Exploring the impact of diagenesis on (isotope) geochemical and microstructural alteration features in biogenic aragonite

For the Quaternary and Neogene, aragonitic biogenic and abiogenic carbonates are frequently exploited as archives of their environment. Conversely, pre‐Neogene aragonite is often diagenetically altered and calcite archives are studied instead. Nevertheless, the exact sequence of diagenetic processes and products is difficult to disclose from naturally altered material. Here, experiments were performed to understand biogenic aragonite alteration processes and products. Shell subsamples of the bivalve Arctica islandica were exposed to hydrothermal alteration. Thermal boundary conditions were set at 100°C, 175°C and 200°C. These comparably high temperatures were chosen to shorten experimental durations. Subsamples were exposed to different ¹⁸O‐depleted fluids for durations between two and twenty weeks. Alteration was documented using X‐ray diffraction, cathodoluminescence, fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy, as well as conventional and clumped isotope analyses. Experiments performed at 100°C show redistribution and darkening of organic matter, but lack evidence for diagenetic alteration, except in Δ₄₇ which show the effects of annealing processes. At 175°C, valves undergo significant aragonite to calcite transformation and neomorphism. The δ¹⁸O signature supports transformation via dissolution and reprecipitation, but isotopic exchange is limited by fluid migration through the subsamples. Individual growth increments in these subsamples exhibit bright orange luminescence. At 200°C, valves are fully transformed to calcite and exhibit purple‐blue luminescence with orange bands. The δ¹⁸O and Δ₄₇ signatures reveal exchange with the aqueous fluid, whereas δ¹³C remains unaltered in all experiments, indicating a carbonate‐buffered system. Clumped isotope temperatures in high‐temperature experiments show compositions in broad agreement with the measured temperature. Experimentally induced alteration patterns are comparable with individual features present in Pleistocene shells. This study represents a significant step towards sequential analysis of diagenetic features in biogenic aragonites and sheds light on reaction times and threshold limits. The limitations of a study restricted to a single test organism are acknowledged and call for refined follow‐up experiments.     

Internal morphology, habit and U-Th-Pb microanalysis of amphibolite-to-granulite facies zircons: geochronology of the Ivrea Zone (Southern Alps)

Several types of growth morphologies and alteration mechanisms of zircon crystals in the high-grade metamorphic Ivrea Zone (IZ) are distinguished and attributed to magmatic, metamorphic and fluid-related events. Anatexis of pelitic metasediments in the IZ produced prograde zircon overgrowths on detrital cores in the restites and new crystallization of magmatic zircons in the associated leucosomes. The primary morphology and Th-U chemistry of the zircon overgrowth in the restites show a systematic variation apparently corresponding to the metamorphic grade: prismatic (prism-blocked) low-Th/U types in the upper amphibolite facies, stubby (fir-tree zoned) medium-Th/U types in the transitional facies and isometric (roundly zoned) high-Th/U types in the granulite facies. The primary crystallization ages of prograde zircons in the restites and magmatic zircons in the leucosomes cannot be resolved from each other, indicating that anatexis in large parts of the IZ was a single and short lived event at 299 ± 5 Ma (95% c. l.). Identical U/Pb ages of magmatic zircons from a metagabbro (293 ± 6 Ma) and a metaperidotite (300 ± 6 Ma) from the Mafic Formation confirm the genetic context of magmatic underplating and granulite facies anatexis in the IZ. The U-Pb age of 299 ± 5 Ma from prograde zircon overgrowths in the metasediments also shows that high-grade metamorphic (anatectic) conditions in the IZ did not start earlier than 20 Ma after the Variscan amphibolite facies metamorphism in the adjacent Strona–Ceneri Zone (SCZ). This makes it clear that the SCZ cannot represent the middle to upper crustal continuation of the IZ. Most parts of zircon crystals that have grown during the granulite facies metamorphism became affected by alteration and Pb-loss. Two types of alteration and Pb-loss mechanisms can be distinguished by cathodoluminescence imaging: zoning-controlled alteration (ZCA) and surface-controlled alteration (SCA). The ZCA is attributed to thermal and/or decompression pulses during extensional unroofing in the Permian, at or earlier than 249 ± 7 Ma. The SCA is attributed to the ingression of fluids at 210 ± 12 Ma, related to hydrothermal activity during the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent in the Upper Triassic/Lower Jurassic. Received: 7 July 1998 / Accepted: 4 November 1998     

