Erosion rates in the southern oregon coast range: Evidence for an equilibrium between hillslope erosion and sediment yield

The relationship of hillslope erosion rates and sediment yield is often poorly defined because of short periods of measurement and inherent spatial and temporal variability in erosion processes. In landscapes containing hillslopes crenulated by alternating topographic noses and hollows, estimates of local hillslope erosion rates averaged over long time periods can be obtained by analysing colluvial deposits in the hollows. Hollows act as local traps for a portion of the colluvium transported down hillslopes, and erosion rates can be calculated using the age and size of the deposits and the size of the contributing source area. Analysis of colluvial deposits in nine Oregon Coast Range hollows has yielded average colluvial transport rates into the hollows of about 35cm³cm^?1yr^?1 and average bedrock lowering rates of about 0.07 mm yr^?1 for the last 4000 to 15000 yr. These rates are consistent with maximum bedrock exfoliation rates of about 0.09 mm yr^?1 calculated from six of the hollows, supporting the interpretation that exfoliation rates limit erosion rates on these slopes. Sediment yield measurements from nine Coast Range streams provide similar basin-wide denudation rates of between 0.05 and 0.08mm yr^?1, suggesting an approximate steady-state between sediment production on hillslopes and sediment yield. In addition, modern sediment yields are similar in basins varying in size from 1 to 1500 km², suggesting that erosion rates are spatially uniform and providing additional evidence for an approximate equilibrium in the landscape.     

Meteorology and haze structure during AGASP-II,Part 1: Alaskan Arctic flights, 2–10 April 1986

The second Arctic Gas and Aerosol Sampling Program (AGASP-II) was conducted across the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic in April 1986, to study the in situ aerosol, and the chemical and optical properties of Arctic haze. The NOAA WP-3D aircraft, with special instrumentation added, made six flights during AGASP-II. Measurements of wind, pressure, temperature, ozone, water vapor, condensation nuclei (CN) concentration, and aerosol scattering extinction (b_sp) were used to determine the location of significant haze layers. The measurements made on the first three flights, over the Arctic Ocean north of Barrow and over the Beaufort Sea north of Barter Island, Alaska are discussed in detail in this report of the first phase of AGASP II. In the Alaskan Arctic the WP-3D detected a large and persistent region of haze between 960 and 750 mb, in a thermally stable layer, on 2, 8, and 9 April 1986. At its most dense, the haze contained CN concentrations >10,000 cm^–3 and b_sp of 80×10^–6 m^–1 suggesting active SO₂ to H₂SO₄ gas-to-particle conversion. Calculations based upon observed SO₂ concentrations and ambient relative humidities suggest that 10⁴–10⁵ small H₂SO₄ droplets could have been produced in the haze layers. High concentrations of sub-micron H₂SO₄ droplets were collected in haze. Ozone concentrations were 5–10 ppb higher in the haze layers than in the surrounding troposphere. Outside the regions of haze, CN concentrations ranged from 100 to 400 cm^–3 and b_sp values were about (20–40)×10^–6 m^–1. Air mass trajectories were computed to depict the air flow upwind of regions in which haze was observed. In two cases the back trajectories and ground measurements suggested the source to be in central Europe.     

Relationships between land-use and forced-pool characteristics in the Colorado Front Range

