From Jurassic rifting to Cretaceous subduction in NW Iranian Azerbaijan: geochronological and geochemical signals from granitoids

Previous interpretations of a Jurassic subduction in Iran were based on trace element classification diagrams for granitoids, but their reliability is questionable, underscored by modern examples of continental break-up zones such as the Baja California. We present new field observations, bulk rock geochemistry, Sr and Nd isotope analyses and U–Pb zircon geochronology to assess the age and tectonic setting of previously undated intermediate to felsic magmatic rocks cropping out in the Precambrian basement of NW Iranian Azerbaijan. The geochronology revealed an uneven distribution in space and time: Late Jurassic (159–154 Ma) intrusions and dikes are alkaline to calc-alkaline. Their melt source is mantle dominated with a distinct continental contribution disclosed by radiogenic isotopes and abundant inherited zircon cores. Mid-Cretaceous (112–96 Ma) plutonic bodies and associated volcanic rocks occur only to the east of the major Siah Cheshmeh–Khoy Fault. They have geochemical signatures typical of a metasomatized mantle. In consistence with the sedimentation history of the area, our new interpretation attributes the Late Jurassic magmatism to thinning of a continental lithosphere in a rift-related setting. Mid-Cretaceous magmatism was produced by oceanic subduction beneath the Central Iran continent. We interpret the 40-Ma age gap between the two magmatic episodes as the time of opening of the oceanic basin witnessed by the Khoy ophiolite in the study area.     

A study of the parameters of individual type-I bursts

The Dwingeloo 60-channel radio spectrograph has observed at metric wavelengths for a long time. Hundreds of type-I bursts in the digitally recorded solar noise storms were studied and the results are presented in this paper. We hoped to learn more about the emission and propagation of the radiation by trying to find patterns in the dynamic spectra of individual bursts or statistical relations between some of the parameters that can be defined to describe the spectra. The bursts are reduced and represented in a standard way. Graphical representations are inspected by eye and compared qualitatively. Numerical burst parameters are studied statistically. We describe the properties of instantaneous burst spectra. The polarization properties of bursts and the relation between burst- and continuum-polarization are studied to some extent. Apart from these results we find no significant new properties, despite the high quality of the data.     

Giant comet marks

Large longitudinal bedforms (comet marks) occur on the current-swept shelf off southeast Africa. They emanate from tight clusters of low rock outcrops and are as long as 135 m and as wide as 30 m. The low length/width ratio (1:4.5) is explained by lateral coalescence of several narrow tails associated with individual obstacles. They seem to form by removal of sediment from the wake region of the obstacles. Hydrodynamic considerations indicate a high probability for sonic suspension transport, yet no sand shadows occur in the velocity-defect region of the inner wake. It is concluded that shear velocities must exceed the minimal velocity required to sustain sediment transport.     

Implications of bedform dimensions for the prediction of local scour in tidal inlets: a case study from the southern North Sea

The bedforms and the local scour at the base of a cylindrical pile were studied in a tidal inlet in the Wadden Sea, southern North Sea, using high-resolution multibeam bathymetry data from four surveys. The observed changes in scour and bedform dimensions were interpreted in terms of hydraulic forcings varying periodically at different time scales. It appears that bedform orientation reacts to changing flow conditions on a semidiurnal basis, whereas bedform height and steepness reflect the spring-neap cycle as well as seasonal signals. The scour depth carries a strong overprint of the semidiurnal tidal cycle, which is at a maximum during the strongest tidal flow. Subtler variations in scour depth can possibly be attributed to the spring-neap tidal cycle. Based on these data on bedform and scour dimensions, correlation functions were established between scour depth and dune height as well as dune length. In measuring the scour depth under mobile bed conditions, establishing the seabed level based on the trough level of the bedforms nearest to the scour proved useful. These findings suggest that the dimensions of bedforms in dynamic equilibrium with prevailing hydraulic flow conditions can be used to estimate scouring in tidal environments.     

Strain analysis of a shear zone in a granodiorite

A ductile shear zone in a late Precambrian granodiorite, from the Rouergue (southwest part of the French Massif Central) has been studied.A single episode of deformation is responsible for the formation of a foliation and a well-defined lineation which are localized into an elongated zone, a few decimeters wide.The strain features can be attributed to a simple-shear mechanism (Ramsay and Graham, 1970), so that the main parameters of the deformation are defined.At stages of increasing deformation, the quartz isotropic sub-fabric of the undeformed host rock is progressively transformed into an anisotropic fabric composed of a single oblique girdle while the subgrain size progressively decrease and the dislocation density remains constant. It is suggested that the gliding planes of quartz are the basal plane (0001) and a predominant prismatic plane 101̄0 the slip directions may be a for both glide-planes.The results obtained in this investigation provide a basis for a high voltage electron microscope (H.V.E.M.) study which shows that the fabrics development may be related to dislocation processes. The difference of strain rates in the host rock and in the shear zone is calculated from the dislocation microstructures.     

Infra-arc mantle–crust transition and intra-arc mantle diapirs in the Kohistan Complex (Pakistani Himalaya): petro-structural evidence

The Jijal and Chilas Complexes have been interpreted previously as the lower levels of the layered Kohistan Island Arc, in Pakistan. We provide petro-structural evidence for melt-consuming reactions between mantle rocks and infiltrated, volatile-rich magmas in both complexes. Precipitated minerals in Jijal and Chilas suggest that melt-rock reaction occurred at higher pressure in Jijal than in Chilas. The early appearance of orthopyroxene in Chilas and the spatial relationship of the ultramafic rocks with quartz-bearing norites indicate that the reactant melt was more silicic. We argue that the Jijal Complex includes the infra-arc crust/mantle boundary and that ultramafic associations of the Chilas Complex are apices of possibly younger, intra-arc mantle diapirs.     

Tension fractures and boudinage oblique to the maximum extension direction: an analogy with lüders' bands

A study has been made of the orientation of boudin necklines and extension fractures with respect to the maximum extension direction X determined by infilling fibre growth. Several localities, within the Variscan belt of Western Europe, the Pyrenees and the Alps, have been investigated in detail. It has been generally accepted that boudinage and extension fracturing occur perpendicular to X in the rock at the time of their formation; however, we have shown that is not the case: boudin necklines and extension fractures occur at an angle between 45°–90° to X, with the most frequent orientations between 65°–70° and 80°–85°. Angles of exactly 90° are rare.In order to explain · this obliquity, an analogy is made with the phenomenon of Lüders' bands (localised regions of plastic deformation) developed in thin metal plates under tensile testing. Because the thickness of a layer is negligible compared with its lateral extent, we will only be concerned here with the case of thin metal plates.