Konvergenzerscheinungen der Mineralbildung einiger sedimentärer deutscher Eisenerze

Zusammenfassung Sedimentäre Eisenerze können durch Ausflocken von Fe⁺⁺⁺haltigen Solen und durch Ausfällen von Fe⁺⁺haltigen Lösungen gebildet werden. Aus Solen gebildete Erze werden als Begleitelemente Kieselsäure und Aluminium anreichern, während aus Lösungen gebildete Erze manganreicher sind und Kieselsäure und Aluminium zurücktreten.     

Amorphous copper and zinc sulfides in the metalliferous sediments of the Red Sea

Detailed studies on the copper and zinc distribution in metalliferous sediments from the Atlantis II Deep (Red Sea) demonstrate that beside chalcopyrite and sphalerite appreciable amounts of copper and zinc are found in X-ray amorphous copper and zinc sulfides not previously described. Only low contents of copper and zinc are present in nontronites, hydroxides and carbonates.     

Concurrent low- and high-affinity sulfate reduction kinetics in marine sediment

Bacterial sulfate reduction in marine sediments generally occurs in the presence of high millimolar concentrations of sulfate. Published data indicate that low sulfate concentrations may limit sulfate reduction rates below 0.2-2 mM. Yet, high sulfate reduction rates occur in the 1-100 μM range in freshwater sediments and at the sulfate-methane transition in marine sediments. Through a combination of ³⁵S-tracer experiments, including initial velocity experiments and time course experiments, we searched for different sulfate affinities in the mixed community of sulfate reducers in a marine sediment. We supported the radiotracer experiments with a highly sensitive ion chromatographic technique for sulfate with a detection limit of 0.15 μM SO₄²⁻ in marine pore water. Our results showed that high and low affinities for sulfate co-occur and that the applied experimental approach may determine the observed apparent half saturation constant, K_m. Our experimental and model data both show that sulfate reduction in the studied marine sediment could be explained by two dominating affinities for sulfate: a low affinity with a mean half saturation constant, K_m, of 430 μM SO₄²⁻ and a high affinity with a mean K_m of 2.6 μM SO₄²⁻. The high-affinity sulfate reduction was thermodynamically un-constrained down to <1 μM SO₄²⁻, both in our experiments and under in situ conditions. The reduction of radio-labeled sulfate was partly reversible due to concurrent re-oxidation of sulfide by Fe(III) and possibly due to a reversibility of the enzymatic pathway of sulfate reduction. A literature survey of apparent K_m values for sediments and pure cultures is presented and discussed.     

Investigations of the East Greenland continental margin between 70° and 72° N by deep seismic sounding and gravity studies

Results are presented from a deep seismic sounding experiment with the research vessel POLARSTERN in the Scoresby Sund area, East Greenland. For this continental margin study 9 seismic recording landstations were placed in Scoresby Sund and at the southeast end of Kong Oscars Fjord, and ocean bottom seismographs (OBS) were deployed at 26 positions in and out of Scoresby Sund offshore East Greenland between 70° and 72° N and on the west flank of the Kolbeinsey Ridge. The landstations were established using helicopters from RV POLARSTERN. Explosives, a 321 airgun and 81 airguns were used as seismic sources in the open sea. Gravity data were recorded in addition to the seismic measurements. A free-air gravity map is presented. The sea operations — shooting and OBS recording — were strongly influenced by varying ice conditions. Crustal structure 2-D models have been calculated from the deep seismic sounding results. Free-air gravity anomalies have been calculated from these models and compared to the observed gravity. In the inner Scoresby Sund — the Caledonian fold belt region — the crustal thickness is about 35 km, and thins seaward to 10 km. Sediments more than 10 km thick on Jameson Land are of mainly Mesozoic age. In the outer shelf region and deep sea a ‘Moho’ cannot clearly be identified by our data. There are only weak indications for the existence of a ‘Moho’ west of the Kolbeinsey Ridge. Inside and offshore Scoresby Sund there is clear evidence for a lower crust refractor characterised byp-velocities of 6.8–7.3 km s^?1 at depths between 6 and 10 km. We believe these velocities are related to magmatic processes of rifting and first drifting controlled by different scale mantle updoming during Paleocene to Eocene and Late Oligocene to Miocene times: the separation of Greenland/Norway and the separation of the Jan Mayen Ridge/Greenland, respectively. A thin igneous upper crust, interpreted to be of oceanic origin, begins about 50 km seaward of the Liverpool Land Escarpment and thickens oceanward. In the escarpment zone the crustal composition is not clear. Probably it is stretched and attenuated continental crust interspersed with basaltic intrusions. The great depth of the basement (about 5000 m) points to a high subsidence rate of about 0.25 mm yr^?1 due to sediment loading and cooling of the crust and upper mantle, mainly since Miocene time. The igneous upper crust thickens eastward under the Kolbeinsey Ridge to about 2.5 km; the thickening is likely caused by higher production of extrusives. The basementp-velocity of 5.8–6.0 km s^?1 is rather high. Such velocities are associated with young basalts and may also be caused by a higher percentage of dykes. Tertiary to recent sediments, about 5000 m thick, form most of the shelf east of Scoresby Sund, Liverpool Land and Kong Oscars Fjord. This points to a high sedimentation rate mainly since the Miocene. The deeper sediments have a rather high meanp-velocity of 4.5 km s^?1, perhaps due to pre-Cambrian to Caledonian deposits of continental origin. The upper sediments offshore Scoresby Sund are thick and have a rather low velocity. They are interpreted as eroded material transported from inside the Sund into the shelf region. Offshore Kong Oscars Fjord the upper sediments, likely Jurassic to Devonian deposits, are thin in the shelf region but thicken to more than 3000 m in the slope area. The crust and upper mantle structure in the ocean-continent transition zone is interpreted to be the result of the superposition of the activities of three rifting phases related to mantle plumes of different dimensions:

