Chemical composition and stable carbon isotopic ratios of crude oils from Southern Germany

Thirty crude oils were sampled in the South German Molasse Basin. The crude oils were chemically separated into five component groups and their stable carbon isotopic ratios were determined by mass spectrometry. A distinct differentiation of four regionally connected groups can be inferred from the results of the δ¹³C values and chemical analyses. This grouping is in accordance with the present geologic information on the origin of crude oils in the Molasse Basin.The chemistry of crude oils seems to have been influenced by secondary processes in the eastern part of the Molasse Basin.     

A reconnaissance geochemical study of La Primavera geothermal area, Jalisco, Mexico

The Sierra La Primavera, a late Pleistocene rhyolitic caldera complex in Jalisco, México, contains fumaroles and large-discharge 65°C hot springs that are associated with faults related to caldera collapse and to later magma insurgence. The nearly-neutral, sodium bicarbonate, hot springs occur at low elevations at the margins of the complex, whereas the water-rich fumaroles are high and central.The Comisión Federal de Electricidad de México (CFE) has recently drilled two deep holes at the center of the Sierra (PR-1 and Pr-2) and one deep hole at the western margin. Temperatures as high as 285°C were encountered at 1160 m in PR-1, which produced fluids with 820 to 865 mg/kg chloride after flashing to one atmosphere. Nearby, PR-2 encountered temperatures to 307°C at 2000 m and yielded fluids with chloride contents fluctuating between 1100 and 1560 mg/kg after flashing. Neither of the high-temperature wells produced steam in commercial quantities. The well at the western margin of the Sierra produced fluids similar to those from the hot springs. The temperature reached a maximum of 100°C near the surface and decreased to 80°C at 2000 m.Various geothermometers (quartz conductive, Na/K, Na-K-Ca, δ¹⁸O(SO₄-H₂O) and D/H (steam-water) all yield temperatures of 170 ± 20°C when applied to the hot spring waters, suggesting that these spring waters flow from a large shallow reservoir at this temperature. Because the hot springs are much less saline than the fluids recovered in PR-1 and PR-2, the mixed fluid in the shallow reservoir can contain no more than 10–20% deep fluid. This requires that most of the heat is transferred by steam. There is probably a thin vapor-dominated zone in the central part of the Sierra, through which steam and gases are transferred to the overlying shallow reservoir. Fluids from this reservoir cool from 170°C to 65°C by conduction during the 5–7 km of lateral flow to the hot springs.     

Gases and water isotopes in a geochemical section across the Larderello,Italy, geothermal field

Steam samples from six wells (Colombaia, Pineta, Larderello 57, Larderello 155, Gabbro 6, and Gabbro 1) in a south to north section across the Larderello geothermal field have been analyzed for inorganic and hydrocarbon gases and for oxygen-18 and deuterium of steam. The wells generally decrease in depth and increase in age toward the south. The steam samples are generally characterized by

1. Total gas contents increasing south to north from 0.003 to 0.05 mole fraction;
2. Constant CO₂ (95±2 percent); near constant H₂S (1.6±0.8), N₂ (1.2±0.8), H₂ (2±1), CH₄ (1.2±1), and no O₂ in the dry gas;
3. Presence of numerous, straight chain and branched C₂ to C₆ hydrocarbons plus benzene in amounts independent of CH₄ contents with highest concentrations in the deeper wells;
4. Oxygen-18 contents of steam increasing south to north from ?5.0‰ to ?0.4‰ with little change in deuterium (?42±2‰).

These observations are interpreted as showing:

1. Decreasing gas contents with amount of production because the proportion of steam boiled from liquid water increases with production;
2. Synthesis of CH₄ from H₂ and CO₂ with CO₂ and H₂ produced by thermal metamorphism and rock-water reactions;
3. Extraction of C₂ to C₆ hydrocarbons from rock organic matter;
4. Either oxygen isotope exchange followed by distillation of steam from the north toward the south (2 plates at ～220°C) or mixture of deeper more-exchange waters from the north with shallow, less-exchanged recharging waters from the south.

