mechanical interactions between rigid particles in a deforming ductile matrix analogue experiments in simple shear flow abstract the mechanical interaction between two or more particles is investigated in newtonian simple shear flow the experimental models allow observation of both the particle rotation and the deformation pattern around the particles the finite and instantaneous strain patterns around rigid particles are strongly heterogeneous and asymmetric with high finite strain zones aligned to the direction of maximum finite stretch these correspond to local flow with low vorticity number heterogeneous strain patterns around rigid particles spread over a distance of 1 2 times the particle length and this distance increases with increasing bulk strain where rigid particles are more concentrated these patterns coalesce and the overall pattern is then strongly controlled by the particles and cannot be simply related to the external boundary conditions in rocks the characteristic asymmetric strain pattern around rigid isolated particles is a reliable shear criterion which becomes unreliable with high concentrations of rigid particles particle rotation is significantly disturbed when the distance between adjacent particles of equal size is shorter than their length that is only in very concentrated suspensions of rigid particles in a composite shape fabric the development of the sub fabric corresponding to the smaller minerals will be more disturbed

interactions between sediment production and transport in the geometry of carbonate platforms insights from forward modeling of the great bank of guizhou early to middle triassic south china abstract carbonate platforms grow through the precipitation transport and final deposition of carbonate sediment out of seawater quantifying the relative contributions of initial production versus subsequent transport in determining the growth rates and geometries of platforms remains a significant challenge in this study stratigraphic forward modeling is used to quantify the roles of sediment production transport and deposition during each growth stage of a permian triassic carbonate platform with a complex growth history parameter optimization and sensitivity analysis show that within the range of reasonable values the morphology of the platform is most sensitive to sediment transport moderately sensitive to maximum carbonate production rate and least sensitive to the productivity depth curve the ramp to high relief steep sloped platform transition during early triassic time can be explained by any factor that limits sediment transport from shallow water areas of high production to the slope and basin reefs may play a role in limiting sediment transport on many platforms but other processes such as early marine cementation or carbonate production along the slope may be equally capable of yielding this shift in platform geometry in this particular case early lithification of ooid and skeletal shoals on the platform margin perhaps facilitated by unusually high carbonate saturation state of seawater may have inhibited sediment transport into the basin prior to the development of a reef on the platform margin later anisian progradation of the platform margin can be explained by the development of a slope factory rather than requiring increased sediment transport from the platform top the development of an escarpment margin in the ladinian is mainly influenced by accommodation in the slope profile created by antecedent anisian topography a general implication from the model results is that the growth of steep sloped carbonate platforms lacking slope factories may often be limited by transport of sediment from the platform top to accommodation on the slope rather than by the intrinsic production capacity of the platform top factory

stratigraphic signature of a terminal early cambrian regressive event in the iberian peninsula in the iberian peninsula the uppermost lower cambrian early bilbilian age is represented by the deposition of conglomerates and sandstones except in a northwestern region the cantabrian mountains where carbonate deposition took place these coarse siliciclastic deposits indicate a regressive trend called the daroca regression in its type area the iberian chains northeast spain this regressive episode represents a progradational highstand systems tract which did not result in widespread subaerial exposure of the shelf in addition the absence of important stratigraphical gaps and the good biostratigraphical control based on trilobites and acritarchs in the iberian chains permit a correlation of this regressive trend with other neighboring areas where the top of this trend is represented by a regional unconformity and a hiatus that began in the latest early cambrian and extended through early middle cambrian times

structure and emplacement of a rhyolitic obsidian flow little glass mountain medicine lake highland northern california many rhyolitic obsidian flows show consistent stratigraphic relations among textural units exposed in the flow fronts of undissected flows and in cross sections of older flows the stratigraphy of the holocene little glass mountain rhyolitic obsidian flow consists of from bottom to top air fall tephra deposits basal breccia coarsely vesicular pumice obsidian finely vesicular pumice and surface breccia slightly crystalline rhyolite occurs near the vent areas a model of obsidian flow emplacement based on these textural relations is presented this stratigraphy may reflect the distribution of volatiles within the magma source region with the interlayered contact between coarsely vesicular pumice and overlying obsidian indicating stratification of volatiles in the magma body the distribution of pumiceous and glassy zones along with the orientations of flow banding can be used to map the surface structure of rhyolitic obsidian flows this complex structure as mapped on the little glass mountain flow reflects both the initial flow stratigraphy and subsequent deformational processes during emplacement of the lava three processes disrupt the initial flow configuration the rise of coarse pumice diapirs from the base of the flow the inward propagation of fractures in areas of extension and surface folding in sites of flow parallel compression subvertical flow banding in vent areas indicates that fracturing accompanies the emergence of lava most of the observed upper surface of a dome originates as a fracture plane the structure of domes that form over vent areas may reflect the orientation of dike like conduits as well as the local state of stress during extrusion

potbellies wasp waists and superparamagnetism in magnetic hysteresis because the response of a magnetic substance to an applied field depends strongly on the physical properties of the material much can be learned by monitoring that response through what is known as a magnetic hysteresis loop the measurements are rapid and quickly becoming part of the standard set of tools supporting paleomagnetic research yet the interpretation of hysteresis loops is not simple it has become apparent that although classic single domain pseudo single domain and multidomain loops described in textbooks occur in natural samples loops are frequently distorted having constricted middles wasp waisted loops or spreading middles and slouching shoulders potbellies such complicated loops are often interpreted in oversimplified ways leading to erroneous conclusions the physics of the problem have been understood for nearly half a century yet numerical simulations appropriate to geological materials are almost unavailable in this paper we discuss results of numerical simulations using the simplest of systems the single domain superparamagnetic sd sp system examination of the synthetic hysteresis loops leads to the following observations 1 wasp waisting and potbellies can easily be generated from populations of sd and sp grains 2 wasp waisting requires an sp contribution that saturates quickly resulting in a steep initial slope and potbellies require low initial slopes the sp contribution approaching saturation at higher fields the approach to saturation is dependent on volume hence the cube of grain diameter therefore there is a very strong dependence of hysteresis loop shape on the assumed threshold size 3 we were unable to generate potbellies using an sp sd threshold size as large as 30 nm and wasp waists cannot be generated using a threshold size as small as 8 nm the occurrence of both potbellies and wasp waists in natural samples is consistent with a room temperature threshold size of some 15 nm 5 4 simulations using a threshold size of 15 20 nm with populations dominated by sp grain sizes that is with a small number of sd grains produce synthetic hysteresis loops consistent with measured hysteresis loops and transmission electron microscopic observations from submarine basaltic glass 5 simulations and measurements using two populations with distinct coercivity spectra can also generate wasp waisted loops a relatively straightforward analysis of the resulting loops can distinguish the latter case from wasp waisting resulting from sp sd behavior

anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and magnetic properties of obsidians volcanic implications the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams hysteresis and thermomagnetic curves of two sets of obsidians with contrasting bulk compositions are reported in this work the cooling and deformation history of one of those obsidians is perfectly known as these specimens were produced in the laboratory using material from a basaltic lava flow the other samples are occurrences of a more silicic composition and for which the ams has been documented to have a close relationship with the distribution of microlites the results of our measurements indicate that although the deformation and cooling histories of the lava might influence the exact composition of the ferromagnetic fraction the relationship between the ams and the deformation history does not seem to be altered furthermore the results of this work indicate that the ams can be associated to a population of ferromagnetic minerals of a submicroscopic size despite of which it can be very well defined and yield large degrees of anisotropy it is suggested that the ams associated to such population of small grains might indeed be the origin of the ams of other igneous rocks that have an optically observable fraction of mineral grains although until present it had been overlooked in most instances use of tests designed to identify the contribution of a superparamagnetic fraction sp in the magnetic properties of a rock can help us to identify the presence of such a sp related ams in other cases

experimental study of acid sulfate alteration of basalt and implications for sulfate deposits on mars 1 acid sulfate alteration of basalt by so2 bearing volcanic vapors has been proposed as one possible origin for sulfate rich deposits on mars to better define mineralogical signatures of acid sulfate alteration laboratory experiments were performed to investigate alteration pathways and geochemical processes during reaction of basalt with sulfuric acid pyroclastic cinders composed of phenocrysts including plagioclase olivine and augite embedded in glass were reacted with sulfuric acid at 145 c for up to 137 days at a range of fluid rock ratios during the experiments the phenocrysts reacted rapidly to form secondary products while the glass was unreactive major products included amorphous silica anhydrite and fe rich natroalunite along with minor iron oxides oxyhydroxides probably hematite and trace levels of other sulfates at the lowest fluid rock ratio hexahydrite and an unidentified fe silicate phase also occurred as major products reaction path models indicated that formation of the products required both slow dissolution of glass and kinetic inhibitions to precipitation of a number of minerals including phyllosilicates and other aluminosilicates as well as al and fe oxides oxyhydroxides similar models performed for martian basalt compositions predict that the initial stages of acid sulfate alteration of pyroclastic deposits on mars should result in formation of amorphous silica anhydrite fe bearing natroalunite and kieserite along with relict basaltic glass in addition analysis of the experimental products indicates that fe bearing natroalunite produces a mossbauer spectrum closely resembling that of jarosite suggesting that it should be considered an alternative to the component in sulfate rich bedrocks at meridiani planum that has previously been identified as jarosite

