L\u27evolution historique de la privilege au premier saisissant et la conception francais de la egalite des creanciers

The Mayari-Baracoa Ophiolitic Belt (MBOB, eastern Cuba) is composed of two large, chromite-rich massifs: Mayari-Cristal and Moa-Baracoa. The chromitites and hosting dunites were firstly affected by a regional serpentinization event, a subsequent episode of hydrothermal alteration (chloritization mainly) and, finally, these already altered bodies were crosscut by thin calcite-dominated veins. Analysed serpentines from serpentinized chromitites and dunites present very similar isotopic compositions (delta(18)O= + 4.7 parts per thousand to + 6.3 parts per thousand and deltaD = - 67 parts per thousand to - 60 parts per thousand), suggesting that the serpentinization process took place at moderate temperatures, in an oceanic environment. Serpentine formation by interaction with ocean water is also supported by the isotopic composition of chlorite and calcite. These results suggest that the serpentinization, chloritization and fracture filling processes of the Mayari-Baracoa Ophiolite Belt took place in a subocean floor scenario and, thus, that the Mayari-Baracoa serpentines represent a good example of serpentine formed during interaction with seawater. The oceanic origin of the serpentines from serpentinized chromitites and dunites from the MBOB indicate that the serpentinization of the mantle sequence occurred pre-thrusting (pre-emplacement in age). (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Enhanced climate instability in the North Atlantic and southern Europe during the Last Interglacial.

Considerable ambiguity remains over the extent and nature of millennial/centennial-scale climate instability during the Last Interglacial (LIG). Here we analyse marine and terrestrial proxies from a deep-sea sediment sequence on the Portuguese Margin and combine results with an intensively dated Italian speleothem record and climate-model experiments. The strongest expression of climate variability occurred during the transitions into and out of the LIG. Our records also document a series of multi-centennial intra-interglacial arid events in southern Europe, coherent with cold water-mass expansions in the North Atlantic. The spatial and temporal fingerprints of these changes indicate a reorganization of ocean surface circulation, consistent with low-intensity disruptions of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). The amplitude of this LIG variability is greater than that observed in Holocene records. Episodic Greenland ice melt and runoff as a result of excess warmth may have contributed to AMOC weakening and increased climate instability throughout the LIG

Long term geological record of a global deep subsurface microbial habitat in sand injection complexes

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A demonstration of an affinity between pyrite and organic matter in a hydrothermal setting

One of the key-principles of the iron-sulphur world theory is to bring organic molecules close enough to interact with each other, using the surface of pyrite as a substrate in a hydrothermal setting. The present paper explores the relationship of pyrite and organic matter in a hydrothermal setting from the geological record; in hydrothermal calcite veins from Carboniferous limestones in central Ireland. Here, the organic matter is accumulated as coatings around, and through, pyrite grains. Most of the pyrite grains are euhedral-subhedral crystals, ranging in size from ca 0.1-0.5 mm in diameter, and they are scattered throughout the matrix of the vein calcite. The organic matter was deposited from a hydrothermal fluid at a temperature of at least 200°C, and gives a Raman signature of disordered carbon. This study points to an example from a hydrothermal setting in the geological record, demonstrating that pyrite can have a high potential for the concentration and accumulation of organic materials

Mantle heat drives hydrothermal fluids responsible for carbonate-hosted base metal deposits: evidence from 3He/4He of ore fluids in the Irish Pb-Zn ore district

There is little consensus on whether carbonate-hosted base metal deposits, such as the world-class Irish Zn+Pb ore field, formed in collisional or extensional tectonic settings. Helium isotopes have been analysed in ore fluids trapped in sulphides samples from the major base metal deposits of the Irish Zn-Pb ore field in order to quantify the involvement of mantle-derived volatiles, that require melting to be realised, as well as test prevailing models for the genesis of the ore fields. 3He/4He ratios range up to 0.2 Ra, indicating that a small but clear mantle helium contribution is present in the mineralising fluids trapped in galena and marcasite. Sulfides from ore deposits with the highest fluid inclusion temperatures (~200°C) also have the highest 3He/4He (> 0.15 Ra). Similar 3He/4He are recorded in fluids from modern continental regions that are undergoing active extension. By analogy we consider that the hydrothermal fluids responsible for the carbonate-hosted Irish base metal mineralization circulated in thinned continental crust, undergoing extension, and demonstrates that enhanced mantle heat flow is ultimately responsible for driving fluid convection

The geochemistry of early diagenetic dolostones from a low-salinity Jurassic lagoon

In the Middle Jurassic Great Estuarine Group of NW Scotland, argillaceous dolostones and dolomitic limestones occur interbedded with limestones and mudstones of low salinity, 'closed lagoon' palaeoenvironments. These microcrystalline dolostones are imperfectly ordered and calcium-rich, and have escaped pervasive dissolution-reprecipitation processes during burial diagenesis. Geochemical studies show that the dolostones retain a significant early diagenetic memory. d18Odol values≈0‰ are the heaviest reported from the Great Estuarine Group and probably formed by evaporative fractionation from meteoric water. d13Cdol values≈-2‰ may represent precipitation from a standing body of meteoric water partially equilibrated with atmospheric CO2. Calcite coexisting with the dolomite is lighter in both 13C and 18O by 0.8 and 3.7‰ respectively. It is suggested that the minerals were not co-precipitates from one solution. Strontium is preferentially concentrated inthe dolomite with 87Sr/86Sr values between 0.7095 and 0.7099. These values, which are slightly more radiogenic than Jurassic seawater, may originate from the continental weathering of ancient limestones, mixed with seawater derived from the compaction of underlying sediments. Sm-Nd model agesare consistent with weathering of Dalradian rocks in the drainage hinterland. Dolomite formation proceeded by dolomitization of a CaCO3 precursor in a warm seasonal climate. During dry, arid seasons the lagoon water evaporated concentrating 18O, raising Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratiosand thereby promoting dolomitization. During humid wet periods Sr-poor CaCO3 precipitated with lighter d18O and d13C values