Geology topics

E.J. Essene

Publications and source records attributed to E.J. Essene.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS1992

Differential unroofing within the central metasedimentary Belt of the Grenville Orogen: constraints from 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology

An 40Ar/39Ar thermochronological investigation of upper greenschist to granulite facies gneiss, amphibolite and marble was conducted in the Central Metasedimentary Belt (CMB), Ontario, to constrain its cooling history. Incremental 40Ar/39Ar release spectra indicate that substantial differential unroofing occurred in the CMB between ??? 1000 and ??? 600 Ma. A consistent pattern of significantly older hornblende and phlogopite 40Ar/3Ar cooling ages on the southeast sides of major northeast striking shear zones is interpreted to reflect late displacement due to extensional deformation. Variations in hornblende 40Ar/39Ar age plateaus exceeding 200 Ma occur over distances less than 50 km with major age discontinuities occurring across the Robertson Lake shear zone and the Sharbot Lake mylonite zone which separate the Sharbot Lake terrane from the Elzevir and Frontenac terranes. Extensional displacements of up to 14 km are inferred between the Frontenac and Elzevir terranes of the CMB. No evidence for significant post argon-closure vertical displacement is indicated in the vicinity of the Perth Road mylonite within the Frontenac terrane. Variations of nearly 100 Ma in phlogopite 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages occur in undeformed marble on either side of the Bancroft Shear Zone. Phlogopites from sheared and mylonitized marble within the shear zone yield 40Ar/39Ar diffusional loss profiles, but have older geologically meaningless ages thought to reflect incorporation of excess argon. By ??? 900 Ma, southeast directed extension was occurring throughout the CMB, possibly initiated along previous zones of compressional shearing. An easterly migration of active zones of extension is inferred, possibly related to an earlier, overall easterly migration of active zones of regional thrusting and easterly migration of an ancient subduction zone. The duration of extensional shearing is not well constrained, but must have ceased before ??? 600 Ma as required by the deposition of overlying undeformed Cambrian and/or Ordovician sedimentary rocks. ?? 1992 Springer-Verlag.

Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology↗

USGS1990

Metamorphism in the Adirondacks: II. The role of fluids

Quantitative estimates of metamorphic fluid speciation, stable isotopic analyses, and studies of fluid inclusions all document the local complexity of fluids in the deep crustal rocks exposed in the Adirondack Mountains, NY. Estimates of the activity of H 2 O in the granulite facies are substantially lower than in the amphibolite facies gneisses. The onset of low water activities in semi-pelitic gneisses generally correlates with migmatitic textures in the uppermost amphibolite facies, suggesting that partial melts absorbed H 2 O at the peak of metamorphism. In granulite facies marbles and calc-silicates, conditions varied from extremely undersaturated in H 2 O-CO 2 fluid to fluid saturated, and α H2O and α CO2 show sharp gradients within single outcrops. Low values of f O2 and f H2O , or of f CO2 , and f H2O indicate fluid-absent conditions for some orthogneisses and marbles, which are inferred to have been ‘dry’ rocks before and during granulite facies recrystallization. Wollastonite is preserved from early contact metamorphism and serves as an index mineral for fluid-absent conditions in granulites where α H2O is low. Values of f O2 range from near the hematite + magnetite buffer in metamorphosed iron formation to substantially below the quartz + magnetite + fayalite buffer in some orthogneisses. The anorthosite suite is more oxidized than some associated granitic gneisses. Halogens (F and Cl) substitute extensively for OH in micas and amphiboles, extending their stability, although F 2 , Cl 2 , HCl, and HF are minor components in any fluid. Oxybiotite-type exchanges involving O for OH are also important, extending the stability of biotite. Stable isotopic ratios of O and C demonstrate that premetamorphic whole-rock compositions are commonly preserved whereas mineral compositions generally reflect equilibration at the peak of metamorphism. The Marcy Anorthosite Massif was intruded as a high δ 18 O magma. The combination of mineral equilibria, stable isotope data, and fluid inclusions is used to identify and to distinguish among pre-orogenic contact metamorphic/hydrothermal events, peak metamorphic events, and retrograde/postmetamorphic events. Polymetamorphism is documented at skarn zones adjacent to anorthosite, where large volumes of hydrothermal fluid were channeled during early, shallow contact metamorphism and where conditions were fluid poor during subsequent regional metamorphism. Peak metamorphic events are inferred to have been caused primarily by magmatic processes of intrusion and anatexis. Partial melting has caused low values of α H2O in many rocks, but in other cases low values of α H2O are recorded in orthogneisses derived from H 2 O-poor magmas. Isotopic studies show that maximum fluid/rock ratios were <0·l and possibly 0·0 for infiltrating fluids at the peak of metamorphism in many localities. No evidence of pervasive, regional infiltration by a fluid at the peak of metamorphism has been substantiated in the Adirondacks. Fluid inclusions containing high-density CO 2 or CO 2 + H 2 O represent conditions from after the peak of metamorphism and document isobaric cooling, in agreement with estimates from garnet zoning. Fine-scale retrograde veins are common and are associated with high-density CO 2 -rich fluid inclusions.

