Latest Triassic (Sevatian–Rhaetian) reef carbonates from the Northern Calcareous Alps (Austria), their mollusc dwellers, and their fate at the end-Triassic extinction event

A reef-associated mollusc fauna (gastropods and bivalves) and its facies context are described from latest Triassic (Sevatian–Rhaetian) reef carbonates of Austria (Rötelwand reef at Gaissau and Gosaukamm near Hallstatt). The studied carbonates from the Rötelwand reef consist of mollusc-rich rudstones, partly boundstones, which contain branched corals (Cycliphyllia and Retiophylia, Pinacophyllum), whereas coralline sponges are absent. The rich foraminiferid fauna that is associated with the reef builders consists of 11 genera; eight of these genera became extinct until the end of the Rhaetian. Associated with small patch reefs was a rich mollusc fauna with 19 gastropod species and 8 epifaunal bivalve species. The gastropod fauna is dominated by Microschiza rhaetica, Trochotoma praecursor, and the large growing Purpuroidea moosleitneri. Six gastropod species are new to science: Angulomphalus senowbarii sp. nov., Stuorella zapfei sp. nov., Hologyra callosa sp. nov., Microschiza rhaetica sp. nov., Angularia corallina sp. nov., and Purpuroidea moosleitneri sp. nov. Four Triassic gastropod species are placed in other genera (new combinations): Tylotrochus diversicostatus Wolff, 1967 and Eucycloscala epitoniformis Nützel and Senowbari-Daryan, 1999 are placed in Sadkia, Praelittorina sepkoskii Nützel and Erwin, 2004 in Microschiza, and Purpuroidea? minioi Leonardi, 1935 in Angularia Koken, 1892. Reversal of precedence is proposed for Angularia Koken, 1892 (Gastropoda) and Angularia Busk, 1881 (Bryozoa) under ICZN Art. 23.9. Although reefs suffered a catastrophic decline at the end of the Triassic, most of the studied reef-associated bivalve and gastropod genera survived into the Jurassic, indicating a considerable ecological plasticity of these groups. Only 12 out of 47 reef-associated mollusc genera became extinct (25.5%). This observation is at variance with earlier suggestions that taxa that were associated with reefs and carbonate substrata had a significantly higher extinction risk than level-bottom dwellers. However, extinction at the species level appears more severe; only three bivalve species but no gastropod species recorded in this fauna have records from the Jurassic

Mechanism for the Combined Li-Na Ionic Conductivity in Sugilite (Fe2Na2KLi3Si12O30)-Type Compounds

This study explains the ionic conductivity in the mineral sugilite (idealized formula: Fe2Na2KLi3Si12O30) by resolving the dynamic disorder of both Li and Na cations using synchrotron X-ray single-crystal diffraction from 298 K to 1023 K. Non-zero anharmonic atomic displacement parameters at Na and Li sites at 1023 K adumbrated long-range charge transport routes for Li and Na cations commonly parallel to the (a-b) plane. Temperature-enhanced diffuse residuals in Fourier maps could unambiguously localize two interstitial sites suitable for Li, as well as three for Na. Each two-dimensional (2D) network of Li and Na interstitials was formed parallel to each other, providing Li and Na hopping pathways. The higher concentration of Na cations hopping in short distances of 2.0962(4)-2.3015(5) Å could be the main reason for the higher bulk conductivity values evaluated by impedance spectra of sugilite in comparison to those of its structural relatives with low Na contents, e.g., the mineral sogdianite ((Zr,Al,Fe)2Na0.36KLi3Si12O30). Bond valence sum landscape maps supported the critical role of dynamic disorder of Na+ over densely packed 2D interstitial networks for combined ionic conductivity along with mobile Li+ in sugilite-type compounds

Characterisation of contact twinning for cerussite, PbCO3, by single-crystal NMR spectroscopy

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Cerussite, <jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$\\hbox {PbCO}_3$$</jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"> <mml:msub> <mml:mtext>PbCO</mml:mtext> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math></jats:alternatives></jats:inline-formula>, like all members of the aragonite group, shows a tendency to form twins, due to high pseudo-symmetry within the crystal structure. We here demonstrate that the twin law of a cerussite contact twin may be established using only <jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$^{207}$$</jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow /> <mml:mn>207</mml:mn> </mml:msup> </mml:math></jats:alternatives></jats:inline-formula>Pb-NMR spectroscopy. This is achieved by a global fit of several sets of orientation-dependent spectra acquired from the twin specimen, allowing to determine the relative orientation of the twin domains. Also, the full <jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$^{207}$$</jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow /> <mml:mn>207</mml:mn> </mml:msup> </mml:math></jats:alternatives></jats:inline-formula>Pb chemical shift tensor in cerussite at room temperature is determined from these data, with the eigenvalues being <jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$\\delta _{11} = (-2315\\pm 1)$$</jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>δ</mml:mi> <mml:mn>11</mml:mn> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mn>2315</mml:mn> <mml:mo>±</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:math></jats:alternatives></jats:inline-formula> ppm, <jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$\\delta _{22} = (-2492 \\pm 3)$$</jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>δ</mml:mi> <mml:mn>22</mml:mn> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mn>2492</mml:mn> <mml:mo>±</mml:mo> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:math></jats:alternatives></jats:inline-formula> ppm, and <jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$\\delta _{33} = (-3071 \\pm 3)$$</jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>δ</mml:mi> <mml:mn>33</mml:mn> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mn>3071</mml:mn> <mml:mo>±</mml:mo> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:math></jats:alternatives></jats:inline-formula> ppm.</jats:p&gt

