Nature of the crust in Maine,USA: evidence from the Sebago batholith

 Neodymium and lead isotope and elemental data are presented for the Sebago batholith (293±2 Ma), the largest exposed granite in New England. The batholith is lithologically homogeneous, yet internally heterogeneous with respect to rare earth elements (REE) and Nd isotopic composition. Two-mica granites in the southern/central portion of the batholith (group 1) are characterized by REE patterns with uniform shapes [Ce_N/Yb_N (chondrite normalized) = 9.4–19 and Eu/Eu* (Eu anomaly) = 0.27–0.42] and ɛ _Nd(t) = −3.1 to −2.1. Peripheral two-mica granites (group 2), spatially associated with stromatic and schlieric migmatites, have a wider range of total REE contents and patterns with variable shapes (Ce_N/Yb_N = 6.1–67, Eu/Eu* = 0.20–0.46) and ɛ _Nd(t) = −5.6 to −2.8. The heterogeneous REE character of the group 2 granites records the effects of magmatic differentiation that involved monazite. Coarse-grained leucogranites and aplites have kinked REE patterns and low total REE, but have Nd isotope systematics similar to group 2 granites with ɛ _Nd(t) = −5.5 to −4.7. Rare biotite granites have steep REE patterns (Ce_N/Yb_N = 51–61, Eu/Eu* = 0.32–0.84) and ɛ _Nd(t) = −4.6 to −3.8. The two-mica granites have a restricted range in initial Pb isotopic composition (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.41–18.75; ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.60–15.68; ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 38.21–38.55), requiring and old, high U/Pb (but not Th/U) source component. The Nd isotope data are consistent with magma derivation from two sources: Avalon-like crust (ɛ _Nd>−3), and Central Maine Belt metasedimentary rocks (ɛ _Nd<−4), without material input from the mantle. The variations in isotope systematics and REE patterns are inconsistent with models of disequilibrium melting which involved monazite. Received: 8 December 1995 / Accepted: 29 April 1996     

Utilization of lime,slag and fly ash for improvement of a colluvial soil in New South Wales,Australia

In Australia, colluvial soils form large terrains which are often subjected to considerable erosion and mass movement. This study presents a laboratory evaluation of the improvement effected by hydrated lime, milled blast furnace slag and fly ash on a fine grained (erosive) colluvial soil in New South Wales, Australia. Geotechnical tests were conducted to determine the compaction and consolidation characteristics and the compressive and shear strength properties of the blended and natural soil specimens. The effect of these additives on the Atterberg limits and pH levels is also investigated. As large amounts of fly ash and steel slag are produced in New South Wales, it is economically attractive to utilize these industrial by-products for ground improvement rather than employing conventional methods such as lime treatment. This study demonstrates that for the colluvial soil tested, milled slag is the most effective in terms of improving the internal friction angle of the treated soil, while lime is the most suitable for achieving the optimum compressive strength. Non-pozzolanic fly ash is found to be inappropriate as a soil improving agent. The cost of ground treatment using the various additives is also estimated and compared.     

Hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics of The Wash embayment, eastern England

Water and sediment movement in The Wash embayment has been determined from an extensive set of data, consisting of tidal current readings and suspended sediment concentration measurements. Instantaneous and residual currents in the embayment show a distinct lateral inhomogeneity, whereas vertically the water column is almost homogenous. The central deep water area (30–40 m) of the embayment is dominated by a residual landward water movement, whilst on the margins, the residual movement is seaward. Sediment is supplied predominantly in suspension from the north, through the northern extremity of Boston Deep. Suspended sediment pathways are coincident with the spring tide water movements and the subtidal channels act as the main conduits. Approximately 6·8 × 10⁶ tonnes yr^?1 of suspended sediments are supplied to the embayment from offshore areas. Bedload sediment supply is of lesser importance, ～ 1·4 × 10⁴ tonnes yr^?1. Whereas suspended sediment movement appears to be the dominant mode of transport throughout the embayment, bedload transport is important in reforming the sea bed into a variety of bedforms which are particularly well developed on the margins of channels and shoals.     

Self-sedimentation of phytoplankton blooms in the geologic record

Understanding the formation of laminated, organic-rich sediments is an essential topic for researchers interested in fossil fuels, biogeochemical cycles, Earth's environmental history and global change. Biologists have very recently demonstrated that some marine phytoplankton blooms actively govern their own sedimentation by the formation of sticky transparent gels that facilitate rapid aggregation, accelerated sinking and efficient export flux. Here we present fossil evidence of unfragmented, low-diversity phytoplankton assemblages preserved as sedimentary laminae and irregular flocs that are attributable to a similar phytoplankton-driven sedimentary mechanism we term ‘self-sedimentation’. The geological evidence suggests that self-sedimentation precludes significant heterotrophic grazing, propels the formation of some conspicuous hemipelagic sedimentary laminae and results in efficient carbon and opal flux to the sediments. We suggest that the self-sedimentation phenomenon may have broad implications for the geological history of biogeochemical cycling, oceanic ecological dynamics, and abrupt atmospheric/environmental change. Broader recognition of the self-sedimentation phenomenon as explicitly defined here is a prerequisite to testing these unconventional hypotheses.     

