Temperature–composition–time (T–X–t) data from authigenic K-feldspar: An integrated methodology for dating fluid flow events

Integration of fluid inclusion analysis with high spatial resolution Ar–Ar dating of K-feldspar cements has been used to resolve and reconstruct palaeo-fluid flow. Fluid inclusion analysis allows discrimination of distinct cement phases, thereby identifying discrete episodes of fluid flow. Ar–Ar dating of the same cements via high spatial resolution laserprobe establishes absolute age constraints on the framework previously constructed. Integration of these two datasets yields temperature–composition–time data.     

Composition and applied sedimentology of salt from brines of the Mamfe Basin, Cameroon

Salts produced using brines of the Mamfe Basin were analysed by XRD for their mineral composition and ICP-MS for minor element composition. Halite (NaCl) and dolomite (CaMg (CO₃)₂) constitute the major minerals with minor impurities from Mo and Cd in the chlorides and Sc and Cu in the carbonates. The mineral composition is evidence of dissolution of evaporites with parent brine of marine origin. Other elements analysed are suggested to be adsorbed to these salts and result from water–rock interaction. The elements partitioned based on their correlation to other elements are suggested to derive from sulphates including barite for Ba, sulphides for Pb, Zn, silicates for Zr, Mn and oxides for V, Cr. The electrical conductance of the brines is related to the salt yield by the equation; M = 9 × 10^− 4E− 3.27, and it can be used to estimate salt yield throughout the year. Over 1200 tons of salt consisting dominantly of grade I halite are lost annually as brines across the basin. Purification is required for some minor elements including Ba, Pb, Hg and Cd for use as a condiment. A genetic relation between the parent brine, sulphide minerals and organic matter-rich sediments is proposed.     

Stable isotope evidence for the atmospheric origin of CO2 involved in carbonation of MSWI bottom ash

Stable isotopes were used to constrain the origin of CO₂ involved in the ageing process of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash under open-air conditions. The δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values of CaCO₃ occurring in MSWI bottom ash samples of variable age and the δ¹³C of the residual organic matter content were measured, and laboratory assessments made of the isotopic fractionation accompanying CaCO₃ neo-formation during accelerated carbonation experiments of bottom ash or pure lime with atmospheric or industrial CO₂. The results indicate that stable isotopic compositions exhibited by fresh and aged bottom ash samples reflect non-equilibrium processes resembling those described in the carbonation of concrete and mortar. They also lead to conclusions on the prevalent involvement of atmospheric CO₂ in the open-air carbonation of MSWI bottom ash.     

Geologic correlation between the Neoproterozoic Sergipano belt (NE Brazil) and the Yaoundé belt (Cameroon, Africa)

The Yaoundé belt (Cameroon) and the Sergipano belt (NE Brazil) belonged to a major and continuous Neoproterozoic orogen at the northern margin of the ancient Congo-São Francisco craton. The Yaoundé belt comprises schists, quartzites, gneisses and migmatitic gneisses grouped into three domains; the low-grade Mbalmayo Group in south and the medium- to high-grade Yaoundé and Bafia Group in north. The Sergipano belt is divided into six domains, the three southernmost of which are mostly made up of clastic and chemical metasedimentary rocks whereas the others are more diverse with a migmatite–gneiss complex, and two metavolcanicplutonic complexes. In general, the two belts show structural vergence and decrease of metamorphic grade towards the craton; three main deformation phases are recognized in the Sergipano belt in contrast with two described in the Yaoundé belt. The minimum age of Pan-African-Brasiliano collision in the Sergipano belt is constrained at 628 ± 12 Ma on syn-collision granites, whereas in the Yaoundé belt collision took place between 620 and 610 Ma, i.e. the age of granulite facies metamorphism. Sm–Nd isotope geochemistry and U–Pb age dating indicate that most clastic metasedimentary rocks in both belts were derived from sources to the north and, to a lesser degree, from the cratons to the south.     

Biofouling and the continuous monitoring of underwater light from a seagrass perspective

For more than a decade, inexpensive electronic instruments have made continuous underwater light monitoring an integral part of many seagrass studies. Although biofouling, if not controlled, compromises the utility of the record. A year-long assessment of the time course of sensor fouling, in the Laguna Madre of Texas established that light transmitted through the fouling layer after 2 wk of exposure exceeded 90% except for a 6–8 wk period in May and June. On that basis, a 2-wk interval was chosen for routine servicing. Subsequent monitoring proved this choice to be grossly in error. The period of sub-90% transmittance after 2 wk extended to 4–6 mo annually over the next 3 yr. Fouling was strongly correlated with temperature, ambient light, and year. Since an algal bloom of 7-yr duration finally waned during this study, increased ambient light seemed most likely to explain increased fouling later in the study. The explanatory value of light was less than temperature or year in multiple regression, requiring some other explanation of the date effect than change in ambient light. Allelopathic and suspension-feeding depressant effects of the brown tide are offered as the most likely cause of unusually low fouling in the first year. Biofouling was so unpredictable and rapid in this study that at least weekly maintenance would be required to assure reliability of the light monitoring record.     

Periodic accumulation and destruction of aeolian erg sequences in the Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone, White Canyon, southern Utah, USA

The Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone represents the product of at least 12 separate aeolian erg sequences, each bounded by regionally extensive deflationary supersurfaces. Facies analysis of strata in the White Canyon area of southern Utah indicates that the preserved sequences represent erg‐centre accumulations of mostly dry, though occasionally water table‐influenced aeolian systems. Each sequence records a systematic sedimentary evolution, enabling phases of aeolian sand sea construction, accumulation, deflation and destruction to be discerned and related to a series of underlying controls. Sand sea construction is signalled by a transition from damp sandsheet, ephemeral lake and palaeosol deposition, through a phase of dry sandsheet deposition, to the development of thin, chaotically arranged aeolian dune sets. The onset of the main phase of sand sea accumulation is reflected by an upward transition to larger‐scale, ordered sets which represent the preserved product of climbing trains of sinuous‐crested transverse dunes with original downwind wavelengths of 300–400 m. Regularly spaced reactivation surfaces indicate periodic shifts in wind direction, which probably occurred seasonally. Compound co‐sets of cross strata record the oblique migration of superimposed slipfaced dunes over larger, slipfaceless draa. Each aeolian sequence is capped by a regionally extensive supersurface characterized by abundant calcified rhizoliths and bioturbation and which represents the end product of a widespread deflation episode whereby the accumulation surface was lowered close to the level of the water table as the sand sea was progressively cannibalized by winds that were undersaturated with respect to their potential carrying capacity. Aeolian sequence generation is considered to be directly attributable to cyclical changes in climate and related changes in sea level of probable glacio‐eustatic origin that characterize many Permo‐Carboniferous age successions. Sand sea construction and accumulation occurred during phases of increased aridity and lowered sea level, the main sand supply being former shallow marine shelf sediments that lay to the north‐west. Sand sea deflation and destruction would have commenced at, or shortly after, the time of maximum aridity as the available sand supply became exhausted. Restricted episodes of non‐aeolian accumulation would have occurred during humid (interglacial) phases, accumulation and preservation being enabled by slow rises in the relative water table. Subsidence analysis within the Paradox Basin, together with comparisons to other similar age successions suggests that the climatic cycles responsible for generating the Cedar Mesa erg sequences could be the product of 413 000 years so‐called long eccentricity cycles. By contrast, annual advance cycles within the aeolian dune sets indicate that the sequences themselves could have accumulated in just a few hundred years and therefore imply that the vast majority of time represented by the Cedar Mesa succession was reserved for supersurface development.