The origin of the Nicaraguan depression

A conspicuous graben extends for 800 kilometers through El Salvador and western Nicaragua to the Caribbean Sea in northeastern Costa Rica. Like the smaller but structurally similar Semangko and Toba Depressions of northern Sumatra, the trough is clearly related to voluminous volcanic eruptions during Late Tertiary time. In the region around Lakes Managua and Nicaragua, where the depression is best defined and reaches its greatest dimension, a thick series of Tertiary sediments and volcanic rocks provides a means of interpreting the Cenozoic history of the region. Following a long period of intermittent volcanic activity and sedimentation, extensive sheets of andesitic and dacitic ignimbrites were erupted during Late Miocene time from fissure sources which appear to have been located near the now-subsided central portion of the graben. Near the coast, ignimbrites flowed across a flat lagunal shore overwhelming and burying the tropical vegetation and finally coming to rest in shallow water. Unusual textures and chaotic mixtures of pumice with sediments and silicified wood characterize the bases of many of the water-laid ignimbrites. Subsidence of the graben does not appear to have occurred concurrently with the ignimbrite eruptions but followed them closely near the end of the Miocene or the beginning of Pliocene time. Subsequent activity has been confined to relatively smaller eruptions from central vents near the boundary faults of the graben.     

Composition of widespread volcanic glass in deep-sea sediments of the Southern Pacific Ocean: an Antarctic source inferred

Widespread Plio-Pleistocene (2.43-0.06 Ma) tephra zones recognised in deep-sea cores from high latitudes (>60°) in the Southern Pacific Ocean were thought to have originated from calc-alkaline rhyolitic eruptions in New Zealand, some 5000 km distant. Electron microprobe analyses of the glasses reveal a wide diversity of alkalic felsic compositions, as well as minor components of basic and intermediate glasses, incompatible with a New Zealand Neogene source but similar to contemporaneous eruptives from the Antarctic region. Most tephra zones are trachytic; seven zones are peralkaline rhyolite. The rhyolitic zones represent a deep-sea record of widespread silicic eruptions from continental Antarctica, possibly Marie Byrd Land. The extent of these rhyolitic zones suggest a greater frequency of large explosive eruptions in Antarctica than previously documented. The coarse grain size of some of the shards (up to 3 mm), their great distance from the closest sources (>1600 km for some cores), and the presence of nonvolcanic ice-rafted debris indicate some of the glasses, especially the more basic compositions, may have been ice-rafted, contrary to previous suggestions of a fallout origin.     

Genetic relations of volcanic rocks of the Pacific Ocean

The volcanic rocks of Hawaii form two distinct series, one of basalts that become increasingly alkaline and undersaturated with silica and a second group of differentiated rocks that become progressively more felsic. Although most petrologists agree that the second group is the product of differentiation of alkaline basalts, there is less agreement on the origin of compositional variations among the basalts.Differentiated rocks of other islands of the Pacific differ from those of Hawaii in several significant respects. In the Galápagos Islands, for example, the parent magma of the main differentiation series is a tholeiitic basalt; the trend is toward very siliceous trachytes and quartz syenites. On Tahiti, however, a strongly alkaline magma has produced trachytes, phonolites, and nepheline syenites. The chemical characteristics of the rocks of individual islands are related to the nature of the parent magma and the conditions of differentiation.The relation of the degree of silica saturation of basalts and their differentiates to regional heat-flow indicates that the depth of origin must play an important role in determining the nature of magmatic trends. Partial fusion of the upper mantle begins at the initial intersection of the thermal gradient and the melting curve of basalt but spreads vertically with time. The rate of downward migration of the fusion zone is greater than that of upward migration. The result is an increasing depth of origin and therefore a progressively more undersaturated composition of independently-derived basaltic magmas. Differentiated rocks tend to form two divergent series with contrasting degrees of silica enrichment.

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Zusammenfassung Die Vulkangesteine Hawaiis bilden zwei getrennte Serien, eine von immer stärker alkalischen und kieselsäure-untersättigten Basalten, eine zweite von differenziertem Gestein, das immer mehr felsitisch wird. Wenn auch Übereinstimmung hinsichtlich der Herkunft der zweiten Serie aus einer Differentiation alkalischer Basalte besteht, so ist der Ursprung der Zusammensetzungsvarianten bei den Basalten weniger sicher.Differenziertes Gestein anderer pazifischer Inseln unterscheidet sich in bedeutsamer Hinsicht von dem Hawaiis. Auf den Galápagos-Inseln ist das Stammagma der Hauptdifferentiationsserie ein tholeiitischer Basalt. Es tendiert zu sehr siliziumhaltigen Trachyten und Quarzsyeniten. Auf Tahiti hat dagegen ein stark alkalisches Magma Trachyte, Phonolithe und nephelinithische Syenite hervorgebracht. Die chemischen Eigenschaften des Gesteins einzelner Inseln steht in Beziehung zur Art des Stammagmas und zu den Differentiationsbedingungen.Die Beziehung des Grades der Siliziumoxydsättigung von Basalten und ihrer Differentiationen zum regionalen Wärmefluß zeigt, daß die Ursprungstiefe eine bedeutende Rolle bei der Bestimmung der magmatischen Entwicklung spielen muß. Partielle Fusion des oberen Mantels beginnt am Anfangsschnittpunkt des geothermischen Gradienten und der Schmelzkurve von Basalt und breitet sich in der Zeit vertikal aus. Die Rate der Abwärts-Migration der Fusionszone ist größer als die der Aufwärts-Migration. Das Ergebnis ist eine zunehmende Herkunftstiefe und deshalb eine progressiv geringer gesättigte Zusammensetzung von unabhängig voneinander bestehenden basaltischen Magmen. Differenzierte Gesteine neigen dazu, zwei divergente Serien mit konträren Graden der Siliziumanreicherung zu bilden.

