Geochemistry of carbonatite–silicate pairs in nature: A case history from Central Italy

At Oricola (Aquila-Abruzzo, Italy) carbonatite is associated with phonolitic foidite tuff. The Oricola carbonatite contains fresh silicate glass of kamafugitic foidite composition which, compared with carbonate, shows similar trace element patterns but lower concentrations. As a whole, the mineralogy of the Oricola rocks matches that of the neighbouring Grotta del Cervo kamafugitic foidite and carbonatitic foidite and is in the range of the Intramountain Ultralkaline Province (IUP) of melilitites and carbonatites of Italy.

The IUP carbonatites and kamafugitic foidites definitely form intra-outcrop conjugate pairs. All these co-eruptive rocks have parallel trace element patterns, namely REE, which implies a dilution–concentration relationship among them but always with higher contents in primary calcite. Based on current textural and compositional criteria, as well as comparable experimental data, we attribute this feature to liquid immiscibility dominant over crystal fractionation at crustal pressure. This relatively late immiscibility phenomenon is superimposed on co-magmatic features shown by inter-outcrop conjugate rock couples. In fact if we consider San Venanzo kamafugite and Polino Ca-carbonatite, or Grotta del Gervo kamafugite and Oricola Ca-carbonatite, we note couple by couple that they are chemical heteromorphs erupted in isolation in different place. The REE distribution is another distinctive feature of these couples and shows a marked crossover at MREE level. A fact we interpret as produced by near mantle-solidus immiscibility. After this early phenomenon the two members of the couple can erupt in a near primary state carrying mantle xenoliths or undergo some evolution including settling out mantle xenoliths and crystals and fractionation and finally exsolve a carbonatitic residuum by immiscibility.     

Superposition de la tectonique éburnéenne et panafricaine dans les granitoïdes de la bordure nord du craton ouest africain, boutonniére de Zenaga, Anti-Atlas central, Maroc

The Zenaga Inlier shows a comprehensive record of the Eburnian and Pan-African Orogenies. The Eburnian is characterised by high-temperature regional metamorphism and complex magmatism. The early (Azguemerzi) granodiorite has an isotopic mantle signature and was emplaced diapirically during the Eburnian Orogeny causing local thermal metamorphism. The foliation observed in this granitoid is a result of the interference between its primary syn-emplacement foliation and the regional foliation under amphibolite-facies conditions. The northern part of Zenaga has been intruded by the leucocratic granites of Tazenakht. These granites are cut by mylonites and phyllonites, corresponding to the Pan-African shear zones and accompanied with sub-greenschist-facies metamorphism during the Pan-African Orogeny. The deformation was the result of a regional sinistral transpressive event. This study in the northern part of the West African Craton shows the superposition of the Pan-African on the Eburnian Orogeny and the presence of a major fault in the Anti-Atlas.     

Relating spatial and temporal variability in sediment chlorophylla and carbohydrate distribution with erodibility of a tidal flat

Trends in the spatial distribution of chlorophylla (chla) and colloidal and total carbohydrates on the Molenplaat tidal flat in the Westerschelde estuary, Netherlands, reflected spatial differences in physical properties of the sediment. Results from a Spearman Rank Order Correlation indicated that many of the physical and biological measures covaried. Multiple regression analyses describing the relationship between colloidal carbohydrates and sediment properties resulted in several highly significant equations, although in all cases chla was able to predict colloidal carbohydrate content. Relationships between sediment surface chla and colloidal carbohydrate, and sediment erodibility (i.e., critical erosion threshold, U_crit, and mass of sediment eroded at a velocity of 30 cm s^?1) determined in annular flume experiments were examined. Overall sediment erodibility was lowest (i.e., high thresholds, low mass eroded) for the siltiest sediments in June 1996 when chla and colloidal carbohydrates were high (56.9 μg gDW^?1 and 320.6 μg gluc.equ. gDW^?1, respectively), and greatest (i.e., low thresholds, high mass eroded) at the sandier sediments in September 1996, when chla and colloidal carbohydrates were low (1.0 μg gDW^?1 and 5.7 μg gluc.equ. gDW^?1, respectively). When sediments were grouped according to relative silt content, the most significant relationships were found in muddy sand with a finegrained fraction (<63 μm) of 25–50%. Thresholds of erosion increased, while mass of sediment eroded decreased, with increasing chla and colloidal carbohydrate. A similar trend was observed for the sand-muddy sand (63 μm 10–25%). In the sand (63 μm 0–10%), there were no relationships for U_crit, whereas mass eroded appeared to increase with increasing chla and colloidal carbohydrate. The increased carbohydrate may stick sand grains together, altering the nature of erosion from rolling grains to clumps of resuspension.     

