The origin of the Vredefort structure in South Africa is still debated. Several causes have been discussed, namely asteroid impact, internal gas explosion or tectonic processes. Evidence of dynamic rock deformation is pervasive in the form of planar features in quartz grains, shatter cones, veins of pseudotachylite and occurrence of coesite and stishovite (high-pressure quartz polymorphs). A number of these characteristics is widely believed to support an impact origin. However, the planar features in quartz, which are generally considered as one of the strongest indicators of impact, are in the Vredefort case considered as anomalous when compared with those from accepted impact structures.
We have investigated by optical and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the defect microstructures in quartz grains from different lithologies sampled at various places at the Vredefort structure. Whatever the locality, only thin mechanical Brazil twin lamellae in the basal plane are observed by TEM. So far, such defects have only been found in quartz from impact sites, but always associated with sets of thin glass lamellae in rhombohedral planes 10−1n with n = 1, 2, 3, and 4. At the scale of the optical microscope, Brazil twins in (0001) are easily detected in Vredefort quartz grains because of the numerous tiny fluid inclusions which decorate them. Similar alignments of tiny fluid inclusions parallel to other planes are also detected optically, but at the TEM scale no specific shock defects are detected along their traces. If these inclusion alignments initially were shock features, they are now so severely weathered that they can no longer be recognized as unambiguous shock lamellae. Fine-grained coesite was detected in the vicinity of narrow pseudotachylite veinlets in a quartzite specimen, but stishovite was not found, even in areas where its occurrence was previously reported. Finally, definite evidence of high-temperature annealing was observed in all the samples. These observations lead us to the conclusion that our findings regarding microdeformation in quartz are consistent with an impact origin for the Vredefort structure. Most of the original shock defects are now overprinted by an intense post-shock annealing episode. Only the thin mechanical twin lamellae in the basal plane have survived. 相似文献
Lower Paleozoic volcanic members have been investigated by geological, petrographical and geochemical means in a traverse across the Ossa-Morena Zone (OMZ) in south-west Spain.The volcanism lasted from the Early Cambrian to the Early Ordovician, with a peak in the Middle Cambrian. The volcanism is bimodal, starting up with acidic and ending with basic compositions. From north to south, peralkaline rhyolites change to rhyolites, and strongly enriched alkali basalts change via transitional basalts to mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB-type basalts). The geological and magmatic evolution suggests an extensive Early Paleozoic rifting with its center along the southern boundary of the OMZ. Temporal, spatial and crustal aspects of the rifting event are presented in a geodynamic model. 相似文献
Springs located at the historical sites of Wadi Araba (Eastern Desert of Egypt) and emerging from the escarpments of the Northern and Southern Galala Plateaus were investigated. A combination of methods, including hydrochemistry, stable and radioisotope composition, and structural analyses based on satellite data, provided information about the structure of the subsurface and the derived groundwater flow paths. Satellite images reveal karst features within the northern plateau, e.g. conical landforms. Karstic caves were documented along both escarpments. Chemical analysis of floodwater from Wadi Araba indicates higher concentrations of terrestrial salts compared to floodwaters from central and southern parts of the desert. δ18O and δ2H signatures in spring waters resemble those of floodwater and fall on the global meteoric water line, confirming their fast infiltration with minor influence of evaporation. The aquifer feeding the springs of the Northern Galala Plateau has low retention and the springs dry out quickly, even after heavy rainfall. Contrastingly, 3H activities in springs emerging from the Southern Galala Plateau refer to much slower subsurface passage. With respect to 3H content (3.8 TU) in recent flood waters, the spring water at Southern Galala Plateau contains about 40% recently recharged groundwater. However, its largest spring—the St. Antony spring—discharges water with a radiocarbon age of about 15,000 years. In combination with this spring’s constant and high discharge over a period of several months, that age estimate suggests a large reservoir with moderate to high retention.
Hydrogeology Journal - The development of hydrogeology with respect to hard-rock and fractured-rock aquifers is described. The differences between porous aquifers and karst are explained, as well... 相似文献
Tektites are terrestrial natural glasses produced during a hypervelocity impact of an extraterrestrial projectile onto the Earth's surface. The similarity between the chemical and isotopic compositions of tektites and terrestrial upper continental crust implies that the tektites formed by fusion of such target rock. Tektites are among the driest rocks on Earth. Although volatilization at high temperature may have caused this extreme dryness, the exact mechanism of the water loss and the behavior of other volatile species during tektite formation are still debated. Volatilization can fractionate isotopes, therefore, comparing the isotope composition of volatile elements in tektites with that of their source rocks may help to understand the physical conditions during tektite formation.For this study, we have measured the Zn isotopic composition of 20 tektites from four different strewn fields. Almost all samples are enriched in heavy isotopes of Zn compared to the upper continental crust. On average, the different groups of tektites are isotopically distinct (listed from the isotopically lightest to the heaviest): Muong-Nong type indochinites (δ66/64Zn = 0.61 ± 0.30‰); North American bediasites (δ66/64Zn = 1.61 ± 0.49‰); Ivory Coast tektites (δ66/64Zn = 1.66 ± 0.18‰); the Australasian tektites (others than the Muong Nong-type indochinites) (δ66/64Zn = 1.84 ± 0.42‰); and Central European moldavites (δ66/64Zn = 2.04 ± 0.19‰). These results are contrasted with a narrow range of δ66/64Zn = 0–0.7‰ for a diverse spectrum of upper continental crust materials.The elemental abundance of Zn is negatively correlated with δ66/64Zn, which may reflect that isotopic fractionation occurred by evaporation during the heating event upon tektite formation. Simple Rayleigh distillation predicts isotopic fractionations much larger than what is actually observed, therefore, such a model cannot account for the observed Zn isotope fractionation in tektites. We have developed a more realistic model of evaporation of Zn from a molten sphere: during its hypervelocity trajectory, the molten surface of the tektite will be entrained by viscous coupling with air that will then induce a velocity field inside the molten sphere. This velocity field induces significant radial chemical mixing within the tektite that accelerates the evaporation process. Our model, albeit parameter dependent, shows that both the isotopic composition and the chemical abundances measured in tektites can be produced by evaporation in a diffusion-limited regime. 相似文献
