From subduction to transform motion: a seabeam survey of the Hellenic trench system

Preliminary results of a multi-narrow beam survey of the Hellenic trench system, in the Eastern Mediterranean, are presented. The southwestern Ionian branch is divided in small basins, partly filled with Pleistocene sediments. The morphology suggests that the basins are deformed by a compressional stress acting roughly perpendicularly to the trench along N50°E. This direction is the direction of the regional slip vector of the shallow thrust-type earthquakes. The structure of the southeastern Pliny-Strabo branch is quite different. Narrow en-e´chelon slots, oriented N40°E, have been mapped within the main troughs oriented N60°E. The regional earthquake slip vector is also oriented along N40°E. We conclude that the Hellenic trench system is an active subduction system, dominated by thrust along the Ionian branch and by transform motion along the Pliny-Strabo branch.     

Etude expérimentale du comportement de l'uranium dans les magmas: États d'oxydation et coordinance

Depending upon oxygen fugacity, uranium exists in three different oxidation states in magmatic silicate liquids. The hexavalent state, present as the uranyl group, UO²⁺₂, is stable under highly oxidizing conditions, but can still be detected in the presence of the NiNiO buffer. Under the same conditions the pentavalent state forms about 30–40% of total uranium and is also characteristic of relatively high oxygen fugacities. Optical absorption spectra obtained on granitic and basaltic glasses synthesized in the presence of the NiNiO buffer are very different: this is interpreted as being due to the presence of UO⁺₂ complexes in the former and 6-coordinated U(V) in the latter. The tetravalent state is the most stable under reducing conditions: at the FeFeO buffer, it is the only one present. An 8-coordinated U(IV) species seems the most probable, by comparison of the spectra with those of crystallized U(IV) compounds. The trivalent state was not detected, even under the most reducing conditions. Interpretation of the spectra obtained in the glasses in terms of coordination and bonding is however difficult, due to the lack of knowledge of 5f-systems in iono-covalent systems such as oxide glasses. The presence of the pentavalent state must be taken into account in discussing partition coefficients of uranium and trans-uranium compounds in natural and synthetic systems (because of the effect of oxygen fugacity and oxide ion activity on the U(IV) U(V) system). During postmagmatic hydrothermal processes U(V) is destroyed, resulting in the early precipitation of U(IV) containing minerals and possible migration of uranyl ions.     

Heat capacity of liquid silicates: new measurements on NaAlSi3O8 and K2Si4O9

Drop calorimetric measurements of H_T-H₂₇₃ are reported for glassy and liquid albite and potassium tetrasilicate for the temperature interval 600–1500 K. Analysis of these observations as well as data for 13 other stable and supercooled silicate liquids suggests strongly that the isobaric heat capacities of stable and supercooled liquids are equal and thus temperature independent. Available evidence indicates that the isochoric heat capacities of liquid alkali silicates are also temperature independent within present experimental uncertainties.     

Development of a hydrodynamic model of the Bay of Biscay. Validation of hydrology

The hydrology of the Bay of Biscay was investigated using the regional ocean model MARS3D (Model for Application at Regional Scale). The simulated hydrology is compared to a set of various data encompassing monthly climatology, remote sensing SST, CTD casts, and coastal salinity measurements. Special focus was put on the validation over the continental shelf. This paper reports that despite some misfits, the climatological hydrology and its seasonal variability are correctly simulated. Various statistics computed over the period from 1999–2004 highlight different aspects of the hydrology. The biases and root mean square errors (RMSE) remain very weak at all depths when comparing salinity (<0.1 and <0.6 psu respectively). The predicted temperature shows a global overestimation of temperature (bias of around 0.8 °C) and the maximum errors are located near the thermocline (rmse of 1 °C at 20–40 m). The model is shown to properly reproduce the annual dynamics of sea surface temperature, as well as the dynamics of large river plumes observed by high frequency time series from coastal salinity gauges. The misfits highlighted by these various comparisons between model and observations are attributed to heat fluxes and mixing parameterisation.     

Modelling observed and future runoff from a glacierized tropical catchment (Cordillera Blanca, Perú)

Monthly runoff from the 34.3% glacierized tropical catchment of Llanganuco in the tropical Cordillera Blanca, Perú, is successfully simulated and compared with a measured 44 year time series. In the investigation area, the climate is characterized by all-year round homogenous temperature conditions and a strong variability in air humidity and moisture content of the atmosphere. Thus, contrary to the mid latitudes, the seasonal variation in glacier melt strongly depends on moisture-related variables, rather than on air temperature. The here presented ITGG-2.0-R model aims for these requirements. The lack of moisture-related input data other than precipitation demands for an intermediate calibration step. Net shortwave radiation, the emissivity of the atmosphere and a sublimation/melt ratio are related to precipitation amounts. Runoff is well simulated and correlates with the measured record with r² = 0.76. Seasonally obtained r² are only slightly smaller. On a long-term, the cumulative deviation is minor, and the mean annual cycle of runoff is reproduced rather well (r² = 0.99). Based on four different IPCC climate change scenarios, future runoff is simulated. All runoff scenarios are modelled for the respective steady-state glacier extent. This leads to a reduction in the glacier size and a decreased amount of glacier melt. On the other hand, direct runoff increases due to larger glacier free areas. Consequently, mean annual runoff remains almost unchanged, but the seasonality intensifies considerably with more runoff during the wet and less runoff during the dry season.     

