Determination of the regional deformation rates of Shanghai and Kashima VLBI stations based on ITRF97

The vertical deformation rates (VDRs) and horizontal deformation rates (HDRs) of Shanghai VLBI station in China and Kashima and Kashima34 VLBI stations in Japan were re-analysed using the baseline length change rates from Shanghai to 13 global VLBI stations, and from Kashima to 27 stations and from Kashima34 to 12 stations, based on the NASA VLBI global solution glb1123 (Ma, 1999). The velocity vectors of the global VLBI stations were referred to the ITRF97 reference frame, and the Eulerian vectors of different models of plate motion were used for comparative solutions. The VDR of Shanghai station is estimated to be −1.91±0.56 mm/yr, and those of Kashima and Kashima34 stations, −3.72±0.74mm/yr and −8.81±0.84mm/yr, respectively. The difference between the last two was verified by further analysis. Similar estimates were also made for the Kokee, Kauai and MK_VLBA VLBI stations in mid-Pacific.     

Planar deformation features and impact glass in inclusions from the Vredefort Granophyre,South Africa

Abstract— The Vredefort Granophyre represents impact melt that was injected downward into fractures in the floor of the Vredefort impact structure, South Africa. This unit contains inclusions of country rock that were derived from different locations within the impact structure and are predominantly composed of quartzite, feldspathic quartzite, arkose, and granitic material with minor proportions of shale and epidiorite. Two of the least recrystallized inclusions contain quartz with single or multiple sets of planar deformation features. Quartz grains in other inclusions display a vermicular texture, which is reminiscent of checkerboard feldspar. Feldspars range from large, twinned crystals in some inclusions to fine‐grained aggregates that apparently are the product of decomposition of larger primary crystals. In rare inclusions, a mafic mineral, probably biotite or amphibole, has been transformed to very fine‐grained aggregates of secondary phases that include small euhedral crystals of Fe‐rich spinel. These data indicate that inclusions within the Vredefort Granophyre were exposed to shock pressures ranging from <5 to 8–30 GPa. Many of these inclusions contain small, rounded melt pockets composed of a groundmass of devitrified or metamorphosed glass containing microlites of a variety of minerals, including K‐feldspar, quartz, augite, low‐Ca pyroxene, and magnetite. The composition of this devitrified glass varies from inclusion to inclusion, but is generally consistent with a mixture of quartz and feldspar with minor proportions of mafic minerals. In the case of granitoid inclusions, melt pockets commonly occur at the boundaries between feldspar and quartz grains. In metasedimentary inclusions, some of these melt pockets contain remnants of partially melted feldspar grains. These melt pockets may have formed by eutectic melting caused by inclusion of these fragments in the hot (650 to 1610 °C) impact melt that crystallized to form the Vredefort Granophyre.     

Late Weichselian glacial maximum on Andøya, North Norway

Morphological, seismic and lithostratigraphic investigations of a moraine deposit at Bleik (the Bleik moraine), northern Andøya, show short-distance transported till overlying long-distance transported predominantly glaciofluvial ice-marginal deposits. Consolidated glaciomarine sediments from a core at present sea-level, c . 400 m distally to the moraine complex, contain 31 species of foraminifera, among which Cassidulina reniforme, Islandiella helenae and Trifarina fluens dominate, and fragments of the molluscs Mya truncata and Astarte sp. and the echinoid Strongylocentrotus sp. Amino acid analyses of the foraminifera Cibicides lobatulus and the mollusc Mya truncata indicate ages between 22,000 and 16,000 BP. Radiocarbon dating of fragments of Mya truncata from the upper part of the core gave an age of 17,940 ± 245 BP, while a dating of unidentified shell fragments from the lower part gave an infinite age (>40,000 BP). The sediment was probably disturbed by icebergs beyond the end moraine zone, and the radiocarbon and amino acid dating of Mya truncata therefore represent a maximum age for this process. This new evidence indicates two phases with a higher relative sea-level than at present at Bleik, c . 18,000 and >40,000 BP. The Bleik moraine probably represents the early Late Weichselian glacial maximum ( c . 22,000 BP), while the underlying deglaciation deposit and associated beach-ridge (Bruvollen) is of pre-Late Weichselian age. Moraine ridges 3–4 km to the south of Bleik probably indicate advances of local glaciers between 22,000 and 18,000 BP.     

“BASS 300 PARACOM”: a “model” underwaterparametric communication system

Parametric transduction offers valuable advantages for underwater acoustic communications. Perhaps the most significant benefit is the fact that high directivity is achieved by means of a physically small transmit transducer. This feature may, ultimately, be employed to permit long-range, low-frequency communication using a compact source. The high directivity is desirable to combat multipath propagation and to achieve data communications in water which is shallow by comparison with range. A real-time, high data-rate “model” differential phase shift keying (DPSK) communication system has been constructed and demonstrated. This system uses parametric transduction, with a 300-kHz primary frequency and a 50-kHz secondary frequency. Experimental results show that the system can be employed to combat multipath propagation in shallow water and can achieve high data-rate text and color image transmission at 10 and 20 kb s^-1 for 2-DPSK and 4-DPSK, respectively, through a transmission bandwidth of 10 kHz. The “model” system was developed to confirm performance predictions for a future, operational long-range link employing a 50-kHz primary frequency and a 5-kHz secondary frequency     

Is the transition impact to post‐impact rock complete? Some remarks based on XRF scanning,electron microprobe,and thin section analyses of the Yaxcopoil‐1 core in the Chicxulub crater

