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E. Roedder

Publications and source records attributed to E. Roedder.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2022

Taolin Zn-Pb-fluorite deposit, People's Republic of China: An example of some problems in fluid inclusion research on mineral deposits

The large Taolin zinc–lead–fluorite deposit in the People’s Republic of China was discovered 28 years ago, but whether its genetic affiliation is Mississippi Valley-type, epithermal, or mesothermal has remained uncertain. Both the ore and gangue (cherty to coarse quartz, plus barite, chlorite and calcite) occur as open space filling in a major fault zone between granite and metasedimentary rocks. Following barren, pre-ore quartz, three stages of ore are recognized by Wang (1978) and Wang et al. 1981 . Our studies on 400 fluid inclusions, from all 4 stages, show homogenization temperatures of 120–200°C (av. =160) and salinities of 0 to 14wt% equiv. NaCl (av. 7.7). These results differ greatly from some previously published sulphur isotopic temperatures (221–344°C), and data for five inclusions that are more saline (9.0–17.7 wt% equiv. NaCl) and much hotter (up to 345°C). This study provides good examples of a variety of problems that are encountered in the application of fluid inclusion data to mineral deposit research in general. These problems include mine sampling, inclusion sampling, inclusion measurement, changes in inclusions after trapping, disagreement with other data, genetic affiliation of the deposit, and possible application of the results to exploration.

Journal of the Geological Society↗
USGS2008

Thermal history of the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA

Secondary calcite, silica and minor amounts of fluorite deposited in fractures and cavities record the chemistry, temperatures, and timing of past fluid movement in the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the proposed site of a high-level radioactive waste repository. The distribution and geochemistry of these deposits are consistent with low-temperature precipitation from meteoric waters that infiltrated at the surface and percolated down through the unsaturated zone. However, the discovery of fluid inclusions in calcite with homogenization temperatures (Th) up to ???80 ??C was construed by some scientists as strong evidence for hydrothermal deposition. This paper reports the results of investigations to test the hypothesis of hydrothermal deposition and to determine the temperature and timing of secondary mineral deposition. Mineral precipitation temperatures in the unsaturated zone are estimated from calcite- and fluorite-hosted fluid inclusions and calcite ??18O values, and depositional timing is constrained by the 207Pb/235U ages of chalcedony or opal in the deposits. Fluid inclusion Th from 50 samples of calcite and four samples of fluorite range from ???35 to ???90 ??C. Calcite ??18O values range from ???0 to ???22??? (SMOW) but most fall between 12 and 20???. The highest Th and the lowest ??18O values are found in the older calcite. Calcite Th and ??18O values indicate that most calcite precipitated from water with ??18O values between -13 and -7???, similar to modern meteoric waters. Twenty-two 207Pb/235U ages of chalcedony or opal that generally postdate elevated depositional temperatures range from ???9.5 to 1.9 Ma. New and published 207Pb/235U and 230Th/Uages coupled with the Th values and estimates of temperature from calcite ??18O values indicate that maximum unsaturated zone temperatures probably predate ???10 Ma and that the unsaturated zone had cooled to near-present-day temperatures (24-26 ??C at a depth of 250 m) by 2-4 Ma. The evidence of elevated temperatures persisting in ash flow tuffs adjacent to parent calderas for as much as ???8 Ma is a new finding, but consistent with thermal modeling. Simulations using the HEAT code demonstrate that prolonged cooling of the unsaturated zone is consistent with magmatic heat inputs and deep-seated (sub-water table) hydrothermal activity generated by the large magma body ???8 km to the north that produced the 15-11 Ma ash flows and ash falls that make up Yucca Mountain. The evidence discussed in this and preceding papers strongly supports unsaturated zone deposition of the secondary minerals from descending meteoric waters. Although depositional temperatures reflect conductive (and possibly vapor-phase convective) heating of the unsaturated zone related to regional magmatic sources until perhaps 6 Ma, depositional conditions similar to the present-day unsaturated zone have prevailed for at least the past 2-4 Ma.

Applied Geochemistry↗
USGS1987

Composition of fluid inclusions in Permian salt beds, Palo Duro Basin, Texas, U.S.A.

