Hydroextrusion as a possible mechanism for the ascent of diapirs,domes, and mantle plumes

A possible mechanism of the ascent of material within the Earth’s crust and mantle is the mechanism of hydroextrusion, i.e., the effect of squeezing of material under excess pressure. The major factors that predetermine the high plasticity of the material and its ability to produce hydroextrusions are high lithostatic pressures and temperatures. The phenomenon of hydroextrusion can be most clearly illustrated by the example of the origin of salt diapirs. The driving force of hydroextrusions of material in the crust and mantle is excess pressure, which can result from lateral differences between the densities of rocks (as is the case during the development of salt diapirs) and phase transitions associated with a volume increase. When the material of the upper mantle undergoes partial melting with the derivation of basaltic melts at depths of 60–100 km, excess pressures reach 80 MPa, whereas the plasticity limit of 20% melted rocks is no higher than 5 MPa. As a result, the partially molten material is forced from the melting region toward zones with lower lithostatic pressures. A local temperature increase in the transitional zones in the Earth’s mantle at positive dP/dT values of the phase transitions also gives rise to excess pressures, whose values can range from 100 to 800 MPa at a 0.5–3.0% volume change and which can be the driving force during the origin of mantle plumes. Original Russian Text ? V.N. Anfilogov, Yu.V. Khachai, 2006, published in Geokhimiya, 2006, No. 8, pp. 873–878.     

The Pan-African continental margin in northeastern Africa: evidence from a geochronological study of granulites at Sabaloka, Sudan

Ion microprobe zircon ages, a Nd model age and RbSr whole-rock dates are reported from the high-grade gneiss terrain at Sabaloka on the River Nile north of Khartoum, formally considered to be part of the Archaean/early Proterozoic Nile craton. The granulites, which are of both sedimentary and igneous derivation, occur as remnants in migmatites. Detrital zircon ages range from ≈ 1000 to ≈ 2650 Ma and prove the existence of Archaean to late Proterozoic continental crust in the sedimentary source region. The Nd model age for one sedimentary granulite is between 1.26 (T_CHUR) and 1.70 (T_DM) Ga and provides a mean crustal residence age for the sedimentary precursor. Igneous zircons in enderbitic gneiss crystallized at 719 ± 81 Ma ago, an age that also corresponds to severe Pb loss in the detrital zircons and which probably reflects the granulite event at Sabaloka. The RbSr data indicate isotopic homogenization at about 700 Ma ago in the granulites and severe post-granulite disturbance at ≈ 570 Ma in the migmatites. We associate this disturbance with hydration, retrograde metamorphism and anatexis that produced undeformed granites ≈ 540 Ma ago. The ≈ 700 Ma granulite event at Sabaloka suggests that this part of the Sudan belongs to the Pan-African Mozambique belt while the ancient Nile craton lay farther west. The gneisses studied here may represent the infrastructure of the ancient African continental margin onto which the juvenile arc assemblage of the Arabian-Nubian shield was accreted during intense horizontal shortening and crustal interstacking of a major collision event.     

哈萨克斯坦共和国地震学数据库简介

建立哈萨克斯坦共和国地震学数据库是CASIN国际项目的一部分,应由中亚各国来共同完成。项目主要目的旨在建立地震学数据库,以作为今后减小哈萨克斯坦共和国地震危险性的工作基础。哈萨克斯坦共和国地震学数据库由下列子系统构成:1)文件输入子系统;2)信息检索和提交子系统;3)信息元数据存储子系统;4)档案库运行控制子系统;5)信息安全子系统。哈萨克斯坦共和国地震学数据库有以下功能:1)永久存储综合信息并上报和收集(记录)其他资料;2)存储数据和资料计算;3)电子文档的长期存储和管理;4)规定序号进行信息查询和文件的联机保证;5)信息统计和…     

Characteristics of the seismic attenuation in two tectonically active zones of Southern Europe

The seismic energy attenuation in the frequency range of 1–18 Hz was studied in the two tectonically active zones of Irno Valley (Southern Italy) and Granada Basin (South-East Spain). Data were recorded by short period vertical components seismographs for low-magnitude local earthquakes. The method of coda waves, assuming singleS toS scattering approximation, was used to calculate the quality factorQ from the two data set. Results show a quality factor increasing with frequency, following the empirical lawQ=Q _o f ⁿ .Q _o andn are lower for the Irno Valley than for Granada. This result is interpreted in terms of different scattering environments present in the two investigated areas.     

Heightened sensitivity of a poorly buffered high arctic lake to late-Holocene climatic change

A diatom-based paleolimnological investigation was conducted on late Holocene sediments from a poorly buffered lake, informally named “Rock Basin Lake”, on Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada. The fossil diatom record is unlike any other obtained thus far from high arctic regions, exhibiting dynamic assemblage shifts over the entire 3300 yr sedimentary record. Multiple proxies (i.e., diatoms, pH reconstructions, biogenic silica, C/N ratios, total organic carbon) appear to sensitively track rapid limnological changes, which are associated with distinct climate intervals as inferred from other regional proxy records. The highly responsive nature of the diatom assemblages in Rock Basin Lake, relative to those recorded from nearby alkaline sites, appears to be related to this lake's limited ability to buffer changes in pH. The dynamic species responses suggest that the diatoms in Rock Basin Lake are faithfully tracking climatic changes, and that low-alkalinity lakes may provide the most sensitive diatom-based paleolimnological records from high arctic regions.     

