An Eocene/Oligocene blueschist‐/greenschist facies P–T loop from the Cycladic Blueschist Unit on Naxos Island,Greece: Deformation‐related re‐equilibration vs. thermal relaxation

Geothermobarometric and geochronological work indicates a complete Eocene/early Oligocene blueschist/greenschist facies metamorphic cycle of the Cycladic Blueschist Unit on Naxos Island in the Aegean Sea region. Using the average pressure–temperature (P–T) method of thermocalc coupled with detailed textural work, we separate an early blueschist facies event at 576 ± 16 to 619 ± 32°C and 15.5 ± 0.5 to 16.3 ± 0.9 kbar from a subsequent greenschist facies overprint at 384 ± 30°C and 3.8 ± 1.1 kbar. Multi‐mineral Rb–Sr isochron dating yields crystallization ages for near peak‐pressure blueschist facies assemblages between 40.5 ± 1.0 and 38.3 ± 0.5 Ma. The greenschist facies overprint commonly did not result in complete resetting of age signatures. Maximum ages for the end of greenschist facies reworking, obtained from disequilibrium patterns, cluster near c. 32 Ma, with one sample showing rejuvenation at c. 27 Ma. We conclude that the high‐P rocks from south Naxos were exhumed to upper mid‐crustal levels in the late Eocene and early Oligocene at rates of 7.4 ± 4.6 km/Ma, completing a full blueschist‐/greenschist facies metamorphic cycle soon after subduction within c. 8 Ma. The greenschist facies overprint of the blueschist facies rocks from south Naxos resulted from rapid exhumation and associated deformation/fluid‐controlled metamorphic re‐equilibration, and is unrelated to the strong high‐T metamorphism associated with the Miocene formation of the Naxos migmatite dome. It follows that the Miocene thermal overprint had no impact on rock textures or Sr isotopic signatures, and that the rocks of south Naxos underwent three metamorphic events, one more than hitherto envisaged.     

Diamond in metasedimentary crustal rocks from Pohorje,Eastern Alps: a window to deep continental subduction

We report the first finding of diamond and moissanite in metasedimentary crustal rocks of Pohorje Mountains (Slovenia) in the Austroalpine ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane of the Eastern Alps. Microscopic observations and Raman spectroscopy show that diamond occurs in situ as inclusions in garnet, being heterogeneously distributed. Under the optical microscope, diamond‐bearing inclusions are of cuboidal to rounded shape and of pinkish, yellow to brownish colour. The Raman spectra of the investigated diamond show a sharp, first order peak of sp³‐bonded carbon, in most cases centred between 1332 and 1330 cm^?1, with a full width at half maximum between 3 and 5 cm^?1. Several spectra show Raman bands typical for disordered graphitic (sp²‐bonded) carbon. Detailed observations show that diamond occurs either as a monomineralic, single‐crystal inclusion or it is associated with SiC (moissanite), CO₂ and CH₄ in polyphase inclusions_. This rare record of diamond occurring with moissanite as fluid‐inclusion daughter minerals implies the crystallization of diamond and moissanite from a supercritical fluid at reducing conditions. Thermodynamic modelling suggests that diamond‐bearing gneisses attained P–T conditions of ≥3.5 GPa and 800–850 °C, similar to eclogites and garnet peridotites. We argue that diamond formed when carbonaceous sediment underwent UHP metamorphism at mantle depth exceeding 100 km during continental subduction in the Late Cretaceous (c. 95–92 Ma). The finding of diamond confirms UHP metamorphism in the Pohorje Mountains, the most deeply subducted part of Austroalpine units.     

Constraints on the timing and conditions of high‐grade metamorphism,charnockite formation and fluid–rock interaction in the Trivandrum Block,southern India

