Porphyry deposits and oxidized magmas

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Iron formations: A global record of Neoarchaean to Palaeoproterozoic environmental history

As the search for Earth-like exoplanets gathers pace, in order to understand them, we need comprehensive theories for how planetary atmospheres form and evolve. Written by two well-known planetary scientists, this text explains the physical and chemical principles of atmospheric evolution and planetary atmospheres, in the context of how atmospheric composition and climate determine a planet's habitability. The authors survey our current understanding of the atmospheric evolution and climate on Earth, on other rocky planets within our Solar System, and on planets far beyond. Incorporating a rigorous mathematical treatment, they cover the concepts and equations governing a range of topics, including atmospheric chemistry, thermodynamics, radiative transfer, and atmospheric dynamics, and provide an integrated view of planetary atmospheres and their evolution. This interdisciplinary text is an invaluable one-stop resource for graduate-level students and researchers working across the fields of atmospheric science, geochemistry, planetary science, astrobiology, and astronomy.

Atmospheric Evolution on Inhabited and Lifeless Worlds

Apatite: A new redox proxy for silicic magmas?

Banded Iron-Formations (BIFs) are voluminous chemical sediments that are rich in iron-oxide, carbonate and silica and whose occurrence is unique to the Precambrian. Their preservation in the geological record offers insights to the surface chemical and biological cycling of iron and carbon on early Earth. However, many details regarding the role of microbial activity in BIF deposition and diagenesis are unresolved. Laboratory studies have shown that reaction between carbon and iron through microbial iron respiration [2Fe2O3∙ nH2O + CH2O + 7H+ → 4Fe2+ + HCO3− + (2n + 4)H2O + chemical energy] can impart fractionation to the isotopic compositions of these elements. Here, we report iron (δ56Fe, vs. IRMM-014) and carbon isotopic (δ13C, vs. V-PDB) compositions of magnetite and of iron-rich and iron-poor carbonates in BIFs from the late Archean (~ 2.5 Ga) Hamersley Basin, Australia and the early Archean (~ 3.8 Ga) Isua Supracrustal Belt (ISB), Greenland. The range of δ56Fe values measured in the Hamersley Basin, including light values in magnetite and heavy values in iron-rich carbonates (up to + 1.2‰), are incompatible with their precipitation in equilibrium with seawater. Rather, the data together with previously reported light δ13C values in iron-rich carbonates record evidence for diagenetic reduction of ferric oxide precursors to magnetite and carbonate through microbial iron respiration (i.e., dissimilatory iron reduction, DIR). Iron and carbon isotope data of iron-rich metacarbonates from the ISB are similar to those of late Archean BIFs. The isotopic signatures of these metacarbonates are supportive of an early diagenetic origin despite metasomatic overprint, and preserve evidence of microbial iron respiration within the oldest recognized sedimentary rocks on Earth.

Iron and Carbon Isotope Evidence for Microbial Iron Respiration Throughout the Archean

Simulating Precambrian banded iron formation diagenesis

The oxidation state of sulfur in magmatic fluids

Sulfur partitioning between melt and fluid phase largely controls the environmental impact of volcanic eruptions. Fluid/melt partitioning data also provide the physical basis for interpreting changes in volcanic gas compositions that are used in eruption forecasts. To better constrain some variables that control the behavior of sulfur in felsic systems, in particular the interaction between different volatiles, we studied the partitioning of sulfur between aqueous fluids and haplogranitic melts at 200 MPa and 750–850 °C as a function of oxygen fugacity (Ni–NiO or Re–ReO2 buffer), melt composition (Al/(Na + K) ratio), and fluid composition (NaCl and CO2 content). The data confirm a first-order influence of oxygen fugacity on the partitioning of sulfur. Under “reducing conditions” (Ni–NiO buffer), Dfluid/melt is nearly one order of magnitude larger (323 ± 14 for a metaluminous melt) than under “oxidizing conditions” (Re–ReO2 buffer; 74 ± 5 for a metaluminous melt). This effect is likely related to a major change in sulfur speciation in both melt and fluid. Raman spectra of the quenched fluids show the presence of H2S and HS− under reducing conditions and of SO42− and HSO4− under oxidizing conditions, while SO2 is undetectable. The latter observation suggests that already at the Re–ReO2 buffer, sulfur in the fluid is almost completely in the S6+ state and, therefore, more oxidized than expected according to current models. CO2 in the fluid (up to xCO2 = 0.3) has no effect on the fluid/melt partitioning of sulfur, neither under oxidizing nor under reducing conditions. However, the effect of NaCl depends on redox state. While at oxidizing conditions, Dfluid/melt is independent of xNaCl, the fluid/melt partition coefficient strongly decreases with NaCl content under reducing conditions, probably due to a change from H2S to NaSH as dominant sulfur species in the fluid. A decrease of Dfluid/melt with alkali content in the melt is observed over the entire compositional range under reducing conditions, while it is prominent only between the peraluminous and metaluminous composition in oxidizing experiments. Overall, the experimental results suggest that for typical oxidized, silicic to intermediate subduction zone magmas, the degassing of sulfur is not influenced by the presence of other volatiles, while under reducing conditions, strong interactions with chlorine are observed. If the sulfur oxidation state is preserved during an explosive eruption, a large fraction of the sulfur released from oxidized magmas may be in the S6+ state and may remain undetected by conventional methods that only measure SO2. Accordingly, the sulfur yield and the possible climatic impact of some eruptions may be severely underestimated.

Bernd Binder

Papers

Simulating Precambrian banded iron formation diagenesis

The oxidation state of sulfur in magmatic fluids

The partitioning of sulfur between multicomponent aqueous fluids and felsic melts