Several methods have been developed and used to extract and chemically analyze the two major types of fluid inclusions in bedded salt from the Palo Duro Basin, Texas. Data on the ratio K: Ca: Mg were obtained on a few of the clouds of tiny inclusions in "chevron" salt, representing the brines from which the salt originally crystallized. Much more complete quantitative data (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Sr, Cl, SO4 and Br) were obtained on ??? 120 individual "large" (mostly ???500 ??m on an edge, i.e., ??? ??? 1.6 ?? 10-4 g) inclusions in recrystallized salt. These latter fluids have a wide range of compositions, even in a given piece of core, indicating that fluids of grossly different composition were present in these salt beds during the several (?) stages of recrystallization. The analytical results indicating very large inter-and intra-sample chemical variation verify the conclusion reached earlier, from petrography and microthermometry, that the inclusion fluids in salt and their solutes are generally polygenetic. The diversity in composition stems from the combination of a variety of sources for the fluids (Permian sea, meteoric, and groundwater, as well as later migrating ground-, formation, or meteoric waters of unknown age), and a variety of subsequent geochemical processes of dissolution, precipitation and rock-water interaction. The compositional data are frequently ambiguous but do provide constraints and may eventually yield a coherent history of the events that produced these beds. Such an understanding of the past history of the evaporite sequence of the Palo Duro Basin should help in predicting the future role of the fluids in the salt if a nuclear waste repository is sited there. ?? 1987.

Chemical Geology↗
USGS1986

The origin of fluids in the salt beds of the Delaware Basin, New Mexico and Texas

Oxygen and hydrogen isotope analyses have been made of (1) brines from several wells in the salt deposits of the Delaware Basin, (2) inclusion fluids in halite crystals from the ERDA No. 9 site, and (3) local ground waters of meteoric origin. The isotopic compositions indicate that the brines are genetically related and that they probably originated from the evaporation of paleo-ocean waters. Although highly variable in solute contents, the brines have rather uniform isotopic compositions. The stable isotope compositions of brine from the ERDA No. 6 site (826.3 m depth) and fluid inclusions from the ERDA No. 9 site are variable but remarkably regular and show that (1) mixing with old or modern meteoric waters has occurred, the extent of mixing apparently decreasing with depth, and (2) water in the ERDA No. 6 brine may have originated from the dehydration of gypsum. Alternatively, the data may reflect simple evaporation of meteoric water on a previously dry marine flat. Stable isotope compositions of all the waters analyzed indicate that there has been fairly extensive mixing with ground water throughout the area, but that no significant circulation has occurred. The conclusions bear importantly on the suitability of these salt beds and others as repositories for nuclear waste.

New Mexico, Texas↗
USGS1986

Fluid inclusion from drill hole DW-5, Hohi geothermal area, Japan: Evidence of boiling and procedure for estimating CO2 content

Fluid inclusion studies have been used to derive a model for fluid evolution in the Hohi geothermal area, Japan. Six types of fluid inclusions are found in quartz obtained from the drill core of DW-5 hole. They are: (I) primary liquid-rich with evidence of boiling; (II) primary liquid-rich without evidence of boiling; (III) primary vapor-rich (assumed to have been formed by boiling); (IV) secondary liquid-rich with evidence of boiling; (V) secondary liquid-rich without evidence of boiling; (VI) secondary vapor-rich (assumed to have been formed by boiling). Homogenization temperatures (Th) range between 196 and 347??C and the final melting point of ice (Tm) between -0.2 and -4.3??C. The CO2 content was estimated semiquantitatively to be between 0 and 0.39 wt. % based on the bubble behavior on crushing. NaCl equivalent solid solute salinity of fluid inclusions was determined as being between 0 and 6.8 wt. % after minor correction for CO2 content. Fluid inclusions in quartz provide a record of geothermal activity of early boiling and later cooling. The CO2 contents and homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions with evidence of boiling generally increase with depth; these changes, and NaCl equivalent solid solute salinity of the fluid can be explained by an adiabatic boiling model for a CO2-bearing low-salinity fluid. Some high-salinity inclusions without CO2 are presumed to have formed by a local boiling process due to a temperature increase or a pressure decrease. The liquid-rich primary and secondary inclusions without evidence of boiling formed during the cooling process. The salinity and CO2 content of these inclusions are lower than those in the boiling fluid at the early stage, probably as a result of admixture with groundwater. ?? 1986.

