Glacial–interglacial records of the reflectance of sediments from the Norwegian–Greenland–Iceland Sea (Nordic seas)

 The reflectance of sediments (gray level) were measured on 11 sediment cores from the Norwegian–Greenland–Iceland Sea (Nordic seas). The analyzed time interval covers the past five glacial–interglacial cycles. Although the results demonstrate that the gray-level method has a potential for stratigraphic purposes, it is indicated that gray-level changes in the Nordic seas are not necessarily driven by variations in the content of biogenic calcite. A detailed comparison of gray-level values with contents of total CaCO₃ (carbonate) and total organic carbon (TOC) reveals no overall causal link between these proxies. However, specific glacial core sections with layers containing organic-rich sediment clasts as a consequence of iceberg-rafting seem to correlate well with law gray-level values. Of those cores which show relatively high and comparable carbonate values in the last three main interglacial intervals (stages 11, 5.5, and 1), stage 11 is always marked by the highest gray-level values. A close inspection of the surface structure of the foraminiferal tests as well as the conduction of reflectance measurements on these tests leads to the conclusion that enhanced carbonate corrosion occurred during stage 11. The test corrosion not only affected the reflectance of the tests by making them appear whiter, it also seems responsible for the comparatively high gray-level values of the total sediment in stage 11. In contrast, the relatively low gray-level values found in stages 5.5, and 1 are not associated with enhanced test corrosion. This observation implies that variable degrees of carbonate corrosion can have a profound effect on total sediment reflectance. Received: 6 September 1998 / Accepted: 4 April 1999     

Seismic assessment of phreatic-explosion hazard at ‘La Fossa’ Volcano (Island of Vulcano,Italy)

Active volcanic areas are sometimes affected by phreatic eruptions, which are explosions due to the outbreak of a confined pocket of steam and gas without the direct involvement of molten magma. Eruptive activity at La Fossa Volcano, Island of Vulcano (Italy), typically starts with a phreatic explosion, continues as phreatomagmatic and turns into a late magmatic stage, depending on the reduction in the efficiency of magma-water interaction. The present risk is mainly related to a village located at the very foot of the active volcanic cone, which in summer seasons is inhabited by more than 10,000 people. Because the last eruptive episode occurred in 1888–1890, when no local instrumental control was performed, the scientific community does not have any information about the seismic phenomena which could precede the initial phreatic blast. Inferences from similar monitored volcanoes, which awakened in the last few years after more or less long quiescence, are therefore made to tentatively depict possible pre-eruptive seismic scenarios and also to evaluate the most appropriate surveillance and alert criteria to adopt. Appreciable signs of volcanic unrest have been detected in recent years, mainly related to modifications in the physical and chemical features of fumarolic fluids discharged at the active crater. Following the classification of local seismic shocks, the recording oflong-period events (peak frequency 2 Hz) should be taken into account as a realistic seismic warning of volcanic hazard enhancement. A likely short-term seismic precursor may be finally given by the appearance of the so-calledbanded tremor, a seismic signal likely produced by intermittent hydrothermal boiling accompanying the hydraulic fracturing of rocks at the top of a pressurized aquifer. Real-time recognition of tremor can be therefore very useful to avoid, at least, injuries to volcanologists and visitors working or staying on the most dangerous sectors of the volcano.     

U-Pb isotopic study of the gabbronorite–anorthosite drusite (coronite) body of Vorony Island (Kandalaksha Archipelago,the White Sea)

The Precambrian Belomorian mobile belt located between the Karelian craton and the Lapland–Umba granulite belt contains large amount of small rootless mafic–ultramafic intrusions, which are dispersed over a large area and distinguished as the Belomorian drusite (coronite) complex. U-Pb dating of magmatic zircon and metamorphic rutile from the drusite body on Vorony Island showed that it was crystallized at 2460 ± 11 Ma and metamorphosed at 1775 ± 45 Ma. Petrographic and geochemical data confirm that the parental magmas of the drusites belong to the siliceous high-magnesian (boninite-like) series, which also was responsible for the formation of large layered plutons in stable domains of the Baltic Shield.     

