Continental crust formation seen through the Sr and Nd isotope systematics of S-type granites in the Hercynian belt of western France

The isotopic compositions of Sr, Nd and Pb in leucogranites which are intercorrelated (Bernard-Griffiths et al., 1985 [1]) may be explained by the mixing of ancient basement (1800 Ma) with juvenile crust (late Precambrian or early Palaeozoic). This hypothesis does not involve the existence of Mid-Proterozoic crust, as apparently indicated by theT_DM model ages of the leucogranites (ranging between 1600 and 1100 Ma). The Nd isotopes reveal the crustal reworking while Sr isotopes mainly record juvenile crust formation. This paradox is explained by the geochemical heterogeneity of the sources involved.     

Effects of local accelerations and baroclinity on the mean structure of the atmospheric boundary layer over the sea

Substitution of the geostrophic wind by the actual upper wind in the equations of motion for the boundary layer implies less sensitivity of the mean wind to inertial effects. This is confirmed by observations, although the problem of computing time or spatial derivatives from scattered data reduces the accuracy and the clarity of the results. It is found that acceleration (deceleration) increases (decreases) the cross-isobar angle whereas the geostrophic drag coefficient is a minimum (maximum) for crosswind acceleration (deceleration). On the other hand, cold air advection increases the cross-isobar angle whereas the geostrophic drag coefficient is a maximum when the thermal wind is parallel to the surface wind. The universal functions A _m and B _m based on vertically averaged winds are also rather insensitive to inertial influences.     

Isotope and trace element geochemistry of sediments from the Barbados Ridge-Demerara Plain region,Atlantic Ocean

Twenty-four piston core sediment samples and 13 sediments and 3 basalts from DSDP Leg 78 Site 543 were analyzed for Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions. The results show sediment with highly radiogenic Pb${}^{206}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ up to 19.8) and rather radiogenic Sr and unradiogenic Nd has been deposited in the region since the Cretaceous. The source of this sediment is probably the Archean Guiana Highland, which is drained by the Orinoco River. Pb and Sr isotopic compositions and sediment thickness decrease and${}^{143}\text{Nd}{}^{144}\text{Nd}$ increases northward due to a decrease in turbiditic component. This decrease is partly due to the damming action of basement ridges. Rare earth concentrations in the sediments are somewhat low, due to the abundance of detrital and biogenic components in the sediment and rapid sedimentation rates. Both positive and negative Ce anomalies occur in the surface sediments, but only positive Ce anomalies occur in the Site 543 sediments. It is unlikely that sediment subducted to the source region of Lesser Antilles arc magmas could be the cause of negative Ce anomalies in those magmas.Isotopic compositions of Site 543 basalts show some effect of contamination by seawater-basalt reaction products and sediments. Beyond this, however, they are typical of “normal” depleted MORB.     

Shallow seismicity at Montagne Pelée volcano,Martinique, Lesser Antilles

Continuous seismic monitoring at Martinique since the 1902 eruption of the Montagne Pelée volcano did not detect local earthquakes for the first 70 years. For the only eruption which occurred in this time span in 1929 the seismograph was 20 km away and of a standard type, not particularly suited for the detection of small-scale local seismicity. Improvement of the monitoring array over the last 15 years with the installation of sensors on the volcano itself allowed the detection of signals of local origin which were interpreted as being due to surface sources, such as rockfalls and landslides. Since December 1985 seismic sources in the volcano itself, i.e. small earthquakes at shallow depth, were identified and located with the aid of a temporary upgrading of the array close to these weak sources. Such an onset of local seismicity could not have been detected with previous seismic equipment; such episodes of seismicity in the volcano might have occurred in the past, apparently quiescent history of the volcano as the reinterpretation of seismograms of some events in 1976 would indicate, without evolving to more important volcanic phenomena. For seismographs on volcanoes the constant upgrading of observation capabilities is certainly perferred to a strict continuity of standard observations.     

