High-P (P = 1.5–1.8 GPa) blueschist from Elba: Implications for underthrusting and exhumation of continental units in the Northern Apennines

The Acquadolce Subunit on the Island of Elba, Italy, records blueschist facies metamorphism related to the Oligocene–early Miocene stages of continental collision in the Northern Apennines. The blueschist facies metamorphism is represented by glaucophane- and lawsonite-bearing metabasite associated with marble and calcschist. These rock types occur as lenses in a schistose complex representing foredeep deposits of early Oligocene age. Detailed petrological analyses on metabasic and metapelitic protoliths, involving mineral and bulk-rock chemistry coupled with P–T and P–T–X(Fe₂O₃) pseudosection modelling using PERPLE_X, show that the Acquadolce Subunit recorded nearly isothermal exhumation from peak pressure–temperature conditions of 1.5–1.8 GPa and 320–370°C. During exhumation, peak lawsonite- and possibly carpholite- or stilpnomelane-bearing assemblages were overprinted and partially obliterated by epidote-blueschist and, subsequently, albite-greenschist facies metamorphic assemblages. This study sheds new light on the tectonic evolution of Adria-derived metamorphic units in the Northern Apennines, by showing (a) the deep underthrusting of continental crust during continental collision and (b) rapid exhumation along ‘cold’ and nearly isothermal paths, compatible with syn-orogenic extrusion.     

Alpine metamorphism of low-grade schists from the Slavonian Mountains (Croatia): new P-T and geochronological constraints

Low-grade schists from the Slavonian Mountains (Tisia Mega-Unit, Mt Papuk, Croatia), previously assigned to Precambrian to Lower Palaeozoic metamorphism, have been subjected to geochemical investigations, P-T modelling, and in situ age dating of monazite. The studied fine-grained metasediments consist of chlorite (5–15 vol.%), K white-mica (40–55 vol.%), quartz (20–35 vol.%), feldspar (albite 15–20 vol.%), opaques (<2 vol.%), and accessory minerals. According to their whole-rock geochemistry, the detritus of the former sediments came from upper crustal felsic rocks as they occur, for instance, at Mt Papuk. The schists show a complex microtectonic fabric, including well-developed schistosity systems. P-T pseudosections in the system MnNCKFMASHTO, constructed for typical schists of the study area, resulted in peak P-T conditions of 445–465 °C and 4.6–6.0 kbar for a sample from Kutjevo (eastern part of the study area) and 450–460 °C and 5.2–6.0 for a Vranovo sample (western part). Electron microprobe (EMP) dating of monazite in the schists gave a weighted average age of 109.0 ± 13.1 Ma (2σ) eventually with three subgroups of ages at 225 ± 63 (two analyses), 114 ± 24 and 83 ± 22 Ma. We conclude that the metamorphism of the studied schists at depths of c. 20 km is due to an Alpine collisional event.     

Chromium in minerals as tracer of the polycyclic evolution of eclogite and related metabasite from the Pohorje Mountains,Slovenian Eastern Alps

Significantly different peak pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions (18–26 kbar and 630–760°C versus 29–37 kbar and 750–940°C) have previously been published for eclogite and related metabasites from the south-eastern flank of the Pohorje Mountains in Slovenia. These rocks can show a bimodal distribution of chromium in the rock-forming minerals, particularly garnet, the role of which in their metamorphic evolution is unclear. Therefore, we studied an eclogite and a related rock with clinopyroxene containing only 17 mol% jadeite + acmite (sample 18Ca35a). KαCr intensity maps of garnet particularly in sample 18Ca35a show a sharp irregular boundary between the core (Gt1) and the mantle (Gt2). Gt1 of millimetre-sized garnet in this rock is nearly Cr-free and unzoned, whereas Gt2 is of different composition (0.22 wt.% Cr₂O₃) and slightly zoned. Nearly Cr-free amphibole, (clino)zoisite, kyanite and staurolite inclusions are present in Gt1. The matrix consists of garnet and Cr-bearing clinopyroxene, (clino)zoisite and amphibole. Thermodynamic modelling suggests peak P–T conditions of 22.5 ± 2 kbar at 710 ± 25°C (Gt1) and 23 ± 2 kbar at 700 ± 25°C (Gt2) in both samples. We interpret these findings to suggest that olivine- and hornblende-bearing gabbros with some chromite experienced early metamorphism in the eclogite facies, when Gt1 formed. The rock was subsequently exhumed and cooled leading to significant garnet corrosion. A second stage of metamorphism, recognized by mappable Cr contents in garnet, led to the growth of Gt2 and other Cr-bearing minerals at the expense of chromite relics, which survived stage I. The peak P–T conditions of stage II are compatible with those previously derived by same authors and support the view that probably no ultrahigh-pressure eclogite exists in the Pohorje Mountains. We relate the two metamorphic events to the Cretaceous and Palaeogene high-pressure events recently reported from micaschists of the Pohorje Mountains.     

Western migrants in central Europe: Isolated individuals or members of transnational communities?

