Large-scale rheomorphic shear deformation in Miocene peralkaline ignimbrite E,Gran Canaria

the single ignimbrite cooling unit E (average thickness, 28 m; volume, ca. 30 km₃) forms the uppermost member of the Miocene Upper Mogán Formation on Gran Canaria. It is strongly chemically zoned from basal, first-erupted comendite (peralkaline rhyolite) to late-erupted trachyte, and, apart from an upper trachytic zone, it is densely welded. E was emplaced onto a surface inclined ca. 2–5° from the source caldera. Detailed mapping of key sections, up to 300 m long, exposed in barranco walls, ca. 10 km from the caldera margin, reveals structures that are interpreted to have been produced by rheomorphic deformation of the ignimbrite along shear zones. The shear zones formed within the lower-viscosity comenditic tuff. Extensional structures include mega-boudinage and decapitated sequences and compression resulted in sequence repitition by overthrusting. Mechanisms traditionally thought to be important during rheomorphic deformation of welded tuffs (compaction, lateral creep, folding, vertical density-driven diapirism) cannot account for these features, which reflect lateral (post-compactional) rheomorphic movement locally in excess of 800 m. We suggest the following sequence of events: emplacement of the several flow units; compaction, with little lateral movement; rheomorphic deformation. During and after compaction, layers of secondary porosity developed within the comenditic tuff, possibly where upward escape of gas was prevented by overlying, relatively impermeable layers of densely compacted ignimbrite. These structurally weak layers of high porosity subsequently acted as shear zones.     

Generation of Hydrogen Gas as a Result of Drilling Within the Saturated Zone

Hydrogen gas was discovered within the steel casing above standing water in a percussion-drilled borehole on the Hanlord Site in south-central Washington state. In situ measurements of the borehole fluids indicated anoxic, low-Eh (<-400 mV) conditions. Ground water sampled from adjacent wells in the same formation indicated that the ground water was oxygenated. H₂ was generated during percussion drilling, due to the decomposition of borehole waters as a result of aqueous reactions with drilled sediment and steel from the drilling tools or casing. The generation of H₂ within percussion-drilled boreholes that extend below the water table may be more common than previously realized. The ambient concentration of H₂ produced during drilling was limited by microbial activity within the casing-resident fluids. H₂ was generated abiotically in the laboratory, whereby sterilized borehole slurry samples produced 100 times more H₂ than unsterilizcd samples. It appears that H₂ is metabolized by microorganisms and concentrations might be significantly greater if not for microbial metabolism.     

Application of a New Vertical Profiling Tool (ESASS) for Sampling Groundwater Quality During Hollow‐Stem Auger Drilling

A new tool called ESASS (Enhanced Screen Auger Sampling System) was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. The use of ESASS, because of its unique U.S. patent design (U.S. patent no. 7,631,705 B1), allows for the collection of representative, depth‐specific groundwater samples (vertical profiling) in a quick and efficient manner using a 0.305‐m long screen auger during hollow‐stem auger drilling. With ESASS, the water column in the flights above the screen auger is separated from the water in the screen auger by a specially designed removable plug and collar. The tool fits inside an auger of standard inner diameter (82.55 mm). The novel design of the system constituted by the plug, collar, and A‐rod allows the plug to be retrieved using conventional drilling A‐rods. After retrieval, standard‐diameter (50.8 mm) observation wells can be installed within the hollow‐stem augers. Testing of ESASS was conducted at one waste‐disposal site with tetrachloroethylene (PCE) contamination and at two reference sites with no known waste‐disposal history. All three sites have similar geology and are underlain by glacial, stratified‐drift deposits. For the applications tested, ESASS proved to be a useful tool in vertical profiling of groundwater quality. At the waste site, PCE concentrations measured with ESASS profiling at several depths were comparable (relative percent difference <25%) to PCE concentrations sampled from wells. Vertical profiling with ESASS at the reference sites illustrated the vertical resolution achievable in the profile system; shallow groundwater quality varied by a factor of five in concentration of some constituents (nitrate and nitrite) over short (0.61 m) distances.     

Disconnected Surface Water and Groundwater: From Theory to Practice

When describing the hydraulic relationship between rivers and aquifers, the term disconnected is frequently misunderstood or used in an incorrect way. The problem is compounded by the fact that there is no definitive literature on the topic of disconnected surface water and groundwater. We aim at closing this gap and begin the discussion with a short introduction to the historical background of the terminology. Even though a conceptual illustration of a disconnected system was published by Meinzer (1923) , it is only within the last few years that the underlying physics of the disconnection process has been described. The importance of disconnected systems, however, is not widely appreciated. Although rarely explicitly stated, many approaches for predicting the impacts of groundwater development on surface water resources assume full connection. Furthermore, management policies often suggest that surface water and groundwater should only be managed jointly if they are connected. However, although lowering the water table beneath a disconnected section of a river will not change the infiltration rate at that point, it can increase the length of stream that is disconnected. Because knowing the state of connection is of fundamental importance for sustainable water management, robust field methods that allow the identification of the state of connection are required. Currently, disconnection is identified by showing that the infiltration rate from a stream to an underlying aquifer is independent of the water table position or by identifying an unsaturated zone under the stream. More field studies are required to develop better methods for the identification of disconnection and to quantify the implications of heterogeneity and clogging processes in the streambed on disconnection.     

