On the structure of the Ivrea-Verbano Zone (northern Italy) and its implications for present-day lower continental crust geometry

The Ivrea-Verbano Zone in northern Italy represents a section through the lower continental crust which has been tilted and emplaced into its present position during the Alpine orogeny. Recent and on-going structurally-oriented geological mapping in this region is providing new information about the geometry of the complex. The central part of the zone is dominated by a large basic complex (the 'mafic formation') which is intrusive into the surrounding gneisses. The foliation within the envelope of gneisses is deflected around the intrusive complex as if by ballooning, but in the region south-west of Monte Capio both units are folded together into a tight to isoclinal steeply plunging fold with an amplitude of c. 10 km. This fold locally inverts the stratigraphy of the layered basic group of the complex, and is thought to be the result of gravitational collapse following intrusion and inflation of a large magma body into the lower crust.
Several high-temperature shear zones have now been traced within the country rock for distances up to 20 km. The geometry of these, and their relationship to the basic complex suggests that at least some of the extensional collapse of the mafic body is related to uplift caused by intrusion of this body.
Close parallels can be drawn between the observed structure in the Ivrea-Verbano Zone (after removing the effects of late, low-temperature faulting and folding related to emplacement of the rocks into their present position), and those inferred from deep seismic reflection profiling in areas of current extension such as parts of the US Basin and Range province.     

Amino acid racemization in mammalian bones and teeth from La Chaise-de-Vouthon (Charente), France

A controlled test of the amino acid dating method as it is currently being applied to bones and teeth was attempted for the time range 100-250 ka, beyond that of ¹⁴C, at the archeological site of La Chaise-de-Vouthon (Charente, France). In Bourgeois-Delaunay, mammal fossils associated with Paleolithic artifacts were collected from layers dated at 101 ± 12 to 114 ± 7 ka by ²³⁰Th/²³⁰ dating of the over- and underlying stalagmitic floors. Racemization ratios for most amino acids were significantly lower than for comparably aged materials from other European sites. Regardless of the rate constants used, most amino acid dates were incorrect. Large associated errors spanned the late Pleistocene, making the dates useless for discriminating archaeological or geological events. Stratigraphic correlations using any tissue were also problematic. Relative interacid ratios varied with age, indicating that diagenetic alteration had affected racemization. Therefore, amino acid relative and absolute dating cannot be accurately applied to mid-Pleistocene bones or teeth.     

Leaching characteristics of a high-calcium fly ash as a function of pH: a potential source of selenium toxicity

Using a modified extraction procedure, the effect of pH on the leaching of selected elements from Ca-rich (Type C) power plant fly ash was studied. Continuous additions of acetic acid were used to maintain pH values of fly ash slurries at 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0 for 24 h and an additional set was leached at its natural pH (average 11.8) value. Analyses for Se, As, Ca, Cd, Cr, Fe, Na and Pb showed that the highest concentrations occur in the leachate at pH 4.0 and decline with increasing pH. Concentrations of Cr and Fe increased slightly between neutral and high pH. Arsenic, Cd, Cr, Pb and Se concentrations exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency's toxicity criteria at pH 4.0. Selenium was above its toxicity level at pH values near 7 but the other elements were below their respective toxicity levels near neutral pH. Because recent studies show adverse effects of Se on aquatic life at far lower concentrations than the current Environmental Protection Agency's standard, high-Ca, power plant fly ashes represent a potentially hazardous pollutant to surface and subsurface waters.     

The role of tectonic grain size reduction in the rheological stratification of the lithosphere

With the aid of published constitutive flow laws for common crustal and upper mantle rock types, it is possible to construct curves showing variation of rock strength with depth in the continental lithosphere, assuming a particular crustal stratification of rock types and a particular geothermal gradient. Such exercises lead to the conclusion that marked changes in strength can occur at major petrological interfaces, such as the Moho discontinuity, which are therefore likely to be associated with a tendency for major, sub-horizontal detachments to form. Constitutive flow laws used for such purposes are usually assumed to represent steady-state flow, at constant rock microstructure.We argue that perhaps the most significant tectonic displacements of rock masses occur across major, localized shear zones, characterized by intense grain-size reduction, and illustrate this by reference to deformation in the metabasic and ultrabasic rocks of the lower part of the Ivrea Zone of northern Italy, which is believed to provide a section through what was once part of the deep continental crust. Calculations of the variation of the flow strength with depth of rocks should therefore use flow laws which include provision for strain dependent variations of strength, arising from strain dependent microstructural changes.We use the results of recent studies of grain-size dependent flow of olivine to estimate strain dependent variations in the flow strength of the sub-continental upper mantle, arising from dynamic recrystallization. From this we argue that after an initial period of flow at high stress, parts of the upper mantle can become very weak, if grain size is sufficiently reduced. Under favourable circumstances, flow can be concentrated immediately below the Moho, or in a band below the Moho. Such behaviour is consistent with our observations of the behaviour of dunites in the Ivrea Zone, and with some interpretations of upper mantle seismic reflectors.

