PhotoSat’s Post

Take a look at the alteration associated with the Filo del Sol and Lunahuasi deposits, using high-resolution WorldView-3 imagery produced with PhotoSat's proprietary deep-learning algorithms!

Do you know blue 💙 amber?  1. What?  👉🏻 Amber is a fossilized resin from ancient trees, often yellowish and hard. 👉🏻 Amber is usually yellow 💛 to brown, brownish red or reddish-brown.  👉🏻 Blue 💙 amber is rare.  👉🏻 Blue amber comes from the resin of the extinct tree species Hymenea protera.  2. Where?  👉🏻 Dominican Republic. 👉🏻 Indonesia.  👉🏻 Mexico.  3. Why blue?  👉🏻 Fluoresce blue under ultraviolet light.  👉🏻 Due to the presence of specific polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) within the fossilized resin matrix. It is not as simple as that. If you want to more about this amazing organic gemstone: 👇🏻 #gemology #gemstone #gems

* Organic-rich, fine-grained contourites in an epicontinental basin: The Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation, Argentina: https://lnkd.in/drz78A3V Abstract: Over the last few years, recognition and characterization of sedimentary processes in fine-grained successions is receiving considerable attention in part due to the increased importance of unconventional reservoirs. Recent sedimentologic analyses of these successions have revealed abundant traction transport structures that suggest bottom current activity of different origins. The present study constitutes a detailed sedimentologic analysis of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation (Neuquén Basin, Argentina), which comprises organic-rich, fine-grained subaqueous clinoform deposits. Locally, intervals showing traction structures such as parallel lamination, ripple cross-lamination and cross-bedding, and displaying high bioturbation, occur. These intervals can be differentiated into three facies associations, namely crinoidal mixed to calcareous mudstone, mixed to calcareous mudstone, and calcareous to mixed mudstone interbedded with calcareous mudstone. These facies associations were deposited by contour currents showing semi-permanent activity, low sediment concentration, and generating long-term oxygen supply to the seafloor. Locally, some successions display an increasing to decreasing bioturbation intensity pattern that may have a similar origin to the bi-gradational sequence of contourites. The present sedimentologic analysis supports the idea that contour currents are associated with high bioturbation levels due to increased oxygenation, which controls the degree of preservation of traction structures, and consequently the possibility to delineate these processes in fine-grained successions. These currents occurred in relatively shallow water, probably as part of a weakened estuarine or anti-estuarine, basin-wide circulation system intensified by the enhanced action of dense water cascading during arid and cool climate periods.

Cerro Blanco is a large untested telescoped Paleocene-age porphyry Cu-Mo target in the Southern Peru Copper Belt. The large alteration footprint is comprised of an upper large lateral lithocap of advanced argillic alteration overprinting phyllic and propylitic altered upper Cretaceous Toquepala Group volcanics and volcanoclastics rocks. The mineralization has also been age dated using Re-Os as Paleocene.

🌋🌋🌋 Once a #geologist ⛏️ (part 6), my eyes are always focused on wonderful sceneries created by #nature 🌎 - wherever I am ! If I remember my time at the 🏝️ island Reunion in the Indian Ocean 🌊 2015, I think of the active volcano 🌋 Piton de la Fournaise, the amazing mountain ⛰️ scenery with deep “Jurassic Park 🦖 🦕 ”-like valleys and the green 🟩 Tremblet beach 🏖️ with its olivine sand. The primary characteristic of this beach is that it is made up of sand containing a large majority of olivine crystals 💎💎💎, giving this green color. These crystals come directly from the lava flow of 2007. The magma was particularly rich in olivine (up to 60% by volume). This type of magma is called oceanite. When the flow arrived on the coast, the lava came in contact with water 💦 💧 and fragmented, releasing olivine crystals and also producing fragments of vitrified basalt. The progressive concentration of olivine in beach 🏝️ sand comes from sediment sorting carried out by the action of coastal dynamic vectors (wind 💨 and waves 🌊 ). Over time, the latter favored the sedimentation of olivine due to their mineralogical characteristics e.g. density. The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron silicate with the chemical formula (Mg,Fe)2SiO4. Olivine has many uses, such as gemstone peridot 💎 (or chrysolite) or in industrial applications like metalworking 🏭processes. 💡👀 See also the interesting new issue of Elements about Olivine: https://lnkd.in/edCk7KE7 (Photos: Uwe König, Reunion 2015) #mining #geology #reunion #beachsand #olivine #france #volcano #tremblet #erosion #lakeontario #warerfall #greatlakes #glaciation #green #oceanite #minerals Uwe König Elements: An International Magazine of Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and Petrology Esther Posner #onceageologist

