Isla San Pedro Nolasco(ISPN)is a structural high bounded by inactive dextral oblique-slip faults in the east-central part of the Gulf of California rift zone and is composed of intrusive rocks not exposed on other Gul...Isla San Pedro Nolasco(ISPN)is a structural high bounded by inactive dextral oblique-slip faults in the east-central part of the Gulf of California rift zone and is composed of intrusive rocks not exposed on other Gulf of California islands.Here we present the reconnaissance results from geological mapping,as well as first geochemical and geochronological data for the ISPN intrusive complex.The intrusive rocks compose a sheet-like body of intermediate and felsic composition intruded by an intermediate and acidic dike swarm.All intrusive rocks(host and dikes)range in age from ca.9 Ma to 10 Ma(^(40)Ar/^(39)Ar)and show a hydrous ferromagnesian mineral association(amphibole and biotite)with a calc-alkalic and transitional affinity.This hydrated mineralogical association has not been recognized in the coeval rocks along the onshore western margin of the North American plate(coastal Sonora).However,such hydrous mineralogical association is found in the coeval rift transitional volcanic rocks from the Baja California Microplate at Santa Rosalía and Bahía de LosÁngeles–Bahía de LasÁnimas.The ISPN continental block,at least 40 km long,has been pulled apart by transtensional faulting of the late Miocene Gulf of California shear zone before the westward migration of the North America-Pacific plate boundary at ca.3–2 Ma.Eventually,ISPN became isolated as an island during the late Miocene flooding of the Gulf of California seaway.展开更多
Objectives: 1) To identify the hydrogeological characteristics and fluoride (F-) concentration in drinking water in the southeast of the state of Morelos, Mexico, and 2) to estimate the association between the prevale...Objectives: 1) To identify the hydrogeological characteristics and fluoride (F-) concentration in drinking water in the southeast of the state of Morelos, Mexico, and 2) to estimate the association between the prevalence and severity of fluorosis, dental caries, and water F-?concentration. Methods: A hydrogeological model was developed to determine the vertical distribution of lithostratigraphic units, rocks’ hydraulic conductivities, and groundwater flow characteristics. A total of 649 schoolchildren from two communities received oral examinations. One community was located in an area with 0.75 mg F-/L in the water supply and the other in an area with 1.6 mg F-/L. Fluorosis was assessed using the Thylstrup & Fejerskov Index (TFI) and the dental caries were assessed with the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index. The region groundwater was extracted from an inter-granular aquifer consisting of volcano clasts of intermediate volcanic chemical composition. Results: Oral examinations showed that 32.35% of the children had severe forms of fluorosis (TFI ≥ 4) in the community with 1.60 mg F-/L and 7.8% in the 0.75 mg F-/L community (p < 0.0001). DMFT = 0.53 (±1.28) and 0.42 (±0.95) in the community with 1.60 mg F-/L and 0.75 mg F-/L, respectively (p = 0.2259). Conclusions: The increasing extraction of underground water was associated with deeper water flows and higher F-?concentration. In the community with high F-concentration, a third of the children showed objectionable levels of fluorosis. Adequate groundwater management actions are required to reduce fluorosis risk.展开更多
Geological,geochronological and isotopic data are integrated in order to present a revised model for the Neoproterozoic evolution of Western Gondwana.Although the classical geodynamic scenario assumed for the period 8...Geological,geochronological and isotopic data are integrated in order to present a revised model for the Neoproterozoic evolution of Western Gondwana.Although the classical geodynamic scenario assumed for the period 800-700 Ma is related to Rodinia break-up and the consequent opening of major oceanic basins,a significantly different tectonic evolution can be inferred for most Western Gondwana cratons.These cratons occupied a marginal position in the southern hemisphere with respect to Rodinia and recorded subduction with back-arc extension,island arc development and limited formation of oceanic crust in internal oceans.This period was thus characterized by increased crustal growth in Western Gondwana,resulting from addition of juvenile continental crust along convergent margins.In contrast,crustal reworking and metacratonization were dominant during the subsequent assembly of Gondwana.The Rio de la Plata,Congo-Sao Francisco,West African and Amazonian cratons collided at ca.630-600 Ma along the West Gondwana Orogen.These events overlap in time with the onset of the opening of the Iapetus Ocean at ca.610-600 Ma,which gave rise to the separation of Baltica,Laurentia and Amazonia and resulted from the final Rodinia break-up.The East African/Antarctic Orogen recorded the subsequent amalgamation of Western and Eastern Gondwana after ca.580 Ma,contemporaneously with the beginning of subduction in the Terra Australis Orogen along the southern Gondwana margin.However,the Kalahari Craton was lately incorporated during the Late Ediacaran-Early Cambrian.The proposed Gondwana evolution rules out the existence of Pannotia,as the final Gondwana amalgamation postdates latest connections between Laurentia and Amazonia.Additionally,a combination of introversion and extroversion is proposed for the assembly of Gondwana.The contemporaneous record of final Rodinia break-up and Gondwana assembly has major implications for the supercontinent cycle,as supercontinent amalgamation and break-up do not necessarily represent alternating episodic processes but overlap in time.展开更多
The Rheic Ocean was one of the most important oceans of the Paleozoic Era. It lay between Laurentia and Gondwana from the Early Ordovician and closed to produce the vast Ouachita- Alleghanian-Variscan orogen during th...The Rheic Ocean was one of the most important oceans of the Paleozoic Era. It lay between Laurentia and Gondwana from the Early Ordovician and closed to produce the vast Ouachita- Alleghanian-Variscan orogen during the assembly of Pangea. Rifting began in the Cambrian as a continua- tion of Neoproterozoic orogenic activity and the ocean opened in the Early Ordovician with the separation of several Neoproterozoic arc terranes from the continental margin of northern Gondwana along the line of a former suture. The rapid rate of ocean opening suggests it was driven by slab pull in the outboard Iapetus Ocean. The ocean reached its greatest width with the closure of Iapetus and the accretion of the peri- Gondwanan arc terranes to Laurentia in the Silurian. Ocean closure began in the Devonian and continued through the Mississippian as Gondwana sutured to Laurussia to form Pangea. The ocean consequently plays a dominant role in the Appalachian-Ouachita orogeny of North America, in the basement geology of southern Europe, and in the Paleozoic sedimentary, structural and tectonothermal record from Middle America to the Middle East. Its closure brought the Paleozoic Era to an end.展开更多
We investigate the effect of the westerly rotation of the lithosphere on the active margins that surround the Americas and find good correlations between the inferred easterly-directed mantle counterflow and the main ...We investigate the effect of the westerly rotation of the lithosphere on the active margins that surround the Americas and find good correlations between the inferred easterly-directed mantle counterflow and the main structural grain and kinematics of the Andes and Sandwich arc slabs.In the Andes,the subduction zone is shallow and with low dip,because the mantle flow sustains the slab;the subduction hinge converges relative to the upper plate and generates an uplifting doubly verging orogen.The Sandwich Arc is generated by a westerly-directed SAM(South American) plate subduction where the eastward mantle flow is steepening and retreating the subduction zone.In this context,the slab hinge is retreating relative to the upper plate,generating the backarc basin and a low bathymetry single-verging accretionary prism.In Central America,the Caribbean plate presents a more complex scenario:(a) To the East,the Antilles Arc is generated by westerly directed subduction of the SAM plate,where the eastward mantle flow is steepening and retreating the subduction zone.(b) To the West,the Middle America Trench and Arc are generated by the easterly-directed subduction of the Cocos plate,where the shallow subduction caused by eastward mantle flow in its northern segment gradually steepens to the southern segment as it is infered by the preexisting westerly-directed subduction of the Caribbean Plateau.In the frame of the westerly lithospheric flow,the subduction of a divergent active ridge plays the role of introducing a change in the oceanic/continental plate’s convergence angle,such as in NAM(North American)plate with the collision with the Pacific/Farallon active ridge in the Neogene(Cordilleran orogenic type scenario).The easterly mantle drift sustains strong plate coupling along NAM,showing at Juan de Fuca easterly subducting microplate that the subduction hinge advances relative to the upper plate.This lower/upper plate convergence coupling also applies along strike to the neighbor continental strike slip fault systems where subduction was terminated(San Andreas and Queen Charlotte).The lower/upper plate convergence coupling enables the capture of the continental plate ribbons of Baja California and Yakutat terrane by the Pacific oceanic plate,transporting them along the strike slip fault systems as para-autochthonous terranes.This Cordilleran orogenic type scenario,is also recorded in SAM following the collision with the Aluk/Farallon active ridge in the Paleogene,segmenting SAM margin into the eastwardly subducting Tupac Amaru microplate intercalated between the proto-LiquineOfqui and Atacama strike slip fault systems,where subduction was terminated and para-autochthonous terranes transported.In the Neogene,the convergence of Nazca plate with respect to SAM reinstalls subduction and the present Andean orogenic type scenario.展开更多
