Barnacle-dominated limestone with giant cross-beds in a non-tropical, tide-swept, Pliocene forearc seaway, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Pliocene, non-tropical, widespread and locally thick (up to 100 m) limestones occur in Hawke's Bay, eastern North Island, where they are intimately associated with very thick ( > 5 km), terrigenous-dominated, Neogene sequences that formed in a tectonically active convergent margin setting. The non-tropical character of the limestones is shown unequivocally by (1) the complete dominance of skeletal calcarenites and calcirudites, (2) the occurrence of oyster banks as the only in situ organic structures, (3) the dominance of barnacles, epifaunal molluscs, bryozoans, echinoderms, foraminifers, brachiopods and calcareous red algae as skeletal components, and (4) the preponderance of calcite over aragonite in the mineralogy of the skeletal grains and cements. The abundance of barnacle fragments in the limestones, and the related exclusive occurrence of only one major organic association, a barnacle-(epifaunal) bivalve-bryozoan assemblage, is striking and unusual given the extent of the limestones. Pecten and oyster valves acted as substrates for barnacle attachment, and their growth was promoted by strong tidal paleocurrents that swept the depositional setting: a long (450 km), narrow (30–50 km) forearc basin seaway, which formed between an actively deforming subduction complex to the east and an uplifting structural ridge to the west. Synsedimentary deformation promoted limestone formation on the margins of the seaway by creating current-swept, clastic-free submarine ridges that acted as the sites of carbonate production. Tidal flows dispersed the carbonate constituents and organised them into a wide spectrum of tide-influenced, cross-bedded and horizontal structures. Most spectacular are occurrences of giant tabular cross-beds, with sets 10–40 m thick and foreset dips of 7–36°, some interpreted as the deposits of major sand bars on carbonate deltas marginal to the mouths of saddles traversing the rising antiforms, and others analogous to modern linear sand ridges. The small- to large-scale planar and trough cross-beds, and the horizontal and lenticular beds that are invariably associated with the giant cross-beds and dominate most sections, represent mainly the deposits of sand waves and sand sheets at inner- to mid-shelf depths in the seaway.     

On the inner-layer scale height of boundary-layer flow over low hills

The scaling properties of the depth of the inner-layer of flow over low hills are studied by means of numerical solution of the equations. Two closure schemes are applied: the mixing-length model and the E- formulation. It is shown that the scale relation for the inner-layer depth lies between two formulations proposed in literature. It is also shown that the scale relation depends on the closure scheme.Presently at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Shinficld Park, Reading, Berkshire RG2 9AX, England.     

Seismic demand in medium- and long-period structures

Based on the results of an extensive parametric study of elastic and inelastic response of SDOF systems, in which the most important structural parameters were varied and ground motions of very different characteristics were taken into account, simple formulae for determining the seismic demand in SDOF systems with natural periods in the medium- and long-period range are proposed. Seismic demand is expressed in terms of the mean values of maximum relative displacements and maximum input energy. These results can be used to provide rough estimates of structural behaviour when different damage models are applied. As well as this, the proposed formulae can be used to construct design spectra of the Newmark-Hall type.     

High-Ca,low-alkali carbonatite volcanism at Fort Portal,Uganda

A Quaternary volcanic field at Fort Portal, SW Uganda, contains approximately 50 vents that erupted only carbonatite. The vents are marked by monogenetic tuff cones defining two ENE-trending belts. Lava from a fissure at the west end of the northern belt formed a flow 0.3 km² in area and 1–5 m thick. The lava is vesicular throughout with a scoriaceous top, and probably formed by agglutination of spatter from lava fountains. Phenocrysts are olivine, clinopyroxene, phlogopite, and titanomagnetite enclosing blebs of pyrrhotite. Rims of monticellite, gehlenite, and reinhardbraunsite surround olivine, clinopyroxene and phlogopite, and magnetite is rimmed by spinel. The reaction relations suggest that these phenocryst phases are actually xenocrysts, perhaps from a source similar to that which supplied phlogopite clinopyroxenite xenoliths in the Katwe-Kikorongo volcanic field 75 km SW of Fort Portal. The groundmass of fresh carbonatite lava consists of tabular calcite, spurrite, periclase, hydroxylapatite, perovskite, spinel, pyrrhotite, and barite. The lava was readily altered; where meteoric water had access, spurrite and periclase are lacking, and some calcite is recrystallized. Vesicles in lava and rare dike rocks are partly filled with calcite, followed by jennite and thaumasite. Pyroclastic deposits cover 142 km² and are far more voluminous than lava. Carbonatite ejecta were identical to lava in primary mineralogy, but are much more contaminated by crustal rock fragments and xenocrysts. At Fort Portal, eruption of a CaO-MgO-CO₂-SiO₂-P₂O₅-SO₂-H₂O-F liquid was unaccompanied by that of a more silica-rich or alkali-rich liquid. Alkali-rich carbonatite lavas and pyroclastic deposits have been documented elsewhere in East Africa, and calcite-rich volcanic carbonatites have been attributed to replacement of magmatic alkali carbonates by calcite. However, the alkali-poor volcanic carbonatites at Fort Portal were not formed by leaching of alkalis in meteoric water; tabular calcite is not pseudomorphous after alkali carbonates such as nyerereite. The Fort Portal magma was low in alkalis at the time of eruption.     

