Missing ophiolitic rocks along the Mae Yuam Fault as the Gondwana–Tethys divide in north-west Thailand

Abstract Thailand comprises two continental blocks: Sibumasu and Indochina. The clastic rocks of the Triassic Mae Sariang Group are distributed in the Mae Hong Son–Mae Sariang area, north‐west Thailand, which corresponds to the central part of Sibumasu. The clastic rocks yield abundant detrital chromian spinels, indicating a source of ultramafic/mafic rocks. The chemistry of the detrital chromian spinels suggests that they were derived from three different rock types: ocean‐floor peridotite, chromitite and intraplate basalt, and that ophiolitic rocks were exposed in the area, where there are no outcrops of them at present. Exposition of an ophiolitic complex denotes a suture zone or other tectonic boundary. The discovery of chromian spinels suggests that the Gondwana–Tethys divide is located along the Mae Yuam Fault zone. Both paleontological and tectonic aspects support this conclusion.     

Distribution of fault rocks in the fracture zone of the Nojima Fault at a depth of 1140 m: Observations from the Hirabayashi NIED drill core

Abstract Characteristics of deformation and alteration of the 1140 m deep fracture zone of the Nojima Fault are described based on mesoscopic (to the naked eye) and microscopic (by both optical and scanning electron microscopes) observations of the Hirabayashi National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) drill core. Three types of fault rocks; that is, fault breccia, fault gouge and cataclasite, appear in the central part of the fault zone and two types of weakly deformed and/or altered rocks; that is, weakly deformed and altered granodiorite and altered granodiorite, are located in the outside of the central part of the fault zone (damaged zone). Cataclasite appears occasionally in the damaged zone. Six distinct, thin foliated fault gouge zones, which dip to the south-east, appear clearly in the very central part of the fracture zone. Slickenlines plunging to the north-east are observed on the surface of the newest gouge. Based on the observations of XZ thin sections, these slickenlines and the newest gouge have the same kinematics as the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake (Kobe earthquake), which was dextral-reverse slip. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the freeze-dried fault gouge show that a large amount of void space is maintained locally, which might play an important role as a path for fluid migration and the existence of either heterogeneity of pore fluid pressure or strain localization.     

Characterization of total suspended solid dynamics in a large shallow lake using long‐term daily satellite images

Large, shallow‐water lakes located on floodplains play an important role in creating highly productive ecosystems and are prone to high concentrations of suspended solids due to sediment resuspension. In this study, the aim was to determine the dominant processes governing the total suspended solid (TSS) concentration at the water surface in Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia, which is a large, shallow‐water lake. Satellite remotely sensed daily reflectance data from 2003 to 2017 were used. Seasonal changes in TSS concentration indicated that bottom sediment resuspension during dry seasons was mostly caused by wind and the TSS concentration was closely correlated with the water depth of the lake. The TSS concentration during flood periods was controlled by both wind and inflow currents from the Tonle Sap River. Additionally, we confirmed that surface/subsurface flow with a low TSS concentration from forests on the floodplain lowered the TSS concentration year round, except during August and September. This fact implied that the floodplain forest area decrease may increase the lake TSS concentration. An analysis of the long‐term changes in TSS indicated that a decrease in the water level during flood periods resulted in the high TSS concentrations observed during the subsequent dry periods. Therefore, climate change and water resource development, which are likely to cause water level reductions in the Mekong River during flood periods, may increase the TSS concentration in Tonle Sap Lake, particularly during the dry season.     

Determination of Multiple Trace Element Compositions in Thin (> 30 μm) Layers of NIST SRM 614 and 616 Using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)

To understand and/or avoid small-scale chemical heterogeneities within geological materials prepared as normal thin sections, in situ multiple trace element determination coupled with the simultaneous microscopic observation of the sample during analysis is preferable. We have examined fifty trace elements in thin (< 30 μm) layers of the NIST SRM 614 and 616 glass reference materials by LA-ICP-MS using different pit diameters and internal standard elements (Ca and Si). Compositional heterogeneities of Tl, Bi, As and Cd were found in NIST SRM 614 and 616 at the spatial resolution of ca. 10 0 μm. Except for these elements, the RSDs of six determinations for most elements were better than 10% in NIST SRM 614 when ablation diameters were < 50 μm. The measured concentrations for most elements in NIST SRM 614 and 616 agree with previous values in the literature at the 95% confidence level with the exception of W and Bi. New LA-ICP-MS data for K, As and Cd are also reported. The results support the view that the latest LA-ICP-MS is a powerful and flexible analytical technique for the determination of multiple ultra-trace element compositions in geological materials prepared as normal thin sections of the type that has been used for polarising optical microscopic observations since the end of the 19th century.     

