The crystal chemistry of silica-rich,alkali-deficient nepheline

Coarse crystals of an extremely silica-rich, potassium-deficient nepheline have been synthesized hydrothermally with albite. Electron microprobe analysis yielded the formula: □_1.76K_o.24Na_6.00Al_6.24-Si_9.76O₃₂. A crystal structure analysis of this nepheline has revealed (1) a disordered Si-Al distribution, (2) full occupancy of the smaller cavity site by sodium atoms, and (3) the larger cavity is vacant except for the minor potassium content, with the size of this cavity being the same as when largely occupied with potassium atoms. In addition, the crystal structure of another nepheline prepared by alkali exchange in molten NaCl showed that when Na atoms replace the K atoms of the large cavity: (1) this cavity does not collapse around the smaller atoms, and therefore, (2) the sodium atoms occupy an offcenter position displaced by about 0.3 Å from the cavity center in order to form a rather one-sided bonding configuration with some of the cavity wall oxygen atoms. These structures further support the strong site preference indicated earlier by Buerger and coworkers and restated by Barth: that for the large cavity K > □ ? Na and for the small cavity site Na>Ca(?)?K, □. Perfect compliance with this site preference scheme would tend to restrict nephelines to the Barth compositional join: □₂Na₆Al₆Si₁₀O₃₂-K₂Na₆Al₈Si₈O₃₂, neglecting the minor Ca component usually present. Thirteen new electron microprobe analyses of nephelines from a variety of occurrences and sixteen additional microprobe analyses from the literature which comply with nepheline-structure allowed stoichiometry, are plotted showing that (1) natural nephelines closely conform to this site preference scheme with less than 10% of the large cavity sites containing sodium atoms, that is, the analyses cluster near the Barth join, and (2) examples of natural nephelines can be found at nearly all intermediate compositions along this join.     

Triassic-Liassic basins and climate of the Atlantic passive margins

As the Laurasian Plate tracked north over the New England hotspots in the LateTriassic, the heated and stretched crust failed along re-activated basement structures including micro-plate sutures, and continental extensions of transforms. This created the rifted passive margins of the Atlantic and established the tectonic and climatic setting of wrench-generated coastal ranges and detrital basins bordering vast salt flats that were overlain with waters from the Tethys Sea.In tracking north from an equatorial position in the Late Triassic to a subtropical latitude in the Middle Jurassic, the plate transgressed first humid, then savanna and finally arid climatic zones, which were then bordered by a transgressing epeiric Tethyan Sea. Within these climatic zones, monsoonal circulation profoundly affected patterns of sedimentation as tropical air masses cooled and warmed adiabatically as they crossed the coastal ranges and broad salt flats.Where the basement had been pulled apart as in the Newark-Gettysburg Basin or the Argana Basin of Morocco, plutons intruded the axis of the basin in the form of dikes, lava flows and subaqueous fissure flows. Differential horizontal shear along strike-slip faults created assymetric basins with an upthrown leading plate and a subsiding trailing plate. Strata within the basins record a history of recurrent, but alternating, transtentional and transpressional episodes in an overall wrench-tectonic regime. While the borderfault facies is marked by complex unconformities, young basin sediment, volcanics, en-echelon folds, fanglomerates, turbidites and deep-water lacustrine deposits with organic-rich black shale, sediments on the trailing plate are marked by an older suite of gently inclined fluvialdeltaic sands that rest with profound unconformity on the Hercynian — Variscan basement.Where shallow marine waters of the Tethys Ocean transgressed sagged pull-apart basins (as in the Khemisset and Berrichid Basins of Morocco) or where the basement was faulted by straignt, non-branching transforms (as in Grand Banks), vast salt flats occurred forming thick, deposits of halite and potash salt. The extent of Tethyan transgression and concomitant subsidence of these basins is marked by salt diapirs in the Baltimore Canyon Trough and in the Aaiun Basin of Africa.

