Geology and tectonic setting of the Mule Creek caldera,New Mexico,U.S.A.

The 10-km diameter Mule Creek caldera is the youngest felsic eruptive center in the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field of southwestern New Mexico. The caldera forms a topographic basin surrounded by a raised rim. The caldera wall is well displayed on the south and west sides of the structure where it dips 20–30 degrees toward the center of the basin. Mudflow breccia fills the caldera and is banked up against the caldera wall. Post-caldera porphyritic quartz latite domes and flows crop out along the ring-fracture zone. The caldera is superimposed upon an older volcanic complex of flow-banded rhyolite and porphyritic andesite lava. The Mule Creek caldera probably originated by explosive eruption of about 10 km³ of pumice and ash, in part preserved in the matrix of the mudflow breccia. Periods of explosive volcanism during the deposition of mudflow breccia are documented by tuffaceous beds interbedded with the breccia. A thin rhyolite ash-flow sheet originated in the caldera and overlies the mudflow breccia. The youngest felsic rocks around the caldera are (1) domes and flows of crystal-rich porphyritic quartz latite of variable mineralogy, interpreted as a defluidized magma, and (2) widespread crystal-poor, flow-banded rhyolite, dated at 18.6 m.y., which is not directly related to the caldera sequence. The Mule Creek caldera and other volcanic features farther south represent the only documented overlap of felsic volcanism with early stages of Basin-Range tectonism in the Mogollon-Datil field.     

Environmental controls on blowing dust direction at lubbock,Texas, U.S.A.

Blowing dust is a common phenomenon at Lubbock, Texas, on the Southern High Plains. The directional variability of blowing dust estimated with the ‘sand rose’ technique, using wind speed and direction data, suggest that dust transport occurs from all directions. An empirical method of determining directional variability using meteorological data on visibility reductions due to blowing dust, however, indicates that most dust comes from the west and south-west. In addition to wind speed and direction, other environmental factors must be considered in explaining the spatial pattern of dust transport. Soil erodibility is variable in the region, with the most extensive area of highly erodible soils to the west and south-west of Lubbock. Rangeland dominates land use to the east, while agriculture is extensive to the north, west and south. Local farming techniques leave bare soil during the winter and spring, when most airborne dust is produced and also when strong winds are common from the west and south-west. Soil moisture is lowest to the southwest of Lubbock, which leads to a decrease in soil structure and an increase in the potential for wind erosion in that direction. Relative humidities affect threshold wind speeds and are lowest during March and April, when winds are common from the west and south-west. The spatial and seasonal variability and interactions between many factors, both natural and human-controlled, must therefore considered in explaining the directional variability of aeolian sediment transport at Lubbock.     

Groundwater flow and implications for groundwater contamination north of Prewitt,New Mexico,U.S.A.

In the southern San Juan Basin, New Mexico, strata of Permian and younger age dip gently toward the center of the basin. Most previous investigators believed that recharge to these strata occurred by precipitation on the outcrops and groundwater flowed downdip to the north and northeast. Recent water-level measurements in an undeveloped part of the basin near Prewitt, New Mexico, show that groundwater at shallow depths in alluvium and bedrock flows southward, opposite to the dip direction, and toward a major ephemeral drainage in a strike valley. North of this area, groundwater in deep bedrock aquifers does appear to flow northward. This information suggests that there are two groundwater circulation patterns; a shallow one controlled by topography and a deeper one controlled by geologic structure.Significant amounts of recharge to sandstone aquifers by infiltration through outcrops is unlikely due to the near-vertical exposures on cliffs, the gentle dip of the strata, and small annual precipitation. Numerical model results suggest that recharge to bedrock aquifers may be from downward leakage via aquitards over large areas and leakage from narrow alluvial aquifers in the subcrop area. The recharge mechanism is controlled by the hydraulic conductivity of the strata.As the flow path is controlled by hydraulic conductivity contrasts, geologic structure, and topography, contamination movement from surface impoundments is likely to be difficult to predict without a thorough hydrogeological site investigation.     

Erosional effects of cattle on streambanks in Tennessee,U.S.A.

