Rapid XRD determination of the chrysotile/lizardite ratios in asbestos-bearing serpentinites

Summary The quantitative XRD determination of the most common serpentinite minerals, e.g. lizardite and chrysotile, is hampered by strongly overlapping reflections. Reconnaissance investigations indicated that the reflections 204 of lizardite and 008 of chrysotile are best suited for quantitative XRD. These lines are not interferred by other minerals such as brucite, magnesite, chlorite or talc, which are common in serpentinites. A calibration curve for the determination of the chrysotile/lizardite ratios in natural serpentinites has been constructed by means of synthetically prepared chrysotile/lizardite standards. Using this method serpentinites of the Msauli Chrysotile Asbestos Mine, South Africa, were investigated for their relative chrysotile contents. It was found, that the total amount of chrysotile in the ore zone is considerably higher than the amount of extractable chrysotile asbestos fibre.

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Die röntgenographische Bestimmung der Chrysotil/Lizardit-Verhältnisse in asbesthaltigen Serpentiniten

Zusammenfassung Die quantitative röntgenographische Bestimmung der beiden häufigsten Serpentinminerale, Lizardit und Chrysotil, ist wegen der Überlagerung ihrer stärksten Reflexe erschwert. Aufgrund von Voruntersuchungen konnte jedoch festgestellt werden, daß die Reflexe 204 von Lizardit und 008 von Chrysotil für die quantitative Bestimmung geeignet sind. Diese Reflexe werden nicht überlagert von denen anderer häufig in Serpentiniten vorkommender Minerale, wie z.B. Brucit, Magnesit, Chlorit oder Talk. Eine Eichkurve zur Bestimmung der Chrysotil/Lizardit-Verhältnisse in natürlichen Serpentiniten wurde mit Hilfe synthetisch hergestellter Standardmischungen aufgestellt. Serpentinite der Msauli Chrysotilasbest Mine, Südafrika, wurden aufgrund der hier vorgestellten Methoden auf ihren relativen Chrysotilanteil untersucht. Es ergab sich, daß der totale Gehalt an Chrysotil in der erzführenden Zone deutlich größer ist als der Gehalt an ausbringbaren Chrysotilasbestfasern.

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With 4 Figures     

2.5 Ga gabbro-anorthosites in the Belomorian Province,Fennoscandian Shield: Petrology and tectonic setting

The Vorochistoozersky, Nizhnepopovsky, and Severo-Pezhostrovsky gabbro-anorthosite massifs have been studied in the central part of the Belomorian Province, Fennoscandian Shield. The similarity of geological setting and rock composition of these massifs suggests their affiliation to a single complex. The age of the gabbro-anorthosites was determined by U-Pb (SHRIMP II) zircon dating of gabbro-pegmatites from the Vorochistoozersky massif at 2505 ± 8 Ma. The studied massifs were overprinted by the high-pressure amphibolite facies metamorphism. Relicts of magmatic layering and primary magmatic assemblages preserved in the largest bodies. The massifs consist mainly of leucocratic gabbros but also contain rocks of the layered series varying in composition from olivinite to anorthosite. The presence of troctolites in the layered series indicates the stability of the olivine–plagioclase liquidus assemblage and, respectively, shallow depths of melt crystallization. Despite the composition differences between gabbro-anorthosites of the Belomorian and peridotite–gabbronorite intrusions Kola provinces, these simultaneously formed massifs presumably mark a single great igneous event. It also includes the gabbronorite dikes in the Vodlozero terrane of the Karelian province, the Mistassini swarm in the Superior province, and the Kaminak swarm in the Hearne Craton, Canadian Shield. The large igneous province of age ~2500 Ma reflects the oldest stage of within-plate magmatism after a consolidation of the Neoarchean crust of the Kenorland Supercontinent (Superia supercraton).     

Overcoming Trade Impediments: Considering SME Exporters from Nova Scotia

Firms often encounter location-based impediments that hinder them from engaging with international markets. These challenges can be exacerbated for smaller firms, which often have limited resources and exposure to global markets. This article examines successful small and medium-sized exporters from Nova Scotia, a province with decreased export activity in recent years. It explores these firms’ trade-related motivations, their impediments, and the strategies that they have used to address possible location-related problems. Although geographical distance does not appear to be a competitive challenge, other issues emerge, including travel expenditures and the costs of export intelligence gathering. Successful exporters have overcome many potential impediments by using government trade programs, establishing and maintaining face-to-face contacts, and working with international partners.     

