Distribution coefficients of major and trace elements; fractional crystallization in the alkali basalt series of Chaîne des Puys (Massif Central,France)

Major and seventeen trace element distribution coefficients between main phenocrysts (olivine, clinopyroxene, amphibole, mica, feldspars and Fe-Ti oxides) and groundmass have been measured in the alkali basalt suite of Chaîne des Puys (Massif Central, France). The suite appears to be a well behaved crystal fractionation series. We pinpoint key elements whose behavior is closely related to the appearance or disappearance of specific crystal phases in the fractionation process. Ta, for instance, clearly indicates the role of hydrous silicates (amphiboles and micas). Distribution coefficients are shown to vary systematically along the differentiation trend. Significantly the hygromagmaphile tendency (Treuilet al., 1979) of U, Th, Ta and La is variable along the series.The mass balance equations,

$\text{D}{}^{\mathrm{i}}\text{=}\text{∑}\text{;}\text{x}{}_{\mathrm{j}}\text{D}{}_{\mathrm{j}}{}^{\mathrm{ii}}$

where Dⁱ and D_jⁱ are the bulk and mineral/liquid distribution coefficients respectively, and x_j the weight fractions of the fractionating phases, are solved by least square resolution of the overdetermined system, taking into account the analytical errors on data. The solution applied to the Chaîne des Puys suite leads to a coherent and quantitative model of the fractional crystallization process. The suite has apparently evolved in three stages. Each stage is characterized by constant bulk distribution coefficients and a specific mineral assemblage. Amphibole fractionation plays an important role in the early stages. Some intensive parameters (T, ? ?_O2, P_H2O) as well as f (weight fraction of residual liquid) are also estimated.     

Transfert vertical d'aerosols par convection artificielle

Pure and Applied Geophysics - Cette brève communication est simplement destinée à faire connaître le début d'expériences de convection artificielle en...     

Marble-hosted ruby deposits from Central and Southeast Asia: Towards a new genetic model

Marble-hosted ruby deposits represent the most important source of colored gemstones from Central and South East Asia. These deposits are located in the Himalayan mountain belt which developed during Tertiary collision of the Indian plate northward into the Eurasian plate. They are spatially related to granitoid intrusions and are contained in platform carbonates series that underwent high-grade metamorphism. All occurrences are located close to major tectonic features formed during Himalayan orogenesis, directly in suture zones in the Himalayas, or in shear zones that guided extrusion of the Indochina block after the collision in South East Asia. Ar–Ar dating of micas syngenetic with ruby and U–Pb dating of zircon included in ruby gives evidence that these deposits formed during Himalayan orogenesis, and the ages document the extensional tectonics that were active, from Afghanistan to Vietnam, between the Oligocene and the Pliocene.The petrography shows that ruby-bearing marbles formed in the amphibolite facies (T = 610 to 790 °C and P ~ 6 kbar). A fluid inclusion study defines the conditions of gem ruby formation during the retrograde metamorphic path (620 < T < 670 °C and 2.6 < P < 3.3 kbar) for the deposits of Jegdalek, Hunza and northern Vietnam.Whole rock analyses of non-ruby-bearing marbles indicate that they contain enough aluminum and chromiferous elements to produce all the ruby crystals that they contain. In addition, (C, O)-isotopic analyses of carbonates from the marbles lead to the conclusion that the marbles acted as a metamorphic closed fluid system that were not infiltrated by externally-derived fluids. The carbon isotopic composition of graphite in marbles reveals that it is of organic origin and that it exchanged C-isotopes with the carbonates during metamorphism. Moreover, the O-isotopic composition of ruby was buffered by metamorphic CO₂ released during devolatilisation of marble and the H-isotopic composition of mica is consistent with a metamorphic origin for water in equilibrium with the micas. The (C, O, H)-isotopic compositions of minerals associated with marble-hosted ruby are all in agreement with the hypothesis, drawn from the unusual chemistry of CO₂–H₂S–COS–S₈–AlO(OH)-bearing fluids contained in fluid inclusions, that gem ruby formed at P ~ 3 kbar and 620 < T < 670 °C, during thermal reduction of evaporite by organic matter, at high temperature-medium pressure metamorphism of platform carbonates during the Tertiary India–Asia collision. The carbonates were enriched in Al- and chromiferous-bearing detrital minerals, such as clay minerals that were deposited on the platform with the carbonates, and in organic matter. Ruby formed during the retrograde metamorphic path, mainly by destabilization of muscovite or spinel. The metamorphic fluid system was rich in CO₂ released from devolatilisation of carbonates, and in fluorine, chlorine and boron released by molten salts (NaCl, KCl, CaSO₄). Evaporites are key to explaining the formation of these deposits. Molten salts mobilized in situ Al and metal transition elements contained in marbles, leading to crystallization of ruby.     

Annual growth zones in stems of Hypericum irazuense (Guttiferae) in the Costa Rican páramos

The high peaks of the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica support shrub- and grass-dominated páramo ecosystems that experience stand-replacing wildfires. The dry season that facilitates these fires results in dormancy in plant growth and provides an opportunity to use dendrochronological analyses to determine ages of plants in burn sites to support studies of fire history and postfire vegetation recovery. This study investigates the formation of annual growth zones in stems of the common shrub Hypericum irazuense. Unlike other páramo shrubs, H. irazuense rarely resprouts following fire, instead recovering through seedling recruitment following seed dispersal from the unburned periphery. Laboratory analysis of 19 prepared cross sections from 15 stems shows that samples of H. irazuense from burned areas can provide an estimate of the minimum number of years since the previous fire, supporting earlier work based on field examination of stems. Including a time lag for seedling recruitment or resprouting refines that estimate. Counts of growth zones in most sections coincided with dates of the last known fires. The presence of annual growth zones in H. irazuense places the species within a relatively small group of woody Neotropical species for which annual rings or growth zones have been demonstrated.     

