Quaternary clay mineralogy in the northern South China Sea (ODP Site 1146) —— Implications for oceanic current transport and East Asian monsoon evolution

The East Asian monsoon system is a thermodynamic atmospheric circulation induced by the different potential heating between the 揥estern Pacific Warm Pool?(WPWP) and the Asian continent. The circulation patterns dominate seasonal patterns of winds, preci…     

The giant Imiter silver deposit: Neoproterozoic epithermal mineralization in the Anti-Atlas, Morocco

The world-class Imiter silver deposit, in the Anti-Atlas Mountains of Morocco, is a Neoproterozoic epithermal vein deposit genetically associated with a felsic volcanic event, and formed within a regional extensional tectonic regime. Rhyolitic volcanism related to ore formation has been dated at 550Dž Ma by ion-probe U/Pb on zircons. The economic silver mineralization is superimposed on an older, discrete base-metal assemblage associated with calc-alkaline granodioritic magmatism. The magmatism is dated at 572LJ Ma by ion-probe U/Pb dating on zircons, and by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating on hydrothermal muscovites. In the Anti-Atlas Mountains, the Precambrian-Cambrian transition appears as an important period for the formation of major, productive precious-metal deposits associated with volcanic events and extensional tectonics. The Imiter silver deposit constitutes a Precambrian analogue to modern epithermal deposits.     

Boiling and vertical mineralization zoning: a case study from the Apacheta low-sulfidation epithermal gold-silver deposit, southern Peru

The Au-Ag (-Pb-Zn) Apacheta deposit is located in the Shila district, 600 km southeast of Lima in the Cordillera Occidental of Arequipa Province, southern Peru. The vein mineralization is found in Early to Middle Miocene calc-alkaline lava flows and volcanic breccias. Both gangue and sulfide mineralization express a typical low-sulfidation system; assay data show element zoning with base metals enriched at depth and higher concentrations of precious metals in the upper part of the veins. Three main deposition stages are observed: (1) early pyrite and base-metal sulfides with minor electrum 1 and acanthite; (2) brecciation of this mineral assemblage and cross-cutting veinlets with subhedral quartz crystals, Mn-bearing calcite and rhombic adularia crystals; and finally (3) veinlets and geodal filling of an assemblage of tennantite/tetrahedrite + colorless sphalerite 2 + galena + chalcopyrite + electrum 2. Fluid inclusions in the mineralized veins display two distinct types: aqueous-carbonic liquid-rich Lw-c inclusions, and aqueous-carbonic vapor-rich Vw-c inclusions. Microthermometric data indicate that the ore minerals were deposited between 300 and 225 °C from relatively dilute hydrothermal fluids (0.6-3.4 wt% NaCl). The physical and chemical characteristics of the hydrothermal fluids show a vertical evolution, with in particular a drop in temperature and a loss of H₂S. The presence of adularia and platy calcite and of co-existing liquid-rich and vapor-rich inclusions in the ore-stage indicates a boiling event. Strong H₂S enrichment in the Vw-c inclusions observed at -200 m, the abundance of platy calcite, and the occurrence of hydrothermal breccia at this level may indicate a zone of intense boiling. The vertical element zoning observed in the Apacheta deposit thus seems to be directly related to the vertical evolution of hydrothermal-fluid characteristics. Precious-metal deposition mainly occurred above the 200-m level below the present-day surface, in response to a liquid/vapor phase separation due to an upward boiling front.     

Muscovite recrystallization and saddle-shaped Ar/Ar age spectra: example from the Blond granite (Massif Central, France)

Muscovites from the Blond granite (West French Massif Central) were dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar single-grain method. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages obtained vary from 305.5 ± 0.3 Ma to 311.3 ± 0.5 Ma, and most of the age spectra are slightly saddle-shaped. The analyzed muscovites show phengitic recrystallization under optical microscope observations, SEM images, and electron microprobe chemical analyses. It is proposed that the saddle-shaped age spectra result from a partial recrystallization, which produced three different isotopic reservoirs in the analyzed white mica single grains: domains of early muscovite, domains of neocrystallized muscovite formed by phengitic and Al-Fe substitutions, and “low-activation energy sites.”     

