Focal mechanism dependence of static stress triggering of earthquakes

We perform a global statistical investigation into the problem of Coulomb stress triggering of earthquakes by using the Harvard CMT catalogue of shallow earthquakes from 1976 to 2001. We consider ‘earthquake pairs’, i.e., pairs of successive earthquakes occurring near each other with similar focal mechanisms, and address the problem of whether or not the change of the Coulomb failure stress (CFS) produced by the first earthquake of the pair ‘encourages’ the occurrence of the second one. An interesting feature is that such a Coulomb stress-triggering phenomenon has an apparent focal mechanism dependence: for thrust earthquakes, a more evident triggering effect can be observed.     

Energetic Particles Observed in the CUSP Region During a Storm Recovery Phase

In this paper we report energetic ion behavior and its composition variations observed by the Cluster/RAPID instrument when the spacecraft was travelling in the high latitude magnetospheric boundary region on the day of the 31 March, 2001, strongest magnetic storm in the past 50 years. The Dst index reached −360 nT at about 09:00 UT. During its early recovery phase, large amounts of oxygen and helium ions were observed; the ratio of oxygen to hydrogen in the RAPID energy range reached as high as 250%, which suggests that the observed energetic particles might be of magnetospheric origin. The observations further show that enhanced energetic electron fluxes are confined in a very narrow region, while protons have occupied a larger region, and heavy ions have been observed in an even larger region. The flux of energetic electrons show a slight enhancement in a region where the magnetic field magnitude is around zero. These observed energetic ions could be quasi-trapped by the current sheet in the stagnation region of the cusp.     

Lame surfaces as a generalisation of the triaxial ellipsoid

In modern geodesy the triaxial ellipsoid as a generalisation of the ellipsoid of revolution has a significant position in studying the figure of the Earth. Lame surfaces represent a generalisation of the triaxial ellipsoid. The following paragraphs are devoted to curvatures of the Lame surfaces.     

Argon isotope fractionation induced by stepwise heating

Noble gas isotopes are widely used to elucidate the history of the rocks in which they have been trapped, either from distinct reservoirs or by accumulation following radioactive decay. To extract noble gases from their host rocks, stepwise heating is the most commonly used technique to deconvolve isotopically different components, e.g., atmospheric, in situ radiogenic, or excess radiogenic from mantle or crustal reservoirs. The accurate determination of the isotopic composition of these different components is of crucial importance, e.g., for ages obtained by ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar stepheating plateaus. However, diffusion theory-based model calculations predict that the stepwise thermal extraction process from mineral phases induces isotope fractionation and, hence, adulterates the original composition. Such effects are largely unconsidered, as they are small and a compelling experimental observation is lacking. We report the first unequivocal evidence for significant mass fractionation of argon isotopes during thermal extraction, observed on shungite, a carbon-rich Precambrian sedimentary rock. The degree of fractionation, as monitored by ³⁸Ar/³⁶Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar ratios, very well agrees with theoretical predictions assuming an inverse square root dependence of diffusion coefficient and atomic mass, resulting in easier extraction of lighter isotopes. Hence, subatmospheric ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar ratios obtained for argon extracted at low temperatures may not represent paleoatmospheric argon. Shungite argon resembles modern atmospheric composition, but constraints on the timing of trapping appear difficult to obtain, as shungites are multicomponent systems.In ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar stepwise heating, the isotope fractionation effect could cause systematic underestimations of plateau ages, between 0.15 and 0.4% depending on age, or considerably higher if samples contain appreciable atmospheric Ar. The magnitude of this effect is similar to the presently achieved uncertainties of this increasingly precise dating technique. Our results also indicate the importance of thermally activated diffusion as a possible fractionation mechanism, e.g., for hydrothermal gas exhalations, or for carbonaceous carrier phases such as “Q” in meteorites that have been suggested as carriers of highly fractionated noble gas residues from the early solar nebula.     

Conditions of pocket formation in the Oktyabrskaya tourmaline-rich gem pegmatite (the Malkhan field, Central Transbaikalia, Russia)

