New perspectives on the Negev continental bridge

In a paper written immediately after the reopening of the Suez Canal in 1975, a question was raised: is the Israeli Negev a viable alternative to the Suez Canal? (Geoforum, 8, 29–32, 1977). The answer posted then was pessimistic — the continental land bridge was seen as having failed to function as a real alternative.Now, two years after the reopening of the Canal, it appears that the land bridge seems to be a more economically viable venture than previously suggested. The amount of cargo in transit over the land bridge and its percentage of the total port of Eilat traffic is increasing despite competition from the Canal. This phenomenon and new perspectives on the Negev land bridge are discussed in this follow-up paper.     

Archean geodynamics in the Central Zone, North China Craton: constraints from geochemistry of two contrasting series of granitoids in the Fuping and Wutai complexes

The Archean to Paleoproterozoic Central Zone of the North China Craton is situated between the Eastern and Western Archean continental blocks and contains two contrasting series of Neoarchean granitoids: the 2523–2486 Ma tonalite−trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) gneisses in the Fuping Complex, and the 2555–2525 Ma calc-alkaline granitoids (tonalite, granodiorite, granite and monzogranite) in the Wutai Complex. The Fuping TTG gneisses most likely formed from partial melting of 2.7 Ga basalts at >50 km, with an involvement of 3.0 Ga crustal material. The Wutai granitoids have higher K₂O, LILE and Rb/Sr, but lower Sr/Y and La_N/Yb_N than the Fuping TTG gneisses, are characterized by Nd T_DM from 2.5 to 2.8 Ga and _Nd(t) from 0.49 to 3.34, and are derived from partial melting of a juvenile source at <37 km.The geochemistry of these two contrasting series of Neoarchean granitoids provides further evidence that the Wutai Complex originated and evolved separately from the Fuping Complex. The Wutai Complex most likely formed as an oceanic island arc with volcanism and synvolcanic granitoid intrusions at 2555–2525 Ma. The Wutai Complex was subsequently accreted onto the Eastern Archean Continental Block, and was probably responsible for crustal thickening and TTG magmatism at 2523–2486 Ma in the Fuping Complex (as part of the Taihangshan–Hengshan block), at the western margin of the Eastern Archean Continental Block.     

Seismic hazard of Egypt

Earthquake hazard parameters such as maximum expected magnitude,M _max, annual activity rate,, andb value of the Gutenberg-Richter relation have been evaluated for two regions of Egypt. The applied maximum likelihood method permits the combination of both historical and instrumental data. The catalogue used covers earthquakes with magnitude 3 from the time interval 320–1987. The uncertainties in magnitude estimates and threshold of completeness were taken into account. The hazard parameter determination is performed for two study areas. The first area, Gulf of Suez, has higher seismicity level than the second, all other active zones in Egypt.b-values of 1.2 ± 0.1 and 1.0 ± 0.1 are obtained for the two areas, respectively. The number of annually expected earthquakes with magnitude 3 is much larger in the Gulf of Suez, 39 ± 2 than in the other areas, 6.1 ± 0.5. The maximum expected magnitude is calculated to be 6.5 ± 0.4 for a time span of 209 years for the Gulf of Suez and 6.1 ± 0.3 for a time span of 1667 years for the remaining active areas in Egypt. Respective periods of 10 and 20 years were reported for earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 for the two subareas.     

Lower crust indentation or horizontal ductile flow during continental collision?

Conditions for indentation and channelised flow are investigated with two-dimensional thermomechanical models of Alpine-type continental collision. The models mimic the development of an orogen at an initial central portion of weakened lithosphere 150 km wide, coherent with several geological reconstructions. We study in particular the role of lower crustal strength in developing peculiar geometries after 20 Ma of shortening at 1 cm/year. Crustal layers produce geometries of imbricate layers, which result from two contrasted mechanisms of either channelised ductile lateral flow or horizontal rigid-like indentation:

– Channelised lateral flow develops when the lateral lower crust has a viscosity less than 10²¹ Pa s, exhibiting velocities opposite to the direction of convergence. This mechanism of deformation produces subhorizontal shear zones at the boundaries between the lower crust and the more competent upper crust and lithospheric mantle. It is also associated with a topographic plateau that equilibrates with a wide (about 200 km) but quasi-constant crustal root about 50 km deep.

