Andesite and dacite genesis via contrasting processes: the geology and geochemistry of El Valle Volcano,Panama

The easternmost stratovolcano along the Central American arc is El Valle volcano, Panama. Several andesitic and dacitic lava flows, which range in age 5–10 Ma, are termed the old group. After a long period of quiescence (approximately 3.4 Ma), volcanic activity resumed approximately 1.55 Ma with the emplacement of dacitic domes and the deposition of dacitic pyroclastic flows 0.9–0.2 Ma. These are referred to as the young group. All of the samples analyzed are calc-alkaline andesites and dacites. The mineralogy of the two groups is distinct; two pyroxenes occur in the old-group rocks but are commonly absent in the young group. In contrast, amphibole has been found only in the young-group samples. Several disequilibrium features have been observed in the minerals (e.g., oscillatory zoning within clinopyroxenes). These disequilibrium textures appear to be more prevalent among the old- as compared with the young-group samples and are most likely the result of magma-mixing, assimilation, and/or polybaric crystallization. Mass-balance fractionation models for major and trace elements were successful in relating samples from the old group but failed to show a relationship among the young-group rocks or between the old- and young-group volcanics. We believe that the old-group volcanics were derived through differentiation processes from basaltic magmas generated within the mantlewedge. The young group, however, does not appear to be related to more primitive magmas by differentiation. The young-group samples cannot be related by fractionation including realistic amounts of amphibole. Distinctive geochemical features of the young group, including La/Yb ratios〉15, Yb〈1, Sr/Y〉150, and Y〈6, suggest that these rocks were derived from the partial melting of the subducted lithosphere. These characteristics can be explained by the partial melting of a source with residual garnet and amphibole. Dacitic material with the geochemical characteristics of subducted-lithosphere melting is generated apparently only where relatively hot crust is subducted, based on recent work. The young dacite-genesis at El Valle volcano is related to the subduction of relatively hot lithosphere.     

Kinetic study of the kaolinite-mullite reaction sequence. Part I: Kaolinite dehydroxylation

The decomposition reaction of kaolinite has been investigated as a function of the defectivity of the starting material and the temperature of reaction. Time resolved energy-dispersive powder diffraction patterns have been measured using synchrotron radiation, both under a constant heating rate (heating rates from 10 to 100° C/min) and in isothermal conditions (in the temperature range 500 to 700° C). The apparent activation energy of the dehydroxylation process is different for kaolinites exhibiting a different degree of stacking fault density. The results of the analysis of the kinetic data indicate that the starting reaction mechanism is controlled by diffusion in the kaolinite particle. The diffusion process is dependent on the defective nature of both kaolinite and metakaolinite. At high temperatures, and at higher heating rates, the reaction mechanism changes and the resistance in the boundary layer outside the crystallites becomes the rate-limiting factor, and nucleation begins within the reacting particle. During the final stage of the dehydroxylation process the reaction is limited by heat or mass transfer, and this might be interpreted by the limited diffusion between the unreacted kaolinite domains and the metakaolinite matrix.     

Transient climate changes in a perturbed parameter ensemble of emissions-driven earth system model simulations

We describe results from a 57-member ensemble of transient climate change simulations, featuring simultaneous perturbations to 54 parameters in the atmosphere, ocean, sulphur cycle and terrestrial ecosystem components of an earth system model (ESM). These emissions-driven simulations are compared against the CMIP3 multi-model ensemble of physical climate system models, used extensively to inform previous assessments of regional climate change, and also against emissions-driven simulations from ESMs contributed to the CMIP5 archive. Members of our earth system perturbed parameter ensemble (ESPPE) are competitive with CMIP3 and CMIP5 models in their simulations of historical climate. In particular, they perform reasonably well in comparison with HadGEM2-ES, a more sophisticated and expensive earth system model contributed to CMIP5. The ESPPE therefore provides a computationally cost-effective tool to explore interactions between earth system processes. In response to a non-intervention emissions scenario, the ESPPE simulates distributions of future regional temperature change characterised by wide ranges, and warm shifts, compared to those of CMIP3 models. These differences partly reflect the uncertain influence of global carbon cycle feedbacks in the ESPPE. In addition, the regional effects of interactions between different earth system feedbacks, particularly involving physical and ecosystem processes, shift and widen the ESPPE spread in normalised patterns of surface temperature and precipitation change in many regions. Significant differences from CMIP3 also arise from the use of parametric perturbations (rather than a multimodel ensemble) to represent model uncertainties, and this is also the case when ESPPE results are compared against parallel emissions-driven simulations from CMIP5 ESMs. When driven by an aggressive mitigation scenario, the ESPPE and HadGEM2-ES reveal significant but uncertain impacts in limiting temperature increases during the second half of the twenty-first century. Emissions-driven simulations create scope for development of errors in properties that were previously prescribed in coupled ocean–atmosphere models, such as historical CO₂ concentrations and vegetation distributions. In this context, historical intra-ensemble variations in the airborne fraction of CO₂ emissions, and in summer soil moisture in northern hemisphere continental regions, are shown to be potentially useful constraints, subject to uncertainties in the relevant observations. Our results suggest that future climate-related risks can be assessed more comprehensively by updating projection methodologies to support formal combination of emissions-driven perturbed parameter and multi-model earth system model simulations with suitable observational constraints. This would provide scenarios underpinned by a more complete representation of the chain of uncertainties from anthropogenic emissions to future climate outcomes.     

