新战略武器削减条约、艾雅法拉火山与核冬天

2010年4月8日,美国总统贝拉克·奥巴马与俄罗斯总统德米特里.梅德韦杰夫签署了美利坚合众国与俄罗斯联邦之间关于进一步削减和限制战略性进攻武器的条约,规     

Volcanoes of the Cape Hoskins area,New Britain,territory of Papua and New Guinea

One active and ten extinct Quaternary volcanoes are described from the Cape Hoskins area, on the north coast of New Britain. They are mostly strato volcanoes built up of lava flows, lava domes, pyroclastic flows, lahars, tephra, and derived alluvial sediments. The volcanic products range in composition from basalt to rhyolite, but basaltic andesite and andesite predominate. Much of the area is covered by tephra, several metres thick, consisting mainly of rhyolitic pumice. The active volcano, Pago, is built up of several glacier-like lava flows, the last of which was formed during an eruption in 1914–18. Pago lies within a well-preserved caldera forming the central part of a broad low-angle cone, named Witori, which consists largely of welded and unwelded pyroclastic flow deposits. C-14 dates obtained on charcoal indicate that the caldera eruption occurred about 2500 years B. P. Another caldera of similar age lies south of Witori. Of the other eight volcanoes described four are relatively well-preserved steep-sided cones formed mainly of lava flows, one is a remnant of a low-angle cone with a caldera, and three are deeply eroded cones which have none of their constructional surfaces preserved.     

2010年7月18日新不列颠地区发生7.0级地震

中国地震台网中心和美国地质调查局（USGS）公布的该地震的参数如下：     

Entanglement of New Zealand fur seals in man-made debris at Kaikoura, New Zealand

New Zealand fur seals in the Kaikoura region breed near a town with expanding tourist and fishing industries and commonly come ashore entangled in nets and plastic debris. However, the rate at which entanglement occurs was previously unknown. A decade of Department of Conservation seal callout data was analysed to determine the level of entanglement in the region and the most common debris type. Monitoring of adult female fur seals released from entanglement provided information on the potential for serious wounds to heal and survivorship of released individuals. Entanglement rates of pinnipeds in Kaikoura are some of the highest reported world-wide (average range: 0.6-2.8%) with green trawl net (42%), and plastic strapping tape (31%) together contributing the most to debris types. Nearly half of the reported entangled seals are successfully released (43%) and post-release monitoring shows that with appropriate intervention the chance of an individual surviving even with a significant entanglement wound is high. Our study demonstrates that while entanglement in the region is high, a successful intervention protocol may help reduce the potential for entanglement-related mortality in the region.     

Stacks and notches at Hopewell Rocks,New Brunswick,Canada

Spectacular rock formations have developed in coarse, poorly sorted conglomerates and arkosic sandstones at Hopewell Rocks in the Bay of Fundy, which has the largest tidal range in the world. The average gradient of the shore platform is 3.2°, although it varies because of slight differences in rock hardness. Schmidt Rock Test Hammer measurements show that the rock is generally no more resistant in 16 stacks and in one stack-arch than in the adjacent platform and cliff. Most stacks, arch-tunnels and caves in this area result from dissection of the rock mass along prominent, well-spaced joint planes. Old photographs suggest that the stacks at Hopewell Rocks may have developed in the last 100 to 250 years. Notches are ubiquitous at the cliff foot, and they are responsible for the characteristic mushroom-shaped appearance of the stacks. Although there is no consistent relationship between the depth of notches on the seaward and landward sides of the stacks, the notches are at higher elevations on the seaward side. The deepest part of most notches is a little below the mean high tidal level, although several are up to 1 or 2 m below it, especially on the landward side of stacks. Stack morphology and notch depth change in a fairly predictable manner through time, as the stacks become increasingly isolated from the cliff. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A remarkable pulse of large-scale volcanism on New Britain Island,Papua New Guinea

