Peierls–Nabarro modelling of dislocations in diopside

The core structures of dislocations in diopside have been calculated within the Peierls model, which assumes a planar core. 1/2<110> dislocations can dissociate into two collinear partial dislocations. We show that [001] glide is very difficult in (010) and that a non-collinear dissociation of [001](100) (modelled within a Peierls–Nabarro–Galerkin approach) makes glide equally easy in (100) and {110}. A widely spread core structure corresponding to a low lattice friction has been found for [100](010) and [010](100) dislocations which is not supported by mechanical data and, together with TEM observations, suggests that another, probably non-planar core structure is possible for these dislocations.     

Integrated Onshore‐Offshore Investigation of a Mediterranean Layered Coastal Aquifer

Most of the Mediterranean coastal porous aquifers are intensively exploited. Because of climatic and anthropogenic effects, understanding the physical and geological controls on groundwater distribution and flow dynamics in such aquifers is crucial. This study presents the results of a structural investigation of a system located along the coastline of the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean). A key aspect of this study relies on an onshore‐offshore integrated approach combining outcrops, seismic profiles, and borehole data analysis. This multidisciplinary approach provides constraints on pore‐fluid salinity distribution and stratigraphic organization, which are crucial in assessing the modes of groundwater/seawater exchanges. Onshore, Lower Pliocene deposits dip gently seaward. They are unconformably overlain by Holocene clays in the lagoons. Offshore the Pliocene deposits either outcrop at the seabed or are buried below nonconsolidated sands infilling paleo‐valleys. Beneath the lido, the groundwater salinity distribution consists of salty pore water, overlying fresher pore water. Active circulation of groundwater masses is inferred from the geophysical results. In particular, offshore outcrops and paleo‐valleys may play an important role in salt water intrusion.     

Origin and evolution of fluids from mud volcanoes in the Barbados accretionary complex

A large collection of fluids (54 interstitial fluids and four expelled fluids) were sampled at the Manon site, at the outer edge of the Barbados accretionary complex. These warm fluids (up to 20°C) are expelled by sub-marine (5000 mbsl) mud volcanoes consisting of diapirs (unchanneled flow) and diatremes (channeled).Chlorine stable isotope ratios of these fluids were measured by IRMS with a reproducibility of ± 0.05‰ (1σ) versus SMOC (Standard Mean Ocean Chloride).A large range of δ³⁷Cl between −5.3‰ and +0.1‰ is observed. Data from each volcanic structure describe a mixing between seawater and a low-δ³⁷Cl fluid. The whole set of data is interpreted as the result of a mixing between two deep components and seawater. The two deep fluids are chemically distinct (e.g., in Ca, Mg, K, Li, Sr and Br contents and Br/Cl ratio). They display low and significantly different ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.707790 and 0.707892, respectively) and δ³⁷Cl values (−4.51 and −5.24‰, respectively).Physicochemical processes such as mineralogical transformation, diffusion, compaction or ion filtration are known to fractionate chlorine stable isotopes and can produce fluids with negative δ³⁷Cl values. Ion filtration due to sediment compaction appears to be the more likely process to explain the negative δ³⁷Cl values observed at the Manon site. A model for the generation of these signatures is proposed where a residual negative δ³⁷Cl fluid reservoir is created at the bottom of the prism or the sediment pile. Further compaction/fracturing and/or dewatering of the slab may flush out these fluids and focus them towards the décollement zone. Mixing between the fluids and ultimately with seawater and water released during gas hydrate destabilizations may explain the data set within the individual cores and between the different structures.     

Lake‐level fluctuations at Lake Bourget (eastern France) around 4500–3500 cal. a BP and their palaeoclimatic and archaeological implications

On the basis of sedimentological analysis of two cores taken at Chatillon, Lake Le Bourget (northern French Pre‐Alps), and well dated by radiocarbon dates in addition to tree ring dates obtained from an archaeological layer, this paper presents a high‐resolution lake‐level record for the period 4500–3500 cal. a BP. The collected data provide evidence of a complex palaeohydrological (climatic) oscillation spanning the ca. 4300–3850 cal. BP time interval, with major lake‐level maxima at ca. 4200 and 4050–3850 cal. a BP separated by a lowering episode around 4100 cal. a BP. The lake‐level highstands observed at Chatillon between 4300 and 3850 cal. BP appear to be synchronous with (i) a major flooding period recorded in deep cores from the large lakes Le Bourget and Bodensee, and (ii) glacier advance and tree line decline in the Alps. Such wetter and cooler climatic conditions in west‐central Europe around 4000 cal. a BP may have been a nonlinear response to decrease and seasonal changes in insolation. They may also provide a possible explanation for the general abandonment of prehistoric lake dwellings north of the Alps between 4360 and 3750 cal. a BP. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis with C- and X-band satellite SAR data of the Portalet landslide area

