Mineralogy and geochemistry of Nb-,Ta-,Sn-,U-,Th-,and Zr-bearing granitic rocks from Abu Rusheid shear zones,South Eastern Desert,Egypt

Granite-hosted,Nb-,Ta-,Sn-,U-,Th-,and Zr(Hf)-bearing mineralization from the Abu Rusheid shear zones occurs about 97 km southwest of the town of Marsa Alam,South Eastern Desert,Egypt.The SSE-trending brittle-ductile Abu Rusheid shear zones crosscut the peralkalic granitic gneisses and cataclastic to mylonitic rocks(mylonite,protomlyonite,and ultramylonite).The northern shear zone varies in width from 1 to 3 m with a strike length of >500 m,and the southern shear zone is 0.5 to 8 m wide and >1 km long.These shear zones locally host less altered lamprophyre and locally sheared granitic aplite-pegmatite dykes.The rare-metal minerals,identified from the peralkalic granitic gneisses and cataclastic to mylonitic rocks are associated with muscovite,chlorite,quartz,fluorite,pyrite,magnetite,and rare biotite that are restricted to the Abu Rusheid shear zones;these are columbite-tantalite and pyrochlore(var.betafite) in the northern shear zone and ferrocolumbite in the southern shear zone.Cassiterite occurs as inclusions in the columbite-tantalite minerals.U-and Th-minerals(uraninite,thorite,uranothorite,ishikawaite,and cheralite) and Hf-rich zircon coexist.Magmatic(?) zircon contains numerous inclusions of rutile,fluorite,U-Th and REE minerals,such as uranothorite,cheralite,monazite,and xenotime.Compositional variations in Ta/(Ta+Nb) and Mn/(Mn+Fe) in columbite range from 0.07-0.42 and 0.04-0.33,respectively,and Hf contents in zircon from 1.92-6.46 of the two mineralized shear zones reflect the extreme degree of magmatic fractionation.Four samples of peralkalic granitic gneisses and cataclastic to mylonitic rocks from the southern shear zone have very low TiO2(0.02 wt%-0.04 wt%),Sr [(15-20)×10-6],and Ba [(47-78)×10-6],with high Fe2O3T(0.94 wt%-1.99 wt%),CaO(0.14 wt%-1.16 wt%),alkalis(9.2 wt%-10.1 wt%),Rb [(369-805)×10-6],Zr [(1033-2261)×10-6],Nb [(371-913)×10-6],U [(51-108)×10-6],Th [(36-110)×10-6],Ta [(38-108)×10-6],Pb [(39-364)×10-6],Zn [(21-424)×10-6],Y [(8-304)×10-6],Hf [(29-157)×10-6],and ∑REE [(64-304)×10-6],especially HREE [(46-167)×10-6].Three samples from the northern shear zone also have very low TiO2(0.03 wt%),Sr [(11-16)×10-6],and Ba [(38-47)×10-6],with high Fe2O3T(1.97 wt%-2.91 wt%),CaO(0.49 wt%-1.01 wt%),alkalis(7.2 wt%-8.3 wt%),Rb [(932-978)×10-6],Zr [(1707-1953)×10-6],Nb [(853-981)×10-6],Ta [(100-112)×10-6],U [(120-752)×10-6],Th [(121-164)×10-6],Pb [(260-2198)×10-6],Zn [(483-1140)×10-6],Y [(8-304)×10-6],Hf [(67-106)×10-6],and ∑REE [(110-231)×10-6],especially HREE [(91-177)×10-6].The very high Rb/Sr(57.5-88.9),and low Zr/Hf(16.9-25.6),Nb/Ta(7.7-9.8),and Th/U(0.21-1.01) are consistent with very frac-tionated fluorine-bearing granitic rocks that were altered and sheared.The field evidence,textural relations,and compositions of the ore minerals suggest that the main mineralizing event was magmatic(629+/-5 Ma,CHIME monazite),with later hydrothermal alteration and local remobilization of the high-field-strength elements.

