Petrogenesis of calc-alkaline,shoshonitic and associated ultrapotassic Oligocene volcanic rocks from the Northwestern Alps,Italy

Along the Western Alps there is geological evidence of late-Alpine (Oligocene) magmatic activity which clearly postdates the Lepontine (Eocene-early Oligocene) metamorphism and related deformation of the Alpine nappe pile. This magmatic activity was notably delayed in relation to the most important convergent processes and may be related to buoyancy of lithosphere, tensional tectonics and thermal updoming subsequent to the collision between the Eurasian and African plates. The geochemical features of the rocks and the geophysical characteristics of the Alpine chain, suggest that: (a) shoshonitic and calcalkaline melts may have been generated by partial melting of metasomatized peridotitic material and subsequent fractional crystallization and crustal contamination; silicic andesites and latites, however, could have been also derived from metasomatized eclogite or deep continental crust material; (b) the ultrapotassic lamprophyres with high K, P, LREE, Th, Zr, U and high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios were generated by partial melting of strongly metasomatized mantle; the varied Sr-isotopic ratios may partially also reflect additional radiogenic component from the continental crust following magma segregation from the source.     

Error analysis in hypocentral locations at Phlegraean Fields

The location reliability of the earthquakes occurred at Phlegraean Fields has been analyzed, and the theoretical errors, inferred from the diagonal elements of the covariance matrix, have been estimated. Using only first P-phase arrivals to the local network (22 stations) and assuming a reading error of 0.05 sec., the average error on the spatial coordinates is estimated to be of the order of 0.2 km.Shallow events (depth<1 km) are very poorly constrained in depth at the borders of the network. The use of both P and S arrival times, recorded by a smaller three component network (10 stations), improves the depth determination.Further analysis has been performed on a set of about 350 selected earthquakes, using two different velocity models.Differences in depth considerably greater than the theoretical errors, and showing highly different patterns have been found.Tests with artificial events, randomly distributed in space, indicate that the observed depth distribution is essentially due to the used velocity model.     

Tertiary age and paleostructural inferences of the eclogitic imprint in the Austroalpine outliers and Zermatt–Saas ophiolite, western Alps

The Austroalpine Sesia-Lanzo inlier and upper Austroalpine Dent Blanche, Mt. Mary and Pillonet outliers occur on top of the western-Alpine orogenic wedge and, as a whole, override the structurally composite ophiolitic Piemonte zone. Instead, the Mt. Emilius, Glacier-Rafray, Etirol-Levaz and other lower Austroalpine eclogitic outliers are inserted within the Piemonte zone, between its upper (Combin) and lower (Zermatt-Saas) tectonic elements, or within the latter. Rb-Sr dating on phengitic micas show that the eclogitic imprint in the lower Austroalpine outliers, conventionally regarded as Late Cretaceous by comparison with the Sesia-Lanzo inlier, is of Eocene age (49-40 Ma), like the underlying Zermatt-Saas ophiolite (45-42 Ma) between the Aosta valley and Gran Paradiso massif. ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar plateau ages on the same mica concentrates of the ophiolitic Zermatt-Saas nappe (46-43 Ma) are consistent with Rb-Sr dating, whereas that on the Austroalpine Glacier-Rafray klippe (92 Ma) is influenced by argon excess. The lower Austroalpine outliers underwent the subduction metamorphism concurrently with the Zermatt-Saas nappe, 20-25 Ma later than the eclogitic Sesia-Lanzo inlier and blueschist Pillonet klippe. The temporal gap and present intra-ophiolitic position mean that the lower Austroalpine outliers were probably derived from an intraoceanic extensional allochthon (Mt. Emilius domain) stranded inside the Piemonte-Ligurian ocean far from the Dent Blanche-Sesia domain and Adriatic margin.     

