一个中生代的拉分盆地——宁芜盆地的形成及演化

宁芜盆地是中国东部郯庐断裂系中沿方山—南陵左行剪切断裂发育的中生代拉分盆地,形成于晚侏罗世,消亡于晚白垩世。根据宁芜盆地的构造变动、沉积建造、火山及岩浆活动和成矿作用等特点,文中提出了宁芜拉分盆地的生成及演化模式,并将宁芜拉分盆地的发展分为:(1)萌芽期——盆地核;(2)年轻期——“S”型盆地;(3)成熟期——菱形盆地和(4)消亡期——最终发展四个演化阶段。宁芜拉分盆地以具有强烈的火山活动为特征,特别是“S”形盆地末期,由于碱性的中基性次火山岩的侵入,形成了宁芜地区重要的玢岩铁矿。宁芜拉分盆地的构造应力场随着盆地的发展而不断变化,总的变化趋势是盆地内的拉张区逐渐扩大,在最终发展阶段这种拉张作用已遍及整个盆地。数值模拟的结果表明,NNE—NE向的拉张应力比NWW—NW向的挤压应力大数倍,宁芜拉分盆地正是在这种强大的拉张应力作用下得以形成及发展的。     

Solid state C NMR studies of selected oil shales from Queensland, Australia

Solid state ¹³C NMR techniques of cross polarization with magic-angle spinning, and interrupted decoupling have been employed to examine the nature of the organic matter in eight kerogen concentrates representing five Tertiary deposits in Queensland, Australia. The NMR results show that five of the kerogens have high proportions of aliphatic carbon in their organic matter and correspond to Type I–II algal kerogens. Three of the kerogens, derived from carbonaceous shales, have a high proportion of aromatic carbon in their organic matter and correspond to Type III kerogens. The fractions of aliphatic carbon in all the kerogens, regardless of type, are shown to correlate with the conversion characteristics of the corresponding raw shales during Fischer assay. Interrupted decoupling NMR results show the presence of more oxygen-substituted carbon in the carbonaceous shales, which may account for the greater CO₂ evolution and phenolic materials found in the pyrolysis products of the carbonaceous shales.     

Structural study of a semiductile strike-slip system in the Central Iberian Zone (Variscan Fold Belt,Spain): structural controls on gold deposits

The Villalcampo shear system is a regional dextral strike-slip fault zone that affects Late Variscan granites and their metamorphic country rocks over an area of about 150 km². The detailed geometry of this subvertical north-west—south-east shear zone is outlined. The system forms an extensional fan to the northwest and extends to the south-east as a broad extensional duplex. Particular attention is focused on the distribution of fault rocks and associated veins in its north-west splay. A structural study of the shear bands (encompassing both geometric and kinematic criteria) and a microscopic study of the fault rocks has led to the interpretation of the system as a brittle—ductile shear zone. Calculations give a shear strain value of = 1.5 and a minimum displacement of s = 3700 m. The localization of gold mineralization in mylonite-filled subvertical extensional veins is a product of the formation of the Villalcampo shear system. The subvertical faults and veins underwent a process of cyclical sealing and reopening. As such they acted as valves controlled by fluid pressure regulating fluid—rock interactions and gold deposition. Conditions favouring these processes occur near the base of the seismogenic zone in the vicinity of the frictional—quasi-plastic transition at mid-greenschist metamorphic conditions (T = 350°C and 10–15 km depth).     

Estimation of undiscovered deposits in quantitative mineral resource assessments—examples from Venezuela and Puerto Rico

Quantitative mineral resource assessments used by the United States Geological Survey are based on deposit models. These assessments consist of three parts: (1) selecting appropriate deposit models and delineating on maps areas permissive for each type of deposit; (2) constructing a grade-tonnage model for each deposit model; and (3) estimating the number of undiscovered deposits of each type. In this article, I focus on the estimation of undiscovered deposits using two methods: the deposit density method and the target counting method.In the deposit density method, estimates are made by analogy with well-explored areas that are geologically similar to the study area and that contain a known density of deposits per unit area. The deposit density method is useful for regions where there is little or no data. This method was used to estimate undiscovered low-sulfide gold-quartz vein deposits in Venezuela.Estimates can also be made by counting targets such as mineral occurrences, geophysical or geochemical anomalies, or exploration plays and by assigning to each target a probability that it represents an undiscovered deposit that is a member of the grade-tonnage distribution. This method is useful in areas where detailed geological, geophysical, geochemical, and mineral occurrence data exist. Using this method, porphyry copper-gold deposits were estimated in Puerto Rico.     

