Organic sedimentary deposits in Titan’s dry lakebeds: Probable evaporite

We report the discovery of organic sedimentary deposits at the bottom of dry lakebeds near Titan’s north pole in observations from the Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). We show evidence that the deposits are evaporitic, making Titan just the third known planetary body with evaporitic processes after Earth and Mars, and is the first that uses a solvent other than water.     

The 2010 European Venus Explorer (EVE) mission proposal

The European Venus Explorer (EVE) mission described in this paper was proposed in December 2010 to ESA as an ‘M-class’ mission under the Cosmic Vision programme. It consists of a single balloon platform floating in the middle of the main convective cloud layer of Venus at an altitude of 55?km, where temperatures and pressures are benign (～25°C and ～0.5 bar). The balloon float lifetime would be at least 10 Earth days, long enough to guarantee at least one full circumnavigation of the planet. This offers an ideal platform for the two main science goals of the mission: study of the current climate through detailed characterization of cloud-level atmosphere, and investigation of the formation and evolution of Venus, through careful measurement of noble gas isotopic abundances. These investigations would provide key data for comparative planetology of terrestrial planets in our solar system and beyond.     

U–Pb Zircon Age Constraining the Source and Provenance of Gem‐Bearing Late Cenozoic Detrital Deposits,Mamfe Basin,SW Cameroon

Zircons and other heavy minerals (corundum, rutile, ilmenite, magnetite, sillimanite) are identified in the Nsanaragati gem corundum placer deposit, in the western part of the Mamfe sedimentary basin, SW Cameroon. These alluvial minerals have different morphological characteristics and zircons, in particular, vary mostly in colour and shape. They are reddish, brownish, yellowish, pink or colourless. These minerals form rounded and sub‐rounded alluvial grains, prismatic, pyramidal or dipyramidal crystals. Reddish zircons retain their original crystallographic shape. Trace element and U–Pb isotopic geochemical analyses of these reddish zircons, using the LA‐ICP‐MS method give significant Hf (4576–6334 ppm), Th (46–1565 ppm) and U (66–687 ppm) contents, with Th/U ratio ranging from 0.6 to 3.0. The ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U corrected mean age gave 12.39 ± 0.55 Ma, which characterizes an Upper Cenozoic (Serravallian) magmatic event. The zircons are probably sourced from a magmatic field in the South eastern boundary of the Cross River Formation. The Cameroon Volcanic Line of basaltic and alkaline lavas and intrusions which lie east of the Mamfe Basin mostly range in age from 37 Ma to <1 Ma. The zircons may also relate to the Mount Bambouto plateau lavas which lie northeast of the Mamfe sedimentary basin and have an eruptive age range of 21–14 Ma. The oldest Nsanaragati reddish zircon ages overlap within error with the end stages of the Bambouto eruptions. This eruptive or a related episode provides a potential source for megacrystic reddish zircons within the Nsanagarati placer deposit.     

Gem-corundum megacrysts from east Australian basalt fields: trace elements,oxygen isotopes and origins∗

Gem corundum, a minor but persistent megacryst in east Australian basalt fields, is mined from some placer concentrations. Laser ablation, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analyses and O isotope determinations on a colour range of corundum from different fields, show that chromophore (Fe, Cr, Ti, V) and genetic indicator (Ga, Mg, δ¹⁸O) values can distinguish corundum sources (magmatic, metamorphic and metasomatic) before basalt incorporation. They also characterise corundum groups from different fields. This identified two metamorphic groups, one carrying ruby at Barrington Tops, and a magmatic group distinct from those from other gem fields (lower Fe, northeast Tasmania; higher Fe, Yarrowitch). Ruby-bearing groups show clear provincial characteristics and include lower temperature spinel-facies groups (Barrington, Yarrowitch) and higher temperature garnet-facies groups (Cudgegong–Macquarie River). High Mg/Fe and Ni values in the latter approach those for corundum in diamond, and are a possible diamond indicator. The corundum derived from diverse fold-belt and felsic sources in underlying lithosphere forms a dataset for comparing corundum from other basalt fields.     

Passive-margin prolonged volcanism,East Australian Plate: outbursts,progressions, plate controls and suggested causes

Prolonged intraplate volcanism along the 4000 km-long East Australian margin for ca 100 Ma raises many genetic questions. Studies of the age-progressive pulses embedded in general basaltic activity have spawned a host of models. Zircon U–Pb dating of inland Queensland central volcanoes gives a stronger database to consider the structure and origin of Australian age-progressive volcanic chains. This assists appraisal of this volcanism in relation to plate motion and plate margin tectonic models. Inland Queensland central volcanoes progressed south-southeast from 34 to 31 Ma (～5.4 cm/yr) until a surge in activity led to irregular southerly progression 31 to 28 Ma. A new inland southeastern Queensland central volcano line (25 to 22 Ma), from Bunya Mountains to North Main Range, followed 3 Ma behind the adjacent coastal progression. The Australian and Tasman Sea age-progressive chains are compared against recent plate motion modelling (Indian Ocean hotspots). The chain lines differ from general vector traces owing to west-facing swells and cessations in activity. Tectonic processes on the eastern plate margin may regulate these irregularities. These include subduction, rapid roll-back and progressive detachment of the Loyalty slab (43 to 15 Ma). West-flowing Pacific-type asthenosphere, related to perturbed mantle convection, may explain the west-facing volcanic surges. Such westward Pacific flow for over 28 Ma is known at the Australian–Antarctic Discordance, southeast of the present Australian plume sites under Bass Strait–West Tasman Sea. Most basaltic activity along eastern Australia marks asthenospheric melt injections into Tasman rift zone mantle and not lithospheric plate speed. The young (post-10 Ma) fields (Queensland, Victoria–South Australia) reflect new plate couplings, which altered mantle convection and stress regimes. These areas receive asthenospheric inputs from deep thermal zones off northeast Queensland and under Bass Strait.     

Sapphire within zircon-rich gem deposits,Bo Loei,Ratanakiri Province,Cambodia: trace elements,inclusions, U–Pb dating and genesis

Subordinate sapphire accompanies prevalent zircon megacrysts in the Bo Loei basaltic gem field, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. These deposits are important for heat-treated gem zircon. Dark blue sapphire, with rare blue-green, orange-brown and yellow stones, up to a few cm in size, include hexagonal-shaped and growth-zoned crystals. Analyses of the sapphires (electron microprobe and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry) showed Fe as the main chromophore (0.6–2.7 wt%), with minor Ti (<0.7 wt%). Sapphire cores show enrichment in Fe relative to rims and some include exotic heavy elements (Nb up to 56, Ta up to 144, Sn up to 5 ppm). The sapphires show high Ga values (271–724 ppm) and Ga/Mg ratios (4.8–77.0) suggesting magmatic associations. Two sapphires with syngenetic inclusions (zircon, Nb-rich rutile) gave U–Pb (Th-disequilibrium corrected) ages at ca 0.93 ± 0.1 Ma. The Bo Loei sapphires show higher Fe and Ga than other magmatic sapphire suites elsewhere in Cambodia (Pailin), Laos (Ban Huai Sai, Ban Sam Sai), South Vietnam (Dak Nong, Dak Lac) and SE Thailand (Chanthaburi-Trat). This suggests potential for geographic typing of sapphire suites between these different fields.     

Evolution of calc-alkaline to alkaline magmatism through Carboniferous convergence to Permian transcurrent tectonics,western Chinese Tianshan

Continuous magmatic activity occurred in the western Chinese Tianshan, Central Asia, from the Carboniferous to the Permian, i.e. before and after the Late Carboniferous amalgamation of Junggar and the Yili Blocks. Zircon U–Pb LA-ICPMS and Ar–Ar data reveal a coincidence in time between regional wrench faulting and granitoid emplacement. Permian post-collisional granitoids crop out within or at the margins of large-scale dextral strike-slip shear zones, some of them show synkinematic fabrics. The whole rock geochemical features of the Early-Middle Permian granitoids indicate an evolution from high-K calc-alkaline towards alkaline series. In other places of the North Tianshan, alkaline magmatism occurred together with deep marine sedimentation within elongated troughs controlled by wrench faults. Therefore, in contrast with previous interpretations that forwarded continental rift or mantle plume hypotheses, the coexistence of diverse magmatic sources during the same tectonic episode suggests that post-collisional lithosphere-scale transcurrent shearing tightly controlled the magmatic activity during the transition from convergent margin to intraplate anorogenic processes.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of the orthoclase (0 0 1)- and (0 1 0)-water interfaces

Molecular dynamics simulations of water in contact with the (0 0 1) and (0 1 0) surfaces of orthoclase (KAlSi₃O₈) were carried out to investigate the structure and dynamics of the feldspar-water interface, contrast the intrinsic structural properties of the two surfaces, and provide a basis for future work on the diffusion of ions and molecules in microscopic mineral fractures. Electron density profiles were computed from the molecular dynamics trajectories and compared with those derived experimentally from high-resolution X-ray reflectivity measurements by Fenter and co-workers [Fenter P., Cheng L., Park C., Zhang H. and Sturchio N. C. (2003a) Structure of the orthoclase (0 0 1)- and (0 1 0)-water interfaces by high-resolution X-ray reflectivity. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta67, 4267-4275]. For each surface, three scenarios were considered whereby the interfacial species is potassium, water, or a hydronium ion. Excellent agreement was obtained for the (0 0 1) surface when potassium is the predominant interfacial species; however, some discrepancies in the position of the interfacial peaks were obtained for the (0 1 0) surface. The two surfaces showed similarities in the extent of water ordering at the interface, the activation energies for water and potassium desorption, and the adsorption localization of interfacial species. However, there are also important differences between the two surfaces in the coordination of a given adsorbed species, adsorption site densities, and the propensity for water molecules in surface cavities and those in the first hydration layer to coordinate to surface bridging oxygen atoms. These differences may have implications for the extent of dissolution in the low-pH regime since hydrolysis of Si(Al)OSi(Al) bonds is a major dissolution mechanism.