Thermal and baric evolution of garnet granulites from Sri Lanka

Abstract Garnet granulites from Sri Lanka preserve textural and chemical evidence for prograde equilibration at temperatures of at least 700–750°C and pressures in the vicinity of 6–8 kbar. Associated strain patterns suggest prograde metamorphism occurred during and immediately following an episode of crustal thickening, with the prograde P–T conditions probably reflecting a combination of the conductive and advective transport of heat at the mid-levels of tectonically thickened crust. The occurrence of prograde wollastonite provides evidence for internally buffered fluid compositions, or fluid absent conditions, during peak metamorphism and precludes pervasive advection of a CO₂-rich fluid. The advective heat component is therefore likely to have been provided by the transport of silicate melt. Intricate symplectitic textures record partial re-equilibration of the garnet granulites to lower pressures (˜ 4–6 kbar) at high temperatures (600–750°C), and testify either to the erosional denudation of the overthick crust prior to significant cooling (i.e. quasi-isothermal decompression) or to a subsequent static heating possibly of early Palaeozoic age (Pan-African). The metamorphic history of the Sri Lankan granulites is compared with high grade terrains in the neighbouring fragments of Gondwana, with the emphasis on similarities with Proterozoic granulites of the East Antarctic craton.     

Revisiting the Concentration Observations and Source Apportionment of Atmospheric Ammonia

<正>While China’s Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan on particulate matter since 2013 has reduced sulfate significantly, aerosol ammonium nitrate remains high in East China. As the high nitrate abundances are strongly linked with ammonia, reducing ammonia emissions is becoming increasingly important to improve the air quality of China. Although satellite data provide evidence of substantial increases in atmospheric ammonia concentrations over major agricultural regions, long-t...     

Edge‐roundness of boulders of Torridonian Sandstone (northwest Scotland): applications for relative dating and implications for warm and cold climate weathering rates

Kirkbride, M.P. & Bell, C.M. 2009: Edge‐roundness of boulders of Torridonian Sandstone (northwest Scotland): applications for relative dating and implications for warm and cold climate weathering rates. Boreas, 10.1111/j. 1502‐3885.2009.00131.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. The relative ages of late Quaternary morainic and rock avalanche deposits on Late Precambrian Torridonian Sandstone are determined from the characteristic edge‐roundness of constituent boulders. Because weathering of sandstone is manifest as edge‐rounding by granular disintegration, a relative chronology can be derived by measuring the effective radii of curvature of a sample of boulder edges. Thirteen samples totalling 597 individual boulder edges fall into two statistically distinct groups. Moraines of inferred Younger Dryas age (12.9–11.5 kyr BP) are distinguished from moraines of the Wester Ross Re‐advance (≤14.0 kyr BP). One moraine previously assumed to be of Younger Dryas age is reassigned to the older group. The method allows spatial extrapolation of deposit ages from dated sites where lithological and sampling criteria are met. Calculated rates of edge‐rounding imply that granular disintegration was several times more rapid during cold stadial climates than during the Holocene. Used as a proxy for boulder ‘erosion rate’, this indicates that surface loss of grains in glacial climates exceeds that during interglacials by a factor of 2–5, with implications for the calculation of exposure ages from cosmogenic nuclides.     

Progressive Low-Grade Metamorphism of a Black Shale Formation, Central Swiss Alps, with Special Reference to Pyrophyllite and Margarite Bearing Assemblages