Phase equilibria modelling constraints on P–T conditions during fluid catalysed conversion of granulite to eclogite in the Bergen Arcs,Norway

Exhumed eclogitic crust is rare and exposures that preserve both protoliths and altered domains are limited around the world. Nominally anhydrous Neoproterozoic anorthositic granulites exposed on the island of Holsnøy, in the Bergen Arcs in western Norway, preserve different stages of progressive prograde deformation, together with the corresponding fluid‐assisted metamorphism, which record the conversion to eclogite during the Ordovician–Silurian Caledonian Orogeny. Four stages of deformation can be identified: (1) brittle deformation resulting in the formation of fractures and the generation of pseudotachylites in the granulite; (2) development of mesoscale shear zones associated with increased fluid–rock interaction; (3) the complete large‐scale replacement of granulite by hydrous eclogite with blocks of granulite sitting in an eclogitic “matrix”; and (4) the break‐up of completely eclogitized granulite by continued fluid influx, resulting in the formation of coarse‐grained phengite‐dominated mineral assemblages. P–T constraints derived from phase equilibria forward modelling of mineral assemblages of the early and later stages of the conversion to eclogite document burial and partial exhumation path with peak metamorphic conditions of ~21–22 kbar and 670–690°C. The P–T models, in combination with existing T–t constraints, imply that the Lindås Nappe underwent extremely rapid retrogressive pressure change. Fluid infiltration began on the prograde burial path and continued throughout the recorded P–T evolution, implying a fluid source that underwent progressive dehydration during subduction of the granulites. However, in places limited fluid availability on the prograde path resulted in assemblages largely consuming the available fluid, essentially freezing in snapshots of the prograde evolution. These were carried metastably deeper into the mantle with strain and metamorphic recrystallization partitioned into areas where ongoing fluid infiltration was concentrated.     

Tracing the formation history of intermediate-age star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs) are presented for the first time for 10 star clusters projected on to the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The photometry was carried out in the Washington system C and T ₁ filters allowing the determination of ages by means of the magnitude difference between the red giant clump and the main-sequence turnoff (MSTO), and metallicities from the red giant branch (RGB) locus. The clusters all have ages in the range 1.5–4 Gyr and metallicities between  −1.3 < [Fe/H] < −0.6  , with respective errors of ∼0.5 Gyr and 0.3 dex. This increases substantially the sample of intermediate-age clusters in the SMC with well-derived parameters. We combine our results with those for other clusters in the literature to derive as large and homogeneous a data base as possible (totalling 26 clusters) in order to study global effects. We find evidence for two peaks in the age distribution of SMC clusters, at ∼6.5 and 2.5 Gyr, in good agreement with previous hints involving smaller samples. The most recent peak occurs at a time that corresponds to a very close encounter between the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the SMC according to the recent dynamical models of Bekki et al. that they used to explain the enhancement of LMC clusters with this age. It appears cluster formation may have been similarly stimulated in the SMC by this encounter as well. We also find very good agreement between cluster ages and metallicities and the prediction from a bursting model from Pagel and Tautvaišienė with a burst that occurred 3 Gyr ago. These two lines of evidence together favour a bursting cluster formation history as opposed to a continuous one for the SMC.     

