Structure,formation, and decomposition of APB's in calcic plagioclase

In calcic plagioclase (Ca, Na) [(Al, Si) AlSi₂O₈] Al-Si ordering produces superstructures with periodic and non periodic antiphase boundaries (APB's). Crystals growing at high temperature close to the melting point and cooling fairly rapidly order by nucleation of ordered domains which grow, resulting in an irregular pattern of curved APB's (b plagioclase). A modulated structure with periodic APB's forms by continuous ordering at large undercooling below the critical ordering temperature (e plagioclase). During annealing APB's are eliminated by pairwise recombination of adjacent APB's to reduce strain energy along the boundaries thereby transforming nonstable e plagioclase into stable b plagioclase without change in chemical composition. This process is often accompanied by a chemical phase separation with APB's providing favorable surfaces for diffusion. Transformations are documented by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs illustrating the variation in morphology of APB patterns in igneous and metamorphic plagioclase. They are in agreement with Korekawa et al.'s (1978) model of intermediate plagioclase which relies on periodic stacking of basic units rather than wavelike modulations. The paper includes observations of a new type of satellite in Stillwater bytownite (‘h’ satellites) which are due to fine lamellar exsolution.     

On steep isogradic surfaces in the Simplon area

The Simplon tunnel (19.7 km long) in the Central Alps crosses, at an altitude of 640–700 m, a mountain chain that culminates in Monte Leone (3 553 m). Along the tunnel axis the metamorphic grade of Mesozoic sediments, recrystallized during the Lepontine phase of the Alpine orogenesis, increases from NW to SE. Investigations on rock samples from the tunnel and from surface exposures give information in three dimensions on conditions during the culmination of Alpine regional metamorphism in the Simplon group. The succession of isograds from km 3 from the NW entrance of the tunnel in SE direction is: First occurrence of biotite, of garnet, last occurrence of albite in paragenesis with calcite, entry of feldspars of the peristerite gap and of oligoclase alone in calc-schists, marbles and amphibolites, coming in of plagioclase An > 30 associated with calcite, first occurrence of staurolite and kyanite, entry of tremolite and calcite, occurrence of plagioclase An >50 in calcschists. Correlation of the data from tunnel and surface samples shows that, in the northwestern and central part of the section, the isogradic surfaces are steeply inclined to the NW, the average dip is 60–75°, with uncertainty between 55 and 90°. In the southeastern part of the section the isogradic surfaces are overturned and dip to the E. No observations indicate gently inclined isogradic surfaces. Geological evidence excludes postmetamorphic tilting of originally subhorizontal isogradic surfaces in such a scale. It is assumed that, during the Lepontine phase, the isobaric surfaces have been subhorizontal, but that the isotherms (which roughly correspond to isograds) have formed angles greater than 45° with isobars. During the culmination of metamorphism vertical and lateral temperature gradients differed considerably from place to place in the Simplon area, and gradually changed also in one and the same direction. The Simplon area is situated near the western edge of the high-grade metamorphic zones of the Ticino complex. The metamorphic conditions described are believed to have been strongly influenced by the eastern adjacent vast thermal bulge of the Central Alps. Thus, not only in Val Bregaglia, with its quite different geological environment, at the E end of the highgrade zone and of the same thermal antiform, but also in the Simplon area in the W, isogradic surfaces are steeply inclined.     

The recording of floods and earthquakes in Lake Chichój,Guatemala during the twentieth century

Laguna Chichój (Lake Chichój) is the only deep permanent lake in the central highlands of Guatemala. The lake is located in the boundary zone between the North American and Caribbean plates. The lake has been struck by devastating earthquakes and tropical cyclones in historical times. We investigated the imprint of twentieth century extreme events on the sedimentary record of this tropical lake using a bathymetric survey of the lake, coring the lake floor, and providing a chronology of sediment accumulation. The lake occupies a series of circular depressions likely formed by the rapid dissolution of a buried body of gypsum. ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs inventories and varve counting indicate high rates of sedimentation (1–2 cm year^?1). The annually layered sediment is interrupted by turbidites of two types: a darker-colored turbidite, enriched in lake-derived biogenic constituents, and interpreted as a seismite, and a lighter-colored type, enriched in catchment-derived constituents, interpreted as a flood layer. Comparison of our ¹³⁷Cs-determined layer ages with a catalog of twentieth century earthquakes shows that an earthquake on the Motagua fault in 1976 generated a conspicuous darker-colored turbidite and slumped deposits in separate parts of the lake. The entire earthquake inventory further reveals that mass movements in the lake are triggered at Modified Mercalli Intensities higher than V. Tropical cyclonic depressions known to have affected the lake area had limited effect on the lake, including Hurricane Mitch in 1998. One storm however produced a significantly thicker flood layer in the 1940s. This storm is reportedly the only event to have generated widespread slope failures in the lake catchment. It is thus inferred that abundant landsliding provided large amounts of concentrated sediment to the lake, through hyperpycnal flows.     

Quartz preferred orientation in naturally deformed mylonitic rocks (Montalto shear zone–Italy): a comparison of results by different techniques,their advantages and limitations

International Journal of Earth Sciences - In the geologic record, the quartz c-axis patterns are widely adopted in the investigation of crystallographic preferred orientations (CPO) of naturally...     

Dauphiné twinning and texture memory in polycrystalline quartz. Part 3: texture memory during phase transformation

Samples of quartz-bearing rocks were heated above the α (trigonal)–β (hexagonal) phase transformation of quartz (625–950°C) to explore changes in preferred orientation patterns. Textures were measured both in situ and ex situ with neutron, synchrotron X-ray and electron backscatter diffraction. The trigonal–hexagonal phase transformation does not change the orientation of c- and a-axes, but positive and negative rhombs become equal in the hexagonal β-phase. In naturally deformed quartzites measured by neutron diffraction a perfect texture memory was observed, i.e. crystals returned to the same trigonal orientation they started from, with no evidence of twin boundaries. Samples measured by electron back-scattered diffraction on surfaces show considerable twinning and memory loss after the phase transformation. In experimentally deformed quartz rocks, where twinning was induced mechanically before heating, the orientation memory is lost. A mechanical model can explain the memory loss but so far it does not account for the persistence of the memory in quartzites. Stresses imposed by neighboring grains remain a likely cause of texture memory in this mineral with a very high elastic anisotropy. If stresses are imposed experimentally the internal stresses are released during the phase transformation and the material returns to its original state prior to deformation. Similarly, on surfaces there are no tractions and thus texture memory is partially lost.     

Schwermetalle (Fe,Mn, Cd,Cr, Cu,Pb, Zn) im Pelagial des Bodensees (Obersee und Untersee) und des Greifensees

Monthly measurements were made over a one-year period to determine the heavy metals Fe, Mn, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn in the vertical profiles of Lake Constance (Obersee and Untersee) and Greifensee, by means of atomic absorption spectrometry. Fe and Mn exhibited the usual cyclical fluctuations depending on redox conditions in the hypolimnion. For Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn no concentration patterns were noted that would show their dependency on seasonal and vertical stratifications.