evaporites and siliciclastics of the permian nippewalla group of kansas usa a case for non marine deposition in saline lakes and saline pans the mid permian nippewalla group of kansas consists of bedded evaporites red bed siliciclastics and grey siliciclastics deposited in a non marine environment lithologies and sedimentary features indicate lacustrine and aeolian deposition subaerial exposure and palaeosol formation grey siliciclastic mudstones characterized by planar and convolute laminations ostracods peloids and plant material represent a freshwater brackish perennial lake facies bedded anhydrites containing gypsum crystal pseudomorphs clastic anhydrite grains and grey mud drapes and partings suggest deposition in saline lakes bedded halites consist of chevron and cumulate crystals dissolution surfaces and pipes and mudcracked microcrystalline salt crusts which were deposited in saline pans dominated by flooding evaporative concentration and desiccation chaotic halite composed of red bed mudstone and siltstone with displacive halite crystals formed in saline mudflats red bed mudstone and siltstone with little or no displacive halite but with abundant cracking root and plant features suggest deposition in a dry mudflat red bed sandstone composed of well sorted well rounded quartz grains cemented with halite indicate aeolian and rare shallow water deposition most deposition took place in halite dominated ephemeral saline lakes surrounded by saline and dry mudflats sandflats and sand dunes evaporation desiccation flooding and wind played significant roles in this environment the nippewalla group siliciclastics and evaporites represent an evolution from a perennial lacustrine system to a non marine acidic saline pan system in the mid continent of north america the problem of distinguishing between ancient marine and non marine evaporites as well as recognizing those evaporites deposited in acid settings with detailed field core and petrographical study of both evaporite deposits and associated sedimentary rocks has successfully been addressed in addition interpretations of mid permian palaeoclimate data in the form of short term air temperature proxies within longer term wet dry trends have been made these data provide a new palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic model for the mid permian of western pangaea

pge enrichment in chromitite layers and the merensky reef of the western bushveld complex a re os and rb sr isotope study abstract four poikilitic pyroxenites of the bastard unit all being relatively low in osmium concentrations define a re os isochron age of 2043 11 ma with initial 187os 188os 0 151 which is in accordance with the normally cited crystallization age of the bushveld complex the isochron fit demonstrates an excellent radiogenic os isotopic homogeneity of this portion of the complex at the time of crystallization and excludes any later disturbance of the re os isotope system initial 187os 188os ratios of platinum group element pge enriched sulfides and whole rocks of the directly underlying merensky reef are highly radiogenic and variable with values between 0 168 and 0 181 separates of chromite grains and interstitial phases of critical zone chromitite layers show initial 187os 188os signatures ranging from the near chondritic mantle values of lower group chromitites i e 0 120 to 0 137 for middle group chromitites and to 0 150 for the upper group 2 chromitite layer osmium concentrations of interstitial phases exceed those of the associated chromite in all layers by up to 30 fold showing the presence of highly pge enriched interstitial sulfides equal or very similar initial 187os 188os signatures of the interstitial minerals and the cumulus chromite grains together with their coupled increasing and decreasing trends in this ratio clearly demonstrate that interstitial sulfides and associated cumulus chromite of the different chromitite layers scavenged their osmium from the same or similar sources therefore a pge enrichment of the interstitial sulfides by a primary magmatic process such as precipitation of immiscible sulfide droplets during magma mixing appears more likely than a scenario involving fluid or melt transport of pge into these layers such a primary magmatic pge enrichment process is also preferred for the formation of the merensky reef

phosphorites glass ramps and carbonate factories the evolution of an epicontinental sea and a late palaeozoic upwelling system phosphoria rock complex this is the peer reviewed version of the following article matheson e j and frank t d 2020 phosphorites glass ramps and carbonate factories the evolution of an epicontinental sea and a late palaeozoic upwelling system phosphoria rock complex sedimentology doi 10 1111 sed 12731 which has been published in final form at https doi org 10 1111 sed 12731 this article may be used for non commercial purposes in accordance with wiley terms and conditions for use of self archived versions

neogene tectono sedimentary interaction between the calabrian accretionary wedge and the apulian foreland in the northern ionian sea abstract the structural setting of the northern ionian sea is the result of the collision between the calabrian accretionary wedge caw and the adjacent foreland i e the apulian carbonate platform the caw represents a sector of the apennine accretionary system extending in the ionian sea bounded to the west by the malta escarpment and to the east by the apulia escarpment this work presents the results of the interpretation of new seismic and bathymetric data acquired on the north eastern edge of the caw in the n ionian sea the data interpretation has identified four main structural domains from ne to sw 1 the apulian carbonate platform consisting of foreland shelf and transitional mesozoic cenozoic carbonate deposits 2 a narrow foredeep basin filled by a very thick plio quaternary succession 3 a deformed domain at the front of the caw incorporating thrusted foredeep sequences and a carbonate block of the apulian platform transpressed apulian block tab 4 a highly deformed pre pliocene accretionary wedge a mid pliocene unconformity interpreted on both the caw and apulian foreland suggests that a regional tectonic event occurred at that time related to the evolution of calabrian arc moving on the subducting oceanic ionian slab before the collision this event would correspond to a main tilting and faulting phase of the apulian foreland during the diachronous oblique collision with the caw the collision and the presence of a remnant of ionian foreland at the southern front of the accretionary prism caused a gradual transition to a transpressional tectonics which produced the uplift of the tab the tab would be the south east continuation of the amendolara ridge transpressed structure which forms the offshore extension of the pollino range this transpressed shear zone involving the apulian foreland developed above the transition between the adriatic continental crust and the subducting ionian oceanic crust

