14C content of ten meteorites measured by tandem accelerator mass spectrometry

¹⁴C has been measured in three North American and seven Antarctic meteorites with the Chalk River MP tandem accelerator. In most cases cosmogenic¹⁴C, which is tightly bound, was separated from absorbed atmospheric radiocarbon by stepwise heating extractions. Terrestrial ages obtained by comparing cosmogenic¹⁴C in the meteorite to that in Bruderheim are (7.2 ± 0.6) × 10³ years for Yamato 7304, (11.6 ± 0.4) × 10³ years for Estacado, and range from (32.7 ± 0.5) × 10³ to (41.0 ± 0.8) × 10³ years for six meteorites recovered at Allan Hills and its vicinity. The present upper limit to age determination by the accelerator method varies from 50 × 10³ to 70 × 10³ years depending upon mass and carbon content of the sample. The natural limit caused by cosmic ray production of¹⁴C in silicate rocks at 2000 m elevation is estimated to be (55 ± 5) × 10³ years. “Weathering ages” were estimated for the Antarctic meteorites from the specific activity of loosely-bound CO₂ considered to be absorbed from the terrestrial atmosphere on weathering. The accelerator measurements are in accordance with previous low-level counting measurements but have higher precision and sensitivity.     

Metamorphism and granite genesis in the Hidaka Metamorphic Belt, Hokkaido, Japan

The Main Zone of the Hidaka Metamorphic Belt is an uplifted crustal section of island-arc type. The crust was formed during early Tertiary time, as a result of collision between two arc–trench systems of Cretaceous age. The crustal metamorphic sequence is divided into four metamorphic zones (I–IV), in which zone IV is in the granulite facies. A detailed study of the evolution of the Hidaka Belt, based on a revised P–T–t analysis of the metamorphic rocks, notably a newly found staurolite-bearing granulite, confirms a prograde isobaric heating path, after a supposed event of tectonic thickening of accretionary sedimentary and oceanic crustal rocks. During the peak metamorphic event (c. 53 Ma), the regional geothermal gradient attained 33–40° C km^?1, and the highest P–T condition obtained from the lowest part of the granulite unit is 830° C, 7 kbar. In this part, X_H2O of Gt–Opx–Cd gneiss is about 0.15 and that of Gt–Cd–Bt gneiss is 0.4. The P–T–X_H2O condition of the granulite unit is well within a field where fluid-present partial melting of pelitic and greywacke metamorphic rocks takes place. This is in harmony with the restitic nature of the Gt–Opx–Cd gneiss in the lowest part of the granulite unit. The possibility that partial melting took place in the Main Zone is significant for the genesis of the peraluminous (S-type) granitic rocks within it. The S-type granitic rocks in this zone are Opx–Gt–Bt tonalite in the granulite zone, Gt–Cd–Bt tonalite in the amphibolite zone, and Cd–Bt–Mus tonalite in the Bt–Mus gneiss zone. The mineralogical and chemical nature of these strongly peraluminous tonalitic rocks permit them to be regarded as having been derived from S-type granitic magma generated by crustal anatexis of pelitic metamorphic rocks in deeper crust.     

Decarbonation reaction of magnesite in subducting slabs at the lower mantle

High-pressure and temperature experiments (28–62 GPa, and 1,490–2,000 K, corresponding to approximately 770–1,500 km depth in the mantle) have been conducted on a MgCO₃ + SiO₂ mixture using a laser-heated diamond anvil cell combined with analytical transmission electron microscope observation of the product phases to constrain the fate of carbonates carried on the subducting basalt into the lower mantle. At these conditions, the decarbonation reaction MgCO₃ (magnesite) + SiO₂ (stishovite) → MgSiO₃ (perovskite) + CO₂ (solid) has been recognized. This indicates that above reaction takes place as a candidate for decarbonation of the carbonated subducting mid ocean ridge basalts in the Earth’s lower mantle.     

Thermodynamic characterization of boltwoodite and uranophane: Enthalpy of formation and aqueous solubility

Boltwoodite and uranophane are uranyl silicates common in oxidized zones of uranium ore deposits. An understanding of processes that impact uranium transport in the environment, especially pertaining to the distribution of uranium between solid phases and aqueous solutions, ultimately requires determination of thermodynamic parameters for such crystalline materials. We measured formation enthalpies of synthetic boltwoodites, K(UO₂)(HSiO₄)·H₂O and Na(UO₂)(HSiO₄)·H₂O, and uranophane, Ca(UO₂)₂(HSiO₄)₂·5H₂O, by high temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry. We also studied the aqueous solubility of these phases from both saturated and undersaturated conditions at a variety of pH. The combined data permit the determination of standard enthalpies, entropies and Gibbs free energies of formation for each phase and analysis of its potential geological impact from a thermodynamic point of view.