Creation and Destruction of Lithospheric Mantle beneath the North China Craton

Mantle peridotites carried in volcanic rocks provide a window into the composition, age and origin of deep lithospheric mantle. Previous studies of mantle peridotites have shown that the central-eastern North China Craton experienced lithospheric reactivation in the past, which makes the craton an important location to investigate reactivation processes and mechanisms. In order to better understand the formation and evolution of the North China Craton, the petrology, major and trace element geochemistry of both whole rocks and minerals, whole rock Re-Os isotope systematics, and highly siderophile element (HSE) abundances, were carried out on peridotites entrained in Cretaceous to Tertiary lavas from the craton. Strontium-Nd-Hf-Pb isotopic compositions of clinopyroxenes separated from some of these rocks were also examined. Studies of these peridotites show that: 1) Peridotites from the western-central North China Craton record a north-south composition and age dichotomy. The northern portion of the central region of the craton experienced lithospheric mantle replacement via a ~1.8 Ga collision associated with amalgamation of the craton. The comparative Late Archean age between crust and lithospheric mantle in the southern portion of the central region suggests that the cratonization in this region occurred at ~2.5 Ga; 2) Lithospheric thinning and replacement beneath the northern edge of the eastern North China Craton occurred prior to ~100 Ma. Phanerozoic lithospheric thinning and replacement in the eastern North China Craton may have evolved from east to west, or from the margins to the interior of the continent with time in the Mesozoic; 3) Highly fractionated HSE patterns found in a majority of peridotite suites and characterized by Os, Pd and Re depletions relative to Ir were caused by recent sulfide breakdown via interaction with a S-undersaturated oxidizing melt/fluid; and, 4) The trace element characteristics and isotopic tracers (Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb) present in clinopyroxenes, combined with their whole-rock Re-Os data, record a multi-stage history of primary melt depletion and secondary overprinting processes. Lu-Hf isotopic compositions of pyroxenes may record the cooling age when peridotites cooled down below the closure temperature of the system

Widespread tungsten isotope anomalies and W mobility in crustal and mantle rocks of the Eoarchean Saglek Block, northern Labrador, Canada: Implications for early Earth processes and W recycling

Well-resolved 182W isotope anomalies, relative to the present mantle, in Hadean–Archean terrestrial rocks have been interpreted to reflect the effects of variable late accretion and early mantle differentiation processes. To further explore these early Earth processes, we have carried out W concentration and isotopic measurements of Eoarchean ultramafic rocks, including lithospheric mantle rocks, meta-komatiites, a layered ultramafic body and associated crustal gneisses and amphibolites from the Uivak gneiss terrane of the Saglek Block, northern Labrador, Canada. These analyses are augmented by in situ W concentration measurements of individual phases in order to examine the major hosts of W in these rocks. Although the W budget in some rocks can be largely explained by a combination of their major phases, W in other rocks is hosted mainly in secondary grain-boundary assemblages, as well as in cryptic, unidentified W-bearing ‘nugget’ minerals. Whole rock W concentrations in the ultramafic rocks show unexpected enrichments relative, to elements with similar incompatibilities. By contrast, W concentrations are low in the Uivak gneisses. These data, along with the in situ W concentration data, suggest metamorphic transport/re-distribution of W from the regional felsic rocks, the Uivak gneiss precursors, to the spatially associated ultramafic rocks. All but one sample from the lithologically varied Eoarchean Saglek suite is characterized by generally uniform enrichments in 182W relative to Earth's modern mantle. Modeling shows that the W isotopic enrichments in the ultramafic rocks were primarily inherited from the surrounding 182W-rich felsic precursor rocks, and that the W isotopic composition of the original ultramafic rocks cannot be determined. The observed W isotopic composition of mafic to ultramafic rocks in intimate contact with ancient crust should be viewed with caution in order to plate constraints on the early Hf–W isotopic evolution of the Earth's mantle with regard to late accretionary processes. Although 182W anomalies can be erased via mixing in the convective mantle, recycling of 182W-rich crustal rocks into the mantle can produce new mantle sources with anomalous W isotopic compositions that can be tapped at much later times and, hence, this process should be considered as a mechanism for the generation of 182W-rich rocks at any subsequent time in Earth history.The NSERC Discovery Grants program to DGP U.S. NSF-CSEDI grant EAR1265169 (to RJW)

