Vibrational structure of the S 2 − luminescence in scapolite

An analysis has been made of the strong yellow luminescence of S ₂ ^? in the silicate mineral scapolite. The emission spectrum is dependent upon excitation wavelength, indicating that S ₂ ^? occupies several different sites. The vibrational constants for the ground state average 609 cm^?1 for ω″₀, while ω″₀χ″₀=2.2cm^?1. For the excited state ω′₀=399cm^?1 and ω′₀χ′₀=1.0cm^?1. The intensities of the vibrational bands are described by a simple harmonic oscillator calculation.     

Coexisting clinopyroxene,garnet and amphibole from an “eclogite”, Kakanui,New Zealand

Analyses of major and rare earth elements are presented for co-existing garnet, clinopyroxene, and amphibole from a Kakanui eclogite.New and previously published analyses of garnets suggest a gradual increase of Fe and decrease of Mg from xenocrysts through garnet pyroxene eclogitic rocks to amphibole-rich eclogitic rocks. Clinopyroxenes show a parallel increase in Fe/Mg ratio and an increase in Jadeite component and decrease in Tschermak's component. These data indicate crystallization of garnet and clinopyroxene from an alkali-rich undersaturated magma and are consistent with the concept of eclogite fractionation, but rare earth data allow severe constraints to be placed on this process. The eclogites are considered to be deep-seated crystallization products of nephelinite, but eclogite fractionation is small and cannot account for the association of alkali basalt, basanite and nephelinite.     

Invariant point configurations—a combinatorial approach

A combinatorial and algebraic approach has been applied to the problem of determining the number of distinct configurations of univariant reaction lines about an invariant point, NC, in nondegenerate n-component systems. The resulting expression is $$NC = [1/(4n + 8)]\left( {\sum {[2^{d/2} (\phi (2n + 4)/d]) + (n + 2) 2^{\{ (n + 2)/2\} } } } \right) - 1$$ where the summation is taken over all values of d which divide (2n + 4)evenly but which do not divide (n + 2)evenly, [(n + 2)/2]is the smallest integer greater than or equal to (n + 2)/2,and ø[(2n + 4)/d]is the number of integers less than (2n + 4)/d whose only factor is common with (2n + 4)/d is 1.This concise expression is derived through the application of Burnside's lemma, which relates the number of equivalence classes into which a set S is divided by an equivalence relation induced by a permutation group of S to the number of elements of S left invariant by the members of the permutation group. In the derivation of the above expression, the set S is taken to be the set of all possible configurations and orientations of univariant lines about an invariant point, the permutation group is taken to be the set of rigid-body symmetries of S, and the equivalence classes are composed of the different orientations of each configuration. Although the methods used to obtain the above expression are probably unfamiliar to most geologists, they are standard mathematical techniques and represent just one application of these tools to problems of geologic interest.     

Imaging and regional distribution of basalt flows in the Faeroe-Shetland Basin

We demonstrate that the use of long-offset seismic data allows wide-angle reflections and diving waves to be recorded, and that these can be used in conjunction with prestack depth migrations to constrain and to image the base of the basalt flows and the underlying structure in the Faeroe-Shetland Basin. Crustal velocity models are built first by inverting the traveltimes of the recorded reflections and diving waves using ray-tracing methods. Finer details of the velocity structure can then be refined by analysis of the amplitudes and waveforms of the arrivals. We show that prestack depth migration of selected wide-angle arrivals of known origin, such as the base-basalt reflection, using the crustal velocity model, allows us to build a composite image of the structure down to the pre-rift basement. This has the advantage that the wide-angle first-arriving energy must be primary, and not from one of the many multiples or mode-converted phases that plague near-offset seismic data. This allows us to ‘tag’ these primary arrivals with confidence and then to identify the same arrivals on higher-resolution prestack migrations that include data from all offsets. Examples are drawn from the Faeroe-Shetland Basin, with a series of regional maps of the entire area showing the basalt depths and the thickness of the basalt flows and underlying sediment down to the top of the pre-rift basement. The maps show how the basalts thin to the southeast away from their presumed source west of the present Faeroe Islands, and also show the extent to which the structure of the pre-rift basement controls the considerable variations in sediment thickness between the basement and the cap formed by the overlying basalt flows.     

