The Loyalty—New Hebrides Arc collision: Effects on the Loyalty Ridge and basin system,Southwest Pacific (first results of the ZoNéCo programme)

The ZoNéCo 1 and 2 cruises of Ifremer's Research Vessel L'Atalante, collected new swath bathymetry and geophysical data over the southern and northern segments of the basins and ridges forming the Loyalty system. Between the two surveyed areas, previous studies found evidence for the resistance of the Loyalty Ridge to subduction beneath the New Hebrides trench near 22°S–169°E. On the subducted plate, except for seismicity related to the downbending of the Australian plate, recorded shallow seismicity is sparse within the Loyalty system (Ridge and Basin) where reliable focal mechanism solutions are almost absent.Swath bathymetry, seismic reflection and magnetic data acquired during the ZoNéCo 1 and 2 cruises revealed a transverse asymmetric morphology in the Loyalty system, and an along-strike horst and graben structure on the discontinuous Loyalty Ridge. South of 23°50S and at 20°S, the two WSW-ENE-trending fault systems, respectively, sinistral and dextral, that crosscut the southern and northern segments of the Loyalty system, are interpreted as due to the early effects of collision with the New Hebrides Arc. A NNW-SSE trend, evident along the whole Loyalty system and on the island of New Caledonia, is interpreted as an inherited structural trend that may have been reactivated through flexure of the Australian lithospheric plate at the subduction zone.Overall then, the morphology, structure and evolution of the southern and northern segments of the Loyalty system probably result from the combined effects of the Australian plate lithospheric bulge, the active Loyalty-New Hebrides collision and the overthrust of the New Caledonian ophiolite.     

The P-T-fO 2 stability of deerite,Fe 12 2+ Fe 6 3+ [Si12O40](OH)10

New equilibrium experiments have been performed in the 20–27 kbar range to determine the upper thermal stability limit of endmember deerite, Fe ₁₂ ²⁺ Fe ₆ ³⁺ [Si₁₂O₄₀](OH)₁₀. In this pressure range, the maximum thermal stability limit is represented by the oxygen-conserving reaction: deerite(De)=9 ferrosilite(Fs)+3 magnetite(Mag)+3 quartz(Qtz)+5 H₂O(W) (1). Under the oxygen fugacities of the Ni-NiO buffer the breakdown-reduction reaction: De=12 Fs+2 Mag+5 W+1/2 O₂ (10) takes place at lower temperatures (e.g. T=63° at 27 kbar). The experimental brackets can be fitted using thermodynamic data for ferrosilite, magnetite and quartz from Berman (1988) and the following 1 bar, 298 K data for deerite (per gfw): V^o=55.74 J.bar^-1, S^o=1670 J.K^-1, H _f ^o =-18334 kJ, =2.5x10^-5K^-1, =-0.18x10^-5 bar^-1. Using these data in conjunction with literature data on coesite, grunerite, minnesotaite, and greenalite, the P-T stability field of endmember deerite has been calculated for P _s=P _{H 2}O. This field is limited by 6 univariant oxygenconserving dehydration curves, from which three have positive dP/dT slopes, the other three negative slopes. The lower pressure end of the stability field of endmember deerite is thus located at an invariant point at 250±70°C and 10+-1.5 kbar. Deerite rich in the endmember can thus appear only in environments with geothermal gradients lower than 10°C/km and at pressures higher than about 10 kbar, which is in agreement with 4 out of 5 independent P-T estimates for known occurrences. The presence of such deerite places good constraints on minimum pressure and maximum temperature conditions. From log f _{O 2}-T diagrams constructed with the same data base at different pressures, it appears that endmember deerite is, at temperatures near those of its upper stability limit, stable only over a narrow range of oxygen fugacities within the magnetite field. With decreasing temperatures, deerite becomes stable towards slightly higher oxygen fugacities but reaches the hematite field only at temperatures more than 200°C lower than the upper stability limit. This practically precludes the coexistence deerite-hematite with near-endmember deerite in natural environments.     