Isotopic study of the Manaslu granite (Himalaya,Nepal): inferences on the age and source of Himalayan leucogranites

A detailed isotopic study of the Manaslu leucogranite was carried out. A U-Pb age of 25 Ma and a whole rock Rb-Sr age isochron of 18 Ma were obtained, suggesting that the magmatic activity lasted at least 7 Ma. Initial Sr isotopic ratios are very high (0.740 to 0.760) and initial Nd isotopic ratios are low ( _Nd ⁱⁿ : –13 to –16), and they show the existence of large isotopic variations even at the metre scale. These are not the result of perturbations by fluids but rather they reflect the initial isotopic heterogeneity of the source material which has not been obliterated by magmatic processes (e.g. fusion, mixing by convection). These results also support the crustal origin of this leucogranite. The Tibetan slab paragneisses, whose Sr and Nd isotopic ratios are very similar to those of the granite at an age of 20 Ma, are the most probable parental material. Nd model ages for both the leucogranite and the gneisses are in the range 1.5–2 Ga. A model of formation of the Manaslu granite by coalescence of different batches of magma is in agreement with the present data.     

Surface Soil Effects Study Using Short-period Microtremor Observations in Almería City, Southern Spain

—?In Almería city large earthquakes occurred and many buildings were completely destroyed in these historical earthquakes. The actual population of Almería city is about 200,000 people. This population is rapidly increasing and new urbanizing areas are growing to the eastern part of the city where they are located in softer soil conditions. Consequently, the evaluation of surface soil conditions is very important from a standpoint of earthquake disaster mitigation. We have obtained a landform classification map developed by analysing aerial photos, large-scale topographic maps and 80 borehole data. Eleven unit areas, which have different soil conditions, were inferred from this research. Also, S-wave velocity prospecting tests were carried out at several sites within the city. The shear-velocity values of the ground vary from 1689?m/s in hard rock to 298?m/s in soft soil. These results are useful for understanding the uppermost soil characteristics and are used for soil classification. Finally, short-period microtremor observations were densely carried out in the research area and NAKAMURA's method (1989) was applied for determining predominant periods. Microtremors were observed at about 173 sites with mainly 400?m interval in rock sites and 200?m interval in relatively soft soil sites. From the result of these microtremor measurements, the predominant period determined at rock site, in the western part of the city and historic area, is very short, about 0.1?s, and very stable. However at soft soil sites, in the center of the city, near Zapillo Beach and in the newly developed urban area, the predominant period is about 1.0?s and even larger in concordance with the geological conditions. Finally, at medium soil sites, in the eastern part of the city, the predominant period is about 0.4?s and it appears very stable in the whole region. The difference of predominant periods between hard rock and soft soil sites is very clear and it has been observed that the distribution of predominant periods depends heavily on the surface soil conditions.     

Analysis of the weightiness of site effects on reinforced concrete (RC) building seismic behaviour: The Adra town example (SE Spain)

The damage distribution in Adra town (south‐eastern Spain) during the 1993 and 1994 Adra earthquakes (5.0 magnitude), that reached a maximum intensity degree of VII (European Macroseismic Scale (EMS scale)), was concentrated mainly in the south‐east zone of the town and the most relevant damage occurred in reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with four or five storeys. In order to evaluate the influence of ground condition on RC building behaviour, geological, geomorphological and geophysical surveys were carried out, and a detailed map of ground surface structure was obtained. Short‐period microtremor observations were performed in 160 sites on a 100m × 100m dimension grid and Nakamura's method was applied in order to determine a distribution map of soil predominant periods. Shorter predominant periods (0.1–0.3 s) were found in mountainous and neighbouring zones and larger periods (greater than 0.5 s) in thicker Holocene alluvial fans. A relationship T = (0.049 ± 0.001)N, where T is the natural period of swaying motion and N is the number of storeys, has been empirically obtained by using microtremor measurements at the top of 38 RC buildings (ranging from 2 to 9 storeys). 1‐D simulation of strong motion on different soil conditions and for several typical RC buildings were computed, using the acceleration record in Adra town of the 1993 earthquake. It is noteworthy that all the aforementioned results show the influence of site effects in the degree and distribution of observed building damage. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GPS network monitors the Western Alps' deformation over a five-year period: 1993–1998

