New indices and calibrations derived from the distribution of crenarchaeal isoprenoid tetraether lipids: Implications for past sea surface temperature reconstructions

Several studies have shown that there is a strong relationship between the distribution of crenarchaeotal isoprenoid glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) and sea surface temperature (SST). Based on this, a ratio of certain GDGTs, called TEX₈₆ (TetraEther indeX of tetraethers consisting of 86 carbon atoms), was developed as a SST proxy. In this study, we determined the distribution of crenarchaeotal isoprenoid GDGTs in 116 core-top sediments mostly from (sub)polar oceans and combined these data with previously published core-top data. Using this extended global core-top dataset (n = 426), we re-assessed the relationship of crenarchaeal isoprenoid GDGTs with SST. We excluded data from the Red Sea from the global core-top dataset to define new indices and calibration models, as the Red Sea with its elevated salinity appeared to behave differently compared to other parts of the oceans. We tested our new indices and calibration models on three different paleo datasets, representing different temperature ranges. Our results indicate that the crenarchaeol regio-isomer plays a more important role for temperature adaptation in (sub)tropical oceans than in (sub)polar oceans, suggesting that there may be differences in membrane adaptation of the resident crenarchaeotal communities at different temperatures. We, therefore, suggest to apply two different calibration models. For the whole calibration temperature range (−3 to 30 °C), a modified version of TEX₈₆ with a logarithmic function which does not include the crenarchaeol regio-isomer, called , is shown to correlate best with SST: (r² = 0.86, n=396, p <0.0001). Application of on sediments from the subpolar Southern Ocean results in realistic absolute SST estimates and a similar SST trend compared to a diatom SST record from the same core. , which is defined as the logarithmic function of TEX₈₆, yields the best correlation with SST, when the data from the (sub)polar oceans are removed: (r² = 00.87, n = 255, p < 0.0001). Furthermore, gives the best correlation for mescosm data with temperatures ranging between 10 and 46 °C. For Quaternary sediments from the tropical Arabian Sea, both and yield similar trends and SST estimates. However, the extrapolation of calibration on a sediment record from a greenhouse world ocean predicts more reliable absolute SST estimates and relative SST changes in agreement with estimates based on the δ¹⁸O of planktonic foraminifera. Based on the comparison of and derived SSTs using the core top data, we recommend applying above 15 °C and below 15 °C. In cases where paleorecords encompass temperatures both below and above 15 °C, we suggest to use .     

A new value for the stable oxygen isotope fractionation between dissolved sulfate ion and water

Although the stable oxygen isotope fractionation between dissolved sulfate ion and H₂O (hereafter ) is of physico-chemical and biogeochemical significance, no experimental value has been established until present. The primary reason being that uncatalyzed oxygen exchange between and H₂O is extremely slow, taking ∼10⁵ years at room temperature. For lack of a better approach, values of 16‰ and 31‰ at 25 °C have been assumed in the past, based on theoretical ‘gas-phase’ calculations and extrapolation of laboratory results obtained at temperatures >75 °C that actually pertain to the bisulfate system. Here I use novel quantum-chemistry calculations, which take into account detailed solute-water interactions to establish a new value for of 23‰ at 25 °C. The results of the corresponding calculations for the bisulfate ion are in agreement with observations. The new theoretical values show that sediment -data, which reflect oxygen isotope equilibration between sulfate and ambient water during microbial sulfate reduction, are consistent with the abiotic equilibrium between and water.     

Ammonium loss and nitrogen isotopic fractionation in biotite as a function of metamorphic grade in metapelites from western Maine, USA

Ammonium fixed in micas of metamorphic rocks is a sensitive indicator both of organic-inorganic interactions during diagenesis as well as of the devolatilization history and fluid/rock interaction during metamorphism. In this study, a collection of geochemically well-characterized biotite separates from a series of graphite-bearing Paleozoic greenschist- to upper amphibolite-facies metapelites, western Maine, USA, were analyzed for ammonium nitrogen () contents and isotopic composition (δ¹⁵N_NH4) using the HF-digestion distillation technique followed by the EA-IRMS technique. Biotite separates, sampled from 9 individual metamorphic zones, contain 3000 to 100 ppm with a wide range in δ¹⁵N from +1.6‰ to +9.1‰. Average contents in biotite show a distinct decrease from about 2750 ppm for the lowest metamorphic grade (∼500 °C) down to 218 ppm for the highest metamorphic grade (∼685 °C). Decreasing abundances in are inversely correlated in a linear fashion with increasing K⁺ in biotite as a function of metamorphic grade and are interpreted as a devolatilization effect. Despite expected increasing δ¹⁵N_NH4 values in biotite with nitrogen loss, a significant decrease from the Garnet Zones to the Staurolite Zones was found, followed by an increase to the Sillimanite Zones. This pattern for δ¹⁵N_NH4 values in biotite inversely correlates with Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratios in biotite and is discussed in the framework of isotopic fractionation due to different exchange processes between or , reflecting devolatilization history and redox conditions during metamorphism.     

