Department of Earth Sciences
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Characterization of coloured gemstones by X-ray micro computed tomography
(MDPI, 2021-02-08)The monetary value of gemstones is based on five variables: rarity, cut, weight, color and clarity. The latter refers to internal impurities and defects. Fashion may also dictate demand and price. To enhance some of these ... -
Variability of sea-air carbon dioxide flux in autumn across the Weddell gyre and offshore dronning maud land in the southern ocean
(Frontiers Media, 2021-01-15)Sea surface fugacity of carbon dioxide (fCO2ssw) was measured across the Weddell gyre and the eastern sector in the Atlantic Southern Ocean in autumn. During the occupation between February and April 2019, the region of ... -
Pressure–temperature history of the >3 Ga Tartoq Greenstone belt in Southwest Greenland and its implications for Archaean tectonics
(MDPI, 2018)The Tartoq greenstone belt of southwest Greenland represents a well-preserved section through >3 Ga old oceanic crust and has the potential to provide important constraints on the composition and geodynamics of the Archaean ... -
Constraining the suitability of barium as an indicator of paleoproductivity in different environments
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Primary productivity is a vital factor in the global carbon cycle, as it regulates atmospheric carbon dioxide through sequestration. Therefore, climate change is largely dependent on the fluctuations ... -
Testing potential drivers for carbon isotopic signature of particulate organic carbon in the Southern Ocean
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean (SO) plays a very important role for all life on earth as it regulates carbon fluxes, transport nutrients to marine organisms and it is linked to the amount of ... -
Gold mineralisation in the Kirk Range area, southern Malawi
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study aims at understanding the characteristics and controls of gold mineralisation in the Kirk Range area, southern Malawi. Malawi’s mineral inventory is not known, particularly this is attributed ... -
Gold exploration in two and three dimensions : improved and correlative insights from microscopy and X-Ray computed tomography
(MDPI, 2020)Abstract: In this contribution, we highlight a correlative approach in which three-dimensional structural/positional data are combined with two dimensional chemical and mineralogical data to understand a complex orogenic ... -
Temperature and monsoon tango in a tropical stalagmite : last glacial- Interglacial climate dynamics
(Nature Research, 2018)High-resolution paleoclimate data on stable isotopes in a stalagmite were coupled to glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs). The Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) transitioned from limited rainfall during the Last Glacial ... -
Developing protocols for XCT scanning of dense mineral ore samples with applications to geology and minerals processing
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: X-ray computed tomography (XCT) is a non-destructive technique capable of producing 3Dmineralogical and textural information from drill cores. The discrimination between mineralogical information of the ... -
Fluid inclusion and δ18O isotope values of fluids responsible for mineralization in the Hope Reef and Main Reef Complex of the Fairview Mine, Barberton, South Africa
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Gold mineralization within the Fairview Mine of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB) is structurally confined to various mineralized shear zones, better known as reef complexes. Regionally altered lithologic ... -
A geometallurgical study of the quartz dominant ore varieties in a polymetallic base metal sulphide deposit, Northern Cape, South Africa
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Geologically complex deposits require integrated approaches to characterisation, extraction and processing of ores in order to maximise the yield of the deposit. In this study, a complex polymetallic ... -
The application of Radon-222 in constraining zones of recent groundwater recharge in the Table Mountain Group aquifer in the City of Cape Town and its surrounding areas
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The world’s population is expected to increase by 2.14 billion people by the year 2050, and therefore finding sustainable water resources to satisfy humanity’s water demand has become one of the most ... -
Noble gas and radiocarbon constraints on the residence times of groundwater in and around the City of Cape Town
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The TMG Aquifer is one of the largest aquifer systems in the country and is currently targeted as a potential source of potable water for the City of Cape Town (CoCT) in times of water stress. This study ... -
Implicit geological modelling of key platiniferous reefs of the main chamber of the Bushveld complex : implications for the complexs structural history
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Bushveld Complex (BC) is the world’s largest source of platinum group metals and has been extensively studied for decades. The focus of these studies has typically been its geochemistry, magma and PGM ... -
Geometry and emplacement controls of dolerite sill complexes in the Karoo basin
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation is a compilation of three case studies that integrates drilling, field and geophysical data on dolerite sill complexes across the Karoo basin to constrain the emplacement processes, ... -
A hydrogeological study of the Kasteelberg Mountain aquifer, Western Cape, South Africa
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The availability of freshwater is one of the major factors that are limiting South Africa’s development. With this in mind the area under investigation in this study forms part of the Sandspruit catchment, ... -
Modern-ocean ground-truthing of planktic foraminifer nitrogen isotopes : a proxy for surface ocean nutrient conditions
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-04)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The nitrogen (N) isotope ratios (δ15N) of organic matter trapped within the fossil shells of planktic foraminifera, upper-ocean dwelling zooplankton, are providing a new lens through which to examine the ... -
Investigation of heuweltjie structure and soil chemistry in the Buffels River valley and implications for transfer of salts to groundwater
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Globally, soil salinization is a major soil degradation problem. Saline soils damage the land by altering various Earth cycles and are especially a threat to farming. Saline soils can cause salts to leach ... -
A mineralogical approach to quantifying ore variability within a polymetallic Cu-Pb-Zn Broken Hill-type deposit and its implications for geometallurgy
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A detailed two-part mineralogical study was undertaken on a polymetallic Cu-Pb-Zn ore from the Aggeneys-Gamsberg Ore District to quantify which mineral characteristics of the lithological ore types are ... -
Coupled zircon-rutile U-Pb chronology : LA ICP-MS dating, geological significance and applications to Sediment Provenance in the Eastern Himalayan-Indo-Burman Region
(MDPI, 2019-11-05)U-Pb dating by LA ICP-MS is one of the most popular and successful isotopic techniques available to the Earth Sciences to constrain timing and rates of geological processes thanks to its high spatial resolution, good ...