An experimental study on the shallow-level migmatization of ferrogabbros from the Fuerteventura Basal Complex, Canary Islands

Spectacular shallow-level migmatization of ferrogabbroic rocks occurs in a metamorphic contact aureole of a gabbroic pluton of the Tierra Mala massif (TM) on Fuerteventura (Canary Islands). In order to improve our knowledge of the low pressure melting behavior of gabbroic rocks and to constrain the conditions of migmatization of the TM gabbros, we performed partial melting experiments on a natural ferrogabbro, which is assumed as protolith of the migmatites. The experiments were performed in an internally heated pressure vessel (IHPV) at 200 MPa, 930–1150 °C at relatively oxidizing conditions. Distinct amounts of water were added to the charge.

From 930 to 1000 °C, the observed experimental phases are plagioclase (An_60–70), clinopyroxene, amphibole (titanian magnesiohastingsites), two Fe–Ti oxides, and a basaltic, K-poor melt. Above 1000 °C, amphibole is no longer stable. The first melts are very rich in normative plagioclase (>70 wt.%). This indicates that at the beginning of partial melting plagioclase is the major phase which is consumed to produce melt. In the experiments, plagioclase is stable up to high temperatures (1060 °C) showing increasing An content with temperature. This is not compatible with the natural migmatites, in which An-rich plagioclase is absent in the melanosomes, while amphibole is stable. Our results show that the partial melting of the natural rocks cannot be regarded as an “in-situ” process that occurred in a closed system. Considerable amounts of alkalis probably transported by water-rich fluids, derived from the mafic pluton underplating the TM gabbro, were necessary to drive the melting reaction out of the stability range of plagioclase. A partial melting experiment with a migmatite gabbro showing typical “in-situ” textures as starting material supports this assumption.

Crystallization experiments performed at 1000 °C on a glass of the fused ferrogabbro with different water contents added to the charge show that generally high water activities could be achieved (crystallization of amphibole), independently of the bulk water content, even in a system with very low initial bulk water content (0.3 wt.%). Increasing water contents produce plagioclase richer in An, reduces the modal proportion of plagioclase in the crystallizing assemblage and extends the melt fraction. High melt fractions of >30 wt.% could only be observed in systems with high bulk water contents (>2 wt.%). This indicates that the migmatites were generated under water-rich conditions (probably water-saturated), since those migmatites, which are characterized as “in-situ” formations, show generally high amounts of leucosomes (>30 wt.%).     

Structure and Quaternary tectonic history of the Woodlark triple junction region,Solomon Islands

The Woodlark triple junction region, a topographically and structurally complex triangular area of Quaternary age, lies east of Simbo Ridge and southwest of the New Georgia island group, Solomon Islands, at the junction of the Pacific, Australian and Solomon Sea plates. SeaMARC II side-scan imagery and bathymetry in conjunction with seismic reflection profiles, 3.5 kHz records, and petrologic, magnetic and gravity data show that the active Woodlark spreading centre does not extend into this region.South of the triple junction region, the Woodlark spreading centre reoriented at about 2 Ma into a series of short ESE-trending segments. These segments continued to spread until about 0.5 Ma, when the lithosphere on their northern sides was transferred from the Solomon Sea plate to the Australian plate. Simultaneously the Simbo transform propagated northwards along the western side of the transferred lithosphere, forming a trench-trench-transform triple junction located NNW of Simbo island and a new leaky plate boundary segment that built Simbo Ridge.As the Pacific plate approached, the area east of northern Simbo Ridge was tilted northwards, sheared by dominantly right-lateral faults, elevated, and intruded by arc-related magmas to form Ghizo Ridge. Calc-alkalic magmas sourced beneath the Pacific plate built three large strato-volcanic edifices on the subducting Australian plate: Simbo at the northern end of Simbo Ridge, and Kana Keoki and Coleman seamounts on an extensional fracture adjoining the SE end of Ghizo Ridge.A sediment drape, supplied in part from Simbo and Kana Keoki volcanoes, mantles the east-facing slopes of northern Simbo and Ghizo Ridges and passes distally into sediment ponded in the trench adjoining the Pacific plate. As a consequence of plate convergence, parts of the sediment drape and pond are presently being deformed, and faults are dismembering Kana Keoki and Coleman seamounts.The Woodlark system differs from other modern or Tertiary ridge subduction systems, which show wide variation in character and behaviour. Existing models describing the consequences of ridge subduction are likely to be predictive in only a general way, and deduced rules for the behaviour of oceanic lithosphere in ridge subduction systems may not be generally applicable.     

