Development of Archaean lithosphere deduced from chronology and isotope chemistry of Scourie Dykes

The chronology and isotope geochemistry of a selection of Proterozoic Scourie dykes has been investigated in order to specify both their time of emplacement within the thermal history of the Archaean crust of N.W. Scotland, and to attempt to characterise the evolution of continental lithosphere. SmNd, RbSr and UPb isotope analyses are presented. Primary, major igneous minerals separated from four well preserved dykes yield SmNd ages of 2.031 ± 0.062Ga, 2.015 ± 0.042Ga, 1.982 ± 0.044Ga and 2.101 ± 0.078Ga, which are interpreted as crystallisation ages.The initial Nd isotope compositions in the dykes at their emplacement age of 2.0 Ga, range from +3.4 to −6.8, indicating the presence of an older lithospheric component. SmNd whole-rock isotope data for fifteen dykes, if interpreted to have age significance, yield an “age” of 3.05 ± 0.27 Ga. SmNd crustal residence ages for the same dykes average 2.95 Ga, which is interpreted as the time that small melts were added to the Lewisian lithosphere. The possibility that correlated¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd and¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios are an artifact of mixing between depleted mantle melts generated at 2.0 Ga, and an older enriched lithospheric component is not eliminated by the data, but the relationship between 1/Nd and¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios rules out any simple mixing. UPb isotope data for plagioclase feldspars and whole-rock samples of dykes provide useful estimates of initial Pb-isotope composition of the dykes at the time of their emplacement. Initial²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios vary considerably and range from 13.98 to 15.78, and 14.72 to 15.56 respectively, and suggest that the UPb fractionation responsible must have occurred at least 2.5 Ga ago.The Scourie dykes have inherited a trace element enriched component from the Lewisian lithosphere, which has resided there since ca. 3 Ga ago. Whether the dykes inherited this material from the crust or the mantle portions of the lithosphere or both, it seems likely that small basaltic melts derived from asthenospheric mantle were ultimately responsible for the enrichment. The simplest view is that these small melt fractions had been resident in the mantle part of the Lewisian lithosphere. In this case the Archaean trace-element enrichment and element fractionation in the Lewisian lithospheric mantle sampled by the dykes was closely associated in time with the generation of the 2.9 Ga old crustal portion of the lithosphere [36,37].     

The composition and size distribution of the dust in the coma of Comet Hale-Bopp

We discuss the composition and size distribution of the dust in the coma of Comet Hale-Bopp. We do this using a model fit for the infrared emission measured by the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) and the measured degree of linear polarization of scattered light at various phase angles and wavelengths. The effects of particle shape on the modeled optical properties of the dust grains are taken into account. Both the short wavelength (7-44 μm) and the long wavelength (44-120 μm) infrared spectrum are fitted using the same dust parameters, as well as the degree of linear polarization at twelve different wavelengths in the optical to near-infrared domains. We constrain our fit by forcing the abundances of the major rock forming chemical elements to be equal to those observed in meteorites. The infrared spectrum at long wavelengths reveals that large grains are needed in order to fit the spectral slope. The size and shape distribution we employ allows us to estimate the sizes of the crystalline silicates. The ratios of the strength of various forsterite features show that the crystalline silicate grains in Hale-Bopp must be submicrometer-sized. On the basis of our analysis the presence of large crystalline silicate grains in the coma can be excluded. Because of this lack of large crystalline grains combined with the fact that we do need large amorphous grains to fit the emission spectrum at long wavelengths, we need only approximately 4% of crystalline silicates by mass (forsterite and enstatite) to reproduce the observed spectral features. After correcting for possible hidden crystalline material included in large amorphous grains, our best estimate of the total mass fraction of crystalline material is ∼7.5%, which is significantly lower than deduced in previous studies in which the typical derived crystallinity is ∼20-30%. The implications of this low abundance of crystalline material on the possible origin and evolution of the comet are discussed. We conclude that the crystallinity we observe in Hale-Bopp is consistent with the production of crystalline silicates in the inner Solar System by thermal annealing and subsequent radial mixing to the comet forming region (∼30 AU).     

The role of laboratory experiments in the characterisation of silicon–based cosmic material

Abstract. Silicate grains in space have attracted recently a wide interest of astrophysicists due to the increasing amount and quality of observational data, especially thanks to the results obtained by the Infrared Space Observatory. The observations have shown that the presence of silicates is ubiquitous in space and that their properties vary with environmental characteristics. Silicates, together with carbon, are the principal components of solid matter in space. Since their formation, silicate grains cross many environments characterised by different physical and chemical conditions which can induce changes to their nature. Moreover, the transformations experienced in the interplay of silicate grains and the medium where they are dipped, are part of a series of processes which are the subject of possible changes in the nature of the space environment itself. Then, chemical and physical changes of silicate grains during their life play a key role in the chemical evolution of the entire Galaxy. The knowledge of silicate properties related to the conditions where they are found in space is strictly related to the study in the laboratory of the possible formation and transformation mechanisms they experience. The application of production and processing methods, capable to reproduce actual space conditions, together with the use of analytical techniques to investigate the nature of the material samples, form a subject of a complex laboratory experimental approach directed to the understanding of cosmic matter. The goal of the present paper is to review the experimental methods applied in various laboratories to the simulation and characterisation of cosmic silicate analogues. The paper describes also laboratory studies of the chemical reactions undergone and induced by silicate grains. The comparison of available laboratory results with observational data shows the essential constraints imposed by astronomical observations and, at the same time, indicates the most puzzling problems that deserve particular attention for the future. The outstanding open problems are reported and discussed. The final purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the present stage of knowledge about silicates in space and to provide to the reader some indication of the future developments in the field. Received 25 April 2002 / Published online 14 November 2002 Send offprint requests to: L. Colangeli e–mail: colangeli@na.astro.it     

