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
Related authors
No articles found.
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
Related subject area
Petrology
Interdisciplinary fracture network characterization in the crystalline basement: a case study from the Southern Odenwald, SW Germany
Matrix gas flow through “impermeable” rocks – shales and tight sandstone
Benchmark study using a multi-scale, multi-methodological approach for the petrophysical characterization of reservoir sandstones
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
Yttrium speciation in subduction-zone fluids from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations
Tracing fluid transfers in subduction zones: an integrated thermodynamic and δ18O fractionation modelling approach
Post-entrapment modification of residual inclusion pressure and its implications for Raman elastic thermobarometry
Anatomy of the magmatic plumbing system of Los Humeros Caldera (Mexico): implications for geothermal systems
Alkali basalt from the Seifu Seamount in the Sea of Japan: post-spreading magmatism in a back-arc setting
Magmatic sulfides in high-potassium calc-alkaline to shoshonitic and alkaline rocks
Chemical heterogeneities in the mantle: progress towards a general quantitative description
Deeply subducted continental fragments – Part 1: Fracturing, dissolution–precipitation, and diffusion processes recorded by garnet textures of the central Sesia Zone (western Italian Alps)
Deeply subducted continental fragments – Part 2: Insight from petrochronology in the central Sesia Zone (western Italian Alps)
Interpretation of zircon coronae textures from metapelitic granulites of the Ivrea–Verbano Zone, northern Italy: two-stage decomposition of Fe–Ti oxides
Arrested development – a comparative analysis of multilayer corona textures in high-grade metamorphic rocks
Multi-phase classification by a least-squares support vector machine approach in tomography images of geological samples
Calculating structural and geometrical parameters by laboratory measurements and X-ray microtomography: a comparative study applied to a limestone sample before and after a dissolution experiment
Qualitative and quantitative changes in detrital reservoir rocks caused by CO2–brine–rock interactions during first injection phases (Utrillas sandstones, northern Spain)
Magma mixing enhanced by bubble segregation
Magma storage and plumbing of adakite-type post-ophiolite intrusions in the Sabzevar ophiolitic zone, northeast Iran
Picroilmenites in Yakutian kimberlites: variations and genetic models
An experimental study of pyroxene crystallization during rapid cooling in a thermal gradient: application to komatiites
Floating stones off El Hierro, Canary Islands: xenoliths of pre-island sedimentary origin in the early products of the October 2011 eruption
Metamorphic history and geodynamic significance of the Early Cretaceous Sabzevar granulites (Sabzevar structural zone, NE Iran)
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Cited articles
Amiri, A., Øye, G., and Sjo'blom, J.: Influence of pH, high salinity and particle concentration on stability and rheological properties of aqueous suspensions of fumed silica, Colloids Surf. A, Physicochem. Eng. Aspects, 349, 43–54, 2009.
André, L., Cardinal, D., Alleman, L. Y., and Moorbath, S.: Silicon isotopes in 3.8 Ga West Greenland rocks as clues to the Eoarchaean supracrustal Si cycle, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 245, 162–173, 2006.
Armstrong, R. A., Compston, W., de Wit, M. J., and Williams, I. S.: The Stratigraphy of the 3.5–3.2 Ga Barberton greenstone belt revisited: a single zircon microprobe study, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 101, 90–106, 1990.
Barnes, H. A.: Thixotropy – a review, J. Non-Newton. Fluid, 70, 1–33, 1997.
Bauer, W. H. and Collins, E. A.: Chapter 8, in: Rheology: Theory and Applications, edited by: Eirich, F. R., Academic Press, New York, 1967.
Bergna, H. E.: Colloidal chemistry of silica: An overview, in: The colloidal chemistry of silica, edited by: Bergna, H. E., American Chemical Society, Advances in Chemistry series, 234, 1–47, 1994.
Beris, A., Tsamopoulos, J., Armstrong, R., and Brown, R.: Creeping motion of a sphere through a Bingham plastic, J. Fluid Mech., 158, 219–244, 1985.
Besq, A., Monnet, P., and Pantet, A.: Flow Situations of drilling muds – Effects of thixotropic property, VIth international congress Flucome Euro., 8/2000, 2000.
Bolhar, R., Kamber, B. S., Moorbath, S., Fedo, C. M., and Whitehouse, M. J.: Characterization of early Archaean chemical sediments by trace element signatures, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 222, 43–60, 2004.
