Climate,environment, and humans in North America’s Great Basin during the Younger Dryas, 12,900–11,600 calendar years ago

Global climate change associated with the onset of the Younger Dryas chronozone affected different regions of the northern hemisphere in different ways. In the Great Basin of western North America, the effect was positive for human populations. Relatively cool temperatures causing effectively wetter conditions filled some pluvial basins with shallow but permanent lakes and other basins with well-watered marshes or meadows. Vegetation communities dominated by sagebrush and grasses promoted healthy and diverse animal populations. Ten archaeological sites from the region have been dated to the Younger Dryas chronozone. Evidence from these sites indicates that Paleoindians with skull shapes and mitochondrial DNA similar to modern western North American Indians occupied the region. These early humans produced a material culture characterized predominantly by large stemmed bifacial points, although one site contained a small fluted point. Curated tool forms and technological activities represented in analyzed lithic assemblages suggest a highly mobile settlement strategy, and redundant short-term occupations of sites indicate frequent and long-distance residential moves across territories spanning distances of up to 400 km. Paleoindian subsistence pursuits focused on artiodactyls (primarily mule deer, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn antelope), leporids (chiefly jackrabbits), birds (sage grouse and waterfowl), insects (grasshoppers), and possibly fish. Easy-to-process plants like cactus pads were also eaten, but small seeds do not seem to have been an important part of Great Basin human diets until long after the Younger Dryas, closer to 9500 cal BP. The Great Basin record contains no evidence for natural catastrophe at the onset of the chronozone. Instead, the Younger Dryas appears to have been among the best of times for human foragers in this region of North America.     

东亚地区Younger Dryas气候突变的数值模拟研究

YoungerDryas(YD)气候突变事件是近两万年中一次全球性的气候急剧变冷事件。文章试图在东亚地区YD事件的若干证据基础上,从海洋、冰盖和大气的热力学以及动力学角度出发,利用气候模拟方法就东亚地区YD气候突变的机制和一些成因假说进行敏感性试验。模拟结果表明,因淡水通量异常引起的海洋表面温度降低是YD形成的直接原因。海洋大气耦合作用对于YD传播强度及时间不同步具有重要作用。除北大西洋淡水通量异常的作用外,南半球海洋的淡水通量异常可能对东亚地区的YD事件有着更重要的贡献。海洋耦合大气环流模式模拟表明,东亚与欧洲降温具有不同步性,最大变化速率欧洲达到-0.122℃/a,东亚地区为-0.067℃/a。模拟结果与东亚地区YD时期的气候记录在特征上能够进行对比,反映了模拟试验的边界和强迫条件的设计接近东亚古气候状况,因而模拟结果对分析海洋、冰盖和大气的热力学以及动力学探讨揭示YD气候事件的物理机制和动力原因具有可靠的依据。     

From land to sea: provenance,composition, and preservation of organic matter in a marine sediment record from the North-East Greenland shelf spanning the Younger Dryas–Holocene

The organic matter content of marine sediments is often used to infer past changes in ocean conditions. However, the organic carbon pool preserved in coastal sediments is a complex mixture derived from different sources and may not reflect in situ processes. In this study, we combine taxonomic identification of reworked palynomorphs with pyrolysis organic geochemistry and reflected-light organic petrographic microscopy to investigate the provenance, composition and preservation of organic matter in a marine sediment core retrieved from the NE Greenland shelf. Our study reveals continuous yet variable input of land-derived organic carbon to the marine environment throughout the late Younger Dryas–Holocene, with the highest input of inert carbon in the late Younger Dryas. Although the sediments contain some recent marine palynomorphs, there is no other evidence of fresh marine organic carbon. In contrast, our results indicate that these shelf sediments represent a significant sink of recycled organic carbon. The results of pyrolysis geochemistry revealed that ~90% of the total organic carbon in the sediments is inert. The organic petrography analyses revealed that >70–84% of the organic carbon in the sediment core is terrigenous. Reworked dinoflagellate cysts showed a continuous provenance of Cretaceous land-derived material, most likely from the nearby Clavering Island. Our study points to the importance of constraining the organic matter origin, composition and preservation in marine sediments to achieve more accurate palaeoenvironmental reconstructions based on organic proxies.     

