A dissertação tem por cerne dois textos complementares, ambos refletindo o histórico de um programa de exploração mineral no distrito ferrífero de Curral Novo do Piauí. Como trabalho executado por empresa, a discussão sobre os custos e a definição de prioridades foram aspectos continuamente considerados. Assim os textos referidos refletem essas preocupações e se referem à proposição de métodos voltados à definição dos ambientes geológicos propícios à ocorrência de formações ferríferas à magnetita e à definição de probabilidade de ocorrências destes ambientes na fase de reconaissance da pesquisa. Na contextualização geológica do tema apresenta-se aspectos da geologia e uma discussão dos tipos e origens das formações ferríferas bandadas. Nos trabalhos foram aplicadas diversas técnicas, incluindo estatística multivariada, processamento digital de imagens, mapeamento geológico sistemático de superfície e subsuperfície em testemunhos de sondagens, caracterização petrográfica de rochas, geofísica de exploração a partir da utilização de métodos potenciais (magnetometria e radiometria). / This dissertation presents two complementary manuscripts, both reflecting the history of an exploration program in the Ferriferous Mineral District of Curral Novo do Piauí. As a research performed by a company, the discussion about the costs and prioritization aspects were continuously considered. The manuscripts reflects these concerns, referring to the proposition of methods aimed at defining the geological environments conducive to the occurrence of magnetite iron formations and the definition of probability of occurrence of these environments during the research reconnaissance phase. In the introductory chapter are presented the geological context and also a discussion of types and genesis of banded iron formations. In these studies were applied several techniques, including multivariate statistics, digital image processing, systematic geological surface mapping, diamond drill surveys, petrographic characterization of rocks and exploration geophysics methods (magnetometric and radiometric).

