Volcanoes in the pre-Columbian life,legend, and archaeology of Costa Rica (Central America)

Costa Rica is located geographically in the southern part of the Central American Volcanic Front, a zone where interaction between the Mesoamerican and South American cultures occurred in pre-Columbian times. Several volcanoes violently erupted during the Holocene, when the first nomadic human hunters and later settlers were present. Volcanic rocks were the most important geo-resource in making artifacts and as construction materials for pre-Columbian inhabitants. Some pottery products are believed to resemble smoking volcanoes, and the settlements around volcanoes would seem to indicate their influence on daily life. Undoubtedly, volcanic eruptions disrupted the life of early settlers, particularly in the vicinity of Arenal and Irazú volcanoes, where archaeological remains show transient effects and displacement caused by periodical eruptions, but later resilient occupations around the volcanoes. Most native languages are extinct, with the exception of those presently spoken in areas far away from active volcanoes, where no words are related to volcanic phenomena or structures. The preserved legends are ambiguous, suggesting that they were either produced during the early Spanish conquest or were altered following the pre-Columbian period.     

Geology and geochemistry of Iberian roofing slates

This article analyzes the geochemical and mineralogical composition of the roofing slate deposits of the Iberian Peninsula. Most roofing slate deposits are found on Middle and Upper Ordovician terrains, although there are also deposits in the Ediacaran, Cambrian and Devonian terrains. Samples of slate were taken in most of the active quarries of the Iberian Peninsula, and being analyzed by X-ray Diffraction and Fluorescence. Each lithotect or slate productive formation has its own specific proportions of major and trace elements, being able to differentiate between them by using these relationships. This fact is particularly interesting in geological exploration and prospecting, as it allows knowing exactly the slate lithotect, and also for restoration work in the architectural heritage, due to the ability of identifying the source of the original slate tiles.     

Remote leveling of tide gauges using GNSS reflectometry: case study at Spring Bay,Australia

We further developed a new approach using GNSS reflectometry to determine the leveling connection between a tide gauge and a GNSS antenna. This approach includes the optimization of the unknown receiver bandwidth and the estimation of frequency changes in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) oscillation through an extended Kalman filter/smoother algorithm. We also corrected the geometric bending of the GNSS signals due to tropospheric refraction using local meteorological observations. Using 3 weeks of SNR data in Spring Bay, Australia, from a GNSS antenna placed sideways (i.e., ground plane orientated vertically and directed in azimuth toward the sea surface) to improve the SNR interference near the horizon, we obtained mean leveling differences of approximately 5 mm, with an RMS of approximately 3 cm level with respect to the nominal leveling from classical surveying techniques. SNR data from three different receiver manufacturers, coupled to the same antenna, provided similar leveling results. With a second antenna in the usual upright configuration, we obtained mean leveling differences of 1–2 cm and a RMS of about 10 cm. In the upright configuration, the leveling differences may include errors in the GNSS antenna phase center calibration, which are avoided in our technique but not in the classical surveying techniques. These results demonstrate the usefulness of the reflectometry technique to obtain precisely and remotely the leveling between a GNSS antenna and a tide gauge. In addition, this technique can be applied continuously, providing an independent and economical means to monitor the stability of the tide gauge zero.     

Binding of thorium(IV) to carboxylate, phosphate and sulfate functional groups from marine exopolymeric substances (EPS)

