scholarly journals The flake graphite prospect of Piippumäki—an example of a high-quality graphite occurrence in a retrograde metamorphic terrain in Finland

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 1647-1660 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Palosaari ◽  
R-M Latonen ◽  
J-H Smått ◽  
S Raunio ◽  
O Eklund

Abstract The flake graphite occurrence in Piippumäki, Eastern Finland, as indicated by an airborne electromagnetic anomaly, was located during fieldwork by electromagnetic measurements with Slingram. The anomaly is approximately 0.1 × 1 km in size. The flake graphite is hosted by quartz-feldspar gneiss and amphibolite that have been subjected to retrograde metamorphism. This is observed in thin sections as granulite facies (garnet + cordierite + sillimanite + melt) regressing to greenschist facies (epidote, chlorite, albite, and white mica). The graphite (up to 1 mm large flakes) is found in graphite-bearing layers in the gneiss, and to a minor extent disseminated in the amphibolite. The average total sulfur (TS) is 0.33%, total carbon (TC) is 6.49%, and the average content of graphitic carbon (Cg) is 6.41% for the analyzed graphite-bearing rocks. SEM, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy were used for analyzing the flake graphite, indicating that the graphite is almost defect-free, of high quality, and has not been affected by the retrograde metamorphism. The peak metamorphic temperature of 737 °C was determined by a Raman thermometer, and no temperatures of greenschist facies were observed. A pseudosection was constructed from whole-rock chemical composition and indicated equilibration at ca 5 kbar and 740 °C, which corresponds to the observed mineral assemblages.

Early cratonal development of the Arabian Shield of southwestern Saudi Arabia began with the deposition of calcic to calc-alkalic, basaltic to dacitic volcanic rocks, and immature sedimentary rocks that subsequently were moderately deformed, metamorphosed, and intruded about 960 Ma ago by dioritic batholiths of mantle derivation (87Sr/86Sr = 0.7029). A thick sequence of calc-alkalic andesitic to rhyodacitic volcanic rocks and volcanoclastic wackes was deposited unconformably on this neocraton. Regional greenschistfacies metamorphism, intensive deformation along north-trending structures, and intrusion of mantle-derived (87Sr/86Sr = 0.7028) dioritic to granodioritic batholiths occurred about 800 Ma. Granodiorite was emplaced as injection gneiss about 785 Ma (87Sr/86Sr = 0.7028- 0.7035) in localized areas of gneiss doming and amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism. Deposition of clastic and volcanic rocks overlapped in time and followed orogeny at 785 Ma. These deposits, together with the older rocks, were deformed, metamorphosed to greenschist facies, and intruded by calc-alkalic plutons (87Sr/86Sr = 0.7035) between 600 and 650 Ma. Late cratonal development between 570 and 550 Ma involved moderate pulses of volcanism, deformation, metamorphism to greenschist facies, and intrusion of quartz monzonite and granite. Cratonization appears to have evolved in an intraoceanic, island-arc environment of comagmatic volcanism and intrusion.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Hillacre ◽  
Kevin Ansdell ◽  
Brian McEwan

Abstract Recent significant discoveries of uranium mineralization in the southwestern Athabasca basin, northern Saskatchewan, Canada, have been associated with a series of geophysical conductors along a NE- to SW-trending structural zone, termed the Patterson Lake corridor. The Arrow deposit (indicated mineral resource: 256.6 Mlb U3O8; grade 4.03% U3O8) is along this trend, hosted exclusively in basement orthogneisses of the Taltson domain, and is the largest undeveloped uranium deposit in the basin. This study is the first detailed analysis of a deposit along this corridor and examines the relationships between the ductile framework and brittle reactivation of structures, mineral paragenesis, and uranium mineralization. Paragenetic information from hundreds of drill core samples and thin sections was integrated with structural analysis utilizing over 18,000 measurements of various structural features. The structural system at Arrow is interpreted as a partitioned, strike-slip–dominated, brittle-ductile fault system of complex Riedel-style geometry. The system developed along subvertical, NE- to SW-trending dextral high-strain zones formed syn- to post-D3 deformation, which were the focus of extensive premineralization metasomatism (quartz flooding, sericitization, chloritization), within the limb domain of a regional-scale fold structure. These zones evolved through post-Athabasca dextral and sinistral reactivation events, creating brittle fault linkages and dilation zones, allowing for hydrothermal fluid migration and resulting uraninite precipitation and associated alteration (white mica, chlorite, kaolinite, hematite, quartz veins). This study of the structural context of Arrow is important as it emphasizes that protracted reactivation of deep-seated structures and their subsidiaries was a fundamental control on uranium mineralization in the southwestern Athabasca basin.


