Complete metamorphic cycle and long-lived anatexis in the c. 2.1 Ga Mistinibi Complex,Canada

Secular changes in the architecture, thermal state, and metamorphic style of global orogens are thought to have occurred since the Archean; however, despite widespread research, the driving mechanisms for such changes remain unclear. The Paleoproterozoic may prove to be a key era for investigating secular changes in global orogens, as it marks the earliest stage of an eon that saw the onset of modern-style global tectonics. The 2.1 Ga granulite-facies Mistinibi-Raude Domain (MRD), located in the Southeastern Churchill Province, Canada, offers a rare exposure of Paleoproterozoic high metamorphic grade supracrustal sequences (Mistinibi Complex, MC). Rocks from this domain were subjected to petrochronological investigations to establish P–T–t–X evolutions and to provide first order thermal state, burial and exhumation rates, and metamorphic gradients for the transient Paleoproterozoic times. To obtain comprehensive insight into the P–T–t–X evolution of the MRD, we used multi-method geochronology—Lu–Hf on garnet and U–Pb on zircon and monazite—integrated with detailed petrography, trace element chemistry, and phase equilibria modelling. Despite the extensive use of zircon and monazite as geochronometers, their behaviour in anatectic conditions is complex, leading to substantial ambiguity in interpreting the timing of prograde metamorphism. Our results indicate a clockwise metamorphic path involving significant melt extraction from the metasedimentary rocks, followed by cooling from >815°C to ~770°C at ~0.8 GPa. The timing of prograde burial and cooling from supra- to subsolidus conditions is constrained through garnet, monazite, and zircon petrochronology at 2,150–2,120 Ma and at 2,070–2,080 Ma, respectively. These results highlight long-lived residence of the rocks at mid-crustal supra-solidus conditions (55–70 Ma), with preserved prograde and retrograde supra-solidus monazite and zircon. The rocks record extremely slow burial rates (0.25–0.30 km/Ma) along a high metamorphic gradient (900–1,000°C/GPa), which appears symptomatic of Paleoproterozoic orogens. The MC did not record any significant metamorphism after 2,067 Ma, despite having collided with terranes that record high-grade metamorphism during the major 1.9–1.8 Ga Trans-Hudson orogeny. The MC would therefore represent a remnant of a local early Paleoproterozoic metamorphic infrastructure, later preserved as superstructure in the large hot Trans-Hudson orogen.     

Oxidized, magnetite-series, rapakivi-type granites of Carajás, Brazil: Implications for classification and petrogenesis of A-type granites

The varying geochemical and petrogenetic nature of A-type granites is a controversial issue. The oxidized, magnetite-series A-type granites, defined by Anderson and Bender [Anderson, J.L., Bender, E.E., 1989. Nature and origin of Proterozoic A-type granitic magmatism in the southwestern United States of America. Lithos 23, 19–52.], are the most problematic as they do not strictly follow the original definition of A-type granites, and approach calc-alkaline and I-type granites in some aspects. The oxidized Jamon suite A-type granites of the Carajás province of the Amazonian craton are compared with the magnetite-series granites of Laurentia, and other representative A-type granites, including Finnish rapakivi and Lachlan Fold Belt A-type granites, as well as with calc-alkaline, I-type orogenic granites. The geochemistry and petrogenesis of different groups of A-types granites are discussed with an emphasis on oxidized A-type granites in order to define their geochemical signatures and to clarify the processes involved in their petrogenesis. Oxidized A-type granites are clearly distinguished from calc-alkaline Cordilleran granites not only regarding trace element composition, as previously demonstrated, but also in their major element geochemistry. Oxidized A-type granites have high whole-rock FeO_t/(FeO_t + MgO), TiO₂/MgO, and K₂O/Na₂O and low Al₂O₃ and CaO compared to calc-alkaline granites. The contrast of Al₂O₃ contents in these two granite groups is remarkable. The CaO/(FeO_t + MgO + TiO₂) vs. CaO + Al₂O₃ and CaO/(FeO_t + MgO + TiO₂) vs. Al₂O₃ diagrams are proposed to distinguish A-type and calc-alkaline granites. Whole-rock FeO_t/(FeO_t + MgO) and the FeO_t/(FeO_t + MgO) vs. Al₂O₃ and FeO_t/(FeO_t + MgO) vs. Al₂O₃/(K₂O/Na₂O) diagrams are suggested for discrimination of oxidized and reduced A-type granites. Experimental data indicate that, besides pressure, the nature of A-type granites is dependent of ƒO₂ conditions and the water content of magma sources. Oxidized A-type magmas are considered to be derived from melts with appreciable water contents (≥ 4 wt.%), originating from lower crustal quartz-feldspathic igneous sources under oxidizing conditions, and which had clinopyroxene as an important residual phase. Reduced A-type granites may be derived from quartz-feldspathic igneous sources with a metasedimentary component or, alternatively, from differentiated tholeiitic sources. The imprint of the different magma sources is largely responsible for the geochemical and petrological contrasts between distinct A-type granite groups. Assuming conditions near the NNO buffer as a minimum for oxidized granites, magnetite-bearing granites formed near FMQ buffer conditions are not stricto sensu oxidized granites and a correspondence between oxidized and reduced A-type granites and, respectively, magnetite-series and ilmenite-series granites is not always observed.     

