High-temperature cooling histories of migmatites from the High Himalayan Crystallines in Sikkim, India: rapid cooling unrelated to exhumation?

The High Himalayan Crystallines (HHCs) provide an excellent natural laboratory to study processes related to crustal melting, crustal differentiation, and the tectonic evolution of mountain belts because partial melting in these rocks occurred under well-defined tectonic boundary conditions (N–S collision of the Indian and the Eurasian plates) and the rocks have not been modified by subsequent metamorphic overprinting. We have used petrogenetic grids, kinetically constrained individual thermobarometry, pseudosection calculations, and reaction histories constrained by textural evidence to determine that the migmatites in the HHC of Sikkim attained peak P–T conditions of 750–800 °C, 9–12 kbar, followed by steep isothermal decompression to 3–5 kbar, and then isobaric cooling to ~600 °C. There may be a trend where rocks to the north [closer to the South Tibetan detachment system (STDS)] attained somewhat higher maximum pressures. The decompression may have been triggered by a reduction in density due to the production of melt (~20 vol%); minor amounts of additional melt may have been produced in individual packages of rock during decompression itself, depending on the exact geometry of the P–T path and the bulk composition of the rock. The stalling of rapid, isothermal exhumation at depths of 10–18 km (3–5 kbar) is related to metamorphic reactions that occur in these rocks. Geospeedometry indicates that at least a two-stage cooling history is required to describe the compositional zoning in all garnets. Both of these stages are rapid (several 100’s °C/my between 800 and 600 °C, followed by several 10’s °C/my between 600 and 500 °C), but there appears to be a spatial discontinuity in cooling history: Rocks to the south (closer to main central thrust) cooled more slowly than rocks to the north (closer to STDS). The boundary between these domains coincides with the discontinuity in age found in the same area by Rubatto et al. (Contrib Mineral Petrol 165:349–372, 2013). Combined with the information on petrologic phase relations, the data reveal the remarkable aspect that the rapid cooling and change of cooling rates all occurred after, rather than during, the rapid exhumation. This result underscores that high-temperature (e.g., >550 °C) cooling is a result of several processes in addition to exhumation and a one-to-one correlation of cooling and exhumation may sometimes be misplaced. Moreover, average cooling rates inferred from the closure temperatures of two isotopic systems should be interpreted judiciously in such nonlinearly cooling systems. While many aspects (e.g., isothermal decompression, isobaric cooling, duration of metamorphism, and cooling rates) of the pressure–temperature history inferred by us are consistent with the predictions of thermomechanical models that produce midcrustal channel flow, the occurrence of blocks with two different cooling histories within the HHC is not explained by currently available models. It is found that while exhumation may be initiated by surface processes such as erosion, the course of exhumation and its rate, at least below depths of ~15 km, is mostly controlled by a coupling between mechanical (density gain/loss) and chemical (metamorphic reactions) processes at depth.     

On classical iterative subdomain methods for the Stokes–Darcy problem

Within classical iterative subdomain methods, the problems in the subdomains are solved alternately by only using data on the interface provided from the other subdomains. Methods of this type for the Stokes–Darcy problem that use Robin boundary conditions on the interface are reviewed. Their common underlying structure and their main differences are identified. In particular, it is clarified that there are different updating strategies for the interface conditions. For small values of fluid viscosity and hydraulic permeability, which are relevant in applications from geosciences, it is shown in numerical studies that only one of these updating strategies leads to an efficient numerical method, if it is used with appropriate parameters in the Robin conditions.     

Chemical composition and palaeobotanical origin of Miocene resins from Kerala-Konkan Coast,western India

The terpenoid composition of resins from the Miocene lignite horizons from the Kerala-Konkan Coast, western India was analyzed by Curie-point pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Cupy-GC-MS). The major pyrolysates were cadalene-based bicyclic sesquiterpenoids including some C₃₀-C₃₁ bicadinenes and bicadinanes typical of dammar resin from angiosperm plants of Dipterocarpaceae family. These plants are typically supported by tropical climates which the western Indian region was known to have experienced during early Tertiary period. The present study suggests that these palaeoclimatic conditions persisted until at least the Miocene epoch. These sesquiterpenoids which are commonly detected in many SE Asian crude oils may be utilised as useful biomarkers for petroleum exploration in the western Indian region.     

