Volcanoes as possible indicators of tectonic stress orientation — Aleutians and Alaska

A new method for obtaining from volcanic surface features the orientations of the principal tectonic stresses is applied to Aleutian and Alaskan volcanoes. The underlying concept for this method is that flank eruptions for polygenetic volcanoes can be regarded as the result of a large-scale natural magmafracturing experiment. The method essentially relies on the recognition of the preferred orientation of radial and parallel dike swarms, primarily using the distribution of monogenetic craters including flank volcanoes. Since dikes tend to propagate in a direction normal to the minimum principal stress (T-axis), the method primarily yields the direction of the maximum horizontal compression (MHC) of regional origin. The direction of the MHC may correspond to either the maximum (P-axis) or intermediate (B-axis) principal stress.The direction of MHC obtained at 20 volcanoes in the Aleutian arc coincides well with the direction of convergence between the Pacific and North American plates. This result provides evidence that in the island arc the inferred direction of MHC is parallel to the maximum principal tectonic stress. In the back-arc region, general E-W trends of MHC are obtained from seven volcanic fields on islands on the Bering Sea shelf and the mainland coast of Alaska. These volcanic fields consist mostly of clusters of monogenetic volcanoes of alkali basalt. In the back-arc region, the trends of MHC may correspond to an E-W intermediate, a vertical maximum, and a N-S minimum principal stress.Implications for the tectonics of island arcs and back-arc regions are: (1) volcanic belts of some island arcs, including the Aleutian arc, are under compressional deviatoric stress in the direction of plate convergence. It is improbable that such arcs would split along the volcanic axis to form actively spreading marginal basins. (2) This compressional stress at the arc, probably generated by underthrusting, appears to be transmitted across the entire arc structure, but is apparently replaced within several hundred kilometers by a stress system characterized by horizontal extension (tensional deviatoric stress) in the back-arc region. (3) The volcanoes associated with these two stress systems differ in type (polygenetic vs. monogenetic) and in the chemistry of their magmas (andesitic vs. basaltic). These differences and the regional differences in orientation of the principal tectonic stresses suggest that the back-arc stress system has its own source at considerable depth beneath the crust.Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory Contribution No. 2503.     

Coexisting Ca-poor pyroxenes in the Main Zone of the Bushveld Complex

Electron microprobe analyses of Ca-poor pyroxenes in gabbroic rocks of the Main Zone of the Bushveld Complex reveal that inverted pigeonites have lower Mg/Fe ratios than coexisting hypersthenes. Textural relationships, however, indicate that the two Ca-poor pyroxenes did not crystallize simultaneously from the magma. Early pigeonite reacted with the magma to form hypersthene and the difference in the Mg/Fe ratio of these two pyroxenes reflects the difference of this ratio between early pigeonite and the magma at the time of reaction. Some of the grains of early pigeonite, now inverted to hypersthene, evidently escaped this reaction with the magma. Bulk compositions of pyroxenes intermediate between that of pigeonite and hypersthene are postulated on the grounds of varying amounts of exsolved augite in the hypersthene which has originated from pigeonite by reaction with magma.     

High-frequency radar observations of sea waves travelling in opposition to the wind

High-frequency (HF) radar observations of sea waves apparently travelling against the wind are discussed. In some cases, it appears that the wave angular spectrum does contain components travelling against the wind. Some data taken on the Barbados Island during BOMEX have been analyzed, and they show that such components increase in amplitude with distance from a windward shore. It is shown that the order of magnitude of the observed growth rates can be explained by resonant non-linear interaction within the wave spectrum.     

