The Al2O3 contents of enstatite in equilibrium with garnet in the system MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 at 15–40 kbar and 900°–1,600° C

Forty-six reversed determinations of the Al₂O₃content of enstatite in equilibrium with garnet were made in the P/T range 15–40 kbar/900–1,600° C in the MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ system. Starting materials were mixtures of synthetic pyrope+Al-free enstatite and pyrope+enstatite (5–12% Al₂O₃). Al₂O₃ contents in reversal run pairs closely approached common values from both the high- and low-Al sides. Most experiments were done in a piston-cylinder device using a NaCl medium; some runs at very high temperatures were made in pyrex/NaCl or pyrex/talc assemblies. The measured enstatite compositions, expressed as mole fractions of Mg₂(MgAl)(AlSi₃)O₁₂(X _Opy ^En ) were fitted by a Monte-Carlo method to the equilibrium condition: $$\begin{gathered} \Delta H_{970}^0 - 970\Delta S_{970}^0 \hfill \\ + \mathop \smallint \limits_1^P \Delta V_{970}^0 dP - \mathop \smallint \limits_{970}^T \Delta S_T^0 dT + RT\ln X_{Opy}^{En} = 0 \hfill \\ \end{gathered}$$ where the best fit parameters of ΔH, ΔS and ΔV (1 bar, 970 K) for the reaction pyrope=opy are 2,040 cal/mol, 2.12 eu and 9.55 cc/mol. In addition to the determination of Al₂O₃ contents of enstatite, the univariant reaction pyrope+forsterite=enstatite+spinel was reversibly located in the range 1,100–1,400°C. A “best-fit” line passes through 22, 22.5 and 25 kbar at 1,040, 1,255 and 1,415°C, respectively. Our results for the univariant reaction are in agreement with previous studies of MacGregor (1974) and Haselton (1979). However, comparison of the experimentally determined curve with thermochemical calculations suggests that there may be a small error in the tabulated ΔH _f(970,1) ⁰ value for enstatite. A value of?8.32 rather than?8.81 kcal/mole (Charlu et al. 1975) is consistent with the present data. Application of garnet-enstatite-spinel-forsterite equilibria to natural materials is fraught with difficulties. The effects of nonternary components are poorly understood, and the low solubilities of Al₂O₃ in enstatite under most geologically reasonable conditions make barometric or thermometric calculations highly sensitive. More detailed studies, including reversed determinations in low-friction assemblies, are sorely needed before the effects of important diluents such as Fe, Ca and Cr can be fully understood.     

Dynamics of a confined lava flow on Kilauea volcano,Hawaii

This paper presents a new method of analysing lava flow deposits which allows the velocity, discharge rate and rheological properties of channelled moving lavas to be calculated. The theory is applied to a lava flow which was erupted on Kilauea in July 1974. This flow came from a line of fissures on the edge of the caldera and was confined to a pre-existing gully within 50 m of leaving the vent. The lava drained onto the floor of the caldera when the activity stopped, but left wall and floor deposits which showed that the lava banked up as it flowed around each of the bends. Field surveys established the radius of curvature of each bend and the associated lava levels, and these data, together with related field and laboratory measurements, are used to study the rheology of the lava. The results show the flow to have been fast moving but still laminar, with a mean velocity of just over 8 m s^–1; the lava had a low or negligible yield strength and viscosities in the range 85–140 Pa s. An extension of the basic method is considered, and the possibility of supercritical flow discussed.     

