Structural evolution of the contact between two Penninic nappes (Zermatt-Saas zone and Combin zone,Western Alps) and implications for the exhumation mechanism and palaeogeography

The boundary zone between two Penninic nappes, the eclogite-facies to ultrahigh-pressure Zermatt-Saas zone in the footwall and the blueschist-facies Combin zone in the hanging wall, has been interpreted previously as a major normal fault reflecting synorogenic crustal extension. Quartz textures of mylonites from this fault were measured using neutron diffraction. Together with structural field observations, the data allow a refined reconstruction of the kinematic evolution of the Pennine nappes. The main results are: (1) the contact is not a normal fault but a major thrust towards northwest which was only later overprinted by southeast-directed normal faulting; (2) exhumation of the footwall rocks did not occur during crustal extension but during crustal shortening; (3) the Sesia-Dent Blanche nappe system originated from a continental fragment (Cervinia) in the Alpine Tethys ocean, and the Combin zone ophiolites from the ocean basin southeast of Cervinia; (4) out-of-sequence thrusting played a major role in the tectonic evolution of the Penninic nappes. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Late Quaternary paleoenvironments of an ephemeral wetland in North Dakota,USA: relative interactions of ground-water hydrology and climate change

This study of fossils (pollen, plant macrofossils, stomata and fish) and sediments (lithostratigraphy and geochemistry) from the Wendel site in North Dakota, USA, emphasizes the importance of considering ground-water hydrology when deciphering paleoclimate signals from lakes in postglacial landscapes. The Wendel site was a paleolake from about 11,500 ¹⁴C yr BP to 11,100 ¹⁴C yr BP. Afterwards, the lake-level lowered until it became a prairie marsh by 9,300 ¹⁴C yr BP and finally, at 8,500 ¹⁴C yr BP, an ephemeral wetland as it is today. Meanwhile, the vegetation changed from a white spruce parkland (11,500 to 10,500 ¹⁴C yr BP) to deciduous parkland, followed by grassland at 9,300 ¹⁴C yr BP. The pattern and timing of these aquatic and terrestrial changes are similar to coeval kettle lake records from adjacent uplands, providing a regional aridity signal. However, two local sources of ground water were identified from the fossil and geochemical data, which mediated atmospheric inputs to the Wendel basin. First, the paleolake received water from the melting of stagnant ice buried under local till for about 900 years after glacier recession. Later, Holocene droughts probably caused the lower-elevation Wendel site to capture the ground water of up-gradient lakes.     

Dual models of pore spaces

We present a model for pore spaces that consists of two parts related by duality: (1) a decomposition of an open polyhedral pore space into open contractible pore bodies separated by relatively open interfaces and (2) a pore network that is homotopy equivalent to the pore space. The dual model is unique and free of parameters, but it relies on regularity conditions for the pore space. We show how to approximate any pore space by the interior of a polyhedral complex such that the regularity conditions are fulfilled. Thus, we are able to calculate the dual model from synthetic porous media and images of real porous media. The pore bodies are unions of relatively open Delaunay cells with respect to the corners of the pore boundary, and the pore network consists of certain at most two-dimensional (2D) Voronoi cells with respect to the corners of the pore boundary. The pore network describes the neighborhood relations between the pore bodies. In particular, any relatively open 2D Delaunay face f separating two pore bodies has a unique (relatively open) dual network edge. In our model, f is a pore throat only if it is hit by its dual network edge. Thus, as opposed to widespread intuition, any pore throat is convex, and adjacent pore bodies are not necessarily separated by pore throats. Due to the duality between the pore network and the decomposition of the pore space into pore bodies it is straightforward to store the geometrical properties of the pore bodies [pore throats] as attributes of the dual network vertices [edges]. Such an attributed network is used to perform 2D drainage simulations. The results agree very well with those from a pore-morphology based modeling approach performed directly on the digital image of a porous medium. Contractibility of the pore bodies and homotopy equivalence of the pore space and the pore network is proven using discrete Morse theory and the nerve theorem from combinatorial topology.     