The First Results of U–Pb Dating of the Nikolka Volcano (Central Kamchatka Depression)

U–Pb dating of zircon from amphibole latite of the central stock of the Nikolka shield volcano in Kamchatka provided the first data on its age. The end of activity falls to about 0.73 Ma (10 analyses). The local U–Pb analyses were carried out at the Isotope Research Center, Schmidt Joint Institute of Physics of the Earth (St. Petersburg) (VSEGEI) using SIMS SHRIMP II. Here, brief information about the geological structure, petrography, and chemistry of the rocks of the volcano are presented. A unique feature of the volcano is the occurrence of a gabbro–anorthosite sheet intrusion with derivates of monzonite and syenite composition in its central part. The correlation of the age obtained with the paleomagnetic data, indicating the formation of the volcano during the magnetic age of Matuyama, is also discussed. The date refers to the period of the change in epochs from the Brunhes to the Matuyama. The obtained age allows dating of the Pliocene volcanic stage in Kamchatka, when large shield volcanoes and plateaus formed.     

Change of landscape structure of Matua Island after the Sarichev Volcano Peak Eruption June 12–15, 2009

Due to the Sarichev volcano peak eruption June 12–15, 2009, the landscape of Matua Island was modified greatly. On the basis of field data, the spatial structure of the island landscape before and after eruption was analyzed. Scale maps 1: 200 000 reflecting the landscape structure of the island before June 12 and on June 30 are presented. It was established that the landscape on the slope of the volcano cone was essentially restructured by the influence of pyroclastic flows and volcanic ash fall-out. Complication of the island structure was noted after the volcanic eruption.     

The acid lakes and rivers of Copahue Volcano, Argentina

Copahue is an active volcano in the Andes （Argentina, 37.5 S, 71 W） with an acid crater lake, acid chloride-sulfate hot springs feed the Upper Rio Agrio River that discharges into glacial Lake Caviahue. The Lower Rio Agrio outlet mixes with non-acidic meteoric waters, which leads to abundant precipitation of poorly crystalline yellow flocs. Further dilution and neutralization downstream lead to the precipitation of Al-rich material. This river and lake system is an extreme example of a naturally acidified watershed with similarities to streams impacted by acid mine drainage. We determined the chemistry and element fluxes of the Copahue-Caviahue system between 1997 and 2006, and this time series carries data from before, during and after the 2000 Copahue eruptions. The crater lake and hot springs had pH〈0.5 prior to the eruption with up to 6.5 % sulfate and 1% chloride. The fluids were saturated relative to gypsum/anhydrite and copper sulfides. Sulfur isotope studies suggested that the sulfate and associated acidity of the water formed from the disproportionation of magmatic SO2 at about 300℃. Just prior to the eruption, the fluids became saturated with additional minerals, including jarosite and hematite. The Upper Rio Agrio bed became coated with bright red hematite in 2004. Mixing with glacial meltwater increases the pH of the Upper Rio Agrio to values of 1-2, and the input of the Upper Rio Agrio has gradually acidified Lake Caviahue to pHi2.5. Annual element fluxes through the Upper Rio Agrio before the eruption were on the order of 15000 tounes Cl, 25000 tounes SOn and 1500 tounes F, with large outputs of dissolved rock contents as well. Annual volcanogenic trace element fluxes through the river include 7.5 tounes As, 5 tounes B and 0.6 tounes Li. After the eruption, the system became more dilute, the element fluxes decreased and Lake Caviahue became less acidic （pH≈2.8）. In the spring of 2006, the hot springs and crater lake had pH values〈 0.5 once again, suggesting that the system is becoming more active again.     

The Cryogenian arc formation and successive high-K calc–alkaline plutons of Socotra Island (Yemen)

The Socotra Island belongs to the southern rifted margin of the Gulf of Aden and occupied in Neoproterozoic times a key position to constrain the age and the nature of the largely hidden Neoproterozoic rocks of the Arabian plate. Our integrated field, petrographic, geochemical and geochronological study in the Neoproterozoic rocks recognises three main successive events: (a) high-temperature ductile deformation and metamorphism forming probably in a compressive or transpressive regime; (b) mafic to intermediate intrusions as vertical sheets, kilometre-scale gabbro laccoliths, mafic dike swarm and lavas which present mainly a depleted arc signature with some evidences of evolution from an enriched-arc signature; (c) felsic intrusions mainly composed of highly potassic calc–alkaline and pinkish granites dated between 840 and 780 Ma. Relationships between the various petrographic types and U–Pb data suggest that these events occurred during a relatively short time span (80 Ma at max). Earlier high-temperature–low-pressure metamorphism stage as well as geochemical signature of mafic rocks show that development of Cryogenian formations of Socotra were controlled successively by an Andean-arc and a back-arc setting. These features cannot be easily reconciled with those of the Arabian–Nubian shield to the west of Socotra and of the Mozambique Belt to the south. We propose that the Socotra basement was developed at an active margin close to the India block in Cryogenian times.     

