Outline of the Pan-African geology of adrar des Iforas (Republic of Mali)

The Iforas (60 000 km²) falls within the Pan-African mobile belt bordering the West-African craton in north-eastern Mali Republic. It is characterized by major N-S shear belts parallel to the edge of the craton which delimit longitudinal blocks some of which have undergone considerable horizontal displacements. The central core of the Iforas which consists largely of reactivated pre-Pan-African basement injected by Pan-African syn- and post-tectonic intermediate and acid plutonic rocks, has behaved as a relatively rigid blocks during the Pan-African dividing the orogenic belt into a western Iforas and an eastern Iforas.Western Iforas displays W to E zonation: an ophiolitic suture (Timetrine); trench volcano-sedimentary deposits cut by gabbros diorites and acid granitoids (Tilemsi); and a late orogenic composite »coastal range batholith intruding the pre-Pan-African basement of Central Iforas and its overlying volcano-sedimentary deposits which here display a littoral facies and a tillite.Central Iforas consists of two major units: a polycyclic pre-Pan-African basement metamorphosed under high amphibolite facies conditions of presumed Eburnean age and the Iforas granulite block bound to the W, N and E by shear zones.Eastern Iforas was totally separated during metamorphism and deformation from the Iforas granulite block. From West to East, three lithological assemblages have been recognised separed by shear belts: a Quartzite Group, a Gneissic Group and a Pelitic Group the latter representing the southern prolongation of the central Hoggar Pharusian province.Shear zones are an essential feature of Pan-African tectonism East of the West-African craton. The superimposed stress fields have been recognised producing: early N20° trending sinistral shear zones, a north-south dextral shear zone (Andjour-Tamaradant shear zone) and late conjugating sinistral NNW and dextral ENE wrench faults.Late Pan-African events reflect the uplift and unroofing of the Pan-African composite batholith, the intrusion of circular granite plutons often located close to shear zones and alternating episodes of distension and compression.Lastly the simple model proposed for the closing stages of the Pan-African in the Iforas is that of an active continental plate margin separated from the West African craton by an oceanic domain. Subsequent continental collision to the South with a promotory of the West African craton led to the formation of the Dahomeyan thrust front and modified the stress field. Closure of the oceanic domain of western Iforas is thought to have taken place by continued eastward subduction of the oceanic plate and sinistral movement along an inferred north westerly trending transform fault coinciding with the future Cretaceous Gao trough and an alignement of strong positive gravity anomalies. It was accompanied by the northerly migration of central and western Iforas along the conjugating dextral N-S Andjour-Tamaradant shear zone. Further shortening led to folding of the arcuate Timetrine-Ydouban-Gourma fold belt overlying the deformed margin of the West African craton.

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Zusammenfassung Das Iforas-Gebiet (60 000 km²) gehört zur pan-afrikanischen Bewegungszone, die in Mali an das westafrikanische Kraton grenzt. Diese Zone wird von N-S Scherbewegungen parallel zum Kraton durchzogen, wobei größere horizontale Versetzungsbeträge langgestreckte Blöcke herausgetrennt haben. Der zentrale Teil von Iforas besteht im wesentlichen aus reaktiviertem prae-panafrikanischem Basement, das in pan-afrikanischer Zeit von syn- und posttektonischen, intermediären und sauren Plutoniten intrudiert wurde. Dieses Gebiet wirkt als relativ starrer Block, der während der pan-afrikanischen Orogenese den Orogengürtel in einen westlichen und einen östlichen Ast teilt. Das westliche Iforas-Gebiet zeigt eine E-W Zonierung: eine Ophiolith-Sutur, einen vulkano-sedimentären Gürtel und einen Rand-Batholithen.Zentral-Iforas wird aus zwei Einheiten aufgebaut: ein mehrfach metamorphisiertes Basement und einen Granitblock.In den überregionalen Scherzonen lassen sich drei Stress-Felder erkennen: eine ältere 20° streichende sinistrale Scherzone, eine N-S dextrale Scherzone und jüngere NNW und dextrale ENE Bruchzonen.Spät-pan-afrikanische Ereignisse sind durch Heraushebung und Abtrag, Granitintrusionen und wechselnden Dehnungs- und Kompressionsbewegungen gekennzeichnet.

