Untersuchungen am Tholeyit von Tholey (Saar)

Zusammenfassung Das Originalvorkommen des Tholeyits am Schaumberg bei Tholey (Saar) wurde auf seinen Mineralbestand und seine chemische Zusammensetzung hin untersucht. Dabei wurde festgestellt, daß nach der Intrusion in dem lagergang-förmigen Vorkommen eine gravitative Kristallisationsdifferentiation stattgefunden hat, deren Umfang von doleritischen Olivinbasalten über Tholeyite bis zu Latiten und Plagiapliten reicht. Die einzelnen Differentiationsprodukte wurden gegeneinander abgegrenzt und, gemäß ihrer Lage im System der magmatischen Gesteine, benannt. Dabei wurde der Original-Tholeyit definiert als ein hypabyssischer, leukokrater Vertreter der Mangeritfamilie. In seiner Nähe vorkommende Pigeonit-Tholeyite und intrusive doleritische Olivinbasalte wurden kurz mineralogisch und chemisch beschrieben. Die Unterschiede zu räumlich und systematisch benachbarten Gesteinen des Saar-Nahe-Pfalz-Gebietes, den Palatiniten und Naviten, wurden herausgestellt. Ein Vergleich mit anderen Tholeyiten und Abkömmlingen des tholeyitbasaltischen MagmasKennedys ergab, daß die Bezeichnung tholeyitbasaltisch irreführend ist, und daß in vielen Fällen auch Vertreter der Diorit- und Gabbrofamilie Tholeyit benannt wurden.     

Main trends of Palau Islands' coastal evolution,identified by air and ground truthing

The Palau islands' (Western Carolines, Micronesia) main trends of coastal evolution comprise: rise and submergence of a mid-ocean ridge; four reef building phases (Miocene to Holocene); tilting and uplift; karstification into tropical cockpit karst forms. Extensive mangrove tidal flats are also developed. Their sediments as well as the well developed bioerosive notches on the rock islands indicate a remarkable stability in an area of seismic activity and active subduction.     

How to Include Ignorance into Hydrocarbon-Resource Assessments? A Case Study Applied to the Presence of Source Rock at the Argentine Deep Water Margin

The underexplored deep Argentine continental margin may be a prospective area for hydrocarbon resources. This study quantifies the degree of certainty about a fundamental part in a petroleum system, the presence of source rocks. Probability theory and, in particular, Bayesian networks provide powerful assessment tools based on incomplete knowledge. However, they should not be applied uncritically in cases where necessary assumptions like independence are not fulfilled or prior probabilities are not known. We discuss the difference between a low probability and the ignorance of a hypothesis, and apply an alternative method to the assessment of source rock presence. The results of this probabilistic argumentation system coincide with the intuitive judgement, stating that there is a quantifiable evidence for a source rock, but no evidence against it.     

The continent‐ocean transition on the northwestern South China Sea

Rifted margins are created as a result of stretching and breakup of continental lithosphere that eventually leads to oceanic spreading and formation of a new oceanic basin. A cornerstone for understanding what processes control the final transition to seafloor spreading is the nature of the continent‐ocean transition (COT). We reprocessed multichannel seismic profiles and use available gravity data to study the structure and variability of the COT along the Northwest subbasin (NWSB) of the South China Sea. We have interpreted the seismic images to discern continental from oceanic domains. The continental‐crust domain is characterized by tilted fault blocks generally overlain by thick syn‐rift sedimentary units, and underlain by fairly continuous Moho reflections typically at 8–10 s twtt. The thickness of the continental crust changes greatly across the basin, from ~20 to 25 km under the shelf and uppermost slope, to ~9–6 km under the lower slope. The oceanic‐crust domain is characterized by a highly reflective top of basement, little faulting, no syntectonic strata and fairly constant thickness (over tens to hundreds of km) of typically 6 km, but ranging from 4 to 8 km. The COT is imaged as a ~5–10 km wide zone where oceanic‐type features directly abut or lap on continental‐type structures. The South China margin continental crust is cut by abundant normal faults. Seismic profiles show an along‐strike variation in the tectonic structure of the continental margin. The NE‐most lines display ~20–40 km wide segments of intense faulting under the slope and associated continental‐crust thinning, giving way to a narrow COT and oceanic crust. Towards the SW, faulting and thinning of the continental crust occurs across a ~100–110 km wide segment with a narrow COT and abutting oceanic crust. We interpret this 3D structural variability and the narrow COT as a consequence of the abrupt termination of continental rifting tectonics by the NE to SW propagation of a spreading centre. We suggest that breakup occurred abruptly by spreading centre propagation rather than by thinning during continental rifting. We propose a kinematic evolution for the oceanic domain of the NWSB consisting of a southward spreading centre propagation followed by a first narrow ridge jump to the north, and then a younger larger jump to the SE, to abandon the NWSB and create the East subbasin of the South China Sea.     

STDGL3, a Reference Material for Analysis of Sulfide Minerals by Laser Ablation ICP-MS: An Assessment of Matrix Effects and the Impact of Laser Wavelengths and Pulse Widths

A new reference material, STDGL3, for the calibration of in situ analyses of sulfide minerals by LA-ICP-MS has been developed and characterised. It represents a lithium-borate-based glass containing a mixture of Zn- and Fe-sulfide concentrates doped with several chalcophile elements as well as Zr, Gd, Hf and Ta required for assessing common interferences on Ag, Au and Pt. STDGL3 has a wider range of elements and a better homogeneity compared with existing reference materials for LA-ICP-MS analysis of sulfides. Compositional variations for most elements are below 3% RSD, below 5% RSD for Ag, Au and Pt, and below 7% RSD for Se, when performing spot analyses with a 50 μm beam size. Its preparation recipe is reproducible allowing for multiple batches to be made. Use of STDGL3 significantly improves accuracy of sulfide mineral analysis by LA-ICP-MS when compared with use of other available reference materials. Performance of STDGL3 was evaluated using several different laser systems. No significant change was observed between 193 nm ArF excimer lasers with 5 and 20 ns pulse widths, but use of 213 and 248 nm lasers displays more systematic differences, especially when analysing galena. Correction coefficients are needed for some elements (Zn and Cd in particular) when analysing sulfide minerals using STDGL3 as a calibration reference material.     

