Fractionation,hybridisation and magma-mixing in the Kialineq centre East Greenland

The igneous rocks of the Kialineq centre on the coast of East Greenland at 67°N include a number of quartz syenite and granite plutons intruded 35my BP. These are subvolcanic bodies emplaced by cauldron subsidence and with ring-dike and bell-jar form. Associated with the major intrusions is an extensive acid-basic mixed magma complex. Two-liquid structures, chilling of basic against acid magma, pillows of basic in acid, and net-veining of basic by acid magma, are superbly displayed. The basic magma was of a transitional or alkaline type and underwent varying degrees of fractionation in a regime of repeated intrusions and diverse chambers. Heterogeneous hybrid rocks intermediate between basalt and quartz syenite are strongly developed and were formed by repeated mechanical mixing of contrasting magmas. The energy for this mixing probably came in the main from cauldron-block subsidence. The quartz syenite magma, which itself fractionated towards granite, has initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios the same as the basic magma and is itself believed to be a fractionation product of alkali basalt magma.     

Fe‐Mg interdiffusion profiles in rimmed forsterite grains in the Allende matrix: Time–temperature constraints for the parent body metamorphism

The Allende matrix is dominated by micron‐sized lath‐shaped fayalitic olivine grains with a narrow compositional range (Fa_40–50). Fayalitic olivines also occur as rims around forsterite grains in chondrules and isolated forsterite fragments in the matrix or as veins cross‐cutting the grains. Allende is a type 3 CV carbonaceous chondrite having experienced a moderate thermal metamorphism. There is therefore a strong chemical disequilibrium between the large forsterite grains and the fayalite‐rich fine‐grained matrix. Chemical gradients at interfaces are poorly developed and thus not accessible using conventional techniques. Here, we used analytical transmission electron microscopy to study the microstructure of the fayalite‐rich matrix grains and interfaces with forsterite fragments. We confirm that fayalitic grains in the matrix and fayalitic rims around forsterite fragments have the same properties, suggesting a common origin after the accretion of the parent body of Allende. Composition profiles at the rim/forsterite interfaces exhibit a plateau in the rim (typically Fa₄₅), a compositional jump of 10 Fa% at the interface, and a concentration gradient in the forsterite grain. Whatever the studied forsterite grain or whatever the nature of the interface, the Fe‐Mg profiles in forsterite grains have the same length of about 1.5 μm. This strongly suggests that the composition profiles were formed by solid‐state diffusion during the thermal metamorphism episode. Time–temperature couples associated with the diffusion process during thermal metamorphism are deduced from profile modeling. Considering the uncertainties on the diffusion coefficient value, we found that the peak temperature in Allende is ranging from 425 to 505 °C.     

A proposed new type of arsenian pyrite: Composition, nanostructure and geological significance

This report describes a new form of arsenian pyrite, called As³⁺-pyrite, in which As substitutes for Fe [(Fe,As)S₂], in contrast to the more common form of arsenian pyrite, As¹⁻-pyrite, in which As¹⁻ substitutes for S [Fe(As,S)₂]. As³⁺-pyrite has been observed as colloformic overgrowths on As-free pyrite in a hydrothermal gold deposit at Yanacocha, Peru. XPS analyses of the As³⁺-pyrite confirm that As is present largely as As³⁺. EMPA analyses show that As³⁺-pyrite incorporates up to 3.05 at % of As and 0.53 at. %, 0.1 at. %, 0.27 at. %, 0.22 at. %, 0.08 at. % and 0.04 at. % of Pb, Au, Cu, Zn, Ni, and Co, respectively. Incorporation of As³⁺ in the pyrite could be written like: As³⁺+yAu⁺+1-y(□)⇔2Fe²⁺; where Au⁺ and vacancy (□) help to maintain the excess charge. HRTEM observations reveal a sharp boundary between As-free pyrite and the first overgrowth of As³⁺-pyrite (20-40 nm thick) and co-linear lattice fringes indicating epitaxial growth of As³⁺-pyrite on As-free pyrite. Overgrowths of As³⁺-pyrite onto As-free pyrite can be divided into three groups on the basis of crystal size, 8-20 nm, 100-300 nm and 400-900 nm, and the smaller the crystal size the higher the concentration of toxic arsenic and trace metals. The Yanacocha deposit, in which As³⁺-pyrite was found, formed under relatively oxidizing conditions in which the dominant form of dissolved As in the stability field of pyrite is As³⁺; in contrast, reducing conditions are typical of most environments that host As¹⁻-pyrite. As³⁺-pyrite will likely be found in other oxidizing hydrothermal and diagenetic environments, including high-sulfidation epithermal deposits and shallow groundwater systems, where probably kinetically controlled formation of nanoscale crystals such as observed here would be a major control on incorporation and release of As³⁺ and toxic heavy metals in oxidizing natural systems.     

A Database for Volatile Organic Compounds

The database for volatile organic compounds (VOC data base) was created with the aim of providing an overview of tropospheric hydrocarbon measurements. The data base contains 202 substances, for which atmospheric and useful kinetic data such as rate coefficients, photolysis frequencies, mixing ratios, emission data and ozone formation potentials are compiled from available literature. The database file can be downloaded without charge from http://www.physchem.uni-wuppertal.de/voc-database. Registered users will be informed about the appearance of updates.     