Empirical Relationships for Debris Flows

The assessment of the debris flow hazard potential has to rely on semi-quantitative methods. Due to the complexity of the debris-flow process, numerical simulation models of debris flows are still limited with regard to practical applications. Thus, an overview is given of empirical relationships that can be used to estimate the most important parameters of debris-flow behavior. In a possible procedure, an assessment of a maximum debris-flow volume may be followed by estimates of the peak discharge, the mean flow velocity, the total travel distance, and the runout distance on the fan. The applicability of several empirical equations is compared with available field and laboratory data, and scaling considerations are used to discuss the variability of the parameters over a large range of values. Some recommendations are made with regard to the application of the presented relationships by practicing engineers, apart from advocating field reconnaissance and searching for historic events wherever possible.     

Mauer – the type site of Homo heidelbergensis: palaeoenvironment and age

The mandible of Homo heidelbergensis was found 1907 in the sand pit Grafenrain at Mauer in coarse fluvial sands 24 m below the surface, deposited in a former course of the Neckar River. These ‘Mauer sands’ are overlain by a series of glacial-climate loess deposits with intercalated interglacial palaeosols, which can be correlated with Quaternary climate history, thus indicating an early Middle Pleistocene age for H. heidelbergensis. The ‘Mauer sands’ are famous for their rather rich mammal fauna, which clearly indicates interglacial climate conditions. The faunal evidence – in particular the micromammals – place the ‘Mauer sands’ into MIS 15 or MIS 13 although most stratigraphic arguments favour correlation to MIS 15 and therefore to an age of ca 600 ka.     

Element signatures of subduction-zone fluids. An experimental study of the element partitioning (Dfluid/rock) of natural partly altered igneous rocks from the ODP drilling site 1,256

The trace element signatures of fluids were investigated by leaching experiments on natural samples of partly altered mafic igneous rocks recovered from the drilling site 1,256 of ODP Leg 206 on the Cocos plate (Central America). Experiments with ultrapure water were performed at 400 °C/0.4 GPa and 500 °C/0.7 GPa. Both fluids and residual solids were examined to obtain the partition coefficients (D^fluid/rock) of various trace elements. Element partition coefficients (D^fluid/rock) obtained at 500 °C/0.7 GPa are significantly lower compared to results obtained at 400 °C/0.4 GPa, which is in contrast to observations at higher pressures (2.2–6 GPa) and temperatures between 700 and 1,400 °C (Kessel et al. in Earth Planet Sci Lett 237: 873–892, 2005a; Spandler et al. in Chem Geol 239: 228–249, 2007). This finding may indicate a considerable pressure effect on the leaching processes and strongly divergent fluid–rock interactions in the upper part of a subduction zone at 0.4–0.7 GPa compared to deeper subduction areas with higher pressures. Furthermore, this may be interpreted as one of the earliest fractionation processes during the subduction of crustal material.     

Zum Vorkommen von Pyrophyllit,Gümbelit und Quarziten in der Kontaktaureole des Bramscher Massivs

