Archaean ultra-depleted komatiites formed by hydrous melting of cratonic mantle

Komatiites are ultramafic volcanic rocks containing more than 18 per cent MgO (ref. 1) that erupted mainly in the Archaean era (more than 2.5 gigayears ago). Although such compositions occur in later periods of Earth history (for example, the Cretaceous komatiites of Gorgona Island), the more recent examples tend to have lower MgO content than their Archaean equivalents. Komatiites are also characterized by their low incompatible-element content, which is most consistent with their generation by high degrees of partial melting (30-50 per cent). Current models for komatiite genesis include the melting of rock at great depth in plumes of hot, diapirically rising mantle or the melting of relatively shallow mantle rocks at less extreme, but still high, temperatures caused by fluxing with water. Here we report a suite of ultramafic lava flows from the Commondale greenstone belt, in the southern part of the Kaapvaal Craton, which represents a previously unrecognized type of komatiite with exceptionally high forsterite content of its igneous olivines, low TiO(2)/Al(2)O(3) ratio, high silica content, extreme depletion in rare-earth elements and low Re/Os ratio. We suggest a model for their formation in which a garnet-enriched residue left by earlier cratonic volcanism was melted by hydration from a subducting slab.     

Short-lived orogenic cycles and the eclogitization of cold crust by spasmodic hot fluids

Collision tectonics and the associated transformation of continental crust to high-pressure rocks (eclogites) are generally well-understood processes, but important contradictions remain between tectonothermal models and petrological-isotopic data obtained from such rocks. Here we use 40Ar-39Ar data coupled with a thermal model to constrain the time-integrated duration of an orogenic cycle (the burial and exhumation of a particular segment of the crust) to be less than 13 Myr. We also determine the total duration of associated metamorphic events to be approximately 20 kyr, and of individual heat pulses experienced by the rocks to be as short as 10 years. Such short timescales are indicative of rapid tectonic processes associated with catastrophic deformation events (earthquakes). Such events triggered transient heat advection by hot fluid along deformation (shear) zones, which cut relatively cool and dry subducted crust. In contrast to current thermal models that assume thermal equilibrium and invoke high ambient temperatures in the thickened crust, our non-steady-state cold-crust model satisfactorily explains several otherwise contradictory geological observations.     

Submarine hot springs and the origin of life

The discovery of hydrothermal vents at oceanic ridge crests and the appreciation of their importance in the element balance of the oceans is one of the main recent advances in marine geochemistry. It is likely that vents were present in the oceans of the primitive Earth because the process of hydrothermal circulation probably began early in the Earth's history. Here we examine the popular hypothesis that life arose in these vents. This proposal, however, is based on a number of misunderstandings concerning the organic chemistry involved. An example is the suggestion that organic compounds were destroyed on the surface of the early Earth by the impact of asteroids and comets, but at the same time assuming that organic syntheses can occur in hydrothermal vents. The high temperatures in the vents would not allow synthesis of organic compounds, but would decompose them, unless the exposure time at vent temperatures was short. Even if the essential organic molecules were available in the hot hydrothermal waters, the subsequent steps of polymerization and the conversion of these polymers into the first organisms would not occur as the vent waters were quenched to the colder temperatures of the primitive oceans.     

Behavior of fluxed lime iron oxide pellets in hot metal bath during melting and refining

Lump lime as a flux material in a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) often creates problems in operation due to its high melting point, poor dissolution property, hygroscopic nature, and fines generation tendency. To alleviate these problems, fluxed lime iron oxide pellets (FLIP) containing 30% CaO were developed in this study using waste iron oxide fines and lime. The suitable handling strengths of the pellet (crushing strength: 300 N; drop strength: 130 times) of FLIP were developed by treating with CO₂ or industrial waste gas at room temperature, while no separate binders were used. When the pellet was added into hot metal bath (carbon-containing molten iron), it was decomposed, melted, and transformed to produce low melting oxidizing slag, because it is a combination of main CaO and Fe₂O₃. This slag is suitable for facilitating P and C removal in refining. Furthermore, the pellet enhances waste utilization and use of CO₂ in waste gas. In this article, emphasis is given on studying the behavior of these pellets in hot metal bath during melting and refining along with thermodynamics and kinetics analysis. The observed behaviors of the pellet in hot metal bath confirm that it is suitable and beneficial for use in BOF and replaces lump lime.     

Evaporation in the young solar nebula as the origin of 'just-right' melting of chondrules

Chondrules are millimetre-sized, solidified melt spherules formed in the solar nebula by an early widespread heating event of uncertain nature. They were accreted into chondritic asteroids, which formed about 4.56 billion years ago and have not experienced melting or differentiation since that time. Chondrules have diverse chemical compositions, corresponding to liquidus temperatures in the range 1,350-1,800 degrees C. Most chondrules, however, show porphyritic textures (consisting of large crystals in a distinctly finer grained or glassy matrix), indicative of melting within the narrow range 0-50 degrees C below the liquidus. This suggests an unusual heating mechanism for chondrule precursors, which would raise each individual chondrule to just the right temperature (particular to individual bulk composition) in order to form porphyritic textures. Here we report the results of isothermal melting of a chondritic composition at nebular pressures. Our results suggest that evaporation stabilizes porphyritic textures over a wider range of temperatures below the liquidus (about 200 degrees C) than previously believed, thus removing the need for individual chondrule temperature buffering. In addition, we show that evaporation explains many chondrule bulk and mineral compositions that have hitherto been difficult to understand.     

