Petrology of two diamondiferous eclogite xenoliths from the Lahtojoki kimberlite pipe, eastern Finland

Diamondiferous Group A eclogites constitute a minor portion of the mantle-derived xenoliths in the eastern Finland kimberlites. They have been derived from the depth interval 150–230 km where they are inferred to occur as thin layers or small pods within coarse-grained garnet peridotites. The chemical and isotopic composition of minerals suggest that they represent (Proterozoic?) mantle-derived melts or cumulates rather than subducted oceanic lithosphere. During magma ascent and emplacement of the kimberlites, the eclogite xenoliths were mechanically and chemically rounded judging from the types of surface markings. In addition, those octahedral crystal faces of diamonds that were partially exposed from the rounded eclogite xenolith became covered by trigons and overlain by microlamination due to their reaction with the kimberlite magma. The diamonds bear evidence of pervasive plastic deformation which is not, however, evident in the eclogite host. This suggests that annealing at ambient lithospheric temperatures has effectively recrystallised the silicates while the diamond has retained its lattice imperfections and thus still has the potential to yield information about ancient mantle deformation. One of our samples is estimated to contain approximately 90,000 ct/ton diamond implying that some diamonds occur within very high-grade pods or thin seams in the lithospheric mantle. To our knowledge, this is one of the most diamondiferous samples described.     

Cathodoluminescence of authigenic albite

Authigenic albites in carbonate rocks typically grow in a high-grade diagenetic to low-grade metamorphic environment and often show Roc-Tourné-twinning sensu Füchtbauer. Based on an investigation of four Middle to South European occurrences, they show Mn²⁺- and Fe³⁺-activated cathodoluminescence (CL), as revealed by combined high resolution spectroscopy of cathodoluminescence emission (HRS-CL), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and proton-induced X-ray emission (μPIXE).     

Hydraulic Characteristics of Rough Fractures in Linear Flow under Normal and Shear Load

Summary A hydro-mechanical testing system, which is capable of measuring both the flow rates and the normal and shear displacement of a rock fracture, was built to investigate the hydraulic behaviour of rough tension fractures. Laboratory hydraulic tests in linear flow were conducted on rough rock fractures, artificially created using a splitter under various normal and shear loading. Prior to the tests, aperture distributions were determined by measuring the topography of upper and lower fracture surfaces using a laser profilometer. Experimental variograms of the initial aperture distributions were classified into four groups of geostatistical model, though the overall experimental variograms could be well fitted to the exponential model. The permeability of the rough rock fractures decayed exponentially with respect to the normal stress increase up to 5 MPa. Hydraulic behaviours during monotonic shear loading were significantly affected by the dilation occurring until the shear stress reached the peak strength. With the further dilation, the permeability of the rough fracture specimens increased more. However, beyond shear displacement of about 7 to 8 mm, permeability gradually reached a maximum threshold value. The combined effects of both asperity degradation and gouge production, which prohibited the subsequent enlargement of mean fracture aperture, mainly caused this phenomenon. Permeability changes during cyclic shear loading showed somewhat irregular variations, especially after the first shear loading cycle, due to the complex interaction from asperity degradations and production of gouge materials. The relation between hydraulic and mechanical apertures was analyzed to investigate the valid range of mechanical apertures to be applied to the cubic law. Received June 12, 2001; accepted February 26, 2002 Published online September 2, 2002     

Trace element mobility during sub-seafloor alteration of basaltic glass from Ocean Drilling Program site 953 (off Gran Canaria)

Trace element concentrations of altered basaltic glass shards (layer silicates) and zeolites in volcaniclastic sediments drilled in the volcanic apron northeast of Gran Canaria during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) leg 157 document variable element mobilities during low-temperature alteration processes in a marine environment. Clay minerals (saponite, montmorillonite, smectite) replacing volcanic glass particles are enriched in transition metals and rare earth elements (REE). The degree of retention of REE within the alteration products of the basaltic glass is correlated with the field strength of the cations. The high field-strength elements are preferentially retained or enriched in the alteration products by sorption through clay minerals. Most trace elements are enriched in a boundary layer close to the interface mineral-altered glass. This boundary layer has a key function for the physico-chemical conditions of the subsequent alteration process by providing a large reactive surface and by lowering the fluid permeability. The release of most elements is buffered by incorporation into secondary precipitates (sodium-rich zeolites, phillipsite, Fe- and Mn-oxides) as shown by calculated distribution coefficients between altered glasses and authigenic minerals. Chemical fluxes change from an open to a closed system behavior during prograde low-temperature alteration of volcaniclastic sediments with no significant trace metal flux from the sediment to the water column.     

