Crustal structure of the Ruby Mountains and southern Carlin Trend region, Nevada, from magnetotelluric data

We have collected about 150 magnetotelluric (MT) soundings in northeastern Nevada in the region of the Ruby Mountains metamorphic core complex uplift and southern Carlin mineral trend, in an effort to illuminate controls on core complex evolution and deposition of world-class gold deposits. The region has experienced a broad range of tectonic events including several periods of compressional and extensional deformation, which have contributed to the total expression of electrical resistivity. Most of the soundings reside in three east–west profiles across increasing degrees of core uplift to the north (Bald Mountain, Harrison Pass, and Secret Pass latitudes). One short cross-line was also taken to assess an east–west structure to the north of the northern profile. Model resistivity cross-sections were derived from the MT data using a 2-D inversion algorithm, which damps departures of model parameters from an a priori structure. Geological interpretation of the resistivity combines previous seismic, potential field and isotope models, structural and petrological models for regional compression and extension, and detailed structural/stratigraphic interpretations incorporating drilling for petroleum and mineral exploration. To first order, the resistivity structure is one of a moderately conductive, Phanerozoic sedimentary section fundamentally disrupted by intrusion and uplift of resistive crystalline rocks. Late Devonian and early Mississippian shales of the Pilot and Chainman Formations together form an important conductive marker sequence in the stratigraphy and show pronounced increases in conductance (conductivity–thickness product) from east to west. These increases are attributed to graphitization caused by Elko–Sevier era compressional shear deformation and possibly by intrusive heating. The resistive crystalline central massifs adjoin the host stratigraphy across crustal-scale, steeply dipping fault zones. The zones provide pathways to the lower crust for heterogeneous, upper crustal induced, electric current flow. Resistive core complex crust appears steeply bounded under the middle of the neighboring grabens and not to deepen at a shallow angle to arbitrary distances to the west. The numerous crustal breaks imaged with MT may contribute to the low effective elastic thickness (T_e) estimated regionally for the Great Basin and exemplify the mid-crustal, steeply dipping slip zones in which major earthquakes nucleate. An east–west oriented conductor in the crystalline upper crust spans the East Humboldt Range and northern Ruby Mountains. The conductor may be related to nearby graphitic metasediments, with possible alteration by middle Tertiary magmatism. Lower crustal resistivity everywhere under the profiles is low and appears quasi one-dimensional. It is consistent with a low rock porosity (<1 vol.%) containing hypersaline brines and possible water-undersaturated crustal melts, residual to the mostly Miocene regional extension. The resistivity expression of the southern Carlin Trend (CT) in the Pinon Range is not a simple lineament but rather a family of structures attributed to Eocene intrusion, stratal deformation, and alteration/graphitization. Substantial reactivation or overprinting by core complex uplift or Basin–Range extensional events seems likely. We concur with others that the Carlin Trend may result in part from overlap of the large Eocene Northeast Nevada Volcanic Field with Precambrian–Paleozoic deep-water clastic source rocks thickening abruptly to the west of the Pinon Range, and projecting to the north–northwest.     

The Hemlo gold deposit,Ontario: A geochemical and isotopic study

The Hemlo deposit, near Marathon, Ontario, is one of the largest gold deposits in North America. It is stratiform within Archean metamorphosed volcano-sedimentary rocks. The main ore zone is composed of pyritic, sericitic schist, and massive barite. This is the first report of stratiform barite in the Archean of North America, but other occurrences have since been found west of Hemlo. The mineralization is substantially enriched in Au, Mo, Sb, Hg, Tl and V and lacks carbonate. Because of metamorphism and deformation of the body its genesis is uncertain.${}^{87}\text{Sr}{}^{86}\text{Sr}$ of .7017 for barite from the deposit is similar to that of the sedimentary barite west of Hemlo and to initial ratios of contemporaneous volcanic rocks. At the base of the main ore zone, barite with δ^34S of +8 to +12%. was deposited with ~0%. pyrite. Upward, both barite and pyrite get isotopically lighter, with minimum values for pyrite, to ?17.5%, in non-baritic schist forming the upper part of the ore zone. In drill section, Au grades correlate with the isotopic composition of pyrite. This, and the association of fractionated sulphide with sulphate, suggests that Au, pyrite and barite were deposited contemporaneously. The linked, asymmetric distributions of S minerals and isotopic distributions, which are continuous from section to section, and the isotopic similarity of the Hemlo and western barites are consistent with a syngenetic depositional model.Two sources for the S minerals are considered. In the first, exogenous sulphate from a restricted basin were partially reduced in a geothermal system to form ³⁴S-depleted sulphide. In the second, the sulphate and sulphide are of magmatic-hydrothermal origin. Sulphate and fractionated sulphide are uncommon in Archean rocks, but one or both occur with unusual frequency in major Archean gold deposits. Hydrothermal fluids of moderately high , containing sulphate and permitting isotopic fractionation between oxidized and reduced S species, may have favoured the dissolution, transport and precipitation of Au.     

