Geochronology and thermochronology of gold mineralization in the Turmalina deposit,NE of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero Region,Brazil

The Turmalina gold deposit comprises three epigenetic domains whose development is related to the propagation/reactivation events of the NW–SE Pitangui Shear Zone (PSZ). The lodes are hosted in a Late Archaean sedimentary sequence on top of a strongly deformed (mafic-dominated) metavolcanic pile metamorphosed under 3.5–4 kbar and 540–610 °C; the association forms the upper part of a lithostratigraphic succession (Pitangui Group) that overlies an older TTG gneissic basement. According to field evidence and petrographic observations, the ore-forming process is polyphasic, starting at the time when the PSZ crossed the metamorphic quartz + staurolite + biotite + almadine + hornblende isograde; the main evolving stages, however, mostly took place throughout the metamorphic retrogression path. Fluid inclusion microthermometry also shows that metamorphogenic aqueous–carbonic solutions (initially with ≈ 16–20 eq. wt.% NaCl and circulating at approximately 4 kbar and 550 °C) were subjected to repeated boiling and mixing with cooler aqueous solutions at approximately 1–2 kb and 300–350 °C. These boiling events, which were triggered by depressurization, were contemporaneous with gold (and later sulfide) deposition, preceding a late stage of hydrothermal activity under lower PT conditions (< 1 kbar and ≈ 130–230 °C). To constrain both the mineralization age and the source/pathways of the ore-forming fluids in the Turmalina deposit, a multi-system isotope (Pb–Pb, Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd) study was carried out using various whole-rock and mineral samples. The main results are as follows: (i) the onset of the ore-forming process took place at ca. 2.2–2.1 Ga; (ii) the critical timing for gold formation was confined to ca. 2–1.9 Ga; and (iii) the late hydrothermal influxes occurred after 1.75 Ga. Therefore, the ore-forming process can be envisaged as a result of successive physical–chemical processes that took place during two major, long-lasting (≈ 250 Ma) periods under initial cooling rates of approximately 1 °C/Ma and, after ca. 2–1.9 Ga, approximately 2.5 °C/Ma. Moreover, the rejuvenation episodes at ca. 2–1.9 Ga and ca. 1.75 Ga probably indicate reactivation events in the PSZ, which triggered new fluid inflows into the system and revitalized the ore-forming process. That was the case for fluids that circulated deeply through both the older basement rocks and the mafic volcanic pile, allowing either metal enrichment from multistage leaching processes of various reservoirs or possible U/Th decoupling during ore remobilization. The Turmalina ore-system lifetime is consequently confined to the Rhyacian period (Paleoproterozoic), which is compatible with the age constraints presented by other studies regarding the fold-thrust belt's development (ca. 2.125 Ga) and orogenic collapse (ca. 2.095 Ga).     

Land degradation assessment based on environmental geoindicators in the Fortaleza metropolitan region,state of Ceará, Brazil

This paper summarizes the results obtained by land degradation assessment in the Fortaleza Metropolitan Region, in the state of Ceará, Brazil. Area assessment was done in a two-phase study: the characterization of the environmental components by field and laboratory work, and a more detailed study in the degraded sites. Environmental geoindicators were used to classify the degradation level for each drainage basin as low, intermediate, or high. Coastal erosion, gravitational mass movements, dune movements, water erosion, sedimentation, water pollution, sanitary landfills in inappropriate sites, caves and abandoned mines of aggregates exploitation and occupation in swamp areas are the main land degradation sources registered in the region. Among the drainage basins for degradation level, 5 were classified as high, 3 as intermediate, and 4 as low. These problems have affected the people living in the region and demanded heavy investments to rehabilitate degraded areas.     

Structure and Composition of the Holocene–Pleistocene Sediments in the Northern Barents Sea

Lithology and Mineral Resources - Signs of extensive migration of gas-bearing fluids from the sedimentary cover into the water column were identified in the northern Barents Sea during Cruises 25...     

Lithology,Biostratigraphy, and Geochronology of the Late Pleistocene–Holocene Sediments on the Coast of Onega Bay of the White Sea

Doklady Earth Sciences - This paper reports on the lithological, micropaleontological, and chronometric data (radiocarbon dating) for one of the areas of the White Sea coast. The sedimentary...     