Population pressure and areas of potential rural development in Southern Nigeria

The spatial analysis of agricultural development is the necessary precondition for research in the rural landscape and for rural planning. Basic data emerging from field investigation and a systematic interpretation of aerial photographs have resulted in a series of thematic maps of Southern Nigeria and parts of Western Cameroon. This comprehensive research work has been organized within the framework of the Afrika-Kartenwerk of the German Research Society.In this paper our recently published population map of the scale of 1:1 million and the map of rural settlement patterns form the basis for some rather general estimates of agricultural potential. Exact spatial information of simple but non the less most important regional processes, like migration, are caused by population pressure. Not bare statistical figures but their transformation by cartographic means forms a fundament for area studies and hypothetical prospects for regional planning as well as for regional analysis.By larger scale observations agricultural carrying capacity, evaluation of rural potential, migration dynamics and changes of land-use systems have to be analyzed. This calls for meticulous studies of individual areas. The first of three such case studies stresses the process of intensification of land utilization near the Nsukka-Escarpment. Linear settlement patterns and chains of regular individually owned stripfields can be seen as inprints of a dynamic transformation within the cultural landscape. Reception of new agricultural technology has been a way for emigrant farmers to exploit traditionally sparsely utilized zones with rich soils, which had been less attractive, because they were hard to cultivate with the hoe.The second case deals with the well known migratory and agro-economic links between the overpopulated food crop belt of Northern Yoruba Savannah Country and the cocoabelt in the rain forest about 100 km further south.In Central Iboland rural overpopulation of more than 1000 persons per km² and land shortage theoretically could be diminished by opening up uninhabited areas of the Niger flood-plain and the delta for modern agricultural exploitation. But not only the physical obstacles such as there are poor soils, very high rainfall and seasonal floods within the Niger low lands are hindering rural colonization. Social and political factors, like ethnic traditions and historic barriers still seem to be very perserverant. All this hardly allows strangers to get hold of unused land, to exploit valuable natural resources or to introduce modern agricultural technology. But generally speaking, population pressure as well as higher demand for social services and better incomes result in changes in the traditional land-use systems. The impact of growing urban or industrial economic spheres on agriculture acts as accelerating factor in this development. A paradise-landscape for Africa where optimal utilization of all physical resources under best socio-economic conditions may be practiced and where more than ten times of the present population of Africa could exist, as CAROL puts it in one of his scenarios (1973 and 1975), seems to be quite unrealistic and really never will be desirable.     

Contributions to the mineral chemistry of Hawaiian rocks

Feldspar phenocrysts, microphenocrysts, groundmass feldspar, interstitial material of feldspar composition, and residual SiO₂-K₂O-rich glass in 24 rocks of the tholeiitic, alkalic, and nephelinic suites from Haleakala and West Maui volcanoes, Maui, Hawaii, were analyzed quantitatively with the electron microprobe. Rocks studied include tholeiite, olivine tholeiite, oceanite, alkalic olivine basalt, alkalic basalt, hawaiite, mugearite, trachyte, basanite, and basanitoid. Results and conclusions: i) In all rocks studied, An decreases and Or increases from phenocrysts to microphenocrysts to groundmass feldspar to interstitial material of feldspar composition. ii) Phenocrysts occur in rocks of the tholeiitic and alkalic suites and, in spite of differences in bulk rock compositions, overlap in composition. iii) Groundmass feldspar in rocks of the tholeiitic suite are nearly identical in composition; the same is true for rocks of the nephelinic suite. However, in the highly differentiated alkalic suite, groundmass feldspar composition ranges from labradorite to sanidine; i.e. the higher the bulk rock CaO, the higher is the An content, and the higher the bulk K₂O, the higher is the Or content. iv) In general, rocks with phenocrysts have groundmass feldspar less An-rich than those without phenocrysts. v) In rocks of the tholeiitic suite, normative feldspar approaches modal feldspar. However, in rocks of the alkalic and nephelinic suites, normative feldspar, because of the presence of highly alkalic interstitial material and the absence of nepheline in the mode but its presence in the norm, is drastically different from modal feldspar. vi) Hawaiites contain labradorite and not andesine, as per definition, and mugearite contains andesine and not oligoclase, as groundmass feldspar. In fact, when considering phenocrysts and interstitial material of feldspar composition, hawaiites range from bytownite to sanidine and mugearite from andesine to sodic sanidine, but normative feldspar plots in the andesine field for hawaiites and the oligoclase field for mugearite. vii) Rocks of the three suites can be distinguished on the basis of Or and An in groundmass feldspar, the presence of thin rims of groundmass composition of phenocrysts of rocks of the alkalic suite, and the presence of interstitial material of anorthoclase to sanidine composition in rocks of the alkalic and nephelinic suites. iix) Rocks transitional between the tholeiitic and alkalic suites are observed and are characterized by transitional mineral compositions.This paper was first presented as a talk before the 68. Annual Meeting of the Cordilleran Section of the Geological Society of America, Honolulu, Hawaii, March 29–April 1, 1972.     

