Chemical and physical studies of type 3 chondrites—III. Chondrules from the Dhajala H3.8 chondrite

Fifty-eight chondrules were separated from the Dhajala H3.8 chondrite and their thermoluminescence properties were measured. Chips from 30 of the chondrules were examined petrographically and with electron-microprobe techniques; the bulk compositions of 30 chondrules were determined by the fused bead technique. Porphyritic chondrules, especially 5 which have particularly high contents of mesostasis, tend to have higher TL (mass-normalized) than non-porphyritic chondrules. Significant correlations between log(TL) and the bulk CaO, Al₂O₃ and MnO content of the chondrules, and between log(TL) and the CaO, Al₂O₃, SiO₂ and normative anorthite content of the chondrule glass, indicate an association between TL and the abundance and composition of mesostasis. Unequilibrated chondrules ( i.e. those whose olivine is compositionally heterogeneous and high in Ca) have low TL, whereas equilibrated chondrules have a wide range of TL, depending on their chemical and petrographic properties.We suggest that the TL level in a given chondrule is governed by its bulk composition (which largely determined the abundance and composition of constituent glass) and by metamorphism (which devitrfied the glass in those chondrules with high Ca glass to produce the TL phosphor). We also suggest that one reason why certain chondrules in type 3 ordinary chondrites are unequilibrated, while others are equilibrated, is that the mesostasis of the unequilibrated chondrules resisted the devitrification. This devitrification is necessary for the diffusive communication between chondrule grains and matrix that enables equilibration.     

Glacial lake levels and Eastern Great Lakes Palaeo‐Indians

This article investigates changing lake levels in the late Pleistocene eastern Great Lakes in order to gain insights into the Early Palaeo‐Indian occupations. Significant new information bearing on lake level history is provided, notably the first well‐documented deposits of a high water level above modern in the ca. 11,000–10,300 B.P. period in the southern Lake Huron basin. The lake level information, along with paleoenvironmental and site data, reinforces site age estimates to the 11th millennium B.P.; suggests significant numbers of sites have been inundated by rising water levels; provides specific information on the setting of archaeological sites such as placing the Parkhill site adjacent to a large lake estuary; indicates reasons for the attractiveness of shorelines to Palaeo‐Indians including persistence of more open areas conducive to higher game productivity; and points to ideal areas for future archaeological site survey, particularly in the Lake Erie drainage. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Determining groundwater degradation from irrigation in desert-marginal northern China

Groundwater degradation from irrigated agriculture is of concern in semi-arid northern China. Data-scarcity often means the causes and extent of problems are not fully understood. An irrigated area in Inner Mongolia was studied, where abstraction from an unconfined Quaternary aquifer has increased threefold over 20 years to 20 million m³/year; groundwater levels are falling at up to 0.5 m/year; and groundwater is increasingly mineralised (TDS increase from 400 to 700–1,900 mg/L), with nitrate concentrations up to 137 mg/L N. Residence-time (chlorofluorocarbons), stable-isotope and hydrogeochemical indicators helped develop a conceptual model of groundwater system evolution, demonstrating a direct relationship between modern water proportion and the degree of groundwater mineralisation, indicating that irrigation-water recycling is reducing groundwater quality. The investigations suggest that before irrigation development, active recharge to the aquifer from wadis significantly exceeded groundwater inflow from nearby mountains, previously held to be the main groundwater input. Away from active wadis, groundwater is older with a probable pre-Holocene component. Proof-of-concept groundwater modelling supports geochemical evidence, indicating the importance of wadi recharge and irrigation return flows. Engineering works protecting the irrigated area from flooding have reduced good quality recharge; active recharge is now dominated by irrigation returns, which are degrading the aquifer.     

Processes of carbonate precipitation in modern microbial mats

Microbial mats are ecosystems that arguably greatly affected the conditions of the biosphere on Earth through geological time. These laminated organosedimentary systems, which date back to > 3.4 Ga bp, are characterized by high metabolic rates, and coupled to this, rapid cycling of major elements on very small (mm-µm) scales. The activity of the mat communities has changed Earth's redox conditions (i.e. oxidation state) through oxygen and hydrogen production. Interpretation of fossil microbial mats and their potential role in alteration of the Earth's geochemical environment is challenging because these mats are generally not well preserved.Preservation of microbial mats in the fossil record can be enhanced through carbonate precipitation, resulting in the formation of lithified mats, or microbialites. Several types of microbially-mediated mineralization can be distinguished, including biologically-induced and biologically influenced mineralization. Biologically-induced mineralization results from the interaction between biological activity and the environment. Biologically-influenced mineralization is defined as passive mineralization of organic matter (biogenic or abiogenic in origin), whose properties influence crystal morphology and composition. We propose to use the term organomineralization sensu lato as an umbrella term encompassing biologically influenced and biologically induced mineralization. Key components of organomineralization sensu lato are the “alkalinity” engine (microbial metabolism and environmental conditions impacting the calcium carbonate saturation index) and an organic matrix comprised of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which may provide a template for carbonate nucleation. Here we review the specific role of microbes and the EPS matrix in various mineralization processes and discuss examples of modern aquatic (freshwater, marine and hypersaline) and terrestrial microbialites.     