criteria for the recognition of salt pan evaporites layered evaporites can accumulate in 1 ephemeral saline pans 2 shallow perennial lagoons or lakes and 3 deep perennial basins criteria for recognizing evaporites deposited in these settings have yet to be explicitly formulated the characteristics of the ephemeral saline pan setting have been determined by examining eight holocene halite dominated pans salt pans and their deposits marine and non marine from the u s mexico egypt and bolivia these salt pans are typified by alternating periods of flooding resulting in a temporary brackish lake evaporative concentration when the lake becomes saline and desiccation which produces a dry pan fed only by groundwater the resulting deposits consist of alternating layers millimetres to decimetres of halite and mud the layers of halite are characterized by 1 vertical and horizontal cavities rounded crystal edges and horizontal truncation surfaces due to dissolution during flooding 2 vertical chevrons and cornets grown syntaxially on the bottom during the saline lake stage 3 halite cements overgrowths and euhedral cavity linings and disruption of layering into metre scale polygons produced during the desiccation stage the muddy interbeds are characterized by displacive growth of halite during the desiccation stage immediately below the surface of the pan the halite layers are matured by repeated episodes of dissolution and diagenetic crystal growth this results in porous crusts with patches of chevron and cornet crystals truncated by dissolution clear diagenetic halite cement and internal sediment these layers of mature halite closely resemble the patchy cloudy and clear textures of ancient halite deposits holocene salt pans are known to cover thousands of square kilometres and cap halite deposits hundreds of metres thick so they are realistic models for ancient evaporites in scale e g permian salado formation of new mexico texas which preserves many primary salt pan features

cooperite and braggite from the bushveld complex implications for the miscibility gap and identification analyses of the pt pd ni sulphides cooperite braggite and vysotskite reported from worldwide occurrences seem to imply a continuum of compositions between vysotskite and cooperite with no obvious miscibility gap this is contrary to the experimentally confirmed miscibility gap between cooperite and braggite and the established compositional gap between co existing cooperite and braggite from the merensky reef although the only unambiguous way of distinguishing between cooperite and braggite is to obtain structural information through x ray diffraction or equivalent techniques most identification of pt pd ni sulphides is based on microanalytical techniques due to the small grain size of most platinum group minerals ni contents also have to be considered because a classification based on the pt pd ratio alone can be very misleading naming of pt pd ni sulphide compositions with high pt contents based on qualitative or semi quantitative analyses should be avoided natural pt pd ni sulphides which project into the compositional gap established by experimental work cannot be named without supporting structural information compositions of grains which plot inside the gap are considered to be metastable and to result from the loss of pd through interaction with hydrothermal fluids

ediacaran seawater temperature evidence from inclusions of sinian halite abstract seawater temperatures throughout earth s history have been suggested to illustrate a long term cooling trend from nearly 70 c at 3500 ma to around 20 c at 800 ma the terminal neoproterozoic prior to the cambrian explosion is a key interval in evolutionary history as complex multicellularity appeared with the advent of the ediacara fauna these organisms were likely the first that required higher levels of atmospheric and dissolved marine oxygen for their sustainability it is known that most modern macroinvertebrates are intolerant of temperatures in excess of 45 c perhaps more importantly these high seawater temperatures limit the potential of dissolved oxygen and therefore become an integral part of this evolutionary story previously our understanding of seawater temperature during the terminal neoproterozoic comes only from 18 o 16 o and 30 si 28 si ratios ascertained from a limited number of cherts isotopic ratio methods for assessing seawater temperatures are inherently indirect and have a wide range of oscillation however maximum homogenization temperatures th max of primary fluid inclusions in halite provide a direct means of assessing brine temperature and have been shown to correlate well with average maximum air temperatures the oldest halites date to the neoproterozoic lower paleozoic 700 500 ma and ediacaran representatives can be found in sichuan province china which do preserve primary fluid inclusions for analysis via cooling nucleation methods we utilized halite samples from the changning 2 well correlative to the dengying formation 551 542 ma to provide a direct assessment of terminal neoproterozoic seawater temperature our measurements indicate that seawater temperatures where these halites formed are highly similar to tropical phanerozoic seawater temperature estimates from compiled paleotemperature data the decline in seawater temperatures over the course of the proterozoic accompanied by the reduction of seawater salinity with the sequestration of salt in massive halite deposits in the neoproterozoic allowed the ocean system to accumulate more dissolved oxygen and potentially paved the way for the evolutionary innovation of complex multicellularity

