A regional strategy for geothermal exploration with emphasis on gravity and magnetotellurics

As part of the resource evaluation and exploration program conducted by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for the national Hot Dry Rock (HDR) Geothermal Program, a regional magnetotelluric (MT) survey of New Mexico and Arizona is being performed. The MT lines are being located in areas where the results of analysis of residual gravity anomaly maps of Arizona and New Mexico, integrated with other geologic and geophysical studies indicate the greatest potential for HDR resources.The residual gravity anomalies are derived by applying the concept of predicting gravity anomalies from topography. This can be accomplished by employing reductions similar to those used in some isostatic investigations, in which a regional topographic surface is used as the Bouguer reduction datum. The datum is derived by comparison of various harmonics of Bouguer anomalies and elevations of stations. Topography can be used to predict Bouguer anomalies because of isostatic compensation; the resultant anomalies can be considered high frequency residual anomalies or isostatic anomalies corrected for regional compensation. Such maps have been produced for Arizona, New Mexico, west Texas, and Chihuahua, Mexico.The main objective of the MT project is to produce a regional geoelectric contour map of the pervasive deep electrical conductor within the crust and/or upper mantle beneath the Colorado Plateau and the adjacent Basin and Range Province and Rio Grande Rift. The MT survey consists of 200 sites along several long profiles with site spacing of 15–20 km. Pre-existing available MT data are being integrated with the new data. After the data are processed, a one-dimensional inversion is applied to the sounding curve and used as a starting point for 2-D modeling. Such a project and ultimate map will be of major value in studying the regional geophysics and tectonics of the southwest United States as they now apply to HDR resources in particular and geothermal resources in general.Electrical conductivity anomalies of large areal extent are of particular interest in geothermal exploration. Correlation analysis of large conductive anomalies with other geophysical, geological, and geotectonic data is being performed. Preliminary analysis of the data has suggested several major regions of anomalously shallow high electrical conductivity. Among these is the Aquarius area of northwest Arizona which is the site of a longwavelength residual anomaly low, which when modeled and correlated with other geophysical data can be shown to be possibly related to low density and high temperature in the crust at depths of 20 km or less. Preliminary analysis of MT data indicates the possible existence of a mid-crustal high electrical conductivity anomaly in this same region.     

Radial velocities in the open cluster IC 2391

We have determined radial velocities for 31 stars in the field of the open cluster IC 2391, and derived the percentage of probable radial-velocity variables. We improved the orbit of one previously known spectroscopic binary, and confirmed the existence of two double-line binaries. We discussed with such data the membership to the cluster, the average cluster radial velocity and compared the incidence of short-period binaries among the Main-Sequence members of IC 2391 with the incidence for other clusters with similar average axial rotation of its members.Member of the Carrera del Investigador Científico del Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República ArgentinaVisiting Astronomer, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, operated by AURA, Inc. under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Land degradation assessment based on environmental geoindicators in the Fortaleza metropolitan region,state of Ceará, Brazil

This paper summarizes the results obtained by land degradation assessment in the Fortaleza Metropolitan Region, in the state of Ceará, Brazil. Area assessment was done in a two-phase study: the characterization of the environmental components by field and laboratory work, and a more detailed study in the degraded sites. Environmental geoindicators were used to classify the degradation level for each drainage basin as low, intermediate, or high. Coastal erosion, gravitational mass movements, dune movements, water erosion, sedimentation, water pollution, sanitary landfills in inappropriate sites, caves and abandoned mines of aggregates exploitation and occupation in swamp areas are the main land degradation sources registered in the region. Among the drainage basins for degradation level, 5 were classified as high, 3 as intermediate, and 4 as low. These problems have affected the people living in the region and demanded heavy investments to rehabilitate degraded areas.     

Ecosystem metabolism and carbon fluxes of a tidally-dominated coastal lagoon

The metabolism and carbon flux in the western sector of the highly dynamic coastal lagoon Ria Formosa (south Portugal) were assessed to elucidate the relative importance of the contribution of the main communities, the treated sewage inputs from the adjacent city of Faro, and the exchange with the adjacent coastal waters to the ecosystem metabolism. The results depict the Ria Formosa as being a highly productive ecosystem dominated by the seagrassZostera noltii. The community dominated by the seagrassCymodocea nodosa had half of the gross production ofZ. noltii, followed by bare sediments and phytoplankton. The net contribution of seagrasses to community metabolism was negligible, as bothZ. noltii andC. nodosa showed a production: respiration ratio close to 1. Benthic microalgae emerge as the most important components of the net metabolism. The western sector of Ria Formosa was in metabolic balance during the summer when the study was done. Even though the total net ecosystem production was 7.22 Kmol C d⁻¹, the error associated with this estimate was 8.38 Kmol C d⁻¹, so ecosystem net production was not significantly different from zero. The Ria Formosa ecosystem is shallow and rapidly flushed by the tides, which force an important exchange of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) with the adjacent coastal waters. The daily net export rate to the adjacent coastal waters, 0.98 Kmol d⁻¹, represented 7.6% of the net ecosystem production, suggesting that the bulk of the net ecosystem production accumulates within the ecosystem. The organic carbon retention in the western sector of the Ria Formosa is higher than net production, because the allochthonous carbon inputs from urban sewage enter the carbon mass balance with about 40% of the autochthonous processes, at about 1.6 Kmol d⁻¹ of DOC and 2.8 Kmol d⁻¹ of POC. The western sector of Ria Formosa has an organic carbon sink of about 46.4 tons per year. Most of this is harvested in the form of molluscs (clams, cuttlefish, etc.) and fish (sea bream, sea bass, etc.). The total carbon harvested every year in the form of bivalves is about 40 tons, rendering the Ria Formosa the most productive seafood area in Portugal.     

