Rare earth element mobility in the Roffna Gneiss,Switzerland

The Roffna Gneiss, a deformed Hercynian granite porphyry within the Penninic nappes of eastern Switzerland, underwent extreme cataclasis with the progressive development of phengite towards the margins of the nappe under conditions of the glaucophane schist to greenschist facies. This resulted in the selective mobilization of major and trace elements over distances of 10's to 100's of meters and the resetting of the Rb — Sr whole rock isotopic systems some 100 my ago. The component ratios and compositionvolume relationships of progressively deformed gneiss samples studied here suggest that this process was essentially isovolumetric. The mineralogy of the deformation sequence appears to have been controlled by a reaction involving the breakdown of microcline, albite and biotite and the formation of phengite and quartz. The fluids introduced Mg and H₂O, promoting the development of phengite, and removed the Na being released by the breakdown of albite. The fluids were most probably derived from the surrounding Triassic carbonates and quartzites. These relatively high fO₂ and carbonate rich fluids also introduced rare earth elements (REE) into the gneiss. The gneiss was progressively enriched in Eu up to 60%, Y up to 40%, and Yb up to 100%. These enrichments are associated with the development of epitaxial xenotime around zircon in the most phengite-rich sample. While the REE were mobile, uranium and thorium were essentially immobile. The formation of xenotime was suggested to explain the observed heavy REE enrichment when large differences in the REE contents were found for replicate analyses using HF and then lithium metaborate for dissolution. These differences arose because xenotime, like monazite, can be difficult (if not impossible) to dissolve in hydrofluoric acid. Due to the possibility of incomplete sample dissolution, we now recommend fusion with lithium metaborate for all REE, Lu — Hf or Sm — Nd studies.     

Groundwater management based on GIS techniques, chemical indicators and vulnerability to seawater intrusion modelling: application to the Mahdia–Ksour Essaf aquifer, Tunisia

In arid and semi-arid countries worldwide, conflicts between human development activities and conservation of groundwater resources are widespread and attract many public debates. This research aims to propose groundwater management alternatives for a coastal aquifer by studying its vulnerability and in particularly the risk of seawater intrusion. An additional objective is to propose some agricultural policies aimed to conserve groundwater resources in Mahdia and Ksour Essaf. Intensive groundwater mining, for irrigation and for water drinking, has caused an overexploitation of the water resources. In addition, the degradation of water quality, caused by septic tanks and intensive agricultural activities, has given rise to notable crucial state of the groundwater resources. With the aim of tackling the groundwater degradation problem, integration into a common platform of vulnerability assessment, seawater intrusion modelling and hydrochemical analysis is proposed. This platform can considerably reflect the water resources state in order to propose some solutions reducing the contamination of the Mahdia–Ksour Essaf aquifer. The groundwater management alternatives, proposed in this study, were prepared within a geographical information system.     

Vulnerability, Partnerships and the Pursuit of Survival: Urban Livelihoods and Apprenticeship Contracts in a West African City

This paper analyses local level apprenticeship contracts and networks to highlight informal urban livelihoods within the context of socio-economic vulnerability and wider contemporary changes taking place in Koforidua, Ghana. It does so by specifically examining the complex entanglements of interpersonal relationships that characterize apprenticeship contracts within which home-based entrepreneurs and artisans in Koforidua engage in to sustain both current livelihoods, as well as to shore themselves against socio-economic vulnerability triggered in part by adjustment. As a result of the changing geography of the city, network entanglements, comprising resilient ties and egalitarian relations, have become vital to urban livelihoods in this community. However, apprenticeship contracts and the networks they engender can be a double-edged sword. For instance, demands of reciprocity or support from co-network members, neighbours and family, can be so taxing that some individuals opt out of the network. This tension notwithstanding, this paper contends that apprenticeship contracts and the network spaces they create have created a new social cohesion and community that transcend the traditionally known spaces of social support, i.e. ethnic ties, family ties or even institutional support.     

