An Experimental Calibration on the Sphalerite-Galena Sulfur Isotope Geothermometer

A new experimental calibration was undertaken in this study to get a more reliable sphalerite-galena sulfur isotope geothermometer. The experimental conditions selected in study were very similar to those of natural hydrothermal solution. The high-precision SF6 method was used in sulfur isotope analyses. The obtained calibration curve for sulfur isotope fractionation between sphalerite and galena can be expressed with the equation 10001nαSp-Gn= 0.74×106T-2+0.08.     

Changchengite—A New Iridium Bismuthide-Sulphide from the Yanshan Mountains

Changchengite occurs in chromite orebodies in dunite and in platinum placer deposits in chromite orebodies nearby. The mineral occurs as massive aggregates or veinlets on margins of iridisite (IrS2) and replaces it. Opaque. Lustre metallic. Colour steel-black. Streak black. Hm = 3.7. VHN20= 165 kg/ mm2. Isotropic. Cleavage none. Density 11.96 g/ cm3. Seven electron microprobe analyses give the following mean chemical results (wt. %): S 7.2, Cu 0.3, Te 0.4, Ir 41.2, Pt 2.8 and Bi 47.3 with total 99.1. The simplified formula is IrBiS. The strongest X-ray powder diffraction lines (hkl, d, I) are 210, 2.75 (70); 211, 2.51 (60); 311, 1.860 (100); 440. 1.090 (50) and 600, 1.027 (50). The X-ray powder diffraction pattern is similar to that of mayingite. After the diffraction data are indexed the mineral is determined to be cubic. The space group is P213 with a = 0.6164(4) nm, V = 0.2342 nm3 and Z = 4.     

Subduction of Continental Crust in the Early Palaeozoic North Qaidam Ultrahigh-Pressure Metamorphic Belt, NW China:Evidence from the Discovery of Coesite in the Belt

Coesite was discovered as inclusions in zircon separates from pelitic gneiss associated with a large eclogite body in the North Qaidam ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane. Some graphite inclusions were also found. This finding suggested the occurrence of in-situ UHP metamorphism and that the terrane was most likely recrystallized at pressures below the diamond stability field. It supported other previous indirect UHP evidence, such as polycrystalline quartz inclusions in eclogitic garnet, quartz lamellae in omphacite and P-T estimates for both eclogite and garnet peridotite. The U-Pb and Sm-Nd ages of the North Qaidam eclogite indicated that subduction of continental crust occurred in the Early Palaeozoic, which probably recorded a collision between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze plates.     

On Continent-Continent Point-Collision and Ultrahigh-Pressure Metamorphism

Up to now it is known that almost all ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism of non-impact origin occurred in continent-continent collisional orogenic belt, as has been evidenced by many outcrops in the eastern hemisphere. UHP metamorphic rocks are represented by coesite- and diamond-bearing eclogites and eclogite facies metamorphic rocks formed at 650-800℃ and 2.6-3.5 GPa, and most of the protoliths of UHP rocks are volcanic-sedimentary sequences of continental crust. From these it may be deduced that deep subduction of continental crust may have occurred. However, UHP rocks are exposed on the surface or occur near the surface now, which implies that they have been exhumed from great depths. The mechanism of deep subduction of continental crust and subsequent exhumation has been a hot topic of the research on continental dynamics, but there are divergent views. The focus of the dispute is how deep continental crust is subducted so that UHP rocks can be formed and what mechanism causes it to be subducte     

Early Carboniferous Radiolarian Fauna from Heiyingshan South of the Tianshan Mountains and Its Geotectonic Significance

Abundant and well-preserved fossil radiolarians found from the Artencasher Formation, Heiyingshan of Baicheng County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, are identified, including 15 species and 2 unnamed species in 9 genera. The fauna is dominated by the Family Entactiniidae of Spumellaria. According to the faunal characteristics, the radiolarians may be divided into five assemblages, namely, the Triaenosphaera sicarius, Entatinosphaera palimbola, Entactinia vulgaris, Belowea cf. variabilis and Archocyrtium sp assemblages. The fauna may be correlated with that from the Early Carboniferous of Frankenwald and Rein in Germany. Thus, ophiolite was formed in the Carboniferous, while the age of collision between the Ili plate and the Tarim plate is Early Carboniferous.     

A Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur with Opisthocoelous Caudal Vertebrae from the Early Late Cretaceous of Liaoning Province, China

We describe a new titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur, Borealosaurus wimani gen. et sp. nov., based on a distinctive mid-distal caudal vertebra from the early Late Cretaceous Sunjiawan Formation exposed in the Shuangmiao village of Beipiao in Liaoning, China. We provisionally refer an isolated tooth crown, a middle caudal vertebra, and a right humerus from the same locality and horizon to this taxon. Borealosaurus is distinguished from other sauropods in its possession of opisthocoelous mid-distal caudal vertebrae. The occurrence of opisthocoelous caudals in Borealosaurus and the Mongolian sauropod Opisthocoelicaudia raises the possibility that these taxa pertain to an as-yet unrecognized titanosaurian subclade endemic to the Cretaceous Asia.     

Helium, Argon, and Xenon Isotopic Compositions of Ore-formingFluids in Jinding-Baiyangping Polymetallic Deposits,Yunnan, Southwest China

The Jinding superlarge lead and zinc deposit has attracted the attention of geologists of the world and its metallogenesis has long been in dispute. This paper takes the Jinding deposit and the Baiyangping Cu-Ag-Co deposit which was recently found at about 30 km north of Jinding as one ore belt, and, based on researches on the helium, argon, and xenon isotopic compositions of primary inclusions in ore-forming solutions of the main stage, the authors have found that the 3He/4He ratio of the ore-forming fluid is 2.7′ 10- 6 (varying from 0.19 to 1.97 Ra), the 4He/40Ar ratio (0.24- 3.12) is close to the mantle characteristic ratio, and the xenon isotopic composition and evolution show characters of the mantle xenon. The above results reveal the characteristics of mantle source and crust-mantle fluid mixing (mantle helium reaching 32%) and the metallogenic contributions of the deep processes in the Jinding-Baiyangping ore belt.     

Ordovician Intrusive-related Gold-Copper Mineralization in West-Central New South Wales, Australia

Three major types of Ordovician intrusive-related gold-copper deposits are recognized in central-west New South Wales, Australia: porphyry, skarn and high sulphidation epithermal deposits. These deposits are mainly distributed within two Ordovician volcano-intrusive belts of the Lachlan Fold Belt: the Orange-Wellington Belt and the Parkes-Narromine Belt. Available isotopic age data suggest that mineralization of the three types of deposits is essentially coeval with the Ordovician intrusive rocks (480-430 Ma).Porphyry gold-copper deposits can be further divided into two groups. The first group is associated with monzonite showing shoshonitic features, represented by Cadia and Goonumbla. The second group is associated with diorite and dacite, including the Copper Hill and Cargo gold-copper deposits. Gold skarn is associated with Late Ordovician (430-439 Ma) monzonitic intrusive complexes in the Junction Reefs area (Sheahan-Grants, Frenchmans, and Cor-nishmens), Endeavour 6, 7 and 44, Big and Little Cadia     

Quaternary Climate and Environment in the Lop Nur, Xinjiang

Since the middle Early Pleistocene (1.20 Ma B.P.), the desert steppe climate and environment have predominated in the Lop Nur area, Xinjiang, characterized by warm humid epochs interrupted by dry cold intervals. The grain-size and magnetic susceptibility curves record 30 climatic oscillations, each with a ca. 40 ka cycle, in the area since 1.2 Ma B.P., which reflects the controlling effects exerted by the astronomic factor on the environment. The Quaternary sedimentary environment in the Lop Nur gradually changed from a fresh lake through a brackish lake to a saline lake, showing a spiral evolution, and finally it evolved into a playa.     

Contrast in Fluid M etallogeny between the Tianmashan Au-S Deposit and the Datuanshan Cu Deposit in Tongling, Anhui Province

A comprehensive contrast of ore-forming geological background and ore-forming fluid features, especially fluid ore-forming processes, has been performed between the Tianmashan and the Datuanshan ore deposits in Tongling, Anhui Province. The major reasons for the formation of the stratabound skarn Au-S ore deposit in Tianmashan and the stratabound skarn Cu ore deposit in Datuanshan are analyzed in accordance with this contrast. The magmatic pluton in Tianmashan is rich in Au and poor in Cu, but that in Datuanshan is rich in Cu and Au. The wallrock strata in Tianmashan contain Au-bearing pyrite layers with some organic substance but those in Datuanshan contain no such layers. Moreover, the ore-forming fluids in Tianmashan are dominantly magmatic ones at the oxide and sulfide stages, but those with high content of Cu in Datuanshan are mainly groundwater fluids. In addition, differences in compositional evolution and physicochemical condition variation of the ore-forming fluids result in gradual dispersion