Nature of Crustal Reflectivity along the DEKORP Profiles in Germany in Comparison with Reflection Patterns from Different Tectonic Units Worldwide: A Review

—Reflectivity of the continental crust displays many different patterns. The DEKORP lines are used as a basis for comparing and reviewing reflectivity in different tectonic units. The (brittle) upper crust generally exhibits only two types of reflectivity. It is either rather "transparent," preferably in some extensional provinces, or/and it shows traces of thrust and shear zones of former or present ruptures. As these zones have a low impedance interior (with few exceptions), their first reflection onsets have a negative polarity and evince strong, but short signals, which sometimes can be correlated over several kilometers. The (generally ductile) lower crust displays a completely different reflectivity. In warm, extensional and thin crusts the lower part is full of reflecting lamellae. It is suggested that this type of reflectivity has a thermo-rheological origin. The creation of lamellae must take place in a ductile material with contrasting impedance under extensional stresses. It can be associated with mineral alignment and corresponding seismic anisotropy. Destruction of lamellae may take place by a cooling process, transforming parts of the lower crust into a brittle regime. Small stresses might deform or break the lamellae and leave a certain dispersed reflectivity like that in some old (and cold) shields. There are no observations of reflecting lamellae in the upper crust or in the upper mantle. In all areas the Moho is the last reflecting band (reflection Moho), which most often is identical with the classical refraction Moho. There are isolated, mostly dipping, reflections in the uppermost mantle in zones where the last tectonic event, a delamination or subduction, was not succeeded by a heating process. The uppermost mantle is brittle again in most areas and may keep the memory of a (cold) collision over billions of years.     

On the content and vertical distribution of K,Th and U in the continental crust

The content of K, Th and U in the continental crust is estimated based on the assumption that the concentration of these elements decreases with depth asA_x = A₀e^?x/D [11], withA_x andA₀ the heat production rates at depthx and at the surface, respectively. Taking the weighted mean heat production rate of the intrusive rocks of the upper crust asA₀ = 2.33 μWm^?3, that of the granulites representing the lower crust asA_x = 0.72 μWm^?3, and the mean scale heightD= 9.5km [1] the average vertical distancex = b between these intrusives and granulites is 11.2 km. Withb known and the average concentrations of K, Th and U in granulites and intrusive rocks of the upper crust the scale heights of the vertical distribution of these elements areD_K = 71km,D_Th = 9.5km,D_U = 5.8km. The knowledge of these parameters permits to calculate the average concentrations of these elements in a 33.3 km thick crust:K= 2.19%,Th= 4.43ppm,U= 0.66ppm; Th/U = 6.7 and K/U = 3.3 × 10⁴. The resulting heat flow is 23.0 mW m^?2 which is practically identical with the value deduced from heat flow measurements. Assuming that the Th/U ratio of the entire crust—including the sediments—is 3.9, the high ratio of 6.7 in the crystalline crust indicates that about 7.2 × 10¹² t U were extracted from it. All rocks with Th/U ratios <3.9 are possible sinks of this U. About half that amount is deposited in sedimentary rocks, mainly in black shales. The second important sink are the volcanic rocks of the continental margins.     

Earthquakes and strength in the laminated lower crust —Can they be explained by the “corset model”?

We present a model that may explain deep crustal earthquakes observed, in particular, in several areas of highly reflective (laminated) lower continental crust. We combine observations from earthquake seismology, crustal reflection seismics and tectonic-rheological concepts. The study concentrates on parts of the northern Alpine foreland where many earthquakes occur inside the laminated lower crust, which is generally considered to be warm and weak. Thin mafic/ultramafic, sill-like intrusions and invisible dykes are assumed to form a corset-like network with high strength. This model can explain the observed strong and multiple reflections and the occurrence of rupture inside a stable structure within a weak lower crust. Tectonic stress transfer (from the Alpine collision zone or/and the Upper Rhine Graben) and its release may follow classical friction concepts. In addition, the heterogeneity of the laminated lower crust may also favour various viscous instabilities.     

