Chlorite Components Research Articles

Composition Peculiarities of the Upper Devonian Coaly Rocks (The Sula River Section, North Timan)

A detailed coal-petrographic and mineralogical-geochemical study of humic coals and coaly rocks in the Sargaev deposits of the Upper Devonian of the Northern Timan (Sula River), which is an example of the burial of the most ancient coal-forming plants, has been carried out. The following types of organic rocks are identified in the section: “jet-like” coal, liptobiolitic silty-clayey coal, and silty-clayey-coaly mixtolites. The studied coals and coaly rocks are composed of humic organic components, represented by vitrinite and liptinite macerals, the inertinite group is of subordinate importance. Vitrinite macerals include gelinite, collotelinite, and telinite (xylenite), liptinite macerals include sporinite, cutinite, liptodetrinite, bituminite, alginite, and a resinous substance, and inertinite macerals include inertodetrinite, semifusinite, fusinite, and funginite. The level of organic matter maturity according to the vitrinite reflectance RV = 0.45–0.55%, corresponds to the transition from proto- to meso-catagenesis (gradations PC3–MС1). The mineral component of mixtolites and high-ash coals consists of kaolinite, chlorite/smectite (with a predominance of the chlorite component) and quartz.

The characteristics and origin of chlorite coats in the Oligocene gas sandstone reservoirs of the Upper Huagang Formation, Xihu Depression, East China Sea Shelf Basin

Clay coats are widespread in the Oligocene braided river channel sandstones in the Xihu Depression on the East China Sea Shelf Basin. High clay coat coverage in braided channel sandstones is typically associated with good reservoir quality. The morphology, origin and distribution of clay coats and their effect on reservoir quality in different braided channel facies are investigated by core description, core analysis and a series of petrographic techniques. The present clay coats consist of two parts, the inner and outer coats. The inner coats are mainly composed of illite and chlorite components. The inner illite coats are transformed from smectitic clay precursors, while the inner chlorite coats may originate from thermally driven recrystallization of Fe-rich clay precursors. The outer clay coats, composed of well-crystallized chlorite, are possibly the result of neoformation directly from Fe- and Mg-rich pore water. The distribution of inner clay coats is controlled by sediment transport and deposition processes. The inner illite coats that are better developed in terms of content and thickness typically form in low energy braided channels due to relatively less transport abrasion of the smectitic clay precursors. The inner chlorite coats are observed exclusively in high energy mud clast-rich braided channels. The abundance of mud clasts and Fe-rich clay precursors are likely derived from the intense erosion of adjacent overbank mudstones, which are enriched in flocculated fluvial Fe oxides and hydroxides. The high coverage outer chlorite coats tend to occur in high energy braided channels with well-developed primary pores, since they provide sufficient growth space for chlorite. High energy braided channels with relatively low ductile component content generally maintain better porosity and permeability, which facilitates the development of the outer chlorite coats, thereby preserving more pore space by inhibiting quartz cementation and promoting subsequent dissolution of unstable silicate minerals, further improving reservoir quality. The results of this study provide new insights into the prediction of chlorite-coated reservoir quality of gas fields in Xihu Depression while also being relevant to braided river sandstones having comparable depositional settings worldwide.

Genesis of pale microgranular masses in ophiolitic chromite deposits in northern Xinjiang: Analysis of the micro‐area composition of altered minerals using LA‐ICP‐MS

