Twenty-eight college female volunteers, 18 to 24 years of age, were studied to determine their bone mineral density and hormonal status following 10 months of supplementation with boron. Seventeen of the subjects were college athletes (A) who participated in either varsity basketball, tennis, track, triathlons, or volleyball. Eleven eumenorrheic subjects were placed in the sedentary group (S). All athletes were eumenorrheic, except for two, who were amenorrheic. The subjects were randomly assigned to either a placebo (cornstarch) or 3 mg of Tri-Boron (TWin Labs, Ronkonkoma, NY) per day. The study was single blind; the placebo and boron supplements were identical in appearance. The subjects' maximal oxygen consumption (V02max ) was assessed at month 0 only, in order to compare the athletes' aerobic capacity to that of the sedentary group. Subjects were measured at time 0 and 10 months for the following: average daily food intake, bone mineral density, plasma 1,2 5-dihydroxyvi tamin D3 , and plasma alkaline phosphatase. The following parameters were determined at 0, 6, and 10 months: serum 17-Beta estradiol progesterone, and testosterone, and percent body fat, and body weight. The athletes had a significantly greater V02MX (p < 0.05) than the sedentary group. There were no differences between the A and the S groups' food intake as measured in kcals, protein, fat, carbohydrate and fiber content. Although average body weight did not differ between activity groups, the athletes had a significantly lower (p < 0.05) percent body fat than the sedentary group. The athletes showed a slight increase in bone mineral density, whereas the sedentary group showed a slight decrease. The difference between these changes was significant (p < 0.05) between the activity groups. Furthermore, the athletes showed a slight increase in plasma 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 , while the sedentary group showed a decrease in this measure; the difference between these changes also proved to be significant (p < 0.05) between activity groups. There were no significant differences in plasma alkaline phosphatase values. Serum 17-B estradiol and testosterone values exhibited a significant (p < 0.05) increase for all groups combined at 6 months. There were no significant changes observed in serum progesterone. Although significant changes were observed in some of the variables measured, none of the changes were a result of the boron supplementation. / Ph. D.

Cette thèse a les objectifs suivants :1. Mieux comprendre comment les isotope du bore dans les sédiments fluviaux modernes enregistrent le régime d’altération à l'échelle du bassin versant. 2. Mieux comprendre comment le « signal » d’altération porté par les sédiments fluviaux est transféré des zones sources vers l’environnement de dépôt. 3. Déterminer si les isotopes du B dans les dépôts sédimentaires (paléo-canaux) peuvent être utilisés pour reconstituer les conditions paléo-climatiques et paléo-environnementales et ainsi révéler comment l’altération continentale au sens large (production et transport de sédiments) a réagi à la variabilité climatique au cours du dernier cycle glaciaire-interglaciaire (derniers 100 ka). Ces objectifs ont été examinés en étudiant les matériaux fluviaux des fleuves Gandak (Himalaya) et Murrumbidgee (NSW, Australie) et des dépôts de sédiments fluviaux de la Riverine Plain (basin versant de Murrumbidgee). La connaissance des paramètres qui contrôlent le fractionnement isotopique du bore des sédiments fluviaux au cours de la formation et du transport a d'abord été acquise dans les systèmes modernes, puis appliquée à d'anciens dépôts de paléochenaux. / This thesis has the following objectives: 1) To better understand how boron isotopes in modern fluvial sediments record the weathering regime at the catchment scale. 2) To better understand how the weathering “signal” carried by river sediments is transferred from source areas to the depositional environment. 3) To determine if boron isotopes in sediment deposits (paleochannels) can be used to reconstruct paleo-weathering and paleo-environmental conditions and reveal how continental weathering at large (production and sediment transport) responds to climatic variability over the last glacial-interglacial cycle (last 100 ka). These objectives were addressed by studying fluvial material from the Gandak (Himalayas) and Murrumbidgee (NSW, Australia) Rivers and fluvial sediment deposits from the Riverine Plain (Murrumbidgee catchment, Australia). Knowledge of the parameters that control boron isotope fractionation of river sediment during formation and transport was first gained in the modern systems and then applied to ancient paleochannel deposits.

No description available.