Incipient charnockites have been widely used as evidence for the infiltration of CO₂‐rich fluids driving dehydration of the lower crust. Rocks exposed at Kakkod quarry in the Trivandrum Block of southern India allow for a thorough investigation of the metamorphic evolution by preserving not only orthopyroxene‐bearing charnockite patches in a host garnet–biotite felsic gneiss, but also layers of garnet–sillimanite metapelite gneiss. Thermodynamic phase equilibria modelling of all three bulk compositions indicates consistent peak‐metamorphic conditions of 830–925 °C and 6–9 kbar with retrograde evolution involving suprasolidus decompression at high temperature. These models suggest that orthopyroxene was most likely stabilized close to the metamorphic peak as a result of small compositional heterogeneities in the host garnet–biotite gneiss. There is insufficient evidence to determine whether the heterogeneities were inherited from the protolith or introduced during syn‐metamorphic fluid flow. U–Pb geochronology of monazite and zircon from all three rock types constrains the peak of metamorphism and orthopyroxene growth to have occurred between the onset of high‐grade metamorphism at c. 590 Ma and the onset of melt crystallization at c. 540 Ma. The majority of metamorphic zircon growth occurred during protracted melt crystallization between c. 540 and 510 Ma. Melt crystallization was followed by the influx of aqueous, alkali‐rich fluids likely derived from melts crystallizing at depth. This late fluid flow led to retrogression of orthopyroxene, the observed outcrop pattern and to the textural and isotopic modification of monazite grains at c. 525–490 Ma.     

Influence of a coarse interlayer on seawater intrusion and contaminant migration in coastal aquifers

Vertical 2D slice laboratory experiments were carried out in homogenous and layered sand tanks to elucidate the effects of a highly permeable (coarse‐grained sand) interlayer on seawater intrusion and transport of contaminants to a coastal sea. Tidal fluctuations produced oscillations in the seawater–freshwater transition zone, fluctuations of the contaminant infiltration rate and a zigzag contaminant plume outline. The seawater wedge became discontinuous at the (vertical) edges of the interlayer because of increased lateral movement of the seawater–freshwater interface within the interlayer. The contaminant plume formed a tail within the interlayer depending on the tidal stage, and similar to the wedge, its movement was accentuated. A simple analytical model that neglected vertical flow reliably predicted steady‐state seawater intrusion into the coastal aquifer. Numerical modeling was used to gain insight into the groundwater hydrodynamics and contaminant migration. The numerical results confirmed the experimental findings, i.e. that a highly permeable interlayer can provide a rapid transit path for contaminants to reach the seaward boundary and that the interlayer amplifies the effects of tidal fluctuations, resulting in wider transition zones for the seawater wedge and contaminant plume. Numerical simulations further showed that, with increasing interlayer hydraulic conductivity, the maximum seawater intrusion distance inside the interlayer increases approximately linearly. For the fixed‐head contaminant injection condition used, the model showed that contaminant infiltration increases approximately logarithmically with increasing interlayer hydraulic conductivity (other factors held fixed). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oxygen isotope speedometry in granulite facies garnet recording fluid/melt–rock interaction (Sør Rondane Mountains,East Antarctica)

In situ analysis of a garnet porphyroblast from a granulite facies gneiss from Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica, reveals discontinuous step‐wise zoning in phosphorus and large δ¹⁸O variations from the phosphorus‐rich core to the phosphorus‐poor rim. The gradually decreasing profile of oxygen isotope from the core (δ¹⁸O = ~15‰) to the rim (δ¹⁸O = ~11‰) suggests that the ¹⁸O/¹⁶O zoning was originally step‐wise, and modified by diffusion after the garnet rim formation at ~800°C and 0.8 GPa. Fitting of the ¹⁸O/¹⁶O data to the diffusion equation constrains a duration of the high‐T event (~800°C) to c. 0.5–40 Ma after the garnet rim formation. The low δ¹⁸O value of the garnet rim, together with the previously reported low δ¹⁸O values in metacarbonates, indicates regional infiltration, probably along a detachment fault, of low δ¹⁸O fluid/melt possibly derived from meta‐mafic to ultramafic rocks.     

Modelling the flow of self‐compacting concrete

A Lagrangian particle‐based method, smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH), is used in this paper to model the flow of self‐compacting concretes (SCC) with or without short steel fibres. An incompressible SPH method is presented to simulate the flow of such non‐Newtonian fluids whose behaviour is described by a Bingham‐type model, in which the kink in the shear stress vs shear strain rate diagram is first appropriately smoothed out. The viscosity of the SCC is predicted from the measured viscosity of the paste using micromechanical models in which the second phase aggregates are treated as rigid spheres and the short steel fibres as slender rigid bodies. The basic equations solved in the SPH are the incompressible mass conservation and Navier–Stokes equations. The solution procedure uses prediction–correction fractional steps with the temporal velocity field integrated forward in time without enforcing incompressibility in the prediction step. The resulting temporal velocity field is then implicitly projected on to a divergence‐free space to satisfy incompressibility through a pressure Poisson equation derived from an approximate pressure projection. The results of the numerical simulation are benchmarked against actual slump tests carried out in the laboratory. The numerical results are in excellent agreement with test results, thus demonstrating the capability of SPH and a proper rheological model to predict SCC flow and mould‐filling behaviour. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thresholds of intrabed flow and other interactions of turbidity currents with soft muddy substrates

