Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Compositions of Calcite and Rhodochrosite from Geothermal Exploratory Drills TH‐4 and TH‐6 near the Toyoha Deposit,Hokkaido, Japan

We studied calcite and rhodochrosite from exploratory drill cores (TH‐4 and TH‐6) near the Toyoha deposit, southwestern Hokkaido, Japan, from the aspect of stable isotope geochemistry, together with measuring the homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions. The alteration observed in the drill cores is classified into four zones: ore mineralized zone, mixed‐layer minerals zone, kaolin minerals zone, and propylitic zone. Calcite is widespread in all the zones except for the kaolin minerals zone. The occurrence of rhodochrosite is restricted in the ore mineralized zone associated with Fe, Mn‐rich chlorite and sulfides, the mineral assemblage of which is basically equivalent to that in the Toyoha veins. The measured δ¹⁸O_SMOW and δ¹³C_PDB values of calcite scatter in the relatively narrow ranges from ?2 to 5‰ and from ?9 to ?5‰, respectively; those of rhodochrosite from 3 to 9‰ and from ?9 to ?5‰, excluding some data with large deviations. The variation of the isotopic compositions with temperature and depth could be explained by a mixing process between a heated surface meteoric water (100°C δ¹⁸O =?12‰, δ¹³C =?10‰) and a deep high temperature water (300°C, δ¹⁸O =?5‰, δ¹³C =?4‰). Boiling was less effective in isotopic fractionation than that of mixing. The plots of δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C indicate that the carbonates precipitated from H₂CO₃‐dominated fluids under the conditions of pH = 6–7 and T = 200–300°C. The sequential precipitation from calcite to rhodochrosite in a vein brought about the disequilibrium isotopic fractionation between the two minerals. The hydrothermal fluids circulated during the precipitation of carbonates in TH‐4 and TH‐6 are similar in origin to the ore‐forming fluids pertaining to the formation of veins in the Toyoha deposit.     

Numerical classification by association analysis of multivariate mineralogic, petrographic, presence-absence data from some Sub-Himalayan carbonates; Northwest India

Fourteen mineralogical and petrographic variables for 82 samples of Sirban Limestone of Riasi, Jammu, and Kashmir State, and 18 mineralogical and petrographic variables for 36 samples of Bilaspur Limestone, Himachal Pradesh, India, were numerically classified based on presence-absence data using association analysis. The samples were collected along vertical profiles. The variables for the Sirban Limestone of Riasi were classified into three groups: (a) dolomite (b) micrites, and (c) terrigenous material represented by clay minerals. These three groups correspond to (a) near-shore sabkha dolomites, (b) deep water micrites, and (c) terrigenous contribution of clay minerals (except corrensite) to the carbonate depositional basin. Bilaspur Limestone samples were classified also into the same three groups. The results of the present study corroborate the earlier conclusions of the writer that the Sub-Himalayan carbonates of Northwest India generally represent rocks of shallow carbonate depositional basins, showing transition from near shore sabkha dolomites to basinal limestones and shales.     

Nearshore cool-water carbonate sedimentation and provenance of Holocene calcareous strandline dunes,southeastern Australia

The southeastern coastal plain of South Australia contains a spectacular and world-renowned suite of Quaternary calcareous eolianites. This study is focused on the provenance of components in the Holocene, actively forming sector, of these carbonate eolian deposits. Research was carried out along seven transects across a lateral distance of 120 km from ～30 m water depth offshore across the beach and into the dunes. Offshore sediments were acquired via grab sampling and SCUBA. Results indicate that dunes of the southern Lacepede and Bonney coasts are composed of siliciclastic particles (mainly quartz), relict allochems, Cenozoic and limestone pieces, but dominated by Holocene invertebrate and calcareous algal biofragments. The most numerous grains are from molluscs > benthic foraminifera ≥ coralline algae, > echinoids and > bryozoans. Most of these particles originate in carbonate factories such as macroalgal forests, rocky reefs, seagrass meadows and low-relief sea-floor rockgrounds. Incorporation of Holocene carbonate skeletons into coastal dunes, however, depends on a combination of: (1) the addition of infauna from intertidal and nearshore environments; (2) the physical characteristics of different allochems and their ability to withstand bioerosion, fragmentation and abrasion; (3) the character of the wave and swell climate; and (4) the nature of eolian transport. Most eolian dune sediment is derived from nearshore and intertidal carbonate factories. This is well illustrated by the abundance of robust infaunal bivalves that inhabit the nearshore sands and virtual absence of bryozoans that are common as sediment particles in offshore water depths >15 m. Importantly, the calcareous eolianites in this cool-water, open-platform carbonate setting are not simply an allochthonous reflection of the offshore marine shelf factories, but more a product of autothonous shallow nearshore–intertidal skeletal production and modification. These findings explain the preponderance of mollusc fragments and lack of bryozoans in similar older Pleistocene calcareous eolianites up to ca 1 million years old across ～2000 km of southern Australia with implications for the older rock record.     

