Crystallization of authigenic carbonates in mud volcanoes at Lake Baikal

This paper presents data on authigenic siderite first found in surface sediments from mud volcanoes in the Central (K-2) and Southern (Malen’kii) basins of Lake Baikal. Ca is the predominant cation, which substitutes Fe in the crystalline lattice of siderite. The enrichment of the carbonates in the ¹³C isotope (from +3.3 to +6.8‰ for the Malen’kii volcano and from +17.7 to +21.9‰ for K-2) results from the crystallization of the carbonates during methane generation via the bacterial destruction of organic matter (acetate). The overall depletion of the carbonates in ¹⁸O is mainly inherited from the isotopic composition of Baikal water.     

Metamorphic rocks of the Murmansk domain (Kola Peninsula) as compared with the oldest rock associations of the northeastern Baltic shield,Canada, and Greenland

Rock associations characterized by heterogeneous sets of petrogeochemical parameters were compared by quantifying the degree of their similarity-dissimilarity and searching for discrimination trends between them. Using procedures specially developed for this purpose, it was demonstrated for the first time that the lithotectonic complexes of the Murmansk domain are fundamentally different from those of typical granulite-gneiss terrains and resemble the granite-greenstone terrains of the Baltic shield, Greenland, and Canada. Based on the whole data set, the Murmansk domain can be considered as a deeply eroded Archean granite-greenstone terrain retaining only the tonalite-trondhjemite-gneiss basement with abundant supracrustal enclaves. A trend of the compositional difference between the older and younger rock associations is similar to that between the tholeiitic and boninitic volcanic series. It was suggested that the petrogeochemical “age” trend reflects the initial stage of the compositional evolution of the metamagmatic rocks of the region from metamorphic rocks similar to tholeiites at the early stages to the Paleoproterozoic boninite-like rocks, which are believed to be linked to the unique PGE-bearing province of the northeastern Baltic shield. This implies that the specific metallogenic features of the region emerged already in the Archean, which supported the suggestion on the long duration of geological processes in the Early Precambrian.     

Late Palaeozoic hydrocarbon migration through the Clair field, West of Shetland, UK Atlantic margin

Geochemical analysis of bitumen- and hydrocarbon-bearing fluid inclusions from the Devonian-Carboniferous Clair field indicates that the reservoirs contain a mixture of oils from different marine and lacustrine sources. Reconstruction of the Clair field oil-charge history using fluid inclusion petrography show that oil-charging occurred at times of K-feldspar, quartz and calcite cementation. Temperature–composition–time data yielded from the integration of fluid inclusion microthermometry with high-resolution Ar–Ar dating, date hydrocarbon-bearing K-feldspar overgrowths at 247 ± 3.3 Ma. These data show that in order for oil to be trapped within primary fluid inclusions in K-feldspar overgrowths, hydrocarbon migration throughout the UK Atlantic margin must have been taking place during the Late Palaeozoic and as such, current industry oil-play models based solely on oil charging from Jurassic-Cretaceous marine sources are clearly incomplete and need revision. Apatite fission track analysis and vitrinite reflectance data were used to reconstruct thermal burial histories and assess potential oil generation from Middle Devonian lacustrine source rocks. Thermal history data from wells along The Rona Ridge adjacent to the Clair field show that the Palaeozoic section was heated to greater than 100 °C at some time between 270 and 230 Ma, confirming that Devonian source rocks were mature and expelling oil during the Late Palaeozoic at the time that authigenic K-feldspar overgrowths were growing in the Clair field.     

Conditions of Quaternary magmatism at Spitsbergen Island

Petrological and geochemical data obtained on the Quaternary lavas of volcanoes at Spitsbergen Island indicate that the rocks were produced via the deep-seated crystallization of parental alkaline magmas at 8–10 kbar. The character of clinopyroxene enrichment in incompatible elements indicates that the mineral crystallized from more enriched melts than those inferred from the composition of the host lavas. These melts were close to the parental melts previously found as veinlets in mantle hyperbasite xenoliths in the lavas. According to the character of their enrichment in Pb and Sr radiogenic isotopes and depletion in Nd, the basalts from Spitsbergen Island define a single trend with the weakly enriched tholeiites of the Knipovich Ridge, a fact suggesting the closeness of the enriched sources beneath the continental margin of Spitsbergen and beneath the spreading zone. Magmatic activity at Spitsbergen was related to the evolution of the Norwegian-Greenland basin, which evolved in pulses according to the shift of the spreading axes. The most significant of the latter events took place in the Neogene, when the Knipovich Ridge obtained its modern position near the western boundary of Spitsbergen. Early in the course of the evolution, the emplacement of alkaline melts generated at Spitsbergen into the oceanic mantle could form the enriched mantle, which was later involved in the melting process beneath the spreading zone.     