Age Constraints on the Tectonic Evolution and Provenance of the Pie de Palo Complex, Cuyania Composite Terrane, and the Famatinian Orogeny in the Sierra de Pie de Palo, San Juan, Argentina

New U-Pb age determinations confirm earlier interpretations that the strongly deformed and metamorphosed mafic and intermediate igneous rocks of the Pie de Palo Complex represent a Mesoproterozoic fragment of suprasubduction zone oceanic crust.

A gabbroic pegmatite, interpreted to have formed during arc rifting or subsequent back-arc spreading, yielded a U-Pb age of 1204 ^+5.3/_–4.7 Ma. Highly tectonized ultramafic-mafic cumulates, occurring at the structural base of the Pie de Palo Complex and previously interpreted to represent remnants of a primitive arc phase, prior to rifting and back-arc spreading, could not be dated, but should be older than 1204 Ma if these inferences are correct. Tabular, sill-like bodies of leucogabbro/diorite and calc-alkaline tonalite/granodiorite sills yielded ages of 1174±43 and 1169 ⁺⁸/_–7 Ma respectively. They may represent a younger, more evolved arc phase established after arc rifting or a younger, tectonically unrelated Mesoproterozoic arc. SHRIMP-analysis of metamorphic zircon rims with low Th/U ratios in VVL 110 gave a ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 455±10 Ma, similar to lower intercept dates determined by discordia lines. Combined, these data indicate that the bulk of the amphibolite facies metamorphism present in the Pie de Palo Complex was generated during the Famatinian Orogeny.

Analysis of six single detrital zircon grains in a metasedimentary, quartzofeldspathic garnet-mica schist, tectonically interleaved with the igneous rocks of the Pie de Palo Complex, and tentatively correlated with the Difunta Correa metasedimentary sequence of other workers, yielded three age populations: 1150–1160 Ma; 1050–1080 Ma and 665 Ma, indicating that these sedimentary rocks were deposited during the late Neoproterozoic or Early Paleozoic. In addition, they confirm structural evidence that intercalation of rocks of the Pie de Palo Complex with isolated slivers of these sedimentary rocks is due to tectonic imbrications. These ages are also consistent with a Laurentian provenance, and earlier interpretations that these rocks once represented a sedimentary cover to the Pie de Palo Complex. The zircon population of 1050–1080 Ma could be derived from Grenville-age felsic plutons identified elsewhere in the Pie de Palo Complex by other workers. However, no evidence has been found in our samples for a Grenville-age orogenic event, invoked previously to explain accretion of the oceanic Pie de Palo Complex to Laurentia prior to the late Neoproterozoic/Early Cambrian rifting and drift of Cuyania.     

Crystallization of melilite from CMAS-liquids and the formation of the melilite mantle of Type B1 CAIs: Experimental simulations

Type B CAIs are subdivided into B1s, with well-developed melilite mantles, and B2s, with randomly distributed melilite. Despite intensive study, the origin of the characteristic melilite mantle of the B1s remains unclear. Recently, we proposed that formation of the melilite mantle is caused by depletion of the droplet surface in volatile magnesium and silicon due to higher evaporation rates of volatile species compared to their slow diffusion rates in the melt, thus making possible crystallization of melilite at the edge of the CAI first, followed by its crystallization in the central parts at lower temperatures. Here, we present the results of an experimental study that aimed to reproduce the texture observed in natural Type B CAIs. First, we experimentally determined crystallization temperatures of melilite for three melt compositions, which, combined with literature data, allowed us to find a simple relationship between the melt composition, crystallization temperature, and composition of first crystallizing melilite. Second, we conducted a series of evaporation and cooling experiments exposing CAI-like melts to gas mixtures with different oxygen fugacities (f_O2). Cooling of the molten droplets in gases with logf_O2?IW-4 resulted in crystallization of randomly distributed melilite, while under more reducing conditions, melilite mantles have been formed. Chemical profiles through samples quenched right before melilite started to crystallize showed no chemical gradients in samples exposed to relatively oxidizing gases (logf_O2?IW-4), while the near-surface parts of the samples exposed to very reducing gases (logf_O2?IW-7) were depleted in volatile MgO and SiO₂, and enriched in refractory Al₂O₃. Using these experimental results and the fact that the evaporation rate of magnesium and silicon from CAI-like melts is proportional to , we estimate that Type B1 CAIs could be formed by evaporation of a partially molten precursor in a gas of solar composition with . Type B2 CAIs could form by slower evaporation of the same precursors in the same gas with .     