Raman spectroscopy - A powerful tool for in situ planetary science

This paper introduces Raman spectroscopy and discusses various scenarios where it might be applied to in situ planetary missions. We demonstrate the extensive capabilities of Raman spectroscopy for planetary investigations and argue that this technique is essential for future planetary missions

Mineralogy and crystallography of some Itokawa particles returned by the Hayabusa asteroidal sample return mission

We studied seven Itokawa particles provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as first International Announcement of Opportunity (AO) study mainly using electron and synchrotron radiation X-ray beam techniques. All the analyzed particles were collected from the first-touchdown site and composed of olivine and plagioclase with traces of Ca phosphate and chromite, and do not contain pyroxenes. Optical microscopy of these particles shows minor undulatory extinction of olivine and plagioclase, suggesting minor shock metamorphism (shock stage: S2). The electron microprobe analysis shows that olivine is Fo(70-73) and plagioclase is An(13-10)Or(5-7). The synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction (SR-XRD) analysis of olivine crystals gives cell dimensions of a = 4.708 to 4.779 angstrom, b = 10.271 to 10.289 angstrom, c = 6.017 to 6.024 angstrom, corresponding to the Fo content of Fo(similar to 70) by Vegard's law. This composition matches the result obtained by the electron microprobe analysis. The olivine compositions of the analyzed particles are consistent with those of LL chondrites. The cell dimensions of two plagioclase crystals (a = 8.180 to 8.194 angstrom, b = 12.53 to 12.893 angstrom, c = 7.125 to 7.23 angstrom, a = 92.6 degrees to 93.00 degrees, beta = 116.36 degrees to 116.75 degrees, gamma = 90.03 degrees to 90.17 degrees) indicate that their equilibration temperatures are 800 degrees C +/- 10 degrees C. This temperature is near the peak metamorphic temperature recorded by equilibrated ordinary chondrites. The size of plagioclase crystals and the homogeneity of olivine compositions indicate that their petrologic type is >= 5. We also analyzed plagioclase by SR iron X-ray absorption near-edge structure (SR-XANES) and found that its Fe3+/(Fe2+ + Fe3+) ratio is approximately 0.5. Such high Fe3+ abundance indicates the formation under a relatively oxidizing environment. Thus, all these analyses have reconfirmed that the Itokawa particles returned by the Hayabusa spacecraft are very weakly shocked equilibrated LL chondrites, which matches the results of the preliminary examination team

Anatomy of a pressure-induced, ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic transition in pyrrhotite: Implications for the formation pressure of diamonds

Meteorites and diamonds encounter high pressures during their formation or subsequent evolution. These materials commonly contain magnetic inclusions of pyrrhotite. Because magnetic properties are sensitive to strain, pyrrhotite can potentially record the shock or formation pressures of its host. Moreover, pyrrhotite undergoes a pressure-induced phase transition between 1.6 and 6.2 GPa, but the magnetic signature of this transition is poorly known. Here we report room temperature magnetic measurements on multidomain and single-domain pyrrhotite under nonhydrostatic pressure. Magnetic remanence in single-domain pyrrhotite is largely insensitive to pressure until 2 GPa, whereas the remanence of multidomain pyrrhotite increases 50\% over that of initial conditions by 2 GPa, and then decreases until only 33\% of the original remanence remains by 4.5 GPa. In contrast, magnetic coercivity increases with increasing pressure to 4.5 GPa. Below ∼1.5 GPa, multidomain pyrrhotite obeys Néel theory with a positive correlation between coercivity and remanence; above ∼1.5 GPa, it behaves single domain-like yet distinctly different from uncompressed single-domain pyrrhotite. The ratio of magnetic coercivity and remanence follows a logarithmic law with respect to pressure, which can potentially be used as a geobarometer. Owing to the greater thermal expansion of pyrrhotite with respect to diamond, pyrrhotite inclusions in diamonds experience a confining pressure at Earth’s surface. Applying our experimentally derived magnetic geobarometer to pyrrhotite-bearing diamonds from Botswana and the Central African Republic suggests the pressures of the pyrrhotite inclusions in the diamonds range from 1.3 to 2.1 GPa. These overpressures constrain the mantle source pressures from 5.4 to 9.5 GPa, depending on which bulk modulus and thermal expansion coefficients of the two phases are used