Sapphires from Sri Lanka

A rural industry of small‐scale mining, for sapphires and a host of other gemstones, is alive and thriving at Ratnapura in Sri Lanka. The minerals are extracted from alluvial gravels and colluvium, and most are then cut and polished locally for use in jewellery.     

Monsoon and land use in Sri Lanka

Agricultural land use in Sri Lanka roughly shows a division of the island in two major parts, according to the climatic division into thr Wet and Dry Zones. Therefore, it is the ultimate, most important question for agricultural land use in Sri Lanka whether the seasonal occurrence of a distinct dry season, which is characteristic of the Dry Zone, is also the most delimiting factor for land use or not. It seems true, in fact, that the long SW monsoonal dry season in the Dry zone is the major fact for a large-scale division of Sri Lanka according to the crops under cultivation and the cropping systems. Paddy (rice) and tea are the leading crops in the Dry as well as Wet Zone. They are at the same time the crops with the greatest economic importance for the island: tea for the international market, rice for the national market. Thus, the main attention is drawn on specific climatic effects, in a large- and meso-(local-)scale, upon tea and paddy and their agroclimatic potential of cultivation. Besides this, also some effects of the monsoon climate of Sri Lanka upon animal husbandry, forestry and pests have been studied briefly, added finally by an outlook on the correlation between the monsoon climate and fishery even, as manifested in the phenomenon of migrating fishermen.     

African linkage of Precambrian Sri Lanka

New age and isotopic data show that the high-grade basement rocks of Sri Lanka were not linked to the Archaean granulite domain of southern India but experienced their main structural and metamorphic development during the Pan-African event some 950 to 550 Ma ago. This occurred when West Gondwana and East Gondwana collided to form one of the longest collisional structures in the Supercontinent — the Mozambique belt that extends from Mozambique to Ethiopia and Sudan. A major tectonic boundary, interpreted as a thrust zone, divides the Highland/Southwestern Complex in the central part of Sri Lanka from the Vijayan Complex in the E and SE. The former is interpreted to represent the remnant of a once extensive passive margin extending west, in a Gondwana reconstruction, via Madagasgar to Tanzania and Mozambique. The Vijayan Complex may have been part of a separate continental margin plutonic assemblage, and its collision with the Highland/ Southwestern Complex marks the final amalgamation of East and West Gondwana into a supercontinent some 550 Ma ago. The Sri Lankan granulites cannot be correlated with the distinctly older granulites of the Eastern Ghats belt of India, and this suggests that Sri Lanka was situated close to the SE coast of Madagascar in a Gondwana reconstruction.

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Zusammenfassung Neue Isotopen- und Altersdaten aus dem metamorphen Grundgebirge von Sri Lanka zeigen, daß dieses Gebiet nicht, wie vielfach vermutet, Teil des archaischen Granulitkomplexes von Südindien war, sondern seine strukturelle und metamorphe Entwicklung während der panafrikanischen Orogenèse zwischen ca. 950 Ma und ca. 550 Ma hatte. Diese Orogenèse ist das Resultat der Kollision zwischen West-Gondwana (Afrika und Südamerika) und Ost-Gondwana (Südindien, Australien und Antarktis) und führte zur Bildung eines der längsten Kollisionsgürtel des Superkontinentes, dem Mosambik-Gürtel, der sich von Mosambik bis nach Äthiopien und in den Sudan erstreckt. Der West- und Zentralteil Sri Lankas mit den Wanni und Highland/Southwestern Komplexen wird vom Vijayan Komplex im Osten und Südosten durch eine Überschiebungszone getrennt, die möglicherweise eine Sutur darstellt. Die Gesteine im Westen und in den Highlands werden als der Rest eines ehemals weiträumigen passiven Kontinentalrandes interpretiert, zu dem wohl auch die lithologisch ähnlichen Abfolgen der hochmetamorphen Gebiete in Mosambik, Tansania und Madagaskar gehörten. Der Vijayan Komplex war wohl Teil der separaten plutonischen Suite eines aktiven Kontinentalrandes, und seine Kollision mit dem Highland/ Southwestern Komplex markiert das endgültige Verschweißen von West- und Ost-Gondwana zu einem Superkontinent vor ca. 550 Ma. Die Granulite Sri Lankas können nicht mit den deutlich älteren Granuliten des Gürtels der Eastern Ghats in Südost Indien korreliert werden sondern ähneln eher den hochgradigen Gesteinen in Südost Madagaskar. Damit ist die Lage Sri Lankas nahe Madagaskar in einer Gondwana Rekonstruktion wahrscheinlicher als nahe der Südostküste Indiens.

