Fluid inclusions in mantle xenoliths

Fluid inclusions in olivine and pyroxene in mantle-derived ultramafic xenoliths in volcanic rocks contain abundant CO₂-rich fluid inclusions, as well as inclusions of silicate glass, solidified metal sulphide melt and carbonates. Such inclusions represent accidentally trapped samples of fluid- and melt phases present in the upper mantle, and are as such of unique importance for the understanding of mineral–fluid–melt interaction processes in the mantle. Minor volatile species in CO₂-rich fluid inclusions include N₂, CO, SO₂, H₂O and noble gases. In some xenoliths sampled from hydrated mantle-wedges above active subduction zones, water may actually be a dominant fluid species. The distribution of minor volatile species in inclusion fluids can provide information on the oxidation state of the upper mantle, on mantle degassing processes and on recycling of subducted material to the mantle. Melt inclusions in ultramafic xenoliths give information on silicate–sulphide–carbonatite immiscibility relationships within the upper mantle. Recent melt-inclusion studies have indicated that highly silicic melts can coexist with mantle peridotite mineral assemblages. Although trapping-pressures up to 1.4 GPa can be derived from fluid inclusion data, few CO₂-rich fluid inclusions preserve a density representing their initial trapping in the upper mantle, because of leakage or stretching during transport to the surface. However, the distribution of fluid density in populations of modified inclusions may preserve information on volcanic plumbing systems not easily available from their host minerals. As fluid and melt inclusions are integral parts of the phase assemblages of their host xenoliths, and thus of the upper mantle itself, the authors of this review strongly recommend that their study is included in any research project relating to mantle xenoliths.     

Fluid flow in cataclastic thrust fault zones in sandstones, Sub-Andean Zone, southern Bolivia

The Bolivian Sub-Andean Zone (SAZ) corresponds to a Neogene thrust system that affects an about 10-km thick Palaeozoic to Neogene siliciclastic succession. The analysis of macro and microstructures and cement distribution in thrust fault zones shows that they are sealed by quartz at depths >3 km, due to local silica transfer by pressure-solution/precipitation activated at temperatures >70–90 °C. At shallower depths, faults have remained open and could be preferential drains for lateral flow of carbonate-bearing fluids, as shown by the occurrence of carbonate cements in fractures and their host-sandstone. Due to decreasing burial, resulting from foothill erosion during fault activity, critically buried fault segments can be affected by non-quartz-sealed structures that post-date initial quartz-sealed structures. The integration of textural, fluid inclusion and isotopic data shows that carbonates precipitated at shallow depth (<3 km), low temperature (<80 °C) and relatively late during the thrusting history. Isotopic data also show that precipitation occurred from the mixing of gravity-driven meteoric water with deeper formation water bearing carbonate carbon derived from the maturation of hydrocarbon source rocks (Silurian and Devonian shales). The combined microstructural and isotopic analyses indicate that: (i) fluid flow in fault zones often occurred with successive pulses derived from different or evolving sources and probably related to episodic fault activity, and (ii) at a large-scale, the faults have a low transverse permeability and they separate thrust sheets with different fluid histories.     

古生代海洋碳同位素演化

本文给出对中国古生代海相碳酸盐岩地层的系统的碳同位素研究结果。对密集地采自寒武纪、奥陶纪、泥盆纪、石炭纪和二叠纪5个海相碳酸盐岩地层剖面的681个样品作了碳同位素研究。所得到的古生代海相碳酸盐岩地层δ¹³C值长趋势演化的模式表明,从寒武纪(δ¹³C平均为-0.3‰)到石炭纪(3‰)和二叠纪(3.4‰)逐渐富集¹³C.此变化模式与古生代有机碳的埋藏数量有关,或许与大洋中脊体系的体积变化有关。     

Soil CO2 degassing on Mt Etna (Sicily) during the period 1989–1993: discrimination between climatic and volcanic influences

Wide variations were measured in the diffuse CO₂ flux through the soils in three selected areas of Mt Etna between August 1989 and March 1993. Degassing of CO₂ from the area of Zafferana Etnea-S. Venerina, on the eastern slope of the volcano, has been determined to be more strongly influenced by meteorological parameters than the other areas. The seasonal component found in the data from this area has been excluded using a filtering algorithm based on the best fitting equation calculated from the correlation between CO₂ flux values and those of air temperature. The filtered data appear to have variations temporally coincident with those from the other areas, thus suggesting a common and probably deep source of gas. The highest fluxes measured in the two most peripheral areas may correlate well with other geophysical and volcanological anomalous signals that preceded the strong eruption of 1991–1993 and that were interpreted as deep pressure increases. Anomalous decreases in CO₂ fluxes accompanied the onset and the evolution of that eruption and have been interpreted as a sign of upward migration of the gas source. The variations of CO₂ flux at the 1989 SE fracture have also given interesting information on the timing of the magmatic intrusion that has then fed the 1991–1993 eruption.     

