At Earth's surface the stable isotope ratio of strontium (88Sr/86Sr) is predominantly set by biological uptake of Sr and its storage in plant litter. This conclusion was reached from a stable isotope mass balance that was independently validated by direct determination of elemental fluxes between the Critical Zone compartments (rock, soil, vegetation, and stream water) of three field sites located in the Swiss Alps, the US Sierra Nevada, and the tropical highlands of Sri Lanka. These sites cover a gradient in erosion rates, which is inversely related to the residence time of solids in the Critical Zone thereby constituting an “erodosequence”. For eroding landscapes, previous stable isotope models predicted that isotope ratios are set by the rate at which secondary solids form during the conversion of rock to regolith. Counter to this expectation we found that, after release from primary minerals, Sr is partitioned into one fraction taken up by plants and the remainder into dissolved Sr flux. The formation of secondary weathering products such as clays and oxides plays a subordinate role in determining the Sr budget. A Sr isotope fractionation factor for biological uptake was determined for each of the three ecosystems from the average Sr stable isotope composition in bulk plants and its dissolved counterpart in stream water. This fractionation factors range from ca. −0.3 ‰ for the Alps and Sierra Nevada to ∼0 ‰ for the tropical Sri Lanka site. That these isotope fingerprints caused by biologic uptake are preserved means that more Sr was physically removed in plant litter than recycled. Such Sr removal in plant litter appears to be strongest at the slowly-eroding site, whereas the dissolved Sr export by streams is highest at the site with the fastest erosion rate. There, all Sr taken up by plants is returned from litter back into solution. The site with short residence time of solids is the only one at which parent material and dissolved export differ in their Sr isotope composition. Our study shows that the behavior of Sr in the Critical Zone is in stark contrast to that of metals of which the isotope fractionation is not affected by biological uptake (for example lithium, mostly set by formation of secondary solids) or affected by both secondary solid formation and biological uptake (for example silicon). Strontium stable isotope signatures offer the new opportunity to quantify nutrient cycling in the Critical Zone as a function of environmental and ecological parameters.
{"title":"The role of vegetation in setting strontium stable isotope ratios in the Critical Zone","authors":"J. Bouchez, F. von Blanckenburg","doi":"10.2475/08.2021.04","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2475/08.2021.04","url":null,"abstract":"At Earth's surface the stable isotope ratio of strontium (88Sr/86Sr) is predominantly set by biological uptake of Sr and its storage in plant litter. This conclusion was reached from a stable isotope mass balance that was independently validated by direct determination of elemental fluxes between the Critical Zone compartments (rock, soil, vegetation, and stream water) of three field sites located in the Swiss Alps, the US Sierra Nevada, and the tropical highlands of Sri Lanka. These sites cover a gradient in erosion rates, which is inversely related to the residence time of solids in the Critical Zone thereby constituting an “erodosequence”. For eroding landscapes, previous stable isotope models predicted that isotope ratios are set by the rate at which secondary solids form during the conversion of rock to regolith. Counter to this expectation we found that, after release from primary minerals, Sr is partitioned into one fraction taken up by plants and the remainder into dissolved Sr flux. The formation of secondary weathering products such as clays and oxides plays a subordinate role in determining the Sr budget. A Sr isotope fractionation factor for biological uptake was determined for each of the three ecosystems from the average Sr stable isotope composition in bulk plants and its dissolved counterpart in stream water. This fractionation factors range from ca. −0.3 ‰ for the Alps and Sierra Nevada to ∼0 ‰ for the tropical Sri Lanka site. That these isotope fingerprints caused by biologic uptake are preserved means that more Sr was physically removed in plant litter than recycled. Such Sr removal in plant litter appears to be strongest at the slowly-eroding site, whereas the dissolved Sr export by streams is highest at the site with the fastest erosion rate. There, all Sr taken up by plants is returned from litter back into solution. The site with short residence time of solids is the only one at which parent material and dissolved export differ in their Sr isotope composition. Our study shows that the behavior of Sr in the Critical Zone is in stark contrast to that of metals of which the isotope fractionation is not affected by biological uptake (for example lithium, mostly set by formation of secondary solids) or affected by both secondary solid formation and biological uptake (for example silicon). Strontium stable isotope signatures offer the new opportunity to quantify nutrient cycling in the Critical Zone as a function of environmental and ecological parameters.","PeriodicalId":7660,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46113133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
F. von Blanckenburg, J. Schuessler, J. Bouchez, P. Frings, D. Uhlig, M. Oelze, D. Frick, T. Hewawasam, Jean L. Dixon, K. Norton
How flowing water and organisms can shape Earth's surface, the Critical Zone, depends on how fast this layer is turned over by erosion. To quantify the dependence of rock weathering and the cycling of elements through ecosystems on erosion we have used existing and new metrics that quantify the partitioning and cycling of elements between rock, saprolite, soil, plants, and river dissolved and solid loads. We demonstrate their utility at three sites along a global transect of mountain landscapes that differ in erosion rates – an “erodosequence”. These sites are the Swiss Central Alps, a rapidly-eroding, post-glacial mountain belt; the Southern Sierra Nevada, USA, eroding at moderate rates; and the slowly-eroding tropical Highlands of Sri Lanka. The backbone of this analysis is an extensive data set of rock, saprolite, soil, water, and plant geochemical and isotopic data. This set of material properties is converted into process rates by using regolith production and weathering rates from cosmogenic nuclides and river loads, and estimates of biomass growth. Combined, these metrics allow us to derive elemental fluxes through regolith and vegetation. The main findings are: 1) the rates of weathering are set locally in regolith, and not by the rate at which entire landscapes erode; 2) the degree of weathering is mainly controlled by regolith residence time. This results in supply-limited weathering in Sri Lanka where weathering runs to completion in the regolith, and kinetically-limited weathering in the Alps and Sierra Nevada where soluble primary minerals persist; 3) these weathering characteristics are reflected in the sites' ecosystem processes, namely in that nutritive elements are intensely recycled in the supply-limited setting, and directly taken up from soil and rock in the kinetically settings; 4) the weathering rates are not controlled by biomass growth; 5) at all sites we find a deficit in river solute export when compared to solute production in regolith, the extent of which differs between elements. Plant uptake followed by litter export might explain this deficit for biologically utilized elements of high solubility, and rare, high-discharge flushing events for colloidal-bound elements of low solubility. Our data and new metrics have begun to serve for calibrating metal isotope systems in the weathering zone, the isotope ratios of which depend on the flux partitioning between the compartments of the Critical Zone. We demonstrate this application in several isotope geochemical companion papers.