Complexation of Cu in Hydrothermal NaCl Brines: Ab initio molecular dynamics and energetics

Chloride complexation of Cu⁺ controls the solubility of copper(I) oxide and sulfide ore minerals in hydrothermal and diagenetic fluids. Solubility measurements and optical spectra of high temperature CuCl solutions have been interpreted as indicating the formation of CuCl, , and complexes. However, no other monovalent cation forms tri- and tetrachloro complexes. EXAFS spectra of high temperature Cu-Cl solutions, moreover, appear to show only CuCl and complexes at T > 100 °C. To reconcile these results, I investigated the nature and stability of Cu-Cl complexes using ab initio cluster calculations and ab initio (Car-Parrinello) molecular dynamics simulations for CuCl-NaCl-H₂O systems at 25 to 450 °C. Ab initio molecular dynamic simulations of 1 m CuCl in a 4 m Cl solution give a stable complex at 25 °C over 4 ps but show that the third Cl⁻ is weakly bound. When the temperature is increased along the liquid-vapour saturation curve to 125 °C, the complex dissociates into and Cl⁻; only forms at 325 °C and 1 kbar. Even in a 15.6 m Cl brine at 450 °C, only the complex forms over a 4 ps simulation run.Cluster calculations with a static dielectric continuum solvation field (COSMO) were used in an attempt directly estimate free energies of complex formation in aqueous solution. Consistent with the MD simulations, the complex is slightly stable at 25 °C but decreases in stability with decreasing dielectric constant (ε). The complex is predicted to be unstable at 25 °C and becomes increasingly unstable with decreasing dielectric constant. In hydrothermal fluids (ε < 30) both the and complexes are unstable to dissociation into and Cl⁻.The results obtained here are at odds with recent equations of state that predict and complexes are the predominant species in hydrothermal brines. In contrast, I predict that only complexes will be significant at T > 125 °C, even in NaCl-saturated brines. The high-temperature (T > 125 °C) optical spectra of CuCl solutions and solubility measurements of Cu minerals in Cl-brines need to be reinterpreted in terms of only the CuCl and complexes.     

An experimental study of Cobalt (II) complexation in Cl and H2S-bearing hydrothermal solutions

The speciation of cobalt (II) in Cl⁻ and H₂S-bearing solutions was investigated spectrophotometrically at temperatures of 200, 250, and 300 °C and a pressure of 100 bars, and by measuring the solubility of cobaltpentlandite at temperatures of 120-300 °C and variable pressures of H₂S. From the results of these experiments, it is evident that CoHS⁺ and predominate in the solutions except at 150 °C, for which the dominant chloride complex is CoCl₃⁻. The logarithms of the stability constant for CoHS⁺ show moderate variation with temperature, decreasing from 6.24 at 120 °C to 5.84 at 200 °C, and increasing to 6.52 at 300 °C. Formation constants for chloride species increase smoothly with temperature and at 300°C their logarithms reach 8.33 for , 6.44 for CoCl₃⁻, 4.94 to 5.36 for , and 2.42 for CoCl⁺. Calculations based on the composition of a model hydrothermal fluid (Ksp-Mu-Qz, KCl = 0.25 m, NaCl = 0.75 m, ΣS = 0.3 m) suggest that at temperatures ?200 °C, cobalt occurs dominantly as CoHS⁺, whereas at higher temperatures the dominant species is .     