1. the ‘Greenland/Norway separation phase’ of high volcanic activity,
2. the ‘Jan Mayen Ridge/Greenland separation phase’ and
3. the ‘Kolbeinsey Ridge phase’ of ‘normal’ volcanic activity related to a more or less normal mantle temperature.

During period 2 and 3 only a few masses of extrusives were produced, but large volumes of intrusives were emplaced. So the margin between Scoresby Sund and Jan Mayen Fracture Zone is interpreted to be a stretched margin with low volcanic activity.     

Zur Genese der kretazischen Eisenerze von Auerbach (Oberpfalz)

Zusammenfassung Die kretazischen Auèrbacher Eisenerze sind in Erosionsrirmän in Malmkalk bzw. -dolomit überwiegend syngenetisch-sedimentär durch, Ausfällung von Fe⁺⁺-und HCO₃ -Ionen enthaltenden Lösungen als Siderit bzw. — nach Oxydation des Eisens - als Nadeleisenerz zur Ablagerung gelangt. Ein Teil der heute vorliegenden Nadeleisenerze ist auch auf spätere Oxydation von primärem Eisenkarbonat zurückzuführen. Wesentliche Hinweise auf die Genese geben — außerden Lagerungsverhältnissen — vor allem der geringe Aluminiumgehalt der hochprozentigen Erze und der hohe Kohlenstoffgehalt der Weißerze; daneben werden auch andere Elemente, wie Bor, Yttrium, Phosphor, Mangan, Titan usw. zur Dentung herangezogen.Den Herren der Maxhütte möchten wir für die Förderung der Arbeit und die Erlaubnis zur Veröffentlichung und Herrn Prof. Dr. C. W.,Correns für seine vielseitige Unterstützung aufrichtig danken, außerdem auch Herrn Prof. Dr. Tx. ERNST, in dessen Institut ein Teil der abschließenden Arbeiten durchgeführt wurde. Herrn Dr. H.Tilliviann (Bayer. Geol, Landesamts danken wir für zahlreiche, freundliche Hinweise und die Überlassung von Proben.     

Interference Testing for Atmospheric HOx Measurements by Laser-induced Fluorescence

Accurate OH and HO₂ (collectively called HO_x) measurements by laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) may be contaminated by spurious signals from interfering atmospheric chemicals or from the instrument itself. Interference tests must be conducted to ensure that observed OH signal originates solely from ambient OH and is not due to instrument artifacts. Several tests were performed on the Penn State LIF HO_x instrument, both in the laboratory and in the field. Theseincluded measurements of the instrument's zero signal by using either zero air or perfluoropropylene to remove OH, examination of spectral interferences from naphthalene, sulfur dioxide, and formaldehyde, and tests of interferences by addition of suspected interfering atmospheric chemicals, including ozone, hydrogen peroxide, nitrous acid, formaldehyde, nitric acid, acetone, and organic peroxy radicals (RO₂). All tests lacked evidence ofsignificant interferences for measurements in the atmosphere, including highly polluted urban environments.     

Geochemische Untersuchungen zur Genese der Strontianitlagerstätten des Münsterlandes

Strontianite in Münsterland occurs along with calcite and very little pyrite in discordant gangues in campan limestone and marl. Most investigators hold descent lateral secretion as the probable explanation for its existence. Determination of the strontium in the limestone and in the shell fragments of fossils proved that no change in the strontium content took place towards the gangue, no matter how far one goes, and that consequently a lateral secretion is to be excluded as a possible cause of this development in the deposit area.—The Sr containing solution was introduced from below. The possibilities of the origination of this solutions are discussed: The strontianite is very pure; it contains only 3–9% CaCO₃ (effecting a diminuation of x-ray diffraction data), a maximum of 0,02% BaCO₃, 0,005% MnCO₃ and 0,007% FeCO₃. Pb, Zn, Cu etc. are in the strontianite as well as in the whole gangue material in amounts, which cannot be detected through testing. This determination excludes the possibility, that barren residual liquors of hydrothermal ore veins are being dealt with. Otherwise, for example, traces of lead, copper etc. and a higher barium content would be expected. Deeper continuations of the hydrothermal ore veins cannot be traced. It is thought possible that brine containing strontium from the upper permian salt of Northern Germany led to the segregation of strontianite in the limestone banks. The succession of precipitation (1. calcite, 2. strontianite) is an argument for the transport of Sr in brine solutions. SrCO₃ in NaCl solution is more soluble than CaCO₃. It is contrary in pure water. The leaching of the strontium in permian salts is obviously a lateral secretion.