Land use practices in Colorado during the last two centuries altered the supply of sediment and water to many channels in the upper South Platte Basin. As a result of increased supply of sediment and mobility and reduced peak flows, the characteristics of pools associated with channel constrictions, referred to as forced pools, may have been altered. Increased supply of sediment and reduced transport capacity of high flows could lead to aggradation in forced pools. Channel confined by road corridors could lead to high velocities at normal flows, increased energy dissipation from riprap, or even increased pool frequency resulting from failed riprap. To assess potential alterations, four hypotheses were tested: (1) impacted streams will show significantly different mean volume of pools than a control stream; (2) mean volume of pools on streams where land-use activities increased the supply of sediment will be significantly different from streams solely affected by flow regulation; (3) the strongest change in characteristics of pools of impacted streams will be a reduced volume of pools; (4) streams affected by road corridors will show statistically lower spacing of pools than streams unaffected by roads. The downstream spacing and residual volume of twenty consecutive forced pools were surveyed on five streams in the Colorado Front Range that varied from no contemporary impact to multiple historical and contemporary impacts. ANCOVA with stepwise model selection indicated that degree of land-use (categorical), bankfull spacing of pools, upstream riffle slope and expansion ratio were all significant (α = 0.1) predictors of volume of pools (R² = 0.73). Simple linear regression of mean volume of pools and stream specific variables (gradient, drainage area and discharge) and least square means comparison of mean volume of pools indicated a need to standardize volumes of pools by slope and discharge so that the volumes of pools could be compared among different levels of land-use. Significant correlations between drainage area and volume of pools allowed volume of pools to be standardized by drainage area and thereby discharge. This dimensionless variable was also significantly correlated with channel slope, which permitted the construction of a new variable, PV_QS (volume of pools standardized by discharge and slope). Least square means comparison of mean PV_QS revealed that the control reach was significantly different from road-impacted reaches. Mean volume of pools was significantly larger in the control reach compared to all but one road-impacted stream. This was likely a function of higher wood loading in the control reach and the competence of high flows in the road-impacted reach. Streams affected by road corridors did not have significantly different bankfull spacing of pools from streams not impacted by roads. The multiple interactions among control and response variables explored in this study indicate the need to identify the most constrained and sensitive response variables when attempting to assess channel response to land use.     

云南澜沧江以西的白垩系

云南白垩系分布在滇中、滇西和澜沧江以西三个地域，彼此之间被深断裂所，它们的地质历程、构造特征各不相同。不能将澜沧江以西勐海、潞西地区的白垩系解体归属不同地层区。澜沧江以西的白垩系，分布于冈瓦纳古陆和古特提斯造带的小型山间盆地，地层层序齐全，岩性、厚度稳定，今古生物化石。有两套岩石序列，三个沉积旋回。     

Biomediation of calcrete at the gold anomaly of the Barns prospect,Gawler Craton,South Australia

Anomalously high Au concentrations (2.5 to 50 ppb) in regolith carbonate accumulations, such as calcrete and calcareous sands in aeolian sand dunes overlying Au mineralisation of the Gawler Craton, South Australia, show a marked covariance of Au with K, Mg and most notably Ca. This relationship appears to be linked to the authigenic formation of smectites and carbonates within the aeolian dunes in the region. However, little is known about the processes involved in the formation of carbonates under semi-arid and arid conditions. In this study the geochemical properties of aeolian dunes along several depth profiles of 2 to 4 m are investigated in order to assess the relationship between Au mobility and calcrete formation. In the profiles a strongly systematic relationship between Au and the increasing Ca–Mg contents at depth highlights the close association between the enrichment of Au in the calcrete and the underlying hydrothermal mineralisation. Intense calcrete formation and concurrent Au enrichment also occurs in the vicinity of roots penetrating the dune. Thin section petrography and cathodoluminescence show that most of the calcrete in the regolith profiles is micritic; some sparic crystallites have also been identified. To demonstrate the presence of microbial processes that may mediate the formation of calcrete, samples from a depth profile in the dune were taken under sterile conditions. After amendment with urea and incubation of up to 24 h, up to 18 mg/l of NH₄⁺ were detected in near surface samples. At depth of 2.3 m 1 mg/l NH₄⁺ were detected compared to a control that contained below 0.05 mg/l NH₄⁺. These results suggest that the genesis of calcrete and pedogenic carbonate in the area may be partly biologically mediated via processes such as the metabolic breakdown of urea by resident microbiota which generates a pH and pCO₂ environment conducive to the precipitation of carbonate. In the process of urea breakdown organic Au complexes such as Au-amino acid complexes may become destabilised in solution and Au may be co-precipitated, resulting in the fine, non-particulate distribution of Au throughout the micritic calcrete carbonate. In conclusion, this study suggests a coupled mechanism of biologically mediated and inorganic mechanisms that lead to the formation of Au-in-calcrete anomalies.     

