Carbon sources of Antarctic nematodes as revealed by natural carbon isotope ratios and a pulse-chase experiment

δ13C of nematode communities in 27 sites was analyzed, spanning a large depth range (from 130 to 2,021 m) in five Antarctic regions, and compared to isotopic signatures of sediment organic matter. Sediment organic matter δ13C ranged from −24.4 to −21.9‰ without significant differences between regions, substrate types or depths. Nematode δ13C showed a larger range, from −34.6 to −19.3‰, and was more depleted than sediment organic matter typically by 1‰ and by up to 3‰ in silty substrata. These, and the isotopically heavy meiofauna at some stations, suggest substantial selectivity of some meiofauna for specific components of the sedimenting plankton. However, 13C-depletion in lipids and a potential contribution of chemoautotrophic carbon in the diet of the abundant genus Sabatieria may confound this interpretation. Carbon sources for Antarctic nematodes were also explored by means of an experiment in which the fate of a fresh pulse of labile carbon to the benthos was followed. This organic carbon was remineralized at a rate (11–20 mg C m−2 day−1) comparable to mineralization rates in continental slope sediments. There was no lag between sedimentation and mineralization; uptake by nematodes, however, did show such a lag. Nematodes contributed negligibly to benthic carbon mineralization

Sources of post-orogenic calcalkaline magmas : the Arrochar and Garabal Hill-Glen Fyne complexes, Scotland

The 425 Ma Arrochar and Garabal Hill–Glen Fyne complexes of highland Scotland are examples of post-orogenic magmatism accompanying extensional collapse of an orogen, in this case the Caledonian. The rocks are dominantly high-K series, but range from medium-K to shoshonitic. Mantle upwelling, melting and the intrusion of large volumes of mafic magma into the crust are inferred to have accompanied lithospheric thinning, and to have provided the heat source for melting of young arc crust accreted during the preceding subduction epoch. Fluids evolved from the subducting slab are inferred to have caused high degrees of enrichment in the overlying mantle wedge. Deep in the crust, the mantle-derived, K-rich mafic to intermediate magmas mixed with felsic crustal melts to form the spectrum of magmas intruded in the two complexes. Microgranular enclaves in the granitic rocks represent mafic magmas derived from the enriched mantle and hybridised by reaction, diffusion and mechanical mixing with their host felsic magmas, but they do not form part of the evolutionary series that produced the host magmas. Rather than inheriting its LILE-enriched character directly from crustal melts, or from crustal assimilation by mafic magmas, the high-K series may commonly owe at least part of its potassic character to the involvement of mantle (highly metasomatised by slab-derived fluids) as a major magma source. Enclave suites, though prominent in some granitic rocks should not be assumed to represent magmas that played a significant role in the production of the chemical variations in their host magmas

Cold plumes trigger contamination of oceanic mantle wedges with continental crust-derived sediments: Evidence from chromitite zircon grains of eastern Cuban ophiolites

© 2018 China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Peking University. The origin of zircon grains, and other exotic minerals of typical crustal origin, in mantle-hosted ophiolitic chromitites are hotly debated. We report a population of zircon grains with ages ranging from Cretaceous (99 Ma) to Neoarchean (2750 Ma), separated from massive chromitite bodies hosted in the mantle section of the supra-subduction (SSZ)-type Mayarí-Baracoa Ophiolitic Belt in eastern Cuba. Most analyzed zircon grains (n = 20, 287 ± 3 Ma to 2750 ± 60 Ma) are older than the early Cretaceous age of the ophiolite body, show negative e Hf (t) (-26 to -0.6) and occasional inclusions of quartz, K-feldspar, biotite, and apatite that indicate derivation from a granitic continental crust. In contrast, 5 mainly rounded zircon grains (297 ± 5 Ma to 2126 ± 27 Ma) show positive e Hf (t) (+0.7 to +13.5) and occasional apatite inclusions, suggesting their possible crystallization from melts derived from juvenile (mantle) sources. Interestingly, younger zircon grains are mainly euhedral to subhedral crystals, whereas older zircon grains are predominantly rounded grains. A comparison of the ages and Hf isotopic compositions of the zircon grains with those of nearby exposed crustal terranes suggest that chromitite zircon grains are similar to those reported from terranes of Mexico and northern South America. Hence, chromitite zircon grains are interpreted as sedimentary-derived xenocrystic grains that were delivered into the mantle wedge beneath the Greater Antilles intra-oceanic volcanic arc by metasomatic fluids/melts during subduction processes. Thus, continental crust recycling by subduction could explain all populations of old xenocrystic zircon in Cretaceous mantle-hosted chromitites from eastern Cuba ophiolite. We integrate the results of this study with petrological-thermomechanical modeling and existing geodynamic models to propose that ancient zircon xenocrysts, with a wide spectrum of ages and Hf isotopic compositions, can be transferred to the mantle wedge above subducting slabs by cold plumes

Potential for offsetting diamond mine carbon emissions through mineral carbonation of processed kimberlite: An assessment of De Beers mine sites in South Africa and Canada

De Beers kimberlite mine operations in South Africa (Venetia and Voorspoed) and Canada (Gahcho Kué, Victor, and Snap Lake) have the potential to sequester carbon dioxide (CO) through weathering of kimberlite mine tailings, which can store carbon in secondary carbonate minerals (mineral carbonation). Carbonation of ca. 4.7 to 24.0 wt% (average = 13.8 wt%) of annual processed kimberlite production could offset 100% of each mine site’s carbon dioxide equivalent (COe) emissions. Minerals of particular interest for reactivity with atmospheric or waste CO from energy production include serpentine minerals, olivine (forsterite), brucite, and smectite. The most abundant minerals, such as serpentine polymorphs, provide the bulk of the carbonation potential. However, the detection of minor amounts of highly reactive brucite in tailings from Victor, as well as the likely presence of brucite at Venetia, Gahcho Kué, and Snap Lake, is also important for the mineral carbonation potential of the mine sites