Evolution of polycyclic alkanes in the Espirito Santo Basin

The distributions of polycyclic alkanes were monitored in a Neocomian sequence (well 1-ESS-34) from the Espirito Santo Basin, southeast Brazil. The profiles included, apart from regular hopanes, significant concentrations of 18α(H), 28,30-bisnorhopane and subordinate amounts of gammacerane. Sterane concentrations, normally with hopane/sterane <5, were compatible with other geochemical data indicating a predominantly planktonic/microbial source of the deposited organic matter. Sample maturities ranged from very immature to the onset of oil generation, allowing biomarker distributions to be followed along a broad maturation range. The ability of certain molecular ratios (e.g. C₂₇ 17α(H)/17β(H)hopanes) to reflect a maturity sequence with depth in the closely-spaced strata of the immature upper levels (Jiquiá Stage) showed the value of molecular techniques over classical geochemical methods (e.g. vitrinite reflectance) for the study of immature sequences. The presence in the oils of southern Espirito Santo of 28,30-bisnorhopane, gammacerane and methyl steranes in similar concentrations as in extracts of the deepest levels of the 1-ESS-34 well qualify the Jiquia Stage as the probable source rock of oils accumulated in the basin.     

Peralkaline acid tendencies in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)

The study of a volcanic series from the island of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands) in which alkaline and peralkaline, saturated and undersaturated rocks coexist, is reported here. Materials with high volatile content (ignimbritic trachytes) were first emitted and the series ended with the eruption of phonolitic lavas. The average peralkalinity index in these rocks is typically about 1.0 and, therefore, peralkaline rocks coexist with non-peralkaline ones. However, a maximum in peralkalinity is found in the ignimbritic rocks of the lower part of the series. In spite of the evident acid peralkaline tendencies of these rocks, it does not seem appropriate to classify them as pantellerites or comendites. Nor are they consistent with the genetic processes proposed for rocks of similar composition and oceanic environment.The crystallization of the feldspars controls the variation trends among the different magmas but the fractionation alone does not sufficiently explain the genesis of successive fluids. Various factors seem to point to the important role which a gas-transfer process causing a geochemical stratification inside the magmatic chamber may have played.The occurrence of peralkaline silicics at Gran Canaria, which is located for away from the active Mid-Atlantic ridge, is not related to transitional basalts. These rocks are a deviation from the main undersaturated alkalic trend which characterizes the volcanism of the Canary Islands, their genesis being related to the realization of favourable local volcanic conditions.     

Crustal attenuation in the Southern Andean retroarc (38°–39°30′ S) determined from tectonic and gravimetric studies: The Lonco-Luán asthenospheric anomaly

The western retroarc of the Southern Andes between 38° and 40° S is formed by a NNW-elongated ridge not associated with stacked thrust sheets. On the contrary, during the last 4–3 Ma this ridge was affected by extensional deformation, regional uplift and related folding on a very broad scale. Receiver function analysis shows that the drainage divide area and adjacent retroarc lie over an attenuated crust. Expected crustal thickness at these latitudes is around 38 km, whereas in this part of the retroarc the thickness is less than 32 km. The causes for such attenuation have been linked to a moderate steepening of the subducted Nazca plate beneath the South American plate, which is suggested by a westward shift and narrowing of the magmatic arc during the last 4 to 5 Ma. Gravimetric studies show that the upper plate did not react homogeneously to slab steepening, but ancient sutures and lithospheric discontinuities deeply buried under Mesozoic to Cenozoic sequences in the retroarc were locally reactivated. These processes resulted in an asthenospheric anomaly that correlates at the surface with the area of Pliocene to Quaternary doming, widespread extension and three radial troughs. Two of the troughs have accommodated substantial amounts of extension, but the third was probably aborted at an early stage. Moreover, the presence of an anomalous concentration of calderas and large volcanic centers over the proposed asthenospheric anomaly, and their age distribution, may indicate minor migration of the asthenospheric anomaly between 4 and 2 Ma through the western South American plate.     

Late Pleistocene highstand and recession of a small, high-altitude pluvial lake, Jakes Valley, central Great Basin, USA

Models of factors controlling late Pleistocene pluvial lake-level fluctuations in the Great Basin are evaluated by dating lake levels in Jakes Valley. “Jakes Lake” rose to a highstand at 13,870 ± 50 ¹⁴C Yr B.P., receded to a stillstand at 12,440 ± 50 ¹⁴C yr B.P., and receded steadily to desiccation thereafter. The Jakes Lake highstand is roughly coincident with highstands of lakes Bonneville, Lahontan and Russell. The rise to highstand and recession of Jakes Lake were most likely controlled by a storm track steered by the polar jet stream. The final stillstand of Jakes Lake helps constrain timing of northward retreat of the polar jet stream during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.     