Relationship between Cd and PO4 in the Subtropical Sea near the Ryukyu Islands

The relationship between dissolved cadmium (Cd) and phosphate (PO₄) was examined at three stations in the subtropical area near the Ryukyu Islands in May 1999. Preformed PO₄ was obtained using the Redfield ratio in order to separate the surface water and the other layers in this study area. Almost 0 μM (−0.043 μM to 0.094 μM) was estimated in the layers above 300 m and 250 m at Sts. 1 and 3 and at St. 2, respectively. Up to these depths, water was considered to be uniform, and these layers were defined as the surface water in this study area. In the surface water, the slopes of the regression lines of the Cd-PO₄ plot were 0.162, 0.156, and 0.226 (nM/μM) at Sts. 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and these values were much closer to the estimated regenerated ratio of Cd to PO₄ from the Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU)-Cd/PO₄ plots, which was 0.197 (nM/μM) in this study area. Below surface layers, the slopes of the Cd-PO₄ plot changed to 0.371, 0.352, and 0.362 (nM//μM) at Sts. 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In the relationships between Cd and PO₄, clear deviations or kinks were observed at three stations at a PO₄ concentration of approximately 0.2 μM in the plot, which was attributable to the discontinuity of surface water and the other layers across the North Pacific subtropical mode water. In studies of the interaction between surface water and biogenic particles concerning the Cd/PO₄ ratio, separate analyses of seawater (surface water and the other layers) should be carried out to obtain the individual surface water ratio because the Cd/PO₄ ratio in the surface water is expected to differ from that of the underlying water. Furthermore, the biological fractionation of these constituents is based on the surface water ratio. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Navigating the evolution of marine policy in Panama: Current policies and community responses in the Pearl Islands and Bocas del Toro Archipelagos of Panama

Recent changes in marine policy in Panama are closely related to sustained expansion of the Panamanian economy in the past ten years. Important drivers of economic growth such as the Panama Canal expansion, tourism, and real estate development directly involve marine and coastal areas. Therefore, maintaining the quality of these environments, as well as the sustainability of the human communities that depend on them, calls for the implementation of adequate management and planning policies. In light of a complex history of marine and coastal policy in Panama, current institutional restructuring processes, and a growing recognition of the importance of marine and coastal geographies, the authors aim to document the current status of, and community response to, marine and coastal policy in Panama, analyzed in terms of three important cross-cutting sectors: tourism, fishing, and conservation. To do so, the authors introduce two case studies: one in the Pearl Islands Archipelago and one in Bocas del Toro, each with varying degrees of participation or involvement in each sector, to illustrate the range of adaptations to change occurring in coastal communities. Based on an in-depth policy analysis and the case studies, the authors suggest that there are important administrative and structural gaps in the legislation and institutions that enforce them, as well as a lack of integration across institutions. In particular, the authors highlight the lack of clear marine and coastal property regimes as an obstacle to the implementation of integrative marine policies in Panama.     

南沙群岛珊瑚礁砾洲地貌特征

通过对南沙群岛永暑礁、西门礁和安达礁3个砾洲的现场调查,基于理论最低潮面和平均海面分别计算了砾洲的可能分布范围和平均出露范围,获得了砾洲的地形地貌特征。3个砾洲均为向西北凸出的弧形,呈北东-南西向展布。永暑礁和西门礁砾洲周边地势较高,中部相对低洼,分布有多条砾脊,边缘向海侧主砾脊高度最大,内部多条较低的次砾脊相交于主砾脊并汇聚于砾洲东部;安达礁砾洲则中部凸起地势较高,周边较低,无多重砾脊分布。推断砾洲的发育由最初珊瑚枝块堆积于中部形成凸起,逐渐向北东和南西两侧以砾脊形式扩展,最终形成砾洲由内向外的洼地-砾脊-砾滩的地貌分带模式。砾洲的地形地貌特征表明,南沙群岛砾洲的发育主要受北东-南西向水动力条件季节性交替的控制,反映了南海海区盛行季风的影响。南沙群岛珊瑚礁砾洲的地貌特征为深入研究南海珊瑚礁灰沙岛地貌发育演化及动力机制提供了基础数据。     

