Crystallization trends of pyroxenes from alkaline subvolcanites of Punta delle Pietre Nere (Gargano,Southern Italy)

Summary The results of microprobe analyses of clinopyroxenes from alkaline melasyenites and layered melagabbros, produced by intra-plate magmatism of Paleocene age at Punta delle Pietre Nere, are here given and discussed.The analysed pyroxenes range from diopsidic to acmite-rich compositions.The first crystallized pyroxenes (diopside) show Al^VI contents suggesting shallow depths of crystallization. In addition pyroxenes from melasyenite and those from melagabbro display different Cr contents, Al/Ti and Mg/(Mg+Fe²⁺+Fe³⁺) ratios confirming their crystallization from melts produced by different parental liquids.Diopsides and salites show an overall trend towards high Al, Ti and Fe³⁺, suggesting that the crystallization occurred under decreasing SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratios and under relatively highpH₂O–pO₂ conditions.Pyroxenes from the Pietre Nere melasyenite show a progressive variation towards acmite rich compositions at Mg/(Mg+Fe²⁺+Fe³⁺) lower than 0.5; those from the layered melagabbro, instead, show a continuous enrichment in Ca Fe³⁺ AlSiO₆. This different behaviour is due to the co-crystallization, with the latest pyroxenes, of phases with different K/Na and Si/Al ratios.

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Kristallisations-Tendenzen der Pyroxene aus Alkali-Subvulkaniten auf Punta delle Pietre Nere (Gargano, Süditalien)

Zusammenfassung Es werden die Ergebnisse der Mikrosonden-Untersuchungen von Klinopyroxenen aus Alkali-Melasyeniten und schichtigen Alkali-Melagabbros, die durch Intra-plate-Magmatismus paläozenen Alters auf Punta delle Pietre Nere entstanden sind, beschrieben und erörtert.Die untersuchten Pyroxene reichen von diopsidischen bis zu Akmit-reichen Zusammensetzungen.Die zuerst kristallisierten Pyroxene (Diopsid) zeigen Al^VI-Gehalte, die auf geringe Tiefe des Kristallisationsvorganges hinweisen. Dazu zeigen die Pyroxene aus dem Melasyenit und aus dem Melagabbro unterschiedliche Cr-Gehalte; die Al/Ti- und Mg/(Mg+Fe²⁺+Fe³⁺)-Verhältnisse bestätigen deren Kristallisation aus Schmelzen, die aus unterschiedlichen Ursprungsmagmen stammen.Die Diopside und Salite zeigen eine einheitliche Tendenz zu hohem Al-, Ti- und Fe³⁺-Gehalt; dies deutet darauf hin, daß die Kristallisation unter abnehmenden SiO₂/Al₂O₃-Verhältnissen und unter relativ hohenpH₂O–pO₂-Bedingungen stattfand.Die Pyroxene aus dem Punta delle Pietre Nere-Melasyenit zeigen eine zunehmende Änderung zu Akmit-reichen Zusammensetzungen bei weniger als 0,5 Mg/(Mg+Fe²⁺+Fe³⁺); die Pyroxene aus dem schichtig differenzierten Melagabbro zeigen dagegen eine allmähliche Zunahme von CaFe³⁺AlSiO₆. Dieses unterschiedliche Verhalten rührt daher, daß Mineralphasen mit unterschiedlichen K/Na- und Si/Al-Verhältnissen zugleich mit den zuletzt gebildeten Pyroxenen kristallisierten.

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With 6 Figures     

Tropical systematic and random error energetics based on NCEP (MRF) analysis-forecast system — A barotropic approach

Systematic and random error and their growth rate and different components of growth rate budget in energy/variance form are investigated at wavenumber domain for medium range tropical (30‡S-30‡N) weather forecast using daily horizontal wind field of 850 hPa up to 5-day forecast for the month of June, 2000 of NCEP (MRF) model. Part I of this paper deals with the study at physical domain. The following are the major findings in this paper:

3-D Modelling of Campi Flegrei Ground Deformations: Role of Caldera Boundary Discontinuities

Campi Flegrei is a caldera complex located west of Naples, Italy. The last eruption occurred in 1538, although the volcano has produced unrest episodes since then, involving rapid and large ground movements (up to 2 m vertical in two years), accompanied by intense seismic activity. Surface ground displacements detected by various techniques (mainly InSAR and levelling) for the 1970 to 1996 period can be modelled by a shallow point source in an elastic half-space, however the source depth is not compatible with seismic and drill hole observations, which suggest a magma chamber just below 4 km depth. This apparent paradox has been explained by the presence of boundary fractures marking the caldera collapse. We present here the first full 3-D modelling for the unrest of 1982–1985 including the effect of caldera bordering fractures and the topography. To model the presence of topography and of the complex caldera rim discontinuities, we used a mixed boundary elements method. The a priori caldera geometry is determined initially from gravimetric modelling results and refined by inversion. The presence of the caldera discontinuities allows a fit to the 1982–1985 levelling data as good as, or better than, in the continuous half-space case, with quite a different source depth which fits the actual magma chamber position as seen from seismic waves. These results show the importance of volcanic structures, and mainly of caldera collapses, in ground deformation episodes.     

