Growth and deformation mechanisms of talc along a natural fault: a micro/nanostructural investigation

This paper documents the occurrence of large amounts of talc within a continental normal fault. The talc-in reaction is deformation-enhanced and occurs by the interaction between dolostones and silica-rich hydrothermal fluids. In the high-strain, foliated fault core, talc forms an interconnected network of oriented (001) lamellae, 200–300 nm thick, locally associated with minor tremolite fibres, up to 300 nm in diameter. The talc structure is affected by several strain-induced defects, among which (001) interlayer delamination that produces talc “sublamellae” down to 10–30 nm thick. Micro/nanostructural observations definitely point to a predominant deformation mechanism of (001) frictional sliding, further enhanced by pervasive delamination that gives rise to an almost infinite number of possible sliding surfaces. These effects have fundamental implications in fault mechanics, resulting in significant fault weakening.     

Seasonal dynamics of zooplankton in Lake Huetzalin, Xochimilco (Mexico City, Mexico)

We quantified the seasonal changes in the zooplankton abundances collected from the Huetzalin Lake (Mexico City, Mexico) for two years (February 2003–January 2004 and then March 2005–February 2006). Selected physicochemical variables (Secchi depth, temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, phosphorus, nitrogen, carbon and chlorophyll a concentration) were also measured at the time of zooplankton collection. The data on zooplankton abundances and the physicochemical variables were subjected to multiple correlation analysis and we also derived Shannon–Wiener species diversity index. Secchi depth ranged from 9 to 65 cm. Generally the lake was alkaline (pH 7–12). The conductivity ranged from 500–1000 mS cm⁻¹, while the mean water temperature was 20.5 °C. Dissolved oxygen levels were generally >3 mg L⁻¹ and were higher in the winter than warmer months. Nitrates (90–95 μg L⁻¹) and phosphates (.2–.5 mg L⁻¹) indicated that the water was eutrophic. Chlorophyll a levels ranged from 143 to 696 μg L⁻¹ during the study period. The zooplankton community was dominated by rotifers (46 species), followed by cladocerans (9 species) and there were only two copepod species. The dominant rotifer species were Brachionus angularis, Brachionus calyciflorus, Brachionus havanaensis, Brachionus quadridentatus, Lecane bulla and Polyarthra vulgaris. Rare rotifer species in Lake Huetzalin were Lecane ohioensis, Dicranophorus forcipatus, Lecane pyriformis, Lindia torulosa, Pleurotrocha petromyzon and Brachionus durgae. Highest densities (occasional peaks of 400 ind L⁻¹) of B. quadridentatus occurred between April and December, while B. havanaensis reached peak densities, during June to October. B. calyciflorus reached densities higher than 1240 ind L⁻¹ during May–September. Cladoceran and copepod densities in Lake Huetzalin were much lower than that of the rotifers. This study confirmed the earlier findings that Xochimilco system of canals is dominated by rotifers and the crustacean zooplankton have much lower abundances possibly due to predation from fish.     

Estimation of Probable Maximum Precipitation for Dams in the Hongru River Catchment, China

Summary During the summer season, typhoons form in the western north Pacific Ocean and travel westward towards China. Some recurve northward off the coast, whereas others continue in over land. These typhoons bring heavy rainfall to the Huai river basin in eastern central China. In August 1975, the remnant of typhoon Nina caused exceptionally heavy rainfall in the Hongru river basin, in the mountainous upper reaches of the Huai river. The rainfall lasted five days from 4 to 8 August. This type of nearly stationary typhoon can cause rainfall of large intensity for a long duration, and is suitable for maximization to derive probable maximum precipitation (PMP) estimates. The PMP is transformed into a probable maximum flood hydrograph that is subsequently used to design spillways etc. In this study the PMP values have been estimated using a hydrometeorological method involving depth-area-duration analysis, moisture maximization, and altitude adjustment for typhoon Nina, for 1, 2, and 3 days duration. Areal PMP values were obtained for the entire Hongru river catchment, as well as for the subcatchments upstream the dams at Banqiao (762 km²), Shimantan (230 km²), Boshan (580 km²), and Suyahu (4 498 km²). For point values, the PMP was estimated to 1 200 mm/day, 1 460 mm/2 days, and 1 910 mm/3 days at altitudes about 100 m, which agrees well with previous studies. Received February 21, 1997 Revised May 27, 1997     

