Petrogenesis of Al–silicate-bearing trondhjemitic migmatites from NE Sardinia, Italy

The migmatites from Punta Sirenella (NE Sardinia) are layered rocks containing 3–5 vol.% of centimeter-sized stromatic leucosomes which are mainly trondhjemitic and only rarely granitic in composition. They underwent three deformation phases, from D₁ to D₃. The D₁ deformation shows a top to the NW shear component followed by a top to the NE/SE component along the XZ plane of the S₂ schistosity. Migmatization started early, during the compressional and crustal thickening stage of Variscan orogeny and was still in progress during the following extensional stage of unroofing and exhumation.

The trondhjemitic leucosomes, mainly consisting of quartz, plagioclase, biotite ± garnet ± kyanite ± fibrolite, retrograde muscovite and rare K-feldspar, are locally bordered by millimeter-sized biotite-rich melanosomes. The rare granitic leucosomes differ from trondhjemitic ones only in the increase in modal content of K-feldspar, up to 25%. Partial melting started in the kyanite field at about 700–720 °C and 0.8–0.9 GPa, and was followed by re-equilibration at 650–670 °C and 0.4–0.6 GPa, producing fibrolite–biotite intergrowth and coarse-grained muscovite.

The leucosomes have higher SiO₂, CaO, Na₂O, Sr and lower Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃, MgO, TiO₂, K₂O, P₂O₅, Rb, Ba, Cr, V, Zr, Nb, Zn and REE content with respect to proximal hosts and pelitic metagreywackes. Sporadic anomalous high content of calcium and ferromagnesian elements in some leucosomes is due to entrainment of significant amounts of restitic plagioclase, biotite and accessory phases. The rare granitic leucosomes reveal peritectic K-feldspar produced by muscovite-dehydration melting. Most leucosomes show low REE content, moderately fractionated REE patterns and marked positive Eu anomaly. Proximal hosts and pelitic metagraywackes are characterized by higher REE content, more fractionated REE patterns and slightly negative Eu anomaly.

The trondhjemitic leucosomes were generated by H₂O-fluxed melting at 700 °C of a greywacke to pelitic–greywacke metasedimentary source-rock. The disequilibrium melting process is the most reliable melting model for Punta Sirenella leucosomes.     

Phosphorus metabolism in anthropogenically transformed lagoon ecosystems: The Comacchio lagoons (Ferrara, Italy)

Inorganic phosphorus dynamics were investigated with the use of ³²P in the hypertrophic Comacchio lagoons (NE Adriatic) during an extremely dense, quasi-permanent bloom of picocyanobacteria. Concentrations of dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP) in waters of the blooming lagoons were usually near the detection limit (0.01 μmoles·dm⁻³). DIP uptake rates by microplankton at near-ambient concentrations (0.01 to 0.1 μmoles·dm⁻³) were in the range of 9.6 to 16.1 nmoles P·dm⁻³·min⁻¹, and turnover times were 1.5 to 3 min. The turnover time was >40 h in the eutrophic coastal waters of the adjacent Adriatic Sea. The uptake rate of DIP depended on its initial concentration. In water samples artificially enriched with DIP, the uptake rate rose to its maximum of 0.10 to 0.13 μmoles P·dm⁻³·min⁻¹ (or 6 to 7 μmoles·dm⁻³·h⁻¹) when the initial concentration of DIP was elevated to 10 to 20 μmoles·dm⁻³. The potential capacity of microplankton in the water samples to consume and retain DIP was estimated at 25 μmoles·dm⁻³. Specific features are discussed of phosphorus metabolism in the anthropogenically transformed lagoon ecosystem with an anomalous food web with few animals.     

