Timing, styles, and kinematics of Cambro–Ordovician extension in the Teplá–Barrandian Unit, Bohemian Massif, and its bearing on the opening of the Rheic Ocean

This paper describes late Cambrian dikes and Early Ordovician volcano-sedimentary successions of the Prague Basin, Bohemian Massif, to discuss the timing and kinematics of breakup of the northern margin of Gondwana. Andesitic dikes indicate minor E–W crustal extension in the late Cambrian, whereas the Tremadocian to Dapingian lithofacies distribution and linear array of depocenters suggest opening of this Rheic Ocean rift-related basin during NW–SE pure shear-dominated extension. This kinematic change was associated with the onset of basic submarine volcanism, presumably resulting from decompression mantle melting as the amount of extension increased. We conclude from these inferences and from a comparison with other Avalonian–Cadomian terranes that the rifting along the northern Gondwana margin was a two-stage process involving one major pulse of terrane detachment in the early Cambrian and one in the Early Ordovician. While the geodynamic cause for the former phase remains unclear, but still may include effects of Cadomian subduction (roll-back, slab break-off), isostatic rebound, or mantle plume, the incipient stage of the latter phase may have been triggered by the onset of subduction of the Iapetus Ocean at around 510 Ma, followed by advanced extension broadly coeval (Tremadocian to Darriwilian) in large portions of the Avalonian–Cadomian belt. Unequal amounts of extension resulted in the separation and drift of some terranes, while other portions of the belt remained adjacent to Gondwana.     

New data on the Neoproterozoic – Cambrian geotectonic setting of the Teplá-Barrandian volcano-sedimentary successions: geochemistry,U-Pb zircon ages,and provenance (Bohemian Massif,Czech Republic)

The Teplá-Barrandian unit (TBU) of the Bohemian Massif was a part of the Avalonian-Cadomian belt at the northern margin of Gondwana during Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian times. New detrital zircon ages and geochemical compositions of Late Neoproterozoic siliciclastic sediments confirm a deposition of the volcano-sedimentary successions of the TBU in a back-arc basin. A change in the geotectonic regime from convergence to transtension was completed by the time of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary. The accumulation of around 2,500 m Lower Cambrian continental siliciclastics in a Basin-and-Range-type setting was accompanied by magmatism, which shows within-plate features in a few cases, but is predominantly derived from anatectic melts displaying the inherited island arc signature of their Cadomian source rocks. The geochemistry of clastic sediments suggests a deposition in a rift or strike-slip-related basin, respectively. A marine transgression during Middle Cambrian times indicates markedly thinned crust after the Cadomian orogeny. Upper Cambrian magmatism is represented by 1,500 m of subaerial andesites and rhyolites demonstrating several geochemical characteristics of an intra-plate setting. Zircons from a rhyolite give a U-Pb-SHRIMP age of 499±4 Ma. The Cambrian sedimentary and magmatic succession of the TBU records the beginning of an important rifting event at the northern margin of Gondwana.

New Scintillators for Focal Plane Detectors in Gamma-Ray Missions

Recent developments of cerium-doped lanthanum-halide scintillators like LaBr₃:Ce show a remarkable performance in gamma-ray spectroscopy. When high energy resolution in combination with stopping power is required they provide excellent gamma-ray detector candidates for the use in space missions. Moreover, irradiation tests have shown that such detectors are radiation tolerant. In this paper we discuss a possible application of LaBr in nuclear astrophysics missions. We show results on recent proton irradiation tests at KVI in Groningen (NL) and discuss the damage and activation effects after irradiation. A possible implementation for a focal plane detector in a gamma-ray telescope and the expected performance is presented.     

Geologic and human factors in the decline of the tidal salt marsh lithosome: the Delaware estuary and Atlantic coastal zone

Two to three thousand years ago, the fringing tidal salt marsh wetlands (including brackish and freshwater marsh) of the Delaware coastal zone were three to four times wider than at present. Observed variations in rates of marsh surface aggradation suggest that some areas are undergoing inundation whereas many other areas are undergoing aggradation at rates greater than sea-level rise as measured by a local tidal gauge (average 33 cm/ century based on a 70-year record) and may be undergoing floral succession. Accompanying these sedimentary processes are coastal erosion rates up to 6.9 m/yr along the Delaware estuary, up to 2.8 m/yr along the Delaware Atlantic coast, and ranging from 0.1 m/yr to 0.6 m/yr along the Delaware Atlantic coastal lagoons. Human development has destroyed nearly 9% of Delaware's fringing salt marshes between 1938 and 1975. The rapidly growing trend toward hardening the edge of the adjacent landward uplands leads us to the conclusion that much of the fringing salt marsh of Delaware will disappear over the next two to three centuries with only small remnants declining to extinction ca. 1500–1700 years into the future. Impacts on the State of Delaware, comprised of 13% fringing salt marshes 1/4 century ago, will be profound in terms of destruction of a large segment of the Atlantic coastal or eastern North American migratory bird flyway, and an eventual forced accommodation of the inhabitants of Delaware to these naturally ongoing geological processes.     

