The role of intrusions in the formation of Irish-type mineralisation

The Stonepark Prospect is located in County Limerick, south-central Ireland. Multiple zones of Zn–Pb mineralisation have been identified at Stonepark and these are approximately 5 km west of the Pallas Green Prospect. At Stonepark, the sulphide bodies are hosted within the Waulsortian Limestone and closely resemble other Irish-type deposits. The mineralisation is composed of pyrite-marcasite, sphalerite and galena with gangue Fe-dolomite and calcite cements. A key difference at Stonepark is the presence of Chadian-aged volcanic rocks (Knockroe Volcanics) that intrude into and overlie the Waulsortian Limestone. Subsequent hydrothermal brecciation of the Waulsortian Limestone and Knockroe intrusions resulted in the formation of tabular polymict breccia bodies containing mixed carbonate and clasts of intrusive rocks. These have then been overprinted by massive sulphide mineralisation. Further syn-mineralisation brecciation has overprinted the earlier breccias. Drilling has demonstrated a spatial relationship between the volume of intrusive rocks (dykes and polymict breccias) and Zn–Pb mineralisation. This association suggests that the intrusive rocks provided a mechanism for the introduction of the mineralising fluids into the breccia bodies. This is significant as to date no large controlling fault has been identified, as is seen at other Irish-type deposits. Further work is required to understand the alteration process of the intrusive rocks and how this may relate to the mineralising process.     

Estimating phytolith influx in lake sediments

So far, no phytolith extraction protocols have been tested for accuracy and repeatability. Here we aim to display a phytolith extraction method combining the strengths of two widely used protocols, supplemented with silica microspheres as exogenous markers for quantifying phytolith concentrations. Phytolith concentrations were estimated for samples from two sedimentary sequences in which numerical age–depth models make it possible to calculate phytolith influxes (phytolith numbers per cm²per yr). Analysis of replicates confirmed the statistical robustness, the repeatability and the very few biases of our extraction technique for small phytoliths, since the relationship between grass silica short cells and microspheres was kept stable. Furthermore, we demonstrated that silica microspheres are robust exogenous markers for estimating phytolith concentrations. The minimum number of items (i.e., phytoliths plus silica microspheres) that must be counted to estimate phytolith concentrations and thus influxes depends on the ratio of phytoliths to microspheres (R) and is minimized when R = 1. Nevertheless, we recommend using ratios R ≤ 1 in order to avoid having the counting process become excessively time-consuming, because microspheres are easier to identify and count than phytoliths.     

Quaternary eolian dunes in the Savannah River valley,Jasper County,South Carolina,USA

Sand hills in the Savannah River valley in Jasper County (South Carolina, USA) are interpreted as the remnants of parabolic eolian dunes composed of sand derived from the Savannah River and stabilized by vegetation under prevailing climate conditions. Optically stimulated luminescence ages reveal that most of the dunes were active ca. 40 to 19 ka ago, coincident with the last glacial maximum (LGM) through early deglaciation. Modern surface winds are not sufficient for sustained eolian sand transport. When the dunes were active, winds blew at velocities of at least 4 m/s from west to east, and some vegetation was present. The ratio of annual precipitation to potential evapotranspiration (P:PE) was less than the modern ratio of 1.23 and may have been < 0.30, caused by stronger winds (which would have resulted in greater evaporation) and/or reduced precipitation. The Savannah River dunes are part of a larger assemblage of eolian dunes that were active in the eastern United States during and immediately after the LGM, suggesting that eolian sediment behavior in this region has been controlled by regional forcing mechanisms during the Quaternary.     

