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Mineral Chemistry (mineral + chemistry)

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Earth and Environmental Science	83%

Selected Abstracts

Glass and Mineral Chemistry of Northern Central Indian Ridge Basalts: Compositional Diversity and Petrogenetic Significance

ACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 6 2009
Dwijesh RAY
Abstract: The glass and mineral chemistry of basalts examined from the northern central Indian ridge (NCIR) provides an insight into magma genesis around the vicinity of two transform faults: Vityaz (VT) and Vema (VM). The studied mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) from the outer ridge flank (VT area) and a near-ridge seamount (VM area) reveal that they are moderately phyric plagioclase basalts composed of plagioclase (phenocryst [An60,90] and groundmass [An35,79]), olivine (Fo81,88), diopside (Wo45,51, En25,37, Fs14,24), and titanomagnetite (FeOt,63.75 wt% and TiO2,22.69 wt%). The whole-rock composition of these basalts has similar Mg# [mole Mg/mole(Mg+Fe2+)] (VT basalt: ,0.56,0.58; VM basalt: ,0.57), but differ in their total alkali content (VT basalt: ,2.65; VM basalt: ,3.24). The bulk composition of the magma was gradually depleted in MgO and enriched in FeOt, TiO2, P2O5, and Na2O with progressive fractionation, the basalts were gradually enriched in Y and Zr and depleted in Ni and Cr. In addition, the ,REE of magma also increased with fractionation, without any change in the (La/Yb)N value. Glass from the VM seamount shows more fractionated characters (Mg#: 0.56,0.57) compared to the outer ridge flank lava of the VT area (Mg#: 0.63,0.65). This study concludes that present basalts experienced low-pressure crystallization at a relatively shallow depth. The geochemical changes in the NCIR magmas resulted from fractional crystallization at a shallow depth. As a consequence, spinel was the first mineral to crystallize at a pressure >10 kbar, followed by Fe-rich olivine at <10 kbar pressure. [source]

Mineral chemistry of spinel peridotite xenoliths from Baengnyeong Island, South Korea, and its implications for the paleogeotherm of the uppermost mantle

ISLAND ARC, Issue 3 2005
Sung Hi Choi
Abstract The mantle-derived xenoliths entrained in the Pliocene basanite from Baengnyeong Island, South Korea, are spinel lherzolites and spinel harzburgites. The overall compositional range of the Baengnyeong xenoliths matches that of the post-Archean xenoliths of lithospheric mantle origin from eastern China, but without any compositional evidence for a refractory Archean mantle root. Mineral compositions of the xenoliths have been used to estimate the equilibrium temperatures and pressures, and to construct a paleogeothermal gradient of the source region. The xenolith-derived paleogeotherm is constrained from about 820°C at 7.3 kbar to 1000°C at 20.6 kbar. Like those from the post-Archean Chinese xenoliths of lithospheric mantle origin, the Baengnyeong geotherm is considerably elevated relative to the conductive models at the depth of the crust,mantle boundary, reflecting a thermal perturbation probably related to lithospheric thinning. There is no significant P/T difference between harzburgite and lherzolite, which suggests that the harzburgites are interlayered with lherzolites within the depth interval beneath Baengnyeong Island. [source]

Metamorphic diogenite Grosvenor Mountains 95555: Mineral chemistry of orthopyroxene and spinel and comparisons to the diogenite suite

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 4 2000
J. J. PAPIKE
It does not show the usual brecciated appearance of other diogenites or wide compositional variability of orthopyroxene or spinel. Electron microprobe analysis (EMPA) and secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS) analysis of orthopyroxene and EMPA of spinel show limited compositional variability. Compositions for orthopyroxene for Fe/(Fe + Mg) atomic, Al, Zr, Y, and Yb fall in the middle of the compositional ranges of the diogenite suite. Apparently, GRO 95555 formed at sufficient depth or location to escape brecciation by meteorite bombardment and in a thermal regime that led to high-grade metamorphism resulting in homogeneous mineral compositions. [source]

Mineralogical and Geochemical Characterization of Beryl-Bearing Granitoids, Eastern Desert, Egypt: Metallogenic and Exploration Constraints