This paper describes the use of the Stable Point Network technique, a Persistent Scatterer Interferometry SAR technique, for the analysis of the Portalet landslide area (Central Pyrenees, Spain). For this purpose, different SAR datasets acquired by ERS-1, ERS-2, ENVISAT and TerraSAR-X satellites have been analysed. The use of different SAR images acquired by satellite radar sensors operating at different microwave lengths has allowed for a comparative assessment and illustration of the advantages and disadvantages of these satellites for landslide detection and monitoring. In the introduction, differential interferometry and the study area are briefly described. Then the specifics of the SPN processing and the results of the different datasets are described and compared. In Analysis of the results: the Portalet landslide area, the Portalet landslide area is introduced and the radar displacement measurements are analysed with available geo-information data. Additionally, X-band measurements are compared with those gathered by a ground-based SAR for a previous project. Finally, the most relevant conclusions of this work are discussed.     

Pollution au plomb dans la Savoie antique (II–IIIe s. apr. J.-C.) en relation avec une installation métallurgique de la cité de Vienne

In Lake Anterne (NW French Alps), the Roman period is characterised by a lead contamination more important than that of the 1970s, due to the use of leaded gasoline. The maximum of this contamination period has been varve-dated 220 AD, i.e., during the optimum of Roman civilization in the Alps. Crossing palaeoenvironmental and archaeological evidences points out the economic importance of the town of Passy for the City of Vienne and yields a new example of lead contamination due to local metallurgical activity rather than distant impact of the exploitation of the Spanish Rio Tinto mine. To cite this article: F. Arnaud et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2005).     

The trace element compositions of S-type granites: evidence for disequilibrium melting and accessory phase entrainment in the source

Within individual plutons, the trace element concentrations in S-type granites generally increase with maficity (total iron and magnesium content and expressed as atomic Fe + Mg in this study); the degree of variability in trace element concentration also expands markedly with the same parameter. The strongly peraluminous, high-level S-type granites of the Peninsular Pluton (Cape Granite Suite, South Africa) are the product of biotite incongruent melting of a metasedimentary source near the base of the crust. Leucogranites within the suite represent close to pure melts from the anatectic source and more mafic varieties represent mixtures of melt and peritectic garnet and ilmenite. Trace elements such as Rb, Ba, Sr and Eu, that are concentrated in reactant minerals in the melting process, show considerable scatter within the granites. This is interpreted to reflect compositional variation in the source. In contrast, elements such as LREE, Zr and Hf, which are concentrated within refractory accessory phases (zircon and monazite), show well-defined negative correlations with increasing SiO₂ and increase linearly with increasing maficity. This is interpreted to reflect coupled co-entrainment of accessory minerals and peritectic phases to the melt: leucocratic rocks cannot have evolved from the more mafic compositions in the suite by a process of fractional crystallisation because in this case they would have inherited the zircon-saturated character of this hypothetical earlier magma. Trace element behaviour of granites from the Peninsular Pluton has been modelled via both equilibrium and disequilibrium trace element melting. In the disequilibrium case, melts are modelled as leaving the source with variable proportions of entrained peritectic phases and accessory minerals, but before the melt has dissolved any accessory minerals. Thus, the trace element signature of the melt is largely inherited from the reactants in the melting reaction, with no contribution from zircon and monazite dissolution. In the equilibrium case, melt leaves the source with entrained crystals, after reaching zircon and monazite saturation. A significant proportion of the rocks of the Peninsular Pluton have trace element concentrations below those predicted by zircon and monazite saturation. In the case of the most leucocratic rocks all compositions are zircon undersaturated; whilst the majority of the most mafic compositions are zircon oversaturated. However, in both cases, zircon is commonly xenocrystic. Thus, the leucocratic rocks represent close to pure melts, which escaped their sources rapidly enough that some very closely match the trace element disequilibrium melting model applied in this study. Zircon dissolution rates allow the residency time for the melt in the source to be conservatively estimated at less than 500 years.     

Hydropyrolysis of algae, bacteria, archaea and lake sediments; insights into the origin of nitrogen compounds in petroleum

