Bimodal volcanism in northeast Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (Greater Antilles Island Arc): Genetic links with Cretaceous subduction of the mid-Atlantic ridge Caribbean spur

Bimodal extrusive volcanic rocks in the northeast Greater Antilles Arc consist of two interlayered suites, including (1) a predominantly basaltic suite, dominated by island arc basalts with small proportions of andesite, and (2) a silicic suite, similar in composition to small volume intrusive veins of oceanic plagiogranite commonly recognized in oceanic crustal sequences. The basaltic suite is geochemically characterized by variable enrichment in the more incompatible elements and negative chondrite-normalized HFSE anomalies. Trace element melting and mixing models indicate the magnitude of the subducted sediment component in Antilles arc basalts is highly variable and decreases dramatically from east to west along the arc. In the Virgin Islands, the sediment component ranges between< 0.5 to  1% in Albian rocks, and between  1 and 2% in succeeding Cenomanian to Campanian strata. In comparison, sediment proportions in central Puerto Rico range between 0.5 to 1.5% in the Albian to 2 to > 4% during the Cenomanian-Campanian interval. The silicic suite, consisting predominantly of rhyolites, is characterized by depleted Al₂O₃ (average < 16%), low Mg-number (molar Mg/Mg + Fe < 0.5), TiO₂ (< 1.0%), and Sr/Y (< 10), oceanic or arc-like Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope signatures, and by the presence of plagioclase. All of these features are consistent with an anatexic origin in gabbroic sources, of both oceanic and arc-related origin, within the sub-arc basement. The abundance of silicic lavas varies widely along the length of the arc platform. In the Virgin Islands on the east, rhyolites comprise up to 80% of Lower Albian strata (112 to 105 Ma), and about 20% in post-Albian strata (105 to 100 Ma). Farther west, in Puerto Rico, more limited proportions (< 20%) of silicic lavas were erupted. The systematic variation of both sediment flux and abundance of crustally derived silicic lavas are consistent with current tectonic models of Caribbean evolution involving approximately perpendicular subduction of the Caribbean spur of the mid-Atlantic Ridge, which was located approximately midway between North and South America until Campanian times. Within this hypothetical setting the centrally positioned Virgin Islands terrain remained approximately fixed above the subducting ridge as the Antilles arc platform swept northeastward into the slot between the Americas. Accordingly, heat flow in the Virgin Islands was elevated throughout the Cretaceous, giving rise to widespread crustal melting, whereas the subducted sediment flux was limited. Conversely, toward the west in central Puerto Rico, which was consistently more remote from the subducting ridge, heat flow was relatively low and produced limited crustal melting, while the sediment flux was comparatively elevated.     

Floodplain construction by recent,rapid vertical accretion: Waipaoa River,New Zealand

The rate of vertical accretion (typically 14–18 mm h⁻¹) during eight floods in the Waipaoa River basin, with recurrence intervals of 5 to 60 years, was determined by relating the floodplain stratigraphy at McPhail's bend to the 1948–1995 flood history. Overbank deposits remaining after a flood that occurred in March 1996 suggest a rate of vertical accretion of 15 mm h⁻¹. By contrast, because the flow velocity across the floodplain was too high to permit deposition from suspension, during the record flood of March 1988 the rate of vertical accretion was only 6 mm h⁻¹. The sequence of deposition is highly discontinuous, and the rapid vertical accretion is a response to a late 19th to early 20th century phase of deforestation in the headwaters that probably initiated a far greater change in suspended sediment yield than in discharge. Cross-section surveys conducted since 1948 indicate that the high suspended sediment load of the Waipaoa River also promoted in-channel deposition, which effected a progressive reduction in bankfull channel width although, due to the overbank deposition, channel capacity remained constant. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Putting the principles of the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach into fisheries development policy and practice

The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) combines a conceptual framework with a set of operational principles to provide guidance on policy formulation and development practice. The SLA has been widely used in coastal and fisheries development research and has informed the design of development programmes but experience of operationalising it remains largely undocumented. In the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme, which involves 25 West African countries, the SLA has helped to align fisheries policy with wider poverty reduction initiatives and to identify means of contributing to poverty reduction that do not directly increase pressure on fully or over-exploited fish resources.     

