Les xénolites ultramafiques du volcanisme alcalin quaternaire d'Oranie (Tell,Algérie occidentale), témoins d'une lithosphère cisaillée et enrichieUltramafic xenoliths from Quaternary alkali volcanism from Oranie (Tell,western Algeria): witnesses of a sheared and enriched lithosphere

Numerous ultramafic xenoliths occur within the A??n–Temouchent volcanic complex (Northwestern Oranie, Algeria). Most of them are type I mantle tectonites (lherzolites and harzburgites) and composite xenoliths (harzburgite/clinopyroxenite) are rare. Only a few samples of spinel lherzolites display relatively fertile compositions when the major part of type I xenoliths have refractory major element compositions but enriched LREE contents showing that they have been affected by mantle metasomatism. The composite xenoliths are witnesses of reactions of alkaline magmas with the upper mantle. An asthenospheric rising, in relation with the large strike slip fault affecting the North African plate margin at Trias time is proposed as a possible geodynamical setting. To cite this article: M. Zerka et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 387–394.     

Sur la présence d'une série molassique (de type série pourprée) au Sud-Est de l'Ahaggar (In Guezzam,Ahaggar, Algérie)Presence of molassic series (‘Série pourprée’ type) in the Southeast of the Ahaggar (In Guezzam,Ahaggar, Algeria)

In the western Ahaggar shield, the transition between the Precambrian and the Ordovician units is characterised by thick volcano-sedimentary series (‘Série pourprée’ of the Ahnet). This series, in part of Cambrian age, results from the demolition of the Panafrican belt. Similar series were known in grabens located between the West African craton and the Ahaggar, from the ‘Adrar des Iforas’, in the south, to the Ougarta belt, in the north. We describe in this study a new formation identical to the ‘Série pourprée’ of the Ahnet, but cropping out in the far Southeast of the Ahaggar (In Guezzam). This new datum improves the Panafrican belt configuration. To cite this article: H. Djellit et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 789–794.     

The Saharan Metacraton

This article introduces the name “Saharan Metacraton” to refer to the pre-Neoproterozoic––but sometimes highly remobilized during Neoproterozoic time––continental crust which occupies the north-central part of Africa and extends in the Saharan Desert in Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Chad and Niger and the Savannah belt in Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Congo, Central African Republic and Cameroon. This poorly known tract of continental crust occupies 5,000,000 km² and extends from the Arabian-Nubian Shield in the east to the Tuareg Shield to the west and from the Congo craton in the south to the Phanerozoic cover of the northern margin of the African continent in southern Egypt and Libya. The term “metacraton” refers to a craton that has been remobilized during an orogenic event but is still recognizable dominantly through its rheological, geochronological and isotopic characteristics. Neoproterozoic remobilization of the Saharan Metacraton was in the forms of deformation, metamorphism, emplacement of igneous bodies, and probably local episodes of crust formation related to rifting and oceanic basin development. Relics of unaffected or only weakly remobilized old lithosphere are present as exemplified by the Archean to Paleoproterozoic charnockites and anorthosites of the Uweinat massif at the Sudanese/Egyptian/Libyan boarder. The article explains why the name “Saharan Metacraton” should be used, defines the boundaries of the metacraton, reviews geochronological and isotopic data as evidence for the presence of pre-Neoproterozoic continental crust, and discusses what happened to the Saharan Metacraton during the Neoproterozoic. A model combining collisional processes, lithospheric delamination, regional extension, and post-collisional dismembering by horizontal shearing is proposed.     

Late Albian–Middle Cenomanian palynofacies and palynostratigraphy, Abu Gharadig-5 well, Western Desert, Egypt

Quantitative analyses of palynomorph assemblages, particulate organic matter (kerogen), and total organic carbon (TOC) have been made on samples of the Albian–Cenomanian Kharita and Bahariya formations encountered in the Abu Gharadig-5 well, Western Desert, Egypt. Two assemblage palynozones are defined: Assemblage Zone A (Kharita Formation) of late Albian–early Cenomanian age and Assemblage Zone B (Bahariya Formation) of early–middle Cenomanian age. Palynofacies of the Kharita Formation suggest that sedimentation of these strata took place in a warm, shallow, nearshore-marine environment. The deposition of the lower Bahariya Formation took place initially in similar conditions but subsequently further offshore in somewhat deeper water of the inner shelf. The relatively high percentage of Ephedripites, Afropollis and elaterate pollen in both formations indicates an arid climate. The Kharita Formation yields kerogen types III and IV whereas the assemblages recovered from the Bahariya Formation contain types II and III. The TOC is generally between 0.42 and 0.65% in the Kharita Formation, while it ranges between 0.42 and 0.80% in samples of the Bahariya Formation. The spores and pollen grains are pale in colour; hence little source potential for hydrocarbons is indicated.     

