Characterization of the Rapanui mass-transport deposit and the basal shear zone: Mount Messenger Formation,Taranaki Basin,New Zealand

Submarine mass-transport deposits are important in many ancient and modern basins. Mass-transport deposits can play a significant role in exploration as reservoir, seal or source units. Although seismic data has advanced the knowledge about these deposits, more outcrop studies are needed to better understand gravity mass flows and predict the properties of their resultant deposits. It is proposed that sufficiently well-exposed outcrops of mass-transport deposits can be divided into three strain-dominant morphodomains: headwall, translational and toe. The outcrops of the Rapanui mass-transport deposit, part of the Lower Mount Messenger Formation in the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, are exposed along a ca 4 km transect in coastal cliffs that enable the identification of the three morphodomains. The aim of this study is to characterize the stratigraphic and sedimentological nature of the Miocene-age Rapanui mass-transport deposit outcrops and the evolution of its basal shear zone. The basal shear zone of a mass-transport deposit is defined as the stratal zone formed in the interface between the overriding mass flow and the underlying in situ deposits or sea floor. Accordingly, the deformation structures in the Rapanui mass-transport deposit and the basal shear zone were documented in an established spatial framework. Traditional methodologies were used to characterize the sedimentology of the Rapanui mass-transport deposit. Data collected from intrafolial folds, rafted blocks and samples from the Rapanui mass-transport deposit were used to investigate strain and matrix texture evolution, estimate palaeoflow direction, and calculate yield strength and overpressure at time of deposition. Additionally, a one-dimensional numerical model was used to test sedimentation-driven overpressure as probable trigger. This work demonstrates that the basal shear zone, as well as the matrix texture of a mass-transport deposit, can vary spatially as sediments from underlying deposits are entrained during shear-derived mixing. This phenomenon can impact the seal potential of mass-transport deposits and their interaction with fluids in the subsurface.     

World's Largest In Situ Thermal Desorption Project: Challenges and Solutions

This paper presents the largest In Situ Thermal Desorption (ISTD) project completed to date. The redevelopment of a former aerospace manufacturing facility adjacent to a commercial airport was the main driver, requiring relatively rapid reduction of several chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOC) in a 3.2‐acre source zone. The source zone was divided into four quadrants with differing treatment depths, heated simultaneously using a total of 907 thermal conduction heater wells. Five different depths were selected across the area, according to the depth of contaminant impact. Prior to implementation, a risk and optimization study led to placement of a vertical sheet‐pile wall around the treatment zone to minimize groundwater flow, and a pilot test of a novel direct‐drive method for installation of the heater casings. Because of a shallow water table, a layer of clean fill was placed over the treatment zone, and partial dewatering was necessary prior to heating. A network of vertical multiphase extraction wells and horizontal vapor extraction wells was used to establish hydraulic and pneumatic control and to capture the contaminants. The site was split into four decision units, each with a rigorous soil sampling program which included collecting a total of 270 confirmatory soil samples from locations with the highest pretreatment CVOC concentrations requiring reduction to below 1 mg/kg for each contaminant. Temperature monitoring and mass removal trends were used to trigger the sampling events. Eventually, a small area near the center of the site required the installation of four additional heaters before the soil goals were reached after 238 days of heating. The total energy usage for heating and treating the source area was 23 million kWh—slightly lower than the estimated 26.5 million kWh. Actual energy losses and the energy removal associated with the extracted steam were lower than anticipated. An estimated 13,400 kg (29,800 lbs) of CVOC mass was removed, and all soil goals were met. This paper presents the challenges associated with a project of this scale and describes the solutions to successfully complete the ISTD remedy.     

