Effect of Silica Activity on OH- IR Spectra of Olivine: Implications for Low-aSiO2 Mantle Metasomatism

Hydrogen solubility and hydroxyl substitution mechanism in olivineat upper-mantle conditions are not only a function of pressure,temperature, water fugacity and hydrogen fugacity, but are alsoinfluenced by silica activity. Olivine synthesized in equilibriumwith magnesiowüstite displays hydroxyl stretching bandsin the wavenumber range from 3640 to 3430 cm^–1. In contrast,olivine in equilibrium with orthopyroxene shows absorption bandsin a narrower wavenumber range from 3380 to 3285 cm^–1.The two fundamentally different spectra are assigned to hydroxylin tetrahedral and octahedral sublattices, respectively. Olivinein equilibrium with orthopyroxene is also less capable of incorporatinghydroxyl, relative to olivines in equilibrium with magnesiowüstite,by about a factor of ten. A comparison of spectra obtained aspart of this study with hydroxyl spectra of natural mantle olivinesshows that the latter display hydroxyl stretching patterns reminiscentof equilibrium with magnesiowüstite, although undoubtedlyolivine in the Earth’s mantle coexists with orthopyroxene.This may be attributed to a metasomatic overprint by a low-silicafluid and/or melt that was in reaction relationship with orthopyroxene.A likely metasomatic agent is a carbonatitic melt. When carbonatiticmelts decompose to oxides and CO₂, they may temporarily imposea low-aSiO₂ environment inherited by the olivine structure.If this suggestion proves true, Fourier transform IR spectroscopymay be used to fingerprint metasomatic episodes in the lithosphericmantle. KEY WORDS: FTIR spectrometry; olivine; mantle; metasomatism; water     

Origin and evolution of oilfield brines from Tertiary strata in western Qaidam Basin: Constraints from <Superscript>87</Superscript>Sr/<Superscript>86</Superscript>Sr, δD, δ<Superscript>18</Superscript>O, δ<Superscript>34</Superscript>S and water chemistry

Chemistry of major and minor elements, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, δD, δ¹⁸O and δ³⁴S of brines were measured from Tertiary strata and Quaternary salt lakes in the western Qaidam Basin. The water chemistry data show that all oilfield brines are CaCl₂ type. They were enriched in Ca²⁺, B³⁺, Li⁺, Sr²⁺, Br⁻, and were depleted in Mg²⁺, SO₄ ²⁻, which indicated that these brines had the characteristics of deeply circulated water. The relationship between δD and δ¹⁸O shows that all data of these brines decline towards the Global Meteoric Water Line (GWL) and Qaidam Meteoric Water Line (QWL), and that the intersection between oilfield brines and Meteoric Water Lines was close to the local spring and fresh water in the piedmont in the western Qaidam Basin. The results suggest that oilfield brines has initially originated from meteoric water, and then might be affected by water-rock metamorphose, because most oilfield brines distribute in the range of metamorphosing water. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values of most oilfield brines range from 0.71121 to 0.71194, and was less than that in salt lake water (>0.712), but close to that of halite in the study area. These imply that salt dissolution occurred in the process of migration. In addition, all oilfield brines have obviously much positive δ³⁴S values (ranging from 26.46‰ to 54.57‰) than that of salt lake brines, which was caused by bacterial sulfate reduction resulting in positive shift of δ³⁴S value and depleteed SO₄ ²⁻ in oilfield brines. Combined with water chemical data and δD, δ¹⁸O, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, δ³⁴S values, we concluded that oilfield brines mainly originate from the deeply circulated meteoric waters, and then are affected by salt dissolution, water-rock metamorphose, sulfate reduction and dolomitization during the process of migration. These processes alter the chemical compositions of oilfield brines and accumulate rich elements (such as B, Li, Sr, Br, K and so on) for sustainable utilization of salt lake resources in the Qaidam Basin.     

Evaluation of the physico-mechanical parameters affecting the deterioration rate of Ahlat ignimbrites (Bitlis,Turkey)

The paper principally focuses on the durability assessment of various stratigraphic levels of Ahlat ignimbrites collected from the eastern region of Turkey. A total of four different ignimbrite types with dissimilar color, texture and particularly welding degree were tested in laboratory. The laboratory tests performed on the ignimbrite specimens indicate that the welding degree as well as the lithic material content mainly controls the strength and capillarity properties of the ignimbrites. In addition, the durability of highly porous ignimbrites strongly depends upon the degree of welding. The effect of several weathering agents on the ignimbrites was evaluated on the basis of decay constant parameter. Accordingly, salt and ice crystallization pressures are a couple of major destructive agents acting within the micropores of the ignimbrites. Conversely, the investigated specimens are relatively durable against cyclic wetting–drying. Statistical evaluations reveal that the pore diameter is the major controlling factor on the deterioration rate of the ignimbrites after specifically recurrent freeze–thaw cycles. Moreover, the dry unit weight of the ignimbrites is more significant than the uniaxial compressive strength considering the deterioration rates during wetting–drying and salt crystallization. A less significant relationship was obtained between pore diameter and salt crystallization decay constant.     

