Floodfan sedimentation and gravitational anomalies in the Salar de Punta Negra,Northern Chile

The Upper Tertiary inter-andean tectonic trough of the Salar de Punta Negra is being filled mainly through sporadic flash-floods by denudation products from the East (Andes). Borehole records up to 430 m deep suggest depositional conditions similar to the actual ones.Block tectonic movements with N-S and NNE-SSW directions from Upper Tertiary through Pleistocene affected the normal morphology of the fans.Gravity survey has corfirmed a tectonic origin of the basin. East of the Salar, a buried graben with an alluvial fill of 550–750 m thickness was found, which may contain a groundwater reservoir.

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Zusammenfassung Der jungtertiäre intra-andine Graben des Salars Punta Negra wurde durch sporadische Flutfächer vorwiegend aus dem Osten (Hochkordillere) gefüllt. Bohrungen bis 430 m Tiefe zeigen ähnliche Fanglomerate, wie sie heute entstehen.Verwerfungen mit N-S- und NNE-SSW-Richtungen zwischen Jungtertiär und Pleistozän beeinflussen die Morphologie der Schuttfächer.Gravimetrische Messungen ergaben, daß die Depression tektonisch angelegt ist. Östlich des heutigen Salars liegt ein verschütteter Graben mit einer alluvialen Füllung von mindestens 550–750 m Dicke. Hier könnte ein Grundwasser-Reservoir liegen.

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Resumen El graben intra-andino del Salar de Punta Negra de edad Terciario Superior ha sido esporádicamente rellenado por conos aluviales. Estos vienen principalmente del este desde la Alta Cordillera. Perforaciones que han llegado hasta 430 m de profundidad muestran fanglomerados semejantes a los que se forman actualmente.Una tectónica de bloques de dirección N-S y NNE-SSW entre el Terciario Superior y el Pleistoceno afectan la morfología de los conos aluviales.Mediciones gravimétricas permiten concluir que la depresión tiene origen tectónico. Al oriente del Salar aparece un graben relleno de materiales aluviales con una potencia entre 550–750 m. Este graben puede contener acuíferos profundos de utilidad local.

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Résumé Le graben intra-andin Cénozoïque Supérieur du Salar de Punta Negra se comble par des courants torrentueux sporadiques de produits de dénudation venant surtout de l'Est (Haute Cordillère). Des forages atteignant 430 m de profondeur suggèrent des conditions de dépôt similaires aux actuelles.Des failles N-S et NNE-SSW actives depuis le Cénozoïque Supérieur jusqu'au Pléistocène ont affecté la morphologie des cônes de déjection.Les mesures gravimétriques confirment l'origine tectonique du bassin de Punta Negra. A l'Est du Salar est situé un graben totalement enfoui de dépôts alluviaux d'une puissance d'environ 550–750 m, où des nappes aquifères exploitables sont susceptibles d'exister à grande profondeur.

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- Salars Punta Negra , . 430 , . - -- — -- . , , . Salars , 550–750 . .

     

Metasedimentary “graben” and associated structures in the lagoonal Almere Member (Groningen Formation,The Netherlands)

The lagoonal Almere Member (Holocene) has a high silt content over large areas, which favours the formation of numerous meta- and postsedimentary features. A graben-like structure is described for the first time and the name “gravifossum” is proposed. A similar structure has also been observed in comparable sediments in northern France.Processes, leading to meta- and postsedimentary structures, are supposed to have interacted.     

Mid-tertiary igneous activity in east Greenland — The Kialineq complex

The igneous rocks of the Kialineq area on the East Greenland coast at 67 ° N comprise, gabbro, acid-basic breccia and net-vein complexes, syenite and granite and minor volcanics. Rb-Sr whole-rock and mineral isochrons for the epizonal syenites, granites and acid-basic complexes indicate a consanguineous mantle origin at 35±2 m.y. B.P. in agreement with the age obtained by K-Ar dating of biotites and hornblendes. This igneous activity may be associated with major reorganisation of plate geometry in the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans at this time.     