The lunar farside: The nature of highlands east of Mare Smythii

Available lunar orbital data were studied in detail to determine the nature and origin of geochemical variation in a portion of the farside highlands east of the Smythii basin. Such data exist for the elements Al, Mg, Fe, Ti, and Th (Clark and Hawke, 1981; Davis, 1980; Metzger et al., 1977). As in our previous studies (Clarke and Hawke, 1981, 1987), averages and ranges of concentrations for these elements are calculated and correlated for photogeologically defined units associated with features such as Babcock, King, Al-Khwarezmi, Langemak, Pasteur, and Sklodowska and with the region as a whole. In addition, comparisons are made between this and other highland regions which have been investigated by other workers in a similar manner (Andre et al., 1977; Haines et al., 1978; Maxwell and Andre, 1981). The region is shown to be distinctively enriched in the anorthositic end-members of the ANT-suite. Anomalies which have been reported for this region (Hawke et al., 1985) are confirmed by this study. An area south of Pasteur shows enrichment in some mafic components, giving evidence for the presence of buried mare basalt, and lending support to the hypothesis that volcanic activity may be fairly widespread even in the farside highlands. The units just southeast of Mare Smythii appear to be geochemically related to the area partly surrounding the Smythii on the west (Clark and Hawke, 1987). Considerable geochemical heterogeneity exists in this area, as in areas of the nearside highlands (Clark and Hawke, 1981, 1982, 1987; Hawke et al., 1985).     

Value of tectonic regions in the United States

Occurrence of mineral resources is directly or indirectly controlled by major tectonic processes. Additionally, similar mineral deposit types tend to be concentrated within geologically and tectonically similar areas. As a result, information on the production history of minerals in a well-explored and developed tectonic region—such as within the United States—can be used to estimate resources of geologically similar, underdeveloped tectonic areas elsewhere. For such application, two regions should be compared for geologic similarity using all available geologic information. Estimates of resources based on geologic analogy can be useful in large-scale mineral exploration programs where relatively little geologic information is available, such as in many developing countries. In this study, seven major tectonic regions within the United States are evaluated in terms of estimated mineral value as measured by historical mineral production and economic reserves. The seven regions assessed are: (1) Cordilleran Mountain Belt, (2) Colorado Plateau, (3) Central Stable Region, (4) Canadian Shield, (5) Ozark-Ouachtia Province, (6) Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain, and (7) Appalachian Mountain Belt. Regions are ranked in terms of estimated value of (1) 33 major mineral commodities, (2) nonfuel minerals, (3) hydrocarbons, and (4) individual mineral commodities. In terms of total value of historical mineral production and estimated economic reserve amounts of 33 major mineral commodities, the Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain is most valuable, with an estimated value of 1980 US$1,970,000/km². Information on historical mineral production of U.S. tectonic regions may be useful in estimating resources in tectonically similar, underdeveloped regions elsewhere.     

Increasing the usability and accessibility of geodynamic modelling tools to the geoscience community: UnderworldGUI

Geoscientists are faced with a number of complexities that represent obstacles to the development of realistic simulation of deep earth processes. Realistic 4D thermo-mechanical simulation using software packages like Underworld and Gale, when combined appropriately with geoscientific expertise, can lead to novel insights into the deformation of geological structures at a wide range of time and spatial scales. The challenge for end-user geoscientists lies in applying their knowledge within the framework of the software’s input specification, including initial, internal, and boundary conditions and output visualization parameters. We have built a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to remove many of the difficulties related to editing the Extensible Markup Language (XML) encoded input files of Underworld/Gale geomodels and therefore, to greatly broaden the user base of these software packages. By helping Underworld/Gale to meet a large audience, we provide a tool to the geoscience community that helps to move from untested conceptual models to physically valid, properly scaled modelling. Furthermore, the UnderworldGUI offers a mechanism for storing and retrieving experimental models in a centralised database, thus providing the geoscience community with a means to share the outcomes of its experimental research. Further details of the UnderworldGUI are available at the web site .

Using the Twentieth Century Reanalysis to assess climate variability for the European wind industry

We characterise the long-term variability of European near-surface wind speeds using 142 years of data from the Twentieth Century Reanalysis (20CR), and consider the potential of such long-baseline climate data sets for wind energy applications. The low resolution of the 20CR would severely restrict its use on its own for wind farm site-screening. We therefore perform a simple statistical calibration to link it to the higher-resolution ERA-Interim data set (ERAI), such that the adjusted 20CR data has the same wind speed distribution at each location as ERAI during their common period. Using this corrected 20CR data set, wind speeds and variability are characterised in terms of the long-term mean, standard deviation and corresponding trends. Many regions of interest show extremely weak trends on century timescales, but contain large multidecadal variability. Since reanalyses such as ERAI are often used to provide the background climatology for wind farm site assessments, but contain only a few decades of data, our results can be used as a way of incorporating decadal-scale wind climate variability into such studies, allowing investment risks for wind farms to be reduced.