Neogene and quaternary volcanism in Eastern Azerbaijan (Iran): some K-Ar age determinations and geodynamic implications

The volcano Savalan, located in Eastern Azerbaijan, is a big structure with andesitic to rhyodacitic products long considered to be Quaternary. Four K/Ar whole-rock age determinations on vulcanites point, however, to a long volcanic history, starting at least in the Upper Miocene. Three K/Ar absolute ages of volcanites erupted from other centers in the same province also provide evidence of calc-alkaline activity since Middle Miocene.Calc-alkaline activity of Miocene and later periods is well known in other parts of central-western Iran. It can be chronologically correlated with the rifting and oceanfloor spreading in the Red Sea, which began in the Miocene, and with attendant oceanic-crust subduction of the Arabian plate underneath the Iranian plate. The present-day halt in calc-alkaline magmatism may be explained by collision of the Arabian and Iranian continental masses, with limited underthrusting of Arabian continental crust. It is also suggested that the recent onset of alkali basalt volcanism in several districts of central and western Iran is related to the relaxation of compressional stresses following migration of deformation to the south-western part of the continental-crust prism below the Zagros belt facing the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamian trough edge.

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Zusammenfassung Vier K/Ar Altersbestimmungen von Vulkaniten verschiedener Bildungen des Savalan Vulkans (Ost-Azerbaijan, Iran), der eine große Struktur mit andesitischen bis riodazitischen Produkten ist, und der für lange Zeit als Quaternär betrachtet worden ist, lassen auf eine lange vulkanische Geschichte schließen, die mindestens im oberen Miozän begann. K/Ar Altersbestimmungen von drei Vulkanit-Proben aus anderen Orten derselben Provinz weisen auch kalk-alkaline Aktivität ab Mittel-Miozän auf. Die Aktivität von diesem und späteren Alter, die in anderen Teilen Zentral- und WestIrans bekannt ist, kann kronologisch mit dem Rifting und Ocean-floor spreading im Roten Meer, die im Miozän begannen, und mit der zusammenhängenden ozeanischen Krust-Subduktion der Arabischen Platte unter die Iranische Platte, verbunden werden. Die Kollision der Arabischen und Iranischen Kontinentalmassen mit beschränkter Unterschiebung der Arabischen Kontinentalkruste kann die gegenwärtige Unterbrechung im kalk-alkalinen Magmatismus erklären. Es wird auch vorgeschlagen, daß der jüngste Ansatz vom alkali-basaltischen Vulkanismus in vielen Gebieten Zentral- und WestIrans auf die Entspannung von Stressen zurückzuführen ist, nach Verschiebung der Deformationen zum südwestlichen Teil des kontinentalen Krust-blocks unter die ZagrosKette gegenüber des Persischen Golfs und der Mesopotamischen Tiefebene.

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Résumé Quatre échatillons de coulées laviques appartenant à différentes unités du cortège magmatique du volcan Savalan (Azerbaijan oriental, Iran) ont été daté par la méthode K/Ar sur roche totale. Ces nouvelles données radiochronologiques permettent de définir pour le Savalan (depuis longtemps estimé Quaternaire) une activité volcanique calealcaline qui a commencé au moins pendant le Miocène supérieur. Les âges (K/Ar) de trois échatillons de volcanites d'autres zones dans le même district montrent aussi la présence d'une activité cale-alcaline à partir du Miocène moyen. Ce volcanism, comme le suivant, remarqué dans les autres régions de l'Iran central et occidental, permet d'établir des relations chronologiques avec l'ouverture du rift de la Mer Rouge (qui l'on fait remonter au Miocène) et avec la subduction concomittante du fond océanique de la plaque arabique sous la plaque iranienne. La collision du bloc arabique avec le bloc iranien, suivie du sous-charriage, à un degré limité, de la croûte continentale arabique, pourrait expliquer l'actual arrêt du magmatisme cale-alcalin.De plus, le récent début du volcanisme basique alcalin dans beaucoup de zones centrales et occidentales de l'Iran, permettrait des corrélations avec le relâchement des forces de compression à la suite du déplacement de la déformation vers la partie sud-occidentale du prisme de croûte continentale sous la chaîne du Zagros qui donne sur les Golfe Persique et la dépression mésopotamienne.

