Some observations on the geochemistry of gold mineralization in the weathered zone at Norseman, Western Australia

At Norseman Au mineralization is hosted by parallel easterly dipping quartz reefs in a westerly dipping sequence of Archaean basaltic flows and As is strongly correlated with this mineralization. Near-surface exploration is hampered by an extensive cover of deeply weathered soils and a veneer of silty calcareous material, probably of aeolian origin, which, because of its low Fe content of < 5%, has a very low (< 10 ppm) and often indiscernible As signature over mineralization. At a test traverse over the southern end of the Mararoa quartz reef, drill sampling to 10 m depth in highly weathered in situ material beneath the calcareous veneer produced As anomalies which are strongly correlated with the extrapolation to surface of a shear zone hosting Au mineralization which is probably blind. The As anomalies can be extended into the surface horizon by manipulating the data to compensate for the low Fe content of the calcareous layer.The Au values in the drill samples were very low and poorly correlated with the extrapolation to surface of the Mararoa shear. However, the absence of a Au halo (at a 10 ppb detection limit) may be due to the shear being barren near surface, or may be due to the samples being taken from the strongly leached zones of a laterite profile. In the area of the test traverse at the southern Mararoa area, the upper horizons of the original laterite profile have been eroded away and the remaining horizons covered by a veneer of calcareous material. There is a better correlation of the Au values of the shallow drill samples with the projection to surface of a porphyry, which hosts minor low-grade Au mineralization.The results for Au dispersion around the Mararoa shear contrast with dispersion at the nearby Hinemoa Mine where gold mineralization crops out. Channel sampling in costeans showed that an Au anomaly (threshold 40 ppb) extends 50 to 150 m into oxidized wall rocks. This well defined halo may be due to the secondary dispersion of Au from the quartz reef into the ferruginous zone of the laterite profile.Gold in the leaves and twigs of Melaleuca pauperiflora F. Muell. from the traverse at the southern end of the Mararoa shear was determined by neutron activation analysis and found to be broadly correlated with the projected Au mineralization. However, the lack of correlation with the soil Au values to 10 m may be due to the plants taking up most of their water from below the depth of sampling.     

First Data on Au–Sb Mineralization of the Ariadnoe Ultramafic Intrusion,Primor’e

Doklady Earth Sciences - A new promising source of mineral deposits is found in the southern part of the Far East of Russia: the Ti-bearing intrusions of ultramafic rocks of the Sikhote-Alin...     

Analysis of threshold and incipient conditions for sediment movement

Prediction of threshold conditions and incipient motion is the essential issue for the study of sediment transport. This work compares existing empirical threshold curves proposed for Shields diagram, a method based on the concept of probability of sediment movement, and an empirical method based on movability number. These methods are used to predict the incipient motion conditions for experimental runs taken from various studies. Most of the experimental data, used in this work, have not been used before in derivation of alternative formulations for Shields diagram and other methods. The empirical threshold curves based on the Shields entrainment function was the least successful at predicting the measured incipient motion conditions, while the use of the movability number gives good predictions of critical shear velocity compared with experimental data.     

Evaluating the Long-term Urban Expansion of Ranchi Urban Agglomeration,India Using Geospatial Technology

The present study analyzes the built-up expansion of Ranchi urban agglomeration over a period of about 8 decades from 1927–2005. Satellite images and topographical maps were used to evaluate land use dynamics during these periods. Built-up growth of 473.7% during 1927–2005 was primarily at the expense of agricultural land along with reduction of natural water bodies reflects negative impacts of built-up expansion, which increased many folds in recent decades. The built-up growth is also analyzed with reference to population growth, land consumption rate and land transformation. The land loss due to increasing built-up growth of Ranchi were compared with other capital regions and cities along with population increase to provide insight into the possible scenario of built-up expansion in Ranchi urban area.     

A methodology for assessing the reliability of taut and slack mooring systems against instability

In the present study, a methodology for reliability assessment of slack and taut mooring systems against instability has been presented. For this purpose, first, stability analysis of slack and taut mooring systems has been carried out and instable regions are obtained using procedure available in the literature. Having known the instable region(s), methodology for reliability assessment has been proposed which is based on Monte Carlo Simulation technique. After using the proposed methodology, probabilities of failure and reliability indices has been obtained for the above systems. Some parametric studies, such as, effect of lower and upper limits of instability and effect of frequency range of generations are also included to obtain the results of practical interest.     

Buoyancy waves in Pluto’s high atmosphere: Implications for stellar occultations

We apply scintillation theory to stellar signal fluctuations in the high-resolution, high signal/noise, dual-wavelength data from the MMT observation of the 2007 March 18 occultation of P445.3 by Pluto. A well-defined high wavenumber cutoff in the fluctuations is consistent with viscous-thermal dissipation of buoyancy waves (internal gravity waves) in Pluto’s high atmosphere, and provides strong evidence that the underlying density fluctuations are governed by the gravity-wave dispersion relation.     

Pulsations of optical radiation during the flare of YZ CMi occurred on February 9, 2008

One of the most powerful and long-lived flares on the active red dwarf YZ CMi is considered. The flare was observed in the U band at the Terskol Peak Observatory on February 9, 2008. During the formation of the flare over the course of 30 seconds, the flare-induced stellar luminosity increased and became more than 180 times the preflare value. The total duration of the flare was approximately one hour. At the flare maximum, quasi-periodic pulsations having a specified period of approximately 11 s, an initial modulation depth of 5.5%, and an exponential damping time of 29 s were discovered using wavelet analysis. Assuming that the pulsations were caused by fast magnetohydrodynamic oscillations of a flare loop, the following parameters were determined in the region of energy release using coronal seismology methods: plasma concentration (2 × 10¹⁰ cm⁻³), temperature (3 × 10⁷ K), and magnetic field strength (0.015 T).     

