Experimental constraints on storage conditions in the chemically zoned phonolitic magma chamber of the Laacher See volcano

Phase relations of three samples of the Laacher See Tephra (LST) have been determined experimentally as a function of temperature (760 to 880 °C), pressure (200, 300 and 400 MPa), water content of the melt and oxygen fugacity (ƒO₂). The crystallization experiments were carried out at ƒO₂=NNO buffer and at NNO=+ 2.3 log units. The melt water contents varied between 6 and more than 8 wt% H₂O, corresponding to water-undersaturated and water saturated conditions respectively. The synthetic products are compared to the natural phases to constrain pre-eruptive conditions in the Laacher See magma chamber. The major phases occurring in the LST have been reproduced. The stability of hauyne is favoured at high ƒO₂ (≈NNO + 2.3). The CaO contents in melt and plagioclase synthesized under water-saturated conditions are significantly higher than in the natural phases, implying that most of the differentiation of the phonolites took place under water-undersaturated conditions. However, this does not exclude the presence of a S-, Cl- and CO₂-rich fluid phase in the upper parts of the magma chamber. The phase relationships and the TiO₂ contents of melts show that the temperature was lower than 760 °C in the upper part of the magma column (probably down to 720 °C in the most differentiated levels) and that temperatures above 840–860 °C prevailed in the lower part. The variation of the X _Mg of ferromagnesian minerals observed in both natural and experimental phases reflects the strong variations in ƒO₂ in the lower magma chamber just prior to eruption (probably variation of about 2 log units). The most probable explanation for these ƒO₂ variations is the injection of an oxidized alkali-rich magma, containing Mg-rich phenocrysts, at the base of a chemically zoned and more reduced magma column prior to eruption. Although the amount of injected magma may not have been very important, it was sufficient to change the ƒO₂ conditions locally, explaining the heterogeneous X _Mg of ferromagnesian minerals and the formation of hauyne at the base of the chamber. Received: 30 May 2000 / Accepted: 12 August 2000     

Minéraux serpentineux extraits de péridotites serpentinisées des Alpes Occidentales

Complete physical and chemical data presented concern serpentine minerals choosen from epizonal to non metamorphic domains. It is tried to correlate well-studied serpentine minerals, generally coming from particular outcrops with the rock-forming ones known only through the microscope.It appears that ribbons filling serpentine veins in a serpentinized dunite, the whole mesh-structure of a non metamorphic serpentine, and bastite lamellae are made of lizardite. Antigorite, only serpentine mineral present in metamorphic domains, shows no significative difference between high-pressure facies (glaucophane schist) and low-pressure facies (green-schist). The data allow a better understanding of the serpentinization process. The geochemically antinomic behaviour of iron and magnesium is emphasized.     

Pressure-induced structural modifications in Mg2GeO4-olivine: A Raman spectroscopic study

Raman spectra of Mg₂GeO₄-olivine were obtained from ambient pressure up to 34 GPa at ambient temperature. Under quasi-hydrostatic pressure conditions, the following modifications in the Raman spectra occur as pressure increases: 1) near 11 GPa, two sharp extra bands appear in the 600–700 cm^?1 frequency range, and increase in intensity with respect to the olivine bands; 2) above 22 GPa, these two bands become very intense, and the number, position and relative intensity of the other vibrational bands drastically change; 3) the intensity of sharp bands progressively decreases above 25 GPa. The transformation occurs at lower pressures under non-hydrostatic conditions. During decompression to atmospheric pressure, the high-pressure phase partially reverts to olivine. These observations can be interpreted as the progressive metastable transformation from the olivine structure to a crystalline phase with four-fold coordinated Ge, in which the GeO₄ tetrahedra are polymerized. We propose that the metastable high-pressure phase is a structurally disordered spinelloid close to the hypothethical ω- or ?^*-phase, and forms by a shear mechanism assisted by the development of a dynamical instability in the olivine structure. Implications for the transformations undergone by olivines under far-from-equilibrium conditions (e.g. in subducting lithospheric slabs and in shocks) are discussed.     

Middle ages temperature reconstructions in europe,a focus on northeastern Italy

In the set of climate reconstructions from tree-rings available for Europe, Scandinavia and North Africa, there are very few reconstructions relating to the Middle Ages, one of the main reasons being the scarcity of continuous and reliable tree-ring series. The five longest temperature reconstructions covering the period 950–1500 are presented here. A sixth reconstruction is proposed which concerns the mean April to September temperature at the geographical point 45° N-10° E (Northeastern Italy), and a comparison is made with the five other reconstructions.     

