238U/206Pb-235U/207Pb-232Th/208Pb zircon geochronology in alpine and non-alpine environment

Based on regular arrays in a U-Pb diagram of data points of zircons from polymetamorphic rocks of the Alps quantitative models are developed that include several episodic lead losses, continuous lead losses during discrete periods and combinations of both.The data from the Alps can be explained by assuming an initial age of the zircons of 2000 and/or 2500–2600 m.y. and three episodic lead losses 520–580 m.y., 300 m.y. and 30 m.y. ago with regionally varying intensities of the events as can be seen from the efficiency parameters which define the shape of the discordia. On the other hand, zircon data from North American basement rocks satisfy a model assuming a discrete interval of continuous lead loss that starts with the time of uplift of the rocks.The Th-U-Pb diagrams are valuable for recognising whether the history of the zircons and their host rock is a complex one or not which is not always noticeable in a U-Pb diagram.     

Effects of stiffness degradation on ductility requirements for multistorey buildings

The effect of stiffness degradation in reinforced concrete structural members on the inelastic response of multistorey buildings to earthquakes is investigated. In particular, the following question is examined. How do the ductility requirements for multistorey systems with degrading stiffness behaviour compare with those for structures with ordinary bilinear hysteretic property? Inelastic dynamic responses of two idealized multistorey buildings, one having a long and the other a relatively short fundamental period, to an ensemble of twenty simulated earthquakes representative of moderately intense ground motions in California at moderate epicentral distances on firm ground, are analysed for ordinary bilinear hysteretic behaviour and for bilinear hysteretic behaviour with stiffness degradation property. The conclusions deduced from the results of this investigation include the following (1) It is, in general, not possible to predict the maximum response of a degrading stiffness system from results for the corresponding ordinary bilinear system (2) The differences in ductility requirements due to stiffness degradation are generally smaller than those associated with probabilistic variability from one ground motion to another (3) Stiffness degradation has little influence on the ductility requirements for flexible buildings, but it leads to increased ductility requirements for stiff buildings.     

L'essai de torsion et la résistance au cisaillement des roches

Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering - Cette étude présente un appareillage de torsion mis au point au laboratoire de Mécanique des Roches d'Electricité de France. Les...     

An analysis of phytolith assemblages for the quantitativereconstruction of late Quaternary environments of the Lower Taieri Plain,Otago, South Island, New Zealand I. Modern assemblages and transferfunctions

An analysis of modern phytolith assemblages is presented.Phytolith assemblages were studied in modern surface soils and sediments of 28sites from east Otago, New Zealand, within a range of vegetation types andmicroclimates. No simple distinction could be made between vegetation types onthe basis of phytolith assemblage composition. A Principal Components Analysis(PCA) of the phytolith data set revealed that festucoid, chloridoid andspherical phytolith morphotypes formed strong associations with sites fromwetland, grassland, and forest vegetation types, respectively. Moreimportantly, a comparison of sample replicates from each field site using Squared ChordDistance (SCD) assemblage analysis showed that wetland and grassland sitestended to produce more internally consistent phytolith assemblages than forestsites. Environmental variables including pH, conductivity, altitude,precipitation and temperature were also gathered for each site. The ability ofeach environmental variable to reflect variance in the entire phytolithdata set was estimated by a series of Redundancy Analyses (RDA) with MonteCarlo permutation tests of statistical significance. After a forward selectionprocess, transfer functions were generated using Partial Least Squares (PLS)regression and calibration with jack-knife validation. The final transferfunctions have root mean squared errors of prediction for pH (0.47), logconductivity (0.38 S cm), average annual precipitation (63mm), and average annual (0.28 °C), spring (0.38 °C) andautumn temperature (0.41 °C); the smallest group of environmental variablesexplaining the most variance in the modern phytolith data set. The most usefultransfer functions for application to fossil phytolith data andpaleoenvironmental interpretation are pH, log conductivity and annualprecipitation. The relationship between changes in pH and annual precipitationand phytolith assemblage composition found in this study presents aprima facie relationship with the potential to providedirect proxies for soil weathering and indirectly for paleoenvironmentalreconstruction.     

Biological pollution in the Mediterranean Sea: invasive versus introduced macrophytes

The authors have listed 85 species of macrophytes that have probably been introduced to the Mediterranean. Among them, nine species can be considered as invasive, i.e., playing a conspicuous role in the recipient ecosystems, taking the place of keystone species and/or being economically harmful: Acrothamnion preissii, Asparagopsis armata, Lophocladia lallemandii, Womersleyella setacea (Rhodophyta), Sargassum muticum, Stypopodium schimperi (Fucophyceae), Caulerpa racemosa, Caulerpa taxifolia and Halophila stipulacea (Plantae). These data fit well the Williamson and Fitter's "tens rule", which states that, on average, 1 out of 10 introduced species becomes invasive. Though some features (e.g. life traits, geographical origin) can increase the likelihood of a successful invasion, the success of invaders is far from being predictable. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the number of introduced species to the Mediterranean has nearly doubled every 20 years. Should these kinetics continue, and according to the tens rule, it can be expected that 5-10 newly introduced macrophytes shall become invasive in the next 20 years.     

