Bulk Composition (bulk + composition)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COLORATION AND THE FIRING TECHNOLOGY USED TO PRODUCE SUSA GLAZED CERAMICS OF THE END OF THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD*

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 5 2009
S. LAHLIL
Ancient decorated potteries from Susa (Mesopotamia) dating from 4200 to 3700 bc, were studied in order to determine the origin and the nature of the raw materials used, and to identify the technological processes applied to make the ceramic bodies and their decorations. Bulk compositions were determined by particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), while the microstructure and the mineralogical phases were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analyses (EDX) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the raw materials used to elaborate these potteries were similar for all the ceramic bodies (carbonates and iron and magnesium-rich clays containing sand), and for all the decorations (iron oxides, silica, potassic and alumina sources). The variations of coloration of the ceramics and of their decorations were due to different firing temperatures. The ranges of firing temperatures used by potters were evaluated on the basis of mineral stability domains. [source]


A thermodynamic analysis of the anaerobic oxidation of methane in marine sediments

GEOBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2008
D. E. LAROWE
ABSTRACT Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in anoxic marine sediments is a significant process in the global methane cycle, yet little is known about the role of bulk composition, temperature and pressure on the overall energetics of this process. To better understand the biogeochemistry of AOM, we have calculated and compared the energetics of a number of candidate reactions that microorganisms catalyse during the anaerobic oxidation of methane in (i) a coastal lagoon (Cape Lookout Bight, USA), (ii) the deep Black Sea, and (iii) a deep-sea hydrothermal system (Guaymas basin, Gulf of California). Depending on the metabolic pathway and the environment considered, the amount of energy available to the microorganisms varies from 0 to 184 kJ mol,1. At each site, the reactions in which methane is either oxidized to , acetate or formate are generally only favoured under a narrow range of pressure, temperature and solution composition , particularly under low (10,10 m) hydrogen concentrations. In contrast, the reactions involving sulfate reduction with H2, formate and acetate as electron donors are nearly always thermodynamically favoured. Furthermore, the energetics of ATP synthesis was quantified per mole of methane oxidized. Depending on depth, between 0.4 and 0.6 mol of ATP (mol CH4),1 was produced in the Black Sea sediments. The largest potential productivity of 0.7 mol of ATP (mol CH4),1 was calculated for Guaymas Basin, while the lowest values were predicted at Cape Lookout Bight. The approach used in this study leads to a better understanding of the environmental controls on the energetics of AOM. [source]


P,T,X controls on phase stability and composition in LTMP metabasite rocks , a thermodynamic evaluation

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 5 2010
G. PHILLIPS
Abstract The stability of pumpellyite + actinolite or riebeckite + epidote + hematite (with chlorite, albite, titanite, quartz and H2O in excess) mineral assemblages in LTMP metabasite rocks is strongly dependent on bulk composition. By using a thermodynamic approach (THERMOCALC), the importance of CaO and Fe2O3 bulk contents on the stability of these phases is illustrated using P,T and P,X phase diagrams. This approach allowed P,T conditions of ,4.0 kbar and ,260 °C to be calculated for the growth of pumpellyite + actinolite or riebeckite + epidote + hematite assemblages in rocks containing variable bulk CaO and Fe2O3 contents. These rocks form part of an accretionary wedge that developed along the east Australian margin during the Carboniferous,Triassic New England Orogen. P,T and P,X diagrams show that sodic amphibole, epidote and hematite will grow at these conditions in Fe2O3 -saturated (6.16 wt%) metabasic rocks, whereas actinolite and pumpellyite will be stable in CaO-rich (10.30 wt%) rocks. With intermediate Fe2O3 (,3.50 wt%) and CaO (,8.30 wt%) contents, sodic amphibole, actinolite and epidote can coexist at these P,T conditions. For Fe2O3 -saturated rocks, compositional isopleths for sodic amphibole (Al3+ and Fe3+ on the M2 site), epidote (Fe3+/Fe3+ + Al3+) and chlorite (Fe2+/Fe2+ + Mg) were calculated to evaluate the efficiency of these cation exchanges as thermobarometers in LTMP metabasic rocks. Based on these calculations, it is shown that Al3+ in sodic amphibole and epidote is an excellent barometer in chlorite, albite, hematite, quartz and titanite buffered assemblages. The effectiveness of these barometers decreases with the breakdown of albite. In higher- P stability fields where albite is absent, Fe2+ -Mg ratios in chlorite may be dependent on pressure. The Fe3+/Al and Fe2+/Mg ratios in epidote and chlorite are reliable thermometers in actinolite, epidote, chlorite, albite, quartz, hematite and titanite buffered assemblages. [source]


Partial melting of metagreywacke: a calculated mineral equilibria study

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 8 2008
T. E. JOHNSON
Abstract Greywacke occurs in most regionally metamorphosed orogenic terranes, with depositional ages from Archean to recent. It is commonly the dominant siliciclastic rock type, many times more abundant than pelite. Using calculated pseudosections in the Na2O,CaO,K2O,FeO,MgO,Al2O3,SiO2,H2O,TiO2,O system, the partial melting of metagreywacke is investigated using several natural protolith compositions that reflect the main observed compositional variations. At conditions appropriate for regional metamorphism at mid-crustal depths (6,8 kbar), high- T subsolidus assemblages are dominated by quartz, plagioclase and biotite with minor garnet, orthoamphibole, sillimanite, muscovite and/or K-feldspar (±Fe,Ti oxides). Modelled solidus temperatures are dependent on bulk composition and vary from 640 to 690 °C. Assuming minimal melting at the H2O-saturated solidus, initial prograde anatexis at temperatures up to ,800 °C is characterized by very low melt productivity. Significant melt production in commonly occurring (intermediate) metagreywacke compositions is controlled by the breakdown of biotite and production of orthopyroxene (±K-feldspar) across multivariant fields until biotite is exhausted at 850,900 °C. Assuming some melt is retained in the source, then at temperatures beyond that of biotite stability, melt production occurs via the consumption of plagioclase, quartz and any remaining K-feldspar as the melt becomes progressively more Ca-rich and H2O-undersaturated. Melt productivity with increasing temperature across the melting interval in metagreywacke is generally gradational when compared to metapelite, which is characterized by more step-like melt production. Comparison of the calculated phase relations with experimental data shows good consistency once the latter are considered in terms of the variance of the equilibria involved. Calculations on the presumed protolith compositions of residual granulite facies metagreywacke from the Archean Ashuanipi subprovince (Quebec) show good agreement with observed phase relations. The degree of melt production and subsequent melt loss is consistent with the previously inferred petrogenesis based on geochemical mass balance. The results show that, for temperatures above 850 °C, metagreywacke is sufficiently fertile to produce large volumes of melt, the separation from source and ascent of which may result in large-scale crustal differentiation if metagreywacke is abundant. [source]


