Silicate-carbonate systems with bearing on the origin and crystallization of carbonatites

Experimental approaches attempt to determine the routes by which crustal carbonatite magmas can be derived from C02-bearing peridotite at high pressures. The intimate association of kimberlite and carbonatite on a small scale illustrates links in the processes. Carbonation of peridotite by C02 can cause the generation of near-solidus carbonatitic liquid from mantle peridotite at depths greater than about 85 km, the depth depending on the geotherm. For lithosphere peridotite with C02 and H20 and composition suitable for the stabilization of phlogopite, the vapor phase composition is buffered by reactions involving carbonate and phlogopite. The vapor-phase composition at the solidus controls the near-solidus liquid composition in the asthenosphere , but if carbonate persists to the solidus, the liquid is probably carbonatitic, with Ca/Mg > 1, and enriched in alkalis. For high H20/C02 ratios the upper asthenosphere liquid could be a silicate magma, but an immiscible alkali-rich carbonatitic liquid may separate from it. Experimental evidence at crustal pressures supports the concept of nepheline-normative alkaline magmas immiscible with Ca-Na carbonatite magmas, both coexisting with fluids capable of fenitizing the country rocks. Other evidence demonstrates that fractional crystallization of a carbonated alkaline peridotite parent magma from the mantle can produce sequences of mineral assemblages very similar to those developed in alkaline complexes with carbonatites. Accessory minerals such as apatite and sulfide have limited solubility in synthetic carbonatite liquids, and therefore, they are likely to be co-precipitated with calcite through wide temperature intervals in carbonatite magmas. The very low viscosity of carbonate-rich liquids promotes fractionation and the segregation of minerals in carbonatites. Mineral textures in some carbonatites are duplicated in experimental runs quenched from fields for the coexistence of crystals + liquid. The phase equilibrium data are consistent with magmatic origin and history for carbonatites, although there is no doubt that for may carbonatites the clarity of the evidence has been at least partly obscured by metasomatism and recrystallization caused by deformation

Phase relationships of S-type granite with H2_O to 35 kbar: Muscovite granite from Harney Peak, South Dakota

Muscovite granite (13.8% muscovite, 4.8% normative corundum) was reacted, with varying percentages of H_2O, in cold-seal vessels at 2 kbar and in piston-cylinder apparatus between 10 and 35 kbar. The diagrams illustrating melting/crystallization relationships are: P-T sections with both excess H_2O and with no H_2O added (0.66% H_2O in rock); T-X_(H_2O) sections at 15 kbar and 25 kbar showing H_2O-undersaturated conditions; the H_2O-undersaturated surface for the crystallization of quartz/coesite (small amounts of aluminosilicate minerals persist to higher temperatures). Glass compositions measured by electron microprobe from samples with 5% H_2O at 15 kbar confirm that liquids are syenitic through at least 100°C above the solidus, as predicted from the effect of pressure on the Residua System. Results are explained successfully by phase relationships involving muscovite, quartz, and orthoclase in K_2O-Al_2O_3-SiO_2-H_2O, with reactions depicted in a P_(total)-P_(e_(H_2O))-T model, with special reference to the divariant surfaces in the region P_(e_(H_2O)) < P_(total). With reduced P_(e_(H_2O)) (or a_(H_2O)), produced either by small amounts of H_2O (and H_2O-undersaturation) or by CO_2 + H_2O mixtures, subsolidus dehydration reaction temperatures decrease, vapor-present solidus temperatures increase, and muscovite stability in presence of liquid increases. In general, muscovite, biotite, and amphibole can be precipitated from magmas containing only a few tenths per cent H_2O (although the H_2O-undersaturated liquids coexisting with crystals may contain 3% or more dissolved H_2O). This particular granite cannot be a primary magma from mantle or subducted oceanic crust. It is a possible product of partial fusion of pelitic rocks between about 20 km and 40 km depth given sufficient H2O, and xenocrystal muscovite or sillimanite from the source rocks. The phase relationships are consistent with the idea of S-type granites, but not sufficient to prove the origin of this rock. Additional tests require phase relationships of other associated granitic rocks, and details of geochemistry, geophysics, and field relationships

Studies in synthetic carbonatite systems: Solidus relationships for CaO-MgO-CO_2-H_2O to 40 kbar and CaO-MgO-SiO_2-CO_2-H_2O to 10 kbar

The system CaO-MgO-SiO_2-CO_2-H_2O is an important model for many igneous and metamorphic processes, including the generation and differentiation of carbonatite and associated silicate magmas. We have experimentally established the vapor-saturated solidus for the system CaO-MgO-CO_2-H_2O from 595°C/1 kbar to <500°C/40 kbar, about 25°C lower than the corresponding temperatures for the CaO-CO_2-H_2O system. Brucite replaces periclase on the vapor-saturated solidus at about 750 bars pressure, remaining as the stable phase to pressures of at least 40 kbar; no dolomite or magnesite was encountered. At a pressure between 35 and 40 kbar, the assemblage portlandite + brucite + aragonite + vapor changes to one containing phase W, a previously unreported Ca-Mg carbonate. At 20 kbar, the vapor-saturated liquid contains at least 24 wt % H_2O. The vapor-saturated solidus for the system CaO-MgO-SiO_2-CO_2-H_2O ranges from 613°C/1 kbar to 565°C/10 kbar, experimentally indistinguishable from that for CaO-MgO-CO_2-H_2O, about 10°C lower than that for CaO-CO_2-H_2O, and about 25°C lower than that for CaO-SiO_2-CO_2-H_2O. In the quinary system, monticellite is replaced by dellaite and an unidentified silicate on the vapor-saturated solidus above 4.1 kbar. MgO-poor liquids are similar in composition to the magma from which the Magnet Cove calcite carbonatite crystallized. More magnesian magmas would produce dolomite at moderate depths, such as at Alnö Island

