Creation of the Cocos and Nazca plates by fission of the Farallon plate

Throughout the Early Tertiary the area of the Farallon oceanic plate was episodically diminished by detachment of large and small northern regions, which became independently moving plates and microplates. The nature and history of Farallon plate fragmentation has been inferred mainly from structural patterns on the western, Pacific-plate flank of the East Pacific Rise, because the fragmented eastern flank has been subducted. The final episode of plate fragmentation occurred at the beginning of the Miocene, when the Cocos plate was split off, leaving the much reduced Farallon plate to be renamed the Nazca plate, and initiating Cocos–Nazca spreading. Some Oligocene Farallon plate with rifted margins that are a direct record of this plate-splitting event has survived in the eastern tropical Pacific, most extensively off northern Peru and Ecuador. Small remnants of the conjugate northern rifted margin are exposed off Costa Rica, and perhaps south of Panama. Marine geophysical profiles (bathymetric, magnetic and seismic reflection) and multibeam sonar swaths across these rifted oceanic margins, combined with surveys of 30–20 Ma crust on the western rise-flank, indicate that (i) Localized lithospheric rupture to create a new plate boundary was preceded by plate stretching and fracturing in a belt several hundred km wide. Fissural volcanism along some of these fractures built volcanic ridges (e.g., Alvarado and Sarmiento Ridges) that are 1–2 km high and parallel to “absolute” Farallon plate motion; they closely resemble fissural ridges described from the young western flank of the present Pacific–Nazca rise. (ii) For 1–2 m.y. prior to final rupture of the Farallon plate, perhaps coinciding with the period of lithospheric stretching, the entire plate changed direction to a more easterly (“Nazca-like”) course; after the split the northern (Cocos) part reverted to a northeasterly absolute motion. (iii) The plate-splitting fracture that became the site of initial Cocos–Nazca spreading was a linear feature that, at least through the 680 km of ruptured Oligocene lithosphere known to have avoided subduction, did not follow any pre-existing feature on the Farallon plate, e.g., a “fracture zone” trail of a transform fault. (iv) The margins of surviving parts of the plate-splitting fracture have narrow shoulders raised by uplift of unloaded footwalls, and partially buried by fissural volcanism. (v) Cocos–Nazca spreading began at 23 Ma; reports of older Cocos–Nazca crust in the eastern Panama Basin were based on misidentified magnetic anomalies.There is increased evidence that the driving force for the 23 Ma fission of the Farallon plate was the divergence of slab-pull stresses at the Middle America and South America subduction zones. The timing and location of the split may have been influenced by (i) the increasingly divergent northeast slab pull at the Middle America subduction zone, which lengthened and reoriented because of motion between the North America and Caribbean plates; (ii) the slightly earlier detachment of a northern part of the plate that had been entering the California subduction zone, contributing a less divergent plate-driving stress; and (iii) weakening of older parts of the plate by the Galapagos hotspot, which had come to underlie the equatorial region, midway between the risecrest and the two subduction zones, by the Late Oligocene.     

Multibeam bathymetry and sidescan imaging of the Rivera Transform–Moctezuma Spreading Segment junction, northern East Pacific Rise: New constraints on Rivera–Pacific relative plate motion

To better understand the recent motion of the Pacific plate relative to the Rivera plate and to better define the limitations of the existing Rivera–Pacific plate motion models for accurately predicting this motion, total-field magnetic data, multibeam bathymetric data and sidescan sonar images were collected during the BART and FAMEX campaigns of the N/O L'Atalante conducted in April and May 2002 in the area surrounding the Moctezuma Spreading Segment of the East Pacific Rise, located offshore of Manzanillo, Mexico, at 106°16′W, between 17.8°N and 18.5°N. Among the main results are: (1) the principle transform displacement zone of the Rivera Transform is narrow and well defined east of 107o15′W and these azimuths should be used preferentially when deriving new plate motion models, and (2) spreading rates along the Moctezuma Spreading Segment should not be used in plate motion studies as either seafloor spreading has been accommodated at more than one location since the initiation of seafloor spreading in the area of the Moctezuma Spreading Segment, or this spreading center is not a Rivera–Pacific plate boundary as has been previously assumed. Comparison of observed transform azimuths with those predicted by the best-fit poles of six previous models of Rivera–Pacific relative motion indicate that, in the study area, a significant systematic bias is present in the predictions of Rivera–Pacific motion. Although the exact source of this bias remains unclear, this bias indicates the need to derive a new Rivera–Pacific relative plate motion model.     