The geomorphological effects of cattle on streambanks in a humid region, which have consequent potential effects on water quality, are examined. Field observations suggest that cattle are important agents in causing streambanks to erode, but so many variables are involved that it is difficult to isolate the role of cattle. Instead, an empirical approach based on long-term controlled experiment was adopted along a small perennial stream in the Central Basin of Tennessee. The results showed that uncontrolled grazing caused about six times as much gross bank erosion as occurred on the protected control stretch. However, most of this difference was due to breakdown of banks by trampling and consequent erosion, rather than by bank scour caused by removal of bank vegetation by grazing. That is, bank vegetation alone did not appear to be a primary control. A relatively inexpensive grade-control structure reduced the gross bank erosion by about 50 per cent. The rapid destruction of streambanks observed in this study suggests that reduction of geomorphic resistance by uncontrolled stock access to streambanks has been an important factor in the stream widening that has taken place during historical time in the eastern United States.     

Regional variation of mechanical and chemical denudation,upper Colorado River Basin,U.S.A.

The variation of mechanical and chemical denudation is investigated using discharge and sediment yield data from the Upper Colorado River System. Annual precipitation ranges from approximately 150 mm to 1500 mm. Mean specific yield ranges from 0-2 1/s km² ( = 6 mm p a) to 151/s km² ( = 475 mm p a). The hydrological-geomorphological system adjusts itself to these varying climatic conditions; in some areas, however, the effects of lithology or land use seem to override the climatic controls. It is demonstrated that the increase in the absolute and particularly the relative amount of suspended sediment is closely related to a decrease in annual runoff and to an increase in the importance of high magnitude/low frequency events. This indicates that in areas of low annual runoff and high runoff variability, soluble rocks are more resistant than in more humid areas. During high magnitude/low frequency events, suspended sediment concentrations and loads are very high in semiarid areas due to sparse vegetation cover and dominance of direct runoff. Events of moderate magnitude and frequency, which in more humid areas transport most of the dissolved load, seldom occur. The trend towards increasing mechanical denudation is even observed in areas of very low runoff (0-221/s km² = 7 mm p a). The peak of sediment yield in dry areas seems to approximate the point of no runoff very closely. Mechanical and chemical denudation are of equal importance at a runoff of about 300 mm per year.     

Geologic influences on fluvial hydrology and bedload transport in small mountainous watersheds,Northern New Mexico,U.S.A.

Discharge characteristics in six adjacent mountainous watersheds in northern New Mexico, U.S.A., vary substantially between basins underlain by different lithologies. Relatively resistant gneisses and granites underlie two basins (drainage areas: 43 and 94 km²) that have high unit discharge (0·010 to 0·14 m³s^?1 km^?2), high bankfull discharge, and sustained high discharge. Less resistant sandstones and shales underlie four basins (drainage areas: 96 to 215 km²) that have relatively low unit discharge (0·001 to 0·005 m³s^?1 km^?2), relatively low bankfull discharge, and peak discharges that are not sustained as long as those in the crystalline terrane. Analysis of snowmelt-runoff water budgets suggests that three factors control hydrologic conditions in the basins. First, area-elevation distributions appear to control the timing and amounts of water input. These distributions probably reflect the erosional resistance of the different lithologies. Second, lithology appears to control runoff production in areas having minor amounts of storage. Third, glacial deposits in headwater regions control discharge duration and timing via storage and return flow releases. The amount of return flow released by glacial deposits, however, is probably controlled by the permeability of underlying bedrock. Therefore it appears that the duration, timing, and magnitude of discharge events in the study area are controlled both directly and indirectly by lithology. Stream power and shear stress estimates derived from bankfull discharge and bed-material size data suggest that higher bedload transport rates and larger bedload particle sizes exist in streams draining crystalline rocks than in streams draining sedimentary terrane. It appears that source-area lithology, by controlling discharge production, also influences stream power, bedload transport capabilities, and therefore total amounts of bedload transport.     

Beach erosion as a function of variations in the sediment budget,Sandy Hook,New Jersey,U.S.A.