Application of a Bayesian approach to stochastic delineation of capture zones

This paper presents a Bayesian Monte Carlo method for evaluating the uncertainty in the delineation of well capture zones and its application to a wellfield in a heterogeneous, multiaquifer system. In the method presented, Bayes' rule is used to update prior distributions for the unknown parameters of the stochastic model for the hydraulic conductivity, and to calculate probability-based weights for parameter realizations using head residuals. These weights are then assigned to the corresponding capture zones obtained using forward particle tracking. Statistical analysis of the set of weighted protection zones results in a probability distribution for the capture zones. The suitability of the Bayesian stochastic method for a multilayered system is investigated, using the wellfield Het Rot at Nieuwrode, Belgium, located in a three-layered aquifer system, as an example. The hydraulic conductivity of the production aquifer is modeled as a spatially correlated random function with uncertain parameters. The aquitard and overlying unconfined aquifer are assigned random, homogeneous conductivities. The stochastic results are compared with deterministic capture zones obtained with a calibrated model for the area. The predictions of the stochastic approach are more conservative and indicate that parameter uncertainty should be taken into account in the delineation of well capture zones.     

Procida volcanic history: new insights into the evolution of the Phlegraean Volcanic District (Campania region,Italy)

New stratigraphic, major- and trace-element, and Sr-, Nd- and Pb- isotopic data on volcanic deposits older than 14 ka from the island of Procida, Italy, are presented and compared with published analyses from the rest of the Phlegraean Volcanic District (PVD). Procida rocks range in composition from basalt to shoshonite and trachyte and show ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios varying within the ranges 0.70523–0.70678, 0.512539–0.512630, 18.99–19.29, 15.67–15.69 and 39.10–39.39, respectively. The presence of a compositional gap in the range SiO₂=54–59 wt % is evidence of magma bimodality, and suggests that the feeding magmatic system was formed by at least two different reservoirs located at different depths. Geochemical and isotopic variations with increasing differentiation can be explained by fractional crystallization mechanisms, that in some cases were associated with crustal contamination that occurred in both deeper and shallower reservoirs; the most evolved magmas formed in the shallower one. Mixing/mingling processes also occurred. The variation of isotopic composition through time observed both for Procida and for Campi Flegrei and Ischia rocks is evidence of strong affinity between magmas that erupted on the entire PVD until about 40 ka. This indicates that they share a common origin and a common plumbing system. Most of the PVD eruptive centers active until about 40 ka lie within a NE-SW-oriented volcano-tectonic belt extending from the southeastern part of Ischia, through Procida and Torregaveta volcano to the northeastern sector of the present Campi Flegrei caldera. This not only indicates the existence of a link between regional structures and volcanism in the area, but also suggests that PVD magma genesis and evolution were strongly regulated by extensional tectonics. In the last 40 ka the mafic rocks erupted along this extensional structure – from Torregaveta and the islands of Ischia and Procida – indicate that it still represents an important crustal discontinuity that focuses mantle-derived magmas. Procida trachybasalts are enriched in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) and light and middle rare earth elements (LREE and MREE), and show slight negative anomalies in the high field strength elements (HFSE) relative to average MORB. A slight depletion in HREE is present. Trace element and isotope systematics can be referred to a lithospheric mantle source. The lithospheric mantle source carries intra-plate and slab-derived components, the latter probably inherited from a previous subduction event.     

Pre-eruptive geochemistry of the ignimbrite-forming magmas of the Campanian Volcanic Zone, Southern Italy, determined from silicate melt inclusions

