A tertiary fold and thrust belt in the Valle del Cauca Basin, Colombian Andes

Surface geology and heophysical data, supplemented by regional structural interpretations, indicate that the Valle del Cauca basin and adjacent areas in west-central Colombia form a west-vergent, basement-involved fold and thrust belt. This belt is part of a Cenozoic orogen developed along the west side of the Romeral fault system. Structural analysis and geometrical constraints show that the Mesozoic ophiolitic basement and its Cenozoic sedimentary cover are involved in a “thick-skinned” west-vergent foreland style deformation. The rocks are transported and shortened by deeply rooted thrust faults and stacked in imbricate fashion. The faults have a NE---SW regional trend, are listric in shape, developed as splay faults which are interpreted as joining a common detachment at over 10 km depth. The faults carry Paleogene sedimentary strata and Cretaceous basement rocks westward over Miocene strata of the Valle del Cauca Basin. Fold axes trend parallel or sub parallel to the thrust faults. The folds are westwardly asymmetrical with parallel to kink geometry, and are interpreted to be fault-propagation folds stacked in an imbricate thrust system. Stratigraphic evidence suggests that the Valle del Cauca basin was deformed between Oligocene and upper Miocene time. The kinematic history outlined above is consistent with an oblique convergence between the Panama and South American plates during the Cenozoic.A negative residual Bouguer anomaly of 20–70 mgls in the central part of the Valle del Cauca basin indicates that a substantial volume of low density sedimentary rocks is concealed beneath the thrust sheets exposed at the land surface. The hydrocarbon potential of the Valle del Cauca should be reevaluated in light of the structural interpretations presented in this paper.     

Electrical conductivity of igneous rocks: Composition and temperature relations

The conductivity of four igneous rocks with, 49, 65, 77, and 84% SiO₂ was measured as a function of temperature in the interval from 20° to 1280°C; measurements were made in a vacuum of 10^?3 torr. No simple relationships were found between conductivity and SiO₂ content or versus major element groupings such as Na₂O=K₂O=CaO and TiO₂=Cr₂O₃=Al₂O₃=Fe₂O₃=FeO. An analytical expression was obtained between conductivity and the albite-quartz ratio, valid for temperatures between 300° and 1200°C. It was necessary to compute the CIPW norm in order to obtain the albite and quartz percentages. The onset of melting apparently occurred between 600° and 700°C. Petrography performed on two samples after cooling showed 70 and 85% partial melting. Three conduction regions were identified: 1) below 300°C, 2) between 300°C and 600°C, and 3) above 600°C. Different activation energies obtained for the heating and cooling intervals confirm that the sample undergoes textural changes in the heating-cooling cycle. Activation energy increments of 0.1 and 0.2 eV per decade of albite-quartz ratio were obtained.     

Quantification and isotopic analysis of nitrogen in rocks at the ppm level using sealed tube combustion technique: A prelude to the study of altered oceanic crust

The present paper reports recent improvements in sealed tube combustion technique used for the determination of N isotopic composition in various rocks characterized by low N contents (i.e. few ppm). Nitrogen is extracted from samples by combustion in quartz tubes sealed under vacuum. The nitrogen gas purified using Cu, CuO and CaO, is quantified as dinitrogen N₂ by capacitance manometry in ultra-high vacuum line. Nitrogen isotopic analysis is performed on a triple-collector static vacuum mass spectrometer, allowing measurement of nanomole quantity of N₂. Nitrogen amount and isotopic composition of the analytical blanks are low and describe Gaussian distribution with mean values of 0.65 ± 0.30 nmol N and − 3.7‰ ± 2.7‰, respectively (2σ). Systematic analyses of international and internal standards demonstrate that this technique provides accurate and precise results. The precision on N content and isotopic composition are better than ± 8% and ± 0.5‰ respectively, even for samples containing less than 2 ppm N. The sealed tube combustion technique is shown to apply successfully to rocks of various lithologies such as metagabbros, metaperidotites and altered basalts. It is thus suitable for studying oceanic crust in a perspective to better constrain N exchanges between Earth mantle and surface reservoirs. The investigation can also be extended to analysis of small size samples, particularly when little sample exists and when high spatial resolution is required.     

