Rhyolitic Tuff Research Articles

Tonian–Ediacaran Tectonometamorphic History of the Sa'al Complex, Sinai (Egypt): Implications for the Tectonostratigraphic Framework of the Northern Arabian–Nubian Shield

AbstractThe Sa'al Metamorphic Complex (SMC; southern Sinai) encompasses the oldest arc rocks in the Arabian–Nubian Shield, comprising two non‐consanguineous metavolcanic successions (the Agramiya Group and the Post‐Ra'ayan Formation) separated by the metasediments of the Ra'ayan Formation. It experienced three distinct deformational events (D1–D3) and two low‐medium grade regional metamorphic events (M1–M2). The Agramiya Group and the Ra'ayan Formation experienced all tectonometamorphic events (D1–D3 and M1–M2), whereas the Post‐Ra'ayan volcanic rocks were only affected by the D3 and M2 events. D1 is an extensional event and is connected to the late Rodinia break‐up (∼Tonian; 900–870 Ma). The M1 metamorphism variably affected the older Agramiya Group, the rhyolitic tuffs experiencing lower to upper greenschist facies conditions and the basic and intermediate volcanic rocks undergoing amphibolite facies metamorphism. The Ra'ayan Formation metasediments experienced upper greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphism. The upper greenschist facies M2 affected the youngest Post‐Ra'ayan volcanic rocks and other stratigraphic successions. The compressive D2 and D3 events were coeval with the accretion of dismembered terranes in the assembly of Gondwana. D2 can be linked to the Tonian–Cryogenian arc‐arc assembly (∼880–760 Ma; in Elat and Sinai), whereas D3 and the accompanying M2 is constrained to 622–600 Ma (Ediacaran).

El Cerro de La Virgen, Culiacán, Sinaloa como propuesta de área natural protegida: conservando los bosques secos

The municipality of Culiacán, Sinaloa, México, does not have Natural Protected Areas (ANP) under municipal decree and, since 2004, lacks an ANP to protect its dry forest. Within state normative, it manages the Tacuichamona mountain range, shared by the municipalities of Cosalá and Elota, enacted in 2020. The current study aims to describe woody plant richness, risk categories, vegetation types, and conservation status of the Cerro de la Virgen, Culiacán, Sinaloa. INEGI’s cartography was consulted with an available 1:1 000 000 and 1:250 000 scale to describe the geographic location, and the physical and biological variables, resulting in a BS1 (h´)w climate, with its geology composed of andesite-andesite tuff, ignimbrite- rhyolite tuff, granodiorite, and alluvium; vertisol soil with tropical deciduous forest vegetation and secondary vegetation. Transects were traced for listing the woody plants, adding 0.1 ha. The in-situ identification was carried out by specialists. To determine the national endangered status, the NOM 059-SERMARNAT-2010 was consulted, together with the International Red List (UICN). It resulted in a richness of 18 families, 49 genera, and 51 species of woody plants. Sitting in the richness range of taxa described by Gentry (Between 50 and 70 species) for tropical dry forests in America. The family with the highest quantity of genera was Fabaceae, and the genus with the highest richness was Bursera. Regarding the extinction risk status from the national legislation, four species were registered: Two under Special Protection (Pr) and two under the Threatened status (A). According to IUCN, a total of 40 species are counted. It is required to issue more decrees to compensate for deforestation by land-use change. For this reason, the decree of the Cerro de la Virgen as an ANP Will increase the conservation cover in 914.83 ha of dry forest of Sinaloa México. Partially amending the loss of vegetation surface in forests and jungles. Additionally, it would shelter multiple environmental, ecological and cultural services that dry forests provide, materializing the conservation jurisprudence of natural areas and would support international organizations' conservation efforts for 2030.

Petrogenetic constraints of the La Quinta Formation igneous rocks, Serranía del Perijá, northern Colombian Andes

La Quinta Formation is a Triassic-Jurassic volcano-sedimentary unit that crops out along both flanks of the Serranía de Perijá, in Cesar and La Guajira departments of Colombia, and Zulia state in Venezuela. It is mainly composed of red clastic sedimentary rocks (siltstones, sandstones, and minor conglomerates), interbedded with volcanic rocks and cut by small stocks. The volcanic horizons are mainly formed by rhyolitic tuffs and lava flows (basalts and andesites).
 
 Andesites and basalts are constituted by plagioclase, clinopyroxene, biotite, magnetite, apatite, and zircon, whereas rhyolites and tuffs are formed by plagioclase, ß quartz, biotite, and sanidine. EMPA analyses revealed that plagioclase display varying compositions from labradorite-andesine in intermediate and basic rocks to oligoclase in rhyolites. Besides, clinopyroxene from basalts was classified as augite, and several hydrothermal mineral phases were also recognized, such as epidote, Ca-zeolites, and andradite-grossular. Using ILMAT (ilmenite-magnetite) geothermometer, temperature and oxygen fugacity conditions of 700-730°C and +1.2 ∆NNO were determined for dolerite.
 
