Gold Mineralization and Occurrence of Sinter in the Hoshino Area, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan

Abstract. Several epithermal gold deposits occur in the Hoshino area, which is located in the western end of the late Cenozoic Hohi volcanic zone, north‐central Kyushu, Japan. The area is characterized by intermediate to felsic extrusive rocks of Pliocene age. In the Hoshino area, the shallow manifestation of the hydrothermal activity is exposed on the surface. Several outcrops of sinter are still preserved on the top of hydro thermally altered volcanic rocks, and high‐grade gold‐bearing quartz veins occur on the surface at lower levels. The hydrothermal alteration resulted into well‐developed alteration zones. The zonal alteration pattern, primarily of near‐neutral pH type, is characterized by the outer smectite zone of a lower temperature, and the inner mixed layer minerals zone of a higher temperature. Quartz vein‐related or fracture‐controlled alteration, is represented by the occurrence of interstratified illite/smectite and K‐feldspar, suggesting a potassium‐enriched alteration. The mineralization in the Hoshino area is recognized on the surface by the occurrence of gold‐bearing quartz veins distributed mainly in the mixed layer minerals zone. The fracture system related to the gold mineralization is mainly characterized by NW‐SE trend. The alteration pattern and the mineralogical composition of the veins suggest that the mineralizing fluids had near‐neutral pH and the mineralization is of low‐sulfidation‐type. Fluid inclusion data and textures observed in quartz veins indicate that gold precipitated during boiling. The chemical composition of quartz veins shows that high‐grade gold‐bearing quartz veins are characterized by higher content of Al₂O₃, K₂O and Rb. Several outcrops of silica‐sinters are distributed on the top of the mixed layer minerals zone. Although their structures are not very well preserved, because of later silicification, the Hoshino sinters still show characteristic textures identical to those observed in modern sinters, such as the presence of plant fossil incorporated into the sinters, the strongly developed depositional laminations and the columnar structures perpendicular to the depositional surfaces. Quartz is the only silica mineral constituting the Hoshino sinters presently. The conversion of amorphous silica into quartz was probably governed by higher temperatures resulting from later hydrothermal activity. This later hydrothermal activity is reflected by the intense silicification affecting mainly the lower parts of the sinters and also by the presence of quartz veins cutting the sinters. The distribution of sinters in the Hoshino area is very significant. The presence beneath the sinters of concealed high‐grade gold‐bearing quartz veins should be highly considered and exploration work is strongly suggested.     

Microbial–silica interactions in Icelandic hot spring sinter: possible analogues for some Precambrian siliceous stromatolites

Silicified deposits, such as sinters, occur in several modern geothermal environments, but the mechanisms of silicification (and crucially the role of microorganisms in their construction) are still largely unresolved. Detailed examination of siliceous sinter, in particular sections of microstromatolites growing at the Krisuvik hot spring, Iceland, reveals that biomineralization contributes a major component to the overall structure, with approximately half the sinter thickness attributed to silicified microorganisms. Almost all microorganisms observed under the scanning electron microscope (SEM) are mineralized, with epicellular silica ranging in thickness from < 5 μm coatings on individual cells, to regions where entire colonies are cemented together in an amorphous silica matrix tens of micrometres thick. Within the overall profile, there appears to be two very distinct types of laminae that alternate repeatedly throughout the microstromatolite: ‘microbial’ layers are predominantly consisting of filamentous, intact, vertically aligned, biomineralized cyanobacteria, identified as Calothrix and Fischerella sp.; and weakly laminated silica layers which appear to be devoid of any microbial component. The microbial layers commonly have a sharply defined base, overlying the weakly laminated silica, and a gradational upper surface merging into the weakly laminated silica. These cyclic laminations are probably explained by variations in microbial activity. Active growth during spring/summer allows the microorganisms to keep pace with silicification, with the cell surfaces facilitating silicification, while during their natural slow growth phase in the dark autumn/winter months silicification exceeds the bacteria’s ability to compensate (i.e. grow upwards). At this stage, the microbial colony is probably not essential to microstromatolite formation, with silicification presumably occurring abiogenically. When conditions once again become favourable for growth, recolonization of the solid silica surface by free‐living bacteria occurs: cell motility is not responsible for the laminations. We have also observed that microbial populations within the microstromatolite, some several mm in depth, appear viable, i.e. they still have their pigmentation, the trichomes are not collapsed, cell walls are unbroken, cytoplasm is still present and they proved culturable. This suggests that the bulk of silicification occurred rapidly, probably while the cells were still alive. Surprisingly, however, measurements of light transmittance through sections of the microstromatolite revealed that photosynthetically active light (PAL) only transmitted through the uppermost 2 mm. Therefore the ‘deeper’ microbial populations must have either: (i) altered their metabolic pathways; (ii) become metabolically inactive; or (iii) the deeper populations may be dominated by different microbial assemblages from that of the surface. From these collective observations, it now seems unequivocal that microstromatolite formation is intimately linked to microbial activity and that the sinter fabric results from a combination of biomineralization, cell growth and recolonization. Furthermore, the similarities in morphology and microbial component to some Precambrian stromatolites, preserved in primary chert, suggests that we may be witnessing contemporaneous biomineralization processes and growth patterns analogous to those of the early Earth.     

