Do S-type granites commonly sample infracrustal sources? New results from an integrated O, U–Pb and Hf isotope study of zircon

In contrast to I-type granites, which commonly comprise infracrustal and supracrustal sources, S-type granites typically incorporate predominantly supracrustal sources. The initial aim of this study was to identify the sources of three Scottish Caledonian (~460 Ma) S-type granites (Kemnay, Cove and Nigg Bay) by conducting oxygen, U–Pb and Hf isotope analyses in zircon in order to characterise one potential end-member magma involved in the genesis of the voluminous late Caledonian (~430–400 Ma) I-type granites. Field, whole-rock geochemical and isotopic data are consistent with the generation of the S-type granites by melting their Dalradian Supergroup country rocks. While Hf isotope compositions of magmatic zircon, U–Pb data of inherited zircons, and high mean zircon δ¹⁸O values of 9.0 ± 2.7‰ (2SD) and 9.8 ± 2.0‰ for the Kemnay and Cove granites support this model, the Nigg Bay Granite contains zircons with much lower δ¹⁸O values (6.8 ± 2.1‰), similar to those found in Scottish I-type granites. This suggests that the Nigg Bay Granite contains low-δ¹⁸O material representing either altered supracrustal material, or more likely, an infracrustal source component with mantle-like δ¹⁸O. Mixing trends in plots of δ¹⁸O vs. εHf for S-type granite zircons indicate involvement of at least two sources in all three granites. This pilot study of Scottish Caledonian S-type granites demonstrates that, while field and whole-rock geochemical data are consistent with local melting of only supracrustal sources, the oxygen isotopic record stored in zircon reveals a much more complex petrogenetic evolution involving two or more magma sources.     

An experimental study of the effects of melt composition on plagioclase-melt equilibria at 5 and 10 kbar: implications for the origin of magmatic high-An plagioclase

An experimental investigation of plagioclase crystallization in broadly basaltic/andesitic melts of variable Ca# (Ca/(Ca+Na)*100) and Al# (Al/(Al+Si)*100) values and H₂O contents has been carried out at high pressures (5 and 10 kbar) in a solid media piston-cylinder apparatus. The H₂O contents of glasses coexisting with liquidus or near-liquidus plagioclases in each experiment were determined via an FTIR spectroscopic technique. This study has shown that melt Ca# and Al#, H₂O content and crystallization pressure all control the composition of liquidus plagioclase. Increasing melt Ca# and Al# increase An content of plagioclase, whereas the effect of increasing pressure is the opposite. However, the importance of the role played by each of these factors during crystallization of natural magmas varies. Melt Ca# has the strongest control on plagioclase An content, but melt Al# also exerts a significant control. H₂O content can notably increase the An content of plagioclase, up to 10 mol % for H₂O-undersaturated melts, and 20 mol % for H₂O-saturated melts. Exceptionally calcic plagioclases (up to An₁₀₀) in some primitive subduction-related boninitic and related rocks cannot be attributed to the presence of the demonstrated amounts of H₂O (up to 3 wt %). Rather, they must be due to the involvement of extremely refractory (CaO/Na₂O>18) magmas in the petrogenesis of these rocks. Despite the refractory nature of some primitive MORB glasses, none are in equilibrium with the most calcic plagioclase (An₉₄) found in MORB. These plagioclases were likely produced from more refractory melts with CaO/Na₂O = 12–15, or from melts with exceptionally high Al₂O₃(>18%). Magmas of appropriate compositions to crystallize these most calcic plagioclases are sometimes found as melt inclusions in near liquidus phenocrysts from these rocks, but are not known among wholerock or glass compositions. The fact that such melts are not erupted as discrete magma batches indicates that they are effectively mixed and homogenized with volumetrically dominant, less refractory magmas. The high H₂O contents (∼ 6 wt%) in some high-Al basaltic arc magmas may be responsible for the existence of plagioclases up to An₉₅ in arc lavas. However, an alternative possibility is that petrogenesis involving melts with abnormally high CaO/Na₂O values (> 8) may account for the presence of highly anorthitic plagioclases in these rocks. Received: 31 August 1993 / Accepted: 20 May 1994     