L’acidification des océans provoquée par l’absorption du CO2 atmosphérique par l’eau de merest devenue une préoccupation écologique majeure et menace déjà les organismes calcifiants. Suiteà la révolution industrielle, le pH de l’océan de surface a diminué de 0,1 unité-pH. En revanche, celuides eaux profondes reste peu documenté. Les isotopes du bore (11B) dans les carbonatesbiogéniques se sont révélés être un puissant outil géochimique pour la reconstitution du pH, mais n’apas encore été appliqué aux coraux profonds. Un travail analytique sur MC-ICPMS Neptune et uneanalyse géochimique de ces coraux ont été effectués afin de reconstituer et quantifier l’acidificationdes océans. De même, la valeur 11B de l’eau de mer utilisée pour calculer les paléo-pH a étérevisitée et l’homogénéité des océans vérifiée.L’analyse de deux colonies modernes de Lophelia pertusa et Madrepora oculata a permis dequantifier un taux d’acidification pendant la fin du XXème siècle pour les eaux de sub-surface en mer deNorvège et cela après établissement d’une calibration expérimentale à partir de coraux de culture.L’analyse géochimique des coraux profonds a mis en évidence un effet vital lié à la physiologie quidoit être considéré pour quantifier avec précision la variabilité du pH. Celui-ci peut être en partiecorrigé par une analyse statistique des isotopes stables B, C et O. Cette étude a aussi révélél’influence de l’hydrodynamique régionale. Enfin les variations naturelles du pH pendant l’Holocène etle Dernier Maximum Glaciaire sur des coraux profonds fossiles méditerranéens ont été établies etcelles pendant l’aube de l’explosion de la diversité biologique. / Ocean acidification is caused by the absorption of rising atmospheric CO2 by seawater andrepresents a major environmental issue. Since the beginning of the industrial era, seawater pH hasdecreased by 0.1 pH units and is already threatening calcifying organisms. Boron isotopes (11B) haveproved to be a powerful geochemical tool for the reconstruction of pH variations, but has not yet beenapplied to deep-sea corals (DSC). Accurate and precise measurements of boron isotopes in coralsand seawaters were performed in order to measure small pH variations.The technique of pH reconstruction based on boron isotopes (pH-11B) was used on two specimens of the DSC Madrepora oculata and Lophelia pertusa collected alive in the Norwegian Sea and spanning an age of 40 (3) and 67 (3) years, respectively. Acidification rates were calculated by applying a new pH-11B calibration obtained from the geochemical analysis M. oculata and L. pertusa samples cultured under different pCO2 conditions. The contribution of a biological-related vital effect on d11B was observed at macrometer scale, and a correction was finally suggested based on oxygen and carbon isotopes. Overall, the coral δ 11B-based reconstructions show a pH decrease in the Norwegian Sea since the 1940s, which seems to be related to the local hydrodynamics. The pH-11B technique was also applied to fossil DSC fragments from two “on-mound sediment cores” retrieved in the Siculo-Tunisian Strait with the aim to reconstruct the pH during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Holocene periods. Finally, well-preserved limestone samples from the stratigraphic sequence Nama (551-543 Ma) in Namibia were investigated for 11B to study the pH variations at the beginning of the Cambrian evolutive radiation.

Spät-miozäne bis quartäre Vulkanite der vulkanischen Front und der Back-arc Region der Zentralen Vulkanischen Zone in den Anden weisen eine weite Spannbreite von delta 11B Werten (+4 bis &ndash;7 &permil;) and Borkonzentrationen (6 bis 60 ppm) auf. Die positiven delta 11B Werte der Vulkanite der vulkanischen Front zeigen eine Beteiligung einer 11B-reichen Komponente am Aufbau der andinen Vulkanite, die am wahrscheinlichsten aus Fluiden der alterierten ozeanischen Kruste der abtauchenden Nazca-Platte stammt. Diese Beobachtung macht einen alleinigen Ursprung der untersuchten Laven aus der kontinentalen Kruste und/oder dem Mantelkeil unwahrscheinlich. Der Trend zu systematisch negativeren delta 11B Werten und kleineren B/Nb Verhältnissen von der vulkanischen Front zum Back-arc wird als Resultat einer Borisotopenfraktionierung einhergehend mit einer stetigen Abnahme der Fluidkomponente und einer relativ konstanten krustalen Kontamination, die sich durch relativ gleichbleibende Sr, Nd und Pb Isotopenverhältnisse ausdrückt, interpretiert. Weil die delta 11B Variation über den andinen vulkanischen Bogen sehr gut mit einer modellierten, sich als Funktion der Temperatur dynamisch verändernden, Zusammensetzung des Subduktionszonenfluides übereinstimmt, folgern wir, dass die Borisotopenzusammensetzung von Arc-Vulkaniten durch die sich dynamisch ändernde delta 11B Signatur eines Bor-reichen Subduktionsfluides bestimmt ird. Durch die Abnahme dieses Subduktionsfluides während der Subduktion nimmt der Einfluss der krustalen Kontamination auf die Borisotopie der Arc-Vulkanite im Back-arc zu. In Anbetracht der Borisotopenfraktionierung müssen hohe delta 11B Werte von Arc-Vulkaniten nicht notwendigerweise Unterschiede in der initialen Zusammensetzung der subduzierten Platte reflektieren.<br /> Eine Dreikomponenten Mischungskalkulation zwischen Subduktionsfluid, dem Mantelkeil und der kontinentalen Kruste, die auf Bor-, Strontium- und Neodymiumisotopendaten beruht, zeigt, dass das Subduktionsfluid die Borisotopie des fertilen Mantels dominiert und, dass die primären Arc-Magmen durchschnittlich einen Anteil von 15 bis 30 % krustalem Materiales aufweisen. / Late Miocene to Quaternary volcanic rocks from the frontal arc to the back-arc region of the Central Volcanic Zone in the Andes show a wide range of delta 11B values (+4 to -7 &permil;) and boron concentrations (6 to 60 ppm). Positive delta 11B values of samples from the volcanic front indicate involvement of a 11B-enriched slab component, most likely derived from altered oceanic crust, despite the thick Andean continental lithosphere, and rule out a pure crust-mantle origin for these lavas. The delta 11B values and B concentrations in the lavas decrease systematically with increasing depth of the Wadati-Benioff Zone. This across-arc variation in delta 11B values and decreasing B/Nb ratios from the arc to the back-arc samples are attributed to the combined effects of B-isotope fractionation during progressive dehydration in the slab and a steady decrease in slab-fluid flux towards the back arc, coupled with a relatively constant degree of crustal contamination as indicated by similar Sr, Nd and Pb isotope ratios in all samples. Modelling of fluid-mineral B-isotope fractionation as a function of temperature fits the across-arc variation in delta 11B and we conclude that the B-isotope composition of arc volcanics is dominated by changing delta 11B composition of B-rich slab-fluids during progressive dehydration. Crustal contamination becomes more important towards the back-arc due to the decrease in slab-derived fluid flux. Because of this isotope fractionation effect, high delta 11B signatures in volcanic arcs need not necessarily reflect differences in the initial composition of the subducting slab. <br /> Three-component mixing calculations for slab-derived fluid, the mantle wedge and the continental crust based on B, Sr and Nd isotope data indicate that the slab-fluid component dominates the B composition of the fertile mantle and that the primary arc magmas were contaminated by an average addition of 15 to 30 % crustal material.

