Fluid inclusion study of the Wunugetu Cu–Mo deposit,Inner Mongolia,China

Hydrothermal alteration and mineralization at the Wunugetu porphyry Cu–Mo deposit, China, include four stages, i.e., the early stage characterized by quartz, K-feldspar and minor mineralization, followed by a molybdenum mineralization stage associated with potassic alteration, copper mineralization associated with sericitization, and the last Pb–Zn mineralization stage associated with carbonation. Hydrothermal quartz contains three types of fluid inclusions, namely aqueous (W-type), daughter mineral-bearing (S-type) and CO₂-rich (C-type) inclusion, with the latter two types absent in the late stage. Fluid inclusions in the early stage display homogenization temperatures above 510°C, with salinities up to 75.8 wt.% NaCl equivalent. The presence of S-type inclusions containing anhydrite and hematite daughter minerals and C-type inclusions indicates an oxidizing, CO₂-bearing environment. Fluid inclusions in the Mo- and Cu-mineralization stages yield homogenization temperatures of 342–508°C and 241–336°C, and salinities of 8.6–49.4 and 6.3–35.7 wt.% NaCl equivalent, respectively. The presence of chalcopyrite instead of hematite and anhydrite daughter minerals in S-type inclusions indicates a decreasing of oxygen fugacity. In the late stage, fluid inclusions yield homogenization temperatures of 115–234°C and salinities lower than 12.4 wt.% NaCl equivalent. It is concluded that the early stage fluids were CO₂ bearing, magmatic in origin, and characterized by high temperature, high salinity, and high oxygen fugacity. Phase separation occurred during the Mo- and Cu-mineralization stages, resulting in CO₂ release, oxygen fugacity decrease and rapid precipitation of sulfides. The late-stage fluids were meteoric in origin and characterized by low temperature, low salinity, and CO₂ poor.     

The competing models for the origin and internal evolution of granitic pegmatites in the light of melt and fluid inclusion research

In this paper we discuss the main petrogenetic models for granitic pegmatites and how these models have evolved over time. We suggest that the present state of knowledge requires that some aspects of these models to be modified, or absorbed into newer ones. Pegmatite formation and internal evolution have long supposed the need for highly water- and flux-enriched magmas to explain the differences between pegmatites and other intrusives of similar major element composition. Compositions and textural characteristics of fluid and melt inclusions in pegmatite minerals provide strong evidence for such magmas. Furthermore, we show that melt inclusion research has increased the number of potential flux components, which may include H₂O, OH^?, CO₂, HCO ₃ ^? , CO ₃ ^2? , SO ₄ ^2? , PO ₄ ^3? , H₃BO₃, F , and Cl, as well as the elements Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and Be, herein described as melt structure modifiers. In this paper we emphasize that the combined effect which these components have on the properties of pegmatite melts is difficult to deduce from experimental studies using only a limited number of these components. The combination and the amount of the different magmatic species, together with differences in the source region, and variations in pressure and temperature cause the great diversity of the pegmatites observed. Some volatile species, such as CO ₃ ^2? and alkalis, have the capacity to increase the solubility of H₂O in silicate melt to an extraordinary degree, to the extent that melt-melt-fluid immiscibility becomes inevitable. It is our view that the formation of pegmatites is connected with the complex interplay of many factors.     

Sixty thousand years of magmatic volatile history before the caldera-forming eruption of Mount Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon

The well-documented eruptive history of Mount Mazama, Oregon, provides an excellent opportunity to use pre-eruptive volatile concentrations to study the growth of an explosive silicic magmatic system. Melt inclusions (MI) hosted in pyroxene and plagioclase crystals from eight dacitic–rhyodacitic eruptive deposits (71–7.7?ka) were analyzed to determine variations in volatile-element concentrations and changes in magma storage conditions leading up to and including the climactic eruption of Crater Lake caldera. Temperatures (Fe–Ti oxides) increased through the series of dacites, then decreased, and increased again through the rhyodacites (918–968 to ~950 to 845–895?°C). Oxygen fugacity began at nickel–nickel-oxide buffer (NNO) +0.8 (71?ka), dropped slightly to NNO +0.3, and then climbed to its highest value with the climactic eruption (7.7?ka) at NNO +1.1 log units. In parallel with oxidation state, maximum MI sulfur concentrations were high early in the eruptive sequence (~500?ppm), decreased (to ~200?ppm), and then increased again with the climactic eruption (~500?ppm). Maximum MI sulfur correlates with the Sr content (as a proxy for LREE, Ba, Rb, P₂O₅) of recharge magmas, represented by basaltic andesitic to andesitic enclaves and similar-aged lavas. These results suggest that oxidized Sr-rich recharge magmas dominated early and late in the development of the pre-climactic dacite–rhyodacite system. Dissolved H₂O concentrations in MI do not, however, correlate with these changes in dominant recharge magma, instead recording vapor solubility relations in the developing shallow magma storage and conduit region. Dissolved H₂O concentrations form two populations through time: the first at 3–4.6 wt% (with a few extreme values up to 6.1 wt%) and the second at ≤2.4 wt%. CO₂ concentrations measured in a subset of these inclusions reach up to 240?ppm in early-erupted deposits (71?ka) and are below detection in climactic deposits (7.7?ka). Combined H₂O and CO₂ concentrations and solubility models indicate a dominant storage region at 4–7?km (up to 12?km), with drier inclusions that diffusively re-equilibrated and/or were trapped at shallower depths. Boron and Cl (except in the climactic deposit) largely remained in the melt, suggesting vapor–melt partition coefficients and gas fractions were low. Modeled Li, F, and S vapor–melt partition coefficients are higher than those of B and Cl. The decrease in maximum MI CO₂ concentration following the earliest dacitic eruptions is interpreted to result from a broadening of the shallow storage region to greater than the diameter of subjacent feeders, so that greater proportions of reservoir magma were to the side of CO₂-bearing vapor bubbles ascending vertically from the locus of recharge magma injection, thereby escaping recarbonation by streaming vapor bubbles. The Mazama melt inclusions provide a picture of a growing magma storage region, where chemical variations in melt and magma occur due to changes in the nature and supply rate of magma recharge, the timing of degassing, and the possible degree of equilibration with gases from below.     

Application of the Ti-in-quartz thermobarometer to rutile-free systems. Reply to: a comment on: ‘TitaniQ under pressure: the effect of pressure and temperature on the solubility of Ti in quartz’ by Thomas et al.

The premise of the Wilson et al. comment is that the Ti-in-quartz solubility calibration (Thomas et al. in Contrib Mineral Petrol 160:743–759, 2010) is fundamentally flawed. They reach this conclusion because P–T estimates using the Ti-in-quartz calibration differ from their previous interpretations for crystallization conditions of the Bishop and Oruanui rhyolites. If correct, this assertion has far-reaching implications, so a careful assessment of the Wilson et al. reasoning is warranted. Application of the Ti-in-quartz calibration as a thermobarometer in rutile-free rocks requires an estimation of TiO₂ activity in the liquid ( (liquid–rutile); referenced to rutile saturation) and an independent constraint on either P or T to obtain the crystallization temperature or pressure, respectively. The foundation of Wilson et al.’s argument is that temperature estimates obtained from Fe–Ti oxide thermometry accurately reflect crystallization conditions of quartz in the two rhyolites discussed. We maintain that our experimental approach is sound, the thermodynamic basis of the Ti-in-quartz calibration is fundamentally correct, and our experimental results are robust and reproducible. We suggest that the reason Wilson et al. obtain implausible pressure estimates is because estimates for T and they used as input values for the Ti-in-quartz calibration are demonstrably too high. Numerous studies show that Fe–Ti oxide temperature estimates of some rhyolites are substantially higher than those predicted by well-constrained phase equilibria. In this reply, we show that when reasonable input values for T and (liquid–rutile) are used, pressure estimates obtained from the Ti-in-quartz calibration are well aligned with phase equilibria and essentially identical to melt inclusion volatile saturation pressures.     

Hydrogeologic controls on lake level: a case study at Mountain Lake, Virginia, USA

Mountain Lake in Giles County, Virginia, USA, has a documented history of severe natural lake-level changes involving groundwater seepage that extends over the past 4,200?years. The natural lake was full during a large part of the twentieth century but dried up completely in September 2008 and levels have yet to recover. The objective of the study was to understand the hydrogeologic factors that influence lake-level changes using a daily water balance, electrical resistivity, water sampling and geochemical analysis, and well logging. Results from the water balance demonstrate the seasonal response to precipitation of a forested first-order drainage system in fractured rock. The resistivity surveys suggest discrete high-permeability areas may provide pathways for lake drainage. Imagery, well logs, and field observations appear to confirm the presence of a fault which crosses the Eastern Continental Divide to the east of the lake that had not previously been discussed in literature on the lake; the position of the lake within local and intermediate groundwater flow systems is considered. Historical data suggest that either significant precipitation or artificial intervention to mitigate seepage would be required for lake-level recovery in the near future.     

The Effects of Integrated Marsh Management (IMM) on Salt Marsh Vegetation,Nekton, and Birds

An integrated marsh management (IMM) project in an urbanized watershed on Long Island, New York, USA, aimed to mitigate salt marsh degradation and to reduce mosquito production by an innovative combination of restoration and open marsh water management methods. The grid ditch network at two treatment marshes was replaced with naturalized tidal channels and ponds. Effects of the hydrologic alterations were monitored utilizing a before–after–control–impact approach. The treatment marshes experienced a number of beneficial outcomes including a fourfold reduction in the invasive Phragmites australis and increased native vegetation cover in the most degraded portions of the marsh, increased abundance and diversity of marsh killifish and estuarine nekton species, higher shorebird and waterfowl densities, and increased avian species diversity. The successful implementation of IMM concept led to improved marsh health and diminished mosquito production. Therefore, this study may serve as a template for similar large-scale integrated salt marsh restoration projects.     

Granite magma migration and emplacement along thrusts

This paper investigates the influence exerted by brittle tectonic structures in the emplacement of granite plutons in contractional settings. We address both cases where contractional tectonics and magma intrusion are (1) coeval, to study how active contractional tectonics controls the transport of magma, and (2) diachronous, to study the role of pre-existing structures on the transport of magma. In light of new experimental models, we show that magma can rise along thrusts ramps and flats. This phenomenon occurs for both low-viscosity magma (basalts to andesite) and high-viscosity magma (dry granite). The experimental results also allow the evaluation of the role played by magma viscosity in determining pluton geometries. In addition, a review of literature demonstrates a spatial and causal relationship between granites and thrusts and highlights the geometric control of magma pathways in the pluton final shape. The abundance of subhorizontal and tabular granitic intrusions indicates that the location of inflating granitic sills along thrust flats can be common. We argue that active and pre-existing flats-and-ramps thrusts provide a preferential continuous planar anisotropy susceptible to become a granitic magma migration pathway.     

Fabric evolution at basement–cover interfaces in a fold-and-thrust belt and implications for décollement tectonics (Autochthon, Lower Allochthon, central Scandinavian Caledonides)

Microstructural and magnetic investigations (anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, AMS) on sections across basement–cover interfaces (BCI) revealed a complex evolution in the crystalline basement rocks beneath and in the basal units of the Caledonian fold-and-thrust belt: (1) Pre-Caledonian mylonitic fabrics in basement granite relate to steep shear zones. (2) Palaeoweathering formed smectite and illite at the expense of feldspar and mica. Secondary Fe-bearing clay minerals and the intensity of the chemical weathering control the bulk susceptibility. Changing susceptibility and AMS relate to a (time) sequence from primary magnetite to secondary paramagnetic clay to pyrite and ferrimagnetic pyrrhotite. (3) Burial compaction with BCI-parallel fabrics. (4) Caledonian cleavage, overprinted by décollement zones with S–C–C′ fabrics. Décollement cataclasis overprinted pre-existing magnetic fabrics and produced horizontal magnetic lineations and subhorizontal foliations defined by the S–C–C′ fabrics. Clay mineral enrichment, together with subsequent, BCI-parallel compaction fabrics, decreased the shear strength in the basement rocks beneath the BCI. Detachments initiated at such low-strength zones and produced allochthonous units with their footwall within crystalline basement rocks, an observation of general importance for orogenic fold-and-thrust belts.