Cumulating processes at the crust-mantle transition zone inferred from Permian mafic-ultramafic xenoliths (Puy Beaunit,France)

Ultramafic and mafic xenoliths of magmatic origin, sampled in the Beaunit vent (northern French Massif Central), derive from the Permian (257 Ma) Beaunit layered complex (BLC) that was emplaced at the crust-mantle transition zone (∼1 GPa). These plutonic xenoliths are linked to a single fractional crystallisation process in four steps: peridotitic cumulates; websteritic cumulates; Al-rich mafic cumulates (plagioclase, pyroxenes, garnet, amphibole and spinel) and finally low-Al mafic cumulates. This sequence of cumulates can be related to the compositional evolution of hydrous Mg basaltic magma that evolved to high-Al basalt and finally to andesitic basalt. Sr and Nd isotopic compositions confirm the co-genetic character of the various magmatic xenoliths and argue for an enriched upper mantle source comparable to present mantle wedges above subduction zones. LILE, LREE and Pb enrichment are a common feature of all xenoliths and argue for an enriched sub-alkaline transitional parental magma. The existence of a Permian magma chamber at 30 km depth suggests that the low-velocity zone observed locally beneath the Moho probably does not represent an anomalous mantle but rather a sequence of mafic/ultramafic cumulates with densities close to those of mantle rocks.     

Volcanic edifice stability during cryptodome intrusion

Limit equilibrium analyses were applied to the 1980 Mount St. Helens and 1956 Bezymianny failures in order to examine the influence on stability of structural deformation produced by cryptodome emplacement. Weakening structures associated with the cryptodome include outward-dipping normal faults bounding a summit graben and a flat shear zone at the base of the bulged flank generated by lateral push of the magma. Together with the head of the magmatic body itself, these structures serve directly to localize failure along a critical surface with low stability deep within the interior of the edifice. This critical surface, with the safety coefficient reduced by 25-30%, is then very sensitive to stability condition variation, in particular to the pore-pressure ratio (r_u) and seismicity coefficient (n). For r_u=0.3, or n=0.2, the deep surface suffers catastrophic failure, removing a large volume of the edifice flank. In the case of Mount St. Helens, failure occurred within a material with angle of friction ~40°, cohesion in the range 10⁵-10⁶ Pa, and probably significant water pore pressure. On 18 May 1980, detachment of slide block I occurred along a newly formed rupture surface passing through the crest of the bulge. Although sliding of block I may have been helped by the basal shear zone, significant pore pressure and a triggering earthquake were required (r_u=0.3 and n=0.2). Detachment of the second block was guided by the summit normal fault, the front of the cryptodome, and the basal shear zone. This occurred along a deep critical surface, which was on the verge of failure even before the 18 May 1980 earthquake. The stability of equivalent surfaces at Bezymianny Volcano appears significantly higher. Thus, although magma had already reached the surface, weaker materials, or higher pore pressure and/or seismic conditions were probably required to reach the rupture threshold. From our analysis, we find that deep-seated sector collapses formed by removing the edifice summit cannot generally result from a single slide. Cryptodome-induced deformation does, however, provide a deep potential slip surface. As previously thought, it may assist deep-seated sector collapse because it favors multiple retrogressive slides. This leads to explosive depressurization of the magmatic and hydrothermal systems, which undermines the edifice summit and produces secondary collapses and explosive blasts.     

