Millennial timescale resolution of rhyolite magma recharge at Tarawera volcano: insights from quartz chemistry and melt inclusions

Most rhyolite eruption episodes of Tarawera volcano have emitted several physiochemically distinct magma batches (∼1–10 km³). These episodes were separated on a millennial timescale. The magma batches were relatively homogeneous in temperature and composition at pumice scale (>4 cm), but experienced isolated crystallisation histories. At the sub-cm scale, matrix glasses have trace element compositions (Sr, Ba, Rb) that vary by factors up to 2.5, indicating incomplete mixing of separate melts. Some quartz-hosted melt inclusions are depleted in compatible trace elements (Sr, Ti, Ba) compared to enclosing matrix glasses. This could reflect re-melting of felsic crystals deeper in the crystal pile. Individual quartz crystals display a variety of cathodoluminescence brightness and Ti zoning patterns including rapid changes in melt chemistry and/or temperature (∼50–100°C), and point to multi-cycle crystallisation histories. The Tarawera magma system consisted of a crystal-rich mass containing waxing and waning melt pockets that were periodically recharged by silicic melts driven by basaltic intrusion. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Modelling of the acid-base properties of two thermophilic bacteria at different growth times

Acid-base titrations and electrophoretic mobility measurements were conducted on the thermophilic bacteria Anoxybacillus flavithermus and Geobacillus stearothermophilus at two different growth times corresponding to exponential and stationary/death phase. The data showed significant differences between the two investigated growth times for both bacterial species. In stationary/death phase samples, cells were disrupted and their buffering capacity was lower than that of exponential phase cells. For G. stearothermophilus the electrophoretic mobility profiles changed dramatically. Chemical equilibrium models were developed to simultaneously describe the data from the titrations and the electrophoretic mobility measurements. A simple approach was developed to determine confidence intervals for the overall variance between the model and the experimental data, in order to identify statistically significant changes in model fit and thereby select the simplest model that was able to adequately describe each data set. Exponential phase cells of the investigated thermophiles had a higher total site concentration than the average found for mesophilic bacteria (based on a previously published generalised model for the acid-base behaviour of mesophiles), whereas the opposite was true for cells in stationary/death phase. The results of this study indicate that growth phase is an important parameter that can affect ion binding by bacteria, that growth phase should be considered when developing or employing chemical models for bacteria-bearing systems.     

High‐frequency precipitation and stream water quality time series from Plynlimon,Wales: an openly accessible data resource spanning the periodic table

This scientific briefing announces the availability of a new multi‐element high‐frequency water quality data set that is openly accessible to the research community. The data set comprises up to 2 years of 7‐hourly water quality data for two streams and one rainfall site in the Upper Severn catchment at Plynlimon in Mid‐Wales. The measurements cover 50 analytes ranging from H⁺ to U and spanning six orders of magnitude in concentration, including major, minor and trace elements as well as nutrients, and they complement decades of weekly measurements of the same analytes at the Upper Severn. Together, the weekly and 7‐hourly time series provide a unique data set for studying both long‐term trends and short‐term dynamics. The data show complex behaviour over a wide range of timescales, challenging our understanding of catchment processes and informing future modelling efforts. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geology of London,UK

The population of London is around 7 million. The infrastructure to support this makes London one of the most intensively investigated areas of upper crust. However construction work in London continues to reveal the presence of unexpected ground conditions. These have been discovered in isolation and often recorded with no further work to explain them. There is a scientific, industrial and commercial need to refine the geological framework for London and its surrounding area. This paper reviews the geological setting of London as it is understood at present, and outlines the issues that current research is attempting to resolve.     

Cryovolcanic features on Titan's surface as revealed by the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper

The Cassini Titan Radar Mapper obtained Synthetic Aperture Radar images of Titan's surface during four fly-bys during the mission's first year. These images show that Titan's surface is very complex geologically, showing evidence of major planetary geologic processes, including cryovolcanism. This paper discusses the variety of cryovolcanic features identified from SAR images, their possible origin, and their geologic context. The features which we identify as cryovolcanic in origin include a large (180 km diameter) volcanic construct (dome or shield), several extensive flows, and three calderas which appear to be the source of flows. The composition of the cryomagma on Titan is still unknown, but constraints on rheological properties can be estimated using flow thickness. Rheological properties of one flow were estimated and appear inconsistent with ammonia-water slurries, and possibly more consistent with ammonia-water-methanol slurries. The extent of cryovolcanism on Titan is still not known, as only a small fraction of the surface has been imaged at sufficient resolution. Energetic considerations suggest that cryovolcanism may have been a dominant process in the resurfacing of Titan.     

Mapping of Titan: Results from the first Titan radar passes

The first two swaths collected by Cassini's Titan Radar Mapper were obtained in October of 2004 (Ta) and February of 2005 (T3). The Ta swath provides evidence for cryovolcanic processes, the possible occurrence of fluvial channels and lakes, and some tectonic activity. The T3 swath has extensive areas of dunes and two large impact craters. We interpret the brightness variations in much of the swaths to result from roughness variations caused by fracturing and erosion of Titan's icy surface, with additional contributions from a combination of volume scattering and compositional variations. Despite the small amount of Titan mapped to date, the significant differences between the terrains of the two swaths suggest that Titan is geologically complex. The overall scarcity of impact craters provides evidence that the surface imaged to date is relatively young, with resurfacing by cryovolcanism, fluvial erosion, aeolian erosion, and likely atmospheric deposition of materials. Future radar swaths will help to further define the nature of and extent to which internal and external processes have shaped Titan's surface.     

Contrasting punctuated zircon growth in two syn-erupted rhyolite magmas from Tarawera volcano: Insights to crystal diversity in magmatic systems

Two mineralogically and chemically distinct rhyolite magmas (T1 and T3) were syn-erupted from the same conduit system during the 21.9 ka basalt intrusion-triggered Okareka eruption from Tarawera volcano, New Zealand. High spatial resolution U–Th disequilibrium dating of zircon crystals at the ~ 3–5 μm scale reveals a protracted yet discontinuous zircon crystallization history within the magmatic system. Both magma types contain zircon whose interiors predate the eruption by up to 200 ka. The dominant age peak in the T1 magma is ~ 30 ka with subordinate peaks at ~ 45, ~ 75, and ~ 100 ka, whereas the T3 magma has a dominant zircon interior age peak at ~ 90 ka with smaller modes at ~ 35 and ~ 150 ka. These patterns are consistent with isolated pockets of crystallization throughout the evolution of the system. Crystal rim analyses yield ages ranging from within error of the eruption age to at least ~ 90 ka prior to eruption, highlighting that zircon crystallization frequently stalled long before the eruption. Continuous depth profiling from crystal rims inward demonstrates protracted growth histories for individual crystals (up to ~ 100 ka) that were punctuated by asynchronous hiatuses of up to 30 ka in duration. Disparate zircon growth histories can result from localized thermal perturbations caused by mafic intrusions into a silicic reservoir. The crystal age heterogeneity at hand-sample scale requires considerable crystal transport and mixing. We propose that crystal mixing was achieved through buoyancy instabilities caused by mafic magma flow through crystal mush. A terminal pre-eruptive rejuvenation event was capable of mobilizing voluminous melts that erupted, but was too short (< 10²–10³ years) to result in extensive zircon growth. The contrasting, punctuated zircon histories argue against closed-system fractional crystallization models for silicic magmatism that require protracted cooling times following a mostly liquid starting condition.