A METHOD OF EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS OF POSSIBLE COSMIC PARTICLES FROM MANGANESE NODULES

A method is described for extracting magnetic micron-size particles from manganese nodules, and for studying the selected particles by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe and X-ray diffraction.     

Accidents longitudinaux dans la Molasse rouge auct. et dans son substratum sur le versant oriental du Salève (Haute-Savoie, France)

A detailed mapping of the Salève Mountains reveals tectonically important new Molasse rouge auct. outcrops on the NW side of the Petit Salève and on the SE flank of the Grand Salève. On the SE flank the various dips indicate faults, kinks and folds that can be followed up to 5 km long and parallel to the axis of the chain and also affecting the Cretaceous substratum. This demonstrate a more complex connection of the eastern flank of the Salève Mountains with the adjacent plateau des Bornes than was previously supposed.     

Geology and biostratigraphy of the Jurassic and lower cretaceous series to the north of the Lhasa Block (Tibet,China)

Abstract

— The Lhasa Block (s.l.) is bounded to the South by the Tertiary Yarlung Zangbo suture zone and to the North by the terminal Jurassic/earliest Cretaceous Bangong Nu Jiang suture zone. Several tectonostratigraphic units have been recognized in the central-northern part of the Lhasa Block. These are from bottom to top : 1) a thick turbiditic series with a few lenses of allodapic limestones which have yielded an Aalenian — Bajocian foraminiferal assemblage. This series is tectonieally overlain by the Donqiao ophiolite; 2) the continental to shallow marine late Malm to lowermost Cretaceous Zigetang Formation which disconformably overlies the Donqiao ophiolite and 3) continental red detrital rocks or marine Early/Late Aptian boundary to Early Albian foraminifera-rich bedded limestones in which some volcanic rocks are locally interbedded.

We discuss the palaeogeographical distribution and biostratigraphical meaning of some foraminifera (Gutnicella cayeuxi (LUCAS), Palorbitolina fen<ícu/o?(Bl .LMKNBACIl), Praeorbitolina cormyi SCHROEDER and Palor-bilolmoides hedini CHREREHI and ScilKOKDK.lt) and their bearing on the radiometric age of the Aptian-Albian boundary.     

De la distribution des diaclases dans des flexures à la chronologie tectonique : exemples dans le Plateau du Colorado (Utah-Arizona-Nouveau Mexique,U.S.A.)

Résumé

L’établissement de la chronologie relative de systèmes de diaclases ou joints est difficile à établir, surtout si les conditions d’observation ne permettent pas d’analyser de très nombreux recoupements de joints. On peut toutefois situer dans le temps, grâce à une étude principalement géométrique, la formation de familles de joints affectant des structures flexurées d’âge connu.

Les flexures monoclinales, d’âge laramien, sont les structures les plus caractéristiques du Plateau du Colorado. Les multiples systèmes de joints qui les affectent ont pour orientations : N000° à N020°, NO40°, N080°-N090°, Ν110^ο-Ν120°. N140°-N150° et Ν170°. L’étude des relations géométriques entre ces joints et les flexures, complétée par des analyses qualitatives d’intersection des joints et de rugosité de surface, permettent la classification suivante : 1) des joints anté-laramiens N080°-N090° puis N000° et Ν150°, 2) des joints N110° et N020° à N040 contemporains de la compression laramienne, 3) des joints post-laramiens Ν170° dus aux mécanismes extensifs Basin & Range.

A partir de cette étude, plusieurs idées plus générales sur la structuration des zones peu déformées sont proposées. La chronologie de la facturation ainsi définie peut également être appliquée aux zones tabulaires du Plateau du Colorado.     

Tectonic stress regimes,rift extension and transform motion: the South Iceland Seismic Zone

Abstract

The South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) is located at the junction of three rift segments in southwestern Iceland. The presence of different types of faulting and of differently orientated subgroups in Upper Pliocene to Holocene formations indicate polyphase tectonism. We measured 736 minor faults at 25 sites. Two types of relationships between stress regimes are represented. The first type, named IDS (inhomogeneous data set), is characterized by the presence of two types of fault mechanisms, normal and strike-slip, consistent with a single direction of extension. The second type, named OSR (opposite stress regimes), is characterized by the presence of perpendicular directions of extensions for a single type (normal or strike-slip) of faulting. Because of contradictory chronological criteria, we infer that the OSR alternated during the brittle tectonic activity of the SISZ. Two stress regimes, primary and secondary, are characterized by directions of extension NW-SE and NE-SW, respectively. The general fracture pattern characterized for the primary stress regime in the SISZ includes NNE-SSW trending right-lateral strike-slip faults, conjugate ENE-WSW trending left-lateral faults and NE-SW normal faults. This distribution is quite consistent with a Riedel- type model of fault pattern in a left-lateral shear zone. The stress states characterized based on analysis of both the earthquake focal mechanisms and the recent faulting sow great similarity in terms of stress directions. The main difference is the larger ratio of strike-slip motions representing 71% of the total population in the case of earthquake focal mechanisms, whereas for the whole set of faults the proportion of strike-slip faulting was 50 %. We explain that a témpora evolution of the tectonic regime in the SISZ region, accompanied by a gradual change in stress field, starts with rift-type pure extension and progressively leads to development of preferentially strike-slip structures in the kinematic context of left- lateral transform motion. © Elsevier, Paris     