terrestrial analogs of martian sulfates major and minor element systematics of alunite jarosite from goldfield nevada alunite and jarosite from goldfield nevada show spectacular relationships between early alunite and later jarosite in some cases jarosite overgrows alunite with the same crystallographic orientation and sharp contacts electron microprobe analyses of these phases show that they fall in the alunite jarosite quadrilateral defined by alunite kal3 so4 2 oh 6 natroalunite naal3 so4 2 oh 6 jarosite kfe33 so4 2 oh 6 and natrojarosite nafe33 so4 2 oh 6 a large compositional gap occurs between alunite natroalunite and jarosite natrojarosite this gap has no crystal chemical basis because al and fe3 can readily substitute for each other in octahedral site coordination we believe the on off switch behavior between early alunite and later jarosite is caused by an oxidant entering the system oxidizing fe2 in solution to fe3 raising the eh and possibly oxidizing h2s to lower the ph and thus stabilizing jarosite relative to alunite the activity of fe as fe2 increased in the solution because of prolonged alunite crystallization but could not readily enter the crystal structure until it was oxidized to fe3 the jarosite overgrowths show striking oscillatory zoning of na and k rich bands this reflects up to an order of magnitude change in the fluid k na ratio these textures are interpreted to represent rapid growth and kinetic control of delivery of free na and k to the crystal fluid interface this could be due to some combination of na and k diffusion rates in the solution and complex ion breakdown involving na and k

the middle late cambrian reef transition and related geological events a review and new view abstract the reefs of the middle late cambrian cambrian epoch 3 furongian have long been simply considered as microbialites that flourished in the aftermath of the archaeocyath extinction thorough review of the reefs in these periods shows however that the cambrian epoch 3 and the furongian actually yield different types of reefs the cambrian epoch 3 reefs are dominated by thrombolites and dendrolites largely constructed by the calcified microbes epiphyton and renalcis on the other hand the furongian reefs consist mainly of maze like maceriate reefs and columnar stromatolites the maceriate reefs most likely formed by siliceous sponges and calcified microbes including girvanella and tarthinia whereas the columnar stromatolites were mainly constructed by girvanella tarthinia and minor siliceous sponges other microbial reefs e g non columnar stromatolites persisted during the cambrian epoch 3 and the furongian mainly as small patch reefs or reefal crusts lithistid sponge microbial reefs initially formed in the cambrian epoch 3 and occurred throughout the furongian but occupied only a minor portion during these periods several geological events occurred across the boundary between the cambrian epoch 3 and the furongian including positive carbon and sulfur isotope excursions a eustatic sea level drop major faunal turnover of trilobites and diversification of new organisms the coincidence of these events and the transition in reefal fabrics suggest that reef ecosystems were significantly influenced by at least some of these events among the events it is likely that sea level change would have affected reefs although further studies are required in order to test whether and how the other events influenced the reef transition epiphyton and renalcis and thrombolites and dendrolites formed by them declined greatly most likely due to sea level fall and thus decreased in shallow marine habitat at the end of cambrian epoch 3 the cambrian epoch 3 thrombolites and dendrolites were gradually replaced by a sponge microbial association of the maze like maceriate reefs and the columnar stromatolites in the furongian coincident with a sea level rise

active synsedimentary tectonism on a mixed carbonate siliciclastic continental margin third order sequence stratigraphy of a ramp to basin transition lower sekwi formation selwyn basin northwest territories canada the lower part of the early cambrian sekwi formation in the selwyn basin of the northwest territories canada is composed of two regional unconformity bounded sequences s0 and s1 which record the first widespread carbonate deposition during the initial palaeozoic transgression onto the western margin of laurentia these early cambrian sequences are unique to the western north american cordillera representing the only record of primarily deep water deposition on a tectonically active mixed carbonate siliciclastic ramp during this period more specifically the geometry of the sekwi ramp changed during deposition of s0 and s1 from a shallowly dipping homoclinal ramp during the s0 transgressive systems tract to a steeply dipping tectonically modified ramp during the early highstand systems tract of s0 the steeply dipping ramp profile of s0 was preserved into the early transgressive systems tract of s1 the sekwi ramp returned to a gently sloping ramp during the late highstand systems tract of s1 and remained so throughout the remainder of sekwi deposition the evolving shape of the sekwi ramp is attributed to syndepositional down to the basin faulting during deposition of both s0 and s1 and is recorded by i the westward thickening irregular geometries of s0 and s1 ii geographical restriction of deep water facies including sediment gravity flow deposits iii the presence of large allochthonous blocks and iv the clast composition of sediment gravity flow deposits sediment gravity flow deposits play an unusually important role in the sequence stratigraphic interpretation of the lower sekwi formation as they delineate depositional packages including the maximum flooding zone the transitions between portions of systems tracts and the inferred locations of syntectonic extensional faults syntectonic faults increased accommodation basinward of an extensive ooid shoal complex that developed along the sekwi ramp crest greatly influencing sequence geometry and initiating the downslope motion of sediment gravity flows the syndepositional faulting probably was a continuation of extension that began during the latest neoproterozoic rifting of western laurentia the composition of sediment gravity flow deposits track changing accommodation space on the lower sekwi ramp and can be used to differentiate systems tracts that probably were related more to tectonism than eustasy

high paleointensities of the geomagnetic field from thermomagnetic studies on rift valley pillow basalts from the mid atlantic ridge nineteen pillow basalts dredged within the rift valley of the mid atlantic ridge at 36 8on were studied by the thellier stepwise heating method in order to determine the paleointensity of the geomagnetic field when they erupted on to the sea floor previously reported fission track ages are 2 000 to 6 000 years for the youngest rocks mainly olivine basalts and 10 000 to 100 000 years for the others mainly plagioclase basalts and pyroxene basalts all but three pillow basalts meet the conditions commonly considered as indicative of quite reliable paleointensity estimates stability of the direction of nrm during its thermal demagnetization constant ratio of nrm trm natural remanent magnetization to thermoremanent magnetization over 50 or more of the original nrm intensity 80 to 94 for 11 specimens and reproducibility of low temperature partial trm ptrm however strong field thermomagnetic measurements indicate that 11 of these 16 samples display a significant increase in curie temperature 15 to 80oc during the paleointensity experiments below 250oc notwithstanding the linearity of the nrm trm plot in this temperature interval this alteration probably due to low temperature oxidation of the specimens seems typical of young pillow basalts and may result in paleointensity estimates which are too high this result shows that excellence of remanence tests nrmtrm linearity and ptrm stability does not ensure the absence of chemical changes during the thellier experiments and therefore the validity of the paleointensity obtained the assumption that reliable paleointensities are obtained when the curie point increase is 10oc or less led to the selection of five of our specimens all from the youngest group their mean paleointensity is 64 2 20 5 xt standard deviation and the corresponding virtual axial dipole moment vadm is 11 5 3 7 x 1022 a m 2 given the variations of the vadm of the earth s magnetic field over the last 6 000 years as established from archeomagnetic studies our paleointensity results suggest that the latest eruptions on the inner floor of the rift valley at 36 8on occurred 1 500 1 000 years ago

lunar paleointensity measurements implications for lunar magnetic evolution abstract we analyze published and new paleointensity data from apollo samples to reexamine the hypothesis of an early 3 9 3 6 ga lunar dynamo our new paleointensity experiments on four samples use modern absolute and relative measurement techniques with ages ranging from 3 3 to 4 3 ga bracketing the putative period of an ancient lunar field samples 60015 anorthosite and 76535 troctolite failed during absolute paleointensity experiments samples 72215 and 62235 impact breccias recorded a complicated multi component magnetic history that includes a low temperature 500 c component associated with a low intensity 2 t similar multi component behavior has been observed in several published absolute intensity experiments on lunar samples additional material from 72215 and 62235 was subjected to a relative paleointensity experiment a saturation isothermal remanent magnetization or sirm experiment neither sample provided unambiguous evidence for a thermal origin of the recorded remanent magnetization we test several magnetization scenarios in an attempt to explain the complex magnetization recorded in lunar samples specifically an overprint from exposure to a small magnetic field an isothermal remanent magnetization results in multi component behavior similar to absolute paleointensity results from which we could not recover the correct magnitude of the original thermal remanent magnetization in light of these new experiments and a thorough re evaluation of existing paleointensity measurements we conclude that although some samples with ages of 3 6 to 3 9 ga are strongly magnetized and sometimes exhibit stable directional behavior it has not been demonstrated that these observations indicate a primary thermal remanence particularly problematic in the interpretation of lunar sample magnetizations are the effects of shock as relative paleointensity measurements for lunar samples are calibrated using absolute paleointensities the lack of acceptable absolute paleointensity measurements renders the interpretation of relative paleointensity measurements unreliable consequently current paleointensity measurements do not support the existence of a 3 9 3 6 ga lunar dynamo with 100 t surface fields a result that is in better agreement with satellite measurements of crustal magnetism and that presents fewer challenges for thermal evolution and dynamo models

equilibrium mineral fluid calculations and their application to the solid solution between alunite and natroalunite in the el indio pascua belt of chile and argentina abstract the effects of temperature and bulk fluid k na on the alunite natroalunite solid solution have been determined at 200 bar and 100 300 c these are conditions typical of magmatic hydrothermal alteration and precious metal mineral deposition in high sulfidation environments which are characterized by the presence of alunite bearing alteration zones our model is based on published experimental parameters which indicate that both alunite and natroalunite are stable over this temperature range and that increased na substitution is favored at higher temperature our calculation results predict that at all temperatures fluids in equilibrium with natroalunite are significantly more na rich than those typical of modern volcanic hydrothermal environments the results also indicate that a large variation in fluid k na is required to precipitate both k and na rich alunite at high temperature assuming near equilibrium conditions at lower temperature much less variation in fluid composition can yield compositions near those of the end members controls on alunite natroalunite solid solution in natural systems were evaluated using electron microprobe data from high sulfidation gold deposits of the el indio pascua belt the results indicate that higher temperatures of deposition correlate with a greater range of na substitution in alunite elevated na content in alunite is also locally attributed to higher concentrations of na in the source fluid as a result of the leaching and alteration of andesitic host rocks dacitic to granitic host lithologies in other regions of the belt are correlative with more k rich alunite compositions the results from this study suggest that the use of alunite k na composition as a guide to mineral exploration should be treated with caution