Soil loss and sediment transport during the storms and landslides of May 1988 in Ruhengeri prefecture,Rwanda

In early May 1988, five prefectures in western Rwanda experienced catastrophic levels of precipitation, landslide, and flooding activity that resulted in a severe loss of life, property, and livelihood. Using data from runoff plot and hydrological monitoring stations of the Ruhengeri Resource Analysis and Management Project, the events and circumstances leading to these phenomena are reconstructed. These data show that mass wasting processes were preceded by more than 140 mm of precipitation during 4–7 May, which may have saturated local soils. A small earth tremor on 7 May, (Richter scale of 3) contributed to the onset of the catastrophic debris avalanche, torrent, and earthflow activity that commenced 24 h later. The more than 50 mm of precipitation that fell during 9 May, including a maximum 30 min intensity of 24 mm, resulted in continued surficial soil loss that averaged 34 t/ha on seven cropped, Wischmeier-type runoff plots with biological erosion control contours. The Nyamutera River, which drains the impacted area, delivered 567000 tons of suspended sediment to its mouth between 7 and 13 May. This corresponds to a basin-wide lowering of 12600 t/km², or more than half of the basin's annual suspended sediment yield. Theoretical distributions of maximum 24 h precipitation events suggest that Nyakinama and other regions in Ruhengeri are particularly prone to similar high volume events, exacerbating an already serious soil loss problem throughout the prefecture. Because contemporary land use practices directly contributed to the severity of the 1988 event, further applied research that identifies technologies capable of reducing soil loss, augmenting soil fertility, and minimizing the impacts of high magnitude and high volume rainfall is greatly needed.     

Transport of stable isotopes: I: Development of a kinetic continuum theory for stable isotope transport

Equations are developed describing migration of stable isotopes via a fluid phase infiltrating porous media. The formalism of continuum fluid mechanics is used to deal with the problem of microscopic inhomogeneity. Provision is made explicitly for local equilibrium exchange of isotopes between minerals and fluids as well as for kinetic control of isotopic exchange. Changing characteristic parameters of transport systems such as porosity, permeability, and changes in modal proportions of minerals due to precipitation or dissolution are taken into account.The kinetic continuum theory (KCIT) is used to show how to deduce the dominant mechanism of mass transport in metasomatic rocks. Determination of the transport mechanism requires data on the spatial distribution of the reaction progress of exchange reactions between minerals and fluids involving at least two stable isotope systems such as ¹³C-¹²C and ¹⁸O-¹⁶O, for example. It is concluded that a combination of field and laboratory measurements of two or more stable isotope systems can be used to place constraints not only on the mechanism of transport but also on the magnitude of fluid fluxes, the identity of fluid sources, and the molecular species composition of fluids.Variables used C number of chemical components - D _i,j hydrodynamic dispersion tensor [m²/s] - D _i ^j diffusion coefficient matrix [m²/s] - D ^* apparent diffusion coefficient, includes sorption, dispersion, porosity and tortuosity [m²/s] - F number of degrees of freedom (variance) - f _i ^j mass or number of isotope j in fluid species i - g acceleration due to gravity [m/s²] - flow [m³/m² s] - j isotope species - j chemical element - k coefficient defined in Eq. 17 - K permeability of porous media [m²], [darcy] - L _ij phenomenological diffusion coefficient matrix [mol²/j m s] - m number of fluid species - n number of isotope exchange vectors - p number of phases - P pressure [Pa] - P ^* hydrological pressure potential [Pa] - R ^j ratio of concentration of rare to common isotope of element j - r number of restrictions imposed on system - s _i ^j mass or number of isotope j in one mole of mineral phase i - t time [s] - V volume [m³] - X _i number of moles of fluid species i in unit fluid volume - X _l number of moles of mineral l in unit volume - X _l ^j mole fraction of isotope j in one mole mineral l - X ^* mole fraction with respect to the whole system - z space coordinate [m] - z transformed space coordinate - z ^* location of an infiltration front [m] - _x–y ^j fractionation factor between two phases, x, y, for isotope j - porosity - fluid viscosity [Ns/m²] - fraction of porosity accessible to a specific mass transport mechanism - chemical potential [j/mole] - stoichiometric reaction coefficient - normalized reaction progress variable - mass, specific mass [gr/cm] - tortuosity - fluid velocity [m/s] - c common isotope - init initial - j isotope species - r rare isotope - tot sum of common and rare isotope - dif diffusive - disp dispersive - eq mineral composition in equilibrium with initial infiltration concentration of the fluid - f fluid - inf infiltrative - r rock, without fluid phase - samp sample - std standard - sys system - tot fluid and rock     