Melt structural control on olivine/melt element partitioning of Ca and Mn

Relationships between mineral/silicate melt partition coefficients and melt structure have been examined by combining Ca and Mn olivine/melt partitioning data with available melt structure information. Compositions were chosen so that melts with olivine on their liquidii range in degree of polymerization, NBO/T, from ∼0.5 to ∼2.5 under near isothermal conditions (1350-1400°C). Olivine/melt Ca-Mn exchange coefficients, Ca(olivine)/CaO(melt)/MnO(olivine)/MnO(melt) (K_{D Ca-Mn}^olivine/melt), as a function of melt NBO/T have a parabolic shape with a minimum K_{D Ca-Mn}^olivine/melt-value at NBO/T near 1. Notably, published K_{D Fe2⁺-Mg}^olivine/melt versus NBO/T functions are also parabolic with a maximum in K_{D Fe2⁺-Mg}^olivine/melt near 1 (Kushiro and Mysen, 2002).The olivine/melt partitioning data are modeled in terms of structural units (Qⁿ-species) in the melt. The NBO/T-value corresponding to the minimum K_{D Ca-Mn}^olivine/melt is near that where the abundance ratio of Qⁿ-species, X_Q3/X_Q2, has its largest value. Therefore, the activity coefficient ratio in the melt, γ_Ca2⁺(melt)/γ_Mn2⁺(melt), attains a minimum where the abundance ratio of X_Q3/X_Q2 is at maximum. It is inferred from this relationship that Ca²⁺ in the melts is dominantly bonded to nonbridging oxygen (Ca-NBO) in Q³-species, whereas Mn²⁺ is bonded to nonbridging oxygen (Mn-NBO) in less polymerized Qⁿ-species such as Q².     

Cusp geometry in MHD simulations

The MHD simulations described here show that the latitude of the high-altitude cusp decreases as the IMF swings from North to South, that there is a pronounced dawn–dusk asymmetry at high-altitude associated with a dawn–dusk component of the IMF, and that at the same time there is also a pronounced dawn–dusk asymmetry at low-altitude. The simulations generate a feature that represents what has been called the cleft. It appears as a tail (when the IMF has a B_y component) attached to the cusp, extending either toward the dawn flank or the dusk flank depending on the dawn–dusk orientation of the IMF. This one-sided cleft connects the cusp to the magnetospheric sash. We compare cusp geometry predicted by MHD simulations against published observations based on Hawkeye and DMSP data. Regarding the high-altitude predictions, the comparisons are not definitive, mainly because the observations are incomplete or mutually inconsistent. Regarding the low-altitude prediction of a strong dawn–dusk asymmetry, the observations are unambiguous and are in good qualitative agreement with the prediction.     

Petrogenesis and tectonic setting of the peralkaline Pine Canyon caldera, Trans-Pecos Texas, USA

The Pine Canyon caldera is a small (6–7 km diameter) ash-flow caldera that erupted peralkaline quartz trachyte, rhyolite, and high-silica rhyolite lavas and ash-flow tuffs about 33–32 Ma. The Pine Canyon caldera is located in Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, in the southern part of the Trans-Pecos Magmatic Province (TPMP). The eruptive products of the Pine Canyon caldera are assigned to the South Rim Formation, which represents the silicic end member of a bimodal suite (with a “Daly Gap” between 57 and 62 wt.% SiO₂); the mafic end member consists primarily of alkali basalt to mugearite lavas of the 34–30 Ma Bee Mountain Basalt. Approximately 60–70% crystallization of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, olivine, magnetite, and apatite from alkali basalt coupled with assimilation of shale wall rock (M_a/M_c = 0.3–0.4) produced the quartz trachyte magma. Variation within the quartz trachyte–rhyolite suite was the result of 70% fractional crystallization of an assemblage dominated by alkali feldspar with subordinate clinopyroxene, fayalite, ilmenite, and apatite. High-silica rhyolite is not cogenetic with the quartz trachyte–rhyolite suite, and can be best explained as the result of  5% partial melting of a mafic granulite in the deep crust under the fluxing influence of fluorine. Variation within the high-silica rhyolite is most likely due to fractional crystallization of alkali feldspar, quartz, magnetite, biotite, and monazite. Lavas and tuffs of the South Rim Formation form A-type rhyolite suites, and are broadly similar to rock series described in anorogenic settings both in terms of petrology and petrogenesis. The Pine Canyon caldera is interpreted to have developed in a post-orogenic tectonic setting, or an early stage of continental rifting, and represents the earliest evidence for continental extension in the TPMP.