A depleted, not ideally chondritic bulk Earth: The explosive-volcanic basalt loss hypothesis     

Paul H. Warren 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2008,72(8):2217-2235

It has long been customary to assume that in the bulk composition of the Earth, all refractory-lithophile elements (including major oxides Al₂O₃ and CaO, all of the REE, and the heat-producing elements Th and U) occur in chondritic, bulk solar system, proportion to one another. Recently, however, Nd-isotopic studies (most notably Boyet M. and Carlson R. W. (2006) A new geochemical model for the Earth’s mantle inferred from ¹⁴⁶Sm-¹⁴²Nd systematics. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.250, 254-268) have suggested that at least the outer portion of the planet features a Nd/Sm ratio depleted to ∼0.93 times the chondritic ratio. The primary reaction to this type of evidence has been to invoke a “hidden” reservoir of enriched matter, sequestered into the deepest mantle as a consequence of primordial differentiation. I propose a hypothesis that potentially explains the evidence for Nd/Sm depletion in a very different way. Among the handful of major types of differentiated asteroidal meteorites, two (ureilites and aubrites) are ultramafic restites so consistently devoid of plagioclase that meteoriticists were once mystified as to how all the complementary plagioclase-rich matter (basalt) was lost. The explanation appears to be basalt loss by graphite-fueled explosive volcanism on roughly 100-km sized planetesimals; with the dispersiveness of the process dramatically enhanced, relative to terrestrial experience, because the pyroclastic gases expand into vacuous space (Wilson L. and Keil K. (1991) Consequences of explosive eruptions on small Solar System bodies: the case of the missing basalts on the aubrite parent body. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.104, 505-512). By analogy with lunar pyroclastic products, the typical size of pyroclastic melt/glass droplets under these circumstances will be roughly 0.1 mm. Once separated from an asteroidal or planetesimal gravitational field, droplets of this size will generally spiral toward the Sun, rather than reaccrete, because drag forces such the Poynting-Robertson effect quickly modify their orbits (the semimajor axis, in a typical scenario, is reduced by several hundred km during the first trip around the Sun). Assuming a similar process occurred on many of the Earth’s precursor planetesimals while they were still roughly 100 km in diameter, the net effect would be a depleted composition for the final Earth. I have modeled the process of trace-element depletion in the planetesimal mantles, assuming the partial melting was nonmodal and either batch or dynamic in terms of the melt-removal style. Assuming the process is moderately efficient, typical final-Earth Nd/Sm ratios are 0.93-0.96 times chondritic. Depletion is enhanced by a relatively low assumed residual porosity in batch-melting scenarios, but dampened by a relatively high value for “continuous” residue porosity in dynamic melting scenarios. Pigeonite in the source matter has a dampening effect on depletion. There are important side effects to the Nd/Sm depletion. The heat-producing elements, Th, U and K, might be severely depleted. The Eu/Eu^∗ ratio of the planet is unlikely to remain precisely chondritic. One of the most inevitable side effects, depletion of the Al/Ca ratio, is consistent with an otherwise puzzling aspect of the composition of the upper mantle. A perfectly undepleted composition for the bulk Earth is dubious.  相似文献   

Magnesium isotope systematics of the lithologically varied Moselle river basin, France   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Agnès Brenot  Christophe Cloquet  Nathalie Vigier  Jean Carignan  Christian France-Lanord 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2008,72(20):5070-5089

Magnesium and strontium isotope signatures were determined during different seasons for the main rivers of the Moselle basin, northeastern France. This small basin is remarkable for its well-constrained and varied lithology on a small distance scale, and this is reflected in river water Sr isotope compositions. Upstream, where the Moselle River drains silicate rocks of the Vosges mountains, waters are characterized by relatively high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7128-0.7174). In contrast, downstream of the city of Epinal where the Moselle River flows through carbonates and evaporites of the Lorraine plateau, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are lower, down to 0.70824.Magnesium in river waters draining silicates is systematically depleted in heavy isotopes (δ²⁶Mg values range from −1.2 to −0.7‰) relative to the value presently estimated for the continental crust and a local diorite (−0.5‰). In comparison, δ²⁶Mg values measured in soil samples are higher (∼0.0‰). This suggests that Mg isotope fractionation occurs during mineral leaching and/or formation of secondary clay minerals. On the Lorraine plateau, tributaries draining marls, carbonates and evaporites are characterized by low Ca/Mg (1.5-3.2) and low Ca/Sr (80-400) when compared to local carbonate rocks (Ca/Mg = 29-59; Ca/Sr = 370-2200), similar to other rivers draining carbonates. The most likely cause of the Mg and Sr excesses in these rivers is early thermodynamic saturation of groundwater with calcite relative to magnesite and strontianite as groundwater chemistry progressively evolves in the aquifer. δ²⁶Mg of the dissolved phases of tributaries draining mainly carbonates and evaporites are relatively low and constant throughout the year (from −1.4‰ to −1.6‰ and from −1.2‰ to −1.4‰, respectively), within the range defined for the underlying rocks. Downstream of Epinal, the compositions of the Moselle River samples in a δ²⁶Mg vs. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr diagram can be explained by mixing curves between silicate, carbonate and evaporite waters, with a significant contribution from the Vosgian silicate lithologies (>70%). Temporal co-variation between δ²⁶Mg and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr for the Moselle River throughout year is also observed, and is consistent with a higher contribution from the Vosges mountains in winter, in terms of runoff and dissolved element flux. Overall, this study shows that Mg isotopes measured in waters, rocks and soils, coupled with other tracers such as Sr isotopes, could be used to better constrain riverine Mg sources, particularly if analytical uncertainties in Mg isotope measurements can be improved in order to perform more precise quantifications.  相似文献   

