Eleanora I. Robbins

Angiosperm pollen zonation of the continental Cretaceous of the Atlantic coastal plain and its application to deep wells in the Salisbury Embayment

Abstract This paper presents and illustrates an informal palynological zonation of the pre‐Magothy continental Cretaceous sediments of the Atlantic Coastal Plain (Potomac Group, Raritan Formation), based primarily on new and previously published studies of angiosperm pollen from two wells near Delaware City, Delaware, and from outcrop samples from Virginia through New Jersey, following lines established by Brenner (1963). Monosulcate angiosperm pollen (with columellar exine structure) is present from the base of Brenners Zone I (Patuxent Formation and Arundel Clay equivalents, Barremian‐lower Albian?). Reticulate tricolpates enter in upper Zone I and diversify in Brenners Subzones II‐A and II‐B (Patapsco Formation equivalents, middle‐upper Albian?); tricolporoidates appear in Subzone II‐B. Very small, psilate tricolporoidates and Rugubivesiculites rugosus enter in our Subzone II‐C (uppermost Albian?), larger triangular tricolporates and new tricolpates in Zone III (lower Cenomanian?); these two units ar...

Acidophilic and acid-tolerant fungi and yeasts

Fungi have not been systematically studied from mines and mine drainage waters, even though they are often encountered there. This paper provides a key from literature sources and lists morphological characteristics and habitat information for the 81 fungal species that have been collected or identified in pH <4 environments.

Accumulation of Fossil Fuels and Metallic Minerals in Active and Ancient Rift Lakes

A study of active and ancient rift systems around the world suggests that accumulations of fossil fuels and metallic minerals are related to the interactions of processes that form rift valleys with those that take place in and around rift lakes. The deposition of the precursors of petroleum, gas, oil shale, coal, phosphate, barite, Cu-Pb-Zn sulfides, and uranium begins with erosion of uplifted areas, and the consequent input of abundant nutrients and solute loads into swamps and tectonic lakes. Hot springs and volcanism add other nutrients and solutes. The resulting high biological productivity creates oxidized/reduced interfaces, and anoxic and H2S-rich bottom waters which preserves metal-bearing organic tissues and horizons. In the depositional phases, the fine-grained lake deposits are in contact with coarse-grained beach, delta, river, talus, and alluvial fan deposits. Earthquake-induced turbidites also are common coarse-grained deposits of rift lakes. Postdepositional processes in rifts include high heat flow and a resulting concentration of the organic and metallic components that were dispersed throughout the lakebeds. Postdepositional faulting brings organic- and metal-rich sourcebeds in contact with coarse-grained host and reservoir rocks. A suite of potentially economic deposits is therefore a characteristic of rift valleys.

Mineral remains of early life on earth? On mars?

Abstract The oldest sedimentary rocks on Earth, the 3.8‐Ga Isua Iron‐Formation in southwestern Greenland, are metamorphosed past the point where organic‐walled fossils would remain. Acid residues and thin sections of these rocks reveal ferric microstructures that have filamentous, hollow rod, and spherical shapes not characteristic of crystalline minerals. Instead, they resemble ferric‐coated remains of bacteria. Modern so‐called iron bacteria were therefore studied to enhance a search image for oxide minerals precipitated by early bacteria. Iron bacteria become coated with ferrihydrite, a metastable mineral that converts to hematite, which is stable under high temperatures. If these unusual morphotypes are mineral remains of microfossils, then life must have evolved somewhat earlier than 3.8 Ga, and may have involved the interaction of sediments and molecular oxygen in water, with iron as a catalyst. Timing is constrained by the early in fall of planetary materials that would have heated the planets sur...

Ecogeochemistry of the subsurface food web at pH 0–2.5 in Iron Mountain, California, U.S.A.

