Temperature — composition relationships of authigenic micaceous minerals in the Los Azufres geothermal system

Smectite, illite, celadonite and chlorite are the major products of alteration of rhyolites and andesites, in the upper part of the Los Azufres geothermal system. Changes in mineral assemblages and composition of phases are observed as a function of depth and host rock lithology. Two different sequences characterize the rhyolites and the andesites from the surface to a depth of about 1500 m: kaolinitesmectite (±interlayered illite/smectite)illitemuscovite (rhyolites), and kaolinitesmectite (±interlayered illite/smectite)illite+celadoniteillite+chloritechlorite (andesites).Illite, and chlorite at depth, are largely dominant. Similar substitutions and correlations among chemical constituents characterize illites from rhyolites or andesites, but their compositions in the two host rock lithologies exhibit slight but significant differences, especially in their Fe and Mg contents which are the highest in illites from andesites. Illite exhibits progressive changes in composition with depth: a strong increase in the K content in the interlayer, together with an increase of the Fe content in the octahedral site. These changes correspond to a slight increase in the molar fraction of Fe-(Mg) celadonite end-members, and mostly to a dramatic decrease of pyrophyllite with increasing temperature.Temperature of the mineralogical and compositional changes was estimated from fluid inclusions studies, combined with other geothermometric approaches (chemical geothermometers and direct measurements). Variation of X-pyrophyllite with temperature is proposed as a geothermometer for different host rock lithologies. Transitions between the stability fields of illite±interstratified illite-smectite and illite+chlorite is around 200±30° C, and between illite+chlorite and chlorite around 290±20° C.     

Determination of total carbonate content in some representative loess-paleosol profiles

Samples taken from loess and paleosols were examined for carbonate content. The main results were as follows:

1. The carbonate content measured differed significantly when the samples were analysed jointly with the concretions occurring in them or separately from these constituents.
2. Solubility of different carbonates (calcite, dolomite, aragonite etc.) was found different. This factor also might have influenced the measured total amounts of carbonates.

     

Computer estimation of intensities: The 1985 Berhida,Hungary, earthquake

In this paper a computerized method for the intensity estimation from macroseismic observations is presented. The successive steps of the MSK intensity scale (2° to 10°) receives weights according to the observations marked on the earthquake questionnaires. These weights are summed for the individual scale steps. The distribution of these summed weights and their relation to an experimentally chosen function of the criterion make it possible to estimate the appropriate intensity value and its reliability. By computer evaluation of earthquake reports an objective comparison of estimated intensities given by different seismologists can be made, provided that uniform earthquake questionnaires are used. The application of this method will result in more homogeneous intensity data.     

A multi‐system geochronology in the Ad‐3 borehole,Pannonian Basin (Hungary) with implications for dating volcanic rocks by low‐temperature thermochronology and for interpretation of (U–Th)/He data

Independent geochronological and thermal modelling approaches are applied to a biostratigraphically exceptionally well‐controlled borehole, Alcsútdoboz‐3 (Ad‐3), in order to constrain the age of Cenozoic geodynamic events in the western Pannonian Basin and to test the efficacy of the methods for dating volcanic rocks. Apatite fission track and zircon U–Pb data show two volcanic phases of Middle Eocene (43.4–39.0 Ma) and Early Oligocene (32.72 ± 0.15 Ma) age respectively. Apatite (U–Th)/He ages (23.8–14.8 Ma) and independent thermal and subsidence history models reveal a brief period of heating to 55–70 °C at ~17 Ma caused by an increased heat‐flow related to crustal thinning and mantle upwelling. Our results demonstrate that, contrary to common perception, the apatite (U–Th)/He method is likely to record ‘apparent’ or ‘mixed’ ages resulting from subsequent thermal events rather than ‘cooling’ or ‘eruption’ ages directly related to distinct geological events. It follows that a direct conversion of ‘apparent’ or ‘mixed’ (U‐Th)/He ages into cooling, exhumation or erosion rates is incorrect.     

MV-WG: a new multi-variable weather generator

This paper presents a new stochastic multi-variable weather generator (MV-WG) and compares its performance with LARS-WG version 4.0. Daily data of 109 meteorological stations from a North American database were used in a twofold comparison of the two generators: (1) the capability of reproducing the mean and variance of annual, seasonal and monthly values, and (2) the capability of reproducing extreme weather events were compared. Both generators did very well on imitating the mean and the variance of the monthly values of the investigated variables, but both showed a more moderate performance as far as the generation of extreme events was concerned. The three-parameter Weibull function, which is first introduced in MV-WG, was found to be a powerful tool to describe not only the distribution of the daily precipitation amounts, but also the distribution of dry and wet spell lengths, as well.     