Major and Trace Element Analysis of Silicate Rocks by XRF and Laser Ablation ICP-MS Using Lithium Borate Fused Glasses: Matrix Effects, Instrument Response and Results for International Reference Materials

Major and trace element compositions of fifteen silicate rock reference materials have been determined by a combined XRF and laser ablation ICP‐MS (LA‐ICP‐MS) technique on glasses prepared by fusing the sample with a lithium borate flux (sample:flux = 1:3). Advantages of this technique include the ability to measure major and trace element abundances on a single sample using a quick and simple preparation that attacks resistant phases such as zircon without the need for acid dissolution. The method is suitable for a wide variety of bulk compositions including mafic, intermediate and silicic rocks. Abundance‐normalized mass response patterns (the ratio of signal intensity to element concentration) of the LA‐ICP‐MS analyses vary systematically with major element composition, demonstrating the presence of a matrix effect that cannot be compensated by normalisation to a single internal standard element. Increasing the sampling distance between the ICP‐MS cone and the torch reduces the magnitude of this effect, suggesting that a mechanism related to residence time of ablated particles in the plasma may be at least partially responsible for the observed variations in mass response patterns. When using a matrix‐matched calibration, agreement of the LA‐ICP‐MS results with published reference values or those obtained by solution ICP‐MS is 10% relative. Analytical precision based on replicate analyses is typically 5% RSD. Procedural detection limits that include contributions from gas background and flux are 0.01‐0.1 μg g‐¹ for the heavy mass trace elements (Rb‐U). Major element analyses by XRF show excellent agreement with results obtained using a conventional heavy element absorbing flux. High quality major and trace element data for silicate rocks can be achieved by a combined XRF and LA‐ICP‐MS analysis of Li₂B₄O₇/LiBO₂ fused glasses provided an appropriate matrix‐matched calibration is adopted.     

Quaternary stresses revealed by calcite twinning inversion: insights from observations in the Savonnières underground quarry (eastern France)

Calcite samples were extracted both from the rock matrix and the superficial coating of a karstified fault plane of an underground quarry, located in the eastern border of the Paris basin. The karstification is dated as Quaternary. Analysis of mechanical calcite twinning reveals that only the calcite matrix has also undergone a compression trending WNW that can be attributed to the Mio-Pliocene alpine collision. Both coating and matrix have undergone a strike-slip regime with σ₁ roughly trending north–south, that could correspond to the regional present-day state of stress, a strike-slip compression rather trending NNW, modified by local phenomena. To cite this article: M. Rocher et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

A Comparison of an Ecological Model and GIS Spatial Analysis to Describe Niche Partitioning Amongst Carrion Beetles in Nebraska

Carrion beetles depend on vertebrate carcasses to rear their young. Carcasses are a limited resource with patchy distribution, and there is an intense competition among many species for these carcasses. This situation is expected to lead to niche partitioning, such that different beetle species use different resources and thus escape direct competition. Our project used a geographic information system (GIS) and pitfall sampling to characterize carrion beetle preferences for soil texture and land use in Kearney County, Nebraska. The GIS was used to select sites where sampling was conducted using pitfall traps baited with rat carcasses. Attracted beetles were counted, identified to species, and released. The resulting data were used to construct occurrence maps of eleven species of carrion beetles by overlaying soil texture and land use. We then compared the results of EcoSim (an ecological simulation model of niche overlap) with GIS–generated maps of probability of carrion beetle occurrence. Our results are consistent with landscape–level niche partitioning by seven of the eleven examined species. Our application of GIS to the spatial analysis of carrion beetle distributions demonstrates how this technology can be used to test ecological and evolutionary hypotheses, predict habitat associations, and examine the effects of land use on a community of insects. This work could easily be extended to study the habitat preferences of the federally endangered American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus .     

Oxygen isotopes in single micrometer-sized quartz grains: tracing the source of Saharan dust over long-distance atmospheric transport

Oxygen isotope compositions were measured by ion microprobe in individual micrometer-sized quartz grains extracted from one aerosol sample collected on the Cape Verde Islands and from four surface samples (three soils and one sediment) representing potential source regions of aerosols in Western and Central Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Niger, and Chad). A large range of δ¹⁸O values, from +6.2‰ to +39.3‰ is present within the aerosol quartz grains. The different size fractions of the quartz grains from the surface samples overlap nearly entirely this range but show significant differences in their δ¹⁸O distributions for the different size fractions of the grains (i.e., different modes, different proportions of grains with low or high δ¹⁸O, ...). These differences in δ¹⁸O distributions can be related to different geological formations (i.e., mantle-derived magmatic rocks, crustal magmatic rocks, or sedimentary rocks) outcropping in each region, thus giving a fingerprint of the source region. Quartz grains with unusually high δ¹⁸O values between +30‰ and +40‰ were attributed to lacustrine cherts formed in evaporitic environments (Chad basin).The existence of distinct δ¹⁸O distributions for the surface samples, which reflect regional geology but indicate some transport of the grains, enables the characterization of mixing processes during dust emission in the atmosphere. Particles are mixed at a regional scale in the dust reservoir, but injection of fine particles into the high troposphere occurs as a discrete and localized event with no mixing during the subsequent long-range transport by the easterlies. The comparison of the δ¹⁸O distribution of the quartz from the aerosol sample with the equivalent size fractions in surface samples shows that the Niger area is the more probable source region for the aerosol although the Moroccan source cannot be excluded. This method gives a valuable tool to trace the source region of dust into the atmosphere or into sediment samples, allowing the reconstruction of air mass circulations.