Petrographic variation in the Springfield (No. 9) coal in Western Kentucky

The Springfield (Western Kentucky No. 9) coal of the Carbondale Formation (Middle Pennsylvanian) in the Western Kentucky Coal Field of the Illinois Basin was sampled in eleven mines from one to three channels of three equal benches. The rank of the coal is high-volatile C bituminous in the Moorman Syncline and in the Henderson Basin and high-volatile B bituminous in the Webster Syncline. The percentage of total vitrinite macerals and of total vitrinite plus liptinite was found to decrease significantly from the bottom bench through to the top bench. In a comparison of the sources of variation within the set of maceral data it was found that the only significant variation in the vitrinite and vitrinite plus liptinite percentages was between the benches. Both the rank of the coal and the maceral percentages are varying in a predictable manner.     

Demethylated hopanes in crude oils and their applications in petroleum geochemistry

Analyses of some Australian crude oils show that many contain varying concentrations of A/ B-ring demethylated hopanes. These range from C₂₆ to C₃₄ and have been identified from their retention times and mass spectral data as 17α(H)-25-norhopanes. Comparison of hopane and demethylated hopane concentrations and distributions in source-related, biodegraded oils suggests that demethylated hopanes are biotransformation products of the hopanes. Further, it appears that the process occurs at a late stage of biodegradation, after partial degradation of steranes has occurred. Demethylated hopanes are proposed as biomarkers for this stage of severe biodegradation. The presence of these compounds in apparently undegraded crude oils is thought to be due to the presence of biodegraded crude oil residues which have been dissolved by the undegraded crude oil during accumulation in the reservoir sands. The timing of hopane demethylation, relative to the degradation of other compounds, has been assessed and the progressive changes in crude oil composition with increasing extent of biodegradation have been identified. The use of demethylated hopanes as maturity parameters for severely biodegraded crude oils, and the applicability of established biomarker maturity parameters to such oils, are also discussed.     

A study of the 2.5–25 μm spectrum of H2O ice

We present new absorbance spectra of the 3-, 6- and 12-μm features of amorphous and crystalline H₂O ice obtained between 10 and 140 K. Three sets of measurements have been made. In series I, the ice film was initially deposited on to a CsI substrate at 10 K and successive spectra were then obtained at intermediate temperatures as the ice was warmed up to 140 K. The second set, series II, comprises spectra for ice films deposited and measured at temperatures between 10 and 140 K. In the third set of measurements, series III, spectra were obtained for an ice film deposited at 140 K and then at intermediate temperatures as the film was cooled down to 10 K. The series I and II results show that the ice undergoes an amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition in the 110–120 K range. The 3- and 12-μm bands have similar trends in full width at half-maximum (FWHM) and opposite peak wavelength shifts. The temperature behaviour of the 6-μm band is different, as no clear phase transition temperature can be discerned from its FWHM and peak wavelength position data. In the series III spectra the peak wavelength positions and FWHM of the three bands remain relatively constant, thus demonstrating the stability of the crystalline phase against thermal cycling. A comparison between the laboratory results and astronomical spectra suggests that the identification of the librational band of H₂O ice in OH 231.8 + 4.2 may be incorrect.     

Paleomagnetism of gabbros of the Early Proterozoic Blachford Lake Intrusive Suite and the Easter Island dyke,Great Slave Lake,NWT: Possible evidence for the earliest continental drift

The Caribou Lake gabbro, part of the Blachford Lake Intrusive Suite accurately dated at –2186±10 mA, has a predominantNW–/SE+ magnetization with a mean, irrespective of sign, ofD=119°,I=50°, ₉₅=5° and a palaeopole 14°N, 064°W,A ₉₅=5°; it has not proved possible to determine if the magnetization is primary. The Easter Island dyke, less well-dated in the range –2200 to –2500 Ma, has a predominantWNW+ magnetization, whose mean, when corrected for an 8° tilt, isD=288°,I=46°, ₉₅=5 and palaeopole is 32°S, 2°W,A ₉₅=5°; the magnetization is probably primary. A vertical magnetization (D), not significantly different from the present field, occurs sporadically in both units and is considered to be Late Phanerozoic in age. Palaeopoles from the Caribou Lake gabbro and the Easter Island dyke, together with those already known from Early Proterozoic intrusives of the Archaean Slave Structural Province, roughly define a swath (the Slave Track) which maps the motion of the Slave Province relative to the geomagnetic axis during this interval. The corresponding array of palaeopoles (the Superior Track) from the Superior Structural Province does not fall in the same place. Hence it would appear that Slave and Superior were not in their present relative positions in the Early Proterozoic in disagreement with arguments that have been made for a fixed supercontinent during much of the Proterozoic. Mid-Proterozoic paleomagnetic signatures indicate that Slave and Superior had assumed their present relative position by about –1750 mA. These Early Proterozoic relative motions are the earliest for which there is palaeomagnetic evidence.Earth Physics Branch Contribution No. 1111.     

