Geochemical specialization of the tin-bearing granitoid massifs of NW Bohemia

The geochemistry of Hercynian tin-bearing granitoid massifs of the Krune hory Mts. (Erzgebirge), Slavkovský les Forest (Kaiserwald) and Smriny (eastern Fichtelgebirge) is compared by statistical processing of 270 analyses including a wide spectrum of major and trace elements. Seven different types of granites are distinguished. Out of these, five types represent the successive differentiation of the largest massif of NW Bohemia: the Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad) massif. This comprises strongly differentiated peraluminous granites evolving towards extreme Li-Rb-Cs-F-and Sn-enrichment in the youngest members, which are albite-topaz-zinwaldite lithium granites. The sixth and seventh types are different from the former by their location in the eastern Krune hory and tectonic setting, and they display geochemical features of anorogenic granites: they are metaluminous albite-zinwaldite granites with marked enrichment of Nb, Y, and HREE in addition to Li, Rb, Cs, F and Sn, indicating contamination by sub-crustal material. Sn-W mineralizations, including flat peri-contact greisen bodies, steep greisen veins and tourmalinized phyllites, are all intimately associated with the most strongly differentiated granites — the Li-granite and the Cinovec-granite respectively.     

Geochemistry, petrology and ages of the lunar meteorites Kalahari 008 and 009: New constraints on early lunar evolution

Kalahari 008 and 009 are two lunar meteorites that were found close to each other in Botswana. Kalahari 008 is a typical lunar anorthositic breccia; Kalahari 009 a monomict breccia with basaltic composition and mineralogy. Based on minor and trace elements Kalahari 009 is classified as VLT (very-low-Ti) mare basalt with extremely low contents of incompatible elements, including the REE. The Lu-Hf data define an age of 4286 ± 95 Ma indicating that Kalahari 009 is one of the oldest known basalt samples from the Moon. It provides evidence for lunar basalt volcanism prior to 4.1 Ga (pre-Nectarian) and may represent the first sample from a cryptomare. The very radiogenic initial ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf (εHf = +12.9 ± 4.6), the low REE, Th and Ti concentrations indicate that Kalahari 009 formed from re-melting of mantle material that had undergone strong incompatible trace element depletion early in lunar history. This unusually depleted composition points toward a hitherto unsampled basalt source region for the lunar interior that may represent a new depleted endmember source for low-Ti mare basalt volcanism. Apparently, the Moon became chemically very heterogeneous at an early stage in its history and different cumulate sources are responsible for the diverse mare basalt types.Evidence that Kalahari 008 and 009 may be paired includes the similar fayalite content of their olivine, the identical initial Hf isotope composition, the exceptionally low exposure ages of both rocks and the fact that they were found close to each other. Since cryptomaria are covered by highland ejecta, it is possible that these rocks are from the boundary area, where basalt deposits are covered by highland ejecta. The concentrations of cosmogenic radionuclides and trapped noble gases are unusually low in both rocks, although Kalahari 008 contains slightly higher concentrations. A likely reason for this difference is that Kalahari 008 is a polymict breccia containing a briefly exposed regolith, while Kalahari 009 is a monomict brecciated rock that may never have been at the surface of the Moon.Altogether, the compositions of Kalahari 008 and 009 permit new insight into early lunar evolution, as both meteorites sample lunar reservoirs hitherto unsampled by spacecraft missions. The very low Th and REE content of Kalahari 009 as well as the depletion in Sm and the lack of a KREEP-like signature in Kalahari 008 point to a possible source far from the influence of the Procellarum-KREEP Terrane, possibly the lunar farside.     

