(Re) deposition of loess in southern Limbourg,the Netherlands 3. Field evidence for conditions of deposition of the middle and upper silt loam complexes,and landscape evolution at Nagelbeek

This paper is about conditions and processes during the accumulation of the Upper Pleniglacial Middle and Upper Silt Loam complexes at Nagelbeek, Limbourg, a Weichselian stratigraphical type locality. The complexes correlate with Hesbayan and Brabantian loesses in Belgium, formed between 28,000 and 12,400 yrs BP. They are characterized by sediment features (cracks, mass deformations, and cut-and-fill features) that are ascribed to a cryogenic regimen. The main Middle Silt Loam subunit contains contraction cracks deformed and further modified by masswasting. Intra-Upper-Pleniglacial pedogenic intervals are inferred from three greyish bands, from a truncated weathered zone surmounting the Middle Silt Loam, and from an aeolian-cumulic palaeosol at the base of the Upper Silt Loam. Latter two zones and an intervening erosional unconformity were cryogenically reworked, less than 22,000 yrs BP, to form a complex stratigraphical marker-zone: the ‘Horizon à Langues de Nagelbeek’. Morphological variants of the marker-zone are described. The geomorphic evolution of the Nagelbeek upland, from Saalian to Holocene times, is summarized in unconformity maps and a time diagram.     

Lithosphere formation in the central Slave Craton (Canada): plume subcretion or lithosphere accretion?

Major-element compositions of minerals in peridotite xenoliths from the Lac de Gras kimberlites provide constraints on the mode of lithosphere formation beneath the central Slave Craton, Canada. Magnesia contents of reconstructed whole rocks correlate positively with NiO and negatively with CaO contents, consistent with variable partial melt extraction. Alumina and Cr₂O₃ contents are broadly positively correlated, suggestive of melt depletion in the absence of a Cr–Al phase. Garnet modes are high at a given Al₂O₃ content (a proxy for melt depletion), falling about a 7 GPa melt depletion model. These observations, combined with high olivine Mg# and major-element relationships of FeO-poor peridotites (<7.5 wt%) indicative of melt loss at pressures >3 GPa (residual FeO content being a sensitive indicator of melt extraction pressure), and similar high pressures of last equilibration (∼4.2 to 5.8 GPa), provide multiple lines of evidence that the mantle beneath the central Slave Craton has originated as a residue from high-pressure melting, possibly during plume subcretion. Apparent low melt depletion pressures for high-FeO peridotites (>7.5 wt%) could suggest formation in an oceanic setting, followed by subduction to their depth of entrainment. However, these rocks, which are characterised by low SiO₂ contents (<43 wt%), are more likely to be the result of post-melting FeO-addition, leading to spuriously low estimates of melt extraction pressures. They may have reacted with a silica-undersaturated melt that dissolved orthopyroxene, or experienced olivine injection by crystallising melts. A secular FeO-enrichment of parts of the deep mantle lithosphere is supported by lower average Mg# in xenolithic olivine (91.7) compared to olivine inclusions in diamond (92.6).     

Factors affecting arsenic concentration in groundwaters from Northwestern Chaco-Pampean Plain,Argentina

The concentration of arsenic measured in groundwater from three aquifers in the study area located in the Eastern Tucuman province, Argentina, mostly depends on the lithology, but the spatial and temporal variations of concentrations seem to be also controlled by pH changes, climatic factors, and human perturbations. The highest concentrations of As (more than 1,000 μg L⁻¹) were found in the shallow aquifer, made of As-rich loess, while the lowest concentrations were measured in the deep confined aquifer, consisting of alternating layers of alluvial sands/gravels and clays. Intermediate values were measured in the semiconfined aquifer made of the fluvial sediments deposited in the Salí River valley, that alternate in the upper part of the sedimentary sequence with layers of loess. Because most of As in the loess is considered to be adsorbed onto Fe-oxyhydroxide coatings, the increase of pH in the flow direction (west-east) leads to increasing arsenic concentrations towards the eastern border of the study area. The decomposition of organic wastes poured into the Salí River or associated with local and diffuse sources of contamination in the eastern part of the study area depletes dissolved oxygen, which leads to the reductive dissolution of Fe and Mn oxyhydroxides, and to the subsequent release of the adsorbed and co-precipitated As. This process mainly affects shallow groundwater and the upper part of the semiconfined aquifer. Geochemical and hydrological data also suggest that rising water table levels at the end of the wet season may also lead to reductive dissolution of As-rich Fe oxyhydroxides in the shallow aquifer.     

