Hydrothermal Activities on C-Complex Asteroids Induced by Radioactivity

C-complex asteroids, rich in carbonaceous materials, are potential sources of Earth’s volatile inventories. They are spectrally dark resembling primitive carbonaceous meteorites, and thus, C-complex asteroids are thought to be potential parent bodies of carbonaceous meteorites. However, the substantial number of C-complex asteroids exhibits surface spectra with weaker hydroxyl absorption than water-rich carbonaceous meteorites. Rather, they best correspond to meteorites showing evidence for dehydration, commonly attributed to impact heating. Here, we report an old radiometric age of 4564.7 million years ago for Ca carbonates from the Jbilet Winselwan meteorite analogous to dehydrated C-complex asteroids. The carbonates are enclosed by a high-temperature polymorph of Ca sulfates, suggesting thermal metamorphism at >300°C subsequently after aqueous alteration. This old age indicates the early onset of aqueous alteration and subsequent thermal metamorphism driven by the decay of short-lived radionuclides rather than impact heating. The breakup of original asteroids internally heated by radioactivity should result in asteroid families predominantly consisting of thermally metamorphosed materials. This explains the common occurrence of dehydrated C-complex asteroids.

Origin of the Multiple-Sourced Cherts in Maokou Carbonates in Sichuan Basin, South China

Cherts have been thought to originate from biosilicification, terrestrial inputs and hydrothermal activity. The study of cherts is helpful in understanding the paleo-ocean environment and tectonic–sedimentary processes. Large amounts of cherts occur widely in the Maokou Formation in the Sichuan Basin, which may be largely connected to the Permian Chert Event (PCE). However, the source of silica and the formation process of cherts remain debated. Here, we analyze the petrographic and geochemical features of the cherts from the Guadalupian Maokou Formation (~268–259 Ma) in six sections in the Sichuan Basin. Two main types of cherts, nodular and bedded, are recognized in the Maokou Formation. The formation of nodular cherts was mainly affected by hydrothermal fluids, whereas the bedded cherts are mainly of biogenetic origin. The Emeishan large igneous province (ELIP) caused the activation of deep faults, accompanied by intense hydrothermal activities. Correspondingly, the cherts of significant hydrothermal origin developed near the active deep faults. The intensified hydrothermal activities may provide extra silica supplies and flourish the silica-secreting organisms by the associated volcanogenic upwellings that facilitated the enrichment of cherts. The study of Maokou cherts can help to record the volcanic- and silicon-related biological activities in the eastern Paleo-Tethys Ocean and can provide significant implications for chert enrichment in analogous settings.

Evaluation of the exploration prospect and risk of marine gas shale, southern China: A case study of Wufeng-Longmaxi shales in the Jiaoshiba area and Niutitang shales in the Cen’gong area

The Wufeng-Longmaxi shales and the Niutitang shales are the most important organic-rich marine shales in southern China. To fully understand the significant difference in drilling results between the two sets of shales, the accumulation conditions of shale gas were systematically compared. The Niutitang shales have a superior material base of hydrocarbon generation for higher total organic carbon than the Wufeng-Longmaxi shales. Due to the influence of hydrothermal activities and carbonization of organic matter, however, the porosity, pore volume, pore size, and pore connectivity of Niutitang shales is obviously lower than that of Wufeng-Longmaxi shales. The natural fractures of Wufeng-Longmaxi shales are dominated by horizontal bedding fractures, and most of them are filled by calcite. By contrast, the high dip-angle fractures are more developed in the Niutitang shales. Especially, these fractures remain open in stages during the process of serious uplift and denudation movements. Thus, the seal conditions of the Niutitang shales are poor, which is further not conducive to the enrichment of shale gas. Our work also suggests that the exploration and development of highly over matured marine shales in southern China should follow the principle of “high to find low, and strong to find weak.”

