扬子地块西南缘瓮安穹隆不整合面特征、年代限定及大地构造意义

瓮安穹隆位于近南北向的鄂渝湘黔穹隆群构造带与东西向黔中隆起的过渡区域,本质上为一构造叠加穹隆。瓮安穹隆及周缘发育并完好地保留了加里东期、印支期和燕山期不整合面。这些对应于关键构造事件的不整合面的发育特征和年代限定是进行区域和大地构造重建的重要手段。研究结果表明：(1)古生代以来瓮安穹隆及邻区构造格局出现3次重大变动,先后经历了加里东期、印支期、燕山期等3个关键演化阶段,是前震旦陆壳基底上的叠加穹隆。早古生代以来,瓮安穹隆及邻区主要发育中志留统顶面(S2/AnS2)、中三叠统顶面(T2/AnT2)、中侏罗统顶面(J2/AnJ2)不整合,分别与加里东期、印支期和燕山期构造运动有关。(2)根据碎屑锆石年龄分布统计结果,瓮安地区及邻区加里东运动的发生时间为426~415 Ma,印支运动的发生时间为246~233 Ma,燕山运动发生的时间为168~150 Ma。对瓮安穹隆出现的不整合进行构造及年代学分析,从而进一步探讨穹隆的构造演化,将有助于对穹隆构造的深入研究。     

New litho- and biostratigraphic evidence for a Mid-Ordovician hiatus in southern central Snowdonia,North Wales

Detailed mapping and biostratigraphic data provide new evidence of a major break below the base of the Caradoc succession along the northern margin of the Harlech Dome in south central Snowdonia. Within this outcrop the sequence is locally complicated by subsequent tectonic and volcanic events, but undisturbed sections indicate a break of at least 10 Ma between upper Arenig and middle, or upper, Llandeilo strata. The break is greatest between two N-S trending fracture systems, the Cwm Pennant Fault Zone in the west and Trawsfynydd Fault Zone in the east, which both have a persistent history of reactivation. Between these two fractures neither Llanvirn nor lower Llandeilo strata occur. This contrasts with the thick, and perhaps complete, sequence preserved in the Cadair Idris district on the southern margin of the dome and suggests that, during Llanvirn times, the Harlech Dome formed a major uplifted and tilted block, with a tectonically active northern margin. Subsequently, uplift and tectonism either ceased before, or was overwhelmed by, the ensuing sea-level rise associated with the gracilis (early Caradoc) transgression. The preservation of ooidal ironstones around the dome suggests that it may have became a large shoal or platformal area at this time. Renewed uplift and erosion along the northern margin of the Harlech Dome during the early Caradoc (gracilis to multidens) led to large-scale disruption of the stratigraphic succession by mass gravity flow and slumping, overprinting and locally accentuating the effects of the earlier hiatus.     

The Rössing Uranium Deposit: a product of late-kinematic localization of uraniferous granites in the Central Zone of the Damara Orogen, Namibia

The Rössing granite-hosted uranium deposit in the Central Zone of the Pan-African Damara Orogen, Namibia, is situated in the “SJ area” to the south of the Rössing Dome. The coincidence of a number of features in this area suggests that mineralization is closely linked to late-kinematic evolution of the Rössing Dome. These features include: (1) the rotation of the dome's long axis (trend of 017°), relative to the regional F₃ trend of 042°; (2) southward dome impingement, concomitant with dome rotation, producing a wedge-shaped zone of alkali-leucogranites, within which uranium mineralization is transgressive with respect to granites and their host lithologies; uranium mineralization and a high fluid flux are also confined to this arcuate zone to the south and south-east of the dome core and (3) fault modeling that indicates that the SJ area underwent late-D₃ to D₄ brittle–ductile deformation, producing a dense fault network that was exploited by leucogranites. Dome rotation and southward impingement occurred after a protracted period of transtensional tectonism in the Central Zone, from ca. 542 to 526 Ma, during which I- and S-type granites were initiated in a metamorphic core complex. Late-kinematic deformation involved a rejuvenation of the stresses that acted from ca. 600 to 550 Ma. This deformation overlapped with uranium-enriched granite intrusion in the Central Zone at 510 ± 3 Ma. Such late-kinematic, north–south transpression, which persisted into the post-kinematic cooling phase until at least 478 ± 4 Ma, was synchronous with left-lateral displacement along NNE-trending (“Welwitschia Trend”) shears in the vicinity of Rössing. Late-kinematic deformation, causing block rotation, overlying dome rotation and interaction of the more competent units of the Khan Formation with the Rössing Formation in the dome rim was pivotal in the localization of uranium-enriched granites within a highly fractured, high-strain zone that was also the site of prolonged/high fluid flux.     