New U–Pb Ages of the Volcano–Plutonic Association of the Oloi Belt (Alazeya–Oloi Folded System,Western Chukotka)

Doklady Earth Sciences - The Egdygkych hypabyssal rocks of the Nichan and Vuknei massifs, as well as the host volcanites and tuffs of the Oloi volcanic belt of the Alazeya–Oloi folded system...     

Fold–Thrust Deformations of New Siberia Island (Novosibirsky Islands,Russia): Age,Morphology, and Genesis of Structures

Geotectonics - Detailed lithological, stratigraphic, and structural studies of the fold-thrust structures were conducted on New Siberia Island. We have established that the jointly deformed...     

The Composition of Melt Inclusions in Minerals from Tephra of the Soil–Pyroclastic Cover of Simushir Island (Central Kuril Islands)

The compositions of approximately 70 naturally quenched melt inclusions in olivine, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, and plagioclase phenocrysts from tephra of the soil–pyroclastic cover of Simushir Island (Central Kuril Islands) were studied. The concentrations of the major rock-forming components, H₂O, S, and Cl were analyzed in inclusions. The reconstructed melts contain 48.6–78.4 wt % SiO₂, 0.3–8.26 wt % MgO, and 0.12–1.72 wt % K₂O. The concentration of S and Cl in the melts changes regularly with increasing SiO₂ content: from 0.14 to ~0.02 wt % S and from ~0.05 to ~0.28 wt % Cl. The content of H2O in parental melts is 4.2–4.5 wt %.     

The nature and genesis of marginal Cu–PGE–Au sulphide mineralisation in Paleogene Macrodykes of the Kangerlussuaq region, East Greenland

The Kangerlussuaq region of East Greenland hosts a variety of early Tertiary extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks related to continental break up and the passage of the ancestral Iceland plume. These intrusive bodies include a number of gabbroic macrodykes, two of which—the Miki Fjord Macrodyke, and the newly discovered Togeda Macrodyke—contain Cu–PGE–Au sulphide mineralisation along their margins. Sulphides occur as disseminated interstitial blebs and rounded globules of chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite with some Fe–Ti oxides and platinum-group minerals, comprising largely Pd bismuthides and tellurides. The globules are interpreted to have formed from fractionation of trapped droplets of an immiscible Cu- and Pd-rich sulphide melt and show geopetal indicators. Sulphur isotopes imply a local crustal source of S in these from pyritic sediments of the Kangerlussuaq Basin. Thus, generation of these sulphide occurrences was controlled by local country rock type. Low Ni/Cu and Pt/Pd ratios, also present in the Platinova reefs in the Skaergaard Intrusion, indicate that early fractionation of olivine may have depleted the magma of Ni and suggest the likely presence of a large magma chamber at depth. Xenoliths of Ni-rich olivine cumulates in the Miki Fjord Macrodyke may have been sourced from such a body. The location of thus far unidentified conduit or feeder zones to the macrodykes beneath the present day surface may represent potential targets for more massive sulphide orebodies.     

