Offshore Occurrences of Heavy-Mineral Placers,Northwest Galicia,Spain

ABSTRACT

Results of offshore water-jet sediment sampling demonstrate the potential for interstadial placer deposits of industrial minerals in the shore-face to inner-shelf of Cape Ortegal, NW Spain. Placer deposition is interpreted to have occurred during glacial interstadials since the Last Glacial Maximum, and deposits sampled at 24 to 42 m. BSL were formed during the Younger Dryas, and subsequently preserved as a result of very rapid rising sea-levels. The sediments are almost entirely terrestrially derived with a particularly high heavy mineral content (Sp. Gr. >2.9), of more than 75% in all samples. Reworked garnet from earlier-sedimentary deposits constitutes an important fraction of the placer deposits identified but is generally absent in other sediments. Indications of the presence of +5 m-thick paleo-placer deposits with sections include:

• Placer garnet + spinel grades increase with depth in those sediments at 24 to 42 m BSL to the ocean-floor.

• The d50 of sediments with background grades decrease with depth while those of placer deposits do not display any significant trend.

• Garnets in non-mineralized sediments are almost entirely angular, whereas in placer enriched sediments they vary in form from well-rounded to angular. Some grains in the latter display surface morphologies typical of reworked sediment while none of the former do.

Sediments deposited during glacial interstadials at depths of up to 130 m BSL may represent important, undeveloped exploration targets for offshore placer deposits of industrial minerals. Industrial mineral exploration should extend the depths of investigations to those corresponding to major interstadial periods.     

Comparison of Recharge Estimation Methods During a Wet Period in a Karst Aquifer

Management of water resources, implying their appropriate protection, calls for a sound evaluation of recharge. Such assessment is very complex in karst aquifers. Most methods are developed for application to detrital aquifers, without taking into account the extraordinary heterogeneity of porosity and permeability of karst systems. It is commonly recommended to estimate recharge using multiple methods; however, differences inherent to the diverse methods make it difficult to clarify the accuracy of each result. In this study, recharge was estimated in a karst aquifer working in a natural regime, in a Mediterranean‐type climate, in the western part of the Sierra de las Nieves (southern Spain). Mediterranean climate regions are characterized by high inter‐annual rainfall variability featuring long dry periods and short intense wet periods, the latter constituting the most important contribution to aquifer water input. This paper aims to identify the methods that provide the most plausible range of recharge rate during wet periods. Six methods were tested: the classical method of Thornthwaite‐Mather, the Visual Balan code, the chloride balance method, and spatially distributed methods such as APLIS, a novel spatiotemporal estimation of recharge, and ZOODRM. The results help determine valid methods for application in the rest of the unit of study and in similar karst aquifers.     

Coupling patterns between para‐glacial and permafrost degradation responses in Antarctica

The recently deglaciated environments in maritime permafrost regions are usually affected by very active paraglacial processes. Elephant Point is an ice‐free area of 1.16 km2 located in the SW of Livingston island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Between 1956–2010 the retreat of the ice cap covering most part of this island has exposed 17.3% of the land surface in this peninsula. Two geomorphological units were identified in this new ice‐free area: a moraine extending from the western to the eastern coastlines and a relatively flat proglacial surface. The glacier in 1956 sat in contact with the northern slope of the moraine, but its accelerated retreat ‐ in parallel to the warming trend recorded in the Antarctic Peninsula ‐ left these areas free of glacier ice. Subsequently, the postglacial evolution was controlled by the relaxation phase typical of paraglacial systems. The typology and intensity of geomorphological processes show a significantly different dynamics between the southern and northern slopes of the moraine. This pattern is related to the different stage of paraglacial adjustment in both slopes. In the southern side, on coarser sediments, pronival ramparts, debris flows and alluvial fans are distributed, with a low to moderate activity of slope processes. In the northern side, mass wasting processes are extremely active on fine‐grained unconsolidated sediments. Ice‐rich permafrost is being degraded by thermokarst processes. Landslides and mudflows transfer large amounts of sediments down‐slope. The surface affected by retrogressive‐thaw slumps in the moraine has been quantified in 24,172 m2, which accounts for 9.6% of its surface. The abundance of kettle‐lakes is also indicative of the degradation of the ground ice. Paraglacial processes are expected to continue in the moraine and proglacial area in the near future, although their intensity and duration will depend on the magnitude and rate of future climate trends in the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Star formation in NGC5471

We present a study of the star formation in the giant Hii region NGC5471 in the outskirts of M101. We have performed integrated photometry of the mean emission knots. Stellar population analysis with the code chorizos is compatible with the hypothesis that these regions have at least two different populations. The color–magnitude diagram of the region as derived from Hubble Space Telescope/WPFC2 stellar photometry shows that star formation has been going on for the last 70 Myr.