Experimental hydrogen isotope studies,II. Fractionations in the systems epidote-NaCl-H2O,epidote-CaCl2-H2O and epidote-seawater,and the hydrogen isotope composition of natural epidotes

The hydrogen isotope fractionation factors between epidote and aqueous 1 M and 4 M NaCl, 1 M CaCl₂ solutions, and between epidote and seawater, have been measured over the temperature range 250–550°C over which the degree of dissociation of dissolved species varies significantly. Measured fractionations at 350°C are decreased by up to 12‰, 9‰ and 7‰ relative to pure water in seawater, 1 M CaCl₂ and 1 M NaCl respectively, while above 500°C fractionations are not measurably dependent on fluid composition. Water—solution fractionation factors are derived which are generally applicable to the correction of mineral—water hydrogen isotope fractionations for the composition of the fluid phase.The hydrogen isotope compositions of natural epidotes are interpreted in the light of experimental fractionation data for situations where temperature, δD (fluid), and, in some cases, fluid chemistry, are independently known. Epidotes from active geothermal systems have hydrogen isotope quench temperatures consistent with or close to measured well temperatures unless the measured temperature has declined substantially since epidote formation or there is uncertainty in the D/H ratio of the water associated with the epidote because of isotopic heterogeneity in the well waters. Hydrothermal and metamorphic epidotes show closure temperatures of 175–225°C and 200–250°C. There is no evidence that retrograde metamorphic fluids, if present, are isotopically different from prograde fluids.The water-solution fractionations indicate strong solute-solvent interactions between 250 and 450°C and imply that both dissociated and associated species contribute to the fractionation effects through modification of the orientations and structure of the water molecules. Solute-solvent interactions become negligible at temperatures around 550°C.     

The Cartesian method for solving partial differential equations in spherical geometry

Cartesian coordinates are used to solve the nonlinear shallow-water equations on the sphere. The two-dimensional equations, in spherical coordinates, are first embedded in a three-dimensional system in a manner that preserves solutions of the two-dimensional system. That is, solutions of the three-dimensional system, with appropriate initial conditions, also solve the two-dimensional system on the surface of the sphere. The higher dimensional system is then transformed to Cartesian coordinates. Computations are limited to the surface of the sphere by projecting the equations, gradients, and solution onto the surface. The projected gradients are approximated by a weighted sum of function values on a neighboring stencil. The weights are determined by collocation using the spherical harmonics in trivariate polynomial form. That is, the weights are computed from the requirement that the projected gradients are near exact for a small set of spherical harmonics. The method is applicable to any distribution of points and two test cases are implemented on an icosahedral geodesic grid. The method is both vectorizable and parallelizable.     

Crystallization of chromite from nickel-iron sulphide melts

An experiment, in which an iron-nickel-copper sulphide melt was heated with synthetic chromite and then cooled, showed that substantial quantities of chromite had dissolved in the melt and had then recrystallized as euhedral crystals rimmed with magnetite. This experiment suggests that the unusual chromite (low in Mg and Al) which is associated with the sulphide phase in Western Australian nickel ores may have formed in a similar way.J.M.R. carried out the experimental part of this investigation as a post-graduate student at Flinders University, South Australia, working under a CSIRO extramural grant.     

Plagioclase—melt equilibria

The crystallization of plagioclase feldspar from magmatic liquid has been investigated experimentally under equilibrium conditions at 1 atm total pressure in the temperature range 1400-1095°C. Natural and synthetic melts of composition basalt to rhyolite were used, crystallizing plagioclase of composition An₈₉-An₃₂.The experimental results are analyzed initially in terms of elemental plagioclase/melt partition coefficients (D). D_Si is always less than unity and is invariant with temperature. D_A1 is always greater than unity and is relatively insensitive to temperature. D_Na is less than unity above 1200°C and is strongly dependent upon temperature. D_Ca is greater than unity below 1430°C and is strongly dependent upon temperature.Analysis of the temperature-dependence of equilibrium constants for plagioclase-melt formation and exchange reactions in which several mixing models for the melt are considered, leads to the conclusion that, with appropriate choice of melt-components, the melt-components mix quasi-ideally. At fixed temperature in the absence of H₂O, the equilibrium constant for the equilibrium of albite with the melt is insensitive to changes in melt-composition, and is insensitive to changes in pressure up to at least 10 kbars. As a consequence the composition of plagioclase crystallizing at known temperature and at low total pressure from a dry melt of known composition may be predicted []. However, the equilibrium constant is sensitive to changes in water pressure.The analysis further suggests that Na is intimately associated with tetrahedrally-coordinated Al in the melt, while Ca appears to be partitioned between at least two distinct melt-sites.     