Pacific interdecadal variability driven by tropical–extratropical interactions

Interactions between the tropical and subtropical northern Pacific at decadal time scales are examined using uncoupled oceanic and atmospheric simulations. An atmospheric model is forced with observed Pacific sea surface temperatures (SST) decadal anomalies, computed as the difference between the 2000–2009 and the 1990–1999 period. The resulting pattern has negative SST anomalies at the equator, with a global pattern reminiscent of the Pacific decadal oscillation. The tropical SST anomalies are responsible for driving a weakening of the Hadley cell and atmospheric meridional heat transport. The atmosphere is then shown to produce a significant response in the subtropics, with wind-stress-curl anomalies having the opposite sign from the climatological mean, consistent with a weakening of the oceanic subtropical gyre (STG). A global ocean model is then forced with the decadal anomalies from the atmospheric model. In the North Pacific, the shallow subtropical cell (STC) spins down and the meridional heat transport is reduced, resulting in positive tropical SST anomalies. The final tropical response is reached after the first 10 years of the experiment, consistent with the Rossby-wave adjustment time for both the STG and the STC. The STC provides the connection between subtropical wind stress anomalies and tropical SSTs. In fact, targeted simulations show the importance of off-equatorial wind stress anomalies in driving the oceanic response, whereas anomalous tropical winds have no role in the SST signal reversal. We further explore the connection between STG, STC and tropical SST with the help of an idealized model. We argue that, in our models, tropical SST decadal variability stems from the forcing of the Pacific subtropical gyre through the atmospheric response to ENSO. The resulting Ekman pumping anomaly alters the STC and oceanic heat transport, providing a negative feedback on the SST. We thus suggest that extratropical atmospheric responses to tropical forcing have feedbacks onto the ocean dynamics that lead to a time-delayed response of the tropical oceans, giving rise to a possible mechanism for multidecadal ocean-atmosphere coupled variability.     

The Shanggong gold deposit, Eastern Qinling Orogen, China: Isotope geochemistry and implications for ore genesis

The Shanggong Au deposit in the Xiong’er Terrane, East Qinling, China, has resources of about 30 ton Au, making it one of the largest orogenic-mesothermal Au deposits hosted in volcanic rocks of the Mesoproterozoic Xiong’er Group. Three stages of hydrothermal activity are recognized (early, middle and late), of which two (early and middle) were ore producing and characterized by quartz–pyrite and polymetallic sulfides, respectively. The third and late stage is represented by a carbonate–quartz assemblage. Hydrogen, oxygen and carbon isotope systematics of the Shanggong deposit from a previous work suggest that the early stage fluids were derived from magmatic and/or metamorphic devolatilization of sedimentary rocks at depth. This is supported by new C, S and published Sr and Pb isotopic data, presented in this paper. These new data, δ¹³C values ranging from 1.5 ‰ for early stage ankerite to −2.2 ‰ for late stage ankerite, negative δ³⁴S values for sulfides from the middle stage (–19.2 to –6.3 ‰), suggest a contribution from organic matter and that the ore fluid evolved from deeply sourced to shallowly sourced, with those of the middle stage representing a mixture of these two fluid systems. The comparison of the hydrogen–oxygen–carbon–sulfur–lead–strontium isotope systematics between the Shanggong deposit and the main lithologies in the Xiong’er Terrane, shows that neither these nor the underlying lower crust and mantle, or combinations thereof, could be considered as the source of ore fluids for the Shanggong Au deposit. A likely source was a carbonaceous carbonate, sandstone, shale, chert sequence in the underthrusted Guandaokou and Luanchuan Groups, exposed south of the Xiong’er Terrane.Ar–Ar and Rb–Sr isochron ages for mineral phases of the early, middle and late stages, together with geological field data, constrain the timing of the hydrothermal activity and Au metallogenesis at 242 ± 10, 167 ± 7 and 112 ± 7 Ma, respectively. This metallogenesis and associated granitic magmatism, can be related to the continental collision between the Yangtze and North China Cratons that resulted in the formation of the Qinling Orogen, led to the different hydrothermal systems that were responsible for the three stages that formed the Shanggong Au deposit, over a period of about 130 Myrs.     

