Terrestrial heat and volcanism

Summary Although active volcanic territories are not characterised by extreme high heat flow, yet terrestrial heat is one of the main, if not hte first cause of volcanic activities. About 94 per cent of the known active volcanoes are in connection with orogenic zones including ocean ridges, which mean that processes responsible for the evolution of the continents cause the overwhelming majority of volcanism.There stages of the evolution of the continental crust can be distinguished: 1.) Growth of the continental cores by differentiation, 2.) Existence of peripheral growing zones around the first core, 3.) Intergrowth of the existing continents.Volcanism, as well as seismicity are manifestations of the evolution of the crust which is caused by the development of heat sources in the mantle. The heat partly melt the upper mantle and induce slow plastic flow in connection of differentiation. The space, left empty by continental uplift is filled by the slow plastic inflow of mantle from the ocean. This slow redistribution of mantle and curstal rocks disturbs the stress field, the rocks fail along the strained zones and zones of fractures appear sometimes with volcanic activity.     

Relationship between microseisms,geomagnetic activity and ionospheric absorption of radio waves

Summary Relatively good correlation between such remote phenomena as microseisms, geomagnetic activity and ionospheric absorption of radio waves has been observed. These phenomena are probably connected by a considerably increased penetration of energetic particles into the atmosphere under conditions of geomagnetic activity.     

An anthropo-ecological approach to landscape use optimization

A method of landscape evaluation based on the anthropo-ecological approach is worked out. The procedure consists of three stages, viz., general, special and optimization. Within the general stage, the structural arrangement of the landscape is evaluated by means of the concept of geo-ecological sites (GES), which are distributed into four zones (A, B, C, D) according to the degrees of their anthropic disturbance. The zoning performed makes it possible to select those geo-ecological sites where eco-critical relationships can be expected to appear; in order to eliminate such situations, transition zones are calculated for the geo-ecological sites concerned. The outcome of this approach is a proposal of a new structural arrangement of the geo-ecological sites, solving eco-critical situations and serving as a basis for the special and optimization stages of the anthropo-ecological method.     

Description and interpretation of the composition of fluid and alteration mineralogy in the geothermal system,at Svartsengi,Iceland

The bulk composition and mineralogy of hydrothermally altered tholeiite, along with the composition and speciation of fluid, have been determined for a well-defined alteration zone at 240°C and 110 bars at Svartsengi, Iceland. Mass balances between the geothermal fluid and altered tholeiite, relative to a seawater/fresh water mixture and unaltered tholeiite, indicate the overall reaction per 1000 cm³ is: 1325 gm plagioclase + 1228 gm pyroxene + 215 gm oxide-minerals break down to form 685 gm chlorite + 636 gm albite + 441 gm quartz + 249 gm epidote + 266 gm calcite + 201 gm oxide-minerals + 15 gm pyrite, requiring an influx of 123 gm CO₂, 10 gm H₂S and 4 gm Na₂O and a release of 57 gm SiO₂, 35 gm FeO, 21 gm CaO, 8 gm MgO and 4 gm K₂O.Principal reactions, deduced from textural evidence, include Na-Ca exchange in plagioclase, precipitation of quartz, calcite and anhydrite, and formation of chlorite and epidote by reactions between groundmass minerals and fluid.Thermodynamic analyses of authigenic minerals and downhole fluid indicate that the fluid maintains a state close to equilibrium with the secondary mineral phases chlorite, epidote, albite, quartz, calcite, prehnite, anhydrite, pyrite and magnetite, whereas remnant primary labradorite and augite are out of equilibrium with the fluid.Water/rock ratios for the system are determined under a variety of assumptions. However, the open nature of the system makes comparisons with experimental and theoretical closed system studies ambiguous.     

Morphology of the Wadati-Benioff zone,andesitic volcanism,and active fracture zones in Central America

Summary The morphology of the Wadati-Benioff zone in the region of Central America, based on the distribution of 1377 earthquake foci, verified the existence of an intermediate aseismic gap and its relation to active andesitic volcanism, and the non-uniformity of subduction due to the hampering effect of the main structural features of the subducting Cocos plate. Four deep seismically active fracture zones, genetically connected with the process of subduction, and three fracture zones manifesting the possible boundary between the Americas and Caribbean plates were identified in the continental wedge.     

Assessment of three temperature reconstruction methods in the virtual reality of a climate simulation

The performance of statistical climate reconstruction methods in the pre-instrumental period is uncertain, as they are calibrated in a short instrumental period but applied to much longer reconstructions time spans. Here, the virtual reality created by a climate simulation of the past millennium with the model ECHO-G is used as a test bed of three methods to reconstruct the annual Northern Hemisphere temperature. The methods are Composite plus Scaling, the inverse regression method of Mann et al. (Nature 392:779–787, 1998) and a direct principal-components regression method. The testing methodology is based on the construction of pseudo-proxies derived from the climate model output, the application of each of these methods to pseudo-proxy timeseries, and the comparison of their result with the simulated mean temperature. Different structures of the noise have been used to construct pseudo-proxies, ranging from the simulated grid-point precipitation. Also, one sparse and one denser pseudo-proxy network, co-located with two real networks, have been considered. All three methods underestimate the simulated variations of the Northern Hemisphere temperature, but the Composite plus Scaling method clearly displays a better performance and is robust against the different noise models and network size. The most relevant factor determining the skill of the reconstruction appears to be the network size, whereas the different noise models tend to yield similar results.     

A hydrogeological type section for the Duna-Tisza Interfluve, Hungary

The Duna-Tisza Interfluve, Hungary has an agricultural economy but is plagued by severe problems of soil and wetland salinization despite 200 years of intensive research. The study’s objective was to determine the origin of salts and the mechanisms of salinity distribution. To this end, flow-patterns and chemistry of groundwater were evaluated in a 100 km?×?65 km area, with emphasis on the Kolon- and Kelemenszék Lakes region. The lakes are located 13 km apart and have chemically contrasting water and soil types. Two groundwater flow-domains were identified: a gravity-drive meteoric fresh water and an over-pressured deeper domain of saline water. The waters are channeled by a highly permeable gravel aquifer to the surface and may merge near Kelemenszék Lake, causing it to be saline. Kolon Lake receives meteoric groundwater only, hence its fresh chemical character. The cross-formational ascent of the deep waters, combined with the gravitational systems’ geometry and the flow-channeling effect of the near-surface rocks, explains the contrasting chemistry between lakes, and the origin and pattern of soil salinization. The scheme is proposed as a generally valid hydrogeological profile for the interfluve, and has been named the Duna-Tisza Interfluve Hydrogeological Type Section.