The Itataia phosphate-uranium deposit (Ceará, Brazil) new petrographic,geochemistry and isotope studies

The Itataia phosphate-uranium deposit is located in Santa Quitéria, in central Ceará State, northeastern Brazil. Mineralization has occurred in different stages and involves quartz leaching (episyenitization), brecciation and microcrystalline phase formation of concretionary apatite. The last constitutes the main mineral of Itatiaia uranium ore, namely collophane. Collophanite ore occurs in massive bodies, lenses, breccia zones, veins or episyenite in marble layers, calc-silicate rocks and gneisses of the Itataia Group.There are two accepted theories on the origin of the earliest mineralization phase of Itataia ore: syngenetic (primary) – where the ore is derived from a continental source and then deposited in marine and coastal environments; and epigenetic (secondary) – whereby the fluids are of magmatic, metamorphic and meteoric origin. The characterization of pre- or post-deformational mineralization is controversial, since the features of the ore are interpreted as deformation.This investigation conducted isotopic studies and chemical analyses of minerals in marbles and calc-silicate rocks of the Alcantil and Barrigas Formations (Itataia Group), as well as petrographic and structural studies. Analysis of the thin sections shows at least three phosphate mineral phases associated with uranium mineralizaton: (1) A prismatic fluorapatite phase associated with chess-board albite, arfvedsonite and ferro-eckermannite; (2) a second fluorapatite phase with fibrous radial or colloform habits that replaces calcium carbonate in marble, especially along fractures, with minerals such as quartz, chlorite and zeolite also identified in calc-silicate rocks; and (3) an younger phosphate phase of botryoidal apatite (fluorapatite and hydroxyapatite) related with clay minerals and probably others calcium and aluminum phosphates. Detailed isotopic analysis carried out perpendicularly to the mineralized levels and veins in the marble revealed significant variation in isotopic ratios. Mineralized zones exhibit a decrease in δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O isotope values and a higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio toward the center of the vein. In conjunction with petrographic studies, these changes contesting the hypothesis of a sedimentary origin for uranium and suggest a radiogenic Sr input by alkaline to peralkaline fluids from fertile granites of the end of Brasiliano/Pan-African orogeny, located outside the deposit. The origin of the phosphorous is associated with phosphorite deposits in the same depositional environment of the neoproterozoic supracrustal quartz-pelite-carbonate sediments of the Itataia Group.Considering the studies conducted here and available geological data, three main mineralizing events can be identified in Itataia: (1) an initial high temperature event connected with a sodium metasomatism-related uranium episode, taking place in Borborema Province and its African counterpart; (2) a second lower temperature stage, consisting of a multiphase cataclastic/hydrothermal event limited to fault and paleokarst zones; and (3) a third and final event, developed in frankly oxidizing conditions. The last two involving mixing of hydrothermal and meteoric fluids.     

Late Weichselian and Holocene relative sea-level history of Bröggerhalvöya,Spitsbergen

Radiocarbon-dated whalebones from raised beaches record a relative sea-level history for Bröggerhalvöya, western Spitsbergen that suggest a two-step deglaciation on Svalbard at the end of the late Weichselian glaciation. The late Weichselian marine limit was reached at about 13,000 yr B.P. and was followed by relatively slow emergence until about 10,000 yr B.P. either in response to ice unloading in the Barents Sea, initial retreat of local fjord glaciers, or some combination of the two. Rare whale skeletons dating between 13,000 and 10,000 yr B.P. indicate that the Norwegian Sea was at least seasonally ice free during that interval. Deglaciation of Spitsbergen is recorded by the rapid emergence of Bröggerhalvöya after 10,000 yr B.P. This was followed by a transgression during the mid-Holocene, here named the Talavera Transgression, and another in modern times. Raised beach morphologies suggest striking differences in nearshore depositional processes before and after 10,000 yr B.P. that are probably related to changes in the rate of uplift and in sea-ice conditions.     

