New data on the age of the installation of Urgonian-type carbonates along the northern Tethyan margin: biostratigraphy of the Chopf Member (Helvetic Alps,eastern Switzerland)

The Chopf Member is a glauconitic, phosphate-bearing succession that occurs in the distal part of the Helvetic Alps (eastern Switzerland). The recent discovery of age-diagnostic ammonites within this horizon allows for its attribution to the lower part of the Gerhardtia sartousiana zone (middle Late Barremian). This new age corresponds to a maximal age for the onset of the Schrattenkalk Fm. in this area, and is coeval with the onset of the Urgonian facies in other parts of the western Tethyan realm. This new age allows also for a more precise dating of Late Barremian ${\delta }^{13}\text{C}$ curves. To cite this article: S. Bodin et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

The effect of graben structures on the migration of groundwater contaminants at an industrial site

Industrial sites present a challenge to the hydrogeological delineation of pollution sources and their impacts. When large-scale geologic structures such as grabens exist on such sites, these can have a significant impact on the hydrology and water quality distribution. At the site investigated, geophysical techniques, standard hydrogeological approaches and hydrochemical characterisation (with methods such as depth-profiling and isotopes) were used to determine the impact of a graben structure and the hydrogeological properties and consequent water quality distribution. Zones of high conductivity, corresponding with available data, were identified from the geophysical investigation and subsequent pumping tests in the area. Through hydrochemical characterisation, including isotopes, it was determined that the fault zone acts as a barrier for groundwater flow and is thus the reason for the lower levels of pollutants in groundwater beyond this feature. However, the surface water flow is not restricted by these zones, and contributes significantly to the flow and salt loads at the discharge point. The study showed that graben structures are important controls on the movement of contaminants, and that the effect of such geological features on groundwater quality distribution must be investigated using multiple methodologies to construct a feasible conceptual model of the interactions.     

EXOTIME: searching for planets around pulsating subdwarf B stars

In 2007, a companion with planetary mass was found around the pulsating subdwarf B star V391 Pegasi with the timing method, indicating that a previously undiscovered population of substellar companions to apparently single subdwarf B stars might exist. Following this serendipitous discovery, the EXOTIME (http://www.na.astro.it/~silvotti/exotime/) monitoring program has been set up to follow the pulsations of a number of selected rapidly pulsating subdwarf B stars on time scales of several years with two immediate observational goals:

1. determine $\dot{P}$ of the pulsational periods P
2. search for signatures of substellar companions in O–C residuals due to periodic light travel time variations, which would be tracking the central star’s companion-induced wobble around the centre of mass

These sets of data should therefore, at the same time, on the one hand be useful to provide extra constraints for classical asteroseismological exercises from the $\dot{P}$ (comparison with “local” evolutionary models), and on the other hand allow one to investigate the preceding evolution of a target in terms of possible “binary” evolution by extending the otherwise unsuccessful search for companions to potentially very low masses. While timing pulsations may be an observationally expensive method to search for companions, it samples a different range of orbital parameters, inaccessible through orbital photometric effects or the radial velocity method: the latter favours massive close-in companions, whereas the timing method becomes increasingly more sensitive toward wider separations. In this paper we report on the status of the on-going observations and coherence analysis for two of the currently five targets, revealing very well-behaved pulsational characteristics in HS?0444+0458, while showing HS?0702+6043 to be more complex than previously thought.     

Lithium isotope analysis of olivine by SIMS: Calibration of a matrix effect and application to magmatic phenocrysts