Suspended Sediment Transport in the Freshwater Reach of the Hudson River Estuary in Eastern New York

Deposition of Hudson River sediment into New York Harbor interferes with navigation lanes and requires continuous dredging. Sediment dynamics at the Hudson estuary turbidity maximum (ETM) have received considerable study, but delivery of sediment to the ETM through the freshwater reach of the estuary has received relatively little attention and few direct measurements. An acoustic Doppler current profiler was positioned at the approximate limit of continuous freshwater to develop a 4-year time series of water velocity, discharge, suspended sediment concentration, and suspended sediment discharge. This data set was compared with suspended sediment discharge data collected during the same period at two sites just above the Hudson head-of-tide (the Federal Dam at Troy) that together represent the single largest source of sediment entering the estuary. The mean annual suspended sediment–discharge from the freshwater reach of the estuary was 737,000 metric tons. Unexpectedly, the total suspended sediment discharge at the study site in November and December slightly exceeded that observed during March and April, the months during which rain and snowmelt typically result in the largest sediment discharge to the estuary. Suspended sediment discharge at the study site exceeded that from the Federal Dam, even though the intervening reach appears to store significant amounts of sediment, suggesting that 30–40% of sediment discharge observed at the study site is derived from tributaries to the estuary between the Federal Dam and study site. A simple model of sediment entering and passing through the freshwater reach on a timescale of weeks appears reasonable during normal hydrologic conditions in adjoining watersheds; however, this simple model may dramatically overestimate sediment delivery during extreme tributary high flows, especially those at the end of, or after, the “flushing season” (October through April). Previous estimates of annual or seasonal sediment delivery from tributaries and the Federal Dam to the ETM and harbor may be high for those years with extreme tributary high-flow events.     

Managed Temporary Labour Migration of Pacific Islanders to Australia and New Zealand in the Early Twenty-first Century

ABSTRACT

Circular migration was one of several enduring themes in Graeme Hugo’s highly productive research career. Although his specialist field was Asian population movement, during the 2000s he became increasingly interested in labour migration in the Pacific Islands. This paper reviews the development of two managed circular migration schemes targeting Pacific labour that emerged following the UN High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in 2006. New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme and Australia’s Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) have attracted international attention as the kind of ‘best practice’ temporary labour migration schemes that Hugo had in mind when he emphasised the positive contributions that circular forms of mobility could make to development in both source and destination countries. The two schemes have transformed mobility between the participating countries and have played a major role in the negotiations over a free-trade agreement between Pacific Forum countries, including Australia and New Zealand. Although the schemes have been in operation for almost 10 years, this paper argues that they are not becoming ‘business as usual’; they embody complex systems of relationships between multiple stakeholders that require ongoing management to ensure that they do not become traps for low-skilled, low-paid ‘permanent’ temporary workers.     

地震弱短临前兆信息的提取方法研究

地震短临预报是地震预报的重大难题,它有赖于好的前兆手段和数据算是方法,本提出“弱前兆信息”的观点,并研究了提取弱短临前兆信息的方法和定量指标。     

Origin and evolution of a peraluminous silicic ignimbrite suite: The Violet Town Volcanics