Dynamic characteristics of lateral load-deflection relationships of flexible piles

Most offshore platforms are supported on long and large-diameter piles with variable wall-thickness along the length, and soil properties varying with depth. The design and analyses of these piles are made by modelling the soil-pile system with a beam-on-Winkler foundation. Therefore, evaluation of appropriate soil-pile springs for use in such analyses is a matter of concern. Fundamental characteristics of dynamic lateral load-deflection relationships for piles were studied analytically considering the soil-pile-structure interaction under seismic loading conditions. The soil layer was assumed homogeneous, linearly elastic with hysteretic type material damping, and overlying a rigid base. A superstructure with multi-degrees of freedom was supported by a single vertical pile hinged at the rigid base. Parametric studies were carried out to identify the influence of the system parameters on the behaviour of the dynamic lateral load-deflection relationships of piles. The lateral load-deflection relationships vary considerably with depth and are influenced not only by the dynamic properties of soil but also by the structural properties of a pile and loading conditions. These lateral load-deflection relationships can be used to define the soil-pile springs for the seismic response analysis of a soil-pile-structure system, and the results can be extended to problems with soil profiles with layering and non-linearity.     

Major Late-Triassic strike-slip displacement in the Seven Devils terrane, Oregon and Idaho: A result of left-oblique plate convergence?

The shortening direction in rocks deformed in collision or subduction zones is not directly related to the plate-convergence vector; rather, it is perpendicular to the collision zone or subduction zone, even in cases where plate convergence is oblique. The component of convergence parallel to the subduction/collision zone is expressed by strike-slip displacement in the arc region behind the subduction zone. Such strike-slip shear zones have been recognized in the Seven Devils terrane of northeastern Oregon and adjacent Idaho. One of these (the Oxbow shear zone consisting of cataclasite, mylonite, and ultra-mylonite) trends northeasterly from Oxbow, Oregon to Cuprum, Idaho. The original rock types of the shear zone were plagiogranite, gabbro, diabase, bassalt, and keratophyre. The age of the mylonitization is constrained by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates as Late Triassic. Meso- and microscopic structures (textures and quartz c-axes fabrics) indicate that the shear zone was formed by left-lateral, strike-slip motion. A minimum left-lateral displacement of 65 km has been estimated, but the true displacement may have been much larger. The Oxbow shear zone is interpreted as an intra-arc strike-slip zone of the Seven Devils terrane, related to left-oblique plate convergence during the Triassic.     

Mineralogical constraints on the high-silica martian surface component observed by TES

The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) has observed a high-silica material in the dark regions of Mars that is spectrally similar to obsidian glass and may have a volcanic origin. An alternate interpretation is that the spectrally amorphous material consists of clay minerals or some other secondary material, formed by chemical alteration of surface rocks. The regions where this material is observed (e.g., Acidalia Planitia) have relatively high spectral contrast, suggesting that the high-silica material exists as coarse particulates, indurated soils or cements, within rocks, or as indurated coatings on rock surfaces. The geologic interpretation of this spectral result has major implications for understanding magmatic evolution and weathering processes on Mars. One of the complications in interpreting spectral observations of glasses and clay minerals is that both are structurally and compositionally complex. In this study, we perform a detailed spectroscopic analysis of indurated smectite clay minerals and relate their thermal emission spectral features to structural and crystal chemical properties. We examine the spectral similarities and differences between smectite clay minerals and obsidian glass from a structural-chemical perspective, and make further mineralogical interpretations from previous TES results. The results suggest that neither smectite clays nor any clay mineral with similar structural and chemical properties can adequately explain TES observations of high-silica materials in some martian dark regions. If the spectrally amorphous materials observed by TES do represent an alteration product, then these materials are likely to be poorly crystalline aluminosilicates. While all clay minerals have Si/O ratios ?0.4, the position of the emissivity minimum at Mars suggests a Si/O ratio of 0.4-0.5. The spectral observation could be explained by the existence of a silica-rich alteration product, such as Al- or Fe-bearing opal, an intimate physical mixture of relatively pure silica and other aluminosilicates (such as clay minerals or clay precursors), or certain zeolites. The chemical alteration of basaltic rocks on Mars to phyllosilicate-poor, silica-rich alteration products provides a geologically reasonable and consistent explanation for the global TES surface mineralogical results.     

The effects of mining in Northern Romania on the heavy metal distribution in sediments of the rivers Szamos and Tisza (Hungary)

The breach in the dam of a tailing pond in the processing plant of a gold mine in Baia Mare (NW Romania) in January 2000 lead to an ecological disaster in the rivers Szamos and Tisza. It was mainly caused by the released slurries containing cyanides and heavy metals. The investigation of surface sediment samples and depth profiles of the years 2000 and 2001 documented the pollution of the rivers Szamos and Tisza on Hungarian territory. In the Szamos and large areas of the Tisza floodplains a significant enrichment with the heavy metals Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn is existent. The identification of the binding forms with sequential extraction showed that Cd and Zn exist in an easily available form. Therefore the remobilization is possible and an environmental hazard in the downstream areas must be considered. The anthropogenically caused portions of heavy metal concentrations decrease considerably with increasing distance to the mining region. The comparison of the concentrations of heavy metals in both years shows that the pollution is not only caused by the accident in January 2000. The increase of concentrations is based on the permanent input of pollutants into the rivers. The pollution is mainly caused by the erosion of exposed tailing dumps and the poor maintenance of the treatment plants.     

Recent work on CNO in dwarfs and subdwarfs

The recent results on CNO in dwarfs and subdwarfs are discussed. The value of [O/Fe] ≃ 0.0 at solar abundances but gradually increases with decreasing [Fe/H]. The value of [C/Fe] is constant at ≃ 0.0 ₋₂ ⁺¹ as [Fe/H] declines from + 0.5 to −2.0; for [Fe/H] < − 2.0, [C/Fe] increases somewhat reaching a mean value near + 0.2 or + 0.3 dex. All the investigations agree that N has a strong primary component.