Holocene calcrete crust deposits on the moraine of Batura Glacier, northern Pakistan

Abstract   Calcretes can be observed on the surface of old moraines around Batura Glacier in the upper Hunza Valley, Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan. They develop as a calcareous crust cementing small gravels under boulders. In order to understand the genesis of the calcrete crust, a variety of methods were employed: (i) study of mineralogy and geochemistry of a calcrete crust precipitated on the lateral moraine using X-ray diffractometer and electron probe microanalysis; (ii) analysis of solute chemistry of surface water and ice bodies around the Batura Glacier; and (iii) accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C dating of the crust itself. The results indicate that the calcrete crust has definite laminated layers composed of a fine-grain and compact calcite layer, and a mineral fragment layer. The chemical composition of the calcite layer is approximately 60% CaO and 1% MgO. The mineral fragment layer consists of rounded grain materials up to 0.2 mm in diameter. It shows a graded bedding structure with fine grains of quartz, albite and muscovite. Meanwhile, as the Paleozoic Pasu limestone is distributed around the terminal of Batura Glacier, Ca cations dissolve in the melt water of the glacier. Accordingly, the calcrete crust is precipitated by decreases in CO₂ partial pressure from glacier ice and evaporation of the melt water, including high concentration of Ca²⁺ at ephemeral streams and small ponds stagnating between the moraine and glacial ice. On the basis of the AMS ¹⁴C age, the calcrete is considered to have formed approximately 8200 calibrated years bp under the Batura glacial stage.     

Geochemical Information Indicating the Water Recharge to Lakes and Immovable Megadunes in the Badain Jaran Desert

1 Introduction The Badain Jaran Desert, located in western Inner Mongolia, China, has a unique landscape containing 144 lakes (72 of which are still watery) with a total water area of about 23 km2, and the world’s highest stationary sand dunes with a height between 200 m and 500 m. Much attention has been paid to the water recharge of the desert in the past decade. Investigations on the resources of water system there have been performed continuously since the early 1990s, which lead to th…     

Landslide hazard in the Nebrodi Mountains (Northeastern Sicily)

The eastern sector of the Nebrodi Mountains (NE Sicily), a part of the Apenninic-Maghrebian orogenic chain, is characterized by an high landslide hazard. The village of S. Domenica Vittoria, which lies in the area, has been particularly affected by various landslide phenomena, with resulting damage to buildings and infrastructure.The rocks outcropping in the area belong to the Cretaceous Monte Soro Flysch; they consist of an alternation of argillaceous and calcareous beds at the base and argillaceous and quartzarenitic beds at the top. The lithotechnical characteristics of the formation and the steepness of the slopes in the area lead to an elevated instability, as testified by the widespread occurrence of sub-vertical arcuate cliffs (landslide scarps) and sub-horizontal areas (landslide terraces), typical of a landslide-controlled morphology. From a kinematics point of view, the observed phenomena can be referred to multiple rotational slides, flows, and complex landslides, often with a retrogressive development and enlargement. Triggering causes lie principally in the intense rainfalls that determine the decay of the geomechanical properties of the terrain and supply discontinuos groundwater circulation that is evident in seasonal springs. Human activity, such as the construction of roads and buildings on steep slopes and dispersal of water from supply systems and sewers has a significant impact as well.Due to the instability of the area, expansion of the village, which is already limited by the morphological conditions, is made difficult by the high hazard level, especially in the areas at higher elevations, where the principal landslide scarps are located, and even more on the rims of the scarps. Considering the high hazard level, S. Domenica Vittoria has been inserted by the National Geological Service among the sites in Sicily to be monitored by means of a GPS network. The survey carried out along the entire slope hosting the village has furnished the base for geological and geomorphological knowledge needed for the planning of the network, to identify the areas at landslide risk, where parts of the village lie, including the areas of expansion of the village, the main roads, and a portion of the Favoscuro river bed.     

新疆阿尔泰造山带构造作用的锆石裂变径迹分析

在新疆阿尔泰造山带所获得的19个锆石裂变径迹年龄变化于155-243Ma之间，明显地分为2组，分别对应于2个构造活动期，早期为155-189Ma，晚期为189-243Ma。这与磷灰石裂变径迹年龄反映的62-100Ma和100-160Ma两个构造期完全一致。早期和晚期构造活动期持续的时间分别为54-60Ma和34-38Ma，而这两个构造期之间的间隔时间，则从早到晚由83-89Ma变为89-93Ma。同时，锆石裂变径迹年龄与距特斯巴汗断裂和巴寨断裂的距离有关，反映这两条断裂带对区域构造演化的控制作用。     

