Die Untersuchung des Morondavadeltas,Madagaskar

Zusammenfassung In den Jahren 1969 bis 1971 wurden in der Morondava-Küstenebene im Westen Madagaskars umfangreiche hydrogeologische Untersuchungen durchgeführt, in deren Zusammenhang mit Hilfe von geoelektrischen Sondierungen der Aufbau der oberen 150 m des quartären bis neogenen Untergrundes der Ebene geklärt werden konnte. Durch die Interpretation der geoelektrischen Sondierprofile und deren Anordnung in einer Profilkarte war eine Korrelation von Schichtkomplexen hohen Widerstandes möglich. Die Untersuchung ergab, da\ der Untergrund der Küstenebene ein Delta darstellt, das von zwei Flu\systemen geschüttet wurde. Die Mündungen der heutigen Flüsse Morondava und Andranomena sind gegenüber den alten Flu\systemen nach Süden verschoben.

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In 1969 to 1971 comprehensive hydro-geological investigations were carried out in the Morondava Plains in western Madagaskar. In the scope of these investigations, the structure of the upper 150 m of the quaternary and neogene deposits in the coastal plains were determined by means of geo-electrical soundings. The interpretation of the soundings by establishing a profile map, allowed for a correlation of the sequences with high electric resistivity. The investigation showed that the underground of the coastal plains represents a delta, deposited by two rivers. The mouths of the actual Morondava and Andranomena rivers are shifted towards the south in relation to the ancient river systems.

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Résumé D'importantes investigations hydro-géologiques ont été effectuées de 1969 à 1971 dans la plaine de Morondava à l'ouest de Madagascar, grâce auxquelles, en procédant également à des sondages géo-électriques, il a été possible de déterminer la structure des 150 m supérieurs du sous-sol quaternaire à néogène.Par l'interprétation des sondages géo-électriques et leur transposition sur une carte des profils, il a été possible d'obtenir une corrélation des couches à haute resistivité. Des recherches ont montré que le sous-sol de la plaine cÔtière représente un delta, remblayé par deux systèmes fluviaux. L'embouchure des fleuves actuels Morondava et Andranomena est déplacée vers le sud par rapport aux anciens systèmes fluviaux.

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Vortrag, gehalten am 28. Februar 1974 in Bochum anlä\lich der 64. Jahrestagung der Geologischen Vereinigung.     

Natural and synthetic ferroglaucophane

Amphiboles approximating the composition of the ferroglaucophane end member, Na₂Fe₃Al₂Si₈O₂₂(OH)₂, have not been found in nature prior to 1969. Chemical, physical and petrologic data of four specimens of that mineral are given, two from Southern Italy and two from New Caledonia (Black, 1970). The ferroglaucophane end member was synthesized in seeded runs at 500° C, 5000 bars fluid pressure with oxygen fugacity defined by the wüstite-magnetite (WM) buffer. X-ray data and cell dimensions (a=9.686 Å, b=17.89, c=5.317, β=103° 45.2′ V=894.9 ų) are presented along with microprobe data that confirm the end member composition. Under these conditions of synthesis the ferroglaucophane grew metastably, however. Stability relations of the synthetic end member and of one natural specimen were investigated in a temperature range from 250° C to 500° C and at 3 and 5 kb with different oxygen buffers. At relatively low oxygen fugacities (WM buffer, QFM buffer) ferroglaucophane breaks down above 350–360° C. Under more oxidizing conditions (HM buffer) ferroglaucophane may not be stable even at very low temperatures. Mineral facies and chemical bulk composition of rocks that would favor the natural occurrence of ferroglaucophane are discussed. As assemblages with ferroglaucophane can have crystallized only below a very specific upper temperature limit, it is proposed to direct some attention towards that mineral.     