Macro and microstructures as indicators of the development of syntectonic granitoids and host rocks in the Camboriú region,Santa Catarina,Brazil

In the northeastern Dom Feliciano Belt, Santa Catarina/Brazil, Paleoproterozoic rocks (mainly the Camboriú Complex) and Neoproterozoic granitoids – with the older Itapema Granite and the younger Corre-mar, Rio Pequeno and Serra dos Macacos granites – experienced a deformation history from magmatic to greenschist facies temperatures, under different rheological conditions. The concordance of flat amphibolite facies structures of the Camboriú Complex and magmatic and subsolidus structures in the Itapema Granite indicate the late-tectonic character of the latter. Based on tectonic features, the Corre-mar Granite is interpreted as older than the Rio Pequeno Granite and as related to transcurrent tectonics of the Southern Brazilian Shear Belt.In all granites, microstructures point to widespread magmatic alignment, followed by weak subsolidus and, locally, amphibolite to greenschist facies deformation. Magmatic foliations are progressively weaker in the younger granites. Synmagmatic shear zones in the Rio Pequeno Granite are possibly concentrated at the intrusive contact. The weak solid-state deformation at late-magmatic conditions argues for magmatism within a low-strain zone, which is compatible with the location of the area relative to the Major Gercino and Itajaí shear zones. The amphibolite to greenschist facies deformation structures are attributed to continuous deformation within the same low-strain zone during decreasing temperatures.     

Development of a drought vulnerability index using MCDM and GIS: study case in São Paulo and Ceará, Brazil

Natural Hazards - Although climate change vulnerability research in general has increased over the last decade, Latin American countries have more directed more limited efforts toward vulnerability...     

The Phosphates of Pleistocene–Holocene Sediments of the Eastern Gallery of Denisova Cave

Authigenic phosphate mineralization was first studied on the territory of Russia on the basis of the Holocene and Pleistocene deposits of Denisova Cave. The formation of phosphates in the eastern gallery is related to biodegradation of the horizons of guano of insectivorous bats, which inhabited the cave in the absence man. The results confirmed the archaeological record of the Holocene and the upper part of Pleistocene sequences of the eastern gallery.     

The Neoproterozoic Ceará Group,Ceará Central domain,NE Brazil: Depositional age and provenance of detrital material. New insights from U–Pb and Sm–Nd geochronology

From the Archean to the end of the Neoproterozoic the Borborema Province, northeast Brazil went through a complex polycyclic geologic evolution, ending, between 660 and 570 Ma, with the Brasiliano/Pan-African orogeny that led to West Gondwana amalgamation. Evolution of the metasedimentary covers of the Province, from the beginning of their deposition up to their involvement in the Brasiliano/Pan-African collision, is a key element in understanding formation of Gondwana and in attempts in pre-drift correlation between South America and West Africa. One of these covers, the Ceará Group, is exposed in the Ceará Central domain. Aiming to unravel the history of the Ceará Group, we carried out a geochronologic study of representative samples, combining Sm–Nd isotopic data, conventional U–Pb TIMS dating of zircon and U–Pb SHRIMP age determination of detrital zircon grains. Our results show that sedimentation of the Ceará Group started around 750 Ma, following rifting of the Archean/Paleoproterozoic basement, associated with bimodal volcanism. The interlayered basic volcanic rocks, re-crystallized into garnet amphibolites, show a concordant age of 749 ± 5 Ma interpreted as the age of crystallization. About 90% of calculated Sm–Nd TDM model ages of metasedimentary rocks are Paleoproterozoic and more than 50% of the analyzed samples have TDM between 1.95 and 2.4 Ma, with strongly negative ɛNd, consistent with provenance mainly from the Paleoproterozoic basement. Strong contrast between Paleoproterozoic TDM with negative ɛNd and young TDM (Mesoproterozoic) with slightly positive ɛNd is interpreted as a consequence of changes in detritus provenance induced by geomorphologic alterations resulting from tectonic activity during rifting. Ages of detrital zircon grains obtained by SHRIMP U–Pb analyses show three main groups: about 1800 Ma, 1000–1100 Ma and ca. 800 Ma which corresponds to the bimodal magmatism associated, respectively to the Orós-Jaguaribe domain, Cariris Velhos event and Independência Group.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Holocene–Pleistocene sediments of the Laptev Sea

The distribution and genesis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were studied in a 40-m core from a lagoon of the Laptev Sea that appeared during the Holocene resulting from the flooding of seawater into a freshwater lake in the area of the Buor-Khaya Gulf. The bulk of the core is constituted of permafrost rocks, thawed partially in their upper layers and covered with recent sediments (mainly by the products of intense thermoabrasion). The ratio of petrogenic and pyrogenic PAHs was evaluated.     

