Rare earth elements in granitic rocks

The younger granites in Finland contain more REE than the older ones. In the youngest, postorogenic rapakivi granites, the total REE concentration is highest, the light REE are more enriched, and the negative Eu anomaly is more pronounced than in the older granites. The enrichment of the light REE, the anomalous behavior of the extreme elements (La, Ce, and Lu) in normalized graphs, and the depletion of Eu indicate the degree of differentiation the rock has undergone. These features are usually more pronounced in large, homogeneous granites than in metamorphic or volcanogenic rocks. Silicic vein rocks usually contain less REE than the granites proper; the distribution pattern in many is as in granites, but in some the heavy elements are more enriched. The positive Eu anomaly in Precambrian metamorphic rocks is tentatively attributed to metamorphic differentiation and to the secretion of silicic material from the host rock.     

Bimodal early proterozoic volcanism in the Grythytte field and associated volcano-plutonic complexes,Bergslagen, Central Sweden

The Grythytte field sequence forms a NNW belt of acid-basic metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks. The geology shows characteristics of a dynamic process of trough-forming and infilling which to a large extent post-dates the Hjulsjö volcanoplutonic complex situated to the east. In the latter complex acid metapyroclastics strike around a centre of granite and granophyre, which cut and are cut by basic sills and dykes. Field and petrochemical evidence points to a distinct bimodal magmatism that ist manifested during one short phase of a rifting period.

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Zusammenfassung Die Grythytte Schichtenfolge bildet einen NNW verlaufenden Gürtel aus sauren und basischen Metavulkaniten und Metasedimenten. Die geologischen Befunde weisen auf einen dynamischen Entstehungsprozeß von Grabenbildung und Füllung hin. Im weiter östlich gelegenen vulkanisch-plutonischen Hjulsjö-Komplex streichen älteren metamorphen pyroklastischen Gesteine rund ein Granit-Granophyr Zentrum. Dieser Komplex durchschneidet und wird durchschnitten von basischen Sills und Gängen. Feldgeologische und geochemische Untersuchungen weisen deutlich auf einen bimodalen Magmatismus hin, der während einer kurzen Phase der Grabenbildung stattfand.

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Résumé La séquence de Grythytte forme une ceinture de roches métavolcaniques et métasédimentaires de direction NNO. La géologie fait apparaître les caractéristiques d'un processus dynamique de formation de fosse et de remplissage, qui s'est produit, pour la plus grande partie, après la formation du complexe volcano-plutonique de Hjulsjö situé à l'Est. Dans ce dernier complexe des produits pyroclastiques acides sont disposés autour d'un centre granitoïde et granophyrique, qui à son tour recoupe et est recoupé par des sills et des dykes basiques. Les observations de terrain et les faits pétrochimiques indiquent un procèssus magmatique distinctement bimodal qui s'est manifesté pendant une phase courte dans une période de «rifting».

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Statistical analysis of the largest possible earthquake magnitudes on the Ecuadorian coast for selected return periods

ABSTRACT

In this work, we have studied the largest earthquake magnitudes on the Ecuadorian coast by using the principles of Extreme Value Analysis based on its two approaches: Block Maxima and Peaks-over-Threshold. First, before modelling the recorded earthquakes, the K-means clustering technique was applied to determine a classification according to the level of magnitude of the earthquakes. Then, models based on the Extreme Value theory of earthquake magnitudes were developed for each of the four clusters that were found, and finally, the best-fitted models were those known as Fréchet and Gumbel ones. The zone with the greatest earthquake magnitudes on the Ecuadorian coast is located between the north of the province of Manabí and the south of the province of Esmeraldas, with a return period of 50 years for an earthquake with magnitude greater than 7.7 M_W.     

The carbon isotopic distribution of Murchison amino acids

The δ¹³C values of thirty-four individual amino acids and two pyridine carboxylic acids have been obtained fromthe Murchison meteorite. They were found to range from +4.9 to +52.8‰, with statistically significant differences observed both within and between amino acid subgroups. The ¹³C content of α-amino acids declines with increasing chain length, a trend similar to the ones previously observed for carboxylic acids and alkanes. Also 2-methyl-2-amino acids were found to be heavier in ¹³C than the corresponding 2-H homologues. The3-, 4-, and 5-amino acids do not show a comparable declining trend in δ¹³C values and neither do the amino dicarboxylic acids. This variability in δ ¹³C values can be interpreted as to indicate that the synthetic histories of soluble organics in meteorites may have been diverse even within groups of compounds with very similar functional group composition.     

