Assimilation and Fractional Crystallization Controlled by Transport Process of Crustal Melt: Implications from an Alkali Basalt-Dacite Suite from Rishiri Volcano, Japan

Mechanisms of fractional crystallization with simultaneous crustalassimilation (AFC) are examined for the Kutsugata and Tanetomilavas, an alkali basalt–dacite suite erupted sequentiallyfrom Rishiri Volcano, northern Japan. The major element variationswithin the suite can be explained by boundary layer fractionation;that is, mixing of a magma in the main part of the magma bodywith a fractionated interstitial melt transported from the mushyboundary layer at the floor. Systematic variations in SiO₂ correlatewith variations in the Pb, Sr and Nd isotopic compositions ofthe lavas. The geochemical variations of the lavas are explainedby a constant and relatively low ratio of assimilated mass tocrystallized mass (‘r value’). In the magma chamberin which the Kutsugata and Tanetomi magmas evolved, a strongthermal gradient was present and it is suggested that the marginalpart of the reservoir was completely solidified. The assimilantwas transported by crack flow from the partially fused floorcrust to the partially crystallized floor mush zone throughfractures in the solidified margin, formed mainly by thermalstresses resulting from cooling of the solidified margin andheating of the crust. The crustal melt was then mixed with thefractionated interstitial melt in the mushy zone, and the mixedmelt was further transported by compositional convection tothe main magma, causing its geochemical evolution to be characteristicof AFC. The volume flux of the assimilant from the crust tothe magma chamber is suggested to have decreased progressivelywith time (proportional to t^–1/2), and was about 3 x 10^–2m/year at t = 10 years and 1 x 10^–2 m/year at t = 100years. It has been commonly considered that the heat balancebetween magmas and the surrounding crust controls the couplingof assimilation and fractional crystallization processes (i.e.absolute value of r). However, it is inferred from this studythat the ratio of assimilated mass to crystallized mass canbe controlled by the transport process of the assimilant fromthe crust to magma chambers. KEY WORDS: assimilation and fractional crystallization; mass balance model; magma chamber; melt transport; Pb isotope     

Paleomagnetic Constraints on Mineralization Age of the Nansatsu-type Gold Deposits in Southern Kyushu, Japan

Abstract: Two mineralization stages, stage I and stage II, have been identified from textural, mineralogical and crosscutting relationships in gold ore from the Nansatsu-type gold deposits of Kasuga, Iwato and Akeshi. Mineralization age of each stage in each deposit was determined with paleomagnetic methods on 432 specimens from 312 oriented samples. As results, mineralization ages of stage I of each deposit fall in the same period, the reversed polarity subchron of 4.18–3.58 Ma, and those of stage II are limited in the normal and reversed polarity subchrons of 3.58–3.22 Ma. Contrasting with previous results based only on K-Ar ages, our conclusion shows that these Nansatsu-type gold deposits were formed contemporaneously.     

