中昆仑造山带钾玄岩质火山岩的地质、地球化学和时代

本文论述了中昆仑(北坡)4个地区第四纪火山岩的地质产状、岩石学、地球化学特征及时代。这一套岩石以安粗岩类为主,普遍含有普通辉石和斜长石斑晶,少数还有橄榄石、紫苏辉石或石英、透长石、黑云母斑晶。在化学上以富碱尤其富钾为突出特点,K₂O/Na₂O≥1,而且 Rb、Sr、Ba 等低场强元素和 LREE 也强烈富集,构成一个连续的钾玄岩系列(Shoshoaite Serics)。区域构造,地球化学和深源捕虏体的证据表明,本区钾玄质岩浆来自于上地幔的低度部分熔融,并受到地壳的同化和污染。火山活动大致从晚第三纪开始一直延续到第四纪,特别是中、晚更新世最为剧烈,是昆仑山及青藏高原快速隆升的新构造运动表现形式之一。     

ODP 1144站钻孔沉积物中微玻璃陨石的元素地球化学特征

利用电子探针和激光探针等离子体质谱方法分析了取自南海北部的ODP1144钻孔沉积物中的微玻璃陨石和取自邻近的广东省湛江和吴川玻璃陨石的主元素和微量元素组成。结果显示，这些微玻璃陨石属于亚洲-澳大利亚散落区的普通微玻璃陨石。从成分上看，这些微玻璃陨石存在两种不同的类型，其中的绝大部分Al2O3含量在19.0%以上，属于高Al类型，相应的难熔微量元素含量也比较高；个别微玻璃陨石Al2O3含量（13.0%)和难熔微量元素含量较低，微量元素含量和特征比值都与邻近的广东省湛江和吴川的玻璃陨石相近。元素地球化学特征意味着，这些微玻璃陨石来源于同一靶源区，但靶区的物质组成并不均一。     

大洋底的玻璃微粒

大洋沉积物中的微玻璃陨石和火山玻璃是两类性质截然不同的微玻璃体,前者SiO₂含量十分稳定,MgO含量比较高,Na₂O和MnO含量都很低,并具有Os、Ir等重要地外元素丰度特征。另外,还具有特殊的表面结构以及一定的形成年代。后者的SiO₂含量不稳定,MgO含量很低,Na₂O和MgO含量比较高,不具有Os、Ir等地外元素丰度特征。因此,不可将它们混为一谈。     

闪电熔岩的形态、成分及其与类似天然物质的对比

闪电熔岩是由于闪电击中地表,瞬间高温使矿物熔融后凝结而成的天然玻璃质岩石.由于标本的稀缺性,国内在该方面的研究几近空白.研究采用CT扫描、三维立体成像技术和电子探针等多种观察仪器,揭示了砂质管状闪电熔岩的内、外部结构特征:玻璃质管壁外表面粗糙且形态复杂,内表面光亮且颜色与外表面不同,管壁内部含大量微小气孔,管道内部可以分为完全贯通、局部堵塞和完全封闭等状态;利用电子探针测定了闪电熔岩的成分:SiO₂含量极高,几乎为纯净的玻璃质,仅含有极少量其他金属元素;进一步对比了闪电熔岩、火山玻璃和玻璃陨石在外观、内部结构及成分上的区别,并验证了内蒙古地区类似管状岩石不是闪电熔岩.本研究对闪电熔岩这种罕见的天然物质进行了初步观测,为今后对闪电熔岩更多的科研应用提供基础参考.      

北大巴山笔架山—铜洞湾碱性镁铁质熔岩的岩石学研究

笔-铜碱性镁铁质火山岩体由碎屑岩和熔岩组成。熔岩的主要岩石类型有苦橄岩(富橄辉玄岩)和碱性玄武岩。所有样品都富集不相容元素,REE显示出高度分离的分配型式,其(La/Yb)_(ON)比值多数在15和20之间,而相容元素(Co、Cr和Ni)则明显亏损,计算表明,碱性镁铁质熔岩不可能由球粒陨石型地幔分离出的橄榄岩部分熔融产生,而可能是由交代地幔适度部分熔融产物。     

