Zwei Diskussionsbeiträge zu: „Präkambrische Itabirite und Uran-Gold-Konglomerate als geochemische Zeitmarken in der Erdevolution“ von W. Fiebiger,Geol. Rdsch., 65, S. 1035–1055

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Detrital barytes in the Karoo Supergroup of Southern Africa

Beds of sedimentary barytes are found in late Paleozoic sediments in the northeasternmost part of South Africa and adjoining parts of Rhodesia. The baryte horizon consists of 2 beds of composite thickness of up to 50 cm within a sequence of partly porcellaneous shales. It is dark gray to redbrown in colour, in places also black, and then contains traces of H₂S. It usually consists of fine-grained subrounded tabular grains of detrital origin. This horizon frequently contains aggregates of upward diverging acicular baryte which formed diagenetically within the detrital baryte. The deposit was formed through reworking of semiconsolidated clays containing baryte concretions. Such shales are known to occur to the west of the baryte deposit in contemporaneous sediments.

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Zusammenfassung In spätpaläozoischen Sedimenten im Nordosten Südafrikas und dem angrenzenden Bereich Rhodesiens treten sedimentäre Barytlagen auf. Die Barytzone besteht aus zwei Lagen mit einer gemeinsamen größten Mächtigkeit von 50 cm, innerhalb einer Abfolge teilweise verkieselter Tonschiefer. Der Baryt ist dunkelgrau bis rotbraun, stellenweise auch schwarz, und enthält dann Spuren von H₂S. Er besteht meist aus feinkörnigen kantengerundeten schwach plattigen Kristallen detritischer Herkunft. Die Zone enthält häufig Aggregate aus nach oben divergierenden nadeligen Barytkristallen, die sich frühdiagenetisch im detritischen Baryt bildeten. Das Vorkommen entstand durch Aufarbeitung von Barytkonkretionen in schwach verfestigten Tonen. Entsprechende Tonschiefer treten in gleichaltrigen Sedimenten westlich des Barytvorkommens auf.

     

A major lava tube system from Undara Volcano,North Queensland

The Undara Volcano erupted 0.19 m.y. ago and formed lava fields covering 1,500 km² with a volume of approximately 23 km³. One of the flows extended 160 km on a gradient that averaged only 0.3°. This great length was a result of very high effusion rates, favourable topography and lava tube efficiency. The Undara lavas are rather uniform hawaiites. Lava temperatures are estimated to have been somewhat less than 1175–1220°C and viscosities greater than 10 to 30 Pa s. Long, apparently single lava tubes are well preserved in many places. They are marked by depressions, caves and long level ridges. A system of lava tubes extends for perhaps more than 100 km. The features of the lava tubes are comparable with those described elsewhere. Aligned depressions associated with caves appear to have formed contemporaneously. Most are much wider than the caves and probably represent collapsed lava ponds. The lava tubes appear to have formed by roofing over of lava channels. Close to lava tubes, the rocks developed strongly oxidised characteristics, such as oxidised olivine phenocrysts, ferric clinopyroxene and extensively developed hematite. Differentiated lava forms drips in some caves and is also oxidised.     

Geochemistry of hydrothermal alteration at the Roosevelt hot springs thermal area,Utah

Hot spring deposits in the Roosevelt thermal area consist of opaline sinter and sintercemented alluvium. Alluvium, plutonic rocks, and amphibolite-facies gneiss have been altered by acidsulfate water to alunite and opal at the surface, and alunite, kaolinite, montmorillonite, and muscovite to a depth of 70 m. Marcasite, pyrite, chlorite, and calcite occur below the water table at about 30 m.The thermal water is dilute (ionic strength 0.1–0.2) sodium-chloride brine. The spring water now contains 10 times as much Ca, 100 times as much Mg, and up to 2.5 times as much SO₄ as the deep water. Although the present day spring temperature is 25°C, the temperature was 85°C in 1950.A model for development of the observed alteration is supported by observation and irreversible mass transfer calculations. Hydrothermal fluid convectively rises along major fractures. Water cools by conduction and steam separation, and the pH rises due to carbon dioxide escape. At the surface, hydrogen and sulfate ions are produced by oxidation of H₂S. The low pH water percolates downward and reacts with feldspar in the rocks to produce alunite, kaolinite, montmorillonite, and muscovite as hydrogen ion is consumed.     

Biostratigraphy and depositional facies of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary strata in Amakusa-Shimojima,Kyushu, Western Japan

The Upper Himenoura Subgroup exposed in the island of Amakusa-Shimojima, Kyushu, Japan shows an example of the terminal Cretaceous stratigraphic record in the circum Pacific region. This sequence is a part of the Upper Cretaceous intra-arc basins of southwest Japan. Four cycles of upward coarse-graded facies are recognized. Each cycle consists of a basinal mud facies in the lower part and a tide-dominated shallow marine to brackish coarse clastic facies in the upper part. Biostratigraphic correlation chiefly based on ammonites, inocerami and trigoniids indicates that this sequence is Campanian to Maastrichtian in age. The occurrence of the above three fossils decreases upward and is terminated at the top of the sequence, being replaced by a molluscan assemblage similar to the Danian. This suggests that the sedimentation may have continued to the very end of the Cretaceous period and possibly to the beginning of the Tertiary.     

Activation of zinc sulphide with CuII,CdII and PbII: I. Activation in weakly acidic media

During the activation of zinc sulphide with the heavy metal ions Cu^II, Cd^II and Pb^II, metal-ion uptake follows a logarithmic dependence on time. A reaction mechanism is proposed which is consistent with experimental observations. Incident radiation has a strong influence on the activation reaction, an effect which is interpreted in terms of semiconductor theory.