Detection of a sulfur dioxide signal in a tree-ring record: a case study from Trail,British Columbia,Canada

Dendroecological analysis of tree-ring chronologies was used to determine radial growth responses of a western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) stand to climate and ambient SO₂ exposure. A unique, 32-year long record of ambient SO₂ concentrations was exploited to estimate annual SO₂ dose with a 0.25 ppm threshold. Tree-ring data were a subset from a previous study including three control sites and one polluted site that was near the location of the SO₂ monitor. An autoregression model was employed in a stagewise procedure that first removed climate effects by autoregression on the average of the controls and then estimated a dose-response relationship by autoregression of the residuals from the first stage on SO₂ exposure. Significant growth losses from air pollution were demonstrated that were approximately equal in magnitude to the variation explained by annual fluctuations of climate.     

Glacial Lake Musselshell: Late Wisconsin slackwater on the Laurentide ice margin in central Montana, USA

Cosmogenic surface exposure ages of glacial boulders deposited in ice-marginal Lake Musselshell suggest that the lake existed between 20 and 11.5 ka during the Late Wisconsin glacial stage (MIS 2), rather than during the Late Illinoian stage (MIS 6) as traditionally thought. The altitude of the highest ice-rafted boulders and the lowest passes on the modern divide indicate that glacial lake water in the Musselshell River basin reached at least 920–930 m above sea level and generally remained below 940 m. Exposures of rhythmically bedded silt and fine sand indicate that Lake Musselshell is best described as a slackwater system, in which the ice-dammed Missouri and Musselshell Rivers rose and fell progressively throughout the existence of the lake rather than establishing a lake surface with a stable elevation. The absence of varves, deltas and shorelines also implies an unstable lake. The changing volume of the lake implies that the Laurentide ice sheet was not stable at its southernmost position in central Montana. A continuous sequence of alternating slackwater lake sediment and lacustrine sheetflood deposits indicates that at least three advances of the Laurentide ice sheet occurred in central Montana between 20 and 11.5 ka. Between each advance, it appears that Lake Musselshell drained to the north and formed two outlet channels that are now occupied by extremely underfit streams. A third outlet formed when the water in Lake Musselshell fully breached the Larb Hills, resulting in the final drainage of the lake. The channel through the Larb Hills is now occupied by the Missouri River, implying that the present Missouri River channel east of the Musselshell River confluence was not created until the Late Wisconsin, possibly as late as 11.5 ka.     

Geographies of uncertainty in the health benefits of air quality improvements

Assessing the long-term benefits of marginal improvements in air quality from regulatory intervention is methodologically challenging. In this study, we explore how the relative risks (RRs) of mortality from air pollution exposure change over time and whether patterns in the RRs can be attributed to air quality improvements. We employed two-stage multilevel Cox models to describe the association between air pollution and mortality for 51 cities with data from the American Cancer Society (ACS) cohort (N = 264,299, deaths = 69,819). New pollution data were computed through models that predict yearly average fine particle (PM_2.5) concentrations throughout the follow-up (1982–2000). Average PM_2.5 concentrations from 1999 to 2000 and sulfate concentrations from 1980 were also examined. We estimated the RRs of mortality associated with air pollution separately for five time periods (1982–1986, 1987–1990, 1991–1994, 1995–1998, and 1999–2000). Mobility models were implemented with a sub-sample of 100,557 subjects to assist with interpreting the RR estimates. Sulfate RRs exhibit a large decline from the 1980s to the 1990s. In contrast, PM_2.5 RRs follow the opposite pattern, with larger RRs later in the 1990s. The reduction in sulfate RR may have resulted from air quality improvements that occurred through the 1980s and 1990s in response to the acid rain control program. PM_2.5 concentrations also declined in many places, but toxic mobile sources are now the largest contributors to PM in urban areas. This may account for the heightened RR of mortality associated with PM_2.5 in the 1990s. The paper concludes with a three alternative explanations for the temporal pattern of RRs, each emphasizing the uncertainty in ascribing health benefits to air quality improvements.     

