Pleistocene sediments of the eastern barents sea (Central Deep and Murmansk Bank Areas): Communication 1. Occurrence conditions and main structural features

The areal geological-geophysical study of Quaternary sediments was carried out in two areas of the eastern Barents Sea (Central Deep and Murmansk Bank). This communication is mainly dedicated to the results of seismoacoustic investigations. It has been established that the Quaternary sequence unconformably overlying the pre-Cenozoic strata in the studied areas is as follows (from bottom to top): marine-glaciomarine Late Glacial-Holocene sediments, massive diamictons (the main part of the section), and glaciotectonites formed after the underlying Mesozoic unconsolidated sediments. The Pleistocene diamictons, origin of which is still debatable, are the main studied object. They constitute two seismostratigraphic complexes (SSC). According to the accepted stratigraphic subdivision, they are represented by the Upper Weichselian SSC III (Maximum Last Glaciation) and Lower Weichselian SSC V (Middle Weichselian SSC IV is eroded here). Complexes SSC V and SSC III composed of till overlie the older sediments with the exaration unconformity. Complex SSC V is preserved locally, while SSC III is characterized by the regional distribution. Complex SSC III is universally enveloped unconformably without erosional surface by an acoustically uniform thin-bedded member of Late Glacial-Holocene glaciomarine and marine sediments (SSC II+I). Unlike SSC V, SSC III demonstrates lateral heterogeneity in both studied areas consisting of two seismofacies, one of which forms very specific acoustically transparent bodies (ATBs). Sediments of SSC III avoided subsequent erosion. Therefore, their glacial nature is distinctly reflected in the complex distribution of thickness and peculiar morphology of corresponding bodies.     

Crustal outgassing and LILE enrichment in major lithosphere structures,Archean Abitibi greenstone belt: evidence on the source reservoir from strontium and carbon isotope tracers

Major structural discontinuities in the Abitibi greenstone belt acted as conduits for outgassing of the Archean crust, as reflected in fixation of a select group of lithophile elements including Si, C, K, Rb, Ba, Li, Cs, B and Pb, in metasomatized faults. For two of the largest structures, the Destor-Porcupine (DP) and Kirkland Lake — Cadillac (KC) fault zones 6×10¹⁵ g Si, 3×10¹⁵ g CO₂ and 10¹⁵ g K were introduced into the faults during expulsion of an estimated 6×10¹⁸ g aqueous fluids. Strontium isotope ratios of tourmaline, piemontite, actinolite and scheelite mineral separates, characterized by Rb/Sr0.02, are concordant with respect to ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial ratios over local sectors of the faults. The Sr isotope data record geographic variations which, from east to west on the KC fault is 0.7031–0.7041 (Val d'Or), 0.7008–0.7022 (Bourlemaque), 0.7017–0.7019 (Bousquet), 0.7029–0.7031 (Noranda), and 0.7013 to 0.7015 (Kirkland Lake). At Timmins, on the PD fault, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial ratios cluster at 0.7010 to 0.7020. Metasomatised fault zones are systematically more radiogenic than contiguous host lithologies, and imply a source reservoir (0.7010 to 0.7041) generally more radiogenic than the upper mantle at 2690 Ma (0.700±0.001), or contemporaneous volcanic rocks of mafic to ultramafic composition (0.700 to 0.7012). Whereas certain minerals are concordant and retentive, Rb-Sr isochrons based on suites of rocks at progressive intensities of metasomatism, have been systematically reset over an elpased time of 200 Ma after termination of outgassing, due to disturbance accompanying incremental displacements on structures.Carbon isotope compositions of ferroan dolomites in faults are tightly clustered along local fault sectors, but also display a marked provinciality: from east to west ¹³C=–6.0 to –8.5 (Malartic), –8.0 to –9.0 (Cadillac), –2.0 to –4.5 (Kirkland Lake), and –0.5 to –3.5 (Timmins). The observed provinciality of both ¹³C values and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial ratios is interpreted to reflect compositional heterogeneities in a radiogenic sialic crust and the green-stone belt supracrustal sequence, both of which supplied volatiles, magmas and lithophile elements to the fault structures during late stage transpressive tectonics.     

