SiO2 precipitation in olivine: ATEM investigation of two dunites annealed at 300 MPa in hydrous conditions

Two natural dunites were annealed at pressure P=300 MPa, temperature T=1373, 1473 and 1573 K, and fO₂ within the stability field of olivine. The starting materials contained small amounts of hydroxyls in the form of minor phases of hydrated minerals, which released an aqueous phase during the experiments. A detailed analytical transmission electron microscopy (ATEM) investigation of these materials revealed that small quantities of two types of silica-rich glass formed during heat treatment. The first type of glass, found at triple junctions as rare partially crystallized glass pockets, results from melting dehydration reactions involving the hydrous phases. The second type of glass is found as pure silica precipitates (0.1–0.5 μm in size, for a total of a few 0.1 vol%) within the olivine grains of specimens heated to ≥1473 K. From considerations of the kinetics of the precipitation at 1473 K, we interpret this silica precipitation as resulting from the condensation of olivine metallic vacancies promoted by increasing fluid fugacities during the runs. Our observations, thus, demonstrate that metastable silica can precipitate in olivine from dunites experiencing rapid changes in their thermodynamical environment.     

Ploughing boulders along shorelines, with particular reference to the St. Lawrence estuary

Ploughing boulders are defined as large stones moved by drift ice with a ploughing action into the substrate, leaving a linear depression on the back and building a frontal push ridge. They are commonly found on unconsolidated tidal flats and on rock shore platforms along cold-region shorelines in the marine, lacustrine and fluvial environments. It is an erosional process of great significance, particularly for consolidated substrates. A total of 176 ploughing boulders were measured in eighteen localities along the St. Lawrence estuary. The largest boulder weighed 176 tons and was moved 3 m, while a 50 t boulder was moved 40 m. On shore platforms cut in shales, one boulder 49 t, has scoured a depression 19 m long and up to 40 cm deep, and built a frontal ridge 40 cm high. Along the St. Lawrence estuary about 95 of ploughing boulders were moved seaward by ice floes entrained by ebb currents.     

Eruption and mass-wasting-induced processes during the late holocene destructive phase of Nevado del Ruiz volcano, Colombia

The November 13, 1985, eruption was characteristic of the Arenas eruptive stage of Nevado del Ruiz, the most recent of a series of twelve eruptive stages that have occurred in the past 11,000 years. Eruptive sequences, deposits and processes similar to that of 1985 have characterized the behavior of Nevado del Ruiz during three major prehistorical and historical eruptive stages: the approximately 3300-3100 yr. B.P. Hedionda, the 16th century Azufrado, and the mid-1800's Lagunillas eruptive stages, that partly destroyed the present Ruiz summit.According to the interpretation of the stratigraphic record of prehistorical eruptions and historical accounts, almost every recent magmatic event was small or short-lived. Nevertheless, rockslide-debris avalanches and catastrophic debris flows were triggered in all the eruptions owing to slope failures related to specific tectonic features of Ruiz volcano and/or to significant interactions between pyroclastic debris and the ice cap. Evidence for headward retreat of avalanche scarps during multiple eruptions reinforce the case that large slope failures can occur repeatedly at a large-volume volcano like Ruiz without reconstruction of the edifice. The latest Ruiz eruptions that involved rockslide-debris avalanches resemble in part the Shiveluch 1964 event for which evidence of lateral blast deposits are lacking, but differ in part from this type because non-eruptive and mass-wasting processes also triggered rockslide-debris avalanches.Many factors render the cluster of domes of the Ruiz summit unstable, including: (1) deeply dissected troughs opened toward the north-northeast (Azufrado), east (Lagunillas), and south (Recio) flanks; (2) strongly hydrothermally altered north and east flanks of the summit; (3) currently glaciated or recently deglaciated, high cliffs; (4) steep unstable margins of the ice cap on the north and east.Thus, in light of its past behavior, a small eruption or an earthquake might trigger catastrophic rockslide-debris avalanches. Furthermore, such avalanches as well as glacial outburst-floods and ice avalanches could induce debris flows by mobilizing weathered, water-saturated, and unconsolidated rocks or deposits.     

