A vesicularity index for pyroclastic deposits

The vesicularity of juvenile clasts in pyroclastic deposits gives information on the relative timing of vesiculation and fragmentation, and on the role of magmatic volatiles versus external water in driving explosive eruptions. The vesicularity index and range are defined as the arithmetic mean and total spread of vesicularity values, respectively. Clast densities are measured for the 16–32 mm size fraction by water immersion techniques and converted to vesicularities using measured dense-rock equivalent densities. The techniques used are applied to four case studies involving magmas of widely varying viscosities and discharge rates: Kilauea Iki 1959 (basalt), Eifel tuff rings (basanite), Mayor Island cone-forming deposits (peralkaline rhyolite) and Taupo 1800 B.P. (calc-alkaline rhyolite). Previous theoretical studies suggested that a spectrum of clast vesicularities should be seen, depending on the magma viscosity, eruption rate, and the presence and timing of magma: water interaction. The new data are consistent with these predictions. In magmatic dry eruptions the vesicularity index lies uniformly in the range 70%–80% regardless of magma viscosity. For high viscosities and eruption rates the vesicularity ranges are narrow (< 25%), but broaden to between 30% and 50% as the viscosity and eruption rates are lowered and the volatiles and magma can de-couple. In phreatomagmatic wet eruptions, widely varying clast vesicularities reflect complex variations in the relative timing of vesiculation and water-induced fragmentation. Magma:water interaction at an early stage greatly reduces the vesicularity indices (< 40%) and broadens the ranges (as high as 80%), whereas late-stage interaction has only a minor effect on the index and broadens the range to a limited extent. Clast vesicularity represents a useful third parameter in addition to dispersal and fragmentation to characterise pyroclastic deposits.     

A model for the numerical simulation of tephra fall deposits

A simple semianalytical model to simulate ash dispersion and deposition produced by sustained Plinian and sub-Plinian eruption columns based on the 2D advection–dispersion equation was applied. The eruption column acts as a vertical line source with a given mass distribution and neglects the complex dynamics within the eruption column. Thus, the use of the model is limited to areas far from the vent where the dynamics of the eruption column play a minor role. Vertical wind and diffusion components are considered negligible with respect to the horizontal ones. The dispersion and deposition of particles in the model is only governed by gravitational settling, horizontal eddy diffusion, and wind advection. The model accounts for different types and size classes of a user-defined number of particle classes and changing settling velocity with altitude. In as much as wind profiles are considered constant on the entire domain, the model validity is limited to medium-range distances (about 30–200 km away from the source).The model was used to reconstruct the tephra fall deposit from the documented Plinian eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, Italy, in 79 A.D. In this case, the model was able to broadly reproduce the characteristic medium-range tephra deposit. The results support the validity of the model, which has the advantage of being simple and fast to compute. It has the potential to serve as a simple tool for predicting the distribution of ash fall of hypothetical or real eruptions of a given magnitude and a given wind profile. Using a statistical set of frequent wind profiles, it also was used to construct air fall hazard maps of the most likely affected areas around active volcanoes where a large eruption is expected to occur.     