Coupled basin evolution and late-stage metamorphic core complex exhumation in the southern Basin and Range Province, southeastern Arizona

Records of lithospheric extension and mountain-range uplift are most continuously contained within syntectonic sedimentary rocks in basins adjacent to large structural culminations. In southeastern Arizona, metamorphic core complexes form mountain ranges with the highest elevations in the region, and supposedly much less extended terranes lie at lower elevations. Adjacent to the Santa Catalina-Rincon metamorphic core complex, within the Tucson Basin, stratigraphic-sequence geometries evident in a large suite of 2-D seismic reflection data suggest a two-phase basin-evolution model controlled by the emplacement and subsequent uplift of the core complex. In its earliest stage, Phase I of basin formation was characterized by extensive faults forming relatively small-scale proto-basins, which coalesced with the larger basin-bounding detachment fault system. Synextensional sedimentation within the enlarging basin is evidenced by sediment-growth packages, derived from adjacent footwall material, fanning into brittle hanging-wall faults. During this phase, volcanism was widespread, and growth packages contain interbedded sediments and volcanic products but, paradoxically, no mylonitic clasts from the adjacent metamorphic core complex. Phase II of basin evolution begins after a significant tectonic hiatus and consists of a symmetric deepening of the central basin with the introduction of mylonitic clasts in the basin fill. This is coupled with the activation of a series of high-angle normal faults ringing the core complex. These observations suggest a two-phase model for metamorphic core complex evolution, with an initial stage of isostatic core complex emplacement during detachment faulting that resulted in little topographic expression. This was followed, after a significant tectonic hiatus, by late-stage exhumation and flexural uplift of the Santa Catalina-Rincon metamorphic core complex through younger high-angle faulting. Moreover, the geometry of upper basin fill units suggests an extremely low effective elastic thickness in the region and that flexural uplift of the core complex induced asymmetric transfer of ductile mid-crustal rocks from beneath the subsiding Tucson Basin to the uplifting mountain range.     

3D imaging of a reservoir analogue in point bar deposits in the Ferron Sandstone, Utah, using ground-penetrating radar

Most existing reservoir models are based on 2D outcrop studies; 3D aspects are inferred from correlation between wells, and so are inadequately constrained for reservoir simulations. To overcome these deficiencies, we have initiated a multidimensional characterization of reservoir analogues in the Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone in Utah. Detailed sedimentary facies maps of cliff faces define the geometry and distribution of reservoir flow units, barriers and baffles at the outcrop. High‐resolution 2D and 3D ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) images extend these reservoir characteristics into 3D to allow the development of realistic 3D reservoir models. Models use geometric information from mapping and the GPR data, combined with petrophysical data from surface and cliff‐face outcrops, and laboratory analyses of outcrop and core samples. The site of the field work is Corbula Gulch, on the western flank of the San Rafael Swell, in east‐central Utah. The outcrop consists of an 8–17 m thick sandstone body which contains various sedimentary structures, such as cross‐bedding, inclined stratification and erosional surfaces, which range in scale from less than a metre to hundreds of metres. 3D depth migration of the common‐offset GPR data produces data volumes within which the inclined surfaces and erosional surfaces are visible. Correlation between fluid permeability, clay content, instantaneous frequency and instantaneous amplitude of the GPR data provides estimates of the 3D distribution of fluid permeability and clay content.     

Petrology and Geochemistry of Early Cretaceous Bimodal Continental Flood Volcanism of the NW Etendeka, Namibia. Part 2: Characteristics and Petrogenesis of the High-Ti Latite and High-Ti and Low-Ti Voluminous Quartz Latite Eruptives

As a result of their relative concentration towards the respectiveAtlantic margins, the silicic eruptives of the Paraná(Brazil)–Etendeka large igneous province are disproportionatelyabundant in the Etendeka of Namibia. The NW Etendeka silicicunits, dated at