Evaluation of coupled heat and moisture flow parameters in a bentonite-sand buffer material

Several series of one-dimensional tests were used to study the nature of transient heat and moisture movements in a clay buffer under different imposed temperature gradients. The measured temperature and moisture profiles were used to calculate the diffusion parameters governing heat and moisture movement in the buffer material. The experimentally determined diffusion parameters are shown to be dependent on the moisture content and temperature. The diffusion parameters were calculated by using an identification technique, the root-time method, and an analytical technique.     

Expansion theory for the elliptic motion of arbitrary eccentricity and semi-major axis

In this paper of the series, the third step of the author's regularization approach will be started by establishing the expansions of the functionX _n ^(r) (, ,u) in terms of the sectorial variables _j ⁽ⁱ⁾ introduced in Paper IV (Sharaf, 1982) to regularize the highly-oscillating perturbation force of some orbital systems. The literal analytical expressions for the Fourier expansion of the function will be explored in terms of _j ⁽ⁱ⁾ for anyn positive integer,r any real number whatever the types and the number of sectors forming the divisions situation of the elliptic orbits may be. The basic computational materials of the theory will also be given and for which the method of solution, the recurrence formulae, and the general computational sequence for the coefficients are considered.     

Expansion theory for the elliptic motion of arbitrary eccentricity and semi-major axis

In this paper of the series, elliptic expansions in terms of the sectorial variables _j ^j introduced recently in Paper IV (Sharaf, 1982) to regularise highly oscillating perturbations force of some orbital systems will be established analytically and computationally for the seventh and eighth categories. For each of the elliptic expansions belonging to a category, literal analytical expressions for the coefficients of its trigonometric series representation are established. Moreover, some recurrence formulae satisfied by these coefficients are also established to facilitate their computations, numerical results are included to provide test examples for constructing computational algorithms.     

Linear analysis of the light curves of eclipsing variables

In this paper, general model analysis of the form c _{i i} () for the fractional loss of lightf() exhibited by a close binary system will be considered in the sense of the least-squares criterion. A general recursive method will be established for constructing the normal equations for the most useful functions _i (), and an economical storage of the method on a digital computer, with its computational steps, will also be given. Moreover, a full recursive computational algorithm for the least-squares approximation will also be established. By means of this algorithm, all the solution vectors, the variance for different orders of fit and the corresponding variance-covariance matrix could be computed once and for all and, moreover, recursively. The economical storage of the algorithm and its computational steps will be given. Finally, some of the practical difficulties encountered in the application of the least-squares criterion will be analysed, and some techniques for detecting and controlling these difficulties are also given. Numerical examples on the Algol system using a Fourier cosine series of the form c _i cos [(j - 1) /] will be given for illustration.     

Expansion theory for the elliptic motion of arbitrary eccentricity and semi-major axis

In this paper of the series, literal analytical expressions for the coefficients of the Fourier series representation ofF will be established for anyx _i ; withn, N positive integers 1 and | _i | fori=1, 2,...n. Moreover, the recurrence formulae satisfied by these coefficients will also be established. Illustrative analytical examples and a full recursive computational algorithm, with its numerical results, are included. The applications of the recurrence formulae are also illustrated by their stencils. As a by-product of the analyses is an integral which we may call a complete elliptic integral of thenth kind, in which the known complete elliptic integrals (1st, 2nd and 3rd kinds) are special cases of it.     

Expansion theory for the elliptic motion of arbitrary eccentricity and semi-major axis

In this paper of the series, literal analytical expressions for the coefficients of the Fourier series representation ofG will be established for anyx _i; withn, N positive integers and |_i|<1 fori=1, 2, ... n. Moreover, the recurrence formulae satisfied by these coefficients will also be established. Illustrative analytical examples and a full recursive computational algorithm, with its numerical results, are included. The applications of the recurrence formulae are also illustrated by their stencils. As by-products of the analyses are two important periodic integrals developed analytically and computationally.