Fluid-induced high-temperature metasomatism at Rundv?gshetta in the Lützow-Holm Complex,East Antarctica: Implications for the role of brine during granulite formation

We report new petrological, phase equilibria modeling, and fluid inclusion data for pelitic and mafic granulites from Rundv?gshetta in the highest-grade region of the Neoproterozoic Lützow-Holm Complex(LHC),East Antarctica, and provide unequivocal evidence for fluid-rock interaction and high-temperature metasomatism in the presence of brine fluid. The studied locality is composed dominantly of well-foliated pelitic granulite(K-feldspar+quartz+sillimanite+garnet+ilmenite) with foliation-parallel bands and/or layers of mafic granulite(plagioclase+orthopyroxene+garnet+ilmenite+quartz+biotite). The boundary between the two lithologies is defined by thin(about 1 -20 cm in thick) garnet-rich layers with a common mineral assemblage of garnet+plagioclase+quartz+ilmenite+biotite ? orthopyroxene. Systematic increase of grossular and decrease of pyrope contents in garnet as well as decreasing Mg/(Fe+Mg) ratio of biotite from the pelitic granulite to garnet-rich rock and mafic granulite suggest that the garnet-rich layer was formed by metasomatic interaction between the two granulite lithologies. Phase equilibria modeling in the system NCKFMASHTO demonstrates that the metasomatism took place at 850 -860℃, which is slightly lower than the peak metamorphism of this region, and the modal abundance of garnet is the highest along the metapeliteemetabasite boundary(up to 40%), which is consistent with the field and thin section observations. The occurrence of brine(7.0 -10.9 wt.% Na Cleqfor ice melting or 25.1 -25.5 wt.% NaC leqfor hydrohalite melting) fluid inclusions as a primary phase trapped within plagioclase in the garnet-rich layer and the occurrence of Cl-rich biotite(Cl = 0.22 -0.60 wt.%) in the metasomatic rock compared to that in pelitic(0.15 -0.24 wt.%) and mafic(0.06-0.13 wt.%) granulites suggest infiltration of brine fluid could have given rise to the high-temperature metasomatism. The fluid might have been derived from external sources possibly related to the formation of major suture zones formed during the Gondwana amalgamation.     

Empirical Estimation of Uniaxial Compressive Strength of Rock: Database of Simple,Multiple, and Artificial Intelligence-Based Regressions

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Empirical relationships for estimating Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS) of rock from other rock properties are numerous in literature. This is because...     

Boron isotopic fractionation related to boron sorption on humic acid and the structure of surface complexes formed

Boron isotopic fractionation during adsorption onto Ca-flocculated Aldrich humic acid (HA) has been investigated experimentally as a function of solution pH at 25°C and I = 0.15 M. Boron aqueous concentration and isotopic composition were determined by Cs₂BO₂⁺ Positive Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry analysis, while the structure of B surface complexes on HA was characterized using ¹¹B Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MAS NMR). Significant B sorption on HA was observed at 6 < pH < 12 with a maximum value of Kd, the partition coefficient between adsorbed and aqueous boron, equal to 40 at pH = 9.5-10. Combined ¹¹B MAS NMR analysis and FITEQL modeling of B sorption on HA showed that this element forms tetrahedrally coordinated five- or six-membered ring chelates, most likely 1,2-diol and 1,3-diol complexes at alkaline pH (8 < pH < 11) and dicarboxylic complexes at near neutral conditions (6 < pH < 9). Results of this study demonstrate for the first time that boron sorption on HA induces a strong pH-dependent isotope fractionation—with ¹¹B depleted at the surface of HA—that reaches a maximum at 5 < pH < 9 (α = 0.975, Δ = −25‰) and decreases sharply at pH >9. The measured isotope fractionation cannot be modeled assuming that the isotopic composition of the sorbed borate species is identical to that of B(OH)₄^- species in the parent solution. It is shown that the extent of isotopic fractionation depends not only on B aqueous speciation but also on the distribution and structure of the borate surface complexes formed. In agreement with energetic constrains, calculation of the isotope fractionation factors between aqueous boric acid and boron surface complexes suggests that the formation of the strained six-membered ring 1,3-diol complex yields a much higher fractionation (α_BLP1−III = 0.954-0.960, Δ = −41/-47‰) than that of the very stable five-membered ring 1,2-diol (α_BLP2−III = 0.983, Δ = −18‰). The results of this study open new perspectives to understand and model boron biogeochemical cycle. It is predicted that boron sorption onto organic matter can have important consequences for the boron isotopic composition of surface water reservoirs (seawater, groundwater, soil waters) in which either abundant organic surfaces or significant boron concentrations are available. In addition, the large isotope fractionation between aqueous boric acid and surface boron-organic complexes found in the present work makes boron a promising tracer of biologic activity.     