Submicroscopic accessory minerals overprinting clay mineral REE patterns (celadonite–glauconite group examples)

Samples of glauconite, representing different stages of glauconitisation, as well as different formation environments, were analysed for rare earth elements (REE) and other trace elements using a combination of bulk sample and spatially-resolved in situ techniques. The results indicate that the high-sensitivity, spatially-resolved technique of laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) produces values up to two orders of magnitude lower than the bulk sample analyses. This suggests that submicroscopic rare earth element-bearing phases are distributed within the glauconite aggregates comprising the bulk samples. Analytical scanning electron microscopy (ASEM) revealed the presence of micrometre-sized grains of apatite and pore filling precipitates of an unidentified (REE, Ca)-phosphate (approximate composition Ca_0.3–0.4(Ce_0.4La_0.1–0.2Nd_0.1)PO₄) in some glauconite grains.The inherent REE concentrations of the glauconite aggregates (i.e., glauconite crystallites without accidental mechanical inclusions or authigenic, not layer silicate mineral precipitates) was found to be relatively low (e.g., typically less than 100 ppm), and this value decreased with increasing glauconitisation (smectite–mica transformation through a series of recrystallisation processes). These results suggest that the REEs substitute for Ca in the interlayer space of the layer silicate structure and, therefore, the REE content decreases as Ca is progressively removed from the interlayer (smectite–mica transition).LA-ICP-MS, when combined with electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) or ASEM, offers an opportunity to exclude submicroscopic accessory minerals from glauconite trace element analyses, and so produces reliable trace element data for the respective minerals which host those elements.These results illustrate that accessory minerals are difficult to eliminate from clay samples, and that care needs to be taken in the interpretation of clay mineral REE distributions, irrespective of the aggregation state of the studied clay (i.e., whether finely dispersed within the sedimentary rock, or forming millimetre-sized aggregates). Model calculations showed that authigenic apatite associated with the studied green marine clays tends to have higher REE content than “bioapatites”, the total REE content being above 10 000 ppm.     

Artificial neural networks and geostatistical models for housing valuations in urban residential areas

Property valuation studies often use classical statistics techniques. Among these techniques, the Artificial Neural Networks are the most applied, overcoming the inflexibility and the linearity of the hedonic models. Other researchers have used Geostatistics techniques, specifically the Kriging Method, for interpreting spatial-temporal variability and to predict housing unit prices. The innovation of this study is to highlight how the Kriging Method can help to better understand the urban environment, improving the results obtained by classical statistics. This study presents two different methods that share the general objective of extracting information regarding a city’s housing from datasets. The procedures applied are Ordinary Kriging (Geostatistics) and Multi-Layer Perceptron algorithm (Artificial Neural Networks). These methods were used to predict housing unit prices in the municipality of Pozuelo de Alarcon (Madrid). The implementation of both methods provides us with the urban characteristics of the study area and the most significant variables related to price. The main conclusion is that the Ordinary Kriging models and the Neural Networks models, applied to predicting housing unit prices are necessary methodologies to improve the information obtained in classical statistical techniques.

Abbreviations: ANN: Artificial Neural Networks; OK: ordinary Kriging; MLP: multi-layer perceptron     

Paleoenvironmental conditions and strontium isotope stratigraphy in the Paleogene Gafsa Basin (Tunisia) deduced from geochemical analyses of phosphatic fossils

Fossil shark teeth and coprolites from three major phosphorite occurrences in the Gafsa Basin (southwestern Tunisia) were investigated for their geochemical compositions to improve local stratigraphy and to better assess paleoenvironmental conditions. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios of shark teeth from the Early Maastrichtian El Haria Formation and from the Early Eocene Métlaoui s.s. Formation yielded Sr isotope ages of 68 ± 1 and 47.9 ± 1.3 Ma, respectively, which accord with the expected stratigraphic positions of these sediments. Conversely, shark teeth from the Paleocene–Eocene Chouabine Formation have large variation in Sr isotope ratios even within individual layers. After statistical treatment and then elimination of certain outlier samples, three age-models are proposed and discussed. The most reasonable solution includes three subsequent Sr ages of 61.8 ± 2.2 Ma, 57.2 ± 1.8 and 54.6 ± 1.6 for layer IX, layers VIII–V and layers IV–0, respectively. Three scenarios are discussed for explanation of the presence of the outliers: (1) diagenesis, (2) re-working and (3) locally controlled seawater Sr isotope ratio. The most plausible account for the higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios relative to the global ocean in some fossils is enhanced intrabasinal re-working due to low sea level. Conversely, the sample with lower ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr than the global seawater may link to diagenesis or to seawater influenced by weathering of Late Cretaceous marine carbonates, which latter is supported by model calculation as well. The ε_Nd values of these fossils are very similar to those reported for Paleogene and Late Cretaceous Tethyan seawater and are compatible with the above interpretations. The relatively low oxygen isotope values in shark teeth from the topmost phosphate bed of the Chouabine Formation, together with the Sr isotope results, point toward recovering better connections with the open sea. These δ¹⁸O data reflect elevated ambient temperature, which may link to the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum.