Determination of Total Sulfur Contents in the International Rock Reference Material SY-2 and Other Mafic and Ultramafic Rocks Using an Improved Scheme of Combustion/Iodometric Titration

An extensively modified combustion/iodometric titration method was used for the determination of sulfur in SY-2, a CANMET international rock reference material, in coarse-grained mantle rocks and glassy materials at the microgram level. Replicate analysis (n = 27) of SY-2 demonstrated the potential for this sample to be certified as a reference sample for S. Our mean sulfur concentration (122 ± 3 μg g-1) suggests that the recommended value (0.011% w/w) could underestimate the true value by 10%. The other results compare well with those generated by other more sophisticated techniques such as X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and electron probe microanalysis, whether S is dissolved in glassy materials or occurs as discrete sulfides.     

Kinematics of the Southern Rhodope Core Complex (North Greece)

The Southern Rhodope Core Complex is a wide metamorphic dome exhumed in the northern Aegean as a result of large-scale extension from mid-Eocene to mid-Miocene times. Its roughly triangular shape is bordered on the SW by the Jurassic and Cretaceous metamorphic units of the Serbo-Macedonian in the Chalkidiki peninsula and on the N by the eclogite bearing gneisses of the Sideroneron massif. The main foliation of metamorphic rocks is flat lying up to 100 km core complex width. Most rocks display a stretching lineation trending NE–SW. The Kerdylion detachment zone located at the SW controlled the exhumation of the core complex from middle Eocene to mid-Oligocene. From late Oligocene to mid-Miocene exhumation is located inside the dome and is accompanied by the emplacement of the synkinematic plutons of Vrondou and Symvolon. Since late Miocene times, extensional basin sediments are deposited on top of the exhumed metamorphic and plutonic rocks and controlled by steep normal faults and flat-ramp-type structures. Evidence from Thassos Island is used to illustrate the sequence of deformation from stacking by thrusting of the metamorphic pile to ductile extension and finally to development of extensional Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary basin. Paleomagnetic data indicate that the core complex exhumation is controlled by a 30° dextral rotation of the Chalkidiki block. Extensional displacements are restored using a pole of rotation deduced from the curvature of stretching lineation trends at core complex scale. It is argued that the Rhodope Core Complex has recorded at least 120 km of extension in the North Aegean, since the last 40 My.     

Stochastic Modeling of Short Term Variations of Sea Level in Eastern Canada

Hourly sea level records from three stations in eastern Canada (Québec-Lauzon, Harrington-Harbour and Halifax) are analyzed both in frequency domain from 1970 to 1979 and in time domain during 1973. At the three stations, the deterministic model explains 90 to 96% of the total variability of sea level. The semidiurnal and diurnal tides contribute largely to its variations. The residual series, less than 10% of the initial variations of sea level, contain irregular values including extreme values of seiches and storm surges. Such random variations are analyzed and modeled following the method described by Box and Jenkins (1976). The long period variations (2 to 30 days) can be attributed to meteorological forcing (atmospheric pressure and winds). The short period variations (some hours to one day) can be attributed to longitudinal seiches, semidiurnal and diurnal atmospheric tides, and inertial oscillations. The water discharge from the St. Lawrence River contributes 29% of the monthly residual sea level at Qué     

喜马拉雅的两个造山体系和一个转换-转移断层:证据及推论

位于中喜马拉雅和巴基斯坦境内西喜马拉雅的两个相互结合的剖面在一级单元、断层中展现出不同的构造形式;并在不同时期,以不同速率发育了二级构造。沿两剖面岩性单元的显著差异显示通常指的圆柱状喜马拉雅带并没有越过喀喇昆仑山断层。与此同时,在近来许多区域研究中显示出来的构造轮廓强调主中央逆冲断层是一个貌似与中喜马拉雅断层带和越过西部山脉的西喜马拉雅断层带有联系的独立部分。上述两个地区展现出不同的碰撞历史。这些不同之处揭示喀喇昆仑山断层是西部岛弧保留造山带与东部岛弧俯冲造山带之间转移/转换断层的再活动或衍变。     