     

Die Bimodalität des Vulkanismus und die Herkunft der Magmen

Zusammenfassung Häufigkeitsdiagramme der Explosivitätsindiees der tätigen Vulkane und einiger Komponenten der Magmen (Abb. 1–5) beweisen die Bimodalität des Vulkanismus, die nur durch eine Herkunft der Magmen aus zwei voneinander unabhängigen Quellen (oberer Mantel und Kontinentalkruste) erklärt werden kann.Gegen die Hypothesen, die die Bildung von basisdien Magmen durch Einschmelzung von kristallinen Mantelgesteinen zu erklären versuchen, werden physikalisch und geochemisch begründete Einwände erhoben. Dagegen wird der low velocity layer als teilweise geschmolzene Zone aufgefaßt, aus der die simatischen Magmen stammen. Die sialischen Magmen entstehen dagegen in der Hauptsache durch eine teilweise oder völlige Einschmelzung von Krustenmaterial in Orogenen (Regionalanatexis) und lokal in Kratonen (Kontaktanatexis). Die relativ große Variationsbreite der sialischen Magmen wird durch die Verschiedenheit des Ausgangsmaterials (metamorphe Differentiation), durch Hybridismus und durch Differentiationsprozesse erklärt.Geologische Tatsachen beweisen, daß die sialische Erdkruste schon vor niemals 3 1/2 Milliarden Jahren vorhanden war. Andererseits zeigen die Mohorovii-Diskontinuität und die Bimodalität des Vulkanismus, daß das Sial nicht ein Differentiat des simatischen Mantelmaterials sein kann. Es wird gezeigt, daß weder die Entstehung des Sials noch der Vulkanismus im Rahmen der Planetesimalhypothese erklärt werden können. Im Dilemma zwischen der Emföhrrmg einer unbegründbaren ad hoc Hypothese von sialischen Riesenmeteoriten und der Hypothese einer heliogenen Erde, wird die letztere vorgezogen, da sie eine ungezwungene Erklärung der Entstehung der Sialkruste und der Bimodalität des Vulkanismus ermöglicht.

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The frequency diagrams of the index of volcanic explosivity and of some chemical components of the magmas (Fig. 1–5) prove the bimodality of volcanism, which can be explained only by admitting two independent sources of magma, the mantle and the crust. On the basis of physical and chemical facts objections are made against the hypotheses which try to explain the formation of basaltic magmas by partial or total melting of crystalline mantle rocks. It is much more probable that these magmas derive from the low velocity layer which is considered to consist of already, at least partially, molten material. The sialic magmas are produced chiefly by melting of crustal material in orogenic belts (regional anatexis) or, occasionally, in cratonic regions (contact anatexis). The relatively wide variation of sialic magmas is explained by different composition of the original material (metamorphic differentiation), by hybridism and by various types of magmatic differentiation.Geological facts demonstrate the sialic crust to have existed already over 3 1/2 b. y. ago. The Moho-discontinuity and the bimodality of volcanism show that the sialic crust cannot be a product of differentiation of the upper mantle material. It is shown that neither the origin of Sial nor the volcanism can be reasonably explained by the hypothesis of planetesimals. Having the choice between the ad hoc hypothesis of the impact of giant meteorites of about sialic composition, capable to create at once a continent, and the old hypothesis of a solar origin of the earth, the author prefers the latter one.

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Résumé La bimodalité du volcanisme est démontrée par la fréquence des indices d'explosivité des volcans actifs et par celle de certains constituants chimiques des magmas. Cette bimodalité s'explique par l'existence de deux sources de magmas indépendants: le manteau supérieur et la croûte sialique. Pour des raisons physiques et géochimiques, l'auteur s'oppose aux hypothèses qui cherchent à expliquer l'origine des magmas basaltiques par une fusion partielle ou totale de matériel cristallisé du manteau supérieur. Il considère le « low velocity layer » comme au moins partiellement fondu et étant la source des magmas basiques. Par contre les magmas sialiques prennent origine dans l'anatexie régionale (zones orogéniques) ou, localement, dans l'anatexie de contact (zones cratoniques étirées). La variation relativement grande, des magmas sialiques peut être expliquée par la différence des roches préexistantes (differentiation métamorphique) et aussi par l'hybridisme et par des divers processus de différentiation magmatique.Des faits géologiques démontrent que la croûte sialique a existé déjà il y a plus de 3 1/2 milliards d'années. La discontinuité de Mohorovii ainsi que la bimodalité du volcanisme ne peuvent pas être produites par une différentiation quelconque du matériel du manteau supérieur. Ni l'origine du Sial, ni le volcanisme ne peuvent être expliqués raisonnablement dans le cadre classique de l'hypothèse planétésimale. Ayant le choix entre une hypothèse ad hoc qui veut expliquer l'origine des continents par la chute de météorites gigantesques de composition à peu près sialique et l'hypothèse d'une origine solaire de la terre, l'auteur préfère la dernière.