北大巴山笔架山—铜洞湾碱性镁铁质熔岩的岩石学研究

笔—铜碱性镁铁质火山岩体由碎屑岩和熔岩组成。熔岩的主要岩石类型有苦橄岩(富橄辉玄岩)和碱性玄武岩。所有样品都富集不相容元素,REE显示出高度分离的分配型式,其(La/Yb)_(CN)比值多数在15和20之间,而相容元素(Co、Cr和Ni)则明显亏损,计算表明,碱性镁铁质熔岩不可能由球粒陨石型地幔分离出的橄榄岩部分熔融产生,而可能是由交代地幔适度部分熔融产物。     

广东湛江陨击混杂堆积层的发现及其意义

通过野外地质调查和取样分析,首次在广东湛江地区中更新统早期的北海组地层中发现了一层罕见的陨击混杂堆积层,它是陨击作用下的特殊产物,是北海组含砾砂、粘土质砂在陨击高温作用下烧结、抛射堆积而形成的。陨击混杂堆积层主要分布在湛江坡头的部分地区,有的出露地表,有的为第四系所覆盖,厚度大约为0·1~4m。陨击混杂堆积层中共生玻璃陨石(雷公墨)。陨击混杂堆积层中的击变岩砾石与原岩相比较,Si O2的含量明显减少,Fe2O3的含量明显增加,其他化学成分及含量与原岩近于一致。陨击混杂堆积层的发现可能对澳大利亚—东南亚微玻璃陨石场陨击源坑的寻找和探讨该期玻璃陨石和微玻璃陨石与靶岩之间的关系有重要意义。     

传导-对流型热流的计算模拟

本文对8个初始模型和7个组合模型中沿断层的水热对流、断层产状、山体地形和沉积盆地与基岩热导率反差等四个影响因素对传导型地表热流分布的影响进行了计算机模拟研究。模型设计和参数的选值以西藏中北部一些地热区实测的传导-对流型热流为主要参考依据,但不直接涉及对流组分的校正,而着眼于更广泛的单因子和多因素的模型研究。分析中采用无量纲参数:α=(K₁)/(K₂)(K₁和K₂分别为基岩和沉积盆地的热导率),β=(q₁)/(q₂)(q₁和q₂分别为地表热流的垂向分量和模型的底部热流)以及γ=L/H(L和H分别为离模型左侧边界的距离和山体的高度),以求更广的普适性。对模拟结果的分析表明,上述四项影响因素依其重要性可排序为对流强度—断层倾角—介质热导率反差—地形效应。     

青海湖沉积物中的粘土矿物

本文对青海湖沉积物中的粘土矿物和沉积环境进行了初步研究。沉积物的粒度成分一般以粉砂级为主,湖周沉积物较粗,湖内沉积物较细。湖中粘土矿物以伊利石-绿泥石为主,含少量蒙脱石和高岭石等。沉积物表层未见蒙脱石,粘土中Al₂O₃、K₂O和MgO的相对百分含量的特征与海粘土的化学成分特征相似。     

义县组主期中酸性岩墙群与熔岩地球化学特征及其地质意义

对义县组主期中酸性岩墙与熔岩的地球化学、成因岩石学对比分析显示：中酸性岩墙Mg^#平均36.68%,Na₂O/K₂O平均为1.07;微量元素标准化配分图表现出富集Rb、Ba、K大离子亲石元素,亏损Sr及高场强元素Nb、Ta、P、Ti;稀土元素标准化配分图上表现出负Eu异常,HREE强烈分异,Y/Yb平均10.10,（Ho/Yb）_N平均1.13,LREE配分曲线与熔岩LREE配分曲线重合.中性、中基性熔岩Mg^#平均大于55%,除无Sr负异常外,微量元素标准化配分图与岩墙相似;中性、中基性熔岩稀土元素标准化配分曲线相互平行,并且配分高低与SiO₂含量呈反相关关系,说明二者是部分熔融的非同源岩浆发生混合作用的产物;中性、中基性熔岩Y/Yb分别平均为11.27、11.98;（Ho/Yb）_N分别平均为1.25、1.32,Sr大于400×10^-6,Sr/Y均大于40,显示出了典型埃达克岩地球化学特征.地球化学特征表明中酸性岩墙与火山熔岩来自不同源区,前者来源于斜长石稳定的加厚角闪石麻粒岩地壳部分熔融,而后者来源于受幔源岩浆底侵并且混染过的加厚石榴石麻粒岩相下地壳部分熔融,并且岩墙母岩浆、熔岩岩浆与幔源底侵岩浆在形成过程中可能发生过不同比例的混合作用.结合义县组最底部高Mg^#幔源玄武质岩浆成因机制,主期中酸性岩墙与熔岩岩浆形成机制揭示了早白垩世期间华北板块壳-幔之间岩浆动力学过程.     

Volatile enhanced dispersal of high velocity impact melts and the origin of tektites

In hypervelocity meteorite impacts, shock energies produce temperatures well above the melting point of a wide area of the impacted target rocks. This produces impact melt during excavation and expansion of the transient crater cavity. The vast majority of this melt is retained in the crater-fill stratigraphy where it may form coherent melt units and/or be variably mixed with non-molten target rocks. A small portion (1–3%) of this melt is ejected from the crater at very high velocities – potentially faster than the impactor itself – forming impact glasses and, in rare cases, tektites. Why only some impacts form large volumes of high velocity impact glass and even fewer form tektites remains poorly understood. Many of the expected theoretical controls on the production and dispersal of high-velocity impact melt (target rock type, impact size, impact angle) do not seem to apply; comparison of the volume and nature of ejected melt around complex and simple craters on Earth reveals no systematic relationship to any of these parameters. The geologic evidence suggests that there is another controlling mechanism that promotes production of high velocity impact melt and tektite formation in some impacts. The Darwin impact event shows clearly that the presence of water rich surface layers in the target stratigraphy enhances by orders of magnitude the production of high velocity ejected melt; as hinted at by some numerical models. For tektites from all four strewn fields, the presence of water rich surface layers at the impact site can be inferred and it seems this is the missing feature of the target stratigraphy required to explain tektite origin.     

Identification of the projectile at the Brent crater,and further considerations of projectile types at terrestrial craters

Impact melt samples from drill hole B1-59 at the 3.8 km diameter Brent crater (Ontario) have been analysed for siderophile trace elements indicative of meteoritic contamination. Samples from the basal melt zone at 823–857 m depth are enriched in Ir, Os, Pd, Ni, Co, Cr and Se over basement, with the abundance pattern suggesting a chondritic projectile for Brent. From a Ni-Cr correlation of 10 melt samples an L or LL chondrite is inferred. The contribution of an ultramafic country rock (alnoite) in the melt is too small to significantly influence its $\text{Ni}\text{Cr}$ ratio. Glass-rich breccias from the allochthonous breccias filling the crater also contain a meteoritic component. Interelement ratios (e.g. $\text{Ni}\text{Cr}$) are, however, fractionated relative to the melt zone samples. This, as well as the low Au content of all Brent samples, is probably a product of alteration.Additional data on impact melts from the 65 km diameter crater Manicouagan still did not reveal a meteoritic component, as also for the Mistastin crater (28 km diameter) where Cr analyses set an upper limit of 1% of an achondritic projectile component in the melt. Irghizites (tektite like glasses) from the Zhamanshin impact structure have been found to contain high Ni and Co concentrations, and our data show that Ir is also enriched. It is however not possible to define the projectile-type. Enrichment of an Ivory Coast tektite in Ir is confirmed. There are large differences in siderophile element concentrations among tektites, with otherwise similar chemical composition.There are now four known craters formed by chondrites (Clearwater East, Lapparjärvi, Wanapitei, and Brent), with Brent being the smallest of these. For smaller craters the projectiles appear to be limited to iron or stony-iron meteorites, because of atmospheric destruction of relatively small stony meteorites. It appears, however, that all major classes of meteorites are represented among the projectiles at terrestrial impact craters.     

