Episode 49 of the Pu'u 'O'o-Kupaianaha eruption of Kilauea volcano-breakdown of a steady-state eruptive era

The Pu'u 'O'o-Kupaianaha eruption (1983-present) is the longest lived rift eruption of either Kilauea or neighboring Mauna Loa in recorded history. The initial fissure opening in January 1983 was followed by three years of episodic fire fountaining at the Pu'u 'O'o vent on Kilauea's east rift zone 19km from the summit (episodes 4–47). These spectacular events gave way in July 1986 to five and a half years of nearcontinuous, low-level effusion from the Kupaianaha vent, 3km to the cast (episode 48). A 49th episode began in November 1991 with the opening of a new fissure between Pu'u 'O'o and Kupaianaha. this three week long outburst heralded an era of more erratic eruptive behavior characterized by the shut down of Kupaianaha in February 1992 and subsequent intermittent eruption from vents on the west flank of Pu'u 'O'o (episodes 50 and 51). The events occurring over this period are due to progressive shrinkage of the rift-zone reservoir beneath the eruption site, and had limited impact on eruption temperatures and lava composition.     

Contrasting rifted margin styles south of Greenland: implications for mantle plume dynamics

We present new and reprocessed seismic reflection data from the area where the southeast and southwest Greenland margins intersected to form a triple junction south of Greenland in the early Tertiary. During breakup at 56 Ma, thick igneous crust was accreted along the entire 1300-km-long southeast Greenland margin from the Greenland Iceland Ridge to, and possibly 100 km beyond, the triple junction into the Labrador Sea. However, highly extended and thin crust 250 km to the west of the triple junction suggests that magmatically starved crustal formation occurred on the southwest Greenland margin at the same time. Thus, a transition from a volcanic to a non-volcanic margin over only 100–200 km is observed. Magmatism related to the impact of the Iceland plume below the North Atlantic around 61 Ma is known from central-west and southeast Greenland. The new seismic data also suggest the presence of a small volcanic plateau of similar age close to the triple junction. The extent of initial plume-related volcanism inferred from these observations is explained by a model of lateral flow of plume material that is guided by relief at the base of the lithosphere. Plume mantle is channelled to great distances provided that significant melting does not take place. Melting causes cooling and dehydration of the plume mantle. The associated viscosity increase acts against lateral flow and restricts plume material to its point of entry into an actively spreading rift. We further suggest that thick Archaean lithosphere blocked direct flow of plume material into the magma-starved southwest Greenland margin while the plume was free to flow into the central west and east Greenland margins. The model is consistent with a plume layer that is only moderately hotter, 100–200°C, than ambient mantle temperature, and has a thickness comparable to lithospheric thickness variations, 50–100 km. Lithospheric architecture, the timing of continental rifting and viscosity changes due to melting of the plume material are therefore critical parameters for understanding the distribution of magmatism.     

The far-UV spectrum of T Tauri stars – I. The relevance of the IUE Newly Extracted Spectra

The far-UV spectrum of the T Tauri stars (TTSs) provides important clues about the structure of the stellar atmospheres, winds and accretion shocks. The IUE ( International Ultraviolet Explorer ) Final Archive contains the most complete data base for such studies. A new extraction system, the IUE Newly Extracted Spectra ( ines ), has been developed to overcome the disadvantages of the extraction system used in the IUE Final Archive, the Signal Weighted Extraction Technique ( swet ). We have compared the ines spectra of the whole sample of TTSs in the far-UV range (1200–2000 Å) with the swet low-resolution spectra available in the IUE Final Archive. Although in most of the cases there is a good agreement between both samples, an important enhancement of the ines line fluxes with respect to the swet line fluxes is reported for particular spectra. The line fluxes are enhanced by as much as a factor of ∼2.5 in some objects, which is significant for variability studies of TTSs because the variations of the UV lines are typically of this order. The emission-measure distributions built to study the atmospheres of these stars are based on the UV emission line fluxes, so the new system is susceptible to introduce changes in these models. Moreover, the non-linear enhancement of the ines line fluxes produces variations in diagnostic line ratios usually taken as temperature and density tracers in late-type stars. These line ratios can vary by as much as a factor of 3 when the ines data are compared with the swet , with the subsequent variation of the physical parameters derived from them.     

Pulsar magnetic field for an infinitely conductive accretion disk

The magnetic-field distribution outside a flat, infinitely conductive unbounded disk in the field of a point magnetic dipole is determined. A relationship is established between the problem of magnetic-field determination and the problem of the flow of an ideal incompressible fluid around an infinitely thin disk.     