欧洲中部地区晚更新世及全新世的泉华沉积

在中欧地区的河谷、洪积扇、山坡坡麓及湖底常零星分布着更新世及全新世的碳酸盐沉积物。不少学者把碳酸盐沉积当作气候变化的产物并划分出其在中欧沉积的若干时期。笔者通过德国中部Leine河流域新老石灰泉华的详细研究对泉华沉积与气候直接联系的观点提出了新的见解。运用不同方法测年验证，得知研究区的石灰泉华沉积始于11000aB.P,随后石灰泉华在研究区不同地点连续沉积。岩芯上沉积的变化和石灰泉华层的消失应是由地貌过程所引起的泉水出露位置改变所致。     

四川理塘毛垭温泉地质构造环境及成因分析

通过理塘毛垭温泉现场实地考察,对毛垭温泉所处的地质构造环境及泉华层堆积层的组成、成因和物质来源进行研究。分析认为,毛垭温泉属于义敦—理塘、理塘—德巫活动断裂带上出露的构造上升泉,断裂带构造裂隙为温泉水通道;温泉水的来源是中深层循环热水与浅层地下水补给冷水混合体;其水温水量的变化受区域构造应力的控制,它的变化能反映这一区域构造应力场的动态变化信息。     

Microstructural changes accompanying the opal-A to opal-CT transition: new evidence from the siliceous sinters of Geysir, Haukadalur, Iceland

Opaline silica (opal-A) has formed in marine, lacustrine and geothermal environments throughout geological time. During diagenesis opal-A normally changes to opal-CT, then opal-C, and finally to quartz. Such changes commonly destroy the original fabrics and any fossils that opal-A contained. The physical changes that accompany the opal-A to opal-CT transition, however, are known poorly. X-ray diffraction analyses, electron microprobe analyses and high-resolution, high-magnification scanning electron microscope imagery of siliceous sinters from the Geysir geothermal area in Iceland show that opal-A is formed of heterometric arrays of randomly packed microspheres (up to 5  μ m diameter) with neighbouring spheres commonly being joined by small connection pads. In contrast, enlarged spheres, lepispheres, inverse opal (two types) and spindle frameworks with hexagonal motifs characterize opal-CT. The textures in opal-CT, which vary on a microscale, reflect the complex interplay between dissolution (e.g. inverse opal) and precipitation (e.g. enlarged spheres, spindle frameworks) that probably was mediated by groundwater in a near-surface environment. The processes deciphered from these young rocks should, however, be applicable to sedimentary opal-A and opal-CT of all ages, irrespective of their origin.     

Factors governing subaqueous siliceous sinter precipitation in hot springs: examples from Yellowstone National Park, USA

Abstract Siliceous sinter precipitation within hot spring systems has been attributed to a variety of mechanisms: evaporative concentration, cooling, changes in pH and cation effects. Repetitive in situ (T, pH, alkalinity, etc.) and laboratory (major, minor and trace elemental, stable isotopic) analyses of the waters plus observations of silica precipitation on natural (e.g. twigs, pine cones) as well as artificial substrates (glass slides and copper plates) in the waters substantiate that subaqueous precipitation is occurring throughout the vent to distal end of flow in both Cistern Spring (Norris Geyser Basin) and Deerbone Spring (Lower Geyser Basin), Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Quartz and sodium–potassium geothermometers indicate that Cistern Spring is fed by a subsurface reservoir that is between 232 and 272 °C. Calculated reservoir temperatures are significantly lower at Deerbone Spring (182–197 °C). Based on a suite of measured and theoretical saturation indices, downflow changes in the system resulting from evaporative concentration (e.g. Cl increases 10%), changes in pH (e.g. 5·6–7·1) and cation effects (Al and Fe) are of negligible importance in the subaqueous precipitation of hot spring opal‐A. Similarly, at the macroenvironmental scale, potential biotic effects on opal‐A precipitation appear to be minimal. Modelling of the two active siliceous sinter precipitating systems indicates that cooling (e.g. 80–17 °C) is the predominant process governing subaqueous mineral precipitation.     