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Zusammenfassung Während sich die Laurasische Platte in der späten Trias nordwärts bewegte über die Hotspots Neuenglands hinweg, brach die erwärmte und gedehnte Kruste entlang reaktivierter Strukturen des Basements, sowie entlang von Mikroplatten-Rändern und entlang der Fortsetzungen von Querstörungen auf den Kontinenten. Dieser Vorgang schuf die abgesenkten passiven Ränder des Atlantik und etablierte die tektonische und klimatische Situation der Küstenketten und Sedimentationsbecken, die weite mit Tethys-Meerwasser bedeckte Salzpfannen säumten.Während der Drift der Platte von einer äquatorialen Lage zur späten Triaszeit hin in eine subtropische Breite zur mittleren Jurazeit durchlief sie zunächst humide, dann Savannen- und schließlich aride Klimazonen. Diese wurden gerahmt von dem transgredierenden epirischen Tethys-Meer. Innerhalb dieser Klimazonen wurde die Sedimentation nachhaltig durch Monsum-Zirkulation beeinflußt dadurch, daß tropische Luftmassen sich abkühlten und adiabatisch erwärmten beim Überqueren der Küstenketten und der breiten Salzebenen.Dort, wo das Basement aufriß, wie etwa im Newark-Gettysburg Becken oder im Argana Becken von Morocco, drangen Plutone in die Achse des Beckens ein in Form von Gängen, Lavaergüssen und subaquatischen Spaltenergüssen. Differentielle horizontale Schubspannungen entlang Blattverschiebungen sorgten für asymmetrische Becken mit aufgeschobener Leitplatte und abgesenkter Schlepp-Platte. Die Ablagerungen innerhalb der Becken bilden eine Geschichte periodischer aber alternierender durch Zug- und Druckspannungen beherrschte Episoden ab.Die Fazies des Randstörungssystems ist durch komplexe Diskordanzen markiert, durch junge Beckensedimente, vulkanische Gesteine, girlandenartige Faltenzüge, Fanglomerate, Turbidite und Tiefwasser-Seesedimente mit organogen-reichen Schwarzschiefern. Dagegen sind die Sedimente der Schlepp-Platten gekennzeichnet durch eine ältere Folge von schwach geneigten fluviatil-deltaischen Sanden, die mit markanter Diskordanz auf dem herzynisch-variskischen Basement ruhen.Dort, wo der flache Tethys-Ozean über die sich absenkenden Dehnungs-Becken (wie etwa die Becken von Khemisset und Berrichid von Morocco) transgredierte oder wo das Basement durch geradlinige, nicht verzweigte Querstörungen zerschnitten wurde (wie im Gebiet der Great Banks), breiteten sich weite Salzebenen aus, die dicke Halit- und Kalisalzlager bildeten. Die Ausdehnung der Tethys-Transgression und die einhergehende Absenkung dieser Becken wird durch Salz-Diapire im Baltimore Canyon Graben und im Becken von Aaiun in Afrika markiert.

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Résumé Tandis que la plaque laurasiatique se déplaçait à la fin du Trias vers le nord sur les points chauds de la Nouvelle Angleterre, il s'est produit dans la croûte échauffée et sous tension, des ruptures le long de structures réactivées du socle ainsi que le long de bordures de microplaques et des prolongements de dérangements transversaux sur les continents. Ce processus conduisit à l'affaissement des bords de l'Atlantique, et à fixer la situation tectonique et climatique des chaînes cotières et des bassins de sédimentation qui bordaient de vastes dépressions salées couvertes par les eaux de la Téthys.Pedant sa dérive, à partir d'une position équatoriale à la fin du Trias jusqu'à une latitude subtropicale au Jurassique moyen, la plaque traversa des zones climatiques d'abord humides, puis à savannes et finalement arides, qui se trouvaient en bordure des transgressions épiriques del a Thétys. Dans ces zones climatiques, la sédimentation fut fortement influencée par la mousson sous l'effet des masses d'air tropical qui se refroidissaint et se réchauffaient adiabatiquement à la traversée des chaînes côtières et des plaines salifères ouvertes.Là où le socle apparaissait, comme dans le bassin de Newark-Gettysburg ou dans le bassin d'Argan au Maroc, des plutons pénétraient dans l'axe des bassins sous la forme de dikes, de coulées de lav et de coulées fissurales subaquatiques. Des poussées différentielles horizontales suivant des failles conduisirent à des bassins asymétriques, la plaque motrice en voie de soulèvement entraînant la plaque en voie d'affaissement. Les dépôts dans les bassins représentent une histoire faite d'épisodes périodiques et alternants dominés par des tensions et compressions.Le facie dans le système en bordure des dérangements, est marqué par des discordances complexes, des sédiments de bassin jeunes, des roches volcaniques, des faisceaux de plis en guirlande, des fanglomérats, des turbidites, et des sédiments de mer profonde avec des schistes noirs riches en matières organiques. Par contre les sédiments des plaques entraînées sont caractérisés par une série plus ancienne de sables fluvio-deltaïques faiblement inclinés qui reposent avec une discordance bien marquée sur le socle hercynovarisque.Là où la Thétys, de faible profondeur, transgressait sur les bassins d'extension en voie d'affaissement (comme les bassins de Khemisset et de Berrichid au Maroc), ou là ou le socle était recoupé par des fractures transversales rectilignes sans bifurcation (comme dans les Great Banks), s'étendaient de vastes aires salées avec formation d'épaisses couches de halite et de sels potassiques. L'extension de la transgression thétysienne et la continuelle dépression de ces bassins est marquée par des diapirs salins dans le Graben de Baltymore et dans le bassin d'Aaiun en Afrique.