Effects of the Herbicide Metazachlor on Phytoplankton and Periphyton Communities in Outdoor Mesocosms

The effects of the chloroacetanilide herbicide metazachlor have been investigated in outdoor artificial mesocosms. Decreasing phytoplankton densities were caused by the application, however, the communities recovered after 30 to 35 days. Periphyton growth was found to be affected not only by the herbicide application but by the presence of species with different ability to grow on artificial substrates. Zooplankton diversity was small due to low density of ingestible algae species. Oxygen saturation was found to be correlated with the dosage levels of the herbicide in the second half of the study.     

Coupled climate modelling of ocean circulation changes during ice age inception

Freshening of high latitude surface waters can change the large-scale oceanic transport of heat and salt. Consequently, atmospheric and sea ice perturbations over the deep water production sites excite a large-scale response establishing an oceanic "teleconnection" with time scales of years to centuries. To study these feedbacks, a coupled atmosphere-ocean-sea ice model consisting of a two dimensional atmospheric energy and moisture balance model (EMBM) coupled to a thermodynamic sea ice model and an ocean general circulation model is utilised. The coupled model reproduces many aspects of the present oceanic circulation. We also investigate the climate impact of changes in fresh water balance during an ice age initiation. In this experiment part of the precipitation over continents is stored within continental ice sheets. During the buildup of ice sheets the oceanic stratification in the North Atlantic is weakened by a reduced continental run-off leading to an enhanced thermohaline circulation. Under these conditions salinity is redistributed such that deep water is more saline than under present conditions. Once the ice sheets built up, we simulate an ice age climate without net fresh water storage on the continents. In this case the coupled model reproduces the shallow and weak overturning cell, an ice edge advance insulating the upper ocean, and many other aspects of the glacial circulation.     

Rekonstruktion der Abkühlungsgeschichte des Damara-Orogens in Südwest-Afrika mit Hilfe von Spaltspuren-Altern

Zusammenfassung Mit Hilfe der Spuren der spontanen Kernspaltung des Urans wurden 23 andraditreiche Granate, 10 Epidote, 4 Vesuviane und 61 Apatite datiert. Die Kombination dieser Daten mit denen klassischer radiometrischer Verfahren erlaubte es, die Abkühlungsgeschichte des jungpräkambrischen Damara-Orogens in Südwestafrika recht detailliert nachzuzeichnen. Dadurch, daß die effektiven Schließungstemperaturen der benutzten Minerale für Spaltspuren wesentlich unter derjenigen für Ar in Biotit liegen, konnte erstmals der Tieftemperaturbereich genauer erfaßt werden. Während im genannten Untersuchungsgebiet von ca. 80 000 km² die K/Ar-Biotit-Alter (Schließungstemperatur 300° C) recht einheitlich nahe 485 m. a. liegen, trifft dies auf die Spaltspurenalter überhaupt nicht zu. Bezüglich Granat (Schließungstemperatur 260 bis 280° C) kann man vielmehr einen Bereich niedriger Alter mit 300–350 m. a. von einem Bereich hoher Alter mit 490 m. a. (Konkordanz mit Biotit) unterscheiden. Ganz analog verteilen sich die Apatitalter (Schließungstemperatur 70–80° C): sie betragen 80–120 m. a. und 200–300 m. a. Die Bereiche hoher und niedriger Alter grenzen mit äußerst schmalen Übergangszonen von zum Teil weniger als 10 km Breite aneinander. Die niedrigen Alter finden sich dort, wo während der Metamorphose mit > 660° C die höchsten Temperaturen erreicht wurden. Es handelt sich um eine Art 300 km breites Plateau bei dem relativ niedrigen Druck von 3 kb. Der Sprung von niedrigen zu hohen Altern vollzieht sich dort, wo dieses Plateau zu Ende ist, wo also während der Metamorphose die Isothermen steil abtauchten und im heutigen Oberflächenausschnitt die Drucke wesentlich höher, die erreichten Temperaturen aber viel niedriger waren. Diese Übereinstimmung von Zonen hoher Temperatur mit niedrigen Spaltspurenaltern und umgekehrt wird noch dadurch akzentuiert, daß die absolut niedrigsten Alter (auch K/Ar) dort auftreten, wo auch beginnende Anatexis zu beobachten ist.Aus all diesen Befunden und den P-T-Daten wird gefolgert, daß das Gebirge zunächst durch relativ rasche Hebung und Abtragung auf einheitlich ca. 300° C abkühlte. Als dann diese Abtragung nahezu zum Stillstand kam, betrug die Abkühlungsgeschwindigkeit im Bereich der niedrigen Spaltspurenalter, der sich mit dem der höchsten Temperauren während der Metamorphose deckt, nur noch 2°/10 m. a. Dort nahmen die geothermischen Gradienten von ca. 60°/km auf 30–40°/km ab, außerhalb dieser Zone auf 15–20°/km. Die ursprüngliche Wärmequelle muß also noch aktiv gewesen sein, oder ein anderer Mechanismus zur Aufrechterhaltung der Gradienten muß diese Wärmequelle abgelöst haben. Denkbar ist, daß die riesigen Volumina intrusiver Granite und Pegmatite in diesem Gebiet eine Konzentrierung der radioaktiven Elemente bewirkten; diese könnten dann zu der beobachteten postorogenen Wärmeverteilung geführt haben, die der ursprünglichen sehr ähnelt.