Chronology of cenozoic igneous and tectonic events in the central Chilean Andes — latitudes 35° 30′ to 36°S

Sixty-six K---Ar dates from igneous rocks in the central Chilean Andes between 33° and 38°S are reported in this study. From these results and observed field relations, major Cenozoic volcanic and intrusive rock units are divided into chronologic groups representing igneous events.Volcanic units of Oligocene (33.3–27.9 m.y.) and Early Miocene (20.2 m.y.) age have been dated west of the present range at 33°S but neither the magnitude nor extent of these volcanic events has yet been established. Extensive Middle to Late Miocene volcanism (15.3–6.4 m.y.) followed by regional folding is recognized in the map area between 35° 20′ and 36°S. Partly contemporaneous Middle Miocene volcanism (18.4–13.7 m.y.) also followed by regional folding is recorded in the Andes between 37° 30′ and 38°S. General volcanic quiescence from 6.4 to 2.5 m.y. is observed in the map area but whether this volcanic hiatus is of regional significance is not known.The majority of the K---Ar dates document a history of nearly continuous volcanism throughout the last 2.5 m.y. in the map area. The abundant and diverse sequences of volcanic strata formed during this time, have been divided into four successive age groups which as map units show the evolution and distribution of latest volcanic activity.Landforms preserved by this volcanic series show that topographic relief similar to the present has prevailed during this time. Deep incision of rivers into young volcanic terrain, estimated to be on the order of 1–2 m/1000 years, has produced a complex volcanic and morphologic record.Four plutons dated in this study give ages of 62.0, 41.3, 19.5, and 7.0 m.y. No spatial pattern of emplacement is observed in the map area where three of these plutons are represented.Similarities in structural style, orientation and degree of deformation of Miocene and Mesozoic strata suggest that Late Miocene regional folding may have accounted for a significant part of the observed deformation in older basement strata previously ascribed to earlier orogenies.A regional comparison of ages of recognized igneous and tectonic event at different latitudes in the central and southern Andes shows the gross chronology of Cenozoic events which can be correlated with sea-floor spreading and subduction events.     

Lunar sample 15405: Remnant of a KREEP basalt-granite differentiated pluton

Large, coarse-grained fragments of granite, containing plagioclase, a silica polymorph, potash feldspar, and exsolved pyroxene, with minor ilmenite, a phosphate, Fe-metal, and troilite, occur in sample 15405. A similar coarse-grained clast type (KREEP-rich quartz-monzodiorite) has a similar mineralogy but contains more ilmenite, large phosphates, less silica, and lacks troilite. One unusual KREEPy olivine vitrophyre fragment is also present. All the other fragments in 15405 are of Apollo 15-type KREEP basalt; ANT-suite and breccia fragments are conspicuously absent. The groundmass of 15405, of a KREEP basalt composition, is vesicular with a variolitic texture and is interpreted as an impact melt. Except for the olivine vitrophyre, the fragments are believed to be the remnants of a shallow-level KREEP basalt-granite differentiated pluton, in which granite was produced as the residual liquid without involvement of immiscibility effects.The large amount of melt required to produce the pluton, and the retention of the pluton's integrity from crystallization until the formation of the source boulder of 15405 suggest that KREEP basalt magma is not ancient (～4.3 b.y.), but was produced by the partial melting of the interior of the moon at around 3.90–3.95 b.y.; this conclusion is supported by the presence of KREEP basalt in soil breccia 15205, to the exclusion of other highland rock types. If this interpretation is correct, the source of Apollo 15-type KREEP basalt had a Rb/Sr ratio higher than anorthositic norite, commonly proposed as the source rock.     

A rationale for the origins of massif anorthosites

The origin of massif anorthosites cannot be simply explained by a single magma type. Two of the commonly proposed parents for anorthosites are andesites (quartz-diorites) and high-alumina basalts. It is proposed here that these two magmas are the parents for two groups of anorthosites which include all anorthosite massifs, and that the parents for any given anorthosite massif can be determined by the rock sequence associated with the massif.Evidence from experiments and from phenocrysts in volcanics, suggests that andesites crystallizing in the granulite facies would produce plagioclase cumulates (anorthosites) at the base, followed by dioritic and acidic material, whereas high-alumina basalts would produce gabbros followed by anorthosite with very little succeeding acidic material. All massif anorthosites for which relevant data is available have one or the other of these stratigraphic sequences. Grouped according to these sequences, they coincide with two previously proposed groups, i.e. Andesine-type and Labradorite-type, whose characteristics are shown to be compatible with derivation from andesite and high-alumina basalt, respectively.