Search results for "MINERALOGY"

Geographical traceability of “Arròs de Valencia” rice grain based on mineral element composition

2011

The geographical traceability of rice grain samples involves the use of analytical methodologies that allow their differentiation on the basis of the rice composition, thus confirming their authenticity. In this paper, trace element determination of rice samples by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) has been addressed to achieve a complete geographical origin classification. Samples (107) from Spain including Valencia, Tarragona, Murcia and Extremadura, Japan, Brazil and India were employed as training set whereas the validation set was formed by 46 samples of the aforementioned geographical origins. Data were processed by linear discriminant analysis (LDA), …

On the interpretation of retrograde reaction textures in granulite facies rocks

2010

Retrograde reaction textures, such as partial pseudomorphs, coronae and symplectic coronae are a relatively common feature of granulite facies rocks and represent evidence of change of mineral modes or assemblages. Thus, such reaction textures represent one of the more potentially useful indicators of retrograde P-T evolutions. However, the interpretation of such textures requires the simultaneous consideration of the formation of the texture itself in terms of the spatial relationships in a rock, and of the changes in P-T conditions that drove the development of the reaction texture. Calculated phase diagrams provide a robust framework in which to consider reaction textures, especially via…

New mineral activity-composition relations for thermodynamic calculations in metapelitic systems

2014

New activity–composition (a–x) relations for minerals commonly occurring in metapelites are presented for use with the internally consistent thermodynamic dataset of Holland & Powell (2011, Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 29, 333–383). The a–x relations include a broader consideration of Fe2O3 in minerals, changes to the formalism of several phases and order–disorder in all ferromagnesian minerals where Fe–Mg mixing occurs on multiple sites. The a–x relations for chlorite, biotite, garnet, chloritoid, staurolite, cordierite, orthopyroxene, muscovite, paragonite and margarite have been substantially reparameterized using the approach outlined in the companion paper in this issue. For the fir…

Using calculated chemical potential relationships to account for replacement of kyanite by symplectite in high pressure granulites

2015

Calculated mineral equilibria are used to account for the formation of sapphirine-plagioclase, spinel-plagioclase and corundum-plagioclase symplectites replacing kyanite in quartz-plagioclase-garnet-kyanite granulite facies gneisses from the Southern Domain of the Athabasca granulite terrane, a segment of the Snowbird tectonic zone in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Metamorphic conditions of >14 kbar and 800 °C are established for the high pressure, garnet-kyanite assemblage using constraints from P-T pseudosections and Zr-in-rutile thermometry. Replacement of kyanite by symplectites reflects the reaction of kyanite with the matrix following near-isothermal decompression to <10 kbar. The che…

Spectroscopic 2D-tomography: Residual pressure and strain around mineral inclusions in diamonds

2004

We have studied high-pressure inclusions (Ca-silicates, coesite, graphite) in three large diamonds, one from the Kankan district, Guinea, and the other two from the Panda kimberlite, Ekati diamond mines, Canada. Using the in situ point-by-point mapping technique with a confocal Raman system, the mineralogy of the inclusions, as well as their area distribution pattern ( e.g. , of different Ca-silicate phases) and their order-disorder distribution pattern (shown for graphite/disordered carbon), were determined. Raman mapping of the host diamonds yielded 2D-tomographic pressure and strain distribution patterns and provided information on the residual pressure of the inclusions (∼ 2.3 GPa for a…

Stable amorphous calcium carbonate is the main component of the calcium storage structures of the crustacean Orchestia cavimana.

2002

Amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) is the least stable form of the six known phases of calcium carbonate. It is, however, produced and stabilized by a variety of organisms. In this study we examined calcium storage structures from the terrestrial crustacean Orchestia cavimana, in order to better understand their formation mode and function. By using X-ray diffraction, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, thermal analysis and elemental analysis, we determined that the mineral comprising these storage structures is amorphous calcium carbonate with small amounts of amorphous calcium phosphate (5%). We suggest that the use of amorphous calcium carbonate might be advantageous for these storage struct…

Negative Ce anomalies in Mn oxides: The role of Ce4+ mobility during water–mineral interaction

2012

We present one of the very rare natural examples of extremely negative Ce anomalies (up to 4 orders of magnitude) in manganese oxides, caused by higher mobility of Ce4+ compared to REE3+ in an aquatic environment. The young secondary Mn oxides formed together with fluorites and goethites during water–mineral interaction in a hydrothermal fluorite vein. Our findings are in contrast to the oxidative scavenging of Ce, which is commonly observed in Mn oxides. Comparison of REE patterns from modern mine waters with primary and secondary minerals demonstrates that this cannot be solely explained as a source-related feature or by immobilization of Ce, but must at least partially be the result of p…

Distribution of trace elements in willemite from the Belgium non-sulphide deposits

2019

Samples of willemite (Zn2SiO4) mineralization from the historical non-sulphide Zn–Pb deposits of La Calamine (eastern Belgium) have been recovered from collections of the Geological Survey of Belgium. Textural and chemical analyses are used to evaluate the critical element distribution (Ge, In, Ga) and deportment. willemite occurs as a variety of types that continuously formed between the protore stage (sulphides) and the late supergene stage (carbonates and hydrated phases). Different types of willemite may be distinguished on the basis of their shape and zoning characteristics, supporting a polyphase non-sulphide mineralization after the protore stage. This is also marked by a significant…

A mineralogical-petrographic analysis of samples of Sicilian archeological earthen mortars

2011

The enzyme carbonic anhydrase as an integral component of biogenic Ca-carbonate formation in sponge spicules

2013

The inorganic scaffold of the spicules, the skeletal elements of the calcareous sponges, is formed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The growth of the approximately 300-μm large spicules, such as those of the calcareous sponge Sycon raphanus used in the present study, is a rapid process with a rate of about 65 μm/h. The formation of CaCO3 is predominantly carried out by the enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA). The enzyme from the sponge S. raphanus was isolated and prepared by recombination. The CA-driven deposition of CaCO3 crystallites is dependent on temperature (optimal at 52 °C), the pH value of the reaction assay (7.5/8.0), and the substrate concentration (CO2 and Ca2+). During the initial pha…