Coexisting melt (MI), fluid-melt (FMI) and fluid (FI) inclusions in quartz from the Oktaybrskaya pegmatite, central Transbaikalia, have been studied and the thermodynamic modeling of PVTX-properties of aqueous orthoboric-acid fluids has been carried out to define the conditions of pocket formation. At room temperature, FMI in early pocket quartz and in quartz from the coarse-grained quartz–oligoclase host pegmatite contain crystalline aggregates and an orthoboric-acid fluid. The portion of FMI in inclusion assemblages decreases and the volume of fluid in inclusions increases from the early to the late growth zones in the pocket quartz. No FMI have been found in the late growth zones. Significant variations of solid/fluid ratios in the neighboring FMI result from heterogeneous entrapment of coexisting melts and fluids by a host mineral. Raman spectroscopy, SEM EDS and EMPA indicate that the crystalline aggregates in FMI are dominated by mica minerals of the boron-rich muscovite–nanpingite CsAl₂[AlSi₃O₁₀](OH,F)₂ series as well as lepidolite. Topaz, quartz, potassium feldspar and several unidentified minerals occur in much lower amounts. Fluid isolations in FMI and FI have similar total salinity (4–8 wt.% NaCl eq.) and H₃BO₃ contents (12–16 wt.%). The melt inclusions in host-pegmatite quartz homogenize at 570–600 °C. The silicate crystalline aggregates in large inclusions in pocket quartz completely melt at 615 °C. However, even after those inclusions were significantly overheated at 650±10 °C and 2.5 kbar during 24 h they remained non-homogeneous and displayed two types: (i) glass+unmelted crystals and (ii) fluid+glass. The FMI glasses contain 1.94–2.73 wt.% F, 2.51 wt.% B₂O₃, 3.64–5.20 wt.% Cs₂O, 0.54 wt.% Li₂O, 0.57 wt.% Ta₂O₅, 0.10 wt.% Nb₂O₅, 0.12 wt.% BeO. The H₂O content of the glass could exceed 12 wt.%. Such compositions suggest that the residual melts of the latest magmatic stage were strongly enriched in H₂O, B, F, Cs and contained elevated concentrations of Li, Be, Ta, and Nb. FMI microthermometry showed that those melts could have crystallized at 615–550 °C.

Crystallization of quartz–feldspar pegmatite matrix leads to the formation of H₂O-, B- and F-enriched residual melts and associated fluids (prototypes of pockets). Fluids of different compositions and residual melts of different liquidus–solidus P–T-conditions would form pockets with various internal fluid pressures. During crystallization, those melts release more aqueous fluids resulting in a further increase of the fluid pressure in pockets. A significant overpressure and a possible pressure gradient between the neighboring pockets would induce fracturing of pockets and “fluid explosions”. The fracturing commonly results in the crushing of pocket walls, formation of new fractures connecting adjacent pockets, heterogenization and mixing of pocket fluids. Such newly formed fluids would interact with a primary pegmatite matrix along the fractures and cause autometasomatic alteration, recrystallization, leaching and formation of “primary–secondary” pockets.     

Mesozoic age of granitoids from the Beket complex (Gonzha block within the Argun terrane of the Central-Asian Fold Belt)

U-Pb geochronological results confirm the Mesozoic age (124 ± 1 Ma) of the Beket granitoid complex, previously interpreted as being one of the markers amongst the Early Proterozoic magmatic complexes within the Amur superterrane (microcontinent) of the Central Asian Fold Belt. This implies that the structural and metamorphic amphibolite facies overprints documented either in the Beket granitoids or Gonzha host rocks are evidently Mesozoic rather than Early Proterozoic in age.     

Composition, sources, and mechanism of continental crust growth in the Lake zone of the Central Asian Caledonides: I. Geological and geochronological data

Data on the composition, inner structure, and age of volcanic and siliceous-terrigenous complexes and granitoids occurring in association with them in the Caledonian Lake zone in Central Asia are discussed in the context of major relations and trends in the growth of the Caledonian continental crust in the Central Asian Foldbelt (CAFB). The folded structures of the Lake zone host basalt, basalt-andesite, and andesite complexes of volcanic rocks that were formed in distinct geodynamic environments. The volcanic rocks of the basalt complex are noted for high concentrations of TiO₂ and alkalis, occur in association with fine-grained siliceous siltstone and siliceous-carbonate rocks, are thus close to oceanic-island complexes, and were likely formed in relation to a mantle hotspot activity far away from erosion regions supplying terrigenous material. The rocks of the basalt-andesite and andesite complexes have lower TiO₂ concentrations and moderate concentrations of alkalis and contain rock-forming amphibole. These rocks are accompanied by rudaceous terrigenous sediments, which suggests their origin in island-arc environments, including arcs with a significantly dissected topography. These complexes are accompanied by siliceous-terrigenous sedimentary sequences whose inner structure is close to those of sediments in accretionary wedges. The folded Caledonides of the Lake zone passed through the following evolutionary phases. The island arcs started to develop at 570 Ma, their evolution was associated with the emplacement of layered gabbroids and tonalitetrondhjemite massifs, and continued until the onset of accretion at 515–480 Ma. The accretion was accompanied by the emplacement of large massifs of the tonalite-granodiorite-plagiogranite series. The postaccretionary evolutionary phase at 470–440 Ma of the Caledonides was marked by intrusive subalkaline and alkaline magmatism. The Caledonides are characterized by within-plate magmatic activity throughout their whole evolutionary history, a fact explained by the accretion of Vendian-Cambrian oceanic structures (island arcs, oceanic islands, and back-arc basins) above a mantle hotspot. Indicators of within-plate magmatic activity are subalkaline high-Ti basalts, alkaline-ultrabasic complexes with carbonatites and massifs of subalkaline and alkaline gabbroids, nepheline syenites, alkaline granites, subalkaline granites, and granosyenites. The mantle hotspot likely continued to affect the character of the lithospheric magmatism even after the Caledonian folded terrane was formed.     