RESOURCE GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
Hamdy M. Abdalla
Abstract Mineral chemistry and geochemical characteristics of beryl-bearing granitoids in Eastern Desert of Egypt, were examined in order to identify the metallogenetic processes of the host granitoids. The investigated Be-bearing granitoids and type occurrences are classified into two groups: (i) peraluminous, Ta , Nb + Sn + Be ± W-enriched, Li-albite granite (e.g. Nuweibi and Abu Dabbab); and (ii) metasomatized, Nb >> Ta + Sn + Be ± W ± Mo-enriched alkali feldspar granite (i.e. apogranite; e.g. Homr Akarem, Homr Mikpid and Qash Amir). In these two groups, beryl occurs as stockwork greisen veins, greisen bodies, beryl-bearing cassiterite ± wolframite quartz veins, dissemination, and miarolitic pegmatites. Beryl of the Be-granitoids, particularly those of miarolitic pegmatites, contains appreciable contents of Fe, Na, and H2O. An important feature of the Be-apogranites is the occurrence of white mica as the sole mafic mineral in the unaltered alkali feldspar granite in lower zones. Presence of white mica as volatile-rich pockets suggests that the melt underwent disequilibrium crystallization, rapid nucleation rates, and exsolving and expulsion of volatiles. [source]

High-Si phengite, mineral chemistry and P,T evolution of ultra-high-pressure eclogites and calc-silicates from the Dabie Shan, eastern China

GEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 3-4 2000
Robert Schmid
Abstract A suite of coesite,eclogites and associated calc-silicate rocks from the ultra-high-pressure (UHP) belt in the Dabie Shan (eastern China) was investigated petrologically. Field relations and the presence of UHP minerals such as coesite, omphacite and high-Si phengite in the eclogites and the enclosing calc-silicates testify to a common metamorphic evolution for these two lithologies. Except for one sample, all bear phengite with unusually high silica contents (Si up to 3.7 per formula unit). Phengite occupies various textural positions indicating that different metamorphic stages are reflected by these white micas, which correlate with distinct mineral zonation patterns. Using the latest thermobarometric calibrations for eclogite-facies rocks, maximum pressure,temperature (P,T) conditions of 40,48 kbar at <,750°C were estimated for the peak-metamorphic mineral assemblages. These P,T conditions were calculated for both eclogitic garnet porphyroblasts with diffusion-controlled zoning as well as garnet porphyroblasts with prograde growth zonation patterns. Most samples were affected by a strong retrograde overprint mainly under eclogite- and amphibolite-facies conditions. Thermobarometry using mineral sets from different textural positions reveals cooling and decompression of the UHP rocks down to <,20 kbar at <,600°C for the bulk of the samples. Decompression and heating indicated by a few samples is interpreted to result from mineral chemical disequilibrium or late thermal influence. These new data show that subduction of continental crust in the Dabie Shan was deeper than previously thought, and also that some cooling and decompression took place at upper-mantle depths. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Metastable persistence of pelitic metamorphic assemblages at the root of a Cretaceous magmatic arc , Fiordland, New Zealand

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
N. R. DACZKO
Abstract Four aluminosilicate-bearing, amphibolite facies pelitic schists sampled from the root of the long-lived eastern Gondwana continental magmatic arc now exposed in southwest Fiordland, New Zealand, record remarkably different P,T,t histories. The four samples were collected from within 20 km of each other within the Fanny Bay Group and Deep Cove Gneiss near Dusky Sound. Integrated petrography, mineral chemistry, mineral equilibria modelling and in situ electron microprobe chemical dating of monazite shows that the sample of the Fanny Bay Group south of the Dusky Fault records a Carboniferous history with peak conditions of 4,4.5 kbar at 570,590 °C, while one sample of the Deep Cove Gneiss from Long Island records a Cretaceous history with apparent peak conditions of 7.5 kbar at 650 °C. Two other samples of the Deep Cove Gneiss from Resolution Island record mixed Carboniferous and Cretaceous histories with apparent peak conditions of 7 kbar at 650 °C and 3,7 kbar at 640,720 °C. The metapelitic schists on Resolution Island were intruded by arc magmas including the voluminous high- P Western Fiordland Orthogneiss, yet they lack mineralogical evidence of the Cretaceous high- P (>12 kbar) event. Analysis of water isopleths in a model system shows that the amount of water accommodated in the rock mineral assemblage increases with pressure. With the exhaustion of all free water, and without the addition of external water, these rocks persisted metastably within the deep arc during the high- P event. The emplacement of large volumes of diorite (i.e. the Western Fiordland Orthogneiss) into the root of the Early Cretaceous continental magmatic arc did not lead to regional granulite facies metamorphism of the country rock schists, as large volumes of amphibolite facies rock metamorphosed under medium- P conditions persisted metastably in the deep arc crust. [source]

