Sedimentology and budget of a Recent carbonate mound, Florida Keys

The sedimentology of a Recent carbonate mound is investigated to further our understanding of mound building communities, surface and subsurface mound sediments, and the overall sediment budget of mounds. Nine sedimentary facies of the surface of Tavernier mound, Florida Keys are described. These sediments are composed of Neogoniolithon, Halimeda, Porites, mollusc and foraminiferal grains, and lime mud. Muds rich in aragonite and high magnesian calcite show little mineralogical variation over the mound surface. Geochemical evidence suggests that the mud is mainly formed from breakdown of codiacean algae and Thalassia blade epibionts. Production rates of the facies are established from in situ growth rate experiments and standing-crop surveys. Annual calcium carbonate production is c. 500gm^-2, intermediate between reef and other bay and lagoonal environment production rates in the Caribbean. The internal structure of the mound, studied from piston cores and sediment probes, indicates that seven facies can be identified. Five of these can be related to the present-day facies, and occur in the upper part of the mound (gravel-mound stage). The remaining two facies, characterized by molluscs and aragonite-rich muds, occur in the lower part of the mound (mud-mound stage), and are most similar to facies from typical Florida Bay mud mounds. Mangrove peats within the mound indicate former intertidal areas and C¹⁴ dates from these peats provide a time framework for mound sedimentation. The mound appears to have formed because of an initial valley in the Pleistocene surface which accumulated mud in a shallow embayment during the Holocene transgression. A sediment budget for the mound is presented which compares production rates from present-day facies with subsurface sediment masses. During the mud mound stage production rates were similar to accumulation rates and the mound was similar to the present-day mounds of Florida Bay. During the gravel mound stage (3400 yr BP-present day), conditions were more normal marine and the establishment of Porites and Neogoniolithon on the mound increased production rates 10% over accumulation rates. This excess sediment is thought to be transported off the mound to the surrounding seabed. Models are proposed which divide carbonate mounds on the basis of internal versus external sediment supply. Comparisons are made with other Recent and ancient mounds. Similarities exist between the roles of the biotic components of late Palaeozoic mounds but major differences are found when structures and early diagenesis are compared.     

Geochemistry of the Active Azufre--Planchon--Peteroa Volcanic Complex, Chile (3515'S): Evidence for Multiple Sources and Processes in a Cordilleran Arc Magmatic System

Along strike of the Quaternary magmatic arc in the SouthernVolcanic Zone of the Andes, there is a south to north increasein crustal thickness, and the lavas define systematic geochemicaltrends which have been attributed to variations in the proportionsand compositions of mantle-and crustal-derived components. Realisticinterpretations of these regional geochemical trends requiresan understanding of the sources and processes that control lavacompositions at individual volcanoes. Because it is in an importantgeophysical and geochemical transition zone, we studied theAzufre—Planchon—Peteroa volcanic complex, a nestedgroup of three volcanoes <055 m.y. in age located at 3515'Sin the Southern Volcanic Zone of the Andes. North of this complexat 33–35S the continental crust is thick, basalts areabsent, and there is abundant evidence for crustal componentsin the evolved lavas, but south of 37S, where the crust isrelatively thin, basaltic lavas are abundant and the contributionof continental crust to the lavas is less obvious. In additionto its location, this volcanic complex is important becausethere is a diversity of lava compositions, and it is the northernmostexposure of recent basaltic volcanism on the volcanic front.Therefore, the lavas of this complex can be used to identifythe relative roles of mantle, lower-crustal and upper-crustalsources and processes at a single location. Volcan Azufre is the oldest and largest volcano of the complex;it is a multi-cycle, bimodal, basaltic andesite–dacitestratovolcano. Volcan Planchon is the northernmost basalt-bearingvolcano along the volcanic front of the Southern Andes, andVolcan Peteroa, the youngest volcano of the complex, has eruptedmixed magmas of andesitic and dacitic composition. Most basalticandesite lavas at Azufre and Planchon are related by a plagioclase-poor,anhydrous mineral fractionating assemblage. High-alumina basaltis produced from a tholeiitic parent by an 4–8 kbar fractionatingassemblage. During this moderatepressure crystallization, themagmas also incorporated a crustal component with high La/Yband high abundances of Rb, Cs and Th. Based on the chemicalcharacteristics of the added component and the inferred depthof crystallization, the crustal source may have been garnetgranulite derived from solidified arc magmas in the lower tomiddle continental crust. At Planchon, the role of crustal assimilationhas increased with decreasing eruption age probably becausecrustal temperatures have increased during continued volcanism.Azufre dacite lavas formed at low pressures by fractionationof a plagioclase-rich assemblage. These dacite lavas containan upper-crustal component, probably derived in part from limestone,with high values of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁸O/¹⁶O. Thus two depths (upperand lower crust) of crystallization and associated crustal assimilationare evident in Planchon–Azufre lavas. Peteroa, the focusof recent volcanism, consists of calc-alkaline andesite anddacite eruptive products whose textures and compositions indicatean important role for magma mixing. Therefore, the volcanismevolved from a tholeiitic system of basalt and subordinate dacite(Planchon–Azufre) to a calc-alkaline system with abundantmixed lavas of intermediate composition (Peteroa). In additionto crustal thickness, two important parameters which controlledthe diversity of lava composition in this complex are magmasupply rate from the mantle and crustal temperature. Both parametersvaried with time, and they must be considered in broader interpretationsof along-strike geochemical trends. KEY WORDS: arc magmas; Andes; Peteroa; Planchan; geochemistry ^*Corresponding author. Present address: ENTRIX, Inc., 4II North Central Avenue, Glendale, CA 91203, USA     