Younger Dryas事件与北黄海泥炭层的形成

形成于海平面变化处于停滞阶段和湿润气候条件下的泥炭层是古环境变化信息的重要载体。对北黄海4个含泥炭层的沉积剖面进行研究后发现,其均集中在渤海海峡入口处,水深变化在50～54m。泥炭层的AMS14C年龄在10650～1010014 CaBP,与发生在11000～1000014 CaBP间的末次冰消气候回冷事件——Younger Dryas(YD)事件在年代上非常吻合,表明北黄海泥炭层的形成可能与YD事件的全球效应密切相关,可作为YD事件在北黄海陆架响应的一个重要证据。泥炭层在北黄海的集中出现说明,冰后期的海平面上升过程中在YD事件期间存在停滞阶段,这一时期海面已经达到渤海海峡外侧,并可能在此徘徊了近千年。此外,泥炭层的大量出现和孢粉记录表明YD事件发生期间约为10600～1020014 CaBP,此时北黄海可能处在寒冷而湿润的环境。这一发现与全球范围内大部分YD事件的海陆记录存在明显差异,说明不同地区对YD事件的响应存在差异,不能简单地利用单一的干冷模式来分析YD事件在区域上的响应特征和过程。     

Zinc,Copper, and Lead Geochemistry of Oceanic Igneous Rocks—Ridges,Islands, and Arcs

Variations in the abundances of Zn, Cu, and Pb are found to be useful in identifying tectonic regimes and separating oceanisland basalts into enriched- and depleted-source categories. The average Zn, Cu, and Pb contents of normal mid-ocean ridge basalts (N-MORB) are 84, 70, and 0.35 ppm, respectively. Differences in average Zn contents for various ridges reflect more the varying degrees of differentiation than variations of Zn content in the source rocks. At a Mg# of 70, or Mg#₇₀, which is taken to represent primitive MORB, many MORB sequences converge at a Zn content of 58 ± 6 ppm, which is close to the value for primitive mantle (50 ppm) and ordinary chondrites (～55 ppm). Values of 0.1 to 0.15 ppm Pb in MORB at Mg#₇₀, best defined at the superfast-spreading Southern East Pacific Rise, are similar to estimates of Pb in the primitive mantle (0.12 to 0.18 ppm). They also are near the lower end of the range for ordinary chondrites. The very slow spreading Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge has a sequence with higher Pb contents, in addition to a more normal sequence, which has a visual best value of 0.4 ppm Pb at Mg#₇₀. With the exception of the Walvis Ridge, Zn and Cu appear to be little affected by proximity to hotspots (i.e., E-MORB); however, Pb contents are higher and average about 0.6 ppm.

Both Zn and Pb in MORB are incompatible elements (i.e., favor the melt), but Cu is a compatible element. At Mg#₇₀, there is the suggestion of a value of 100 ppm for Cu, with lower values possibly representing partial removal of sulfides and their associated Cu from the source. Nonetheless, Cu contents of primitive MORB tend to be much higher than even high estimates for the primitive mantle (28 ppm), and are closer to ordinary chondrites (～90 ppm). Therefore, Zn, Cu, and Pb all approximate chondritic values in the primitive MORB melt.

Average contents of Zn, Cu, and Pb in oceanic island basalts (OIB) are 115, 62, and 3.2 ppm, respectively. At Mg#₇₀, values of Zn and Cu are similar to the respective averages for OIB, with Zn higher and Cu lower than MORB. At a Mg# of ～40, however, OIB and MORB tend to have similar Zn contents. With further differentiation, OIB trachytes can contain >200 ppm Zn. Unlike MORB, OIB can differentiate to high Cu contents of 200 ppm at Mg#s of 40 to 60. In contrast to Zn and Cu, Pb regresses to a value of 0.83 ppm at Mg#₇₀ for Hawaiian and Reunion volcanics, which is much less than the average value for Pb in OIB volcanics, but higher than for MORB.