The Marifil Volcanic Complex, exposed in the eastern North Patagonian Massif, Argentina, includes up to 550 m of red conglomerates, sandstones, black siltstones, limestones, and reworked tuff of the Puesto Piris Forma...The Marifil Volcanic Complex, exposed in the eastern North Patagonian Massif, Argentina, includes up to 550 m of red conglomerates, sandstones, black siltstones, limestones, and reworked tuff of the Puesto Piris Formation. The basal part of this unit, which was deposited in high-gradient topographic relief, is composed of conglomerates and sandstones with thin layers of reworked tuffs. The lithofacies associations of the basal part indicate that the depositional mechanisms were mantled and gravitational flows.The middle part of the unit consists of fine sandstones, limestones, and black siltstones that were deposited in low-energy fluvial and lacustrine environments. The outcrops are located along the NEe SW direction and the major thickest units represented by limestones and siltstones, occur near the southeastern border of this NEeS W depocenter. Since the rhyolitic and trachytic lava flows and tuffs of the Marifil Volcanic Complex are interbedded with the sedimentary sequences of the Puesto Piris Formation,both units are coeval. Zircon Ue Pb age was obtained for a trachytic lava flow(193.4 ±3.1 Ma) suggesting that sedimentation and volcanism are Sinemurian. This extensional episode was recorded in the eastern,western, and southwestern sectors of the North Patagonian Massif, and is possibly associated with the Gondwana supercontinent breakup.展开更多
This paper presents a compilation of recent U-Pb （zircon） ages of late Carboniferous-early Permian （LC EP） calc-alkaline batholiths from lberia, together with a petrogenetic interpretation of magma generation base...This paper presents a compilation of recent U-Pb （zircon） ages of late Carboniferous-early Permian （LC EP） calc-alkaline batholiths from lberia, together with a petrogenetic interpretation of magma generation based on comparisons with Mesozoic and Tertiary Cordilleran batholiths and experimental melts. Zircon U-Pb ages distributed over the range ca. 315-280 Ma, indicate a linkage between calc-alkaline magmatism, Iberian orocline generation and Paleotethys subduction. It is also shown that Iberian LC-EP calcalkaline batholiths present unequivocal subduction-related features comparable with typical Cordilleran batholiths of the Pacific Americas active margin, although geochemical features were partially obscured by local modifications of magmas at the level of emplacement by country rock assimilation. When and how LC-EP calc-alkaline batholiths formed in Iberia is then discussed, and a new and somewhat controversial interpretation for their sources and tectonic setting （plume-assisted relamination） is suggested. The batholiths are proposed to have formed during the subduction of the Paleotethys oceanic plate （Pangaea self-subduction） and, consequently, they are unrelated to Variscan collision. The origin of the Iberian batholiths is related to the Eurasian active margin and probably represents the inception of a Paleotethvan arc in the core of Pangaea.展开更多
Prejanopterus curvirostra, from the Early Cretaceous of La Rioja province, was the first pterosaur genus and species described from Spain. The material comprises disarticulated cranial and postcranial remains from sev...Prejanopterus curvirostra, from the Early Cretaceous of La Rioja province, was the first pterosaur genus and species described from Spain. The material comprises disarticulated cranial and postcranial remains from several individuals. The fossil-bearing bed is assigned to the lacustrine Leza Formation （eastern Cameros Basin, NW margin of the Iberian Range）. This unit is regarded as either Berriasian-Valanginian or Barremian-Aptian. Prejanopterus curvirostris （specific name emended） was originally diagnosed on the basis of several characters of which the most significant was a lateral curvature of the rostrum. Re-examination of the holotype （rostrum） and paratype （partial rostrum with teeth） indicates that there is no genuine sideways bend of the preserved premaxilla-maxilla segments, but a slight dorsal curvature. Prejanopterus is characterized by a unique combination of characters： an emended diagnosis is provided. In contrast with previous estimates, the wing span of Prejanopterus was probably not much （if ever） in excess of 2 m. A phylogenetic analysis suggests that Prejanopterus is a basal pterodactyloid positioned between Pterodactylus and Cycnorhamphus- Gallodactylus. Prejanopterus represents the first evidence of Pterodactylidae in the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula.展开更多
The increasing number of fossil pterosaur eggs sheds light on nesting environments and breeding be- haviors of these extinct flying reptiles. Here we report the first partial three-dimensional egg of the pterosaur, Pt...The increasing number of fossil pterosaur eggs sheds light on nesting environments and breeding be- haviors of these extinct flying reptiles. Here we report the first partial three-dimensional egg of the pterosaur, Pteroduustro guinazui, from central Argentina. The specimen was discovered from the same Albian deposits as the exceptional R guinazui embryo described in 2004. Microscopic characterizations indicate a pristine preservation of the 50 Bm thick calcium carbonate, which differs significantly from the soft shell of Chinese pterosaur eggs. Estimate of the eggshell conductance implies that the nest had a minimum moisture content of 75%. This moisture estimate, combined with geological and taphonomical data, suggests that P. guinazui may have adopted a nesting strategy similar to those of grebes and flamingos rather than being buried on land, as previously hypothesized. Moreover, our results demon- strate that the nesting paleoenvironment of this pterosaur species was closely linked to a mesohaline lacustrine ecosystem in a basin governed by regional tectonic subsidence, a setting characteristic for the feeding and reproduction of modern flamingos.展开更多
As the world strives to replace fossil fuels with clean energy e reflected by global surge in the number of electric vehicles e the environmental impact of mining all the lithium(Li)needed to enable such a transformat...As the world strives to replace fossil fuels with clean energy e reflected by global surge in the number of electric vehicles e the environmental impact of mining all the lithium(Li)needed to enable such a transformation has become a problem in its own right.In South America,the biggest problem is the excessive use of water in Li extraction process in one of the driest areas in the world.Apart from causing severe friction over water rights between local communities and mining companies,it puts enormous pressure on the region's fragile and poorly understood wetland ecosystems.Wetlands are one of the most threatened ecosystems on the Earth,despite their great importance as habitats for a vast number of species and corresponding to one of the most productive environments.Present work is the outcome of an investigation on Laguna Santa Rosa's(LSR)vulnerability resulting from ongoing metal mining operations in its surroundings that require a large volume of water extracted from local aquifers,in addition to a high evaporation rate in the area.This groundwater-dependent wetland will soon be further vulnerable with the commencement of water-intensive Li mining at Salar de Maricunga,with the extraction project already having an environmental impact study approved.Sustainability of this wetland protected under the Ramsar Convention and home to numerous wildlife species habiting this highland sector of the Andean Cordillera is vital for the associated ecosystems.The variation in the water surface area of LSR has been deciphered through the application of a Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper(TM)satellite image collection.This has been done both for the hydrological year 2016e2017 and 1993-2014 period.A decreasing trend in the water surface area of LSR,a hypersaline lake at the southern extreme of Salar de Maricunga,a salt flat in the Atacama Region of Chile,was observed through the study of satellite images between 1993 and 2014,showing shrinking of this wetland.However,this shrinking trend was punctuated by extreme rainfall and consequent flood with accumulated precipitation exceeding 40 mm in a single day and hourly mean rainfall rates higher than 10 mm/h recorded at several locations in the hyperarid Atacama Desert on March 25,2015.This raised the lake's water level,and thus the areal extent of the lake water observed in the satellite images of the 2016-2017 hydrological year following the extreme weather events of 2015.The interplay of such extreme weather events and groundwater extraction for mining activities in the area complicates the assessment of the latter's effect on LSR,as the evaluation is constrained to the intervals between successive extreme weather events.In addition,the water level increases in summer because of the thawing of the snow.Close monitoring of the wetlands like LSR is essential to ensure their sustainability by considering both anthropic and climatic factors.展开更多
