Geochemistry Commons^™

Timing Of Speleogenesis Of Las Karmidas Cave (Mexico): First Description Of Pseudokarst Developed In Ignimbrite, María Del Pilar Aliaga-Campuzano, Rafael López-Martínez, Pablo Dávila-Harris, Ramón Espinasa-Pereña, Adriana Espino Del Castillo, J.P. Bernal

International Journal of Speleology

Las Karmidas Cave (Puebla State, Mexico) is an unusual type of pseudokarstic cavity generated by piping and erosive processes within the contact of a diamicton and an overlying Quaternary ignimbrite. Morphological evidence suggests that the cave was developed in two stages: a phreatic stage and a vadose stage. The latter was characterized by the formation of carbonate speleothems. The absolute upper-age limit for the cave (168 +7.1/-7.5 ka) was established by U-Th dating of zircons grains extracted from the overlying ignimbrite, whilst a minimum age for the transition from a phreatic to vadose regime (95.6 ± 2.1 ka) was constrained …

Catalyzed Synthesis Of Zinc Clays By Prebiotic Central Metabolites, Marcelo I. Guzman, Ruixin Zhou, Kaustuv Basu, Hyman Hartman, Christopher J. Matocha, S. Kelly Sears, Hajatollah Vali

Chemistry Faculty Publications

How primordial metabolic networks such as the reverse tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycle and clay mineral catalysts coevolved remains a mystery in the puzzle to understand the origin of life. While prebiotic reactions from the rTCA cycle were accomplished via photochemistry on semiconductor minerals, the synthesis of clays was demonstrated at low temperature and ambient pressure catalyzed by oxalate. Herein, the crystallization of clay minerals is catalyzed by succinate, an example of a photoproduced intermediate from central metabolism. The experiments connect the synthesis of sauconite, a model for clay minerals, to prebiotic photochemistry. We report the temperature, pH, and concentration dependence …

Mineralogy And Geochemistry Of The Heddleston Porphyry Cu-Mo Deposit, Montana, Ben Schubert

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Heddleston porphyry Cu-Mo deposit is located in Lewis and Clark County, Montana, near the headwaters of the Blackfoot River. It is immediately west of the historic Mike Horse mine, an important producer of Pb-Zn from polymetallic veins and lodes. The Heddleston property was explored extensively by the Anaconda Company in the 1960s and 1970s, but was never mined. Specimens of polished drill core from the deposit are archived in the Anaconda Research Collection at Montana Tech campus. The purpose of this research project was to use the archived samples to examine the geochemistry and mineralogy of the Heddleston and …

Supergene Mineralization Of The Continental Pit, Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana, Kyle Eastman

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Butte porphyry Cu-Mo-Ag deposit has been considerably altered by supergene processes that enriched Cu and Ag, and mobilized other metals. Supergene enrichment provided early miners with excellent ore grades, and contributes significantly to current mining operations in Butte. The Continental Pit exhibits the classic leached and enriched vertical zonation that is common in near-surface porphyry systems around the world. Although studied by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company during the mid-20th century, significant and economically relevant questions remain regarding this deposit’s supergene heavy metal geochemistry and its relationship to the local hydrology and tectonic history.

This thesis investigates the paragenesis …

Actively Forming Kuroko-Type Volcanic-Hosted Massive Sulfide (Vhms) Mineralization At Iheya North, Okinawa Trough, Japan, Christopher J. Yeats, Steven P. Hollis, Angela Halfpenny, Juan-Carlos Corona, Crystal Laflamme, Gordon Southam, Marco Fiorentini, Richard J. Herrington, John Spratt

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Modern seafloor hydrothermal systems provide important insights into the formation and discovery of ancient volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits. In 2010, Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 331 drilled five sites in the Iheya North hydrothermal field in the middle Okinawa Trough back-arc basin, Japan. Hydrothermal alteration and sulfide mineralization is hosted in a geologically complex, mixed sequence of coarse pumiceous volcaniclastic and fine hemipelagic sediments, overlying a dacitic to rhyolitic volcanic substrate. At site C0016, located adjacent to the foot of the actively venting North Big Chimney massive sulfide mound, massive sphalerite-(pyrite-chalcopyrite ± galena)-rich sulfides were intersected (to 30.2% …

