Open and closed compositional data in petrology

The nature of chemical and modal closed and open compositional data for igneous petrology is reviewed. Chemical analyses of Ben Nevis (Ontario) Archaean volcanic rocks support earlier assertions that major- and trace-element g/100 cc igneous-rock data usually comprise open compositional variables which, unlike traditional closed constant-sum weight percentages, are not constrained by closure.     

ESTIMATING THE LOWER CRUSTAL VISCOSITY OF THE WESTERN QINLING-SONGPAN TECTONIC NODE AND ITS ADJACENT AREAS BY USING LANDFORM MORPHOLOGY

The western Qinling-Songpan tectonic node is located at the intersection of three major tectonic units of Tibetan plateau, the South China Block and the Ordos Block, and is at the forefront of the northeastern margin of Tibetan plateau. It has unique geological and dynamic characteristics from the surface to the deep underground. Based on the model for ductile flow in the lower crust, the geomorphological form is used to estimate the viscosity of the lower crust, and how the rheological process of the deep lithosphere acts on the upper crust deformation and structural geomorphology. And combined with GPS velocity field data, the current crustal deformation is analyzed to further study the regional dispersive deformation process. The results show that the viscosity of the north and northeast of the Zoige-Hongyuan Basin is smaller than that of the east and southeast. Therefore, the lower crust flow has a tendency of flowing to the northeastern low viscosity zone. We believe that when the lower crust flows from the central plain of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the rigid Sichuan Basin with a higher viscosity of the lower crust, it cannot flow into the basin, and part of the lower crust flow accumulate here, causing the upper crust to rise, and the uplifting led to the formation of the Longmen Mountains and a series of NNE-striking faults as well. When the lower crust flows to the northeast direction with a low viscosity, the brittle upper crust is driven together. Because of the remote effects from the Ordos Basin and the Longxi Basin, the mountains in this region are built slowly and the stepped arc-shaped topography of the current 3 000-meter contour line and the 2 000-meter contour line are developed. At the same time, a series of NWW-trending left-lateral strike-slip faults are developed. This explains the seismogenic tectonic model of the western Qinling-Songpan tectonic node as from NWW-trending left-lateral strike-slip faulting to the NNE-trending right-lateral strike-slip faulting and both having a thrust component. The current crustal movement direction revealed by the GPS velocity field is consistent with the direction of historical crust evolution of the lower crust revealed by the viscosity, implying that there is a good coupling relationship between the lower crust and upper crust. The results provide a basis for studying the development of fault systems with different strikes and properties, the formation of orogenic belts, the macroscopic geomorphological evolution characteristics, and the rheological and uplift dynamics of the lithosphere in the northeastern margin of the Tibetan plateau. In addition, our research differs from the previous studies in the spatial and temporal scale. Previous studies included either the entire Qinghai-Tibet Plateau or only the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. However, our analysis on the contours and topographical differences in the topography of the western Qinling-Songpan tectonic knot reveals that the study area is controlled by the lower crust flow. Our results are confirmed by various observations such as seismology, magnetotellurics and geophysical exploration. Moreover, the previous studies did not point out enough that the elevation contours are elliptical, and the elliptical geomorphology further illustrates that the formation and evolution of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has rheological characteristics and also conforms to the continuous deformation mode. Meanwhile, in terms of time scale, the evolution time of the study area is divided into three types of simulation time according to geochronology. And the GPS velocity field is introduced to observe the present-day crustal deformation.     

Studies of the dielectric constant of Indian rocks and minerals and some other materials

The experimental arrangement for the measurement of the dielectric constant has been described in brief. The dielectric constants of numerous metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks have been reported in the frequency range of 100 KHz and 20 MHz, whereas the dry samples have less dispersion in the dielectric constant, the wet samples, in turn, have greater dispersion. The role of water in increasing the values of the dielectric constant has been discussed. There is no direct correlation between the amount of water and the change of the dielectric constant. In general, basic rocks have higher values than the acidic rocks.     

新疆哈密黄山杂岩体岩浆动力学计算及成岩模式

本文通过岩浆粘度、密度、不混溶分离速度及岩浆沿裂隙上升速度等的计算,论证了黄山杂岩体第二侵入期岩浆发生液态不混溶的流体动力学条件,从而推断存在一个次级岩浆房,并认为这个次级岩浆房为液态不混溶分离提供了稳定空间。在此基础上,结合地幔中硫化物的分布特点和地幔岩块底辟上升模式,提出了第二侵入期岩浆的形成演化模式。     

Reflection and refraction of plane harmonic waves at an interface between elastic solid and porous solid saturated by viscous liquid

A general solution of Biot's field equations governing small motions of a porous solid saturated by viscous liquid is employed to study the reflection and refraction at the interface between an elastic solid and a liquid-saturated porous solid. The incident wave is assumed to be plane and homogeneous, propagating through the isotropic elastic solid. The poroelastic solid is considered to be a dissipative one. Amplitude and energy ratios are computed numerically for a particular model. With first-order corrections for the porosity of solid and viscosity of liquid, the limiting cases of low and high frequencies are computed.     

Rate constant measurement for the reactions of OH and Cl with peroxyacetyl nitrate at 298 K

The gas phase reactions of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) with OH and Cl have been studied using the discharge-flow EPR method. The rate constants are found to be k ₃=(7.5±1.4)×10^-14 and k ₄=(3.7±1.7)×10^-13 cm³ molecule^-1 s^-1 at 298 K, respectively. These results confirm that the OH+PAN reaction will be the dominant sink of PAN in the middle and upper troposphere, whereas the reaction Cl+PAN will be negligible in contrast with previous estimations.     

Evaluation of210Pb dating in lake sediments using stable Pb,Ambrosia pollen,and137Cs

We used sediment chronology data from fourteen published studies of lake cores across much of North America and Scandinavia in order to make a large scale comparison of the different dating techniques. The uncertainty of²¹⁰Pb derived dates was determined using common sediment event markers: the stable Pb rise, the¹³⁷Cs rise, and theAmbrosia pollen rise. For all data combined, the 95% confidence intervals for the stable Pb rise and theAmbrosia rise, were approximately 30 years. These 95% confidence intervals are slightly higher than those derived by First-Order Error analysis performed by others on²¹⁰Pb derived dates. When comparing the concordance of two²¹⁰Pb models (CRS and CIC) against markers of known history, we found that the CRS model dates (constant rate of supply) had consistently better agreement than the CIC model dates (constant initial concentration). Major discrepancies between¹³⁷Cs and²¹⁰Pb were common, but were consistently more severe in sediments of soft water lakes pointing to an inability of sediments with low mineral content to immobilize Cs.This is the ninth of a series of papers to be published by this journal following the 20 ^th anniversary of the first application of²¹⁰Pb dating of lake sediments, Dr. P. G. Appleby is guest editing this series.