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Résumé De nouvelles données isotopiques et géochronologiques montrent que les roches métamorphiques du socle du Sri Lanka ne constituent pas, comme on l'a souvent cru, une partie du complexe granulitique archéen de l'Inde méridionale, mais qu'elles ont vécu leur propre histoire tectono-métamorphique au cours de l'orogenèse panafricaine, entre 950 et 550 Ma. Cette orogenèse est le résultat de la collision entre le Gondwana occidental (Afrique et Amérique du Sud) et le Gondwana oriental (Inde du sud, Australie et Antarctique) et constitue une des plus grandes chaînes de collision du Supercontinent: la chaîne du Mozambique, qui s'étend du Mozambique jusqu'au Soudan et en Ethiopie. Un contact tectonique majeur, interprété comme un charriage, sépare le »Highland/South-western Complex« (partie centrale du Sri Lanka) du »Vijayan Complex« (partie est et sud-est). Le premier de ces complexes est interprété comme un reste d'une ancienne marge passive de grande étendue, à laquelle appartenaient aussi les séries lithologiquement analogues du domaine très métamorphique du Mozambique, de Tanzanie et de Madagascar. Le «Vijagan Complex« a pu être une partie d'un ensemble plutonique séparé de marge active; sa collision avec le »Highland/Southwestern Complex« marque la réunion finale en un super-continent il y a quelque 550 Ma, des Gondwanas oriental et occidental. Les granulites du Sri Lanka ne peuvent pas être corrélées avec celles de la chaîne des Eastern Ghats (Inde du sud-est) qui sont nettement plus anciennes; elles se rapprochent plutôt des roches très métamorphiques du sud-est de Madagascar. On en déduit que la position du Sri Lanka, dans une reconstruction du Gondwana, devait être plus proche de Madagascar que de la côte sud de l'Inde.

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Locational specificities of fertility transition in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has one of the lowest fertility rates among poor countries of the world. The fertility decline which began in the 1950s has held steady during the last four decades, despite low levels of economic development. Widespread use of contraception is the primary cause of the fertility decline. However, there is no one single homogenous body of people that can be characterized as a ‘modern’ contracepting population through which new methods of family planning have spatially diffused. There is evidence that the overall fertility decline began even before the establishment of the modern family planning program in Sri Lanka. Our analysis showed four broad regional regimes of fertility transition with considerable social and place-to-place differences in method-specific rates of contraception among them. Non-modern ‘traditional techniques’ of contraception which are widely used are an important part of fertility regulation. Sterilization is the most common method of modern contraception in all regions. Less than a tenth of the protected couples use methods such as the pill and the IUD; moreover, these methods are often discontinued after initial use. Traditional methods are an important part of the contraceptive mix in Sri Lanka, and it would be inadvisable to discourage the use of such practices. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Cross-twinning in a natural spinel from Sri Lanka

