Formation and development of normal-fault calderas and the initiation of large explosive eruptions

The ring fractures that form most collapse calderas are steeply inward-dipping shear fractures, i.e., normal faults. At the surface of the volcano within which the caldera fault forms, the tensile and shear stresses that generate the normal-fault caldera must peak at a certain radial distance from the surface point above the center of the source magma chamber of the volcano. Numerical results indicate that normal-fault calderas may initiate as a result of doming of an area containing a shallow sill-like magma chamber, provided that the area of doming is much larger than the cross-sectional area of the chamber and that the internal excess pressure in the chamber is smaller than that responsible for doming. This model is supported by the observation that many caldera collapses are preceded by a long period of doming over an area much larger than that of the subsequently formed caldera. When the caldera fault does not slip, eruptions from calderas are normally small. Nearly all large explosive eruptions, however, are associated with slip on caldera faults. During dip slip on, and doming of, a normal-fault caldera, the vertical stress on part of the underlying chamber suddenly decreases. This may lead to explosive bubble growth in this part of the magma chamber, provided its magma is gas rich. This bubble growth can generate an excess fluid pressure that is sufficiently high to drive a large fraction of the magma out of the chamber during an explosive eruption. Received: 2 January 1997 / Accepted: 22 April 1998     

The paleolimnological analysis of sediments from high mountain lake Nižné Terianske pleso in the High Tatras (Slovakia)

Sedimentological climate proxies and a 200-year long climate record, reconstructed using a data-set of European-wide meteorological data, have been compared at the high mountain lake Niné Terianske pleso in the High Tatras, Slovakia. Diatoms, chrysophyte stomatocysts, chironomids, plant pigments and spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) were analysed as well as sediment lithostratigraphic parameters. Using a radiometric approach the sediment core was dated and a depth of 4.6 cm was found to correspond to 1852 AD. The sediment accumulation rate (0.0034 g·cm^–2·yr^–1) was one of the lowest identified in the European mountain lake project, MOLAR. Despite this slow accumulation rate a remarkably coherent lithological and stratigraphic record has been recovered. The sediments of this remote mountain site, largely free from the effects of direct human impact, have been found to display a wealth of variability over the last 200 years.The record of spheroidal carbonaceous particles, indicators of anthropogenic pollution deposition, begins around 4.5–5.0 cm in depth (1833–1857). Temporal patterns are typical of European lake sites with the concentration peaking in the late 1970's. The SCP/²¹⁰Pb inventory ratio for the site is also in good agreement with the European latitudinal pattern. A strong influence of sample age on the chrysophyte assemblage composition in the upper-most 4–6 cm indicates that the main changes in the cysts have been related to long term environmental changes, probably pH. Analysis of chironomid remains revealed a stable profundal community. Chironomids as a whole showed no correlations to temperature fluctuations in the last 200 years. Relatively abundant remains of Diamesa sp. head capsules and other taxa closely associated with stream conditions in the older layers contrast with the absence of Diamesa sp. in the recent sediments. This change is considered to be evidence for the existence of a stronger, more stable inlet supplied from permanent granular snow fields in the lake basin. The most important changes in diatom assemblages were observed at 3cm. Many species of the genus Achnanthes spp. together with Navicula schmassmannii and Orthoseira roeseana made up the greatest part of the diatom community above 3 cm, being absent or rare lower in the record. A positive correlation between diatoms and mean summer temperature was found.     

与地形相关的街道网络分析及其对快速增长型城市的意义(英文)

In addition to socio-economic factors, major landforms may affect the city structure and urban form. Here we show that landforms have significant effects on the city shape and street patterns of the fast-growing Iranian cities of Dezful(a river) and Khorramabad(mountains and valleys), but no clear effects on the cities of Yazd and Nain. Also, where the street orientation is peaked, the Gibbs/Shannon entropy(a measure of dispersion or spread) is low, but increases as the distribution becomes more uniform because of landform constraints. The streets in the old inner parts of all the cities are, on average, shorter and denser(more streets per unit area) than the streets of the newer outer parts. The entropies of the outer parts are also greater than those of the inner parts, implying that the street-length distribution gradually becomes more dispersed or spread as the city expands. All these cities have been fast growing in the past decades, with the newer outer parts expanding rapidly. As shown here, the rapidly formed outer parts(with greater dispersion in street patterns) have significantly different textures from those of the older inner parts, indicating different functionality and growth processes. These quantitative methods for street-network analysis can be used worldwide, particularly for analysing the effects of landforms on city shape and texture.     

Stress estimates from the length/width ratios of fractures

The hypothesis is advanced that, provided Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of the rock are known, the length/width ratios of tension fractures can be used to estimate the tensile stress (assumed constant along the length of each fracture) at the time of fracture formation. The hypothesis is tested on a fissure swarm in a 10,000 year-old basaltic lava in Iceland. The length/width ratios of the fissures give the average tensile stress as of the order of a few MPa.     

Short-term effects of gamma ray bursts on oceanic photosynthesis

We continue our previous work on the potential short-term influence of a gamma ray bursts on Earth’s biosphere, focusing on the only important short-term effect on life: the ultraviolet flash which occurs as a result of the retransmission of the γ radiation through the atmosphere. Thus, in this work we calculate the ultraviolet irradiances penetrating the first hundred meters of the water column, for Jerlov’s ocean water types I, II and III. Then we estimate the UV flash potential for photosynthesis inhibition in the whole photic zone, showing that it can be important in the first tens of meters of the water column.     

