Petrogenesis of late stage magmatism at Hold with Hope, East Greenland

The Myggbukta caldera complex and a swarm of basic dykes constitute the latest Tertiary magmatism in the Hold with Hope region, East Greenland. The Sr and Nd isotope ratios of these rocks show coherent variations which extend to high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd values and require a contribution from continental lithosphere. Broad correlations with major element differentiation indices suggest that the continental component was incorporated during magmatic differentiation thereby favouring a crustal contamination process. Trace element concentrations are strongly correlated with isotopic compositions but display ranges for many incompatible elements which extend beyond likely crustal contaminant compositions. This is readily modelled by AFC processes in which the dominant cause of trace element enrichment is the concentration effect of fractional crystallisation rather than the composition of the contaminant. The simplest such models still require unrealistically high degrees of fractional crystallisation to explain the ten-fold enrichment of some trace elements. This can be overcome if the primary magmas entering the crust already had highly variable trace element compositions. Such variability is readily achieved if melts from different parts of the melting column escape without thorough homogenization. An AFC model which incorporates variability in parental magma composition is then able to simulate the range of compositions observed at Hold with Hope. This carries the implication that the variations observed are more readily attributed to changes in uncontaminated parental magma than to variations in the composition or amount of contaminant. Received: 5 March 1998 / Accepted: 16 June 1998     

The breakdown of potassium feldspar at high water pressures

The equilibrium position of the reaction between sanidine and water to form “sanidine hydrate” has been determined by reversal experiments on well characterised synthetic starting materials in a piston cylinder apparatus. The reaction was found to lie between four reversed brackets of 2.35 and 2.50 GPa at 450 °C, 2.40 and 2.59 GPa at 550 °C, 2.67 and 2.74 GPa at 650 °C, and 2.70 and 2.72 GPa at 680 °C. Infrared spectroscopy showed that the dominant water species in sanidine hydrate was structural H₂O. The minimum quantity of this structural H₂O, measured by thermogravimetric analysis, varied between 4.42 and 5.85 wt% over the pressure range of 2.7 to 3.2 GPa and the temperature range of 450 to 680 °C. Systematic variation in water content with pressure and temperature was not clearly established. The maximum value was below 6.07 wt%, the equivalent of 1 molecule of H₂O per formula unit. The water could be removed entirely by heating at atmospheric pressure to produce a metastable, anhydrous, hexagonal KAlSi₃O₈ phase (“hexasanidine”) implying that the structural H₂O content of sanidine hydrate can vary. The unit cell parameters for sanidine hydrate, measured by powder X-ray diffraction, were a = 0.53366 (±0.00022) nm and c = 0.77141 (±0.00052) nm, and those for hexasanidine were a = 0.52893 (±0.00016) nm and c = 0.78185 (±0.00036) nm. The behaviour and properties of sanidine hydrate appear to be analogous to those of the hydrate phase cymrite in the equivalent barium system. The occurrence of sanidine hydrate in the Earth would be limited to high pressure but very low temperature conditions and hence it could be a potential reservoir for water in cold subduction zones. However, sanidine hydrate would probably be constrained to granitic rock compositions at these pressures and temperatures. Received: 6 May 1997 / Accepted: 2 October 1997     

Resonant tidal disruption in galactic nuclei

It has recently been shown by Rauch 38 Tremaine that the rate of angular momentum relaxation in nearly Keplerian star clusters is greatly increased by a process termed 'resonant relaxation'; it was also argued, via a series of scaling arguments, that tidal disruption of stars in galactic nuclei containing massive black holes could be noticeably enhanced by this process. We describe here the results of numerical simulations of resonant tidal disruption which quantitatively test the predictions made by Rauch 38 Tremaine. The simulation method is based on an N -body routine incorporating cloning of stars near the loss cone and a semirelativistic symplectic integration scheme. Normalized disruption rates for resonant and non-resonant nuclei are derived at orbital energies both above and below the critical energy, and the corresponding angular momentum distribution functions are found. The black hole mass above which resonant tidal disruption is quenched by relativistic precession is determined. We also briefly describe the discovery of chaos in the Wisdom–Holman symplectic integrator applied to highly eccentric orbits and propose a modified integration scheme that remains robust under these conditions. We find that resonant disruption rates exceed their non-resonant counterparts by an amount consistent with the predictions; in particular, we estimate the net tidal disruption rate for a fully resonant cluster to be about twice that of its non-resonant counterpart. No significant enhancement in rates is observed outside the critical radius. Relativistic quenching of the effect is found to occur for hole masses M  >  M _Q  = (8 ± 3) × 10⁷  M . The numerical results combined with the observed properties of galactic nuclei indicate that for most galaxies the resonant enhancement to tidal disruption rates will be very small.     

