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At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1974

The use of ERTS-1 images in the search for large sulfide deposits in the Chagai District, Pakistan

The author has identified the following significant results. Visual examination of color composites was tested under relatively ideal conditions for direct detection of large hydrothermal sulfide deposits at the low-grade porphyry copper deposit at Saindak, western Chagai District, Pakistan. The Saindak deposit is characterized by an elongate zone of easily eroded sulfide-rich rock surrounded by a resistant rim of hornfels and propylitically altered rock. The geomorphic features related to the Saindak deposit are easily distinguished on ERTS-1 images. Attempts to detect a color anomaly using false-color composites were not successful. About 36,000 square km of the western Chagai District were examined on false-color composites for direct evidence of large sulfide deposits. New geologic information acquired from the images was used in conjunction with the known geology to evaluate two previously known proposed areas and to suggest seven additional targets for field checking, one of which is proposed on the basis of tonal anomaly alone. The study also showed that Saindak-type deposits are not likely to be present in some extensive areas of the Chagai District; and also that a rim like that at Saindak does not form if regional metamorphism has increased the resistance of the country rock to erosion.

Schmidt, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Petrologic evidence for collisional heating of chondritic asteroids

The identification of the mechanism(s) responsible for heating asteroids is among the major problems in planetary science. Because of difficulties with models of electromagnetic induction and the decay of short-lived radionuclides, it is worthwhile to evaluate the evidence for collisional heating. New evidence for localized impact heating comes from the high proportion of relict type-6 material among impact-melt-bearing ordinary chondrites (OC). This relict material was probably metamorphosed by residual heat within large craters. Olivine aggregates composed of faceted crystals with 120 deg triple junctions occur within the melted regions of the Chico and Rose City OC melt rocks; the olivine aggregates formed from shocked, mosaicized olivine grains that underwent contact metamorphism. Large-scale collisional heating is supoorted by the correlation in OC between petrologic type and shock stage; no other heating mechanism can readily account for this correlation. The occurrence of impact-melt-rock clasts in OC that have been metamorphosed along with their whole rocks indicates that some impact events preceded or accompanied thermal metamorphism. Such impacts events, occurring during or shortly after accretion, are probably responsible for substantially melting approximately 0.5% of OC. These events must have heated a larger percentage of OC to subsolidus temperatures sufficient to have caused significant metamorphism. If collisional heating is viable, then OC parent asteroids must have been large; large OC asteroids in the main belt may include those of the S(IV) spectral subtype. Collisional heating is inconsistent with layered ('onion-shell') structures in OC asteroids (wherein the degree of metamorphism increases with depth), but the evidence for such structures is weak. It seems likely that collisional heating played an important role in metamorphosing chondritic asteroids.

Rubin, Alan E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Cl-rich minerals in Archean granulite facies ironstones from the Beartooth Mountains, Montana, USA: Implications for fluids involved in granulite metamorphism

The implications of Cl-rich minerals in granulite facies rocks are discussed. Results from ironstones of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana are discussed. It is suggested that CO2-brine immiscibility might be applicable to granulite facies conditions, and if so, then aqueous brines might be preferentially adsorbed onto mineral surfaces relative to CO2.

Henry, D. J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

The History of Allan Hills 84001 Revised: Multiple Shock Events

The geologic history of Martian meteorite Allan Hills (ALH) 84001 is more complex than previously recognized, with evidence for four or five crater-forming impacts onto Mars. This history of repeated deformation and shock metamorphism appears to weaken some arguments that have been offered for and against the hypothesis of ancient Martian life in ALH 84001. Allan Hills 84001 formed originally from basaltic magma. Its first impact event (I1) is inferred from the deformation (D1) that produced the granular-textured bands ("crush zones") that transect the original igneous fabric. Deformation D1 is characterized by intense shear and may represent excavation or rebound flow of rock beneath a large impact crater. An intense thermal metamorphism followed D1 and may be related to it. The next impact (I2) produced fractures, (Fr2) in which carbonate "pancakes" were deposited and produced feldspathic glass from some of the igneous feldspars and silica. After I2, carbonate pancakes and globules were deposited in Fr2 fractures and replaced feldspathic glass and possibly crystalline silicates. Next, feldspars, feldspathic glass, and possibly some carbonates were mobilized and melted in the third impact (I3). Microfaulting, intense fracturing, and shear are also associated with 13. In the fourth impact (I4), the rock was fractured and deformed without significant heating, which permitted remnant magnetization directions to vary across fracture surfaces. Finally, ALH 84001 was ejected from Mars in event I5, which could be identical to I4. This history of multiple impacts is consistent with the photogeology of the Martian highlands and may help resolve some apparent contradictions among recent results on ALH 84001. For example, the submicron rounded magnetite grains in the carbonate globules could be contemporaneous with carbonate deposition, whereas the elongate magnetite grains, epitaxial on carbonates, could be ascribed to vapor-phase deposition during I3.