Th(IV) isotopes are important proxies in oceanographic investigations, and are used as tracers of particle dynamics and particulate organic matter (POC) fluxes out of the euphotic zone through the use of ²³⁴Th/POC ratios. These approaches rely on empirically determined and variable POC to ²³⁴Th ratios, which might be controlled, in parts, by the abundance of exopolymeric substances (EPS). EPS contain acidic polysaccharides (APS) and are excreted by both phytoplankton and bacteria. To this end, radiotracer experiments with EPS from microbial cultures were conducted to determine the binding environment of ²³⁴Th(IV)-binding ligands in colloids and suspended particles in marine systems. In these experiments, the ²³⁴Th distribution during isoelectric focusing (IEF) and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was related to the functional group composition of EPS and of colloidal organic matter (COM) isolated from the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) using cross-flow ultrafiltration. EPS was extracted from phytoplankton (Emiliania huxleyi and Synechococcus elongatus) and bacteria (Sagittula stellata and Roseobacter gallaeciensis) cultures by repeated alcohol precipitation. Phosphate and sulfate concentrations were determined using ion chromatography (IC). IEF profiles indicated that 49% to 65% of the ²³⁴Th-labeled EPS from plankton and bacteria as well as COM samples from the GOM was found concentrated below pH of 4, near an isoelectric point, pH_IEP, of about 2. The carboxylic acid maxima for extracted EPS and COM samples appeared close to the pH_IEF of ²³⁴Th(IV). The phosphate maximum appeared at the same pH_IEF as ²³⁴Th(IV) for EPS from R. gallaeciensis and S. elongatus. The sulfate maximum was found at the same pH_IEF as ²³⁴Th(IV) for EPS from S. elongatus and COM. The molecular weight (MW) of the strongly Th(IV)-binding ligand varied from 1 to 14 kDa, depending on the species, but was about 10 kDa in COM. Thus, depending on the species of plankton or bacteria, the MW and specific functional group composition of the strongly ²³⁴Th(IV)-binding amphiphilic biomolecule can vary. Therefore, different acidic functional groups can, at times, contribute to the binding of Th(IV) to the EPS chelating ligand, which can also have different MWs. This implies that the binding environment for Th(IV), which is present at total concentrations at least a million times lower than the acid functional groups, consists of strong polydentate chelate complexes in clustered structures of carboxylate, sulfates and/or phosphates. The combination of strongly chelating groups and amphiphilicity gives this biomolecule the unique properties of a “sticky” ligand.     

A new calibration to determine the closure temperatures of Fe‐Mg ordering in augite from nakhlites

Recently it has been shown that the relatively low closure temperature (T_c) of 500 (100)°C calculated for augite from Miller Range nakhlite (MIL 03346,13) using the available geothermometers would correspond to a slow cooling rate inconsistent with the petrologic evidence for an origin from a fast‐cooled lava flow. Moreover, previous annealing experiments combined with HR‐SC‐XRD on an augite crystal from MIL 03346 clearly showed that at 600 °C, the Fe²⁺‐Mg degree of order remained unchanged, thus suggesting that the actual T_c is close to this temperature. In order to clarify this discrepancy, we undertook an ex situ annealing experimental study at 700, 800, and 900 °C, until the equilibrium in the intracrystalline Fe²⁺‐Mg exchange is reached, using an augite crystal from Miller Range nakhlite (MIL 03346,13) with a composition of about En₃₆Fs₂₄Wo₄₀. These data allowed us to calculate the following new geothermometer calibration for Martian nakhlites: where The application of this new equation to other Martian nakhlites (NWA 988 and Nakhla) suggests that for augite with composition close to that of MIL 03346, the T_c is up to 170 °C higher with respect to the one calculated using the previous available geothermometer equation, thus suggesting a significantly faster cooling in agreement with petrologic evidence.     

Polar night vortex breakdown and large-scale stirring in the southern stratosphere

The present paper examines the vortex breakdown and large-scale stirring during the final warming of the Southern Hemisphere stratosphere during the spring of 2005. A unique set of in situ observations collected by 27 superpressure balloons (SPBs) is used. The balloons, which were launched from McMurdo, Antarctica, by the Stratéole/VORCORE project, drifted for several weeks on two different isopycnic levels in the lower stratosphere. We describe balloon trajectories and compare them with simulations obtained on the basis of the velocity field from the GEOS-5 and NCEP/NCAR reanalyses performed with and without VORCORE data. To gain insight on the mechanisms responsible for the horizontal transport of air inside and outside the well-isolated vortex we examine the balloon trajectories in the framework of the Lagrangian properties of the stratospheric flow. Coherent structures of the flow are visualized by computing finite-time Lyapunov exponents (FTLE). A combination of isentropic analysis and FTLE distributions reveals that air is stripped away from the vortex’s interior as stable manifolds eventually cross the vortex’s edge. It is shown that two SPBs escaped from the vortex within high potential vorticity tongues that developed in association with wave breaking at locations along the vortex’s edge where forward and backward FTLE maxima approximately intersect. The trajectories of three SPBs flying as a group at the same isopycnic level are examined and their behavior is interpreted in reference to the FTLE field. These results support the concept of stable and unstable manifolds governing transport of air masses across the periphery of the stratospheric polar vortex.     

