Trace Metals in Selected Benthic Invertebrates from Belgian Coastal Waters (1981–1996)

Mercury, cadmium, lead, copper, zinc and chromium were assessed in brown shrimp (Crangon crangon), swimming crab (Liocarcinus holsatus), hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus), starfish (Asterias rubens) and cut trough shell (Spisula subtruncata) from ten sampling stations off the Belgian coast, including three dredge spoils disposal sites. Calculations of time trends indicated that on the whole concentrations of trace metals had significantly decreased since 1981, also on dredged material dumping sites. Starfish and hermit crab were found to be the most promising benthic indicator species for metal contamination. Globally, the location of the sites, including the dredge spoils disposal zones, showed to be of little influence on the concentrations of trace metals.     

Estimation of Mining Tremor Occurrence by Using Neural Networks

—Changes of the primary strain-stress state (caused by interaction between natural conditions and mining activity) can result, under special circumstances, to the origin of seismic induced events. The question of induced seismic activity prediction was treated as a problem of time series extrapolation of maximum cumulative amplitudes and numbers of seismic events recorded per day. The treatment was carried out by means of Multilayered Perceptron Neural Networks (MLP NN). The application to mining tremor prediction has been tested and methodological conditions have been obtained. It was proved that the prediction of the number of mining tremors per day is more precise than the prediction of future energy (maximum amplitudes). Further advance, based on the processing of seismo-acoustic activity series, is introduced.     

Nighttime convection in the interior of a dense Douglas fir forest

Infrared radiative surface temperatures as observed over a dense Douglas fir forest during stable atmospheric conditions are analyzed. It is shown that the concept of a single surface temperature to describe both the thermal coupling and the radiative coupling between atmosphere and forest fails when longwave cooling is large and wind speeds are low. In such cases a decoupling of the radiative surface temperature from the air temperature aloft is observed. Conditions for decoupling are formulated in terms of an appropriate Richardson number. It is shown that a convective surface temperature comes into play that is coupled to the forest interior air temperature. Observed radiative surface temperature is then composed of this convective surface temperature and the aerodynamic surface temperature. Forest interior air temperature during nighttime is, in general, lower than air temperature above the canopy. A simple two-layer canopy model is used to explain this phenomenon in terms of the distribution of atmospheric sensible heat flux and storage heat flux over the two canopy layers.     

Origin and implications of mafic xenoliths associated with Cenozoic extension-related volcanism in the Válencia Trough, NE Spain

Summary The Válencia Trough of northeastern Spain represents a poorly understood region of Cenozoic extension-related magmatism in western Europe. We present chemical data on mafic xenoliths and their host basalt from the Roca Negra cinder cone in the Catalán Volcanic Zone in the Válencia Trough. The xenoliths consist of augite+hornblende+ oxides±plagioclase±apatite±olivine::Lbiotitelorthopyroxene, and range from clinopyroxenites and hornblendites to gabbroic rocks. The major and trace element compositions of the xenoliths are compatible with formation as cumulates from a range of olivine tholeiitic to strongly alkaline magmas, and show a strong affinity to the Middle Miocene to Recent rift-related magmatism in the Cátalan Volcanic Zone. The xenoliths formed at temperatures of 1110–1180 °C, pressures of 2–7 kb (with 10 kb as the upper limit), and oxygen fugacities corresponding to 1–2 log units above the NNO oxygen buffer. The estimated pressure range implies formation in magma chambers within the crust, possibly also near the crust/mantle boundary (underplating). The presence of crustal cumulates indicates that the total volume of magmas emplaced into the crust in the Cátalan Volcanic Zone may be significantly larger than indicated by surface exposures. Isotopic compositions of the xenoliths are⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr: 0.703537–0.703647,¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd: 0.512732–0.512766,²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb: 18.097–19.106,²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb: 15.522–15.579, and²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb: 37.850–38.794. This range suggests the involvement of two mantle source components. One of these may be the low-velocity component recognized in Cenozoic magmatism in the eastern Atlantic Ocean to central Europe and western Mediterranean. The other component, which differs from those involved in other domains of Cenozoic volcanism in Europe and adjacent areas, may be located in the lithospheric mantle underlying NE Spain, which was metasomatized during late Variscan to early Alpine deformation.