Geology, mineralogy, and PGE mineralization of the copper-nickel occurrences of the Kvinum ore field, Sredinny Range, Kamchatka

The geology and mineralogy of host metamorphic rocks, the mineralogy of sulfide ores, and the distribution of PGE mineralization were studied in detail for the Kvinum-1 and Kvinum-2 copper-nickel occurrences of the Kvinum ore field, which are the most promising targets for the copper-nickel-PGE mineralization of the Sredinny Range of Kamchatka. It was established that stringer-disseminated and massive copper-nickel ores are localized in amphibole peridotites, cortlandites, and form ore bodies varying from tens of centimeters to 5–20 m thick among the layered cortlandite-gabbroid massifs. The massive sulfide ores were found only at the bottom of cortlandite bodies and upsection grade into stringer-disseminated and disseminated ores. Pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and pentlandite are the major ore minerals with a sharply subordinate amount of pyrite, sphalerite, galena, arsenopyrite, and löllingite. Besides pentlandite, the Ni-bearing minerals include sulforasenides (gersdorffite), arsenides (nickeline), and tellurides (melonite) of nickel. It was found that PGE mineralization represented by antimonides (sudburyite) and tellurobismuthides (michenerite) of Pd with sharply subordinate platinum arsenide (sperrylite) is confined to the apical parts of massive sulfide zones and the transition zone to the stringer-disseminated ores. Ore intervals enriched in arsenides and tellurides of Ni, Pd, and Bi contain high-purity gold. In the central parts of the orebodies, the contents of PGE and native gold are insignificant. It is suggested that the contents of major sulfide minerals and the productivity of PGE mineralization in the cortlandites are defined by combined differentiation and sulfurization of ultramafic derivatives under the effect of fluids, which are accumulated at the crystallization front and cause layering of parental magmas with different sulfur contents. The fluid-assisted layering of mafic-ultramafic massifs resulted in the contrasting distribution of PGM in response to uneven distribution of sulfur (as well as As, Te, and Bi) during liquid immiscibility. The productivity of PGE mineralization significantly increases with increasing contents of S, As, Te, and Bi (elements to which Pt and, especially, Pd have high affinity) in fluids.     

Geology of the Acropolis prospect,South Australia,constrained by high-precision CA-TIMS ages

Abstract

Acropolis is an Fe-oxide–copper–gold prospect ～20?km from Olympic Dam, South Australia, and marked by near-coincident gravity and magnetic anomalies. Prospective Fe-oxide–apatite?±?sulfide veins occur in Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic volcanic and granitoid host units beneath unmineralised sedimentary formations. We have produced a geological map and history of the prospect using data from 16 diamond drill holes, including LA-ICPMS and high-precision CA-TIMS ages. The oldest unit is megacrystic granite of the Donington Suite (ca 1850?Ma). A non-conformity spanning ca 250 My separates the Donington Suite and felsic lavas and ignimbrites of the Gawler Range Volcanics (GRV; 1594.03?±?0.68?Ma). The GRV were intruded by granite of the Hiltaba Suite (1594.88?±?0.50?Ma) and felsic dykes (1593.88?±?0.56?Ma; same age as the Roxby Downs Granite at Olympic Dam). The felsic dykes are weakly altered and lack Fe-oxide–apatite–sulfide veins, suggesting that they post-date the main hydrothermal event. If correct, this relationship implies that the main hydrothermal event at Acropolis was ca 1594?Ma and pre-dated the main hydrothermal event at Olympic Dam. The GRV at Acropolis are the same age as the GRV at Olympic Dam and ca 3–7 My older than the GRV exposed in the Gawler Ranges. The gravity and magnetic anomalies coincide with sections through the GRV, Hiltaba Suite and Donington Suite that contain abundant, wide, Fe-oxide veins. The GRV, Hiltaba Suite and Donington Suite are unconformably overlain by the Mesoproterozoic Pandurra Formation or Neoproterozoic Stuart Shelf sedimentary formations. The Pandurra Formation shows marked lateral variations in thickness related to paleotopography on the underlying units and post-Pandurra Formation pre-Neoproterozoic faults. The Stuart Shelf sedimentary formations have uniform thicknesses.