Tectonic boundaries within the Grenville province of the Canadian shield

Recent work in a previously little-known part of the Central Gneiss Belt of the southwestern Grenville Province has outlined a regional structural pattern made by a number of geologically distinctive domains that are separated by broad ductile shear zones. Characteristics rock assemblages, metamorphism, geophysical signatures and structural trends are modified or truncated at domain margins. Bounding high strain zones contain mylonite and other forms of tectonically modified gneiss, formed under at least middle amphibolite facies conditions, within which kinematic indicators imply a northwesterly sense of overriding or lateral sliding between adjacent crustal masses. Similar kinematics also apply at the margin of the Central Metasedimentary Belt to the southeast and along the Grenville Front to the northwest. A scenario involving northwesterly stacking of large crustal blocks and slices at relatively deep level can account for the observed relationships and implies a period of crustal thickening that may represent the culmination of the Grenvillian Orogeny in this region.     

Ca-Fe-Mg olivines: phase relations and a solution model

Reversed phase equilibrium experiments in the system (Ca, Mg, Fe)₂SiO₄ provide four tielines at P?1 bar and 1 kbar and 800° C–1,100° C. These tielines have been used to model the solution properties of the olivine quadrilateral following the methods described by Davidson et al. (1981) for quadrilateral clinopyroxenes. The discrepancy between the calculated phase relations and the experimentally determined tielines is within the uncertainty of the experiments. The solution properties of quadrilateral olivines can be described by a non-convergent site-disorder model that allows for complete partitioning of Ca on the M2 site, highly disordered Fe-Mg cation distributions and limited miscibility between high-Ca and low-Ca olivines. The ternary data presented in this paper together with binary solution models for the joins Fo-Mo and Fa-Kst have been used to evaluate two solution parameters: $$\begin{gathered} F^0 \equiv 2(\mu _{{\rm M}o}^0 - \mu _{{\rm K}st}^0 ) + \mu _{Fa}^0 - \mu _{Fo}^0 = 12.660 (1.6) kJ, \hfill \\ \Delta G_*^0 \equiv \mu _{{\rm M}gFe}^0 + \mu _{FeMg}^0 - \mu _{Fo}^0 - \mu _{Fa}^0 = 7.030 (3.9) kJ. \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ . Ternary phase quilibrium data for olivines tightly constrain the value of F⁰, but not that for ΔG _* ⁰ which describes nonideality in Fe-Mg mixing. From this analysis, we infer a function for the apparent standard state energy of Kst: $$\begin{gathered} \mu _{{\rm K}st}^0 = - 102.79 \pm 0.8 - (T - 298)(0.137026) \hfill \\ + (T - 298 - T1n(T/298))(0.155519) \hfill \\ + (T - 298)^2 (2.8242E - 05)/2 \hfill \\ + (T - 298)^2 (2.9665E + 03)/(2T(298)^2 ) kJ \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ where T is in Kelvins and the 298 K value is relative to oxides.     

Towards better integration of ecology in palaeoecology: from proxies to indicators,from inference to understanding

The special issue titled “Putting the Ecology into Palaeoecology” stems from a session with that name that was held at the 2015 International Paleolimnological Association meeting (International Paleolimnology Symposium) in Lanzhou, China. We briefly describe the motivation for the session, and summarise the contributions to this special issue. Additionally, we discuss our perceptions and concerns about the progress, challenges and future directions of palaeolimnology, stressing the importance of meaningful integration of ecological principles and thinking into palaeoapproaches.     

Measuring the level of interstellar inheritance in the solar protoplanetary disk

The timing and extent to which the initial interstellar material was thermally processed provide fundamental constraints for models of the formation and early evolution of the solar protoplanetary disk. We argue that the nonsolar (solar Δ¹⁷O ≈ ?29‰) and near‐terrestrial (Δ¹⁷O ≈ 0‰) O‐isotopic compositions of the Earth and most extraterrestrial materials (Moon, Mars, asteroids, and comet dust) were established very early by heating of regions of the disk that were modestly enriched (dust/gas ≥ 5–10 times solar) in primordial silicates (Δ¹⁷O ≈ ?29‰) and water‐dominated ice (Δ¹⁷O ≈ 24‰) relative to the gas. Such modest enrichments could be achieved by grain growth and settling of dust to the midplane in regions where the levels of turbulence were modest. The episodic heating of the disk associated with FU Orionis outbursts were the likely causes of this early thermal processing of dust. We also estimate that at the time of accretion the CI chondrite and interplanetary dust particle parent bodies were composed of ~5–10% of pristine interstellar material. The matrices of all chondrites included roughly similar interstellar fractions. Whether this interstellar material avoided the thermal processing experienced by most dust during FU Orionis outbursts or was accreted by the disk after the outbursts ceased to be important remains to be established.