ALBERT

Notes: Abstract The Suwałki anorthosite massif, located in extreme northeast Poland beneath more than a kilometer of Phanerozoic cover, hosts major Fe-Ti-V deposits. These deposits, discovered in 1962, are contained in Fe and Ti oxide minerals that coexist with subordinate quantities of Fe, Cu, Ni, and Co sulfides in massif-style anorthosites, norites, and gabbronorites. Accessibility and other considerations preclude development of this natural resource in the present economic climate. Detailed work by Polish geologists during the last 35 years provides a sound geologic framework for this Re-Os study of the age and origin of oxide and sulfide deposits associated with a major, but lesser known anorthosite massif. Rhenium and osmium abundances and Os isotopic compositions were measured for nine sulfides and four titanomagnetites from the Suwałki anorthosite massif. The titanomagnetites are over an order of magnitude lower in Re (0.4–1.5 ppb) and Os (0.036–0.144 ppb) concentrations than co-precipitated pyrrhotite, pyrite, and chalcopyrite that yield consistent concentrations for Re (30–55 ppb) and Os (1–6 ppb). Parallel lines connecting co-existing titanomagnetite and sulfides have slopes of ∼1 on Re versus common Os concentration plots, indicating that both Re and Os behave similarly during crystallization in their high preference for any sulfide phase over magnetite. Samples from three deposits within the anorthosite massif were analyzed. An age of 1559 ± 37 Ma (n=10) with an initial 187Os/188Os of 1.16 ± 0.06 for the Jezioro Okrągłe and Krzemianka deposits is essentially identical to an age of 1556 ± 94 Ma (n=3) for the Udryń deposit. Udryń, however, yielded a marginally lower initial 187Os/188Os of 0.87 ± 0.20. The high initial 187Os/188Os combined with the Proterozoic Re-Os age indicates that the source for Suwałki oxides-sulfides is older crust, and hypothetically, could involve Archean rocks. An average crustal value of 50 for 187Re/188Os yields a 2777 Ma age for Suwałki source rocks. Widespread Phanerozoic cover severely limits knowledge of basement rocks in Poland, however, and no Archean rocks are known in the immediate region. More likely, 187Re/188Os ratios may be higher than average continental crust, reflecting mafic crust in the source, and may move the source age for Suwałki anorthosite and mineral deposits toward younger values that easily include ∼2.0 Ga Proterozoic rocks. This more favorable case also accommodates Paleoproterozoic Nd model ages. Regardless of Archean or Proterozoic source age, the high initial 187Os/188Os ratios derived from the Re-Os isochron indicate that the source for the oxide-sulfide mineral deposits is more likely the crust and not the mantle. Given that these deposits are clearly magmatic, the Re-Os results add a new dimension to the long-standing “origin of anorthosite” problem, implying a crustal source for the anorthosite as well. The 1559 Ma Suwałki age is compatible with a well-exposed east-west band of 1530-1660 Ma rapakivi granite-anorthosite magmatism to the immediate north, transecting western Russia, southern Finland, Estonia and Latvia, and central Sweden. In particular, the age and isotopic character of Suwałki are not unlike those of the well-studied Salmi rapakivi granite-anorthosite batholith in western Russia (Karelia).