{"title":"Rock weathering and nutrient cycling along an erodosequence","authors":"F. von Blanckenburg, J. Schuessler, J. Bouchez, P. Frings, D. Uhlig, M. Oelze, D. Frick, T. Hewawasam, Jean L. Dixon, K. Norton","doi":"10.2475/08.2021.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2475/08.2021.01","url":null,"abstract":"How flowing water and organisms can shape Earth's surface, the Critical Zone, depends on how fast this layer is turned over by erosion. To quantify the dependence of rock weathering and the cycling of elements through ecosystems on erosion we have used existing and new metrics that quantify the partitioning and cycling of elements between rock, saprolite, soil, plants, and river dissolved and solid loads. We demonstrate their utility at three sites along a global transect of mountain landscapes that differ in erosion rates – an “erodosequence”. These sites are the Swiss Central Alps, a rapidly-eroding, post-glacial mountain belt; the Southern Sierra Nevada, USA, eroding at moderate rates; and the slowly-eroding tropical Highlands of Sri Lanka. The backbone of this analysis is an extensive data set of rock, saprolite, soil, water, and plant geochemical and isotopic data. This set of material properties is converted into process rates by using regolith production and weathering rates from cosmogenic nuclides and river loads, and estimates of biomass growth. Combined, these metrics allow us to derive elemental fluxes through regolith and vegetation. The main findings are: 1) the rates of weathering are set locally in regolith, and not by the rate at which entire landscapes erode; 2) the degree of weathering is mainly controlled by regolith residence time. This results in supply-limited weathering in Sri Lanka where weathering runs to completion in the regolith, and kinetically-limited weathering in the Alps and Sierra Nevada where soluble primary minerals persist; 3) these weathering characteristics are reflected in the sites' ecosystem processes, namely in that nutritive elements are intensely recycled in the supply-limited setting, and directly taken up from soil and rock in the kinetically settings; 4) the weathering rates are not controlled by biomass growth; 5) at all sites we find a deficit in river solute export when compared to solute production in regolith, the extent of which differs between elements. Plant uptake followed by litter export might explain this deficit for biologically utilized elements of high solubility, and rare, high-discharge flushing events for colloidal-bound elements of low solubility. Our data and new metrics have begun to serve for calibrating metal isotope systems in the weathering zone, the isotope ratios of which depend on the flux partitioning between the compartments of the Critical Zone. We demonstrate this application in several isotope geochemical companion papers.","PeriodicalId":7660,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41607943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Frings, M. Oelze, Franziska Schubring, D. Frick, F. von Blanckenburg
Metal and metalloid stable isotope ratios have emerged as potentially powerful proxies for weathering, element cycling and export in the Critical Zone. The simplest possible interpretative framework for these isotope ratios has three parameters: (i) the isotope ratio of the parent minerals undergoing weathering, (ii) the partitioning of the element between solute and the new secondary phases, and (iii) the fractionation factors associated with the formation of new secondary phases. Using the example of silicon, we show how all three of these parameters vary along a gradient of erosion rate and regolith residence time defined by three sites located on granitoid bedrock. These sites run from the kinetically limited Rhone Valley in the Central Swiss Alps to the tectonically inactive and supply-limited Sri Lankan highlands, with the Sierra Nevada mountains as a site of intermediate weathering intensity. At each site, primary mineral specific 30Si/28Si ratios span >0.4‰. These minerals weather differentially, such that the isotope ratio of silicon solubilised from rock differs at the three sites and is not necessarily equal to bulk bedrock composition. The partitioning of silicon between secondary clay and solute is reflected in the clay mineralogy and chemical composition: more intense weathering produces Si-poor clays. The clay composition thus comprises a first-order mass-balance control on the extent to which any fractionation factor can be expressed. Finally, the Si isotope fractionation factor associated with clay formation varies systematically with clay mineralogy: the formation of Si-deplete clay minerals is associated with larger fractionation factors. The magnitude of the fractionation may be mechanistically linked to relative aluminium availability. These findings provide the framework needed to use Si isotope ratios as a quantitative proxy to explore Si cycling and reconstruct weathering in the present and past.