Crustal structure using receiver function in the east part of A＇nyemaqen suture belt

Twenty broadband seismographs were deployed along Hongyuan, Sichuan to Wuwei, Gansu. 81 teleseismic events were recorded in one year. We computed receiver functions from teleseismic waveform data and obtained S wave velocity structure beneath each station along the profile by using receiver function inversion method. The results revealed that the crustal structure is very complex and crustal average S wave velocity is to be on the low side. Low velocity structure generally exists in the depth range of 10～40 km in the crust between Aba arc fault and northern edge fault of Qinling earth＇s axis and it is a tectonic feature of complex geological process such as ancient A＇nyemaqen Tethys ocean from closing and side colliding to subducted plate exhumed or thrust rock slice lifted. The Moho is about 50 km depth along the profile and is slightly deeper in the south than in the north.     

The November 2002 eruption at Piton de la Fournaise volcano,La Réunion Island: ground deformation,seismicity, and pit crater collapse

An eruption on the eastern flank of Piton de la Fournaise volcano started on 16 November, 2002 after 10 months of quiescence. After a relatively constant level of activity during the first 13 days of the eruption, lava discharge, volcanic tremor and seismicity increased from 29 November to 3 December. Lava effusion suddenly ceased on 3 December while shallow earthquakes beneath the Dolomieu summit crater were still recorded at a rate of about one per minute. This unusual activity continued and increased in intensity over the next three weeks, ending with the formation of a pit crater within Dolomieu. Based on ground deformation, measured by rapid-static and continuous GPS and an extensometer, seismic data, and lava effusion patterns, the eruptive period is divided into five stages: 1) slow summit inflation and sporadic seismicity; 2) rapid summit inflation and a short seismic crisis; 3) rapid flank inflation, onset of summit deflation, sporadic seismicity, accompanied by stable effusion; 4) flank inflation, coupled with summit deflation, intense seismicity, and increased lava effusion; and finally 5) little deflation, intense shallow seismicity, and the end of lava effusion. We propose a model in which the pre-intrusive inflation of Stage 1 in the months preceding the eruption was caused by a magma body located near sea level. The magma reservoir was the source of an intrusion rising under the summit during Stage 2. In Stage 3, the magma ponded at a shallow level in the edifice while the lateral injection of a radial dike reached the surface on the eastern flank of the basaltic volcano, causing lava effusion. Pressure decrease in the magmatic plumbing system followed, resulting in upward migration of a collapse front, forming a subterranean column of debris by faulting and stoping. This caused intense shallow seismicity, increase in discharge of lava and volcanic tremor at the lateral vent in Stage 4 and, eventually the formation of a pit crater in Stage 5.     

SNREI地球模型负荷勒夫数数值计算的新进展

基于Ｌｏｎｇｍａｎ和Ｆａｒｒｅｌｌ的表面负荷形变理论，深入研究计算ＳＮＲＥＩ弹性地球模型表面负荷勒夫数的数值计算方法，取得新的进展：采用了一种新的代换方法─ｒ￣ｎ因子法，比传统的无量纲化法简单易行，且能达到很高的计算精度；确立了检验表面边界条件、微分方程积分线性性和计算结果的收敛性，用于评价数值计算结果精度的有效准则；给出了ＰＲＥＭ地球模型的一组高精度计算结果．     

Cretaceous stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments of the Southern Petén Basin, Guatemala