This paper presents an assessment of land use changes and their impacts on the ecosystem in the Montado, a traditional agricultural landscape of Portugal in response to global environmental change. The assessment uses...This paper presents an assessment of land use changes and their impacts on the ecosystem in the Montado, a traditional agricultural landscape of Portugal in response to global environmental change. The assessment uses an agent-based model (ABM) of the adaptive decisions of farmers to simulate the influence on future land use patterns of socio-economic attributes such as social relationships and farmer reliance on subsidies and biophysical constraints. The application and development of the ABM are supported empirically using three categories of input data: 1) farmer types based on a cluster analysis of socio-economic attributes;2) agricultural suitability based on regression analysis of historical land use maps and biophysical attributes;and 3) future trends in the economic and climatic environments based on the A1fi scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Model sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are carried out prior to the scenario analysis in order to verify the absence of systematic errors in the model structure. The results of the scenario analysis show that the area of Montado declines significantly by 2050, but it remains the dominant land use in the case study area, indicating some resilience to change. An important policy challenge arising from this assessment is how to encourage next generation of innovative farmers to conserve this traditional landscape for social and ecological values.展开更多
Trace elements, isotopic modeling and U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon age constraints are used to reconstruct the eruption history and magmatic processes of the Piedra Parada Caldera. In the early Eocene, the crystal-poor Barda...Trace elements, isotopic modeling and U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon age constraints are used to reconstruct the eruption history and magmatic processes of the Piedra Parada Caldera. In the early Eocene, the crystal-poor Barda Colorada ignimbrite(BCI), having >>15% micro-porphyritic crystals with respect to magmatic components, erupted a volume estimated in more than 300 km^3. The Piedra Parada caldera is located in the Patagonian Andes foreland, at the southern end of the calderas field of the Pilcaniyeu Volcanic Belt(PVB). This belt is related to an extensional tectonic setting as a result of the collision of the Farallon-Aluk ridge with South America, which enabled the development of a transform ocean/continental plate margin followed by the detachment of the Aluk plate and the opening of a slab window. The BCI extra-caldera Plateau is a >100 m thick deposit, having a lower unit with high silica(Si O_2> 76 wt.%),potassium poor rhyolitic composition(trondhjemitic like magma), and an upper unit with normal to high potassium rhyolitic composition(granitic like magma). A trace elements modeling of the BCI units shows that the BCI lower and upper units did not evolve from fractionation or immiscibility in the shallow magma reservoir. The BCI also have a primitive isotopic signature(initial87 Sr/86 Sr =0.7031-0.7049 and ε_(Nd)= +3.4 to +3.65). Thus, tectonic, compositional and isotopic constraints suggest the fast ascent of high silica magmas to a shallow reservoir, and point to an upper mantle origin for these rhyolitic magmas in a transitional(Orogenic-Anorogenic) tectono-magmatic setting. U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon crystallization ages of the Syn-caldera stage BCI units(56 -51.5 Ma) show a protracted life of 5 Ma for this caldera reservoir. The age of 52.9 ± 0.3 Ma is considered the best fit for the possible maximum age for the caldera collapse. The Late-caldera magmatism has trachyandesitic and rhyolitic compositions.The trace element modeling suggests that these rhyolites evolve from the trachyandesites and do not evolve from the BCI residual magma. The trachyandesites have U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon crystallization ages of 52 ± 1 Ma, suggesting that the caldera eruption was triggered by the arrival of the trachyandesitic magma.展开更多
Compositionally zoned plutons, both layered and concentrically arranged, provide granitic exposures where the mechanisms and timing of the magmatic emplacement processes can be studied. The importance of in-situ geoch...Compositionally zoned plutons, both layered and concentrically arranged, provide granitic exposures where the mechanisms and timing of the magmatic emplacement processes can be studied. The importance of in-situ geochemical differentiation and the magma replenishment rates are revealed by geochemistry and field relations, together with the increasingly accurate U-Pb geochronology, which has promoted the knowledge about the pluton incremental assembly theories.The Flamenco pluton, located in the Coastal Range of northern Chile, is part of the Upper Triassic to Early Cretaceous Andean intrusives formed in the western active margin of South America, and present a normal zoned structure with mafic magmatic facies(mostly gabbros and Qtz-diorites) close to the contacts with the host metasediments, and tonalites, granodiorites and granites in the inner areas. A combined study of the field relations, geochemistry and zircon geochronology of the magmatic facies was applied to determine the emplacement sequence of the Flamenco pluton, revealing three distinguishable domains separated by metasedimentary septa. The SW area is constituted by mostly homogeneous leucocratic granodiorites that yielded an age of 213 Ma as the best estimation for their emplacement age. Distinctive geochemical characteristics, such as the absence of an Eu anomaly, the depletion in HREE, or the highest Sr, Sr/Y and Ce/Yb values among the granodioritic facies of the pluton,involve lower T and/or higher P conditions at the magmatic source according to experimental studies.These conditions were established during an early stage of the Andean magmatic arc building that is firstly defined here as Upper Triassic. The NW and E domains of the pluton were sequentially emplaced between 194 Ma and 186 Ma and both the field relations and the detailed geochronological results suggest that the mafic facies intruded latter in the emplacement sequence. To the NW, Qtz-dioritic and gabbroic externally emplaced pulses gave a younger crystallization age of 186.3 ± 1.8 Ma, and promoted the granoblastic textures and metamorphic zircon overgrowths that characterize the granodiorites located in the contact with the intermediate and felsic inner magmas, which yielded a best estimation of their emplacement age of 192 士 1.5 Ma. On the other hand, in the eastern domain, magma-magma relations are observed between gabbros and previously intruded tonalites and granodiorites. Both the mafic and intermediate facies show two main subgroups of ages that yielded 194.7 土 1.5 Ma to188.3 ± 2.1 Ma and 193.1 ± 2.2 Ma to 185.5 ± 1.4 Ma respectively. These differences are related to the variations in the magmatic addition rates, which may extend the super-solidus conditions in the eastern domain of the magmatic reservoir as is confirmed by the wider age ranges yielded by these magmatic facies. Zircon overgrowths in the host rocks yield similar ages(around 220 Ma and 205 Ma) than the oldest results obtained in the intrusive facies, indicating that metamorphism correlates with the initial stages of plutonic emplacement.Geochronological results differ between 9 Myr and 41 Myr in the eight studied samples for noninherited ages and gave very close mean ages(within analytical uncertainty) for all the intrusive units. However, we examine other characteristics such as zircon morphology, internal structure,geochemistry and statistical data to assess if the scattering of the geochronological data may be related to the different processes involved in the construction of the Flamenco pluton. We concluded that this detailed study of U-Pb zircon ages, including individual and significative groups of analyses, is useful to determine accurately the emplacement sequence and the genetic relation between the intrusive units,together with the evidences depicted by the geochemistry and field relations.展开更多
The metasedimentary sequence of the Cushamen Formation in the western North Patagonian Massif is540 m thick and comprises six sedimentary lithofacies associations related to a glacimarine environment.Four of these lit...The metasedimentary sequence of the Cushamen Formation in the western North Patagonian Massif is540 m thick and comprises six sedimentary lithofacies associations related to a glacimarine environment.Four of these lithofacies represent distal glacimarine environments, whereas another one was deposited in proximal glacimarine environments, and the last includes subglacial environments. The organization and configuration of these lithofacies associations represent the advance and retreat of the glacier masses. The maximum glacial advance is correlatable with the G2 glacial interval of the Pennsylvanian Pampa de Tepuel, Las Salinas and Valley Chico, formations of the Extraandean Chubut, and the southern part of Neuquen Cordillera. Contemporaneously, in southern Chile there are marine and glacimarine sediments. The chronostratigraphic relationships between the Silurian to Permian units allow five paleogeographic stages to be distinguished. The middle Silurian-late Devonian igneous rocks represent the first magmatic stage. The second stage, which is transitional to the first, is represented by a marine basin that includes the late Devonian-early Carboniferous Esquel and Rio Pescado formations and the Llanquihue Complex. The third stage(early-late Carboniferous) includes granitoids of the second magmatic event that partially overlapped the first magmatic igneous belt. The fourth stage belongs to the late Carboniferous sedimentation of the Cushamen and equivalent formations. The extended early Permian magmatism was the last Paleozoic event in the studied area.展开更多
