New K-Ar ages,chemical analyses and magnetic data of rocks from the islands of santa maria (azores), porto santo and madeira (madeira archipelago) and gran canaria (Canary Islands)

K/Ar-determinations, major and trace element chemical analyses and magnetic data are reported for rocks from Santa Maria (Azores), Madeira and Porto Santo, and Gran Canaria. Based on these data, the age of the basement of Santa Maria is believed to have formed between about 5.2. and 4.6 m.y.; the unconformably overlying pillow complex interbedded with fossiliferous calcarenites about 3.8 to 3.3 m.y. with the capping subaerial basalt being part of the same magmatic phase. The major erosional phase levelling the basement is thus approximately synchronous with the major Pliocene regression (R2) on Gran Canaria (Lietz andSchmincke, 1975), possibly indicating a widespread eustatic event. The upper part of the submarine, partly fossiliferous series of Porto Santo was dated as ca. 12 to 13 m.y., and the Quaternary age for the major basalt formation in Eastern Madeira (Watkins andAbdel Monem, 1971) is confirmed. The ages of several formations on Gran Canaria were slightly revised. Chemical differences between basement (shield) and later posterosional series on Gran Canaria are re-emphasized by the new data, while such differences are much less pronounced between the basement and younger series on Santa Maria.     

Origin and diagenesis of the Roque Nublo breccia,Gran Canaria (Canary Islands) — Petrology of roque nublo volcanics,II

The Pliocene Roque Nublo Series, the second of three major magmatic series on Gran Canaria (Canary Islands), consists of a lower sequence (200 m) of alkalic lavas (basanite to phonolite) and a thicker upper section (600 m) of interlayered lava and widespread breccia sheets: encompassing pyroclastic flow deposits, lahars and reworked epiclastic rocks. Components in the poorly sorted block — and ash — flow deposits are (unwelded) pumice, rock fragments, crystals, glass shards and, locally, bread-crust bombs. Some flow units are graded with fine-grained basal zones and lithic-rich lower and pumice-rich upper parts. Some have strongly grooved the underlying rocks, directions of these striations being independent of preexisting topography and are constant in direction for more than 5 km. The flows are thought to have been emplaced below minimum welding temperatures by collapse of eruption columns. They are similar in many respects to coarse-grained pyroclastic flow deposits found in andesite volcanoes. Glass of tephritic to phonolitic composition of clasts of the breccias is generally altered to «palagonite» and is partly replaced by clay minerals and zeolites (mainly chabazite and phillipsite). Palagonitization was a low temperature diagenetic process, resulting in the hydration of glass accompanied and followed by precipitation of zeolites and clay minerals. Electron-microprobe data suggest the following decreasing order of mobility of selected elements during palagonitization: Na, K, Al, Si, Ca, Mg, and Fe; Ti was assumed to be inert.     

Regional policy in the Federal Republic of Germany

Since the 1950s, regional policy in the Federal Republic of Germany has switched emphasis from assistance to specific locations with development problems to a systematic programme of development aid. Within the Common Task ‘Improvement of Regional Economic Structure’, which is undertaken jointly by the Federal and Laender governments, areas embracing 62% of the Federal Republic's total area have received aid for establishing new industries, expansion of existing manufacturing industry and rationalisation, and for developing tourism. Overall economic deterioration since the mid-'70s has been accompanied by increasing criticism of the inefficiency of this kind of regional policy directed towards the mobilisation of capital. More recent appraisals of methods improving development aid are aimed at achieving spatial concentration of the development areas, more selective aid for new establishments or expansion schemes which have sound future prospects, and increased encouragement to existing firms to innovate.     

Ignimbrite sequence on Gran Canaria

The Miocene sequence of felsic extrusive rocks of about 1000 m total thickness on Gran Canaria is divided into three units:

1. A lower unit of trachytic rhyolites (lavas, composite flows, ignimbrites) characterized by a phenocryst assemblage of anorthoclase (Or_15–20, wt%), clinopyroxene, hypersthene (amphibole substituted for both in ignimbrites), and Fe/Ti-oxides. The commonest groundmass minerals are anorthoclase and alkali-amphibole, with minor quartz and aegirine.
2. A middle unit of comenditic and pantelleritic ignimbrites characterized by anorthoclase (Or_20–32) and amphibole. Phenocryst minerals restricted to individual flows are Fe/Ti-oxides (several comendites), clinopyroxene, biotite, and sphene. The commonest groundmass minerals are anorthoclase and Tiaegirine, with lesser katophorite, arfvedsonite and quartz.
3. An upper unit of trachvtic and phonolitic ignimbites and lava flows (normative ne rarety exceeding 10%) with nepheline phonolite lava flows becoming increasingly abundant upwards. The ignimbrites have mostly anorthoclase (Or_30-04), and biotite, with rarer Fe/Ti-oxides, hornblende, and clinopyroxene. The commonest groundmass minerals are anorthoclase, aegirine, and alkali-amphiboles, and in some flows nepheline.

The change from Na-rich to K-rich anorthoclase upwards in the sequence supports the conclusion, based on over 50 new stratigraphically controlled chemical analyses that the Na₂O/K₂O-ratio decreases within the sequence. possibly as a result of crystal iractionation processes and this effect is independent of probable loss of Na on post-eruptive crystallization. While hydroxyl-bearing phenocryst minerals are absent from all rocks called lava in the field, they are ubiquitous in the ignimbrites, indicating the importance of P_u2o in the generation of suspension-type cruptions. Compositional gradients must have been particularly pronounced in the small magma chambers that existed beneath Gran Canaria, resulting in a wide range of compositionally zoned or mixed deposits.     

New tie-points for the geomagnetic polarity time scale during the Middle Miocene from the Mogán Group on Gran Canaria and Ocean Drilling Program Leg 157 site 953

A thick sequence of volcaniclastic sediments drilled at site 953 during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 157 northeast of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands) contains an almost complete magneto-stratigraphy back to the shield stage of the island 14.8 Ma ago. Onshore, a sequence of reversals has been identified and dated in 19 dominantly peralkaline rhyolitic ignimbrites, one rhyolitic, and one basaltic lava flow of the Mogán Group (13.35-13.95 Ma), which overlie basalt flows of the island's shield stage (>14 Ma). The magneto-stratigraphy of the ignimbrites onshore has been correlated with the marine magneto-stratigraphy at site 953, determined in syn-ignimbritic volcaniclastic turbidites, which were deposited practically synchronously immediately following the entry of the parent pyroclastic flows into the sea around the circumference of the island. The four polarity intervals recorded in the sequence of the Mogán Group ignimbrites correspond to C5ACr, C5ACn, C5ADr and C5ADn. Single crystal ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar-age determinations of the ignimbrites bracketing the polarity changes gave the following ages and uncertainties for the reversals C5AD (t) (13.95ǂ.07 Ma), C5AC(o) (13.89ǂ.08 Ma), and C5AC(t) (13.47ǂ.09 Ma). The newly dated polarity changes fit and refine the Miocene age model proposed in the global polarity time scale.     

Rifting,recurrent landsliding and Miocene structural reorganization on NW-Tenerife (Canary Islands)

We studied mechanisms of structural destabilization of ocean island flanks by considering the linkage between volcano construction and volcano destruction, exemplified by the composite Teno shield volcano on Tenerife (Canary Islands). During growth, Tenerife episodically experienced giant landslides, genetically associated with rifting and preferentially located between two arms of a three-armed rift system. The deeply eroded late Miocene Teno massif allows insights into the rifting processes, the failure mechanisms and related structures. The semicircular geometry of palaeo-scarps and fracture systems, breccia deposits and the local dike swarm reconfigurations delineate two clear landslide scarp regions. Following an earlier collapse of the older Los Gigantes Formation to the north, the rocks around the scarp became fractured and intruded by dikes. Substantial lava infill and enduring dike emplacement increased the load on the weak scarp and forced the flank to creep again, finally resulting in the collapse of the younger Carrizales Formation. Once more, the changing stress field caused deformation of the nearby rocks, a fracture belt formed around the scarp and dikes intruded into new (concentric) directions. The outline, size and direction of the second failed flank of Teno very much resembles the first collapse. We suggest structural clues concerning mechanisms of recurrent volcano flank failure, verifying the concept that volcano flanks that have failed are prone to collapse again with similar dimensions.     

