Tourmalinites from the stratiform peraluminous metamorphic suite of the Central Namaqua Mobile Belt (South Africa)

Tourmalinites as proximal fades equivalents of stratiform peraluminous metamorphic rocks occur stratigraphically below base metal deposits and above thick metarhyolite horizons. Their premetamorphic protoliths are believed to have originated by tourmaline precipitation from exhalative B-, F- and W-rich brines also transporting aluminous clay colloids and dissolved silica. Tourmaline chemistry is used as an effective petrogenetic sensor. The tourmalines are Al-saturated, alkali-deficient dravite-schorl solid solutions, which are in the compositional range of tourmalines originated by exhalative processes. F-substitution in tourmalines is governed by Fe-F-avoidance. F is relatively enriched in the tourmalines and can potentially be used as a tracer for the source of primary hydrothermal solutions. Ti is introduced into the tourmalines by the substitution scheme Ti+Al^IV=Al_Y+Si. The high Ti-contents of the tourmalines as well as those of coexisting muscovites represent evidence of high-temperature metamorphism. Many tourmalines exhibit continuous zoning, which can partly be attributed to external fluid influx near peak metamorphic conditions.     

Melt Extraction during Formation of K-Feldspar + Sillimanite Migmatites, West of Revelstoke, British Columbia

An exposure of sillimanite-rich, strongly deformed, stromatic,K-feldspar-bearing migmatites in the Monashee Terrane west ofRevelstoke, British Columbia, has been examined to determinethe process of migmatization and to evaluate whether the systemwas open or closed during leucosome formation. An anatecticorigin for the migmatites is supported by: (1) the minimum meltcomposition of the leucosomes; (2) textures suggesting a fluidbehavior of the leucosomes and local pegmatitic textures; and(3) P–T estimates (720–820C; 75–9 kbar)above vaporabsent melting conditions of muscovitt + quartz. To establish whether melt was extracted or added during migmatization,measured volume percents of leucosome were compared with estimatesof melt production modeled by muscovite + quartz dehydrationmelting. Quantitative estimates of volume percent of leucosomeat present in the outcrop are between 20 and 30%. The amountof melt produced from the model muscovite dehydration meltingreaction is constrained by measured modal percent of sillimanite(15–25%) in the outcrop and is dependent on modal proportionof muscovite in the unmelted protolith and the melt water contentUsing a muscovite-rich protolith and a melt water content of4 wt%, complete dehydration melting of muscovite results ina production of 54 vol % melt and 25 vol % sillmanite, indicatinga melt loss of 29 vol %. A melt water content of 6 wt% resultsin production of 41 vol % melt and 23 vol % sillimanite, indicatinga melt loss of 16 vol %. Melt loss may have occurred by meltmovement along foliation planes during flattening, during formationof shear bands or locally along subvertical fractures. Spatialproximity of the outcrop to the Monashee dcollement suggeststhat thrusting was localized to zones of high melt production,which in turn facilitated melt migration. KEY WORDS: migmatites; British Columbia; Monashee Tarrane; anatexis; melt extraction ^*Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Univenity of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 817131, USA     

Foraminifera as indicators of marine pollutant contamination on the inner continental shelf of southern Brazil

Analyses of living foraminiferal and environmental parameters near an outfall at Mar Grosso Beach (Laguna, SC, Brazil) demonstrate its usefulness as indicators of domestic sewage pollution. The low species diversity may be due to sand accumulation in the central part. Higher diversity was noted closer to the mouth of Laguna estuarine system where reduced salinity and higher temperatures indicate freshwater influence, suggesting a relationship between increased diversity and greater availability of terrestrial food. On the basis of foraminiferal diversity and average coliform count the higher values are closer to the mouth of the estuarine system and under the influence of the outfall. Due to the effect of local hydrodynamics, the particulate organic waste derived from the outfall does not settle down locally, and thus, do not accumulate nearby. Our hypothesis is that the fine material derived from the outfall is accumulating on the southwestern and northwestern parts of the beach.     