O distrito ferrífero de Curral Novo é hospedado pelo Complexo Granjeiro Sul, situado na Zona Transversal, na porção sudoeste da Província Borborema, no estado do Piauí. Nesse distrito, formações ferríferas bandadas apresentam teor médio de 27,5% de Fe em recursos de mais de um bilhão de toneladas. Dados de campo, petrográficos, isotópicos, geoquímicos e geocronológicos possibilitaram a caracterização de uma associação de gnaisses e migmatitos com afinidade TTG e uma sequência metavulcanossedimentar com evidências de atividade exalativa de fundo oceânico com idade paleoarqueana. A suíte TTG do Complexo Granjeiro Sul apresenta grande variação química. Inclui tipicamente rochas magnesianas de composição cálcica a álcali-cálcica com baixo conteúdo de minerais máficos. Essas rochas possuem baixa concentração em elementos LILE e HFSE, significativo fracionamento de ETRL (La/YbN = 9,78-139,12) e anomalias levemente negativas de Eu (Eu/Eu* = 0,62-0,97), características de magmas gerados a partir de uma fonte de baixa pressão. Idades U-Pb em zircão obtidas em gnaisses TTG indicam cristalização do magma em 3349 ±15 Ma (MSWD = 0,62). A sequência metavulcanossedimentar do Complexo Granjeiro Sul é constituída por rochas metamáficas, metaultramáficas e formações ferríferas bandadas e interpretada como de idade próxima à da geração das rochas TTG do complexo. As rochas derivadas de protólitos ultramáficos e máficos apresentam composição komatiítica a basáltica e possuem gênese associada à fase de subducção entre duas placas oceânicas, apresentando afinidade química análoga a de rochas de arcos de ilhas modernos. As formações ferríferas bandadas apresentam fácies sedimentares óxido e silicato, com forte empobrecimento em HFSE e ETR e anomalias negativas de Ce (Ce/CeN = 0,04-0,37). Todo este conjunto de rochas arqueanas foi intrudido por corpos sienograníticos de idade de 2,651.8 ±8.9 Ma (MSWD = 1,5), pós- colisionais do tipo A2. Os sienitos são quimicamente classificadas como rochas metaluminosas a peraluminosas, cálcio-alcalinas de alto-K e ferrosas. Possuem leve enriquecimento de ETRL em relação aos ETRP e apresentam altos conteúdos de LILE e HFSE. Processos de alteração hidrotermal presentes nas encaixantes do minério de ferro e nas próprias formações ferríferas bandadas incluem silicificação, albitização, potassificação, carbonatização, sulfetação e reconcentração do ferro. Assinaturas de isótopos de enxofre (\'delta\'\'POT 34\'S = -3,11 a 2,03) em sulfetos hidrotermais sugerem fontes magmáticas para o enxofre associado ao sistema hidrotermal. As rochas do Complexo Granjeiro registraram ainda forte retrabalhamento crustal no Paleoproterozoico a partir do Riaciano (ca. 2,2 Ga), que resultou em metamorfismo das rochas metavulcanossedimentares, com picos que perduram até o Estateriano (ca. 1,7 Ga). / The Southern Granjeiro Complex hosts the Curral Novo do Piauí iron district, located in the Transversal Zone of the Borborema Province. In this district, banded iron formations have an average grade of 27.5% of Fe in resources of more than one billion tons. Field, petrographic, isotopic, geochemical, and geochronological data allowed the characterization of an association of gneisses and migmatites with TTG affinity and a Paleoarchean greenstone belt sequence with evidence of ocean floor exhalative activity. The TTG suite of the Southern Granjeiro Complex includes magnesian rocks of calcic to alkali-calcic affinity and low content of mafic minerals. These rocks have a low concentration of LILE and HFSE elements, significant fractionation of ETRL (La/YbN = 9.78-139.12) and slightly negative Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* = 0.62-0.97). These characteristics are similar to that of TTG magmas generated from low-pressure sources. LA-ICP-MS U-Pb zircon ages obtained in TTG gneisses indicate magma crystallization at 3.349 ±15 Ma (MSWD = 0.62). The Southern Granjeiro metavolcanosedimentary sequence comprises metamafic and metaultramafic volcanic rocks and banded iron formation. These rocks derived from basaltic and komatiitic protoliths with chemical affinity to those formed in modern island arcs. The banded iron formation has oxide (magnetite-quartz) and silicate (grunerite-quartz) facies, with strong impoverishment in HFSE and ETR and negative Ce anomaly (Ce/CeN = 0.04-0.37). Post-collisional A2-type syenogranites (2.651.8 ±8.9 Ma; MSWD = 1.5) crosscut the Southern Granjeiro Complex. The syenogranites are ferroan, metaluminous to peraluminous and have a high-K calc-alkaline affinity. They have a slight enrichment of ETRL concerning ETRP and high contents of LILE and HFSE. Hydrothermal alteration processes in the banded iron formations and associated volcanic rocks include silicification, albitization, potassic alteration, carbonation, sulfide formation and iron reconcentration. Sulfur isotopes signatures (\'delta\'\'POT.34\'S = -3.11 to 2.03) of hydrothermal sulfides suggest magmatic sulfur sources associated with the hydrothermal system. The rocks of the Southern Granjeiro Complex still recorded strong crustal reworking and metamorphism in the Riacian (ca. 2.2 Ga) until the Staterian (ca. 1.7 Ga).

