Intergranular coesite and coesite inclusions in dolomite from the Dabie Shan: Constraints on the preservation of coesite in UHP rocks

Intergranular coesite is extremely rare in, and bears crucial information on the formation and preservation of, ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) rocks. Here, we report the first occurrence of intergranular coesite in a metasedimentary rock, which occurs in the Ganjialing area in the Dabie Shan, east‐central China, and contains abundant coesite inclusions in both garnet and dolomite. We investigated the content of structural water in these minerals with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Our new results undermine the ubiquity of the “pressure‐vessel” model and highlight the role of reaction kinetics in preserving coesite due to the availability of water in UHP rocks.     

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Polymetamorphic relations in iron ores from the Iron Quadrangle,Brazil: The correlation of oxygen isotope variations with deformation history

This study deals with the oxygen isotope composition of hematite-rich ore bodies in the Iron Quadrangle, Brazil. The area studied can be divided into two different regions: a western (W) zone of greenschist facies assemblages and an eastern (E) zone of amphibolite facies with transitions into granulite facies assemblages.The ¹⁸O values of 136 quartz-iron oxide pairs have been determined and temperatures of formation have been calculated. The ¹⁸O values of quartz vary between +6 and 20 except one value near +23, whereas the iron oxides fall between –4 and +10, with nearly 80% of the iron oxide values between –0.5 and 4.0. The regional distribution of the ¹⁸O values is as follows: in the W-region 85% of the quartz are >12, whereas in the E-region only 46% fall in this range, In contrast to quartz the iron oxides do not show any regional differences.The variation of oxygen isotope fractionations between quartz and iron oxides is obviously related to the complex deformation history of the iron ores. Samples with a primary schistosity (S₁) only represent peak metamorphic conditions. In the E-region the (S₁) high temperatures >700° C seem to correspond to orogenic events in the Archaen basement 2,700 m.y. ago. In the W-region S₁-temperatures between 460° and 560° C seem to represent peak metamorphic conditions of the Proterozoic Minas metamorphism 2,000 m.y. ago. Iron ores which have been overprinted by later deformation events are selectively reset to lower isotopic temperatures. The more closely spaced the schistosity planes the larger the extent of a temperature lowering.The genetic processes associated with these hematite-rich ore bodies appear to be sedimentary-metamorphic rather than metasomatic processes. Furthermore, there is no evidence for secondary leaching by weathering solutions.     

The late Quaternary development of three ancient tarns on southwestern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, Arctic Canada: paleolimnological evidence from diatoms and sediment chemistry

Sediment diatom and chemical analyses of cores from three poorly buffered extra-glacial lakes on the northeastern margin of the Canadian Shield (Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island) record interactions between aquatic and terrestrial spheres that were influenced by late Quaternary climatic conditions. Although differences exist between each of the lakes, notably with regards to the intensity of pre-Holocene catchment erosion and the timing of the onset of organic sedimentation, an underlying pattern of lake ontogeny, common to all three lakes, is identified. Although intensified watershed erosion characterized the Late Wisconsinan and Neoglacial cold periods, the lakes nonetheless remained viable ecosystems at these times. Sudden catchment stabilization during the late-glacial to earliest Holocene is associated with incipient organic sedimentation. Lake-water pH increased at this time, likely in response both longer base cation residence times as lake flushing rates decreased, and enhanced alkalinity production from sediment biogeochemical reactions. Subsequently, as the catchments remained stable during the productive early Holocene (c.9–7 ka BP), then gradually received a renewed increase of minerogenic sedimentation, the breakdown of sources of lake alkalinity resulted in natural acidification. Burial of cation-rich mineral sediments and the loss of permanent sedimentary sinks for the products of microbial reduction likely impeded within-lake alkalinity production, and catchment-derived base cations appeared ineffective in curtailing pH declines. The general nature of the Holocene development of these lakes is similar to that observed elsewhere on crystalline terrains, following deglaciation. Our data therefore suggest that catchment glaciation is not a necessary precursor for models of lake development characterized by initial base cation enrichment and subsequent gradual acidification.     