The Cretaceous deposits of the Southern Petén Basin, an oil-producing province, are located to the south of the Yucatan Platform and to the east of the Chiapas Carbonate Platform of Mexico. The succession in the southern part of this basin has been studied both in wells and at outcrop by microfacies analysis. It is composed of 5000 m of shallow marine carbonates and evaporites with a few thin layers of pelagic limestones rich in organic carbon and planktic foraminifera deposited during peak transgressions or maximum flooding. The sedimentation of this thick succession was not continuous, and the section is punctuated by subaerial erosional bounding surfaces and a single hardground which marks the final drowning of the carbonate platform during the late Maastrichtian. New age determinations have been obtained on the basis of planktic and benthic foraminifera from the Aptian to Santonian Cobán Formation, D, C, B and A Members. Cobán C (Albian) and B (Cenomanian) Members are the present oil reservoirs. The rudist and alveolinid limestones of late Campanian and Maastrichtian age referred to the Campur Formation in the Southern Petén Basin are here reassigned to the Angostura Formation, as recognized in the Chiapas area. The Actela Formation is defined here to encompass the limestone breccia deposits that occur at the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary and extend into the Parvularugoglobigerina eugubina Zone of early Danian age. The D, C, B and A Members of the Cobán Formation and the Angostura Formation represent second order transgressive and regressive trends in a passive margin area where the deposits indicate a succession of various environments, including fluviatile, salinas, shallow marine carbonate platform, outer shelf and intrashelf basin. High subsidence rates, sea-level changes and tectonic uplift controlled the sedimentation.

Abstract

Les formations crétacées du sud-est du Bassin du Petén, région pétrolière du nord du Guatemala, sont situées au Sud du Yucatan et à l'Est du Chiapas au Mexique. Ces sédiments ont été étudiés à la fois dans deux puits et à l'affleurement par l'analyse des microfaciès. Cet ensemble sédimentaire est composé de 5000 m de carbonates de plate-forme de faible profondeur et d'évaporites, dans lesquels s'intercalent de minces couches de calcaires pélagiques riches en matière organique et en foraminifères planctoniques. Ces calcaires pélagiques se sont déposés lors des maximums de transgressions. La sédimentation de cette épaisse série n'est pas continue et est ponctuée par quelques surfaces d'érosion sub-aérienne et une surface durcie qui souligne l'ennoyage définitif de la plate-forme carbonatée au Maastrichtien terminal. De nouvelles datations ont été obtenues sur la formation Cobán et ses membres D, C, B et A qui s'étagent de l'Aptien au Santonien. Les membres C (albien) et B (cénomanien) constituent les réservoirs productifs. Les calcaires à rudistes et à alveolinidés du Campanien supérieur–Maastrichtien ont été appelés à tort au Petén formation Campur. Ils doivent, selon nous, être attribués à la formation Angostura comme au Chiapas voisin, où affleurent des faciès comparables et de même âge. Une nouvelle formation est créée (formation Actela) pour les brèches calcaires de la limite Crétacé–Tertiaire et de la Zone à Eugubina du Danien inférieur. Les membres D, C, B, A de la formation Cobán et la formation Angostura représentent des cycles transgressifs–régressifs de deuxième ordre. Sur cette marge passive du Petén, les dépôts correspondent à des environnements variés comme des terres émergées soumises à une altération karstique et à des dépôts fluviatiles, des salinas, des plates-formes carbonatées marines, des shelf externes et des bassins intra plate-forme. La sédimentation a été, ici, contrôlée par une forte vitesse de subsidence, les variations du niveau marin et des soulèvements tectoniques.     

Upwelling and the distribution of chlorophyll a within the Bay of Concepción,Chile

The influence of upwelling on the distribution of chlorophyll a within the Bay of Concepción, Chile is discussed in light of continuous measurements of surface in vivo chlorophyll fluorescence and temperature taken simultaneously along horizontal transects, and hydrographic stations' data. Results suggest significant temporal variability both in the distribution of in vivo fluorescence, temperature and salinity within the Bay and in the characteristics of the exchange between the Bay and the adjacent shelf waters, induced by variable upwelling. Upwelling is produced by the predominant south-westerly winds during the summer. Significant variations in the wind direction occur with periods from two to seven days. During active upwelling, exchange is characterized by a surface outflow through the mouth of the Bay and an inflow at depth. Low chlorophyll fluorescence is confined to the upwelling areas on the eastern shore either within or outside the Bay; high chlorophyll fluorescence is confined to the central and western Bay. Density data suggest a three-layered circulation pattern at the mouth of the Bay during the upwelling relaxation involving an inflow both at the surface and bottom and outflow at mid-depth. Associated with this exchange is an active high chlorophyll transport from the Bay to the adjacent coastal waters at mid-depth and inflow of low chlorophyll water from the adjacent shelf at the surface and near the bottom.     