Four lunar mare meteorites: Crystallization trends of pyroxenes and spinels

Abstract— We studied crystallization trends of pyroxene and spinel in four Antarctic meteorites known to be derived from mare regions of the Moon: Y-793169 and A-881757 (YA meteorites) are unbrecciated igneous basalts, EET 87521 is a fragmental breccia, and Y-793274 is a regolith breccia. All have relatively low bulkrock TiO₂ content, and the YA meteorites are uncommonly ancient. Our electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) data indicate that the YA meteorites and the dominant mare components of Y-793274 and EET 87521 conform to a general trend for Ti-poor (low-Ti and very low-Ti) mare basalts. Their pyroxenes show a strong correlation between Fe/(Fe + Mg) (Fe#) and Ti/(Ti + Cr) (Ti#), both ratios typically increasing from core to rim. These trends presumably reflect local crystallization differentiation of interstitial melt. Previous studies (M. J. Drake and coworkers) have suggested that the detailed configurations of such Fe# vs. Ti# trends may reflect the bulk TiO₂ contents of the parent magmas (basalts). As a more systematic approach to this problem, we plot bulk-rock TiO₂ as a function of the Fe# = 0.50 intercept of each rock's pyroxene Fe# vs. Ti# trend. We call this intercept the Fe#-normalized Ti#. Based on our data for EET 87521, the YA meteorites, and Apollo 12 basalts 12031 and 12064, plus literature data for several other Ti-poor mare basalts, we find a strong correlation between Fe#-normalized Ti# and the bulk TiO₂ content of the parent basalt. This correlation confirms that fragmental breccia EET 87521 is nearly pure very low-Ti (VLT) basalt and that the YA meteorites, for which bulk-rock TiO₂ results scatter due to unusually coarse grain size (A-881757) or scarcity of available sample (Y-793169), are pieces of an uncommonly Ti-poor, but not quite VLT, variety of low-Ti mare basalt. Extrapolating from this correlation, the dominant mare component of regolith breccia Y-793274 is probably of VLT affinity. Besides the normal mare pyroxene trend of strong correlation between Fe# and Ti#, Y-793274 includes two additional pyroxene compositional trends, both showing a wide range of Ti# despite relatively constant (and low, by mare standards) Fe#. The most magnesian of these trends consists of a single clast with a mode of orthopyroxene + MgO-rich ilmenite. These two trends are of uncertain origin. Possibly one or both represents the highland component of this regolith breccia, although, unlike most highland pyroxenes, these appear relatively unaltered by impact brecciation and metamorphism. Compositions of spinels in the coarse-grained A-881757 show an extraordinary distribution: chromite and ulvöspinel components vary among grains but are nearly constant within grains. Despite its old age and unusually coarse grain sizes, mineralogical evidence (i.e., heterogeneity within both pyroxene and spinel; typical pyroxene exsolution scale very coarse by mare standards but exceeded by the pyroxenes of EET 87521 and Y-793274) indicates that A-881757 was cooled only slightly more slowly than typical mare basalts and may have formed near the center of an uncommonly thick lava flow. Both of the VLT basaltic lunar meteorite breccias, EET 87521 and Y-793274, are composed dominantly of pyroxenes with exsolution coarser than normal for mare basalts. Possibly VLT basalt flows tend to be systematically thicker, and thus more slowly cooled, than more Ti-rich flows.     

Geochemical, mineralogical and sedimentological studies on the Taklimakan Desert sands

Major-element composition, mineral composition and grain-size distribution have been studied for Quaternary aeolian sediments from the Taklimakan Desert, north-western China, together with the variation of chemical and mineralogical compositions of different grain-size fractions. Aeolian sediments from the Taklimakan Desert have higher ratios of feldspar/quartz and calcite/quartz, finer grain size, poorer roundness of quartz and feldspar grains and lower abundances of frosted quartz, than found in aeolian sediments from other deserts such as the Saudi Arabian Desert. In spite of these immature mineralogical and sedimentological features, the aeolian sediments from the Taklimakan Desert show low regional variations in major-element and mineral compositions and are homogenized. These observations confirm that two processes, glacial activity within surrounding mountains and aeolian activity at the Tarim Basin, are important in the homogenization of the Taklimakan Desert sands. Taklimakan Desert sediments are constantly and effectively supplied from basement rocks in the surrounding mountains by glacial erosion. The supplied sediments are further homogenized by aeolian activity in the desert and are partly blown away, serving as the source of Chinese aeolian loess. Compositional differences are observed between loess (mainly 10–40 μm particles) and the <45 μm fraction of the Taklimakan Desert sediments, as well as between loess and whole rock of the Taklimakan Desert sediments. These observations provide constraints for precise modelling of loess formation, and for assessment of the chemical composition of the upper continental crust based on the chemical composition of aeolian loess.     