Recent climatic trends in the tropical Atlantic

A homogeneous monthly data set of sea surface temperature (SST) and pseudo wind stress based on in situ observations is used to investigate the climatic trends over the tropical Atlantic during the last five decades (1964–2012). After a decrease of SST by about 1 °C during 1964–1975, most apparent in the northern tropical region, the entire tropical basin warmed up. That warming was the most substantial (>1 °C) in the eastern tropical ocean and in the longitudinal band of the intertropical convergence zone. Surprisingly, the trade wind system also strengthened over the peirod 1964–2012. Complementary information extracted from other observational data sources confirms the simultaneity of SST warming and the strengthening of the surface winds. Examining data sets of surface heat flux during the last few decades for the same region, we find that the SST warming was not a consequence of atmospheric heat flux forcing. Conversely, we suggest that long-term SST warming drives changes in atmosphere parameters at the sea surface, most notably an increase in latent heat flux, and that an acceleration of the hydrological cycle induces a strengthening of the trade winds and an acceleration of the Hadley circulation. These trends are also accompanied by rising sea levels and upper ocean heat content over similar multi-decadal time scales in the tropical Atlantic. Though more work is needed to fully understand these long term trends, especially what happens from the mid-1970’s, it is likely that changes in ocean circulation involving some combination of the Atlantic meridional overtuning circulation and the subtropical cells are required to explain the observations.     

Phillipsite formation in nephelinitic rocks in response to hydrothermal alteration at Mount Etinde,Cameroon

Fresh nephelinitic rocks and hydrothermally altered rocks at Mount Etinde (Cameroon Volcanic Line, West Africa) have been studied by combined whole rock geochemistry (ICP-MS), mineralogy and mineral chemistry (SEM-EDS, WDS, XRD) techniques. The nephelinites have feldspathoids, clinopyroxene, perovskite and titanomagnetite as the principal minerals in the mode with subsidiary apatite and sphene. The mineralogy of their hydrothermally altered counterparts includes phillipsite, calcite and analcime which are secondary phases developed in response to hydrothermal fluid events. Correspondingly, the bulk rock geochemical data show elevated SiO₂, CaO, Na₂O and K₂O concentrations with increasing alteration and Al₂O₃ and Fe₂O₃ depletion while MgO, MnO and TiO₂ concentrations are largely unaffected. The nephelinites also have high concentrations of LILLE, HFSE and REE and upon hydrothermal alteration they show an enrichment of LREE and MREE over HREE. Phillipsite is the principal alteration mineral in the rocks and it occurs along cracks, vesicles and also forms alteromorphs after feldspathoids. The Ce content of these categories of phillipsite varies. Phillipsite along cracks is richer in Ce while phillipsite associated with calcite has lower Ce concentration and the phillipsite alteromorphs very little or no Ce. Various stages of fluid circulation are proposed hereby to explain the variations in phillipsite generation and composition.     

Fluid-assisted granulite metamorphism: A continental journey

Lower crustal granulites, which constitute the base of all continents, belong to two series: high-pressure granulites generated by crustal thickening (subduction) and (ultra)high-temperature granulites associated with crustal extension. Fluid inclusions and metasomatic features indicate that the latter were metamorphosed in the presence of low-water activity fluids (high-density CO₂ and brines), which have invaded the lower crust at peak metamorphic conditions (fluid-assisted granulite metamorphism). High-pressure and (ultra)high-temperature granulites commonly occur along elongated paired belts. They were formed, from the early Proterozoic onwards, during a small number of active periods lasting a few hundreds of m.y. These periods were separated from each other by longer periods of stability. Each period ended with the formation of a supercontinent whose amalgamation coincided with low- to medium pressure (ultra)high-temperature granulite metamorphism, immediately before continental break-up. It is proposed that large quantities of mantle-derived CO₂ stored in the lower crust at the final stage of supercontinent amalgamation, are released into the hydro- and atmosphere during breakup of the supercontinent. Fluid-assisted granulite metamorphism, therefore, appears to be an important mechanism for transferring deep mantle fluids towards the Earth's surface. Possible consequences were, for example, the sudden end of Proterozoic glaciations, as well as the post-Cambrian explosion of life.     

Birkhoff's normalization

Birkhoff's normalizing canonical transformation at an equilibrium of elliptic type with no internal resonance can be built explicitly and recursively, without partial inversions or substitutions, by means of Lie transforms.Invariant sections and ordinary families of periodic orbits for truncated normalized systems are analyzed in detail.     

Connexion porphyre cuprifère–épithermaux de type low-sulfidation : analyse structurale et représentation 3D du secteur de Bolcana,monts Apuseni,Roumanie

The AuPbZn low-sulfidation epithermal ore deposits of Troita, Trestia, and Magura (Apuseni Mountains, Romania) are spatially related to the Bolcana Cu-porphyry. In an attempt to demonstrate the connection between these mineralizations, a geometric study was made based on structural measurements and GOCAD^© geomodeller 3D representation of deposits. This study indicates that a specific spatial distribution of the different Au and PbZn veins of the epithermal deposits occurs around the Cu-porphyry, which cannot result from telescoped systems. To cite this article: O. Cardon et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).