statistics of geomagnetic storms and ionospheric storms at low and mid latitudes in two solar cycles 1 the statistics of occurrence of the geomagnetic storms and ionospheric storms at kokubunji 35 7 n 139 5 e 26 8 n magnetic latitude in japan and boulder 40 0 n 254 7 e 47 4 n in america are presented using the dst and peak electron density nmax data in 1985 2005 covering two solar cycles 22 23 when 584 geomagnetic storms dst 50 nt occurred in addition to the known solar cycle and seasonal dependence of the storms the statistics reveal some new aspects 1 the geomagnetic storms show a preference for main phase mp onset at around ut midnight especially for major storms dst 100 nt over 100 excess mp onsets at ut midnight compared to a uniform distribution 2 the number of positive ionospheric storms at kokubunji about 250 is more than double that at boulder and 3 the occurrence of the positive storms at both stations shows a preference for the morning noon onset of the geomagnetic storms as expected from a physical mechanism of the positive storms 4 the occurrence of negative ionospheric storms at both stations follows the solar cycle phases most frequent at solar maximum better than the occurrence of positive storms which agrees with the mechanism of the negative storms

deformation mechanisms in a high temperature quartz feldspar mylonite evidence for superplastic flow in the lower continental crust abstract microstructures and crystallographic preferred orientations in a fine grained banded quartz feldspar mylonite were studied by optical microscopy sem and tem mylonite formation occurred in retrograde amphibolite facies metamorphism interpretation of the microstructures in terms of deformation mechanisms provides evidence for millimetre scale partitioning of crystal plasticity and superplasticity strain incompatibilities during grain sliding in the superplastic quartz feldspar bands are mainly accommodated by boundary diffusion of potassic feldspar the rate of which probably controls the rate of superplastic deformation there is evidence for equal flow stress levels in the superplastic and crystal plastic domains in this case mechanism partitioning results in strain rate partitioning fast deformation in the superplastic bands therefore dominates flow and deformation is probably best modelled by a superplastic law if this deformational behaviour is typical shearing in mylonite zones of the lower continental crust may proceed at exceptionally high rates for a given differential stress or at low differential stresses in case of fixed strain rates

first observational evidence for opposite zonal electric fields in equatorial e and f region altitudes during a geomagnetic storm period 1 the strong westward electrojet and simultaneous upward drift of the equatorial ionospheric peak observed over south east asia and indian equatorial regions during the prolonged dst minimum phase of an intense geomagnetic storm during 14 15 december 2006 are investigated for the altitudinal variation of zonal electric field polarity using ground based and space borne observations the results show first observational evidence for simultaneous existence of daytime westward and eastward zonal electric fields at equatorial e and f region altitudes respectively in a wide longitude sector while the westward electric fields at e region altitudes cause westward electrojet at the same time the eastward zonal electric fields atfregion altitudes cause the upward drift of the equatorial ionospheric peak and reinforcement of the equatorial ionization anomaly eia even in the topside ionosphere 660 km the reversal of the electric fields is found to occur at 280 km height a clear bifurcation of f region plasma at 280 km is evident in the iso electron density contours due to these oppositely polarized zonal electric fields which manifests as an unusually deep cusp between f1 and f2 layers on equatorial ionograms

equatorial and low latitude ionosphere thermosphere system response to the space weather event of august 2005 1 the response of the equatorial and low latitude ionosphere thermosphere system to the geomagnetic storm during 23 26 august 2005 is investigated the study is carried out using the vertical total electron content vtec measured by gps receivers along the 77 78 e longitude and the o n2 ratio obtained from the global ultraviolet imager instrument on board the timed satellite the equatorial ionization anomaly eia shows a poleward latitudinal expansion on 24 august probably associated with an eastward prompt penetration electric field the equatorial and low latitudes show an increase in vtec during the main phase of the storm on 24 august the prompt penetration eastward electric field along with an increase in the o n2 ratio could be responsible for this observed positive phase the vtec variations on 24 august also reveal the signature of a large scale acoustic gravity wave traveling atmospheric disturbance propagating with a horizontal velocity of 750 m s suppression of the eia is observed during the storm recovery phase on 25 august which probably is associated with the westward disturbance dynamo electric field and the equatorward expansion of the neutral composition changes o n2 depletion

paleohydrology of buckskin mountain national district humboldt county nevada precious metal veins of the national district humboldt county nevada occur in strongly altered miocene volcanic rocks hydrothermal assemblages in buckskin mountain display a marked zonation from the paleosurface downward that correlates with the elevation and physical properties of enclosing rhyolites light stable isotope analyses indicate that meteoric water from two distinct sources comprised the ore fluid the delta d values in fluid inclusions from deep level quartz vein segments 1 250 ft 379 m below the palcosurface range from 115 to 129 per mil fluid inclusion waters from near surface quartz vein segments 0 to 1 250 ft 0 379 m below the paleosurface have delta d 86 to 125 per mil and are generally more depleted than local miocene ground water whose delta d is calculated at 85 per mil the delta d range in inclusion waters from near surface quartz veins has resulted from mixing of the fluids present in deep quartz veins with local ground water and condensed steam derived from boiling of both fluids the fluids present in deep quartz veins probably originated as precipitation on distal highlands with elevations approaching 6 000 ft 1 818 m oxygen isotope data from vein and wall rock minerals record increasing depletion as veins are approached indicating that quartz veins were the major conduits of fluid flow the degree of oxygen exchange between hydrothermal fluid and wall rocks water rock mass ratios and the abundance of hydrothermal phases increase toward the paleosurface the progressive influx of local ground water with increasing elevation is also indicated by chloride dilution the estimated duration of the buckskin mountain hydrothermal system 50 000 to 200 000 yrs is limited by the volume of high temperature alteration assemblages and the heat budget of a proposed intrusion thermal constraints and isotopic data provide an internally consistent range in lifetimes which is several times shorter than that proposed for some active hydrothermal systems these long lived modern systems apparently require multiple thermal and or intrusive events based on geologic isotopic and floral data the palcogeography of ancestral buckskin mountain was dominated by forested volcanic terrane having considerable relief an intermontane basin remnants of which comprise the summit of buckskin mountain today contained scattered thermal pools and patches of steaming ground the basin covered several square miles and stood at 3 000 ft above sea level while adjacent uplands were several thousand feet higher in elevation floras included subalpine spruce and fir mixed conifer hardwood slope forests and basin floor hydrophytes willow and marsh grasses buckskin mountain during the miocene closely resembled present landforms in yellowstone national park wyoming

the snake range decollement an exhumed mid tertiary ductile brittle transition the snake range decollement srd in east central nevada separates supracrustal rocks extended by normal faulting from ductilely deformed igneous and metamorphic rocks a well known stratigraphy unaffected by earlier faulting permits analysis of both upper and lower plate strain leading to a better understanding of how vastly different rock types and deformational styles are juxtaposed along low angle faults in metamorphic core complexes middle cambrian to permian upper plate rocks are cut by two generations of ne trending east directed normal faults both generations were initiated as high angle 60 planar faults that flattened abruptly into the srd and rotated domino style to low angles yielding a total rotation of bedding of about 80 90 faulting is tertiary in age as 35 m y old volcanic rocks are involved and resulted in about 450 500 extension in a n55w s55e direction the srd developed as a subhorizontal surface 6 7 km deep at the top of the cambrian pioche shale lower plate granitic rocks and their late precambrian cambrian metamorphic country rocks were involved in progressive ductile to brittle extension at low greenschist grade forming a penetrative subhorizontal foliation and n55 70w lineation that increases in intensity eastward and upward toward the srd stretching and thinning in the lower plate is coaxial and comparable in magnitude to upper plate extension and is interpreted as synchronous k ar ages ranging from 20 to 40 m y in the lower plate suggests the n snake range represents a tertiary thermal anomaly we conclude that the srd developed as a ductile brittle transition zone at 6 7 km depth gravity data suggests that the gently domed srd is cut by younger basin and range faults but the geology of adjacent ranges suggests that the srd does not continue more than 60 km in any given direction the lack of stratigraphic omission across the srd rules out large amounts of movement on a surface that originally cut downsection and we suggest that extensional detachment faults such as the srd can be developed locally as boundaries between brittlely extended rocks and underlying ductile extension and intrusion

