Messinian deposits and erosion in northern Tunisia: inferences on Strait of Sicily during the Messinian Salinity Crisis

Outcrops, offshore wells, electric logs and seismic profiles from northern Tunisia provide an opportunity to decipher the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Strait of Sicily. Messinian deposits (including gypsum beds) near the Tellian Range reveal two successive subaerial erosional surfaces overlain by breccias and marine Zanclean clays, respectively. In the Gulf of Tunis, Messinian thick evaporites (mostly halite) are strongly eroded by a fluvial canyon infilled with Zanclean clays. The first erosional phase is referred to the intra-Messinian tectonic phase and is analogous to that found in Sicily. The second phase corresponds to the Messinian Erosional Surface that postdates the marginal evaporites, to which the entire Sicilian evaporitic series must refer. The Western and Eastern Mediterranean basins were separated during deposition of the central evaporites.     

Platinum-group element micronuggets and refertilization process in Lherz orogenic peridotite (northeastern Pyrenees,France)

Highly siderophile elements (Platinum-group elements, Au and Re) are currently assumed to reside inside base metal sulfides (BMS) in the convecting upper mantle. However, fertile lherzolites sampled by Pyrenean orogenic peridotite massifs are unexpectedly rich in 0.5–3 µm large micronuggets of platinum-group minerals (PGM). Among those, sulfides from the laurite-erlichmanite series (Ru, Os(Ir)S(As)₂), Pt–Ir–Os alloys and Pt–Pd–Te–Bi phases (moncheite–merenskyite) are predominant. Not only the BMS phases but also the PGM micronuggets must be taken into account in calculation of the PGE budget of orogenic fertile lherzolites. Laurite is a good candidate for equilibrating the whole-rock budget of Os, Ir and Ru while accounting for supra-chondritic Ru/Ir_N. Textural relationships between PGMs and BMS highlight heterogeneous mixing between refractory PGMs (laurite/Pt–Ir–Os alloys) inherited from ancient refractory lithospheric mantle and late-magmatic metasomatic sulfides precipitated from tholeiitic melts. “Low-temperature” PGMs, especially Pt–Pd bismuthotellurides should be added to the list of mineral indicators of lithosphere refertilization process. Now disseminated within fertile lherzolites, “lithospheric“ PGMs likely account for local preservation of ancient Os model ages (up to 2 Ga) detected in BMS by in-situ isotopic analyses. These PGMs also question the reliability of orogenic lherzolites for estimating the PGE signature of the Primitive Silicate Earth.     

Neubenennungen lithostratigraphischer Einheiten in der Helvetischen Kreide

In September 2007 Föllmi and coauthors requested the approval of four lithostratigraphic terms of the Swiss Committee of Stratigraphy (SCS). These terms were to be used in their publication on the Cretaceous in the Helvetic realm (Föllmi et al. 2007). At its meeting on October 18, 2007, the SCS decided the following: The Tierwis Formation (replacing the Drusberg Formation) was accepted, with the reserve that a section at Tierwis should be published in the near future. For the former “Lower Orbitolina Beds” the term Rawil Member was accepted, but here too a better type section than the one at Rawil Pass should be published. The term Rohrbachstein bed should not be used as a formal unit because it describes only a minor lithologic variation within the Grünten Member. The term Plaine Morte bed for a thin condensed horizon can not be accepted due to the fact that its definition is based mainly on biostratigraphy. Furthermore, the duplication a locality term which is in use for a previously established lithostratigraphic unit should be avoided.     

Observations of atmospheric water vapor above the Tharsis volcanoes on Mars with the OMEGA/MEx imaging spectrometer

The OMEGA imaging spectrometer onboard the Mars Express spacecraft is particularly well suited to study in detail specific regions of Mars, thanks to its high spatial resolution and its high signal-to-noise ratio. We investigate the behavior of atmospheric water vapor over the four big volcanoes located on the Tharsis plateau (Olympus, Ascraeus, Pavonis and Arsia Mons) using the 2.6 μm band, which is the strongest and most sensitive H₂O band in the OMEGA spectral range. Our data sample covers the end of MY26 and the whole MY27, with gaps only in the late northern spring and in northern autumn. The most striking result of our retrievals is the increase of water vapor mixing ratio from the valley to the summit of volcanoes. Corresponding column density is often almost constant, despite a factor of ∼5 decrease in air mass from the bottom to the top. This peculiar water enrichment on the volcanoes is present in 75% of the orbits in our sample. The seasonal distribution of such enrichment hints at a seasonal dependence, with a minimum during the northern summer and a maximum around the northern spring equinox. The enrichment possibly also has a diurnal trend, being the orbits with a high degree of enrichment concentrated in the early morning. However, the season and the solar time of the observations, due to the motion of the spacecraft, are correlated, then the two dependences cannot be clearly disentangled. Several orbits exhibit also spatially localized enrichment structures, usually ring- or crescent-shaped. We retrieve also the height of the saturation level over the volcanoes. The results show a strong minimum around the aphelion season, due to the low temperatures, while it raises quickly before and after this period. The enrichment is possibly generated by the local circulation characteristic of the volcano region, which can transport upslope significant quantities of water vapor. The low altitude of the saturation level during the early summer can then hinder the transport of water during this season. The influence of the coupling between atmosphere and surface, due mainly to the action of the regoliths, can also contribute partially to the observed phenomenon.     

