scholarly journals Unusual Luminescence of Quartz from La Sassa, Tuscany: Insights on the Crystal and Defect Nanostructure of Quartz

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1345
Author(s):  
Giulia Ricci ◽  
Andrea Maurizio Monti ◽  
Renato Pagano ◽  
Marco Martini ◽  
Luisa Caneve ◽  
...  

Quartz from La Sassa (Tuscany, Italy) presents a unique luminescence related to intrinsic and extrinsic defects in the crystal lattice due to the growth mechanisms in hydrothermal conditions. The bright fluorescence under the UV lamp was apparent to collectors since the early 1970s, and it entered the literature as a reference case of yellow-luminescent quartz. Early reports present the history of the discovery, the geological context, and preliminary luminescence measurements of the quartz nodules, suggesting various activators as potentially responsible of the peculiar luminescence effects: uranyl groups (UO22+), rare earths (Tb3+, Eu3+, Dy3+, Sm3+, Ce3+) and polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAH). Here, we report a full investigation of the La Sassa material, by a multi-analytical approach encompassing cathodoluminescence optical microscopy (OM-CL), laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), wavelength resolved thermally stimulated luminescence (WR-TSL), trace elements analysis by mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Raman spectroscopy (RS). The results provide a significant step forward in the interpretation of the luminescence mechanisms: the main luminescent centres are identified as alkali-compensated (mainly Li+ and Na+, K+ and H+) aluminum [AlO4/M+]0 centres substituting for Si, where the recombination of a self-trapped exciton (STE) or an electron at a nonbridging oxygen hole centre (NBOHC) are active.

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 934
Author(s):  
Evangelos Tzamos ◽  
Micol Bussolesi ◽  
Giovanni Grieco ◽  
Pietro Marescotti ◽  
Laura Crispini ◽  
...  

The importance of magnesite for the EU economy and industry is very high, making the understanding of their genesis for the exploration for new deposits a priority for the raw materials scientific community. In this direction, the study of the magnesite-hosting ultramafic rocks can be proved very useful. For the present study, ultramafic rock samples were collected from the magnesite ore-hosting ophiolite of the Gerakini mining area (Chalkidiki, Greece) to investigate the consecutive alteration events of the rocks which led to the metallogenesis of the significant magnesite ores of the area. All samples were subjected to a series of analytical methods for the determination of their mineralogical and geochemical characteristics: optical microscopy, XRD, SEM, EMPA, ICP–MS/OES and CIPW normalization. The results of these analyses revealed that the ultramafic rocks of the area have not only all been subjected to serpentinization, but these rocks have also undergone carbonation, silification and clay alteration. The latter events are attributed to the circulation of CO2-rich fluids responsible for the formation of the magnesite ores and locally, the further alteration of the serpentinites into listvenites. The current mineralogy of these rocks was found to be linked to one or more alteration event that took place, thus a significant contribution to the metallo- and petrogenetic history of the Gerakini ophiolite has been made. Furthermore, for the first time in literature, Fe inclusions in olivines from Greece were reported.


2009 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 495-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioan Balintoni ◽  
Constantin Balica ◽  
Monica Cliveţi ◽  
Li-Qiu Li ◽  
Horst Hann ◽  
...  

The emplacement age of the Muntele Mare Variscan granite (Apuseni Mountains, Romania)Like the Alps and Western Carpathians, the Apuseni Mountains represent a fragment of the Variscan orogen involved in the Alpine crustal shortenings. Thus the more extensive Alpine tectonic unit in the Apuseni Mountains, the Bihor Autochthonous Unit is overlain by several nappe systems. During the Variscan orogeny, the Bihor Unit was a part of the Someş terrane involved as the upper plate in subduction, continental collision and finally in the orogen collapse and exhumation. The Variscan thermotectonic events were marked in the future Bihor Unit by the large Muntele Mare granitoid intrusion, an S-type anatectic body. Zircon U-Pb laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) dating yielded a weighted mean age of 290.9 ± 3.0 Ma and a concordia age of 291.1 ± 1.1 Ma. U-Pb isotope dilution zircon analyses yielded a lower intercept crystallization age of 296.6 + 5.7/-6.2 Ma. These two ages coincide in the error limits. Thus, the Muntele Mare granitoid pluton is a sign of the last stage in the Variscan history of the Apuseni Mountains. Many zircon grains show inheritance and/or Pb loss, typical for anatectic granitoid, overprinted by later thermotectonic events.


2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Souza Azevedo ◽  
Belisandra Lopes ◽  
Alberto Katsumiti ◽  
Elisabete Santis Braga ◽  
Helené Roche ◽  
...  

Different components of the mixed function oxidase (MFO) system and the levels of fluorescent aromatic compounds in bile (FACs) were measured in Cathorops spixii in order to assess the impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Fish were sampled in an estuary (Santos/São Vicente) with a history of contamination by PAHs, mainly due to the presence of the industrial complex of Cubatão city and of another of low anthropogenic influence (Cananéia) on the Brazilian coast. FACs were higher in fish from the polluted site, and the PAH 5 and 6-ring metabolites were the most frequent - with 14% and 15%, respectively. Levels of the different components of the MFO system showed the same variation profile as the FACs for both estuaries. Therefore, the values found for somatic indexes and biomarkers with data of bile PAH metabolites indicate the presence of organic contaminants, especially in the area subject to the influence of the industrial complex on the Santos/São Vicente estuary.


PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph E. Peterson ◽  
Jonathan P. Warnock ◽  
Shawn L. Eberhart ◽  
Steven R. Clawson ◽  
Christopher R. Noto

The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry (CLDQ) is the densest deposit of Jurassic theropod dinosaurs discovered to date. Unlike typical Jurassic bone deposits, it is dominated by the presence ofAllosaurus fragilis. Since excavation began in the 1920s, numerous hypotheses have been put forward to explain the taphonomy of CLDQ, including a predator trap, a drought assemblage, and a poison spring. In an effort to reconcile the various interpretations of the quarry and reach a consensus on the depositional history of CLDQ, new data is required to develop a robust taphonomic framework congruent with all available data. Here we present two new data sets that aid in the development of such a robust taphonomic framework for CLDQ. First, x-ray fluorescence of CLDQ sediments indicate elevated barite and sulfide minerals relative to other sediments from the Morrison Formation in the region, suggesting an ephemeral environment dominated by periods of hypereutrophic conditions during bone accumulation. Second, the degree of abrasion and hydraulic equivalency of small bone fragments dispersed throughout the matrix were analyzed from CLDQ. Results of these analyses suggest that bone fragments are autochthonous or parautochthonous and are derived from bones deposited in the assemblage rather than transported. The variability in abrasion exhibited by the fragments is most parsimoniously explained by local periodic re-working and re-deposition during seasonal fluctuations throughout the duration of the quarry assemblage. Collectively, these data support previous interpretations that the CLDQ represents an attritional assemblage in a poorly-drained overbank deposit where vertebrate remains were introduced post-mortem to an ephemeral pond during flood conditions. Furthermore, while the elevated heavy metals detected at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry are not likely the primary driver for the accumulation of carcasses, they are likely the result of multiple sources; some metals may be derived from post-depositional and diagenetic processes, and others are potentially produced from an abundance of decomposing vertebrate carcasses. These new data help to support the inferred depositional environment of the quarry as an ephemeral pond, and represent a significant step in understanding the taphonomy of the bonebed and Late Jurassic paleoecology in this region.


2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 444-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R.M. McFarlane

The Matthew Creek Metamorphic Zone (MCMZ) exposes what is inferred to be the lowest structural level of the lower Aldridge Formation in the Canadian portion of the Belt–Purcell Supergroup. Zircon, monazite, and titanite were dated using the U–Pb system by LA–ICP–MS. The detrital zircon populations of quartzite layers in these rocks define a provenance dominated by sources of Laurentian affinity with a minor component of non-North American ages between 1600 and 1490 Ma. Special attention was paid to monazite in sillimanite-grade metapelitic schists that was analyzed using in situ LA–ICP–MS techniques guided by BSE imaging and compositional mapping. Textural and geochronological evidence indicate that coupled dissolution–reprecipitation affected detrital monazite at 1413 ± 10 Ma. This was followed by prograde monazite growth at 1365 ± 10 Ma, synchronous with crystallization of the nearby Hellroaring Creek peraluminous granite at 1365 ± 5 Ma. Late-stage pegmatite emplacement and ductile shearing along the contact of the MCMZ and overlying rocks occurred at 1335 ± 5 Ma, interpreted as a period of post-collisional extension, core complex formation, exhumation, and decompression melting. The entire package was subsequently affected by a pervasive ∼1050 Ma hydrothermal overprint that partially reset U–Pb dates in monazite, zircon, and titanite contained in all lithologies examined. The lowermost Belt–Purcell stratigraphy in southeast British Columbia preserves a detailed record of sedimentary provenance and a long history of episodic collision and extension that must be reconciled with plate reconstruction models for the break-up of the Nuna supercontinent and assembly of Rodinia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisatoshi Ito

Abstract The magmatic history of the Oldest Toba Tuff (OTT), the second largest in volume after the Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT), northern Sumatra, Indonesia, was investigated using U–Pb zircon dating by LA-ICP-MS. Zircon dates obtained from surface and interior sections yielded ages of 0.84 ± 0.03 Ma and 0.97 ± 0.03 Ma, respectively. The youngest OTT zircon ages were in accordance with the 40Ar/39Ar eruption age of ~ 0.8 Ma, whereas the oldest zircon dates were ~ 1.20 Ma. Therefore, the distribution of zircon U–Pb ages is interpreted to reflect protracted zircon crystallization, suggesting that the estimated 800–2,300 km3 of OTT magma accumulated and evolved for at least 400,000 years prior to eruption. This result is comparable to the volume and timescales of YTT magmatism. The similarities of both magmatic duration and geochemistry between OTT and YTT may indicate that they are similar in size and that the caldera collapse that generated OTT might be much larger previously interpreted.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1235-1254
Author(s):  
Jemal Ahmed

Abstract This paper reports the results of trace elements geochemistry from Tigray national state, northwestern Ethiopia. The area is part of the Arabian-Nubian Shield, where the dominant exposure is low-grade metamorphic rocks and has a long history of liver-related diseases. The increase in the number of liver-related disease patients of the area has been an environmental health issue of national concern. The aim of the study is to determine the level of trace element concentrations and distributions in water and stream sediments of the area and identify the possible sources in relation to human health. Water, stream sediment and rocks samples (20 water, 20 stream sediments, and 6 rock samples) were collected in March 2011 and analyzed for major and trace element contents using ICP-MS, ICP-OES, ion Chromatography, and XRF methods. Bromine, aluminum, fluorine, arsenic, and nitrate values exceed the WHO maximum acceptable concentration (MAC) for drinking purpose. Bromine ranges from 0.11 to 1.48 mg/l show higher values in all samples, and fluorine ranges from 0.21 to 16.49 mg/l show higher values in 20% of the samples. Other trace elements are aluminum—30%, arsenic—10%, and nitrate (NO3)—10%, and they are examples of elements which have above MAC for drinking water. Selenium deficiency may be the other problematic element in the area for which its deficiency is associated with liver damage and heart muscle disorder. The concentration of cobalt and chromium exceeded world geochemical background value in average shale at most sample stations indicated that these stations were in potential risk.


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