Petrogenesis of lawsonite and epidote eclogite and blueschist, Sivrihisar Massif, Turkey

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 9 2006
P. B. DAVIS
Abstract The Sivrihisar Massif, Turkey, is comprised of blueschist and eclogite facies metasedimentary and metabasaltic rocks. Abundant metre- to centimetre-scale eclogite pods occur in blueschist facies metabasalt, marble and quartz-rich rocks. Sivrihisar eclogite contains omphacite + garnet + phengite + rutile ± glaucophane ± quartz + lawsonite and/or epidote. Blueschists contain sodic amphibole + garnet + phengite + lawsonite and/or epidote ± omphacite ± quartz. Sivrihisar eclogite and blueschist have similar bulk composition, equivalent to NMORB, but record different P,T conditions: ,26 kbar, 500 °C (lawsonite eclogite); 18 kbar, 600 °C (epidote eclogite); 12 kbar, 380 °C (lawsonite blueschist); and 15,16 kbar, 480,500 °C (lawsonite-epidote blueschist). Pressures for the Sivrihisar lawsonite eclogite are among the highest reported for this rock type, which is rarely exposed at the Earth's surface. The distribution and textures of lawsonite ± epidote define P,T conditions and paths. For example, in some lawsonite-bearing rocks, epidote inclusions in garnet and partial replacement of matrix epidote by lawsonite suggest an anticlockwise P,T path. Other rocks contain no epidote as inclusions or as a matrix phase, and were metamorphosed entirely within the lawsonite stability field. Results of the P,T study and mapping of the distribution of blueschists and eclogites in the massif suggest that rocks recording different maximum P,T conditions were tectonically juxtaposed as kilometre-scale slices and associated high- P pods, although all shared the same exhumation path from ,9,11 kbar, 300,400 °C. Within the tectonic slices, alternating millimetre,centimetre-scale layers of eclogite and blueschist formed together at the same P,T conditions but represent different extents of prograde reaction controlled by strain partitioning or local variations in fO2 or other chemical factors. [source]


Calculated phase equilibria in K2O-FeO-MgO-Al2O3 -SiO2 -H2O for silica-undersaturated sapphirine-bearing mineral assemblages

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 4 2005
D. E. KELSEY
Abstract Silica-undersaturated, sapphirine-bearing granulites occur in a large number of localities worldwide. Such rocks have historically been under-utilized for estimating P,T evolution histories because of limited experimental work, and a consequent poor understanding of the topology and P,T location of silica-undersaturated mineral equilibria. Here, a calculated P,T projection for sapphirine-bearing, silica-undersaturated metapelitic rock compositions is constructed using THERMOCALC for the FeO-MgO-Al2O3 -SiO2 (FMAS) and KFMASH (+K2O + H2O) chemical systems, allowing quantitative analysis of silica-undersaturated mineral assemblages. This study builds on that for KFMASH sapphirine + quartz equilibria [Kelsey et al. (2004) Journal of Metamorphic Geology, vol. 22, pp. 559,578]. FMAS equilibria are significantly displaced in P,T space from silicate melt-bearing KFMASH equilibria. The large number of univariant silica-undersaturated KFMASH equilibria result in a P,T projection that is topologically more complex than could be established on the basis of experiments and/or natural assemblages. Coexisting sapphirine and silicate melt (with or without corundum) occur down to c. 900 °C in KFMASH, some 100 °C lower than in silica-saturated compositions, and from pressures of c.,1 to ,12 kbar. Mineral compositions and composition ranges for the calculated phases are consistent with natural examples. Bulk silica has a significant effect on the stability of sapphirine-bearing assemblages at a given P,T, resulting in a wide variety of possible granulite facies assemblages in silica-undersaturated metapelites. Calculated pseudosections are able to reproduce many naturally occurring silica-undersaturated assemblages, either within a single assemblage field or as the product of a P,T trajectory crossing several fields. With an understanding of the importance of bulk composition on sapphirine stability and textural development, silica-undersaturated assemblages may be utilized in a quantitative manner in the detailed metamorphic investigation of high-grade terranes. [source]


Pro- and retrograde P,T evolution of granulites of the Beit Bridge Complex (Limpopo Belt, South Africa): constraints from quantitative phase diagrams and geotectonic implications

