Dehydration melting of a basaltic composition amphibolite at 1.5 and 2.0 GPa: implications for the origin of adakites

This study presents the results of dehydration melting experiments on a basaltic composition amphibolite under conditions appropriate to a hot slab geotherm (1.5 and 2.0 GPa and temperatures of 850 to 1150° C). Dehydration melting produces an omphacitic augite and garnet bearing residue coexisting with rhyolitic to andesitic composition melts. At 1.5 GPa, the amphibolite melts in two stages between 800 and 1025° C. The 2.0 GPa data also define two melting stages. At 2.0 GPa, the first stage involves nearly modal melting of the original amphibolite minerals (qtz, pl, amp) to produce melt + cpx + grt. During the second stage, the eclogite restite melts non-modally (0.86 cpx + 0.14 grt = 1 melt). The experimental results were combined with data from the literature to generate a composite P-T phase diagram for basaltic composition amphibolites over the 800 to 1100° C temperature range for pressures up to 2.0 GPa. Comparison of the major element compositions of the experimentally produced melts with compositions of presumed slab melts (adakites) shows that partial melting of amphibolite at conditions appropriate to a hot-slab geotherm produces melts similar to andesitic and dacitic adakites except for significant MgO and CaO depletions. Trace element modelling of amphibolite dehydration melting using the 2.0 GPa melting reactions produces REE abundances similar to those of adakites at 10–15 wt% batch melting, but the models do not reproduce the high Sr/Y ratios characteristic of adakites. Taken together, the major and trace element results are not consistent with the derivation of adakites by dehydration melting of the subducted slab with little or no interaction with the mantle wedge or crust. If adakites are partial melts of the subducted slab, they must undergo significant interaction with the mantle and/or crust, during which they acquire a number of their distinctive characteristics.     

Dissolved iodine in waters overlying and in the Orca Basin,Gulf of Mexico

The distribution and speciation of iodine, a biophilic redox-sensitive trace element, in waters overlying and in the Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico, which contains hypersaline, anoxic and yet non-sulfide-bearing brine have been determined. The distribution of iodate and iodide in the oxic waters overlying the anoxic brine are similar to those reported in other oceans. However, in the oxic-anoxic mixing zone, iodate disappears while the concentration of iodide reaches a maximum of 8.1 μM, the highest concentration ever reported in open oceans. There is also a maximum in specific iodine of 30.7 nM‰^?1 at this depth. Specific iodine in oxic seawater is only about 10–14 nM ‰^?1. These features may be explained by the preferential dissolution of biogenic particles that have accumulated in a strong pycnocline. In the anoxic brine proper, the concentration of iodide is 3.8 μM and can be explained almost entirely by the simultaneous mobilization of chloride and iodide during the dissolution of evaporite beds as the specific iodine of 14.5 nM‰^?1 is only slightly higher than those observed in the oxic waters.     

Forecasting and hindcasting waves with the SWAN model in the Southern California Bight

The Naval Research Laboratory created a wave forecasting system in support of the Nearshore Canyon Experiment (NCEX) field program. The outer nest of this prediction system encompassed the Southern California Bight. This forecasting system is described in this paper, with analysis of results via comparison to the extensive buoy network in the region. There are a number of potential errors, two of which are poor resolution of islands in the Bight—which have a strong impact on nearshore wave climate—and the use of the stationary assumption for computations. These two problems have straightforward solutions, but the solutions are computationally expensive, so an operational user must carefully consider their cost. The authors study the impact of these two types of error (relative to other errors, such as error in boundary forcing) using several hindcasts performed after the completion of NCEX. It is found that, with buoy observations as ground truth, the stationary assumption leads to a modest increase in root-mean-square error; this is due to relatively poor prediction of the timing of swell arrivals and local sea growth/decay. The model results are found to be sensitive to the resolution of islands; however, coarse resolution does not incur an appreciable penalty in terms of error statistics computed via comparison to buoy observations, suggesting that other errors dominate. Inaccuracy in representation of the local atmospheric forcing likely has a significant impact on wave model error. Perhaps most importantly, the accuracy of directional distribution of wave energy at the open ocean boundaries appears to be a critical limitation on the accuracy of the model-data comparisons inside the Bight.     