Tektites: A post-Apollo view

Prior to the receipt of the lunar samples, it was the scientific consensus that tektites were melted and splashed material formed during large cometary or meteorite impact events. Whether the impact took place on the Earth or the Moon was the topic of a long-standing scientific debate, which raged with particular intensity during the decade previous to the lunar landings.Four definite and separate tektite-strewn fields are known: bediasites (North America, 34 m.y.); moldavites (Czechoslovakia, 14 m.y.); Ivory Coast (1.3 m.y.); and Southeast Asian and Australian fields (0.7 m.y.). A fifth possible occurrence, of high-Na australites, possibly 3–4 m.y. old, remains to be substantiated. The age of infall of the australites is not agreed upon. Radiometric and fission track dates agree with the magnetic stratigraphy for deep-sea core microtektite occurrences at about 0.7 m.y. Terrestrial stratigraphic evidence favours a recent (30,000 years) date.The chemistry of tektites appears to reflect that of the parent material, and losses during fusion appear to be restricted to elements and compounds more volatile than cesium. Terrestrial impact glasses provide small-scale analogues of tektite-forming events, and indicate that only the most volatile components are lost during fusion.The Apollo lunar missions provide critical evidence which refutes the hypothesis of lunar origin of tektites. Tektite chemistry is totally distinct from that observed in lunar maria basalts. These possess Cr contents which are two orders of magnitude higher than tektites, distinctive REE patterns with large Eu depletions, high Fe and low SiO₂ contents, low K/U ratios and many other diagnostic features, none of which are observed in the chemistry of tektites. The lunar uplands compositions, as shown by Apollo 14, 15 and 16 samples and the μ-ray and XRF orbiter data, are high-Al, low-SiO₂ compositions totally dissimilar to those of tektites. The composition of lunar rock 12013 shows typical lunar features and is distinct from that of tektites. The small amounts of lunar K-rich granitic material found in the soils have K/Mg and K/Na ratios 10–50 times those of tektites.The ages of the lunar maria (3.2–3.8 aeons) and uplands (> 4.0 aeons) are an order of magnitude older than the parent material of the Southeast Asian and Australian tektites, which yield Rb-Sr isochrons indicating ages of the order of 100–300 m.y. The lunar lead isotopic compositions are highly radiogenic whereas tektites have terrestrial Pb isotopic ratios. Lunar δ¹⁸ O values are low (< 7 per mil) compared with values of +9.6 to +11.5 per mil for tektites. In summary, a lunar impact origin for tektites is not compatible with the chemistry, age or isotopic composition of the lunar samples. A lunar volcanic origin, recently revived by O'Keefe (1970) encounters most of the same problems. Recent lunar volcanism (< 50 m.y.), if the source of tektites, should contribute tektite glass to the upper layers of the regolith. None has been found. The presence of meteoritic components in tektites, and the high pressure phase coesite, are more readily interpreted as evidence of impact.The element abundances and inter-element variations in tektites do not resemble those in terrestrial igneous rocks, but show a close similarity to terrestrial sandstones. The composition of the Southeast Asian tektites, australites and moldavites resembles that of micaceous sandstones or subgreywackes, the Ivory Coast tektite composition is similar to that of greywacke, and the bediasite chemistry is analogous to that of arkose.No suitable terrestrial impact site has been identified for the bediasites, Southeast Asian tektites and australites. It is suggested that a search for the source of these latter strewnfields be made using satellite photographs to look for wide shallow craters produced by super-Tunguska type events on areas of Mesozoic sandstones. The moldavites were possibly formed during the Ries Crater event but, if so, the precise source of the material remains to be identified. The Ivory Coast tektites are linked by chemistry, isotope and age evidence to the Bosumtwi Crater, Ghana. The overall evidence now supports the origin of tektites by cometary (or meteorite) impact on terrestrial sedimentary rocks.     

