Late quaternary palaeoclimate in the savannas of South America

The paper reviews Late Quaternary palynological evidence from eight sites in the savannas of northern South America. The sites reviewed are Lake Valencia (10°N), Carajas (6°S), Aguas Emendadas (15°S), Crominia (17°S), Salitre (19°S), Lagoa de Serra Negra (18°S), Lagoa Santa (20°S) and Lagoa dos Olhos (20°S). Four of the sites show evidence for a climate more humid than at present from ca. 36 ka BP to ca. 22–18 ka BP. Maximum dryness was reached at 14 ka to 10.5 ka BP at Lake Valencia. There was an increase in moisture from 8.8 ka BP at Lake Valencia and from 7 ka BP in Central Brazil. The presence of charcoal indicates human impact from ca. 8.6 ka BP. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF SPHAEROSIDERITE IN A SUBBITUMINOUS COAL FROM HSIAN COAL MINE,LIAONING PROVINCE

Mr.T.F.Hou,geologist of the National Geological Survey of Chinabrought back in 1931 from Liaoning province,a specimen of subbituminous coalin which are included patches or aggregates of small oolites.This interestingspecimen was given to the writer for microscopical investigation.Both polished     

Extracting water-related features using reflectance data and principal component analysis of Landsat images

This study aimed to map water features using a Landsat image rather than traditional land cover. We involved the original bands, spectral indices and principal components (PCs) of a principal component analysis (PCA) as input data, and performed random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM) classification with water, saturated soil and non-water categories. The aim was to compare the efficiency of the results based on various input data. Original bands provided 93% overall accuracy (OA) and bands 4–5–7 were the most informative in this analysis. Except for MNDWI (modified normalized differenced water index, with 98% OA), the performance of all water indices was between 60 and 70% (OA). The PCA-based approach conducted on the original bands resulted in the most accurate identification of all classes (with only 1% error in the case of water bodies). We therefore show that both water bodies and saturated soils can be identified successfully using this approach.     

Assessment of the influence of horizontal diaphragms on the seismic performance of vernacular buildings

The awareness and preservation of the vernacular heritage and traditional construction techniques and materials is crucial as a key element of cultural identity. However, vernacular architecture located in earthquake prone areas can show a particularly poor seismic performance because of inadequate construction practices resulting from economic restraints and lack of resources. The horizontal diaphragms are one of the key aspects influencing the seismic behavior of buildings because of their major role transmitting the seismic actions to the vertical resisting elements of the structure. This paper presents a numerical parametric study adopted to understand the seismic behavior and resisting mechanisms of vernacular buildings according to the type of horizontal diaphragm considered. Detailed finite element modeling and nonlinear static (pushover) analyses were used to perform the thorough parametric study aimed at the evaluation and quantification of the influence of the type of diaphragm in the seismic behavior of vernacular buildings. The reference models used for this study simulate representative rammed earth and stone masonry vernacular buildings commonly found in the South of Portugal. Therefore, this paper also contributes for a better insight of the structural behavior of vernacular earthen and stone masonry typologies under seismic loading.     

Computing Lippmann Diagrams from Direct Calculation of Mixing Properties of Solid Solutions: Application to the Barite-Celestite System

The Lippmann diagram for the system(Ba, Sr)SO₄-H₂O was computed at 25 °Cby determining the solid-phase activity coefficientsfrom first principles calculations. Directcalculations of the mixing properties of thebarite-celestite series indicate this solid solutionbehaves as non-ideal and non-regular. At 25 °C,the enthalpy of mixing shows a minimum around 50 mole% SrSO₄ due to an ordering tendency. Thefree energy of mixing shows two minima that delimit awide and symmetric miscibility gap (from 2.1 to 97.9 mole% SrSO₄) at this temperature. The excessfree energy of mixing requires a Guggenheim expansionseries of 5 terms to be described, where the termswith odd exponents are null as a consequence of thesymmetric distribution of the mixing properties withcomposition. The Lippmann diagram shows a peritecticpoint that corresponds to the composition of an aqueoussolution which is simultaneously at equilibrium withthe two extremes of the miscibility gap. The largedifference between the solubility products of theendmembers involves a strong preferential partitioningof the less soluble endmember towards the solid phase,which explains the extremely Ba-poor composition ofthe aqueous solution (aqueous activity fraction forBa²⁺ = 0.000446 ) at the peritectic point.     

Glassy orthopyroxene granodiorites of the Pannonian Basin: tracers of ultra-high-temperature deep-crustal anatexis triggered by Tertiary basaltic volcanism

Glassy orthopyroxene granodiorite-tonalite (named pincinite after type locality) was described from basaltic lapilli tuffs of the Pliocene maar near Pinciná village in the Slovakian part of the Pannonian Basin. Two pincinite types exhibit a qualitatively similar mineral composition (quartz, An_20–55 plagioclase, intergranular silicic glass with orthopyroxene and ilmenite, ±K-feldspar), but strongly different redox potential and formation PT conditions. Peraluminous pincinite is reduced (6–7% of total iron as Fe³⁺ in corundum-normative intergranular dacitic glass) and contains ilmenite with 8–10 mol% Fe₂O₃ and orthopyroxene dominated by ferrosilite. High-density (up to 0.85 g/cm³) primary CO₂ inclusions with minor H₂, CH₄, H₂S, CO and N₂ (<2 mol% total) are present in Qtz and Plg. Equilibrium PT conditions inferred from the intergranular Opx–Ilm–Glass assemblage and fluid density correspond to 1,170±50°C, 5.6±0.4 kbar, respectively. Metaluminous pincinite is more oxidised (25–27% of total iron as Fe³⁺ in diopside-normative intergranular glass of rhyolite–trachyte–dacite composition) and contains Fe₂O₃-rich ilmenite (17–29 mol%) associated with enstatite. Fluid inclusions are composed of CO₂–H₂O mixtures with up to 38 mol% H₂O. Raman spectroscopy revealed H₂S along with dominant CO₂ in the carbonic phase. Equilibrium PT parameters for the intergranular Opx–Ilm–Glass assemblage correspond to 740±15°C, 2.8±0.1 kbar, respectively. Reducing gas species (<2 mol% total) in the CO₂-inclusions of the peraluminous pincinite resulted from hydrogen diffusion due to fH₂ gradient imposed during decrease of redox potential from the log fO₂ values near QFM during Qtz + Plg growth, to QFM-2 incidental to the superimposed Opx + Ilm assemblage in the intergranular melt. The decrease in oxygen fugacity was recorded also in the metaluminous pincinite, where log fO₂ values changed from ~QFM + 2.6 to QFM + 0.4, but hydrogen diffusion did not occur. Absence of OH-bearing minerals, major and trace element abundances (e.g. REE 300–320, Nb 55–57, Th 4–31, Zr 240–300 ppm, FeO_tot/MgO up to 11), and Sr–O isotope ratios in the pincinites are diagnostic of high-temperature anorogenic magmas originated by dehydration melting of biotite in quartz-feldspathoid crust (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr>0.705–0.706, ¹⁸O>9 V-SMOW) around alkali basalt reservoir in depths between 17 and 20 km, and around late stage derivatives of the basalt fractionation, intruding the crust up to depths of 10–11 km. Low water activity in the pincinite parental melt was caused by CO₂-flux from the Tertiary basaltic reservoirs and intrusions. The anatexis leads to generation of a melt-depleted granulitic crust beneath the Pannonian Basin, and the pincinites are interpreted as equivalents of igneous charnockites and enderbites quenched at temperatures above solidus and unaffected by sub-solidus re-equilibration and metamorphic overprint.