Age and origin of early Proterozoic dolerite dykes in South-West Greenland

Samples of three dolerite dykes from South-West Greenland give a pooled weighted mean Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron age of 2,130±65 Ma. Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are 0.70155±0.00018 for one of the dykes (Naujat) and 0.70277±0.00012 for the other two (Torssut and Akinaq). A fourth dyke (Qaqarssuaq) did not yield an isochron. Torssut samples have significantly lower initial ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios than samples from the Naujat dyke, indicating that the Torssut dyke has been affected by crustal contamination. Samples of the dykes vary widely in chemical composition because of an uneven distribution of different primocryst phases throughout the dykes, and because of variable degrees of fractionation of the magma. For two of the dykes some constraints on the composition of the parent magma have been inferred from trace element data. Higher concentrations of K, Rb, Ba, Sr, Ce and perhaps Nb (at comparable levels of magmatic fractionation) in the dykes with higher Sr_i are probably related to crustal contamination of their parent magmas. Two of the dykes probably intruded from zoned magma chambers. The marginal zones of these dykes crystallised from a strongly fractionated magma, whereas the centres of the dykes consist of more primitive material with large proportions of olivine and plagioclase primocrysts. The central part of Torssut is less strongly contaminated with crustal Pb than the border zones. A more detailed analysis of the Pb-isotopic composition in the Torssut dyke shows that contaminant lead must have been derived from rocks in the deeper crust considerably older than the late Archaean gneisses which occur at the surface.     

Recruitment of Mytilus edulis L. in the Thames estuary,with evidence for differences in the time of maximal settling along the Connecticut shore

In the Thames Estuary at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, most mussels achieve maximal gonadal development during the summer and larval settlement occurs primarily during the fall. The timing of reproductive events is several months later than has been reported for other populations of mussels in Long Island Sound but corresponds to that of mussels inhabiting the south shore of Long Island. The data support the growing body of evidence which indicates that temperature is not a major factor determining the reproductive period of this bivalve.     

An evaluation of rate equations for calcite precipitation kinetics at pCO2 less than 0.01 atm and pH greater than 8

We used a reproducible seeded growth technique with a pH-stat to study the kinetics of calcite precipitation at 25°C. We performed different experiments at initial Ca²⁺ and HCO₃^? concentrations ranging from 0.7–2 and 4–7 mmol L^?1, pH values ranging from 8.25 to 8.70, $\text{pCO}{}_2$ values ranging from 0.0006 to 0.01 atm, and ionic strengths ranging from 0.015 to 0.10 mol L^?1. With this experimental data set, we used initial rate measurements and integral methods to test several precipitation rate equations. Rate equations that possess a disequilibrium functional dependence, such as the BURTON et al. (1951) dislocation model, forms of the Davies and Jones (1955) model, and the model used by Reddy and Nancollas (1973), did not adequately describe the kinetics of calcite precipitation at pH greater than 8 and $\text{pCO}{}_2$ less than 0.01 atm. Rate equations that describe independent dissolution and precipitation mechanisms with elementary reactions, such as the equation presented by Plummeret al. (1978), and nancollas and Reddy (1971) were more successful. However, Plummer's model did not adequately describe the rate of all experiments due to the presence of an OH^? surface term in the precipitation rate equation. The elementary reaction of the Nancollas and Reddy model is written in terms of bulk Ca²⁺ and CO₃^? concentrations, and appears to be the most successful model which describes calcite precipitation at pH > 8 and $\text{pCO}{}_2\text{< 0.01}$ atm. The Nancollas and Reddy model, altered to account for varying ionic strengths, adequately described the rate of all experiments and yielded a precipitation rate constant of $\text{118.2 ± 13.9}$ dm⁶ mol^?1 m^?2 s^?1, with an apparent Arrhenius activation energy of 48.1 kJ mol^?1.     

Nature and culture in social science: the demarcation of domains of being in eighteenth century and modern discourses

Modern social science is concerned with policing the ‘boundary’ between nature and culture, with limiting and excluding phenomena which threaten to challenge its account of the social determination of the attributes of human beings. The paper argues that this boundary defence is an unusually touchy and difficult matter because social science has inherited an Enlightenment conception of man as ‘unique’. Human culture is regarded as different in quality from any possible form of animal association or attainment. At the same time as supporting this ontology it supposes the ‘boundary’ is in some sense a matter of empirical science, capable of specification by reference to evidence. We try to show the confusions these two contradictory circumstances produce by considering two debates: those concerning the possibility of ‘feral’ children and those concerning the uniqueness of language to human beings. It is demonstrated that the modern debates develop theories, issues and lines of dispute which appeared in the eighteenth century.     

