Articles | Volume 6, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-6-253-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-6-253-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
20 Feb 2015
Research article |
| 20 Feb 2015
The rheological behaviour of fracture-filling cherts: example of Barite Valley dikes, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa
M. Ledevin
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
ISTerre, CNRS, 38041 Grenoble CEDEX 9, France
N. Arndt
ISTerre, CNRS, 38041 Grenoble CEDEX 9, France
A. Davaille
FAST, CNRS, Univ. Paris Sud, Orsay CEDEX, France
R. Ledevin
LBBE, CNRS, Univ. Lyon 1, 69622 Villeurbanne CEDEX, France
A. Simionovici
ISTerre, CNRS, 38041 Grenoble CEDEX 9, France
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S. Bouquain, N. T. Arndt, F. Faure, and G. Libourel
Solid Earth, 5, 641–650, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-5-641-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-5-641-2014, 2014
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First report of ultra-high pressure metamorphism in the Paleozoic Dunhuang orogenic belt (NW China): Constrains from P-T paths of garnet clinopyroxenite and SIMS U-Pb dating of titanite
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Solid Earth, 15, 167–196, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-15-167-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-15-167-2024, 2024
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Plate tectonics theory is the motion of rocky plates (lithosphere) over ductile zones (asthenosphere). The causes of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB) are controversial; however, petit-spot volcanism supports the presence of melt at the LAB. We conducted geochemistry, geochronology, and geochemical modeling of petit-spot volcanoes on the western Pacific Plate, and the results suggested that carbonatite melt and recycled oceanic crust induced the partial melting at the LAB.
Matthis Frey, Claire Bossennec, Lukas Seib, Kristian Bär, Eva Schill, and Ingo Sass
Solid Earth, 13, 935–955, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-935-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-935-2022, 2022
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The crystalline basement is considered a ubiquitous and almost inexhaustible source of geothermal energy in the Upper Rhine Graben. Interdisciplinary investigations of relevant reservoir properties were carried out on analogous rocks in the Odenwald. The highest hydraulic conductivities are expected near large-scale fault zones. In addition, the combination of structural geological and geophysical methods allows a refined mapping of potentially permeable zones.
Ernest Rutter, Julian Mecklenburgh, and Yusuf Bashir
Solid Earth, 13, 725–743, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-725-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-725-2022, 2022
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Underground energy and waste storage require repurposing of existing oil and gas wells for gas storage, compressed air, hydrogen, methane, and CO2 disposal, requiring an impermeable cap rock (e.g. shales) over the porous reservoir. We measured shale permeability over a range of burial pressures and gas pore pressures. Permeability decreases markedly as effective pressure on the rocks is increased. Knowing these relationships is essential to the safe design of engineered gas reservoirs.
Peleg Haruzi, Regina Katsman, Matthias Halisch, Nicolas Waldmann, and Baruch Spiro
Solid Earth, 12, 665–689, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-665-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-665-2021, 2021
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In this paper, we evaluate a multi-methodological approach for the comprehensive characterization of reservoir sandstones. The approach enables identification of links between rock permeability and textural and topological rock descriptors quantified at microscale. It is applied to study samples from three sandstone layers of Lower Cretaceous age in northern Israel, which differ in features observed at the outcrop, hand specimen and micro-CT scales, and leads to their accurate characterization.
Zhen M. G. Li, Hao Y. C. Wang, Qian W. L. Zhang, Meng-Yan Shi, Jun-Sheng Lu, Jia-Hui Liu, and Chun-Ming Wu
Solid Earth Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2020-95, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2020-95, 2020
Preprint withdrawn
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This manuscript provides the first evidence of ultra-high metamorphism in the Paleozoic Dunhuang orogenic belt (NW China). Though no coesite or diamond was found in the samples or in this orogen, the geothermobarometric computation results and petrographic textures all suggest that the garnet clinopyroxenite experienced ultra-high pressure metamorphism, and SIMS U-Pb dating of titanite indicates that the post peak, subsequent tectonic exhumation of the UHP rocks occurred in the Devonian.
Johannes Stefanski and Sandro Jahn
Solid Earth, 11, 767–789, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-767-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-767-2020, 2020
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The capacity of aqueous fluids to mobilize rare Earth elements is closely related to their molecular structure. In this study, first-principle molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate the complex formation of yttrium with chloride and fluoride under subduction-zone conditions. The simulations predict that yttrium–fluoride complexes are more stable than their yttrium–chloride counterparts but likely less abundant due to the very low fluoride ion concentration in natural systems.
Alice Vho, Pierre Lanari, Daniela Rubatto, and Jörg Hermann
Solid Earth, 11, 307–328, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-307-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-307-2020, 2020
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This study presents an approach that combines equilibrium thermodynamic modelling with oxygen isotope fractionation modelling for investigating fluid–rock interaction in metamorphic systems. An application to subduction zones shows that chemical and isotopic zoning in minerals can be used to determine feasible fluid sources and the conditions of interaction. Slab-derived fluids can cause oxygen isotope variations in the mantle wedge that may result in anomalous isotopic signatures of arc lavas.
