Clay Minerals in Basalt Sills from the Sediment Cover,East Pacific Rise

Clay minerals in basalt sills from the northern East Pacific Rise, covered by Upper Pleistocene clayey–sandy–silty sediments (turbidites, hemipelagites, and diatom oozes) sampled from DSDP Holes 477, 478, and 481A, were studied by X-ray methods based on the modeling of diffraction patterns. Trioctahedral smectites formed in thin (0.1–0.5 and 1.8–4 m) fissured sills that are well permeable for water delivered from the water-saturated host sediments heated by the sills. Smectites in basalts are found in the interstices (20–40 vol % in the rock and up to 50–80 vol % in hyalobasalts). They replace olivine and fill cracks and vesicles. Plagioclase and clinopyroxene are generally unaltered. The structure of smectites is characterized by different height of layers depending on the composition of cations in the interlayers and the degree of their hydration. The different-height layers either make up individual smectite phases or alternate in different proportions and with a high degree of segregation in the mixed-layer structures. Under conditions of a prolonged cooling, thick (43 m) sills are distinguished from the thin varieties by the formation of trioctahedral minerals (smectite–chlorite, chlorite, defective chlorite, and talc). They are found mainly in the interstices that make up 3–7 vol % of the rock.     

Pb isotope composition of granitoids from the Hercynides of the Central Asian orogenic Belt: Evidence for growth of the juvenile crust

Based on study of the Middle Paleozoic (Hercynian) structures of the Central Asian Fold Belt located in Southwest Mongolia, the problem of the sources of juvenile crust growth registered in the Pb isotope composition of postaccretional granitoids is considered. Our study shows that the Pb isotope system of Late Paleozoic granitoids from the Hercynides of the Central Asian Fold Belt provides evidence for the juvenile nature of the continental crust in this region. The evolution of the Pb isotope composition in the Hercynides of Mongolia corresponds to the model parameter μ = 9.25, according to the Stacey–Kramers twostage model. The juvenile source of the Hercynian crust should be characterized by a lower μ value. In addition, according to the Stacey–Kramers two-stage model, the Th/U value in this crust is 3.58.     

Aeolian sediment transport following wildfire in sagebrush steppe

Wind erosion of soil is an appreciable but unstudied event following fires in cold desert. We examined aeolian transport of sediment for 1 year following fire in semi-arid shrub steppe on loess soils in southern Idaho, USA. Sediment collectors were used to determine horizontal mass transport of soil and saltation sensors and anemometers were used to determine saltation activity (fraction of time having saltation) and threshold wind speed in an area burned in August and an unburned control site. Horizontal mass transport (per 30-day period) was negligible in the unburned area, but in the burned area was 5.40 kg m^?1 in October and decreased to 2.80 kg m^?1 in November and 0.32 kg m^?1 in December. Saltation activity was high enough to determine threshold wind speeds only in the burn site during fall, when values ranged from 10.0 to 10.6 m s^?1. Sediment flux and saltation activity in the burned site became much less pronounced following the emergence of herbaceous vegetation in the spring. Post-fire sediment flux in the shrub steppe we examined was of greater magnitude but shorter duration than post-fire fluxes in warm deserts or sandier regions that experience more frequent wind erosion.