Isotopic Ages of the Penglai Group in the Jiaobei Belt and Their Geotectonic Implications1

Abstract The Penglai Group in the Jiaobei Belt is the only remaining cover of the Archaean to Early Proterozoic crystalline basement in eastern Shandong. The ages of deposition of the Penglai Group and of its deformation and metamorphism have long been a subject of speculation. Whole-rock Rb-Sr ages, illite-whole-rock pair Rb-Sr ages and illite K - Ar ages recently obtained from the Penglai Group slates are reported and interpreted in this paper. On the basis of structural and metamorphic studies coupled with analyses of illite crystallinity, XRD and SEM, a whole-rock age of 473 ± 32 Ma (Ordovician) is interpreted as the time of termination of burial metamorphism experienced by the Penglai Group. Therefore, the age of the Penghai Group is older than Ordovician. The first-phase folding and syntectonic low greenschist facies metamorphism in the Penglai Group, i.e. the Penglai Movement, took place before 299±4 Ma B.P., i.e in the Late Carboniferous. The Penglai Movement that occurred in the Jiaobei Belt on the southern margin of the North China Plate is attributed to collision between the North China and Yangtze plates along the Jiaonan Collision Belt. This demonstrates that the continent-continent collision between the North China and Yangtze plates east of the Tan-Lu Fault Zone took place in the Late Carboniferous. The collision caused N-S compression and deformation in the southern margin belt of the North China Plate north of the Qinling-Dabieshan-Jiaonan Collision Belt.     

Facies Analysis and Sequence Stratigraphy of Silurian Carbonate Ramps in the Turan (Kopeh-Dagh) and Central Iran Plates with Emphasis on Gondwana Tectonic Event

Two sections from the Silurian deposits in the Central Iran Micro and Turan Plates were measured and sampled. These deposits are mostly composed of submarine volcanic rocks, skeletal and non-skeletal limestone, shale and sandstone that were deposited in low to high energy conditions (from tidal flat to deep open marine). According to gradual deepening trend, wide lateral distribution of facies as well as absence of resedimentation deposits, a depositional model of a homoclinal ramp was proposed for these deposits. Field observations and facies distribution indicate that, two depositional sequences were recognized in both sections. These sections show similarities in facies and depositional sequence during the Early Silurian in the area. Although there are some opinions and evidences that demonstrated Paleo-Tethys rifting phase started at the Late Ordovician-Early Silurian, similarities suggest that the Turan and Iran Plates were not completely detached tectonic block during this time, and that their depositional conditions were affected by global sea level changes and tectonic events.     

Dynamic causes for the opening of the Baikal Rift Zone: a numerical modelling approach

Previous dynamic models of the Baikal Rift Zone (BRZ) are mostly two-dimensional on vertical plane. In this study, a numerical model of neotectonics in the region on map view was constructed using the adapted PLATES program. The present work is an attempt to test different mechanisms for opening Baikal Rift by comparing the modelled and observed stress and strain rate fields. The following rifting scenarios were tested: (1) pure northwest–southeast extension, (2) pure northeast–southwest compression, (3) oblique rift opening and (4) combined northwest–southeast extension and northeast–southwest compression. The models are calibrated using geologically and GPS-derived strain rates and stress-tensor determinations from fault-slip data and earthquake focal mechanisms. The most successful model requires a combination of NE–SW compression and orthogonal extension. The model results indicate that the present extensional regime in BRZ can be explained by combining the India plate indentation northward into Eurasia, east–west convergence between the North America and Eurasia plates and southeastward extrusion of the Amur plate in northeastern Asia. Predicted fault-slip rates for the best-fit model are consistent with the observed Holocene fault-slip rates in the Lake Baikal region. The generally accepted rotation of the Amur and Mongolia microplates are used as independent constraints for the choice of the best-fit model. These data correlate well with the predicted direction of rotation in our best model.     