Estudos experimentais realizados por alguns autores abordaram os mecanismos de deformação nas gipsitas, tais como o fluxo plástico e a dissolução por pressão. Ainda assim, é pequeno o conhecimento do comportamento mecânico das rochas de gipso. Nesta tese foram estudados os mecanismos de deformação lenta em gipsitas bandadas da Formação Santana da Chapada de Araripe com uso da técnica de emissão acústica. Adotou-se este procedimento como técnica indireta de detecção do processo de microfissuramento, para evitar mudanças que ocorrem na microestrutura durante seu descarregamento e preparação de amostras para sua observação por técnicas diretas. Realizaram-se ensaios de fluência de curto e longo prazo numa prensa hidráulica servocontrolada MTS 815 e em conjunto modulares (torres individuais) em um laboratório de fluência especialmente equipado. Encontrou-se que o mecanismo do microfissuramento está fortemente influenciado por processos de cicatrização durante ensaios de fluência de longo prazo. Devido ao processo de cicatrização da microfissura, a fluência terciaria nunca foi alcançada, mesmo em corpos de prova carregados com até 95% da resistência à compressão uniaxial. Nesta tese outros resultados importantes foram alcançados como: identificar que o fenômeno de microfissuramento para a rocha em questão é detectado por fenômenos de emissão acústica de freqüências intermediárias (de 100 a 400 kHz) e constatar que o efeito Kaiser se manifesta neste tipo de rochas de modo inequívoco para solicitações rápidas, enquanto após ensaios de fluência de longa duração, não mais se manifesta, por causa da cicatrização. Ou seja, corpos de prova submetidos mais uma vez à compressão uniaxial após o descarregamento, voltam a apresentar eventos de emissão acústica e, conseqüentemente, a geração de novas microfissuras. Este fato somente pode ser explicado por um processo de cicatrização da microfissura durante a fluência de longo prazo. Esta cicatrização, devido a fenômenos físico-químicos, apresentou outros indícios como um aumento no módulo de elasticidade após ensaios de fluência, quando comparado aos valores antes do ensaio, e mesmo um endurecimento (aumento da resistência à compressão uniaxial) também após a fluência. Esclareceu-se também de modo inequívoco que o descarregamento provoca o progresso do microfissuramento. Além dos sinais característicos do microfissuramento, constatou-se que o módulo de elasticidade, medido nos mesmos níveis de tensão, é mais alto antes que depois do descarregamento. O decréscimo de rigidez é indício do processo de dano por microfissuramento. / Experimental studies by several authors have shown some of the key deformation mechanisms in gypsum, such as plastic flow and pressure dissolution. Even so, there is still sparse knowledge about the mechanical behavior of natural gypsum rocks. Creep mechanisms of the banded gypsum rock of Santana Formation from the Chapada do Araripe (Santana Formation) in creep tests were studied with acoustic emission technique correlating the stress levels related to microcracking to the energy release associated with these mechanisms. This procedure was adopted as an indirect technique of detection of the microcracking process, to prevent changes that occur in the microstructure during unloading and in sample preparation for its observations with direct techniques. Short and long-term creep tests were carried out in an MTS 815 servo-controlled testing system and in modular sets (single towers) in a specially equipped creep laboratory. It was found that the microcrack mechanism is strongly influenced by healing processes during long-term creep. Due to the microcrack healing process, tertiary creep was never reached, even in specimens loaded with up to 95% of the uniaxial compressive strength. In this thesis other important results were reached as: to identify that the microcracking phenomenon for the rock in question is detected by acoustic emission phenomena of intermediate frequencies (from 100 to 400 kHz) and to evidence that the Kaiser effect unequivocally manifests in this type of rock when subjected to quick loads, while after long-term creep tests, it is no longer evidenced on account of healing. In other words, the specimens subjected once again to uniaxial compression after unloading, again show acoustic emission events and therefore the generation of new microcracks. This fact can only be explained by a microcrack healing process during long-term creep. This healing, due to physical-chemical phenomena, presented other indications as an increase in the modulus of elasticity after creep tests, when compared to the values before the test, and even a hardening (increase of the uniaxial compressive strength) also after the creep. It was also clarified in unequivocal way that the unloading provokes microcracking progress. In addition to the microcracking characteristic indications, it was found that the modulus of elasticity, when measured at the same stress levels, is higher before unloading than after the unloading. The stiffness decrease is indication of the microcracking damage process.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Zoology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

This thesis studies advection modeling for heat transfer and fluid flow problems using a new Non--Inverted Skew Upwind Scheme (called NISUS). Variants of the new scheme are formulated and developed with 8-noded hexahedral elements using the Finite Element Method (FEM)and rectangular elements based on a Finite Volume Method (FVM). A new method of mass weighting to predict convective fluxes of each scalar from the nodal point values is developed. Due to an explicit representation in terms of nodal variables, local inversion of the upwind coefficient matrix is not needed. Also, this thesis evaluates two variants of the new scheme (i.e., 3-node / 3-point and 4-node / 8-point formulations) within a 3--D FEM and a third variant within a 2--D FVM. The 3--D FEM variants are applied to a variety of test problems involving the transport of a scalar variable, while the 2--D FVM variant is applied to fluid flow problems including natural convection in an enclosure and micro--channel flow simulations. The promising performance of NISUS, as compared with exact and previous solutions, is demonstrated both in terms of accuracy and stability. Furthermore, a new data storage format called Compressed Banded Data (CBD) is developed for sparse banded matrices generated by the control volume finite element method (CVFEM). The platform of the new CBD structure permits dynamic switching between various solvers, without any procedural change in the implementation of existing simulation software. The performance of different Krylov techniques with an ILU(0) preconditioner is observed and compared in three test problems with a direct solver. / October 2006

