Cooling rate variation in natural volcanic glasses from Tenerife,Canary Islands

 Silicate melts form glasses in a variety of geological environments. The relaxation (equilibration) of the frozen glass structure provides a means of investigating the quench rates of natural glasses, and this cooling history provides an important constraint for models of melt dynamics. Phonolite glasses from the central volcanic edifice of Tenerife, Canary Islands indicate a range of five orders of magnitude cooling rate, determined by modeling the relaxation of the structure-dependent property, enthalpy (H) across the glass transition. The relaxation of enthalpy is determined by heat capacity (c _p = ΔH/ΔT) measurement of natural glass samples by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Upon heating, the heat capacity curve in the vicinity of the glass transition has a geometry characteristic of the previous cooling rate. A series of thermal treatments applied to each individual sample results in a set of sample-specific parameters which are used to model the heat capacity curve of the naturally cooled glass. The cooling rate is then derived. The equivalence of shear and enthalpic relaxation enables the relaxation of enthalpy for these volcanic samples to be described by a general term for the evolution of fictive temperature. Quench rates for thirty-one glasses are calculated to be within the range 10°C s^–1 to 7°C per day. The cooling rates quoted are linear approximations across the glass transition. Within different volcanic facies cooling rates depend on several factors. The most rapidly cooled glasses occur where samples lose heat by radiation from the surface. Our analyses indicate that in certain environments, a natural annealing process results in slow quench rates. This is interpreted as either a slow initial cooling process or the reheating of a glass to an annealing temperature within the glass transition interval. The latter results in relaxation to a lower temperature structure. Controls on these processes include the initial temperature and dissipation of thermal energy from the volcanic body. Our results are consistent with an influence of volatiles on quench rates in volcanic bombs where glass adjacent to vesicular layers is relatively rapidly quenched. We interpret this as a rapid quench rate frozen into the glass resulting from a change in viscosity due to volatile degassing. In lava flows, the conduction of heat from the hot flow interior controls the cooling process and diminishes the effect of volatile exsolution. Relaxation geospeedometry can be applied to glass samples from a variety of geological environments where cooling rates cannot be measured directly. Such measurements provide a means of determining cooling rates for a variety of volcanic processes, an independent calibration for existing temperature and time data and a means for testing cooling-rate-dependent models. Received: 9 January 1996 / Accepted: 13 May 1996     

Rockfall susceptibility zoning at a large scale: From geomorphological inventory to preliminary land use planning

Rockfall, up to several hundreds of cubic meters, is a frequent and rapid landslide which menaces extensive areas in mountainous territories. Rockfall susceptibility zoning map at a large scale (1:5000–1:25 000) can be the first tool for land use planning in order to manage rockfall risk. A methodology allowing to analyze susceptibility in extensive areas with optimum cost/benefit relationship is needed. This work analyzes rockfall susceptibility in an extensive rocky mountain of the Principality of Andorra (Pyrenees Mountains), first on the rock slope and then on the exposed area located below. The rockfall record, obtained by means of geomorphological analysis, supplies the main data to analyze the susceptibility on the rock slope. An additional historical inventory verifies the accuracy of rockfall sizes recorded by means of the geomorphological analysis. According to the classification recommended by the Guidelines of Joint Technical Committee, the density of rockfall features on the rock slope assesses susceptibility in four levels. Subsequently, susceptibility on exposed areas has been analyzed by means of reach probability of rock blocks analysis using empirical models. Data acquired from thirteen recent events, from 1999 to 2004, have been used to verify the accuracy of the two empirical models mainly used (reach angle and shadow angle). Five reach probability limits (1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.01, and 0) establish boundaries between susceptibility levels. The resulting rockfall susceptibility zoning map allows: (a) to identify land areas and human elements exposed to rockfalls and, (b) to establish several exposition levels. This map can be a useful and cost-effective tool for administrations responsible to manage natural risk in order to guide urban grow in extensive areas or decide upon work programs based on in-depth analysis (hazard and risk).     

Calibration and validation of rockfall modelling at regional scale: application along a roadway in Mallorca (Spain) and organization of its management

The Tramuntana range, in the northwestern sector of the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain), is frequently affected by rockfalls which have caused significant damage, mainly along the road network. In this work, we present the procedure we have applied to calibrate and validate rockfall modelling in this region, using 103 cases of the available detailed rockfall inventory (630 rockfall events collected since the eighteenth century). We have exploited STONE (Guzzetti et al. 2002), a GIS-based rockfall simulation software which computes 2D and 3D rockfall trajectories starting from a DTM and maps of the dynamic rolling friction coefficient and of the normal and tangential energy restitution coefficients. The appropriate identification of these parameters determines the accuracy of the simulation. To calibrate them, we have selected 40 rockfalls along the range which include a wide variety of outcropping lithologies. Coefficients values have been changed in numerous attempts in order to select those where the extent and shape of the simulation matched the field mapping. Best results were summarized with the average statistical values for each parameter and for each geotechnical unit, determining that mode values represent more precisely the data. Initially, for the validation stage, 10 well-known rockfalls exploited in the calibration phase have been selected. Confidence tests have been applied to their modelling results taking into account not only the success but also the mistakes. The best accuracy is obtained when the rockfall has a preferential trajectory and worse results when the rockfall follows two or more trajectories. Additionally, the greater the rockfall runout length, the less precise the simulation is. We have further validated the calibrated parameters along the Ma-road (111 km), the main transportation corridor in the range, using 63 rockfall events that occurred during the past 18 years along the road. Of the rockfalls where source areas were properly identified, 81.5 % are well represented by STONE modelling, as the travel paths and the depositional areas are successfully ascertained. Results of the analysis have been used by the Road Maintenance Service of Mallorca to assess hazard and risk posed by rockfall at regional scale to design the road management plan.     

