The Loyalty—New Hebrides Arc collision: Effects on the Loyalty Ridge and basin system,Southwest Pacific (first results of the ZoNéCo programme)

The ZoNéCo 1 and 2 cruises of Ifremer's Research Vessel L'Atalante, collected new swath bathymetry and geophysical data over the southern and northern segments of the basins and ridges forming the Loyalty system. Between the two surveyed areas, previous studies found evidence for the resistance of the Loyalty Ridge to subduction beneath the New Hebrides trench near 22°S–169°E. On the subducted plate, except for seismicity related to the downbending of the Australian plate, recorded shallow seismicity is sparse within the Loyalty system (Ridge and Basin) where reliable focal mechanism solutions are almost absent.Swath bathymetry, seismic reflection and magnetic data acquired during the ZoNéCo 1 and 2 cruises revealed a transverse asymmetric morphology in the Loyalty system, and an along-strike horst and graben structure on the discontinuous Loyalty Ridge. South of 23°50S and at 20°S, the two WSW-ENE-trending fault systems, respectively, sinistral and dextral, that crosscut the southern and northern segments of the Loyalty system, are interpreted as due to the early effects of collision with the New Hebrides Arc. A NNW-SSE trend, evident along the whole Loyalty system and on the island of New Caledonia, is interpreted as an inherited structural trend that may have been reactivated through flexure of the Australian lithospheric plate at the subduction zone.Overall then, the morphology, structure and evolution of the southern and northern segments of the Loyalty system probably result from the combined effects of the Australian plate lithospheric bulge, the active Loyalty-New Hebrides collision and the overthrust of the New Caledonian ophiolite.     

The P-T-fO 2 stability of deerite,Fe 12 2+ Fe 6 3+ [Si12O40](OH)10

New equilibrium experiments have been performed in the 20–27 kbar range to determine the upper thermal stability limit of endmember deerite, Fe ₁₂ ²⁺ Fe ₆ ³⁺ [Si₁₂O₄₀](OH)₁₀. In this pressure range, the maximum thermal stability limit is represented by the oxygen-conserving reaction: deerite(De)=9 ferrosilite(Fs)+3 magnetite(Mag)+3 quartz(Qtz)+5 H₂O(W) (1). Under the oxygen fugacities of the Ni-NiO buffer the breakdown-reduction reaction: De=12 Fs+2 Mag+5 W+1/2 O₂ (10) takes place at lower temperatures (e.g. T=63° at 27 kbar). The experimental brackets can be fitted using thermodynamic data for ferrosilite, magnetite and quartz from Berman (1988) and the following 1 bar, 298 K data for deerite (per gfw): V^o=55.74 J.bar^-1, S^o=1670 J.K^-1, H _f ^o =-18334 kJ, =2.5x10^-5K^-1, =-0.18x10^-5 bar^-1. Using these data in conjunction with literature data on coesite, grunerite, minnesotaite, and greenalite, the P-T stability field of endmember deerite has been calculated for P _s=P _{H 2}O. This field is limited by 6 univariant oxygenconserving dehydration curves, from which three have positive dP/dT slopes, the other three negative slopes. The lower pressure end of the stability field of endmember deerite is thus located at an invariant point at 250±70°C and 10+-1.5 kbar. Deerite rich in the endmember can thus appear only in environments with geothermal gradients lower than 10°C/km and at pressures higher than about 10 kbar, which is in agreement with 4 out of 5 independent P-T estimates for known occurrences. The presence of such deerite places good constraints on minimum pressure and maximum temperature conditions. From log f _{O 2}-T diagrams constructed with the same data base at different pressures, it appears that endmember deerite is, at temperatures near those of its upper stability limit, stable only over a narrow range of oxygen fugacities within the magnetite field. With decreasing temperatures, deerite becomes stable towards slightly higher oxygen fugacities but reaches the hematite field only at temperatures more than 200°C lower than the upper stability limit. This practically precludes the coexistence deerite-hematite with near-endmember deerite in natural environments.     

Once more on quasar periodicities

In an earlier paper Arp, Bi, Chu and Zhu investigated various quasar samples and recognized a periodicity of remarkable degree in them. Their conclusion was that the existence of such a periodicity is a counterevidence against the cosmological origin of quasar redshifts. Since this question is of great importance in a cosmological context, here we reanalyze some of the samples together with a galaxy sample of the pencil-beam survey of Broadhurstet al. Our result is that on the plane of cosmological parameters (₀, ₀) there is a non-negligible region where two quasar samples and the galaxy sample are simultaneously fairly periodic. Pure periodicity is still compatible with cosmological principles, at least on length scales much longer than the period length. So the regularities can fit into a cosmological context.     