Relation of selected mineral deposits to the mass/age distribution of Phanerozoic sediments

The global mass/age distribution of Phanerozoic sediment shows maxima in the Middle Paleozoic, at the Paleozoic-Mesozoic boundary, and in the Late Mesozoic. All of these total sediment mass maxima are also maxima of masses of volcanogenic sediment and non-marine sediment, and represent times of maximum sediment flux on the surface of the earth. The Middle Paleozoic and Late Mesozoic maxima correspond to the great marine inundations of the continents, and the Late Paleozoic-Early Mesozoic maximum to the time of transfer of a large number of terranes across the Tethys from Gondwanaland to Eurasia. All three maxima of sedimentary mass correspond to times of rapid sea-floor spreading and orogeny.Organic carbon in dispersed form is enriched in sediments forming hydrocarbons during the sediment flux maxima of the Middle Paleozoic and Late Mesozoic (Jurassic-Cretaceous), but is preserved as coal during sediment flux minima of the Carboniferous and Early Cenozoic. Sedimentary iron deposits and phosphorite deposition are most widespread when the global sedimentary flux is minimal. Potassium salts were deposited at times of sediment flux

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Zusammenfassung Die globale Verteilung der Sedimentmassen nach ihrem Alter zeigt Massenmaxima im Mittel-Paläozoikum, an der Grenze Paläozoikum-Mesozoikum und im Spät-Mesozoikum, sowie Massenminima dazwischen. Die Maxima der gesamten Sedimentmasse sind auch Maxima der vulkanogenen und terrestrischen Sedimente; sie fallen in Zeiten maximaler Erosion, Umlagerung und Sedimentation. Die mittel-paläozoischen und spät-mesozoischen Maxima sind zeitlich mit den größten Überflutungen der Kontinenten verbunden. An der Wende vom Paläozoikum zum Mesozoikum, an der es keinen Hochstand des Meeresspiegels gab, überwucherten viele kleinere Kontinentschollen die Tethys von Gondwana nach Asien. Vermutlich waren alle drei Maxima auch Zeiten maximalen Sea-floor Spreadings und der Orogenese.Organischer Kohlenstoff wurde während der Sedimentations-Maxima im mittleren Paläozoikum und späteren Mesozoikum (Jura-Kreide) in marinen Sedimenten angereichert aber während der Sedimentationsminima im Spät-Paläozoikum und im frühen Känozoikum als Kohle abgelagert. Eisenoolite und Phosphorite finden ihre weiteste Verbreitung zu Zeiten der Sedimentationsminima. Kalisalze wurden zu den Zeiten der Sedimentationsmaxima ausgeschieden.

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Résumé Au cours du Phanérozoïque, la répartition a l'échelle globale de la masse des sédiments déposés en fonction de leur âge présente des maxima au Paléozoïque moyen, à la limite Paléozoïque-Mésozoïque et au Mésozoïque supérieur; elle présente des minima aux autres périodes. Tous ces maxima de la masse totale des sédiments sont aussi des maxima des sédiments volcanoclastiques et des sédiments continentaux; ils représentent les périodes oú les transports sédimentaires étaient les plus importants à la surface du globe. Les maxima du Paléozoïque supérieur correspondent aux grandes invasions marines des continents, tandis que le maximum paléozoïque-mésozoïque correspond au transfert à travers la Téthys d'un grand nombre de «terranes» du Gondwana vers l'Eurasie. Les trois maxima correspondent également à des périodes d'expansion océanique rapide et d'orogenèse active.Le carbone organique s'est déposé sous forme dispersée dans les sédiments marins (roches-mères des hydrocarburse) lors des maxima du Paléozoïque moyen et du Mésozoïque supérieur, tandis qu'il a été conservé sous forme de charbon lors des minima du Carbonifère et du Cénozoïque inférieur. Les dépôts de minerais de fer sédimentaires oolitiques et de phosphate présentent leur plus grande extension au cours des périodes de sédimentation globale minimale. Les sels potassiques se sont déposés pendant les périodes de sédimentation maximale.

