Uranium in metamorphic rocks

The distribution of U has been studied in two metamorphic rock-series with a gradient of regional metamorphism. One series ranges from the lowest greenschist to amphibolite facies and the other one shows increasing metamorphic grade from amphibolite to granulite facies. Several medium and high pressure granulitic inclusions from alkali basalts were also analyzed. The abundances of U in the rocks do not appear to be affected by metamorphism below the granulite facies grade. Granulites are depleted in U in comparison with equivalent rocks of amphibolite facies grade. There are also differences in their U distribution, as the bulk of U in amphibolite facies rocks is located along the fractures and cleavage planes of ferro-magnesian minerals and in U-rich accessories, while in granulites, most of the U resides in accessory minerals. It seems that the depletion of U in granulites is due to a loss of U which is not located in accessory minerals or in the crystal structure of rock-forming minerals and may also be related to a migration of hydrous fluids, perhaps during dehydration.     

Die ausseralpine Taphrogenese im kaledonisch-variszisch konsolidierten sardischen Vorlande

Zusammenfassung Ein großer Graben teilt das sardische Vorland von Norden nach Süden, wobei nur der Osthorst (Gennargentu) vollständig, jedoch zersplittert, stehengeblieben ist. Vom Westhorst dagegen ragen nur einige Bruchstücke (Iglesiente, Nurra) vom Meer empor. Viele Seitengräben zweigen vom Hauptgraben ab, so daß die Verstellung der getroffenen Schollen ein asymmetrisches Bild der kratonischen Tektonik hervorgerufen hat.Die Grabenfüllung ist hauptsächlich durch Vulkanite erfolgt; die Sedimente spielen nur eine untergeordnete Rolle. Die Eruptionen beginnen mit dem Oligozän und enden mit dem Pleistozän. Eine Trennung in zwei Zyklen (vorhelvetisch bzw. nachtortonisch) gilt für Südsardinien nicht, weil hier submarine Explosionen (Diatremen) und Tuffiteinschaltungen auch während der mittelmiozänen Transgression vorgekommen sind.Geochemisch gehören die Vulkanite der Kalkalkalireihe, jedoch mit atlantischen und mediterranen Tendenzen. Wenn man eine lokale Aufschmelzung des unteren Sockels des sardischen Kratons annimmt, kann man eine palingenetische Abstammung der tertiären Liparite von variszischen Graniten verstehen.Die Bruchlinien bei der taphrogenetischen Deformation unseres alten Vorlandes lassen zwei dominierende Richtungen erkennen: Südost-Nordwest in Südsardinien (Campidano), Nordost-Südwest in Nordsardinien (Tirsograben und Logudoro). Im Rahmen der Strukturelemente des westlichen Mittelmeeres kann man auch eine horizontale Schollenverschiebung (eine Art Epirophorese im Kleinen!) für Sardinien annehmen, und zwar eine relative Bewegung des Iglesiente in Südost-Richtung, d.h. parallel der großen Abschwenkung des Balearenbogens.

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A great Graben cuts the Sardic Foreland. Its Eastern lip is preserved in a fractured state, the Western rim subsidized to a great extent. Side-grabens diverge from the rift asymmetrically. The Graben-fill consists mainly of igneous material of Oligocene to Recent age. Maindirections of taphrogenesis are NW (in the S-portion) and NE in Northern Sardinia. Locally lateral movements are suspected.

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Résumé Un grand graben divise l'avant-pays sarde du Nord au Sud; seul le horst oriental (Gennargentu) est resté tout à fait en place bien que fracturé. Du horst occidental seuls quelques blocs (Iglesiente, Nurra) émergent de la mer. De nombreux graben latéraux bifurquent à partir du graben principal, de sorte que le déplacement des blocs a entraîné une disposition asymétrique de la tectonique cratonique.Le remplissage du graben s'est fait essentiellement par des volcanites; les sédiments n'occupent qu'une place secondaire. Les éruptions débutent à l'Oligocène et se terminent au Pléistocène. Une division en 2 cycles (préhelvétique et posttortonique) ne s'applique pas à la Sardaigne du Sud, car ici des explosions sous-marines (Diatremes) et des intercalations de tuffites sont également intervenues durant la transgression du Miocène moyen.Du point de vue géochimique les volcanites appartiennent à la série calcoalcaline avec cependant une tendance atlantique et méditerranéenne. En admettant une fusion locale du socle inférieur du craton sarde, on comprend alors la dérivation palingénétique des liparites tertiaires à partir des granites varisques.Les lignes de fracture liées à la déformation taphrogénétique de notre ancien avant-pays montrent deux directions dominantes: SE-NW en Sardaigne méridionale (Campidano), NE-SW en Sardaigne septentrionale (graben du Tirso et de Logudoro). Dans le cadre des éléments structuraux de la Méditerranée occidentale on peut également admettre en Sardaigne un déplacement horizontal des compartiments (du genre épirophorèse en petit!), à savoir un déplacement relatif d'Iglesiente vers le sud-est, c'est-à-dire parallèlement au grand décalage de l'arc des Baléares.

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Riassunto Una geoanticlinale emergente dal centro del Mediterraneo occidentale formava l'Avampaese Sardo durante il Mesozoico.Questa dorsale, già consolidata con le orogenesi caledonica ed ercinica, poi peneplanata e solo in parte invasa da mari epicontinentali, dopo aver subito ampie oscillazioni, è stata alla fine ridotta in frammenti da una tettonica disgiuntiva terziaria.I pilastri, residui dello sbloccamento, formano il caratteristico rilievo attuale di media montagna (tipo Gennargentu), isolato da depressioni a sviluppo ed orientamento ineguali, convergenti verso una zona a direzione meridiana. Questa è la fossa principale del Sistema («fossa tettonica sarda» per eccellenza, fra il Golfo dell'Asinara a N e quello di Cagliari a S).In questa grande fossa la pianura del Campidano, nella Sardegna meridionale, non è che la depressione attuale, risultante dallo spostamento dell'asse di maggior sprofondamento, tuttora in via di assetto.D'altra parte, parecchie «fosse laterali», minori, penetrando nell'antico massiccio, hanno staccato dallo stesso altrettante schegge. Lo sbandamento di questi frammenti dei pilastri tettonici conferisce alle fosse una asimmetria caratteristica, specialmente evidente dalla Valle del Tirso al Golfo dell'Asinara.Lo sprofondamento delle fosse tettoniche è stato accompagnato da un vulcanismo a intensità decrescente dall'Oligocene al Plistocene.La distinzione in due cicli (pre-elveziano, rispettivamente post-tortoniano) non è valida per la Sardegna meridionale, dove (Marmilla e Campidano) le manifestazioni vulcaniche (diatremi e intercalazioni di tufiti) sono continuate anche durante l'invasione marina del Miocene medio.Nella colmata delle fosse tettoniche prevalgono le vulcaniti sui sedimenti; tra le lave prevalgono quelle acide sulle basiche, talvolta in alternanza fra loro.Dalle discordanze tra le varie fasi eruttive e dalle intercalazioni lacustri fra le stesse risulta che entro le fosse tettoniche sono awenute dislocazioni secondarie per piegamento.Dal punto di vista geochimico le lave appartengono alla serie alcalicalcica con tendenze verso le serie alcaline (atlantica e mediterranea). Se si ammette peró una parziale fusione della base granitica del cratone formante l'Avampaese Sardo, il vulcanismo delle nostre fosse tettoniche potrebbe essere un riflesso di oscuri rapporti fra palingenesi e tafrogenesi.In fine, nel tentativo di inserire le dislocazioni disgiuntive, che hanno colpito durante il Terziario l'Avampaese Sardo, si potrà forse riconoscere anche una traslazione orizzontale di zolle (epiroforesi) ed in particolare uno spostamento in blocco dell'Iglesiente, al di qua della fossa tettonica del Campidano, in direzione concordante con la grande deviazione verso Sud-est dell'arco delle Isole Baleari.

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A parameterization of radiative fluxes suitable for use in a statistical-dynamical model

Summary A parameterization of shortwave and longwave radiation fluxes derived from detailed radiative transfer models is included in a global primitive equation statistical-dynamical model (SDM) with two bulk atmospheric layers. The model is validated comparing the model simulations with the observed mean annual and seasonal zonally averaged climate. The results show that the simulation of the shortwave and longwave radiation fluxes matches well with the observations. The SDM variables such as surface and 500 hPa temperatures, zonal winds at 250 hPa and 750 hPa, vertical velocity at 500 hPa and precipitation are also in good agreement with the observations. A comparison between the results obtained with the present SDM and those with the previous version of the model indicates that the model results improved when the parameterization of the radiative fluxes based on detailed radiative transfer models are included into the SDM.The SDM is used to investigate its response to the greenhouse effect. Sensitivity experiments regarding the doubling of CO₂ and the changing of the cloud amount and height are performed. In the case 2×CO₂ the model results are consistent with those obtained from GCMs, showing a warming of the climate system. An enhancement of the greenhouse effect is also noted when the cloud layer is higher. However, an increase of the cloud amount in all the latitude belts provokes an increase of the surface temperature near poles and a decrease in all the other regions. This suggests that the greenhouse effect overcomes the albedo effect in the polar latitudes and the opposite occurs in other regions. In all the experiments the changes in the surface temperature are larger near poles, mainly in the Southern Hemisphere.With 8 Figures     