Petrology and CHIME geochronology of Pan-African high K and Sr/Y granitoids in the Nkambe area, Cameroon

The Central African Belt in the Nkambe area, northwestern Cameroon represents a collisional zone between the Saharan metacraton and the Congo craton during the Pan-African orogeny, and exposes a variety of granitoids including foliated and massive biotite monzogranites in syn- and post-kinematic settings. Foliated and massive biotite monzogranites have almost identical high-K calc-alkaline compositions, with 73–67 wt.% SiO₂, 17–13 wt.% Al₂O₃, 2.1–0.9 wt.% CaO, 4.4–2.7 wt.% Na₂O and 6.3–4.4 wt.% K₂O. High concentrations of Rb (264–96 ppm), Sr (976–117 ppm), Ba (3680–490 ppm) and Zr (494–99 ppm), with low concentrations of Y (mostly< 20 ppm with a range 54–6) and Nb (up to 24 ppm) suggest that the monzogranites intruded in collisional and post-collisional settings. The Sr/Y ratio ranges from 25 to 89. K, Rb and Ba resided in a single major phase such as K-feldspar in the source. Garnet was present in the source and remained as restite at the site of magma generation. This high K₂O and Sr/Y granitic magma was generated by partial melting of a granitic protolith under high-pressure and H₂O undersaturated conditions where garnet coexists with K-feldspar, albitic plagioclase. CHIME (chemical Th–U-total Pb isochron method) dating of zircon yields ages of 569 ± 12–558 ± 24 Ma for the foliated biotite monzogranite and 533 ± 12–524 ± 28 Ma for the massive biotite monzogranite indicating that the collision forming the Central African Belt continued in to Ediacaran (ca 560 Ma).     

Restoring Halite Fluid Inclusions as an Accurate Palaeothermometer: Brillouin Thermometry Versus Microthermometry

Halite traps inclusions of the mother fluid when precipitating. When unchanged, the density of these fluid inclusions (FIs) records the water temperature T_f at the time of crystal formation. As halite is ubiquitous on Earth and geological time, its FIs possess a high potential as temperature archives. However, the use of FIs in halite as an accurate palaeothermometer has been hampered due to limitations of microthermometry, the most commonly used analytical method. Here, we show how Brillouin spectroscopy in halite FIs bypasses these limitations and allows recovering T_f to within 1 °C or less. To demonstrate this, we measured samples synthesised at 24.6 ± 0.5 °C and 33 ± 1 °C, and obtained 24.8 ± 0.4 °C and 31.9 ± 0.4 °C, respectively. This novel approach thus provides an accurate palaeothermometer for lacustrine and marine environments. Moreover, Brillouin spectroscopy solves the long‐standing debate on damage of halite fluid inclusions through quantifying the acceptable temperature excursion for preserving elastic behaviour: [l/(1 µm)]^?0.64 × (90 °C), where l is the FI size. This threshold is lower for FIs close to the surface of the host crystal or to another FI. We also list ‘best practices’ for applying both microthermometry and Brillouin thermometry.     