Many of the world's beaches have recently been eroding, even on progradational landforms. This study uses the sediment budget approach to identify and rank the causes of the hazard along Sandy Hook spit where the primary recreational beach has been eroding at about 10 m/yr since 1953 and 23 m/yr in the 1970s. Large spatial variations in longshore sediment transport are found to result from differences in refracted wave energies and intersegmental sediment transport. Erosion results from a 60 per cent deficit (-270,000 m³/yr) in the sediment budget that is primarily caused by (1) refraction induced locally high waves that increase the transport rate by 100,000 m³, and (2) shore protection structures that have lessened the longshore sediment inputs by an additional 100,000 m³/yr. A storm index is presented to analyse secular climatic variation. It suggests that the annual sediment transport rate may vary by as much as ±50 per cent about the mean and that recently, above normal storm wave energies are responsible for about 60,000 m³/yr of the budget deficit. Rising sea levels and storm overwash each account for only about one per cent of the sediment loss. Pulses of sediment, induced by accelerated erosion at the feeder beach locale of spit segments, are found to move downdrift. They alter the geomorphology of the spit through episodic extensions of the spit segments with lag times exceeding one year per segment.     

Imbrication, flow direction and possible source areas of the pumice-flow tuffs near Bend, Oregon, U.S.A.

Imbrication, indicating flow and source direction, occurs in three Pleistocene or upper Pliocene pumice-flow tuffs exposed in a 700-km² area on the east flank of the Cascade Range near Bend, Oregon, and shows the location of previously unknown source vents of these tuffs. The imbrication is formed by inclined elongate and/or flat pumice or lithic fragments and locally by elongate plagioclase crystals. Imbrication is best developed within the lower zones of individual flow units; the pumiceous top zones also locally show imbrication directions parallel to that in the lower zones. Moreover, the areal pattern of size distribution of lithic and pumice fragments in the flows is concordant with the flow direction pattern indicated by imbrication.The upper pumice flow shows a fan-shaped pattern of flow directions indicated by imbrication which points to a western source. A possible vent, about 20 km west of Bend in the highland near Broken Top Volcano, is marked by many silicic domes and basaltic cinder cones where there is a 6–8 mgal negative Bouguer gravity anomaly. In contrast, imbrication in the middle and lower pumice flows indicates flow from a source southwest of Bend. Vents in this direction are not obvious. Possible buried vents are located about 30 km and 45 km southwest of Bend near Sitkum Butte and Lookout Mountain, respectively.     

Conditions for generation of fire‐related debris flows,Capulin Canyon,New Mexico

Comparison of the responses of three drainage basins burned by the Dome fire of 1996 in New Mexico is used to identify the hillslope, channel and fire characteristics that indicate a susceptibility specifically to wildfire‐related debris flow. Summer thunderstorms generated three distinct erosive responses from each of three basins. The Capulin Canyon basin showed widespread erosive sheetwash and rilling from hillslopes, and severe flooding occurred in the channel; the North Tributary basin exhibited extensive erosion of the mineral soil to a depth of 5 cm and downslope movement of up to boulder‐sized material, and at least one debris flow occurred in the channel; negligible surface runoff was observed in the South Tributary basin. The negligible surface runoff observed in the South Tributary basin is attributed to the limited extent and severity of the fire in that basin. The factors that best distinguish between debris‐flow producing and flood‐producing drainages are drainage basin morphology and lithology. A rugged drainage basin morphology, an average 12 per cent channel gradient, and steep, rough hillslopes coupled with colluvium and soil weathered from volcaniclastic and volcanic rocks promoted the generation of debris flows. A less rugged basin morphology, an average gradient of 5 per cent, and long, smooth slopes mantled with pumice promoted flooding. Flood and debris‐flow responses were produced without the presence of water‐repellent soils. The continuity and severity of the burn mosaic, the condition of the riparian vegetation, the condition of the fibrous root mat, accumulations of dry ravel and colluvial material in the channel and on hillslopes, and past debris‐flow activity, appeared to have little bearing on the distinctive responses of the basins. Published in 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Observations of mine seismicity in the eastern Wasatch Plateau,Utah, U.S.A.: A possible case of implosional failure

