Magnetite-apatite-dolomitic rocks of Ust-Chulman (Aldan shield,Russia): Seligdar-type carbonatites?

Mineralogy and Petrology - The Ust-Chulman apatite ore body is situated within the Nimnyrskaya apatite zone at the Aldan shield in Russia. The latest data confirm the carbonatitic origin of the...     

Geochemistry and origin of the Mirny field kimberlites,Siberia

Here we present new data from a systematic Sr, Nd, O, C isotope and geochemical study of kimberlites of Devonian age Mirny field that are located in the southernmost part of the Siberian diamondiferous province. Major and trace element compositions of the Mirny field kimberlites show a significant compositional variability both between pipes and within one diatreme. They are enriched in incompatible trace elements with La/Yb ratios in the range of (65–300). Initial Nd isotope ratios calculated back to the time of the Mirny field kimberlite emplacement (t = 360 ma) are depleted relative to the chondritic uniform reservoir (CHUR) model being 4 up to 6 ɛNd(t) units, suggesting an asthenospheric source for incompatible elements in kimberlites. Initial Sr isotope ratios are significantly variable, being in the range 0.70387–0.70845, indicating a complex source history and a strong influence of post-magmatic alteration. Four samples have almost identical initial Nd and Sr isotope compositions that are similar to the prevalent mantle (PREMA) reservoir. We propose that the source of the proto-kimberlite melt of the Mirny field kimberlites is the same as that for the majority of ocean island basalts (OIB). The source of the Mirny field kimberlites must possess three main features: It should be enriched with incompatible elements, be depleted in the major elements (Si, Al, Fe and Ti) and heavy rare earth elements (REE) and it should retain the asthenospheric Nd isotope composition. A two-stage model of kimberlite melt formation can fulfil those requirements. The intrusion of small bodies of this proto-kimberlite melt into lithospheric mantle forms a veined heterogeneously enriched source through fractional crystallization and metasomatism of adjacent peridotites. Re-melting of this source shortly after it was metasomatically enriched produced the kimberlite melt. The chemistry, mineralogy and diamond grade of each particular kimberlite are strongly dependent on the character of the heterogeneous source part from which they melted and ascended.

     

H I observations of galaxies behind the Milky Way in the Puppis region

We report 21-cm H  i line observations of 161 galaxies located behind the Milky Way, in the Puppis region. The observations have been carried out with the Nançay radio telescope, resulting in 101 detections. Most of the galaxies observed appear in the ESO catalogue, and present apparent diameters larger than 1.6 arcmin. We show that the detection rate is strongly related to the apparent diameter; it is as high as 76 per cent for diameters larger than 1.6 arcmin. Half of the non-detections result, in fact, from an insufficient velocity coverage. Global parameters of the detected galaxies are computed, after a careful discussion of the correction for Galactic absorption. Our H  I data are then compared with those obtained by Kraan-Korteweg & Huchtmeier with the Effelsberg radio telescope for 20 galaxies observed in common: the agreement is excellent, implying respective uncertainties on recession velocities and on H  I fluxes lower than 10 km s⁻¹ and 2 Jy km s⁻¹ on average. Finally, we find that the detected galaxies follow well the correlation between the optical linear diameter and the H  I mass found by Haynes & Giovanelli. This result shows that our diameter corrections for Galactic absorption A_B are quite good, except for eight objects which are heavily obscured ( A_B 2.3), or have a very small diameter, lower than 0.5 arcmin.     

Crystal scale anatomy of a dying supervolcano: an isotope and geochronology study of individual phenocrysts from voluminous rhyolites of the Yellowstone caldera

