Solubility behavior of alkali aluminosilicate components in aqueous fluids and silicate melts at high pressure and temperature

The solubility behavior of K₂O, Na₂O, Al₂O₃, and SiO₂ in silicate-saturated aqueous fluid and coexisting H₂O-saturated silicate melts in the systems K₂O-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O and Na₂O-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O has been examined in the 1- to 2-GPa pressure range at 1100°C. Glasses of Na- and K-tetrasilicate compositions with 0, 3, and 6 mol% Al₂O₃ were used as starting materials. In both systems, the oxides dissolve incongruently in aqueous fluid and silicate melt. When recalculated to an anhydrous basis, the aqueous fluids are enriched in alkalis and depleted in silica and alumina relative to their proportions in the starting materials. The extent of incongruency is more pronounced in the Na₂O-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O system than in the K₂O-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O system.The partition coefficients of the oxides, D_oxide^fluid/melt, are linear and positive functions of the oxide concentration in the fluid for each composition. There is a slight dependence of the partition coefficients on bulk composition. No effect of pressure could be discerned. For alkali metals, the fluid/melt partition coefficients range from 0.06 to 0.8. For Al₂O₃ this range is 0.01 to 0.2, and for SiO₂, it is 0.01 to 0.32. For all compositions, D_K2O^fluid/melt∼D_Na2O^fluid/melt>D_SiO2^fluid/melt>D_Al2O3^fluid/melt for the same oxide concentration in the fluid. D_K2O^fluid/melt, D_Na2O^fluid/melt, and D_SiO2^fluid/melt correlate negatively with the Al₂O₃ content of the systems. This correlation is consistent with a solubility model of alkalis that involve associated KOH°, NaOH°, silicate, and aluminate complexes.     

Relations Between Igneous and Metamorphic Rock Fracture Patterns and Groundwater Yield from the Variography of Water–Well Yields—Pinardville Quadrangle,New Hampshire

Exploratory variography was used to examine the spatial continuity of water–well yields in the Pinardville 7 Minute Quadrangle in southern New Hampshire and to link the variography to the characteristics of the fractured igneous and metamorphic rocks within the aquifer system. In addition to the analyses of variograms computed by using data from 939 wells, analyses were performed on subsets of the data that were stratified according to the level of yield and to five rock types. The stratification according to yield was defined by using the industry standard of a high-yield well that produces 40 gallons per minute or more. The stratification of the low-yield wells by rock type was defined by using the classification on the bedrock map for the State of New Hampshire. Although the variability is high in the low-yield wells, as indicated by the large nugget value, overall continuity ranges to 6000 feet in the fracture zones in which these wells have been drilled. This continuity is dominant in the northwesterly direction, as indicated by the directional variography. This result is consistent with the general trend in the larger tectonic configuration of the region. A lack of spatial correlation for 81 high-yield wells is consistent with the geologic interpretation that these wells occur in locally determined configurations of sheeting and steeply dipping fractures. Yield data in only three of the five rock types were sufficient for variography. Within these three, the dominant direction of the correlation structure ranged from northwesterly for the Massabesic Gneiss Complex to northeasterly for the Rangeley Formation to northerly for the Spaulding Granite, where the signature of the continuity in the low-yield wells is predominately attributed to the fracture system.     

Can One-Run-Fixed-Arrhenius Kerogen Analysis Provide Comparable Organofacies Results to Detailed Palynological Analysis? A Case Study from a Prospective Mississippian Source Rock Reservoir (Bowland Shale,UK)

Natural Resources Research - Organofacies analysis, a fundamental component within source rock appraisal based on the study of kerogen within a source rock, is typically produced from microscopy...     

Propagation history and passive rotation of mesoscale normal faults: implications for synrift stratigraphic development

Field data from onshore exposures of the Oligo-Miocene Gulf of Suez Rift in the Sinai document the passive rotation of early formed mesoscale synthetic and antithetic faults and associated half-graben due to long-lived activity on large displacement (2–5 km) block-bounding faults. Early formed small-displacement (<350 m) mesoscale antithetic faults and half-graben within regional-scale fault blocks underwent progressive steepening due to footwall uplift, rotational faulting and footwall flexing on large-displacement, block-bounding faults. In contrast, mesoscale synthetic faults were progressively rotated to shallower angles. Analysis of palaeohorizontal surfaces within synrift sediments deposited in half-graben adjacent to the mesoscale faults indicate passive rotations of up to 25° about horizontal axes since deposition. Passive burial and in-filling of early formed mesoscale faults and half-graben by synrift sediments is consistent with extension being transferred from numerous mesoscale faults to few block-bounding macroscale faults as extension preceded. Furthermore, this transfer of extension appears to be associated with a marked change in basin configuration, synrift sediment dispersal patterns and facies development. Identification of early formed, passively rotated normal faults and half-graben is important for correctly reconstructing the early stages of basin palaeogeography and sediment dispersal, and for addressing models of rift basin evolution.     

U–Pb geochronology and zircon composition of late Variscan S- and I-type granitoids from the Spanish Central System batholith

The Spanish Central System (SCS) batholith, located in the Central Iberian Zone, is one of the largest masses of granite in the European Variscan Belt. This batholith is a composite unit of late- and post-kinematic granitoids dominated by S- and I-type series granite, with subordinate leucogranite and granodiorite. Zircon trace element contents, from two representative S-type and three I-type granitoids from the eastern portion of the SCS batholith, indicate a heterogeneous composition due to magma differentiation and co-crystallisation of other trace element-rich accessory phases. In situ, U–Pb dating of these zircons by SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS shows 479–462-Ma inherited zircon ages in the I-type intrusions, indicating the involvement of an Ordovician metaigneous protolith, while the S-type intrusions exclusively contain Cadomian and older zircon ages. The zircon crystallisation ages show that these granites have been emplaced at ca. 300?Ma with a time span between 303?±?3?Ma and 298?±?3?Ma. Precise dating by CA-ID-TIMS reveals a pulse at 305.7?±?0.4?Ma and confirms the major pulse at 300.7?±?0.6?Ma. These ages match the Permo-Carboniferous age for granulite-facies metamorphism of the lower crust under the SCS batholith and coincide with a widespread granitic event throughout the Southern Variscides. Ti-in zircon thermometry indicates temperatures between 844 and 784°C for both the S- and I-type granites, reinforcing the hypothesis that these granites are derived from deep crustal sources.     

Maximising the local economic, environmental and social benefits of a university: Lancaster University

The paper presents the main conclusions from an in-depth study of the local economic, social and environmental impacts of Lancaster University in 1991/92. The likely impacts of further expansion at the University through to the year 2001 are explored. Lancaster University is revealed as having major environmental and social impacts as well as the more widely researched employment and income multiplier effects. Lessons are drawn from the Lancaster University experience which are likely to be of a general nature and can assist other universities seeking to maximise their local benefits and minimise their local cost impacts. The local impacts of universities are likely to need much more careful management than has occurred in the past if detrimental effects are to be avoided.