In situ tensile fracture toughness of surficial cohesive marine sediments

This study reports the first in situ measurements of tensile fracture toughness, K _IC, of soft, surficial, cohesive marine sediments. A newly developed probe continuously measures the stress required to cause tensile failure in sediments to depths of up to 1 m. Probe measurements are in agreement with standard laboratory methods of K _IC measurements in both potter’s clay and natural sediments. The data comprise in situ depth profiles from three field sites in Nova Scotia, Canada. Measured K _IC at two muddy sites (median grain size of 23–50 μm) range from near zero at the sediment surface to >1,800 Pa m^1/2 at 0.2 m depth. These profiles also appear to identify the bioturbated/mixed depth. K _IC for a sandy site (>90% sand) is an order of magnitude lower than for the muddy sediments, and reflects the lack of cohesion/adhesion. A comparison of K _IC, median grain size, and porosity in muddy sediments indicates that consolidation increases fracture strength, whereas inclusion of sand causes weakening; thus, sand-bearing layers can be easily identified in K _IC profiles. K _IC and vane-measured shear strength correlate strongly, which suggests that the vane measurements should perhaps be interpreted as shear fracture toughness, rather than shear strength. Comparison of in situ probe-measured values with K _IC of soils and gelatin shows that sediments have a K _IC range intermediate between denser compacted soils and softer, elastic gelatin.     

Paleomagnetism of early paleozoic geological complexes of Mongolia

Most of the studied Early Phanerozoic rocks of West Mongolia have undergone repeated remagnetization. Secondary magnetization components with normal and reversed polarity are isolated. The magnetization components with normal polarity are associated with the Mesozoic remagnetization of the rocks. The components with reversed polarity were probably formed during the Carboniferous–Permian superchron of reversed polarity. The analysis of the distribution of the reversed-polarity magnetization component in the structure of Mongolia permits some zonation. Within Mongolia, the regions with insignificant post- Permian deformations and complicated post-Permian deformations are identified; also the area of rotations of large geological blocks about the horizontal axis (Khan-Khukhei Ridge) is distinguished. It is hypothesized that in the Ordovician rocks of West Mongolia, the magnetization component that is close to primary was identified. If this is the case, the paleolatitude calculated from this magnetization direction corresponds to the interval 14°–17°–20° (minimal–mean–maximal) of probably northern latitude     

Mineralogy of gold in the Elshitsa massive sulphide deposit, Sredna Gora zone, Bulgaria

The Elshitsa volcanic hosted massive sulphide deposit occurs in the central part of the Srena Gora metallogenic zone in Bulgaria. The gold-bearing massive sulphide mineralization is considered to be the product of an island arc volcano-plutonic process and hydrothermal activity that took place during the Late Cretaceous. In addition to the major gold-hosted opaque minerals such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena there are minor phases of tennantite, goldfieldite, Se-bearing aikinite, native silver and bornite in the massive sulphide lenses and stringer zones. Most of the sulphide minerals are Se-bearing. All of the six mineral assemblages that were deposited during the pyrite and copper-pyrite stages of mineralization are gold-bearing. The gold tenor as a rule is less than 1 g/t. Native gold and electrum occur as blebs or intergranular particles in the sulphide minerals. Gold in the early massive pyrite is of submicroscopic type (< 0,1 μm) and of colloidal ori-gin. Pyrite deformation and recrystallization in the temperature range 250°–160 °C has led to Au and Ag migration to cracks and grain boundaries of the sulphide minerals. As a result of these process the native gold and electrum grain size increases from submicroscopic (< 0,1 μm) in the early colloform pyrite to microscopic (0,1–100 μm) and macroscopic (> 100 μm) in the late gold-sulphide assemblages. The electrum fineness in 41 individually studied grains varies between 780 and 992‰ with a mean of 895‰. Native silver was found in association with bornite. Cu, Te, Sb and Bi are the most common trace-elements in gold and electrum. The Cu-Zn-Pb association is most important as a Au-Ag-carrier. A model for gold behaviour during sulphide deformation is proposed involving coarsening of gold grain size from the earlier to the later sulphide mineral assemblages. Received: 4 December 1995 / Accepted: 23 September 1996     

