Properties of dust source material and volcanic ash in Iceland

The volcanic origin, primarily basaltic, of most of the surface material in Iceland influences its physical properties and appearance. Size distributions, shape analyses and melting experiments were made for surface material collected in high-erosion dust source areas and fresh volcanic ash deposits to determine whether they differ from one another and from dust from other major dust sources. The major differences found between Icelandic dust and dust from other major dust sources in the world, such as the Sahara, are in the particle shapes, lower density and darker colour. Icelandic dust particles greater than 20 μm retain volcanic morphological properties that are also found in fresh volcanic ash. Dust and fresh volcanic ash particles less than 20 μm are crystalline and blocky in nature, similar to the dust from other global source regions. The finer grained (<20 μm) Icelandic particles will have similar suspension and transport behaviours and be similarly hazardous to health and infrastructure as non-Icelandic dust. The coarser particles (>20 μm) will have different suspension and transport behaviours than other dusts due to the volcanic morphology. Icelandic surface material has between 5% and 30% glassy particles compared to fresh volcanic ash which has more than 50% glassy particles. Glassy particles were observed to melt at a lower temperature than the mineral grains; and, as a result, volcanic ash is found to be more threatening to aircraft engines than the typical dust from Iceland. Icelandic dust was observed to be blocky, or plate-like in the respirable size fraction, suggesting similar health hazards as dust from other regions.     

Micro-scale tracing of Fe and Si isotope signatures in banded iron formation using femtosecond laser ablation

We have detected micrometre-scale differences in Fe and Si stable isotope ratios between coexisting minerals and between layers of banded iron formation (BIF) using an UV femtosecond laser ablation system connected to a MC-ICP-MS. In the magnetite–carbonate–chert BIF from the Archean Old Wanderer Formation in the Shurugwi Greenstone Belt (Zimbabwe), magnetite shows neither intra- nor inter-layer trends giving overall uniform δ⁵⁶Fe values of 0.9‰, but exhibits intra-crystal zonation. Bulk iron carbonates are also relatively uniform at near-zero values, however, their individual δ⁵⁶Fe value is highly composition-dependent: both siderite and ankerite and mixtures between both are present, and δ⁵⁶Fe end member values are 0.4‰ for siderite and −0.7‰ for ankerite. The data suggest either an early diagenetic origin of magnetite and iron carbonates by the reaction of organic matter with ferric oxyhydroxides catalysed by Fe(III)-reducing bacteria; or more likely an abiotic reaction of organic carbon and Fe(III) during low-grade metamorphism. Si isotope composition of the Old Wanderer BIF also shows significant variations with δ³⁰Si values that range between −1.0‰ and −2.6‰ for bulk layers. These isotope compositions suggest rapid precipitation of the silicate phases from hydrothermal-rich waters. Interestingly, Fe and Si isotope compositions of bulk layers are covariant and are interpreted as largely primary signatures. Moreover, the changes of Fe and Si isotope signatures between bulk layers directly reflect the upwelling dynamics of hydrothermal-rich water which govern the rates of Fe and Si precipitation and therefore also the development of layering. During periods of low hydrothermal activity, precipitation of only small amounts of ferric oxyhydroxide was followed by complete reduction with organic carbon during diagenesis resulting in carbonate–chert layers. During periods of intensive hydrothermal activity, precipitation rates of ferric oxyhydroxide were high, and subsequent diagenesis triggered only partial reduction, forming magnetite–carbonate–chert layers. We are confident that our micro-analytical technique is able to detect both the solute flux history into the sedimentary BIF precursor, and the BIF’s diagenetic history from the comparison between coexisting minerals and their predicted fractionation factors.     

Tektonische Beziehungen der Münchberger Gneismasse zum Erzgebirge und nördlichen Böhmerwald

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

A gamma spectrometric study of Mont-Blanc granite samples

Summary Gamma-ray spectra of the samples were measured by standard laboratory multichannel spectrometry. The weighted least squares method was applied to the digital output data in order to determine the concentrations of U²³⁸, Th²³² and K⁴⁰ present. U and Th increase towards the rim of the massif (from 4 ppm U and 20 ppm Th in the coarse-grained central facies to 23 ppm U and 42 ppm Th in the fine-grained rim variety), whereas K remains fairly constant at 3.85%.On leave Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zurich (Switzerland)     

Intergrowth and twinning in opal-CT lepispheres

Under conditions of unobstructed diagenetic growth, opal-CT usually forms spherical aggregates, so-called lepispheres. From a scanning electron microscope study of deep-sea porcelanites, the development of these structures is described, from isolated opal-CT platelets via complete lepispheres to large coalescent aggregates. The conspicuous symmetric ultrastructure of lepispheres—reflected by the constancy of angles between interpenetrating crystal blades—is crystallographically determined: The lepispheres consist of groups of opal-CT blades intergrown according to the (30–34) and (10–16) twinning laws of tridymite. The same rules of intergrowth can be applied to the morphology of hydrothermally synthesized opal-CT lepispheres.