  The Western Alps are among the best studied collisional belts with both detailed structural mapping and also crustal geophysical investigations such as the ECORS and EGT seismic profile. By contrast, the present-day kinematics of the belt is still largely unknown due to small relative motions and the insufficient accuracy of the triangulation data. As a consequence, several tectonic problems still remain to be solved, such as the amount of N–S convergence in the Occidental Alps, the repartition of the deformation between the Alpine tectonic units, and the relation between deformation and rotation across the Alpine arc. In order to address these problems, the GPS ALPES group, made up of French, Swiss and Italian research organizations, has achieved the first large-scale GPS surveys of the Western Alps. More than 60 sites were surveyed in 1993 and 1998 with a minimum observation of 3 days at each site. GPS data processing has been done by three independent teams using different software. The different solutions have horizontal repeatabilities (N–E) of 4–7 mm in 1993 and 2–3 mm in 1998 and compare at the 3–5-mm level in position and 2-mm/yr level in velocity. A comparison of 1993 and 1998 coordinates shows that residual velocities of the GPS marks are generally smaller than 2 mm/yr, precluding a detailed tectonic interpretation of the differential motions. However, these data seem to suggest that the N–S compression of the Western Alps is quite mild (less than 2 mm/yr) compared to the global convergence between the African and Eurasian plate (6 mm/yr). This implies that the shortening must be accomodated elsewhere by the deformation of the Maghrebids and/or by rotations of Mediterranean microplates. Also, E–W velocity components analysis supports the idea that E–W extension exists, as already suggested by recent structural and seismotectonic data interpretation. Received: 27 November 2000 / Accepted: 17 September 2001     

himu-em: The French Polynesian connection

himu, em i andem ii are three of the main geochemical mantle components that give rise to oceanic island basalts [1]. They represent the end members that produce the extreme isotopic compositions measured on intraplate volcanics. In French Polynesia, all three mantle components are represented in volcanic rocks. The characteristichimu signature is found in Tubuai, Mangaia and Rurutu,em i is present in the source of Rarotonga and Pitcairn volcanics andem ii dominates the composition of most Society Islands. Intermediate values between the three end members are found on most islands.We suggest that the three components are not independent but are physically related in the mantle. Thehimu component is thought to be recycled oceanic crust that lost part of its Pb through hydrothermal processes prior to and during subduction.em i andem ii are believed to acquire their isotopic and trace element characteristics through entrainment of sediments that were subducted together with the oceanic crust.The trace element pattern and the isotopic composition ofhimu lavas can be quantitatively modelled using a mixture of 25% old recycledmorb crust and 75% mantle peridotite. The extreme Pb composition is modelled assuming that Pb was lost from oceanic crust when hydrothermal alteration at the ridge leached Pb from the basalt to redeposit it as sulphides on top of and throughout the crust, followed by preferential dissolution of sulphides during dehydration in the subduction zone. These processes led to a drastic increase of theU/Pb ratio of the subducted material which evolved over 2 Ga to very radiogenic Pb isotopic compositions. Pb isotopic compositions similar to those ofem i andem ii are modelled assuming that sediments with average crustal Pb isotopic compositions were subducted and recycled into the mantle together with the underlyingmorb oceanic crust. Pelagic sediments (μ 5 andκ 6) account for the Pb isotopic composition ofem i whereas terrigenous sediments (μ 10 andκ 4.5) evolve towards theem ii end member. A few percent of sediment in the recycled crust-sediment mixture will destroy the characteristic Pb isotopic signature of thehimu component. This, together with the low probability of isolating oceanic crust in the mantle for 2 Ga, explains why the extremehimu composition, as seen on Tubuai and St Helena, is sampled so rarely by oceanic volcanism.