The dissociation of carbonic acid in NaCl solutions as a function of concentration and temperature

Potentiometric measurements of the stoichiometric constants for the dissociation of carbonic acid in NaCl solutions ( and ) have been made as a function of molality (0-6 m) and temperature (0-50 °C). The results have been fitted to the equations

     

Arsenic, iron and sulfur co-diagenesis in lake sediments

Profiles of porewater pH and dissolved As, Fe, Mn, sulfate, total sulfide (ΣS^−II), total zero-valent sulfur (ΣS⁰), organic carbon and major ion concentrations, as well as those of solid As, acid-volatile sulfide (AVS), total S, Fe, Mn, Al, organic C, ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs were determined in the sediment of four lakes spanning a range of redox and geochemical conditions. An inverse modeling approach, based on a one-dimensional transport-reaction equation assuming steady-state, was applied to the porewater As profiles and used to constrain the net rates of reactions involving As (). The model defines depth intervals where As is either released to (positive ) or removed from (negative ) the porewaters.At two of the sites, whose bottom water were oxygenated at sampling time, a production zone ( = 12 × 10⁻¹⁸ mol cm⁻³ s⁻¹-71 × 10⁻¹⁸ mol cm⁻³ s⁻¹) is inferred a few cm below the sediment-water interface, coincident with sharp porewater As and Fe peaks that indicate an intense coupled recycling of As and Fe. This process is confirmed by solid As and Fe maxima just below the sediment surface. In these two lakes a zone of As consumption ( = −5 × 10⁻¹⁸ mol cm⁻³ s⁻¹ to −53 × 10⁻¹⁸ mol cm⁻³ s⁻¹), attributed to the slow adsorption of As to authigenic Fe oxyhydroxides, occurs just above the production zone. A second-order rate constant of 0.12 ± 0.03 cm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹ is estimated for this adsorption reaction.Such features in the porewater and solid profiles were absent from the two other lakes that develop a seasonally anoxic hypolimnion. Thermodynamic calculations indicate that the porewaters of the four lakes, when sulfidic (i.e., ΣS^−II ? 0.1 μM), were undersaturated with respect to all known solid As sulfides; the calculation also predicts the presence of As^V oxythioanions in the sulfidic waters, as suggested by a recent study. In the sulfidic waters, the removal of As ( = −1 × 10⁻¹⁸ mol cm⁻³ s⁻¹ to −23 × 10⁻¹⁸ mol cm⁻³ s⁻¹) consistently occurred when saturation, with respect to FeS_(s), was reached and when As^V oxythioanions were predicted to be significant components of total dissolved As. This finding has potential implications for As transport in other anoxic waters and should be tested in a wider variety of natural environments.     

Experimental studies of metal-silicate partitioning of Sb: Implications for the terrestrial and lunar mantles

The terrestrial mantle has a well defined Sb depletion of ∼7 ± 1 (Jochum and Hofmann, 1997), and the lunar mantle is depleted relative to the Earth by a factor of ∼50 ± 5 (Wolf and Anders, 1980). Despite these well defined depletions, there are few data upon which to evaluate their origin—whether due to volatility or core formation. We have carried out a series of experiments to isolate several variables such as oxygen fugacity, temperature, pressure, and silicate and metallic melt compositions, on the magnitude of . The activity of Sb in FeNi metal is strongly composition dependent such that solubility of Sb as a function of fO₂ must be corrected for the metal composition. When the correction is applied, Sb solubility is consistent with 3+ valence. Temperature series (at 1.5 GPa) shows that decreases by a factor of 100 over 400 °C, and a pressure series exhibits an additional decrease between ambient pressure (100 MPa) and 13 GPa. A strong dependence upon silicate melt composition is evident from a factor of 100 decrease in between nbo/t values of 0.3 and 1.7. Consideration of all these variables indicates that the small Sb depletion for the Earth’s mantle can be explained by high PT equilibrium partitioning between metal and silicate melt . The relatively large lunar Sb depletion can also be explained by segregation of a small metallic core, at lower pressure conditions where is much higher (2500).     

Modeling the effects of bond environment on equilibrium iron isotope fractionation in ferric aquo-chloro complexes

