The impact of dolomite and plagioclase weathering on the chemistry of shallow groundwaters circulating in a granodiorite-dominated catchment of the Sila Massif (Calabria,Southern Italy)

This work is aimed at investigating the weathering processes of the granodiorites cropping out in a small catchment of the Sila Massif. The mineral constituents in this granodiorite are plagioclase, often zoned with a Ca-rich core and a Na-rich rim, quartz, chlorite, K-feldspar, white mica and epidote. During this study, dolomite was discovered in local stream sediments, as separate monomineralic grains, probably resulting from erosion of veins cutting the crystalline rocks. Prevailing dissolution of foreign dolomite and a Ca-rich plagioclase is suggested by the Ca–Mg–HCO₃ chemical composition of local groundwaters and stream waters, which is rather unexpected for waters interacting with granitoid rocks. These qualitative observations are quantitatively confirmed by reaction path modelling of the weathering processes occurring in the study area, which was carried out using the EQ3/6 software package, version 8.0, and the Double Solid Reactant Method. Indeed, it was possible to ascertain that the release of both major dissolved constituents and several trace elements (Ba, Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, V and Zn), from rocks to waters, is chiefly controlled by the dissolution of foreign dolomite and the Ca-rich core of zoned plagioclases.     

Prediction of the thermodynamic properties of metal–arsenate and metal–arsenite aqueous complexes to high temperatures and pressures and some geological consequences

The standard thermodynamic properties at 25°C, 1 bar (ΔG _f^o, ΔH _f^o, S ^o, C _P^o, V ^o, ω) and the coefficients of the revised Helgeson–Kirkham–Flowers equations of state were evaluated for several aqueous complexes formed by dissolved metals and either arsenate or arsenite ions. The guidelines of Shock and Helgeson (Geochim Cosmochim Acta 52:2009–2036, 1988) and Sverjensky et al. (Geochim Cosmochim Acta 61:1359–1412, 1997) were followed and corroborated with alternative approaches, whenever possible. The SUPCRT92 computer code was used to generate the log K of the destruction reactions of these metal–arsenate and metal–arsenite aqueous complexes at pressures and temperatures required by the EQ3/6 software package, version 7.2b. Apart from the AlAsO₄^o and FeAsO₄^o complexes, our log K at 25°C, 1 bar are in fair agreement with those of Whiting (MS Thesis, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, 1992). Moreover, the equilibrium constants evaluated in this study are in good to fair agreement with those determined experimentally for the Ca–dihydroarsenate and Ca–hydroarsenate complexes at 40°C (Mironov et al., Russ J Inorg Chem 40:1690, 1995) and for Fe(III)–hydroarsenate complex at 25°C (Raposo et al., J Sol Chem 35:79–94, 2006), whereas the disagreement with the log K measured for the Ca–arsenate complex at 40°C (Mironov et al., Russ J Inorg Chem 40:1690, 1995) might be due to uncertainties in this measured value. The implications of aqueous complexing between dissolved metals and arsenate/arsenite ions were investigated for seawater, high-temperature geothermal liquids and acid mine drainage and aqueous solutions deriving from mixing of acid mine waters and surface waters. Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article () contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Elasticità e plasticità nella contrazione di volume di un solido isotropo sottoposto a pressione idrostatica

Riassunto Si prospetta una teoria della comprimibilità di un solido isotropo soggetto a pressione idrostatica, implicante il comportamento plastico ad elevate pressioni. Si ottiene in tal modo un accordo coi risultati sperimentali sensibilmente superiore a quello fin qui conseguito ritenendo il fenomeno di natura puramente elastica ed applicado ad esso la cosìddetta «approssimazione del second'ordine».

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Summary A theory of the comprimibility for isotropic solids, whith regard to their plastic properties, is proposed. Check whith experimental data furnishes more satisfactory results than current theory of second approximation.

     

Sequence stratigraphy based on high-resolution seismic profiles in the late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits of the Venice area

The sequence-stratigraphic investigation by Very High-Resolution (VHR) seismic profiles allowed recognition of the detailed architecture of the late Pleistocene and Holocene succession of the Venice area. In this way deposits previously known by the analyses of scattered cores, mainly taken along the lagoon margin and the littoral strips, have been correlated at regional scale including the near offshore sector and the result has pointed out the lateral variability of the stratal architecture. Late Pleistocene deposits consist of an aggrading floodplain and fluvial channel fills accumulated during decreasing eustatic sea level, and they are coeval with offlapping forced regressive marine wedges in the Central Adriatic basin. The Holocene sequence is composed of three main seismic units separated by major stratal surfaces. Unit 1 (up to 9 m thick) is formed by channelized deposits separated by areas showing sub-horizontal and hummocky reflectors, and is bounded at the base by a surface that records prolonged conditions of subaerial exposure and at the top by a flatter surface resulting from erosion by marine processes. Deposits of Unit 1 are interpreted as estuarine and distributary channel fills, and back-barrier strata. Unit 2 is well distinguishable from Unit 1 only in the offshore area and at the barrier island bounding the Venice Lagoon, and is composed of a prograding marine wedge (up to 10 m thick) that interacts laterally with ebb tidal deltas. Unit 3 consists of a tidal channel complex and inlet deposits, which testify the evolution of the lagoon area. Tidal channels are entrenched in the lagoon mud flat (coeval with Units 1–2) and cut the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary in several places.Following current sequence-stratigraphic concepts, the Holocene sequence is composed of a paralic transgressive systems tract (TST) (Unit 1) overlying a sequence boundary (the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary) and overlain by a marine highstand systems tract (HST) (Unit 2) in seaward locations and by highstand lagoonal deposits landwards. TST and HST are separated by a downlap surface that is amalgamated with a wave ravinement surface in several places. Unit 3 is coeval with the upper part of Unit 2, and its development has been favoured by human interventions, which led to a transgression limited to the lagoon area.Local factors during the deposition, i.e. subsidence, sediment supply, physiography, and current/wave regimes, led to a significant lateral variability in the architecture of the Holocene sequence, as evidenced by the extreme thickness variation of the TST along both depositional strike and dip. The HST, instead, shows less pronounced strike variations in the stratal architecture. Also, present data clearly evidence that the human impact has a great relevance in influencing the late Holocene sedimentation.     