Fluid infiltration and regional metamorphism of the Waits River Formation, north-east Vermont, USA

Abstract The Siluro-Devonian Waits River Formation of north-east Vermont was deformed, intruded by plutons and regionally metamorphosed during the Devonian Acadian Orogeny. Five metamorphic zones were mapped based on the mineralogy of carbonate rocks. From low to high grade, these are: (1) ankerite-albite, (2) ankerite-oligoclase, (3) biotite, (4) amphibole and (5) diopside zones. Pressure was near 4.5kbar and temperature varied from c. 450° C in the ankerite-albite zone to c. 525° C in the diopside zone. Fluid composition for all metamorphic zones was estimated from mineral equilibria. Average calculated χ_co2[= CO₂/(CO₂+ H₂O)] of fluid in equilibrium with the marls increases with increasing grade from 0.05 in the ankerite-oligoclase zone, to 0.25 in the biotite zone and to 0.44 in the amphibole zone. In the diopside zone, χ_CO2 decreases to 0.06. Model prograde metamorphic reactions were derived from measured modes, mineral chemistry, and whole-rock chemistry. Prograde reactions involved decarbonation with an evolved volatile mixture of χ_CO2 > 0.50. The χ_CO2 of fluid in equilibrium with rocks from all zones, however, was generally <0.40. This difference attests to the infiltration of a reactive H₂O-rich fluid during metamorphism. Metamorphosed carbonate rocks from the formation suggests that both heat flow and pervasive infiltration of a reactive H₂O-rich fluid drove mineral reactions during metamorphism. Average time-integrated volume fluxes (cm³ fluid/cm² rock), calculated from the standard equation for coupled fluid flow and reaction in porous media, are (1) ankerite-oligoclase zone: c. 1 × 10⁴; (2) biotite zone: c. 3 × 10⁴; (3) amphibole zone: c. 10 × 10⁴; and diopside zone: c. 60 × 10⁴. The increase in calculated flux with increasing grade is at least in part the result of internal production of volatiles from prograde reactions in pelitic schists and metacarbonate rocks within the Waits River Formation. The mapped pattern of time-integrated fluxes indicates that the Strafford-Willoughby Arch and the numerous igneous intrusions in the field area focused fluid flow during metamorphism. Many rock specimens in the diopside zone experienced extreme alkali depletion and also record low χ_CO2. Metamorphic fluids in equilibrium with diopside zone rocks may therefore represent a mixture of acid, H₂O-rich fluids given off by the crystallizing magmas, and CO₂-H₂O fluids produced by devolatilization reactions in the host marls. Higher fluxes and different fluid compositions recorded near the plutons suggest that pluton-driven hydrothermal cells were local highs in the larger regional metamorphic hydrothermal system.     

Chemical sensor resolution required for measuring surface fluxes by three common micrometeorological techniques

We define the chemical or compositional resolution required to measure the surface emission/deposition flux of trace constituents under different meteorological conditions by means of the eddy correlation, gradient, and conditional sampling techniques. These chemical resolutions are defined for the full range of different atmospheric conditions and are reported in terms of commonly measured micrometeorological parameters.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation     

北京地区碳酸盐糜棱岩和碳酸盐假熔岩碳氧同位素组成的初步研究

北京地区部分碳酸盐糜棱岩和碳酸盐假熔岩碳氧同位素组成的测试结果表明,碳酸盐岩在发生塑性变形时其δ13C、δ18O值均有不同程度的降低。同位素证据表明,碳酸盐糜棱岩的形成温度较低,并具有缓慢冷却的生成环境;碳酸盐假熔岩具有高温淬冷的同位素地球化学特征,它的形成可能与发震断层的迅速破裂过程有关。研究断层面附近产出的碳酸盐岩的稳定同位素组成对确认古地震事件是有意义的     

Combining biology,chemistry, and meteorology in modeling and measuring dry deposition

The range of chemical, biological, and meteorological processes contributing to the net exchange of trace chemical species between the atmosphere and the underlying surface is examined, in the context of a multiple-resistance exchange model. For those chemical species known to be always depositing, the resistance model provides a means to formulate appropriate deposition velocities in a convenient manner; however, extension to other situations is not straightforward. Field data indicate that the multiple-resistance approach is appropriate for application to assess the dry deposition of ozone and sulfur dioxide, but is not as appropriate for nitrogen dioxide. Data obtained over agricultural crops suggest that canopy factors frequently dominate the overall exchange process. A trial program of dry deposition measurement based on application of parameterized deposition velocities was initiated late in 1984, and has demonstrated shortcomings in under-standing concerning several factors, most importantly the roles of surface emissions and wetness, and the scaling-up of laboratory results to describe vegetative canopies.     

四川华蓥山三叠系含膏盐段的碳氧同位素特征及其意义

对四川华蓥山地区两条三叠系部面中五类碳酸盐岩的碳氧同位素组成研究表明:①白云岩属交代成因,白云岩化通过蒸发咸化和混合水两种作用进行;②脱白云石化作用和重结晶作用发生在表生期,与淡水的掺入有关。碳氧同位素的纵向演化特征表明:①δ~(18)O的变化反映了古环境的盐度变化,而δ~(13)C的变化则可能反映古环境的氧化还原程度和水深;②嘉四至雷一段总体仍属海相沉积,而不应是陆相环境;③有两个主要的成盐期,但不具备形成大型钾盐矿床的所有条件。     

Atmospheric CO2 variations at Barrow,Alaska, 1973–1982

The first 10 years (1973–1982) of atmospheric CO₂ measurements at Barrow, Alaska, by the NOAA/GMCC program are described. The paper updates and extends the Barrow CO₂ record presented in Tellus (1982). The data are given in final form, based on recent calibrations of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, with selected values identified as representative of large, spacescale conditions. Analyses of the data show: (1) a long-term CO₂ average increase of 1.3 ppm per year, but with large year-to-year variations in that growth rate; (2) a suggestion, not statistically significant, of a secular increase in the amplitude of the annual cycle, presumably a reflection of global-scale biospheric variability; and (3) good absolute agreement between the Barrow results and those from four neighboring high latitude sites between 50 and 82°N.