Variations in the parameters of thunderstorm electromagnetic signals on paths over earthquake regions

The specific features of a method for radiosounding the lower ionosphere over earthquake epicenters using LF electromagnetic signals of thunderstorm sources (atmospherics) have been considered. The effects of shallow-focus earthquakes with magnitudes larger than 4.0 and their precursors manifest themselves in amplitude characteristics of atmospherics. It has been assumed that variations in the signal characteristics are related to disturbances in the lower ionosphere. According to the results of azimuthal scanning, cross-sectional dimensions of disturbed regions, as a rule, correspond to the dimensions of the first two Fresnel zones for signals at a frequency of 10 kHz. Azimuthal scanning also indicated that the positions of disturbed regions during and before earthquakes could have a certain dynamics and differ from the projection onto the earthquake epicenter. The ratio of the amplitudes of electric and magnetic signal components, in the variations of which seismic effects before earthquakes can also be observed, has been considered. An analysis of the ratio makes it possible to increase the probability of predicting earthquakes when using the characteristics of the electromagnetic signals of lightning discharges as an additional method of complex monitoring of disturbances in the lower ionosphere caused by seismic processes.     

A New Occurrence of Maruyamaite

Doklady Earth Sciences - We report for the first time the occurrence of a maruyamaite (dravite with a high K content) + garnet + kyanite + biotite + muscovite + K-feldspar + quartz mineral...     

Silicate Inclusions in Metamorphic Diamonds from the Ultra-High Pressure Kokchetav Complex (Kazakhstan)

Doklady Earth Sciences - Mineral inclusions in cubic diamonds from garnet–clinopyroxene rock of the Kokchetav massif were studied. The coexistence of fluid and silicate inclusions in the...     

The diamond-bearing Kokchetav UHP massif in Northern Kazakhstan: exhumation structure

In the Kokchetav ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) massif in northern Kazakhstan, diamond-bearing UHP rocks occur exclusively in a western, rhomb-shaped domain, that differs from an eastern transpressional domain with coesite-bearing remnants indicating highest UHP conditions. Different mechanisms may have contributed to the early ascent of the UHP Kokchetav massif. The geometry and structure of the diamond-bearing domain are interpreted as a sheath-like fold, coeval with early stage melting. In contrast, the coesite-bearing domain has a sheet-like geometry. At mid-crustal level this early difference in the ascending UHP wedge is reflected in a western rhomb-horst and an eastern transpression structure, respectively. The latter extends to the east (Borovoye) where the uppermost sequences of the UHP massif were defined by others. Sheath folding is postulated as a suitable mechanism contributing to the early buoyancy-driven ascent of the subducted rocks, and explains the selective spatial distribution of diamond-and coesite-bearing sequences preserved in the wedge.     

Eclogites of the Late Cambrian–Early Ordovician North Kokchetav tectonic zone (northern Kazakhstan): structural position and petrology

We consider the structural position and petrology of eclogites in the North Kokchetav accretion-collision zone located north of the Kokchetav metamorphic belt formed by high- and ultrahigh-pressure rocks. In the Early Ordovician North Kokchetav tectonic zone, thin sheets of mylonite and diaphthoric gneisses with eclogites are tectonically conjugate with the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Stepnyak paleoisland-arc zone. Eclogites have been revealed at two sites of the North Kokchetav tectonic zone—Chaikino and Borovoe. The Chaikino eclogites formed at 800–850 °C and 18–20 kbar, and the Borovoe eclogites, at 750–800 °C and 17–18 kbar. Study of pyroxene-plagioclase symplectite replacing omphacite of the eclogites at both sites has recognized three stages of regressive magmatism: (1) formation of coarse-grained clinopyroxene-plagioclase symplectite at 760–790 °C and 11–12 kbar, (2) formation of fine-grained clinopyroxene-plagioclase symplectite at 700–730 °C and 7–8 kbar, and (3) amphibolization of pyroxene at 570–600 °C and 5–6 kbar. The Ar-Ar age of muscovite from the Borovoe mica schists hosting eclogites is 493 ± 5 Ma, which corresponds to the time of cooling of metamorphic rocks to <370 °C. Hence, the peak of high-pressure metamorphism and all recognized stages of retrograde changes are dated to the Cambrian. The geological data evidence that eclogite-schist-gneiss sheets were localized in the accretion-collision zone and became conjugate with sedimentary and volcanic rocks no later than in the Middle Ordovician.     

Aqueous fluids and hydrous melts in high-pressure and ultra-high pressure rocks: Implications for element transfer in subduction zones

High-pressure (HP) and ultra-high pressure (UHP) terranes are excellent natural laboratories to study subduction-zone processes. In this paper we give a brief theoretical background and we review experimental data and observations in natural rocks that constrain the nature and composition of the fluid phase present in HP and UHP rocks. We argue that a fluid buffered by a solid residue is compositionally well defined and is either an aqueous fluid (total amount of dissolved solids < 30 wt.%) or a hydrous melt (H₂O < 35 wt.%). There is only a small temperature range of approximately 50–100 °C, where transitional solute-rich fluids exist. A review of available experimental data suggest that in felsic rocks the second critical endpoint is situated at 25–35 kbar and  700 °C and hence must be considered in the study of UHP rocks. Despite this, the nature of the fluid phase can be constrained by relating the peak metamorphic conditions of rocks to the position of the wet solidus even if the peak pressure exceeds the pressure where the wet solidus terminates at the second critical endpoint. Transitional solute-rich fluids are expected in UHP terrains (P > 30 kbar) with peak temperatures of about 700 ± 50 °C. At higher temperatures, hydrous granitic melts occur whereas at lower temperatures aqueous fluids coexists with eclogite-facies minerals. This argument is complemented by evidence on the nature of the fluid phase from high-pressure terrains. We show that in the diamond-bearing, high-temperature UHP rocks from the Kokchetav Massif there are not only hydrous felsic melts, but probably also carbonate and sulfide melts present.

