Plate subduction, oxygen fugacity, and mineralization

Plate subduction is the largest natural factory that processes elements,which controls recycling and mineralization of a variety of elements.There are three major ore deposit belts in the world:the circumPacific,the centralAsian,and the Tethys belts.All the three belts are closely associated with plate subductions,the mechanism remains obscure.We approached this problem from systematic studies on the behaviours of elements during geologic processes.This contribution summaries the recent progress of our research group.Our results suggest that porphyry Cu deposits form through partial melting of subducted young oceanic crust under oxygen fugacities higher than AFMQ^+1.5,which is promoted after the elevation of atmospheric oxygen at ca.550 Ma.Tin deposits are associated with reducing magmatic rocks formed as a consequence of slab rollback.The Neo-Tethys tectonic regime hosts more than 60%of the world's total Sn reserves.This is due to the reducing environment formed during the subduction of organic rich sediments.For the same reason,porphyry Cu deposits formed in the late stages during the closure of the Neo-Tethys Ocean.Tungsten deposits are also controlled by slab rollback,but is not so sensitive to oxygen fugacity.Subduction related W/Sn deposits are mostly accompanied by abundant accessory fluorites due to the breakdown of phengite and apatite.Decomposition of phengite is also significant for hard rock lithium deposits,whereas orogenic belt resulted from plate subduction promote the formation of Li brine deposits.Cretaceous red bed basins near the Nanling region are favorable for Li brines.Both Mo and Re are enriched in the oxidationreduction cycle during surface processes,and may get further enriched once Mo-,Re-enriched sediments are subducted and involved in magmatism.During plate subduction,Mo and Re fractionate from each other.Molybdenum is mainly hosted in porphyry Mo deposits and to a less extent,porphyry Cu-Mo deposits,whereas Re is predominantly hosted in porphyry Cu-Mo deposits and sedimentary sulfide deposits.

Inductive eff ect of bioactive substances on strobilation of jellyfi sh Aurelia coerulea

The moon jellyfi sh Aurelia spp.is a worldwide distributed scyphozoan species that seasonally blooms in coastal waters.Although the strobilation is directly responsible for the scale of jellyfi sh bloom,the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown.We exposed Aurelia coerulea polyps to 18 bioactive substances to test their ability to induce strobilation at the natural typically non-strobilation temperature of 21°C.Results revealed that A.coerulea polyps responded in four types.Type I—no change for estradiol,folic acid,iodine,retinoic acid,serotonin hydrochloride,and vitamin A.We suggested that 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine and N-acetyl-L-glutamic acid could not induce strobilation,since the percent of strobilated polyps in these two substances treatments was 3.3%and 1%,respectively.Type II—polyp body elongation for 3,5-diiodo-Ltyrosine,indole-3-acetic acid,L-dopamine,and noradrenaline treatments.Type III—transverse constrictions for L-thyroxine,progesterone,and melatonin treatments.Finally,Type IV—complete strobilation for 5-methoxy-2-methylindole,acetylcholine chloride,and indomethacin treatments,where the pre-strobilation periods were 2,4,and 2 days,and the mean numbers of ephyrae released per strobila were 4.7,5.7,and 5.7,respectively.The results reveal that indole derivatives,which contained methoxy or methyl pharmacophore,were the common strobilation inducer in the genus Aurelia.Iodinated organic compounds,catecholamine,acetylcholine chloride,and retinoic acid are species-specifi c strobilation inducer.Therefore,A.coerulea strobilation is regulated by neuronal and endocrine processes.Our fi ndings provide clues in understanding the mechanism of strobilation and contribute to developing specifi c strobilation antagonists in controlling moon jellyfi sh blooms.

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.

Neoproterozoic Diamictite of the Luoquan Formation from the North China Block and Their Implications

Glacial diamictite may provide important information on paleoenvironment and average composition of the upper continental crust(UCC).In this study,we report sedimentary facies,petrological and geochemical characteristics of Neoproterozoic diamictite from a profile of the Luoquan Formation on the southern margin of the North China Block(NCB).Upwards the sampling profile,lithostratigraphic strata vary from massive diamictite with poorly sorted carbonate gravels to laminated diamictite with small gravels of terrestrial detrital materials.Along the profile,CaO-MgO-LOI-Sr values decrease with the increase of SiO_(2)-Al2O_(3)-K2O contents.All these petrological and geochemical variations indicate a change from lodgement till deposition in the proximal of ice sheet to ice-rafting deposition in glacial-marine environment with less dolomite to supply their source.Together with previous studies on diamictite from other outcrops on the NCB,the deposition of Luoquan diamictite reflects that the glaciation on the NCB vanished and the ice-rafting effect weakened with glacial transgression process.In addition,significant co-variations of various elements with La and Al2O_(3)confirm the significant conservation of most analyzed elements during the sedimentary processes to produce diamictite.

Hydrothermal ore deposits in collisional orogens

Hydrothermal ore deposits at convergent plate boundaries represent extraordinary metal enrichment in the continental crust. They are generally associated with felsic magmatism in extensional settings at high thermal gradients. Although their formation is common during accretionary orogeny, more and more ore deposits have been discovered recently in the collisional orogens of China. Because collisional orogeny was operated in a compressional regime at low thermal gradients, it is not favorable for mobilization of ore-forming elements and thus for the production of hydrothermal ore deposits. Nevertheless, continental collision is generally preceded by oceanic subduction, which enables the preliminary enrichment of ore-forming elements in the mantle wedge due to chemical metasomatism by subducting slab-derived fluids. This gave rise to metal pre-enriched domains in the overriding lithosphere, which may be reactivated by extensional tectonism for hydrothermal mineralization either immediately during accretionary orogeny or at a later time during and after collisional orogeny. It is these tectonic processes that have resulted in the progressive enrichment of ore-forming elements through the geochemical differentiation of the subducting oceanic crust, the metasomatic mantle domains and the mafic juvenile crust, respectively, at different depths. Finally, the reactivation of metal pre-enriched domains by continental rifting in the orogenic lithosphere is the key to the metallogenesis of collisional orogens.