Chemical composition of basalts and basaltic glasses from the Sierra Leone Fracture Zone region

Major and trace element (including REE) geochemistry of basalts and chilled basaltic glasses from the MAR axial zone in the vicinity of the Sierra Leone FZ (5-7°10'N) has been studied. Associations of basalts of various compositions with particular ocean-floor geological structural features have been analyzed as well. Three basaltic varieties have been discriminated. Almost ubiquitous are high-Mg basalts (Variety 1) that are derivatives of N-MORB tholeiitic melts and that are produced in the axial zone of spreading. Variety 2 is alkaline basalts widespread on the southwestern flank of the MAR crest zone in the Sierra Leone region, likely generated through deep mantle melting under plume impact. Variety 3 is basalts derivative from T- and P-MORB-like tholeiitic melts and originating through addition of deeper mantle material to depleted upper mantle melts. Magma generation parameters, as calculated from chilled glass compositions, are different for depleted tholeiites (44-55 km, 1320-1370°C) and enriched tholeiites (45-78 km, 1330-1450°C). Mantle plume impact is shown to affect not only tholeiitic basalt compositions but also magma generation conditions in the axial spreading zone, resulting in higher Ti and Na concentrations in melts parental to rift-related basalts occurring near the plume. T- and P-MORBs are also developed near areas where mantle plumes are localized. High-Mg basalts are shown to come in several types with distinctive Ti and Na contents. Nearly every single MAR segment (bounded by sinistral strike slips and the Bogdanov Fracture Zone) is featured by its own basalt type suggesting that it has formed above an asthenospheric diapir with its unique magma generation conditions. These conditions are time variable. Likely causes of temporal and spatial instability of the mantle upwelling beneath this portion of the MAR are singular tectonic processes and plume activity. In sulfide-bearing rift morphostructures (so-called "Ore area'' and the Markov Basin), basalts make up highly evolved suites generated through olivine and plagioclase fractionation, which is suggestive of relatively long-lived magma chambers beneath the sulfide-bearing rift morphostructures. Functioning of these chambers is a combined effect of singular geodynamic regime and plume activity. In these chambers melts undergo deep differentiation leading to progressively increasing concentration of sulfide phase, eventually to be supplied to the hydrothermal plumbing system

Complexation of molecular clips containing fragments of diphenylglycoluril and benzocrown ethers with paraquat and its derivatives

The complexation of molecular clips containing fragments of diphenylglycoluril and benzocrown ethers with paraquat and its derivatives has been studied both in solution and in the solid state. In this paper we studied the influence of the crown ether ring size and the nature of the substituents at the nitrogen atoms of the paraquat derivatives on the composition and stability of these complexes

Synergetic Radical-Scavenging effect in the complex of copper(II) with the thiosemicarbazone of Salicylaldehyde

The radical scavenging activities of salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone and its copper(II) and cadmium(II) complexes were evaluated by in vitro experiments in the reaction with 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl. Salicylic aldehyde thiosemicarbazone complex with Cu(II) shows significantly higher radical-scavenging activity than Cu2+ ions, salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone, and Cd(II) complex. Electrochemical, EPR and kinetic studies revealed that the high rate of reaction and efficiency is due to the mechanism of electron transfer, which is enhanced by the synergetic effect of the ligand structure and the ability of the copper ion to exhibit variable valencies.</p