{"title":"Interpreting silicon isotopes in the Critical Zone","authors":"P. Frings, M. Oelze, Franziska Schubring, D. Frick, F. von Blanckenburg","doi":"10.2475/08.2021.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2475/08.2021.02","url":null,"abstract":"Metal and metalloid stable isotope ratios have emerged as potentially powerful proxies for weathering, element cycling and export in the Critical Zone. The simplest possible interpretative framework for these isotope ratios has three parameters: (i) the isotope ratio of the parent minerals undergoing weathering, (ii) the partitioning of the element between solute and the new secondary phases, and (iii) the fractionation factors associated with the formation of new secondary phases. Using the example of silicon, we show how all three of these parameters vary along a gradient of erosion rate and regolith residence time defined by three sites located on granitoid bedrock. These sites run from the kinetically limited Rhone Valley in the Central Swiss Alps to the tectonically inactive and supply-limited Sri Lankan highlands, with the Sierra Nevada mountains as a site of intermediate weathering intensity. At each site, primary mineral specific 30Si/28Si ratios span >0.4‰. These minerals weather differentially, such that the isotope ratio of silicon solubilised from rock differs at the three sites and is not necessarily equal to bulk bedrock composition. The partitioning of silicon between secondary clay and solute is reflected in the clay mineralogy and chemical composition: more intense weathering produces Si-poor clays. The clay composition thus comprises a first-order mass-balance control on the extent to which any fractionation factor can be expressed. Finally, the Si isotope fractionation factor associated with clay formation varies systematically with clay mineralogy: the formation of Si-deplete clay minerals is associated with larger fractionation factors. The magnitude of the fractionation may be mechanistically linked to relative aluminium availability. These findings provide the framework needed to use Si isotope ratios as a quantitative proxy to explore Si cycling and reconstruct weathering in the present and past.","PeriodicalId":7660,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49437503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Patrick J. Frings,Franziska Schubring,Marcus Oelze,Friedhelm von Blanckenburg
Silicon (Si) is an important nutrient for many plant and algae species, and the ultimate source of Si is silicate mineral weathering reactions. These topics have inspired the application of Si isotope geochemistry to quantifying Si cycling in the Critical Zone, though the interpretations are often equivocal. Because germanium (Ge) geochemistry is similar to that of Si, the Ge/Si ratio is considered a tracer that provides additional constraints on Si cycling. Here, we provide Ge/Si ratios for three sites that span a gradient of erosion rates and thus time that material spends in the weathering zone before being removed. We present Ge/Si ratios in bulk rock, soil and saprolite, clay-size fractions, plant biomass, and river water from the Central Swiss Alps, the southern Californian Sierra Nevada, and the highlands of Sri Lanka. Our data perform two functions. First, they provide insight into the Ge/Si system. In particular, we document the presence of a substantial pool of Ge in plant biomass that is not associated with phytoliths, suggesting that overall plants do not discriminate against Ge relative to Si during uptake. We also quantify the preferential incorporation of Ge into clay minerals. We show that Ge/Si ratios in secondary clays may be a better proxy for weathering intensity (the fraction of denudation achieved chemically) than the Ge/Si ratio of river solutes. Ge/Si ratios in secondary clay minerals also perform as well as or even better than silicon isotopes as weathering intensity proxies. Second, the Ge/Si data are used in conjunction with silicon isotope data to develop a catchment Si mass-balance model. It suggests that the export of secondary, fractionated solids (largely clays and plant material) becomes increasingly important at shorter regolith residence times: 80−24+15% of total solubilized Si in the rapidly eroding Alps site, vs. 32−20+22% in the slowly eroding Sri Lanka site. The results also suggest that plant material is a surprisingly large contributor to Si export from these catchments, likely equivalent to 25 to110 % of dissolved Si export.
{"title":"Quantifying biotic and abiotic Si fluxes in the Critical Zone with Ge/Si ratios along a gradient of erosion rates","authors":"Patrick J. Frings,Franziska Schubring,Marcus Oelze,Friedhelm von Blanckenburg","doi":"10.2475/08.2021.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2475/08.2021.03","url":null,"abstract":"Silicon (Si) is an important nutrient for many plant and algae species, and the ultimate source of Si is silicate mineral weathering reactions. These topics have inspired the application of Si isotope geochemistry to quantifying Si cycling in the Critical Zone, though the interpretations are often equivocal. Because germanium (Ge) geochemistry is similar to that of Si, the Ge/Si ratio is considered a tracer that provides additional constraints on Si cycling. Here, we provide Ge/Si ratios for three sites that span a gradient of erosion rates and thus time that material spends in the weathering zone before being removed. We present Ge/Si ratios in bulk rock, soil and saprolite, clay-size fractions, plant biomass, and river water from the Central Swiss Alps, the southern Californian Sierra Nevada, and the highlands of Sri Lanka. Our data perform two functions. First, they provide insight into the Ge/Si system. In particular, we document the presence of a substantial pool of Ge in plant biomass that is not associated with phytoliths, suggesting that overall plants do not discriminate against Ge relative to Si during uptake. We also quantify the preferential incorporation of Ge into clay minerals. We show that Ge/Si ratios in secondary clays may be a better proxy for weathering intensity (the fraction of denudation achieved chemically) than the Ge/Si ratio of river solutes. Ge/Si ratios in secondary clay minerals also perform as well as or even better than silicon isotopes as weathering intensity proxies. Second, the Ge/Si data are used in conjunction with silicon isotope data to develop a catchment Si mass-balance model. It suggests that the export of secondary, fractionated solids (largely clays and plant material) becomes increasingly important at shorter regolith residence times: 80−24+15% of total solubilized Si in the rapidly eroding Alps site, vs. 32−20+22% in the slowly eroding Sri Lanka site. The results also suggest that plant material is a surprisingly large contributor to Si export from these catchments, likely equivalent to 25 to110 % of dissolved Si export.","PeriodicalId":7660,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138504452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Benjamin J. W. Mills, S. Tennenbaum, D. Schwartzman
The long-term carbon cycle regulates Earth's climate and atmospheric CO2 levels over multimillion-year timescales, but it is not clear that this system has a single steady state for a given input rate of CO2. In this paper we explore the possibility for multiple steady states in the long-term climate system. Using a simple carbon cycle box model, we show that the location of precipitation bands around the tropics and high mid-latitudes, coupled with the response of the terrestrial biosphere to local surface temperature, can result in system bi-stability. Here, maximum CO2 drawdown can occur when either the tropics or high mid-latitudes are at the photosynthetic optimum temperature of around 25°C, and a period of instability can exist between these states. We suggest that this dynamic has influenced climate variations over Phanerozoic time, and that higher steady state surface temperatures may be easier to reach than is commonly demonstrated in simple ‘GEOCARB style’ carbon cycle models.
