Geothermal energy

The Earth's heat may be concentrated under particular structural and hydrogeological conditions, when it can represent a valuable alternative source of energy. Thermal groundwater can be used directly for heating, and natural steam reservoirs can be tapped to drive turbines for electricity generation.     

A Petrogenetic Model of Basalts from the Northern Central Indian Ridge:3-11°S

1 Introduction The Northern Central Indian Ridge (NCIR) between 3° and 11°S latitudes is joined to the north with the slow spreading Carlsberg Ridge (CR; ~24–26 mm/a, full spreading rate) and to the south with the intermediate spreading Southern Central Indian Ridge (SCIR; ~50 mm/ a) (Fig. 1). Earlier petrological investigations of the Central Indian Ridge were concentrated either on or along the CR to the north and at the southern end of the CIR up to the Rodriguez Triple Junc…     

Tropical cyclones and floods in Fiji

Abstract

Daily flow records, rainfall data and tropical cyclone maps during 1970–1998 are used to document the impact of tropical cyclones (TCs) on floods in the Rewa River system, Viti Levu, Fiji. Floods are large, brief, isolated events caused by TCs and non-TC tropical rainstorms. More floods are caused by tropical rainstorms than by TCs, but TC floods are larger. The log Pearson Type III distribution consistently provided the best fit to partial duration flood series and the widely-recommended generalized Pareto distribution performed very poorly, underscoring the need to test a variety of distributions for a particular geographic location. Tropical cyclones occur more often in Fiji during negative values of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and all TCs that occurred during El Niño conditions caused floods. Peak flood discharges caused by TCs are inversely correlated with the SOI, reflecting possible links with tropical cyclone frequency and precipitation intensity.     

Rinded iron‐oxide concretions: hallmarks of altered siderite masses of both early and late diagenetic origin

Iron‐bearing concretions are valuable records of oxidation states of subsurface waters, but the first concretions to form can be altered drastically during later diagenetic events. Distinctive concretions composed of heavy rinds of iron oxide that surround iron‐poor, mud‐rich cores are common along bases of fluvial cross‐bed sets of the Cretaceous Dakota Formation, Nebraska, USA. Concretion rinds thicken inward and cores contain 46 to 89% void space. Millimetre‐scale spherosiderites are abundant in palaeosols that developed in floodplain facies. Evolution of rinded concretions began when intraformational clasts were eroded from sideritic soils, transported, abraded and deposited in river channels. Alteration of siderite and formation of rinds occurred much later, perhaps in the Quaternary when sandstone pore waters became oxic. Dakota concretions are analogous to ‘rattlestones’ in Pleistocene fluvial channels of The Netherlands, and their rinded structure is analogous to that of iron‐rich concretions in the aeolian Navajo Sandstone of Utah. In all three deposits, rinded concretions formed when pre‐existing, siderite‐cemented concretions were oxidized within a sand matrix. Unlike fluvial examples, siderite in the Navajo Sandstone was autochthonous and of late diagenetic origin, having precipitated from carbon dioxide and methane‐enriched waters moving through folded and jointed strata. Iron‐rich rinds formed in all these strata because concretion interiors remained anaerobic, even as oxygen accumulated in the pore waters of their surrounding, permeable matrix. Iron oxide first precipitated at redox boundaries at concretion perimeters and formed an inward‐thickening rind. Acid generated by the oxidation reaction drove siderite dissolution to completion, creating the iron‐poor core. Iron‐oxide rinds are indicators of the former presence of siderite, a mineral that forms only under reducing conditions, during either early or late diagenesis. Siderite is vulnerable to complete oxidation upon exposure, so the distinctive rinded concretions are valuable clues that aid in deciphering diagenetic histories and for recognizing methanic floodplain palaeoenvironments and wet palaeoclimate.     

