A-type granite and adakitic magmatism association in Songpan–Garze fold belt, eastern Tibetan Plateau: Implication for lithospheric delamination

The Songpan–Garze fold belt covers a huge triangular area (> 200,000 km²), confined by the South China (Yangtze), North China and Tibetan Plateau continental blocks. In the Songpan–Garze fold belt, Triassic adakitic granitoids have been identified. However, whether there are Triassic A-type granites is unclear. Here, we report our first finding of an A-type granite (Nianbaoyeche), which occurs in the central part of the Songpan–Garze fold belt. The Nianbaoyeche granite ( 820 km²) is characterized by arfvedsonite in its mineral assemblage. Using both LA-ICPMS and TIMS U–Pb zircon dating methods, we obtain a magma crystallization age of 211 ± 1 Ma, which is slightly younger than Triassic adakitic granitoids (216–221 Ma) in the Songpan–Garze fold belt. The Nianbaoyeche granite is enriched in Si, K, Na, Rb, REE, HFSE (Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf), with elevated FeO^tot/(FeO^tot + MgO) and Ga/Al ratios, but is depleted in Al, Mg, Ca, Ba and Sr. The REE compositions show moderately fractionated patterns with (La/Yb)_N = 2.67–7.54 and Eu/Eu = 0.09–0.34. These geochemical characteristics indicate that the Nianbaoyeche granite has an A-type affinity. Geochemical data and U–Pb zircon age, combined with regional studies, show that the Nianbaoyeche granite formed in a post-collisional tectonic setting. Sr–Nd isotopic data for the granite exhibit I_Sr = 0.7090–0.7123 and ε_Nd(t) = − 2.72 to − 4.26 with T_DM = 1.15–1.51 Ga, suggesting that the magma has a dominantly crustal source, though a minor contribution from the mantle cannot be ruled out. Melting to produce an A-type granite may have resulted from Triassic lithospheric delamination after Triassic crustal thickening of the Songpan–Garze fold belt due to convergence between the Yangtze, North China and North Tibet continental blocks. The lithospheric delamination model also helps to explain the Triassic adakitic magma generation in the Songpan–Garze belt. We conclude that association of A-type granite and adakitic granitoids in post-collisional environment could be a useful indicator of lithospheric delamination.     

Boundary element analysis of transversely isotropic bi-material halfspaces with inclined planes of isotropy and interfaces

In this paper, a single-region boundary element method (BEM) is presented for the analysis of transversely isotropic bi-material halfspaces with arbitrarily inclined planes of isotropy and material interfaces. The proposed BEM uses the fundamental solution of a transversely isotropic bi-material fullspace and five boundary element techniques. Infinite boundary elements are introduced to consider the far-fields of a transversely isotropic bi-material halfspace. The effective integration methods are proposed for dealing with various integrals in the discretized boundary integral equation. The stresses at internal points are obtained using the coordinate transformation of kernel functions, and the stresses on the boundary surface are calculated using an improved traction recovered method. Numerical verifications of displacements and stresses for a benchmark problem are conducted, and excellent agreement with previously published results is obtained. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the influence of non-horizontal or horizontal planes of isotropy in bi-material halfspaces on the displacements and stresses induced by the tractions on the horizontal boundary surface. Results reveal that the elastic fields vary clearly with the dip angle of the isotropic plane and the stresses across the bi-material interface are closely related to the ratios of the elastic parameters of the bi-material.     