{"title":"Exploring multiple steady states in Earth's long-term carbon cycle","authors":"Benjamin J. W. Mills, S. Tennenbaum, D. Schwartzman","doi":"10.2475/07.2021.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2475/07.2021.01","url":null,"abstract":"The long-term carbon cycle regulates Earth's climate and atmospheric CO2 levels over multimillion-year timescales, but it is not clear that this system has a single steady state for a given input rate of CO2. In this paper we explore the possibility for multiple steady states in the long-term climate system. Using a simple carbon cycle box model, we show that the location of precipitation bands around the tropics and high mid-latitudes, coupled with the response of the terrestrial biosphere to local surface temperature, can result in system bi-stability. Here, maximum CO2 drawdown can occur when either the tropics or high mid-latitudes are at the photosynthetic optimum temperature of around 25°C, and a period of instability can exist between these states. We suggest that this dynamic has influenced climate variations over Phanerozoic time, and that higher steady state surface temperatures may be easier to reach than is commonly demonstrated in simple ‘GEOCARB style’ carbon cycle models.","PeriodicalId":7660,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47339289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Humber Margin of Newfoundland preserves the most distal exposures of Proterozoic basement in northeastern Laurentia. Age uncertainty has permitted a range of hypotheses for its origin and links to subsequent tectonic events. One hypothesis has proposed large-scale orogen-parallel displacement between basement blocks in western Newfoundland. The apparent absence of Grenville- (∼1250–950 Ma sensu lato) or Taconic-aged (∼480–450 Ma) magmatism or metamorphism on the Corner Brook Lake Block (CBLB), which are defining features of the Humber Margin, has been reconciled by restoring the CBLB to a pre-Taconic position in Labrador with >400 km of post-Taconic dextral motion along the Humber River Fault. To test this model and better define the basement and Paleozoic rifted margin of North America, we conducted a geochronological study of the CBLB and the basement of the adjacent Humber Margin at Indian Head Range using tandem in situ and isotope dilution U-Pb zircon and titanite geochronology. These basement blocks, separated by the Humber River Fault, consist of ∼1500 and ∼1250 Ma protoliths, 1140 to 1135 Ma magmatism, 1000 to 970 Ma metamorphism, and ∼607 Ma intraplate magmatism. These basement blocks are also overlain by similar late Ediacaran to Cambrian siliciclastic successions with similar detrital zircon age spectra. From this set of geological data, we conclude that the Humber River Fault did not accommodate significant orogen-parallel displacement. New basement ages and a revised compilation of detrital zircon ages from overlying rift-related deposits contribute to a geochronologic cratonic reference datum for western Newfoundland's crystalline basement, whose protolith has a restricted age range from circa 1500 to 950 Ma. New age constraints for metasedimentary rocks are also used to document a 1250 to 1135 Ma succession at Indian Head Range and a ∼1000 Ma succession on the CBLB associated with Grenvillian orogenesis. Protracted late Grenvillian tectono-thermal events are inferred from cores and metamorphic overgrowths of ∼990 to 920 Ma detrital titanite in late Ediacaran conglomerate overlying CBLB basement.
