Geochemical indicators of a high-temperature geothermal system

The intensity and distribution of hydrothermal alteration are frequently used during the exploration and assessment of a geothermal prospect to estimate the size, shape and temperature of a thermal system. Geochemical and petrographic observations used to characterize the hydrothermal alteration include the mapping of both trace- and major-element dispersion patterns and the distribution of secondary mineral assemblages.This paper describes the trace-element and mineralogical distributions common to many of the high-temperature systems (> 150°C) that we have studied. However, examples of important geochemical relationships are primarily drawn from our detailed investigations of the Roosevelt Hot Springs thermal system in southern Utah. The hydrothermal fluids at Roosevelt Hot Springs are enriched in sodium chloride and contain approximately 9000 ppm total dissolved solids. The reservoir, with a base temperature near 270°C, is located in fractured gneisses and granites.At Roosevelt Hot Springs, the surface discharges consist of opaline and chalcedonic sinter, and alluvium cemented by silica, calcite, Mn oxide and Fe oxide. The geochemistry of these surface deposits is extremely variable, but locally they contain up to 5.5 ppm Hg, 858 ppm As, 18.8% Mn, 230 ppm Cu, 290 ppm Sb, 294 ppm W, 17 ppm Li, 68 ppm Pb, 26 ppm Zn, 4.9% Ba and 100 ppm Be. High concentrations of Au and Ag, although not present in the sinters at Roosevelt Hot Springs, occur in hot spring deposits from other chemically similar systems such as Steamboat Springs, Nevada.Mercury and As are the most widely distributed trace elements in the surface samples. Their distribution in soils overlying the thermal system expands the area of interest and helps define the high-temperature portion of the system. The highest concentrations of Hg and As, of up to 5.5 and 26 ppm, respectively, occur in soils within 300 m of the thermal discharges. A broader area extending up to 1000 m from the surficial thermal activity also contains ppb. Mercury anomalies tend to mark the location of faults within the uppermost portions of the reservoir and areas where the thermal fluids move laterally away from the thermal system toward the adjacent valley.Depletions of Mn, Cu and Zn are found in the acid-altered soils and in alluvium associated with the hot spring deposits and fumaroles. The acid alteration occurs locally in areas of surficial thermal activity and persists to depths of less than 60 m. Alteration minerals within these zones include alunite, jarosite, native sulphur, opal, chalcedony, kaolinite, sericite, montmorillonite, and mixed-layer clays. The formation of acid waters occurs near the surface and results from the oxidation of H₂S contained within gases evolving from the fumaroles or within waters discharged by the hot springs. The locally intense acid-sulphate alteration and scavenging of metals within the soils occurs as the fluids percolate downward.Alteration mineralogy at depth is determined through examination of down-hole samples which penetrate the geothermal system to depths in excess of 2 km. Reservoir rocks of temperatures below about 210°C contain an alteration assemblage with mixed-layer clays, montmorillonite, sericite, pyrite, hematite, magnetite, calcite, chlorite, quartz, and potassium feldspar. At higher temperatures, mixed-layer clays and montmorillonite disappear and anhydrite appears locally.Altered rocks within the high temperature portions of the thermal field are characterized by anomalous concentrations of As and Li. Selective chemical leaching of the altered rocks and electron microprobe analyses indicate that As is contained primarily in pyrite or iron oxides after pyrite whereas Li occurs in clays and micas.Mercury exhibits an inverse relationship with temperature and is concentrated in the cooler portions of the thermal system to depths marked approximately by the 200°C isotherm. This distribution is similar to the distribution of clay minerals in the reservoir rock. Heating experiments indicate that Hg occurs primarily as Hg° and that it is readily mobilized by the thermal system at temperatures in excess of 200–250°C.     