Probabilistic projections of transient climate change

This paper describes a Bayesian methodology for prediction of multivariate probability distribution functions (PDFs) for transient regional climate change. The approach is based upon PDFs for the equilibrium response to doubled carbon dioxide, derived from a comprehensive sampling of uncertainties in modelling of surface and atmospheric processes, and constrained by multiannual mean observations of recent climate. These PDFs are sampled and scaled by global mean temperature predicted by a Simple Climate Model (SCM), in order to emulate corresponding transient responses. The sampled projections are then reweighted, based upon the likelihood that they correctly replicate observed historical changes in surface temperature, and combined to provide PDFs for 20 year averages of regional temperature and precipitation changes to the end of the twenty-first century, for the A1B emissions scenario. The PDFs also account for modelling uncertainties associated with aerosol forcing, ocean heat uptake and the terrestrial carbon cycle, sampled using SCM configurations calibrated to the response of perturbed physics ensembles generated using the Hadley Centre climate model HadCM3, and other international climate model simulations. Weighting the projections using observational metrics of recent mean climate is found to be as effective at constraining the future transient response as metrics based on historical trends. The spread in global temperature response due to modelling uncertainty in the carbon cycle feedbacks is determined to be about 65–80 % of the spread arising from uncertainties in modelling atmospheric, oceanic and aerosol processes of the climate system. Early twenty-first century aerosol forcing is found to be extremely unlikely to be less than ?1.7 W m^?2. Our technique provides a rigorous and formal method of combining several lines of evidence used in the previous IPCC expert assessment of the Transient Climate Response. The 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles of our observationally constrained PDF for the Transient Climate Response are 1.6, 2.0 and 2.4 °C respectively, compared with the 10–90 % range of 1.0–3.0 °C assessed by the IPCC.     

Petrogenesis of basalts from the FAMOUS area: Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Fresh basalt glasses most of which have Mg/(Mg + Fe²⁺) of 0.66–0.72 from outcrops within 3 km of one other in the rift valley at the Project FAMOUS locality have been analyzed for major, minor and trace elements in order to determine their petrogenesis.Transition metal abundances of the FAMOUS samples are similar to a wide variety of continental and oceanic basalts with high MgO and Ni, all of which show remarkably little variation, with the exception of Cu, Zn and Ti, on a chondrite-normalized plot. Modelling of these data suggests that the mantle beneath both continents and oceans is systematically fractionated relative to chondrites. This fractionation provides a constraint for models of earth formation and subsequent evolution.The abundances of the rare earth and the incompatible elements, Ba, La, Th, U, and Nb, vary by more than a factor of three and the La/Yb and La/Sm ratios vary by factors of 3.1 and 1.6, respectively, in samples with similar, high Mg/(Mg + Fe²⁺). There is no correlation between the degree of light-REE enrichment and the heavy-REE abundance. Furthermore, the trace element variations do not appear correlated with respect to location in the rift valley or to time of eruption. These trace element features demonstrate that successive eruptions in one small area of the rift valley can show wide variations in trace element chemistry over a short span of time; they preclude the derivation of these basalt glasses from a single magma chamber.Despite the heterogeneities in REE and the variable trace element abundances, a homogeneous mantle source is suggested by the similarities among the samples in the incompatible element ratios of La/Ce, Ba/Th, Zr/Nb and K/Ba and the small range in⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios observed in other samples from the FAMOUS region (White and Bryan, 1977). Thus, trace element heterogeneities appear to be generated by processes in the mantle during melting. However, processes such as batch partial melting, fractional fusion, fractional crystallization, zone refining, or mixing of magmas or sources acting alone are incapable of explaining the lack of correlation between the light and heavy REE.It is suggested that the observed variations are a consequence of dynamic partial melting of a homogeneous mantle source region. This process includes varying degrees of partial melting of an uprising mantle source with continuous but incomplete removal of melt as melting proceeds, varying extents of batch partial melting, and zone refining. Dynamic melting can produce different melts from a homogeneous source which have different degrees of light-REE enrichment and crossing REE patterns. The variable trace element abundances which may be produced through dynamic melting may be the cause of the apparent decoupling of major and trace elements (Bryan et al., 1976) which previously has been suggested for the FAMOUS region (Bryan and Moore, 1977).     

Rock Strength and Development of Glacial Valley Morphology in the Scottish Highlands and Northwest Iceland

Using data from the Scottish Highlands and northwest Iceland, the present study indicates that bedrock strength properties are an important control on the morphology of glacial valleys. Results indicate that on closely jointed metasedimentary bedrock of low rock mass strength, broad U‐shaped valleys are developed, whilst steeper sided, narrower cross‐profiles have been developed on igneous bedrock of high rock mass strength. Findings suggest it is the interplay of the mass strength of the subglacial bedrock and the dynamic properties of the eroding glacier that control valley morphological development. The implication is that realistic models of topographic development beneath ice sheets need to consider the rock mass strength properties of the eroded bedrock as well as the glaciological variables.     

