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For over 100 years eclogites have played a vital role in the development of partial melting models, crustal-mantle systems and geodynamic models involving subduction/recycling processes. However their origin remains controversial from one involving subducted basaltic protoliths to polybaric fractionates of basaltic melts with the added complexity of post-formational metamorphic processes. This thesis presents new chemical data on eclogite and pyroxenite samples from varied geological settings: a classic craton [Kaapvaal Craton (e.g., Roberts Victor, Kimberley and Bultfontein pipes)], circum-cratonic localities (Chino Valley – USA) and oceanic environments (Malaita, New Zealand and Hawaii). Apart from petrographic data, mineral chemistry has been constrained using the electron microprobe and laser ablation ICP-MS for major, minor and trace element data, laser ablation for oxygen isotope data and ICP-MS and TIMS for radiogenic isotopes (Sm-Nd, Lu-Hf and Sr). Garnet pyroxenites have normalised trace element patterns and O isotopes consistent with derivation from silicate melts or by reaction between melts and peridotite. On-craton eclogites and garnet clinopyroxenites have normalised trace element patterns and heterogeneous O isotopes indicative of lower temperature processes either as (a) a “basaltic” protolith altered at low temperatures and subducted to form eclogite or (b) an eclogite retrograded to garnet pyroxenite pre- or syn-entrainment. Modeling of Hf-Nd-Sr isotopes indicates that the Kaapvaal eclogites were derived from Archean protoliths whose isotopic signatures have been disturbed by extensive metasomatism. Four aspects of the thesis are noteworthy: (1) the extreme Hf-Nd-Sr heterogeneity shown by eclogites and pyroxenites relative to MORB and OIB, (2) the heavy O isotope ratios for on- and off-craton samples from Chino Valley and Lovedale, (3) the unique Archean (3.15 Ga) low Hf, Nd and Sr reservoir represented by a Roberts Victor eclogite, and (4) the Lu-Hf system is more robust than the Sm-Nd system.

Abrasive Waterjet cutting (AWJ) presents many advantages over competing machining techniques, but several issues are related to the high volume of materials (and in particular of abrasive) used in the process. In this study, the environmental impact of the material flows in the abrasive waterjet industry has been analyzed adopting a life cycle perspective in order to individuate which phases place the largest burden on the environment. Moreover, three alternative abrasives (crushed rock, recycled glass and synthetic abrasive) and three disposal practices (in-site recycling, off-site recycling and recycling as construction material) have been also evaluated to estimate the benefits that can be achieved if these could be used in place of garnet abrasives and landfilling. The transportation of the abrasive resulted to be the phase that has the largest influence in every case and thus should be reduced as much as possible. For what concerns the alternative options, the usage of recycled glass and the in-site recycling of the abrasive were the two alternatives with the best environmental performances. However, crushed rock could be the best option for what concerns the global warming potential if carbon sequestration due to carbonation of silicate rocks is taken into account. Off-site recycling and recycling as construction material are good options only if the transportation to the recycling site can be reduced. Synthetic abrasive are instead found to have a much larger impact compared to every other alternative examined.

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2008. Dept. of Geology and Geography. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-122).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This study incorporates high precision zoned garnet samarium-neodymium geochronology and thermodynamic analysis of garnet forming dehydration reactions to determine the amount of water release during both subduction and mountain building. Garnet grows during rock dehydration, providing both a temporal and geodynamic record of not only its growth, but of associated dehydration. Laboratory experiments and geodynamic models have been used to predict amounts of dehydration during metamorphism based on equilibrium assumptions. If equilibrium is not maintained, or if aspects of the geodynamic modeling are incorrect, these model-based predictions will prove inaccurate. Field-based evidence is necessary to test such model predictions and to elucidate both the timing and duration of dehydration and the role of kinetics during metamorphism. Localities that have undergone dehydration and associated fluid flow provide natural laboratories in which to study these geologic processes. This study focuses on two geologic settings: regional orogenesis (Townshend Dam, Vermont) and subduction zone metamorphism (Sifnos, Greece). Regional metamorphism of the pelitic schists of Townshend Dam occurred during the Acadian orogeny peaking at ~381 Ma. Garnet growth lasted for 4.2 ± 2.4 million years. Thermodynamic forward modeling from this study has shown that an early stage of burial of the rocks without significant heating first occurred, followed then by a period of intense heating at depth, during which, roughly 2 vol.% water was lost from the rock. In contrast, metamorphism, and thus dehydration, during subduction of a continental margin in Sifnos, Greece was found to have occurred in as brief a timespan as tens to hundreds of thousands of years, releasing 2-3 vol.% water during a period of intense heating at ~75 km depth between ~47-44 million years ago. This short time interval represents a discrete pulse of dehydration and heating within the context of the process of subduction, which probably occurred over timescales of 10 to 20 million years in this location. This is the first study to provide a field-based constraint on the magnitude, timing, and rate of dehydration during subduction, a process that causes intermediate-depth earthquakes, mantle melting and volcanism, and large scale changes to the global water cycle.

