Lithological and Structural Controls on Regional 3-D Fluid Flow Patterns during Greenschist Facies Metamorphism of the Dalradian of the SW Scottish Highlands

Greenschist facies metabasite sills enclosed within phyllitesand psammites of the Dalradian Supergroup of the SW ScottishHighlands have been used as quantitative sensors of fluid flow,from which ‘fossil’ fluid flow-paths have been mapped.Infiltration of H₂O–CO₂ fluid caused carbonation of themetabasite assemblage. Consequently, metabasite sills have developeda characteristic asymmetric zonation of reacted (carbonate-bearing)margins and unreacted (carbonate-absent) interiors. Reactionfront advection theory has been used to constrain the time-integratedfluid flux and flow direction in one dimension, for each sill,from the widths of the reacted margins. Three-dimensional fluxesand flow directions have been constrained from one-dimensionalfluxes by geometrical computation, and regional fluid flow patternshave been deduced. On a regional scale, fluid flow was channelled through phyllitesand focused towards the axial zone of major antiformal foldstructures. Fluid flow was channelled through the 6 km thickArdrishaig Phyllites, within which fluid fluxes were found toincrease exponentially with proximity to the axial surface ofthe Ardrishaig Anticline. Fluid flow through the psammites waslimited to narrow zones of intense deformation associated withmetabasic or phyllitic intercalations. Although time-integratedfluid fluxes were locally high (4 10² m³/m²), average fluxes(100 m¹/m²) are compatible with availability of fluid from underlyingdevolatilizing rocks. Complete isotopic homogenization of phyllites,psammites and metabasites within the axial region of the ArdrishaigAnticline is predicted by these high measured fluxes. KEY WORDS: 3-D flow; Dalradian; SW Scotland; greenschist facies; metabasites ^*Corresponding author. Telephone: 0131-650-5885 Fax: 0131-668-3184 E-mail: askelton{at}glg.ed.ac.uk     

The Lilloise Intrusion, East Greenland: Fractionation of a Hydrous Alkali Picritic Magma

The Lilloise is an 8 km4 km layered mafic intrusion which cutsthe plateau basalts of the East Greenland Tertiary province.Lilloise was intruded at 50 Ma, 4–5 Ma after cessationof the voluminous tholeiitic magmatism which accompanied riftingof the East Greenland continental margin. Lilloise is unusualamong layered intrusions in the province because it had a hydrousalkali picrite parent magma and generated a late-stage effluxof magmatic water from the intrusion into the aureole rocks.The three major subdivisions of the layered rocks are: olivine-clinopyroxene,olivine-clinopyroxene-plagioclase and plagioclase-amphibolecumulates. Massive subsidence of the intrusion before completesolidification resulted in deformation of the internal layeringand downturn of the bedding in the surrounding basalts. A strikingfeature of the intrusion is the injection of the layered rocksby a plexus of magmatic sheets which formed at the time of subsidence.The composition of these sheets is representative of the fractionationtrend of the intrusion and ranges from hawaiite to mildly saturatedquartz trachyte. The fractionation trend is successfully explainedby extraction of cumulus minerals of the layered rocks froma parent magma represented by alkali picrite dykes of a contemporaneousregional dyke swarm. Saturated to mildly over-saturated syenitesare a major component of the East Greenland province and theLilloise intrusion is illustrative of an important magmatictrend towards such compositions at this stage in the openingof the North Atlantic. KEY WORDS: Lilloise intrusion; East Greenland; alkali picrite magma; layered intrusion; magmatic differentiation ^*Corraponding author     

The solubility of [4H]Si defects in α-quartz and their role in the formation of molecular water and related weakening on heating