Paleomagnetic and plate tectonic constraints on the movement of Tibet

The paleomagnetic results from Tibet, north of the Yarlung-Zang bo suture zone, show that Tibet was at about 15°–20°N in Middle Cretaceous time. It then moved south down to 7°–10°N in the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene. The oceanic crust of the Xigaze ophiolites was magnetized at 13°N but thereafter migrated further south. This movement is compared with the relative movement of India and Asia as deduced from magnetic anomalies and paleomagnetism. Experimental models on deformation help us to explain how Tibet moved during the Late Cretaceous under the constraint of the Africa-Arabia indenter and during the Upper Tertiary under the constraint of the Indian indenter.     

Petrogenesis of base metal sulphide assemblages of some peridotites from the Kaapvaal craton (South Africa)

Thirty-two peridotite xenoliths from kimberlitic pipes of the Kaapvaal craton were analysed for S and studied in reflected light microscopy and electron microprobe. Correlation between whole-rock S concentrations and sulphide modal abundances has been obscured by kimberlite-related sulphur within the mantle and by low-temperature contamination processes during emplacement. Mantle-derived base metal sulphides (BMS) occur as solitary inclusions (SI) and intergranular blebs. Unfractured SI encloses intergrowths of Ni-poor and Ni-rich monosulphide solid solution (Mss) phases, coexisting with pentlandite (Pn) and Cu-rich sulphides. Textural relationships between Mss phases and Cu-sulphides are consistent with fractional crystallization of Mss from a Cu–Fe–Ni sulphide melt. Pn-rich euhedral SI may have crystallized from a more metal-rich sulphide melt. However, the opaque mineral assemblages of both fractured sulphide inclusions and intergranular BMS point to a progressive desulphurization of Mss, yielding Pn-rich grains, often replaced by Fe-poor heazlewoodite and abundant magnetite, while Cu-sulphides are replaced by native copper. This trend is consistent with reducing conditions generated by low-temperature serpentinization. A residual origin cannot be ruled out for the Mss enclosed in the most refractory peridotites, although their Ni/Fe ratios are too low to be consistent with an equilibration with olivine at magmatic temperatures. Modal abundances of mantle-derived BMS increase in the Fe-enriched metasomatized peridotites. At least two BMS precipitation processes can be recognized: (1) precipitation of Fe–Cu-rich immiscible sulphide melts in phlogopite-(ilmenite–rutile) peridotites and (2) sulphidation reactions from an H₂S-rich fluid phase in phlogopite-K richterite peridotites.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

La stratigraphie oligo-miocène et la surface d'érosion messinienne en mer Noire,stratigraphie sismique haute résolution

The stratigraphy of the Black Sea western margin is revisited through seismic data acquired during two French-Romanian surveys. These data are calibrated by industrial and DSDP drillings; they display several major discontinuities regarded as Tertiary erosional surfaces. The major seismic discontinuity underlines the base of Miocene formations and corresponds to a composite surface including at least three erosional phases ranging from Oligocene to Pontian times. Moreover, a Messinian erosional surface is clearly identified. This is in agreement with the Hsü's proposition [Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 29 (1979) 75–93] suggesting a Messinian sea-level drop of Black Sea related to the Messinian Salinity Crisis described in the Mediterranean Sea. To cite this article: H. Gillet et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Geophysical excitation of the Earth orientation parameters EOP and its contribution to GGOS

We discuss how the geophysical fluids affect the Earth orientation parameters (EOP) and in particular polar motion and nutation. We show that the Earth orientation modeling is a perfect example of the integrated approach recommended by GGOS. GGOS considers the Earth system as a whole, including the solid Earth as well as the fluid components; geodesy observes and models the dynamics inside this system through the static and time-varying gravity field, the station displacements, and the Earth orientation parameters and the associated length-of-day variation, nutation and polar motion. Global-scale transfer in the Earth system and its geodetic consequences is proposed to be the central theme of GGOS. We show that the Earth orientation parameters perfectly fit this theme.