Boswell, P. G. H.: A preliminary examination of the thixotropy of sedimentary rocks, Q. J. Geol. Soc., 104, 499–526, 1948.
Braccini, E., de Boer, W., Hurst, A., Huuse, M., Vigorito, M., and Templeton, G.: Sand injectites, Schlumberger Oilfield Review Summer 2008, 34–49, 2008.
Brasier, M. D., Green, O. R., Jephcoat, A. P., Kleppe, A. K., Van Kranendonk, M. J., Lindsay, J. F., Steele, A., and Grassineau, N. V.: Questioning the evidence of Earth's oldest fossils, Nature, 416, 76–81, 2002.
Brasier, M. D., Green, O. R., and Lindsay, J. F., McLoughlin, N., Steele, A. and Stoakes, C.: Critical testing of Earth's oldest putative fossil assemblage from the 3.5 Ga Apex chert, Chinaman Creek, Western Australia, Prec. Res., 140, 55–102, 2005.
Byerly, G. R., Kröner, A., Lowe, D. R., and Walsh, M. M.: Sequential magmatic evolution of the early Archean Onverwacht Group: evidence from the upper formations, Eos Trans., AGU, 74, 660, 1993.
Byerly, G. R., Kröner, A., Lowe, D. R., Todt, W., and Walsh, M. M.: Prolonged magmatism and time constraints for sediment deposition in the early Archean Barberton greenstone belt: evidence from the Upper Onverwacht and Fig Tree groups, Prec. Res., 78, 125–138, 1996.
Chabra, R. P.: Bubbles, Drops, and Particles in Non-Newtonian Fluids, CRC Press, 2007.
Channer, D. M. D., deRonde, C. E. J., and Spooner, E. T. C.: The Cl-Br-I composition of similar to 3.23 Ga modified seawater: implications for the geological evolution of ocean halide chemistry, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 150, 325–335, 1997.
Channing, A., Edwards, D., and Sturtevant, S.: A geothermally influenced wetland containing unconsolidated geochemical sediments, Can. J. Earth Sci., 41, 809–827, 2004.
Chen, C.-T. A. and Marshall, W. L.: Amorphous silica solubilities IV. Behavior in pure water and aqueous sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, magnesium chloride, and magnesium sulfate solutions up to 350 °C, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 46, 279–287, 1982.
Chen, H., Ding, Y., and Tan, C.: Rheological behaviour of nanofluids, New J. Phys., 9, 367, https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/9/10/367, 2007.
De La Rocha, C. L., Brzezinski, M. A., and DeNiro, M. J.: Fractionation of silicon isotopes by marine diatoms during biogenic silica formation, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 61, 5051–5056, 1997.
De La Rocha, C. L., Brzezinski, M. A., and DeNiro, M. J.: A first look at the distribution of the stable isotopes of silicon in natural waters, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 64, 2467–2477, 2000.
De Ronde, C. E. J. and de Wit, M. J.: Tectonic history of the Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa: 490 million years of Archean crustal evolution, Tectonics, 13, 983–1005, 1994.
de Vries, S. T., Nijman W., and Armstrong, R.A.: Growth-fault structure and stratigraphic architecture of the Buck Ridge volcano-sedimentary complex, upper Hooggenoeg Formation, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Prec. Res., 149, 77–98, 2006.
de Wit, M. J., Hart, R. J., Martin, A., and Abbott, P.: Archaean abiogenic and probable biogenic structures associated with mineralized hydrothermal vent systems and regional metasomatism, with implications for greenstone belt studies, Econ. Geol., 77, 1783–1802, 1982.
de Wit, M. J., Furnes, H., and Robins, B.: Geology and Tectonostratigraphy of the Onverwacht Suite, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa, Prec. Res., 186, 1–27, 2011.
Di Giuseppe, E., Davaille, A., Mittelstaedt, E., and François, M.: Rheological and mechanical properties of silica colloids: from Newtonian liquid to brittle behavior, Rheol. Acta, 51, 451–465, 2012.
Ding, T., Wan, D., Wang, C., and Zhang, F.: Silicon isotope compositions of dissolved silicon and suspended matter in the Yangtze river, China, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 68, 205–216, 2004.
Douthitt, C. B.: The geochemistry of the stable isotopes of silicon, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 46, 1449–1458, 1982.
