Intercomparison of Boron Isotope and Concentration Measurements. Part II: Evaluation of Results

The Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse (IGG), on behalf and with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), prepared eight geological materials (three natural waters and five rocks and minerals), intended for a blind interlaboratory comparison of measurements of boron isotopic composition and concentration. The materials were distributed to twenty seven laboratories - virtually all those performing geochemical boron isotope analyses in the world -which agreed to participate in the intercomparison exercise. Only fifteen laboratories, however, ultimately submitted the isotopic and/or concentration results they obtained on the intercomparison materials. The results demonstrate that interlaboratory reproducibility is not well reflected by the precision values reported by the individual laboratories and this observation holds true for both boron concentration and isotopic composition. The reasons for the discrepancies include fractionations due to the chemical matrix of materials, relative shift of the zero position on the δ¹¹B scale and a lack of well characterized materials for calibrating absolute boron content measurements. The intercomparison materials are now available at the IAEA (solid materials) and IGG (waters) for future distribution.     

Seven landslide dams of old seismic origin in southeastern Sicily (Italy)

This paper focuses on origin, morphology and evolution of seven landslide dams in southeastern Sicily. These landforms are part of a set of 146 landslides recently recognised in this area, which was hitherto considered to have little or no slope instability. Southeastern Sicily consists of a plateau (the Hyblaean Mountains) incised by canyons and surrounded by lower lands. It is underlain mostly by subhorizontal, moderately to well-lithified carbonate rocks. Relief is low.Several lines of evidence justify the assumption of a seismic trigger for the landslides in this area: (1) the geo-climatic environment is not favourable to landsliding, (2) low-angle basal shear surfaces are very frequent, (3) landslide distribution is consistent with the known magnitude–distance relationships for earthquake-induced landslides, (4) historical documents testify to earthquake-triggered slope instability and (5) a specific landslide can be exactly dated.The phenomena illustrated here include six rock slides (one with a debris-flow component) and one rock fall. Slip surfaces are mostly non-circular. Landslide volume ranges from about 50×10³ to 34×10⁶ m³.With reference to the Costa and Schuster [Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 100 (1988) 1054] classification of landslide dams, five cases belong to type II (spanning the entire valley), and two to type IV (failures from both valley sides, with frontal or side contact between failed masses). With reference to Crozier and Pillans [Catena 18 (1991) 471] classification of landslide lakes, all cases show a main valley lake while tributary valley, back and supra lakes are sporadically present. One damming is attributable to the 1693 earthquake with certainty; another damming, to the same earthquake with high probability. Three dams were reincised, one breached or reincised, one is slightly reincised and two more or less intact; correspondingly, five silting up deposits were reincised, one is being reincised at present and two are still under formation.     

Resistive instabilities in coronal conditions

Resistive instabilities in a context referring to the solar corona are rigorously investigated. Various equilibrium configurations are considered, differing, among other things, by their behaviour with respect to fast, ideal instabilities. The computations presented cover in a unified scheme all known regimes of resistive modes and allow one to determine the fastest timescale over which resistivity can play a role. Comparisons with previous work as well as possible extensions are presented.     

Time-dependent density anomalies in a stratified,viscoelastic mantle: Implications for the geoid,Earth's rotation and sea-level fluctuations

The effects on the = 2 geoid component and Earth's rotation due to internal mass anomalies are analyzed for a stratified viscoelastic mantle described by a Maxwell rheology. Our approach is appropriate for a simplified modeling of subduction. Sea-level fluctuations induced by long-term rotational instabilities are also considered. The displacement of the Earth's axis of rotation, called true polar wander (TPW) and the induced eustatic sea-level fluctuations, are extremely sensitive to viscosity and density stratification at the 670 km seismic discontinuity. Phase-change models for the transition zone generally allow for huge amount of TPW, except for large viscosity increases; the dominant contribution in Liouville equations comes from a secular term that reflects the viscous behaviour of the mantle. In chemically stratified models, TPW is drastically reduced due to dynamic compensation of the mass anomalies at the upper-lower mantle interface. When the source is embedded in the upper mantle close to the chemical density jump, transient rotational modes are the leading terms in the linear Liouville equations. Long-term rotation instabilities are valuable contributors to the third order cycles in the eustatic sea-level curves. Rates of sea-level fluctuations of the order of 0.05–0.1 mm/yr are induced by displacements of the Earth's axis of rotation compatible with paleomagnetic data.     

