Search results for " petrology"
showing 10 items of 1353 documents
Rapid oxidation of mercury (Hg) at volcanic vents: Insights from high temperature thermodynamic models of Mt Etna's emissions
2011
A major uncertainty regarding the environmental impacts of volcanic Hg is the extent to which Hg is deposited locally or transported globally. An important control on dispersion and deposition is the oxidation state of Hg compounds: Hg(0) is an inert, insoluble gas, while Hg(II) occurs as reactive gases or in particles, which deposit rapidly and proximally, near the volcanic vent. Using a new high temperature thermodynamic model, we show that although Hg in Etna's magmatic gases is almost entirely Hg(0) (i.e., gaseous elemental mercury), significant quantities of Hg(II) are likely formed at Etna's vents as gaseous HgCl2, when magmatic gases are cooled and oxidised by atmospheric gases. Thes…
Volcanic SiO2-cristobalite: A natural product of chemical vapor deposition
2020
Abstract Cristobalite is a low-pressure, high-temperature SiO2 polymorph that occurs as a metastable phase in many geologic settings, including as crystals deposited from vapor within the pores of volcanic rocks. Such vapor-phase cristobalite (VPC) has been inferred to result from silica redistribution by acidic volcanic gases but a precise mechanism for its formation has not been established. We address this by investigating the composition and structure of VPC deposited on plagioclase substrates within a rhyolite lava flow, at the micrometer to nanometer scale. The VPC contains impurities of the form [AlO4/Na+]0—coupled substitution of Al3+ charge-balanced by interstitial Na+—which are ty…
Minor and trace elements in olivines as probes into early igneous and mantle melting processes
2013
Abstract The trace element composition of olivine is a rapidly growing research area that has several applications of great potential. Mantle olivines can be distinguished from volcanic olivines by lower concentrations of Ca (
Variation of olivine composition in the volcanic rocks in the Songliao basin, NE China: lithosphere control on the origin of the K-rich intraplate ma…
2016
Abstract Lithospheric thickness and the heterogeneity of the mantle lithosphere are two major parameters that play a role in determining the final composition of the mafic melts and their minerals. The Songliao basin in northeast China represents an ideal natural laboratory to study the effect of these two parameters on early Pliocene to Holocene K-rich mafic lavas (K2O > 4 wt.%; K2O/Na2O > 1). A series of Cenozoic volcanic edifices (Erkeshan, Wudalianchi, Keluo and Xiaogulihe) are tentatively divided into three groups (Group 1 — thin, Group 2 — middle, and Group 3 — thick) according to the lithosphere thickness. They are located in the northern region of the Songliao basin extending in a n…
Does second phase content control the evolution of olivine CPO type and deformation mechanisms? A case study of paired harzburgite and dunite bands i…
2021
Abstract We have examined the microstructures and crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) of six “paired” harzburgite and dunite samples from a small (~ 1 km2) area in the Ellis Stream Complex, Red Hills Massif, Dun Mountain ophiolite belt in New Zealand. Here, banded peridotites with isoclinal folds, E-W striking vertical foliations and vertical lineations are inferred to result from shear on vertical planes that overprint previous mantle structures. The samples contain five different olivine CPOs: typically known as A, C, D, E and AG-types. The co-located harzburgite and dunite of each pair show different CPOs (e.g., A vs E type). In each pair, dunite generally has larger grain siz…
The olivine macrocryst problem: New insights from minor and trace element compositions of olivine from Lac de Gras kimberlites, Canada
2015
This study presents detailed petrographical and geochemical investigations on remarkably fresh olivines in kimberlites from the EKATI Diamond Mine™ located in the Tertiary/Cretaceous Lac de Gras kimberlite field within the Slave craton of Canada. Olivine, constituting about 42 vol.% of the analyzed samples, can be divided into two textural groups: (i) macrocrystic olivines, > 100 μm sub-rounded crystals and (ii) groundmass olivines, < 100 μm subhedral crystals. Olivines from both populations define two distinct chemical trends; a “mantle trend” with angular cores, showing low Ca (< 0.1 wt.% CaO) and high Ni (0.3–0.4 wt.% NiO) at varying Mg# (0.86–0.93), contrasts with a “melt trend” typifie…
The carbonates of the Permian Lakes of North Massif central, France
1992
During the Permian, large fluvio-lacustrine basins occurred within the West European Hercynian chain. The deposits were mainly detrital (conglomerates, sandstones and pelites). The two studied sites, Couy borehole and Aumance basin contain several dolomitic beds alternating with pelites containing Ostracods. The carbonate layers constitute various dolomitized facies with dolosparite, laminated and bituminous dolomites, oolites, oncolites and stromatolites, and pedological nodules. Microfacies are varied. The dolomite crystals can be either isolated rhombs scattered in pelites or rhombs and xenomorphic crystals cementing sandstones; in dolomicrites, dolomicrosparites and dolosparites, crysta…
A regional-scale discontinuity in western Sicily revealed by a multidisciplinary approach: A new piece for understanding the geodynamic puzzle of the…
2015
The results of an integrated stratigraphic, structural, geophysical, and geochemical study reveal the presence of a crustal discontinuity in western Sicily that, at present, runs roughly N-S along a band from San Vito Lo Capo to Sciacca (SVCS). The boundary between the two zones of this discontinuity is nearly orthogonal to the main thrust propagation of the Sicilian thrust-and-fold belt. The different Permian to Tertiary sedimentary evolution recorded by the two zones appears related to this discontinuity, with thick carbonate platforms in the western sector facing deep-water successions in the eastern one. The presence of Upper Triassic reefs, huge megabreccias bodies, and widespread subm…
The most ancient ophiolite of the Central Asian fold belt: U–Pb and Pb–Pb zircon ages for the Dunzhugur Complex, Eastern Sayan, Siberia, and geodynam…
2002
Abstract Ophiolitic rocks with a zircon age of ∼1020 Ma occur in the Dunzhugur complex of East Sayan, Siberia, and are part of a Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic segment of the Central Asian fold belt. The most spectacular suite is exposed along the Oka and Bokson rivers, where a complete ophiolite sequence with mantle tectonites, a layered sequence composed of dunite, wehrlite, and pyroxenite, a gabbro section, a sheeted diabase dyke complex and basaltic pillow lavas are exposed. Petrologic and geochemical data suggest that all members of the ophiolite originally belonged to the same cogenetic mafic–ultramafic crustal section and support a supra-subduction zone setting in a fore-arc rift…
Surface expression of eastern Mediterranean slab dynamics: Neogene topographic and structural evolution of the southwest margin of the Central Anatol…
2012
[1] The southwest margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau has experienced multiple phases of topographic growth, including the formation of localized highs prior to the Late Miocene that were later affected by wholesale uplift of the plateau margin. Our new biostratigraphic data limit the age of uplifted marine sediments at the southwest plateau margin at 1.5 km elevation to <7.17 Ma, and regional lithostratigraphic correlations imply that the age is <6.7 Ma. Single-grain CA-TIMS U-Pb zircon analyses from a reworked ash within the marine sediments yield dates as young as 10.6 Ma, indicating a maximum age that is consistent with the biostratigraphy. Our structural measurements within the upl…