岩石有限应变与造山带构造块体变形要素的估算

提出定量研究造山带的一种简便而实用的方法。利用岩石应变测量方法测量出岩石中变形标志体长轴、中间轴、短轴之间的比值(X∶Y∶Z),计算构造块体的三轴比率;假设变形前后体积不变,可估算出构造块体的原始宽度;若已知构造块体其中一个轴(如Z轴)的长度,便可估算出其它两个轴的长度,近而估算出构造块体变形前后的缩短分量和缩短率、伸展分量和伸展率、垂向伸展量、垂向伸展率、剥蚀量和深部调整量等,从而进一步研究整个造山带的变形要素。     

The evolution of the atmosphere in the Archaean and early Proterozoic

Key steps in atmospheric evolution occurred in the Archaean. The Hadean atmosphere was created by the inorganic processes of volatile accretion from space and degassing from the interior, and then modified by chemical and photochemical processes. The air was probably initially anoxic, though there may have been a supply of oxidation power as a consequence of hydrodynamic escape to space of hydrogen from water. Early subduction may have removed CO₂ and the Hadean planet may have been icy. In the Archaean, as anoxygenic and then oxygenic photosynthesis evolved, biological activity remade the atmosphere. Sedimentological evidence implies there were liquid oceans despite the faint young Sun. These oceans may have been sustained by the greenhouse warming effect of biologically-made methane. Oxygenesis in the late Archaean would have released free O₂ into the water. This would have created oxic surface waters, challenging the methane greenhouse. After the Great Oxidation Event around 2.3 to 2.4 billion years ago, the atmosphere itself became oxic, perhaps triggering a glacial crisis by cutting methane-caused greenhouse warming. By the early Proterozoic, all the key biochemical processes that maintain the modern atmosphere were probably present in the microbial community.     

考贝式热风炉拱顶空间烟气分布的数值模拟

应用大型商用计算流体力学软件CFX4.3,选用k-?湍流模型和SIMPLE算法对新钢1200m3高炉考贝式热风炉拱顶空间内烟气分布进行了数值模拟计算. 模拟结果表明:悬链线形拱顶比半球形拱顶的烟气分布均匀;在一定范围内,随着悬链线形拱顶高度的增加,在蓄热室横截面上的烟气分布趋于一定程度的均匀.     

地下热水的来源与补给机制分析——以重庆北温泉为例

地下热水的来源研究对地下热水资源量评价和可持续开发利用有重要意义。选取重庆市北温泉作为研究对象,采用水化学分析、D、O同位素以及实时在线监测对其热水来源进行了研究。研究认为:重庆市北温泉泉水为中-低温浅层中性地热水,水化学类型为SO4-Ca型,地下热水的δ18O值为-8.48‰~-7.09‰,δD值为-55.46‰~-53.26‰,其补给来源为雨水,补给高程为海拔641~1 206m的岩溶出露区。安装马歇尔槽和CDTP300高分辨率实时在线监测发现:1)地下热水水文地球化学特征在长时间内稳定,体现了稳定的水-岩作用过程;2)北温泉的流量与研究区降雨量呈现出以半年为单位的滞后,雨季偏低,旱季偏高;当场降雨后20d左右,温泉水的水温和电导率微降,水量增加。地下热水的来源为大气降水,其补给除了长时间长距离的含水层稳定补给外,热水上升过程中受地表水和浅层地下水的补给。     

Shear-wave splitting and anisotropy in crust of Dabieshan orogenic belt

The shear-wave splitting was analyzed on the deep seismic sounding profile crossing the Dabieshan area. The direction difference between Sg and SmS fast wave polarization indicates that the modem regional tectonic stress field in the Dabieshan area exists only in uppcr crust, while the crack alignment caused by the Triassic collision between the North China and the Yangtze blocks had been preserved in mid-lower curst.     

某深基坑工程事故分析及处理

通过工程实例说明护坡桩和锚杆在设计与施工中的失误情况，分析其失误原因，并提出相应的改进措施。     

鲁西地区太古界裂缝类型与发育规律

依据露头观测和成像测井数据,揭示鲁西地区太古界裂缝系统的成因及类型,将裂缝产状数据与区域构造背景结合分析,同时依据典型断裂-裂缝剖面的观测统计,对太古界构造裂缝的形成时期及发育规律进行剖析。结果表明:鲁西地区太古界裂缝系统主要由区域构造裂缝和局部构造裂缝组成;区域构造裂缝形成时期主要为中—新生代,其中低角度裂缝形成于印支期,高角度裂缝形成于燕山—喜山期;局部构造裂缝的发育虽不具有普遍性,但对局部地区太古界储集性能的改善意义重大;规模相近但力学性质不同的断裂对储层的改造程度和影响范围存在差异;压性断裂最好,压扭性断裂次之,张扭性断裂最差;断裂影响范围内裂缝面密度的显著增大主要表现为区域构造裂缝的加密或派生新的构造裂缝,新生裂缝通常与断裂平行或小角度斜交。     