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Herkunft und Bedeutung mafischer Xenolithe aus känozoiscben Extensions-bezogenen Vulkaniten aus dem Valencia Trog, Nordost-Spanien

Zusammenfassung Der Válencia Trog in Nordost-Spanien stellt eine noch wenig verstandene Region mit känozoischen Extensions-bezogenern Magmatismus in Westeuropa dar. Wir geben hier chemische Daten über mafische Xenolithe und ihre basaltischen Muttergesteine aus dem Roca Negra Kegei in der vulkanischen Zone von Catalan im Valencia Trog. Die Xenolithe bestehen aus Augit+Hornblende+Oxiden±Plagioklas±Apatit±Olivin±Biotit±Orthopyroxen und reichen in ihrer Zusammensetzung von Klinopyroxeniten und Homblenditen his zu gabbroischen Gesteinen. Die Haupt- und Spurenelementzusammensetzung der Xenolithe entspricht einer Kumulatbildung aus Olivin-tholéitischen bis stark alkalischen Magmen and zeigt eine deutliche Affinität mit dem mittelmiozanen bis rezenten Rift-bezogenen Magmatismus in der vulkanischen Zone von Catalan. Die Xenolithe bildeten sich bei Temperaturen von 1.110 bis 1.180 °C und bei Drucken von 2–7 kb (mit 10 kb als Obergrenze) und bei Sauerstoff-Fugazitäten, die 1 bis 2 log Einheiten über dem NNO Sauerstoff-Puffer liegen. Die abgeschätzten Drucke weisen auf Bildung in Magmakammern innerhalb der Kruste bin, womölich auch in der Nähe der Kruste-Mantelgrenze (Underplating). Das Vorkommen von krustalen Kumulaten zeigt, daß das gesamte Volumen von Magma, das in die Kruste der vulkanischen Zone von Catalan eingedrungen ist, wesentlich größer ist als das, das man aus Oberflächen-Ausbissen entnehmen k6nnte. Die Isotopen-Zusammensetzung der Xenolithe sind⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr: 0.703537–0.703647,¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd: 0.512732–0.512766,²⁰⁶Pb/204 Pb: 18.097–19.106,²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb: 15.522–15.579, and²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb: 37.850–38.794. Dies läßt erkennen, daß es sich bier um zwei verschiedene Mantel-Quellen handelt. Eine davon könnte die Niedrig-Geschwindigkeitskomponente sein, die man in känozoiscben Magmatiten des östlichen Atlantischen Ozeans, sowie in Zentraleuropa und im westlichen Mittelmeer erkannt hat. Die andere Komponete unterscheidet sich von jenen, die in anderen Bereichen von känozoischem Vulkanismus in Europa und benachbarten Gebieten vorkommen. Sie könnte im lithosphärischen Mantel unterhalb von Nordost-Spanien liegen, der während der variszischen bis zur frühalpidischen Deformation metasomatisch beeinflußt wurde.

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With 10 Figures     

Discontinuous Nature of the Lower Part of the South American Wadati-Benioff Zone in The Arica Elbow Region

The Arica Elbow region represents that part of Andean South America where the azimuth of the strike of the Peru-Chile trench changes from 150° to 190°. The area under study is roughly bounded by latitudes 17 °S and 23 °S, The shape of the Wadati-Benioff zone was studied in terms of the distribution of ISC hypocentres dated between 1964 and 1993. A system of 22 vertical cross-sections, perpendicular to the trench axis, and a map of epicentres was used to derive the detailed shape of the Wadati-Benioff zone of the presently descending slab. The distribution of earthquake foci indicates a fingerlike shape of the lower part of the Wadati-Benioff zone beneath the aseismic gap. The slab length shows small changes around 350 km in the northern sections, pronounced length oscillations between 350 and 750 km in the neighbouring central sections and a constant value of 650 km in the southern sections. The dip and thickness of the Wadati-Benioff zone are practically constant in all sections. Fault plane solutions, separated spatially into three zones, were used to estimate the state of stress in the slab.     

Evolution of the seismic activity from the 1982 eruption of El Chichon Volcano, Chiapas, Mexico

 We analyzed more than 1700 earthquakes related to the 1982 eruption of El Chichon volcano in southern Mexico. The data were recorded at specific periods throughout the whole eruptive interval of March to April 1982, by three different networks. The seismic activity began several months before the first eruption on 28 March. During this period the seismicity consisted of hybrid and long-period shallow earthquakes most likely related to processes of faulting, fracturing, and fluid movement underneath the volcano. The foci of events occurring before the eruption circumscribe an aseismic zone from approximately 7 to 13 km below the volcano. After the eruption, the seismic activity consisted of tectonic-type earthquakes that peaked at 1200 events/h. This later activity occurred over a wide range of depths, mostly between 5 and 20 km, that includes the former aseismic zone and is roughly limited by the major tectonic faults in the area. Received: 19 May 1998 / Accepted: 13 June 1999     

Structural and kinematic analysis of the Corredoiras detachment: evidence for early Variscan synconvergent extension in the Ordenes Complex, NW Spain