La prévision du climat : de l'échelle saisonnière à l'échelle décennale

The atmosphere and the ocean are subject to many dynamical instabilities, which limit the time during which their behaviour can be deterministically forecasted. At longer timescales, the atmosphere can be predicted at best using statistical methods, as a response to external forcing linked to sea- and land-surface anomalies. Climate being defined as the mean of atmospheric states, it appears that it can be predicted up to a few months in advance, which is the characteristic time of the so-called slow components of the climate system. Forecasting can sometimes be extended to longer time ranges, especially when the coupled ocean–atmosphere system exhibits internal variability modes, with characteristic times of a few years. Seasonal climate forecasting is most often based upon Monte-Carlo simulations, where the various realisations correspond to slightly different initial conditions. The present sate-of-the-art in Europe (ECMWF) and/or in the USA (IRI) allows to forecast such major phenomena, as El Niño, up to six months in advance. Finally, some parameters may exhibit predictability at still longer time-ranges (inter-annual to decadal), but only for certain regions. The example of electricity production is used to underline the potentially large economical benefit of seasonal climate forecasting. To cite this article: J.-C. André et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 1115–1127.

Résumé

L'atmosphère et l'océan sont le siège d'instabilités dynamiques, qui limitent la durée pendant laquelle il est possible d'en prévoir l'évolution de façon déterministe. Au-delà, l'atmosphère n'est plus prévisible, au mieux, que de façon statistique, en fonction du forçage externe qu'exerce(nt) sur elle l'océan et/ou la surface des continents. Le climat (au sens d'une moyenne des états atmosphériques) se révèle ainsi prévisible jusqu'à des échéances temporelles de quelques mois, échelle de temps caractéristique des composantes dites « lentes » du système climatique. La prévision peut s'étendre à des échéances parfois plus longues, dans le cas où le système couplé océan–atmosphère posséderait des modes de variabilité temporelle de périodes caractéristiques de quelques années. La prévision climatique saisonnière est très souvent construite à partir de simulations de type Monte-Carlo, avec des ensembles de réalisations utilisant des conditions initiales légèrement différentes. Dans l'état actuel de ces prévisions, qu'elles soient réalisées en Europe (CEPMMT) ou aux États-Unis (IRI), il est possible de prévoir environ six mois à l'avance un certain nombre de phénomènes climatiques, en particulier ceux liés aux épisodes dits « El Niño », pour lesquels l'amplitude des variations est suffisamment importante. Il existe, par ailleurs, une prévisibilité à encore plus longue échéance (inter-annuelle à décennale), mais seulement pour certains paramètres et certaines régions. L'exemple de la production d'électricité montre l'importance économique potentielle très grande de la prévision climatique saisonnière. Pour citer cet article : J.-C. André et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 1115–1127.     

Une dépression piézométrique naturelle en hausse au Sahel (Sud-Ouest du Niger)A rising piezometric depression in the Sahel (southwestern Niger)

In southwest Niger, the Continental Terminal water table displays a natural hollow shape about 10 m in depth over an area of 4000 km². A 10-year survey of this hollow aquifer has shown that current recharge is above $\text{20 }\text{mm}\text{yr}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$. The water table has risen continuously since the 1950–1960s as a result of land clearance. This shows a disequilibrium in the aquifer balance. The long-term recharge rate is estimated by radioisotopes to be around $\text{1 }\text{mm}\text{yr}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$. This figure fits with the only possible origin of the piezometric depression, i.e. evapotranspiration losses in its centre. To cite this article: G. Favreau et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 395–401.