Four or five sets of ab initio models, including Unrestricted Hartree Fock (UHF) and hybrid Density Functional Theory (DFT) are calculated for each species in a series of aqueous ferric aquo-chloro complexes: , , , FeCl₃(H₂O)₃, FeCl₃(H₂O)₂, , FeCl₅H₂O²⁻, , ) in order to determine the relative isotopic fractionation among the complexes, to compare the results of different models for the same complexes, to examine factors that influence the magnitude of the isotopic fractionation, and to compare bond-partner-driven fractionation with redox-driven fractionation.Relative to , all models show a nearly linear decrease in ⁵⁶Fe/⁵⁴Fe as the number of Cl⁻ ions per Fe³⁺ ion increases, with slopes of −0.8‰ to −1.0‰ per Cl⁻ at 20 °C. At 20 °C, 1000 ln β (β = ⁵⁶Fe/⁵⁴Fe reduced partition function ratio relative to a dissociated Fe atom) values range from 8.93‰ to 9.73‰ for , 8.04-9.12‰ for , 7.61-8.73‰ for , 7.14-8.25‰ for , and 3.09-4.41‰ for . The fractionation between and ranges from 1.5‰ to 2.6‰, depending on the model; this is comparable in magnitude to fractionation effects due to Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ redox reactions. β values from the UHF models are consistently higher than those from the hybrid DFT models.Isotopic fractionation is shown to be sensitive to differences in ligand bond stiffness (above), coordination number, bond length, and the frequency of the asymmetric Fe-X stretching vibrational mode, as predicted by previous theoretical studies. Complexes with smaller coordination numbers have higher 1000 ln β (7.46‰, 5.25‰, and 3.48‰ for , ,, respectively, from the B3LYP/6-31G(d) model). Species with the same number of chlorides but fewer waters also show the effect of coordination number on 1000 ln β: (7.46‰ vs. 7.05‰ for FeCl₃(H₂O)₂ vs. FeCl₃(H₂O)₃ and 5.25‰ vs. 4.94‰ for vs. FeCl₅H₂O²⁻ with the B3LYP/6-31G(d) model). As more Fe-Cl bonds substitute for Fe-OH₂ bonds (with a resulting decrease in β), the lengths of the Fe-Cl bonds and the Fe-O bonds increase.Preliminary modeling of shows an Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ fractionation of 3.2‰ for the B3LYP/6-31G(d) model, in agreement with previous studies. The addition of an explicit outer hydration sphere of 12 H₂O molecules to models of improves agreement with measured vibrational frequencies and bond lengths; 1000 ln β increases by 0.8-1.0‰. An additional hydration sphere around increases 1000 ln β by only 0.1‰.Isotopic fractionations predicted for this simple system imply that ligands present in an aqueous iron environment are potentially important drivers of fractionation, and suggest that significant fractionation effects are likely in other aqueous systems containing sulfides or organic ligands. Fractionation effects due to both speciation and redox must be considered when interpreting iron isotope fractionations in the geological record.     

The effect of sulfur on the partitioning of Ni and other first-row transition elements between olivine and silicate melt

The effect of sulfur dissolved as sulfide (S²⁻) in silicate melts on the activity coefficients of NiO and some other oxides of divalent cations (Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe and Co) has been determined from olivine/melt partitioning experiments at 1400 °C in six melt compositions in the system CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ (CMAS), and in derivatives of these compositions at 1370 °C, obtained from the six CMAS compositions by substituting Fe for Mg (FeCMAS). Amounts of S²⁻ were varied from zero to sulfide saturation, reaching 4100 μg g⁻¹ S in the most sulfur-rich silicate melt. The sulfide solubilities compare reasonably well with those predicted from the parameterization of the sulfide capacity of silicate melts at 1400 °C of O’Neill and Mavrogenes (2002), although in detail systematic deviations indicate that a more sophisticated model may improve the prediction of sulfide capacities.The results show a barely discernible effect of S²⁻ in the silicate melt on Fe, Co and Ni partition coefficients, and also surprisingly, a tiny but resolvable effect on Ca partitioning, but no detectable effect on Cr, Mn or some other lithophile incompatible elements (Sc, Ti, V, Y, Zr and Hf). Decreasing Mg# of olivine (reflecting increasing FeO in the system) has a significant influence on the partitioning of several of the divalent cations, particularly Ca and Ni. We find a remarkably systematic correlation between and the ionic radius of M²⁺, where M = Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co or Ni, which is attributable to a simple relationship between size mismatch and excess free energies of mixing in Mg-rich olivine solid solutions.Neither the effect of S²⁻ nor of Mg#^ol is large enough by an order of magnitude to account for the reported variations of obtained from electron microprobe analyses of olivine/glass pairs from mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs). Comparing these MORB glass analyses with the Ni-MgO systematics of MORB from other studies in the literature, which were obtained using a variety of analytical techniques, shows that these electron microprobe analyses are anomalous. We suggest that the reported variation of with S content in MORB is an analytical artifact.Mass balance of melt and olivine compositions with the starting compositions shows that dissolved S²⁻ depresses the olivine liquidus of haplobasaltic silicate melts by 5.8 × 10⁻³ (±1.3 × 10⁻³) K per μg g⁻¹ of S²⁻, which is negligible in most contexts. We also present data for the partitioning of some incompatible trace elements (Sc, Ti, Y, Zr and Hf) between olivine and melt. The data for Sc and Y confirm previous results showing that and decrease with increasing SiO₂ content of the melt. Values of average 0.01 with most falling in the range 0.005-0.015. Zr and Hf are considerably more incompatible than Ti in olivine, with and about 10⁻³. The ratio / is well constrained at 0.611 ± 0.016.     