Surface texture of Vesta from optical polarimetry

Polarimetric, photometric, and reflectance spectroscopic properties of asteroid 44 Vesta are simulated in the laboratory by a preparation of eucrite Bereba consisting oof a broad mixture of particle sizes (mainly greater than 50-μm) mixed and partially coated with particles of size 10 μm and less. Coarse grains are necessary for producing the same albedo and a very fine dust coating is necessary for producing the same polarization inversion angle as observed for Vesta. There are less small grains and fine dust in this sample than in lunar soils. Photometrically, if coating a sphere, this sample shows a constant brightness on the sunward half of the observed hemisphere, the brightness being given on the other half by the Minnaert reciprocity principle. With such a photometric behavior, the global geometric albedo and the sub-Earth point geometric albedo differ by no more than 5%. The microscopic phase coefficient β is 0.021 magnitude per degree for the sample; the larger value, β = 0.025, observed telescopically for Vesta indicates that large-scale roughness is present on this asteroid.     

煤炭城市生态环境可持续发展研究--以淮南市为例

根据城市生态学原理和方法,针对煤炭城市生态环境特点,构建了能够体现煤炭城市生态环境质量主要特征的,定性、定量考核的评价指标体系。利用层次分析、变权综合指数等方法,建立了煤炭城市生态环境质量综合评价模型。从自然、经济、社会三个方面对淮南市生态环境质量进行评价,并对淮南市生态环境可持续发展提出了相应对策。     

Precambrian fluvial deposits: Enigmatic palaeohydrological data from the c. 2–1.9 Ga Waterberg Group, South Africa

Precambrian fluvial systems, lacking the influence of rooted vegetation, probably were characterised by flashy surface runoff, low bank stability, broad channels with abundant bedload, and faster rates of channel migration; consequently, a braided fluvial style is generally accepted. Pre-vegetational braided river systems, active under highly variable palaeoclimatic conditions, may have been more widespread than are modern, ephemeral dry-land braided systems. Aeolian deflation of fine fluvial detritus does not appear to have been prevalent. With the onset of large cratons by the Neoarchaean–Palaeoproterozoic, very large, perennial braided river systems became typical. The c. 2.06–1.88 Ga Waterberg Group, preserved within a Main and a smaller Middelburg basin on the Kaapvaal craton, was deposited largely by alluvial/braided-fluvial and subordinate palaeo-desert environments, within fault-bounded, possibly pull-apart type depositories.

Palaeohydrological data obtained from earlier work in the Middelburg basin (Wilgerivier Formation) are compared to such data derived from the correlated Blouberg Formation, situated along the NE margin of the Main basin. Within the preserved Blouberg depository, palaeohydrological parameters estimated from clast size and cross-bed set thickness data, exhibit rational changes in their values, either in a down-palaeocurrent direction, or from inferred basin margin to palaeo-basin centre. In both the Wilgerivier and Blouberg Formations, calculated palaeoslope values (derived from two separate formulae) plot within the gap separating typical alluvial fan gradients from those which characterise rivers (cf. [Blair, T.C., McPherson, J.G., 1994. Alluvial fans and their natural distinction from rivers based on morphology, hydraulic processes, sedimentary processes, and facies assemblages. J. Sediment. Res. A64, 450–489.]). Although it may be argued that such data support possibly unique fluvial styles within the Precambrian, perhaps related to a combination of major global-scale tectono-thermal and atmospheric–palaeoclimatic events, a simpler explanation of these apparently enigmatic palaeoslope values may be pertinent. Of the two possible palaeohydrological formulae for calculating palaeoslope, one provides results close to typical fluvial gradients; the other formula relies on preserved channel-width data. We suggest that the latter will not be reliable due to problematic preservation of original channel-widths within an active braided fluvial system. We thus find no unequivocal support for a unique fluvial style for the Precambrian, beyond that generally accepted for that period and discussed briefly in the first paragraph.     