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Zusammenfassung Mit Hilfe von veröffentlichten wesentlichen Fließgesetzen für die meisten Krusten- und oberen Mantelgesteinstypen ist es möglich Kurven zu konstruieren, die Variationen in der Gesteinsfestigkeit in Abhängigkeit von der Tiefe innerhalb der kontinentalen Kruste zeigen. Dies unter der Annahme einer bestimmten krustalen Schichtung der Gesteinstypen sowie einem bestimmten geothermischen Gradienten. Derartige Untersuchungen führen zu dem Schluß, daß deutliche Unterschiede in der Gesteinsfestigkeit an markanten petrologischen Grenzflächen auftreten können, wie z. B an der Moho-Diskontinuität. Derartige Grenzflächen haben somit wahrscheinlich die Tendenz subhorizontale Ablösungsflächen auszubilden. Die allgemeinen Fließgesetze, die für diese Berechnungen angewandt wurden, repräsentieren gewöhnlich bei unverändertem Gesteinsmikrogefüge den »steady-state«Zustand. Es ist anzunehmen, daß die bedeutendsten tektonischen Verschiebungen in den Gesteinsmassen entlang großer, definierter Scherzonen stattfinden, die durch intensive Korngrößenreduktion charakterisiert werden. Belegt wird dies anhand der Deformation in den metabasischen und ultrabasischen Gesteinen des tieferen Teiles der Ivrea-Zone in Norditalien, von der angenommen wird, daß sie einen Schnitt durch denjenigen Teil darstellt, der ehemals dem tieferen Abschnitt der kontinentalen Kruste angehörte.Berechnungen der Variation der Fließfähigkeit von Gesteinen in Abhängigkeit von der Tiefe sollten daher Fließgesetze verwenden, die deformationsabhängige Variationen im Festigkeitsverhalten, das sich aus dem deformationsabhängigen Gefügewechsel ergibt, berücksichtigen.Wir benutzen die Ergebnisse neuerer Untersuchungen über korngrößenabhängiges Fließen von Olivin, um die Deformationsabhängigen Variationen im Fließverhalten des subkontinentalen oberen Mantels, das aus der dynamischen Rekristallisation entsteht, abzuschätzen. Hieraus läßt sich schließen, daß nach einer anfänglichen Periode des Fließens bei hohem Streß Teile des oberen Mantels sehr weich werden können, sofern nur die Korngröße genügend reduziert wird. Unter günstigen Bedingungen kann sich das Fließen direkt unter, zumindest aber in einem Bereich unter der Moho konzentrieren. Ein derartiges Verhalten steht in Übereinstimmung mit den Beobachtungen des Verhaltens der Dunite in der Ivrea-Zone sowie mit Interpretationen von seismischen Reflektoren des oberen Mantels.

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Résumé En utilisant les lois de fluage fournies par la littérature à propos des roches courantes de la croûte et du manteau supérieur, il est possible de construire des courbes montrant la variation de la rigidité des roches en fonction de la profondeur dans la lithosphére continentale, ceci pour un gradient géothermique déterminé et pour une superposition déterminée des divers types de roches dans la croûte. De telles recherches conduisent à la conclusion que des changements brusques de rigidité peuvent se produire aux interfaces pétrologiques majeures, telle la discontinuité Moho; ces interfaces apparaissent de la sorte comme des endroits favorables à la production de décollements subhorizontaux importants. Les lois de fluage utilisées sont généralement supposées s'appliquer à la déformation plastique d'une roche à microstructure constante.Les auteurs pensent que les déplacements tectoniques les plus significatifs des masses rocheuses s'opèrent le long de shear zones localisées, caractérisées par une forte réduction de la taille des grains. Cette conception est illustrée par la déformation des roches basiques et ultrabasiques de la partie inférieure de la zone d'Ivrée (Italie du Nord), considérée comme une coupe à travers une partie d'une ancienne croûte continentale profonde. Les calculs de la variation de la ductilité des roches en fonction de la profondeur devraient donc utiliser des lois de fluage qui tiennent compte des variations de rigidité résultant des modifications microstructurales induites par la déformation.Les auteurs ont utilisé les résultats d'études récentes relatives aux relations entre le fluage de l'olivine et sa granularité; ils ont appliqué ces données à l'estimation de la manière dont varie la ductilité en fonction de la déformation dans le manteau supérieur sub-continental, dont les roches résultent de la recristallisation dynamique. Il en concluent qu'après une période initiale de flux sous haute contrainte, certaines parties du manteau supérieur peuvent devenir très déformables si leur grain a été suffisamment réduit. Dans des circonstances favorables, le flux peut se concentrer immédiatement sous Moho, ou se répartir dans une zone située sous Moho. Un tel comportement est en accord avec celui des dunites de la zone d'Ivrée, ainsi qu'avec l'interprétation des réflecteurs sismiques du manteau supérieur.

