Residence, Resorption and Recycling of Zircons in Devils Kitchen Rhyolite, Coso Volcanic Field, California

Zircons from the Devils Kitchen rhyolite in the PleistoceneCoso Volcanic field, California have been analyzed by in situPb/U ion microprobe (SHRIMP-RG) and by detailed cathodoluminescenceimaging. The zircons yield common-Pb-corrected and disequilibrium-corrected²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages that predate a previously reported K–Arsanidine age by up to 200 kyr, and the range of ages exhibitedby the zircons is also approximately 200 kyr. Cathodoluminescenceimaging indicates that zircons formed in contrasting environments.Most zircons are euhedral, and a majority of the zircons areweakly zoned, but many also have anhedral, embayed cores, witheuhedral overgrowths and multiple internal surfaces that aretruncated by later crystal zones. Concentrations of U and Thvary by two orders of magnitude within the zircon population,and by 10–20 times between zones within some zircon crystals,indicating that zircons were transferred between contrastingchemical environments. A zircon saturation temperature of 750°Coverlaps within error a previously reported phenocryst equilibrationtemperature of 740 ± 25°C. Textures in zircons indicativeof repeated dissolution and subsequent regrowth are probablycaused by punctuated heating by mafic magma input into rhyolite.The overall span of ages and large variation in U and Th concentrations,combined with calculated zircon saturation temperatures andresorption times, are most compatible with crystallization inmagma bodies that were emplaced piecemeal in the crust at Cosoover 200 kyr prior to eruption, and that were periodically rejuvenatedor melted by subsequent basaltic injections. KEY WORDS: zircon geochronology; residence time; rhyolite; ion microprobe; California     

Generation of Porphyritic and Equigranular Mafic Enclaves During Magma Recharge Events at Unzen Volcano, Japan

Mafic to intermediate enclaves are evenly distributed throughoutthe dacitic 1991–1995 lava sequence of Unzen volcano,Japan, representing hundreds of mafic recharge events over thelife of the volcano. This study documents the morphological,textural, chemical, and petrological characteristics of theenclaves and coexisting silicic host lavas. The eruptive productsdescribed in this study appear to be general products of magmamingling, as the same textural types are seen at many othervolcanoes. Two types of magmatic enclaves, referred to as Porphyriticand Equigranular, are easily distinguished texturally. Porphyriticenclaves display a wide range in composition from basalt toandesite, are glass-rich, spherical and porphyritic, and containlarge, resorbed, plagioclase phenocrysts in a matrix of acicularcrystals and glass. Equigranular enclaves are andesitic, non-porphyritic,and consist of tabular, medium-grained microphenocrysts in amatrix glass that is in equilibrium with the host dacite magma.Porphyritic enclaves are produced when intruding basaltic magmaengulfs melt and phenocrysts of resident silicic magma at theirmutual interface. Equigranular enclaves are a product of a moreprolonged mixing and gradual crystallization at a slower coolingrate within the interior of the mafic intrusion. KEY WORDS: mafic enclaves; quenched mafic inclusions; magma mingling; Unzen volcano; Unzen Scientific Drilling Project; resorbed plagioclase     

Diagenetic density inversions and the deformation of shallow marine chert beds in Israel

ABSTRACT Chert folds and 'dyke'-like boudinage in the Senonian Mishash Formation of Israel have orientations consistent with contemporaneous tectonic patterns whereas their amplitudes are anomalously high relative to strains calculated for adjacent layers. We suggest several means by which density inversions associated with chert diagenesis might amplify gentle structures whose wavelengths and orientations were determined by regional stresses.     

FORMATION OF LARGE-SCALE CROSS-BEDDING IN A CARBONATE UNIT

The type Lindsey Bridge Member of the Moorefield Formation of northeastern Oklahoma consists of 24 ft. of massively cross-bedded limestone. Cross-bed shape, lithologic variation, grain size and sorting, distribution of insolubles, and distribution of fossils and fossil burrows can be explained with reference to a hydrodynamic model developed in recent flume studies. Three facies can be distinguished in this unit: (1 Thei) foresets, thick-bedded, well-sorted, fine to medium crinoidal grainstones, dipping at angles up to 1° (2) toesets, which are thin-bedded, poorly sorted, skeletal packstones notably more fossiliferous than the foresets, with which they are laterally gradational; toesets dip at approximately 5°-8° (3) bottomsets, composed of argillaceous, fine-grained (mainly silt-size), skeletal limestones. Foresets overlie previously deposited bottomsets; this geometry is typical of regressive sedimentation. The exposure is adjacent to a pre-Moorefield topographic high. As currents crossing this high entered a basin on the downcurrent side, flow separation occurred. Bed material load was deposited mainly on the foreset slope, suspension material mainly in toeset and bottomset areas. The poor sorting of the toesets is in part due to reverse circulation, formed by the flow separation, which transported bottomset sediment back toward the foreset. Jopling (1965b) has shown that this depositional geometry produces tangential cross-beds similar to those seen in this outcrop. Differential settling velocity, substrate stability, and abundance of organic detritus influenced other sedimentologic properties of the deposit.     

Ayers Rock

For years the world's most famous inselberg was plagued by the deleterious effects of human activity. Now a massive investment, stimulated by the international tourist industry, has ensured preservation of the rock's unique geomorphological features and its fragile ecology.     

An outline tephrochronology for the Holocene of the north of Ireland

Geochemically typed thin layers of Icelandic Holocene tephras form a tephrochronology for the north of Ireland. Tephrochronology construction is based on geochemical linkage with dated historic Icelandic eruptions and high-precision multisample radiocarbon dating. Comparison with geochemically typed Holocene layers at sites throughout Scotland and northern England shows that some layers are widespread throughout much of the northern British Isles. Other layers of known historic date have so far been detected only in Ireland.     

New lessons for technology policy and climate change: investment for innovation

The direction of UK energy policy requires a renewed impetus if the goal of climate change stabilization is to be met. Cost is not the main issue: a transformation to a low-carbon energy system may be no more expensive than meeting future energy demands with fossil fuels. Institutional barriers are preventing the large-scale adoption of the necessary technologies. New institutions to promote low-carbon technologies have not yet led to investment on the necessary scale. Further changes to the operation of the UK electricity markets to create a ‘level playing field’ for small-scale and intermittent generation are necessary. UK policy can contribute to international agreements following on from the Kyoto Accord, which also need to address the institutional barriers to energy technology development and transfer.