We investigate the geology of Altar North(Cu-Au) and Quebrada de la Mina(Au) porphyry deposits located in San Juan Province(Argentina), close to the large Altar porphyry copper deposit(995 Mt,0.35% Cu, 0.083 g/t Au), ...We investigate the geology of Altar North(Cu-Au) and Quebrada de la Mina(Au) porphyry deposits located in San Juan Province(Argentina), close to the large Altar porphyry copper deposit(995 Mt,0.35% Cu, 0.083 g/t Au), to present constraints on the magmatic processes that occurred in the parental magma chambers of these magmatic-hydrothermal systems. Altar North deposit comprises a plagioclase-amphibole-phyric dacite intrusion(Altar North barren porphyry) and a plagioclaseamphibole-biotite-phyric dacite stock(Altar North mineralized porphyry, 11.98 ± 0.19 Ma). In Quebrada de la Mina, a plagioclase-amphibole-biotite-quartz-phyric dacite stock(QDM porphyry,11.91±0.33 Ma) crops out. High Sr/Y ratios(92-142) and amphibole compositions of Altar North barren and QDM porphyries reflect high magmatic oxidation states(fO_2= NNO+1.1 to+1.6) and high fH_2O conditions in their magmas. Zones and rims enriched in anorthite(An_(37-48))), SrO(0.22-0.33 wt.%)and FeO(0.21-0.37 wt.%) in plagioclase phenocrysts are evidences of magmatic recharge processes in the magma chambers. Altar North and Quebrada de la Mina intrusions have relatively homogeneous isotopic compositions(^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr_(t)= 0.70450-0.70466, ε_(ND)(t) = +0.2 to +1.2) consistent with mixed mantle and crust contributions in their magmas. Higher Pb isotopes ratios(^(207)Pb/^(204)Pb=15.6276-15.6294) of these intrusions compared to other porphyries of the district, reflect an increase in the assimilation of high radiogenic Pb components in the magmas. Ages of zircon xenocrysts(297,210,204,69 Ma) revealed that the magmas have experienced assimilation of Miocene, Cretaceous, Triassic and Carboniferous crustal rocks.Fluids that precipitated sulfides in the Altar deposit may have remobilized Pb from the host rocks, as indicated by the ore minerals being more radiogenic(207Pb/204 Pb = 15.6243-15.6269) than their host intrusions. Au/Cu ratio in Altar porphyries(average Au/Cu ratio of 0.14 ×10^(-4)by weight in Altar Central)is higher than in the giant Miocene porphyry deposits located to the south: Los Pelambres, Rio Blanco and Los Bronces(Chile) and Pachon(Argentina). We suggest that the increase in Au content in the porphyries of this region could be linked to the assimilation of high radiogenic Pb components in the magmas within these long-lived maturation systems.展开更多
Finite volumes of magma moving in confinement, store hydraulic potential energy for the generation,control and transmission of power. The Pascal's principle in a hydraulic jack arrangement is used to model the ver...Finite volumes of magma moving in confinement, store hydraulic potential energy for the generation,control and transmission of power. The Pascal's principle in a hydraulic jack arrangement is used to model the vertical and lateral growth of sills. The small input piston of the hydraulic jack is equivalent to the feeder dike, the upper large expansible piston equivalent to the magmatic chamber and the inertial force of the magma in the dike is the input force. This arrangement is particularly relevant to the case of sills expanding with blunt tips, for which rapid fracture propagation is inhibited. Hydraulic models concur with experimental data that show that lateral expansion of magma into a sill is promoted when the vertical ascent of magma through a feeder dike reaches the bottom contact with an overlying, flat rigid-layer. At this point, the magma is forced to decelerate, triggering a pressure wave through the conduit caused by the continued ascent of magma further down(fluid-hammer effect). This pressure wave can provide overpressure enough to trigger the initial hydraulic lateral expansion of magma into an incipient sill, and still have enough input inertial force left to continue feeding the hydraulic system. The lateral expansion underneath the strong impeding layer, causes an area increase and thus, further hydraulic amplification of the input inertial force on the sides and roof of the incipient sill, triggering further expansion in a self-reinforcing process. Initially, the lateral pressure increase is larger than that in the roof allowing the sill to expand. However, expansion eventually increases the total integrated force on the roof allowing its uplift into either a laccolith, if the roof preserves continuity, or into a piston bounded by a circular set of fractures. Hydraulic models for shallow magmatic chambers, also suggest that laccolith-like intrusions require the existence of a self-supported chamber roof. In contrast, if the roof of magmatic chambers loses the self-supporting capacity, lopoliths and calderas should be expected for more or less dense magmas, respectively, owing to the growing influence of the density contrast between the host rock and the magma.展开更多
This study aims to assess conservation practices in Izta-Popo National Park(Central Mexico) by evaluating the mechanisms of sediment transfer. We applied a methodology based on fallout ^(137)Cs and optically stimulate...This study aims to assess conservation practices in Izta-Popo National Park(Central Mexico) by evaluating the mechanisms of sediment transfer. We applied a methodology based on fallout ^(137)Cs and optically stimulated luminescence(OSL) analysis. This was tested in the upper catchment of Amalacaxco Gorge, selected for being one of the sectors of the park in which man-made actions have been implemented in last decades to favor forest growth in the alpine grassland and to reduce the effect of water runoff. We quantified the ^(137)Cs activity using gamma and beta spectrometry of fine sediment grains extracted from the surface of parcels of 0.4 m2 in areas of natural forest, natural alpine grassland, alpine grassland with conservation practices, ravines and trails. In general, ^(137)Cs values increases as local slope decreases as it was expected. The natural forest is the most stable area in terms of soil erosion and sediment accumulation and, mean ^(137)Cs activity was taken as reference to assess cumulative zones, with higher ^(137)Cs values and erosive, with lower. We found that trails are accumulative surfaces but in other areas, erosion predominates. Man-made ditches, trenches and afforestation in the alpine grassland have higher ^(137)Cs values than thenatural grassland, which indicates that conservation practices are limiting the sediment transfer from hillslopes to channels, however, soil retention is less than in the natural grassland. Additionally, we evaluated the luminescence(OSL) values obtained from samples extracted from the sediment transported in ravines that are cutting into different sectors of the study area to assess the grade of resetting of fluvial materials. These luminescence results indicated that the sediment transported in ravines that are cutting into the natural forest and alpine grassland is bleached more efficiently than the sediment transported in the alpine grassland with conservation practices. Results of fallout ^(137)Cs and luminescence strongly suggest that man-made actions in this part of the Izta-Popo National Park are dramatically modifying the natural mechanisms of sediment transfer and favoring soil erosion. We conclude that made ditches, trenches and afforestation are not an effective conservation practice in Amalacaxco Gorge because they are promoting soil erosion instead of reducing it.展开更多
Structural analyses in the northern part of the North Patagonia Massif, in the foliated Caita Co granite and in La Sefia and Pangare mylonites, indicate that the pluton was intruded as a sheet-like body into an openin...Structural analyses in the northern part of the North Patagonia Massif, in the foliated Caita Co granite and in La Sefia and Pangare mylonites, indicate that the pluton was intruded as a sheet-like body into an opening pull-apart structure during the Gondwana Orogeny. Geochronological studies in the massif indicate a first, lower to middle Permian stage of regional deformation, related to movements during indentation tectonics, with emplacement of foliated granites in the western and central areas of the North Patagonian Massif. Between the upper Permian and lower Triassic, evidence indicates emplacement of undeformed granitic bodies in the central part of the North Patagonian Massif. A second pulse of deformation between the middle and upper Triassic is related to the emplacement of the Caita CO granite, the development of mylonitic belts, and the opening of the Los Menucos Basin. During this pulse of deformation, compression direction was from the eastern quadrant.展开更多
基金supported by Grant #180784 from CONACyT (Mexico)Grant USO315007364 from DCEN UNISON to J.R. Vidal-Solanothe financial support from PAPIIT-DGAPA-UNAM internal project IN101521
文摘Isla San Pedro Nolasco(ISPN)is a structural high bounded by inactive dextral oblique-slip faults in the east-central part of the Gulf of California rift zone and is composed of intrusive rocks not exposed on other Gulf of California islands.Here we present the reconnaissance results from geological mapping,as well as first geochemical and geochronological data for the ISPN intrusive complex.The intrusive rocks compose a sheet-like body of intermediate and felsic composition intruded by an intermediate and acidic dike swarm.All intrusive rocks(host and dikes)range in age from ca.9 Ma to 10 Ma(^(40)Ar/^(39)Ar)and show a hydrous ferromagnesian mineral association(amphibole and biotite)with a calc-alkalic and transitional affinity.This hydrated mineralogical association has not been recognized in the coeval rocks along the onshore western margin of the North American plate(coastal Sonora).However,such hydrous mineralogical association is found in the coeval rift transitional volcanic rocks from the Baja California Microplate at Santa Rosalía and Bahía de LosÁngeles–Bahía de LasÁnimas.The ISPN continental block,at least 40 km long,has been pulled apart by transtensional faulting of the late Miocene Gulf of California shear zone before the westward migration of the North America-Pacific plate boundary at ca.3–2 Ma.Eventually,ISPN became isolated as an island during the late Miocene flooding of the Gulf of California seaway.