Alicyclic And Aromatic Carboxylic Acids In Soil Organic Matter: An Investigation Of Potential Origin And Association With Plutonium Using Advanced Analytical Techniques, Nicole Didonato

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Carboxylic acids are a defining component of soil organic matter, responsible for many of the physical and chemical properties, including metal-organic matter interactions, which govern its role as an important constituent of soils. However, there is a shortage of detailed molecular level information regarding orientation and structural arrangement of carboxylic acids within soil organic matter. This dissertation utilizes electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICRMS) as well as solid-state and multi-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to investigate the molecular formula composition within several organic matter sources and the primary structures that feature carboxylic acids. Soil organic matter …

Quantity Trumps Quality: Bayesian Statistical Accumulation Modeling Guides Radiocarbon Measurements To Construct A Chronology In Real-Time, Devon Robert Firesinger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The development of an accurate and precise geochronology is imperative to understanding archives containing information about Earth’s past. Unable to date all intervals of an archive, researchers use methods of interpolation to approximate age between dates. Sections of the radiocarbon calibration curve can induce larger chronological uncertainty independent of instrumental precision, meaning even a precise date may carry inflated error in its calibration to a calendar age. Methods of interpolation range from step-wise linear regression to, most recently, Bayesian statistical models. These employ prior knowledge of accumulation rate to provide a more informed interpolation between neighboring dates. This study uses …

Characterizing The Evolution Of Slab Inputs In The Earliest Stages Of Subduction: Preliminary Evidence From The Fluid-Mobile Element (B, Cs, As, Li) Systematics Of Izu-Bonin Boninitic Glasses Recovered During Iodp Expedition 352, Keir Aavon Sanatan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fluid-mobile elements (FMEs) such as B, Cs, As, Li and Tl can mobilize readily under low P-T conditions (0.2-0.5 GPa). This makes them effective geochemical tracers that can be used as a way of tracking fluid-rock exchanges at the shallow depths encountered in the earliest stages of subduction.

The Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) subduction system is unique in that it preserves a record of the sequences produced from the onset of subduction through the development of arc magmatism. International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 352 recovered >800m of boninite core material from the earliest IBM magmatic events.

Select boninitic glasses from these …

Dependence Of The Martian Radiation Environment On Atmospheric Depth: Modeling And Measurement, Jingnan Guo, Tony C. Slaba, Cary Zeitlin, Robert F. Wimmer-Schweingruber, Francis F. Badavi, Eckart Böhm, Stephan Böttcher, David E. Brinza, Bent Ehresmann, Donald M. Hassler

Physics Faculty Publications

The energetic particle environment on the Martian surface is influenced by solar and heliospheric modulation and changes in the local atmospheric pressure (or column depth). The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on board the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity on the surface of Mars has been measuring this effect for over four Earth years (about two Martian years). The anticorrelation between the recorded surface Galactic Cosmic Ray-induced dose rates and pressure changes has been investigated by Rafkin et al. (2014) and the long-term solar modulation has also been empirically analyzed and modeled by Guo et al. (2015). This paper employs the …

Secondary Minerals From Salt Caves In The Atacama Desert (Chile): A Hyperarid And Hypersaline Environment With Potential Analogies To The Martian Subsurface, Jo De Waele, Cristina Carbone, Laura Sanna, Marco Vattano, Ermanno Galli, Francesco Sauro, Paolo Forti

International Journal of Speleology

Over the past 15 years several expeditions by French, American and especially Italian cavers have unveiled over 50 caves in the Cordillera de la Sal (Atacama Desert, Northern Chile). Many of these caves contain a variety of speleothems and minerals, some of which have rarely been observed within karst systems. Most of the secondary deposits in these caves are composed of halite, but also other halide, carbonate, sulphate, nitrate, phosphate, and silicate minerals have been found. Among the sixteen cave mineral species recognized, atacamite, darapskite, blödite, leonite, anhydrite, and especially antarcticite are worth mentioning. In one of the samples an …

