Glauconites from the Late Palaeocene — Early Eocene Naredi Formation,western Kutch and their genetic implications

Glauconitic minerals are considered as one of the valuable input parameters in sequence stratigraphic analysis of a basin. In the present study glauconitic minerals are reported from subtidal green shale facies in the lower part of the Late Paleocene-Early Eocene Naredi Formation of western Kutch. On the basis of the foraminiferal assemblage the glauconite bearing beds are interpreted to have formed in a mid shelf depositional settings of an unstable marine conditions. XRD studies confirm the glauconite mineralogy of the green pellets and provide an estimation of glauconite maturity. Textural attributes of the glauconites confirm their derivation by different degrees of alteration of precursor feldspar grains. Because of the authigenic origin and autochthonous nature, these glauconites hold promise for understanding sequence stratigraphy of the Palaeogene succession of the western Kutch.     

Albite vein formation during exhumation of high-pressure terranes: a case study from alpine Corsica

The formation of late‐stage veins can yield valuable information about the movement and composition of fluids during uplift and exhumation of high‐pressure terranes. Albite veins are especially suited to this purpose because they are ubiquitously associated with the greenschist facies overprint in high‐pressure rocks. Albite veins in retrogressed metabasic rocks from high‐pressure ophiolitic units of Alpine Corsica (France) are nearly monomineralic, and have distinct alteration haloes composed of actinolite + epidote + chlorite + albite. Estimated P–T conditions of albite vein formation are 478 ± 31 °C and 0.37 ± 0.14 GPa. The P–T estimates and petrographic constraints indicate that the albite veins formed after the regional greenschist facies retrogression, in response to continued decompression and exhumation of the terrane. Stable isotope geochemistry of the albite veins, their associated alteration haloes and unaltered hostrocks indicates that the vein‐forming fluid was derived from the ophiolite units and probably from the metabasalts within each ophiolite slice. That the vein‐forming fluid was locally derived means that a viable source of fluid to form the veins was retained in the rocks during high‐pressure metamorphism, indicating that the rocks did not completely dehydrate. This conclusion is supported by the observation of abundant lawsonite at the highest metamorphic grades. Fluids were liberated during retrogression via decompression dehydration reactions such as those that break down hydrous high‐pressure minerals like lawsonite. Albite precipitation into veins is sensitive to the solubility and speciation of Al, which is more pressure sensitive than other factors which might influence albite vein formation such as silica saturation or Na:K fluid ratios. Hydraulic fracturing in response to fluid generation during decompression was probably the main mechanism of vein formation. The associated pressure decrease with fracturing and fluid decompression may also have been sufficient to change the solubility of Al and drive albite precipitation in fracture systems.     

Green synthesis of magnetic mesoporous silica nanocomposite and its adsorptive performance against organochlorine pesticides

Green synthesis of nanomaterials has received increasing attention as an eco-friendly technology in materials science. Here, we have used two types of extractions from green tea leaf (i.e., total extraction and tannin extraction) as reducing agents for a rapid, simple and one-step synthesis method of mesoporous silica nanoparticles/iron oxide nanocomposite based on deposition of iron oxide onto mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles/iron oxide nanocomposite were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray, vibrating sample magnetometer, N₂ adsorption and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles/iron oxide nanocomposite was used as a solid adsorbent for removal of lindane pesticide from aqueous solutions. The developed system possesses the advantages of silica as core that include large surface area and advantages of iron oxide (shell) that include the capability to interact with chlorinated compounds and ability to release by using external magnetic field. UV-Vis technique was used as a simple and easy method for monitoring the removal of lindane. Effects of pH and temperature on the removal efficiency of the developed mesoporous silica nanoparticles/iron oxide nanocomposite toward lindane pesticide were also investigated. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography techniques were used to confirm the high ability of mesoporous silica nanoparticles/iron oxide nanocomposite for sensing and the capture of lindane molecules with high sorption capacity (about 99%) that could develop a new eco-friendly strategy for detection and removal of pesticide and as a promising material for water treatment.     

Mineral composition of gold-bearing veins and typomorphic features of their minerals in the Kirovskoe deposit (Upper Amur region)

A collection of quartz veinlets with ore mineralization sampled from the dumps of the abandoned pit of the Kirov mine was analyzed with defining the mineral assemblages productive for gold mineralization and determining the composition of the main ore minerals and their typomorphic features, which are used for interpreting the genesis of the mineral associations and the deposit as a whole.     

