Geochemistry and mineralogy of laterites in the Sula Mountains greenstone belt, Lake Sonfon gold district, Sierra Leone

Geochemical and mineralogical investigations have been carried out on laterite profiles developed in the Lake Sonfon Au district of northern Sierra Leone. The area is underlain by Archean metavolcanics and constitutes part of the Sula Mountains greenstone belt, which is mineralized in Au. Extensive lateritization has affected the rocks of this region, resulting in a profile which from bottom to top consists typically of a decomposed bedrock zone, a pisolitic laterite layer and a duricrust layer. Both the pisolitic and duricrust layers of the laterite are sometimes punctuated by lenses of ironstones containing high amounts of Cu, Zn, Ni, Co and Ce. Gold occurs as small grains within the heavy mineral fraction recovered from the decomposed rock zones and pisolitic layers of the profiles and also in gravels of streams draining the area. The mineralogy of the duricrust and pisolitic layers is dominated by goethite, gibbsite and quartz, with minor amounts (<5% by volume) of ilmenite, magnetite, haematite, rutile and kaolinite. The kaolinite content increases towards the decomposed rock zone, where talc, vermiculite and other layer lattice silicates become abundant. The heavy-mineral fraction of stream sediments is composed essentially of ilmenite, magnetite, haematite, and traces of rutile, zircon, tourmaline and Au. The Au grains are often characterized by a 10–200-μm-wide rim having a much lower content of Ag (0.3 wt.% or lower) than the grain interior (about 5 wt.% on average). Dissolution effects are also observed on the grain surfaces. It is considered that Au derived from the amphibolite parent rock is dissolved, transported, and redeposited during laterization.The duricrust cover of the laterite profiles is characterized by high contents of Fe₂O₃ (ca. 60 wt.%) and Al₂O₃ (ca. 32wt.%) and low content of SiO₂ (ca. 9 wt.%). In comparison, the pisolitic layer is higher in SiO₂ (ca. 18 wt.%) as well as a slightly higher in Al₂O₃ (ca. 34 wt.%). Lateritic weathering has resulted in the removal of CaO, Na₂O, MgO and SiO₂, with relative enrichment of Fe₂O₃ and Al₂O₃. The geochemical distribution of the trace elements in the laterite profiles can be related to the occurrence of the auriferous mineralization. The significance of these observations is discussed in relation to the origin of the lateritic Au and the role of the associated trace elements as indicators of the mineralization.     

Neuerscheinungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Baroclinically-driven flows and dynamo action in rotating spherical fluid shells

The dynamics of stably stratified stellar radiative zones is of considerable interest due to the availability of increasingly detailed observations of Solar and stellar interiors. This article reports the first non-axisymmetric and time-dependent simulations of flows of anelastic fluids driven by baroclinic torques in stably stratified rotating spherical shells – a system serving as an elemental model of a stellar radiative zone. With increasing baroclinicity a sequence of bifurcations from simpler to more complex flows is found in which some of the available symmetries of the problem are broken subsequently. The poloidal component of the flow grows relative to the dominant toroidal component with increasing baroclinicity. The possibility of magnetic field generation thus arises and this paper proceeds to provide some indications for self-sustained dynamo action in baroclinically-driven flows. We speculate that magnetic fields in stably stratified stellar interiors are thus not necessarily of fossil origin as it is often assumed.     