强对流过程对大尺度模式洋面通量加强的参数化研究与进展

由于地球表面热通量直接决定着大气环流运动,在大气数值模式中如何准确描述地球表面热通量就变处得十分重要.洋面是地球表面最广泛分布的下垫面,它的表面热通量描述尤为被重视.尤其是西赤道太平洋暖池、东赤道太平洋冷舌、ITCZ及信风带等关键区域的洋面热通量的准确估计更是非常重要,这些区域的地表通量变化通常被认为是全球气候变化即ENSO现象的最重要的信号[1].众所周知,中尺度降水对流在以上关键海域频繁发生.中尺度降水对流系统往往有较强的下沉气流(downdraft)[2],这种下沉气流在中尺度降水对流系统与大尺度过程的相互作用中伴演着重要角色.     

赞比亚班韦乌卢变质克拉通东北部姆巴拉组碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄和Hf同位素特征

班韦乌卢变质克拉通活动时间和地壳增长问题一直是地质学家关注的焦点。本文通过对班韦乌卢地块中卡帕图地区姆波罗科索群姆巴拉组石英砂岩进行了碎屑锆石U-Pb年代学和Hf同位素研究,结合变质克拉通已有成果获得认识如下：(1)姆巴拉组的形成时间可能介于(1833±22 Ma)～(1712±22 Ma)之间,属于古元古代。(2)姆巴拉组具有丰富的物质来源,其中2728～2602 Ma(峰值为2650 Ma)的物质可能来源于坦桑尼亚克拉通中的花岗岩类、粗面安山岩及流纹岩等岩石。2246～1833 Ma(峰值为1880 Ma)的物质主要来源于班韦乌卢地块中花岗岩类、石英闪长岩及火山岩类等岩石。(3)班韦乌卢变质克拉通的活动时间包括中太古代、新太古代、古元古代和中元古代四个时期,其中古元古代(1870 Ma)为活动的高峰期,涉及范围广泛,可能与哥伦比亚超大陆的演化密切相关。(4)班韦乌卢变质克拉通沉积岩的源区地壳增生除来自古老地壳的再循环物质外,还存在新生地壳的物质。同时,地壳在古太古代-古元古代均实现了增长,其中凯诺兰超大陆聚合时期(2550 Ma)增长最快。在古元古代之前的地壳主增长期与坦桑尼亚克拉通及全球大陆地壳主增长期基本一致。     

Physical and biological controls on the formation of carbonate and siliciclastic bedforms on the north-east Brazilian shelf

