Suction-controlled experiments on Boom clay

The understanding of the thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of a clay barrier is needed for the prediction of its final in situ properties after the hydration and thermal transient in a radioactive waste repository.

As part of the CEC 1990–1994 R&D programme on radioactive waste management and storage, the CEA (Fr), CIEMAT (Sp), ENRESA (Sp), SCK · CEN (B), UPC (Sp) and UWCC (UK) have carried out a joint project on unsaturated clay behaviour (Volckaert et al., 1996). The aim of the study is to analyse and model the behaviour of a clay-based engineered barrier during its hydration phase under real repository conditions. The hydro-mechanical and thermo-hydraulic models developed in this project have been coupled to describe stress/strain behaviour, moisture migration and heat transfer. A thermo-hydraulic model has also been coupled to a geochemical code to describe the migration and formation of chemical species.

In this project, suction-controlled experiments have been performed on Boom clay (B), FoCa clay (Fr) and Almeria bentonite (Sp). The aim of these experiments is to test the validity of the interpretive model developed by Alonso and Gens (Alonso et al., 1990), and to build a database of unsaturated clay thermo-hydro-mechanical parameters. Such a database can then be used for validation exercises in which in situ experiments are simulated.

The Boom clay is a moderately swelling clay of Rupellian age. It is studied at the SCK · CEN in Belgium as a potential host rock for a radioactive waste repository. In this paper, suction-controlled experiments carried out on Boom clay by SCK · CEN are described. SCK · CEN has performed experiments to measure the relation between suction, water content and temperature and the relation between suction, stress and deformation. The applied suction-control techniques and experimental setups are detailed. The results of these experiments are discussed in the perspective of the model of Alonso and Gens. The influence of temperature on water uptake was rather small. The measured swelling-collapse behaviour can be explained by the Alonso and Gens model.     

Site effects at a vertical accelerometer array near Paducah, Kentucky

The downhole vertical accelerometer array VSAP near Paducah, KY, consists of three-component accelerometers at the surface, the top of the McNairy Formation (−41 m), and the top of the Paleozoic bedrock (—99 m). The array is at the northern end of the Mississippi Embayment, and it was installed to verify the ground-motion modeling for the site, assuming a significant earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Accelerograms from 4.2 and 2.0 m_b earthquakes were used to check aspects of the modeling pertaining to linear behavior of the soil column, and to review the soil column models derived by drilling and geotechnical methods and through the use of high-resolution P- and SH-wave seismic refraction in reflection techniques. Results of the study indicate that for the linear case the soil column models derived by the two techniques are equivalent, and that the most important boundary in the soil column, with respect to amplification of the ground motions, is the interface between the limestone bedrock and soil.     

Mineral inclusions in diamonds from the Sputnik kimberlite pipe, Yakutia

The Sputnik kimberlite pipe is a small “satellite” of the larger Mir pipe in central Yakutia (Sakha), Russia. Study of 38 large diamonds (0.7-4.9 carats) showed that nine contain inclusions of the eclogitic paragenesis, while the remainder contain inclusions of the peridotitic paragenesis, or of uncertain paragenesis. The peridotitic inclusion suite comprises olivine, enstatite, Cr-diopside, chromite, Cr-pyrope garnet (both lherzolitic and harzburgitic), ilmenite, Ni-rich sulfide and a Ti-Cr-Fe-Mg-Sr-K phase of the lindsleyite-mathiasite (LIMA) series. The eclogitic inclusion suite comprises omphacite, garnet, Ni-poor sulfide, phlogopite and rutile. Peridotitic ilmenite inclusions have high Mg, Cr and Ni contents and high Nb/Zr ratios; they may be related to metasomatic ilmenites known from peridotite xenoliths in kimberlite. Eclogitic phlogopite is intergrown with omphacite, coexists with garnet, and has an unusually high TiO₂ content. Comparison with inclusions in diamonds from Mir shows general similarities, but differences in details of trace-element patterns. Large compositional variations among inclusions of one phase (olivine, garnet, chromite) within single diamonds indicate that the chemical environment of diamond crystallisation changed rapidly relative to diamond growth rates in many cases. P-T conditions of formation were calculated from multiphase inclusions and from trace element geothermobarometry of single inclusions. The geotherm at the time of diamond formation was near a 35 mW/m² conductive model; that is indistinguishable from the Paleozoic geotherm derived by studies of xenoliths and concentrate minerals from Mir. A range of Ni temperatures between garnet inclusions in single diamonds from both Mir and Sputnik suggests that many of the diamonds grew during thermal events affecting a relatively narrow depth range of the lithosphere, within the diamond stability field. The minor differences between inclusions in Mir and Sputnik may reflect lateral heterogeneity in the upper mantle.     