Structural investigation of the synthetic CaAn(PO4)2 (An = Th and Np) cheralite-like phosphates     

Philippe E. Raison  Regis Jardin  Daniel Bouëxière  Rudy J. M. Konings  Thorsten Geisler  Claudiu C. Pavel  Jean Rebizant  Karin Popa 《Physics and Chemistry of Minerals》2008,35(10):603-609

The crystallographic structures of the synthetic cheralite, CaTh(PO₄)₂, and its homolog CaNp(PO₄)₂ have been investigated by X-ray diffraction at room temperature. Rietveld analyses showed that both compounds crystallize in the monoclinic system and are isostructural to monazite LnPO₄ (Ln = La to Gd). The space group is P2₁/n (I.T. = 14) with Z = 2. The refined lattice parameters of CaTh(PO₄)₂ are a = 6.7085(8) Å, b = 6.9160(6) Å, c = 6.4152(6) Å, and β = 103.71(1)° with best fit parameters R _wp = 4.87%, R _p = 3.69% and R _B = 3.99%. For CaNp(PO₄)₂, we obtained a = 6.6509(5) Å, b = 6.8390(3) Å, c = 6.3537(8) Å, and β = 104.12(6)° and R _wp = 6.74%, R _p = 5.23%, and R _B = 6.05%. The results indicate significant distortions of bond length and angles of the PO₄ tetrahedra in CaTh(PO₄)₂ and to a lesser extent in CaNp(PO₄)₂. The structural distortions were confirmed by Raman spectroscopy of CaTh(PO₄)₂. A comparison with the isostructural compounds LnPO₄ (Ln = Ce and Sm) confirmed that the substitution of the large rare earth trivalent cations with Ca²⁺ and Th⁴⁺ introduces a distortion of the PO₄ tetrahedra.  相似文献   

DEM analysis of the crack propagation in brittle clays under uniaxial compression tests   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Luis F. Vesga  Luis E. Vallejo  Sebastian Lobo‐Guerrero 《国际地质力学数值与分析法杂志》2008,32(11):1405-1415

  相似文献   

Numerical estimation of REV and permeability tensor for fractured rock masses by composite element method   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

S.‐H. Chen  X.‐M. Feng  S. Isam 《国际地质力学数值与分析法杂志》2008,32(12):1459-1477

The Monte Carlo method is used to generate parent stochastic discrete fracture network, from which a series of fractured rock samples of different sizes and orientations are extracted. The fracture network combined with a regular grid forms composite element mesh of the fractured rock sample, in which each composite element is composed of sub‐elements incised by fracture segments. The composite element method (CEM) for the seepage is implemented to obtain the nodal hydraulic potential as well as the seepage flow rates through the fractured rock samples. The application of CEM enables a large quantity of stochastic tests for the fractured rock samples because the pre‐process is facilitated greatly. By changing the sizes and orientations of the samples, the analysis of the seepage characteristics is realized to evaluate the variation of the permeability components, the existence of the permeability tensor and the representative element volume. The feasibility and effectiveness are illustrated in a numerical example. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Biaxial test simulations using a packing of polygonal particles   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

A. A. Peña  A. Lizcano  F. Alonso‐Marroquin  H. J. Herrmann 《国际地质力学数值与分析法杂志》2008,32(2):143-160

The mechanical response of cohesionless granular materials under monotonic loading is studied by performing molecular dynamic simulations. The diversity of shapes of soil grains is modelled by using randomly generated convex polygons as granular particles. Results of the biaxial test obtained for dense and loose media show that samples achieve the same void ratio at large strains independent of their initial density state. This limit state resembles the so‐called critical state of soil mechanics, except for some stress fluctuations, which remain for large deformations. These fluctuations are studied at the micro‐mechanical level, by following the evolution of the co‐ordination number, force chains and the fraction of the sliding contacts of the sample. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Pervasive wetland flooding in the glacial drift prairie of North Dakota (USA)     