Xin Zhong, Evangelos Moulas, and Lucie Tajčmanová
Solid Earth, 11, 223–240, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-223-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-223-2020, 2020
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In this study, we present a 1-D visco-elasto-plastic model in a spherical coordinate system to study the residual pressure preserved in mineral inclusions. This allows one to study how much residual pressure can be preserved after viscous relaxation. An example of quartz inclusion in garnet host is studied and it is found that above 600–700 °C, substantial viscous relaxation will occur. If one uses the relaxed residual quartz pressure for barometry, erroneous results will be obtained.
Federico Lucci, Gerardo Carrasco-Núñez, Federico Rossetti, Thomas Theye, John Charles White, Stefano Urbani, Hossein Azizi, Yoshihiro Asahara, and Guido Giordano
Solid Earth, 11, 125–159, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-125-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-125-2020, 2020
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Understanding the anatomy of active magmatic plumbing systems is essential to define the heat source(s) feeding geothermal fields. Mineral-melt thermobarometry and fractional crystallization (FC) models were applied to Quaternary volcanic products of the Los Humeros Caldera (Mexico). Results point to a magmatic system controlled by FC processes and made of magma transport and storage layers within the crust, with significant implications on structure and longevity of the geothermal reservoir.
Tomoaki Morishita, Naoto Hirano, Hirochika Sumino, Hiroshi Sato, Tomoyuki Shibata, Masako Yoshikawa, Shoji Arai, Rie Nauchi, and Akihiro Tamura
Solid Earth, 11, 23–36, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-23-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-23-2020, 2020
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We report a peridotite xenolith-bearing basalt dredged from the Seifu Seamount (SSM basalt) in the northeast Tsushima Basin, southwest Sea of Japan, which is one of the western Pacific back-arc basin swarms. An 40Ar / 39Ar plateau age of 8.33 ± 0.15 Ma (2 σ) was obtained for the SSM basalt, indicating that it erupted shortly after the termination of back-arc spreading. The SSM basalt was formed in a post-back-arc extension setting by the low-degree partial melting of an upwelling asthenosphere.
Ariadni A. Georgatou and Massimo Chiaradia
Solid Earth, 11, 1–21, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-1-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-1-2020, 2020
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We study the petrographical and geochemical occurrence of magmatic sulfide minerals in volcanic rocks for areas characterised by different geodynamic settings, some of which are associated with porphyry (Cu and/or Au) and Au epithermal mineralisation. The aim is to investigate the role of magmatic sulfide saturation processes in depth for ore generation in the surface.
Massimiliano Tirone
Solid Earth, 10, 1409–1428, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1409-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1409-2019, 2019
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The prevalent assumption in solid Earth science is that if we have different lithologies in the mantle they are separately in chemical equilibrium and together in chemical disequilibrium; this is the condition that at the moment defines a chemically heterogeneous mantle. The main contribution of this study is to show that this may not be the case. We can have (partial) chemical equilibration between the two and still observe a chemically heterogeneous mantle.
Francesco Giuntoli, Pierre Lanari, and Martin Engi
Solid Earth, 9, 167–189, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-167-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-167-2018, 2018
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Continental high-pressure terranes in orogens offer insight into deep recycling and transformation processes that occur in subduction zones. These remain poorly understood, and currently debated ideas need testing. We document complex garnet zoning in eclogitic mica schists from the Sesia Zone (western Italian Alps). These retain evidence of two orogenic cycles and provide detailed insight into resorption, growth, and diffusion processes induced by fluid pulses under high-pressure conditions.
Francesco Giuntoli, Pierre Lanari, Marco Burn, Barbara Eva Kunz, and Martin Engi
Solid Earth, 9, 191–222, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-191-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-191-2018, 2018
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Subducted continental terranes commonly comprise an assembly of subunits that reflect the different tectono-metamorphic histories they experienced in the subduction zone. Our challenge is to unravel how, when, and in which part of the subduction zone these subunits were juxtaposed. Our study documents when and in what conditions re-equilibration took place. Results constrain the main stages of mineral growth and deformation, associated with fluid influx that occurred in the subduction channel.
Elizaveta Kovaleva, Håkon O. Austrheim, and Urs S. Klötzli
Solid Earth, 8, 789–804, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-789-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-789-2017, 2017
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This is a study of unusual coronae textures formed by zircon in granulitic metapelites, Ivrea–Verbano Zone (northern Italy). Zircon coronas occur in two generations: (1) thick (5–20 µm) crescent-shaped aggregates and (2) thin (≤ 1 µm) thread-shaped and tangled coronae. Both are found in the same petrological context, so that the difference between two generations is very conspicuous. Formation of zircon coronae is attributed to the two-stage decomposition of Fe–Ti oxides, a rich source of Zr.