Treiman, Allan H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Repeated shock and thermal metamorphism of the Abernathy meteorite

Based on the example of Abernathy (L6 chondrite), it is shown how petrographic investigation can be used to unravel the nature, chronology and conditions of superposed metamorphic events in chondrites. Features considered include the texture of the rock, optical characteristics of olivine, pyroxene and plagioclase, refractive index of plagioclase, metallographical characteristics and microhardness of Fe-Ni alloys. It is deduced that Abernathy has been involved in at least six metamorphic events since the formation of the chondrite. Four distinct shock events and two separate reheating events have been identified. The chronology of these events is established. The conditions for the last four events are reasonably well constrained. These include severe reheating (T greater than 1200 C); severe shock causing complete melting of plagioclase and local melting of the rock (P between 90 and 110 GPa, T between 1250 and 1350 C); mild shock (P between 10 and 25 GPa, T less than 500 C); and reheating below 800 C.

Lambert, P.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Structural lineaments in the southern Sierra Nevada, California

The author has identified the following significant results. Several lineaments observed in ERTS-1 MSS imagery over the southern Sierra Nevada of California have been studied in the field in an attempt to explain their geologic origins and significance. The lineaments are expressed topographically as alignments of linear valleys, elongate ridges, breaks in slope or combinations of these. Natural outcrop exposures along them are characteristically poor. Two lineaments were found to align with foliated metamorphic roof pendants and screens within granitic country rocks. Along other lineaments, the most consistant correlations were found to be alignments of diabase dikes of Cretaceous age, and younger cataclastic shear zones and minor faults. The location of several Pliocene and Pleistocene volcanic centers at or near lineament intersections suggests that the lineaments may represent zones of crustal weakness which have provided conduits for rising magma.

Liggett, M. A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

River Valley pluton, Ontario - A late-Archean/early-Proterozoic anorthositic intrusion in the Grenville Province

This paper presents Nd, Sr, and Pb isotopic data indicating a late-Archean/early-Proterozoic age for the River Valley anorthositic pluton of the southwestern Grenville Province of Sudbury, Ontario. Pb-Pb isotopic data on 10 whole-rock samples ranging in composition from anorthosite to gabbro yield an age of 2560 + or - 155 Ma. The River Valley pluton is thus the oldest anorthositic intrusive yet recognized within the Grenville Province. The Sm-Nd isotopic system records an age of 2377 + or - 68 Ma. High Pb-208/Pb-204 of deformed samples relative to igneous-textured rocks implies Th introduction and/or U loss during metamorphism in the River Valley area. Rb-Sr data from igneous-textured and deformed samples and from mineral separates give an age of 2185 + or - 105 Ma, indicating substantial disturbance of the Rb-Sr isotopic system.

Ashwal, Lewis D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Thermobarometric studies on the Levack Gneisses: Footwall rocks to the Sudbury Igneous Complex

