Miocene silicic volcanism in southwestern Idaho: geochronology,geochemistry, and evolution of the central Snake River Plain

New ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar geochronology, bulk rock geochemical data, and physical characteristics for representative stratigraphic sections of rhyolite ignimbrites and lavas from the west-central Snake River Plain (SRP) are combined to develop a coherent stratigraphic framework for Miocene silicic magmatism in this part of the Yellowstone ‘hotspot track’. The magmatic record differs from that in areas to the west and east with regard to its unusually large extrusive volume, broad lateral scale, and extended duration. We infer that the magmatic systems developed in response to large-scale and repeated injections of basaltic magma into the crust, resulting in significant reconstitution of large volumes of the crust, wide distribution of crustal melt zones, and complex feeder systems for individual eruptive events. Some eruptive episodes or ‘events’ appear to be contemporaneous with major normal faulting, and perhaps catastrophic crustal foundering, that may have triggered concurrent evacuations of separate silicic magma reservoirs. This behavior and cumulative time-composition relations are difficult to relate to simple caldera-style single-source feeder systems and imply complex temporal-spatial development of the silicic magma systems. Inferred volumes and timing of mafic magma inputs, as the driving energy source, require a significant component of lithospheric extension on NNW-trending Basin and Range style faults (i.e., roughly parallel to the SW–NE orientation of the eastern SRP). This is needed to accommodate basaltic inputs at crustal levels, and is likely to play a role in generation of those magmas. Anomalously high magma production in the SRP compared to that in adjacent areas (e.g., northern Basin and Range Province) may require additional sub-lithospheric processes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi: ) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. This paper constitutes part of a special issue dedicated to Bill Bonnichsen on the petrogenesis and volcanology of anorogenic rhyolites.     

A method of searching for radial velocity anomalies in the lower mantle using interfering signals

Radial velocity anomalies in the lower mantle that give rise to triplications in the travel-time curve for short-periodP waves will produce arrivals havingdT/d values that differe by roughly 0.2–0.5 s/deg. The first two arrivals associated with such triplications will be separated by less than one second over a distance range of 4°–10° they may not, therefore, be separable visually on single seismograms, so that their presence can only be inferred from some measurable property that depends on their mutual interference. If there are lateral variations in the regions of anomalous velocity gradients, the interfering signals will also have different azimuths of arrival. Using two synthetic wavelets we have investigated the effect of interference on bothdT/d and azimuth measurements at the Yellowknife Array. We found that if the interfering pulses have a dominant frequencyv, there is a range of time separations (0.30/v0.55/v) over which the measureddT/d and azimuth values may fluctuate by much more than the differences indT/d and azimuth between the interfering signals. We have evaluated the following empirically defined functions for three different primary signals, and for three different relative amplitudes of the interfering signals:f (t), the drift function, which expresses how the measured slownesses,p, and azimuths, , differ from the slownesses and azimuths of the primary wavelets; f(), the range function, which describes the behaviour of the upper and lower bounds ofp and as a function of the difference in arrival times of the signals, andf , studied the properties of these functions, and have outlined how these properties provide criteria based on the numerical and statistical characteristics of the arrival vectors, and on the waveform of the signal that will enable small radial velocity anomalies to be more clearly delineated.Contribution No. 863 from the Earth Physics Branch.     

Studies on40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of strike-slip time of the Tan-Lu fault zone and their tectonic implications

Samples of mylonite, ultramylonite and phyllonite were collected from 5 localities in the Anhui part of the Tan-Lu fault zone for⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar chronological studies. Among them 4 samples from 3 localities on the eastern margin of the Dabie orogenic belt yielded⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of 128 —132 Ma; and 2 samples from the western margin of the Zhangbalin uplift and eastern margin of the Bengbu uplift gave the same⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of 120 Ma. Isochron analyses and other lines of evidence suggest that the data are reliable. The data are interpreted as cooling ages of sinistral strike-slip deformation of the Tan-Lu fault zone. The younger ages from the north might be related to slower strike-slip rising. These results indicate that the large-scale left-lateral displacement in the Tan-Lu fault zone took place in the Early Cretaceous, rather than in Late Triassic (Indosinian) as proposed by some geologists. Therefore, this fault zone is an intracontinental wrench fault rather than a transform fault or suture line developed during formation of the Dabie orogenic belt.     