Geochemistry of the Yutangba Se Deposit in Western Hubei, China

1IntroductionThecontentsofSeinthecrustareextremelylow ,onlyabout0 .0 5mg/kg .Innatureitishardtoformindependentminerals,insteaditisdispersedinothermineralsandmedia.Althoughitscon tentsarefarhigherthanthoseofTeinthecrust,seleniumisusuallydispersedinsulfidesinitsas cendingandformingprocesses (D’yachkovaandKhodakovskiy ,1 968) .Thisisthereasonwhyse leniummineralsarefarlessthantelluriummineralsandsulfidesinnature (Simonetal.,1 997) .Forthisreason ,thegeochemicalstudyofseleniumdidnotattractanyat…     

Carbonate alteration of the Upper Mount McRae Shale beneath the martite-microplaty hematite ore deposit at Mount Whaleback, Western Australia

The formation of large martite-microplaty hematite ore deposits in northwest Australia remains a contentious topic in part because important evidence supporting a unifying genetic model has not been observed at all deposits. Carbonate replacement of silica has been found along normal faults below ore at the Mount Tom Price and Giles Mini deposits, which suggests an early hypogene process during ore formation. However, such rocks have not been identified at the largest martite-microplaty hematite deposit, Mount Whaleback. In this study, samples of the Mount McRae Shale are examined for their chemistry, mineralogy and petrography. These samples were collected from several key locations, including an area that immediately underlies ore along the Mount Whaleback fault at Mount Whaleback. Compared to unaltered black Mount McRae Shale from Wittenoom Gorge in the north and altered black and red Mount McRae Shale at Mount Whaleback, reddish-green Mount McRae Shale along the Mount Whaleback fault is greatly enriched in MgO and CaO and depleted in SiO₂. This chemistry arises from significant amounts of fine- to medium-grained ferroan-dolomite and ankerite and cross-cutting chlorite and carbonate veins. The composition is distinct from that produced during regional metamorphism, and most likely represents hydrothermal alteration after metamorphism. The lack of carbonate-rich, silica-poor rocks in the overlying Dales Gorge Member at Mount Whaleback is consistent with pervasive oxidation of most rocks in the region during or after ore genesis, a process that removed carbonates. Although several questions remain unanswered, these results support models that invoke an early hypogene stage during the formation of the martite-microplaty hematite deposits in the Hamersley Province.Editorial Handling: B. Lehmann     

Comparison of particle size characteristics of the Tertiary 'red clay' and Pleistocene loess in the Chinese Loess Plateau: implications for origin and sources of the 'red clay'

The origin of the Tertiary ‘red clay’ underlying the Pleistocene loess in the Chinese Loess Plateau remains controversial, although several lines of evidence have suggested a wind‐blown origin. This study examines the particle‐size parameters of the late Miocene and Pliocene ‘red clay’ by comparing it with those of the late Pleistocene loess. The particle‐size distribution of a total of 15 339 loess and 6394 ‘red clay’ samples taken from 12 loess sections along a north–south transect and two ‘red clay’ sequences at Lingtai and Jingchuan was systematically analysed. The median grain size, skewness and kurtosis of the late Pleistocene loess all show a systematic southward change and are principally influenced by distance from source region. The spatial and temporal differentiation of dust deposits is expressed in a skewness–kurtosis–median grain size ternary diagram, from which the distance to the source region can be inferred. The particle‐size characteristics of the Tertiary ‘red clay’ sediments are very similar to those of the palaeosols within the late Pleistocene loess deposits, suggesting an aeolian origin for the ‘red clay’. Based on the comparison of ‘red clay’ and loess in the ternary diagrams, it is inferred that the source–sink distance was greater in the Neogene than in the last and penultimate interglacials, and that the dust source region in north‐western China underwent a progressive expansion during the period from at least 7·0 Ma to the present.     

