The temperature dependent,infrared absorption cross-sections for the chlorofluorocarbons: CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-13, CFC-14, CFC-22, CFC-113, CFC-114, and CFC-115

The infrared absorption cross-sections for eight commonly used halogenated methanes and ethanes have been measured as a function of temperature from 203 to 293 K. High resolution spectra (0.03 cm^-1) have been used to derive integrated band strengths and peak cross-sections associated with the spectral features in the infrared region from 600 to 1500 cm^-2. The values obtained in this study are compared to those from previous reports, and recommendations are made for uses in atmospheric sensing and radiative energy transfer models. The observed temperature dependence in the spectral features is also discussed.     

Community ecology of the metazoan parasites of snoek Thyrsites atun (Euphrasen, 1791) (Perciformes: Gempylidae) off South Africa

The parasite assemblage of snoek Thyrsites atun, a commercially important fish in the Benguela system, was examined over a one-year period. In all, 16 parasite taxa including eight new host records (Bolbosoma vasculosum, Caligus coryphaenae, Caligus dakari, Corynosoma australe, Hatschekia conifera, Nothobomolochus fradei, Rhadinorhynchus cadenati, Tentacularia coryphaenae) and four new locality records (B. vasculosum, C. dakari, Molicola uncinatus, Pseudoterranova sp.) were recovered from 210 specimens. The dominance of larval helminths in the component community suggests that T. atun occupies an intermediate position in the food web. The ‘nestedness metric based on overlap and decreasing fill’ (NODF) indicated that the parasite assemblage exhibited no nestedness (NODF = 73.3, p = 0.103). Generalised additive mixed modelling results indicated that host length is the main determinant of parasite species richness in T. atun. PERMANOVA and ANOSIM suggested that infracommunity structure varied little with respect to the sex, length, seasonality and capture region of the host. The stability and randomness in parasite acquisition, as indicated by the lack of nestedness of the parasite assemblage, can be ascribed to the opportunistic feeding behaviour and nomadic movement of T. atun in the southern Benguela. The homogeneity of the community structure of long-lived endoparasites suggests that a single T. atun stock occurs off South Africa.     

New constraints on the pyroclastic eruptive history of the Campanian volcanic Plain (Italy)

Summary The ∼ 150 km³ (DRE) trachytic Campanian Ignimbrite, which is situated north-west of Naples, Italy, is one of the largest eruptions in the Mediterranean region in the last 200 ky. Despite centuries of investigation, the age and eruptive history of the Campanian Ignimbrite is still debated, as is the chronology of other significant volcanic events of the Campanian Plain within the last 200–300 ky. New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology defines the age of the Campanian Ignimbrite at 39.28 ± 0.11 ka, about 2 ky older than the previous best estimate. Based on the distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite and associated uppermost proximal lithic and polyclastic breccias, we suggest that the Campanian Ignimbrite magma was emitted from fissures activated along neotectonic Apennine faults rather than from ring fractures defining a Campi Flegrei caldera. Significantly, new volcanological, geochronological, and geochemical data distinguish previously unrecognized ignimbrite deposits in the Campanian Plain, accurately dated between 157 and 205 ka. These ages, coupled with a xenocrystic sanidine component > 315 ka, extend the volcanic history of this region by over 200 ky. Recent work also identifies a pyroclastic deposit, dated at 18.0 ka, outside of the topographic Campi Flegrei basin, expanding the spatial distribution of post-Campanian Ignimbrite deposits. These new discoveries emphasize the importance of continued investigation of the ages, distribution, volumes, and eruption dynamics of volcanic events associated with the Campanian Plain. Such information is critical for accurate assessment of the volcanic hazards associated with potentially large-volume explosive eruptions in close proximity to the densely populated Neapolitan region. Received August 1, 2000; accepted November 2, 2000     