Late Cretaceous rift-related upwelling and melting of the Trindade starting mantle plume head beneath western Brazil

High mantle potential temperatures and local extension, associated with the Late-Cretaceous impact of the Trindade mantle plume, produced substantial widespread and voluminous magmatism around the northern half of the Paraná sedimentary basin. Our previous studies have shown that, above the central and eastern portions of the postulated impact zone where lithosphere extension is minimal, heat conducted by the plume caused large-scale melting of the more fusible parts of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the margin of the São Francisco craton and the surrounding Brasilía mobile belt. Here we combine geochemical data and field evidence from the Poxoreu Igneous Province, western Brazil to show how more intense lithospheric extension above the western margin of the postulated impact zone permitted greater upwelling and melting of the Trindade plume than further east. Laser ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations indicate that rift-related basaltic magmas of the Poxoreu Igneous Province were emplaced at ? 84 Ma. Our detailed geochemical study of the mafic magmas shows that the parental melts underwent polybaric crystal fractionation within the crust prior to final emplacement. Furthermore, some magmas (quartz-normative) appear to have assimilated upper crust whereas others (nepheline- and hypersthene-normative) appear to have been unaffected by open-system crustal magma chamber processes. Incompatible trace element ratios (e.g. chondrite-normalised La/Nb?=?1) and isotopic ratios (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr?=?0.704 and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd?=?0.51274) of the Hy-normative basalts resemble those of oceanic islands (OIB). We therefore propose that these “OIB-like” magmas were predominantly derived from convecting-mantle-source melts (i.e. Trindade mantle plume). Inverse modelling of rare-earth element (REE) abundances suggests that the initial melts were predominantly generated within the depth range of ?80–100 km, in mantle with a potential temperature of ?1500 °C.     

Environmental and legal aspects of karst areas

 Environmental impacts on karst settings are common as they are more sensitive than those of other rock terrains. Regulatory procedures that are effective in other rock terrains are not necessarily applicable to karst settings. Development and exploitation by man that affect the karst hydrology regime can trigger catastrophic events and result in numerous legal actions where the effects of changes go beyond property boundaries. A great variety of regulations and examples of litigation exist for karst areas. Received: 25 October 1994 · Accepted: 17 October 1995     

Ophiolite remnants at the eastern margin of the Bohemian Massif and their bearing on the tectonic evolution

Summary Amphibolites are widespread in the eastern part of the Bohemian Massif, east of the South Bohemian Pluton. Based on their geological situation, their metamorphic evolution and their geochemistry, they were separated into three genetically different units: the Rehberg ophiolite, the Buschandlwand amphibolite and the Raabs group. The metamorphic Rehberg ophiolite consists of a ultramafic to mafic plutonic sequence overlain by a gabbro/dike complex and a volcanic section with basaltic, andesitic and rhyolitic volcanics associated with pelitic to psammitic sediments. The entire ophiolite underwent amphibolite facies metamorphism. Rock/MORB normalisation plots and other element ratio plots, such as Ti vs. V or Ta/Yb vs. Th/Yb argue for a supra-subduction zone environment as site of the origin of the Rehberg ophiolite. The Letovice ophiolite in Moravia is structured in a similar way. Geochemically it shows a more MORB like composition but also a distinct tholeiitic island arc group. Although there is no age data for the protolith of both ophiolites, it is believed that they have formed in an oceanic basin separating the Brunovistulian-Moravian block to the east and the Moldanubian block to the west. Possible traces of the continuation of the ophiolites towards the north can be found in the Stare Mesto ophiolites and the ophiolites surrounding the Sowie Gory block in the Sudetes.