Average Zn, Cu, and Pb contents of magmatic-arc basalts are 77, 108, and 1.9 ppm, respectively. In basalts, Zn tends to be incompatible, but a dual incompatible and compatible behavior can occur at high SiO₂ contents. Dacites may average near 55 ppm Zn, but peralkalic rhyolite can contain >300 ppm Zn. A dual compatible and incompatible nature occurs for Cu. Most common, particularly in submarine volcanics, is a compatible trend, with a Cu content of around 80 ppm at a Mg# of 60, which decreases to less than 40 ppm at a Mg# of 30. The incompatible trend of increasing Cu can achieve >200 ppm at a Mg# of 30, leaving a gap approaching 100 ppm at that Mg#. The gap is less obvious on a plot of Cu vs. SiO₂, but is still there. The compatible trend is proposed to result from sulfur-saturated magmas, whereas the incompatible trend is believed to result from sulfur-deficient magmas. Support for this hypothesis is found in sparse sulfur-isotope data. Zn and Cu both can be incompatible over an extended range of Mg#s or silica content. When Zn and Cu are both compatible, Cu decreases more than twice as rapidly as Zn.

Primitive magmas at Mg#₇₀ average about 50 ppm Zn for submarine Mariana arc basalts and 58 ppm for forearc boninites, contents close to MORB values. Mariana arc basalts have a Zn content of ～45 ppm estimated at Mg#₇₀. Cu varies more widely than Zn in primitive magmas, being about 50 ppm Cu for Mariana Islands volcanics and 120 ppm for Kermadec Islands volcanics, a range broadly around MORB values. Average Pb contents are 1.9 ppm for island-arc tholeiites, 5.6 ppm for high-Al basalt, and 3.2 ppm for alkali basalt with average boninite of approximately 1.8 ppm. Back-arc-basin basalts in the deepest parts of the Mariana trough have Pb contents of 0.45 ppm, but more shallow parts may exceed 1.0 ppm Pb. Although the lower contents are similar to MORB values, the ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb values are greater than Pacific Ocean MORB. At Mg#₇₀ for rocks from the Tonga and Kermadec island arcs, the Pb content is about 0.1 ppm, similar to MORB.     

Non-eutectic,graphic, micrographie and graphic-like “myrmekitie” structures and textures

True graphic quartz structures in pegmatites from Carrara/Giggiga and Harrar (town) districts of Ethiopia, are compared with the micrographic quartz textures in the Rapakiwi granite of Finland. Graphic-like textures of uraninite in microcline are also discussed and compared with these graphic structures.A quartz vein, about 1–2 meters in thickness, intersects a pegmatite in the Carrara/Giggiga district. This quartz vein extends into the microcline of the pegmatite as fine quartz veins which attain the form and character of graphic quartz. Also the graphic quartz of the Harrar pegmatites is observed to extend into and occupy cracks in the microcline.Comparable in origin to these graphic textures is the micrographic quartz in the Rapakiwi granite. Observations show micrographic quartz following the cleavage directions in the orthoclase as well as the interzonal spaces and the boundaries of inclusions in the K-feldspar.On the basis of the observed structures and textures these graphic and micrographic intergrowths are considered to be due to solutions penetrating or infiltrating into existing structures and not due to simultaneous crystallisation as conditions of eutectic crystallisation would require.In addition to the well known graphic structures there occur graphic or myrmekitic-like intergrowths of uraninite in microcline which, from a structural and physico-chemical point of view, cannot be considered to be due to eutectic crystallisation.     

