scholarly journals Syndepositional processes in the pigmentation of oceanic red beds: evidence from the Basque–Cantabrian Basin (northern Spain)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Javier Elorza ◽  
Juan José Gómez-Alday ◽  
Álvaro Jiménez Berrocoso

Abstract Oceanic red beds (ORBs) are present in Upper Cretaceous and Danian deep-marine deposits in the Basque–Cantabrian Basin of northern Spain. The presence and regularity of the succession of marl–limestone couplets is exceptional based on the macroscopic, microscopic and geochemical evidence collected. Five types of marl–limestone couplets are identified based on the colour, and a high maximum sedimentation rate (3.6 cm ka–1 ) is noted. The oxidizing activity of deep, cold-water masses is indicated by the oxygen isotope signal in the lower–upper Maastrichtian and Danian sections and the presence of the boreal inoceramid Spyridoceramus tegulatus. In theory, the variation in colour from grey to greenish-yellow, purple and pink up to red tones correlates with the Fe2+/(Fe2++Fe3+) ratio. It is interpreted as the possible palaeoenvironmental transit of particles that sediment out slowly in oxic environments when they circulate through cooler, oxidizing water masses. The colour is considered to be a depositional feature, and hematite, detected by X-ray diffraction, is the main staining agent, without discarding the possible redistribution of previous oxyhydroxides passing to hematite as a final product. The cell filling of the foraminifer shells does not incorporate appreciable amounts of Fe and Mg during diagenesis. Bacterial activity is detected using scanning electron microscopy images, both in the coccolith debris and in the detrital micas, although there is uncertainty as to its importance in the staining process.

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Andrew Hurst ◽  
Michael Wilson ◽  
Antonio Grippa ◽  
Lyudmyla Wilson ◽  
Giuseppe Palladino ◽  
...  

Mudstone samples from the Moreno (Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene) and Kreyenhagen (Eocene) formations are analysed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to determine their mineralogy. Smectite (Reichweite R0) is the predominant phyllosilicate present, 48% to 71.7% bulk rock mineralogy (excluding carbonate cemented and highly bio siliceous samples) and 70% to 98% of the <2 μm clay fraction. Opal CT and less so cristobalite concentrations cause the main deviations from smectite dominance. Opal A is common only in the Upper Kreyenhagen. In the <2 μm fraction, the Moreno Fm is significantly more smectite-rich than the Kreyenhagen Fm. Smectite in the Moreno Fm was derived from the alteration of volcaniclastic debris from contemporaneous rhyolitic-dacitic magmatic arc volcanism. No tuff is preserved. Smectite in the Kreyenhagen Fm was derived from intense sub-tropical weathering of granitoid-dioritic terrane during the hypothermal period in the early to mid-Eocene; the derivation from local volcanism is unlikely. All samples had chemical indices of alteration (CIA) indicative of intense weathering of source terrane. Ferriferous enrichment and the occurrence of locally common kaolinite are contributory evidence for the intensity of weathering. Low concentration (max. 7.5%) of clinoptilolite in the Lower Kreyenhagen is possibly indicative of more open marine conditions than in the Upper Kreyenhagen. There is no evidence of volumetrically significant silicate diagenesis. The main diagenetic mineralisation is restricted to low-temperature silica phase transitions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwona Kania-Kłosok ◽  
Wiesław Krzemiński ◽  
Antonio Arillo

AbstractFirst record of the genus Helius—long-rostrum cranefly from Maestrazgo Basin (eastern Spain, Iberian Penisula) is documented. Two new fossil species of the genus Helius are described from Cretaceous Spanish amber and compared with other species of the genus known from fossil record with particular references to these known from Cretaceous period. Helius turolensis sp. nov. is described from San Just amber (Lower Cretaceous, upper Albian) Maestrazgo Basin, eastern Spain, and Helius hispanicus sp. nov. is described from Álava amber (Lower Cretaceous, upper Albian), Basque-Cantabrian Basin, northern Spain. The specific body morphology of representatives of the genus Helius preserved in Spanish amber was discussed in relation to the environmental conditions of the Maestrazgo Basin and Basque-Cantabrian Basin in Cretaceous.