Zusammenfassung Die geophysikalischen Untersuchungen am Störkörper von Bramsche, ca. 20 km N Osnabrück, deuten auf einen basischen Intrusivkörper in ca. 5 km Tiefe. Hohe Inkohlungsgrade in karbonischen bis kretazischen Sedimenten lassen eine starke Wärmequelle mit einem bis zu den Karbonhorsten südlich und westlich Osnabrück reichenden Kontakthof vermuten, mit einem Maximum der Inkohlung im Gebiet der geophysikalischen Anomalie.Während sich an den Karbonhorsten um Osnabrück sulfidisch-barytische Erze kretazischen Alters finden, fehlen jegliche Vererzungsspuren im Zentrum der Anomalie. Hier könnten lediglich Pyrophyllit und Quarzitisierungen im Malm des Gehns und das Vorkommen von Gümbelit im Piesberg-Karbon auf Auswirkungen der Intrusion hinweisen. Ausbildung (Faseraggregate der Phyllosilikate) und geologisches Auftreten (keine laterale Verteilung) sprechen aber für eine im weitesten Sinne lateral-sekretionäre Entstehung.Experimente vonNoll (1936) undAlthaus (1966) ergaben eine Bildungstemperatur für Pyrophyllit von ca. 390° C. Es finden sich jedoch keine pegmatitisch-pneumatolytischen oder katahydrothermalen Mobilisate in diesem Gebiet. Somit sollte die Bildungstemperatur für den Pyrophyllit niedriger gewesen sein. Selbst wenn die Bildungstemperatur bekannt wäre, wäre es schwierig, den hydrothermal gebildeten Pyrophyllit als geologisches Thermometer zu benutzen.- Geothermische Überlegungen zur Kalkulation der Intrusionstemperatur lassen sich hier somit nur noch mit Hilfe des Inkohlungsgrades vornehmen.

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Geophysical researches at the Bramsche anomaly, about 20 km north of Osnabrück in NW-Germany indicate a basic intrusive body at the depth of about 5 km. A big source of heat with a contact zone reaching to the Carboniferous horsts south and west of Osnabrück is supposed by the increase of coalification in Carboniferous up to Cretaceous sediments, which has the highest degrees of coalification in the region of the geophysical anomaly.While there are sulfide deposits with barytic gangue of Cretaceous age at the Carboniferous horsts near Osnabrück, there are no ore-traces in the centre of the anomaly. Only the occurence of pyrophyllite and quartzites in the Malm of the Gehn-hills and the occurrence of gümbelite (Mg-hydromuscovite) in the Carboniferous sediments of Piesberg-horst may indicate the influence of the intrusion. - But habit (fibre-aggregates of the phyllosilicates) and geologic occurence (no lateral distribution) of these mineralisations suggest a formation by lateral secretion in a broader meaning of the term.Experiments byNoll (1936) andAlthaus (1966) proved a temperature of about 390° C for the formation of pyrophyllite. But there are no pegmatitic-pneumatolytic or kata-hydrothermal mobilisations in this district. Therefore it is assumed that the temperature of the formation may be lower under other conditions. Even if the temperature of this formation were known, it would be difficult to use pyrophyllite — formed under hydrothermal conditions — as a geologic thermometer. - Geothermal conclusions to calculate the temperature of the intrusion are only possible by using the decrease of volatile matter of the coals.

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Résumé Les recherches géophysicales du corps failleux de Bramsche, à environ 20 km au nord d'Osnabrück font penser à un corps intrusit basique à 5 km sous la surface. De grands degrés d'houillification en des sédiments carbonifères et crétacés révèlent une forte source de chaleur avec une auréole de contact s'étendant jusqu'aux horsts carbonifères au sud et à l'ouest d'Osnabrück, avec un maximum d'houillification dans la région de l'anomalie géophysicale.Bien qu'on trouve des airains crétacés sulfurés avec barytine, aucune trace de minéralisation n'est visible au centre de l'anomalie. Ce n'est que la pyrophyllite et les quartzites dans le Malm du Gehn et l'existence de gümbelite (Mghydro-muscovite) dans le Piesberg-Karbon qui peuvent indiquer des effets d'intrusion. La structure et l'existence géologique font plutôt penser à une genèse latéralement sécrétionaire. Des conclusions géothermiques pour calculer la température d'intrusion ne sont à entreprendre qu'à l'aide du degré d'houillification.