Nickel enrichment in mantle olivine beneath a volcanic front

We found abnormally Ni-rich olivine (Fo = 93) with up to 5.3 wt% of NiO, ten times higher than the ordinary mantle value (0.4 wt%), in a highly metasomatized mantle peridotite xenolith from Avacha volcano, the Kamchatka arc, Russia. The Ni enrichment displays outward diffuse circular domains (<1 mm across) in fine-grained (mostly <100 μm) olivine-rich parts. Associated metasomatic orthopyroxene also shows high NiO (<1.1 wt%). Such high Ni concentrations in olivine cannot be attained in ordinary residual or cumulus peridotites, but are achievable via diffusion from Ni-rich sulfide melt. Sulfur-bearing silicic melt, the main metasomatic agent for the Avacha peridotites, separated sulfide melt, which was fractionated to be Ni-rich at relatively low temperatures. This is a new way of mobility and redistribution of Ni in the mantle, which is active in the mantle wedge, especially beneath a volcanic front.     

Mantle hornblendites of Naein ophiolite (Central Iran): Evidence of deep high temperature hydrothermal metasomatism in an upper mantle section

The Naein ophiolite is the most complete ophiolitic exposure in Cental Iran and considered as a remnant of the Mesozoic Central East Iranian microcontinent (CEIM) confining oceanic crust. In the northeastern part of this ophiolite (Darreh Deh area) within the mantle peridotites, a few hundred meters below the top of the Moho transition zone (MTZ), the hornblendites are present as dykes (former cracks and joints) from a few millimeters to nearly 50 cm wide. They have sharp boundaries with the surrounding mantle harzburgites and dunites. These hornblendites are pale green and coarse-grained in hand specimen and composed of magnesio-hornblende (Mg# = 0.93), chlorite (penninite and clinochlore, Mg# = 0.95), Cr-spinel (chromite, Cr# = 0.67 and Mg# = 0.55), tremolite, calcite and dolomite. Tremolites were formed by retrograde metamorphism of hornblendes. Calcite and dolomite occur as late-stage veins. Very high amount of primary hydrous phases (~94 vol % hornblende and chlorite), as well as peculiar mineralogical and chemical characteristics of the Naein ophiolite mantle hornblendites, do not match a magmatic origin. They are possibly products of the reaction between mantle peridotites and seawater-originated supercritical fluids, rich in silicate components. The presence of primary hydrous phases (hornblende and chlorite) may reveal high activity of H₂O in the involved solution. The chemical composition of chromite in the hornblendites is near to the average chromite composition from the surrounding harzburgite and dunite. This suggests that the main source of Cr should be chromites of nearby peridotites, which were totally or partly dissolved by hydrothermal fluids. The positive anomaly of Eu in the chondrite-normalized REE patterns of hornblendes, high modal abundance of Ca-rich hornblende, as well as presence of calcite and dolomite, point to seawater ingression through the gabbros in to the uppermost mantle peridotites. The higher value of MgO than CaO, presence of high-Cr chromite and Cr-enrichment of hornblendes and chlorites indicate a higher contribution of peridotites rather than gabbros to the chemical characteristics of the involved fluids. This study shows that circulation of possibly seawater-derived high temperature hydrous fluids in the upper mantle can leach and provide necessary elements to form hornblendite in joints and cracks of the uppermost mantle.     

Differences in organotin accumulation in relation to life history in the white-spotted charr Salvelinus leucomaenis

To examine the accumulation pattern of organotins (OTs) in relation to the migration of diadromous fish, tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPT) and their derivatives were determined in the muscle tissue of both sea-run (anadromous) and freshwater-resident (nonanadromous) types of the white-spotted charr Salvelinus leucomaenis. Ontogenic changes in otolith strontium (Sr) and calcium (Ca) concentrations were examined along life history transect to discriminate migration type. Mean Sr:Ca ratio from the core to the edge of the otolith in sea-run individuals was significantly higher than those in freshwater-resident one. There were no significant correlations in S. leucomaenis between OT accumulation and various biological characteristics. It is noteworthy that TBT and TPT concentrations in sea-run type were significantly higher than those in freshwater-resident individuals, although they are both of the same species. These results suggest that sea-run S. leucomaenis have a higher ecological risk of OT exposure than freshwater-residents during their life histories.