1961 ◽  
Vol S7-III (4) ◽  
pp. 345-354
Author(s):  
Andre Michard ◽  
P. Vialon

Abstract Igneous rocks of the Dora-Maira massif in the Po river headwater region in the Cottian Alps of Piedmont, Italy, are surrounded, and in many places surmounted, by gneiss, marble, and other associated metamorphic rocks of controversial age. The evidence is considered conclusive that the age of the rocks ranges from Permo-Carboniferous to Triassic. Criteria for discrimination of successive periods of metamorphism, including retrograde metamorphism, are reviewed. Carbonatized rocks and phengitic conglomeratic quartzite serve as "metamorphic thermometers" useful locally for discriminating successive periods of metamorphism. Cataclastic effects are also useful for determining time relationships, as are also optical peculiarities of quartz, feldspar, white mica, and biotite in various rocks. It is concluded that the region has been subjected to two major periods of metamorphism, and that the Alpine metamorphism in general was less intensive, and in certain aspects was retrograde compared with the pre-Alpine metamorphism.


1971 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mel R. Stauffer ◽  
Amar Mukherjee

Within the Flin Flon Basin, Precambrian meta-sandstones and conglomerates belonging to the Missi Group have been complexly deformed as a result of three periods of deformation. The first two periods (P1 and P2) involved folding but no apparent faulting, the last (P3) involved both folding and faulting. Progressive metamorphism (M2), within the greenschist facies, occurred during the second phase (P2) and aided in the formation of a pronounced axial-plane foliation (S2). Small-scale folding and retrograde metamorphism (M3) occurred along faults formed during the last phase (P3).The faults in this area all appear to be high angle, oblique-slip reverse faults and can be interpreted as having formed during a single orogenic event (P3) although there is sequence in their initiation. The net-slip directions of different faults are approximately the same, and plunge moderately to the southeast, with either the east or south side upthrown, depending on the attitude of the fault.


Cast Metals ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Hiratsuka ◽  
E. Niyama ◽  
H. Horie ◽  
T. Kowata ◽  
M. Nakamura

Geophysics ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. E53-E58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashraf M. Al-Tahini ◽  
Carl H. Sondergeld ◽  
Chandra S. Rai

We determine the acoustic velocities for samples cored from the Jauf and Unayzah sandstone formations of Saudi Arabia. We use microstructural analysis including thin sections and point counting to quantify cementation. Velocities in these formations are strongly controlled by the combination of porosity and cementation. Consequently, rocks of similar porosity but with different cementation materials display different velocities. The objective of this study is to understand the effect of cementation on the acoustic velocity. Cements in these two formations have variable compositions and properties. Pure quartz overgrowth plays a major role in increasing velocities while clay and clay coatings play a minor role. We found that clay coatings inhibit the quartz overgrowth cement leading to a decrease in velocities. Understanding the influence of various cementation types on velocity, and thus elastic properties in sandstone cores, enables an understanding of the variation of sonic velocities and moduli across these formations. The uniqueness of this study is that we emphasize the quantification of the role of cement and not just mineral volume.


1989 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 565-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Carson ◽  
Joseph J. Cooney

Cells of the filamentous fungus Cladosporium resinae synthesize many more microbodies when they are grown on an n-alkane than when they are grown on glucose. Cladosporium resinae was grown on n-dodecane and spheroplasts were prepared, disrupted, and fractionated by differential and density gradient centrifugation. A fraction was isolated which was enriched in catalase, a marker enzyme for microbodies. Another fraction was isolated which was enriched in cytochrome c oxidase, a marker for mitochondria. Urate oxidase, a second marker for microbodies, was not detected in cell extracts. The microbody and mitochondrial fractions were relatively free of contamination from the endoplasmic reticulum and cytosol as indicated by the amounts of glucose-6-phosphatase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase present, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the catalase-enriched fraction contained intact microbodies, with mitochondria as a minor contaminant. Catalase was localized in microbodies by staining with 3,3′-diaminobenzidine. Mitochrondria were present in the cytochrome c oxidase enriched fraction and took up the vital stain Janus green B. In similar preparations from cells grown on glucose, catalase was largely nonparticulate. Microbodies were not observed in thin sections prepared from density gradient fractions, but mitochondria were present in a cytochrome c oxidase enriched fraction.Key words: Cladosporium resinae, microbodies, mitochondria, catalase, cytochrome c oxidase.