origin of phlogopite orthopyroxene inclusions in chromites from the merensky reef of the bushveld complex south africa about 30 of the chromite grains of variable sizes in a chromitite seam at the base of the merensky reef of the bushveld complex on the farm vlakfontein contain abundant composite mineral inclusions the inclusions are polygonal to circular with radial cracks that protrude into the enclosing chromite they vary from a few microns to several millimeters in diameter and are concentrated in the cores and mantles of chromite crystals electron backscattered patterns indicate that the host chromites are single crystals and not amalgamations of multiple grains na phlogopite and orthopyroxene are most abundant in the inclusions edenitic hornblende k phlogopite oligoclase and quartz are less abundant cl rich apatite rutile zircon and chalcopyrite are present at trace levels na phlogopite is unique to the inclusions it has not been found elsewhere in the bushveld complex other minerals in the inclusions are also present in the matrix of the chromitite seam but their compositions are different the mg mg fe2 ratios of orthopyroxene in the inclusions are slightly higher than those of orthopyroxene in the matrix k phlogopite in the inclusions contains more na than in the matrix the average compositions of the inclusions are characterized by high mgo 26 wt na2o 2 4 wt and h2o 2 6 wt and low cao 1 1 wt and feo 4 4 wt the 18o value of the trapped melt estimated by analysis of inclusion rich and inclusion poor chromites is 7 this value is consistent with the previous estimates for the bushveld magma and with the 18o values of silicate minerals throughout the reef the textural features and peculiar chemical compositions are consistent with entrapment of orthopyroxene with variable amounts of volatile rich melts during chromite crystallization the volatile rich melts are thought to have resulted from variable degrees of mixing between the magma on the floor of the chamber and na k rich fluids expelled from the underlying crystal pile the addition of fluid to the magma is thought to have caused dissolution of orthpyroxene leaving the system saturated only in chromite both oxygen and hydrogen isotopic values are consistent with the involvement of a magmatic fluid in the process of fluid addition and orthopyroxene dissolution most of the cr and al in the inclusions was contributed through wall dissolution of the host chromite dissolution of minor rutile trapped along with orthopyroxene provided most of the ti in the inclusions the na and k rich hydrous silicate minerals in the inclusions were formed during cooling by reaction between pyroxene and the trapped volatile rich melts

the concentrations of the noble metals in southern african flood type basalts and morb implications for petrogenesis and magmatic sulphide exploration concentrations of the platinum group elements have been determined in several suites of southern african flood type basalts and mid ocean ridge basalt morb covering some 3 ga of geologic evolution and including the etendeka karoo soutpansberg machadodorp hekpoort ventersdorp and dominion magmas the magmas cover a compositional range from 3 7 to 18 7 mgo 26 720 ppm ni 16 250 ppm cu and 1 255 ppb total platinum group elements pge the younger basalts etendeka karoo tend to be depleted in pge relative to cu while most of the older basalts hekpoort machadodorp ventersdorp dominion show no pge depletion relative to cu further the younger basalts tend to have lower average pt pd ratios than the older basalts and the morbs have lower average pt pd than the continental basalts within the broad groupings of old and young basalts this may reflect 1 a decreasing degree of mantle melting through geologic time and 2 source heterogeneity in that the morbs are derived from predominantly asthenospheric mantle whereas the continental basalts also contain a lithospheric mantle component enriched in pt in addition to these factors some pge fractionation also occurred during differentiation of the magmas with pd showing incompatible behaviour and the other pge variably compatible behaviour the examined southern african flood type basalts and morb appear to offer limited prospects for magmatic sulfide ores largely because they show little evidence for significant chalcophile metal depletion that could be the result of sulphide extraction during ascent and crystallization

the merensky reef at winnaarshoek eastern bushveld complex a primary magmatic hypothesis based on a wide reef facies the merensky reef on the winnaarshoek property in the central sector of the eastern limb of the bushveld complex belongs to what may be described as a wide reef facies in which platinum group element pge mineralization is largely contained within a relatively thick succession of medium grained nonpegmatoidal feldspathic orthopyroxenite bounded top and bottom by thin chromite stringers the wide reef merensky reef facies at winnaarshoek presents the opportunity to study subtle processes which could potentially be obscured or obliterated in the thinner reef facies found in many areas of the western limb especially in places where the reef zone contains a component of pegmatoidal orthopyroxenite at winnaarshoek a pegmatoidal feldspathic orthopyroxenite is developed below the lower chromite stringer and a second pegmatoidal orthopyroxenite is intermittently developed several centimeters above the upper chromite stringer in contrast to most occurrences in the western limb however both these pegmatoidal orthopyroxenites are only sporadically mineralized if at all in addition rather than being at the base of a feldspathic orthopyroxenite unit as is the case throughout most of the western limb the merensky reef at winnaarshoek occurs toward the top of a sequence of feldspathic orthopyroxenite despite the gross relative uniformity of the merensky reef on a property wide scale at winnaarshoek we demonstrate using underground channel samples that individual intersections spaced a matter of meters apart commonly display remarkable variations in grade distribution our study is based primarily on whole rock and mineral chemical profiles from drill cores through three separate and distinctive subfacies of essentially normal i e nonpothole reef one of the drill core intersections represents typical reef in which pge mineralization forms an upper reef extending from the upper chromitite stringer approximately 1 m into the underlying feldspathic pyroxenite and a much thinner lower reef centered on the lower chromitite stringer the other two drill core intersections represent extremes in terms of the vertical distribution of the pge one having mineralization confined to the immediate vicinity of the two chromitite stringers while the other is richly mineralized throughout the reef zone peaks in pge concentrations in all three intersections are coincident with the most primitive compositions of orthopyroxene plagioclase and chromite the dominant rock forming minerals whereas the cumulate layers below major pge peaks are the most evolved as indicated by mineral compositions and elevated whole rock incompatible element concentrations furthermore the lowest grade merensky reef intersection has the most chemically evolved footwall whereas the richest intersection has a relatively primitive footwall we consider the origin of the merensky reef in the context of its position as the culmination of a sequence of several pge mineralized chromite bearing layers in the upper critical zone and suggest that the regular upward variations in the chemistry of the chromitite from one layer to the next and the overall cyclicity are indicative of complex magma replenishment and mixing processes in the chamber we apply a model of lateral streaming of magma with chromite crystallization and consequent sulfide and platinum group mineral pgm precipitation resulting from magma mixing specifically the merensky reef cannot be properly interpreted outside the context of the sequence of successive events that evolved throughout the development of the upper critical zone genetic models also need to account for lateral facies variations in the reef