Decratonic gold deposits

The North China Craton(NCC) hosts numerous gold deposits and is known as the most gold-productive region of China. The gold deposits were mostly formed within a few million years in the Early Cretaceous(130–120 Ma), coeval with widespread occurrences of bimodal magmatism, rift basins and metamorphic core complexes that marked the peak of lithospheric thinning and destruction of the NCC. Stable isotope data and geological evidence indicate that ore-forming fluids and other components were largely exsolved from cooling magma and/or derived from mantle degassing during the period of lithospheric extension. Gold mineralization in the NCC contrasts strikingly with that of other cratons where gold ore-forming fluids were sourced mostly from metamorphic devolatization in compressional or transpressional regimes. In this paper, we present a summary and discussion on time-space distribution and ore genesis of gold deposits in the NCC in the context of the timing, spatial variation, and decratonic processes. Compared with orogenic gold deposits in other cratonic blocks, the Early Cretaceous gold deposits in the NCC are quite distinct in that they were deposited from magma-derived fluids under extensional settings and associated closely with destruction of cratonic lithosphere. We argue that Early Cretaceous gold deposits in the NCC cannot be classified as orogenic gold deposits as previously suggested, rather, they are a new type of gold deposits, termed as "decratonic gold deposits" in this study. The westward subduction of the paleo-West Pacific plate(the Izanagi plate) beneath the eastern China continent gave rise to an optimal tectonic setting for large-scale gold mineralization in the Early Cretaceous. Dehydration of the subducted and stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone led to continuous hydration and considerable metasomatism of the mantle wedge beneath the NCC. As a consequence, the refractory mantle became oxidized and highly enriched in large ion lithophile elements and chalcophile elements(e.g., Cu, Au, Ag and Te). Partial melting of such a mantle would have produced voluminous hydrous, Au- and S-bearing basaltic magma, which, together with crust-derived melts induced by underplating of basaltic magma, served as an important source for ore-forming fluids. It is suggested that the Eocene Carlin-type gold deposits in Nevada, occurring geologically in the deformed western margin of the North America Craton, are comparable with the Early Cretaceous gold deposits of the NCC because they share similar tectonic settings and auriferous fluids. The NCC gold deposits are characterized by gold-bearing quartz veins in the Archean amphibolite facies rocks, whereas the Nevada gold deposits are featured by fine-grained sulfide dissemination in Paleozoic marine sedimentary rocks. Their main differences in gold mineralization are the different host rocks, ore-controlling structures, and ore-forming depth. The similar tectonic setting and ore-forming fluid source, however, indicate that the Carlin-type gold deposits in Nevada are actually analogous to decratonic gold deposits in the NCC. Gold deposits in both the NCC and Nevada were formed in a relatively short time interval(10 Myr) and become progressively younger toward the subduction zone. Younging of gold mineralization toward subduction zone might have been attributed to retreat of subduction zone and rollback of subducted slab. According to the ages of gold deposits on inland and marginal zones, the retreat rates of the Izanagi plate in the western Pacific in the Early Cretaceous and the Farallon plate of the eastern Pacific in the Eocene are estimated at 8.8 cm/yr and 3.3 cm/yr, respectively.     

Geomagnetic excursions: A reliable means for correlation of geological deposits?

Possible applications of geomagnetic excursions in geological and paleogeographic studies are discussed. Various problems hampering, in contrast to the opinion of a number of researchers, a correct application of excursions are considered. Recommendations helpful for solving some of these problems are given.     

Modeling of deposits by spheroids

The forward gravity problem is solved with the use of the subdivision of each body of a deposit into a set of adjoining vertical bars, and in the inverse problem each body of a deposit is modeled by a uniform spheroid. Well-known formulas for the gravitational potential and the gravity field components of oblate and prolate spheroids are reduced to a convenient form. Parameters of a spheroid are determined via the minimization of the Tikhonov smoothing functional with the use of constraints on the parameters. This makes the ill-posed inverse problem single-valued and stable. The Bulakh algorithm for estimating the depth and mass of a deposit is elaborated. This method is illustrated by a numerical example of a deposit consisting of two bodies.     

A microslip model for the seismic response analysis of drained cohesionless soil deposits

Constitutive equations for drained cohesionless soils under triaxial stress states, based on a microslip model with internal friction, are proposed and applied to the analysis of the seismic response of soil deposits. The microslips, assumed localized in the discontinuity surfaces passing through the particle-to-particle contacts, describe the effects of the sliding and rolling between grains of sand. Once the response of the model under cyclic shearing stresses and strains superimposed on the geostatic stress state has been analysed, the constitutive equations are applied to a one-dimensional shear model for the dynamic analysis of the layered deposits. An application to an instrumented soil deposit is then developed, the experimental results of which refer to both strong and weak motion earthquakes; the comparisons between the experimental and theoretical results point out the peculiarities and validity limits of the model. The model here developed may be applied also to the analysis of two- and three-dimensional sites.     