A voluminous (>600 km³) and long-lived (~520–75 ka) phase of rhyolitic eruptions followed collapse of the Yellowstone caldera 640 ka. Whether these eruptions represent a dying cycle, or the growth of a new magma chamber, remains an important question. We use new U–Th zircon ages and δ¹⁸O values determined by ion microprobe, and sanidine Pb isotope ratios determined by laser ablation, to investigate the genesis of voluminous post-caldera rhyolites. The oldest post-caldera rhyolites, erupted between ~520 and 470 ka, exhibit extreme age and oxygen isotopic heterogeneity, requiring derivation from individual parcels of low-δ¹⁸O melts. We find a progressive increase in zircon homogeneity for rhyolite eruptions from ~260 to 75 ka, with homogeneous low-δ¹⁸O zircon values of 2.7–2.8‰ that are in equilibrium with low-δ¹⁸O host melts for the majority of the youngest eruptions. New sanidine Pb isotope data define separate arrays for post-caldera rhyolites and the caldera-forming tuffs that preceded them, indicating that they were not sourced from a mushy Lava Creek Tuff batholith that remained after caldera collapse. Rather, our new age and isotopic data indicate that the post-caldera rhyolites were generated by remelting of a variety of intracaldera source rocks, consisting of pre-Lava Creek Tuff volcanic and plutonic rocks and earlier erupted post-Lava Creek Tuff rhyolites. Batch assembly of low-δ¹⁸O melts starting at ~260 ka resulted in progressive homogenization, followed by differentiation and cooling up until the last rhyolite eruption ~75 ka, a trend that we interpret to be characteristic of a dying magma reservoir beneath the Yellowstone caldera.     

Oxygen isotope heterogeneity of the mantle beneath the Canary Islands: insights from olivine phenocrysts

A relatively narrow range of oxygen isotopic ratios (?? ¹⁸O?=?5.0?C5.4??) is preserved in olivine of mantle xenoliths, mid-ocean ridge (MORB), and most ocean island basalts (OIB). The values in excess of this range are generally attributed either to the presence of a recycled component in the Earth??s mantle or to shallow level contamination processes. A viable way forward to trace source heterogeneity is to find a link between chemical (elemental and isotopic) composition of the earlier crystallized mineral phases (olivine) and the composition of their parental magmas, then using them to reconstruct the composition of source region. The Canary hotspot is one of a few that contains ~1- to 2-Ga-old recycled ocean crust that can be traced to the core-mantle boundary using seismic tomography and whose origin is attributed to the mixing of at least three main isotopically distinct mantle components i.e. HIMU, DMM, and EM. This work reports ion microprobe and single crystal laser fluorination oxygen isotope data of 148 olivine grains also analyzed for major and minor elements in the same spot. The olivines are from 20 samples resembling the most primitive shield stage picrite through alkali basalt to basanite series erupted on Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro, Canary Islands, for which shallow level contamination processes were not recognized. A broad range of ?? ¹⁸O_olivine values from 4.6 to 6.1?? was obtained and explained by stable, long-term oxygen isotope heterogeneity of crystal cumulates present under different volcanoes. These cumulates are thought to have crystallized from mantle-derived magmas uncontaminated at crustal depth, representing oxygen isotope heterogeneity of source region. A relationship between Ni?×?FeO/MgO and ?? ¹⁸O_olivine values found in one basanitic lava erupted on El Hierro, the westernmost island of the Canary Archipelago, was used to estimate oxygen isotope compositions of partial melts presumably originated from peridotite (HIMU-type component inherited its radiogenic isotope composition from ancient, ~1 to 2?Ga, recycled ocean crust) and pyroxenite (young, <1?Ga, recycled oceanic crust preserved as eclogite with depleted MORB-type isotopic signature) components of the Canary plume. The model calculations yield 5.2 and 5.9?±?0.3?? for peridotite- and pyroxenite-derived melts, respectively, which appeared to correspond closely to the worldwide HIMU-type OIB and upper limit N-MORB ?? ¹⁸O values. This difference together with the broad range of ?? ¹⁸O variations found in the Canarian olivines cannot be explained by thermodynamic effects of oxygen isotopic fractionation and are believed to represent true variations in the mantle, due to oceanic crust and continental lithosphere recycling.     