– In contrast, indentation occurs with lateral lower crust layers that have a viscosity greater than about 10²³ Pa s, producing significant shortening and thickening of the central crust. In this case topography develops steep and narrow (around 100 km wide), associated with a thickened crust exceeding 60 km depth. A crustal-scale pop-up forms bounded by subvertical shear zones that root into the mantle lithosphere.

Crustal assimilation in basalt and jotunite: Constraints from layered intrusions

To constrain the amount and rate of crustal contamination that is possible in basaltic and jotunitic magma, and to gain an insight into the physical and thermal processes of assimilation in crustal magma chambers, we have modelled published Sr and Nd isotopic data from three layered intrusions. Well-exposed sequences of cumulates with no evidence of magma recharge provide direct records of concurrent assimilation and fractional crystallization (AFC). The key to the modelling is that F, the mass fraction of magma remaining in the chamber, can be estimated from the thicknesses of the studied cumulate sequences. This allows AFC model curves to be fitted to the isotopic data by varying r, the ratio of the rate of mass assimilated to the rate of mass crystallized. The results of modelling show that r is nearly constant in 800 to 2000 m thick sequences of cumulates displaying up-section decreases in anorthite content of plagioclase, increases in whole-rock Sr₀ (initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and decreases in whole-rock εNd₀ (initial εNd). The r-values of the layered sequences range from 0.12 in the Fongen–Hyllingen Intrusion, over 0.20 in the Bjerkreim–Sokndal Intrusion, to 0.27 in the Hasvik Intrusion. The total amount of assimilation, the bulk crust/magma ratio, reaches values of 0.08, 0.19 and 0.28 at the level of the most contaminated samples after 60% to 80% crystallisation, whereas the instantaneous crust/magma ratio of the most contaminated magmas were respectively 0.14, 0.46, and 0.70, for the three intrusions.Innumerable country rock xenoliths occur in the three layered intrusions and played a crucial role in the assimilation process. The xenoliths spalled off the roofs of the magma chambers during magma emplacement and their initial temperature and composition relate to r in the intrusions. In the Hasvik Intrusion (r = 0.27), the initial temperature of the country rocks was 450 °C and the xenoliths were fusible metasediments and therefore produced a high fraction of partial melt that could be assimilated. In the Bjerkreim–Sokndal Intrusion (r = 0.20), the country rocks were initially at temperatures of 640–880 °C but included both refractory massif-type anorthosite and fusible gneisses. In the Fongen–Hyllingen Intrusion (r = 0.12), the country rocks were cooler (300 °C) and the xenoliths include refractory metabasalt (dominant) and fusible metapelite. We argue that the refractory metabasalt and anorthosite xenoliths acted mainly as heat sinks, resulting in reduced r-values in Fongen–Hyllingen and Bjerkreim–Sokndal Intrusions.Heating of refractory and fusible xenoliths, and melting of fusible xenoliths absorbed sensible and latent heat of the magma. Energy-balanced modelling shows that up to 75% of the heat available was absorbed by xenoliths within the magma chambers, promoting higher rates of cooling and crystallisation than would have resulted from loss of heat to the envelope of country rocks alone. The high r-values reflect the amount of heat absorbed by heating and melting country rock within the magma chambers themselves, and their constancy reflects the ready availability of fusible xenoliths.     

Oligocene–Miocene formation of the Haifa basin: Qishon–Sirhan rifting coeval with the Red Sea–Suez rift system

During mid-Oligocene to early-Miocene times the northeastern Afro-Arabian plate underwent changes, from continental breakup along the Red Sea in the south, to continental collision with Eurasia in the north and formation of the N–S trending Dead Sea fault plate boundary. Concurrent uplift and erosion of the entire Levant area led to an incomplete sedimentary record, obscuring reconstructions of the transition between the two tectonic regimes. New well data, obtained on the continental shelf of the central Levant margin (Qishon Yam 1), revealed a uniquely undisturbed sedimentary sequence which covers this time period. Evaporitic facies found in this well have only one comparable location in the entire eastern Mediterranean area (onland and offshore) over the same time frame — the Red Sea–Suez rift system. Analysis of 4150 km of multi and single-channel seismic profiles, offshore central Levant, shows that the sequence was deposited in a narrow basin, restricted to the continental shelf. This basin (the Haifa Basin) evolved as a half graben along the NW trending Carmel fault, which at present is one of the main branches of the Dead Sea fault. Re-evaluation of geological data onland, in view of the new findings offshore, indicates that the Haifa basin is the northwestern-most of a larger series of basins, comprising a failed rift along the Qishon–Sirhan NW–SE trend. This failed rift evolved spatially parallel to the Red Sea–Suez rift system, and at the same time frame. The Carmel fault would therefore seem to be related to processes occurring several million years earlier than previously thought, before the formation of the Dead Sea fault. The development of a series of basins in conjunction with a young spreading center is a known phenomenon in other regions worldwide; however this is the only known example from across the Arabian plate.     