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2004
A. Zeh
Abstract Interpretations based on quantitative phase diagrams in the system CaO,Na2O,K2O,TiO2,MnO,FeO,MgO,Al2O3,SiO2,H2O indicate that mineral assemblages, zonations and microstructures observed in migmatitic rocks from the Beit Bridge Complex (Messina area, Limpopo Belt) formed along a clockwise P,T path. That path displays a prograde P,T increase from 600 °C/7.0 kbar to 780 °C/9,10 kbar (pressure peak) and 820 °C/8 kbar (thermal peak), followed by a P,T decrease to 600 °C/4 kbar. The data used to construct the P,T path were derived from three samples of migmatitic gneiss from a restricted area, each of which has a distinct bulk composition: (1) a K, Al-rich garnet,biotite,cordierite,sillimanite,K-feldspar,plagioclase,quartz,graphite gneiss (2) a K-poor, Al-rich garnet,biotite,staurolite,cordierite,kyanite,sillimanite,plagioclase,quartz,rutile gneiss, and (3) a K, Al-poor, Fe-rich garnet,orthopyroxene,biotite,chlorite,plagioclase,quartz,rutile,ilmenite gneiss. Preservation of continuous prograde garnet growth zonation demonstrates that the pro- and retrograde P,T evolution of the gneisses must have been rapid, occurring during a single orogenic cycle. These petrological findings in combination with existing geochronological and structural data show that granulite facies metamorphism of the Beit Bridge metasedimentary rocks resulted from an orogenic event during the Palaeoproterozoic (c. 2.0 Ga), caused by oblique collision between the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe Cratons. Abbreviations follow Kretz (1983). [source]


Orthopyroxene,sillimanite,quartz assemblages: distribution, petrology, quantitative P,T,X constraints and P,T paths

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 5 2003
D. E. Kelsey
Abstract Granulite facies magnesian metapelites commonly preserve a wide array of mineral assemblages and reaction textures that are useful for deciphering the metamorphic evolution of a terrane. Quantitative pressure, temperature and bulk composition constraints on the development and preservation of characteristic peak granulite facies mineral assemblages such as orthopyroxene + sillimanite + quartz are assessed with reference to calculated phase diagrams. In NCKFMASH and its chemical subsystems, peak assemblages form mainly in high-variance fields, and most mineral assemblage changes reflect multivariant equilibria. The rarity of orthopyroxene,sillimanite,quartz-bearing assemblages in granulite facies rocks reflects the need for bulk rock XMg of greater than approximately 0.60,0.65, with pressures and temperatures exceeding c. 8 kbar and 850 °C, respectively. Cordierite coronas mantling peak minerals such as orthopyroxene, sillimanite and quartz have historically been used to infer isothermal decompression P,T paths in ultrahigh-temperature granulite facies terranes. However, a potentially wide range of P,T paths from a given peak metamorphic condition facilitate retrograde cordierite growth after orthopyroxene + sillimanite + quartz, indicating that an individual mineral reaction texture is unable to uniquely define a P,T vector. Therefore, the interpretation of P,T paths in high-grade rocks as isothermal decompression or isobaric cooling may be overly simplistic. Integration of quantitative data from different mineral reaction textures in rocks with varying bulk composition will provide the strongest constraints on a P,T path, and in turn on tectonic models derived from these paths. [source]


Chemical and physical responses to deformation in micaceous quartzites from the Tauern Window, Eastern Alps

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 4 2003
J. Selverstone
Abstract Micaceous quartzites from a subvertical shear zone in the Tauern Window contain abundant quartz clasts derived from dismembered quartz-tourmaline veins. Bulk plane strain deformation affected these rocks at amphibolite facies conditions. Shape changes suggest net shortening of the clasts by 11,64%, with a mean value of 35%. Quartz within the clasts accommodated this strain largely via dislocation creep processes. On the high-stress flanks of the clasts, however, quartz was removed via solution mass transfer (pressure solution) processes; the resulting change in bulk composition allowed growth of porphyroblastic staurolite + chlorite ± kyanite on the clast flanks. Matrix SiO2 contents decrease from c. 83 wt% away from the clasts to 49,58% in the selvages on the clast flanks. The chemical changes are consistent with c. 70% volume loss in the high-stress zones. Calculated shortening values within the clast flanks are similar to the volume-loss estimates, and are greatly in excess of the shortening values calculated from the clasts themselves. Flow laws for dislocation creep versus pressure solution imply large strain-rate gradients and/or differential stress gradients between the matrix and the clast selvages. In a rock containing a large proportion of semirigid clasts, weakening within the clast flanks could dominate rock rheology. In our samples, however, weakening within the selvages was self limiting: (1) growth of strong staurolite porphyroblasts in the selvages protected remaining quartz from dissolution; and (2) overall flattening of the quartz clasts probably decreased the resolved shear stress on the flanks to values near those of the matrix, which would have reduced the driving force for solution-transfer creep. Extreme chemical changes nonetheless occurred over short distances. The necessity of maintaining strain compatibility may lead to significant localized dissolution in rocks containing rheologic heterogeneities, and overall weakening of the rocks may result. Solution-transfer creep may be a major process whereby weakening and strain localization occur during deep-crustal metamorphism of polymineralic rocks. [source]


Isograds and P,T evolution in the eastern Lepontine Alps (Graubünden, Switzerland)

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 3 2002
T. Nagel
Abstract Reactions producing Al-rich index minerals in the south-eastern part of the Lepontine Dome (Central Alps, Switzerland) are investigated using mineral distribution maps, microstructural observations and equilibrium phase diagrams. The apparent staurolite mineral zone boundary corresponds to the paragonite breakdown reaction Pg + Grt + Qtz = Pl + Al2O3 + W. Equilibrium phase diagrams show that most natural metapelites do not contain staurolite or alumosilicates as long as univalent cations are predominantly accommodated in white mica. For a wide range of metapelitic compositions the paragonite breakdown releases sufficient Al for the formation of these minerals. Rare occurrences of staurolite and kyanite, north of the formerly mapped mineral zone boundaries, coexist with paragonite and are restricted to extremely Al-rich bulk compositions. The stable branch of the kyanite-forming paragonite breakdown reaction above 660 °C yields an additional mapable isograd. The second set of Al-releasing reactions is biotite-producing phengite breakdown. However, these reactions are less suitable to produce well defined reaction isograds in the field as they are more continuous and their progress is strongly dependent on bulk composition. Well developed fibrolite in metapelites does not appear until staurolite starts to breakdown. We conclude that amphibolite facies conditions in the study area were attained by decompression, without substantial heating at low pressures. [source]


