Search results for "Geochemistry & geophysics"

Phase petrology reveals shallow magma storage prior to large explosive silicic eruptions at Hekla volcano, Iceland

2017

Abstract Understanding the conditions that culminate in explosive eruptions of silicic magma is of great importance for volcanic hazard assessment and crisis mitigation. However, geological records of active volcanoes typically show a wide range of eruptive behavior and magnitude, which can vary dramatically for individual eruptive centers. In order to evaluate possible future scenarios of eruption precursors, magmatic system variables for different eruption types need to be constrained. Here we use petrological experiments and microanalysis of crystals to clarify the P – T – x state under which rhyodacitic melts accumulated prior to the H3 eruption; the largest Holocene Plinian eruption of…

The percolation threshold and permeability evolution of ascending magmas

2017

Abstract The development of gas permeability in magmas is a complex phenomenon that directly influences the style of a volcanic eruption. The emergence of permeability is linked to the concept of percolation threshold, which is the point beyond which gas bubbles are connected in a continuous network that allows gas escape. Measurements of the percolation threshold, however, range from ∼30 to 78 vol%. No known combination of parameters can explain such a wide range of threshold values, which affects our understanding of the relationship between percolation and permeability. We present permeability calculations on bubble-bearing rhyolitic melts that underwent experimental decompression. Sampl…

2017

Information about past volcanic impact on climate is mostly derived from historic documentary data and sulfate depositions in polar ice sheets. Although these archives have provided important insights into the Earth's volcanic eruption history, the climate forcing and exact dating of many events is still vague. Here we apply a new method of break detection to the first millennium-length maximum latewood density reconstruction of Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures to develop an alternative record of large volcanic eruptions. The analysis returns fourteen outstanding cooling events, all of which agree well with recently developed volcanic forcing records from high-resolution bipolar ice …

Using 81Kr and Noble Gases to Characterize and Date Groundwater and Brines in the Baltic Artesian Basin on the One-Million-Year Timescale

2017

Analyses for $^{81}$Kr and noble gases on groundwater from the deepest aquifer system of the Baltic Artesian Basin (BAB) were performed to determine groundwater ages and uncover the flow dynamics of the system on a timescale of several hundred thousand years. We find that the system is controlled by mixing of three distinct water masses: Interglacial or recent meteoric water $(\delta^{18}\text{O} \approx -10.4\unicode{x2030})$ with a poorly evolved chemical and noble gas signature, glacial meltwater $(\delta^{18}\text{O} \leq -18\unicode{x2030})$ with elevated noble gas concentrations, and an old, high-salinity brine component $(\delta^{18}\text{O} \geq -4.5\unicode{x2030}, \geq 90 \text{g …

Stratospheric aerosol-Observations, processes, and impact on climate

2016

Interest in stratospheric aerosol and its role in climate have increased over the last decade due to the observed increase in stratospheric aerosol since 2000 and the potential for changes in the sulfur cycle induced by climate change. This review provides an overview about the advances in stratospheric aerosol research since the last comprehensive assessment of stratospheric aerosol was published in 2006. A crucial development since 2006 is the substantial improvement in the agreement between in situ and space-based inferences of stratospheric aerosol properties during volcanically quiescent periods. Furthermore, new measurement systems and techniques, both in situ and space based, have be…

Stratigraphy of the Neoproterozoic Damara Sequence in northwest Namibia: Slope to basin sub-marine mass-transport deposits and olistolith fields

2016

Abstract The Neoproterozoic Damara Sequence (>1000 m thick) is composed of siliciclastic and carbonate rocks that crop out in the Damara Belt, Namibia. In Damaraland (including the Vrede, Bethanis, Austerlitz and Toekoms farms), these rocks were deformed and metamorphosed under greenschist facies (biotite zone) conditions during the Damara Orogeny. The stratigraphy and paleoenvironments of the Damara Sequence rocks are debated by the scientific community. We use field data, including detailed 1:25,000 geological mapping, elaboration of stratigraphic profiles and observation of preserved primary structures, textures and composition, to identify lithofacies and lithofacies associations, and t…

The analcime problem and its impact on the geochemistry of ultrapotassic rocks from Serbia

2004

AbstractTertiary ultrapotassic volcanic rocks from Serbia occasionally display low levels of K2O and K2O/ Na2O. In these rocks, analcime regularly appears as pseudomorphs after pre-existing leucite microphenocrysts. The process ofleucite transformation in Serbian ultrapotassic rocks is very thorough: fresh leucite survives only in ugandites from the Koritnik lava flows as well as in rare inclusions in Cpx. This paper focuses on the impact of ‘analcimization’ on the mineralogy and geochemistry ofthe Serbian ultrapotassic rocks, using the samples where leucite survived as a monitor for the process.Analcimization has had a great impact on the geochemistry of the rocks, but affects only a restr…

Formation Ages and Environments of Early Precambrian Banded Iron Formation in the North China Craton

2016

The North China Craton (NCC) has had a long geological history back to ca. 3.8 Ga ago, but the most important tectonothermal event occurred at the end of the Neoarchean, the most important period of BIF formation. There are three ancient terranes (>2.6 Ga) in the NCC. Most BIFs are distributed along the western margin of the Eastern Ancient Terrane, accounting for about 89 % of the total identified BIF iron ore resources in the NCC. They are considered to have formed on a continental basement in terms of rock association of the BIF-bearing supracrustal sequences which were intruded by slightly younger crustally derived granites. Most BIFs in the NCC show positive Y anomalies, implying that …

Metamorphic P–T paths for the Archean Caozhuang supracrustal sequence, eastern Hebei Province, North China Craton: Implications for a sagduction regi…

2020

Abstract Archean supracrustal rocks of amphibolite-facies occur as enclaves within granitoids gneiss domes and belts between domes, representing collision or sagduction regimes. In order to distinguish between tectonic regimes using metamorphic patterns, systematic data on metamorphic evolution and zircon age dating are presented for the Caozhuang supracrustal sequence of eastern Hebei Province, China, which occurs as enclaves in gneisses. A garnet biotite gneiss records a P–T path involving pre-peak isobaric heating to peak conditions at 780–800 °C and 10–11 kbar (medium-P/T type), followed by decompression to 5–6 kbar. Two Mg/Al-rich schists from the same locality show low P/T conditions …

Reply to comment by Ngako and Njonfang on “The Adamawa-Yade domain, a piece of Archaean crust in the Neoproterozoic Central African Orogenic belt (Ba…

2018

Abstract V. Ngako and E. Njonfang addressed in their comment an interesting and debated issue about the collision geodynamics of the Pan-African Central African Orogenic Belt (CAOB) in Cameroon. However, the reason for this comment is still not clear to us since it mainly deals with issues far away from the scope of our study, namely, the pre-collisional set up of the belt. The comment raises two main points – the reworking process during plate collision and the Pan-African strain pattern – not discussed in our paper for the simple reason that it was not our goal and because our data set does not even allow such discussion. Having said that, the comment gives us the opportunity to clarify o…