recognizing acid lakes and groundwaters in the rock record abstract permian red beds and evaporites in the midcontinent of the united states were formed and altered under the influence of extremely acidic some with ph

the role of magma mixing in the genesis of pge mineralization in the bushveld complex thermodynamic calculations and new interpretations the elegant magma mixing model for the formation of the platinum group elements pge mineralization associated with chromite and sulfide in the bushveld complex proposed by naldrett and von gruenewaldt 1989 has recently been questioned by cawthorn 1999 based on his own calculation cawthorn concluded that the concave upward sulfur solubility curve of a fractionated basaltic magma which is central to the model does not exist cawthorn 1999 pointed out that both the hanging wall and footwall sequences of the merensky reef formed from sulfide undersaturated magmas instead of sulfide saturated magmas as predicted by the model cawthorn argued that there is a mass balance problem with the model if these rocks did not contribute pge to the sulfides in the reef our thermodynamic calculations indicate that the concave upward curve of s solubility though different in detail from the original is very much in evidence our calculations also indicate that the content of s dissolved in the residual magma may fall below the s solubility curve when the rate of s increase in the magma due to the removal of silicate cumulates is less than the rate of increase in its s solubility due to the change in its temperature and composition during fractional crystallization mixing of such fractionated and yet sulfide undersaturated magma with appropriate amounts of a primitive magma is still capable of achieving sulfide oversaturation in the hybrid once the immiscible sulfides settle out of the magma the content of s dissolved in the hybrid may fall below its solubility curve again during further crystallization thus no sulfide segregation is expected in the rocks crystallized subsequently r factor assessment needs to consider the consequence of sulfide suspension in magma small quantities of sulfide droplets formed during the normal course of fractional crystallization may remain suspended in magma until the next replenishment and in this case they can be redissolved in the hybrid when the proportion of a new input is large enough because there is no early sulfide liquid segregation both the residual and new magmas will not be depleted in pge and are equally important for contributing pge to the sulfide liquid segregated during a subsequent magma mixing event

permian ice volume and palaeoclimate history oxygen isotope proxies revisited abstract a high resolution oxygen isotope record based on 356 measurements of conodont apatite from several low latitudinal sections in south china usa and iran was composed in order to unravel permian palaeotemperature and ice volume history the conodont apatite 18 o record is compared to published brachiopod calcite 18 o records brachiopods and conodonts from different palaeocontinents show significantly different 18 o values suggesting differences in local climatic conditions e g evaporation precipitation ratio as a consequence secular changes in palaeotemperature and oxygen isotope composition of permian sea water cannot be reconstructed from records combined from different areas but have to be based on records from a specific area oxygen isotope analyses of different conodont taxa suggest that streptognathodus and hindeodus lived in near surface seawater and recorded surface water temperature whereas the habitat of gondolellid genera was variable depending on sea level with both near surface and deeper waters as potential life habitat the oxygen isotope record measured on conodonts from south china exhibits relative high values between 22 and 23 vsmow during the glaciated early permian translating into warm seawater temperature between 26 and 30 c assuming that the late palaeozoic ice volumes were comparable to the pleistocene glacial maxima in contrast to the earlier view that the late palaeozoic ice age lpia terminated in the late sakmarian the south china conodont apatite oxygen isotope record suggests waning of the ice sheets in the kungurian ice melting is indicated by a pronounced decrease in 18 o of 2 vsmow which is interpreted as reflecting the combined effect of climatic warming and glacial ice melting significant temperature fluctuations 4 c warming succeeded by 6 to 8 c cooling are observed during the guadalupian lopingian transition interpreted as combined climate changes induced by emeishan volcanism and changes in habitat depth of gondolellid conodonts oxygen isotope values increase to 22 vsmow in the changhsingian which suggests climate cooling and clarkina moving to deeper waters because of the changhsingian sea level rise across the permian triassic boundary 18 o values decrease from 22 to 19 vsmow parallel to the significant negative carbon isotope excursion and the eruption of the siberian traps the latter is pointing to a cause effect relationship as a consequence of the massive release of volcanic greenhouse gases derived from the siberian volcanism and related processes

