Fluvial deposits within the Pleistocene Crag at Thorpe St Andrew,Norwich, England

This paper records the findings at a temporary exposure at Thorpe St Andrew near Norwich, Norfolk, UK in Early and early Middle Pleistocene Crag deposits. The British Geological Survey (BGS) describes the particular formation exposed as Norwich Crag consisting of Early Pleistocene shallow marine sediments. The section shows a succession of sorted sands and gravels overlain by a sandy diamicton. Based on field evidence and clast analysis, the sands and gravels are interpreted as the product of point bar and overbank sedimentation and represent the product of a river cutting into and aggrading within the more widespread shallow marine deposits. Composition of the sediments indicates derivation, primarily from Wroxham Crag Formation, with a contribution from Norwich Crag. The sandy diamicton is interpreted as late Middle Pleistocene Corton Till that is recorded in the area. A distinct pattern of colour changes at the top of the sands and gravels is interpreted as a soil that developed on the fluvial sediments before being overridden by the glacier that deposited the Corton Till. The existence of the fluvial sediments within the regional shallow marine deposits suggests that a fall of sea-level, possibly due to climate cooling, while the elevation of the sediments and the adjacent Crag implies that the site has been uplifted since sedimentation. This is the first observation of terrestrial sediments within the shallow marine Crag. The paper also makes a contribution to understanding the diagenetic processes that give deposits within this region some distinctive colour and sediment patterns.     

Tidal-inlets and gravel deposition during the late Norwich Crag (Lower Pleistocene) of north-eastern Suffolk,U.K.

The Norwich Crag of north-eastern Suffolk is mainly composed of near-shore sands representing several sequences (cycles of transgression and regression). It is difficult to separate out the different sequences but the final sequence here is well known for the localised development of beds of flint gravel that have been interpreted as the in-situ remnants of prograding beaches. While a review of the evidence supports the involvement of this sedimentary environment in the overall processes, the evidence shows that virtually only gravels associated with rip-channels represent in-situ beach gravels and that thicker gravel beds are the infill of much larger channels. From consideration of the characteristics of the large channels it is concluded that these large channels were tidal-inlets between prograding barrier islands and that the gravels were derived from the adjacent up-drift beach faces of the barrier-islands.     

Field Meeting to the Bawdsey Peninsula, Suffolk, England, 22nd May 2010, to examine London Clay, Coralline Crag and Red Crag deposits: Leaders: Roger Dixon and Bob Markham

A one-day Geologists’ Association field excursion to the Bawdsey Peninsula in coastal Suffolk is described, with a guided tour of ‘The Pliocene Island’ at Sutton Knoll and visits to examine coastal erosion, the London Clay and Red Crag at Bawdsey East Lane, and the Red Crag at Alderton and Ramsholt. The depositional environments indicated by the Crag sediments and faunas are discussed, and non-derived Red Crag mollusc faunas at Sutton and sand-wave mollusc assemblages from Ramsholt are described.     

An Early Pleistocene cold marine episode in the North Sea: pollen and faunal assemblages at Covehithe, Suffolk, England

Pollen spectra indicating grass-heath with Empetrum are recorded from a c. 2 m thick Baventian marine clay bed at Covehithe, Suffolk, deposited in a sublittoral to intertidal environment. For the first time arctic assemblages of both foraminifers and molluscs are recorded from this Baventian clay, which is now confirmed as representing the first cold stage of truly glacial intensity in the English marine Early Pleistocene succession.     

