Reviews: Monitoring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: Hydroacoustics. Edited by Catherine deGroot-Hedlin and John Orcutt. Birkhäuser Verlag Basel-Boston-Berlin, 2001, Pure and Applied Geophysics (PAGEOPH), Volume 158 (2001), No. 3, 212 pages. Softcover. ISBN 3-7643-6538-2, sFr. 68,- / DM 90,- / öS 657,-.

Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica -     

Earth orientation determinations by short duration VLBI observations

Summary In May 1989 and April 1990 the radio telescopes of the Wettzell Geodetic Fundamental Station in Germany and of the Shanghai Observatory near Seshan in China observed two series of daily VLBI experiments of short duration for precise determination of UT1. In 1990 a few experiments were complemented by the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory in South Africa and the Medicina telescope of the Bologna Istituto di Radioastronomia in Italy. Employing the South African station together with the east-west baseline formed by the observatories of Seshan and Medicina permitted simultaneous determinations of UT1 and polar motion. Here we report on the results of these observations. Comparing the UT1 results with those of the IRIS Intensive series gives a clear indication of the absolute accuracy of such short duration VLBI measurements which is estimated to be of the order of ±60µs.     

ДИНАМИЧЕСКИЕ ПАРАМЕТРЫ СИЛЬНЫШ ЗЕМЛЕТРЯСЕНИЙ ПО ДАННЫМ ШИРОКОПОЛОСНОЙ ДЛИННОПЕРИОДНОЙ АППАРАТУРЫ

Summary The dynamic focal parameters of a series of strong earthquakes, recorded by the FBV broadband velocigraph at KHC (Kaperské Hory, Czechoslovakia), are estimated. The influence of specific wave pattern features on the estimation accuracy is studied. Polarization analysis is used to demonstrate the complicated interference character even of record portions corresponding to a single teleseismic wave group. The values of the dynamic focal parameters do not depend significantly on the length of the analysed record portions and are sufficiently consistent with those reported by Riznichenko [2]. The possibility of estimating dynamic focal parameters from recording of standard classes B (intermediate band) and C (long-period) seismographs is pointed out.     

The FBV broadband seismograph station profile KHC-KSP

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U–Pb zircon geochronology of silicic tuffs from the Timber Mountain/Oasis Valley caldera complex, Nevada: rapid generation of large volume magmas by shallow-level remelting

Large volumes of silicic magma were produced on a very short timescale in the nested caldera complex of the SW Nevada volcanic field (SWNVF). Voluminous ash flows erupted in two paired events: Topopah Spring (TS, >1,200 km³, 12.8 Ma)–Tiva Canyon (TC, 1,000 km³, 12.7 Ma) and Rainier Mesa (RM, 1,200 km³, 11.6 Ma)–Ammonia Tanks (AT, 900 km³, 11.45 Ma; all cited ages are previously published ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar sanidine ages). Within each pair, eruptions are separated by only 0.1–0.15 My and produced tuffs with contrasting isotopic values. These events represent nearly complete evacuation of sheet-like magma chambers formed in the extensional Basin and Range environment. We present ion microprobe ages from zircons in the zoned ash-flow sheets of TS, TC, RM, and AT in conjunction with δ¹⁸O values of zircons and other phenocrysts, which differ dramatically among subsequently erupted units. Bulk zircons in the low-δ¹⁸O AT cycle were earlier determined to exhibit ∼1.5‰ core-to-rim oxygen isotope zoning; and high-spatial resolution zircon analyses by ion microprobe reveal the presence of older grains that are zoned by 0.5–2.5‰. The following U–Pb isochron ages were calculated after correcting for the initial U–Pb disequilibria: AT (zircon rims: 11.7 ± 0.2 Ma; cores: 12.0 ± 0.1 Ma); pre-AT rhyolite lava: (12.0 ± 0.3 Ma); RM: 12.4 ± 0.3); TC: (13.2 ± 0.15 Ma); TS: (13.5 ± 0.2). Average zircon crystallization ages calculated from weighted regression or cumulative averaging are older than the Ar–Ar stratigraphy, but preserve the comparably short time gaps within each of two major eruption cycles (TS/TC, RM/AT). Notably, every sample yields average zircon ages that are 0.70–0.35 Ma older than the respective Ar–Ar eruption ages. The Th/U ratio of SWNVF zircons are 0.4–4.7, higher than typically found in igneous zircons, which correlates with elevated Th/U of the whole rocks (5–16). High Th/U could be explained if uranium was preferentially removed by hydrothermal solutions or is retained in the protolith during partial melting. For low-δ¹⁸O AT-cycle magmas, rim ages from unpolished zircons overlap within analytical uncertainties with the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar eruption age compared to core ages that are on average ∼0.2–0.3 My older than even the age of the preceding caldera forming eruption of RM tuff. This age difference, the core-to-rim oxygen isotope zoning in AT zircons, and disequilibrium quartz–zircon and melt-zircon isotopic fractionations suggest that AT magma recycled older zircons derived from the RM and older eruptive cycles. These results suggest that the low-δ¹⁸O AT magmas were generated by melting a hydrothermally-altered protolith from the same nested complex that erupted high-δ¹⁸O magmas of the RM cycle only 0.15 My prior to the eruption of the AT, the largest volume low-δ¹⁸O magma presently known.Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

The geochemistry of Archaean shales derived from a Mafic volcanic sequence, Belingwe greenstone belt, Zimbabwe: provenance, source area unroofing and submarine versus subaerial weathering

Shales of the ∼2.7 Ga Zeederbergs Formation, Belingwe greenstone belt, Zimbabwe, form thin (0.2-2 m) horizons intercalated with submarine lava plain basalts. Shales of the overlying Cheshire Formation, a foreland basin sedimentary sequence, form 1-100 m thick units intercalated with shallow-water carbonates and deep-water, resedimented basalt pebble conglomerates. Zeederbergs shale is characterized by high contents of MgO and transition metals and low concentrations of K₂O and LILE as compared to average Phanerozoic shale, indicative of an ultramafic to mafic source terrain. Cheshire shales have similar major and trace element contents, but MgO and transition metals are less enriched and the LILE are less depleted. Zeederbergs shales have smoothly fractionated REE patterns (La_N/Yb_N = 2.84-4.45) and no significant Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* = 0.93-0.96). REE patterns are identical to those of the surrounding basaltic rocks, indicating local derivation from submarine reworking. Cheshire shales have rather flat REE patterns (La_N/Yb_N = 0.69-2.19) and a small, negative Eu anomaly (average Eu/Eu* = 0.85), indicative of a mafic provenance with minor contributions of felsic detritus. A systematic change in REE patterns and concentrations of transition metals and HFSE upwards in the sedimentary succession indicates erosion of progressively more LREE-depleted basalts and ultramafic volcanic rocks, followed by unroofing of granitoid crust. Weathering indices confirm the submarine nature of Zeederbergs shale, whereas Cheshire shale was derived from a source terrain subjected to intense chemical weathering.