duskside enhancement of equatorial zonal electric field response to convection electric fields during the st patrick s day storm on 17 march 2015 the equatorial zonal electric field responses to prompt penetration of eastward convection electric fields ppef were compared at closely spaced longitudinal intervals at dusk to premidnight sectors during the intense geomagnetic storm of 17 march 2015 at dusk sector indian longitudes a rapid uplift of equatorial f layer to 550 km and development of intense equatorial plasma bubbles epbs were observed these epbs were found to extend up to 27 13 n and 25 98 s magnetic dip latitudes indicating their altitude development to 1670 km at apex in contrast at few degrees east in the premidnight sector thailand indonesian longitudes no significant height rise and or epb activity has been observed the eastward electric field perturbations due to ppef are greatly dominated at dusk sector despite the existence of background westward ionospheric disturbance dynamo idd fields whereas they were mostly counter balanced by the idd fields in the premidnight sector in situ observations from swarm a and swarm c and communication navigation outage forecasting system satellites detected a large plasma density depletion near indian equatorial region due to large electrodynamic uplift of f layer to higher than satellite altitudes further this large uplift is found to confine to a narrow longitudinal sector centered on sunset terminator this study brings out the significantly enhanced equatorial zonal electric field in response to ppef that is uniquely confined to dusk sector the responsible mechanisms are discussed in terms of unique electrodynamic conditions prevailing at dusk sector in the presence of convection electric fields associated with the onset of a substorm under southward interplanetary magnetic field bz

problems in the extrapolation of laboratory rheological data abstract the many types of variables and deformation regimes that need to be taken into account in extrapolating rheological behaviour from the laboratory to the earth are reviewed the problems of extrapolation are then illustrated with two particular cases in the case of divine rich rocks recent experimental work indicates that within present uncertainties of extrapolation the flow in the upper mantle could be either grain size dependent and near newtonian or grain size independent and distinctly non newtonian both types of behaviour would be influenced by the present of trace amounts of water in the case of quartz rich rocks the uncertainties are even greater and it is still premature to attempt any extrapolation to geological conditions except as an upper bound the fugacity and the scale of dispersion of the water are probably two important variables but the quantitative laws governing their influence are not yet clear

super plasma fountain and equatorial ionization anomaly during penetration electric field 1 relative importance of diffusion electric field and neutral wind on equatorial plasma fountain and equatorial ionization anomaly eia during a strong daytime eastward prompt penetration electric field ppef event are evaluated using the sheffield university plasmasphere ionosphere model and the recorded ppef during the super geomagnetic storm of 9 november 2004 the fountain rapidly develops into a super fountain during the ppef event the super fountain becomes strong with less poleward turning of the velocity vectors in the presence of an equatorward wind that reduces or stops the downward velocity component due to diffusion and raises the ionosphere to high altitudes of reduced chemical loss the eia crests in peak electron density and total electron content shift rapidly to higher than normal latitudes during the ppef event however the crests become stronger than normal only in the presence of an equatorward wind the results suggest that the presence of an equatorward neutral wind is required to produce a strong positive ionospheric storm during a daytime eastward ppef event the equatorward neutral wind need not be a storm time wind though stronger wind can lead to stronger ionospheric storms

new aspects of thermospheric and ionospheric storms revealed by champ 1 the neutral mass density n and electron density ne at 400 km height measured by champ during nine intense geomagnetic storms bring out some new aspects of the thermospheric and ionospheric storms the thermospheric storms increase of n develop with the onset of the main phases mp of the geomagnetic storms and reach their peak phases before or by the end of the mps the ionospheric storms change of ne in general undergo an initial negative phase with the equatorial ionization anomaly eia crests shifting poleward before turning positive and the positive storms reach their peak strengths or phases centered at 25 30 magnetic latitudes in some 4 cases the positive storms develop without an initial negative phase and with the eia crests shifting equatorward in all cases the positive storms reach their peak phases before the end of the mps and turn to conventional negative storms by the end of the mps the observations agree with the different aspects of a physical mechanism of the positive storms the observations also reveal that the halloween storms of 30 october 2003 with a short mp without fluctuations produced the strongest positive ionospheric storms through impulsive response and there is strong equinoctial asymmetry in the ionosphere and thermosphere during geomagnetic storms

granulite facies amphibole and biotite equilibria and calculated peak metamorphic water activities samples located near the oregon dome anorthosite massif in the south central adirondack mountains new york contain the fluid buffering mineral assemblages amphibole clinopyroxene orthopyroxene quartz or biotite quartz orthopyroxene k feldspar these rocks were metamorphosed under granulite facies conditions t 725 750 c p 7 5 kbar during the grenville orogeny the mg rich nature of amphiboles micas and pyroxenes allow accurate calculation of water activities because corrections for the effects of solid solution are relatively small the activity of water was low during the peak of granulite facies metamorphism with h2o 0 15 0 14 wollastonite occurrences indicate that the co2 was low 0 3 in nearby rocks demonstrating that large quantities of co2 did not infiltrate in a pervasive manner the combination of low h2o with low co2 is consistent with the hypothesis that magmatic processes were dominant generating dry fluid absent conditions

the composition and petrogenesis of the lower crust a xenolith study granulite facies lower crustal xenoliths from a single basaltic vent hill 32 in the mcbride volcanic province north queensland australia illustrate the extreme lithologic diversity of the deep crust these xenoliths are dominantly mafic but intermediate and felsic granulites represent a significant proportion 20 of the xenolith population all xenoliths have high grade mineralogies and generally well equilibrated textures as well as decompression features which are indicative of derivation from deep crustal levels 0 7 1 0 gpa major and trace element chemistry for 12 xenoliths chosen to span the observed lithologic range are used to constrain the petrogenesis of these rocks in the smaller layered samples metamorphic differentiation may lead to nonrepresentative sampling however in most instances such secondary processes can be identified and the original chemical characteristics delineated the mafic xenoliths formed through a variety of processes including crystallization of mafic magma crystal accumulation from mafic and felsic magmas and partial melting of intermediate compositions to yield a mafic residuum the two analyzed intermediate xenoliths are metasediments based upon high alumina to alkali ratios and rare earth element patterns whereas the two felsic xenoliths have compositions similar to igneous rocks comparisons of noncumulate and or restite xenoliths with unmetamorphosed rock types show that k and rb are variably depleted whereas th and u are strongly depleted in all rock types the large ion lithophile element depletion patterns for xenoliths are similar to those of rocks from granulite facies terrains suggesting similar processes were operative suggestions of an anomalously ba and sr rich lower crust are not supported by the data by using the observed lithologic proportions of xenoliths at hill 32 and the chemical analyses presented here a weighted mean composition of the lower crust can be obtained and compared with recently proposed lower crustal compositions the weighted mean composition is mafic and formed through a combination of basaltic underplating crystal accumulation tectonic underplating and partial melting no simple model of lower crust formation through basaltic or andesitic underplating nor intracrustal melting is sufficient to explain lower crust formation in phanerozoic continental margin settings