Cadmium transport in sediments by tubificid bioturbation: An assessment of model complexity

Biogeochemistry of metals in aquatic sediments is strongly influenced by bioturbation. To determine the effects of biological transport on cadmium distribution in freshwater sediments, a bioturbation model is explored that describes the conveyor-belt feeding of tubificid oligochaetes. A stepwise modelling strategy was adopted to constrain the many parameters of the model: (i) the tubificid transport model was first calibrated on four sets of microspheres (inert solid tracer) profiles to constrain tubificid transport; (ii) the resulting transport coefficients were subsequently applied to simulate the distribution of both particulate and dissolved cadmium. Firstly, these simulations provide quantitative insight into the mechanism of tubificid bioturbation. Values of transport coefficients compare very well with the literature, and based on this, a generic model of tubificid bioturbation is proposed. Secondly, the application of the model to cadmium dataset sheds a light on the behaviour of cadmium under tubificid bioturbation. Cadmium enters the sediment in two ways. In one pathway, cadmium enters the sediment in the dissolved phase, is rapidly absorbed onto solid particles, which are then rapidly transported to depth by the tubificids. In the other pathway, cadmium is adsorbed to particles in suspension in the overlying water, which then settle on the sediment surface, and are transported downwards by bioturbation. In a final step, we assessed the optimal model complexity for the present dataset. To this end, the two-phase conveyor-belt model was compared to two simplified versions. A solid phase-only conveyor-belt model also provides good results: the dissolved phase should not be explicitly incorporated because cadmium adsorption is fast and bioirrigation is weak. Yet, a solid phase-only biodiffusive model does not perform adequately, as it does not mechanistically capture the conveyor-belt transport at short time-scales.     

Spatial Analysis of Airborne Geophysical Data Applied to Geological Mapping and Mineral Prospecting in the Serra Leste Region, Carajás Mineral Province, Brazil

The Serra Leste region, located in the northeast portion of Carajás Mineral Province (PA), hosts important chrome-PGE, Au–Pd–Pt, Cu–Mo–Au, iron, and manganese deposits and occurrences related to different geological settings. We present a regional prospective model with focus on PGE mineralizations based on airborne geophysics (magnetometry, gamma-ray spectrometry and time domain electromagnetometry) and geological data. Geological and geophysics data analysis indicate a plausible correspondence between areas with meta-mafic–ultramafic rocks and low values in gamma spectrometry, mainly for the thorium channel. The meta-ultramafic units of the complexes, the main host rock of the PGE mineralization, are well defined by analytic signal from the anomalous magnetic field and by the apparent conductance anomalies derived from the GEOTEM system. The combination of the derivative products with updated geological data of the Serra Leste region and PGE-Luanga deposit enable to establish a regional prospective model for PGE and the identification of new targets within the studied area.     

Evaluating the performance of CMIP3 and CMIP5 global climate models over the north-east Atlantic region

One of the main sources of uncertainty in estimating climate projections affected by global warming is the choice of the global climate model (GCM). The aim of this study is to evaluate the skill of GCMs from CMIP3 and CMIP5 databases in the north-east Atlantic Ocean region. It is well known that the seasonal and interannual variability of surface inland variables (e.g. precipitation and snow) and ocean variables (e.g. wave height and storm surge) are linked to the atmospheric circulation patterns. Thus, an automatic synoptic classification, based on weather types, has been used to assess whether GCMs are able to reproduce spatial patterns and climate variability. Three important factors have been analyzed: the skill of GCMs to reproduce the synoptic situations, the skill of GCMs to reproduce the historical inter-annual variability and the consistency of GCMs experiments during twenty-first century projections. The results of this analysis indicate that the most skilled GCMs in the study region are UKMO-HadGEM2, ECHAM5/MPI-OM and MIROC3.2(hires) for CMIP3 scenarios and ACCESS1.0, EC-EARTH, HadGEM2-CC, HadGEM2-ES and CMCC-CM for CMIP5 scenarios. These models are therefore recommended for the estimation of future regional multi-model projections of surface variables driven by the atmospheric circulation in the north-east Atlantic Ocean region.     