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Résumé L'Adrar des Iforas (60 000 km²) fait partie de la zone mobile pan-africaine en marge du craton ouest-africain au Nord-Est de la République du Mali. La région est caractérisée par d'importants accidents mylonitiques parallèles à la bordure du craton qui délimitent des compartiments longitudinaux dont certains ont subi des déplacements horizontaux considérables. La zone dorsale des Iforas qui consiste essentiellement en un socle pré-pan-africain réactivé et injecté au Pan-Africain par des roches plutoniques intermédiaires et acides, syn- et post-tectoniques, s'est comportée en compartiments relativement rigides au cours du Pan-Africain, divisant la chaîne en un rameau occidental et un rameau oriental.Le rameau occidental présente une zonation d'Ouest en Est: une suture ophiolitique (Timetrine); des dépôts volcano-sédimentaires de fosse recoupés par des gabbros et des diorites; et un vaste batholite composite tardi-orogénique qui recoupe le socle pré-pan-africain de la zone dorsale des Iforas et sa couverture de dépôts volcanosédimentaires ici à faciès littoral.La zone dorsale des Iforas comprend deux unités majeures: un socle prépan-africain polycyclique métamorphisé dans le faciès amphibolite, d'âge éburnéen présumé et le môle granulitique des Iforas, délimité à l'W, au N et à l'E par des accidents mylonitiques.Le rameau oriental était séparé du môle granulitique des Iforas lors du métamorphisme et de la déformation. D'W en E, on trouve trois unités séparées par des zones mylonitiques: un Groupe de Quartzites, un Groupe de Gneiss et un Groupe de Pélites. Ce dernier représente le prolongement vers le Sud de la province pharusienne du centre Hoggar.Les grands accidents de cisaillement sont un fait marquant du tectonisme pan-africain à l'Est du craton ouest-africain. Trois champs de contraintes superposées ont produit des accidents précoces sénestres de direction N20, un accident N-S dextre (Andjour-Tamaradant), et des failles cisaillantes tardives conjuguées d'orientation NNW sénestres et ENE dextres.Les événements pan-africains tardifs sont marqués par la surrection et l'érosion des batholites pan-africains, la mise en place de plutons granitiques souvent à proximité des grands accidents et par des alternances de distensions et de compressions.Enfin un modèle simple est proposé pour les stades ultimes du Pan-Africain dans l'Adrar des Iforas: une marge continentale active séparée du craton ouest-africain par un domaine océanique; suite à une collision au Sud avec un promontoire du craton ouestafricain qui aurait produit le front de chevauchement dahomeyen et modifié le champ de contraintes, la fermeture du domaine océanique de l'Ouest Iforas se serait produite par subduction à l'E de la plaque océanique et une translation sénestre le long d'une faille transformante orientée NW et coincidant avec le fossé crétacé de Gao et un alignement d'anomalies gravimétriques positives. Elle aurait été accompagnée par le déplacement vers le N de l'Iforas occidental et central le long de l'accident cisaillant dextre d'Andjour-Tamaradant. Cette fermeture aurait provoqué les plissements de la chaîne du Timetrine-Ydouban-Gourma qui repose sur la bordure déformée du craton ouestafricain.