 Whole-rock geochemistry results evidence that La Quinta Formation volcanic rocks belong to the sub-alkaline (calc-alkaline) series, displaying compositions from basaltic andesites to rhyolites. Chondrite normalized REE and incompatible elements spidergrams show typical features of subduction-related magmatism and depict three groups of rocks (basic, intermediate, and acid) with contrasting geochemical behaviors. Hence, each group could have formed during single magmatic events associated with different magmatic suites. Nevertheless, the three groups have features that suggest a genesis related to an Andean-type supra-subduction zone, which agrees with the regional tectonic assemblage during Triassic-Jurassic times.

Petrology and geochemistry of bimodal volcanic rocks of Southern Lake Hayk area, northwestern Ethiopian plateau: implication for their petrogenesis

This study presents and integrates field, petrological, and whole-rock geochemical (major and trace elements) data of the volcanic rocks from the Lake Hayk area to understand their petrogenesis. The study area's major lithological components include lower and upper basalt, rhyolitic lava, rhyolitic tuff, rhyolitic ignimbrite, and unwelded tuff. Petrographic analysis suggests that felsic rocks are dominated by quartz and well-developed sanidine (K-feldspar) phenocrysts with glassy groundmass, whereas mafic volcanic products are characterized by aphyric to porphyritic textures with the olivine and plagioclase dominant phenocryst. The area constitutes bimodal composition of flood basaltic to rhyolitic rock with scarce intermediate composition. Basalts have low Rb/Nb = 0.5-0.58, La/Nb = 0.88-1.06 and high TiO2 = 2.08-3.04, basaltic andecite have higher Rb/Nb =2.7, La/Nb = 1.81 and low TiO2= 1.96 and rhyolite Rb/Nb = 0.97-1.69, La/Nb = 0.51-1.08 and lower TiO2 = 0.41- 0.71.The positive Ba and negative K anomalies testify amphibole mantle source. The basalts are characterized by low CaO/Al2O3 ratios (0.71–0.97) and relatively less fractionated and flat hree patterns with (TbN/YbN = 1.75-2.33) chondritic values. This suggests a mantle source mostly containing spinel rather than garnet. Rhyolites are characterized by a steep negative correlation in bivariate plots of MgO, Fe2O3, TiO, and CaO against SiO2 and positive anomaly of Ta with slight Nb trough. This suggests that Fractional Crystallization is the major process for the genesis of rhyolitic rocks, rather than crustal contribution, partial melting, and assimilation, producing rhyolitic rocks.

The Ediacaran record of glaciogenic dropstones, diamictites and cap carbonates associated with non-metamorphosed banded iron formations (BIFs) in Iran

The Ediacaran period is marked by global icehouse episode, greenhouse period, increasing levels of oxygen-carbon dioxide, syn-glaciogenic structures-BIFs, typical Ediacaran biota and a marked negative carbon isotope excursion. On this global point, field glaciogenic structures, petrographic textures, Ediacaran biota, U-Pb zircon ages, C-O isotopes and geochemical data record an Ediacaran glaciogenic BIFs event in Iran. The Ediacaran (578–547 or 578–541.8 Ma) glaciogenic sequences in Bafq and Hormuz Island mining districts include submarine syn-glaciovolcanic rhyolitic rocks, rhyolitic tuffs, shaly tuffaceous carbonates, dropstone-bearing jaspilitic BIFs, salt minerals, ferruginous diamictites, and cap carbonates. The presence of polygonal, bullet-shape and flatiron forms of gneiss, greenschist, quartz schist, quartzite, marble and magnetite-hematite clasts in a matrix of jaspilitic magnetite-hematite, muddy sandstones and muddy dolomitic rocks records an Ediacaran glaciogenic event. The dropstones occur as lone-stones, dump-stones and deflect their underlying layers. The diamictites contain similar clasts to those of the dropstones, are gradationally covered by buff to dark-grey cap carbonates ± dropstones and resemble the Ghaub, Chuos and Kingston Peak Formation diamictites. C-O isotopes, REE+Y diagrams, high Y/Ho ratios, positive Eu-Y anomalies and subtle Ce anomaly possibly reflect a possible hydrothermal origin for the cap carbonates. Delta 13C values (−0.42 to −6.33‰) in cap carbonates show similar negative signatures to the Ediacaran Shuram glaciogenic event. Average delta 18O (−8.34‰) in the least-altered cap carbonates gives a precipitation temperature of 252.7 °C in the waning stage of the glaciogenic BIFs-hydrothermal system.

Geochemical characteristics and growth suitability assessment of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi in the Earth's critical zone of North China.