The geochemistry of iodine in oxidised and reduced recent marine sediments

Surface sediments from the South West Africa shelf and the Gulf of California have been analysed for iodine and organic carbon. The iodine contents range from 96 to 1990 ppm. While iodine and organic carbon show certain anomalies on the South West Africa shelf, the trend of the $\text{I}\text{C}$ ratios is smooth and decreases from the shelf edge, an area of oxidising surface sediment, shorewards to reducing sediments, formed as a result of intense water upwelling. In the Gulf of California, a similar distribution of $\text{I}\text{C}$ ratios with surface sediment type occurs; lowest values occur in the reduced sediments and highest in oxidised sediments. Values of the $\text{I}\text{C}\text{(× 10}{}^4\text{)}$ ratio of the oxidised sediments (~250) are more than an order of magnitude higher than in reduced sediments, and are similar to some other surface oxidised sediments.The high I content of oxidised sediments is mostly due to uptake of I on to plankton seston on the seabed. In reduced sediments, I contained in planktonic matter originating in surface waters forms the bulk of iodine in the sediment.With sediment burial, oxidised sediments lose most of the iodine through degradation of unspecified organic constituents. This does not happen to the same extent in reduced sediments. The geological implications of these reactions are briefly discussed.     

La limite Pliocène-Pleistocène en Bretagne

The end of the Pliocene transgression is represented in Brittany, above sands and gravels, by clay or sandy clay containing an estuarian plankton and sometimes shells of molluses.
New borings at Pont-Rouz in Quemperven (Brittany) permit a biostratigraphical study, by means of pollen analysis, of the period corresponding to the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition. In the lower part of the deposit, rich in Ostrea shells, many floral element characteristics of the Reuver-clay are present: Sequoia, Taxodium, Sciadopitys , in relatively high percentages, Nyssa, Symplocos, Liquidambar , sporadically. The 'Tertiary' elements disappear in the upper part of the clay when other relicts like Tsuga, Pterocarya , and Carya are still present. Thus the Reuverian-Praetiglian boundary can be traced in the littoral sequence of Pont-Rouz. As in the Netherlands, the deterioration of the climate is clearly indicated by a sudden increase of Graminaceae pollen. A same evolution of the flora can be noticed at Mernel and Saint-Jean-la-Poterie, also in grey clay, along the river system of the Vilaine.
The Upper-Pliocene transgression has followed the same river system as the present one. The estuarian sediments lie in Brittany between 55 and 30 metres above zero NGF. The maximum of the transgression is situated in the Reuverian at La Salle, near Pont-Rouz, at 55 m (NGF). The post-Pliocene regression begins with the Praetiglian and continues in the Lower Pleistocene.     

Seismic evidence for preservation of the Archean Uchi granite–greenstone belt by crustal-scale extension

In the westernmost Superior Province of Canada, the east–west alignment of granite–greenstone belts and the adjacent, highly deformed gneiss belts led to the first proposals that plate tectonics existed before 2.5 Ga ago, with the belts thrust against one another by east–west-oriented subduction zones. Here, we present seismic reflection data, which demonstrate that in this region the present juxtaposition of the Uchi granite–greenstone belt and the North Caribou gneiss terrane occurred along a late southeast-dipping extensional shear zone that extends from the surface into the lower crust. The preservation of the Uchi belt and probably the English River metasedimentary belt is directly related to their dropping along extensional shear zones, which limited subsequent erosion. The relative lateral transport of these greenstone rocks implies that they were neither derived from the immediately underlying crust, nor preserved by vertical crustal movements as might occur in the absence of plate tectonics. Extension may have been associated with the emplacement of mantle-derived magmas at 2700 Ma, which has been linked to slab break-off or lithospheric delamination, making the extension approximately coeval with local gold mineralisation. Since crustal-scale faults can facilitate the circulation of gold-bearing fluids, we suggest that greenstone rocks preserved in the hanging walls of syn- to post-accretion extensional shear zones may preferentially host Archean lode-gold deposits. In the westernmost Superior Province, our seismic observations imply that some of the late structures in the well-developed belts defined by surface mapping arose through the collapse of a collage of laterally accreted terranes.     