Phase changes and thermodynamic properties of CaTiO3. Spectroscopic data,vibrational modelling and some insights on the properties of MgSiO3 perovskite

The effect of pressure (up to 21 GPa at room temperature) and temperature (up to 1570 K at room pressure) on the Raman spectrum of CaTiO₃ is presented. No significant changes, which could be attributed to a major structural change, are observed in the spectra up to 22 GPa. The pressure shifts of the Raman modes can be related to a significant compression of the Ti-O bond. Discontinuous changes in the spectra upon heating may be related to phase changes observed by calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. The important temperature shifts of some low-frequency modes can be related to an increase in the Ti-O-Ti angle in agreement with the X-ray data showing a decrease of the structural distortion with increasing temperature. These data are compared to those available for MgSiO₃-perovskite and show that CaTiO₃ is a good structural analogue for MgSiO₃-perovskite. The present spectroscopic data are used to calculate the specific heat and entropy of CaTiO₃. The role of the low frequency modes in the calculations is emphasized. Good agreement is observed between calculated and experimentally determined values in the 0–1300 K temperature range. A similarly defined model is proposed for MgSiO₃-perovskite. It is found that the entropy lies between 57 and 64 J/mol/K at 298 K and between 190 and 200 J/mol/K at 1000 K in agreement with the values inferred from experimental equilibrium data. Finally we briefly discuss the values of the Grüneisen parameters of both perovskites inferred from macroscopic and microscopic data.     

Mesozoic ophiolites,sutures, and arge-scale tectonic movements in Afghanistan

The tectonic history of Afghanistan appears to be the result of successive accretion of fragments of Gondwana to the active margin of Laurasia since the end of the Paleozoic. The margin, in Afghanistan, lies along the present Herat and Panjshir faults, south of Hindu Kush, swings around the central Pamirs and can presumably be traced along the present western Altyn Tagh and Kunlun faults in Tibet. North of this boundary, Paleozoic rocks have been deformed in the Upper Paleozoic, whereas south of it, there is no trace of the Hercynian orogeny. The first collision of Gondwanian fragments with Laurasia probably occurred in the early Mesozoic along the Hindu Kush and Kunlun. To the south, ophiolites along the Panjao and Pangong-Nu Chiang sutures (respectively in central Afghanistan and central Tibet) testify for another suturing event in the Upper Jurassic or Lower Cretaceous. The Indus-Tsangpo suture between India and Tibet corresponds, in eastern Afghanistan, to two ophiolite subbelts, near Kabul and Khost. Both ophiolite complexes have been emplaced between Maestrichtian and Lower Eocene by choking of two northward-dipping subduction zones. After complete contact between the Indian and Asian continents was achieved, presumably in the end of Eocene, the penetration of India into Asia caused large-scale intra-continental shortening. A large part of the shortening was accommodated by strike-slip faulting along Mesozoic and more ancient sutures. Central Afghanistan, in particular, was extruded to the west along the Herat suture by the protrusion of the Pamir wedge. It subsequently collided with the Lut block.     

Le Batholite de San Ramon,Cordillère Orientale du Pérou Central

Résumè Le batholite de San Ramon est constitue par un granite à gros grains ou porphyroïde, à biotite et parfois hornblende, de teinte rouge à grise. Il s'étend sur 90 km du Nord au Sud à la bordure est de la Cordillère Orientale du Pérou Central. Il recoupe des terrains carbonifères et on le retrouve en galets dans des conglomérats rouges sous-jacents aux calcaires triasico-liasiques. Son âge est précisé par une isochrone Rb/Sr en roches totales qui le fixe à 238±10 MA. Il s'agit donc d'un granite d'âge permien supérieur à trias inférieur en partie contemporain du volcanisme rhyolitique à andésitique qui accompagne le dépôt des molasses rouges Mitu post-léonardiennes et pré-ladiniennes. Avec d'autre granitoïdes tardi-hercyniens de la Cordillère Orientale, il témoigne de l'importance insuffisamment reconnue jusqu'alors du plutonisme associé à ce volcanisme »permo-triasique«.