文摘Objectives: 1) To identify the hydrogeological characteristics and fluoride (F-) concentration in drinking water in the southeast of the state of Morelos, Mexico, and 2) to estimate the association between the prevalence and severity of fluorosis, dental caries, and water F-?concentration. Methods: A hydrogeological model was developed to determine the vertical distribution of lithostratigraphic units, rocks’ hydraulic conductivities, and groundwater flow characteristics. A total of 649 schoolchildren from two communities received oral examinations. One community was located in an area with 0.75 mg F-/L in the water supply and the other in an area with 1.6 mg F-/L. Fluorosis was assessed using the Thylstrup & Fejerskov Index (TFI) and the dental caries were assessed with the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index. The region groundwater was extracted from an inter-granular aquifer consisting of volcano clasts of intermediate volcanic chemical composition. Results: Oral examinations showed that 32.35% of the children had severe forms of fluorosis (TFI ≥ 4) in the community with 1.60 mg F-/L and 7.8% in the 0.75 mg F-/L community (p < 0.0001). DMFT = 0.53 (±1.28) and 0.42 (±0.95) in the community with 1.60 mg F-/L and 0.75 mg F-/L, respectively (p = 0.2259). Conclusions: The increasing extraction of underground water was associated with deeper water flows and higher F-?concentration. In the community with high F-concentration, a third of the children showed objectionable levels of fluorosis. Adequate groundwater management actions are required to reduce fluorosis risk.
基金S.Oriolo thanks DAAD for a long-term PhD scholarship(A/12/75051)
文摘Geological,geochronological and isotopic data are integrated in order to present a revised model for the Neoproterozoic evolution of Western Gondwana.Although the classical geodynamic scenario assumed for the period 800-700 Ma is related to Rodinia break-up and the consequent opening of major oceanic basins,a significantly different tectonic evolution can be inferred for most Western Gondwana cratons.These cratons occupied a marginal position in the southern hemisphere with respect to Rodinia and recorded subduction with back-arc extension,island arc development and limited formation of oceanic crust in internal oceans.This period was thus characterized by increased crustal growth in Western Gondwana,resulting from addition of juvenile continental crust along convergent margins.In contrast,crustal reworking and metacratonization were dominant during the subsequent assembly of Gondwana.The Rio de la Plata,Congo-Sao Francisco,West African and Amazonian cratons collided at ca.630-600 Ma along the West Gondwana Orogen.These events overlap in time with the onset of the opening of the Iapetus Ocean at ca.610-600 Ma,which gave rise to the separation of Baltica,Laurentia and Amazonia and resulted from the final Rodinia break-up.The East African/Antarctic Orogen recorded the subsequent amalgamation of Western and Eastern Gondwana after ca.580 Ma,contemporaneously with the beginning of subduction in the Terra Australis Orogen along the southern Gondwana margin.However,the Kalahari Craton was lately incorporated during the Late Ediacaran-Early Cambrian.The proposed Gondwana evolution rules out the existence of Pannotia,as the final Gondwana amalgamation postdates latest connections between Laurentia and Amazonia.Additionally,a combination of introversion and extroversion is proposed for the assembly of Gondwana.The contemporaneous record of final Rodinia break-up and Gondwana assembly has major implications for the supercontinent cycle,as supercontinent amalgamation and break-up do not necessarily represent alternating episodic processes but overlap in time.
基金an outcome of IGCP Project 497:The Rheic Ocean:its origin,evolution and correlatives.RDN acknowledges NSF grant EAR-0308105G.G-A.acknowledges Spanish Education and Science Ministry Vroject Grant CGL2009- 1367(O.D.R.E.Ⅱ)+2 种基金JDK acknowledges CONACyT(Project CB- 2005-1:24894)PAPIIT(IN 100108-3)grantsJBM acknowledges N.S.E.R.C.Discovery and Research Capacity grants for continuing support
文摘The Rheic Ocean was one of the most important oceans of the Paleozoic Era. It lay between Laurentia and Gondwana from the Early Ordovician and closed to produce the vast Ouachita- Alleghanian-Variscan orogen during the assembly of Pangea. Rifting began in the Cambrian as a continua- tion of Neoproterozoic orogenic activity and the ocean opened in the Early Ordovician with the separation of several Neoproterozoic arc terranes from the continental margin of northern Gondwana along the line of a former suture. The rapid rate of ocean opening suggests it was driven by slab pull in the outboard Iapetus Ocean. The ocean reached its greatest width with the closure of Iapetus and the accretion of the peri- Gondwanan arc terranes to Laurentia in the Silurian. Ocean closure began in the Devonian and continued through the Mississippian as Gondwana sutured to Laurussia to form Pangea. The ocean consequently plays a dominant role in the Appalachian-Ouachita orogeny of North America, in the basement geology of southern Europe, and in the Paleozoic sedimentary, structural and tectonothermal record from Middle America to the Middle East. Its closure brought the Paleozoic Era to an end.
文摘We investigate the effect of the westerly rotation of the lithosphere on the active margins that surround the Americas and find good correlations between the inferred easterly-directed mantle counterflow and the main structural grain and kinematics of the Andes and Sandwich arc slabs.In the Andes,the subduction zone is shallow and with low dip,because the mantle flow sustains the slab;the subduction hinge converges relative to the upper plate and generates an uplifting doubly verging orogen.The Sandwich Arc is generated by a westerly-directed SAM(South American) plate subduction where the eastward mantle flow is steepening and retreating the subduction zone.In this context,the slab hinge is retreating relative to the upper plate,generating the backarc basin and a low bathymetry single-verging accretionary prism.In Central America,the Caribbean plate presents a more complex scenario:(a) To the East,the Antilles Arc is generated by westerly directed subduction of the SAM plate,where the eastward mantle flow is steepening and retreating the subduction zone.(b) To the West,the Middle America Trench and Arc are generated by the easterly-directed subduction of the Cocos plate,where the shallow subduction caused by eastward mantle flow in its northern segment gradually steepens to the southern segment as it is infered by the preexisting westerly-directed subduction of the Caribbean Plateau.In the frame of the westerly lithospheric flow,the subduction of a divergent active ridge plays the role of introducing a change in the oceanic/continental plate’s convergence angle,such as in NAM(North American)plate with the collision with the Pacific/Farallon active ridge in the Neogene(Cordilleran orogenic type scenario).The easterly mantle drift sustains strong plate coupling along NAM,showing at Juan de Fuca easterly subducting microplate that the subduction hinge advances relative to the upper plate.This lower/upper plate convergence coupling also applies along strike to the neighbor continental strike slip fault systems where subduction was terminated(San Andreas and Queen Charlotte).The lower/upper plate convergence coupling enables the capture of the continental plate ribbons of Baja California and Yakutat terrane by the Pacific oceanic plate,transporting them along the strike slip fault systems as para-autochthonous terranes.This Cordilleran orogenic type scenario,is also recorded in SAM following the collision with the Aluk/Farallon active ridge in the Paleogene,segmenting SAM margin into the eastwardly subducting Tupac Amaru microplate intercalated between the proto-LiquineOfqui and Atacama strike slip fault systems,where subduction was terminated and para-autochthonous terranes transported.In the Neogene,the convergence of Nazca plate with respect to SAM reinstalls subduction and the present Andean orogenic type scenario.