Condensation sur des particules salines au-dessous de 0°C

Résumé Nous avons étendu aux températures négatives les mesures de l'humidité relative critiqueh _c juste suffisante pour permettre la condensation de vapeur d'eau sur des noyaux géants constitués par divers sels.Pour chaque sel étudié, un point de la courbe donnanth _c en fonction de la températuret° C est facilement obtenu en recherchant pour quelle valeurt _c de la températureh _c coïncide avec l'humidité relative en équilibre avec la glace à la même températuret _c .Les valeurs obtenues pour NaCl, NH₄Cl, KCl, KNO₃ tendent à valider l'extrapolation des valeurs déjà connues pour les températures positives.

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Summary We have enlarged to negative temperatures the measures of critical relative humidityh _c just sufficient to allow the condensation of water vapour on giant nuclei constituted by different salts.For every salt studied, a point of the curve givingh _c as a function of the temperaturet° C is easily obtained by measuring for what valuet _c of the temperature,h _c coincides with the relative humidity in equilibrium with ice at the same temperaturet _c .The values obtained for NaCl, NH₄Cl, KCl, KNO₃ tend to validate the extrapolation of the values known for positive temperatures.

     

The Ebro Deep-Sea Fan system

The Ebro Fan System consists of en echelon channel-levee complexes, 50×20 km in area and 200-m thick. A few strong reflectors in a generally transparent seismic facies identify the sand-rich channel floors and levee crests. Numerous continuous acoustic reflectors characterize overbank turbidites and hemipelagites that blanket abandoned channel-levee complexes. The interlobe areas between channel complexes fill with homogeneous mud and sand from mass flow and overbank deposition; these exhibit a transparent seismic character. The steep continental rise and sediment “drainage” of Valencia Trough at the end of the channel-levee complexes prevent the development of distributary channels and midfan lobe deposits.     

Evolution des hydrocarbures,des peuplements bacteriens et microphytiques dans les sediments des marais maritimes de l'iie grande pollues par l'amoco cadiz: 1, evolution des hydrocarbures et des bacteries

The evolution of hydrocarbons in sediments was studied from 1978 to 1980 at eight stations in the Ile Grande marshes (Brittany) polluted by the Amoco Cadiz oil spill. Generally, in 1980 (except for one heavily polluted site) the amounts of hydrocarbons were found to be far less important than in 1978 and sometimes biogenic hydrocarbons were found. In the superficial layer of the sediments biodegradation processes were generally important with the preferential degradation of n-alkanes. On the other hand, aromatic hydrocarbons seem not to have been altered after three years. Degradation of percolated hydrocarbons proceeds more slowly than in the surface layer. The number of degrading bacteria decreases when n-alkanes disappear.     

Assessment of water body change and sedimentation rate in Moulay Bousselham wetland,Morocco, using geospatial technologies

Coastal lagoons have significant biodiversity and ecologic and socio-economic interest. Several resident and migratory birds live in coastal lagoons as well as fish and other aquatic biota. Over the years, lagoons worldwide have been subject to considerable sediment deposition coming especially from soil erosion due of agricultural activities, and the lagoon's inflows have resulted in an accelerated sedimentation which can drastically affect the aquatic ecosystem balance. A new, fast, and cost-effective approach was developed, using water surface change as a proxy, to evaluate the sediment deposition rate. In the current research, this methodology was applied in the Moulay Bousselham Lagoon in Morocco, and a combination of Landsat 8 and Landsat 5 imagery acquired at four points in time over 30 years(1985-2015) was used. Following geometric correction and enhancement, the interpretation of the acquired images provided important insight on the current conditions of the water surface change using the Normalized Difference Water Index(NDWI). Several iterations were done to determine a suitable threshold for effective water surface detection. In order to validate the automatically extracted water surface features, many band combinations of Landsat and Sentinel 2 were used as references to run the accuracy assessment. The results show that the Moulay Bousselham Lagoon lost 17.60%(106 ha) of its water surface area, and 530,000 m^3 to 1,060,000 m^3 of its water volume during the last three decades.Converting water surface loss into sedimentation returned a rate of 0.58 cm/yr. These results have been confirmed by previous field work using sedimentological approaches. Proper management should be applied to sustain the vitality of this lagoon environment.     

A re-evaluation of metal diapir breakup and equilibration in terrestrial magma oceans

Due to mechanisms such as impact heating, early atmospheric thermal blanketing, and radioactive heating, the presence of at least one global magma ocean stage in the early histories of terrestrial planets seems unavoidable. In such a context, a key question to constrain the early thermo–chemical evolution of the Earth is how much iron diapirs provided by differentiated impactors emulsified during their sinking towards the bottom of an early magma ocean.In the past years, several workers have focused on this question, using however various approaches and making different assumptions. While most studies favor rapid breakup and equilibration of iron bodies during their sinking through the magma ocean, recent work suggests that iron bodies of size comparable or greater than a few tens of kilometers may preserve most of their initial volume as they reach the bottom of a magma ocean, therefore leading to metal–silicate disequilibrium.To clarify the discrepancies and the differences among studies I have conducted a series of numerical simulations and theoretical calculations to derive the conditions and the timing for the breakup of metal diapirs of any size, sinking through a silicate magma ocean, with a large range of plausible viscosity values. The obtained breakup criterion is used to derive stable diapir sizes and their ability to equilibrate with the surrounding silicates. I show that for plausible magma ocean viscosities, diapirs with initial radii smaller than the thickness of a magma ocean rapidly break up into stable diapir sizes smaller than 0.2 m, at which metal–silicate equilibration is rapidly achieved.