cooling dynamics of spatter fed phonolite obsidian flows on tenerife canary islands abstract relaxation geospeedometry has been applied to two series of clastogenic obsidian flows on tenerife to determine their thermal history across the glass transition the phonolite flows investigated were both generated by lava fountaining activity followed by rheomorphism of the deposits the detailed sampling resolution within the two series enabled an accurate quantification of their thermal history cooling rates within the investigated spatter fed flows vary over more than two orders of magnitude the highest cooling rates of 0 39 k min were modeled for the central vesiculated part of one flow the dense basal obsidian layers of both flows were cooled at substantially lower rates of 0 0042 and 0 0028 k min respectively there appears to be an influence of in situ vesiculation processes on the thermal budget of the investigated flows in addition the slow cooling rates for the basal portions of both flows seem to be associated with a stage of thermal buffering continual advective heat transport of hot material along a basal shear plane may sustain elevated temperatures associated with quasi isothermal annealing within this decollement numerical simulations based on conductive heat loss concepts fail to resolve the cooling history quantified through relaxation geospeedometry for the investigated flows the effects of vesiculation and thermal annealing on the cooling behavior of the clastogenic flows across the glass transition are discussed in the light of these new data in addition viscometric data on these phonolites are used to correlate the known cooling rates to viscosities at the glass transition

time specific aspects of facies state of the art examples and possible causes abstract the term time specific facies tsf was introduced to the scientific community by the late otto h walliser to refer to unique facies typical of particular narrow intervals some of which were related to bioevents in some senses however the concept was recognized much earlier and is even engrained in the very names of some geologic periods the concept of time specific facies is expanded slightly herein to include distinctive or unique regional to global characteristics of the sedimentary record that characterize particular intervals of geologic time the recognition of time specific and widespread processes in the sedimentary record is a critical step in unraveling the interplay between processes of differing scale these range from very short term but widespread facies that overlap with event deposits to general facies types that may persist for intervals up to 10s of millions of years in duration this paper briefly summarizes the history of development of the tsf concept provides examples to illustrate a few of the key aspects of time specific facies and offers a few tentative explanations for this phenomenon among the factors that control tsfs abrupt changes in redox conditions and early diagenetic mineralization sedimentary condensation often associated with abrupt sea level change altered climate and paleoceanography and biotic evolution and extinction seem to be most critical and permit a preliminary genetic classification of tsfs inevitably however many tsfs reflect multiple effects and some remain largely unexplained

evaluation of a relaxation geospeedometer for volcanic glasses abstract the cooling of silicate melts influences the character of volcanic processes primarily through the effect of temperature on melt viscosity but also through the derivative thermal properties expansivity and heat capacity if the cooling rates of volcanic facies can be established then the undoubtedly complex processes of erupting cooling and degassing magmas can be more readily understood the frozen structure of every glass volcanic or synthetic is influenced by the previous cooling history moreover the relaxation of the glass structure back to equilibrium during reheating across the glass transition is also dependent on the quenched in structure and thus can be used to determine the cooling rate history in this study differential scanning calorimetry dsc measurements have been used to determine the enthalpic relaxation of four volcanic glasses each glass has been heated at known heating rates in the calorimeter to temperatures above the glass transition interval the first heating of the glass involves the relaxation of the structure frozen in during the volcanic cooling subsequent controlled heating and cooling in the calorimeter enables the determination of a set of kinetic parameters which can be used to model the heat capacity curves by modeling the transient values of heat capacity across the glass transition interval the relaxation of enthalpy and the volcanic cooling rate across the glass transition interval can be obtained from our study we can demonstrate four different cooling rates for volcanic glasses over a range of three orders of magnitude from 4 c min 1 to 2 c day 1 we propose that the enthalpic relaxation of silicate melts can be applied as a geospeedometer to the study of volcanic rocks from a variety of occurrences

effect of mechanical interactions on the development of shape preferred orientations a two dimensional experimental approach abstract modifications in the development of preferred orientations of rigid particles due to mechanical interactions between particles are studied experimentally in two dimensions experiments in both pure shear and simple shear were performed and the results analysed using an easy and fast new automatic method for increased concentration of rigid particles the rotation of individual particles may be slowed down or even stopped due to collisions or disturbance of the flow in the matrix caused by neighbours in coaxial flow the fabric intensity is consequently reduced in simple shear flow the fabric evolution is no longer cyclic the intensity is on average weaker and the fabric axis rotates asymptotically toward the shear plane in the case of preferred orientations of particles having a low aspect ratio 2 5 the fabric rotates through the shear plane then undergoes a reverse rotation and rotates toward the shear plane again in the light of these experimental results we emphasize that quantification of finite strain based on such fabrics may lead to significant underestimates and calculated values should be taken as minimum estimates the kinematic significance of concentrated rigid particle preferred orientations in rocks is modified by interactions between particles techniques for qualitative or quantitative kinematic analysis may become unreliable for simple shear flows the concentrated population fabrics show an angular behaviour close to that of passive markers they tend to align parallel to the shear plane in simple shear flow

constraints on rheology of obsidian lavas based on mesoscopic folds the geometry of mesoscopic single and multiple layer folds in rhyolitic obsidian flows is investigated folds are composed of obsidian embedded in a matrix of pumice folds form by buckling processes as indicated by discontinuous deformation between obsidian and pumice layers and by the geometries of wavetrains buckling occurs through a continuum of styles controlled largely by the thickness ratio of pumice to obsidian n styles of folds include chevron harmonic polyharmonic disharmonic and single layer assemblages harmonic and chevron folds are observed for small values of n for large values of n folds buckle independently of one another and form disharmonic and single layer assemblages wavelength to thickness ratios of single layer folds are compared to theoretically predicted ratios for newtonian and power law fluids as a means of estimating shear viscosity ratios of obsidian and pumice while all folds indicate that bubble free rhyolite is more viscous during flow than bubbly rhyolite estimates of shear viscosity ratio based on newtonian theory 010 500 may exceed estimates based on power law rheologies by more than an order of magnitude newtonian buckling theory involves a number of simplifications and does not account for the possibly complex rheology of bubble bearing rhyolite 1999 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

a cooling rate bias in paleointensity determination from volcanic glass an experimental demonstration 1 the suitability of volcanic glass for paleointensity determinations is the basis of many studies the dominant single domain sd magnetic remanence carriers the pristine character of volcanic glass and the possibility to correct paleointensity data for cooling rate dependence using relaxation geospeedometry are all arguments that have been made in favor of this technique in the present study the validity of cooling rate correction is tested using remelted volcanic glass to obtain a stable multicomponent glass with ideal magnetic properties a natural phonolitic glass from tenerife was remelted in air to avoid heterogeneity and degassing in later experiments further it was tempered for altogether 10 hours at 900 c to yield a sufficient concentration of magnetic remanence carriers to exclude nucleation or crystallization six samples were then heated to about 60 c above the calorimetric glass transition temperature 660 c and quenched at different rates from 0 1 to 15 k min rock magnetic measurements show that low titanium titanomagnetite in the sd range is the main remanence carrier after performing paleointensity experiments using a modified thellier method the dependence of the thermoremanence on cooling rate was investigated using the synthesis cooling rates and the experimentally determined magnetic cooling rate dependencies we were able to correct the data and obtained a mean paleointensity of 46 9 1 3 t which reflects the ambient field of 48 t within error the uncorrected mean paleointensity corresponds to a 18 larger value of 56 5 0 9 t therefore application of a cooling rate correction is essential to obtain the correct ancient magnetic field intensity from sd assemblages in volcanic glass

the effect of remanence anisotropy on paleointensity estimates a case study from the archean stillwater complex paleomagnetism of archean rocks potentially provides information about the early development of the earth and of the geodynamo precambrian layered intrusive rocks are good candidates for paleomagnetic studies such complexes are commonly relatively unaltered and may contain some single domain magnetite armored by silicate mineral grains however layered intrusives often have a strong petrofabric that may result in a strong remanence anisotropy magnetic anisotropy can have particularly disastrous consequences for paleointensity experiments if the anisotropy is unrecognized and if its effects remain uncorrected here we examine the magnetic anisotropy of an anorthosite sample with a well developed magmatic foliation the effect of the sample s remanence fabric on paleointensity determinations is significant paleointensities estimated by the method of thellier and thellier range from 17 to 55 t for specimens magnetized in a field of 25 t we describe a technique based on the remanence anisotropy tensor to correct paleointensity estimates for the effects of magnetic fabric and use it to estimate a paleointensity for the stillwater complex mt usa of 32 t adjusted for the effects of slow cooling