Cumulate gabbros from the Southwest Indian Ridge, 54°S-7° 16′ E: implications for magmatic processes at a slow spreading ridge

A diverse volcanic and plutonic rock suite was recovered from the center of the 80 km long ridge segment of the Southwest Indian Ridge (54°S, 7°16 E) between the Islas Orcadas and Shaka Fracture Zones. The cumulus nature of the gabbroic rocks in the suite is indicated by phase, modal and cryptic layering, igneous lamination, and low incompatible element abundances. We present a mass-balance model for calculating the proportions and compositions of cumulus phases and crystallized intercumulus liquid from bulk-rock major element compositions. The model is based on the ability to define a compositional array of basaltic liquids and on the assumption that cumulus minerals are initially in equilibrium with trapped liquid. Calculated proportions of trapped liquid range from 3%–15%; values that are characteristic of adcumulates to mesocumulates. Models of postcumulus crystallization indicate significant enrichments of incompatible elements and buffering of compatible elements in residual trapped liquids, thus explaining the high TiO₂ contents observed in magnesian clinopyroxenes. Cumulus phase assemblages and compositions suggest solidification in shallow level magma chambers, but disequilibrium plagioclase compositions suggest some crystallization at greater depth. Furthermore, basalt compositions projected onto the olivine-clinopyroxenequartz pseudoternary suggest magma generation over a range of pressures (from less than 10 to greater than 20 kb) as well as polybaric fractional crystallization. We suggest that the Southwest Indian Ridge is characterized by low magma supply with small batches of melt that either ascend directly to the surface having undergone limited polybaric crystallization or are trapped in shallow crustal magma chambers where they evolve and solidify to form cumulate gabbros. The adcumulus nature of the gabbros investigated here suggests slow cooling rates typical of large intrusions implying relatively large, but ephemeral magma chambers below segments of the Southwest Indian Ridge.     

Gold and associated trace elements in Newfoundland lake sediment: their application to gold exploration

Lake sediments were collected from four glaciated areas, three of which include significant Au mineralization. Neutron activation analyses for Au successfully delineate known mineralization and suggest areas for further follow-up. Gold is the only universal indicator although Sb gives a broader dispersion pattern at the Hope Brook deposit. Copper, Pb and Zn have above-background content down-ice from some mineralized zones. Gold values above 8.0 ppb in these study areas indicate the presence of Au mineralization. Gold analyses of site duplicates and analytical splits reproduce satisfactorily above 3.0 ppb.     

The dependence of the Fe2+-Mg cation-partitioning between olivine and basaltic liquid on pressure,temperature and composition

The equilibrium partitioning of Fe²⁺ and Mg between olivine and liquid along a liquid line of descent has been determined for a calc-alkaline system, ranging in composition from picritic to andesitic. Experiments were conducted between 1000–1450° C and 1 bar to 30 kbar. Within the compositional range investigated and , the compositional dependence of the Fe²⁺ and Mg partitioning is a function of the Mg-content of the liquid. The Mg-content of the liquid correlates strongly with temperature. The variation of the Fe²⁺ and Mg partitioning were therefore evaluated individualy as functions of composition and temperature alone. The composition dependence of the cation-partitioning coefficients (Kd) is given by the following two equations:

57Fe-Moessbauer spectra,electronic and crystal structure of members of the CuS2-FeS2 solid solution series

Members of the (Cu, Fe)S₂ solid solution crystallize in the pyrite structure type, space group Pa 3, Cu and Fe being statistically distributed on the metal sites. Within this series, a semiconductor to metal transition can be detected between 25 and 38 mole% CuS₂. Compositional dependent ⁵⁷Fe-Moessbauer spectra reveal Fe²⁺ in low-spin configuration. A minimum of the quadrupole splitting and the slope in the ⁵⁷Fe-isomer shift in the intermediate part of the system, near 30 mole% CuS₂, can be correlated with the onset of metallic conductivity, whereas the structural parameters are not influenced by this transition. The analysis of the compositional dependency of the quadrupole splitting, in comparison to the isotypic system (Co, Fe)S₂, leads to the conclusion that Cu in solid (Cu, Fe)S₂ compounds is Cu⁺ with an Ar -3 d¹⁰ electronic configuration.