Nitrogen compounds are ubiquitous in fossil fuels and yet our understanding of their origins in the geosphere is limited. In this study, high hydrogen pressure pyrolysis was performed on sample material representing potential contributors to sedimentary organic matter (algae, bacteria and archaea) and sediments representing early diagenetic accumulations from Lake Pollen (Norway) and Priest Pot (UK). Previous workers demonstrated the structurally conservative nature of high hydrogen pressure pyrolysis in that the technique maximizes the yields of covalently bound hydrocarbon biomarkers from organic matter without adversely affecting their stereochemistry (Love et al., 1995). Release of covalently bound biomarkers in high yields from kerogen via catalytic hydropyrolysis. In this study, the types and distributions of organic nitrogen compounds in the hydropyrolysates were characterised under similar conditions to such experiments where biomarker hydrocarbons undergo minimal rearrangement. Compounds identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry included alkyl-substituted indoles, carbazoles, benzocarbazoles, quinolines and benzoquinolines.Indoles are present in all hydropyrolysates, suggesting a common origin. A potential source of indoles is represented by tryptophan which was shown to degrade through a series of alkylated intermediates to indole. Carbazole, quinoline and benzoquinoline were also found in the hydropyrolysates of algae, bacteria and archaea. The presence of these petroleum-related nitrogen compounds in hydropyrolysates generated from biomass suggests an early origin for petroleum nitrogen compounds. A potential source of naturally occurring nitrogen compounds such as that in the alkaloids has yet to be realised.Benzocarbazoles were absent from hydropyrolysates of algae, bacteria and archeae, but present in those from recent sediments, suggesting their presence may be related to processes occurring during early diagenesis at, or immediately below, the sediment–water interface. In sediments from Lake Pollen, changes in the benzocarbazole ratio [a]/([a] + [c]) ratio coincides with the interval described as a transition from fjord to lake environment, suggesting that benzocarbazoles are sensitive to changes in depositional environment and may have potential to act as a marker for environmental conditions.     

Subduction of the South Chile active spreading ridge: A 17 Ma to 3 Ma magmatic record in central Patagonia (western edge of Meseta del Lago Buenos Aires,Argentina)

The Chile Triple Junction is a natural laboratory to study the interactions between magmatism and tectonics during the subduction of an active spreading ridge beneath a continent. The MLBA plateau (Meseta del Lago Buenos Aires) is one of the Neogene alkali basaltic plateaus located in the back-arc region of the Andean Cordillera at the latitude of the current Chile Triple Junction. The genesis of MLBA can be related with successive opening of slabs windows beneath Patagonia: within the subducting Nazca Plate itself and between the Nazca and Antarctic plates. Detailed ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating and geochemical analysis of bimodal magmatism from the western flank of the MLBA show major changes in the back-arc magmatism which occurred between 14.5 Ma and 12.5 Ma with the transition from calc-alkaline lavas (Cerro Plomo) to alkaline lavas (MLBA) in relation with slab window opening. In a second step, at 4–3 Ma, alkaline felsic intrusions were emplaced in the western flank of the MLBA coevally with the MLBA basalts with which they are genetically related. These late OIB-like alkaline to transitional basalts were generated by partial melting of the subslab asthenosphere of the subducting Nazca plate during the opening of the South Chile spreading ridge-related slab window. These basalts differentiated with small amounts of assimilation in shallow magma chambers emplaced along transtensional to extensional zones. The close association of bimodal magmatism with extensional tectonic features in the western MLBA is a strong support to the model of Patagonian collapse event proposed to have taken place between 5 and 3 Ma as a consequence of the presence of the asthenospheric window (SCR-1 segment of South Chile Ridge) below the MLBA area.     

Evaluating digital elevation models for glaciologic applications: An example from Nevado Coropuna, Peruvian Andes

This paper evaluates the suitability of readily available elevation data derived from recent sensors – the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) – for glaciological applications. The study area is Nevado Coropuna (6426 m), situated in Cordillera Ampato of Southern Peru. The glaciated area was 82.6 km² in 1962, based on aerial photography. We estimate the glacier area to be ca. 60.8 km² in 2000, based on analysis of the ASTER L1B scene.We used two 1:50,000 topographic maps constructed from 1955 aerial photography to create a digital elevation model with 30 m resolution, which we used as a reference dataset. Of the various interpolation techniques examined, the TOPOGRID algorithm was found to be superior to other techniques, and yielded a DEM with a vertical accuracy of ± 14.7 m. The 1955 DEM was compared to the SRTM DEM (2000) and ASTER DEM (2001) on a cell-by-cell basis. Steps included: validating the DEM's against field GPS survey points on rock areas; visualization techniques such as shaded relief and contour maps; quantifying errors (bias) in each DEM; correlating vertical differences between various DEM's with topographic characteristics (elevation, slope and aspect) and subtracting DEM elevations on a cell-by-cell basis.The RMS error of the SRTM DEM with respect to GPS points on non-glaciated areas was 23 m. The ASTER DEM had a RMS error of 61 m with respect to GPS points and displayed 200–300 m horizontal offsets and elevation ‘spikes’ on the glaciated area when compared to the DEM from topographic data.Cell-by-cell comparison of SRTM and ASTER-derived elevations with topographic data showed ablation at the toes of the glaciers (− 25 m to − 75 m surface lowering) and an apparent thickening at the summits. The mean altitude difference on glaciated area (SRTM minus topographic DEM) was − 5 m, pointing towards a lowering of the glacier surface during the period 1955–2000. Spurious values on the glacier surface in the ASTER DEM affected the analysis and thus prevented us from quantifying the glacier changes based on the ASTER data.