Molecular line profiles as diagnostics of protostellar collapse: modelling the 'blue asymmetry' in inside-out infall

The evolution of star-forming core analogues undergoing inside-out collapse is studied with a multipoint chemodynamical model which self-consistently computes the abundance distribution of chemical species in the core. For several collapse periods the output chemistry of infalling tracer species such as HCO⁺, CS and N₂H⁺ is then coupled to an accelerated Λ-iteration radiative transfer code, which predicts the emerging molecular line profiles using two different input gas/dust temperature distributions. We investigate the sensitivity of the predicted spectral line profiles and line asymmetry ratios to the core temperature distribution, the time-dependent model chemistry, as well as to ad hoc abundance distributions. The line asymmetry is found to be strongly dependent on the adopted chemical abundance distribution. In general, models with a warm central region show higher values of blue asymmetry in optically thick HCO⁺ and CS lines than models with a starless core temperature profile. We find that in the formal context of Shu-type inside-out infall, and in the absence of rotation or outflows, the relative blue asymmetry of certain HCO⁺ and CS transitions is a function of time and, subject to the foregoing caveats, can act as a collapse chronometer. The sensitivity of simulated HCO⁺ line profiles to linear radial variations, subsonic or supersonic, of the internal turbulence field is investigated in the separate case of static cores.     

Model of a strong volcanic blast and a method of estimating the mass ejected

A hydrodynamic model of a strong volcanic blast associated with large (caldera-forming) ash–gas-flow eruptions is presented. We show that the mass erupted from a vent influences considerably the damping of the shock wave. If the ejected mass flux is constant, the shock amplitude as a function of distance will decrease slower (in accordance with the inverse 4/3 power law) than that of an atomic explosion (the inverse cube power law). From the modelling, we extract a relation connecting the effective energy of a blast with the mass ejected during the blast phase. The mass released during the largest explosion of the 1883 eruption of Krakatau, and the lateral blast energy at Mount St. Helens on 1980 May 18 are estimated on the basis of the equation obtained.     

Palaeolimnological studies of the eutrophication of volcanic Lake Albano (Central Italy)

We use palaeolimnological techniques to reconstruct the eutrophication history of a volcanic lake (Lake Albano, central Italy) over the past three centuries. The presence of annual varves down to the bottom of the core (c. 1700 A.D.) indicated the lack of bioturbation and likely long-term meromixis. Sedimentation rates were estimated by varve counts (calcite/diatom couplets), indicating a mean rate of 0.15 cm yr^–1. The reconstruction of eutrophication was traced using past populations of algal and photosynthetic bacteria (through their fossil pigment), and geochemistry, as well as fossil remains of chironomids. Phaeophorbidea and the red carotenoid astaxanthin were used to detect past zooplankton development.The first sign of trophic change related to human activities is datedc. 1870 A.D. From that period onward a sharp increase of authigenic CaCO₃, nitrogen, N:P ratio, and dinoxanthin, a characteristic carotenoid of Chrysophyceae and Dinophyceae, is observed.Chironomid analyses showed the near absence of a deep water fauna throughout the core length. The populations of chironomid larvae are restricted to oxygenated littoral zones. In fact, the few fossil remains found are primarily of littoral origin, representing shallow water midges that were transported to profundal waters. The reduction of total chironomid in the uppermost layers of the core is to be related to human land uses.     

The geological evolution of southern McMurdo Sound — new evidence from a high-resolution aeromagnetic survey

Magnetic anomaly data are presented from a new helicopter-borne high-resolution aeromagnetic survey in southern McMurdo Sound. Anomaly data have been acquired at a common 305 m elevation above the McMurdo and southern McMurdo ice shelves and draped over the volcanic islands that pin them. The resulting anomaly patterns provide a significant advance in the understanding of the rift related geology beneath the floating ice shelves. More extensive Erebus Volcanic Province (McMurdo Volcanic Group) rocks are indicated along with a significant blanket of glaci-volcaniclastic sediment on the seafloor between the volcanic islands in southern McMurdo Sound. These glaci-volcaniclastic sediments are inferred to originate from former grounding of the southern McMurdo Ice Shelf as a marine ice sheet. A strong N–S fabric is also observed in the anomaly data suggesting that the rift structure observed in the Victoria Land basin persists to the south beneath the McMurdo and southern McMurdo ice shelves. W–N–W transfer faults identified within the Transantarctic Mountain rift flank to the west are not obvious in the aeromagnetic data set, implying that the 'Discovery Accommodation Zone' may be restricted to the region between a southward extension of the range bounding fault that marks the limit of the Victoria Land Basin and the right lateral offset in the Transantarctic Mountain front in southern Victoria Land.     

