Adakitic Dacites Formed by Intracrustal Crystal Fractionation of Water-rich Parent Magmas at Nevado de Longavi Volcano (36{middle dot}2{degrees}S; Andean Southern Volcanic Zone, Central Chile)

The mid-Holocene eruptive products of Nevado de Longavívolcano (36·2°S, Chile) are the only reported occurrenceof adakitic volcanic rocks in the Quaternary Andean SouthernVolcanic Zone (33–46°S). Dacites of this volcano arechemically distinct from other evolved magmas of the regionin that they have high La/Yb (15–20) and Sr/Y (60–90)ratios and systematically lower incompatible element contents.An origin by partial melting of high-pressure crustal sourcesseems unlikely from isotopic and trace element considerations.Mafic enclaves quenched into one of the dacites, on the otherhand, constitute plausible parental magmas. Dacites and maficenclaves share several characteristics such as mineral chemistry,whole-rock isotope and trace element ratios, highly oxidizingconditions (NNO + 1·5 to >NNO + 2, where NNO is thenickel–nickel oxide buffer), and elevated boron contents.A two-stage mass-balance crystal fractionation model that matchesboth major and trace elements is proposed to explain magmaticevolution from the least evolved mafic enclave to the dacites.Amphibole is the main ferromagnesian phase in both stages ofthis model, in agreement with the mineralogy of the magmas.We also describe cumulate-textured xenoliths that correspondvery closely to the solid assemblages predicted by the model.We conclude that Nevado de Longaví adakitic dacites arethe products of polybaric fractional crystallization from exceptionallywater-rich parent magmas. These basaltic magmas are inferredto be related to an exceptionally high, but transient inputof slab-derived fluids released from serpentinite bodies hostedin the oceanic Mocha Fracture Zone, which projects beneath Nevadode Longaví. Fractional crystallization that is modallydominated by amphibole, with very minor garnet extraction, isa mechanism for generating adakitic magmas in cold subductionzones where a high flux of slab-derived fluids is present. KEY WORDS: adakite; amphibole; Andes; differentiation; Southern Volcanic Zone     

阿尔泰南缘麦兹泥盆纪火山-沉积盆地成矿特点及其铅锌、铁、金找矿潜力分析

麦兹盆地位于西伯利亚板块南缘阿尔泰陆缘活动带中,是一个重要的铅、锌、铁矿化集中区,其中著名的有蒙库大型铁矿床、可可塔勒大型铅锌矿床,是阿尔泰南缘多金属成矿带中最重要的成矿盆地之一。盆地内矿床、矿点多为火山喷流热水沉积成因,层控特征明显,具有规模大、形态规则、厚度及有用组分稳定等特点。铁矿成矿与早泥盆世早期细碧角斑质火山作用相伴,而铅锌成矿则与早泥盆世晚期长英质火山喷流沉积作用相伴。通过对麦兹盆地成矿地质特征和典型矿床中矿体分布变化规律的研究,认为北西向同生断裂、火山沉积洼地、火山喷发中心(火山机构)共同控制铅锌矿的产出,矿体还受到后期褶皱、变质作用的改造。根据有利层位、火山岩相、喷流沉积岩、热液蚀变、矿化组合、铁帽、控矿构造和地球化学异常等综合找矿评价标志,分析了可可塔勒矿区深部、什根特、铁热克萨依、H-48号异常的铅锌找矿潜力,并探讨了盆地内铁、金的找矿潜力,指出了进一步找矿的方向与有利地段。     

A record of Lateglacial/Holocene environmental change from a high‐elevation site in the Intermountain West,USA

Records of past vegetation and fire history can be complicated by changes in the depositional environment of a sampling location. However, these changes can alternatively be used as a measure of climate variability. Our study site, ca. 18.0 cal. ka BP record from Little Brooklyn Lake, Wyoming, located near the crest of the Snowy Range, records three moisture states. Initially, the lake was likely a glacier‐fed pond indicated by the presence of Pediastrum algae colonies. Around 13.0 cal. ka BP this pond transitioned to a meadow environment, suggested by the loss of Pediastrum algae colonies and slow sedimentation rates. Meadow conditions were maintained until ca. 5.0 cal. ka BP when Pediastrum algae colony abundance increased,indicating the formation of a shallow lake. From 18.0 to ca. 5.0 cal. ka BP, the pollen record is suggestive of alpine vegetation conditions with relatively high spruce and herbaceous taxa. Low charcoal influx also characterizes the period between 18.0 and 5.0 cal. ka BP. After 5.0 cal. ka BP, the coincidence of the formation of shallow lake and pollen data, indicating a shift to a spruce and fir forest, suggests an increase in effective moisture. Fire remained rare in this basin over the entire record, however, once the lake established sedimentation rates and charcoal influx increased. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Archean–Ediacaran evolution of the Campos Gerais Domain — A reworked margin of the São Francisco paleocontinent (SE Brazil): Constraints from metamafic–ultramafic rocks

