Eocene high pressure metamorphism in the Penninic units of the Tauern Window (Eastern Alps): evidence from40Ar−39Ar dating and petrological investigations

The⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar degassing spectra of white micas and amphiboles from three tectonic units of the central Tauern Window (Pennine basement and cover in the Eastern Alps) have been measured. White micas are classified as (1) pre-Alpine low-Si relic micas with an age value of 292 Ma, variously disturbed by the Alpine metamorphism; (2) Alpine phengitic micas of variable composition with an age between 32 and 36 Ma; (3) Alpine low-Si micas with a maximum age of 27 Ma. We attribute the higher Alpine ages to a blueschist facies event, whereas the lower age reflects the late cooling of the nappe pile. Blueschist facies phengites from the basement (Lower Schieferhülle) and the tectonic cover (Upper Schieferhülle) crystallized at a temperature below the closure temperature (T _c) for argon diffusion in white mica and record ages of 32 to 36 Ma. At the same time a thin, eclogite facies unit (Eclogite Zone) was thrust between the Lower and the Upper Schieferhülle and cooled from eclogite facies conditions at about 600°C at 20 kbar to blueschist facies conditions at 450°C or even 300°C at >10 kbar. Eclogite facies phengites closed for argon diffusion and record cooling ages, coinciding with the crystallization ages in the hanging and the footwall unit. Amphibole age spectra (actinolite, glaucophane, barroisite) are not interpretable in terms of geologically meaningful ages because of excess argon.     

Retrograde evolution of eclogites: evidences from microstructures and 40Ar/39Ar white mica dates,Münchberg Massif,northern Bavaria

Phengites from eclogites and pegmatites (3T, 2M₁, coarse-grained and recrystallized) of the Münchberg Massif (Weissenstein and Oberkotzau) have been dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method. 3T-micas from the eclogites yielded plateau and isochron ages of 365±7 Ma. 2M₁-micas show disturbed degassing spectra. Micas from pegmatites show a slight excess Ar component, with an isochron age of 353 to 351±3 Ma. An age component of approximately 300 Ma was also detected. In combination with age values from the literature, the cooling history of the Münchberg Massif from eclogite-facies conditions (390 Ma) to cooling below 350°C (350 Ma) is documented. The age component of 300 Ma is attributed to a low-grade stage of mineral growth accompanied by a transitional ductile-brittle deformation. The petrological effects include formation of pumpellyite-prehnite-facies minerals, frequently precipitated in microcraks and cleavage planes of earlier formed minerals. This stage has to be seen in conjunction with the intrusions of the Fichtelgebirge granite.     

Development of a New Method of Extraction of Interstitial Water from Low‐Porosity Consolidated Sediments Recovered During Super‐Deep Drilling Projects

During the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 338, several methods were tested for the extraction of interstitial water in consolidated, low‐porosity deep‐sea sediments from Site C0002 in the Kumano Basin. On the basis of those tests, we propose a modified ground rock interstitial normative determination (GRIND) method of extraction of interstitial water. In separate runs of the new method, sediment samples were ground in a ball mill with either ultrapure water or a solution of HNO₃. The interstitial water was then extracted with a conventional squeezer. Sufficient solution was extracted by this method to analyse most major and a few minor components of interstitial water that were comparable to those previously reported for samples extracted by the conventional squeezing method. The new method requires much smaller amounts of sediment than that of the conventional method and will be useful for analysis of samples recovered during super‐deep drilling programmes.     

Hi-Fix—ein neues Hilfsmittel zur Ortsbestimmung in küstennahen Seegebieten

Zusammenfassung Das Hi-Fix-Verfahren ist ein funktechnisches Hilfsmittel zur Ortsbestimmung auf der Grundlage der Hyperbelnavigation, das in küstennahen Seegebieten eingesetzt wird. Es werden das Prinzip, die Technik und die Anwendung dieses Verfahrens behandelt. Über die im praktischen Einsatz gesammelten Erfahrungen, sowie über die Aufgabenstellung für die Auswertung zahlreichen Registriermaterials, das während des Großversuches einiger Bundesbehörden in den Jahren 1964 und 1965 anfiel, wird berichtet. Es soll dabei untersucht werden, welchen Einfluß geophysikalische Größen, wie z. B. die Bodenleitfähigkeit und atmosphärische Störungen (Gewitter) sowie Sekundärstrahlungen von metallischen Gebilden in Empfängernähe auf die Anzeigegenauigkeit der Hi-Fix-Geräte ausüben.