Late Pleistocene climatic change in the French Jura (Gigny) recorded in the δO of phosphate from ungulate tooth enamel

Oxygen isotope compositions of phosphate in tooth enamel from large mammals (i.e. horse and red deer) were measured to quantify past mean annual air temperatures and seasonal variations between 145 ka and 33 ka in eastern France. The method is based on interdependent relationships between the δ¹⁸O of apatite phosphate, environmental waters and air temperatures. Horse (Equus caballus germanicus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) remains have δ¹⁸O values that range from 14.2‰ to 17.2‰, indicating mean air temperatures between 7°C and 13°C. Oxygen isotope time series obtained from two of the six horse teeth show a sinusoidal-like signal that could have been forced by temperature variations of seasonal origin. Intra-tooth oxygen isotope variations reveal that at 145 ka, winters were colder (? 7 ± 2°C) than at present (3 ± 1°C) while summer temperatures were similar. Winter temperatures mark a well-developed West–East thermal gradient in France of about ? 9°C, much stronger than the ?4°C difference recorded presently. Negative winter temperatures were likely responsible for the extent and duration of the snow cover, thus limiting the food resources available for large ungulates with repercussions for Neanderthal predators.     

Water circulation control on carbonate-δO records in a low permeability clay formation and surrounding limestones: The Upper Dogger–Oxfordian sequence from the eastern Paris basin, France

Upper Dogger to Oxfordian Formations in the eastern part of the Paris basin (France) are currently being investigated by the French nuclear waste management agency (Andra), testing the feasibility of long-term deep nuclear waste disposal in the Callovo-Oxfordian claystones. Characterising the hydrogeological behaviour of the Callovo-Oxfordian claystones is, therefore, essential in evaluating its potential as a geological barrier. In order to evaluate and quantify water/rock interactions experienced over geological time by these Formations, bulk carbonate δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O were measured and calculations of water-rock ratios were used to explain carbonate-δ¹⁸O changes. Meteoric porewater and a maximum temperature reached of about 40 °C were considered. The Jurassic marine carbonate δ¹³C was preserved in the Callovo-Oxfordian claystones and in the overlying limestones (−0.28‰ to 3.39‰/PDB), while the δ¹⁸O values are lower by 0-5‰ (−6.25‰ to −1.32‰/PDB). Calculations show that Upper Dogger and Oxfordian Limestone δ¹⁸O data:

(i)

have random-like distribution through theoretical δ¹⁸O-W/R curves and

(ii)

suggest that water/rock ratios (0.08-0.4) needed to explain δ¹⁸O changes are higher by a factor of about 2-20 compared to the present-day water/rock ratio.

These features indicate advection in both aquifers. According to the history of the Paris basin, this hydrogeological behaviour could have been effective since Jurassic/Cretaceous transition times. Inversely, the carbonate-δ¹⁸O content trends observed for the Callovo-Oxfordian data show that changes were controlled by post-depositional fluid-rock interaction with water/rock ratio (0.02-0.15) similar to the present-day porewater/rock ratio. The 130 m thick Callovo-Oxfordian claystone appears remarkably homogenous regarding its hydrogeological properties. This study suggests an initial marine porewater replacement by meteoric water only after porosity was reduced to its present value, thus demonstrating that the Callovo-Oxfordian clay has mainly been isolated from advective meteoric water circulation. Only the upper 20 m of the Callovo-Oxfordian claystone Formation underwent heterogeneous water-rock exchange (W/R from 0.01 to 0.3), probably as a result of its mineralogical heterogeneity and proximity to the advective Oxfordian Limestone aquifer.This study of carbonate-δ¹⁸O confirms the hydrogeological barrier properties of the Callovo-Oxfordian clay and suggests that it has been a natural hydrological barrier since the earliest times of its diagenesis.