Thesis (Ph.D. (Zoology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005

It is the study of banded iron formations (BIFs) that provides understanding into the conditions of the Earth's oceans and atmosphere during the Archean and Early Proterozoic. The aim of this thesis is to provide a detailed mineralogical and geochemical understand of BIFs from two separate localities separated by the Archean Proterozoic boundary. Close attention is paid to their carbonate and iron oxide mineralogy.The BIFs of the 2.7 Ga Manjeri Formation, Zimbabwe and 2.4 Ga Itabira Group, Brazil were both precipitated from oxygenated mixed marine-hydrothermal fluids. This is demonstrated by the presence of nano-hematite inclusions in the chert (Itabira and Manjeri) and dolomite (Itabira only) laminae, which is interpreted as the oldest mineral phase within the samples. Additionally, focused ion beam transmission electron microscopy (FIB-TEM) reveals the presence of nano ferrihydrite platelets within the dolomitic BIFs (carbonate itabirite). The dolomite is interpreted to be a primary phase precipitated at higher temperatures (~100°C) from CO2-rich hydrothermal fluids. Positive Eu anomalies in both formations indicate a hydrothermal component, likely to be the source of the reduced iron. Facies changes in both units are the result of transgression/regression and post depositional hydrothermal events mask primary conditions. Iron-rich carbonates in both facies have different origins; diagenetic (Itabira) and post depositional hydrothermal (Manjeri). However, the iron-rich carbonates of both formations have negative ∂13C values, indicating that at least part of the carbon in the carbonates is of organic origin. Curie Balance analyses into the carbonate itabirite reveals that maghemite is the transformation product of the ferrihydrite when dolomite decomposes at ~790°C. The maghemite has a Curie temperature between 320 and 350°C and is stable up to temperatures of 925°C.FIB-TEM investigations into the martitisation process revealed two possible mechanisms from two martite samples, from Brazil and India. Depending of the cause of the martitisation, here found to be deformation and hydrothermalism, the martitisation occurs respectively via either: 1. Ordering of point defects caused by vacancies in the spinel structure of maghemite, due to the removal of excess Fe3+ ions during the oxidation of magnetite, to form twins. It is in this twinning that the martitisation mechanism occurs.2. Grain boundary migration by hematite at the expense of magnetite is due to the presence of fluid along the crystal interfaces, where maghemite forms due to excess Fe3+ produced during martitisation of the magnetite, moving towards the surface of the magnetite crystals.

By counting 1's in the "right half" of 2w consecutive rows, we locate the main diagonal of any doubly infinite permutation matrix with bandwidth w. Then the matrix can be correctly centered and factored into block-diagonal permutation matrices. Part II of the paper discusses the same questions for the much larger class of band-dominated matrices. The main diagonal is determined by the Fredholm index of a singly infinite submatrix. Thus the main diagonal is determined "at infinity" in general, but from only 2w rows for banded permutations.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Zoology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005

This thesis studies advection modeling for heat transfer and fluid flow problems using a new Non--Inverted Skew Upwind Scheme (called NISUS). Variants of the new scheme are formulated and developed with 8-noded hexahedral elements using the Finite Element Method (FEM)and rectangular elements based on a Finite Volume Method (FVM). A new method of mass weighting to predict convective fluxes of each scalar from the nodal point values is developed. Due to an explicit representation in terms of nodal variables, local inversion of the upwind coefficient matrix is not needed. Also, this thesis evaluates two variants of the new scheme (i.e., 3-node / 3-point and 4-node / 8-point formulations) within a 3--D FEM and a third variant within a 2--D FVM. The 3--D FEM variants are applied to a variety of test problems involving the transport of a scalar variable, while the 2--D FVM variant is applied to fluid flow problems including natural convection in an enclosure and micro--channel flow simulations. The promising performance of NISUS, as compared with exact and previous solutions, is demonstrated both in terms of accuracy and stability. Furthermore, a new data storage format called Compressed Banded Data (CBD) is developed for sparse banded matrices generated by the control volume finite element method (CVFEM). The platform of the new CBD structure permits dynamic switching between various solvers, without any procedural change in the implementation of existing simulation software. The performance of different Krylov techniques with an ILU(0) preconditioner is observed and compared in three test problems with a direct solver.