苏北榴辉岩Sm-Nd等时线同位素年龄及地质意义

采用Sm-Nd同位素定年方法，测得江苏北部新沂地区踢球山榴辉岩岩体时代为221.6±8.4 Ma,Sm-Nd年龄被看作为踢球山超高压变质之后板块折返过程中的高压榴辉岩相重结晶阶段年龄。中朝板块与扬子板块碰撞时代主要发生在晚三叠世。     

Intragrain oxygen isotope zoning in titanite by SIMS: Cooling rates and fluid infiltration along the Carthage‐Colton Mylonite Zone,Adirondack Mountains,NY, USA

Oxygen isotopes are an attractive target for zoning studies because of the ubiquity of oxygen‐bearing minerals and the dependence of mineral ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios on temperature and fluid composition. In this study, subtle intragrain oxygen isotope zoning in titanite is resolved at the 10‐μm scale by secondary ion mass spectrometry. The patterns of δ¹⁸O zoning differ depending on microstructural context of individual grains and reflect multiple processes, including diffusive oxygen exchange, partial recrystallization, grain‐size reduction, and grain growth. Using the chronological framework provided by structural relations, these processes can be related to specific events during the Grenville orogeny. Titanite was sampled from two outcrops within the Carthage‐Colton Mylonite Zone (CCMZ), a long‐lived shear zone that ultimately accommodated exhumation of the Adirondack Highlands from beneath the Adirondack Lowlands during the Ottawan phase (1090–1020 Ma) of the Grenville orogeny. Titanite is hosted in the Diana metasyenite complex, which preserves three sequentially developed fabrics: an early NW‐dipping protomylonitic fabric (S₁) is crosscut by near‐vertical ultramylonitic shear zones (S₂), which are locally reoriented by a NNW‐dipping mylonitic fabric (S₃). Texturally early titanite (pre‐S₂) shows diffusion‐dominated δ¹⁸O zoning that records cooling from peak Ottawan, granulite‐facies conditions. Numerical diffusion models in the program Fast Grain Boundary yield good fits to observed δ¹⁸O profiles for cooling rates of 50 ± 20 °C Ma^?1, which are considerably faster than the 1–5 °C Ma^?1 cooling rates previously inferred for the Adirondack Highlands from regional thermochronology. High cooling rates are consistent with an episode of rapid shearing and exhumation along the CCMZ during gravitational collapse of the Ottawan orogen at c. 1050 Ma. Texturally later titanite (syn‐S₂) has higher overall δ¹⁸O and shows a transition from diffusion‐dominated to recrystallization‐dominated δ¹⁸O zoning, indicating infiltration of elevated‐δ¹⁸O fluids along S₂ shear zones and continued shearing below the blocking temperature for oxygen (~≤500 °C for grain sizes at the study site). The texturally latest titanite (post‐S₃) has growth‐dominated δ¹⁸O zoning, consistent with porphyroblastic grain growth following cessation of shearing along the Harrisville segment of the CCMZ.     

Late Cenomanian environmental conditions at the submerged Tatric Ridge,Central Western Carpathians during the period preceding Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 – A palaeontological and isotopic approach

Micropalaeontological and isotopic studies of the upper Cenomanian turbiditic/hemipelagic sediments from the High-Tatric unit (Central Western Carpathians; Polish part of the Tatra Mountains) has been undertaken to characterize the sedimentary conditions in the Tatric basin, a part of the Western Tethys, related to the interval preceding the late Cenomanian oceanic anoxic event (OAE2). The deposition of these sediments, including organic-rich layers (TOC up to 0.7%), corresponds to the Rotalipora cushmani foraminiferal Zone. Microfacial, foraminiferal and palynological analyses show that the sea floor was located at upper bathyal depths and the water column was poorly oxygenated. The intrabasinal carbonate material indicates moderate primary productivity with rare periods of upwellings. The scarcity of marine fossils in redeposited material and features of carbonate lithoclasts suggest very low productivity in the nearshore surface water, most probably due to a low-density hyposaline cap as surface runoff from the southern margin of the basin. The carbon isotopic study documents the negative values of δ¹³C_carb in the whole section as an effect of transfer of isotopically light carbon sourced from various sources. Such negative values of δ¹³C_carb are characteristic of the upper Cenomanian sediments, deposited in relatively shallow water basins, characterized by input of terrestrial organic matter and/or carbonate particles known from the Western Interior sections, the Atlantic coastal plain, the northwestern African margin, the eastern margin of the Apulian Platform and shelf sediments in the NW Europe and Tethyan Himalayas. Most probably, all of these events could be related to the global sea level fluctuations that occurred ca. 95.5–94.5 Ma comparing with the Haq (2014) eustatic curve.     

