An SEM study of porosity and grain boundary microstructure in quartz mylonites, Simplon Fault Zone, Central Alps

A backscattered and secondary electron SEM study of the grain boundary microstructure in quartz mylonites sampled along the length of the retrograde Simplon Fault Zone established three characteristic components. (1) Fine isolated pores (≤?1?μm diameter) are scattered across two-grain interfaces, preferentially concentrated on surfaces in extension. Pores are uncommon on three-grain junctions and there is no evidence for fluid interconnectivity along three- and four-grain junctions. The fine porosity may develop by accumulation of original, mainly intragranular fluid inclusions to the grain boundary during deformation and recrystallization and by cavitation of grain boundaries during grain boundary sliding. Dynamic cavitation implies that the “ductile” mylonitic deformation is at least locally dilatant and therefore pressure sensitive. (2) Large “vug”-like pores (up to mm-scale) extend along multi-grain boundaries. Observed in all samples, they are most common in the higher initial temperature, coarse-grained samples with a microstructure dominated by grain boundary migration recrystallization. Grains bordering this connected porosity develop perfect crystal faces, undecorated by fine pores or pits. The irregular “lobate” optical microstructure of many migrating grain boundaries actually consists of a series of straight crystal faces. The coarse porosity is probably due to accumulation during dynamic recrystallization of (CO₂-rich ?) fluid with a high wetting angle against quartz. (3) In one sample, interconnected sinuous ridges, ≤?0.2?μm high, are observed to follow three- and four-grain junctions and disjoint into more isolated worms and spheroidal globules. On two-grain interfaces, these are transitional to more branching vein-like or convoluted brain-like forms. The brain-like and globular forms have been observed, with varying frequency, through the range of samples, with the globules attaining sizes of up to 60?μm. Vein structures have also been observed on intragranular fractures. These topologies do not match across adjoining surfaces and must have developed into free space. The ridge-vein-brain-spheroid structure is distinctly different to that previously observed on experimentally healed microcracks and its origin is not unequivocally established. They could represent unstable meniscus necking of a thin grain-boundary phase of low viscosity, developed due to quasi-adiabatic shear and/or local stress-induced dilatancy during microcracking.     

A comparison of estimated and calculated effective porosity

 Effective porosity in solute-transport analyses is usually estimated rather than calculated from tracer tests in the field or laboratory. Calculated values of effective porosity in the laboratory on three different textured samples were compared to estimates derived from particle-size distributions and soil–water characteristic curves. The agreement was poor and it seems that no clear relationships exist between effective porosity calculated from laboratory tracer tests and effective porosity estimated from particle-size distributions and soil–water characteristic curves. A field tracer test in a sand-and-gravel aquifer produced a calculated effective porosity of approximately 0.17. By comparison, estimates of effective porosity from textural data, moisture retention, and published values were approximately 50–90% greater than the field calibrated value. Thus, estimation of effective porosity for chemical transport is highly dependent on the chosen transport model and is best obtained by laboratory or field tracer tests. Received, March 1997 · Revised, August 1997 · Accepted, August 1997     

The dwarf galaxy population of the Coma cluster to MR=−11: a detailed description

We present the luminosity function and measurements of the scalelengths, colours and radial distribution of dwarf galaxies in the Coma cluster down to R =24. Our survey area is 674 arcmin²; this is the deepest and most detailed survey covering such a large area.
Our measurements agree with those of most previous authors at bright and intermediate magnitudes. The new results are as follows.
(1) Galaxies in the Coma cluster have a luminosity function φ( L )∝ L ^α that is steep (α∼−1.7) for −15< M_R <−11, and is shallower brighter than this. The curvature in the luminosity function at M_R ∼−15 is statistically significant.
(2) The galaxies that contribute most strongly to the luminosity function at −14< M_R <−12 have colours and scalelengths that are consistent with those of local dwarf spheroidal galaxies placed at the distance of Coma.
(3) These galaxies with −14< M_R <−12 have a colour distribution that is very strongly peaked at B − R =1.3. This is suggestive of a substantial degree of homogeneity in their star formation histories and metallicities.
(4) These galaxies with −14< M_R <−12 also appear to be more confined to the cluster core ( r ∼200 kpc) than the brighter galaxies. Alternatively, this observation may be explained in part or whole by the presence of an anomalously high number of background galaxies behind the cluster core. Velocity measurements of these galaxies would distinguish between these two possibilities.     

