Mantle derived crystal-poor rhyolitic ignimbrites: Eruptive mechanism from geochemical and geochronological data of the Piedra Parada caldera,Southern Argentina

Trace elements, isotopic modeling and U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon age constraints are used to reconstruct the eruption history and magmatic processes of the Piedra Parada Caldera. In the early Eocene, the crystal-poor Barda Colorada ignimbrite(BCI), having 15% micro-porphyritic crystals with respect to magmatic components, erupted a volume estimated in more than 300 km~3. The Piedra Parada caldera is located in the Patagonian Andes foreland, at the southern end of the calderas field of the Pilcaniyeu Volcanic Belt(PVB). This belt is related to an extensional tectonic setting as a result of the collision of the Farallon-Aluk ridge with South America, which enabled the development of a transform ocean/continental plate margin followed by the detachment of the Aluk plate and the opening of a slab window. The BCI extra-caldera Plateau is a 100 m thick deposit, having a lower unit with high silica(Si O_2 76 wt.%),potassium poor rhyolitic composition(trondhjemitic like magma), and an upper unit with normal to high potassium rhyolitic composition(granitic like magma). A trace elements modeling of the BCI units shows that the BCI lower and upper units did not evolve from fractionation or immiscibility in the shallow magma reservoir. The BCI also have a primitive isotopic signature(initial87 Sr/86 Sr =0.7031-0.7049 and ε_(Nd)= +3.4 to +3.65). Thus, tectonic, compositional and isotopic constraints suggest the fast ascent of high silica magmas to a shallow reservoir, and point to an upper mantle origin for these rhyolitic magmas in a transitional(Orogenic-Anorogenic) tectono-magmatic setting. U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon crystallization ages of the Syn-caldera stage BCI units(56 -51.5 Ma) show a protracted life of 5 Ma for this caldera reservoir. The age of 52.9 ± 0.3 Ma is considered the best fit for the possible maximum age for the caldera collapse. The Late-caldera magmatism has trachyandesitic and rhyolitic compositions.The trace element modeling suggests that these rhyolites evolve from the trachyandesites and do not evolve from the BCI residual magma. The trachyandesites have U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon crystallization ages of 52 ± 1 Ma, suggesting that the caldera eruption was triggered by the arrival of the trachyandesitic magma.     

Nutrient source attribution: Quantitative typology distinction of active and legacy source contributions to waterborne loads

Distinction between active and legacy sources of nutrients is needed for effective reduction of waterborne nutrient loads and associated eutrophication. This study quantifies main typological differences in nutrient load behaviour versus water discharge for active and legacy sources. This quantitative typology is used for source attribution based on monitoring data for water discharge and concentrations of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorous (TP) from 37 catchments draining into the Baltic Sea along the coastline of Sweden over the period 2003–2013. Results indicate dominant legacy source contributions to the monitored loads of TN and TP in most (33 of the total 37) study catchments. Dominant active sources are indicated in 1 catchment for TN, and mixed sources are indicated in 3 catchments for TN, and 4 catchments for TP. The TN and TP concentration contributions are quantified to be overall higher from the legacy than the active sources. Legacy concentrations also correlate well with key indicators of human activity in the catchments, agricultural land share for TN (R² = 0.65) and population density for TP (R² = 0.56). Legacy-dominated nutrient concentrations also change more slowly than in catchments with dominant active or mixed sources. Various data-based results and indications converge in indicating legacy source contributions as largely dominant, mainly anthropogenic, and with near-zero average change trends in the present study of catchments draining into the Baltic Sea along the coastline of Sweden, as in other parts of the world. These convergent indications emphasize needs to identify and map the different types of sources in each catchment, and differentiate strategies and measures to target each source type for possible achievement of shorter- and longer-term goals of water quality improvement.     

Partition of arsenic in soils sediments and the origin of naturally elevated concentrations in groundwater of the southern pampa region (Argentina)

Excessive arsenic concentrations above the Argentinean and WHO guidelines for drinking water (10 μg L⁻¹) affects shallow aquifers of the southern Pampean Plain (Argentina) hosted in the Pampean and the Post Pampean formations (loess and reworked loess; Plio-Pleistocene–Holocene). Health problems related to high As concentrations in drinking waters are known as Endemic Regional Chronic Hydroarsenicism. Hydrochemistry of shallow groundwaters and soil geochemistry were investigated aiming to (1) understand the partition of As in the solid phase and its relationship with unacceptable As concentrations in waters, (2) identify the provision source of As to groundwaters. Only 5% of the samples had As concentrations <10 μg L⁻¹; in 27% As concentrations ranged from 10 to 50 μg L⁻¹ and in 58% it reached 60–500 μg L⁻¹. The coarse fraction (50–2,000 μm) hosts about 27% of the total As in the solid phase, being positively correlated to Ba (p < 0.01; r ² = 0.93). About 70% is included in the <2 μm fraction and had positive correlations of As–Fe (p < 0.05; r ² = 0.85) and As–Cr (p < 0.05; r ² = 0.68). Soils and sediment sand fractions of vadose zones are the primary sources of As in shallow groundwater while adsorption–desorption processes, codisolution–coprecipitation, and evaporation during the dry seasons raise As concentrations in waters exceeding the guideline value for drinking water.     