Duchac, K. C. and Hanor, J. S.: Origin and timing of the metasomatic silicification of an early archean komatiite sequence, Barberton mountain land, South Africa, Prec. Res., 37, 125–146, 1987.
Emady, H., Caggioni, M., and Spicer, P.: Colloidal microstructure effects on particle sedimentation in yield stress fluids, J. Rheol., 57, 1761–1772, 2013.
Freundlich, H.: Thixotropy, The Colloidal State, Hermann, in: Actualités scientifiques et industrielles, edited by: Hermann, Paris, 267, 1935.
Furnes, H., De Wit, M.J., Robins, B., and Sandståd, N.R.: Volcanic evolution of the upper Onverwacht Suite, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa, Prec. Res., 186, 28–50, 2011.
Gudmundsson, L.: Rock fractures in geological processes, Cambridge Publication, ISBN 9780521863926, 2011.
Hanor, J. S. and Duchac, K. C.: Isovolumetric silicification of early Archean Komatities: geochemical mass balances and constraints on origin, J. Geol., 98, 863–877, 1990.
Hofmann, A.: The geochemistry of sedimentary rocks from the Fig Tree Group, Barberton greenstone belt: Implications for tectonic, hydrothermal and surface processes during mid- Archaean times, Prec. Res., 143, 23–49, 2005.
Hofmann, A. and Bolhar, R.: Carbonaceous cherts in the Barberton Greenstone Belt and their significance for the study of early life in the Archean record, Astrobiology 7, 355–388, 2007.
Hofmann, A. and Harris, C.: Silica alteration zones in the Barberton greenstone belt: A window into subseafloor processes 3.5-3.3 Ga ago, Chem. Geol., 257, 221–239, 2008.
Huc, A. Y.: Origin and formation of organic matter in recent sediments and its relation to kerogen, in: Kerogen: insoluble organic matter from sedimentary rocks, edited by: Durand, B., Paris, Technip Editions, 445–474, 1980.
Iler, R. K.: The chemistry of silica: Solubility, polymerization, colloid and surface properties, and biochemistry, John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York, 1979.
Jebrak, M.: Hydrothermal breccias in vein-type ore deposits: a review of mechanisms, morphology and size distribution, Ore Geol. Rev., 12, 111–134, 1997.
Jeffrey, D. J. and Acrivos, A.: The rheological properties of suspensions of rigid particles, AIChE J., 22, 417–432, 1976.
Jiang, S. Y., Palmer, M. R., Peng, Q. M., and Yang, J. H.: Chemical and stable isotopic compositions of Proterozoic metamorphosed evaporites and associated tourmalines from Houxianyu borate deposit, eastern Liaoning, China, Chem. Geol., 135, 189–211, 1997.
Jobson, D. H., Boulter, G. A., and Foster, R. P.: Structural controls and genesis of epithermal gold-bearing breccias at the Lebong Tandai mine, Western Sumatra, Indonesia, J. Geochem. Explor., 50, 409–428, 1994.
Kiyokawa, S., Ito, T., Ikehara, M., and Kitajima, F.: Middle Archean volcano-hydrothermal sequence: Bacterial microfossil-bearing 3.2 Ga Dixon Island Formation, coastal Pilbara terrane, Australia, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 118, 3–22, 2006.
Kiyokawa, S., Ito, T., Ikehara, M., Yamaguchi, K. E., Koge, S., and Sakamoto, R.: Lateral variations in the lithology and organic chemistry of a black shale sequence on the Mesoarchean seafloor affected by hydrothermal processes: The Dixon Island Formation of the coastal Pilbara Terrane, Western Australia, Island Arc., 21, 118–147, 2012.
Knauth, L. P.: Petrogenesis of chert. In: Heaneay, P. J., Prewitt, C. T. and Gibbs, G. V. (Eds.): Silica: Physical behavior, geochemistry and materials applications, Rev. Mineral., 29, 233–256, 1994.
Knauth, L. P.: Temperature and salinity history of the Precambrian ocean: implications for the course of microbial evolution, Palaeogeogr. Palaeoecl., 219, 53–69, 2005.
Knauth, P. L. and Epstein, S.: Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in silica from the JOIDES Deep Sea Drilling Project, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 25, 1–10, 1975.
Kröner, A., Byerly, G., and Lowe, D. R.: Chronology of Early Archean granite-greenstone evolution in the Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa, based on precise dating by single zircon evaporation, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 103, 41–54, 1991.