geology of the ivanhoe hg au district northern nevada influence of miocene volcanism lakes and active faulting on epithermal mineralization the mercury gold deposits of the ivanhoe mining district in northern nevada formed when middle miocene rhyolitic volcanism and high angle faulting disrupted a shallow lacustrine environment sinter and replacement mercury deposits formed at and near the paleosurface and disseminated gold deposits and high grade gold silver veins formed beneath the hot spring deposits the lacustrine environment provided abundant meteoric water the rhyolites heated the water and the faults flow units and lakebeds provided fluid pathways for the hydrothermal fluids a shallow lake began to develop in the ivanhoe area about 16 5 ma the lake progressively expanded and covered the entire area with fine grained lacustrine sediments lacustrine sedimentation continued to at least 14 4 ma and periodic fluctuations in the size and extent of the lake may have been responses to both climate and nearby volcanism the eruption of rhyolite and andesite flows and domes periodically disrupted the lacustrine environment and produced interfingered flows and lake sediments the major pulse of rhyolitic volcanism took place between 15 16 0 05 and 14 92 0 05 ma high angle faulting began in the basement about 15 2 ma penetrated to and disrupted the paleosurface after 15 10 0 06 ma and largely ceased by 14 92 0 05 ma ground motion related to both faulting and volcanism created debris flows and soft sediment deformation in the lakebeds mercury gold mineralization was coeval with rhyolite volcanism and high angle faulting and it took place about 15 2 to 14 9 ma at and near the paleosurface hydrothermal fluids migrated through tuffaceous sediments above relatively impermeable volcanic and paleozoic units creating chalcedonic cinnabar bearing replacement bodies and sinters disseminated gold was deposited in sedimentary and volcanic rocks beneath the mercury deposits although the hydrologic path between the two ore types is unclear higher grade gold silver deposits formed in massive rhyolites and paleozoic quartzites at deeper levels and these mineralized zones possibly represent the feeder zones for the higher level deposits fluctuations in the ground water table locally produced hydrothermal oxidation of the near surface mercury and disseminated gold deposits the locus of mineralization shifted with time moving south and east from its inception point in the west central part of the district thus although mineralization in the district took place during a span of 300 000 years the duration of mineralization at any one place probably was much shorter the low sulfidation deposits of the ivanhoe district formed at the same time and under similar conditions as those in the nearby midas district 15 km to the northwest which includes the large high grade ken snyder gold silver epithermal vein deposit the exposures in the ivanhoe district are interpreted to represent the near surface example of the paleosurface that originally was present above the midas mineralizing system the resulting combined ivanhoe midas model provides an exploration guide for epithermal deposits in similar geologic environments in northern nevada

localized polymorphic phase transformations in high pressure faults and applications to the physical mechanism of deep earthquakes earthquake mechanisms based on frictional instabilities are widely accepted for relatively shallow earthquakes such mechanisms in unmodified form are highly unlikely for deep earthquakes because of the expected high frictional shear stresses at depths of 300 700 km several alternative mechanisms have been proposed here i discuss a new type of shear instability observed in experiments on ordinary polycrystalline ice and polycrystalline tremolite by my colleagues and me these shear instabilities lead to rapid stress drops and sound emissions and have the following characteristics 1 a single sharp shear zone forms in the maximum shear stress orientation 2 confining pressure does not suppress the instability and under some conditions raising confining pressure pc lowers the differential stress at which it occurs 3 stress drops can occur repeatedly after reloading at about the same differential stress 4 the mean stress vs temperature conditions at which the instabilities occur in ice and tremolite place them in the fields of thermodynamic stability of ice ii and diopside talc respectively although i have not as yet confirmed the existence of these high pressure phases in the shear zones transformation in the shear zone is implicated because such shear instabilities do not occur in similar materials in which polymorphic phase changes do not occur reconstructive polymorphic phase changes localized along shear zones may be a general phenomenon in crystalline materials stressed non hydrostatically near transition boundaries moreover by analogy the reconstructive phase transformations that are thought to occur in deeply subducted lithosphere may lead to localized shear instabilities manifested by deep earthquakes and produce the observed double couple first motion distribution finally if this is the earthquake source mechanism in deeply subducted lithosphere then earthquakes should shut off when all of the polymorphic phase changes have occurred this may explain the maximum depth of earthquakes at about 680 km

geologic setting and genesis of the mule canyon low sulfidation epithermal gold silver deposit north central nevada the mule canyon mine exploited shallow low sulfidation epithermal au ag deposits that lie near the west side of the northern nevada rift in northern lander county nevada mule canyon consists of six small deposits that contained premining reserves of about 8 2 mt at an average grade of 3 81 g au tonne it is an uncommon mafic end member of low sulfidation au ag deposits associated with tholeiitic bimodal basalt rhyolite magmatism the ore is hosted by a basalt andesite eruptive center that formed between about 16 4 to 15 8 ma during early mafic eruptions related to regionally extensive bimodal magmatism hydrothermal alteration and au ag ores formed at about 15 6 ma and were tightly controlled by north northwest to north striking high angle fault and breccia zones developed during rifting emplacement of mafic dikes and eruption of mafic lava flows hydrothermal alteration assemblages are zoned outward from fluid conduits in the sequence silica adularia adularia smectite smectite intermediate argillic and smectite carbonate propylitic all alteration types contain abundant pyrite and or marcasite arsenopyrite field relations indicate that silica adularia alteration is superimposed on argillic and propylitic alteration little or no steam heated acid sulfate alteration is present probably the result of a near surface water table during hydrothermal alteration and ore deposition two distinct ore types are present at mule canyon early replacement and later open space filling replacement ores consist of disseminated and vesicle filling pyrite marcasite and arsenopyrite in argillically altered or weakly silicified rocks ore minerals consist of au bearing arsenopyrite and arsenian pyrite overgrowths on earlier formed pyrite and marcasite open space filling ores include narrow stockwork quartz adularia veins banded and crustiform opaline and chalcedonic silica adularia veins silica adularia cemented breccias and sparse carbonate pyrite and or marcasite veins ore minerals consist mostly of electrum and ag sulfide and selenide minerals with minor to major amounts of pyrite marcasite and arsenopyrite and local stibnite both types of ores have similar geochemical signatures characterized by high au ag as sb and se contents locally high hg mo tl and w contents and low cu pb and zn contents stable isotope data indicate that ore fluids consisted dominantly of meteoric water that evolved by deep circulation through paleozoic sedimentary rocks at low water rock ratios about 1 and high temperatures 200 c calculated isotopic compositions of ore fluids are 18oh2o 3 to 7 per mil dh2o 107 to 124 per mil 13cco2 0 to 6 per mil and 34sh2s 3 to 8 per mil the ore fluids obtained much of their h2s and co2 and probably scavenged ore metals and trace elements from the paleozoic sedimentary rocks some h2s and co2 may have been derived from degassing miocene magmas mule canyon formed at shallow depths probably about 100 m below the paleosurface ore fluids were dilute nearly neutral in ph reduced h2s rich and co2 bearing peak temperatures in ore zones reached 230 to 265 c at nearly lithostatic pressures when some crystalline quartz adularia precipitated but most ore formed at temperatures 200 c at near hydrostatic pressures and was accompanied by precipitation of opaline and chalcedonic silica adularia calcite and dolomite deposition of gold in as rich overgrowths on pyrite and or marcasite in disseminated ores occurred owing to decreasing h2s in the ore fluids resulting from sulfidation reactions later electrum and ag selenide precipitation in open spaces occurred owing to boiling loss of h2s to the vapor phase and cooling mule canyon is similar to most other low sulfidation au ag deposits associated with miocene tholeiitic bimodal basalt rhyolite magmatism in the great basin such as sleeper midas and buckhorn major differences at mule canyon are the high fe sulfide contents of some ores and altered wall rocks the paucity of silicification and the presence of only narrow and discontinuous gold bearing siliceous veins these differences primarily are due to the mafic composition of the host rocks mule canyon differs from low sulfidation deposits associated with subduction related calc alkaline porphyry intrusions such as the comstock lode in that a much smaller proportion of water salts and metals was derived from crystallizing magmas