A method for estimating sediment budgets of washover deposits using digital terrain models

Washover fans are located on small barriers in fetch-limited micro-tidal coastal environments in Denmark. These washover fans are formed during high-energy storm events and we present a method to quantify their volumes and to estimate sediment exchanges between washover fans and their adjacent morphologies. We use high resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) based on light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. We have delineated landforms using known methods of scale analysis and geomorphometric classification. We quantified volumes of the delineated landforms and estimated the related sediment budgets. These computed volumes were compared using different pre-depositional surfaces. Finally, we assessed the sediment exchange and associated sources of sediments of the washover fans. We applied a scale analysis to determine suitable DTM resolution and focal statistics window size as input to a geomorphometric classification analysis. Landform areas and landforms were delineated using morphometric threshold values, and volumes and sediment budgets of the delineated landforms were computed using different assumptions to define the pre-depositional surface. Resulting washover fan volumes were validated against digital elevation model (DEM) of difference (DoD) derived volumes. Sediment budgets were derived from representative volumes of the washover fans and adjacent berms. We show that quantification of washover features derived from DTMs, using geomorphometric analysis is feasible and that the presented approach provides estimates of washover deposit volumes with an accuracy between 1% and 28% compared to control volumes. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The formation of porphyry copper deposits

Copper is a moderately incompatible chalcophile element.Its behavior is strongly controlled by sulfides.The speciation of sulfur is controlled by oxygen fugacity.Therefore,porphyry Cu deposits are usually oxidized(with oxygen fugacities AFMQ +2)(Mungall 2002;Sun et al.2015).The problem is that while most of the magmas at convergent margins are highly oxidized,porphyry Cu deposits are very rare,suggesting that high oxygen fugacity alone is not sufficient.Partial melting of mantle peridotite even at very high oxygen fugacities forms arc magmas with initial Cu contents too low to form porphyry Cu deposits directly(Lee et al.2012;Wilkinson 2013).Here we show that partial melting of subducted young oceanic slabs at high oxygen fugacity(AFMQ +2) may form magmas with initial Cu contents up to 500 ppm,favorable for porphyry mineralization.Pre-enrichment of Cu through sulfide saturation and accumulation is not necessarily beneficial to porphyry Cu mineralization.In contrast,remelting of porphyritic hydrothermal sulfide associated with iron oxides may have major contributions to porphyry deposits.Thick overriding continental crust reduces the "leakage" of hydrothermal fluids,thereby promoting porphyry mineralization.Nevertheless,it is also more difficult for ore forming fluids to penetrate the thick continental crust to reach the depths of 2—4 km where porphyry deposits form.     

Erosion pattern of artificial gravel deposits

Sediment replenishment with artificial gravel deposits is an option to compensate for sediment deficits in rivers and to improve their ecological conditions. Predicting and quantifying the erosion rate of an artificial gravel deposit is important to successfully perform river restoration projects. Laboratory experiments have been done to investigate the influence of various parameters on the erosion pattern of artificial gravel deposits. In the present paper the effects of deposit geometry, bulk density, grain size distribution, and hydraulic load on the erosion process are described. The temporal evolution of the deposit geometry and the corresponding mean erosion rates were studied. The mean erosion rate increases with deposit height, deposit width, and decreasing grain size. Furthermore, no significant impact of the bulk density was observed. Equations to predict the mean erosion rate are proposed. This investigation helps to determine the design frequency of gravel dumping and deposit volumes for restoration projects.     

