Geology and hydrothermal resources in the northern Lake Abaya area (Ethiopia)     

Tadiwos Chernet 《Journal of African Earth Sciences》2011,61(2):129-141

The northern Lake Abaya area located in the southern part of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) evidently contains an advective hydrothermal system. Regional extensional tectonics and subsidence that began in Late Miocene was followed by rift margin rhyolitic volcanism which produced extensive ignimbrite succession and rift shoulder trachytic volcanism in Pliocene. The extensional axis of the MER became the locus of volcanic activity in the Quaternary with bimodal basalt – rhyolitic volcanic products in the rift floor. Shallow crustal magma chambers feeding the axial volcanic complexes provide heat for the hydrothermal system which reside in Tertiary volcanic succession and is capped by lacustrine and volcanoclastic graben infill sediments. Duguna Fango rhyolitic volcanic complex which has extruded as much volume of volcanic products as all the other felsic centers put together is the most important heat source for the hydrothermal system and related manifestations. The closed drainage basin centered at Lake Abaya with adjacent plateau receiving over 1500 mm annual precipitation maintains a stable recharge for the prevailing hydrothermal system. Regional ground water flow direction is to the southwest following Bilate River which is the major river draining into the lake flowing parallel to the major NNE-SSW structural pattern of MER.Analyses of remote sensing data provided some insight into how the structural fabric had a control on the distribution of the groups of hydrothermal manifestations identified as hydrothermal fields. Thermal infrared image showed distinct thermal signature over the rift floor where hydrothermal fields are situated as compared to the plateau and areas covered by the cap-rock. A hydrothermal field around Duguna Fango volcanic complex has volcanological favorable setting despite lower inferred reservoir equilibrium geothermometer temperatures on the thermal springs. About 30 km to the south two other hydrothermal fields are located at a latitudinal distance of less than 15 km between each other. The near boiling point spring #6 of Northwest Abaya discharge mature water with highest geothermal fluid – host rock equilibrium geothermometer temperatures which together with a nearby fumarolic activity may be explained as an outflow. Across Chewkare graben the Bolcho and northeast Abaya hydrothermal fields located between Bilate and Gidabo rivers geochemically appear to be from a different high-enthalpy geothermal reservoir probably related to the cluster of felsic volcanic centers such as Chericho, Kilisa, Donga and Werencha. The high temperature springs indicate the existence of at least two geochemically distinct hydrothermal reservoirs in the study area. It remains to be proven weather an up-flow of an advective hydrothermal system centered to the north around Duguna Fango have long distance concealed out flows to the south on the northern shores of Lake Abaya which is the hydrologic depocenter.  相似文献   

Effect of mineralogy and texture in the TiO2 pigment production process of the Tellnes ilmenite concentrate     

T. Chernet 《Mineralogy and Petrology》1999,67(1-2):21-32

Summary The mineralogy and textural relationships of the Tellnes ilmenite concentrate were determined to evaluate the effect of mineralogical characteristics of the raw material on sulphate-route TiO₂ pigment production. It was found that the presence of hematite exsolutions and their grain size, twinning, the amount of ferric iron in the ilmenite, and the grain size distribution of the feed material affected the solubility of the ilmenite concentrate. Structural discontinuities, such as twinning, favoured the leaching of ilmenite grains. Depending on the size and distribution of exsolved hematite, there is a good correlation between the degree of dissolution of ilmenite and the amount of exsolved hematite from ilmenite. On the other hand, the coarser the ilmenite grain in the digestion step is the lesser the solubility. The quantity of trace elements, such as Cr and V, and their provenances in the mineral lattices normally affect the quality of the pigment. Their concentrations in the Tellnes ilmenite, however, are associated with the exsolved hematite which does not go into solution. Mg affects the precipitation process, and the MgO content of the concentrate is 4% which is mainly bound in ilmenite lattices. In contrast, MgO rises to 10% in unreacted solids due to the accumulation of insoluble Mg-bearing silicates.

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Der Effekt von Mineralogie und Textur auf den Produktionsprozeß von TiO₂ Pigmenten aus Ilmenit-Konzentraten von Tellnes

Zusammenfassung Die Mineralogie und die texturellen Beziehungen der Ilmenit-Konzentrate von Tellnes wurden untersucht, um den Effekt der mineralogischen Charakteristika des Rohmaterials auf die sulfatische TiO₂ Pigmetproduktion zu evaluieren. Es wurde herausgefunden, dass die Anwesenheit von Hämatit-Entmischungen und deren Korngröße, Verzwilligung, der Anteil an dreiwertigem Eisen im Ilmenit und die Korngrößenverteilung des aufgegeben Rohmaterials die Löslichkeit des Ilmenit-Konzentrates beeinflussen. Strukturelle Diskontinuitäten, wie etwa Zwillinge, begünstigen das Auslaugen der Ilmenitkörner. In Abhängigkeit von der Größe und Verteilung des entmischten Hämatits, gibt es eine gute Korrelation zwischen dem Grad der Auflösung von Ilmenit und der Menge an entmischtem Hämatit im Ilmenit. Andererseits sinkt die Löslichkeit von Ilmenit mit Zunahme der Korngröße. Die Gehalte an Spurenelementen, wie etwa Cr und V und ihre Provenienz in den Kristallgittern beeinflussen normalerweise die Qualität des Pigments. Im Tellnes Ilmenit sind sie allerdings an den entmischten Hämatit gebunden, der nicht in Lösung geht. Magnesium beeinträchtigt den Ausfällungsvorgang. Der MgO-Gehalt des Konzentrats ist 4% und ist überwiegend an das Ilmenitgitter geknüpft. Im Gegensatz dazu steigt, infolge der Akkumulation der unlöslichen Mg-führenden Silikate, der MgO-Gehalt auf 10% in den nicht reagierenden Festphasen au.

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New age constraints on the timing of volcanism and tectonism in the northern Main Ethiopian Rift–southern Afar transition zone (Ethiopia)     

Tadiwos Chernet  William K. Hart  James L. Aronson  Robert C. Walter 《Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research》1998,80(3-4)

Forty new K-Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar isotopic ages from the northern Main Ethiopian Rift (MER)–southern Afar transition zone provide insights into the volcano-tectonic evolution of this portion of the East African Rift system. The earliest evidence of volcanic activity in this region is manifest as 24–23 Ma pre-rift flood basalts. Transition zone flood basalt activity renewed at approximately 10 Ma, and preceded the initiation of modern rift margin development. Bimodal basalt–rhyolite volcanism in the southern Afar rift floor began at approximately 7 Ma and continued into Recent times. In contrast, post-subsidence volcanic activity in the northern MER is dominated by Mio-Pliocene silicic products from centers now covered by Quaternary volcanic and sedimentary lithologies. Unlike other parts of the MER, Mio-Pliocene silicic volcanism in the MER–Afar transition zone is closely associated with fissural basaltic products. The presence of Pliocene age ignimbrites on the plateaus bounding the northern MER, whose sources are found in the present rift, indicates that subsidence of this region was gradual, and that it attained its present physiography with steep escarpments only in the Plio-Pleistocene. Large 7–5 Ma silicic centers along the southern Afar and northeastern MER margins apparently formed along an E–W-oriented regional structural feature parallel to the already established southern escarpment of the Afar. The Addis Ababa rift embayment and the growth of 4.5–3 Ma silicic centers in the Addis Ababa area are attributed to the formation of a major cross-rift structure and its intersection with the same regional E–W structural trend. This study illustrates the episodic nature of rift development and volcanic activity in the MER–Afar transition zone, and the link between this activity and regional structural and tectonic features.  相似文献