Comparative carbonate and hydroxide complexation of cations in seawater

Comparative concentrations of carbonate and hydroxide complexes in natural solutions can be expressed in terms of reactions with bicarbonate that have no explicit pH dependence (). Stability constants for this reaction with n = 1 were determined using conventional formation constant data expressed in terms of hydroxide and carbonate. Available data indicate that stability constants appropriate to seawater at 25 °C expressed in the form are on the order of 10^4.2 for a wide range of cations (M^z+) with z = +1, +2 and +3. Φ₁ is sufficiently large that species appear to substantially dominate MOH^z−1 species in seawater. Evaluations of comparative stepwise carbonate and hydroxide stability constant behavior leading to the formation of n = 2 and n = 3 complexes suggest that carbonate complexes generally dominate hydroxide complexes in seawater, even for cations whose inorganic speciation schemes in seawater are currently presumed to be strongly dominated by hydrolyzed forms (). Calculated stability constants, and , indicate that the importance of carbonate complexation is sufficiently large that carbonate and hydroxide complexes would be generally comparable even if calculated Φ₂ and Φ₃ values are overestimated by two or more orders of magnitude. Inclusion of mixed ligand species in carbonate-hydroxide speciation models allows cation complexation intensities (M_T/[M^z+]) to be expressed in the following form:

     

Trace element partitioning between ilmenite, armalcolite and anhydrous silicate melt: Implications for the formation of lunar high-Ti mare basalts

We performed a series of experiments at high pressures and temperatures to determine the partitioning of a wide range of trace elements between ilmenite (Ilm), armalcolite (Arm) and anhydrous lunar silicate melt, to constrain geochemical models of the formation of titanium-rich melts in the Moon. Experiments were performed in graphite-lined platinum capsules at pressures and temperatures ranging from 1.1 to 2.3 GPa and 1300-1400 °C using a synthetic Ti-enriched Apollo ‘black glass’ composition in the CaO-FeO-MgO-Al₂O₃-TiO₂-SiO₂ system. Ilmenite-melt and armalcolite-melt partition coefficients (D) show highly incompatible values for the rare earth elements (REE) with the light REE more incompatible compared to the heavy REE ( 0.0020 ± 0.0010 to 0.069 ± 0.010 for ilmenite; 0.0048 ± 0.0023 to 0.041 ± 0.008 for armalcolite). D values for the high field strength elements vary from highly incompatible for Th, U and to a lesser extent W (for ilmenite: 0.0013 ± 0.0008, 0.0035 ± 0.0015 and 0.039 ± 0.005, and for armalcolite 0.008 ± 0.003, 0.0048 ± 0.0022 and 0.062 ± 0.03), to mildly incompatible for Nb, Ta, Zr, and Hf (e.g. 0.28 ± 0.05 and : 0.76 ± 0.07). Both minerals fractionate the high field strength elements with D_Ta/D_Nb and D_Hf/D_Zr between 1.3 and 1.6 for ilmenite and 1.3 and 1.4 for armalcolite. Armalcolite is slightly more efficient at fractionating Hf from W during lunar magma ocean crystallisation, with D_Hf/D_W = 12-13 compared to 6.7-7.5 for ilmenite. The transition metals vary from mildly incompatible to compatible, with the highest compatibilities for Cr in ilmenite (D ∼ 7.5) and V in armalcolite (D ∼ 8.1). D values show no clear variation with pressure in the small range covered.Crystal lattice strain modelling of D values for di-, tri- and tetravalent trace elements shows that in ilmenite, divalent elements prefer to substitute for Fe while armalcolite data suggest REE replacing Mg. Tetravalent cations appear to preferentially substitute for Ti in both minerals, with the exception of Th and U that likely substitute for the larger Fe or Mg cations. Crystal lattice strain modelling is also used to identify and correct for very small (∼0.3 wt.%) melt contamination of trace element concentration determinations in crystals.Our results are used to model the Lu-Hf-Ti concentrations of lunar high-Ti mare basalts. The combination of their subchondritic Lu/Hf ratios and high TiO₂ contents requires preferential dissolution of ilmenite or armalcolite from late-stage, lunar magma ocean cumulates into low-Ti partial melts of deeper pyroxene-rich cumulates.     