River incision and vegetation dynamics in cut-off channels

The consequences of river incision on ecosystems dynamics in cut-off channels were hypothesized to be 1) the reduction of river backflows and overflows of the river in the former channels; 2) the reduction of seepage flows from the river and drainage into the channels; 3) the drainage of the hillslope aquifer by the former channels. The subsequent changes of aquatic plant communities should be 1) the terrestrialization of the higher part of former channels and 2) their change into more oligotraphent ones if the hillslope aquifer is poorer in nutrients than the river. In those reaches where the river bed is aggraded, river backflows in the cut-off channel should increase, as should overflows and seepage, and more eutraphent species should develop. Changes in aquatic vegetation were studied over a ten-year period in four cut-off channels supplied by a nutrient-poor hillslope aquifer and a nutrient-rich river. Two of them were located in an incised reach of the river, one in an aggraded reach and one (reference) in a reach that was neither aggraded nor incised. The vegetation of the reference channel exhibited only minor changes over the ten-year period, indicating that the successional trend is not perceptible at the time scale of the study, and thus that any change observed in the other channels can be ascribed to river incision or aggradation. Terrestrialization expected in the channels located in the incised reach clearly progressed in the downstream parts, but was inhibited by groundwater supplies in the upper parts. As expected, oligotraphent communities progressed or remained dominant in the upper part. The channel located in the aggraded reach of the river exhibited the highest floristic changes. As expected, eutraphent communities progressed in this channel, but unexpectedly, terrestrialization also progressed in the upstream part. Alternative explanations are: 1) aggradation could have instigated more backflows and overflows without modifying significantly the mean water-level and 2) more frequent water overflows could have favoured alluvial deposition and thus terrestrialization.     

Les derniers stades de la cristallisation du filon à fluorite et barytine de Chavaniac (Haute-Loire,France) d'après des études d'inclusions fluides et solides

Résumé L'étude des inclusions fluides des minéraux de fin de cristallisation (principalement fluorite et barytine) du filon de Chavaniac, montre une diminution de la température et de la salinité. La fluorite a commencé à se déposer vers 140°C±10°C dans une solution renfermant 20% en poids en équivalents NaCl. La température de formation de la barytine était de 40°C au plus et les solutions diluées renfermaient parfois en émulsion des hydrocarbures liquides. On a pu établir des relations entre succession paragénétique, phases de fracturation, et les résultats précédents.

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Fluid inclusion studies in end-crystallisation minerals from Chavaniac mine (mainly fluorite and baryte) show that temperature and salinity fell during crystallisation. Crystallisation of fluorite began at around 140°C±10°C, in a solution containing about 20% NaCl. The temperature of formation of baryte never exceeded 40°C and the dilute solutions sometimes contained emulsified hydrocarbons. Relations have been established between paragenetic succession, fracture phases, and the above results.

     

Chemical composition of Luna 20 soil and rock fragments

Abundances of 22 elements, including 9 rare earth elements (REE), have been determined by ‘monostandard’ instrumental neutron activation analysis of samples from the Luna 20 soil and in 6 rock fragments, including a crystalline rock of highland origin, a breccia of similar composition, a glass and a feldspar grain. The soil appears to have been contaminated with W and Mo. The REE content of the soil is very low, being close to 2.3 times below the level in the Luna 16 soil. Sampling errors, for most elements, are negligible in the case of analyses performed on one or several tens of mg of soil, but they become significant on crystalline rock fragments in the 1–2 mg range.     

Bay of Biscay and Pyrenees

The different hypotheses proposed for the creation of the Bay of Biscay are reviewed. New geological and geophysical data collected in the last two years in the Bay and in the Pyrenean domain give new insight into the tectogenesis of the Pyrenees. Geological data of the Pyrenean area provide tight constraints on the hypothesis of formation of the Bay. The most probable hypothesis is an opening by rotation of the Iberian Peninsula around a pole of rotation situated near Paris, which resulted in strike-slip motion along the North Pyrenean fault during the Upper Mesozoic. A progressive westward migration of the pole initiated in the late Cretaceous blocked the motion along the fault and led to the main Eocene tectogenetic Pyrenean phase.     

