Description of the fossil manganese nodules found in the Oligocene clay deposits of Moravia, Brno area, Czech Republic

In the green Oligocene clay of Krizanovice (former Krzyzanowicz) the author found numerous black nodules. In the 3-4 centimeter thick black crust of a particular specimen the concentration in MnO2 is evaluated at 46.6% MnO2. The determination was done using the Volhard's method (precipitation of Fe by ZnO and titration with KMnO4). Only the dissoleved part in HCL was analysed. The non soluble residue was essentially a silica precipitate in the form of many gray flakes. The specific gravity of the crust was evaluated at 3.8. In the internal yellow core the amount of manganese is about 2.39% MnO2. Due to the light color it is judged to probably be in the form of Mn2O3.

Geochemical data for drilled powder samples from two fossil Porites corals from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 310

Fossil corals are unique archives of past seasonal climate variability, providing vital information about seasonal climate phenomena such as ENSO and monsoons. However, submarine diagenetic processes can potentially obscure the original climate signals and lead to false interpretations. Here we demonstrate the potential of laser ablation ICP-MS to rapidly detect secondary aragonite precipitates in fossil Porites colonies recovered by Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 310 from submerged deglacial reefs off Tahiti. High resolution (100 µm) measurements of coralline B/Ca, Mg/Ca, S/Ca, and U/Ca ratios are used to distinguish areas of pristine skeleton from those afflicted with secondary aragonite. Measurements of coralline Sr/Ca, U/Ca and oxygen isotope ratios, from areas identified as pristine, reveal that the seasonal range of sea surface temperature in the tropical south Pacific during the last deglaciation (14.7 and 11 ka) was similar to that of today.

Description of recent sediments of Nile Delta, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (Table 1-3)

The study of textural, structural, chemical, and physical properties of fine-grained recent marine sediments leads to the conclusion that only a few compositional factors are responsible for significant changes in mass physical characteristics in the upper meters below sea bottom. Fossil-induced porosity increases water content and liquid limit. It also seems to have partially influenced the plastic limit and plasticity index of calcareous sandy silts from the Red Sea and the western Gulf of Aden so that they become similar to the montmorillonite rich prodelta clays from the Nile Delta. Diagrams based on liquid limit and plasticity loose their original meaning in these cases. Activity of sediments rich in microorganisms can be higher than that of montmorillonitic clay. The shear strength-depth relationship of normally consolidated sediments is surprisingly little influenced by changes in sand or clay content and clay mineralogy. Only high lime content, submarine erosion and beginning cementation increase the strength considerably. Erosional disconformities near the present surface can be deduced from the strength-depth curve when as little as 1 or 2 m sediment have been removed. Flat or irregular strength-depth curves indicate beginning cementation and probably discontinuous sedimentation, provided the composition of the material remains in some degree constant. In our samples diagenetic pyrite, but no recristallisation of carbonates could be detected under the microscope. Underconsolidation and excess pore-water pressure, factors which tend to foster submarine slides, mud lumps, and diapiric folding, seem to be restricted Varito areas with mainly rapidly deposited, homogeneous or layered sediments. But where an abundance of burrowing organisms increases the vertical permeability of the sediment, normal consolidation and stable deposits are to be expected, at least in the upper meters below the present surface. According to 14C-determinations on calcareous microorganisms the rate of deposition of the investigated sediments seems to range from 26 to 167 cm per 1000 years.

(Table 1, page 661) Average composition of fossil nodules from three localities studied in the Transdanubian Central Mountains of Hungary

Fossil manganese nodules and encrustations from seamount' and basin' localities in the Transdanubian Central Mountains of Hungary are lithologically, mineralogically and chemically similar to some modern marine ferromanganese oxide deposits, and show no evidence of postdepositional changes other than cementation. Five groups of deposits were encountered: Fe/Mn nodules, encrusted shells, pavements, stains, and Fe oxide encrusted intraclasts, the first three of which are specific to the 'seamount' environment and the last to the basins'. Optical and electron microprobe investigation of the samples shows them to exhibit many similarities with modern ferromanganese oxide deposits, and that many of the nodules are surrounded by a halo of dispersed ferromanganese oxides, strongly suggesting that they continued to accrete metals through the pore waters of unlithified sediments for a period after burial. By contrast, pavements which appear to have grown on hardgrounds at the sea floor show little or no evidence of derivation of metals from underlying sediments. Geochemical investigations on the deposits show the seamount' varieties to be closer in composition to most modern nodules and crusts than the basin' varieties, and that the latter are essentially manganese and trace-element-poor ferruginous deposits. Nevertheless, all can be more or less compositionally equated with modern ferromanganese oxide deposits forming in marginal Atlantic environments, which would be in accord with the proposed depositional environment of the Transdanubian Central Mountains based on other evidence.

Chapters on animals /

Mode of access: Internet.

Wild life of the world : a descriptive survey of the geographical distribution of animals /

Mode of access: Internet.

Bibliography of aquatic ecosystems effects, analytical methods and treatment technologies for organic compounds in advanced fossil-fuel processing effluents /

Mode of access: Internet.

Fossil fuels : pace and focus of the Clean Coal Technology Program need to be assessed : report to the Honorable Philip R. Sharp, Chairman, Subcommittee on Energy and Power, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives /

"B-230504"--P. [1].

Meat animals : farm production, disposition, and income, by states, 1954 and 1955.

Issued Apr. 1956.

The geographical distribution of animals. With a study of the relations of living and extinct faunas as elucidating the past changes of the earth's surface.

Mode of access: Internet.