Petrology,geochemistry, and zircon U-Pb geochronology of the Zambezi Belt in Zimbabwe: Implications for terrane assembly in southern Africa

The Zambezi Belt in southern Africa has been regarded as a part of the 570-530 Ma Kuunga Orogen formed by a series of collision of Archean cratons and Proterozoic orogenic belts.Here,we report new petrological,geochemical,and zircon U-Pb geochronological data of various metamorphic rocks(felsic to mafic orthogneiss,pelitic schist,and felsic paragneiss) from the Zambezi Belt in northeastern Zimbabwe,and evaluate the timing and P-T conditions of the collisional event as well as protolith formation.Geochemical data of felsic orthogneiss indicate within-plate granite signature,whereas those of mafic orthogneiss suggest MORB,ocean-island,or within-plate affinities.Metamorphic P-Testimates for orthogneisses indicate significant P-T variation within the study area(700-780 C/6.7-7.2 kbar to 800-875 C/10-11 kbar) suggesting that the Zambezi Belt might correspond to a suture zone with several discrete crustal blocks.Zircon cores from felsic orthogneisses yielded two magmatic ages:2655±21 Ma and 813士5 Ma,which suggests Neoarchean and Early Neoproterozoic crustal growth related to within-plate magmatism.Detrital zircons from metasediments display various ages from Neoarchean to Neoproterozoic(ca.2700-750 Ma).The Neoarchean(ca.2700-2630 Ma) and Paleoproterozoic(ca.2200-1700 Ma) zircons could have been derived from the adjacent Kalahari Craton and the Magondi Belt in Zimbabwe,respectively.The Choma-Kalomo Block and the Lufilian Belt in Zambia might be proximal sources of the Meso-to Neoproterozoic(ca.1500-950 Ma) and early Neoproterozoic(ca.900-750 Ma) detrital zircons,respectively.Such detrital zircons from adjacent terranes possibly deposited during late Neoproterozoic(744-670 Ma),and subsequently underwent highgrade metamorphism at 557-555 Ma possibly related to the collision of the Congo and Kalahari Cratons during the latest Neoproterozoic to Cambrian.In contrast,670-627 Ma metamorphic ages obtained from metasediments are slightly older than previous reports,but consistent with~680-650 Ma metamorphic ages reported from different parts of the Kuunga Orogen,suggesting Cryogenian thermal events before the final collision.     

Irreversible thermodynamic and viscoelastic model for power-law relaxation and attenuation of rocks

A constitutive law for viscoelastic behaviour of rocks is derived from irreversible thermodynamics. To this model, two specific parameters are introduced; one is an internal state variable which is a variable concerning the microstructures such as defects in crystals or microcracks, and the other is a temperature reduced time obtained by normalizing the various temperature behaviours. A large number of internal state variables have the respective relaxation times and show the respective time evolutions, while a set of the time evolutions generates temporal power-law behaviour of rocks. The time evolutions of internal states are regarded as dynamics of elements of the generalized Maxwell model, and the stress–strain relation is represented by a response function following a temporal power-law in terms of linear system theory. This relation is inversely formulated to investigate the source field from output data. This model enables us to explain experimentally-based constitutive laws for transient and steady-state behaviour of rocks (e.g., lherzolite) following a temporal power-law and for attenuation behaviour of polycrystals (e.g., olivine) represented by a relation between the quality factor and frequency. Both laws show power-laws on deformation time or frequency depending on the fractal structure in polycrystals or rocks, and the experimental high-temperature behaviours can be extrapolated to long deformation time or high frequency behaviour.     

Holocene Refreshening and Reoxygenation of a Bothnian Sea Estuary Led to Enhanced Phosphorus Burial

Salinity variations in restricted basins like the Baltic Sea can alter their vulnerability to hypoxia (i.e., bottom water oxygen concentrations <2 mg/l) and can affect the burial of phosphorus (P), a key nutrient for marine organisms. We combine porewater and solid-phase geochemistry, micro-analysis of sieved sediments (including XRD and synchrotron-based XAS), and foraminiferal δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C analyses to reconstruct the bottom water salinity, redox conditions, and P burial in the Ångermanälven estuary, Bothnian Sea. Our sediment records were retrieved during the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Baltic Sea Paleoenvironment Expedition 347 in 2013. We demonstrate that bottom waters in the Ångermanälven estuary became anoxic upon the intrusion of seawater in the early Holocene, like in the central Bothnian Sea. The subsequent refreshening and reoxygenation, which was caused by gradual isostatic uplift, promoted P burial in the sediment in the form of Mn-rich vivianite. Vivianite authigenesis in the surface sediments of the more isolated part of the estuary ultimately ceased, likely due to continued refreshening and an associated decline in productivity and P supply to the sediment. The observed shifts in environmental conditions also created conditions for post-depositional formation of authigenic vivianite, and possibly apatite formation, at ～8 m composite depth. These salinity-related changes in redox conditions and P burial are highly relevant in light of current climate change. The results specifically highlight that increased freshwater input linked to global warming may enhance coastal P retention, thereby contributing to oligotrophication in both coastal and adjacent open waters.     

