Role of basement in epithermal deposits: The Kushikino and Hishikari gold deposits, southwestern Japan

The magma–ore deposit relationship of most low-sulfidation epithermal ore deposits is still unclear, partly because many stable isotopic studies of such deposits have indicated the predominance of meteoric waters within hydrothermal fluids. However, it is certainly true that hydrothermal systems are ultimately driven by magmatic intrusions, and epithermal gold deposits might therefore be produced by magmatic activity even in deposits having has no obvious links to a magma. We re-examine the genesis of two typical low-sulfidation epithermal gold deposits, the Kushikino and Hishikari deposits, using structural simulations and isotope data.Many epithermal gold deposits including the Kushikino and Hishikari deposits have been discovered in Kyushu, southwestern Japan. The Kushikino deposit comprises fissure-filling veins within Neogene andesitic volcanics that overlie unconformably Cretaceous sedimentary basement. The veins consist of gold- and silver-bearing quartz and calcite with minor amounts of adularia, sericite and sulfides. Although carbon and oxygen isotopic data for the veins indicate a meteoric origin of the ore fluid, finite element simulations suggest that the vein system might have formed in direct response to magma intrusion. In particular, geophysical data suggest that intruding magma has uplifted the basement rocks, thereby producing fractures and veins and a positive Bouguer anomaly, and providing the heat necessary to drive an ore-forming hydrothermal system.The second component of this study has been to investigate the nature and evolution of the Kushikino and Hishikari epithermal systems. Isotope data document the geochemical evolution of the hydrothermal fluids. We conclude that the existence of sedimentary basement rocks at depth might have affected the strontium and carbon isotopic ratios of the Kushikino and Hishikari ore fluids. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios and δ¹³C–δ¹⁸O trend reveal that major ore veins in the Hishikari deposit can be distinguished from shallow barren veins. It was suggested isotopically that fluids responsible for the barren veins in nearby shallow and barren circulation systems were only controlled by the shallow host rocks. Such multi-isotope systematics provide a powerful tool with which to determine the center of hydrothermal activity and thereby document the evolution of hydrothermal fluids.     

Statistical Properties of Ideal Rock Textures: Relationship Between Crystal Size Distribution and Spatial Correlation of Minerals

The concept of an ideal rock texture, in which crystals are distributed randomly in space, is proposed for use in general analysis of rock textures. The spatial correlation function for the ideal rock texture was examined and the function, a specific kind of spatial correlation function, is related to crystal size distribution and to some extent to crystal boundaries. The function is unity at distance zero, and monotonically decreases with increasing distance for the ideal texture. This behavior of the function is observed for any size distribution. In an ideal texture, the function is directly related to crystal size distribution and crystal shape. It is important in stereology because the crystal size distribution in three dimensions may be deduced from analyzing a function that is obtained from analyzing two-dimensional section images. Crystal shape is also related to the function. If crystals are concave in shape, or have inclusions of other phases, the function may show a hump or plateau when plotted against distance. However, the crystal shape effect cannot produce values smaller than zero. If values become negative, the texture is no longer considered ideal. The ideal textures for two model size distributions—step and delta functions—are considered. The rate of decrease of values is more strongly dependent on size distribution than on system dimension.     

Closed-system geochemical recycling of crustal materials in alpine-type peridotite

We examined aluminous mafic rock (with or without corundum or sapphirine) alternating with peridotite from the Ronda peridotite massif, southern Spain. On the basis of petrographic characteristics, these mafic rocks show a decompression history from high pressure (P > 1.5 GPa), but on the basis of their geochemical characteristics, they are crystal accumulates of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and olivine formed within the lower crust (P < 1 GPa). A complex evolution history, including higher-pressure recrystallization after initial formation as cumulate gabbros at lower-pressure conditions, is proposed. The aluminous mafic rocks and their peridotite hosts are inferred to be recycled crustal materials now observed as centimeter-scale layered components in alpine-type peridotite. The rocks retained their original cumulate compositions; that is, their compositions were not affected by melting and metasomatic modifications during subduction, intense deformation within the upper mantle, and upwelling to the surface.     

Morphological transitions for pore water and pore air during drying and wetting processes in partially saturated sand

Acta Geotechnica - Water retention characteristics are important for modeling the mechanical and hydraulic behavior of partially saturated sand. It is well known that the soil water characteristic...     

The influences of various anthropogenic sources of deterioration on meiobenthos (Ostracoda) over the last 100 years in Suo-Nada in the Seto Inland Sea, southwest Japan

This study focuses on the relationships of water and sediment quality with meiobenthos (Ostracoda) over the past 100 years, using a sediment core obtained from Suo-Nada in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. We compared high-resolution ostracode results with geochemical and sedimentological data obtained from the study core as well as with rich environmental monitoring data that are available. R-mode cluster analysis revealed two bioassociations (BC, KA). Until the1960s, assemblages continued to show high diversity. They changed in approximately 1970, when excessive nutrients and organic matter began to be supplied, and most species decreased in number. All species of bioassociation BC were dominant again by the mid-1990s; however, those of bioassociation KA containing infaunal species did not increase and have been absent or rare since the 1970s because organic pollution of sediments has continued to date. This study provided robust baseline for ostracode-based long-term environmental monitoring in East Asia.     

Galactic cosmic-ray anisotropy and its heliospheric modulation, inferred from the sidereal semidiurnal variations observed in the rigidity range 300–600 GV with multidirectional muon telescope at Sakashita underground station

The existence of sidereal semidiurnal variation of cosmic-ray intensity in a rigidity region 10²-10³ GV has been reported by many researchers, but there is no consensus of opinion on its origin. In this paper, using the observed semidiurnal variations in a rigidity range (300–600 GV) with 10 directional muon telescopes at Sakashita underground station (geog. lat. = 36°, long. = 138°E, DEPTH = 80 m.w.e.), the authors determine the magnitudes (η₁, η₂) and directions (a₁, a₂) of the first- and second-order anisotropies in the following galactic cosmic-ray intensity distribution (j)

jdp = j₀{1 + η₁P₁(cos χ₁) + η₂P₂(cos χ₂)}dp

, where P_nis the nth order spherical function and χ_n is the pitch angle of cosmic rays with respect to a_n. For the determination, the influence of cosmic-ray's heliomagnetospheric modulation, geomagnetic deflection and nuclear interaction with the terrestrial material and also of the geometric configuration of the telescopes are taken into account. Usually, the semidiurnal variation is produced by the second-order anisotropy. The present observation, however, requires also the first-order anisotropy which usually produces only the diurnal variation, but can produce also the semidiurnal variation as a result of the heliospheric modulation. The first- and second-order anisotropies are characterized with η₁) > 0 and η₂ < 0 have almost the same direction (a₁ a₂) specified by the right ascension ( 0.75 h) and declination (δ 50°S) and, therefore, they can be expressed, as a whole, by an axis-symmetric anisotropy of loss-cone type (i.e. deficit intensities in a cone). It is noteworthy that this anisotropy approximately coincides with that inferred from the air shower observation at Mt Norikura in the rigidity region 10⁴ GV.     

Petrogenesis of ultramafic rocks and olivine-rich troctolites from the East Taiwan Ophiolite in the Lichi mélange

Mineralogy and Petrology - We examine ultramafic and olivine-rich troctolite blocks of the East Taiwan Ophiolite (ETO) in the Lichi Mélange. Although ultramafic rocks are extensively...     

Geochemistry of spinel-hosted amphibole inclusions in abyssal peridotite: insight into secondary melt formation in melt–peridotite reaction

Spinel-hosted hydrous silicate mineral inclusions are often observed in dunite and troctolite as well as chromitite. Their origin has been expected as products associated with melt–peridotite reaction, based on the host rock origin. However, the systematics in mineralogical and geochemical features are not yet investigated totally. In this study, we report geochemical variations of the spinel-hosted pargasite inclusions in reacted harzburgite and olivine-rich troctolite collected from Atlantis Massif, an oceanic core complex, in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The studied samples are a good example to examine geochemical variations in the inclusions because the origin and geological background of the host rocks have been well constrained, such as the reaction between MORB melt and depleted residual harzburgite beneath the mid-ocean ridge spreading center. The trace-element compositions of the pargasite inclusions are characterized by not only high abundance of incompatible elements but also the LREE and HFSE enrichments. Distinctive trace-element partitioning between the pargasite inclusion and the host-rock clinopyroxene supports that the secondary melt instantaneously formed by the reaction is trapped in spinel and produces inclusion minerals. While the pargasite geochemical features can be interpreted by modal change reaction of residual harzburgite, such as combination of orthopyroxene decomposition and olivine precipitation, degree of the LREE enrichment as well as variation of HREE abundance is controlled by melt/rock ratio in the reaction. The spinel-hosted hydrous inclusion could be embedded evidence indicating melt–peridotite reaction even if reaction signatures in the host rock were hidden by other consequent reactions.