论菲律宾海板块大地构造分区

菲律宾海板块是毗邻中国大陆的一个独特的小型板块。除南端表现十分复杂外,它的构造边界多以海沟为界,比较清楚,然而次级大地构造单元划分则比较复杂。本文根据近年来的研究成果,按照块体构造理论注重统一的地球物理场、相似的地壳结构、有机的成因联系等3个基本原则,将菲律宾海板块划分为3个具有不同构造演化特征的单元,即西菲律宾海块体、四国-帕里西维拉块体和伊豆-博宁-马里亚纳块体。西菲律宾海块体包括两部分:一个是西菲律宾海盆,始新世以来受太平洋板块和印澳板块近南北向的相对俯冲作用影响,并顺时针旋转形成了现今的构造样式,于30 Ma左右停止扩张。另一个包括大东盆岭、花东盆地、帕劳海盆和吕宋岛弧蛇绿岩等洋壳在内的白垩纪洋盆。根据形成年代和形成时的扩张方向可将四国-帕里西维拉块体分为两部分:四国海盆和帕里西维拉海盆,两者以索夫干断裂为界。伊豆-博宁-马里亚纳块体沿博宁高原南缘分为南北两部分,两者表现出不同的地质特征。     

Lithospheric deformation under pre- and post-seismic stress fields along the Nicobar–Sumatra subduction margin during 2004 Sumatra mega-event and its tectonic implications

A high-resolution study was carried out under pre-seismic (i.e., static) and post-seismic stress fields (i.e., dynamic) in a space–time frame along the Nicobar–Sumatra margin. The study reveals that the descending lithosphere records minimum stress obliquity, predominant thrust movement, and down-dip least compressive stress axis under static stress field in northwest Sumatra (sector III). The imbalance between down-dip component of slab pull force and viscous resistive force possibly caused cyclic stress loading in compressive field around the flexing zone ( 25 km), and that undergone brittle failure through generation of mega-thrust event on 26th December' 2004. A sharp decrease in stress obliquity towards north (sector II), redressing of least compressive stress axes from horizontal to down-dip direction, and increasing thrust movements under dynamic stress field account for continued upward shortening of the lithosphere. The weak thinner zone (i.e., between  159 and  217 km depth), an age-discontinuity portion, possibly was collapsed through rapid enhancement of stress-induced weakening and strain localization following the 2004 Sumatra mega-shock. It is also well appreciated in the literature that such shallow disruption of the lithosphere is inevitable in the upper mantle, if the slab is weakened or broken there, and this phenomenon is not uncommon below the Sumatra.     

Subduction-related Jurassic andesites in the northern Great Caucasus

During the Jurassic the major tectonic units of the Great Caucasus (Bechasyn, Front Range, Main Range and Southern Slope zone) were affected by intensive magmatic activity. Magmatism within the Bechasyn zone, the northernmost unit, which represents the southern part of the Variscan-consolidated Skythian platform is considered here. With the beginning of the Early Jurassic this zone was reactivated by subsidence, accompanied by the deposition of epicontinental shallow water sediments. The Lower Jurassic portion of this sedimentary pile was intruded by numerous sills which display a clear temporal and spatial evolution. The older basic rocks are lower in the profile than the younger, more acidic rocks. A set of 75 samples, representing all exposed sills and their feeder-dikes, was analyzed for major and 21 trace elements. All samples appear more or less affected by alteration under lower greenschist facies conditions. However, these alterations essentially took place on local scales and did not affect the overall chemistry. According to their main element composition the rocks constitute a calc-alkaline series ranging from basaltic—andesitic to rhyolitic. Most of the samples are andesites. Chemically, these andesites closely resemble modern orogenic andesites occurring at convergent plate margins. Altogether, the field evidence and the chemical and mineralogical data obtained show the investigated rocks to be comagmatic and derived from basalt—andesitic initial melts by magmatic fractionation processes. Tholeiitic melts have to be considered as parental magmas, which according to the trace element characteristics of the basalt-andesitic rocks, were generated from an enriched peridotitic mantle source. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios and ¹⁸O values confirm the mantle origin of this rock series. The observed compositional evolution can be explained as a result of olivine and clinopyroxene fractionation of the tholeitic melts followed by amphibole and plagioclase separation. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar measurements on biotite and plagioclase phenocrysts separated from these rocks vary between 190 and 180 Ma and thereby place the magmatic activity in the late Early Jurassic, in good agreement with the stratigraphic observations. Genetically, the calc-alkaline rocks are related to a subduction zone of the Andean type. Their chemical and isotopic compositions and their age setting corroborate the plate tectonic models for the evolution of the Caucasus orogenic belt during the Jurassic.Dedicated to the late A. M. Borsuk, initiator of the study     