The structural organization in aqueous solutions of ionic liquids

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2009
Xiao Zhu
Abstract The 1H NMR combined with the local composition (LC) model has been employed to investigate the structural organization of two aqueous solutions of ionic liquids (ILs), namely 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EmimBF4) and n-butylammonium nitrate (N4NO3). The correlation of chemical shifts using the LC model shows that the self-association of IL plays the leading role, and water prefers to interact with IL rather than self-association in IL-rich region. Instead the network of water molecules is established in water-rich region, because the self-association of water predominates. Furthermore, the difference between the local and the bulk composition presents the turnover at x(IL) (mole fraction of IL) close to 0.6 for EmimBF4/water, which is in accordance with the change of excess function. Accordingly, it could be presumed that the excess properties for N4NO3/water system should behave turnover at x(IL) , 0.55 since the local and the bulk exhibit maximal difference at this composition. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source]


A solid-state NMR investigation of the structure of nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN CHEMISTRY, Issue 6 2006
Christian Jäger
Abstract Nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (HAp) prepared by a precipitation route was investigated. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) powder patterns of the elongated nanocrystals with a typical diameter of about 10 nm and length of 30,50 nm (by transmission electron microscopy (TEM)) revealed the presence of HAp with significantly broadened XRD reflections. However, Ca deficiency was found, as the Ca/P ratio was 1.5 only (so-called calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA)), and not 1.67. This Ca deficiency of nanocrystalline HAp is explained using NMR. It is shown unambiguously that (i) the nanocrystals consist of a crystalline core and a (disordered) surface region with a relative phosphate content of about 1:1, (ii) the crystalline core is HAp, and (iii) the surface region is dominated by hydrogen phosphate anions (with no hydroxyapatite-like structural motif) and structural water (hydrate). From the relative phosphate content and taking into account the crystal shape, the thickness of the surface layer along the main crystal axis could be estimated to be about 1 nm, and the average chemical composition of the surface layer has been determined. Finally, a Ca/P ratio of 1.52 was estimated from the NMR data that compares well with the value of 1.51 from chemical analysis. The important consequences are that the surface of nanocrystalline HAp has nothing in common with the bulk composition and that the chemistry of such materials (e.g. the binding of protein molecules to phosphate surfaces) must be reconsidered. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Valence state partitioning of V between pyroxene-melt: Effects of pyroxene and melt composition, and direct determination of V valence states by XANES.

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 8 2008
Application to Martian basalt QUE 94201 composition
This increase is due to the increased availability of elements for coupled substitution with the V3+ or V4+ ions, namely A1 and Na. For this bulk composition, both A1 and Na are higher in concentration in augite compared with pigeonite; therefore more V can enter augite than pigeonite. Direct valence state determination by XANES shows that the V3+ and V4+ are the main V species in the melt at fO2 conditions of IW-1 to IW+3.5, whereas pyroxene grains at IW-1, IW, and IW+1 contain mostly V3+. This confirms the idea that V3+ is more compatible in pyroxene than V4+. The XANES data also indicates that a small percentage of V2+ may exist in melt and pyroxene at IW-1. The similar valence of V in glass and pyroxene at IW-1 suggests that V2+ and V3+ may have similar compatibilities in pyroxene. [source]


TOF-SIMS analysis of cometary matter in Stardust aerogel tracks

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 1-2 2008
Thomas Stephan
While single grains >1 ,m are highly variable in their chemical composition, nanometer-scale material found in the wall of one track has within a factor of 1.22 bulk CI chondritic element ratios relative to Fe for Na, Mg, A1, Ti, Cr, Mn, and Co. Compared to CI, a depletion in Ca by a factor of four and an enrichment in Ni by a factor of two was observed. These results seem to confirm recent reports of a CI-like bulk composition of Wild 2. The analysis of organic compounds in aerogel samples is complicated by the presence of contaminants in the capture medium. However, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that could possibly be attributed to the comet were observed. [source]


A petrological, mineralogical, and chemical analysis of the lunar mare basalt meteorite LaPaz Icefield 02205, 02224, and 02226

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 7 2006
Katherine H. Joy
They consist mainly of zoned pyroxene and plagioclase grains, with minor ilmenite, spinel, and mesostasis regions. Large, possibly xenocrystic, forsteritic olivine grains (<3% by mode) contain small trapped multiphase melt inclusions. Accessory mineral and mesostasis composition shows that the samples have experienced residual melt crystallization with silica oversaturation and late-stage liquid immiscibility. Our section of LAP 02224 has a vesicular fusion crust, implying that it was at one time located sufficiently close to the lunar surface environment to have accumulated solar-wind-implanted gases. The stones have a comparable major element composition and petrography to low-Ti, low-Al basalts collected at the Apollos 12 and 15 landing sites. However, the LAP stones also have an enriched REE bulk composition and are more ferroan (Mg numbers in the range of 31 to 35) than similar Apollo samples, suggesting that they represent members of a previously unsampled fractionated mare basalt suite that crystallized from a relatively evolved lunar melt. [source]


Microstructural study of micron-sized craters simulating Stardust impacts in aluminum 1100 targets

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 2 2006
Hugues Leroux
First, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were used to study the morphology of the impact craters and the bulk composition of the residues left by soda-lime glass impactors. A more detailed structural and compositional study of impactor remnants was then performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), EDS, and electron diffraction methods. The TEM samples were prepared by focused ion beam (FIB) methods. This technique proved to be especially valuable in studying impact crater residues and impact crater morphology. Finally, we also showed that infrared microscopy (IR) can be a quick and reliable tool for such investigations. The combination of all of these tools enables a complete microscopic characterization of the craters. [source]