Acknowleding attributes that enable the career academic nurse to thrive in the tertiary education sector: A qualitative systematic review

© 2016 Objective To optimise the career development in early career academic nurses by providing an overview of the attributes necessary for success. Background Evidence of early prospective career planning is necessary to optimise success in the tertiary sector. This is particularly important for nurse academics given the profession's later entry into academia, the ageing nursing workforce and the continuing global shortage of nurses. Design A qualitative systematic review. Methods Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, Medline, ERIC, Professional Development Collection and Google Scholar databases were searched; resulting in the inclusion of nine qualitative nurse-only focussed studies published between 2004 and 2014. The studies were critically appraised and the data thematically analysed. Results Three abilities were identified as important to the early career academic nurse: a willingness to adapt to change, an intention to pursue support and embodying resilience. These abilities give rise to attributes that are recommended as key to successful academic career development for those employed on a continuing academic basis. Conclusions The capacity to rely on one's own capabilities is becoming seen as increasingly important. It is proposed that recognition of these attributes, their skilful application and monitoring outlined in the review are recommended for a successful career in academia

Hydrous Carbonatitic Liquids Drive CO2 Recycling From Subducted Marls and Limestones

This research was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, University, and Research (MIUR) program PRIN2017 and by the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO). We are greatly indebted to Andrea Risplendente for careful examination of run charges at the Electron Microprobe.Pelagic limestones are subducted in a variety of subduction zones worldwide. Despite the geochemical relevance of systems enriched in CaCO3, previous experimental investigations mostly focused on carbonated pelites, with low Ca/(Ca+Mg+Fe) ratio. We present the compositions and the formation conditions of liquids in the model system CaO‐Al2O3‐SiO2‐H2O‐CO2 (CASHC), building on phase relationships in the subsystems CHC and CSHC, where a second critical endpoint was suggested at temperatures as low as 515 °C, and 3.2 GPa. Multianvil experiments were performed at 4.2 and 6.0 GPa on five bulk compositions at variable Ca/Si/Al ratios. H2O contents vary from 5.6 to 21 wt%. Aragonite + kyanite + vapor and minor lawsonite form at 700 °C, replaced by zoisite/grossular at 800 °C. Between 850 °C and 950 °C, a complex sequence of textural features is observed upon quenching of a single volatile‐rich liquid phase formed at run conditions. Precipitates include dendritic CaCO3, silicate glass, and Al‐rich whiskers. The bulk composition of such hydrous carbonatitic liquids is retrieved by image analysis on X‐ray maps, showing Ca/Si ratio increasing with pressure and temperature. Hydrous Ca‐carbonatitic liquids are efficient media for scavenging volatiles from subducted crustal material and for metasomatizing the mantle wedge.Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR)Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO

Solidity of viscous liquids. IV. Density fluctuations

This paper is the fourth in a series exploring the physical consequences of the solidity of highly viscous liquids. It is argued that the two basic characteristics of a flow event (a jump between two energy minima in configuration space) are the local density change and the sum of all particle displacements. Based on this it is proposed that density fluctuations are described by a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation with rates in k-space of the form $\Gamma_0+Dk^2$ with $D\gg\Gamma_0a^2$ where $a$ is the average intermolecular distance. The inequality expresses a long-wavelength dominance of the dynamics which implies that the Hamiltonian (free energy) may be taken to be ultra local. As an illustration of the theory the case with the simplest non-trivial Hamiltonian is solved to second order in the Gaussian approximation, where it predicts an asymmetric frequency dependence of the isothermal bulk modulus with Debye behavior at low frequencies and an $\omega^{-1/2}$ decay of the loss at high frequencies. Finally, a general formalism for the description of viscous liquid dynamics, which supplements the density dynamics by including stress fields, a potential energy field, and molecular orientational fields, is proposed

Identification of amino acid residues of the NR2A subunit that control glutamate potency in recombinant NR1/NR2A NMDA receptors

The NMDA type of ligand-gated glutamate receptor requires the presence of both glutamate and glycine for gating. These receptors are hetero-oligomers of NR1 and NR2 subunits. Previously it was thought that the binding sites for glycine and glutamate were formed by residues on the NR1 subunit. Indeed, it has been shown that the effects of glycine are controlled by residues on the NR1 subunit, and a “Venus flytrap” model for the glycine binding site has been suggested by analogy with bacterial periplasmic amino acid binding proteins. By analysis of 10 mutant NMDA receptors, we now show that residues on the NR2A subunit control glutamate potency in recombinant NR1/NR2A receptors, without affecting glycine potency. Furthermore, we provide evidence that, at least for some mutated residues, the reduced potency of glutamate cannot be explained by alteration of gating but has to be caused primarily by impairing the binding of the agonist to the resting state of the receptor. One NR2A mutant, NR2A(T671A), had anEC50for glutamate 1000-fold greater than wild type and a 255-fold reduced affinity for APV, yet it had single-channel openings very similar to those of wild type. Therefore we propose that the glutamate binding site is located on NR2 subunits and (taking our data together with previous work) is not on the NR1 subunit. Our data further imply that each NMDA receptor subunit possesses a binding site for an agonist (glutamate or glycine).</jats:p