Volume 1, Issue 2

Vulture volcano displays a wide range of mafic to alkaline, carbonate-, and/or CaO-rich volcanic rocks, with subvolcanic and plutonic rocks together with mantle xenoliths in pyroclastic ejecta. The roles of magmatic volatiles such as CO2, S, and Cl have been determined from compositions and trapping temperatures of inclusions in phenocrysts, which include the Na-K-Ca-carbonate nyerereite within melilite. We surmise that this alkali carbonate crystallised from an appropriate carbonatitic melt at relatively high temperature. Carbonatitic metasomatic features are traceable throughout many of the mantle xenoliths, and various carbonatitic components are found in the late stage extrusive suite. There is no evidence that alkali carbonatite developed as a separate magma, but it may have been an important evolutionary stage. We compare the rare occurrence of nyerereite at Vulture with other carbonatites and with an unaltered kimberlite from the Udachnaya pipe. We review the evidence at Vulture for associated carbonatitic metasomatism in the mantle, and we suggest that low viscosity alkali carbonatitic melts may have a primary and much deeper origin than previously considered.

It is known that solar wind velocity fluctuates regularly with a period of about 1.3 years. This periodicity (and other signals with periods near to 1.1 and 0.9 years) has also been observed in biological data. The variation is a temporary feature, mostly being observed in the early 1990s. Here, the occurrence of these periodic signals in solar and geomagnetic activity between 1932 and 2005 has been investigated. The signal with 1.3 year period is present in geomagnetic activity only in a short interval after 1990 and to a lesser extent around 1942. At other times the signal is very weak or not present at all. Other periods are much lower amplitude and appear only sporadically throughout the time investigated. A connection between these periods and solar cycles (e.g. different even or odd cycles) has not been proven. It is possible that there is a long-term periodicity in the occurrence of the 1.3 year period but the time series data available is insufficient to confirm this. There are no such periodicities in solar activity. In order to gain a greater understanding of these periodic signals, we should search for their origin in interplanetary space.

The Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) proved to be one of the most transformational missions in almost 40 year of scientific ocean drilling. ACEX recovered the first Cenozoic sedimentary sequence from the Arctic Ocean and extended earlier piston core records from ≈1.5 Ma back to ≈56 Ma. The results have had a major impact in paleoceanography even though the recovered sediments represents only 29% of Cenozoic time. The missing time intervals were primarily the result of two unexpected hiatuses. This important Cenozoic paleoceanographic record was reconstructed from a total of 339 m sediments. The wide range of analyses conducted on the recovered material, along with studies that integrated regional tectonics and geophysical data, produced surprising results including high Arctic Ocean surface water temperatures and a hydrologically active climate during the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), the occurrence of a fresher water Arctic in the Eocene, ice-rafted debris as old as middle Eocene, a middle Eocene environment rife with organic carbon, and ventilation of the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic through the Fram Strait near the early-middle Miocene boundary. Taken together, these results have transformed our view of the Cenozoic Arctic Ocean and its role in the Earth climate system.

This work considers continentality from the point of view of an annual course of precipitation. It assesses continentality according to percentage of precipitation in summer and winter half year, ratio of precipitation in summer to winter half year and the period of half year precipitation in the area of WMO Region VI (Europe). Region VI can be divided into five main regions according to their annual course of precipitation. These regions are: Northwestern Europe with precipitation in all seasons, a predominance of winter precipitation and maximum precipitation in December and January; Central Europe with precipitation in all seasons, a predominance of summer precipitation and maximum precipitation in July; Eastern Europe with less precipitation over the year than in Northwestern Europe, a predominance of summer precipitation and maximum precipitation in July; the Mediterranean region with a predominance of winter precipitation, a dry season in summer and maximum precipitation in November and December; and Western Asia with a variable climate, a predominance of winter precipitation and maximum precipitation in December and January. Continentality from the point of view of precipitation rises towards the east. In comparison with thermal continentality, according to Gorczynski, it unexpectedly reaches its maximum in the centre of Europe (especially in northeast of the Czech Republic and south of Poland).