In search of late-stage planetary building blocks

Genetic contributions to the final stages of planetary growth, including materials associated with the giant Moon forming impact, late accretion, and late heavy bombardment are examined using siderophile elements. Isotopic similarities between the Earth and Moon for both lithophile and siderophile elements collectively lead to the suggestion that the genetics of the building blocks for Earth, and the impactor involved in the Moon-forming event were broadly similar, and shared some strong genetic affinities with enstatite chondrites. The bulk genetic fingerprint of materials subsequently added to Earth by late accretion, defined as the addition of ~0.5 wt.% of Earth's mass to the mantle, following cessation of core formation, was characterized by 187Os/188Os and Pd/Ir ratios that were also similar to those in some enstatite chondrites. However, the integrated fingerprint of late accreted matter differs from enstatite chondrites in terms of the relative abundances of certain other HSE, most notably Ru/Ir. The final ≤0.05 wt.% addition of material to the Earth and Moon, believed by some to be part of a late heavy bombardment, included a component with much more fractionated relative HSE abundances than evidenced in the average late accretionary component. Heterogeneous 182W/184Wisotopic compositions of some ancient terrestrial rocks suggest that some very early formed mantle domains remained chemically distinct for long periods of time following primary planetary accretion. This evidence for sluggish mixing of the early mantle suggests that if late accretionary contributions to the mantle were genetically diverse, it may be possible to isotopically identify the disparate primordial components in the terrestrial rock record using the siderophile element tracers Ru and Mo.NASA grants NNX13AF83G and NNA14AB07A NSF-CSEDI grants EAR1160728 and EAR1265169

Identification and analysis of the secretome of plant pathogenic fungi reveals lifestyle adaptation

The secretory proteome plays an important role in the pathogenesis of phytopathogenic fungi. However, the relationship between the large-scale secretome of phytopathogenic fungi and their lifestyle is not fully understood. In the present study, the secretomes of 150 plant pathogenic fungi were predicted and the characteristics associated with different lifestyles were investigated. In total, 94,974 secreted proteins (SPs) were predicted from these fungi. The number of the SPs ranged from 64 to 1,662. Among these fungi, hemibiotrophic fungi had the highest number (average of 970) and proportion (7.1%) of SPs. Functional annotation showed that hemibiotrophic and necrotroph fungi, differ from biotrophic and symbiotic fungi, contained much more carbohydrate enzymes, especially polysaccharide lyases and carbohydrate esterases. Furthermore, the core and lifestyle-specific SPs orthogroups were identified. Twenty-seven core orthogroups contained 16% of the total SPs and their motif function annotation was represented by serine carboxypeptidase, carboxylesterase and asparaginase. In contrast, 97 lifestyle-specific orthogroups contained only 1% of the total SPs, with diverse functions such as PAN_AP in hemibiotroph-specific and flavin monooxygenases in necrotroph-specific. Moreover, obligate biotrophic fungi had the largest number of effectors (average of 150), followed by hemibiotrophic fungi (average of 120). Among these effectors, 4,155 had known functional annotation and pectin lyase had the highest proportion in the functionally annotated effectors. In addition, 32 sets of RNA-Seq data on pathogen-host interactions were collected and the expression levels of SPs were higher than that of non-SPs, and the expression level of effector genes was higher in biotrophic and hemibiotrophic fungi than in necrotrophic fungi, while secretase genes were highly expressed in necrotrophic fungi. Finally, the secretory activity of five predicted SPs from Setosphearia turcica was experimentally verified. In conclusion, our results provide a foundation for the study of pathogen-host interaction and help us to understand the fungal lifestyle adaptation

Fractionation of sulfide phases controls the chalcophile metal budget of arc magmas: evidence from the Chilas complex, Kohistan arc, Pakistan

Some arc magmas lead to the formation of porphyry deposits in the relatively shallow upper crust (<5 km). Porphyry deposits are major sources of Cu and an important Au source but lack significant amounts of platinum group elements (PGE). Sulfide phases control the behavior of chalcophile elements and affect the potential to form ore deposits either by remaining in the mantle residue or by fractionating from arc magmas at lower crustal levels, although in detail the role of sulfide saturation in the lower crust remains poorly understood. Lower crustal cumulate rocks from the 85 Ma Chilas Complex of the Kohistan arc, Pakistan, provide insight into processes that occur at depth in arcs. Here we provide Cu, Ni, Au, and PGE concentrations and Os isotope ratios of the Chilas Complex in order to constrain the extent of sulfide saturation in the lower crust and the effect of sulfide saturation on the metal budget of evolved melts that ascend to the upper crust. The Chilas rock suite contains less than 0.17 wt % sulfides and low PGE concentrations. In situ laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) measurements of the sulfide inclusions in silicate minerals show enrichment in several chalcophile elements (up to 34 wt % Cu, 23 ppm Au, 245 ppm Pd, and 20 ppm Pt), whereas iridium group PGE (IPGE- Os, Ir, Ru) are mainly below detection limits. The metal content of the parental melt was modeled based on the elemental concentrations of the sulfides. The modeled parental arc magmas contain 70 to 140 ppm Cu, 0.2 to 1.5 ppb Au, and 1.2 to 8 ppb Pd, but low concentrations of IPGE, suggesting that IPGE were likely retained in the mantle source. Mass balance calculations show that segregation of a sulfide melt in the lower crust could further deplete the melt by more than 95% in Pd and Pt, 33 to 85% in Au, and 13 to 60% in Cu. Thus, magmas that ascend to the upper crust would contain very low concentrations of Au (< 0.2 ppb) and Pd (< 0.04 ppb), but they would retain sufficient concentration of Cu (~45–57 ppm) to form porphyry Cu deposits upon emplacement in the upper crust, as is commonly observed in arc settings