High-spatial resolution analysis of light element isotope variations by secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) has numerous applications in geochemistry and cosmochemistry. Recent attention has focused on ⁷Li/⁶Li variations in magmatic phenocrysts to infer the volatile degassing history of their parent magmas, and on minerals from mantle samples to determine source-region processes and the recycling history of mantle reservoirs. In these studies the effect of mineral composition on the ⁷Li/⁶Li ratio measured by SIMS has been considered secondary, and generally disregarded. We show, using a suite of nine olivines analyzed by MC-ICP-MS or TIMS, that there is a substantial effect of composition on the ⁷Li/⁶Li ratio of olivine measured by SIMS. For magnesian olivine (74 < Fo < 94) the effect is a linear function of composition, with δ⁷Li increasing by 1.3‰ for each mole percent decrease in forsterite component. At higher Fe contents, the relationship ceases to be linear. The composition range over which linear behavior is exhibited appears to depend on instrumental conditions. A calibration of this matrix effect over the linear range is presented, assuming the measurement of ⁷Li/⁶Li relative to an olivine standard of known composition. Application of this calibration to a suite of olivines separated from basaltic lavas from Ko'olau, Hawai'i demonstrates that the matrix effect is responsible for a geologically spurious correlation between δ⁷Li and Mg#. However, after correction, the olivines retain evidence of Li isotope heterogeneity, the degree and nature of which differs in each of the four separates studied. These results emphasize the importance of compositional correction for SIMS measurement of δ⁷Li in olivine, particularly in zoned crystals, and support previous conclusions that Li isotope variability in igneous materials is subject to late-stage disturbance. The significant matrix effect demonstrated for olivine suggests that matrix effects in other minerals require further evaluation.     

Diamond formation episodes at the southern margin of the Kaapvaal Craton: Re–Os systematics of sulfide inclusions from the Jagersfontein Mine

Sulfide inclusions in diamonds from the 90-Ma Jagersfontein kimberlite, intruded into the southern margin of the Kaapvaal Craton, were analyzed for their Re–Os isotope systematics to constrain the ages and petrogenesis of their host diamonds. The latter have δ¹³C ranging between −3.5 and −9.8‰ and nitrogen aggregation states (from pure Type IaA up to 51% total N as B centers) corresponding to time/temperature history deep within the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Most sulfides are Ni-poor ([Ni + Co]/Fe = 0.05–0.25 for 15 of 17 inclusions), have elevated Cu/[Fe + Ni + Co] ratios (0.02–0.36) and elemental Re–Os ratios between 0.5 and 46 (12 of 14 inclusions) typical of eclogitic to more pyroxenitic mantle sources. Re–Os isotope systematics indicate two generations of diamonds: (1) those on a 1.7 Ga age array with initial ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os (¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os_i) of 0.46 ± 0.07 and (2) those on a 1.1 Ga array with ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os_i of 0.30 ± 0.11. The radiogenic initial Os isotopic composition for both generations of diamond suggests that components with high time-integrated Re–Os are involved, potentially by remobilization of ancient subducted oceanic crust and hybridization of peridotite. A single sulfide with higher Os and Ni content but significantly lower ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os hosted in a diamond with less aggregated N may represent part of a late generation of peridotitic diamonds. The paucity of peridotitic sulfide inclusions in diamonds from Jagersfontein and other kimberlites from the Kaapvaal craton contrasts with an overall high relative abundance of diamonds with peridotitic silicate inclusions. This may relate to extreme depletion and sulfur exhaustion during formation of the Kaapvaal cratonic root, with the consequence that in peridotites, sulfide-included diamonds could only form during later re-introduction of sulfur.     

Moho-offset beneath northern Scotland

Summary. Independent sets of LISPB data are presented, having as a common feature a local lateral variation in the Moho beneath northern Britain.
The evidence for this step-like feature on the Moho is taken from P and S travel times and from PS reflection times and phase velocities.
Another important observation is that a high-frequency Moho refraction is generated north of the step, whilst the refraction from the step region and south of it contains only low frequencies. This leads to the assumption that a change in the Moho structure exists in the same region as where the step has been deduced from travel-time interpretation. A numerical model is presented which generates a high-frequency refracted wave from an input signal which contains low- and high-frequency spectral energy.
The significance of this offset on the Moho, in particular its relationship to surface tectonics, is critically discussed.     

A geological interpretation of heavy metal concentrations in soils and sediments in the southern Netherlands

The natural variation in heavy metal contents of subsurface sediments in the southern Netherlands is described, based on a series of 820 bulk geochemical analyses. The detrital heavy metal contents of these sediments show linear correlations with Al as a result of their joint occurrence in phyllosilicates. Anomalous enrichments occur as a result of the presence of glauconite (As, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn), pyrite (As) or Fe-oxides (As, Ba, Ni, Zn), due to the interaction of organic-rich subsurface material with groundwater (Co, Ni, Zn) or as a result of anthropogenic pollution in topsoils (Cu, Pb, Zn). The contents of Al, Fe, K and S are well suited to determine background values, and to identify the cause for anomalous accumulations of heavy metals.     

