Dissolution channels in quartz and the role of pressure changes in gold and sulfide deposition in the Archean, greenstone-hosted, Hutti gold deposit, Karnataka, India

The pressure, temperature and composition of ore fluids that resulted in gold deposition in the Archean, greenstone-hosted Hutti deposit have been studied using fluid inclusions and the compositions of arsenopyrite and chlorite. Five types of fluids have been identified in fluid inclusions in quartz veins associated with mineralization. They are (1) monophase CO ₂-rich fluid; (2) low-salinity (0 to 14 wt% NaCl equivalent) and high-salinity (16 to 23 wt% NaCl equiv.) aqueous fluids; (3) high-salinity (28 to 40 wt% NaCl equiv.), polyphase aqueous fluids; (4) CO ₂–H ₂O–NaCl fluids of low salinity (0–8 wt% NaCl equiv.); and (5) a few carbonic inclusions with halite±nahcolite. The diversity of entrapped fluid composition is explained in terms of changes in fluid pressure and temperature which affect a more or less uniform supply of primary low-salinity CO ₂–H ₂O–NaCl fluid to the shear zone. Geothermobarometric studies indicate that during mineralization temperature ranged between 360 and 240 °C, and fluid pressure between 3,600 and 1,600 bar. The data are interpreted in terms of the cyclic fault-valve mechanism for active shear zones. Deposition of gold and sulfides has been studied on the basis of constraints from the composition of wall-rock chlorite, ore-mineral assemblages, and textural features. Tubular channels, 20 to 100 µm wide and up to 500 µm long that arise from fractures and C-planes in sheared quartz veins are reported for the first time. The channels have pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, pyrite and gold at their distal ends, with calcite filling up the remaining part. These channels form in response to increases in T and P, by dissolution of quartz grains, guided by dislocations in them. At the P– T conditions of interest, gold and sulfide deposition takes place in the shears and fractures of quartz veins from CO ₂–H ₂O–NaCl ore fluid of low salinity and pH due to changes in phase compositions that occur during the process of shear failure of the enclosing rocks. In the wall rock where pH is buffered, gold deposition takes place from the predominant Au(HS) ₂ ^- species with progressive sulfide deposition and decrease in SS, from 0.01 to 0.001 mol/kg as T falls from 360 to 240 °C.     

Portable autonomous vertical profiler for estuarine applications

The design and implementation of a portable autonomous vertical profiler are documented and example data sets from a mesotidal estuary and a microtidal, wind-driven estuary are presented. The profiler sampling range dynamically adjusts to changes in water column depth, and a typical vertical sampling resolution of 4 cm is attained. Example data show the onset and vertical and temporal extent of stratification in the water column. The profiler is ideal for water quality monitoring programs in shallow estuaries that require frequent profiles of hydrographic, chemical, and biological parameters that can be measured in situ.     

Rare gas isotopes and parent trace elements in ultrabasic-alkaline-carbonatite complexes, Kola Peninsula: identification of lower mantle plume component

