Tomasz Toboła

Lattice deformation of blue halite from Zechstein evaporite basin: Kłodawa Salt Mine, Central Poland

Outcrops of natural blue and purple halite crystals have been found in Kłodawa (Poland) salt deposit originating from the Permian (Zechstein) salt formation within tectonic zones. Field works carried out on various levels of Kłodawa Salt Mine indicated differences both in intensity of the hue and in the size of the outcrops. Their occurrence was connected with the presence of epigenetic sediments rich in potassium. For the samples of blue halite, an optical anisotropy (birefringence) was observed for both standard mineralogical thin sections and thick plates, indicating a deviation from cubic symmetry. The blue colouration of the halites, described by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, is due to the presence of colour centres. The colour centres have been recently identified as: F, R1 (F3), R2 (F3), M and plasmons (Wesełucha-Birczyńska et al., Vib Spectrosc 60:124–128, 2012). The trace amount of impurities detected in the blue halites by means of scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and micro-X-ray fluorescence techniques were connected mainly with solid inclusions such as KxNa(1 − x)Cl, KMgCl3·6H2O, KCl, orthorhombic sulphur, quartz and some other phases like pyrite. Crystallographic data obtained by X-ray diffraction experiments for the single crystals of the halite from Kłodawa with different saturation of blue or purple colours, as well as for natural colourless halite, revealed lowering of space-group symmetry to monoclinic, orthorhombic, trigonal, tetragonal or even triclinic systems while the space group typical for pure NaCl is Fm-3m.

Raman spectroscopy of organic, solid and fluid inclusions in the Oldest Halite of LGOM area (SW Poland)

Raman spectroscopy was applied to determine the degree of recrystallization and the influence of the secondary solution migration on the Oldest Halite (Na1) in Lubin-Głogów Copper District (LGOM). Numerous organic matter (OM) inclusions which generally show weak structural ordering was found in halite crystals. In this context they are similar to solid bitumens or carbonaceous matter of low thermal alteration. The difference in the Raman line-shape of OM indicated various thermal alteration of salt from the Oldest Halite formation due to hot fluid flow. Solutions included in the secondary fluid inclusions often contain dissolved gases such as CH4, N2, H2S. The presence of these gases is connected with migration process from basement to the salt formation. Moissanite in fluid inclusions was accidentally trapped during inclusion formation, i.e. is not a daughter mineral. It was also found in the halite as an individual solid inclusions as well as in the anhydrite concentrations. Raman spectroscopy allowed to determine also such solid inclusions in halite as celestine, magnesite, pyrite, lepidocrocite and goethite as well as hydrocarbons.

Raman spectroscopic and microthermometric studies of authigenic quartz (the Pepper Mts., Central Poland) as an indicator of fluids circulation

Differently colored authigenic quartz crystals were found as the druses compound within mudstone heteroliths from the Pepper Mts. Shale Formation (Cambrian unit of the Holy Cross Mts., Central Poland). The genesis of this mineral was established on the basis of fluid inclusion study. Raman microspectroscopy was the key instrumental technique to identify the nature of the compounds trapped in the fluid inclusions. Methane (2917cm-1) or water vapor (broad band ~2500-3000cm-1) occur within two-phased primary inclusion assemblages, while nitrogen (2329cm-1) associated with methane and trace amount of carbon dioxide (1285, 1388cm-1) occur within secondary fluid inclusion assemblage. Temperatures of homogenization of primary fluid inclusions was obtained on the basis of heating experiments and ranged from 171° to 266°C. These values are much higher than expected for the diagenetic system without metamorphic changes what may imply hydrothermal origin of quartz crystals. The source of fluids is uncertain as in the Holy Cross Mts. there was no volcanic activity to the end of Late Devonian. However, fluids originated in metamorphic basin could use deep faults as the migration paths.

Fractal Characteristics of the Pore Network in Diatomites Using Mercury Porosimetry and Image Analysis

The complex pore space considerably affects the unique properties of diatomite and its significant potential for many industrial applications. The pore network in the diatomite from the Lower Miocene strata of the Skole nappe (the Jawornik deposit, SE Poland) has been investigated using a fractal approach. The fractal dimension of the pore-space volume was calculated using the Menger sponge as a model of a porous body and the mercury porosimetry data in a pore-throat diameter range between 10,000 and 10 nm. Based on the digital analyses of the two-dimensional images from thin sections taken under a scanning electron microscope at the backscattered electron mode at different magnifications, the authors tried to quantify the pore spaces of the diatomites using the box counting method. The results derived from the analyses of the pore-throat diameter distribution using mercury porosimetry have revealed that the pore space of the diatomite has the bifractal structure in two separated ranges of the pore-throat diameters considerably smaller than the pore-throat sizes corresponding to threshold pressures. Assuming that the fractal dimensions identified for the ranges of the smaller pore-throat diameters characterize the overall pore-throat network in the Jawornik diatomite, we can set apart the distribution of the pore-throat volume (necks) and the pore volume from the distribution of the pore-space volume (pores and necks together).