New studies of the deposits from the latest caldera-forming eruption (the “Dk” event) at Dakataua Volcano, New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea, help identify an intense space-time concentration of large-scale volcanism during the 7th century AD on New Britain. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the Dk deposits yields an age of 1,383 ± 28 BP. Calibration of this result gives an age in the range AD 635–670 (at 1 s. d.). At about the same time, two other volcanoes on New Britain, Rabaul and Witori, also produced very large eruptions. Very high acidity levels in ice cores from Antarctica and Greenland at AD 639 and AD 640 respectively may be linked to either or both of the Dakataua and Rabaul eruptions. Another ice core high acidity level, at AD 692, may be associated with the Witori eruption. Significant volcanic risk within the New Britain region is indicated by its Late Cenozoic history of relatively frequent large-scale eruptions from as many as 8 caldera systems within an arc-parallel zone about 380 km long. Over the last 20 ka the return period for major (VEI 5+) eruptions in this region was about 1.0 ka and individually high frequencies of major eruptive activity were experienced at Witori and Rabaul. The relatively short return period for major eruptions in the region would tend to increase the chance that such events could cluster in time.     

Magnetic anomalies across Campbell Plateau,New Zealand

Magnetic measurements over the Campbell Plateau, New Zealand, show the existence of a linear positive anomaly belt which extends for 900 km along an approximately east-west trend. This anomaly belt is considered to be a continuation of the Stokes Magnetic Anomaly occurring through New Zealand and associated with rocks of the New Zealand Geosyncline. If this is so, a transcurrent fault with a dextral displacement of about 330 km and aligned in a northeast-southwest direction must occur between the eastern end of the Stokes Magnetic Anomaly and the western end of the anomaly belt across Campbell Plateau.     

Observations on white island volcano,New Zealand

White Island is a complex of two overlapping cones constructed of lava flows, agglomerates and unconsolidated and unsorted ash and tuff beds. Remnants of a welded-tuff flow have been found on the north-east flank of the volcano. Since the extrusion of the youngest lava flow the young cone has been breached to the south-east and deeply eroded. White Island lavas are porphyritic augite-hypersthene-labradorite andesites. One young lava flow is unusually rich in Na₂O and contains groundmass sodian ferroaugite instead of the normal augite and hypersthene. The unusual groundmass features of this andesite are believed to be the result of contamination. Volcanic, plutonic and gneissic xenoliths have been found in the White Island lavas. Three new analyses of White Island andesites are given together with an electron microprobe analysis of a groundmass glass from one of the andesites. The White Island andesites are believed to have formed from the hybridisation of a primary mantle-derived andesitic magma with crustal material below the base of the Mesozoic New Zealand Geosyncline.     

Volcanic hazards of North Island, New Zealand-overview

In October 1980, a National Civil Defence Planning Committee on Volcanic Hazards was formed in New Zealand, and solicited reports on the likely areas and types of future eruptions, the risk to public safety, and the need for special precautions. Reports for eight volcanic centres were received, and made available to the authors. This paper summarises and quantifies the type and frequency of hazard, the public risk, and the possibilities for mitigation at the 7 main volcanic centres: Northland, Auckland, White Island, Okataina, Taupo, Tongariro, and Egmont. On the basis of Recent tephrostratigraphy, eruption probabilities up to 20% per century (but commonly 5%), and tephra volumes up to 100 km³ are credible.     