Coarse sediment transport in mountain streams in Colorado and Wyoming,USA

Since the early 1990s, US Forest Service researchers have made thousands of bedload measurements in steep, coarse‐grained channels in Colorado and Wyoming, USA. In this paper we use data from 19 of those sites to characterize patterns and rates of coarse sediment transport for a range of channel types and sizes, including step–pool, plane‐bed, pool–riffle, and near‐braided channels. This effort builds upon previous work where we applied a piecewise regression model to (1) relate flow to rates of bedload transport and (2) define phases of transport in coarse‐grained channels. Earlier, the model was tested using bedload data from eight sites on the Fraser Experimental Forest near Fraser, Colorado. The analysis showed good application to those data and to data from four supplementary channels to which the procedure was applied. The earlier results were, however, derived from data collected at sites that, for the most part, have quite similar geology and runoff regimes. In this paper we evaluate further the application of piecewise regression to data from channels with a wider range of geomorphic conditions. The results corroborate with those from the earlier work in that there is a relatively narrow range of discharges at which a substantial change in the nature of bedload transport occurs. The transition from primarily low rates of sand transport (phase I) to higher rates of sand and coarse gravel transport (phase II) occurs, on average, at about 80 per cent of the bankfull (1·5‐year return interval) discharge. A comparison of grain sizes moved during the two phases showed that coarse gravel is rarely trapped in the samplers during phase I transport. Moreover, the movement and capture of the D₁₆ to D₂₅ grain size of the bed surface seems to correspond with the onset of phase II transport, particularly in systems with largely static channel surfaces. However, while there were many similarities in observed patterns of bedload transport at the 19 studied sites, each had its own ‘bedload signal’ in that the rate and size of materials transported largely reflected the nature of flow and sediment particular to that system. Published in 2005 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The deuterium enrichment of individual amino acids in carbonaceous meteorites: A case for the presolar distribution of biomolecule precursors

The δD values of over 40 amino acids and two pyridine carboxylic acids of the Murchison and Murray meteorites have been obtained by compound-specific isotopic analyses. For compounds with no known terrestrial distribution, these values range from approximately +330‰ (for cyclic leucine) to +3600‰ (for 2-amino-2,3-dimethylbutyric acid). The latter value is the highest ever recorded for a soluble organic compound in meteorites and nears deuterium to hydrogen ratios observed remotely in interstellar molecules. Deuterium content varies significantly between molecular species and is markedly higher for amino acids having a branched alkyl chain. The δD value of Murray l-isovaline, with an enantiomeric excess of ∼ 6% in the meteorite, was within experimental error of that determined for the combined dl-isovaline enantiomers. Overall, the hydrogen isotope composition of meteoritic amino acids is relatively simple and their δD values appear to vary more with the structure of their carbon chains than with the number and relative distribution of their functionalities or ¹³C content. The magnitude and extent of deuterium enrichment shared by many and varied amino acids in meteorites indicate that cosmic regimes such as those found in the interstellar medium were capable of producing, if not all the amino acids directly, at least a suite of their direct precursors that was abundant, varied, and considerably saturated.     

Collapse of primordial clouds — II. The role of dark matter

In this article we extend the study performed in our previous article of the collapse of primordial objects. We here analyse the behaviour of the physical parameters for clouds ranging from 10⁷ to 10¹⁵ M_⊙. We study the dynamical evolution of these clouds in two ways: as purely baryonic clouds and as clouds with non-baryonic dark matter included. We start the calculations at the beginning of the recombination era, following the evolution of the structure until the collapse (which we defined as the time when the density contrast of the baryonic matter is greater than 10⁴). We analyse the behaviour of several physical parameters of the clouds (e.g. the density contrast and the velocities of the baryonic matter and the dark matter) as a function of time and radial position in the cloud. In this study all physical processes that are relevant to the dynamical evolution of the primordial clouds, such as for example photon drag (due to the cosmic background radiation) and hydrogen molecular production, besides the expansion of the Universe, are included in the calculations. In particular we find that the clouds with dark matter collapse at higher redshift when we compare the results with the purely baryonic models. As a general result we find that the distribution of the non-baryonic dark matter is more concentrated than the baryonic one. It is important to stress that we do not take into account the putative virialization of the non-baryonic dark matter; we just follow the time and spatial evolution of the cloud, solving its hydrodynamical equations. We also studied the role of cooling–heating processes in the purely baryonic clouds.