the experimental deformation of dunite deformation experiments have been carried out on two dunites anita bay of 100 m grain size and aheim of 900 m grain size at strain rates from 10 3 to 10 6 s 1 and temperatures from 1000 c to 1300 c in a gas medium deformation apparatus at 300 mpa confining pressure most of the tests were under wet conditions defined by the presence of small amounts of water from hydrous minerals initially present constant strain rate and relaxation experiments covering ranges of flow stress down to about 70 mpa and 7 mpa respectively show that there is a change in flow law in going below about 100 mpa differential stress and that the coarser grained rock is stronger than the finer grained one power law parameters above the transition are n 4 48 0 31 and q 498 38 kj mol 1 for aheim dunite and n 3 35 0 17 and q 444 24 kj mol 1 for anita bay dunite while below the transition relaxation tests on anita bay dunite give n 2 44 0 18 and q 386 27 kj mol 1 it is concluded that there is a weakening effect of water that this effect is mainly in the grain boundaries and that grain boundary sliding is probably a significant deformation mechanism at the lower stresses under wet conditions

genesis of middle miocene yellowstone hotspot related bonanza epithermal au ag deposits northern great basin usa epithermal deposits with bonanza au ag veins in the northern great basin ngb are spatially and temporally associated with middle miocene bimodal volcanism that was related to a mantle plume that has now migrated to the yellowstone national park area the au ag deposits formed between 16 5 and 14 ma but exhibit different mineralogical compositions the latter due to the nature of the country rocks hosting the deposits where host rocks were primarily of meta sedimentary or granitic origin adularia rich gold mineralization formed where glassy rhyolitic country rocks host veins colloidal silica textures and precious metal colloid aggregation textures resulted where basalts are the country rocks clay rich mineralization with silica minerals adularia and carbonate developed oxygen isotope data from quartz originally amorphous silica and gels from super high grade banded ores from the sleeper deposit show that ore forming solutions had 18o values up to 10 heavier than mid miocene meteoric water the geochemical signature of the ores including their se rich nature is interpreted here to reflect a mantle source for the epithermal suite elements au ag se te as sb hg and that signature is preserved to shallow crustal levels because of the similar volatility and aqueous geochemical behavior of the epithermal suite elements a mantle source for the gold in the deposits is further supported by the pb isotopic signature of the gold ores apparently the host rocks control the mineralization style and gangue mineralogy of ores however all deposits are considered to have derived precious metals and metalloids from mafic magmas related to the initial emergence of the yellowstone hotspot basalt derived volatiles and metal loid s are inferred to have been absorbed by meteoric water dominated geothermal systems heated by shallow rhyolitic magma chambers episodic discharge of volatiles and metal loid s from deep basaltic magmas mixed with heated meteoric water to create precious metal ore forming fluids colloidal nanoparticles of au ag alloy electrum naumannite ag2se silica and adularia likely nucleated at depth traveled upward and deposited where they grew large enough to aggregate along vein walls silica and gold colloids have been reported in hot springs from yellowstone national park suggesting that such processes may continue to some extent to the present however it is possible that the initial development of the mantle plume led to a major but short lived distillation process which led to the mid miocene bonanza ore forming event

rheology of some continental lower crustal rocks abstract to gain insight into the rheology of selected feldspar bearing rocks from the continental lower crust clc three granulites from exposed lower crustal terrains and a microgabbro have been deformed to ca 10 strain at confining pressures of 0 8 1 0 gpa temperatures of 600 900 c and constant strain rates of 10 4 10 7 s 1 the most extensive work was done on the mafic pikwitonei and felsic adirondack granulites the pikwitonei mg hornblende plag an70 2 px has only a limited t range of apparent steady state behavior and strain softens at t 800 c at 10 5 10 6s 1 apparently associated with developing shear zones this strain softening is pressure insensitive from pc 0 8 1 0 gpa at t 850 c 10 6s 1 even though the dominant strain accommodation mechanisms change from semibrittle cataclastic to crystal plastic including dynamic recrystallization with increasing pressure plagioclase appears to bear more of the creep strain than amphibole at most experimental conditions except in those runs where both plagioclase and amphibole recrystallization occurs kapuskasing plag cpx gt granulite deformed at 800 c and at 850 c 10 6 s 1 has deformed in the steady state at stress levels only slightly greater than the pikwitonei the stillwater microgabbro and adirondack granulite are appreciably weaker and the latter exhibits homogeneous semibrittle steady state behavior over the entire range of conditions investigated for the adirondack 2 felds 2 px gt qtz granulite quartz 21 appears to control the creep rate at these low strains and steady state mechanical data fit well a creep power law with a 8 10 3 mpa ns 1 qc 243 kj mol and n 3 1 extrapolation of this flow law and of preliminary power law creep relations for the pikwitonei and microgabbro to a range of physical conditions assumed to encompass those at the continental moho supports geological and geophysical inferences that a mechanical discontinuity occurs at this transition zone with the lower crust generally being the weaker material in addition the stain softening exhibited by the pikwitonei may bear directly on the development of detachment zones at mid to lower crustal depths during prograde metamorphism

intraplate lithosphere deformation and the strength of the lithosphere summary the intraplate deformation of continental lithosphere in response to applied stress has been investigated using a mathematical model which incorporates the elastic ductile and brittle response of lithosphere material ductile deformation is assumed to be controlled in the crust by dislocation creep in quartz and in the mantle by dislocation creep and plasticity in olivine brittle failure is predicted using modified griffith theory a fundamental feature of the model is the redistribution of stress within the lithosphere following stress release by both ductile and brittle deformation this redistribution produces high levels of stress in the middle or lower crust immediately above the elastic ductile or brittle ductile transition lithosphere deformation is shown to be critically dependent on the temperature structure of which surface heat flow is a convenient indicator for higher geothermal gradients the release of stress in the lower lithosphere by ductile deformation is more rapid and complete and results in large stress levels in the upper lithosphere for sufficiently large applied stresses or steep geothermal gradients the stress levels in the upper and middle crust will cause complete fracture of the upper lithosphere whole lithosphere failure wlf then results by continued brittle and ductile deformation causing geologically significant strains the critical value of applied stress required to give wlf has been calculated for both tensional and compressional deformation as a function of surface heat flow the predicted lithosphere bulk strength is then compared with expected levels of intraplate stress arising from plate boundary forces and isostatically compensated loads which are thought to give net stress levels in the continental lithosphere in the range 0 25 to 0 25 kb using these expected maximum stress levels the model predicts significant extensional deformation in regions of moderate heat flow with q c 60mwm e g central europe as well as for areas of high heat flow like the basinand range province significant compressional deformation is predicted for areas of high heat flow with q c 75 mwm 2 but only for restricted conditions of stress combination these results are in good agreement with