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The batholith of San Ramon is made of a coarse-grained to porphyritic granite that bears biotite and also hornblende at some places. It extends over 90 km from north to south along the eastern boundary of the Eastern Cordillera of Central Peru. It intrudes Carboniferous and Lower Permian strata and is included as cobbles into the red conglomerates that underlie Triassic to Liassic carbonates. A Rb/Sr whole-rock isochron gives a Late Permian to Early Triassic age of 238±10 m. y. Thus the San Ramon granite appears to be in part coeval with the andesite to rhyolitic volcanism associated to the red Mitu molasses, that as a whole were deposited after the Late Leonardian and before the Lower Ladinian. Some other radiometric ages from the Eastern Cordillera granitoïds stress the extension of this Late Variscan plutonism.

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Zusammenfassung Der Batholit von San Ramon besteht aus einem grobkörnigen bis porphyrartigen Granit mit Biotiten und bisweilen Hornblenden von rötlicher bis grauer Farbe. Er erstreckt sich über 90 km in N—S-Richtung längs dem Ostrand der östlichen Cordillere von Zentralperu. Er durchschneidet Karbon- und Permablagerungen und findet sich in Gerollen des triadisch-liassische Kalke unterlagernden Konglomerats. Aus der Rb/Sr-Gesamtisochrone ergibt sich ein Alter von 238±10 M. J. Es handelt sich also um einen Granit aus dem Grenzbereich Perm—Trias, der zum Teil gleichaltrig mit dem rhyolitischen bis andesitischen Vulkanismus ist, der die Ablagerung der postleonardischen und praeladinischen roten Molasse Mitubegleitet. Im Verein mit anderen spätvariszischen Granitoïden weist er auf die bisher ungenügend erkannte Bedeutung des diesen permo-triadischen Vulkanismus begleitenden Plutonismus hin.

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Resumen El batolito de San Ramón esta localizado a lo largo del limite este de la Cordillera Oriental en el Perú Central. Esta compuesto por un granito de grano grueso que puede tambien ser porfiroide, contiene biotita y tambien hornablenda y su color varia de rojo a gris. Dicho granito intruye terrenos carboniferos y eo-pérmicos y se le encuentra formando parte de los cantos en los conglomerados rojos infrayacentes a la serie carbonatada triásico-liásica. Una isocrona Rb/Sr en rocas totales le da una edad de 238±10 m. y. es decir del Permico terminal o de la base del Triásico. Por lo tanto, el granito de San Ramón es contemporáneo con parte del volcanismo riolitico a andesítico asociado a la sedimentacion de las molasas rojas del grupo Mitu, la cual ocure entre el Leonardiano superior y el Ladiniano inferior. Junto con otros granitoïdes de la Cordillera oriental, el batolito de San Ramón demuestra la importancia del plutonismo asociado a este volcanismo »permo-triásico«.

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3-D Modelling of Campi Flegrei Ground Deformations: Role of Caldera Boundary Discontinuities

Campi Flegrei is a caldera complex located west of Naples, Italy. The last eruption occurred in 1538, although the volcano has produced unrest episodes since then, involving rapid and large ground movements (up to 2 m vertical in two years), accompanied by intense seismic activity. Surface ground displacements detected by various techniques (mainly InSAR and levelling) for the 1970 to 1996 period can be modelled by a shallow point source in an elastic half-space, however the source depth is not compatible with seismic and drill hole observations, which suggest a magma chamber just below 4 km depth. This apparent paradox has been explained by the presence of boundary fractures marking the caldera collapse. We present here the first full 3-D modelling for the unrest of 1982–1985 including the effect of caldera bordering fractures and the topography. To model the presence of topography and of the complex caldera rim discontinuities, we used a mixed boundary elements method. The a priori caldera geometry is determined initially from gravimetric modelling results and refined by inversion. The presence of the caldera discontinuities allows a fit to the 1982–1985 levelling data as good as, or better than, in the continuous half-space case, with quite a different source depth which fits the actual magma chamber position as seen from seismic waves. These results show the importance of volcanic structures, and mainly of caldera collapses, in ground deformation episodes.     

L'érosion chimique et l'érosion mécanique à long terme du substrat granitique (Vendée,France)

We calculate the chemical depletion fraction of the granitic bedrock by analysing the rock-soil enrichment of zirconium. In Vendée (France), chemical weathering rates account for 26% of the denudation rates. Such a chemical depletion fraction characterizes temperate regimes. It is three times lower than that of humid tropical regimes. To cite this article: J.-C. Maurin et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).