Silicate liquid immiscibility in impact melts

We have investigated silicate emulsions in impact glasses and impact melt rocks from the Wabar (Saudi Arabia), Kamil (Egypt), Barringer (USA), and Tenoumer (Mauritania) impact structures, and in experimentally generated impact glasses and laser-generated glasses (MEMIN research unit) by scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. Textural evidence of silicate liquid immiscibility includes droplets of one glass disseminated in a chemically distinct glassy matrix; sharp phase boundaries (menisci) between the two glasses; deformation and coalescence of droplets; and occurrence of secondary, nanometer-sized quench droplets in Si-rich glasses. The compositions of the conjugate immiscible liquids (Si-rich and Fe-rich) are consistent with phase separation in two-liquid fields in the general system Fe₂SiO₄–KAlSi₃O₈–SiO₂–CaO–MgO–TiO₂–P₂O₅. Major-element partition coefficients are well correlated with the degree of polymerization (NBO/T) of the Si-rich melt: Fe, Ca, Mg, and Ti are concentrated in the poorly polymerized, Fe-rich melt, whereas K, Na, and Si prefer the highly polymerized, Si-rich melt. Partitioning of Al is less pronounced and depends on bulk melt composition. Thus, major element partitioning between the conjugate liquids closely follows trends known from tholeiitic basalts, lunar basalts, and experimental analogs. The characteristics of impact melt inhomogeneity produced by melt unmixing in a miscibility gap are then compared to impact melt inhomogeneity caused by incomplete homogenization of different (miscible or immiscible) impact melts that result from shock melting of different target lithologies from the crater's melt zone, which do not fully homogenize and equilibrate due to rapid quenching. By taking previous reports on silicate emulsions in impact glasses into account, it follows that silicate impact melts of variable composition, cooling rate, and crystallization history might readily unmix during cooling, thereby rendering silicate liquid immiscibility a much more common process in the evolution of impact melts than previously recognized.     

Propagation of P and S-waves in magmas with different crystal contents: Insights into the crystallinity of magmatic reservoirs

Increasing amount of crystals tends to reduce the mobility of magmas and modifies its elastic characteristics (e.g. [Caricchi, L. et al., 2007. Non-Newtonian rheology of crystal-bearing magmas and implications for magma ascent dynamics. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 264: 402–419.; Bagdassarov, N., Dingwell, D.B. and Webb, S.L., 1994. Viscoelasticity of crystal- and bubble-bearing rhyolite melts. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interior, 83: 83–99.]). To quantify the effect of crystals on the elastic properties of magmas the propagation speed of shear and compressional waves have been measured at pressure and temperatures relevant for natural magmatic reservoirs. The measurements have been performed in aggregates at variable particle fractions (? = 0–0.7). The measurements were carried out at 200 MPa confining pressure and temperatures between 300 K and 1273 K (i.e. across the glass transition temperature (Tg) from glass to melt). The specimens were mixtures of a haplogranitic melt containing 5.25 wt.% H₂O and variable amounts of sub-spherical alumina particles. Additional experiments were carried out on a sample containing both, crystals and air bubbles. The temperature derivatives of the shear (dVs/dT) and compressional wave (dVp/dT) velocities for pure glass and samples with a crystal fraction of 0.5 are different below and above the glass transition temperature. For a crystal fraction 0.7, only dVp/dT changed above the Tg. In the presence of gas bubbles, Vp and Vs decrease constantly with increasing temperature. The bubble-bearing material yields a lower bulk modulus relative to its shear modulus. The propagation velocities of compressional and shear waves increase non-linearly with increasing crystal fraction with a prominent raise in the range 0.5 < ? < 0.7. The speed variations are only marginally related to the density increase due to the presence of crystals, but are dominantly related to the achievement of a continuous crystal framework. The experimental data set presented here can be utilized to estimate the relative proportions of crystals and melt present in a magmatic reservoir, which, in turn, is one of the fundamental parameters determining the mobility of magma and, consequently, exerting a prime control on the likelihood of an eruption from a sub-surficial magma reservoir.     

Rip current hazard assessment on a sandy beach in Liguria,NW Mediterranean

Natural Hazards - Rip currents are one of the most significant environmental hazards for beachgoers and are of interest to coastal scientists. Several studies have been conducted to understand rip...     

Search for radio pulsations in four anomalous X-ray pulsars and discovery of two new pulsars

We have performed deep searches for radio pulsations from four southern anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) to investigate their physical nature in comparison with the rotation powered pulsars. The data were acquired using the Parkes radio telescope with the 1.4 GHz multibeam receiver. No pulsed emission with periodicity matching the X-ray ephemeris have been found in the observed targets down to a limit of ∼0.1 mJy. A blind search has also been performed on all the 13 beams of the multibeam receiver (the central beam being pointed on the target AXP), leading to the serendipitous discovery of two new radio pulsars and to the further detection of 18 pulsars. Also a search for single dispersed pulses has been performed in the aim to detect signals similar to those of the recently discovered rotating radio transients.