Noble gas composition of the solar wind as collected by the Genesis mission

We present the elemental and isotopic composition of noble gases in the bulk solar wind collected by the NASA Genesis sample return mission. He, Ne, and Ar were analyzed in diamond-like carbon on a silicon substrate (DOS) and ^84,86Kr and ^129,132Xe in silicon targets by UV laser ablation noble gas mass spectrometry. Solar wind noble gases are quantitatively retained in DOS and with exception of He also in Si as shown by a stepwise heating experiment on a flown DOS target and analyses on other bulk solar wind collector materials. Solar wind data presented here are absolutely calibrated and the error of the standard gas composition is included in stated uncertainties. The isotopic composition of the light noble gases in the bulk solar wind is as follows: ³He/⁴He: (4.64 ± 0.09) × 10⁻⁴, ²⁰Ne/²²Ne: 13.78 ± 0.03, ²¹Ne/²²Ne: 0.0329 ± 0.0001, ³⁶Ar/³⁸Ar 5.47 ± 0.01. The elemental composition is: ⁴He/²⁰Ne: 656 ± 5, and ²⁰Ne/³⁶Ar 42.1 ± 0.3. Genesis provided the first Kr and Xe data on the contemporary bulk solar wind. The preliminary isotope and elemental composition is: ⁸⁶Kr/⁸⁴Kr: 0.302 ± 0.003, ¹²⁹Xe/¹³²Xe: 1.05 ± 0.02, ³⁶Ar/⁸⁴Kr 2390 ± 150, and ⁸⁴Kr/¹³²Xe 9.5 ± 1.0. The ³He/⁴He and the ⁴He/²⁰Ne ratios in the Genesis DOS target are the highest solar wind values measured in exposed natural and artificial targets. The isotopic composition of the other noble gases and the Kr/Xe ratio obtained in this work agree with data from lunar samples containing “young” (∼100 Ma) solar wind, indicating that solar wind composition has not changed within at least the last 100 Ma. Genesis could provide in many cases more precise data on solar wind composition than any previous experiment. Because of the controlled exposure conditions, Genesis data are also less prone to unrecognized systematic errors than, e.g., lunar sample analyses. The solar wind is the most authentic sample of the solar composition of noble gases, however, the derivation of solar noble gas abundances and isotopic composition using solar wind data requires a better understanding of fractionation processes acting upon solar wind formation.     

Tin mineralization in the Dajing tin–polymetallic deposit, Inner Mongolia, China

Dajing is a large-scale tin–polymetallic deposit that hosts the largest tin mine in North China. It is a hydrothermal vein-type deposit containing Sn, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, and minor components Co and In. The deposit consists of more than 690 veins hosted within Upper Permian sedimentary rocks.Three mineralization stages and six ore types are recognized with cassiterite constituting the dominant tin mineral. The SnO₂ content of cassiterite increases in the sequence of mineralization stages shear-deformation→cassiterite–quartz→cassiterite–sulfide (or chalcopyrite–pyrite) stage, while the content of FeO, TiO₂, Nb₂O₅, Ta₂O₅, and In₂O₅ tends to decrease with increases in NiO and Ga₂O₅. It is considered that the negative correlation between SnO₂ and FeO, Nb₂O₅, Ta₂O₅, and In₂O₅ results from elemental substitutions. The early stage cassiterite is much richer in Ta and the later stage cassiterite is much poorer in Ti and Fe than is usual in hydrothermal vein type tin deposits. This is interpreted to indicate that the component of early stage cassiterite reflects a granitic magma source while the composition of later stage cassiterite has a more obvious strata source. The compositional variation of cassiterite corresponds to decreasing crystallization temperatures within each stage and between sequential stages with time. The characteristics of REE in cassiterite from two stages are in accord with that of subvolcanic rocks and the Linxi formation. It suggests that tin transported during the cassiterite–quartz stage may have originated from subvolcanic dikes (e.g., dacite porphyry), while in the cassiterite–sulfide stage, tin may have been derived from wallrock (e.g. siltstone) of the Upper Permian-age Linxi Formation.