Producing time series of river water height by means of satellite radar altimetry—a comparative study

Abstract

Satellite radar altimetry is complementary to in situ limnimetric surveys as a means of estimating the water height of large rivers, lakes and flood plains. Production of water height time series by satellite radar altimetry technology requires first the selection of radar ground target locations corresponding to water body surfaces under study, i.e. the definition of “virtual limnimetric stations”. We propose to investigate qualitative and quantitative differences between three representative virtual station creation methodologies: (a) a fully manual method, (b) a semi-automatic method based on a land cover characterization that allows the water body surface under study to be located; and (c) an original fully automatic procedure that exploits a digital elevation model and an estimation of the river width. The results yielded by these three methods are comparable: maximum absolute magnitudes of water height differences being 0.46, 0.26 and 0.15 m for, respectively, 95, 90 and 80% of the water height values obtained. Moreover, more than 67% and 92% of time series jointly produced by the methods present root mean square differences lower than 20 and 50 cm, respectively. The results show that the fully automatic method developed herein provides as reliable results as the fully manual one. This opens the way to use of satellite radar altimetry for the generation of water height time series on a large scale, and considerably extends the applicability of satellite radar altimetry in hydrology.

Citation Roux, E., Santos da Silva, J., Vieira Getirana, A. C., Bonnet, M.-P., Calmant, S., Martinez, J.-M. & Seyler, F. (2010) Producing time series of river water height by means of satellite radar altimetry—comparative study. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(1), 104–120.     

Turbulence-plankton interactions: a new cartoon

Climate change redistributes turbulence in both space and time, adding urgency to understanding of turbulence effects. Many analytic and analog models used to simulate and assess effects of turbulence on plankton rely on simple Couette flow. There shear rates are constant and spatially uniform, and hence so is vorticity. Over the last decade, however, turbulence research within fluid dynamics has focused on the structure of dissipative vortices in space and time. Vorticity gradients, finite net diffusion of vorticity and small radii of curvature of streamlines are ubiquitous features of turbulent vortices at dissipation scales but are explicitly excluded from simple, steady Couette flows. All of these flow components contribute instabilities that cause rotation of particles and so are important to simulate in future laboratory devices designed to assess effects of turbulence on nutrient uptake, particle coagulation, motility and predator‐prey encounter in the plankton. The Burgers vortex retains these signature features of turbulence and provides a simplified “cartoon” of vortex structure and dynamics that nevertheless obeys the Navier‐Stokes equations. Moreover, this idealization closely resembles many dissipative vortices observed in both the laboratory and the field as well as in direct numerical simulations of turbulence. It is simple enough to allow both simulation in numerical models and fabrication of analog devices that selectively reproduce its features. Exercise of such numerical and analog models promises additional insights into mechanisms of turbulence effects on passive trajectories and local accumulations of both living and nonliving particles, into solute exchange with living and nonliving particles and into more subtle influences on sensory processes and swimming trajectories of plankton, including demersal organisms and settling larvae in turbulent bottom boundary layers. The literature on biological consequences of vortical turbulence has focused primarily on the smallest, Kolmogorov‐scale vortices of length scale η. Theoretical dissipation spectra and direct numerical simulation, however, indicate that typical dissipative vortices with radii of 7η to 8η, peak azimuthal speeds of order 1 cm s^?1 and lifetimes of order 10 s or longer (and much longer for moderate pelagic turbulence intensities) deserve new attention in studies of biological effects of turbulence.     

Late Wuchiapingian (Late Dzhulfian,early Late Permian) limestone olistolites within the Tertiary flysch of Glypia Unit (Mount Parnon,central–eastern Peloponnesus,Greece)

Some olistolites reworked in a Tertiary flysch of Mount Parnon (Peloponnesus, Greece) exhibit a Late Permian assemblage, dominated by Paradunbarula (Shindella) shindensis, Hemigordiopsis cf. luquensis and Colaniella aff. minima. This association corresponds to the Late Wuchiapingian (=Late Dzhulfian), a substage whose algae and foraminifera are generally little known. Contemporaneous limestones crop out in the middle part of the Episkopi Formation in Hydra, but they are rather commonly reworked in Mesozoic and Cainozoic sequences. The palaeobiogeographical affinities shared by the foraminiferal markers of Greece, southeastern Pamir, and southern China, are very strong (up to the specific level), and are congruent with the Pangea B reconstructions. To cite this article: E. Skourtsos et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 925–931.     

