Hydrothermal Metalliferous Sediments and Waters Off the Lesser Antilles

Considerable metal enrichments have been found in hydrothermal fluids and metalliferous sediments off the central Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc. The elements variably enriched in the fluids as a result of the hydrothermal activity are Fe, Mn, As, Si, B, Li and in the sediments, Fe, P, Mo, As, Sb, Hg, Cu and Pb. Variations in the concentrations of these elements in both fluids and sediments along the arc result from a number of factors, the most important of which is the stage that each island's volcano has reached in its eruptive cycle. Although hydrothermal mineralization on the sea floor off the islands is only low grade, phase separation in the hydrothermal fluids at depth could be leading to higher grade stockwork mineralization below the vent fields or the discharge of metal rich brines on the lower flanks of the volcanic islands.     

The Role of Isopod Crustaceans in the Reef Crest Community at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Abstract. The species composition and numbers of specimens of isopod crustaceans from the rubble of a Belizean reef crest were obtained. Four sets of 30 samples were taken from three rubble zones (rubble with algal turf, rubble between Thalassia plants, and pure rubble), in four different collecting periods. Twenty-four species of isopods were identified, sexed and counted. By means of a Likelihood Ratio Chi-square Contingency Table Analysis the presence of 13 species was shown to be positively correlated with habitat, 15 species with season, and nine species with habitat and season combined. From the spread of total numbers and of ovigerous females it is proposed that the isopods may be grouped into three patterns: a) those present and breeding in the reef crest rubble throughout the year, i. e. stress-tolerant species; b) those showing a breeding peak in summer and a population decrease in winter-spring, i. e. opportunist species; and c) those showing a breeding peak in the fall, and a second peak in spring, and a decrease or complete avoidance of the habitat, especially by ovigerous females, in the summer. The diversity of the Belizean reef crest isopod fauna is compared with the published report of the isopod fauna of a coral reef in Madagascar. Several similarities in composition are noted. The multiplicity of microhabitats is invoked as a possible explanation for the relatively high diversity of anthuridean isopods in coral reefs.     

西藏冈底斯带侏罗纪岩浆作用的时空分布 及构造环境

在新近完成的1：25万区域地质调查资料和相关研究成果的基础上,初步研究了西藏冈底斯带侏罗纪岩浆作用的分布特点及其年代学,并利用已有的地球化学数据重点分析了早期关注程度较低的侏罗纪花岗岩类岩浆作用的性质。目前在冈底斯弧背断隆带未发现侏罗纪火山岩;在冈底斯东部地区,早侏罗世岩浆活动几乎同时发生于南冈底斯（叶巴组火山岩和鸟郁、尼木花岗岩类）、冈底斯弧背断隆带（宁中、金达、布久花岗岩类）和北冈底斯（聂荣花岗岩类）,中晚侏罗世接奴群和拉贡塘组火山岩断续分布于北冈底斯,晚侏罗世岩浆活动零星分布于沙莫勒一麦拉一洛巴堆～米拉山断裂以北。将冈底斯侏罗纪岩浆活动置于时空框架内分析发现,南冈底斯和北冈底斯在侏罗纪时主要受俯冲作用的影响．而冈底斯弧背断隆带和中冈底斯自早侏罗世以来除了受到俯冲作用的影响外,还受到自东向西逐步扩展的碰撞作用的影响。结合古地磁重建资料和其他新发现．认为冈底斯带侏罗纪这种岩浆活动的特点可用班公湖一怒江洋壳向南、新特提斯洋壳向北的双向剪刀式（剪刀口向西张开）俯冲模式来解释。     

Agricultural land use in the coastal area of the Alexander von Humboldt National Park, Cuba and its implication for conservation and sustainability

