Nature and origin of bubble structures in borehole samples of glacial sands from Caldy, Wirral, United Kingdom

Borehole samples of glacial sands from Caldy, Wirral contained bubble structures which have not been found in in situ exposures of the corresponding materials. It is believed that the sands liquefied during driving of the sampler, destroying previous structures and developing a bubble structure by release of pore-air during liquefaction. The sands conform generally to the grading characteristics previously defined for sands prone to liquefaction. Their propensity to liquefy was confirmed by laboratory tests.     

Biostratigraphic correlation of Pleistocene marine deposits and sea levels,Atlantic coastal plain of the southeastern United States

Marine ostracodes from 50 localities were studied to determine the age and elevation of Pleistocene sea levels in the Atlantic coastal plain from Maryland to northern Florida. Using ostracode taxon and concurrent ranges, published planktic biostratigraphic, paleomagnetic, and radiometric data, ostracode assemblage zones representing early (1.8-1.0 my), middle (0.7-0.4 my), and late (0.3-0.01 my) Pleistocene deposition were recognized and used as a basis for correlation. Ostracode biofacies signifying lagoonal, oyster bank, estuarine, open sound, and inner sublittoral environments provided estimated ranges of paleodepths for each locality. From these data the following minimum and maximum Pleistocene sea-level estimates were determined for the southeastern coastal plain: late Pleistocene, 2–10 m from Maryland to northern Florida; middle Pleistocene, 6–15 m in northern South Carolina; early Pleistocene, 4–22 m in central North Carolina, 13–35 m in southern North Carolina, and 6–27 m in South Carolina. Climatically induced glacio-eustatic sea-level fluctuations adequately account for the late Pleistocene sea-level data, but other factors, possibly differential crustal uplift, may have complicated the early Pleistocene record.     

Some characters of the bedded chromite deposits of Kalrangi,Cuttack district,Orissa, India

Mineralogy, size distribution of grains, and variation in chemical composition of chromitite occurring in four successive layers in serpentinite, near Kalrangi (85°45 E:21°0 N), Cuttack district, Orissa, have been studied to decipher the mode of formation of the ore bodies. The parent rocks are dunite-peridotite with olivine, olivine-enstatite and minor chromite, the minerals being completely altered to serpentine or talc-serpentine near the surface. The ore bodies are of bedded nature, composed entirely of chromite, and are confined to the top of the dunite-peridotite sheet. Grain-size variation of chromite in different layers in the vertical section shows straight line character which suggests accumulation of chromite grains by the process of magmatic sedimentation. The normal distribution of size variation of the chromite grains probably means that they are the products of a single magmatic cycle. Cr₂O₃ and MgO in chromitite decrease and FeO and Al₂O₃ increase in the vertical direction, which is expected when chromite crystallize from an ultrabasic magma in an undisturbed condition. Ideas of repeated injection and convection currents are negated by the absence of rhythmic layering and cyclic repetition of ultrabasics and chromite.

---

Zusammenfassung Die Mineralogie, die Korngrößenverteilung und die Variation der chemischen Zusammensetzung der Chromititvorkommen in vier übereinanderliegenden Lagen im Serpentinit bei Kalrangi (85°45 E:21°0 N), Cuttack District, Orissa, wurden untersucht, um die Bildung der Erze zu verstehen. Die Muttergesteine sind Dunit-Peridotit mit Olivin, Olivin-Enstatit und wenig Chromit, wobei die Mineralien an der Oberfläche vollständig zu Serpentin oder Talk-Serpentinit verändert sind. Die Erzkörper sind geschichtet, bestehen fast völlig aus Chromit und sind auf den obersten Teil der Dunit-Peridotit-Platte beschränkt, die im Hangenden von präkambrischen Mahagiri-Quarziten einer itabiritischen Serie intrudiert ist. Die Korngrößenverteilung im Chromit in den verschiedenen Lagern des Profils zeigt geradlinigen Charakter, was auf die Anlagerung der Chromitkörner durch magmatische Sedimentation hinweist. Die lognormale Korngrößen-Häufigkeits-Verteilung der Chromitkörner spricht für einen einmaligen magmatischen Zyklus. Während Cr₂O₃ und MgO in den Chromititen systematisch nach oben abnehmen, nehmen FeO und Al₂O₃ zu, was zu erwarten ist, wenn die Chromitausscheidung in ungestörtem, ultramafischem Magma vor sich geht. Vorstellungen von wiederholten Injektionen und Konvektionsströmen sind zu widerlegen durch das Fehlen von rhythmischen Schichten und von zyklischen Wiederholungen der ultramafischen Gesteine und des Chromits.

     

Pleistocene deposits at Stoke Goldington,in the valley of the Great Ouse,UK

At Stoke Goldington in the valley of the Great Ouse in Buckinghamshire a river terrace at a height of about 7 m above the floodplain is underlain by fluvial sediments representing climatic fluctuations in the late Middle Pleistocene. Near the base of the succession, at a level only 1 m above the modern floodplain, a fossil assemblage, including pollen, plant macrofossils, molluscs, insects and ostracods, provides evidence for the local development of herb-rich grassland under temperate climatic conditions. The fossil record, amino-acid racemisation ratios and uranium disequilibrium dating all suggest deposition of this material during Oxygen Isotope Stage 7. The deposits containing the temperate assemblage are immediately overlain by typical cold-climate gravels of the Great Ouse. These have been subjected to a later cut-and-fill episode, with the fill accumulating in cool climatic conditions. The cut-and-fill episode was succeeded by aggradation, forming the overlying terrace surface. Amino-acid racemisation ratios indicate that the fill was emplaced, and the terrace surface created, during or after Oxygen Isotope Stage 5. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sources and genesis of the Pleistocene gravelly deposits in Northern Kuwait

The Dibdibba Formation is of Pleistocene age and consists of a fluviatile sequence of ungraded, often cross-bedded sand and gravels intercalated with minor sandy clay layers. It occurs in the northern desert of Kuwait as subparallel elongated ridges trending NE-SW. Structures and mineralogy of the Dibdibba deposits suggest that they have been derived from the basement complex of the northeastern area of Saudi Arabia as sheet floods and deposited in the alluvial fan of the Wadi Ar-Rimmah-Al Batin valley system. Floods transporting these deposits were intermittent; the gravelly bands were deposited during severe floods and the sandy beds during relatively quiet floods.     

