Capelinhos: The disappearing volcano

The 1957–58 eruption of Capelinhos, on Faial, in the Azores, built a new volcano at the west end of the island. Erosion by the sea has subsequently destroyed over two-thirds of this structure and will probably continue to remove much of the rest of the volcano over the next few decades.     

ESTIMATING RATES OF DENUDATION USING COSMOGENIC ISOTOPE ABUNDANCES IN SEDIMENT

We propose, as a testable hypothesis, a basin-scale approach for interpreting the abundance of in situ produced cosmogenic isotopes, an approach which considers explicitly both the isotope and sediment flux through a drainage basin. Unlike most existing models, which are appropriate for evaluating in situproduced cosmogenic isotope abundance at discrete points on Earth's surface, our model is designed for interpreting isotope abundance in sediment. Because sediment is a mixture of materials, in favourable cases derived from throughout a drainage basin, we suggest that measured isotope abundances may reflect spatially averaged rates of erosion. We investigate the assumptions and behaviour of our model and conclude that it could provide geomorphologists with a relatively simple means by which to constrain the rate of landscape evolution if a basin is in isotopic steady state and if sampled sediments are well mixed.     

Carbonate petrography as an indicator of climate and sea-level changes: new data from Bahamian Quaternary units

Coeval stratigraphic units of similar petrology occur throughout the northern Bahamas islands. The petrographic composition of these limestones provides clues about regional sea level and climate changes during the late Quaternary. At least eight fossil shoreline units, which are linked to transgressive episodes between the middle Pleistocene and the late Holocene, are recognized in the Bahamas. The petrographic composition of these units is either dominated by ooids and peloids or by bioclasts. Sedimentological observations demonstrate that oolitic-peloidal units were formed when sea level was higher than today, whereas skeletal units were deposited at or below modern ordnance datum. Skeletal units may reflect times of partial, or modest platform flooding, when the bulk of sediments brought to islands originates from bank-margin reefs. In contrast, oolitic-peloidal units correspond to major flooding events and active water circulation on the bank top. Cement fabrics further show that the early diagenesis of oolitic units took place during warm and humid climatic conditions, whereas skeletal rock bodies underwent subaerial diagenesis during drier climatic conditions characterized by marked seasonal changes. This example from the Bahamas suggests that compositional analysis of limestone from fossil carbonate platforms could be used for resolving ancient climate and sea-level changes.     

Diamond Discovered in Dangqiong Ophiolite, Western Yarlung-Zangbu Suture Zone, Tibet

<正>The first diamonds from ophiolite were found in peridotite of Luobusa ophiolite along Yarlung Zangbu suture zone in Tibet,China(IGCAGS,1981),and then more and more diamonds found in harzgurgite(Bai et al.,1993;Yang et al.,2007a;Robinson et al.,2014;Xu et al.,     

Diopside and Magnetite Exsolutions in Olivine from Lower Cr# Dunite in the Dongbo Ophiolite, Southern Tibet

<正>Diopside and magnetite exsolutions occur as oriented intergrowths within olivine of the lower Cr~#dunite in the Dongbo ophiolite,Tibet.The fresh lower Cr~#dunite has a mineral assemblage of olivine,spinel and diopside.The Fo content of its olivine is 90–92,which is lower than that of the higher Cr~#dunite lenses(Fo92-Fo94)without     

ISTANBUL'S BOSTANS: A MILLENNIUM OF MARKET GARDENS*

ABSTRACT. For centuries, a network of market gardens throughout Istanbul provisioned the city with fresh vegetables. These bostans and their gardeners held a respected place in Istanbul life, contributing to the city's food and employment needs. Today, only fragments remain. Massive urban development, intense competition for metropolitan space, modernization, changing institutions and laws, and the global industrialization of food have threatened this tradition with extinction. But in spite of the overwhelming forces behind their demise, some of Istanbul's bostans persist. Efforts to support and promote the gardens, and to draw from the expertise and experience of their gardeners, are emerging. From a historical perspective, this article examines Istanbul's bostans to understand their meaning and contribution to the city's people and landscape.     

Road network detection from SPOT imagery for updating geographical information systems in the rural–urban fringe

Abstract

Visual interpretation of high-resolution satellite data has been useful for mapping linear features, such as roads and updating land-use changes. However, it would be beneficial to map new road networks digitally from satellite data to update digital databases using semi-automated techniques. In this paper, an algorithm called Gradient Direction Profile Analysis (GDPA) is used to extract road networks digitally from SPOT High Resolution Visible (HRV) panchromatic data. The roads generated are compared with a visual interpretation of the SPOT HRV multispectral and panchromatic data. The technique is most effective in areas where road development is relatively recent. This is due to the spectral consistency of new road networks. As new road networks are those of most interest to the land manager, this is a useful technique for updating digital road network files within a geographical information system of urban areas.     

