Geochronology of unconformity-related uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin,Saskatchewan, Canada and their integration in the evolution of the basin

The importance of geochronology in the study of mineral deposits in general, and of unconformity-type uranium deposits in particular, resides in the possibility to situate the critical ore-related processes in the context of the evolution of the physical and chemical conditions in the studied area. The present paper gives the results of laser step heating ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of metamorphic host-rock minerals, pre-ore and syn-ore alteration clay minerals, and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS) U/Pb dating of uraninite from a number of basement- and sediment-hosted unconformity-related deposits in the Athabasca Basin, Canada. Post-peak metamorphic cooling during the Trans-Hudson Orogen of rocks from the basement occurred at ca 1,750 Ma and gives a maximum age for the formation of the overlying Athabasca Basin. Pre-ore alteration occurred simultaneously in both basement- and sandstone-hosted mineralizations at ca 1,675 Ma, as indicated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of pre-ore alteration illite and chlorite. The uranium mineralization age is ca 1,590 Ma, given by LA-ICP-MS U/Pb dating of uraninite and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of syn-ore illite, and is the same throughout the basin and in both basement- and sandstone-hosted deposits. The mineralization event, older than previously proposed, as well as several fluid circulation events that subsequently affected all minerals studied probably correspond to far-field, continent-wide tectonic events such as the metamorphic events in Wyoming and the Mazatzal Orogeny (ca 1.6 to 1.5 Ga), the Berthoud Orogeny (ca 1.4 Ga), the emplacement of the McKenzie mafic dyke swarms (ca 1.27 Ga), the Grenville Orogeny (ca 1.15 to 1 Ga), and the assemblage and break-up of Rodinia (ca 1 to 0.85 Ga). The results of the present work underline the importance of basin evolution between ca 1.75 Ga (basin formation) and ca 1.59 Ga (ore deposition) for understanding the conditions necessary for the formation of unconformity-type uranium deposits. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Reviews of recent Australian publications

AUSTRALIA: A GEOGRAPHY. Volume 1: The Natural Environment edited by D. N. Jeans. 18 × 25 cm, viii and 347 pages. Sydney University Press: Sydney 1986 (ISBN 0 424 00114 4) $A55.00 (hard); (ISBN 0 424 00124 1) $A32.50 (soft).

Western Australia. Departments of Education and Lands and Survey (1979) Western Australia: an atlas of human endeavour, 1829–1979, Government Printer, Perth.

ATLAS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA edited by T. Griffin and M. McCaskill. 28 × 40 cm, xiv and 134 pages. South Australian Government Printing Division and Wakefield Press on behalf of the South Australian Jubilee 150 Board: Adelaide 1986 (ISBN 0 7243 46880) $A55.00 (hard).

URBAN AUSTRALIA: Planning Issues and Policies edited by S. Hamnett and R. Bunker. 16 × 24 cm, 192 pages. Nelson Wadsworth: Melbourne 1987 (ISBN 0 17 007166 9) $A29.95 (hard).

AUSTRALIAN URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CAPITAL (Working Paper No. 31) by M. T. Daly. 21 × 30 cm, viii and 39 pages. Transnational Corporations Research Project, University of Sydney 1985 (ISBN 0 908470 66 5) $A5.00 (soft).

TRANSNATIONAL CAPITAL AND URBANIZATION IN JAPAN (Research Monograph No. 25) by M. Douglass. 21 × 30 cm, viii and 42 pages. Transnational Corporations Research Project, University of Sydney 1987 (ISBN 0 908470 74 6) $A10.00 (soft).

MELBOURNE WESTERN REGION: Industrial Sites Atlas by Melbourne Western Region Joint Working Group. 45 × 32 cm, 40 pages. Melbourne Western Region Joint Working Group: Melbourne 1984 $A20.00 (soft).

MINE INFRASTRUCTURE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NORTHERN AUSTRALIA by C. O'Faircheallaigh. 18 × 25 cm, vi and 87 pages. North Australia Research Unit, Australian National University: Darwin 1987 (ISBN 0 7315 0043 1) $A10.00 (soft).

AUSTRALIA'S CHANGING POPULATION: Trends and Implications by G. Hugo. 16 × 24 cm, x and 354 pages. Oxford University Press: Melbourne 1986 (ISBN 0 19 554680 6) $A40.00 (hard).