The galaxy luminosity function in clusters and the field

We present the results from a CCD survey of the B -band luminosity function of nine clusters of galaxies, and compare them to published photographic luminosity functions of nearby poor clusters like Virgo and Fornax, and also to the field luminosity function. We derive a composite luminosity function by taking the weighted mean of all the individual cluster luminosity functions; this composite luminosity function is steep at bright and faint magnitudes and is shallow in-between.
All clusters have luminosity functions consistent with this single composite function. This is true both for rich clusters like Coma and for poor clusters like Virgo.
This same composite function is also individually consistent with the deep field luminosity functions found by Cowie et al. and Ellis et al., and also with the faint end of the Las Campanas Redshift Survey R -band luminosity function, shifted by 1.5 mag. A comparison with the Loveday et al. field luminosity function, which is well determined at the bright end, shows that the composite function, which fits the field data well fainter than M _B=−19, drops too steeply between M _B=−19 and −22 to fit the field data there.     

Evolution of the near-infrared in rich galaxy clusters

We present the K -band (2.2 μm) luminosity functions (LFs) of the X-ray-luminous clusters MS1054–0321 ( z  = 0.823), MS0451–0305 ( z  = 0.55), Abell 963 ( z  = 0.206), Abell 665 ( z  = 0.182) and Abell 1795 ( z  = 0.063) down to absolute magnitudes M _K  = −20. Our measurements probe fainter absolute magnitudes than do any previous studies of the near-infrared LFs of clusters. All the clusters are found to have similar LFs within the errors, when the galaxy populations are evolved to redshift z  = 0. It is known that the most massive bound systems in the Universe at all redshifts are X-ray-luminous clusters. Therefore, assuming that the clusters in our sample correspond to a single population seen at different redshifts, the results here imply that not only had the stars in present-day ellipticals in rich clusters formed by z  = 0.8, but that they existed in as luminous galaxies then as they do today.   Additionally, the clusters have K -band LFs which appear to be consistent with the K -band field LF in the range −24 <  M _K  < −22, although the uncertainties in both the field and cluster samples are large.     

13C12C exchange between calcite and graphite: A possible thermometer in Grenville marbles

The fractionation of ¹³C between calcite and graphite, Δ(Cc-Gr). is consistently small (2.6–4.8 permil) in 34 assemblages from upper amphibolite- and granulite-facies marbles of the Grenville Province. In 25 samples from the Adirondack Mountains, New York, it decreases regularly with increasing metamorphic temperature. The fractionations are independent of absolute δ¹³C values of calcite (?2.9 to +5.0). For T = 600–800°C, the Adirondack data are described by Δ(Cc-Gr) = ?0.00748T (°C) + 8.68. This good correlation between Δ and T suggests that carbon isotope equilibrium was attained in these high-grade marbles and that the theoretical calculations of this fractionation by Bottinga are approximately 2 permil too large in this temperature range. Because of the relatively high temperature sensitivity suggested by these results and by Bottinga's calculations, and the pressure independence of isotope fractionation, Δ(Cc-Gr) may provide a very good thermometer for high-grade marbles.Comparison of this field calibration for Δ(Cc-Gr) vs temperature with results from other terranes supports the utility of Δ(Cc-Gr) for geothermometry and suggests that graphite is much more sluggish to exchange than calcite, that exchange between calcite and graphite occurs at temperatures as low as 300°C, and that equilibrium may normally be attained only when peak metamorphic temperatures are greater than 500–600°C.Because ¹³C exchange is an unavoidable metamorphic process at temperatures above 300°C, high values of δ¹³C(Gr) in moderate- to high-grade carbonate-bearing rocks do not provide a sufficient criterion to infer an abiogenic origin for the graphite.     