During the Devonian magmatism (370 Ma ago) ∼20 ultrabasic-alkaline-carbonatite complexes (UACC) were formed in the Kola Peninsula (north-east of the Baltic Shield). In order to understand mantle and crust sources and processes having set these complexes, rare gases were studied in ∼300 rocks and mineral separates from 9 UACC, and concentrations of parent Li, K, U, and Th were measured in ∼70 samples. ⁴He/³He ratios in He released by fusion vary from pure radiogenic values ∼10⁸ down to 6 × 10⁴. The cosmogenic and extraterrestrial sources as well as the radiogenic production are unable to account for the extremely high abundances of ³He, up to 4 × 10⁻⁹ cc/g, indicating a mantle-derived fluid in the Kola rocks. In some samples helium extracted by crushing shows quite low ⁴He/³He = 3 × 10⁴, well below the mean ratio in mid ocean ridge basalts (MORB), (8.9 ± 1.0) × 10⁴, indicating the contribution of ³He-rich plume component. Magnetites are principal carriers of this component. Trapped ³He is extracted from these minerals at high temperatures 1100°C to 1600°C which may correspond to decrepitation or annealing primary fluid inclusions, whereas radiogenic ⁴He is manly released at a temperature range of 500°C to 1200°C, probably corresponding to activation of ⁴He sites degraded by U, Th decay.Similar ⁴He/³He ratios were observed in Oligocene flood basalts from the Ethiopian plume. According to a paleo-plate-tectonic reconstruction, 450 Ma ago the Baltica (including the Kola Peninsula) continent drifted not far from the present-day site of that plume. It appears that both magmatic provinces could relate to one and the same deep-seated mantle source.The neon isotopic compositions confirm the occurrence of a plume component since, within a conventional ²⁰Ne/²²Ne versus ²¹Ne/²²Ne diagram, the regression line for Kola samples is indistinguishable from those typical of plumes, such as Loihi (Hawaii). ²⁰Ne/²²Ne ratios (up to 12.1) correlate well with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar ones, allowing to infer a source ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar ratio of about 4000 for the mantle end-member, which is 10 times lower than that of the MORB source end-member. In (³He/²²Ne)_PRIM versus (⁴He/²¹Ne)_RAD plot the Kola samples are within array established for plume and MORB samples; almost constant production ratio of (⁴He/²¹Ne)_RAD ≅ 2 × 10⁷ is translated via this array into (³He/²²Ne)_PRIM ∼ 10. The latter value approaches the solar ratio implying the non-fractionated solar-like rare gas pattern in a plume source.The Kola UACC show systematic variations in the respective contributions of in situ-produced radiogenic isotopes and mantle-derived isotopes. Since these complexes were essentially plutonic, we propose that the depth of emplacement exerted a primary control on the retention of both trapped and radiogenic species, which is consistent with geological observations. The available data allow to infer the following sequence of processes for the emplacement and evolution of Kola Devonian UACC: 1) Ascent of the plume from the lower mantle to the subcontinental lithosphere; the plume triggered mantle metasomatism not later than ∼700 to 400 Ma ago. 2) Metasomatism of the lithosphere (beneath the central part of the Kola Peninsula), including enrichment in volatile (e.g., He, Ne) and in incompatible (e.g., U, Th) elements. 3) Multistage intrusions of parental melts, their degassing, and crystallisation differentiation ∼370 Ma ago. 4) Postcrystallisation migration of fluids, including loss of radiogenic and of trapped helium. Based on model compositions of the principle terrestrial reservoirs we estimate the contributions (by mass) of the plume material, the upper mantle material, and the atmosphere (air-saturated groundwater), into the source of parent melt at ∼2%, 97.95%, and ∼0.05%, respectively.     

Implications of Nb/U, Th/U and Sm/Nd in plume magmas for the relationship between continental and oceanic crust formation and the development of the depleted mantle

The Nb/U and Th/U of the primitive mantle are 34 and 4.04 respectively, which compare with 9.7 and 3.96 for the continental crust. Extraction of continental crust from the mantle therefore has a profound influence on its Nb/U but little influence on its Th/U. Conversely, extraction of midocean ridge-type basalts lowers the Th/U of the mantle residue but has little influence on its Nb/U. As a consequence, variations in Th/U and Nb/U with Sm/Nd can be used to evaluate the relative importance of continental and basaltic crust extraction in the formation of the depleted (Sm/Nd enriched) mantle reservoir.This study evaluates Nb/U, Th/U, and Sm/Nd variations in suites of komatiites, picrites, and their associated basalts, of various ages, to determine whether basalt and/or continental crust have been extracted from their source region. Emphasis is placed on komatiites and picrites because they formed at high degrees of partial melting and are expected to have Nb/U, Th/U, and Sm/Nd that are essentially the same as the mantle that melted to produce them. The results show that all of the studied suites, with the exception of the Barberton, have had both continental crust and basaltic crust extracted from their mantle source region. The high Sm/Nd of the Gorgona and Munro komatiites require the elevated ratios seen in these suites to be due primarily to extraction of basaltic crust from their source regions, whereas basaltic and continental crust extraction are of subequal importance in the source regions of the Yilgarn and Belingwe komatiites. The Sm/Nd of modern midocean ridge basalts lies above the crustal extraction curve on a plot of Sm/Nd against Nb/U, which requires the upper mantle to have had both basaltic and continental crust extracted from it.It is suggested that the extraction of the basaltic reservoir from the mantle occurs at midocean ridges and that the basaltic crust, together with its complementary depleted mantle residue, is subducted to the core-mantle boundary. When the two components reach thermal equilibrium with their surroundings, the lighter depleted component separates from the denser basaltic component. Both are eventually returned to the upper mantle, but the lighter depleted component has a shorter residence time in the lower mantle than the denser basaltic component. If the difference in the recycling times for the basaltic and depleted components is ∼1.0 to 1.5 Ga, a basaltic reservoir is created in the lower mantle, equivalent to the amount of basalt that is subducted in 1.0 to 1.5 Ga, and that reservoir is isolated from the upper mantle. It is this reservoir that is responsible for the Sm/Nd ratio of the upper mantle lying above the trend predicted by extraction of continental crust on the plot of Sm/Nd against Nb/U.     