carbonate ramp depositional systems abstract the classification tectonic settings stratigraphy and early diagenesis of carbonate ramp systems are reviewed carbonate ramps are common in all geological periods but were dominant at times when reef constructing organisms were absent or inhibited ramps can be subdivided into inner mid and outer ramp environments the mid ramp zone extends from fair weather wave base to normal storm wave base although the water depths which these boundaries represent vary an additional outer slope environment occurs on distally steepened ramps as with siliciclastic shelves a range of wave storm and tide dominated ramps can be recognised and this forms the most convenient basis for ramp classification the carbonate productivity profile of ramps differs from that of rimmed shelves with the inner ramp showing lower production rates than comparable shallow water facies on rimmed shelves the zone of greatest organic carbonate sediment production appears to have shifted from the mid ramp to the inner ramp since the late jurassic carbonate ramps occur in most types of sedimentary basin but are best developed where subsidence is flexural and gradients are slight over large areas as in foreland and cratonic interior basins and along passive margins the featureless depositional profiles of many ramps means that sequence geometries are best observed on regional seismic lines some show low angle sigmoidal or shingled clinoforms suggesting that ramps may seldom be homoclinal but possess subtle slope geometries which reflect depositional environments because of their low angle slopes ramps respond differently to rimmed shelves during relative sea level changes although results seem to be strongly dependent on the rate of relative sea level change during a minor fall shallow ramp facies belts will simply shift basinwards in a forced regression in contrast the whole surface of a steep sloped flat topped rimmed shelf may be exposed so that sediment production ceases or is drastically reduced during a major fall shallow ramp bounded basins may empty completely conversely ramps also flood gradually whereas rimmed shelves do so more rapidly homoclinal ramps develop no resedimented lowstand deposits rimmed shelves and distally steepened ramps in contrast may develop lowstand talus or turbiditic wedges distally steepened ramps may behave more like homoclinal ramps during minor base level falls and like rimmed shelves during major base level falls many ramps consist of layered successions of several ramp sequences stacked one upon the other ramp stacks of this sort may show gross vertical accretion but individual ramp sequences seldom appear to develop in a keep up style apart from minor organic buildups as with many rimmed shelves steepening of the outer ramp margin due to tectonism slope inheritance or differential sedimentation may promote the development of a distally steepened ramp or rimmed shelf a wide variety of organisms have constructed buildups in mid and outer ramp environments isolated buildups may seed early in ramp development accrete to wave base or sea level and continue growth by stacking through successive ramp sequences so that depositional and diagenetic features within them are in concert with those of the shallow ramp the location of isolated buildups on ramps is governed by tectonism halokinesis antecedent topography or by the subtle slope geometry of the previous ramp sequence diagenesis on ramps shows some major variations compared with diagenesis on steep sloped flat topped carbonate platforms ramp bounded basins may form prolific petroleum sourcing and reservoiring systems and offer a range of subtle stratigraphic play types and lateral facies variations which determine reservoir quality and distribution isolated buildups in the mid and outer ramp environments represent one of the commonest petroleum reservoirs in ramp systems and tend to have their foundations in transgressive systems tracts grainstone and packstone reservoirs are widespread and range from shoreline carbonate sandbodies to major detached shoal complexes or shoals over offshore highs grainstone sandbodies occur in both highstand systems tracts and in prograding lowstand wedges

a combined electron microprobe emp and raman spectroscopic study of the alteration products in martian meteorite mil 03346 1 we examine the secondary alteration products in mil 03346 using raman spectroscopic and electron microprobe traverses discussion focuses on the single olivine in 177 supplemented with observations from 168 and 169 traverses start at the rim and progress into the interior dark brown nearly opaque laihunite fe2 fe3 2 sio4 2 is present as overgrowths and 20 50 m veins of reddish brown stilpnomelane k na ca 4 ti0 1 al2 3 fe3 35 5 mn0 8 mg9 3 si63al9 o oh 206 n h2o occur inside the olivine stilpnomelane crosscuts and postdates the laihunite veins are in sharp contact with the host olivine but lined by 5 m films of jarosite kfe3 3 so4 2 oh 6 from a later generation of alteration an interstitial laihunite also hosts stilpnomelane the most recent secondary phases are gypsum and bassanite in our x ray maps of 168 and 169 ca sulfates were not observed in x ray maps of 177 but were detected in our raman point count all sulfates are believed to be martian the groundmass of mil indicates rapid cooling from elevated temperatures with fo2 near qfm reports of laihunite synthesis by olivine oxidation at elevated temperatures 100 800 c suggest the overgrowths formed during consolidation in terrestrial rocks stilpnomelane is a product of late diagenesis to garnet grade metamorphism in mil stilpnomelane appears to be a secondary phase formed at the lower end of this stability range at conditions akin to diagenesis raman spectra indicate that the stilpnomelane jarosite and ca sulfates are hydrated the stilpnomelane contains cl and was followed by jarosite a product of acid alteration and the deposition of ca sulfates and halide salts from more neutral chloride solutions

three dimensional modelling and sequence stratigraphy of a carbonate ramp to shelf transition permian upper san andres formation this study highlights three dimensional variability of stratigraphic geometries in the ramp crest to basin of mixed carbonate siliciclastic clinoforms in the permian san andres formation standard field techniques and mapping using ground based lidar reveal a high degree of architectural complexity in channellized scoured and mounded outer ramp stratigraphy development of these features was a function of location along the ramp profile and fluctuations in relative sea level deposition of coarse grained and fine grained turbidites in the distal outer ramp occurred through dilute and high density turbidity flows and was the result of highstand carbonate shedding within individual cycles in this setting high frequency cycles of relative sea level are interpreted on the basis of turbidite frequency lateral extent and composition submarine siliciclastic sediment bypass during lowstand cycles resulted in variable degrees of siliciclastic preservation abundant siliciclastic material is preserved in the basin and distal outer ramp as point sourced lowstand wedges and line sourced early transgressive blankets in mounded topography of the outer ramp siliciclastic preservation is minimal to absent and rare incised channels offer the best opportunity for recognition of a sequence boundary growth of mounded topography in the outer ramp began with scouring followed by a combination of bioherm construction fusulinid mound construction and isopachous draping intermound areas were then filled with sediment and continued mound growth was prevented by an accommodation limit mound growth was independent of high frequency cycles in relative sea level but was dependent on available accommodation dictated by low frequency cyclicity low angle ramp clinoforms with mounded topography in the outer ramp developed during the transgressive part of a composite sequence mound growth terminated as the ramp transformed into a shelf with oblique clinoform geometries during the highstand of the composite sequence this example represents a ramp to shelf transition that is the result of forcing by relative sea level fluctuations rather than ecologic or tectonic controls

sequence stratigraphic expression of greenhouse transitional and icehouse conditions in siliciclastic successions paleozoic examples from the central appalachian basin usa abstract climates during the paleozoic varied from greenhouse to transitional to icehouse and siliciclastic successions deposited during those times have stratigraphic architectures consistent with magnitudes and frequencies of sea level fluctuations at the time of deposition three central appalachian basin paleozoic successions the early cambrian chilhowee group the late devonian foreknobs formation and the early pennsylvanian breathitt group are compared and contrasted to develop models that relate stratigraphic architectures to greenhouse transitional and icehouse conditions existing on earth within the upper portion of the early cambrian chilhowee group the hampton and erwin formations represent a succession of 2 myr 3rd order sequences consisting of stacked 40 80 kyr 5th order marine parasequences that record low magnitude high frequency sea level changes consistent with greenhouse conditions the late devonian foreknobs formation consists of a series of 0 8 1 0 myr 3rd order composite sequences comprised of stacked unconformity bounded 225 to 450 kyr 4th order sequences each containing 40 to 65 kyr 5th order marine parasequences the bases of the unconformity bounded sequences are marked by erosional surfaces regressive surfaces of marine erosion fluvial deposits or paleosols indicative of sea level drops of 10 to 45 m consistent with a transitional greenhouse to icehouse climate the early pennsylvanian breathitt group consists of stacked unconformity bounded 100 kyr 4th order sequences that lack parasequences unconformity bounded sequences are comprised of from bottom to top lowstand incised valley braided alluvial deposits transgressive tidal estuarine deposits and progradational highstand deltaic deposits depths of incised valleys and vertical transition into estuarine facies imply sea level changes of 50 m consistent with icehouse conditions this study demonstrates that siliciclastic successions preserve a record of sea level changes consistent with greenhouse transitional and icehouse conditions on the paleozoic earth

flow direction and magnetic mineralogy of lava flows from the central parts of the peninsula of baja california mexico magnetic properties of two apparently unrelated lava suites one tholeiitic and the other alkalic coexisting in the central parts of the peninsula of baja california mexico were measured in this study macroscopic indicators and measurements of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams were combined to infer the flow direction on those lavas these measurements were used to investigate the likelihood of the existence of an abnormally long tholeiitic lava flow in this part of the peninsula the obtained results indicate that the tholeiitic flows in the region constitute regular length flows and are likely to have been issued through vents located within the area of study additionally comparison of the magnetic signature of tholeiitic and alkalic lavas reveals a systematic difference in some of the magnetic parameters bulk susceptibility and curie temperatures in particular it is proposed that the narrow range of curie temperatures characteristic of each lava type can be used as a reliable proxy for the identification of each lava type in the region all of these findings show that the alkalic and tholeiitic lavas of the region are more closely related to each other than previously suspected

comparison of geochemical and distinctive mineralogical features associated with the kinzers and burgess shale formations and their associated units article i nfo article history accepted 12 august 2007 this paper compares two north american occurrences of fossils that exhibit burgess shale type preservation bst the middle cambrian burgess shale formation of southeastern british columbia and the lower to middle cambrian kinzers fm of southeastern pennsylvania redox sensitive trace elements mo ni co v sc indicate that palaeo oxygenation conditions varied with respect to faunal assemblage and location ogygopsis bearing fauna in both the burgess shale and kinzers formations are associated with a dysoxic metal signature burgess shale type preservation in the kinzers fm was deposited in a fluctuating oxycline whereas the bst fossil beds of fossil ridge and mt stephen burgess shale fm yield a geochemical signature that consistently indicates oxic conditions thus sustained low oxygen conditions do not correlate with higher quality of fossil preservation at these sites ogygopsis is associated with dysoxic conditions in both localities and may therefore be a faunal indicator of such environments in middle cambrian strata carbonate units associated with both the burgess shale and kinzers formations contain large generally concordant near surface cavities that contain herringbone calcite cements that show no significant enrichment in the potential calcite inhibitor ions such as reduced fe sr s pb and zn the abundance of micro inclusions of dolomite suggests that mg may have been the calcite inhibitor ion responsible for herringbone cement in these cambrian occurrences another distinctive mineralogical feature is the presence of doubly terminated euhedral zoned authigenic quartz as a conspicuous part of a carbonate host rock replacement assemblage the association of both herringbone calcite and zoned quartz crystals in units associated with the burgess shale and kinzers formations suggest a common feature in the depositional and diagenetic environment of these two regions in which burgess shale type fossil preservation occur syn depositional brine flow is the likely cause of these distinct mineralogical features brine seeps in the depositional environment may have provided nutrients for stable high abundance faunal communities in a slope setting thereby accounting for the abundance of fossil material furthermore high salinity brine in the pore waters of carcass bearing cambrian muds may have further limited shallow burrowing scavenging and decomposition rates accounting for the exceptional preservation in these two localities