The <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar geochronology constraint and geological significance of mylonites in Shangyi-Chicheng fault belt on the north of North China Craton

A dating of two biotite samples taken from the meso- and low-temperature mylonites within the Shangyi-Chicheng fault belt on the north of the North China Craton yields ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar isotopic ages of (399 ± 1) Ma and (263 ± 2) Ma, respectively. These data reflect an Early Devonian deformation and a Late Carboniferous retrograde metamorphism event along the fault, suggesting that the tectonic activities of the North China Craton in Paleozoic should be reconsidered.     

Ar/Ar and C geochronology of the Albano maar deposits: Implications for defining the age and eruptive style of the most recent explosive activity at Colli Albani Volcanic District,Central Italy

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and ¹⁴C ages have been found for the Albano multiple maar pyroclastic units and underlying paleosols to document the most recent explosive activity in the Colli Albani Volcanic District (CAVD) near Rome, Italy, consisting of seven eruptions (Albano 1 = oldest). Both dating methodologies have been applied on several proximal units and on four mid-distal fall/surge deposits, the latter correlated, according to two current different views, to either the Albano or the Campi di Annibale hydromagmatic center. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages on leucite phenocrysts from the mid-distal units yielded ages of ca. 72 ka, 73 ka, 41 ka and 36 ka BP, which are indistinguishable from the previously determined ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of the proximal Albano units 1, 2, 5 and 7, thus confirming their stratigraphic correspondence.     

Two contrasting petrotectonic domains in the Kokchetav megamélange (north Kazakhstan): Difference in exhumation mechanisms of ultrahigh‐pressure crustal rocks,or a result of subsequent deformation?

Abstract In northern Kazakhstan the WNW striking Kokchetav megamélange includes different crustal sequences with high‐pressure/ultrahigh‐pressure (HP/UHP) remnants of their 540–520 Ma subduction metamorphism. Two domains separated by the north‐east trending Chaglinka fault are distinguished. The western domain exhibits NE–SW structures within a single Kumdy–Kol megaunit of diamond‐bearing UHP metasediments and high‐temperature (HT) eclogites. The eastern domain consists of the composite Kulet megaunit with the Kulet UHP unit (coesite‐bearing metasediments, whiteschists and eclogites), the Enbek–Berlyk medium‐pressure (MP) unit (kyanite‐bearing, high‐alumina rocks with interleaved coronitic metagabbro), and ortho‐ and paragneisses with eclogites and amphibolites included. All eclogites in the eastern domain are of the relatively low temperature (LT) type. Sillimanite is common and appears after kyanite in the sheared MP unit. A regional and moderately ESE plunging linear fabric coincides with the fold‐axis of the foliation poles from the eastern domain. Whether this also reflects a regional top to the WNW transport, as inferred from the dextral strike‐slip on steeply to SSW dipping foliation, needs further study. Top to the WNW shear is shown by weakly inclined low pressure (LP) cordierite rocks that flank the eastern domain in the south. Some new ³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar mica cooling ages (519, 521 Ma) from the Kulet UHP micaschists reflect the same early stage evolutionary event as was previously shown for the Kumdy–Kol UHP rocks (515, 517 Ma) in the west. Similar ³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar ages (500, 517 Ma) are recorded by micas and amphibole that outline a top to NNW shear fabric in the non‐subducted Proterozoic basement, north of the megamélange. A 447 Ma overprint of the MP sequences is considered to reflect the strike‐slip deformation with sillimanite and the reworking of an early kyanite‐bearing tectonite. Biotites from the LP cordierite rocks yielded approximately 400 Ma ³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar ages. In case they reflect the WNW shear deformation, the latter is considered to be associated with a regional granite magmatism (420–460 Ma) extending south of the eastern domain. In their present different structural domains the Kulet and Kumdy–Kol UHP units display a similar early stage event. Subsequent LP deformation, which is likely to be associated with regional granite magmatism (420–460 Ma), is assumed to have obliterated any common or uniform early exhumation structure for the whole megamélange. The north‐east structured Kumdy–Kol domain is assumed to have preserved the most information about the early stage exhumation. This domain is at an angle to the regional WNW strike of the megamélange.     

