Denudation,vertical crustal movements and sedimentary basin infill

Denudation and vertical crustal movements are linked through the isostatic equation for conservation of lithospheric mass. Recent empirical results from a wide range of sources are presented on the rates of these processes. Denudation alone can cause non-tectonic (isostatic) surface uplift of the right magnitude predicted by theory. A case is made, following Ahnert, for a single linear relationship (although with much scatter) between denudation rate and mean drainage basin relief for large basins. Some recent determinations of denudational time constants have neglected to include tectonic and isostatic terms which oppose the reduction of relief by denudation. Application of diffusional transport models to determine the rate of sediment deposition are severely limited by inherent one-dimensionality and neglect of suspended and washload contributions. Basin infill sequences may be used to determine past sediment transfer coefficients from a hinterland, but problems arise in the apportionment of the various hinterland fluxes that occur in »real-world« three dimensional basins. Sediment yields in smaller half-graben and growth fold basins must reflect the magnitude of drainage basins and the complex local controls upon sediment yields. Examples are given from extensional basins in the Western USA and Greece. The »length« of tectonic relief produced in tilt blocks and growth folds will control the area of drainage basin developed (through the fractal form of Hack's Law) and hence the magnitude of deposition in sedimentary basins adjoining tectonic uplands.

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Zusammenfassung Denudation und vertikale Krustenbewegungen sind verbunden durch das isostatische Gesetz über den Erhalt der lithosphärischen Masse. Neuerliche empirische Ergebnisse aus einem weiten Quellenbereich werden im Verhältnis zu diesen Prozessen präsentiert. Denudation allein, kann nicht tektonisch bedingte (isostatische) Oberflächenhebungen hervorrufen, die in der richtigen Größenordnung liegen, wie sie auch theoretisch ermittelt wurden. Es wird in Anlehnung an Ahnert ein Fall geschaffen, in der eine einfach lineare Beziehung (obgleich mit vielen Streuungen) zwischen der Denudationsrate und dem durchschnittlichen Abflußbeckenrelief für große Becken vorliegt. Einige neue Ermittlungen der Denudationszeitkonstanten wurden vernachlässigt, um tektonische und isostatische Begriffe einzufügen, welche sich der Verringerung des Reliefs durch Denudation widersetzen. Die Anwendung des Verbreitungstransportmodells zum Bestimmen der Sedimentationsrate sind streng begrenzt durch die ihm innewohnende Eindimensionalität, und der Vernachlässigung der Schwebe- und Schwämmfrachtbeteiligung. Bekkenfüllungssequenzen können benutzt werden um vergangene Sedimenttransferkoeffizienten aus dem Hinterland festzulegen; aber es treten auch Probleme bei der Verteilung der verschiedenen Hinterlandeinträge auf, die bei einem realen dreidimensionalen Becken vorhanden sind. Sedimenteinträge in kleineren Halbgräben und Growth-fold Becken müssen die Größe des Abflußbeckens widerspiegeln, sowie die komplexen lokalen Steuerungen auf die Sedimenteinträge. Beispiele von Dehnungsbecken aus dem Westen der USA und Griechenlands werden angesprochen. Die Länge des tektonischen Reliefs in verkippten Blöcken und Growth-Folds wird die Fläche des entwickelten Abflußbeckens kontrollieren (durch die fraktale Form des Gesetzes von Hack), und daher die Ablagerungsmenge von Sedimentbecken in der Nähe von tektonischen Hochlagen.

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Résumé L'érosion et les mouvements crustaux verticaux sont liés par l'équation isostatique de conservation de la masse lithosphérique. Des résultats empiriques récents provenant d'un large éventail de sources sont présentés en relation avec ces processus. L'érosion seule peut être la cause d'une montée non tectonique (isostatique) dont l'ampleur est prévue exactement par la théorie. Un cas est présenté, d'après Ahnert, qui montre, pour de grands bassins, une relation linéaire simple (mais avec une forte dispersion des points) entre le taux de dénudation et le relief moyen de l'aire de drainage. Certaines déterminations récentes des constantes de temps de dénudation ont omis de tenir compte des termes tectonique et isostatique qui s'opposent à la destruction du relief par érosion. L'utilisation de modèles de transport diffus en vue de déterminer le taux d'accumulation des sédiments est sévèrement limitée par le caractère unidimensionnel de tels modèles et par le fait qu'il ne tiennent pas compte de la fraction en suspension. Les séquences de comblement d'un bassin sédimentaire peuvent être utilisées pour déterminer les anciens cfficients de transfert à partir de l'hinterland; mais des difficultés surgissent à propos de la répartition des différents flux en provenance de l'hinterland dans le cas réel d'un bassin à 3 dimensions. Les apports sédimentaires dans les bassins de demi-graben et de »growth-fold« doivent traduire la grandeur des aires de drainage et les facteurs locaux complexes qui régissent ces apports. Des exemples sont présentés, relatifs à des bassins d'extension de l'ouest des USA et de Grèce. La »longueur« des reliefs tectoniques en relation avec les blocs basculés et les »growth-folds« déterminent, par la forme fractale de la loi de Hack, la surface des aires de drainage ainsi engendrées et, en conséquence, l'importance des dépôts dans les bassins sédimentaires voisins des reliefs tectoniques.