jarosite and hematite at meridiani planum from opportunity s mossbauer spectrometer mossbauer spectra measured by the opportunity rover revealed four mineralogical components in meridiani planum at eagle crater jarosite and hematite rich outcrop hematite rich soil olivine bearing basaltic soil and a pyroxene bearing basaltic rock bounce rock spherules interpreted to be concretions are hematite rich and dispersed throughout the outcrop hematitic soils both within and outside eagle crater are dominated by spherules and their fragments olivine bearing basaltic soil is present throughout the region bounce rock is probably an impact erratic because jarosite is a hydroxide sulfate mineral its presence at meridiani planum is mineralogical evidence for aqueous processes on mars probably under acid sulfate conditions

the late early cambrian microbial reefs immediately after the demise of archaeocyathan reefs hunan province south china abstract the archaeocyath bearing reefs that first appeared in south china in the atdabanian were last seen in the lower toyonian e g in the tianheban and jindingshan formations the upper toyonian lower amgan qingxudong formation of hunan province examined in this study includes large sized reefs formed solely by calcimicrobes of epiphyton kordephyton girvanella hedstroemia and renalcis during the middle and upper cambrian small scale stromatolite reefs were formed the qingxudong reefs are therefore interpreted to be the most well developed microbial reefs of the post archaeocyath bearing reefs in the late early cambrian the transition from archaeocyath bearing to purely microbial reefs was caused by a decline in the diversity of metazoans and was accompanied by a reduction in the abundance of reefs possibly related in part to late early cambrian regression the late early cambrian reefs of south china contain a well preserved record of reef succession and provide important insights into the factors that led to the demise of archaeocyath bearing reefs and the subsequent long lasting hindrances to the development of skeletal dominated reefs during the middle and late cambrian

rock magnetic evidence of inflation of a flood basalt lava flow the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams of lava flows is an innovative method which has been proved to be directly related to the shear history of lava one of the advantages of this method is that it can be used in the absence of other morphological features commonly employed to study the mechanism of emplacement of lava flows this feature of the ams method makes it very attractive to gain insight into the mechanism of emplacement of massive relatively featureless long lava flows such as those forming flood basalt provinces in this work we report the results of the measurement of ams as a function of vertical position within the birkett lava flow one of the columbia river basalt group flows the observed variation of ams allows us to identify at least 16 discrete events of lava injection and to estimate the thickness of individual injection events the ams estimated thickness of each injection event in the range of 0 5 4 0 m coincides with the range inferred for injected lava pulses in modern hawaiian lava flows thus the evidence provided by the ams method supports the notion that at least some flood basalt lava flows were emplaced by the same mechanism as many present day inflated pahoehoe flows regarding the orientation of the principal susceptibilities in the central part of the flow they define a preferred orientation along an e w trend whereas in the outer parts of the flow they have a nne ssw trend this difference in the orientation of the principal susceptibilities is interpreted as the result of a change of flow direction of the lava as emplacement progressed electronic supplementary material to this paper can be obtained by using the springer link server located at http dx doi org 10 1007 s00445 002 0203 8

factors affecting the relative importance of shape and distribution anisotropy in rocks theory and experiments abstract the effect of magnetic interactions has been commonly neglected in the interpretation of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams of igneous rocks despite the likely occurrence of magnetic interactions due to their relatively high content of ferromagnetic minerals current models of magnetic interactions apply to highly simplified systems and are not directly applicable to natural rocks on this work a model that includes variables previously neglected is used to assess the relative importance of magnetically interactive and non interactive fractions in a rock results of the model show that a variable proportion of magnetically interactive grains the relative values of the bulk susceptibility degree of anisotropy and orientation of the anisotropies characteristic for each fraction all play an important role in controlling the rock ams experimental evidence illustrating the importance of the distribution of the ferromagnetic grains within a specimen is also reported and supports the model predictions both theory and experiments indicate that if a rock has unequant magnetic grains and clusters of magnetic grains the contribution to the ams of the rock will depend on the relative values of all the model variables and not only on the occurrence of magnetic interactions as previously presumed

carbonate ramp to rimmed shelf evolution lower to middle cambrian continental margin virginia appalachians drill cores through the lower to middle cambrian shady dolomite carbonate platform 600 to 1 200 m thick in the austinville virginia region have provided critical platform margin facies relations not exposed in outcrop the control provided by the closely spaced drill cores has allowed detailed cross sections to be constructed through the margin which allow the evolution of the carbonate platform from a gently sloping carbonate ramp to a high relief reef rimmed shelf to be interpreted the shady dolomite records the inception of carbonate sedimentation on the lower cambrian passive margin and forms the initial carbonate foundation for the over lying cambrian ordovician carbonate shelf sequence carbonate sedimentation was initiated on a submerged lower cambrian clastic shelf resulting in deposition of a thick sequence 300 m of deep ramp nodular limestones this facies shallows upward into a carbonate ramp fringed by low relief stromatactoid mud mound buildups as much as 30 m thick and 3 5 km wide downslope these buildups pass into slope conglomerate and deep ramp carbonate facies landward of the buildups cyclic peritidal sequences developed by latest early cambrian time as the ramp increased in relief skeletal algal bioherms and lime sands were established on the high energy margin to form a high relief as much as 500 to 700 m rimmed shelf with thick 600 m off platform deposits immediately seaward of the shelf edge in the shelf interior a major regression during early to middle cambrian time resulted in development of a major unconformity and in deposition of red beds on the more rapidly subsiding outer platform subsidence rates exceeded sea level fall rates allowing continued upbuilding of the reefal rimmed shelf this rimmed shelf persisted for about 30 m y and influenced carbonate sedimentation throughout the cambrian until it was destroyed by incipient collision during the early ordovician period read in press

a comparison of the iddingsite alteration products in two terrestrial basalts and the allan hills 77005 martian meteorite using raman spectroscopy and electron microprobe analyses 1 we document the secondary mineral assemblages in two occurrences of terrestrial iddingsite lunar crater nevada lc and mauna kea hawaii mk and compare these with the iddingsite in allan hills alha 77005 short raman spectroscopic traverses across olivine alteration fronts provide information about changes in mineralogy with alteration data from the raman traverses are combined with electron microprobe emp traverses at the same locations which provide information regarding element mobility and confirm mineral identifications made by raman spectroscopy this information is used with petrographic observations to argue for the martian origin of the iddingsite and jarosite infer the sequence of alteration and deliberate on the conditions and settings of alteration raman spectra indicate the presence of different iron oxides oxyhydroxides in each sample goethite in lc maghemite in mk and akaganeite in alha and the terrestrial samples show different element mobility trends loss of mgo and sio2 retention of feo than alha loss of mgo and feo influx of sio2 whose trends reflect the deposition of jarosite altered olivine occur throughout the lc samples but only in the exteriors of the mk samples the lc and mk alteration products formed by surface alteration but alha 77005 is a lherzolite and the olivine hosting the iddingsite are enclosed by orthopyroxene appear to be restricted to the light lithology suggesting that it formed at depth during magma consolidation the alha iddingsite is an example of deuteric alteration reaction with fluids that separated from the magma as crystallization progressed towards completion

variable ti content and grain size of titanomagnetite as a function of cooling rate in very young morb transmission electron microscopy observations and rock magnetic measurements on a pillow from the new flow extruded in 1993 at the juan de fuca ridge demonstrate that ti content in large up to 40 m titanomagnetite grains varies as a function of the cooling rate large grains in the interior of the pillow have a narrow composition range of approximately x 0 6 where x represents the ulvospinel content in the solid solution series with magnetite in contrast the titanomagnetite grains near the pillow rim are progressively smaller and have a broad composition range average x 0 45 within 0 5 cm of the rim a significant portion of the grains is single domain sd to superparamagnetic sp and appears to have little or no ti this lower ti content provides a ready explanation for the higher curie temperature near the glassy margin of the pillow moreover determination of the oxidation state of the titanomagnetite does not show low temperature oxidation anywhere within the pillow indicating no rapid alteration to titanomaghemite as previously suggested for this very young mid ocean ridge basalt morb in order to explain the curie temperatures submicrometer titanomagnetite in interstitial glass in the interior of the pillow also shows variable x values these grains make contributions to susceptibility that show up as high up to 580 c curie temperatures in thermomagnetic analyses and they appear to be sd to sp the variation of x values for the titanomagnetite in the morb is consistent with thermodynamic and kinetic considerations because crystallization of titanomagnetite in the morb is controlled by processes depending on cooling rate and crystal melt fractionation