Geochemical differentiation of soils has a series of consequences on plant and places pressure on the ecological environment. The quantitative evaluation of element migration in the Earth’s critical zone is a challenging task. In this study, two demonstration study areas of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi were selected, and multiple chemical weathering indexes, chemical loss fraction, mass migration coefficients and biological enrichment coefficient method were used to assess the ecological and geochemical suitability. The results show that for the element of Fe, Zn, Se, Cu, Co, Ni, Mo and Ge, the degree of weathering and soil maturation, were greater in the rhyolitic tuff area than in the Plagioclase gneiss area. In both research sites, the heavy metal level of samples in Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi did not exceed the standard limits. The plagioclase gneiss region’s surface soil environment was more alkaline, and the content of soil organic matter was lower, resulting in a higher bioenrichment intensity of Ge, Co, Cu, and Se elements in Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi than in the rhyolite-tuff area. The elements of Cd, Nb, Mo, Pb and As are considerably enriched in the soil of the plagioclase gneiss area but lost by leaching in the soil of the rhyolite tuff area, which is connected to the interplay of elemental abundance and human impact in the parent materials. This study provides a good example of how to assess growth suitability of Chinese medicinal materials in the Earth’s critical zone.Electronic supplementary materialSupplementary material (Appendix 1) is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s11629-021-7015-9.

Ore-formation at the Halasheng Ag-Pb-Zn deposit, northeast Inner Mongolia as revealed by trace-element and sulfur isotope compositions of ore-related sulfides

The Early Cretaceous Halasheng Ag-Pb-Zn deposit in NE China, which is mainly hosted in Jurassic rhyolitic tuff, andesite, and volcanoclastic rocks, comprises both proximal skarns and more distal hydrothermal discordant ore veins and stockworks with associated Fe-Mn-carbonate, illite, and silica alteration in NNW-trending extensional faults. Suggestions of a magmatic-hydrothermal relationship are tested by LA-ICP-MS trace-element and sulfur isotope studies of ore minerals, particularly sphalerite which is a major ore mineral.Sphalerite has at least three types: SpS, anhedral, mainly dark red sphalerite in skarns; Sp1, euhedral, normally pale yellow coarse-grained, and rarely oscillatory zoned sphalerite formed in Stage 2 of hydrothermal vein mineralization; and Sp2, fine-grained, red, non-zoned sphalerite formed in Stage 3 of hydrothermal mineralization. Sphalerite with different textures has As, Ag, Cd, Sb, and Pb contents that increase from proximal skarn to distal hydrothermal mineralization consistent with the increase in sulfosalt minerals in the late hydrothermal stage. In situ time-resolved depth profiles, together with tangential profiles, and LA-ICP-MS element mapping of sphalerite indicate that trace elements are largely in solid solution in Halasheng sphalerite with substitution mechanisms including: Zn2+ ↔ Fe2+, Cd2+, Mn2+, and 3Zn2+↔ (As3+, Sb3+) + Ag++Pb2+. Enrichment of In and Sn, and depletion of Ga and Ge, together with In/Sn ratios indicate the high-temperature ore-forming fluids at Halasheng that are most likely closely related to intrusions. In situ mean δ34S values of SpS, Sp1, and Sp2 sphalerites are 5.3‰, 7.6‰, and 8.3‰, respectively, indicating that sulfur was derived both from magmatic-hydrothermal fluids and from wall rocks with higher (>10‰) values.These data help confirm that the Halasheng Ag-Pb-Zn deposit is an intrusion-related deposit with local proximal skarn mineralization at the contact of Tamulangou Formation andesite with Ergunahe Formation crystalline limestone, and more distal vein-type volcanic-hosted hydrothermal mineralization, with both ore and gangue mineral assemblages and available fluid inclusion data suggesting an intermediate-sulfidation epithermal association. As ore-forming hydrothermal fluids cooled and evolved they became enriched in silver, with silver-bearing sulfosalt minerals and silver-rich sphalerite precipitated in the latter stages of deposition.In terms of future exploration, there is potential for the concealed Lower Cretaceous Pb-Zn skarns and intermediate sulfidation Ag-Pb-Zn epithermal deposits at Halasheng to be part of a larger porphyry-related mineral system with porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposits, similar to those of Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic age in the same metallogenic belt, at deeper crustal levels than the known deposits.

Fluid inclusion and isotopic constraints on the origin of the Ag-Pb-Zn polymetallic mineralization at Biliya, Great Xingan Range, NE China