Paleomagnetism of the triassic chugwater redbeds revisited (Wyoming, U.S.A.)

Paleomagnetic results from 107 samples of the Chugwater Group near Lander, Wyoming, show a regular progression in pole positions from bottom to top of the sequence. This pole position trend of about 25° matches very well the North American apparent polar wander path between Early Permian and Early Triassic. It could be argued that this “agreement” results in a conflict between the apparent magnetic age (Permian) and the Early to Late Triassic age generally assigned to the Chugwater Group. However, similar progressions of paleomagnetic pole positions have been reported for the Early Triassic Moenkopi Formation in Colorado; thus it appears that long-term variations and swings characterized the geomagnetic field at that time. With detailed paleomagnetic sampling, these features can be utilized for stratigraphic correlation in addition to magnetic-reversal stratigraphy. This will eliminate, to some degree, part of the non-uniqueness inherently present in correlations based on reversal stratigraphy only.     

Search for purines and pyrimidines in the Murchison meteorite

A 1 g interior sample of the Murchison CII meteorite was examined for the presence of purines and pyrimidines by dual-column, ion-exclusion chromatography and ultraviolet spectroscopy. Xanthine, not previously reported in meteorites, was found to be the major purine liberated by extraction with formic acid, with a concentration corresponding to 2.3 μg/g of meteorite. Guanine (0.1 ppm) and hypoxanthine (0.04 ppm) were also tentatively identified. The presence of adenine could not be confirmed. No pyrimidines were detected at concentrations higher than the background level (0.01 ppm) in water, formic acid or strong acid extracts. Silylation of the water extract, however, resulted in the appearance of 4-hydroxypyrimidine, 4-hydroxy-2-methylpyrimidine and 4-hydroxy-6-methylpyrimidine. These compounds are-though to be formed during the silylation procedure from contaminants present in the reagent.     

Thermochemical remanent magnetization in Jurassic silicic volcanics from Nevada,U.S.A.

Characteristic magnetizations from Middle Jurassic dacitic to andesitic subaerial volcanics (the Fulstone and Artesia Formations) in the Buckskin Mountain Range, western central Basin and Range Province, are well-grouped, generally display univectorial decays to the origin in demagnetization and have hematite blocking temperatures restricted almost entirely to above 620°C. Petrographic, rock magnetic and electron microprobe investigations confirm that nearly pure hematite is the essential magnetic phase (up to about 10 vol. %) occurring as a replacement of coarse titaniferous magnetite phenocrysts and fine groundmass particles, as a secondary alteration product of ferromagnesian phenocrysts and as a mobilized phase filling cracks and other open spaces. The presence of antipodal directions in each flow unit and in interbedded volcanoclastic units (some having retained magnetite as a major magnetic phase) and magnetite-dominated remanences in time-equivalent intrusives cutting the flows indicates that the volcanics acquired their hematite remanence, a faithful record of the geomagnetic field, in high-temperature, deuteric oxidation during and following their emplacement, not during a later thermal event such as regional metamorphism. The remanence is probably a thermochemical remanent magnetization, although part may be of thermoremanent origin.     

Paleomagnetic and rock magnetic results from the Twin Creek Formation (Middle Jurassic), Wyoming

A magnetization which passes the fold test has been observed in 73 limestone samples (10 sites) from the Middle Jurassic Twin Creek Formation. The pole calculated from the site mean poles is located at 68.4°N, 145.0°E (K = 31.8,A₉₅ = 8.7°). This pole lies in a segment of the North American apparent polar wander (APW) path for which there are only a few reliable poles in the literature. The results corroborate earlier studies which conclude that the Jurassic segment of the APW path does not include the present north pole. However, the position of the Twin Creek pole suggests that significantly more APW took place prior to the late Jurassic than previous studies indicated.