Evolution of Aoba caldera volcano,New Hebrides

Aoba is a basalt volcano situated in the northern part of a chain containing all the active volcanoes in the New Hebrides. The chain extends the length of the New Hebrides. Growing from a depth of 2,400 meters on the sea floor, the volcano probably emerged above sea level in the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene. The age of the oldest exposed rocks is unknown. Relatively fluid lavas with autobrecciated surfaces probably issued from tissures, initiating a shield-building stage as the volcano emerged. Airfall pyroclastics increase towards the top of these lavas and are overlain by agglomerates marking a more explosive episode. Activity continued with the effusion of picrite basalt, accompanied by spasms of ash emission that formed crystal tuff. Subsequently a more explosive episode produced agglomerate and tuff with occasional tongues of lava. The two oval summit calderas are apparently related to deep-seated subsidence. Lack of pumice deposits, and the basic nature of the magma suggest that the foundering of the calderas was a quiet event, possibly due to massive outpourings of lava at a lower level, although a substantial volume also erupted from the summit volcanoes at this time. A broad pyroclastic cone, which was still growing 360 years ago, occupies the centre of the inner caldera. It is surmounted by a wide crater, or possibly small caldera, containing a lake in which palagonite tuff cones have formed. The western end of the inner caldera is occupied by an explosion crater, and the eastern end by a semicircular lake. A thermal area containing a solfatara on the southeast shore of the eastern lake, and staining in the crater lake suggestive of fumarole activity, are the only evidence of vulcanicity at the present time. It is difficult to correlate events at the centre of the volcano with those at the lateral fissures. Later episodes at the centre are probably broadly contemporaneous with activity along the fissures, the inner ends of which are mantled by younger deposits of the central volcano. Accumulation of material about this axial fiissure system, marked by no less than 64 cruptive foci, mainly spatter cones, and phreatic explosion craters where they intersect the coast, has extended the island to the northeast and southwest, producing the present oval shape. Numerous flows spilled from these fissures, the last reaching the sea at N’dui N’dui only 300 years ago according to local legend. Abundant ash was emitted from both the summit calderas and flank fissures at a late stage, forming a tuff mantle with layers of accretionary lapilli. The last volcanic event was the formation of a lahar which destoyed a village on the northeast slope of the volcano about 100 years ago. No consistent variation with time is evident in the composition of the magma, although plagiophyric and aphyric lava erupted during the later stages. All the rocks are basaltic, and differ only in the presence or absence of phenocryst-forming minerals, and the proportions in which they occur. Picrite basalt and ankaramite erupted from the central volcano and flank fissures, respectively.     

Asymmetric,multiple-block collapse at Rotorua Caldera,Taupo Volcanic Zone,New Zealand

Calderas worldwide have been classified according to their dominant collapse styles, although there is a good deal of speculation about the processes involved. Recent laboratory experiments have tried to constrain these processes by modelling magma withdrawal and observing the effects on overlying materials. However, many other factors also contribute to final caldera morphology. Rotorua Caldera formed during the eruption of the Mamaku Ignimbrite. Collapse structure and evolution of Rotorua Caldera is interpreted based its geophysical response, geology and geomorphology, and the stratigraphy of the Mamaku Ignimbrite. Rotorua Caldera is situated at the edge of the extensional Taupo Volcanic Zone, in which major faults strike NE-SW. A second, less dominant fault set strikes NW-SE. These two fault sets have a strong influence on the morphology of Rotorua Caldera. No one style of collapse can be applied to Rotorua Caldera; it was formed during a single eruption, but subsided as many blocks and shows features of trapdoor, piecemeal and downsag types of collapse. Here Rotorua Caldera is described, according to its composition, activity and geometry, as a rhyolitic, single event, asymmetric, multiple-block, single locus collapse structure. The Mamaku Ignimbrite is the only ignimbrite to have erupted from Rotorua Caldera. Extracaldera thickness of the Mamaku Ignimbrite is up to 145 m, whereas inside the caldera it may be greater than 1 km thick. The Mamaku Ignimbrite can be separated into a basal tephra sequence and main ignimbrite sequence. The main ignimbrite sequence contains no observable flow unit boundaries but can be split into lower, middle and upper parts (LMI, mMI, uMI respectively) based on crystal content, welding, jointing, devitrification and vapour phase alteration. Juvenile clasts within the ignimbrite comprise three consanguineous silicic pumice types and andesitic fragments. Only the most evolved pumice type occurs in the basal tephra sequence. All three pumice types occur together throughout the main ignimbrite sequence, whereas the andesitic fragments are only present in uMI. Lithic lag breccias in uMI indicate a late stage of caldera collapse. Concentration of lithic fragments increases towards the middle of the ignimbrite, and may also reflect increased subsidence rate during an earlier stage. Collapse of Rotorua Caldera is thought to have occurred throughout the eruption of the main ignimbrite sequence of the Mamaku Ignimbrite, allowing simultaneous eruption of all the different pumice types and causing the abrupt transition from deposition of the basal tephra sequence to the main ignimbrite sequence.     

