Diagenetic processes in carbonate mound sediments at the south‐west Rockall Trough margin

Cold water coral covered carbonate mounds at the south‐west margin of the Rockall Trough form ridges several kilometres long and up to 380 m high. Piston cores obtained at three mound crests reveal the complex internal structure of the mound build up, with alternating unlithified coral‐dominated intervals and lithified intervals. The most recent lithified interval is covered by corals embedded in a fine‐grained matrix, comprising ca 11 000 years of continuous mound evolution. Before this time ²³⁰Th/U dating shows the presence of several hiatuses in mound build‐up. Aragonitic coral material is absent or only present as mouldic porosity in the lithified intervals and coccoliths display widespread overgrowth. Downcore X‐ray fluorescence scanning, computer tomography scan images and petrographic observations indicate different degrees of diagenetic alteration. The upper boundary of the most recent lithified interval shows some erosional features, but petrographic observations indicate that initial lithification of the sediments is not related to this erosive event or to long‐term non‐sedimentation, but to earlier sub‐surface diagenesis. Organic matter oxidation and the subsequent lowering of the saturation state of the carbonate system drives dissolution of the unstable aragonitic coral skeletons. Depending on the openness of the system, this can lead to precipitation of a more stable low‐magnesium carbonate. A model is presented describing the sedimentary and diagenetic processes leading to the formation of lithified intervals.     

郯庐断裂带（安徽部分）动力学演化及其构造意义

依据区域构造层划分，从最新地层内的断裂动力学分析开始，层层深入，层层筛选，采用计算机程序对所获的断层面上的擦痕统计分析计算，求得每个点上的古应力场状态，继而求得区域古构造应力场状态。确定发生于各个不同时代断裂活动的古应力场特征。最后确定了一个连续的、完整的古应力场演化序列表，结合区域构造变形特征分析，阐述断裂带的构造事件演化序列及其构造意义。     

SNOW COVER CHARACTERIZATION USING MULTIBAND FMCW RADARS

The use of radars to characterize the physical properties of a snow cover offers an attractive alternative to manual snow pit measurements. Radar techniques are non-invasive and have the potential to cover large areas of a snow-covered terrain. A promising radar technique for snow cover studies is the frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar. The use of a multiband radar approach for snow cover studies was investigated in order to fully exploit the capabilities of FMCW radars. FMCW radars operating at and near the C-, X- and K_a-bands were used to obtain radar profiles over a wide range of snow cover conditions. These frequency-dependent radar signatures were used to identify important snow cover features such as ice and depth hoar layers. Snow grain size information was also obtained from the frequency-dependent scattering losses that were observed in the snow cover. Several case studies of FMCW radar profiles are presented in order to demonstrate the advantages of a multiband radar approach for monitoring the spatial and temporal variability of snow cover properties and/or processes over an extended area.     

87Sr/86Sr composition of evaporitic carbonates and sulphates from Miocene sediment cores in the Mediterranean Sea (D.S.D.P., Leg 13)

The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of evaporitic carbonates and sulphates from Miocene sediment cored in the Mediterranean Sea show a depletion of ⁸⁷Sr when compared to the isotopic composition of the Miocene contemporaneous marine strontium: 0.70803 versus 0.70936. The arrival into the evaporitic environment of strontium brought by continental waters can explain this difference. The variation of the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios is, nevertheless, noticeable only when the influence of the continental waters is already well marked. This is proved when one compares the results obtained with strontium, to the results of isotopic analysis made on oxygen, carbon, sulphur and hydrogen taken from the same samples.     

Rare earth elements and strontium isotopes of polymetallic nodules from southeastern Pacific Ocean

Rare earth element (REE) distributions and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios were determined for nodule crusts and associated surface sediments collected in the southeastern Pacific Ocean between South America and the Tuamotu archipelago. The shale-normalized patterns of the REE from the surface sediments show pronounced negative anomalies in Ce which indicate a marine origin. One ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio also has a value characteristic for seawater strontium. REE patterns from the nodule crusts, when normalized to shales, seawater or associated surface sediment, show that a marine origin can also be proposed for the oxy-hydroxides. Only the Ce shows a systematic scatter, which could be the result of fluctuations in the oxidation-reduction conditions during nodule growth. The marine origin for REE is corroborated by the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios which average 0 · 70905 ± 0 · 00019 (2σ), a value close to the seawater ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0·70910 ± 0 · 00035. If the major metals of the polymetallic nodules have the same origin as these trace elements, then a direct precipitation from seawater can be postulated for the crusts studied here.     

Origin and tectonic significance of corundum–kyanite–sapphirine amphibolites from the Variscan French Massif Central

The contact zone between two major allochthonous lithotectonic units in the French Massif Central (FMC) is characterized by the presence of corundum‐bearing amphibolites associated with serpentinites, flaser‐gabbros, eclogites and granulites. These unusual amphibolites are best preserved in the Western FMC, where they are found within the lower oceanic crust of the Limousin ophiolite. Mineralogical observations and thermodynamic modelling of the spinel–corundum–sapphirine–kyanite amphibolites in the CMASH system show that they were formed at peak P–T conditions around 800 °C/10 kbar in response to near isothermal burial followed by a retrogressive anticlockwise path. Metamorphic reactions are controlled both by modification of P–T conditions and by local chemical changes linked to fluid infiltration. Pargasite growth has been enhanced by infiltration of Ca‐ and Al‐rich fluids whereas kyanite‐ and sapphirine‐forming reactions are partly controlled by local inputs of MgO–SiO₂ components, most probably during infiltration metasomatism. By analogy with worldwide ophiolites (Oman, Tethyan, Appalachian) and published numerical models, subduction of a still‐hot oceanic ridge is proposed to form these Al‐rich amphibolites from plagioclase‐rich troctolites. The trace‐element composition of high‐Ti, fine‐grained amphibolites (former fine‐grained Fe–Ti gabbros) adjacent to the corundum‐bearing ones, further indicates that the oceanic crust was initially created at a mid‐ocean ridge (rather than within a back‐arc basin), followed by the emplacement of supra‐subduction zone‐type magmas, probably due to intraoceanic subduction close to the ridge.     

郯庐断裂带的两大发展阶段——广义的逆冲推覆断裂带和狭义的平移断裂带

笔者总结了近年来的研究成果认为．中国东部的郯庐断裂带白海西期以来经历了两个主要发展阶段：第一阶段是广义的郯庐断裂带发展阶段，晚三叠世-早侏罗世由于扬子地块与华北地块的碰撞，成为两地块的对接边界，具有逆冲推覆的性质，属广义的特提斯构造域。第二发展阶段从早白垩世以来，发展成为一条平移断裂带，属于狭义的环太平洋构造域的平移系统。岩相古地理资料显示了扬子地块与华北地块的对接始于晚二叠世早期：印支期的郯庐断裂带是一条由NE、NNE向展布的缓‘S’型的地块拼贴边界．在现今的郯庐断裂带上表现为残留的由北北西向南南东的斜向逆冲推覆的性质，中下构造层次表现为韧性逆冲推覆变形，上部构造层即前陆褶皱冲断带内的变形：应力场分析资料显示：早三叠世晚期开始地表浅部就有近南北向的挤压作用，左行走滑平移作用开始发育：早白垩世晚期开始转入引张伸展阶段．与中国东部的伸展作用一致：新近纪又转为近东西向挤压．发育逆冲兼右行走滑作用．