Application of rock mass classifications: a case study from Ituango hydroelectric diversion tunnel,Colombia

ABSTRACT

The local site experience is a valuable component for the success of rock mass classification systems as tunnel design methods. The Ituango hydroelectric project is a very important source of information in order to evaluate the usefulness of the main rock mass classification systems. The objective of this research is to improve understanding of some important features of excavated rock mass, such as discontinuities, block size, shear strength and joint alteration, by analyzing some hundreds of data obtained during excavation cycle.

The field study included a survey of exposures after drilling and blasting rounds. Rock mass classification and support measures for each type of terrain along 1400 m tunnel were performed. The rock mass classes could be better explained if shear strength, alteration or block size is calculated. The assessment of these data allows evaluating the block fall risk, improving support and liner. A local correlation between the RMR and Q system was also obtained.     

The 322 ka Tiribí Tuff: stratigraphy, geochronology and mechanisms of deposition of the largest and most recent ignimbrite in the Valle Central, Costa Rica

The Tiribí Tuff covered much of the Valle Central of Costa Rica, currently the most densely populated area in the country (∼2.4 million inhabitants). Underlying the tuff, there is a related well-sorted pumice deposit, the Tibás Pumice Layer. Based on macroscopic characteristics of the rocks, we distinguish two main facies in the Tiribí Tuff in correlation to the differences in welding, devitrification, grain size, and abundance of pumice and lithic fragments. The Valle Central facies consists of an ignimbritic plateau of non-welded to welded deposits within the Valle Central basin and the Orotina facies is a gray to light-bluish gray, densely to partially welded rock, with yellowish and black pumice fragments cropping out mainly at the Grande de Tárcoles River Gorge and Orotina plain. This high-aspect ratio ignimbrite (1:920 or 1.1×10⁻³) covered an area of at least 820 km² with a long runout of 80 km and a minimum volume outflow of 25 km³ (15 km³ DRE). Geochemically, the tuff shows a wide range of compositions from basaltic-andesites to rhyolites, but trachyandesites are predominant. Replicate new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations indicate that widespread exposures of this tuff represent a single ignimbrite that was erupted 322±2 ka. The inferred source is the Barva Caldera, as interpreted from isopach and isopleth maps, contours of the ignimbrite top and geochemical correlation (∼10 km in diameter). The Tiribí Tuff caldera-forming eruption is interpreted as having evolved from a plinian eruption, during which the widespread basal pumice fall was deposited, followed by fountaining pyroclastic flows. In the SW part of the Valle Central, the ignimbrite flowed into a narrow canyon, which might have acted as a pseudo-barrier, reflecting the flow back towards the source and thus thickening the deposits that were filling the Valle Central depression. The variable welding patterns are interpreted to be a result of the lithostatic load and the influence of the content and size of lithic fragments.     

The April 9, 2001 Juan Fernández Ridge (M w 6.7) Tensional Outer-Rise Earthquake and its Aftershock Sequence

On April 9, 2001 a M _w 6.7 earthquake occurred offshore of the Chilean coast close to the intersection of the subducting Juan Fernández Ridge (JFR) and the trench near 33°S. The mainshock as well as an unprecedented number of aftershocks were recorded on regional broad-band and short-period seismic networks. We obtained a regional moment tensor solution of the mainshock that indcates a tensional focal mechanism consistent with the Harvard CMT solution. Based on waveform modeling and relocation, the depth of the mainshock was found to be 10–12 km. We relocated 142 aftershocks, which are strongly clustered and restricted to 10–30 km in depth. The seismicity distribution indicates a conjugate normal fault system extending into the lithospheric mantle that correlates with ridge-parallel fractures observed by previous seismic and bathymetric surveys. In conjunction with the historic regional distribution of outer-rise and large interplate seismicity, our results indicate that, with the exception of anomalously large thrust events, preexisting fractures associated with large bathymetric features like ridges have to exist to allow the generation of outer-rise seismicity along the Chilean margin. Hence, flexural bending and time-dependent interplate earthquakes can locally affect the nucleation of outer-rise events. The occurrence of the outer-rise seismicity in the oceanic mantle suggests the existence of lithospheric scale faults which might act as conduits to hydrate the subducting slab.Robert Fromm-Rhim passed away July 31st, 2004.