Rates of magma ascent and depths of magma reservoirs beneath La Palma (Canary Islands)

Peridotitic mantle xenoliths from historic and prehistoric eruptions on La Palma show many similarities. Prolonged reactions of the xenoliths with their host magmas have been used to place constraints on the magma transport system beneath the island. All xenoliths show crystalline selvages and 0.9–2.6 mm wide diffusion zones in olivine along most of their surface. Diffusion kinetics in olivine, combined with fluid inclusion barometry, document that selvages and diffusion zones formed at crustal levels within 8 to about 100 years. Some xenolith fractures lack selvages and were in contact with the host magma for less than 4 days. A multistage magma ascent is proposed: (i) peridotite wall rock was fragmented and became incorporated into the ascending magma years to decades prior to the eruption; (ii) the xenoliths were rapidly transported to, and deposited in, crustal magma reservoirs, forming selvages and diffusion zones at the xenolith rims; (iii) renewed fragmentation of the xenoliths occurred days to hours prior to eruption, possibly by decompressive strain fracturing during rapid ascent.     

Mass transfer during sub-seafloor alteration of the upper Troodos crust (Cyprus)

Five major alteration zones in the Extrusive Series and the Sheeted Dike Complex of the Troodos Ophiolite are each characterized by (a) distinct elemental changes compared to the original composition and (b) secondary mineralogy. The upper ca. 300 m of the extrusive crust, the highly oxidatedcold seawater alteration zone (CSA), is strongly enriched in K₂O and depleted in Na₂O. It is followed downwards by alow temperature alteration zone (<170° C) which is most widespread in the Troodos extrusives and where Na₂O and K₂O are enriched, the latter less strongly than in the CSA zone. Three types ofhigh temperature alteration zones (<440° C; HTA I–III) are found in the Sheeted Dike Complex. All are marked by thorough leaching of K₂O, while the behavior of Na₂O (e.g. unchanged in type III) and CaO (depleted in type I, enriched in types II, III) is variable. Mass budgets of elemental changes are quantified by calibration of whole rock analyses via systematic stable element variations of fresh glasses found throughout the extrusive section. The Troodos extrusive crust and upper Sheeted Dike Complex are a major sink for MgO, K₂O, and Na₂O, and a source for CaO; the overall scale of fluxes drastically exceeds estimates based on fresh basalt compositions from present ocean crust.     

The eruptive center of the late quaternary Laacher see tephra

About 5 km³ of phonolite magma were erupted 11,000 years ago in the Laacher See area in Plinian and Vulcanian eruptions. The eruptive vents for all tephra, in dispute for over 200 years, must have been located entirely within the Laacher See basin, because: (1) All deposits are thickest in the tuffring surrounding the basin, with one exception: pyroclastic flow deposits are thickest 2 to 6 km away from the rim of the basin having ponded in radial valleys. Three Plinian fallout layers show minor secondary thickness maxima 12 to 16 km east of Laacher See. (2) Axes of all depositional fans and single tephra sheets converge in the Laacher See basin. (3) Diameters of both lithic and pumice clasts reach their maxima in outcrops close to Laacher See volcano. (4) Directions of asymmetric ballistic impact sags indicate the Laacher See basin as source area. (5) The dimension of Laacher See crater roughly corresponds to the erupted volume of phonolitic tephra (5.3 km³ magma DRE) and lithic clasts (0.7 km³). (6) Xenolith types are consistent with an eruptive center within the Laacher See basin. (7) The systematic chemical and mineralogical zonation of the tephra deposits — from highly differentiated aphyric phonolite at the base to highly phyric mafic phonolite at the top — strongly suggests eruption from a single compositionally zoned magma column. (8) Several lines of evidence indicate migration of the main eruptive focus from the south to the north during the later part of the eruption, both vents however being confined within the Laacher See basin.None of the four additional eruptive centers previously postulated (Auf Schruf, Meerboden, Frauenkirch, Niedermendig), located up to 7 km south of Laacher See volcano, is supported by empirical or theoretical evidence.

