Age and origin of groundwater resources in the Ararat Valley,Armenia: a baseline study applying hydrogeochemistry and environmental tracers

Within the Ararat Valley (Armenia), a continuously growing water demand (for irrigation and fish farming) and a simultaneous decline in groundwater recharge (due to climate change) result in increasing stress on the local groundwater resources. This detrimental development is reflected by groundwater-level drops and an associated reduction of the area with artesian conditions in the valley centre. This situation calls for increasing efforts aimed at more sustainable water resources management. The aim of this baseline study was the collection of data that allows for study on the origin and age distribution of the Ararat Valley groundwater based on environmental tracers, namely stable (δ²H, δ¹⁸O) and radioactive (³⁵S, ³H) isotopes, as well as physical-chemical indicators. The results show that the Ararat Valley receives modern recharge, despite its (semi-)arid climate. While subannual groundwater residence times could be disproved (³⁵S), the detected ³H pattern suggests groundwater ages of several decades, with the oldest waters being recharged around 60 years ago. The differing groundwater ages are reflected by varying scatter of stable isotope and hydrochemical signatures. The presence of young groundwater (i.e., younger that the 1970s), some containing nitrate, indicates groundwater vulnerability and underscores the importance of increased efforts to achieve sustainable management of this natural resource. Since stable isotope signatures indicate the recharge areas to be located in the mountains surrounding the valley, these efforts must not be limited to the central part of the valley where most of the abstraction wells are located.

     

Early Mars volcanic sulfur storage in the upper cryosphere and formation of transient SO2‐rich atmospheres during the Hesperian

In a previous paper (Chassefière et al. 2013 ), we have shown that most volcanic sulfur released to the early Mars atmosphere could have been trapped in the upper cryosphere under the form of CO₂‐SO₂ clathrates. Huge amounts of sulfur, up to the equivalent of an ~1 bar atmosphere of SO₂, would have been stored in the Noachian upper cryosphere, then massively released to the atmosphere during the Hesperian due to rapidly decreasing CO₂ pressure. It could have resulted in the formation of the large sulfate deposits observed mainly in Hesperian terrains, whereas no or little sulfates are found at the Noachian. In the present paper, we first clarify some aspects of our previous work. We discuss the possibility of a smaller cooling effect of sulfur particles, or even of a net warming effect. We point out the fact that CO₂‐SO₂ clathrates formed through a progressive enrichment of a pre‐existing reservoir of CO₂ clathrates and discuss processes potentially involved in the slow formation of a SO₂‐rich upper cryosphere. We show that episodes of sudden destabilization at the Hesperian may generate 1000 ppmv of SO₂ in the atmosphere and contribute to maintaining the surface temperature above the water freezing point.     

Experiments on silicate melt immiscibility in the system Fe2SiO4–KAlSi3O8–SiO2–CaO–MgO–TiO2–P2O5 and implications for natural magmas

The effect of CaO and MgO, with or without TiO₂ and P₂O₅, on the two-melt field in the simplified system Fe₂SiO₄–KAlSi₃O₈–SiO₂ has been experimentally determined at 1,050°–1,240°C, 400 MPa. Despite the suppressing effect of MgO, CaO, and pressure on silicate melt immiscibility, our experiments show that this process is still viable at mid-crustal pressures when small amounts (0.6–2.0 wt%) of P₂O₅ and TiO₂ are present. Our data stress that the major element partition coefficients between the two melts are highly correlated with the degree of polymerisation (nbo/t) of the SiO₂-rich melt, whatever temperature, pressure, or exact composition. Experimental immiscible melt compositions in natural systems at 0.1 MPa from the literature (lunar and tholeiitic basalts) plot on similar but distinct curves compared to the simplified system. These relations between melt polymerisation and partition coefficients, which hold for a large range of compositions and fO₂, are extended to various volcanic and plutonic rocks. This analysis strengthens the proposal that silicate melt immiscibility can be important in volcanic rocks of various compositions (from tholeiitic basalts to lamprophyres). However, the majority of proposed immiscible compositions in plutonic rocks are at least not coexisting melts, but may have suffered accumulation of early crystallized minerals.     

Amphibole composition in tonalite as a function of pressure: an experimental calibration of the Al-in-hornblende barometer

The Al-in-hornblende barometer, which correlates Al^tot content of magmatic hornblende linearly with crystallization pressure of intrusion (Hammarstrom and Zen 1986), has been calibrated experimentally under water-saturated conditions at pressures of 2.5–13 kbar and temperatures of 700–655°C. Equilibration of the assemblage hornlende-biotite-plagioclase-orthoclasequartz-sphene-Fe-Ti-oxide-melt-vapor from a natural tonalite 15–20° above its wet solidus results in hornblende compositions which can be fit by the equation: P(±0.6 kbar) = –3.01 + 4.76 Al _hbl ^tot r ²=0.99, where Al^tot is the total Al content of hornblende in atoms per formula unit (apfu). Al^tot increase with pressure can be ascribed mainly to a tschermak-exchange ( ) accompanied by minor plagioclase-substitution ( ). This experimental calibration agrees well with empirical field calibrations, wherein pressures are estimated by contact-aureole barometry, confirming that contact-aureole pressures and pressures calculated by the Al-in-hornblende barometer are essentially identical. This calibration is also consistent with the previous experimental calibration by Johnson and Rutherford (1989b) which was accomplished at higher temperatures, stabilizing the required buffer assemblage by use of mixed H₂O-CO₂ fluids. The latter calibration yields higher Al^tot content in hornblendes at corresponding pressures, this can be ascribed to increased edenite-exchange ( ) at elevated temperatures. The comparison of both experimental calibrations shows the important influence of the fluid composition, which affects the solidus temperature, on equilibration of hornblende in the buffering phase assemblage.     