Remote Sensing Of Three-Dimensional Winds With Elastic Lidar: Explanation Of Maximum Cross-Correlation Method

Maximum cross-correlation provides a method to remotely determine highly resolved three-dimensional fields of horizontal winds with elastic lidar throughout large volumes of the planetary boundary layer (PBL). This paper details the technique and shows comparisons between elastic lidar winds, remotely sensed laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) wind profiles, and radiosonde winds. Radiosonde wind data were acquired at Barcelona, Spain, during the Barcelona Air-Quality Initiative (1992), and the LDV wind data were acquired at Sunland Park, New Mexico (N.M.), during the Border Area Air-Quality Study (1994). Comparisons show good agreement between the different instruments, and demonstrate the method useful for air pollution management at the local/regional scale. Elastic lidar winds could thus offer insight into aerosol and pollution transport within the PBL. Lidar wind fields might also be used to nudge or improve initialization and evaluation of atmospheric meteorological models.     

Mobility of trace elements between the river water,the sediments,and the pore water of Las Catonas Stream,Buenos Aires Province,Argentina

The composition of river water, sediments, and pore waters (down to 30 cm below the bed) of Las Catonas Stream was studied to analyze the distribution of trace elements in a peri-urban site. The Las Catonas Stream is one of the main tributaries of Reconquista River, a highly polluted water course in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The semi-consolidated Quaternary sediments of the Luján Formation are the main source of sediments for Las Catonas Stream. The coarse-grained fraction in the sediments is mainly composed of tosca (calcretes), intraclasts, bone fragments, glass shards, quartz, and aggregates of fine-grained sediments together with considerably amounts of vegetal remains. The clay minerals are illite, illite–smectite, smectite, and kaolinite. For the clay-sized fraction, the external surface area values are mostly between 70 and 110 m²g^?1, although the fraction at 15 cm below the bottom of the river shows a lower surface area of 12 m²g^?1. The N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms at 77 K for this sample display a behavior indicative of non-porous or macroporous material, whereas the samples above and below present a typical behavior of mesoporous materials with pores between parallel plates (slit-shaped). As, Cr, Cu, and Cd concentrations increase down to 15 cm depth in the sediments, where the highest trace element and total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations were found, and then decrease toward the bottom of the core. Except for As, the levels of the other heavy metals show higher concentration in surficial waters than in pore waters. Distribution coefficients between the sediments, pore water, and surficial water phases indicate that As is released from the sediments to the pore and surficial waters. Cu content strongly correlates with TOC (mainly from vegetal remains), suggesting that this element is mainly bound to the organic phase.     

Two-Micron All-Sky Survey J01542930+0053266: a new eclipsing M dwarf binary system

We report on Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) J01542930+0053266, a faint eclipsing system composed of two M dwarfs. The variability of this system was originally discovered during a pilot study of the 2MASS Calibration Point Source Working Data base. Additional photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey yields an eight-passband light curve from which we derive an orbital period of  2.639 0157 ± 0.000 0016  d. Spectroscopic followup confirms our photometric classification of the system, which is likely composed of M0 and M1 dwarfs. Radial velocity measurements allow us to derive the masses  (M₁= 0.66 ± 0.03 M_⊙; M₂= 0.62 ± 0.03 M_⊙)  and radii  (R₁= 0.64 ± 0.08 R_⊙; R₂= 0.61 ± 0.09 R_⊙)  of the components, which are consistent with empirical mass–radius relationships for low-mass stars in binary systems. We perform Monte Carlo simulations of the light curves which allow us to uncover complicated degeneracies between the system parameters. Both stars show evidence of Hα emission, something not common in early-type M dwarfs. This suggests that binarity may influence the magnetic activity properties of low-mass stars; activity in the binary may persist long after the dynamos in their isolated counterparts have decayed, yielding a new potential foreground of flaring activity for next generation variability surveys.     

