Patterns of sediment composition of Jamaican fringing reef facies

Recent carbonate sediments from Jamaican north coast fringing reefs were collected along three parallel traverses in the vicinity of Discovery Bay. Each traverse extended from near shore across the back reef, reef crest, and fore reef to a depth of 75 m. Relative abundances of the biotic constituents vary between sites, reflecting general patterns of reef community composition. The sediment is dominated by highly comminuted coral fragments (27·1% to 63·1%), plates of the calcareous green alga Halimeda (0·4% to 38·7%), coralline algae (4·7% to 16·2%) and the encrusting foraminiferan Homotrema rubrum (0·7% to 9·5%), with lesser amounts of other taxonomic groups (non-encrusting foraminifera 1·3–5·5%; molluscs 1·4–7·0%; echinoderms 0·9–5·0%). Coral fragments, coralline algae and particles of Homotrema rubrum dominate the sediments of the shallow portions of the fore reef (5–15 m), whereas plates of Halimeda are most abundant in sediments from the back reef and deeper portions of the fore reef ( 24 m). Q-mode cluster analysis, using sediment constituent data, resulted in the delineation of four reef biofacies over the depth range of this study (1–75 m).     

RECOGNITION OF A BIOFILM AT THE SEDIMENT–WATER INTERFACE OF AN ACID MINE DRAINAGE-CONTAMINATED STREAM,AND ITS ROLE IN CONTROLLING IRON FLUX

Material collected over a month on plates attached to the bed of the Afon Goch, Anglesey, a stream highly contaminated by acid mine drainage (AMD), was either examined intact by electron microscopy or suspended and cultured to reveal the presence of microbiota. Certain of the aerobic microbiota were identified, the genus Pseudomonas formed the commonest isolate and cultures of Serratia plymuthica were grown in order to compare the biofilms formed with the material collected in the Afon Goch. The material at the sediment–water interface of the Afon Goch was of similar underlying morphology to that of the cultured biofilms. However, the former had a superficial granular coating of equidimensional (60–100 nm) and evenly spaced iron rich particles (determined by X-ray microanalysis). The sediment–water interface of this AMD-contaminated stream is therefore best described as a highly contaminated biofilm. Evidence from previous work suggests that the streambed is active in iron removal from the water column. The intimate association of iron with microbiota at the streambed, therefore, implies that iron flux prediction may not be possible from physical and chemical data alone but requires knowledge of biofilm physiology and ecology. Microbially mediated metal precipitation, both by single bacteria and by biofilms, has been reported elsewhere but mass balance considerations suggest that this explanation cannot hold good for the large amounts of iron hydroxide depositing from waters of the prevalent pH and redox status. Filtered stream water analyses indicate the presence of colloidal iron hydroxide and also its removal downstream where ochreous (iron hydroxide rich) material accumulates. The process of iron immobilization is likely to be the attraction and physical trapping of colloidal iron hydroxide by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) which constitute the matrix of biofilms. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enriched End-member of Primitive MORB Melts: Petrology and Geochemistry of Glasses from Macquarie Island (SW Pacific)