Paul E. Todhunter  Bradley C. Rundquist 《Natural Hazards》2008,46(1):73-88

This article describes a unique flood hazard, produced by the dramatic expansion of wetlands in Nelson County, located within the North American Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, USA. There has been an unprecedented increase in the number, average size, and permanence of prairie wetlands, and a significant increase in the size of a closed lake (Stump Lake) due to a decade-long wet spell that began in 1993 following a prolonged drying trend. Base-line land cover information from the 1992 USGS National Land Cover Characterization dataset, and a Landsat TM scene acquired 9 July 2001 are used to assess the growth of the closed lake and wetland pond surface areas, and to analyze the type and area of various land cover classes inundated between 1992 and 2001. The open water profile in Nelson County changed from one marked by relatively comparable coverage of closed lake and wetland pond areas in 1992, to one in which wetland open water accounted for the vast majority of total open water in 2001. The bulk of the wetland pond area expansion occurred by displacing existing wetland vegetation and agricultural cropland. Producers responded to the flood hazard by filing Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) claims and enrolling cropland in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a federal land retirement program. Land taken out of agricultural production has had an enormous impact upon the agricultural sector that forms the economic base of the rural economy. In 2001 the land taken out of production due to CRP enrollment and preventive planting claims represented nearly 42% of Nelson County’s 205.2 K ha base agricultural land. The patterns obtained from this detailed study of Nelson County are likely to be the representative of the more publicized flood disaster occurring within the Devils Lake Basin of North Dakota.  相似文献   

Flexural isostatic response of the Alps to increased Quaternary erosion recorded by foreland basin remnants,SE France     

Jean‐Daniel Champagnac  Peter Van Der Beek  Gaël Diraison  Samuel Dauphin 《地学学报》2008,20(3):213-220

We test the hypothesis that flexural isostatic compensation of the mass removed by enhanced Quaternary erosion is responsible for uplift of the Western European Alps and their forelands. We use two well‐preserved and well‐dated (1.8 Ma) abandonment surfaces of foreland basin remnants in SE France (the Chambaran and Valensole plateaux) as passive benchmarks for tilting of the foreland. Estimating their initial slope from morphometric scaling relationships, we determine bulk post‐depositional tilting of 0.5–0.8% for these surfaces. The calculated isostatic response of the Alpine lithosphere to erosional unloading, using the method recently proposed by Champagnac et al. [Geology 35 (2007) 195–198] , yields a predicted tilting of 0.3–0.4% in the considered areas, explaining approximately half of the determined post‐depositional tilting. Such long‐term deformation being insensitive to cyclic loading/unloading because of glaciations, we suspect the other half to be related to as yet undetermined long‐wavelength and long‐lived tectonic process(es).  相似文献   

深水沉积层序特点及构成要素   总被引：6，自引：0，他引：6  

蒋恕  王华  Paul  Weimer 《地球科学》2008,33(6):825-833

本文在回顾当前国际上深水沉积研究热点的基础上,结合在墨西哥湾深水研究的成果系统描述了深水沉积的定义、形成机理、深水沉积层序及深水沉积构成要素的特点.深水沉积主要是在重力流作用下深水环境的沉积,主要形成于相对水平面下降和早期上升的时期,主要分布在低位体系域中.深水层序以凝缩段为边界,块状搬运沉积最早形成并直接位于层序界面上,其上被河道-天然堤沉积所覆盖.典型深水沉积的要素主要由河道、天然堤及越岸沉积、板状砂、块状搬运沉积等构成,这些沉积要素时空上有序地分布.深水河道是物源的主要通道和沉积的重要场所,从上游至下游河道弯曲度增加,能量逐渐减弱.侧向迁移明显,垂向上由富砂的顺直河道演化为相对富泥的弯曲河道.天然堤及越岸沉积以泥质为主,天然堤沿河道呈楔状分布,其近端砂岩含量高,地层厚且倾角较陡;远端砂岩含量低,地层薄且平缓,侧向连续性好但垂向连续性差.板状砂主要为深水扇前缘非限制性沉积,可分为块型和层型.块型侧向连续性好,同时垂向连通性高.层型侧向连续性好,垂向连通性差.块状搬运沉积主要是低水位期坡上沉积物失稳形成的各类滑塌体及碎屑流,其对下伏地层侵蚀明显,分布广泛,变形构造常见,可作为油气良好的封盖层.  相似文献   

Equivalent thickness of the outer ionosphere obtained by evaluation of Faraday records     

E. Argence  R. Eyfrig  H. A. Hess  A. Paul  K. Rawer 《Planetary and Space Science》1963,11(12):1431-1457

With an appropriate system of higher order approximations the Faraday-effect is calculated for instantaneous ionospheric models the data of which are derived from the results of vertical soundings. Only one parameter which corresponds to the thickness of the outer ionosphere is left open; it is determined by global comparison with simultaneous Faraday-observations of satellite emissions. The thickness parameter shows various forms of variation with latitude; an increase towards north is the rule for quiet daytime conditions. Comparison with local methods shows considerable differences due to the indetermination of the absolute number of rotations.  相似文献