An experimental study of the Fe oxidation states in garnet and clinopyroxene as a function of temperature in the system CaO–FeO–Fe2O3–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2: implications for garnet–clinopyroxene geothermometry

Samples with eclogitic composition in the system CaO–FeO–Fe₂O₃–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ were produced from various kinds of starting materials held in graphite-lined Pt capsules at a pressure of 2.5–3.0 GPa and temperatures of 800–1,300 °C using a piston-cylinder or Belt apparatus. Garnets and clinopyroxenes were characterized by analytical transmission electron microscopy and electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA). Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratios determined by electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) decrease in clinopyroxene from 22.2 ± 3.4 % at 800 °C to 13.3 ± 5.4 % at 1,300 °C, while in garnet, they vary between 10.8 ± 1.5 and 15.4 ± 4.7 %, respectively. Temperature estimates according to Krogh (Contrib Mineral Petrol 99:44–48, 1988) reproduce the experimental temperature to ±60 °C without systematic deviations if total iron is used in the calculation. If only the Fe²⁺ content is used, which was obtained by combining EPMA and EELS results, the experimental temperature is underestimated by 33 °C on average at 800–1,200 °C and overestimated by 77 °C on average at 1,300 °C. These systematic deviations can be explained by the temperature-dependent ratio of Fe²⁺/ΣFe in garnet divided by that in clinopyroxene. Since the difference between the calculated and experimental temperature is relatively small, a Fe²⁺-based recalibration of the thermometer appears not to be necessary for the investigated system in the range of pressure, temperature and composition covered by the experiments of this study.     

Determination of nitrate in the blood of the hydrothermal vent tubeworm Riftia pachyptila using a bacterial nitrate reduction assay

The vestimentiferan tubeworm Riftia pachyptila derives most or all of its nutrition from intracellular chemosynthetic bacterial symbionts. Because purified preparations of symbionts respire nitrate, possibly nitrite, and oxygen, host transport of nitrate is a topic of interest. In the present study, we have developed a nitrate detection assay that utilizes a nitrite reductase-deficient Escherichia coli strain for the reduction of nitrate to nitrite, which is then determined spectrophotometrically. Nitrate and nitrite concentrations were measured in the blood and coelomic fluids of R. pachyptila collected from hydrothermal vent sites at 9°N and 13°N. The blood was shown to have nitrate concentrations up to one hundred times that of ambient sea water (40 μM). Blood nitrate levels reached concentrations of>1 mM, while nitrite was measured in the range of 400-700 μM. The concentrations of nitrate and nitrite in the coelomic fluids were 150-240 μM and <20 μM, respectively. The nitrate determination technique we present here is simple, applicable for laboratory and shipboard use on sea water or biological fluids, and works reliably within the 0.5 to 2000 μM range.     

K‐Ar illite age constraints on the Proterozoic formation and reactivation history of a brittle fault in Fennoscandia

K‐Ar ages of authigenic illite from two drill‐core gouge samples of a fault in the Palaeoproterozoic basement of Finland record two distinct faulting events. The older sample yields apparent ages from 1240 ± 26 to 1006 ± 21 Ma for four grain size fractions between 6 and <0.1 μm. The second sample is structurally younger and yields statistically distinct ages ranging from 978 ± 20 to 886 ± 18 Ma. We interpret the ages of the <0.1 m fractions, which are the youngest, as representing the actual time of faulting. XRD analysis and age modelling exclude significant age contamination of the finest dated fractions with inherited host rock components. These results provide therefore an example of meaningful isotopic dating of illite‐type clay material formed during Precambrian faulting, demonstrate and constrain fault reactivation and give evidence for brittle Sveconorwegian Mesoproterozoic shortening and Neoproterozoic extension in Fennoscandia.     

Architecture and temporal variations of a terrestrial CO2 degassing site using electric resistivity tomography and self-potential

International Journal of Earth Sciences - The Hartoušov mofette field in NW Bohemia, Czech Republic, is characterized by strong CO2 degassing from the Lithospheric Mantle. In a test survey...     

Probing the relationship between surface waters and aquifers by <Superscript>18</Superscript>O measurements on the top of the Araripe Plateau/NE Brazil

The Araripe Plateau in northeastern Brazil has an area of about 8,000 km², confined by 39°05E and 40°55E, and 7°10S and 7°50S. Due to high permeability of soils, a surface drainage system is practically inexistent. Water is stored in excavations with clayey soil, the barreiros. Monthly samples were taken for ¹⁸O measurements, from September 1999 to August 2000, from four barreiros, three dug wells and five drilled wells. Results show that (1) groundwaters in the eastern part of the plateau are derived from present-day rainfall (¹⁸O–3.2), whereas groundwaters in the western portion are isotopically different (¹⁸O–5.0); (2) barreiros are strongly marked seasonally by elevated ¹⁸O during the dry period due to elevated evaporation; (3) a dug well at a distance of 30 m from a barreiro exhibits ¹⁸O similar to that of the reservoir, indicating a strong interaction between groundwater and surface water; and (4) a tubular well of 242-m depth, located in a fault, exhibits strong seasonal changes in ¹⁸O and electrical conductivity, revealing downward leakage between aquifers.