La prévision du climat : de l'échelle saisonnière à l'échelle décennale

The atmosphere and the ocean are subject to many dynamical instabilities, which limit the time during which their behaviour can be deterministically forecasted. At longer timescales, the atmosphere can be predicted at best using statistical methods, as a response to external forcing linked to sea- and land-surface anomalies. Climate being defined as the mean of atmospheric states, it appears that it can be predicted up to a few months in advance, which is the characteristic time of the so-called slow components of the climate system. Forecasting can sometimes be extended to longer time ranges, especially when the coupled ocean–atmosphere system exhibits internal variability modes, with characteristic times of a few years. Seasonal climate forecasting is most often based upon Monte-Carlo simulations, where the various realisations correspond to slightly different initial conditions. The present sate-of-the-art in Europe (ECMWF) and/or in the USA (IRI) allows to forecast such major phenomena, as El Niño, up to six months in advance. Finally, some parameters may exhibit predictability at still longer time-ranges (inter-annual to decadal), but only for certain regions. The example of electricity production is used to underline the potentially large economical benefit of seasonal climate forecasting. To cite this article: J.-C. André et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 1115–1127.

Résumé

L'atmosphère et l'océan sont le siège d'instabilités dynamiques, qui limitent la durée pendant laquelle il est possible d'en prévoir l'évolution de façon déterministe. Au-delà, l'atmosphère n'est plus prévisible, au mieux, que de façon statistique, en fonction du forçage externe qu'exerce(nt) sur elle l'océan et/ou la surface des continents. Le climat (au sens d'une moyenne des états atmosphériques) se révèle ainsi prévisible jusqu'à des échéances temporelles de quelques mois, échelle de temps caractéristique des composantes dites « lentes » du système climatique. La prévision peut s'étendre à des échéances parfois plus longues, dans le cas où le système couplé océan–atmosphère posséderait des modes de variabilité temporelle de périodes caractéristiques de quelques années. La prévision climatique saisonnière est très souvent construite à partir de simulations de type Monte-Carlo, avec des ensembles de réalisations utilisant des conditions initiales légèrement différentes. Dans l'état actuel de ces prévisions, qu'elles soient réalisées en Europe (CEPMMT) ou aux États-Unis (IRI), il est possible de prévoir environ six mois à l'avance un certain nombre de phénomènes climatiques, en particulier ceux liés aux épisodes dits « El Niño », pour lesquels l'amplitude des variations est suffisamment importante. Il existe, par ailleurs, une prévisibilité à encore plus longue échéance (inter-annuelle à décennale), mais seulement pour certains paramètres et certaines régions. L'exemple de la production d'électricité montre l'importance économique potentielle très grande de la prévision climatique saisonnière. Pour citer cet article : J.-C. André et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 1115–1127.     

The high-pressure assemblages at Milos,Greece

Metamorphic rocks at Milos are known in small outcrops beneath the volcanic formations, as xenoliths in the Traphores volcanic breccia and as pebbles in the Paleochora Quaternary deposits. These rocks seem to belong to three different metamorphic units which probably have intricate relationships in the basement: — the eclogites unit shows garnetjadeite or garnet-omphacite primary associations, with apparently late crystallization of lawsonite phenoblasts an recrystallization features at relatively low temperatures; — the glaucophane schist unit exhibits Jadeite+quartz or glaucophane+lawsonite primary mineralogy; — the greenschist facies unit shows low-pressure main assemblages, most generally developed after high-pressure events. The two former units involve tholeiitic meta-igneous rocks, having been spilitized before metamorphism; they generally suffered more or less advanced recrystallization features in the low-pressure field of the greenschist facies. The third unit shows only meta-sedimentary rocks, with the sole exception of one single meta-doleritic pebble having calk-alkaline affinities.Petrological and mineralogical studies, based upon 15 bulk-rock compositions and 178 probe-analysed data points, lead to suspect at least 2, perhaps 3, different metamorphic events rather than one single metamorphic evolution, to account for the 3 U distinguished. From the observation of the mineralogical assemblages and their evolution, the former events (stages 1 and 2) could be related to rapid subduction of ocean-floor or back-arc basalts, whereas, during the latter event (stage 3), the rocks experienced crystallization conditions involving both decreasing pressures and increasing temperatures.