ALBERT

Beschreibung: Tin (Sn) and tungsten (W) behave incompatibly in reduced magmatic systems and may become enriched in late highly-evolved melts. Nonetheless, Sn and W rarely concentrate in the same deposit. In deposits formed by Sn- and W-bearing granites, this separation may be due to the contrasting behavior of Sn and W during exsolution of a magmatic fluid or the scavenging of Sn by silicate minerals. We illustrate the separation of Sn and W for the world-class Zhuxi W skarn deposit (South China). Although tin orebodies have not yet been identified within the Zhuxi deposit, tiny (commonly 〈 20 μm) cassiterite grains are widespread within the endoskarn and the retrogressed exoskarn. We analyzed the W and Sn contents of the magmatic minerals biotite and ilmenite in ore-forming granites and the prograde anhydrous skarn minerals garnet, pyroxene and vesuvianite. Our data show that (i) magmatic ilmenite (65.5–79.1 ppm Sn; 8.7–14.3 ppm W) and biotite (109–120 ppm Sn; 1.3–6.3 ppm W) from biotite monzogranite strongly enrich Sn relative to W, implying that W partitioned more strongly into the magmatic fluids than Sn, (ii) there is 100 Kt non-recoverable Sn within the Zhuxi deposit in addition to the certified 3.44 Mt WO3 reserves, and (iii) W is mainly hosted in scheelite, whereas Sn is dominantly sequestered in prograde skarn minerals, most importantly garnet (76–4086 ppm Sn, 〈 42 ppm W), pyroxene (3–103 ppm Sn, 〈 1 ppm W), and vesuvianite (43–361 ppm Sn, 〈 2 ppm W). The formation of secondary cassiterite requires the release of silicate-bound Sn by alteration of primary skarn minerals, which depends on the availability of magmatic or metamorphic fluids. Deep-seated granites such as those associated with the Zhuxi skarn deposit, which crystallized at 5 km to 12.6 km depth, do not release or mobilize copious amounts of fluid. Therefore, the Zhuxi deposit, like other deep-seated reduced skarn systems shows little alteration and most Sn remains in silicate minerals and is economically non-recoverable. Thus, reduced, deep-seated W skarn systems are unlikely to have associated Sn orebodies even if significant amounts of Sn are present.

Beschreibung: In high-precision space geodetic techniques data processing, the mapping function (MF) is a key factor in mapping the radio waves from the zenith direction down to the signal incoming direction. Existing MF products, either site-wise Vienna Mapping Function (VMF1 and VMF3) or grid-wise VMF1 and VMF3, are only available at the Earth surface. For overhead areas, height correction is always required, which is becoming increasingly important with growing airborne aircraft activity. In this contribution, we introduce a novel method aimed at providing a large number of MFs to the user in a simple and efficient manner, while minimizing the loss of precision. The approach effectively represents the vertical profile of the MFs from the Earth's surface up to altitudes of 14 km. In addition, the new model corrects for height in the assessment using the fifth generation of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ReAnalysis (ERA5) ray tracing calculations for a global 5° × 5° grid with 54 layers in the vertical direction, a total of 8 azimuths in the plane, and 7 elevation angles, for each day in 2021. Specifically, for both polynomial and exponential model of order 2 and 3, the relative residuals are 〈 0.3% for the hydrostatic delay MF coefficient , and 〈 1% for the wet delay MF coefficient . The precision of the new model on the Earth’s surface is evaluated using site-wise VMF1 and VMF3 GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) products from Technische Universität Wien. The root mean square error of slant hydrostatic delay and slant wet delay at a 3° elevation angle is approximately 4–5 cm and 2–5 cm, respectively.

Beschreibung: Project “Saptarshi” was initiated by the National Centre for Geodesy, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur to set up the modern space geodetic infrastructure in the country. This project primarily focuses on the establishment of an Indian Geodetic VLBI network. The purpose of this paper is to anticipate the potential impact of the geodetic VLBI network in India to the national and international scientific products. Saptarshi proposes to establish three VLBI stations along with a correlator at one facility. In this work, we investigate how adding proposed Indian VLBI antennas will affect terrestrial and celestial reference frames as well as Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP). Additionally, we shortly demonstrate scenario of VLBI observations of one of the Indian regional navigation satellite system called Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) to determine its orbit. Two VLBI networks were simulated to observe the NAVIC satellite along with quasars to check how well the orbit of this satellite can be recovered from VLBI observations. To investigate the impact on the terrestrial reference frame, three types of 24-h sessions, IVS-R1 (legacy), IVS-VGOS (next generation VLBI), and IVS-AOV (Asia Oceania VLBI), were studied to examine the gain in precision of geodetic parameters when adding the proposed Indian VLBI antennas. IVS-type Intensive sessions were also investigated with the proposed Indian antennas to assess the improvement in the estimation of dUT1 as one important VLBI product. Furthermore, the u-v coverage of some radio sources of the southern hemisphere was compared utilizing observing networks with and without the proposed Indian antennas. Apart from that, we briefly discuss other benefits of the establishment of Indian geodetic VLBI in the scientific fields of atmosphere, metrology, and space missions.