Metamorphic evolution of kyanite,staurolite-bearing epidote,amphibolite from the Early Palaeozoic Oeyama belt, SW Japan

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 4 2004
T. Tsujimori
Abstract Early Palaeozoic kyanite,staurolite-bearing epidote,amphibolites including foliated epidote,amphibolite (FEA), and nonfoliated leucocratic or melanocratic metagabbros (LMG, MMG), occur in the Fuko Pass metacumulate unit (FPM) of the Oeyama belt, SW Japan. Microtextural relationships and mineral chemistry define three metamorphic stages: relict granulite facies metamorphism (M1), high- P (HP) epidote,amphibolite facies metamorphism (M2), and retrogression (M3). M1 is preserved as relict Al-rich diopside (up to 8.5 wt.% Al2O3) and pseudomorphs after spinel and plagioclase in the MMG, suggesting a medium- P granulite facies condition (0.8,1.3 GPa at >,850 °C). An unusually low-variance M2 assemblage, Hbl + Czo + Ky ± St + Pg + Rt ± Ab ± Crn, occurs in the matrix of all rock types. The presence of relict plagioclase inclusions in M2 kyanite associated with clinozoisite indicates a hydration reaction to form the kyanite-bearing M2 assemblage during cooling. The corundum-bearing phase equilibria constrain a qualitative metamorphic P,T condition of 1.1,1.9 GPa at 550,800 °C for M2. The M2 minerals were locally replaced by M3 margarite, paragonite, plagioclase and/or chlorite. The breakdown of M2 kyanite to produce the M3 assemblage at <,0.5 GPa and 450,500 °C suggests a greenschist facies overprint during decompression. The P,T evolution of the FPM may represent subduction of an oceanic plateau with a granulite facies lower crust and subsequent exhumation in a Pacific-type orogen. [source]

Ferric iron in SNC meteorites as determined by Mössbauer spectroscopy: Implications for martian landers and martian oxygen fugacity

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 12 2003
M. Darby DYAR
Also, considerable current effort is being made to understand the oxygen fugacity of martian magmas because of the effect of fO2 on mineral chemistry and crystallization processes. For these 2 reasons, the present study was conceived to acquire room temperature Mössbauer spectra of mineral separates and whole rock samples of 10 SNC meteorites. The results suggest that mineral identification using remote application of this technique will be most useful when the phases present have distinctive parameters arising from Fe in very different coordination polyhedra; for example, pyroxene coexisting with olivine can be discriminated easily, but opx versus cpx cannot. The MER goal of using Mössbauer spectroscopy to quantify the relative amounts of individual mineral species present will be difficult to satisfy if silicates are present because the lack of constraints on wt% FeO contents of individual silicate phases present will make modal calculations impossible. The remote Mössbauer spectroscopy will be most advantageous if the rocks analyzed are predominantly oxides with known stoichiometries, though these phases are not present in the SNCs. As for the detection of martian oxygen fugacity, no evidence exists in the SNC samples studied of a relationship between Fe3+ content and fO2 as calculated by independent methods. Possibly, all of the Fe3+ observed in olivine is the result of dehydrogenation rather than oxidation, and this process may also be the source of all the Fe3+ observed in pyroxene. The observed Fe3+ in pyroxene also likely records an equilibrium between pyroxene and melt at such low fO2 that little or no Fe3+ would be expected. [source]