Local thickening of the Cascadia forearc crust and the origin of seismic reflectors in the uppermost mantle

Seismic reflection profiles from three different surveys of the Cascadia forearc are interpreted using P wave velocities and relocated hypocentres, which were both derived from the first arrival travel time inversion of wide-angle seismic data and local earthquakes. The subduction decollement, which is characterized beneath the continental shelf by a reflection of 0.5 s duration, can be traced landward into a large duplex structure in the lower forearc crust near southern Vancouver Island. Beneath Vancouver Island, the roof thrust of the duplex is revealed by a 5–12 km thick zone, identified previously as the E reflectors, and the floor thrust is defined by a short duration reflection from a < 2-km-thick interface at the top of the subducting plate. We show that another zone of reflectors exists east of Vancouver Island that is approximately 8 km thick, and identified as the D reflectors. These overlie the E reflectors; together the two zones define the landward part of the duplex. The combined zones reach depths as great as 50 km. The duplex structure extends for more than 120 km perpendicular to the margin, has an along-strike extent of 80 km, and at depths between 30 km and 50 km the duplex structure correlates with a region of anomalously deep seismicity, where velocities are less than 7000 m s^− 1. We suggest that these relatively low velocities indicate the presence of either crustal rocks from the oceanic plate that have been underplated to the continent or crustal rocks from the forearc that have been transported downward by subduction erosion. The absence of seismicity from within the E reflectors implies that they are significantly weaker than the overlying crust, and the reflectors may be a zone of active ductile shear. In contrast, seismicity in parts of the D reflectors can be interpreted to mean that ductile shearing no longer occurs in the landward part of the duplex. Merging of the D and E reflectors at 42–46 km depth creates reflectivity in the uppermost mantle with a vertical thickness of at least 15 km. We suggest that pervasive reflectivity in the upper mantle elsewhere beneath Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia arises from similar shear zones.     

Geochemistry of ferromanganese nodules from DOMES site a,Northern Equatorial Pacific: Multiple diagenetic metal sources in the deep sea

The major and minor element composition of ferromanganese nodules from DOMES Site A has been determined by X-ray fluorescence methods. Three phases appear to control the bulk compositions: Mn and Fe oxyhydroxides and aluminosilicates. Relatively wide compositional variations are evident throughout the area. Nodules with high Mn/Fe ratios, high Cu, Mg, Mo, Ni and Zn concentrations and high todorokite/δ-MnO₂ ratios have granular surface textures and are confined to an east-west trending depression with thin Quaternary sediment cover. Nodules with low Mn/Fe ratios, high concentrations of As, Ca, Ce, Co, La, P, Sr, Ti, V, Y and Zr and low todorokite/δ-MnO₂ ratios have smooth surfaces and are confined to shallower areas with relatively thick Quaternary sediment to the north and south of the depression.All nodules in the area have compositions which are influenced by diagenesis, but those with the most marked diagenetic signature (high Mn/Fe and Cu/Ni ratios, low Ce/La ratios and more todorokite) are found in areas of very slow or non-existent sedimentation; many of these nodules are actually in contact with outcropping Tertiary sediment. This paradox may be resolved by postulating, by analogy with some shallow-water occurrences, that the nodules accrete from bottom waters which have enhanced particulate and dissolved metal contents derived from diagenetic reaction in areas remote from the site of nodule formation. The metals are supplied in a bottom flow (probably Antarctic Bottom Water) which also erodes, or prevents modern sedimentation in, the depression. Nodules on the flanks of the depression are not evidently affected by this flow and derive at least pan of their constituent metals from diagenetic reaction in the underlying Quaternary sediment.Apparently, abyssal diagenetic nodules can have an immediate and a remote diagenetic metal source. Metal fluxes derived from pore water dissolved metal gradients may not be relevant to particular accreting nodules if a significant fraction of their metals is derived from outside the area in which they form.     

Further studies of the nature,composition and ages of contemporary phosphorite from the Namibian Shelf

Major and minor element and radiochemical data are examined for a set of phosphorite concretions and other phosphatic material from the Namibian Shelf. The concretions were separated on a morphological basis from grab samples taken in a transect of shallowing depth over the diatomaceous ooze belt. Compositional data indicate that the samples are fairly pure carbonate-fluorapatite, and trend towards a maximum 32% P₂O₅ content. A range of compositional variability similar to other samples from the Namibian Shelf is observed.Radiochemical systematics confirm that pelletal phosphorite and glauconitized pelletal phosphorite from depths > 170 m are at radioactive equilibrium, and are therefore old and reworked. The concretions, collected from depths shallower than 78 m, are entirely Recent, with maximum ages in the range 500–3800 years. They may be much younger. Despite distinct textural and small compositional differences, similar ages are found for separates from the same grab. Samples of fish scales and an unidentified high-magnesian phosphate mineral are also shown to have incorporated uranium recently.