Ferruginous Microspherules in Bauxite at Maochang, Guizhou Province, China: Products of Microbe-Pyrite Interaction?

The Maochang bauxite in Guizhou Province is one of the important aluminum ore deposits in southwestern China. Ferruginous spherules, measuring about a few microns across, were found in the transitional layer of the deposit. The EDS and XRD results show that the microspherules are composed mostly of iron （hydr）oxide minerals （goethite） with only weak presence of aluminum and silicon. Occasionally, some pyrite micrograins with dissolved surface are found associated with goethite within the spherules. It is thus suggested that microspherules are linked to pyrite oxidization. It is also thought that microbial activities contribute not only to pyrite oxidization, but also to ball-like assemblage of the iron （hydr）oxides. The mechanism of the formation of ferruginous microspherules is also believed to be important in studying geomicrobiology of bauxite.

First observation of microspherule from the infratrappean Gondwana sediments below Killari region of Deccan LIP,Maharashtra(India) and possible implications

A rare occurrence of a microspherule has been found in the infratrappean sediments,encountered below338 m thick Deccan volcanic cover in KLR-1 scientific borehole,drilled in the epicentral zone of the 1993 Killari earthquake(Maharashtra,India).Palynological studies of the sediments indicate their age as Early Permian(Asselian,298-295 Ma) for deposition.Transmission electron microscope studies reveal that the spherule from the infratrappeans,is having a similar composition to that of the Neoarchean amphibolite to granulite facies mid crustal basement.The spherule is non-spherical in nature,containing mostly FeO(10.70±0.20 wt.%),CaO(13.8±0.5 wt.%),Al203(7.78±0.30 wt.%),MgO(6.47±0.3 wt.%),Si02(47,46±0.50 wt.%),Ti02(2.47±0.3 wt.%).K20(1.89±0.20 wt.%).and Cl(0.33±0.05 wt.%).Since the Fe composition of the spherule is almost same as the basement rock(10.5 wt.%),and the chlorine content is also in the same range as the basement(0.04-0.24 wt.%),it would suggest possibility of an extraterrestrial impact over the Indian terrain during the erstwhile Gondwana sedimentation period that may be associated with the Permian-Triassic mass extinction,the most severe one in the Earth's history.

Extraterrestrial microspherules from Bajada del Diablo,Chubut,Argentina

The Quaternary infilling of a circular structure located in Bajada del Diablo,Chubut Province,Argentina has been proposed as a crater strewn field in previous studies.Here we report the finding of about 65 microspherules collected in a trench excavated in the center of the structure.The majority of handpicked specimens are single,but some of them exhibit compound forms.The single specimens are spherical with a mean size of 137 nm,whereas the more complex samples show peduncles and drop shapes.Dendritic crystal growth is recognized in the internal structure of some broken microspherules.Preliminary chemical composition from the surface and center of microspherules was determined by energy dispersive spectrometry employing EDS.Quantitative EMPA and XRD analysis indicate that the microspherules are mainly composed of Fe and O with magnetite,Fe0with subordinate wiistite.Following consideration of possible anthropogenic and volcanic origins,these spherulites are ascribed to an extraterrestrial input.An accumulation rate of 47 microspherules per m2/yr is estimated for the studied sediments.This value is two orders of magnitude higher than the reference flux for cosmic dust estimated for the last 1 Ma in the Transantarctic Mountains.The microspherules might have been generated as a byproduct of asteroid entry in the atmosphere.

Phosphatic microspherules and their geobiological implications from the Frasnian-Famennian transition at the Yangdi section, Guilin, South China

Abundant perfectly-preserved phosphatic microspherules have been discovered across the Frasnian-Famennian （F-F） transition from the Yangdi section in Guilin, Guangxi, South China. They are mostly spherical or elliptical in shape and about 150 gin in diameter with smooth exterior surfaces. Each microspherule consistently possesses a small dimple on the surface. The internal texture of microspherules consists of concentric light-colored apatite and dark-colored organic matter bands alternating around a central core. Conodonts have also been found preserved together with phosphatic microspherules in the same horizon, and the abundance of the former is obviously higher than that of the latter. Laser Raman spectral studies show close similarities in spectral patterns between the outer shells of phosphatic microspherules and the blade of the conodont genus Palmatolepis sp., as well as between the microspherule nucleus and the platform of the same conodont genus. Furthermore, the statistical results and geochemical data demonstrate that the elevated abundance of phosphatic microspherules roughly coincides with the blooms of bacteria and algae, but is later than the sharp increase of oceanic nutrients. The phosphatic microspherules are inter- preted here to be the ＇otoliths＇ secreted by conodont animals based on the compositional similarities between phosphatic mi- crospherules and conodonts and their interrelated abundances. In addition, an analogous study reveals morphological and tex- tural similarities between fish otoliths and phosphatic microspherules. The formation of phosphatic microspherules is probably related to seawater eutrophication. We speculate that the explosive growth of bacteria and algae is probably caused by the en- richment of nutrients that is most likely associated with the increase of terrestrial inputs, submarine hydrothermal activities or the upwelling anoxic bottom waters in the late Devonian, which would stimulate the conodont animals to secrete phosphatic microspherules--the ＇otoliths＇ of conodont animals. This study reveals the coupling relationship between organisms and envi- ronments from the perspective of phosphatic microspherules and provides new evidence for the cause of faunal crisis during the Late Devonian F-F transition.