On the Facular Area Surrounding Decaying Sunspots

The change in facular area around decaying sunspots is investigated. The data are from full-disk photometric images from CFDT1 (5 arc sec pixels) obtained at the Ca ii K-line = 393.4 nm. The 31 active regions are from a list previously used to study the decay rate of sunspots. We find a weak, marginally significant relation between spot decay rate and growth of the surrounding facular region (r² = 0.1255). We conclude that, for this group of decaying sunspots, the growth or decay of the surrounding facular region was not clearly related to the decay rate of an active regions sunspots.     

Hydrostatic-system palsas at Toolik lake,Alaska: Field observations and simulation

Stratigraphic and chemical data from the ice core of an ‘anthropogenic palsa’ at Toolik Lake, Alaska, indicate that the mound formed as a consequence of hydrostatic pressure developed in an isolated hydrologic system within the active layer. Survey data for five palsas over a three-year period suggest that growth was essentially complete at the time of the initial survey; a net decrease of summit elevation is apparent in all five mounds, but complete degradation of the palsas would require several decades at observed rates. Because accurate field measurements of thermal and hydrologic evolution in such features are extremely difficult, simulation of the environmental conditions and events involved in palsa growth is an important supplement to field observation. Both analytic and finite-element models yield results that are in substantial agreement with inferences drawn from observational data.     

Nature and composition of shore-zone sediments between Jeddah and Yanbu, eastern Red Sea

The shore-zone sediments between Jeddah and Yanbu, west coast of Saudi Arabia, are composed mostly of skeletal carbonate sands. The nearshore sediments containing benthic foraminifera, algal fragments and molluscs are multimodal, the mean grain size varying between 0.76 and 2.35 ø. The beach sediments, except samples dominated by cerithid gastropods in some localities, are relatively finer than the nearshore sediments. Although the beaches to a great extent comprise sand-sized material, fine lime muds and coarse clastic gravels occur in certain areas. The dune sediments comprising mostly algal grains and ooids are very fine with 50 percent of the material in the 0.25–0.18 mm size grade. Except a general northward decrease in mean grain size, regional trends in the textural parameters of the sediments between Jeddah and Yanbu are not quite apparent. Lateral variations in the textural characteristics suggest a landward migration of the sediments in the shore zone under the influence of northerly and northwesterly winds. The carbon and oxygen (δ ¹³C + 4.80 to 4.84‰ PDB) (δ ¹³O − 0.04 to + 0.53‰ PDB) isotopic ratios of the lime muds occurring in certain shallow margins in the shore-zone, which are much higher than those of the green algae, indicate that the fine carbonates are at least in part inorganic in origin.

Like the shallow-water carbonates in tropical seas, aragonite and high Mg-calcite are the dominant carbonate minerals in the shore-zone sediments. There is a landward increase in aragonite contents caused by the landward migration of fine material from the nearshore. The dominant clay mineral in the nearshore sediments is kaolinite with subordinate swelling chlorite and little illite. Kaolinite is contributed by the coastal regions under the sub-tropical humid climate. Swelling chlorite is considered to have been formed in the nearshore by mechanical mixture of chlorite and montmorillonite derived from the metamorphic and igneous terrains of the Tertiary mountains bordering the coastal plain.     

Hydrologic and sedimentologic aspects of mining aggregate from the shipsk bank (Baltic sea)

Abstract

Investigations aimed at obtaining knowledge about the environmental effects of mining aggregate from the sea bottom were carried out on the Stupsk Bank. Special attention was given to the magnitude and reach of changes of hydrologic conditions, in that to changes in concentration of matter suspended in sea water, and to dynamics of the sea bottom—change of bottom relief, resulting from both natural causes and from mining of the aggregate.     

Geomorphic effects of rural-to-urban land use conversion on three streams in the Central Redbed Plains of Oklahoma

This research evaluates the impact of rural-to-urban land use conversion on channel morphology and riparian vegetation for three streams in the Central Redbed Plains geomorphic province (central Great Plains ecoregion) of Oklahoma. The Deep Fork Creek watershed is largely urbanized; the Skeleton Creek watershed is largely rural; and the Stillwater Creek watershed is experiencing a rapid transition from rural to urban land cover. Each channel was divided into reaches based on tributary junctions, sinuosity, and slope. Field surveys were conducted at transects in a total of 90 reaches, including measurements of channel units, channel cross-section at bankfull stage, and riparian vegetation. Historical aerial photographs were available for only Stillwater Creek watershed, which were used to document land cover in this watershed, especially changes in the extent of urban areas (impervious cover).The three streams have very low gradients (< 0.001), width-to-depth ratios < 10, and cohesive channel banks, but have incised into red Permian shales and sandstone. The riparian vegetation is dominated by cottonwoods, ash, and elm trees that provide a dense root mat on stream banks where the riparian vegetation is intact. Channels increased in width and depth in the downstream direction as is normally expected, but the substrate materials and channel units remained unchanged. Statistical analyses demonstrated that urbanization did not explain spatial patterns of changes in any variables. These three channels in the central Redbed Plains are responding as flumes during peak flows, funneling runoff and the wash-load sediment downstream in major runoff events without any effect on channel dimensions. Therefore, local geological conditions (similar bedrock, cohesive substrates and similar riparian vegetation) are mitigating the effects of urbanization.