{"title":"A Laurentian cratonic reference from the distal Proterozoic basement of Western Newfoundland using tandem in situ and isotope dilution U-pb zircon and titanite geochronology","authors":"E. Hodgin, F. Macdonald, J. Crowley, M. Schmitz","doi":"10.2475/07.2021.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2475/07.2021.02","url":null,"abstract":"The Humber Margin of Newfoundland preserves the most distal exposures of Proterozoic basement in northeastern Laurentia. Age uncertainty has permitted a range of hypotheses for its origin and links to subsequent tectonic events. One hypothesis has proposed large-scale orogen-parallel displacement between basement blocks in western Newfoundland. The apparent absence of Grenville- (∼1250–950 Ma sensu lato) or Taconic-aged (∼480–450 Ma) magmatism or metamorphism on the Corner Brook Lake Block (CBLB), which are defining features of the Humber Margin, has been reconciled by restoring the CBLB to a pre-Taconic position in Labrador with >400 km of post-Taconic dextral motion along the Humber River Fault. To test this model and better define the basement and Paleozoic rifted margin of North America, we conducted a geochronological study of the CBLB and the basement of the adjacent Humber Margin at Indian Head Range using tandem in situ and isotope dilution U-Pb zircon and titanite geochronology. These basement blocks, separated by the Humber River Fault, consist of ∼1500 and ∼1250 Ma protoliths, 1140 to 1135 Ma magmatism, 1000 to 970 Ma metamorphism, and ∼607 Ma intraplate magmatism. These basement blocks are also overlain by similar late Ediacaran to Cambrian siliciclastic successions with similar detrital zircon age spectra. From this set of geological data, we conclude that the Humber River Fault did not accommodate significant orogen-parallel displacement. New basement ages and a revised compilation of detrital zircon ages from overlying rift-related deposits contribute to a geochronologic cratonic reference datum for western Newfoundland's crystalline basement, whose protolith has a restricted age range from circa 1500 to 950 Ma. New age constraints for metasedimentary rocks are also used to document a 1250 to 1135 Ma succession at Indian Head Range and a ∼1000 Ma succession on the CBLB associated with Grenvillian orogenesis. Protracted late Grenvillian tectono-thermal events are inferred from cores and metamorphic overgrowths of ∼990 to 920 Ma detrital titanite in late Ediacaran conglomerate overlying CBLB basement.","PeriodicalId":7660,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46391078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
T. Bristow, A. Derkowski, D. Blake, G. Berlanga, P. Deckker
Clay mineral-bearing mudstones are a prominent component of ancient fluvial-lacustrine deposits, 100s of meters thick, documented by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, in Gale crater, Mars. Most of the clay minerals documented by MSL are hypothesized to have formed in situ, at or close to the time of deposition ∼3.5 Ga ago, by aqueous alteration of basaltic detritus. Here we study the mechanisms, controls, and timescales of clay mineral authigenesis in a series of lakes with a wide range of water chemistries from the Western Volcanic District, Victoria, SE Australia, as an analog to the Gale crater mudstones. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals that the sediments of most of the Western Volcanic District lakes studied contain mixtures of kaolinite, illite, mixed-layer illite-smectite (I-S), and dioctahedral smectite clay minerals. Comparisons of this mineral assemblage with regional soils and creek bedload material confirm previous assertions of significant inputs of detrital clay minerals into the lakes. A trioctahedral clay mineral phase is also detected, making up to 39 wt.% of bulk sediments. The abundance of trioctahedral clay minerals correlates with contemporary lake hydrology and proxies for past lake water Mg concentration. This indicates in situ formation of trioctahedral clay minerals by the uptake of Mg and Si from lake waters and pore fluids at rates determined by local physico-chemical conditions. Examination of crater lake sediments, where detrital clay mineral input is minimized, demonstrate that neoformed trioctahedral clay minerals are poorly crystalline trioctahedral smectites. Neoformation of trioctahedral smectites also occurs in lakes where detrital clay minerals are more abundant. However, an additional authigenic transformation process is indicated by the proportions of Mg and Si added to detrital clay minerals as well as evidence for the uptake of K from lake waters. The transformation process probably involved the incorporation of Mg into the octahedral sheets of detrital clay minerals, leading to irreversible uptake of K into interlayer sites (illitization). The distribution of trioctahedral smectites and radiocarbon ages from sediment cores show that clay mineral authigenesis occurred before sediment consolidation, on timescales of years to 100s of years. These results support syndepositional interpretations of analogous Mg-rich clay minerals documented by MSL, and their use as proxies for chemical conditions in ancient Gale lakes. In comparison with the Western Volcanic District lakes, clay mineral-bearing lacustrine mudstones from Gale crater exhibit only modest chemical weathering of basaltic detrital materials and rarely contain carbonate minerals in quantities detectable by XRD. These observations highlight significant differences in weathering regimes and regolith mineralogy on ancient Mars that could be linked to lake catchment geomorphology, climate, atmospheric CO2 content, and the absence of biotic
