In well-buffered modern soils, higher annual rainfall is associated with enhanced soil ferrimagnetic mineral content, especially of ultrafine particles that result in distinctive observable rock magnetic properties. Hence, paleosol magnetism has been widely used as a paleoprecipitation proxy. Identifying the dominant mechanism(s) of magnetic enhancement in a given sample is critical for reliable inference of paleoprecipitation. Here we use high-resolution magnetic field and electron microscopy to identify the grain-scale setting and formation pathway of magnetic enhancement in two modern soils developed in higher (~580 mm/y) and lower (~190 mm/y) precipitation settings from the Qilianshan Range, China. We find both soils contain 1-30 µm aeolian Fe-oxide grains with indistinguishable rock magnetic properties while the higher-precipitation soil contains an additional population of ultrafine (<150 nm), magnetically distinct magnetite grains. We show that the in situ precipitation of these ultrafine particles, likely during wet-dry cycling, is the only significant magnetic enhancement mechanism in this soil. These results demonstrate the potential for quantum diamond microscope (QDM) magnetic microscopy to extract magnetic information from distinct, even intimately mixed, grain populations. This information can be used to evaluate the contribution of distinct enhancement mechanisms to the total magnetization.

Bodies of rock that are detached (recovered) from subducting oceanic plates, and exhumed to Earth’s surface, become invaluable records of the mechanical and chemical processing of rock along subduction interfaces. Exposures of interface rocks with high-pressure (HP) mineral assemblages provide insights into the nature of rock recovery, yet various interpretations concerning thermal gradients, recovery rates, and recovery depths arise when directly comparing the rock record with numerical simulations of subduction. Constraining recovery rates and depths from the rock record presents a major challenge because small sample sizes of HP rocks makes statistical inference weak. As an alternative approach, this study implements numerical simulations of oceanic-continental convergence and applies a classification algorithm to identify rock recovery. Over one million markers are classified from 64 simulations representing a large range of subduction zones. We find recovery P’s (depths) correlate strongly with convergence velocity and moderately with oceanic plate age, while PT gradients correlate strongly with oceanic plate age and upper-plate thickness. Recovery rates strongly correlate with upper-plate thickness, yet show no correlation with other boundary conditions. Likewise, PT distributions of recovered markers vary among numerical experiments and generally show poor overlap with the rock record. A significant gap in predicted marker recovery is found near 2 GPa and 550 ˚C, coinciding with the highest density of exhumed HP rocks. Implications for such a gap in marker recovery include numerical modeling uncertainties, petrologic uncertainties, selective sampling of exhumed HP rocks, or natural geodynamic factors not accounted for in numerical experiments.

The interaction of the northern Nazca and southwestern Caribbean oceanic plates with South America, and the collision of the Panama-Choco arc have significant implications on the evolution of the northern Andes. We integrate an alternative interpretation of the Nazca and Caribbean kinematics with the magmatic and deformation history in the region. The northeastward migration of the Caribbean plate caused a progressive change in the geometry of the subducting Farallon plate, causing flat-slab subduction throughout the late Eocene-late Oligocene, inhibition of magmatism and eastward migration of the Andean deformation. Meanwhile, the Paleocene-Eocene highly oblique convergence of the Caribbean plate against South America changed by the mid-Eocene, when the Caribbean plate began to migrate in an easterly direction. These events and the late Oligocene breakup of the Farallon plate, prompted a Miocene plate reorganization, with further plate fragmentation, changes in convergence obliquity, steepening of the subducting slabs and renewal of magmatism. This tectonics was complicated by the accretion of the Panama-Choco arc to South America, which was characterized by early Miocene subduction erosion of the forearc and trench advance, followed by breakoff of the subducting slab east of Panama and collisional tectonics from the middle Miocene. By 9 Ma the Coiba and Malpelo microplates were attached to the Nazca plate, resulting in an abrupt change in convergence directions, that correlates with the main pulse of Andean orogeny. During the late Pliocene, the Nazca slab broke, triggering the modern volcanism south of 5.5º N. Seismicity data and tomography support the proposed reconstruction.

East Africa hosts significant reserves of untapped geothermal energy. Most exploration has focused on geologically young (<1 Ma) silicic caldera volcanoes, yet there are many sites of geothermal potential where there is no clear link to an active volcano. The origin and architecture of these systems is poorly understood. Here, we combine remote sensing and field observations to investigate a fault-controlled geothermal play located north of lake Abaya in the Main Ethiopian Rift. Soil gas CO2 and temperature surveys were used to examine permeable pathways and showed elevated values along a ~110 m high fault which marks the western edge of the Abaya graben. Ground temperatures are particularly elevated where multiple intersecting faults form a wedged horst structure. This illustrates that both deep penetrating graben bounding faults and near-surface fault intersections control the ascent of hydrothermal fluids and gases. Total CO2 emissions along the graben fault are ~300 t d–1; a value comparable to the total CO2 emission from silicic caldera volcanoes. Fumarole gases show δ13C of –6.4 to –3.8 ‰ and air-corrected 3He/4He values of 3.84–4.11 RA, indicating a magmatic source originating from an admixture of upper mantle and crustal helium. Although our model of the North Abaya geothermal system requires a deep intrusive heat source, we find no ground deformation evidence for volcanic unrest nor recent volcanism. This represents a key advantage over the active silicic calderas that typically host these resources and suggests that fault-controlled geothermal systems offer viable prospects for further exploration and development.