Notes: Abstract Seven 187Re-187Os ages were determined for molybdenite and pyrite samples from two well-dated Precambrian intrusions in Fennoscandia to examine the sustainability of the Re-Os chronometer in a metamorphic and metasomatic setting. Using a new 187Re decay constant (1.666 × 10−11y−1) with a much improved uncertainty (±0.31%), we determined replicate Re-Os ages for molybdenite and pyrite from the Kuittila and Kivisuo prospects in easternmost Finland and for molybdenite from the Kabeliai prospect in southernmost Lithuania. These two localities contain some of the oldest and youngest plutonic activity in Fennoscandia and are associated with newly discovered economic Au mineralization (Ilomantsi, Finland) and a Cu-Mo prospect (Kabeliai, Lithuania). Two Re-Os ages for vein-hosted Kabeliai molybdenite average 1486 ± 5 Ma, in excellent agreement with a 1505 ± 11 Ma U-Pb zircon age for the hosting Kabeliai granite pluton. The slightly younger age suggests the introduction of Cu-Mo mineralization by a later phase of the Kabeliai magmatic system. Mean Re-Os ages of 2778 ± 8 Ma and 2781 ± 8 Ma for Kuittila and Kivisuo molybdenites, respectively, are in reasonable agreement with a 2753 ± 5 Ma weighted mean U-Pb zircon age for hosting Kuittila tonalite. These Re-Os ages agree well with less precise ages of 2789 ± 290 Ma for a Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron and 2771 ± 75 Ma for the average of six Sm-Nd TDM model ages for Kuittila tonalite. Three Re-Os analyses of a single pyrite mineral separate, from the same sample of Kuittila pluton that yielded a molybdenite separate, provide individual model ages of 2710 ± 27, 2777 ± 28, and 2830 ± 28 Ma (Re = 17.4, 12.1, and 8.4 ppb, respectively), with a mean value of 2770 ± 120 Ma in agreement with the Kuittila molybdenite age. The Re and 187Os abundances in these three pyrite splits are highly correlated (r = 0.9994), and provide a 187Re-187Os isochron age of 2607 ± 47 Ma with an intercept of 21 ppt 187Os (MSWD = 1.1). It appears that the Re-Os isotopic system in pyrite has been reset on the millimeter scale and that the 21 ppt 187Os intercept reflects the in situ decay of 187Re during the ∼160 to 170 m.y. interval from ∼2778 Ma (time of molybdenite ± pyrite deposition) to ∼2607 Ma (time of pyrite resetting). When the Re-Os data for molybdenites from the nearby Kivisuo prospect are plotted together with the Kuittila molybdenite and pyrite data, a well-constrained five-point isochron with an age of 2780 ± 8 Ma and a 187Os intercept (−2.4 ± 3.8 ppt) of essentially zero results (MSWD = 1.5). We suggest that the pyrite isochron age records a regional metamorphic and/or hydrothermal event, possibly the time of Au mineralization. A proposed Re-Os age of ∼2607 Ma for Au mineralization is in good agreement with radiometric ages by other methods that address the timing of Archean Au mineralization in deposits worldwide (so-called “late Au model”). Molybdenite, in contrast, provides a robust Re-Os chronometer, retaining its original formation age of ∼2780 Ma, despite subsequent metamorphic disturbances in Archean and Proterozoic time.

Notes: [Auszug] IT is of considerable geochemical importance that accurate determinations should be made of the uranium and thorium abundances in possible upper mantle rock types since quite severe restrictions can be placed on the absolute concentrations of radioactive elements existing in the Earth's upper ...

Notes: [Auszug] Tilton et al. have variously reported uranium abundances (using both isotope dilution and neutron activation techniques) and thorium abundances (using only isotope dilution techniques) in both basic and ultra-basic rocks2-4. Through the courtesy of Dr. Tilton and Dr. Reed aliquots of the samples of ...

Notes: [Auszug] Determinations of uranium and thorium in carbonaceous chondrites by neutron activation show that both uranium and thorium are inhomogeneously distributed within Type I and are generally homogeneously distributed within Type II carbonaceous chondrites. If Type I carbonaceous chondrites represent ...

Notes: [Auszug] Schmitt et al.* have analysed one of the eclogitic inclusions from Delegate (sample No. E 117) and four eucritic achondrites (Juvinas, Nuevo Laredo, Pasamonte and Stannern) for fourteen rare earth elements, yttrium and scandium. They interpreted their results by calculating the abundances in ...

Notes: [Auszug] Seven or eight cases among approximately 75 employees had occurred some two years previously, and the cases recorded here, involving a similar number, occurred in the three months prior to the start of this investigation.. Men engaged on finishing operations (sanding, etc.) were mainly concerned, ...

Notes: Abstract Remnant stands of the non-bradysporous Banksia integrifolia on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria appear to be in decline due to old age and other unknown factors. Many stands have been unburnt for 〉55-100 years and there is little evidence of successful regeneration by seed. The cause(s) for this lack of recruitment are unclear. In the present study we quantified (i) seed production and germinability in four remnant forests in the region; (ii) the microsite conditions necessary for seedling emergence; and (iii) the effect of herbivore browsing on early seedling survival in order to understand this apparent recruitment failure. Despite large intra-annual variation, no evidence was found that old forest trees do not produce viable seed. Emergence and survival of seedlings were not inhibited by the presence of groundlayer vegetation. Rather, vegetation facilitated early seedling survival by providing protection from browsing. Seedling transplants exhibited extremely high mortality (≥75%) due to browsing and summer soil desiccation and these factors appear to be major contributors to the lack of recruitment at the study site. Stand-replacing recruitment is therefore considered to remain unlikely under the present conditions. Developing fire and/or grazing management regimes will be necessary to conserve the structural integrity of these coastal ecosystems.