Mineralogy of sedimentary formations in the western North Atlantic Ocean: Preliminary results

Six sedimentary formations, and two separate members recently were described byJansa, et al. (1979) from the western North Atlantic Ocean basin. We have investigated the mineralogical composition of these lithostratigraphic units by qualitative X-ray diffraction analyses of about five hundred samples from DSDP Sites 105, 106, 386, 387, and 391. The sedimentary section studied, from bottom to top, consists of: argillaceous limestones (Cat Gap Formation); limestones (Blake-Bahama Formation); claystones and shales (Hatteras Formation); zeolitic claystones (Plantagenet Formation); nannofossil marls (Crescent Peaks Member); siliceous oozes, clays, and cherts (Bermuda Rise Formation), and hemipelagic muds (Blake Ridge Formation) that locally contain redeposited shallow-water carbonates (Great Abaco Member). The section ranges in age from Oxfordian at the base to Quaternary at the sea-floor.Most of the formations and members described byJansa, et al. (1979) have a characteristic mineralogical composition. Thus it is possible to recognize boundaries between formations and members by changes in mineral components, although these changes range from sharp to transitional. Within the same formation local differences in mineral spectra between sites can be explained by changing distance from terrigenous sources, lateral changes in surface paleoproductivity, and varying diagenetic conditions.

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Zusammenfassung Sechs sedimentäre Formations und zwei dazugehörige Members wurden vor kurzem durchJansa, et al. (1979) aus dem Ozeanboden des westlichen Nordatlantik beschrieben. Wir haben die Mineralzusammensetzung dieser lithostratigraphischen Einheiten anhand von etwa 500 qualitativen röntgenographischen Analysen untersucht; die Proben dazu entstammen den DSDP-Bohrungen 105, 106, 386, 387 und 391. Vom Liegenden zum Hangenden lassen sich folgende Einheiten unterscheiden: Tonige Kalksteine (Cat Gap Formation); Kalksteine (Blake-Bahama Formation); Tonsteine und shales (Hatteras Formation); Zeolithische Tonsteine (Plantagenet Formation); Nannofossil-Mergel (Crescent Peaks Member); Kieselige Schlamme, Tone und Hornsteine (Bermuda Rise Formation) und Hemipelagische Schlamme (Blake Ridge Formation), die lokal umgelagerte Flachwasser-Karbonate (Great Abaco Member) enthalten. Das Gesamtprofil reicht altersmäßig von Oxfordium an der Basis bis zum Quartär.Die meisten der vonJansa, et al. (1979) beschriebenen Formations und Members haben eine charakteristische Mineralzusammensetzung; es ist daher möglich, Grenzen sowohl zwischen Formations als auch zwischen Formations und Members anhand ihrer Mineralkomponenten zu erkennen; der entsprechende Wechsel kann scharf sein oder fließende Übergänge aufweisen. Lokale Unterschiede in den Mineralspektren einer Formation zwischen einzelnen Bohrpunkten lassen sich auf wechselnde Entfernungen vom Liefergebiet bzw. unterschiedliche Liefergebiete selbst, auf laterale Wechsel in der oberflächennahen Paläo-Produktivität und/oder auf unterschiedliche diagenetische Bedingungen zurückführen.

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Résumé Six »formations« sédimentaires ainsi que deux »members« séparés ont été ré cemment décrits parJansa, et al. (1979) dans la partie nordouest du bassin de l'océan Atlantique. Nous avons étudié, d'un point de vue qualitatif, la composition minéralogique de ces unités lithostratigraphiques à partir de l'analyse diffractométrique d'environ 500 échantillons provenant des sites DSDP 105, 106, 386, 387 et 391. Les sections sédimentaires examinées comprennent de bas en haut: Des calcaires argileux (Cat Gap Formation); des calcaires (Blake-Bahama Formation); des argilites et des argiles schisteuses (Hatteras Formation); des argilites zéolitiques (Plantagenet Formation); de la marne aux nannofossiles (Crescent Peaks Member); des boues silicieuses, des argiles et du silex (Bermuda Rise Formation), ainsi que des boues hémipélagiques (Blake Ridge Formation) qui contiennent par endroits des carbonates resédimentaires provenant d'un milieu peu profond (Great Abaco Member). Leur âge s'échelonne de l'Oxfordien à la base jusqu'au Quaternaire au fond océanique.La plupart des »formations« et des »members« décrits parJansa, et al. (1979) ont une composition minéralogique caractéristique. Il est donc possible de reconnaître les limites entre des »formations« et des »members« à partir des changements de la composition minéralogique, bien que ces changements varient du net au transitoire. Dans une même formation on peut expliquer les différences locales des spectres minéraux entre les sites, par la variation de distance des sources terrigènes, des changements latéraux de la paléoproductivité de surface et des conditions diagénétiques variables.