Quantifying tectonic stress magnitudes is crucial in understanding crustal deformation processes, fault geomechanics, and variable plate interface slip behaviors in subduction zones. The Hikurangi Subduction Margin (HSM), New Zealand is characterized by along-strike variation in interface slip behavior, which may be linked to tectonic stress variations within the overriding plate. This study constrains in-situ stress magnitudes of the shallow (<3km) overriding plate of the HSM to better understand its tectonics and how they relate to larger scale subduction dynamics. Results reveal σ3: Sv ratios of 0.6-1 at depths above 650-700 m TVD and 0.92-1 below this depth interval along the HSM and SHmax: Sv ratios of 0.95-1.81 in the central HSM, and 0.95-3.12 in the southern HSM. These stress ratios suggest a prevalent thrust to strike-slip (σ1=SHmax) faulting regime across the central and southern HSM. In the central HSM, the presence of NNE-NE striking reverse faults co-existing with a modern σ1 aligned ENE-WSW (SHmax) suggests that overtime the stress state here evolved from a contractional to a strike-slip state, where the compressional direction changes from perpendicular (NW-SE) to subparallel (ENE-WSW) to the Hikurangi margin. This temporal change in stress state may be explained by forearc rotation, likely combined with development of upper plate overpressures. In the southern HSM, the modern WNW-ESE/ NW-SE σ1 (SHmax) and pre-existing NNE-NE striking reverse faults indicate that stress state remains contractional and subparallel (NW-SE) to the Hikurangi margin overtime. This may reflect the interseismic locked nature of the plate interface.

The Icelandic mantle contains a range of lithologies associated with the depleted upper mantle, a mantle plume, and recycled oceanic lithosphere but the precise nature of depleted and enriched components in the mantle and their relative contributions to melt production remain poorly constrained. In this study, we collect new olivine- and plagioclase-hosted melt inclusion data and compile this with existing literature data to investigate the relative contributions from different mantle lithologies to basaltic magmas erupted in Icelandic flank zones and neovolcanic zones by modelling the melting of a heterogeneous mantle and subsequent mixing of derived melts. We find that observed melt inclusion compositions from off-axis flank zones are best explained as homogenized mixtures of pyroxenite- and lherzolite-derived melts produced at depths around 80-93 km, by which point lherzolite has only experienced a low degree of melting whereas the pyroxenite lithology has melted extensively. These melts represent the onset of channelization in the mantle and are transported rapidly to the surface without input from shallower melts. Melt compositions from the on-axis neovolcanic zones and off-axis Öræfajökull, are produced by mixing this deep melt component with higher degree lherzolite melts produced at shallower depths, between 57-93 km. Proportions of shallow lherzolite-derived melts and deep homogenized melt vary, but the lowest contribution from the deep homogenized melt is seen in the Northern Volcanic Zone. Ourresults support a model whereby deep melts mix until melt channelization starts in the mantle, after which binary mixing between the homogenized deep melt and shallower fractional melts occurs.

Volcanic hazards associated with lava flows advancing on a snow cover are often underrated. On 16 March 2017, during a mild effusive-explosive eruption at Mt Etna (Italy) a slowly advancing lava lobe interacted with the snow cover producing a sudden, short-lasting sequence of explosions. White vapor, brown ash and coarse material were suddenly ejected, and the products hit a group of people, injuring some of them. The proximal deposit formed a continuous mantle of ash, lapilli and decimetric-sized bombs, and the ballistic material reached up to 200 meters away from the lava edge. A total deposit mass of 7.1 ± 0.8 × 104 kg was estimated, corresponding to a lava volume removed by the explosion of 32.0 ± 3.6 m3. Textural and morphological data on the ejected clasts were used to constrain a model of lava-snow interaction. Results suggest that the mechanism responsible for the explosions was the progressive pressure build-up due to vapor accumulation under the lava flow, while no evidence was found for the occurrence of fuel-coolant interaction processes driving the explosions. Although these low-intensity explosions are not too frequent, the collected data represent a unique dataset which provides useful information on the involved processes and the associated hazard, but also on possible measures of mitigation to prevent potentially dramatic accidents at volcanoes like Etna, recording up to thousands of visitors per day.