Structural analysis of a transform fault-rift zone junction in North Iceland

On the north coast of Iceland, the rift zone in North Iceland is shifted about 120 km to the west where it meets with, and joins, the mid-ocean Kolbeinsey ridge. This shift occurs along the Tjörnes fracture zone, an 80-km-wide zone of high seismicity, which is an oblique (non-perpendicular) transform fault. There are two main seismic lineaments within the Tjörnes fracture zone, one of which continues on land as a 25-km-long WNW-trending strike-slip fault. This fault, referred to as the Husavik fault, meets with, and joins, north-trending normal faults of the Theistareykir fissure swarm in the axial rift zone. The most clear-cut of these junctions occurs in a basaltic pahoehoe lava flow, of Holocene age, where the Husavik fault joins a large normal fault called Gudfinnugja. At this junction, the Husavik fault strikes N55°W, whereas Gudfinnugja strikes N5°E, so that they meet at an angle of 60°. The direction of the spreading vector in North Iceland is about N73°W, which is neither parallel with the strike of the Husavik fault nor perpendicular to the strike of the Gudfinnugja fault. During rifting episodes there is thus a slight opening on the Husavik fault as well as a considerable dextral strike-slip movement along the Gudfinnugja fault. Consequently, in the Holocene lava flow, there are tension fractures, collapse structures and pressure ridges along the Husavik fault, and pressure ridges and dextral pull-apart structures subparallel with the Gudfinnugja fault. The 60° angle between the Husavik strike-slip fault and the Gudfinnugja normal fault is the same as the angle between the Tjörnes fracture zone transform fault and the adjacent axial rift zones of North Iceland and the Kolbeinsey ridge. The junction between the faults of Husavik and Gudfinnugja may thus be viewed as a smaller-scale analogy to the junction between this transform fault and the nearby ridge segments. Using the results of photoelastic and finite-element studies, a model is provided for the tectonic development of these junctions. The model is based on an analogy between two offset cuts (mode I fractures) loaded in tension and segments of the axial rift zones (or parts thereof in the case of the Husavik fault). The results indicate that the Tjörnes fracture zone in general and the Husavik fault in particular, developed along zones of maximum shear stress. Furthermore, the model suggests that, as the ridge-segments propagate towards a zero-underlapping configuration, the angle between them and the associated major strike-slip faults gradually increases. This conclusion is supported by the trends of the main seismic lineaments of the Tjörnes fracture zone.     

Emplacement and arrest of sheets and dykes in central volcanoes

Sheet intrusions are of two main types: local inclined (cone) sheets and regional dykes. In Iceland, the inclined sheets form dense swarms of (mostly) basaltic, 0.5–1 m thick sheets, dipping either at 20–50° or at 75–90° towards the central volcano to which they belong. The regional dykes are (mostly) basaltic, 4–6 m thick, subvertical, subparallel and form swarms, less dense than those of the sheets but tens of kilometres long, in the parts of the volcanic systems that are outside the central volcanoes. In both types of swarms, the intrusion intensity decreases with altitude in the lava pile. Theoretical models generally indicate very high crack-tip stresses for propagating dykes and sheets. Nevertheless, most of these intrusions become arrested at various crustal depths and never reach the surface to supply magma to volcanic eruptions. Two principal mechanisms are proposed to explain arrest of dykes and sheets. One is the generation of stress barriers, that is, layers with local stresses unfavourable for the intrusion propagation. The other is mechanical anisotropy whereby sheet intrusions become arrested at discontinuities. Stress barriers may develop in several ways. First, analytical solutions for a homogeneous and isotropic crust show that the intensity of the tensile stress associated with a pressured magma chamber falls off rapidly with distance from the chamber. Thus, while dyke and sheet injection in the vicinity of a chamber may be favoured, dyke and sheet arrest is encouraged in layers (stress barriers) at a certain distance from the chamber. Second, boundary-element models for magma chambers in a mechanically layered crust indicate abrupt changes in tensile stresses between layers of contrasting Young’s moduli (stiffnesses). Thus, where soft pyroclastic layers alternate with stiff lava flows, as in many volcanoes, sheet and dyke arrest is encouraged. Abrupt changes in stiffness between layers are commonly associated with weak and partly open contacts and other discontinuities. It follows that stress barriers and discontinuities commonly operate together as mechanisms of dyke and sheet arrest in central volcanoes.     

Regional provenance from southwestern Colombia fore‐arc and intra‐arc basins: implications for Middle to Late Miocene orogeny in the Northern Andes

Andean orogenic processes controlled the spatial and temporal distribution of the magmatic and sedimentary record. This contribution integrates new U/Pb zircon ages, heavy mineral analyses and biostratigraphic constraints from the Neogene sedimentary record of the fore‐arc and intra‐arc basins and volcano‐plutonic rocks of southwestern Colombia, to reconstruct these orogenic processes. The results reveal continuous arc magmatism since the Late Oligocene, with a major post‐Middle Miocene magmatic peak and exhumation. When integrated with other geological constraints, the tectonic evolution of the margin includes Eocene‐Oligocene oblique convergence with limited magmatic activity, followed by the initiation of a Late Oligocene‐Early Miocene arc that migrated to the east in the Middle Miocene, when it experienced a major increase in magmatic activity, crustal deformation, exhumation and thickening. This orogenic evolution is related to the shallowing of the slab dip due to the subduction of the Neogene Nazca Plate.