Nitrogen and noble gases in a glass sample from the LEW88516 shergottite

Abstract— A glass separate from the LEW88516 shergottite was analyzed by step-wise combustion for N and noble gases to determine whether it contained trapped gas similar in composition to the martian atmosphere-like component previously observed in lithology C of EETA79001. Excesses of ⁴⁰Ar and ¹²⁹Xe were in fact observed in this glass, although the amounts of these excesses are ≤20% of those seen in the latter meteorite, and are comparable to the amounts seen in whole-rock analyses of LEW88516. The isotopic composition of N in LEW88516 does not show an enrichment in ¹⁵N commensurate with the amount of isotopically-heavy N expected from the noble gases excesses. One must posit some extreme assumptions about the nature of the N components present in LEW88516 in order to allow the presence of the trapped nitrogen component. Alternatively, the N has somehow been decoupled from the noble gases, and was either never present or has been lost.     

Solar wind noble gases and nitrogen in metal from lunar soil 68501

Abstract Noble gases and N were analyzed in handpicked metal separates from lunar soil 68501 by a combination of step-wise combustions and pyrolyses. Helium and Ne were found to be unfractionated with respect to one another when normalized to solar abundances, for both the bulk sample and for all but the highest temperature steps. However, they are depleted relative to Ar, Kr and Xe by at least a factor of 5. The heavier gases exhibit mass-dependent fractionation relative to solar system abundance ratios but appear unfractionated, both in the bulk metal and in early temperature steps, when compared to relative abundances derived from lunar ilmenite 71501 by chemical etching, recently put forward as representing the abundance ratios in solar wind. Estimates of the contribution of solar energetic particles (SEP) to the originally implanted solar gases, derived from a basic interpretation of He and Ne isotopes, yield values of about 10%. Analysis of the Ar isotopes requires a minimum of 20% SEP, and Kr isotopes, using our preferred composition for solar wind Kr, yield a result that overlaps both of these values. It is possible to reconcile the data from these gases if significant loss of solar wind Ar, Kr and presumably Xe has occurred relative to the SEP component, most likely by erosive processes that are mass independent, although mass-dependent losses (Ar > Kr > Xe) cannot be excluded. If such losses did occur, the SEP contribution to the solar implanted gases must have been no more than a few percent. Nitrogen is a mixture of indigenous meteoritic N, whose isotopic composition is inferred to be relatively light, and implanted solar N, which has probably undergone diffusive redistribution and fractionation. If the heavy noble gases have not undergone diffusive loss, then N/Ar in the solar wind can be inferred to be at least several times the accepted solar ratio. The solar wind N appears, even after correction for fractionation effects, to have a minimum δ¹⁵N value ≥+150‰ and a more probable value ≥+200‰.     

Relative-rate study of the gas-phase reaction of hydroxy radicals with difunctional organic nitrates at 298 K and atmospheric pressure

Rate coefficients for the reactions of difunctional nitrates with atmospherically important OH radicals are not currently available in the literature. This study represents the first determination of rate coefficients for a number of C(3) and C(4) carbonyl nitrates and dinitrates with OH radicals in a 38 l glass reaction chamber at 1000 mbar total pressure of synthetic air by 298±2 K using a relative kinetic technique.The following rate coefficients (in units of 10^-12 cm³ molecule^-1 s^-1) were obtained: 1,2-propandiol dinitrate, <0.31; 1,2-butandiol dinitrate, 1.70±0.32; 2,3-butandiol dinitrate, 1.07±0.26; -nitrooxyacetone, <0.43; 1-nitrooxy-2-butanone, 0.91±0.16; 3-nitrooxy-2-butanone, 1.27±0.14; 1,4-dinitrooxy-2-butene, 15.10±1.45; 3,4-dinitrooxy-1-butene, 10.10±0.50.The possible importance of reaction of OH as an atmospheric sink for the compounds compared to other loss processes is considered.     

Heat-Stress Regions in Israel

Summary The data of 20 climatic stations have been examined to determine heat-stress regions in Israel. The data was interpolated and a model was developed for the calculation of direct and diffuse solar radiation. Thermal perception was calculated according to the energy-balance model of man which considers all relevant energy fluxes affecting the human thermo-regulatory system. It is based on the ‘Comfort Equation’ of Fanger (1972) and the ‘Klima-Michel-Modell’ of Jendritzky et al. (1990). Earlier approaches for the assessment of thermal environmental conditions have been done by Sohar (1980), based on the discomfort index. The average daily duration of severe heat stress which a person is exposed to during various activities in summer months has been analyzed in order to classify the thermal environmental conditions in Israel. Statistical evaluations have led to six heat-stress clusters and regions, respectively. A model calculating the spatial development of climatic data between two measuring stations was set up and served to determine the location of the distinctions between the regions. The resulting heat-stress map shows the different heat-stress regions in Israel. The regions are characterized by graphs that show the average monthly duration of light, medium and severe heat-stress. The average duration of severe heat-stress varies in July from approximately 3 hours along the coastal strip and in the higher mountain regions to approximately 13 hours in the Arava. Received September 3, 1996 Revised June 23, 1997