Hydration of periclase at 350 ∘C to 620 ∘C and 200 MPa: experimental calibration of reaction rate

The hydration of periclase to brucite was investigated experimentally. Single crystals of periclase machined to millimeter sized cubes with (100) surfaces were reacted with distilled water at temperatures of 350 to 620 ^°C and a pressure of 200 MPa for run durations of 5 to 40 minutes. Hydration produced a layer of brucite covering the surface of periclase. While the shrinking periclase largely retained its cube shape a surface roughness developed on the μm scale and eventually outward pointing spikes bounded by (111) faces emerged on the retreating faces of the periclase due to kinetic selection of less reactive (111) and (110) surfaces. The periclase to brucite conversion followed a linear rate law, where the reaction rate increased from 350 to 530 ^°C and then decreased towards higher temperature and finally vanished at about 630 ^°C, where periclase, brucite, and water are in equilibrium at 200 MPa. The overall kinetics of the hydration reaction is conveniently described in terms of a phenomenological interface mobility. Measuring the velocity of the hydration front relative to the lattice of the reactant periclase, the temperature dependence of its mobility is described by an Arrhenius relation with pre-exponential factor 1.7.10^?12 m ⁴/s.J and activation energy of E_A=55 kJ/mol.     

GNSS remote sensing of the Australian tropopause

Radio occultation (RO) techniques that use signals transmitted by Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have emerged over the past decade as an important tool for measuring global changes in tropopause temperature and height, a valuable capacity given the tropopause??s sensitivity to temperature variations. This study uses 45,091 RO data from the CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload, 80 months), GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment, 23 months) and COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate, 20 months) satellites to analyse the variability of the tropopause??s height and temperature over Australia. GNSS RO temperature profiles from CHAMP, GRACE, and COSMIC are first validated using radiosonde observations provided by the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia). These are compared to RO soundings from between 2001 and 2007 that occurred within 3 h and 100 km of a radiosonde. The results indicate that RO soundings provide data of a comparable quality to radiosonde observations in the tropopause region, with temperature deviations of less than 0.5 ± 1.5 K. An analysis of tropopause height and temperature anomalies indicates a height increase over Australia as a whole of ca. 4.8 ± 1.3 m between September 2001 and April 2008, with a corresponding temperature decrease of ?0.019 ± 0.007 K. A similar pattern of increasing height/decreasing temperature was generally observed when determining the spatial distribution of the tropopause height and temperature rate of change over Australia. Although only a short period has been considered in this study, a function of the operating time of these satellites, the results nonetheless show an increase in the height of the tropopause over Australia during this period and thus may indicate regional warming. Several mechanisms could be responsible for these changes, such as an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and lower stratospheric cooling due to ozone loss, both of which have been observed during the last decades.     

Zur Deckentektonik des Hochbalkans

Zusammenfassung Im Botewgebiet der Stara Planina (Hochbalkan) liegt inmitten paläozoischer, mesozoischer und tertiärer Schichten ein 30 km langer und 12 km breiter Granitkomplex, der als autochthone Einheit, aber auch als Deckscholle gedeutet worden ist. Die Deckennatur des Komplexes wird durch die großtektonischen Verhältnisse eindeutig belegt. Der Bewegungsplan besitzt meridionale Symmetrie, die tektonischen Haupttransporte erfolgten von S nach N. Groß- und Kleingefüge entsprechen einander. Das Liegende der Decke besitzt keine einheitliche Prägung. Diskordante Lagerungsverhältnisse lassen variszische, kimmerische, kretazische, laramische und pyrenäische Bewegungen erkennen.     

First Results from SWAN Lyman α solar wind mapper on SOHO

After one year of almost flawless operation on board the SOHO spacecraft poised at L1 Lagrange point, we report the main features of SWAN observations. SWAN is mainly dedicated to the monitoring of the latitude distribution of the solar wind by the Lα method. Maps of sky Lα emissions were recorded througout the year. The region of maximum emission, located in the upwind hemisphere, deviates strongly from the pattern that could be expected from a solar wind constant with latitude. It is divided into two lobes by a depression aligned with the solar equatorial plane called the Lyα groove already noted in 1976 Prognoz data. The north lobe is much brighter than the south lobe. These two characteristics can be explained qualitatively by an enhanced ionization along the neutral sheet where the slow solar wind is concentrated, which results from the higher low-latitude solar wind mass flux as measured by Ulysses. The groove is the direct imprint on the sky of the enhanced carving by the slow solar wind, at this time of solar minimum, when the tilt angle of the neutral sheet is small. The question is still pending to predict what will happen with the ascending phase of the solar cycle. Observations of comets are briefly mentioned, with the ability of SWAN to monitor the H₂O production of many comets. Operations of the instrument are briefly described, including some instrumental problems which could be solved by software modifications sent to the instrument. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1004979605559