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Radar observations of asteroid 1580 Betulia

Radar observations of the asteroid 1580 Betulia, made at a wavelength of 12.6 cm, show a mean radar cross section of 2.2 ± 0.8 km² and a total spectral bandwidth of 26.5 ± 1.5 Hz. Combining our bandwidth measurements with the optically determined rotation period sets a lower limit to the asteroid's radius of 2.9 ± 0.2 km.     

Geochemistry of oceanic carbonatites compared with continental carbonatites: mantle recycling of oceanic crustal carbonate

Major and trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb-O-C isotopic compositions are presented for carbonatites from the Cape Verde (Brava, Fogo, Sáo Tiago, Maio and Sáo Vicente) and Canary (Fuerteventura) Islands. Carbonatites show pronounced enrichment in Ba, Th, REE, Sr and Pb in comparison to most silicate volcanic rocks and relative depletion in Ti, Zr, Hf, K and Rb. Calcio (calcitic)-carbonatites have primary (mantle-like) stable isotopic compositions and radiogenic isotopic compositions similar to HIMU-type ocean island basalts. Cape Verde carbonatites, however, have more radiogenic Pb isotope ratios (e.g. ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb=19.3-20.4) than reported for silicate volcanic rocks from these islands (18.7-19.9; Gerlach et al. 1988; Kokfelt 1998). We interpret calcio-carbonatites to be derived from the melting of recycled carbonated oceanic crust (eclogite) with a recycling age of ~1.6 Ga. Because of the degree of recrystallization, replacement of calcite by secondary dolomite and elevated ‘¹³C and ‘¹⁸O, the major and trace element compositions of the magnesio (dolomitic)-carbonatites are likely to reflect secondary processes. Compared with Cape Verde calcio-carbonatites, the less radiogenic Nd and Pb isotopic ratios and the negative Ɨ/4 of the magnesio-carbonatites (also observed in silicate volcanic rocks from the Canary and Cape Verde Islands) cannot be explained through secondary processes or through the assimilation of Cape Verde crust. These isotopic characteristics require the involvement of a mantle component that has thus far only been found in the Smoky Butte lamproites from Montana, which are believed to be derived from subcontinental lithospheric sources. Continental carbonatites show much greater variation in radiogenic isotopic composition than oceanic carbonatites, requiring a HIMU-like component similar to that observed in the oceanic carbonatites and enriched components. We interpret the enriched components to be Phanerozoic through Proterozoic marine carbonate (e.g. limestone) recycled through shallow, subcontinental-lithospheric-mantle and deep, lower-mantle sources.     

Cluster gets to grips with the magnetosphere

On 9 November 2001 RAS hosted the first UK meeting to discuss results from Cluster, itself the first mission to explore the Earth's magnetosphere with four identically instrumented spacecraft – and thus fully resolve the complex spatial and temporal variations of the plasmas that fill space around the Earth. Mike Hapgood reports.     