In the summer of 1984, a three-dimensional, high-resolution microearthquake network was operated in the vicinity of two coal mines beneath Gentry Mountain in the eastern Wasatch Plateau, Utah. During a six-week period, approximately 3,000 seismic events were observed of which the majority were impulsive, higher frequency (>10 Hz), short duration (<2–3 sec) events probably associated with the caving of the roof from a longwall operation. In contrast, 234 of the largest located events appeared to occur predominantlybeneath the mines to a depth of 2 to 3 km consistent with previous studies. The magnitudes of these events ranged from less thanM _c 0 to 1.6. In addition to the unusual depths of these latter events, an anomalous aspect displayed by the events was an apparent dilatational focal mechanism suggesting a non-double-couple, possibly implosional source. Implosional events have been observed in other studies of mine seismicity; however, the generally inadequate instrumental coverage of the focal sphere has cast some doubt on the validity of such mechanisms. Previously suggested source mechanisms for such implosional events have included tensional failure through strata collapse, and a shear-implosional displacement mechanism. Shear failure must be involved in the failure process of the Gentry Mountain implosional events as evidenced by well-defined shear waves in the observed seismograms. Simultaneous monitoring in the East Mountain coal mining area to the south by the University of Utah revealed typical shear failure events mixed with implosional events. The observed double-couple, reverse focal mechanisms at East Mountain were similar to mechanisms determined in previous studies and a composite focal mechanism determined in this study for a sequence outside the mining areas. This suggested that the shear events within the mining areas are being influenced by the regional tectonic stress field. Thus in addition to the seismic events associated with caving of the roof from the longwall operation, there appear to be at least two other types of mining-induced seismic events occurring in the eastern Wasatch Plateau, both submine in origin: (1) events characterized by apparent non-double-couple possibly implosional focal mechanisms and well-defined shear waves; and (2) shear events, which are indistinguishable from tectonic earthquakes and may be considered mining triggered earthquakes. The small mining-induced stress changes that occur beyond a few hundred meters from the mine workings suggest both types of seismic events are occurring on critically stressed, pre-existing zones of weakness. Topography, overburden, method of mining, and mine configuration also appear to be significant factors influencing the occurrence of the implosional submine events.     

Lake-ice collapse trenches in Wisconsin,U.S.A.

A series of trenches about a metre deep, 20 to 30 m wide, and as much as 2 km in length occurs in central Wisconsin, along the east shore of proglacial Lake Wisconsin. They are interpreted to be collapse trenches formed when shore ice melted after being buried beneath an expanding outwash plain.     

Potassium, uranium, thorium radiogenic heat contribution to heat flow in the precambrian and younger silicic rocks of the Zuni and Florida mountains, New Mexico (U.S.A.)

High heat flow in the Zuni Mountains, New Mexico, U.S.A., has been explained by the possible presence of a buried felsic pluton. Alternately, high K, U, Th abundances have been proposed to account for part of the high heat flow. The mean radiogenic heat contribution for 60 samples of Precambrian core rocks is 7.23 μcal/gm-yr, which is slightly higher than the average for western U.S.A. granitic rocks and significantly higher than the average for continental “crust”; hence, the K, U, Th radiogenic contribution from Precambrian rocks to the overall heat flow is significant. Radiogenic K, U, Th heat for 32 samples for the Florida Mountains, New Mexico, U.S.A., yields a lower mean of 5.46 μcal/gm-yr. This value is somewhat anomalous in that the predominantly syenitic rocks commonly yield higher values. Furthermore, heat flow is higher in areas distant from the Floridas and the radiogenic heat contribution is considered small.     

A hydrogeochemical model for stream chemistry,Cascade range,Washington, U.S.A.