Coastal permafrost landscape development since the Late Pleistocene in the western Laptev Sea,Siberia

Winterfeld, M., Schirrmeister, L., Grigoriev, M. N., Kunitsky, V. V., Andreev, A., Murray, A. & Overduin, P. P. 2011: Coastal permafrost landscape development since the Late Pleistocene in the western Laptev Sea, Siberia. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2011.00203.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. The palaeoenvironmental development of the western Laptev Sea is understood primarily from investigations of exposed cliffs and surface sediment cores from the shelf. In 2005, a core transect was drilled between the Taymyr Peninsula and the Lena Delta, an area that was part of the westernmost region of the non‐glaciated Beringian landmass during the late Quaternary. The transect of five cores, one terrestrial and four marine, taken near Cape Mamontov Klyk reached 12 km offshore and 77 m below sea level. A multiproxy approach combined cryolithological, sedimentological, geochronological (¹⁴C‐AMS, OSL on quartz, IR‐OSL on feldspars) and palaeoecological (pollen, diatoms) methods. Our interpretation of the proxies focuses on landscape history and the transition of terrestrial into subsea permafrost. Marine interglacial deposits overlain by relict terrestrial permafrost within the same offshore core were encountered in the western Laptev Sea. Moreover, the marine interglacial deposits lay unexpectedly deep at 64 m below modern sea level 12 km from the current coastline, while no marine deposits were encountered onshore. This implies that the position of the Eemian coastline presumably was similar to today's. The landscape reconstruction suggests Eemian coastal lagoons and thermokarst lakes, followed by Early to Middle Weichselian fluvially dominated terrestrial deposition. During the Late Weichselian, this fluvial landscape was transformed into a poorly drained accumulation plain, characterized by widespread and broad ice‐wedge polygons. Finally, the shelf plain was flooded by the sea during the Holocene, resulting in the inundation and degradation of terrestrial permafrost and its transformation into subsea permafrost.     

Evolution of pore space in the Poza Rica trend (Mid-Cretaceous), Mexico

ABSTRACT The Poza Rica trend of the Tampico embayment, Mexico, will ultimately produce more than 2.3 × 10⁹ barrels of oil from Mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) basin-margin deposits. Bioclastic grainstone, packstone, and wackestone are interbedded with polymictic lime breccia and dolomitized debris; all were deposited by sediment gravity flow. Indigenous sediment was pelagic lime mud. Typical reservoir porosities are about 10%; permeabilities average 2 md and rarely exceed 100 md. Porosity is largely the result of selective dissolution of rudist fragments, which were originally aragonite. Detailed petrographic study, with emphasis on the diagenetic products, allows quantitative assessment of porosity at various diagenetic stages from original sediment to reservoir rock. A relatively simple diagenetic history is reflected by about 90% of the samples studied: primary porosity was reduced through lithification of matrix mud and initial cementation by clear, equant to bladed, non-ferroan calcite. Later dissolution produced extensive skelmoldic and minor vuggy porosity. Subsequently, non-ferroan calcite cement reduced porosity before the emplacement of hydrocarbons. Reconstructed sediment porosities are comparable to, but lower than, modern counterparts. The initial phase of cementation and presumed lithification of mud greatly reduced porosity in all lithologies, but appreciably more porosity persisted in grainstone and packstone than in wackestone or mudstone. Dissolution produced a porosity resurrection, which exceeded that of the initial sediment in some grainstones. Calcite cementation and local multiphase quartz cementation and dolomitization reduced porosity to present average values of 8–12% in grain-supported rocks and 3% in mud-supported rocks. The greater persistence of primary porosity and, therefore, permeability in grain-supported rocks probably accounts for their greater secondary porosity development and ultimate reservoir quality. Geometrically averaged permeabilities range from only 0.17 md in wackestone to 3.85 md in dolomite, but differ significantly with rock type and grain size. Permeability increases with porosity in all lithologies; the rate of increase is greater at higher porosities and with coarser grain sizes. The agent for both early cementation and development of secondary porosity appears to have been meteoric water. Subaerial exposure appears to be ruled out, however, by a basin-margin depositional environment and continued burial beneath Upper Cretaceous pelagic sediments. Early exposure to meteoric water can be explained by a hydrologic head developed during penecontemporaenous exposure that produced cavernous porosity in the adjacent Golden Lane trend. Descending meteoric water likely emerged as submarine springs along the Tamabra trend. Deposition of pelagic limestone during the Turonian blanketed part of the Golden Lane escarpment to enhance development of a large freshwater lens; gaps in the blanket localized springs and influenced flow patterns within the Poza Rica field. Analogous freshwater circulation exists today in northern Florida.