Hercynite–quartz-bearing granulites from Brejões Dome area, Jequié Block, Bahia, Brazil: Influence of charnockite intrusion on granulite facies metamorphism

In the present study, we describe and discuss the geology of aluminous–magnesian granulites and associated garnet-bearing charnockitic granulite from the Brejões Dome area, located in the Jequié Block, part of the São Francisco Craton in Bahia, Brazil. Investigation of metamorphic mineral assemblages allows the evaluation of P–T conditions for the formation of these rocks, and therefore to obtain constraints for the better understanding of the geological evolution of the area. We conclude that the rocks from the Brejões Dome area were formed under granulite facies conditions of low to intermediate pressure (5–8 kbar). Temperatures determined in samples of aluminous–magnesian granulites collected away from the dome are in the order of 850 °C, similar to those determined elsewhere in the southern part of the Itabuna–Salvador–Curaçá Orogen. However, samples of the same rock type collected close to the Brejões Dome are hercynite + quartz-bearing and record higher temperatures of about 900–1000 °C. It is suggested that the intrusion of the Brejões charnockite diapir was responsible for a local increase in temperature above the peak temperature of regional granulite metamorphism.     

Diapirism synchronous with regional deformation and gold mineralisation,a new concept for granitoid emplacement in the Southern Cross Province,Western Australia

The Southern Cross Province in the Archean Yilgarn Block of Western Australia comprises large dome-shaped granitoid bodies surrounded by narrow greenstone belts. Determination of the emplacement mechanism of these domes is fundamental for understanding the tectonic history of this region. Many structures in the greenstone belts show trends which reflect their tectonic relationships with the granitoid domes. Some of these structures host large gold occurrences. The domes have concentric foliation patterns, both within the granitoids themselves, and in the neighbouring greenstone belts. The smaller domes only have radial mineral lineation patterns in their wall rocks, but the largest dome, the Ghooli Dome, has also a tangential pattern. The prevailing gentle dip of the foliation in the centre of this dome and the abundance of greenstone xenoliths suggest that the present exposures are close to its roof. Geothermometry and geobarometry on mineral assemblages in the Ghooli granitoid and its xenoliths show that its crystallisation temperature was just above 700 °C at a relatively high pressure of 4.3 to 6.2 kbar. These P-T conditions are higher than those inferred for peak metamorphism in the greenstones. Therefore, this granitoid must have been emplaced initially at crustal levels deeper than the maximum burial of the greenstones which flank the dome. The Ghooli Dome has a SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of 2691 ± 7 Ma. Diapiric rise of the granitoid plutons taking place in a regional compressive tectonic regime is considered to be the most likely mechanism for the final emplacement of these bodies into their host rock at about 2636–2620 Ma. This concept is preferred over the alternatives because it best reconciles the calculated P-T data, the observed structural patterns, the presence of pegmatites and aplites in the host rock, and the orientation of the mineral-bearing structures.     

断层相关褶皱概念模型中的裂缝域

断层相关褶皱对裂缝的控制作用主要体现在岩层的几何形态对裂缝方位的影响和变形对岩石破裂的控制程度。本文在断层相关褶皱概念模型的基础上提出了裂缝域,并以Suppe的平行膝折概念模型为对象,利用几何学方法对模型中区域性裂缝的裂缝域进行分区描述,并提出了断层相关褶皱的曲线概念模型中区域性裂缝的分布规律。以新疆卡普沙良河一处断层转折褶皱剖面上裂缝的实测数据为依据,对模型进行验证,发现测量结果同模型基本一致。该方法为前陆冲断带地区断层相关褶皱对裂缝控制作用的定量预测提供了一种全新的思路。     

One-dimensional thermal modelling of Acadian metamorphism in southern Vermont, USA