Quaternary glaciation of Mount Everest

The Quaternary glacial history of the Rongbuk valley on the northern slopes of Mount Everest is examined using field mapping, geomorphic and sedimentological methods, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and ¹⁰Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) dating. Six major sets of moraines are present representing significant glacier advances or still-stands. These date to >330 ka (Tingri moraine), >41 ka (Dzakar moraine), 24–27 ka (Jilong moraine), 14–17 ka (Rongbuk moraine), 8–2 ka (Samdupo moraines) and ～1.6 ka (Xarlungnama moraine), and each is assigned to a distinct glacial stage named after the moraine. The Samdupo glacial stage is subdivided into Samdupo I (6.8–7.7 ka) and Samdupo II (～2.4 ka). Comparison with OSL and TCN defined ages on moraines on the southern slopes of Mount Everest in the Khumbu Himal show that glaciations across the Everest massif were broadly synchronous. However, unlike the Khumbu Himal, no early Holocene glacier advance is recognized in the Rongbuk valley. This suggests that the Khumbu Himal may have received increased monsoon precipitation in the early Holocene to help increase positive glacier mass balances, while the Rongbuk valley was too sheltered to receive monsoon moisture during this time and glaciers could not advance. Comparison of equilibrium-line altitude depressions for glacial stages across Mount Everest reveals asymmetric patterns of glacier retreat that likely reflects greater glacier sensitivity to climate change on the northern slopes, possibly due to precipitation starvation.     

Encapsulation of limestone waste in concrete after arsenic removal from drinking water

Arsenic is one of the many naturally occurring contaminants in drinking water. Although various treatment technologies can remove arsenic, most suffer from a common problem of disposal of arsenic-enriched waste after treatment. This project focused on improving a limestone-based disposal technique by encapsulating the arsenic-enriched limestone waste in concrete. The research work determined the compressive strengths of the concrete cubes prepared using treated limestone after arsenic removal and determined the amount of leaching from the arsenic-encapsulated concrete. The removal of arsenic was done with batch experiments using 0.5–1 mm sized Minnekahta Limestone. The efficiency of the limestone in removing arsenic ranged from 85.9 to 95.5%. The amount of arsenic adsorbed onto the surface of each gram of limestone ranged from 0.8 to 3.9 μg. Compressive strength results of concrete cubes prepared by incorporating arsenic-enriched limestone showed typical strength curves at 1, 3, 7 and 28 days. Leaching of arsenic was less than 0.05 mg/L, which is 1/100 of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s standard for disposal of arsenic in a landfill. Hence, encapsulating the arsenic-enriched limestone in concrete has potential for recycling the waste material, thereby reducing disposal costs of the limestone-based removal method.     

The petrogenesis of 30–20 Ma basic and intermediate volcanics from the Mogollon-Datil Volcanic Field,New Mexico,USA

In the western USA calcalkaline magmas were generated hundreds of kilometres from the nearest destructive plate margin, and in some areas during regional extension several Ma after the cessation of subduction. The Mogollon-Datil Volcanic Field (MDVF) in southern New Mexico was a centre of active magmatism in the mid- to late-Tertiary, and a detailed field, petrographic and geochemical study has been undertaken to evaluate the relations between extensional tectonics and calcalkaline magmatism in the period 30–20 Ma. The rocks comprise alkalic to high-K calcalkaline lavas, ranging from basalt to high silica andesitc. Most of the basaltic rocks have relatively low HFSE abundances, elevated ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, similar to many Tertiary basalts across the western USA, and they are inferred to have been derived from the continental mantle lithosphere. Two differentiation trends are recognised, with the older magmas having evolved to more calcalkaline compositions by magma mixing between alkalic basaltic andesites and silicic crustal melts, and the younger rocks having undergone 30–40% fractional crystallisation to more alkalic derivatives. The younger basalts also exhibit a shift to relatively higher HSFE abundances, with lower ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and higher ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, and these have been modelled as mixtures between an average post-5 Ma Basin and Range basalt and the older MDVF lithosphere-derived basalts. It is argued that the presence of subduction-related geochemical signatures and the development of calcalkaline andesites in the 30–20 Ma lavas from the MDVF are not related to the magmatic effects of Tertiary subduction. Rather, basic magmas were generated by partial melting of the lithospheric mantle which had been modified during a previous subduction event. Since these basalts were generated at the time of maximum extension in the upper crust it is inferred that magma generation was in response to lithospheric extension. The association of the 30–20 Ma calcalkaline andesites with the apparently anorogenic tectonism of late mid-Tertiary extension, is the result of crustal contamination, in that fractionated, mildly alkaline, basaltic andesite magmas were mixed with silicic crustal melts, generating hybrid andesite lavas with calcalkaline affinities.     

