Derivatives of silicic acids as model compounds for silicates

Silicon-29 chemical shifts of methyl, ethyl, chloro and trimethylsilyl derivatives of silicic acids are compared to those of silicic acid anions found in aqueous solutions. Although the chemical shifts of the silicate anions vary with pH and concentration, a good correlation is obtained for the chloro and alkoxi derivatives. The chemical shifts of the trimethylsilyl esters are of limited comparability to the data of the silicates only.     

The Early Palaeozoic Break-up of Northern Gondwana: Sedimentology, Physical Volcanology and Geochemistry of a Submarine Volcanic Complex in the Bavarian Facies Association, Saxothuringian Basin, Germany

Ordovician volcano-sedimentary successions of the Bavarian facies association in the Saxothuringian basin record the continental rift phase of the separation of the Saxothuringian Terrane from Gondwana. An 80 m succession from the Vogtendorf beds and Randschiefer Series (Arenig-Middle Ordovician), exposed along the northern margin of the Münchberg Gneiss Massif in northeast Bavaria, were subjected to a study of their sedimentology, physical volcanology and geochemistry. The Randschiefer series previously has been interpreted as lavas, tuffs, sandstones and turbidites, but the studied Ordovician units include four main lithological associations: mature sandstones and slates, pillowed alkali-basalts and derivative mass flow deposits, trachyandesitic lavas and submarine pyroclastic flow deposits interbedded with turbidites. Eight lithofacies have been distinguished based on relict sedimentary structures and textures, which indicate deposition on a continental shelf below wave base. The explosive phase that generated the pyroclastic succession was associated with the intrusion of dykes and sills, and was succeeded by the eruption of pillowed basalts. Debris flow deposits overlie the basalts. Ordovician volcanism in this region, therefore, alternated between effusive and explosive phases of submarine intermediate to mafic volcanism.

Based on geochemical data, the volcanic and pyroclastic rocks are classified as basalts and trachyandesites. According to their geochemical characteristics, especially to their variable concentrations of incompatible elements such as the High Field Strength Elements (HFSE), they can be divided into three groups. Group I, which is formed by massive lavas at the base of the succession, has extraordinarily high contents of HFSE. The magmas of this group were probably derived from a mantle source in the garnet stability field by low (ca. 1%) degrees of partial melting and subsequent fractionation. Group II, which comprises the pillow lavas at the top of the sequence, displays moderate enrichment of HFSE. This can be explained by a slightly higher degree of melting (ca. 1.6%) for the primary magma. Group I and II melts fractionated from their parental magmas in different magma chambers. The eruption centres of Groups I and II, therefore, cannot be the same, and the volcanic rocks must have originated from different vents. The sills and pyroclastic flow deposits of Group III stem at least partly from the same source as Group I. Rocks of Group I most likely mixed together with Group II components during the formation of the Group III flows, which became hybridised during eruption, transportation and emplacement.

The sedimentological and geochemical data best support a rift as the tectonic setting of this volcanism, analogous to modern continental rift zones. Hence, the rift-associated volcanic activity preserved in the Vogtendorf beds and Randschiefer Series represents an early Ordovician stage of rift volcanism when the separation of the Saxothuringian Terrane from Gondwana had just commenced.     

Volcanic gases, black smokers, and the great oxidation event

This paper proposes that gradual changes in the composition of volatiles that have been added to the atmosphere-ocean system are responsible for the Great Oxidation Event (G.O.E.) ca. 2.3 Ga. Before ca. 2.3 Ga, the composition of these volatiles was probably such that 20% of the carbon gases could be reduced to organic matter and all of the sulfur gases could be reduced to pyrite. Since 2.3 Ga, the composition of these volatiles has been such that 20% of the carbon gases could be reduced to organic matter, but only a fraction of the sulfur gases could be reduced to pyrite. This change led to the oxygenation of the atmosphere and to a large increase in the SO₄⁻² concentration of seawater. A considerable body of observational data supports these proposals.     

Modelling of submarine landslides of rock and soil

Landslides and their hydraulic effects are studied by numerical and experimental means. A two-dimensional model based on Navier–Stokes equations has been developed considering the sediments and water as a mixture. A Bingham law written in effective stress and an erosion–diffusion law at the water–sediment interface have been introduced into the model. Laboratory experiments consisting in the sliding of a block, a coarse gravel and a fine sand have been carried out. The results are compared with the numerical model. These experiments show the importance of sediment rheology and interstitial pressure in slide velocity and water wave generation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Compactification and cosmic string phenomenology

A U(1) model of gravitational, Higgs and, gauge fields is analysed. Two phases of the system are considered. In the case with broken symmetry we have the Nielsen-Olesen configuration. In the symmetric phase we find a space-time metric S² × E₁². This appears in full analogy to the Freund-Rubin compactification due to an antisymmeric tensor field. The connection of these structures with cosmic string phenomenology is analysed.     

Simulation of the 2004 tsunami of Les Saintes in Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles) using new source constraints

Natural Hazards - The arc of the Lesser Antilles is associated with a significant tectonic activity due to the subduction of the Atlantic oceanic plate under the Caribbean plate. Earthquakes in...