Tectonostratigraphy and base-metal mineralization controls, Aravalli province (western India): New interpretations from geophysical data analysis

Analysis and synthesis of multi-disciplinary geoscience information from geological literature/maps and from digitally-processed aeromagnetic and gravity data pertinent to the Aravalli province were carried out to address some hitherto unresolved questions about the tectonostratigraphy of this Archaean–Proterozoic metallogenic province. Based on the magnetic anomalies, several tectonic domains were identified. These domains, bounded by regional-scale geophysical lineaments, have distinct crustal, lithological, metamorphic, and metallogenic characteristics and correlate broadly with lithostratigraphic belts identified by several earlier workers. New interpretations on the tectonostratigraphy and the base-metal mineralization controls in the Aravalli province are as follows. The Hindoli sequences, in the eastern parts of the province, constitute an independent Palaeo–Proterozoic tectonic domain and do not form part of the Archaean basement complex. The base-metal-bearing metasedimentary enclaves in the central parts of the province also constitute an independent Palaeo–Proterozoic tectonic domain, which is quite distinct from the surrounding (basement complex?) rocks. The base-metal-bearing metavolcano-sedimentary sequences in the western parts of the province constitute an independent Neo–Proterozoic tectonic domain. The base-metal deposits in the province are spatially associated with the regional-scale lineaments and with the mafic metavolcanic rocks deduced from the aeromagnetic data. The regional-scale lineaments, which possibly represent Proterozoic crustal-scale faults, are plausible structural controls on the base-metal mineralization in the province. The mafic metavolcanic rocks are plausible heat-source controls on the SEDEX- and/or VMS-type base-metal mineralizations and are possible metal-source controls on the VMS-type base-metal mineralization in the province.     

Petrogenesis,zircon U–Pb age,and geochemistry of the A-type Mogou syenite,western Henan Province: Implications for Mesozoic tectono-magmatic evolution of the Qinling Orogen

The Mogou syenite intruded into the Mesoproterozoic Xiong’er Group is the main lithostratigraphic unit, along the southern margin of the North China Craton (NCC). This paper reports zircon LA-ICP-MS data, whole-rock major and trace element compositions of late Triassic magmatic rocks in the Mogou syenite, in order to constrain the formation age of the Mogou syenite, research the origin and evolution of the magma and analyse the geodynamic setting of the Qinling Orogen (QO) in Late Triassic. These rocks consist of medium- to coarse-grained syenite and fine-grained quartz syenite. Zircon U–Pb dating yields a crystallization age of 226.5±2.7 Ma. The syenites are characterized by high SiO₂ (63.49–72.17%), alkali (K₂O+Na₂O of 11.18–15.38%) and potassium (K₂O/Na₂O of 2.88–28.11), are peralkaline or metaluminous (molar A/CNK of 0.87–1.02) and belong to shoshonite series. The syenites have ΣREE of 33.01–191.30 ppm, LREE/HREE of 14–20, (La/Yb)_N of 11–24, with LREE-rich distribution pattern and obvious differentiation between HREE and LREE. Eu anomalies are positive for the medium- to coarse-grained syenite and weakly negative for the fine-grained quartz syenite. In addition, the syenites are enriched in large-ion lithophile elements (Ba, K, Sr, and Pb) but depleted in high strength field elements (Ti, Ta, Nb, Zr, and Hf), and have high differentiation indices of 91.69–97.06. These geochemical features indicate that the primary magma of the Mogou syenite most likely originated from a mantle source with minor crustal component, and underwent a fractional crystallization process during its emplacement. The late Triassic A-type Moguo syenite along the southern margin of the NCC was generated in the late stage of the syn-collision event of QO, recording a transition period from compression to extension at around 227 Ma.