Applying the adjoint-free 4dVar assimilation to modeling the Kuroshio south of Japan

Ocean Dynamics - Operational ocean nowcast/forecast systems require real-time sampling of oceanic data for representing realistic oceanic conditions. Satellite altimetry plays a key role in...     

Origin of Au-bearing rodingite in the Karabash massif of alpine-type ultramafic rocks in the southern Urals

The rodingite belt in the Karabash massif situated 40 km north of Miass is continuously traced for 2.5 km along its central part. Rodingites bear up to 1% sulfide disseminations and gold particles with high Cu content (up to 40 wt %) throughout the belt. The central part of the rodingite belt is especially rich in gold, which was mined at the Zolotaya Gora (Gold Mountain) deposit. The Au-bearing rodingite belt is zonal and was formed during three stages. The inner zone is composed of chlorite-andradite-diopside rock of the first stage, which is crosscut by diopside veinlets of the second stage and calcite veinlets of the third stage. The intermediate zone consists of fine-grained chloritolite of the first stage and coarse-grained chlorite veinlets of the second stage. The outer zone of the metasomatic column is occupied by antigorite and chrysotile-lizardite serpentinites. No relict rocks or minerals of the replaced protolith have been established except sporadic Cr-spinel grains. Native gold was being deposited during all periods of rodingite formation. In terms of the currently adopted concept of evolution of the Ural Foldbelt, the Sm-Nd isochron age of rodingite estimated at 369.4 ± 8.8 Ma corresponds to the period of collisional compression of Silurian-Devonian oceanic and island-arc complexes and upward pushing out of a block of the melanocratic basement underlying these complexes. A proposed model of rodingite formation is based on ore mineralogy, REE geochemistry, and thermobarogeochemical and isotopic study of minerals. It is suggested that in contrast to the barren bimetasomatic rodingite replacing dikes, the studied rodingite are considered to be fissure veins accompanied by metasomatic alteration of host serpentinite. The estimation of initial isotopic composition of fluid components indicates that the ore-bearing fluid is of metamorphic origin (δD_fl = ?4 to ?13‰ and δ¹⁸O_fl = 5.9 to 8.3‰). The fluid was formed as a product of dehydration of oceanic serpentinite at the base of melanocratic rocks and related gabbroids that moved out to the surface. These rocks were a source of gold and other components (Ca, Al, Ti, Cu, Ni, REE, P, etc.).     

A section of Vendian in the east of West Siberian Plate (based on data from the Borehole Vostok 3)

The Borehole Vostok 3 drilled in the east of the West Siberian Plate (Tomsk Region) revealed a Vendian section in the depth range 5002–3870 m, which was subdivided into the Poiga, Kotodzha, and Raiga Formations based on geological, geophysical, and paleontological data. In the Kotodzha and Raiga Formations, typical Upper Vendian fossils of Cloudina hartmanae and Namacalathus sp. were found along with diverse Platysolenites, which are commonly considered to be of zonal significance in Lower Cambrian strata. Hence, the stratigraphic interval with abundant diverse Platysolenites has a wider stratigraphic range than it was believed earlier and seems to cover the Upper Vendian and Lower Cambrian deposits. The Borehole Vostok 3 is the first Siberian occurrence of the fossils Namacalathus, the world's fourth occurrence of the Cloudina-Namacalathus association, and the first site where coexisting Platysolenites and typical Vendian organisms have been found. Therefore, the borehole provides one of the most informative (in paleontological context) Upper Vendian sections.     

First Finds of Native Iridium in Chromite–Platinum Ledge Ore and Placers of Zonal Clinopyroxenite–Dunite Massifs of the Urals

Doklady Earth Sciences - The results of studying the aggregates of native iridium from chromitites of the Svetloborskii and Sosnovskii clinopyroxenite–dunite massifs of the platinum-bearing...     

Oxides of the Pyrochlore Supergroup from a Nonsulfide Endogenic Assemblage of Pb–Zn–Sb–As Minerals in the Pelagonian Massif,Macedonia

Geology of Ore Deposits - The specific features of the chemical composition, isomorphism, and zoning have been studied for pyrochlore supergroup minerals (PSM) from metasomatic rocks of ore...     

Au-Cu-Ag mineralization in rodingites and nephritoids of the Agardag ultramafic massif (southern Tuva,Russia)

Gold-bearing albite-amphibole-pyroxene rodingites of the Agardag ultramafic massif (southern Tuva, Russia) are confined to the E-W striking serpentinite crush zone. A zone of gold-bearing nephritoids is localized at the contact of rodingites with serpentinites. Optical and scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and fluorescent, chemical, ICP MS, and X-ray phase analyses were applied to study Au-Cu-Ag mineralization in the serpentinites, rodingites, and nephritoids. Copper sulfides, chalcocite and digenite, are present in the serpentinites, whereas gold and silver minerals are absent. Copper impurity is found in antigorite, Cr-spinel, and magnetite (up to 0.1-0.3 wt.%) as well as parkerite (up to 1.2 wt.%) and millerite (up to 7.9 wt.%). A wide variety of native gold and copper minerals has been identified in the rodingites: (1) cuproauride and tetra-auricupride free of or containing silver impurities (0.1 to 1.2 wt.%); (2) electrum of composition Ag0.50_-0.49Au0.50_-0.5₁ (650-660%c) intergrown with AuCu, sometimes as exsolution structures; (3) electrum of composition Ag₀._70-0.6₄Au₀._30-0.₃6 (440-510%c), with inclusions of AuCu and copper sulfides (geerite and yarrowite); (4) high-fineness gold (750-990%c) as veinlets in electrum; and (5) native copper. The composition of copper sulfides varies from chalcocite to covellite. Submicron inclusions of hessite Ag2Te were found in chalcocite. The amount of copper, gold, and silver minerals in the nephritoids is much less than that in the rodingites. The nephritoids contain chalcocite, electrum of composition Ag0.6_4-0.63Au0.36_-0.3₇ (530-540%c), cuproauride, and tetra-auricupride. The detected hypergene minerals are auricuzite, apachite, brochantite, high-fineness gold, native copper, and cuprite. The sequence of mineral formation in the Agardag ore occurrence has been established on the basis of mineral structures and mineral relations in the rodingites and nephritoids. It is proved that Au-Cu-Ag mineralization formed with the participation of Au- and Ag-bearing chloride-free low-sulfur carbon dioxide alkaline fluids in reducing conditions.