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The He isotopic composition and the He and Ne ratio of fluid inclusions in magnetite and pyrite from carbonatite breccias of the Sallanlatva alkali-ultramafic complex of the Kola alkaline province (Northwest Russia) are studied using the step-crushing method. The results indicate the highly likely involvement of fluids from several sources trapped in various proportions during the formation of the Sallanlatva explosive carbonatite breccias. The R/Ra ratio, where R is the measured .sup.3He/.sup.4He ratio and Ra of 1.382 x 10.sup.-6 is the same ratio of atmospheric air, reaches 2.3, which is a reliable indicator of the presence of mantle gases. A low (1-44) .sup.4He/.sup.20Ne ratio allows us to suggest the involvement of atmospheric gases dissolved in paleometeoric waters. A combination of these two facts favors a hypothesis of the phreatomagmatic nature of the studied breccias, i.e., their formation at the expense of interaction between the intruding hot orthomagmatic fluids and meteoric waters with dissolved atmospheric gases.

Despite extensive research on fault rocks, and on their commercial importance, there is no non-genetic classification of fault breccias that can easily be applied in the field. The present criterion for recognizing fault breccia as having no ‘primary cohesion’ is often difficult to assess. Instead we propose that fault breccia should be defined, as with sedimentary breccia, primarily by grain size: with at least 30% of its volume comprising clasts at least 2 mm in diameter. To subdivide fault breccias, we advocate the use of textural terms borrowed from the cave-collapse literature – crackle, mosaic and chaotic breccia – with bounds at 75% and 60% clast content. A secondary breccia discriminant, more difficult to apply in the field, is the ratio of cement to matrix between the clasts. Clast-size issues concerning fault gouge, cataclasite and mylonite are also discussed.

Microstructural deformation and the age of monazite (Ce) from diatectite granite of the presumably impact Jarva-Varaka structure in the Kola Region (northeastern Fennoscandian Shield) are presented. Biotite diatectite granite forms lenses in the aluminous gneisses of the Kola group hosting the 2.5-Ga-layered Jarva-Varaka Massif (JVM). A sample of biotite granite was collected northeast of the Jarva-Varaka Massif near the earlier described pseudotachylitic breccias. BSE images revealed primary domains in monazite grains with rhythmic euhedral zoning and secondary altered domains. Backscattered electron diffraction maps of monazite grains document the development of deformation twins along 100 and 001 and plastically deformed domains with a maximum misorientation of up to 10°. Newly formed areas of recrystallization (neoblasts) cut the twins and plastically deformed domains. Monazite yielded a U-Pb age of 2706 ± 10 Ma (ID-TIMS method), which defines the crystallization age of the host diatectite granite coeval to the 2.76–2.70 Ga metamorphism of the Kola gneisses. A similar age of 2734 ± 139 Ma (ThO2*–PbO isochron) was obtained for primary monazite domains by the chemical U-Th-total Pb isochron method (CHIME). Domains altered under late hydrothermal processes yield CHIME ages of 1796–1723 Ma. Monazite neoblastic domains are close to primary domains in chemical composition and yielded CHIME ages of 2550–2519 Ma, reflecting probably an influence of the JVM formation. The data obtained are insufficient to confirm the impact origin of the Jarva-Varaka structure, which requires further investigation.

The area of interest is located on the eastern flank of the Andean Cordillera, San Juan province, Argentina. The 3600 km2 area is characterized by Siluro-Devonian to Neogene sedimentary and igneous rocks and unconsolidated Quaternary sediments. Epithermal, porphyry-related, and magmatic-hydrothermal breccia-hosted ore deposits, common in this part of the Frontal Cordillera, are associated with various types of hydrothermal alteration assemblages. Kaolinite – alunite-rich argillic, quartz – illite-rich phyllic, epidote – chlorite – calcite-rich propylitic and silicic are the most common hydrothermal alteration assemblages in the study area. VNIR, SWIR and TIR ASTER data were used to characterize geological features on a portion of the Frontal Cordillera. Red-green-blue band combinations, band ratios, logical operations, mineral indices and principal component analysis were applied to successfully identify rock types and hydrothermal alteration zones in the study area. These techniques were used to enhance geological features to contrast different lithologies and zones with high concentrations of argillic, phyllic, propylitic alteration mineral assemblages and silicic altered rocks. Alteration minerals detected with portable short-wave infrared spectrometry in hand specimens confirmed the capability of ASTER to identify hydrothermal alteration assemblages. The results from field control areas confirmed the presence of those minerals in the areas classified by ASTER processing techniques and allowed mapping the same mineralogy where pixels had similar information. The current study proved ASTER processing techniques to be valuable mapping tools for geological reconnaissance of a large area of the Argentinean Frontal Cordillera, providing preliminary lithologic and hydrothermal alteration maps that are accurate as well as cost and time effective.

