The memory of the accreting plate boundary and the continuity of fracture zones

A detailed aeromagnetic anomaly map of the Mesozoic seafloor-spreading lineations southwest of Bermuda reveals the dominant magnetic grain of the oceanic crust and the character of the accreting boundary at the time of crustal formation. The magnetic anomaly pattern is that of a series of elongate lobes perpendicular to the fracture zone (flowline) trends. The linear sets of magnetic anomaly peaks and troughs have narrow regions of reduced amplitude anomalies associated with the fracture zones. During the period of Mesozoic geomagnetic polarity reversals (when 1200 km of central North Atlantic seafloor formed), the Atlantic accreting boundary consisted of stationary, elongate, spreading center cells that maintained their independence even though sometimes only minor spatial offsets existed between cells. Normal oceanic crustal structure was formed in the spreading center cells, but structural anomalies and discontinuities characteristic of fracture zones were formed at their boundaries, which parallel flowlines of Mesozoic relative plate motion in the central North Atlantic. We suggest that the memory for a stationary pattern of independent spreading center cells resides in the young brittle lithosphere at the accreting boundary where the lithosphere is weakest; here, each spreading center cell independently goes through its cylce of stress buildup, stress release, and crustal accretion, after which its memory is refreshed. The temporal offset between the peaks of the accretionary activity that takes place within each cell may provide the mechanism for maintaining the independence of adjacent spreading center cells through times when no spatial offset between the cells exists.     

Man-made storage of water resources—A liability to the ocean environment? Part II

The first part of this article (Mar. Pollut. Bull., 13, 7–12, 1982) described the impact of the seasonal fresh water runoff on bodies of water—such as the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the coastal region—through changes in the salinity and temperature distribution and through changes in the current generated by the density difference between the fresh river water and the ocean. The strength of the current and thus the transport of deep ocean water to the coastal region depends on the amount of fresh water released into the ocean. Therefore modifying the natural seasonal runoff by storing water for power production during the winter interferes with the timing of the physical and dynamic balance of the coastal region. The impact of this interference on the marine life and on the climate of the region is now discussed.     

Perception of urban retailing environments: An empirical analysis of consumer information and usage fields

This article reports on an empirical analysis of consumer information and usage fields in the city of Eindhoven. The main purposes of this study are to investigate the distance, sectoral and directional biases of these fields, to analyse whether the degree of biases is related to personal characteristics of consumers and to identify the factors of the basis on which a model which predicts the probability that a shopping centre will be known by consumers can be developed. The findings of the study suggest that strong distance, sectoral and directional biases are present in the information and usage fields of consumers and that no systematic relationships exist between these characteristics of information and usage fields and personal variables of consumers. Finally, the present studies suggests that a model which describes the formation of consumer choice sets should include spatial factors such as distance, size, intervening opportunities and direction towards the city centre.     

Geologic implications and potential hazards of scour depressions on bering shelf,Alaska

Flat-bottomed depression 50–150 m in diameter and 60–80 cm deep occur in the floor of Norton Sound, Bering Sea. These large erosional bedforms and associated current ripples are found in areas where sediment grain size is 0.063–0.044 mm (4–4.5 φ), speeds of bottom currents are greatest (20–30 cm/s mean speeds under nonstorm conditions, 70 cm/s during typical storms), circulation of water is constricted by major topographic shoals (kilometers in scale), and small-scale topographic disruptions, such as ice gouges, occur locally on slopes of shoals. These local obstructions on shoals appear to disrupt currents, causing separation of flow and generating eddies that produce large-scale scour. Offshore artificial structures also may disrupt bottom currents in these same areas and have the potential to generate turbulence and induce extensive scour in the area of disrupted flow. The size and character of natural scour depressions in areas of ice gouging suggest that large-scale regions of scour may develop from enlargement of local scour sites around pilings, platforms, or pipelines. Consequently, loss of substrate support for pipelines and gravity structures is possible during frequent autumn storms.     

The potential source of lead in the Permian Kupferschiefer bed of Europe and some selected Paleozoic mineral deposits in the Federal Republic of Germany

New lead isotopic compositions have been measured for Paleozoic bedded and vein ore deposits of Europe by the high precision thermal emission (triple filament) technique. Eleven samples have been analyzed from the Upper Permian Kupferschiefer bed with representatives from Poland to England, three samples from the Middle Devonian Rammelsberg deposit and one from the Middle Devonian Meggen deposit, both of which are conformable ore lenses and are in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG); and also two vein deposits from the FRG were analyzed, from Ramsbeck in Devonian host rocks and from Grund in Carboniferous host rocks. For Kupferschiefer bed samples from Germany, the mineralization is of variable lead isotopic composition and appears to have been derived about 250 m.y. ago from 1700 m.y. old sources, or detritus of this age, in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Samples from England, Holland, and Poland have different isotopic characteristics from the German samples, indicative of significantly different source material (perhaps older). The isotopic variability of the samples from the Kupferschiefer bed in Germany probably favors the lead containing waters coming from shoreward (where poor mixing is to be expected) rather than basinward (where better mixing is likely) directions. The data thus support the interpretation of the metal source already given by Wedepohl in 1964. Data on samples from Rammelsberg and Meggen tend to be slightly less radiogenic than for the Kupferschiefer, about the amount expected if the leads were all derived from the same source material but 100 to 150 m.y. apart in time. The vein galena from Ramsbeck is similar to that from Rammelsberg conformable ore lenses, both in rocks of Devonian age; vein galena from Grund in Upper Carboniferous country rocks is similar to some bedded Kupferschiefer mineralization in Permian rocks, as if the lead composition was formed at about the same time and from similar source material as the bedded deposits. Although heat has played a more significant role in the formation of some of these deposits (veins and Rammelsberg-Meggen) than in others (Kupferschiefer), there is no indication of radically different sources for the lead, all apparently coming from sedimentary source material containing Precambrian detritus. One feldspar lead sample from the Brocken-Oker Granite is not the same in isotopic composition as any of the ores analyzed.Publication authorized by the Director, U.S. Geological Survey     