One‐dimensional thermal (1DT) modelling of an Acadian (Devonian) tectonothermal regime in southern Vermont, USA, used measured metamorphic pressures and temperatures and estimated metamorphic cooling ages based on published thermobarometric and geochronological studies to constrain thermal and tectonic input parameters. The area modelled lies within the Vermont Sequence of the Acadian orogen and includes: (i) a western domain containing garnet‐grade pre‐Silurian metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks from the eastern flank of an Acadian composite dome structure (Rayponda–Sadawga Dome); and (ii) an eastern domain containing similar, but staurolite‐ or kyanite‐grade, rocks from the western flank of a second dome structure (Athens Dome), approximately 10 km farther east. Using reasonable input parameters based on regional geological, petrological and geochronological constraints, the thermal modelling produced plausible P–T paths, and temperature–time (T –t) and pressure–time (P–t) curves. Information extracted from P–T –t modelling includes values of maximum temperature and pressure on the P–T paths, pressure at maximum temperature, predicted Ar closure ages for hornblende, muscovite and K‐feldspar, and integrated exhumation and cooling rates for segments of the cooling history. The results from thermal modelling are consistent with independently obtained pressure, temperature and Ar cooling age data on regional metamorphism in southern Vermont. Modelling results provide some important bounding limits on the physical conditions during regional metamorphism, and indicate that the pressure contemporaneous with the attainment of peak temperature was probably as much as 2.5 kbar lower than the actual maximum pressure experienced by rocks along various particle paths. In addition, differences in peak metamorphic grade (garnet‐grade versus staurolite‐grade or kyanite‐grade) and peak temperature for rocks initially loaded to similar crustal depths, differences in calculated exhumation rates, and differences in ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar closure ages are likely to have been consequences of variations in the duration of isobaric heating (or ‘crustal residence periods’) and tectonic unroofing rates. Modelling results are consistent with a regional structural model that suggests west to east younging of specific Acadian deformational events, and therefore diachroneity of attainment of peak metamorphic conditions and subsequent ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar closure during cooling. Modelling is consistent with the proposition that regional variations in timing and peak conditions of metamorphism are the result of the variable depths to which rocks were loaded by an eastward‐thickening thrust‐nappe pile rooted to the east (New Hampshire Sequence), as well as by diachronous structural processes within the lower plate rocks of the Vermont Sequence.     

Arsenic within the secondary environment resulting from geogenic inputs,Harlech Dome,United Kingdom

There has been a growing awareness of As in the environment due to both anthropogenic and geogenic loading. This study quantifies the presence of As in river water, river sediment and groundwater within the Harlech Dome region of the UK, an area underlain by Cambro–Ordovician aged mineralization. Published data regarding As levels in UK groundwater are relatively rare compared to elsewhere. Arsenic levels in groundwater (0.1–18 µg l^?1) and river sediment (1.5–142 mg kg^?1) exceed environmental quality guidelines and indicate the release of As into the secondary environment from predominantly geogenic sources. Modelling of dissolved As speciation using ORP–pH diagrams predicts the presence of As in both arsenate (As⁵⁺) and arsenous acid (As³⁺) species, which possess differing solubilities and mobilities. Calculation of enrichment factors (EFs) for As in river sediments, using Al as a reference element, indicates highest EFs, and therefore As release, occurs in streams draining the Coed-y-Brenin region in the south-east of the Harlech Dome. This area is underlain by an as yet unexploited porphyry copper deposit. Data indicate that the presence of potentially harmful elements within the environment may occur with or without the presence of major anthropogenic activity.     

东北北部区域构造特征及与有色金属矿产的关系

引言东北北部地跨东北地洼区和松辽地台区,在漫长的地质发展史中经历了前地槽、地槽、地台和地洼的发展历程,历期的岩浆活动、断裂构造运动频繁,区内有色金属矿产的分布与区域构造格架密切相关。笔者在研究前人工作成果的基础上经初步分析写成此文,其论述范围包括黑龙江省和内蒙古自治区呼伦贝尔盟。限于篇幅,本文仅阐述区域深断裂构造与有色金属矿产的关系。不妥之处,请予以指教。     

A case study on the apparent absence of thermal effects of an andesitic intrusion on the rank of adjacent coal

The intrusion of the Jumbo Dome andesitic plug into Miocene coal-bearing rocks of the Hosanna Creek field, Nenana basin, interior Alaska caused dramatic structural adjustments and attitude changes adjacent to its flanks. The area contains major commercially minable subbituminous coal resources.Jumbo Dome andesite has been radiometrically dated by KAr methods as late Pliocene to Pleistocene. Proximate analysis and vitrinite reflectance data on samples from two coals on the southwest flank of the dome indicate no significant difference in rank or character from other coal beds in the Nenana basin.Petrologic and geochemical evidence suggests that the Jumbo Dome andesitic magma did not cool slowly in equilibrium but experienced several stages of crytallization under various temperature and pressure regimes. The Jumbo Dome intrusive body was evidently shallowly emplaced within a few hundred meters of the surface. The pluton cooled relatively rapidly, exposing the coal-bearing rocks to only a minor temperature difference of short duration.     