early yellowstone hotspot magmatism and gold metallogeny abstract high grade epithermal gold deposits in the northern great basin have long been associated with regional miocene basaltic to rhyolitic volcanism previous models for the low sulfidation epithermal gold ores in this region have generally portrayed the bimodal magmas as a source of heat to drive large scale convection of meteoritic water that leached gold from crustal sources and deposited it in hydrothermal vein systems or required that the gold evolve from fractionated silicic magmas new data of the present study indicate a more direct genetic link to the plume related basaltic magmas of the region laser 40ar 39ar incremental heating plateau ages for single crystals of adularia from several of these low sulfidation epithermal gold deposits range from 16 6 ma to 15 5 ma adularia from the jumbo deposit yields three concordant plateau ages with a combined statistical result of 16 54 0 04 ma 95 confidence level mswd 0 23 plateau ages for adularia from other deposits in the region and from gold bearing veins in the owyhee mountains of southwestern idaho yield similar ages up to 16 5 ma however some veins are as young as ca 15 5 ma and the grain to grain ages for a given sample can vary by up to ca 0 5 ma observed variations in age among the adularia crystals of a given rock sample indicate varying amounts of extraneous argon and also loss of radiogenic 40ar among the population of grains for a particular sample the single crystal results are interpreted to indicate a 16 5 15 5 ma interval for formation of gold bearing adularia veins in the region the initiation and duration of this gold forming event appears contemporaneous within uncertainties with the basaltic volcanism at the steens mountain section and an ensuing one million year episode of basaltic volcanism from multiple centers in the region brueseke et al 2007 trace amounts of lead are alloyed with gold in the deposits studied the isotopic compositions of this lead are not compatible with regional crustal units that host the gold ores or the silicic igneous lithologies of the region but have the same lead isotopic composition as basalts of the earliest yellowstone plume represented by the earliest lavas of the columbia river basalt province the steens basalts and stonyford volcanic complex hanan et al 2008 we propose that the gold studied and its traces of alloyed lead were derived together from the mantle released from basaltic magma chambers of the province and carried by low density fluids into shallow geothermal systems during the earliest stages of yellowstone hotspot magmatism

electrical conductivity temperatures and fluids in the lower crust we have compiled both laboratory and worldwide field data on electrical conductivity to help understand the physical implications of deep crustal electrical profiles regional heat flow was used to assign temperatures to each layer in regional electrical conductivity models we avoided those data where purely conductive heat flow suggested temperatures more than about 1000 sup 0 c substantially higher than solidus temperatures and outside the range of validity of heat flow models the resulting plots of log conductivity sigma versus 1 t demonstrate that even low conductivity layers lcl have conductivities several orders of magnitude higher than dry laboratory samples and that the data can be represented by straight line fits in addition tectonically active regions show systematically higher conductivities than do shield areas because volatiles are usually lost in laboratory measurements and their absence is a principal difference between laboratory and field conditions these materials probably account for the relatively higher conductivities of rocks in situ in the crust free water in amounts of 0 01 0 1 in fracture porosity could explain crustal conductivities other possibilities are graphite hydrated minerals in rare instances and sulfur in combination with other volatiles as most of the temperatures are less than 700 sup 0 c partial melting seems likely onlymore in regions of highest heat flow where the conductive temperature profiles are inappropriate another result is that at a given temperature crustal high conductivity layes hcl are more conductive by another order of magnitude and show more scatter than do lcl s less

water activity changes across an amphibolite granulite facies transition broken hill australia phase compositions in pelitic and mafic gneisses place tight constraints on pressure ranging from 3 up to 6 kb and to a lesser extent on temperature 500 up to 800 c during prograde regional metamorphism of the willyama complex broken hill se australia these limits allow an evaluation of water activity across the terrain using various equilibria in pelitic and mafic gneisses the stability of cummingtonite and biotite over much of the terrain places upper limits on temperature and the presence of syn metamorphic partial melts in the metasediments places lower limits on a h2o garnet biotitesillimanite k feldspar quartz relations combined with the partial melting data suggest a decrease in water activity from near 1 0 in the lower grade zones to 0 5 0 2 in the broken hill little broken hill part of the two pyroxene zone this result is compatible with less precise hornblende orthopyroxene clinopyroxene quartz relations

seismic delineation of upthrust archaean crust in kapuskasing northern ontario the kapuskasing structure fig 1 is a 500 km long high grade metamorphic zone which cuts obliquely across the predominantly east west structural grain of the superior province of the canadian shield results from surface geological mapping and gravity profile analysis suggest that the structure is a partial cross section of archaean crust exposed by thrust faulting along the ivanhoe lake cataclastic zone during the early proterozoic1 2 similar exposures of the crust have been observed elsewhere3 4 but no seismic investigation has been conducted over a contiguous exposed cross section of archaean crust here we report results from a seismic refraction profile across the kapuskasing structural zone carried out to investigate the deep structure of this greenstone gneiss belt modelling of travel times and amplitudes yields a high velocity anomaly of 6 6 6 7 km s 1 extending from 20 km depth to close to the surface under the kapuskasing zone with a suggested dip of 15 2 to the west this anomaly is in agreement with a structure comprising upthrusting middle to lower crust

brittle ductile transition semi brittle behavior abstract in central british columbia mesoscopic and microscopic deformation mechanisms within metamorphic rocks ranging from greenschist facies through upper amphibolite facies have been examined to evaluate the applicability of single mechanism flow laws at different crustal levels throughout the entire sequence regardless of metamorphic grade the processes of regional strain accommodation were dominantly semi brittle in the presence of an aqueous fluid phase no sign was found of abrupt brittle ductile transition and caution against calculating such a transition through the intersection of single mechanism flow laws with friction law s that on the regional and local scales do not appear to describe the mechanisms whereby regional strain is accommodated is advised

rock mechanics observations pertinent to the rheology of the continental lithosphere and the localization of strain along shear zones emphasized in this paper are the deformation processes and rheologies of rocks at high temperatures and high effective pressures conditions that are presumably appropriate to the lower crust and upper mantle in continental collision zones much recent progress has been made in understanding the flexure of the oceanic lithosphere using rock mechanics based yield criteria for the inelastic deformations at the top and base at mid plate depths stresses are likely to be supported elastically because bending strains and elastic stresses are low the collisional tectonic regime however is far more complex because very large permanent strains are sustained at mid plate depths and this requires us to include the broad transition between brittle and ductile flow moreover important changes in the ductile flow mechanisms occur at the intermediate temperatures found at mid plate depths two specific contributions of laboratory rock rheology research are considered in this paper first the high temperature steady state flow mechanisms and rheology of mafic and ultramafic rocks are reviewed with special emphasis on olivine and crystalline rocks rock strength decreases very markedly with increases in temperature and it is the onset of flow by high temperature ductile mechanisms that defines the base of the lithosphere the thickness of the continental lithosphere can therefore be defined by the depth to a particular isotherm tc above which at geologic strain rates the high temperature ductile strength falls below some arbitrary strength isobar e g 100 mpa for olivine tc is about 700 800 c but for other crustal silicates tc may be as low as 400 600 c suggesting that substantial decoupling may take place within thick continental crust and that strength may increase with depth at the moho as suggested by a number of workers on independent grounds put another way the moho is a rheological discontinuity a second class of laboratory observations pertains to the general phenomenon of ductile faulting in which ductile strains are localized into shear zones ductile faults have been produced in experiments of five different rock types and is generally expressed as strain softening in constant strain rate tests or as an accelerating creep rate stage at constant differential stress a number of physical mechanisms have been identified that may be responsible for ductile faulting including the onset of dynamic recrystallization phase changes hydrothermal alteration and hydrolytic weakening microscopic evidence for these processes as well as larger scale geological and geophysical observations suggest that ductile faulting in the middle to lower crust and upper mantle may greatly influence the distribution and magnitudes of differential stresses and the style of deformation in the overlying upper continental lithosphere