Granulite and amphibolite facies gneisses and migmatites of the Levack Gneiss Complex occupy a zone up to 8 km wide around the northern part of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC). Orthopyroxene- and garnet-bearing tonalitic and semipelitic assemblages of granulite facies grade occur within 3 km of the SIC together with lenses of mafic and pyroxenitic rock compositions normally represented by an amphibole +/- cpx-rich assemblage; amphibolite facies assemblages dominate elsewhere in this terrain. These 2.711-Ga gneisses were introduced by (1) the Cartier Granite Batholith during late Archaean to early Proterozoic time and (2) the SIC, at 1.85 Ga, which produced a contact aureole 1-1.5 km wide in which pyroxene hornfelses are common within 200-300 m of the contact. A suite of 12 samples including both the opx-gt and amphibole-rich rock compositions have been studied. Garnets in the semipelitic gneisses are variably replaced by a plg-bio assemblage. Thermobarometric calculations using a variety of barometers and thermometers reported in the literature suggest that the granulite facies assemblages formed at depths in the 21-28 km range (6-8 kbar). Textures and mineral chemistry in the garnet-bearing semipelitic rocks indicate that this terrain underwent a second metamorphic event during uplift to depth in the 5-11 km range (2-3 kbar) and at temperatures as low as 500-550 C. This latter event is distinct from thermal recrystallization caused by the emplacement of the SIC; it probably represents metamorphism attributable to intrusion of the Cartier Granite Batholith. These data allow two interpretations for the crustal uplift of the Levack Gneisses: (1) The gneisses were tectonically uplifted prior to the Sudbury Event (due to intrusion of the Cartier Batholith); or (2) the gneisses were raised to epizonal levels as a result of meteorite impact at 1.85 Ga.

James, R. S.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Incipient Melt Formation and Devitrification at the Wanapitei Impact Structure, Ontario, Canada

The Wanapitei impact structure is approximately 8 km in diameter and lies within Wanapitei Lake, approximately 34 km northeast of the city of Sudbury. Rocks related to the 37 Ma impact event are found only in Pleistocene glacial deposits south of the lake. Most of the target rocks are metasedimentary rocks of the Proterozoic Huronian Supergroup. An almost completely vitrified, inclusion-bearing sample investigated here represents either an impact melt or a strongly shock metamorphosed, pebbly wacke. In the second, preferred interpretation, a number of partially melted and devitrified clasts are enclosed in an equally highly shock metamorphosed arkosic wacke matrix (i.e., the sample is a shocked pebbly wacke), which records the onset of shock melting. This interpretation is based on the glass composition, mineral relicts in the glass, relict rock textures, and the similar degree of shock metamorphism and incipient melting of all sample components. Boulder matrix and clasts are largely vitrified and preserve various degrees of fluidization, vesiculation, and devitrification. Peak shock pressure of approximately 50-60 GPa and stress experienced by the sample were somewhat below those required for complete melting and development of a homogeneous melt. The rapid cooling and devitrification history of the analyzed sample is comparable to that reported recently from glasses in the suevite of the Ries impact structure in Germany and may indicate that the analyzed sample experienced an annealing temperature after deposition of somewhere between 650 C and 800 C.

Dressler, B. O.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Metamorphism of the Oddanchatram anorthosite, Tamil Nadu, South India

The Oddanchatram anorthosite is located in the Madurai District of Tamil Nadu, near the town of Palni. It is emplaced into a granulite facies terrain commonly presumed to have undergone its last regional metamorphism in the late Archean about 2600 m.y. The surrounding country rock consists of basic granulites, charnockites and metasedimentary rocks including quartzites, pelites and calc-silicates. The anorthosite is clearly intrusive into the country rock and contains many large inclusions of previously deformed basic granulite and quartzite within 100 meters of its contact. Both this intrusion and the nearby Kaduvar anorthosite show evidence of having been affected by later metamorphism and deformation.

Wiebe, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Origin and history of chondrite regolith, fragmental and impact-melt breccias from Spain

Six ordinary chondrite breccias from the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid (Spain), are described and classified as follows: the solar gas-rich regolith breccia Oviedo (H5); the premetamorphic fragmental breccias Cabezo de Mayo (type 6, L-LL), and Sevilla (LL4); the fragmental breccias Canellas (H4) and Gerona (H5); and the impact melt breccia, Madrid (L6). It is confirmed that chondrites with typical light-dark structures and petrographic properties typical of regolith breccias may (Oviedo) or may not (Canellas) be solar gas-rich. Cabezo de Mayo and Sevilla show convincing evidence that they were assembled prior to peak metamorphism and were equilibrated during subsequent reheating. Compositions of olivine and low-Ca pyroxene in host chondrite and breccia clasts in Cabezo de Mayo are transitional between groups L and LL. It is suggested, based on mineralogic and oxygen isotopic compositions of host and clasts, that the rock formed on the L parent body by mixing, prior to peak metamorphism. This was followed by partial equilibrium of two different materials: the indigenous L chondrite host and exotic LL melt rock clasts.