Zur Herkunft des Quarzzements. Abschätzung der Quarzauflösung in Silt- und Sandsteinen

The origin of quartz cement in sandstones can be attributed to supplies (1) from the surrounding shales, and (2) to a lower degree from dissolution of quartz on stylolites within the sandstones. A supply from the surrounding shales, which has been shown by the porosity decrease near the upper and lower surfaces of different sandstones (Füchtbauer, 1974), can be explained by the following observations in Upper Triassic and Middle Jurassic sandstones and siltstones of Northern Germany as well as in concretions of Devonian to Upper Cretaceous age from different localities:

1. Quartz grains in silt layers are flattened by dissolution compared with quartz grains of the same size in the adjacent sandstones, the amount of shrinking being about 35 percent (fig. 1).
2. Concretions prevent the enclosed insoluble residues from diagenesis. The main difference between the concretions and the adjacent shale of 31 occurrences examined is the quartz content, which is by 10–50 percent lower in the adjacent shale, due to diagenetical dissolution (fig. 2).

It is suggested that the dissolved silica was brought to the sandstones by the compaction stream of interstitial water percolating through the rock sequence, and that the sandstones acted as sinks triggering the dissolution. Only a small amount of silica, about 10 percent of the silica from dissolved quartz, is provided by the transition montmorillonite — illite. Both sources together would be able to explain the precipitation of 20 percent quartz cement in a sequence composed of 1/3 sandstones and 2/3 shales. In the sandstones mentioned above stylolites can be observed (fig. 3), the amplitudes of which increase from 0,5–1 mm to 2–5 mm with increasing depth, between 1300 and 2600 metres. The real amount of dissolution on each stylolite — about 4 mm — has been calculated using large mica which were collected by the stylolites from the adjacent sandstone. Using this figure, the decrease of porosity in the sandstones shown in fig. 4 can be quantitatively explained by the frequency of stylolite intercalations. It is suggested that this process, which was due to local diffusion, occurred late in diagenesis, when the compaction stream was already insufficient to move large quantities of silica.     

Diffusion of hydrogen through platinum membranes at high pressures and temperatures

The diffusion of hydrogen through platinum membranes has been measured at 450, 500, 550 and 600°C at 2000 bar pressure, using the hydrogen sensor technique. Ag + AgCl + 3 M HC1 was the starting solution inside the platinum tube. Hydrogen diffuses out of the platinum tube into a system containing Fe₂O₃ + Fe₃O₄ + H₂O; that is, a solution with a fixed hydrogen fugacity. After quench, the drop in f_H2 inside the platinum tube was calculated from measurements of pH and chloride molality. f_H2 is initially roughly proportional to $\text{t}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$. Diffusion constants were calculated from these data by numerical integration, and the results can be expressed by logD (cm²/sec) = ? 5489.6/T, K - 4.648.     

Zur Diagenese fluviatiler Sandsteine

Are cement minerals that form during the first stages of diagenesis indicative of the environment of deposition? Discussions of fluvial, marine, and evaporitic sandstones of Triassic and Upper Carboniferous age (fig. 1) indicate that kaolinite, sudoite, and potassium feldspar cements can be regarded as characteristic of freshwater sandstones, whereas (early) chlorite, analcime and albite cements are found in marine and evaporitic sandstones mainly, provided that influences of meteoric water during diagenesis can be excluded. Humid climate favors kaolinite, arid favors potassium feldspar. Early diagenetic siderite concretions develop in coal swamps. Reddish biotites are not resistant during synsedimentary weathering in humid alluvial plains. As a consequence of increasing pH, temperature, and salinity of the interstitial fluids with increasing burial depth, common sequences of cementation include (1) silicates + quartz, (2) carbonates, (3) sulphates, (4) halite (fig. 3). The formation of quartz — the most important cement — is mainly governed by modifications of the micro-environment (e.g. pressure solution). In the Lower Triassic Buntsandstein, lithification due to quartz cementation occurred at a burial depth of about 1000–1200 m in alluvial as well as in brackisch to marine sandstones. Cementation by potassium feldspar (in the alluvial sandstones) and by analcime transforming into albite (in the brackish to evaporitic sandstones) occurred earlier. This was shown by investigations of minus-cement-porosity and contact strength (fig. 2).