1987 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
O Nilsson ◽  
A Dahlström ◽  
M Geffard ◽  
H Ahlman ◽  
L E Ericson

Serotonin-like immunoreactivity (5-HT-LI) has been localized at the ultrastructural level in enterochromaffin (EC) cells of rat gastrointestinal tract. Ultra-thin sections of tissues embedded in epoxy resin were incubated with 5-HT antisera and antibody binding sites were visualized with protein A-gold. Three different antisera were compared and were shown to require different fixation regimens for optimal preservation of 5-HT-LI. For one antiserum, tissues fixed in glutaraldehyde and osmium tetroxide could be used to demonstrate 5-HT-LI in EC cells. Immunocytochemical localization of 5-HT can thus be performed with good ultrastructural preservation of tissues. Quantitative evaluation of the intracellular distribution of 5-HT-LI was performed on EC cells from antrum, duodenum, and proximal colon, fixed in glutaraldehyde only. In all three locations, the majority of the gold particles (90%) in EC cells were localized over the dense core of the secretory granules, while a minor fraction (10%) were localized in parts of the cytoplasm devoid of granules. In EC cells fixed in glutaraldehyde and post-fixed in osmium tetroxide, 5-HT-LI was reduced by about 85%, although intracellular distribution was essentially the same as in cells fixed in glutaraldehyde alone. The results indicate that 5-HT in EC cells is stored mainly in secretory granules, with a small fraction of 5-HT being localized outside the granules.


Soil Research ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 467
Author(s):  
CJ Chartres ◽  
RSB Greene ◽  
GW Ford ◽  
P Rengasamy

The effects of gypsum on the physical properties of two red duplex soils in northern Victoria were investigated by assessing the relative abundance of macropores (diameters greater than 75 �m) in the 0-30 mm zone of their cultivated layers. Samples were collected in October 1983 from both fallow cropped and stubble cropped plots. Changes in soil porosity between untreated and gypsum-treated plots were measured on photographic images of thin-sections using a Quantimet 720 image analyser. The soils differed in their clay mineralogy, one being dominated by illite, the other by randomly interstratified material. The results indicate only a minor improvement due to gypsum application in the area of macropores in the soils dominant in illite and kaolinite, whereas in the soil with the higher proportion of randomly interstratified clay minerals the area of macropores approximately doubled on the stubble cropped site and also considerably increased on the fallow cropped site. Micromorphological observations indicated that, in the presence of gypsum, crust formation was reduced because less clay was mobilized and redistributed in the surface soil layers.


2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 1329-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel F. Cubley ◽  
David R.M. Pattison

The Grand Forks complex (GFC) is an elongate, north–south-trending metamorphic core complex in the Shuswap domain of southeastern British Columbia. It comprises predominantly upper-amphibolite- to granulite-facies paragneisses, schists, orthogneisses, amphibolites, and calc-silicates of the Paleoproterozoic to Paleozoic Grand Forks Group. The GFC is juxtaposed against low-grade rocks of the Quesnel terrane across two bounding Eocene normal faults: the Kettle River fault (KRF) on the east flank and the Granby fault (GF) on the west flank. Peak metamorphic Sil + Kfs ± Grt ± Crd (Sil, sillimanite; Kfs, potassium feldspar; Grt, garnet; Crd, cordierite) assemblages in paragneiss and Hbl ± Opx ± Cpx (Hbl, hornblende; Opx, orthopyroxene; Cpx, clinopyroxene) assemblages in amphibolite in the GFC formed at 750 ± 25 °C, 5.6 ± 0.5 kbar (1 kbar = 100 MPa; 20 ± 2 km depth). Stratigraphically overlying Sil + St-bearing pelitic schists (St, staurolite) within the complex record peak conditions of 600 ± 15 °C, 5.5 ± 0.25 kbar. Crd + Ilm + Spl (Crd, cordierite; Ilm, ilmenite; Spl, spinel) and Crd + Qtz (Qtz, quartz) coronal textures in paragneiss, and Cpx + Opx + Pl + Mt (Pl, plagioclase; Mt, magnetite) symplectites in amphibolite, formed at 735 ± 20 °C, 3.3 ± 0.5 kbar, indicating high-temperature, near-isothermal decompression of the GFC of ∼2.3 ± 0.7 kbar (∼8.2 ± 2.5 km) from peak conditions. Transitional greenschist–amphibolite metamorphic assemblages in the hanging wall of the KRF indicate conditions of ∼425 ± 25 °C and 2.2 ± 0.6 kbar (∼8 ± 2 km depth), with local contact metamorphism around Jurassic intrusions as high as 630–650 °C at ∼2.5 ± 0.5 kbar. The pressure contrast across the Kettle River fault prior to greenschist facies displacement was ∼0.8 ± 0.7 kbar, for a vertical offset of ∼2.9 ± 2.5 km. This is similar to estimates for the Granby fault on the west flank of the GFC. The GFC therefore experienced a two-stage exhumation history: early high-temperature decompression at upper-amphibolite- to granulite-facies conditions, followed by low-temperature exhumation at greenschist-facies conditions owing to movement on the Eocene Granby and Kettle River faults.


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