Late Tertiary–Quaternary tectonics of the Southern Apennines (Italy): New evidences from the Tyrrhenian slope

This paper summarises the results of combined structural and geomorphological investigations we carried out in two key areas, in order to obtain new data on the structure and evolution of the Tyrrhenian slope of the southern Apennines. Analysis by a stress inversion method [Angelier, J., 1994. Fault slip analysis and paleostress reconstruction. In: Continental Deformation. P.L. Hancock Ed., Pergamon Press, Oxford, 53–100] of fault slip data from Mesozoic to Quaternary formations allowed the reconstruction of states of stress at different time intervals. By integrating these data with those deriving from the stratigraphic and morphotectonic records, chronology and timing of the sequence of the deformation events was obtained.The tectonic history of the region can be related to four deformation events. Structures related to the first event, that was dominated by a strike-slip regime with a NW–SE oriented σ1 and was active since Mid–Late Miocene, do not significantly affect the present day landscape, as they were strongly displaced and overprinted by subsequent deformation events and/or deleted by erosion. The second and third events, that may be considered as the main responsible for the morphostructural signature of the region, are comparable with the stretching phases recognised offshore and considered to be responsible for the opening and widening of the Tyrrhenian basin. In particular, the second event (with an E–W oriented σ3), took place in the Late Miocene/earliest Pliocene and was first dominated by a strike-slip regime, that was also responsible for thrusting and folding. Since Late Pliocene, it was dominated by an extensional regime that created large vertical offsets along N–S to NW–SE trending faults. The third event, that was dominated by extension with a NW–SE oriented σ3, started in the Early Pleistocene and was responsible for formation of the horst-and-graben structure with NE–SW trend that characterises the Tyrrhenian margin of the southern Apennines. The fourth deformation event, which is characterised by an extensional regime with a NE–SW trending σ3, started in the late Middle Pleistocene and is currently active.     

Geothermal potential of Egypt

One hundred and sixty samples of groundwater from nearly all parts of Egypt have been collected and chemically analyzed in order to assess the country's geothermal potential. The samples considered to be thermal include 20 wells (T > 35°C), 4 springs (T > 30°C) and 1 spring not included in the present inventory. The remaining samples, together with data from the literature, establish background chemistry. The hottest springs are located along the east shore of the Gulf of Suez: Uyun Musa (48°C) and 'Ain Hammam Faraoun (70°C). Additional warm springs are located along both shores of the Gulf of Suez and this region is the most promising for geothermal development. The Eastern Desert of Egypt, particularly the coastal area adjacent to the Red Sea has above normal heat flow ( ~ 72.0 < mWm⁻²) and therefore some geothermal potential although only one thermal well (Umm Kharga: 35.8°C) could be located, In the major oases of the Western Desert (Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra and Bahariya), the regional temperature gradient is low (< 20°C/km), but many of the wells tap deep artesian aquifers and produce large volumes of water in the 35–43°C range. Such wells constitute a low temperature geothermal resource. None of our samples in northern Egypt can be considered thermal including several reported “hot springs.” Application of the silica, NaKCa. and NaKCaMg geothermometers does not indicate the presence of a high temperature geothermal resource at any area we visited.     

