The latest vertebrates are the earliest

The teeth, or elements, ofconodonts are among the most important Palaeozoic microfossils. Despite this, the biological relationships of conodonts have long remained enigmatic. Recent evidence of their soft anatomy, and of the ultrastructure of the elements, has finally revealed that they are vertebrates. These discoveries push vertebrate origins firmly back into the Cambrian and add a large cohort of specialists to the ranks of the vertebrate palaeontologists.     

Volcanic and Scientific Activity at Kick ’em Jenny Submarine Volcano 2001–2002: Implications for Volcanic Hazard in the Southern Grenadines,Lesser Antilles

Kick em Jenny submarine volcano, ~8 km north of Grenada, has erupted at least 12 times since it was first discovered in 1939, making it the most frequently active volcano in the Lesser Antilles arc. The volcano lies in shallow water close to significant population centres and directly beneath a major shipping route, and as a consequence an understanding of the eruptive behaviour and potential hazards at the volcano is critical. The most recent eruption at Kick em Jenny occurred on December 4 2001, and differed significantly from past eruptions in that it was preceded by an intensive volcanic earthquake swarm. In March 2002 a multi-beam bathymetric survey of the volcano and its surroundings was carried out by the NOAA ship Ronald H Brown. This survey provided detailed three-dimensional images of the volcano, revealing the detailed morphology of the summit area. The volcano is capped by a summit crater which is breached to the northeast and which varies in diameter from 300 to 370 m. The depth to the summit (highest point on the crater rim) is 185 m and the depth to the lowest point inside the crater is 264 m. No dome is present within the crater. The crater and summit region of Kick em Jenny are located at the top of an asymmetrical cone which is about 1300 m from top to bottom on its western side. It lies within what appear to be the remnants of a much larger arcuate collapse structure. An evaluation of the morphology, bathymetry and eruptive history of the volcano indicates that the threat of eruption-generated tsunamis is considerably lower than previously thought, mainly because the volcano is no longer thought to be growing towards the surface. Of more major and immediate concern are the direct hazards associated with the volcano, such as ballistic ejecta, water disturbances and lowered water density due to degassing.     

Preparing Geographers for Interdisciplinary Research: Graduate Training at the Interface of the Natural and Social Sciences

Recent debates about the state of geography raise valuable questions about how the discipline can and should change in response to shifting institutional realities. Focusing on the breadth and interdisciplinarity of geography, these discussions often overlook the role of pedagogy—particularly graduate training—in adapting the discipline to new institutional landscapes. Drawing on experiences as current and recent geography doctoral students, we identify institutional seedlings of opportunity that can be cultivated toward a spectrum of alternative doctoral training models. These alternatives offer significant opportunities to better prepare early-career geographers for success and to solidify geography's position as a leader in interdisciplinary research.     

Pyroxene-Olivine-Quartz Assemblages in Rocks Associated with the Nain Anorthosite Massif, Labrador

Unusually iron-rich pyroxene and olivine occur in rocks associatedwith the Nain anorthosite massif, Labrador. Adamellite and granodioritecontain orthopyroxene (inverted from pigeonite) as iron-richas Ca₆Fe₈₂Mg₁₂; comparison with experimental data suggests aminimum pressure of crystallization of 5 kb. Some of these iron-richpyroxene crystals have broken down, apparently upon decreasingpressure, to yield intergrowths of less iron-rich orthopyroxene(near Ca₇Fe₇₂Mg₂₁), ferroaugite, fayalite (near Fo₉), and quartz.Other rocks, monzonites, contain pyroxenes with calcium-poorcores and ferroaugite rims, as well as crystals composed ofbroad lamellae of ferroaugite and orthopyroxene in sub-equalproportions. Analysis of one such crystal with unusually thinand closely spaced lamellae yielded a bulk composition of Ca₂₄Fe₅₈Mg₁₈.Such pyroxenes probably crystallized near or above the crestof the augite-pigeonite two-phase region, probably above 925°C. This high temperature suggests that the monzonites crystallizedfrom relatively dry magmas. If they represent a residual fractionderived from the same magma as the anorthosite, then that magmamust have been nearly anhydrous. Pigeonite rather than orthopyroxene was the primary magmaticCa-poor pyroxene in most of the Nain rocks studied here. Nucleationrates apparently were low under subsolidus conditions, and low-Capigeonite (Ca₂Fe₇₈Mg₂₀) is present in grains where orthopyroxenedid not nucleate as pigeonite cooled and exsolved ferroaugite.Iron-rich orthopyroxene (Ca₂Fe₇₉M₁₉) crystallized instead ofpigeonite in a Greenland quartz syenite that contains more abundanthydrous phases.     

Degradation and Metamorphic Differentiation of the Keweenawan Tholeiitic Lavas of Northern Michigan, U.S.A.