In the Alexander von Humboldt National Park in eastern Cuba many endemic animals and plants are found in various different natural habitats, which are considered to be the most important ones for in-situ conservation in the entire Insular Caribbean. In some areas of the National Park agriculture is practised. Thus, the objective of this study was to document and analyse the different land use activities and their consequences for local resource management and conservation of biodiversity in two village areas. A particular question was: what has changed since the foundation of the National Park in 1996? As time series data for land use and aerial photographs were not available for this part of Cuba, a qualitative evaluation was carried out. For this, six different land use units were mapped in 2001 and additional information gathered for areas with special interest related to sustainable land use and resource conservation. Although most parts of the study area are influenced to various degrees by human impact, the different types of land use seem presently not to have a crucial or detrimental impact on the land resources of the Alexander von Humboldt National Park. However, exploitation of the natural resources in certain areas could be improved with different management options to reach sustainability as well as to meet the conservation objectives of the National Park. This includes reduced or abandoned agricultural use of steep slopes to reduce erosion risk as well as a facilitated regeneration of natural vegetation in many parts of the study area to be able to conserve the high valuable biodiversity of the Park. Environmental education seems to have played an important and successful role since the foundation of the Park in 1996. Since then, cropping on steep slopes as well as illegal logging and poaching could be reduced.     

内蒙古达茂旗北部奥陶纪花岗岩类特征及其构造意义

研究区奥陶纪花岗岩分布于乌兰布拉格 -哥舍深大断裂 (槽台断裂 )以北 ,岩石类型主要有闪长岩、石英闪长岩、斜长花岗岩和花岗闪长岩。岩石中 Si O2 质量分数为 5 6.76%～ 69.2 4 % ,Al2 O3较高 (多 >1 6% ) ,富 Na2 O贫 K2 O,A/ CNK均 <1 .1 ,为准铝质的钙碱性岩石系列。稀土总量普遍较低 ,为 (63 .4 1～ 1 4 0 .61 )× 1 0 - 6 ,轻重稀土分馏强烈 ,铕异常不明显 (δEu=0 .95～1 .2 2 6)。痕量元素特征与典型的火山弧花岗岩相似。结合区域地质背景 ,认为该套花岗岩类为与洋壳消减有关的岛弧型花岗岩 ,岩浆起源于加厚陆壳的底部。从花岗岩的分布及迁移规律推测 ,华北陆块与其北缘增生带之间的早古生代洋壳可能是由南西向北东的斜向消减     

Temporal variations in magma composition at Merapi Volcano (Central Java, Indonesia): magmatic cycles during the past 2000 years of explosive activity

Merapi Volcano (Central Java, Indonesia) has been frequently active during Middle to Late Holocene time producing basalts and basaltic andesites of medium-K composition in earlier stages of activity and high-K magmas from 1900 ¹⁴C yr BP to the present. Radiocarbon dating of pyroclastic deposits indicates an almost continuous activity with periods of high eruption rates alternating with shorter time spans of distinctly reduced eruptive frequency since the first appearance of high-K volcanic rocks. Geochemical data of 28 well-dated, prehistoric pyroclastic flows of the Merapi high-K series indicate systematic cyclic variations. These medium-term compositional variations result from a complex interplay of several magmatic processes, which ultimately control the periodicity and frequency of eruptions at Merapi. Low eruption rates and the absence of new influxes of primitive magma from depth allow the generation of basaltic andesite magma (56–57 wt% SiO₂) in a small-volume magma reservoir through fractional crystallisation from parental mafic magma (52–53 wt% SiO₂) in periods of low eruptive frequency. Magmas of intermediate composition erupted during these stages provide evidence for periodic withdrawal of magma from a steadily fractionating magma chamber. Subsequent periods are characterised by high eruption rates that coincide with shifts of whole-rock compositions from basaltic andesite to basalt. This compositional variation is interpreted to originate from influxes of primitive magma into a continuously active magma chamber, triggering the eruption of evolved magma after periods of low eruptive frequency. Batches of primitive magma eventually mix with residual magma in the magmatic reservoir to decrease whole-rock SiO₂ contents. Supply of primitive magma at Merapi appears to be sufficiently frequent that andesites or more differentiated rock types were not generated during the past 2000 years of activity. Cyclic variations also occurred during the recent eruptive period since AD 1883. The most recent eruptive episode of Merapi is characterised by essentially uniform magma compositions that may imply the existence of a continuously active magma reservoir, maintained in a quasi-steady state by magma recharge. The whole-rock compositions at the upper limit of the total SiO₂ range of the Merapi suite could also indicate the beginning of another period of high eruption rates and shifts towards more mafic compositions.     