The nature of the solubility of water as [4H]_Si defects in quartz, and their role in providing a source of molecular water on heating, is investigated. Existing ab inito energy calculations on the incorporation of water in quartz are used to show that energetically 4H for Si substitution is likely to constitute the most prevalent mode of water uptake on the atomic scale in quartz under equilibrium conditions, and that the planar defects previously observed by a number of different authors by electron microscopy in wet quartz are likely to be planar rafts of aggregated [4H]_Si defects which are formed on supersaturation. These new conclusions call into question the previous identification of the planar defects as high pressure water clusters and require that their role in the production of molecular water in the context of recent theories of hydrolytic weakening be re-assessed. Accordingly the existing ab initio results have been used to establish the characteristics of the phase diagram for the system quartz-water in the temperature and pressure range of interest in hydrolytic weakening. Additional electron-optical experiments on wet quartz show that, on annealing at temperature in the electron microscope, similar planar defects develop in wet quartz by a diffusion process. In the context of existing theories of hydrolytic weakening it is now proposed that the conversion of [4H]_Si defects to molecular water, where this is dictated by the equilibrium phase diagram, leads to a relatively large increase in volume and to the appearance of the bubbles of free water and the nucleation of associated prismatic dislocation loops of Burgers vector b=1/3 a $\langle 11\bar 20\rangle $ as previously observed. Ultimately the development of these loops leads to dislocation-induced plasticity.     

A search for endogenous amino acids in the Martian meteorite EETA79001

The Antarctic shergottite EETA79001 is believed to be an impact-ejected fragment of the planet Mars. Samples of the carbonate (white druse) and the basaltic (lithology A) components from this meteorite have been found to contain amino acids at a level of approximately 1 ppm and 0.4 ppm, respectively. The detected amino acids consist almost exclusively of the L-enantiomers of the amino acids commonly found in proteins, and are thus terrestrial contaminants. There is no indication of the presence of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid, one of the most abundant amino acids in several carbonaceous chondrites. The relative abundances of amino acids in the druse material resemble those in Antarctic ice, suggesting that the source of the amino acids may be ice meltwater. The level of amino acids in EETA79001 druse is not by itself sufficient to account for the 600-700 ppm of volatile C reported in druse samples and suggested to be from endogenous martian organic material. However, estimates of total terrestrial organic C present in the druse material based on our amino acid analyses and the organic C content of polar ice can account for most of the reported putative organic C in EETA79001 druse.     

Radiometric constraints on hydrothermal circulation in cooling granite plutons

Improved precision of radiometric dating of ore deposits can provide information about the thermal history of hydrothermal circulation in cooling plutons. In Jales a Hercynian porphyritic two-mica granite and pre-Ordovician mica schists are cut and intensely altered by the Campo gold-quartz vein. The unaltered granite must be younger than 320 ± 6 Ma, and gives mica Rb-Sr ages of 308.5 ± 2.4 (1) Ma (muscovite) and 294.5 ± 1.1 Ma (biotite). Alteration muscovites from the granite give a weighted mean Rb-Sr age of 308.1 ± 1.5 Ma, and a mean ³⁹Ar-⁴⁰Ar age of 300.7 ± 2.8 Ma. Alteration muscovites from the mica schists give similar ³⁹Ar-⁴⁰Ar ages, averaging 303.0 ± 2.8 Ma. The results suggest that circulation of the Campo mineralising fluids took place no more than 2–4 Ma after the granite cooled through the muscovite Rb-Sr closure temperature, about 500 °C, and that subsequent cooling to biotite closure at about 300 °C took place at less than 14°C/Ma. The mean cooling rate following emplacement was 15 to 25 °C/Ma. The most detailed comparable published data, for the Cornubian ore field, imply much faster cooling rates.     

Structural control of tertiary Au-Ag-bearing breccias in an extensional environment,Nelson area,Southern Nevada,USA

Gold-silver mineralization in the Nelson area of southern Nevada was controlled by structures associated with intrusion of an east-west oriented pluton. Flatlying breccias formed during intrusion have allowed passive flooding of highly permeable zones and deposition of mineralized quartz and calcite. Steep fractures were formed in the pluton and immediate country rock during cooling, and later reactivated by north-south extension. These fractures have channelled fluids, and some have been the sites of hydrothermal eruptions which produced further brecciation and deposition of mineralized quartzcalcite veins. The mineralizing fluid was water which was boiling at or near 100 °C. The calcite deposited by this water has ¹³C = –5.4 to –7.1, and ¹⁸O = +5.8 to +11.3, and the water was probably meteoric in origin. Mineralization had an epithermal style, with strong local structural control, rather than deep-sourced regional detachment-related hydrothermal origin.     