Seafloor Hydrothermal Activity around a Large Non-Transform Discontinuity along Ultraslow-Spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (48.1–48.7° E)

Non-transform discontinuity (NTD) is one category of tectonic units along slow- and ultraslow-spreading ridges. Some NTD-related hydrothermal fields that may reflect different driving mechanisms have been documented along slow-spreading ridges, but the discrete survey strategy makes it hard to evaluate the incidence of hydrothermal activity. On ultraslow-spreading ridges, fewer NTD-related hydrothermal activities were reported. Factors contributing to the occurrence of hydrothermal activities at NTDs and whether they could be potential targets for hydrothermal exploration are poorly known. Combining turbidity and oxidation reduction potential (ORP) sensors with a near-bottom camera, Chinese Dayang cruises from 2014 to 2018 have conducted systematic towed surveys for hydrothermal activity around a large NTD along the ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR, 48.1–48.7° E). Five new potential hydrothermal anomaly sites (2 inferred and 3 suspected) of high or low temperature and the previously inferred Sudi hydrothermal field occurred in diverse morphotectonic settings along a 78 km long ridge axis. The calculated vent frequency (Fs, sites/100 km) was ~7.7 over the entire study area, higher than the modified value (Fs ≈ 6.5) between 48 and 52° E of SWIR. Even only for the 54 km long large NTD, three hydrothermal anomaly sites yielded an Fs of ~5.6, which is higher than that of most ridge sections and is comparable to some fast-spreading ridges with high-resolution surveys. This indicates that NTDs along ultraslow-spreading ridges could be promising areas in fertilizing hydrothermal activities. Moreover, the deeply penetrating faults on the rift valley walls and strain-focused areas may contribute to the formation of NTD-related hydrothermal circulations. We suggest that NTDs along ultraslow-spreading ridges may be potential targets for further exploration of hydrothermal activities and seafloor sulfide deposits.

Mineralogical - geochemical characteristics of gold mineralization and its potential in the Tuong Duong area, Nghe An province

Tuong Duong area, Nghe An province is considered as a high potential area of gold deposits such as the Yen Na - Yen Tinh, Ban Bon, Xieng Lip, and Na Khom gold occurrences. Based on synthesizing, geological processing data, analysis and complement of the 15 thin sections, 10 thick sections, 02 scanning electron microscope and 05 ICP - MS samples, results show that the gold mineralization has fomed from hydrothermal activities at low - moderate temperature, belonging to quartz - sulfur - gold mineral deposit type. The gold contents in orebodies vary from medium to high values, with average contents ranging from 0.8÷6.55 (g/ton). Results also provide an overview of the prospect of gold resources, serving as a basis for determining the Au prospective areas in Tuong Duong, Nghe An province. The direct calculation method for metallization parameters and Huvo methods are applied in this paper to estimate gold resources in the study area, resulting in 2.21 tons of Au - metal.

Mineral chemistry, P-T pseudosection and in-situ U-Th-Pbtotal monazite geochronology of Banded Iron Formation from Bundelkhand craton North-Central India, and its geodynamic significance

<p>The Banded Iron Formation (BIF) in Bundelkhand craton (BuC) occurred as supracrustals associated with TTG’s, amphibolites, calcsilicate rocks, and quartzite within the east-west trending Bundelkhand tectonic zone (BTZ). The BIFs near Mauranipur do not show any prominent iron-rich and silica-rich layer band and are composed of garnet, amphibole, quartz, and magnetite. The volumetrically dominant monoclinic-amphiboles are grunerite in composition. X<sub>Mg</sub> of grunerite varies between 0.39-0.37. The garnets are Mn-rich, the X<sub>Spss</sub> of garnet ranges from 0.26-0.20, X<sub>Pyp</sub> and X<sub>Grs </sub>vary between 0.10-0.06 and 0.07-0.05, respectively. P-T pseudosection analysis indicates that by destabilizing iron-silicate hydroxide phases through a series of dehydration and decarbonation reactions, amphibole and garnet stabilized in BIF at temperature 400-450°C and pressure 0.1-0.2 GPa.</p><p>Massive type BIFs have monazite grains that vary from 10 to 50 µm in size, yield three distinct U-Th-Pb<sub>total</sub> age clusters. 10-20 µm sized monazite grains yield the oldest age, 3098±95 Ma. 2478±37 Ma average age is obtained from the second group, which is relatively larger and volumetrically predominant. The third age group of Monaiztes gives an age of 2088±110 Ma. ~3100 Ma monazite suggests the older supracrustal rocks of Bundelkhand craton, similar to those obtained from Singhbhum and the Dharwar craton. The 2478±37 Ma age is constrained as the timing of metamorphism and stabilization of BuC. The third age group, 2088±110 Ma probably associated with renewed hydrothermal activities, leading to rifting and emplacement of mafic dykes in BuC.</p>