Refinement of the late Quaternary geologic history of Erebus volcano,Antarctica using Ar/Ar and Cl age determinations

Six new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and three cosmogenic ³⁶Cl age determinations provide new insight into the late Quaternary eruptive history of Erebus volcano. Anorthoclase from 3 lava flows on the caldera rim have ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 23 ± 12, 81 ± 3 and 172 ± 10 ka (all uncertainties 2σ). The ages confirm the presence of a second, younger, superimposed caldera near the southwestern margin of the summit plateau and show that eruptive activity has occurred in the summit region for 77 ± 13 ka longer than previously thought. Trachyte from “Ice Station” on the eastern flank is 159 ± 2 ka, similar in age to those at Bomb Peak and Aurora Cliffs. The widespread occurrences of trachyte on the eastern flank of Erebus suggest a major previously unrecognized episode of trachytic volcanism. The trachyte lavas are chemically and isotopically distinct from alkaline lavas erupted contemporaneously in the summit region < 5 km away.     

Hydrogen emissions from Erebus volcano, Antarctica

The continuous measurement of molecular hydrogen (H₂) emissions from passively degassing volcanoes has recently been made possible using a new generation of low-cost electrochemical sensors. We have used such sensors to measure H₂, along with SO₂, H₂O and CO₂, in the gas and aerosol plume emitted from the phonolite lava lake at Erebus volcano, Antarctica. The measurements were made at the crater rim between December 2010 and January 2011. Combined with measurements of the long-term SO₂ emission rate for Erebus, they indicate a characteristic H₂ flux of 0.03?kg s^–1 (2.8?Mg? day^–1). The observed H₂ content in the plume is consistent with previous estimates of redox conditions in the lava lake inferred from mineral compositions and the observed CO₂/CO ratio in the gas plume (～0.9 log units below the quartz–fayalite–magnetite buffer). These measurements suggest that H₂ does not combust at the surface of the lake, and that H₂ is kinetically inert in the gas/aerosol plume, retaining the signature of the high-temperature chemical equilibrium reached in the lava lake. We also observe a cyclical variation in the H₂/SO₂ ratio with a period of ～10?min. These cycles correspond to oscillatory patterns of surface motion of the lava lake that have been interpreted as signs of a pulsatory magma supply at the top of the magmatic conduit.     

Climatic and structural controls on Late-glacial and Holocene rockfall occurrence in high-elevated rock walls of the Mont Blanc massif (Western Alps)

In the Mont Blanc massif (European Western Alps), rockfalls are one of the main natural hazards for alpinists and infrastructure. Rockfall activity after the Little Ice Age is well documented. An increase in frequency during the last three decades is related to permafrost degradation caused by rising air temperatures. In order to understand whether climate exerts a long-term control on rockfall occurrence, a selection of paleo-rockfall scars was dated in the Glacier du Géant basin [>3200 m above sea level (a.s.l.)] using terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides. Rockfall occurrence was compared to different climatic and glacial proxies. This study presents 55 new samples (including replicates) and 25 previously-published ages from nine sampling sites. In total, 62 dated rockfall events display ages ranging from 0.03 ± 0.02 ka to 88.40 ± 7.60 ka. Holocene ages and their uncertainties were used to perform a Kernel density function into a continuous dataset displaying rockfall probability per 100 years. Results highlight four Holocene periods of enhanced rockfall occurrence: (i) c. 7–5.7 ka, related to the Holocene Warm Periods; (ii) c. 4.5–4 ka, related to the Sub-boreal Warm Period; (iii) c. 2.3–1.6 ka, related to the Roman Warm Period; and (iv) c. 0.9–0.3 ka, related to the Medieval Warm Period and beginning of the Little Ice Age. Laser and photogrammetric three-dimensional (3D) models of the rock walls were produced to reconstruct the detached volumes from the best-preserved rockfall scars (≤0.91 ± 0.12 ka). A structural study was carried out at the scale of the Glacier du Géant basin using aerial photographs, and at the scale of four selected rock walls using the 3D models. Two main vertical and one horizontal fracture sets were identified. They correspond respectively to alpine shear zones and veins opened-up during long-term exhumation of the Mont Blanc massif. Our study confirms that climate primarily controls rockfall occurrence, and that structural settings, coincident at both the massif and the rock wall scales, control the rock-wall shapes as well as the geometry and volume of the rockfall events. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydro‐meteorological drivers and sources of suspended sediment flux in the pro‐glacial zone of the retreating Castle Creek Glacier,Cariboo Mountains,British Columbia,Canada

Glaciers are major agents of erosion that increase sediment load to the downstream fluvial system. The Castle Creek Glacier, British Columbia, Canada, has retreated ~1.0 km in the past 70 years. Suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and streamflow (Q) were monitored independently at five sites within its pro‐glacial zone over a 60 day period from July to September 2011, representing part of the ablation season. Meteorological data were collected from two automatic weather stations proximal to the glacier. The time‐series were divided into hydrologic days and the shape and magnitude of the SSC response to hydro‐meteorological conditions (‘cold and wet’, ‘hot and dry’, ‘warm and damp’, and ‘storm’) were categorized using principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA). Suspended sediment load (SSL) was computed and summarized for the categories. The distribution of monitoring sites and results of the multivariate statistical analyses describe the temporal and spatial variability of suspended sediment flux and the relative importance of glacial and para‐glacial sediment sources in the pro‐glacial zone. During the 2011 study period, ~ 60% of the total SSL was derived from the glacial stream and sediment deposits proximal to the terminus of the glacier; during ‘storm’ events, that contribution dropped to ~40% as the contribution from diffuse and point sources of sediment throughout the pro‐glacial zone and within the meltwater channels increased. While ‘storm’ events accounted for just 3% of the study period, SSL was ~600% higher than the average over the monitoring period, and ~20% of the total SSL was generated in that time. Determining how hydro‐meteorological conditions and sediment sources control sediment fluxes will assist attempts to predict how pro‐glacial zones respond to future climate changes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.