Lippmann Diagrams: Theory and Application to Carbonate Systems

Since 1980 when F. Lippmann's seminal paper appeared, ourunderstanding of solubility equilibria involving ionic solidsolutions has been advanced by theoretical considerations as wellas careful experimental studies designed to determine excess Gibbsfunctions. A unified theory of solid-solution aqueous-solutionequilibria as well as the thermodynamic background of thephenomenon of ``stoichiometric saturation' are reviewed.It is shown that Lippmann diagrams effectively summarize thethermodynamic basis of solid-solute aqueous-solution equilibria ofsparingly soluble metal carbonate systems. Clearly, the predictivepower of these diagrams may be limited due to kineticrestrictions. Only when dissolution and precipitation areessentially reversible, favourable conditions to synthesizehomogeneous solid phases can be derived from studies of equilibria.     

Final Stages of Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis: What do We Know and What Would We Like to Know?

Recent developments in theoretical model-calculations for the synthesis of the chemical elements during late stages of stellar evolution are reviewed. Special emphasis is put on a discussion of various astrophysical sites, including core-collapse and thermonuclear supernovae, and the physics of turbulent reactive fluids. Results of numerical simulations are presented and discussed, together with new results concerning solar-system abundances as well as abundances observed in very metal-poor stars, in the context of searches for constraints on the still rather uncertain nuclear physics data and astrophysical models. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Next-generation robotic planetary reconnaissance missions: A paradigm shift

A fundamentally new scientific mission concept for remote planetary surface and subsurface reconnaissance will soon replace the engineering and safety constrained mission designs of the past, allowing for optimal acquisition of geologic, paleohydrologic, paleoclimatic, and possible astrobiologic information of Mars and other extraterrestrial targets. Traditional missions have performed local ground-level reconnaissance through rovers and immobile landers, or global mapping performed by an orbiter. The former is safety and engineering constrained, affording limited detailed reconnaissance of a single site at the expense of a regional understanding, while the latter returns immense datasets, often overlooking detailed information of local and regional significance. A “tier-scalable” paradigm integrates multi-tier (orbitatmosphereground) and multi-agent (orbiterblimpsrovers/sensorwebs) hierarchical mission architectures, not only introducing mission redundancy and safety, but enabling and optimizing intelligent, unconstrained, and distributed science-driven exploration of prime locations on Mars and elsewhere, allowing for increased science return, and paving the way towards fully autonomous robotic missions.     

Comparison and integration of spatial data using covariance matrices

A differential approach to map comparison and integration is presented utilizing the variance-covariance matrices of polynomial trend surfaces. The approach is based on the statistics presented in the trend-surface computer program, CORSURF. Examples in south-central Kansas and the Maracaibo Basin in Venezuela are presented to show how the technique could be used in basinanalysis studies.     

Near-K/T age of clastic deposits from Texas to Brazil: impact,volcanism and/or sea-level lowstand?

Near-K/T boundary clastic deposits from Texas, Mexico, Haiti, Guatemala and Brazil, often described as impact-generated tsunami deposits, are stratigraphically below well-defined K/T boundary horizons and appear not to be causally related to the K/T boundary event. Stratigraphic evidence indicates that their deposition began during the last 170–200 kyr of the Maastrichtian, coincident with a major eustatic sea-level lowstand that lowered sea level by as much as 70–100 m. Clastic deposition ended a few tens of thousands of years before the K/T boundary during a rapidly rising sea level. The presence of glass in clastic deposits in Haiti, northeastern Mexico and Yucatan suggests that the sea-level lowstand coincided with a time of major volcanism or pre-K/T boundary bolide impact.     

Examples of structural control of hydrothermal mineralization: Fault zones in epicontinental sedimentary basins — A review

By compiling data available from progressive geoscientific research and by complementary studies it seems possible for an increasing number of mineral districts to find indications of the regional structural control of hydrothermal ore deposits. The relationship between hydrothermal mineralization, faulting or fault reactivation and related processes can, of course, best be examined at the less deformed sedimentary record of ancient epicontinental sedimentary basins. There is increasing evidence that the sediment-hosted submarine-hydrothermal Zn-Pb-Ba mineralizations such as Meggen, Rammelsberg, Howards Pass and McArthur River are spatially and genetically related to deep synsedimentarily active fault systems of intracontinental basins or stretched passive continental margins. For long periods of basin development the faults provided favorable conduits for episodically released basin-dewatering brines, which precipitated the leached metals into third-order basins situated next to these faults. There are many similarities to epigenetic mineralizations, which formed either pre-, syn- or postorogenetically from brines leaching the (meta)sediments and associated magmatites and migrating along fault zones to their near-surface trap structures.