The Violet Town Volcanics are a 373 Ma old, comagmatic, S-type volcanic sequence mainly comprising crystal-rich intracaldera ignimbrites. Rock types vary from rhyolites to rhyodacites, all containing magmatic cordierite and garnet phenocrysts. Variation in the suite is primarily due to fractionation of early-crystallized quartz, plagioclase and biotite (plus minor accessory phases) in a high-level magma chamber prior to eruption. Early magmatic crystallization occurred at around 4 kb and 850° C with melt water contents between 2.8 and 4 wt.%. This high-temperature, markedly water-undersaturated, restite-poor, granitic magma was generated by partial melting reactions involving biotite breakdown in a dominantly quartzofeldspathic source terrain, leaving a granulite facies residue.Table of Less Common Abbreviations Used Pkb pressure in kilobars - T° C temperature in degrees Celsius - mole fraction of water in the fluid - aH₂O activity of water - Bi biotite - Cd cordierite - Gt garnet - Py pyrope - Gr grossular - Alm almandine - Sp spessartine - He hercynite - Ilm ilmenite - Kfs potassium feldspar - Opx orthopyroxene - Pl plagioclase - An anorthite - Q quartz - Sill sillimanite - Ap apatite     

APL computer programs for thermodynamic calculations of equilibria in P-T-X CO 2 space

APL computer programs for the thermodynamic calculation of devolatilization and solid-solid equilibria operate using stored values for the molar volume and entropy of solids, the free energies of H₂O and CO₂, and the free energies of formation for 110 geologically-important phases. P-T-X _{CO 2} calculations of devolatilization equilibria can be made at pressures from 0.2 through 10 kb, and temperatures from 200 through 1,000° C. P-T-X calculations of solid-solid equilibria may be accomplished at pressures to 30 kb and temperatures to 1,000° C. Calculations can be extrapolations from experimental points, or direct calculations from thermochemical data alone. Options are available in these programs to consider effects of: real vs. ideal gas mixing, thermal expansion and compressibility, solid solution, fluid pressure differing from solid pressure, and uncertainties in high-temperature entropies.A collection of thermodynamic data programs accompanies the programs for calculating P-T-X _{CO 2} equilibria. Over a wide range of physical conditions, the data functions report free energies, entropies, fugacities of H₂O and CO₂, high temperature entropies of solids, and activities of components in H₂O-CO₂ mixtures.List of Symbols Activity of H₂O and CO₂ - G_f Free energy of formation of a phase from elements - G_r Free energy change of reaction - G _r ^o Standard state free energy change of a reaction - Free energies of pure H₂O and CO₂ - H _r ^o Standard state enthalpy change for a reaction - K Equilibrium constant - R Gas constant - S _r ^o Standard state entropy change of reaction - S _s ^o Standard state entropy change of solids in a reaction - V_s ^o Standard state volume change of a reaction - V_s ^o Standard state volume change of solids in a reaction - Mole fraction of H₂O and CO₂ - Activity coefficient of H₂O and CO₂     

Magmatic graphite in dolomite carbonatite at Pogranichnoe,North Transbaikalia,Russia

A recently discovered dolomite carbonatite at Pogranichnoe, North Transbaikalia, Russia, dated at 624 ± 3 Ma, contains xenoliths of calcite-bearing dolomite carbonatite with graphite spherulites. Apatite and aegirine are the other rock-forming minerals. Chemically the carbonatites are ferrocarbonatite and ferruginous calciocarbonatite. The graphite forms <1 mm up to 1.5 mm diameter spherulites, with Raman spectra similar to published spectra of microcrystalline, amorphous carbon and disordered graphite, with G and D bands at 1,580−1,600 cm⁻¹ and at around 1,350 cm⁻¹. Alteration has formed Fe-bearing calcite to Ca-bearing siderite compositions not previously reported in nature around the graphite along cracks and fractures. Mineral and stable isotope geothermometers and melt inclusion measurements for the carbonatite all give temperatures of 700°–900°. It is concluded that the graphite precipitated from the ferrocarbonatite magma. There are three candidates to control the precipitation of graphite (a) a redox reaction with Fe^II in the magma, (b) potential presence of organics in the magma (c) seeding of, or dissolution in, the magma of graphite/diamond from the mantle, and further work is required to identify the most important mechanism(s). Graphite in carbonatite is rare, with no substantial published accounts since the 1960s but graphite at other localities seems also to have precipitated from carbonatite magma. The precipitation of reduced carbon from carbonatite provides further evidence that diamond formation in carbonate melts at high mantle pressures is feasible.