Clumped isotope analysis of lacustrine endogenic carbonates and implications for paleo-temperature reconstruction: A case study from Dali Lake

Carbonate clumped isotope(Δ47)is a new and reliable geothermometer.Endogenic carbonates in lake sediments are good archives to reconstruct lake water temperature using clumped isotope thermometry.However,applications of carbonate clumped isotope thermometry to lacustrine carbonates are still scarce because the existed organic and/or sulfur contaminants in such samples interfere with clumped isotope analysis and cause notable temperature biases.Therefore,exploring an effective way to remove contamination is a prerequisite to widely applying carbonate clumped isotope thermometry to lake sediments.By pretreating fine-grained endogenic carbonates from Dali lake sediments with hydrogen peroxide of different concentrations for different lengths of time,we conducted a series of conditional experiments to seek the optimal pretreatment condition for clumped isotope analysis.Δ47,Δ48 offset and 49 parameter were obtained from clumped isotope measurements to assess the effect of contamination removal.Results showed that untreated samples("0%-0")had a very high 49 parameter.After the treatment with hydrogen peroxide,the 49 parameter was significantly reduced while theΔ48 offset evidently increased.TheΔ47,Δ48 offset and 49 parameter of samples pretreated under different conditions showed significant variability,even though the measuredΔ47 temperatures changed within a relatively narrow range(i.e.,from 17.0±1.3 to 22.8±1.6°C).Among various treated samples,the sample"3%-8"yielded a smallerΔ48 offset and 49 parameter,and lowerΔ47 temperature of 17.0±1.3°C.Therefore,"reacting with 3%hydrogen peroxide for 8 h"was suggested to be the optimal condition for removing contaminants from lacustrine endogenic carbonates prior to clumped isotope analysis.At the time when the pretreatment condition was too intense(i.e.,H2O2 concentration>3%and/or reaction time>8 h),secondary contaminants might have been generated in the closed reaction system,whose ultimately transformed state may interfere with masses 47,48.Using the optimal pretreatment procedure,we obtained reasonableΔ47 temperature changes during the last deglaciation and found a temperature decrease of about 6°C in Northern China during the Younger Dryas period.Our study demonstrates a great potential of applying carbonate clumped isotope thermometry to lacustrine carbonates for paleo-temperature and paleo-elevation reconstructions in the future.     

Reproductive patterns of the abyssal asteroid Styracaster elongatus from the N.E. Atlantic Ocean

We analysed the reproductive biology of the asteroid species Styracaster elongatus based on time-series samples from a 5000-m-deep site on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (N.E. Atlantic). The ratio of males to females, the gonadosomatic index (GI), and pyloric caecum index (PCI) were determined and the results were corroborated by histological examination of the gonads. Fecundity and oocyte-size distribution were determined by histological and image analyses. Styracaster elongatus is a gonochoric asteroid and the ratio of males to females was not significantly different throughout the year. Oogenesis was asynchronous. The previtellogenic oocytes grew to a size of ～230 μm before undergoing vitellogenesis. Maximum oocyte size was ～620 μm. The ovary volume was mainly occupied by small previtellogenic oocytes (100–150 μm) at any one time. Mean GI was 6.38±3.30 for females and 9.04±4.1 for males. Mean PCI was 7.44±1.66 for females and 7.66±1.46 for males. Mean fecundity was 16,373±5988 oocites per female. There were no seasonal variations in GI and fecundity. There was evidence of a pyiloric caecum seasonal development for females and males. For S. elongatus there is no direct relationship among seasonal primary production at the surface and production of vitellogenic oocytes. Nevertheless, this species takes advantage of the pulse of phytodetritus to the seabed by increasing the storage of nutrients in the pyloric caecum in order to maintain a constant production of eggs and sperm.     

The application of trace elements to the petrogenesis of igneous rocks of granitic composition

Although trace element modeling has been used to great advantage for petrogenetic interpretations of basaltic systems, similar studies on igneous rocks of granitic composition have been fewer. In general the mineral/melt distribution coefficients for rare earth elements (REE) in granitic melts are equal to or greater than those for similar minerals in the basaltic system. Thus the effects of these minerals on the REE patterns of granitic melts during partial melting or differentiation are exaggerated as compared to basaltic systems, making detection of residual phases easier. For the K/Rb ratio, if neither a K-feldspar component nor biotitephlogopite is present in the residue, it is difficult to reduce the K/Rb ratio of the melt relative to the parent by a factor of two by either differentiation or partial melting.The petrogenesis of four distinctly different rocks are received: (1) an Archean tonalite presumably derived by partial melting of an Archean tholeiite at mantle depths, leaving a garnet plus clinopyroxene residue; (2) an Archean quartz monzonite presumably derived by partial melting of a short-lived graywacke-argillite sequence at crustal depths; (3) a dacite from Saipan presumably derived by differentiation from a basaltic parent; and (4) a trachyte from Ross Island, Antarctica, presumably derived by differentiation from a basanitoid parent and contaminated by continental crustal components.