Unravelling the pre-Variscan evolution of the Habach terrane (Tauern Window, Austria) by U-Pb SHRIMP zircon data

The U-Pb SHRIMP age determinations of zircons from the Habach terrane (Tauern Window, Austria) reveal a complex evolution of this basement unit, which is exposed in the Penninic domain of the Alpine orogen. The oldest components are found in zircons of a metamorphosed granitoid clast, of a migmatitic leucosome, and of a meta-rhyolitic (Variscan) tuff which bear cores of Archean age. The U-Pb ages of discordant zircon cores of the same rocks range between 540 and 520 Ma. It is assumed that the latter zircons were originally also of Archean origin and suffered severe lead loss, whilst being incorporated into Early-Cambrian volcanic arc magmas. The provenance region of the Archean (2.64-2.06 Ga) zircons is assumed to be a terrane of Gondwana affinity: i.e., the West African craton (Hoggar Shield, Reguibat Shield). The Caledonian metamorphism left a pervasive structural imprint in amphibolite facies on rocks of the Habach terrane; it is postdated by discordant zircons of a migmatitic leucosome at <440 Ma (presumably ca. 420 Ma). Alpine and Variscan upper greenschist- to amphibolite-facies conditions caused partial lead loss in zircons of a muscovite gneiss ('white schist') only, where extensive fluid flow and brittle deformation due to its position near a nappe-sole thrust enhanced the grains' susceptibility to isotopic disturbance. The Habach terrane - an active continental margin with ensialic back-arc development - showed subduction-induced magmatic activity approx. between 550 and 507 Ma. Back-arc diorites and arc basalts were intruded by ultramafic sills and subsequently by small patches of mantle-dominated unaltered and (in the vicinity of a major tungsten deposit) altered granitoids. Fore-arc (shales) and back-arc (greywackes, cherts) basin sediments as well as arc and back-arc magmatites were not only nappe-stacked by the Caledonian compressional regime closing the presumably narrow oceanic back-arc basin and squeezing mafic to ultramafic cumulates out of high-level magma chambers (496-482 Ma). It also induced uplift and erosion of deeply rooted crystalline complexes and triggered the development of a successor basin filled with predominantly clastic greywacke-arkosic sediments. The study demonstrates that the basement rocks exposed in the Habach terrane might be the 'missing link' between similar units of the more westerly positioned External domain (i.e., Aar, Aiguilles Rouges, Mont Blanc) and the Austroalpine domain to the east (Oetztal, Silvretta).     

Phase relations of a serpentine composition between 5 and 14 GPa: significance of clinohumite and phase E as water carriers into the transition zone

Run products from high pressure experiments at 800-1,200 °C and 5-14 GPa (corresponding to depths of 150 to 420 km) on a serpentine bulk composition [close to Mg₃Si₂O₅(OH)₄] were analysed by optical microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy and electron microprobe. All charges exhibit strong chemical zoning. Fluid, melt and hydrous solids were mostly concentrated at the top, bottom and along the wall of the capsules. The central part of the charge was devoid of H₂O. Both fluid and hydrous magnesian phases exhibit a Mg/Si ratio higher than forsterite. In contrast, the centre of the capsule was enriched in SiO₂. The observed zoning can neither be explained by gravitational settling nor by a thermal gradient alone. Most likely the fluid was separated from the solids by surface forces and thereby established the chemical gradient by preferentially dissolving MgO. If strong chemical zoning is taken into account, the occurrence of more phases than allowed by the phase rule can be explained by separating the bulk into several domains of different bulk compositions. Results indicate that small amounts of F increase the stability field of clinohumite, Mg₉Si₄O₁₆(OH,F)₂, compared to OH-clinohumite in pure MSH previously reported. Clinohumite coexists with enstatite up to 975 °C at 5 GPa, and up to 1,100 °C at 12 GPa. At 14 GPa (close to the !/#-Mg₂SiO₄ transition) phase E becomes the most important water carrier. The new results indicate that clinohumite could be an important mantle mineral for transporting water into the Earth's transition zone due to its high thermal stability compared to other important water carriers such as serpentine and phase A.     

Estimating groundwater recharge rates in the southeastern Holstein region, northern Germany

In the southeastern Holstein region, located to the east of the metropolitan zone of Hamburg, northern Germany, a groundwater investigation program was conducted from 1984 to 2000 by the State Agency for Nature and Environment (Landesamt für Natur und Umwelt, LANU) of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, with the aim of providing long-term, ecologically acceptable groundwater management plans for the region. The focal point of the investigation comprised the determination of groundwater recharge rates. The investigation method was based on the transfer of available lysimeter results from other regions to comparable regions within the area studied. With the help of lysimeter equations, potential amounts of percolation water were calculated. The groundwater recharge rate was then determined after subtraction of the surface runoff which was calculated for the entire area. All computations were performed with a spreadsheet program. Groundwater recharge rates were calculated for two areas. One consisted of roughly determining groundwater recharge rates for the total region (1,392 km²) of southeastern Holstein. The overall goal of these investigations was to identify potential areas of water exploitation. Areas in which groundwater recharge rates are high and groundwater outflow is low are particularly suited to water exploitation, since inflow rates into deeper aquifers are high. These areas are located on the flanks of the Elbe and Stecknitz River valleys. Subsurface groundwater runoff to these lowlands would be reduced through groundwater withdrawal. However, the resulting decline in shallow groundwater tables would be so small that it would have no detrimental ecological effects. Groundwater recharge rates were also calculated for a 110-km² area in the outskirts of Hamburg (Grosshansdorf model area) which is intensively developed for water supply. These investigations showed that the amount of groundwater recharge is already being withdrawn to a large extent. Approximately 65% of the recharge rate is currently withdrawn by the waterworks in this area, thus making further increases in exploitation rates unjustifiable from an ecological point of view. Electronic Publication     

