In-situ experiments reveal mineralization details of porphyry copper deposits

In-situ hydrothermal experiments using diamond-anvil cell show that sulfate and sulfi de are the dominant sulfur species under P-T conditions similar to those of porphyry magmas.No sulfi te was identifi ed using in-situ Raman spectrometer.This supports that porphyry copper mineralization is controlled by sulfate reduction,rather than sulfi te disproportionation.

The influence of silica on reaction rates and molecular hydrogen(H_(2))generation during olivine hydrothermal alteration

Hydrothermal alteration of olivine greatly influences geodynamics and the recycling of volatiles(such as water and carbon)in subduction zones.Silica is an important component of geological fluids,and its influence on the hydrothermal alteration of olivine remains poorly constrained.In this study,we performed experiments at 300–515℃ and 3.0 kbar(1 bar=10^(5)Pa)by reacting well homogenized mixtures of olivine and silica powders with saline solutions(0.5 mol L^(−1)NaCl).Silica greatly influences the reaction pathways,reaction rates,and molecular hydrogen(H_(2))formation during olivine hydrothermal alteration.In experiments at 300℃ and 3.0 kbar with mixtures of olivine and 10 wt%silica,olivine was replaced by serpentine and talc.The proportions of serpentine and talc were determined according to standard curves based on infrared spectroscopy analyses.Around 6.5%serpentine and 12%talc were produced after an experimental duration of 7 days,which had no change after a longer period(14 days).Compared to the kinetics in silica-free systems,the rates of olivine hydrothermal alteration in experiments with 10 wt%silica are much lower.The overall reaction is:4.5Forsterite+5.5SiO_(2),aq+4H_(2)O=Serpentine+2Talc.With the addition of more silica(20 wt%and 40 wt%),olivine was transformed into talc.The rates of reaction were much faster,e.g.,for experiments with olivine and 20 wt%silica,43%of talc was produced after 14 days,which increased to 77%for experiments with 40 wt%silica over the same period.The overall reaction is:3Forsterite+5SiO_(2),aq+2H_(2)O=2Talc.In experiments at 400–505℃ and 3.0 kbar,the promoting effect of silica on olivine hydrothermal alteration was also observed,which is closely associated with a decrease in Gibbs free energies of olivine hydrothermal alteration.At 300℃ and 3.0 kbar,silica decreased H_(2)formed during olivine hydrothermal alteration by around an order of magnitude,resulting in an increase in oxygen fugacity.Based on measured H_(2),we calibrated oxygen fugacities,ranging from 0.96 to 3.41 log units below FMQ(fayalite-magnetitequartz buffer assemblage).This study suggests that the infiltration of SiO_(2)-bearing fluids into peridotites greatly influences redox conditions and the rates of olivine hydrothermal alteration.

冥古代蛇纹石化过程合成氨

著名的Miller-Urey实验证明甲烷、氨气(NH3)、水蒸气和氢气在电火花下可以产生大量氨基酸,这一实验被认为是生命起源最重要的前置反应之一.然而,传统认为冥古代时期地球大气的初始成分主要包括二氧化碳和氮气(N2),在这样的中性大气里氨基酸合成的效率将大大降低,氨基酸能否在早期大气中大量合成仍然存在争议.为解决这一难题,我们进行了“橄榄岩十水+氮气(+二氧化碳)”的高温高压实验.实验结果证明氮气参与蛇纹石化过程,产生氨基酸合成的关键原料——氨.考虑到蛇纹石化过程中同样可以产生大量甲烷,在冥古代地表广泛的蛇纹石化作用下,原始大气的成分将会从以二氧化碳和氮气为主演化为以甲烷和氨气为主,为大气中氨基酸的合成创造了适宜条件.

Zircon U-Pb geochronology of the Chinese continental crust: a preliminary analysis of the Elsevier science database

The amount of zircon U-Pb geochronological data for China has grown rapidly in recent years.Nearly 410,000 items of zircon U-Pb geochronological data,representing more than 7,000 relevant articles in the Elsevier Science Database,have been collected to a database in this research.Statistics on the ages and absolute errors of these collated data,yielded smallest standard errors for(206Pb/238U),(207Pb/235U),and(207Pb/206Pb)ages within respective time intervals of<1388.96 Ma,1388.96–3282.52 Ma,and>3282.52 Ma.The ages and their absolute errors were determined using three main geochronology methods,based on laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometer(LA-ICP-MS),sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe(SHRIMP),and secondary ion mass spectrometer(SIMS)measurements.We compared the influence of these different methods on errors for each age interval.In addition,using a Gaussian model of multi-peak fitting of zircon U-Pb age frequencies,we identified seven growth peaks in zircons from the Chinese continental crust,which are 48.60 Ma,131.49 Ma,249.91 Ma,444.27 Ma,835.95 Ma,1860.65 Ma,and 2505.54 Ma.It is clear that there are correspondences between these ages and various geological events,namely,the Wutai movement,Lvliang movement,Jinning movement,Caledonian movement,Indo-China movement,Yanshan movement,and Himalayaorogeny movement,respectively.The time and spatial distributions of these zircons correspond to distinct geological events on the Chinese continent,reflecting its crustal evolution.

Crustal evolution events in the Chinese continent: evidence from a zircon U-Pb database

The zircon U-Pb chronology database provides a good opportunity to obtain important zircon growth peak periods in the Earth’s history so as to study the origin and evolution of the crust.It should be noted that research preference affects the objectivity of zircon sampling,leading to hot data in the database and age statistics.To evaluate the influence of hot data on statistical results,the W and Y indexes are introduced.Using a Gaussian model of multipeak fitting of zircon U-Pb age frequencies,we identify seven major growth peaks in zircons from the Chinese continental crust,which are 2498.95,1855.82,828.88,444.29,249.46,131.96,and 58.21 Ma.Due to differences in the time scales of zircon growth peaks,these peaks can be divided into two categories:first-order zircon growth peaks(Ⅰ)and second-order zircon growth peaks(Ⅱ),which represent longer and shorter time scales,perhaps due to different kinds of geological dynamics,respectively.In addition,there are clear correspondences between these ages and various geological events recognized by most scholars,namely,the Wutai orogeny,Lvliang orogeny,Jinning orogeny,Caledonian orogeny,Indosinian orogeny,Yanshanian orogeny,and Himalayan orogeny,respectively.