Die Entstehungsgeschichte eines Maares in Süd-Chile

Zusammenfassung Die südchilenische, aktive Vulkanprovinz begleitet den Anden-Westrand gegen das Längstal. Die 1300 km lange Vulkanzone sitzt auf einer tektonischen Naht zwischen dem alten Sockel der Küstenkordillere im W und dem andinen Orogen im E. Der Vulkanismus begann mit andesitischen Ergüssen an der Tertiär/Quartär-Wende im Gefolge germanotyper Zerrbewegungen. Im letzten Interglazial und in der Nacheiszeit bildeten sich infolge starker Aschenförderung zahlreiche Stratovulkane. In der Gegenwart überwiegen explosive Aschenausbrüche mit Förderung gasreicher Blocklava. Teilweise hat Maarbildung und postvulkanische Tätigkeit eingesetzt. Als jüngstes Ereignis enstand in der Provinz Valdivia am 27. Juli 1955 durch einen Initialdurchbruch ein neuer Ausbläser, dessen Sprengtrichter sich nach Art eines Maares bald mit Grundwasser füllte. Die Beobachtungen während dieses Ausbruches werden aktuo-geologisch zur Deutung von Erscheinungen an den Eifel-Maaren verwertet.     

Die großen Gräben: Harmonische Strukturen in einer disharmonisch struierten Erdkruste

A system of intracontinental grabens extends over Western Europe, the Levant and East Africa. Small crustal segments framed by elevated shoulders are sunken along parallel escarpments and disintegrated by antithetic normal faults. The shoulders are risen up as outward tilted blocks and thought to form a closed vault at the base of the crust, corresponding to the wedge block of the graben. Underneath the Rhinegraben exists, as detected by seismic refraction measurements, a pillow-shaped body of material with P-wave velocities of 7.4 to 7.9 km/sec, intercalated between crust and mantle. The taphrogenesis of all larger grabens is assumed to be induced by the formation and growth of subcrustal swells of this type. Also the specific graben volcanism is thought to be connected with the intruded laccolithic body of mantle-derived material. The tensional breakup and the faulting of the warped crustal masses was favoured by the gravity slide of the crust which was uncoupled from the substratum by the intercalated magmatic layer. Along the Red Sea Rift the crust tore completely releasing the basaltic substratum in the inner graben. The pattern of its magnetic anomalies leads to the assumption that the pillow body is recruited by simatic dike injections according to the principle of sea-floor spreading. Therefore, there is a great conformity between the intercontinental and the mid-oceanic rift systems. The supplies of mantle material along the Mid-Atlantic and the Carlsberg Rift are related to the drift of the continental frames. The mid-oceanic rift systems in their medial position to the framing continental margins correspond to the intracontinental graben swarm, equidistant from both fronts of circum-Pacific tectonics. A reciprocating action is presumed between the ascending masses along the rift zones and the suction of masses along the deep-sea trenches and geosynclines. The observed crustal movements imply an equilibrant plastic flow within the upper mantle, probably impelled by mechanical convection currents. The continental unbalance between the Pacific and the anti-Pacific hemisphere is discussed as causing mantle currents. Within this interplay between crust and mantle and between continents and ocean floors, the oceanic crust had obtained harmonical features moulded directly by the deduced mobility. The continental crust, however, is passively stressed, its rocks are affected by heterogeneous deformations from which the continents got its polygenetic multiform fabric.     

Some recent work on the orbital theory of asteroids

This is a brief report on three theoretical projects about asteroids. The results presented here were recently obtained at the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut in Heidelberg, and it is planned to publish them in astronomy and Astrophysics in detail. The first project is a continuation of former work on asteroids with a mean motion commensurable to that of Jupiter (compare Schubart, 1968). In the two other cases the problem consists in the best possible determination of the value of a planetary mass in units of solar mass.Presented at the Conference on Celestial Mechanics, Oberwolfach, Germany, August 27–September 2, 1972.