Geodesic polygons on surfaces of revolution

This paper presents a way for computing geodesic polygons on real surfaces of revolution with partly continuous curvature and gives an application to coordinate transformations in geodesic coordinate systems. The specific formulas for an ellipsoid of revolution are briefly mentioned.     

Die kristallographischen Konstanten Yon Löweit

Zusammenfassung Künstlich hergestellter Löweit kristallisiert trigonal in kleinen Rhomboedern. Die Gitterkonstanten für die hexagonale Zelle sind:a = 18,96 Å,c = 13,47 Å. Die systematischen Auslöschungen führen auf die Raumgruppe R 3 oder R 3. Der Zellinhalt wird diskutiert.     

Kaltzeit-Indikatoren im Unterkambrium SO-Schonens (Schweden)

Zusammenfassung Etwa 1,5 km NW Simrisham wurden an der GrenzflÄche Hardeberga-/Norretorp-Glaukonit-Sandstein (U.-Kambrium) unregelmÄ\ig geformte Erhebungen gefunden, die erosive Bildungen darstellen (SchrÄgschichtung teilweise erhalten) und in die überlagernden Norretorp-Schichten hineinragen. Diese GrenzflÄche weist charakteristische Kriechspuren auf, die im noch lockeren Sediment entstanden sein müssen. Da die Erhebungen andererseits nur im verfestigten Zustand den erosiven KrÄften hÄtten standhalten können, und weder Quarz noch Kalzit als Zement in Frage kommen, wird angenommen, da\ die KontaktflÄche Hardeberga/Norretorp-Sandstein zeitweise gefroren war. Weiterhin wurden Schollen und Gerölle eines Glaukonit-Sandsteines (wohl Norretorp-Sandstein) beobachtet, die vermutlich im gefrorenen Zustand von Norretorp-Schichten eingebettet wurden. Die Gesamtheit der Strukturen (Strömungslineare, laminierte Schichtung usw.), sowie die regionalgeologischen und stratigraphischen ZusammenhÄnge machen es wahrscheinlich, da\ zumindest die basalen Teile der Norretorp-Folge in einem energiereichen Litoralmilieu abgelagert wurden.

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In a Lower Cambrian funnel graben, 1,5 km NW of Simrishamn (S Schweden), irregular miniature sea-stacks were found at the boundary between the Hardeberga and Norretorp Sandstone Formations. Their erosive origin is proven by preserved internal cross-laminations. The same boundary typically contains animal tracks indicating that the surface was temporarily soft. The resistivity of the erosion remnants is explained by cementation. As cement, ice appears to be the only likely alternative. Clasts of a glauconitic sandstone (probably Norretorp Sandstone) found within the Norretorp beds were probably transported in a frozen condition. The structures (parting lineation, planar lamination, etc.) together with the regional and stratigraphic setting make it probable that at least the basal part of the Norretorp Glauconitic Sandstone was deposited in a high-energy litoral environment.

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Résumé A environ 1,5 km au NW de Simrisham (Suède méridionale), on a trouvé, au contact du quartzite de Hardeberga et du grès glauconitique de Norretorp, de petites protubérances irrégulières du premier dans le second et dont la stratification entrecroisée, partiellement conservée, montre qu'elles résultent d'une action érosive. Cette surface de contact montre des traces d'animaux qui indiquent que le sédiment sous-jacent était encore mou. Comme ces protubérances n'ont pu résister aux forces érosives que gráce à la compacité de la roche, et que ni le quartz ni la calcite ne peuvent Être invoqués comme ciment, on admet que la surface de contact a été momentanément gelée. En outre des fragments et galets d'un grès glauconieux (probablement de grès Norretorp) ont été réincorporés à l'état congelé dans les couches de Norretorp. L'ensemble des structures (lignes de courant, stratification laminaire fine, etc.) comme aussi les liaisons géologiques et stratigraphiques à l'échelle de la région, rendent vraisemblable, tout au moins pour les couches inférieures du grès Norretorp, leur dépÔt dans un milieu mouvementé.

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