Deconvolution of teleseismic recordings for mantle structure

Delineation of detailed mantle structure frequently requires the separation of source signature and structural response from seismograms recorded at teleseismic distances. This deconvolution problem can be posed in a log-spectral domain where the operation of time-domain convolution is reduced to an additive form. The introduction of multiple events recorded at many stations leads to a system of consistency equations that must be honoured by both the source time functions and the impulse responses associated with propagation paths between sources and receivers. The system is inherently singular, and stabilization is accomplished through the supply of an initial estimate of the source time function. Although alternative choices exist, an effective estimate is derived from the eigenimage associated with the largest eigenvalue in a singular-value decomposition of the suite of aligned seismograms corresponding to a given event. The relation of the deconvolution scheme to simultaneous least-squares deconvolution is examined. Application of the methodology to broadband teleseismic P waveforms recorded on the Canadian National Seismograph Network demonstrates the retrieval of effective Green's functions including secondary phases associated with upper-mantle structure.     

Climate,environment, and humans in North America’s Great Basin during the Younger Dryas, 12,900–11,600 calendar years ago

Global climate change associated with the onset of the Younger Dryas chronozone affected different regions of the northern hemisphere in different ways. In the Great Basin of western North America, the effect was positive for human populations. Relatively cool temperatures causing effectively wetter conditions filled some pluvial basins with shallow but permanent lakes and other basins with well-watered marshes or meadows. Vegetation communities dominated by sagebrush and grasses promoted healthy and diverse animal populations. Ten archaeological sites from the region have been dated to the Younger Dryas chronozone. Evidence from these sites indicates that Paleoindians with skull shapes and mitochondrial DNA similar to modern western North American Indians occupied the region. These early humans produced a material culture characterized predominantly by large stemmed bifacial points, although one site contained a small fluted point. Curated tool forms and technological activities represented in analyzed lithic assemblages suggest a highly mobile settlement strategy, and redundant short-term occupations of sites indicate frequent and long-distance residential moves across territories spanning distances of up to 400 km. Paleoindian subsistence pursuits focused on artiodactyls (primarily mule deer, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn antelope), leporids (chiefly jackrabbits), birds (sage grouse and waterfowl), insects (grasshoppers), and possibly fish. Easy-to-process plants like cactus pads were also eaten, but small seeds do not seem to have been an important part of Great Basin human diets until long after the Younger Dryas, closer to 9500 cal BP. The Great Basin record contains no evidence for natural catastrophe at the onset of the chronozone. Instead, the Younger Dryas appears to have been among the best of times for human foragers in this region of North America.     

A Nd- and O-isotope study of the REE-rich peralkaline Strange Lake granite: implications for Mesoproterozoic A-type magmatism in the Core Zone (NE-Canada)