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research↗
USGS1984

Gas chromatographic analysis of volatiles in fluid and gas inclusions

Most geological samples and some synthetic materials contain fluid inclusions. These inclusions preserve for us tiny samples of the liquid and/or the gas phase that was present during formation, although in some cases they may have undergone significant changes from the original material. Studies of the current composition of the inclusions provide data on both the original composition and the change since trapping. These inclusions are seldom larger than 1 millimeter in diameter. The composition varies from a single major compound ( e.g. , water) in a single phase to a very complex mixture in one or more phases. The concentration of some of the compounds present may be at trace levels. We present here some analyses of inclusions in a variety of geological samples, including diamonds. We used a sample crusher and a gas chromatography—mass spectrometry (GC—MS) system to analyze for organic and inorganic volatiles present as major to trace constituents in inclusions. The crusher is a hardened stainless-steel piston cylinder apparatus with tungsten carbide crusing surfaces, and is operated in a pure helium atmosphere at a controlled temperature. Samples ranging from 1 mg to 1 g were crushed and the released volatiles were analyzed using multi-chromatographic columns and detectors, including the sensitive helium ionization detector. Identification of the GC peaks was carried out by GC—MS. This combination of procedures has been shown to provide geochemically useful information on the process involved in the history of the samples analyzed.

Journal of Chromatography A↗
USGS1984

The fluids in salt.

The characteristics of fluid inclusions in salt, the geological processes through which these fluids evolve, and the possible problems such inclusions pose for nuclear waste disposal in salt beds or domes are reviewed.-J.A.Z.

American Mineralogist↗
USGS1983

Geobarometry of ultramafic xenoliths from Loihi Seamount, Hawaii, on the basis of CO2 inclusions in olivine

Abundant fluid inclusions in olivine of dunite xenoliths (∼1–3 cm) in basalt dredged from the young Loihi Seamount, 30 km southeast of Hawaii, are evidence for three coexisting immiscible fluid phases—silicate melt (now glass), sulfide melt (now solid), and dense supercritical CO 2 (now liquid + gas)—during growth and later fracturing of some of these olivine crystals. Some olivine xenocrysts, probably from disaggregation of xenoliths, contain similar inclusions. Most of the inclusions (2–10 μm) are on secondary planes, trapped during healing of fractures after the original crystal growth. Some such planes end abruptly within single crystals and are termed pseudosecondary, because they formed during the growth of the host olivine crystals. The “vapor” bubble in a few large (20–60 μm), isolated, and hence primary, silicate melt inclusions is too large to be the result of simple differential shrinkage. Under correct viewing conditions, these bubbles are seen to consist of CO 2 liquid and gas, with an aggregate ϱ = ∼ 0.5–0.75 g cm −3 , and represent trapped globules of dense supercritical CO 2 (i.e., incipient “vesiculation” at depth). Some spinel crystals enclosed within olivine have attached CO 2 blebs. Spherical sulfide blebs having widely variable volume ratios to CO 2 and silicate glass are found in both primary and pseudosecondary inclusions, demonstrating that an immiscible sulfide melt was also present. Assuming olivine growth at ∼ 1200°C and hydrostatic pressure from a liquid lava column, extrapolation of CO 2 P-V-T data indicates that the primary inclusions were trapped at ∼ 220–470 MPa (2200–4700 bars), or ∼ 8–17 km depth in basalt magma of ϱ = 2.7 g cm −3 . Because the temperature cannot change much during the rise to eruption, the range of CO 2 densities reveals the change in pressure from that during original olivine growth to later deformation and rise to eruption on the sea floor. The presence of numerous decrepitated inclusions indicates that the inclusion sample studied is biased by the loss of higher-density inclusions and suggests that some part of these olivine xenoliths formed at greater depths.

Earth and Planetary Science Letters↗
USGS1981

Natural occurrence and significance of fluids indicating high pressure and temperature

Most natural minerals have formed from a fluid phase such as a silicate melt or a saline aqueous solution. Fluid inclusions are tiny volumes of such fluids that were trapped within the growing crystals. These inclusions can provide valuable but sometimes ambiguous data on the temperature, pressure, and composition of these fluids, many of which are not available from any other source. They also provide “visual autoclaves” in which it is possible to watch, through the microscope, the actual phase changes take place as the inclusions are heated. This paper reviews the methods of study and the results obtained, mainly on inclusions formed from highly concentrated solutions, at temperatures ≥500°C. Many such fluids have formed as a result of immiscibility with silicate melt in igneous or high-temperature metamorphic rocks. These include fluids consisting of CO 2 , H 2 O, or hydrosaline melts that were <50% H 2 O. From the fluid inclusion evidence it is clear that a boiling, very hot, very saline fluid was present during the formation of most of the porphyry copper deposits in the world. Similarly, from the inclusion evidence it is clear that early (common) pegmatites formed from essentially silicate melts and that the late, rare-element-bearing and chamber-type pegmatites formed from a hydrosaline melt or a more dilute water solution. The evidence on whether this change in composition from early to late solutions was generally continuous or involved immiscibility is not as clear.