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1987 Compilation of Elemental Concentration Data for USGS BIR-1, DNC-1 and W-2

Elemental concentration data on up to 73 individual constituents in BIR-1, DNC-1, and W-2 have been collected from 94 journal articles and technical reports. These data are summarized in consensus (mean) values with uncertainties expressed as one standard deviation. Mean values are also calculated as a function of analytical procedure and all raw data are given in the tables.
Ce rapport rassemble des données analytiques sur 73 éléments dans trois échantillons, BIR-1, DNC-1 et W-2, publiées dans 94 articles scientifiques ou rapports techniques. Quand cela a été possible, les valeurs de consensus (moyenne) sont présentées pour chaque élément avec l'incertitude exprimée un écart-type. Des valeurs moyennes en fonction des procédures analytiques sont également présentées.     

Infaunal community development of artificially established salt marshes in North Carolina

In recent years, artificial establishment of Spartina alterniflora marshes has become a common method for mitigating impacts to salt marsh systems. The vegetative component of artificially established salt marshes has been examined in several studies, but relatively little is known about the other aspects of these systems. This study was undertaken to investigate the infaunal community of artificially established salt marshes. Infauna were sampled from pairs of artificially established (AE) salt marshes and nearby natural marshes at six sites along the North Carolina coast. The AE marshes ranged in age from 1 yr to 17 yr. Total infaunal density, density of dominant taxa, and community trophic structure (proportions of subsurface-deposit feeders, surface-deposit and suspension feeders, and carnivores) were compared between the two types of marsh to assess infaunal community development in AE marshes. Overall, the two marsh types had similar component organisms and proportions of trophic groups, but total density and densities within trophic groupings were lower in the AE marshes. Soil organic matter content of the natural marshes was nearly twice that of the AE marshes, and is a possible cause for the higher infaunal densities observed in the natural marshes, Using the same three criteria, comparisons of the natural and AE marshes at each of the six locations revealed varying degrees of similarity. Similarity of each AE marsh to its natural marsh control appeared to be influenced by differences in environmental factors between locations more than by AE marsh age. Functional infaunal habitat convergence of an AE marsh with a natural marsh somewhere within its biogeographical region is probable, but success in duplicating the infaunal community of a particular natural marsh is contingent upon the developmental age of the natural marsh and the presence and interaction, of site-specific factors.     

1988 Compilation of Elemental Concentration Data for USGS Geochemical Exploration Reference Materials GXR-1 to GXR-6

Concentration data on 73 individual constituents in United States Geological Survey (USGS) Geochemical Exploration Reference Materials GXR-1 to GXR-6 have been collected from 131 journal articles and technical reports. These data are summarized as consensus (mean) values with uncertainties expressed as one standard deviation. Mean values are also calculated as a function of analytical procedure and all raw data are given in the tables. Recommended values are proposed based upon data criteria used by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology, formerly the National Bureau of Standards or NBS).     

1988 Compilation of Elemental Concentration Data for USGS Basalt BCR-1

Concentration data on up to 82 individual constituents in USGS Basalt BCR-1 have been collected from 1395 journal articles and technical reports. These data are summarized in consensus (mean) values with uncertainties expressed as ± one standard deviation. Mean values are also calculated as a function of analytical procedure and all raw data are given in the tables. Recommended values are proposed based upon data criteria used by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology, formerly the National Bureau of Standards or NBS).