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Hi-Fix — a new tool of position fixing in near-coastal sea areas

Summary Hi-Fix is a new tool of position fixing on the basis of hyperbolic navigation that is used in near-coastal sea areas. Principle, technique, and application of this system are treated. A report is given of the experience gained from field work as well as of the objects of the evaluation of the numerous recordings obtained from a large-scale experiment conducted by several federal agencies in the years 1964 and 1965. The effect of geophysical quantities, such as soil conductivity and atmospherics (thunderstorm) as well as secondary radiation from metallic bodies in the vicinity of the receiver on the indication accuracy of the Hi-Fix devices shall be studied.

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Hi-Fix — un nouveau procédé de localisation en mer à proximité de la côle

Résumé Le procédé Hi-Fix apporte une nouvelle contribution au problème de la localisation; il est basé sur le système hyperbolique et utilisé dans les eaux côtières. Il est rendu compte des expériences réalisées pratiquement ainsi que de la tâche qu'imposait, à quelques autorités fédérales, l'exploitation des nombreuses informations recueillies au cours des essais à grande échelle des années 1964 et 1965. A cette occasion on cherche à mesurer l'influence qu'exercent sur la précision fournie par les appareils Hi-Fix, des grandeurs atmosphériques (orages) ainsi que les rayonnements secondaires de formations métalliques au voisinage du récepteur.

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Nach einem Vortrag, gehalten auf der Meteorologen-Geophysiker-Tagung am 4. 4. 1968 in Hamburg.

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Hi-Fix ist eine Abkürzung für High Accuracy Position Fixing, es wird ebensowenig aufgelöst wie z. B. Radar. Die Redaktion.     

Helium isotope characteristics of Andean geothermal fluids and lavas

The first comprehensive helium isotope survey of the Andes is reported here. We have sampled geothermal fluids and phyric lava flows from the Southern (svz) and Central (cvz) Volcanic Zones, the volcanically active Pun˜a region and the Precordillera, Salta Basin, Longitudinal Valley and the aseismic region between the two volcanic zones. Although the active areas are characterised by significant differences in crustal age and thickness, the svz, cvz and Pun˜a are characterised by a wide and overlapping range in ³He/⁴He ratios (for fluids and phenocrysts) from predominantly radiogenic values to close to the MORB ratio. The measured ranges in ³He/⁴He ratios (R) (reported normalised to the air ³He/⁴He—R_A) are: svz (0.18 < R/R_A< 6.9); cvz (0.82 < R/R_A< 6.0); and Pun˜a (1.8 < R/R_A< 5.4). Modification of magmatic ³He/⁴He ratios by water/rock interactions (fluids) or post-eruptive grow-in of radiogenic ⁴He or preferential diffusive loss of ³He (phenocrysts) is considered unlikely; this means that the wide range reflects the helium isotope characteristics of magma bodies in the Andean crust. The mechanism controlling the ³He/⁴He ratios appears to be a mixing between mantle (MORB-like) helium and a radiogenic helium component derived from radioactive decay within the magma (magma aging) and/or interaction with ⁴He-rich country rock: a process expected to be influenced by pre-eruptive degassing of the mantle component. Assimilation of lower crust is also capable of modifying ³He/⁴He ratios, albeit to a much lesser extent. However, it is possible that the highest measured values in each zone were established by the addition of lower crustal radiogenic helium to MORB helium. In this case, the higher ‘base level’ ratios of the svz would reflect the younger crustal structure of this region. In contrast to helium, there is no overlap in the Sr or Pb isotope characteristics of lavas from the active zones: in all areas, therefore, ³He/⁴He ratios appear to vary independently of Sr and Pb isotope variations. This decoupling between the lithophile tracers and helium reflects the different processes controlling their isotopic characteristics: crust-mantle interactions, alone, for Sr and Pb but for helium the effects of pre-eruptive degassing and possibly magma aging are possibly superimposed. The presence of mantle helium in the Pun˜a region, and to a lesser extent in the Salta Basin, gives an across-arc perspective to the helium isotope distribution and shows mantle melting to occur significantly to the east of the active arc: this is most probably a consequence of lithospheric delamination. The Precordillera hot spring water has the only pure radiogenic helium signal of the entire sample suite and thus marks the western limit of asthenospheric mantle under the Andes.     