The Barringer Award Address Presented 1996 July 25, Berlin,Germany: Impact experiments related to the evolution of planetary regoliths

Abstract— Impact-induced comminution of planetary surfaces is pervasive throughout the solar system and occurs on submillimeter to global scales, resulting in comminution products that range from fine-grained surface soils, to massive, polymict ejecta deposits, to collisionally fragmented objects. Within this wide range of comminution products, we define regoliths in a narrow sense as materials that were processed by repetitive impacts to dimensional scales comparable to or smaller than that of component minerals of the progenitor rock(s). In this paper, we summarize a wide variety of impact experiments and other observations that were primarily intended to understand the evolution of regoliths on lunar basalt flows, and we discuss some of their implications for asteroidal surfaces. Cratering experiments in both rock and noncohesive materials, combined with photogeologic observations of the lunar surface, demonstrate that craters <500 m in diameter contribute most to the excavation of local bedrock for subsequent processing by micrometeorites. The overall excavation rate and, thus, growth rate of the debris layer decreases with time, because the increasingly thicker fragmental layer will prevent progressively larger projectiles from reaching bedrock. Typical growth rates for a 5 m thick lunar soil layer are initially (～≥3 Ga ago) a few mm/Ma and slowed to <1 mm/Ma at present. The coarse-grained crater ejecta are efficiently comminuted by collisional fragmentation processes, and the mean residence time of a 1 kg rock is typically 10 Ma. The actual comminution of either lithic or monomineralic detritus is highly mineral specific, with feldspar and mesostasis comminuting preferentially over pyroxene and olivine, thus resulting in mechanically fractionated fines, especially at grain sizes <20 μm. Such fractionated fines also participate preferentially in the shock melting of lunar soils, thus giving rise to “agglutinate” melts. As a consequence, agglutinate melts are systematically enriched in feldspar components relative to the bulk composition of their respective host soil(s). Compositionally homogeneous, impact derived glass beads in lunar soils seem to result from micrometeorite impacts on rock surfaces, reflecting lithic regolith components and associated mineral mixtures. Cumulatively, experimental and observational evidence from lunar mare soils suggests that regoliths derive substantially from the comminution of local bedrock; the addition of foreign, exotic components is not necessary to explain the modal and chemical compositions of diverse grain size fractions from typical lunar soils. Regoliths on asteroids are qualitatively different from those of the Moon. The modest impact velocities in the asteroid belt, some 5 km s^?1, are barely sufficient to produce impact melts. Also, substantially more crater mass is being displaced on low-gravity asteroids compared to the Moon; collisional processing of surface boulders should therefore be more prominent in producing comminuted asteroid surfaces. These processes combine into asteroidal surface deposits that have suffered modest levels of shock metamorphism compared to the Moon. Impact melting does not seem to be a significant process under these conditions. However, the role of cometary particles encountering asteroid surfaces at presumably higher velocities has not been addressed in the past. Unfortunately, the asteroidal surface processes that seemingly modify the spectral properties of ordinary chondrites to match telescopically obtained spectra of S-type asteroids remain poorly understood at present, despite the extensive experimental and theoretical insights summarized in this report and our fairly mature understanding of lunar surface processes and regolith evolution.     

Shock-implanted noble gases II: Additional experimental studies and recognition in naturally shocked terrestrial materials

Abstract— Several experimentally and naturally shocked silicate samples were analyzed for noble gas contents to further characterize the phenomenon by which ambient gases can be strongly implanted into silicates by shock and to evaluate the possible importance of this process in capturing planetary atmospheres in naturally shocked samples. Gas implantation efficiency is apparently mineral independent, as mono-mineralic powders of oligoclase, labradorite, and diopside and a powdered basalt shocked to 20 GPa show similar efficiencies. The retentivity of shock-implanted gas during stepwise heating in the laboratory is defined in terms of two parameters: activation energy for diffusion as determined from Arrhenius plots, and the extraction temperature at which 50% of the gas is released, both of which correlate with shock pressure. These gas diffusion parameters are essentially identical for radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar and shock-implanted ⁴⁰Ar in oligoclase and labradorite shocked to 20 GPa, suggesting that the two ⁴⁰Ar components occupy analogous lattice sites. Our experiments indicate that gas implantation occurs through an increasing production of microcracks/defects in the lattice with increasing shock pressure. The ease of diffusive loss of implanted gas is controlled by the degree of annealing of these microcracks/defects. Identification of a shock-implanted component requires relatively large concentrations of implanted gas which is strongly retained (i.e., moderate activation energy) in order to separate implanted gas from surface adsorbed gases. Literature data on shocked terrestrial samples indicate only weak evidence for shock-implanted gases, with an upper limit for ⁴⁰Ar of ～ 10^?6 cm³STP/g. New analyses of shocked samples from the Wabar Crater indicate the presence of shock-implanted Ar, having concentrations (～ 10^?4 cm³STP/g) and activation energies for diffusive loss which are essentially that expected from experimental studies. Lack of sufficient target porosity or the presence of ground water may explain the sparse evidence for shock-implanted gas at other terrestrial craters. Although Wabar Crater may represent an unusually favorable environment on Earth for shock-implanting gases, surfaces of other planetary bodies, such as Mars, may frequently provide such environments. Analyses of returned samples from old Martian terraines may document temporal changes in earlier atmospheric composition.     

