Water-rock interaction in a zone of lateral flow: A natural example from the active geothermal field and gold-mineralized zone of Beppu (Kyushu Island,Japan)

Summary Beppu is a water-dominated active geothermal system in Kyushu (Japan). Gold mineralization exists in places within altered Pleistocene volcanites in the southernmost part of this field. A shallow 300 m well was drilled in an alluvial fan deposit made up of unsorted volcanic clasts of andesite and dacite. Water and core samples were collected and a temperature log was carried out. In the depth range of 150-230 m and at temperatures of 126-148° C the main authigenic minerals are quartz, calcite, K-feldspar, mixed layers illite/smectite, stilbite and pyrite. The chemical data of the waters indicate that mixing occurs between shallow bicarbonate waters and deep Na-Cl geothermal waters in the outflow zone. The authigenic mineral assemblages found in the well are analogous to those found in the epithermal gold deposits of southern Kyushu. Au concentration data for the hydrothermal springs of Beppu (0.53 g/kg) indicate that the fluids found in the borehole at 148° C could theoretically deposit gold. It is reasonable to hypothesise that a process of mixing between deep Na-Cl fluids and shallow Ca-HCO₃-SO₄ fluids were responsible for massive silicate deposition, accompanied in places by Au mineralizations.

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Wasser-Gesteins-Wechselwirkung in einer Zone lateraler Fließbewegung: ein natürliches Beispiel aus der aktiven Geothermal-Golderz-Zone von Beppu (Kyushu, Japan)

Zusammenfassung Beppu ist ein geothermales System auf der Insel Kyushu, Japan, in der Wasser die dominante Rolle spielt. Goldvererzungen treten stellenweise in umgewandelten pleistozänen Vulkaniten im südlichsten Teil des Gebietes auf. Ein 300 m tiefes Bohrloch wurde in einem alluvialen Sedimentations-Fächer, der aus unsortierten vulkanischen Klasten, aus Andesit und Dazit besteht, niedergebracht. Wasserproben und Kernproben wurden genommen und die Temperaturen im Bohrloch systematisch gemessen. In Tiefen von 150–230 m und bei Temperaturen von 126–148°C sind die wichtigsten autigen gebildeten Minerale Quarz, Calcit, K-Feldspat, Illit/Smectit, Stilbit und Pyrit. Der Chemismus der Wässer zeigt, daß eine Mischung zwischen seichten Bikarbonat-Wässern und aus der Tiefe stammenden Na-Cl geothermalen Wässern erfolgt. Die autigenen Mineralassoziationen in diesem. Bohrloch sind vergleichbar mit denen in epithermalen Goldlagerstätten des südlichen Kyushu. Auf der Basis von existierenden Goldkonzentrationsdaten für die hydrothermalen Quellen auf Beppu (0.53 g/kg) läßt sich zeigen, daß die Fluide, die in dem Bohrloch bei 148 angetroffen wurden, theoretisch Gold absetzen könnten. Daher läßt sich die Theorie vertreten, daß Mischungsvorgänge zwischen einem aus der Tiefe stammenden Na-Cl Fluid und einem oberflächennahen Ca-HCO₃-SO₄ Wasser für die massive Silikatausscheidung verantwortlich waren, die stellenweise von Goldmineralisation begleitet wurden.

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Contribution No 4. Foreign Visiting Scientist Section, Beppu Geophysical Research Laboratory, Kyoto University.

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This paper was presented at the IGCP 291 Project Symposium Metamorphic Fluids and Mineral Deposits, ETH Zurich, March 21–23, 1991.     

U-Pb and Pb-Pb ages of zircons from basaltic eucrites: Implications for early basaltic volcanism on the eucrite parent body