Metals of natural and anthropogenic origin behave differently in soils mostly due to their different mobility. In this study, sequential extractions and batch sorption experiments were performed to relate the fractionation of native Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb to the sorption properties of added metals in four soils with contrasting physiochemical characteristics. A significant effect due to sample composition on both the mobility and sorption characteristics of these metals was found. The efficiency of soil components in metal immobilization was in the order of carbonate > organic matter > swelling clay minerals. The partitioning of native metals together with the information gained through the sorption isotherms allows a deeper insight on the fate and behavior of metals in soils with various compositions.

This paper presents the results of a literature review on the conceptual model of a sampling design and the different types of samples that can be used to characterize the nature and the extent of contamination at a specific site. The main findings stress the importance of sampling for obtaining relevant sample types and subsequent-qualitative results. The proposed sampling design can be used for environmental studies where, the efficient use of time, money, and human resources are very critical. A good quality sampling design should meet the needs of the study with a minimum expenditure of resources.

The upper Miocene of Karlovassi Basin, Samos Island, Greece, contain continental evaporites such as colemanite, ulexite, celestite, gypsum and thenardite. These evaporites are related with volcanic tuffs, diagenetically altered in a saline-alkaline lake environment. The aim of the present paper is to: a) define the impact of the already known and possible buried borates and other evaporites to the geochemistry of the hydrogeological system of Karlovassi Basin, and; b) to assess the correlation between surface and underground evaporite deposits considering the spatial changes in the concentrations of the examined physicochemical parameters. Fieldwork, laboratory measurements and literature data revealed elevated boron values (2136–33012 ⧎/L) in the central part of Karlovassi Basin. In the same area, high amounts of strontium, sodium, lithium and sulfates also occur. It is proposed that these ions originate from the leaching of evaporites and authigenic minerals such as the Sr-rich clinoptilolite and the boron-bearing potassium feldspar. Boron values are abnormally high for freshwater aquifers, and are indicative of the presence of buried evaporites in the basin with unknown significance.

The Kopaida plain is a cultivated region of Eastern Greece, with specific characteristics related to the paleogeographic evolution and the changes in land use of the area. This study examines the geochemical conditions of the groundwater and soil, and the correlations between them. 70 samples (50 samples of groundwater and 20 samples of soil) were collected in order to asses the geochemical status and the major natural and manmade affecting processes in the region. Extended chemical analyses were carried out including the assessment of 28 parameters for groundwater and 13 for soil samples. The results revealed that groundwater geochemistry is influenced primary by natural processes such as the geological background, and secondary by manmade impact mainly deriving from the extended use of Nitrogen-fertilizers and the over-exploitation of boreholes. Soil geochemistry is influenced exclusively by natural processes, such as weathering of the prevailing geological formations. Chemical analyses and the statistical processing of data revealed that the major factor for the geochemical status of soils is the weathering of the karstic substrate, as well as the existing lateritic horizons and a weak sulfide mineralization.

We present a probabilistic analysis of seismic travel-time equations using the Bayesian Method. The assessment of models and data is crucial in 3D seismic travel-time tomography, and a method quantitatively assess the quality of both the data and the model is necessary in order to attain the most realistic results. The Bayesian method that we propose here is more effective than the frequentist approach, both in analysis time and uncertainty minimization, when processing large sets of tomographic data.

Morphometric approaches deal with obtaining quantitative parameters of relief forms. In particular, such parameters can be used for the classification of diverse relief forms. There is a noticeable demand for such approaches in geosciences. For example, the differentiation of valley forms belongs to the research field of geomorphology. A valley form includes important information with respect to the valley genesis. It is assumed that the U-shape probably corresponds to a glacier-induced valley, but the V-shape reflects the fluvial genesis of a valley. A prior generalisation of valley cross-profiles is necessary in order to obtain their morphometric parameters. These parameters contribute to the valley differentiation. The conventional generalisation approaches are based on the approximation of such cross-profiles using a special function. This function can be a catenary curve, a special polynomial or a set of polynomials. An alternative model is the GPL model. In this paper we propose a new generalisation approach, which uses special orthonormal functions. Based on these functions, form coefficients can be obtained for use in cluster analysis, resulting in the shape classification of valley cross profiles. An application of our approach for a real data set is presented.