Parametrization of peatland hydraulic properties for the Canadian land surface scheme

Abstract

A hydraulic parametrization is developed for peatland environments in the Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS). Three ‐wetland soil classes account for the typical variation in the hydraulic characteristics of the uppermost 0.5 m of organic soils. Review of the literature reveals that saturated hydraulic conductivity varies from a median of 1.0 × 10^?7m/s in deeply humified sapric peat to 2.8 × 10^?4 m/s in relatively undecomposed fibric peat. Average pore volume fraction ranges from 0.83 to 0.93. Parameters have been designed for the soil moisture characteristic curves for fibric, hemic and sapric peat using the Campbell (1974) equation employed in CLASS, and the van Genuchten (1980) formulation. There is little difference in modelled soil moisture between the two formulations within the range of conditions normally found in peatlands. Validation of modelled water table depth and peat temperature is performed for a fen in northern Québec and a bog in north‐central Minnesota. The new parametrization results in a more realistic simulation of these variables in peatlands than the previous version of CLASS, in which unrealistic mineral soil “equivalents “ were used for wetland soil climate modelling.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111001113

The Rheic Ocean was one of the most important oceans of the Paleozoic Era.It lay between Laurentia and Gondwana from the Early Ordovician and closed to produce the vast Ouachita-Alleghanian -Variscan orogen during the assembly of Pangea.Rifting began in the Cambrian as a continuation of Neoproterozoic orogenic activity and the ocean opened in the Early Ordovician with the separation of several Neoproterozoic arc terranes from the continental margin of northern Gondwana along the line of a former suture.The rapid rate of ocean opening suggests it was driven by slab pull in the outboard lapetus Ocean.The ocean reached its greatest width with the closure of lapetus and the accretion of the periGondwanan arc terranes to Laurentia in the Silurian.Ocean closure began in the Devonian and continued through the Mississippian as Gondwana sutured to Laurussia to form Pangea.The ocean consequently plays a dominant role in the Appalachian-Ouachita orogeny of North America,in the basement geology of southern Europe,and in the Paleozoic sedimentary,structural and tectonothermal record from Middle America to the Middle East.Its closure brought the Paleozoic Era to an end.     

The formation of peridotitic suite inclusions in diamonds

Olivine, orthopyroxene and garnet grains belonging to the peridotitic suite of mineral inclusions in natural diamonds typically show compositions poorer in Ca and Al and richer in Mg and Cr than the same minerals in peridotite nodules in kimberlite. Other features suggest the crystallisation of diamonds from magmas of kimberlitic affinities, and it is suggested that the genesis of peridotitic suite diamonds is linked with that of a CO₂-bearing magma. It is shown that the generation of kimberlitic magma from common garnet-peridotite (with 5 wt.% clinopyroxene) in the presence of CO₂ may rapidly remove by melting all Ca-rich solid phases (clinopyroxene and/or carbonate). Further melting may form liquids in equilibrium with olivine, orthopyroxene, and garnet with the distinctive compositions of the diamond inclusions. The amount of melting and CO₂ necessary for the loss of clinopyroxene (and/or carbonate) are estimated at approximately 5.0 wt.% and 0.5 wt.% respectively.     

