Structural changes in sodium tetrasilicate glass around the liquid-glass transition: a neutron diffraction study

The structure of sodium tetrasilicate (Na₂Si₄O₉) glass and melt was studied in the range from 300 to 950?K by neutron diffraction. Increasing temperature leads to gradual decrease of the peak intensities in the static structure factors possibly with a change in the slope at the glass transition temperature (T _g?773?K), but no shift and broadening of the peaks is observed. Especially, the position of the first sharp diffraction peak (FSDP) at 1.6?Å^–1 remains constant in the whole temperature range studied. The corresponding pair correlation functions g(r) are very similar at all temperatures. Only a slight broadening of the Si-O and O-O first nearest-neighbour peaks with temperature is observed, which can be attributed to temperature enhanced dynamic distortions of the SiO₄ tetrahedra. All these results suggest that there is little change not only in the short- but also in the medium-range order of the sodium tetrasilicate glass and melt around the glass-liquid transition.     

硅酸盐风化与全球碳循 环研究回顾及新进展

硅酸盐风化是大气CO2 的一个主要汇,直接影响到全球碳循环进而影响全球气候。自Walker 等（1981）进行的开创 工作以来,有关“硅酸盐风化- 碳循环- 气候变化”方面的研究大量涌现。从计算机模型到河流水化学研究,从流域面积 超过百万平方公里的大河到数十数百平方公里的单岩性小河流,取得了很多重要的进展。从全球尺度上看,硅酸盐风化每 年所消耗的大气CO2 量为0.138~0.169 Gt,相比现在大气碳库中碳的含量（约800 Gt）,乍看似乎是微不足道的,然而硅酸盐 风化消耗CO2 并将其作为碳酸盐矿物埋藏在海洋,它的存留时间超过了百万年。因此,在地质时间尺度上,硅酸盐风化是 调节全球碳循环的一个重要机制。对小流域进行的研究发现,热带地区流经玄武岩/蛇绿岩的小流域有着最高的硅酸盐风化 和大气CO2 消耗速率,热带区域火山岩化学风化消耗的大气CO2 占全球硅酸盐风化所消耗量的10%,而流域面积不到1%。     

Chromitites from the Luanga Complex,Carajás,Brazil: Stratigraphic distribution and clues to processes leading to post-magmatic alteration

The Neoarchean (ca. 2.75 Ga) Luanga Complex, located in the Carajás Mineral Province in Brazil, is a medium-size layered intrusion consisting, from base to top, of ultramafic cumulates (Ultramafic Zone), interlayered ultramafic and mafic cumulates (Transition Zone) and mafic cumulates (Mafic Zone). Chromitite layers in the Luanga Complex occur in the upper portion of interlayered harzburgite and orthopyroxenite of the Transition Zone and associated with the lowermost norites of the Mafic Zone. The stratigraphic interval that hosts chromitites (∼150 meters thick) consists of several cyclic units interpreted as the result of successive influxes of primitive parental magma. The compositions of chromite in chromitites from the Transition Zone (Lower Group Chromitites) have distinctively higher Cr# (100Cr/(Cr + Al + Fe³⁺)) compared with chromite in chromitites from the Mafic Zone (Upper Group Chromitites). Chromitites hosted by noritic rocks are preceded by a thin layer of harzburgite located 15–20 cm below each chromitite layer. Lower Cr# in chromitites hosted by noritic rocks are interpreted as the result of increased Al₂O₃ activity caused by new magma influxes. Electron microprobe analyses on line transverses through 35 chromite crystals indicate that they are rimmed and/or extensively zoned. The composition of chromite in chromitites changes abruptly in the outer rim, becoming enriched in Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺ at the expense of Mg, Cr, Al, thus moving toward the magnetite apex on the spinel prism. This outer rim, characterized by higher reflectance, is probably related to the metamorphic replacement of the primary mineralogy of the Luanga Complex. Zoned chromite crystals indicate an extensive exchange between divalent (Mg, Fe²⁺) cations and minor to none exchange between trivalent cations (Cr³⁺, Al³⁺ and Fe³⁺). This Mg-Fe zoning is interpreted as the result of subsolidus exchange of Fe²⁺ and Mg between chromite and coexisting silicates during slow cooling of the intrusion. A remarkable feature of chromitites from Luanga Complex is the occurrence of abundant silicate inclusions within chromite crystals. These inclusions show an adjacent inner rim with higher Cr# and lower Mg# (100 Mg/(Mg + Fe²⁺)) and Al# (100Al/(Cr + Al + Fe³⁺)). This compositional shift is possibly due to crystallization from a progressively more fractionated liquid trapped in the chromite crystal. Significant modification of primary cumulus composition of chromite, as indicated in our study for the Luanga Complex, is likely to be common in non-massive chromitites and the rule for disseminated chromites in mafic intrusions.     

Si-O stretch modes in amorphous silicates

The 9.7µm Trapesium silicate band is modelled as the sum of contributions from tetrahedral Si-O units with varying numbers of non-bridging oxygen atoms. In principle this will allow the silicate grain structure to be determined.     