The Portage Lake Lava Series of the Keweenaw Peninsula, northernMichigan, is composed of over 5000 m of tholeiitic lava flows.Chemical and petrologic study of thin undifferentiated flowsfrom this sequence shows that the bulk of the flows are olivinetholeiites; highly ironenriched tholeiites comprise up to 10per cent of the volume. In addition, a few small rhyolitic intrusives,exceedingly rich in alkalis, are exposed in the region. Duringburial the amygdular tops of each flow acted as channelwaysfor migrating fluids during a regional metamorphic event thatproduced a progressive sequence of secondary phases within theflow tops. In the upper part of the stratigraphic section, laumontite,analcime, albite, and chlorite dominate assemblages characteristicof the zeolite facies. Stratigraphically deeper. flow tops arecharacterized by metamorphic assemblages of the prehnite-pumpellyitefacies. Within the higher rank facies, rocks along fractureshave been transformed to calcium-rich monomineralic domains(metadomains) of epidote or pumpellyite. These metadomains gradeoutward through incompletely reconstituted rocks containingalbitized feldspars, and finally, in flow centers, to basaltdisplaying few signs of mineralogical readjustment. Extremechemical disparity exists within the altered flow tops, particularlywith respect to calcium and sodium content. Calculations revealthat bulk compositions of metamorphically adjusted flow topsare similar to unaltered basalts. Thus, the chemical variationdisplayed by the metamorphic rock types resulted from localizedmetamorphic differentiation. The Keweenawan sequence displays progressive dehydration fromthe top to the base of the stratigraphic section. At the topchlorite (H₂O = 12 per cent) and pumpellyite (H₂O = 6 per cent)metadomains formed by dehydration. The fact that most of theserocks were hydrated strongly suggests that fluid pressures wereless than total pressures during the metamorphic event. In rocksundergoing hydration in the uper part of the stratigraphic section,therefore, water pressures decreased away from channelways.As a result, the most hydrous rock types formed in these regions.Conversely, in rock undergoing dehydration water pressures increasedaway from channelwasys, so that the most dehydrated rocks formedin such regions. Water content of an individual rock is dependenton both position in the stratigraphic pile and position withrespect to fluid channelways.     

Compositional Zoning in Pyroxenes from Lunar Rock 12021, Oceanus Procellarum

Electron probe study of the pyroxene phenocrysts in rock 12021of the Apollo 12 sample reveals an extraordinary variety ofzoning phenomena. These phenocrysts have cores of relativelyhomogeneous pigeonite which are mantled by Ca-rich pyroxenes;the mantles are zoned outward from about 20 mol per cent FeSiO₃at the core-mantle boundaries to 70 mol per cent FeSiO₃ at themargins of the phenocrysts. The character of the normal zoningdiffers in each growth sector. Four different trends characterizinggrowth on (110), (100), (010), and parallel to c are described.Pronounced but erratic oscillatory effects are impressed onthe normal zoning in all sectors. Normal zoning in lunar pyroxenes is generally more extensivethan in terrestrial pyroxenes, probably because the lunar lavaswere an order of magnitude more fluid than terrestrial basalts.Turbulent flow in lunar lavas may have caused some of the oscillatoryeffects. The cyclic nature of augite and pigeonite crystallizationin these pyroxenes is probably kinetic in origin; conceivablyit could reflect the presence of an augite-pigeonite peritectic.It is likely that further knowledge of the crystal structureof pigeonite at high temperatures will be required before astructural model can be formulated that will satisfactorilyexplain the details of the sector zoning. Coarse-grained pyroxferroite and subcalcic ferroaugite havecrystallized in apparent ‘equilibrium’ in the finalstages of formation of the groundmass in rock 12021. Nevertheless,the crystallization of the pyroxferroite was probably metastablerelative to the assemblage ferroaugite+ fayalite+ tridymite.Data on the effect of Mg substitution on the stability of pyroxferroitewill be needed to establish this point. We suggest that the pigeonite cores of the phenocrysts in rock12021 crystallized under quiescent conditions, probably in amagma chamber below the lunar surface, and that the stronglyzoned augite mantles crystallized during emplacement of thelava on the surface.     

Analysis of fracture induced scattering of microseismic shear-waves

Fractures are pervasive features within the Earth’s crust and have a significant influence on the multi-physical response of the subsurface. The presence of coherent fracture sets often leads to observable seismic scattering enabling seismic techniques to remotely locate and characterise fracture systems. In this study, we confirm the general scale-dependence of seismic scattering and provide new results specific to shear-wave propagation. We do this by generating full waveform synthetics using finite-difference wave simulation within an isotropic background model containing explicit fractures. By considering a suite of fracture models having variable fracture density and fracture size, we examine the widening effect of wavelets due to scattering within a fractured medium by using several different approaches, such as root-mean-square envelope analysis, shear-wave polarisation distortion, differential attenuation analysis and peak frequency shifting. The analysis allows us to assess the scattering behavior of parametrised models in which the propagation direction is either normal or parallel to the fracture surfaces. The quantitative measures show strong observable deviations for fractures size on the order of or greater than the dominant seismic wavelength within the Mie and geometric scattering regime for both propagation normal and parallel to fracture strike. The results suggest that strong scattering is symptomatic of fractures having size on the same order of the probing seismic wave.