Shock produced rock glasses from the Ries crater

In the suevite breccia of the Ries impact crater, Germany, glasses occur as bombs, and small particles in the groundmass. These glasses were formed from melt produced by shock fusion of crystalline basement rocks. Ejection from the crater resulted in the formation of aerodynamically shaped bombs, a few homogeneous spherules and a large mass of small glass particles which were deposited in the suevite breccia. Bombs and small particles included within chilled bottom and top layers of suevite deposits have been preserved in vitreous state, whereas glasses within the interior of the suevite devitrified, due to slower cooling rates.This paper summarizes the results of petrographical and chemical investigations of suevite glasses and their devitrification products. Conclusions are derived on origin and history of bombs and glass particles.Vitreous bombs and glass particles consist of schlieren-rich glass, mineral fragments (mainly quartz), rock fragments and vesicles. Wet chemical, trace element and microprobe analyses reveal that a primary melt was formed by shock fusion of a basement complex, consisting of about 80% biotite granite and 20% amphibolite. The, originally, more than 1800° C hot melt then incorporated shocked and desintegrated rocks of outer zones of the impact. Partial fusion of the rock debris resulted in a polyphase mixture consisting of melts, different in composition, accumulations of refractory mineral fragments and vesicles.Devitrified bombs and glass particles which are found in the interior of suevite deposits show alterations of texture and composition, due to microcrystallite growth and action of hydrothermal and weathering solutions. Incipient devitrification is indicated by brown staining of the glasses, originating, probably, by exsolution of minute magnetite particles. By optical microscopy and X-ray analysis, plagioclase and pyroxenes have been identified as main devitrification products. Shapes and textures of microcrystallites indicate fast crystal growth in a viscous and supercooled medium. Hot fluids permeating the suevite deposited microcrystalline quartz in vesicles and cracks. Later, montmorillonite was precipitated by solutions corroding the glass. Action of solutions on glasses which were weakened in coherence by devitrification resulted in oxidation of iron, leaching of iron and magnesium, and enrichment in alkalis.     

Ca-rich majorite derived from high-temperature melt and thermally stressed hornblende in shock veins of crustal rocks from the Ries impact crater (Germany)

Shock veins up to 1.1 mm thick were found within non-porous lithic clasts from suevite breccia of the Nördlinger Ries impact structure. These veins were studied by optical microscopy in transmitted and reflected light and by scanning electron microscopy. In shocked amphibolites, two types of Ca-rich majorite occur within and adjacent to the veins. The first type crystallized from shock-induced melts within the veins. Si contents of these majorites suggest dynamic pressure of ~15–17 GPa, implying minimum temperatures in the range of ~2,150–2,230°C. The second type of majorite was formed adjacent to the shock veins within pargasitic hornblende. This majorite contains significant amounts of H₂O (0.7–0.9 wt%). Based on the textural setting, the shrinkage cracks and the chemical compositions of both phases, a solid-state mechanism is deduced for the hornblende to majorite phase transition. Both genetic types of Ca-rich majorite are described for the first time from a terrestrial impact crater. Along with stishovite, majorite constitutes the second silicate mineral displaying sixfold coordination of Si at Ries. Using micro-Raman spectroscopy, jadeite + coesite and jadeite + grossular were identified within local melt glasses of alkali feldspar and plagioclase composition, respectively. Stishovite aggregates, produced by solid-state reaction, along with shock-induced high-pressure melt glasses of almandine composition were also detected in shock veins of a garnet-cordierite-sillimanite restite. The quenched, homogeneous almandine glasses point to melting temperatures of more than ~2,500°C for the veins. Our findings demonstrate that terrestrial shock veins can give valuable information on shock-induced mineral transformations and transient high pressures of host rocks during a natural impact event.     

Chemical analyses of Bosumtwi crater target rocks compared with the Ivory Coast tektites

The Bosumtwi crater, Ghana, was excavated in phyllites and greywackes with subordinate microgranite dykes and quartz veins of the 2000 Ma old Lower Birimian System with a granodiorite intrusion at Pepiakese on its northeastern side. New major and trace element analyses are presented for 7 phyllites, 5 greywackes, 2 microgranites, 3 Pepiakese intrusion rocks and 1 suevite using XRF and INNA.Means and standard deviations were calculated using all available modern analyses for each element in the Bosumtwi target rocks, Bosumtwi suevite glasses and Ivory Coast tektites. Good agreements between the means were found for the three groups with the suevite glasses and tektites having more limited compositional ranges than the target rocks. Least squares mixing between target rock types shows that the best fits to the tektite and suevite glass compositions require components of about a third or a quarter from the Pepiakese intrusion and some extra silica, derived from quartz veins, as well as the metasediments.The new data provide evidence for vapour phase fractionation of P₂O₅ and Na₂O in the tektites in addition to the previously reported Pb and Rb. Evidence for a meteoritic component in the tektites was found to be equivocal since the target rocks are probably a sufficient source of the meteorite indicator elements Ni and Ir.     