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Zusammenfassung Für viele Erzprovinzen bietet sich durch Kompilation der in den letzten Jahrzehnten rasch angewachsenen Zahl geowissenschaftlicher Daten und durch gezielte ergänzende Untersuchungen die Möglichkeit, Anhaltspunkte oder Belege für die regionale Strukturbindung von hydrothermalen Vererzungen zu finden. Naturgemäß lassen sich die Zusammenhänge zwischen hydrothermaler Mineralisation, Störungstektonik und begleitenden Prozessen am besten an nur gering orogen überprägten ehemaligen Sedimentbecken untersuchen. So gibt es vermehrt Belege dafür, daß die sediment-gebundenen, submarin-hydrothermalen Zn-Pb-Ba Vererzungen wie Meggen, Rammeisberg, Howards Pass, McArthur River etc. räumlich und genetisch an tiefreichende Störungssysteme gebunden sind, die während der Sedimentation in intrakontinentalen Riftbecken oder auf ausgedünnten passiven Kontinentalrändern aktiv waren. Diese Störungssysteme bündelten die salinaren Beckenentwässerungsströme und ermöglichten über lange Zeiträume ihren episodischen Aufstieg zum Meeresboden, wo die aus den Sedimenten aufgenommenen Metalle als Sulfide in Spezialbecken abgesetzt wurden. Es bestehen prinzipielle Ähnlichkeiten mit vielen epigenetischen prä-, syn- oder postorogenen Mineralisationen; auch hier migrierten die salinaren Lösungen, die ihren Metallgehalt aus den (Meta)Sedimenten und eingelagerten Magmatiten bezogen, entlang von Störungssystemen bis zu den oberflächennahen Fallenstrukturen.

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Résumé La compilation des données géologiques qui se sont largement multipliées au cours des dernières décennies, complétée par des rechercùhes complémentaires particulières, nous offre pour beaucoup de régions la possibilité de trouver des indices ou même des preuves d'un contrôle structural des minéralisations hydrothermales. Il va de soi que les relations entre la minéralisation hydrothermale, la formation et la réactivation des failles ainsi que les processus associés sont les plus faciles à étudier dans les couches sédimentaires les moins touchées par une orogenèse postérieure. Ainsi, il existe des preuves que les gisements stratiformes et sédimentaires de Zn-Pb-Ba du type Howards Pass, McArthur River et Meggen sont liés à des systèmes de failles synsédimentaires profondes, en relation avec des bassins intracontinentaux du genre rift et avec des marges continentales passives en extension. Ces systèmes de failles synsédimentaires ont drainé des eaux salines intersticielles et ont rendu possible leur mouvement ascendant vers les fonds marins où leur contenu métallifère s'est déposé dans des bassins locaux. Des nombreuses recherches récentes mettent en évidence la ressemblance avec les minéralisations épigénétiques formées avant, pendant et après l'orogenèse; là aussi, les eaux interstitielles, après avoir reçu leur contenu métallifère des (meta)sédiments et des magmatites associées ont migré le long de systèmes de failles jusqu'aux pièges structuraux proches de la surface.

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Geochemistry of magnesites and dolomites at the Oberdorf/Laming (Austria) deposit and implications for their origin

The major and trace element geochemistry of magnesite and dolomite samples from alternating rock masses at the Oberdorf/Laming (Styria, Austria) mineralization has been studied. The rare earth elements (REE) are considered to be of importance for the discussion of the origin of sparry magnesite deposits. The Al and REE contents are positively correlated, indicating a clay component as the main source for REE in the magnesites and their precursor rocks. Our data support the view that the Oberdorf and probably other magnesite mineralizations in the Eastern Alps have been formed by metasomatism. Through this process calcite (which was deposited by sedimentation in a marine environment) underwent dolomitization. Subsequently, Mg-rich solutions circulating through the rock masses formed the magnesite bodies.During the formation of the dolomites and the conversion to magnesites, the REE patterns of the original carbonates remained unchanged. The magnesites exhibit patterns that are very similar to sedimentary carbonates (which contain a REE-bearing clay component). Magnesites of purely sedimentary origin, formed in a predominantly evaporitic environment, should have lower total REE contents and different patterns due to the short residence times of these elements in seawater. Analyses of talc pseduomorphs after magnesite indicate as well that the REE patterns are not significantly altered during the talcification. The Mg-rich solutions that led to the formation of the magnesites have probably been derived from serpentinites below the gneiss complexes of eastern Styria and the South Penninic units of the Tauern window.