Tracing origins of sewage and organic matter using dissolved sterols in Masan and Haengam Bay,Korea

Masan and Haengam Bays in Korea are highly polluted and semi-enclosed. Domestic and industrial effluents are directly or indirectly discharged into the bays through sewage treatment plants (STP) and creeks. In this study, 15 dissolved sterol compounds were determined in order to understand their sources and relative contribution. Freshwater samples were taken from 13 creeks and at two STP sites on a monthly basis. Total dissolved sterol concentrations ranged from 993 to 4158 ng/L. The concentrations of sterols in winter were higher than in summer. Among the sterols analyzed, cholesterol, β-sitosterol, coprostanol and cholestanone were major compounds in creek water. Seawater samples were concurrently collected at 21 stations in Masan Bay. Total sterol concentrations ranged 118–6,956 ng/L. Inner bay showed high concentrations of sterols in summer, while outer bay showed high sterol concentrations in winter. Among the sterols, cholesterol, β-sitosterol and brassicasterol were major compounds in seawater. In order to examine the contribution of urban sewage, the concentration of coprostanol and fecal sterol ratios were calculated. Most of the creek water, inner bay and near STP outlet samples were affected by sewage. Terrestrial organic matters accounted for a high proportion of dissolved organic matter origin. Fecal origins were relatively high in the inner bay areas and in the STP outlet, while sterols of marine origin were high in the outer bay areas.     

Multiscale structure of UXO site characterization: spatial estimation and uncertainty quantification

Unexploded ordnance (UXO) site characterization must consider both how the contamination is generated and how we observe that contamination. Within the generation and observation processes, dependence structures can be exploited at multiple scales. We describe a conceptual site characterization process, the dependence structures available at several scales, and consider their statistical estimation aspects. It is evident that most of the statistical methods that are needed to address the estimation problems are known but their application-specific implementation may not be available. We demonstrate estimation at one scale and propose a representation for site contamination intensity that takes full account of uncertainty, is flexible enough to answer regulatory requirements, and is a practical tool for managing detailed spatial site characterization and remediation. The representation is based on point process spatial estimation methods that require modern computational resources for practical application. These methods have provisions for including prior and covariate information.     

State of stress in the lithosphere: Inferences from the flow laws of olivine

The experimental flow data for rocks and minerals are reviewed and found to fit a law of the form $$\dot \varepsilon = A'\left[ {sinh (\alpha \sigma )} \right]^n \exp \left[ {{{ - (E * + PV * )} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{ - (E * + PV * )} {RT}}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {RT}}} \right]$$ where \(\dot \varepsilon \) This law reduces to the familiar power-law stress dependency at low stress and to an exponential stress dependency at high stress. Using the material flow law parameters for olivine, stress profiles with depth and strain rate are computed for a representative range of temperature distributions in the lithosphere. The results show that the upper 15 to 25 km of the oceanic lithosphere must behave elastically or fail by fracture and that the remainder deforms by exponential law flow at intermediate depths and by power-law flow in the rest. A model computation of the gravitational sliding of a lithospheric plate using olivine rheology exhibits a very sharp decoupling zone which is a consequence of the combined effects of increasing stress and temperature on the flow law, which is a very sensitive function of both.     

A method for absorption compensation based on adaptive molecular decomposition

In this paper, we present a new method for seismic stratigraphic absorption compensation based on the adaptive molecular decomposition. Using this method, we can remove most of the effects resulting from wavelets truncation and interference which usually exist in the common time-frequency absorption compensation method. Based on the assumption that the amplitude spectrum of the source wavelet is smooth, we first construct a set of adaptive Gabor frames based on the time-variant properties of the seismic signal to transform the signal into the time-frequency domain and then extract the slowly varying component (the wavelet’s time-varying amplitude spectrum) in each window in the time-frequency domain. Then we invert the absorption compensation filter parameters with an objective function defined using the correlation coefficients in each window to get the corresponding compensation filters. Finally, we use these filters to compensate the time-frequency spectrum in each window and then transform the time-frequency spectrum to the time domain to obtain the absorption-compensated signal. By using adaptive molecular decomposition, this method can adapt to isolated and overlapped seismic signals from the complex layers in the inhomogeneous viscoelastic medium. The viability of the method is verified by synthetic and real data sets.     

Transient deformation following the 30 January 1997 dike intrusion at Kīlauea volcano,Hawai’i

On 30 January 1997 an intrusion on Kīlauea volcano opened a new fissure within the East Rift Zone (ERZ) at Nāpau Crater, 3 km uprift from the ongoing eruptions at Pu’u ’Ō’ō. The fissure eruption lasted 22 h and opened a 5.1 km long, nearly vertical dike 1.9 m, extending from the surface to a depth of 2.4 km (Owen et al. 2000b). During the eruption, the lava pond at Pu’u ’Ō’ō drained, and eruptions ceased there. Pu’u ’Ō’ō eventually refilled in late February and eruptions resumed there on 28 March 1997. Continuous GPS data show a large transient following the 30 January 1997 dike intrusion. After lengthening 40 cm during the initial eruption, the baseline between two stations spanning the ERZ lengthened an additional 10 cm over the following 6 months. A coastal station KAEP also exhibited transient deformation, as it continued to move southward (5 cm) over the same 6-month period. The baseline between two stations spanning Kīlauea’s summit caldera contracted sharply during the eruption, but gradually recovered to slightly longer than its previous length 2 months after the intrusion. We use the extended network inversion filter (McGuire and Segall 2003) to invert continuous GPS data for volume change of a spherical pressure source under Kīlauea’s summit, opening distribution on a nearly vertical dike in the ERZ and potential slip on a decollement 9 km beneath the south flank. Following the 30 January intrusion, rift extension continued below the initial dike intrusion for the duration of the transient. Decollement slip, regardless of its assumed depth, is not required to fit the data. The modeled transient summit reinflation and rift opening patterns under Nāpau crater coincide with changes in observed behavior of Pu’u ’Ō’ō’s lava pond. Rift opening accelerated while Pu’u ’Ō’ō eruptions paused and began to decelerate after the lava pond reappeared nearly a month after the Nāpau eruption. The transient deformation is interpreted as resulting from shallow accommodation of the new dike volume.     

Subduction and retreating of the western Pacific plate resulted in lithospheric mantle replacement and coupled basin-mountain respond in the North China Craton

The North China Craton (NCC) witnessed Mesozoic vigorous tectono-thermal activities and transition in the nature of deep lithosphere. These processes took place in three periods: (1) Late Paleozoic to Early Jurassic (～170 Ma); (2) Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (160–140 Ma); (3) Early Cretaceous to Cenozoic (140 Ma to present). The last two stages saw the lithospheric mantle replacement and coupled basin-mountain response within the North China Craton due to subduction and retreating of the Paleo-Pacific plate, and is the emphasis in this paper. In the first period, the subduction and closure of the Paleo- Asian Ocean triggered the back-arc extension, syn-collisional compression and then post-collisional extension accompanied by ubiquitous magmatism along the northern margin of the NCC. Similar processes happened in the southern margin of the craton as the subduction of the Paleo-Tethys ocean and collision with the South China Block. These processes had caused the chemical modification and mechanical destruction of the cratonic margins. The margins could serve as conduits for the asthenosphere upwelling and had the priority for magmatism and deformation. The second period saw the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk ocean and the shear deformation and magmatism induced by the drifting of the Paleo-Pacific slab. The former led to two pulse of N-S trending compression (Episodes A and B of the Yanshan Movement) and thus the pre-existing continental marginal basins were disintegrated into sporadically basin and range province by the Mesozoic magmatic plutons and NE-SW trending faults. With the anticlockwise rotation of the Paleo-Pacific moving direction, the subduction-related magmatism migrated into the inner part of the craton and the Tanlu fault became normal fault from a sinistral one. The NCC thus turned into a back-arc extension setting at the end of this period. In the third period, the refractory subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) was firstly remarkably eroded and thinned by the subduction-induced asthenospheric upwelling, especially those beneath the weak zones (i.e., cratonic margins and the lithospheric Tanlu fault zone). Then a slightly lithospheric thickening occurred when the upwelled asthenosphere got cool and transformed to be lithospheric mantle accreted (～125 Ma) beneath the thinned SCLM. Besides, the magmatism continuously moved southeastward and the extensional deformations preferentially developed in weak zones, which include the Early Cenozoic normal fault transformed from the Jurassic thrust in the Trans-North Orogenic Belt, the crustal detachment and the subsidence of Bohai basin caused by the continuous normal strike slip of the Tanlu fault, the Cenozoic graben basins originated from the fault depression in the Trans-North Orogenic Belt, the Bohai Basin and the Sulu Orogenic belt. With small block size, inner lithospheric weak zones and the surrounding subductions/collisions, the Mesozoic NCC was characterized by (1) lithospheric thinning and crustal detachment triggered by the subduction-induced asthenospheric upwelling. Local crustal contraction and orogenesis appeared in the Trans-North Orogenic Belt coupled with the crustal detachment; (2) then upwelled asthenosphere got cool to be newly-accreted lithospheric mantle and crustal grabens and basin subsidence happened, as a result of the subduction zone retreating. Therefore, the subduction and retreating of the western Pacific plate is the outside dynamics which resulted in mantle replacement and coupled basin-mountain respond within the North China Craton. We consider that the Mesozoic decratonization of the North China Craton, or the Yanshan Movement, is a comprehensive consequence of complex geological processes proceeding surrounding and within craton, involving both the deep lithospheric mantle and shallow continental crust.