Physical and chemical properties of the waters of saline lakes and their importance for deep-water renewal: Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan

The relationships between electrical conductivity, temperature, salinity, and density are studied for brackish Lake Issyk-Kul. These studies are based on a newly determined major ion composition, which for the open lake shows a mean absolute salinity of 6.06 g kg⁻¹. The conductivity-temperature relationship of the lake water was determined experimentally showing that the lake water is about 1.25 times less conductive than seawater diluted to the same absolute salinity as that of the lake water. Based on these results, an algorithm is presented to calculate salinity from in-situ conductivity measurements. Applied to the field data, this shows small but important vertical salinity variations in the lake with a salinity maximum at 200 m and a freshening of the surface water with increasing proximity to the shores. The algorithm we adopt to calculate density agrees well with earlier measurements and shows that at 20°C and 1 atm Lake Issyk-Kul water is about 530 g m⁻³ denser than seawater at the same salinity. The temperature of maximum density at 1 atm is about 0.15°C lower than that for seawater diluted to the same salinity. Despite its small variations, salinity plays an important role, together with temperature changes, in the static stability and in the production of deep-water in this lake. Changes in salinity may have had important consequences on the mixing regime and the fate of inflowing river water over geological time. Uncharged silicic acid is negligible for the stability of the water column except near an ∼15 m thick nepheloid layer observed at the bottom of the deep basin.     

Momentum transport of wave zero during March: A possible predictor for the Indian summer monsoon

Analysis of monthly momentum transport of zonal waves at 850 hPa for the period 1979 to 1993, between ‡S and ‡N for January to April, using zonal (u) and meridional (v) components of wind taken from the ECMWF reanalysis field, shows a positive correlation (.1% level of significance) between the Indian summer monsoon rainfall (June through September) and the momentum transport of wave zero TM(0) over latitudinal belt between 25‡S and 5‡N (LB) during March. Northward (Southward) TM(0) observed in March over LB subsequently leads to a good (drought) monsoon season over India which is found to be true even when the year is marked with the El-Nino event. Similarly a strong westerly zone in the Indian Ocean during March, indicates a good monsoon season for the country, even if the year is marked with El-Nino. The study thus suggests two predictors, TM(0) over LB and the strength of westerly zone in the Indian Ocean during March.     

Lithosphere structure of European sedimentary basins from regional three-dimensional gravity modelling

A three-dimensional (3D) density model, approximated by two regional layers—the sedimentary cover and the crystalline crust (offshore, a sea-water layer was added), has been constructed in 1° averaging for the whole European continent. The crustal model is based on simplified velocity model represented by structure maps for main seismic horizons—the “seismic” basement and the Moho boundary. Laterally varying average density is assumed inside the model layers. Residual gravity anomalies, obtained by subtraction of the crustal gravity effect from the observed field, characterize the density heterogeneities in the upper mantle. Mantle anomalies are shown to correlate with the upper mantle velocity inhomogeneities revealed from seismic tomography data and geothermal data. Considering the type of mantle anomaly, specific features of the evolution and type of isostatic compensation, the sedimentary basins in Europe may be related into some groups: deep sedimentary basins located in the East European Platform and its northern and eastern margins (Peri-Caspian, Dnieper–Donets, Barents Sea Basins, Fore–Ural Trough) with no significant mantle anomalies; basins located on the activated thin crust of Variscan Western Europe and Mediterranean area with negative mantle anomalies of −150 to −200×10⁻⁵ ms⁻² amplitude and the basins associated with suture zones at the western and southern margins of the East European Platform (Polish Trough, South Caspian Basin) characterized by positive mantle anomalies of 50–150×10⁻⁵ ms⁻² magnitude. An analysis of the main features of the lithosphere structure of the basins in Europe and type of the compensation has been carried out.     

湖泊沉积物中胶黄铁矿的鉴出及其磁学意义

对青藏高原东部若尔盖盆地钻孔获取的湖泊沉积物进行了详细的岩石磁学调查及矿物学鉴定, 发现大量胶黄铁矿存在, 并认定其为主要的磁载体. 该矿物颗粒细小, 粒度均匀, 可能为生物化学成因. 与大量文献报道的相反, 在长期暴露于空气后, 样品中的胶黄铁矿仍未被氧化. 这可能与钻孔内该矿物被硅质胶结物包裹有关. 研究结果初步揭示了湖泊沉积物磁学研究的复杂性, 同时也为环境磁学机理的研究提供了新的线索.