Intra-archipelago moult dispersion of southern elephant seals at the Prince Edward Islands,southern Indian Ocean

During three summer surveys at Prince Edward Island (PEI), southern Indian Ocean (2001, 2004 and 2008), 416 southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina were inspected for identification tags. In all, 42 seals that had been tagged as weaned pups at their natal site were found on Marion Island (MI), 38 of which could be individually identified by resighting their tag numbers. The majority of the MI-tagged seals were yearlings or subadults, and all but one were hauled out at PEI for the annual moult. The attendance rate of the known individuals at their natal island during the annual moult was only 40%, based on their resighting histories. This was significantly lower than the 77 ± 6% moult attendance rate estimated for a random MI population sample drawn from the same cohorts (based on 10 000 replications). Annual resight probabilities (considering all haulout phases) was 58% per annum for the MI seals seen at PEI, and 80 ± 4% for the simulation. Seasonal and annual absences of seals from MI violate the ‘homogeneity of capture’ assumption of mark-recapture models. When multiple sightings during any year are treated as a single sighting, resights during other haulouts (e.g. breeding) compensate only partially for absences during the moult. Therefore, mark-recapture studies undertaken in archipelagos should ideally include both marking and resighting of individuals on all islands which will allow discrimination between mortality and local migration.     

Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic fish faunas of the Japanese Islands

Abstract In recent years, many fish teeth and scales have been found from the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic age strata of the Japanese Islands. This study is a compilation of the Japanese fish record from the Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic age deposits. Based on the published and unpublished data, the fossil fishes from the Palaeozoic and Early Mesozoic of Japan can be classified into 27 genera and 33 species, that is, one species of Devonian placoderms, 19 species of Permian to Jurassic elasmobranchs, three species of Permian cochliodonts, seven species of Carboniferous to Permian petalodonts, and three species of Triassic to Jurassic osteichthyans.     

An audio-magnetotelluric investigation in Terceira Island (Azores)

Ten audio-magnetotelluric soundings have been carried out along a profile crossing the Serra do Cume caldera in the eastern part of the Terceira Island (Azores). The main objectives of this investigation were to detect geoelectrical features related with tectonic structures and to characterize regional hydrological and hydrothermal aspects mainly those related to geothermal fluid dynamics.Three-dimensional numerical investigation showed that the data acquired at periods shorter than 1 s are not significantly affected by ocean effect. The data was analysed using the Smith's decomposition method in order to investigate possible distortions caused by superficial structures and to estimate a global regional strike. The results suggest that in general the soundings were not distorted. A regional N55°W strike was chosen for the two-dimensional data inversion.The low-resistivity zones (10–30 ohm-m) displayed in the central part of the 2-D geoelectrical model have been interpreted as caused by hydrothermal circulation. The low-resistivity anomalies at the ends of the profile might be attributed to alteration zones with interaction of seawater intrusion. High-resistivity (> 300 ohm-m) values have been related with less permeable zones in the SW of Cinco Picos and Guilherme Moniz caldera walls.     

Characteristics of earthquake sequences in the Kuril Islands

IntroductionEarthquakesshowanon-homogeneousdistributionontheEarth'ssurface;inmostregions,therearenoorfeweanhquakestooccur.Mosteanhquakesconcentrateinsomenarrowandlonghugeseismicbelts,forexample,thecircum-Pacificseismicbelt,Alpine-Himalnyanseismicbeltandmid-oceanridgeseismicbelt.Themid-oceanridgeseismicbelttraversesthePacific,Indian,AtlanticandArcticOceanstoformaunifiedandinterconnectedmid-oceanridgeseismicbelt;itisalsoconnectedwiththecircum-Pacific,Alpine-Himalayanseismicbelts.Therefore,t…