A modified cross-twinning growth mechanism is put forward to explain the anomalous morphology of a spinel multiple-twin from Sri Lanka, flattened crosswise the twin planes. Cross-twinning in spinel was found also in other specimens from Pegu (Myanmar), and the results were published in a previous paper. This particular type of twinning is derived from the combination of cyclic twinning with lamellar twinning, so that these samples may be thought of as partial fivelings (cubic cyclic {111} twins with five components sharing a common <110> pseudo-fivefold axis). In the present paper, the sample from Sri Lanka has been suitably cut with the aim of focusing the study on the cross-twinning region. The transformation matrices that link the orientation states of each couple of twin components have been determined by means of White Beam Synchrotron Radiation Topography. They showed that the specimen is made up of four twin components (A, B, C and D), with three twin planes: and They also showed that the cross-twinned individuals (B and D) actually are not twinned to each other, and that a simple crystallographic relationship holds between them. X-ray diffraction topography by conventional source allowed to image the crossing-region and to determine that the cross-twinned individuals are in contact through a semi-coherent boundary, with twinning dislocations contributing to relieve the coherency strains. Electron probe microanalyses with wave dispersive spectroscopy showed that the chemical composition is almost homogeneous, at least within the spatial resolution limit of this technique. The similar growth features observed in the spinel sample from Sri Lanka and in those from Myanmar are interpreted as growth marks, indicators of a similar origin: in both cases they are found in impure dolomitic marbles. In particular, the specimen from Sri Lanka results from the interaction of thermal and metasomatic effects due to contact metamorphism. An unusual stepped morphology of the face close to the twin boundary, possibly due to corrosion and re-growth processes acted preferentially at a re-entrant corner by metasomatic fluids, is interpreted as indicator of a metasomatic event that succeeded to the crystal growth, the latter occurred by thermal effect.

Arrested charnockite formation in southern India and Sri Lanka

Arrested prograde charnockite formation in quartzofeldspathic gneisses is widespread in the high-grade terrains of southern India and Sri Lanka. Two major kinds of orthopyroxene-producing reactions are recognized. Breakdown of calcic amphibole by reaction with biotite and quartz in tonalitic/granitic gray gneiss produced the regional orthopyroxene isograd, manifest in charnockitic mottling and veining of mixed-facies exposures, as at Kabbal, Karnataka, and in the Kurunegala District of the Sri Lanka Central Highlands. Chemical and modal analyses of carefully chosen immediately-adjacent amphibole gneiss and charnockite pairs show that the orthopyroxene is produced by an open system reaction involving slight losses of CaO, MgO and FeO and gains of SiO₂ and Na₂O. Rb and Y are depleted in the charnockite. Another kind of charnockitization is found in paragneisses throughout the southern high-grade area, and involves the reaction of biotite and quartz±garnet to produce orthopyroxene and K-feldspar. Although charnockite formation along shears and other deformation zones at such localities as Ponmudi, Kerala is highly reminiscent of Kabbal, close pair analyses are not as suggestive of open-system behavior. This type of charnockite formation is found in granulite facies areas where no prograde amphibole-bearing gneisses exist and connotes a higher-grade reaction than that of the orthopyroxene isograd. Metamorphic conditions of both Kabbaltype and Ponmudi-type localities were 700°–800° C and 5–6 kbar. Lower P(H₂O) in the Ponmudi-type metamorphism was probably the definitive factor.CO₂-rich fluid inclusions in quartz from the Kabbaltype localities support the concept that this type of charnockite formation was driven by influx of CO₂ from some deep-seated source. The open-system behavior and high oxidation states of the metamorphism are in accord with the CO₂-streaming hypothesis. CO₂-rich inclusions in graphitebearing charnockites of the Ponmudi type, however, commonly have low densities and compositions not predictable by vapor-mineral equilibrium calculations. These inclusions may have suffered post-metamorphic H₂ leakage or some systematic contamination.Neither the close-pair analyses nor the fluid inclusions strongly suggest an influx of CO₂ drove charnockite formation of the Ponmudi type. The possibility remains that orthopyroxene and CO₂-rich fluids were produced by reaction of biotite with graphite without intervention of fluids of external origin. Further evidence, such as oxygen isotopes, is necessary to test the CO₂-streaming hypothesis for the Ponmudi-type localities.     

Laterites of Sri Lanka — A reconnaissance study

Laterites occur extensively in the lowlands of Sri Lanka whereas these are observed as localized outcrops in the uplands and the highlands. In lateritis weathering profiles, Al-rich zones are found between and beneath harder Fe-rich layers. The processes of lateritisation and bauxitisation have produced residual products enriched in both Fe₂O₃ and Al₂O₃. In the lowlands and uplands the lateritisation processes have prevailed and the bauxitisation trend is more pronounced in the highlands.