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Aerosol Forcing: Rapporteur’s Report and Summary

This paper summarizes the discussions held during the session dedicated to Aerosol forcing at the Workshop Observing and Modelling Earth’s Energy Flows. The session Aerosol forcing was convened by P. Ingmann and J. Heintzenberg and included 10 presentations given by R. Kahn, D. Winker, U. Baltensperger, J. Haywood, S. Schwartz, J. Heintzenberg, H. Le Treut, U. Lohmann, R. Wood, and E. Philipona. The presentations given ranged from overviews of current observational capabilities to analyses of aerosol–cloud interactions in observations and models of varying complexity. This paper is organized around a few key points, summarizing the major points of agreement, disagreement, and discussion that the presentations gave rise to. The focus is largely on the uncertainties that remain with regard to aerosol forcing, particularly related to aerosol-cloud interactions and indirect aerosol effects on climate.     

Borehole water and hydrologic model around the Nojima fault, SW Japan

The active fault drilling at Nojima Hirabayashi after the 1995 Hyogoken-nanbu (Kobe) earthquake (M_JMA = 7.2) provides us with a unique opportunity to investigate subsurface fault structure and the in-situ properties of fault and fluid. The borehole intersected the fault gouge of the Nojima fault at a depth interval of 623 m to 625 m. The lithology is mostly Cretaceous granodiorite with some porphyry dikes.The fault core is highly permeable due to fracturing. The borehole water was sampled in 1996 and 2000 from the depth interval between 630 and 650 m, just below the fault core. The chemical and isotopic compositions were analyzed. Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of carbonates from the fault core were analyzed to estimate the origin of fluid.The following conclusions were obtained. (1) The ionic and isotopic compositions of borehole water did not change from 1996 to 2000. They are mostly derived from local ground water as mentioned by Sato and Takahashi [Sato, T., Takahashi, M., 2000. Chemical and isotopic compositions of groundwater obtained from the Hirabayashi well. Geological Survey of Japan Interim Report No. EQ/00/1, 187–192.]. (2) Geochemical speciation revealed that the borehole water was derived from a relatively deep reservoir, which may be situated at a depth of 3 to 4 km where the temperature is about 80–90 °C. (3) The shallower part of the Nojima fault (shallower than the reservoir depth) has not been healed from the hydrological viewpoints 5 years after the event, in contrast to the rapid healing detected by S wave splitting [Tadokoro, K., Ando, M., 2002. Evidence for rapid fault healing derived from temporal changes in S wave splitting, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, 10.1029/2001GL013644.]. (4) Precipitation of calcite from the present borehole water since drilling supports the idea of precipitation of some calcite in coseismic hydraulic fractures in the fault core [Boullier, A-M., Fujimoto, K., Ohtani, T., Roman-Ross, G., Lewin, E., Ito, H., Pezard, P., Ildefonse, B., 2004. Textural evidence for recent co-seismic circulation of fluids in the Nojima fault zone, Awaji Island, Japan., Tectonophysics, 378, 165–181.]. (5) Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of calcite indicated that the meteoric water flux had been localized at the fault core. (6) A difference in the carbon isotope ratio between the footwall and the hanging wall suggests that the fault has been acted as a hydrologic barrier, although the permeability along the fault is still high.     

Stratigraphy and fluvial sedimentary facies of the Neocomian lower Strzelecki Group,Gippsland Basin,Victoria

The Strzelecki Group incorporates Berriasian to Albian, fluvial sediments deposited in the Gippsland Basin during initial rifting between Australia and Antarctica. Neocomian strata of the lowermost Strzelecki Group are assigned to the Tyers River Subgroup (exposed in the Tyers area) and the Rhyll Arkose (exposed on Phillip Island and the Mornington Peninsula). The Tyers River Subgroup incorporates two formations: Tyers Conglomerate and Rintoul Creek Formation. The latter is subdivided into the Locmany and Exalt Members. Ten fluvial sedimentary facies are identified in the lowermost Strzelecki Group: two gravelly facies; four sandy facies; and four mudrock facies. Associations of these facies indicate: (i) prevalence of gravelly braided‐river and alluvial‐fan settings during deposition of the Tyers Conglomerate; (ii) more sluggish, sandy braided to meandering fluvial systems during Locmany Member sedimentation; and (iii) a return to active, sandy, braided‐river settings for deposition of the Exalt Member. The Tyers Conglomerate and Rhyll Arkose rest on an irregular erosional surface incised into Palaeozoic rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt. The overlying Rintoul Creek Formation incorporates more mature sediments where lithofacies associations varied according to base‐level change, variations in subsidence rates, and/or tectonic uplift of the principal sedimentsource terranes to the northwest.     

