Paleoecology and radiocarbon dating of the Pleistocene megafauna of the Brazilian Intertropical Region

During the Pleistocene a fauna composed of large (biomass > 44 kg) and giant mammals (biomass > 1000 kg) that are usually associated with open environments lived in the Brazilian Intertropical Region. We present here new information concerning the paleoecology and chronology of some species of this megafauna. Carbon isotope analyses were performed for a better understanding of the paleoecology of the species Eremotherium laurillardi (Lund, 1842), Notiomastodon platensis (Ameghino, 1888) and Toxodon platensis (Owen, 1849). The δ¹³C data allow attributing a generalist diet to these species, which varied according to the kind of habitat in which they lived. In more open habitats all species were grazers; in mixed habitats E. laurillardi and T. platensis were mixed feeders, and N. platensis was grazer; and in more closed habitats all species were mixed feeders.     

Isotope geochemistry of Paleoproterozoic metacarbonates from Itatuba,Borborema Province,Northeastern Brazil: Evidence of marble melting within a collisional suture

Strongly-deformed marbles may be easily confused with linear and elongated carbonatite intrusions. Both rocks may present similar texture and foliation to the host rock, or even cross cutting field relationships, which could be interpreted either as igneous or high-grade metamorphosed marble. Diagnostic criteria are even more complex when there is evidence of melting of the metasedimentary carbonate rock, such as has been described in the Himalayas and in the Eastern Ghats, India.In the Alto Moxotó Terrane, a high-grade gneissic domain of the Borborema Province, Northeastern Brazil, there are metacarbonates associated with banded gneisses and different metaplutonic rocks. Field evidence indicates the absence of other metasedimentary rocks associated with these marbles, thus suggesting that these carbonates were separated from other siliciclastic metasedimentary rocks. The presence of marble also suggests that it may represent the initial stage of a crustal carbon recycling into the mantle. These marbles present many field similarities to carbonatites (e.g., fluid-flow structure) and, together with metagranites and metamafic intrusions, may represent a major collisional tectonic suture.A detailed study of the carbon, oxygen and strontium isotopic composition of these marbles is presented. This study aims to identify the origin of the different isotopic components. It is argued that these rocks were subjected to temperature and pressure conditions that were sufficiently high to have melted them. The isotopic data presented here support this interpretation and indicate the mixing of two components: (i) one characterized by radiogenic Sr isotopes and mantle-like carbon isotopes, which is associated with the gneissic and mafic rocks, and (ii) another characterized by low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios and highly positive δ¹³C values. Available geochemical data for the upper Paleoproterozoic indicate that the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of ocean water, varying between 0.7050 (2.25 ± 0.25 Ga) and 0.7047 (1.91 Ga), falls within the lower range of the samples from Itatuba and thus reinforces the interpretation that these marbles are sedimentary-derived and were partially contaminated by interaction with the host gneissic and mafic rocks.     

A Truncated Pareto Model to Estimate the Under Recovery of Large Diamonds

The metallurgical recovery processes in diamond mining may, under certain circumstances, cause an under-recovery of large diamonds. In order to predict high quantiles or tail probabilities we use a Bayesian approach to fit a truncated Generalized Pareto Type distribution to the tail of the data consisting of the weights of individual diamonds. Based on the estimated tail probability, the expected number of diamonds larger than a specified weight can be estimated. The difference between the expected and observed frequencies of diamond weights above an upper threshold provides an estimate of the number of diamonds lost during the recovery process.     

Morphosedimentary analysis of the Limoeiro Stream (center-northern Minas Gerais State,Brazil): clues to the eastward tilting of southern Espinhaco range sites

The morphosedimentary evolution of a sector of the southern Espinhaco range (northern Minas Gerais State, Brazil) and its regional neotectonic setting are presented herein. The studied site is a stream at base level flowing along the western border of the range. Its identification was accomplished by using remote sensing techniques including the analysis of 3D slope models generated with shuttle radar topography mission images. The main geomorphological features of the identified site were surveyed in a 1:500 scale. In addition, seven stratigraphic logs are described. A regional geologic compilation and facies diagrams were used as a basis for the integration of the geomorphological and stratigraphic data, which produced some conclusions about the recent tectonic reactivations at the eastern border of Sao Francisco Craton. The results point to a local eastward tilting of the Espinhaco range. This fact is in accordance with previous findings in neighboring areas and results in the asymmetric evolution of the fluvial valley, as well as the regional relief.     