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The fission track ages of 23 andradite rich garnets, 10 epidotes, 4 vesuvianites and 61 apatites were determined. The combination of these data with those from classical radiometric techniques permitted to reconstruct in great detail the cooling history of the young-Precambrian Damara-Orogen in South West Africa. By this method the low temperature region below 300° C (closing temperature for Ar in biotite) became accessible because the minerals used begin to retain tracks only at considerably lower temperatures.Whereas the K/Ar ages of biotite lie rather uniformly close to 485 m. y. in the whole area studied (approximately 80 000 km²) the contrary is true for the fission track ages: Low garnet ages (closing temperature -, 260–280° C) of 300–350 m. y. in one zone and high ages of 490 m. y. and concordance with K/Ar biotite ages in the other. The distribution of the apatite ages (closing temperature 70–80° C) is analogous: Low ages of 80–120 m. y. where garnet is young and ages of 200–300 m. y. where garnet is old. The two areas are separated from each other by a narrow transition zone which sometimes is less than 10 km wide. The low ages are found where the highest temperatures of > 660° C at 3 kb were reached during the peak of metamorphism. The high temperature plateau was about 300 km wide. The jump from low to high fission track ages occurs at the margin of the plateau, where the isotherms become steep during metamorphism and where — at the now exposed surface — the pressures were higher but the temperatures lower. This congruence of the high temperature zone with the region of low fission track ages is further accentuated by the observation that the absolutely lowest ages (track and K/Ar) are found only where incipient anatexis occurred.From the observations and from the P-T data it is concluded that the orogen in the beginning underwent relatively rapid uplift and erosion and had cooled down to uniformly 300° C about 485 m. y. ago. Erosion then ceased more or less for about 200 m. y. and further cooling proceeded very slowly by only 2°/10 m. y. in the area where the highest temperatures were reached during metamorphism and where the low ages are found. There the geothermal gradient of 60°/km which prevailed already during the peak of metamorphism decreased to 30–40°/km, outside this zone to 15–20°/km. Either the original heat source was still active then or another mechanism must be found which can maintain this gradient for such a long time. It is possible that the enormous volumes of granites and pegmatites which are confined to the area in question concentrated the radioactive elements in the upper crust. This could have caused a postorogenic heat distribution very similar to the original heat source.