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Meinem verehrten Lehrer, Herrn Prof. Dr. H.Harder danke ich für die Anregung zu dieser Arbeit im Rahmen einer regionalen lagerstättenkundlichen Dissertation. Für weitere Hinweise und Diskussionen bin ich Herrn Prof. Dr. B.Brockamp verpflichtet.     

Geophysical prospecting in the Lake Victoria goldfields

Two areas of the Lake Victoria Region in Tanzania, where most of the old gold prospects are situated, were chosen for a comprehensive mineral survey. Since most of the country is covered by tropical soils, geophysical methods were applied. The gold occurs in quartz veins, shear zones and impregnation deposits, sometimes closely associated with sulphides or graphites, mostly in the archean country rocks of the Nyanzian System. The Nyanzian rocks form irregular shaped rafts in the roof of the central granite and have nearly the same physical properties as the gold occurrences. This obstacle was overcome by a special combination of geophysical methods:Airborne magnetic and electromagnetic surveys were flown in order to distinguish major fault zones, conducting horizons and profound changes in lithology.In promising areas, selected from the airborne results or from the presence of old mine workings, special grids were cut out and pegged. These grids were surveyed with magnetometer and E. M. Gun. The results, evaluated in contour and derived structural maps, produced the important tectonic features of the areas.These informations formed the background for the finalTuram survey, which gave in some instances direct indications of the mineralized quartz veins. This combination revealed also so many particulars of the structural pattern, that extensions of the deposits could be established and it became possible, to carry out trenching and drilling programmes successfully. The application of the combined methods is explicated on the example of one particular mineralized quartz vein of Sarama Area.

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Zusammenfassung Zwei Gebiete am Victoriasee in Tanzania, in denen zahlreiche alte Goldbergbaue liegen, wurden durch eine Mineralprospektion erfaßt. Da ein großer Teil des Landes von tropischen Lehmen überdeckt wird, mußten geophysikalische Methoden angewendet werden. Das Gold kommt in Quarzgängen, Scherzonen und Imprägnations-Lagerstätten vor, teilweise in enger Verbindung mit Sulfiden oder Graphit, zumeist innerhalb der archaischen Gesteine des Nyanzian, die als unregelmäßig gestaltete Flöße im Dach des Zentralgranites schwimmen. Diese Serie besitzt nahezu dieselben physikalischen Eigenschaften wie die Goldvorkommen. Dieses Problem wurde durch eine besonders geeignete Kombination geophysikalischer Methoden gelöst:Magnetische und elektromagnetische Flugvermessungen wurden gleichzeitig durchgeführt, um Hauptverwerfungen, gut leitende Horizonte und die Verbreitung der wichtigsten Gesteine festzustellen.In höffigen Gebieten, die nach den Ergebnissen der Flugvermessungen oder nach der Lage alter Goldbergbaue ausgewählt wurden, sind besondere Netzwerke ausgeschlagen und verpflockt worden. Magnetometer und E.-M.-Gun-Messungen erfolgten zuerst; ihre Ergebnisse, in Isolinienkarten und abgeleiteten Strukturkarten ausgewertet, spiegelten die wichtigsten tektonischen Einheiten des Untersuchungsgebietes wider.Diese Resultate bildeten die Grundlage für die abschließendenTuram-Messungen, die direkte Hinweise auf die vererzten Quarzgänge erbrachten. Diese Verbindung unterschiedlicher Untersuchungsmethoden gab außerdem so viele Einzelheiten des geologischen Aufbaues wieder, daß die Ausdehnung einiger Erzkörper festgestellt und Schürf sowie Bohrprogramme erfolgreich ausgeführt werden konnten. Die Anwendung dieses Verfahrens wird am Beispiel einer typischen Quarzgang-Goldlagerstätte aus dem Sarama-Gebiet erläutert.