Estimation of surface latent heat fluxes from IRS-P4/MSMR satellite data

The brightness temperatures of the Microwave sensor MSMR (Multichannel Scanning Microwave Radiometer) launched in May 1999 onboard Indian Oceansat-1 IRS-P4 are used to develop a direct retrieval method for latent heat flux by multivariate regression technique. The MSMR measures the microwave radiances at 8 channels at frequencies of 6.6, 10.7, 18 and 21 GHz at both vertical and horizontal polarizations. It is found that the surface LHF (Latent Heat Flux) is sensitive to all the channels. The coefficients were derived using the National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data of three months: July, September, November of 1999. The NCEP daily analyzed latent heat fluxes and brightness temperatures observed by MSMR were used to derive the coefficients. Validity of the derived coefficients was checked within situ observations over the Indian Ocean and with NCEP analyzed LHF for global points. The LHF derived directly from the MSMR brightness temperature (Tb) yielded an accuracy of 35 watt/m². LHF was also computed by applying bulk formula using the geophysical parameters extracted from MSMR. In this case the errors were higher apparently due to the errors involved in derivation of the geophysical parameters.     

The effect of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> on the solubility of aqueous chloride fluid in dacite,phonolite, and rhyolite melts

The solubility of H₂O–CO₂–Cl-containing fluids of various concentrations (0, 3, 10, and 23 wt % of HCl and from 0 to ~8–15 wt % of CO₂) in dacite, phonolite, and rhyolite melts at 1000°C and 200 MPa was studied in experiments. It was shown that the Cl concentration in the melt increased substantially from rhyolite to phonolite and dacite (up to 0.25, 0.85, and 1.2 wt %, respectively). The introduction of CO₂ into the system resulted in an increase in the Cl content in the melt composition by 20–25%. One may suppose that Cl reactivity in a fluid increases in the presence of CO₂ to cause growth of the Cl content in the melt. The introduction of CO₂ into the system considerably affects the content of H₂O in aluminosilicate melts as well. Thus, the addition of CO₂ decreases the H₂O content in the melt by ~0.5–1.0 wt %. The decrease in the H₂O content in an aluminosilicate melt is probably caused by fluid dilution with CO₂ resulting in a decrease in the H₂O mole fraction and fugacity in the fluid.     

East-west mafic dyke in Aravallis – a post-depositional event deciphered by aeromagnetic studies

Aravalli fold belt has witnessed major tectonism resulting in intense deformation and associated mafic magmatism. Recently acquired high resolution aeromagnetic data over central Aravalli fold belt brought out a conspicuous E-W trending magnetic anomaly extending for more than 35 km in length cutting across the whole succession of Aravalli Supergroup. This anomaly on ground is manifested as undeformed basic dyke intruding into metasediments of Aravalli Supergroup. The E-W trend and undeformed nature of these dykes suggest that they represent post Aravalli mafic magmatism which are emplaced sympathetic to the axial plane of F₃ folding.     

A NEW DERIVATION OF THE WAVEFRONT CURVATURE TRANSFORMATION AT AN INTERFACE BETWEEN TWO INHOMOGENEOUS MEDIA*

The principles for ray-tracing and wavefront curvature calculations in a three-dimensional medium are reviewed. A new derivation of the transformation of the wavefront curvature matrix at an interface between two inhomogeneous media is given. The derivation is based on a Taylor series expansion of the ray refraction equation at the interface between two inhomogeneous media, and only elementary geometric arguments are used. The wave-front curvature transformation at the interface is obtained by neglecting all terms in the direction of the surface normal. With proper definition of the variables, the derivation is also valid for a reflected wave-front. A simplified transformation rule is derived for a reflected wave of the same type as the incident wave.