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Surface chemistry and relative Ni sorptive capacities of synthetic hydrous Mn oxyhydroxides under variable wetting and drying regimes

The surface binding site characteristics and Ni sorptive capacities of synthesized hydrous Mn oxyhydroxides experimentally conditioned to represent three hydrological conditions—MnO_XW, freshly precipitated; MnO_XD, dried at 37°C for 8 d; and MnO_XC, cyclically hydrated and dehydrated (at 37°C) over a 24-h cycle for 7 d—were examined through particle size analysis, surface acid-base titrations and subsequent modelling of the pK_a spectrum, and batch Ni sorption experiments at two pH values (2 and 5). Mineralogical bulk analyses by XRD indicate that all three treatments resulted in amorphous Mn oxyhydroxides; i.e., no substantial bulk crystalline phases were produced through drying. However, drying and repeated wetting and drying resulted in a non-reversible decrease in particle size. In contrast, total proton binding capacities determined by acid-base titrations were reversibly altered with drying and cyclically re-wetting and drying from 82 ± 5 μmol/m² for the MnO_XW to 21 ± 1 μmol/m² for the MnO_XD and 37 ± 5 μmol/m² for the MnO_XC. Total proton binding sites measured decreased by ≈75% with drying from the MnO_XW and then increased to ≈50% of the MnO_XW value in the MnO_XC. Thus, despite a trend of higher surface area for the MnO_XD, a lower total number of sites was observed, suggesting a coordinational change in the hydroxyl sites. Surface site characterization identified that changes also occurred in the types and densities of surface sites for each hydrologically conditioned Mn oxyhydroxide treatment (pH titration range of 2-10). Drying decreased the total number of sites as well as shifted the remaining sites to more acidic pK_a values. Experimentally determined apparent pH_zpc values decreased with drying, from 6.82 ± 0.06 for the MnO_XW to 3.2 ± 0.3 for the MnO_XD and increased again with rewetting to 5.05 ± 0.05 for the MnO_XC. Higher Ni sorption was observed at pH 5 for all three Mn oxyhydroxide treatments compared to pH 2. However, changes in relative sorptive capacities among the three treatments were observed for pH 2 that are not explainable simply as a function of total binding site density or apparent pH_zpc values. These results are the first to our knowledge, to quantitatively link the changes induced by hydrologic variability for surface acid base characteristics and metal sorption patterns. Further, these results likely extend to other amorphous minerals, such as Fe oxyhydroxides, which are commonly important geochemical solids for metal scavenging in natural environments.     

Spectroscopy of the optical Einstein ring 0047 – 2808

We present optical and near-infrared spectroscopic observations of the optical Einstein ring 0047 – 2808. We detect both [O III ] lines λλ4959, 5007 near ∼ 2.3 μm, confirming the redshift of the lensed source as z  = 3.595. The Lyα line is redshifted relative to the [O III ] line by 140 ± 20 km s⁻¹. Similar velocity shifts have been seen in nearby starburst galaxies. The [O III ] line is very narrow, 130 km s⁻¹ FWHM. If the ring is the image of the centre of a galaxy, the one-dimensional stellar velocity dispersion σ = 55 km s⁻¹ is considerably smaller than the value predicted by Baugh et al. for the somewhat brighter Lyman-break galaxies. The Lyα line is significantly broader than the [O III ] line, probably due to resonant scattering. The stellar central velocity dispersion of the early-type deflector galaxy at z  = 0.485 is 250 ± 30 km s⁻¹. This value is in good agreement both with the value predicted from the radius of the Einstein ring (and a singular isothermal sphere model for the deflector), and with the value estimated from the D _n −σ relation.     

Long-term estuarine variability and associated biological response

Corpus Christi Bay, one of seven major Texas estuaries, is characterized by low freshwater inflow, small tidal flushing, low annual rainfall, and high evaporation rates. Minimal exchange of water makes this estuary sensitive to episodic environmental variation caused by sudden surges of freshwater from flooding rains or hurricanes. It is suggested that this episodic variability stimulates estuarine production. For the last 11 years, detailed data have been collected on benthic community structure, primary and secondary productivity, and sediment nutrient regeneration which are combined with other information, such as fishery yields, into a reconstructed long-term data set. During this same period significant environmental changes in the estuary have been documented. In 1979 the lowest salinity recorded over the 11-year record was related to a short-term, high intensity rainfall. The benthos responded with abundance and biomass levels far greater than any other year during the study interval. Correlated with increased benthic production were large increases in shrimp yields. During more subtle changes with respect to freshwater input in 1981, significant alterations in primary productivity were quantified. Primary, secondary, and tertiary carbon production estimates derived from the reconstructed long-term data base indicated the benthos as a major link between primary producers and other consumers. Carbon flow from primary producers, however, appeared inadequate to support benthic production. Nutrient recycling was judged to provide more than 90% of nitrogen needed to support phytoplankton production and was considered a major factor influencing ecosystem function. The matching of biological responses to significant environmental changes in this estuary provided insight into ecosystem function and stressed the importance of short-term variability. Although recycling was identified as a major source of nutrients supporting primary production, it was concluded that episodic environmental change from freshwater input provided a much needed stimulus to productivity. These episodic changes replaced materials lost through recycling and sustained productivity over the long term.