Neogene fault activity and morphogenesis in the basement area north of the KTB drill site (Fichtelgebirge and Steinwald)

The Fichtelgebirge and Steinwald areas are situated at the western end of the Cenozoic Eger graben. Repeated Neogene fault activity and polyphase morphogenesis created a complex morphotectonic structure. Based on morphotectonic criteria three stages of tectonic activity can be determined: (a) late Oligocene to early Miocene; (b) middle-late Miocene; and (c) late Pliocene to early Pleistocene. Due to the Neogene tectonic movements, the pre-basaltic (preOligocene to Miocene) landscape has been differentially uplifted/downthrown and intensely modified by post-basaltic surface planation (HF). Broad paleovalleys (AT) of late Miocene to early Pliocene age and a system of Pliocene and Quaternary fluvial terraces and pediments (BT and ET) have been incised into the widespread HF relief elements. Due to repeated faulting and erosion, the stratigraphic record of Neogene sediments within the studied area is fragmentary.     

Prediction of the occurrence of slope instability phenomenal through GIS-based hazard zonation

Slope instability hazard assessment is based on the analysis of the terrain conditions at sites where slope failures occurred in the past. For the analysis of the causative factors the application of geographic information systems (GIS) is an essential tool in the data analysis and subsequent hazard assessment. Three scale levels of hazard mapping are defined. A direct experience-driven mapping at reconnaissance level, a statistical approach to determine the causative factors in a quantitative susceptibility mapping and a methodology at large-scale making using of deterministic models.     

Macroscopic representation of structural geometry for simulating water and solute movement in dual-porosity media

The structure of macroporous or aggregated soils and fractured rocks is generally so complex that it is impractical to measure the geometry at the microscale (i.e., the size and the shape of soil aggregates or rock matrix blocks, and the myriad of fissures or fractures), and use such data in geometry-dependent macroscale flow and transport models. This paper analyzes a first-order type dual-porosity model which contains a geometry-dependent coefficient, β, in the mass transfer term to macroscopically represent the size and shape of soil or rock matrix blocks. As a reference, one- and two-dimensional geometry-based diffusion models were used to simulate mass transport into and out of porous blocks of defined shapes. Estimates for β were obtained analytically for four different matrix block geometries. Values for β were also calculated by directly matching analytical solutions of the diffusion models for a number of selected matrix block geometries to results obtained with the first-order model assuming standard boundary conditions. Direct matching improved previous results for cylindrical macropore geometries, especially when relatively small ratios between the outer soil mantle and the radius of the inner cylinder were used. Results of our analysis show that β is closely related to the ratio of the effective surface area available for mass transfer, and the soil matrix volume normalized by the effective characteristic length of the matrix system. Using values of β obtained by direct matching, an empirical function is derived to estimate macroscopic geometry coefficients from medium properties which in principle are measurable. The method permits independent estimates of β, thus allowing the dual-porosity approach eventually to be applied to media with complex and mixed types of structural geometry.     

Petrogenesis of picrite and associated basalts from the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Basalts dredged from the south wall of a fracture zone transecting the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (SMAR) at 54° S are unusual in that they include a suite of highly olivine phyric basalts, sampled along with more normal sparsely plagioclase phyric basalts, and a highly plagioclase phyric basalt. Four basalt types (olivine phyric, sparsely plagioclase phyric, evolved sparsely plagioclase phyric and highly plagioclase phyric) are readily distinguished on the basis of petrography, mineralogy and bulk composition. They range from primitive to evolved, with the olivine phyric basalts having elevated MgO (up to 15.5%) and the plagioclase phyric basalt having elevated Al₂O₃ (19.3%) and CaO (13.1%) contents. Compositional variations are extremely consistant, with the olivine phyric basalts and the sparsely plagioclase phyric basalts defining coherent linear trends. On the basis of the ratios and covariation of the incompatible trace elements Zr, Nb, Y and Ba, distinct parental magmas for each basalt type are required. An investigation of Fe-Mg and Mg-Ni distribution coefficients between olivine and magma indicates that olivines from the olivine phyric basalts are on average too forsteritic and too Ni poor to have crystallized in a magma corresponding to the host bulk rock composition. This implies that these basalts are enriched in xenocrystic olivine. Olivines from the other basalt types are mostly of equilibrium composition, although there are some exceptions. Petrogenetic models for the formation of the different basalt types are quantitatively evaluated in terms of fractional crystallization/crystal accumulation processes. These indicate that (1) the olivine phyric basalts are the products of olivine and minor Cr-spinel accumulation and do not represent analogues of primary magma, or a liquid fractionation trend; (2) that the sparsely plagioclase phyric basalts were formed by polybaric fractional crystallization of olivine, plagioclase and clinopyroxene; and (3) that the evolved sparsely plagioclase phyric basalts are not readily related to one another. The single highly plagioclase phyric basalt is unrelated to the other basalt types and is cumulus enriched in plagioclase.The different basalt types are unrelated to one another and document the presence of at least four distinct magma types erupted in close proximity at this ridge/transform intersection on the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.