Environment and paleoecology of a 12 ka mid-North American Younger Dryas forest chronicled in tree rings

Until now, availability of wood from the Younger Dryas abrupt cooling event (YDE) in N. America ca. 12.9 to 11.6 ka has been insufficient to develop high-resolution chronologies for refining our understanding of YDE conditions. Here we present a multi-proxy tree-ring chronology (ring widths, “events” evidenced by microanatomy and macro features, stable isotopes) from a buried black spruce forest in the Great Lakes area (Liverpool East site), spanning 116 yr at ca. 12,000 cal yr BP. During this largely cold and wet period, the proxies convey a coherent and precise forest history including frost events, tilting, drowning and burial in estuarine sands as the Laurentide Ice Sheet deteriorated. In the middle of the period, a short mild interval appears to have launched the final and largest episode of tree recruitment. Ultimately the tops of the trees were sheared off after death, perhaps by wind-driven ice floes, culminating an interval of rising water and sediment deposition around the base of the trees. Although relative influences of the continental ice sheet and local effects from ancestral Lake Michigan are indeterminate, the tree-ring proxies provide important insight into environment and ecology of a N. American YDE boreal forest stand.     

Analytical Solutions for Determination of Non-Steady- State and Steady-State Capture Zones

This paper presents analytical solutions for determining non-steady-state capture zones produced by a single recovery well and steady-state capture zones produced by multiple recovery wells. Analysis of non-steady-slate capture zones is based on the lime-dependent location of caplure zone stagnation points and the geometric similarity between steady-slate and non-steady-state capture zones. The analytical solution of steady-state capture zones is obtained from spatial variations of discharge potential across the capture zone boundary. Both capture zone analyses are based on the assumptions of uniform flow field with a constant hydraulic conductivity, the Dupuit assumption of insignificant vertical flow, a negligible delayed yield, and a fully penetrating well with a constant pumping rate. For a ground water pump-and-trcat remediation program, the pumping rate and well location design variables can be adjusted to ensure containment of the ground water contaminant plume.     

Observations on the relevance of the industrial-Urban hypothesis for rural development

Rural development tends to be viewed as a facet of urban development in the sense that rural areas are expected to be recipients of positive urban spill-overs. To that end, two concepts have been formulated: growth centre theory and the Industrial-Urban Hypothesis (IUH). The former has been beset by conceptual problems whereas the simpler IUH has not been tested in a Canadian context. This paper tests the basic IUH proposition that the general level of rural development is an inverse function of urban accessibility. Findings suggest that the IUH is more attuned to the impacts of smaller centres rather than the region's metropolitan centre. However, introduction of an exogenous element based on ethnic variations in rural settlements indicate how socializing factors work to modify the IUH concept.     

Partitioning of Hf,Lu, Ti,and Mn between olivine,clinopyroxene and basaltic liquid

The crystal/liquid partition coefficients of Lu, Hf, Ti, Mn and Ca have been measured between olivine, clinopyroxene and basaltic melt. The Ti, Mn, and Ca partition coefficients were determined at natural abundance levels. The Lu and Hf partition coefficients were determined at doping levels ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 wt% “trace element” as oxide in order to allow analysis by electron microprobe. Olivine/liquid partition coefficients for Lu, Hf, Ti, Mn, and Ca were determined at 1 bar and temperatures from 1150 to 1177° C. Clinopyroxene/liquid partition coefficients were determined for Lu, Hf, Ti, and Mn at pressures of 10, 15, and 20 kbars and temperatures from 1250 to 1290° C. The olivine/liquid partition coefficients of Hf, Lu, Ti, and Ca are small. D(Hf-ol) is zero within the analytical uncertainty. Both D(Lu-ol) and D(Mn-ol) decrease with increasing temperature, but D(Ti-ol) and D(Ca-ol) are constant over the narrow temperature range studied. The partition coefficient results are summarized below.