DIAGENETIC HISTORY OF LEONARDIAN BASINAL CARBONATES AND CLASTICS IN THE EASTERN MIDLAND BASIN, TEXAS: IMPLICATIONS FOR DIAGENESIS AND FLUID FLOW IN FINE-GRAINED ROCK

Scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) can exhibit striking colours produced by pigments and/or nanostructures. The latter include helicoidal (Bouligand) structures that can generate circularly polarized light. These have a cryptic evolutionary history in part because fossil examples are unknown. This suggests either a real biological signal, i.e. that Bouligand structures did not evolve until recently, or a taphonomic signal, i.e. that conditions during the fossilization process were not conducive to their preservation. We address this issue by experimentally degrading circularly polarizing cuticle of modern scarab beetles to test the relative roles of decay, maturation and taxonomy in controlling preservation. The results reveal that Bouligand structures have the potential to survive fossilization, but preservation is controlled by taxonomy and the diagenetic history of specimens. Further, cuticle of specific genus ( Chrysina ) is particularly decay-prone in alkaline conditions; this may relate to the presence of certain compounds, e.g. uric acid, in the cuticle of these taxa.

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Use of pyrite microfabric as a key to tectono-thermal evolution of massive sulphide deposits – an example from Deri, southern Rajasthan, India

Mineralogical Magazine ◽

10.1180/002646198547576 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 62 (2) ◽

pp. 197-212 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Anju Tiwary ◽

Mihir Deb ◽

Nigel J. Cook

Keyword(s):

Thermal Evolution ◽

Regional Metamorphism ◽

Massive Sulphide ◽

Ductile Deformation ◽

Sulphide Deposit ◽

Fine Grained ◽

Thermal Metamorphism ◽

Sulphide Ores ◽

History Of ◽

South Delhi Fold Belt

AbstractPyrite is an ubiquitous constituent of the Proterozoic massive sulphide deposit at Deri, in the South Delhi Fold Belt of southern Rajasthan. Preserved pyrite microfabrics in the Zn-Pb-Cu sulphide ores of Deri reveal a polyphase growth history of the iron sulphide and enable the tectono-thermal evolution of the deposit to be reconstructed.Primary sedimentary features in Deri pyrites are preserved as compositional banding. Regional metamorphism from mid-greenschist to low amphibolite facies is recorded by various microtextures of pyrite. Trails of fine grained pyrite inclusions within hornblende porphyroblasts define S1-schistosity. Pyrite boudins aligned parallel to S1 mark the brittle–ductile transformation of pyrite during the earliest deformation in the region. Isoclinal to tight folds (F1 and F2) in pyrite layers relate to a ductile deformation stage during progressive regional metamorphism. Peak metamorphic conditions around 550°C, an estimation supported by garnet–biotite thermometry, resulted in annealing of pyrite grains, while porphyroblastic growth of pyrite (up to 900 µm) took place along the retrogressive path. Brittle deformation of pyrite and growth of irregular pyritic mass around such fractured porphyroblasts characterize the waning phase of regional metamorphism. A subsequent phase of stress-free, thermal metamorphism is recorded in the decussate and rosette textures of arsenopyrite prisms replacing irregular pyritic mass. Annealing of such patchy pyrite provides information regarding the temperature conditions during this episode of thermal metamorphism which is consistent with the hornblendehornfels facies metamorphism interpreted from magnetite–ilmenite geothermometry (550°C) and sphalerite geobarometry (3.5 kbar). A mild cataclastic deformation during the penultimate phase produced microfaults in twinned arsenopyrite prisms.

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Ultrastructure, dissolution and "pyritization" of Late Quaternary and Recent echinoderms

Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark ◽

10.37570/bgsd-1988-36-09 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 36 ◽

pp. 275-287

Author(s):

Margit Jensen ◽

Elsebeth Thomsen

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Sea Water ◽

Late Quaternary ◽

Pore Space ◽

Water Interface ◽

Sea Stars ◽

Northern Norway ◽

History Of ◽

Organic Tissue ◽

Diagenetic History

The diagenetic history of the skeletal elements of Late Pleistocene-Holocene Ophiura sarsi from the shelf off northern Norway (Andfjorden, Malangsdjupet) is elucidated by comparison with natural and induced degradation of the skeletal elements of Recent ophiuroids (brittle stars) and asteroids (sea stars) from Danish waters. Dissolution features ("core-and-rind") in the trabeculae of fossil and Recent echinoderm stereom are initiated during death and early decay of organic tissue in the animals. The trabeculae have a polycrystalline lamellar ultrastructure and lose their older central part during later stages of dissolution, which are dependant on undersaturation of the sea-water with regard to CaC03• The presence of undersaturated sea-water is supported by palaeoecological studies (Thomsen & Vorren 1984, 1986) implying oxygen deficient periods in the Late Pleistocene and an increased biogenic production in the Holocene. Pyrite framboids are situated in the secondary voids within the trabeculae and in the pore space of the stereom of the Late Pleistocene elements. No pyrite is observed within the polycrystalline lamellar ultrastructure of the trabeculae. The Late Pleistocene "pyritization" took place during oxygen deficient periods at the sediment-water interface or within the reduced zone of the topmost sediment.

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