U-Pb ID-TIMS age of the Tiksheozero carbonatite: expression of 2.0 Ga alkaline magmatism in Karelia, Russia

The Tiksheozero carbonatite in northern Russian Karelia is a transitional type between alkaline ultramafic — carbonatitic and alkaline gabbroic suites. The complex is dominated by pyroxenite with a variety of subordinate mafic and ultramafic phases and nepheline syenite. Carbonatite occurs in a main central body and in veins. In this study we have obtained a reliable age for the complex by single grain ID-TIMS U-Pb analyses of zircon and baddeleyite. The age of 1999 ± 5 Ma is important because it places the emplacement of the alkaline complexes in the context of craton-wide extension and break-up events which preceded the initiation of a major Paleoproterozoic orogenic cycle. The Paleoproterozoic age also emphasizes the fact that not all members of the Kola alkaline province are of Paleozoic age.     

Implicit Structural Modeling by Minimization of the Bending Energy with Moving Least Squares Functions

Mathematical Geosciences - In this paper, an implicit structural modeling method using locally defined moving least squares shape functions is proposed. The continuous bending energy is minimized...     

Mineral solution equilibria—II. An experimental study of mineral solubilities and the thermodynamic properties of aqueous CaCl2 in the system CaO-SiO2-H2O-HCl

Speciation of aqueous calcium chloride and the solubility of wollastonite represented by the reaction wollastonite + 2HCl° → CaCl₂° + quartz + H₂O were experimentally investigated at 1 and 2 kbar in the range 425–600°C using rapid-quench hydrothermal techniques and a modified Ag + AgCl buffer technique (Frantz and Popp, 1979). Variation in the measured concentration in HCl° as a function of total dissolved calcium was used to identify associated aqueous CaCl₂° as the predominant calcium species in the fluid at temperatures above 500°C at 2 kbar. The data were used to calculate the equilibrium constant for the above reaction as a function of temperature and pressure, from which the difference in Gibbs free energy of formation between CaCl₂° and HCl° at 1 and 2 kbar, 450°–600°C was calculated. Solubility constants for minerals in the system MgO-CaO-SiO₂-H₂O-HCl-CO₂ were calculated using the data from this study and from Frantz and Popp (1979). Calculated mineral solubilities were used to calculate the solution compositions and solid alteration products resulting from interactions of a Ca-Mg silicate mineral (diopside) with hydrothermal solutions containing a range of different total chloride concentrations. High total chloride (2.0 m) in the solution results in Si-Mg enrichment in the solids and Ca enrichment in the fluid, whereas low total chloride (0.008 m) results in Mg enrichment in the solids and Ca-Si enrichment in the fluid.     

Gated communities in Bulgaria: interpreting a new trend in post-communist urban development

Private residential neighbourhoods encircled by a wall or fence and cut off from the public by a remote-controlled or guarded gate are not entirely new in Bulgaria. Both ‘dacha’ and leisure settlements of the communist rulers existed in such enclosed developments on the outskirts of Sofia, in mountain resorts, and on the coast of the Black Sea until the end of the 1980s. After the political change in 1989, new types of walled settlements, similar to gated communities in the U.S., began to spring up in Bulgaria, a result of the dramatic and decisive changes in Bulgarian society that are still very much underway today. Seven gated communities, comprising 78 housing units and six projects that are not yet fully completed create an entirely new social context and a residential landscape in the Sofia metropolitan area, which may indicate future residential desires. Ivanyane, situated on the western periphery of Sofia, and Mountain View Village to the southeast, exemplify the two main types of gated communities which are either self-organized by residents or developer-organized. The reasons why these gated communities were built appear to be very similar to those in other places. It can be expected that the demand for this new type of residential living will continue to increase in Sofia’s urban periphery, but it would be unwise to assume that these developments will necessarily provide a positive context for building a new society. The research for this paper was made possible through a project on post-communist urban development approved and financed by the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and the Austrian Institute for East and Southeast Europe (Liaison Office in Sofia).     