Water activity changes across an amphibolite-granulite facies transition,Broken Hill,Australia

Phase compositions in pelitic and mafic gneisses place tight constraints on pressure (ranging from 3 up to 6 kb), and, to a lesser extent, on temperature (500° up to 800° C) during prograde regional metamorphism of the Willyama Complex, Broken Hill, SE Australia. These limits allow an evaluation of water activity across the terrain using various equilibria in pelitic and mafic gneisses. The stability of cummingtonite and biotite over much of the terrain places upper limits on temperature, and the presence of syn-metamorphic partial melts in the metasediments places lower limits on a(H₂O). Garnet-biotitesillimanite-K feldspar-quartz relations combined with the partial melting data suggest a decrease in water activity from near 1.0 in the lower grade zones to 0.5±0.2 in the Broken Hill — Little Broken Hill part of the two pyroxene zone. This result is compatible with less precise hornblende-orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene-quartz relations.These P-T-a(H₂O) data from the Willyama Complex support a continuum from amphibolite to granulite facies, as proposed by Binns (1964) and suggest that the higher grade assemblages are formed in response to both higher temperature and lower water activity. The formation of granulite facies terrains by prior crustal dehydration is unsubstantiated in the present example. Instead, the decrease from a(H₂O)-1.0 in the andalusite/sillimanite-muscovite zones to a(H₂O) < 1.0 found at higher grades, is likely to reflect buffering by partial melting and dehydration reactions in the volumetrically dominant metasediments.     

The magnetisation of Rosemary Bank Seamount,Rockall Trough,northeast Atlantic

Rosemary Bank is a non-uniformly magnetised seamount in the northern Rockall Trough. The reversely magnetised major component of the anomaly field was simulated by a numerical method and modelled using the Talwani three-dimensional magnetics program. The results suggest a higher Koenigsberger ratio than earlier reported for Rosemary Bank and a remanent magnetisation vector compatible with post-Jurassic formation and probably of a Late Cretaceous to Tertiary age. The limited depth to the base of the model implies that Rosemary Bank post-dates the underlying basement in agreement with a volcanic origin. The residual of the observed anomaly field is interpreted as being caused by normally magnetised bodies within and on top of the bank. This suggests subsequent volcanic activity during an interval of normal polarity.     

Age and structure of the southern Rockall Trough new evidence

The Rockall Trough separates the Rockall Plateau microcontinent from the shelf and slope west of the British Isles. The structure and age of the trough has been the source of considerable discussion. Although widely considered to be of oceanic origin, postulated ages for the spreading range from Permian to Cretaceous. New seismic profiles linked to the IPOD sites in the Bay of Biscay and to oceanic anomalies of known age are used to present a new assessment of the age and structure of the southern Rockall Trough. It is concluded that about 120 km of ocean crust is present in the trough and that spreading took place in the Albian-Maastrichtian interval.     

Palaeomagnetic evidence for large-scale dextral movement along the Trollfjord-Komagelv Fault,Finnmark, north Norway

Palaeomagnetic data from Late Precambrian dykes from the northern part of Varanger peninsula, north Norway, suggest a two-axis magnetization structure. The dominant component is considered to be syn- to late-tectonic and probably acquired at around 640 m.y. B.P. Superposed on this magnetization is a minor component which is compatible with the relative Lower-Middle Palaeozoic field; i.e. it was most likely imposed during the climax of the Caledonian orogenic movements in north Norway. The estimated relative Late Precambrian palaeopole cannot easily be reconciled with the European Late Precambrian polar path. This disagreement can be accounted for by assuming a post-magnetization dextral megashear, of the order of 500–1000 km, along the Trollfjord-Komagelv fracture zone. This type of displacement is in line with geological evidence and the palaeomagnetic reconstruction supports the long-held view of there having been continuity between the depositional environments of the Varanger Peninsula Barents Sea Group, the Eleonore Bay Group of east Greenland and the Hecla Hoek Formation of east Spitsbergen. The character and age of the horizontal displacement, post-640 to pre-500 m.y. B.P., is seen in conjunction with the opening up of the lapetus Ocean and reactivation of ancient deep-seated fractures during both the spreading and the contraction phases of ocean development.