Chemical Geology

The origin of igneous Fe–Ti oxide ores associated with massif-type anorthosites is investigated through a detailed study of the world-class Tellnes ilmenite deposit, part of the late-Proterozoic (930–920 Ma) AMC series of the Rogaland Anorthosite Province (SW Norway). More than ...

Mineralogical analyses of the clay fraction of some typical alluvial soils of the Nile delta were carried out using X-ray, thermal and chemical analysis in addition to cation-exchange capacity (CEC), surface area, and K-fixation measurements. The results indicated that the average mineralogical composition was: montmorillonite, 48–56; kaolinite, 15–18; mica, 5–11; feldspars, 5; quartz, 3–5 and free oxides, 11–16%. This composition did not change significantly with depth or location of sampling and was very similar to the Nile load sediment itself.Chemical composition and structural formulas of the dominant montmorillonitic minerals were calculated. The calculated values indicated that the dominant smectite mineral is an Fe-rich montmorillonite with isomorphous substitution of Al3+ for Si4+ in tetrahedra similar to mica. The octahedral positions were filled with a total number of around 2 atoms of Fe3+, Al3+ and Mg2+. The total negative charge was around 0.520 charge per unit cell or ignited material. It was concluded that the dominant clay mineral is an aluminian nontronite, i.e., Fe-rich smectite with high CEC and low K-fixation capacity. The possibility of some admixing within the 2:1 minerals in these soils was not excluded.

The determination of FeO of geologic materials by modern instrumental methods (such as atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), etc.) cannot distinguish between different oxidation states of elements. In many cases, the oxidation state of Fe has to be known in order to perform several chemical calculations (norms, etc.) and discuss the

The Kohistan–Ladakh Terrane in the NW Himalaya is a remnant of a Cretaceous arc sequence obducted onto the Indian margin. This paper presents a geochemical study (major and trace elements and Sr, Nd, Pb isotopes) of the Mid-Cretaceous lavas of the Ladakh side of the arc sequence, which were erupted in response to northward subduction of Neo-Tethys oceanic crust.Lavas from the western Ladakh in Pakistan can be divided into three groups which, from north to south, are: (1) the Northern Group of back-arc tholeiites [0.5<(La/Yb)N<1.4; 0.3<(Nb/La)N<1.4; 4<εNd<8; 38.66<208Pb/204Pb<38.80], (2) the Southern Group of arc tholeiites [1.8<(La/Yb)N<3.9; 0.1<(Nb/La)N<0.6; 5<εNd<6; 38.40<208Pb/204Pb<38.66], and (3) the Katzarah Formation of tholeiitic Nb-rich lavas [3.4<(La/Yb)N<9.8; 1.4<(Nb/La)N<2.1; 3<εNd<5], including radiogenic Pb lavas [39.31<208Pb/204Pb<39.51] and less radiogenic lavas [38.31<208Pb/204Pb<38.55]. Magmas from the eastern Ladakh in India show a simple series of more evolved arc volcanics from basalts to rhyolites [basalts and basaltic andesites: 2.5<(La/Yb)N<5.7; 0.4<(Nb/La)N<0.5; 1.8<εNd<5.5; 38.70<208Pb/204Pb<38.80]. Isotope and trace element data of western Ladakh lavas are compatible with high-degree melting (14–21%) of a fertile MORB-mantle source. An adakitic lava [(La/Yb)N=55.8; (Nb/La)N=0.3; εNd=1.7; 208Pb/204Pb=39.00] and a Mg-poor Nb-rich basalt [(La/Yb)N=4.6; (Nb/La)N=1.3; εNd=−2; 208Pb/204Pb=39.07] are spatially associated with the tholeiitic arc lavas. Isotope compositions of all the lavas, and in particular the radiogenic Nb-rich and adakitic lavas suggest three-component mixing between depleted mantle similar to the Indian MORB mantle, and enriched components similar to the volcanogenic or pelagic sediments. The geochemical diversity of magma types is attributed to contribution of melts from the subducted crust and associated sediments, and their subsequent interaction with the mantle. Such melt–mantle interactions can also be inferred from relicts of sub-arc mantle found in Indian Ladakh. These results lead to a geodynamic reconstruction of the Kohistan–Ladakh arc as a single entity in the Mid-Cretaceous, emplaced south of the Asian margin. Slab melting imply subduction of young oceanic crust, as already proposed for the Oman ophiolite farther west. The fast northward drift of the Indian Plate could have triggered wide-scale inversion of the divergent tectonic regime responsible for the opening of the Neo-Tethys Ocean. Our results suggest breaking of the young oceanic crust initiated at the ridge rather than at passive plate boundaries.