Deep crustal structure and rheology of the Gascoyne volcanic margin,western Australia

Interpretation of deep seismic reflection data across the Gascoyne Margin reveals six distinct seismic facies units related to the tectono-magmatic breakup history. On the outer Exmouth Plateau four large scale units are identified: (1) an extensively block-faulted upper crust; (2) a middle-crustal unit of discontinuous, undulatory reflectors; (3) a reflection-free deep crustal unit; and (4) a lower-crustal band of low-frequency, high-amplitude reflectors. Two additional units are found near the continent-ocean boundary (COB); (5) seaward-dipping reflectors (SDR); and (6) landward-dipping reflectors in the lower crust below the SDR. The lower-crustal high-reflectivity band, located near the top of a high-velocity unit (V_p > 7 kms^–1), is interpreted as magmatic underplating. There is a spatial correlation between the underplated area and the presence of extensive upper-crustal block-faulting and intrusive rocks in the shallow crust. The undulatory middle-crustal reflector unit is also only identified in the outer plateau area, and is interpreted as a zone in which the upper-crustal faults terminate. The inner parts of the margin consist of a deep basin showing little upper-crustal faulting and no evidence of middle crustal deformation or underplating. Theoretical modeling of the effect of rifting and magmatic underplating on crustal strength profiles suggests that the brittle-ductile transition may migrate at least 5 km upwards during several million years after the underplating event. Based on the seismic interpretation and crustal strength modeling we propose that the seismic structure of the outer Exmouth Plateau is severely modified by a transient change in the crustal rheological structure associated with magmatic underplating.     

利用H/V方法研究琼北火山区的浅表层地质变化特征

海南琼北活火山作为华南沿海重要的第四纪火山, 一直受到国内外学者的广泛关注, 目前对该火山的形成演化已开展了大量深部地质结构的研究, 但对其表层地质结构特征仍然缺乏详细了解。水平-垂直频谱比法(简称H/V方法)已被广泛应用于浅表层地质结构的研究, 本文基于35个便携式微功耗地震仪组成的流动台阵观测数据, 采用经典全波场H/V_(full)和瑞利波椭圆率H/V_(Ray)分析方法, 获得了琼北火山区H/V曲线峰值频率(F₀)和放大倍数(A₀)的空间变化特征。琼北火山区H/V曲线峰值频率变化强烈, 以长流-仙沟断裂为界, 断裂西南侧很难从H/V曲线中获取清晰的F₀和A₀, 而断裂东北侧则存在明显的F₀和A₀。结合已有地质资料, 本文认为长流-仙沟断裂西南侧处于凹陷区, 其浅表层火山岩未发生明显的风化作用, 而东北侧位于隆起区域, 地表火山岩受到了比较严重的风化作用。这一研究结果表明, H/V方法可反映表层火山岩的风化状态, 火山岩出露场地H/V曲线的峰值频率和放大倍数随风化作用程度的增强而表现得更加明显。本研究为琼北火山区浅表火山岩风化状态和地震危险性评估提供了重要的信息支撑。     

冲绳海槽火山岩地球化学特征及岩浆源区地幔性质探讨

冲绳海槽是因菲律宾海板块俯冲于欧亚板块之下,在陆壳上发育起来的一个初始的弧后盆地,是研究弧后扩张作用早期盆地演化、岩浆作用和壳幔过程的天然实验室。尽管迄今对冲绳海槽已经做了大量的调查研究工作,但仍存在一些颇有争议或亟待解决的科学问题,如：冲绳海槽酸性浮岩与基性玄武岩之间的成因联系,冲绳海槽不同区段构造背景对岩浆作用的控制,冲绳海槽岩浆源区地幔的特征,俯冲板块组分(流体+熔体)对地幔楔部分熔融的贡献等。本文在系统收集和整理(剔除了一些存疑数据)了迄今已有冲绳海槽火山岩主量元素、微量元素(包括稀土元素)与Sr-Nd-Pb同位素数据的基础上,通过对资料的系统分析,进一步确认了酸性浮岩与基性玄武岩的岩浆同源性;认为在冲绳海槽北段与中段主要分布有酸性浮岩和中性安山岩,应该是两段区域目前正处于裂谷阶段的反映,而南段广泛分布的基性玄武岩说明在构造性质上已接近成熟性弧后盆地;冲绳海槽的火山岩岩浆源区具有II型富集地幔（EMII型）Dupal异常特征,岩浆源于流行地幔（PREMA）和EMII型地幔端元混合的源区地幔,其中EMII约占比15%,PREMA贡献率在85%左右;源于俯冲的菲律宾海板块(俯冲洋壳或沉积物)的流/熔体的加入是导致冲绳海槽下伏地幔具有EMII型特征的原因,这一点不同于Dupal异常源于壳幔相互作用的观点。