Groundwater-driven temperature changes at thermal springs in response to recent glaciation: Bormio hydrothermal system,Central Italian Alps

Thermal springs are widespread in the European Alps, with hundreds of geothermal sites known and exploited. The thermal circulation and fluid outflows were examined in the area around Bormio (Central Italian Alps), where ten geothermal springs discharge from dolomite bodies located close to the regional Zebrù thrust. Water is heated in deep circulation systems and upwells vigorously at a temperature of about 40 °C. Heat and fluid transport is explored by steady and transient three-dimensional finite-element simulations taking into account the effect of the last glaciation, which in the study area was recognized to end around 11,000–12,000 years ago. The full regional model (ca. 700 km²) is discretized with a highly refined triangular finite-element planar grid. Numerical simulations suggest a reactivation of the system following the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. Results correctly simulate the observed discharge rate of ca. 2,400 L/min and the spring temperatures after ca. 13,000 years from deglaciation, and show a complete cooling of the aquifer within a period of approximately 50,000 years. Groundwater flow and temperature patterns suggest that thermal water flows through a deep system crossing both sedimentary and metamorphic lithotypes along a fracture network associated with the thrust system. This example gives insights into the influences of deep alpine structures and glaciations on groundwater circulation that control the development of many hydrothermal systems not necessarily associated with convective heat flow.     

Late Holocene vertical deformation along the coast of Pantelleria Island (Sicily Channel, Italy)

According to historical reports, the north-eastern coastal sector of the volcanic Pantelleria Island (Sicily Channel, Italy) was uplifted up to 1.0 m a.s.l. in the year preceding the October 1891 offshore eruptive event. To better understand the nature and timing of coastal uplift, a detailed survey of morphological and biological indicators of raised palaeo-shorelines has been carried out along the island coastline. This survey identified raised palaeo-shoreline levels at three elevation ranges: 2.5–4.2 m a.s.l. (highest), 1.5–2.7 m a.s.l. (intermediate) and 0.4–1.0 m a.s.l. (lowest). Radiocarbon dating on samples of corals and vermetids placed tight temporal constraints on the uplifting of the raised shorelines. In general, they indicate that the north-eastern sector of the island, centred on the area of Cala del Gadir, has undergone major uplifting, tilting the island towards the southwest from 900 years ago. Applying accurate corrections for sea-level variations, the total amount of volcano-tectonic uplift can be estimated. Uplift rates up to 5 mm/a suggest that the vertical deformation was caused by inflation processes related to magmatic intrusion along feeding fissures.     

Can pseudotachylytes be used to infer earthquake source parameters? An example of limitations in the study of exhumed faults

Tectonic pseudotachylytes might be used to constrain earthquake source parameters, such as dynamic shear stress resistance, average dynamic friction and slip-weakening distance. Estimation of dynamic shear stress resistance and dynamic friction from field studies is based on the assumption that the volume of melt produced during coseismic slip is proportional to the frictional work converted to heat on the fault surface. Conditions conducive to a realistic estimate of dynamic shear resistance are: (i) the presence of large outcrop exposures that allow for estimation of the volume of pseudotachylyte; (ii) the presence of structural markers offset by faults in order to relate the displacement accommodated by the fault with the volume of melt produced; (iii) data that provide an estimate of the initial melt temperature; and (iv) determination of host-rock temperature and pressure conditions that may have existed during seismic faulting. An independent indication that steady-state friction in the presence of melts might be achieved during coseismic slip arises from the dependence of the fractal dimension of the fault profile (intersection of the fault surface with the outcrop surface) with displacement. This relation could also indicate the slip-weakening distance (Hirose, T., Shimamoto, T., 2003. Fractal dimension of molten surfaces as a possible parameter to infer the slip-weakening distance of faults from natural pseudotachylytes. Journal of Structural Geology 25, 1569–1574).The above conditions are all satisfied in the case of the Gole Larghe Fault Zone, which consists of hundreds subparallel strike-slip faults that cut tonalites of the Adamello batholith (Italy). The thickness of pseudotachylyte-bearing faults increases with displacement. From displacement/thickness ratios and energy balance calculations, we determined the dynamic shear resistance for several pseudotachylyte-bearing faults. In the same faults, the fractal dimension of the fault profile increases from 1.0 to 1.16 with displacement. This was also observed in experiments where steady-state friction in the presence of melt was achieved (Hirose, T., Shimamoto, T., 2003. Fractal dimension of molten surfaces as a possible parameter to infer the slip-weakening distance of faults from natural pseudotachylytes. Journal of Structural Geology 25, 1569–1574). However, we will show that the estimate of the dynamic shear stress resistance, average dynamic friction and slip-weakening distance in the studied faults is limited by the uncertainties to attribute the measured displacement to a single seismic rupture. Since many pseudotachylytes in the upper seismogenic crust overprint preexisting cataclasites, it is suggested that future field and experimental work should be addressed to determine microstructural indicators (i.e. evolution of cataclastic fabric with displacement) within cataclasites, which might constrain the contribution of the cataclastic, pre-pseudotachylyte displacement to the total displacement accommodated by the fault.