Geomorphological characteristics and slope processes associated with different basins: Mallorca (Western Mediterranean)

We compare the different geomorphological processes which occurred in Pliocene–Quaternary times on two very similar slopes in Mallorca, one located at the Tramuntana Range and the other in the Llevant Ranges. Both slopes have the same geological structure, the same stratigraphic and lithological levels, and the same altitude and orientation. The different slope processes are due to the relationship between the accommodation space and the sedimentation rate in the adjacent basins: In the Valencia Trough (located N of the Tramuntana Range), the sedimentation rate has not been sufficient to fill the accommodation space, whereas in the Alcudia Basin (adjacent to the Llevant Ranges), the sedimentation rate has been sufficient to fill the accommodation space. This difference has resulted in major landslides on the Tramuntana slope, whereas the Llevant slope is characterized mainly by alluvial fans and debris screes.     

Deep-water sediment wave fields, bottom current sand channels and gravity flow channel-lobe systems: Gulf of Cadiz, NE Atlantic

Abstract A study of the seafloor of the Gulf of Cadiz west of the Strait of Gibraltar, using an integrated geophysical and sedimentological data set, gives new insights into sediment deposition from downslope thermohaline bottom currents. In this area, the Mediterranean Outflow (MO) begins to mix with North Atlantic waters and separates into alongslope geostrophic and downslope ageostrophic components. Changes in bedform morphology across the study area indicate a decrease in the peak velocity of the MO from >1 m s^?1 to <0·5 m s^?1. The associated sediment waves form a continuum from sand waves to muddy sand waves to mud waves. A series of downslope‐oriented channels, formed by the MO, are found where the MO starts to descend the continental slope at a water depth of ≈700 m. These channels are up to 40 km long, have gradients of <0·5°, a fairly constant width of ≈2 km and a depth of ≈75 m. Sand waves move down the channels that have mud wave‐covered levees similar to those seen in turbidite channel–levee systems, although the channel size and levee thickness do not decrease downslope as in typical turbidite channel systems. The channels terminate abruptly where the MO lifts off the seafloor. Gravity flow channels with lobes on the basin floor exist downslope from several of the bottom current channels. Each gravity flow system has a narrow, slightly sinuous channel, up to 20 m deep, feeding a depositional lobe up to 7 km long. Cores from the lobes recovered up to 8·5 m of massive, well‐sorted, fine sand, with occasional mud clasts. This work provides an insight into the complex facies patterns associated with strong bottom currents and highlights key differences between bottom current and gravity flow channel–levee systems. The distribution of sand within these systems is of particular interest, with applications in understanding the architecture of hydrocarbon reservoirs formed in continental slope settings.     

Effects of Rainwater Iron and Hydrogen Peroxide on Iron Speciation and Phytoplankton Growth in Seawater near Bermuda

Rainwater is a major source of dissolved iron to much of the world's oceans, including regions where iron may be a limiting nutrient for marine phytoplankton primary production. Rainwater iron is therefore potentially important in regulating global photosynthetic uptake of CO₂, and hence climate. Two rainwater addition bioassay experiments (2% rain) conducted at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Station (BATS) during March 2000 using 50 or 100 nM FeCl₂ or FeCl₃ in synthetic rain (pH 4.5 H₂SO₄) showed an increase in chlorophyll a 50% greater than controls after three days. Addition of 20 μM hydrogen peroxide, a typical rainwater concentration at BATS, completely removed the chlorophyll a increase with both forms of iron additions, suggesting stimulation of phytoplankton growth by rainwater iron can be limited by rainwater H₂O₂. In laboratory experiments using Gulf Stream seawater, iron-enriched (100 nM Fe(III)) synthetic rain was mixed with seawater in a 5% rain 95% seawater ratio. Dissolved iron concentrations increased two times above concentrations predicted based on dilution alone. The increase in soluble iron probably resulted from release from seawater particles and was maintained for more than 24 hours. No increase was observed in controls that did not have iron added to the synthetic rain, or with synthetic rainwater containing both added iron and H₂O₂. The increase in iron concentration above that predicted by dilution indicates rain may have a larger effect on seawater iron concentrations than that calculated for rainwater iron addition alone.     

Reactions which remove dissolved alumina from seawater

Dissolved alumina can coprecipitate with dissolved silica from seawater enriched with both compounds. This coprecipitation is almost complete within 1h and maintains the concentration of dissolved alumina near naturally occurring oceanic concentrations, well below the alumina concentration of 0.50 ppm A1 found to be stable in filtered Sargasso seawater at 2°C. Only 0.5 ppm Si is necessary to initiate this coprecipitation, which indicates that the concentrations of dissolved alumina that occur in seawater and in interstitial water are a function of the concentration of dissolved silica as well as of the alumina solubility.Dissolved alumina is also quickly removed by solid amorphous silica from solutions of seawater enriched in dissolved alumina and also by several marine sediments in contact with the solution. This process may be an important factor in authigenic mineral formation in marine sediments.