Migration flows from western Europe, the United States and Canada to east central Europe have received little attention so far. But numbers are now considerable and in the context of globalisation it seems appropriate to conceptualise communities of Westerners in terms of transnational social spaces as defined by Glick Schiller et al. Study of Americans in Prague reveals three main groups: enterprise managers, lifestyle migrants and entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized enterprises. All are engaged in a variety of different processes of community-building, often with clear trends towards a new transnationalism. Yet, the individual attempt to live in two societies is limited by the marked boundaries of the communities and by the degree of social exclusion which they experience from the majority population. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Korrelation der Sporenzonen der Oberen Trias und des Jura im Mittleren Orient und in Süddeutschland

Zusammenfassung Bei der sporenstratigraphischen Gliederung des mittleren Mesozoikums im Mittleren Orient konnten vom Nor bis zur Unteren Kreide 6 Sporenzonen unterschieden werden: Unterkreide:Ischyosporites variegatus — Rouseisporites laciniatus — Cicatricosisporites-Zone Malm:Ischyosporites variegatus — Rouseisporites laciniatus-Zone Dogger:Ischyosporites variegatus — Duplexisporites problematicus-Zone Lias:Concavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus-Zone Rät:Concavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus — Lophotriletes sangburensis — Ricciisporites tuberculatus-Zone Nor:Concavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus — Lophotriletes sangburensis — Cyclotriletes oligogranifer-ZoneVergleichende Untersuchungen ergaben, daß diese Sporenzonen auch auf Süddeutschland übertragbar sind und den faunistischen Grenzen entsprechen. Nur die sporenstratigraphische Festlegung der Nor/Rätsowie der Dogger/Malm- und der Malm/Unterkreide-Grenze bedürfen noch der Verifizierung.

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In the middle Mesozoic of the Middle East 6 spore-assoziations could be distinguished from the Norian to the Lower Cretaceous: Lower Cretaceous:Ischyosporites variegatus — Rouseisporites laciniatus — Cicatricosisporites zone Upper Jurassic:Ischyosporites variegatus — Rouseisporites laciniatus zone Middle Jurassic:Ischyosporites variegatus — Duplexisporites problematicus zone Lower Jurassic:Concavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus zone Rhaetian:Concavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus — Lophotriletes sangburensis — Ricciisporites tuberculatus zone Norian:Concavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus — Lophotriletes sangburensis — Cyclotriletes oligogranifer zone.The interregional validity and the correspondance of these spore zones with the faunistic boundaries could be substantiated in equivalent sequences in Southern Germany. However, the palynological definition of the Norian/Rhaetian, Middle/Upper Jurassic and Jurassic/Cretaceous boundaries have still to be confirmed in other regions since suitable sections have not been available in Southern Germany.

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Résumé Dans le Mésozoïque moyen du Moyen Orient, six zones de spores peuvent être distinguées du Norien au Crétacé inférieur: Crétacé inférieur: Zone àIschyosporites variegatus — Rouseisporites laciniatus — Cicatricosisporites Jurassique supérieur: Zone àIschyosporites variegatus — Rouseisporites laciniatus Jurassique moyen: Zone àIschyosporites variegatus — Duplexisporites problematicus Jurassique inférieur: Zone àConcavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus Réthien: Zone àConcavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus — Lophotriletes sangburensis — Ricciisporites tuberculatus Norien: Zone àConcavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus — Lophotriletes sangburensis — Cyclotriletes oligogranifer Une étude comparative montre que les mêmes zones de spores existent en Allemagne du sud et qu'elles correspondent aux limites faunistiques. Toutefois, les limites Norien/ Rhétien, Dogger/Malm et Malm/Crétacé inférieur demandent à être vérifiées.

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- : : Ischyosporites variegatus —Rouseisporites laciniatus — Cicatricosisporites : Ischyosporites variegatus — Rouseisporites laciniatus : Ischyosporites variegatus — Duplexisporites problematicus : Concavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus : Concavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus — Lophotriletes sangburensis — Ricciisporites tuberculatus : Concavisporites — Duplexisporites problematicus — Lophotriletes sangburensis — Cyclotriletes oligogranifer. , , . , /, / / .

     

Antagonistic structures in border areas: Local milieux and local politics in the Polish-German twin city Gubin/Guben

Cross-border communication and co-operation at the Eastern fringe of the European Union seems so far to have been a matter of political initiative and a lot of good will at the levels of national, regional and local governance. This article maintains that everyday culture must be given more notice when cross-border activities are regarded at the local level, especially in twin cities. The case of the German-Polish twin city Guben/Gubin reveals a strong tendency towards a new divergence of thought and action between formal and informal levels of action, namely the level of local politics and governance and the level of local everyday milieux. While the politics of Euroregions, local administrations and local governments is very often directed towards establishing symbolic gestures of border-crossing and mutual understanding, social milieux at the ‘base’ of local societies are rather driven by a paradoxical mixture of hope, anxiety, resentments and prejudice, thus producing contradictions and even conflict with official political initiative. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Search for strange attractors in magnetic field data: An example from a tertiary volcanic area near Bonn, Germany

Spatial variations of the magnetic field, measured at the Earth's surface, are mainly due to geological inhomogeneities within the crust. The present state of the crust, in turn, reflects its past dynamical processes and evolution. We analyzed the magnetic field intensity along a few but densely sampled profiles in a Tertiary volcanic province near Bonn, Germany. The aim was to find out whether the variation of the magnetic intensity can be related to a deterministic, although chaotic, generating system or to a stochastic one. In the former case, the geodynamical history would depend on a few degrees of freedom, whereas in the latter case, the parameters to take into account were so many that a statistic approach appears to be more suitable. Since strange attractors do not emerge from the analyzed data, we exclude the presence of a chaos generating system. Autocorrelation functions and a rescaled-range analysis, on the other hand, reveal and quantify a certain degree of correlation among successive data points and allow calculation of a range of spectral exponents in log-log diagrams, which are clearly distinct from those of white noise and Brownian motion. Only one of the profiles exhibits similarity to uncorrelated or white noise. In this case, the signal variations do not result from the local geology but from a buried gas pipe-line, aligned subparallel to that profile. If self-organized crustal evolution generally produces signatures that can be described as correlated noise, within a limited bandwidth of spectral exponents, erraneous or disturbed data could eventually be discriminated from records containing purely natural data by applying analysis tools of the dynamic system theory together with autocorrelation tests.