A simulation experiment on the GM estimation for Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro

In China’s asteroid mission to be launched around 2025,(7968)133 P/Elst-Pizarro(hereafter 133 P)will be the second target,after a visit to asteroid(469219)Kamo’oalewa.This paper describes a simulation of precise orbit determination for the spacecraft around comet 133 P,as well as estimation of its gravitational parameter(GM)value and the solar radiation pressure coefficient Cr for the spacecraft.Different cometocentric distances of 200,150 and 100 km orbits are considered,as well as two tracking modes:exclusive two-way range-rate mode(Earth station to spacecraft)and combinations of two-way range-rate and local spacecraft onboard ranging to the comet.Compared to exclusive two-way range-rate,the introduction of local ranging observables improves the final GM uncertainties by up to one order of magnitude.An ephemeris error in the orbit of 133 P is also considered,and we show that,to obtain a reliable estimate of the GM for 133 P,this error cannot exceed a one km range.     

Description and first results of an explicit electrical scheme in a 3D cloud resolving model

The three-dimensional non-hydrostatic mesoscale model MésoNH of the French community offers the numerical environment to develop a cloud electrification scheme in a consistent way with the original mixed phase microphysical scheme. The charge separation mechanisms are entirely due to non-inductive processes and result from elastic ice–snow, ice–graupel and snow–graupel collisions. The electric charges carried by each of the five hydrometeor categories are transported along the airflow and are exchanged according to the various microphysical mass transfer rates but assuming a power law distribution of the individual charges as a function of the particle size. The electric field is diagnosed at each time step after integrating the electric potential induced by a net charge density in the Poisson equation. Finally, a lightning ash is triggered when the electric field locally steps over a given threshold. It propagates in two opposite directions until the magnitude of the electric field falls below a prescribed value. A fractal branching algorithm is then activated to extend lightning streamers away from the main channel and toward cloudy regions where substantial charge densities are present. Charges are neutralized along the tortuous lightning path with a simple procedure that preserves total charge conservation.The complete electrification scheme tested for an ideal case of vigorous supercellular storm shows an intense electrical activity all along its lifecycle. We show that the model is able to produce a direct tripolar structure of the charges as the result of a temperature charge reversal of − 10 °C and of the different sedimentation rates of the hydrometeors.     

Distribution of petroleum hydrocarbons and organochlorinated contaminants in marine biota and coastal sediments from the ROPME Sea Area during 2005

The composition and spatial distribution of various petroleum hydrocarbons (PHs), comprising both aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and selected chlorinated pesticides and PCBs were measured in biota and coastal sediments from seven countries in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman (Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates). Evidence of extensive marine contamination with respect to organochlorinated compounds and PHs was not observed. Only one site, namely the BAPCO oil refinery in Bahrain, was considered to be chronically contaminated. Comparison of the results from this survey for Σ DDTs and Σ PCBs in rock oysters from the Gulf of Oman with similar measurements made at the same locations over the past two decades indicates a temporal trend of overall decreasing Σ PCB concentrations in oysters, whereas Σ DDTs levels have little changed during that period.     

Mesozoic–Tertiary structural evolution of an extensional gneiss dome—the Kesebir–Kardamos dome, eastern Rhodope (Bulgaria–Greece)