北秦岭古聚会带壳幔再循环

以同构造期代表古洋壳残片的蛇绿岩及产于古岛弧的玄武岩为基础，通过Ｎｄ，Ｐｂ同位素与微量元素示踪及岩浆源区分析，揭示出北秦岭元古宙上地幔以强亏损（εＮｄ（ｔ）＋６．３～＋７．３）和高的Ｙｂ／Ｈｆ，Ｎｂ／Ｌａ和Ｔｈ／Ｌａ比值为特征，北秦岭地壳和上地幔明显具有Ｐｂ同位素比值高的特征．北秦岭丹凤群岛弧火山岩、二郎坪群弧后玄武岩以及松树沟蛇绿岩中变拉斑玄武岩εＮｄ（ｔ）、放射成因Ｐｂ同位素、Ｙ／Ｔｂ和Ｔｉ－ＭｇＯ研究表明，本区玄武岩存在两类性质不同的岩浆源．一类与亏损的北秦岭岩石圈上地幔源区有关；另一类与携带海洋沉积物的洋壳板块俯冲参与有关．由此，论证了北秦岭古聚会带壳幔之间物质再循环     

Mafic Pegmatites Intruding Oceanic Plateau Gabbros and Ultramafic Cumulates from Bolivar, Colombia: Evidence for a 'Wet' Mantle Plume?

The fault-bounded Bolívar Ultramafic Complex (BUC) onthe eastern fringes of the Western Cordillera of Colombia wastectonically accreted onto the western coast of South Americain the late Cretaceous–early Tertiary, along with pillowbasalts of the Caribbean–Colombian Oceanic Plateau (CCOP).The complex consists of a lower sequence of ultramafic cumulates,successively overlain by layered and isotropic gabbroic rocks.The gabbros grade into, and are intruded by, mafic pegmatitesthat consist of large magnesiohornblende and plagioclase crystals.These pegmatites yield a weighted mean ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar step-heatingage of 90·5 ± 0·9 Ma and thus coincidewith the timing of peak CCOP volcanism. The chemistry of theBUC is not consistent with a subduction-related origin. However,the similarity in Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotopes betweenthe CCOP and the BUC, in conjunction with their indistinguishableages, suggests that the BUC is an integral part of the plume-derivedCCOP. The parental magmas of the Bolívar complex wereprobably hydrous picrites that underwent 20–30% crystallization.The residual magmas from this fractionation contained     

On the variability of the flow along the Meso-American Barrier Reef system: a numerical model study of the influence of the Caribbean current and eddies

A high resolution (3–8 km grid), 3D numerical ocean model of the West Caribbean Sea (WCS) is used to investigate the variability and the forcing of flows near the Meso-American Barrier Reef System (MBRS) which runs along the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. Mesoscale variations in velocity and temperature along the reef were found in seasonal model simulations and in observations; these variations are associated with meandering of the Caribbean current (CC) and the propagation of Caribbean eddies. Diagnostic calculations and a simple assimilation technique are combined to infer the dynamically adjusted flow associated with particular eddies. The results demonstrate that when a cyclonic eddy (negative sea surface height anomaly (SSHA)) is found near the MBRS the CC shifts offshore, the cyclonic circulation in the Gulf of Honduras (GOH) intensifies, and a strong southward flow results along the reef. However, when an anticyclonic eddy (positive SSHA) is found near the reef, the CC moves onshore and the flow is predominantly westward across the reef. The model results help to explain how drifters are able to propagate in a direction opposite to the mean circulation when eddies cause a reversal of the coastal circulation. The effect of including the Meso-American Lagoon west of the Belize Reef in the model topography was also investigated, to show the importance of having accurate coastal topography in determining the variations of transports across the MBRS. The variations found in transports across the MBRS (on seasonal and mesoscale time scales) may have important consequences for biological activities along the reef such as spawning aggregations; better understanding the nature of these variations will help ongoing efforts in coral reef conservation and maintaining the health of the ecosystem in the region.