Evolution of the \mathcal {L}_1 halo family in the radial solar sail circular restricted three-body problem

We present a detailed investigation of the dramatic changes that occur in the \(\mathcal {L}_1\) halo family when radiation pressure is introduced into the Sun–Earth circular restricted three-body problem (CRTBP). This photo-gravitational CRTBP can be used to model the motion of a solar sail orientated perpendicular to the Sun-line. The problem is then parameterized by the sail lightness number, the ratio of solar radiation pressure acceleration to solar gravitational acceleration. Using boundary-value problem numerical continuation methods and the AUTO software package (Doedel et al. in Int J Bifurc Chaos 1:493–520, 1991) the families can be fully mapped out as the parameter \(\beta \) is increased. Interestingly, the emergence of a branch point in the retrograde satellite family around the Earth at \(\beta \approx 0.0387\) acts to split the halo family into two new families. As radiation pressure is further increased one of these new families subsequently merges with another non-planar family at \(\beta \approx 0.289\) , resulting in a third new family. The linear stability of the families changes rapidly at low values of \(\beta \) , with several small regions of neutral stability appearing and disappearing. By using existing methods within AUTO to continue branch points and period-doubling bifurcations, and deriving a new boundary-value problem formulation to continue the folds and Krein collisions, we track bifurcations and changes in the linear stability of the families in the parameter \(\beta \) and provide a comprehensive overview of the halo family in the presence of radiation pressure. The results demonstrate that even at small values of \(\beta \) there is significant difference to the classical CRTBP, providing opportunity for novel solar sail trajectories. Further, we also find that the branch points between families in the solar sail CRTBP provide a simple means of generating certain families in the classical case.     

Integrated pressure–temperature–time constraints for the Tso Morari dome (Northwest India): implications for the burial and exhumation path of UHP units in the western Himalaya

Northward subduction of the leading edge of the Indian continental margin to depths greater than 100 km during the early Eocene resulted in high‐pressure (HP) quartz‐eclogite to ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) coesite–eclogite metamorphism at Tso Morari, Ladakh Himalaya, India. Integrated pressure–temperature–time determinations within petrographically well‐constrained settings for zircon‐ and/or monazite‐bearing assemblages in mafic eclogite boudins and host aluminous gneisses at Tso Morari uniquely document segments of both the prograde burial and retrograde exhumation path for HP/UHP units in this portion of the western Himalaya. Poikiloblastic cores and inclusion‐poor rims of compositionally zoned garnet in mafic eclogite were utilized with entrapped inclusions and matrix minerals for thermobarometric calculations and isochemical phase diagram construction, the latter thermodynamic modelling performed with and without the consideration of cation fractionation into garnet during prograde metamorphism. Analysis of the garnet cores document (M1) conditions of 21.5 ± 1.5 kbar and 535 ± 15 °C during early garnet growth and re‐equilibration. Sensitive high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb analysis of zircon inclusions in garnet cores yields a maximum age determination of 58.0 ± 2.2 Ma for M1. Peak HP/UHP (M2) conditions are constrained at 25.5–27.5 kbar and 630–645 °C using the assemblage garnet rim–omphacite–rutile–phengite–lawsonite–talc–quartz (coesite), with mineral compositional data and regional considerations consistent with the upper P–T bracket. A SHRIMP U–Pb age determination of 50.8 ± 1.4 Ma for HP/UHP metamorphism is given by M2 zircons analysed in the eclogitic matrix and that are encased in the garnet rim. Two garnet‐bearing assemblages from the Puga gneiss (host to the mafic eclogites) were utilized to constrain the subsequent decompression path. A non‐fractionated isochemical phase diagram for the assemblage phengite–garnet–biotite–plagioclase–quartz–melt documents a restricted (M3) P–T stability field centred on 12.5 ± 0.5 kbar and 690 ± 25 °C. A second non‐fractionated isochemical phase diagram calculated for the lower pressure assemblage garnet–cordierite–sillimanite–biotite–plagioclase–quartz–melt (M4) documents a narrow P–T stability field ranging between 7–8.4 kbar and 705–755 °C, which is consistent with independent multiequilibria P–T determinations. Th–Pb SHRIMP dating of monazite cores surrounded by allanite rims is interpreted to constrain the timing of the M4 equilibration to 45.3 ± 1.1 Ma. Coherently linking metamorphic conditions with petrographically constrained ages at Tso Morari provides an integrated context within which previously published petrological or geochronological results can be evaluated. The new composite path is similar to those published for the Kaghan UHP locality in northern Pakistan, although the calculated 12‐mm a^?1 rate of post‐pressure peak decompression at Tso Morari would appear less extreme.     

