New paleomagnetic result from the Ethiopian flood basalts in the Abbay (Blue Nile) and Kessem gorges

New paleomagnetic investigations on the Ethiopian trap series have been undertaken at the Abbay and Kessem gorges in an attempt to better constrain the 30 Ma paleomagnetic pole of Africa. We sampled six thick massive basaltic lava flows, totaling 230 m, from Abbay Gorge and 10 lava flows, 180 m in thickness, from Kessem Gorge. Detailed paleomagnetic analyses disclosed that the carriers of the characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) are different in different lava flows. These are mostly titanomagnetites, titanomaghemites, and magnetite minerals with a broad range of coercive force and blocking temperatures. The heating and cooling susceptibility vs. temperature curves, many of which are irreversible, may indicate chemical remagnetization, notably low temperature maghemitization. Only one flow (KS04) with a clear 580°C Curie temperature was apparently unaffected by chemical remagnetization. The ChRM direction of this flow is identical to that in other flows, which suggests that if and when remagnetization occurred, this was shortly after emplacement of the lava flows. All of the flows sampled have normal polarity. However, a reversed component of low to medium coercive force and low to medium unblocking temperature occurs in flow KS01 at Kessem Gorge. The ChRM directions for the 16 sites are D=3.1°, I=5.8° (α₉₅=12.7°). The paleomagnetic pole obtained from these is at λ=83.0°N, φ=193.3°E (A₉₅=9.0°). Comparison with three previous studies of the traps shows remarkable consistency and a number of means are derived and discussed. Two final preferred poles for the traps are at λ=79.0°N, φ=196.9°E (A₉₅=2.8°) when all 112 published flows are used, and λ=78.7°N, φ=209.4°E (A₉₅=3.4°) when only the 76 flows from the four more recently analyzed sections are included. Both are compatible with the recent reference synthetic pole for Africa of Courtillot and Besse [J. Geophys. Res. (2002) in press]. In that sense, the Ethiopian trap pole is not anomalous and does not require more of a non-dipolar contribution than indicated by analyses of the global paleomagnetic data base covering the last few million years.     

Quantitative imaging of complex structures from dense wide-aperture seismic data by multiscale traveltime and waveform inversions: a case study

An integrated multiscale seismic imaging flow is applied to dense onshore wide‐aperture seismic data recorded in a complex geological setting (thrust belt). An initial P‐wave velocity macromodel is first developed by first‐arrival traveltime tomography. This model is used as an initial guess for subsequent full‐waveform tomography, which leads to greatly improved spatial resolution of the P‐wave velocity model. However, the application of full‐waveform tomography to the high‐frequency part of the source bandwidth is difficult, due to the non‐linearity of this kind of method. Moreover, it is computationally expensive at high frequencies since a finite‐difference method is used to model the wave propagation. Hence, full‐waveform tomography was complemented by asymptotic prestack depth migration to process the full‐source bandwidth and develop a sharp image of the short wavelengths. The final traveltime tomography model and two smoothed versions of the final full‐waveform tomography model were used as a macromodel for the prestack depth migration. In this study, wide‐aperture multifold seismic data are used. After specific preprocessing of the data, 16 frequency components ranging from 5.4 Hz to 20 Hz were inverted in cascade by the full‐waveform tomography algorithm. The full‐waveform tomography successfully imaged SW‐dipping structures previously identified as high‐resistivity bodies. The relevance of the full‐waveform tomography models is demonstrated locally by comparison with a coincident vertical seismic profiling (VSP) log available on the profile. The prestack depth‐migrated images, inferred from the traveltime, and the smoothed full‐waveform tomography macromodels are shown to be, on the whole, consistent with the final full‐waveform tomography model. A more detailed analysis, based on common‐image gather computations, and local comparison with the VSP log revealed that the most accurate migrated sections are those obtained from the full‐waveform tomography macromodels. A resolution analysis suggests that the asymptotic prestack depth migration successfully migrated the wide‐aperture components of the data, allowing medium wavelengths in addition to the short wavelengths of the structure to be imaged. The processing flow that we applied to dense wide‐aperture seismic data is shown to provide a promising approach, complementary to more classical seismic reflection data processing, to quantitative imaging of complex geological structures.     

Upper Cretaceous marine‐continental transition (Leonese Area,NW Spain) defined from integrated outcrop and seismic stratigraphy

The Upper Cretaceous succession of the Leonese Area (NW Spain) comprises mixed clastic and carbonate sediments. This succession is divided into two lithostratigraphic units, the Voznuevo Member and the Boñar Formation, which represent fluvial, shoreface, intertidal, subtidal and open‐shelf sedimentary environments. Regional seismic interpretation and sequence stratigraphic analysis have allowed the study of lateral and vertical changes in the sedimentary record and the definition of third‐order levels of stratigraphic cyclicity. On the basis of these data, the succession can be divided into two second‐order depositional sequences (DS‐1 and DS‐2), incorporating three system tracts in a lowstand to transgressive to highstand system tract succession (LST–TST–HST). These sequences are composed of fluvial systems at the base with palaeocurrents that flowed westward and south‐westward. The upper part of DS‐1 (Late Albian–Middle Turonian) shows evidence of intertidal to subtidal and offshore deposits. DS‐2 (Late Turonian–Campanian) comprises intertidal to subtidal, tidal flat, shallow marine and lacustrine deposits and interbedded fluvial deposits. Two regressive–transgressive cycles occurred in the area related to eustatic controls. The evolution of the basin can be explained by base‐level changes and associated shifts in depositional trends of successive retrogradational episodes. By using isobath and isopach maps, the main palaeogeographic features of DS‐1 and DS‐2 were constrained, namely coastline positions, the existence and orientation of corridors through which fluvial networks were channelled and the location of the main depocentres of the basin. Sedimentation on the Upper Cretaceous marine platform was mainly controlled by (i) oscillations of sea level and (ii) the orientation of Mesozoic faults, which induced sedimentation along depocentres. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Most Luminous Stars in Our Galaxy