上海地区新构造隐伏活动断裂的标志──石灰华

上海地区沿基岩断裂带表面,有零星分布的石灰华,成因与泉水(温泉)活动有关,形成时代下限为新第三纪晚期,上限为第四纪更新世早期。本文初步确定,区内自新第三纪晚期以来,具有活动性的隐伏断裂,除北北东向及近东西向的两组断裂外,还新发现一组北西西向活动性显著的断裂,它们均与石灰华分布有着密切的关系,这种现象与山区新构造活动断裂带的特征相似。区内分布的石灰华,可以作为识别隐伏活动断裂的标志。     

镁铝对烧结矿中铁酸钙的矿物学特性影响

铁酸钙是高碱度烧结矿中的主要黏结相矿物,它的含量、结晶形态、化学成分及晶体结构等矿物学特性对烧结矿质量起着关键性作用,而烧结原料中各组分的含量直接影响着铁酸钙的生成。以Fe₃O₄、SiO₂、CaO、MgO、Al₂O₃的化学纯试剂为原料,在实验室进行微型烧结实验,运用XRD、偏光显微镜、电子探针等手段,定量分析研究了原料组分中MgO、Al₂O₃对烧结矿中铁酸钙的生成及其矿物学特性的影响。原料中MgO含量的增加对铁酸钙的生成有一定抑制作用,尤其在MgO含量为2.0%~3.0%时,烧结矿中铁酸钙含量明显减少,其晶体形态也从以板柱状和针状为主逐渐过渡为它形不规则状;原料中Al₂O₃的增加,对烧结矿中铁酸钙的形成具有促进作用,即随着Al₂O₃的增加铁酸钙含量呈明显增加趋势,且铁酸钙的形态也由以柱状和针状为主向板柱状变化。电子探针成分分析及矿物化学式计算结果表明,铁酸钙是由Fe₂O₃、CaO、SiO₂、Al₂O₃及MgO组成的复杂结晶体,其化学通式为Ca_2.60Mg_0.44Si_1.07Al_0.96Fe_8.92O₂₀。原料中MgO、Al₂O₃含量的变化,对铁酸钙的化学成分中Fe₂O₃/CaO摩尔分数比影响不大,均接近3∶2。上述研究结果对于深刻理解烧结工艺条件下铁酸钙晶相的晶体化学特征及其对烧结矿质量的影响具有重要指导意义。     

用同位素方法研究额济纳盆地承压含水层地下水的补给

本文通过环境同位素、温度、电导率和人工示踪等方法研究了黑河下游古日乃和额济纳盆地深部承压水的补给源 ,初步揭示了额济纳盆地承压水来自于祁连山的降水 ,是部分祁连山西端雪水直接渗入山前的深大断裂 ,在玉门宽滩山一带注入与之相交的阿尔金断裂 ,然后继续向东补给至巴丹吉林沙漠 ,并顺着古日乃断层补给到额济纳盆地。通过蒸发量计算得到的补给量为 5× 10 8m3/a。黑河流域承压水中的 T(氚 )为 17.8～ 0 .1TU ,地下水的年龄与取样孔的位置有关 ,靠近强渗漏带附近的地下水的年龄只有 2 0～ 30 a。古日乃、拐子湖的湖泊、泉、沼泽等消失的主要原因是由于 5 0 a来温度升高、蒸发量增加和下游抽水量增大的原因。该项研究对于重新认识额济纳盆地、古日乃、巴丹吉林沙漠的地下水补给与黑河下游水资源调度、开发与利用具有十分重大的意义     

青海湖浅层沉积物中介形虫及湖底泉华C、O同位素组成及其古环境意义

根据青海湖近代沉积物短岩芯中介形虫壳体和湖底（２１ｍ水深）泉华碳酸盐的δ~１８Ｏ、δ~１３Ｃ分析，阐述了湖区近８００ａ来的古气候环境的演变和湖底泉华形成时的某些古水文条件。