We have undertaken petrologic and SHRIMP U-Th-Pb isotopic studies on zircons from basaltic eucrites (Yamato [Y]-75011, Y-792510, Asuka [A]-881388, A-881467 and Padvarninkai) with different thermal and shock histories. Eucritic zircons are associated with ilmenite in most cases and have subhedral shapes in unmetamorphosed and metamorphosed eucrites. Some zircons in highly metamorphosed eucrites with granulitic texture occur alone in pyroxene, and typically have rounded to subrounded shapes due to recrystallization. Superchondritic Zr/Hf ratios of eucritic zircons indicate that they crystallized from incompatible element-rich melts after crystallization of ilmenite. Concentrations of uranium and thorium in zircons in the unmetamorphosed eucrite Y-75011 are higher than those in metamorphosed eucrites.The U-Pb systems of eucritic zircons are almost concordant but some zircon grains show reverse discordance. Radiogenic lead-loss up to 48% from zircons is observed in the shock-melted eucrite Padvarninkai. The ²⁰⁷Pb-²⁰⁶Pb ages of zircon in Y-75011 (4550 ± 9 Ma, n = 5) are nearly identical, within analytical uncertainty, to the ages of zircons from the metamorphosed eucrite Y-792510 (4545 ± 15 Ma, n = 13), the highly metamorphosed eucrites A-881388 (4555 ± 54 Ma, n = 5) and A-881467 (4558 ± 13 Ma, n = 8), and the shock-melted eucrite Padvarninkai (4555 ± 13 Ma, n = 18). The averaged ²⁰⁷Pb-²⁰⁶Pb age of zircon from five eucrites analyzed in this study is 4554 ± 7 Ma (95% confidence limits, n = 49), indistinguishable from the averaged U-Pb age (4552 ± 9 Ma) of the same samples. Because of the high closure temperature of lead in zircon (T_closure = ∼1050°C with a cooling rate of 0.2°C/yr), the ²⁰⁷Pb-²⁰⁶Pb ages of eucritic zircon do not represent metamorphic ages but crystallization ages of extrusive lavas.This fact strongly suggests that volcanism of the eucrite parent body occurred at a very early stage of the Solar System history, 7-20 Ma after CAI formation (4567.2 ± 0.6 Ma), thus basaltic eucrites crystallized from parental magmas within a short interval following the differentiation of their parent body. The U-Pb ages of eucritic zircons are older than the U-Pb, Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr ages of some basaltic eucrites, which is consistent with differences in closure temperatures of each isotopic system, and suggests that thermal and shock metamorphism affected the isotopic systems of pyroxene, plagioclase and phosphates.     

IR active orientation of OH bending mode in topaz

Infrared (IR) and nearinfrared (NIR) absorption spectra of hydrous and F-rich topazes were measured to assign an OH bending mode of topaz. Three absorption peaks at 1165, 3650, and 4803 cm⁻¹ are assigned to OH related absorption peaks. Since a peak at 4803 cm⁻¹ can be assigned to a combination mode of 1165 and 3650 cm⁻¹, the 1165 cm⁻¹ peak is harmonic with the 3650 cm⁻¹ peak. Polarized IR absorption spectra of (100), (010), and (001) planes of the hydrous topaz were measured to examine IR active orientation of the 1165 cm⁻¹ OH related mode. Three pleochroic distributions of the absorption peak at 1165 cm⁻¹ on (100), (010), and (001) planes indicate an active orientation of the 1165 cm⁻¹ OH related mode. The IR active orientation of the 1165 cm⁻¹ OH related mode in topaz is normal to the OH dipole. The orthogonality and harmonic combination mode indicate that the 1165 cm⁻¹ peak is OH bending mode. The active orientation of OH bending mode is polarized in the plane normal to the OH dipole. The polarization suggests that anisotropic thermal vibration of protons on the hydroxyl is maximum along the IR active orientation. Received: August 16, 1996 / Revised, accepted: April 20, 1997     

Application of lattice imagery to radiation damage investigation in natural zircon

High-, intermediate-, and low-type zircon crystals of natural origin were investigated using a 1,000 kV high-resolution electron microscope. The lattice images obtained successfully for high zircon were in good accordance with computer simulated ones, and 1.5 Å separations, the nearest distance between zirconium atoms projected along the a axis, were clearly resolved under a certain instrumental condition. The images of fission tracks and surrounding areas show nearly perfect lattice images and that within the fission tracks, with a width of 20 ～ 30 Å and length of ca. 1,000 Å, the structure is heavily disordered, almost amorphous; that both sides of the tracks the lattices are displaced or dislocated, and that in the area adjacent to the tracks, bright and dark spot images occur, corresponding to vacancies and their interstitial atoms. In low zircon, the structure is completely destroyed to show an entirely amorphous state, whereas an intermediate type consists of domains of the order of 50 ～ 100 Å across with nearly regular lattices, along whose boundaries strongly disordered areas with widths of few tens of angstroms appear, but the relative orientations of the neighbouring domains are almost continuous. Thus a whole process of metamictization is visualized on a lattice scale. Metamictization proceeds principally by the formation of fission tracks, the direct result of fast movement of nuclear particles; recoil nuclei therefrom seem to play a less important role in the destruction of the structure.     