Phreatomagmatic deposits at Narbona Pass, a mid-Tertiary maar in the Navajo volcanic field (NVF), New Mexico (USA), were characterized
in order to reconstruct the evolution and dynamic conditions of the eruption. Our findings shed light on the temporal evolution
of the eruption, dominant depositional mechanisms, influence of liquid water on deposit characteristics, geometry and evolution
of the vent, efficiency of fragmentation, and the relative importance of magmatic and external volatiles. The basal deposits
form a thick (5–20 m), massive lapilli tuff to tuff-breccia deposit. This is overlain by alternating bedded sequences of symmetrical
to antidune cross-stratified tuff and lapilli tuff; and diffusely-stratified, clast-supported, reversely-graded lapilli tuffs
that pinch and swell laterally. This sequence is interpreted to reflect an initial vent-clearing phase that produced concentrated
pyroclastic density currents, followed by a pulsating eruption that produced multiple density currents with varying particle
concentrations and flow conditions to yield the well-stratified deposits. Only minor localized soft-sediment deformation was
observed, no accretionary lapilli were found, and grain accretion occurs on the lee side of dunes. This suggests that little
to no liquid water existed in the density currents during deposition. Juvenile material is dominantly present as blocky fine
ash and finely vesiculated fine to coarse lapilli pumice. This indicates that phreatomagmatic fragmentation was predominant,
but also that the magma was volatile-rich and vesiculating at the time of eruption. This is the first study to document a
significant magmatic volatile component in an NVF maar-diatreme eruption. The top of the phreatomagmatic sequence abruptly
contacts the overlying minette lava flows, indicating no gradual drying-out period between the explosive and effusive phases.
The lithology of the accidental clasts is consistent throughout the vertical pyroclastic stratigraphy, suggesting that the
diatreme eruption did not penetrate below the base of the uppermost country rock unit, a sandstone aquifer ∼360 m thick. By
comparison, other NVF diatremes several tens of kilometers away were excavated to depths of ∼1,000 m beneath the paleosurface
(e.g., Delaney PT. Ship Rock, New Mexico: the vent of a violent volcanic eruption. In: Beus SS (ed) Geological society of
America Centennial Field Guide, Rocky Mountain Section 2:411–415 (1987)). This can be accounted for by structurally controlled variations in aquifer thickness beneath different regions of the
volcanic field. Variations in accidental clast composition and bedding style around the edifice are indicative of a laterally
migrating or widening vent that encountered lateral variations in subsurface geology. We offer reasonable evidence that this
subsurface lithology controlled the availability of external water to the magma, which in turn controlled characteristics
of deposits and their distribution around the vent.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. 相似文献
A new IRSL dataset is presented for the age and setting of a critical Late Glacial Maximum tephra isochron marker. The rhyolitic tephra, known as the Kawakawa Tephra, occurs as a 14 cm thick layer within a 5.9 m thick loess section overlying alluvial gravels in the Rangitikei River valley, SW North Island of New Zealand. Ages range from 21 at the base to 5 ka near the top of the loess and bracket an age of 17.0 ± 2.2 for the tephra. The new IRSL ages are in agreement with published and unpublished luminescence ages from other localities of loess, sand and ash above and below the tephra and of the tephra itself, that indicate an age of ca. 19 ka for the Kawakawa Tephra. This age is considerably younger than the generally accepted 14C 27.1 ka cal yrs BP age of the Kawakawa Tephra and highlights an unresolved discrepancy between the two dating systems. 相似文献
Ocean Dynamics - Our understanding of the marine ecosystem is expressed in our ability to predict ecological processes. Several approaches are compared to make such predictions on plankton... 相似文献
Active contours, or snakes, are broadly used to detect linear features such as edges. However, they are often restricted in the delineation of regions of interest within the hyperspectral domain. In this paper, a new approach is presented, referred to as “Busyness Multiple Correlation Edge Detector”, that enables hyperspectral boundary detection using active contours such as “Alternating Vector Field Convolution” snakes. The combination of “Alternating Vector Field Convolution” snakes with the “Busyness Multiple Correlation Edge Detector” opens a broad set of applications by concurrent high convergence quality and speed. Furthermore, specific snake initialisations are tested. A series of examples are used to both demonstrate the approach and underline the benefits of the new methods. 相似文献
The proposed plan for enrichment of the Sulu Sea, Philippines, a region of rich marine biodiversity, with thousands of tonnes of urea in order to stimulate algal blooms and sequester carbon is flawed for multiple reasons. Urea is preferentially used as a nitrogen source by some cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates, many of which are neutrally or positively buoyant. Biological pumps to the deep sea are classically leaky, and the inefficient burial of new biomass makes the estimation of a net loss of carbon from the atmosphere questionable at best. The potential for growth of toxic dinoflagellates is also high, as many grow well on urea and some even increase their toxicity when grown on urea. Many toxic dinoflagellates form cysts which can settle to the sediment and germinate in subsequent years, forming new blooms even without further fertilization. If large-scale blooms do occur, it is likely that they will contribute to hypoxia in the bottom waters upon decomposition. Lastly, urea production requires fossil fuel usage, further limiting the potential for net carbon sequestration. The environmental and economic impacts are potentially great and need to be rigorously assessed. 相似文献