Quartz deformation mechanisms during Barrovian metamorphism: Implications from crystallographic orientation of different generations of quartz in pelites

The behaviour of quartz during metamorphism is studied based on two case studies from the Barrovian terrains of Sulitjelma in arctic Scandinavia and Loch Tay in the Central Highlands Dalradian of Scotland. Both terrains preserve evidence for metamorphism in pelites involving nucleation and growth of garnet at different times in the deformation history. Data are presented on the size, shape and crystallographic orientation of quartz preserved as inclusions in garnet and as grains in the surrounding matrix. While quartz-grains remain small and dispersed between mica grains, deformation appears to be dominated by grain-boundary sliding accommodated by dissolution–precipitation. At amphibolite facies, textural coarsening occurs by dissolution of small quartz grains and growth of larger quartz grains, coupled with segregation of quartz from mica. As a result, quartz deforms by dislocation creep, developing crystallographic preferred orientations (CPO) consistent with both coaxial and non-coaxial strain. Quartz CPOs with <0001> axes lying parallel to foliation and stretching direction are commonly developed, and best explained by mechanical rotation of inequant (detrital?) quartz grains. There is no evidence for selective entrapment of quartz inclusions in garnet on the basis of quartz crystallographic orientation.     

Space–time distribution of ancient and active alluvial karst subsidence: examples from the central Ebro Basin,Spain

Space and time variations of alluvial karst subsidence in the central Ebro Basin are analysed in trenches (paleodolines), aerial photographs (historical dolines) and field surveys (present-day active dolines). The measured subsidence rates, as well as a comparison between densities of paleodolines computed in randomly selected scan-lines and density of active dolines computed in maps, suggest that present-day subsidence in favourable areas is more intense than that of Pleistocene times. According to diachronic maps drawn from (a) different aerial photographs taken after 1946 and (b) field surveys on deformations in urbanized areas, subsidence behaved as a nearly steady process while the whole area was used for agriculture. In contrast, rapid changes (through periods of several tens of years) have occurred in urbanized areas, in which dolines expand their boundaries through small marginal collapses, shifting sharply their sinking centres to neighbouring sites. These rapid changes do not have an equivalent in observed paleodolines.     

Geochemical Characteristics,Origin, and Evolution of Ore‐Forming Fluids of the Khut Copper Skarn Deposit,West of Yazd in Central Iran

The Khut copper skarn deposit is located at about 50 km northwest of Taft City in Yazd province in the middle part of the Urumieh‐Dokhtar magmatic arc. Intrusion of granitoid of Oligocene–Miocene age into carbonate rocks of the Triassic Nayband Formation led to the formation of marble and a calcic skarn. The marble contains high grade Cu mineralization that occurs mainly as open space filling and replacement. Cu‐rich sulfide samples from the mineralized marble are also anomalous in Au, Zn, and Pb. In contrast, the calcic skarn is only weakly anomalous in Cu and W. The calcic skarn is divided into garnet skarn and garnet–pyroxene skarn zones. Paragenetic relationships and microthermometric data from fluid inclusions in garnet and calcite indicate that the compositional evolution of skarn minerals occurred in three main stages as follows. (i) The early prograde stage, which is characterized by Mg‐rich hedenbergite (Hd_53.7Di_42.3–Hd_86.1Di_9.5) with Al‐bearing andradite (69.8–99.5 mol% andradite). The temperature in the early prograde skarn varies from 400 to 500°C at 500 bar. (ii) The late prograde stage is manifested by almost pure andradite (96.2–98.4 mol% andradite). Based on the fluid inclusion data from garnet, fluid temperature and salinity in this stage is estimated to vary from 267 to 361°C and from 10.1 to 21.1 wt% NaCl equivalent, respectively. Pyrrhotite precipitation started during this stage. (iii) The retrograde stage occurs in an exoskarn, which consists of an assemblage of ferro‐actinolite, quartz, calcite, epidote, chlorite, sphalerite, pyrite, and chalcopyrite that partially replaces earlier mineral assemblages under hydrostatic conditions during fracturing of the early skarn. Fluids in calcite yielded lower temperatures (T < 260°C) and fluid salinity declined to ～8 wt% NaCl equivalent. The last stage mineralization in the deposit is supergene weathering/alteration represented by the formation of iron hydroxide, Cu‐carbonate, clay minerals, and calcite. Sulfur isotope data of chalcopyrite (δ³⁴S of +1.4 to +5.2‰) show an igneous sulfur source. Mineralogy and mineral compositions of the prograde assemblage of the Khut skarn are consistent with deposition under intermediately oxidized and slightly lower fS₂ conditions at shallow crustal levels compared with those of other typical Fe‐bearing Cu–Au skarn systems.     

Effects of water-borne copper on metallothionein and lipid peroxidation in the marine amphipod Gammarus locusta

The aim of the current work was to determine over 10 days the effects of water-borne exposure of the marine amphipod Gammarus locusta to 4 microgCu l(-1) on the metallothionein (MT; measured by differential pulse polarography) protection system and lipid peroxidation (LP: thiobarbituric acid-reactive malondialdehyde equivalents) as a measure of oxidative damage. MT levels in exposed animals increased significantly at day 2 (36% > control; P < 0.001) and remained high at days 6 and 10 (55 and 38%, respectively, P < 0.001). The maximum level of MT at day 6 coincided with the highest Cu body-burden. LP increased within I day of exposure, indicative of Cu as an oxidative stressor. However, in contrast to MT, the highest LP level was seen at day 4 (68% > control, P < 0.001) before returning to control values by day 6, indicating a protective role of MT against the pro-oxidant effects of Cu.