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Neue Anschauungen über die Rolle von Schichtfugen und Klüften in der karsthydrographischen Entwicklung

Zusammenfassung Über die Gebundenheit der Karsthydrographie an Klüfte oder Schichtfugen herrschen je nach den Sprachgebieten unterschiedliche Meinungen vor. Allgemein ging man jedoch an der Tatsache vorbei, daß das Wasser bei Druckfließen, also unter phreatischen Bedingungen, kein aggressives CO₂ mehr zur Verfügung hat und daher nicht korrodieren kann. Korrosion war daher nur für die vadose Zone erklärbar, und auch nur dann, wenn das Wasser den Gleichgewichtskalkgehalt von 60 bis 90 mg/Liter, je nach Höhenlage, nicht erreicht, was unter bedecktem Karst kaum jemals der Fall ist. Genaue Untersuchungen im 100 km langen Hölloch (Schweiz) (Bögli 1953, 1960, 1966, 1968) und an andern, vor allem französischen Höhlen (Chevalier 1944), ergeben, daß sich das unterirdische Gewässernetz zum größeren Teil anfänglich unter phreatischen Bedingungen entwickelt, was aber nur durch Mischungskorrosion (Bögli 1963 b, 1964 a, 1964 b) möglich ist, die nicht auf eine CO₂-Zufuhr von außen angewiesen ist. Durch Inkasion (Nachbruch, Einsturz), die an der primären Hohlraumbildung meist nicht beteiligte Kluftflächen herausarbeitet, wird die schichtgebundene Entstehung meist verdeckt, was zu falschen Folgerungen führt. In der vadosen Zone folgt das Wasser vorwiegend offenen Klüften oder einer undurchlässigen Schicht und fließt auf kürzestem Weg dem Karstwasserkörper zu.

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Up to now the connection between the hydrology of karst and joints on the one and bedding planes on the other hand is much discussed. But in every case the corrosion of limestone appeared impossible in the phreatic zone because free CO₂ is missing in waterfilled galleries. Intensive investigations in the 62.2 miles of galleries in the Hölloch (Switzerland,Bögli 1953, 1960, 1966, 1968) and in many other caves, in particular in France (Chevalier 1944), demonstrate that on the base of corrosion by mixed water the pattern of underground watercourses is predominantly formed under phreatic conditions in pressure flows and on bedding planes. This fact is frequently masked by incasion (roof fall, lat. incadere = to break down in a cavity) removing joints and fractures which have never participated on the primary forming of galleries. In the vadose zone the underground watercourses generally follow open joints and flow on the nearest way to the groundwater.

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Résumé Le rapport entre l'hydrographie karstique et soit les diaclases d'une part, soit les joints de stratification de l'autre est une question assez discutée, surtout en dehors de la France. Mais en tout cas on ne se rend normalement pas compte qu'en conduit forcé l'eau n'emporte pas du CO₂ aggressif plus loin que quelques mètres à l'intérieur de la terre, sauf dans les réseaux déjà assez élargis. L'élargissement demande alors d'une part des conditions vadoses, c'est-à-dire la présence de l'air avec du CO₂, de l'autre de l'eau qui n'a pas encore atteint la concentration d'équilibre de 60 à 90 mg CO₃Ca par litre selon l'altitude. Mais les recherches avancées dans les 100 km du Hölloch (Muotatal, Suisse,Bögli 1953, 1960, 1966, 1968) et dans maintes autres cavernes, surtout en France (Chevalier 1944), prouvent, que les réseaux souterrains se développent au contraire primairement en grandes parties dans la zone noyée en conduit forcé et sur des joints de stratification. Cela demande alors un autre type de corrosion, la corrosion par mélange des eaux qui ne dépend pas de l'adduction de CO₂ d'en dehors de l'eau (Bögli 1963 b, 1964 a, 1964 b). La naissance des galeries sur des joints de stratification est très souvent cachée par incasion (lat. incadere = s'effondrer dans une cavité) qui fait ressortir des diaclases et le clivage qui ne participent en rien à la naissance de la galerie souterraine, ce qui a provoqué des conclusions eronnées.