Occurrence of naphthalenesulfonates and their condensates with formaldehyde in a landfill leachate and their transport behavior in groundwater of the Upper Rhine Valley, Germany

. Naphthalenesulfonates and their condensation products with formaldehyde are manufactured in the chemical industry for broad application as tanning agents, dispersing agents, and as superplasticizers for concrete. With the disposal of waste they have found their way into the aquatic environment. Five monomeric naphthalenesulfonates and a group of dimeric sulfonated naphthalene-formaldehyde condensates (SNFC) were identified in the leachate and in groundwater observation wells downstream in the plume of the Karlsruhe-West landfill, situated in the Upper Rhine Valley in southwest Germany. For the main monomer of technical SNFC products, 2-naphthalenesulfonate (2-NS), the concentration in the leachate was 170 µg l^–1, which decreased to 9.5 µg l^–1 at a distance of about 300 m from the boundary of the landfill. In the Merdingen tracer test field, the transport of these compounds was studied under more controlled conditions in two tracer experiments with (1) two model compounds, and (2) a technical SNFC product and uranine as a reference tracer. In these experiments, the monomeric naphthalenesulfonates and the SNFC with n=2 behave as conservative tracers. Thus, the findings of the landfill study were supported by these results. Higher molecular SNFC were strongly retarded, which is attributed to adsorption to soil particles. The results of the second tracer experiment suggest a degradation of 2-NS and 2,6-naphthalenedisulfonate (2,6-NDS) after adaptation of the microorganisms in the groundwater aquifer as a consequence of the first tracer experiment.     

Water quality variation and clam growth: Is pH really a non-issue in estuaries?

A tandem deployment system was used to critically evaluate relationships between important water chemistry parameters (pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen) and biotic performance based on clam growth. The effects of environmental conditions on growth of juvenile clams,Mercenaria mercenaria, were determined after 7-day field deployments in cages at reference sites from 1998 to 2000. Continuous measurements of the overlying water chemistry parameters were monitored by deploying an in situ water quality instrument (Hydrolab Datasonde) at the same time. While salinity was identified as an important determinant of clam growth over wide salinity ranges (10–35‰), pH was also found to be a very important parameter, especially in low-salinity regimes (<25‰). Average pH measurements ranged from 7.2 to 7.8; minimal pHs ranged from 6.9 to 7.6. The results indicated that when average pH levels fell below 7.5 or minimum pH levels fell below 7.2, growth rates were <50% that of clams deployed under higher pH conditions. Estuarine systems are generally perceived as being well-buffered so pH is frequently assumed to be unimportant, but our results suggest that pH levels can decline in estuarine systems to levels that can adversely affect biological responses. The potential impacts on biological resources of even moderate decreases in pH, particularly in systems that naturally tend to have lower pH conditions, may be more important than previously realized.     

A comparison of early juvenile red drum densities among various habitat types in Galveston Bay, Texas

Seagrass meadows are often cited as important nursery areas for newly settled red drum even though many estuaries, such as Galveston Bay, Texas, support large numbers of red drum and have limited seagrass cover, suggesting the use of alternate nursery areas. We examined patterns of habitat use for newly settled red drum at six sampling areas in Galveston Bay; two areas had seagrass beds and four areas had no seagrass. We measured densities in different habitat types using epibenthic sleds and enclosure samplers. Peak recruitment of young red drum to the estuary occurred during September through December. Highest densities of new settlers were found in seagrass meadows (primarilyHalodule wrightii), but when seagrass was absent, the highest densities of red drum occurred along theSpartina alterniflora marsh edge interface. Densities were relatively low on nonvegetated bottom away from the marsh edge. We also examined density patterns in other habitat types at selected sampling areas and found no red drum within marsh vegetation away from the marsh edge interface (5 and 10 m into the marsh interior). Oyster reefCrassostrea virginica was sampled using lift nets, and we found no red drum using this habitat, although adjacent seagrass and marsh interface habitats were used. Even though red drum densities in marsh edge were low relative to seagrass, the large areal extent of marshes in the bay complex probably makes marsh edge the most important nursery habitat for red drum in Galveston Bay.     