a physical mechanism of positive ionospheric storms at low latitudes and midlatitudes 1 a physical mechanism of the positive ionospheric storms at low latitudes and midlatitudes is presented through multi instrument observations theoretical modeling and basic principles according to the mechanism an equatorward neutral wind is required to produce positive ionospheric storms the mechanical effects of the wind 1 reduce or stop the downward diffusion of plasma along the geomagnetic field lines 2 raise the ionosphere to high altitudes of reduced chemical loss and hence 3 accumulate the plasma at altitudes near and above the ionospheric peak centered at around 30 magnetic latitudes daytime eastward prompt penetration electric field ppef if it occurs also shifts the equatorial ionization anomaly crests to higher than normal latitudes up to approximately 30 latitudes the positive ionospheric storms are most likely in the longitudes where the onset of the geomagnetic storms falls in the ionization production dominated morning noon local time sector when the plasma accumulation due to the mechanical effects of the wind largely exceeds the plasma loss due to the chemical effect of the wind the mechanism agrees with the multi instrument observations made during the supergeomagnetic storm of 7 8 november 2004 with 18 h long initial phase ip and 10 h long main phase mp the observations which are mainly in the japanese australian longitudes where the mp onset was in the morning 0600 lt 2100 ut show 1 strong positive ionospheric storms in ne nmax hmax global positioning system total electron content gps tec and 630 nm airglow intensity in both northern and southern hemispheres started at the morning 0600 lt mp onset and lasted for a day 2 repeated occurrence of strong eastward ppef events penetrated after the mp onset and superposed with westward electric field started before the mp onset and 3 storm time equatorward neutral winds inferred from 1 and 2 repeated occurrence of an unusually strong f3 layer with large density depletions around the equator was also observed during the morning noon mp

microfracturing and regional stress field a study of the preferred orientations of fluid inclusion planes in a granite from the massif central france abstract a study of the deformation of a granitic massif indicates a relationship between palaeostress fields and the geometry of microfractures as defined by fluid inclusion trails that is healed microfractures a statistical study of the distribution of the trails leads to the following conclusions trails exhibit several distinct preferred orientations on the scale of a grain which may be observed in many samples the orientations of the trails are similar to those of micro and mesoscale fractures in the granite and the dominant trail direction is parallel to the main direction of regional shortening thus fluid inclusion trails are mode i cracks which can be used as excellent markers of palaeostress fields

lithosphere response to externally and internally derived stresses a viscoelastic stress guide with amplification summary lithosphere subjected to an externally derived horizontal stress undergoes creep in the lower lithosphere resulting in the decay of lower lithosphere stress and the associated amplification of stress within the upper lithosphere this stress response of lithosphere has been investigated for a lithosphere model with power law stress and temperature dependent viscoelastic properties the rate and extent of stress decay and associated stress amplification is greatly dependent on the lithosphere geotherm oceanic lithosphere subject to an applied stress of o 1 kb undergoes upper lithosphere stress amplification of 1 5 1 8 and 2 0 at 104 106 and 108 yr respectively at 106 yr the effective lithosphere thickness is reduced to approximately 40 km the stress decay and amplification proceeds more rapidly for an applied stress of 1 0 kb and in the case of a tensile applied stress results in some upper lithosphere fracture for continental and basin and range type lithosphere the comparable stress amplification at 106 yr for a stress of 0 1 kb is 2 0 and 6 5 with effective lithosphere thicknesses of 60 and 20 km respectively the large values of stress amplification for the basin and range lithosphere result in complete upper lithosphere fracture which gives rise to a cyclic process of upper lithosphere faulting and lower lithosphere creep in which extensive lithosphere deformation can occur the stress amplification process also occurs for stresses generated by lateral density contrasts for an isostatically compensated plateau uplift structure deviatoric stresses of the order of 1 kb can be generated in the upper lithosphere by this process and are sufficient to cause tensile fracture of the upper lithosphere the response of viscoelastic lithosphere to constant geometry bending stresses has also been examined and results in substantial but not complete reduction of the bending stresses

abnormal evening vertical plasma drift and effects on esf and eia over brazil south atlantic sector during the 30 october 2003 superstorm 1 equatorial f region vertical plasma drifts spread f and anomaly responses in the south american longitude sector during the superstorm of 30 october 2003 are analyzed using data from an array of instruments consisting of digisondes a vhf radar gps tec and scintillation receivers in brazil and a digisonde and a magnetometer in jicamarca peru prompt penetrating eastward electric field of abnormally large intensity drove the f layer plasma up at a velocity 1200 ms 1 during post dusk hours in the eastern sector over brazil the equatorial anomaly was intensified and expanded poleward while the development of spread f plasma bubble irregularities and gps signal scintillations were weaker than their quiet time intensity significantly weaker f region response over jicamarca presented a striking difference in the intensity of prompt penetration electric field between peru and eastern longitudes of brazil the enhanced post dusk sector vertical drift over brazil is attributed to electro dynamics effects arising energetic particle precipitation in the south atlantic magnetic anomaly sama these extraordinary results and their longitudinal differences are presented and discussed in this paper

deep crustal extensional faulting in the ivrea zone of northern italy abstract the ivrea zone in northern italy consists of amphibolite and granulite facies metasedimentary metabasic and ultrabasic rocks and is thought to represent a section through the deep continental crust detailed mapping of the high grade part of this zone has revealed a series of high temperature shear zones which after the effects of later low temperature faulting and folding have been removed appears to accommodate extension of the sequence the shear zones formed at temperatures similar to those at which thermal equilibration occurred in the host rocks and locally show evidence for development under prograde conditions these observations fit well with thermal effects calculated from a simple heat flow model for extensional faulting in this model the effects of shear heating and displacement of cool hanging wall rocks against hotter footwall rocks are calculated these observations indicate that faulting as a mode of failure may be important during extension of the lower continental crust especially when basic rocks are the dominant components of the rock pile a restored section through the extended lower crust as observed in the ivrea zone is presented and the extent to which the features observed are able to explain seismic reflectivity of the lower crust is discussed

exposed cross sections through the continental crust implications for crustal structure petrology and evolution abstract the continental crust is exposed in cross section at numerous sites on the earth s surface these exposures which appear to have formed by obduction along great faults during continental collision may be recognized by exposures of deep crustal rocks exhibiting asymmetric patterns of metamorphic grade and age across the faults and by distinctive bouguer anomaly patterns reflecting dipping basement structure and an anomalously deep mantle from an examination of five complexes which meet these criteria it is concluded that the most prominent layering in the crust is not compositional but metamorphic the lower crust consists of granulite facies rocks of mafic to intermediate composition while the intermediate and shallow levels consist predominantly of amphibolite facies gneisses and greenschist facies supracrustal rocks respectively post metamorphic granitic intrusions are common at intermediate to shallow levels position of discontinuities in refraction velocity where present commonly correspond to changes in composition or metamorphic grade with depth the continental crust is characterized by lateral and vertical heterogeneities of varying scale which are the apparent cause of the complex seismic reflections recorded by cocorp field observations coupled with geochemical data indicate a complex evolution of the lower crust which can include anatexis multiple deformation polymetamorphism and reworking of older crustal material the complexity of the crust is thus the result of continuous evolution by recycling and metamorphism through time in a variety of tectonic environments

dynamic recrystallization of feldspar a mechanism for ductile shear zone formation feldspar aggregates experimentally deformed in the dislocation creep regime undergo dynamic recrystallization because recovery is difficult due to the limited climb of dislocations recrystallizing aggregates have a lower strength because of the cyclic production of small strain free grains and they develop a strong preferred orientation consistent with that observed in mylonites thus recrystallization accommodated dislocation creep may be responsible for the grain size reduction and strain softening that lead to the formation of many mylonites and ductile shear zones