Evolution of the Archaean crust by delamination and shallow subduction

The Archaean oceanic crust was probably thicker than present-day oceanic crust owing to higher heat flow and thus higher degrees of melting at mid-ocean ridges. These conditions would also have led to a different bulk composition of oceanic crust in the early Archaean, that would probably have consisted of magnesium-rich picrite (with variably differentiated portions made up of basalt, gabbro, ultramafic cumulates and picrite). It is unclear whether these differences would have influenced crustal subduction and recycling processes, as experiments that have investigated the metamorphic reactions that take place during subduction have to date considered only modern mid-ocean-ridge basalts. Here we present data from high-pressure experiments that show that metamorphism of ultramafic cumulates and picrites produces pyroxenites, which we infer would have delaminated and melted to produce basaltic rocks, rather than continental crust as has previously been thought. Instead, the formation of continental crust requires subduction and melting of garnet-amphibolite--formed only in the upper regions of oceanic crust--which is thought to have first occurred on a large scale during subduction in the late Archaean. We deduce from this that shallow subduction and recycling of oceanic crust took place in the early Archaean, and that this would have resulted in strong depletion of only a thin layer of the uppermost mantle.The misfit between geochemical depletion models and geophysical models for mantle convection (which include deep subduction) might therefore be explained by continuous deepening of this depleted layer through geological time.     

Deformation behavior and microstructure of an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Zr alloy during hot deformation

The hot deformation behavior and microstructures of Al-7055 commercial alloy were investigated by axisymmetric hot compression at temperatures ranging from 300℃ to 450℃ and strain rates from 10-2 to 10 s-1, respectively. Microstructures of deformed 7055 alloy were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The dependence of peak stress on deformation temperature and strain rate can be expressed by the hyperbolic-sine type equation. The hot deformation activation energy of the alloy is 146 kJ/mol. Moreover, the flow stress curves predicted by the modified constitutive equations are reasonably consistent with the experimental results, which confirms that the proposed deformation constitutive equations can provide evidence for the selection of hot forming parameters. TEM results indicate that dynamic recovery is the main softening mechanism during hot deformation.     

Patterns of platinum-group elements in mantle peridotite, granulite xenoliths and basalt in Hannuoba

Neutron activation analysis after preconcentration of nickel sulfide fire assay was used in measurement of Ru, Ph, Pd, Os, Ir, Pt (i.e. PGE elements) and Au concentrations for basalt, mantle and granulite xenoliths in Hannuoba. The chondrite- and primitive mantle-normalized PGE patterns generally exhibit flat (for Iherzolite), negative slope (for harzburgite), and positive slope (for basic granulite and basalt). In addition, strong Ir negative anomaly occurs in basalt and granulite xenolith, and little negative anomaly also exists in Iherzolite xenolith in Hannuoba.     

桐柏造山带岩石分形几何学特征及其意义

变质变形岩石中动态重结晶石英颗粒边界分维数是很好的地质温压计,能够恰当地反映岩石的变质变形环境.文章运用分形几何学的方法对桐柏造山带内岩石中动态重结晶石英颗粒进行了研究,探讨其对桐柏山造山带构造变形指示意义.结果显示,桐柏造山带从南到北动态重结晶石英颗粒分维数为1.17-1.29-1.16,反映角闪岩相—绿片岩相—角闪...     

造山运动与秦岭造山

对造山运动概念的演变进行了讨论，提出了分析秦岭造山作用的现实原则基础。根据秦岭造山带区域地质构造演化和不同时期、不同类型造山作用的研究，划分出俯冲、碰撞和陆内造山作用3个主要阶段。其中碰撞造山作用可进一步分为弧—陆碰撞和陆—陆碰撞阶段。研究认为：秦岭地区古生代以来随着板块构造体制向陆内构造体制的复杂转化，经历了多次、多种类型造山作用的复合叠加，仅仅根据经典板块造山模式不能对秦岭演化历史作出完整解释；受古特提斯东部构造城独特的构造背景控制，即使在古生代—早中生代板块构造体制阶段，秦岭造山作用的细节过程也表现出与传统板块作用明显不同的特征。     

东北、华北几个典型太古宙地体的地球化学特征——中朝准地台早期地壳演化的特殊性

东北和华北太古宙地体和国外同类组合相比有特殊性,如麻粒岩多为非亏损型,仅有少量亏损型,未见熔融残留型等等。这些都表明中国前寒武纪古陆稳定与活化反复交替进行的准地台型发展历史。很可能早期地壳以垂直运动为主,下陷与抬升震荡频繁,振幅不大,因此深部下地壳岩石(残留型或亏损型麻粒岩以及堆晶相层状岩体)较少出露,上部表壳岩和BIF得以较多保存,绿岩盆地发育不好,稳定性差,变质较高,形成了以“钾质”为主,无红(风化壳型铁矿)少绿(绿岩带)、透镜状BIF广泛分布于中一高级片麻岩中的地质景观。