The Biliya Ag-Pb-Zn polymetallic (SLZP) deposit (16.5 Mt, @ 52.9 g/t Ag, 2.6% Pb and 2.3% Zn) lies in the Great Xing’an Range, Northeast China. Breccia-, veinlet- and vein-type Ag-Pb-Zn ore bodies are primarily hosted in the quartz porphyry, trachyandesite and rhyolitic tuff. They are spatially and temporally related to andesitic porphyry. Three mineralization processes are identified: stage I: grey quartz - pyrite + tawny sphalerite (high Cd2+), stage II: grayish white quartz - pyrite + grey sphalerite (high Fe2+) + galena + argentite + tetrahedrite, stage III: white quartz-pyrite. The alterations consist of quartz + sericite, illite + quartz, fluorite + calcite + opal and chlorite zone. The silver-lead–zinc mineralization primarily corresponds to stage II. Five sulfide samples from stage II yielded a well-fitted isochron age of 131.3 ± 2.4 Ma (MSWD = 2.4), marking the timing of Ag-Pb-Zn polymetallic mineralization. CO2-bearing NaCl-H2O (C), gaseous CO2 (V); vapour-liquid H2O-NaCl (WL) and fluid-phase H2O-NaCl (L)-type of fluid inclusions were distinguished. Their petrographic and microthermometric features and H-O isotopic data suggest that the hydrothermal fluids were initially originated from magmatic source, with intensive mixing with meteoric water and that their temperatures and salinities are 254–130 ℃ and 7.15–1.22 wt% NaCl eqv, respectively, belonging to a reduced fluid (CO2-H2O-NaCl ± CH4) system. In-situ S and bulk Pb isotope analyses indicate that the metal materials were related to andesitic magma from the lower crust. The deposit geology, fluid inclusions, stable isotopes and chronology results suggest that the Biliya deposit belongs to a low-sulfidation (LS) epithermal SLPZ deposit. Boiling and fluid immiscibility coupled with suddenly decreasing in temperature, pressure, logfS2 of the hydrothermal fluids are likely to play important roles in Biliya SLPZ ore deposition.

Petrography And Field Study Of Andesitic Ignimbrite In Temangan, Kelantan

The volcanic rocks in Temangan, Kelantan consist of felsic to intermediate volcanic rocks, that is mainly of pyroclastic with rhyolitic, dacitic, and andesitic tuff. A geological review has been carried out in Kampung Bukit Besi, Temangan, in Kelantan, Malaysia, which is composed of schist, shale, andesite, and ignimbrite. In Temangan, andesite and ignimbrite show an intimate relationship, as the ignimbrite exists as the fragments and andesite as the matrix. The methodology used in this study are petrography and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses, to determine the mineralogical composition of andesitic ignimbrite. Andesite shows aphenitic and porphyritic textures and consist of pyroxene, plagioclase, alkali feldspar, quartz, biotite and iron oxides. A range of plagioclase textures indicate imperfect equilibrium condition from andesite, reflecting plagioclase dissolution and regrowth. The structural analysis suggest that thrust fault occurred in the study area. Andesite and ignimbrite of the two stages are suggested to have derived from the andesite magma eruption which produced pyroclastic flow eruptions in small amount in most caldera volcanoes at high temperature gradient.

Age, chemistry, and tectonic setting of Miramichi terrane (Early Paleozoic) volcanic rocks, eastern and east-central Maine, USA

Volcanic rocks in the Miramichi inlier in Maine occur in two areas separated by the Bottle Lake plutonic complex: the Danforth segment (Stetson Mountain Formation) north of the complex and Greenfield segment to the south (Olamon Stream Formation). Both suites are dominantly pyroclastic, with abundant andesite, dacite, and rhyolite tuffs and subordinate lavas, breccias, and agglomerates. Rare basaltic tuffs and a small area of basaltic tuffs, agglomerates, and lavas are restricted to the Greenfield segment. U–Pb zircon geochronology dates Greenfield segment volcanism at ca. 469 Ma, the Floian–Dapingian boundary between the Lower and Middle Ordovician. Chemical analyses reveal a calc-alkaline suite erupted in a continental volcanic arc, either the Meductic or earliest Balmoral phase of Popelogan arc activity. The Maine Miramichi volcanic rocks are most likely correlative with the Meductic Group volcanic suite in west-central New Brunswick. Orogen-parallel lithologic and chemical variations from New Brunswick to east-central Maine may result from eruptions at different volcanic centers. The bimodal Poplar Mountain volcanic suite at the Maine–New Brunswick border is 10–20 myr younger than the Miramichi volcanic rocks and more likely an early phase of back-arc basin rifting than a late-stage Meductic phase event. Coeval calc-alkaline arc volcanism in the Miramichi, Weeksboro–Lunksoos Lake, and Munsungun Cambrian–Ordovician inliers in Maine is not consistent with tectonic models involving northwestward migration of arc volcanism. This >150 km span cannot be explained by a single east-facing subduction zone, suggesting more than one subduction zone/arc complex in the region.

Early Devonian Arc-Related Volcanic Rocks in the Haerdaban, North Margin of the Yili Block: Constraint on the Southward Subduction of the Junggar Ocean