Allometric laws and prediction in estuarine and coastal ecology

A theoretical and quantitative framework of first principles would benefit estuarine and coastal ecologists in search of predictions to enhance our understanding and management of marine resources. The Metabolic Theory of Ecology describes a possible unifying theory for ecology, including mechanistically derived equations that predict scaling exponents observed in empirical, allometric relationships from individuals to ecosystems. The controversy surrounding this theory should stimulate our exploration of its potential use in the coastal realm, where questions specific to an applied science may suggest new refinements and derivations, contributing to the overall progress of ecology.     

Geology, geochemistry, and U–Pb geochronology of the Archean (2.74 Ga) Serra do Rabo granite stocks, Carajás Metallogenetic Province, northern Brazil

The Carajás region, located in the southeastern part of the Amazon Craton, has been considered one of the most important mineral provinces in the world. The Serra do Rabo Granite (SRG) crops out near the eastern termination of the Carajás fault as two granite stocks, elongated approximately in an E–W direction, concordant with the regional structures. Leucomicrocline granite, hornblende–microcline granite, biotite–hornblende–microcline granite, hornblende syenogranite, and subordinate aplite are identified. The granites are grayish pink and coarse to medium grained and have mainly hypidiomorphic granular texture. Granophyric textures are common. The accessory minerals are ilmenite, apatite, zircon, allanite, and rare pyroxene.The SRG rocks are either massive or foliated, with a slightly anastomosed continuous S₁ foliation (E–W/subvertical) outlined by the preferred orientation of quartz, feldspars, and mafic minerals. Locally, decimeter- to meter-wide mylonite/ultramylonite bands (S_1m) occur along the E–W foliation. The S₁ foliation was developed under higher temperatures than those of the S_1m mylonite foliation. The SRG structural evolution was controlled by progressive deformation under decreasing temperature, indicative of syntectonic emplacement. The SRG also has relatively high SiO₂, K₂O, and Na₂O contents; high FeO*/(FeO*+MgO) ratios; high Zr, Ba, Nb, and Ga; and very high rare-earth element contents. The chemical signature is moderately alkaline and metaluminous, comparable to that of the A-type, A2, and ALK-3 granites. The origin of the SRG magmas may be related to the partial melting of crustal sources, such as previously metamorphosed calc-alkaline granites.The SRG crosscuts supracrustal rocks, promoting low-pressure/high-temperature metamorphism. The interaction between regional compressive stresses and the ballooning effect of the granite stocks promoted slight aureole flattening and rheological changes in the supracrustal rocks. The U–Pb zircon age of 2743±1.6 Ma is interpreted as the age of zircon crystallization, granite stock emplacement, and regional horizontal shortening. Other 2.7 Ga syntectonic alkaline granites (e.g. Estrela, Plaquê, Planalto) have been reported in the region.     

Applying sandstone petrofacies to unravel the Upper Carboniferous evolution of the Paganzo Basin, northwest Argentina

A compositional study of sandstones belonging to the lower section of the Paganzo Group (Middle Carboniferous–Early Permian) in the Paganzo Basin (northwestern Argentina) helps unravel the stratigraphic and paleogeographic evolution of the basin. Three morphotectonic units constitute the complex basement of the basin: (1) to the east, the igneous–metamorphic basement of the Sierras Pampeanas and Famatina systems; (2) to the west, the Precordillera, made up of Early and Middle Paleozoic sedimentary rocks; and (3) the Upper Paleozoic volcanic arc along the western boundary with the Río Blanco Basin. On the basis of sandstone detrital modes of the Lagares, Malanzán, Loma Larga, Guandacol, Tupe, Punta del Agua, and Río del Peñón formations, seven petrofacies are distinguished: quartzofeldespathic (QF), quartzofeldespathic-metamorphic enriched (QF-Lm), quartzofeldespathic-sedimentary enriched (QF-Ls), mixed quartzolithic (QL), quartzolithic-volcanic (QLv), volcanolithic-quartzose (LvQ), and volcanolithic (Lv). The spatial and temporal distribution of these petrofacies suggest an evolutive model for the Upper Paleozoic sedimentary filling of the basin that includes three “petrosomes”: (1) the basement petrosome, a clastic wedge of arkosic composition that diachronically prograded and thinned from east to west; (2) the recycled orogen petrosome, revealing the Protoprecordillera as a positive element in the western Paganzo Basin during the Namurian; and (3) the volcanic arc petrosome, recording volcanic activity along the western margin of Gondwana during the Westphalian.