Northwest Africa 011: A "eucritic" basalt from a non-eucrite parent body

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 3 2005
Christine Floss
This meteorite bears many similarities to the eucrites it was initially identified with, although oxygen isotopic compositions rule out a genetic relationship. Like many eucrites, NWA 011 crystallized from a source with approximately chondritic proportions of REE, although a slightly LREE-enriched bulk composition with a small positive Eu anomaly, as well as highly fractionated Fe/Mg ratios and depleted Sc abundances (Korotchantseva et al. 2003), suggest that the NWA 011 source experienced some pyroxene and/or olivine fractionation. Thermal metamorphism resulted in homogenization of REE abundances within grains, but NWA 011 did not experience the intergrain REE redistribution seen in some highly metamorphosed eucrites. Despite a similarity in oxygen isotopic compositions, NWA 011 does not represent a basaltic partial melt from the acapulcoite/lodranite parent body. The material from which NWA 011 originated may have been like some CH or CB chondrites, members of the CR chondrite clan, which are all related through oxygen isotopic compositions. The NWA 011 parent body is probably of asteroidal origin, possibly the basaltic asteroid 1459 Magnya. [source]


Searching for the source regions of martian meteorites using MGS TES: Integrating martian meteorites into the global distribution of igneous materials on Mars

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 6 2003
Victoria E. HAMILTON
We deconvolved the TES data set using laboratory spectra of 6 martian meteorites (Los Angeles, Zagami, ALH A77005, Nakhla, ALH 84001, and Chassigny) as end members, along with atmospheric and surface spectra previously derived from TES data. Global maps (16 pixels/degree) of the distribution of each meteorite end member show that meteorite-like compositions are not present at or above TES detectability limits over most of the planet's dust-free regions. However, we have confidently identified local-scale (100s-1000s km2) concentrations of olivine- and orthopyroxene-bearing materials similar to ALH A77005, Chassigny, and ALH 84001 in Nili Fossae, in and near Ganges Chasma, in the Argyre and Hellas basin rims, and in Eos Chasma. Nakhla-like materials are identified near the detection limit throughout the eastern Valles Marineris region and portions of Syrtis Major. Basaltic shergottites were not detected in any spatially coherent areas at the scale of this study. Martian meteorite-like lithologies represent only a minor portion of the dust-free surface and, thus, are not representative of the bulk composition of the ancient crust. Meteorite-like spectral signatures identified above TES detectability limits in more spatially restricted areas ([source]


Magmatic evolution of the Mantos Blancos copper deposit, Coastal Range of northern Chile: insight from Sr,Nd isotope, geochemical data and silicate melt inclusions

RESOURCE GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2008
Luis E. Ramírez
Abstract The Mantos Blancos copper deposit (500 Mt at 1.0% Cu) was affected by two superimposed hydrothermal events: (i) phyllic alteration related to a rhyolitic dome emplacement and brecciation at ca 155 Ma; and (ii) potassic, sodic and propylitic alteration at ca 142 Ma, coeval with stocks and sills emplacement of dioritic and granodioritic porphyries, that locally grade upwards into polymictic magmatic hydrothermal breccias. Major hypogene copper sulfide mineralization is related to the second event. A late-ore mafic dike swarm cross-cuts all rocks in the deposit. Two types of granodioritic porphyries can be distinguished from petrographic observations and geochemical data: granodiorite porphyry I (GP I) and granodiorite porphyry II (GP II), which resulted from two different trends of magmatic evolution. The concave shape of the rare earth element (REE) distribution pattern together with the weak or absence of negative Eu anomalies in mafic dikes, dioritic and GP I porphyries, suggest hornblende-dominated fractionation for this magmatic suite. In contrast, distinct negative Eu anomalies and the flat REE patterns suggest plagioclase-dominated fractionation, at low oxygen fugacity, for the GP II porphyry suite. But shallow mixing and mingling between silicic and dioritic melts are also likely for the formation of the GP II and polymictic breccias, respectively. Sr-Nd isotopic compositions suggest that the rhyolitic dome rocks were generated from a dominantly crustal source, while the GP I has mantle affinity. The composition of melt inclusions (MI) in quartz crystals from the rhyolitic dome is similar to the bulk composition of their host rock. The MI analyzed in quartz from GP II and in the polymictic magmatic hydrothermal breccia of the deposit are compositionally more evolved than their host rocks. Field, geochemical and petrographic data provided here point to dioritic and siliceous melt interaction as an inducing mechanism for the release of hydrothermal fluids to form the Cu mineralization. [source]


MINERALOGY OF MEDIEVAL SLAGS FROM LEAD AND SILVER SMELTING (BOHUTÍN, P,ÍBRAM DISTRICT, CZECH REPUBLIC): TOWARDS ESTIMATION OF HISTORICAL SMELTING CONDITIONS*

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 6 2009
V. ETTLER
Slags from the Pb/Ag medieval (14th century) smelting plant located at Bohutín, P,íbram district, Czech Republic, were studied from the mineralogical and geochemical points of view. Two types of slags were distinguished: (i) quenched slags formed mainly by Pb-rich glass and unmelted residual grains of SiO2 and feldspars, and (ii) crystallized slags mainly composed of Fe-rich olivine (fayalite) and glass. The mean log viscosity value of the slags calculated for 1200°C was 2.119 Pa s. The morphology of olivine crystals was used to estimate the cooling rates of the melt, for some slags indicating rates > 1450°C/h. The projection of the bulk composition of slags onto the SiO2,PbO,FeO ternary system was used for rough temperature estimates of slag formation, lying probably between 800 and 1200°C. [source]


A Petrographic and Mineralogical Study of Volcanic Rocks from the Mayaxueshan Area, North Qilian Fold Belt, NW China

ACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 1 2002
HSU Ta-Wei
Abstract, The Ordovician volcanic rocks in the Mayaxueshan area have been pervasively altered or metamorphosed and contain abundant secondary minerals such as albite, chlorite, epidote, prehnite, pumpellyite, actinolite, titanite, quartz, and/or calcite. They were denoted as spilites or spilitic rocks in terms of their petrographic features and mineral assemblages. The metamorphic grades of the volcanic rocks are equivalent to that of the intercalated metaclastic rocks. This indicates that both the spilitic volcanic rocks and metaclastic rocks in the Mayaxueshan area have formed as a result of Caledonian regional metamorphism. We suggest that the previously denoted spilitic rocks or altered volcanic rocks should be re-denoted as metabasalts or metabasaltic rocks. The metamorphic grade of the volcanic rocks increases with their age: prehnite-pumpellyite facies for the upper part of the Middle Ordovician volcanic rocks, prehnite-pumpellyite to lower greenschist facies for the lower part of the Middle Ordovician volcanic rocks, and lower greenschist facies for the Lower Ordovician volcanic rocks. The P-T conditions are estimated as T = 240 , 290°C and P = 1.5 , 4.5 kbar for the lower part of the Middle Ordovician rocks, and T = , 300°C for the Lower Ordovician rocks. The variations of mineral assemblages occurring at different domains of the volcanic rocks were controlled by the variations of the effective bulk composition in those domains during metamorphism. The geochemical characteristics of Mg-Al chromite in the Mayaxueshan volcanic rocks are consistent with an origin of island arc environment. [source]


Garnet,chloritoid,kyanite assemblages: eclogite facies indicators of subduction constraints in orogenic belts

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 7 2010
A. J. SMYE
Abstract The assemblage garnet,chloritoid,kyanite is shown to be quite common in high-pressure eclogite facies metapelites from orogenic belts around the world, and occurs over a narrowly restricted range of temperature ,550,600 °C, between 20 and 25 kbar. This assemblage is favoured particularly by large Al2O3:K2O ratios allowing the development of kyanite in addition to garnet and chloritoid. Additionally, ferric iron and manganese also help stabilize chloritoid in this assemblage. Pseudosections for several bulk compositions illustrate these high-pressure assemblages, and a new thermodynamic model for white mica to include calcium and ferric iron was required to complete the calculations. It is extraordinary that so many orogenic eclogite facies rocks, both mafic eclogites sensu stricto as well as metapelites with the above assemblage, all yield temperatures within the range of 520,600 °C and peak pressures ,23±3 kbar. Subduction of oceanic crust and its entrained associated sedimentary material must involve the top of the slab, where mafic and pelitic rocks may easily coexist, passing through these P,T conditions, such that rocks, if they proceed to further depths, are generally not returned to the surface. This, together with the tightly constrained range in peak temperatures which such eclogites experience, suggests thermal weakening being a major control on the depths at which crustal material is decoupled from the downgoing slab. [source]


Petrogenetic modelling of strongly residual metapelitic xenoliths within the southern Platreef, Bushveld Complex, South Africa

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
T. E. JOHNSON
Abstract Xenoliths of quartz-absent Fe-rich aluminous metapelite are common within the platinum group element-rich mafic/ultramafic magmatic rocks of the Platreef. Relative to well-characterized protoliths, the xenoliths are strongly depleted in K2O and H2O, and have lost a substantial amount of melt (>50 vol.%). Mineral equilibria calculations in the NCKFMASHTO system yield results that are consistent with observations in natural samples. Lower-grade rocks that lack staurolite constrain peak pressures to ,2.5 kbar in the southern Platreef. Smaller xenoliths and the margins of larger xenoliths comprise micro-diatexite rich in coarse acicular corundum and spinel, which record evidence for the metastable persistence of lower-grade hydrous phases and rapid melting consequent on a temperature overstep of several hundred degrees following their incorporation in the mafic/ultramafic magmas. In the cores of larger xenoliths, temperatures increased more slowly enabling progressive metamorphism by continuous prograde equilibration and the loss of H2O by subsolidus dehydration; the H2O migrated to xenolith margins where it may have promoted increased melting. According to variations in the original compositional layering, layers became aluminosilicate- and/or cordierite-rich, commonly with spinel but only rarely with corundum. The differing mineralogical and microstructural evolution of the xenoliths depends on heating rates (governed by their size and, therefore, proximity to the Platreef magmas) and the pre-intrusive metamorphic grade of the protoliths. The presence or absence of certain phases, particularly corundum, is strongly influenced by the degree of metastable retention of lower-grade hydrates in otherwise identical protolith bulk compositions. The preservation of fine-scale compositional layering that is inferred to be relict bedding in xenolith cores implies that melt loss by compaction was extremely efficient. [source]


Fluid flow and Al transport during quartz-kyanite vein formation, Unst, Shetland Islands, Scotland

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
C. E. BUCHOLZ
Abstract Quartz-kyanite veins, adjacent alteration selvages and surrounding ,precursor' wall rocks in the Dalradian Saxa Vord Pelite of Unst in the Shetland Islands (Scotland) were investigated to constrain the geochemical alteration and mobility of Al associated with channelized metamorphic fluid infiltration during the Caledonian Orogeny. Thirty-eight samples of veins, selvages and precursors were collected, examined using the petrographic microscope and electron microprobe, and geochemically analysed. With increasing grade, typical precursor mineral assemblages include, but are not limited to, chlorite+chloritoid, chlorite+chloritoid+kyanite, chlorite+chloritoid+staurolite and garnet+staurolite+kyanite+chloritoid. These assemblages coexist with quartz, white mica (muscovite, paragonite, margarite), and Fe-Ti oxides. The mineral assemblage of the selvages does not change noticeably with metamorphic grade, and consists of chloritoid, kyanite, chlorite, quartz, white mica and Fe-Ti oxides. Pseudosections for selvage and precursor bulk compositions indicate that the observed mineral assemblages were stable at regional metamorphic conditions of 550,600 °C and 0.8,1.1 GPa. A mass balance analysis was performed to assess the nature and magnitude of geochemical alteration that produced the selvages adjacent to the veins. On average, selvages lost about ,26% mass relative to precursors. Mass losses of Na, K, Ca, Rb, Sr, Cs, Ba and volatiles were ,30 to ,60% and resulted from the destruction of white mica. Si was depleted from most selvages and transported locally to adjacent veins; average selvage Si losses were about ,50%. Y and rare earth elements were added due to the growth of monazite in cracks cutting apatite. The mass balance analysis also suggests some addition of Ti occurred, consistent with the presence of rutile and hematite-ilmenite solid solutions in veins. No major losses of Al from selvages were observed, but Al was added in some cases. Consequently, the Al needed to precipitate vein kyanite was not derived locally from the selvages. Veins more than an order of magnitude thicker than those typically observed in the field would be necessary to accommodate the Na and K lost from the selvages during alteration. Therefore, regional transport of Na and K out of the local rock system is inferred. In addition, to account for the observed abundances of kyanite in the veins, large fluid-rock ratios (102,103 m3fluid m,3rock) and time-integrated fluid fluxes in excess of ,104 m3fluid m,2rock are required owing to the small concentrations of Al in aqueous fluids. It is concluded that the quartz-kyanite veins and their selvages were produced by regional-scale advective mass transfer by means of focused fluid flow along a thrust fault zone. The results of this study provide field evidence for considerable Al mass transport at greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic conditions, possibly as a result of elevated concentrations of Al in metamorphic fluids due to alkali-Al silicate complexing at high pressures. [source]