The effects of non-sphericity in diagnosis of solar and stellar atmospheres

Between the interplanetary medium, filled by winds, magnetic structures, etc., and the interior of stars, opaque, and dominated heavily by the gravitational spherical field, the stellar atmosphere is a place where the true physical equilibrium, on the inside, sufficiently described by the parameters L, M, R, and the chemical composition X, Y, Z, is progressively changing into a situation far for equilibrium, which needs many more parameters to be properly described.The assumption that the equilibrium situation was dominating in the atmosphere has been generally accepted during the first half of this century. Since 1950 or so, we progressively learnt that the thermodynamical equilibrium (TE), and even the local thermodynamical equilibrium (LTE), are far from being actually in existence, that the radiative equilibrium (RE) is not actually perfect, convection, diffusion, magnetism, dissipation processes... playing a non-negligible part in the energy transport, that the hydrostatic equilibrium (HE) is only an approximation, as the convection and the magnetism are affecting the atmospheric layers, that neither the sphericity of atmospheric layers (plane-parallel hypothesis: PP) is achieved, nor the homogeneity of stellar iso- layers. During the 1950s and following decades, we began to suspect these difficulties and their consequences. In this paper, we turn towards a new consequence of the last-mentioned effect: the influence of non-sphericity and inhomogeneity upon the stellar (and solar perhaps) abundances of elements.Dedicated to Cornelis de Jager     

Facies system of the Eastern Barents Sea since the last glaciation to present

Twenty-two sediment cores raised from the central and eastern parts of the Barents Sea have been studied to reconstruct the evolution of the facies system since the Late Weichselian glaciation. Multiproxy records reveal four lithostratigraphic units, which reflect major development stages of paleoenvironments. Age control is provided by 23 AMS ¹⁴C dates for Holocene sections of four cores. Continental moraine deposits of the last glaciation are overlain by proximal glaciomarine facies of the initial deglaciation phase. During this phase, the Barents Sea ice sheet detached from the ground resulting in seawater penetration into troughs, iceberg calving, deposition of IRD and fine-grained glacier meltwater load in newly formed marine basins. The main deglaciation phase is characterized by pulsed sedimentation from various gravity flows resulting in accumulation of distal glaciomarine facies comprising laminated clay and sand sequences with minor IRD. Redistribution of fine-grained suspended matter by bottom currents and brine-induced nepheloid flows combined with biogenic processes and minor ice rafting caused facies diversity of the Holocene marine sediments. The Holocene facies of shelf depressions reflect rather high, but variable productivity responding to climate changes and variations of Atlantic water inflow into the Barents Sea.     

Pasisar: Performances of a High and Very High Resolution Hybrid Deep-Towed Seismic Device

The Pasisar seismic acquisition system combines a source at the sea surface and a deep-towed single channel streamer. This unconventional device geometry reduces the width of the first Fresnel zone which increases the lateral resolution. However, the device acquisition geometry generates artifacts on seismic profiles and induces large incidence angles of the seismic signal. A specific processing sequence must be applied to the data to obtain a readable seismic section. Penetration of the seismic signal depends on the energy of the signal reaching the seafloor and on its incidence angle. Because of smaller source energy, 800 Joules Sparker data cannot be acquired in water depth larger than 1500 m for example, whereas there is no depth limit for the use of this system with air gun sources. Differential acoustic absorption of seismic frequencies (below 1000 Hz) in the water column is negligible when compared with wave fronts expansion. Thus, the horizontal resolution of any seismic system strongly depends on the frequency spectrum of the seismic source and on the travel distances. Pasisar and conventional seismic profiles being usually simultaneously recorded, we illustrate the interest of using a hybrid seismic device by comparing horizontal resolutions as well as signal-to-noise ratio obtained with both the Pasisar and conventional systems. In addition, by carefully picking time arrivals of a reflection on simultaneously recorded surface and deep-towed seismic records, it is possible to estimate the average interval seismic velocity. We present the simplified example of a horizontal reflector.     

Use of lipids and their degradation products as biomarkers for carbon cycling in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

Changes in phytoplankton composition and degradation of particulate organic matter (POM) in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea were studied using time-series sediment trap samples collected during the spring of 2003 at the DYFAMED station. Lipid biomarkers (pigments, fatty acids, sterols, acyclic isoprenoids, alkenones and n-alkanols) were used to identify the main contributors to the POM produced during two phytoplankton blooms, while the effects of photooxidation, autoxidation and biodegradation were differentiated using characteristic lipid degradation products. Traps collected material corresponding to pre-bloom, bloom and post-bloom periods. Pigment analyses in the integrated (0-200 m) water column samples indicated that diatoms dominated the initial stages of the bloom event, with smaller amounts of haptophytes and pelagophytes. During the second part of bloom event there was a switch to haptophyte dominance with significant contributions from diatoms and pelagophytes, and an increased contribution from cryptophytes. Fatty acid distributions in the trap samples reflected contributions from marine bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton. Photooxidation and autoxidation products of monounsaturated oleic, cis-vaccenic and palmitoleic acids were detected along with photooxidation products from the chlorophyll side-chain. The relatively good correlation between the variation of U₃₇^K′ index and specific phytol autoxidation product percentage allowed us to attribute the alterations of U₃₇^K′ observed during the pre-bloom period and in the deeper traps to the involvement of selective autoxidative degradation processes. A variety of sterol oxidation products formed by biohydrogenation, autoxidation and photooxidation were detected. Sterol degradation products appeared to be less suited than oxidation products of monounsaturated fatty acids for the precise monitoring of the degradation state of POM, but their stable functionalized cyclic structure constitutes a useful tool to estimate the part played by biotic and abiotic processes. In these waters, biotic degradation generally predominates, but abiotic degradation is not negligible and, as expected, the extent of biotic degradation increases with depth. To obtain a more complete picture of POM degradation, the use of a pool of lipid degradation products (i.e. from unsaturated fatty acids, the phytyl side-chain and sterols) should be employed.     