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Résumé Les gisements latéritiques s' observent largement dans les lowlands du Sri Lanka. Mais dans les uplands et highlands les affleurements latéritiques sont rares. Aux profils d'altération les zones riches en Al se trouvent entre ou sous les zones plus dures mais riches en Fe. Les deux processus de latéritisation et bauxitisation ont donné lieu aux produits résiduels riches en Fe₂O₃ ainsi qu'en Al₂O₃. Il a été observé que le processus de latéritisation se produit plus souvent dans les lowlands et uplands tandis que la bauxitisation est plus repandue aux highlands.

     

鹰峰环斑花岗岩地球化学特征及其构造意义

柴达木北缘鹰峰环斑花岗岩出露于柴达木地块与南祁连地体之间的柴北缘造山带,是我国发现的又一元古宙环斑花岗岩体.初步研究表明,鹰峰环斑花岗岩是具环斑结构和A-型花岗岩特征的典型的元古宙环斑花岗岩体,且属于A1亚型,岩浆组合具双峰式特征.环斑结构主要由几个钾长石斑晶颗粒形成聚斑,中心有一斜长石内核,斑晶表面具不均匀高岭土化,条纹构造明显且有规律,基质由细粒-微粒的石英组成,有明显重结晶及定向构造; 岩石化学组成以高钾为特征,A/ NKC < 1,A/NK > 1,属准铝质; 微量元素组成上富集Ba、U、Th、Ce、Hf、Sm,亏损Sr、Ta、Nb、Zr、Y,Rb/Sr (0.17~0.6)和Rb/Ba (0.03~0.24) 很低,岩石分异演化程度不高; 稀土元素: REE、Ce、Zr含量高,Ga含量高达25×10-6以上,远远高出其他类型花岗岩,但Eu (0.75~4.3) ×10-6轻度亏损,属轻稀土富集型.通过对微量元素和稀土元素的地球化学行为分析,鹰峰环斑花岗岩是发生在板内的一种岩浆作用,是下地壳的麻粒岩受底侵或拆沉作用地幔上涌影响,发生部分熔融,然后经过分异演化形成了碱性的“干”岩浆,并在后碰撞的区域拉伸构造环境下侵位.同时伴随温度的降低,钠质的斜长石从钾长石中出溶,并迁移到钾长石的边沿,形成了具环斑结构的A1型花岗岩.      

Secondary phosphate mineralization in a karstic environment in Central Sri Lanka

At Eppawala in central Sri Lanka secondary phosphate mineralization is intimately associated with laminated fabrics within depressions (sinkholes and smaller cavities) formed in the thick weathering profiles of a hilly terrain underlain by a Precambrian apatite-bearing formation. The lowermost levels of the profile show extensive zones of leaching where derived apatite crystals occur within fine-grained, laminated stromatolite sequences. The stromatolitic groundmass, which diagenetically formed by percolating oxygenated phosphate and carbonate-rich groundwaters, is impregnated by the phosphate minerals francolite and collophane. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals that fine filaments, characteristic of microorganisms, are associated with the secondary phosphate mineralization. Continuous degradation and fragmentation of the stromatolitic mat has produced pellets, peloids, and intraclasts all enriched in secondary apatite. Degrading recrystallization around the edges of the primary apatite crystals has developed coated grains. The widespread occurrence of phosphate-enriched allochems in stromatolitic groundmasses is a unique development of a modern phosphorite in a karstic environment.     

东秦岭深源浅成型花岗岩的成矿作用及地质构造背景

东秦岭位于华北板块与扬子板块之间的拼合带-秦岭造山带的东段，该区构造岩浆活动强烈，有色金属，贵金属的成矿作用发育，是中国著名的Mo,W,Au多金属成矿带，也是中国最大的Mo,Au,W等矿产基地与重要的矿集区之一。通过深源浅成型花岗岩的特征，形成机制和成矿特点的研究，发现成矿多与中生代燕山期（170-100Ma)的深源浅成型花岗岩类有关，并生成一系列斑岩-爆破角砾岩型矿床，矿床具有深源，与岩体同时，同空间以及岩体的成矿元素丰度高等特点，矿床类型与岩浆成分有关，表现出明显的成矿专属性，矿床的形成受区域构造演化作用的控制，成岩成矿作用是燕山期中国东部在陆内俯冲的背景下，岩石圈巨大减薄，引起软流圈抬升和地幔上涌造成的。     