Spinel,cordierite symplectites replacing andalusite: evidence for melt-assisted diapirism in the Bushveld Complex, South Africa

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 6 2004
T. Johnson
Abstract Spinel,cordierite symplectites partially replacing andalusite occur in metapelitic rocks within the cores of several country rock diapirs that have ascended into the upper levels of layered mafic/ultramafic rocks in the Bushveld Complex. We investigate the petrogenesis of these symplectites in one of these diapirs, the Phepane dome. Petrographic evidence indicates that at conditions immediately below the solidus the rocks were characterized by a cordierite-, biotite- and K-feldspar-rich matrix and 5,10 mm long andalusite porphyroblasts surrounded by biotite-rich fringes. Phase relations in the MnNCKFMASHT model system constrain the near-solidus prograde path to around 3 kbar and imply that andalusite persisted metastably into the sillimanite + melt field, where the fringing relationship between biotite and andalusite provided spatially restricted equilibrium domains with silica-deficient effective bulk compositions that focused suprasolidus reaction. MnNCKFMASHT pseudosections that model these compositional domains suggest that volatile phase-absent melting reactions consuming andalusite and biotite initially produced a moat of cordierite surrounding andalusite; reaction progressed until all quartz was consumed. Spinel is predicted to grow with cordierite at around 720 °C. Formation of the aluminous solid products was strongly controlled by the receding edge of andalusite grains, with symplectites forming at the andalusite-cordierite moat interface. Decompression due to melt-assisted diapiric rise of the floor rocks into the overlying mafic/ultramafic rocks occurred close to the thermal peak. Re-crossing of the solidus at P = 1.5,2 kbar, T > 700 °C resulted in preservation of the symplectites. Two features of the silica-deficient domains inhibited resorption of spinel. First, the cordierite moat armoured the symplectites from reaction with crystallizing melt in the outer part of the pseudomorphs. Second, an up- T step in the solidus at low- P, which may be in excess of 100 °C higher than the quartz-saturated solidus, resulted in high- T crystallization of melt on decompression. Even in metapelitic rocks where melt is retained, preservation of spinel is favoured by decompression. [source]


High-pressure granulites: formation, recovery of peak conditions and implications for tectonics

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2003
P. J. O'Brien
Abstract High-pressure granulites are characterised by the key associations garnet-clinopyroxene-plagioclase-quartz (in basic rocks) and kyanite-K-feldspar (metapelites and felsic rocks) and are typically orthopyroxene-free in both basic and felsic bulk compositions. In regional metamorphic areas, two essential varieties exist: a high- to ultrahigh-temperature group and a group representing overprinted eclogites. The high- to ultrahigh-temperature type formerly contained high-temperature ternary feldspar (now mesoperthite) coexisting with kyanite, is associated with garnet peridotites, and formed at conditions above 900 °C and 1.5 GPa. Clinopyroxene in subordinate basic rocks is Al-rich and textural evidence points to a high-pressure,high-temperature melting history. The second variety contains symplectite-like or poikilitic clinopyroxene-plagioclase intergrowths indicating former plagioclase-free, i.e. eclogite facies assemblages. This type of rock formed at conditions straddling the high-pressure amphibolite/high-pressure granulite field at around 700,850 °C, 1.0,1.4 GPa. Importantly, in the majority of high-pressure granulites, orthopyroxene is secondary and is a product of reactions at pressures lower than the peak recorded pressure. In contrast to low- and medium-pressure granulites, which form at conditions attainable in the mid to lower levels of normal continental crust, high-pressure granulites (of nonxenolith origin) mostly represent rocks formed as a result of short-lived tectonic events that led to crustal thickening or subduction of the crust into the mantle. Short times at high-temperature conditions are reflected in the preservation of prograde zoning in garnet and pyroxene. High-pressure granulites of both regional types, although rare, are known from both old and young metamorphic terranes (e.g. c. 45 Ma, Namche Barwa, E Himalaya; 400,340 Ma, European Variscides; 1.8 Ga Hengshan, China; 1.9 Ga, Snowbird, Saskatchewan and 2.5 Ga Jianping, China). This spread of ages supports proposals suggesting that thermal and tectonic processes in the lithosphere have not changed significantly since at least the end of the Archean. [source]


Isograds and P,T evolution in the eastern Lepontine Alps (Graubünden, Switzerland)