Leaching experiments on a Mn-rich slag from the recycling of alkaline batteries – Solid phase characterization and geochemical modeling

Square sections of a Mn-rich slag from an alkaline battery recycling plant were submitted to 6-month batch leaching procedures. High-Purity Water (HPW), acidic (pH 4) and alkaline (pH 12) conditions were used in order to observe the behavior of primary solid phases as well as the constituent elements (Mn, Mg, Al, Si, Ca). The experiments were coupled with both KINDIS(P) modeling and mineralogical study (SEM-EDS). Experimental results showed that the Mn-rich slag was sensitive to acidic conditions which induced the dissolution of primary phases. Moreover, pH 4 conditions did not result in the formation of newly formed solid products, leading to the greatest mobilization of metallic elements (especially Mn). Alkaline conditions favored the precipitation of secondary phases, especially rhodochrosite, calcite and Mg-saponite, inducing low mobilization of the contained elements. The KINDIS(P) modeling allowed the stability of primary phases and newly formed products to be predicted. Although the modeled results have to be considered with caution, they allow the assessment and understanding of future environmental behavior of the solid material in given conditions. In this case, the reuse of Mn-rich slag in acidic conditions has to be avoided because of the acidic dissolution of the primary phases.     

First insights into the structure and environmental setting of cold-seep communities in the Marmara Sea

A brackish-water cold seep on the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) in the Marmara Sea was investigated with the Nautile submersible during the MarNaut cruise in 2007. This active zone has already been surveyed and revealed evidence of active seeping on the seafloor, such as bubble emissions, patches of reduced sediments, microbial mats and authigenic carbonate crusts. MarNaut was the first opportunity to sample benthic communities in the three most common microhabitats (bioturbated and reduced sediments, carbonate crust) and to examine their relationships with environmental conditions. To do so, faunal communities were sampled and chemical measurements were taken close to the organisms. According to diversity indices, the bioturbated microhabitat exhibited the highest taxonomic diversity and evenness despite a lower number of samples. Conversely, the reduced sediment microhabitat exhibited the lowest taxonomic diversity and evenness. The carbonate crust microhabitat was intermediate although it had the highest biomass. Multivariate analyses showed that (1) fauna were relatively similar within a single microhabitat; (2) faunal community structure varied greatly between the different microhabitats; (3) there was a link between faunal distribution and the type of substratum; and (4) chemical gradients (i.e. methane, oxygen and probably sulphides) may influence faunal distribution. The estimated fluid flow velocity (0.4–0.8 m/yr) confirmed the presence of fluid emission and provided evidence of seawater convection in the two soft-sediment microhabitats. Our results suggest that the reduced sediments may represent a harsher environment with high upward fluid flow, which restrains seawater from penetrating the sediments and inhibits sulphide production, whereas bioturbated sediments can be viewed as a bio-irrigated system with sulphide production occurring at greater depths. Therefore, the environmental conditions in reduced sediments appear to prevent the colonization of symbiont-bearing fauna, such as vesicomyid bivalves, which are more often found in bioturbated sediments. Fluid flow appears to control sulphide availability, which in turn influences the horizontal and vertical distribution patterns of fauna at small spatial scales as observed at other seep sites.     

Strange seismic attractor?

Different time series were constructed from the data set containing all the seismic events recorded by the Parkfield network between 1969 and 1987. These series were analyzed to determine whether there exists an attractor in the phase space of the dynamical system characterizing seismic activity and to tentatively establish its dimension. The study has yielded ambiguous results. For all the time series analyzed, the dimension of the attractor appears higher than 12 and the correlation function of the seismic time series is undistinguishable from that of a series of random numbers of the same length. The lack of difference between the scaling parameters of two series suggests that, for all practical purposes, the seismic time series cannot be discriminated from a random series.