Cenozoic tectonics in the Urumgi-Korla region of the Chinese Tien Shan

Cenozoic deformation within the Tien Shan of central Asia has accommodated part of the post-collisional indentation of the Indian plate into Asia. Within the Urumgi—Korla region of the Chinese Tien Shan this occurred dominantly on thrusts, with secondary strike-slip faulting. The gross pattern of deformation is of moderate to steeply dipping thrusts that have overthrust foreland basins to the north and south of the range, the Junggar and Tarim basins, respectively. Smaller foreland basins lie within the margins of the range itself (Turfan, Chai Wo Pu, Korla and Qumishi basins); these lie in the footwalls of local thrust systems. Both the Turfan and the Korla basins contain major thrusts within them; they are complex foreland basins. Deformation has progressively affected regions further into the interior of the Junggar Basin, and propagated into the interiors of the intermontane basins. No unidirectional deformation front has passed across the Tien Shan in the Neogene and Quaternary. An Oligocene unconformity may indicate the time of the onset of the Cenozoic deformation, but most of the Cenozoic molasse has been deposited after the Palaeogene. The rate of deposition in basins next to the uplifted ranges has increased since the onset of deformation. There has been at least about 80 km of Cenozoic shortening across this part of the Tien Shan. Cenozoic shortening is greater in sections of the range further west; these are nearer to the northern margin of the Indian indenter. Cenozoic compression has reactivated structures created by the two late Palaeozoic collisions that created the ancestral Tien Shan. These Palaeozoic structures have exerted a strong control over the style and location of the Cenozoic deformation.     

新疆东准噶尔塔克扎勒—麦钦乌拉古缝合线的确定

本文通过构造分析及岩石学、地球化学研究,证实塔克扎勒—麦钦乌拉存在一条蛇绿混杂岩带,表现为在构造变形的砂泥质基质中分布若干个洋脊型和洋岛型的蛇绿岩碎块。该带两侧地壳厚度明显不同,大陆边缘增生方向相反,该带还是一条早古生代的生物群落界线,早石炭世两侧岛弧有较大的纬度差异(20°以上)。因此,塔克扎勒—麦钦乌拉蛇绿混杂岩带是古准噶尔大洋闭合的残骸,代表了西伯利亚板块和塔里木板块碰撞的缝合线构造带。     

Characterization of the proto-Philippine Sea Plate:Evidence from the emplaced oceanic lithospheric fragments along eastern Philippines

The proto-Philippine Sea Plate(pPSP)has been proposed by several authors to account for the origin of the Mesozoic supra-subduction ophiolites along the Philippine archipelago.In this paper,a comprehensive review of the ophiolites in the eastern portion of the Philippines is undertaken.Available data on the geology,ages and geochemical signatures of the oceanic lithospheric fragments in Luzon(Isabela,Lagonoy in Camarines Norte,and Rapu-Rapu island),Central Philippines(Samar,Tacloban,Malitbog and Southeast Bohol),and eastern Mindanao(Dinagat and Pujada)are presented.Characteristics of the Halmahera Ophiolite to the south of the Philippines are also reviewed for comparison.Nearly all of the crust-mantle sequences preserved along the eastern Philippines share Early to Late Cretaceous ages.The geochemical signatures of mantle and crustal sections reflect both mid-oceanic ridge and suprasubduction signatures.Although paleomagnetic information is currently limited to the Samar Ophiolite,results indicate a near-equatorial Mesozoic supra-subduction zone origin.In general,correlation of the crust-mantle sequences along the eastern edge of the Philippines reveal that they likely are fragments of the Mesozoic pPSP.     