Deformation-induced cordierite breakdown–An example from western Maine,USA

Preservation of partially completed metamorphic reactions in the form of partial pseudomorphs is very important as it provides direct insight onto the reaction mechanism and the phases involved in the reaction. The staurolite and andalusite grade rocks in western Maine, USA, contain cordierite porphyroblasts partly pseudomorphed by coarse-grained muscovite and biotite. The pseudomorphs consist of a cordierite core surrounded by a reaction rim. Modal mineralogy, calculated using the ImageJ processing software based on backscatter images and X-ray compositional maps, reveals that the core consists of cordierite (53.5%), muscovite (22.8%), biotite (9.1%), quartz (1 0.4%), plagioclase (3.1%) and ilmenite/pyrrhotite and apatite (1.1%) whereas the reaction rim consists of cordierite (1.8%), muscovite (51.6%), biotite (30.4%), quartz (4.3%), plagioclase (10%), garnet (1.2%), ilmenite/pyrrhotite and apatite (0.8%). The net effect of the cordierite breakdown reaction is an increase of 226% in muscovite, 334% in biotite and 323% in plagioclase content and a decrease of 97% in cordierite. The reaction involved exchange of components with the matrix requiring addition of H₂O, K⁺, Na⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ and removal of SiO₂, Mg²⁺ and PO₄^3- from the reaction site. PT estimates using the garnet–biotite, Ti-in-biotite, Na-in-cordierite thermometers and the garnet–biotite–muscovite–plagioclase barometer indicate that cordierite breakdown occurred at ~550°C and 3.5 kbar. thermocalc modelling using the bulk rock composition suggests that cordierite is not stable at these conditions, whereas modelling using a thin section-derived bulk composition indicates that cordierite stability extends to higher pressures, and most likely that the cordierite breakdown was not PT dependent. The incorporation of Na (up to 0.18 a.f.u.) into the cordierite structure has the effect of stabilizing the cordierite under a variety of H₂O activity and limiting the role of fluids into destabilizing it. The cordierite cores contain evidence of plastic and brittle deformation in the form of subgrains and microcracks, which facilitated the infiltration of fluids that destabilized cordierite at constant PT conditions by leaching Na and introducing K. New mica growth along these structural heterogeneities suggests that deformation played an important role promoting breakdown of cordierite to muscovite and biotite.     

The 6dF Galaxy Survey: final redshift release (DR3) and southern large-scale structures

We report the final redshift release of the 6dF Galaxy Survey (6dFGS), a combined redshift and peculiar velocity survey over the southern sky  (| b | > 10°)  . Its 136 304 spectra have yielded 110 256 new extragalactic redshifts and a new catalogue of 125 071 galaxies making near-complete samples with  ( K , H , J , r _F, b _J) ≤ (12.65, 12.95, 13.75, 15.60, 16.75)  . The median redshift of the survey is 0.053. Survey data, including images, spectra, photometry and redshifts, are available through an online data base. We describe changes to the information in the data base since earlier interim data releases. Future releases will include velocity dispersions, distances and peculiar velocities for the brightest early-type galaxies, comprising about 10 per cent of the sample. Here we provide redshift maps of the southern local Universe with   z ≤ 0.1  , showing nearby large-scale structures in hitherto unseen detail. A number of regions known previously to have a paucity of galaxies are confirmed as significantly underdense regions. The URL of the 6dFGS data base is http://www-wfau.roe.ac.uk/6dFGS .     

Origin and characteristics of the zooplankton phosphatase activity in a coastal ecosystem of the Mediterranean sea (Toulon Bay)

In Toulon Bay (France), very high phosphatase activities have been found in the zooplankton fraction>90 microm. This work was intended to specify their origin. For that purpose, larvae, juvenile and adult Crustacea (Copepods: Calanoids, Cyclopoids, Branchiopods: Cladocera, and Cirripeds) were isolated. Their activities were measured using paranitrophenyl phosphate dissolved in sea water in order to calculate Km (the enzyme half saturation concentration) and Vmax (the reaction rate when the enzyme is saturated with substrate). Vmax were referred to protein contents of the isolated organisms to calculate specific activities. For all zooplankton groups high and low affinity phosphatase activities were found. The low affinity enzyme was responsible for at least 70% of the total phosphatase activity. Its specific activity was higher for larvae than for copepodites and adults. In Cirriped nauplii this activity was particularly high with values which were several hundred times higher than that in other Crustacea. These enzymes had optimum pH close to 8.4, magnesium requirement and were competitively inhibited by orthophosphate. Experiments with intact and lysed Cirriped nauplii confirmed that living organisms had only a weak external activity and showed that most of the activity of these larvae was primarily intracellular.     

