Evolution of melt composition during intrusion of basalts into a silicic magma chamber

The article describes heat exchange between basaltic and rhyolite melts accompanied by fractional crystallization of phases in a basaltic melt. A numerical model has been developed for the homogenization mechanism of magma composition during intrusion of basaltic magma batches into felsic magma chambers. The results of numerical modeling demonstrate that the time needed for cooling the basalts and their fractionation to rhyolite melts is much shorter than the time required for chemical interaction based on diffusive mechanisms.     

内蒙古羊蹄子山-磨石山钛矿床锐钛矿、金红石和钛铁矿的矿物学特征

羊蹄子山-磨石山钛矿床的钛矿物主要为锐钛矿、金红石和钛铁矿。锐钛矿化学成分的特点是FeO含量明显比金红石要低;主要X光粉晶谱线为3.518(100)、2.377(14)和1.667(11);晶胞参数a()=3.786,c()=9.513;拉曼光谱谱线(cm-1)为516、395、195和143。金红石的主要X光粉晶谱线为3.250(100)、1.688(40)和2.488(29);晶胞参数为a()=4.595,c()=2.962;拉曼光谱谱线(cm-1)为610和446。钛铁矿的成分特点是富锰贫镁,与攀西地区岩浆型钒钛磁铁矿矿床中的钛铁矿正好相反。所有上述钛(铁)氧化物矿物学特征,进一步说明该矿床是在中元古代在海底与基性火山活动有关的热水沉积后经区域变质和局部又遭受后期热液改造而成。     

秦岭造山带的印支运动及印支期成矿作用

秦岭碰撞造山经历了长期的板块构造的俯冲-碰撞的构造演化,于印支期最终完成对接拼合,形成了统一的中国大陆,并由此转入陆内变形。众多Au、Mo多金属矿床的同位素年龄资料表明,印支期是秦岭的重要成矿期,其成矿作用明显受到构造演化的控制,反映特定的地球动力学背景和作用过程。秦岭印支期成矿作用不仅是中国东部中生代成矿作用的先导和开始,奠定了中国东部中生代成矿大爆发的基础,而且为碰撞期和碰撞期后构造体制快速转换的研究提供了依据。重视秦岭以及中国印支期成矿作用的研究,对正确认识秦岭成矿带的区域成矿规律、造山带演化的深部动力学过程,建立符合中国和东亚实际的印支期成矿理论体系具有重要科学意义。     

Problems of soil and groundwater pollution in the disposal of “marble” slurries in NW Sicily

This work deals with disposal of slurries generated during the cutting and polishing processes of slabs of decorative sedimentary carbonate rocks in the north western Sicily. At present, they are used as fillers of dismantled quarries near the sawmills and, as a final step of reclamation, are covered with earth layers. In spite of such inexpensive solution, there is lack of knowledge about the composition of the waste. In order to assess if there is any threat for the environment and to suggest indications for alternative solutions, such as recycling or inactivation processes, the slurries were analysed by XR diffraction, simultaneous thermal analysis, ICP/MS, ionic chromatography, FTIR, UV-Vis, COD and TOC measurements, grain size analysis. Results indicate that the slurries can threaten the groundwater, because of the high chemical oxygen demand; furthermore they can modify the mechanism of groundwater recharge, because of their grain size distribution. Some laboratory tests show that, even in very aggressive conditions, the solid pollutants persist in the waste and slowly release into water the products of their degradation. The slurry therefore should be subjected to inactivation treatment before disposal or, alternatively, recycled as secondary raw material for a suitable process.     

The relationship between hydrodynamic properties and weathering of soils derived from volcanic rocks,Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)

The aim of this interdisciplinary study is to examine a component of the hydrological cycle in Galapagos by characterizing soil properties. Nine soil profiles were sampled on two islands. Their physical and hydrodynamic properties were analyzed, along with their mineralogical composition. Two groups of soils were identified, with major differences between them. The first group consists of soils located in the highlands (>350 m a.s.l.), characterized by low hydraulic conductivity (<10⁻⁵ m s⁻¹) and low porosity (<25%). These soils are thick (several meters) and homogeneous without coarse components. Their clay fraction is considerable and dominated by gibbsite. The second group includes soils located in the low parts of the islands (<300 m a.s.l.). These soils are characterized by high hydraulic conductivity (>10⁻³ m s⁻¹) and high porosity (>35%). The structure of these soils is heterogeneous and includes coarse materials. The physical properties of the soils are in good agreement with the variations of the rainfall according to the elevation, which appears as the main factor controlling the soil development. The clayey alteration products constrain soils physical and hydrodynamic properties by reducing the porosity and consequently the permeability and also by increasing water retention.     

