High-resolution sedimentary record of lead in the coastal mud of the East China Sea in the past one hundred and fifty years

In the East China Sea （ECS）, there are some mud areas, including the south coastal mud area, the north coastal mud area, and the mud area to the southwest of Cheju Island. X-ray fluorescence （XRF） techniques and Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry （TIMS） were used to study the high-resolution sedimentary record of Pb concentrations and Pb stable isotopic compositions in the past one hundred and fifty years in the coastal mud of the ECS. Pb concentrations of a ^210Pb dating S5 core in the study area have increased rapidly since 1980, and reached the maximal value with 65.08 μg/g in 2000, corresponding to the fast economic development of China since the implementation of the ＂Reform and Open Policy＂ in 1978; ^206Pb/^207Pb ratios generally had stabilized at 1.195 from 1860 to 1966, and decreased gradually from 1966 to 2000, indicating that the anthropogenic source Pb contribution to the ECS has increased gradually since 1966, especially since 1980. Pb concentrations decreased distinctly from 2000 to 2003 and ^206Pb/^207Pb ratios increased from 2001 to 2003, corresponding closely to the ban of lead gasoline from 2000 in China. From 1950 to 2003, there occurred four distinct decrease events of ^206Pb/^207Pb, possibly responding to the Changjiang River （Yangtze River） catastrophic floods in 1998, 1991, 1981 and 1954; from 1860 to 1966, there were two decrease periods of ^206Pb/^207Pb, which may respond to the catastrophic floods of Changjiang River in 1931 and 1935, and 1870. As a result of the erosion and drowning by the catastrophic floods, the anthropogenic lead accumulated in soil and water environments over a long period of time was brought into the Changjiang River, then part of them was finally transported into the ECS, which leads to changes in Pb stable isotopic composition.     

Distribution and mode of occurrences of radionuclides in phosphogypsum from the Aqaba and Eshidiya fertilizer plants, Jordan

Phosphogypsum is a waste by-product of the phosphate fertilizer industry that has relatively high concentrations of some U decay-series radionuclides such as ^226Ra and ^210Pb. The distribution and environmental mobility of radionuclides in phosphogypsum are an important concern because this gypsum by-product is used for wallboard, in agriculture and as a soil amendment. This study determined the distribution of ^226Ra, ^210Pb, within phosphogypsum stacks of varying age and among three size fractions （coarse： 〈0.212 mm; medium： 0.212-0.053 mm; fine： 〈0.053 mm）, in phosphogypsum derived from Aqaba and Eshidiya fertilizer plants. The results indicated that ^226Ra and ^210Pb were generally uniformly distributed in phosphogypsum stacks and showed no significant difference in the concentration of these elements with the age of stack. In the Aqaba phosphogypsum ^226Ra was slightly 10% enriched in the coarse fraction, while ^210Pb was 10% enriched in the free size fraction. In the Eshidiya phosphogypsum ^226Ra and ^210Pb contents were both relatively enriched （10%） in the fine size fraction.     

The bimodal rift-related Juscelândia volcanosedimentary sequence in central Brazil: Mesoproterozoic extension and Neoproterozoic metamorphism

The Barro Alto Complex and Juscelândia volcanosedimentary sequence are exposed in the central part of the Neoproterozoic Brasília belt of central Brazil. The former is a large (approximately 150 km long), boomerang-shaped, mafic-ultramafic, layered complex formed by two different intrusions metamorphosed under granulite facies. These rocks are tectonically overlain by rocks of the Juscelândia volcanosedimentary sequence, represented mainly by biotite-gneiss and amphibolite, or amphibolite facies metamorphic equivalents of rhyolite and basalt, respectively. New SIMS U–Pb zircon data and Sm–Nd isochron data presented herein help clarify the igneous and metamorphic evolution of the Juscelândia volcanosedimentary sequence, as well as its relationship with the Barro Alto Complex. Zircon grains from two biotite gneisses were analyzed by SIMS (SHRIMP) and indicate Mesoproterozoic dates, approximately 1.28 Ga, interpreted as the time of bimodal volcanism in a tectonic setting transitional between a continental rift and an ocean basin. Metamorphism is constrained by Sm–Nd garnet-whole-rock isochrons for garnet amphibolite and pelitic schists of the Juscelândia sequence, as well as for clinopyroxene-garnet amphibolite and garnet granulite of the Barro Alto Complex, which give ages between 0.74 and 0.76 Ga, in agreement with SIMS dates for metamorphic zircon rims. These new data are significant, because they establish that a single metamorphic event affected both the Barro Alto Complex and the Juscelândia sequence. Based on these new data, we present a modified tectonic model for the Brasília belt.     