WOMEN OVER SIXTY: A Study of the Housing, Economic and Social Circumstances of Older Women (Publication No. 130) by L. Coleman and S. Watson. 17 × 24 cm, v and 89 pages. Australian Institute of Urban Studies: Canberra 1987 (ISBN 0 86419 112 X).

THE MANNING VALLEY: Landscape and Settlement 1824–1900 by W. K. Birrell. 21 × 29 cm, xvi and 280 pages. Jacaranda: Milton, Qld, 1987 (ISBN 0 7016 2170 2) $A29.95 (hard).

ISSUES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF AUSTRALIA'S WATER RESOURCES by J. J. Pigram. 15 × 23 cm, xvi and 331 pages. Longman Cheshire: Melbourne 1986 (ISBN 0 582 71139 8) $A24.95 (soft).

PROSPECTS FOR HARDWOOD FORESTS (Monograph No. 19) edited by J. Dargavel and G. Sheldon. 16 × 23 cm, xv and 334 pages. Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University, Canberra 1987 (ISBN 0 86740 226 1) $A19.95 plus $A5.00 post and packing (soft).

FOREST SOILS AND NUTRIENT CYCLES by P. M. Attiwill and G. W. Leeper. 15 × 22 cm, x and 202 pages. Melbourne University Press: Melbourne 1987 (ISBN 0 522 84315 8) $A29.90 (hard).

AUSTRALIAN SOILS: The Human Impact edited by J. S. Russell and R. F. Isbell. 26 × 18 cm, xi and 522 pages. University of Queensland Press: St Lucia 1986 (ISBN 0 7022 1968 1) $A50.00 (hard).

THE AUSTRALIAN SUMMER MONSOON, TELECONNECTIONS, AND FLOODING IN THE LAKE EYRE BASIN (South Australian Geographical Papers No. 2) by R. J. Allen. 18 × 25 cm, 47 pages. Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (South Australian Branch): Adelaide 1985 (ISBN 0 909112 09 6).     

Arctic aerosol and Arctic climate: Results from an energy budget model

An energy budget model is used to study the effect on Arctic climate of optically active aerosol in the Arctic atmosphere. The dependence of the change in surface temperature on the vertical distribution of the aerosol and on the radiative properties of the aerosol-free atmosphere, the Arctic surface, and the aerosol, itself, are calculated. An extensive sensitivity analysis is performed to assess the degree to which the results of the model are dependent upon the assumptions underlying it.List of Symbols Used I ₀ Solar flux at the top of the Arctic Atmosphere (Arctic here means 70° N latitude to the pole) - a _S Surface albedo of the Arctic (a _S ^c is the value of surface albedo at which the sign of the surface temperature perturbation changes) - Reflection coefficient of the aerosol-free Arctic atmosphere - Absorption coefficient of the aerosol-free Arctic atmosphere - Transmission coefficient of the aerosol-free Arctic atmosphere - RI ₀ Total flux of sunlight reflected from the Arctic - A _A I ₀ Total flux of sunlight absorbed in the Arctic atmosphere - A _S I ₀ Total flux of sunlight absorbed at the Arctic surface - A _aer I ₀ Total flux of sunlight absorbed in the Arctic aerosol - Q _A Net atmospheric flow of energy, per unit of Arctic surface area, north across 70° N latitude - Q _S Net oceanic flow of energy, per unit of Arctic surface area, north across 70° N latitude - E Convective plus latent heat fluxes from surface to atmosphere - F _A Net flow of energy to the Arctic atmosphere - F _S Net flow of energy to the Arctic surface - T _A An effective temperature of the Arctic atmosphere - T _S Surface temperature of the Arctic - w Single-scattering albedo of the aerosol - t Optical depth of the aerosol - g Fraction of incident radiation scattered forward by the aerosol - Reflection coefficient of the aerosol - Absorption coefficient of the aerosol - Transmission coefficient of the aerosol - p,q Number of atmospheric layers and the inverse of the fraction of incident IR absorbed in each layer in the energy budget model - F,G,H Measures of the amount of IR-active atmosphere above the surface, the aerosol, and the clouds     