Zircon from historic eruptions in Iceland: reconstructing storage and evolution of silicic magmas

Zoning patterns, U-Th disequilibria ages, and elemental compositions of zircon from eruptions of Askja (1875 AD), Hekla (1158 AD), ?r?faj?kull (1362 AD) and Torfaj?kull (1477 AD, 871 AD, 3100 BP, 7500 BP) provide insights into the complex, extended, histories of silicic magmatic systems in Iceland. Zircon compositions, which are correlated with proximity to the main axial rift, are distinct from those of mid-ocean ridge environments and fall at the low-Hf edge of the range of continental zircon. Morphology, zoning patterns, compositions, and U-Th ages all indicate growth and storage in subvolcanic silicic mushes or recently solidified rock at temperatures above the solidus but lower than that of the erupting magma. The eruptive products were likely ascending magmas that entrained a zircon ??cargo?? that formed thousands to tens of thousands of years prior to the eruptions.     

Crystal chemistry of Fe3+-bearing (Mg,Fe)SiO3 perovskite: a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study

Magnesium silicate perovskite is the predominant phase in the Earth’s lower mantle, and it is well known that incorporation of iron has a strong effect on its crystal structure and physical properties. To constrain the crystal chemistry of (Mg, Fe)SiO₃ perovskite more accurately, we synthesized single crystals of Mg_0.946(17)Fe_0.056(12)Si_0.997(16)O₃ perovskite at 26 GPa and 2,073 K using a multianvil press and investigated its crystal structure, oxidation state and iron-site occupancy using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and energy-domain Synchrotron Mössbauer Source spectroscopy. Single-crystal refinements indicate that all iron (Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺) substitutes on the A-site only, where \( {\text{Fe}}^{ 3+ } /\Upsigma {\text{Fe}}\sim 20\,\% \) based on Mössbauer spectroscopy. Charge balance likely occurs through a small number of cation vacancies on either the A- or the B-site. The octahedral tilt angle (Φ) calculated for our sample from the refined atomic coordinates is 20.3°, which is 2° higher than the value calculated from the unit-cell parameters (a = 4.7877 Å, b = 4.9480 Å, c = 6.915 Å) which assumes undistorted octahedra. A compilation of all available single-crystal data (atomic coordinates) for (Mg, Fe)(Si, Al)O₃ perovskite from the literature shows a smooth increase of Φ with composition that is independent of the nature of cation substitution (e.g., \( {\text{Mg}}^{ 2+ } - {\text{Fe}}^{ 2+ } \) or \( {\text{Mg}}^{ 2+ } {\text{Si}}^{ 4+ } - {\text{Fe}}^{ 3+ } {\text{Al}}^{ 3+ } \) substitution mechanism), contrary to previous observations based on unit-cell parameter calculations.     

Starspots, Activity Cycles, and Differential Rotation on Cool Stars

We present the first results of searching for stellar cycles by analysis of stellar spottedness using an algorithm developed at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. For more than 35 red spotted stars, we find ten targets which demonstrate cyclic variations of average latitudes and total areas of starspots. Activity cycles detected by this method have a typical cycle length about 4–15 years which are analogous to the 11-year solar Schwabe cycle. Most of the program stars demonstrate a rough analogue with the solar butterfly diagram. They show a tendency for the average starspot latitude lowering when the total spot area grows. At the same time these stars show variations of stellar photometric period (which is traced by starspots) with the starspot latitudinal drift analogously to the solar differential rotation effect. We suspect that the starspot latitudinal drift rate and the differential rotation gradient depend on the stellar spectral type.     

Ionization of the earth’s atmosphere by solar and galactic cosmic rays

A brief review of the research of atmospheric effects of cosmic rays is presented. Numerical models are discussed, that are capable to compute the cosmic ray induced ionization at a given location and time. Intercomparison of the models, as well as comparison with fragmentary direct measurements of the atmospheric ionization, validates their applicability for the entire atmosphere and the whole range of the solar activity level variations. The effect of sporadic solar energetic particle events is shown to be limited on the global scale, even for the most severe event, but can be very strong locally in polar regions, affecting the physical-chemical properties of the upper atmosphere, especially at high altitudes. Thus, a new methodology is presented to study cosmic ray induced ionization of the atmosphere in full detail using realistic numerical models calibrated to direct observations.