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Miocene and pliocene volcanic rocks of the addis ababa-debra berhan area (ethiopia). Geo-petrographic and radiometric study

North and south of the long basaltic range running from Addis Ababa to Debra Berhan (Ethiopia) there are large ignimbritic plateaux which are very similar both morphologically and lithologically, and which are considered to be stratigraphically equivalent by previous researchers. Accurate geological reconstructions and many radiometric age determinations have allowed these plateaux to be distinguished into two distinct ignimbritic formations. The first corresponds to the most recent rocks (Miocene) of the « Alaji Series », and the second to the Pliocene « Balchi Series ». The two formations are separated from one another by basalts attributable to the « Termaber » central-type volcanism taking place in the Addis Ababa-Debra Berhan area more recently than in other parts of the Ethiopian plateau.     

La diffusione delle acque Ioniche nel Tirreno attraverso lo Stretto di Messina

Riassunto Coi dati rilevati nel Settembre 1924 dalla Mario Bianco a Nord dello Stretto di Messina si determinano i coefficienti di diffusione turbolenta, longitudinale e trasversale, per gli strati superficiali della corrente scendente convogliata dallo Stretto medesimo: ottenendo valori in buon accordo con quelli calcolati da altri AA. per altre correnti marine. Inoltre si forniscono elementi sull'estensione per diffusione in profondità delle acque ioniche penetrate nel Tirreno.

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Summary Using the data gathered by the ship Mario Bianco during September 1924 the Authors make an attempt to calculate the longitudinal and lateral eddy-diffusion for the current north of the Messina-strait: the resulting coefficients agree well with the already known values. Further, the headlines of the diffusion of the Ionian waters in the Thyrrenian Sea are inferred and discussed.

     

Un nuovo tipo di elettrometro

Riassunto Si descrive un semplice elettrometro a valvola, alimentato da una sola batteria da 1.5 volt, nel quale la valvola viene usata ad elettrodi invertiti con polarizzazione automatica realizzata mediante diverse resistenze catodiche, conseguendo sensibilità diverse adatte alle misure di elettricità atmosferica.

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Summary The Authors describe a very simple valve-electrometer, operating with a dry-battery of 1.5 volts only. The valve is used with inverted electrodes, while different cathode-resistances assure the automatic polarization. In this manner all needed sensivities occurring in atmospheric electricity can be obtained.

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Comunicazione presentata il 16 Aprile 1955 alla Terza Assemblea Generale dellaSocietà Italiana di Geofisica e Meteorologia (Genova, 15–17 Aprile 1955).     

Decadal-scale variations of water mass properties in the deep Weddell Sea

Data from cruises between 1989 and 2003 with FS Polarstern were used to construct section-wide potential temperature and salinity time series of the main water masses in the Weddell Gyre. In tandem with these CTD data, two time series between 1989 and 1995 are presented from moored instruments in the central Weddell Sea. The regional and methodological consistency of the dataset allows us to quantify variations which are not visible in less homogeneous datasets. The data reveal significant temperature and salinity variations of the Warm Deep Water and the Weddell Sea Bottom Water on a decadal time scale. The longest time series were obtained at the prime meridian. Here warming is observed in the Warm Deep Water from 1992 to 1998 followed by cooling. In the Weddell Sea proper, measurements of instruments moored in the Weddell Sea Bottom Water layer recorded a temperature increase over 6 years at a rate of 0.01 °C a^–1. After the mooring period, CTD casts in 1998 point to a weakening of the trend. The warming trend in the bottom water occurs over most of the Weddell Sea, as detected in the additional CTD surveys. The variations are close to the detection level in the voluminous Weddell Sea Deep Water. The initial warming trend of the Warm Deep Water is consistent with warming trends reported in literature of subsurface waters of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The reversal of the trend in the Weddell Sea seems to be related to variations of the atmospheric conditions which can affect both the intrusion of Circumpolar Deep Water from the north and the circulation of the Weddell Gyre. Because the Warm Deep Water is the major source water for the formation of deep and bottom water in the Weddell Sea, it is suggested that its increase in temperature and salinity is likely to at least partly cause the variations which were observed in the bottom water.Responsible Editor: Jörg-Olaf Wolff     

