Deforestation and leaching of nitrogen as nitrates into underground water in intertropical zones: The example of Côte d'lvoire

High nitrate contents (up to 200 mgl) have been observed in wells drilled into fractured aquifers lying beneath layers of weathered and decayed rock in the humid tropics where annual rainfall is over 1000 mm and where there is no notable pollution. The source of the nitrates is linked mainly with localized deforestation by man.     

Morphology and structure of the Galapagos Rise

Geophysical data collected on three U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office cruises to the Galapagos Rise are presented. These data allow definition of the morphology and structure of the Galapagos Rise.A postulated “hot spot” beneath the Galapagos platform is suggested as the cause of: (1) decreased seismicity along the spreading center for a 400 km E—W distance from the islands; (2) distinctive petro-chemistry of tholeiites from the islands and adjacent oceanic crust generated by the Galapagos Rise; (3) high-amplitude magnetic anomalies in a 1,000 km E—W band including and just north of the Galapagos platform; and (4) morphologic shape and the regionally elevated sea floor of the Galapagos Rise as it approaches the insular platform.     

The geology of the Taparko gold deposit, Birimian greenstone belt, Burkina Faso, West Africa

The Taparko gold deposit, located in the eastern branch of the Proterozoic Birimian Bouroum-Yalogo greenstone belt (Burkina Faso) consists of a network of quartz veins developed in a N 170° trending shear zone (250 m wide, 4 km long) superimposed on the regional Birimian structural pattern. The quartz vein network is composed of: (a) a dominant array of quartz veins (type 1), parallel to the shear zone and comprising strongly deformed dark quartz exhibiting foliation, layering, ribbon, tension gashes, etc.; (b) oblique and subparallel related veins (type 2) of gray to white weakly deformed quartz crosscutting the dominant quartz veins resulting in breccia structures; and (c) shallow dipping veins (type 3), cross-cutting veins types 1 and 2 and filled by undeformed white buck structure quartz. Cross-cutting relationships and different quartz types in different veins and within individual veins imply a concomitant filling of the veins during the progressive deformation. Initial sinistral transcurrent shearing evolved with time to sinistral reverse shearing. Metallic minerals occur only in type 1 and 2 veins and were deposited in two stages, with native gold being related to second stage sulfides. Gold (and chalcopyrite) precipitated preferentially upon the surfaces of fractured pyrite grains in low-pressure sites (pressure shadow zones) around and/or within the sulfide grains (along subsequently annealed fractures). The formation of the South Taparko deposit can be divided into a succession of events: (a) during the first event, N 170°-directed sinistral transcurrent shearing resulted in a N 20° mylonitic foliation and fractured rock which allowed H₂O-, CO₂- and SiO₂-rich fluids to circulate and deposit quartz with buck texture; (b) during the second event, type 1 quartz was strongly deformed and type 2 veins formed with sigmoidal shapes as viewed on a horizontal plane; and (c) during the third event, the sinistral transcurrent shearing evolved to sinistral reverse shearing and the deformation style evolved correspondingly from ductile to brittle-ductile. During the last phase of deformation gold nucleated and deposited in low-pressure zones. Received: 9 July 1997 / Accepted: 23 March 1998     

Species-specific patterns of aggregation of wild fish around fish farms

Fish-farming structures are widespread in coastal waters and are highly attractive to wild fish. Several studies have estimated that tons to tens of tons of wild fish aggregate around fish farms. These estimates assumed that the majority of wild fish are concentrated immediately beneath farms, although this assumption has never been explicitly tested. We tested the hypothesis that abundances of wild fish would be greatest immediately beneath farms and progressively diminish with distance at 4 full-scale coastal salmon (Salmo salar) farms in Norway. At each farm, fish were counted with a video-camera system at 5 different distances from the cages (farm = 0 m, 25, 50, 100 and 200 m) throughout the water column on three separate days. Combined across all locations and times, the total abundance of wild fish was 20 times greater at the farm than at the 200 m sampling distance. Saithe (Pollachius virens) dominated assemblages at all 4 farms and were consistently significantly more abundant at the farm than at the 25–200 m distances. This ‘tight aggregation’ around farms corresponds to the reliance of saithe on waste feed when they school near farms. In contrast, patterns of distribution of both cod (Gadus morhua) and poor cod (Trisopterus minutus) varied among farms, with either highest abundances at the farm or a more even distribution of abundance across all 5 distances sampled. No specific pattern of aggregation was evident for the bottom-dwelling haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus). Our results suggest that the present 100 m no-fishing zone around salmon farms protects the greatest proportion of farm-aggregated saithe and cod from fishing during the daytime. However, whether this reduces their overall susceptibility to fishing requires further research regarding nighttime distribution and movements.     

