Late Neogene low-angle thrusting on the northwestern margin of the South Carpathians (Poiana Rusca, West Romania)

Mineral exploration drillholes and geoelectric prospecting provide for the first time evidence for thrusting of the South Carpathian Paleozoic basement over northerly adjacent Middle Miocene sediments. Investigations were carried out in two locations, 30 km apart, along the northern margin of the Poiana Rusca Mountains, Romania, southwestern Carpathians. Drill holes in both locations encountered weakly consolidated Middle Miocene clay, sand, and fine gravel below Paleozoic low-grade metamorphic rocks. Intersections from various drill holes demonstrate the presence of low-angle thrusting. Kinematic indicators are so far lacking, but with a thrust direction oriented roughly normal to strike of the Poiana Rusca Mountains, minimum displacement is 1–1.4 km in northwestern or northern direction, respectively. Thrusting occurred most likely during the Late Miocene–Pliocene, whereafter Quaternary regional uplift dissected the thrust plane. In the tectonic framework of Neogene dextral translation of the Tisza–Dacia Block against the southerly adjacent Moesian Platform, transtension appears responsible for Middle Miocene basin formation along the northern margin of the Poiana Rusca region. Proceeding collision of the Tisza–Dacia Block with the East European Craton introduced stronger impingement of the Tisza–Dacia Block against the Moesian Platform, leading to a Late Miocene–Pliocene transpressional regime, in which the northern Poiana Rusca basement was thrust over its adjacent Middle Miocene sediments.     

Calcium isotope fractionation in calcite and aragonite

Calcium isotope fractionation was measured on skeletal aragonite and calcite from different marine biota and on inorganic calcite. Precipitation temperatures ranged from 0 to 28°C. Calcium isotope fractionation shows a temperature dependence in accordance with previous observations: 1000 · ln(α_cc) = −1.4 + 0.021 · T (°C) for calcite and 1000 · ln(α_ar) = −1.9 + 0.017 · T (°C) for aragonite. Within uncertainty the temperature slopes are identical for the two polymorphs. However, at all temperatures calcium isotopes are more fractionated in aragonite than in calcite. The offset in δ^44/40Ca is about 0.6‰. The underlying mechanism for this offset may be related to the different coordination numbers and bond strengths of the calcium ions in calcite and aragonite crystals, or to different Ca reaction behavior at the solid-liquid interface. Recently, the observed temperature dependence of the Ca isotope fractionation was explained quantitatively by the temperature control on precipitation rates of calcium carbonates in an experimental setting (Lemarchand et al., 2004). We show that this mechanism can in principle also be applied to CaCO₃ precipitation in natural environments in normal marine settings. Following this model, Ca isotope fractionation in marine Ca carbonates is primarily controlled by precipitation rates. On the other hand the larger Ca isotope fractionation of aragonite compared to calcite can not be explained by different precipitation rates. The rate control model of Ca isotope fractionation predicts a strong dependence of the Ca isotopic composition of carbonates on ambient CO₃²⁻ concentration. While this model is in general accordance with our observations in marine carbonates, cultured specimens of the planktic foraminifer Orbulina universa show no dependence of Ca-isotope fractionation on the ambient CO₃²⁻ concentration. The latter observation implies that the carbonate chemistry in the calcifying vesicles of the foraminifer is independent from the ambient carbonate ion concentration of the surrounding water.     