山东齐河—禹城矿集区矽卡岩型铁矿成矿规律

山东西北部齐河—禹城矿集区矽卡岩型铁矿找矿工作取得了重大突破。该矿集区发育明显的航磁和重力异常,二者具有同源特征。地球物理异常查证工作显示,该区深部发育矽卡岩型铁矿床,成矿时代为早白垩世,铁矿物质主要来源于闪长岩体。铁矿体为地层、侵入岩和构造三者控矿,即铁矿体赋存于奥陶系（石炭系、二叠系）地层、闪长岩体、地层与岩体接触带附近。勘查表明,总体表现为布格重力异常梯度较陡处、剩余重力异常高值处、磁异常较高处、化极磁异常高值处以及高低电阻率转换带是该矿集区矽卡岩型铁矿的找矿有利地段。     

Some characters of the bedded chromite deposits of Kalrangi,Cuttack district,Orissa, India

Mineralogy, size distribution of grains, and variation in chemical composition of chromitite occurring in four successive layers in serpentinite, near Kalrangi (85°45 E:21°0 N), Cuttack district, Orissa, have been studied to decipher the mode of formation of the ore bodies. The parent rocks are dunite-peridotite with olivine, olivine-enstatite and minor chromite, the minerals being completely altered to serpentine or talc-serpentine near the surface. The ore bodies are of bedded nature, composed entirely of chromite, and are confined to the top of the dunite-peridotite sheet. Grain-size variation of chromite in different layers in the vertical section shows straight line character which suggests accumulation of chromite grains by the process of magmatic sedimentation. The normal distribution of size variation of the chromite grains probably means that they are the products of a single magmatic cycle. Cr₂O₃ and MgO in chromitite decrease and FeO and Al₂O₃ increase in the vertical direction, which is expected when chromite crystallize from an ultrabasic magma in an undisturbed condition. Ideas of repeated injection and convection currents are negated by the absence of rhythmic layering and cyclic repetition of ultrabasics and chromite.

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Zusammenfassung Die Mineralogie, die Korngrößenverteilung und die Variation der chemischen Zusammensetzung der Chromititvorkommen in vier übereinanderliegenden Lagen im Serpentinit bei Kalrangi (85°45 E:21°0 N), Cuttack District, Orissa, wurden untersucht, um die Bildung der Erze zu verstehen. Die Muttergesteine sind Dunit-Peridotit mit Olivin, Olivin-Enstatit und wenig Chromit, wobei die Mineralien an der Oberfläche vollständig zu Serpentin oder Talk-Serpentinit verändert sind. Die Erzkörper sind geschichtet, bestehen fast völlig aus Chromit und sind auf den obersten Teil der Dunit-Peridotit-Platte beschränkt, die im Hangenden von präkambrischen Mahagiri-Quarziten einer itabiritischen Serie intrudiert ist. Die Korngrößenverteilung im Chromit in den verschiedenen Lagern des Profils zeigt geradlinigen Charakter, was auf die Anlagerung der Chromitkörner durch magmatische Sedimentation hinweist. Die lognormale Korngrößen-Häufigkeits-Verteilung der Chromitkörner spricht für einen einmaligen magmatischen Zyklus. Während Cr₂O₃ und MgO in den Chromititen systematisch nach oben abnehmen, nehmen FeO und Al₂O₃ zu, was zu erwarten ist, wenn die Chromitausscheidung in ungestörtem, ultramafischem Magma vor sich geht. Vorstellungen von wiederholten Injektionen und Konvektionsströmen sind zu widerlegen durch das Fehlen von rhythmischen Schichten und von zyklischen Wiederholungen der ultramafischen Gesteine und des Chromits.

     