Natural siliceous dust and human health： Pathways, toxicity, and impact

Fine atmospheric dust includes mineral particles and aggregates, fibrous minerals and fibrous organic material. Generation, dislodgement and transport （deflation） of natural dust with the finer （〈4 microns） components suspended as silt-size aggregates, is widespread in and adjacent to the world＇s drylands, as well as deriving from volcanic vents. Silica is a highly fibrogenic agent in lung tissue. Long-term inhaling of siliceous dusts can lead to a number of fibrotic lung diseases, including natural （non-occupational） pneumoconioses （notably silicosis, but including asbestosis and others）. Different polymorphs of silica show different levels of toxicity in interaction with lung tissue. Particles with highly active surfaces may release radicals, causing cell damage. Some types of inhaled particulates are degraded by macrophages, but many are highly resistant and persist in the lungs, some stimulating fibroblastic cells to deposit collagen. Silicosis is an inflammation of the lung commonly caused by silicate mineral particles, leading to fibrosis. Three types are recognized： nodular pulmonary fibrosis （simple or chronic silicosis）, acute silicosis, and accelerated silicosis. Generally, finer particulates have greater oxidative capacity than the coarser fractions. They contain more reactive oxygen species, their greater bioreactivity making them more toxic to pulmonary tissue. Nevertheless, inhalation of large dust particles （〉 10μm） may constitute a health risk if the mineralogy is toxic, regardless of where the grains lodge in the respiratory system. Dust may absorb harmful gases, disease-generating bacteria and carcinogenic hydrocarbon compounds. Silica-related respiratory disease may also an exacerbate cardiac problem, and epidemiology suggests a link with tuberculosis. Quantification of dust loading and exposure requires study of spatial and temporal patterns, supported by meteorological analysis, airflow modeling and satellite-borne imagery. Some acute, short-term health impacts have been assessed using atmospheric and health records both before and after a dust storm or by comparison of populations within and outside such events. Analysis of the size, shape, mineralogy and geochemistry of ambient dust particulates provides information on natural dust sources, dust concentrations, and potential particulate toxicity, as well as providing a datum for assessment of human exposure levels.     

Was the Younger Dryas (Loch Lomond Stadial) icefield on Rannoch Moor,western Scotland,deglaciated as early as c.12.5 cal ka BP?

The concept that Rannoch Moor, the centre of the Younger Dryas (YD), West Highland Icefield, was deglaciated as early as 12.5 cal ka BP is discussed in the light of radiocarbon dates and varve sequences from outlet glaciers of this icefield, and climate change during the YD. The maximum positions of three YD glaciers were reached after 11.6–11.8 cal ka BP (Lomond), and after 11.8–11.9 cal ka BP (Spean and Treig) indicating that ice remained on Rannoch Moor until long after c.12.5 cal ka BP, and possibly until the YD/Holocene transition at c.11.7 cal ka BP. Further, the Spean glacier dammed a proglacial lake in Lochaber for at least 495 varve years over a period that included the deposition of the Vedde Ash (c.12.1 cal ka BP) and a late YD ash layer (c. 11.7–11.2 cal ka BP), a thesis at variance with supposed early YD deglaciation. Recent examination of this issue using ¹⁰Be exposure age determinations from Rannoch Moor is equivocal. In view of the presence of hard water algae at the sampling site on Rannoch Moor it is recommended that the ‘early’ ¹⁴C dates from Rannoch Moor need to be further reassessed using chronological constraints provided by dated microtephra, and a collaborative radiocarbon dating programme.     

Coupled asteroid impacts and banded iron-formations,Fortescue and Hamersley Groups,Pilbara, Western Australia

Asteroid impact spherule layers and tsunami deposits underlying banded iron-formations in the Fortescue and Hamersley Groups have been further investigated to test their potential stratigraphic relationships. This work has included new observations related to the ca 2.63 Ga Jeerinah Impact Layer (JIL) and impact spherules associated with the 4th Shale-Macroband of the Dales Gorge Iron Member (DGS4) of the Brockman Iron Formation. A unit of impact spherules (microkrystite) correlated with the ca 2.63 Ga JIL is observed within a >100 m-thick fragmental-intraclast breccia pile in drill cores near Roy Hill. The sequence represents significant thickening of the impact/tsunami unit relative to the JIL type section at Hesta, as well as relative to the 20–30 m-thick ca 2.63 Ga Carawine Dolomite spherule-bearing mega-breccia. The ca 2.48 Ga-old Dales Gorge Member of the Brockman Iron Formation is underlain by an ?0.5 m-thick rip-up clast breccia located at the top of the ca 2.50 Ga Mt McRae Shale, and is interpreted as a tsunami deposit. We suggest that the presence of impact ejecta and tsunami units stratigraphically beneath a number of banded iron-formations, and units of ferruginous shale in the Pilbara and South Africa may result from a genetic relationship. For example, it could be that under Archean atmospheric conditions, mafic volcanism triggered by large asteroid impacts enriched the oceans in soluble FeO. If so, seasonal microbial and/or photolytic oxidation to ferric oxide could have caused precipitation of Fe₂O₃ and silica. In view of the possible occurrence of depositional gaps and paraconformities between impact ejecta units and overlying ferruginous sediments, these relationships require further testing by isotopic age studies.     