Weathering of Monuments at Jethawanaramaya Complex in North-Central,Sri Lanka

Abstract: Sri Lanka has the richest archaeological sites in Asia. Jethawanarama Complex, one of the valuable sites in the country, is suffering from deterioration due to weathering. Monuments were built mainly from stones (granitic gneiss and marble) and clay bricks. The present study aimed to categorize weathering forms and interpret the recently-developing weathering processes. The growing of lichens on surfaces and the development of saline conditions are the major threats on the survival of monuments other than the typical weathering processes of tropical climates Morinite (NaCa2Al2[PO4)]2[F,OH]5·2H2O) is identified as a weathering product of monuments and is generated from lichens.     

Precambrian structure and chronology in the Highland Series of Sri Lanka

Field studies in the Kandy district and elsewhere in the Highland Series demonstrate that these granulite facies rocks have been repeatedly deformed. The major folds (D3) postdate one and possibly two phases of isoclinal folding (D1 and D2) during which the main L-S fabric was formed. The main metamorphic peak probably occurred during these early phases, around 2200 Ma ago. The D3 episode appears to have predated the formation of the Vijayan gneisses at 1200 Ma. Hornblende-bearing gneisses mainly restricted to synformal basins are regarded as the result of local partial melting and mobilization during D3.     

Dry years and their relationship to crop production in Sri Lanka

Drought is a distinct agroclimatological hazard with far reaching consequences upon crop production. Among them, famines are regarded the most serious effects of climatological drought. Although there is no doubt about the principally valid relationship between drought and production losses it seems more problematic how this relationship can be proved statistically. In this paper annual rainfall data and production figures of the three major crops of Sri Lanka, rice (paddy), tea and rubber, are correlated, but only partially a true relationship between dry years and production losses could be observed. Reason for this may be the moderate degree of annual drought. From the results shown, the question arises how agricultural drought can be defined and how the climatic effects upon crop production can be studied satisfactorily.     

Tidal choking and bed friction in Negombo Lagoon,Sri Lanka

We have studied bed friction and water exchange in a small, almost enclosed, shallow lagoon in Sri Lanka, where both tides and freshwater supply are important for the circulation. Because of the narrow entrance, the lagoon is strongly choked for semidiurnal tidal forcing (the choking coefficient is 0.25). A set of tide gauges positioned on each side of the entrance channel was used to calculate bed friction. Measurements made over three short periods having different freshwater supply to the lagoon indicate an average friction (drag) coefficient C_D=0.0041±0.0002 (using a quadratic friction law). A comparison between observed and calculated velocities in the channel for a variety of velocities, indicates that the quadratic friction law is a good tool for parameterization. High freshwater supply increases the lagoonal sea level substantially and decreases the residence time.     

Century scale climate change in the central highlands of Sri Lanka

In this study, an analysis of century scale climate trends in the central highlands of Sri Lanka is presented. Monthly rainfall and temperature records of the period 1869–2006 from five climatological stations were analyzed. The trend is calculated by the least square regression analysis and the significance of the observed trend is estimated using the Mann–Kendall statistic. The results clearly show that there is a statistically significant decrease in annual rainfall in the western slopes of the central highlands. Throughout the last century, the annual reduction of rainfall in Nuwara Eliya which is at an altitude of 1895 m was 5.2 mm/year. The decrease is largely due to the reduction in southwest monsoon rainfall which contributes to 75% of the total reduction. No significant change was observed on the eastern side of the central highlands which receives rainfall predominantly from the northeast monsoons. The mean annual temperature in the mountainous region shows a uniform increasing trend which is in line with the 100-year global temperature increase of 0.8 ± 0.2^°C. Kandy, which is at an altitude of 477 m and closely linked with the rainfall climatology of Nuwara Eliya, showed no significant change in the mean annual temperature. If the current trend continues, in another 100 years, western and eastern slopes of central highlands will receive the same amount of rainfall from the southwest monsoon and the northeast monsoon which will have far reaching consequences for Sri Lanka’s economy and the ecology of the hill country.