Holocene fire regime changes from multiple-site sedimentary charcoal analyses in the Lourdes basin (Pyrenees,France)

One lake and three peat bogs from the Lourdes glacial basin (France) were used for macrocharcoal analyses and fire frequency reconstruction over the entire Holocene (11700 years). The chronology was based upon thirty-three 14C AMS dates. Comparison of the distribution of both CHarcoal Accumulation Rate (CHAR) and fire return intervals showed that charcoal accumulation significantly differs between the lake and the peat bogs, but that frequency calculation overcomes the disparity between these site types. A composite frequency was built from the four individual records to assess regional versus local variability and fire regime controls by comparisons with regional fire activity, Holocene climatic oscillations and vegetation history. The millennial variability can be depicted as follows: relatively high frequency between 8000 and 5000 cal a BP (up to 5 fires/500 yrs), relatively low frequency between 5000 and 3000 cal a BP (down to 0 fires/500 yrs), and an increase between 3000 and 500 cal a BP (up to 4 fires/500 yrs). From 8000 to 5000 cal a BP, fire frequency displays strong synchrony between sites and appears to be mostly driven by increased summer temperature characterizing the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM). On the contrary, during the last 3000 years fire frequency was heterogeneous between sites and most probably human-driven. However, higher frequency at the millennial scale during the mid-Holocene strongly suggests that the perception of human-driven fire regime depends on the strength of natural controls.     

Application of the integrated NMR-TDEM method in groundwater exploration in Israel

The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) method is the only physical tool currently available which is able to detect directly the presence of fresh water in the subsurface. The Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) method, in turn, has been proven highly efficient in detecting saline groundwater. The combined application of these two methods is the most promising way to delineate accurately groundwater-bearing aquifers and to evaluate the quality of the water. This idea was tested during the feasibility study carried out under different hydrogeological conditions throughout Israel during August–September 1992. The Russian Hydroscope and Geonics PROTEM-IV instruments were used for the NMR and TDEM measurements, respectively.A total of 36 NMR and 12 TDEM stations was established, mostly in close proximity to existing observation wells. Among these only 19 NMR measurements showed reasonable signal-to-noise characteristics, while the rest were obviously distorted by ambient noise. The number of distorted measurements could have been even greater had they been carried out at all points planned. However, a significant number of the NMR stations were cancelled due to their proximity (less than 1–1.5 km) to electric power lines. As a result almost the entire Mediterranean coast of Israel, which was originally chosen as the main test site for this survey, turned out to be unsuitable owing to the low ambient noise protection of the Hydroscope. Another serious limitation of NMR measurements is the maximum penetration depth. The deepest information obtained during the feasibility study was from a depth of 74 m.Nevertheless, within the framework of its applicability, the NMR measurements proved to be sufficiently accurate and to have a high resolving capability. A comparison with the borehole data shows that, in most cases, NMR is able not only to detect the presence of water, but also to delineate different subaquifers. At the same time, however, the transmissivity and aquifer texture are much less reliably detected. The combined application of the NMR and TDEM methods may essentially improve the reliability of the interpretation. In all cases where the NMR anomaly fits the drop in TDEM resistivity, water of a different salinity is found at approximately the same depth. A reasonable correlation between the interpreted resistivities and water salinities is obtained for these horizons. However, if only one method indicates the presence of water, this, in many cases, was not confirmed by the borehole data. The TDEM anomalies were obviously caused by low-resistivity lithologies, while some of the false NMR signals could be explained by a low signal-to-noise ratio.As regards the freshwater/seawater interface, this was, in all cases, accurately detected by the TDEM measurements alone. It is interesting to note that at the same depth, NMR measurements indicated a drastically increasing anomaly followed by the absence of water at greater depths. The latter can most likely be explained by the very low resistivity of the sea water, which is not taken into account by the existing NMR interpretation.     

