Mantle resistance against Gibraltar slab dragging as a key cause of the Messinian Salinity Crisis

The Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.97–5.33 Ma) was caused by the closure of the Atlantic‐Mediterranean gateways that cut through the Gibraltar orogenic system. The geodynamic drivers underlying gateway closure and re‐opening are still debated. Here, we interrogate the gateway successions to find the imprints of surface deformation, infer the timing and nature of associated geodynamic drivers, and test such inferences against numerical simulations of slab dynamics. We find that since the latest Miocene, a tectonic framework was established in the gateway region dominated simultaneously by (a) relative plate convergence, (b) slab tearing under the eastern Betic Cordillera and (c) mantle resistance against north‐northeastward dragging of the Gibraltar slab by the African plate's absolute motion. We propose that mantle‐resisted slab dragging and slab tearing operated in concert closing the gateways that caused the Messinian Salinity Crisis, whereas sinking of heavy oceanic lithosphere located between buoyant continental plates re‐opened the Strait of Gibraltar at 5.33 Ma.     

Lower Cretaceous turbiditic sediments from the Rif chain (Northern Marocco) — palynology,stratigraphy and palaeogeographic setting

The paper describes the palynology, stratigraphy, sedimentology and palaeogeographic setting of Lower Cretaceous turbiditic and terrigenous deep-sea sediments at the Tethyan margins of Africa and Alboran (External Domain of the Rif, and Flysch Nappes). During the Early Cretaceous terrigenous turbiditic deep-water sedimentation characterizes two different palaeogeographic domains in the southern part of the western Tethys:

In the northern area of the External Domain (Ketama Unit of the Rif) alternating turbiditic arenites and pelites are interpreted as sediments of a distal part of a fan system on the Tethyan margin of Africa. The main sources for the terrigenous material were situated in Central and Western Algeria; only little sand transited through the Prerif and the Mesorif zones of Morocco. The terrigenous sedimentation began in the Hauterivian, but the main turbiditic cycles are of Aptian to Lower and Middle Albian age.

The Flysch Domain probably was situated far to the Northeast with respect to the Rif basin, at the western and southern margins of the Alboran microplate. Relatively proximal turbidites form most of the Tisirène Nappe, whereas more distal turbidites constitute the series of the Melloussa and the Chouamat Nappes. The existence of two different source areas is demonstrated, one to the NE and the other to the NW of the depositional area. The turbidites probably were deposited on a E-W oriented fan system which progradated into a longitudinal trench-like trough. In the Central Rif area, the Tisirène Flysch is of Valanginian to Albian (pre-Vraconian) age. In the Western Rif and in the Melloussa and Chouamat Nappes of the whole area no sediments older than Aptian have been found.

The stratigraphy of the investigated series is based on a new tentative palynostratigraphic zonation, using pollen, spores and dinoflagellate cysts. Rich and well preserved assemblages have been found in the Western Rif only, whereas the samples of the Tisirène Nappe and the Chouamat Nappe in the Central and Eastern Rif have been affected by some thermal alteration. Black and mostly opaque palynomorphs from the Ketama Unit reflect the strong thermal influence in the External Domain of the Central and Eastern Rif.     

Synthesis in Estuarine and Coastal Ecological Research: What Is It,Why Is It Important,and How Do We Teach It?

During the last two decades, there has been growing interest in the integration of existing ideas and data to produce new synthetic models and hypotheses leading to discovery and advancement in estuarine and coastal science. This essay offers an integrated definition of what is meant by synthesis research and discusses its importance for exploiting the rapid expansion of information availability and for addressing increasingly complex environmental problems. Approaches and methods that have been used in published synthetic coastal research are explored and a list of essential steps is developed to provide a foundation for conducting synthetic research. Five categories of methods used widely in coastal synthesis studies are identified: (1) comparative cross-system analysis, (2) analysis of time series data, (3) balance of cross-boundary fluxes, (4) system-specific simulation modeling, and (5) general systems simulation modeling. In addition, diverse examples are used to illustrate how these methods have been applied in previous studies. We discuss the urgent need for developing curricula for classroom and experiential teaching of synthesis in coastal science to undergraduate and graduate students, and we consider the societal importance of synthetic research to support coastal resource management and policy development. Finally, we briefly discuss the crucial challenges for future growth and development of synthetic approaches to estuarine and coastal research.     