an ams study of different silicic units from the southern parana etendeka magmatic province in brazil implications for the identification of flow directions and local sources abstract in the southern portion of the parana etendeka magmatic province in brazil extensive silicic dacite rhyolite deposits occur at the top of a sequence of low ti pahoehoe to rubbly basalts the internal architecture of the silicic deposits and their eruptive style as well as the location of their sources are still unsatisfactorily known in an attempt to provide independent evidence for flow directions in deposits previously characterized as effusive and test the hypothesis of local sources we carried out anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams studies on the two main silicic units caxias do sul dacites and santa maria rhyolites with the best exposures in an area previously mapped in detail magnetic anisotropies were determined on oriented cylindrical specimens from a total of 28 sites rock magnetism properties indicate that pseudo single domain magnetite carries the fabrics and the remanence magnetic fabrics were determined by applying anisotropy of low field magnetic susceptibility ams and anisotropy of anhysteretic remanent magnetization aarm both ams and aarm tensors are coaxial indicating that the ams fabric is not affected by the effect of magnetite single domain grains magnetic data from several dacitic coulees caxias do sul unit indicate flows from se to nw the location and spatial distribution of these lavas support the hypothesis of local sources aligned along a ne sw trend these data are in agreement with the alignments of structures dome shaped hills observed in field work and dem images on the other hand magnetic data obtained in santa maria rhyolites indicate that flow directions in two different areas are distinct towards nw ne and w suggesting that they derived from different emission centers so regarding the silicic volcanism in the studied region our data do not support the model which classifies the entire silicic volcanism of the province as extensive rheomorphic pyroclastic deposits released from a central conduit in contrast we propose the occurrence of local volcanic events implying in the existence of different sources possibly characterized by local emission centers

comparative planetary mineralogy implications of martian and terrestrial jarosite a crystal chemical perspective abstract the importance of the discovery of jarosite at the meridiani planum region of mars is discussed terrestrial studies demonstrate that jarosite requires a unique environment for its formation crystallizing from highly acidic ph 2 that reacted with aqueous solutions in shallow aquifers or on the martian surface this interaction forms both h 2 so 4 and h 2 s a martian oxidant must be identified to both oxidize h 2 s to produce the required acidity of the fluid and to oxidize fe 2 to fe 3 we suggest that reactions involving both sulfur and the reduction of co 2 to co may provide part of the answer the jarosite crystal structure is truly remarkable in terms of its tolerance for the substitution of a large number of different cations with different ionic radii and charges the structure accommodates hydrogen oxygen and sulfur the stable isotope systematics of which are strong recorders of low temperature fluid rock atmosphere interactions jarosite has been proven to be a robust chronometer for ar ar and k ar dating techniques and there is every reason to believe that u pb rb sr and nd sm techniques for older jarosite from mars will also be robust although the discovery of jarosite on mars alone with no other analytical measurements on the phase has given us insights to martian surficial processes the true power of jarosite can not be exploited until jarosite is sampled and returned from mars mars sample return is a long way off but until then we should be vigilant about examining martian meteorites for alteration assemblages that contain jarosite a suite of jarosite samples representing a significant time span on mars may hold the key to reading the record of martian atmospheric evolution

paleointensity record in zero age submarine basalt glasses testing a new dating technique for recent morbs abstract thellier thellier paleointensity experiments were conducted on a collection of glasses from three very recent submarine axial flows two were erupted along the juan de fuca ridge at around 46 n and one along the east pacific rise south at around 18 s the within sample dispersion of paleointensity results from the animal farm flow epr south is very low and leads to a well defined mean value of 35 6 1 t 95 error on the mean based on 11 glass chips from four independent samples today s geomagnetic field intensity in the area is 31 2 t comparing animal farm results with published field model reference curves developed for the past 400 yr suggests an eruptive date estimated between 1880 a d and 1950 a d taking into account different sources of errors this is consistent with qualitative evidence for the age of this flow and constitutes the first precise demonstration of using paleointensity as a dating tool for very recent mid ocean ridge basalts morbs however in the juan de fuca area results show a more erratic pattern with samples varying by up to 30 higher and lower from the expected value of about 55 t the dispersion is attributed to the large local crustal magnetic anomalies in this area that can lead to inconsistent intensity values over the same unit local magnetic anomalies should thus always be checked when doing paleointensity on morb samples which should also be distributed as widely as possible in a flow unit when no significant magnetic anomalies are detected the paleointensity dating tool is anticipated to be especially efficient to investigate the volcanic cyclicity along the epr axis during the last several hundred years

magnetic petrofabric of igneous rocks lessons from pyroclastic density current deposits and obsidians abstract measurement of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams of igneous rocks can provide clues concerning their mechanism of formation and in particular are very helpful as flow direction indicators unlike other igneous rocks however pyroclastic density current deposits pdcds present a challenge in the interpretation of ams measurements due to the complexity of their mechanism of emplacement in this paper we review the most common assumptions made in the interpretation of the ams of pdcd taking advantage of key lessons obtained from obsidians despite the complexities on the mechanism of formation of pdcds it is shown that a key element for the fruitful interpretation of ams is to give proper attention to the various components likely to be involved in controlling their general petrofabric the anisotropies of ferromagnetic crystals whether as free phases or embedded within clasts or shards and those of paramagnetic minerals mainly ferrosilicates need to be taken into consideration when interpreting the ams measurements of pdcds variations of the deposition regime both as a function of position and of time also need to be considered on the interpretations nevertheless if a suitable sampling strategy is adopted the potential of the ams method as a petrofabric indicator is maximized

a new type of shelf margin deposit rigid microbial sheets and unconsolidated grainstones riddled with meter scale cavities middle cambrian microbial limestone contains a network of unusual predominantly horizontal cavities up to 2 m in length and 0 5 m in height the microbialite experienced rapid syndepositional lithification but adjacent grainstone sediments remained unlithified during deposition this juxtaposition contributed to sediment instability resulting in fracturing and brecciation of the lithified microbialite while unconsolidated grainstones underwent slumping and injection into some cavities remaining space within the cavities was colonized by a series of encrustations thin crusts 2 8 mm of laminated algal mats followed by several generations of calcified renalcis like cyanobacteria up to 45 mm thick remaining void space was partially filled by internal sediment and then sequentially occluded by banded radiaxial fibrous calcite herringbone calcite and finally saddle dolomite cements the radiaxial and herringbone calcite cements precipitated from porewaters derived from seawater that became anoxic through the breakdown of organic matter in the microbialite noteworthy is the presence of herringbone calcite cement not as a seafloor precipitate but as an early cavity fill we propose that the unusual bedding parallel fractures were caused by gravity collapse along a shallow platform margin coeval foreslope sediments show syndepositional slumping faulting and mass flow deposits these redeposited sediments contain boulders of microbialite and grainstone of platform margin provenance 1999 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

geomagnetic intensity variations over the past 780 kyr obtained from near seafloor magnetic anomalies knowledge of past variations in the intensity of the earth s magnetic field provides an important constraint on models of the geodynamo a record of absolute palaeointensity for the past 50 kyr has been compiled from archaeomagnetic and volcanic materials and relative palaeointensities over the past 800 kyr have been obtained from sedimentary sequences but a long term record of geomagnetic intensity should also be carried by the thermoremanence of the oceanic crust here we show that near seafloor magnetic anomalies recorded over the southern east pacific rise are well correlated with independent estimates of geomagnetic intensity during the past 780 kyr moreover the pattern of absolute palaeointensity of seafloor glass samples from the same area agrees with the well documented dipole intensity pattern for the past 50 kyr a comparison of palaeointensities derived from seafloor glass samples with global intensity variations thus allows us to estimate the ages of surficial lava flows in this region the record of geomagnetic intensity preserved in the oceanic crust should provide a higher time resolution record of crustal accretion processes at mid ocean ridges than has previously been obtainable

magnetic alteration of zero age oceanic basalt the youngest sampled submarine lava flow which erupted june 1993 on the juan de fuca ridge provides the basis for a tight constraint on the initial or zero age magnetization state of morb detailed profiles of magnetic hysteresis parameters curie temperatures and unblocking temperatures of nrm with respect to the chilled margin of a pillow fragment show evidence of significant oxidation which preferentially affected the finest grain size fraction and principal remanence carrier of the titanomagnetite magnetic mineralogy the oxidation must have occurred during or immediately after initial cooling implying that morb is already appreciably magnetically altered before aging nevertheless successful results of thellier paleointensity experiments on the basalt sample lend support to the idea that crustal magnetization represented by morb preserves a record of geomagnetic intensity variations that may be reflected in small scale magnetic anomalies

ams measurements on obsidian from the inyo domes ca a comparison of magnetic and mineral preferred orientation fabrics abstract measurements of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams on lavas can yield information concerning flow directions deformation regimes and relative shear rates here we report results of measurements made on samples of rhyolitic obsidian collected from obsidian dome ca comparisons of ams measurements with previously determined 3d microlite orientation distributions in these samples serve as a calibration of the ams technique despite the low values of bulk susceptibility 1 06 7 04 10 3 si found in the dome relative to typical values in basalts 10 2 si the degree of anisotropy is extremely high in all specimens 3 4 10 7 furthermore susceptibility tensors exhibit a wide range of shapes varying from prolate to triaxial and flattened ellipsoids b parameter from 8 6 to 6 4 corresponding to various degrees of microlite dispersion our results also indicate that despite the tight clustering of principal susceptibility axes obtained on each site bulk flow directions inferred from the orientations of k max axes may be misleading because the orientation of the local extension changes from place to place within the dome however it is shown that the ams of each specimen provides a good measure of the direction of local extension consequently it is possible to interpret spatial variations in flow regime from systematic changes in the orientation of principal susceptibility axes as the proposed association between the local deformation regime and ams is strongly dependent on the aspect ratio of the crystals embedded in the flowing lava some caution must be exerted when interpreting ams results from other flows and a direct comparison between different flows may not be granted in many occasions

strength of the geomagnetic field in the cretaceous normal superchron new data from submarine basaltic glass of the troodos ophiolite 1 we present here new paleointensity data from 39 sampling sites collected from the quenched margins of pillow lavas and dikes exposed within the troodos ophiolite similar to 92 ma formed during the cretaceous normal superchron cns a period of approximately 40 million years when the geomagnetic field reversed extremely infrequently if at all monte carlo simulations suggest that a minimum of 25 estimates are necessary for a reasonably robust estimate for the average field strength our data suggest a dipole strength equivalent to the present field or nearly twice the post cns average the mean and standard deviation of the dipole moment 81 43 zam 2 z 10 21 from the 57 data points compiled here agree remarkably well with those predicted from the long paleointensity record derived from dsdp site 522 the new data set for the cns suggests a picture of a strong and stable field during the period of time when it stopped reversing moreover the similarity of the cns data with the present geomagnetic field suggests that it is presently in a state of unusual polarity stability