Genesis and mechanisms of formation of rare-metal peralkaline granites of the Khaldzan Buregtey massif,Mongolia: Evidence from melt inclusions

Melt inclusions were studied by various methods, including electron and ion microprobe analysis, to determine the compositions of melts and mechanisms of formation of rare-metal peralkaline granites of the Khaldzan Buregtey massif in Mongolia. Primary crystalline and coexisting melt inclusions were found in quartz from the rare-metal granites of intrusive phase V. Among the crystalline inclusions, we identified potassium feldspar, albite, tuhualite, titanite, fluorite, and diverse rare-metal phases, including minerals of zirconium (zircon and gittinsite), niobium (pyrochlore), and rare earth elements (parisite). The observed crystalline inclusions reproduce almost the whole suite of major and accessory minerals of the rare-metal granites, which supports the possibility of their crystallization from a magmatic melt. Melt inclusions in quartz from these rocks are completely crystallized. Their daughter mineral assemblage includes quartz, microcline, aegirine, arfvedsonite, polylithionite, a zirconosilicate, pyrochlore, and a rare-earth fluorocarbonate. The melt inclusions were homogenized in an internally heated gas vessel at a temperature of 850°C and a pressure of 3 kbar. After the experiments, many inclusions were homogeneous and consisted of silicate glass. In addition to silicate glass, some inclusions contained tiny quench zircon crystals confined to the boundary of inclusions, which indicates that the melts were saturated in zircon. In a few inclusions, glass coexisted with a CO₂ phase. This allowed us to estimate the content of CO₂ in the inclusion as 1.5 wt %. The composition of glasses from the homogeneous melt inclusions is similar to the composition of the rare-metal granites, in particular, with respect to SiO₂ (68–74 wt %), TiO₂ (0.5–0.9 wt %), FeO (2.2–4.6 wt %), MgO (0.02 wt %), and Na₂O + K₂O (up to 8.5 wt %). On the other hand, the glasses of melt inclusions appeared to be strongly depleted compared with the rocks in CaO (0.22 and 4 wt %, respectively) and Al₂O₃ (5.5–7.0 and 9.6 wt %, respectively). The agpaitic index is 1.1–1.7. The melts contain up to 3 wt % H₂O and 2–4 wt % F. The trace element analysis of glasses from homogenized melt inclusions in quartz showed that the rare-metal granites were formed from extensively evolved rare-metal alkaline melts with high contents of Zr, Nb, Th, U, Ta, Hf, Rb, Pb, Y, and REE, which reflects the metallogenic signature of the Khaldzan Buregtey deposit. The development of unique rare metal Zr–Nb–REE mineralization in these rocks is related to the prolonged crystallization differentiation of melts and assimilation of enclosing carbonate rocks.     

Isotopic fractionation of Cu in tektites

Tektites are terrestrial natural glasses of up to a few centimeters in size that were produced during hypervelocity impacts on the Earth’s surface. It is well established that the chemical and isotopic composition of tektites is generally identical to that of the upper terrestrial continental crust. Tektites typically have very low water content, which has generally been explained by volatilization at high temperature; however, the exact mechanism is still debated. Because volatilization can fractionate isotopes, comparing the isotopic composition of volatile elements in tektites with those of their source rocks may help to understand the physical conditions during tektite formation.Interestingly, volatile chalcophile elements (e.g., Cd and Zn) seem to be the only elements for which isotopic fractionation is known so far in tektites. Here, we extend this study to Cu, another volatile chalcophile element. We have measured the Cu isotopic composition for 20 tektite samples from the four known different strewn fields. All of the tektites (except the Muong Nong-types) are enriched in the heavy isotopes of Cu (1.98 < δ⁶⁵Cu < 6.99) in comparison to the terrestrial crust (δ⁶⁵Cu ≈ 0) with no clear distinction between the different groups. The Muong Nong-type tektites and a Libyan Desert Glass sample are not fractionated (δ⁶⁵Cu ≈ 0) in comparison to the terrestrial crust. To refine the Cu isotopic composition of the terrestrial crust, we also present data for three geological reference materials (δ⁶⁵Cu ≈ 0).An increase of δ⁶⁵Cu with decreasing Cu abundance probably reflects that the isotopic fractionation occurred by evaporation during heating. A simple Rayleigh distillation cannot explain the Cu isotopic data and we suggest that the isotopic fractionation is governed by a diffusion-limited regime. Copper is isotopically more fractionated than the more volatile element Zn (δ^66/64Zn up to 2.49‰). This difference of behavior between Cu and Zn is predicted in a diffusion-limited regime, where the magnitude of the isotopic fractionation is regulated by the competition between the evaporative flux and the diffusive flux at the diffusion boundary layer. Due to the difference of ionic charge in silicates (Zn²⁺ vs. Cu⁺), Cu has a diffusion coefficient that is larger than that of Zn by at least two orders of magnitude. Therefore, the larger isotopic fractionation in Cu than in Zn in tektites is due to the significant difference in their respective chemical diffusivity.     