Petrographical And Geochemical Changes In Bosnian Stalagmites And Their Palaeo-Environmental Significance, Veronica Chiarini, Isabelle Couchoud, Russell Drysdale, Petra Bajo, Simone Milanolo, Silvia Frisia, Alan Greig, John Hellstrom, Jo De Waele

International Journal of Speleology

Detailed petrographic observations have been coupled with trace element and δ¹³C - δ¹⁸O analyses in order to investigate their dynamics in two Holocene Bosnian speleothems. The potential of this multiproxy approach in providing a means to extract palaeo-environmental information from stalagmites whose stable isotope signals are noisy and without obvious trends has been tested. The studied stalagmites are mostly characterized by columnar microcrystalline fabric. At the sub-millimetre scale of lamination, different microcrystalline columnar sub-types (open and closed) have been detected and classified on the basis of the observed porosity and the crystallite size. The presence of …

Inventory And Analysis Of Some Obsidian Artifacts In The James M. Collins Collection, Matthew Boulanger, Alexis Graves

Anthropology Research

An inventory and analysis of four lots of Native American artifacts within the James M. Collins Collection curated at Southern Methodist University reveals the research value of archaeological materials with less than perfect provenience information. All that is known about the origins of these artifacts is that they appear to have come from Oregon. Elemental analysis by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence identifies the most likely geochemical source for all of the obsidian artifacts in these lots. Source profiles identified from the 75 artifacts represent major sources located in southwestern Idaho. Similarly, the morphology of the artifacts is consistent with material …

Mono Lake Data, Larry V. Benson

United States Geological Survey: Datasets

Mono Lake Basin Data\ Depth CalAge TIC TOTC TOC 13C 18O

Mono Lake short cores.xlsx 03.03.2014 19:59:44 0.06 xlsx

Depth PSV age 18O 13C

TIC for Wilson Crk Fm.xlsx 02.03.2014 16:07:10 0.03 xlsx

Ostracode 18O and TE data Wilson Crk Fm.xlsx 10.11.2017 17:43:18 0.12 xlsx

Depth, calendar age, TIC, TOTC, TOC, ¹³C, and ¹⁸O of Mono Lake short cores were reported in:

Benson, L., Linsley, B., Smoot, J., Mensing, S., Lund, S., Stine, S., and Sarna-Wojcicki, A., 2003, Influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation on the climate of the Sierra Nevada, California and Nevada: Quaternary Research. Quaternary Research …

Summer Lake Basin Data, Larry V. Benson

United States Geological Survey: Datasets

Summer Lake Basin

Name Date modified Time modified Size MB Extension

Summer Lake Basin\

Depth PSV Age 13C 18O Summer Lake B&B core.xlsx 03.03.2014 16:51:12 0.03 xlsx

In the Summer Lake Basin folder:

Depth, PSV age, ¹⁸O, ¹³C data for Summer Lake core B&B are reported in:

Benson, L., Lund, S., Negrini, R., Linsley, B., and Zic, M. 2003. Response of North American Great Basin lakes to Dansgaard-Oeschger oscillations. Quaternary Science Reviews 22: 2,239-2,251.

General Comment: In most cases an age model based on ¹⁴C analyses is not included with the datasets although ones were created for …

Stable Isotope Investigation Of The Migratory Behavior Of Silverhaired Bats (Lasionycteris Noctivagans) In Eastern North America, Erin E. Fraser, Darin Brooks, Fred J. Longstaffe

Earth Sciences Publications

We investigated the migratory movements of silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) across the eastern extent of the species’ range. We conducted stable hydrogen isotope analysis of fur samples (δ²H_fur) from museum specimens collected across latitudes and at all times of the year. We first used these data to estimate the timing of fur replacement and to develop a model associating δ²H_fur with that of local precipitation (δ²H_precip) at the location where fur replacement occurred. We then used this model to 1) identify individuals that had migrated …