Forecasting tsunamis in Poverty Bay, New Zealand, with deep-ocean gauges

The response/transfer function of a coastal site to a remote open-ocean point is introduced, with the intent to directly convert open-ocean measurements into the wave time history at the site. We show that the tsunami wave at the site can be predicted as the wave is measured in the open ocean as far as 1,000+ km away from the site, with a straightforward computation which can be performed almost instantaneously. The suggested formalism is demonstrated for the purpose of tsunami forecasting in Poverty Bay, in the Gisborne region of New Zealand. Directional sensitivity of the site response due to different conditions for the excitation of the shelf and the bay’s normal modes is investigated and used to explain tsunami observations. The suggested response function formalism is validated with available records of the 2010 Chilean tsunami at Gisborne tide gauge and at the nearby deep-ocean assessment and reporting of tsunamis (DART) station 54401. The suggested technique is also demonstrated by hindcasting the 2011 Tohoku tsunami and 2012 Haida Gwaii tsunami at Monterey Bay, CA, using an offshore record of each tsunami at DART station 46411.     

Metavolcanic rocks and their origin,Southern Adirondack mountains,New York

One of the problems associated with massif-type anorthosite in high grade metamorphic terranes is the absence of anorthositic extrusives. However, if anorthosite formed by crystal segregation, volcanic equivalents of the final fluid differentiate might occur. Massive, stratiform hornblende-garnet granitic gneisses occur between two metasedimentary sequences in asynclinorium south of the main Adirondack anorthosite massif and north of the Thirteenth Lake anorthosite dome. The granitic gneisses are divided into three stratigraphic units on the basis of mineralogy. The entire stratigraphic configuration has been traced 70 kilometers laterally, and the interpretation of the literature indicates that it may extend for over 100 kilometers. Earlier workers considered the granitic gneisses to be sill-like intrusives. The following evidence suggests a volcanic origin for these gneisses:

1. A thin (3 to 5 meters) but continuous zone of cale-silicates and quartzite occurs within the sequence of granitic gneisses at the same horizon for some 25 kilometers laterally and does not appear to be truncated nor intruded by the gneisses. This observation virtually precludes an intrusive origin.
2. 2V, of plagioclase (An_24,25) in granulated, augen-shaped zones in the granitic gneisses variesfrom 109° to 120°, whereas 2V, for groundmass plagioclase (also An_{20, 25}) is 84° to 88°. According to the data of Slemmons, the 2V of the granulated augen is characteristic of volcanic (high temperature) plagioclase and that of the groundmass is characteristic of plutonic (low temperature) plagioclase.
3. The great lateral extent of the granitic gneisses suggests that the materials were deposited as volcanic ash or pyroclastics.
4. The stratigraphic coherency of metasedimentary sequences and granitic gneisses indicates that the gneisses are an integral part of the stratigraphy.

A jotunite-mangerite-charnockite suite of intrusives in this area is related to the main anorthosite massif. Since plagioclase augen or their remnants exist in both the granitic gneisses and in the intrusive suite, it is possible that the granitic gneisses and the intrusives were derived from the same magma. It has been suggested that differentiation of the anorthosite suite occurs at considerable depth whereas differentiation of the same magma at shallow depth produces the rapakivi-laboradorite porphyry association of the Fennoscandian region. If the stratiform granitic gneisses and the anorthosite suite in the Adirondacks are comagmatic, differentiation of the magma must have occurred at moderate depth and the parental magma may have been granodioritic and thus more silicic than presumed by most workers.