Viscosity of silicate melts in CaMgSi2O6–NaAlSi2O6 system at high pressure

In situ X-ray viscometry of the silicate melts was carried out at high pressure and at high temperature. The viscosity of the silicate melts in the diopside(Di)–jadeite(Jd) system was determined in the pressure range from 1.88 GPa to 7.9 GPa and in the temperature range from 2,003 K to 2,173 K. The viscosity of the Di 25%–Jd 75% melt decreases continuously to 5.0 GPa, whereas the viscosity of the Di 50%–Jd 50% melt increases over 3.5 GPa. The viscosity of the Di50%–Jd 50% melt reaches a minimum around 3.5 GPa. Since the amounts of silicon in the two melts are the same, the difference in the pressure dependence of the viscosity may be controlled by another network-forming element, i.e., aluminum. The difference in the pressure dependence of the viscosities in the melts with two intermediate compositions in the Di–Jd system is estimated to be due to the difference in the melt structures at high pressures and high temperatures.     

Space–time multiresolution atomistic visualization of MgO and MgSiO3 liquid data

First-principles molecular dynamics simulations of complex material systems such as geophysically relevant oxide and silicate liquids produce massive amounts of time-varying three-dimensional data for the atomic configurations. Given the high accuracy of these data, it is desirable to extract as much information hidden in the data as possible. In this paper, we elaborate on our recently proposed scheme to support interactive visualization at space–time multiresolution of the atomistic simulation data. Instead of just focusing on direct rendering of the given data, additional data (containing more quantitative and qualitative information) that usually have to be extracted by some other means are extracted and rendered on the fly. This allows us to gain better insight into the global as well as local spatio-temporal behavior of the data in the context of bonding, radial distribution, atomic coordination, clustering, structural stability and distortion, and diffusion. We illustrate such visualization for the simulation data on the liquid phases of MgO and MgSiO₃—the two most abundant components of Earth’s mantle. Our analysis shows that the structure and dynamics of both liquids change substantially with compression, with no discernible effects of temperature in most cases.     

楚科奇海融冰过程中的海水结构研究

楚科奇海是北冰洋的陆架海,中部凸起的Herald浅滩对海水流动和海冰融化过程有显著影响。利用我国1999年夏季北冰洋考察数据,讨论了楚科奇海海冰融化过程中的海水结构。结果表明,海区内存在2个相继进入的水团,一个是海冰覆盖期进入的阿纳德尔水(AW),具有低温、高盐、高硅酸盐的特点;另一个是海冰融化后进入的白令海陆架水(BSW),具有高温、低盐、低硅酸盐的特点。在开阔水域,表层水温度达到7℃以上,高于当地气温,是当地太阳辐射的加热作用形成的。开阔海域的水体向冰下扩展,表层水温在1℃以上,形成冰下暖水区,加速了海冰的融化;Her-ald浅滩阻挡了海水的流动形成绕流,其北部处于绕流的死角,表层水温在-1℃以下,形成冰下冷水区。在开阔海域,上层海水的混合深度达到15~20 m,而渗入冰下的暖水深度小于5 m,体现了海冰对暖水渗入的阻滞作用。所有海冰覆盖站位10 m层的叶绿素-a含量都很高,表明冰下海水处于浮游植物大量繁殖的状态,有可能对海水吸收热量和海冰融化产生显著的影响。     

硅酸盐熔体结构的研究进展和问题

概括地介绍了硅酸盐熔体结构的三种研究途径和方法,从硅酸盐熔体的分子聚合结构单元测试、阳离子和挥发份的结构作用、物理化学性质测试及量子化学研究等五个方面,阐明了硅酸直熔体结构的主要成就,指出了该研究领域中存在的主要问题。     

Olivine-hosted melt inclusions in Pliocene–Quaternary lavas from the Qorveh–Bijar volcanic belt,western Iran: implications for source lithology and cooling history

ABSTRACT

Silicate melt inclusions (SMIs) are small droplets of magma that become trapped in minerals during crystal growth. SMIs in olivine crystals can provide critical information on the range of melt compositions and processes that occur during melt generation, evolution, transport, and eruption. The Pliocene–Quaternary volcanic rocks in the Qorveh–Bijar volcanic belt of western Iran show porphyritic and microlithic textures, with olivine and clinopyroxene being the dominant minerals. Magnesian olivines in these volcanic rocks contain primary SMIs. The composition and characteristic of olivine-hosted SMI of these rocks are investigated to constrain the source lithology for mafic volcanism. Bulk compositions of the SMIs overlap those of their host rocks and extend to higher CaO/Al₂O₃ values. The estimated entrapment pressures and temperatures of the studied SMIs are 9.1–10.3 kbar and 1220–1355°C. The calculated mafic parental melt contains 42.36 wt.% SiO₂, low total alkalis (3.22 wt.%), and high MgO (16.1 wt.%). Exploratory calculations using pMELTS show that this parental composition underwent variable degrees of fractional crystallization, as reflected by the variable compositions of the SMIs. Several lines of evidence including pyroxene xenocrysts and high FeO/MnO, FC3MS (FeO/CaO – 3*MgO/SiO2), and Zn/Fe ratios (14–21), suggest that a metasomatized pyroxenitic source contributed to the genesis of the parental melt. Amphibole in the SMIs indicates a high volatile content in the parental melt, which we conclude was generated from a metasomatized lithospheric mantle source. The pyroxenite source also contained garnet. Our geochemical results lead us to propose a new petrogenetic model. Specifically, we infer that a dense and unstable portion of the lithosphere underwent localized laminar detachment and downward flow, i.e. lithospheric drip. This drip underwent volatile-enhanced partial melting during descent through the underlying hot asthenosphere and generated the studied volcanic rocks.