Lécuyer, C., Gruau, G., Anhaeusser, C. R., and Fourcade, S.: The origin of fluids and the effects of metamorphism on the primary chemical compositions of Barberton komatiites: new evidence from geochemical (REE) and isotopic (Nd, O, H,) data, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 58, 969–984, 1994.
Ledevin, M., Arndt, N., Simionovici, A., Jaillard, E., and Ulrich, M.: Silica precipitation triggered by clastic sedimentation in the Archean: new petrographic evidence from cherts of the Kromberg type section, South Africa, Precam. Res., 255, 316–334, 2014.
Li, J.-W., Zhou, M.-F., Li, X.-F., Li, Z.-J., and Fu, Z.-R.: Origin of a large breccia-vein system in the Sanerlin uranium deposit, southern China: a reinterpretation, Min. Deposita, 37, 213–225, 2002.
Li, Y., Ding, T., and Wan, D.: Experimental stdy of silicon isotope dynamic fractionation and its application in geology, Chinese J. Geochem., 14, 212–219, 1995.
Lin, M. Y., Lindsay, H. M., Weitz, D. A., Ball, R. C., Klein, R., and Meakin, P.: Universality of colloid aggregation, Nature, 339, 360–362, 1989.
Lowe, D. R.: Crustal fracturing and chert dike formation triggered by large meteorite impacts, ca. 3.260 Ga, Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 125, 894–912, 2013.
Lowe, D. R. and Byerly, G. R.: Archaean flow-top alteration zones formed initially in a low temperature sulphate-rich environment, Nature, 324, 245–248, 1986a.
Lowe, D. R. and Byerly, G. R.: Early Archean silicate spherules of probable impact origin, South Africa and Western Australia, Geology 14, 83–86, 1986b.
Lowe, D. R. and Byerly, G. R.: Field Guide to the Geology of the 3.5–3.2 Ga Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa, Guidebook prepared for Field Conference: Archean Surface Processes, 184, 2003.
Lowe, D. R. and Knauth L. P.: Sedimentology of the Onverwacht Group (3.4 billion years), Transvaal, South Africa, and its bearing on the characteristics and evolution of the early earth, J. Geol., 85, 699–723, 1977.
Lowe, D. R. and Nocita, B. W.: Foreland basin sedimentation in the Mapepe Formation, southern-facies Fig Tree Group, Geological Society of America Special Paper, 329, 233–258, 1999.
Maccaferri, F., Bonafede, M., and Rivalta, E.: A quantitative study of the mechanisms governing dike propagation, dike arrest and sill formation, J. Volc. Geoth. Res., 208, 39–50, 2011.
Marin, J., Chaussidon, M., and Robert, F.: Microscale oxygen isotope variations in 1.9 Ga Gunflint cherts: Assessments of diagenesis effects and implications for oceanic paleotemperature reconstructions, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 74, 116–130, 2010.
Marin-Carbonne, J., Chaussidon, M., and Robert, F.: Micrometer-scale chemical and isotopic criteria (O and Si) on the origin and history of Precambrian cherts: Implications for paleo-temperature reconstructions, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 92, 129–147, 2012.
Marone, C. and Scholtz, C. H.: Particle-size distribution and microstructures within simulated fault gouge, J. Struct. Geol., 11, 799–814, 1989.
Marshall, W. L. and Warakomski, J. M.: Amorphous silica solubilities - II. Effect of aqueous salt solutions at 25 °C, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 44, 915–924, 1980.
Mewis, J. and Wagner, N. J.: Thixotropy, Adv. Colloid Interfac., 147–148, 214–227, 2009.
Nguyen, Q. D. and Boger, D. V:. Thixotropic behaviour of concentrated bauxite residue suspensions, Rheol. Acta, 24, 427–437, 1985.
Nijman, W., de Bruijne, K. C., and Valkering, M. E.: Growth fault control of Early Archaean cherts, barite mounds and chert-barite veins, North Pole Dome, Eastern Pilbara, Western Australia, Precam. Res., 88, 25–52, 1998.
Oleksy, M., Heneczkowski, M., and Galina, H.: Thixotropic compositions: unsaturated polyester resins/ modified bentonites, Polimery, 5, 345–350, 2007.
Paris, I., Stanistreet, I. G., and Hughes, M. J.: Cherts of the Barberton Greenstone Belt Interpreted as Products of Submarine Exhalative Activity, J. Geol., 93, 111–129, 1985.