Impact of suboxia on sinking particulate organic carbon: Enhanced carbon flux and preferential degradation of amino acids via denitrification

Fluxes of particulate organic carbon (POC) through the oxygen deficient waters in the eastern tropical North Pacific were found to be relatively less attenuated with depth than elsewhere in the eastern North Pacific. The attenuation coefficient (b) for the flux was found to be 0.40 versus the composite value of 0.86 determined by Martin et al. (1987). To examine this further, sinking POC was collected using sediment traps and allowed to degrade in oxic and suboxic experiments. Using a kinetic model, it was found that degradation proceeded at similar rates (roughly 0.8 day⁻¹) under oxic and suboxic conditions, but a greater fraction of bulk POC was resistant to degradation in the suboxic experiments (61% vs. 23%). Amino acids accounted for 37% of POC collected at 75m, but following degradation the value dropped to 17% and 16% in the oxic and suboxic experiments respectively. POC collected from 500m was 10% amino acids. The non-AA component of POC collected at 75m was not degraded under suboxic conditions, while under oxic conditions it was. These results suggest that microbes degrading OC under suboxic conditions via denitrification preferentially utilize nitrogen-rich amino acids. This preferential degradation of amino acids suggests that 9% more nitrogen may be lost via water column denitrification than is accounted for when a more “Redfieldian” stoichiometry for POC is assumed.     

Implications of Nb/U, Th/U and Sm/Nd in plume magmas for the relationship between continental and oceanic crust formation and the development of the depleted mantle

The Nb/U and Th/U of the primitive mantle are 34 and 4.04 respectively, which compare with 9.7 and 3.96 for the continental crust. Extraction of continental crust from the mantle therefore has a profound influence on its Nb/U but little influence on its Th/U. Conversely, extraction of midocean ridge-type basalts lowers the Th/U of the mantle residue but has little influence on its Nb/U. As a consequence, variations in Th/U and Nb/U with Sm/Nd can be used to evaluate the relative importance of continental and basaltic crust extraction in the formation of the depleted (Sm/Nd enriched) mantle reservoir.This study evaluates Nb/U, Th/U, and Sm/Nd variations in suites of komatiites, picrites, and their associated basalts, of various ages, to determine whether basalt and/or continental crust have been extracted from their source region. Emphasis is placed on komatiites and picrites because they formed at high degrees of partial melting and are expected to have Nb/U, Th/U, and Sm/Nd that are essentially the same as the mantle that melted to produce them. The results show that all of the studied suites, with the exception of the Barberton, have had both continental crust and basaltic crust extracted from their mantle source region. The high Sm/Nd of the Gorgona and Munro komatiites require the elevated ratios seen in these suites to be due primarily to extraction of basaltic crust from their source regions, whereas basaltic and continental crust extraction are of subequal importance in the source regions of the Yilgarn and Belingwe komatiites. The Sm/Nd of modern midocean ridge basalts lies above the crustal extraction curve on a plot of Sm/Nd against Nb/U, which requires the upper mantle to have had both basaltic and continental crust extracted from it.It is suggested that the extraction of the basaltic reservoir from the mantle occurs at midocean ridges and that the basaltic crust, together with its complementary depleted mantle residue, is subducted to the core-mantle boundary. When the two components reach thermal equilibrium with their surroundings, the lighter depleted component separates from the denser basaltic component. Both are eventually returned to the upper mantle, but the lighter depleted component has a shorter residence time in the lower mantle than the denser basaltic component. If the difference in the recycling times for the basaltic and depleted components is ∼1.0 to 1.5 Ga, a basaltic reservoir is created in the lower mantle, equivalent to the amount of basalt that is subducted in 1.0 to 1.5 Ga, and that reservoir is isolated from the upper mantle. It is this reservoir that is responsible for the Sm/Nd ratio of the upper mantle lying above the trend predicted by extraction of continental crust on the plot of Sm/Nd against Nb/U.     

Oxygen fugacity and geochemical variations in the martian basalts: implications for martian basalt petrogenesis and the oxidation state of the upper mantle of Mars

The oxygen fugacity of the Dar al Gani 476 martian basalt is determined to be quartz-fayalite-magnetite (QFM) −2.3 ± 0.4 through analysis of olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, and Cr-spinel and is in good agreement with revised results from Fe-Ti oxides that yield QFM −2.5 ± 0.7. This estimate falls within the range of oxygen fugacity for the other martian basalts, QFM −3 to QFM −1. Oxygen fugacity in martian basalts correlates with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, and La/Yb ratios, indicating that the mantle source of the basalts is reduced and that assimilation of crust-like material controls the oxygen fugacity. This allows constraints to be placed on the oxidation state of the martian mantle and on the nature of assimilated crustal material. The assimilated material may be the product of early and extensive hydrothermal alteration of the martian crust, or it may be amphibole- or phlogopite-bearing basaltic rock within the crust. In either case, water may play a significant role in the oxidation of basaltic magmas on Mars, although it may be secondary to assimilation of ferric iron-rich material.