Groundwater flow regime under natural conditions as inferred from past evidence and contemporary field observations in a semi-arid basin: Cuenca de la Independencia, Guanajuato, México

This study was carried out in the Cuenca de la Independencia, a semi-arid basin in Central Mexico. The objective is to describe the main features of a groundwater flow regime under natural conditions, based on groundwater discharge manifestations. Information obtained from paleoecological, paleontological, archaeological and historical data suggests that, prior to heavy development (starting in the 1950s), the hydrogeologic regime was characterized by a larger groundwater availability in a more humid and colder climate. Manifestations associated to groundwater discharges are springs, lagoons, wetlands, saline soils, chalcedony deposits, phreatophytes, thermalism, and artesianism. The different types of manifestations and their position in the basin indicate the influence of groundwater flow systems hierarchically nested, forming concentric zones at ground level. The groundwater flow regime corresponds to a classical gravity-induced flow system with generation of local, intermediate and regional patterns. Integrating several types of data to establish the flow geometry and its dynamics has proven a useful tool to increase understanding of the original groundwater regimes. This approach can also be applied in other over-exploited semi-arid basins.     

Age and tectonostratigraphic significance of the Upper Carboniferous series in the basement of the Andean Frontal Cordillera: Geodynamic implications

The age and tectonosedimentary environment of the Palaeozoic sediments on the Frontal Cordillera is not well known and earlier studies have been unable to satisfactorily explain the geological history of the basement of the Andes.In the vicinity of the old Castaño Viejo mine crop out various levels of partially metamorphosed microbialite limestones, which alternate with thin marly–lutitic interstrata. These levels contain abundant palynomorph remains, which allow the series to be dated as Silurian–Devonian. These data, together with the presence of warm climate fossils, lend support to the hypothesis of a major allochtony of the Chilenia Terrane (of which the Frontal Cordillera formed part), relative to the Cuyania Terrane (which included the Precordillera), prior to their amalgamation.Upper Carboniferous palynomorphs found during this study occur in association with resedimented palynomorphs and chitinozoa, of possible Devonian age. This demonstrates the equivalence of both fossiliferous series and their location within the upper part of the Upper Carboniferous Agua Negra Fm. The Silurian–Devonian elements, deformed during a phase prior to the Gondwanic orogeny, were eroded and transported to the foreland basin during the Upper Carboniferous.The palynomorph associations found in all samples correspond to the Ancistrospora palynological zone and to the Raistrickia densa–Convolutispora muriornata Biozone, which are indicative of Upper Carboniferous times. Characteristic forms such as Ancistrospora verrucosa and C. muriornata, both indicative of an Upper Carboniferous age, were found in samples from the Castaño Viejo area.Earlier interpretations of the Frontal Cordillera attributing the sedimentation to a palaeo-latitude at some distance from Gondwana, were based on the presence of Silurian–Devonian hot water stromatolithic limestones. Our results suggest that Cuyania and Chilenia were not necessarily separated by a great distance before their amalgamation. This in turn means that a large ocean was not necessarily consumed in the process.     

Fabric studies within the Cascade Lake shear zone, Sierra Nevada, California

The Cascade Lake shear zone occurs on the eastern margin of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, Sierra Nevada Batholith, California. Foliation in the zone is NNW trending and subvertical, and lineation is moderately south plunging. Deformation is syn-tectonic with emplacement of the Cathedral Peak granodiorite. A deformation gradient exists toward the NE margin of this pluton, with higher strains and lower temperatures of deformation found near the contact. We compare fabric data collected very densely in this shear zone using several techniques: field fabrics, 3D orientation of K-feldspar megacrysts, and AMS (anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility) analysis. In general, the results from the three different methods are in agreement. Deformation in this shear zone is part of a larger pattern of deformation within the Cathedral Peak granodiorite, as recorded by AMS analysis, and dextral shearing associated within the last stage of plutonism within the Sierra Nevada magmatic arc.     

Quantum-thermodynamic treatment of intrinsic anharmonicity; Wallace’s theorem revisited

Wallace (in Thermodynamics of crystals, 1972) developed a theorem, rooted in rigid lattice dynamics, which incorporates intrinsic anharmonic effects in solids. The practical application of this theorem in mineral physics is computationally involved and this is the main reason for the theorem not getting the attention it deserves. Because intrinsic anharmonicity is an important issue at the extreme conditions in planetary mantles, we derived a method which removes the computational obstacles in applying this theorem. We extended the theorem to incorporate details of the phonon spectrum and tested our algorithm on forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄). Using a least squares inversion technique applied to all available experimental data, we show that it results in an accurate representation of thermodynamic properties and sound wave velocities of Mg₂SiO₄ in its complete pressure–temperature stability range. We also show that the accuracy of our results is not significantly affected by the use of a different equation of state.