Zircon Inheritance Reveals Exceptionally Fast Crustal Magma Generation Processes in Central Iberia during the Cambro-Ordovician

The Variscan basement of the Central Iberian Zone contains abundantCambro-Ordovician calc-alkaline to peraluminous metagranitesand metavolcanic rocks with two notable features: first, theywere apparently produced with no connection to any major tectonicor metamorphic event; second, they have an unusually high zirconinheritance. U–Pb dating combined with cathodoluminescenceimaging reveals that about 70–80%, in some samples nearer100%, of the zircon grains contain inherited pre-magmatic cores,despite the temperature reached by the magmas (about 900°C,calculated using the Ti-in-zircon thermometer) being high enoughto dissolve all the available zircon (from the rock's zirconsaturation temperature, 770–860°C). The fact thatthe dissolution of zircon was so incomplete can only be attributedto the kinetics of heat transfer to and from the magmas. Three-dimensionalmodeling of zircon dissolution behavior in melts with a compositionsimilar to the Iberian Cambro-Ordovician magmas indicates thatthe survival of zircons from the suggested late Pan-Africanprotolith would be possible only if melt production was rapid,specifically less than 10⁴ years, and probably about 2 x 10³years, from the beginning of melting (700°C) to the thermalpeak (900°C). Melt production was followed by fast magmatransfer to upper crustal levels resulting either in surfaceeruption or in the emplacement of small (< 400 m thick) sillsor laccoliths. We suggest that these elevated rates of crustalmelting could only have been caused by intrusion of mantle-derivedmafic magmas, most probably at the base of the crust. This scenariois consistent with a rifting regime in which crust and mantlewere mechanically decoupled; this would explain the scarcityof contemporaneous crustal deformation. Furthermore, fast meltingrates in the lower crust followed by fast melt transportationto the upper crust could also explain the lack of contemporaneousmetamorphism. The speed of the partial melting process resultedin the production of felsic magmas that inherited the geochemicalcharacteristics of their granitoid crustal protolith. This explainsthe apparent contradiction between the calc-alkaline to peraluminousgeochemical characteristics of the magmas and the inferred extensional(i.e. rift-related) tectonic setting. Our model is compatiblewith the hypothesis of fragmentation and dispersal of terranesfrom the northern margin of Gondwana that led to the openingof the Rheic and Galicia–South Brittany oceans and, ultimately,caused the detachment of the Iberian microplate from Armoricaand Gondwana during the early Paleozoic. KEY WORDS: igneous petrology; migmatite; granite; geochemistry; crustal contamination; ICP-MS; laser ablation     

Local high relief at the southern margin of the Andean plateau by 9 Ma: evidence from ignimbritic valley fills and river incision

A valley‐filling ignimbrite re‐exposed through subsequent river incision at the southern margin of the Andean (Puna) plateau preserves pristine geological evidence of pre‐late Miocene palaeotopography in the north western Argentine Andes. Our new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of the Las Papas Ignimbrites yields a plateau age of 9.24 ± 0.03 Ma, indicating valley‐relief and orographic‐barrier conditions comparable to the present‐day. A later infill of Plio–Pleistocene coarse conglomerates has been linked to wetter conditions, but resulted in no additional net incision of the Las Papas valley, considering that the base of the ignimbrite remains unexposed in the valley bottom. Our observations indicate that at least 550 m of local plateau margin relief (and likely >2 km) existed by 9 Ma at the southern Puna margin, which likely aided the efficiency of the orographic barrier to rainfall along the eastern and south eastern flanks of the Puna and causes aridity in the plateau interior.     

Individual and Synergistic Effects of Metronidazole,Amoxicillin, and Ciprofloxacin on Methane Fermentation with Sewage Sludge

Methane fermentation is widely used to dispose of sewage sludge at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), due to production of renewable energy in the form of biogas. Antibiotics present in wastewater may accumulate in a sewage sludge. The aim of the present study is to investigate the impact of three antibiotics from different classes in three different doses on methane production from sewage sludge. For this purpose, metronidazole (MET), amoxicillin (AMO), and ciprofloxacin (CIP) are individually added to anaerobic reactors with sewage sludge collected from municipal WWTP. The antibiotics’ highest concentration (1024 mg kg^?1 of AMO; 512 mg kg^?1 of MET and CIP) lowers methane production and methane content in biogas. MET exerts the most marked effect and lowers methane production to 36.8 ± 3.7 mL CH₄ kg^?1 volatile solids. Tested antibiotics probably inhibit methanogenic archaea, which results in volatile fatty acids (VFAs) accumulation. Addition of MET results in accumulation of many kinds of VFAs with the highest concentration of acetic acid (17.52 ± 1.85 g L^?1). The addition of of AMO results in accumulation of butyric acid only (253.00 ± 15.89 g L^?1). However, addition of CIP results in accumulation of mainly acetic acid (7.58 ± 0.82 g L^?1) and isovaleric acid (2.01 ± 0.41 g L^?1). Next, synergistic effect of these antibiotics in a low concentration of 16 mg kg^?1 of AMO, 8 mg kg^?1 of MET, and 2 mg kg^?1 of CIP is measured in semi‐continuous conditions and causes inbibition of methane production and accumulation of VFAs.     