The Campos Gerais Domain (CGD) in southeastern Brazil is an approximately 180 km × 35 km area of Archean–Proterozoic rocks located southwest of the São Francisco Craton (SFC). The Archean–Paleoproterozoic evolution of the CGD — alongside its potential correlation with the SFC or other cratonic blocks in the region — is currently poorly-constrained. We present the results of systematic petrography, bulk-rock geochemistry, mineral chemistry and geochronology for a suite of scarcely studied mafic–ultramafic rocks from the CGD. We also provide a compilation of previously reported bulk-rock geochemical and spinel group mineral chemical data for mafic–ultramafic rocks throughout the CGD, and geochronological information for various lithotypes in the region. The CGD records a protracted Mesoarchean to Statherian (3.1–1.7 Ga) crustal evolution, which we interpret to share a common history with the southern SFC and their related reworked segments, suggesting that it is a westward extension of this cratonic terrain. The metavolcano-sedimentary rocks of the Fortaleza de Minas and Alpinópolis segments represent a Mesoarchean greenstone belt that is stratigraphically and chemically comparable to Archean greenstone belts worldwide, and that is broadly coeval with a local suite of tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) gneisses and migmatites. U-Pb SHRIMP zircon data from a subalkaline metagabbro yielded a concordia age of ca. 2.96 Ga, revealing a previously unrecognized phase of Archean magmatism in the CGD that can be chrono-correlated with metakomatiite and TTG generation elsewhere in the São Francisco paleocontinent. Our data contradict a hypothesis whereby the metavolcano-sedimentary rocks of the Jacuí-Bom Jesus da Penha and Petúnia segments represent an ophiolite, as previously suggested, instead presenting features that point to formation in association with a continental arc. Coupled with a U-Pb (SHRIMP) crystallization age of ca. 2.13 Ga recorded by zircon grains from a metaultramafic rock, these data highlight that a magmatic event was chrono-correlated with the main accretionary phase of the Minas Orogeny, and with the Pouso Alegre/Amparo and São Vicente complexes. Finally, a U-Pb (SHRIMP) concordia age of ca. 590 Ma — obtained from metamorphic-textured zircon grains from a metaultramafic rock — points to a late metamorphic overprint related to upper amphibolite conditions, brittle fault activation and the juxtaposition of crustal blocks in association with the latest stages of western Gondwana’s assembly in the southern SFC, with later retrogression to greenschist-facies.     

Adventures in Data Analysis: The TAO Array and the 1997–1998 El Ni?o

Traditional undergraduate education in earth sciences does not emphasize data acquisition, analysis, or assessment. However, arrival of the information age dictates that earth sciences graduates be imbued with fundamental skills to organize, evaluate and process large data sets. Fortunately, the proliferation of remotely sensed data and its availability via the Internet provides many opportunities for earth science educators to meet these needs. Exercises to introduce students to data analysis have been designed utilizing data from the Tropical Atmosphere–Ocean (TAO) Array and the 1997–1998 El Niño episode in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The TAO Array is a grid of 69 buoys moored across the equatorial Pacific Ocean (8°N to 8°S and 95°W to 143°E) recording environmental data relevant to El Niño—Southern Oscillation (ENSO) processes. Data from the TAO Array is available in near-real-time (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/toga-tao/realtime.html) or as archived ASCII files (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/toga-tao/data-delivery.html) providing daily (sometimes hourly) records of environmental parameters for each buoy in the grid. Student exercises in data analysis begin with downloading data from buoy locations, parsing the data into spreadsheets, and organizing data by environmental parameter into yearly and monthly data sets. Analyses of reconstructed data include calculations of long-term averages of environmental parameters, seasonal climatologies, monthly climatologies and calculation of long-term, seasonal, and monthly anomalies. Finally, monthly anomaly maps produced by students are loaded sequentially into GIF-animation software to create time-series images illustrating the progress and development of the 1997–1998 El Niño event.     