Cathodoluminescence petrography of syntectonic quartz fibres

The cathodoluminescence of low grade metamorphic quartz is reported in the literature to be uniformly brown. This study describes an investigation of syntectonic quartz fibres from veins and pressure shadows contained in different carbonate units of the Helvetic Alps, Switzerland, and of Anglesey, U.K., with the Scanning Electron Microscope in the cathodoluminescence mode. The cathodoluminescence spectra measured show systematic variations between older and younger parts of the same fibre, and between fibres from different tectonic units. These variations can be related first to variations in the temperature of formation of the quartz fibres, and second to deformation-induced differences in the microstructure of the earlier formed parts of fibres during later imposed strains.     

Thermal regime of the continental lithosphere

Thermally, the lithosphere may be defined as that outer portion of the earth in which heat is transferred primarily by conduction. It generally includes the crust and part of the mantle. The thermal regime of continental lithosphere is determined by many factors including heat flow from the asthenosphere, the vertical and lateral variation of both thermal conductivity and radiogenic heat production, tectonic history, and such superficial processes as climatic history and the shallow hydrothermal regime. From studies of the global heat flow data set, two generalizations regarding continental lithosphere have arisen, namely that: 1) there is a negative correlation between heat flow and tectonic age of continental lithosphere; and 2) the thermal evolution of continental lithosphere is similar to that of ocean basins with the result that the “stable geotherm” is similar in both environments. When continental heat-flow data are studied from a regional rather than a global point of view, considerable doubt arises as to the general applicability of either statement. R. U. M. Rao and his associates have demonstrated that while Precambrian terranes do have demonstrably lower heat flows than, say, Tertiary terranes, the data are not normally distributed and it is not possible to establish a negative correlation between heat flow and age in any rigorous statistical way. The scatter in the relation may be explained in terms of the variations in the duration, intensity and even the sign of continental thermotectonic events in contrast to the simple situation (creation of new oceanic lithosphere at mid-ocean ridges) which prevails in the oceans. The scatter also is partially attributable to the large and laterally variable radiogenic component of heat flow on continents. For a province for which a heat flow-heat production relation has been established, much of the scatter in surface heat flow due to crustal radiogenic heat production versus age is eliminated by determining reduced heat flow (surface heat flow minus radiogenic component) as a function of tectonic age, but much scatter remains, and it is still not possible to establish a heat flux-age relation in a rigorous way. Primarily because of the spatial variability in radiogenic heat production, no single geotherm can be used to characterize the thermal regime of a stable continental terrane. Thus, while some sites on stable continental blocks may have a geotherm fortuitously similar to that for old ocean basins, there is no reason to expect that this will be true generally, and many stable continental terranes will be characterized by geotherms markedly different from the geotherm for old ocean basins.     

The formation age of the Brachina meteorite

Nuclear particle tracks were studied in various phases from the Brachina meteorite, which was classified until recently as a chassignite. Fission tracks due to the decay of²⁴⁴Pu(T₁₂ = 82m.y.) were observed and indicate that Brachina formed ～ 4.5 b.y. ago in a parent body which was most probably asteroidal in size. Contrary to what has been previously suggested [7], there is no need to postulate a Martian origin for this meteorite. This conclusion is supported by independent evidence obtained by other groups.     

Geochemical and petrological relations in some deccan basalts, Western Maharashtra, India

Petrographic and geochemical data are given for some basaltic rocks from the Koynaghat, Ambaghat and Panvel sections of the western Deccan volcanic province. This study confirms geochemical features established earlier for the Deccan basalts but brings out minor additional characters. Mineralogical and major-element compositions of the basaltic flows from the Koyna and Panvel sections indicate tholeiitic affinity; the Ambaghat flows exhibit a slight affinity towards alkali basalt. Rare earth element (REE) distribution patterns and trace-element abundances suggest minor fractionation of olivine and plagioclase during the evolution of the flows. The general similarity of chemical and mineralogical features over a wide area and the lack of conspicuous inter-element relationships suggest that the flows reflect the combined effects of partial melting, minor mineral fractionation and selective crustal contamination.     

On the effective seismic input for non-linear soil-structure interaction systems

Two equivalent semi-discrete formulations are presented for the problem of the transient response of soil-structure interaction systems to seismic excitation, considering linear behaviour of the soil material and arbitrary non-linear structural properties. One formulation results in a direct method of analysis in which the motion in the structure and the entire soil medium, rendered finite by an artificial absorbing boundary, is determined simultaneously. The other represents a substructuring technique in which the structure and the soil are analysed separately. The forces induced in the discretized system by the incident seismic motion are obtained as part of the general formulation by using the free-field motion of the unaltered soil as the earthquake input. It is shown that these forces act within the soil region in the direct method, but only on the soil-structure interface in the substructure formulation. Both sets of forces, however, involve only the displacements and tractions acting on the fictitious surface in the unaltered (linear) soil which coincides with the soil-structure interface of the complete system. It is shown, further, that the free-field displacements alone define a minimal set of data for evaluating the seismic response of the structure, since the tractions and displacements on that surface are interrelated. In practice, the minimal set must be obtained by extrapolating the available information, as the free-field ground motion at a site is usually specified at a single reference point.