Provenance and tectonic setting of neoproterozoic supracrustal rocks from the Ceará Central Domain,Borborema Province (NE Brazil): constraints from geochemistry and detrital zircon ages

Major- and trace-element and U–Pb analyses of detrital zircons were performed on metavolcano sedimentary sequences and igneous rocks from the Ceará Central Domain (CCD) in the Borborema Province of northeastern Brazil. No significant geochemical differences were found between these rocks, which were possibly initially deposited as parts of a very large metavolcano-sedimentary sequence. Weathering in the source area was moderate, and the sediments were deposited as both sands and clays. The sources of the sediments were likely mixtures of felsic and intermediate rocks deposited predominantly in an active-margin setting with minor contributions of both continental arc and passive margin components. Three main source ages were identified: Palaeoproterozoic (~2.2 Ga), for which potential sources include the Palaeoproterozoic Madalena-Algodões Suite; early Neoproterozoic (~850 Ma), related to felsic volcanic magmatism due to continental rifting, initial phases of the Santa Quitéria Magmatic Arc, or magmatic arc systems on the margins of the Palaeoproterozoic crust; and late Neoproterozoic (~650 Ma), associated with extensive granite generation and migmatization events accompanying Santa Quitéria Arc activity. Deposition of the CCD volcanosedimentary rocks occurred shortly before regional, collision-type metamorphism accompanying the amalgamation of the São Francisco-Congo Cratons (~ 620–630 Ma).     

Palaeoecological background of the Upper Palaeolithic site of Ságvár,Hungary: radiocarbon-dated malacological and sedimentological studies on the Late Pleistocene environment

In this paper, the authors present new palaeoecological and sedimentological results from the Upper Palaeolithic site of Ságvár, Hungary. Simple (abundance and dominance) and advanced (cluster analysis, principal component analysis, correspondence) statistical analyses of malacological results were carried out, determining eight malacological zones (MZs) and the key species of the fauna evolution in the sequence. Furthermore, an age–depth model was calculated via Bayesian modelling using new radiocarbon age data. The accumulation rate (AR) was calculated by deriving data from the age–depth model. The palaeoecological reconstruction indicated a cool/cold climate and chiefly steppe environment, with low loess ARs. Not only the vegetation cover but also the geographical setting of the sequence could have led to the low AR values. However, in the uppermost part of the sequence, during the GS 3 and GS 2.1c stadials, the reconstructed palaeoclimate indicated a warming period. Nevertheless, this contradiction is not unique in the Carpathian Basin. The settled Upper Palaeolithic hunters around 22 300 cal a bp lived in a progressively warming wooded steppe environment, hunting mainly for reindeer. Climate change might have forced them to migrate away, following the reindeer.     

Taphonomic aspects of the Pleistocene vertebrate assemblage of Itaboraí, state of Rio de Janeiro,southeastern Brazil

Pleistocene vertebrates from Itaboraí Basin have not been taphonomically studied prior to this work, limiting the understanding of the deposition and preservation of the only Pleistocene vertebrate accumulation known for the state of Rio de Janeiro. In this work, the taphonomic signatures of the Pleistocene vertebrate assemblage of Itaboraí are identified and interpreted in order to increase the knowledge about the formation of this fossil association and the paleoecology of the region of Rio de Janeiro during the late Pleistocene. Our analysis shows that the thanatocoenosis was exposed to the biostratinomic processes during a small time span; that it is parautochthonous; and experienced short transport distances by normal fluvial streams and floods. Subsequently, the fossiliferous horizon was quickly covered by the superjacent soil. Yet, the skeletal elements were fractured and deformed during the sedimentary compaction. The differential preservation of megamammal bones is associated to the bone resistance against those destructive processes and to the specific anatomical features. Comparison between Itaboraí and other Brazilian Pleistocene vertebrate accumulations shows that the Itaboraí fossil accumulation was less affected by taphonomic processes, although it is also a time-averaged fossil concentration. Finally, some of the taphonomic features indicate an arid paleoclimate.     