Linked fluid and tectonic evolution in the High Himalaya mountains (Nepal)

Fluid inclusions were studied in a quartz lens from the structurally highest unit of the Himalaya mountains in Nepal from a textural, geometrical, chemical and isotopic point of view. Six types of fluid inclusions were distinguished. One of these types consists of annular inclusions; this shape is attributed to a confining pressure increase in a non-isotropic stress field. Two successive stress fields were deduced from the orientation of the inclusion planes relative to the schistosity. The bulk composition of the fluid was dominated by CO₂ (>84 mol%) and H₂O. The composition remained constant during the whole history of the sample indicating that it was buffered by the carbonaceous host rock and/or that one single fluid was reworked in situ by decrepitation. Stable isotope of fluids and minerals indicate (1) that fluids were buffered by surrounding rocks for O and C and (2) that at least two types of water (metamorphic and meteoric) were involved. Finally, a P-T-t-- path is proposed for the sample, taking into account the southward thrusting along the Main Central Thrust, the northward tectonic denudation of the Himalaya mountains inducing tectonic burying below the Annapurna Range, and lastly, rapid uplift.     

Planetary albedo in strongly forced climate, as simulated by the CMIP3 models

In an ensemble of general circulation models, the global mean albedo significantly decreases in response to strong CO₂ forcing. In some of the models, the magnitude of this positive feedback is as large as the CO₂ forcing itself. The models agree well on the surface contribution to the trend, due to retreating snow and ice cover, but display large differences when it comes to the contribution from shortwave radiative effects of clouds. The ??cloud contribution?? defined as the difference between clear-sky and all-sky albedo anomalies and denoted as ??CC is correlated with equilibrium climate sensitivity in the models (correlation coefficient 0.76), indicating that in high sensitivity models the clouds to a greater extent act to enhance the negative clear-sky albedo trend, whereas in low sensitivity models the clouds rather counteract this trend. As a consequence, the total albedo trend is more negative in more sensitive models (correlation coefficient 0.73). This illustrates in a new way the importance of cloud response to global warming in determining climate sensitivity in models. The cloud contribution to the albedo trend can primarily be ascribed to changes in total cloud fraction, but changes in cloud albedo may also be of importance.     

SP-Mylonites: Origin of some mylonites by superplastic flow

Superplasticity in fine-grained materials is characterized by extensive grain boundary sliding. This phenomenon can take place only in special conditions. Six criteria are thus defined to determine when Superplasticity has been active. Applications of these criteria to several examples of mylonites are discussed and we conclude that superplasticity explains some types of mylonites and the tectonic banding that they exhibit.     

Development of schistosity by dissolution–crystallization in a Californian serpentinite gouge

To understand the behaviour and deformation mechanisms of serpentinites in the seismogenic zone we study the deformation macro- and microstructures of serpentinites along the Santa Ynez Fault in the San Andreas System. At the outcrop scale, deformation is localized in a gouge zone that shows three different structures: (1) micrometric undeformed fragments (clasts) of the previously serpentinized peridotite, (2) localized shear planes (Y and R) and (3) a penetrative schistosity (S). Observations under SEM and TEM reveal that the schistosity corresponds to serpentine fibres, parallel to each other, and whose orientation varies as they wrap around clasts. TEM micro-textures indicate that these long fibres result from continuous syntectonic growth rather than from reorientation of pre-existing fibres implying a slow transfer process that occurs at short distances. We propose a dissolution–diffusion–crystallization process for the formation of the schistosity that corresponds to a low strain-rate creeping process of deformation that can be effective in aseismic fault segments.