‘Invisible gold’ in bismuth chalcogenides

Gold concentrations have been determined by LA-ICPMS in bismuth chalcogenides (tellurides and sulfosalts, minerals with modular structures; chalcogen X = Te, Se, and S) from 27 occurrences. Deposit types include epithermal, skarn, intrusion-related and orogenic gold. The samples comprised minerals of the tetradymite group, aleksite series, bismuth sulfosalts (cosalite, lillianite, hodrushite, bismuthinite, and aikinite), and accompanying altaite. Gold concentrations in phases of the tetradymite group range from <0.1 to 2527 ppm. Phases in which Bi > X tend to contain lower gold concentrations than Bi₂X₃ minerals (tellurobismuthite and tetradymite). Cosalite and lillianite contain Au concentrations ranging up to 574 and 3115 ppm, respectively. Bismuthinite derivatives have lower Au concentrations: <2 ppm in bismuthinite and up to 542 ppm in aikinite. In our samples, Au concentrations in altaite range from <0.2 to 1662 ppm.Smoother parts of the LA-ICPMS profiles suggest lattice-bound gold, whereas irregularities on the profiles are best explained by the presence of gold particles (?1 μm in diameter). Plotting Au vs. Ag for the entire dataset gives a wedge-shaped distribution, suggesting that Ag underpins Au uptake in both bismuth tellurides and sulfosalts. In the tellurides, correlation trends suggest statistical substitution of Ag(Au), together with Pb, into the octahedral site in the layers. In sulfosalts, Au follows coupled substitutions in which M¹⁺ (Ag, Cu) enters the structure. In tellurides, the presence of van der Waals gaps at chalcogen-chalcogen contacts provides for p-type semi-conductive properties critical for gold scavenging from fluids. Such weak bonds may also act as sites for nucleation of Au (nano)particles. In sulfosalts, contacts between different species that replace one another are also highly predictable to act as traps for (nano)particulate gold.Invisible gold in Bi-chalcogenides is useful to (i) identify trends of orefield zonation, (ii) discriminate between ‘melt’ and ‘fluid-driven’ scavenging, and (iii) interpret replacement and remobilisation processes. Bismuth chalcogenides have the potential to be significant Au carriers in sulfide-poor Au systems, e.g., intrusion-related gold, with impact on the overall Au budget if mean Au concentrations are high enough and the minerals are sufficiently abundant.     

Trace and minor elements in sphalerite from metamorphosed sulphide deposits

Sphalerite is a common sulphide and is the dominant ore mineral in Zn-Pb sulphide deposits. Precise determination of minor and trace element concentrations in sulphides, including sphalerite, by Laser-Ablation Inductively-Coupled-Plasma Mass-Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is a potentially valuable petrogenetic tool. In this study, LA-ICP-MS is used to analyse 19 sphalerite samples from metamorphosed, sphalerite-bearing volcanic-associated and sedimentary exhalative massive sulphide deposits in Norway and Australia. The distributions of Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Ga, Se, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Hg, Tl, Pb and Bi are addressed with emphasis on how concentrations of these elements vary with metamorphic grade of the deposit and the extent of sulphide recrystallization. Results show that the concentrations of a group of trace elements which are believed to be present in sphalerite as micro- to nano-scale inclusions (Pb, Bi, and to some degree Cu and Ag) diminish with increasing metamorphic grade. This is interpreted as due to release of these elements during sphalerite recrystallization and subsequent remobilization to form discrete minerals elsewhere. The concentrations of lattice-bound elements (Mn, Fe, Cd, In and Hg) show no correlation with metamorphic grade. Primary metal sources, physico-chemical conditions during initial deposition, and element partitioning between sphalerite and co-existing sulphides are dominant in defining the concentrations of these elements and they appear to be readily re-incorporated into recrystallized sphalerite, offering potential insights into ore genesis. Given that sphalerite accommodates a variety of trace elements that can be precisely determined by contemporary microanalytical techniques, the mineral has considerable potential as a geothermometer, providing that element partitioning between sphalerite and coexisting minerals (galena, chalcopyrite etc.) can be quantified in samples for which the crystallization temperature can be independently constrained.     

柱状扰动体引起圆柱谐振腔共振频率偏移的数值模拟

基于微扰理论,研究了内部存在一个同轴圆柱扰动体时圆柱谐振腔共振频率的偏移问题.其中,圆柱谐振腔的边侧面是刚性的,上下底面应力自由.经过推导,得出了圆柱扰动体存在时谐振腔的声势与共振频率的表达式.在此基础上,分析了谐振腔与圆柱扰动体各种参数对谐振腔共振频率的影响.数值模拟结果表明,谐振腔的共振频率受扰动体在谐振腔中的位置影响较大.圆柱谐振腔的共振频率在圆柱扰动体居中时是最大值,并且其共振频率对扰动体的声速敏感;当扰动体在谐振腔两端时,谐振腔共振频率是最小值,并且其对扰动体的密度敏感.最后,通过数值模拟结果和实验测量结果之间的对比,发现两者的基本变化趋势是吻合的.