Pyrite oxidation in the underground mining environment of Iron Mountain, California, has created the most acidic pH values ever reported in aquatic systems. Sulfate values as high as 120 000 mg l−1 and iron as high as 27 600 mg l−1 have been measured in the mine water, which also carries abundant other dissolved metals including Al, Zn, Cu, Cd, Mn, Sb and Pb. Extreme acidity and high metal concentrations apparently do not preclude the presence of an underground acidophilic food web, which has developed with bacterial biomass at the base and heliozoans as top predators. Slimes, oil-like films, flexible and inflexible stalactites, sediments, water and precipitates were found to have distinctive communities. A variety of filamentous and non-filamentous bacteria grew in slimes in water having pH values <1.0. Fungal hyphae colonize stalactites dripping pH 1.0 water; they may help to form these drip structures. Motile hypotrichous ciliates and bdelloid rotifers are particularly abundant in slimes having a pH of 1.5. Holdfasts of the iron bacterium Leptothrix discophora attach to biofilms covering pools of standing water having a pH of 2.5 in the mine. The mine is not a closed environment – people, forced air flow and massive flushing during high intensity rainfall provide intermittent contact between the surface and underground habitats, so the mine ecosystem probably is not a restricted one.

Bacteria and Archaea in acidic environments and a key to morphological identification

Natural and anthropogenic acidic environments are dominated by bacteria and Archaea. As many as 86 genera or species have been identified or isolated from pH <4.5 environments. This paper reviews the worldwide literature and provide tables of morphological characteristics, habitat information and a key for light microscope identification for the non-microbiologist.

Chemistry and palynology of carbon seams and associated rocks from the Witwatersrand goldfields, South Africa

Abstract Carbon seams in the Witwatersrand System of South Africa host some of the richest gold concentrations in the world. A study of the microscopic characteristics in thin sections and acid residues, and of the chemical and physical nature of the carbon-bearing phases, was undertaken to gain some understanding of the biological precursors and thermal changes that have occurred since the seams were buried. The HClHF acid-resistant organic tissues in this Early Proterozoic coal are filamentous and spherical, which are typical morphologies for microorganisms. The tissues are carbonized black as would be expected for metamorphic rocks, so usual palynological techniques were of limited use. Therefore, the chemical and physical nature of the organic remains was studied by H C ratios, X-ray diffraction (XRD), 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), reductive chemistry, crosspolarization/magic angle spinning NMR (CP/MAS), and electron spin resonance (ESR). The H C ratios of the samples examined are similar to those of semi-anthracite and petroleum cokes from delayed cokers. XRD shows graphite is not present and that the gold is in elemental form, not chemically bound or intercalated between carbon planes. NMR shows that both aromatic and paraffinic carbons are present. Integration of the carbon NMR spectra suggests that 80% of the carbon is sp2-hybridized and 20% is sp3-hybridized. Reductive chemistry shows that the benzenoid entities are larger than common polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons such as perylene and decacyclene. Dipolar dephasing CP/MAS NMR suggests the presence of two types of paraffinic carbons, a rigid methylene group and a rotating methyl group. The narrowing of the ESR linewidth between room temperature and 300°C shows that the materials examined have not previously been subjected to temperatures as high as 300°C.

QUATERNARY PALYNOFLORAS AND PALEOCLIMATE OF THE QAIDAM BASIN, QINGHAI PROVINCE, NORTHWESTERN CHINA

A cool, arid climate featuring steppe vegetation characterizes the modern day temperate zone of northwestern China. In contrast, palynofloras indicate that the paleoclimate there was warmer and wetter during the Pleistocene than during the Holocene. To document vegetational and climatic changes during the Quaternary, fossil pollen and spores were systematically studied in sediments from the Qaidam Basin in the Qinghai Province at the northeastern margin of the Tibetan (Qinghai–Xizang) Plateau. Pollen and spores in four cores from the Quaternary lacustrine deposits in the Qaidam Basin showed four distinctive pollen zones. The basal assemblage, Zone Q1, is dominated by taxa having tropical or subtropical warm, wet climatic affinity and is probably Early Pleistocene in age. The overlying assemblage, Zone Q2, is dominated by taxa having warm–temperate and semi–wet climatic affinity and is probably Middle Pleistocene in age. Zone Q3 is dominated by taxa having temperate and semiarid climatic affinity and is probably Late Pleistocene in age. The uppermost assemblage, Zone Q1, is dominated by taxa having cool–temperate, arid climatic affinity and is Holocene in age. The modern vegetation of the high plateau is dominated by xerophytic and halophytic herbs and shrubs. The palynofloral assemblages show that this modern vegetation became established during the Holocene, when cool, dry conditions prevailed following Pleistocene deglaciation. This climatic cooling is interpreted as the result of continued Himalayan–Tibetan Plateau uplift in the Holocene. Modern vegetation zones are used as a basis for comparison with the fossil assemblages and suggest that the Qaidam Basin might have been elevated at least 2,000 to 3,000 m since the Early Pleistocene. Dabuxun Lake in the basin may have been elevated about 700 m in the past half million years. The pollen data therefore allow more precise dating of Himalayan–Tibetan uplift. Intense uplift at the end of Early Pleistocene is indicated and further uplift probably occurred in the middle substage of the Middle Pleistocene. The results of this study contribute to understanding Himalayan–Tibetan Plateau evolution, regional Quaternary correlations, and climatic changes around the globe.