Discovery and significance of microspherules at Lower-Middle Devonian boundary of Guangxi, South China

Microspherules are found in different facies at the Lower-Middle Devonian boundary, Guangxi, South China. There are more than 20 grains per kilogram rock sample. Composition and form of the microspherules are very similar to those of the microtektites from modern deposits of South Pacific Ocean and F-F boundary (Devonian). This may indicate that the microspherules from Guangxi are most likely the products of an extraterrestrial impact event that occurred at the end of Early Devonian Epoch. The event may be responsible for the biomass reduction and extinction of benthic organisms at the end of Early Devonian. The impact products (ejecta) can be used as a potential tool for stratigraphic correlation.

A STUDY ON THE BLACK MICROSPHERULES WITH MAGNETISM IN SOIL FROM DONGLING MOUNTAIN, BEIJING

Dongling Mountain is the highest one of the Beijing West Mountains. There is a layer of subalpine meadow soil about 0.50 m thick at the top of the mountain, of which the basement rock is the Jurassic andesite. A section was artificially dug out and some samples

Discovery of New Cosmic Spinel——Ni-rich Franklinite

Spinel-group minerals are richly preserved in cosmic dusts, which have been reported to occur in chondritic microspherules of deep sea sediments and polar ice,and considered to be formed by the ablation of extraterrestrial material during the atmospheric entry heating. Spinels have not been considered an important identification for extraterrestrial matter for a very long time, and have not

RECORDS OF TWO ASTROGEOLOGIC EVENTS IN THE LOESS STRATA,LANTIAN,SHAANXI,CHINA

The thick loess strata in the Loess Plateau of China, which have not been essentially reformed by internal and external agents, are one of the optimum continental deposits preserving the extraterrestrial materials in the last 2.5 Ma. Thus, combining the records with the detailed data of the loess-paleosol sequence, the ages and environmental impacts of the astrogeologic events can be determined.

Discovery and implication of cosmic dust from Ⅰ-type granite of western Suzhou

Since the discovery of cosmic dust from Suzhou A-type granite, a following new problem is whether cosmic dust is preserved in only one type granite or in different types. In order to make the problem clear, the authors carried out many field and room investigations on I-type granite of western Suzhou, and found out that Suzhou I-type granite also could retain microspherules. Studies about these microspherules indicate that they are of ablated cosmic dust.

First Terrestrial Occurrence of Ringwoodite

Several of the known over 3000 minerals possess great typomorphic implication and experienced twists and turns of their discovery. Ringwoodite is the most outstanding of them. In 1931, Goldshmidt suggested that the crystal structure of Mg2GeO4 could show two polymorphs for olivine and spinel. Based on this, in 1936, J. D. Bernal put forward his bold assumption that the increase of seismic velocity in mantle is caused by

Cosmic Dust in Suzhou A-Type Granite

A large number of microspherules have been extracted from Suzhou A-type granite bymeans of heavy placer.Both natural surfaces and part sections of 539 microspherules have been observed bySEM.457 microspherules have been determined by EDX,with some of them by EPMA,XRD and INAA.The results suggest these spherules are of ablated cosmic dust.Among them silicate glassy microspheruleshave been highly enriched in REE and other lithophile refractory trace elements,and REE abundance patternfavors a meteoritic origin as a roughly flat distribution.Ringwoodite has been first found in these glassy mi-crospherules.The composition of these iron spherules is similar to those of the ablated cosmic dust from deepsea and polar ice.Some Fe-Ni spherules and spherules composed of troilite have also been found.This isprobably the first report on various types of cosmic dust extracted from granite.