A simple mixing model demonstrates that chemical variations in Cascade surface waters reflect flow from three general zones: alpine areas, forested colluvial slopes, and seasonally saturated areas. The chemistry of weathering solutions in alpine portions of the Williamson Creek catchment (North Cascade Range) results from alteration of plagioclase, hornblende, and biotite to kaolinitic material and vermiculite. Surface and shallow groundwater in forested portions of the catchment reflect these reactions, dissolution of small quantities of carbonate, and biologic activity. Both at-a-point and downstream chemical variations are explained quantitatively by the volume of water that originates in each of the hydrogeochemical source areas. Water from the forested colluvial slopes is most significant on an annual basis. However, summer low-flow is a mixture of colluvial waters and dilute solutions from the alpine zone, whereas 10 to 30 per cent of peak flow in snowmelt and rainstorms is produced from seasonally saturated areas. Poor concentration/discharge (C/Q) correlations, typical of Cascade rivers, result from mixing of significant C/Q relations for water leaving each source area. Model predictions could be substantially improved by better data for the effects of temperature, water-contact time, and biologic cycling on the chemistry of soil water from forested zones.     

Temporal cycles of karst denudation in northwest Georgia,U.S.A.

Time patterns of karst denudation in northwest Georgia (U.S.A.) were investigated at three spring sites for 12 months and at five stream sites for 10 years. Rainfall was evenly distributed and showed no significant seasonality. At the springs, as well as the streams, water hardness was largely controlled by discharge. At the springs, soil pCO₂ and water pH were strongly correlated (r + -0·69 to -0·83). Solute transport in spring waters was highly seasonal, with two conduit flow springs removing more limestone in the winter, and the diffuse flow spring removing more during the growing season. At the stream sites, most denudation occurred during the winter and spring seasons, and least during the summer. Fourier analysis showed that variations in denudation occur on deterministic (long-wave) as well as stochastic (shortwave) time scales. As contributing variables, discharge varied in short-wave and long-wave cycles, whereas soil pCO₂ showed only a long-wave cycle. The 12 month deterministic cycles were the most important, with changes in discharge taking precedence over soil pCO₂. Time series regression explains up to 69 per cent of changes in denudation through rain and soil pCO₂. Time cycles in available water are the key controlling factor of denudation, and amounts of available soil CO₂ may not be as important in the temporal patterns of karst downwearing as has been believed previously.     

Hydrogeochemical processes involved in salt-dissolution zones,texas panhandle,U.S.A.

Permian evaporite deposits have been extensively dissolved beneath the perimeter of the Southern High Plains in the Texas Panhandle. Hydrologic and geochemical data were collected from six test wells to determine hydrogeochemical processes involved and the source and flow paths of ground water moving in salt-dissolution zones. Geochemical similarities and hydraulic-head relationships indicate that ground water dissolving halite and anhydrite moves downward from aquifers in post-Permian formations and follows flow paths influenced by topography. Holocene salt-dissolution rates probably are lower than Tertiary and Pleistocene rates owing to regional changes in physiography and climate that probably decreased the amount of recharge to salt-dissolution zones. Present as well as palaeohydrologic ground-water velocities and salt-dissolution rates are probably less beneath the Southern High Plains than in adjacent, peripheral salt-dissolution zones because of lower hydraulic conductivities and lower hydraulic-head gradients. Salinities in peripheral salt-dissolution zones are low (67 000 to 95 000 mg L^?1) despite high solubility of halite, reflecting relatively open circulation of ground water. In interior salt-dissolution zones beneath the Southern High Plains, ground-water circulation is low and water composition tends to reach halite saturation.     

A detailed gravity study of the Chattolanee Baltimore Gneiss Dome,Maryland, U.S.A.

A detailed gravity survey over the Chattolanee Baltimore Gneiss Dome in the Maryland Piedmont suggests that the dome is an arched recumbent fold. The Baltimore Gneiss, which cores the dome, has a negative density contrast with the surrounding Cambro-Ordovician marbles and schists and is coincident with a large minimum in the simple Bouguer gravity. Three north-south profiles, which cut across the east-west-trending surface exposure of the dome were modeled two-dimensionally. The models suggest that the Baltimore Gneiss is thickest and tightly folded in an inverted V shape to the east and thinner and broadly arched to the west. It is also possible to fit the gravity data with a mushroom-shaped body at the easternmost profile, which could suggest a diapiric origin for the dome, but this interpretation is not favored based on geological arguments. The Baltimore Mafic Complex, located to the south of the Chattolanee Dome, can be modeled as an approximately 1 km thick slab with a subhorizontal base, suggesting that it is a thrust sheet. By analogy with the Phoenix Baltimore Gneiss Dome, mapped by Crowley [2], the Cambro-Ordovician sediments surrounding the Chattolanee Dome may also be involved in the recumbent folding which would suggest that the dome was formed during the Ordovician Taconic orogeny.     

