Depositional and post‐depositional history of warm stage deposits at Knocknacran,Co. Monaghan,Ireland: implications for preservation of Irish last interglacial deposits

Organic‐rich deposits, uncovered during overburden removal from mantled gypsum karst at Knocknacran opencast gypsum mine, Co. Monaghan, are the best candidate to date for a last interglacial record in Ireland. The two till and organic‐rich deposits (preserved at different quarry elevations) were emplaced on to a Tertiary dolerite surface during high‐energy flood events and subsequently folded and faulted by movement towards sinkholes in underlying gypsum. Uranium–thorium disequilibrium dating suggests that the organic‐rich deposits in the upper section were hydrologically isolated at ca. 41 ka and those in the lower section at ca. 86 ka. Interpretation of the pollen content, although tentative because of the depositional and post‐depositional history of the material, suggests that the organic material originated in a warm stage possibly warmer than the post‐Eemian interstadials. The unusual setting of preservation may indicate that in situ, last interglacial deposits have generally been removed by erosion in Ireland. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pseudofrenelopsis fossils from Cretaceous gypsum beds in Guixi,Jiangxi Province,China and their geological significance

Compressed fossil plants were found in the gypsum beds of the Zhoujiadian Formation in Guixi City, Jiangxi Province, China. The cuticular features of two species of Pseudofrenelopsis (Cheirolepidiaceae) were examined by scanning electron microscopy in this study: Pseudofrenelopsis papillosa Cao ex Zhou and Pseudofrenelopsis guixiensis Bainian Sun et Dai, sp. nov. A detailed analysis of the internode epidermis, and the adaxial and abaxial leaf cuticles of the two species, was performed, extending our knowledge of the morphological and anatomical characteristics of the extinct Pseudofrenelopsis. A new species, Pseudofrenelopsis guixiensis sp. nov., is proposed based upon comparison of its cuticular features. It differs from previously published species in that it has hairs on the abaxial surfaces of its leaves, sometimes shares subsidiary cells on the surfaces of internodes, lacks a hypodermis, and has no papillae on its epidermal cells. Because the distribution of fossil Pseudofrenelopsis is restricted to the Lower Cretaceous, the Early Cretaceous age of the Zhoujiadian Formation is affirmed. The fossils of Pseudofrenelopsis show obvious xeromorphic characteristics, such as apparent thickening of the cuticles, subsidiary cells with obvious papillae, and anticlinal walls with strong cutinization, and they are found associated with gypsum beds and close to red beds. All of these features indicate an arid climate.     

第三系红层中石膏溶蚀特性及其对工程的影响

第三系红层中石膏分布比较广泛,大量的实验证明,石膏发生溶蚀的主要是含Ca2 的物质,并且溶蚀速率和与水接触的方式以及水头压力大小有直接关系。结合现场资料,将渗透系数K=10-5cm s作为石膏在第三系红层泥岩封闭下发生溶蚀的判据。同时针对水利工程中石膏溶蚀以及对砼的腐蚀性提出了相应的防治措施。     

关于金矿成矿物质来源的初步探讨

近年来“矿源层”这一概念已被广大地质学家所接受，他们认为矿床中的金是从围岩中萃取的，本文认为矿床中的金来源于岩浆残余热液。在地壳深部，当丰度值高的基性岩或其他岩石，在深熔作用下产生花岗质岩浆时，同时带出许多金，当岩浆侵入到上部地壳冷凝结晶时，其中的大部金进入残余热液，最后富集成矿。     

贵州绥阳双河洞国家地质公园洞穴基本特征及成因探讨

106地质大队于1959～1960年曾对双河洞石膏矿进行过地质勘查。1986年～2006年4月,先后有中、法、日等国专家19次进双河洞考察,初步查明了该洞总长度为105.7km,是亚洲第二长洞,在世界上排名第16位。该洞不仅规模宏大,网络复杂,且有一定数量的次生淋滤型石膏矿分布,成为国内外罕见的独特洞穴景观。双河洞自2004年荣获国家地质公园称号以来,已引起国内外专家的广泛关注。该洞的形成,与该区域大范围内下寒武统清虚洞组上部至中寒武统平井组下部白云岩中,含大量硬石膏层有着密切的成因联系。     

Temperature evolution between 50 K and 320 K of the thermal expansion tensor of gypsum derived from neutron powder diffraction data

The unit cell parameters, extracted from Rietveld analysis of neutron powder diffraction data collected between 4.2 K and 320 K, have been used to calculate the temperature evolution of the thermal expansion tensor for gypsum for 50 ≤ T ≤ 320 K. At 300 K the magnitudes of the principal axes are α ₁₁  = 1.2(6) × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹, α ₂₂  = 36.82(1) × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹ and α ₃₃  = 25.1(5) × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹. The maximum axis, α ₂₂ , is parallel to b, and using Institution of Radio Engineers (IRE) convention for the tensor orthonormal basis, the axes α ₁₁ and α ₃₃ have directions equal to (−0.979, 0, 0.201) and (0.201, 0, 0.979) respectively. The orientation and temperature dependent behaviour of the thermal expansion tensor is related to the crystal structure in the I2/a setting. Received 12 February 1998 / Revised, accepted 19 October 1998     

