Petrographic characteristics in the central part of Kosovo

Purpose. This paper aims to provide complete identification of rock types in the Drenas region by detailed description of all types of the rocks found. The authors intended to determine interruption or continuity of all inter-formational boundaries to accurately delineate them on the ground and fully reflect on the 1: 25000 scale map, as well as to identify the nature of contact between rock types and give its detailed description. Methods. During August, September, October of 2019, the exploration field trips were carried out. Geological survey works focused on the following areas: complete identification of all rock types on the basis of studying their samples, preparation of thin sections for petrographic (only the magmatic rock), chemical and geochemical analysis. Systematic measurement of structural elements was conducted alongside with identification and description of mineral outcrops areas. Findings. Based on the study of stratigraphic units and geological description of mineral outcrop areas, we identified different types of rocks using petrography microscope preparation and chemical and geochemical analysis. The area of Drenas has the following lithostratigraphic units: gabbro diabase, harzburgite, metasandstone. Originality. The originality of the study consists in the use of optical microscope for precise identification of rocks. As a result of the research conducted in the exploration area, we have obtained a clear petrographic description of minerals composition, their texture and mineralization, which allows assessing the possibility of the area exploitation. The analyses were completed at the certified laboratory of Geology-Mining Faculty (Polytechnic University of Tirana) and Geosciences Institute. Practical implications. Petrographic study and chemical analysis led to the conclusion that the research area has Ni mineralization, which is important for the development of mining sector and the community given the environment is preserved and the adequate way of the area exploitation is applied.

Dielectric Properties of Lunar Materials at the Chang’e-4 Landing Site

On January 3rd 2019, the Chang’e-4 mission successfully landed in the Von Kármán Crater inside the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin and achieved the first soft landing on the farside of the Moon. Lunar penetrating radar (LPR) equipped on the rover measured the shallow subsurface structure along the motion path for more than 700 m. LPR data could be used to obtain the dielectric properties of the materials beneath the exploration area, providing important clues as to the composition and source of the materials. Although the properties of the upper fine-grained regolith have been studied using various methods, the underlying coarse-grained materials still lack investigation. Therefore, this paper intends to estimate the loss tangent of the coarse-grained materials at depth ranges of ~12 and ~28 m. Stochastic media models with different rock distributions for the LPR finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation are built to evaluate the feasibility of the estimation method. Our results show that the average loss tangent value of coarse-grained materials is 0.0104±0.0027, and the abundance of FeOT+TiO2 is 20.08 wt.%, which is much higher than the overlying fine-grained regolith, indicating different sources.

Vasopora ceramica n. gen., n. sp.—a new abyssal cyclostome bryozoan from polymetallic nodules in the Russian exploration area, Clarion–Clipperton Fracture Zone, eastern Pacific Ocean

A new abyssal cyclostome bryozoan genus and species, Vasopora ceramica n. gen., n. sp., is described from the eastern Russian exploration area of the Clarion–Clipperton Fracture Zone based on newly collected material from Yuzhmorgeologiya GLD4–19 station 421 (13.23408° N, 134.22180° W, 4809 m depth). Generic characters include an erect pedunculate colony with a distinct boundary between column and flared capitulum, short autozooidal peristomes in a single whorl, numerous alveoli, a central unidirectional sac-like gonozooid covered by a surficial network of crossed ridges continuous with adjacent rims of alveoli, a laterally opening ooeciopore, and the entire capitulum surface being minutely densely granular to subspinulate. Whereas the skeletal microstructure of the capitulum surface comprises irregular imbricated crystallites, the column has a planar-spherulitic fabric of acicular crystallites in fan-like arrays, and there are no pseudopores. The sharp boundary between capitulum and column, with their different microstructure separates Vasopora n. gen. from the two existing genera of Alyonushkidae that are found in the same environment. Vasopora n. gen. has a stalk formed of calcified exterior wall, whereas it is interior-walled in Alyonushka and Calyssopora.

Predict the amount of Cu using the four Ca, Al, P, S Elements by Multiple Linear Regression Method

The study area is located in Sarbisheh city in South Khorasan province, Iran. Copper estimation was performed by multivariate linear regression method to facilitate the use of previous analyses to predict this element in other areas, reduce costs and also reduce the number of samples. For this purpose, by obtaining a basic formula from estimating the amount of Cu with one of the promising points samples, the amount of copper in other parts of the exploration area was investigated. Several analyses were taken from the exploratory area after calculations to validate the regression. The regression results of new and old data were compared and estimation acceptable. These calculations were performed by SPSS software, according to the four elements Ca, Al, P, S, the results obtained and the relationship presented has acceptable validity. Keywords: Multivariate linear regression, Cu estimation, SPSS, Iran.

Lunar Surface Fault-Tolerant Soft-Landing Performance and Experiment for a Six-Legged Movable Repetitive Lander

The cascading launch and cooperative work of lander and rover are the pivotal methods to achieve lunar zero-distance exploration. The separated design results in a heavy system mass that requires more launching costs and a limited exploration area that is restricted to the vicinity of the immovable lander. To solve this problem, we have designed a six-legged movable repetitive lander, called “HexaMRL”, which congenitally integrates the function of both the lander and rover. However, achieving a buffered landing after a failure of the integrated drive units (IDUs) in the harsh lunar environment is a great challenge. In this paper, we systematically analyze the fault-tolerant capacity of all possible landing configurations in which the number of remaining normal legs is more than two and design the landing algorithm to finish a fault-tolerant soft-landing for the stable configuration. A quasi-incentre stability optimization method is further proposed to increase the stability margin during supporting operations after landing. To verify the fault-tolerant landing performance on the moon, a series of experiments, including five-legged, four-legged and three-legged soft-landings with a vertical landing velocity of −1.9 m/s and a payload of 140 kg, are successfully carried out on a 5-DoF lunar gravity ground-testing platform. The HexaMRL with fault-tolerant landing capacity will greatly promote the development of a next-generation lunar prober.