Isotope provinces, mechanisms of generation and sources of the continental crust in the Central Asian mobile belt: geological and isotopic evidence

The available geological, geochronological and isotopic data on the felsic magmatic and related rocks from South Siberia, Transbaikalia and Mongolia are summarized to improve our understanding of the mechanisms and processes of the Phanerozoic crustal growth in the Central Asian mobile belt (CAMB). The following isotope provinces have been recognised: ‘Precambrian’ (T_DM=3.3–2.9 and 2.5–0.9 Ga) at the microcontinental blocks, ‘Caledonian’ (T_DM=1.1–0.55 Ga), ‘Hercynian’ (T_DM=0.8–0.5 Ma) and ‘Indosinian’ (T_DM=0.3 Ga) that coincide with coeval tectonic zones and formed at 570–475, 420–320 and 310–220 Ma. Continental crust of the microcontinents is underlain by, or intermixed with, ‘juvenile’ crust as evidenced by its isotopic heterogeneity. The continental crust of the Caledonian, Hercynian and Indosinian provinces is isotopically homogeneous and was produced from respective juvenile sources with addition of old crustal material in the island arcs or active continental margin environments. The crustal growth in the CAMB had episodic character and important crust-forming events took place in the Phanerozoic. Formation of the CAMB was connected with break up of the Rodinia supercontinent in consequence of creation of the South-Pacific hot superplume. Intraplate magmatism preceding and accompanying permanently other magmatic activity in the CAMB was caused by influence of the long-term South-Pacific plume or the Asian plume damping since the Devonian.     

HP–LT Variscan metamorphism in the Cubito-Moura schists (Ossa-Morena Zone, southern Iberia)

Multi-equilibrium thermobarometry shows that low-grade metapelites (Cubito-Moura schists) from the Ossa–Morena Zone underwent HP–LT metamorphism from 340–370 °C at 1.0–0.9 GPa to 400–450 °C at 0.8–0.7 GPa. These HP–LT equilibriums were reached by parageneses including white K mica, chlorite and chloritoid, which define the earliest schistosity (S₁) in these rocks. The main foliation in the schists is a crenulation cleavage (S₂), which developed during decompression from 0.8–0.7 to 0.4–0.3 GPa at increasing temperatures from 400–450 °C to 440–465 °C. Fe³⁺ in chlorite decreased greatly during prograde metamorphism from molar fractions of 0.4 determined in syn-S₁ chlorites down to 0.1 in syn-S₂ chlorites. These new data add to previous findings of eclogites in the Moura schists indicating that a pile of allochtonous rocks situated next to the Beja-Acebuches oceanic amphibolites underwent HP–LT metamorphism during the Variscan orogeny. To cite this article: G. Booth-Rea et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

Arab-Jewish socio-spatial relations in Arab adolescents' representations

It seems that beyond differences among the drawings several generalisations may be made, relating to the ethno-spatial relations in Israeli Palestinian adolescents' perceptions, two years after the emergence of the uprising.

Transfer functions under no-analog conditions: Experiments with Indian Ocean planktonic Foraminifera

This paper documents and investigates an important source of inaccuracy when paleoecological equations calibrated on modern biological data are applied downcore: fossil assemblages for which there are no modern analogs. Algebraic experiments with five calibration techniques are used to evaluate the sensitivity of the methods with respect to no-analog conditions. The five techniques are: species regression; principal-components regression [e.g., Imbrie, J., and Kipp, N. G. (1971). In “The Late Cenozoic Ages,” 71–181]; distance-index regression [Hecht, A. D. (1973). Micropaleontology19, 68–77]; diversity-index regression (Williams, D. F., and Johnson, W. C. (1975). Quaternary Research5, 237–250]; weighted-average method [Jones, J. I. (1964). Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis, Univ. of Wisconsin]. The experiments indicate that the four regression techniques extrapolate under no-analog conditions, yielding erroneous estimates. The weighted-average technique, however, does not extrapolate under no-analog conditions and consequently is more accurate than the other techniques. Methods for recognizing no-analog conditions downcore are discussed, and ways to minimize inaccuracy are suggested. Using several equations based on different calibration techniques is recommended. Divergent estimates suggest that no-analog conditions occur and that estimates are unreliable. The value determined by the weighted-average technique, however, may well be the most accurate.     

Isostasie flexurale et érosion différentielle : modélisation numérique appliquée au seuil du PoitouFlexural isostasy and differential erosion: numerical modelling applied at the ‘Seuil du Poitou’

One uses the principle of flexural isostasy to represent the uplift of the ‘Seuil du Poitou’ in response to erosion. The model indicates that a different uplift of on the last five millions years resulted from an erosion paradoxically stronger in the crystalline basement than in the limestones bedrock. To cite this article: J.-C. Maurin, K. Renaud, C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 1149–1155.     