1. KEY POINTS

2. Fe-oxide–apatite?±?sulfide veins are hosted by the Gawler Range Volcanics (1594.03?±?0.68?Ma), the Hiltaba Suite granite (1594.88?±?0.50?Ma) and Donington Suite granite (ca 1850?Ma).

3. The age of felsic dykes (1593.88?±?0.56?Ma) interpreted to be post-mineralisation implies that the main hydrothermal event at Acropolis was ca 1594?Ma.

4. The Gawler Range Volcanics at Acropolis are the same age as the Gawler Range Volcanics at Olympic Dam and ca 3 to 7 My older than the Gawler Range Volcanics exposed in the Gawler Ranges.

     

香港大屿山残坡积土的残余强度试验研究

粘性土的残余强度是边坡稳定性评价、桩基与土的相互作用机理研究及填土边坡设计中的重要参数。本文在综述大量文献的基础上,结合香港大屿山火山岩风化残坡积土的残余强度试验研究,分析了残余强度的测试方法和影响残余强度的因素。研究结果表明,残余强度与有效法向应力间具有明显的非线性关系;与单剪测试结果相比,多级剪测试结果明显偏高。     

Footwall dip of a core complex detachment fault: thermobarometric constraints from the northern Snake Range (Basin and Range,USA)

Low‐angle detachment faults are common features in areas of large‐scale continental extension and are typically associated with metamorphic core complexes, where they separate upper plate brittle extension from lower plate ductile stretching and metamorphism. In many core complexes, the footwall rocks have been exhumed from middle to lower crustal depths, leading to considerable debate about the relationship between hangingwall and footwall rocks, and the role that detachment faults play in footwall exhumation. Here, garnet–biotite thermometry and garnet–muscovite–biotite–plagioclase barometry results are presented, together with garnet and zircon geochronology data, from seven locations within metapelitic rocks in the footwall of the northern Snake Range décollement (NSRD). These locations lie both parallel and normal to the direction of footwall transport to constrain the pre‐exhumation geometry of the footwall. To determine P–T gradients precisely within the footwall, the ΔPT method of Worley & Powell (2000) has been employed, which minimizes the contribution of systematic uncertainties to thermobarometric calculations. The results show that footwall rocks reached pressures of 6–8 kbar and temperatures of 500–650 °C, equivalent to burial depths of 23–30 km. Burial depth remains constant in the WNW–ESE direction of footwall transport, but increases from south to north. The lack of a burial gradient in the direction of footwall transport implies that the footwall rocks, which today define a sub‐horizontal datum in the direction of fault transport, also defined a sub‐horizontal datum at depth in Late Cretaceous time. This suggests that the footwall was not tilted about the normal to the fault transport direction during exhumation, and hence that the NSRD did not form as a low‐angle normal fault cutting down through the lower crust. Instead, the following evolution for the northern Snake Range footwall is proposed. (i) Mesozoic contraction caused substantial crustal thickening by duplication and folding of the miogeoclinal sequence, accompanied by upper greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphism. (ii) About half of the total exhumation was accomplished by roughly coaxial stretching and thinning in Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary time, accompanied by retrogression and mylonitic deformation. (iii) The footwall rocks were then ‘captured’ from the middle crust along a moderately dipping NSRD that soled into the middle crust with a rolling‐hinge geometry at both upper and lower terminations.