Ein Beitrag zur jungen Bruchtektonik der argentinischen Puna und ihr Verhältnis zu den angrenzenden Andenabschnitten

In an area of the Puna, situated between the parallels of latitude 23° 30′ and 24° south and the circles of longitude 67° 12′ and 66° 45′ west, two groups of slightly diverging reversed and thrust faults of different age have been observed: 1. north-northeast to north striking, pre-Pliocene — Pliocene (?) and 2. north-northwest to north striking, post-Pliocene — Pleistocene (?). In the two groups some reversed faults dip to the west, others dip to the east, forming in between narrow but elongated blocks limited by faults dipping in opposite directions. The depressed blocks, widening downward are called “Furchen” (furrows), the uplifted blocks, narrowing downward are called “Keile” (wedges). Acid intrusions and small effusive basalts are connected with the reversed faults. These structures are very common in the western part of the Andes in northwestern Argentine. The reversed faults and thrusts originated the morphological uplift of the central and eastern Andes.     

Mineralogy and petrology of silicate inclusions in iron meteorites

Silicate inclusions in 17 iron meteorites have been analyzed by the electron microprobe and classified, according to their phase assemblages, compositions, and textures, into three major types: Odessa, Copiapo, and Weekeroo Station, and three miscellaneous types: Enon, Kendall County, and Netschaëvo. Phase compositions in both Odessa- and Copiapo-type inclusions are very similar, but the two types are different in texture and constituent phases. Weekeroo Station-type inclusions are very different in every respect from other inclusions.For Odessa- and Copiapo-type inclusions, the distribution coefficients of Fe²⁺ and Mg in coexisting orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene indicate equilibration temperatures of 1,000° C, and the Ca/(Ca+Mg) ratios indicate temperatures of 900° C to 1,000° C. Equilibration temperatures determined for chromite-olivine pairs have a higher range of 1,154° C to 1,335° C. Minor element distributions among coexisting ferromagnesian silicates in these inclusions follow consistent patterns and are constant for any given sample, suggesting equilibrium assemblages. Major and minor element distributions for Weekeroo Station inclusions are anomalous, indicating nonequilibrium.Compositional data, the fragmentary shapes of many inclusions, the highly differentiated characteristic of two types of inclusions, the apparent disequilibrium between kamacite in inclusions and kamacite of the iron host, and the relict chondrules found in Netschaëvo suggest that many of the inclusions did not form cogenetically with the iron host, but represent pre-existing stony material that was taken up by an iron melt, probably not in the core of the parent body (or bodies).     

Characterization of sediments in an abandoned mining area; a case study of Mansfeld region,Germany

The distribution of selected heavy metals, including some radionuclides, metalloids and non-metals was determined in stream sediments in a region influenced by abandoned copper mining and ore processing activities. A considerable amount of the ore processing waste with a very complex composition and highly elevated concentrations of zinc, sulfur, lead, copper, arsenic, and a lot of other elements in the range between 100 and 1,000 mg/kg (Sb, Mn, Ni, Cr, Cd, Hg, and Ag) was piled up on mine dumps. The dispersion of the pollutants originating from this source and their environmental impact were investigated. Both, sediments and original waste material were studied to indicate the pathways and the mobilization behavior of different pollutants. For this purpose, the process of the elution of pollutants by application of different fractionation schemes was studied. The capabilities of different analytical techniques are shown for the analysis of solid samples (X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, Gamma-spectrometry) and liquid ones (ICP-atomic emission spectrometry, ICP-mass spectrometry and different techniques of atomic absorption). Additionally, the coupling of ion chromatography and ICP-MS detection was used to study the distribution of arsenic species in the sediment cores of a lake which acts as a natural sink for the region.