Hf Isotope Evidence for a Miocene Change in the Kerguelen Mantle Plume Composition

We report high-precision multiple collector inductively coupledplasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) analyses of Hf isotopiccompositions for 39 Kerguelen Archipelago volcanic rocks thatadd a new perspective to the temporal evolution of the Kerguelenmantle plume. Samples cover the entire range of chemical andSr, Nd and Pb isotopic variations reported for the archipelago,and vary in age from 29 to 0·1 Ma. Their Hf isotopiccompositions show the largest variation for an individual oceanicisland and     

Quantifying Three-Dimensional Silicate Fabrics in Cumulates Using Cumulative Distribution Functions

We present a new method for quantifying three-dimensional silicatefabrics and the associated uncertainties from grain orientationdata on three orthogonal sections. Our technique is appliedto the orientation of crystallographic features and, hence,yields a fabric related to the lattice-preferred orientation,although the method could be applied to shape-preferred orientationsor strain analysis based on passive linear markers. The orientationdata for each section are represented by their cumulative distributionfunction, and an iterative procedure is used to find the symmetricsecond-rank strain tensor that will simultaneously satisfy thecumulative distribution functions observed on each section.For samples with well-developed fabrics, this technique providesa much closer match to the sectional data than do previous techniquesbased on eigenparameter analysis of two-dimensional orientationdata. Robust uncertainty estimates are derived from a non-parametricbootstrap resampling scheme. The method is applied to two cumulates:one with a well-developed fabric and the other with a weak fabric,from the Stillwater complex, Montana. The silicate petrofabricorientations obtained for these samples compare favorably withindependent direct estimates of the volume fabric from electronbackscatter diffraction and magnetic techniques. KEY WORDS: cumulates; fabrics; quantitative; Stillwater complex; textural analysis     

FUZZY MULTIVARIATE RULE-BUILDING EXPERT SYSTEMS:MINIMAL NEURAL NETWORKS

A fuzzy multivariate rule-building expert system (FuRES) has been devised which also functions as aminimal neural network.This system builds rules from training sets of data that use featuretransformation in their antecedents.The rules are constructed using the ID3 algorithm with a fuzzyexpression of classification entropy.The rules are optimal with respect to fuzziness and can accommodateoverlapped and underlapped clusters of data.The FuRES algorithm combines the benefits obtained fromsimulated annealing and gradient optimization,which provide robustness and efficiency respectively.FARES classification trees support OR logic in their inference.The system automatically generatesmeaningful and consistent certainty factors during rule construction.Unlike other neural networks,FuRES uses local processing which furnishes qualitative information in the rule structure of itsclassification trees and variable loadings of the weight vectors.     

Early stages of till genesis: an example from Fanore, County Clare, Ireland

Traditional views of glacigenic processes focus on erosion of hard bedrock and deposition of unconsolidated till. In the 1960s and 1970s attention was directed towards the glacier debris cascade, which linked these two end members. A limited understanding of the relationship between bedrock character, the supposed processes of erosion, debris comminution and texture emerged. In the 1980s researchers began to appreciate the important role which glaciotectonism plays in the spectrum of glacigenic processes, although little attention has been paid to the interface between glacial erosion, glaciotectonism and the early stages of the debris cascade system. A coastal section at Fanore, County Clare, Ireland affords a unique opportunity to examine a range of glacial deposits which represent a series in the erosion, tectonism and comminution stages of till genesis. Major elements of the site are bedrock rafts, glaciotectonic breecias, immature till and mature till. In all cases > 98% of the elements comprise Carboniferous limestone. Research at Fanore has focused on textural properties. Analysis of bulk samples of the sediments demonstrates a continuum of textural development from the glaciotectonism of the bedrock (breecia production and bedrock raft comminution) to a homogenized but immature till and to a more mature matrix-dominated deposit.     