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Cretaceous and Eocene lignite deposits, Jackson Purchase, Kentucky

Lignites occur in the Cretaceous McNairy Formation and the Eocene Claiborne Formation in the Jackson Purchase region of western Kentucky. The lone Cretaceous lignite sample has over 18 percent inertodetrinite and 32 percent humodetrinite which, along with the abundant mineral matter, suggests a possible allochthonous origin for the deposit. The Claiborne Formation lignites have higher humic maceral contents than the Cretaceous lignites. Palynology suggests that there was considerable variation in the plant communities responsible for the Claiborne deposits. Differences in the preservation of the various plants is also seen in the variations between the humic types, particularly in the ulminite and humodetrinite contents. Potter and Dilcher (1980) suggested that the Claiborne lignites in the Jackson Purchase and west Tennessee developed in the abandoned oxbows of Eocene rivers. Significant short-distance changes in the peat thickness, flora, and other depositional elements should be expected in such an environment and could easily account for the observed variations in composition.     

Paleoenvironmental implications of a late glacial insect assemblage from northwestern New York

The Winter Gulf site near North Collins, New York is a 0.8-m sequence of organic detritus dated at approximately 12,700 yr B.P. A 260-kg sample produced over 500 identified individuals representing five orders of insects. Three insect zones were recognized, the lowest representing an open mire with sparse numbers of carices and other sedges; aquatic beetles were rare, and no trees were in the vicinity of the sample site. The middle zone indicated an extensive marsh or moist meadow environment with spruce nearby. The upper zone represented a mixed riparian and spruce forest insect assemblage.The results of the Winter Gulf insect analyses support published hypotheses that the site was probably a protected embayment of early lake Warren. Although the flora at the site has been previously interpreted as representing parkland tundra, temperature analyses of the fauna indicate that the thermal conditions were much warmer than parkland tundra regions of North America today. These results have important significance for the region immediately south of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during this period of the Late Wisconsinan.     

The effect of vibrations on the flow properties of a saturated paste of iron ore and water

Many stiff pastes, made up of finely ground solid material with enough liquid to saturate the voids, have both a yield stress and a viscosity. However, in some cases both these rheological attributes can be reduced in value by the application of vibrations. This fact, already widely made use of in the construction industry, is of interest also for practical applications in the processing industries as well as in fundamental investigations of the physical structure and behaviour of such two- (or perhaps three-) phase systems.This paper reports the magnitudes of the reduction both of the yield stress and of the viscosity of a paste of iron ore and water, of a fixed composition in the capillary state.A squeeze-flow apparatus was used to make these measurements. It was modified to allow the specimen of paste to be vibrated.The iron ore was a Knob Lake flotation concentrate, ground to 62% through 325 mesh.The water content, constrained to a narrow range by the physics of this two-phase system, was 16% w/w (wet basis).The vibration frequency was in the range 10 to 30 Hz, whilst the peak-to-peak amplitude lay between 0.254 to 1.27 mm. The results showed that the yield stress decreased from 20 kPa in the unvibrated state to almost zero when vibrated at 10 Hz and with an amplitude of 0.254 mm.Again, the viscosity could be reduced markedly by the vibrations. Furthermore, the viscosity of the vibrated paste (i.e., with zero yield stress) could be correlated with the shear rate by a power-law equation.Because of the complexity of the system and the uncertainty of the influence of all possible variables, no attempt was made at this stage to set up any correlations. However, by inspection, the viscosity of this particular sample was fitted to a function of amplitude (A) and frequency (f), namely A²f^0.5. No theoretical justification is put forward.     

Strontium isotopic evidence for prehistoric transport of gray‐ware ceramic materials in the eastern Grand Canyon region,USA

Through a novel application of strontium (Sr) isotopic analysis, we evaluate geological sources for prehistoric ceramics in the eastern Grand Canyon region of northern Arizona, focusing on two gray‐ware traditions in the Upper Basin of the Coconino Plateau. Building on a conceptual framework for the general potential of Sr isotopes in the analysis of geological materials, we suggest that the eastern Grand Canyon is specifically well suited archaeologically and geologically for: (1) exploring the utility of Sr isotopes for ceramic provenance research and (2) testing long‐standing hypotheses that gray‐ware ceramics were invariably made with local materials. Sr isotopic compositions indicate that the ceramic samples represent at least three different geological sources, and that different raw materials were used in the manufacture of the two gray‐ware traditions found in the Upper Basin. One of the gray‐ware traditions is not compositionally consistent with local geology, indicating that either the ceramics or the raw materials were transported at least 20 km to the Upper Basin. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Partial melting of metavolcanics in amphibolite facies regional metamorphism

Metavolcanic rocks containing low-Ca amphiboles (gedrite, cummingtonite) and biotite can undergo substantial dehydration-melting. This is likely to be most prominent in Barrovian Facies Series (kyanite-sillimanite) and occurs at the same time as widespread metapelite dehydrationmelting. In lower pressure facies series, metavolcanics will be represented by granulites rich in orthopyroxene when dehydration occurs at much lower temperatures than melting. In higher pressure facies series it is not well known whether metavolcanic rocks dehydrate or melt at temperatures lower or similar to that of metapelites.