内蒙古查干德勒苏地区构造演化与铀的富集

位于两大构造单元结合带的查干德勒苏地区，中元古代在近EW向裂陷槽内接受了巨厚的含炭质、白云质和火山物质的渣尔泰群滨浅海相沉积建造，铀元素得到第一次预富集；大约1.4Ga前的白云鄂博运动，出现大量中酸性岩浆侵入和广泛的区域变质作用、混合岩化作用，铀元素得到第二次预富集；晚石炭世末的中华力西运动第Ⅱ幕，形成罕乌拉、英巴岩基的主体，铀元素得到第三次预富集；早白垩世早期的陆相断陷盆地沉积，含有较多的有机质，铀元素得到第四次预富集；新生代喜马拉雅构造运动期，气候干旱炎热，在地表地下水的作用下，铀元素出现了一次大规模的活化、迁移和富集，成为查干德勒苏地区砂岩型铀矿的主要矿化期。     

运用层序不对称性分析海平面变化特征

目前研究海平面变化的方法尚不能精确确定海平面变化，对记录海平面变化的沉积体或层序物质组成及结构特点的研究尚显薄弱。在分析层序不对称性与海平面变化的关系基础，提出层序不对称系数S0，认为海平面的升降变化对浅水沉积区影响显著，其结果必然造成层序S0的增加；海平面的升降变化对沉水沉积区影响不大，层序S0较为恒定。对进行详细研究中扬子区S0分布特点，运用S0曲线计算了中扬子区海平面变化特点，并与其他方法进行对比，认为可以用S0判断水体相对深浅，分析海平面变化。     

Methane and sulfide fluxes in permanent anoxia: In situ studies at the Dvurechenskii mud volcano (Sorokin Trough, Black Sea)

The Dvurechenskii mud volcano (DMV) is located in permanently anoxic waters at 2060 m depth (Sorokin Trough, Black Sea). The DMV was studied during the RV Meteor expedition M72/2 as an example of an active mud volcano system, to investigate the significance of submarine mud volcanism for the methane and sulfide budget of the anoxic Black Sea hydrosphere. Our studies included benthic fluxes of methane and sulfide, as well as the factors controlling transport, consumption and production of both compounds within the sediment. The pie-shaped mud volcano showed temperature anomalies as well as solute and gas fluxes indicating high fluid flow at its summit north of the geographical center. The anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to sulfate reduction (SR) was repressed in this zone due to the upward flow of sulfate-depleted fluids through recently deposited subsurface muds, apparently limiting microbial methanotrophic activity. Consequently, the emission of dissolved methane into the water column was high, with an estimated rate of 0.46 mol m⁻² d⁻¹. On the wide plateau and edge of the mud volcano surrounding the summit, fluid flow and total methane flux were lower, allowing higher SR and AOM rates correlated with an increase in sulfate penetration into the sediment. Here, between 50% and 70% of the methane flux (0.07-0.1 mol m⁻² d⁻¹) was consumed within the upper 10 cm of the sediment. The overall amount of dissolved methane released from the entire mud volcano structure into the water column was significant with a discharge of 1.3 × 10⁷ mol yr⁻¹. The DMV maintains also high areal rates of methane-fueled sulfide production and emission of on average 0.05 mol m⁻² d⁻¹. This is a difference to mud volcanoes in oxic waters, which emit similar amounts of methane, but not sulfide. However, based on a comparison of this and other mud volcanoes of the Black Sea, we conclude that sulfide and methane emission into the hydrosphere from deep-water mud volcanoes does not significantly contribute to the sulfide and methane inventory of the Black Sea.     

Structure, thermodynamics, and diffusion in CaAl2Si2O8 liquid from first-principles molecular dynamics

We have performed first-principles molecular dynamics simulations of CaAl₂Si₂O₈ (anorthite) liquid at pressures up to 120 GPa and temperatures of 3000, 4000 and 6000 K. At the lowest degrees of compression the liquid is seen to accommodate changes in density through decreasing the abundance of 3- and 4-membered rings, while increases in coordination of network forming cations take effect at somewhat higher degrees of compression. Results are fit to a fundamental thermodynamic relation with 4th order finite strain and 1st order thermal variable expansions. Upon compression by a factor of two, the Grüneisen parameter (γ) is found to increase continuously from 0.35 to 1.10. Weak temperature dependence in γ is thermodynamically consistent with a slight decrease in isochoric heat capacity (C_V), for which values of between 4.4 and 5.2 Nk_B are obtained, depending on the temperature. Pressure and temperature dependence of self-diffusivities is found to be well represented by an Arrhenius relation, except at 3000 K and pressures lower than 5 GPa, where self-diffusivities of Si, Al, and O increase with pressure. Analysis of the lifetimes of individual coordination species reveals that this phenomenon arises due to the disproportionately high stability of 4-fold coordinated Si, and to a lesser extent 4-fold coordinated Al. Our results represent a marked improvement in accuracy and reliability in describing the physics of CaAl₂Si₂O₈ liquid at deep mantle pressures, pointing the way to a general thermodynamic model of melts at extreme pressures and temperatures relevant to planetary-scale magma oceans and deep mantle partial melting.