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Résumé Les roches volcaniques de Hawaii forment deux séries distintes; l'une de basaltes de plus en plus alcalins et à déficit de silice, l'autre de roches différenciées et qui deviennent de plus en plus felsiques. Quoiqu'on soit d'accord que la seconde série est le résultat d'une différentiation de basalte alcalin, l'origine des variations compositionelles des basaltes est moins évidente.Les roches différenciées d'autres îles pacifiques diffèrent en plusieurs resprects de celles de Hawaii. Par exemple, le magma parental de la série de différentiation primaire sur les Iles de Galápagos, ist un basalte tholeiitique; la tendence est vers trachytes très sicicieux et des syenites de quartz. A Tahite, um magma très alclain a produit des trachytes, des phonolithes et des syenites nephélitiques. Les caractéristiques chimiques des roches dans divers îles ont rapport au naturel du magma parental et aux conditions de différentiation.La relation du degré de saturation silicieuse des basaltes et leurs différentiations à (heat-flow) régional(e) indique que la profondeur d'origine joue un róle important dans la détermination de directions magmatiques. La fusion partielle du manteau supérieur commence à 1 intersection initiale du gradient géothermique et de la courbe de fusion du basalte, mais étend verticalement dans la dimension temporelle.Le degré de migration en bas de la zone de fusion est plus grand que celui de la migration vers le haut. Le résultat est une profondeur d'origine augmentante et pour cette raison une composition progressivement plus sous-saturée de magmas basaltiques indépendants. Les roches différenciées ont la tendance à former deux séries divergentes avec des degrés contraires de saturation de silice.

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Factors governing the formation of pyroclastic rocks

The basic condition governing the formation of pyroclastic rocks is the relationship between the disruptive force of gas pressure in bubbles to the strength of the liquid for short term stresses and surface tension. The latter factor controls the coalescence of bubbles, because it is strongly dependent on the composition, temperature, and water content of the liquid. Data on surface tension of volcanic liquids are presented.     

Tag loss and movement of stocked yearling rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in southwestern Australia

Rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, have been stocked in southwestern Australia since the 1930s. Trials at a research station maintained 868 tagged yearling O. mykiss (age: 14 months; standard length: 208 mm) for up to 375 days. The mean tag loss rate was 0.12% ± 0.040% per day for both single- and double-tagged fish. The tag loss rate was used to interpret tag return data from 7030 single-tagged yearlings stocked into three river systems in southwestern Australia. Recaptures indicated that O. mykiss survived into their second season in all rivers, with the maximum time at liberty of 21 months (longevity of at least 35 months). Upstream and downstream movements of O. mykiss increased with time, although 29% of recaptures were reported from the stocking site. Significantly more O. mykiss were recaptured from the Warren River, and differences remained even when corrected for stocking levels; angler effort had a marginal effect on return rates. Higher return rates from the Warren River may be due to availability of suitable habitat (stream cover, cooler water) for O. mykiss. Results allow the stocking regime to be reviewed to improve fishery performance.     

Significant genetic differentiation among meroplanktonic barrel jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) in the Mediterranean Sea

Molecular data have shown that jellyfishes are more geographically restricted and evolutionarily divergent than previously thought. We examined genetic variation and divergence within the meroplanktonic barrel jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo in the Mediterranean Sea; specific sampling areas were the northern Adriatic, western Mediterranean and Tunisian coast. A total of 19 sampling sites and 68 sequences of the mtDNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene were used. Of the 68 COI sequences, 45 were newly collected specimens which originated from nine sampling sites along the Tunisian coast. A total of 24 haplotypes were obtained and the specimens sampled were characterised by relatively high levels of haplotype diversity (h = 0.866) and low levels of nucleotide diversity (π = 0.004). Haplotype network analysis showed the presence of three distinct phylogenetic lineages (populations), with separate geographic ranges in the northern Adriatic, western Mediterranean and Tunisian coast. The observed genetic differentiation between these three lineages was supported by the presence of significant genetic differentiation between the 19 populations (F_ST = 0.757, p < 0.001). The high level of genetic differentiation detected in the barrel jellyfish investigated could be attributed to either intrinsic and/or extrinsic barriers to genetic exchange between different populations that may have adapted to different environmental conditions.     

Iron in plagioclase as a monitor of the differentiation of the Skaergaard intrusion: a discussion of Christian Tegner (Contrib Mineral Petrol 128: 45–51)

Received: 15 August 1997 / Accepted: 30 January 1998