Search results for "rock"
showing 10 items of 1160 documents
Clastic injection dynamics during ice front oscillations: A case example from Sólheimajökull (Iceland).
2015
18 pages; International audience; Soft-sediment deformation structures are being increasingly used as a tool for reconstructing palaeoenvironments and porewater pressure conditions in glacial settings. However, the potential of hydrofractures and clastic injections in the reconstruction of ice dynamics remains poorly constrained. This paper presents the results of a detailed study of a clastic injection network outcropping in the Sólheimajökull forefield (South Iceland). Sedimentological descriptions are combined with microscopic to macroscopic analyses of clastic injection geometries, sediment-fills, and cross-cutting relationships. The 250 m long and 20 m high exposure observed along the …
Environmental geology and geochemistry of lake sediments (Holzmaar, Eifwl, Germany)
2008
Quaternary sediments of the lake Holzmaar comprise a well laminated, undisturbed sequence of diatomaceous gyttja, silt, clay laminites and tuff layers. The annually deposited gyttja has been dated by varve chronology yielding a continuous high-resolution time sequence for the Holocene and early Pleistocene. These organic-rich sediments provide an unique paleolimnological record on climatic changes, forest fires, volcanic eruptions, and anthropogenic influences on the sediment composition. Volcanic activity produced thin tephra layers (Laacher See Tephra 11,200±120 radiocarbon yrs BP; Ulmener Maar Tephra 9435±70 radiocarbon yrs BP) in the sedimentary column which possess elevated Ba, Sr, Zr,…
Environmental Radioactivity and Volcanological Features of Three Islands of the Mediterranean Sea (Pantelleria, Ustica and Vulcano)
1996
Abstract The Mediterranean Sea is an area of great interest for its volcanic activities. This paper presents a comparative study of radiometric and chemical data regarding three volcanic islands located in southern Italy (Pantellena, Ustica, and Vulcano) characterized by different magmatic histories. Measurements of radionulide contents and chemical composition of rock samples belonging to the main lithologies present in the three islands were carried out the observed correlations among radiometric, chemical and mineralogical data reflect the differences in the volcanological genesis and suggest some hypotheses on the magmatic evolution.
Evaporite karst in Sicily
2007
Karst areas are distributed over most of Sicily. The most widespread karst rocks are carbonates, particularly limestones, but karst phenomena can also be seen in evaporites and particularly in salt mines. This report provides an overview of evaporite karst in Sicily, along with a “case history” that shows some of the evaporite karst risks to the environment. In the centre and south of Sicily, a thick sequence of Messinian evaporite rocks are subject to dissolution from meteoric and formation waters. In areas where potassium salts and rock salts are being mined, some geomorphologic changes result from the drilling of boreholes and the collapse of underground mines, thus lowering or collapsin…
Long-term changes in explosive and effusive behaviour at andesitic arc volcanoes: Chronostratigraphy of the Centre Hills Volcano, Montserrat
2017
Volcanism on Montserrat (Lesser Antilles arc) has migrated southwards since the formation of the Silver Hills ~ 2.5 Ma, and has formed three successively active volcanic centres. The Centre Hills volcano was the focus of volcanism from ~ 1–0.4 Ma, before activity commenced at the currently active Soufrière Hills volcano. The history of activity at these two volcanoes provides an opportunity to investigate the pattern of volcano behaviour on an andesitic arc island over the lifetime of individual volcanoes. Here, we describe the pyroclastic stratigraphy of subaerial exposures around central Montserrat; identifying 11 thick (> 1 m) pumiceous units derived from sustained explosive eruptions…
Miocene NNE-directed extensional unroofing in the Menderes Massif, southwestern Turkey
1995
Structural investigations in the central part of the Menderes Massif (Odemis-Kiraz submassif) reveal the presence of a large-scale, low-angle extensional shear zone with a top-to-the-N-NE shear sense. Regional ductile deformation was accompanied by the intrusion of two syntectonic granodiorites that have been dated with the Ar-40/Ar-39 method. One hornblende isochron age of 19.5 +/- 1.4 Ma and two biotite plateau ages of 13.1 +/- 0.2 and 12.2 +/- 0.4 Ma, respectively, constrain that extension was already active in the early Miocene. Successive tectonic denudation of the Odemis-Kiraz submassif resulted in the formation of a N-dipping detachment fault, in which ductile fabrics were severely r…
Soil CO2 degassing along tectonic structures of Mount Etna (Sicily): the Pernicana fault
1997
Abstract Carbon dioxide emissions from the soil have been investigated along lines of equally spaced sampling points perpendicular to the Pernicana fault on Mt Etna. Anomalous values of soil CO2 have been found not only along the fault plane, but also along directions parallel to it, both to the N and to the S of the main fault. The acquired data seem to reveal a shallow step-like geometry of the Pernicana fault system with parallel faults being generally not deeper than the interface between Etna's volcanic cover and its sedimentary basement (a few hundred meters). The distribution of the anomalous CO2 emissions has also revealed that the Pernicana fault continues at least as far as the Io…
The gastropod fauna of the Epipalaeolithic shell midden in the Vestibulo chamber of Nerja Cave (Málaga, southern Spain)
2011
The sedimentary record of the Vestibulo, Mina and Torca chambers in the ancient entrance of Nerja Cave (Malaga, southern Spain) developed between around 30 and 3.6 ka cal BP. The long record of human occupation shows a dominance of terrestrial snails associated with the Gravettian, with a continuation of these types in the Solutrean when marine shells begin to be introduced. During the Magdalenian, marine bivalves are dominant. Marine molluscs reach a maximum during the Epipalaeolithic, giving rise to a shell midden formed primarily by Mytilus edulis and diverse species of Patella. The Epipalaeolithic shell midden occurs in Unit 4 and can be dated to the PleistoceneeHolocene boundary. This …
Crustal xenoliths from Cenozoic volcanic fields of West Germany: Implications for structure and composition of the continental crust
1991
Crustal xenoliths in three Cenozoic volcanic fields of West Germany, the Northern Hessian Depression (NHD), the Eifel and the Urach/Hegau, include medium to high-grade meta sedimentary and felsic to mafic meta-igneous rocks. Also present in all three suites are pyroxenites and hornblendites. For each volcanic field, a model crustal profile is proposed based on calculated or measured P-wave velocities of xenoliths and depth-Vp relationships (EGT Central Segment and Rhenish Massif traverses). The xenolith lithologies from the NHD and the Eifel show some similarities. The middle crust between the depths of about 10 and 25 km consists mainly of meta-sediments, felsic gneisses and granulites. Me…
Mesoproterozoic (Grenville-age) granitoids and supracrustal rocks in Kaokoland, northwestern Namibia
2017
Abstract We identified and describe rocks of a late Mesoproterozoic Grenville-age igneous province and associated supracrustal sequence in northwestern Kaokoland, Namibia. These rocks are ca. 1176–1534 Ma in age and mostly consist of pinkish granitic and trondhjemitic plutons that are unfoliated within the Palaeoproterozoic Epupa Metamorphic Complex but become progressively deformed farther west together with late Neoproterozoic rocks of the Pan-African Kaoko orogen. Furthermore, a supracrustal assemblage of clastic sedimentary rocks and felsic volcanic rocks, known as Okapuka Formation, unconformably overlies the Epupa gneisses and also became deformed in the west during the Kaoko orogeny.…