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Ophiolitrelikte am ostrand der Böhmischen Masse und ihre bedeutung für die tektonische entwicklung

Zusammenfassung Amphibolite sind in der Böhmischen Masse, östlich des Südböhmischen Plutons weit verbreitet. Ausgehend von ihrer geologischen Position, ihrer metamorphen Entwick lung und ihrer Geochemie lassen sie sich in drei genetisch unterschiedliche Einheiten teilen: den Rehberg Ophiolith, den Buschandlwand Amphibolit und die Raabser Gruppe. Der metamorphe Rehberg Ophiolith besteht aus einer ultramatischen bis mafischen plutonischen Abfolge, die von einem Gabbro/Gangkomplex überlagert wird und einer vulkanischen Folge mit Basalten, Andesiten and Rhyoliten, die mit tonigen und sandigen Sedimenten verknüpft sind. Der gesamte Ophiolithkörper wurde unter amphibolitfaziellen Bedingungen metamorph überprägt. Rock/MORB Diagramme und andere Elementdarstellungen, wie z.B. das Ti vs. V, oder das Ta/Yb vs. Th/Yb Diagramm sprechen für eine Entstehung des Rehberg Ophioliths in einer Suprasubduction Zone. Der Letovice Ophiolith in Mähren weist eine ähnliche Struktur auf. Geochemisch zeigt er stärkere Ähnlichkeiten mit MORB, enthält aber auch Elemente von tholeiitischen Inselbogenbasalten. Auch wenn es für beide Ophiolithe noch keine Protolith-Altersdaten gibt, scheint es dennoch wahrscheinlich, daß sie in einem Ozeanbecken, das den Brunovistulisch-Moravischen Kontinentalblock im Osten vom Moldanubischen Kontinent im Westen trennt, gebildet wurden. Die mögliche Fortsetzung beider Ophiolithe könnten im Norden der Stare Mesto Ophiolith und die Ophiolithe rund um den Sowie Gory Block in den Sudeten darstellen.

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With 7 Figures     

The economic restructuring of Moscow in the international context

This paper deals with the trends of economic restructuring in Moscow in the 1990s under globalization and reforms. The comparison of structural shifts in Moscow with the largest cities of the West gives an idea about the position of the Russian capital on the trajectory of post-industrial transformation. The analysis covers three dimensions: a) general trends of post-industrial restructuring, b) the role of large cities in national economies, and c) universal and special trends of intra-urban transformation. The reforms of the 1990s initiated many new developments in the economic life of Moscow, making it more similar to the Western cities, both in general sectoral structure and intra-urban landscape. Nevertheless, Moscow still lags far behind the world cities as regards the stage of the most important post-industrial processes. The conflict between new market developments and the inherited patterns of the socialist city becomes one of the driving forces of the economic transformation in Moscow as a whole and in different types of its districts.     

Ore lead and sulphur isotope pattern from the low-temperature veins of the Catalonian Coastal Ranges (NE Spain)

The lead isotopic composition of galenas from low-temperature veins of the Catalonian Coastal Ranges (NE Spain) displays a small but distinct range of values: 18.318 ≤²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ≤ 18.678; 15.678 ≤²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ≤ 15.767 and 38.534 ≤ ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ≤ 39.189. The data define a linear trend in the ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb versus ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb diagram that can be interpreted in terms of mixing of lead from different reservoirs. The lead appears to be derived from a solution that preferentially leached granites of Late-Hercynian age. Sulphur isotopic compositions of the galenas range from −8.5 to + 7.3‰ but variations in a single deposit are small (1–2‰), pointing to different sources of sulphur. In a δ³⁴S versus ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb plot no clear correlation trends appear. Lead isotope data from deposits of similar characteristics situated within the Hercynian orogenic belt as the Linares-La Carolina district (S Spain) and the Inglesiente-Sulcis area (Sardinia) show slight differences indicating a source area of similar lead isotopic composition. In the CCR and Linares-La Carolina districts, the main source of lead is related to the Hercynian granites of each area, although small contributions from metasediments cannot be ruled out. The contribution of lead from metasedimentary rocks is particularly seen in the Sardinian (Hercynian vein-type) ores. Received: 8 August 1996 / Accepted: 5 December 1996     

Harmonic Analysis of Sedimentary Cyclic Sequences in Kansas, Midcontinent, USA

Several stratigraphic sequences in the Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) in Kansas (Midcontinent, USA) were analyzed quantitatively for periodic repetitions. The sequences were coded by lithologic type into strings of datasets. The strings then were analyzed by an adaptation of a one-dimensional Fourier transform analysis and examined for evidence of periodicity. The method was tested using different states in coding to determine the robustness of the method and data. The most persistent response is in multiples of 8–10 ft (2.5–3.0 m) and probably is dependent on the depositional thickness of the original lithologic units. Other cyclicities occurred in multiples of the basic frequency of 8–10 with persistent ones at 22 and 30 feet (6.5–9.0 m) and large ones at 80 and 160 feet (25–50 m). These levels of thickness relate well to the basic cyclothem and megacyclothem as measured on outcrop. We propose that this approach is a suitable one for analyzing cyclic events in the stratigraphic record.