The Taylor Dome Antarctic O Record and Globally Synchronous Changes in Climate

The ¹⁸O/¹⁶O profile of a 554-m long ice core through Taylor Dome, Antarctica, shows the climate variability of the last glacial–interglacial cycle in detail and extends at least another full cycle. Taylor Dome shares the main features of the Vostok record, including the early climatic optimum with later cool phase of the last interglacial period in Antarctica. Taylor Dome δ¹⁸O fluctuations are more abrupt and larger than those at Vostok and Byrd Station, although still less pronounced than those of the Greenland GISP2 and GRIP records. The influence of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation on regional ocean heat transport explains the partly “North Atlantic” character of this Antarctic record. Under full glacial climate (marine isotope stage 4, late stage 3, and stage 2), this marine influence diminished and Taylor Dome became more like Vostok. Varying degrees of marine influence produce climate heterogeneity within Antarctica, which may account for conflicting evidence regarding the relative phasing of Northern and Southern Hemisphere climate change.     

北喜马拉雅穹隆带雅拉香波穹隆的构造组成和运动学特征

雅拉香波穹隆构造位于北喜马拉雅穹隆带,由上、下两个拆离断层分割成3个构造层。下拆离断层以韧性变形为主,其下的糜棱状片麻岩和花岗岩体形成穹隆核部即下构造层;上拆离断层以脆性变形为主,其上为低级变质的西藏沉积岩系及基性岩墙群(上构造层);千糜岩和糜棱状片岩构成上、下两拆离断层间的中构造层。穹隆构造内经历3期运动,第1和第2期的线理具有统一的北北西—南南东倾伏向,前者仅保存于局部下构造层,代表上盘向南南东的运动学特征,为早期构造变形,成因尚待查明;第2期为穹隆内主导线理,代表穹隆统一的上盘向北北西的运动。第3期低透入性线理向穹隆外侧倾伏,代表垮塌下滑运动。雅拉香波穹隆下构造层与高喜马拉雅岩系相似,下拆离断层为主拆离断层,中构造层可能为西藏沉积岩系底部经拆离作用形成,所以下拆离断层可能是分割高喜马拉雅结晶岩系与西藏沉积岩系的藏南拆离系在北喜马拉雅的出露。雅拉香波穹隆早期(距今14.5Ma±)可能经历了沿藏南拆离系的北北西向拆离,后期(距今13.5Ma±)因岩浆底辟和剥蚀反弹而发生穹隆作用。     

Geotechnical and Environmental Hazards in Desert New Cities: A Case Study of El Minia El Gedida Site,Egypt

The plateau east of the Nile Valley at El Minia, Egypt, has been chosen for the siting of El Minia El Gedida city. Problems of underground caves suggested the need for integral geological, geotechnical and environmental hazard studies to examine the suitability of the area as a building site.Geologically, the area is formed of a thick sequence of Middle Eocene fossiliferous limestones and chalk with some layers of sandy, cherty and marly limestones. These rocks have heterogeneous physical and mechanical properties and fall within the weak to very weak range of limestones. Their mode of failure is almost of the brittle type developing extension, wedge and single shear type fractures. The mechanical properties are controlled by their physical, geological and mineralogical properties. They increase with density and dolomite content and decrease with porosity and calcite content. Empirical equations for some of these relations as well as the relation between field measures of rebound index and compressive strength are presented.Both regional and detailed structural analyses revealed the presence of major and minor normal faults and fractures trending in NW and NE directions. The NW faults are dominant. They define the topographic escarpments in the area. Most of the caves are aligned along major faults of this trend. Faults, fracture distribution and structural hazard maps of the area are presented. Paleostress tectonic analysis of these fractures suggests that the NW and NE faults are extensional due to tectonic stress which changes from normal to parallel to the Red Sea at different geologic times starting in post Middle Eocene. The similarity of this paleotectonic setting to present Red Sea tectonics points out the possibility of future rejuvenation of these faults.Topographically, the area lies in shallow surface drainage basins. The topographical risk is increased by fracturing and it should be considered if the area is subjected to a long period of heavy rainfall. Radiometrically, El Minia El Gedida city represents one of the lowest natural radioactivity areas within the safe limits recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).     