基金part of the research project "Gondwánico y Patagonídico del Macizo Nordpatagónico occidental" (24/H121) granted by the Universidad Nacional del Sur, "Significado y evolución de los eventos tectonomagmáticos Gondwánicos y Patagonídicos del norte de Patagonia" (11220150100184CO) granted by CONICET
文摘The Marifil Volcanic Complex, exposed in the eastern North Patagonian Massif, Argentina, includes up to 550 m of red conglomerates, sandstones, black siltstones, limestones, and reworked tuff of the Puesto Piris Formation. The basal part of this unit, which was deposited in high-gradient topographic relief, is composed of conglomerates and sandstones with thin layers of reworked tuffs. The lithofacies associations of the basal part indicate that the depositional mechanisms were mantled and gravitational flows.The middle part of the unit consists of fine sandstones, limestones, and black siltstones that were deposited in low-energy fluvial and lacustrine environments. The outcrops are located along the NEe SW direction and the major thickest units represented by limestones and siltstones, occur near the southeastern border of this NEeS W depocenter. Since the rhyolitic and trachytic lava flows and tuffs of the Marifil Volcanic Complex are interbedded with the sedimentary sequences of the Puesto Piris Formation,both units are coeval. Zircon Ue Pb age was obtained for a trachytic lava flow(193.4 ±3.1 Ma) suggesting that sedimentation and volcanism are Sinemurian. This extensional episode was recorded in the eastern,western, and southwestern sectors of the North Patagonian Massif, and is possibly associated with the Gondwana supercontinent breakup.
基金financial support that comes from the Research Projects "GOLD"(FCT-PTDC/GEO-GEO/2446/2012FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-029192)"PLUVOLC"(No.CGL201022022)
文摘This paper presents a compilation of recent U-Pb （zircon） ages of late Carboniferous-early Permian （LC EP） calc-alkaline batholiths from lberia, together with a petrogenetic interpretation of magma generation based on comparisons with Mesozoic and Tertiary Cordilleran batholiths and experimental melts. Zircon U-Pb ages distributed over the range ca. 315-280 Ma, indicate a linkage between calc-alkaline magmatism, Iberian orocline generation and Paleotethys subduction. It is also shown that Iberian LC-EP calcalkaline batholiths present unequivocal subduction-related features comparable with typical Cordilleran batholiths of the Pacific Americas active margin, although geochemical features were partially obscured by local modifications of magmas at the level of emplacement by country rock assimilation. When and how LC-EP calc-alkaline batholiths formed in Iberia is then discussed, and a new and somewhat controversial interpretation for their sources and tectonic setting （plume-assisted relamination） is suggested. The batholiths are proposed to have formed during the subduction of the Paleotethys oceanic plate （Pangaea self-subduction） and, consequently, they are unrelated to Variscan collision. The origin of the Iberian batholiths is related to the Eurasian active margin and probably represents the inception of a Paleotethvan arc in the core of Pangaea.
基金provided by the projects CGL2010-16447/BTE,CGL2010-18851/BTE,CGL2009-12143/BTE of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (currently Ministerio de Economía y Comptetitividad,MINECO) of Spainby the research group IT-320-10 of the Gobierno Vasco/EJ (XPS)+1 种基金by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through a sponsorship of renewed research stay in Germany (FK)by the protocol CN-04-226 of the Principado de Asturias/Universidad de Oviedo (JIR-O)
文摘Prejanopterus curvirostra, from the Early Cretaceous of La Rioja province, was the first pterosaur genus and species described from Spain. The material comprises disarticulated cranial and postcranial remains from several individuals. The fossil-bearing bed is assigned to the lacustrine Leza Formation （eastern Cameros Basin, NW margin of the Iberian Range）. This unit is regarded as either Berriasian-Valanginian or Barremian-Aptian. Prejanopterus curvirostris （specific name emended） was originally diagnosed on the basis of several characters of which the most significant was a lateral curvature of the rostrum. Re-examination of the holotype （rostrum） and paratype （partial rostrum with teeth） indicates that there is no genuine sideways bend of the preserved premaxilla-maxilla segments, but a slight dorsal curvature. Prejanopterus is characterized by a unique combination of characters： an emended diagnosis is provided. In contrast with previous estimates, the wing span of Prejanopterus was probably not much （if ever） in excess of 2 m. A phylogenetic analysis suggests that Prejanopterus is a basal pterodactyloid positioned between Pterodactylus and Cycnorhamphus- Gallodactylus. Prejanopterus represents the first evidence of Pterodactylidae in the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula.
文摘The increasing number of fossil pterosaur eggs sheds light on nesting environments and breeding be- haviors of these extinct flying reptiles. Here we report the first partial three-dimensional egg of the pterosaur, Pteroduustro guinazui, from central Argentina. The specimen was discovered from the same Albian deposits as the exceptional R guinazui embryo described in 2004. Microscopic characterizations indicate a pristine preservation of the 50 Bm thick calcium carbonate, which differs significantly from the soft shell of Chinese pterosaur eggs. Estimate of the eggshell conductance implies that the nest had a minimum moisture content of 75%. This moisture estimate, combined with geological and taphonomical data, suggests that P. guinazui may have adopted a nesting strategy similar to those of grebes and flamingos rather than being buried on land, as previously hypothesized. Moreover, our results demon- strate that the nesting paleoenvironment of this pterosaur species was closely linked to a mesohaline lacustrine ecosystem in a basin governed by regional tectonic subsidence, a setting characteristic for the feeding and reproduction of modern flamingos.
文摘As the world strives to replace fossil fuels with clean energy e reflected by global surge in the number of electric vehicles e the environmental impact of mining all the lithium(Li)needed to enable such a transformation has become a problem in its own right.In South America,the biggest problem is the excessive use of water in Li extraction process in one of the driest areas in the world.Apart from causing severe friction over water rights between local communities and mining companies,it puts enormous pressure on the region's fragile and poorly understood wetland ecosystems.Wetlands are one of the most threatened ecosystems on the Earth,despite their great importance as habitats for a vast number of species and corresponding to one of the most productive environments.Present work is the outcome of an investigation on Laguna Santa Rosa's(LSR)vulnerability resulting from ongoing metal mining operations in its surroundings that require a large volume of water extracted from local aquifers,in addition to a high evaporation rate in the area.This groundwater-dependent wetland will soon be further vulnerable with the commencement of water-intensive Li mining at Salar de Maricunga,with the extraction project already having an environmental impact study approved.Sustainability of this wetland protected under the Ramsar Convention and home to numerous wildlife species habiting this highland sector of the Andean Cordillera is vital for the associated ecosystems.The variation in the water surface area of LSR has been deciphered through the application of a Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper(TM)satellite image collection.This has been done both for the hydrological year 2016e2017 and 1993-2014 period.A decreasing trend in the water surface area of LSR,a hypersaline lake at the southern extreme of Salar de Maricunga,a salt flat in the Atacama Region of Chile,was observed through the study of satellite images between 1993 and 2014,showing shrinking of this wetland.However,this shrinking trend was punctuated by extreme rainfall and consequent flood with accumulated precipitation exceeding 40 mm in a single day and hourly mean rainfall rates higher than 10 mm/h recorded at several locations in the hyperarid Atacama Desert on March 25,2015.This raised the lake's water level,and thus the areal extent of the lake water observed in the satellite images of the 2016-2017 hydrological year following the extreme weather events of 2015.The interplay of such extreme weather events and groundwater extraction for mining activities in the area complicates the assessment of the latter's effect on LSR,as the evaluation is constrained to the intervals between successive extreme weather events.In addition,the water level increases in summer because of the thawing of the snow.Close monitoring of the wetlands like LSR is essential to ensure their sustainability by considering both anthropic and climatic factors.