Organic tissues, graphite, and hydrocarbons in host rocks of the Rum Jungle Uranium Field, northern Australia

Abstract The Rum Jungle Uranium field consists of at least six early Proterozoic deposits that have been mined either for uranium and/or the associated base and precious metals. Organic matter in the host rocks of the Whites Formation and Coomalie Dolomite is now predominantly graphite, consistent with the metamorphic history of these rocks. For nine samples, the mean total organic carbon content is high (3.9 wt%) and ranged from 0.33 to 10.44 wt%. Palynological extracts from the host rocks include black, filamentous, stellate ( Eoastrion -like), and spherical morphotypes, which are typical of early Proterozoic microbiota. The colour, abundance, and shapes of these morphotypes reflect the thermal history, organic richness, and probable lacustrine biofacies of the host rocks. Routine analysis of rock thin sections and of palynological residues shows that mineral grains in some of the host rocks are coated with graphitized organic matter. The grain coating is presumed to result from ultimate thermal degradation of a petroleum phase that existed prior to metamorphism. Hydrocarbons are, however, still present in fluid inclusions within carbonates of the Coomalie Dolomite and lower Whites Formation. The fluid inclusions fluoresce dull orange in blue-light excitation and their hydrocarbon content is confirmed by gas chromatography of whole-rock extracts. Preliminary analysis of the oil suggests that it is migrated, and because it has escaped graphitization through metamorphism it is probably not of early Proterozoic age. The presence of live oil is consistent with fluid inclusion data that suggest subsequent, low-temperature brine migration through the rocks. The present observations support earlier suggestions that organic matter in the host formations trapped uranium to form protore. Subsequent fluid migrations probably brought additional uranium and other metals to these formations, and the organic matter provided a reducing environment for entrapment.

Mesozoic non-marine petroleum source rocks determined by palynomorphs in the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, northwestern China

The Tarim Basin in Northwest China hosts petroleum reservoirs of Cambrian, Ordovician, Carboniferous, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary ages. The sedimentary thickness in the basin reaches about 15 km and with an area of 560 000 km 2 , the basin is expected to contain giant oil and gas fields. It is therefore important to determine the ages and depositional environments of the petroleum source rocks. For prospective evaluation and exploration of petroleum, palynological investigations were carried out on 38 crude oil samples collected from 22 petroleum reservoirs in the Tarim Basin and on additionally 56 potential source rock samples from the same basin. In total, 173 species of spores and pollen referred to 80 genera, and 27 species of algae and fungi referred to 16 genera were identified from the non-marine Mesozoic sources. By correlating the palynormorph assemblages in the crude oil samples with those in the potential source rocks, the Triassic and Jurassic petroleum source rocks were identified. Furthermore, the palynofloras in the petroleum provide evidence for interpretation of the depositional environments of the petroleum source rocks. The affinity of the miospores indicates that the petroleum source rocks were formed in swamps in brackish to lacustrine depositional environments under warm and humid climatic conditions. The palynomorphs in the crude oils provide further information about passage and route of petroleum migration, which is significant for interpreting petroleum migration mechanisms. Additionally, the thermal alternation index (TAI) based on miospores indicates that the Triassic and Jurassic deposits in the Tarim Basin are mature petroleum source rocks.