Correction: Hydraulic tomography analysis of municipal-well operation data with geology-based groundwater models

Hydrogeology Journal - A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-021-02351-x     

Hydrogeochemical prospecting for porphyry copper deposits in the tropical-marine climate of Puerto Rico

A hydrogeochemical survey utilizing waters from streams and springs was conducted in the area of two known porphyry copper deposits in the tropical-marine climate of westcentral Puerto Rico. The most important pathfinder for regional hydrogeochemical surveys is sulfate which reflects the associated pyrite mineralization. Because of increased mobility due to intense chemical weathering and the low pH environment, dissolved copper can also be used as a pathfinder for regional surveys and has the advantage of distinguishing barren pyrite from pyrite associated with copper mineralization. For follow-up surveys, the most important pathfinders are copper, sulfate, pH, zinc, and fluoride. High concentrations of dissolved copper and moderate concentrations of sulfate is a diagnostic indication of nearby sources of copper minerals.An understanding of the geochemical processes taking place in the streambeds and the weathering environment, such as the precipitation of secondary copper minerals, contributes to the interpretation of the geochemical data and the selection of the most favorable areas for further exploration.     

Generation of mid-ocean ridge basalts at pressures from 1 to 7 GPa

We propose a model for the generation of average MORBs based on phase relations in the CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-CO₂ system at pressures from 3 to 7 GPa and in the CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-Na₂O-FeO (CMASNF) system at pressures from ∼0.9 to 1.5 GPa. The MELT seismic tomography (Forsyth et al., 2000) across the East Pacific Rise shows the largest amount of melt centered at ∼30-km depth and lesser amounts at greater depths. An average mantle adiabat with a model-system potential temperature (T_p) of 1310°C is used that is consistent with this result. In the mantle, additional minor components would lower solidus temperatures ∼50°C, which would lower T_p of the adiabat for average MORBs to ∼1260°C. The model involves generation of carbonatitic melts and melts that are transitional between carbonatite and kimberlite at very small melt fractions (<0.2%) in the low-velocity zone at pressures of ∼2.6 to 7 GPa in the CMAS-CO₂ system, roughly the pressure range of the PREM low-velocity zone. These small-volume, low-viscosity melts are mixed with much larger volumes of basaltic melt generated at the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition in the pressure range of ∼0.9 to 1.5 GPa.In this model, solidus phase relations in the pressure range of the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition strongly, but not totally, control the major-element characteristics of MORBs. Although the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition suppresses isentropic decompression melting in the CMAS system, this effect does not occur in the topologically different and petrologically more realistic CMASNF system. On the basis of the absence of plagioclase from most abyssal peridotites, which are the presumed residues of MORB generation, we calculate melt productivity during polybaric fractional melting in the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition interval at exhaustion of plagioclase in the residue. In the CMASN system, these calculations indicate that the total melt productivity is ∼24%, which is adequate to produce the oceanic crust. The residual mineral proportions from this calculation closely match those of average abyssal peridotites.Melts generated in the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition are compositionally distinct from all MORB glasses, but do not have a significant fractional crystallization trend controlled by olivine alone. They reach the composition field of erupted MORBs mainly by crystallization of both plagioclase and olivine, with initial crystallization of either one of these phases rapidly joined by the other. This is consistent with phenocryst assemblages and experimental studies of the most primitive MORBs, which do not show an olivine-controlled fractionation trend. The model is most robust for the eastern Pacific, where an adiabat with a T_p of ∼1260°C is supported by the MELT seismic data and where the global inverse correlation of (FeO)₈ with (Na₂O)₈ is weak. Average MORBs worldwide also are well modeled. A heterogeneous mantle consisting of peridotite of varying degrees of major-element depletion combined with phase-equilibrium controls in the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition interval would produce the form of the global correlations at a constant T_p, which suggests a modest range of T_p along ridges. Phase-composition data for the CMASNF system are presently not adequate for quantitative calculation of (FeO)₈-(Na₂O)₈-(CaO/Al₂O₃)₈ systematics in terms of this model. The near absence of basalts in the central portion of the Gakkel Ridge suggests a lower bound for T_p along ridges of ∼1240°C, a potential temperature just low enough to miss the solidus for basalt production at ∼0.9 GPa. An upper bound for T_p is poorly constrained, but the complete absence of picritic glasses in Iceland and the global ridge system suggests an upper bound of ∼1400°C. In contrast to some previous models for MORB generation that emphasize large potential temperature variations in a relatively homogeneous peridotitic mantle, our model emphasizes modest potential temperature variations in a peridotitic mantle that shows varying degrees of heterogeneity. Calculations indicate that melt productivity changes from 0 to 24% for a change in T_p from 1240 to 1260°C, effectively producing a rapid increase to full crustal thickness or decrease to none as ridges appear and disappear.     