Revisit to graphite-tungsten deposits of East Godavari district,Andhra Pradesh

The graphite-tungsten deposits under consideration in this study are located in the Burugubanda, Pydiputta, Tapasikonda, Marripalem and Madyaratigudem areas of the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India. These deposits were formed due to wide spread tectonothermal events associated with the evolution of Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt (EGMB). The graphite deposits of East Godavari district are epigenetic, rhombohedral fluid deposited type and are one of the four deposits of such type reported so far from Srilanka, Spain and England. The graphite deposits were formed due to granodioritic intrusion into the Narsipatnam shear zone, which caused migmatisation of khondalites along with mobilisation and concentration of graphite, as veins and lenses, into the graphite gneisses. The graphite gneisses were subsequently intruded by quartz rich pegmatites that were laden with tungsten mineralisation. The tungsten mineralisation occurs as thin bands, lenses, stringers and vein lets within the quartz matrix and also dispersed in the graphite gneisses. Inclusions of tungsten in graphite indicate that tungsten mineralisation succeeded graphite mineralisation. However, the low P-T phenomenon of tungsten (wolframite-ferberite) mineralisation resulted in low tenor of tungsten ore deposits (WO₃: 0.10%). Rare earth elements (REE) are associated with tungsten mineralisation in these areas. During the present study, these graphite-tungsten deposits have been re-examined, in the backdrop of shelving graphite-tungsten projects in these areas. The feed for mineral beneficiation tests was decided on the basis of dispersion of tungsten in quartz and graphite rich fractions of the ore zone. The feed (ROM material) on beneficiation gave recovery of +75% graphite concentrate, tungsten concentrate of consistent chemical grade, besides recovery of sizeable REE concentrate. It also rendered use of unutilised graphite tailing dumps at beneficiation plants, thereby effecting conservation. Thus, the association of tungsten and REE with the entire graphite deposits along with their value addition during beneficiation, as by-product, revived opportunities to restart graphite mining in the Burugubanda, Pydiputta and Tapasikonda areas in particular and East Godavari district, in general, as an economically viable venture. This will initiate opening of graphite mines in other districts of Andhra Pradesh and energise economics of working graphite mines within EGMB, in the states of Jharkhand, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.     

Origin of the sparry magnesite deposits around Bauri,Almora district,Uttar Pradesh,India

Seven pockets of variable dimensions of strata-bound sparry magnesite within the Middle Proterozoic Gangolihat Formation around Bauri in the Almora district, Kumaun, Lesser Himalaya, have been investigated petrographically and geochemically. The lenses and pockets of megacrystalline, bladed, occasionally stellate, magnesite aggregates invariably enclosed by stromatolitic or massive dolostones, often exhibit a concordant relationship with the latter. Besides the sharp contrast in crystal-linity of magnesite and dolostones and the patches of the latter in the former, relict features such as layers of chert, cryptocrystalline silica veins and stromatolitic structures are discernible in the magnesite. There is a gradual increase in MgO and FeO with a corresponding decrease in CaO, and a striking depletion in Sr from dolostone to magnesite but no noteworthy variation in other major or minor elements nor in insoluble contents. Both the dolostones and magnesites are characterised by the same range of oxygen isotope ratios. However, a marked enrichment of lighter carbon isotopes in magnesites is noted. Based on these observations, it is inferred that the magnesite around Bauri is a product of diagenetic magnesitisation of penecontemporaneous dolomite in a restricted biohermal tidal flat environment.     

Sulfur isotopic evidence for the supergene origin of alunite deposits,Tolfa district,Italy

Sulfur isotope abundance data for minerals of the historically important alunite deposits of the Tolfa district indicate (1) compositional similarity between sulfates and sulfides (mean S³⁴ values of +5.5⁴ and +6.3⁴ permil respectively), (2) negligible fractionation factors (0.995 to 1.004) for sulfate-sulfide mineral pairs, (3) two distinct sulfide isotopic populations characterized by pyrite (+8.3⁴ permil) and marcasite (–1.0⁵ permil) and with associated alunite displaying a covariant isotopic shift, and (4) possible contamination of the hydrothermal system by evaporite sulfate (+25.1 permil) because hypogene pyrite, galena, and cinnabar are enriched in S³⁴ (+6.1 to +10.3 permil). We suggest that alunite, barite, and possibly marcasite are of supergene origin and that the sulfate-sulfur was derived from the surficial oxidation of sulfides. Our conclusion is compatible with the geologic evidence and confirms the supergene hypothesis for the genesis of Tolfa alunites proposed by Fuchs and De Launay (1893) and De Launay (1906; 1913).