基金funded through the VISTA Project that was carried out by the authors at the Département de Géologie et de Géographie,Universite catholique de Louvain,BelgiumVISTA was funded within the 5th Framework Programme of the European Commission.
文摘This paper presents an assessment of land use changes and their impacts on the ecosystem in the Montado, a traditional agricultural landscape of Portugal in response to global environmental change. The assessment uses an agent-based model (ABM) of the adaptive decisions of farmers to simulate the influence on future land use patterns of socio-economic attributes such as social relationships and farmer reliance on subsidies and biophysical constraints. The application and development of the ABM are supported empirically using three categories of input data: 1) farmer types based on a cluster analysis of socio-economic attributes;2) agricultural suitability based on regression analysis of historical land use maps and biophysical attributes;and 3) future trends in the economic and climatic environments based on the A1fi scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Model sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are carried out prior to the scenario analysis in order to verify the absence of systematic errors in the model structure. The results of the scenario analysis show that the area of Montado declines significantly by 2050, but it remains the dominant land use in the case study area, indicating some resilience to change. An important policy challenge arising from this assessment is how to encourage next generation of innovative farmers to conserve this traditional landscape for social and ecological values.
基金funded with research grants from projects of UNLP 11N/689 and 790, CONICET PID 00688the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Projects CGL2013-48408-C3-1-P) (LITHOS)
文摘Trace elements, isotopic modeling and U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon age constraints are used to reconstruct the eruption history and magmatic processes of the Piedra Parada Caldera. In the early Eocene, the crystal-poor Barda Colorada ignimbrite(BCI), having >>15% micro-porphyritic crystals with respect to magmatic components, erupted a volume estimated in more than 300 km^3. The Piedra Parada caldera is located in the Patagonian Andes foreland, at the southern end of the calderas field of the Pilcaniyeu Volcanic Belt(PVB). This belt is related to an extensional tectonic setting as a result of the collision of the Farallon-Aluk ridge with South America, which enabled the development of a transform ocean/continental plate margin followed by the detachment of the Aluk plate and the opening of a slab window. The BCI extra-caldera Plateau is a >100 m thick deposit, having a lower unit with high silica(Si O_2> 76 wt.%),potassium poor rhyolitic composition(trondhjemitic like magma), and an upper unit with normal to high potassium rhyolitic composition(granitic like magma). A trace elements modeling of the BCI units shows that the BCI lower and upper units did not evolve from fractionation or immiscibility in the shallow magma reservoir. The BCI also have a primitive isotopic signature(initial87 Sr/86 Sr =0.7031-0.7049 and ε_(Nd)= +3.4 to +3.65). Thus, tectonic, compositional and isotopic constraints suggest the fast ascent of high silica magmas to a shallow reservoir, and point to an upper mantle origin for these rhyolitic magmas in a transitional(Orogenic-Anorogenic) tectono-magmatic setting. U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon crystallization ages of the Syn-caldera stage BCI units(56 -51.5 Ma) show a protracted life of 5 Ma for this caldera reservoir. The age of 52.9 ± 0.3 Ma is considered the best fit for the possible maximum age for the caldera collapse. The Late-caldera magmatism has trachyandesitic and rhyolitic compositions.The trace element modeling suggests that these rhyolites evolve from the trachyandesites and do not evolve from the BCI residual magma. The trachyandesites have U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon crystallization ages of 52 ± 1 Ma, suggesting that the caldera eruption was triggered by the arrival of the trachyandesitic magma.
基金funded with FONDECYT Project No. 11140722 of CONICYTthe fund support of DIUDA 2013-22268 and DIUDA 201422273 projects
文摘Compositionally zoned plutons, both layered and concentrically arranged, provide granitic exposures where the mechanisms and timing of the magmatic emplacement processes can be studied. The importance of in-situ geochemical differentiation and the magma replenishment rates are revealed by geochemistry and field relations, together with the increasingly accurate U-Pb geochronology, which has promoted the knowledge about the pluton incremental assembly theories.The Flamenco pluton, located in the Coastal Range of northern Chile, is part of the Upper Triassic to Early Cretaceous Andean intrusives formed in the western active margin of South America, and present a normal zoned structure with mafic magmatic facies(mostly gabbros and Qtz-diorites) close to the contacts with the host metasediments, and tonalites, granodiorites and granites in the inner areas. A combined study of the field relations, geochemistry and zircon geochronology of the magmatic facies was applied to determine the emplacement sequence of the Flamenco pluton, revealing three distinguishable domains separated by metasedimentary septa. The SW area is constituted by mostly homogeneous leucocratic granodiorites that yielded an age of 213 Ma as the best estimation for their emplacement age. Distinctive geochemical characteristics, such as the absence of an Eu anomaly, the depletion in HREE, or the highest Sr, Sr/Y and Ce/Yb values among the granodioritic facies of the pluton,involve lower T and/or higher P conditions at the magmatic source according to experimental studies.These conditions were established during an early stage of the Andean magmatic arc building that is firstly defined here as Upper Triassic. The NW and E domains of the pluton were sequentially emplaced between 194 Ma and 186 Ma and both the field relations and the detailed geochronological results suggest that the mafic facies intruded latter in the emplacement sequence. To the NW, Qtz-dioritic and gabbroic externally emplaced pulses gave a younger crystallization age of 186.3 ± 1.8 Ma, and promoted the granoblastic textures and metamorphic zircon overgrowths that characterize the granodiorites located in the contact with the intermediate and felsic inner magmas, which yielded a best estimation of their emplacement age of 192 士 1.5 Ma. On the other hand, in the eastern domain, magma-magma relations are observed between gabbros and previously intruded tonalites and granodiorites. Both the mafic and intermediate facies show two main subgroups of ages that yielded 194.7 土 1.5 Ma to188.3 ± 2.1 Ma and 193.1 ± 2.2 Ma to 185.5 ± 1.4 Ma respectively. These differences are related to the variations in the magmatic addition rates, which may extend the super-solidus conditions in the eastern domain of the magmatic reservoir as is confirmed by the wider age ranges yielded by these magmatic facies. Zircon overgrowths in the host rocks yield similar ages(around 220 Ma and 205 Ma) than the oldest results obtained in the intrusive facies, indicating that metamorphism correlates with the initial stages of plutonic emplacement.Geochronological results differ between 9 Myr and 41 Myr in the eight studied samples for noninherited ages and gave very close mean ages(within analytical uncertainty) for all the intrusive units. However, we examine other characteristics such as zircon morphology, internal structure,geochemistry and statistical data to assess if the scattering of the geochronological data may be related to the different processes involved in the construction of the Flamenco pluton. We concluded that this detailed study of U-Pb zircon ages, including individual and significative groups of analyses, is useful to determine accurately the emplacement sequence and the genetic relation between the intrusive units,together with the evidences depicted by the geochemistry and field relations.
文摘The metasedimentary sequence of the Cushamen Formation in the western North Patagonian Massif is540 m thick and comprises six sedimentary lithofacies associations related to a glacimarine environment.Four of these lithofacies represent distal glacimarine environments, whereas another one was deposited in proximal glacimarine environments, and the last includes subglacial environments. The organization and configuration of these lithofacies associations represent the advance and retreat of the glacier masses. The maximum glacial advance is correlatable with the G2 glacial interval of the Pennsylvanian Pampa de Tepuel, Las Salinas and Valley Chico, formations of the Extraandean Chubut, and the southern part of Neuquen Cordillera. Contemporaneously, in southern Chile there are marine and glacimarine sediments. The chronostratigraphic relationships between the Silurian to Permian units allow five paleogeographic stages to be distinguished. The middle Silurian-late Devonian igneous rocks represent the first magmatic stage. The second stage, which is transitional to the first, is represented by a marine basin that includes the late Devonian-early Carboniferous Esquel and Rio Pescado formations and the Llanquihue Complex. The third stage(early-late Carboniferous) includes granitoids of the second magmatic event that partially overlapped the first magmatic igneous belt. The fourth stage belongs to the late Carboniferous sedimentation of the Cushamen and equivalent formations. The extended early Permian magmatism was the last Paleozoic event in the studied area.