14-#Shallow_Marine_Evaporite_Environments -𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 2- Deep-basin successions can exhibit two deposition patterns. In a fully enclosed barred basin, shrinking water bodies create a bulls-eye pattern in deposits, with the most soluble salts concentrated at the basin center. Alternatively, in basins with a more permanent connection, a salinity gradient exists from the ocean connection to the farthest point in the basin. The minerals precipitated at any point across the basin will depend on the salinity at the point. Equilibrium between inflow and evaporative loss leads to stable conditions, allowing for the deposition of tens to hundreds of meters of a single mineral in one location, forming a teardrop pattern. Variations in basin salinity and seawater content lead to diverse evaporite deposits. Global sea-level rise may reduce basin salinity, favoring widespread carbonate deposition. Cycles in barred basin deposits may relate to sea-level fluctuations or local tectonics. Organic material brought in during lower salinity periods can accumulate and be preserved when the salinity increases because hypersaline basins are anoxic. The characteristics of marine evaporites include a predominant lithology of gypsum, anhydrite, and halite. The mineral composition encompasses various evaporite minerals, and the texture can either be crystalline or amorphous. In terms of bed geometry, these evaporites often form sheets in lagoons and barred basins, while nodular formations are observed in sabkhas. Sedimentary structures associated with marine evaporites include intrastratal solution breccias and deformation features. Paleocurrents are rarely observed, and fossils are infrequently found. The color of marine evaporites is typically white, although impurities can introduce various hues. Furthermore, these evaporites are commonly associated with shallow marine carbonates. #sedimentology #geology #petroleum #SedimentaryRocks #Geoscience #Paleoenvironments

A contribution to the knowledge of Cretaceous to Neogene Palynology in the Colombian Caribbean. By Angelo Plata-Torres, Andrés Pardo-Trujillo, José Abel Flores In progress: Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. Volume 325, June 2024 Highlights: 👉 Palynological zonation scheme for the Colombian Caribbean (NW South America). 👉 Twelve palynozones proposed for the Cenozoic (Late Paleocene to Pliocene) in the Colombian Caribbean. 👉 Palynomorph age ranges calibrated using calcareous nannofossils and planktonic foraminifera. 👉 First record of late Paleocene palynomorph assemblage to the Caribbean (Sinú-San Jacinto basin). 👉 An improvement of the applicability of zonation schemes proposed for the north of South America. Including Jaramillo (2011), Muller et al. (1987). 👉 Evidence of reworking in some stratigraphic intervals (e.g., Cretaceous and Oligocene in Miocene sediments), makes it necessary to be careful about the last appearance record of microfossils in exploration and geologic mapping. #Palynology #OilExploration #Biostratigraphy

Check out the last PhD paper of Kevin Moreau in Geology on the in situ U-Pb dating applied to speleothems:

The #Bowen reaction series is a concept in #geology that explains the sequence of #mineral crystallization from cooling #magma. The series is divided into two branches: 🎄Discontinuous Series: This describes the formation of minerals that have different crystal structures at different temperatures. As magma cools, minerals in this series react with the remaining liquid to form new minerals. The sequence is: -🎄 Olivine (highest temperature) - 🎄Pyroxene - 🎄Amphibole - 🎄Biotite (lowest temperature) 🎄Continuous Series: This describes the evolution of plagioclase feldspar minerals, which gradually change in composition from calcium-rich to sodium-rich as the temperature decreases. The sequence is: - 🎄Calcium-rich plagioclase (anorthite) - 🎄Sodium-rich plagioclase (albite) At the lower temperatures, the two branches converge, leading to the crystallization of minerals such as: - 🎄Potassium feldspar - 🎄Muscovite - 🎄Quartz (the last to crystallize)

New Publication! I am pleased to announce that our new publication on the structure en volcano-stratigraphy of the Upper Miocene Chachahuén Volcano, Neuquén Basin, Argentina, is now available online. This paper describes new geological observations that help constraining the volcanic evolution and structure of this old, large volcano. This study resulted from adventurous field expeditions in the remoteness of the Andean foothills of the Neuquén Basin. This study sheds light on the structure of the shallow plumbing system of large andesitic volcanoes. For more information, please refer to the paper entitled "Stratigraphy and structure of Chachahuén volcanic complex, southern Mendoza province, Argentina" by Joaquín Octavio Palma, Steffi Burchardt, Tobias S., Lucas Guerriero, Dougal Jerram, Karen Mair, Héctor A. LEANZA, and Olivier Galland. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, Volume 140, 15 July 2024, doi: https://lnkd.in/dFg4nJgN.