鄂尔多斯盆地南部中生界原油地球化学特征及油源分析

系统采集鄂尔多斯盆地南部中生界的烃源岩、原油及油砂样品,对其饱和烃和芳烃馏分进行气相色谱-质谱分析,通过 对生物标志物组成特征的研究,分析和探讨中生界原油的油源。结果表明:根据 8β(H)-补身烷和 C3017α(H)-重排藿烷含量, 鄂尔多斯盆地南部中生界原油可划分为I,II,III类。第I类原油 8β(H)-补身烷含量高, C3017α(H)-重排藿烷含量低,来自 深湖相沉积相带的长 7 油页岩 (A1 类),第II类原油 8β(H)-补身烷含量较高, C3017α(H)-重排藿烷含量中等,来自深湖—半深 湖沉积相带的长 7 暗色泥岩 (A2 类),第III类原油 8β(H)-补身烷含量低, C3017α(H)-重排藿烷含量高,来自半深湖沉积相带的 长 7 暗色泥岩 (A3 类),由于采集样品数量限制,第III类原油不排除来自长 8 或长 9 暗色泥岩 (A3 类) 的可能,目前发现的原油 主要是第I类,即各油层组的原油主要是由长 7 油页岩提供的,它是鄂多斯盆地南部中生界的主力烃源岩。     

The dynamics of the snow avalanche affected areas in Piatra Mica mountains (Romania)

This article is intended to explain the snow avalanche occurrence, as a natural phenomenon directly influenced by the local natural conditions, for the well-delimited area represented by the Piatra Mica massif, belonging to the Piatra Craiului mountain range (southern Carpathians). In this respect, depending on the factors that may trigger or encourage the avalanches, some vulnerable areas with avalanche occurring conditions have been identified, based on the analysis of the relationships among the factors controlling the avalanche vulnerability in the study area. These factors are mainly represented by the slope aspect, which induces from the very beginning some specific features for each type of slope (north-, east-, south and west-facing slopes), the geological structure, slope gradient and topography. At the same time, the general climatic and biological features have been taken into account, from the point of view of their importance for avalanche occurrence and distribution. Depending on the microrelief exhibited by the avalanche chutes, one can establish distinct dynamical features for each of the four major slopes of the massif. It is worth mentioning that for this study area, this is the first paper dealing with avalanche phenomenon, vulnerable space, control factors and landscape dynamics. In accomplishing this demarche, we used detailed mappings in the field in several stages, the processing of satellite images, analytical (declivities, the exposure of slopes, etc.) and synthetic maps from which the dynamic of sectors with avalanches resulted. The findings of this investigation may further be employed for solving the problems raised by avalanche-prone areas, as well as for devising a better strategy for the effective management of the mountain realm.     

Late Cenomanian–Early Turonian ammonites of the southern Tethys margin from Morocco to Oman: Biostratigraphy,paleobiogeography and morphology

The Cenomanian–Turonian ammonite biostratigraphical framework for the southern Tethys margin (North Africa, Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula) is becoming better understood. A first attempt at a synthetic range chart is presented, with 85 taxa and precise correlations for ammonites along a west–east transect from Morocco to Oman, inclusive of the Trans-Saharan Seaway as far south as northern Nigeria. On the basis of a critical review of ammonite taxonomy, 13 bioevents can be identified in the interval from the Late Cenomanian to the Early Turonian (c. 3.5 myr) with each bioevent corresponding to a time interval of approximately 270,000 years, on average. They are consistent throughout several regions along the southern Tethys margin, though some gaps remain, at least at the stage boundary. These bioevents are correlated with the zonation defined for the stratotype (GSSP) of the base of the Turonian in the Western Interior (USA). The paleobiogeographic distribution of ammonites reveals some endemism but the predominant picture is that of a homogeneous fauna throughout the area, even though distinct Boreal and Western Tethys (Atlantic domain) marine influences are evident. An interpretation of the evolution of conch morphology and ornamentation through the zones of the Late Cenomanian–Early Turonian is proposed.