HP–LT Variscan metamorphism in the Cubito-Moura schists (Ossa-Morena Zone, southern Iberia)

Multi-equilibrium thermobarometry shows that low-grade metapelites (Cubito-Moura schists) from the Ossa–Morena Zone underwent HP–LT metamorphism from 340–370 °C at 1.0–0.9 GPa to 400–450 °C at 0.8–0.7 GPa. These HP–LT equilibriums were reached by parageneses including white K mica, chlorite and chloritoid, which define the earliest schistosity (S₁) in these rocks. The main foliation in the schists is a crenulation cleavage (S₂), which developed during decompression from 0.8–0.7 to 0.4–0.3 GPa at increasing temperatures from 400–450 °C to 440–465 °C. Fe³⁺ in chlorite decreased greatly during prograde metamorphism from molar fractions of 0.4 determined in syn-S₁ chlorites down to 0.1 in syn-S₂ chlorites. These new data add to previous findings of eclogites in the Moura schists indicating that a pile of allochtonous rocks situated next to the Beja-Acebuches oceanic amphibolites underwent HP–LT metamorphism during the Variscan orogeny. To cite this article: G. Booth-Rea et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

The bubbles or the boiling pot? An ecosystemic approach to culture,environment and quality of life

For the diagnosis and prognosis of the problems of quality of life, a multidisciplinary ecosystemic approach encompasses four dimensions of being-in-the-world, as donors and recipients: intimate, interactive, social and biophysical. Social, cultural and environmental vulnerabilities are understood and dealt with, in different circumstances of space and time, as the conjugated effect of all dimensions of being-in-the-world, as they induce the events (deficits and assets), cope with consequences (desired or undesired) and contribute for change. Instead of fragmented and reduced representations of reality, diagnosis and prognosis of cultural, educational, environmental and health problems considers the connections (assets) and ruptures (deficits) between the different dimensions, providing a planning model to develop and evaluate research, teaching programmes, public policies and field projects. The methodology is participatory, experiential and reflexive; heuristic-hermeneutic processes unveil cultural and epistemic paradigms that orient subject-object relationships; giving people the opportunity to reflect on their own realities, engage in new experiences and find new ways to live better in a better world. The proposal is a creative model for thought and practice, providing many opportunities for discussion, debate and development of holistic projects integrating different scientific domains (social sciences, psychology, education, philosophy, etc.). Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Simultaneous use of geochemical and geophysical methods to characterise abandoned landfills

. Groundwater sampling and geophysical methods determined a serious contamination problem associated with refilled exploitation sites at the Cal Dimoni area, Llobregat delta, Barcelona, Spain. To characterise this process, hydrogeochemical analyses were performed and showed the following modifications to groundwater chemical composition: increasing pH values, changing redox conditions, significant increases in total organic carbon (TOC) and certain trace elements, and high groundwater conductivity values. Major ion content accumulations were found under the refilled area. In contrast, elements involved in the oxidation–reduction processes, such as iron, manganese and nitrates, clearly diminished. Electromagnetic prospecting methods were also performed and delineated the contamination plume extent. These methods also showed separate sources of contamination, one clearly related to the groundwater–refilled zone leachate interaction, another as a consequence of the manure–accumulation surface site. Geochemical and geophysical methods have shown similar results for locating groundwater contamination sources, and for determining leachate generation mechanisms and flow paths.     

U–Pb evidence for a polyorogenic evolution of the HP–HT units of the NW Iberian Massif

. A isotope dilution thermal ionisation mass spectrometry U-Pb geochronological study was carried out on the high-pressure and high-temperature units (HP-HT units) overlying the oceanic suture in the Allochthonous Complexes of the NW Iberian Variscan Belt. The rocks investigated are seven granulite- to eclogite-facies paragneisses and one leucosome within mafic high-pressure granulites in the Ordenes and Cabo Ortegal Complexes of NW Spain. U-Pb dating of zircon, monazite, titanite and rutile reveal the presence of a pervasive Early Ordovician metamorphic event at ca. 500-480 Ma and a later Early Devonian event at ca. 400-380 Ma. The U-Pb ages, in conjunction with petrological and structural data, indicate that the high-pressure event recorded by these rocks is Early Ordovician in age. Monazite ages in the paragneisses suggest that peak metamorphic conditions were reached at ca. 500-485 Ma. Subsequently, the rock ensemble underwent exhumation accompanied by partial melting and zircon growth at ca. 485-470 Ma. Melting of mafic granulites was coeval with this latter episode as indicated by zircon crystallisation age in the leucosomes dated at ca. 486 Ma. Based on these data and on the general features of magmatism and metamorphic evolution, it is proposed that this process took place at a convergent plate boundary within a peri-Gondwanan oceanic domain. Monazite, titanite and rutile data in some of the samples studied show evidence of a second metamorphic episode that took place between ca. 400 and 380 Ma (with a peak at ca. 390-385 Ma). This Early Devonian event, at variance with the previous one, was not pervasive, but, rather, was localised in areas of intense Variscan tectonothermal reworking. It is claimed that this later metamorphic event was recorded by the U-Pb system in areas where monazite and titanite growth was enhanced by fluid circulation in highly strained rocks (Variscan shear zones). According to previous structural studies and Ar-Ar dating of fabrics, this Early Devonian episode took place as the HP-HT units were deformed and thrusted upon the ophiolitic units in the early stages of the Variscan collision.