Chemical and isotopic equilibrium between CO2 and CH4 in fumarolic gas discharges: Generation of CH4 in arc magmatic-hydrothermal systems

The chemical and isotopic composition of fumarolic gases emitted from Nisyros Volcano, Greece, and of a single gas sample from Vesuvio, Italy, was investigated in order to determine the origin of methane (CH₄) within two subduction-related magmatic-hydrothermal environments.Apparent temperatures derived from carbon isotope partitioning between CH₄ and CO₂ of around 340°C for Nisyros and 470°C for Vesuvio correlate well with aquifer temperatures as measured directly and/or inferred from compositional data using the H₂O-H₂-CO₂-CO-CH₄ geothermometer. Thermodynamic modeling reveals chemical equilibrium between CH₄, CO₂ and H₂O implying that carbon isotope partitioning between CO₂ and CH₄ in both systems is controlled by aquifer temperature.N₂/³He and CH₄/³He ratios of Nisyros fumarolic gases are unusually low for subduction zone gases and correspond to those of midoceanic ridge environments. Accordingly, CH₄ may have been primarily generated through the reduction of CO₂ by H₂ in the absence of any organic matter following a Fischer-Tropsch-type reaction. However, primary occurrence of minor amounts of thermogenic CH₄ and subsequent re-equilibration with co-existing CO₂ cannot be ruled out entirely. CO₂/³He ratios and δ¹³C_CO2 values imply that the evolved CO₂ either derives from a metasomatized mantle or is a mixture between two components, one outgassing from an unaltered mantle and the other released by thermal breakdown of marine carbonates. The latter may contain traces of organic matter possibly decomposing to CH₄ during thermometamorphism.     

Weakening climatic signal since mid-20th century in European larch tree-ring chronologies at different altitudes from the Adamello-Presanella Massif (Italian Alps)

Tree rings from temperature-limited environments are highly sensitive climate proxies, widely used to reconstruct past climate parameters for periods prior to the availability of instrumental data and to analyse the effect of recent global warming on tree growth. An analysis of the climatic signal in five high-elevation tree-ring width chronologies of European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) from the tops of five different glacial valleys in the Italian Central Alps revealed that they contain a strong summer-temperature signal and that tree-ring growth is especially influenced by June temperatures. However, a moving correlation function analysis revealed a recent loss of the June temperature signal in the tree-ring chronologies. This signal reduction primarily involves the two lowest-altitude chronologies. It is probable that the observed increasing importance of late-summer temperature for tree-ring growth over the past 50 yr is an effect of the lengthening growing season and of the variations in the climate/tree-ring relationship over time. All the chronologies considered, especially those at the highest altitudes, show an increasing negative influence of June precipitation on tree-ring growth. The climatic signal recorded in tree-ring chronologies from the Italian Central Alps varies over time and is also differentially influenced by climatic parameters according to site elevation.     

国际矿物学协会新矿物及矿物命名委员会(CNMMN, IMA)1999年批准的新矿物

本文资料是国际矿物学协会新矿物及矿物命名委员会提供的,以资矿物学家在新矿物研究工作中参考和对比.CNMMN鼓励其成员将本文其所在国家的有关刊物发表.     

Activity and kinematic behaviour of deep-seated landslides from PS-InSAR displacement rate measurements

Large landslides and deep-seated gravitational slope deformations (DSGSD) represent an important geo-hazard in relation to the deformation of large structures and infrastructures and to the associated secondary landslides. DSGSD movements, although slow (from a few millimetres to several centimetres per year), can continue for very long periods, producing large cumulative displacements and undergoing partial or complete reactivation. Therefore, it is important to map the activity of such phenomena at a regional scale. Ground surface displacements at DSGSD typically range close to the detection limit of monitoring equipment but are suitable for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry. In this paper, permanent scatterers (PSInSAR?) and SqueeSAR? techniques are used to analyse the activity of 133 DSGSD, in the Central Italian Alps. Statistical indicators for assigning a degree of activity to slope movements from displacement rates are discussed together with methods for analysing the movement and activity distribution within each landslide. In order to assess if a landslide is active or not, with a certain degree of reliability, three indicators are considered as optimal: the mean displacement rate, the activity index (ratio of active PS, displacement rate larger than standard deviation, overall PS) and the nearest neighbor ratio, which allows to describe the degree of clustering of the PS data. According to these criteria, 66% of the phenomena are classified as active in the monitored period 1992–2009. Finally, a new methodology for the use of SAR interferometry data to attain a classification of landslide kinematic behaviour is presented. This methodology is based on the interpretation of longitudinal ground surface displacement rate profiles in the light of numerical simulations of simplified failure geometries. The most common kinematic behaviour is rotational, amounting to 41 DSGSDs, corresponding to the 62.1% of the active phenomena.     