Application of the exact constitutive relationship of modified Cam clay to the undrained expansion of a spherical cavity

The modified Cam clay (MCC) model is used to study the response of virgin‐compressed clay subjected to undrained triaxial compression. The MCC constitutive relationship is obtained in a closed form. Both elastic and plastic deviatoric strains are considered in the analysis. The solution allows to obtain total and effective stress paths followed by the clay in undrained spherical expansion. Pore water pressures are determined from the difference between total and effective mean stresses. For illustration purposes, the analysis is also applied to the well‐known reconstituted normally consolidated London clay and the results are compared with the recently published data obtained by a numerical approach. In addition, the Almansi large strains are used in the analysis, as these allow to obtain limit expansion and pore pressures, whereas both small‐strain and logarithmic‐strain approaches do not permit to determine them. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fluid Inclusion and Stable Isotope Studies at Don Sixto,a Precious Metal Low Sulfidation Deposit in Mendoza Province,Argentina

The Don Sixto mining area in Mendoza province, central‐western Argentina, contains an epithermal low sulfidation Au–Ag deposit. It is a small deposit (～4 km²), with a gold resource of 36 t. In Don Sixto, ore minerals are disseminated in the hydrothermal quartz veins and hydrothermally altered volcanic‐pyroclastic rock units of Permian–Triassic age. On the basis of the texture, ore mineral paragenesis and cross cutting relationship of gangue minerals, seven stages of mineralization were recognized and described. The first six stages are characterized by quartz veins with minor amounts of base metal minerals and the last stage is represented by fluorite veins with minimal quantities of base metal minerals; the precious metal mineralization is mainly related to the fourth stage. The hydrothermal veins exhibit mainly massive, crustiform and comb infilling textures; the presence of bladed quartz replacement textures and quartz veins with adularia crystals are indicative of boiling processes in the system. Fluid inclusion and complementary stable isotope studies were performed in quartz, fluorite, and pyrite samples from the vein systems. The microthermometric data were obtained from primary, biphasic (liquid‐vapor) fluid inclusion assemblages in quartz and fluorite. The maximum values for salinity and homogenization temperature (T_h) came from the stage IV where quartz with petrographic evidence of boiling has average values of 4.96 wt% NaCl_equiv. and 286.9°C respectively. The lower values are related to the last stage of mineralization, where the fluid inclusions in fluorite have average salinities of 1.05 wt% NaCl_equiv. and average homogenization temperatures of 173.1°C. The oxygen and sulfur isotopic fractionation was analyzed in quartz and pyrite. The calculated isotopic fractionation for oxygen in the hydrothermal fluid is in the range of δ¹⁸O_H2O = ?6.92 up to ?3.08‰, which indicates dominance of a meteoric source for the water, while sulfur reaches δ³⁴S_H2S = 1.09‰, which could be reflecting a possible magmatic, or even a mixed source.     

Transmission electron microscopy applied to fluid inclusion investigations

The transmission electron microscope (TEM) allows a detailed characterization of textural and chemical features of fluid inclusions (shape, inner compositions and inner textures), at a resolution higher than that attainable with an optical microscope (OM). TEM investigation indicates that most fluid inclusions appear as perfectly euhedral negative crystals, with variable shape (from prismatic to equant) and size (typically from <0.02 to 0.15 μm). Inner texture (fluid phase/melt distribution) and composition are variable as well. Different kinds of negative crystals may coexist in the same trail of inclusions, possibly indicating locally variable trapping conditions.

A critical feature, revealed by TEM, is that inclusions are often connected to structural defects (in particular, to dislocation arrays), which are undetected by optical microscopy. The identification of these hidden nanostructures should be taken into account for the correct petrological interpretation of microthermometric results, particularly when controversial data have been obtained. In fact, these nanostructures may represent a possible path for fluid phase leakage, thus modifying the original composition and/or density of the inclusions.