Two geochemically distinct Low-Ti magma types (Gramado and Esmeralda) are distinguished within the flood basalt sequences of southern Paraná on the basis of certain element abundances and ratios. Esmeralda magmas have lower Ce/Sm and ( and higher and ϵNd, than Gramado magmas. Detailed stratigraphical work indicates that there was a temporal progression from Gramado- to Esmeralda-type magmas. This compositional shift cannot simply be explained in terms of a declining extent of crustal contamination of an asthenosphere-derived melt with time, and instead it seems that the two magma types evolved from distinct parental magmas. Although compositional variations of Gramado magmas are dominated by crustal assimilation and fractional crystallisation, geochemical features of the inferred parental magmas [low of < 300 and low of < 0.8, negative ϵNd-values ∼ −3 and high )i 0.708−0.710] are indicative of a significant contribution from the continental mantle lithosphere. Gramado magmas also show a marked regional variation which might imply that the mantle source was compositionally heterogeneous over a length scale of a few hundred km. It is suggested that variations within the Esmeralda magma type are controlled by mixing between an asthenospheric melt with ϵNd > + 4 and a Gramado-type magma, at relatively shallow crustal levels, followed by fractional crystallisation. The asthenospheric component has relatively depleted incompatible element characteristics comparable to MORB. Thus, Low-Ti lava sequences of southern Paraná record a shift from a predominantly lithospheric to an asthenospheric signature with time. Paraná flood basalts appear to have been generated in response to lithospheric extension associated with the opening of the South Atlantic over a region of anomalously hot mantle, attributed to the presence of the Tristan mantle plume. However, the distinctive geochemical signature of the modern Tristan plume, seen on the islands of Tristan da Cunha, Gough and Inaccessible, is not evident in the compositions of Low-Ti magmas in southern Paraná.

Reaction path modelling, coupled with preparatory inverse modelling, was applied to test this model's ability to reproduce the wide compositional range of ground waters circulating in a restricted area in Piedmont, Italy. This approach is based on the assumption that the chemistry of groundwater evolves through a series of partial equilibria with secondary minerals until it reaches its final composition. PHREEQC [Parkhurst, D.L., Appelo, C.A.J., 1999. User's guide to PHREEQC-A computer program for speciation, reaction-path, 1D-transport, and inverse geochemical calculations. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report, pp. 99-4259] and EQ3/6 [Wolery, T.J., Daveler, S.A., 1992. EQ6, A Computer Program for Reaction Path Modeling of Aqueous Geochemical Systems: Theoretical Manual, User's Guide and Related Documentation (version 7.0). Report UCRl-MA-110662 PT IV. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California] software packages were used to effect simulations. Reaction-path modelling was performed in time mode, taking into account the different rates of dissolution of each dissolving mineral.Data from literature regarding the kinetic parameters of dissolving minerals and the mineralogical composition of the host-rock were used. The results of the reaction-path modelling show that the composition of the analysed water samples was adequately reproduced, notwithstanding the hydrogeological complexity of the studied area. Modelling results provided very different water compositions as an effect of the chemical maturity, the physico-chemical parameters (fCO2, fO2, and temperature) and the variable amounts of gypsum among dissolving rock-forming minerals, which occur in Miocene levels of the sedimentary sequence. Further variability is related to the occasional contribution of brackish waters trapped in euxinic marly sediments, locally sealed by overlying clays, that have assumed an artesian character. The composition of some of the water samples can only be predicted by simulation runs performed at a temperature higher than that of the outlet (40 °C). These warm waters probably circulate in a restricted area near the town of Nizza Monferrato. The same area has recently been affected by moderate seismicity, which has been accompanied by changes in either the temperature or chemistry, or both, of the ground waters. The changes recorded, interpreted as having been triggered by variations in the local/regional stress load and/or seismic activity, have to be ascribed to the vertical heterogeneity of the aquifers, where waters of different temperature, salinity and chemical composition circulate and occasionally mix.