Les flux de matières dissoutes et particulaires exportés des Andes par le Rio Béni (Amazonie Bolivienne), en période de crue

Résumén

Le Rio Béni est l’un des principaux formateurs andins du Rio Madeira, le plus important des affluents méridionaux de l’Amazone. La station hydrométrique de “Angosto del Bala” sur le Rio Béni contrôle un bassin andin de 67500 km², aux caractéristiques géomorpho-climatiques très contrastées.

Afin de connaître l’évolution temporelle des teneurs relatives des éléments des phases dissoutes et particulaires, un suivi hydrologique et hydrogéochimique a été réalisé à cette station en mars 1988, période de hautes eaux où une crue de fréquence annuelle a été observée. Les résultats obtenus montrent l’existence d’une grande variabilité temporelle des concentrations, mais présentant un cortège hydrogéochimique stable au cours de la crue.

Enfin, l’importance quantitative de cette période de hautes eaux sur le bilan moyen annuel des flux exportés est souligné.     

Composition and classification of clasts in the St. Mesmin LL chondrite breccia

Seven samples of the unique St. Mesmin meteorite have been analyzed by instrumental and radiochemical neutron activation analysis for Na, Ca, Sc, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, Ga, Ge, Se, In, Sm, Yb, Ir and Au. St. Mesmin is unique in being the only ordinary chondrite known to contain an unmelted xenolith of another ordinary chondrite. Data for two host matrix samples and three light clasts are consistent with their classification as LL chondrite material. The composition of the large dark xenolith confirms earlier evidence that it is an H chondrite; volatile abundances are consistent with it being highly shocked, petrologic type-4 material. In an olivine microporphyry, siderophile abundances are mostly about 0.13 times LL abundances, an apparent indication of metal loss during the shock melting which produced the clast. As in other regolithic chondrites, the dark host has higher contents of highly volatile elements than do the light clasts. We suggest that this results from a combination of differences in intensity of preexisting metamorphism as well as a redistribution of volatiles during regolith gardening.The H-group xenolith in St. Mesmin is a relatively recent addition to the parent body (< 1.4 Ga ago), but it is argued that this does not require regolith activity at that time. Rather the view is supported that the regolith period occurred very early in the meteorite's history (&gsim;4.0 Ga ago) and may have been related to the growth of the parent body. The H-group fragment may be part of the projectile whose impact excavated the St. Mesmin meteoroid from the LL parent body.     

THE NEEDLES (CALIFORNIA) IRON METEORITE

The Needles fine octahedrite, which weighs 45.3 kg, was found in 1962 in the Turtle Mountains, about 50 km SSW of Needles, California. It contains 10.3% Ni, 77 ppm Ga, 93 ppm Ge and 4.8 ppm Ir, and is a member of chemical group II D. It is rather similar to the Wallapai, Arizona, meteorite, and may possibly be a transported mass from this multiple fall. The compositional evidence slightly favors the interpretation that Needles is a distinct fall.     

Classification of and elemental fractionation among ureilites

Concentrations of Ni, Zn, Ga, Ge, Cd, In, Ir and Au in five ureilites can be combined with petrographie evidence to yield a well-defined suite extending from Goalpara (heavily shocked, low Ir concentration, low Ir/Ni ratio) through Haverö, Dyalpur, Novo-Urei to Kenna (moderately shocked, high Ir concentration, high Ir/Ni ratio). Arguments are presented indicating that this suite represents the sampling of a vertical section within the ureilitic parent body. The large range in Ir/Ni and Ir/Au ratios indicates greater efficiency of extraction of primitive, refractory metal in the Goalpara region than in the Kenna region, and implies that higher maximum temperatures prevailed in the former during the production of ureilitic ultramafic silicates by a partial melting process.

A major impact event injected a deposit of C-rich material into the ultramafic silicates. This C-rich material had a moderately high content of metal; there is no direct evidence that it contained volatiles other than the rare gases. High Ca contents of the ferromagnesian minerals indicate that the ultramafics were hot at the time the injection occurred; the zoning of these mineral grains also indicates high temperatures (ca. 1400 K) and low pressures (S 10atm) such that reaction between C and Fe₂SiO₄ could occur, but that cooling occurred too quickly to allow complete equilibration. The ureilitic C-rich material appears to represent an important type of primitive material.

Two siderophile-rich components are necessary to explain the relative siderophile trends in ureilites. We interpret the high-Ir component to be a refractory nebular condensate or residue that was retained during the partial melting event. The low-Ir component, which roughly resembles E4 chondrite siderophiles, is attributed to metal injected together with the vein material.     

The Lueders,Texas, IAB iron meteorite with silicate inclusions

Abstract The Lueders iron meteorite with silicate inclusions was recovered as a single specimen of ～35.4 kg in Shackelford County, Texas, in 1973 and recognized as a meteorite in 1993. Siderophile element concentrations indicate chemical classification as a low-Ni IAB iron meteorite closely related to Landes; like Landes, it has a Cu content ～4σ above the main IAB-IIICD trend and therefore we also designate Lueders as an anomalous member of IAB. The metallic host is composed of equigranular kamacite but with a suggestion of octahedral structure and with a bandwidth of 1.4 mm, suggesting structural classification as a coarse octahedrite (Og). The meteorite contains ～23 wt% of roughly millimeter to centimeter-sized angular silicate inclusions. Classification as a IAB is confirmed by O isotopic analysis of silicate inclusions. These inclusions contain an assemblage rich in silicates, troilite and graphite; lack certain minor phases (e.g., daubreelite); and have angular shapes. A variety of processes (e.g., fragmentation, partial melting, reduction) appear to have played a significant role in the formation of Lueders and all IAB iron meteorites. Petrologic and chemical differences confirm that Lueders is not paired with the widely distributed Odessa meteorite.     