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Zusammenfassung Mindestens 5 km³ phonolithisches Magma wurde vor ca. 11 000 Jahren im Laacher See Becken durch plinianische und phreatomagmatische Eruptionen gefördert. Die Lage der Eruptionszentren im Laacher See Becken, seit über 200 Jahren umstritten, wird im einzelnen begründet. (1) Alle Schichteinheiten der Laacher See Tephra erreichen ihr Mächtigkeitsmaximum im Tuffring am Beckenrand. Eine Ausnahme bilden pyroklastische Stromablagerungen (Trass) die ihre maximalen Mächtigkeiten in Paläotälern 2 bis 6 km vom Laacher See entfernt erreichen. Drei plinianische Tephralagen zeigen sekundäre Mächtigkeitsmaxima zwischen 12 und 16 km Entfernung vom Laacher See Vulkan. (2) Die Achsen aller Ablagerungsfächer und einzelner Tephralagen laufen im Laacher See Becken zusammen. (3) Die Durchmesser von Bimsklasten und xenolithischen Gesteinsfragmenten nehmen zum Laacher See hin zu. (4) Aus Einschlagsdellen abgeleitete Transportrichtungen ballistischer Blöcke sind Hinweise auf Abschußpunkte im Bereich des Laacher See Bekkens. (5) Die Dimension des Laacher See Kraters steht in Einklang mit dem Gesamtvolumen eruptierten Magmas (5,3 km³) und Nebengesteins (0,7 km³). (6) Xenolithische Gesteinsfragmente in den Tephraablagerungen lassen sich Gesteinskomplexen zuordnen, die vor der Eruption im Bereich des Seebeckens angestanden haben. (7) Die Tephraablagerungen sind systematisch von basalen hochdifferenzierten aphyrischen zu einsprenglingsreicheren mafischen Phonolithen am Top zoniert und sind daher wahrscheinlich von einer einzigen chemisch-mineralogisch zonierten Magmasäule eruptiert worden. (8) Innerhalb des Laacher See Beckens hat sich der Hauptkrater im Verlaufe der Eruption von Süden nach Norden verlagert.Die von früheren Bearbeitern außerhalb des Laacher See Beckens postulierten Eruptionszentren (Auf Schruf, Meerboden, Frauenkirch, Niedermendig), die bis zu 7 km südlich des Laacher Sees liegen, lassen sich weder empirisch noch theoretisch begründen.

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Résumé Il y a 11 000 ans, un volume d'environ 5 km³ d'un magma phonolitique a été émis dans la région du Laacher See lors de manifestations de types plinien et phréatomagmatique. Les emplacements des centres d'émission, objets de controverse depuis plus de 200 ans, doivent se situer exclusivement dans le lac du Laacher See, pour les raisons suivantes: (1) Tous les dépôts présentent leur épaisseur maximale dans l'anneau de tuf qui encercle le lac, à une exception près: les coulées pyroclastiques («Trass») atteignent leur plus grande épaisseur dans des paléovallées situées à des distances de 2 à 6 km du Laacher See. Trois couches de projections pliniennes montrent des maxima secondaires à 12–16 km à l'est du Laacher See. (2) Les axes de tous les cônes du débris et des nappes isolées de tephra convergent vers le bassin du lac. (3) La dimension des fragments de ponce et de roches augmente en direction du Laacher See. (4) L'orientation des creux asymétriques dûs aux impacts ballistiques désignent le Laacher See comme «zone de lancement». (5) Le volume du cratère du Laacher See correspond approximativement au volume total des produits phonolitiques (5,3 km³) et des fragments lithiques (0,7 km³) éjectés. (6) Les divers types de fragments lithiques peuvent être rapportés aux complexes rocheux qui occupaient le bassin du Laacher See avant les éruptions. (7) La zonation chimique et minéralogique systematique de dépôts de tephra — depuis une phonolite aphyrique fortement différenciée à la base jusqu'à une phonolite mafique largement porphyrique au sommet — suggère fortement une éruption à partir d'une colonne de magma unique de composition zonée. (8) Plusieurs faits indiquent la migration du foyer d'éruption principal du sud vers le nord durant la dernière période d'activité, les deux orifices étant cependant localisés à l'intérieur du bassin du Laacher See.Des travaux antérieurs ont admis quatre centres éruptifs situés hors du bassin du Laacher See, jusqu'à 7 km de celui-ci: «Auf Schruf», «Meerboden», «Frauenkirch», «Niedermendig»; il n'existe aucun argument, théorique ou empirique, en faveur de l'existence de ces centres.

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Dedicated to W. von Engelhardt on the occasion of his 75th birthday.