Seismic Anisotropy Observations in the Mexicali Valley,Baja California,México

A study of seismic anisotropy was performed using data from earthquakes of the Mexicali Valley. The investigated region encompasses the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field (CPGF), one of the most important fields in the world. The results showed that at most of our stations the average polarization directions of the fast S waves range from N14°W to N17°E. A N-S polarization direction was obtained for the whole area by averaging the polarization directions from all stations used. In terms of the EDA hypothesis, this average trend agrees with the postulated state of stress for southern California, and with fault plane solutions for events of the Mexicali Valley. Notorious deviations from the N-S global trend were found southeast of the CPGF, with polarization trends between N25°E and N67°E, and in the geothermal field, with polarization directions between N7°W and N14°W. The polarization results for these zones indicated stress conditions that are different from the more regional stress pattern. The delay times that were measured between the fast and slow shear waves reached values of up to 0.6 sec, with a mean value of 0.35 sec. Consistent with our polarization results, the larger delay times (0.2–0.6 sec) were found in the CPGF. Smaller or null values were observed at the periphery of the study area. No temporal trends in the delay times were apparent, as shown by data from the two stations that recorded the larger number of events. Overall, we conclude that the splitting effects of this study result from a shallow anisotropy volume. The splitting results are thus interpreted as caused by the preferred orientation of vertical fluid-filled microcracks aligned in a direction that is parallel to the regional stress field. The stronger splitting effects that were observed in the area of the CPGF were found consistent with the geothermal reservoir that is embedded in the sedimentary cover of the zone, at depths of 1 to 4–5 km from the surface. We thus believe that such marked splitting effects have a direct relation with the reservoir of the CPGF.We are grateful to Miguel Navarro, Tito Valdez, and Manuel Luna for their contribution in the operation of RANM and for processing and cataloguing the strong-motion data. Ignacio Méndez and Francisco Farfán helped us with data from the RESNOM system. The study benefited from funding provided by CICESE and from grants awarded by CONACYT to Luis Munguía (Grants F195T and PCCNCNA-031339).     

Reef-capping laminites in the Upper Silurian carbonate- to-evaporite transition, Michigan Basin, south-western Ontario

Silurian pinnacle reefs in the subsurface of the south‐western Ontario portion of the Michigan Basin display a variety of laminated carbonates (laminites) within predominantly muddy reef‐capping facies in the upper part of the Guelph Formation and the overlying A‐1 Carbonate of the Salina Group. Laminites, which are limestone, dolomite or partially dolomitized limestones, have a range of morphologies, from simple planar to a variety of wavy and serrated forms. Individual laminae are composed mainly of micrite, microspar or replacive dolomite, and vary internally from isopachous and continuous over the diameter of the core to non‐isopachous and often discontinuous. Clotted and peloidal micrite, sometimes defining small knobs and chambers, is interpreted as being microbial in origin and occurs within all types of laminites. Fibrous cement locally comprises laminite clasts in breccias or coats clasts in breccias, and also occurs as spherulites in the interparticle spaces in breccias. Although similar laminites have been described from elsewhere in the Michigan Basin and interpreted as caliche, travertine and abiotic subtidal stromatolites, the laminites in south‐western Ontario are most realistically regarded as microbial. The causes for the variations in morphology and characteristics of the constituent laminae are uncertain, although fluctuations in local microenvironmental conditions would have been important, set against a backdrop of an increasingly restricted overall setting. Caliche or travertine origins for these laminites are unlikely in general, except perhaps locally at the subaerial exposure surface at the tops of pinnacle reefs.     

Morphological effects of local scouring in step–pool streams

Step–pool morphology characterizes many high‐gradient streams in a variety of natural settings, but formative processes and evolutionary dynamics are still poorly understood. In this paper, natural step–pool geometry is compared with steep alluvial channels where grade‐control structures such as check‐dams and bed sills make the stream profile resemble a natural stepped stream. Along these channels, local scouring due to falling jets forms plunge pools under each structure, analogous to natural steps determining the formation of pools. In order to test the hypothesis that natural pools are analogous to pools formed below grade‐control works with respect to their dimensions, shape and formative dynamics, 37 natural pools and 73 artificial pools were surveyed in 10 mountain streams of the eastern Italian Alps. Pools below grade‐control works featured a transitional zone between the scour hole and the downstream sloping bed, marked by a depositional berm. When geometric parameters such as maximum pool depth, length and step–berm distances are normalized to the jet virtual energy, no statistically significant differences were detected between natural and artificial systems. These results lend support to an upstream‐forced cascade model for step–pool formation, where the energy of falling jets controls the geometry of the pools, and is therefore regarded as the most important scaling‐independent variable. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.