 An important detachment is described in the allochthonous Ordenes Complex, in the NW Iberian Massif, and its meaning is related to the kinematics of contemporaneous convergent structures. The Corredoiras Detachment (CD) separates a hangingwall unit, characterised by a medium-pressure metamorphic gradient, from a footwall high-pressure and high-temperature unit and an underlying ophiolitic unit. An associated ductile shear zone, nearly 2000 m thick, developed in the lower part of the hangingwall unit, where the Corredoiras Orthogneiss, a Lower Ordovician metagranite, was progressively transformed into augengneisses, mylonitic and ultramylonitic gneisses. The attitude of the stretching and mineral lineation in the mylonites varies due to late refolding at map scale, but the sense of movement can be estimated, being roughly top to the SE. According to crosscutting relationships, the CD developed subsequent to the thrusting of the high-pressure/high-temperature unit onto the ophiolitic unit, and prior to younger extensional detachments, upright folding and strike-slip tectonics. The geometric relationships of the CD with the previous structures in the footwall unit, the subtractive character of the metamorphic gap between its hangingwall and footwall, and the available isotopic data suggest that the CD is an early Variscan, ductile extensional detachment, the movement of which was roughly simultaneous with the onset of thrusting of the allochthonous complexes over their relative autochthon. Received: 17 November 1998 / Accepted: 4 April 1999     

Hydraulic characteristics of the Maastrichtian sedimentary rocks of the southeastern Bida Basin, central Nigeria

A set of outcrop samples from the Lokoja and Patti Formations of the southern Bida Basin (Nigeria) was examined for grain size distribution, sedimentary and hydraulic characteristics. Most of the samples are well-sorted with an uniformity coefficient (U) ranging between 1.3 and 6.3. The mean effective grain diameter (d₁₀) is in the order of 0.11 mm, the mean value of d₉₀ was determined as 0.66 mm (both geometric mean) and the median grain size (d₅₀) as 0.23 mm. Based on these values, the sedimentary sequence can be described as ‘fine to medium sized sand’, having minor amounts of either silt, or coarse sand and some gravel. The total porosity of the samples was determined by laboratory methods to be in the range of 9–29%. The hydraulic conductivity (K) was determined according to Hazen.and Beyer, and by Shepherd's formula, the last resulting in a geometric mean of 3.3 m d⁻¹ or 3.3 darcy. The results are used to estimate local groundwater potential. The entire pore space (potential groundwater reservoir) for the area under study is estimated to be in the order of 290–430 km³. Because of higher hydraulic conductivities, it is recommended that the Lokoja Formation is concentrated on as a target for groundwater exploration.     

Post-Gondwana pedogenic ferromanganese deposits, ancient soil profiles, African land surfaces and palaeoclimatic change on the Highveld of South Africa

Several ferromanganese wad deposits are developed on the Archæan Malmani dolomite succession of the Transvaal Supergroup along the plateau forming the watershed between rivers draining to the Indian and Atlantic Oceans from the Highveld area between Johannesburg and Lichtenburg. The deposits were studied at the Wes Wits Gold Mine and the Ryedale, Houtkoppies and Klipkuil ferromanganese mines. The ferromanganese wad deposits are located in the Waterval saprolite, which formed by deep chemical weathering along the post-Gondwana African surface. The parent rocks for the wad are the Fe- and Mn-rich dolomites of the Malmani Subgroup of the Transvaal Supergroup at Wes Wits Mine and at Klipkuil, and Fe- and Mn-rich blackband Fe ores of the Ecca Group of the Karoo Supergroup at Ryedale and Houtkoppies. This saprolite is unconformably overlain by a ferruginous alluvial succession, informally defined as the Weswits formation. Diamondiferous gravel bars occur in the lower part of the fluvial succession. The unconformity at the base of the succession with incised valleys is thought to correspond to the post-African I event of uplift and erosion. Manganiferous soil nodules, derived from a lateritic weathering profile that originally covered the Waterval saprolite, are concentrated in the lower part of the Weswits formation. Climatic conditions became drier during the deposition of the Weswits formation, and plants with deep taproots vegetated the surface of the alluvium, giving rise to the formation of a ferric poclzol. Further aridification took place and eventually the plants with deep taproots died and a pediment developed along which a stone lag was concentrated. This pediment is thought to represent the post-African II surface of erosion. The pediment is overlain by the Hutton soil, representing Kalahari sand and dust that have been reworked by fluvial and peclogenic processes. Massive ferruginous soil nodules grew in situ in the Hutton soil, indicating more pluvial climatic conditions at times, most probably corresponding to the Quaternary ice age events in the Northern Hemisphere. A thin, modern orthic soil developed on top of the Hutton soil in the present day mild, subhumid climatic conditions.