The origin and tectonic implication of Early–Middle Devonian magmatism in the northern margin of YB (Yili Block) remain enigmatic and are important for understanding Late Paleozoic evolution of the Junggar Ocean and southern Kazakhstan Orocline. Here, we present the systematic study of whole-rock geochemical and Sr–Nd isotope features as well as U–Pb–Hf isotope characteristics of zircon crystals for newly identified Early Devonian volcanic rocks from the northern margin of YB. The volcanic rocks are composed of rhyolite, rhyolite porphyry, and rhyolitic tuff. Zircon U-Pb age dating indicates they were formed at ca. 407~418 Ma. They have high SiO2 (70.16–77.52 wt.%) and alkali (5.10–9.56 wt.%) contents, and high Zr + Nb + Ce + Y content (~456 ppm), indicative of A-type magma. Their relative depletion of Nb, Ta, and Ti, and enrichment of LILEs show arc affinity. Their low initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.699708–0.709822) and negative εNd(t) values (−1.8 to −4.0) indicate a mainly continental magma source and their positive εHf(t)values (+6.13 to +14.81) are possibly due to the garnet effect. All these above reveal that volcanic rocks were generated by re-melting of lower crust under a high temperature condition, which was induced by long-lived heat accumulation with no or minimal basalt flux. Combined with active continental margin inference evidenced by contemporaneous sedimentary rocks, we attribute the generation of the volcanic rocks to a continental arc setting related to the southward subduction of Junggar oceanic crust. Thus, we infer the Early–Middle Devonian arc-related magmatic rocks in the northern margin of YB are eastward counterparts of the southern limb of the Devonian Volcanic Belt, which resulted from a relatively steady-state southward subduction.

Geology, geochemistry, mineralogy and genesis of the Spetsugli high-germanium coal deposit in the Pavlovsk coalfield, Russian Far East

The geology, mineralogy, and geochemistry of the Spetsugli high-germanium coal deposit in the Pavlovsk coalfield were studied. The deposit is characterized by the complex polyelemental composition of the ores and can be evaluated as a complex rare metal-coal deposit. The metal-bearing coals of the deposit are characterized by abnormally high, tens or even hundreds of times greater than the mean contents for brown coals of the world, for Ge, Sb, Hg, W, Li, Be, Cs, and As. Somewhat less anomalous are the levels of accumulation of U, Mo, Y, Rb, medium and heavy lanthanides, Zn, and Ga. Detailed mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the germanium mineralization and associated anomalous concentrations of W, Sb, Hg, As Li, Be, Cs, U, Mo, Y, Rb, and HREE are described in the paper. The variations in concentrations were studied in vertical profiles and laterally. Complex mineralogical-geochemical and geological-structural analysis of the composition and structural features of the Spetsugli Ge-coal deposit allow us to revise the accepted hydrothermal model of the Ge mineralization formation in coals and substantiate the previously proposed hypergenic model for deposits of this type. The new data are in good agreement with the hydrogenic hypergenic model of the formation of complex Ge coal deposits where the source of metals is the basement rocks or the coal-bearing depression margins. The formation of the Ge and associated mineralization in the Spetsugli deposit was controlled by the weathering crust formation on hydrothermally altered rare metal granites of the Voznesenk Complex, broken through by the Late Permian dikes. The isotopic ages of the granites (448.2 Ma) and dikes (263.6 Ma) were determined and also the rhyolitic tuffs (25.1 Ma) which overlie the Eocene-Oligocene coal- bearing sediments in the basin. The isotopic age of the granites (448.2 Ma), dikes (263.6 Ma), and rhyolite tuffs overlapping the carbonaceous deposits (25.1 Ma) was determined. The rare metal mineralization is related to the basement protrusion in the centre of the deposit, forming a concentric-zone halo of Ge and associated elements around it. The basement protrusion granites were hydrothermally altered to form quartz-albite-microcline metasomatites and greisen containing the W-Mo and Hg-Sb-As mineralization. The metasomatically altered granites and dikes were transformed into a kaolin weathering crust as a result of late hypergenic alterations, with destruction of primary endogenous mineralization and removal of major elements to the surrounding paleopeatlands. Both types of endogenous mineralization in granites and dikes have anomalous accumulation of W, Mo, Sb, Hg, As, Li, Rb, Cs, Be, U, Y, lanthanides, Zn and Ga in the germanium-bearing coals during the Eocene- Oligocene time.

Genetic Environments of the Eunjeok Au–Ag Deposit in the Yeongam District: Implications for Cretaceous Epithermal Au–Ag Mineralization in South Korea

Eunjeok Au–Ag deposits are situated in the Yeongam district, Cheollanamdo-province, South Korea. They are genetically related to the Bulgugsa magmatic event (ca. 110–60 Ma), caused by the transition in the subduction direction and style of the Izanagi Plate. Three gold- and silver-bearing hydrothermal veins filled the fractures of the Cretaceous rhyolitic tuff. The major ore minerals were arsenopyrite (31.47–32.20 at.% As), pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite (8.58–10.71 FeS mole%) and galena with minor amounts of electrum (62.77–78.15 at.% Au), native silver, and argentite. Sericitization was dominant in the alteration zone. The various textures of quartz veins (i.e., breccia, crustiform, comb, and vuggy) may indicate the formation of an epithermal environment. The auriferous fluids with the H2O–NaCl system have homogenization temperatures and salinities of 204 °C to 314 °C, less than 10 wt.% equiv. NaCl, and experienced mixing (dilution and cooling) events during mineralization. Considering the characteristics of the geologic setting, major fault system, and host rock, the Eunjeok Au–Ag deposit within the Yeongam district tends to share the general geologic characteristics of Haenam–Jindo epithermal mineralization episodes. However, the age of gold–silver mineralization (86.0 Ma) is older than that of Haenam–Jindo epithermal mineralization episodes (<70.3 Ma), implying some differences exist in the genetic sequence of extensional characteristics caused by transcurrent Gwangju–Yeongdong faults.