Spatial Variability of Trends in the Rainfall-Runoff Relationship: A Mesoscale Study in the Mosel Basin

The spatial variability of observed trends in rainfall structure over the last 5 decades and its effects on the spatial variability of maximum daily water levels in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg (Europe) were investigated in 9 sub-basins of the Mosel river. Over the past 25 years, an increase in westerly atmospheric circulation types during winter months has caused an increase in winter rainfall totals, duration and intensity. More specifically, the spatial variability of trends having affected winter rainfall totals, duration and intensity have led to spatially varying positive trends in maximum daily water levels. Observed trends in rainfall characteristics and maximum daily water levels during winter show closely linked spatial patterns that are strongly related to the topography of the study area.     

Acidic compounds in biodegraded petroleum

Twelve oil samples have been characterised by titration, FT-IR and chromatographic analysis to determine the differences between the organic acid composition of biodegraded and non-biodegraded oils. The biodegraded oils have higher total acid and total base contents, both by titration and extraction. The molecular weight ranges of the extracted acids are lowest in the biodegraded oils, and the equivalent weight calculations indicate a dominance of multi-functional molecules. Gel permeation chromatography gives a molecular weight range with most of the molecules between 300 and 500 g/mol. FT-IR shows that the extracted acids from biodegraded oils are more carboxylic and aliphatic while the non-degraded oils are more phenolic. Molecular analysis of the derivatised extracts give UCM envelopes for biodegraded oils, and no molecular identification. The results indicate that the acidic constituents in biodegraded oils are a product of the biodegradation, as the composition is very different from the non-biodegraded oils.     

Early Holocene history of the Baltic Sea, as reflected in coastal sediments in Blekinge, southeastern Sweden

Integrated palaeoecological studies of two fiord sediment sequences in the province of Blekinge, SE Sweden, covering the time span 11,000–5000 cal BP, reveal the timing and the environment for the Ancylus Lake/Littorina Sea transition 9800–8500 cal BP. The first ingression of saline water into the Baltic Sea through the Danish Straits occurred earlier than formerly assumed. New evidence, particularly mineral magnetic and palaeobotanical analyses, demonstrate that on the general trend of the eustatically caused Littorina transgression several minor fluctuations of the water level can be identified between 8500 and 5000 cal years BP. A distinct regression phase around 8100 cal BP is correlated with the Greenland ice-core cold event dated to 8200 ice-core years BP. This is described as a regional climatic catastrophe for the Baltic Sea region. The coastal stratigraphy is compared with the offshore stratigraphy earlier studied. A tentative shore displacement curve for Early and Middle Holocene is presented.     

Thallium isotope composition of the upper continental crust and rivers—An investigation of the continental sources of dissolved marine thallium

The thallium (Tl) concentrations and isotope compositions of various river and estuarine waters, suspended riverine particulates and loess have been determined. These data are used to evaluate whether weathering reactions are associated with significant Tl isotope fractionation and to estimate the average Tl isotope composition of the upper continental crust as well as the mean Tl concentration and isotope composition of river water. Such parameters provide key constraints on the dissolved Tl fluxes to the oceans from rivers and mineral aerosols.The Tl isotope data for loess and suspended riverine detritus are relatively uniform with a mean of ε²⁰⁵Tl = −2.0 ± 0.3 (ε²⁰⁵Tl represents the deviation of the ²⁰⁵Tl/²⁰³Tl isotope ratio of a sample from NIST SRM 997 Tl in parts per 10⁴). For waters from four major and eight smaller rivers, the majority were found to have Tl concentrations between 1 and 7 ng/kg. Most have Tl isotope compositions very similar (within ±1.5 ε²⁰⁵Tl) to that deduced for the upper continental crust, which indicates that no significant Tl isotope fractionation occurs during weathering. Based on these results, it is estimated that rivers have a mean natural Tl concentration and isotope composition of 6 ± 4 ng/kg and ε²⁰⁵Tl = −2.5 ± 1.0, respectively.In the Amazon estuary, both additions and losses of Tl were observed, and these correlate with variations in Fe and Mn contents. The changes in Tl concentrations have much lower amplitudes, however, and are not associated with significant Tl isotope effects. In the Kalix estuary, the Tl concentrations and isotope compositions can be explained by two-component mixing between river water and a high-salinity end member that is enriched in Tl relative to seawater. These results indicate that Tl can display variable behavior in estuarine systems but large additions and losses of Tl were not observed in the present study.     

Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIRS), a New Method to Infer Past Changes in Tree-line Position and TOC using Lake Sediment

This study tests the hypothesis that Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS) of lake sediments can be used to infer past changes in tree-line position and total organic carbon (TOC) content of lake water. A training set of 100 lakes from northern Sweden spanning a broad altitudinal and TOC gradient from 0.7 to 14.9 mg/l was used to assess whether vegetation zones and TOC can be modelled from FTIR spectra of surface sediments (0–1 cm) using principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression. Preliminary results show that FTIRS of lake sediments can be used to reconstruct past changes in tree line and the TOC content of lake water, which is hardly surprising since FTIRS registers the properties of organic and minerogenic material derived from the water mass and the drainage area. The FTIRS model for TOC gives a root mean squared error (RMSECV) of calibration of 1.4 mg/l (10% of the gradient) assessed by internal cross-validation (CV) yielding an R_cv² of 0.64. This should be compared with a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and diatom transfer function for TOC from the same set of lakes, which have a R_cv² of 0.61 and 0.31, and RMSECV of 1.6 and 2.3 mg/l, respectively. The FTIRS-TOC model was applied to a Holocene sediment core from a tree-line lake and the results show similar trends as inferences from NIRS and pollen from the same core. Overall, the results indicate that changes in FTIR spectra from lake sediments reflect differences in catchment vegetation and TOC, and that FTIRS-models based on surface-sediment samples can be applied to sediment cores for retrospective analysis.     

Performance of the In Situ Microcosm Technique for Measuring the Degradation of Organic Chemicals in Aquifers

An in situ microcosm (ISM) consists of a stainless steel cylinder isolating about 2 L of the aquifer and is equipped with valves allowing for loading and sampling from the ground surface. During the last five years, this technique has been used frequently to study the degradation of organic chemicals in polluted and pristine aquifers representing different redox environments. The ISM technique has great potential for providing field-relevant degradation potentials and rate constants, but care must be taken in using the equipment and interpreting the results. This paper provides details concerning the installation and operation of an ISM and presents experiences concerning data interpretation and monitoring of redox conditions.     

Biogenic hydrocarbons in fluid inclusions from the aberfoyle tin-tungsten deposit, Tasmania, Australia

Trace components in fluid inclusions from the Aberfoyle tin-tungsten deposit in Tasmania, Australia, were examined by thermal decrepitation-mass spectrometry. The technique involves the decrepitation of fluid inclusions by stepwise heating in the source of a mass spectrometer. In addition to water, other species identified were carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons. Detailed analysis of these hydrocarbons showed that they ranged in carbon number from C₁ up to at least C₃₃ and probably comprised, in part, biological marker compounds, previously unreported in such high-temperature environments. Their presence suggests that the fluid responsible for mineralisation was not entirely magmatic but contained a non-magmatic component evolved through fluid-rock interaction in the sedimentary country rocks.     

Gold in the volcanogenic mercury-rich sulfide deposit Långsele,Skellefte ore district,northern Sweden

The mineralogy of gold from a volcanogenic sulfide deposit in northern Sweden (Långsele) was studied. The enrichment of gold and silver in massive ore occurs associated with an intrusive metadolerite vein which can be traced across the ore. The emplacement of this vein mobilized the precious metals together with galena and Pb-Sb sulfosalts into fractures and low pressure zones. A high mercury content at L»ngsele (average 250 ppm) has influenced the gold mineralogy. Thus, gold occurs as Au-Ag amalgam, native gold and rarely as aurostibite (AuSb₂). The results of microprobe analyses of amalgam cluster around Au_0.45Ag_0.45Hg_0.10. The composition of ternary amalgam is discussed in connection with the synthetic Au-Ag-Hg system. Furthermore, native gold was found myrmekitically integrown with stibnite which has been interpreted as a breakdown product of aurostibite at low temperature.