Lateral translocation of soil plasma through a small valley basin in the Northaw Great Wood,Hertfordshire

The paper looks at the process of lateral translocation in a small valley basin from the Northaw Great Wood, Hertfordshire. The valley basin comprises four lithostratigraphic units (London Clay and Pebble Gravel, and the others a mixture of these two), which were initially established in the field by a rough assessment of texture. Particle size analysis validated the lithostratigraphic units as delineated in the field; it was found unnecessary to alter the boundaries of the units. Patterns of lateral translocation of silt and clay (measured by the hydrometer method) and the amorphous colloidal hydrous oxides and hydroxides of Al, Fe, Mn and Si (measured in oxalate solution by atomic absorption spectrophotometry) are inferred from balance sheets of the relative gains and losses of the materials. Materials from horizons formed in lithostratigraphic units derived from London Clay are balanced against a clay dilution factor; those from the lithostratigraphic unit of Pebble Gravel against the dilution of sand on a clay-free basis. The results lead to the following conclusions about the process of lateral translocation: it has been a significant contributor to soil development; larger amounts of material have moved down-slope towards the hollow than over the nose because there has, theoretically, been more throughflow in the hollow; for some materials there has been less down-slope transport in lower horizons owing to less throughflow in them.     

渤海陆缘地震的力学特征和成因

渤海陆缘是华北强震活动区,如1966年的邢台震群,1967年的河间地震,1969年的渤海地震,1975年的海城地震,1976年的唐山震群和1983年的菏泽地震,都是在该区发生的。显然,深入研究该地区的构造运动和地震成因是有重要科学意义的。本文拟从应力场角度进行研究。     

Large-scale rheomorphic shear deformation in Miocene peralkaline ignimbrite E,Gran Canaria

the single ignimbrite cooling unit E (average thickness, 28 m; volume, ca. 30 km₃) forms the uppermost member of the Miocene Upper Mogán Formation on Gran Canaria. It is strongly chemically zoned from basal, first-erupted comendite (peralkaline rhyolite) to late-erupted trachyte, and, apart from an upper trachytic zone, it is densely welded. E was emplaced onto a surface inclined ca. 2–5° from the source caldera. Detailed mapping of key sections, up to 300 m long, exposed in barranco walls, ca. 10 km from the caldera margin, reveals structures that are interpreted to have been produced by rheomorphic deformation of the ignimbrite along shear zones. The shear zones formed within the lower-viscosity comenditic tuff. Extensional structures include mega-boudinage and decapitated sequences and compression resulted in sequence repitition by overthrusting. Mechanisms traditionally thought to be important during rheomorphic deformation of welded tuffs (compaction, lateral creep, folding, vertical density-driven diapirism) cannot account for these features, which reflect lateral (post-compactional) rheomorphic movement locally in excess of 800 m. We suggest the following sequence of events: emplacement of the several flow units; compaction, with little lateral movement; rheomorphic deformation. During and after compaction, layers of secondary porosity developed within the comenditic tuff, possibly where upward escape of gas was prevented by overlying, relatively impermeable layers of densely compacted ignimbrite. These structurally weak layers of high porosity subsequently acted as shear zones.     

Chemical characteristics of the crater lakes of Popocatetetl, El Chichon, and Nevado de Toluca volcanoes, Mexico