Pleistocene climatic change in Southern Australia and its effect on speleothem deposition in some Nullarbor caves

Activity ratios of ²³⁴U/²³⁸U, ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U, and ²³⁰Th/²³²Th have been determined for calcite, gypsum and halite speleothems from caves of the Nullarbor Plain, mostly in the area N and NW of Mundrabilla Station, for the purpose of U-series dating. All calcite speleothems contain adequate amounts of uranium for dating, but some show an excess of ²³⁰Th. Stratigraphic relationships indicate that there were at least three phases of calcium carbonate deposition in the Nullarbor caves. The calcite samples, with one possible exception, have ages in excess of ca. 400000 yrs BP. This suggests that no significant amounts of calcium carbonate deposition have taken place during the last 400ka. At present, active deposition of speleothems is restricted almost entirely to gypsum and halite. The only gypsum speleothem dated was found to have a finite age of ca. 185 ka. Six dates on a small halite speleothem containing insect and arachnid remains indicate that it formed rapidly during Holocene time.     

山东省平邑左庄石膏矿区非采空致塌机理与治理方法

平邑左庄石膏矿区曾发生过3次地面塌陷,但井下实地调查发现,该矿区地面塌陷并非地下采空塌陷波及地表后而引发的地面塌陷。根据矿区地质环境条件、采矿方法及井巷工程布置等因素,分析认为地面塌陷原因是矿山布置的第一开采中段未预留出足够的顶柱厚度,致使井下回采时揭穿矿房顶柱接触到上覆第四纪松散盖层,第四纪孔隙水携带泥砂泄入矿坑发生潜蚀作用,在矿房顶柱与第四纪松散盖层之间形成"天窗式"砂漏,第四纪松散盖层中逐渐形成土洞,土洞扩大并塌陷后引发地面塌陷。     

沿高度变刚度复合墙板结构弹塑性分析

本文研究沿高度变刚度混凝土灌芯纤维石膏墙板结构(以下简称复合墙板结构)在水平荷载作用下的受力机理,建立简化计算模型,推导出了复合墙板结构的受力破坏路径,并建立了各阶段内力计算方法及计算公式。通过实例计算,得到沿高度均匀结构以及非均匀结构在水平荷载情况作用下位移的曲线与非均匀结构的受力破坏路径。结果表明,沿高度适当改变灌芯方式,侧移曲线更趋合理;各区段结构破坏路径均是石膏板先开裂且先达到极限状态。     

Modern sedimentation and hydrology in Lake Tyrrell,Victoria

Lake Tyrrell is a large ephemeral salt lake, the level of which is controlled by climate and groundwater. Up to a metre of water fills the basin during the wetter and cooler winter season, but evaporates during the summer, precipitating up to 10 cm of halite. Each year essentially the same pool of ions is redissolved by this annual freshening. The small percentage of gypsum precipated (< 2%) in the surface salt crust reflects the low calcium content of the brine which, in turn, is a function of the negligible net discharge of calcium from the groundwater system. The small influx of fine‐grained clastic sediment to the lake floor comes from surface runoff, wind, and reworking of older sediment from the shoreline.

The Lake Tyrrell basin lies in a setting in which three different groundwater types, identified by distinct salinities, interact with surface waters. A refluxing cycle that goes from discharging groundwater at the basin margin, to surface evaporation on the lake floor, to recharge through the floor of the lake, controls the major chemical characteristics of the basin. In this process, salts are leached downward from the lake floor to join a brine pool below the lake. This provides an outlet from the lake, especially under conditions that have been both drier and wetter than those of today. Enhanced discharge occurs under drier conditions, when the enclosing regional groundwater divide is lowered, whereas a rise in lake level increases the hydraulic head over that of the sub‐surface brine and promotes an increase in brine loss from the lake.

Sulphate‐reducing bacteria in a zone of black sulphide‐rich mud beneath the salt crust help prevent gypsum from being incorporated into the recent sedimentary record. However, below the upper 5 to 10 cm zone of bacterial activity, discoidal gypsum is being precipitated within the mud from the groundwater. These crystals have grown by displacing the mud and typically “float” in a clay matrix; in some zones, they form concentrations exceeding 50% of the sediment. The occasional laminae of more prismatic gypsum that occur within the upper metre of mud have crystallised from surface brines. The scarcity of these comparatively pure prismatic‐crystal concentrations probably is a function of unfavourable chemical conditions in the lake brine and of the role that sulphate‐reducing bacteria have played.