Mean flow-transient perturbation interaction in the Southern Hemisphere: a simulation using a variable-resolution GCM

The ability of an atmospheric general circulation model to reproduce fundamental features of the wintertime extratropical Southern Hemisphere (SH) circulation is evaluated with emphasis on the daily variability of the SH mean flow and the mean flow-transient perturbations interaction. Two 10-year simulations using a new version of the LMDZ GCM with a stretched grid scheme centered at 45 °S and forced by climatological SST are performed: a high (144Ꮡ) and low (64Ꭹ) horizontal resolution runs. The performance of both simulations was determined by comparing several simulated fields (zonal wind, temperature, kinetic energy, transient eddy momentum and heat fluxes, Eliassen-Palm fluxes, Eady growth rate and baroclinic conversion term) against the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast reanalyses (ERA). High and low-resolution simulations are similar in many respects; in particular, both experiments reproduce the main patterns of the southern extratropical large-scale circulation satisfactorily. Increasing resolution does not improve universally some spurious aspects of the low resolution simulation (e.g. the cold bias in the high polar troposphere, the debilitated subtropical jet, the low baroclinic conversion rate). Those aspects present little sensitivity to the model resolution. The interaction between transient eddies and zonal mean flow are examined. The low-resolution experiment is able to qualitatively represent the acceleration/deceleration of the mean flow by transient perturbations, south/north of 30 °S with an accuracy similar to that of the high-resolution experiment. Although both experiments represent the baroclinic structure of the mean flow satisfactorily, the model underestimates some transient properties due to the underestimation of the baroclinic conversion term in middle latitudes. Such misrepresentation does not improve with increasing resolution and is related to the relatively weak meridional temperature gradient and the inadequate geographical distribution of the eddy heat fluxes. In particular, the eddy kinetic energy is always underestimated. Eddy kinetic energy does not improve convincingly with increasing resolution, suggesting that the adequate representation of the storm tracks is highly influenced by the physical parametrizations.     

Geochemistry of oceanic carbonatites compared with continental carbonatites: mantle recycling of oceanic crustal carbonate

Major and trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb-O-C isotopic compositions are presented for carbonatites from the Cape Verde (Brava, Fogo, Sáo Tiago, Maio and Sáo Vicente) and Canary (Fuerteventura) Islands. Carbonatites show pronounced enrichment in Ba, Th, REE, Sr and Pb in comparison to most silicate volcanic rocks and relative depletion in Ti, Zr, Hf, K and Rb. Calcio (calcitic)-carbonatites have primary (mantle-like) stable isotopic compositions and radiogenic isotopic compositions similar to HIMU-type ocean island basalts. Cape Verde carbonatites, however, have more radiogenic Pb isotope ratios (e.g. ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb=19.3-20.4) than reported for silicate volcanic rocks from these islands (18.7-19.9; Gerlach et al. 1988; Kokfelt 1998). We interpret calcio-carbonatites to be derived from the melting of recycled carbonated oceanic crust (eclogite) with a recycling age of ~1.6 Ga. Because of the degree of recrystallization, replacement of calcite by secondary dolomite and elevated ‘¹³C and ‘¹⁸O, the major and trace element compositions of the magnesio (dolomitic)-carbonatites are likely to reflect secondary processes. Compared with Cape Verde calcio-carbonatites, the less radiogenic Nd and Pb isotopic ratios and the negative Ɨ/4 of the magnesio-carbonatites (also observed in silicate volcanic rocks from the Canary and Cape Verde Islands) cannot be explained through secondary processes or through the assimilation of Cape Verde crust. These isotopic characteristics require the involvement of a mantle component that has thus far only been found in the Smoky Butte lamproites from Montana, which are believed to be derived from subcontinental lithospheric sources. Continental carbonatites show much greater variation in radiogenic isotopic composition than oceanic carbonatites, requiring a HIMU-like component similar to that observed in the oceanic carbonatites and enriched components. We interpret the enriched components to be Phanerozoic through Proterozoic marine carbonate (e.g. limestone) recycled through shallow, subcontinental-lithospheric-mantle and deep, lower-mantle sources.