modeling aluminum silicon chemistries and application to australian acidic playa lakes as analogues for mars abstract recent mars missions have stimulated considerable thinking about the surficial geochemical evolution of mars among the major relevant findings are the presence in meridiani planum sediments of the mineral jarosite a ferric sulfate salt and related minerals that require formation from an acid salt brine and oxidizing environment similar mineralogies have been observed in acidic saline lake sediments in western australia wa and these lakes have been proposed as analogues for acidic sedimentary environments on mars the prior version of the equilibrium chemical thermodynamic frezchem model lacked al and si chemistries that are needed to appropriately model acidic aqueous geochemistries on earth and mars the objectives of this work were to 1 add al and si chemistries to the frezchem model 2 extend these chemistries to low temperatures frezchem is an equilibrium chemical thermodynamic model parameterized for concentrated electrolyte solutions using the pitzer approach for the temperature range from 4 no 3 oh hco 3 co 3 co 2 o 2 ch 4 si h 2 o system that now contain 95 solid phases there were similarities differences and uncertainties between australian acidic saline playa lakes and waters that likely led to the burns formation salt accumulations on mars both systems are similar in that they are dominated by 1 acidic saline ground waters and sediments 2 ca and or mg sulfates and 3 iron precipitates such as jarosite and hematite differences include 1 the dominance of nacl in many wa lakes versus the dominance of fe mg ca so 4 in meridiani planum 2 excessively low k concentrations in meridiani planum due to jarosite precipitation 3 higher acid production in the presence of high iron concentrations in meridiani planum and probably lower rates of acid neutralization and hence higher acidities on mars owing to colder temperatures and 4 lateral salt patterns in wa lakes the wa playa lakes display significant lateral variations in mineralogy and water chemistry over short distances reflecting the interaction of acid ground waters with neutral to alkaline lake waters derived from ponded surface runoff meridiani planum observations indicate that such lateral variations are much less pronounced pointing to the dominant influence of ground water chemistry vertical ground water movements and aeolian processes on the martian surface mineralogy

on the use of magnetic transient hysteresis in paleomagnetism for granulometry 1 parameters derived from magnetic hysteresis experiments have been used as granulometric indicators in paleomagnetism in practice discriminating the superparamagnetic sp fraction from the coarse grain magnetites in parameter ratio plots is often inconclusive to overcome this ambiguity transient hysteresis th has been recently proposed we have carried out micromagnetic simulations to provide a fundamental rationale for the use of th for granulometry we found that magnetic th results from the difference of magnetization configuration between ascending and descending hysteresis loops as a result of self demagnetization the descending branch has a tendency to keep a more uniform e g flower like configuration while the ascending branch prefers a less uniform e g vortex like structure according to our simulations th increases as the grain size increases and as the aspect ratio decreases we also carried out th measurements for well defined synthetic and natural samples it is notable that th from the simulation for samples with aspect ratio q 1 5 agrees well with the experimental observations for annealed magnetites of smaller sizes in general small th is a clear indication for the absence of complex magnetized structures adding th analysis to the hysteresis loop measurements requires a minor effort yet provides strong constraint on grain size

taphonomy and depositional circumstances of exceptionally preserved fossils from the kinzers formation cambrian southeastern pennsylvania abstract the emigsville member of the kinzers formation cambrian southeastern pennsylvania is a deposit of exceptional preservation containing three main lithofacies that were part of a mixed siliciclastic carbonate debris fan developed seaward of a carbonate shelf along the appalachian margin of laurentia fossils were exceptionally preserved in a shelf environment subject to tempestite deposition most remains are fragmentary which emphasizes the importance of predation as a taphonomic process where emigsville sediments were deposited remains are preserved mostly as organic carbon films pyrite crusts and aluminosilicate films these preservation styles apparently depended upon the development of microbial consortia in isolated microenvironments and some of the microbes were autolithified sedimentary and biological evidence suggests that anoxia salinity fluctuations and sedimentary obrution played relatively minor roles in the emigsville member of the kinzers formation the abundance of exceptionally preserved remains suggests that exceptional sedimentary conditions were not necessary in the cambrian in order for exceptional preservation to occur the abundance of predation evidence in a deposit of exceptional preservation reinforces the concept that predation was the primary taphonomic filter during cambrian time

investigating carbonate platform types multiple controls and a continuum of geometries abstract current classifications of carbonate platforms use depositional gradient as the main criterion for separating systems into two end member types ramps and flat topped platforms ftps however many examples do not conform to this simple classification to investigate why this is and to better understand probable controls on platform development we have used a series of 2d numerical forward model runs to investigate how sediment production diffusional sediment transport and other controls such as tectonic subsidence antecedent topography and relative sea level oscillation interact to determine platform geometry modeling results reaffirm that rates of down dip sediment transport relative to rates of autochthonous production are a critical factor in maintaining a ramp profile in stable cratonic settings under a constant rate of relative sea level rise type of carbonate production versus water depth curve for example euphotic versus oligophotic is not a significant control in our model cases both euphotic and oligophotic production profiles produce ftps when diffusion coefficients are low relative to production rates and ramps when diffusion coefficients are relatively high these results suggest a continuum of platform types ranging from transport dominated low gradient systems at one end of the spectrum to in situ accumulation dominated systems at the other a system may be transport dominated because high energy processes are able to break down and transport even bound sediment or because carbonate factories produce only sediment that is easily transportable under even low energy conditions time evolution is also probably important initially low gradient systems will in the absence of sufficiently high sediment transport rates tend to evolve towards high gradient flat topped steep margined platforms many observed or inferred platform geometries are therefore likely to be transient forms and this could complicate interpretation investigating how basin bathymetry and style of subsidence control platform geometry suggests that in transport dominated systems strata simply drape the underlying topography and that pre existing breaks of slope and differential fault subsidence are a stronger control on platform geometry in in situ accumulation dominated systems rotational subsidence tends to create transport dominated systems during rotation as the topographic gradient increases and transport rate increases and outpaces in situ production rate relative sea level oscillations tend to move the locus of sediment production laterally along any slope present on the platform distributing the sediment accumulation across the whole width of the platform suppressing progradation and steepening and so favoring development of low gradient systems based on all these results we suggest that a simple cutoff classification into ramp and flat topped platform types can still be useful in some circumstances but a more meaningful approach may be to describe and predict platform strata in terms of a multiple dimension platform parameter space containing a continuum of geometries controlled by sediment production sediment diffusion coefficient antecedent topography differential subsidence effects relative sea level oscillations and perhaps other as yet unappreciated controls

hyperquenched volcanic glass from loihi seamount hawaii abstract explosive submarine basaltic eruptions occurring in water depths of several kilometres commonly result in the formation of layered volcaniclastic deposits in order to quantify the cooling of such volcaniclastics we have identified and separated two types of glassy fragments from these deposits on loihi seamount 1 fine 30 80 m limu o pele bubble wall fragments and 2 coarser 0 8 1 2 mm dense angular fragments these pristine basaltic glasses have been subjected to differential scanning calorimetry dsc from room temperature up to temperatures above their glass transition heat capacity c p in j g 1 k 1 data reveal glassy and liquid regimes separated by clear hysteresis behaviour within the glass transition the transient c p in the glass transition interval exhibits a deep trough before the peak indicating very high cooling rates it is a classic feature of so called hyper quenching having been observed in dsc experiments on glasses produced using the splat quench d b dingwell p courtial d giordano and a r l nichols viscosity of peridotite liquid earth and planetary science letters 226 1 2 127 138 2004 and cascade fibre spinning y z yue j d christiansen and s l jensen determination of the fictive temperature for a hyperquenched glass chemical physics letters 357 1 2 20 24 2002 techniques the trough is deepest for the limu o pele fragments energy matching methods developed for the estimation of cooling rates for such glasses yield a rate of 10 5 31 k s 1 for the cooling of the fine sieve fraction of limu glass on the sea floor at loihi thus limu o pele volcaniclastics believed to be formed during mild submarine pyroclastic eruptions have experienced the fastest cooling of any natural volcanic glass measured to date such extreme cooling rates are likely to impact on many chemical and physical aspects of the stability of these glasses on the sea floor as well as their use as proxies for field variables of the earth s physical state and as monitors of the efficiency of chemical lithosphere hydrosphere exchange

