The delivery of volcanogenic sulphur into the upper atmosphere by explosive eruptions is known to cause significant temporary climate cooling. Therefore, phreatomagmatic and phreatoplinian eruptions occurring during the final rifting stages of active flood basalt provinces provide a potent mechanism for triggering climate change.
During the early Eocene, the northeast Atlantic margin was subjected to repeated ashfall for 0.5 m.y. This was the result of extensive phreatomagmatic activity along 3000 km of the opening northeast Atlantic rift. These widespread, predominantly basaltic ashes are now preserved in marine sediments of the Balder Formation and its equivalents, and occur over an area extending from the Faroe Islands to Denmark and southern England. These ash-bearing sediments also contain pollen and spore floras derived from low diversity forests that grew in cooler, drier climates than were experienced either before or after these highly explosive eruptions. In addition, coeval plant macrofossil evidence from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA, also shows a comparable pattern of vegetation change. The coincidence of the ashes and cooler climate pollen and spore floras in northwest Europe identifies volcanism as the primary cause of climate cooling. Estimates show that whilst relatively few phreatomagmatic eruptive centres along the 3000 km opening rift system could readily generate 0.5–1 °C cooling, on an annual basis, only persistent or repeated volcanic phases would have been able to achieve the long-term cooling effect observed in the floral record. We propose that the cumulative effect of repeated Balder Formation eruptions initiated a biodiversity crisis in the northeast Atlantic margin forests. Only the decline of this persistent volcanic activity, and the subsequent climatic warming at the start of the Eocene Thermal Maximum allowed the growth of subtropical forests to develop across the region. 相似文献
The paper reports the results of experiments concerning the sorption/desorption processes, observed under laboratory conditions, in two types of coal extracted from operational coal-mines in Poland, using CH4 and CO2 to observe their relative inter-reaction with the coal samples when introduced in varying proportions and conditions. Numerous studies concerning the sorption/desorption phenomena have described the operational mechanisms and the relationship of mine gases to the organically-created coal-body in mines. The differences in the behaviour of certain gases is twofold: firstly the essentially different characteristics of CO2 and CH4, and secondly the structure of the coal-bed itself: its degree of metamorphism and content of macerals. From the results yielded, it was observed that the divergence of the isotherms of sorption of CH4 and other gases in comparison with the isotherms of sorption of CO2 and a CO2/CH4 mixture differed and that the curve on the sorption isotherm was more clearly distinct after the introduction of CO2 molecules to the system: coal with a higher degree of metamorphism—CH4, which is closely related to the rigidity of the structure according to the level of metamorphism. Since coals with higher carbon content exhibit lower molecular bonding than low-carbonised coals, the characteristic feature of the bonds in the first case is their mobility. Knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of hard coals, as well as their interaction with mining gases, is of great use in solving problems concerned with the extraction of methane from mines or its storage in goafs. 相似文献
The synthetic amphibole Na0.95(Li0.95Mg1.05)Mg5Si8O22(OH)2 was studied in situ at high-T, using IR OH-stretching spectroscopy and synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. At room-T the sample has P21/m symmetry, as shown by the FTIR spectrum. It shows in the OH region two well-defined and intense absorptions at 3,748 and
3,712 cm−1, respectively, and two minor bands at 3,667 and 3,687 cm−1. The main bands are assigned to the two independent O–H groups in the primitive structure. The two minor bands evidencing
the presence of small amount of vacant A-site (A□0.05). With increasing T, these bands shift continuously and merge into a unique absorption at high temperature. A change as a function of increasing
T is revealed by the evolution of the refined unit-cell parameters, whose trend shows a transition to C2/m at about 320–330°C. The spontaneous scalar strain, fitted with a tricritical 2–6 Landau potential, gives a Tc of 325(10)°C (β parameter = 0.27). Comparison with the second-order P21/m ⇔ C2/m phase transition at 255°C for synthetic amphibole ANa0.8B(Na0.8Mg1.2)CMg5Si8O22(OH)2 indicates that the substitution of Na with Li at the B-sites strongly affects the thermodynamic character and the Tc of the phase transition. The comparison of LNMSH amphiboles with cummingtonitic ones shows that the high-T thermodynamic behaviour is affected by A-site occupancy. 相似文献
Multianvil melting experiments in the system CaOMgOAl2O3SiO2CO2(CMASCO2) at 38 GPa, 13401800°C, involvingthe garnet lherzolite phase assemblage in equilibrium with CO2-bearingmelts, yield continuous gradations in melt composition betweencarbonatite, kimberlite, melilitite, komatiite, picrite, andbasalt melts. The phase relations encompass a divariant surfacein PT space. Comparison of the carbonatitic melts producedat the low-temperature side of this surface with naturally occurringcarbonatites indicates that natural magnesiocarbonatites couldbe generated over a wide range of pressures >2·5 GPa.Melts analogous to kimberlites form at higher temperatures alongthe divariant surface, which suggests that kimberlite genesisrequires more elevated geotherms. However, the amount of waterfound in some kimberlites has the potential to lower temperaturesfor the generation of kimberlitic melts by up to 150°C,provided no hydrous phases are present. Compositions resemblinggroup IB and IA kimberlites are produced at pressures around56 GPa and 10 GPa, respectively, whereas the compositionsof some other kimberlites suggest generation at higher pressuresstill. At pressures <4 GPa, an elevated geotherm producesmelilitite-like melt in the CMASCO2 system rather thankimberlite. Even when a relatively CO2-rich mantle compositioncontaining 0·15 wt % CO2 is assumed, kimberlites andmelilitites are produced by <1% melting and carbonatitesare generated by even smaller degrees of melting of <0·5%. KEY WORDS: carbonatite; CO2; kimberlite; melilitite; melt generation相似文献
Climate factors play critical roles in controlling chemical weathering, while chemically weathered surface material can regulate climate change. To estimate global chemical weathering fluxes and CO2 balance, it is important to identify the characteristics and driving factors of chemical weathering and CO2 consumption on the Tibetan Plateau, especially in glaciated catchments. The analysis of the hydro-geochemical data indicated that silicate weathering in this area was inhibited by low temperatures, while carbonate weathering was promoted by the abundant clastic rocks with fresh surfaces produced by glacial action. Carbonate weathering dominated the riverine solute generation (with a contribution of 58%, 51%, and 43% at the QiangYong Glacier (QYG), the WengGuo Hydrological Station (WGHS), and the lake estuary (LE), respectively). The oxidation of pyrite contributed to 35%, 42%, and 30% of the riverine solutes, while silicate weathering contributed to 5%, 6%, and 26% of the riverine solutes at the QYG, WGHS, and LE, respectively. The alluvial deposit of easily weathering fine silicate minerals, the higher air temperature, plant density, and soil thickness at the downstream LE in comparison to upstream and midstream may lead to longer contact time between pore water and mineral materials, thus enhancing the silicate weathering. Because of the involvement of sulfuric acid produced by the oxidation of pyrite, carbonate weathering in the upstream and midstream did not consume atmospheric CO2, resulting in the high rate of carbonate weathering (73.9 and 75.6 t km−2 yr−1, respectively, in maximum) and potential net release of CO2 (with an upper constraint of 35.6 and 35.2 t km−2 yr−1, respectively) at the QYG and WGHS. The above results indicate the potential of the glaciated area of the Tibetan Plateau with pyrite deposits being a substantial natural carbon source, which deserves further investigation. 相似文献