Chemical characteristics (REE,etc.) of Paleozoic and Mesozoic graywackes and sandstones from Central Europe

During the Variscan orogeny in Central Europe, partial melting in the lower continental crust formed granitic magmas, which intruded into the upper crust and left compounds of Ca (plus Eu²⁺), Mg, etc. in the lower crust. From the late Paleozoic decomposition of the tonalitic upper crust, sedimentary graywackes were produced reflecting the composition of this crust. The repeated reworking of the sedimentary cover caused the formation of sands. Sandstones as their products of consolidation contain increasing fractions of quartz and decreasing feldspar from Carboniferous and Triassic to Cretaceous age. A distinct negative Eu anomaly characterizes the majority of these rocks. The latter is imprinted by the Variscan magmatism. Quartz as used for numerous Medieval wood ash glasses is marked for its Central European origin by a distinct negative Eu anomaly in contrast to many soda glasses produced outside Germany mostly with a small or none Eu anomaly.     

Geochemical variation in the Penmaenmawr intrusion (North Wales)

To determine the pattern of geochemical variation within the Penmaenmawr intrusion, 41 rocks were analysed for major oxides and 15 minor elements. The results indicate pulsational emplacement of sheets of magma from a parental body at depth undergoing crystallization differentiation. These sheets now strike NE–SW and dip southeastward. The resultant intrusion shows a range of SiO₂ contents from 57·3% to 65·6% (H₂O-free). Geochemical evidence suggests that it was derived from an intermediate parental magma and is possibly related to parts of the Conwy Rhyolite Formation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diagenesis of the Gully Oolite (Lower Carboniferous), South Wales

Deposition of the Gully Oolite was locally interrupted by emergence and a regionally extensive palaeosol is present at the top of the unit. Early diagenetic phases include isopachous, fibrous submarine cements, nonluminescent vadose cements, and mixing zone dolomite. Subsequent nonferroan phreatic cements are non- to dully luminescent and in restricted vertical intervals predate significant compaction. More usually, however, phreatic cements postdate extensive overpacking of allochems. Ooid isotopic composition (δ¹⁸O=-7·80° to -3·10° and δ¹³C = -2·38° to +3·28°) is similar to that of associated phreatic cements and the data suggest that the bulk of ooid stabilization and cementation occurred within meteoric groundwaters. The extensive allochem overpacking appears to have occurred during the first few tens of metres of burial and intergranular macroporosity was eliminated prior to deep burial. Fracturing of the Gully Oolite during the Hercynian Orogeny and subsequent post-orogenic uplift led to localized dolomitization, several generations of calcite veins, and the restricted occurrence of ¹⁸O depleted cements in inter- and intragranular microporosity. Some of the veins clearly relate to Triassic exhumation of the Carboniferous Limestone, but others may be related to post-Mesozoic uplift and erosion of South Wales. Fracture-associated dolomitization may have occurred within a large-scale post-orogenic groundwater system, with Mg²⁺ being supplied through the release of deeply buried diagenetic brines.     

Pembrokeshire,South Wales

Unravelling the geology of Pembrokeshire (southwest Wales) has been a rite of passage for British undergraduate students for generations. A favourite destination for an Easter fieldtrip, this complex region contains diverse geology of late Precambrian to Carboniferous age. In the course of a five‐day excursion, a student can uncover evidence for two plate tectonic cycles: the birth of the early Palaeozoic Iapetus Ocean and its death in the Caledonian Orogen, and the reworking of the late Palaeozoic Rheic back‐arc basins on the northern margins of the Variscides. In doing so, there is an opportunity to examine highly variable palaeoenvironments including the deposits of alluvial fans, flood plains, deltas, estuaries, carbonate shelves and deeper marine settings, as well as developing fundamental field skills in geological mapping, structural analysis and sedimentary logging. In this article, I introduce the fascinating story of the geological evolution of Pembrokeshire and describe some of the classic localities useful for basic geological training.     

PHYSIOGRAPHY,FORAMINIFERA AND SEDIMENTATION IN THE Dovey Estuary (Wales)

A study of the chemistry, circulation and sedimentation is followed by an outline account of the living and dead communities (particularly foraminifera) characteristic of the main physiographic subenvironments. On the basis of the relationships established these results are used in an interpretation of the vertical sequence.     

Postglacial history of alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.) in the British Isles

Data from 92 postglacial pollen sequences are used to map the spread and increase of alder (Alnus glutinosa) across the British Isles between 9000 and 5000 years ago. The spread is found to be patchy and erratic in space and time. Consideration of the habitat requirements and reproductive ecology of alder suggest that it spread within Britain and Ireland after about 10 000 yr BP, when suitable habitat for it was scarce. Alder spread across most of Britain and Ireland early in the postglacial but only increased in abundance as (i) suitable habitat became available through changing sea levels, hydroseral successions, and floodplain development, and as (ii) rare weather events produced the necessary conditions for reproduction. Alder is unique among British and Irish trees in its requirement for a suitable habitat isolated among expanses of unsuitable habitats. Because of this, maps of its postglacial population spread and increase do not show the spatial coherence of maps for other forest tree taxa.     