Casanova, I.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The 3.5 b.y. old Onverwacht Group: A remnant of ancient oceanic crust

The interaction between seawater and submarine volcanic rock has had important consequences for the chemistry of the ocean during the Phanerozoic. Most extant terranes have been regionally metamorphosed to the amphibolite and granulite facies, so that their precursor lithologies and structures are not readily determinable. However, the 3.5 b.y. old supracrustal rocks of the Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa, have not been subjected to high grade regional metamorphism, and therefore there was reason to hope that a laboratory investigation might reveal the extent to which these rocks had been exposed to subseafloor hydrothermal activity. Hart and de Wit describe bulk geochemical evidence from the entire suite as well as field evidence which support the concept of hydrothermal activity in the Barberton Mountain Land. Mineralogical and textural features which unequivocally mark it as a submarine sequence emplaced in a midocean ridge/fracture zone or back arc/fracture zone environment are briefly discussed.

Hoffman, S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Metamorphosed ultramafic rocks in east Greenland

The compositional and mineralogical characteristics of Archean ultramafic rocks in Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord are summarized: the first provides information important to understanding the primary character of the rock suite, whereas the latter provides data necessary to determine the conditions of their equilibrium during the latest metamorphism. This information will be of value in determining the affinity of the suite to similar Archean rocks in other areas of the North Atlantic craton.

Kays, M. A.↗
DOE OSTI2020

U-Pb zircon age constraints on the earliest eruptions of the Deccan Large Igneous Province, Malwa Plateau, India

Climate instability driven by emission of volatiles during emplacement of large igneous provinces (LIPs) is frequently invoked as a potential cause of mass extinctions. However, documenting this process in the geologic record requires a holistic understanding of eruption rates, the location of eruptive centers, and potential sources of climate-changing volatiles. We present new chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) U-Pb zircon geochronology from Malwa Plateau basalts on the northern margin of the Deccan LIP, India. These basalts have been previously interpreted as either an extension of the province's main volcanic stratigraphy or as an independent eruptive center active up to millions of years prior to the main eruptive phase. Our data instead demonstrate that the lower Malwa Plateau basalts are temporally correlative with the first pulse of Deccan volcanism and provide new constraints on its initiation and duration. Paleomagnetic data further indicate that upper Malwa Plateau basalts may be age-equivalent to the second, third, and fourth pulses of Deccan volcanism. The relative thicknesses of age-equivalent packages of basalt are consistent with eruption of the Deccan LIP from a southward-migrating eruptive center. The first eruptive pulse is coeval with a ~200 kyr Late Maastrichtian warming event preserved globally in contemporaneous stratigraphic sections. We propose that the first pulse of Deccan magmatism was more voluminous in the north, where it erupted through organic-rich sedimentary rocks of the Narmada-Tapti rift basin. Thermal metamorphism of these sediments could have been a source of sufficient CO 2 to drive the Late Maastrichtian warming event, which if true would reconcile the apparent dampened warming signals associated with later Deccan eruptive pulses.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1988

Geochemical characteristics of charnockite and high grade gneisses from Southern Peninsular Shield and their significance in crustal evolution

Presented here are the results of detailed investigations encompassing externsive structural mapping in the charnockite-high grade gneiss terrain of North Arcot district and the type area in Pallavaram in Tamil Nadu supported by petrography, mineral chemistry, major, minor and REE distribution patterns in various lithounits. This has helped in understanding the evolutionary history of the southern peninsular shield. A possible tectonic model is also suggested. The results of these studies are compared with similar rock types from parts of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Sri Lanka, Lapland and Nigeria which has brought about a well defined correlation in geochemical characteristics. The area investigated has an interbanded sequence of thick pile of charnockite and a supracrustal succession of shelf type sediments, layered igneous complex, basic and ultrabasic rocks involved in a complex structural, tectonic, igneous and metamorphic events.