Tracking a “Prehistoric Pompeii” , Rhinoland and Crocodilia: New Discoveries And Interpretations Of Ipolytarnóc (N Hungary) Lower Miocene Track Site

The transnational Novohrad-Nograd Geopark situated in Northern Hungary and Southern Slovakia has several important Neogene fossil sites developed for geotourism. One of them is the lower Miocene paleontological locality complex at Ipolytarnoc , which has been well known since the middle of the 19th century. The site is the main geotouristic gateway to the geopark, where high-tech interpretation resources explain the geological background and fossil resources to visitors, like the rich shark-tooth-bearing intertidal sandstone, the terrestrial sandstone and rhyolite tuff containing a petrified forest and leaves, and the great number of animal tracks in a relatively small area. Since 2015, the authors have identified several thousand footprints and body impressions, including new fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, and mammal ichnotaxa, among others. Re-interpretation of the paleohabitats identifies interfingering terrestrial (Rhinoland) and intertidal pool (Crocodilia) landscapes. Similar track assemblages of similar age indicate intensive tectonic uplift and fluviatile-lacustrine sediment accumulations in the Western, Central and Eastern Paratethys forced by Neogene African plate movements.

Late Jurassic magmatism and associated Au–Cu polymetallic mineralization in the North China Craton: Constraints from U–Pb–Hf–Sr–Nd isotopes of the Xiayingfang intermediate-felsic igneous rocks

The Xiayingfang Au–Cu polymetallic deposit (22.5 Mt. @1.9 g/t Au, 0.54% Cu) in the northern margin of the North China Craton consists of the Xiajinbao and Dongliang ore blocks. It is characterized by multiple magmatic rocks, including rhyolitic tuff, granite porphyry, diorite porphyry, quartz porphyry, and monzonite porphyry. The Xiajinbao and Dongliang mineralization occurs mainly as auriferous quartz-sulfide veins in granite porphyry and diorite porphyry, respectively.Rhyolitic tuff, granite porphyry, diorite porphyry, quartz porphyry, and monzonite porphyry at Xiayingfang yielded zircon U–Pb ages of 162.3 ± 1.3 Ma (MSWD = 1.4), 161.8 ± 1.5 Ma (MSWD = 1.3), 162.7 ± 1.7 Ma (MSWD = 1.4), 162.9 ± 1.7 Ma (MSWD = 2.4), 162.7 ± 1.6 Ma (MSWD = 0.7), respectively, suggesting their Late Jurassic emplacement. The rhyolitic tuff, granite porphyry, quartz porphyry, and monzonite porphyry are characterized by high aluminum saturation index (ASI = 1.0 to 1.3), positive P2O5 vs. SiO2 correlation, negative Eu anomaly (δEu = 0.29 to 0.78), low average Nb/Th (3.05) and Nb/U (8.80) ratios, low Mg# values (14 to 42), negative zircon εHf(t) (–8.7 to –10.1) and high initial 87Sr/86Sr value (0.712 for granite porphyry), indicating a sedimentary origin. In contrast, the diorite porphyry is characterized by high Sr/Y (29.2 to 53.2), low Y (9.7 to 15.0 ppm) and Yb (1.4 to 1.8 ppm), indicating an adakite-like affinity. Moreover, its listric-shaped normalized REE patterns with no Eu anomalies, low ASI (0.8–0.9), zircon εHf(t) (–7.7 to –11.1), εNd(t) (–10 to –16) and initial 87Sr/86Sr (0.705 to 0.706), high Nb/Th (9.25), Nb/U (30.6) ratios, Mg# values (46 to 54), indicating a dominantly sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) source, which may have evolved to adakite-like signatures through amphibole fractionation. The mineral assemblages of paragenetic bornite, enargite and electrum at Xiayingfang reveals the highly oxidized condition of ore-related magma, as supported by the magnetic susceptibility (20 to 65 × 10–3SI unit) and average zircon Ce4+/Ce3+ ratio (352) of the diorite porphyry, and clearly different from those barren Xiayingfang porphyries (magnetic susceptibility below 1 × 10–3SI unit, and low average zircon Ce4+/Ce3+ ratio of 128). This reveals that the diorite porphyry may have been ore-causative at Xiayingfang, which is also supported by its clear ore-related alteration (illite, carbonate, and chlorite) and close spatial relations with the orebodies. Mineral Exploration programs in this area should therefore target the diorite porphyries instead.