Re-equilibration of detrital muscovite and the formation of interleaved phyllosilicate grains in low temperature metamorphism,northern Apennines,Italy

Low temperature metamorphosed clastic rocks of northern Apennines (Verrucano) contain detrital and metamorphic muscovite along with aggregates of interleaved phyllosilicate grains. The extent of celadonite substitution in the metamorphic muscovite progressively increases from Al-rich pyrophyllite-bearing samples to Al-poor K-feldspar-bearing samples and appears to be compatible with the phase relation in the AKF and AKNa diagrams. Some detrital muscovite grains, not equilibrated with the present metamorphic mineral assemblages, seem to be unreacted grains retaining their premetamorphic composition. The chemistry of the re-equilibrated detrital muscovite is mainly controlled by the activity of Al₂O₃ that is implied by mineral assemblages in the host rocks and is independent of the original composition of detrital mica. Four types of phyllosilicate associations in the interleaved phyllosilicate grains were recognized: 1) muscovite- pyrophyllite-sudoite; 2) muscovite-pyrophyllite-chlorite; 3) muscovite-paragonite-chlorite; 4) muscovite-chlorite. A microstructural and petrological model is proposed for the origin of interleaved phyllosilicate grains in the Verrucano rocks. The model supports the idea that the interleaved phyllosilicate grains are the result of the trend towards equilibrium between detrital muscovite, metamorphic mineral assemblages and the fluid phase.     

Multimodel analysis on the response of the AMOC under an increase of radiative forcing and its symmetrical reversal

Climate Dynamics - The response of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) to an increase of radiative forcing (ramp-up) and a subsequent reversal of radiative forcing (ramp-down) is...     

Multiridge Euler deconvolution

Potential field interpretation can be carried out using multiscale methods. This class of methods analyses a multiscale data set, which is built by upward continuation of the original data to a number of altitudes conveniently chosen. Euler deconvolution can be cast into this multiscale environment by analysing data along ridges of potential fields, e.g., at those points along lines across scales where the field or its horizontal or vertical derivative respectively is zero. Previous work has shown that Euler equations are notably simplified along any of these ridges. Since a given anomaly may generate one or more ridges we describe in this paper how Euler deconvolution may be used to jointly invert data along all of them, so performing a multiridge Euler deconvolution. The method enjoys the stable and high‐resolution properties of multiscale methods, due to the composite upward continuation/vertical differentiation filter used. Such a physically‐based field transformation can have a positive effect on reducing both high‐wavenumber noise and interference or regional field effects. Multiridge Euler deconvolution can also be applied to the modulus of an analytic signal, gravity/magnetic gradient tensor components or Hilbert transform components. The advantages of using multiridge Euler deconvolution compared to single ridge Euler deconvolution include improved solution clustering, increased number of solutions, improvement of accuracy of the results obtainable from some types of ridges and greater ease in the selection of ridges to invert. The multiscale approach is particularly well suited to deal with non‐ideal sources. In these cases, our strategy is to find the optimal combination of upward continuation altitude range and data differentiation order, such that the field could be sensed as approximately homogeneous and then characterized by a structural index close to an integer value. This allows us to estimate depths related to the top or the centre of the structure.     

Discriminating the long distance dispersal of fine ash from sustained columns or near ground ash clouds: The example of the Pomici di Avellino eruption (Somma-Vesuvius,Italy)

Ash samples from tephra layers correlated with the Pomici di Avellino (Avellino Pumice) eruption of Somma-Vesuvius were collected in distal archives and their composition and particle morphology investigated in order to infer their behaviour of transportation and deposition. Differences in composition and particle morphologies were recognised for ash particles belonging to the magmatic Plinian and final phreatomagmatic phases of the eruption. The ash particles were dispersed in opposite directions during the two different phases of the eruption, and these directions are also different from that of coarse-grained fallout deposits. In particular, ash generated during magmatic phase and injected in the atmosphere to form a sustained column shows a prevailing SE dispersion, while ash particles generated during the final phreatomagmatic phase and carried by pyroclastic density currents show a general NW dispersion. These opposite dispersions indicate an ash dispersal influenced by both high and low atmosphere dynamics. In particular, the magmatic ash dispersal was first driven by stratospheric wind towards NE and then the falling particles encountered a variable wind field during their settling, which produced the observed preferential SE dispersal. The wind field encountered by the rising ash clouds that accompanied the pyroclastic density currents of the final phreatomagmatic phase was different with respect to that encountered by the magmatic ash, and produced a NW dispersal. These data demonstrate how ash transportation and deposition are greatly influenced by both high and low atmosphere dynamics. In particular, fine-grained particles transported in ash clouds of small-scale pyroclastic density currents may be dispersed over distances and cover areas comparable with those injected into the stratosphere by Plinian, sustained columns. This is a point not completely addressed by present day mitigation plans in case of renewal of activity at Somma-Vesuvius, and can yield important information also for other volcanoes potentially characterised by explosive activity.