Dissolution channels in quartz and the role of pressure changes in gold and sulfide deposition in the Archean, greenstone-hosted, Hutti gold deposit, Karnataka, India

The pressure, temperature and composition of ore fluids that resulted in gold deposition in the Archean, greenstone-hosted Hutti deposit have been studied using fluid inclusions and the compositions of arsenopyrite and chlorite. Five types of fluids have been identified in fluid inclusions in quartz veins associated with mineralization. They are (1) monophase CO ₂-rich fluid; (2) low-salinity (0 to 14 wt% NaCl equivalent) and high-salinity (16 to 23 wt% NaCl equiv.) aqueous fluids; (3) high-salinity (28 to 40 wt% NaCl equiv.), polyphase aqueous fluids; (4) CO ₂–H ₂O–NaCl fluids of low salinity (0–8 wt% NaCl equiv.); and (5) a few carbonic inclusions with halite±nahcolite. The diversity of entrapped fluid composition is explained in terms of changes in fluid pressure and temperature which affect a more or less uniform supply of primary low-salinity CO ₂–H ₂O–NaCl fluid to the shear zone. Geothermobarometric studies indicate that during mineralization temperature ranged between 360 and 240 °C, and fluid pressure between 3,600 and 1,600 bar. The data are interpreted in terms of the cyclic fault-valve mechanism for active shear zones. Deposition of gold and sulfides has been studied on the basis of constraints from the composition of wall-rock chlorite, ore-mineral assemblages, and textural features. Tubular channels, 20 to 100 µm wide and up to 500 µm long that arise from fractures and C-planes in sheared quartz veins are reported for the first time. The channels have pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, pyrite and gold at their distal ends, with calcite filling up the remaining part. These channels form in response to increases in T and P, by dissolution of quartz grains, guided by dislocations in them. At the P– T conditions of interest, gold and sulfide deposition takes place in the shears and fractures of quartz veins from CO ₂–H ₂O–NaCl ore fluid of low salinity and pH due to changes in phase compositions that occur during the process of shear failure of the enclosing rocks. In the wall rock where pH is buffered, gold deposition takes place from the predominant Au(HS) ₂ ^- species with progressive sulfide deposition and decrease in SS, from 0.01 to 0.001 mol/kg as T falls from 360 to 240 °C.     

Facies Clustering in Turbidite Successions: Case Study from Andaman Flysch Group, Andaman Islands, India

Bed thickness data of two turbidite sections viz., Corbyn's Cove section, South Andaman and Kalipur section, North Andaman those belong to Oligocene Andaman Flysch Group, a forearc submarine fan system, were assessed for facies clustering employing Hurst statistics. Both the sections show Hurst phenomenon and reveal clustering in terms of thick and thin beds. Forcing behind event (bed) depositions in either of the studied sections was assessed statistically and inferred to be non-random and with cyclicities of irregular physical length. The inferred paleogeography through Hurst criteria though worked well for distal fan setting i.e., basin floor sheet sandstones of Corbyn's Cove section, its unequivocal application in proximal fan deposits remains to be tested. The mismatch in paleogeographic interpretation between Hurst test result (lobe-interlobe) and field observation (channel-levee) for the inner fan deposit is explained through differential facies stacking between fans grow in sea-level lowstand and highstand. Lower bed amalgamation, poor sand to mud ratio and subordinately present thick event deposits may be the result of active growth of Andaman Flysch fan in sea level highstand and expressed in lower Hurst K value for inner fan channel-levee association (Kalipur section) compared to many of the channel-levee deposits of lowstand fan systems observed world over.     

Kinematics of the Gondwana basins of peninsular India

The Gondwana successions (1–4 km thick) of peninsular India accumulated in a number of discrete basins during Permo-Triassic period. The basins are typically bounded by faults that developed along Precambrian lineaments during deposition, as well as affected by intrabasinal faults indicating fault-controlled synsedimentary subsidence. The patterns of the intrabasinal faults and their relationships with the respective basin-bounding faults represent both extensional and strike-slip regimes. Field evidence suggests that preferential subsidence in locales of differently oriented discontinuities in the Precambrian basement led to development of Gondwana basins with varying, but mutually compatible, kinematics during a bulk motion, grossly along the present-day E–W direction. The kinematic disparity of the individual basins resulted due to different relative orientations of the basement discontinuities and is illustrated with the help of a simple sandbox model. The regional E–W motion was accommodated by strike-slip motion on the transcontinental fault in the north.     