Spatial and Temporal Variations of Metals in Richards Bay Harbour (RBH), South Africa

Little data are available on the level of metals in biotic and abiotic components at Richards Bay Harbour (RBH). The most recent records are from a survey done around the time of the construction of the harbour in 1976. Industrial and human activities in and around this area have increased dramatically in the last 20 years, the impact of which remains unknown. The aim of this study is to establish spatial and temporal variations in metals in RBH through a seasonal biomonitoring programme.

Biotic (mussels and fish) and abiotic (sediments and water) samples were collected from each of the eleven sites on a seasonal basis. Samples were wet digested using a two to one ratio of nitric to perchloric acid. Samples were filtered and analysed for aluminium, chromium and iron using a Varian SpectrAA 50B spectrophotometer.

Aluminium, chromium and iron concentrations in water, sediments and biota showed spatial and temporal variations. Concentrations of iron in sediment samples were found to be higher than concentrations recorded in previous studies.     

The peat bog at Zinnwald-Georgenfeld revisited after 25 years: Geochemical investigation of water,Sphagnum moss and peat cores

From 1992 to 1994, trace metal concentrations of bog water, Sphagnum mosses and peat cores of the bog “Georgenfelder Hochmoor” at Zinnwald-Georgenfeld in the Eastern Ore Mountains (Germany) were investigated. A sampling campaign in September 2019 allows the comparison of the older measurements with today's trace metal concentrations. No changes were found in the bog waters, while the trace metal concentrations of the Sphagnum mosses have decreased significantly. Due to the low growth rate of the peat and despite certain heterogeneity between the peat cores, the investigated elemental data for the peat sampled in the 1990s and in 2019 are in the same concentration range. The maximum concentrations are measured in the upper samples of all peat cores for the analysed elements (except sulphur). Compared to upper crustal data, a different behaviour of the elements is observed: Cr, Sc, Ti, and V, rare earth elements show crustal ratios, while Al and Si are also influenced by crust-air fractionation. Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn are additionally enriched by anthropogenic atmospheric inputs from industry and transport. These results confirm the assumption that peat cores record past atmospheric deposition.     

Formation of cratonic subcontinental lithospheric mantle and complementary komatiite from hybrid plume sources

Peridotitic sulphide inclusions in diamonds from the central Slave craton constrain the age and origin of their subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) sources. These sulphides align with either a ca. 3.5 Ga (shallow SCLM) or a ca. 3.3 Ga isochron (deep SCLM) on a Re–Os ischron diagram, with variably enriched initial ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os. Since some Archaean to recent plume-derived melts carry a subducted crust (eclogite) signature and some cratonic SCLM may have been generated in plumes by extraction of komatiitic liquids, we explain these data by subduction of evolved lithospheric material (shallow SCLM) and melting in a hybrid mantle plume that contains domains of recycled eclogite (deep SCLM), respectively. In upwelling hybrid mantle, eclogite-derived melts react with olivine in surrounding peridotites to form aluminous orthopyroxene, convert peridotite to pyroxenite and confer their crustal isotope signatures. We suggest that it is subsequent to orthopyroxene enrichment of peridotite in an upwelling plume that partial melting of this Al- and Si- enriched source generated komatiites and complementary ultradepleted cratonic mantle residues. Although subduction is needed to explain some cratonic features, melting of a hybrid plume source satisfies several key observations: (1) suprachondritic initial ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os in subsets of lithospheric mantle samples and in some coeval Archaean komatiites; (2) variable enrichment of cratonic mantle by high-temperature aluminous orthopyroxene; (3) high Mg# combined with high orthopyroxene content in cratonic mantle due to higher melt productivity of an Al- and Si-richer source; (4) variable orthopyroxene enrichment possibly linked to varying mantle potential temperatures (Tp), plume buoyancy and resultant eclogite load and/or variable availability of subducted material in the source; and (5) absence of younger analogues due to a secular decrease in Tp. Most importantly, this model also alleviates a mass balance problem, because it predicts a hybrid mantle source with variably higher SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ than primitive mantle, and, contrary to a primitive mantle source, is able to reconcile compositions of komatiites and complementary cratonic mantle residues.