Velocities,elastic moduli and weathering-age relations for pacific layer 2 basalts

Compressional (V_p) and shear (V_s) wave velocities have been measured to 10 kb in 32 cores of basalt from 14 Pacific sites of the Deep Sea Drilling Project. Both V_pandV_s show wide ranges (3.70to6.38km/sec forV_pand1.77to3.40km/sec forV_sat0.5kb) which are linearly related to density and sea floor age, confirming earlier findings by Christensen and Salisbury of decreasing velocity with progressive submarine weathering based on studies of basalts from five sites in the Atlantic. Combined Pacific and Atlantic data give rates of decreasing velocity of ?1.89and?1.35km/sec per100my forV_pandV_s respectively. New analyses of oceanic seismic refraction data indicate a decrease in layer 2 velocities with age similar to that observed in the laboratory, suggesting that weathering penetrates to several hundred meters in many regions and is largely responsible for the extreme range and variability of layer 2 refraction velocities.     

Increased photosynthesis compensates for shorter growing season in subarctic tundra—8 years of snow accumulation manipulations

This study was initiated to analyze the effect of increased snow cover on plant photosynthesis in subarctic mires underlain by permafrost. Snow fences were used to increase the accumulation of snow on a subarctic permafrost mire in northern Sweden. By measuring reflected photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) the effect of snow thickness and associated delay of the start of the growing season was assessed in terms of absorbed PAR and estimated gross primary production (GPP). Six plots experienced increased snow accumulation and six plots were untreated. Incoming and reflected PAR was logged hourly from August 2010 to October 2013. In 2010 PAR measurements were coupled with flux chamber measurements to assess GPP and light use efficiency of the plots. The increased snow thickness prolonged the duration of the snow cover in spring. The delay of the growing season start in the treated plots was 18 days in 2011, 3 days in 2012 and 22 days in 2013. Results show higher PAR absorption, together with almost 35 % higher light use efficiency, in treated plots compared to untreated plots. Estimations of GPP suggest that the loss in early season photosynthesis, due to the shortening of the growing season in the treatment plots, is well compensated for by the increased absorption of PAR and higher light use efficiency throughout the whole growing seasons. This compensation is likely to be explained by increased soil moisture and nutrients together with a shift in vegetation composition associated with the accelerated permafrost thaw in the treatment plots.     

New multifunctional hunting landscapes in Denmark

Between 1992 and 2008 subsidization of mandatory set aside land under the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) gave rise to the establishment of a characteristic type of multifunctional hunting landscapes in Denmark, primarily located on fallow land in tilled valley bottoms. A national survey of these landscapes in 2006 has been carried out and 1061 hunting areas have been identified nationwide. Subsidies relating to set aside land acted as a supplementary type of income, which supported the development of multifunctional land use on marginal soils where the income from hunting and subsidies in combination was a viable alternative to monofunctional rotational agriculture. Hunting landscapes developed as the consequence of landscape management strategies designed to comply with the requirements of the CAP while improving habitat conditions for wildlife and increasing income from hunting rental activities. Forty-seven percent of the hunting landscapes in 2006 were in rotational production in 2010 while 19% were used for other agricultural purposes and 34% were taken out of the subsidy regime and removed from the general agricultural register. In 2012, a total of 431 such areas ? 41% of the areas identified in 2006 ? were still used for hunting. The number and geographical distribution of the hunting landscapes seems closely related to the potential average hunting rent, the level of urbanisation and the occurrence of manorial estates with traditions for multifunctional land use as part of their economic strategy. Implications for the ongoing discussion on land use policy concerning land sharing vs. land sparing is discussed.     