Deformation at Stromboli volcano (Italy) revealed by rock mechanics and structural geology

We approach the reconstruction of the recent structural evolution of Stromboli volcano (Italy) and the analysis of the interplay between tectonics, gravity and volcanic deformation. By tying together structural, lithostratigraphic and rock mechanics data, we establish that since 100 ka BP, the edifice has faulted and jointed mainly along NE-striking planes. Faults mostly dip to the NW with normal displacement. Taking also into account the presence of a NW-trending regional least principal stress and of tectonic earthquake hypocenters inside the cone, we suggest that this fracturing can be related to the transmission of tectonic forces from the basement to the cone. Dyking concentrated along a main NE-trending weakness zone (NEZ) across the volcano summit, resembling a volcanic rift, whose geometry is governed by the tectonic field. In the past 13 ka, Stromboli experienced a reorganisation of the strain field, which was linked with the development of four sector collapses affecting the NW flank, alternating with growth phases. The tectonic strain field interplayed with dyking and fracturing related to unbuttressing along the collapse shoulders. We propose that tectonics control the geometry of dykes inside the cone and that these, in turn, contribute to destabilise the cone flanks.     

Fluid and source magma evolution of the Questa porphyry Mo deposit,New Mexico,USA

Combined fluid inclusion microthermometry and microanalysis by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) are used to constrain the hydrothermal processes forming a typical Climax-type porphyry Mo deposit. Molybdenum mineralisation at Questa occurred in two superimposed hydrothermal stages, a magmatic-hydrothermal breccia and later stockwork veining. In both stages, texturally earliest fluids were single-phase, of low salinity (~7 wt.% NaCl_equiv.) and intermediate-density. Upon decompression to ~300 bar, they boiled off a vapour phase, leaving behind a residual brine (up to 45 wt.% NaCl_equiv) at temperatures of ~420°C. The highest average Mo concentrations in this hot brine were ~500 μg/g, exceeding the Mo content of the intermediate-density input fluid by about an order of magnitude and reflecting pre-concentration of Mo by fluid phase separation prior to MoS₂ deposition from the brine. Molybdenum concentrations in brine inclusions, then, decrease down to 5 μg/g, recording Mo precipitation in response to cooling of the saline liquid to ~360°C. Molybdenite precipitation from a dense, residual and probably sulphide-depleted brine is proposed to explain the tabular shape of the ore body and the absence of Cu-Fe sulphides in contrast to the more common Cu-Mo deposits related to porphyry stocks. Cesium and Rb concentrations in the single-phase fluids of the breccia range from 2 to 8 and from 40 to 65 μg/g, respectively. In the stockwork veins, Cs and Rb concentrations are significantly higher (45–90 and 110–230 μg/g, respectively). Because Cs and Rb are incompatible and hydrothermally non-reactive elements, the systematic increase in their concentration requires two distinct pulses of fluid exsolution from a progressively more fractionated magma. By contrast, major element and ore metal concentrations of these two fluid pulses remain essentially constant. Mass balance calculations using fluid chemical data from LA-ICPMS suggest that at least 25 km³ of melt and 7 Gt of deep input fluid were necessary to provide the amount of Mo contained in the stockwork vein stage alone. While the absolute amounts of fluid and melt are uncertain, the well-constrained element ratios in the fluids together with empirical fluid/melt partition coefficients derived from the inclusion analyses suggest a high water content of the source melt of ~10%. In line with other circumstantial evidence, these results suggest that initial fluid exsolution may have occurred at a confining pressure exceeding 5 kbar. The source of the molybdenum-mineralising fluids probably was a particularly large magma chamber that crystallised and fractionated in the lower crust or at mid-crustal level, well below the shallow intrusions immediately underlying Questa and other porphyry molybdenum deposits. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

The palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrological evolution of Padul Peat Bog (Granada, Spain) over one million years, from elemental, isotopic and molecular organic geochemical proxies

The elemental (concentration of organic carbon, atomic H/C and C/N ratios), isotopic (δ¹³C values of organic matter) and molecular (predominant n-alkane chain length and carbon preference index (CPI)) organic components were measured for 600 samples taken from a 107-m long core from the Padul Basin (Andalusia, Spain). The record runs from the Lower Pleistocene (ca. 1 Ma B.P.) to the mid-Holocene (ca. 4.5 ka B.P.) with, in general, little diagenesis (removal of components). Two markedly different hydrogeological scenarios were interpreted: (1) From ca. 1 Ma to ca. 400 ka B.P. run-off recharge was significant and water depths were greater (lacustrine scenario). From ca. 400 to 4.5 ka B.P., the Padul Basin became a peat bog s.s. with the major water input coming from groundwater inflow. From ca. 400 to ca. 180 ka B.P. alternating episodes with either predominant grasses, trees or aquatic macrophytes which were linked to wet/dry phases, took place. An important deglaciation episode has been interpreted to occur between ca. 180 and 170 ka B.P. The global climatic changes occurring from ca. 170 to 25 ka B.P. were not recorded in the proxies, though they do show important variations linked to the Last Glacial Maximum and the beginning of the Holocene (ca. 25–10 ka B.P.): (2) Cold phases coexisting with dry periods produced the recession of forests and the development of grasses. After these periods, as both temperature and precipitation increased, forests expanded and the water level, linked to thaw, rose, especially at ca. 20 ka B.P. Few changes occurred during the Holocene, although there were short alternations between wet and dry episodes. Overall, the techniques applied proved to be excellent palaeoenvironmental proxies for studying the basin’s palaeoclimatological and palaeohydrological evolution.