penetration of magnetospheric electric fields to the equator during a geomagnetic storm 1 penetration of the magnetospheric electric field to the equatorial ionosphere was examined for the geomagnetic storm on 6 november 2001 by analyzing the difference in magnitude of the geomagnetic storm recorded at the dayside geomagnetic equator yap 0 3 gml and low latitude okinawa 14 47 gml the penetrated electric field caused the dp2 currents at the equator i e eastward currents during the main phase of the storm while the overshielding currents i e westward currents dominated during the recovery phase it is shown that the ring current started to develop simultaneously with the onset of the equatorial dp2 within the temporal resolution of a few minutes these results imply prompt transmission of the dawn to dusk convection electric field to the inner magnetosphere as well as to the equatorial ionosphere it is found that the equatorial dp2 started to decrease one hour after the onset of the ring current development indicating shielding effects becoming effective at the equator during the latter half of the storm main phase the dp2 was then overwhelmed by the overshielding which resulted in the counter electrojet cej in the beginning of the storm recovery phase the image magnetometer chain data indicate that the westward auroral electrojet aej in the dawn sector was driven over midlatitude centered at 57 corrected geomagnetic latitude cgml during the main phase while the aej shifted rapidly poleward to the auroral latitude centered at 67 cgml in the beginning of the recovery phase the overshielding must be caused by the abrupt poleward shift of the rl facs as inferred from the poleward shift of the aej in addition to the decrease in their magnitude due to the decrease in magnitude of the southward imf the geomagnetic storm at the dayside geomagnetic equator was enhanced in amplitude with the ratio of 2 7 as compared with the geomagnetic storm at low latitude this amplification is a result of both effects of the dp2 currents and the cej associated with the main and recovery phases respectively it is suggested that the electric field associated with the dp2 currents contributed to the development of the ring current during the main phase while the overshielding electric field may contribute to cease developing the ring current during the recovery phase

partial melting and the formation of granulite facies assemblages in namaqualand south africa abstract dehydration melting reactions in which water from a hydrous phase enters the melt leaving an anhydrous solid assemblage are the dominant mechanism of partial melting of high grade rocks in the absence of externally derived vapour equilibria involving melt and solid phases are effective buffers of ah2 o the element partitioning observed in natural rocks suggests that dehydration melting occurs over a temperature interval during which for most cases ah2o is driven to lower values the mass balance of dehydration melting in typical biotite gneiss and metapelite shows that the proportion of melt in the product assemblage at t 850 c is relatively small 10 20 and probably insufficient to mobilize a partially melted rock body granulite facies metapelite biotite gneiss and metabasic gneiss in namaqualand contain coarse grained discordant unfoliated anhydrous segregations surrounded by a finer grained foliated matrix that commonly includes hydrous minerals the segregations have modes consistent with the hypothesis that they are the solid and liquid products of the dehydration melting reactions bt sil qtz pi grt crd kfs l metapelite bt qtz pl opx kfs l biotite gneiss and hbl qtz opx cpx pl l metabasic gneiss the size shape distribution and modes of segregations suggest only limited migration and extraction of melt growth of anhydrous poikiloblasts in matrix regions development of anhydrous haloes around segregations and formation of dehydrated margins on metabasic layers enclosed in migmatitic metapelites all imply local gradients in water activity also they suggest that individual segregations and bodies of partially melted rock acted as sinks for soluble volatiles the preservation of anhydrous assemblages and the restricted distribution of late hydrous minerals suggest that retrograde reaction between hydrous melt and solids did not occur and that h2o in the melt was released as vapour on crystallization this model combined with the natural observations suggests that it is possible to form granulite facies assemblages without participation of external fluid and without major extraction of silicate melt

resources of gold in phanerozoic epithermal deposits we have estimated earth s endowment of gold in phanerozoic epithermal deposits using a tectonic diffusion model which simulates the emplacement of deposits at a shallow crustal depth and their subsequent vertical tectonic migration in the crust the calculation was calibrated by least squares comparison of a calculated age frequency distribution to the age frequency distribution for 448 epithermal deposits of phanerozoic age results indicate that 17 percent of the epithermal deposits that formed through phanerozoic time remain in the crust today whereas 83 percent have been removed by erosion assuming a similar age distribution for all 1 181 epithermal deposits in our compilation indicates that 307 000 deposits formed throughout phanerozoic time that 63 000 of these remain in the crust and that 244 000 have been eroded grade and tonnage data of gold in 757 epithermal deposits in the compilation have an arithmetic average of 34 7 t and yield an estimate of 2 2 106 t of gold for epithermal deposits remaining in the crust using the model based vertical distribution of deposits remaining in the crust we estimate that epithermal deposits in the upper kilometer of the united states contain 2 9 104 t of gold adjusting for areas of outcropping volcanic rocks in each continent increases our estimate to 4 0 104 t these estimates are similar to the 1 7 104 t gold resource estimated by the u s geological survey using completely different methods several comparisons based on these results provide insights into the efficiency of processes that form epithermal deposits and the outlook for sustainability for instance all of the epithermal deposits that formed through phanerozoic time represent only about 0 03 percent of the gold in the crust only about 0 007 percent of crustal gold remains in epithermal deposits the rest has been eroded and recycled this is consistent with comparisons based on the flux of gold in the taupo volcanic zone which indicate that epithermal deposits trap only 0 1 to 0 2 percent of the gold that moves through convergent margin hydrothermal systems epithermal gold deposits that remain in the crust can supply current production from them for 1 400 to 5 000 years depending on success of exploration and depth of mining finally we are consuming gold from epithermal deposits about 17 000 times faster than earth is replenishing the supply

crustal growth in south eastern australia evidence from lower crustal eclogitic and granulitic xenoliths mafic and ultramafic xenoliths in a basaltic cone at the anakies in south eastern australia are geochemically equivalent to continental basaltic magmas and cumulates the xenolith microstructures range from recognizably meta igneous for intrusive rocks to granoblastic for garnet pyroxenites contact relationships between different rock types within some xenoliths suggest a complex petrogenesis of multiple intrusive metamorphic and metasomatic events at the crust mantle boundary during the evolution of south eastern australia unaltered spinel lher zolite typical of the uppermost eastern australian mantle is interleaved with or veined by the metamorphosed intrusive rocks of basaltic composition geothermobarometry calculations by a variety of methods show a concordance of equilibration temperatures ranging from 880 c to 980 c and pressures of 12 to 18 kbar 1200 1800 mpa these physical conditions span the gabbro to granulite to eclogite transition boundaries the water vapour pressure during equilibration is estimated to be about 0 5 of the load pressure using amphibole breakdown data large fluid inclusions of pure co2 are abundant in the mineral phases in the xenoliths and it is suggested that flux of co2 from the mantle has been an important heat source and fluid medium during metamorphism of the mafic and ultramafic protoliths at the lower crust upper mantle boundary the calculated pressures and temperatures suggest that the south eastern australian crust has sustained a high geothermal gradient in addition the nature of the mineral assemblages and the contact relationships of granulitic rock with spinel lherzolite characteristic of mantle material suggest that the moho is not a discrete feature in this region but is represented by a transition zone approximately 20 km thick these inferences are in agreement with geophysical data including seismic heat flow and electrical resistivity data determined for south eastern australia underplating at the crust mantle boundary by continental basaltic magmas may be an important alternative or additional mechanism to the conventional andesite model for crustal accretion

semi brittle deformation within the alpine fault zone new zealand abstract this paper reports the results of an attempt to identify the deformation micromechanisms in the brittle ductile transition zone of the alpine fault new zealand characterization of sequentially developed microstructures was carried out using optical microscopy hvem and stem analysis it was found that the transition zone corresponds to a broad zone of retrogression produced initially by microcracking and fluid infiltration the non catastropic nature of the fracturing indicates that fluid enhanced sub critical cracking is a significant crustal deformation mechanism after the initial phase of retrogression both ductile and brittle processes coexist and cyclically alternate in response to stress cycling the relative importance of macroscopic brittle processes may decrease with time as more ductile minerals especially phyllosilicates develop during continued retrogression