The petrographic characteristics and micro‐area composition of altered minerals in pale microgranular masses (PMMs) that were discovered in the chromite mines of northern Xinjiang, China, were studied via laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS). There are six lithotypes of PMMs, namely, rodingitized vitrobasalt, gabbro‐diabase, ultramafite, tuff‐clastic rock, rodingite or skarn, and metasomatite. The texture, composition, and geochemical affinities of a series of altered minerals, such as clinopyroxenes, garnets, serpentines, and chlorites, show that the incompatible elements actively migrate with the Fe, Mg, alkali leaching losses, and Ca aggregates during the course of the alteration process. The geochemical characteristics of the major trace elements in the altered minerals are mostly influenced by the types of protoliths and minerals and have roughly inherited those properties from the protoliths. A marked difference exists between the serpentine geochemical characteristics of the major trace elements in the surrounding peridotites and the PMMs and/or metasomatite. This observation suggests that the two differences are derived from the altered protolith minerals instead of from the fluid metasomatism. Furthermore, the chlorite in the metasomatites inherits the properties of the chlorite component in the PMMs. This study examines the development of PMMs that might undergo two different mechanisms or (at least) two different periods of genesis, i.e., early ultramafic magma xenoliths and metasomatism, as indicated by the rock fabric, and late rodingitization, as indicated by the assemblage of altered minerals and the suite of geochemical affinities. The mechanism by which PMMs develop in peridotites reveals that some podiform chromite in this area may also be xenoliths that formed after chromite was captured by ultramafic magmas in early times.

Grinding kinetics of quartz and chlorite in wet ball milling

Under an invariant and self-similar mill environment, batch wet grinding studies were carried out by grinding mono-sized fractions of quartz, chlorite and their binary mixture at different blending ratios. The results obtained indicate that the breakage behavior of both minerals as well as their mixture followed a first-order model. The maximum breakage rate, Smax, for quartz and chlorite, obtained in the feed size fraction of −0.5+0.25mm, were 0.19min−1 and 0.33min−1, respectively. It was also found that the breakage rate Si of quartz or chlorite had a linear relationship with its mass ratio in the binary mix. The cumulative breakage distribution value, Bij of quartz was independent of the absence or presence of chlorite in the quartz-chlorite binary mix. However, the presence of quartz led to a reduced cumulative breakage distribution value for chlorite. In the mixture, the calculated energy split factors for the quartz and chlorite components were found to be greater than one and less than one, respectively. These results seem to suggest that the quartz particles required more energy in order to break and were the rate determining component in the breakage process of a mixture. In addition, the simulated product size distribution data obtained, using the discrete-size, continuous-time Population Balance Model (PBM), were consistent with experimental data for quartz-chlorite binary mineral system.

The chlorite-based drug WF10 constantly reduces hemoglobin A1c values and improves glucose control in diabetes patients with severe foot syndrome

AimsThe intravenous application of the chlorite-based drug solution WF10 is known to improve wound healing in patients with diabetic foot syndrome. In this retrospective study, we addressed the question, which effects are caused by this drug in patients with diabetic foot ulcers on the hemoglobin A1c value. MethodsPatients received five consecutive daily infusions of WF10. Three patients received a second cycle of WF10, and one patient a third cycle. ResultsOn a group of twelve patients with diabetic foot syndrome, WF10 gradually reduced the HbA1c values from a high-risk range (9.1 ± 1.6% (76 ± 13 mmol/mol)) into a low-risk range in all patients but one. These values remain low over at least 8 to 12 weeks after the administration of WF10. This drug improved also considerably wound healing processes in eleven patients. ConclusionsThe chlorite component of WF10 is known to inactivate efficiently free cytotoxic hemoglobin forms that might accumulate in peripheral blood after hemolysis and induces the removal of pre-damaged red blood cells from circulation. By these mechanisms WF10 diminished toxic effects of hemolysis, improved microcirculation and glucose consumption in affected tissues, and prevented, thus, below knee amputation.