{"title":"A comparative study of clay mineral authigenesis in terrestrial and martian lakes; an Australian example","authors":"T. Bristow, A. Derkowski, D. Blake, G. Berlanga, P. Deckker","doi":"10.2475/07.2021.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2475/07.2021.03","url":null,"abstract":"Clay mineral-bearing mudstones are a prominent component of ancient fluvial-lacustrine deposits, 100s of meters thick, documented by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, in Gale crater, Mars. Most of the clay minerals documented by MSL are hypothesized to have formed in situ, at or close to the time of deposition ∼3.5 Ga ago, by aqueous alteration of basaltic detritus. Here we study the mechanisms, controls, and timescales of clay mineral authigenesis in a series of lakes with a wide range of water chemistries from the Western Volcanic District, Victoria, SE Australia, as an analog to the Gale crater mudstones. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals that the sediments of most of the Western Volcanic District lakes studied contain mixtures of kaolinite, illite, mixed-layer illite-smectite (I-S), and dioctahedral smectite clay minerals. Comparisons of this mineral assemblage with regional soils and creek bedload material confirm previous assertions of significant inputs of detrital clay minerals into the lakes. A trioctahedral clay mineral phase is also detected, making up to 39 wt.% of bulk sediments. The abundance of trioctahedral clay minerals correlates with contemporary lake hydrology and proxies for past lake water Mg concentration. This indicates in situ formation of trioctahedral clay minerals by the uptake of Mg and Si from lake waters and pore fluids at rates determined by local physico-chemical conditions. Examination of crater lake sediments, where detrital clay mineral input is minimized, demonstrate that neoformed trioctahedral clay minerals are poorly crystalline trioctahedral smectites. Neoformation of trioctahedral smectites also occurs in lakes where detrital clay minerals are more abundant. However, an additional authigenic transformation process is indicated by the proportions of Mg and Si added to detrital clay minerals as well as evidence for the uptake of K from lake waters. The transformation process probably involved the incorporation of Mg into the octahedral sheets of detrital clay minerals, leading to irreversible uptake of K into interlayer sites (illitization). The distribution of trioctahedral smectites and radiocarbon ages from sediment cores show that clay mineral authigenesis occurred before sediment consolidation, on timescales of years to 100s of years. These results support syndepositional interpretations of analogous Mg-rich clay minerals documented by MSL, and their use as proxies for chemical conditions in ancient Gale lakes. In comparison with the Western Volcanic District lakes, clay mineral-bearing lacustrine mudstones from Gale crater exhibit only modest chemical weathering of basaltic detrital materials and rarely contain carbonate minerals in quantities detectable by XRD. These observations highlight significant differences in weathering regimes and regolith mineralogy on ancient Mars that could be linked to lake catchment geomorphology, climate, atmospheric CO2 content, and the absence of biotic ","PeriodicalId":7660,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49461942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Cárdenas-Párraga, A. Garcia‐Casco, I. Blanco-Quintero, Y. Rojas‐Agramonte, K. N. Cambra, G. Harlow
A U-Pb zircon date of ∼113 Ma revealed that a variety of jadeitites and related omphacitite, chloritite and albite-rich rocks from the subduction-related Sierra del Convento block-in-serpentinite-matrix mélange (eastern Cuba) formed nearly synchronously with MORB metabasite-derived anatectic trondhjemitic liquids at high-temperature and pressure in a hot subduction environment. Field, petrologic and geochemical data indicate hydrothermal/metasomatic processes triggered by juvenile fluids likely evolved from the crystallizing hydrous trondhjemitic melts. These fluids, variably mixed with sediment-derived fluids and channelized along fractures in the supra-slab mantle, precipitated relatively pure jadeitite with geochemical patterns depleted in REE and HFSE and epidote-rich jadeitite with LILE- (notably Ba) enriched compositions with respect to N-MORB. The crystallization of jadeitite veins was accompanied by formation of chloritite blackwalls at the vein-ultramafic rock contact and omphacititic patches at the outer parts of the veins, denoting wall rock-fluid interactions. Further pervasive flow of external fluid within the rock bodies triggered modal and cryptic (geochemical) metasomatic transformation of earlier jadeitite, producing mica-rich jadeitite and albite-epidote (-chlorite) rocks. Altogether these rocks document a discrete episode of massive flow of fluid in the supra-slab mantle roughly coeval with hydrous melting of subducted MORB metabasite.
~ 113 Ma的U-Pb锆石表明，在俯冲相关的Sierra del Convento地块蛇纹岩基msamulange(古巴东部)，在高温高压的热俯冲环境下，与MORB变质岩衍生的闪辉质流体几乎同时形成了多种硬玉岩及其相关辉长岩、绿泥岩和富含钠长岩的岩石。野外、岩石学和地球化学资料表明，幼流体引发的热液/交代过程可能是由含水岩浆熔体结晶演化而来的。这些流体与沉积流体的混合程度不同，并沿着上板块地幔的裂缝形成通道，沉淀出相对纯净的翡翠岩和富含绿帘石的翡翠岩，这些翡翠岩的地球化学模式缺乏REE和HFSE，而相对于N-MORB，富含LILE-(特别是Ba)成分。翡翠脉的结晶过程伴随着脉与超镁铁质岩石接触处绿泥岩黑壁的形成和脉外侧红辉质斑块的形成，表明了围岩与流体的相互作用。岩体内部外部流体的进一步普遍流动触发了早期翡翠岩的模态和隐式(地球化学)交代转化，生成了富云母的翡翠岩和钠长绿帘石(-绿泥石)岩石。总的来说，这些岩石记录了上板块地幔中大量流体流动的离散事件，大致与俯冲的MORB变质岩的含水熔融同时发生。
