KAr data for the age and evolution of Gettysburg Bank,North Atlantic Ocean

Gettysburg Bank forms the western end of the Gorringe Seamount which is situated in the North Atlantic 110 km west of the tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the eastern end of the Azores/Gibraltar fracture zone.Gabbros dredged from the Gettysburg Bank record a complex history of events. K-Ar ages of separated mineral phases fall into three concordant groups (plus some discordant ages). The oldest ages are from three brown kaersutitic hornblendes and their mean age of135 ± 3Ma is taken to be that of their formation. Six plagioclase feldspars yielded concordant ages of105 ± 3Ma which is possibly a consequence of a thermal event occurring at that time. Ages from three deformed plagioclases are concordant with a mean of82 ± 3Ma which is believed to relate to a phase of shearing, perhaps occurring during transform motion at the plate boundary.     

Lg Coda Q and its Relation to the Geology and Tectonics of the Middle East

—Regional seismograms were collected to image the lateral variations of Lg coda Q at 1 Hz (Q ₀?) and its frequency dependence <(eta)> in the Middle East using a back-projection method. The data include 124 vertical-component traces recorded at 10 stations during the period 1986–1996. The resulting images reveal lateral variations in both Q ₀ and <eta>. In the Turkish and Iranian Plateaus, a highly deformed and tectonically active region, Q ₀ ranges between about 150 and 300, with the lowest values occurring in western Anatolia where extremely high heat flow has been measured. The low Q ₀ values found in this region agree with those found in other tectonically active regions of the world. Throughout most of the Arabian Peninsula, a relatively stable region, Q ₀ varies between 350 and 450, being highest in the shield area and lowest in the eastern basins. All values are considerably lower than those found in most other stable regions. Low Q values throughout the Middle East may be caused by interstitial fluids that have migrated to the crust from the upper mantle, where they were probably generated by hydrothermal reactions at elevated temperatures known to occur there. Low Q ₀ values (about 250) are also found in the Oman folded zone, a region with thick sedimentary deposits. <eta> varies inversely with Q ₀ throughout most of the Middle East, with lower values (0.4–0.5) in the Arabian Peninsula and higher values (0.6–0.8) in Iran and Turkey. Q ₀ and <eta> are both low in the Oman folded zone and western Anatolia.     

Late Precambrian subduction and collision in the Al Amar—Idsas region, Arabian Shield, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Recent work on outer arcs and collision belts provides for the first time a possible model for evolution of part of the Arabian Shield. The thick volcanic, volcaniclastic and sedimentary succession of the Proterozoic Halaban Group in the east of the Shield is intruded by synto late tectonic plutons and resembles Cenozoic subduction-related magmatic areas. West of the Halaban Group, and separated from it by a major east-dipping thrust with associated ultrabasic rocks and carbonates, are folded chlorite—sericite metasediments of the Abt Schists, comparable to Cenozoic outer arc successions. West of and beneath the Abt Schists calcareous and arenaceous metasediments of the Ar-Ridaniyah Formation are analogous to Mesozoic—Cenozoic continental margin shelf facies of the subducting plate. Eastward subduction with magmatism (Halaban Group) and tectonic emplacement of ocean-floor sediments (Abt Schists) was followed by continental collision and eastward underthrusting by the Ar-Ridaniyah Group and cratonized central part of the Shield. Collision-related post-tectonic granites were emplaced during and following the collision.     

Der Ssiwasch Ein großes Haff im semiariden Klimabereich

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Modeling and Fitting of Three-Dimensional Mineral Microstructures by Multinary Random Fields

Mathematical Geosciences - Modeling a mineral microstructure accurately in three dimensions can render realistic mineralogical patterns which can be used for three-dimensional processing...     