Macquarie Island is an exposure above sea-level of part of thecrest of the Macquarie Ridge. The ridge marks the Australia–Pacificplate boundary south of New Zealand, where the plate boundaryhas evolved progressively since Eocene times from an oceanicspreading system into a system of long transform faults linkedby short spreading segments, and currently into a right-lateralstrike-slip plate boundary. The rocks of Macquarie Island wereformed during spreading at this plate boundary in Miocene times,and include intrusive rocks (mantle and cumulate peridotites,gabbros, sheeted dolerite dyke complexes), volcanic rocks (N-to E-MORB pillow lavas, picrites, breccias, hyaloclastites),and associated sediments. A set of Macquarie Island basalticglasses has been analysed by electron microprobe for major elements,S, Cl and F; by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy forH₂O; by laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma massspectrometry for trace elements; and by secondary ion mass spectrometryfor Sr, Nd and Pb isotopes. An outstanding compositional featureof the data set (47·4–51·1 wt % SiO₂, 5·65–8·75wt % MgO) is the broad range of K₂O (0·1–1·8wt %) and the strong positive covariation of K₂O with otherincompatible minor and trace elements (e.g. TiO₂ 0·97–2·1%;Na₂O 2·4–4·3%; P₂O₅ 0·08–0·7%;H₂O 0·25–1·5%; La 4·3–46·6ppm). The extent of enrichment in incompatible elements in glassescorrelates positively with isotopic ratios of Sr (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr= 0·70255–0·70275) and Pb (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb =18·951–19·493; ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15·528–15·589;²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 38·523–38·979), and negativelywith Nd (¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd = 0·51310–0·51304).Macquarie Island basaltic glasses are divided into two compositionalgroups according to their mg-number–K₂O relationships.Near-primitive basaltic glasses (Group I) have the highest mg-number(63–69), and high Al₂O₃ and CaO contents at a given K₂Ocontent, and carry microphenocrysts of primitive olivine (Fo_86–89·5).Their bulk compositions are used to calculate primary melt compositionsin equilibrium with the most magnesian Macquarie Island olivines(Fo_90·5). Fractionated, Group II, basaltic glasses aresaturated with olivine + plagioclase ± clinopyroxene,and have lower mg-number (57–67), and relatively low Al₂O₃and CaO contents. Group I glasses define a seriate variationwithin the compositional spectrum of MORB, and extend the compositionalrange from N-MORB compositions to enriched compositions thatrepresent a new primitive enriched MORB end-member. Comparedwith N-MORB, this new end-member is characterized by relativelylow contents of MgO, FeO, SiO₂ and CaO, coupled with high contentsof Al₂O₃, TiO₂, Na₂O, P₂O₅, K₂O and incompatible trace elements,and has the most radiogenic Sr and Pb regional isotope composition.These unusual melt compositions could have been generated bylow-degree partial melting of an enriched mantle peridotitesource, and were erupted without significant mixing with commonN-MORB magmas. The mantle in the Macquarie Island region musthave been enriched and heterogeneous on a very fine scale. Wesuggest that the mantle enrichment implicated in this studyis more likely to be a regional signature that is shared bythe Balleny Islands magmatism than directly related to the hypotheticalBalleny plume itself. KEY WORDS: mid-ocean ridge basalts; Macquarie Island; glass; petrology; geochemistry     

The early diagenetic origin of Lower Carboniferous mottled limestones (pseudobreccias)

Dark mottles are a prominent and widespread feature of the regressive, cyclic, shallow marine limestones which form the late Asbian succession in many parts of Britain. The colour difference which defines mottles in outcrop is caused by distinct but often subtle petrographic differences in the limestone fabric. Specifically, mottles contain a light brown coloured opaque inclusion-rich calcite spar with characteristic dull brown luminescence; ‘mottle spar’. Outside mottle margins this calcite spar is absent, with clear inequant blocky cements forming the pore filling phase. ‘Mottle spar’ comprises a fabric of irregular crystals predominantly 5–40 μm in diameter, with more regular crystals up to 100 μm diameter often occurring in intraparticle and large interparticle pores. Under cathodoluminescence, ‘mottle spar’ displays crystal morphologies and growth patterns which indicate that both localized neomorphism and patchy cementation contributed to mottle formation. Cathodoluminescence cement stratigraphy shows that ‘mottle spar’ pre-dates all other major pore filling cements in the local Asbian succession, but post-dates marine micritization. ‘Mottle spar’ sharply defines the moulds of former aragonitic allochems which are now filled by the later clear, inequant spar cements. This shows that aragonite dissolution occurred after the formation of ‘mottle spar’. Mottles in calcretes contain unaltered allochems which have been protected from the effects of subaerial micritization by ‘mottle spar’, although mottles are often affected by subaerial brecciation. This evidence shows that mottles formed during early diagenesis; after marine micritization, but before dissolution of aragonite, subaerial exposure and meteoritic phreatic cementation. Mottles represented lithified patches of very low porosity which are interpreted to have formed in the marine/freshwater mixing zone, during the repeated phases of regression and emergence in the late Asbian.     