A New Approach to ID-TIMS U–Pb Dating of Cassiterite by the Example of the Pitkäranta Tin Deposit

Doklady Earth Sciences - A new technique for the complete dissolution of cassiterite, which makes it possible to determine the age of this mineral by U–Pb isotope dilution (ID-TIMS), has been...     

On the mechanical interaction between a growing porphyroblast and its surrounding matrix

Whether or not a growing porphyroblast can displace its surrounding matrix is an important but contentious issue affecting the interpretation of metamorphic textures. As an alternative to treating the problem in terms of force of crystallization, this paper examines the mechanics of porphyroblast-matrix interaction using a different and much simpler conceptual framework. New microstructural evidence for matrix displacement is then presented and analysed in detail. This evidence, from a hornfelsed metagreywacke, consists of dome-shaped accumulations of muscovite and graphite, each dome being attached to (and concave towards) a rhombdodecahedral face of a garnet porphyroblast. Muscovite within the domes shows a dimensional preferred orientation subparallel to the dome outlines while, in the matrix away from the domes, there is no preferred orientation.Our model for the origin of the mica domes envisages muscovite and graphite being swept ahead of, and mechanically accumulated onto, the growing garnet faces as they advance through the matrix. Rigorous testing of this model provides strong evidential support for matrix displacement by growing porphyroblasts. A new analysis is provided of the conditions under which matrix grains are included or displaced by porphyroblasts. It is concluded that matrix grain displacement may be very common, although the special combination of circumstances necessary to produce a diagnostic microstructural pattern probably occurs very rarely.     

Geodynamic Settings of the Formation of Microcontinents,Submerged Plateaus,and Nonvolcanic Islands within Continental Margins

During breakup of the continental lithosphere, partial or complete separation of small continental blocks from the mainland frequently occurs, leading to the formation of microcontinents or partially separated submerged plateaus that advance toward the ocean, as well as to emergent nonvolcanic islands. The article reviews the geodynamic settings in which isolated blocks of continental crust can form. Depending on the thermomechanical conditions of continental rifting, such blocks may be preserved as emergent islands or as submerged blocks of continental crust.     

Naming undersea features of the Sea of Japan: History and modern problems

This communication is dedicated to the investigation history and naming of the undersea morphostructures of the Sea of Japan for the last 50 years. Many of them were first described and studied during long-term geological-geophysical investigations in this basin carried out by Russian scientists. The analysis of 60 names of its undersea feature names revealed that only approximately half of them are cited in the GEBCO Gazetteer some of the undersea morphostructures are known under two or more names, the origin of their names is unknown, or their names were chosen voluntarily. For maintaining the priority of Russian investigations, the nomenclature and names of the undersea features should be adjusted in accordance with the national and international principles and regulations.     

A Unified Variational Principle of Fluid Mechanics and Application on Solitary Subdomain or Point

-According to basic equations of fluid mechanics, this paper presents a unified variational principle of fluid mechanics (UVPFM) by using the optimization method of weighted residuals (OMWR). The advantages are as follows, the establishment of the functional and the variational principle is easy, it can change various problems of fluid mechanics derived by basic equations into a unified optimization problem, and the solution is the optimum one in some sense. According to the OMWR for the solitary subdomain, this paper uses UVPFM onto any solitary subdomain and gives the solution of the hydrodynamics equation which is suitable only for that solitary subdomain. According to the OMWR for solitary point, this paper uses UVPFM to any solitary point and gives the solution of the hydrodynamics equation (point solution) which is suitable only for that solitary point. As the solution for the solitary subdomain or solitary point is developed independently, the compatibility with other subdomain or other points, do