Physics and Chemistry of the Earth↗
USGS1981

Are the 3,800-Myr-old Isua objects microfossils, limonite-stained fluid inclusions, or neither?

Bridgwater et al.1 issued a 'cautionary note' concerning several reports published by Pflug and co-workers2-5 describing objects called yeast-like microfossils (Isuasphaera isua Pflug) from a metamorphosed quartzite of the 3,800-Myr-old Isua supracrustal belt of south-west Greenland; Bridgwater et al. believe that the objects described by Pflug et al. 2-5 are 'indistinguishable from limonite-stained fluid inclusions' and hence are non-biogenic. I show here that the objects are neither limonite-stained fluid inclusions nor microfossils, but are limonite-stained cavities from the otherwise complete dissolution by weathering of ferruginous dolomite grains in these rocks. Several supporting arguments presented by both sides are believed to be invalid, and others are ambiguous. In view of the extensive research on the earliest life forms, and then significance to evolution, to early geochemical cycles and to the origin of the atmosphere and some ore deposits, the exact nature of the Isua objects, and particularly the validity of the evidence either for or against a biological origin, are of considerable importance. A careful evaluation of the evidence from Isua is particularly pertinent, as bona fide Precambrian fossils are also found in chemically similar (but much younger) silica-rich environments. ?? 1981 Nature Publishing Group.

Nature↗
USGS1979

Application of a new Raman microprobe spectrometer to nondestructive analysis of sulfate and other ions in individual phases in fluid inclusions in minerals

Rosasco et al . (1975), reported the first successful application of laser-excited Raman spectroscopy for the identification and nondestructive partial analysis of individual solid, liquid, and gaseous phases in selected fluid inclusions. We report here the results of the application of a new instrument, based on back-scattering, that eliminates many of the previous stringent sample limitations and hence greatly expands the range of applicability of Raman spectroscopy to fluid inclusions. Fluid inclusions in many porphyry copper deposits contain 5–10 μm ‘daughter’ crystals thought to be anhydrite but too small for identification by the previous Raman technique. Using the new instrument, we have verified that such daughter crystals in quartz from Bingham, Utah, are anhydrite. They may form by leakage of hydrogen causing internal autooxidation of sulfide ion. Daughter crystals were also examined in apatite (Durango, Mexico) and emerald (Muzo, Colombia). Valid analyses of sulfur species in solution in small fluid inclusions from ore deposits would be valuable, but are generally impossible by conventional methods. We present a calibration procedure for analyses for SO 4 2− in such inclusions from Bingham, Utah (12,000 ± 4000 ppm ) and Creede, Colo. (probably < 500 ppm). A fetid Brazilian quartz, originally thought to contain liquid H 2 S, is shown to contain only HS − in major amounts.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
USGS1978

Silicate liquid immiscibility in magmas and in the system K2O-FeO-AI2O3-SiO2: An example of serendipity