Uranium in spinel peridotite inclusions in basalts from Sardinia

The uranium distribution in spinel peridotite inclusions and their host basalt from Sardinia, Italy, was determined by fission-track mapping. Whole-rock U concentrations range from 14 to 55 ppb. Although the partitioning of U among major silicate phases of the inclusions — olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene — remains roughly constant, the U content in the minerals is highly variable, e.g. ranging from 27 ppb to 177 ppb in clinopyroxene. The U variation in the minerals shows no apparent correlation with their major element chemistry. Liquid which equilibrated with the assemblages of inclusions with high U content, had U concentrations higher than those found in basaltic rocks. It is suggested that the inclusions were contaminated with a phase strongly enriched in U and subsequently recrystallized. The available data show that spinel peridotite inclusions of basaltic rocks frequently have complex multistage evolution and thus cannot provide a representative picture of the upper mantle radioactivity.     

Compressed sensing for next generation instruments

This document discusses the possibility of using compressed sensing techniques for measuring 2D spectro‐polarimetric information using only one etalon and a broad prefilter. Instead of using an etalon and an extremely narrow prefilter (with all the subsequent problems of alignment), the idea is to use multiplexing techniques to include in the observations all the secondary peaks of the etalon. The reconstruction of the signal is done under the assumption that it can be efficiently reproduced in an orthogonal basis set (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Are assemblages of the fireworm Hermodice carunculata enhanced in sediments beneath offshore fish cages?

Abundances of the fireworm Hermodice carunculata were counted through a monitoring assessment study of fish cages in Barranco Hondo（NE Tenerife）. Seven campaigns were conducted from November 2007 to June 2010 and temporal variations were found, as well as differences among sampling stations. The polychaete H. carunculata obtained its highest abundance in sediments beneath fish cages throughout the study period. Thus, the assemblages of this omnivorous species were favoured by the presence of fish cages.     

Building a 3D geomodel for water resources management: case study in the Regional Park of the lower courses of Manzanares and Jarama Rivers (Madrid, Spain)

Water resources management of protected sites requires a powerful tool to analyze the process and changes that are occurring in the environment. This paper describes a 3D geomodel design of the Jarama River Detrital Aquifer located in Madrid (Spain). That hydrogeological unit is included in the “Parque Regional de los Cursos Bajos de los Ríos Manzanares y Jarama” (Regional Park of the Lower Courses of Manzanares and Jarama Rivers). The goal of this work is to define a method by which a three-dimensional (3D) model can be created with hydrogeologic geometry real of main aquifer, to accomplish an adequate management of the groundwater resources. All data used in this study were integrated in a geographic database: geological and hydrogeological information, geological map (1:25,000), eleven cross-sections, piezometric maps and a digital elevation model. The constructed 3D model of the Jarama Aquifer shows geometric features and spatial distribution and variations of geologic units. Thus, the 3D model allows the assessment of volumes of each unit, the depth and thickness variations of the main aquifer, and the spatial and temporal variations of water tables. From the 3D model, the most suitable areas (in terms of groundwater protection) for managed recharge and mining works have been identified.     

High-resolution seismic stratigraphy of the late Neogene of the central sector of the Colombian Pacific continental shelf: A seismic expression of an active continental margin

The sedimentary prism of the central Pacific continental shelf of Colombia was affected by regional folding and faulting, and probably later mud diapirism, from the Late Miocene to the Holocene. Interpretation of high-resolution seismic lines (2 s/dt) revealed that the prism consists of 13 high-resolution seismic units, that can be separated into 5 seismic groups.Deposition of the prism and the associated stacking pattern, are probably the response to variable uplift and subsidence in a fore-arc basin that underwent important tectonic events by the end of the Miocene. Throughout the Pliocene, the continental shelf sedimentation was affected by the growing of a dome structure probable due to mud diapirism. This fact caused peripheral faults both normal and reverse that controlled the distribution of some of the seismic units. During the Late Pleistocene (Wisconsin stage?) a eustatic sea level fall caused the shoreline to advance about 50 km westward of its present position. Because of this eustatic sea level change, a strong fluvial dissection took place and is interpreted as the probable extension of the San Juan River to the south of the present day river mouth. Within this framework it is believed that the Malaga and Buenaventura Bays were the passageways of branches of the old drainage system of the San Juan River. The inner branch circulated through the present Buenaventura Bay and runs southward leaving the mark of an apparent valley identified in the seismic information in the eastern sector of the study area. This old fluvial valley and its filling material located in the present day inner continental shelf front of Buenaventura are postulated as important targets to find placer minerals such as gold and platinum.