The results of a combined mineral equilibria and fluid inclusion study show that the Manhattan Prong, southeastern New York, has experienced multiple metamorphic events. Two episodes of intrusion, separated by approximately 100 million years, have superimposed contact aureoles on the Taconic regional metamorphic gradient in the northeastern Manhattan Prong and have modified the regional assemblage to different degrees. The assemblage Sil-Bt-Grt-Qtz-Pl+Ksp+Ms in regionally metamorphosed Manhattan Schist records P-T conditions of 4-5 kbar and 650-700 oC. Garnet porphyroblasts, homogenous with respect to major elements but zoned with respect to P and Y, contain ubiquitous, primary, CO2-rich fluid inclusions which have a Th = 10-24 oC. Manhattan Schist collected adjacent to the Croton Falls and Peach Lake mafic complexes, intrusions thought to be related to the Late Ordovician Cortlandt Complex, record P-T estimates of 4 kbar and 700 oC and 4.2 kbar and 550-600 oC respectively. The lack of fluid inclusions in garnet porphyroblasts indicates that the regional metamorphic assemblage has been completely modified by the contact effects of the mafic intrusions. However, the presence of Ky+Sta along with the slight compositional zoning of garnets in Peach Lake samples suggests that the contact assemblage may have been modified by a later metamorphism. Manhattan Schist collected adjacent to ~350 Ma granites (Brock, 1993) has been partially modified by contact metamorphism and shearing but vestiges of the regional metamorphic assemblage remain. Garnet porphyroblasts contain abundant CO2-rich fluid inclusions and P-T estimates using Bt and Pl inclusions and garnet core compositions are similar to estimates of regional metamorphic conditions. Evidence of modification includes garnet overgrowths that are elevated in Ca and depleted in Mn, Y and Sc, and CO2-rich fluid inclusions that have reequilibrated to higher density (Th = 2-18 oC). Rim compositions of porphyroblasts yield P-T estimates of 5-6 kbar and 550-600 oC. The elevated Ca content of the overgrowths along with the presence of Ky in the matrix suggests that the reaction An = Ky + Grs + Qtz may have been active during the overprinting metamorphism. The increase in pressure recorded in the granite aureoles in the Manhattan Prong is inconsistent with the results of P-T studies of the Rowe-Hawley belt, approximately 20 km to the east across Cameron's Line. This suggests that these two terranes may have been separated in the Devonian. / Master of Science

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 1967. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves [179]-[187]. / by William Howard Blackburn, Jr. / Ph.D.

Thesis advisor: Ethan Baxter / Serpentinites assume a critical role in geochemical and geophysical cycles, from recycling fluid into the sub-arc mantle to facilitating exhumation within subduction zones. Rodingite dikes can be used as a lens to investigate the hydration of the oceanic lithosphere as their development is synchronous with serpentinization, and while serpentinites lack sufficient mineral phases for geochronology, rodingite dikes are rich in andradite and grossular garnet which are potentially amenable for geochronology. This research seeks to constrain the timescales and duration of hydration of the oceanic lithosphere within the Alpine Tethys ocean basin, and associated serpentinization, by examining Apennines rodingites from the Internal Ligurides (Italy). These rodingites experienced seafloor hydrothermal alteration and were obducted onto the continental margin during Alpine orogenesis. As a result, they are ideal for studying seafloor metasomatism as they were not affected by prograde subduction zone metamorphism and dehydration. Sr isotopic and trace element profiles were constructed across two rodingite-serpentinite transects, revealing a complex, multi-stage hydration history consisting of 1) Widespread serpentinization, 2) Gabbroic intrusions, 3) Rodingitization, and 4) Localized, late-stage advective fluid flow. Serpentinizing fluids locally display strong continental crustal isotopic signatures, while rodingitization fluids are characterized by seawater-like values. U-Pb geochronology on rodingite garnets produced an age of 96.1 ± 8.9 Ma, which could represent either the main rodingitization phase or the late-stage advective alteration. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.

An investigation has been made of the propagation characteristics of magnetostatic waves with frequencies in the range 890-990 MHz in a crystal of Yttrium Iron Garnet. The sample was mounted in a two port strip line assembly and magnetised axially along the (100) direction. The experiments were performed at room temperature. Magnetostatic waves were observed in external magnetic fields in the neighbourhood of 500 Cersteds. and to explain the experimental results a non-uniform distribution of magnetisation along the axial direction is proposed for the unsaturated sample. Theoretical results for the demagnetising field and the time delay have been computed using this model to explain the excitation and transmission of the observed magnetostatic waves. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)