The concept of silicate liquid immiscibility was invoked early in the history of petrology to explain certain pairs of compositionally divergent rocks, but. as a result of papers by Greig ( Am. J. Sci. 13 , 1–44, 133–154) and Bowen ( The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks ), it fell into disfavor for many years. The discovery of immiscibility in geologically reasonable temperature ranges and compositions in experimental work on the system K 2 O-FeO-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 , and of evidence for immiscibility in a variety of lunar and terrestrial rocks, has reinstated the process. Phase equilibria in the high-silica corner of the tetrahedron representing the system K 2 O- FeO-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 are presented, in the form of constant FeO sections through the tetrahedron, at 10% increments. Those sections, showing the tentative relationships of the primary phase volumes, are based on 5631 quenching runs on 519 compositions, made in metallic iron containers in pure nitrogen. Thirteen crystalline compounds are involved, of which at least six show two or more crystal modifica-tions. Two separate phase volumes, in each of which two immiscible liquids, one iron-rich and the other iron-poor, are present at the liquidus. One of these volumes is entirely within the quaternary system, astride the 1:1 K 2 O:Al 2 O 3 plane. No quaternary compounds as such have been found, but evidence does point toward at least partial quaternary solid solution, with rapidly lowering liquidus temperatures, from K 2 O·Al 2 O 3 · 2SiO 2 (‘potash nepheline’, kalsilite. kaliophilite) to the isostructural compound K 2 O·FeO·3SiO 2 , and from K 2 O·Al 2 O 3 ·4SiO 2 (leucite) to the isostructural compound K 2 O·FeO·5SiO 2 , Both of these series apparently involve substitution, in tetrahedral coordination. of a ferrous iron and a silicon ion for two aluminum ions. Some of the ‘impurities’ found in analyses of the natural phases may reflect these substitutions. As a result of the geometry of the immiscibility volume located entirely within the quaternary system, compositions near it show a number of phase changes and large amounts of crystallization with small temperature changes, generally in the range 1100–1150 C. Similar low-temperature, high-alkali immiscibility was discovered in a few exploratory runs in the equivalent systems with Rb or Cs substituting for K. But not in those with Li or Na. A review of the compositions and general behavior of systems involving immiscibility, both stable and metastable, and of the evidence for natural immiscibility. indicates that it may be a much more common feature than generally thought. Several examples of natural immiscibility are detailed; most yield a felsic. alkali-aluminosilicate melt and a mafic melt. from a wide variety of generally basaltic parental magmas, both under- and over saturated. Unfortunately, the best line of evidence for immiscibility in terrestrial rocks, a sharply defined meniscus between two compositionally disparate glasses, is by its very nature self-destructing, since it is effectively eliminated by either crystallization or gravitative separation and coalescence into separate magmas. Verification of operation of the exosolutionor ‘splitting’ process on a large scale will probably require careful study of isotopic and trace element partitioning in both laboratory and field.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
USGS1973

Apollo 17 "Orange soil" and meteorite impact on liquid lava

THE “orange soil” from Shorty Crater differs greatly from ordinary lunar soils in that it consists of ∼ 99% 10–300 µm smooth shiny spherules and broken fragments of spherules of transparent orange glass, about 20% of which contain partly crystallized to opaque material. The remaining 1 % is chiefly crystalline basalt fragments. Although the colour of the individual orange spherule varies with thickness from yellow–orange to red–brown, all orange glass in our sample (74220, 70; 0.25 g) has a uniform index of refraction ( ∼ 1.712). By contrast, other lunar soils contain spherules ranging from 1.50 to 1.75. The orange glass is also completely free of bubbles, to the limit of resolution of the light microscope, whereas bubbles are present in many other spherule samples. The spherules generally appear spherical in a normal microscope mount, but when viewed from two directions many are found to be oblate spheroids with axial ratios varying from near 1.00 to as low as 0.42 (Fig. 1 a ). Some have fissioned during free flight 1 and all stages of the fission process are found, as described for the Apollo 11 samples. Only a few spherules seem to have been distorted by landing while still soft. One notable exception is the occurrence of small spherules of orange glass conforming and adhering to the surface of larger black spherules (Fig. 1 b ).

Nature↗
USGS1973

Petrology of some lithic fragments from Luna 20

Microscopic and electron microprobe studies were made of polished thin sections of part of a 30-mg sample of 250–500 μm lunar soil returned by Luna 20 from a point between Mare Fecunditatis and Mare Crisium. Very fine-grained lithic (crystalline) rock fragments, composing about one fifth of the total sample, have mineralogical compositions equivalent to various types of gabbro, anorthositic gabbro, gabbroic anorthosite and troctolite, with minor basalt. The textures now observed in these fragments are in large part metamorphic. Twentyseven electron microprobe analyses of minerals from these fragments are presented, including olivine, plagioclase, pyroxene, spinel, nickel-iron and a Zr-Ti-REE mineral possibly similar to ‘phase B’ of Lovering and Wark (1971). Analyses of seven melt inclusions and twenty-eight defocused beam analyses of lithic fragments are also given. Some of the fragments contain ‘gas’ inclusions which, along with the fine grain size, are believed to indicate final crystallization under low pressure near surface conditions. The almost complete absence of granophyric material in this sample raises the question of whether or not there are at least two distinct magmas for the plagioclase-rich terrae rocks from which this soil sample was derived in part.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