Geochemistry and zircon geochronology of the Archean granite suites of the Rio Maria granite-greenstone terrane,Carajás Province,Brazil

The Archean granites exposed in the Mesorchean Rio Maria granite-greenstone terrane (RMGGT), southeastern Amazonian craton can be divided into three groups on the basis of petrographic and geochemical data. (1) Potassic leucogranites (Xinguara and Mata Surrão granites), composed dominantly of biotite monzogranites that have high SiO₂, K₂O, and Rb contents and show fractionated REE patterns with moderate to pronounced negative Eu anomalies. These granites share many features with the low-Ca granite group of the Yilgarn craton and CA2-type of Archean calc-alkaline granites. These granites result from the partial melting of rocks similar to the older TTG of the RMGGT. (2) Leucogranodiorite-granite group (Guarantã suite, Grotão granodiorite, and similar rocks), which is composed of Ba- and Sr-rich rocks which display fractionated REE patterns without significant Eu anomalies and show geochemical affinity with the high-Ca granite group or Transitional TTG of the Yilgarn craton and the CA1-type of Archean calc-alkaline granites. These rocks appear to have been originated from mixing between a Ba- and Sr-enriched granite magma and trondhjemitic liquids or alternatively product of interaction between fluids enriched in K, Sr, and Ba, derived from a metasomatized mantle with older TTG rocks. (3) Amphibole-biotite monzogranites (Rancho de Deus granite) associated with sanukitoid suites. These granites were probably generated by fractional crystallization and differentiation of sanukitoid magmas enriched in Ba and Sr.The emplacement of the granites of the RMGGT occurred during the Mesoarchean (2.87–2.86 Ga). They are approximately coeval with the sanukitoid suites (∼2.87 Ga) and post-dated the main timing of TTG suites formation (2.98–2.92 Ga). The crust of Rio Maria was probably still quite warm at the time when the granite magmas were produced. In these conditions, the underplating in the lower crust of large volumes of sanukitoid magmas may have also contributed with heat inducing the partial melting of crustal protoliths and opening the possibility of complex interactions between different kinds of magmas.     

Structural control and hydrothermal alteration at the BIF-hosted Raposos lode-gold deposit,Quadrilátero Ferrífero,Brazil

In the Raposos orogenic gold deposit, hosted by banded iron-formation (BIF) of the Archean Rio das Velhas greenstone belt, the hanging wall rocks to BIF are hydrothermally-altered ultramafic schists, whereas metamafic rocks and their hydrothermal schistose products represent the footwall. Planar and linear structures at the Raposos deposit define three ductile to brittle deformational events (D₁, D₂ and D₃). A fourth group of structures involve spaced cleavages that are considered to be a brittle phase of D₃. The orebodies constitute sulfide-bearing D₁-related shear zones of BIF in association with quartz veins, and result from the sulfidation of magnetite and/or siderite. Pyrrhotite is the main sulfide mineral, followed by lesser arsenopyrite and pyrite. At level 28, the hydrothermal alteration of the mafic and ultramafic wall rocks enveloping BIF define a gross zonal pattern surrounding the ore zones. Metabasalt comprises albite, epidote, actinolite and lesser Mg/Fe–chlorite, calcite and quartz. The incipient stage includes the chlorite and chlorite-muscovite alteration zone. The least-altered ultramafic schist contains Cr-bearing Mg-chlorite, actinolite and talc, with subordinate calcite. The incipient alteration stage is subdivided into the talc–chlorite and chlorite–carbonate zone. For both mafic and ultramafic wall rocks, the carbonate–albite and carbonate–muscovite zones represent the advanced alteration stage.Rare earth and trace element analyses of metabasalt and its alteration products suggest a tholeiitic protolith for this wall rock. In the case of the ultramafic schists, the precursor may have been peridotitic komatiite. The Eu anomaly of the Raposos BIF suggests that it was formed proximal to an exhalative hydrothermal source on the ocean floor. The ore fluid composition is inferred by hydrothermal alteration reactions, indicating it to having been H₂O-rich containing CO₂ + Na⁺ and S. Since the distal alteration halos are dominated by hydrated silicate phases (mainly chlorite), with minor carbonates, fixation of H₂O is indicated. The CO₂ is consumed to form carbonates in the intermediate alteration stage, in halos around the chlorite-dominated zones. These characteristics suggest variations in the H₂O to CO₂-ratio of the sulfur-bearing, aqueous-carbonic ore fluid, which interacted at varying fluid to rock ratios with progression of the hydrothermal alteration.     