显生宙全球海水化学成分演化及其对蒸发岩沉积的约束

通过搜集显生宙以来不同地质时期内海相碳酸盐岩鲕粒及胶结物矿物成分、钾盐矿床矿物种类及组合特征、蒸发岩盆地中石盐流体包裹体成分,并利用这些资料与人工海水模拟实验得到的石盐中Br分配特征的对比,得出海水成分在5.5亿年以来的显生宙期间,经历了五个阶段:其中晚元古代至寒武纪早期、二叠纪早期至中生代早期、新生代早期至现今,这些时期的原始海水组成特征系数m(SO_4~(2-))+m(HCO_3~-)/2m(Ca~(2+)),为Na-Mg-K-SO_4-Cl型海水,此期间沉积的钾盐矿床的钾镁盐矿物主要为钾盐镁矾、无水钾镁矾、杂卤石、硫酸镁石等含MgSO_4矿物,海相鲕粒和碳酸盐胶结物矿物成分为文石;而寒武纪早期至石炭纪、中生代早期至新生代早期,原始海水组成特征系数m(Ca~(2+))m(SO_4~(2-))+m(HCO_3~-)/2,为Na-Mg-KCa-Cl型海水,此期间沉积的钾镁盐矿物主要为光卤石和钾石盐,甚至含有溢晶石,海相鲕粒和碳酸盐胶结物矿物成分为方解石。根据石盐流体包裹体成分计算得出:显生宙期间,海水K+含量大部分时间变化幅度较小,为9.3～11.5mmol/kg H_2O(除了石炭纪和晚元古代),平均为10.55mmol/kg H_2O。Mg~(2+)含量在早寒武世≥67mmol/kg H_2O、晚志留世至中泥盆世31～41mmol/kg H_2O、晚古生代≥48mmol/kg H22O、晚白垩世34mmol/kg H_2O和现代55.1mmol/kg H_2O。Ca~+含量在晚元古代至古生代早期≤11mmol/kg H_2O、古生代早期至石炭纪22～35mmol/kg H_2O、石炭纪至中生代早期≤17mmol/kg H_2O、中生代早期至新生代早期19～39mmol/kg H_2O及新生代早期至今7～21mmol/kg H_2O。SO_4~(2-)含量在晚元古代至古生代早期≥23mmol/kg H_2O、古生代早期至石炭纪5～17mmol/kg H_2O、石炭纪至中生代早期13～22mmol/kg H_2O、中生代早期至新生代早期5～19mmol/kg H_2O及新生代早期至今12～29.2mmol/kg H_2O。海水Ca~(2+)与SO_4~(2-)含量的相对变化是控制海相钾盐矿床钾镁盐矿物类型的基本因素。同时,利用以上数据计算得到的显生宙各时期海水[m(Mg~(2+))+m(SO_4~(2-))]/[m(K~+)+m(Ca~(2+))]的变化与各时期海相蒸发岩系石盐层底部的Br含量变化具有同步性,进一步验证了显生宙期间海水成分是不断变化的,是约束海相蒸发岩钾盐矿物类型的主要因素。海水成分变化的控制因素为洋中脊热液和陆地水,其中洋中脊热液起主要作用,而控制这些因素变化的根本原因为板块构造运动。     

Late Pleistostene-Holocene sedimentation in lakes of central Transbaikalia: Implications for climate and environment changes

We present integrated mineralogical, geochemical, and palynological data for Late Pleistocene-Holocene bottom sediments of Lake Arakhlei located in the Beklemishev tectonic basin in the southern Vitim Plateau (central Transbaikalia). The sediment samples were studied by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, laser particle sizing, spore-pollen analysis, radiocarbon (¹⁴C AMS) dating, and XRF spectrometry. The cored 128 cm long section of lake sediments consists of two units: One is composed mainly of layered silicates (illite-smectite, illite, chlorite, chlorite-smectite, muscovite, and kaolinite) and organic matter (OM) but no carbonates from 0 to 80 cm and the other contains authigenic Ca-Mg carbonates (up to 30%) of Mg-calcite and excess-Ca dolomite from 80 to 128 cm. The sediments also contain a rare mineral weddellite CaC₂O₄2H₂O discovered for the first time in Transbaikalian lakes. The evolution of Lake Arakhlei and its drainage basin comprised four stages, with pollen zones that mark the Late Pleistocene and Holocene climate history of the Beklemishev basin. The reconstructed history of Lake Arakhlei for the past ~ 15,500 years followed general climatic changes in the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, integrated research, including detailed analysis of mineral components and spore-pollen assemblages in lake sediments, is a workable tool for studying climatic controls of continental sedimentation.     