Elucidating Pathfinding Elements from the Kubi Gold Mine in Ghana

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) are applied to investigate the properties of fine-grained concentrates on artisanal, small-scale gold mining samples from the Kubi Gold Project of the Asante Gold Corporation near Dunwka-on-Offin in the Central Region of Ghana. Both techniques show that the Au-containing residual sediments are dominated by the host elements Fe, Ag, Al, N, O, Si, Hg, and Ti that either form alloys with gold or with inherent elements in the sediments. For comparison, a bulk nugget sample mainly consisting of Au forms an electrum, i.e., a solid solution with Ag. Untreated (impure) sediments, fine-grained Au concentrate, coarse-grained Au concentrate, and processed ore (Au bulk/nugget) samples were found to contain clusters of O, C, N, and Ag, with Au concentrations significantly lower than that of the related elements. This finding can be attributed to primary geochemical dispersion, which evolved from the crystallization of magma and hydrothermal liquids as well as the migration of metasomatic elements and the rapid rate of chemical weathering of lateralization in secondary processes. The results indicate that Si and Ag are strongly concomitant with Au because of their eutectic characteristics, while N, C, and O follow alongside because of their affinity to Si. These non-noble elements thus act as pathfinders for Au ores in the exploration area. This paper further discusses relationships between gold and sediments of auriferous lodes as key to determining indicator minerals of gold in mining sites.

Sedimentary Environment Analysis of Eocene in Pingtai Area of Qaidam Basin, China

The Pingtai area is a relatively new oil and gas exploration area in Qaidam Basin, China. As one of the most important sandstone reservoir in the Qaidam Basin, Eocene Lulehe Formation and Xiaganchaigou Formation. Based on the petrological characteristics and element geochemistry of core samples, the paleosalinity and paleoclimate changes are discussed. The results show that the clay mineral assemblage of the Lulehe Formation consists of smectite, chlorite, and illite; while the clay minerals in the Xiaganchaigou Formation consist of illite/smectite mixed layer, chlorite, and illite. The paleosalinity calculated using the B content and Sr/Ba and Rb/Sr ratios indicates that the Lulehe Formation was formed in a freshwater environment, and the Xiaganchaigou Formation was formed in alternating brackish water and fresh water environments. The chemical weathering index (CIA), La/Th ratio, and Eu anomaly index indicate that the overall chemical weathering in the Pingtai area was weak, the provenance was relatively stable, and the influence of diagenesis on the clay minerals and the trace element contents was negligible. From the Lulehe Formation to the Xiaganchaigou Formation, the paleoclimate gradually changed from warm and humid to cold with humid-dry seasonal changes, which is consistent with the global decrease in temperature in the Eocene. Moreover, because of the uplift of the Altun Mountain and the global cooling, the rainfall decreased, resulting in the Xiaganchaigou Formation being formed in a higher salinity environment.

First register of the Tantulocarida order Boxshall and Lincoln, 1983 (Crustacea) in deep waters of the Colombian Caribbean

The presence of parasitic crustaceans of the order Tantulocarida in the Caribbean Sea is reported for the first time. The organisms were found parasitizing a Cumacea of the genus Eudorellla and two Tanaidaceans of the genus Tanaella, between 2,420 and 2,786 m deep. The organisms came from the benthic community samplings made in Ocean Caribbean ecoregion (COC), in a hydrocarbon exploration area. The organisms were analyzed in the laboratory with an optical microscope and stereoscope; photographs were taken, and diagrams were made to describe the main morphological and morphometric characters. Four tantulocaridans were found, of which one was male and the other sexual females. Due to host-parasite specificity and the lack of reports in the Caribbean Sea, it is highly likely that these collected species are new to science.

Features of the composition of metapelites from the basement of the Arctic part of the West Siberian megabasin (Verkhnerechenskaya exploration area, Yamal Peninsula)

Relevance of the work. Comprehensive studies of the geology of the Arctic part of Western Siberia are very important for the search for oil and gas in this vast but understudied territory. At present, unfortunately, we know little about the geological structure of the Arctic in the region of Western Siberia, where the sedimentary cover is mainly investigated (the thickness of which is about 3–4 km) and only a few wells are drilled to the foundation. Therefore, a comprehensive study of core samples from this little-studied territory seems extremely relevant. The purpose of the work is a detailed description of the mineralogy and petro-geochemical features of garnetquartz-chlorite-muscovite schists from the well Verkhnerechenskaya no. 2 from the foundation Arctic part of the West Siberian megasbasin. Scope of application of work. This work can be useful in constructing geological maps of the pre-Jurassic foundation of the Yamal Peninsula. Results of work and conclusions. Mineralogy has been studied in detail and the trace element composition of garnetquartz-chlorite-muscovite schists is obtained. The mineral composition of the rocks is as follows: almandine, muscovite, quartz, chamosite, calcite, albite, rutile, titanite, fluorapatite, zircon, xenotime-(Y) and pyrite. The progressive zonality in the almandine is determined, which is confirmed by the calculated data of metapelite formation temperature, progressive metamorphism. Distribution of rare, scattered and REE in the studied rocks is characteristic of metamorphic schists from the foundation of the Urals part of the West Siberian megasbasin, which compel the framing of monzodiorite-granite massifs of Shaimsko-Kuznetsov meganticlinorium of Western Siberia. Probably, the metapelites studied are the result of warming up the thickness of sedimentary rocks with granite intrusion located in the vicinity of Verkhnerechenskaya area. Later, the rocks underwent propylitization with the formation of secondary carbonate and pyrite.