Heavy metal retention in secondary precipitates from a mine rock dump and underlying soil, Dalarna, Sweden

This study investigates the retention of heavy metals in secondary precipitates from a sulfidic mine rock dump and underlying podzolic soils by means of mineralogical and chemical extraction methods. The rock dump, which is at least 50 years old, consists of a 5–10-cm-thick leached zone and an underlying 110–115-cm-thick accumulation zone. Optical microscopy and electron microprobe analyses confirm that pyrrhotite weathering has proceeded much further in the leached horizon relative to the accumulation horizon. The weathering of sulfides in the leached zone has resulted in the migration of most heavy metals to the accumulation zone or underlying soils, where they are retained in more stable phases such as secondary ferric minerals, including goethite and jarosite. Some metals are temporarily retained in hydrated ferrous sulfates (e.g., melanterite, rozenite). Received: 28 October 1996 · Accepted: 24 February 1997     

Whole-rock and sulfide lead-isotope data from the hydrothermal JADE field in the Okinawa back-arc trough

The mineralization of the active hydrothermal JADE field resembles in many aspects the Kuroko-type mineralization. The JADE field is located in a back-arc graben and is associated with a bimodal volcanism. Lead isotope data from igneous rocks, sediments, and ores further emphasize the similarities with the Kuroko ores and suggest that both sediments and volcanic rocks contributed comparable amounts of lead to the deposit. When compared to the sediments, a much larger volume of volcanic rocks must have contributed lead to the deposit, because of the considerably lower lead concentration of volcanic rocks. In contrast to the crustal type lead of the JADE field and the Kuroko-type sulfide deposits the lead isotope signatures of VMS-type deposits at mid-ocean ridges is distinctly different. In the absence of a sedimentary cover it reflects the composition of the mantle source, whereas in the presence of a sedimentary cover it is either a mixture of mantle and sedimentary lead or it may even be completely dominated by the latter. Received: 5 October 1995 / Accepted: 10 May 1996     

Geohydrological models and earthquake effects at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

 Yucca Mountain, the proposed site for the high-level nuclear waste repository, is located just south of where the present water table begins a sharp rise in elevation. This large hydraulic gradient is a regional feature that extends for over 100 km. Yucca Mountain and its vicinity are underlain by faulted and fractured tuffs with hydraulic conductivities controlled by flow through the fractures. Close to and parallel with the region of large hydraulic gradient, and surrounding the core of the Timber Mountain Caldera, there is a 10- to 20-km-wide zone containing few faults and thus, most likely, few open fractures. Consequently, this zone should have a relatively low hydraulic conductivity, and this inference is supported by the available conductivity measurements in wells near the large hydraulic gradient. Also, slug injection tests indicate significantly higher pressures for fracture opening in wells located near the large hydraulic gradient compared to the opening pressures in wells further to the south, hence implying that lower extensional stresses prevail to the north with consequently fewer open fractures there. Analytical and numerical modeling shows that such a boundary between media of high and low conductivity can produce the observed, large hydraulic gradient, with the high conductivity medium having a lower elevation than the water table. Further, as fractures can close due to tectonic activity, the conductivity of the Yucca Mountain tuffs can be reduced to a value near that for the hydraulic barrier due to strain release by a moderate earthquake. Under these conditions, simulations show that the elevation of the steady-state water table could rise between 150 and 250 m at the repository site. This elevation rise is due to the projected shift in the location of the large hydraulic gradient to the south in response to a moderate earthquake, near magnitude 6, along one of the major normal faults adjacent to Yucca Mountain. As the proposed repository would only be 200–400 m above the present water table, this predicted rise in the water table indicates a potential hazard involving water intrusion. Received: 7 June 1996 / Accepted: 19 November 1996     

A model study on the decay of volcanic aerosol layer and verification with Pinatubo and El Chichon data

The time evolution of stratospheric aerosol layer formed after a volcanic eruption is studied taking into account the aerosol microphysical processes of growth, coagulation and sedimentation. Using a simple model we could explain the observed evolution of the Pinatubo volcanic layer which decayed in about 3 years. The experimental data obtained by Nd:YAG backscatter lidar over Ahmedabad further supports this finding. The data obtained after the El Chichon volcanic eruption also showed that the El Chichon aerosol layer decayed in about 3 years time. Thus, though the amount of SO₂ injected has been higher, in the case of Pinatubo, about two to three times more than El Chichon, it has resulted in the production of larger aerosol particles due to faster growth and coagulation processes, and subsequently a faster removal rate, to give more or less a similar background aerosol amount at the stratosphere in about 3 years time.