Cristallisation fractionnée et contamination crustale dans la série magmatique jurassique transitionnelle du Haut Atlas central (Maroc)Fractional crystallisation and crustal contamination in the transitional Jurassic magmatic series of Central High Atlas (Morocco)

The Middle Jurassic plutonism of the Central High Atlas (Morocco) was emplaced in N45° trending anticlinal ridges. It is characterised by various petrographic facies including mafic rocks (troctolites), intermediate rocks (diorites, monzodiorites), and evolved rocks (syenites), together with heterogeneous facies resulting from mixing between acidic and the intermediate magmas. Mineralogical and chemical data show (i) the transitional character of the Jurassic magmatic series of the Central High Atlas and (ii) the implication of continental crust as a contaminant during fractional crystallization. To cite this article: R. Zayane et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 97–104.     

Lithostratigraphie et histoire paléozoïque à paléocène des complexes métamorphiques de la région de Muteh, zone de Sanandaj–Sirjan (Iran méridional)Lithostratigraphy and Palaeozoic to Palaeocene history of some metamorphic complexes from Muteh area, Sanandaj–Sirjan zone (southern Iran)

A detailed analysis of metamorphic complexes outcropping in the Muteh area in central Iran leads to establish the regional stratigraphical column, and to propose a Palaeozoic age for the metamorphic protolith that mainly consists of volcano-sedimentary units. ⁴⁰K---⁴⁰Ar ages for minerals suggest the Mesozoic age of the metamorphic amphiboles and the Palaeocene ones for a late or even post metamorphic bimodal magmatism. To cite this article: N. Rachidnejad-Omran et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 1185–1191.     

Phospholipid ester-linked fatty acids composition of size-fractionated particles at the top ocean surface

Surface microlayer and subsurface water samples were collected at an oligotrophic Mediterranean site during a diel cycle. The composition of phospholipid ester-linked fatty acids (PLFA) was determined in size-fractionated particles (0.2–0.7 μm; 0.7–200 μm) in order to characterize the major contributors of organic matter to different size fractions. GF/F-retained particles (0.7–200 μm) from the surface microlayer were consistently enriched in PLFA relative to the underlying water. Molecular markers revealed a substantial difference in biological assemblages in both particle sizes. The larger particles were dominated by dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria, microzooplankton and attached bacteria, whereas particles filtered through GF/F and collected on 0.2 μm porosity Durapore filters (0.2–0.7 μm) were mostly bacteria and heterotrophic flagellates. Bacterial PLFA associated with 0.7–200 μm particles were more abundant than those in the 0.2–0.7 μm particles. Specific markers in the branched series appeared more representative of bacteria of smaller particle size.     

Rôle du fluor dans la formation des gisements d'émeraude de Mananjary (Est de Madagascar)

The Mananjary emerald deposits are hosted in phlogopite-rich rocks formed through metasomatic alteration of meta-ultrabasites (hornblendites) at about 500 °C and 2 kbar due to infiltration of fluoride-rich fluids. A thermodynamic model explains the role of fluoride-complexation in the transport of Be and points to co-precipitation of F-phlogopite as the cause of beryl deposition. To cite this article: B. Moine et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

Late Quaternary climatic control on erosion and weathering in the eastern Tibetan Plateau and the Mekong Basin