Coatings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 823
Author(s):  
Shizheng Yang ◽  
Hongliang Lv ◽  
Likun Ai ◽  
Fangkun Tian ◽  
Silu Yan ◽  
...  

InP layers grown on Si (001) were achieved by the two-step growth method using gas source molecular beam epitaxy. The effects of growth temperature of nucleation layer on InP/Si epitaxial growth were investigated systematically. Cross-section morphology, surface morphology and crystal quality were characterized by scanning electron microscope images, atomic force microscopy images, high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD), rocking curves and reciprocal space maps. The InP/Si interface and surface became smoother and the XRD peak intensity was stronger with the nucleation layer grown at 350 °C. The Results show that the growth temperature of InP nucleation layer can significantly affect the growth process of InP film, and the optimal temperature of InP nucleation layer is required to realize a high-quality wafer-level InP layers on Si (001).


Clay Minerals ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Khormali ◽  
A. Abtahi ◽  
H. R. Owliaie

AbstractClay minerals of calcareous sedimentary rocks of southern Iran, part of the old Tethys area, were investigated in order to determine their origin and distribution, and to reconstruct the palaeoclimate of the area. Chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and thin-section studies were performed on the 16 major sedimentary rocks of the Fars and Kuhgiluyeh Boyerahmad Provinces.Kaolinite, smectite, chlorite, illite, palygorskite and illite-smectite interstratified minerals were detected in the rocks studied. The results revealed that detrital input is possibly the main source of kaolinite, smectite, chlorite and illite, whilein situneoformation during the Tertiary shallow saline and alkaline environment could be the dominant cause of palygorskite occurrences in the sedimentary rocks.The presence of a large amount of kaolinite in the Lower Cretaceous sediments and the absence or rare occurrence of chlorite, smectite, palygorskite and illite are in accordance with the warm and humid climate of that period. Smaller amounts of kaolinite and the occurrence of smectite in Upper Cretaceous sediments indicate the gradual shift from warm and humid to more seasonal climate. The occurrence of palygorskite and smectite and the disappearance of kaolinite in the late Palaeocene sediments indicate the increase in aridity which has probably continued to the present time.


2015 ◽  
Vol 68 (8) ◽  
pp. 1293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pakvipar Chaopanich ◽  
Punnama Siriphannon

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized from an aqueous mixture of Ca(NO3)2·4H2O and (NH4)2HPO4 by a facile single-step refluxing method using polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) as a template. The effects of reaction times, pH, and PSS concentration on the HAp formation were investigated. It was found that the crystalline HAp was obtained under all conditions after refluxing the precursors for 3 and 6 h. The longer refluxing time, the greater the crystallinity and the larger the crystallite size of the HAp nanoparticles. The HAp with poor crystallinity was obtained at pH 8.5; however, the well-crystallized HAp was obtained when reaction pH was increased to 9.5 and 10.5. In addition, the X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the presence of PSS template caused the reduction of HAp crystallite size along the (002) plane from 52.6 nm of non-template HAp to 43.4 nm and 41.4 nm of HAp with 0.05 and 0.2 wt-% PSS template, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy images of the synthesized HAp revealed the rod-shaped crystals of all samples. The synthesized HAp nanoparticles were modified by l-aspartic acid (Asp) and l-arginine (Arg), having negative and positive charges, respectively. It was found that the zeta potential of HAp was significantly changed from +5.46 to –24.70 mV after modification with Asp, whereas it was +4.72 mV in the Arg-modified HAp. These results suggested that the negatively charged amino acid was preferentially adsorbed onto the synthesized HAp surface.


1976 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. H. Reid

SummaryChanges in the Upper Cretaceous faunas of northeastern Ireland point to rising Cenomanian temperatures, and to progressive falls in temperatures from early Santonian to Maastrichtian times. At first sight, these changes fit the Cretaceous climatic trends claimed from isotopic data; but comparison with faunas seen in England suggests that this fit is illusory. It is suggested that faunas were more directly controlled by the influence of contrasting Atlanto-West Tethyan and Russo-Germanic water masses, and by changes in their relative distribution. Changes seen through the Irish Senonian may reflect the progressive submergence of a Scotland—Pennines barrier, permitting an increasing westward spread of the Russo—Germanic (‘boreal’) water and fauna.


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