Pestizidbestimmung im Wasser – gegenwärtige Möglichkeiten und künftige Entwicklungen

Summary: In the drinking-water regulation of the Federal Republic of Germany limit values in the range of 0.1 μg/l are established for pesticides. Identification and quantitative determination of pesticides in this concentration range require a very high expenditure concerning analysis, devices and equipment, analytical methods having been available so far only on a limited scale. The sum limit value of 0.5 μg/l pesticides may create special difficulties. In general, in view of the approx. 300 possible substances first of all a screening has to be proposed concerning the exceeding of limit values based on knowledge from the catchment area and its potential loading as the first step of investigation. Suitable methods of determination are partly available in gas chromatography and high-pressure liquid chromatography. Promising in the future development are the biochemical methods of enzyme inhibition (cholinesterase) and of immunoassay with radioactive and enzyme labelling. Nevertheless, for the foreseeable future standard methods will be available only for approx. Two thirds of the total of 300 substances, so that discussing the effectiveness of the limit values should be carried on.     

A new Wolf–Rayet star and its ring nebula: PCG 11

In a search for new Galactic planetary nebulae from our systematic scans of the Anglo-Australian Observatory/United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope (AAO/UKST) Hα Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane, we have identified a Population I Wolf–Rayet star of type WN7h associated with an unusual ring nebula that has a fractured rim. We present imagery in Hα, the 843-MHz continuum from the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST), the mid-infrared from the Midcourse Space Experiment ( MSX ), and confirmatory optical spectroscopy of the character of the nebula and of its central star. The inner edge of the Hα shell shows gravitational instabilities with a well-defined wavelength around its complete circumference.     

Holocene solifluction,climate variation and fire in a subarctic landscape at Pippokangas,Finnish Lapland,based on radiocarbon‐dated buried charcoal

A large number of radiocarbon dates from charcoal layers buried beneath stacked solifluction lobes at Pippokangas, in the northern boreal zone of Finnish Lapland, are used to reconstruct a Holocene history of solifluction. Although the site is surrounded by Scots pine forest, the solifluction lobes occur on the lower slopes of a kettle hole, the microclimate of which prevents the growth of trees. Samples from the upslope end of charcoal layers have enabled the recognition of four synchronous phases of solifluction lobe initiation: 7400–6700, 4200–3400, 2600–2100 and 1500–500 cal. yr BP. Rates of lobe advance are shown to be lobe‐dependent and age‐dependent: initially, average rates were commonly 0.14–0.19 cm yr^?1, later falling to 0.02–0.07 cm yr^?1 or less as the lobes approached the bottom of the slope. The absence of charcoal prior to 8000 cal. yr BP, together with single IRSL and TL dates, indicate a relatively stable early Holocene landscape. The onset of solifluction around 7400 cal. yr BP. appears to have followed the immigration of pine around the site, which increased the frequency of forest fires. Phases of solifluction activity seem to have been triggered by millennial‐scale variations in effective moisture (the climatic hypothesis), rather than episodic burning of the surface vegetation cover (the geoecological hypothesis), although climate may also have affected fire frequency and severity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Glacier variations in Breheimen,southern Norway: dating Little Ice Age moraine sequences at seven low‐altitude glaciers

Moraine sequences in front of seven relatively low‐altitude glaciers in the Breheimen region of central southern Norway are described and dated using a ‘multi‐proxy’ approach to moraine stratigraphy. Lichenometric dating, based on the Rhizocarpon subgenus, is used to construct a composite moraine chronology, which indicates eight phases of synchronous moraine formation: AD 1793–1799, 1807–1813, 1845–1852, 1859–1862, 1879–1885, 1897–1898, 1906–1908 and 1931–1933. Although the existence of a few cases of older moraines, possibly dating from earlier in the eighteenth or late in the seventeenth centuries cannot be ruled out by lichenometry, Schmidt hammer R‐values from boulders on outermost moraine ridges suggest an absence of Holocene moraines older than the Little Ice Age. Twenty‐three radiocarbon dates from buried soils and peat associated with outermost moraines at three glaciers—Tverreggibreen, Storegrovbreen and Greinbreen—also indicate that the ‘Little Ice Age’ glacier maximum was the Neoglacial maximum at most if not all glaciers. Several maximum age estimates for the Little Ice Age glacier maximum range between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, with the youngest from a buried soil being AD 1693. A pre‐Little Ice Age maximum cannot be ruled out at Greinbreen, however, where the age of buried peat suggests the outermost moraine dates from AD 981–1399 (at variance with the lichenometric evidence). Glaciofluvial stratigraphy at Tverreggibreen provides evidence for minor glacier advances about AD 655–963 and AD 1277–1396, respectively. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.