Vertical heat transfer based on direct microstructure measurements in the ice-free Pacific-side Arctic Ocean: the role and impact of the Pacific water intrusion

This study quantifies diapycnal mixing and vertical heat transfer in the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean, where sea-ice cover has disappeared between July and September in the last few decades. We conducted microstructure measurements in the open water region around the Canada Basin from late summer to fall in 2009 and 2010 using R/V Mirai. In the study domain, the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy, ε, is typically as low level as O(10^?10) W kg^?1, resulting in vertical heat diffusivity of O(10^?7) m² s^?1, which is close to the molecular diffusivity of heat, suggesting comparatively little predominance of mechanical turbulent mixing. An exception is the case at the Barrow Canyon, where the strong baroclinic throughflow generates substantial vertical mixing, producing ε > O(10^?7) W kg^?1, because of the shear flow instability. Meanwhile, in the confluence region, where the warm/salty Pacific water and the cold/fresh Arctic basin water encounter, the micro-temperature profiles revealed a localized enhancement in vertical diffusivity of heat, reaching O(10^?5) m² s^?1 or greater. In this region, an intrusion of warm Pacific water creates a horizontally interleaved structure, where the double-diffusive mixing facilitates vertical heat transfer between the intruding Pacific water and the surrounding basin waters.     

Subassemblage cyclic loading test of RC frame with buckling restrained braces in zigzag configuration

A new buckling restrained braced frame system is proposed for reinforced concrete building structures, which is featured by the zigzag configuration of the braces and the corresponding connection details. The connection details tend to separate the vertical and horizontal components of force imposed by the braces to be resisted by independent structural components to make the behavior of the connection easier to estimate and control. The performance of the brace connection details was evaluated through cyclic load testing on 1/2‐scale subassemblies of the proposed system, each of which consisted of a reinforced concrete part and a set of buckling restrained braces. To simplify the test control, the specimens were rotated 90° in the test and were loaded by two displacement controlled actuators. The test results show that the normal and the shear resistance of the gusset plate connection are essentially independent of each other. However, the rotation of the gusset plate with respect to the beam‐to‐column joint may result in nonuniform force distribution of the anchor bolts, the primary resistance for tensile force. At the same time, such rotation may also subject the concrete corbels, the primary shear resistance, to unfavorable tensile force. In addition, it is also confirmed that the buckling restrained braces performed well in the proposed system. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analytical hydrologic models and the design of policy instruments for groundwater-quality management

This paper explores how analytical hydrologic models can inform the effective design and choice of policy instruments to manage groundwater quality by coupling a social-planner’s problem of optimal groundwater-quality management with analytical solutions from the hydrology literature. A theoretical analysis is performed in order to characterize the properties of an optimal emissions policy. The model is then applied in a numerical analysis of groundwater contamination by chloride from highway deicers, demonstrating the relevance of the theoretical results to practical management settings. This analytical approach can help determine which policy instruments are likely to be effective in controlling groundwater pollution, especially if costly numerical groundwater models are not available for the aquifer in question. Unlike previous economic studies of groundwater contamination, this approach defines optimal emissions policies as a function of geophysical parameters employed by hydrologists such as distance between source and sink, groundwater velocity, and aquifer dispersivity. The theoretical section of this paper also demonstrates that the relationship between geophysical parameters and optimal emissions levels may be ambiguous.     

Coupled uranium isotope and sea-level variations in the oceans

Globally, rivers supply uranium to the oceans with excess ²³⁴U relative to secular equilibrium and ²³⁴U taken-up by corals can be used for dating. In addition, the ²³⁴U abundance in sea water, at the time the coral was growing, can be measured independently. The veracity of U-series ages used in determining past sea-level variations is dependent on selecting pristine corals free from diagenetic alteration. A quantitative test for alteration assumes invariant ²³⁴U abundances in the oceans for at least the past half a million years and results from samples outside of a narrow range in modern ocean ²³⁴U abundance are excluded from data sets. Here, we have used previously published data to show that ²³⁴U in the oceans appears to be variable and directly related to changes in sea-level, not only over long glacial-interglacial timescales but also at very short, centennial timescales. Most of the previously discarded data can be used to provide valuable additional sea-level information. The process permits a unique insight into the interplay between sources and sinks of uranium in the oceans mediated by sea-level changes at rates far faster than previously thought possible. Similar, rapid sea-level, forcing of other trace element abundances in the oceans is likely.