Recycling of continental crust into the mantle as revealed by Kytlym dunite zircons, Ural Mts, Russia

The presence of zircons of crustal origin in the dunites of Kytlym, a subduction-related concentrically zoned dunite–clinopyroxenite–gabbro massif of the Urals Platinum-Bearing Belt, may provide the first direct evidence of the recycling of continental crust into the mantle. Zircons were part of subducted sediments that melted to produce silicic magmas with entrained restitic zircons. These melts induced partial melting in the overlying mantle, which later crystallized as the Kytlym massif. Zircons rapidly captured into early formed dunites were prevented from dissolving completely and underwent different degrees of recrystallization. A few crystals still record their original ages, which range from ∼410 Myr to ∼2800 Myr, thus revealing a different origin. The majority, however, recrystallized in the presence of a limited amount of melt and record the diapir formation, 350–370 Ma, which was coeval with the Uralian high-pressure metamorphism. Lastly, several grains record an age of ∼330 Myr, which is identical, within error, to the Rb–Sr age of the tilaitic gabbros, (337 ± 22 Myr), and may, therefore, represent the crystallization age of the last melts formed during the evolution of Kytlym.     

U–Pb Dating,Oxygen and Hafnium Isotope Ratios of Zircon from Rocks of Oceanic Core Complexes at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Evidence for the Interaction of Contemporary and Ancient Crusts in the Spreading Center of the Ocean Floor

Doklady Earth Sciences - The U–Pb age and oxygen and hafnium isotope ratios of zircon from rocks of oceanic core complexes along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge have been studied using SHRIMP and...     

Proterozoic Gremyakha-Vyrmes Polyphase Massif, Kola Peninsula: An example of mixing basic and alkaline mantle melts

The paper presents newly obtained data on the geological structure, age, and composition of the Gremyakha-Vyrmes Massif, which consists of rocks of the ultrabasic, granitoid, and foidolite series. According to the results of the Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd geochronologic research and the U-Pb dating of single zircon grains, the three rock series composing the massif were emplaced within a fairly narrow age interval of 1885 ± 20 Ma, a fact testifying to the spatiotemporal closeness of the normal ultrabasic and alkaline melts. The interaction of these magmas within the crust resulted in the complicated series of derivatives of the Gremyakha-Vyrmes Massif, whose rocks show evidence of the mixing of compositionally diverse mantle melts. Model simulations based on precise geochemical data indicate that the probable parental magmas of the ultrabasic series of this massif were ferropicritic melts, which were formed by endogenic activity in the Pechenga-Varzuga rift zone. According to the simulation data, the granitoids of the massif were produced by the fractional crystallization of melts genetically related to the gabbro-peridotites and by the accompanying assimilation of Archean crustal material with the addition of small portions of alkaline-ultrabasic melts. The isotopic geochemical characteristics of the foidolites notably differ from those of the other rocks of the massif: together with carbonatites, these rocks define a trend implying the predominance of a more depleted mantle source in their genesis. The similarities between the Sm-Nd isotopic characteristics of foidolites from the Gremyakha-Vyrmes Massif and the rocks of the Tiksheozero Massif suggest that the parental alkaline-ultrabasic melts of these rocks were derived from an autonomous mantle source and were only very weakly affected by the crust. The occurrence of ultrabasic foidolites and carbonatites in the Gremyakha-Vyrmes Massif indicates that domains of metasomatized mantle material were produced in the sublithospheric mantle beneath the northeastern part of the Fennoscandian Shield already at 1.88 Ga, and these domains were enriched in incompatible elements and able to produce alkaline and carbonatite melts. The involvement of these domains in plume-lithospheric processes at 0.4–0.36 Ga gave rise to the peralkaline melts that formed the Paleozoic Kola alkaline province.     

Transformation of social capital during and after a disaster event: the cases Chañaral and Diego de Almagro,Atacama Region,Chile

Natural Hazards - This article analyzes the impact of socio-natural disasters on social capital at a local level, studying the cases of the communities of Chañaral and Diego de Almagro after...