new evidence for 250 ma age of halotolerant bacterium from a permian salt crystal the purported oldest living organism the spore forming bacterium virgibacillus sp perm ian strain 2 9 3 was recently cultured from a brine inclusion in halite of the 250 ma permian salado formation however the antiquity of virgibacillus sp 2 9 3 has been chal lenged it has been argued that the halite crystal and the fluid inclusion from which the bacterial spores were extracted may be younger than the permian salado salts here we report that brine inclusions from the same layer of salt that housed virgibacillus sp 2 9 3 are composed of evaporated late permian seawater that was trapped in halite cement crys tals precipitated syndepositionally from shallow groundwater brines at temperatures of 17 37 8c these results support the 250 ma age of the fluid inclusions and by inference the long term survivability of microorganisms such as virgibacillus sp 2 9 3

extremely high temperatures and paleoclimate trends recorded in permian ephemeral lake halite although the late paleozoic deglaciation is arguably one of the best deep time analogs for current and predicted climate change quantitative paleotemperature data from this interval are generally lacking we reconstruct extreme paleoweather conditions and paleoclimate changes from permian nippewalla group probably uppermost leonardian kungurian north america ephemeral lake halite by using fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures to directly measure the water temperature when the halite precipitated in these depositional settings this is an excellent air temperature proxy extremely high temperatures to 73 c and large diurnal temperature ranges are evidenced in the lower nippewalla group suggesting conditions more extreme than anywhere on earth today in contrast the upper nippewalla group was cooler maximum temperature was 43 c and diurnal temperature ranges were smaller though even these conditions are similar to modern extremely hot environments comparison to prior studies suggests that these results may be indicative of regional patterns this study represents the first pre quaternary high resolution quantitative data set of extreme paleoweather and possible paleoclimate trends from fluid inclusions in halite and provides new insight into climate change during the late paleozoic deglaciation

co2 forced climate and vegetation instability during late paleozoic deglaciation the late paleozoic deglaciation is the vegetated earth9s only recorded icehouse to greenhouse transition yet the climate dynamics remain enigmatic by using the stable isotopic compositions of soil formed minerals fossil plant matter and shallow water brachiopods we estimated atmospheric partial pressure of carbon dioxide pco2 and tropical marine surface temperatures during this climate transition comparison to southern gondwanan glacial records documents covariance between inferred shifts in pco2 temperature and ice volume consistent with greenhouse gas forcing of climate major restructuring of paleotropical flora in western euramerica occurred in step with climate and pco2 shifts illustrating the biotic impact associated with past co2 forced turnover to a permanent ice free world

permian paleoclimate data from fluid inclusions in halite abstract this study has yielded surface water paleotemperatures from primary fluid inclusions in mid permian nippewalla group halite from western kansas a cooling nucleation method is used to generate vapor bubbles in originally all liquid primary inclusions then surface water paleotemperatures are obtained by measuring temperatures of homogenization to liquid homogenization temperatures ranged from 21 c to 50 c and are consistent along individual fluid inclusion assemblages indicating that the fluid inclusions have not been altered by thermal reequilibration homogenization temperatures show a range of up to 26 c from base to top of individual cloudy chevron growth bands petrographic and fluid inclusion evidence indicate that no significant pressure correction is needed for the homogenization temperature data we interpret these homogenization temperatures to represent shallow surface water paleotemperatures the range in temperatures from base to top of single chevron bands may reflect daily temperatures variations these permian surface water temperatures fall within the same range as some modern evaporative surface waters suggesting that this permian environment may have been relatively similar to its modern counterparts shallow surface water temperatures in evaporative settings correspond closely to local air temperatures therefore the permian surface water temperatures determined in this study may be considered proxies for local permian air temperatures

the distribution of chalcophile and platinum group elements in the ug 2 chromitite layer of the bushveld complex a ug 2 chromitite sample contains two sequences in which the concentrations of cu ni s pt pd rh ru and ir conform to a process of fractionation according to the rayleigh law both of these sequences are followed by others in which the trends are almost horizontal from the sequences that conform to the rayleigh law one can calculate the relations between the possible thicknesses of the magma column that gave rise to the ug 2 layer the bulk distribution coefficients and the original concentrations of the elements involved it appears that the elements were withdrawn from a surprisingly thin layer of magma between the first and the second cycles certain elements have been depleted and others enriched which indicates a heave of new magma rather than the recirculation of old partly depleted magma by a process like convective overturn the fact that s and the chalcophile elements cu and ni were concentrated in the same way and at the same time as the platinum group elements shows that the same collector was probably involved therefore sulfide could not have acted as a collector for the platinum group elements it is thought that chromite or a precursor of chromite was involved in some way with the collection process

correlation between chromite composition and pge mineralization in the critical zone of the western bushveld complex detailed mineralogical investigations of chromite in the lower and critical zones in the northwestern sector of the bushveld complex have revealed significant compositional variations with regard to modal proportions host rock lithology and stratigraphic height superimposed on these variations are long range systematic trends in the composition of chromite in the massive layers these long range trends are closely linked with the evolution of the silicate cumulates the massive chromitite layers are divided into two types type 1 comprises the chromitites hosted entirely within ultramafic cumulates while type 2 chromitites are within cyclic units in which plagioclase cumulates occur the types are also distinguishable by their respective contents of platinum group elements pges and distribution patterns thereof viz the ratios between ru os ir and pt pd rh or relative element proportions both of which display a systematic change with height in accordance with chromite composition the relation between silicate geochemistry chromite composition and pge tenor leads to the development of a model explaining the formation of pge mineralized sulphide poor chromitite layers in the critical zone of the bushveld complex

