The seagrass skeletal assemblage from modern to fossil and from tropical to temperate: Insight from Maldivian and Mediterranean examples

Seagrasses are marine angiosperms that form extensive submarine meadows in the photic zone where carbonate producing biota dwell as epiphytes on the leaves or as infaunal forms, and act as prolific carbonate sediment factories. Because seagrasses have a low preservation potential and records of exceptionally well‐preserved and plant material from marine settings are rare, these palaeoenvironments are difficult to identify in the rock record. Consequently, sedimentological and palaeontological proxies are the main indicators of the presence of seagrass‐dominated ecosystems. This work investigates the skeletal assemblage of Modern (Maldivian and western Mediterranean) and fossil (Eocene; Apula and Oman carbonate platforms and Oligocene; Malta platform) seagrass examples to characterize the skeletal assemblage of modern and fossil seagrasses. Two main types of grains, calcareous algae and foraminifera, constitute around 50% of the bioclastic sediment in both tropical Maldivian and temperate Mediterranean scenarios. However, in the tropical setting they are represented by green algae (Halimeda), while in the Mediterranean they are represented by corallinacean red algae. In contrast, in the Eocene examples, the foraminifera are the most conspicuous group and the green algae are also abundant. The opposite occurs in the Maltese Chattian, which is dominated by coralline algae (mean 42%), although the foraminifera are still abundant. It is suggested to use the term foralgal to identify the seagrass skeletal assemblage. To discriminate between red algae and green algae dominance, the introduction of the prefixes ‘GA’ (green algae) and ‘RA’ (red algae) is proposed. The investigated examples provide evidence that the green algae–foralgal assemblage is typical of tropical, not excessively dense seagrass meadows, characterized by a well‐illuminated substrate to support the development and calcification of the Halimeda thallus. Contrarily, the red algae‐foralgal assemblage is typical of high density tropical to subtropical seagrass meadows which create very dense oligophotic conditions on the sea floor or in temperate settings where Halimeda cannot calcify.     

Quartz as indicator mineral in the Central Swiss Alps: the quartz recrystallization isograd in the rock series of the northern Aar massif

Earlier observations on the deformation of rock-forming quartz during Alpine metamorphism that were made by Voll (1976) along a traverse following the Reuss valley (Aar massif, Central Swiss Alps) are still relevant but can be explained in more modern term. Voll found that a few kilometres south of the contact between the Aar massif and its sedimentary cover quartz has partly undergone a combination of dynamic recrystallization and nucleation along grain boundaries and fractures at the expense of the deformed parent grains. Further to the south, increasing grain growth of quartz under nearly static conditions is observed, with polygonal grain shapes typical of annealed microfabrics. Comparable stages of recrystallization could be found in several N–S traverses through the Aar massif so that “points of first occurrence” of newly formed quartz could be connected to define a quartz recrystallization isograd. This isograd extents over 90 km through the northern Aar massif, following a course parallel to the sanidine/microcline isograd but at a distance of 10–15 km further to the north. The evolution of the quartz microfabric is discussed with respect to recent estimates of the T-t path of the Aar massif.     

Sardignaite, a new mineral, the second known bismuth molybdate: description and crystal structure

The new mineral sardignaite, a bismuth molybdate with formula BiMo₂O₇(OH)·2H₂O, occurs in quartz veins within a granitic rock at Su Senargiu, near Sarroch, Sardegna, Italy. The name is after the locality. Sardignaite occurs a thin prismatic crystals up to 1 mm in length, with pale yellow color and a white streak. It is transparent with adamantine lustre, non fluorescent, and brittle with a conchoidal fracture. It is associated with bismuthinite, bismoclite, molybdenite, ferrimolybdite, koechlinite, wulfenite, and the new mineral IMA 2009–022. Mohs hardness is ca. 3. D _calc is 4.82 g/cm³. The mineral is monoclinic, space group P2₁/m, with a 5.7797(7), b 11.567(1), c 6.3344(8) Å, β 113.360(9)°, V 388.8(1) ų. The strongest lines in the powder X-ray diffraction pattern are d(I)(hkl): 3.206(100)(031), 5.03(80)(?101), 1.992(45)(221), 3.120(32)(130). The crystal structure of sardignaite was solved to R(F) 0.056 using single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, and is characterized by edge-sharing dimers of [MoO₅(H₂O)] octahedra, linked to each other through corner-sharing to give rise to corrugated columns running along b. Such columns are held together by Bi³⁺ cations, eight-fold coordinated by 7 O + 1 (OH). Both the mineral and its name were approved by the IMA-CNMNC.     