Late Glacial, Early Holocene and Late Holocene life at the interface of a distinct landscape — relationship of humans and environments in the Sub-Carpathian region (N Hungary)

Relationships between the communities and environment surrounding these communities can be disclosed by the application of different archeological, geological and environmental historical methods. This includes the deployment of numerous tools in scientific investigation including the application of chronological, sedimentological, geochemical and paleoecological analytical methods on sequences accumulated in historical catchment basins of peat-bog. The Nádas-tó at Nagybárkány is a small peatbog in the northern part of Hungary, on the Sub-Carpathian region. The formation of the lake can be traced back to the Late Glacial period. The sediments deposited in the lakebed provide a record of climatic and hydrologic changes. A higher water level could be demonstrated from the Late Glacial to the Mid-Holocene, when the reed-beds covered a small area only. This was followed by a hiatus spanning ca. 4400 years, caused by the deepening and cleaning of the lakebed during the Late Iron / Imperial Age, between 2100 - 1900 cal BP years. After this change the water level decreased and the water quality was more eutrophic. A reed-bed evolved around the lake. Paludification started with a bulrush floating mat phase at the close of the Middle Age, ca. 1500 cal AD years. The endowments and settlement pattern persisted from the Neolithic onwards until the terminal Modern Age, when measures aimed to ordain the area substantially altered the natural landscape. Although some anthropogenic disturbances can be reconstructed in the development of the peatland, some climatic effects and authogenic processes might be separated by paleoecological analyses.     

Late Pleistocene–Holocene environmental and climatic history of a freshwater paramo ecosystem in the northern Andes

This study presents the first multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic history for northern South America based on the palaeolimnological reconstruction of a pond located in a dry paramo at 3570 masl. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the study area was under glacial conditions, then during global events Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1), Bølling–Allerød (BA), and the Younger Dryas (YD), the pond expanded, accumulation rates and proxies for erosion reached the highest values, indicative of humid conditions, with maxima in humidity during the BA and YD. Dry conditions and pond desiccation occurred in the Greenlandian–Northgrippian and by 6010 cal a bp the area was transformed into the mire of today. Comparisons with records from other sites in South America indicate that changes in humidity are most likely controlled by the Intertropical Convergence Zone, mainly during the glacial and postglacial, and by changes in the Pacific Ocean, more pronounced after the YD.     

Evidence for Neoproterozoic Continental Arc Magmatism in the Santa Quitéria Batholith of Ceará State,NW Borborema Province,NE Brazil: Implications for the Assembly of West Gondwana

Recent field investigations and geochronological studies of Neoproterozoic rocks in the northwestern part of the Borborema Province, Ceará State, NE Brazil provide important clues pertaining to the nature of convergence between the Borborema Province and the West African-São Luis craton during the assembly of West Gondwana. U-Pb zircon data indicate that the earliest evidence of convergent magmatism along the northwest margin of the Borborema Province occurred around 777 Ma, and was followed by the development of a large continental arc batholith (Santa Quitéria batholith) between ca. 665 and 591 Ma within the central part of Ceará State. These findings, along with supporting geophysical data, suggest that convergence between the Borborema Province and the West African-São Luis craton involved closure of an oceanic realm with subduction polarity to the southeast beneath the northwestern part of the province. Consequently, it seems likely that the Pharusian Ocean was continuous from the Hoggar Province in West Africa into South America during the late Neoproterozoic and additional data suggests that it may have even been connected with the Goianides Ocean of the Brasília Belt farther to the southwest.