Measuring Gas Transport and Sorption in Large Intact Geologic Specimens via the Piezometric Method

Uptake of noble gases into heterogeneous geologic core samples was measured using a piezometric methodology. In addition to measuring accessible porosity—as with gas pycnometry—by monitoring the rate of pressure decay, this method can also be used to estimate the gas effective diffusivity in the sample. In contrast to previous applications of this method, where milligram quantities of fractured grains are characterized, here approximately kilogram core samples were left intact when tested. In doing so, a more representative sample of the heterogeneous field geology is provided. Additionally, alteration of the pore structure and connectivity during sample preparation is avoided. To scale the piezometric method from milligrams to kilograms, the system was designed to operate at medium vacuum (1 to 100 Pa) to restrict transport in pores less than approximately 60 µm to large Knudsen numbers. To test the system performance, two samples of interest were selected: a rhyolitic welded tuff from Blue Canyon Dome at the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center and a zeolitized non-welded rhyolitic tuff from the Nevada National Security Site. Three noble gases were utilized in this test series; Argon and xenon as they are of direct interest to nuclear monitoring efforts and helium as it is a weakly adsorbing reference standard. Additionally, mercury intrusion porosimetry measurements were made on subsamples of the core to compare the observed porosity by the two methods and to discuss gas transport rates in the context of the measured pore distribution.

Foraminiferal and calcareous nannoplankton biostratigraphy of the upper Badenian–lower Sarmatian strata in the SE Polish Carpathian Foredeep

The Badenian/Sarmatian boundary in the Central Paratethys has been traditionally identified by the faunal turnover recording an important environmental change possibly controlled by the change from marine to brackish conditions. The strata below the Badenian/Sarmatian boundary in the northern Carpathian Foredeep are included into the Pecten beds, and those above it into the Syndesmya beds. Foraminiferal study of the Babczyn 2 borehole which is one of the crucial sections in the northern Carpathian Foredeep, well-known for the depositional age of rhyolite tuff within the Pecten beds dated by Śliwiński et al. (2012) at 13.06 ±0.11 Ma, indicated that in fact the boundary occurs within the Syndesmya beds. This conclusion is based upon the rapid change from a stenohaline foraminiferal fauna to a euryhaline one, and the appearance of the species Anomalinoides dividens , the taxon regarded as the marker for the Sarmatian. In the Babczyn 2 and Cieszanów 1 (located ~2.5 km basinward of Babczyn 2) boreholes, Anomalinoides dividens appears 3.1–3.8 m above the replacement of stenohaline by euryhaline foraminifers. The calcareous nannoplankton study shows that the upper Badenian and the lower Sarmatian strata in the studied sections represent the NN6, undivided NN6-NN7, and NN7 zones.

Generation and structural modification of the giant Kengdenongshe VMS-type Au-Ag-Pb-Zn polymetallic deposit in the East Kunlun Orogen, East Tethys: Constraints from geology, fluid inclusions, noble gas and stable isotopes

The Kengdenongshe giant Au-Ag-Pb-Zn polymetallic deposit is located in the East Kunlun Orogen (EKO). It contains about 42.2 t of Au, 608.6 t of Ag and 1.05 Mt of Pb and Zn with an average grade of Au 2.31 g/t, Ag 19.29 g/t and Pb + Zn 3.49 wt% (Pb: 1.23 wt%, Zn: 2.26 wt%). The NWW-trending ore bodies are predominantly hosted in Late Permian to Triassic rhyolitic tuff, which formed during Late Permian back-arc extension to Triassic arc-continental collision. The ore bodies are subdivided into Pb-Zn rich ore bodies on the top with high grades of Pb and Zn and low grades of Au and Ag, and Au-Ag rich ore bodies below with high grades of Au and Ag and low grades of Pb and Zn. The Pb-Zn rich ore bodies occur as vein, stockwork, and in breccia, and comprise quartz, pyrite, galena, sphalerite, and small amounts of chalcopyrite. The Au-Ag rich ore bodies consist of auriferous barite-sulfide-oxide veins and contain barite, pyrite (early strawberry and oolitic pyrite and later eu- to subhedral pyrite), galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite and covellite. Gold is present as electrum, kustelite and native gold and silver is present as polybasite, pearceite, kongsbergite, and as minor native silver in microfractures in sulfides. The hydrothermal alteration minerals include, from bottom to top, quartz + barite + calcite around the Au-Ag rich orebodies, quartz + chlorite + epidote around the Pb-Zn rich orebodies, and quartz + K-feldspar within the tuff. Fluid inclusions from both the Pb-Zn rich and the Au-Ag rich orebodies consist of two phases (V–L-type) fluid inclusions of which the vapor phase has a size of 10–40 vol%. Fluid inclusions microthermometry reveal homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions in Pb-Zn rich and Au-Ag rich ore bodies of 128–230 °C and 110–320 °C, with corresponding salinities of 0.7–9.9 and 0.2–18.3 wt% NaCl equivalent, respectively. H-O-S-Pb stable isotope and He-Ar noble gas isotope data indicate a mixed magmatic water-seawater source for both the Pb-Zn and Au-Ag rich ore bodies, and an additional meteoric water component for the Au-Ag rich ore bodies. The Pb-Zn and Au-Ag rich ore bodies share the same sulfur and lead sources, i.e. sulfur is derived from crustal magma and seawater/marine sulfate, and the lead originated from a mixed magmatic-ancient crustal sedimentary source. Collectively, the regional geology, mineralogy, alteration, and geochemistry indicate that the Kengdenongshe Au-Ag-Pb-Zn polymetallic deposit can be characterized as a VMS-type (volcanic-associated massive sulfide) deposit. Formation of the ore-hosting rhyolite tuff and mineralization are associated with Late Permian to Triassic marine volcanic exhalation. Middle to Late Triassic basin closure and arc-continent collision modified the deposit and resulted in the location inversion of the Pb-Zn and Au-Ag rich orebodies.