南海北部陆缘盆地形成的构造动力学背景

摘要：南海北部陆缘盆地处于印度板块与太平洋及菲律宾海板块之间,但三大板块对南海北部陆缘盆地的影响是不同的。通过对三大板块及古南海演化的研究,可知南海北部陆缘地区应力环境于晚白垩世发生改变。早白垩世处于挤压环境,晚白垩世以来转变为伸展环境并且不同时期的成因不同。晚白垩世-始新世,华南陆缘早期造山带的应力松弛、古南海向南俯冲及太平洋俯冲板块的滚动后退导致其处于张应力环境。始新世时南海北部陆缘裂陷盆地开始产生,伸展环境没有变,但因其是由太平洋板块向西俯冲速率的持续降低及古南海向南俯冲引起的,南海北部陆缘盆地继续裂陷。渐新世-早中新世,地幔物质向南运动及古南海向南俯冲导致南海北部陆缘地区处于持续的张应力环境;渐新世早期南海海底扩张;中中新世开始,三大板块开始共同影响着南海北部陆缘盆地的发展演化。     

The age of the Tunas formation in the Sauce Grande basin-Ventana foldbelt (Argentina): Implications for the Permian evolution of the southwestern margin of Gondwana

New SHRIMP radiogenic isotope dating on zircons in tuffs (280.8 ± 1.9 Ma) confirms the Early Permian (Artinskian) age of the uppermost section of the Tunas Formation. Tuff-rich levels in the Tunas Formation are exposed in the Ventana foldbelt of central Argentina; they are part of a deltaic to fluvial section corresponding to the late overfilled stage of the Late Paleozoic Sauce Grande foreland basin. Recent SHRIMP dating of zircons from the basal Choiyoi volcanics exposed in western Argentina yielded an age of 281.4 ± 2.5 Ma (Rocha-Campos et al., 2011). The new data for the Tunas tuffs suggest that the volcanism present in the Sauce Grande basin can be considered as the distal equivalent of the earliest episodes of the Choiyoi volcanism of western Argentina. From the palaeoclimatic viewpoint the new Tunas SHRIMP age confirms that by early Artinskian glacial conditions ceased in the Sauce Grande basin and, probably, in adajacent basins in western Gondwana.     

Multiresolution tectonic features over the Earth inferred from a wavelet transformed geoid

Geoid signals give information about the underlying density structure and can be used to locate the source depth of the mass anomalies. Wavelet analysis allows a multiresolution analysis of the signal and permits one to zoom into a specific area bounded by a particular length scale. The ability of wavelets to resolve the geoid signal into individual wavelength components without losing the spatial information makes this method superior to the more common spherical harmonic method. The wavelet analysis allows one to zoom into a specific area and look at the regional geology. We have used a wavelet transform of the geoid to study the regional geology of Japan and the Philippine Plate, South America, Europe, North America, East Africa and the Middle East, India and the Himalayas, China and Southeast Asia, and Australia. By filtering the Earth’s geoid anomalies with 2-D Gaussian wavelets at various horizontal length scales, one can detect the subduction zones along South America, the Aleutians, and the western Pacific; the Himalayas; the Zagros Mountains; the Mid-Atlantic ridge; and the island chains of the mid-Pacific. We have processed geoid data with a horizontal resolution down to approximately 200 km. Using an adjustable wavelet, one can detect structures that can only be picked up visually with much higher resolution spherical harmonic gravity data. We have also looked at the wavelength at which the maximum signal occurs over a range of scales. This method, known as E-max and k-max, is especially effective for detecting plate tectonic boundaries and ancient suture zones along with areas of strong non-isostatic gravitational potential due to high differential stress. These areas are likely to be at high risk of earthquakes. These methods will be especially useful to future studies of the geoid potentials of other planets, such as Mars and Venus, since they will allow careful studies of the regional geology variations with geoid data of the resolution available from satellites.     

Trial by fire:Testing the paleolongitude of Pangea of competing reference frames with the African LLSVP

Paleogeography can be reconstructed using various crust-or mantle-based reference frames that make fundamentally different assumptions.The various reconstruction models differ significantly in continental paleolongitude,but it has been difficult to assess which models are more valid.We suggest here a "LLSVP test",where an assumed correlation between present-day large low velocity shear-wave provinces and the paleogeography of supercontinent Pangea at breakup ca.200 million years ago can be used to assess the relative accuracy of published reconstructions.Closest correlations between continental paleolongitude and the African LLSVP are achieved with mantle-based reference frames(moving hotspots and true polar wander),whereas shallower crustbased reference frames are shown to be invalid.The relative success of mantle-based frames,and thus the importance of the depth of reference frame,supports the notion that mantle convection is largely vertical compared to the horizontal plate motion of tectonics.     