A new approach to verify the model core with idealized experiments

Summary ?A newly developed ocean general circulation model has been tested and verified with some idealized experiments. Generally two types of idealized experiments have been done here. First types are called as “symmetric experiments” and second types are called as “transport experiments”. The first types of experiment help to correct the model core and any deficiency from boundary conditions. The second types of experiment are the type of validation experiment. In both the experiments there are no continents, so in the first type of experiments where symmetric forcings are provided one can expect that model should maintain the symmetric nature. In the second type of experiments one can expect that model should respond correctly to the wind forcings, if no wind curl is present in the wind forcing there will be no circulation in the extratropics and if there is no wind the equator there will be no circulation. The model reproduces the possible envisaged results of these experiments and gives the confidence for performing the realistic integration. Received February 20, 2002; accepted July 7, 2002 Published online: February 20, 2003     

A coupled model study on ENSO, MJO and Indian summer monsoon rainfall relationships

Summary In this paper, we have tried to understand the ENSO, MJO and Indian summer monsoon rainfall relationships from observation as well as from coupled model results. It was the general feeling that El-Niño years are the deficient in Indian monsoon rainfall and converse being the case for the La-Niña years. Recent papers by several authors noted the failure of this relationship. We find that the model output does confirm a breakdown of this relationship. In this study we have seen that a statistically defined modified Indian summer monsoon rainfall (MISMR) index, a linearly regressed ISMR index and dynamical Webster index (WBSI), shows an inverse relationship with ENSO index during the entire period of integration (1987 to 1999). It is also seen from this study that the amplification of the MJO signals were large and the ENSO signals were less pronounced during the years of above normal ISMR. The MJO signal amplitudes were small and ENSO signals were strong during the years of deficient ISMR. It has been noted that here is a time lag between the MJO and ENSO signal in terms of their modulation aspect. If time lag is added with the ENSO signal then both signals maintain the amplitude modulation theory. A hypothesis is being proposed here to define a relationship between MJO and ENSO signals for the entire period between 1987 and 1999.Received September 18, 2002; revised November 22, 2002; accepted December 20, 2002 Published online: May 8, 2003     

Turbulence Statistics Inside and Over Forest: Influence on Footprint Prediction

Observations of wind statistics within and above a Scots pine forest are comparedwith those predicted from an analytical second-order closure model. The roughnesssublayer (RSL) effects, and the influence of stability on similarity functions, arestudied using observations. The commonly accepted forms of similarity functionsdescribe the influence of diabatic effects above the RSL well. According to earlierstudies they are expected also to apply within the RSL. As an exception, the averagewind speed normalised with friction velocity was found to be invariant with stabilityclose to the canopy top under unstable conditions. Lagrangian stochastic trajectorysimulations were used to evaluate the influence of canopy turbulence profiles onfootprint prediction. The main uncertainty was found to arise from parameterisationof the random forcing term in the Lagrangian velocity equation. The influence ofdiabatic conditions was studied, and it was found that thermal stability affectssignificantly the footprint function above the forest canopy, but significantuncertainty exists because of uncertainties in the formulation of stability functions.     

Mg tracer diffusion in aluminosilicate garnets at 750-850° C, 1 atm. and 1300° C, 8.5 GPa