Development of unconfined historic lava flow fields in Tenerife: implications for the mitigation of risk from a future eruption

Historic and recent (last 2,000?years) eruptions on the active volcanic island of Tenerife have been predominantly effusive, indicating that this is the most probable type of activity to be expected in the near future. In the past, lava flow invasion caused major damage on the island, and as the population and infrastructure have increased dramatically since the last eruption, lava flows are the most important short-term volcanic risk on Tenerife. Hence, an understanding of lava flow behaviour is vital to manage risks from lava flows and minimise future losses on the island. This paper focuses on the lava flows from the historic eruptions in Tenerife, providing new data on the volumes emitted, advance rates and the timing of the emplacement of flows. The studies show three main stages in the development of unconfined flow fields: the first stage, corresponding to the fast advance of the initial fronts during the first 24?C36?h of eruption (reaching calculated velocities of up to 1.1?m/s); the second stage, in which fronts stagnate; and a third stage, in which secondary lava flows develop from breakouts 4?C7?days after the initial eruption and farther extend the flow field (velocities of up to 0.02?m/s have been calculated for this stage). The breakouts identified originated at sites both proximal and distal to the vent and, in both cases, caused damage through lengthening and widening the original flow field. Hence, the probability of damage from lavas to land and property is highest during stages 1 and 3, and this should be accounted for when planning the response to a future effusive eruption. Tenerife??s lava flows display a similar behaviour to that of lava flows on volcanoes characterised by basaltic effusive activity (such as Etna or Kilauea), indicating the possibility of applying forecasting models developed at those frequently active volcanoes to Tenerife.     

Surface velocity time series derived from satellite altimetry data in a section across the Kuroshio southwest of Kyushu

A time series of surface geostrophic velocity is developed using satellite altimetry data during 1992–2010 for a track across the Kuroshio southeast of Kyushu, Japan. The temporal mean geostrophic velocity is estimated by combining the along-track sea level anomaly and shipboard ADCP data. This approximately 6-km resolution dataset is successful in representing the Kuroshio cross-current structure and temporal variation of the Kuroshio current-axis position during 2000–2010. The authors use this dataset to examine the winter Kuroshio path destabilization phenomenon. Its seasonal features are characterized as follows: the velocity shear on the inshore side of the Kuroshio becomes stronger and the Kuroshio path state becomes unstable from the summer to winter. This evidence is consistent with the hypothetical mechanism governing the destabilization phenomenon discussed in a previous study. Furthermore, the interannual amplitude modulation of the seasonality is examined in relation to interannual variations in the winter northerly wind over the northern Okinawa Trough and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) index. The destabilization phenomenon appears 15 times in the period 2000–2010. Ten cases are related to local wind effects, and 7 of these are also connected with the PDO index. This is probably because the winter northerly wind over the northern Okinawa Trough is regulated by the PDO signal in interannual time-scales. Only 4 cases are related to the PDO index, but their driving mechanism remains uncertain.     

Messinian deposits and erosion in northern Tunisia: inferences on Strait of Sicily during the Messinian Salinity Crisis

Outcrops, offshore wells, electric logs and seismic profiles from northern Tunisia provide an opportunity to decipher the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Strait of Sicily. Messinian deposits (including gypsum beds) near the Tellian Range reveal two successive subaerial erosional surfaces overlain by breccias and marine Zanclean clays, respectively. In the Gulf of Tunis, Messinian thick evaporites (mostly halite) are strongly eroded by a fluvial canyon infilled with Zanclean clays. The first erosional phase is referred to the intra-Messinian tectonic phase and is analogous to that found in Sicily. The second phase corresponds to the Messinian Erosional Surface that postdates the marginal evaporites, to which the entire Sicilian evaporitic series must refer. The Western and Eastern Mediterranean basins were separated during deposition of the central evaporites.     

X-ray Computed Tomography study of the influence of consolidants on the hydric properties of sandstones for stone conservation studies

X-ray Computed Tomography (X-ray CT) has been used to study the petrophysical characteristics of a Jurassic sandstone from Asturias (Northern Spain) used as building stone in several monuments in the region. CT monitoring of water capillarity tests has made it possible to visualize the movement of water inside the samples, to relate this movement with texture characteristics, and to measure the height reached in successive images, thereby determining the capillary penetration coefficient; based on this coefficient, the effective capillary pore radius has also been estimated. An advantage of the use of CT is that, as the information comes from the sample interior, border effects that can be generated in the external faces can be avoided.The CT was also used to visualize how a commercial organosilicon consolidant penetrates inside the rock by means of capillarity, a usual way of consolidant application in stone restoration processes. The coefficient of capillary penetration of the product, determined on the basis of the measurements made on the tomographic images, is 53% less than that of water. The influence of rock texture characteristics on the capillarity both of the consolidant and the water was also observed.The samples underwent CT water capillarity studies before and after the consolidant application, proving that the treatment improves the rock's hydric properties. The coefficient of capillary penetration decreased by 24% following the application of the consolidant, whereas the effective pore radius decreased by more than 40%.