Microbial ammonia oxidation and enhanced nitrogen cycling in the Endeavour hydrothermal plume

Ammonium was injected from the subseafloor hydrothermal system at the Endeavour Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge, into the deep-sea water column resulting in an -rich (?177 nM) neutrally buoyant hydrothermal plume. This was quickly removed by both autotrophic ammonia oxidation and assimilation. The former accounted for at least 93% of total net removal, with its maximum rate in the neutrally buoyant plume (?53 nM d⁻¹) up to 10-fold that in background deep water. Ammonia oxidation in this plume potentially added 26-130 mg into the deep-sea water column. This oxidation process was heavily influenced by the presence of organic-rich particles, with which ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were often associated (40-68%). AOB contributed up to 10.8% of the total microbial communities within the plume, and might constitute a novel lineage of β-proteobacterial AOB based on 16S rRNA and amoA phylogenetic analyses. Meanwhile, assimilation rates were also substantially enhanced within the neutrally buoyant plume (?26.4 nM d⁻¹) and accounted for at least 47% of total net removal rates. The combined oxidation and assimilation rates always exceeded total net removal rates, suggesting active in situregeneration rates of at least an order of magnitude greater than the particulate nitrogen flux from the euphotic zone. Ammonia oxidation is responsible for turnover of 0.7-13 days and is probably the predominant in situ organic carbon production process (0.6-13 mg C m⁻² d⁻¹) at early stages of Endeavour neutrally buoyant plumes.     

Molybdenum, tungsten and manganese partitioning in the system pyrrhotite-Fe-S-O melt-rhyolite melt: Impact of sulfide segregation on arc magma evolution

Experiments were performed to determine the partitioning of molybdenum, tungsten and manganese among a rhyolitic melt (melt), pyrrhotite (po), and an immiscible Fe-S-O melt (Fe-S-O). Sulfide phases such as these may be isolated from a silicate melt along with other crystallizing phases during the evolution of arc magma, and partition coefficients are required to model the effect of this process on molybdenum and tungsten budgets.We developed an experimental design to take advantage of properties of the phases under study. Careful control of temperature allowed pyrrhotite and magnetite to be stable along with an Fe-S-O melt, and this phase assemblage allowed the composition of run-product pyrrhotite to be used to calculate both fS₂ and fO₂ for the experiments. At run temperature, (1042 ± 2 °C), a rhyolitic melt can be formed at low pressure, under nominally dry conditions, which removed the need for confining pressure as well as externally imposed fugacities. The silica-saturated melt allowed the charges to be contained in sealed evacuated silica tubes without danger of reaction, and with closed system behavior for molybdenum and tungsten.Experiments were run for durations up to 2000 min. Molybdenite (mb) and wolframite (wo) were added to the experiments as sources for molybdenum and tungsten, respectively. Manganese was added to the system as both a component of the starting rhyolitic pumice, and of Mn-bearing wolframite. Oxygen fugacity in these experiments was fixed at the Ni-NiO oxygen fugacity buffer. Sulfur fugacity was 10⁻¹ bar. Run products were analyzed by EPMA and LA-ICP-MS. Analysis of the run products yielded ( standard deviation of the mean): , , , and . The partition coefficients for manganese in this system are and .Simple Rayleigh fractionation modeling suggests that oxidized felsic melts produced through fractional crystallization may have lost as much as 14% of their initial molybdenum, but only 2% of their initial tungsten, through the removal of an Fe-S-O melt along with crystalline phases. Modeling consistent with conditions of oxygen and sulfur fugacity influenced by assimilation of sulfide (with low concentrations of molybdenum and tungsten) from, for example, sedimentary rock, results in evolved magmas significantly depleted in molybdenum, but only moderately depleted in tungsten. The molybdenum:tungsten ratio can vary by two orders of magnitude. These systematics may help to explain some of the variability in metal ratios of intrusion-related hydrothermal ore deposits.     