The petrogenesis of the Kangâmiut dyke swarm,W. Greenland

Previous studies have shown that the 2.04 Ga Kangâmiut dyke swarm of SW Greenland was injected into an active tectonic environment associated with the formation of the Nagssugtoqidian orogenic belt. Major and trace element modelling of the swarm shows that its chemical evolution was controlled by simple clinopyroxene–plagioclase fractionation. However, such trends — although typical of continental flood basalts and mafic dyke swarms — are at variance with their mineralogy and petrography, which show that locally hornblende is the dominant primary ferromagnesian mineral. Modelling of intradyke fractionation alone shows that hornblende could locally have been an important crystallising phase within several dykes. Normal basaltic fractionation must have occurred before dyke injection at the exposed crustal levels, where the influx of water into the dykes is believed to be responsible for the transition from clinopyroxene–plagioclase (tholeiitic) to hornblende–plagioclase±oxides (calc–alkaline) crystallisation. Overall geochemical trends are dominated by tholeiitic fractionation because (1) hornblende fractionation tended to buffer chemical composition; (2) the presence of water in the surrounding country rocks may have resulted in the advection of heat away from the dyke and consequently resulted in rapid crystallisation, particularly in thin dykes. There is no evidence from trace element data, and particularly Pb isotopic ratios, of any significant assimilation of country rocks occurring during clinopyroxene–plagioclase fractionation, although this does not preclude contamination of the mantle source prior to magma generation. It is likely that the incompatible element enrichment within the dykes resulted from subduction-related mantle metasomatism. The Kangâmiut dyke swarm was both a syn-tectonic and thermal event, which triggered it may be linked to passage of a slab window underneath the metasomatised region, or a mantle plume ascending under a subduction zone.     

Active hydrothermal fluids circulation triggering small-scale collapse events: the case of the 2001–2002 fissure in the Lakki Plain (Nisyros Island,Aegean Sea,Greece)

Rip currents are fast moving, offshore flows that have the ability to move even the strongest swimmers into deeper waters. Miami Beach, Florida is one of the most visited beaches in the USA and a sought after destination for citizens and international tourists alike. It is also known to be a rip current “hot spot.” These factors greatly increase the risk of drowning; however, no previous research has focused on beachgoer perception of rip-related risks in South Florida. Over a 12-month period, 203 public surveys were collected to determine the rip current knowledge of beachgoers at Miami Beach based on factors such as swimming ability and frequency of beach visits. The responses were analyzed by constructing a normalized component factor to determine the respondent’s comprehensive knowledge of rips, and multiple regression models were used to assess the net influences of sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics on the responses. A significant proportion of the survey respondents showed insufficient knowledge, indicating they are at risk of drowning in a rip current. Frequent beachgoer’s exposure to the beach environment, maturation, and nativity is identified as the main contributors to knowledge net of other sociodemographic compositions. The most at-risk groups were determined to be young adults, foreign tourists, poor swimmers, and those who infrequently visited the beach. Miami Beach needs to initiate a rip current safety campaign to target these at-risk beachgoers, where interventions beyond familial and educational institutions should be introduced.     

New Data on the Early Riphean Age (U–Pb,Shrimp-II) of Acid and Basic Effusives of the Gulf of Finland (Sommers Island,Russia)

Doklady Earth Sciences - This work presents data on the age of the volcanites of Sommers Island located to the south of the submarine extension of the Vyborg massif, as potential comagmates of...     

The development of volcanic hosted massive sulfide and barite–gold orebodies on Wetar Island, Indonesia

Wetar Island is composed of Neogene volcanic rocks and minor oceanic sediments and forms part of the Inner Banda Arc. The island preserves precious metal-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide and barite deposits, which produced approximately 17 metric tonnes of gold. The polymetallic massive sulfides are dominantly pyrite (locally arsenian), with minor chalcopyrite which are cut by late fractures infilled with covellite, chalcocite, tennantite–tetrahedrite, enargite, bornite and Fe-poor sphalerite. Barite orebodies are developed on the flanks and locally overly the massive sulfides. These orebodies comprise friable barite and minor sulfides, cemented by a series of complex arsenates, oxides, hydroxides and sulfate, with gold present as <10 m free grains. Linear and pipe-like structures comprising barite and iron-oxides beneath the barite deposits are interpreted as feeder structures to the barite mineralization. Hydrothermal alteration around the orebodies is zoned and dominated by illite–kaolinite–smectite assemblages; however, local alunite and pyrophyllite are indicative of late acidic, oxidizing hydrothermal fluids proximal to mineralization. Altered footwall volcanic rocks give an illite K–Ar age of 4.7±0.16 Ma and a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 4.93±0.21 Ma. Fluid inclusion data suggest that hydrothermal fluid temperatures were around 250–270°C, showed no evidence of boiling, with a mean salinity of 3.2 wt% equivalent NaCl. The ³⁴S composition of sulfides ranges between +3.3 and +11.7 and suggests a significant contribution of sulfur from the underlying volcanic edifice. The ³⁴S barite data vary between +22.4 and +31.0, close to Miocene seawater sulfate. Whole rock ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr analyses of unaltered volcanic rocks (0.70748–0.71106) reflect contributions from subducted continental material in their source region. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr barite data (0.7076–0.7088) indicate a dominant Miocene seawater component to the hydrothermal system. The mineral deposits formed on the flanks of a volcanic edifice at depths of ~2 km. Spectacular sulfide mounds showing talus textures are localized onto faults, which provided the main pathways for high-temperature hydrothermal fluids and the development of associated stockworks. The orebodies were covered and preserved by post-mineralization chert, gypsum, Globigerina-bearing limestone, lahars, subaqueous debris flows and pyroclastics rocks.     