On depth and temperature biases in bathythermograph data: Development of a new correction scheme based on analysis of a global ocean database

The World Ocean Database 2005 as of May 2009 is used to estimate temperature and sample depth biases of expendable (XBT) and mechanical (MBT) bathythermographs by comparing bathythermograph temperature profiles with more accurate bottle and conductivity/temperature/depth (CTD) data. It is shown that the application of depth corrections estimated earlier from side-by-side XBT/CTD inter-comparisons, without accounting for a pure thermal bias, leads to even larger disagreement with the CTD and bottle reference temperatures. Our calculations give evidence for a depth-variable XBT fall-rate correction with the manufacturer-derived depth being underestimated in the upper 200 m and overestimated below this depth. These results are in agreement with side-by-side inter-comparisons and direct fall-rate estimates. Correcting XBT sample depths by a multiplicative factor which is constant with depth does not allow an effective elimination of the total temperature bias throughout the whole water column. The analysis further suggests a dependence of the fall rate on the water temperature which was reported earlier in the literature. Comparison among different correction schemes implies a significant impact of systematic biases on the estimates of the global ocean heat content anomaly.     

Stability of C60 and C70 fullerenes toward corpuscular and γ radiation

The stability of C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerenes in the interstellar medium deposited on dust surface or embedded in meteorites and comets has been simulated with γ irradiation and with He⁺ ion bombardment. It is shown by vibrational spectroscopy that a γ radiation dose of 2.6 MGy (1 Gy = 1 joule absorbed energy per kilogram) causes partial oligomerization of both C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerenes. Oligomers are made by fullerene cages chemically connected each other which can yield back free fullerenes by a thermal treatment. The amount of irreversibly polymerized fullerenes caused by 2.6 MGy as deduced as the toluene insoluble fraction has been determined as 1.7 and 15 per cent by weight, respectively, for C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerene. The radiation dose generated by radionuclides decay and expected to be delivered to fullerenes buried at a depth of more than 20 m in comets and meteorites is about 3 MGy per 10⁹ yr. Since fullerenes are by far resistant to such radiation dose they can survive for at least some billion years inside comets and meteorites and in fact have been detected inside certain carbonaceous chondrites. On the other hand, the direct exposure of fullerenes to cosmic rays for instance when they are adsorbed or deposited on the surface of carbon dust corresponds to the delivery of a radiation dose comprised between 30 and 65 MGy per 10⁹ yr. Experimental bombardment of both C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerenes for instance with He⁺ ions has shown that the complete amorphization occurs at about 250 MGy. Thus in ∼4 Gyr exposure to cosmic rays it is expected a complete amorphization.     

Recent Trends Towards Oligotrophication of the Northern Adriatic: Evidence from Chlorophyll <Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis> Time Series

The results of the updated and quality-checked data base of field observations on chlorophyll a (Chl a) collected in the period 1970–2007 in the Northern Adriatic Sea are presented. From the last decade, SeaWiFS satellite information was also considered. Results demonstrate a global tendency towards Chl a reduction in the period of investigation, which is more marked in the eutrophic area under the influence of the Po River. In the rest of the basin, which presents meso- or oligotrophic characteristics, long-term changes are more difficult to detect. The long-term field dataset can be divided into two periods: the last decade characterized by the strong decrease observed in the whole northern Adriatic and the earlier period with no or slight increase. The recent substantial reduction of Chl a concentrations is confirmed all over the basin (−0.11 mg m⁻³ year⁻¹) from satellite-derived information. Results are consistent with recently evidenced decrease in concentrations of phosphate and ammonia and point to the existence of oligotrophication in the Northern Adriatic. Results indicate forcefully that the still common perception of the Adriatic Sea as a very eutrophic basin is no longer appropriate, at least for its northern part and in recent years.     

Chemical Reduction of Hexavalent Chromium Present in Contaminated Soil using a Packed-bed Column Reactor

Soil samples extracted from a contaminated landfill with hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), were treated in a packed-bed column reactor applying different reductant solutions under controlled flow conditions. In all cases, the kinetic study concerning removal of Cr(VI) from packed soil revealed the overall process (leaching and redox reaction) is described by pseudo-first order kinetics. The complexity of the process taking place in non-isotropic medium (packed soil) was evidenced by dependence of the overall pseudo-first order kinetic rate constant, k*, on treatment time, volumetric flow rate, and composition and concentration of the reductant solution. A phenomenological equation was proposed in order to represent k* in non-ideal conditions. The comparative study concerning the use of different reductants revealed application of ferrous sulphate, Fe(II), under flow conditions furnished the best results, since in this case the redox process reached a considerable extent and the reduced chromium, Cr(III), was immobilized in packed soil as an insoluble mixed compound.