在应用计算机解释印度拉贾斯坦邦西部贾伊萨梅尔地区比尔马尼亚盆地地质特征中地质数据的分析

最近十年来研究的地质数据包括比尔马尼亚盆地岩相的地层、岩性、岩石、粒度和地球化学资料。这些数据已进入专用的“Ｆｏｘｓｅｄｂａ”数据表以建立比尔马尼亚盆地的数据总库。采用Ｈａｒｗａｒｄ制图法在ｘ－ｙ轴（粒度参数和地球化学数据）上作图。该盆地各种岩相的环境解释模式都配备有“图象”软件。最后,上述资料被用来解释所推断的比尔马尼亚盆地各种岩相的沉积环境。该盆地的沉积充填物含硅质碎屑、碳酸盐和磷块岩相的混合组合,指示变幻不定的沉积环境,即有若干具间歇海进事件的沉积海退事件。结果,磷块岩主要形成一种浅水正化学沉积和异化学沉积的复杂组合。     

Possible creep-related tilt precursors obtained in the Central Apennines (Italy) and in the Southern Caucasus (Georgia)

Daily averaged tilt component data from two sites of the Central Apennines (Italy) and of the Southern Caucasus (Georgia), respectively, revealed intermediate-term tilts as possible precursors to earthquakes (M=3.0÷4.7) which occurred in the above-mentioned seismic areas within a distance of 50 km from the sites. A good temporal correlation as well as a fair spatial correspondence between these residual tilts (with amplitude and duration of some microradians and months, respectively) and main shocks were pointed out, by removing both secular trends and seasonal thermoelastic effects from the raw tilts. An attempt was made to justify the above-mentioned results, based on the assumption that the observed intermediate-term preseismic tilts are the manifestation of aseismic creep episodes of comparable duration in the fault materials of thrust faults close to the tilt sites. The mechanism refers to a strain field slowly propagating from the preparation focal area to the tilt site, through crustal blocks separated by weak transition zones. This propagation is thought to be the cause of the local aseismic fault slip recorded by the tiltmeters. Previously, both discrete structures and strain propagation effects were revealed in the Central Apennines and are thought also to exist in the Southern Caucasus. As in the past, the rheological properties of fault materials are revealed as viscoelastic ones. In fact, creep equations obtained by applying several viscoelastic models on our data, proved to fit quite well some of the observed tilt precursors, producing viscosity and rigidity values very similar to those reported in literature.Professor Petr Viktorovich Manjgaladze died during the writing of this paper     

Room temperature solid-state detectors for Gamma ray burst spectroscopy

We have evaluated several solid state detectors which offer excellent energy resolution at room temperature for soft X-rays. For soft X-rays (< 1 keV to 20 keV), silicon P-intrinsic-N (PIN) and avalanche-mode photodiodes (APD's) have been studied. Using commercially available charge sensitive pre-amplifiers, these photodiodes provide 1 keV resolution without cooling. Their detection efficiencies are limited to about 20 keV and 15 keV, respectively. To overcome this constraint, we have studied thick (1.5 mm) PIN detectors made by Micron Semiconductor Ltd., U.K., as well as compound semiconducting materials with high Z constituents such as CZT and PbI₂. PbI₂ allows high detection efficiencies of photons up to 100 keV with detectors 100–300 microns thick. These new detectors offer the capability to study the low-energy spectral evolution of Gamma ray bursts (GRBs). A matrix of these detectors could be used as an image plane detector with moderate spatial resolution for imaging.     

The development of radio astronomy at Hartebeesthoek

The development of radio astronomy at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory in South Africa is described. The Hartebeesthoek site was established originally by NASA as one of three Deep Space Stations equipped with 26-m parabolic reflector antennas. It was first used for radio astronomy by South Africa in terms of the NASA host nation agreement which allowed for its use at times when the facility was not needed for its primary purpose of tracking space probes. After NASA withdrew from South Africa in 1975, the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research took over the site and the 26-m parabolic reflector antenna, which NASA had abandoned in position, and established it as a national observatory. The development of the facility to the stage where it could support a variety of observing programmes such as continuum observations and mapping, spectroscopy and pulsar timing is described as well as the role played by the Observatory in global programmes of very long baseline interferometry.