Validation of present-day regional climate simulations over Europe: LAM simulations with observed boundary conditions

 Nested limited-area modelling is one method of down-scaling general circulation model (GCM) climate change simulations. To give credibility to this method the nested limited-area model (LAM) must be shown to simulate local present-day climate conditions fairly accurately. Here seven different European limited-area models driven by observed boundary conditions (operational weather forecast analyses) are validated against observations, and inter-compared for summer and winter months. Relatively large biases are found. In summer large positive surface air temperature biases are found over southeast Europe. The main reason is deficiencies in the surface hydrological schemes causing an unrealistic drying of the soil. In at least one of the models, most likely several of them, an additional factor is an overestimation of incoming solar radiation. Apart from excessive precipitation in mountainous areas in some models they generally show a negative bias due to the drying and decreased advection from the Atlantic. In winter most models have a positive precipitation bias which seems to be caused by an enhancement of advection from the Atlantic and enhanced cyclone activity. Surface air temperature biases are negative probably due to an underestimation of the incoming longwave radiation. Received: 11 December 1996 / Accepted: 17 March 1997     

A late Ordovician (Hirnantian) karstic surface in a submarine channel,recording glacio‐eustatic sea‐level changes: Meifod,central Wales

The growth and decay of the end‐Ordovician Gondwanan glaciation is globally reflected by facies changes in sedimentary sequences, which record a major eustatic fall and subsequent rise in the Hirnantian Stage at the end of the Ordovician. However, there are different reported estimates of the magnitude and pattern of sea‐level change. Particularly good evidence for end‐Ordovician sea‐level change comes from a sequence at Meifod in central Wales, which has a karstified limestone unit within a channel incised into marine shelf sediments. Pre‐glacial (Rawtheyan) mudstones have a diverse fauna suggesting a mid‐to‐deep‐shelf water depth of c. 60 m. The channel, 20 m deep, was incised into these mudstones and partially filled with a mixture of fine sand and detrital carbonate. The taphonomy of bioclasts and intraclasts indicates that many had a long residence time on the sea floor or suffered diagenesis after shallow burial before being resedimented into the channel. The presence of carbonates on the Welsh shelf is atypical and they are interpreted as having accumulated as patches during a minor regression prior to the main glacio‐eustatic fall. Comparison of the carbon stable‐isotopic values of the bioclast material with the global isotopic record confirms that most of the material is of Rawtheyan age, but that some is Hirnantian. The resedimented carbonates lithified rapidly and formed a limestone, several metres thick, in the deepest parts of the channel. As sea‐level fell, this limestone was exposed and eroded into karstic domes and pillars with a relief of over 2 m. The overall, glacio‐eustatic, sea‐level fall is estimated to be in excess of 80 m. A succeeding sea‐level rise estimated to be 40–50 m is recorded in the laminated crust that mantles the karstic domes and pillars. The crust is formed of encrusting bryozoans, associated cystoids, crinoid holdfasts and clusters of the brachiopod Paromalomena, which is normally associated with mid‐shelf environments. Fine sands buried the karst topography and accumulated to fill the channel. In the sandstones at the base of the channel there is a Hirnantia fauna, while in the sandstones high in the channel‐sequence there is cross‐stratification characteristic of mid‐shoreface environments. This would indicate a fall of sea‐level of c. 30 m. The subsequent major transgression marking the end of the glaciation is not recorded at the Meifod locality, but nearby exposures of mudstones suggest a return to mid‐to‐deep‐shelf environments, similar to those that prevailed before the Hirnantian regression. The Meifod sequence provides strong evidence for the magnitude of the Hirnantian sea‐level changes and by implication confirm larger estimates for the size of the ice sheets. Smaller oscillations in relative sea‐level seen at Meifod may be local phenomena or may reflect eustatic changes that have not been widely reported elsewhere. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

AsteroFLAG: First results from hare‐and‐hounds Exercise #1

We report on initial results from the first phase of Exercise #1 of the asteroFLAG hare and hounds. The asteroFLAG group is helping to prepare for the asteroseismology component of NASA's Kepler mission, and the first phase of Exercise #1 is concerned with testing extraction of estimates of the large and small frequency spacings of the low‐degree p modes from Kepler‐like artificial data. These seismic frequency spacings will provide key input for complementing the exoplanet search data. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)