Climatic and tectonic controls on carbonate deposition in syn‐rift siliciclastic fluvial systems: A case of microbialites and associated facies in the Late Jurassic

This work provides new insights to assess the factors controlling carbonate deposition in the siliciclastic fluvial systems of rift basins. Sedimentological and stable‐isotope data of microbialites and associated carbonate facies, along with regional geological information, are shown to reveal the influence of climate and tectonics on the occurrence and attributes of carbonate deposits in these settings. The Vega Formation – a 150 m thick Lower Kimmeridgian siliciclastic fluvial sequence in Asturias Province (northern Spain) – constitutes a candidate for this approach. This unit includes varied facies (stromatolites; rudstones, packstones and wackestones containing oncoids, intraclasts, charophytes and shell bioclasts; marlstones and polygenic calcareous conglomerates) that formed in a low‐gradient fluvial–lacustrine system consisting of shallow, low‐sinuosity oncoid‐bearing channels and pools within marshy areas, with sporadic coarse alluvial deposition. The sedimentological attributes indicate common erosion by channel overflow and rapid lateral changes of subenvironments caused by water‐discharge variations. The carbonate fluvial–lacustrine system developed near uplifted marine Jurassic rocks. The occurrence of the system was conditioned by normal faults (active during the deposition of the unit) that favoured: (i) springs of HCO₃–Ca‐rich water from a Rhaetian–Sinemurian carbonate rock aquifer; and (ii) carbonate deposition in areas partially isolated from the adjacent siliciclastic fluvial system. The microbialite δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values support deposition in a hydrologically open system, fed by ambient‐temperature meteoric water, with riparian vegetation. Three types of lamination in the stromatolites and oncoids reflect distinct morphological types of cyanobacterial communities. The textural pattern of lamination parallels δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O changes, suggesting short‐term cycles of precipitation and temperature. A moderately to strongly contrasted seasonal and/or pluriannual precipitation regime is inferred from the cyclic δ¹³C pattern of the lamination and from the discontinuous and asymmetrical growth of oncoids. Thus, the isotopic and sedimentological attributes of the carbonate deposits were linked to short‐term climate changes associated with semi‐arid conditions, consistent with the studied climatic zone.     

Fault deformation mechanisms and fault rocks in micritic limestones: Examples from Corinth rift normal faults

A multidisciplinary study investigates the influence of different parameters on fault rock architecture development along normal faults affecting non-porous carbonates of the Corinth rift southern margin. Here, some fault systems cut the same carbonate unit (Pindus), and the gradual and fast uplift since the initiation of the rift led to the exhumation of deep parts of the older faults. This exceptional context allows superficial active fault zones and old exhumed fault zones to be compared.Our approach includes field studies, micro-structural (optical microscope and cathodoluminescence), geochemical analyses (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, trace elements) and fluid inclusions microthermometry of calcite sin-kinematic cements.Our main results, in a depth-window ranging from 0 m to about 2500 m, are: i) all cements precipitated from meteoric fluids in a close or open circulation system depending on depth; ii) depth (in terms of P/T condition) determines the development of some structures and their sealing; iii) lithology (marly levels) influences the type of structures and its cohesive/non-cohesive nature; iv) early distributed rather than final total displacement along the main fault plane is the responsible for the fault zone architecture; v) petrophysical properties of each fault zone depend on the variable combination of these factors.     

Molecular and stable carbon isotopic compositions of hopanoids in seep carbonates from the South China Sea continental slope

The lipid biomarkers of hopanoids in cold seep carbonates from the South China Sea continental slope were investigated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometer (GC–MS) and gas chromatography-isotope ratio-mass spectrometer (GC-ir-MS). The distribution of hopanes/hopenes shows a preference for the ‘biological’ 17β(H), 21β(H)-over the ‘geological’ 17α(H), 21β(H)-configuration. This interpretation is in agreement with the strong odd–even preference of long-chain n-alkanes in those samples, suggesting that the ββ hopanes may be the early diagenetic products of biohopanoids and the αβ, βα configurations of hopanes were mainly derived from allochthonous sources contributing to the organic matter of the carbonates. In terms of hopanoid acids, the C₃₀ to C₃₃ 17β(H), 21β(H)-hopanoid acids were detected with C₃₂ 17β(H), 21β(H)-hopanoid acid being the most abundant. However, there is a significant difference in stable carbon isotopic compostions of the C₃₂ 17β(H), 21β(H)-hopanoic acid among samples (−30.7‰ to −69.8‰). The δ¹³C values match well with the carbon isotopic compositions of SRB-derived iso-/anteiso-C_15:0 fatty acids in the samples, which strongly depend on the carbon utilization types by microbe. The most abundant compound of hopanols detected in the samples, C₃₀-17β(H), 21β(H)-hopanol, may be a good indicator of diagenetic product of type I methanotrophs. The molecular and carbon isotopic compositions of hopanoids demonstrate clearly that there is a combination contribution of both SRB and type I or type X methanotrophs to the source organism in the seep carbonates from the South China Sea continental slope.