Park, J., Park, S. B., Yang, S. M., Hong, W. H., Choi, C. R., and Kim, J. H.: Rheological characterization and optimization of gelled electrolyte for sealed lead-acid batteries by small amplitude dynamic oscillation measurement, J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 351, 2352–2357, 2005.
Perry, E. C. and Lefticariu, L.: Formation and Geochemistry of Precambrian cherts, Treatise of geochemistry, 7, 99–113, 2003.
Prasher, R., Evans, W., Meakin, P., Fish, J., Phelan, P., and Keblinski, P.: Effect of aggregation on thermal conduction in colloidal nanofluids, Appl. Phys. Lett., 89, 143119, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2360229, 2006.
Putz, M. V., Burghelea, T. I., Frigaard, I. A., and Martinez, D. M.: Settling of an isolated spherical particle in a yield stress shear thinning fluid, Phys. Fluids, 20, 033102–033102-11, 2008.
Rimstidt, J. D. and Barnes, H. L.: The kinetics of silica-water interaction, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 44, 1683–1699, 1980.
Rouchon, V. and Orberger, B.: Origin and mechanisms of K–Si-metasomatism of ca. 3.4–3.3 Ga volcaniclastic deposits and implications for Archean seawater evolution: Examples from cherts of Kittys Gap (Pilbara craton, Australia) and Msauli (Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa), Precam. Res., 165, 169–189, 2008.
Sleep, N. H. and Lowe, D. R.: Physics of crustal fracturing and chert dike formation triggered by asteroid impact, 3.26 Ga, Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 15, 1054–1070, 2014.
Stefurak, E. J., T., Lowe, D. R., Zentner, D., and Fischer, W. W.: Primary silica granules – A new mode of Paleoarchean sedimentation, Geology, 42, 283–286, 2014.
Stickel, J. J. and Powell, R. L.: Fluid mechanics and rheology of dense suspensions, Annu. Rev. Fluid. Mech., 37, 129–149, 2005.
Tabuteau, H., Coussot, P., and de Bruyn, J. R.: Drag force on a sphere in steady motion through a yield-stress fluid, J. Rheol. 51, 125–137, 2007.
Taylor, S. R. and McLennan, S. M.: The Continental Crust: its composition and evolution, Blackwell Scientific Publications, pp. 312, 1985.
Thompson, B. J., Moore, J. C., and Garrison, R. E.: A reservoir-scale Miocene Injectite near Santa Cruz, California, in: Sand Injectites: Implications for hydrocarbon exploration and production, edited by: Hurst, A. and Cartwright, J., AAPG Memoir, 87, 151–162, 2007.
Trompette, J. L. and Meireles, M.: Ion-specific effect on the gelation kinetics of concentrated colloidal silica suspensions, J. Colloid Interface Sci., 263, 522–527, 2003.
Ueno, Y., Yoshioka, H., Maruyama, S., and Isozaki, Y.: Carbon isotopes and petrography of kerogens in 3.5-Ga hydrothermal silica dikes in the North Pole area, Western Australia, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 68, 573–589, 2004.
Usui, H., Kishimoto, K., and Suzuki, H.: Non-Newtonian viscosity of dense slurries prepared by spherical particles, Chem. Eng. Sc., 56, 2979–2989, 2001.
Van den Boorn, H. J. M., van Bergen, M. J. J., Vroon, P. Z. Z., de Vries, S. T. T., and Nijman, W.: Silicon isotope and trace element constraints on the origin of 3.5 Ga cherts: Implications for Early Archaean marine environments, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 74, 1077–1103, 2010.
Van Kranendonk, M. J.: Volcanic degassing, hydrothermal circulation and the flourishing of early life on Earth: a review of the evidence from ca. 3490–3240 Ma rocks of the Pilbara Supergroup, Pilbara Craton,Western Australia, Earth-Sci. Rev., 74, 197–240, 2006.
Williams, L. A. and Crerar, D. A.: Silica diagenesis ; II, General mechanisms. J. Sedim. Res., 55, 312–321, 1985.
Williams, L. A., Parks, G. A., and Crerar, D. A.: Silica diagenesis, I. Solubility controls. J. Sedim. Petro., 55, 301–311, 1985.
Yanez, J. A., Laarz, E., and Bergstrm, L.: Viscoelastic properties of particle gels, J. Colloid Interface Sci., 209, 162–172, 1999
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...