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Jansa . (1979) 6 2 . 500 . 105, 106, 386, 387, 391. : — Cat Gap —, — Blake-Bahama —, — Hatteras'a —, — Plantagenet —, - — Crescent Peaks —, , — Bermuda Rise — — Blake Ridge —, — Great Abaco. . Jansa ; , , , . , ., , / .

     

Biostratigraphy and depositional environment of algal stromatolites from the Mescal Limestone (Proterozoic) of central Arizona

The Apache Group of central Arizona is subdivided into, from base upward, the Pioneer Formation, the Dripping Spring Quartzite and the Mescal Limestone. Radiometric age determinations by Silver, and Livingston and Damon indicate an age of 1.2–1.4 billion years. Within the Mescal Limestone, algal stromatolites form a conspicuous biostrome, commonly 20–25 m thick. The basal 1–5 m of the biostrome consists of up to three zones of digitate stromatolites, which often form discrete bush-like bioherms. These forms are interpreted as Baicalia baicalica, Parmites sp. and Tungussia sp.; the latter form previously reported by Cloud and Semikhatov (1969). The form Parmites is interpreted as a modification of digitate stromatolites probably by decrease in current velocity within the shallow marine environment, which allowed discrete heads to coalesce. Basal digitate forms are replaced upward in the biostrome by domal and undulatory laminated (stratiform) stromatolites, interpreted to represent gradual upward shoaling, with lower intertidal and subtidal forms (digitate morphology) being replaced by upper intertidal and possibly supratidal forms (stratiform types).The digitate form B. baicalica is suggested by Soviet workers to be indicative of Middle Riphean time (1350-950 m.y.). While many empirical data suggest the possibility of gross subdivision of Late Proterozoic time on the basis of algal stromatolite “zones”, the intercontinental applicability and the ultimate validity of this concept in unresolved.     

An archaean granulite-grade tonalite-trondhjemite-granite suite from scourie,NW Scotland: Geochemistry and origin

The Lewisian complex of the Scourie-Badcall area is composed predominantly of banded tonalitic gneiss which intrudes layered gabbro-ultramafic complexes. Intrusive into both gabbro and tonalitic gneiss are homogeneous acid sheets which are trondhjemitic to granitic in composition. All rocks were subjected to granulite facies metamorphism. Smooth continuous trends on chemical variation diagrams suggest that the evolution of these rocks was dominated by fractional crystallisation. A scheme is proposed whereby a tonalitic melt was parental to trondhjemite and granite. Variation within tonalites was a function of the fractional crystallisation of hornblende and plagioclase, and trondhjemite was derived from tonalite by the fractional crystallisation of hornblende and/or plagioclase. Granite and granodiorite represent residual liquids which evolved along the quartz-feldspar cotectic surface; they were derived by the fractional crystallisation of plagioclase from a trondhjemite liquid. Some trondhjemitic sheets are quartz-plagioclase residues from which a granitic melt was removed. The associated gabbros and ultramafic rocks are not directly related to the proposed fractional crystallisation scheme and are not crystal residues removed from the tonalitic melt. Tonalites were probably derived from a basaltic source by partial melting or fractional crystallisation with either hornblende and/or garnet as residual phases.     

Stable carbon isotope evidence for two sources of organic matter in coastal sediments: seagrasses and plankton

Organic carbon from sediments collected in Texas seagrass meadows was enriched in ¹³C by an average of 6.6% relative to organic carbon from offshore sediments. Within the South Texas hay system examined. δ¹³C values became increasingly more typical of offshore sediments with increasing distance from seagrass meadows. This permits the use of carbon isotope data as a measure of the relative contributions of seagrasses and plankton to sedimentary organic matter.     

Grassroots social innovations and food localisation: An investigation of the Local Food programme in England

This paper seeks to orientate research on local food networks more firmly towards ideas of grassroots and social niche innovations. Drawing on recent conceptual ideas from strategic niche management, this paper provides an exploratory analysis of attempts to spread grassroots social innovations through the Big Lottery Local Food programme run by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts in England. This £ 59.8 million programme aims to distribute grants to a variety of food-related projects and to make locally grown food more accessible and affordable to local communities. Insights into 29 funded projects, of varying length and scale of operation, are provided through over 150 telephone and personal interviews. While the Local Food programme is undoubtedly about bringing small, often neglected pieces of land into production and increasing access to affordable food, results show that the programme is also very much seen as a vehicle for building community capacity through facilitating community cohesion, healthy eating, educational enhancement and integrating disadvantaged groups into mainstream society and economy. The paper concludes with some reflections on the extent to which the concept of grassroots social innovations, as a form of niche innovation, can help understand the ability of local food networks to develop the capacity of communities to respond to locally identified problems and to effect more widespread, sustainable change.