Metal sources of the Navan carbonate-hosted base metal deposit, Ireland: Nd and Sr isotope evidence for deep hydrothermal convection

Nd and Sr isotope analyses are presented for gangue mineral samples from the giant carbonate-hosted Navan Zn–Pb deposit, Ireland, and for rocks from which Navan metals may have been derived. Analysis of gangue minerals spanning the Navan paragenetic sequence reveals systematic evolution in the composition of the mineralising fluid. Early fluid represented by replacive dolomite exhibits the lowest initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio (0.7083–0.7086), closest to that of the host limestone and to Lower Carboniferous seawater, and the highest ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratio (0.51161–0.51176). Later generations of dolomite, barite and calcite, which encompass sulphide precipitation, have higher initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (maximum 0.7105) and lower initial ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios (minimum 0.51157). All samples have initial Nd isotope ratios that are too low to have been acquired only from the host limestone. Drill core samples of presumed Ordovician volcanic and sedimentary rocks from beneath the Navan orebody have ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios at the time of mineralisation of 0.51184–0.51217 and 0.7086–0.7138, respectively. The data are interpreted to indicate mixing of sulphide-rich, limestone-buffered brine, with a metal-bearing hydrothermal fluid, which had passed through sub-Carboniferous rocks, consistent with published fluid inclusion and S isotope data. The ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratio of this basement-derived fluid is too low to have been imparted by flow through the Devonian Old Red Sandstone, as required in models of regional fluid flow in response to Hercynian uplift. Irrespective of whether such regional fluid flow occurred, the hydrothermal Nd must have been derived from sub-Devonian rocks. These conclusions broadly support the hydrothermal convection cell model in which brines, ultimately of surface origin, penetrated to a depth of several kilometres, leaching metals from the rocks through which they passed. The data also support increasing depth of penetration of convection cells with time. Metals were subsequently precipitated in carbonate rocks at sites of mixing with cooler, sulphide-rich fluids. However, comparison of the Navan hydrothermal gangue Nd–Sr isotope data with data from Lower Palaeozoic rocks strongly suggests that the latter cannot alone account for the “basement” signature. As the Navan deposit lies immediately north of the Iapetus Suture, this suggests that the Laurentian margin includes Precambrian basement.     

Post-depositional 137Cs Mobility in the Sediments of Three Shallow Coastal Lagoons, SW England

We present ¹³⁷Cs profiles for three low lying coastal lagoons in Southwest England that show a decline in activity with sediment depth. ¹³⁷Cs inventories are lower than expected by comparison with local reference inventories despite the fact that sampling was undertaken in the deep-water zone of each lake where sediment and ¹³⁷Cs focusing would be expected. At all three locations, lake sediment ⁷Be and unsupported ²¹⁰Pb (²¹⁰Pb_un) inventories are not significantly lower than the local reference inventory. ¹³⁷Cs inventories in the study cores range from 38 to 95% of local reference inventories. The standing water level and mud: water interface at two sites are below maximum tide level and, at all three sites, salinity increases significantly in the water columns between low and high tide and in the pore waters of the underlying sediments. We suggest that the difference in hydrostatic pressure between sea level and standing water levels in the lagoons forces salt water up through the sediment column and that monovalent cations (especially Na⁺ and K⁺) replace ¹³⁷Cs on exchange sites leading to the upward migration and loss of ¹³⁷Cs. Rising sea levels may therefore contribute to remobilisation and release of ¹³⁷Cs to the aquatic environment from the sediments of coastal lagoons.     