Petrographic and geochemical evidence for the formation of primary, bacterially induced lacustrine dolomite: La Roda 'white earth' (Pliocene, central Spain)

Upper Pliocene dolomites (‘white earth’) from La Roda, Spain, offer a good opportunity to evaluate the process of dolomite formation in lakes. The relatively young nature of the deposits could allow a link between dolomites precipitated in modern lake systems and those present in older lacustrine formations. The La Roda Mg‐carbonates (dolomite unit) occur as a 3·5‐ to 4‐m‐thick package of poorly indurated, white, massive dolomite beds with interbedded thin deposits of porous carbonate displaying root and desiccation traces as well as local lenticular gypsum moulds. The massive dolomite beds consist mainly of loosely packed 1‐ to 2‐μm‐sized aggregates of dolomite crystals exhibiting poorly developed faces, which usually results in a subrounded morphology of the crystals. Minute rhombs of dolomite are sparse within the aggregates. Both knobbly textures and clumps of spherical bodies covering the crystal surfaces indicate that bacteria were involved in the formation of the dolomites. In addition, aggregates of euhedral dolomite crystals are usually present in some more clayey (sepiolite) interbeds. The thin porous carbonate (mostly dolomite) beds exhibit both euhedral and subrounded, bacterially induced dolomite crystals. The carbonate is mainly Ca‐dolomite (51–54 mol% CaCO₃), showing a low degree of ordering (degree of ordering ranges from 0·27 to 0·48). Calcite is present as a subordinate mineral in some samples. Sr, Mn and Fe contents show very low correlation coefficients with Mg/Ca ratios, whereas SiO₂ and K contents are highly correlated. δ¹⁸O‐ and δ¹³C‐values in dolomites range from ?3·07‰ to 5·40‰ PDB (mean=0·06, σ=1·75) and from ?6·34‰ to ?0·39‰ PDB (mean=?3·55, σ=1·33) respectively. Samples containing significant amounts of both dolomite and calcite do not in general show significant enrichment or depletion in ¹⁸O and ¹³C between the two minerals. The correlation coefficient between δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C for dolomite is extremely low and negative (r=?0·05), whereas it is higher and positive (r=0·47) for calcite. The lacustrine dolomite deposit from La Roda is interpreted mainly as a result of primary precipitation of dolomite in a shallow, hydrologically closed perennial lake. The lake was supplied by highly saturated HCO₃^?/CO₃^2? groundwater that leached dolomitic Mesozoic formations. Precipitation of dolomite from alkaline lake waters took place under a semi‐arid to arid climate. However, according to our isotopic data, strong evaporative conditions were not required for the formation of the La Roda dolomite. A significant contribution by bacteria to the formation of the dolomites is assumed in view of both petrographic and geochemical evidence.     

La risoluzione dell'equazione di Laplace nel campo esterno a uno sferoide

Riassunto L'Autore dimostra che, nel sistema di coordinate polari , , , si possono determinare un numeros di funzioni della sola variabile :Q ₁,Q ₃, ....Q _2s–1 tali che la sommatoria delleQ _2i–1/^2i–1 rappresenti il potenzialeV di un geoide di rotazione. La condizione di armonicità determina ciascunaQ (che si riduce a un polinomio nelle potenze di sen ) a meno di una costante arbitraria; si dispone pertanto dis costanti che servono per soddisfare la natura dellaV sulla superficie del geoide. Come esempio l'Autore ha determinato la gravità sul geoide sferico, confermando i risultati delSomigliana, e su uno sferoide generico dove ha ritrovato la relazione diClairaut.

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Summary The Author proofs that, in the system of polar coordinates , , , it is possible to determine a numbers of functions only of the variable :Q ₁,Q ₃ ....Q _2s–1 in such a way as to make the summatory of theQ _2i–1/^2i–1 represent the potential function of a rotational geoid. The condition of harmonicity determines, saving an arbitrary constant, each of theQ which is reduced to a polynom developed by the sin powers; therefore one disposes of a number of constants to make use for satisfing theV on the geoid. To illustrate his theory the Author determines the gravity on the spherical geoid, thus confirmingSomigliana's formulas and on a spheroidal on which he pointed outClairaut's relations.

     

Azimut di una geodetica ellissoidica passante per due punti molto lontani fra loro

Riassunto L'Autore presenta un procedimento per la ricerca dell'azimut di una geodetica ellissoidica passante per due punti molto lontani fra loro. Istituisce dapprima una corrispondenza fra la geodetica ed un arco di cerchio massimo, corrispondenza definita con l'imporre uguali coordinate agli estremi dei due archi e la latitudine sferica normale uguale a quella ellissoidica. Sviluppa poi la longitudine ellissoidicaw in funzione di quella sferical, e poichè l fra gli estremi dell'arco di cerchio deve essere uguale a w, ne deduce una equazione per ricavare l'azimut.