Granite-cored domes and gold mineralisation: Architectural and geodynamic controls around the Archaean Scotia-Kanowna Dome,Kalgoorlie Terrane,Western Australia

Granite-cored domes are associated with many of the larger gold deposits of the Archaean Eastern Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia. The Scotia-Kanowna Dome is eroded to sufficiently deep levels to provide insights into the role granite-cored domes play in controlling fluid flow and gold deposition. At the centre of the Scotia-Kanowna Dome is a granite batholith, which is surrounded by outward-dipping greenstone belts and associated shear zones. This upper-crustal dome sits above mid-crustal domes, providing a series of stacked geometries favourable to focussed fluid flow. A number of small- to medium-sized gold deposits occur on the limbs and the centre of the dome, and the world-class Kanowna Belle gold mine occurs on the nose of the dome. At least three separate gold mineralising events are defined, each of regional significance, which can be correlated with other well known gold deposits of the Eastern Yilgarn Craton.     

Structural evolution of a salt-cored,domed, reactivated fault complex,Jebel Madar,Oman

Fault and fracture patterns associated with domal structures are observed around the world both at outcrop and in the subsurface. However, the structural evolution of domes and the influence of previous fault and fracture sets are not yet fully understood. This study provides the first structural evolution analysis of Jebel Madar, a domal outcrop in the Adam Foothills of Northern Oman, and evaluates the role of multiple local tectonic events and the associated salt diapirism on fracture and fault distribution pattern development of a salt-cored domal outcrop.Analyses at Jebel Madar suggest that three local tectonic events with different stress regimes that are tentatively linked to three regional tectonic events resulted in a salt-cored, domed, reactivated fault complex: 1) initial dome-formation and NE–SW oriented mode 1 opening fractures and subsequent grabens; 2) E–W oriented dextral strike-slip faulting; and 3) reactivation and inversion of faults, and final dome formation. Salt emplacement is associated with the first and last tectonic events.This integrated study highlights the complicated evolution of fault and fracture distribution patterns at a salt-cored dome. Caution is therefore required in interpretation of similar structural patterns on top of and around salt-cored domes.     

Simulation of three-dimensional tectonic stress fields and quantitative prediction of tectonic fracture within the Damintun Depression,Liaohe Basin,northeast China

Tectonic fractures are important factors that influence oil and natural gas migration and accumulation within “buried hill” reservoirs. To obtain a quantitative forecast of the development and distribution of reservoir fractures in the Damintun Depression, we analyzed the characteristics of regional structural evolution and paleotectonic stress field setting. A reasonable geological model of the research area was built based on an interpretation of the geological structure, a test for rock mechanics, and experiment on acoustic emission. Thereafter, a three-dimensional paleotectonic stress field during the Yanshan movement was simulated by the finite element method. Rock failure criterion and comprehensive evaluation coefficient of fractures were used to determine the quantitative development of fractures and predict zones that are prone to fracture development. Under an intense Yanshan movement, high stress strength is distributed in the south and northeast parts of the study area, where stress is extremely high. The fracture development zones are mainly controlled by the tectonic stress field and typically located in the same areas as those of high maximum principal and shear stresses. The predicted areas with developed fractures are consistent with the wells with high fracture linear density and in locations with high-producing oil and gas wells.     

The measurement of fracture patterns in the chalk of Southern England

A field investigation made to ascertain if recognisable fracture patterns exist within the Chalk of southern England is described. The areas investigated included: the Chilterns the Isle of Thanet; the South Downs; and the Isle of Wight. Analysis of field data indicate that strike directions of fractures may be concentrated into sets. The strike direction of each set remains reasonably constant within a particular area and the pattern of fracturing appears to be related to the main fold axes in each area. Most fractures within the Chalk were found to be steeply inclined, although significant variations exist when results from the areas investigated are compared. Results indicate that definite fracture patterns are recognisable and that the likely fracture pattern for a specified area could be predicted. Although the accuracy of prediction is at present somewhat limited, determination of such fracture patterns is considered to be of significance.     

Using numerical deformation–fluid-flow simulations to understand and target gold mineralisation around basalt domes in the Stawell Zone, Central Victoria, Australia

We present 3-D deformation–fluid-flow numerical models which place constraints on the importance of basalt dome shape and syn-mineralising shortening direction in localising structurally controlled gold mineralisation around basalt domes near Stawell, Victoria, Australia. Gold mineralisation in the Magdala ore-body at the Stawell Mine occurs predominantly within a thin altered unit named the Magdala Facies which blankets the basalt domes. In numerical models of the Magdala Dome models only the east–northeast–west–northwest and east–west shortened models record high fluid-flow rates in areas of known mineralisation which is consistent with the syn-mineralisation shortening directions. In models of the Kewell Dome (a prospect to the north), the position of areas of high fluid-flow rate when shortened in the east–northeast–west–northwest and east–west direction, combined with information from limited drilling indicated the potential for gold mineralisation at the south-west end of the dome. Diamond drill holes in this area yielded significant gold values.     