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Zusammenfassung Die Schwefel-Isotopen-Häufigkeiten von Mineralen der historisch wichtigen Alunit-Vorkommen des Gebietes um Tolfa zeigen (1) eine große Ähnlichkeit der Isotopen-Zusammensetzungen zwischen Sulfaten und Sulfiden (Mittelwerte für S³⁴ von +5,5₄ bzw. +6,3₄), (2) höchstens sehr geringe Fraktionierungs-Faktoren (0,995 bis 1,004) für Mineralpaare von Sulfat und Sulfid, (3) zwei verschiedene Gruppen von Isotopenverhältnissen bei den Sulfiden, und zwar für Pyrit (+8,3₄) und Markasit (–1,0₅), wobei der jeweils begleitende Alunit ähnliche Unterschiede aufweist, und (4) eine mögliche Beeinflussung des hydrothermalen Systems durch Sulfat aus Salzlagerstätten (+25,1), weil hypogener Pyrit, Galenit und Zinnober eine Anreicherung von S³⁴ zeigen (+6,1 bis +10,3). Wir nehmen an, daß Alunit, Baryt und möglicherweise auch Markasit supergen gebildet wurden, und daß der Sulfat-Schwefel durch die Oxydation von Sulfiden an der Erdoberfläche entstand. Unsere Schlußfolgerung ist mit den geologischen Befunden vereinbar und bestätigt die supergene Hypothese für die Bildung der Alunitvorkommen von Tolfa, wie sie von Fuchs und De Launay (1893) und De Launay (1906; 1913) vertreten wurde.

     

Types of copper deposits related to volcanic environment in the Bor district,Yugoslavia

The principal copper deposits associated with Upper Creataceous — Laramian calc-alkaline volcano-plutonic complexes in the Bor district are classified as follows: Volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits are situated in andesitic volcanics, and are composed of pyrite and copper sulphides. Multistage deposition of mineral associations in this area was controlled mainly by secondary boiling of hydrothermal fluids rich in sulphur. Apart from cupriferous pyrite deposits, volcanogenic massive polymetallic deposits, containing a pyritic ZnCu+Pb association, have been found recently in hydrothermally altered dacite- and esite pyroclastics. Porphyry copper deposits are mainly situated in volcanic piles related to subvolcanic intrusions and/or hypabyssal plutons. Some porphyry copper deposits occur in the same structures with massive sulphide orebodies, lying above the porphyry copper system. Conglomerate-type ores consisting of clasts of massive sulphide in an andesitic pile have been discovered recently.     

安徽铜陵矿集区斑岩型铜钼金矿床地质特征及成矿背景

铜陵矿集区以发育大型和为数众多的矽卡岩型矿床而闻名于世,而近年来作为该区找矿的重要成果和突破则是斑岩型矿床和矿化的陆续发现。本文以铜陵矿集区3个代表性斑岩型矿床为研究对象,在详细的野外地质调查和室内显微观察研究的基础上,开展了较为系统的矿床地质和地球化学研究,阐述了斑岩型矿床的地质特征,确定了含矿侵入岩体的地质和地球化学特征,分析了矿床蚀变特征和流体包裹体特征,探讨了成岩成矿的大地构造背景,并与世界典型斑岩型矿床进行了对比。研究表明,铜陵矿集区斑岩型铜钼金矿床通常发育于含矿岩体的围岩或盖层为砂岩、砂页岩或硅质岩的条件下,含矿岩体为富碱低镁高钾准铝质钙碱性系列中浅成侵入岩体,具有与埃达克岩一致的地球化学特征;与世界典型斑岩型矿床含矿岩体对比,岩体侵位较深,有些矿区多期多相特征不明显;含矿岩体发育钾硅酸盐化、黄铁绢英岩化、青磐岩化等热液蚀变且有一定的分带性,但各矿床蚀变特征略有不同;矿床矿石矿物中富气相、富液相和含子晶多相包裹体共生,流体包裹体均一温度和盐度演化特征显示具有岩浆作用控制的高温热液型矿床特征。结合区域构造演化,作者确定铜陵矿集区斑岩型矿床属大陆环境斑岩型矿床,成矿作用发生于陆内造山作用由挤压向拉张转化的动力学背景之下,斑岩型矿床与矽卡岩型矿床及热液脉状矿床共同构成受统一的岩浆热液系统控制的矿床系列。     