paleobrine temperatures chemistries and paleoenvironments of silurian salina formation f 1 salt michigan basin u s a from petrography and fluid inclusions in halite abstract a 3 7 m stratigraphic section of the silurian salina group f 1 salt detroit salt company mine michigan basin was studied to document the paleodepositional conditions including brine chemistry and temperature of evaporite precipitation sedimentary features including rippled surfaces halite chevrons cumulate halite and dissolution surfaces confirm a shallow water depositional setting penecontemporaneous dissolution surfaces indicate that waters undersaturated with respect to halite were introduced into the michigan basin and that the basin brines were nonstratified during flooding allowing inflow waters to come into contact with halite crystals at the bottom fluid inclusions in primary chevron halite have homogenization temperatures between 5 and 25 c which represent brine temperatures during halite precipitation these temperatures are lower than expected for a marginal marine basin at a subtropical paleolatitude and they suggest a climatic cold spell for a period of thousands of years the major ions in fluid inclusion brines analyzed using the esem x ray eds method have relatively low concentrations of na mg2 and so42 and elevated concentrations of ca2 compared to modern seawater brine inclusion chemistries from the f 1 salt compare closely with the major ion composition of fluid inclusions from other silurian marine halites a 1 a 2 and b evaporites of the salina group and carribuddy group canning basin australia these results indicate a seawater parentage of the michigan basin f 1 salts and that the major ion chemistry of seawater remained more or less constant during the last 15 million years of the silurian detailed documentation of the temperatures brine chemistries and environments of halite deposition is a prerequisite for geobiological study of the entrapment of ancient microbes in salt the results reported here can help pinpoint the timing of entrapment of microorganisms in fluid inclusions in halite and can be used to argue that brine inclusions in the f 1 halites have been isolated and preserved in an unmodified state for more than 400 million years

carnallite mineralization in the nonmarine qaidam basin china evidence for the early diagenetic origin of potash evaporites modern potash evaporites carnallite mgkcl 3 6h 2 o occur at the qarhan salt plain qaidam basin china field and petrographic evidence shows that carnallite formed at the surface on the margins of dabusun lake is an extensively modified ephemeral deposit carnallite preserved at depth 0 13 m consists of coarse crystals formed as cement in primary halite layers and as displacive crystals in muds carnallite from the subsurface of qarhan salt plain displays textures identical to ancient potash evaporites from the permian salado formation new mexico and the devonian prairie formation saskatchewan canada the early diagenetic formation of carnallite on the northern shoreline of dabusun lake is probably a modern phenomenon because 1 groundwater brines at or above carnallite saturation occur to depths of up to 17 m and 2 brines trapped in fluid inclusions in primary halites from 0 to 45 m depth are well below carnallite saturation but become progressively more concentrated toward the modern surface fluid inclusion brines in the youngest halites less than 1 m depth reflecting modern surface brines are the most concentrated lake waters observed sinking and cooling of these surface brines to temperatures consistent with measured temperature profiles produces carnallite supersaturated conditions because of the strong temperature control on carnallite solubility

contrasting sulphide contents of the bushveld and sudbury igneous complexes the sudbury igneous complex sic contains abundant sulphides especially near the base and hosts one of the world s largest nickel and copper deposits the bushveld complex bc contains relatively little sulphide but hosts the world s largest platinum group element deposits the most recent calculations of the sulphur solubility in magmas that produced the bc are based on the sulphur solubility of mid ocean ridge basalts that have less sio2 than bushveld magmas such a difference may lead to an overestimation of sulphur solubility by as much as 25 the revised sulphur solubility curve presented here for bushveld magmas may also have relevance to the sic in view of its siliceous nature sulphur solubility curves can be used to determine the proportion of sulphide expected in cumulate rocks once sulphur saturation is attained these models are tested using observed sulphide contents in both intrusions the observed decreasing sulphur contents 0 3 0 05 s from the base of the sic upward are broadly consistent with these sulphur solubility curves and are consistent with sulphide saturation through the entire mafic portion in contrast the lower half of the bc contains extremely little sulphur generally 0 02 s except for two thin layers which is not consistent with sustained sulphide saturation at any level previous interpretations of the sulphur content of bushveld rocks have suggested that the lower and critical zones were sulphide saturated but that they had then lost some of the sulphide due to various processes the present sulphide content of the cumulates of the bc is so low that if they had once been saturated over 90 of all the sulphide must have been removed mass balance calculations indicate that these large amounts of displaced sulphur remain unaccounted for in such models instead the observed sulphur contents are in reasonable agreement with that expected in a cumulate sequence forming from a sulphur undersaturated magma whereas the merensky reef and bastard pyroxenite contain minor sulphides the compositions of the immediate hanging wall rocks indicate sulphide undersaturation such an abrupt return to sulphide undersaturation is not consistent with models involving sulphide formation from large volumes of magma one possible explanation for these two observations is that intermittent sulphur degassing occurred through a fractured roof of the bc so that the magma was never continuously sulphur saturated with respect to an immiscible sulphide liquid