The tight carbonate reservoir was controlled by various geological factors, and such factors played different roles in buried depths and formations. Therefore, studies related to the factors controlling carbonate reservoir distribution are of great significance for the prediction and evaluation of high-quality dolostone reservoirs. In this paper, we focus on the controlling factor of the submember Ma5[sub.5] dolostone reservoir in the western Ordos Basin. The main rock types, reservoir pores, physical properties, and pore structure characteristics of the reservoir were analyzed by thin section identification, physical property analysis, and mercury injection, respectively. Then, the main controlling factors of reservoir development were comprehensively analyzed from the perspectives of palaeostructure, lithofacies palaeogeography, diagenesis, and diagenetic facies. The results show that two kinds of dolostone reservoirs in the submember Ma5[sub.5] developed in the western Ordos Basin, including intercrystalline pore-type and dissolution pore-type. The former reservoir is primarily characterized by powder-fine dolostone with residual structure, dolomite intercrystalline pore, and micropore with porosity ranging from 2% to 11%. There are three types of pore structures developed in it, such as macropore-medium throat-single peak (MAMS), macropore-fine throat-single peak (MAFS), and medium pore-fine throat-single peak (MEFS). The latter reservoir is mainly featured by powdery crystalline dolostone with gypsum and halite dissolution, moldic pore, and dissolved pore between breccias with a porosity greater than 5%. It consists of two types of pore structures, such as macropore-fine throat-single peak (MAFS) and medium pore-coarse throat-multipeak (MECM). The intercrystalline pore-type dolostone reservoir is mainly controlled by the lithofacies palaeogeographic environment and diagenesis. In specific, the shoal microfacies at the edge of the platform and the active reflux seepage dolomitization are the basic sedimentary environment conditions for reservoir formation and the key to reservoir formation, respectively. The dissolution pore-type dolostone reservoir is primarily influenced by both paleostructure and diagenesis. The relatively high part of the paleostructure provides favorable conditions for the formation of evaporate minerals, and early freshwater dissolution is the key to reservoir formation. This research will provide a theoretical basis for forecasting the favorable distribution areas of different types of dolostone reservoirs.

In recent years, petroleum exploration in the Carboniferous volcanic rock reservoirs in the Junggar Basin has been the focus of important petroleum energy development in western China. The lithologic identification of volcanic rock reservoirs seriously restricts the accuracy of reservoir prediction and affects the success rate of oil exploration. Different types of volcanic rocks have different petrological characteristics and mineral assemblages, especially affected by the depositional environment. The volcanic rocks in different regions have their own uniqueness. This paper takes the Carboniferous volcanic reservoirs in Xiquan block, Beisantai Oilfield, Junggar Basin as the research target. Through a large number of core observations, casting slices, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction methods, the Carboniferous volcanic rocks are analyzed. The petrology, pore characteristics, physical properties, and diagenetic evolution history of the reservoir are analyzed. The study shows that the volcanic facies in the Xiquan block can be divided into explosive facies, overflow facies, and volcanic sedimentary facies, among which the explosive facies is subdivided into empty subfacies (volcanic breccia-breccia tuff combination) and thermal base wave subfacies (tuff). The lithology of the reservoir is pyroclastic rock and volcanic lava, belonging to medium-porous and ultralow permeability reservoirs, and the storage space can be divided into three types: primary pores, secondary pores, and fractures. The lithology of key exploration is breccia tuff, followed by breccia tuff and volcanic breccia.

Mount Early and Sheridan Bluff (87° S) are the above-ice expression of Earth's southernmost volcanic field and are isolated by > 1000 km from any other exposed Cenozoic volcano in Antarctica. These monogenetic, Early Miocene volcanoes consist of olivine-phyric basaltic pillow lavas and breccias (Mount Early) and pahoehoe lavas (Sheridan Bluff) whose differentiation is controlled by the fractional crystallization of olivine with lesser quantities of clinopyroxene, plagioclase and magnetite. Fractional crystallization or contamination by crust cannot account for the coexistence of olivine tholeiite and alkaline compositions but their relationship can be explained by change from higher (5-6%) to lower (1.5-2%) degrees of partial melting concurrent with a decrease in peridotiteâmelt reaction in a mantle that is heterogeneous on a small-scale. Both magma types have geochemical and isotopic signatures that differentiate them from most of the volcanism found within the West Antarctic rift system. Data trends in Sr-Nd-Pb isotope space indicate mixing of at least two-distinct mantle sources: (1) a relatively depleted component similar to sources for mid-ocean ridge basalt from the extinct Antarctic-Phoenix spreading center, and (2) an enriched component similar to sources for mafic magmas of the Jurassic KarooâFerrar large igneous provinces. The availability of these mantle source types was facilitated by the detachment, sinking and heating of metasomatized continental lithosphere (enriched source) that released volatiles into the surrounding asthenosphere (depleted source) to promote flux melting. Volcanism triggered by lithospheric detachment is, therefore, explicitly applied to Mount Early and Sheridan Bluff to explain their isolation and enigmatic tectonic setting but also to account for source heterogeneity and the ephemeral change in degree of mantle partial melting recorded in their mafic compositions.