Late pleistocene (Devensian) glaciofluvial outwash at Banc-y-Warren,near Cardigan (west Wales)

On the southwest-facing slopes of a bedrock ridge lying between Cardigan Bay to the north and the Afon Teifi to the south stands a group of hills in which 30-35 m of cross-laminated and parallel-laminated sands with lenticular upward-fining gravel sequences are overlain by 10-12 m of gravel in a single foreset bed. The sediments mantle a surface of till sloping gently toward the southwest, were transported toward the southwest (across one margin of the Afon Teifi valley), and were cut by a system of densely arranged conjugate normal faults striking northwest-southeast. The lenticular gravels and fault system suggest that the deposits accumulated as a glaciofluvial outwash spread, and on top of an ice-lobe that became isolated in the Teifi valley during the downwasting of a glacier which had occupied Cardigan Bay and much of the country to the south. The large gravel foresets capping the succession are the only indication at Banc-y-Warren of the former existence of a lake, but neither a large nor deep body of water need be envisaged.     

A Rhuddanian (Silurian,lower llandovery) pelmatozoan fauna from south-west Wales

Only two crinoid faunas of Rhuddanian or early Aeronian age have been described hitherto, both from North America. A Rhuddanian pelmatozoan fauna from Haverfordwest, Dyfed, south-west Wales includes the cheirocrinid rhombiferan cystoid Homocystites? sp., plus the following crinoid species: the calceocrinid disparids Calceocrinus turnbulli sp. nov. and Calceocrinus? sp.; the dendrocrinid cladid Dendrocrinus? gasworksensis sp. nov.; the patelliocrinid monobathrid Macrostylocrinus? sp. indet.; columnals of the rhodocrinitid(?) diplobathrid Floricolumnus (col.) sp. cf. F. (col.) girvanensis Donovan and Clark; the rhodocrinitid diplobathrid Chaosocrinus ornatus sp. nov.; and two indeterminate crinoid species. At the familial level this fauna shows strong similarities with coeval, but more diverse, crinoid assemblages from North America, suggesting that endemism did not develop until later in the Silurian.     

Our boot-shaped ancestors in Wales

The marine Palaeozoic fossils called calcichordates, although traditionally regarded as echinoderms, were in fact chordates. They were ancestral to living chordates in general and to vertebrates in particular. The most primitive calcichordates were boot-shaped. Recent discoveries of calcichordates in the Cambrian and Ordovician of Wales suggest they are commoner than has generally been thought. Geologists should look out for them.     

西藏地球化学填图及其意义

本文介绍谢学锦先生快速进行区域地球化学填图的计划在西藏取得的成果。区域水化学填图可分析66个指标,效率高,成本低,见效快;同时水化学填图的空间定位和分辨率比采集土壤样品的填图会差一些。西藏地球化学填图成果呈现了一定的规律性,例如西藏66种元素的地球化学图中,有三分之二沿雅鲁藏布江缝合带出现异常带。西藏许多元素的分布受雅鲁藏布江缝合带影响,是因为特提斯洋原有的一些元素残留在雅鲁藏布江缝合带两侧。氧化钾、氧化钠沿雅鲁藏布江缝合地带出现含量高的异常带,可见特提斯洋中丰富的钾、钠成分残留在代表大洋封闭的雅鲁藏布江缝合带两侧。沿雅鲁藏布江缝合地带氧化钙出现含量低的异常带,可用特提斯洋中的碳汇作用来解释,即特提斯洋中的钙由于碳汇作用变成碳酸盐岩石,氧化钙出现含量低的异常。西藏的地球化学图对矿产勘查和生态环境研究也具有一定意义。     

The last glaciers (Loch Lomond Advance) in Snowdonia,N. Wales

Evidence for 35 former cwm glaciers has been mapped in Snowdonia, N. Wales. Glacial limits are based on end moraines, boulder and drift limits, and the down-valley extent of hummocky moraine. Protalus ramparts indicate that at least 16 semi-permanent snow beds down to altitudes of 150 m also existed. Radiocarbon dates and pollen stratigraphy indicate that the glaciers and snow beds belong to the Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stadial. The existence of a large number of ‘Older Series Moraines’ is questionned. Glacier reconstruction and contouring allows calculation of fan line altitudes, and trend surface analysis indicates that they rise from 450 m in the southwest to 700 m in the northeast. It is inferred that mean July temperature at sea-level was around 8·5°C. Two differences between north and south Britain are recognized. Firstly in Snowdonia, as in the Lake District and Southern Uplands, the dominance of southerly air streams appears less than in the Scottish Highlands. Secondly, whereas in the Scottish Highlands, the glaciers appear to have stagnated in situ following initial active retreat, some of those farther south were active during much of the time their margins retreated.