Iron local structure in tektites and impact glasses by extended X-ray absorption fine structure and high-resolution X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy

The local structure of iron in three tektites has been studied by means of Fe K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and high-resolution X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy in order to provide quantitative data on <Fe-O> distance and Fe coordination number. The samples studied are a moldavite and two australasian tektites. Fe model compounds with known Fe oxidation state and coordination number were used as standards in order to extract structural information from the XANES pre-edge peak. EXAFS-derived grand mean <Fe-O> distances and Fe coordination numbers for the three tektite samples are constant within the estimated error (<Fe-O > =2.00 Å ± 0.02 Å, CN = 4.0 ± 0.4). In contrast to other data from the literature on Fe-bearing silicate glasses, the tektites spectra could not be fitted with a single Fe-O distance, but rather were fit with two independent distances (2 × 1.92 Å and 2 × 2.08 Å). High-resolution XANES spectra of the three tektites display a pre-edge peak whose intensity is intermediate between those of staurolite and grandidierite, thus suggesting a mean coordination number intermediate between 4 and 5. Combining the EXAFS and XANES data for Fe, we infer the mean coordination number to be close to 4.5.Comparison of the tektites XANES spectra with those of a suite of different impact glasses clearly shows that tektites display a relatively narrow range of Fe oxidation state and coordination numbers, whereas impact glasses data span a much wider range of Fe oxidation states (from divalent to trivalent) and coordination numbers (from tetra-coordinated to esa-coordinated). These data suggest that the tektite production process is very similar for all the known strewn fields, whereas impact glasses can experience a wide variety of different temperature-pressure-oxygen fugacity conditions, leading to different Fe local structure in the resulting glasses. These data could be of aid in discriminating between tektite-like impact glasses and impact glasses sensu strictu.     

Conditions of crystallization of olivine shonkinites in the Inagli massif (Central Aldan)

The olivine shonkinites localized among dunites and alkali gabbroids in the northern part of the alkaline ultrabasic Inagli massif (northwestern part of Central Aldan) have been studied. The obtained data on the chemical and trace-element compositions of the rocks and minerals and the results of melt inclusion study showed that the olivine shonkinites crystallized from alkaline basanite melt enriched in Cl, S, CO2, and trace elements. Clinopyroxene crystallized at 1180-1200 °C from a homogeneous silicate-salt melt, which was probably separated into immiscible silicate and carbonate-salt fractions with temperature decreasing. The composition of the silicate fraction evolved from alkaline basanite to alkaline trachyte. The carbonate-salt fraction had an alkaline carbonate composition and was enriched in S and Cl. The same trend of evolution of clinopyroxene-hosted melts and the igneous rocks of the Inagli massif suggests that the alkali gabbroids, melanocratic alkali syenites, and pulaskites formed from the same magma, which had a near-alkaline basanite composition during its crystallization differentiation. The geochemical studies showed that the olivine shonkinites and glasses of homogenized melt inclusions in clinopyroxene grains have similar contents of trace elements, one or two orders of magnitude higher than those in the primitive mantle. The high contents of LILE (K, Rb, and Sr) and LREE in the olivine shoshonites and homogenized inclusions suggest the enriched mantle source, and the negative anomalies of HFSE and Ti are a specific feature of igneous rocks formed with the participation of crustal material. The slight depletion in HREE relative to LREE and the high (La/Yb)_n ratios in the rocks and inclusion glasses (10.0-11.4 and 4.7-6.2, respectively) suggest the presence of garnet in the mantle source.