Surface stresses associated with arrested dykes in rift zones

Many theoretical models predict that arrested dykes may generate major grabens at rift-zone surfaces. Arrested dyke tips in eroded rift zones, however, are normally not associated with major grabens or normal faults that could be generated by dyke-induced stresses ahead of the tips, and normal faults and grabens tend to be less common in those parts of eroded rift zones where dykes are comparatively abundant. Similarly, there are feeder dykes, as well as dykes arrested a few metres below the surface, that do not generate faults or grabens at the surface. Here I propose that this discrepancy between theoretical models and field observations may be explained by the mechanical layering of the crust. Numerical models presented here show that abrupt changes in Young's moduli, layers with high dyke-normal compressive stresses (stress barriers), and weak, horizontal contacts have large effects on the dyke-induced stress fields. For the models considered, the surface tensile stresses induced by arrested dykes are normally too small to lead to significant fault or graben formation at the rift-zone surface. The only significant dyke-induced surface tensile stresses (2 MPa) in these models are for a dyke tip arrested at 1 km depth below the surface of a rift zone with a weak contact at 400 m depth and subject to extension. That tensile stress, however, peaks above the ends of the weak horizontal contact, which, in the model considered, occur at distances of 4 km to either side of the dyke, and shows no simple relation to the depth to the dyke tip. Thus, for a layered crust with weak contacts, straightforward inversion of surface geodetic data to infer dyke geometries may result in unreliable results.Editorial responsibility: A. Woods     

Anhysteretic remanent magnetization: model of grain size distribution of spherical magnetite grains

A phenomenological model based on a linear relationship between the magnetic coercivity field and the reciprocal of the grain diameter is applied to explain the anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) imparted to artificial samples with different concentrations of a very well characterized magnetite powder. By analyses of scanning electron microscopy images, the spherically shaped single domain synthetic magnetite is found to follow a lognormal grain size distribution with ~86 nm of mean diameter. The proposed model, fitted to ARM measurements up to a peak alternating field of 100 mT, yields a very good agreement. The coercivity behaviour predicted by micromagnetism theory disagrees with the experimental results of this work. A likely explanation for the discrepancy is that the magnetite particles, which consist of a mixture of grains in coherent rotation and curling modes, produce similar observations as domain processes.     

Street networks in relation to landforms: Implications for fast-growing cities简

In addition to socio-economic factors, major landforms may affect the city structure and urban form. Here we show that landforms have significant effects on the city shape and street patterns of the fast-growing Iranian cities of Dezful （a river） and Khorramabad （moun- tains and valleys）, but no clear effects on the cities of Yazd and Nain. Also, where the street orientation is peaked, the Gibbs/Shannon entropy （a measure of dispersion or spread） is low, but increases as the distribution becomes more uniform because of landform constraints. The streets in the old inner parts of all the cities are, on average, shorter and denser （more streets per unit area） than the streets of the newer outer parts. The entropies of the outer parts are also greater than those of the inner parts, implying that the street-length distribution gradually becomes more dispersed or spread as the city expands. All these cities have been fast growing in the past decades, with the newer outer parts expanding rapidly. As shown here, the rapidly formed outer parts （with greater dispersion in street patterns） have significantly different textures from those of the older inner parts, indicating different functionality and growth processes. These quantitative methods for street-network analysis can be used worldwide, particularly for analysing the effects of landforms on city shape and texture.     

Eruptive style of the young high-Mg basaltic-andesite Pelagatos scoria cone,southeast of México City

The eruption of the Pelagatos scoria cone in the Sierra Chichinautzin monogenetic field near the southern suburbs of Mexico City occurred less than 14,000 years ago. The eruption initiated at a fissure with an effusive phase that formed a 7-km-long lava flow, and continued with a phase of alternating and/or simultaneous explosive and effusive activity that built a 50-m-high scoria cone on the western end of the fissure and formed a compound lava flow-field near the vent. The eruption ended with the emplacement of a short lava flow that breached the cone and was accompanied by weak explosions at the crater. Products consist of a microlite-rich high-Mg basaltic andesite. Samples were analyzed to determine the magma’s initial properties as well as the effects of degassing-induced crystallization on eruptive style. Although distal ash fallout deposits from this eruption are not preserved, a recent quarry exposes a large section of the scoria cone. Detailed study of exposed layers allows us to elucidate the mode of cone-building activity. Petrological and textural data, combined with models calibrated by experimental work and melt-inclusion analyses of similar magmas elsewhere, indicate that the magma was initially hot (>1,200°C), gas-rich (up to 5 wt.% H₂O), crystal-poor (~10 vol.% Fo₉₀ olivine phenocrysts) and thus poorly viscous (40–80 Pa s). During the early phase, low magma ascent velocity at the fissure vent allowed low-viscosity magma to degas and crystallize during ascent, producing lava flows with elevated crystal contents at T < 1,100°C, and blocky surfaces. Later, the closure of the fissure by cooling dikes focused the magma flow at a narrow section of the fissure. This led to an increased magma ascent velocity. Rapid and shallow degassing (<3 km deep) triggered ~40 vol.% microlite crystallization. Limited times for gas-escape and higher magma viscosity (6 × 10⁵–4 × 10⁶ Pa s) drove strong explosions of highly (60–80 vol.%) and finely vesicular magma. Coarse clasts broke on landing, which implies brittle behavior due to complete solidification. This requires sufficient time to cool and in turn implies ejection heights of over 1 km, which is much higher than “normal” Strombolian activity. Hence, magma viscosity significantly impacts eruption style at monogenetic volcanoes because it affects the kinetics of shallow degassing. The long-lasting eruptions of Jorullo and Paricutin, which produced similar magmas in western México, were more explosive. This can be related to higher magma fluxes and total erupted volumes. Implications of this study are important because basaltic andesites are commonly erupted to form monogenetic scoria cones of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.     