胶北蓬莱群的同位素年龄及其区域大地构造意义

位于胶北带的蓬莱群是鲁东残留于太古宙—早元古代结晶基底之 上唯一的盖层。其沉积时代和变形、变质时代过去一直是未解决的问 题。本文报道并解释了从蓬莱群板岩中新获得的全岩Rb-Sr年龄、伊 利石-全岩对Rb-Sr年龄和伊利石K-Ar年龄。 在对样品的构造、变质研究和伊利石结晶度、X射线衍射及扫描电 镜分析的基础上,所得473±32Ma(奥陶纪)的全岩Rb-Sr年龄被解 释为蓬莱群遭受埋藏变质的中止时间。因此蓬莱群是老于奥陶纪的地 层。蓬莱群的第一期褶皱和同构造低绿片岩相变质(即蓬莱运动),发生于299±4Ma以前,即晚石炭世。处于华北板块南缘上胶北带的蓬莱运动,是华北和扬子板块沿胶南带碰撞的结果。这表明郯庐断裂以东华北与扬子板块的陆-陆碰撞发生在晚石炭世。这一碰撞事件在秦岭-大别山-胶南碰撞带以北的华北板块南缘带中都造成了近南北向挤压变形。     

谈塔里木板块开合构造与层次成矿问题——以层控型金属矿床为例

通过塔里木板块的构造开合演化及古地理变迁,去追索层控型金属矿床成矿的时空规律,从而划分出老(元古代,以中元古代为主)、中(晚古生代,以泥盆纪-石炭纪为主)、青(中新生代,以白垩纪-新近纪为主。)三个集中成矿区间(期),并言明其层次成矿构造属性及空间分布格局。     

Significant crustal structural variation across the Chaochou Fault, southern Taiwan: New tectonic implications for convergent plate boundary

The Chaochou Fault, a major geological boundary in southern Taiwan is considered to be a part of the convergent plate boundary between the Eurasia Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. We applied the Common Conversion Point stacking technique to teleseismic radial receiver functions and obtained Moho variation and crustal structure across the Chaochou Fault. In the Eurasia Plate to its west, the Moho depth is about 37 km and the crust is subducting to the east beneath the Philippine Sea Plate with a dip angle of about 30° between the Backbone Belt and the Tananao Schist. In the Philippine Sea Plate, the Moho depth is about 17 km. The Longitudinal Valley marks the collision boundary between the Eurasia Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. The results suggest that the depth extent of the Chaochou Fault is about 30–35 km and the fault becomes a “shallow-angle” thrust fault at depth. The Common Conversion Point image also shows several bending interfaces of velocity contrast in the crust. We proposed a simple model to explain the Philippine Sea Plate and Eurasia Plate collision process and the observed crustal deformations.     

The spa Deutsch-Altenburg and the hydrogeology of the Vienna basin (Austria)

 Some years ago the thermal water wells of the spa Deutsch-Altenburg were considered the result of a local water circulation. Extensive measurements of the water chemistry, trace elements, and environmental isotopes combined with drillings in the river bed of the Danube resulted in the indication of a key position of the mineral thermal wells of Deutsch-Altenburg for the groundwater circulation in the entire Vienna basin. The proof of this fact demanded the inclusion of the complicated geological position of the basin into the argumentation. The historical background of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg is the Roman municipium Carnuntum. During the reign of the Roman emperor Marc Aurel (161-180 A.C.) Carnuntum became the largest Roman municipium northeast of Rome with about 50 000 inhabitants covering the areas of present-day villages Petronell and Deutsch-Altenburg due to its strategic and trade position. The town was totally destroyed during the era of "migration of nations." The land surface was farmland or meadows. The first document concerning the thermal water of Deutsch-Altenburg is an expertise of the medical faculty of the University of Vienna (1548). During the siege of Vienna by the Turkish army under Kara Mustafa (1683–84) Deutsch-Altenburg was again, destroyed. It was only at the end of the 19th century that the modern installation of the spa began. The healing thermal water with the highest content of sulfur in Austria made Deutsch-Altenburg one of the most well-known spas in the country. The archaeological excavation of Carnuntum is the largest in Austria. Received: 6 October 1995 · Accepted: 13 November 1995