Quantitative textural analysis of packings of elongate crystals

The spatial distribution of grains in a solidifying igneous rock controls the physical properties of the crystal mush, and in turn is controlled by the rate of crystal growth and accumulation. A predominant non-spherical habit for igneous minerals brings into question the use of spherical particles in reference packings used for quantification of spatial distribution. Furthermore, variations of crystal clustering/ordering with length scale require spatial statistics which take into account the distribution of particles beyond nearest neighbours. Using random close packings of spherocylinders, we demonstrate the importance of aspect ratio for the aggregation index (usually known as R) and show that packings of spherical particles have more structure than packings of rods. The spatial distribution functions demonstrate that the plagioclase grains in the colonnade from the Holyoke basalt are clustered on a length scale of 0.5 mm. Understanding the controls on grain spatial distribution in igneous rocks will depend on the application of these techniques to well-understood environments.     

Influence of temperature,composition, silica activity and oxygen fugacity on the H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O storage capacity of olivine at 8 GPa

Olivine crystals were grown in the presence of a hydrous silicate fluid during multi-anvil experiments at 8 GPa and 1,000–1,600°C. Experiments were conducted both in a simple system (FeO–MgO–SiO₂–H₂O) and in a more complex system containing additional elements (CaO–Na₂O–Al₂O₃–Cr₂O₃–TiO₂–FeO–MgO–SiO₂–H₂O). Silica activity was buffered by the presence of either pyroxene (high a _SiO2) or ferropericlase (low a _SiO2), and was buffered by the presence of Ni + NiO or Fe + FeO, or constrained by the presence of Fe₂O₃. Raman spectroscopy was used to identify pyroxene polymorphs in the run products. Clinoenstatite was present in the 1,000°C experiment, and enstatite in experiments at 1,400–1,520°C. The H₂O content of olivine was measured using secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy was used to investigate the nature of hydrous defects. The H₂O storage capacity of olivine decreases with increasing temperature at 8 GPa. In contrast to previous experimental results at ≤2 GPa, no significant effect of varying oxygen fugacity is evident, but H₂O storage capacity is enhanced under conditions of low silica activity. No significant growth of low wavenumber (<3,400 cm⁻¹) peaks, generally associated with high at low pressure, was observed in the FTIR spectra of olivine from the high experiments. Our experiments show that previous high pressure H₂O storage capacity measurements for olivine synthesized under more oxidizing conditions than the Earth’s mantle are not likely to be compromised by the of the experiments. However, the considerable effect of temperature on H₂O storage capacity in olivine must be taken into account to avoid overestimation of the bulk upper mantle H₂O storage capacity.     

Chemical and boron-isotope variations in tourmalines from an S-type granite and its source rocks: the Erongo granite and tourmalinites in the Damara Belt,Namibia

Tourmaline is widespread in metapelites and pegmatites from the Neoproterozoic Damara Belt, which form the basement and potential source rocks of the Cretaceous Erongo granite. This study traces the B-isotope variations in tourmalines from the basement, from the Erongo granite and from its hydrothermal stage. Tourmalines from the basement are alkali-deficient schorl-dravites, with B-isotope ratios typical for continental crust (δ¹¹B average −8.4‰ ± 1.4, n = 11; one sample at −13‰, n = 2). Virtually all tourmaline in the Erongo granite occurs in distinctive tourmaline-quartz orbicules. This “main-stage” tourmaline is alkali-deficient schorl (20–30% X-site vacancy, Fe/(Fe + Mg) 0.8–1), with uniform B-isotope compositions (δ¹¹B −8.7‰ ± 1.5, n = 49) that are indistinguishable from the basement average, suggesting that boron was derived from anatexis of the local basement rocks with no significant shift in isotopic composition. Secondary, hydrothermal tourmaline in the granite has a bimodal B-isotope distribution with one peak at about −9‰, like the main-stage tourmaline, and a second at −2‰. We propose that the tourmaline-rich orbicules formed late in the crystallization history from an immiscible Na–B–Fe-rich hydrous melt. The massive precipitation of orbicular tourmaline nearly exhausted the melt in boron and the shift of δ¹¹B to −2‰ in secondary tourmaline can be explained by Rayleigh fractionation after about 90% B-depletion in the residual fluid. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Sediment Trend Analysis through the variation of granulometric parameters: A review of theories and applications

Spatial variations in grain-size parameters (i.e. grain-size trends) contain information on sediment transport patterns. Analytical procedures have been proposed using the grain-size trend to determine net sediment transport pathways. In the first part of this study, the fundamentals of the theory are presented through methods for analysing 1D and 2D variations. The methods used are critically discussed, while pointing out some severe problems. So far, these methods suffer from limitations leading to serious interpretational errors, making it necessary to take account of two kinds of uncertainties. Inputs uncertainties are linked to the physical sediment properties as well as procedures of sampling and analysis. Model uncertainties are then discussed for each step of the grain-size trend analysis. The validity of Sediment Trend Analysis under natural conditions is tested against published field studies to determine the most appropriate variation trend to use in a specific environment. Proposals are given for each step of the procedure for optimal use of the method using a Quality Assurance (QA) approach. Further developments are proposed, such as integration into a Geographic Information System.