Three crater lakes from Mexican volcanoes were sampled and analyzed at various dates to determine their chemical characteristics. Strong differences were observed in the chemistry among the three lakes: Nevado de Toluca, considered as dormant, El Chichón at a post-eruptive stage, and Popocatépetl at a pre-eruptive stage. Not surprisingly, no influence of volcanic activity was found at the Nevado de Toluca volcano, while the other volcanoes showed a correlation between the changing level of activity and the evolution of chemical trends. Low pHs (<3.0) were measured in the water from the active volcanoes, while a pH of 5.6 was measured at the Nevado de Toluca Sun lake. Changes with time were observed at Popocatépetl and El Chichón. Concentrations of volcanic-gas derived species like Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻ and F⁻ decreased irregularly at El Chichón from 1983 until 1997. Major cations concentrations also diminished at El Chichón. A 100% increase in the SO₄²⁻ content was measured at Popocatépetl between 1985 and 1994. An increase in the Mg/Cl ratio between 1992 (Mg/Cl=0.085) and 1994 (Mg/Cl=0.177) was observed at Popocatépetl, before the disappearance of the crater lake in 1994. It is concluded that chemical analysis of crater lakes may provide a useful additional tool for active-volcano monitoring.     

Cause of dominance by sheetflood vs. debris-flow processes on two adjoining alluvial fans, Death Valley, California

Two large, adjoining alluvial fans of the Panamint Range piedmont, Death Valley, California, are composed of different facies assemblages deposited by contrasting sedimentary processes. The Anvil Spring fan was built solely by water-flow processes (incised-channel floods and sheetfloods), whereas the neighbouring Warm Spring fan has been constructed principally by debris flows. The boundary between these fans delineates a sharp provincial piedmont contact between sheetflood-dominated fans to the south and debris-flow-dominated fans to the north. Factors such as climate, catchment area, fan area, catchment relief, aspect, vegetation types and density, and neotectonic setting are essentially identical for these two fans. The key difference between them is that their catchments are underlain by dissimilar bedrock types, which weather to yield distinctive sediment suites. Weathering of the granite and andesite of the Anvil fan catchment produces significant volumes of medium to very coarse sand, granules, pebbles, cobbles and boulders, but minimal silt and clay. In contrast, the shale, quartzite and dolomite that dominate bedrock in the Warm Spring catchment weather to yield a wide suite of sedimentary particles spanning from clay to boulders. The abundance of mud, and the unsorted character of the yielded sediment, cause precipitation-induced slope failures in the Warm Spring catchment to transform readily into debris flows. This propensity is due to the low permeability of the colluvial sediment, which causes added water to become trapped quickly and pore pressure to rise rapidly, promoting transformations to debris flows. In contrast, the limited volume of sediment finer than medium sand yielded from the Anvil fan catchment causes the colluvium to have high permeability. This factor prevents the transformation of wet colluvium to a debris flow during hydrologically triggered slope failures, instead maintaining sediment transport as entrained bed load or suspended load in a water flow.     

Petrology of two contrasting Mexican volcanoes,the Chiapanecan (El Chichón) and Central American (Tacaná) volcanic belts: the result of rift- versus subduction-related volcanism

The alkaline El Chichón and calc-alkaline Tacaná volcanoes, located in southern Mexico, form parts of the Chiapanecan Volcanic Belt and Central American Volcanic Arc, respectively. El Chichón has emitted potassium-, sulphur-, and phosphorus-rich trachyandesites and trachybasalts (as mafic enclaves), whereas Tacaná has erupted basalts to dacites with moderate potassium contents, and minor high-Ti magmas (1.5–1.8 wt.% TiO₂). The magmatic evolution in the two volcanoes has involved similar fractionating assemblages: Fe-Ti oxides, olivine, plagioclase, pyroxenes, amphibole, and apatite. K₂O/P₂O₅ ratios and isotopic signatures indicate that magmas from both El Chichón and Tacaná have undergone significant crustal contamination. The volcanism at both Tacaná and El Chichón was previously related to northeastward subduction of the Cocos Plate, representing the main arc and the backarc, respectively. Although such an origin is in accord with Tacaná occurring 100 km above the Cocos Benioff Zone, it is inconsistent with: (a) the absence of a calc-alkaline belt between El Chichón and the Middle America Trench; and (b) truncation of the subducted Cocos Plate by the southwesterly dipping Yucatan slab near the Middle America Trench (i.e. the Cocos Plate does not presently underlie El Chichón). On the other hand, El Chichón and the Chiapanecan Volcanic Belt are located on the sinistral Veracruz fault zone that forms the northern boundary of the Southern Mexico block, which has been migrating relatively to the east since ca. 5 Ma. In this context, the anomalous high potassium, sulphur, and phosphorus levels in the El Chichón magmas are explicable in terms of rifting in a pull-apart system with the weak subduction fingerprint inherited from the Yucatan slab.     