Late Paleozoic to Mesozoic extension in southwestern Fujian Province, South China： Geochemical, geochronological and Hf isotopic constraints from basic-intermediate dykes

The tectonic evolution of SE China block since late Paleozoic remains debated. Here we present a new set of zircon U-Pb geochronological, Lu-Hf isotopic data and whole-rock geochemistry for two stages of basicintermediate dykes from the southwestern Fujian. The samples were collected from the NE-trending （mainly diabases） and NW-trending （mainly diabasic diorites） dykes and yielded zircon U-Pb ages of 315 and 141 Ma, with eHf（t） values of -8.90 to 7.49 and -23.39 to -7.15 （corresponding to TDM2 values of 850 to 1890 Ma and 737 to 2670 Ma）, respectively. Geochemically these rocks are characterized by low TiO2 （0.91-1.73 wt.%） and MgO （3.04-7.96 wt.%）, and high A1203 （12.5-16.60 wt.%） and K20 （0.60-3.63 wt.%）. Further they are enriched in LREEs and LILEs （Rb, Ba, Th and K）, but depleted in HFSEs （Nb, Ta and Zr）. The tectonic discrimination analysis revealed that the dykes were formed in an intraplate extensional envi- ronment. However, the NW trending dykes show crust-mantle mixed composition, which indicate an extensional tectonic setting with evidence for crustal contamination. The SE China block experienced two main stages of extensional tectonics from late Carboniferous to early Cretaceous. The tectonic evolution of the SE China block from late Devonian to Cretaceous is also evaluated.

Environment-tolerant ionic hydrogel-elastomer hybrids with robust interfaces,high transparence,and biocompatibility for a mechanical-thermal multimode sensor

The human skin,an important sensory organ,responds sensitively to external stimuli under various harsh conditions.However,the simultaneous achievement of mechanical/thermal sensitivity and extreme environmental tolerance remains an enormous challenge for skin-like hydrogel-based sensors.In this study,a novel skin-inspired hydrogel–elastomer hybrid with a sandwich structure and strong interfacial bonding for mechanical–thermal multimode sensing applications is developed.An inner-layered ionic hydrogel with a semiinterpenetrating network is prepared using sodium carboxymethyl cellulose(CMC)as a nanofiller,lithium chloride(LiCl)as an ionic transport conductor,and polyacrylamide(PAM)as a polymer matrix.The outer-layered polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)elastomers fully encapsulating the hydrogel endow the hybrids with improved mechanical properties,intrinsic waterproofness,and long-term water retention(>98%).The silane modification of the hydrogels and elastomers imparts the hybrids with enhanced interfacial bonding strength and integrity.The hybrids exhibit a high transmittance(~91.2%),fatigue resistance,and biocompatibility.The multifunctional sensors assembled from the hybrids realize real-time temperature(temperature coefficient of resistance,approximately1.1%℃^(-1))responsiveness,wide-range strain sensing capability(gauge factor,~3.8)over a wide temperature range(from-20℃ to 60℃),and underwater information transmission.Notably,the dualparameter sensor can recognize the superimposed signals of temperature and strain.The designed prototype sensor arrays can detect the magnitude and spatial distribution of forces and temperatures.The comprehensive performance of the sensor prepared via a facile method is superior to that of most similar sensors previously reported.Finally,this study develops a new material platform for monitoring human health in extreme environments.

FreeD^(*):a mechanism for finding a short and collision free path

Path planning is extensively used in different fields not only in robotics but also in games,manufacturing,auto-motive applications,and so on.Robot path planning is one of the major research issues in the area of autonomous mobile robot.The critical step in path planning problem is to find the shortest path from the start position to a defined goal position through a known,unknown,or partially known environment.Hazardous events that may devastate some parts of the intended area convert those areas to untraversable areas.These events introduce topological constraints for the robot motion because of information discrepancy about the environment before and after the damage.In this study,the authors propose a novel method,FreeD^(*),to find the shortest path by exploiting the benefits of D^(*),Dijkstra,and artificial potential field(APF)algorithms.The generated path using D^(*)is optimised using Dijkstra by combining D^(*)sub-paths into a single diagonal path if there is no known obstacle between them.Then,APF is used in unknown obstacle avoidance.The simulation results using Webots simulator demonstrate the effectiveness of FreeD^(*)in avoiding unknown obstacles with shortest path.