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Stilpnomelan aus dem „Oberharzer Diabaszug“, Deutschland

An unusual paragenesis of stilpnomelane with ilvaite produced by hydrothermal reaction with the siliceous hematite ores of the Oberharzer Diabaszug is first described.

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Meinem Freund, Herrn Prof. Dr. Hilmar Schumann zum 70. Geburtstag gewidmet.     

Variation of seismic coupling with slab detachment and upper plate structure along the western Hellenic subduction zone

The western Hellenic subduction zone is characterized by a trenchward velocity of the upper plate. In the Ionian islands segment, complete seismic coupling is achieved, as is predicted by standard plate-tectonic models in which there is no slab pull force because the slab has broken off. The moderate local seismic moment rate relates to a shallow downdip limit for the seismogenic interface. This characteristic may be attributed to the ductility of the lower crust of the upper plate, which allows a décollement between the upper crust of the overriding plate and the subducting plate. Farther south, a deeper downdip limit of the seismogenic interface is indicated by thrust-faulting earthquakes, which persist much deeper in western Crete. A correspondingly larger downdip width of this seismogenic zone is consistent with the suggested larger maximum magnitude of earthquakes here. However, since the seismic moment release rate seems to be moderate in the Peloponnese and western Crete, like in in the Ionian islands, this seismically active interface cannot maintain complete seismic coupling across its larger downdip width. A cause may be the lateral addition of overweight to the part of the slab still attached in Crete, by the free fall of its part that has broken off from the surface further north. This increased slab pull reduces the compressive normal stress across the seismogenic interface and thus causes partial seismic coupling in its shallower part. However, the width of this part may provide an additional area contributing to slip in large earthquakes, which may nucleate deeper on stick-slip parts of the interface. Hints at anomalies in structure and seismicity, which need to be resolved, may relate to the present location of the edge of the tear in the slab.     

Repeated Aqueous Flooding from the Cerberus Fossae: Evidence for Very Recently Extant, Deep Groundwater on Mars

The geomorphology and topography of the Cerberus Plains region of Mars show three spatially and temporally distinct, young, aqueous flood channel systems. Flood geomorphology in each of these channels, as seen in Mars Orbiter Camera images, consists of streamlined forms, longitudinal lineations, and a single occurrence of transverse dunes, features similar to those in the flood-carved terrain of the Channeled Scabland in the northwestern United States. As additional geomorphic evidence of flooding, small cones (interpreted as phreatic) are found preferentially in the channels or at their distal ends. Glaciers, lava flows, and CO₂-charged density flows are each inconsistent with these geomorphic features. Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter data show two of the three channel systems (Athabasca Valles and an unnamed northern channel system) emanating from the Cerberus Fossae; we suggest that the third channel system (Marte Vallis) also originated at the fissures. The discharges for two of the three systems (Athabasca Valles and Marte Vallis) have been estimated from surface topography to have been on the order of 10⁶ m³/s. Crater counts indicate that the channels are not only young (extreme Late Amazonian), but also were carved asynchronously. Geomorphic evidence suggests that two of the channels (Athabasca and Marte Valles) experienced more than one flood. Emanation from volcanotectonic fissures instead of chaotic terrain distinguishes these Cerberus Plains channels from the larger, older circum-Chryse channels. Groundwater must have collected in a liquid state prior to flood onset to flow at the estimated discharge rates. Lack of large-scale subsidence near the channels' origination points along the Cerberus Fossae indicates that this groundwater was at least several kilometers deep.     

Gravity anomalies and subsurface geology in the Westerwald volcanic area, Germany

The area of the present study constitutes an alkaline volcanic province in the eastern sector of the Rhenish massif. A series of gravity measurements were carried out on the volcanic fields of the Westerwald. Three-dimensional modelling and wavelength filtering processing techniques were used to analyze the gravity data. The filtered Bouguer anomaly maps show two major regional gravity features: (a) Increasing Bouguer values towards the northeastern part of the study area could be caused by lateral lithological variations within the upper crust. (2) Local negative Bouguer values in the southwest correlate with magmatic materials of intermediate type. The modelling results indicate that the volcanics of the Westerwald are underlain by two different magmatic complexes at a depth in the range 3.3–10 km with density values of 2680 and 2750 kg/m³. The densities assigned to the local igneous intrusions are in the range of 2314–2948 kg/m³ and at depths between 0.4 and 1.3 km. In the NE a diabase bed was modelled to a maximum depth of approximately 1.6 km using the assigned density of 2800 kg/m³.