A shake table investigation of dynamic behavior of pile supported bridges in liquefiable soil deposits

Bridges are a part of vital infrastructure,which should operate even after a disaster to keep emergency services running.There have been numerous bridge failures during major past earthquakes due to liquefaction.Among other categories of failures,mid span collapse(without the failure of abutments)of pile supported bridges founded in liquefiable deposits are still observed even in most recent earthquakes.This mechanism of collapse is attributed to the effects related to the differential elongation of natural period of the individual piers during liquefaction.A shake table investigation has been carried out in this study to verify mechanisms behind midspan collapse of pile supported bridges in liquefiable deposits.In this investigation,a typical pile supported bridge is scaled down,and its foundations pass through the liquefiable loose sandy soil and rest in a dense gravel layer.White noise motions of increasing acceleration magnitude have been applied to initiate progressive liquefaction and to characterize the dynamic features of the bridge.It has been found that as the liquefaction of the soil sets in,the natural frequency of individual bridge support is reduced,with the highest reduction occurring near the central spans.As a result,there is differential lateral displacement and bending moment demand on the piles.It has also been observed that for the central pile,the maximum bending moment in the pile will occur at a higher elevation,as compared to that of the interface of soils of varied stiffness,unlike the abutment piles.The practical implications of this research are also highlighted.     

Volcanic dry avalanche deposits — Identification and comparison with nonvolcanic debris stream deposits

A “volcanic dry avalanche deposit” is defined as a volcaniclastic deposit formed as a result of a large-scale sector collapse of a volcanic cone associated with some form of volcanic activity. Avalanche transport occurred in response to the gravitational field, in a manner similar to the transport of nonvolcanic debris streams (e.g. Hsü, 1975). Such deposits are characterized by megablock structure — deformed and fractured large blocks up to several hundreds meters in diameter. A megablock preserves original layering, intrusive contacts or weathered surfaces of the source volcanic edifice. Surface topography of the deposit is characterised with hummocky relief. Ratios of fell height to travel distance for volcanic dry avalanche deposits are between 0.18 and 0.06. This range is similar but smaller than the value of 0.58 to 0.08 for nonvolcanic debris stream deposit. This similarity suggests similar transportation mechanisms. Excessive travel distances as defined by Hsü (1975), calculated for volcanic dry avalanche deposits, give values larger than for debris stream deposits of the same volume. The difference is explained by lower rigidity of the collapsing mass due to the existence of soft pyroclastic layers, alteration around the vent, development of fractures owing to new cryptodome intrusion, and boiling of supercritical fluid contained within the collapsed mass.     

Evaluation of acid drainage in ore deposits

Water–rock–gas system is simulated using a technique based on the fundamental principles of modern hydrogeochemistry regarding the formation parameters of natural-water chemistry to show that groundwater pollution hazard at a gold-bearing placer is acute for any site of water exchange changing from passive to active. Under passive water exchange, the products of sulfide oxidation are accumulated; whereas under active water exchange, the oxidation products are leached out to form acid drainage flows. The treatment of acid drainage water and the neutralization of acid solutions are more effective under reduction or weakly alkaline conditions.     

Synchronous structure control of superlarge ore deposits

The control of synchronous structures on formation of superlarge stratabound ore deposits is immense. Based on studies of ore deposits in South Qiniing, northern Guangdong, Langshan and other areas, three new ideas in comparison with examples of ore control of synchronous structures both in China and abroad are proposed: (i) multiorder ore control of synchronous structures, which means that synchronous structures of different orders display different controls on ore deposits; (ii) synchronous structures in different stages of basin evolution display different controls on basin fluid system and ore-forming system; (iii) synchronous strurture accompanying hydrothermal mineralization as a preexisting weak surface in earth crust often reactivate in later tcctono-thermal event to be a channelway for magma or thermal fluids which superimposed on and reformed preexisting ore beds to form large or superlarge composite ore deposits.     

A luminescence dating study of loess deposits from the Yili River basin in western China