Controlled laboratory experiments reveal that the lower part of turbidity currents has the ability to enter fluid mud substrates, if the bed shear stress is higher than the yield stress of the fluid mud and the density of the turbidity current is higher than the density of the substrate. Upon entering the substrate, the turbidity current either induces mixing between flow‐derived sediment and substrate sediment, or it forms a stable horizontal flow front inside the fluid mud. Such ‘intrabed’ flow is surrounded by plastically deformed mud; otherwise it resembles the front of a ‘bottom‐hugging’ turbidity current. The ‘suprabed’ portion of the turbidity current, i.e. the upper part of the flow that does not enter the substrate, is typically separated from the intrabed flow by a long horizontal layer of mud which originates from the mud that is swept over the top of the intrabed flow and then incorporated into the flow. The intrabed flow and the mixing mechanism are specific types of interaction between turbidity currents and muddy substrates that are part of a larger group of interactions, which also include bypass, deposition, erosion and soft sediment deformation. A classification scheme for these types of interactions is proposed, based on an excess bed shear stress parameter, which includes the difference in the bed shear stress imposed by the flow and the yield stress of the substrate and an excess density parameter, which relies on the density difference between the flow and the substrate. Based on this classification scheme, as well as on the sedimentological properties of the laboratory deposits, an existing facies model for intrabed turbidites is extended to the other types of interaction involving soft muddy substrates. The physical threshold of flow‐substrate mixing versus stable intrabed flow is defined using the gradient Richardson number, and this method is validated successfully with the laboratory data. The gradient Richardson number is also used to verify that stable intrabed flow is possible in natural turbidity currents, and to determine under which conditions intrabed flow is likely to be unstable. It appears that intrabed flow is likely only in natural turbidity currents with flow velocities well below ca 3·5 m s^?1, although a wider range of flows is capable of entering fluid muds. Below this threshold velocity, intrabed flow is stable only at high‐density gradients and low‐velocity gradients across the upper boundary of the turbidity current. Finally, the gradient Richardson number is used as a scaling parameter to set the flow velocity limits of a natural turbidity current that formed an inferred intrabed turbidite in the deep‐marine Aberystwyth Grits Group, West Wales, United Kingdom.     

大兴安岭北段争光金矿床成因探讨:来自流体包裹体及稳定同位素的制约

争光浅成低温热液型金矿床位于大兴安岭成矿带北段,是多宝山矿集区内的一个重要矿床。文章通过流体包裹体和C_H_O_He_Ar同位素的系统研究,对该矿床成矿流体和矿床成因进行了深入探讨。矿床成矿作用可划分为4个主要阶段:石英_黄铁矿阶段(成矿前阶段)、石英_多金属硫化物阶段(主成矿阶段)、方解石_(石英)_多金属硫化物阶段(主成矿阶段)和方解石阶段(成矿后阶段)。流体包裹体研究表明,争光金矿床主要发育富液相流体包裹体。石英_黄铁矿阶段、方解石_(石英)_多金属硫化物阶段和方解石阶段流体包裹体的均一温度分别介于116~243℃(集中于150~170℃)、129~294℃(集中于140~160℃)和130~155℃(集中于130~150℃);w(NaCleq)分别介于0.9%~10.1%、1.2%~13.8%和2.7%~8.7%。成矿流体具有低温、低盐度、相对还原的特征,属H_2O_Na Cl体系。石英_黄铁矿阶段成矿流体的δD和δ18O分别为-127‰~-110‰和-5.9‰~0.6‰,蚀变围岩的δD值和δ18O值分别为-118‰~-108‰和6.3‰~7.9‰。方解石_(石英)_多金属硫化物阶段和方解石阶段方解石的δ~(13)C分别为-5.3‰~-2.0‰和-2.9‰~-2.2‰,δ18O分别为7.7‰~9.3‰和9.9‰~13.5‰。黄铁矿流体包裹体的~3He/~4He、~(40)Ar/~(36)Ar和~(40)Ar*/4He比值分别为1.75~3.06 Ra、683~1295和0.30~0.63。综合流体包裹体特征和稳定同位素组成,认为成矿早阶段成矿流体为大气降水与围岩发生水_岩反应后的演化水。随着成矿作用的进行,成矿流体变为大气降水与岩浆水的混合水,但仍以大气降水为主导。成矿流体与贫H_2S的流体混合和硫化物沉淀的共同作用可能是该矿床金沉淀的主要机制。     