Glass and Mineral Chemistry of Northern Central Indian Ridge Basalts:Compositional Diversity and Petrogenetic Significance

Abstract: The glass and mineral chemistry of basalts examined from the northern central Indian ridge (NCIR) provides an insight into magma genesis around the vicinity of two transform faults: Vityaz (VT) and Vema (VM). The studied mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) from the outer ridge flank (VT area) and a near-ridge seamount (VM area) reveal that they are moderately phyric plagioclase basalts composed of plagioclase (phenocryst [An60–90] and groundmass [An35–79]), olivine (Fo81–88), diopside (Wo45–51, En25–37, Fs14–24), and titanomagnetite (FeOt ~63.75 wt% and TiO2 ~22.69 wt%). The whole-rock composition of these basalts has similar Mg# [mole Mg/mole(Mg+Fe2+)] (VT basalt: ~0.56–0.58; VM basalt: ~0.57), but differ in their total alkali content (VT basalt: ~2.65; VM basalt: ~3.24). The bulk composition of the magma was gradually depleted in MgO and enriched in FeOt, TiO2, P2O5, and Na2O with progressive fractionation, the basalts were gradually enriched in Y and Zr and depleted in Ni and Cr. In addition, the SREE of magma also increased with fractionation, without any change in the (La/Yb)N value. Glass from the VM seamount shows more fractionated characters (Mg#: 0.56–0.57) compared to the outer ridge flank lava of the VT area (Mg#: 0.63–0.65). This study concludes that present basalts experienced low-pressure crystallization at a relatively shallow depth. The geochemical changes in the NCIR magmas resulted from fractional crystallization at a shallow depth. As a consequence, spinel was the first mineral to crystallize at a pressure >10 kbar, followed by Fe-rich olivine at <10 kbar pressure.     

A New Report of Serpentinites from Northern Central Indian Ridge (at 6°S)—An Implication for Hydrothermal Activity

Serpentinites from the inside corner high (6°38.5'S/ 68°19.34'E) from the Northern Central Indian Ridge (NCIR) are comprised mainly of high Mg-rich lizardite and chrysotile pseudomorphs with varying morphologies.'Mesh rim','window', 'hourglass'and'bastite'are the most common textures displayed by both chrysotile and lizardite.Numerous chrysotile veins in association with cross cutting magnetite veins indicate an advanced stage of serpentinisation.The relatively high abundance of chrysotile and lizardite suggest their close association and formation at a temperature below 250°C. Abundant 'mesh rim' and 'bastite'texture and variegated matrix reveal that the present Serpentinites might have formed due to the interaction of harzburgite and seawater.Positive Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu*up to 3.38), higher La/Sin (up to 4.40) and Nb/La (up to 6.34) ratios suggest substantial hydrothermal influence during the formation of the Serpentinites.     

Laser argon-40-argon-39 age determinations of Luna 24 mare basalts

Abstract— The ages of seven rock fragments from the soil fraction of the Luna 24 core have been determined using a laser ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar stepped heating technique. The investigated lithologies include fragments of fine-grained ophitic basalt, coarse-grained basalt, metabasalts and a regolith breccia. Most of the samples contain nonradiogenic Ar components of variable ³⁶Ar/⁴⁰Ar composition. These surface-correlated trapped components are predominantly released at low temperature and can be distinguished from volume-correlated radiogenic and cosmogenic components released at higher temperature during stepped heating. Binary mixtures of radiogenic and cosmogenic Ar components give linear correlations on ³⁶Ar_t/⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar diagrams from which the age and ³⁶Ar/⁴⁰Ar value of trapped Ar can be determined. The ages obtained span a narrow range between 3.18-3.28 Ga with an average of 3.22 ± 0.04 Ga. This is interpreted as being the age of the basalts at the Luna 24 sampling site. Systematic age differences between lithologies were not detected; however, a single age of 2.93 Ga obtained from a coarse-grained basalt hints at the possibility of younger volcanism. The results of this work effectively triple the chronological information available for Mare Crisium and are within the range of radiometric age measurements of Luna 24 mare basalts obtained previously.