deep seismic reflection characteristics of the continental crust four types of seismic reflection fabrics appear to characterize the continental crust 1 a cratonic fabric dominated by diffractions and dipping reflections but lacking a pronounced reflection moho 2 regions of thin skinned foreland deformation with abundant shallow but sparse deep reflections 3 a unidirectional fabric that dips toward the hinterland and may represent a crustal scale ramp zone and 4 zones of highly layered lower crust and high amplitude reflection moho the first three types are commonly observed in transects across single mountain belts but the fourth appears to correspond to regions of elevated lower crustal temperatures such as those encountered in rift provinces and perhaps elsewhere

the role of tectonic grain size reduction in the rheological stratification of the lithosphere with the aid of published constitutive flow laws for common crustal and upper mantle rock types it is possible to construct curves showing variation of rock strength with depth in the continental lithosphere assuming a particular crustal stratification of rock types and a particular geothermal gradient such exercises lead to the conclusion that marked changes in strength can occur at major petrological interfaces such as the moho discontinuity which are therefore likely to be associated with a tendency for major sub horizontal detachments to form constitutive flow laws used for such purposes are usually assumed to represent steady state flow at constant rock microstructure

physical mechanisms of the ionospheric storms at equatorial and higher latitudes during the recovery phase of geomagnetic storms 1 the paper studies the physical mechanisms of the ionospheric storms at equatorial and higher latitudes which are generally opposite both during the main phase mp and recovery phase rp of geomagnetic storms the mechanisms are based on the natural tendency of physical systems to occupy minimum energy state which is most stable the paper first illustrates the recent developments in the understanding of the mechanisms during daytime mps when generally negative ionospheric storms in nmax and tec develop at equatorial latitudes and positive storms occur at higher latitudes including why the storms are severe only in some cases the paper then investigates the relative importance of the physical mechanisms of the positive ionospheric storms observed at equatorial latitudes within 15 during daytime rps when negative storms occur at higher latitudes using champ ne and gps tec data and sheffield university plasmasphere ionosphere model the results indicate that the mechanical effect of the storm time equatorward neutral winds that causes plasma convergence at equatorial f region could be a major source for the positive storms with the downwelling effect of the winds and zero or westward electric field if present acting as minor sources

the role of water in the deformation of dunite specimens of two natural dunites anita bay of 100 m grain size and aheirn of 900 m grain size have been deformed in experiments at temperatures between 1200 and 1400 c and constant strain rates between 10 4 and 10 6 s 1 in a gas medium deformation apparatus at 300 mpa confining pressure prior to these experiments the specimens were given a heat treatment in a controlled oxygen fugacity furnace at 1200 c for 60 hours to dehydrate the trace layer silicate minerals present and drive off adsorbed water the predried specimens are much stronger than specimens tested under wet conditions in an earlier study the predried specimens also do not show the apparent grain size dependence seen under wet conditions infrared absorption measurements on the present specimens and those of the earlier study indicate that for a given rock flow stress can be correlated with the intensity of a residual water related broad absorption the addition of water to a predried specimen results in both a mechanical reweakening and an intensifying of the broadband infrared component the weakening of the dunites under wet conditions is probably strongly influenced by the presence of small amounts of a water related species in the grain boundaries but intragranular weakening may also be contributing it is suggested that the concentration of the water related species in the grain boundaries is governed by its concentration in the small melt fraction present the amounts of water that have been found to be of importance for the strength of these dunites are of the order of 0 01 wt amounts much less than most estimates of the water content of the earth s undepleted upper mantle such water may have an important role in determining upper mantle flow behavior stress strain curves for all experiments are available with entire manuscript on microfiche order from american geophysical union 2000 florida avenue n w washington dc 20009 document b84 008 2 50 payment must accompany order

extension of continental lithosphere a model for two scales of basin and range deformation we develop a model for deformation in an extending continental lithosphere that is stratified in density and strength assuming a rheology consistent with seismic focal depths and experimental flow laws the model demonstrates that necking instabilities at two wavelengths will arise due to the presence of a strong upper crust and upper mantle separated by a weak lower crust the magnitudes of the instabilities are directly related to strength contrasts within the lithosphere while the dominant wavelengths of necking are controlled mainly by the thicknesses of the strong layers the results are applied to the basin and range province of the western united states where two scales of deformation can be recognized one corresponding to the spacing of ranges and the other to the width of tilt domains a bouguer gravity anomaly and associated regional topography with a wavelength comparable to the width of tilt domains has also been recognized for plausible density and strength stratifications our results show that the horizontal scale of short wavelength necking is consistent with the spacing of individual basins and ranges while that of the longer wavelength necking is consistent with the width of tilt domains we thus suggest that basin and range deformation may be controlled by two scales of extensional instability extension in the weak lower crust in this model is laterally displaced from regions of upper crustal extension the resultant horizontal shearing in the lower crust may be a mechanism for the initiation of low angle extensional detachments

a forward approach to the problem of nonlinear viscoelasticity and the thickness of the mechanical lithosphere the physical significance of the mechanical lithosphere is clarified using a nonlinear maxwell flexure model this model reconciles high temperature creep data for rock with the observed long term strength of the mechanical lithosphere an approximate correspondence is established between the nonisothermal maxwell model and an elastic flexure model to define an effective lithosphere thickness he the model calculations are essentially forward since he does not depend in a significant way upon the nominal or prescribed value of beam thickness depending rather upon such variables as temperature and creep activation energy the effective thickness of the maxwell model though a function of time is stable enough over appropriate time scales to explain the long term integrated strength of the lithosphere the strength index is defined as the ratio of axial stress to the axial stress that would be present in a purely elastic fiber suffering the same strain the base of the effective lithosphere is marked by a critical isopleth of strength c 0 3 this critical level though not its position is independent of time since loading the strength index also maps out zones of predominant rheology the narrowness of the transition zone between the elastic lithosphere and the viscous asthenosphere explains the success of the elastic plate in modeling many examples of lithosphere flexure the elastic plate approximation may apply best where the lithosphere is relatively young and hot isolated weak zones in the continental crust may or may not weaken the lithosphere as a whole depending upon the distribution of these zones and the manner in which they deform in general such weakening is likely to be most effective when the base of the crust occurs at midlithospheric depths

deep crustal structure and tectonic history of the northern kapuskasing uplift of ontario an integrated petrological geophysical study the northeast trending kapuskasing uplift transects the east west belts of the central superior province over a distance of some 500 km granulite to upper amphibolite facies rocks of the uplift form three distinct geological geophysical entities from south to north the chapleau groundhog river and fraserdale moosonee blocks uplift of the granulites along a moderately northwest dipping crustal scale thrust fault is attributed to an early proterozoic compressional event major northeast striking faults that bound the kapuskasing zone on the west were examined by modelling of geophysical anomalies to determine dip and by geobarometry of garnet orthopyroxene plagioclase quartz assemblages to determine vertical displacement granulites in the kapuskasing zone have 7 to 9 kbar signatures whereas those in the quetico belt to the west indicate metamorphic pressure of 4 6 kbar individual calibrations of the barometer yield consistent pressure differences of 2 3 kbar suggesting 7 10 km of west side down movement on the faults modelling of gravity and aeromagnetic gradients indicates westerly dips of 60 65 with west side down offset of up to 14 km these major normal faults probably formed as collapse structures in response to crustal thickening which occurred during the preceding compressional uplift stage differences in the configuration of individual blocks of the kapuskasing zone can be related to variable fault slip and intersection angles between normal and reverse faults thus the groundhog river and southern fraserdale moosonee blocks are perched thrust tips analogous to the sangre de cristo range of the laramide uplift province whereas the southern chapleau block is a tilted slab with similar configuration to the laramide wind river range pop up geometry deduced for the northern fraserdale moosonee block resembles the structure of the laramide uinta mountains a normal fault crosses the surface trace of the basal thrust fault between the groundhog river and fraserdale moosonee blocks and causes a 65 km gap without granulites this article contains supplementary material