Fracture Sustainability in Enhanced Geothermal Systems: Experimental and Modeling Constraints

Abstract Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) offer the potential for a much larger energy source than conventional hydrothermal systems. Hot, low-permeability rocks are prevalent at depth around the world, but the challenge of extracting thermal energy depends on the ability to create and sustain open fracture networks. Laboratory experiments were conducted using a suite of selected rock cores (granite, metasediment, rhyolite ash-flow tuff, and silicified rhyolitic tuff) at relevant pressures (uniaxial loading up to 20.7 MPa and fluid pressures up to 10.3 MPa) and temperatures (150–250 °C) to evaluate the potential impacts of circulating fluids through fractured rock by monitoring changes in fracture aperture, mineralogy, permeability, and fluid chemistry. Because a fluid in disequilibrium with the rocks (deionized water) was used for these experiments, there was net dissolution of the rock sample: this increased with increasing temperature and experiment duration. Thermal-hydrological-mechanical-chemical (THMC) modeling simulations were performed for the rhyolite ash-flow tuff experiment to test the ability to predict the observed changes. These simulations were performed in two steps: a thermal-hydrological-mechanical (THM) simulation to evaluate the effects of compression of the fracture, and a thermal-hydrological-chemical (THC) simulation to evaluate the effects of hydrothermal reactions on the fracture mineralogy, porosity, and permeability. These experiments and simulations point out how differences in rock mineralogy, fluid chemistry, and geomechanical properties influence how long asperity-propped fracture apertures may be sustained. Such core-scale experiments and simulations can be used to predict EGS reservoir behavior on the field scale.

Early Devonian tectonic conversion from contraction to extension in the Chinese Western Tianshan: A response to slab rollback

Abstract Extensive angular unconformities that occur across the Tianshan Orogen provide insight into the Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. This study presents new geochronological and geochemical data to unravel the age and origin of a pronounced angular unconformity in the Baluntai domain of the Chinese Western Tianshan. The angular unconformity separates a ductilely deformed metamorphic complex from overlying unmetamorphosed sequences. Detrital zircon age spectra suggest that the sedimentary samples received detritus from both the Precambrian basement and contemporaneous igneous rocks in the Central Tianshan and Yili blocks. The youngest detrital and metamorphic zircons in metasediments from the metamorphic complex reveal that their protoliths were deposited at ca. 419 Ma, and subsequently overprinted by metamorphism and ductile deformation at ca. 409 Ma. Along with ca. 532–407 Ma metavolcanics and foliated intrusions, the metamorphic complex constitutes a diachronous stratigraphic unit deposited during early Cambrian to late Silurian times, rather than a Precambrian basement as previously thought. The youngest detrital zircon age data from siliciclastic samples immediately above the angular unconformity constrain their deposition to ca. 407–397 Ma. In conjunction with a ca. 406 Ma rhyolitic tuff in the lower terrestrial siliciclastic unit and an early Carboniferous paleontological age of carbonates in the upper shallow-marine unit, it is suggested that the overlying unmetamorphosed sequences were accumulated during the early Devonian to the early Carboniferous. Thus, the angular unconformity in the Baluntai domain was formed between ca. 409 and 407 Ma. New and already published geochemical data reveal that the early Paleozoic (ca. 530–410 Ma) and late Paleozoic (ca. 410–320 Ma) igneous rocks are mainly medium- to high-K calc-alkaline I-type granitoids, which exhibit typical subduction-related geochemical signatures despite contrasting structural features. These geochronological and geochemical results are in accordance with those of similar early Devonian angular unconformities and Paleozoic igneous rocks in the southern Yili Block. The early Paleozoic igneous rocks display highly scattered zircon εHf(t) values, while the late Paleozoic rocks show a progressively increasing trend toward more positive values, attributed to slab rollback of the northward subducting South Tianshan Ocean under the Yili and Central Tianshan blocks. Thus, we propose that the formation of the angular unconformity was caused by tectonic conversion from contraction to extension due to slab rollback during the early Devonian. This study highlights the significance of geological and geochronological investigations of angular unconformities in the context of associated episodic magmatism and slab behavior in order to unravel distinct tectonic processes in the long-lived accretionary evolution of the Chinese Western Tianshan.