200 k y paleoclimate record from death valley salt core a 186 m long core dv93 1 from death valley california composed of interbedded salts and muds contains a 200 k y record of closed basin environments and paleoclimates interpreted on the basis of sedimentology ostracodes homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions in halite and correlation with shoreline tufa the 200 k y paleoclimate record is dominated by two dry and or warm and wet and cold cycles that occurred on a 100 k y time scale these cycles begin with mud flat deposits 192 ka to bottom of core and 60 ka to 120 ka wetter and or colder conditions produced greater effective moisture saline pan and shallow saline lake evaporites overlie mud flat sediments 186 ka to 192 ka and 35 ka to 60 ka eventually enough water entered death valley to sustain perennial lakes that had fluctuating water levels and salinities 120 ka to 186 ka and 10 ka to 35 ka when more arid conditions returned mud flat deposits accumulated on top of the perennial lake sediments completing the cycle 120 ka and 10 ka of particular significance are the major lacustrine phases 10 ka to 35 ka and 120 ka to 186 ka oxygen isotope stages 2 and 5e 6 which represent markedly colder and wetter conditions than those of modern death valley of the two major lake periods the penultimate glacial lakes were deeper and far longer lasting than those of the last glacial

the bushveld complex south africa formation of platinum palladium chrome and vanadium rich layers via hydrodynamic sorting of a mobilized cumulate slurry in a large relatively slowly cooling subsiding magma chamber platinum group element pge deposits in the bushveld complex and other layered intrusions form when large incompletely solidified magma chambers undergo central subsidence in response to crustal loading resulting in slumping of semi consolidated cumulate slurries to the centres of the intrusions and hydrodynamic unmixing of the slurries to form dense layers enriched in sulfides oxides olivine and pyroxene and less dense layers enriched in plagioclase the most economic pge cr and v reefs form in large multiple replenished intrusions because these cool relatively slowly and their central portions subside prior to termination of magmatism and complete cumulate solidification the depth of emplacement has to be relatively shallow as otherwise ductile crust would not be able to flex and collapse in smaller intrusions cooling rates are faster subsidence is less pronounced and where it occurs the cumulate may be largely solidified resulting in insignificant mush mobility and mineral sorting layering is thus less pronounced and less regular and continuous and the grades of the reefs are lower but the reefs can be relatively thicker an additional factor controlling the pge cr and v prospectivity of intrusions is their location within cratons intra cratonic environments offer more stable emplacement conditions that are more amenable to the formation of large layered igneous bodies furthermore intrusions sited within cratons are more readily preserved because cratons are underlain by thick buoyant keels of harzburgite that prevent plate tectonic recycling and destruction of crust

paleotemperatures preserved in fluid inclusions in halite a variety of paleoclimate proxy records allow determination of relative warming or cooling however if we are to understand climate change quantification of past temperature fluctuations is essential our research indicates that fluid inclusions in halite can yield homogenization temperatures that record surface brine temperatures at the time of halite precipitation to avoid problems with stretching leaking and initial trapping of air samples with primary single phase liquid fluid inclusions are chilled in a freezer to nucleate vapor bubbles we tested the reliability of this method of obtaining fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures using modern salts precipitated at badwater basin death valley california homogenization temperatures correlate well with measured brine temperatures the same method is applied to fluid inclusions in pleistocene halite from a core taken at the same location in death valley results are at several scales recording diurnal temperature variations seasonal temperature fluctuations and longer term warming and cooling events that correlate with major changes in the sedimentary environment related to climate this technique is uniquely instrumental for paleoclimate studies because it offers actual not just proxy paleotemperature data 27 refs 17 figs

halite depositional facies in a solar salt pond a key to interpreting physical energy and water depth in ancient deposits subaqueous deposits of aragonite gypsum and halite are accumulating in shallow solar salt ponds constructed in the pekelmeer a sea level salina on bonaire netherlands antilles several halite facies are deposited in the crystallizer ponds in response to difference in water depth and wave energy cumulate halite which originates as floating rafts is present only along the protected upwind margins of ponds where low energy conditions foster their formation and preservation cornet crystals with peculiar mushroom and mortarboard shaped caps precipitate in centimetre deep brine sheets within a couple of metres of the upwind or low energy margins downwind from these margins cornet and chevron halite precipitate on the pond floors in water depths ranging from a few centimetres to approximately 60 cm halite pisoids with radial concentric structure are precipitated in the swash zone along downwind high energy shorelines where they form pebbly beaches this study suggests that primary halite facies are energy and or depth dependent and that some primary features if preserved in ancient halite deposits can be used to infer physical energy conditions subenvironments such as low to high energy shorelines and extremely shallow water depths in ancient evaporite basins

paleotemperatures from fluid inclusions in halite method verification and a 100 000 year paleotemperature record death valley ca abstract maximum homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions thmax in halite laboratory grown crystals and modern samples death valley ca match maximum brine temperatures during halite precipitation maximum brine temperatures during halite precipitation in death valley late april 1993 34 4 c agree with thmax 34 c and correlate well with average maximum air temperatures in april 31 3 c and may 37 6 c thmax may be used for paleoclimate interpretations based on the close relationship between saline lake temperatures and average air temperatures from modern settings lower homogenization temperatures demonstrably below the temperatures at which halite grew are interpreted to reflect collapse of some fluid inclusion walls due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of inclusions by only using thmax the problems of anomalously low homogenization temperatures due to possible collapse of fluid inclusions are avoided halite samples from 30 stratigraphic intervals 90 to 0 m 100 to 0 ka core dv93 1 death valley ca were used to measure homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions virtually all homogenization temperatures from core dv93 1 are below the modern thmax of 34 c halite precipitation late april 1993 lacustrine halites deposited in a perennial saline lake 35 to 10 ka have thmax between 19 c and 30 c which suggests brine temperatures approximately 4 c to 15 c below modern late april values ephemeral saline lake halites precipitated 60 to 35 ka have thmax between 23 c and 28 c 6 to 11 c below modern values the highest thmax value in the 100 ka record up to 35 c is from a halite sample formed approximately 100 ka in a climate regime somewhat colder than the modern

