Deccan plume,lithosphere rifting,and volcanism in Kutch,India

Kutch (northwest India) experienced lithospheric thinning due to rifting and tholeiitic and alkalic volcanism related to the Deccan Traps K/T boundary event. Alkalic lavas, containing mantle xenoliths, form plug-like bodies that are aligned along broadly east–west rift faults. The mantle xenoliths are dominantly spinel wehrlite with fewer spinel lherzolite. Wehrlites are inferred to have formed by reaction between transient carbonatite melts and lherzolite forming the lithosphere. The alkalic lavas are primitive (Mg# = 64–72) relative to the tholeiites (Mg# = 38–54), and are enriched in incompatible trace elements. Isotope and trace element compositions of the tholeiites are similar to what are believed to be the crustally contaminated Deccan tholeiites from elsewhere in India. In terms of Hf, Nd, Sr, and Pb isotope ratios, all except two alkalic basalts plot in a tight cluster that largely overlap the Indian Ridge basalts and only slightly overlap the field of Reunion lavas. This suggests that the alkalic magmas came largely from the asthenosphere mixed with Reunion-like source that welled up beneath the rifted lithosphere. The two alkalic outliers have an affinity toward Group I kimberlites and may have come from an old enriched (metasomatized) asthenosphere. We present a new model for the metasomatism and rifting of the Kutch lithosphere, and magma generation from a CO₂-rich lherzolite mantle. In this model the earliest melts are carbonatite, which locally metasomatized the lithosphere. Further partial melting of CO₂-rich lherzolite at about 2–2.5 GPa from a mixed source of asthenosphere and Reunion-like plume material produced the alkalic melts. Such melts ascended along deep lithospheric rift faults, while devolatilizing and exploding their way up through the lithosphere. Tholeiites may have been generated from the main plume head further south of Kutch.     

Archaeological age constraints from extrusion ages of obsidian: Examples from the Middle Awash,Ethiopia

Extrusion ages of archaeological obsidian, especially as determined by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method, can provide reliable maximum ages for tool manufacture. In at least one case in the Middle Awash of Ethiopia, freshly extruded obsidian was used for tool making, resulting in useful maximum ages for site occupation. Hydration resulting in mobility of K and/or Ar in glass, and recoil artifacts produced by neutron irradiation, fatally affect most glass shards from volcanic ashes. The much lower surface area to volume ratio of most archaeological obsidian, however, indicates that the affected areas can be manually removed prior to analysis and the recoil and hydration problems can be easily overcome. A more important issue in dating obsidian is that of possible mass-dependent kinetic isotope fractionation during or subsequent to quenching of volcanic glasses. This is evidenced in some cases by sub-atmospheric initial ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar ratios, and more generally in sub-atmospheric ³⁸Ar/³⁶Ar. Resulting bias can be avoided through the use of isochron ages, which do not entail the assumption of an initial value of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar as is required for plateau ages. Since step heating of glasses often yields limited variability in ⁴⁰Ar:³⁹Ar:³⁶Ar (and therefore little spread on isochrons), another approach is to use an average value for initial ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar, with concomitantly larger uncertainty than is associated with atmospheric ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar, when calculating a plateau age. The ³⁸Ar/³⁶Ar of an un-irradiated subset of our samples validates the inference of kinetic fractionation, and potentially provides a basis for determining initial ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar in samples that fail to yield isochrons, but only in samples lacking magmatic excess ⁴⁰Ar. These approaches allow us to reliably apply the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method to volcanic glasses, which has resulted in maximum ages for archaeological sites that are not amenable to traditional geochronological methods. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology can also provide information on the geological provenance of the raw material used for tool making, especially when combined with geochemical data.     

Environmental impacts of dredging on seagrasses: a review

Main potential impacts on seagrasses from dredging and sand mining include physical removal and/or burial of vegetation and effects of increased turbidity and sedimentation. For seagrasses, the critical threshold for turbidity and sedimentation, as well as the duration that seagrasses can survive periods of high turbidity or excessive sedimentation vary greatly among species. Larger, slow-growing climax species with substantial carbohydrate reserves show greater resilience to such events than smaller opportunistic species, but the latter display much faster post-dredging recovery when water quality conditions return to their original state. A review of 45 case studies worldwide, accounting for a total loss of 21,023 ha of seagrass vegetation due to dredging, is indicative of the scale of the impact of dredging on seagrasses. In recent years, tighter control in the form of strict regulations, proper enforcement and monitoring, and mitigating measures together with proper impact assessment and development of new environmental dredging techniques help to prevent or minimize adverse impacts on seagrasses. Costs of such measures are difficult to estimate, but seem negligible in comparison with costs of seagrass restoration programmes, which are typically small-scale in approach and often have limited success. Copying of dredging criteria used in one geographic area to a dredging operation in another may in some cases lead to exaggerated limitations resulting in unnecessary costs and delays in dredging operations, or in other cases could prove damaging to seagrass ecosystems. Meaningful criteria to limit the extent and turbidity of dredging plumes and their effects will always require site-specific evaluations and should take into account the natural variability of local background turbidity.     