Zur Stratigraphie,Petrologie und Genese einer Bentonit-Lage aus dem oberen Mittel-Turon (Oberkreide) des südöstlichen Münsterlandes

Zusammenfassung Die Bentonit-Lage kann möglicherweise mit der Lage M₆₈ aus dem Turon von Lüneburg (Norddeutschland) korreliert werden. Identifiziert wurden vulkanische Glasfragmente, Quarz, Na-, K-Feldspat, Oligoklas, Biotit, Muskovit, Calcit, Schwerminerale (u. a. Olivin, Hornblende) und Tonminerale (Kaolinit, Illit, mixed-layer Illit/Smektit, FeBeidellit - z. T. in großen Aggregaten). Die vulkanoklastischen Gläser zeigen alle Übergänge von intakt zu völlig devitriert. Mit Hilfe der Elektronenstrahl-Mikrosonde konnten, bei Berücksichtigung der Kathoden-Lumineszenz, die Feldspäte chemisch analysiert und genetisch in solche mit niedrigerer und solche mit höherer (vulkanoklastisch) Bildungstemperatur gegliedert werden. Von den Schwermineralen dürften vor allem Olivin und Hornblende vulkanogener Herkunft sein. Untersuchungen der durch Umwandlung vulkanischen Materials entstandenen kompakten Smektit-Aggregate mittels Mikrosonde, Röntgendiffraktometrie und Mössbauer-Spektroskopie zeigten, daß es sich hier um ein AI-reiches Glied der Mischungsreihe Nontronit-Beidellit (Fe-reicher Beidellit) handelt. Differentialthermoanalytische Untersuchungen ergaben für Fe-reiche, dioktaedrische, smektitische Tonminerale typische Kurven. Das Ausgangsmaterial des Bentonits war intermediär bis basisch. Äolischer oder kombiniert äolischer und mariner Transport von Exhalationspunkten im mitteleuropäischen Raum werden diskutiert.

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The bentonite can probably be correlated with horizon M₆₈ in the Turonian of Lüneburg in northern Germany. Volcanic glass fragments, quartz, Na and K feldspars, oligoclase, biotite, muscovite, calcite, heavy minerals (i. a. olivine, hornblende) and clay minerals (kaolinite, illite, mixed-layer illite/smectite and Fe-beidellite) were identified. The glass shows a spectrum of all states from unaltered to completely devitrified. Analysis of feldspars by means of electron microprobe and cathodo-luminescence has allowed to divide them into genetically high (pyroclastic) and low temperature forms. Of the heavy minerals, olivine and hornblende most clearly are of volcanic origin. Examinations of smectite aggregates (alteration products of volcanic material) by electron microprobe, x-ray diffractometry, and Mössbauer spectroscopy demonstrated the presence of a member of the continuous series nontronite-beidellite (Fe-rich beidellite). Differential thermal analysis gave typical curves for dioctahedral Fe-rich smectites. The chemical composition of the original material of the bentonite was intermediate to basic. Eolian or eolian and marine current transport from sources in central Europe are considered.

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Résumé La couche de bentonite peut probablement être corrélée avec la couche M₆₈ du Turonien de Lunebourg (au nord de l'Allemagne). Des fragments de verre volcanique, du quartz, du feldspath sodique, du feldspath potassique, de l'oligoclase de la biotite, de la muscovite, de la calcite, des minéraux lourds (p. ex. olivine, hornblende) et des minéraux argileux (kaolinite, illite, mixed-layer illite/smectite, beidellite ferreux — en partie en grands agrégates) ont été identifiés. Les verres pyroclastiques montrent tous les passages du verre intact jusqu'au verre entièrement dévitrifié. A l'aide de la microsonde électronique et en prenant en considération la cathodoluminescence, les feldspaths pouvaient être analysés chimiquement et ordonnés génétiquement selon leur température de formation. Ceux à haute temperature de formation sont pyroclastiques. Parmi les minéraux lourds pouvaient avant tout être d'origine volcanogène, l'olivine et la hornblende. Les études des agrégats de smectites compacts formés par la transformation de matériaux volcaniques montrent grâce à la microsonde, la diffractométrie X et de la spectrométrie de Mössbauer qu'il s'agit dans ce cas là d'un membre riche en Al de la série des mélanges nontronite-beidellite (beidellite ferreux). Des analyses thermiques différentielles donnèrent des courbes typiques pour les minéraux argileux smectitiques, dioctaédriques et riches en Fe. La matière de base de la bentonite était intermédiaire à basique. Transport éolien ou transport combiné, éolien et marin des points d'exhalation dans l'espace européen central seront dicutés.

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