Flowage differentiation: Limitation of the “Bagnold effect” to the narrow intrusions

The Bagnold effect, the most important in the flowage differentiation, is practically inoperative in porphyritic rocks in the case of large dykes and pipes with a width or a diameter over 100 meters. For these large channels, the magmatic differentiation between the core and the walls is not related to the forced magmatic flow, but should be ascribed to other mechanisms: crystal settling, natural convection, synchronous injection of already differentiated materials.     

Observations d'ondesS a de typeSH

Résumé Nous observons fréquemment à l'aide de stations longues périodes de l'I.P.G. de Paris, une phase sismique S _a arrivant en tête de l'onde de Love et dont la période est de 30 à 40 s. L'analyse, par filtrage multiple nurnérique, de 44 enregistrements de séismes superficiels nous permet de dégager le caractère spécifique de la composanteSH du mouvement au sol au passage de l'ondeS _a et de remarquer que son mode de propagation peut s'expliquer par l'interférence des premiers harmoniques de l'onde de Love; la confrontation de l'amplitude observée pour la phaseS _a avec des résultats théoriques portant sur le niveau d'excitation des harmoniques de l'onde de Love est satisfaisante, même pour des foyers superficiels.La proximité des courbes de vitesse de groupe de ces harmoniques entre 30 et 40 s ne permettant pas de séparer les différents modes lors de l'analyse de l'onde en une ou deux stations, nous montrons la nécessité d'accroître la connaissance de la forme spatiale de l'onde et de développer des methodes fines d'analyse en nombre d'onde, en vue d'un apport d'informations sur l'asthénosphère et le manteau supérieur.     

Sur un pendule horizontal equipe d’un capteur de deplacement A capacite variable

The VERBAANDERT-MELCHIOR HORIZONTAL PENDULUM, using a capacitive transducer for the tilt measurements, is described. The output sensitivity is about 100 microvolt for 0.001”. Damping is produced by the air-drag during the motion of the pendulum arm. Results of tidal analysis for two one month fifty-days recording in the Underground Laboratory of Geodynamics at Walferdange (Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg) are also given.     

Contrasting patterns of precipitation seasonality during the Holocene in the south‐ and north‐central Mediterranean

Pollen‐based quantitative estimates of seasonal precipitation from Lake Pergusa and lake‐level data from Lake Preola in Sicily (southern Italy) allow three successive periods to be distinguished within the Holocene: an early Holocene period before ca. 9800 cal a BP with rather dry climate conditions in winter and summer, a mid‐Holocene period between ca. 9800 and 4500 cal a BP with maximum winter and summer wetness, and a late Holocene period after 4500 cal a BP with declining winter and summer wetness. This evolution observed in the south‐central Mediterranean shows strong similarities to that recognized in the eastern Mediterranean. But, it contrasts with that reconstructed in north‐central Italy, where the mid‐Holocene appears to be characterized by a winter (summer) precipitation maximum (minimum), while the late Holocene coincided with a decrease (increase) in winter (summer) precipitation. Maximum precipitation at ca. 10 000–4500 cal a BP may have resulted from (i) increased local convection in response to a Holocene insolation maximum at 10 000 cal a BP and then (ii) the gradual weakening of the Hadley cell activity, which allowed the winter rainy westerlies to reach the Mediterranean area more frequently. After 4500 cal a BP, changes in precipitation seasonality may reflect non‐linear responses to orbitally driven insolation decrease in addition to seasonal and inter‐hemispheric changes of insolation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ammonium sulfate on Titan: Possible origin and role in cryovolcanism

We model the chemical evolution of Titan, wherein primordial NH₃ reacts with sulfate-rich brines leached from the silicate core during its hydration. The resulting differentiated body consists of a serpentinite core overlain by a high-pressure ice VI mantle, a liquid layer of aqueous ammonium sulfate, and a heterogeneous shell of methane clathrate, low-pressure ice Ih and solid ammonium sulfate. Cooling of the subsurface ocean results in underplating of the outer shell with ice Ih; this gravitationally unstable system can produce compositional plumes as ice Ih ascends buoyantly. Ice plumes may aid in advection of melt pockets through the shell and, in combination with surface topography, provide the necessary hydraulic pressure gradients to drive such melts to the surface. Moreover, contact between the magma and wall rock (methane clathrate) will allow some methane to dissolve in the magma, as well as eroding fragments of wall rock that can be transported as xenoliths. Upon rising to the clathrate decomposition depth (∼2 MPa, or 1700 m), the entrained xenoliths will break down to ice + methane gas, powering highly explosive eruptions with lava fountains up to several kilometers high. Hence we predict that Titan is being resurfaced by cryoclastic ash consisting of ice and ammonium sulfate (or its tetrahydrate), providing an abundance of sedimentary grains, a potential source of bedload for fluvial transport and erosion, and of sand-sized material for aeolian transport and dune-building. The infrared reflectance spectrum of ammonium sulfate makes it a plausible candidate for the 5 μm-bright material on Titan's surface.