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Résumé Une recherche minière a été effectuée dans deux secteurs de la région du Lac Victoria en Tanzanie, où se trouve située la majorité des anciennes mines aurifères. De différentes méthodes géophysiques furent appliquées au cours de cette recherche, compte-tenux de l'importante altération de type tropical existant dans cette région. L'or se rencontre dans des veines de quartz, des zones de cisaillement ou en imprégnations diffuses et se trouve fréquemment associé à des sulfures et du graphite. La minéralisation est intrusive dans les formations précambriennes du Nyanzien. Ces formations constituent des îlots de forme irrégulière répartis dans le granite et ont, géophysiquement parlant, sensiblement les mêmes propriétés physiques que les formations aurifères. Cet obstacle fut levé en utilisant une combinaison spéciale de méthodes géophysiques:Une campagne de géophysique aéroportée (magnétométrie et électromagnétisme) fut effectuée en vue de repérer les failles principales, les horizons conducteurs et les changements lithologiques majeurs.Une étude au sol par magnétométrie et électromagnétisme (E. M. Gun) fut alors entreprise dans les zones favorables, choisies sur la base des résultats de la géophysique et de l'importance des anciens travaux miniers, suivant une maille spéciale qui avait été jalonée au préalable sur le terrain. Les résultats furent consignés sous forme de cartes de contours et révélèrent les principales marques caractéristiques tectoniques de la région.Ces informations servirent de base à une campagne auTuram qui donne en certains endroits des indications précises sur les veines de quartz aurifère.Cette combinaison de méthodes géophysiques permit d'établir l'aspect structural de la région à un degré tel qu'il fut possible de déterminer l'extension des gisements et il devint alors possible de réaliser avec succès les programmes de prospection superficielle et de sondage. A titre d'exemple, l'application de ces méthodes combinéses est détallée pour une veine de quartz aurifère de la région de Sarama.

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Herrn Professor Dr.Roland Brinkmann zum 70. Geburtstag gewidmet.

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Annotation note of the editorial staff: Due to lack of time we have not been able to alter the text of this paper.     

Die Intensitätsverteilung der Himmelsstrahlung während der totalen Sonnenfinsternis Am 15. 2. 1961 auf Grund photographischer Messungen

Zusammenfassung Es wird über eine photographische Methode berichtet, die gestattet, die Verteilung der Himmelsstrahlung zu bestimmen. Der Himmel wird mit einer Weitwinkelkamera photographiert und die Aufnahmen werden mit einem Photometer ausgewertet. Über einen Graukeil, der auf das gleiche filmmaterial aufbelichtet und mit den Aufnahmen zusammen entwickelt wird, lassen sich die mit dem Photometer ermittelten Schwärzungswerte in (relative) Intensitätswerte der Himmelsstrahlung umrechnen. Der durch das Photoobjektiv bedingte Helligkeitsabfall von der Bildmitte aus nach den Bildrändern zu wird experimentell ermittelt und als Korrektur an den Meßwerten angebracht. Die Intensitätsverteilung der Himmelsstrahlung während der totalen Sonnenfinsternis am 15. Februar 1961 in Viareggio (Norditalien), am Abend zuvor und am Folgetag wird wiedergegeben und diskutiert. Während der totalen Verfinsterung spiegelt sich insbesondere die Wanderung des Mondschattens relativ zum Beobachtungsort in den Darstellungen wieder. Während der partiellen Verfinsterung ist dagegen die relative Helligkeitsverteilung praktisch die gleiche wie bei unverfinsterter Sonne.

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Summary A photographic method is described which permits to determinate the distribution of the sky radiation. The sky is photographed by a wide angle camera and the resulting pictures are evaluated by a photometer. A photometric step wedge copied on a film of the same type and number is developed together with the pictures. Then the density values measured by the photometer can be transformed into (relative) intensity values of the sky radiation. The decrease in brightness from the centre of the picture to the rim caused by the photographic lens is determined experimentally and is taken into account as a correction to the density values. The distribution of intensity of the sky radiation in Viareggio (North Italy) during the total eclipse of the sun on the 15th of february 1961, on the previous evening and on the following day are shown and discussed. During the total eclipse especially the migration of the moon's shadow in relation to the observation point is clearly defined. During the partial eclipse, however, practically the same relative distribution of sky radiation is found as without eclipse.