A climatic control on the accretion of meteoric and super-chondritic iridium–platinum to the Antarctic ice cap

Meteoric smoke particles (MSPs) form through the vaporization of meteoroids and the subsequent re-condensation of metallic species in the mesosphere. Recently, iridium and platinum enrichments have been identified in Greenland ice layers and attributed to the fallout of MSPs supplying polar latitudes with cosmic matter during the Holocene. However, the MSP fallout to Antarctica during the Earth's climatic history remains essentially unknown.

We have determined iridium and platinum in deep Antarctic ice from Dome C and Vostok dated back to 240 kyrs BP. We find high super-chondritic fluxes during warm periods and low meteoric accretion during glacial times, a pattern that is opposite to any known climatic variation in dust fallout to polar regions. The proposed explanation of this accretion regime is a weaker polar vortex during warm periods, allowing peripheral air masses enriched in volcanic iridium and platinum to penetrate inland to Antarctica. The MSP signal emerges only during cold phases and is four times lower than in the Greenland ice cap where more snow accumulates. This suggests that wet deposition is an important route of cosmic material to the Earth's surface.     

震后地形变与孔隙压力瞬态变化的相互关系

大震改变地壳的应力,从而触发地震及其余震。一系列随时间变化的过程,包括余滑、孔隙流体的流动、下地壳和上地幔粘性的张驰、断层附近应力和孔隙压力调整以及地震的触发进程。然而,尽管进行过多次尝试,但通过直接场地的观测,很难将这些过程区分开来。这里我们采用一种星载雷达干涉图和冰岛南部地震带两个6.5级地震地热井水位变化过程结合的测量法。干涉图记录到的形变既不能用余滑也不能用粘-弹性张驰来解释,但它与地震发生后最初两个月孔隙弹性物质的回跳一致,这可以用地震引起水位变化的快速恢复(1—2个月)来证实,相反余震序列的持续时间达到3.5年,这表明余震的持续时间并不是由孔隙流体的流动控制的,但是,因为表面应变是由地壳浅部孔隙压力的变化控制的,因此,我们不能排除在余震发生深度存在较长时间的孔隙压力瞬态变化。余震的持续时间与随速度和状态变化的摩擦定律控制的地震活动变化速率模型是一致的。     

Storage and interaction of compositionally heterogeneous magmas from the 1986 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska

Compositional heterogeneity (56–64 wt% SiO₂ whole-rock) in samples of tephra and lava from the 1986 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska, raises questions about the physical nature of magma storage and interaction beneath this young and frequently active volcano. To determine conditions of magma storage and evolutionary histories of compositionally distinct magmas, we investigate physical and chemical characteristics of andesitic and dacitic magmas feeding the 1986 eruption. We calculate equilibrium temperatures and oxygen fugacities from Fe-Ti oxide compositions and find a continuous range in temperature from 877 to 947°C and high oxygen fugacities (ΔNNO=1–2) for all magmas. Melt inclusions in pyroxene phenocrysts analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and electron probe microanalysis are dacitic to rhyolitic and have water contents ranging from <1 to ∼7 wt%. Matrix glass compositions are rhyolitic and remarkably similar (∼75.9–76.6 wt% SiO₂) in all samples. All samples have ∼25% phenocrysts, but lower-silica samples have much higher microlite contents than higher-silica samples. Continuous ranges in temperature and whole-rock composition, as well as linear trends in Harker diagrams and disequilibrium mineral textures, indicate that the 1986 magmas are the product of mixing between dacitic magma and a hotter, more mafic magma. The dacitic endmember is probably residual magma from the previous (1976) eruption of Augustine, and we interpret the mafic endmember to have been intruded from depth. Mixing appears to have continued as magmas ascended towards the vent. We suggest that the physical structure of the magma storage system beneath Augustine contributed to the sustained compositional heterogeneity of this eruption, which is best explained by magma storage and interaction in a vertically extensive system of interconnected dikes rather than a single coherent magma chamber and/or conduit. The typically short repose period (∼10 years) between Augustine's recent eruptive pulses may also inhibit homogenization, as short repose periods and chemically heterogeneous magmas are observed at several volcanoes in the Cook Inlet region of Alaska.     