Multiple sources for mineralizing fluids in the Charmitan gold(-tungsten) mineralization (Uzbekistan)

Mineral assemblages present within the Charmitan gold(-tungsten) quartz-vein mineralization have been investigated for their cathodoluminescence behaviour, chemical composition and noble gas isotope systematics. This inventory of methods allows for the first time a systematic reconstruction of the paragenetic relationships of quartz, scheelite, sulphides and native gold within the gold mineralization at Charmitan and provides the basis to utilise noble gas data in the discussion of sources and evolution of ore-forming fluids. The vein quartz is classified into four generations based on microscopic and cathodoluminescence investigations. Quartz I shows intense brittle deformation as associated scheelite I. Undeformed scheelite II overgrows scheelite I and has lower light rare earth element and higher intermediate rare earth element contents as well as higher strontium concentrations. Scheelite II is associated with the economic gold mineralization and formed during re-crystallisation and re-precipitation of material which was partly re-mobilised from early scheelite I during infiltration of gold-bearing fluids. Early stage native gold inclusions are often associated with stage 2 sulphides, scheelite II and bismuth tellurides and contain Ag (3.6–24.4 wt.%), Hg (≤1.0 wt.%) and Bi (≤0.2 wt.%). Later stage electrum grains occur in association with stage 3 sulphides and sulphosalts and contain Hg (<0.8 wt.%) and elevated Sb concentrations (up to 3.0 wt.%). Noble gas isotope data (³He/⁴He: 0.2-0.4 Ra) for hydrothermal ore fluids trapped in the gold-related sulphides and sulphosalts (stage 2 pyrite and arsenopyrite; stage 3 pyrite, sphalerite, galena and lead sulphosalts) suggest that diverse fluid sources were involved in the formation of the Charmitan gold deposit. These data are indicative of a small, but significant input of fluids from external, deep-seated (mantle and possibly lower crust) sources. A decrease in the input of mantle helium and an increasing role of crustal helium from early to later stages of the mineralization is suggested by the measured ³He/⁴He and ⁴⁰Ar*/⁴He ratios. Sulphides from ore veins in meta-sedimentary rocks contain higher portions of meteoric fluids than those in intrusive rock types as indicated by their lower ³He/³⁶Ar ratios. The ³He/³⁶Ar ratios in the meta-sedimentary rocks agree well with ratios typical of gold mineralizations in the Tien Shan gold province completely hosted by meta-sedimentary sequences, indicating intense fluid-wall rock interaction.     

Paired uraninite and molybdenite dating of the K?nigshain granite: implications for the onset of late-Variscan magmatism in the Lausitz Block

We present geochronological data for late-Variscan magmatism in the Lausitz Block of the Saxo-Thuringian Zone, Germany. The Th–U–total Pb age of uraninite and the Re–Os age of molybdenite from the composite biotite–monzogranite pluton of K?nigshain overlap at the 2σ confidence limit: 328.6 ± 1.9 Ma (uraninite), and 327.0 ± 1.3 Ma and 327.6 ± 1.3 Ma (molybdenite), indicating that crystallization of magmatic uraninite and deposition of molybdenite were nearly contemporaneous. These data imply that magmatic processes in this part of the Variscan orogen already started in latest Visean time, about 10 Ma earlier than previously assumed (315–320 Ma). The new ages correspond to ages for plutonic rocks in the Elbe Zone immediately west of the Lausitz (around 335–325 Ma) and the bulk of late-Variscan igneous rocks in the Saxo-Thuringian Zone (335–320 Ma).     

Anthropogenic influence on the degradation of an urban lake - The Pampulha reservoir in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

The artificial reservoir Lagoa da Pampulha in central Brazil has been increasingly affected by sediment deposition and pollution from urban and industrial sources. This study investigates water chemistry and heavy metal concentrations and their fractionation in the lake sediment using ICP-OES, ICP-MS, and XRD analyses. Fractionation analysis was done by sequential extraction under inert gas as well as after oxidation. The lake exhibits a permanent stratification with an oxygen-free hypolimnion below 2 m depth. Nutrient concentrations are enriched for phosphorous components (SRP, PO₄). In the sediment it was not possible to detect oxygen. Carbon, sulfur, and most of the analyzed heavy metals are enriched in the top sediment layer with a pronounced downward decrease, indicating the presence of an anthropogenic influence. Statistical analysis, including correlations and a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of depth-related total concentration data, helps to distinguish presumably anthropogenic heavy metals from geogenic components. Some samples with high element concentrations in the sediment also show elevated concentrations in their pore water. Analyses of element distribution between sediment and pore water suggest a strong bonding of heavy metals to the anoxic sediment. The trend towards elevated solubility in the pore water of oxidized samples is clear for most of the analyzed elements. Fractionation analysis reveals characteristic associations of selected elements to specific mineral bonding forms. In addition, it indicates that the behavior of heavy metals in the sediment is strongly influenced by organic substances. These substances provide buffering against oxidation, acidification, and metal release. The high nutrient loading causes reducing conditions in the lake sediment. These conditions trigger the accumulation of sediments rich in S²⁻, which stabilizes the fixation of heavy elements. In the future, care must be taken to reduce the supply of contaminants and to prevent the release of heavy metals from sediments dredged for remediation purposes.