Origin of the Mt Ashmore structural dome,west Bonaparte Basin,Timor Sea

New insights into the 3D structure, composition and origin of the Mt Ashmore dome, west Bonaparte Basin, Timor Sea, are enabled by reprocessed seismic-reflection data and by optical microscopic, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses of drill cuttings. The structural dome, located below a major pre-Oligocene post-Late Eocene unconformity and above a ～6 km-deep-seated basement high indicated by marked gravity and magnetic anomalies, displays chaotic deformation at its core and a centripetal kinematic deformation pattern. A study of drill cuttings of Lower Oligocene to Lower Jurassic sedimentary rocks intersected by the Mt Ashmore 1B petroleum-exploration well reveals microbrecciation and extreme comminution and flow-textured fluidisation of altered sedimentary material. The microbreccia is dominated by aggregates of poorly diffracting micrometre to tens of micrometres-scale to sub-millimetre particles, including relic subplanar fractured quartz grains, carbonate, barite, apatite and K-feldspar. A similar assemblage occurs in fragments in basal Oligocene sediments, probably derived from the eroded top section of the dome, which protrudes above the unconformity. SEM coupled with EDS show the micrometre to tens of micrometres-scale particles are characterised by very low totals and non-stoichiometric compositions, including particles dominated by Si, Al–Si, Si–Ca–Al, Si–Al–Ca, Si–Mg, Fe–Mg–Ca, Fe–Mg and carbonate. XRD analysis identifies a high proportion of amorphous poorly diffracting material. TEM indicates internally heterogeneous, fragmented and recrystallised structure of the amorphous grains, which accounts for the low totals in terms of the high-volatile and porous nature of the particles. Another factor for the low totals is the uneven thin-section surfaces which affect the totals. No volcanic material or evaporites were encountered in the drillcore, militating against interpretations of the structure in terms of magmatic intrusion or salt diapirism. Such models are also inconsistent with the strong gravity and magnetic anomalies, which signify a basement high below the dome. An interpretation of the dome in terms of a central rebound uplift of an impact structure can not be proven due to the lack of shock metamorphic effects such as planar deformation features, impact melt or coesite. However, an impact model is consistent with the chaotic structure of the domal core, centripetal sense of deformation, microbrecciation, comminution and fluidisation of the Triassic to Eocene rocks. In this respect, an analogy can be drawn between the Mt Ashmore structural dome and likely but unproven impact structures formed in volatile (H₂O, CO₂)-rich sediments where shock is attenuated by high volatile pressure, such as Upheaval Dome, Utah. In terms of an impact hypothesis the Mt Ashmore dome is contemporaneous with a Late Eocene impact cluster (Popigai: D = 100 km, 35.7 ± 0.2 Ma; Chesapeake Bay: D = 85 km, 35.3 ± 0.1 Ma).     

Occurrence of diagenetic alunites within karst cavity infill of the Dammam Formation,Ahmadi, Kuwait: an indicator of hydrocarbon gas seeps

Alunite minerals occur as white powdery lumps and laminated coloured deposits within cavity and solution channel infill of the palaeokarst zone of the Upper Eocene Dammam Formation. This formation is exposed in a quarry located on the Al Ahmadi ridge within the Greater Burgan oil field in southern Kuwait. Field occurrences and sedimentary structures of the alunite deposits were described. Collected samples were petrographically described, and their mineralogy and geochemistry were determined using X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence, respectively. Microfabrics were investigated using SEM, revealing that they are primarily composed of fibrous alunogen (hydrous aluminium sulphate) and pseudo-cubical K-alunite (hydrous potassium aluminium sulphate). Their mode of occurrence suggests a hypogenetic origin, where sulphide gases associated with hydrocarbon gases reacted with an Al-rich solution leached from clay minerals and feldspars of the cavity-fill muddy sand sediments. The hydrocarbon gases may have seeped from sub-surface petroliferous formations within the Greater Burgan oil field along vertical fractures. This study suggests that these acidic seeps may have played a role in the development of the palaeokarst zone of the Dammam Formation.