The loess deposits surrounding the high mountainous regions of Central Asia play an important role in understanding environmental changes in Eurasia on orbital and sub-orbital timescales. However, problems with dating Central Asian loess have limited the interpretation of climatic and environmental data, especially on sub-orbital timescales. We selected a controversial loess section, Zeketai (ZKT, with a thickness of 23 m), in the Yili basin in Xinjiang Province in western China, to establish a detailed and systematic Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) chronology. Quartz grains of 38–63 μm were isolated from 15 samples and the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol was employed for D_e determination. OSL ages are in stratigraphic order and range from 13.8 ± 1 to 72 ± 6 ka, suggesting continuous loess accumulation during the last glaciation. We compared these dating results with that of the previously published fine-grain sized quartz (4–11 μm) using simplified multiple aliquot regenerative-dose (SMAR) protocol, and with the previous published radiocarbon dating (¹⁴C) ages on snail shells. With the exception of three young samples from the upper 6 m of the section, the SMAR dating results are basically consistent with the results using the SAR protocol. Both the SMAR and SAR OSL ages are consistently older than the ¹⁴C ages, and the radiocarbon date results should be used with caution since they appear to have been underestimated.     

Single grain optical dating of glacigenic deposits

Determining the age of glacigenic sediments is difficult for many geochronological methods because of the lack of suitable materials for analysis. Luminescence dating can be applied to the mineral grains making up the glacigenic sediments. However a major source of uncertainty in previous studies has been whether the mineral grains were exposed to sufficient daylight prior to deposition for the luminescence signal to be reset. Measurements of the optically stimulated luminescence signal from single sand-sized quartz grains offers the potential for explicitly identifying if a sediment contains grains that were not exposed to sufficient daylight to reset their signal. Statistical analysis of the resulting data can then reject those grains to allow the age of the sample to be determined. This study is the first to apply single grain optical dating to glacigenic sediments, and demonstrates the issues involved by analysis of samples from Chile and Scotland. Ages from 2.4±0.5 to 17.3±1.5 ka are produced. Comparison of the results with independent age control suggests that the ages are reliable. The results also show that the extent of bleaching at deposition varies considerably from one sample to another. For the most incompletely bleached sample, luminescence measurements based on the average of many hundreds or thousands of grains would have overestimated the age of the sample by 60 ka, but the single grain method proposed here was able to reliably date it.     

Characterization of volcanic deposits with ground-penetrating radar

 Field-based studies of surficial volcanic deposits are commonly complicated by a combination of poor exposure and rapid lateral variations controlled by unknown paleotopography. The potential of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) as an aid to volcanological studies is shown using data collected from traverses over four well-exposed, Recent volcanic deposits in western Canada. The deposits comprise a pumice airfall deposit (3–4 m thick), a basalt lava flow (3–6 m thick), a pyroclastic flow deposit (15 m thick), and an internally stratified pumice talus deposit (60 m thick). Results show that GPR is effective in delineating major stratigraphic contacts and hence can be used to map unexposed deposits. Different volcanic deposits also exhibit different radar stratigraphic character, suggesting that deposit type may be determined from radar images. In addition, large blocks within the pyroclastic deposits are detected as distinctive point diffractor patterns in the profiles, showing that the technique has potential for providing important grain-size information in coarse poorly sorted deposits. Laboratory measurements of dielectric constant (K') are reported for samples of the main rock types and are compared with values of K' for the bulk deposit as inferred from the field data. The laboratory values differ significantly from the "field" values of K'; these results suggest that the effectiveness of GPR at any site can be substantially improved by initial calibration of well-exposed locations. Received: 10 May 1996 / Accepted: 27 December 1996     

Geochemistry and chronology of large-superlarge nonmetal deposits in eastern Zhejiang Province: A case study

From geology and geochemistry studies on four typical large-superlarge nonmetal deposits in eastern Zhejiang Province, it is concluded that nonmetal mineralization is an in situ reduction process in which SiO₂ and Fe₂O₃ are lost, and Al₂O₃ and K₂O are enriched. Moreover, incompatible elements are depleted in zeolite but enriched in alunite. Rb-Sr isotopic age of zeolite and K-Ar isotopic age or micro-area⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar isochron age of alunite are coincident with their geological data. respectively. Comparison studies of various chronology methods indicate that K-Ar and Rb-Sr methods are effective for zeolite and alunite, but should be carefully used for pyrophyllite, dekite and illite. From isotopic ages of ore and wall rocks of zeolite and alunite, it could be deduced that the age difference of metallogenism and volcanism is about 10–20 Ma.