Quantification of the relation between surface morphodynamics and subsurface sedimentological product in sandy braided rivers

This study uses digital elevation models and ground‐penetrating radar to quantify the relation between the surface morphodynamics and subsurface sedimentology in the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River, Canada. A unique aspect of the methodology is that both digital elevation model and ground‐penetrating radar data were collected from the same locations in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, thus enabling the surface morphodynamics to be tied explicitly to the associated evolving depositional product. The occurrence of a large flood in 2005 also allowed the influence of discharge to be assessed with respect to the process–product relationship. The data demonstrate that the morphology of the study reach evolved even during modest discharges, but more extensive erosion was caused by the large flood. In addition, the study reach was dominated by compound bars before the flood, but switched to being dominated by unit bars during and after the flood. The extent to which the subsurface deposits (the ‘product’) were modified by the surface morphodynamics (the ‘process’) was quantified using the changes in radar‐facies recorded in sequential ground‐penetrating radar surveys. These surveys reveal that during the large flood there was an increase in the proportion of facies associated with bar margin accretion and larger dunes. In subsequent years, these facies became truncated and replaced with facies associated with smaller dune sets. This analysis shows that unit bars generally become truncated more laterally than vertically and, thus, they lose the high‐angle bar margin deposits and smaller scale bar‐top deposits. In general, the only fragments that remain of the unit bars are dune sets, thus making identification of the original unit barform problematic. This novel data set has implications for what may ultimately become preserved in the rock record.     

Using Mg Isotopes to Trace Cyanobacterially Mediated Magnesium Carbonate Precipitation in Alkaline Lakes

This study assesses the potential use of Mg isotopes to trace Mg carbonate precipitation in natural waters. Salda Lake (SW Turkey) was chosen for this study because it is one of the few modern environments where hydrous Mg carbonates are the dominant precipitating minerals. Stromatolites, consisting mainly of hydromagnesite, are abundant in this lake. The Mg isotope composition of incoming streams, groundwaters, lake waters, stromatolites, and hydromagnesite-rich sediments were measured. Because Salda Lake is located in a closed basin, mass balance requires that the Mg isotopic offset between Lake Salda water and precipitated hydromagnesite be comparable to the corresponding offset between Salda Lake and its water inputs. This is consistent with observations; a ??²⁶Mg offset of 0.8?C1.4??? is observed between Salda Lake water and it is the incoming streams and groundwaters, and precipitated hydromagnesite has a ??²⁶Mg 0.9?C1.1??? more negative than its corresponding fluid phase. This isotopic offset also matches closely that measured in the laboratory during both biotic and abiotic hydrous Mg carbonate precipitation by cyanobacteria (Mavromatis, V., Pearce, C., Shirokova, L. S., Bundeleva, I. A., Pokrovsky, O. S., Benezeth, P. and Oelkers, E.H.: Magnesium isotope fractionation during inorganic and cyanobacteria-induced hydrous magnesium carbonate precipitation, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 2012a. 76, 161?C174). Batch reactor experiments performed in the presence of Salda Lake cyanobacteria and stromatolites resulted in the precipitation of dypingite (Mg₅(CO₃)₄(OH)₂·5(H₂O)) and hydromagnesite (Mg₅(CO₃)₄(OH)₂·4H₂O) with morphological features similar to those of natural samples. Concurrent abiotic control experiments did not exhibit carbonate precipitation demonstrating the critical role of cyanobacteria in the precipitation process.     

Khatyrka,a new CV3 find from the Koryak Mountains,Eastern Russia

A new meteorite find, named Khatyrka, was recovered from eastern Siberia as a result of a search for naturally occurring quasicrystals. The meteorite occurs as clastic grains within postglacial clay‐rich layers along the banks of a small stream in the Koryak Mountains, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of far eastern Russia. Some of the grains are clearly chondritic and contain Type IA porphyritic olivine chondrules enclosed in matrices that have the characteristic platy olivine texture, matrix olivine composition, and mineralogy (olivine, pentlandite, nickel‐rich iron‐nickel metal, nepheline, and calcic pyroxene [diopside‐hedenbergite solid solution]) of oxidized‐subgroup CV3 chondrites. A few grains are fine‐grained spinel‐rich calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusions with mineral oxygen isotopic compositions again typical of such objects in CV3 chondrites. The chondritic and CAI grains contain small fragments of metallic copper‐aluminum‐iron alloys that include the quasicrystalline phase icosahedrite. One grain is an achondritic intergrowth of Cu‐Al metal alloys and forsteritic olivine ± diopsidic pyroxene, both of which have meteoritic (CV3‐like) oxygen isotopic compositions. Finally, some grains consist almost entirely of metallic alloys of aluminum + copper ± iron. The Cu‐Al‐Fe metal alloys and the alloy‐bearing achondrite clast are interpreted to be an accretionary component of what otherwise is a fairly normal CV3 (oxidized) chondrite. This association of CV3 chondritic grains with metallic copper‐aluminum alloys makes Khatyrka a unique meteorite, perhaps best described as a complex CV3 (ox) breccia.     