Moment-tensor statistics of the 1997 Long Valley microearthquake swarm

Abstract. A simple, fast, moment-tensor inversion method using bandpass-filtered P-amplitudes was used to study the moment-tensor statistics of Long Valley caldera microearthquakes. The events were recorded in the summer of 1997, during a swarm in the caldera. The swarm was associated with geodetic extension, uplift, and subsequent moderate earthquake activity. The moment tensor solutions for 1,993 events were calculated using the new method. The majority of the resulting focal mechanisms appear to be explained in terms of double couple mechanisms. Since some events did exhibit considerable deviation from double-couples, the moment data were studied for their statistical significance. The moments of the actual data were compared to the moments of synthetic data with varying degrees of random noise in their spectra. The results of this study suggested that unless data from more than 20 stations are used and the earthquake epicenter is located inside or very close to the network area, moment-tensor inversion does not correctly resolve the non-double-couple components of microearthquakes. Analysis of the inversion residuals shows that the average noise in the P-wave spectra was close to 20%. The fluctuations of the volumetric components of the moment-tensor are in good agreement with those of the synthetic pure double-couples with 20% of added noise. Thus the moment-tensor statistics suggests that little if any volume change is required to explain the observed seismic energy release in the swarm. However, the statistics do show that a significant compensated-linear-vector-dipole component maybe present in the bulk of the seismicity. Given the network used in this study, such a component could not be precisely resolved for individual earthquakes. This possibility deserves further investigation because of its bearing on the nature of fluid-fault-earthquake processes in swarms.     

Modelling flow resistance in vegetated streams: review and development of new theory

Aquatic macrophytes are often the dominant factor influencing flow conditions within the channels they occupy. Existing knowledge of how stream plants affect the flow is outlined, and the different scales at which vegetation resistance operates are proposed. Resistance is shown to be a function of the size of the plants, their structural properties, location in the channel, and the local flow conditions. Current models to calculate this composite resistance effect are assessed in the light of theoretical considerations of the nature of vegetation resistance. New theory is also presented, which demonstrates the non‐linear relationship between channel resistance and the proportion of the channel occupied by vegetation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pleistocene sediments,soils and landscape evolution at Stebbing,Essex

Pleistocene sediments and soils exposed at Stebbing in central Essex, England are described, analysed and interpreted. The sand and gravel units above Eocene London Clay and Upper Pliocene Red Crag are shown to be a high level member of the Kesgrave Formation, with a surface immediately beneath that of the Westland Green Gravels, which are tentatively assigned to the Pre-Pastonian ‘a’ Stage of the British Quaternary succession. The rubified, argillic soil developed in the surface of these fluvial deposits is a composite of the Valley Farm and Barham Soils and displays micromorphological evidence of several phases of clay illuviation, gleying and clay coating disruption. Originally truncated and buried beneath Anglian gelifluction deposits, cover sand and till, the soil has been exhumed in most places by subsequent erosion. The full succession, however, is preserved within large gulls that formed by periglacial cambering prior to this erosion. More recent loess incorporation and pedogenesis have modified the exhumed soil and the materials within the gulls.     

p-mode Oscillations of α Cen A

Models of Cen A & B have been computed using the masses determinedby Pourbaix et al. (2002) and the data derived from the spectroscopicanalysis of Neuforge and Magain (1997). The seismological dataobtained by Bouchy and Carrier (2001, 2002) do help improveour knowledge of the evolutionary status of the system. All the constraintsare satisfied with a model which gives an age of about 6 Gyr for the binary.