Magma Evolution and Open-System Processes at Shiveluch Volcano: Insights from Phenocryst Zoning

Phenocryst zoning patterns are used to identify open-systemmagmatic processes in the products of the 2001 eruption of ShiveluchVolcano, Kamchatka. The lavas and pumices studied are hornblende–plagioclaseandesites with average pre-eruptive temperatures of 840°Cand fO₂ of 1·5–2·1 log units above nickel–nickeloxide (NNO). Plagioclase zoning includes oscillatory and patchyzonation and sieve textures. Hornblendes are commonly unzoned,but some show simple, multiple or patchy zoning. Apatite microphenocrystsdisplay normal and reverse zoning of sulphur. The textural similarityof patchy hornblende and plagioclase, together with Ba–Srsystematics in patchy plagioclase, indicate that the cores ofthese crystals were derived from cumulate material. Plagioclase–liquidequilibria suggest that the patchy texture develops by resorptionduring H₂O-undersaturated decompression. When H₂O-saturatedcrystallization recommences at lower pressure, reduced pH₂Oresults in lower X_An in plagioclase, causing more Al-rich hornblendeto crystallize. Plagioclase cores with diffuse oscillatory zoning,and unzoned hornblende crystals, probably represent a populationof crystals resident in the magma chamber for long periods oftime. In contrast, oscillatory zoning in the rims of plagioclasephenocrysts may reflect eruption dynamics during decompressioncrystallization. Increasing Fe/Al in oscillatory zoned rimssuggests oxidation as a result of degassing of H₂O during decompression.A general lack of textural overlap between phenocryst typessuggests that different phenocryst populations were spatiallyor temporally isolated during crystallization. We present evidencethat the host andesite has mixed with both more felsic and moremafic magmas. Olivine and orthopyroxene xenocrysts with reactionor overgrowth rims and strong normal zoning indicate mixingwith basalt. Sieve-textured plagioclase resulted from mixingof a more felsic magma with the host andesite. The mineralogyand mineral compositions of a mafic andesite enclave are identicalto those of the host magma, which implies efficient thermalquenching, and thus small volumes of intruding magma. Mixingof this magma with the host andesite results in phenocryst zoningbecause of differences in dissolved volatile contents. We suggestthat small magma pulses differentiated at depth and ascendedintermittently into the growing magma chamber, producing incrementalvariations in whole-rock compositions. KEY WORDS: patchy zoning; magma mixing; Shiveluch     

Three modelling approaches for seasonal streamflow droughts in southern Africa: the use of censored data

Abstract

Three approaches to modelling the duration of streamflow droughts at eight southern African sites are considered; a non-parametric method (that of Kaplan-Meier) is compared with the fitting of two simple parametric models: the exponential and Weibull. All techniques allow the instantaneous probability of a drought coming to an end to differ between wet and dry seasons, using the concept of censored data. Model-fitting is discussed, and the Kaplan-Meier estimates permit an assessment of the fit of the parametric models, with the aim of finding a parsimonious model for the data, which can be used for predictive purposes. In most cases considered herein, either the exponential or Weibull approach is found to be adequate.     

Using Contents Addressable Filestore for rapid access to a large cartographic data set†

Abstract

The need for rapid access to large amounts of data is one of the central problems in the field of geographical information systems. This paper describes the use of a hardware solution to this problem, in the particular case of selecting digitized boundary data from a very large file. The hardware is International Computers'(ICL's) award winning Contents Addressable Filestore (CAFS) which is a special unit fitted to ICL disc drives allowing the fast selection of records from large files. By reformatting the boundary data, it was possible to perform searches using CAFS. A command-driven package was written to allow users to select the boundaries for any named zone or zones, display them on a graphics terminal and write them out in a format suitable for input to the GIMMS package. This package was tested on a file containing the boundaries of all the wards of Great Britain. After reformatting, this file was 6 Mbytes in size, but by means of CAFS could be searched interactively with response times of the order of 5-10 seconds.     

Modelling the temporal element in land information systems

Abstract

This paper considers the use of a modern programming language (Modula-2) to develop a data model for a lot-based land information system. The emphasis is on the importance of maintaining the history of the lots, and a data model is developed which incorporates the history of each lot.