Quantifying Damage, Saturation and Anisotropy in Cracked Rocks by Inverting Elastic Wave Velocities

Crack damage results in a decrease of elastic wave velocities and in the development of anisotropy. Using non-interactive crack effective medium theory as a fundamental tool, we calculate dry and wet elastic properties of cracked rocks in terms of a crack density tensor, average crack aspect ratio and mean crack fabric orientation from the solid grains and fluid elastic properties. Using this same tool, we show that both the anisotropy and shear-wave splitting of elastic waves can be derived. Two simple crack distributions are considered for which the predicted anisotropy depends strongly on the saturation, reaching up to 60% in the dry case. Comparison with experimental data on two granites, a basalt and a marble, shows that the range of validity of the non-interactive effective medium theory model extends to a total crack density of approximately 0.5, considering symmetries up to orthorhombic. In the isotropic case, Kachanov's (1994) non-interactive effective medium model was used in order to invert elastic wave velocities and infer both crack density and aspect ratio evolutions. Inversions are stable and give coherent results in terms of crack density and aperture evolution. Crack density variations can be interpreted in terms of crack growth and/or changes of the crack surface contact areas as cracks are being closed or opened respectively. More importantly, the recovered evolution of aspect ratio shows an exponentially decreasing aspect ratio (and therefore aperture) with pressure, which has broader geophysical implications, in particular on fluid flow. The recovered evolution of aspect ratio is also consistent with current mechanical theories of crack closure. In the anisotropic cases—both transverse isotropic and orthorhombic symmetries were considered—anisotropy and saturation patterns were well reproduced by the modelling, and mean crack fabric orientations we recovered are consistent with in situ geophysical imaging. Our results point out that: (1) It is possible to predict damage, anisotropy and saturation in terms of a crack density tensor and mean crack aspect ratio and orientation; (2) using well constrained wave velocity data, it is possible to extrapolate the contemporaneous evolution of crack density, anisotropy and saturation using wave velocity inversion as a tool; 3) using such an inversion tool opens the door in linking elastic properties, variations to permeability.     

Scale effects of hydrostratigraphy and recharge zonation on base flow

Uncertainty regarding spatial variations of model parameters often results in the simplifying assumption that parameters are spatially uniform. However, spatial variability may be important in resource assessment and model calibration. In this paper, a methodology is presented for estimating a critical basin size, above which base flows appear to be relatively less sensitive to the spatial distribution of recharge and hydraulic conductivity, and below which base flows are relatively more sensitive to this spatial variability. Application of the method is illustrated for a watershed that exhibits distinct infiltration patterns and hydrostratigraphic layering. A ground water flow model (MODFLOW) and a parameter estimation code (UCODE) were used to evaluate the influence of recharge zonation and hydrostratigraphic layering on base flow distribution. Optimization after removing spatial recharge variability from the calibrated model altered base flow simulations up to 53% in watersheds smaller than 40 km(2). Merging six hydrostratigraphic units into one unit with average properties increased base flow residuals up to 83% in basins smaller than 50 km(2). Base flow residuals changed <5% in watersheds larger than 40 and 50 km(2) when recharge and hydrostratigraphy were simplified, respectively; thus, the critical basin size for the example area is approximately 40 to 50 km(2). Once identified for an area, a critical basin size could be used to guide the scale of future investigations. By ensuring that parameter discretization needed to capture base flow distribution is commensurate with the scope of the investigation, uncertainty caused by overextending uniform parameterization or by estimating extra parameter values is reduced.     

Remediating Ground Water with Zero-Valent Metals: Chemical Considerations in Barrier Design

To gain perspective and insight into the performance of permeable reactive barriers containing granular iron metal, it is useful to compare the degradation kinetics of individual chlorinated solvents over a range of operating conditions. Pseudo first-order disappearance rate constants normalized to iron surface area concentration (k_SA) recently have been reported for this purpose. This paper presents the results of further exploratory data analysis showing the extent to which variation in k_SA is due to initial halocarbon concentration, iron type, and other factors. To aid in preliminary design calculations, representative values of k_SA and a reactive transport model have been used to calculate the minimum barrier width needed for different ground water flow velocities and degrees of halocarbon conversion. Complete dechlorination of all degradation intermediates requires a wider treatment zone, but the effect is not simply additive because degradation occurs by sequential and parallel reaction pathways.