Contrasting stable isotope behavior between calcite and dolomite marbles,Lone Mountain,Nevada

 Late Proterozoic to Cambrian carbonate rocks from Lone Mountain, west central Nevada, record multiple post-depositional events including: (1) diagenesis, (2) Mesozoic regional metamorphism, (3) Late Cretaceous contact metamorphism, related to the emplacement of the Lone Mountain granitic pluton and (4) Tertiary hydrothermal alteration associated with extension, uplift and intrusion of silicic porphyry and lamprophyre dikes. Essentially pure calcite and dolomite marbles have stable isotopic compositions that can be divided into two groups, one with positive δ¹³C values from+3.1 to +1.4 ‰ (PDB) and high δ¹⁸O values from +21.5 to +15.8 ‰ (SMOW), and the other with negative δ¹³C values from –3.3 to –3.6‰ and low δ¹⁸O values from +16.9 to +11.1‰. Marbles also contain minor amounts of quartz, muscovite and phlogopite. Brown and blue luminescent, clear, smooth textured quartz grains from orange luminescent calcite marbles have high δ¹⁸O values from +23.9 to +18.1‰, while brown luminescent, opaque, rough textured quartz grains from red luminescent dolomite marbles typically have low δ¹⁸O values from +2.0 to +9.3‰. The δ¹⁸O values of muscovite and phlogopite from marbles are typical of micas in metamorphic rocks, with values between +10.4 and +14.4‰, whereas mica δD values are very depleted, varying from −102 to −156‰. No significant lowering of the δ¹⁸O values of Lone Mountain carbonates is inferred to have occurred during metamorphism as a result of devolatilization reactions because of the essentially pure nature of the marbles. Bright luminescence along the edges of fractures, quartz cements and quartz overgrowths in dolomite marbles, low δD values of micas, negative δ¹³C values and low δ¹⁸O values of calcite and dolomite, and depleted δ¹⁸O values of quartz from dolomite marbles all indicate that meteoric fluids interacted with Lone Mountain marbles during the Tertiary. Partial oxygen isotopic exchange between calcite and low ¹⁸O meteoric fluids lowered the δ¹⁸O values of calcite, resulting in uniform quartz-calcite fractionations that define an apparent pseudoisotherm. These quartz-calcite fractionations significantly underestimate both the temperature of metamorphism and the temperature of post-metamorphic alteration. Partial oxygen isotopic exchange between quartz and meteoric fluids also resulted in ¹⁸O depletion of quartz from dolomite marbles. This partial exchange was facilitated by an increase in the surface area of the quartz as a result of its dissolution by meteoric fluids. The negative δ¹³C values in carbonates result from the oxidation of organic material by meteoric fluids following metamorphism. Stable isotopic data from Lone Mountain marbles are consistent with the extensive circulation of meteoric hydrothermal fluids throughout western Nevada in Tertiary time. Received: 1 February 1994/Accepted: 12 September 1995     

Cretaceous crustal thinning in North Africa: Implications for magmatic and thermal events in the Eastern Tunisian margin and the Pelagic Sea

The integrated use of geological, geophysical, and geochemical data from Eastern Tunisia onshore and offshore samples indicate a crustal thinning induced from the Tethyan rifting. This is responsible for the subsequent evolution of the North African passive margin during the Late Cretaceous, and the creation of the fold–thrust belt and associated foreland deformations. This thinned crust was an area of mantle upwelling that favoured the increase of isotherms, the uprise of basalt magma, and the circulation of hydrothermal fluids. The Cretaceous magmatism generated a major hydrothermal event characterised by the circulation of hot fluids along faults and a relatively high heat flow in the basin. Temperature elevation and hydrothermal conditions led to alteration of basalts and generated a new mineral equilibrium around the enclosing sedimentary deposits.     

Three-dimensional MHD simulation of interplanetary magnetic field changes at 1 AU as a consequence of simulated solar flares

A fully three-dimensional (3D), time-dependent, MHD interplanetary global model (3D IGM) has been used, for the first time, to study the relationship between different forms of solar activity and transient variations of the north-south component, B_z, of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) at 1 AU. One form of solar activity, the flare, is simulated by using a pressure pulse at different locations near the solar surface and observing the simulated IMF evolution of B (=-B_z) at 1 AU. Results show that, for a given pressure pulse, the orientation of the corresponding transient variation of B_z has a strong relationship to the location of the pressure pulse and the initial conditions of the IMF. Two initial IMF conditions are considered: a unipolar Archimedean spiral with outward polarity and a flat heliospheric current sheet (HCS) with outward polarity in the northern hemisphere and which gradually reverses polarity in the solar equatorial plane to inward polarity in the southern heliospheric hemisphere. The wave guide effect of the HCS is also demonstrated.