sour gas hydrothermal jarosite ancient to modern acid sulfate mineralization in the southern rio grande rift abstract as many as 29 mining districts along the rio grande rift in southern new mexico contain rio grande rift type rgr deposits consisting of fluorite barite sulfide jarosite and additional rgr deposits occur to the south in the basin and range province near chihuahua mexico jarosite occurs in many of these deposits as a late stage hydrothermal mineral coprecipitated with fluorite or in veinlets that crosscut barite in these deposits many of which are limestone hosted jarosite is followed by natrojarosite and is nested within silicified or argillized wallrock and a sequence of fluorite barite sulfide and late hematite gypsum these deposits range in age from 10 to 0 4 ma on the basis of 40ar 39ar dating of jarosite there is a crude north south distribution of ages with older deposits concentrated toward the south recent deposits also occur in the south but are confined to the central axis of the rift and are associated with modern geothermal systems the duration of hydrothermal jarosite mineralization in one of the deposits was approximately 1 0 my most 18oso4 oh values indicate that jarosite precipitated between 80 and 240 c which is consistent with the range of filling temperatures of fluid inclusions in late fluorite throughout the rift and in jarosite 180 c from pena blanca chihuahua mexico these temperatures along with mineral occurrence require that the jarosite have had a hydrothermal origin in a shallow steam heated environment wherein the low ph necessary for the precipitation of jarosite was achieved by the oxidation of h2s derived from deeper hydrothermal fluids the jarosite also has high trace element contents notably as and f and the jarosite parental fluids have calculated isotopic signatures similar to those of modern geothermal waters along the southern rift isotopic values range from those typical of meteoric water to those of deep brine that has been shown to form from the dissolution of permian evaporite by deeply circulating meteoric water jarosite 34s values range from 24 to 5 overlapping the values for barite and gypsum at the high end of the range and for sulfides at the low end most 34s values for barite are 10 6 to 13 1 and many 34s values for gypsum range from 13 1 to 13 9 indicating that a component of aqueous sulfate was derived from permian evaporites 34s 12 2 the requisite h2so4 for jarosite formation was derived from oxidation of h2s which was likely largely sour gas derived from the thermochemical reduction of permian sulfate the low 34s values for the precursor h2s probably resulted from exchange deeper in the basin with the more abundant permian so42 at 150 to 200 c jarosite formed at shallow levels after the ph buffering capacity of the host rock typically limestone was neutralized by precipitation of earlier minerals some limestone hosted deposits contain caves that may have been caused by the low ph of the deep basin fluids due to the addition of deep seated hf and other magmatic gases during periods of renewed rifting caves in other deposits may be due to sulfuric acid speleogenesis as a result of h2s incursion into oxygenated groundwaters the isotopic data in these sour gas jarosite occurrences encode a record of episodic tectonic or hydrologic processes that have operated in the rift over the last 10 my

some additional parameters to estimate domain state from isothermal magnetization measurements abstract domain state and mixing analysis based on isothermal magnetization measurements is often restricted to the use of the day plot in order to make more information from simple rock magnetic measurements accessible for the quantitative analysis of domain state four additional parameters are proposed two of them a hysteresis shape parameter and a coercivity ratio can be directly calculated from standard measurements of the hysteresis loop and backfield curve the other two a transient energy dissipation ratio and the viscosity of isothermal remanent magnetization require additional measurements which however do not increase measurement time noticeably the theoretical background of the above parameters is discussed their ability to discern domain state is shown for a small set of synthetic magnetite and titanomagnetite samples and in a case study of a transect from the rim to the center of a dredged mid ocean ridge basalt

dynamics of obsidian flows inferred from microstructures insights from microlite preferred orientations the flow of obsidian lava leads to crystal alignments that reflect both the accumulated strain and the type of flow across the surface microlite preferred orientations are used to investigate the emplacement dynamics strain history and structural evolution of obsidian dome eastern california measurements of three dimensional microlite trend and plunge in samples from the near vent region distal flow and flow front show 1 the flow directions along the dome margins 2 the deformation style e g pure versus simple shear at the dome margins and 3 the variation in strain as a function of position within the flow microlites form well developed lineations in the plane of flow banding in all samples stereographic projections indicate that lineations trend normal to the western flow front and plunge shallowly away from the margin the radial flow pattern indicated by measurements made along the western margin suggests that extrusion was from a roughly elliptical vent these results highlight a strong correlation between microlite trend and the bulk flow direction inferred from the geometry of the flow along most of the eastern periphery lineations trend parallel to the margin and likely reflect the local flow direction as influenced by compression against the thickening flow crust marginal talus piles and topography orientation distributions imply that radial spreading accompanied by flattening was the dominant mechanism for flow emplacement comparisons of measured orientation distributions with theoretical predictions suggest that microlite fabrics in flow front and nearvent samples developed in a pure shear flow microstructures in a sample from near the distal flow base records a component of simple shear variance in microlite trend provides a measure of the amount of strain acquired during flow standard deviation in trend decreases from the near vent region to the flow margins reflecting progressive alignment of microlites during transport pure shear strain inferred from orientation distributions increases from approximately 0 3 near the vent to about 1 1 at the flow front the difference between these strains 0 8 is an estimate of the strain associated with flow emplacement such strain is similar in size to that estimated from mesoscopic structures v1 and for horizontal spreading of a fluid whose volume is equal to that of obsidian dome v1 6 this suggests that flow on the surface was sufficient to produce observed microlite preferred orientations in the flow front these techniques can be applied to interpret older dissected lavas where erosion has erased much of the original flow front or where larger scale structures indicative of flow directions are poorly preserved fl 2002 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

preferred orientation developed by rigid markers in two dimensional simple shear strain a theoretical and experimental study abstract in a homogeneous two dimensional deformation linear markers embedded in a viscous matrix develop a preferred orientation along the principal axis of the strain ellipse theoretical analysis of marker rotation under two dimensional simple shear is used to derive an orientation distribution function this function shows that the relative density maximum increases with progressive strain its value being equal to the major minor strain ellipse axis ratio moreover the density is equal to the unity along the lines of no finite longitudinal strain experimentally observed preferred orientation is in good agreement with the expected theoretical distribution

crystallization history of obsidian dome inyo domes california samples obtained by u s department of energy research drilling at the 600 year old obsidian dome volcano provide the rare opportunity to examine the transition from volcanic dome to plutonic intrusion textures in a silicic magma system textures in the lavas from obsidian dome record multiple periods of crystallization initiated in response to changes in undercooling t related to variable degassing in the mag ma phenocr ysts formed first at low t a drastic increase in t related to loss of a vapor phase during initial stages of eruption caused nucleation of microlites all of the lavas thus contain phenocrysts and microlites extrusion and subsequent devitrification of the dry 0 1 wt h2o magma crystallized spherulites and fine grained rhyolite at high t a granophyric texture representing crystallization at a moderate t formed in the intrusions beneath obsidian dome textures in the intrusion apparently represent crystallization of hydrous 1 2 wt h2o rhyolitic magma at shallow depths

the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility of lava flows an experimental approach measurements of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams of natural lavas have shown that ams varies with depth within a lava flow we have investigated the reasons for such variation by studying the effects of temperature and strain rate on the ams of recent lava in the laboratory samples of lava from kilauea were melted and subjected to a range of strain rate and cooling histories the results show that the degree of anisotropy is a function of both the thermal and shearing history of a sample high degrees of anisotropy were found only in samples that were deformed at temperatures close to those encountered during eruption and then rapidly quenched lavas subjected to similar shear stresses at high temperatures had low degrees of anisotropy if allowed to cool down slowly without further deformation additionally lava subjected to complex shearing yield a lower degree of anisotropy even when high strain rates were imposed on it these results lead to the conclusion that only the last phase of deformation is detectable using ams and that high strain rates will not result in high degrees of anisotropy if either deformation ends while lava is still fluid or if the orientation of the maximum shear stress varies with time the relation between the orientation of the principal susceptibilities and that of shear is less sensitive to variation on shear with time consequently flow directions can be inferred confidently with this type of measurements

cooling rate effects on paleointensity estimates in submarine basaltic glass and implications for dating young flows 1 cooling rate effects on the intensity of thermoremanent magnetization trm have been well documented in ceramics in that case laboratory cooling is generally more rapid than the initial cooling leading to an overestimate of the paleofield by 5 10 in thellier type paleointensity experiments the reverse scenario however has never been tested we examine the effects of cooling rate on paleointensity estimates from rapidly quenched submarine basaltic glass sbg samples from 13 sites at 17 30 18 30 s on the east pacific rise absolute cooling rates determined by relaxation geospeedometry at five of these sites range from 10 to 330 c min 1 at the glass transition 650 c over the dominant range of remanence blocking temperatures 200 400 c the natural cooling rates are approximately equal to or slightly slower than the laboratory cooling rates during the thellier experiment these results suggest that while the cooling rate effect might introduce some within site scatter it should not result in a systematic bias in paleointensity from sbg paleointensity estimates from the 15 sites range from 29 to 59 t with an average standard error of 1 t comparison with models of geomagnetic field intensity variations at the site indicate the youngest group of samples is very recent indistinguishable from present day and the oldest is at least 500 and probably several thousand years old these age estimates are consistent with available radiometric ages and geologic observations

holocene paleointensities thellier experiments on submarine basaltic glass from the east pacific rise a complete description of the geomagnetic field requires both paleodirectional and paleointensity data although the paleointensity data base has grown steadily over the last three decades it remains limited in time and space the majority of data are of holocene age and come from europe furthermore it has been difficult to assess the reliability of the paleointensity determinations here we present paleointensity determinations on precisely dated holocene 0 to 3500 years old submarine basaltic glass from the east pacific rise 15 s to 22 s although hysteresis measurements and low temperature isothermal remanent magnetization irm acquisition experiments document a significant contribution of superparamagnetic grains high blocking temperatures above 400 c and curie temperatures between 490 c and 550 c indicate a single domain low ti magnetite as the carrier of the remanent magnetization this notion is further supported by the fact that saturation of remanence is achieved in moderate fields of about 200 300 mt submarine basaltic glass proves to be nearly ideal for paleointensity determinations in that it produces a high success rate for thellier experiments twenty six out of 30 samples resulted in acceptable paleointenisty determinations multiple experiments on splits from the same sample show good reproducibility the paleointensities for zero age glasses correspond precisely with the present field intensity at the site of recovery the results of the remaining samples range from 16 7 to 53 9 t with corresponding virtual axial dipole moments vadm of 3 61 1022 to 11 9 1022 a m2 the intensities vary rapidly with time excluding a westward drifting nondipole component as the source for these fluctuations basaltic glass is frequently recovered in both dredged and drilled material from the ocean floor the availability of submarine basaltic glass throughout the world oceans therefore holds great potential for a better distribution of paleointensity data through time and space