MAGNESIUM-RICH INTRALENSAR STRUCTURES IN SCHIZOCHROAL TRILOBITE EYES

PALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 5 2007
MARTIN R. LEE
Abstract:, The interpretation of the lenses of schizochroal trilobite eyes as aplanatic doublets by Clarkson and Levi-Setti over 30 years ago has been widely accepted. However, the means of achieving a difference in refractive index across the interface between the two parts of each lens to overcome spherical aberration has remained a matter of speculation and lately it has been argued that the doublet structure itself is no more than a diagenetic artefact. Recent advances in technologies for imaging, chemical analysis and crystallographic characterization of minerals at high spatial resolutions have enabled a re-examination of the structure of calcite lenses at an unprecedented level of detail. The lenses in the eyes of the specimen of Dalmanites sp. used in the original formulation of the aplanatic doublet hypothesis are shown to have undergone diagenetic alteration, but its products reflect original differences in mineral chemistry between the upper lens unit and lower intralensar bowl. The turbidity of the bowl and of the core within the upper part of the lens are the result of their greater microporosity and abundance of microdolomite inclusions, both of which were products of diagenetic replacement of original magnesian calcite in these areas. Such a difference in magnesium concentration in the original calcite has long been postulated as one of the ways by which the interface between these lens units could have produced an aberration-free image and the present study provides the first direct evidence of such a chemical contrast, thus confirming the doublet hypothesis. [source]

Carbonatitic Volcanic Genesis of Hetaoqing Fe-Cu Deposit in Central Yunnan, China

RESOURCE GEOLOGY, Issue 4 2003
Yongbei Zhang
Abstract. The Kunyang rift on western margin of Yangtze Platform is a continental rift, and also a rare Precambrian Fe-Cu mineralization zone in China. The Wuding-Lufeng mineralization area in the middle section of the rift is an important part of the zone, and an elliptic-shaped volcanic collapsed basin, controlled by a ring fracture system with carbonatitic volcanic rocks mainly occurring along the northwestern edge of the basin. The Hetaoqing Fe-Cu ore deposit at the western side of the basin is hosted in carbonatitic volcanic rocks and pyroclastic sedimentary rocks. The original ore bodies occur as layers, bands and lenses conformable to the host carbonatitic rocks. The ores usually appear as massive, impregnated and granular in carbonatitic rocks, and as brecciform and sandy in pyroclastic sedimentary rocks. Ore-forming minerals are magnetite, hematite, chalcopy-rite, bornite, pyrite, carrollite, molybdenite, cobaltite and skinnerite, and secondary minerals limonite, chalcocite, azurite, malachite and tenorite. Gangue minerals are calcite, dolomite, ankerite, common hornblende, arfvedsonite, augite, aegirine-augite, albite, phlogopite, biotite, chlorite and apatite. Evidences of mineral chemistry, trace elements and isotopic ratios of ores, as well as geological features, suggest that the original ores are igneous in origin. Chemical features of magnetites in the deposit belong to carbonatite type, and are similar to those from the Bayan Obo carbonatites. The ores are rich in iron, titanium, rare earth elements, niobium, tantalum, gold, silver, phosphor and sulfur. These features indicate that the Fe-Cu deposit associated with volcanic activity in the Wuding-Lufeng basin is alkali-carbonatite volcanic type. [source]

Glass and Mineral Chemistry of Northern Central Indian Ridge Basalts: Compositional Diversity and Petrogenetic Significance

Assortment of Deep Mantle Fluids and Their Products in Kimberlites from China

ACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 1 2004
ZHAO Lei
Abstract Based on studies of petrography, mineralogy and mineral chemistry, deep mantle fluids and their products in kimberlites and diamonds can be assorted into the ultradeep fluid-transmitted minerals with an oxygen-free feature, the deep fluid metasomatized-minerals characterized by enrichment in TiO2, K2O, BaO, REE and Fe3+, and the deep fluid-reformed minerals. The three types show a successive descent in fluid origin depth and metasomatism strength, and they have brought forth a series of corresponding metasomatic products. [source]