Paula Ogilvie and Roger L. Gibson
Solid Earth, 8, 93–135, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-93-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-93-2017, 2017
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Coronas are vital clues to the presence of arrested reaction in metamorphic rocks. We review formation mechanisms of coronas and approaches utilized to model their evolution in P–T–X space. Forward modelling employing calculated chemical potential gradients allows a far more nuanced understanding of the intricacies that govern metamorphic reaction. These models have critical implications for the limitations and opportunities coronas afford in interpreting the evolution of metamorphic terranes.
Faisal Khan, Frieder Enzmann, and Michael Kersten
Solid Earth, 7, 481–492, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-481-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-481-2016, 2016
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X-ray microtomography image processing involves artefact reduction and image segmentation. The beam-hardening artefact is removed, applying a new algorithm, which minimizes the offsets of the attenuation data points. For the segmentation, we propose using a non-linear classifier algorithm. Statistical analysis was performed to quantify the improvement in multi-phase classification of rock cores using and without using our advanced beam-hardening correction algorithm.
Linda Luquot, Vanessa Hebert, and Olivier Rodriguez
Solid Earth, 7, 441–456, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-441-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-441-2016, 2016
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To evaluate oil and gas production, accurate characterization (usually based on laboratory experiments) of reservoir rock properties needs to be performed. X-ray scanning samples enable obtaining 3-D images of the rock inner structure from which those properties can be obtained using images processing. This article shows that these two approaches are complementary and yield consistent results. Moreover, image-based calculations allow to save a huge amount of time compared to lab-based measures.
E. Berrezueta, B. Ordóñez-Casado, and L. Quintana
Solid Earth, 7, 37–53, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-37-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-37-2016, 2016
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The aim of this article is to describe and interpret qualitative and quantitative changes at the rock matrix scale of Cretaceous sandstones (northern Spain) exposed to supercritical CO2 and brine. Experimental CO2-rich brine injection was performed in a reactor chamber under realistic conditions of deep saline formations (P ≈ 7.8 MPa, T ≈ 38 °C and 24 h exposure time). SEM and optical microscopy, aided by optical image processing and chemical analyses were used to study the rock samples.
S. Wiesmaier, D. Morgavi, C. J. Renggli, D. Perugini, C. P. De Campos, K.-U. Hess, W. Ertel-Ingrisch, Y. Lavallée, and D. B. Dingwell
Solid Earth, 6, 1007–1023, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-6-1007-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-6-1007-2015, 2015
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We reproduced in an experiment the mixing of two different magmas by bubbles. Bubbles form filaments when dragging portions of one magma into another and thus mingle both magmas. Bubble mixing must be an accelerating process in nature, because formed filaments are channels of low resistance for subsequently rising bubbles. In natural gas-rich magmas, this may be an important mechanism for magma mixing. Natural samples from Axial Seamount show evidence for bubble mixing.
K. Jamshidi, H. Ghasemi, V. R. Troll, M. Sadeghian, and B. Dahren
Solid Earth, 6, 49–72, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-6-49-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-6-49-2015, 2015
I. V. Ashchepkov, N. V. Alymova, A. M. Logvinova, N. V. Vladykin, S. S. Kuligin, S. I. Mityukhin, H. Downes, Yu. B. Stegnitsky, S. A. Prokopiev, R. F. Salikhov, V. S. Palessky, and O. S. Khmel'nikova
Solid Earth, 5, 915–938, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-5-915-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-5-915-2014, 2014
S. Bouquain, N. T. Arndt, F. Faure, and G. Libourel
Solid Earth, 5, 641–650, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-5-641-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-5-641-2014, 2014
V. R. Troll, A. Klügel, M.-A. Longpré, S. Burchardt, F. M. Deegan, J. C. Carracedo, S. Wiesmaier, U. Kueppers, B. Dahren, L. S. Blythe, T. H. Hansteen, C. Freda, D. A. Budd, E. M. Jolis, E. Jonsson, F. C. Meade, C. Harris, S. E. Berg, L. Mancini, M. Polacci, and K. Pedroza
Solid Earth, 3, 97–110, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-3-97-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-3-97-2012, 2012
M. Nasrabady, F. Rossetti, T. Theye, and G. Vignaroli
Solid Earth, 2, 219–243, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2-219-2011, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2-219-2011, 2011
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Short summary
We investigate the composition, physical and rheological properties of fluids at the origin of Palaeoarchean chert dikes in South Africa. The dikes formed by repetitive hydraulic fracturing as overpressured oceanic fluids were released at low temperatures as a siliceous slurry. The gelation capacity of silica conferred the chert precursor a viscoelastic, probably thixotrope behaviour. It is an additional step to understand fluid circulations towards the ocean floor, the habitat of early life.
We investigate the composition, physical and rheological properties of fluids at the origin of...