Mineral-solution equilibria—IV. Solubilities and the thermodynamic properties of FeCl20 in the system Fe2O3-H2-H2O-HCl

The solubility of hematite in chloride-bearing hydrothermal fluids was determined in the temperature range 400–600°C and at 1000 and 2000 bars using double-capsule, rapid-quench hydrothermal techniques and a modification of the Ag + AgCl buffer method (Frantz and Popp, 1979). The changes in the molalities of associated hydrogen chloride () as a function of the molality of total iron in the fluid at constant temperature and pressure were used to identify the predominant species of iron in the hydrothermal fluid. The molality of associated HCl varied from 0.01 to 0.15. Associated FeCl₂⁰ was found to be the most abundant species in equilibrium with hematite. Determination of Cl/Fe in the fluid in equilibrium with hematite yields values approximately equal to 2.0 suggesting that ferrous iron is the dominant oxidation state.The equilibrium constant for the reaction Fe₂O₃ + 4HCl⁰ + H₂ = 2FeCl₂⁰ + 3H₂O was calculated and used to estimate the difference in Gibbs free energy between FeCl₂⁰ and HCl⁰ in the temperature range 400–600°C at 1000 and 2000 bars pressure.     

Controls on Early Cretaceous desert sediment provenance in south-west Gondwana,Botucatu Formation (Brazil and Uruguay)

The Lower Cretaceous Botucatu Formation records the development of widespread dry–aeolian desert sedimentation throughout the Paraná Basin in south-west Gondwana. To reconstruct the provenance of the aeolian sediment, petrography, granulometric analysis, U-Pb detrital zircon ages have been determined from along the southern basin margin in Rio Grande do Sul state (southern Brazil) and Uruguay (Tacuarembó region). The dataset reveals a mean composition Qt₈₉F₈L₃, comprising very fine to medium-grained quartozose and feldspatho-quartzose framework. Heavy mineral analysis reveals an overall dominance of zircon, tourmaline and rutile grains (mean ZTR_0.84) with sporadic garnet, epidote and pyrolusite occurrences. The detrital zircon U-Pb ages are dominated by Cambrian to Neoproterozoic (515 to 650 Ma), Tonian to Stenian (900 to 1250 Ma) and Orosirian to Rhyacian (1.8 to 2.2 Ga) material. The detrital zircon dataset demonstrates a significant lateral variation in sediment provenance: Cambrian to Neoproterozoic detrital zircons dominate in the east, while Tonian to Stenian and Orosirian to Rhyacian ages predominate in the west of the study area. Sandstones are quartz-rich with dominantly durable zircon, tourmaline and rutile heavy mineral suite, with subtle but statistically significant along-strike differences in heavy mineral populations and detrital mineralogy which are thought to record local sediment input points into the aeolian system. The similar age spectra of Botucatu desert with proximal Paraná Basin units, the predominance of quartzose, and zircon, tourmaline and rutile components, suggests that recycling is the mechanism responsible for the erg feeding.     

Performance Assessment of Pump‐and‐Treat Systems

Pump‐and‐treat (P&T) is a widely applied remedy for groundwater remediation at many types of sites for multiple types of contaminants. Decisions regarding major changes in the remediation approach are an important element of environmental remediation management for a site using P&T. While existing guidance documents provide information on design, operation, and optimization for P&T systems, these documents do not provide specific technical guidance to support remedy decisions regarding when to transition to a new remedy or to initiate closure of the P&T remedy. A structured approach for P&T performance assessment was developed and is described herein, using analysis of three example P&T systems. These examples highlight key aspects of the performance assessment decision logic and represent assessment outcomes associated with optimizing the P&T system, transitioning from P&T to natural attenuation, and supplementing P&T with another technology to hasten transition to natural attenuation.     

Multiple mechanisms driving detachment folding as deduced from 3D reconstruction and geomechanical restoration: the Pico del Águila anticline (External Sierras,Southern Pyrenees)

Three‐dimensional (3D) modelling allows observation of geological features that may not be evident by classical two‐dimensional approaches. This is particularly important in the Pico del Águila anticline (Central External Sierras, Southern Pyrenees, Spain), a structure characterized by important geometrical variability in 3D. The Pico del Águila is a N–S‐trending fold, transverse to the E–W‐trending South‐Pyrenean thrust front, with well‐exposed growth strata that record the evolution of the structure and the influence of the South‐Pyrenean thrust front. Fold kinematics is complex and not precisely quantified. It is characterized by multiple folding mechanisms acting simultaneously in a heterogeneous stratigraphic sequence. To better understand the fold's structural evolution, 3D reconstruction and geomechanical restoration of the structure were performed. The restoration takes into account rock mechanical properties without assuming a specific kinematic model. Our work suggests that the growth of the structure was characterized by variable uplift/sedimentation rates through time and between fold limbs. The restoration also reveals that a combination of multiple folding mechanisms operated simultaneously in different units and structural domains during anti‐clinal growth. This has major implications in the understanding of detachment folds with associated growth strata, as such structures are described in many settings as potential traps for hydrocarbons and natural resources.