The unmetamorphosed equivalents of the regionally metamorphosedclays and marls that make up the Alpine Liassic black shaleformation consist of illite, irregular mixed-layer illite/montmorillonite,chlorite, kaolinite, quartz, calcite, and dolomite, with accessoryfeldspars and organic material. At higher grade, in the anchizonalslates, pyrophyllite is present and is thought to have formedat the expense of kaolinite; paragonite and a mixed-layer paragonite/muscovitepresumably formed from the mixed-layer illite/montmorillonite.Anchimetamorphic illite is poorer in Fe and Mg than at the diageneticstage, having lost these elements during the formation of chlorite.Detrital feldspar has disappeared. In epimetamorphic phyllites, chloritoid and margarite appearby the reactions pyrophyllite + chlorite = chloritoid + quartz+ H₂O and pyrophyllite + calcite ± paragonite = margarite+ quartz + H₂O + CO₂, respectively. At the epi-mesozone transition,paragonite and chloritoid seem to become incompatible in thepresence of carbonates and yield the following breakdown products:plagioclase, margarite, clinozoisite (and minor zoisite), andbiotite. The maximum distribution of margarite is at the epizone-mesozoneboundary; at higher metamorphic grade margarite is consumedby a continuous reaction producing plagioclase. Most of the observed assemblages in the anchi-and epizone canbe treated in the two subsystems MgO (or FeO)-Na₂O–CaO–Al₂O₃–(KAl₃O₅–SiO₂–H₂O–CO₂).Chemographic analyses show that the variance of assemblagesdecreases with increasing metamorphic grade. Physical conditions are estimated from calibrated mineral reactionsand other petrographic data. The composition of the fluid phasewas low in X_CO2 throughout the metamorphic profile, whereasX_CH4 was very high, particularly in the anchizone where a_H2Owas probably as low as 0.2. P-T conditions along the metamorphicprofile are 1–2 kb/200–300 °C in the anchizone(Glarus Alps), and 5 kb/500–550 °C at the epi-mesozonetransition (Lukmanier area). Calculated geothermal gradientsdecrease from 50 °C/km in the anchimetamorphic Glarus Alpsto 30 °C/km at the epi-mesozone transition of the Lukmanierarea.     

A Fluid-Dynamical Study of Crystal Settling in Convecting Magmas

Thermal convection in magma chambers is believed to be almostalways highly time-dependent, or ‘turbulent’, andpredicted convective velocities are commonly orders of magnitudelarger than settling velocities for typical crystals calculatedfrom Stokes' Law. To understand crystal settling in magma chamberswe have therefore undertaken a theoretical and experimentalstudy of particle settling in a turbulently convecting fluid. The regime of interest is where the ratio, S, of the Stokes'Law settling velocity, v_s, to the root mean square verticalcomponent of convective velocity, W, at mid-depth in the fluidis less than unity. Although v_s < W, settling is still possiblebecause convective velocities are height-dependent and mustdecrease to zero at the boundaries of the fluid. Particles immediatelyadjacent to the bottom boundary settle out with their full Stokes'settling velocities. At the same time, convection is vigorousenough to ensure that the distribution of particles in the fluidis uniform. It follows that the number of particles in suspensiondecays with time according to an exponential law, and the decayconstant is simply the ratio of v_s to h, the depth of the fluid.Experiments confirm this relationship, at least for low particleconcentrations, provided S < 0.5 and there is no re-entrainmentof particles from the floor of the tank. We apply this relationship to crystals in magma chambers andso calculate residence times for typical crystals. We find thatfor basaltic magmas the predicted residence times are smallcompared with the many thousands of years that a chamber takesto solidify if cooling is dominated by conduction through thecountry rock. We therefore conclude that crystal settling maybe an efficient differentiation mechanism. Significant magmaticevolution may, however, take place on time-scales that are competitivewith these residence times. If the settling of crystals is the rate-limiting step duringthe crystallization of a magma chamber it is expected that asteady state will be achieved at which the rate of supply ofcrystals into the convecting magma by crystallization balancesthe rate at which crystals settle out. We show how this ideacan explain both the lack of hydraulic equivalence in cumulaterocks and the commonly observed discrepancy between the relativeproportions of phenocrysts of various phases in fractionatedbasaltic lavas and the calculated relative proportions of thesemineral phases in the fractionating assemblage. Finally, anattempt is made to calculate the steady-state crystal contentof convecting magma chambers. Comparison of the predicted crystalcontents with the observed phenocryst contents of typical basalticlavas suggests that magma chambers may often cool more rapidlythan would be expected for conduction through the country rockalone.     