Composition of Pliocene to Quaternary mixed terrigenous and calcareous sandy beds in contourite drift deposits at ODP Site 1119 off New Zealand: Insights into sandy drift development and drift petroleum reservoir characterization

ODP (Ocean Drilling Program) Site 1119 was drilled in drift successions deposited by northward flowing currents on the Canterbury slope, South Island, New Zealand. Pliocene (∼3.9 Ma) to Pleistocene drift accumulation was concomitant with tectonic uplift and sediment supply from the Alpine Fault plate boundary to the west, glacial development and eustatic sealevel change that created cyclicity in sandy input. Sand detrital and biogenic modes of very fine and fine sand fractions from 24 unconsolidated core samples (44 thin sections) were determined. Fine sand fractions contain an average of 52% bioclastic debris, with bioclasts making up 23% of the very fine sand fraction. Foraminifers are the dominant bioclasts, with pelagic more common than benthic varieties. The average proportions of monocrystalline quartz, plagioclase and potassium feldspar are similar in both size fractions (average QmKP of ∼25:12:63). In contrast, the very fine sand fractions have, on average, higher lithic (QFL%L of 16 vs. 3%), mica (Totalgrain%M of 10 vs. 6%), and dense mineral (Totalgrain%D of 8 vs. 5%) content as compared with the fine sand fractions. Younger clinoform drape (Unit I) and older mounded drift (Unit II) seismic facies showed no distinct detrital compositional differences in their sand fractions, though bioclast content ranges higher in the fine sand fraction of Unit II. Albite feldspar, metamorphic rock fragment, and chlorite components in the sand are consistent with a schist provenance. Other components such as biotite, plagioclase, and K-feldspar require a contribution from metasedimentary and volcanic rocks. Thus there is some along-slope mixing during sediment transport by south-to-north flowing currents. Cemented microporous sandstone at the base of the section provides some insight into contourite burial diagenesis. This work provides a better understanding of the compositional variability of sand components of drift successions which are potential hydrocarbon reservoirs elsewhere.

Interaction of the chlorite-based drug WF10 and chlorite with hemoglobin, methemoglobin and ferryl hemoglobin

The interaction of the chlorite-based drug solution WF10 with human oxyhemoglobin and oxidized hemoglobin forms was investigated monitoring the corresponding spectral changes in heme states. The chlorite component of WF10 converts oxyhemoglobin into methemoglobin with a rate of 35.4 M−1s−1. Methemoglobin is also formed upon the interaction of ferryl hemoglobin and WF10/chlorite. The rate of this interconversion depends on the oxidation state of ferryl hemoglobin. This rate is 114 M−1s−1, when ferryl hemoglobin was generated upon reaction of oxyhemoglobin and hydrogen peroxide. A considerable higher rate (6600 M−1s−1) is measured between the chlorite components of WF10 and ferryl hemoglobin after formation of the latter species from methemoglobin. WF10/chlorite inactivates also methemoglobin as evidenced by the continuous decrease of the Soret band and all other absorbances with a rate of 8.3 M−1s−1. In all interconversions, the chlorite component of WF10 was the active principle as shown in experiments applying pure chlorite at the same concentration as in WF10. Thus, WF10 is able to diminish efficiently the yield of cytotoxic hemoglobin species that might appear after excessive hemolysis of red blood cells under pathologic situations.

Anthropic acceleration of a natural clay mineral reaction in marshland soils (Atlantic Coast, France)

AbstractSoil clay minerals in recent natural polders react on a human timescale in response to local environmental conditions. With increasing age, the mineral reaction leads to the dissolution of the chlorite component and a composition change of the different illite-smectite mixed-layer minerals (I-S MLMs): i.e. smectite layer content decreases and illite content increases. The process of oxidation, which is proven by magnetic susceptibility to trigger clay mineral reaction, changes the mineralogical composition of the sediment above the redox front. The mineral changes appear to be a non-linear function of time. In natural conditions the process lasts >1000 y. However, anthropoic forcing such as artificial drainage accelerates the oxidation reaction to complete the whole process in a few tens of years.