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Résumé A l'aide des traces de fission spontanée de l'uranium on a pu déterminer l'âge de 23 grenats riches en andradite, 10 epidotes, 4 vésuvianites et 61 apatites. La combinaison de ces âges avec ceux des méthodes classiques de la radiométrie a permis de tracer d'une façon assez détaillée l'histoire du refroidissement de l'orogène du Damara du Précambrien supérieur de l'Afrique Sud-Ouest. Comme les températures effectives de fermeture des minéraux utilisés restent considérablement inférieures à celles concernant l'Ar dans la biotite, on pouvait pour la première fois saisir plus exactement la région des températures basses. Tandis que dans le territoire étudié d'environ 80.000 km² les âges K/Ar-biotite (température de fermeture 300° C) sont proches assez uniformement de 485 m. a., on constate que cela ne vaut plus du tout pour les âges des traces de fission. En ce qui concerne le grenat (température de fermeture 260–280° C), on peut distinguer une région à âges de 300–350 m. a. d'une autre région à âges plus élevés avec 490 m. a. (concordance avec biotite). Les âges de l'apatite (température de fermeture 70–80 °C) se répartissent de façon analogue: ils s'élèvent à 80–120 et 200–300 m. a. La zone de transition entre les deux régions est très étroite (parfois moins de 10 km de largeur). Les âges de faible valeur se trouvent là où, pendant le métamorphisme, les plus hautes températures > 660° C furent atteintes. Il s'agit d'une sorte de plateau de 300 km de largeur avec une pression relativement faible de 3 kb. Le saut des valeurs d'âge faibles aux valeurs fortes s'effectue là où ce plateau se termine, s'est-à-dire où, pendant le métamorphisme, les isothermes tombaient abruptement et où, dans la section actuellement exposée en surface, tes pressions étaient considérablement plus élevées, mais les températures atteintes beaucoup plus basses. Cette coïncidence de zones de haute température avec les âges faibles des traces de fission et inversement est encore accentuée par le fait que les âges absolus les plus faibles (aussi K/Ar) se trouvent exclusivement là où l'anatexis commençait.De tous ces rapports et des données P-T on peut conclure que le massif s'est refroidi d'abord uniformément jusqu'à 300° C environ à la suite d'un soulèvement et d'une érosion relativement rapides. Lorsque cette érosion fut à peu près arrêté, la vitesse de refroidissement dans la région des âges faibles des traces de fission, qui coïncide avec celle des plus hautes températures pendant le métamorphisme, s'élevait seulement à 2°/10 m. a. Là, les gradients géothermiques d'environ 60°/km ont diminué à 30–40°/km et dans la zone des âges élevés à 15–20°/km. Il faut donc que la source de chaleur originelle ait encore été active, ou qu'un autre mécanisme pour le maintien des gradients ait remplacé cette source de chaleur. On peut s'imaginer que les énormes volumes de granites et pegmatites dans cette région ont effectué une concentration des éléments radioactifs; il est ainsi possible que ceux-ci aient conduit à la distribution de chaleur postorogène que nous avons observée et qui ressemble beaucoup à la distribution de chaleur originelle.

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23 , 10 , 4 61 . , , - . .. , , . 80 000 ² / — 300° — 485 , , . 260 280° , 300 350 490 ( ). , ( 70– 80° ): 80–120 200–300 . , , 10 . , 660° . 300 3 . , , — . , — / — , . , 300° . - , , , 2° , 10 . 60°/ 30–40° /, 15–20°/. , - . , ; - , .

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Teil einer von der Universität Göttingen angenommenen Habilitationsschrift.     

Exploring sustainability of aquifers based on predictive modeling of sorption characteristics of arsenic enriched Holocene sediments in Bangladesh