Summary ¶The Campanian Ignimbrite rock samples include two compositionally distinct populations of clinopyroxene phenocrysts, and the entrapped MI (melt inclusions) are also different in composition. The cores of the more MgO-enriched phenocrysts carry basaltic trachyandesite MI that contain >6wt.% MgO, whereas other phenocrysts contain MI with <4wt.% MgO. The MgO-enriched MI also contain comparatively greater abundances of F, CaO, TiO₂, P₂O₅, SO₂, and Sr and show marginally higher ratios of (CaO/Al₂O₃) than the low-MgO MI. Most of the high-MgO MI also contain comparatively more H₂O. The MgO-enriched MI are restricted to diopsidic clinopyroxenes and show minimal compositional variability, demonstrating that they were derived from a common magmatic source or sources. We interpret these MI to represent primary, mafic magma. In contrast, the more evolved, low-MgO melt inclusions, which are restricted to salitic clinopyroxenes, span the compositional range of trachyandesite to trachyte. The low-MgO fractions of Campanian Ignimbrite magma evolved via fractional crystallization with or without mingling or mixing with more primitive, high-MgO magma.Interestingly, the MI from the Giugliano sample also cluster into low-MgO and high-MgO fractions, and the evolutionary trends for major, minor, and trace elements mirror those exhibited by the Campanian Ignimbrite MI, suggesting that both magmas were derived from similar or the same source(s) and that the processes of magma evolution were equivalent for both magmas.The MI also indicate that the Campanian Ignimbrite and Giugliano magmas did not form by evolution of Taurano magma, because the geochemical trends expressing melt evolution of the former and latter magmas are too dissimilar. Most Taurano MI show higher (CaO/Al₂O₃) and contain less SiO₂, (Na₂O+K₂O), Cl, Li, Rb, Cs, Sr, Nb, Th, and U than the high-MgO and low-MgO Campanian Ignimbrite and Giugliano MI, indicating that the Taurano MI represent magmas which were much more primitive.Received July 15, 2002; revised version accepted March 27, 2003     

Upward-thickening patterns and lateral continuity of Permian sand-rich turbidite channel fills, Laingsburg Karoo, South Africa

Abstract Analysis of extensive exposures of the Permian Laingsburg Formation, Karoo basin, South Africa, have enabled a detailed reconstruction of the base of slope stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments in a deep-water system characterized by a very narrow grain-size range (fine sandstone). The deposits include an ≈ 4 km wide and 80 m thick channel complex, fringed by sandy sheet deposits that extend laterally for at least 6 km across depositional strike. Within the channel complex, individual channel fills are marked by shallow basal erosion surfaces draped by thin, parallel-stratified beds of very fine sandstone and siltstone, interpreted as flow tails to largely bypassing flows. These thin beds are overlain by 0·4 to 5 m thick beds of structureless, fine-grained sandstone that represent the majority of the channel fills. The basal packages may be partially to completely removed by localized scour in the axial zone of the channel complex but can be mapped laterally into overbank areas where they thicken and are dominated by rippled fine sandstones with intercalated siltstones. Axial confinement resulted from subtle topography on the basin floor, whereby the lower, dense parts of the initially erosive and bypassing flows were partially confined in the lows and the more dilute, slower moving upper parts of the flows deposited sheet-like successions across slightly elevated overbank areas. The narrow grain-size distribution prohibited the formation ofcoarse-grained residual bypass deposits during the initial phases of channel formation. With decreasing magnitude, later flows became more depositional, filling remaining axial depressions with thick-bedded structureless sandstone. The smaller volumes of late-stage sediment were more axially focused, producing local scour-and-fill features and starvation of the overbank areas. Resulting grain-size vertical profiles are complex. The basal flow tail packages and overlying massive deposits form a thickening and slightly coarsening-upward trend in the channel fills. The overbank deposits show a thinning- and fining-upward profile as a result of less bypass plus late-stage starvation of sand. Application of traditional deep-water facies models could therefore potentially lead to erroneous interpretations of the channel complex as a prograding lobe and the overbank sheets as channel-fills.     

Evaluation of ferrous and ferric Mössbauer fractions. Part II

Mössbauer fractions f are reported for various ferrous- and/or ferric-containing oxides, hydroxides, silicates, and phosphates to extend the list previously reported by De Grave and Van Alboom (1991). The f fractions were evaluated from the experimental temperature dependencies of their center shifts, assuming the Debye model for the lattice vibrations. For most Fe²⁺ sites the characteristic Mössbauer or lattice temperatures Θ_M are in the range 300–400 K, while those for Fe³⁺ sites are close to or exceed 500 K, implying significantly higher f fractions for Fe³⁺ than for Fe²⁺, in particular at room temperature. A correlation between Θ_M and the coordination type, or, for a given valence state and coordination type, between Θ_M and the mineral type is, however, not obvious.     

Present Observational Status of High Mass Pulsating Stars

In this short review we present the current observationalstatus of high mass pulsating stars.We give an overview of the results of the first asteroseismicstudies performed for some of the best known Cepheiand slowly pulsating B stars and discuss the asteroseismicpotential of these pulsators for future ground-and space-based data-sets.