Annual variations in water storage and precipitation in the Amazon Basin

We combine satellite gravity data from the gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE) and precipitation measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center’s (CPC) Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), over the period from mid-2002 to mid-2006, to investigate the relative importance of sink (runoff and evaporation) and source (precipitation) terms in the hydrological balance of the Amazon Basin. When linear and quadratic terms are removed, the time-series of land water storage variations estimated from GRACE exhibits a dominant annual signal of 250 mm peak-to-peak, which is equivalent to a water volume change of ~1,800 km³. A comparison of this trend with accumulated (i.e., integrated) precipitation shows excellent agreement and no evidence of basin saturation. The agreement indicates that the net runoff and evaporation contributes significantly less than precipitation to the annual hydrological mass balance. Indeed, raw residuals between the de-trended water storage and precipitation anomalies range from ±40 mm. This range is consistent with stream-flow measurements from the region, although the latter are characterized by a stronger annual signal than our residuals, suggesting that runoff and evaporation may act to partially cancel each other.     

Effects of shock pressure on 40Ar -39Ar radiometric age determinations

The relation of shock to the drop in the ⁴⁰¹Ar/³⁹¹Ar ratio seen at high release temperatures in some neutron-irradiated lunar samples is investigated through measurements of the ⁴⁰¹Ar/³⁹¹Ar ratio in gas samples released by stepwise heating of rock samples previously subjected to shock, either in the laboratory or in nature.Explosives were used to shock solid pieces and powder of a basalt from a diabase dike in Liberia to calculated pressures of 65, 150 and 270 kbar. These, an unshocked sample of the powder, two naturally shocked samples from the Brent impact crater in Canada, one unshocked sample from near the crater, and appropriate monitors were irradiated. Ar from stepwise heating was analyzed.The unshocked basalt shows a good ⁴⁰¹Ar/³⁹¹Ar plateau at age 198 ± 9 m.y. in agreement with a previous result of 186 ± 2 m.y. The shocked samples contain varying amounts of implanted atmospheric Ar, the isotopes of which have experienced mass fractionation. This effect is small enough in four samples so that the linearity of their graphs of ³⁹¹Ar/⁴⁰Ar vs ³⁶Ar/⁴⁰Ar is evidence of a plateau. The ages of these samples are then 201 ± 10, 205 ± 11, 205 ± 12 and 201 ± 9 m.y. It appears that the shock has had little effect on the ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar age spectrum, although the release patterns of the ³⁹¹Ar are shifted downward by the order of 200°C. Shock implantation of Ar was at lower shock pressure, in the presence of less Ar, and into a less porous material than previously demonstrated.The Brent Crater samples do not all show good plateaus, but do indicate an age of ~420 m.y. for the crater event and 795 ± 24 m.y. for the rock formation, in agreement with previous results.None of the ⁴⁰¹Ar/³⁹¹Ar profiles shows a drop at high temperature, but a possible role of shock implantation of Ar is indicated in the production of this effect. Further experiments are suggested.     

Kriging in a global neighborhood

The kriging estimator is usually computed in a moving neighborhood; only the data near the point to be estimated are used. This moving neighborhood approach creates discontinuities in mapping applications. An alternative approach is presented here, whereby all points are estimated using all the available data. To solve the resulting large linear system the kriging estimator is expressed in terms of the inverse of the covariance matrix. The covariance matrix has the advantage of being positive definite and the size of system which can be solved without encountering numerical instability is substantially increased. Because the kriging matrix does not change, the estimator can be written in terms of scalar products, thus avoiding the more time-consuming matrix multiplications of the standard approach. In the particular case of a covariance which is zero for distances greater than a fixed value (the range), the resulting banded structure of the covariance matrix is shown to lead to substantial computational savings in both run time and storage space. In this case the calculation time for the kriging variance is also substantially reduced. The present method is extended to the nonstationary case.