Petrologic and Geochemical Characteristics and Origin of Gusui Cherts,Guangdong Province,China

The characteristic structures of the Precambrian cherts from the Gusui section, Guangdong ,Chi-na, include bedded structure ,laminated structure ,massive structure and pseudobrecciated structure.The chert is characterized by consistently low abundance of TiO2,Al2O3 and most trace elements.Howevver ,it is enriched in Ba,As,Sb,Hg and Se.In Al-Fe-Mn ternary diagrams,it falls into the “hydrothermal field“ .Correspondence analysis and factor analysis show that many elements show up in the factor that represents the leaching of country rocks by hydrothermal solutions,and are the very characteristic element association fo the geochemically anomalous South China basement.Petrologic and geochemical evidence suggests a hydrothermal origin for the chert.The chert may have been formed in a Precambrian fift or an extension zone developed within the Yunkai marginal geosyncline, with a fault system linking it to an unknown heat source at depth.     

Interdiffusion of Na,K,and Ca Between Granitic Melts and NaCl Liquid

This study is aimed at determining the diffusion coefficient of net-work modifiers (mainly Na, K, and Ca) in a two-phase melt-NaCl system, in which the melts are granitic and the system is NaCl-rich in composition. The diffusion coefficients of Na, K, and Ca were measured at the temperatures of 750 – 1400°C, pressures of 0.001 × 10⁸ – 2 × 10⁸ Pa, and initial H₂O contents of 0 wt% –6.9 wt% in the granitic melts. The diffusion coefficients of Fe and Mg were difficult to resolve. In all experiments a NaCl melt was present as well. In the absence of H₂O, the diffusion of net-work modifiers follows an Arrhanious equation at 1 × 10⁵ Pa: lgD_ca=−3. 88−5140/T, lgD_k =−3. 79−4040/T, and lgD_Na, =−4.99−3350/T, where D is in cm² /s andT is in K. The diffusion coefficients of Ca, Na, K, and Fe increase non-linearly with increasing H₂O content in the melt. The presence of about 2 wt% H₂O m the melt will lead to a dramatical increase in diffusivity, but higher H₂O content has only a minor effect. This change is probably the result of a change in the melt structure when H₂O is present. The diffusion coefficients measured in this study are significantly different from those in previous works. This may be understood in terms of the “transient two-liquid equilibrium” theory. Element interdiffusion depends not only on its concentration, but also on its activity co-efficient gradient, which is reflected by the distribution coefficient, of the two contacting melts.     

Land–sea carbon and nutrient fluxes and coastal ocean CO2 exchange and acidification: Past,present, and future

Epochs of changing atmospheric CO₂ and seawater CO₂–carbonic acid system chemistry and acidification have occurred during the Phanerozoic at various time scales. On the longer geologic time scale, as sea level rose and fell and continental free board decreased and increased, respectively, the riverine fluxes of Ca, Mg, DIC, and total alkalinity to the coastal ocean varied and helped regulate the C chemistry of seawater, but nevertheless there were major epochs of ocean acidification (OA). On the shorter glacial–interglacial time scale from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to late preindustrial time, riverine fluxes of DIC, total alkalinity, and N and P nutrients increased and along with rising sea level, atmospheric PCO₂ and temperature led, among other changes, to a slightly deceasing pH of coastal and open ocean waters, and to increasing net ecosystem calcification and decreasing net heterotrophy in coastal ocean waters. From late preindustrial time to the present and projected into the 21st century, human activities, such as fossil fuel and land-use emissions of CO₂ to the atmosphere, increasing application of N and P nutrient subsidies and combustion N to the landscape, and sewage discharges of C, N, P have led, and will continue to lead, to significant modifications of coastal ocean waters. The changes include a rapid decline in pH and carbonate saturation state (modern problem of ocean acidification), a shift toward dissolution of carbonate substrates exceeding production, potentially leading to the “demise” of the coral reefs, reversal of the direction of the sea-to-air flux of CO₂ and enhanced biological production and burial of organic C, a small sink of anthropogenic CO₂, accompanied by a continuous trend toward increasing autotrophy in coastal waters.     