 Tracer diffusion coefficients of Mg in natural aluminosilicate garnets of composition Alm₃₈Pyr₅₀Gr₁₀Sp₂ and Alm₇₃Pyr₂₁Gr₅Sp₁ have been measured at 1 bar, 750-850° C and at 8.5 GPa, 1300° C by chemically depositing a salt layer enriched in ²⁶Mg on the specially prepared surface of a garnet single crystal. Diffusion anneals at 1 atmosphere (101325 Pa) were carried out at a controlled f _{O 2} of ∼10^−17.5 bars maintained by a flowing gas mix of CO-CO₂. Annealing conditions were carefully chosen to avoid decomposition of garnet by redox reactions. High pressure anneals were carried out in a multianvil apparatus. Induced diffusion profiles (0.1–0.6 μm) were measured by an ion-microprobe with SIMS attachment. Diffusion coefficients at 1 atmosphere are in excellent agreement with extrapolation of data from high P-T experiments (Loomis et al. 1985; Chakraborty and Ganguly 1992) and also with the low temperature (750–900° C) dataset of Cygan and Lasaga (1985) if the diffusion coefficients are assumed to be proportional to f _{O 2} ^1/6. Such an f _{O 2} dependence, however, makes this dataset inconsistent with the recent dataset of Schwandt et al. (1995) on garnets of composition (Alm₁₅Pyr₇₂Gr₁₃Sp₀) unless a strong compositional dependence of Mg tracer diffusivity for Mg-rich garnets is invoked. The present experimental results show that such a compositional dependence is weak to non-existent for garnets with >38 mole percent almandine component. It is emphasized that the temperature dependence of diffusion coefficients at constant oxygen fugacities (activation energy ≈54 kcal/mol) are different from that along an oxygen fugacity buffer (activation energy ≈64.5 kcal/mol), as already pointed out by Chakraborty and Ganguly (1991). This distinction is of importance for modelling natural processes. The measurements at low temperatures either eliminate the need for, or greatly reduce the uncertainty of, extrapolation of laboratory data for modelling metamorphic processes. The high pressure results combined with those from Chakraborty and Ganguly (1992) and Loomis et al. (1985) indicate that pressure dependence of Mg tracer diffusivity in garnets is much stronger than that in forsterite (Chakraborty et al. 1994). This difference in pressure dependence of diffusivity may be caused by the difference in compressibility of the coordination polyhedra of Mg between olivines and garnets. Activation volumes of Mg tracer diffusion as high as 8 cm³/mol may be estimated using the present data in combination with earlier results. These data suggest that at a temperature of 1300° C, Mg tracer diffusion rates in garnets will decrease by an order of magnitude for every 100 km depth. The pressure effect will be stronger at lower temperatures. For calculations involving diffusion coefficients of garnets at high pressures (e.g. mantle xenoliths, eclogites) the pressure dependence of diffusivity must be taken into account. Received: 21 December 1994 / Accepted: 22 September 1995     

Significance of transition between Talchir Formation and Karharbari Formation in Lower Gondwana basin evolution — A study in West Bokaro Coal basin, Jharkhand, India

Basal part of the Gondwana Supergroup represented by Talchir and Karharbari Formations (Permo-Carboniferous) records an abrupt change-over from glacio-marine to terrestrial fluviolacustrine depositional environment. The contact between the two is an unconformity. Facies analysis of the glacio-marine Talchir Formation reveals that basal glaciogenic and reworked glaciogenic sediments are buried under storm influenced inner and outer shelf sediments. Facies associations of the Karharbari Formation suggest deposition as fluvio-lacustrine deposits in fault-controlled troughs. An attempt has been made in this paper to explain the sedimentation pattern in Talchir and Karharbari basins, and the abrupt change-over from glacio-marine to terrestrial fluviolacustrine depositional environment in terms of glacio-isostacy.     

A study on soil physico-chemical, microbial and metal content in Sukinda chromite mine of Odisha, India

Soil samples from chromite mining site and its adjacent overburden dumps and fallow land of Sukinda, Odisha, were analysed for their physico-chemical, microbial and metal contents. Chromite mine soils were heterogenous mixture of clay, mud, minerals and rocks. The pH of the soils ranges between 5.87 and 7.36. The nutrient contents of the mine soils (N, P, K and organic C) were found to be extremely low. Analysis of chromite mine soils revealed accumulation of a number of metals in high concentrations (Fe > Cr > Mn > Ni > Zn > Pb > Sr) which exceeded ecotoxicological limits in soil. Correlation and cluster analysis of metals revealed a strong relation between Cr, Ni, Fe, Mn among the different attributes studied. Assessment of different microbial groups such as fungi, actinomycetes and bacteria (heterotrophic, spore forming, free-living nitrogen fixing, phosphate solubilising and cellulose degrading) from mine soils were found to be either extremely low or absent in some soil samples. Further chromium tolerant bacteria (CTB) were isolated using 100 mg/L Cr(VI) enriched nutrient agar medium and were screened for their tolerance towards increasing concentrations of hexavalent chromium and other toxic metals. Out of 23 CTB isolates, three bacteria tolerated up to 900 mg/L, 6 up to 500 mg/L, 20 up to 200 mg/L of Cr(VI). These bacteria were also found to be sensitive towards Cu > Co > Cd and very few CTB strains could show multiple metal tolerance. These strains have great scope for their application in bioremediation of toxic chromium ions in presence of other metals ions, which needs to be explored for their biotechnological applications.