DISCRIMINANT PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS

When the number of variables exceeds the number of samples, one method of multivariate discriminationis to use principal components analysis to reduce the dimensionality and then to perform canonicalvariates analysis (PC-CVA). This paper proposes an alternative approach in which discriminant analysisis carried out by a weighted principal component analysis of the group means (DPCA). This method doesnot require prior data reduction and produces discriminant factors that are orthogonal in the original dataspace. The theory and performance of the two methods are compared. Although the individual factors ofDPCA are found to be less discriminating than PC-CVA, the overall discrimination, calculated bymultivariate analysis of variance, and the predictive value, estimated by the leaving-one-out error rate,are broadly comparable.     

Experimental Interaction of Granitic and Basaltic Magmas and Implications for Mafic Enclaves

We have performed time series experiments for periods rangingfrom 3 min to 44 h on the interaction of granite melt and partiallymolten basalt at 920C and 10 kbar, in the presence of 5 wt.%water. With time, the assemblage of the basalt domain changesfrom predominantly amphibole+plagioclase to clinopyroxene+garnet;the melt fraction increases from {small tilde}2•5 to 40%;and between the two domains, the melt compositions progressivelyequilibrate. Initially in each run, melts of the basalt domainhave uniform plateau concentrations for SiO₂, Al₂O₃, CaO, MgO,and FeO because the activities of these components are regulatedby the mineral assemblage, but at advanced stages of reaction,no such control is evident. We have derived analytical expressionsto describe and simulate the diffusion profiles. The concentrationprofiles for SiO₂, Al₂O₃, CaO, and Na₂O in the granite, emanatingfrom the basalt–granite interface, have been used to estimateeffective diffusivities. The values from the shorter runs arecompared with those of the experiment of longest duration forwhich we assumed finite couples in our calculations. In thediffusion calculations for K₂O the difference in melt fractionbetween the two domains is accounted for. The resulting values(in cm²/s) are: D_Na2O=6 10^–7, D_K2O=3 10^–7, D_MgO=9 10^–8, D_CaO=(4–6) 10^–8, and D_SiO2 and D_Al2O3=(3–0•6) 10^–8. They are in reasonable agreement with values fromother studies. On the basis of our experiments we calculatethat mafic enclaves of magmatic origin should equilibrate toa large degree with their host magma in slowly cooling non-convectinggranitic plutons. Enclaves approaching complete re-equilibrationretain distinctly higher modal amounts of mafic minerals. Theydo not compositionally resemble binary magma mixtures, but aremore like host magma with accumulated crystals. We show thatthe modal differences between enclave and host are indicativeof the temperature of homogenization and that, in principle,this temperature can be deduced from equilibrium phase diagrams. ^* Present address: Mineralogisch-Petrologisches Institut, Universitt Gttingen, Goldschmidtstrasse 1, 3400 Gttingen, Germany     

Deep distributary channels and giant bedforms in the Upper Carboniferous of the Central Pennines, northern England

Channels, with maximum depths of over 40 m, have been cut into the top of a coarsening upward sequence, in the Upper Carboniferous of northern England. The channels are interpreted as deep, distributaries cut into delta slope deposits. Giant cross-bed sets, up to 40 m thick, are the major channel infilling facies. Internal erosion surfaces occur within the giant cross-beds and some are draped by micaceous, silty sandstone. Previously interpreted as deltaic sedimentation units, the cross-beds are now thought to have been produced mainly by side attached, alternate bars and the drapes are interpreted as low stage deposits. Cosets of medium scale cross-beds overlie the giant cross-beds. These are thought to be deposits of dunes and smaller bars on top of the transverse bars and in the shallower parts of the distributary. The giant cross-beds are commonly underlain by unlaminated sandstone but may be underlain by undulatory bedding. The latter was apparently produced by ridges, parallel to the current, spaced between 9 and 23 m apart. The north of England appears to have had a major river by present day standards, for at least part of the upper Carboniferous.