Modelling of meteorological conditions at an urban scale for the PUMA winter campaign

For the winter 2000 campaign of the Pollution of Urban Midlands Atmosphere project, observation and numerical modelling of meteorological conditions over the West Midlands conurbation, UK, was undertaken. Modelling was performed using the regional atmospheric meteorological system (RAMS). This paper presents a comparison of modelled and observed wind and temperature for 25 and 26 January 2000. The RAMS model uses two nested grids with a mesh size of 2 km for the inner grid which is embedded in the outer grid with a mesh size of 8 km. Statistical evaluation of the model results against the observational data of wind speed, direction and temperature at 10 m was conducted. In general, the modelling results are in a reasonable agreement with observation. The statistical evaluation suggests that model performance is poorer for the inner grid than the outer grid as the model uncertainties (mainly mean bias) transfer from the outer to inner one. The low indices of agreement of temperature and wind are mainly associated with the systematic root-mean-square-difference values. For temperature, the systematic bias may also be affected by representation of cloud amount by the model. For wind, the model tends to have a poor performance for calm conditions, as under a stable anti-cyclonic situation local wind patterns associated with topography may develop, although the topography of the region is relatively flat. The results for the inner grid reveal some subtle spatial patterns at a scale smaller than 10 km near hills and valleys with differences in elevation of a few hundred metres.     

青藏高原安多高压麻粒岩同位素年代学研究

本文报道了聂荣微陆块中新发现的高压麻粒岩锆石U-Pb定年结果及其围岩花岗片麻岩中黑云母Ar-Ar同位素年代学结果.高压麻粒岩中的锆石可分为两类,第一类具有核-边显微结构,核部残留锆石具典型岩浆结晶锆石特征,锆石U-Pb年龄541±8Ma～ 834±11Ma;第二类锆石具典型的变质锆石成因的结构特征,锆石U-Pb谐和年龄为179.0±1.7Ma.花岗片麻岩中黑云母Ar-Ar坪年龄为166.7±1.1Ma.年代学资料显示麻粒岩与其围岩均具有泛非期的年龄信息,麻粒岩的原岩经历了晚元古代-早古生代造山作用,并于早-中侏罗世发生了峰期高压变质作用改造,该变质事件可能代表着聂荣微陆块与羌南板块的碰撞拼合.伴随着早-中侏罗世的岩浆作用,麻粒岩及其围岩迅速抬升,抬升的时间跨度在13Myr左右,于166.7Ma左右抬升至地壳浅层部位或近地表.     

珠江口表层水中主要常量离子的研究

９９４年９月采集了珠江口表层海水水样,并对其溶解态的Ｋ＋、Ｎａ＋、Ｃａ２＋、Ｍｇ２＋、ＳＯ２－４、Ｃｌ等化学要素进行了测定。结果表明,珠江口调查海域表层水中溶解态的Ｋ＋、Ｎａ＋、Ｃａ２＋、Ｍｇ２＋、ＳＯ２－４主要受陆源淡水与外海水物理混合稀释的影响,与Ｃｌ具有良好的直线正相关;Ｃａ２＋／Ｃｌ、ＳＯ２－４／Ｃｌ明显高于大洋水相应比值,Ｎａ＋／Ｃｌ、Ｍｇ２＋／Ｃｌ略高,而Ｋ＋／Ｃｌ比大洋比值低;在与中国其它各主要河口表层水对应Ｃｌ比较中,珠江口的ＳＯ２－４／Ｃｌ较高,而Ｃａ２＋／Ｃｌ,Ｍｇ２＋／Ｃｌ比值居低;上述各主要常量离子和Ｃｌ的等值线均沿自北向南走向递增。     

江西德兴西湾钠长花岗岩的激光质谱~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar等时年龄

对采自江西德兴西湾钠长花岗岩的样品进行了激光质谱４０Ａｒ／３９Ａｒ年龄测定,得到等时年龄为（９２７９±１８６）Ｍａ。该年龄代表了赣东北蛇绿岩套中浅色侵入体部分的钠长花岗岩冷却到３５０℃左右时的结晶年龄,把它作为该蛇绿岩套形成时代的上限。结合近年来已经发表的有关该区蛇绿岩套的ＳｍＮｄ、ＵＰｂ和４０Ａｒ／３９Ａｒ同位素年龄数据,本文就该蛇绿岩套的形成年龄和构造侵位年龄进行了讨论。