The passivation of calcite by acid mine water. Column experiments with ferric sulfate and ferric chloride solutions at pH 2

Column experiments, simulating the behavior of passive treatment systems for acid mine drainage, have been performed. Acid solutions (HCl or H₂SO₄, pH 2), with initial concentrations of Fe(III) ranging from 250 to 1500 mg L⁻¹, were injected into column reactors packed with calcite grains at a constant flow rate. The composition of the solutions was monitored during the experiments. At the end of the experiments (passivation of the columns), the composition and structure of the solids were measured. The dissolution of calcite in the columns caused an increase in pH and the release of Ca into the solution, leading to the precipitation of gypsum and Fe–oxyhydroxysulfates (Fe(III)–SO₄–H⁺ solutions) or Fe–oxyhydroxychlorides (Fe(III)–Cl–H⁺ solutions). The columns worked as an efficient barrier for some time, increasing the pH of the circulating solutions from 2 to 6–7 and removing its metal content. However, after some time (several weeks, depending on the conditions), the columns became chemically inert. The results showed that passivation time increased with decreasing anion and metal content of the solutions. Gypsum was the phase responsible for the passivation of calcite in the experiments with Fe(III)–SO₄–H⁺ solutions. Schwertmannite and goethite appeared as the Fe(III) secondary phases in those experiments. Akaganeite was the phase responsible for the passivation of the system in the experiments with Fe(III)–Cl–H⁺ solutions.     

The Glarus thrust: excursion guide and report of a field trip of the Swiss Tectonic Studies Group (Swiss Geological Society, 14.–16. 09. 2006)

This excursion guide results form a field trip to the Glarus nappe complex organized by the Swiss Tectonic Studies Group in 2006. The aim of the excursion was to discuss old and recent concepts related to the evolution of the Glarus thrust. The major aspects were (i) the interplay between deformation, fluid flow and geochemical alteration, (ii) episodic versus continuous deformation and fluid flow, and (iii) the link between large-scale structures, microstructures, and geochemical aspects. Despite 150 years of research in the Glarus nappe complex and the new results discussed during the excursion, there exist controversies that still are unsolved.     

Metasomatic events recorded in ultramafic xenoliths from the Hyblean area (Southeastern Sicily, Italy)

Three types of ultramafic xenoliths from the Hyblean area (Sicily) show prime evidence for mantle metasomatism, namely: 1) Spinel-facies depleted harzburgite veined by phlogopite-bearing clinopyroxenite; 2) Amphibole-bearing harzburgite; and 3) Al-spinel websterite. (2) and (3) exhibit glassy pockets having respectively mugearitic and basanitic compositions, but a little amount of glass with low Ca and very low alkalis in (2). Glasses generally show trace element distributions consistent with the partial melting of pargasite-dominated mineral assemblages. Abundant Ca-Mg-carbonate globules immersed in these glassy pockets testify to immiscibility between silicate and carbonatite melts. Silicate melts and hydrous-silicate supercritical fluids, which underwent phase separation during fluxing throughout the semi-brittle lithospheric mantle, may account for such metasomatizing processes. The nature and abundance of some fluid-mobile elements in glasses and hydrous minerals (especially the Ca-poor glass, with B?=?59 ppm, Li?=?27 ppm, Ba?=?700 ppm and phlogopite, with Ba?=?8,465 ppm, Sr?=?260 ppm, F?=?5,700 ppm) suggest that some hydrous fluids may derive from hydrothermally altered oceanic crust. Conversely, metasomatizing silicate melts probably have a deep-seated origin. These results confirm previous suggestions on the key role of mantle metasomatism in the origin of some alkaline Hyblean magmas.     

Erosion-driven uplift of the modern Central Alps

We present a compilation of data of modern tectono-geomorphic processes in the Central European Alps which suggest that observed rock uplift is a response to climate-driven denudation. This interpretation is predominantly based on the recent quantification of basin-averaged Late Holocene denudation rates that are so similar to the pattern and rates of rock uplift rates as determined by geodetic leveling. Furthermore, a GPS data-based synthesis of Adriatic microplate kinematics suggests that the Central Alps are currently not in a state of active convergence. Finally, we illustrate that the Central Alps have acted as a closed system for Holocene redistribution of sediment in which the peri-Alpine lakes have operated as a sink for the erosional products of the inner Central Alps.While various hypotheses have been put forward to explain Central Alpine rock uplift (e.g. lithospheric forcing by convergence, mantle processes, or ice melting) we show with an elastic model of lithospheric deformation, that the correlation between erosion and rock uplift rates reflects a positive feedback between denudation and the associated isostatic response to unloading. Thus, erosion does not passively respond to advection of crustal material as might be the case in actively converging orogens. Rather, we suggest that the geomorphic response of the Alpine topography to glacial and fluvial erosion and the resulting disequilibrium for modern channelized and associated hillslope processes explains much of the pattern of modern denudation and hence rock uplift. Therefore, in a non-convergent orogen such as the Central European Alps, the observed vertical rock uplift is primarily a consequence of passive unloading due to erosion.     

An exotic Cretaceous kimberlite linked to metasomatized lithospheric mantle beneath the southwestern margin of the Francisco Craton,Brazil

We present major and trace element compositions of mineral concentrates comprising garnet xenocrysts,ilmenite,phlogopite,spinel,zircon,and uncommon minerals (ti...