Flory-Huggins' formulation,its validity and implications in retrieval of equilibrium temperature of binary and ternary systems at higher pressures,using liquid silicate data and 1 bar liquidus temperature

For a pure phase at equilibrium with a polycomponent melt, two sets of expressions can be derived; one expressing its activity as a function of enthalpy, entropy, heat capacity and temperature, and the other by coupling a Flory-Huggins' polymerisation model with the van Laar heat of mixing term. Interaction parameters for binary and ternary systems have been computed at 1 bar by equating these two expressions. Assuming the interaction parameter to be independent of temperature, equilibrium temperatures at higher pressures can be calculated by an iterative procedure. Such retrieval calculations were carried out in simple eutectic, volatile-free systems like CaAl₂Si₂O₈-CaMgSi₂O₆, Mg₂SiO₄-TiO₂, MgSiO₃-TiO₂, Mg₂SiO₄-CaMgSi₂O₆, NaAlSi₃O₈-SiO₂ and CaAl₂Si₂O₈-CaMgSi₂O₆-Mg₂SiO₄. The close agreement between the theoretically retrieved and the experimentally determined equilibrium temperatures testifies to the validity of the model at higher pressures. The successful application of the model to simple eutectic, binary and ternary systems involving vastly dissimilar phases without imposing added constraints implies that it can be possibly extended to hitherto unknown systems provided the thermodynamic parameters of the phases involved are known.     

Historical Auckland on foot

Abstract:  This paper discusses three walking tour guides prepared for the 12th International Conference of Historical Geographers. It argues that the guides are innovative in terms of format, content and ironic sensibility. It construes them as devices for re-imagining Auckland's urban heritage.     

Fluvial process and the establishment of bottomland trees

The effects of river regulation on bottomland tree communities in western North America have generated substantial concern because of the important habitat and aesthetic values of these communities. Consideration of such effects in water management decisions has been hampered by the apparent variability of responses of bottomland tree communities to flow alteration. When the relation between streamflow and tree establishment is placed in a geomorphic context, however, much of that variability is explained, and prediction of changes in the tree community is improved.The relation between streamflow and establishment of bottomland trees is conditioned by the dominant fluvial process or processes acting along a stream. For successful establishment, cottonwoods, poplars, and willows require bare, moist surfaces protected from disturbance. Channel narrowing, channel meandering, and flood deposition promote different spatial and temporal patterns of establishment. During channel narrowing, the site requirements are met on portions of the bed abandoned by the stream, and establishment is associated with a period of low flow lasting one to several years. During channel meandering, the requirements are met on point bars following moderate or higher peak flows. Following flood deposition, the requirements are met on flood deposits ;high above the channel bed. Flood deposition can occur along most streams, but where a channel is constrained by a narrow valley, this process may be the only mechanism that can produce a bare, moist surface high enough to be safe from future disturbance. Because of differences in local bedrock, tributary influence, or geologic history, two nearby reaches of the same stream may be dominated by different fluvial processes and have different spatial and temporal patterns of trees. We illustrate this phenomenon with examples from forests of plains cottonwood (Populus deltoides ssp. monilifera) along meandering and constrained reaches of the Missouri River in Montana.     

On the Attractive Force of an Elliptical Gaussian Ring

Solar System Research - A numerical-analytical method for analyzing the orbital evolution of a planetary satellite under the influence of a perturbing body moving in an elliptical orbit is...     

Combination Scattering by Anisotropic Langmuir Turbulence with Application to Solar Radar Experiments

We develop a theory for radar signal scattering by anisotropic Langmuir turbulence in the solar corona due to a t+l ⇄ t process. Langmuir turbulence is assumed to be generated within a cone by a narrow type III burst electron beam. Using wave-kinetic theory we obtain expressions for the frequency shift, scattering cross-section of the turbulence, coefficient of absorption (due to scattering) and optical depth. On the basis of those expressions we give some estimates for an echo spectrum. We show that the minimum radar echo frequency shift is determined by the minimal phase velocity of the Langmuir waves, the maximum shift is determined by the electron beam velocity, but in any case it can not exceed −wt/2 (decay) and wt (coalescence), where wt is the frequency of a radar signal. The angular characteristics of the scattered signal differ dramatically for the cases of coalescence and decay. The signal is scattered into a narrow cone high above the specular reflection point (wp ≪ wt), but in the vicinity of wp ∼ wt/2 the red-shifted echo is scattered isotropically, while the blue-shifted echo is scattered into a even narrower cone. We show that absorption (due to scattering) increases with increasing radar frequency. The dependence of the absorption on the local plasma frequency is strongly determined by the Langmuir turbulence spectrum. Our theory shows that the role of the nonlinear scattering process t+l ⇄ t is essential and that such process can be used for radar studies of the spectral energy density of anisotropic Langmuir turbulence.     

Micrometeorological Observations of a Microburst in Southern Finland

On the afternoon of 3 July 2004 in Hyytiälä (Juupajoki, Finland), convective cells produced a strong downburst causing forest damage. The SMEAR II field station, situated near the damage site, enabled a unique micrometeorological analysis of a microburst with differences above and inside the canopy. At the time of the event, a squall line associated with a cold front was crossing Hyytiälä with a reflectivity maximum in the middle of the squall line. A bow echo, rear-inflow notch, and probable mesovortex were observed in radar data. The bow echo moved west-north-west, and its apex travelled just north of Hyytiälä. The turbulence data were analysed at two locations above the forest canopy and at one location at sub-canopy. At 1412 EET (Eastern European Time, UTC+2), the horizontal and vertical wind speed increased and the wind veered, reflecting the arrival of a gust front. At the same time, the carbon dioxide concentration increased due to turbulent mixing, the temperature decreased due to cold air flow from aloft and aerosol particle concentration decreased due to rain scavenging. An increase in the number concentration of ultra-fine particles (< 10 nm) was detected, supporting the new particle formation either from cloud outflow or due to rain. Five minutes after the gust front (1417 EET), strong horizontal and downward vertical wind speed gusts occurred with maxima of 22 and 15 m s^?1, respectively, reflecting the microburst. The turbulence spectra before, during and after the event were consistent with traditional turbulence spectral theory.