Beschreibung: Carbonatites and their comagmatic silicate rocks related deposit provide significant resources of rare earth elements (REEs), niobium (Nb) and other elements such as U, Th, Mo, V, Ba, Sr, etc. However, the genesis of mineralization, especially for REEs and Nb, in carbonatite remains enigmatic. Previous liquid immiscibility experiments have demonstrated that both REEs and Nb are preferentially enriched in the silicate conjugate instead of carbonate melts under anhydrous conditions. Nevertheless, ligands other than carbonate ion appear to be abundant due to ubiquity of apatite, baryte, celestine, fluorite and sodalite in carbonate–silicate magmatic systems. Here, we experimentally investigate the trace element partitioning between natrocarbonate and silicate (nephelinite) melts in systems doped with varying amounts of additional F−, PO43−, Cl−, and SO42− ligands (0, 2, 4 and 6 wt%) to understand and constrain the role of ligands. The experiments were conducted at 850 °C and 0.1 GPa using rapid quench cold-seal pressure vessels (CSPVs). A comparison of experimental partition coefficients in this study reveals that the significant amounts F− and PO43− incorporated in the silicate melts can increase the D values for REE by influencing melt structure (DLaCM/SM = 0.85–7.42). In contrast, irrespective of the amount of added Cl− and SO42−, DCM/SM is not affected significantly by these species and the DREECM/SM values remain always lower than 1 (DLaCM/SM = 0.12–0.40). Notably, the DNbCM/SM values are all 〈1, with only one exception containing 6 wt% F. Besides, in all the investigated systems, Ba, Sr, Mo, V, Cs, Rb and Li preferentially partition into the conjugate carbonate melt. All the high field strength elements (Pb, Th, U, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta), transition metals (Mn, Co, Cu, Zn) and common network formers (Ga, Ge) essentially partition into the silicate melt.

Beschreibung: We report the complete genome sequence of Thermaerobacter composti strain Ins1, a gram-positive filamentous spore-forming bacterium, isolated from deep geothermal fluids used for electricity production. This is the first complete (circular) genome assigned to the species Thermaerobacter composti.

Beschreibung: This work studies variations of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) during four distinct solar eclipse events over the Ethiopia region. Dual‐frequency global positioning system (GPS) data obtained from UNAVCO over Addis Ababa (9.036°N, 38.76°E) and Bahir Dar (11.6°N, 37.34°E) stations are used to examine the ionospheric variability during two annular solar eclipses on 15 January 2010 and 1 September 2016, a partial solar eclipse on 4 January 2011, and a hybrid solar eclipse (the eclipse path starts out as annular but later changes to total) on 3 November 2013. The results show a significant decrease in TEC values during the occurrence of the solar eclipses. Specifically, the TEC values are reduced to

Beschreibung: Understanding the shear-induced dilatancy of rock fractures is important for assessing the permeability evolution and seismic hazard in shale and geothermal reservoirs. The displacement dependence of fracture dilation has been well studied, while the influence of slip velocity is poorly constrained. In this study, we combined displacement- and velocity-dependent aperture models to reproduce the transient shear-induced dilatancy of fractures in sandstone in 16 normal stress unloading tests. Our results show that the combined aperture model can describe the transient fracture aperture evolution during accelerating slip induced by normal stress unloading better than the model dependent only on slip displacement. Slip velocity could enhance the aperture increase on smoother fractures at lower normal stresses and higher slip velocities. Both the dilation factor and characteristic slip distance decrease with increasing normal stress and surface roughness, signifying reduced contribution of slip velocity to transient shear-induced dilatancy at higher normal stresses and surface roughness. The dilation angle increases with the increase of surface roughness, and this increase diminishes at higher normal stresses primarily attributable to more severe asperity wear. These findings highlight the importance of slip velocity in controlling the transient evolution of aperture and permeability of a rock fracture. Our study also provides constraints on the constitutive parameters in the combined aperture model for describing transient shear-induced fracture dilatancy. We suggest that it is crucial to incorporate the velocity-dependent aperture model to simulate the nonlinear evolution of fracture aperture in future analytical and numerical models involving coupled hydromechanical processes in geoenergy systems.

Beschreibung: The influence of deep and regional geological structures is becoming increasingly important in superhot geothermal systems due to their proximity to the transition between brittleness and ductility. In the Los Humeros geothermal field in Mexico, where subsurface fluids reach temperatures of over 350 °C, the surface structures resulting from the collapse of calderas have so far only been interpreted at the local scale. The aim of this work is to place the recent tectonic and volcano-tectonic geomorphologic evolution and structures in the Los Humeros volcanic area in a regional context. NE- and NW-striking dominant structures resulting from a morpho-structural analysis on a regional scale are confirmed by negative and positive anomalies, respectively, after Butterworth filtering of gravity field data with different wavelengths over a local area of about 1000 km2. By analyzing the slip and dilation trends of the observed directions, we show the relevance of the regional context for reservoir exploration. The magnitudes of the principal stresses we estimate indicate a trans-tensional fault regime, a combination of strike-slip and normal faulting. The structures derived from the gravity and morpho-structural analyses, which are parallel to the maximum horizontal stress, have the highest potential for tensile and shear failure. Therefore, the corresponding negative gravity anomalies could be related to fracture porosity. Consequently, we hypothesize that these structures near the transition between brittleness and ductility control fluid flow in the Los Humeros geothermal field.

Beschreibung: High-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage systems for storage and utilization of excess heat are a promising element for decarbonization strategies of district heating systems. Based on a combination of literature review and expert consultation, this study aims to identify potential environmental and economic key factors determining a sustainable integration of high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage systems into district heating networks. For this objective, we use several methods in five steps to narrow down the potentially high number of influencing factors. We identify hard boundary constraints for project development, the most relevant life cycle phases and related internal factors. Moreover, we identify influencing external factors and methodological factors that impact environmental and economic outcomes from a systemic perspective. Our findings suggest that potential key factors mainly pertain to the construction and operation phases, which are significantly affected by drilling, heat production, and the electricity required for submersible pumps and heat pumps for injection and extraction of stored heat. Identifying these factors enhances the comprehension and transparency of decision support based on life cycle assessment and life cycle costing. The results further guides research and practical improvement actions towards the most pertinent factors.