We present quantitative analyses of 7 galactic O stars of spectral types from O3 to O6. By means of classical hydrostatic and planeparallel models we find the so-called He and Mass Discrepancies for a number of stars of our sample. We also prove the need of line-blocking for the correct reproduction of these spectra. For stars with effective temperature around 50 000 K and above, there is no possibility of reproducing their spectra with these kind of models. Further analyses with unified models, including sphericity and mass loss, allow us to reproduce even the earliest spectra. They also show that the Mass Discrepancy is not only due to the neglect of sphericity and mass loss in the planeparallel analysis, and give us the mass loss rate of these stars. We find that HD15 570, with a present mass of 100 M_⊙, can be the most massive star known in the solar neighbourhood. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Stellar α Elements Abundance Gradient in M33

In previous papers we have published preliminary results on the stellar oxygen-abundance gradient in M33 by using B-type supergiants. In the present study, we include one new B-supergiant and derive effective temperatures and gravities for these stars. The determination of atmospheric parameters is based on analyses of silicon ionisation balance. Detailed non-LTE model atmospheres and non-LTE line formation calculations were used for the abundance determination of Si and O. Careful differential analyses are used to quantify the differences in metal abundances between M33 stars and MK spectral standards in our Galaxy. We compare our results with the abundances expected from studies of HII regions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

WSO and the winds of massive stars: the gate to the metal-poor Local Universe

The spectrographs on-board the World Space Observatory (WSO) will provide access to the 1020–1800 Å wavelength range with unprecedented sensitivity. Previous observatories operating in the 1150–2000 Å range (such as IUE and HST-STIS) have proved extremely useful to study the winds of OB type stars, which leave their most prominent imprints in the far ultraviolet range. The addition of the λ < 1200 Å wavelengths is critical as it contains important diagnostic lines for mass loss and shocks in the wind, as found by FUSE-based analyses.WSO will enable quantitative spectroscopic analyses of blue massive stars in the Local Group beyond the Magellanic Clouds. The results will lead to the characterization of their winds as a function of metallicity, and shed new light on current urging questions regarding radiation driven winds.     

Impact of anthropogenic CO 2 on the next glacial cycle

The model of Paillard and Parrenin (Earth Planet Sci Lett 227(3–4):263–271, 2004) has been recently optimized for the last eight glacial cycles, leading to two different relaxation models with model-data correlations between 0.8 and 0.9 (García-Olivares and Herrero (Clim Dyn 1–25, 2012b)). These two models are here used to predict the effect of an anthropogenic CO ₂ pulse on the evolution of atmospheric CO ₂, global ice volume and Antarctic ice cover during the next 300 kyr. The initial atmospheric CO ₂ condition is obtained after a critical data analysis that sets 1300 Gt as the most realistic carbon Ultimate Recoverable Resources (URR), with the help of a global compartmental model to determine the carbon transfer function to the atmosphere. The next 20 kyr will have an abnormally high greenhouse effect which, according to the CO ₂ values, will lengthen the present interglacial by some 25 to 33 kyr. This is because the perturbation of the current interglacial will lead to a delay in the future advance of the ice sheet on the Antarctic shelf, causing that the relative maximum of boreal insolation found 65 kyr after present (AP) will not affect the developing glaciation. Instead, it will be the following insolation peak, about 110 kyr AP, which will find an appropriate climatic state to trigger the next deglaciation.     

Can agriculture support climate change adaptation, greenhouse gas mitigation and rural livelihoods? insights from Kenya

Changes in the agriculture sector are essential to mitigate and adapt to climate change, meet growing food demands, and improve the livelihoods of poor smallholder producers. What agricultural strategies are needed to meet these challenges? To what extent are there synergies among these strategies? This paper examines these issues for smallholder producers in Kenya across several agroecological zones. Several practices emerge as triple wins, supporting climate adaptation, greenhouse gas mitigation, and profitability goals. In particular, integrated soil fertility management and improved livestock feeding are shown to provide multiple benefits across all agroecological zones examined. Triple wins of other agricultural practices are limited to specific agroecological zones. Irrigation and soil and water conservation, for example, are essential for adaptation, mitigation, and profitability in arid areas. The results suggest that agricultural investments targeted toward these triple-win strategies will have the greatest payoff in terms of increased resilience of farm and pastoralist households and global climate change mitigation. To reap the benefits of triple-win strategies will require that policymakers, researchers, and practitioners move away from isolated approaches focused on either adaptation or mitigation or rural income generation toward a more holistic assessment of joint strategies as well as their tradeoffs and synergies.     

Massive stars in the UV

We emphasize in this paper the importance of the UV range for our knowledge of massive stars and the fundamental role played by past and present space-based UV capabilities (IUE, HST, FUSE and others). Based on a review of the work developed in the last years and the state of the art situation for quantitative spectroscopy of massive stars, we present crucial advances which could be addressed by hypothetical future space-based UV missions. Advantages and unique data that these missions could provide are explained in the context of our present knowledge and theories on massive stars in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. It is argued that these studies are our key to a correct interpretation of observations of more distant objects.