Biomediation of calcrete at the gold anomaly of the Barns prospect,Gawler Craton,South Australia

Anomalously high Au concentrations (2.5 to 50 ppb) in regolith carbonate accumulations, such as calcrete and calcareous sands in aeolian sand dunes overlying Au mineralisation of the Gawler Craton, South Australia, show a marked covariance of Au with K, Mg and most notably Ca. This relationship appears to be linked to the authigenic formation of smectites and carbonates within the aeolian dunes in the region. However, little is known about the processes involved in the formation of carbonates under semi-arid and arid conditions. In this study the geochemical properties of aeolian dunes along several depth profiles of 2 to 4 m are investigated in order to assess the relationship between Au mobility and calcrete formation. In the profiles a strongly systematic relationship between Au and the increasing Ca–Mg contents at depth highlights the close association between the enrichment of Au in the calcrete and the underlying hydrothermal mineralisation. Intense calcrete formation and concurrent Au enrichment also occurs in the vicinity of roots penetrating the dune. Thin section petrography and cathodoluminescence show that most of the calcrete in the regolith profiles is micritic; some sparic crystallites have also been identified. To demonstrate the presence of microbial processes that may mediate the formation of calcrete, samples from a depth profile in the dune were taken under sterile conditions. After amendment with urea and incubation of up to 24 h, up to 18 mg/l of NH₄⁺ were detected in near surface samples. At depth of 2.3 m 1 mg/l NH₄⁺ were detected compared to a control that contained below 0.05 mg/l NH₄⁺. These results suggest that the genesis of calcrete and pedogenic carbonate in the area may be partly biologically mediated via processes such as the metabolic breakdown of urea by resident microbiota which generates a pH and pCO₂ environment conducive to the precipitation of carbonate. In the process of urea breakdown organic Au complexes such as Au-amino acid complexes may become destabilised in solution and Au may be co-precipitated, resulting in the fine, non-particulate distribution of Au throughout the micritic calcrete carbonate. In conclusion, this study suggests a coupled mechanism of biologically mediated and inorganic mechanisms that lead to the formation of Au-in-calcrete anomalies.     

A review of mortality maps included in the annual reports on vital statistics for Ireland, 1864-1998

Since 1864, some 135 reports have been produced examining marriages, birth and deaths for Ireland. The reports produced during the period prior to World War I are notable for the maps and charts that are included and the level of detail provided. Recent reports have failed to include mortality maps, while those produced since 1950 generally show a declining level of detail.     

Basin evolution and palaeoenvironmental variability of the thermokarst lake El'gene‐Kyuele,Arctic Siberia

Thermokarst lakes are a widespread feature of the Arctic tundra, in which highly dynamic processes are closely connected with current and past climate changes. We investigated late Quaternary sediment dynamics, basin and shoreline evolution, and environmental interrelations of Lake El'gene‐Kyuele in the NE Siberian Arctic (latitude 71°17′N, longitude 125°34′E). The water‐body displays thaw‐lake characteristics cutting into both Pleistocene Ice Complex and Holocene alas sediments. Our methods are based on grain size distribution, mineralogical composition, TOC/N ratio, stable carbon isotopes and the analysis of plant macrofossils from a 3.5‐m sediment profile at the modern eastern lake shore. Our results show two main sources for sediments in the lake basin: terrigenous diamicton supplied from thermokarst slopes and the lake shore, and lacustrine detritus that has mainly settled in the deep lake basin. The lake and its adjacent thermokarst basin rapidly expanded during the early Holocene. This climatically warmer than today period was characterized by forest or forest tundra vegetation composed of larches, birch trees and shrubs. Woodlands of both the HTM and the Late Pleistocene were affected by fire, which potentially triggered the initiation of thermokarst processes resulting later in lake formation and expansion. The maximum lake depth at the study site and the lowest limnic bioproductivity occurred during the longest time interval of ～7 ka starting in the Holocene Thermal Maximum and lasting throughout the progressively cooler Neoglacial, whereas partial drainage and an extensive shift of the lake shoreline occurred ～0.9 cal. ka BP. Correspondingly, this study discusses different climatic and environmental drivers for the dynamics of a thermokarst basin.     

Convective flux in the solar photosphere as determined from fluctuations

The fractional convective flux πF _c (x _c /πF) is computed for the effective level x _c = logτ _c = 0.125, using bi-dimensional co-spectra for relative continuum-brightness fluctuations ΔI and radial velocity fluctuations ΔV measured for the C _i 5052.16 spectral line. A more uncertain flux for x _Fe ≈ - 0.9 is obtained for the Fe _i 5049.83 line. Since the results (Figure 1) incorporate current uncertainties in RMS _ΔI , RMS _ΔV and RMS _ΔT (x), where ΔT are photospheric temperature fluctuations, they must be considered qualitative until these uncertainties are appreciably reduced. The requirement that the fractional convective flux < 1, places restrictions on these uncertainties which suggest that current RMS _ΔT (x)'s are too large. The results confirm the importance of overshoot at the top of the solar hydrogen convection zone and suggest a non-negligible fractional convective flux throughout the lower photosphere. Qualitatively, they do not agree with the predictions of the generally-used, local, mixing-length theory or those of Parsons' (1969) modified mixing-length theory. However, qualitative agreement with the predictions of the non-local, generalized mixing-length theory of Spiegel (1963) and with the non-local theory of Ulrich (1970) cannot be considered as observational confirmation of these theories.     

The GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam/Groupe de Recherche de Gèodésie Spatiale satellite-only and combined gravity field models: EIGEN-GL04S1 and EIGEN-GL04C

The recent improvements in the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) tracking data processing at GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ) and Groupe de Recherche de Géodésie Spatiale (GRGS) Toulouse, the availability of newer surface gravity data sets in the Arctic, Antarctica and North-America, and the availability of a new mean sea surface height model from altimetry processing at GFZ gave rise to the generation of two new global gravity field models. The first, EIGEN-GL04S1, a satellite-only model complete to degree and order 150 in terms of spherical harmonics, was derived by combination of the latest GFZ Potsdam GRACE-only (EIGEN-GRACE04S) and GRGS Toulouse GRACE/LAGEOS (EIGEN-GL04S) mean field solutions. The second, EIGEN-GL04S1 was combined with surface gravity data from altimetry over the oceans and gravimetry over the continents to derive a new high-resolution global gravity field model called EIGEN-GL04C. This model is complete to degree and order 360 and thus resolves geoid and gravity anomalies at half- wavelengths of 55 km at the equator. A degree-dependent combination method has been applied in order to preserve the high accuracy from the GRACE satellite data in the lower frequency band of the geopotential and to form a smooth transition to the high-frequency information coming from the surface data. Compared to pre-CHAMP global high-resolution models, the accuracy was improved at a spatial resolution of 200 km (half-wavelength) by one order of magnitude to 3 cm in terms of geoid heights. The accuracy of this model (i.e. the commission error) at its full spatial resolution is estimated to be 15 cm. The model shows a reduced artificial meridional striping and an increased correlation of EIGEN-GL04C-derived geostrophic meridional currents with World Ocean Atlas 2001 (WOA01) data. These improvements have led to select EIGEN-GL04C for JASON-1 satellite altimeter data reprocessing. Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Geology and Metallogenesis of the Sawayaerdun Gold Deposit in the Southwestern Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, China

The Sawayaerdun gold deposit, located in Wuqia County, Southwest Tianshan, China, occurs in Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian low‐grade metamorphic carbonaceous turbidites. The orebodies are controlled by a series of NE‐NNE‐trending, brittle–ductile shear zones. Twenty‐four gold mineralized zones have been recognized in the Sawayaerdun ore deposit. Among these, the up to 4‐km‐long and 200‐m wide No. IV mineralized zone is economically the most important. The average gold grade is 1–6 g/t. Gold reserves of the Sawayaerdun deposit have been identified at approximately 37 tonnes and an inferred resource of 123 tonnes. Hydrothermal alteration is characterized by silicification, pyritization, arsenopyritization, sericitization, carbonatization and chloritization. On the basis of field evidence and petrographic analysis, five stages of vein emplacement and hydrothermal mineralization can be distinguished: stage 1, early quartz stage, characterized by the occurrence of quartz veins; stage 2, arsenopyrite–pyrite–quartz stage, characterized by the formation of auriferous quartz veinlets and stockworks; stage 3, polymetallic sulfide quartz stage, characterized by the presence of auriferous polymetallic sulfide quartz veinlets and stockworks; stage 4, antimony–quartz stage, characterized by the formation of stibnite–jamesonite quartz veins; and stage 5, quartz–carbonate vein stage. Stages 2 and 3 represent the main gold mineralization, with stage 4 representing a major antimony mineralization episode in the Sawayaerdun deposit. Two types of fluid inclusion, namely H₂O–NaCl and H₂O–CO₂–NaCl types, have been recognized in quartz and calcite. Aqueous inclusions show a wide range of homogenization temperatures from 125 to 340°C, and can be correlated with the mineralization stage during which the inclusions formed. Similarly, salinities and densities of these fluids range for each stage of mineralization from 2.57 to 22 equivalent wt% NaCl and 0.76 to 1.05 g/cm³, respectively. The ore‐forming fluids thus are representative of a medium‐ to low‐temperature, low‐ to medium‐salinity H₂O–NaCl–CO₂–CH₄–N₂ system. The δ³⁴S_CDT values of sulfides associated with mineralization fall into a narrow range of ?3.0 to +2.6‰ with a mean of +0.1‰. The δ¹³C_PDB values of dolomite and siderite from the Sawayaerdun gold deposit range from ?5.4 to ?0.6‰, possibly reflecting derivation of the carbonate carbon from a mixed magmatic/sedimentary source. Changes in physico‐chemical conditions and composition of the hydrothermal fluids, water–rock exchange and immiscibility of hydrothermal fluids are inferred to have played important roles in the ore‐forming process of the Sawayaerdun gold–antimony deposit.     

GIS互操作的实现途径评述

文中主要探讨了开放式GIS的规程和关键技术,促进数据、系统和机构的互操作,总结了世界上著名公司最近GIS产品实现互操作的技术途径,给出了国际上有关GIS互操作、开放式GIS研究的最新进展以及近期发展方向。