The tectonic evolution of the Rhodope massif involves Mid-Cretaceous contractional deformation and protracted Oligocene and Miocene extension. We present structural, kinematic and strain data on the Kesebir–Kardamos dome in eastern Rhodope, which document early Tertiary extension. The dome consists of three superposed crustal units bounded by a low-angle NNE-dipping detachment on its northern flank in Bulgaria. The detachment separates footwall gneiss and migmatite in a lower unit from intermediate metamorphic and overlying upper sedimentary units in the hanging wall. The high-grade metamorphic rocks of the footwall have recorded isothermal decompression. Direct juxtaposition of the sedimentary unit onto footwall rocks is due to local extensional omission of the intermediate unit. Structural analysis and deformational/metamorphic relationships give evidence for several events. The earliest event corresponds to top-to-the SSE ductile shearing within the intermediate unit, interpreted as reflecting Mid-Late Cretaceous crustal thickening and nappe stacking. Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene/Eocene late-tectonic to post-tectonic granitoids that intruded into the intermediate unit between 70 and 53 Ma constrain at least pre-latest Late Cretaceous age for the crustal-stacking event. Subsequent extension-related deformation caused pervasive mylonitisation of the footwall, with top-to-the NNE ductile, then brittle shear. Ductile flow was dominated by non-coaxial deformation, indicated by quartz c-axis fabrics, but was nearly coaxial in the dome core. Latest events relate to brittle faulting that accommodated extension at shallow crustal levels on high-angle normal faults and additional movement along strike-slip faults. Radiometric and stratigraphic constraints bracket the ductile, then brittle, extensional events at the Kesebir–Kardamos dome between 55 and 35 Ma. Extension began in Paleocene–early Eocene time and displacement on the detachment led to unroofing of the intermediate unit, which supplied material for the syn-detachment deposits in supra-detachment basin. Subsequent cooling and exhumation of the footwall unit from beneath the detachment occurred between 42 and 37 Ma as indicated by mica cooling ages in footwall rocks, and extension proceeded at brittle levels with high-angle faulting constrained at 35 Ma by the age of hydrothermal adularia crystallized in open spaces created along the faults. This was followed by Late Eocene–Oligocene post-detachment overlap successions and volcanic activity. Crustal extension described herein is contemporaneous with the closure of the Vardar Ocean to the southwest. It has accommodated an earlier hinterland-directed unroofing of the Rhodope nappe complex, and may be pre-cursor of, and/or make a transition to the Aegean back-arc extension that further contributed to its exhumation during the Late Miocene. This study underlines the importance of crustal extension at the scale of the Rhodope massif, in particular, in the eastern Rhodope region, as it recognizes an early Tertiary extension that should be considered in future tectonic models of the Rhodope and north Aegean regions.     

Rosia Poieni copper deposit,Apuseni Mountains,Romania: advanced argillic overprint of a porphyry system

The Rosia Poieni deposit is the largest porphyry copper deposit in the Apuseni Mountains, Romania. Hydrothermal alteration and mineralization are related to the Middle Miocene emplacement of a subvolcanic body, the Fundoaia microdiorite. Zonation of the alteration associated with the porphyry copper deposit is recognized from the deep and central part of the porphyritic intrusion towards shallower and outer portions. Four alteration types have been distinguished: potassic, phyllic, advanced argillic, and propylitic. Potassic alteration affects mainly the Fundoaia subvolcanic body. The andesitic host rocks are altered only in the immediate contact zone with the Fundoaia intrusion. Mg-biotite and K-feldspar are the main alteration minerals of the potassic assemblage, accompanied by ubiquitous quartz; chlorite, and anhydrite are also present. Magnetite, pyrite, chalcopyrite and minor bornite, are associated with this alteration. Phyllic alteration has overprinted the margin of the potassic zone, and formed peripheral to it. It is characterized by the replacement of almost all early minerals by abundant quartz, phengite, illite, variable amounts of illite-smectite mixed-layer minerals, minor smectite, and kaolinite. Pyrite is abundant and represents the main sulfide in this alteration zone. Advanced argillic alteration affects the upper part of the volcanic structure. The mineral assemblage comprises alunite, kaolinite, dickite, pyrophyllite, diaspore, aluminium-phosphate-sulphate minerals (woodhouseite-svanbergite series), zunyite, minamyite, pyrite, and enargite (luzonite). Alunite forms well-developed crystals. Veins with enargite (luzonite) and pyrite in a gangue of quartz, pyrophyllite and diaspore, are present within and around the subvolcanic intrusion. This alteration type is partially controlled by fractures. A zonal distribution of alteration minerals is observed from the centre of fractures outwards with: (1) vuggy quartz; (2) quartz + alunite; (3) quartz + kaolinite ± alunite and, in the deeper part of the argillic zone, quartz + pyrophyllite + diaspore; (4) illite + illite-smectite mixed-layer minerals ± kaolinite ± alunite, and e) chlorite + albite + epidote. Propylitic alteration is present distal to all other alteration types and consists of chlorite, epidote, albite, and carbonates. Mineral parageneses, mineral stability fields, and alteration mineral geothermometers indicate that the different alteration assemblages are the result of changes in both fluid composition and temperature of the system. The alteration minerals reflect cooling of the hydrothermal system from >400 °C (biotite), to 300–200 °C (chlorite and illite in veinlets) and to lower temperatures of kaolinite, illite-smectite mixed layers, and smectite crystallization. Hydrothermal alteration started with an extensive potassic zone in the central part of the system that passed laterally to the propylitic zone. It was followed by phyllic overprint of the early-altered rocks. Nearly barren advanced argillic alteration subsequently superimposed the upper levels of the porphyry copper alteration zones. The close spatial association between porphyry mineralization and advanced argillic alteration suggests that they are genetically part of the same magmatic-hydrothermal system that includes a porphyry intrusion at depth and an epithermal environment of the advanced argillic type near the surface.Editorial handling: B. Lehmann