A K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar study on white micas from the Brixen Quartzphyllite,Southern Alps

The Brixen Quartzphyllite, basement of the Southern Alps (Italy), consists of metasediments which had suffered progressive deformation and low grade metamorphism (p _max4 kbar, T _max375±25° C) during the Palaeozoic. It has been excavated by pre-Permian erosion, buried again beneath a pile of Permo-mesozoic to Cainozoic sediments (estimated T _max150° C), and is now exposed anew due to late Alpine uplift and erosion. The behavior of the K-Ar system of white micas is investigated, taking advantage of the narrow constraints on their thermal history imposed by the geological/stratigraphic reference systems.The six structurally and petrographically differing samples come from a single outcrop, whose position is roughly two kilometers beneath the Permian land-surface. White mica concentrates from five grain size fractions (<2 , 2–6 , 6–20 , 20–60 , 60–75 ) of each sample have been analyzed by the conventional K-Ar method, four selected concentrates additionally by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar stepwise heating technique; furthermore, Ar content and isotopic composition of vein quartz were determined.The conventional ages of the natural grain size fractions (20–60 , 60–75) are in the range 316±8 Ma, which corresponds to the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau age of 319.0±5.5 Ma within the error limits. The finer grain size fractions yield significantly lower ages, down to 233 Ma for fractions <2 . Likewise low apparent ages (down to 83 Ma) are obtained for the low temperature ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar degassing steps.There is no correlation between microstructural generation of white mica prevailing in the sample and apparent age. This favours an interpretation of the 316±8 Ma values as cooling age; progressive deformation and metamorphism must be respectively older and their timing cannot be resolved by these methods. The data preclude any significant influence of a detrital mica component as well as of excess argon.The lower ages found for the fine grain-size fractions (respectively the low-T degassing steps) correspond to a near-surface period (p-T-minimum); the values are geologically meaningless. The effect is interpreted to result from partial Ar loss due to reheating during Mesozoic-Cainozoic reburial. A model based on diffusion parameters derived from the outgassing experiments and Dodson's (1979) equation yields a closure temperature of 284±40 °C for a cooling rate of 18° C/Ma. Furthermore, this model suggests that the observed argon loss of up to 5% may in fact have been induced by reheating to 150 °C for 50 Ma.     

Limitation of fluid flow at the Nankai Trough megasplay fault zone

Along the Nankai Trough megasplay fault off SE Japan, the effect of fluid migration on subduction-related seismogenesis and tsunamigenesis remains unresolved. To investigate the existence and role of fluid flow, a SmartPlug borehole observatory was installed at Site C0010 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program NanTroSEIZE Kumano transect, where a shallow branch of the fault was intersected and in situ fluid pressure monitored from August 2009 to November 2010. The tidal signal in the formation showed no phase shift relative to seafloor loading. The attenuation of 0.73 reflects the loading efficiency accurately, and enabled calculation of a formation compressibility of 1.0×10^–9 Pa^–1 and a hydraulic diffusivity (HD) of 1.5×10^–5 m² s^–1. A similar HD is predicted by a tidal response model based on SmartPlug pressure data. By contrast, permeability measurements on intact samples from Site C0004 SE along-strike the splay fault and from Site C0006 in the frontal thrust zone were found to be similar and one magnitude smaller respectively, despite having a higher porosity. This is explained by the presence of fractures, which are covered by the larger scale of in situ measurements at Site C0010. Consequently, HD can be set to be at least 10^–5 m² s^–1 for the splay fault and 10^–6 m² s^–1 for the frontal thrust fault zone. Considering recent publications makes fluid flow at the splay fault unlikely, despite the presence of fractures. If the influence of fractures is limited, then processes leading to fault weakening may be enhanced.     