Neutron absorption constraints on the composition of 4 Vesta

Global maps of the macroscopic thermal neutron absorption cross section of Vesta's regolith by the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) on board the NASA Dawn spacecraft provide constraints on the abundance and distribution of Fe, Ca, Al, Mg, and other rock‐forming elements. From a circular, polar low‐altitude mapping orbit, GRaND sampled the regolith to decimeter depths with a spatial resolution of about 300 km. At this spatial scale, the variation in neutron absorption is about seven times lower than that of the Moon. The observed variation is consistent with the range of absorption for howardite whole‐rock compositions, which further supports the connection between Vesta and the howardite, eucrite, and diogenite meteorites. We find a strong correlation between neutron absorption and the percentage of eucritic materials in howardites and polymict breccias, which enables petrologic mapping of Vesta's surface. The distribution of basaltic eucrite and diogenite determined from neutron absorption measurements is qualitatively similar to that indicated by visible and near infrared spectroscopy. The Rheasilvia basin and ejecta blanket has relatively low absorption, consistent with Mg‐rich orthopyroxene. Based on a combination of Fe and neutron absorption measurements, olivine‐rich lithologies are not detected on the spatial scales sampled by GRaND. The sensitivity of GRaND to the presence of mantle material is described and implications for the absence of an olivine signature are discussed. High absorption values found in Vesta's “dark” hemisphere, where exogenic hydrogen has accumulated, indicate that this region is richer in basaltic eucrite, representative of Vesta's ancient upper crust.     

青藏铁路格尔木至安多段沿线高寒植被、土壤特性与人工植被恢复研究

 对青藏铁路格尔木至安多段沿线不同海拔梯度下高寒植被与土壤特征进行研究。沿线高寒植被的主要分布种有91个,主要建群种为:紫花针茅(Stipa purpurea)、青藏苔草(Carex moorcroftii Falc)、藏异燕麦(Helictotrichon tibeticum)、黄芪(Astragalus)、棘豆(Oxytropis)、粗壮嵩草(Kobresia robusta Maximowicz)、矮嵩草(Kobresia robusta Maximowicz)等。高寒植被物种数、平均盖度、地下生物量和总生物量与海拔呈正相关性,而平均高度和地上生物量与海拔呈负相关性。沿线高寒植物群落主要可划分为海拔小于4 000 m的高寒荒漠植被、海拔4 000~4 500 m的高寒河谷灌丛植被、海拔4 500~4 700 m的高寒草原植被、海拔4 700~4 800 m的高寒垫状植被、海拔4 800~4 900 m的高寒草甸植被和海拔5 000 m左右的高寒沼泽和高寒流石坡植被。土壤全氮和有机质含量都与海拔高度呈正相关性,但全磷、全钾及pH值则在高海拔地区达到最低。沿线土壤颗粒组成主要以中、细沙(d＜0.4 mm)为主,占到了总含量的85%以上,因此,中、细沙是构成沿线土壤的最主要颗粒。沿线植被恢复比较有效的方法是选择紫花针茅、垂穗披碱草、燕麦、棘豆、黄芪、蒿草、梭罗草等当地草种,采取原生植物种子异地繁殖,再经沿线播种或栽培抚育,从而达到植被恢复的目的。该研究对青藏铁路沿线的植被恢复与植物防沙工程具有一定的指导意义。