Ice wastage and landscape evolution along the southern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, north-central Wisconsin

The Chippewa and Wisconsin Valley Lobes of the Laurentide Ice Sheet reached their maximum extent in north-central Wisconsin about 20 000 years ago. Their terminal positions are marked by a broad area of hummocky topography, containing many ice-walled-lake plains, which is bounded on the up-ice and down-ice sides by ice-contact ridges and outwash fans. The distribution of these ice-disintegration landforms shows that a wide zone of stagnant, debris-covered, debris-rich ice separated from the active margins of both lobes as they wasted northward during deglaciation. Accumulation of thick, uncollapsed sediment in ice-walled lakes high in the ice-cored landscape indicates a period of stability. In contrast, hummocky disintegration topography indicates unstable conditions. Thus, we interpret two phases of late-glacial landscape evolution. During the first phase, ice buried beneath thick supraglacial sediment was stable. Supraglacial lakes formed on the ice surface and some melted their way to solid ground and formed ice-walled lakes. During the second phase, buried ice began to melt rapidly, hummocky topography formed by topographic inversion, and supraglacial and ice-walled lakes drained. We suggest that ice wastage was controlled primarily by climatic conditions and supraglacial-debris thickness. Late-glacial permafrost in northern Wisconsin likely delayed wastage of buried ice until after about 13 000 years ago, when climate warmed and permafrost thawed.     

Similarities and Dissimilarities between the Variations of CME and Other Solar Parameters at Different Heliographic Latitudes and Time Scales

From the LASCO CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) catalog, the occurrence frequencies of all CMEs (all strong and weak CMEs, irrespective of their widths) were calculated for 3-month intervals and their 12-month running means determined for cycle 23 (1996 – 2007) and were compared with those of other solar parameters. The annual values of all-CME frequency were very well correlated (+ 0.97) with sunspot numbers, but several other parameters also had similarly high correlations. Comparisons of 12-month running means indicated that the sunspot numbers were very well correlated with solar electromagnetic radiations (Lyman-α, 2800-MHz flux, coronal green line index, solar flare indices, and X-ray background); but for corpuscular radiations [proton fluxes, solar energetic particles (SEP), CMEs, interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs), and stream interaction regions (SIR)] and solar open magnetic fields, the correlations were lower. A notable feature was the appearance of two peaks during 2000 – 2002, and those double peaks in different parameters matched approximately except for proton fluxes and SEP and SIR frequencies. When hemispheric intensities were considered, north – south asymmetries appeared, more in some parameters than in others. When intensities in smaller latitude belts (10°) were compared, sunspot group numbers (SGN) were found to be confined mostly to latitudes within ± 30° of the solar equator, showing two peaks in all latitude belts, and during the course of the 11-year cycle, the double peaks shifted from middle to equatorial solar latitudes, just as seen in the Maunder butterfly diagrams. In contrast, CME frequency was comparable at all latitude belts (including high, near-polar latitudes), having more than two peaks in almost all latitude belts, and the peaks were almost simultaneous in all latitude belts. Thus, the matching of SGN peaks with those of CME peaks was poor. Incidentally, the CME frequency data for all events (all widths) after 2003 are not comparable to earlier data, owing to inclusion of very weak (narrow) CMEs in later years. The frequencies are comparable with earlier data only for widths exceeding about 70°.     

Multi-method radiometric dating of volcano-sedimentary layers from northern Italy: Age and duration of the Priabonian stage

A comparison between conventional KAr (biotite) ages and fission track (zircon and apatite) and UPb (zircon) ages obtained from stratigraphically well-constrained Priabonian (Late Eocene) volcano-sedimentary deposits of northern Italy is presented. Two sections at Priabona (one level) and Possagno (two levels) were dated. The application of fission track dating appears fruitful for obtaining reasonably precise (±4 to 5% 2σ errors) ages useful for time-scale calibration. The concordancy of apatite and zircon fission track ages, and the reproducibility of results provide the time of volcanic eruption and deposition. The UPb analysis of the zircons has not been unsuccessful, but discordancy does not permit accurate dating. Significant dates obtained from Possagno are: KAr method, 35.0 ± 0.5 Ma (duplicate analysis on K-rich biotite from the same level); fission track dating method, 35.8 ± 1.4 Ma (weighted mean age on 2 apatite and 3 zircon separates from the same level); UPb method, 36.7 ± 1.0 Ma (maximum age of discordant zircons from the same level). The comparison between the present results and recent multi-method and multi-laboratory results obtained from time equivalent Priabonian (Late Eocene) biotite-rich layers from the Apennines shows perfect agreement and supports the location of a Priabonian stage between about 37.5 Ma and about 33.7 (±0.5) Ma; the alternative ages preferred by the Decade of North American Geology convention should be abandoned and a large portion of this scale revised accordingly.