It is well established that A-type granites enriched in high field strength elements, such as Zr, Nb and the REE, form in anorogenic tectonic settings. The sources of these elements and the processes controlling their unusual enrichment, however, are still debated. They are addressed here using neodymium and oxygen isotope analyses of samples from the 1.24 Ga Strange Lake pluton in the Paleoproterozoic Core Zone of Québec-Labrador, an A-type granitic body characterized by hyper-enrichment in the REE, Zr, and Nb. Age-corrected εNd values for bulk rock samples and sodic amphiboles (mainly arfvedsonite) from the pluton range from ?0.6 to ?5.7, and ?0.3 to ?5.3, respectively. The εNd values for the Napeu Kainiut quartz monzonite, which hosts the pluton, range from ?4.8 to ?8.1. The ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios of the suite and the host quartz monzonite range from 0.0967 to 0.1659, large variations that can be explained by in situ fractionation of early LREE-minerals (Strange Lake), and late hydrothermal HREE remobilization. Oxygen isotope analyses of quartz of both Strange Lake and the host yielded δ¹⁸O values between +8.2 and +9.1, which are considerably higher than the mantle value of 5.7 ± 0.2‰. Bulk rock oxygen isotope analyses of biotite-gneisses in the vicinity of the Strange Lake pluton yielded δ¹⁸O values of 6.3, 8.6 and 9.6‰. The negative εNd values and positive δ¹⁸O values of the Strange Lake and Napeu Kainiut samples indicate that both magmas experienced considerable crustal contamination. The extent of this contamination was estimated, assuming that the contaminants were sedimentary-derived rocks from the underlying Archean Mistinibi (para-) gneiss complex, which is characterized by low εNd and high δ¹⁸O values. Mixing of 5–15% of a gneiss, having an εNd value of ?15 and a δ¹⁸O value of +11, with a moderately enriched mantle source (εNd = +0.9, δ¹⁸O = +6.3) would produce values similar to those obtained for the Strange Lake granites. Based on analogies between the Nain Plutonic Suite and the Gardar alkaline igneous province (SW-Greenland), we conclude that the Strange Lake pluton and associated REE-mineralized anorogenic bodies formed from a combination of subduction-induced fertilization of the sublithospheric mantle, crustal extension and in situ magma evolution.     

Redefinition of Lemanskiite: New Mineralogical Data,Crystal Structure,and Revised Formula NaCaCu5(AsO4)4Cl · 3H2O

Geology of Ore Deposits - The crystal structure of lemanskiite is determined for the first time (R = 0.019) and the mineral is redefined. Its chemical formula, crystal system, space group and...     

青藏高原东缘晚新生代成都盆地物源分析与水系演化

成都盆地位于青藏高原东缘,夹于龙门山与龙泉山之间,盆地中充填了3.6Ma以来的大邑砾岩、雅安砾石层和晚更新世—全新世砾石层,其物源均来源于盆地西侧的龙门山,具横向水系和单向充填的特征。本次以物源区分析作为切入点,以岷江和青衣江水系为重点,采用砾岩成分分析、砂岩岩屑成分分析、重矿物分析和砾石的地球化学分析等基本方法,开展青藏高原东缘晚新生代以来的古水系重建工作,研究结果表明,成都盆地主要有两个物源区,其中成都盆地北部的都江堰街子场、崇州白塔山、大邑白岩沟、大邑氮肥厂、彭州丁家湾、彭州葛仙山等剖面中的砾石层在碎屑成分、重矿物和花岗岩砾石的地球化学成分等方面相似,应为古岷江的产物,而其与现代岷江在砾岩成分和重矿物特征等方面的差异性则表明古岷江可能存在改道的现象;成都盆地南部的庙坡剖面和熊坡东剖面中的砾石层在碎屑成分、重矿物和花岗岩砾石的地球化学成分等方面相似,应为古青衣江的产物,但其流向却与现代青衣江的流向不同,表明熊坡背斜是在大邑砾岩沉积之后隆起的,它的隆起迫使古青衣江改道。     

On the transport of small river run off by an alongshore baroclinic sea current

A numerical simulation has been undertaken to study the process of the transport of small river runoff by alongshore baroclinic sea currents. The study is based on the implementation of the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) under the conditions of a circular stratified basin whose surface is exposed to a transient tangential wind stress to form an alongshore baroclinic current. A baroclinic current of the downwelling type (in the Northern Hemisphere directed to the left to a sea-viewing observer) was shown to provide the carrying out of the river discharge from estuary’s vicinity more effectively than that of the upwelling type (in the Northern Hemisphere directed to the right to a sea-viewing observer).     

A field test of a linear stability model for crescentic bars

A morphodynamical linear stability analysis is used to predict the natural development of crescentic bed patterns and rip channels. The purpose is to investigate whether this technique, which is useful for understanding the physics of emerging bed-forms, can be used to make quantitative predictions in the field, which may then be of use for coastal engineers.