An XAS study of the structure and thermodynamics of Cu(I) chloride complexes in brines up to high temperature (400 °C, 600 bar)

The transport and deposition of copper in saline hydrothermal fluids are controlled by the stability of copper(I) complexes with ligands such as chloride. Despite their role in the formation of most hydrothermal copper deposits, the nature and stability of Cu(I) chloride complexes in highly saline brines remains controversial. We present new X-ray absorption data (P = 600 bar, T = 25-400 °C, salinity up to 17.2 m Cl), which indicate that the linear (x = 1, 2) complexes are stable up to supercritical conditions. Distorted trigonal planar complexes predominate at room temperature and at high salinity (>3 m LiCl): subtle changes in the XANES spectrum with increasing salinity may reflect geometric distortions of this complex. Similar changes were observed in UV-Vis data [Liu, W., Brugger, J., McPhail, D.C., Spiccia, L., 2002. A spectrophotometric study of aqueous copper(I) chloride complexes in LiCl solutions between 100 °C and 250 °C. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta66, 3615-3633], and were erroneously interpreted as a new species, . Our XAS data and ab-initio XANES calculations show that this tetrahedral species is not present to any significant degree in our solutions. The stability of the complexe decreases with increasing temperature; under supercritical conditions and in brines under magmatic-hydrothermal conditions (e.g., 15.58 m Cl, 400 °C, 600 bar), only the linear Cu(I) chloride complexes were observed. This result and the instability of the complex are also consistent with the recent ab-initio molecular dynamic calculations of Sherman [Sherman D. M.(2007) Complexation of Cu⁺ in hydrothermal NaCl brines: ab-initio molecular dynamics and energetics. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta71, 714-722]. This study illustrates the power of the quantitative nature of XANES and EXAFS measurements for deciphering the speciation of weak transition metal complexes up to magmatic-hydrothermal conditions.The systematic XANES data are used to retrieve the formation constant for at 150 °C, which is in good agreement with the reinterpretation of the UV-Vis data of Liu et al. (Liu et al., 2002). At high temperatures (?400 °C), the solubility of chalcopyrite in equilibrium with hematite-magnetite-pyrite and K-feldspar-muscovite-quartz calculated with the new properties is lower than that calculated using the previous model, and the calculated solubilities are at the lower end of the range of values measured in brine inclusions from porphyry copper systems.     

Elemental and isotopic abundances of lithium in chondrule constituents in the Allende meteorite

Elemental and isotopic abundances of lithium in chondrule constituents in the Allende CV3 meteorite were determined using secondary ion mass spectrometry. Olivines and mesostasis dominated by a feldspathic phase are depleted in Li ( and , respectively). In contrast, low-Ca pyroxenes and mesostasis dominated by a Na-rich phase are enriched in Li ( and , respectively) and the interchondrule matrix is generally enriched in Li ( on average). The Li isotopic abundance of olivine ranges from to 21. The spatial distributions of elemental and isotopic abundances of Li in olivines within individual chondrules exhibit no systematic pattern. This suggests that the distribution of Li in olivine was not disturbed during aqueous alteration or thermal metamorphism on the Allende meteorite parent body. Although mesostasis is the last crystallizing phase from a chondrule melt and is expected to be enriched in Li, in the Allende meteorite it is generally depleted in Li. We suggest that during aqueous alteration on the CV asteroid, Li in mesostasis was leached out by aqueous fluids. The Li-enriched Na-rich mesostasis was probably produced later by infiltration of Na-rich fluids. It seems likely that aqueous fluids sequestered alkali elements from the Allende-chondrite region in the CV parent asteroid, although significant amounts of Li are preserved in ferrous olivine in the interchondrule matrix.     

Free energy of formation for green rust sodium sulphate (NaFe6Fe3(OH)18(SO4)2(s))

In a recent study, sulphate-bearing green rust (GR_SO4) was shown to incorporate Na⁺ in its structure (NaFe^II₆Fe^III₃(OH)₁₈(SO₄)_2(s); GR_Na,SO4). The compound was synthesised by aerial oxidation of Fe(OH)_2(s) in the presence of NaOH. This paper reports on its free energy of formation .Freshly synthesised GR_Na,SO4 was titrated with 0.5 M H₂SO₄ in an inert atmosphere at 25 °C, producing dissolved Fe²⁺ and magnetite or goethite. Solution concentrations, PHREEQC and the MINTEQ database were used to calculate reaction constants for the reactions: