Experimental Study of the Composition Join NaAlSiO4-CaCO3-H2O and the Genesis of Alkalic Rock--Carbonatite Complexes

Phase equilibrium studies have been carried out on the compositionjoin NaAlSiO₄-CaCO₃-H₂O with 25 wt per cent H₂O at 1 kb pressurein the temperature range 600–960 °C. Liquid, in equilibriumwith crystalline phases and a sodic, aqueous vapor phase persistsacross the join down to temperatures of about 600 °C. Fractionalcrystallization of a carbonated nepheline-rich liquid in equilibriumwith vapor is capable of generating successively the crystallineassemblages (1) nepheline, (2) melilite+nepheline, (3) hydroxyhaüyne+melilite,(4) cancrinite+melilite, and (5) calcite+cancrinite+melilite.Late-stage liquid fractions are rich in CaCO₃, whereas the vaporphase is enriched in Na. The experimental assemblages are strikinglysimilar to rocks in alkalic rock-carbonatite complexes in generaland in the Oka, Quebec, complex in particular. The successionof assemblages at Oka and at other melilite rock-bearing complexesmay be interpreted as the products of fractionation of a carbonatednephelinite magma by analogy with the experimental results.The sodium-bearing vapor phase of the experiments may be analogousto the fenitizing agent of some carbonatite complexes.     

The Liquid Line of Descent of Anhydrous, Mantle-Derived, Tholeiitic Liquids by Fractional and Equilibrium Crystallization--an Experimental Study at 1{middle dot}0 GPa

Two series of anhydrous experiments have been performed in anend-loaded piston cylinder apparatus on a primitive, mantle-derivedtholeiitic basalt at 1·0 GPa pressure and temperaturesin the range 1060–1330°C. The experimental data provideconstraints on phase equilibria, and solid and liquid compositionsalong the liquid line of descent of primary basaltic magmasdifferentiating in storage reservoirs located at the base ofthe continental crust. The first series are equilibrium crystallizationexperiments on a single basaltic bulk composition; the secondseries are fractionation experiments where near-perfect fractionalcrystallization was approached in a stepwise manner using 30°Ctemperature steps and starting compositions corresponding tothe liquid composition of the previous, higher-temperature glasscomposition. Liquids in the fractional crystallization experimentsevolve with progressive SiO₂ increase from basalts to dacites,whereas the liquids in the equilibrium crystallization experimentsremain basaltic and display only a moderate SiO₂ increase accompaniedby more pronounced Al₂O₃ enrichment. The principal phase equilibriacontrols responsible for these contrasting trends are suppressionof the peritectic olivine + liquid = opx reaction and earlierplagioclase saturation in the fractionation experiments comparedwith the equilibrium experiments. Both crystallization processeslead to the formation of large volumes of ultramafic cumulatesrelated to the suppression of plagioclase crystallization relativeto pyroxenes at high pressures. This is in contrast to low-pressurefractionation of tholeiitic liquids, where early plagioclasesaturation leads to the production of troctolites followed by(olivine-) gabbros at an early stage of differentiation. KEY WORDS: liquid line of descent; tholeiitic magmas; equilibrium crystallization; fractional crystallization     

Ultramafic Xenoliths from the Bearpaw Mountains, Montana, USA: Evidence for Multiple Metasomatic Events in the Lithospheric Mantle beneath the Wyoming Craton

Ultramafic xenoliths in Eocene minettes of the Bearpaw Mountainsvolcanic field (Montana, USA), derived from the lower lithosphereof the Wyoming craton, can be divided based on textural criteriainto tectonite and cumulate groups. The tectonites consist ofstrongly depleted spinel lherzolites, harzburgites and dunites.Although their mineralogical compositions are generally similarto those of spinel peridotites in off-craton settings, somecontain pyroxenes and spinels that have unusually low Al₂O₃contents more akin to those found in cratonic spinel peridotites.Furthermore, the tectonite peridotites have whole-rock majorelement compositions that tend to be significantly more depletedthan non-cratonic mantle spinel peridotites (high MgO, low CaO,Al₂O₃ and TiO₂) and resemble those of cratonic mantle. Thesecompositions could have been generated by up to 30% partialmelting of an undepleted mantle source. Petrographic evidencesuggests that the mantle beneath the Wyoming craton was re-enrichedin three ways: (1) by silicate melts that formed mica websteriteand clinopyroxenite veins; (2) by growth of phlogopite fromK-rich hydrous fluids; (3) by interaction with aqueous fluidsto form orthopyroxene porphyroblasts and orthopyroxenite veins.In contrast to their depleted major element compositions, thetectonite peridotites are mostly light rare earth element (LREE)-enrichedand show enrichment in fluid-mobile elements such as Cs, Rb,U and Pb on mantle-normalized diagrams. Lack of enrichment inhigh field strength elements (HFSE; e.g. Nb, Ta, Zr and Hf)suggests that the tectonite peridotites have been metasomatizedby a subduction-related fluid. Clinopyroxenes from the tectoniteperidotites have distinct U-shaped REE patterns with strongLREE enrichment. They have ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd values that range from0·5121 (close to the host minette values) to 0·5107,similar to those of xenoliths from the nearby Highwood Mountains.Foliated mica websterites also have low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd values (0·5113)and extremely high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in their constituent phlogopite,indicating an ancient (probably mid-Proterozoic) enrichment.This enriched mantle lithosphere later contributed to the formationof the high-K Eocene host magmas. The cumulate group rangesfrom clinopyroxene-rich mica peridotites (including abundantmica wehrlites) to mica clinopyroxenites. Most contain >30%phlogopite. Their mineral compositions are similar to thoseof phenocrysts in the host minettes. Their whole-rock compositionsare generally poorer in MgO but richer in incompatible traceelements than those of the tectonite peridotites. Whole-rocktrace element patterns are enriched in large ion lithophileelements (LILE; Rb, Cs, U and Pb) and depleted in HFSE (Nb,Ta Zr and Hf) as in the host minettes, and their Sr–Ndisotopic compositions are also identical to those of the minettes.Their clinopyroxenes are LREE-enriched and formed in equilibriumwith a LREE-enriched melt closely resembling the minettes. Thecumulates therefore represent a much younger magmatic event,related to crystallization at mantle depths of minette magmasin Eocene times, that caused further metasomatic enrichmentof the lithosphere. KEY WORDS: ultramafic xenoliths; Montana; Wyoming craton; metasomatism; cumulates; minette     

Grain scale simulations of loose sedimentary beds: the example of grain-bed impacts in aeolian saltation

Sediment transport by wind is one of many processes of interest to the geomorphologist in which grain to grain contacts play an important role. In order to illustrate the modelling of collections of frictional, inelastic sedimentary grains with the particle dynamics method (PDM), we use the grain impact process in aeolian saltation as a specific example. In PDM, all the forces on each particle are evaluated at a sequence of small time-steps, and the Newtonian equations of motion are integrated forward in time. Interparticle forces at grain contacts are treated as springs with prescribed stiffness (normal force) and by a Coulomb friction law (tangential force); particle inelasticity is represented by spring damping. The granular splash resulting from saltation impacts is assessed for sensitivity to the choice of grain properties, and the integration time-step. We find that for the range of impact speeds and impactor masses relevant to aeolian settings, grain splashes are relatively insensitive to grain stiffness, grain inelasticity and grain friction, and that the pattern of ejection from the bed is largely controlled by bed microtopography. A large set of impact realizations involving a variety of impact points on a small set of target beds is used to collect the appropriate statistics for describing the stochastic splash process. The splash function representing these statistics is then available for use in calculations over longer time-scales, such as the evolution of the saltation curtain. The details given here will enable the interested reader to adapt PDM modelling to other types of clastic sedimentary systems.     

Stream-dominated alluvial fan and lacustrine depositional systems in Cenozoic strike-slip basins, Denali fault system, Yukon Territory, Canada

Ancient stream-dominated (‘wet’) alluvial fan deposits have received far less attention in the literature than their arid/semi-arid counterparts. The Cenozoic basin fills along the Denali fault system of the northwestern Canadian Cordillera provide excellent examples of stream-dominated alluvial fan deposits because they developed during the Eocene-Oligocene temperate climatic regime in an active strike-slip orogen. The Amphitheatre Formation filled several strike-slip basins in Yukon Territory and consists of up to 1200 m of coarse siliciclastic rocks and coal. Detailed facies analysis, conglomerate: sandstone percentages (C:S), maximum particle size (MPS) distribution, and palaeocurrent analysis of the Amphitheatre Formation in two of these strike-slip basins document the transition from proximal, to middle, to distal and fringing environments within ancient stream-dominated alluvial-fan systems. Proximal fan deposits in the Bates Lake Basin are characterized by disorganized, clast-supported, boulder conglomerate and minor matrix(mud)-supported conglomerate. Proximal facies are located along the faulted basin margins in areas where C:S = 80 to 100 and where the average MPS ranges from 30 to 60 cm. Proximal fan deposits grade into middle fan, channelized, well organized cobble conglomerates that form upward fining sequences, with an average thickness of 7 m. Middle fan deposits grade basinward into well-sorted, laterally continuous beds of normally graded sandstone interbedded with trough cross-stratified sandstone. These distal fan deposits are characteristic of areas where C:S = 20 to 40 and where the average MPS ranges from 5 to 15 cm. Fan fringe deposits consist of lacustrine and axial fluvial facies. Palaeogeographic reconstruction of the Bates Lake Basin indicates that alluvial-fan sedimentation was concentrated in three parts of the basin. The largest alluvial-fan system abutted the strike-slip Duke River fault, and prograded westward across the axis of the basin. Two smaller, coarser grained fans prograded syntaxially northward from the normal-faulted southern basin margin. Facies analysis of the Burwash Basin indicates a similar transition from proximal to distal, stream-dominated alluvial fan environments, but with several key differences. Middle-fan deposits in the Burwash Basin define upward coarsening sequences 50 to 60 m thick composed of fine-grained lithofacies and coal in the lower part, trough cross-stratified sandstone in the middle, and conglomerate in the upper part of the sequence. Upward-coarsening sequences, 90–140 m thick, also are common in the fan fringe lacustrine deposits. These sequences coarsen upward from mudstone, through fine grained, ripple-laminated sandstone, to coarse grained trough cross-stratified sandstone. The upward-coarsening sequences are basinwide, facies independent, and probably represent progradation of stream-dominated alluvial-fan depositional systems. Coal distribution in the Amphitheatre Formation is closely coupled with predominant depositional processes on stream-dominated alluvial fans. The thickest coal seams occur in the most proximal part of the basin fill and in marginal lacustrine deposits. Coal development in the intervening middle and distal fan areas was suppressed by the high frequency of unconfined flow events and lateral channel mobility.     