Sulfide Inhibition of Nitrate Removal in Coastal Sediments

Microbial nitrate (NO₃⁻) removal via denitrification (DNF) at high sulfide (H₂S) concentrations was compared in sediment from a coastal freshwater pond in a developed area that receives salt-water influx during storm events, and a saline pond proximal to an undeveloped estuary. Sediments were incubated with added SO₄²⁻ (1,000 μg per gram dry weight basis (gdw)) to determine whether acid volatile sulfides (AVS) were formed. DNF in the sediments was measured with NO₃–N (300 μg gdw⁻¹) alone, and with NO₃–N and H₂S (1,000 μg S²⁻ gdw⁻¹). SO₄²⁻ addition to the freshwater sediments resulted in AVS formation (970 ± 307 μg S gdw⁻¹) similar to the wetland with no added SO₄²⁻ (986 ± 156 μg S gdw⁻¹). DNF rates measured with no added H₂S were greater in the freshwater than the wetland site (10.6 ± 0.6 vs. 6.4 ± 0.1 μg N₂O–N gdw⁻¹ h⁻¹, respectively). High H₂S concentrations retained NH₄–N in the undeveloped wetland and retained NO₃–N in the developed freshwater site, suggesting that potential salt-water influx may reduce the ability of the freshwater sediments to remove NO₃–N.     

Experimental shock synthesis of diamonds in a graphite gneiss

Abstract— The occurrence of diamonds in terrestrial impact craters and meteorites is related to dynamic shock loading during hypervelocity impacts. To understand the mechanism of impact diamond formation in natural rocks, shock‐recovery experiments with graphite gneiss were carried out at shock pressures between 35 and 79 GPa. This is the first report on the successful shock synthesis of microdiamonds in a natural rock. Micrometer‐size diamonds and a wide range of intermediate, presently unclassified, amorphous, and disordered carbon phases were observed within vesiculated biotite melts in the vicinity of relic graphite grains using microRaman spectrometry. We explain these findings by jetting mechanisms of carbon and graphite clusters, originating at the edges of graphite grains, into the very hot and volatile rich biotitic melt veins during shock loading. This environment enabled the thermally activated crystallization of diamonds during shock compression in a period of less than 0.5 μsec. Regraphitization of diamonds during pressure release was widespread and caused the formation of the amorphous to disordered carbon phases recorded frequently with microRaman spectroscopy. The surviving diamonds must have cooled down to 2000 K during the compression phase at local thermal sinks and cooler interfaces to avoid regraphitization.     

The resolved red giant branches of E/S0 galaxies

Formation paradigms for massive galaxies have long centered around two antipodal hypotheses – the monolithic-collapse and the accretion/merger scenarios. Empirical data on the stellar contents of galaxy halos is crucial in order to develop galaxy formation and assembly scenarios which have their root in observations, rather than in numerical simulations. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has enabled us to study directly individual stars in the nearby E/S0 galaxies Cen A, NGC 3115, NGC 5102, and NGC 404. We here present and discuss HST single-star photometry in V and I bands. Using color-magnitude diagrams and stellar luminosity functions, we gauge the galaxies' stellar contents. This can be done at more than one position in the halo, but data with deeper limiting magnitudes are desired to quantify the variation of metallicity with galactocentric radius. We here compare the color distributions of red giant stars with stellar isochrones, and we intercompare the galaxies' halo populations, noting that their total absolute V magnitudes cover the range from about –21.5 to –17.5. In the future, we plan to model the stellar metallicity distributions with the aim to constrain chemical enrichment scenarios, a step towards unravelling the evolutionary history of elliptical and lenticular galaxies. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Kinematics and stellar populations of 17 dwarf early-type galaxies