大兴安岭北段争光金矿床成因探讨:来自流体包裹体及稳定同位素的制约

争光浅成低温热液型金矿床位于大兴安岭成矿带北段,是多宝山矿集区内的一个重要矿床。文章通过流体包裹体和C_H_O_He_Ar同位素的系统研究,对该矿床成矿流体和矿床成因进行了深入探讨。矿床成矿作用可划分为4个主要阶段:石英_黄铁矿阶段(成矿前阶段)、石英_多金属硫化物阶段(主成矿阶段)、方解石_(石英)_多金属硫化物阶段(主成矿阶段)和方解石阶段(成矿后阶段)。流体包裹体研究表明,争光金矿床主要发育富液相流体包裹体。石英_黄铁矿阶段、方解石_(石英)_多金属硫化物阶段和方解石阶段流体包裹体的均一温度分别介于116~243℃(集中于150~170℃)、129~294℃(集中于140~160℃)和130~155℃(集中于130~150℃);w(NaCleq)分别介于0.9%~10.1%、1.2%~13.8%和2.7%~8.7%。成矿流体具有低温、低盐度、相对还原的特征,属H_2O_Na Cl体系。石英_黄铁矿阶段成矿流体的δD和δ18O分别为-127‰~-110‰和-5.9‰~0.6‰,蚀变围岩的δD值和δ18O值分别为-118‰~-108‰和6.3‰~7.9‰。方解石_(石英)_多金属硫化物阶段和方解石阶段方解石的δ~(13)C分别为-5.3‰~-2.0‰和-2.9‰~-2.2‰,δ18O分别为7.7‰~9.3‰和9.9‰~13.5‰。黄铁矿流体包裹体的~3He/~4He、~(40)Ar/~(36)Ar和~(40)Ar*/4He比值分别为1.75~3.06 Ra、683~1295和0.30~0.63。综合流体包裹体特征和稳定同位素组成,认为成矿早阶段成矿流体为大气降水与围岩发生水_岩反应后的演化水。随着成矿作用的进行,成矿流体变为大气降水与岩浆水的混合水,但仍以大气降水为主导。成矿流体与贫H_2S的流体混合和硫化物沉淀的共同作用可能是该矿床金沉淀的主要机制。     

中条山地区郭家沟基性-超基性岩体的岩石成因及地质意义

文章通过对中条山地区郭家沟基性-超基性岩体的岩石学、矿物学和岩石地球化学方面的分析研究,讨论了该岩体的形成时代、岩石成因、及其地质意义。郭家沟岩体侵入时代为元古代,可能与绛县群形成时代较为相近(2200Ma左右)。郭家沟岩体具有岩相分带现象,边缘相为辉长岩,向内渐变过渡为含长辉石岩、变余辉石岩(角闪石岩)等,在岩体的中心发育着磁铁透闪石岩;岩石中Mg O与其他主量元素线性相关,各类岩石地球化学特征较为相似,显示出岩石受分离结晶作用的影响,具有岩浆同源演化的趋势;岩石总体显示出低硅、低镁、高铁、高钛、高钙的特征,相对富集LREE和LILE,而亏损HREE和Nb、Ta、Zr、Y等高场强元素,轻重稀土分馏明显,具有较弱的Eu异常,V含量较高,具有阿拉斯加型侵入岩体和与火山弧相关的岩浆特征。从岩石组合及地球化学特征结合区域构造演化,认为岩体形成于大陆边缘弧的构造环境,从侧面也说明绛县群的形成环境应该是大陆边缘俯冲后的伸展环境,而非陆内裂谷。     

内蒙古赤峰市阿根他拉钠长斑岩型铁矿矿床地质特征与成因探讨

内蒙古赤峰市阿根他拉铁矿是一个可以小规模开采的铁矿与钠长石矿。铁矿所赋存的岩体为原生钠长斑岩,其可能由深部的花岗闪长岩岩浆演化而来。铁矿化可分为两个阶段,第一阶段为黑云母/绿泥石—石英—磁铁矿阶段,为本区主要的铁矿化阶段,形成网脉状—浸染状的磁铁矿矿石。该阶段成矿岩体为斑岩、网脉状矿化、伴生矿化组合与斑岩型矿床可类比及磁铁矿的(Ca+Al+Mn)—(Ti+V)图解位于斑岩型矿床中,表明该阶段具有类似于斑岩型矿床的特征。第二阶段为绿帘石—磁铁矿/赤铁矿阶段,形成可达工业品位的团块状磁铁矿/赤铁矿矿石。该阶段类似于矽卡岩型铁矿的团块状矿石,及磁铁矿的(Ca+Al+Mn)—(Ti+V)图解位于矽卡岩型铁铜矿床中,表明该阶段具有类似于矽卡岩型铁矿床的特征。将如上与钠长斑岩有关,前期表现为类似斑岩型矿床特征,后期表现为类似矽卡岩型铁矿床特征的铁矿,称为钠长斑岩型铁矿。这类铁矿应注重与绿帘石伴生的团块状铁矿的寻找。对比研究表明,钠长斑岩型铁矿明显有别于长江中下游的玢岩铁矿。