Porosity evolution of the Cambrian Bonneterre Dolomite, south-eastern Missouri, USA

The Cambrian Bonneterre Dolomite of south-eastern Missouri, USA, hosts the large Mississippi Valley type (MVT) lead-zinc-copper ore deposits of the region. The Bonneterre Dolomite consists of dolomitized algal bioherms, oolitic grainstone and associated lithologies that were deposited on a carbonate platform surrounding the Precambrian age St Francois Mountains. Porosity was determined by point counting thin sections from cores and mines in the Bonneterre Dolomite and by gas porosimetry. Volumes of epigenetic cements were estimated by point counting cement filling micro- and mesoporosity using cathodoluminescence. Cement volumes were added to present porosity to estimate porosities during various stages of mineralization. Prior to the onset of mineralization, micro- and mesoporosity in the Bonneterre Dolomite averaged approximately 19%. Precipitation of early dolomite cement (roughly concurrent with the main period of sulphide deposition) reduced average porosity to approximately 7% and closed off much of the intercrystalline pore space. Later cementation by dolomite (prior to late stage sulphides) reduced porosity to approximately 5%, and late cementation by quartz further reduced porosity to the present average value of <4%. Periods of carbonate dissolution during MVT mineralization enhanced large scale megaporosity associated with fractures and breccias but did not significantly increase smaller scale porosity. Dolomite cementation associated with MVT mineralization, porosity and permeability were facies controlled. Today, as a result of mineralization, large scale fractures and breccias control porosity and permeability. This study indicates that dolomite porosity may undergo significant change during basinal brine migrations associated with MVT mineralization.     

The early Holocene Saksunarvatn tephra found in lake sediments in NW Germany

A basaltic tephra layer consisting of brownish-olive glass shards. and about 0.2 mm thick. was found in cores from four lakes in northwest Germany. According to pollen analysis it was deposited during the early Boreal period (corresponding to about 8700 BP). The petrographic properties. the geochemical composition and the age agree with those of the Saksunarvatn tephra. which was first found on the Faroe Islands. The position of the tephra layer in the pollen stratigraphy and in the absolute time-scale is discussed. Procedures for locating the tephra in other cores are suggested.     

River systems and their sediment flux, Indo-Gangetic plains, Northern Bihar, India

River systems of part of the Himalayan foreland, northern Bihar plains, India, are described in terms of their channel morphology, hydrology and suspended sediment characteristics. A simple classification of the river systems based mainly on the source area characteristics is proposed: (i) mountain-fed, (ii) foothills-fed, (iii) plains-fed and (iv) mixed-fed rivers. Distinct differences are noted between these classes of river systems. Most rivers show evidence of channel movement, mainly by avulsion, but cut-offs also occur locally. The mountain-fed rivers are characterized by very high discharge and low suspended sediment concentration and the plains-fed rivers have relatively low discharge and high suspended sediment concentration. The foothill-fed rivers have moderate values of discharge and suspended sediment concentration. The mountain-fed rivers have built megafans of large extent, whereas the foothills-fed and plains-fed rivers have formed muddy interfan areas. Semi-quantitative estimates of water and sediment flux suggest that about 99·9% of the mass transfer into the plains is water, with the remaining 0·1% being sediment, and that 10% of the latter (0·01% of the total) is retained in the basin, the remainder being transferred to the Bengal Fan.     

SHORT COMMUNICATION EFFECT OF STANDARDIZATION ON FRAGMENT-BASED MEASURES OF STRUCTURAL SIMILARITY

Substructural fragment occurrence data are widely used as the basis for measures of inter-molecularstructural similarity.This paper investigates the effect of standardization on the effectiveness of suchmeasures using eight data sets for which both structural and biological activity data are available.Eightdifferent standardization methods are studied and it is shown that there is no significant difference in theeffectivenesses of the various methods;accordingly,any of them can be used for the calculation ofintermolecular structural similarity.