Opportunities and challenges in rebuilding tornado-impacted Greensburg,Kansas as “stronger,better, and greener”

A May 2007 tornado destroyed 95% of aging, declining Greensburg, Kansas. The city took the opportunity to build back “stronger, better, and greener,” enforcing upgraded codes, requiring city-owned buildings to meet LEED Platinum level standards, and recommending energy-efficiency housing in a new Sustainable Comprehensive Plan. Using information collected from surveys of Greensburg tornado survivors, interviews, and publications, we examined the housing-related recovery, including the emergency provision of temporary shelter and rebuilding permanently. Although temporary shelter kept residents nearby for rebuilding, given the gap between insurance policy limits on the aging housing stock and rebuilding costs, housing affordability is a critical issue in Greensburg’s recovery. Local, state, and federal support have made construction of municipal buildings at LEED Platinum level and some affordable and green housing projects possible. However, far greater public and private sector funding for affordable workforce housing, in conjunction with broader economic and job development, is needed.     

Place,identity and stigma: blocks and the ‘blockies’ of Tara,Queensland, Australia

This article explores the role of geographical context in generating a stigmatised identity among residents of Tara rural subdivisions in the coal seam gas fields in Queensland’s Western Downs. The research was based on qualitative interviews with Tara ‘Blockies’, as these residents are commonly referred to, that revealed how their existence in the middle of an agrarian region resulted in the assignation of a stigma that has marked them as different, and subsequently devalued their status. We explain that this distinction and category division of the normals, referring to Tara’s Agrarian residents, from the ‘stigmatised’ led to an antagonistic relationship that prevented successful socio-cultural assimilation. We demonstrate how an immoral place becomes disadvantaged, resulting in poor well-being, and how imposed labels threaten the self-esteem of its occupants.     

Source,transport, and fate of rhenium,selenium, molybdenum,arsenic, and copper in groundwater associated with porphyry–Cu deposits,Atacama Desert,Chile

We collected groundwaters in and around a large (313 Mt at 1.08% Cu and 0.3% cutoff) undisturbed porphyry copper deposit (Spence) in the hyperarid Atacama Desert of northern Chile, which is buried beneath 30–180 m of Miocene piedmont gravels. Groundwaters within and down-flow of the Spence deposit have elevated Se (up to 800 μg/l), Re (up to 31 μg/l), Mo (up to 475 μg/l) and As (up to 278 μg/l) concentrations compared to up-flow waters (interpreted to represent regional groundwater flow). In contrast, Cu is only elevated (up to 2036 μg/l) in groundwaters recovered from within the deposit; Cu concentrations are low down gradient of the deposit. The differential behavior of the metals/metalloids occurs because the former group dissolves as anions, enhancing their mobility, whereas the base metals dissolve as cations and are lost from solution most likely through adsorption to clay surface exchange sites and through formation of secondary copper chlorides, carbonates, and oxides. Most groundwaters within and down-flow of the deposit have Eh–pH values around the Fe^II/Fe^III phase boundary, limiting the impact of Fe-oxyhydroxides on oxyanions mobility. Se, Re, Mo, and As are all mobile (with filtered/unfiltered samples ～ 1) to the limit of sampling 2 km down gradient from the deposit. The increase in ore-related metals, metalloids, and sulfate and decrease in sulfate–S isotope ratios (from values similar to regional salars, + 4 to + 8‰ δ³⁴S_CDT to lower values closer to hypogene sulfides, + 1 to + 4‰ δ³⁴S_CDT) is consistent with active water–rock reactions between saline groundwaters and the Spence deposit. It is likely that hypogene and/or supergene sulfides are being oxidized under the present groundwater conditions and mineral saturation calculations suggest that secondary copper minerals (antlerite, atacamite, malachite) may also be actively forming, suggesting that supergene and exotic copper mineralization is possible even under the present hyperarid climate of the Atacama Desert.     