Molecular ecological study of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Siganus spinus</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">S. guttatus</Emphasis> from Okinawan waters based on mitochondrial DNA control region sequences

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region was sequenced to examine the genetic variability and gene flow of juvenile Siganus spinus and S. guttatus. In total, 461 nucleotide sequences were obtained from 69 specimens of juvenile S. spinus from Okinawa Island and Ishigaki Island, in which 17 variable sites and 22 haplotypes were identified. Haplotype diversity (h) was high (0.9244 in Okinawa and 0.8984 in Ishigaki), whereas nucleotide diversity (π) was low (0.0063 in Okinawa and 0.0059 in Ishigaki). The two populations were not genetically distinct. Siganus guttatus, which do not form large schools at recruitment, in contrast S. spinus, were also analyzed by studying 152 individuals collected off Okinawa Island, Miyako Island, and Ishigaki Island. Of 476 nucleotide sequences, 50 were variable, and 42 haplotypes were identified. Genetic variability values were high (h = 0.8766 and π = 0.0151 in Okinawa; h = 0.9640 and π = 0.0192 in Miyako; h = 0.9161 and π = 0.0199 in Ishigaki). The Okinawa population was genetically isolated from the Miyako and Ishigaki populations. As a result, genetic diversity was high for each of these siganid populations despite their being target species for fisheries; however, the degree of inter-population gene flow was higher for S. spinus than S. guttatus, suggesting that these species exhibit different dispersal strategies.     

Spin rates of fast-rotating asteroids and fragments in impact disruption

We present a new experimental result of fragment spin-rate in impact disruption, using a thin glass plate. A cylindrical projectile impacts on a side (edge) of the plate. Dispersed fragments are observed using a high-speed camera and the spin rates of fragments are measured. We find that the measured fragment spin-rate decreases with increasing size. Assuming that the rotational energy of fragments is supplied from the residual stress, the spin rate ω decreases with increasing fragment size r as ω∼r−1, which explains the above experimental results. This size-dependence is similar to that of the observed spin rates of small fast-rotating asteroids. Our results suggest that spin rates of fragments of small asteroids immediately after disruption may have a similar size-dependence, and can provide constraints on the subsequent spin-state evolution of small asteroids due to thermal torques.     

Thermo-tectonic history of Ryoke Basement in Hohi volcanic zone, northeast Kyushu, Japan: Constraints from fission track thermochronology

Abstract Apatite and zircon fission track ages from Ryoke Belt basement in northeast Kyushu show late Cretaceous, middle to late Eocene, middle Miocene and Quaternary groupings. The basement cooled through 240 ± 25°C, the closure temperature for fission tracks in zircon, mainly during the interval 74-90 Ma as a result of uplift and denudation, the pattern being uniform across northeast Kyushu. In combination with published K-Ar ages and the Turonian-Santonian age of sedimentation in the Onogawa Basin, active suturing along the Median Tectonic Line from 100-80 Ma, at least, is inferred. Ryoke Belt rocks along the northern margin of Hohi volcanic zone (HVZ) cooled rapidly through ∼100°C to less than 50°C during the middle Eocene to Oligocene, associated with 2.5-3.5 km of denudation. The timing of this cooling follows peak heating in the Eocene-Oligocene part (Murotohanto subbelt) of the Shimanto Belt in Muroto Peninsula (Shikoku) inferred previously, and coincides with the 43 Ma change in convergence direction of the Pacific-Eurasian plate and the demise of the Kula-Pacific spreading centre. Ryoke Belt rocks along the southern margin of HVZ have weighted mean apatite fission track ages of 15.3 ± 3.1 Ma. These reset ages are attributed to an increase in geothermal gradient in the middle Miocene combined with rapid denudation and uplift of at least 1.4 km. These ages indicate that heating of the overriding plate associated with the middle Miocene start of subduction of hot Shikoku Basin lithosphere extended into the Ryoke Belt in northeast Kyushu. Pleistocene apatite fission track ages from Ryoke Belt granites at depth in the centre of HVZ are due to modern annealing in a geothermal environment.     

Deep water observations of extreme waves with moored and free GPS buoys

Point-positioning GPS-based wave measurements were conducted by deep ocean (over 5,000 m) surface buoys moored in the North West Pacific Ocean in 2009, 2012, and 2013. The observed surface elevation bears statistical characteristics of Gaussian, spectrally narrow ocean waves. The tail of the averaged spectrum follows the frequency to the power of ?4 slope, and the significant wave height and period satisfies the Toba’s 3/2 law. The observations compare well with a numerical wave hindcast. Two large freak waves exceeding 13 m in height were observed in October 2009 and three extreme waves around 20 m in height were observed in October 2012 and in January 2013. These extreme events are associated with passages of a typhoon and a mid-latitude cyclone. Horizontal movement of the buoy revealed that the orbital motion of the waves at the peak of the wave group mostly exceed the weakly nonlinear estimate. For some cases, the orbital velocity exceeded the group velocity, which might indicate a breaking event but is not conclusive yet.