Total mercury in terrestrial systems (air-soil-plant-water) at the mining region of San Joaquín,Queretaro, Mexico

Deficient management of cinnabar mining left the San Joaquín region with high concentrations of mercury in its soils (2.4 – 4164 mg kg^-1). Numerous cinnabar mines have contributed to the dispersion of mercury into agricultural (0.5 –314 mg kg^-1) and forest (0.2 – 69 mg kg^-1) soils. Sediments are a natural means of transportation for mercury, causing its spreading, especially in areas near mine entrances (0.6 – 687 mg kg^-1). The nearness of maize crops to mines favors mercury accumulation in the different plant structures, such as roots, stems, leaves, and grain (0.04 – 8.2 mg kg^-1); these being related to mercury volatilization and accumulation in soils. Mercury vapor present in the settlements could indicate a constant volatilization from lands and soils (22 – 153 ng m^-3). The mercury levels found in the soils, in maize grain, and in the air resulted greater than the standards reported by the Official Mexican Norm (NOM) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Mercury in rainwater is due mainly to the presence of suspended atmospheric particles, later deposited on the surface (1.5 – 339 μg |^-1). Mercury dissolution was found in the drinking water (10 – 170 ng |^-1), with concentrations below those established by the NOM and the WHO. The contamination existing in the San Joaquín region does not reach the levels of the world’s greatest mercury producers: Almaden (Spain) and Idrija (Slovenia). It is, however, like that found in other important second degree world producers such as Guizhou (China). The population of San Joaquín, as well as its surrounding environment, are constantly exposed to mercury contamination, thus making a long term monitoring necessary to determine its effects, especially to people.     

Back‐barrier flooding by storm surges and overland flow

Low‐elevation areas within a sandy barrier island are subject to flooding via saturation overland flow following moderate storm surges and rainfall events. Using a high resolution topographic survey and simple hydrology models, we estimate the discharge and velocities from storm surge return flow and saturation overland flow. Results show that return flow velocities are of the same magnitude as the critical velocity necessary to mobilize sand when a hydraulic connection between the watershed and back‐barrier bay is present. Storms of moderate strength and rainfall intensity may be sufficient to keep the return channels open within the back‐barrier, thus providing natural conduits for water exchange from overwash events during extreme storm surges triggered by hurricanes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of chlorite interlayering on <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar–<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar biotite dating: an <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar–<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar laser-probe and TEM investigations of variably chloritised biotites

Biotite is one of the most common minerals dated by the ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar method. It frequently shows K contents below the expected stoichiometric value, suggesting the presence of low-K impurities. The most common low-K alteration product of biotite is chlorite. Therefore, it is important to understand the effects of chlorite interlayering on ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar ages in order to correctly interpret ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar data. This study examines the outcome of ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar dating analyses on variably chloritised biotites from Ordovician intrusive rocks. The infrared (IR) laser-probe technique and different gas extraction methods were adopted. Incremental laser-heating data on bulk samples yielded hump-shaped age profiles with meaningless young and old age steps. Both the extent of anomalous old age steps and the degree of discordance of the age spectra were much more pronounced in the more chloritised biotite samples. In contrast, in situ data on rock chips and total-fusion ages on single biotite flakes yielded ages concordant with, or younger than, the inferred emplacement ages. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to texturally characterise biotite samples at the nanometre scale. It was also used to document the complex decomposition-transformation process affecting interlayered biotite–chlorite during in-vacuo IR-laser heating to temperatures ranging from ~600 to >1,000 °C. TEM results suggest that hump-shaped age profiles result from an interplay between ³⁹Ar_K redistribution by recoil during sample irradiation and differential release of argon isotopes hosted in three main reservoirs. These reservoirs are (from least to most retentive): extended defects, chlorite and biotite. The final descending age segment is attributed to the progressive release of argon with increasing temperature from large biotite domains for which ³⁹Ar_K recoil loss was less important. ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar data support previous findings, which suggest that ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar ages when recoil effects are minimised, provide minimum estimates that approach the true biotite age, when the pristine domains are analysed. The most effective approach for obtaining meaningful ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar ages was using individual total-fusion analyses on carefully selected, single flakes previously split along the basal cleavage by wet-grinding and corresponding to a sample mass of a few micrograms.Editorial responsibility: I Parsons     

Mississippian coral assemblages from the Khenifra area,Central Morocco: Biostratigraphy,biofacies, palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography

Analysis of Mississippian coral assemblages from the Khenifra region of Central Morocco together with data from foraminiferal/algal microfossils has established new age dating of 5 localities within the Azrou–Khenifra Basin: Souk El Had and Sidi Lamine, where corals occur mainly in biostromes protected by oolitic shoals, Tabainout, where corals have been recorded in different environments related to microbial mounds, Alhajra Almatkouba, where corals occur in biostromal reworked beds and Tiouinine, where corals occur in a well structured, fringing reef. This study demonstrates the presence of richer more diverse coral assemblages than previously recorded, in a variety of environmental settings. These coral assemblages strengthen correlations with the Adarouch area in the NE part of the Azrou–Khenifra Basin. It is emphasised that in the upper Viséan there are close similarities with rugose coral assemblages in other parts of the Western Palaeotethys including North Africa, SW Spain and NW Europe, and that all belong to the same biogeographic province.     

Preliminary Photometric Evidence of Starspot Umbrae and Penumbrae on Late-Type Active Stars

We constrain the properties of the spotted regions on the photosphere of the active late-type star DX Leonis by comparing the observed amplitudes of light and color variations with synthetic amplitudes obtained by means of Dorren's spot model and computed for a grid of values of spot temperatures, areas and latitudes.     

U–Pb geochronology of the southern Brasília belt (SE-Brazil): sedimentary provenance, Neoproterozoic orogeny and assembly of West Gondwana

The Brasília belt borders the western margin of the São Francisco Craton and records the history of ocean opening and closing related to the formation of West Gondwana. This study reports new U–Pb data from the southern sector of the belt in order to provide temporal limits for the deposition and ages of provenance of sediments accumulated in passive margin successions around the south and southwestern margins of the São Francisco Craton, and date the orogenic events leading to the amalgamation of West Gondwana.Ages of detrital zircons (by ID–TIMS and LA-MC-ICPMS) were obtained from metasedimentary units of the passive margin of the São Francisco Craton from the main tectonic domains of the belt: the internal allochthons (Araxá Group in the Áraxá and Passos Nappes), the external allochthons (Canastra Group, Serra da Boa Esperança Metasedimentary Sequence and Andrelândia Group) and the autochthonous or Cratonic Domain (Andrelândia Group). The patterns of provenance ages for these units are uniform and are characterised as follows: Archean–Paleoproterozoic ages (3.4–3.3, 3.1–2.7, and 2.5–2.4 Ga); Paleoproterozoic ages attributed to the Transamazonian event (2.3–1.9 Ga, with a peak at ca. 2.15 Ga) and to the ca. 1.75 Ga Espinhaço rifting of the São Francisco Craton; ages between 1.6 and 1.2 Ga, with a peak at 1.3 Ga, revealing an unexpected variety of Mesoproterozoic sources, still undetected in the São Francisco Craton; and ages between 0.9 and 1.0 Ga related to the rifting event that led to the individualisation of the São Francisco paleo-continent and formation of its passive margins. An amphibolite intercalation in the Araxá Group yields a rutile age of ca. 0.9 Ga and documents the occurrence of mafic magmatism coeval with sedimentation in the marginal basin.Detrital zircons from the autochthonous and parautochthonous Andrelândia Group, deposited on the southern margin of the São Francisco Craton, yielded a provenance pattern similar to that of the allochthonous units. This result implies that 1.6–1.2 Ga source rocks must be present in the São Francisco Craton. They could be located either in the cratonic area, which is mostly covered by the Neoproterozoic epicontinental deposits of the Bambuí Group, or in the outer paleo-continental margin, buried under the allochthonous units of the Brasília belt.Crustal melting and generation of syntectonic crustal granites and migmatisation at ca. 630 Ma mark the orogenic event that started with westward subduction of the São Francisco plate and ended with continental collision against the Paraná block (and Goiás terrane). Continuing collision led to the exhumation and cooling of the Araxá and Passos metamorphic nappes, as indicated by monazite ages of ca. 605 Ma and mark the final stages of tectonometamorphic activity in the southern Brasília belt.Whilst continent–continent collision was proceeding on the western margin of the São Francisco Craton along the southern Brasília belt, eastward subduction in the East was generating the 634–599 Ma Rio Negro magmatic arc which collided with the eastern São Francisco margin at 595–560 Ma, much later than in the Brasília belt. Thus, the tectonic effects of the Ribeira belt reached the southernmost sector of the Brasília belt creating a zone of superposition. The thermal front of this event affected the proximal Andrelândia Group at ca. 588 Ma, as indicated by monazite age.The participation of the Amazonian craton in the assembly of western Gondwana occurred at 545–500 Ma in the Paraguay belt and ca. 500 Ma in the Araguaia belt. This, together with the results presented in this work lead to the conclusion that the collision between the Paraná block and Goiás terrane with the São Francisco Craton along the Brasília belt preceded the accretion of the Amazonian craton by 50–100 million years.     

Differentiated payments for environmental services schemes: Amethodology proposal

Payment schemes for environmental services face serious budget constraints in Mexico. Payments are equally distributed among forest owners, and the governmental agencies that make payments to beneficiaries do not evaluate the amount of environmental services produced by forested areas. This lack of evaluation could lead to economic and environmental deficiencies that restrict the possible benefits of such programmes. In general, these programmes do not achieve their conservation objectives, and local beneficiaries are not involved in the design or application of these programmes. Similarly, the Payments for Hydrological Environmental Services (PHES) programme of the State of Mexico, Mexico, makes equal payments to beneficiaries of forested areas considering tree density. The objective of the present work was to create a methodology for determining differentiated payments schemes for hydrological environmental services, prioritising areas that contribute the most to groundwater recharge and promote the participation of society. In the Nevado de Toluca Natural Protected Area, the environmental criteria of forest type, tree density and aquifer overexploitation as well as social participation were considered in a multi-criteria analysis implemented in a Geographic Information System. A methodology was developed to determine differentiated payments based on specific forest characteristics that influence the potential capacity of forests to recharge groundwater reserves in addition to the level of social participation. In particular, social participation is key as it could ensure the viability of PHES programmes as conservation alternatives in forested areas with high groundwater recharge potential.