Geochronology of the Tananao Schist complex, Taiwan, and its regional tectonic significance

Isotopic analyses (Rb-Sr, U-Pb, Sm-Nd, K-Ar) on rocks and minerals of the Tananao Schist complex (the Tailuko—Tienhsiang and the Nanao areas of eastern Taiwan) have yielded significant new age data corresponding to several important geologic events in the crustal evolution of Taiwan. The ages and corresponding events are summarized as follows: Crustal history 0–10 Ma: Arc-continent collision; regional metamorphism III (Penglai Orogeny). 35–40 Ma: Continental rifting and opening of the South China Sea; regional metamorphism II. 80–90 Ma: Granitic intrusions in Taiwan; regional metamorphism I (Nanao Orogeny). Overlapped with the most important world-wide, particularly circum-Pacific, thermal events of 90–110 Ma (Jahn, 1974; Jahn et al., 1976). 200–240 Ma: Deposition of carbonates and clastic sediments, probably in a geosynclinal environment. Beginning of the crustal history of Taiwan. Pre-crustal history 500–650 Ma (or older): Separation of protoliths for the granitoids of Taiwan from a chondritic (or depleted mantle) reservoir. 1000–1700 Ma: Crystallization of zircons, of which some grains have survived and been finally incorporated in the young (ca. 90 Ma) granitic magmas.     

Neoproterozoic–Cambrian synsedimentary magmatism in the Central Iberian Zone (Spain): geology,petrology and geodynamic significance

Petrographic, geochemical and field studies in low grade metamorphic areas (Ciudad Rodrigo-Hurdes-Sierra de Gata domain, CRHSG, central-western Spain) show that Neoproterozoic-Lowermost Cambrian series in the Central Iberian Zone (CIZ) record two kinds of provenance sources including: (1) detrital material derived from recycled orogens and (2) a Cadomian coeval juvenile contribution that governs their isotopic signature. Evidence of magmatism contemporaneous with Neoproterozoic-Cambrian sedimentation is provided by the presence of coherent, massive volcanic rocks (metabasalts, metaandesites, and metarhyolites), volcaniclastic shales, sandstones, conglomerates and breccias. The appearance of volcanogenic lithic fragments and crystals mixed in different proportions with siliciclastic constituents and also present within calcareous components in the sedimentary succession, reinforces this evidence. Although most of the selected volcanic and volcaniclastic samples appear to show tholeiitic affinity, some of them display calc-alkaline affinity. Different trace element ratios, such as Sm/Nd, Nb/Yb and Ta/Yb, suggest a magmatic evolution in the same tectonic setting. The geochemical results reported here support the existence of an active geodynamic setting as a direct contributor to the synsedimentary and magmatic content of the Neoproterozoic–Lowermost Cambrian successions in the CIZ. In particular, the relatively high Nd _(T) values and the high range of f ^Sm/Nd ratios are consistent with an active margin during the Neoproterozoic–Early Cambrian. The existence of tectonic activity is also confirmed by the presence of synsedimentary deformation and volcanic rocks. All of these traits favour a geodynamic model in which the Iberian Cadomian segment represented in the CIZ would have been part of an active northern margin of Gondwana, with an associated magmatic arc and related basins during Neoproterozoic–Lower Cambrian times. A proposed link between the Ossa Morena and the Central Iberian Zones might account for late Cadomian pull-apart basins developed on both sides of the magmatic arc, sharing the same scenario and involving similar magmatic activity during the Neoproterozoic–Cambrian transition.

Discrimination between primary magmatic biotites, reequilibrated biotites and neoformed biotites

The ternary diagram TiO₂–FeO*–MgO (FeO* = FeO + MnO) is proposed as a quantitative objective tool for distinguishing between primary magmatic biotites and those that are more or less reequilibrated, or possibly neoformed, by or within a hydrothermal fluid. The limit of the domains of the primary magmatic biotites, the reequilibrated biotites and the neoformed biotites were determined on the basis of optical, paragenetic and chemical criteria. To cite this article: H. Nachit et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).