Sur le comportement geochimique des elements de la lithosphere en fonction du temps

Résumé Les roches magmatiques sont considérées comme un mélange d'atomes dans une phase précristalline. Si l'on applique à la composition chimique de celles-ci la statistique mathématique, on voit apparaître des régularités qui forment un cadre souple dans lequel se produisent différentes variations. La diminution exponentielle des concentrations de magnesium en fonction du temps à travers tout le précambrien et le remplacement progressif de cet élément par l'aluminium donne le schéma de l'évolution.La classification dimensionelle des atomes permet de lier l'histoire des éléments majeurs de la lithosphère à celle des éléments mineurs et d'aborder ainsi de façon nouvelle les rapports qui existent entre les roches et les gîtes métallifères.

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Magmatic rocks are considered as an atomical mixture in a precristalline phase. If you apply to their chemical composition the mathematical statistic, regularities appear that shape a supple frame in which various compositions come forward.Exponential decrease of magnesium concentrations in relation with time throughout the Precambrian, and the progressive substitution of this element by aluminium give the scheme of evolution.Dimensional classification of atoms allows to link the history of lithosphere's major elements with that of minor elements and to approach in a new way the connexion between rocks and metalliferous deposits.

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Zusammenfassung Die magmatischen Gesteine werden in einer vorkristallinen Phase als Atommischungen betrachtet.Die auf ihren Chemismus angewandte mathematische Statistik enthüllt das Vorhandensein von Regelmäßigkeiten, welche die Veränderungen ihrer Zusammensetzungen abgrenzen.Die exponentielle Abnahme der Magnesiumkonzentrationen und das Ersetzen dieses Elementes durch Al, während des ganzen Vorkambriums, gibt ein Schema des Evolutionsprozesses.Eine Atomdurchmesserklassifikation gestattet, die Geschichte der Hauptelemente der Lithosphäre mit derjenigen der Spurenelemente zu verbinden und die Frage der Beziehungen zwischen den magmatischen Gesteinen und den Metallagerstätten auf neuere Weise zu behandeln.

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The July–August 2001 eruption of Mt. Etna (Sicily)

The July–August 2001 eruption of Mt. Etna stimulated widespread public and media interest, caused significant damage to tourist facilities, and for several days threatened the town of Nicolosi on the S flank of the volcano. Seven eruptive fissures were active, five on the S flank between 3,050 and 2,100 m altitude, and two on the NE flank between 3,080 and 2,600 m elevation. All produced lava flows over various periods during the eruption, the most voluminous of which reached a length of 6.9 km. Mineralogically, the 2001 lavas fall into two distinct groups, indicating that magma was supplied through two different and largely independent pathways, one extending laterally from the central conduit system through radial fissures, the other being a vertically ascending eccentric dike. Furthermore, one of the eccentric vents, at 2,570 m elevation, was the site of vigorous phreatomagmatic activity as the dike cut through a shallow aquifer, during both the initial and closing stages of the eruption. For 6 days the magma column feeding this vent was more or less effectively sealed from the aquifer, permitting powerful explosive and effusive magmatic activity. While the eruption was characterized by a highly dynamic evolution, complex interactions between some of the eruptive fissures, and changing eruptive styles, its total volume (~25×10 ⁶ m ³ of lava and 5–10×10 ⁶ m ³ of pyroclastics) was relatively small in comparison with other recent eruptions of Etna. Effusion rates were calculated on a daily basis and reached peaks of 14–16 m ³ s ^-1, while the average effusion rate at all fissures was about 11 m ³ s ^-1, which is not exceptionally high. The eruption showed a number of peculiar features, but none of these (except the contemporaneous lateral and eccentric activity) represented a significant deviation from Etna's eruptive behavior in the long term. However, the 2001 eruption could be but the first in a series of flank eruptions, some of which might be more voluminous and hazardous. Placed in a long-term context, the eruption confirms a distinct trend, initiated during the past 50 years, toward higher production rates and more frequent eruptions, which might bring Etna back to similar levels of activity as during the early to mid seventeenth century.     