Temporal Evolution of Magmatism in the Northern Volcanic Zone of the Andes: The Geology and Petrology of Cayambe Volcanic Complex (Ecuador)

In the Northern Volcanic Zone of the Andes, the Cayambe VolcanicComplex consists of: (1) a basal, mostly effusive volcano, theViejo Cayambe, whose lavas (andesites and subordinate dacitesand rhyolites) are typically calc-alkaline; and (2) a younger,essentially dacitic, composite edifice, the Nevado Cayambe,characterized by lavas with adakitic signatures and explosiveeruptive styles. The construction of Viejo Cayambe began >1·1Myr ago and ended at 1·0 Ma. The young and still activeNevado Cayambe grew after a period of quiescence of about 0·6Myr, from 0·4 Ma to Holocene. Its complex history isdivided into at least three large construction phases (Angurealcone, Main Summit cone and Secondary Summit cone) and compriseslarge pyroclastic events, debris avalanches, as well as periodsof dome activity. Geochemical data indicate that fractionalcrystallization and crustal assimilation processes have a limitedrole in the genesis of each suite. On the contrary, field observations,and mineralogical and geochemical data show the increasing importanceof magma mixing during the evolution of the volcanic complex.The adakitic signature of Nevado Cayambe magmas is related topartial melting of a basaltic source, which could be the lowercrust or the subducted slab. However, reliable geophysical andgeochemical evidence indicates that the source of adakitic componentis the subducted slab. Thus, the Viejo Cayambe magmas are inferredto come from a mantle wedge source metasomatized by slab-derivedmelts (adakites), whereas the Nevado Cayambe magmas indicatea greater involvement of adakitic melts in their petrogenesis.This temporal evolution can be related to the presence of thesubducted Carnegie Ridge, modifying the geothermal gradientalong the Wadati–Benioff zone and favouring slab partialmelting. KEY WORDS: adakites; ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating; Cayambe volcano; Ecuador; mantle metasomatism; Andes     

Comparison of laser grain size analysis with pipette and sieve analysis: a solution for the underestimation of the clay fraction

Classically, the grain size of soil and sediment samples is determined by the sieve method for the coarse fractions and by the pipette method, based on the ‘Stokes’ sedimentation rates, for the fine fractions. Results from the two methods are compared with results from laser diffraction size analysis, which is based on the forward scattering of monochromatic coherent light. From a point of view of laboratory efficiency, the laser sizing technique is far superior. Accuracy and reproducibility are shown by measurements on certified materials. It appears that laser grain size measurements of certified materials correspond very well with the certificated measurements. Tests were also done on a set of randomly selected sediments of fluvial, aeolian and lacustrine origin. Except for the (<2 μm) clay fraction, there is a coarsening of the mean diameter of one to two size classes (0.25 ?), caused by the non-sphericity of the particles. The platy form of the clay particles induces considerable differences (eight size classes) between pipette and laser measurements: the <2 μm grain size, defined by the pipette method corresponds with a grain size of 8 μm defined by the Laser Particle Sizer for the studied sediments. Using a higher grain size level for the clay fraction, when laser analysis is applied, enables workers in the geological and environmental field to compare classical pipette analysis with a laser sizing technique.     

Analyse de 47 Echantillons Géochimiques de Référence par Fluorescence-X (Cu, Ga, Ni, Zn) Et par Absorption Atomique (Cu, Ni, Zn)

47 étalons géochimiques internationaux dont les huit nouveaux étalons de l'USGS ont été analysés par fluorescence-X et absorption atomique pour Ni, Cu, Zn et par fluorescence-X pour Ga.
Les auteurs développment ici pour la fluores-cence-X les problèmes concernant le choix des fonds, le calcul du fond véritable sous-jacent au pic mesuré, les impuretés des tubes et de l'appareillage. Une méthode directe sur échantillon pulvérulent, non destructive, sans aucune préparation est utilisée.
Trois systèmes de fluorescence-X utilisant deux appareillages (Philips PW 1540 et Siemens SSRS 1) et deux tubes molybdène et or sont confrontés et les moyennes comparée à celles d'une méthode d'absorption atomique par mise en solution de l'échantillon (IL 353).
Les résultats obtenus sont comparés soit aux valeurs recommandées, soit aux moyennes calculées à partir de la littérature. On discute tant les accords que les divergences.