基金financed by CONICET(PIP 330)Universidad Nacional del Comahue (PIN 4-1-209)Minera Peregrine Argentina S.A.-Stillwater Mining Company
文摘We investigate the geology of Altar North(Cu-Au) and Quebrada de la Mina(Au) porphyry deposits located in San Juan Province(Argentina), close to the large Altar porphyry copper deposit(995 Mt,0.35% Cu, 0.083 g/t Au), to present constraints on the magmatic processes that occurred in the parental magma chambers of these magmatic-hydrothermal systems. Altar North deposit comprises a plagioclase-amphibole-phyric dacite intrusion(Altar North barren porphyry) and a plagioclaseamphibole-biotite-phyric dacite stock(Altar North mineralized porphyry, 11.98 ± 0.19 Ma). In Quebrada de la Mina, a plagioclase-amphibole-biotite-quartz-phyric dacite stock(QDM porphyry,11.91±0.33 Ma) crops out. High Sr/Y ratios(92-142) and amphibole compositions of Altar North barren and QDM porphyries reflect high magmatic oxidation states(fO_2= NNO+1.1 to+1.6) and high fH_2O conditions in their magmas. Zones and rims enriched in anorthite(An_(37-48))), SrO(0.22-0.33 wt.%)and FeO(0.21-0.37 wt.%) in plagioclase phenocrysts are evidences of magmatic recharge processes in the magma chambers. Altar North and Quebrada de la Mina intrusions have relatively homogeneous isotopic compositions(^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr_(t)= 0.70450-0.70466, ε_(ND)(t) = +0.2 to +1.2) consistent with mixed mantle and crust contributions in their magmas. Higher Pb isotopes ratios(^(207)Pb/^(204)Pb=15.6276-15.6294) of these intrusions compared to other porphyries of the district, reflect an increase in the assimilation of high radiogenic Pb components in the magmas. Ages of zircon xenocrysts(297,210,204,69 Ma) revealed that the magmas have experienced assimilation of Miocene, Cretaceous, Triassic and Carboniferous crustal rocks.Fluids that precipitated sulfides in the Altar deposit may have remobilized Pb from the host rocks, as indicated by the ore minerals being more radiogenic(207Pb/204 Pb = 15.6243-15.6269) than their host intrusions. Au/Cu ratio in Altar porphyries(average Au/Cu ratio of 0.14 ×10^(-4)by weight in Altar Central)is higher than in the giant Miocene porphyry deposits located to the south: Los Pelambres, Rio Blanco and Los Bronces(Chile) and Pachon(Argentina). We suggest that the increase in Au content in the porphyries of this region could be linked to the assimilation of high radiogenic Pb components in the magmas within these long-lived maturation systems.
基金projects UNLP 11N/689 and 790, CONICET PID 00688:Agencia Nacional PICT 0910/13 and PICT 1754/16the GIU17/033 (UPV/EHU) and CGL201782976-P (AEI/FEDER, UE) projects
文摘Finite volumes of magma moving in confinement, store hydraulic potential energy for the generation,control and transmission of power. The Pascal's principle in a hydraulic jack arrangement is used to model the vertical and lateral growth of sills. The small input piston of the hydraulic jack is equivalent to the feeder dike, the upper large expansible piston equivalent to the magmatic chamber and the inertial force of the magma in the dike is the input force. This arrangement is particularly relevant to the case of sills expanding with blunt tips, for which rapid fracture propagation is inhibited. Hydraulic models concur with experimental data that show that lateral expansion of magma into a sill is promoted when the vertical ascent of magma through a feeder dike reaches the bottom contact with an overlying, flat rigid-layer. At this point, the magma is forced to decelerate, triggering a pressure wave through the conduit caused by the continued ascent of magma further down(fluid-hammer effect). This pressure wave can provide overpressure enough to trigger the initial hydraulic lateral expansion of magma into an incipient sill, and still have enough input inertial force left to continue feeding the hydraulic system. The lateral expansion underneath the strong impeding layer, causes an area increase and thus, further hydraulic amplification of the input inertial force on the sides and roof of the incipient sill, triggering further expansion in a self-reinforcing process. Initially, the lateral pressure increase is larger than that in the roof allowing the sill to expand. However, expansion eventually increases the total integrated force on the roof allowing its uplift into either a laccolith, if the roof preserves continuity, or into a piston bounded by a circular set of fractures. Hydraulic models for shallow magmatic chambers, also suggest that laccolith-like intrusions require the existence of a self-supported chamber roof. In contrast, if the roof of magmatic chambers loses the self-supporting capacity, lopoliths and calderas should be expected for more or less dense magmas, respectively, owing to the growing influence of the density contrast between the host rock and the magma.
文摘This study aims to assess conservation practices in Izta-Popo National Park(Central Mexico) by evaluating the mechanisms of sediment transfer. We applied a methodology based on fallout ^(137)Cs and optically stimulated luminescence(OSL) analysis. This was tested in the upper catchment of Amalacaxco Gorge, selected for being one of the sectors of the park in which man-made actions have been implemented in last decades to favor forest growth in the alpine grassland and to reduce the effect of water runoff. We quantified the ^(137)Cs activity using gamma and beta spectrometry of fine sediment grains extracted from the surface of parcels of 0.4 m2 in areas of natural forest, natural alpine grassland, alpine grassland with conservation practices, ravines and trails. In general, ^(137)Cs values increases as local slope decreases as it was expected. The natural forest is the most stable area in terms of soil erosion and sediment accumulation and, mean ^(137)Cs activity was taken as reference to assess cumulative zones, with higher ^(137)Cs values and erosive, with lower. We found that trails are accumulative surfaces but in other areas, erosion predominates. Man-made ditches, trenches and afforestation in the alpine grassland have higher ^(137)Cs values than thenatural grassland, which indicates that conservation practices are limiting the sediment transfer from hillslopes to channels, however, soil retention is less than in the natural grassland. Additionally, we evaluated the luminescence(OSL) values obtained from samples extracted from the sediment transported in ravines that are cutting into different sectors of the study area to assess the grade of resetting of fluvial materials. These luminescence results indicated that the sediment transported in ravines that are cutting into the natural forest and alpine grassland is bleached more efficiently than the sediment transported in the alpine grassland with conservation practices. Results of fallout ^(137)Cs and luminescence strongly suggest that man-made actions in this part of the Izta-Popo National Park are dramatically modifying the natural mechanisms of sediment transfer and favoring soil erosion. We conclude that made ditches, trenches and afforestation are not an effective conservation practice in Amalacaxco Gorge because they are promoting soil erosion instead of reducing it.
基金part of the research project"Configuración Geológica y Geodinámica del sector central de la Comarca Nordpatagónica,Argentina"(24/H100)granted by the Universidad Nacional del Sur"La Orogenia Gondwánica en el sector central de la Comarca Nordpatagónica"(11420090100108)granted by CONICET
文摘Structural analyses in the northern part of the North Patagonia Massif, in the foliated Caita Co granite and in La Sefia and Pangare mylonites, indicate that the pluton was intruded as a sheet-like body into an opening pull-apart structure during the Gondwana Orogeny. Geochronological studies in the massif indicate a first, lower to middle Permian stage of regional deformation, related to movements during indentation tectonics, with emplacement of foliated granites in the western and central areas of the North Patagonian Massif. Between the upper Permian and lower Triassic, evidence indicates emplacement of undeformed granitic bodies in the central part of the North Patagonian Massif. A second pulse of deformation between the middle and upper Triassic is related to the emplacement of the Caita CO granite, the development of mylonitic belts, and the opening of the Los Menucos Basin. During this pulse of deformation, compression direction was from the eastern quadrant.