Effects of Time-dependent Moisture Content of Surface Sediments on Aeolian Transport Rates Across a Beach,Wildwood, New Jersey,U.S.A.

A one-day field investigation on an unvegetated backbeach documents the importance of surface sediment drying to aeolian transport. Surface sediments were well sorted fine sand. Moisture content of samples taken in the moist areas on the backbeach varied from 2·9 to 9·2 per cent. Lack of dry sediment inhibited transport prior to 08:50. By 09:10 conspicuous streamers of dry sand moved across the moist surface. Barchan-shaped bedforms, 30 to 40 mm high and composed of dry sand (moisture content <0·10 per cent), formed where sand streamers converged. The surface composed of dry sand increased from 5 per cent of the area of the backbeach at 09:50 to 90 per cent by 12:50 Mean wind speeds were beetween 5·6 and 8·6 m s⁻¹ at 6 m above the backbeach. Corresponding shear velocities were always above the entrainment threshold for dry sand and below the threshold for the moist sand on the backbeach. Measured rates of sand trapped (by vertical cylindrical traps) increased during the day relative to calculated rates. The measured rate of sand trapped on the moist foreshore was higher than the rate trapped on the backbeach during the same interval, indicating that the moist foreshore (moisture content 18 per cent) was an efficient transport surface for sediment delivered from the dry portion of the beach upwind. Measured rates of sand trapped show no clear relationship to shear velocities unless time-dependent surface moisture content is considered. Results document conditions that describe transport across moist surfaces in terms of four stages including: (1) entrainment of moist sediment from a moist surface; (2) in situ drying of surface grains from a moist surface followed by transport across the surface; (3) entrainment and transport of dry sediment from bedforms that have accumulated on the moist surface; and (4) entrainment of sand from a dry upwind source and transport across a moist downwind surface. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Avalonian (Pan-African) mylonitic deformation west of Boston, U.S.A.

West of Boston, Mass., Castle and others (1976) recognized an up to 5km wide, possibly folded, NE-SW trending Burlington Mylonite Zone. We have extended mapping south into Natick and Framington quadrangles, and supplemented it by fixing local directions of tectonic motion, which are more variable than reported by Goldstein (1989). In Natick the mylonite zone is partly migmatized and converted into blastomylonites, forming the lithodemic Rice Gneiss and is intersected by the Dedham Granite dated ca 630 Ma. The granite also invades deformed, folded, and commonly mylonitized Westboro Quartzite. Thus mylonitization, folding, and formation of migmatitic blastomylonites are all earlier than ca 630 Ma, and can collectively be attributed to the main phase of the Avalonian orogeny that in Africa is referred to as the Pan-African I. The sense of movements in the Rice Gneiss is generally sinistral strike-slip with a NE-SW trend of foliation. Other local mylonites have more variable directions of motion.A narrower E-W zone of mylonitization has been recognized by Grimes (M.S. thesis 1993, Boston College) and named the Nobscot Shear Zone. It affects the Milford Granite, also about 630 Ma in age, while similar but narrow shear zones affect other local granites including the Dedham. These zones, dipping steeply north and including the Nobscot, are less intensely mylonitized and are not associated with migmatites. Their age is not known, but since they affect only Precambrian rocks, they are assumed to be late Proterozoic. We attribute these zones to the second stage of the Avalonian or the Pan-African II.The older rocks west of Boston are widely affected by numerous brittle faults. These are all of unknown age, but probably Phanerozoic. The most significant brittle fault in the Burlington area is the mid to late Paleozoic Bloody Bluff Fault. We do not associate large scale mylonitization with that fault, because the mylonites are commonly cut by undeformed or little deformed Siluro-Devonian gabbro-diorites.