temples (Angkor, Cambodia), which have similar environmental histories and display the same recurrent decorative pattern (lotus petal) in three different sandstone lithotypes. Based on two original scales of mechanical and chemical weathering, the degree of deterioration of c.2000 sandstone petals was visually assessed, resulting in the proposal of a durability scale. An explanatory scheme was provided, based on laboratory analyses of stone materials (ICP-AES, XRD, SEM-EDS, polarizing microscopy and mercury injection). The key drivers of sandstone durability are both mineralogical and petrophysical. The remarkable preservation of the pink sandstone is due to the quartzose nature of its clasts, the non-swelling clay content of its abundant matrix (kaolinite) and its porosity structure (large connected pores and probable non-connected porosity). The overall good preservation of the green sandstone is due to its extremely low porosity and specific surface area, associated with its strong cementation. The severe deterioration of the grey sandstone is due to its laminated structure (oriented biotites), the susceptibility to hygric swelling and solution of its binding agents (chlorite/smectite and calcite) and its porosity structure, which evolves during a two-stage weathering sequence. The first stage is characterized by a bimodal porosity due to the partial clogging of macropores by swelling clays, and the second stage by a substantial increase in porosity and the penetration of salts (barite and anhydrite). Conversely, oxidation phenomena associated with weathering can lead to a drastic reduction of porosity.