The continental shelf of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, is an open shelf area located 5°S and 35°W. It is influenced by strong oceanic and wind-driven currents, fair weather, 1·5-m-high waves and a mesotidal regime. This work focuses on the character and the controls on the development of suites of carbonate and siliciclastic bedforms, based on Landsat TM image analysis and extensive ground-truth (diving) investigations. Large-scale bedforms consist of: (i) bioclastic (mainly coralline algae and Halimeda) sand ribbons (5–10 km long, 50–600 m wide) parallel to the shoreline; and (ii) very large transverse siliciclastic dunes (3·4 km long on average, 840 m spacing and 3–8 m high), with troughs that grade rapidly into carbonate sands and gravels. Wave ripples are superposed on all large-scale bedforms, and indicate an onshore shelf sediment transport normal to the main sediment transport direction. The occurrence of these large-scale bedforms is primarily determined by the north-westerly flowing residual oceanic and tidal currents, resulting mainly in coast-parallel transport. Models of shelf bedform formation predict sand ribbons to occur in higher energy settings rather than in large dunes. However, in the study area, sand ribbons occur in an area of coarse, low-density and easily transportable bioclastic sands and gravels compared with the very large transverse dunes in an offshore area that is composed of denser medium-grained siliciclastic sands. It suggests that the availability of different sediment types is likely to exert an influence on the nature of the bedforms generated. The offshore sand supply is time limited and originates from sea floor erosion of sandstones of former sea-level lowstands. The trough areas of both sand ribbons and very large transverse dunes comprise coarse calcareous algal gravels that support benthic communities of variable maturity. Diverse mature communities result in sediment stabilization through branching algal growth and binding that is thought to modify the morphology of dunes and sand ribbons. The occurrence and the nature of the bedforms is controlled by their hydrodynamic setting, by grain composition that reflects the geological history of the area and by the carbonate-producing benthic marine communities that inhabit the trough areas.     

Ensemble covariances adaptively localized with ECO-RAP. Part 2: a strategy for the atmosphere

Part 1's localization method, Ensemble COrrelations Raised to A Power (ECO-RAP), is incorporated into a Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF). Because brute force incorporation would be too expensive, we demonstrate a factorization property for Part 1's Covariances Adaptively Localized with ECO-rap (CALECO) forecast error covariance matrix that, together with other simplifications, reduces the cost. The property inexpensively provides a large CALECO ensemble whose covariance is the CALECO matrix. Each member of the CALECO ensemble is an element-wise product between one raw ensemble member and one column of the square root of the ECO-RAP matrix. The LETKF is applied to the CALECO ensemble rather than the raw ensemble. The approach enables the update of large numbers of variables within each observation volume at little additional computational cost. Under plausible assumptions, this makes the CALECO and standard LETKF costs similar. The CALECO LETKF does not require artificial observation error inflation or vertically confined observation volumes both of which confound the assimilation of non-local observations such as satellite observations. Using a 27 member ensemble from a global Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) system, we depict four-dimensional (4-D) flow-adaptive error covariance localization and test the ability of the CALECO LETKF to reduce analysis error.     

赞比亚伊索卡南部Kachinga长石砂岩碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄、地球化学特征及地质意义

赞比亚东北部伊鲁米德带是一个北东向延伸的中元古代构造活动带,起自赞比亚中部,向北东一直延伸至赞比亚-坦桑尼亚边境,并进入马拉维北部;其东北部以古元古代乌本迪构造带为界;西北部以班韦乌卢地块为界;西部和西南部受新元古代的达马拉-卢菲利安弧-赞比西构造事件的影响。Kachinga长石砂岩位于伊鲁米德带的东北部伊索卡南部。本文获得Kachinga长石砂岩的416颗碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄多集中在1749±25～1920±23Ma之间,Kachinga长石砂岩的形成时代可能晚于1331±26Ma,属于中元古代。Kachinga长石砂岩碎屑锆石CL图像表明,大部分锆石为岩浆结晶锆石,少部分锆石颗粒为增生-混合型锆石,表明其经历了多期构造-热事件的改造。锆石中存在有一部分磨圆度较好的颗粒,表明其经历了多次搬运和沉积过程,从而指示了古老沉积岩为Kachinga长石砂岩提供了物源。主量元素、微量元素和稀土元素构造环境判别及物源分析表明了Kachinga长石砂岩物源主要为上地壳大陆长英质源区,并且可能混有古老沉积物成分,物源区构造背景为大陆岛弧环境。     

CHIRICAHUA APACHE HOMELAND IN THE BORDERLAND SOUTHWEST*

The creation of the present United States‐Mexico boundary in the mid‐nineteenth century interrupted and disregarded the traditional territorial space of the Chiricahua Apache, whose ancestral homeland transcended this new line. As a result of their land claims, the United States created a reservation for the Chiricahua Apache, but it was later withdrawn. Today members of this group officially reside among Mescalero Apache in New Mexico and Fort Sill Apache in Oklahoma. This essay assesses the historic and contemporary impact of geographical borderland changes for the Chiricahua Apache and discusses the legacy of a transformed homeland.