Abstract The transition from impact to post‐impact rocks in the Yaxcopoil‐1 (Yax‐1) core is marked by a 2 cm‐thick clay layer characterized by dissolution features. The clay overlies a 9 cm‐thick hardground, overlying a 66 cm‐thick crossbedded unit, consisting of dolomite sandstone alternating with thin micro‐conglomerate layers with litho‐ and bioclasts and the altered remains of impact glass, now smectite. The micro‐conglomerates mark erosion surfaces. Microprobe and backscatter SEM analysis of the dolomite rhombs show an early diagenetic, complex‐zoned, idiomorphic overgrowth, with Mn‐rich zones, possibly formed by hot fluids related to cooling melt sheet in the crater. The pore spaces are filled with several generations of coelestite, barite, K‐feldpar, and sparry calcite. XRF core scanning analysis detected high Mn values in the crossbedded sediments but no anomalous enrichment of the siderophile elements Cr, Co, Fe, and Ni in the clay layer. Shocked quartz occurs in the crossbedded unit but is absent in the clay layer. The basal Paleocene marls are strongly dissolved and do not contain a basal Paleocene fauna. The presence of a hardground, the lack of siderophile elements, shocked quartz, or Ni‐rich spinels in the clay layer, and the absence of basal Paleocene biozones P0 and Pa all suggest that the top of the ejecta sequence and a significant part of the lower Paleocene is missing. Due to the high energy sedimentation infill, a hiatus at the top of the impactite is not unexpected, but there is nothing in the biostratigraphy, geochemistry, and petrology of the Yax‐1 core that can be used to argue against the synchroneity of the end‐Cretaceous mass‐extinctions and the Chicxulub crater.     

Geochemistry of metabauxites in the Bergsträsser Odenwald (Mid German Crystalline Rise) and palaeoenvironmental implications

Summary Pre- to early Variscan metamorphosed volcano-sedimentary series of the western (Bergstr?sser) Odenwald have been intruded by Variscan calc-alkaline magmatites with plate margin affinities. Within the NE-SW trending metabasic and metapelitic series, intercalations of anomalously aluminous- and iron-rich compositions representing former bauxites are distinguishable. Geochemical data indicate that the Al-, Fe-rich rocks are the metamorphic equivalents of a former bauxitic-ferralitic weathering profile, now comprising spinel fels (top) with relics of pisolitic structures, corundum-chlorite fels, corundum-cordierite-plagioclase gneiss, sillimanite-cordierite-plagioclase gneiss, cordierite-plagioclase gneiss and kinzigite (base) displaying a decrease of weathering in the order as listed. The evolution of such terrestrial sediments is related to specific climatic, environmental, and physico-chemical conditions similar to those of the present-day tropical to subtropical humid regions with high seasonal rains and intensive drainage. Comparison with palaeomagnetic and palaeoclimatic data indicate that the Odenwald metabauxites originally formed during the Lower to Mid-Devonian. Our results imply that, during this geological time span, parts of the precursors of the Mid-German Crystalline Rise not only transversed low latitudes but also were exposed to terrestrial weathering.

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Zusammenfassung Die Geochemie der Metabauxite im Bergstr?sser Odenwald (Mitteldeutsche Kristallinschwelle) und ihre Bedeutung für das Pal?omilieu Im westlichen (Bergstr?sser) Odenwald intrudierten variszische Plattenrand-Kalkalkali-Magmatite in pr?- bis früh-variszische, ehemalige vulkano-sediment?re Serien. Innerhalb der heute NE-SW streichenden Metabasit- und Metapelitzüge treten lokal Al-Fe-reiche Einschaltungen auf, die strukturell und geochemisch als metamorphe ?quivalente eines ehemaligen bauxitisch-ferralitischen Verwitterungsprofils klassifiziert werden k?nnen. Sie umfassen Spinellfelse mit erhaltenen, ehemaligen zonierten Pisolithen, Korund-Chloritfelse, Korund-Cordierit-Plagioklasgneise, Sillimanit-Cordierit-Plagioklasgneise, Cordierit-Plagioklasgneise und Kinzigite. Bauxite k?nnen als terrestrische Bildungen nur unter speziellen klimatischen und physiko-chemischen Bedingungen entstehen. Pal?omagnetische und pal?oklimatische Daten legen die Bildung der ehemaligen Bauxite im unteren bis mittleren Devon nahe. Daraus folgt, da? w?hrend dieser geologischen Zeitspanne die Vorl?ufer der mitteldeutschen Kristallinschwelle bei der Norddrift nicht nur ?quatorn?he passierten, sondern auch partiell ungest?rte, terrestrische, tropisch-subtropische Verwitterungsprozesse abliefen.

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Received June 10, 1999; revised version accepted October 30, 2000     

Going underground: in search of Carboniferous coal forests

The development of coal forests during the Carboniferous is one of the best-known episodes in the history of life. Although often reconstructed as steamy tropical rainforests, these ancient ecosystems were a far cry from anything we might encounter in the Amazon today. Bizarre giant club-mosses, horsetails and tree ferns were the dominant plants, not flowering trees as in modern rainforests. At their height, coal forests stretched all the way from Kansas to Kazakhstan, spanning the entire breadth of tropical Pangaea. Most of what we know of their biodiversity and ecology has been quite literally mined out of the ground through two centuries of hard labour. Without coal mining, our knowledge would be greatly impoverished. Over the past few years, we've been exploring underground coal mines in the United States, where entire forested landscapes have been preserved intact over huge areas. Never before have geologists had the opportunity to walk out through mile upon mile of fossilized forest. In this feature article, we describe some of our recent explorations and attempt to shed new light on these old fossils.