Stratigraphy and paleomagnetism of a 3-km-thick Miocene lava pile in the Mjoifjördur area,eastern Iceland

We have carried out stratigraphic mapping in the Upper Miocene basalt lava pile around the fjords Mjoifjördur and Seydisfjördur, eastern Iceland. The mapping is based on conventional methods including the use of interbasaltic clastic horizons and petrographically distinct lava groups. These units are also used to provide correlations with the Nordfjördur area south of Mjoifjördur. We present a 3-km composite stratigraphic column for the area between Mjoifjördur and Seydisfjördur. The geology of this area shows some differences from the classical model of Walker for the structure of eastern Iceland partly due to the fact that most of Mjoifjördur is not in the vicinity of central volcanoes. Detailed laboratory measurements of remanent magnetization were carried out on oriented core samples from 363 lavas in 10 selected profiles. The local paleomagnetic polarity stratigraphy supports correlations made on the basis of other criteria. Over 20 geomagnetic reversals are recorded in the eastern Iceland lava pile in a period approximately 13-10 Ma ago. The geomagnetic field during this period averages to a central axial dipole field, and its overall statistical properties resemble those obtained in earlier surveys in Iceland.     

Geochemical mobility of arsenic in the surficial waters from Argentina

The presence of arsenic (As) in surface water constitutes an important environmental risk, where mobility and adsorption processes are responsible for its behavior in the sediment–water interface. Therefore, the assessment of adsorption, mobility and water availability of arsenic in freshwater sediments, with agricultural, livestock and urban soil uses was performed. Arsenic concentrations in sediments ranged from 5.4 to 15.9 mg kg^?1 (total) and 2.8 to 6.5 mg kg^?1 (labile), and those of iron and manganese were 11,563–23,500 and 140.6–662.1 mg kg^?1, respectively. The As levels in water were significantly lower than those of sediments. Results would suggest that As co-precipitation and adsorption on Fe oxides are probably the major route of immobilization, determining its low lability. Manganese did not present an outstanding contribution to the retention, and cation-exchange capacity, pH and organic matter of sediments did not show an influence on the mobility of As.     

Validation of IPCC AR4 models over the Iberian Peninsula

This paper reports analysis of the ability of 24 coupled global climate models that were used in the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to simulate the current monthly seasonal cycle of sea level pressure, surface air temperature and precipitation over the Iberian Peninsula in the last two decades of the twentieth century. The period investigated runs from 1979 to 1998. In order to assess the performance of the models, averaged seasonal cycles and probability density functions (PDFs) calculated from model simulations are compared with the corresponding seasonal cycles, whilst PDFs are also obtained using the data from the ERA40 reanalysis and the Global Precipitation Climatology Project. We found that simulated PDFs generally provided a better fit to actual PDFs than seasonal cycles do. This conclusion indicates that when evaluating model performance, the climate variability as measured by means of PDFs is not the only climatic element that should be tested. Regarding the comparison based on the seasonal cycle, results also show that the root mean square skill score is more useful than the r skill score. To rank the AR4 models, sea level pressure, surface air temperature and precipitation variables were selected and a group of five AR4 models were identified as the models which best reproduce current climate in the area: MIROC3.2-HIRES, MPI-ECHAM5, GFDL-CM2.1, BCCR-BCM2.0 and UKMO-HADGEM1. The rank obtained should not be understood in a hierarchical manner because there is a certain degree of internal variability in the model ensembles. Finally, it should be noted that these results are in good agreement with other classifications found in the scientific literature.