Nickel Isotopic Evidence for Late-Stage Accretion of Mercury-Like Differentiated Planetary Embryos

© 2021, The Author(s). Earth’s habitability is closely tied to its late-stage accretion, during which impactors delivered the majority of life-essential volatiles. However, the nature of these final building blocks remains poorly constrained. Nickel (Ni) can be a useful tracer in characterizing this accretion as most Ni in the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) comes from the late-stage impactors. Here, we apply Ni stable isotope analysis to a large number of meteorites and terrestrial rocks, and find that the BSE has a lighter Ni isotopic composition compared to chondrites. Using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory, we show that core-mantle differentiation cannot produce the observed light Ni isotopic composition of the BSE. Rather, the sub-chondritic Ni isotopic signature was established during Earth’s late-stage accretion, probably through the Moon-forming giant impact. We propose that a highly reduced sulfide-rich, Mercury-like body, whose mantle is characterized by light Ni isotopic composition, collided with and merged into the proto-Earth during the Moon-forming giant impact, producing the sub-chondritic Ni isotopic signature of the BSE, while delivering sulfur and probably other volatiles to the Earth

SupplementaryData to "Osmium isotope heterogeneity of the upper mantle: Evidence from the Bay of Islands ophiolite complex, Newfoundland"

This is a supplementary dataset to a submitted JGR-solid earth paper entitled " Osmium isotope heterogeneity of the upper mantle: Evidence from the Bay of Islands ophiolite complex, Newfoundland", which includes 5 spreadsheets and comprises whole-rock geochemical and Re-Os isotopic data, mineral in situ major and trace element data, thermometer estimation, and compositions of different types of agents involved in thermodynamic modeling

Quantifying the growth of continental crust through crustal thickness and zircon Hf-O isotopic signatures: A case study from the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Accretionary orogens function as major sites for the generation of continental crust, but the growth model of continental crust remains poorly constrained. The Central Asian Orogenic Belt, as one of the most important Phanerozoic accretionary orogens on Earth, has been the focus of debates regarding the proportion of juvenile crust present. Using published geochemical and zircon Hf-O isotopic data sets for three belts in the Eastern Tianshan terrane of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt, we first explore the variations in crustal thickness and isotopic composition in response to tectono-magmatic activity over time. Steady progression to radiogenic zircon Hf isotopic signatures associated with syn-collisional crustal thickening indicates enhanced input of mantle-derived material, which greatly contributes to the growth of the continental crust. Using the surface areas and relative increases in crustal thickness as the proxies for magma volumes, in conjunction with the calculated mantle fraction of the mixing flux, we then are able to determine that a volume of ~14–22% of juvenile crust formed in the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt during the Phanerozoic. This study highlights the validity of using crustal thickness and zircon isotopic signatures of magmatic rocks to quantify the volume of juvenile crust in complex accretionary orogens. With reference to the crustal growth pattern in other accretionary orogens and the Nd-Hf isotopic record at the global scale, our work reconciles the rapid crustal growth in the accretionary orogens with its episodic generation pattern in the formation of global continental crust.12 month embargo; published: 23 December 2021This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Identification and Validation of a Potential Prognostic 7-lncRNA Signature for Predicting Survival in Patients with Multiple Myeloma

Background. An increasing number of studies have indicated that the abnormal expression of certain long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) is linked to the overall survival (OS) of patients with myeloma. Methods. Gene expression data of myeloma patients were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database (GSE4581 and GSE57317). Cox regression analysis, Kaplan-Meier, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were performed to construct and validate the prediction model. Single sample gene set enrichment (ssGSEA) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis were used to predict the function of a specified lncRNA. Results. In this study, a seven-lncRNA signature was identified and used to construct a risk score system for myeloma prognosis. This system was used to stratify patients with different survival rates in the training set into high-risk and low-risk groups. Test set, the entire test set, the external validation set, and the myeloma subtype achieved the authentication of the results. In addition, functional enrichment analysis indicated that 7 prognostic lncRNAs may be involved in the tumorigenesis of myeloma through cancer-related pathways and biological processes. The results of the immune score showed that IF_I was negatively correlated with the risk score. Compared with the published gene signature, the 7-lncRNA model has a higher C-index (above 0.8). Conclusion. In summary, our data provide evidence that seven lncRNAs could be used as independent biomarkers to predict the prognosis of myeloma, which also indicated that these 7 lncRNAs may be involved in the progression of myeloma