Major and trace element patterns established during retrogressive metamorphism of granulite-facies gneisses,NW Scotland

A detailed study of geochemical changes associated with the retrogressive metamorphism of granulite-facies gneisses of the Lewisian Complex of NW Scotland has been made, using nearly 250 gneisses analysed for 24 major, minor and trace elements. The gneiss samples have been divided into 3 groups: (1) granulite facies, (2) granulite facies retrogressed to amphibolite facies but remaining undeformed, and (3) retrogressed (amphibolite-facies) gneisses deformed in shear zones. Element distributions within these groups have been examined using correlation coefficients, and have been compared and tested for significance using Student's t and Fisher z statistics. It is shown that the process of retrogression involved considerable large-scale chemical equilibration. Major-element pairs show marked increases in correlation during retrogression, reflecting considerable reordering of elements into one or other of the main amphibolite-facies minerals: hornblende, plagioclase and (minor) biotite. These correlations are enhanced, but otherwise unchanged, in the deformed gneisses. The retrogressed gneisses have a much more constant Fe/Mg ratio and a more uniform plagioclase composition, while there is a strong correlation between Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺ throughout the area studied. Trace elements, by contrast, mostly show a significant loss of correlation during retrogression, although Cr and Ni are exceptions. Retrogression occurred as a result of widespread introduction of hydrous fluids up vertical structures in the gneiss complex during the Early Proterozoic. These fluids allowed considerable metasomatic redistribution of elements within the complex as the whole-rock compositions adjusted to the new mineralogy. Throughout the North Atlantic Archaean Craton there is a close association between retrogression of high-grade gneisses and basic magmatism in the form of dyke swarms. It is suggested that the two may be connected, and that the fluids causing retrogression are mantle-derived.     

Dynamics of close binary systems with mass exchange

The effects of non-isotropic ejection of mass from either component of a binary system on the orbital elements are studied, for the case of a small initial eccentricity of the relative orbit, when all the ejected mass falls on the other component. The problem is transformed to an equivalent two-body problem with isotropic variation of mass, plus a perturbing force which is a function of the intial conditions of ejection of the particles and their final, positions and velocities when they fall on the surface of the other star. The variation of the orbital elements are derived. It is shown that, to first-order terms in the eccentricity, the secular change of the semimajor axis is equal to the one corresponding to the case of zero initial eccentricity. On the contrary, the secular change of the eccentricity is smaller and it depends on the variations of mass ejection due to the finite eccentricity.     

Dissolved chromium in the St. Lawrence estuary

A study of dissolved chromium in the St. Lawrence estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence has been carried out. A chromium concentration of 0·7 μg l^?1 was found in the St. Lawrence River. In the turbidity maximum of the upper estuary, chromium is removed from solution onto fine-grained resuspended sediments and internally produced organic-rich floccules. A simple flux calculation shows that these processes remove ～50% of the total dissolved chromium input of the river. At salinities greater than 5‰ dissolved chromium mixes conservatively.     

A note on frame transformations with applications to geodetic datums

Rigorous equations in compact symbolic matrix notation are introduced to transform coordinates and velocities between ITRF frames and modern GPS-based geocentric geodetic datums. The theory is general but, after neglecting higher than second-order terms, it is shown that the equations revert to the formulation currently applied in most major continental datums. We discuss several examples: the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83), the European Terrestrial Reference System of 1989 (ETRS89), the Geodetic Datum of Australia of 1994 (GDA94), and the South American Geocentric Reference System (SIRGAS). Electronic Publication     

The permeability of the Elkhorn fault zone,South Park,Colorado

The purposes of this study are to use both field and modeling approaches to characterize the permeability of a fault and to assess the role of the fault on regional ground water flow. The study subject is the Elkhorn fault, a low-angle reverse fault that brings Precambrian crystalline rocks over the sediments of Colorado's South Park Basin. The fault is hypothesized to act as a low-permeability barrier to flow, restricting interaction between the crystalline aquifer and the basin sediments. To test this hypothesis and to better predict the permeability structure of the fault, we synthesized geologic data to create a geologic model of the fault, conducted aquifer tests to estimate the hydrogeologic properties of the fault zone, and used ground water modeling to test the influence of a range of hydraulic properties for the fault zone on ground water flow in the region. Our study suggests that the fault is a low-permeability feature. Estimated heads are best matched to observations by modeling the fault as a 10-foot-thick interval of low-permeability fault gouge. Steady-state flow models show that much of the flow in the study area is topographically driven near land surface. Flow rates decrease with depth in the aquifers. In the footwall, ground water moves updip in the Michigan-San Isabel syncline to discharge in the South Park Basin. In the hanging wall, ground water moves east to a regional ground water divide. Sensitivity analyses indicate that hydraulic heads are most sensitive to changes in hydraulic conductivity and recharge.