用非线性近似方法反演单多普勒雷达风场

回顾了近年来由单多普勒雷达观测反演风场的各种方法。这些方法大部分基于线性假设，因此风场的非线性交化经常影响反演结果，使得反演的风场误差增大。我们提出一种以非线性近似理论为基础的反演方法，该方法主要考虑了风场分片光滑的特点并充分利用了雷达的径向风场数据。我们把该方法应用到1998年淮河能量与水循环实验的两个个例中。通过同双多普勒雷达观测的结果比较，发现该方法能反演较高分辨率和淮确性的水平风场，反演的垂直风场也比较合理。     

Mineralogical records of early planetary processes on the howardite,eucrite, diogenite parent body with reference to Vesta

Abstract— Mineralogical information recovered from the howardite, eucrite, diogenite (HED) meteorites was employed to reconstruct the history of the parent body and relate it to 4 Vesta. These interpreted crustal evolution processes were then compared to the expected geological features on the surface of a likely proto-planet, 4 Vesta. The original crustal materials of the HED parent body were preserved as mineral grains and lithic clasts, but in many eucrites, Fe/Mg ratios in pyroxenes were homogenized by diffusion after crystallization. The crystallization trend of the protocrust has been deciphered by (1) examining monomict and crystalline samples and using their mineralogical and chemical information to formulate a sequence of crystallization and cooling trends; and by (2) reconstructing the original crust prior to cratering events from lithic clasts and mineral fragments in polymict breccias such as howardites and polymict eucrites. Mineral components are identical, both in the individual HED and in polymict breccias, and no remnants of primitive materials were preserved in the polymict breccias. A layered crust model reconstructed from such breccias consists of an upper crust with extrusive lava-like eucrites that have been brecciated and metamorphosed, diogenite mantle, and cumulate eucrites of varying thickness between them. This model can be used to explain the surface geological features of Vesta observed from the Hubble space telescope. A large crater with diogenitic orthopyroxene at the crater floor is consistent with the deepest diogenitic layer of the layered crust model; and an underlying olivine layer is expected from early crystallized olivine in the crystal fractionation model. The old terrain of eucritic surface materials of Vesta can be howardites, polymict eucrites, or regolith-like eucrites produced from eucrites extruded and impacted on the surface. Partial melting models of eucrites seem to be favored by the rare-earth element (REE) chemistry and experimental studies. Unfortunately, partial melting models have not demonstrated how the HED parent body is converted to a layered crust without producing any metamorphosed primitive material in the layered crust. The origin of cumulate eucrites with systematic variation of textures and chemistries of pyroxene can be explained by the layered crust model with excavation and mixing of trapped liquid. Discovery of basaltic materials with Na-rich plagioclase and augite in iron meteorites, which are the products of partial melting, suggests that eucrites may be unique to a body that underwent large-scale differentiation and metamorphism.     

Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic study of forearc basin sediments: Lower to Upper Cretaceous Budden Canyon Formation (Great Valley Group), northern California,USA

The results of a calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic investigation of the North Fork Cottonwood Creek section of the Budden Canyon Formation (BCF; Hauterivian–Turonian) in northern California are summarized using the Boreal – cosmopolitan Boreal Nannofossil Biostratigraphy (BC) – Upper Cretaceous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy (UC) nannofossil zonal schemes of Bown et al. and Burnett et al. Sixteen intervals, ranging from the BC15 to UC8 zones, were established in the section. Combined biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic studies suggest a Hauterivian to mid‐Turonian age for the studied sequence. The Hauterivian–Barremian, Barremian–Aptian, Aptian–Albian, Albian–Cenomanian, and Cenomanian–Turonian stage boundaries were delineated near the top of the Ogo Member, below the Huling Sandstone Member, within the upper Chickabally Member, in the upper portion of the Bald Hills Member and within the Gas Point Member, respectively. Unconformities probably exist at the base of the Huling Sandstone Member and the upper part of the upper Chickabally Member. The nannofossil assemblage in the North Fork Cottonwood Creek suggests that the study area was under the influence of cold‐water conditions during the Barremian to Lower Aptian interval, shifting to tropical/warm‐water conditions during the Albian to Turonian interval as a result of the mid‐Cretaceous global warming. Although oceanic anoxic events have not yet been reported in the BCF, preliminary total organic carbon, along with nannofossil data, suggest the presence of the global Cenomanian–Turonian boundary oceanic anoxic event 2.