We present kinematics and stellar population properties of 17 dwarf early-type galaxies in the luminosity range -14 ≥ M _B ≥ -19. Our sample fills the gap between the intensively studied giant elliptical and Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies. The dwarf ellipticals of the present sample have constant velocity dispersion profiles within their effective radii and do not show significant rotation, hence are clearly anisotropic. The dwarf lenticulars, instead, rotate faster and are, at least partially, supported by rotation. From optical Lick absorption indices, we derive metallicities and element abundances. Combining our sample with literature data of the Local Group dwarf spheroidals and giant ellipticals, we find a surprisingly tight linear correlation between metallicity and luminosity over a wide range: -8 ≥ M _B ≥ -22. The α/Fe ratios of our dwarf ellipticals are significantly lower than the ones of giant elliptical galaxies, which is in agreement with spectroscopy of individual stars in Local Group dwarf spheroidals. Our results suggest the existence of a clear kinematic and stellar population dichotomy between dwarf and giant elliptical galaxies. This result is important for theories of galaxy formation, because it implies that present-day dwarf ellipticals are not the fossiled building blocks of giant ellipticals. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Analysing the interaction between emission trading and renewable electricity support in TIMES

As the number of instruments applied in the area of energy and climate policy is rising, the issue of policy interaction needs to be explored further. This article analyses the interdependencies between the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and the German feed-in tariffs (FITs) for renewable electricity in a quantitative manner using a bottom-up energy system model. Flexible modelling approaches are presented for both instruments, with which all impacts on the energy system can be evaluated endogenously. It is shown that national climate policy measures can have an effect on the supranational emissions trading system by increasing emission reduction in the German electricity sector by up to 79 MtCO₂ in 2030. As a result, emission certificate prices decline by between 1.9 €/tCO₂ and 6.1 €/tCO₂ and the burden sharing between participating countries changes, but no additional emission reduction is achieved at the European level. This also implies, however, that the cost efficiency of such a cap-and-trade system is distorted, with additional costs of the FIT system of up to €320 billion compared with lower costs for ETS emission certificates of between €44 billion and €57 billion (cumulated over the period 2013–2020).

Policy relevance

In order to fulfil ambitious emission reduction targets a large variety of climate policy instruments are being implemented in Europe. While some, like the EU ETS, directly address CO₂ emissions, others aim to promote specific low-carbon technologies. The quantitative analysis of the interactions between the EU ETS and the German FIT scheme for renewable sources in electricity generation presented in this article helps to understand the importance of such interaction effects. Even though justifications can be found for the implementation of both types of instrument, the impact of the widespread use of support mechanisms for renewable electricity in Europe needs to be taken into account when fixing the reduction targets for the EU ETS in order to ensure a credible long-term investment signal.     

A multi-frequency Acoustic Concentration and Velocity Profiler (ACVP) for boundary layer measurements of fine-scale flow and sediment transport processes

The use of acoustics to measure sediment transport boundary layer processes has gained increasing acceptance over the past two decades. This has occurred through the development of increasingly sophisticated measuring systems and theoretical developments, which have enabled flow and suspended sediment parameters to be obtained from acoustic data with a high degree of accuracy. Until relatively recently, separate acoustic systems were used to measure flow and suspended sediment concentration. Over the past few years, however, the technology has become sufficiently advanced so that flow and sediment measurements can be integrated into a single system. This integration provides, quasi-instantaneous, non-intrusive, co-located, high temporal-spatial resolution measurements of benthic flow and sediment processes. Here the development of such an instrument, the Acoustic Concentration and Velocity Profiler (ACVP) is described. The theory underpinning its application is outlined, new approaches to velocity de-aliasing and suspended sediment inversion instabilities using multi-frequency capabilities are presented and the application of the system to sediment transport processes over a sandy ripple bed is illustrated. The observations clearly show the value of such instrumentation for studying the dynamical interaction between the bed, the flow and the sediments at and within the bottom boundary layer.