New York↗

USGS1987

Heat capacity measurements for cryolite (Na3AlF6) and reactions in the system NaFeAlSiOF

The heat capacity of cryolite (Na 3 AlF 6 ) has been measured from 7 to 1000 K by low-temperature adiabatic and high-temperature differential scanning calorimetry. Low-temperature data were obtained on material from the same hand specimen in the calorimetric laboratories of the University of Michigan and U.S. Geological Survey. The results obtained are in good agreement, and yield average values for the entropy of cryolite of: S 0 298 = 238.5 J / mol K "> S 0 298 = 238.5J/mol K S 0 T − S 0 298 = 145.114 ln T+ 193.009∗10 −3 T− 10.366∗ 10 5 T 2 − 872.89 J / mol K (273−836.5 K ) "> S 0 T −S 0 298 = 145.114lnT+ 193.009∗10 −3 T−10.366∗ 10 5 T 2 − 872.89J/mol K(273−836.5K) Δ S Trans = 9.9 J / mol K "> ΔS Trans = 9.9J/mol K S 0 T − S 0 298 =198.414 ln T+73.203∗ 10 −3 T−63.814∗ 10 5 T 2 −1113.11 J / mol K (836.5−1153 K ) "> S 0 T −S 0 298 =198.414 ln T+73.203∗ 10 −3 T−63.814∗10 5 T 2 −1113.11J/mol K(836.5−1153K) with the transition temperature between α- and β-cryolite taken at 836.5 K. These data have been combined with data in the literature to calculate phase equilibria for the system Na Fe Al Si O F. The resultant phase diagrams allow constraints to be placed on the f O 2 , f F 2 , a SiO 2 and T conditions of formation for assemblages in alkalic rocks. A sample application suggests that log f O 2 is approximately −19.2, log f F 2 is −31.9 to −33.2, and a SiO 2 is −1.06 at assumed P T "> PT conditions of 1000 K, 1 bar for the villiaumite-bearing Ilimaussaq intrusion in southwestern Greenland.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗

USGS1985

The heat-capacity of ilmenite and phase equilibria in the system Fe-T-O

Low temperature adiabatic calorimetry and high temperature differential scanning calorimetry have been used to measure the heat-capacity of ilmenite (FeTiO 3 ) from 5 to 1000 K. These measurements yield S 298 0 = 108.9 J /( mol · K ). Calculations from published experimental data on the reduction of ilmenite yield Δ 298 0 ( I 1) = −1153.9 kJ /( mol · K ). These new data, combined with available experimental and thermodynamic data for other phases, have been used to calculate phase equilibria in the system Fe-Ti-O. Calculations for the subsystem Ti-O show that extremely low values of ƒO 2 ">ƒ ƒO2 are necessary to stabilize TiO, the mineral hongquiite reported from the Tao district in China. This mineral may not be TiO, and it should be re-examined for substitution of other elements such as N or C. Consideration of solid-solution models for phases in the system Fe-Ti-O allows derivation of a new thermometer/oxybarometer for assemblages of ferropseudobrookite-pseudobrookite ss and hematite-ilmenite ss . Preliminary application of this new thermometer/oxybarometer to lunar and terrestrial lavas gives reasonable estimates of oxygen fugacities, but generally yields subsolidus temperatures, suggesting re-equilibration of one or more phases during cooling.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