The Río Blanco–Los Bronces (Chile) is one of the richest endowed porphyry copper-molybdenum districts worldwide, where about 20% of the known mineralization is hosted by tourmaline-cemented hydrothermal breccia. This work seeks: (1) to find a relationship between tourmaline chemical and/or isotopic composition and the degree of mineralization in the breccia, (2) to constrain the source of the mineralizing fluid in the breccia, and (3) to determine of the composition and age of intrusive units in three new exploration projects and correlate them with the known intrusive rocks of the mine areas. Tourmaline from mineralized and barren breccias has similar boron isotopic compositions but differences in Mg/(Mg+Fe) ratios, Al-contents and Al-Fe correlation, which may have exploration value. Boron and sulfur isotopes results are consistent with a magmatic source of hydrothermal fluids. Results of whole rock geochemistry and U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of intrusive units, breccia and late-stage veins are combined with previous U-Pb, Ar/Ar and Re-Os ages to elucidate the magmatic and hydrothermal history of the district.:1 Introduction 1.1 Motivation of the study and statement of research questions 1.2 Scope of the study 2 Porphyry copper deposits (PCDs) 2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 Global copper inventory 2.1.2 Definition and classification of PCDs 2.2 Regional scale characteristics of PCDs 2.2.1 Tectonic setting 2.2.2 Space and time distribution 2.2.3 Porphyry stocks and their pluton and volcanic connections 2.2.4 Wall-rock Influence 2.3 Deposit-scale characteristics 2.3.1 Porphyry stocks and dikes 2.3.2 Hydrothermal breccia 2.3.3 Alteration-mineralization zoning 2.4 Processes of PCD formation 2.4.1 Arc magmatism 2.4.2 Magmatic volatiles 2.4.3 Genetic models 3 Regional setting of the study area 3.1 Tectono-magmatic setting 3.2 Metallogenic belts 4 Río Blanco – Los Bronces mining district 4.1 Mining history 4.2 District geology 4.2.1 Stratified rocks 4.2.2 Plutonic and hypabyssal intrusions 4.2.3 Structures 4.2.4 Alteration and mineralization 4.2.1 Geochronology database 5 Results 5.1 Plutonic units 5.1.1 Petrography 5.1.2 Whole rock (WR) geochemistry 5.1.3 Geochronology 5.2 Mineralization 5.2.1 Petrography 5.2.2 Tourmaline occurrence and composition 5.2.3 Sulfides and sulfates 6 Discussion 6.1 Time-space relationships of intrusion, brecciation and hydrothermal alteration 6.2 Stable isotope constraints on fluid source and evolution 6.2.1 Oxygen, hydrogen and sulfur isotopes 6.2.2 Boron isotopes 6.3 Tourmaline as a redox indicator and significance for exploration 7 Summary and conclusions 8 References Digital supplement Appendix (Methods) 9 Appendix Methods 9.1 Optical microscopy (OM) 9.2 Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) 9.3 Whole rock chemical analysis 9.4 Electron microprobe analyses (EMPA) 9.5 Boron isotopes 9.6 Sulfur isotopes 9.7 40Ar/39Ar dating 9.8 Zircon separation and characterization 9.9 U-Pb zircon LA-ICP-MS dating 9.10 U-Pb zircon CA-ID-TIMS dating 9.11 Single zircon evaporation as screening method