Fluid-bearing alkaline carbonate melts as the medium for the formation of diamonds in the Earth''s mantle: an experimental study

We have experimentally studied the formation of diamonds in alkaline carbonate–carbon and carbonate–fluid–carbon systems at 5.7–7.0 GPa and 1150–1700 °C, using a split-sphere multi-anvil apparatus (BARS). The starting carbonate and fluid-generating materials were placed into Pt and Au ampoules. The main specific feature of the studied systems is a long period of induction, which precedes the nucleation and growth of diamonds. The period of induction considerably increases with decreasing P and T, but decreases when adding a C–O–H fluid to the system. In the range of P and T corresponding to the formation of diamonds in nature, this period lasts for tens of hours. The reactivity of the studied systems with respect to the diamond nucleation and growth decreases in this sequence: Na₂CO₃–H₂C₂O₄·2H₂O–C>K₂CO₃–H₂C₂O₄·2H₂O–C>>Na₂CO₃–C>K₂CO₃–C. The diamond morphology is independent of P and T, and is mainly governed by the composition of the crystallization medium. The stable growth form is a cubo-octahedron in the Na₂CO₃ melt, and an octahedron in the K₂CO₃ melt. Regardless of the composition of the carbonate melt, only octahedral diamond crystals formed in the presence of the C–O–H fluid. The growth rates of diamond varied in the range from 1.7 μm/h at 1420 °C to 0.1–0.01 μm/h at 1150 °C, and were used to estimate, for the first time, the possible duration of the crystallization of natural diamonds. From the analysis of the experimental results and the petrological evidence for the formation of diamonds in nature, we suggest that fluid-bearing alkaline carbonate melts are, most likely, the medium for the nucleation and growth of diamonds in the Earth's upper mantle.     

Phase Relations in the Harzburgite–Hydrous Carbonate Melt at 5.5–7.5 GPa and 1200–1350°С

Phase relations are studied experimentally in the harzburgite–hydrous carbonate melt system, the bulk composition of which represents primary kimberlite. Experiments were carried out at 5.5 and 7.5 GPa, 1200–1350°С, and \({{X}_{{{\text{C}}{{{\text{O}}}_{2}}}}}\) = 0.39–0.57, and lasted 60 hours. It is established that olivine–orthopyroxene–garnet–magnesite–melt assemblage is stable within the entire range of the studied parameters. With increase of temperature and \({{X}_{{{\text{C}}{{{\text{O}}}_{2}}}}}\) in the system, Ca# in the melt and the olivine fraction in the peridotite matrix significantly decrease. The composition of silicate phases in run products is close to those of high-temperature mantle peridotite. Analysis of obtained data suggest that magnesite at the base of subcontinental lithosphere could be derived by metasomatic alteration of peridotite by asthenospheric hydrous carbonate melts. The process is possible in the temperature range typical of heat flux of 40–45 mW/m², which corresponds to the conditions of formation of the deepest peridotite xenoliths. Crystallization of magnesite during interaction with peridotite matrix can be considered as experimentally substantiated mechanism of CO₂ accumulation in subcratonic lithosphere.     

Mud Volcanic Fluids of the Kerch–Taman Region: Geochemical Reconstructions and Regional Trends. Communication 1: Geochemical Features and Genesis of Mud-Volcanic Waters

Lithology and Mineral Resources - The chemical and isotopic characteristics (δ18O and δ2H) of water from 42 mud volcanoes of the Kerch–Taman region (Crimean–Caucasus district)...     

Sr Isotope Composition of Mud Volcanic Waters in the Kerch–Taman Province

Doklady Earth Sciences - Waters at seventeen mud volcanoes of the Kerch–Taman province in the Northwestern Cis-Caucasus region have been analyzed for Sr isotope composition. The 87Sr/86Sr...     

Comparison of several methods for the solution of the Helmholtz equation

Summary A series of Helmholtz equations has to be solved in short-range weather forecast models which use a splitting scheme of integration. For these purposes the successive overrelaxation, the Gauss-Seidel relaxation, the conjugate gradient method, the steepest descent method, the full-multigrid method and the direct method based on the minimum degree algorithm were used and their efficiencies were compared. It was found that the full-multigrid method was the most efficient among the iterative methods in terms of computational time, and that the effect rapidly increased with the grid size. The direct method may be an appropriate approach if the solution is repeated for various right-hand sides, but it requires large auxiliary computer memory. The selection of the optimum method depends on the concrete problem being solved and on the computer memory available.