Early Cretaceous U–Pb zircon ages for the Copiapó plutonic complex and implications for the IOCG mineralization at Candelaria, Atacama Region, Chile

Four of the major plutons in the vicinity of the Candelaria mine (470 Mt at 0.95% Cu, 0.22 g/t Au, 3.1 g/t Ag) and a dike–sill system exposed in the Candelaria open pit have been dated with the U–Pb zircon method. The new geochronological data indicate that dacite magmatism around 123 Ma preceded the crystallization of hornblende diorite (Khd) at 118 ± 1 Ma, quartz–monzonite porphyry (Kqm) at 116.3 ± 0.4 Ma, monzodiorite (Kmd) at 115.5 ± 0.4 Ma, and tonalite (Kt) at 110.7 ± 0.4 Ma. The new ages of the plutons are consistent with field relationships regarding the relative timing of emplacement. Plutonism temporally overlaps with the iron oxide Cu–Au mineralization (Re–Os molybdenite ages at ∼115 Ma) and silicate alteration (ages mainly from 114 to 116 and 110 to 112 Ma) in the Candelaria–Punta del Cobre district. The dated dacite porphyry and hornblende diorite intrusions preceded the ore formation. A genetic link of the metallic mineralization with the quartz–monzonite porphyry and/or the monzodiorite is likely. Both of these metaluminous, shoshonitic (high-K) intrusions could have provided energy and contributed fluids, metals, and sulfur to the hydrothermal system that caused the iron oxide Cu–Au mineralization. The age of the tonalite at 110.7 Ma falls in the same range as the late alteration at 110 to 112 Ma. Tonalite emplacement may have sustained existing or driven newly developed hydrothermal cells that caused this late alteration or modified ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and K/Ar systematic in some areas.     

西藏俄卡地银多金属异常区地球化学

异常形态、分布严格受推覆断裂控制,范围大、浓集中心明显,浓度变化及因子载荷表明。区内找Ag、Pb有利,而Sb又为其最佳指示元素。     

Continental crust and lithospheric mantle interaction beneath North China: isotopic evidence from granulite xenoliths in Hannuoba, Sino-Korean craton

Mafic granulite and pyroxenite xenoliths from Cenozoic alkaline basalts at Hannuoba, Hebei Province, North China have been selected for a systematic geochemical and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic study, which provides a unique opportunity to explore nature of the lower crust and the interaction between the continental crust and lithospheric mantle beneath an Archean craton. The major, compatible and incompatible elements and radiogenic isotopes of these xenoliths suggest great chemical heterogeneity of the lower crust beneath the Hannuoba region. Petrological and geochemical evidences indicate a clear cumulate origin, and most likely, they are related to basaltic underplating in different geological episodes. However, the Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic compositions of the xenoliths reveal a profound enriched source signature (EM I) with some influence of EM II, which implies that some portion of pre-existing, old metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle could have played an important role in their genesis. It is suggested that the interaction between continental crust and subcontinental mantle as manifested by basaltic underplating would be closely related to regional tectonic episodes and geodynamic processes in the deep part of subcontinental lithospheric mantle.     

Sm-Nd ISOTOPIC AGE OF LAMPROPHYRES IN THE GEZHEN GOLD-BEARING SHEAR ZONE ON HAINAN ISLAND AND ITS GEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Sm-Nd isotopic compositions of eight lamprophyre samples, which come from the Gezhen gold-bearing shear zone on western Hainan Island, are measured. The Sm-Nd isochron age is 495.98±13.14 Ma, (143Nd/144Nd) 0=0.512094, εNd(t) ranges from +1.80 to +2.00 and TDM from 982 Ma to 1196 Ma (average: 1060 Ma). The authors point out that the whole-rock Sm-Nd isochron age (495.98 ± 13.14 Ma) really represents the petrogenetic age of lamprophyre and the time of magmatism during subsequent subduction.     

Datation UPb : âge de mise en place du magmatisme bimodal des Jebilet centrales (chaı̂ne Varisque,Maroc). Implications géodynamiques

The bimodal magmatism of central Jebilet is dated to 330.5^+0.68_?0.83 Ma by UPb dating on zircons. This age, similar to that of the syntectonic Jebilet cordierite-bearing granitoids, corresponds to the age of the local major tectonometamorphic event. The syntectonic plutonism of the Jebilet massif, composed of tholeiitic, alkaline, and peraluminous calc-alkaline series, is variegated. Magmas emplacement was favoured by the local extension induced by the motion along the western boundary of the Carboniferous basins of the Moroccan Meseta. The Jebilet massif exemplifies the activation of various magmas sources during an episode of continental convergence and crustal wrenching.