Discovery of the copper deposits with features of the Keweenawan type in the border area of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces

There existed intense Cu anomaly on the northeastern side of the geochemical boundary with NW strike in the border area between the Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Through field observation, ore bodies of high-grade native coppers have been found. The copper mineralization was constrained by the ancient volcanic vents of Permian basalt eruption and the overlain strata of carbonaceous argillites. Native coppers with flaky, net veined and impregnated occurrences, fine-grained tenorites and massive chalcocites widely occur in volcanic breccias, tuffs, carbonaceous-siliceous argillites and siliceous bitumen rocks with bed thickness of about 15-80 m. Cu contents vary from 0.5% to 20%. The copper mineralization was tightly related to actinolite-tremolitization, zeolitization and bituminization and involved in extensive reduction environments. Continental flood basalts erupted in mantle plume environments usually have high Cu concentrations (～170 ×10-6 in the Emeishan basalts), which provided a copper source of mineralization. Thus, metallogenesis of the native copper deposits in the Yunnan-Guizhou border area is tightly associated with intensive crust-mantle and organic-inorganic interactions. The tremolitization and chalcocitization indicate that the metallogenic temperatures are in a range of 400-100℃. The geologic background and characteristics of ore and alteration for the native copper deposits in this area are somewhat similar to those of the Keweenawan native copper deposit in Michigan, USA.     

西藏纳木错第四纪湖泊沉积与湖成地貌--兼论藏北高原古大湖问题

对西藏面积最大的湖泊——纳木错湖相沉积野外现察结果，发现了由水平层理十分发育的砂与粘土所组成的、高出湖面分别为3—12m、15—22m、25—30m与35—45m的4级湖岸阶地，覆于基岩之上、高出湖面60—150m的湖相沉积和多达50条左右、由扁圆湖滨相砾石所组成的湖岸堤，环湖广泛分布的湖成地貌。在连结纳木错与其西北的仁错约玛、仁错贡玛、久如错的分水岭宽谷底部(分别高出上述3湖20m、90m与60m)与北侧山坡，即纳木错的第二与第三级湖岸阶地，发现了组成阶地与异堤的湖相与湖滨相沉积。从而确证了纳木错与仁错-久如锴曾多次连通，即数度成为一个统一的大湖，而不是以河道相连的不同湖泊。古大湖分离时代为末次冰期间冰段。     

Epiclastic deposits and ‘horseshoe-shaped’ calderas in Tahiti (Society Islands) and Ua Huka (Marquesas Archipelago), French Polynesia

Occurrences of debris avalanche deposits newly identified in Tahiti (Society Islands) and Ua Huka (Marquesas Archipelago) are described and interpreted here. In both islands, the breccias are located within horseshoe-shaped residual calderas. In Tahiti, the epiclastic formations, up to 500 m thick, lie on the floor of the central depression and in the valley of the northwards running Papenoo River. In Ua Huka, the breccias crop out within a depression limited by a semicircular crest in four bays along the southern coast. Their thickness is ca. 100 m. A few clasts collected in the Tahitian breccias and some rocks forming their substratum have been dated (K–Ar datings) and analysed (major and trace elements, Sr–Nd isotopes) for this study. Using these data, we show that the debris avalanche(s) occurred in Tahiti Nui at the end of the growth of the shield volcano (between 570 000 and 390 000 years ago), maybe in consequence of the emplacement of the plutonic body which occupies the central part of the caldera. In Ua Huka, the collapse took place nearly 3 Ma ago, between the construction of the shield volcano and that of the inner one. The southwards orientation of the caldera, like that of the neighbouring island Nuku Hiva, might reflect a preferential direction of weakness in the substratum of the central Marquesas.