Mamaku Ignimbrite: a caldera-forming ignimbrite erupted from a compositionally zoned magma chamber in Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Mamaku Ignimbrite was deposited during the formation of Rotorua Caldera, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand, 220–230 ka. Its outflow sheet forms a fan north, northwest and southwest of Rotorua, capping the Mamaku–Kaimai Plateau. Mamaku Ignimbrite can be divided into a partly phreatomagmatic basal sequence, and a main sequence which comprises lower, middle, and upper ignimbrite. The internal stratigraphy indicates that it was emplaced progressively from a pyroclastic density current of varying energy that became less particulate away from source. Gradational contacts between lower, middle, and upper ignimbrite are consistent with it being deposited during one eruptive event from the same source. Variations in lithic clast content and coexistence of different pumice types through the ignimbrite sequence indicate that caldera collapse occurred throughout the eruption, but particularly when middle Mamaku Ignimbrite was deposited and in the final stages of deposition of upper Mamaku Ignimbrite. Maximum lithic data and the location of lithic lag breccias in upper Mamaku Ignimbrite confirm Rotorua Caldera as the source. At least 120 m of geothermally altered intra-caldera Mamaku Ignimbrite occurs inside Rotorua Caldera. Pumice clasts in the Mamaku Ignimbrite are dacite to high-silica rhyolite and can be chemically divided into three types: high–silica rhyolite (type 1), rhyolite (type 2), and dacite (type 3). All are petrogenetically related and types 1 and 2 may be derived by up to 20% crystal fractionation from the type 3 dacite. All three types probably resided in a single, gradationally zoned magma chamber. Andesitic juvenile fragments are found only in upper Mamaku Ignimbrite and inferred to represent a discrete magma that was injected into the silicic chamber and is considered to have accumulated as a sill at the base of the magma chamber. The contrast in density between the andesitic and silicic magmas did not allow eruption of the andesitic fragments during the deposition of lower and middle Mamaku Ignimbrite. The advanced stage of caldera collapse, late in the main eruptive phase, created withdrawal dynamics that allowed andesitic magma to reach the surface as fragments within upper Mamaku Ignimbrite.     

The response of playa and sabkha hydraulics and mineralogy to climate forcing

Dry playa lakes and sabkhat often represent the terminus of large ground water flow systems and act as integrators of both upgradient (recharge) and downgradient discharge (evaporation). Ground water levels beneath playa/sabkha systems show a variety of surprising responses driven by large evaporation demands and chemical processes not typically encountered in more humid regions. When the water table is very close to the land surface, almost instantaneous rises can be observed with little observed change in either upgradient ground water recharge or potential evaporation. Conversely, when water tables are several meters below the playa surface, water table responses to interannual variability of recharge can be damped and lag significantly behind such changes. This review of the dynamics of shallow water tables in playa lakes and sabkhat discusses the pertinent hydraulic and solute processes and extracts a simple but comprehensive model based on soil physics for predicting the water table response to either upstream recharge changes or changes in potential evaporation at the playa/sabkha. Solutes and associated authigenic minerals are also shown to be important in discriminating both the causes and effects of water level fluctuations.     

Working in a Landscape of Recession and Expansion: Academic Jobs in Geography in the United States, 1990–2011

The recent economic recession brought much university hiring to a standstill in the United States. Geography, in spite of strong prerecession growth, was no exception. Without a sense of how the academic geography job market has changed over the past decades, however, it is difficult to assess any recession-related decline or the relative strength of any recovery. This article presents an analysis of academic job postings in the field of geography from 1990 through 2011. Using data aggregated from the AAG Newsletter, which acts as an informal clearinghouse for most academic openings for geographers at four-year colleges and universities in the United States, we assess changes in the overall magnitude in numbers of academic job openings, with the particular goal of placing the recession-based paucity of openings within its broader historical context. Our results indicate that, indeed, the recession led to a very sharp decline in advertisements, but compared to previous recessions, the recovery appears to have occurred very quickly. Open-rank and temporary/non-tenure-track positions appear to have been fairly robust to the poor economic conditions, whereas assistant professor openings were particularly hard hit.     

[Fe/H] relations for c-type RR Lyrae variables based upon Fourier coefficients

[Fe/H]–φ₃₁– P relations are found for c-type RR Lyrae stars in globular clusters. The relations are analogous to that found by Jurcsik & Kovács for field ab-type RR Lyrae stars, where a longer period correlates with lower metallicity values for similar values of the Fourier coefficient φ₃₁. The relations obtained here are used to determine the metallicity of field c-type RR Lyrae stars, those within ω Cen, the Large Magellanic Cloud and toward the galactic bulge. The results are found to compare favourably to metallicity values obtained elsewhere.