{"title":"A Highly dynamic hot hydrothermal system in the subduction environment: Geochemistry and geochronology of jadeitite and associated rocks of the Sierra del Convento mélange (eastern Cuba)","authors":"J. Cárdenas-Párraga, A. Garcia‐Casco, I. Blanco-Quintero, Y. Rojas‐Agramonte, K. N. Cambra, G. Harlow","doi":"10.2475/06.2021.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2475/06.2021.06","url":null,"abstract":"A U-Pb zircon date of ∼113 Ma revealed that a variety of jadeitites and related omphacitite, chloritite and albite-rich rocks from the subduction-related Sierra del Convento block-in-serpentinite-matrix mélange (eastern Cuba) formed nearly synchronously with MORB metabasite-derived anatectic trondhjemitic liquids at high-temperature and pressure in a hot subduction environment. Field, petrologic and geochemical data indicate hydrothermal/metasomatic processes triggered by juvenile fluids likely evolved from the crystallizing hydrous trondhjemitic melts. These fluids, variably mixed with sediment-derived fluids and channelized along fractures in the supra-slab mantle, precipitated relatively pure jadeitite with geochemical patterns depleted in REE and HFSE and epidote-rich jadeitite with LILE- (notably Ba) enriched compositions with respect to N-MORB. The crystallization of jadeitite veins was accompanied by formation of chloritite blackwalls at the vein-ultramafic rock contact and omphacititic patches at the outer parts of the veins, denoting wall rock-fluid interactions. Further pervasive flow of external fluid within the rock bodies triggered modal and cryptic (geochemical) metasomatic transformation of earlier jadeitite, producing mica-rich jadeitite and albite-epidote (-chlorite) rocks. Altogether these rocks document a discrete episode of massive flow of fluid in the supra-slab mantle roughly coeval with hydrous melting of subducted MORB metabasite.","PeriodicalId":7660,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43159474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qian Liu, T. Tsunogae, Guochun Zhao, Jianhua Li, Jinlong Yao, Yigui Han, Peng Wang
Early Paleozoic ophiolitic mélanges in the Altyn Tagh Orogen, southeastern Tarim, yield a large range of formation ages and geochemical affinities. This study focused on the Hongliugou ophiolitic mélange in the North Altyn Tagh subduction-accretion belt and involved mineral chemical, zircon geochronological, and whole-rock elemental and isotopic investigations of the ultramafic and mafic rocks. In the studied lherzolite samples, Cr-spinel, olivine, and pyroxene show mineral chemistry akin to that of abyssal peridotite. Subhedral-anhedral Cr-spinel grains with high Cr# values (100*Cr/[Cr+Al] of 30–40) and negative oxygen fugacity (fO2) values represent original spinel formed during mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) melt extraction. Other subhedral-anhedral and euhedral Cr-spinel with low Cr# values of < 30 to 20 display a wide range of negative to positive fO2 values, indicating interaction of peridotite with MORB magma. New zircon U-Pb dating results record ages of ca. 490 Ma for gabbro and ca. 486 Ma for diabase in the Hongliugou ophiolitic mélange. Whole-rock geochemical compositions suggest that the gabbro and diabase samples are tholeiitic and show MORB affinities or transitional affinities between MORB and island arc tholeiite. These mafic rocks might have been derived from a depleted MORB-source mantle that was variably metasomatized by subduction-induced fluids based on their variable Th/Yb, high La/Nb, low Th/Nb, and depleted isotopes (initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.703073 to 0.703385 and εNd(t) values of +6.2 to +6.3). New results, when integrated with previous work, clarify that ca. 520 to 510 Ma ophiolites formed in the initial subduction setting and ca. 490 to 480 Ma ophiolites in a back-arc setting. Minor ca. 450 Ma ophiolite probably represents a late phase of ophiolite formation due to the presence of a very minor remnant ocean.
{"title":"Multiphase ophiolite formation in the Northern Altyn Tagh Orogen, southeastern Tarim","authors":"Qian Liu, T. Tsunogae, Guochun Zhao, Jianhua Li, Jinlong Yao, Yigui Han, Peng Wang","doi":"10.2475/06.2021.05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2475/06.2021.05","url":null,"abstract":"Early Paleozoic ophiolitic mélanges in the Altyn Tagh Orogen, southeastern Tarim, yield a large range of formation ages and geochemical affinities. This study focused on the Hongliugou ophiolitic mélange in the North Altyn Tagh subduction-accretion belt and involved mineral chemical, zircon geochronological, and whole-rock elemental and isotopic investigations of the ultramafic and mafic rocks. In the studied lherzolite samples, Cr-spinel, olivine, and pyroxene show mineral chemistry akin to that of abyssal peridotite. Subhedral-anhedral Cr-spinel grains with high Cr# values (100*Cr/[Cr+Al] of 30–40) and negative oxygen fugacity (fO2) values represent original spinel formed during mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) melt extraction. Other subhedral-anhedral and euhedral Cr-spinel with low Cr# values of < 30 to 20 display a wide range of negative to positive fO2 values, indicating interaction of peridotite with MORB magma. New zircon U-Pb dating results record ages of ca. 490 Ma for gabbro and ca. 486 Ma for diabase in the Hongliugou ophiolitic mélange. Whole-rock geochemical compositions suggest that the gabbro and diabase samples are tholeiitic and show MORB affinities or transitional affinities between MORB and island arc tholeiite. These mafic rocks might have been derived from a depleted MORB-source mantle that was variably metasomatized by subduction-induced fluids based on their variable Th/Yb, high La/Nb, low Th/Nb, and depleted isotopes (initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.703073 to 0.703385 and εNd(t) values of +6.2 to +6.3). New results, when integrated with previous work, clarify that ca. 520 to 510 Ma ophiolites formed in the initial subduction setting and ca. 490 to 480 Ma ophiolites in a back-arc setting. Minor ca. 450 Ma ophiolite probably represents a late phase of ophiolite formation due to the presence of a very minor remnant ocean.","PeriodicalId":7660,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42451255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tsung-Pin Chen, Chih-Lung Lin, Kuo-Chin Fan, Wanzun Lin