Alteration geochemistry of the Nopal I uranium deposit (Sierra Peña Blanca,Mexico), a natural analogue for a radioactive waste repository in volcanic tuffs

Natural analogues provide an approach to characterize and test the long‐term modelling of a repository performance. This article presents geochemical information about the alteration conditions of the Nopal I uranium deposit, Mexico, an analogue for the proposed Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository. Mineralization and hydrothermal alteration of volcanic tuffs are contemporaneous, according to petrographic observations. Trace element geochemistry (U, Th, REE) provides evidence for local mobilization of uranium under oxidizing conditions and further precipitation under reducing conditions. O‐ and H‐isotope geochemistry of kaolinite, smectite, opal and calcite suggests that argillic alteration proceeded at shallow depth with meteoric water at 25–75 °C, a low‐temperature context, unusual for volcanic‐hosted uranium deposits. This temperature range is compatible with some post‐closure evolution models of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository.     

Diet of Haplognathia ruberrima (Gnathostomulida) in a Caribbean marine mangrove

Haplognathia ruberrima is a cosmopolitan gnathostomulid species found in sulfur bacterial mats in mangroves in Guadeloupe (French West Indies). Haplognathia ruberrima presents a δ¹³C value lower than all measured meiofaunal grazers and lower than the available measured food sources of this environment. This low δ¹³C value can not be due to specific ingestion of ¹³C‐depleted methanogenic bacteria because abundances of those bacteria are reduced in surficial and deep sediments as revealed by δ¹³C of bacterial fatty acid. According to scanning electron microscope observations, no bacterial ectosymbionts were observed at the surface of the gnathostomulids, and transmission electron microscope views revealed the absence of bacterial endosymbionts. Energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy analysis detected low levels of sulfur (0.32%±0.8) in biological tissues of H. ruberrima, confirming the absence of thioautotrophic bacterial symbionts in these animals. Consequently, the low δ¹³C value of H. ruberrima can not be due to the presence of sulfur‐oxidizing symbionts but more probably to the selective and exclusive consumption of free‐living, sulfur‐oxidizing bacteria.     

On the pair-instability supernovae and gamma-ray burst phenomenon

We present a model of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) related to “very massive” stars. In the framework of our model, the GRB phenomenon is a result of helium burning in degenerate conditions in a massive star (≳130 M _⊙), in which the thermal nuclear burning occurs in the deflagration regime and has a pulsating temporal pattern. The shock runs away from the burning (reaction) zone, which leads to the development of a coronal outflow (jet-like) structure. In our scenario the GRB observable prompt fast rise and decay part can be a result of photon propagation through the hot corona (Comptonization photosphere) of the star. On the other hand, the GRB afterglow is a cooling phase of the expanding and outflowing envelope. Presumably, the X-ray part of the GRB emergent spectrum is formed due to upscattering of soft photons of outer layers of the star off hot coronal electrons, and thus it should have a specific shape of the Comptonization spectrum.     

Speciation of naturally-accumulated uranium in an organic-rich soil of an alpine region (Switzerland)

Very high concentrations of uranium (up to 4000 ppm) were found in a natural soil in the Dischma valley, an alpine region in the Grisons canton in Switzerland. The goal of this study was to examine the redox state and the nature of uranium binding in the soil matrix in order to understand the accumulation mechanism. Pore water profiles collected from Dischma soil revealed the establishment of anoxic conditions with increasing soil depth. A combination of chemical extraction methods and spectroscopy was applied to characterize the redox state and binding environment of uranium in the soil. Bicarbonate extraction under anoxic conditions released most of the uranium indicating that uranium occurs predominantly in the hexavalent form. Surprisingly, the uranium redox state did not vary greatly as a function of depth. X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES), confirmed that uranium was present as a mixture of U(VI) and U(IV) with U(VI) dominating. Sequential extractions of soil samples showed that the dissolution of solid organic matter resulted in the simultaneous release of the majority of the soil uranium content (>95%). Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy also revealed that soil-associated uranium in the soil matrix was mainly octahedrally coordinated, with an average of 1.7 axial (at about 1.76 Å) and 4.6 to 5.3 equatorial oxygen atoms (at about 2.36 Å) indicating the dominance of a uranyl-like (UO₂²⁺) structure presumably mixed with some U(IV). An additional EXAFS signal (at about 3.2 Å) identified in some spectra suggested that uranium was also bound (via an oxygen atom) to a light element such as carbon, phosphorus or silicon. Gamma spectrometric measurements of soil profiles failed to identify uranium long-life daughter products in the soil which is an indication that uranium originates elsewhere and was transported to its current location by water. Finally, it was found that the release of uranium from the soil was significantly promoted at very low pH values (pH 2) and increased with increasing pH values (between pH 5 and 9).