Search results for " petrology"

Nanoparticles and their influence on radionuclide mobility in deep geological formations

2012

International audience; This article gives an overview of the current status of knowledge concerning the role of nanoparticles (inorganic and organic) in deep geological host rocks and the potential influence of these nanoparticles on radionuclide migration in far-field systems. The manuscript is not intended to be a full review paper or overview paper concerning nanoparticles, here the intention is to refer to recent publications but to highlight the progress made in the 6th framework project IP FUNMIG (Fundamental processes of radionuclide migration) and the open literature over the past 5 a concerning the process understanding of nanoparticle related issues in the three host rock formati…

Radionuclide fluxes in the Arabian Sea: the role of particle composition

2005

We investigated the influence of the composition of the vertical particle flux on the removal of particle reactive natural radionuclides (Th-230 and Pa-231) from the water column to the sediments. Radionuclide concentrations determined in sediment traps moored in the western, central and eastern Arabian Sea were related to the major components (carbonate, particulate organic matter (POC), opal, lithogenic material) of the particle flux. These data were combined with sediment trap data previously published from the Southern Ocean, Equatorial Pacific and North Atlantic [Z. Chase, R.F. Anderson, M.Q. Fleisher, P.W. Kubik, The influence of particle composition and particle flux on scavenging of…

Spatial distribution of rainfall trends in Sicily (1921–2000)

2006

Abstract The feared global climate change could have important effects on various environmental variables including rainfall in many countries around the world. Changes in precipitation regime directly affect water resources management, agriculture, hydrology and ecosystems. For this reason it is important to investigate the changes in the spatial and temporal rainfall pattern in order to improve water management strategies. In this study a non-parametric statistical method (Mann–Kendall rank correlation method) is employed in order to verify the existence of trend in annual, seasonal and monthly rainfall and the distribution of the rainfall during the year. This test is applied to about 25…

Zirconium–hafnium and rare earth element signatures discriminating the effect of atmospheric fallout from hydrothermal input in volcanic lake water

2016

The geochemical behaviour of Rare Earth Elements, Zr and Hf was investigated in the thermal waters of Nevado del Ruiz volcano system. A wide range of pH, between 1.0 and 8.8, characterizes these fluids. The acidicwaters are sulphate dominatedwith different Cl/SO4 ratios. The important role of the pH and the ionic complexes for the distribution of REE, Zr a nd Hf in the aqueous phase was evidenced. The pH rules the precipitation of authigenic Fe and Al oxyhydroxides producing changes in REE, Zr, Hf amounts and strong anomalies of Cerium. The precipitation of alunite and jarosite removes LREE from the solution, changing the REE distribution in acidic waters. Y-Ho and Zr-Hf (twin pairs) have a…

Microanalytical methods for in-situ high-resolution analysis of rock varnish at the micrometer to nanometer scale

2015

Abstract A wide range of analytical techniques were used to investigate rock varnish from different locations (Negev, Israel; Knersvlakte, South Africa; Death Valley and Mojave Desert, California): a 200 nm-femtosecond laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS), an electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA), focused ion beam (FIB) slicing, and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy–near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (STXM–NEXAFS). This combination enables comprehensive high-spatial-resolution analysis of rock varnish. Femtosecond LA-ICP-MS and EPMA were used for quantitative determination of element concentrations. In-situ measurements were conducte…

Rare earth element contents of Jurassic fish and reptile teeth and their potential relation to seawater composition (Anglo-Paris Basin, France and En…

2002

The rare earth element (REE) chemistry of Jurassic shelf seawater from western Europe (Anglo-Paris Basin) was investigated by analyzing the fish and reptile teeth deposited in shallow to deeper water (<200 m) environments. REE patterns in apatites are controlled by the host sediments. Vertebrate teeth sampled from the siliciclastic sediments (calcareous sandstones and shales) show flat shale-normalized REE patterns that reflect the dominant influence of the continental source from which the REE were derived. Carbonate deposits, protected from the clastic sources, contain fish and reptile teeth whose REE patterns reflect more accurately the REE composition of the overlying water column. The …

Growth of zircon and titanite during metamorphism in the granitoid-gneiss terrane south of the Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa

2005

AbstractSHRIMP U-Pb zircon and titanite dating have been used to constrain the timing of mid- to lower- crustal metamorphism (∼650—700°C and 8—11 kbar) and syn-kinematic melting in the granitoid gneiss- dominated terrane south of the Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa. This study is concentrated on a clastic metasedimentary unit exposed in one of several greenstone remnants and a late-kinematic trondhjemite intrusive into spatially associated mixed gneisses. Locally, the clastic metasediments show extensive replacement of garnet and plagioclase by epidote and titanite. The titanites yield an upper intercept date of 3229±9 Ma, and provide a minimum age for the peak of metamorphism. Zirc…

Local disequilibrium of plagioclase in high-temperature shear zones of the Ivrea Zone, Italy

1995

Microstructural and chemical analysis of plagioclase in 20 superficially similar amphibolite facies ductile shear zones in metagabbors and amphibolites of the Ivrea Zone in Italy reveals significant differences in An and Ba contents. Plagioclase, which was deformed at P-T conditions lower than those of the wall rocks, occurs in the following four different microstructural situations with different chemical compositions: (i) relatively undeformed porphyroclasts, (ii) dynamically recrystallized grains and subgrains rimming the porphyroclasts, (iii) infill of microcracks cross-cutting the porphyroclasts and (iv) fine-grained recrystallized grains in the matrix of the shear zones. The differenc…

Chemical variations in clay minerals of the Archaean Barberton Greenstone Belt (South Africa)

1996

Abstract Four rock profiles of shales, carbonates and greywacke-type sediments were sampled from the mafic compositional influenced sedimentary Fig Tree Group and from overlying, more felsic related, sedimentary Moodies Group of the Archaean Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa. Clay separates of forty sedimentary rocks were examined by XRD and SEM to study the mineralogical, chemical and morphological variations of the constitutive illite and chlorite. The clay minerals showed a significant K-enrichment in the illites and Mg- and Fe-depletions in the chlorites upwards the stratigraphic sequence. Three independent parameters influenced these variations: (1) a change in the origin of th…

2016

Raman spectroscopic data were obtained for (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 samples during compression to 57 GPa. Single crystals of San Carlos olivine compressed hydrostatically above 41 GPa showed appearance of a new “defect” peak in the 820–840 cm−1 region associated with SiOSi linkages appearing between adjacent Embedded Image tetrahedra to result in five- or sixfold-coordinated silicate species. Appearance of this feature is accompanied by a broad amorphous background. The changes occur at lower pressure than metastable crystalline transitions of end-member Mg2SiO4 forsterite (Fo-I) into Fo-II and Fo-III phases described recently. We complemented our experimental study using density functional theory (DFT…