Origin Of Graphite In The Southwestern Grenville Province, Mehmet F. Taner, Cameron Drever, Chris Yakymhuk, Fred Longstaffe

Earth Sciences Publications

Two graphite deposits in the southwestern Grenville Province are investigated to evaluate the origin of graphitic carbon and to test if the graphite mineralization is syngenetic or epigenetic. Graphite mineralization in the Bissett Creek deposit is characterized by homogeneously distributed and disseminated graphite flakes (approximately 1 to 5 mm in size and 2 to 10 vol.%) within graphitic gneisses. The graphite flakes are intergrown with metamorphic minerals, most notably biotite. The Montpellier graphite showing in Qu´ebec contains graphite concentrations of up to 20 vol.%. In contrast to the disseminated and homogenously distributed graphite in the Bissett Creek deposit, graphite mineralization …

Great Basin Surface Water And Precipitation Isotope Data, Larry V. Benson

United States Geological Survey: Datasets

In the Great Basin Surface Water and Precipitation Isotope Data folder:

Farad, Nixon, and Pyramid Lake 18O data were reported in:

Benson, L.V., 1994, Stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in the Truckee River-Pyramid Lake surface-water system. 1. Data analysis and extraction of paleoclimatic information: Limnology and Oceanography, vol. 39, p. 344-355. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/1015

Spring chemistry around Pyramid Lake data were reported in:

Benson, L.V., 1994, Carbonate deposition, Pyramid Lake subbasin, Nevada: 1. Sequence of formation and elevational distribution of carbonate deposits (tufas): Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, vol. 109, p. 55-87.

Benson, L.V., Kashgarian M., and Rubin, M., 1995, Carbonate deposition, …

Zircon As A Proxy For "Taking The Temperature" Of Granites: An Example Using Zircon Thermometry Applied To Grenvillian Mid-Crustal Magmas In The Blue Ridge Province, Virginia, Samantha Rae Burk

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Grenville orogeny was a protracted (~200 m.y.) series of “hot” magmatic- metamorphic events that contributed to the growth of the Laurentian margin in the late Mesoproterozoic. The granites contain remarkably high Zr content, lack xenocrysts, and become zircon saturated at high temperatures, which are all unusual for felsic magmas. The “hot Grenville granite” hypothesis is tested and use of high-Zr granitoids as potential zones of crustal magma generation through: U-Pb geochronology and cathodoluminescence imaging to assess inherited zircon components; quantitative modeling of zircon crystallization history using rhyolite-MELTS; and Ti-in-zircon thermometry. U-Pb zircon ages for two samples from the Virginia …

A Zooarchaeological And Geochemical Analysis Of The Faunal Remains From The Tripolye Site Verteba Cave, Ukraine, Sarah Heins Ledogar

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study combines zooarchaeological and geochemical analyses to examine the use of animals excavated from Verteba Cave (Ukraine), a unique archaeological site associated with the Eneolithic Tripolye culture (4900 – 2900 BC). Verteba Cave is atypical among Tripolye sites because it is located within a cave, and contains a large amount of human skeletal remains. Although research has been focused on understanding Tripolye subsistence economy, the strategies engaged for procuring domestic animals and the role of animal products in Tripolye life has been underexplored. The role of animals in social behaviors (i.e., mortuary practices, feasting) has not yet been thoroughly …

Owens Lake Core Data, Larry V. Benson

United States Geological Survey: Datasets

In the Owens Lake core data folder:

¹⁴C ages for cores OL84 and OL90 were reported in:

Benson, L.V., Burdett, J.W., Kashgarian, M., Lund, S.P., Phillips, F.M., and Rye, R.O., 1996, Climatic and hydrologic Oscillations in the Owens Lake basin and adjacent Sierra Nevada, California: Science, vol. 274, p. 746-749.

Benson, L.V., 1999, Records of millennial-scale climate change from the Great Basin of the Western United States: In Clark, P., Webb, R., Keigwin, L., eds., Mechanisms of Global Climate Change at Millennial Time Scales, American Geophysical Union Monograph 112, p. 203-225.

Benson, L., 2003, Western Lakes: Chapter 9 in …