Trace elements in shergottite meteorites: Implications for the origins of planets

The average concentrations of 19 siderophile and volatile elements in shergottite meteorites differ from those in terrestrial basalts by less than a factor of ten. This observation undermines claims that the abundances of siderophile and volatile elements in the Earth's upper mantle are uniquely terrestrial. Claims that similarities in the Moon's siderophile element pattern imply a terrestrial origin for the Moon are also weakened. The implication that basalt source regions on the asteroidal parent body of the shergottites resembled the terrestrial upper mantle constrains models of planetary formation and evolution. Heterogeneous accretion models may explain many of the similarities between these planets. Alternatively, separation of sulfide from basaltic magmas or their source regions on the Earth and the shergottite parent body may explain some of these similarities.     

Isotopic anomalies of noble gases in meteorites and their origins—VII. C3V carbonaceous chondrites

Noble gases were measured in bulk samples of the C3V chondrites Grosnaja, Vigarano, and Leoville, and in HF,HCl-insoluble residues before and after etching with HNO₃. The residues were characterized by INAA and SEM. Gas components were determined, directly or by subtraction, for the following fractions: HF,HCl-solubles (?98% of the meteorite), ‘sphase Q’, a poorly characterized trace mineral that is insoluble in HCl-HF but soluble in HNO₃, and an insoluble residue, consisting of ferrichromite, carbonaceous matter, and spinel.Bulk meteorites show some correlation of the noble-gas pattern with McSween's subclasses: two ‘oxidized’ C3V's—Allende (LEWIS et al, 1975) and Grosnaja— have lower Ar/Xe but higher Ne/Xe ratios than the ‘reduced’ C3V's—Vigarano and Leoville—which are transitional to LL3's and C3O chondrites in both respects. An HCl-soluble mineral of high Ar/Xr ratio seems to be responsible. In other respects, the 3 C3V's of this study resemble Allende, with only moderate differences. Phase Q contains most of the Ar, Kr, Xe, but only small amounts of Ne; the etched residues contain planetary Ne ($\text{Ne}{}^{20}\text{Ne}{}^{22}\text{? 8.5}$) and the controversial CCFXe component, enriched in the heavy Xe isotopes ($\text{Xe136}\text{Xe132 ? 0.4–0.5}$). The CCFXe is accompanied by an ‘L-Xe’ component that is enriched in the light Xe isotopes. The proportion of the two is virtually constant in C3V's. as in all other C-chondrites. in contrast to the ~ 2-fold variation in ordinary chondrites.C3V's have systematically higher $\text{Xe}{}^{136}\text{Xe}{}^{132}$ ratios, and hence higher ratios of CCFXe to planetary Xe, than do other chondrite classes. This may reflect some peculiarity in their formation conditions, favoring uptake of CCFXe.     

Elemental and isotopic carbon and nitrogen records of organic matter accumulation in a Holocene permafrost peat sequence in the East European Russian Arctic

A peat deposit from the East European Russian Arctic, spanning nearly 10 000 years, was investigated to study soil organic matter degradation using analyses of bulk elemental and stable isotopic compositions and plant macrofossil remains. The peat accumulated initially in a wet fen that was transformed into a peat plateau bog following aggradation of permafrost in the late Holocene (～2500 cal a BP). Total organic carbon and total nitrogen (N) concentrations are higher in the fen peat than in the moss‐dominated bog peat layers. Layers in the sequence that have lower concentrations of total hydrogen (H) are associated with degraded vascular plant residues. C/N and H/C atomic ratios indicate better preservation of organic matter in peat material dominated by bryophytes as opposed to vascular plants. The presence of permafrost in the peat plateau stage and water‐saturated conditions at the bottom of the fen stage appear to lead to better preservation of organic plant material. δ¹⁵N values suggest N isotopic fractionation was driven primarily by microbial decomposition whereas differences in δ¹³C values appear to reflect mainly changes in plant assemblages. Positive shifts in both δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values coincide with a local change to drier conditions as a result of the onset of permafrost and frost heave of the peat surface. This pattern suggests that permafrost aggradation not only resulted in changes in vegetation but also aerated the underlying fen peat, which enhanced microbial denitrification, causing the observed ¹⁵N‐enrichment. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.