High-resolution siliciclastic grain size and bulk mineralogy combined with clay mineralogy, rubidium, strontium, and neodymium isotopes of Core MD01-2393 collected off the Mekong River estuary in the southwestern South China Sea reveals a monsoon-controlled chemical weathering and physical erosion history during the last 190,000 yr in the eastern Tibetan Plateau and the Mekong Basin. The ranges of isotopic composition are limited throughout sedimentary records: ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.7206–0.7240 and ε_Nd(0) = −11.1 to −12.1. These values match well to those of Mekong River sediments and they are considered to reflect this source region. Smectites/(illite + chlorite) and smectites/kaolinite ratios are used as indices of chemical weathering rates, whereas the bulk kaolinite/quartz ratio is used as an index of physical erosion rates in the eastern Tibetan Plateau and the Mekong Basin. Furthermore, the 2.5–6.5 μm/15–55 μm siliciclastic grain size population ratio represents the intensity of sediment discharge of the Mekong River and, in turn, the East Asian summer monsoon intensity. Strengthened chemical weathering corresponds to increased sediment discharge and weakened physical erosion during interglacial periods. In contrast, weakened chemical weathering associated with reduced sediment discharge and intensified physical erosion during glacial periods. Such strong glacial–interglacial correlations between chemical weathering/erosion and sediment discharge imply the monsoon-controlled weathering and erosion.     

Zinc mobility and speciation in soil covered by contaminated dredged sediment using micrometer-scale and bulk-averaging X-ray fluorescence, absorption and diffraction techniques

The mobility and solid-state speciation of zinc in a pseudogley soil (pH = 8.2-8.3) before and after contamination by land-disposition of a dredged sediment ([Zn] = 6600 mg kg⁻¹) affected by smelter operations were studied in a 50 m² pilot-scale test site and the laboratory using state-of-the-art synchrotron-based techniques. Sediment disposition on land caused the migration of micrometer-sized, smelter-related, sphalerite (ZnS) and franklinite (ZnFe₂O₄) grains and dissolved Zn from the sediment downwards to a soil depth of 20 cm over a period of 18 months. Gravitational movement of fine-grained metal contaminants probably occurred continuously, while peaks of Zn leaching were observed in the summer when the oxidative dissolution of ZnS was favored by non-flooding conditions. The Zn concentration in the <50 μm soil fraction increased from ∼61 ppm to ∼94 ppm in the first 12 months at 0-10 cm depth, and to ∼269 ppm in the first 15 months following the sediment deposition. Higher Zn concentrations and enrichments were observed in the fine (<2 μm) and very fine (<0.2 μm) fractions after 15 months (480 mg kg⁻¹ and 1000 mg kg⁻¹, respectively), compared to 200 mg kg⁻¹ in the <2 μm fraction of the initial soil. In total, 1.2% of the Zn initially present in the sediment was released to the environment after 15 months, representing an integrated quantity of ∼4 kg Zn over an area of 50 m². Microfocused X-ray fluorescence (XRF), diffraction (XRD) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy techniques were used to image chemical associations of Zn with Fe and Mn, and to identify mineral and Zn species in selected points-of-interest in the uncontaminated and contaminated soil. Bulk average powder EXAFS spectroscopy was used to quantify the proportion of each Zn species in the soil. In the uncontaminated soil, Zn is largely speciated as Zn-containing phyllosilicate, and to a minor extent as zincochromite (ZnCr₂O₄), ^IVZn-sorbed turbostratic birnessite (δ-MnO₂), and Zn-substituted goethite. In the upper 0-10 cm of the contaminated soil, ∼60 ± 10% of total Zn is present as ZnS inherited from the overlying sediment. Poorly-crystalline Zn-sorbed Fe (oxyhydr)oxides and zinciferous phyllosilicate amount to ∼20-30 ± 10% each and, therefore, make up most of the remaining Zn. Smaller amounts of franklinite (ZnFe₂O₄), Zn-birnessite and Zn-goethite were also detected. Further solubilization of the Zn inventory in the sediment, and also remobilization of Zn from the poorly-crystalline neoformed Fe (oxyhydr)oxide precipitates, are expected over time. This study shows that land deposition of contaminated dredged sediments is a source of Zn for the covered soil and, consequently, presents environmental hazards. Remediation technologies should be devised to either sequester Zn into sparingly soluble crystalline phases, or remove Zn by collecting leachates beneath the sediment.