Neutral gas composition measurements between 80 and 120 km

Atmospheric composition in the turbopause regime was determined by four rocket-borne mass spectrometers, which employed shock-freezing cryo-ion sources. Number densities of N₂, O₂, O, Ar and CO₂ are presented for these experiments. The results are compared with those of other rocket experiments taken from the literature. Ar/N₂ ratios are analyzed with respect to atmospheric turbulence. Magnitude and variability of atomic oxygen layer maximum density and layer content are discussed. Variations of O densities and simultaneous Ar/N₂ ratio changes are compared. Six CO₂ measurements are discussed in terms of CO₂/N₂ ratios.     

Elektronenstrahl-Mikroanalyse des Meteoriten von Steinbach

Zusammenfassung Eine uns vom Naturhistorischen Museum in Wien freundlicherweise zur Verfügung gestellte Probe des Meteoriten von Steinbach wurde mit einem Elektronenstrahl-Mikroanalysator vom Typ CAMECA qualitativ und quantitativ auf die chemische Zusammensetzung der einzelnen Phasen untersucht.Besonders eingehend wurde dabei die Metallphase analysiert, da diese sich durch die Anwesenheit einer gut ausgebildeten Widmanstättenschen Struktur in Gegenwart von Tridymit als Druckindikator auszeichnet.Die nichtmetallischen Phasen wurden ebenfalls quantitativ bestimmt und ergeben leicht abweichende Ergebnisse von den Analysen vonN. Story-Maskelyne, O. Winkler undF. Heide. Interessant sind vor allem der relativ hohe Mangangehalt in Bronzit und Chromit sowie der Chromgehalt des Troilits.Die Anwendung der neuen Berechnungen über die Abkühlungsgeschichte der Meteoritenmutterkörper vonWood auf unsere quantitativen Analysen ergab eine Abkühlungsgeschwindigkeit von 10°/Million Jahre, was einem Mutterkörper von ca. 50–90 km Durchmesser und einem Zentraldruck von 200 b entspricht.

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Summary A sample of the meteorite of Steinbach, made available by the Naturhistorisches Museum at Vienna, has been analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by a CAMECA electron-beam microanalyzer.Detailed examination has been made on the structure of the metal phase, as the presence of a well-grown Widmanstätten-structure in contact with trydimite as a pressure-indicator is a direct proof for the formation of the Widmanstätten-structure without pressure.The nonmetallic phases have been analyzed quantitatively and the results are slightly different from those ofStory-Maskelyne, Winkler andHeide. Very interesting is the relatively high content of manganese in bronzite and chromite, also the chromium content of troilite.The application of the new computations ofWood, dealing with the cooling history of meteorite-parentbodies to our quantitative analyses indicate a cooling rate of 10° C/Million years, according to a parentbody of appr. 50–90 km diameter and a central pressure of appr. 200 b.

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Mit 8 Textabbildungen

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Herrn Professor Dr.F. Machatschki zum 70. Geburtstag gewidmet.