The effects of Dissolution–Precipitation Creep on quartz fabrics within the Purgatory Conglomerate,Rhode Island

Quartz Crystallographic Preferred Orientation (CPO) patterns are most commonly a result of deformation by dislocation creep. We investigated whether Dissolution–Precipitation Creep (DPC), a process that occurs at lower differential stresses and temperatures, may result in CPO in quartz. The Purgatory Conglomerate is part of the SE Narragansett basin where strain intensity increases from west to east and is associated with top-to-the-west transport and folding during the Alleghanian orogeny. Within the Purgatory Conglomerate, DPC led to quartz dissolution along cobble surfaces perpendicular to the shortening direction, and quartz precipitation in overgrowths at the ends of the cobbles (strain shadows), parallel to the maximum extension direction. Quartz c-axis orientations as revealed by Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) methods were random in all analyzed domains within the cobbles and strain shadows irrespective of the intensity of strain or metamorphic grade of the sample. Quartz dissolution probably occurred exclusively along the cobbles' margins, leaving the remaining grains unaffected by DPC. The fact that quartz precipitated in random orientations may indicate that the strain shadows were regions of little or no differential stress.     

Protoliths of the 3.8–3.7 Ga Isua greenstone belt,West Greenland

The Isua greenstone belt (Fig. 1) contains the oldest known, relatively well preserved, metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks on Earth. The rocks are all deformed and many were substantially altered by metasomatism, but both the deformation and metasomatism were heterogeneous. Transitional stages can be seen from relatively well preserved primary volcanic and sedimentary structures to schists in which all primary features have been obliterated. Likewise different kinds, and different episodes, of metasomatic alteration can be seen that produced a diversity of different compositions and metamorphic mineral assemblages from similar protoliths. New geological mapping has traced out gradations between the best preserved protoliths and their diverse deformed and metasomatised equivalents. By this means, the primary nature of the schists that make up most of the Isua greenstone belt was reinterpreted, and a new map that better portrays the primary nature of the rocks has been produced. The previously mapped stratigraphy was found to be of little value in understanding the geology. Stratigraphic units were defined by different and diverse criteria, such as current composition, structure, metamorphic texture, and inferred protoliths. Much of this stratigraphy represents a misinterpretation of the primary nature of the rocks. The new work indicates that most of the Isua greenstone belt consists of fault-bounded rock packages, mainly derived from basaltic and high-Mg basaltic pillow lava and pillow lava breccia, chert–BIF, and a minor component of clastic sedimentary rocks derived from chert and basaltic volcanic rocks. A previously mapped, extensive, unit of felsic volcanic rocks was found to be derived from metasomatised basaltic pillow lava and pillow breccia intruded by numerous sheets of tonalite.     

Particle size composition of Holocene–Pleistocene deposits of the Laptev Sea (Buor-Khaya Bay)

New data on the particle size composition of the Laptev Sea shelf deposits were obtained on the basis of results of low-angle laser light-scattering of core samples from the columns studied. It was revealed that the sand fraction dominates. The results of comparative analysis of the particle size composition of deposits show that the Laptev Sea shelf zone was characterized by highly variable spatial–temporal conditions and settings of sedimentation in the Quaternary, a polygenic character of deposits, and a pulsating influence of fluvial and slope processes on the conditions of sedimentation. A tendency of coarsening in the vertical sequence that contributes to thawing of the permafrost was revealed in the Ivashkina lagoon.