福建福安赤路——宁德九曲岭地区钼铜多金属矿找矿前景分析

福安赤路-宁德九曲岭地区处于闽东火山活动亚带,属闽粤沿海中生代锡钨铅锌银及非金属成矿区（带）,为大陆边缘火山活动带的陆相火山气液型成矿构造环境。综合分析该地区的成矿地质背景、地球物理、地球化学特征和已知矿床（点）,认为福安赤路钼矿外围,周宁县咸格、汤夏,宁德九曲岭等地具有良好的钼铜矿找矿前景。     

基于区域重磁信息的湖南怀化地区金属成矿预测

根据湖南怀化地区1∶20万区域重力资料和1∶5万航磁资料,研究了怀化地区深部断裂及岩浆岩特征,圈定了隐伏-半隐伏岩体和断裂构造,并根据地质矿产和物化探综合信息,分析了成矿区带与岩体和构造的关系,总结了成矿区带的区域重磁场特征,圈出5个成矿远景区,为怀化地区寻找深部矿和隐伏矿提供了重要信息。     

Volcanic activity related to the formation of the Kuroko-type deposits in the Kosaka district,Japan

In the Miocene Kosaka formation of NE-Japan, submarine volcanic sedimentary deposits of the Kuroko-type occur. This formation consists mainly of volcanics which erupted in a submarine environment. The Kosaka Volcano was built up by nine or more volcanic events of a single eruptive cycle. The mode of eruption during a representative single eruptive cycle changed as follows: The Uwamuki tuff breccia is a contact product between dacitic magma and the sea water. Dacitic magma pushed the Motoyama dacite dome upward, as a result of the decrease in vesicularity and perhaps also in temperature. Next, a steam explosion occurred at a flank of this lava dome. The hydrothermal activity which began in this steam explosion center is responsible for the formation of the Kuroko-type Cu-Zn-Pb-mineral deposits. Similar examples of a single eruptive cycle as at Kosaka are also found in Quaternary terrestrial volcanoes of Japan.

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Zusammenfassung Submarin-vulkanisch-sedimentäre Lagerstätten des Kuroko-Typs kommen in der miozänen Kosaka-Formation vor, wo im letzten Jahrhundert der Name Kuroko zuerst angewandt wurde. Diese Formation besteht hauptsächlich aus submarinen Vulkaniten. Der Kosaka-Vulkan wurde in mindestens neun Ausbruchzyklen aufgebaut. Die Art der Eruption änderte sich während eines typischen Einzelausbruchs folgendermaßen: Die Uwamuki Tuff-Brekzie entstand durch Kontaktwirkung zwischen dazitischem Magma und Seewasser. Eine Abnahme des Gasgehaltes und vielleicht auch der Temperatur führten zur oberflächennahen Intrusion des Motoyama Dazitdoms. An einer Flanke dieses Lavadoms kam es zur Dampfexplosion. Die Hydrothermaltätigkeit, die in diesem Dampfexplosionszentrum begann, ist verantwortlich für die Bildung der Minerallagerstätten vom Kuroko-Typ. Ähnliche Beispiele eines Ausbruchszyklus vom Kosaka-Typ wurden ebenfalls in quartären terrestrischen Vulkanen in Japan gefunden, wobei hier keine Minerallagerstätten des Kuroko-Typs vorkommen.