河南老湾金矿床上上河矿段矿床地质和成矿流体地球化学

河南桐柏老湾金矿床是桐柏-大别山(北坡)金银成矿带内大型造山带型金矿床之一。文章对该矿床的上上河矿段进行了矿床地质和成矿流体地球化学研究,旨在查明该矿段的流体成矿过程。根据矿脉穿插关系、矿石结构构造、矿物共生组合以及黄铁矿的粒度和晶形,将老湾金矿上上河矿段成矿过程划分为:石英粗粒自形黄铁矿(Ⅰ)、石英细粒半自形-他形黄铁矿(Ⅱ)、石英多金属硫化物(Ⅲ)及石英碳酸盐(Ⅳ)4个阶段。镜下观察显示,矿床中的包裹体类型有含CO_2包裹体(LH_2O+LCO_2+VCO_2)、纯CO_2包裹体(LCO_2+VCO_2)、液相包裹体(LH_2O+VH_2O)及少量含子晶包裹体(LH_2O+VH_2O+S)。第Ⅰ阶段、第Ⅱ阶段和第Ⅲ阶段均可见含CO_2包裹体、纯CO_2包裹体和液相包裹体,有时可见含CO_2包裹体与液相包裹体共存。流体包裹体显微测温结果表明,成矿流体可近似看做中温、低盐度、富CO_2的NaCl-H_2O-CO_2体系,纯CO_2包裹体和液相包裹体所代表的流体可能是由含CO_2包裹体所代表的Na Cl-H_2O-CO_2流体经不混溶形成的,三者在寄主矿物沉淀时,被同时捕获而共存。从第Ⅰ阶段到第Ⅳ阶段,成矿流体温度从303~379℃逐渐降低到138~195℃,盐度w(Na Cleq)从4.07%~9.59%逐渐降低到1.06%~2.74%。在成矿的第Ⅰ阶段成矿流体发生了不混溶作用,而在第Ⅱ阶段和第Ⅲ阶段流体中的CO_2起泡分离再次引发了不混溶作用。从第Ⅰ阶段到第Ⅲ阶段,成矿流体的δ18OH_2O从6.56‰~9.71‰经1.89‰~4.01‰变化到0.08‰,δDH_2O从-78.1‰~-64.2‰经-79.5‰~-76.3‰变化到-72.6‰,表明老湾金矿第Ⅰ阶段成矿流体主要为岩浆热液,第Ⅱ阶段成矿流体中有少量大气降水加入,第Ⅲ阶段成矿流体中大气降水的比例明显加大。     

松辽盆地大陆科钻二开段大井眼钻井液技术

CCSD-SK2井是一口钻穿松辽盆地白垩纪陆相沉积地层的中国大陆科学钻探井。二开段先以216mm口径钻至2806.20m,然后进行444.5mm口径扩孔。泥页岩地层大井眼钻进过程中粘土矿物含量高且易造浆,砂砾岩层渗透性强易粘卡,井壁稳定控制与钻屑携带难度大。选用了钾铵聚合物钻井液体系和聚磺钻井液体系,通过正交实验确定了钻井液配方。将钻井液控制在合适的密度、较低的失水量以及较强的封堵性,有效实现了井壁稳定;保持适当的环空返速、较高的动塑比以及定期打稠塞举砂等措施,有效实现了井眼净化。1086.45m~1147.56m与1182.74m~1256.01m井段累计收获岩心130.90m,取心率达到97.41%,平均机械钻速为0.84m/h;最终顺利钻至2806.20m。