Retrograde alterations of phyllosilicates in low-grade metapelite: a case study from the Szendr? Paleozoic, NE-Hungary

Frequently, at temperatures lower than the metamorphic peak conditions, slates undergo mineral transformations, usually mediated by fluids. We have studied core material of an epizonal slate series (Szendr? Mountains, NE-Hungary) to reconstruct the post-metamorphic lower-T hydrothermal alterations using petrographic, X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe methods, and transmission electron microscopy. The borehole crosscuts an upper part of the ca. 600?C800?m Lower-Carboniferous flysch-like Szendr? Phyllite Formation. The samples were metamorphosed reaching epizonal conditions with a mineral assemblage characterized by quartz, muscovite, chlorite and albite. Even in the freshest samples, break-up and loosening of the regional metamorphic structure was observed, with cracks parallel to or crossing the cleavage. In the upper part, chlorite and albite are almost absent, while the presence of paragonite, mixed Na?CK mica, and mixed-layered minerals with smectitic component are characteristic. Goethite, halloysite, and subordinate kaolinite are present in the most altered sample (13.0?m in the profile) which may indicate the position of the fissures in which the circulation of the post-metamorphic fluids was the most intense. Muscovite is the only mica from the lower part of the profile and chlorite becomes a significant constituent, whereas paragonite, halloysite, and kaolinite are missing. Discrete smectite is present in all the samples in spite of being incompatible with the prograde evolution of the sequence. The interleaved smectite layers in chlorite and muscovite/chlorite mixed-layers show at the lattice level textural characteristics indicative of a later alteration process. After the metamorphic peak at epizonal conditions, the introduction of hot fluids through the fractures gave rise to the crystallization of Na?CK white micas and muscovite/chlorite under anchizonal conditions. In a final stage of the hydrothermal process, the cooling of the circulating fluids favored the formation of halloysite and kaolinite in the areas near to the fissures, smectites in the samples far away from the fractures, and locally, goethite. The Fe₂O₃ content increasing upwards indicates oxidizing conditions in the late stage of hydrothermal activity and/or eventually, an influence of a younger near-surface weathering.     

Properties of New Coordinates for the General Three-Body Problem

This is an analysis of the features of the new coordinate system given by the principal axes of inertia, as determined by Euler angles, and twodistances related to the inertia principal moments and an auxiliar angleas coordinates, for studying the general three-body problem, interactingthrough gravitational forces.The reduction of order is performed in these new coordinates by using the angular velocity vector or the Euler angles.The Eulerian case of collinear motion is revisited from our own perspective.The value of the auxiliar angle is computed for the Sun–Earth–Moon system.     

Linking the Abundance of Estuarine Fish and Crustaceans in Nearshore Waters to Shoreline Hardening and Land Cover

Human alteration of land cover (e.g., urban and agricultural land use) and shoreline hardening (e.g., bulkheading and rip rap revetment) are intensifying due to increasing human populations and sea level rise. Fishes and crustaceans that are ecologically and economically valuable to coastal systems may be affected by these changes, but direct links between these stressors and faunal populations have been elusive at large spatial scales. We examined nearshore abundance patterns of 15 common taxa across gradients of urban and agricultural land cover as well as wetland and hardened shoreline in tributary subestuaries of the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Coastal Bays. We used a comprehensive landscape-scale study design that included 587 sites in 39 subestuaries. Our analyses indicate shoreline hardening has predominantly negative effects on estuarine fauna in water directly adjacent to the hardened shoreline and at the larger system-scale as cumulative hardened shoreline increased in the subestuary. In contrast, abundances of 12 of 15 species increased with the proportion of shoreline comprised of wetlands. Abundances of several species were also significantly related to watershed cropland cover, submerged aquatic vegetation, and total nitrogen, suggesting land-use-mediated effects on prey and refuge habitat. Specifically, abundances of four bottom-oriented species were negatively related to cropland cover, which is correlated with elevated nitrogen and reduced submerged and wetland vegetation in the receiving subestuary. These empirical relationships raise important considerations for conservation and management strategies in coastal environments.     

Three-dimensional sinkhole stability of spherical cavity

Acta Geotechnica - Sinkhole occurrences due to underground water mains operations have piqued people’s curiosity. Most research works were in relation to geophysical practices to discover the...