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Summary The Author outlines a procedure to research the azimuth of an ellipsoidal geodesic, which passes through two points far distant from another. A corrispondence is first instituted between the geodesic and a bow of maximum circle; this correspondence may be defined by imposing the same coordinates to the extreme parts of the two bows and the spherical normal latitude equal to the ellipsoidal one. The ellipsoidal longitudew is next developed as a function of the spherical onel and, as l between the extreme parts of the circle bow must equal w, an equation is hereby deduced to find out the azimuth.

     

Un procedimento per l'aggiustamento delle grandi triangolazioni

Riassunto In una nota diA. Marussi è stato rilevato che se, dopo aver compensato una triangolazione con le sole condizioni intrinseche, si impongono ulteriori condizioni come la coincidenza di alcuni vertici in punti prefissati, è possible determinare con sufficiente precisione le coordinate dei rimanenti vertici attraverso corrispondenze analitiche che soddisfino le condizioni di contorno e col requisito di limitare gli errori lineari e angolari. — L'Autore della presente nota propone una nuova corrispondenza, cioè quella atta a rappresentare le deformazioni di una membrana o rete elastica sottoposta ad assumere una data configurazione; stabilisce le equazioni per la rete elastica piana e sferica; mette in evidenza come il principio fisico della minima energia e quello matematico dei minimi quadrati conducano alle medesime equazioni.

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Summary A. Marussi has pointed out that if, after having compensated a triangulation with the intrinsic conditions only, we impose further conditions as the coincidence of some vertex in prefixed points, we can determinate the coordinates of the other vertex: that happens through analytical connections fulling contour conditions and limiting linear and angular errors.The present Author proposes a new connection, which is apt to represent the deformations of an elastic network which is to get a given configuration. He fixes the equations for the spherical and plane networks; points out how the physical principle of the least energy and the mathematical one of the least squares may give the same equations.

     

A description of how metal pollution occurs in the Tinto-Odiel rias (Huelva-Spain) through the application of cluster analysis

In the last few decades, the study of space-time distribution and variations of heavy metals in estuaries has been extensively studied as an environmental indicator. In the case described here, the combination of acid water from mines, industrial effluents and sea water plays a determining role in the evolutionary process of the chemical makeup of the water in the estuary of the Tinto and Odiel Rivers, located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.Based on the statistical treatment of the data from the analysis of the water samples from this system, which has been affected by processes of industrial and mining pollution, the 16 variables analyzed can be grouped into two large families. Each family presents high, positive Pearson r values that suggest common origins (fluvial or sea) for the pollutants present in the water analyzed and allow their subsequent contrast through cluster analysis.     

Geodynamic implications of deep mantle upwelling in the source of Tertiary volcanics from the Veneto region (South-Eastern Alps)

Major and trace element and Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotopic data for the most primitive Tertiary lavas from the Veneto region (South-Eastern Alps, Italy) show the typical features of HIMU hotspot volcanism, variably diluted by a depleted asthenospheric mantle component (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i=0.70306–0.70378; _Ndi=+3.9 to +6.8; _Hfi=+6.4 to +8.1, ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_i=18.786–19.574). P-wave seismic tomography of the mantle below the Veneto region shows the presence of low-velocity anomalies at depth, which is consistent with possible upwellings of plume material. Between the depths of 100–250 km the velocity anomalies are approximately 2–2.5% slower than average, implying a temperature excess of about 220–280 K, in agreement with estimates for other mantle plumes in the world. In this context, the Veneto volcanics may represent the shallow expression of a mantle upflow. The presence of a HIMU-DM component in a collision environment has significant geodynamic implications. Slab detachment and ensuing rise of deep mantle material into the lithospheric gap is proposed to be a viable mechanism of hotspot magmatism in a subduction zone setting.     

Structure of a Large low-Latitude Coronal Hole

Coronal holes on the Sun are the source of high-speed solar wind streams that produce magnetic disturbances at the Earth. A series of multi-wavelength, multi-instrument observations obtained during the 1996 Whole Sun Month campaign examined a large coronal hole in greater detail than ever before. It appeared on the Sun in August, and extended from the north pole to a large active region in the southern hemisphere. Its physical and magnetic structure and subsequent evolution are described.