character of the ug2 chromitite and host rocks and petrogenesis of its pegmatoidal footwall northeastern bushveld complex the ug2 chromitite and its immediate footwall have been mapped at the centimeter scale in a characteristic section exposed in a wall in the middelpunt mine northeast bushveld complex in this region the ug2 chromitite and its coarse grained footwall rocks are underlain and overlain by plagioclase pyroxenite the ug2 chromitite itself is a massive 70 cm thick layer composed of 75 to 90 percent chromite with plagioclase as the dominant interstitial mineral immediately beneath the chromitite is the so called mixed layer a previously undescribed but distinct mappable layer 50 to 70 cm thick consisting of chromite bearing pegmatoidal pyroxenite and chromitite intimately mixed at scales of centimeters to decimeters the mixture is chaotic with no megascopic fabric and contains in bulk about 15 percent chromite the contact between the mixed layer and overlying chromitite is well defined but sinuous at scales of centimeters to decimeters based on observations of drill core and outcrop the mixed layer appears to exist throughout the central sector of the eastern bushveld and may be ubiquitous throughout the entire complex the mixed layer usually rests directly on the ug2 pegmatoid which is a well known and widespread pegmatoidal plagioclase pyroxenite the pegmatoid is much coarser grained than the underlying pyroxenite but the two lithologic units are similar in terms of mineral modes and compositions the contact between them is irregular at scales of decimeters to meters with vertical fingers of pegmatoid extending into the pyroxenite the mixed layer and ug2 pegmatoid contain rare lenses of massive anorthosite encased by continuous centimeter thick rims of chromitite a model is proposed to account for the footwall sequence of the ug2 chromitite in this model the ug2 pegmatoid formed when hydrous interstitial melt percolated up through the partially molten crystal pile accumulated beneath the preexisting compacted massive chromitite and metasomatized and partially melted the pyroxenite protolith which upon cooling recrystallized to a coarse grained rock on the basis of published experiments illustrating the effect of water on melting in mafic systems it is shown how the hydrous melt was able to penetrate the pyroxene bearing assemblages below the chromitite but unable to partially melt the chromitite itself which in consequence remained relatively impermeable the anorthosite lenses in the pegmatoid mark local areas of relatively high degrees of hydration partial melting with the anorthosite representing the crystalline residue the mixed layer formed by gradual collapse of the base of the ug2 chromitite into the less dense relatively fluid footwall the mixed layer and ug2 pegmatoid are diagnostic of the ug2 chromitite and the three lithologic units should be considered a single petrologic unit

platinum group elements in silicate rocks of the lower critical and main zones at union section western bushveld complex concentration patterns of platinum group elements pge in the lower critical and main zones of the bushveld complex are modelled by a process of metal collection by segregating sulphide melt followed by fractional crystallization of monosulphide solid solution mss separation of os ir ru rh enriched mss cumulate ore and pt pd enriched residual sulphide melt is inferred to have occurred by upward percolation of interstitial silicate melt entraining sulphide melt whereas mss crystals are entrapped by early crystallizing chromite this process resulted in os ir ru rh enrichment of the chromitites and an upward increasing trend of pt pd os ir ru crystallization of platinum group minerals pgm from s undersaturated sulphide melt or from coalescing noble metal clusters are alternative possibilities to explain the observed pge patterns but remain difficult to model at present remobilization of pt and pd by percolating late magmatic hydrous fluids could have resulted in metal enrichment of pre existing magmatic sulphides but this model is not supported by the metal budget of the reefs and the field data there is no evidence for solid substitution of pge into oxides and silicates

the ug2 merensky reef interval of the bushveld complex northwest of pretoria northwest of pretoria the ug2 merensky reef interval overlies a critical zone lower zone sequence that contains numerous large blocks of floor material nevertheless individual layers can be correlated with equivalent units at crocodile river mine the rustenburg impala union and amandelbult sections concentrations of platinum group elements in two borehole intersections of the ug2 chromitite are 4 ppm over 1 2 m and 2 4 ppm over 2 2 m therefore bulk pge levels appear to be only moderately lower than those at western platinum mine this renders models explaining pge enrichment by upward percolating melt or fluids problematic the merensky reef although containing sulphides is only weakly mineralized with pge 0 6 ppm the ug2 pyroxenite is separated from the ug2 chromitite by a 15 m noritic layer the introduction of feldspathic cumulates between two units that elsewhere directly overly each other may be explained by the more evolved composition of resident magma in those parts of the chamber distally located with regard to a major feeder zone at union section it also suggests that the ug2 unit is a multiple rather than a single cyclic unit