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Zusammenfassung Die Haupt- und Spurenelementgeochemie von Magnesit- und Dolomitproben, die aus alternierenden Gesteinsstöcken in der Magnesitmine von Oberdorf/Laming (Steiermark, Österreich) stammen, wurde untersucht. Besonderes Augenmerk wurde dabei auf die Geochemie der Seltenen Erdelemente (REE) gelegt, da diese für Aussagen über die Entstehung der Magnesitlagerstätten von besonderer Bedeutung sind. Eine positive Korrelation zwischen den Al und REE-Gehalten deutet darauf hin, daß der Hauptteil der REE einer Tonkomponente entstammt. Die Daten unterstützen eine metasomatische Entstehung der Spatmagnesite der Oberdorfer Lagerstätte und anderer Ostalpiner Lagerstätten. Sedimentär angelegter Kalzit wird dabei über Dolomit mit Mg-reichen Lösungen in Magnesit umgewandelt.Während der Metasomatose bleiben die chondritnormierten REE-Verteilungen der Ausgangskarbonate relativ unverändert erhalten. Die so entstandenen Spatmagnesite weisen Verteilungsmuster auf, die jenen der sedimentären Karbonate, aus denen sie entstanden sind, entsprechen. Rein sedimentär entstandene Magnesite werden praktisch nur in evaporitischem Milieu gebildet und sollten infolge der kurzen Verweilzeit dieser Elemente im Meerwasser wesentlich niedrigere REE-Gehalte und andere Verteilungsmuster aufweisen. Analysen einer Talkpseudomorphose zeigen, daß sich die REE-Verteilungsmuster auch bei der metasomatischen Talk-bildung nicht wesentlich ändern. Die Mg-reichen Lösungen, die zur Bildung der Magnesite notwendig waren, entstammen vermutlich tiefliegenden Sepentiniten, auf die es Hinweise im Untergrund der oststeirischen Gneisskomplexe und des südpenninischen Tauernfensters gibt.

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Résumé Cette note présente les résultats d'une étude géochimique des éléments majeurs et en trace d'échantillons de magnésite et de dolomite qui se présentent en masses alternées dans la mine de magnésite de Oberdorf/Laming (Steiermark, Autriche). Une attention particulière a été apportée aux terres rares, considérées comme fournissant des arguments importants dans la discussion de l'origine des gisements. Les teneurs en Al et en terres rares montrent une corrélation positive, ce qui permet de rapporter à un composant argileux la source principale des terres rares. Les résultats obtenus plaident en faveur d'une origine métasomatique des minéralisations en magnésite d'Oberdorf et d'autres endroits des Alpes orientales. Au cours de ce processus, la calcite, d'origine sédimentaire marine, a été le siège d'une dolomitisation avec, subséquemment, formation de corps de magnésite grâce à la circulation de solutions riches en Mg.Au cours de la métasomatose, la distribution des terres rares des carbonates originels n'est pas modifiée: les magnésites montrent des répartitions très semblables à celles des carbonates sédimentaires (lesquels renferment un constituant argileux porteur des terres rares). Des magnésites d'origine purement sédimentaires, formées en milieu évoporitique, doivent présenter un contenu total en terres rares moins élevé et une distribution différente de ces éléments, eu égard à la brièveté de leur séjour dans l'eau de mer. Des analyses de pseudomorphoses de magnésite en talc montrent de même que la distribution des terres rares n'est pas modifiée de manière significative au cours de la talcification. Les solutions riches en Mg responsables de la formation de la magnésite sont probablement dérivées de serpentines situées sous les complexes gneissiques de Styrie et les unités penniques méridionales de la fenêtre des Tauern.

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Leptonic jets from young stellar objects?

Various explanations of the bipolar-flow phenomenon in star-forming regions are compared and confronted with the observed facts. It is concluded that stellar-wind interpretations are inconsistent with the constraints. The exotic property of young stellar objects may be their extreme spin which implies strong magnetic fields and vacuum discharges above thee ^± pair-formation threshold (of 10¹² eV). Pair-plasma jets are thought to be centrifugally driven by young stars during their first 10^4±1 years of rapid rotation.     

A first approach to calculate BIOCLIM variables and climate zones for Antarctica

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - For testing the hypothesis that macroclimatological factors determine the occurrence, biodiversity, and species specificity of both symbiotic partners of...