Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sulfide Mineralization In Deep-Water Marine Sediments Related To Methane Transport, Methane Consumption, And Methane Gas Hydrates, Matthew K. Thompson, Walter S. Borowski, Charles K. Paull, William Ussler Iii

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Patterns of sulfide sulfur concentration and sulfur isotopic composition (d³⁴ S) are perhaps related to upward methane transport, especially in sediments underlain by methane gas hydrate deposits. Increased methane delivery augments the effect of anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO) occurring at the sulfate-methane interface (SMI). Sulfate and methane co-consumption results in production of dissolved sulfide at the interface that is eventually sequestered within sulfide minerals (elemental sulfur, iron monosulfide, pyrite).

We examine the sediments of two piston cores collected over the Blake Ridge gas hydrate deposits (offshore southeastern United States) by extracting total sedimentary sulfide using chromium reduction. We use …

Sulfide Mineralization Within Modern, Deep-Sea Marine Sediments And Oxygenation Of The Early Earth, Matthew K. Thompson, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The Earth’s atmosphere and oceans have not always been oxygenated. The exact pathway and timing of the oxygenation of the Earth’s early oceans is poorly constrained, although it appears that oxygenation was essentially complete by the beginning of the Cambrian (545 million years ago). Indeed, the appearance and diversification of the first animals may have been dependent on threshold levels of oxygen. Eventually we intend to use the sulfur isotopic composition of sulfide minerals (iron monosulfides and pyrite) present in sedimentary rocks to reconstruct the oxygenation of Proterozoic oceans, but first must strive to understand sulfide mineral formation in the …

Variations In Mineralogy, Temperature, And Oxygen Fugacity In A Suite Of Strongly Peralkaline Lavas And Tuffs, Pantelleria, Italy., John C. White, Minghua Ren, Don Parker

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Eight samples of pantelleritic lava and tuff and a lithic inclusion of trachyte from Pantelleria, Italy, have been thoroughly analyzed with an electron microprobe. These samples reveal five different mineral assemblages if classified by the presence of fayalite, aenigmatite, ilmenite, and magnetite: (1) augite + fayalite + ilmenite + magnetite, (2) augite + fayalite + ilmenite, (3) hedenbergite or sodian hedenbergite + fayalite + ilmenite + aenigmatite + quartz, (4) sodian hedenbergite or aegirine-augite + ilmenite + aenigmatite + quartz ± ferrorichterite, and (5) aegirine-augite + aenigmatite + quartz. Alkali feldspar (Or35–37) is present as the dominant phyric phase in …