Oxygen-isotopic compositions of relict and host grains in chondrules in the Yamato 81020 CO3.0 chondrite

We report the oxygen-isotope compositions of relict and host olivine grains in six high-FeO porphyritic olivine chondrules in one of the most primitive carbonaceous chondrites, CO3.0 Yamato 81020. Because the relict grains predate the host phenocrysts, microscale in situ analyses of O-isotope compositions can help assess the degree of heterogeneity among chondrule precursors and constrain the nebular processes that caused these isotopic differences. In five of six chondrules studied, the Δ¹⁷O (=δ¹⁷O −0.52 · δ¹⁸O) compositions of host phenocrysts are higher than those in low-FeO relict grains; the one exception is for a chondrule with a moderately high-FeO relict. Both the fayalite compositions as well as the O-isotope data support the view that the low-FeO relict grains formed in a previous generation of low-FeO porphyritic chondrules that were subsequently fragmented. It appears that most low-FeO porphyritic chondrules formed earlier than most high-FeO porphyritic chondrules, although there were probably some low-FeO chondrules that formed during the period when most high-FeO chondrules were forming.     

Composition of the metal phases in ordinary chondrites: implications regarding classification and metamorphism

EMP determinations of Fe, Co and Ni in the metal phases of ordinary chondrites confirm the report of Sears and Axon that kamacite Co contents show restricted, nonoverlapping ranges in the three groups; ranges are 3.3–4.8 mg/g in H, 6.7–8.2 mg/g in L and 15–110 mg/g in LL. Experimental data by Widge and Goldstein show that the Ni concentration of the $\text{α}\text{(α + γ)}$ boundary increases with increasing Co concentration: unexpectedly, we find lower kamacite Ni concentrations in unequilibrated LL chondrites (44–55 mg/g) than in H and L chondrites (57–69 mg/g). We infer that, at temperatures below 550° C increasing Co causes a decrease in the equilibrium kamacite Ni concentration of an α-γ system. Although some evidence indicates that the equilibrated L chondrites Barratta, Knyahinya and Shaw have siderophile concentrations lower than the normal L-group range, they have kamacite and taenite Co concentrations in the L-group range.Metal-phase studies of petrologic type-3 ordinary chondrites having highly unequilibrated silicates showed a wide range in the degree of matrix kamacite equilibration ranging from nearly equilibrated in Mezö-Madaras to highly unequilibrated in Bishunpur, Ngawi and Semarkona. Kamacite in chondrule interiors is highly unequilibrated in all 9 chondrites, and in each setting taenite data are consistent with the expectation that it should be less equilibrated than kamacite. Our kamacite Co data confirm that Sharps is H and Hallingeberg. Khohar and Mezö-Madaras are L chondrites. Chainpur and Parnallee have kamacite Co concentrations between the L and LL ranges: we present evidence indicating that they are truly intermediate, i.e. neither L nor LL. Highly unequilibrated Ngawi is either LL or, less likely, still more oxidized. Bishunpur and Semarkona have mean kamacite Co concentrations in the H range but too unequilibrated to be used for classification. The highly heterogeneous compositions of the metal in Bishunpur, Ngawi and Semarkona indicate that their metal partially preserves properties established during nebular processes. Most of the taenite in these chondrites has high Ni contents (>470 mg/g) and is essentially unzoned; much of the kamacite is polycrystalline with crystals ?5μm across. Metamorphism causes tiny grains to disappear, increases the grain size of both kamacite and taenite, tends to equilibrate metallic minerals and, during cooling, can produce zoned taenite.A petrologic type-5 clast in the Ngawi LL3 chondrite has 3 coexisting metal phases, clear taenite (540 mg/g Ni, 21 mg/g Co), kamacite (30 mg/g Ni, 120 mg/g Co) and a phase tentatively identified as ordered FeCo (8.5 mg/g Ni, 370 mg/g Co).     

A 10.8-kg layered (Muong-Nong-type) tektite from Wenchang,Hainan, China

Abstract— A 10.79-kg layered tektite from Hainan is the largest tektite from China, and the fifth largest reported to date. It together with a 1.9-kg Hainan tektite described by Yuan (1981) greatly extends the area of the Australasian field within which layered tektites having masses > 1 kg have been found.     

The histories of ordinary chondrite parent bodies: U,Th-He age distributions

Abstract— Age patterns observed in meteorite groups reflect the different thermal or impact histories experienced by their parent bodies. To assess the number of ordinary chondrite (OC) parent bodies rare-gas data in the Schultz and Kruse (1989) data base were used to calculate U,Th-He gas-retention ages. Most H- and LL-chondrite ages are high; ～81% are >2.2 Ga. In contrast, most L-chondrite ages are low; ～69% are ≤2.2 Ga, and ～35% are ≤0.9 Ga. The latter fraction is substantially lower than the value of 44% given by Heymann (1967). The difference is attributed to the preferential inclusion of shocked L chondrites in early studies. Broad age peaks in the H and LL groups near 3.4 Ga probably reflect thermal loss during metamorphism, but in the H distribution there is a hint of minor outgassing “events” near 1 Ga. The L/LL chondrites have chemical properties intermediate between and unresolvable from L and LL chondrites. The high ages of most L/LL chondrites are evidence against these originating on the L parent body; the L/LL age distribution is consistent with an origin on the LL parent body or on an independent body.