Hydrous quartzo-feldspathic melts are mainly produced in high temperature UHP rocks and their composition is relatively well constrained from experiments and natural rocks. In contrast, constraining the composition of aqueous fluids is more problematic. The combined evidence from experiments and natural rocks indicates that aqueous fluids liberated at the blueschist to eclogite facies transition are dilute. They contain only moderate amounts of LILE, Sr and Pb and do not transport significant amounts of key trace elements such as LREE, U and Th. This indicates that there is a decoupling of water and trace element release in subducted oceanic crust and that aqueous fluids are unable to enrich the mantle wedge significantly. Instead we propose that fluid-present melting in the sediments on top of the slab is required to transfer significant amounts of trace elements from the slab to the mantle wedge. For such a process to be efficient, top slab temperature must be at least 700–750 °C at sub-arc depth. Slab melting is likely to be triggered by fluids that derive from dehydration of mafic and ultramafic rocks in colder (deeper) portions of the slab.     

Multiple zircon growth during fast exhumation of diamondiferous, deeply subducted continental crust (Kokchetav Massif, Kazakhstan)

Diamondiferous rocks from the Kokchetav Massif, Kazakhstan, represent deeply subducted continental crust. In order to constrain the age of ultra high pressure (UHP) metamorphism and subsequent retrogression during exhumation, zircons from diamondiferous gneisses and metacarbonates have been investigated by a combined petrological and isotopic study. Four different zircon domains were distinguished on the basis of transmitted light microscopy, cathodoluminescence, trace element contents and mineral inclusions. Mineral inclusions and trace element characteristics of the zircon domains permit us to relate zircon growth to metamorphic conditions. Domain 1 consists of rounded cores and lacks evidence of UHP metamorphism. Domain 2 contains diamond, coesite, omphacite and titanian phengite inclusions providing evidence that it formed at UHP metamorphic conditions (P>43 kbar; T~950 °C). Domain 3 is characterised by low-pressure mineral inclusions such as garnet, biotite and plagioclase, which are common minerals in the granulite-facies overprint of the gneisses (P~10 kbar; T~800 °C). This multi-stage zircon growth during cooling and exhumation of the diamondiferous rocks can be best explained by zircon growth from Zr-saturated partial melts present in the gneisses. Domain 4 forms idiomorphic overgrowths and the rare earth element pattern indicates that it formed without coexisting garnet, most probably at amphibolite-facies conditions (P~5 kbar; T~600 °C). The metamorphic zircon domains were dated by SHRIMP ion microprobe and yielded ages of 527LJ, 528NJ and 526LJ Ma for domains 2, 3 and 4 respectively. These indistinguishable ages provide evidence for a fast exhumation beyond the resolution of SHRIMP dating. The mean age of all zircons formed between UHP metamorphic conditions and granulite-facies metamorphism is 528Dž Ma, indicating that decompression took place in less than 6 Ma. Hence, the deeply subducted continental crust was exhumed from mantle depth to the base of the crust at rates higher than 1.8 cm/year. We propose a two-stage exhumation model to explain the obtained P-T-t path. Fast exhumation on top of the subducted slab from depth >140 to ~35 km was driven by buoyancy and facilitated by the presence of partial melts. A period of near isobaric cooling was followed by a second decompression event probably related to extension in a late stage of continental collision.     

The first finding of graphite inclusion in diamond from mantle rocks: The result of the study of eclogite xenolith from Udachnaya pipe (Siberian craton)

A xenolith of eclogite from the kimberlite pipe Udachnaya–East, Yakutia Grt+Cpx+Ky + S + Coe/Qtz + Dia + Gr has been studied. Graphite inclusions in diamond have been studied in detail by Confocal Raman (CR) mapping. The graphite inclusion in diamond has a highly ordered structure and is characterized by a substantial shift in the band (about 1580 cm^–1) by 7 cm^–1, indicating a significant residual strain in the inclusion. According to the results of FTIR spectroscopic studies of diamond crystals, a high degree of nitrogen aggregation has been detected: it is present mainly in form A, which means an “ancient” age of the diamonds. In the xenolith studied, the diamond formation occurred about 1 Byr, long before their transport by the kimberlite melt, and the conditions of the final equilibrium were temperatures of 1020 ± 40°C at 4.7 GPa. Thus, these graphite inclusions found in a diamond are the first evidence of crystallization of metastable graphite in a diamond stability field. They were formed in rocks of the upper mantle significantly below (≥20 km) the graphite-diamond equilibrium line.     

Age range of formation of sedimentary-volcanogenic complex of the Vetreny Belt (the southeast of the Baltic Shield)

As a result of studying the Vetreny Belt greenstone structure (the southeast of the Baltic Shield), zircons from terrigenous deposits of the Toksha Formation, underlying the section of the sedimentary-volcanogenic complex, and zircons of the Vetreny Belt Formation, deposits of which crown the section, were dated. The results of analysis of age data of detrital zircons from quartzites of the Toksha Formation indicate that Mesoarchean greenstone complexes and paleo-Archean granitogneisses of the Vodlozero Block (Karelia) were the provenance area from which these zircons were derived. The occurrence of the youngest zircons with age of 2654.3 ± 38.5 Ma is evidence that the formation of the Vetreny Belt, including the Toksha Formation, began no earlier than this time. Zircons from volcanic rocks of the Vetreny Belt yielded the age of 2405 ± 5 Ma. Thus, the age interval of the formation of the sedimentary-volcanogenic complex of the Vetreny Belt ranges from 2654.3 ± 38.5 to 2405 ± 5 Ma.