General characteristics of the geochemical evolution of silicic melts during the development of massive sulfide magmatic ore systems: Evidence from the investigation of melt inclusions

The investigation of melt inclusions in the minerals of volcanic rocks from the massive sulfide deposits of Siberia and the Urals revealed some specific features in the development of their magmatic ore systems. It was shown that the petrochemical and rare earth element compositions of melt inclusions reflect the geodynamic conditions of their formation: island arc conditions for the massive sulfide deposits of Rudny Altai, eastern Tuva, and the Salair Range and a back arc basin environment for the Yaman-Kasy deposit. The silicic melts of inclusions from the volcanic rocks of massive sulfide deposits show some specific features with respect to the contents of volatile components. In all of the ore deposits studied, fluorine content was always low (0.03–0.08 wt %), whereas chlorine content (0.13–0.28 wt %) was higher than the average value for silicic melts (0.17 wt %). There is a strong differentiation of water content in melt inclusions, both between deposits and between various volcanics from a single deposit. Ore-bearing melts show the highest water contents of 3.34–4.07 wt %. High Cu contents in the silicic melts of the Yubileinoe and Kyzyl-Tashtyg deposits (up to 7118 and 3228 ppm, respectively) may indicate the affinity of some ore components to particular silicic magmas. This is supported by the elevated contents of Cu in the porphyry Cu deposits of Romania (Valea Morii), Mongolia (Bayan Ula), and Bolivia. On the other hand, the silicic melts of inclusions from the molybdenum-uranium deposit of the Strel’tsovka ore field show high contents of another group of ore components (U and F).     

Conditions of Quaternary magmatism at Spitsbergen Island

Petrological and geochemical data obtained on the Quaternary lavas of volcanoes at Spitsbergen Island indicate that the rocks were produced via the deep-seated crystallization of parental alkaline magmas at 8–10 kbar. The character of clinopyroxene enrichment in incompatible elements indicates that the mineral crystallized from more enriched melts than those inferred from the composition of the host lavas. These melts were close to the parental melts previously found as veinlets in mantle hyperbasite xenoliths in the lavas. According to the character of their enrichment in Pb and Sr radiogenic isotopes and depletion in Nd, the basalts from Spitsbergen Island define a single trend with the weakly enriched tholeiites of the Knipovich Ridge, a fact suggesting the closeness of the enriched sources beneath the continental margin of Spitsbergen and beneath the spreading zone. Magmatic activity at Spitsbergen was related to the evolution of the Norwegian-Greenland basin, which evolved in pulses according to the shift of the spreading axes. The most significant of the latter events took place in the Neogene, when the Knipovich Ridge obtained its modern position near the western boundary of Spitsbergen. Early in the course of the evolution, the emplacement of alkaline melts generated at Spitsbergen into the oceanic mantle could form the enriched mantle, which was later involved in the melting process beneath the spreading zone.     

Soil n-alkane δD vs. altitude gradients along Mount Gongga, China

The altitude effect on the isotopic composition of precipitation and its application to paleoelevation reconstruction using authigenic or pedogenic minerals have been intensively studied. However, there are still no studies on variations in biomarker δD along altitude transects to investigate its potential as a paleoelevation indicator, although it has been observed that δD of higher plant lipid may record changes in precipitation δD (δD_p). Here, we present δD values of higher plant-derived C₂₇, C₂₉, and C₃₁n-alkanes from surface soil along the eastern slope of Mount Gongga, China with great changes in physical variables and vegetation over a range from 1000 to 4000 m above sea level. The weighted-mean δD values of these n-alkanes (δD_wax) show significant linear correlations with predicted δD_p values (R² = 0.76) with an apparent isotopic enrichment (ε_wax-p) of −137 ± 9‰, indicating that soil δD_wax values track overall δD_p variation along the entire altitudinal transect. Leaf δD_wax is also highly correlated with mountain altitude by a significant quadratic relationship (R² = 0.80). Evapotranspiration is found declining with altitude, potentially lowering δD_wax values at higher elevations. However, this evapotranspiration effect is believed to be largely compensated by the opposing effect of vegetation changes, resulting in less varied ε_wax-p values over the slope transect. This study therefore confirms the potential of using leaf δD_wax to infer paleoelevations, and more generally, to infer the δD of precipitation.     

Lateral structural variability in zone of eocene island-arc-continent collision,Kamchatka

The lateral variability of structural elements in the collision zone of the Cretaceous-Paleocene Achaivayam-Valagin island arc with the northeastern Asian margin is considered. The similarity and difference of Eocene collision structural elements in the north and the south of Kamchatka are shown. In northern Kamchatka, the continent-arc boundary is traced along the Lesnaya-Vatyn Thrust Fault, which completed its evolution about 45 Ma ago. The thin, near-horizontal allochthon of this thrust, composed of island-arc rocks, overlies the deformed but unmetamorphosed terrigeneous sequences of the Asian margin. The general structure of this suture in the Kamchatka Isthmus and southern Koryakia is comparable with the uppermost subduction zone, where a thin lithospheric wedge overlaps intensely deformed sediments detached from the plunging plate. In southern Kamchatka (Malka Uplift of the Sredinny Range), the arc-continent collision started 55–53 Ma ago with thrusting of island-arc complexes over terrigenous rocks of continental margin. However, the thickness of the allochthon was much greater than in the north. Immediately after this event, both the autochthon and lower part of allochthon were deformed and subsided to a significant depth. This subsidence gave rise to metamorphism of both the autochthon (Kolpakov and Kamchatka groups, Kheivan Formation) and lower allochthon (Andrianovka and Khimka formations). The anomalously fast heating of the crust was most likely related to the ascent of asthenospheric masses due to slab breakoff, when the Eurasian Plate was plunging beneath the Achaivayam-Valagin arc.