40Ar/39Ar dating of the Araguainha impact structure,Mato Grosso,Brazil

Abstract— Pursuing the exploration of the Araguainha impact structure (Engelhardt et al., 1992), we present ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages (1) of biotite samples from the granite, which forms the central uplift of the structure, and (2) of a melt rock, formed by the impact. Total degassing ages of biotites from granite samples range from 326 to 481 Ma. The variation is explained by Ar losses due to the oxidation of divalent Fe and by removal of K. The K loss depends on the time that the granite was exposed to weathering at particular outcrops. The oldest age of the least oxidized biotite from a granite sample, collected at a site most recently exposed, signifies that the ascending granite passed the 300° isotherm earlier than 481 Ma ago. Early Devonian Furnas sandstones, the oldest sediments exposed by the impact, were deposited on this granite basement 410–396 Ma ago. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar analyses of two size fractions of an impact melt rock, resulting in plateau ages of 245.5 ± 3.5 Ma and 243.3 ± 3.0 Ma, respectively, indicate that the Araguainha impact occurred close to the Permian-Triassic boundary.     

Speciation leads to divergent methylmercury accumulation in sympatric whitefish

Central European lake whitefish (Coregonus spp.) colonized Swiss lakes following the last glacial retreat and have undergone rapid speciation and adaptive radiation. Up to six species have been shown to coexist in some lakes, and individual species occupy specific ecological niches and have distinct feeding and reproductive ecologies. We studied methylmercury (MeHg) accumulation in sympatric whitefish species from seven Swiss lakes to determine if ecological divergence has led to different rates of MeHg bioaccumulation. In four of seven lakes, sympatric species had distinctly different MeHg levels, which varied by up to a factor of two between species. Generally, species with greater MeHg levels were smaller in body size and planktivorous, and species with lower MeHg were larger and benthivorous. While modest disparities in trophic position between species might be expected a priori to explain the divergence in MeHg, δ¹⁵N of bulk tissue did not correlate with fish MeHg in five of seven lakes. Results of a nested ANCOVA analysis across all lakes indicated that only two factors (species, lake) explained substantial portions of the variance, with species accounting for more variance (52 %) than inter-lake differences (32 %). We suggest that differences in MeHg accumulation were likely caused by diverging metabolic traits between species, such as differences in energy partitioning between anabolism and catabolism, potentially interacting with species-specific prey resource utilization. These results indicate substantial variability in MeHg accumulation between closely related fish species, illustrating that ecological speciation in fish can lead to divergent MeHg accumulation patterns.     

Geochemistry and geochronology of Early Mesozoic tholeiites from Central Morocco

From Central Morocco (Central High Atlas, Middle Atlas, Haute Moulouya) continental tholeiites were investigated geochemically and geochronologically. These tholeiites are intercalated within continental redbeds of the Early Mesozoic (Triassic-Liassic). The major, trace and rare earth element contents classify these volcanic rocks as basaltic to andesitic-basaltic, quartz-normative tholeiites. Some trace element ratios (e.g. Zr/Nb, Zr/ Y, Y/Nb, Ti/V) suffer a heterogeneous source with a composition similar to MORB (P- to N-type). The enriched LILE contents, the negative Nb anomaly and the inital⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7064–0.7069) reveal the presence of a crustal component up to 13–17 wt%.⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of carbonate mineral separates from different lava flows show different cycles of alteration; however, the major and trace element chemistry together with Sr isotope evidence, indicate that the alteration phases are not submarine in origin.⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations on translucent plagioclase phenocrysts yield extrusion ages which range between 210.4 ± 2.1 Ma and 196.3 ± 1.2 Ma. These ages correspond to a stratigraphic period between the Norian (Rhaetian?) and the Upper Sinemurian.