Rapid morphological changes at the summit of an active volcano: reappraisal of the poorly documented 1964 eruption of Mount Etna (Italy)

While the eruptive record of Mount Etna is reasonably complete for the past 400 years, the activity of the early and late 1960s, which took place at the summit, is poorly documented in the scientific literature. From 1955 to 1971, the Central and Northeast Craters were the sites of long-lived mild Strombolian and effusive activity, and numerous brief episodes of vigorous eruptive activity, which led to repeated overflows of lava onto the external flanks of the volcano. A reconstruction of the sequence of the more important of these events based on research in largely obscure and nearly inaccessible sources permits a better understanding of the eruption dynamics and rough estimates of erupted volumes and of the changes to the morphology of the summit area. During the first half of 1964, the activity culminated in a series of highly dynamic events at the Central Crater including the opening of a fissure on the E flank of the central summit cone, lava fountains, voluminous tephra emission, prolonged strong activity with continuous lava overflows, and growth of large pyroclastic intracrater cones. Among the most notable processes during this eruption was the breaching of a section of the crater wall, which was caused by lateral pressure of lava ponding within the crater. Comparison with the apparently similar summit activity of 1999 allows us to state that (a) lava overflows from large pit craters at the summit are often accompanied by breaching of the crater walls, which represents a significant hazard to nearby observers, and that (b) eruptive activity in 1999 was much more complex and voluminous than in 1964. For 1960s standards however, the 1964 activity was the most important summit eruption in terms of intensity and output rates for about 100 years, causing profound changes to the summit morphology and obliterating definitively the former Central Crater.     

Geochemistry of the volcano-hydrothermal system of El Chichón Volcano, Chiapas, Mexico

 The 1982 eruption of El Chichón volcano ejected more than 1 km³ of anhydrite-bearing trachyandesite pyroclastic material to form a new 1-km-wide and 300-m-deep crater and uncovered the upper 500 m of an active volcano-hydrothermal system. Instead of the weak boiling-point temperature fumaroles of the former lava dome, a vigorously boiling crater spring now discharges  / 20 kg/s of Cl-rich (∼15 000 mg/kg) and sulphur-poor ( / 200 mg/kg of SO₄), almost neutral (pH up to 6.7) water with an isotopic composition close to that of subduction-type magmatic water (δD=–15‰, δ¹⁸O=+6.5‰). This spring, as well as numerous Cl-free boiling springs discharging a mixture of meteoric water with fumarolic condensates, feed the crater lake, which, compared with values in 1983, is now much more diluted (∼3000 mg/kg of Cl vs 24 030 mg/kg), less acidic (pH=2.6 vs 0.56) and contains much lower amounts of S ( / 200 mg/kg of SO₄, vs 3550 mg/kg) with δ³⁴S=0.5–4.2‰ (+17‰ in 1983). Agua Caliente thermal waters, on the southeast slope of the volcano, have an outflow rate of approximately 100 kg/s of 71  °C Na–Ca–Cl water and are five times more concentrated than before the eruption (B. R. Molina, unpublished data). Relative N₂, Ar and He gas concentrations suggest extensional tectonics for the El Chichón volcanic centre. The ³He/⁴He and ⁴He/²⁰Ne ratios in gases from the crater fumaroles (7.3R_a, 2560) and Agua Caliente hot springs (5.3R_a, 44) indicate a strong magmatic contribution. However, relative concentrations of reactive species are typical of equilibrium in a two-phase boiling aquifer. Sulphur and C isotopic data indicate highly reducing conditions within the system, probably associated with the presence of buried vegetation resulting from the 1982 eruption. All Cl-rich waters at El Chichón have a common source. This water has the appearence of a "partially matured" magmatic fluid: condensed magmatic vapour neutralized by interaction with fresh volcaniclastic deposits and depleted in S due to anhydrite precipitation. Shallow ground waters emerging around the volcano from the thick cover of fresh pumice deposits (Red waters) are Ca–SO₄–rich and have a negative oxygen isotopic shift, probably due to ongoing formation of clay at low temperatures. Received: 21 July 1997 / Accepted: 4 December 1997