Wide-angle seismic velocities in heterogeneous crust

Seismic velocities measured by wide-angle surveys are commonly used to constrain material composition in the deep crust. Therefore, it is important to understand how these velocities are affected by the presence of multiscale heterogeneities. The effects may be characterised by the scale of the heterogeneity relative to the dominant seismic wavelength (λ); what is clear is that heterogeneities of all scales and strengths bias wide-angle velocities to some degree. Waveform modelling was used to investigate the apparent wide-angle P -wave velocities of different heterogeneous lower crusts. A constant composition (50 per cent felsic and 50 per cent ultramafic) was formed into a variety of 1- and 2-D heterogeneous arrangements and the resulting wide-angle seismic velocity was estimated. Elastic, 1-D models produced the largest velocity shift relative to the true average velocity of the medium (which is the velocity of an isotropic mixture of the two components). Thick (width > λ) horizontal layers, as a result of Fermat's Principle, provided the largest increase in velocity; thin (width ≪λ) vertical layers produced the largest decrease in velocity. Acoustic 2-D algorithms were shown to be inadequate for modelling the kinematics of waves in bodies with multiscale heterogeneities. Elastic, 2-D modelling found velocity shifts (both positive and negative) that were of a smaller magnitude than those produced by 1-D models. The key to the magnitude of the velocity shift appears to be the connectivity of the fast (and/or slow) components. Thus, the models with the highest apparent levels of connectivity between the fast phases, the 1-D layers, produced the highest-magnitude velocity shifts. To understand the relationship between measured seismic velocities and petrology in the deep crust it is clear that high-resolution structural information (which describes such connectivity) must be included in any modelling.     

Assessing the Comparability of Ammonium,Nitrate and Sulfate Concentrations Measured by Three Air Quality Monitoring Networks

Airborne fine particulate matter across the United States is monitored by different networks, the three prevalent ones presently being the Clean Air Status and Trend Network (CASTNet), the Interagency Monitoring of PROtected Visual Environment Network (IMPROVE) and the Speciation and Trend Network (STN). If combined, these three networks provide speciated fine particulate data at several hundred locations throughout the United States. Yet, differences in sampling protocols and samples handling may not allow their joint use. With these concerns in mind, the objective of this study is to assess the spatial and temporal comparability of the sulfate, nitrate and ammonium concentrations reported by each of these networks. One of the major differences between networks is the sampling frequency they adopted. While CASTNet measures pollution levels on seven-day integrated samples, STN and IMPROVE data pertain to 24-hour samples collected every three days. STN and IMPROVE data therefore exhibit considerably more short-term variability than their CASTNet counterpart. We show that, despite their apparent incongruity, averaging the data with a window size of four to six weeks is sufficient to remove the effects of differences in sampling frequency and duration and allow meaningful comparison of the signals reported by the three networks of concern. After averaging, all the sulfate and, to a lesser degree, ammonium concentrations reported are fairly similar. Nitrate concentrations, on the other hand, are still divergent. We speculate that this divergence originates from the different types of filters used to collect particulate nitrate. Finally, using a rotated principal component technique (RPCA), we determined the number and the geographical organization of the significant temporal modes of variation (clusters) detected by each network for the three pollutants of interest. For sulfate and ammonium, the clusters’ geographical boundaries established for each network and the modes of variations within each cluster seem to correspond. RPCA erformed on nitrate concentrations revealed that, for the CASTNet and IMPROVE networks, the modes of variation do not correspond to unified geographical regions but are found more sporadically. For STN, the clustered areas are unified and easily delineable. We conclude that the possibility of jointly using the data collected by CASTNet, IMPROVE and STN has to be weighed pollutant by pollutant. While sulfate and ammonium data show some potential for joint use, at this point, combining the nitrate data from these monitoring networks may not be a judicious choice.     

Representation of Uncertainty and Integration of PGIS-based Grazing Intensity Maps Using Evidential Belief Functions

In a project to classify livestock grazing intensity using participatory geographic information systems (PGIS), we encountered the problem of how to synthesize PGIS-based maps of livestock grazing intensity that were prepared separately by local experts. We investigated the utility of evidential belief functions (EBFs) and Dempster's rule of combination to represent classification uncertainty and integrate the PGIS-based grazing intensity maps. These maps were used as individual sets of evidence in the application of EBFs to evaluate the proposition that " This area or pixel belongs to the high, medium, or low grazing intensity class because the local expert(s) says (say) so ". The class-area-weighted averages of EBFs based on each of the PGIS-based maps show that the lowest degree of classification uncertainty is associated with maps in which "vegetation species" was used as the mapping criterion. This criterion, together with local landscape attributes of livestock use may be considered as an appropriate standard measure for grazing intensity. The maps of integrated EBFs of grazing intensity show that classification uncertainty is high when the local experts apply at least two mapping criteria together. This study demonstrates the usefulness of EBFs to represent classification uncertainty and the possibility to use the EBF values in identifying and using criteria for PGIS-based mapping of livestock grazing intensity.