The importance of accessing safe aquifers in areas with high As is being increasingly recognized. The present study aims to investigate the sorption and mobility of As at the sediment-groundwater interface to identify a likely safe aquifer in the Holocene deposit in southwestern Bangladesh. The upper, shallow aquifer at around 18 m depth, which is composed mainly of very fine, grey, reduced sand and contains 24.3 μg/g As, was found to produce highly enriched groundwater (190 μg/L As). In contrast, deeper sediments are composed of partly oxidized, brownish, medium sand with natural adsorbents like Fe- and Al-oxides; they contain 0.76 μg/g As and impart low As concentrations to the water (4 μg/L). These observations were supported by spectroscopic studies with SEM, TEM, XRD and XRF, and by adsorption, leaching, column tests and sequential extraction. A relatively high in-situ dissolution rate (R_r) of 1.42 × 10⁻¹⁶ mol/m²/s was derived for the shallower aquifer from the inverse mass-balance model. The high R_r may enhance As release processes in the upper sediment. The field-based reaction rate (K_r) was extrapolated to be roughly 1.23 × 10⁻¹³ s⁻¹ and 6.24 × 10⁻¹⁴ s⁻¹ for the shallower and deeper aquifer, respectively, from the laboratory-obtained adsorption/desorption data. This implies that As is more reactive in the shallower aquifer. The partition coefficient for the distribution of As at the sediment-water interface (K_d-As) was found to range from 5 to 235 L/kg based on in-situ, batch adsorption, and flow-through column techniques. Additionally, a parametric equation for K_d-As (R² = 0.67) was obtained from the groundwater pH and the logarithm of the leachable Fe and Al concentrations in sediment. A one-dimensional finite-difference numerical model incorporating K_d and K_r showed that the shallow, leached As can be immobilized and prevented from reaching the deeper aquifer (∼150 m) after 100 year by a natural filter of oxidizing sand and adsorbent minerals like Fe and Al oxides; in this scenario, 99% of the As in groundwater is reduced. The deeper aquifer appears to be an adequate source of sustainable, safe water.     

Atacamite formation by deep saline waters in copper deposits from the Atacama Desert,Chile: evidence from fluid inclusions,groundwater geochemistry,TEM, and <Superscript>36</Superscript>Cl data

The presence of large amounts of atacamite in oxide zones from ore deposits in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile requires saline solutions for its formation and hyperarid climate conditions for its preservation. We investigated the nature and origin of atacamite-forming solutions by means of coupling groundwater geochemical analyses with fluid inclusion data, high-resolution mineralogical observations, and chlorine-36 (³⁶Cl) data in atacamite from the Mantos Blancos and Spence Cu deposits. In both deposits, the salinities of fluid inclusions in atacamite are comparable to those measured in saline groundwaters sampled from drill holes. The average salinity of fluid inclusions in atacamite for the Mantos Blancos and Spence deposits (~7–9 and 2–3 wt.% NaCl_eq, respectively) are strongly correlated to the salinities at which gypsum supersaturates from groundwaters in both deposits (total dissolved solids ~5–9 and 1–3 wt.% NaCl_eq, respectively). This correlation is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy observations of atacamite-bearing samples, revealing an intimate association between atacamite and gypsum that can be traced down to the nanometer scale. ³⁶Cl data in atacamite provide new lines of evidence concerning the origin and age of the saline waters that formed atacamite in various stratabound and porphyry Cu deposits from the Atacama Desert. All atacamite samples show very low ³⁶Cl-to-Cl ratios (11 × 10⁻¹⁵ to 28 × 10⁻¹⁵ at at⁻¹), comparable to previously reported ³⁶Cl-to-Cl ratios of deep formation waters and old groundwaters. In addition, ³⁶Cl-to-Cl ratios in atacamite correlate with U and Th concentration in the host rocks but are independent from distance to the ocean. This trend supports an interpretation of the low ³⁶Cl-to-Cl ratios in atacamite as representing subsurface production of fissiogenic ³⁶Cl in secular equilibrium with the solutions involved in atacamite formation. Therefore, ³⁶Cl in atacamite strongly suggest that the chlorine in saline waters related to atacamite formation is old (>1.5 Ma) but that atacamite formation occurred more recently (<1.5 Ma) than suggested in previous interpretations. Our data provide new constraints on the origin of atacamite in Cu deposits from the Atacama Desert and support the recent notion that the formation of atacamite in hyperarid climates such as the Atacama Desert is an ongoing process that has occurred intermittently since the onset of hyperaridity.     

East Avalonia,the third partner in the Caledonian collisions: evidence from deep seismic reflection data

Further evidence for the existence of the terrane East Avalonia (Cadomia) in north-west Europe, its boundaries and its role in the Caledonian collisional processes comes from studies of deep seismic reflection data at sea and on land. Various sutures are found in the north-east and the north-west, and a generally poor reflectivity dominates in the major part. Further details of reflectivity patterns support the idea that a huge terrane which split from the northern rim of Gondwana moved northward and collided with the merging plates Laurentia-Baltica. Its docking features are analysed.