Geochemistry of О, Н, C,S, and Sr isotopes in the water and sediments of the Aral basin

The paper presents original authors' data on the O, H, C, S, and Sr isotopic composition of water and sediments from the basins into which the Aral Sea split after its catastrophic shoaling: Chernyshev Bay (CB), the basin of the Great Aral in the north, Lake Tshchebas (LT), and Minor Sea (MS). The data indicate that the δ¹⁸О, δD, δ¹³C, and δ³⁴S of the water correlate with the mineralization (S) of the basins (as of 2014): for CB, S = 135.6‰, δ¹⁸О = 4.8 ± 0.1‰, δD = 5 ± 2‰, δ¹³C (dissolved inorganic carbon, DIC) = 3.5 ± 0.1‰, δ³⁴S = 14.5‰; for LT, S = 83.8‰, δ¹⁸О = 2.0 ± 0.1‰, δD =–13.5 ± 1.5‰, δ¹³C = 2.0 ± 0.1‰, δ³⁴S = 14.2‰; and for MS, S = 9.2‰, δ¹⁸О =–2.0 ± 0.1‰, δD =–29 ± 1‰, δ¹³C =–0.5 ± 0.5‰, δ³⁴S = 13.1‰. The oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition of the groundwaters are similar to those in MS and principally different from the artesian waters fed by atmospheric precipitation. The mineralization, δ¹³С, and δ³⁴S of the groundwaters broadly vary, reflecting interaction with the host rocks. The average δ¹³С values of the shell and detrital carbonates sampled at the modern dried off zones of the basins are similar: 0.8 ± 0.8‰ for CB, 0.8 ± 1.4‰ for LT, and –0.4 ± 0.3‰ for MS. The oxygen isotopic composition of the carbonates varies much more broadly, and the average values are as follows: 34.2 ± 0.2‰ for CB, 32.0 ± 2.2‰ for LT, and 28.2 ± 0.9‰ for MS. These values correlate with the δ¹⁸O of the water of the corresponding basins. The carbonate cement of the Late Eocene sandstone of the Chengan Formation, which makes up the wave-cut terrace at CB, has anomalously low δ¹³С up to –38.5‰, suggesting origin near a submarine methane seep. The δ³⁴S of the mirabilite and gypsum (11.0 to 16.6‰) from the bottom sediments and young dried off zone also decrease from CB to MS in response to increasing content of sulfates brought by the Syr-Darya River (δ³⁴S = 9.1 to 9.9‰) and weakening sulfate reduction. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio in the water and carbonates of the Aral basins do not differ, within the analytical error, and is 0.70914 ± 0.00003 on average. This value indicate that the dominant Sr source of the Aral Sea is Mesozoic–Cenozoic carbonate rocks. The Rb–Sr systems of the silicate component of the bottom silt (which is likely dominated by eolian sediments) of MS and LT plot on the Т = 160 ± 5 Ma, I₀ = 0.7091 ± 0.0001, pseudochron. The Rb–Sr systems of CB are less ordered, and the silt is likely a mixture of eolian and alluvial sediments.     

Late Paleozoic base and precious metal deposits,East Tianshan, Xinjiang, China： Characteristics and geodynamic setting

The East Tianshan is a remote Gobi area located in eastern Xinjiang, northwestern China. In the past several years, a number of gold, porphyry copper, and Fe(-Cu) and Cu-Ag-Pb-Zn skarn deposits have been discovered there and are attracting exploration interest.The East Tianshan is located between the Junggar block to the north and early Paleozoic terranes of the Middle Tianshan to the south. It is part of a Hercynian orogen with three distinct E-W-trending tectonic belts: the Devonian-Early Carboniferous Tousuquan-Dananhu island arc on the north and the Carboniferous Aqishan -Yamansu rift basin to the south, which are separated by rocks of the Kanggurtag shear zone. The porphyry deposits, dated at 322 Ma, are related to the late evolutionary stages of a subduction-related oceanic or continental margin arc. In contrast, the skarn, gold, and magmatic Ni-Cu deposits are associated with post-colli-sional tectonics at ca. 290-270 Ma. These Late Carboniferous - Early Permian deposits are associated with large-scale emplacement and eruption of magmas possibly caused by lithosphere delamination and rifting within the East Tianshan.     