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 3 2002
T. Nagel
Abstract Reactions producing Al-rich index minerals in the south-eastern part of the Lepontine Dome (Central Alps, Switzerland) are investigated using mineral distribution maps, microstructural observations and equilibrium phase diagrams. The apparent staurolite mineral zone boundary corresponds to the paragonite breakdown reaction Pg + Grt + Qtz = Pl + Al2O3 + W. Equilibrium phase diagrams show that most natural metapelites do not contain staurolite or alumosilicates as long as univalent cations are predominantly accommodated in white mica. For a wide range of metapelitic compositions the paragonite breakdown releases sufficient Al for the formation of these minerals. Rare occurrences of staurolite and kyanite, north of the formerly mapped mineral zone boundaries, coexist with paragonite and are restricted to extremely Al-rich bulk compositions. The stable branch of the kyanite-forming paragonite breakdown reaction above 660 °C yields an additional mapable isograd. The second set of Al-releasing reactions is biotite-producing phengite breakdown. However, these reactions are less suitable to produce well defined reaction isograds in the field as they are more continuous and their progress is strongly dependent on bulk composition. Well developed fibrolite in metapelites does not appear until staurolite starts to breakdown. We conclude that amphibolite facies conditions in the study area were attained by decompression, without substantial heating at low pressures. [source]


The effect of TiO2 and Fe2O3 on metapelitic assemblages at greenschist and amphibolite facies conditions: mineral equilibria calculations in the system K2O,FeO,MgO,Al2O3,SiO2,H2O,TiO2,Fe2O3

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 5 2000
White
Mineral equilibria calculations in the system K2O,FeO,MgO,Al2O3,SiO2,H2O,TiO2,Fe2O3 (KFMASHTO) using thermocalc and its internally consistent thermodynamic dataset constrain the effect of TiO2 and Fe2O3 on greenschist and amphibolite facies mineral equilibria in metapelites. The end-member data and activity,composition relationships for biotite and chloritoid, calibrated with natural rock data, and activity,composition data for garnet, calibrated using experimental data, provide new constraints on the effects of TiO2 and Fe2O3 on the stability of these minerals. Thermodynamic models for ilmenite,hematite and magnetite,ulvospinel solid solutions accounting for order,disorder in these phases allow the distribution of TiO2 and Fe2O3 between oxide minerals and silicate minerals to be calculated. The calculations indicate that small to moderate amounts of TiO2 and Fe2O3 in typical metapelitic bulk compositions have little effect on silicate mineral equilibria in metapelites at greenschist to amphibolite facies, compared with those calculated in KFMASH. The addition of large amounts of TiO2 to typical pelitic bulk compositions has little effect on the stability of silicate assemblages; in contrast, rocks rich in Fe2O3 develop a markedly different metamorphic succession from that of common Barrovian sequences. In particular, Fe2O3 -rich metapelites show a marked reduction in the stability fields of staurolite and garnet to higher pressures, in comparison to those predicted by KFMASH grids. [source]


Characterization of Phase Separation and Thermal History Effects in Magnesium Silicate Glass Fibers by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 1 2009
Jonathan F. Stebbins
Liquid,liquid immiscibility, leading to the separation of silica-rich and silica-poor domains, is a common phenomenon in binary silicate glasses, but can be difficult to detect and characterize when rapid cooling results in nano-scale domain dimensions. 29Si nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy can be very useful for detecting such phase separation, because the exclusion of paramagnetic impurity ions from the silica-rich regions can greatly slow their spin-lattice relaxation rates. Properly designed experiments can therefore largely isolate the NMR signals from high-silica and low-silica domains, and thus provide information about their proportions, compositions, and short- to intermediate-range structures. We demonstrate this approach here for fiber glasses that are predominantly magnesium, or calcium-magnesium silicates, with minor contents of alumina. For bulk compositions within the known region of stable liquid immiscibility, phase separation occurs even when extremely rapid cooling yields fibers less than 1 ,m in mean diameter. Slower cooling increases the extent of separation, while the addition of small amounts of alumina reduces it. [source]


Formation of orange hibonite, as inferred from some Allende inclusions

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 3 2001
S. B. SIMON
The melilite in the present samples is very Al-rich, averaging Åk6, Åk14, and Åk12 in the three samples studied. Hibonite in two inclusions, unlike that in Murchison, has low rare earth element abundances of <10 × CI; in the other inclusion, the hibonite, melilite and perovskite have Group II-like patterns. The hibonite and melilite in all three inclusions studied have excess 26Mg consistent with (26Al/27Al)I = 5 × 10,5. Much of the hibonite and some of the spinel in these inclusions is corroded. These phases are found enclosed in melilite, but based on bulk compositions and phase equilibria, hibonite should not be an early-crystallizing phase in these inclusions. We conclude that the hibonite and probably some of the spinel is relic. Reversely zoned melilite, rounded spinel and isotopically heavy Mg in the inclusions probably reflect reheating events that involved melting and evaporation. Alteration of the gehlenitic melilite gave rise to some rare phases, including corundum and nearly pure CaTs pyroxene. Studies have shown that blue hibonite contains Ti3+ while orange hibonite does not (Ihinger and Stolper, 1986; Beckett et al., 1988). Orange hibonite formed either under oxidizing conditions (such as at oxygen fugacities at least seven orders of magnitude greater than that of a solar gas at 1700 K), or under conditions reducing enough (e.g., solar) that it contained Ti3+, which was later oxidized in situ. Although V and Ce oxides are volatile at the temperature and range of oxygen fugacities at which orange hibonite is known to be stable, we find that (a) the hibonite is V-rich (,1 wt% V2O3) and (b) there are no negative Ce anomalies in Allende hibonite. This indicates that the hibonite did not form by condensation under oxidizing conditions. In addition, there are slight excesses of Ti + Si cations relative to Mg + Fe cations (up to 0.1 of 0.8 cations per 19 oxygen anions), probably reflecting the original presence of Ti3+. The results of this study strongly support the suggestion (Ihinger and Stolper, 1986) that Allende hibonite originally formed under reducing conditions and was later oxidized. Oxygen fugacities within ,2,3 orders of magnitude of that of a solar gas are implied; otherwise, strong Ce and V depletions would be observed. [source]