This is the second of three issues of American Journal of Science in which the papers have been submitted by friends and colleagues as a mark of respect to Alfred Kroner, who passed away just a few months before his 80 birthday in 2019. Alfred has left an indelible mark on the geoscience community, with his boundless energy and dedication, and especially his application of detailed fieldwork and microanalysis to solve the bigger issues. As the subtitle ‘From Cratons to Orogens’ indicates, Alfred was always cognizant of how his work related to global events, and this is reflected by the nine papers that constitute this volume. The first paper by Allen Nutman and co-workers presents an overview of the 3.8 Ga Outer Arc of the Isua Greenstone Belt in West Greenland. This forms an integral part of the oldest and best-preserved volcano-sedimentary sequence on Earth. Utilizing rare low-strain zones, accompanied by new and published geochronology, the authors endeavor to unravel the stratigraphy of the arc. The lowermost mafic unit contains pillow lavas, indicating a subaqueous depositional environment. The overlying formation commences with a unit of fuchsitic quartzite, overlain by various carbonate and silicate units; some with relict sedimentary structures. There is an upward transition to chemical sediments and then into units showing a greater influx of felsic volcanic components. The uppermost unit is felsic, with both lavas and pyroclastic rocks, interpreted as forming in an arc. The authors therefore support a plate tectonic scenario and not a stagnant lid environment for the early Eoarchean of Greenland. Xiao Wang and co-workers investigate Archean/Paleoproterozoic rocks in the Khondalite Belt, which marks the Paleoproterozoic collision zone between the Yinshan and Ordos blocks, and is located in the western block of the North China Craton. The authors describe TTG rocks of I-type affinity in the Daqingshan Complex, whose ages straddle the Archean/Proterozoic boundary and define oceanic subduction beneath the southern margin of the Yinshan Block. Docking of the Ordos Block led to closure of the ocean with the TTG rocks undergoing high-grade metamorphism between 1.95-1.85 Ga. In a companion paper, Xiao Wang and co-workers analyze and date high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Daqingshan Complex, interpreted as bimodal volcanics that formed in a back arc setting prior to the collision of the Yinshan and Ordos block, as detailed above. The volcanic rocks formed between 2.47-2.40 Ga and were metamorphosed at high grade between 1.95-1.85 Ga, similar to the TTG rocks in the complex. This latter event is one of the global collisions marking assembly of Colombia/Nuna. In another paper on the North China Craton where Alfred worked extensively, Yue-Lan Kang and co-workers investigate the late Mesozoic granitoids to the east and west of the Tan-Lu Fault, one of the most significant late Phanerozoic structures in China. In the Taihang Mountains to the west,
{"title":"Foreword","authors":"Tsung-Pin Chen, Chih-Lung Lin, Kuo-Chin Fan, Wanzun Lin","doi":"10.2475/06.2021.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2475/06.2021.11","url":null,"abstract":"This is the second of three issues of American Journal of Science in which the papers have been submitted by friends and colleagues as a mark of respect to Alfred Kroner, who passed away just a few months before his 80 birthday in 2019. Alfred has left an indelible mark on the geoscience community, with his boundless energy and dedication, and especially his application of detailed fieldwork and microanalysis to solve the bigger issues. As the subtitle ‘From Cratons to Orogens’ indicates, Alfred was always cognizant of how his work related to global events, and this is reflected by the nine papers that constitute this volume. The first paper by Allen Nutman and co-workers presents an overview of the 3.8 Ga Outer Arc of the Isua Greenstone Belt in West Greenland. This forms an integral part of the oldest and best-preserved volcano-sedimentary sequence on Earth. Utilizing rare low-strain zones, accompanied by new and published geochronology, the authors endeavor to unravel the stratigraphy of the arc. The lowermost mafic unit contains pillow lavas, indicating a subaqueous depositional environment. The overlying formation commences with a unit of fuchsitic quartzite, overlain by various carbonate and silicate units; some with relict sedimentary structures. There is an upward transition to chemical sediments and then into units showing a greater influx of felsic volcanic components. The uppermost unit is felsic, with both lavas and pyroclastic rocks, interpreted as forming in an arc. The authors therefore support a plate tectonic scenario and not a stagnant lid environment for the early Eoarchean of Greenland. Xiao Wang and co-workers investigate Archean/Paleoproterozoic rocks in the Khondalite Belt, which marks the Paleoproterozoic collision zone between the Yinshan and Ordos blocks, and is located in the western block of the North China Craton. The authors describe TTG rocks of I-type affinity in the Daqingshan Complex, whose ages straddle the Archean/Proterozoic boundary and define oceanic subduction beneath the southern margin of the Yinshan Block. Docking of the Ordos Block led to closure of the ocean with the TTG rocks undergoing high-grade metamorphism between 1.95-1.85 Ga. In a companion paper, Xiao Wang and co-workers analyze and date high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Daqingshan Complex, interpreted as bimodal volcanics that formed in a back arc setting prior to the collision of the Yinshan and Ordos block, as detailed above. The volcanic rocks formed between 2.47-2.40 Ga and were metamorphosed at high grade between 1.95-1.85 Ga, similar to the TTG rocks in the complex. This latter event is one of the global collisions marking assembly of Colombia/Nuna. In another paper on the North China Craton where Alfred worked extensively, Yue-Lan Kang and co-workers investigate the late Mesozoic granitoids to the east and west of the Tan-Lu Fault, one of the most significant late Phanerozoic structures in China. In the Taihang Mountains to the west, ","PeriodicalId":7660,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41823830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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