Coronal environment of quiescent prominences

With thespectro-coronagraph and themultichannel subtractive double pass spectrograph (MSDP) at the Pic du Midi Observatory two quiescent prominences were observed simultaneously. From the spectro-coronagraph observations 2D maps of Hei 10830 , Fexiii 10798 and 10747 line intensities were obtained. In addition, we obtained 2D maps of the ratioR of the two iron lines. This ratio is used as a diagnostic for determining the density of the hot coronal plasma surrounding prominences. We found that the electron density is higher at the location of the prominences than in the corona, whereas small regions (40) of lower electron density are unevenly distributed around the prominences indicating that the surrounding corona is highly inhomogeneous. The density of the cavity is reduced by a factor 1.5 compared to the density of the prominence environment (5 × 10⁸ cm^–3). We discuss the existence of cavities around these prominences according to the orientation of their axes relative to the line of sight and according to the velocity field inside the prominences. Constraints on models for prominence formation are derived.     

Particulate content of savanna fire emissions

As part of the FOS-DECAFE experiment at Lamto (Ivory Coast) in January 1991, various aerosol samples were collected at ground level near prescribed fires or under local background conditions, to characterize the emissions of particulate matter from the burning of savanna vegetation. This paper deals with total aerosol (TPM) and carbon measurements. Detailed trace element and polycyclic hydrocarbon data are discussed in other papers presented in this issue.Near the fire plumes, the aerosols from biomass burning are primarily of a carbonaceous nature (C%70% of the aerosol mass) and consist predominantly of submicron particles (more than 90% in mass.) They are characterized by their organic nature (black to total carbon ratio Cb/Ct in the range 3–20%) and their high potassium content (K/Cb0.6). These aerosols undergo aging during their first minutes in the atmosphere causing slight alterations in their size distribution and chemical composition. However, they remain enriched in potassium (K/Cb=0.21) and pyrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, such that both of these species may be used as tracers of savanna burning aerosols. We show that during this period of the year, the background atmosphere experiences severe pollution from both terrigenous sources and regional biomass burning (44% of the aerosol). Daynight variations of the background carbon concentrations suggest that fire ignition and spreading occur primarily during the day. Simultaneous TPM and CO₂ real-time measurements point to a temporal and spatial heterogeneity of the burning so that the ratio of the above background concentrations (TPM/CO₂) varies from 2 to 400 g/kg C. Smoldering processes are intense sources of particles but particulate emissions may also be important during the rapidly spreading heading fires in connection with the generation of heavy brown smoke. We propose emission factor values (EF) for aerosols from the savanna biomass burning aerosols: EF (TPM)=11.4±4.6 and 69±25 g/kg C_{dry plant} and EF(Ct)=7.4±3.4 and 56±16 g C/kg C_{dry plant} for flaming and smoldering processes respectively. In these estimates, the range of uncertainty is mostly due to the intra-fire variability. These values are significantly lower than those reported in the literature for the combustion of other types of vegetation. But due to the large amounts of vegetation biomass being burnt in African savannas, the annual flux of particulate carbon into the atmosphere is estimated to be of the order of 8 Tg C, which rivals particulate carbon emissions from anthropogenic activities in temperate regions.     

Surface texture of Vesta from optical polarimetry

Polarimetric, photometric, and reflectance spectroscopic properties of asteroid 44 Vesta are simulated in the laboratory by a preparation of eucrite Bereba consisting oof a broad mixture of particle sizes (mainly greater than 50-μm) mixed and partially coated with particles of size 10 μm and less. Coarse grains are necessary for producing the same albedo and a very fine dust coating is necessary for producing the same polarization inversion angle as observed for Vesta. There are less small grains and fine dust in this sample than in lunar soils. Photometrically, if coating a sphere, this sample shows a constant brightness on the sunward half of the observed hemisphere, the brightness being given on the other half by the Minnaert reciprocity principle. With such a photometric behavior, the global geometric albedo and the sub-Earth point geometric albedo differ by no more than 5%. The microscopic phase coefficient β is 0.021 magnitude per degree for the sample; the larger value, β = 0.025, observed telescopically for Vesta indicates that large-scale roughness is present on this asteroid.     

Water temperature behaviour in the River Loire since 1976 and 1881

Analysis of monthly mean river temperatures, recorded on an hourly basis in the middle reaches of the Loire since 1976, allows reconstruction by multiple linear regression of the annual, spring and summer water temperatures from equivalent information on air temperatures and river discharge. Since 1881, the average annual and summer temperatures of the Loire have risen by approximately 0.8?°C, this increase accelerating since the late 1980s due to the rise in air temperature and also to lower discharge rates. In addition, the thermal regime in the Orleans to Blois reach is considerably affected by the inflow of groundwater from the Calcaires de Beauce aquifer, as shown by the summer energy balance. To cite this article: F. Moatar, J. Gailhard, C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).