Geochronology of granulites from the south Itabuna-Salvador-Curaçá Block,São Francisco Craton (Brazil): Nd isotopes and U–Pb zircon ages

This work provides five new U–Pb zircon dating and the corresponding Nd isotope data for felsic granulites from the south Itabuna-Salvador-Curaçá Block (ISCB), in the São Francisco Craton, Brazil. Three major sets of felsic granulites can be recognised. The oldest set is tonalitic in composition and of TTG affinity. It is Archaean in age with magmatic zircon cores dated at 2675 ± 11 Ma by LA-ICPMS and up to ca 2.7–2.9 Ga by SHRIMP on an other sample. It exhibits epsilon Nd values between ?8 and ?11 at 2.1 Ga. This Nd signature is similar to that of granulites found in the western Archaean Jequié Block. Cartographically, this set of Archaean terrains represents at least 50% of the granulites in the studied area. The second set corresponds to a Palaeoproterozoic calc-alkaline tonalitic suite with zircon ages from 2019 ± 19 Ma to 2191 ± 10 Ma and epsilon Nd values between ?3 and ?4 at 2.1 Ga, corresponding partially to a newly formed crust. The third set of granulites is also Palaeoproterozoic. It is shoshonitic to monzonitic in composition and synchronous with the high grade metamorphism dated by metamorphic zircons at 2086 ± 7 Ma (average of five samples). The Nd isotope signature for this alkaline set is similar to that of the Palaeoproterozoic calc-alkaline one. Nd isotopes appear to be a very efficient tool to distinguish Archaean from Palaeoproterozoic felsic protoliths in granulitic suites of the Itabuna-Salvador-Curaçá Block (ISCB). Finally, the southern part of the ISCB is composed of a mixture of Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic protoliths, in similar amounts, suggesting that it was probably an active margin between 2.1 and 2.2 Ga located on the eastern border of the Archaean Jequié Block. A major crustal thickening process occurred at ca 2.09 Ga in the ISCB and seems significantly younger towards the west, in the Jequié granulites, where an average of 2056 ± 9 Ma is determined for the high grade event.     

Geophysical evidence for a large impact structure on the Falkland (Malvinas) Plateau

A large, roughly circular structural basin is recognised on the Falkland (Malvinas) Plateau to the NW of West Falkland (Gran Malvina) Island (S 51°00′, W 62°00′). The basin, seen in seismic‐reflection profiles and evident as a large negative gravity anomaly, has a diameter of ~250 km. The age of the basin is estimated to be Late Palaeozoic. It is completely buried by younger sediments and has no topographic expression on the sea floor. We propose that the basin and geophysical anomalies, especially the combination of a large circular negative gravity anomaly with a rim of positive anomalies, and a marked circular series of positive magnetic anomalies in the same area, may be best explained by the presence of a large buried impact structure.     

Pre‐Alpine discordant granitic dikes in the metamorphic core of the Betic Cordillera: tectonic implications

Pegmatite dikes bearing andalusite crosscut foliation S₂ in Alpujarride gneisses and schists. Post‐S₂ andalusite is transposed by a foliation S₃, defined by fibrolite, which affects the dikes. The dikes represent highly differentiated granitic magmas with low REE and Zr contents and a positive Eu anomaly. U‐Pb SHRIMP dating of magmatic zircons provided Pan‐African ages (cores) and late Variscan ages (rims). However, U‐rich rims also provided metamorphic Alpine ages, supporting a polyorogenic tectonometamorphic history for pre‐Mesozoic Alpujarride rocks.     

A Holocene high-resolution record of aquatic productivity,seasonal anoxia and meromixis from varved sediments of Lake Łazduny,North-Eastern Poland: insight from a novel multi-proxy approach

Anthropogenic eutrophication and spreading anoxia in freshwater systems is a global concern. Little is known about anoxia in earlier historic times under weaker human impact, or under prehistoric natural conditions with different trophic, land cover and climatic regimes. We use a novel approach that combines high-resolution hyperspectral imaging with µ-XRF and HPLC-pigment data, which allows us to assess chloropigments (productivity) and bacteriopigments (anoxia) at seasonal subvarve-scale resolution. Our ~9700 cal a bp varved sediment record from NE Poland suggests that productivity increased stepwise from oligotrophic Early Holocene conditions (until ~9200 cal a bp ) to mesotrophic conditions in the Mid- and Late Holocene. Natural eutrophication was mainly a function of progressing landscape evolution with intense weathering under dense forest and warm-moist climatic conditions. Generally, anoxia increased with increasing productivity. Seasonal anoxia and some multi-decadal periods of meromixis were the common mixing patterns throughout the Holocene except for a period of persisting meromixis between ~5200 and 2000 cal a bp. Anthropogenic deforestation around 400 cal a bp resulted in substantially better lake oxygenation despite high productivity. In this small lake, aquatic productivity and lakeshore forest cover (wind shield) were more important factors controlling oxic/anoxic conditions than Holocene temperature variability.     

Generalized plasticity state parameter‐based model for saturated and unsaturated soils. Part 1: Saturated state

The behavior of granular materials is known to depend on its loose or dense nature, which in turns depends both on density and confining pressure. Many models developed in the past require the use of different sets of constitutive parameters for the same material under different confining pressures. The purpose of this paper is to extend a basic generalized plasticity model for sands proposed by Pastor, Zienkiewicz and Chan by modifying the main ingredients of the model flow—rule, loading–unloading discriminating direction and plastic modulus—to include a dependency on the state parameter. The proposed model is tested against the available experimental data on three different sands, using for each of them a single set of material parameters, finding a reasonably good agreement between experiments and predictions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diamond in metasedimentary crustal rocks from Pohorje,Eastern Alps: a window to deep continental subduction

We report the first finding of diamond and moissanite in metasedimentary crustal rocks of Pohorje Mountains (Slovenia) in the Austroalpine ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane of the Eastern Alps. Microscopic observations and Raman spectroscopy show that diamond occurs in situ as inclusions in garnet, being heterogeneously distributed. Under the optical microscope, diamond‐bearing inclusions are of cuboidal to rounded shape and of pinkish, yellow to brownish colour. The Raman spectra of the investigated diamond show a sharp, first order peak of sp³‐bonded carbon, in most cases centred between 1332 and 1330 cm^?1, with a full width at half maximum between 3 and 5 cm^?1. Several spectra show Raman bands typical for disordered graphitic (sp²‐bonded) carbon. Detailed observations show that diamond occurs either as a monomineralic, single‐crystal inclusion or it is associated with SiC (moissanite), CO₂ and CH₄ in polyphase inclusions_. This rare record of diamond occurring with moissanite as fluid‐inclusion daughter minerals implies the crystallization of diamond and moissanite from a supercritical fluid at reducing conditions. Thermodynamic modelling suggests that diamond‐bearing gneisses attained P–T conditions of ≥3.5 GPa and 800–850 °C, similar to eclogites and garnet peridotites. We argue that diamond formed when carbonaceous sediment underwent UHP metamorphism at mantle depth exceeding 100 km during continental subduction in the Late Cretaceous (c. 95–92 Ma). The finding of diamond confirms UHP metamorphism in the Pohorje Mountains, the most deeply subducted part of Austroalpine units.