Oxygen fugacity dependence of Ni,Co, Mn,Cr, V,and Si partitioning between liquid metal and magnesiowüstite at 9–18 GPa and 2200°C

The oxidation states of Ni, Co, Mn, Cr, V and Si in magnesiowüstite have been determined in metal-oxide distribution experiments using a multi anvil apparatus at 9 and 18 GPa and 2200°C as a function of oxygen fugacity. Despite limitations to control oxygen fugacity by applying conventional buffering methods in high pressure experiments, a wide range of redox-conditions (3 log bar units) has been imposed to the metal-oxide partitioning experiments by varying the Si/O ratio of the starting material. The oxygen fugacity was calculated according to the Fe-FeO equilibrium between the run products. The ability to impose different oxygen fugacities by varying the starting material is confirmed by the large variation of element partitioning coefficients obtained at constant pressure and temperature. The calculated valences at both pressures investigated are divalent for Co, Mn, V and 4+ for Si. The results for Cr (∼2.5+) and Ni (∼1.5+) indicate non-ideal mixing of Ni and Cr in at least one of the product phases. Because the application of 1 bar activity coefficients for Ni and Cr in metal alloys does not change these valences, non-ideal mixing in magnesiowüstite or significantly larger non-ideal mixing properties of Ni and Cr in metal alloys at high pressure are likely to be responsible for the apparent valences. Omitting such non-ideal mixing properties when extrapolating high-pressure element partitioning data may be significant. The elements Cr, V and Mn become siderophile (D_M^met/ox > 1) at 9–18 GPa and 2200°C at oxygen fugacities below IW-2.7 to IW-3.7. Considering, in addition, the influence of temperature, the depletion of Cr, Mn and V in the Earth’s mantle may be due, at least partly, to siderophile behavior at high pressure and temperature.     

Abundances of F,Cl S and P in Volcanic Magmas and Their Evolution,Wudalianchi

F, Cl, S and P were determined, using electron microprobe, in magmatic inclusions trapped within minerals and glass mesostasis from Wudalianchi volcanic rocks. The initial volcanic magma from Wudalianchi corresponds to the basanitic magma crystallized near the surface ( pressure < 91 Mpa ). The potential H₂O content of this magma is in the range 2 — 4 wt. %. The initial composition of volcanic magmas varies regularly from early to late volcanic events. From the Middle Pleistocene to the recent eruptions (1719 – 1721 yr.), the basicity of volcanic magma tends to increase, as reflected by an increase in MgO and CaO contents and by a progressive decrease in SiO₂ and K₂O contents. Meanwhile. from early (Q₂ ) to late (Q₃) episodic eruptions of the Middle Pleistocene, the initial concentrations of chlorine in volcanic magmas range from 1430 – 1930 ppm to 1700 ppm and decrease to 700 — 970 ppm for the first episodic eruption during the Holocene (Q ₄ ¹ ). The chlorine concentrations of volcanic magmas of recent eruption (Q ₄ ² ) are increased again to 2600 – 2870 ppm. A parallel evolution trend for phosphorus and chlorine concentrations in magmas has been certified: 1500 – 5970 ppm (Q₂)→ 3500 – 4210 ppm (Q₃)→ 1100– 3500 ppm (Q ₄ ¹ )→ 6800– 7900 ppm (Q ₄ ² ). The fluorine contents of volcanic magmas, from early to late volcanic events, show the same trend: 770 – 2470 ppm → 200–700 ppm → 700 – 800 ppm. During the crystallization-evolution of volcanic magmas, fluorine and phosphorus tend to be enriched in residual magmas as a result of crystal-melt differentiation. for example. the fluorine contents reach 5000– 6800 ppm and the phosphorus contents, 2.93wt.% in residual magmas. An appreciable amount of chlorine may be lost from water rich volcanic magmas prior to eruption as a result of degassing. Apparently, water serves as a gas carrier for the chlorine. The chlorine contents of residual magmas may decrease to 100 – 300 ppm. The volcanic magmas from Wudalianchi are poor in sulfur, normally ranging from 200 to 400ppm. On account of the behavior of sulfur in magmas and the strontium and oxygen isotopic analyses ((⁸⁷Sr /⁸⁶Sr)_i=0.70503– 0.70589; δ¹⁸O = + 5.50 – + 6.89 ‰ ), it can be considered that the basanitic magmas in the Wudalianchi volcanic area came from the upper mantle and have not yet been contaminated probably by continental crust materials.