Distribution and possible immobilization of lead in a forest soil (Luvisol) profile*

Geochemical analyses using a sequential extraction method and lead adsorption studies were carried out in order to characterize the distribution and adsorption of lead on each genetic horizon of a Luvisol profile developed on a pelagic clayey aleurolite. Clay illuviation is the most important pedogenic process in the profile studied. Its clay mineralogy is characterized by chlorite/vermiculite species with increasing chlorite component downward. The amount of carbonate minerals strongly increases in the lower part of the profile resulting in an abrupt rise in soil pH within a small distance. The Pb content of the soil profile exceeds the natural geochemical background only in the Ao horizon, and its amount decreases with depth in the profile without correcting for differences in bulk density, suggesting the binding of Pb to soil organic matter. According to the sequential extraction analysis the organic matter and carbonate content of the soil have the most significant effect on lead distribution. This effect varies in the different soil horizons. Lead adsorption experiments were carried out on whole soil samples, soil clay fractions, as well as on their carbonate and organic matter free variant. The different soil horizons adsorb lead to different extents depending on their organic matter, clay mineral and carbonate content; and the mineralogical features of soil clays significantly affect their lead adsorption capacity. The clay fraction adsorbs 25% more lead than the whole soil, while in the calcareous subsoil a significant proportion of lead is precipitated due to the alkaline conditions. 10 and 5% of adsorbed Pb can be leached with distilled water in the organic matter and clay mineral dominated soil horizons, respectively. These results suggest that soil organic matter plays a decisive role in the adsorption of Pb, but the fixation by clay minerals is stronger.

Immobile elements as monitors of mass transfer in hydrothermal alteration; Phelps Dodge massive sulfide deposit, Matagami, Quebec

Hydrothermal alteration associated with an Archean stratiform volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit has converted aphyric rhyodacite to chloritite. In addition to normal chlorite components (MgO, FeO, Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 ), the chloritite is enriched in TiO 2 , Zr, Y, and Nb. These elements and Al 2 O 3 are shown to be immobile using binary plots of analyses which produce linear arrays, with high correlation coefficients, that go through bulk composition and origin. Al 2 O 3 is the most immobile, followed by Zr, Nb, TiO 2 , and Y.Immobility requires that these elements became enriched by in situ residual concentration. This was caused mostly by initial wholesale leaching of silica--mainly quartz--followed by leaching of SiO 2 and Fe 2 O (super [whitesunwithrays]) 3 (total iron as Fe 2 O 3 ) from chlorite. Alteration of rhyodacite proceeded from an initial stage of silicification and chloritization (addition of MgO and Fe 2 O (super [whitesunwithrays]) 3 ) of glass and feldspar (loss of Na 2 O and CaO) to a stage of leaching of quartz wherein over 50 percent of the mass of the unit was lost. In the final stage, leaching of Fe 12 Si 8 O 20 (OH) 16 accounted for a further 10 percent loss, leaving Mg- and Al-rich chlorite as essentially the sole component of the chloritite rock.

Soil Composition and Its Influence on the Engineering Behaviour of Fine-Grained Soils

Fifty per cent. of the soils studied came from the United States and represent samples from sites in which engineering difficulties were encountered; therefore, it is significant that the clay in 50% of all soils examined was an illite-smectite type, while illite-chlorite comprised 15% of the total. For illite-smectite clays, quantitative estimation of the illite and smectite percentages is obtained from the total potash and glycol retention data. The agreement between measured and calculated cation exchange capacities is taken as supporting evidence of the reliability of the methods used. The chlorite component in the illite-chlorite clays was a high-iron chlorite. Regular and random stratification of illite and chlorite components was observed. The most important influence of composition on behaviour is the very high water sensitivity of the expansive minerals. Most of the soils studied which had caused stability or volume change problems in the field contained expansive minerals. For soils with fines of a single mineral species or a simple mixture of minerals, predictions of behaviour can be made with fair accuracy from a knowledge of soil composition. Where the soil fines are interstratified minerals or cemented crystals, predictions can seldom be made with accuracy. Interstratification or cementation usually inhibits the water sensitivity of normally expansive minerals. This fact seriously limits the value of soil compositional data to the engineer.