Multivariate statistische Auswertung von Schwermineraldaten der alpinen Gosau und Bezüge zur plattentektonischen Entwicklung der Ostalpen während der Oberkreide

Zusammenfassung Aus Schwermineraldaten verschiedener Oberkreidevorkommen der alpinen Gosau werden mit einer speziellen Variante der Q-Modus Faktorenanalyse lithologische Endglieder zur Rekonstruktion der Liefergebiete modelliert. Dabei zeigt sich, daß zeitlich zwischen der bekannten Chromspinell-Schüttung aus Ophiolithen im Norden und der Zufuhr von Granat aus dem Kristallin der Ostalpen im Süden während des Campan ein kratonisches Hinterland vorhanden ist, das sowohl reifen (Zirkon, Turmalin, Rutil) als auch sauer plutonischen Detritus (Zirkon, Apatit) in die Gosaubecken einbringt.Diese Befunde bestätigen und präzisieren das vonFrisch (1979) vorgelegte plattentektonische Konzept: Als Folge der Subduktion des südpenninischen Piedmont Ozeans und gleichzeitiger Öffnung des nordpenninischen Valais Ozeans kollidiert im Campan die mittelpenninische Briançonnais-Mikroplatte mit dem Austroalpin der adriatischen Platte. Dem entspricht die Abnahme der Chromspinellzufuhr und die Zunahme von Detritus aus einem kratonischen Liefergebiet in den Gosau Sedimenten des Untercampan. Nach der intragosauischen Gebirgsbildungsphase hält die Zufuhr von kratonischem Material aus dem Mittelpenninikum während dessen Überschiebung im Obercampan an. Gleichzeitig beginnt die Freilegung von austroalpinen Kristallinarealen, die generell ab dem Maastricht zur Vorherrschaft eines metamorphen Schwermineralspektrums führt.

---

Heavy mineral data from the Late Cretaceous clastic sediments of the Alpine Gosau formation were processed using extended Q-mode factor analysis in order to model in detail end members of lithological associations in search of provenance. The results show clearly a cratonic source area which furnished both mature (zircon, tourmaline, rutile) and acid plutomc (zircon, apatite) detritus into the Gosau basins during Campanian time. Stratigraphically, the mature-plutonic detritus ranges between the well known chromspinel supply from ophiolites in the north and the influx of garnet from metamorphic rocks of the Eastern Alps in the south.This confirms and clarifies the plate tectonic model proposed byFrisch (1979): The Middle Penninic Briançonian microplate collided with the Austroalpine unit of the Adriatic plate as result of both the subduction of the South Penninic Piedmont ocean and the contemporaneous opening of the North Penninic Valais ocean. The sedimentological response was a decrease in chromspinel and an increase in the minerals of cratonic provenance in the Gosau sediments of Early Campanian age. The cratonic detritus continued to dominate in the Late Campanian after the intragosauic orogenic movements as the Briançonian plate was beeing overthrust. At this time the erosion of Austroalpine metamorphic areas started, leading to the predominance of heavy minerals of metamorphic source from the Latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) onwards.

---

Résumé Une forme particulière d'analyse factorielle en mode.Q a été appliquée aux minéraux lourdes provenant de divers sites du Crétacé supérieur du Gosau (Alpes orientales), en vue de rechercher l'origine des sédiments. Cette méthode montre clairement l'existence au Campanien d'une source cratonique qui alimenterait le bassin du Gosau à la fois en éléments matures (zircon, tourmaline, rutile) et en éléments plutoniques acides (zircon, apatite). Cet apport se situe stratigraphiquement entre les arrivées de spinelle chromifère provenant des ophiolites au Nord et de grenat provenant des métamorphites des Alpes occidentales au Sud.Ces résultats confiment et précisent le modèle géodynamique proposé par Frisch (1979): à la suite de la subduction de l'océan sud-pennique piémontais et de l'ouverture de l'océan nord-pennique valaisan, une collision se produisit au Campanien entre la microplaque méso-pennique brianonnaise et l-Austro-alpin de la plaque adriatique. La réponse sédimentologique à cet événement a été, dans les sédiments companiens infeérieurs du Gosau, une diminution de l'afflux de spinelles chromifères et un accroissement des minéraux de provenance cratonique. Au Campanien supérieur, après la phase tectonique intro-gosauienne, l'apport des matériaux cratoniques a continué pendant le charriage de la plaque briançonnaise. En même temps commençait l'érosion de l'aire métamorphique austroalpine amenant, à partir du Maastrichtien une prédominance de minéraux lourdes d'órigine métamorphique.

---

. , , , , — , . , 1979 : Valais Briançonnais - . . . , . . - , .

     

Hydration shell structures in a LiI solution at elevated temperature and pressure: a molecular dynamics study

Molecular dynamics simulations of a 0.55 molal aqueous LiI solution have been performed at 508 K and 308 K and a density of 1.05 g/cm³. The structural changes resulting from increased temperature and pressure are discussed.