Inverted metamorphism and the Main Central Thrust: field relations and thermobarometric constraints from the Kishtwar Window, NW Indian Himalaya

Following the early Eocene collision of the Indian and Asian plates, intracontinental subduction occurred along the Main Central Thrust (MCT) zone in the High Himalaya. In the Kishtwar–Zanskar Himalaya, the MCT is a 2 km thick shear zone of high strain, distributed ductile deformation which emplaces the amphibolite facies High Himalayan Crystalline (HHC) unit south‐westwards over the lower greenschist facies Lesser Himalaya. An inverted metamorphic field gradient, mapped from the first appearance of garnet, staurolite and kyanite index minerals, is coincident with the high strain zone. Petrography and garnet zoning profiles indicate that rocks in the lower MCT zone preserve a prograde assemblage, whereas rocks in the HHC unit show retrograde equilibration. Thermobarometric results derived using THERMOCALC indicate a P–T increase of c. 180 °C and c. 400 MPa across the base of the MCT zone, which is a consequence of the syn‐ to postmetamorphic juxtaposition of M1 kyanite grade rocks of the HHC unit on a cooling path over biotite grade footwall rocks, which subsequently attain their peak (M2) during thrusting. Inclusion thermobarometry from the lower MCT zone reveals that M2 was accompanied by loading, and peak conditions of 537±38 °C and 860±120 MPa were attained. M1 kyanite assemblages in the HHC unit, which have not been overprinted by M2 fibrolitic sillimanite, were not significantly affected by M2, and conditions of equilibration are estimated as 742±53 °C and 960±180 MPa. There is no evidence for dissipative or downward conductive heating in the MCT zone. Instead, the primary control on the distribution of peak assemblages, represented by the index minerals, is postmetamorphic ductile thrusting in a downward propagating shear zone. Polymetamorphism and diachroneity of equilibration are also important controls on the thermal profile through the MCT zone and HHC unit.     

Devensian glacigenic sedimentation and landscape evolution in the Cardigan area of southwest Wales

The depositional processes associated with late Devensian ice in areas bordering the Irish Sea basin have been the subject of considerable debate. Among the key areas around the Irish Sea, southwest Wales occupies a particularly crucial position because it is here that ice flowing from the north impinged upon the coast orthogonally and encroached inland. Two main hypotheses have emerged concerning deglaciation of the Irish Sea basin. The traditional hypothesis holds that sedimentation was ice‐marginal or subglacial, whereas an alternative hypothesis that emerged in the 1980s argued that sedimentation was glaciomarine. Southwest Wales is well‐placed to contribute to this debate. However, few detailed sedimentological studies, linked to topography, have been made previously in order to reconstruct glacial environments in this area. In this paper, evidence is presented from four boreholes drilled recently in the Cardigan area, combined with data from coastal and inland exposures in the lower Teifi valley and adjacent areas. A complex history of glaciation has emerged: (i) subglacial drainage channel formation in pre‐Devensian time, (ii) deposition of iron‐cemented breccias and conglomerates possibly during the last interglacial (or in the early/mid‐Devensian interstadial), (iii) late Devensian ice advance across the region, during which a glaciolacustrine sequence over 75 m thick accumulated, within a glacial lake known as Llyn Teifi, (iv) a second high‐level glaciolacustrine succession formed near Llandudoch, (v) outside the Teifi valley, ice‐marginal, subglacial and glaciofluvial sediments were also laid down, providing a near‐continuous cover of drift throughout the area. Glacial advance was characterized by reworking, deformation and sometimes erosion of the underlying sediments. The glaciomarine hypothesis is thus rejected for southwest Wales. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dehydration melting and the granulite transition in metapelites from southern Namaqualand,S. Africa

In a prograde amphibolite-granulite transition zone in the Namaqualand Metamorphic Complex, metapelites show an interbanding of the amphibolite facies association biotite+sillimanite+quartz with the granulite facies association garnet+cordierite+K-feldspar. Relict graded bedding shows that compositional banding is of sedimentary origin. The garnet-cordierite-K-feldspar gneisses contain quartzofeldspathic segregations surrounding garnets, and have more Fe-rich bulk compositions than the biotite-sillimanite schists.The contrasting asemblages could have formed at the same pressure and temperature provided that a(H₂O) was systematically lower in the garnet-cordierite-K-feldspar layers. The a(H₂O) reduction resulted from the production of silicate melt by a vapour-absent continuous Fe-Mg reaction such as biotite+sillimanite+quartz=garnet+K-feldspar+liquid which affects Fe-rich compositions before vapour-absent melting occurs in more Mg-rich rocks. The segregations represent the solid and liquid products of the reaction.Such processes imply local control of a(H₂O), and indicate that this granulite transition did not result from a regional influx of metasomatising fluids.