Kinetic study of the dehydroxylation of chrysotile asbestos with temperature by in situ XRPD

 The kinetics of the dehydroxylation of chrysotile was followed in situ at high temperature using real-time conventional and synchrotron powder diffraction (XRPD). This is the first time kinetics parameters have been calculated for the dehydroxylation of chrysotile. The value of the order of the reaction mechanism calculated using the Avrami model indicates that the rate-limiting step of the reaction is a one-dimensional diffusion with an instantaneous nucleation or a deceleratory rate of nucleation of the reaction product. Hence, the rate-limiting step is the one-dimensional diffusion of the water molecules formed in the interlayer region by direct condensation of two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom. The calculated apparent activation energy of the reaction in the temperature range 620–750 °C is 184 kJ mol⁻¹. The diffusion path is along the axis of the fibrils forming the fibers. The amorphous or short-range ordered dehydroxylate of chrysotile is extremely unstable because forsterite readily nucleates in the Mg-rich regions. Moreover, it is less stable than the dehydroxylate of kaolinite, the so-called metakaolinite, which forms mullite at about 950 °C. This difference is interpreted in terms of the different nature of the two ions Mg²⁺ and Al³⁺ and their function as glass modifier and glass-forming ion, respectively. Received: 10 April 2002 / Accepted: 7 January 2003 Acknowledgements This work is part of a COFIN project (04 Scienze della Terra, NR 17, 2000) supported by MURST. Dr Dapiaggi is kindly acknowledged for help during the data collection at the Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Milan.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S167498711100079X

Lower Paleozoic rocks exposed in various regions of Egypt (south central Sinai, north Eastern Desert and southwest Western Desert), in addition to occurring in the subsurface such as north Western Desert and the Gulf of Suez. The Lower Paleozoic rocks in Egypt include surface and subsurface rock units of formational status. The surface rock units are the Taba, Araba and Naqus formations. The subsurface rock units include the Shifa, Kohla and Basur formations. The Infracambrian Taba Formation has been discovered recently in the outcrops of the south eastern Sinai in the Taba-Ras El-Naqab area. It is missing and/or not recognized in the subsurface. The Taba Formation consists mainly of reddish brown, unfossiliferous gravelly fine-to medium-grained sandstones cemented by kaolinite and have subordinate beds of paleosols. The Cambrian Araba Formation and its subsurface equivalent (the Shifa Formation) are essentially composed of reddish brown, fine-grained laminated sandstone and siltstone with abundant Skolithos and Cruziana sp. In contrast, the Ordovician-Silurian Naqus Formation and its subsurface equivalents (Kohla Formation and Basur Formation) are mainly composed of white, unfossiliferous, cross-bedded, medium- to coarse-grained sandstones with haphazardly distributed pebbles and cobbles. Sedimentological analysis indicates that the Araba Formation and its equivalents were deposited in a marginal-marine environment, whereas the Naqus Formation and its equivalents were laid down in a fluvio-glacial environment. Integrated stratigraphic and sedimentological studies of the Lower Paleozoic rocks permit reconstruction of the paleogeography of Egypt at that time. Egypt has been largely controlled since the Cambrian by the pre-existing structural framework of the pre-Phanerozoic basement rocks inherited from the Late Proterozoic Pan-African event. Additionally, sedimentation processes were controlled during Cambro-Ordovician times by tectonic movements, whereas glacio-eustatic control predominated during the Late Ordovician-Silurian Period. These studies suggest that most areas of Egypt were exposed lands with episodically transgression by epicontinental seas related to the paleo-Tethys. These lands formed a part of a stable subsiding shelf at the northern Gondwana margin.     

Authigenic carbonate precipitates from the NE Black Sea: a mineralogical,geochemical, and lipid biomarker study

Carbonate precipitates recovered from 2,000 m water depth at the Dolgovskoy Mound (Shatsky Ridge, north eastern Black Sea) were studied using mineralogical, geochemical and lipid biomarker analyses. The carbonates differ in shape from simple pavements to cavernous structures with thick microbial mats attached to their lower side and within cavities. Low δ¹³C values measured on carbonates (−41 to −32‰ V-PDB) and extracted lipid biomarkers indicate that anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) played a crucial role in precipitating these carbonates. The internal structure of the carbonates is dominated by finely laminated coccolith ooze and homogeneous clay layers, both cemented by micritic high-magnesium calcite (HMC), and pure, botryoidal, yellowish low-magnesium calcite (LMC) grown in direct contact to microbial mats. δ¹⁸O measurements suggest that the authigenic HMC precipitated in equilibrium with the Black Sea bottom water while the yellowish LMC rims have been growing in slightly ¹⁸O-depleted interstitial water. Although precipitated under significantly different environmental conditions, especially with respect to methane availability, all analysed carbonate samples show lipid patterns that are typical for ANME-1 dominated AOM consortia, in the case of the HMC samples with significant contributions of allochthonous components of marine and terrestrial origin, reflecting the hemipelagic nature of the primary sediment.     

Sr,Nd,Pb Isotope Geochemistry and Magma Evolution of the Potassic Volcanic Rocks,Wudalianchi,Northeast China

Wudalianchi volcanic rocks are the most typical Cenozoic potassic volcanic rocks in easten China.Compositional comparisons between whole rocks and glasses of various occurrences indicate that the magma tends to become rich in silica and alkalis as a result of crystal differentiation in the course of evolu-tion.They are unique in isotopic composition with more radiogenic Sr but less radiogenic Pb.^87Sr/^86Sr is higher and ^143Nd/^144Nd is lower than the undifferentiated global values.In comparison to continental pot-ash volcanic rocks,Pb isotopes are apparently lower.These various threads of evidence indicate that the rocks were derived from a primary enriched mantle which had not been subjected to reworking and shows no sign of incorporation of crustal material.The correlation between Pb and Sr suggests the regional heterogeneity in the upper mantle in terms of chemical composition.