Sugavanam, E. B.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Terrestrial Biomarkers for Early Life on Earth as Analogs for Possible Martian Life Forms: Examples of Minerally Replaced Bacteria and Biofilms From the 3.5 - 3.3-Ga Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa

The search for extraterrestrial life and especially martian life hinges on a variety of methods used to identify vestiges of what we could recognize as life, including chemical signatures, morphological fossils, and biogenic precipitates. Although the possibility of extant life on Mars (subsurface) is being considered, most exploration efforts may be directed toward the search for fossil life. Geomorphological evidence points to a warmer and wetter Mars early on in its history, a scenario that encourages comparison with the early Earth. For this reason, study of the early terrestrial life forms and environment in which they lived may provide clues as to how to search for extinct martian life. As a contribution to the early Archean database of terrestrial microfossils, we present new data on morphological fossils from the 3.5-3.3-Ga Barberton greenstone belt (BGB), South Africa. This study underlines the variety of fossil types already present in some of the oldest, best-preserved terrestrial sediments, ranging from minerally replaced bacteria and bacteria molds of vaRious morphologies (coccoid, coccobacillus, bacillus) to minerally replaced biofilm. Biofilm or extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) is produced by bacteria and appears to be more readily fossilisable than bacteria themselves. The BGB fossils occur in shallow water to subaerial sediments interbedded with volcanic lavas, the whole being deposited on oceanic crust. Penecontemporaneous silicification of sediments and volcanics resulted in the chertification of the rocks, which were later subjected to low-grade metamorphism (lower greenschist).

Westall, F.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Definitive Mineralogical Analysis of Martian Rocks and Soil Using the CheMin XRD/XRF Instrument and the USDC Sampler

The search for evidence of extant or extinct life on Mars will initially be a search for evidence of present or past conditions supportive of life (e.g., evidence of water), not for life itself. Definitive evidence of past or present water activity lies in the discovery of: * Hydrated minerals: The "rock type" hosting the hydrated minerals could be igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary, with only a minor hydrated mineral phase. Therefore, the identification of minor phases is important. * Clastic sediments: Clastic sediments are commonly identified by the fact that they contain minerals of disparate origin that could only have come together as a mechanical mixture. Therefore, the identification of all minerals present in a mixture to ascertain mineralogical source regions is important. * Hydrothermal precipitates and chemical sediments: Some chemical precipitates are uniquely identified only by their structure. For example, Opal A, Opal CT, tridymite, crystobalite, high and low Quartz all have the same composition (SiO2) but different crystal structures indicative of different environments - from hydrothermal hydrothermal formation to low temperature precipitation. Other silica types such as stishovite can provide evidence of shock metamorphism. Therefore, identification of crystal structures and structural polymorphs is important. The elucidation of the nature of the Mars soil will require the identification of mineral components that can unravel its history and the history of the Mars atmosphere.

D F Blake↗
NASA NTRS1988

The role of boron and fluids in high temperature, shallow level metamorphism of the Chugach Metamorphic Complex, Alaska

The possible role of boron (B) involvement in granite equilibria and generation of melts during crustal metamorphism has been a focus of speculation in recent literature. Most of the evidence for such involvement derives from experimental data which implies that the addition of B will lower the temperature of the granite solidus. Also the presence of tourmaline has a minor effect on the temperature of the solidus. Further indirect evidence that B may be involved in partial melting processes is the observation that granulites are commonly depleted in B, whereas the B content of low grade metapelites can be high (up to 2000 ppm). Researchers' measurements of the whole-rock B contents of granulites from the Madras region, India are low, ranging from 0.4 to 2.6 ppm. Ahmad and Wilson suggest that B was mobilized in the fluid phase during granulite facies metamorphism of the Broken Hill Complex, Australia. Thus, it appears that during the amphibolite to granulite transition, B is systematically lost from metasediments. The B that is released will probably partition into the vapor phase and/or melt phase. Preliminary measurements imply that the boron content of rocks in the Chugach Metamorphic Complex is not sufficient to influence the processes of partial melting at low pressures.

Sisson, V. B.↗