Crystal structure and compression of an iron-bearing Phase A to 33 GPa

Fe-bearing dense hydrous magnesium silicate Phase A, Mg_6.85Fe_0.14Si_2.00O₈(OH)₆ has been studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction at ambient conditions and by high-pressure powder diffraction using synchrotron radiation to 33 GPa. Unit cell parameters at room temperature and pressure from single crystal diffraction are a=7.8678 (4) Å, c=9.5771 (5) Å, and V=513.43 (4) ų. Fitting of the P–V data to a third-order Birch-Murnaghan isothermal equation of state yields V ₀=512.3 (3) ų, K _T,0=102.9 (28) GPa and K′=6.4 (3). Compression is strongly anisotropic with the a-axes, which lie in the plane of the distorted close-packed layers, approximately 26% more compressible than the c-axis, which is normal to the plane. Structure refinement from single-crystal X-ray intensity data reveals expansion of the structure with Fe substitution, mainly by expansion of M-site octahedra. The short Si2–O6 distance becomes nearly 1% shorter with ~2% Fe substitution for Mg, possibly providing additional rigidity in the c-direction over the Mg end member. K _T obtained for the Fe-bearing sample is ~5.5% greater than reported previously for Fe-free Phase A, despite the larger unit cell volume. This study represents a direct comparison of structure and K _T–ρ relations between two compositions of a F-free dense hydrous magnesium silicate (DHMS) phase, and may help to characterize the effect of Fe substitution on the properties of other DHMS phases from studies of the Fe-free end-members.     

DFT study of the cation arrangements in the octahedral and tetrahedral sheets of dioctahedral 2:1 phyllosilicates

Quantum mechanical calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) are used to study the crystal structures of dioctahedral 2:1 phyllosilicates. The isomorphous cation substitution is investigated by exploring different substitutions of octahedral Al³⁺ by Mg²⁺ or Fe³⁺, tetrahedral substitution of Si⁴⁺ by Al³⁺, and different interlayer cations (IC) (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺). Samples with different kinds of layer charges are studied: only tetrahedrally charged, only octahedrally charged, or mixed octahedral/tetrahedral charged. The effect of the relative arrangements of these substitutions on the lattice parameters and total energy is studied. The experimental observation of segregation tendency of Fe³⁺ and dispersion tendency of Mg²⁺ in the octahedral sheet is reproduced and explained with reference to the relative energies of the octahedral cation arrangements. These energies are higher than those due to the IC/tetrahedral and IC/octahedral relative arrangements. The tetrahedral and octahedral substitutions that generate charged layers also tend to be dispersed. The octahedral cation exchange potentials change with the IC-charge/ionic radius value.     

Magnetic fabric study of the SE Rhenohercynian Zone (Bohemian Massif): Implications for dynamics of the Paleozoic accretionary wedge

The progressive deformation recorded in the magnetic fabric of sedimentary rocks was studied in the SE Rhenohercynian Zone (RHZ), eastern margin of the Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic. Almost 800 oriented samples of the Lower Carboniferous mudstones and graywackes were collected from the SSE part of the Czech RHZ, so-called the Drahany Upland. The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) is predominantly controlled by the preferred orientation of paramagnetic phyllosilicates, mainly iron-bearing chlorites. A regional distribution of the magnetic fabric within the Drahany Upland revealed an increasing deformation from the SSE to the NNW. In the SE, the magnetic fabric is bedding-parallel with magnetic lineation scattered in the bedding plane or trending N–S to NNE–SSW. Further to the NW, the magnetic foliation rotates from the bedding-parallel orientation to the orientation parallel to the evolving cleavage. This rotation is accompanied by a decrease of the anisotropy degree and the prolate nature of the anisotropy ellipsoids. The magnetic lineation is parallel to the strike of the bedding, bedding/cleavage intersection, pencil structure or the fold axes on a regional scale. In the NW part of the Drahany Upland, the magnetic foliation becomes parallel to the cleavage accompanied by an increase of the anisotropy degree and the oblate nature of the anisotropy ellipsoids. The increasing trend of deformation corresponds to the SSE–NNW increase in the degree of anchimetamorphism; both trends being oblique to the main lithostratigraphic formations as typically observed in the sedimentary rocks of the accretionary wedges. The SSE–NNW increase in deformation and anchimetamorphism continues to the Nízký Jeseník Mts., representing the northern part of the same accretionary wedge. The kinematics of deformation could not be unambiguously assessed. The observed magnetic fabric may reflect either lateral shortening or horizontal simple shear or a combination of both mechanisms. Regarding the subduction process, it seems that the sedimentary sequences of the Drahany Upland were subducted, partly offscraped and accreted frontally or partly underplated as opposed to the Nízký Jeseník Mts. where some return flow must have occurred.