西藏阿里札达盆地早更新世早期沉积及其古气候与古环境变化

综合分析了西藏阿里札达盆地早更新世早期的多种与气候环境变化密切相关的地质记录，结果表明该区早更新世早期的沉积可划分为3种不同的沉积相和4个岩性段；古气候与古环境变化可划分为4个阶段：（1）2．68-2．45Ma。为冲洪积相沉积。冻融褶皱开始出现，植被以乔木为主，主要为松、藜、蒿，属山地寒温气候；（2）2．45-2．11Ma，为冲洪积相，地层中冻融褶皱多呈扭曲状，草本植物迅速上升，显示出灌木草原气候特征，气候变得凉爽干燥；（3）2．11-1．49Ma，沉积相为冲洪积相-冰缘沉积相，以冰缘沉积相为主，冻融褶皱层开始增多，出现了喜凉的介形类化石。草本植物数量和种类达到最大，灌木也相对增加，显示气候进一步趋于干旱；（4）1．49-1．36Ma，为冰湖沉积相。地层中普遍出现冻融褶皱，喜凉的介形类化石丰度很高，草本植物有小幅下降，但蕨类植物增加幅度较大，显示了干冷草原气候特征。气候干旱寒冷。     

Middle Pleistocene lacustrine deposits in eastern Essex,England and their palaeogeographical implications

Investigations in quarry exposures in the Asheldham Gravel and related deposits of southeast Essex are described. Section logging, mapping and borehole investigations are supported by clast lithological, heavy and clay mineralogical determinations. The sediments are derived from reworking of local Thames basin materials, fine sediment being predominantly from the London Clay. The sequence is shown to represent an aggradation that began as the fluvial infilling of the River Medway valley. The River Thames, diverted into this valley by glaciation further west, overwhelmed the Medway, reworking the deposits. The valley was subsequently drowned and fine laminated lake sediment was initially deposited. This was during a period when the valley was drowned by the glacial lake ponded in the southern North Sea basin by the Anglian/Elsterian ice sheet. Progradation by a braid-delta complex advanced along the valley and subsequently fluvial deposition returned. Valley widening and straightening accompanied the delta progradation. The deposits were dissected by deep fluvial valleys infilled by Hoxnian interglacial sediments. The Asheldham Gravel is therefore placed in the Anglian/Elsterian Stage.     

Fissuring in glacial lake clays and tills on the norfolk coast,United Kingdom

The orientation and origin of fissure systems developed in stiff, over-consolidated glacial lake clays from two localities are described. The attitudes of the fissures are geometrically related to the stress conditions associated with glacial loading and the subsequent removal of overburden. Laboratory tests demonstrate that the presence of fissures have a significant influence on the deformability, permeability and strength characteristics of such clays.     

Fluvial deposits within the Pleistocene Crag at Thorpe St Andrew,Norwich, England

This paper records the findings at a temporary exposure at Thorpe St Andrew near Norwich, Norfolk, UK in Early and early Middle Pleistocene Crag deposits. The British Geological Survey (BGS) describes the particular formation exposed as Norwich Crag consisting of Early Pleistocene shallow marine sediments. The section shows a succession of sorted sands and gravels overlain by a sandy diamicton. Based on field evidence and clast analysis, the sands and gravels are interpreted as the product of point bar and overbank sedimentation and represent the product of a river cutting into and aggrading within the more widespread shallow marine deposits. Composition of the sediments indicates derivation, primarily from Wroxham Crag Formation, with a contribution from Norwich Crag. The sandy diamicton is interpreted as late Middle Pleistocene Corton Till that is recorded in the area. A distinct pattern of colour changes at the top of the sands and gravels is interpreted as a soil that developed on the fluvial sediments before being overridden by the glacier that deposited the Corton Till. The existence of the fluvial sediments within the regional shallow marine deposits suggests that a fall of sea-level, possibly due to climate cooling, while the elevation of the sediments and the adjacent Crag implies that the site has been uplifted since sedimentation. This is the first observation of terrestrial sediments within the shallow marine Crag. The paper also makes a contribution to understanding the diagenetic processes that give deposits within this region some distinctive colour and sediment patterns.     

Distribution and mineral assemblages of bedded manganese deposits in Shikoku,Southwest Japan: Implications for accretion tectonics

Numerous bedded manganese and manganese–iron ore deposits occur in Shikoku, Southwest Japan. The mineralogy, wall rock characteristics and fossil age data of the deposits are synthesized in this paper. Their mineral assemblages correlate well with the progressive metamorphic grade of the accretionary complexes in Shikoku. Based on the plate tectonic framework of subduction–accretion process, the deposits are considered to have formed by metamorphism of Mn–Fe-nodule-bearing siliceous sediments on the ocean floor.     

西藏阿里札达盆地上新世—早更新世河湖相沉积中两个不整合面的发现及意义

通过札达盆地河湖相地层的野外实测剖面和地质调查,结合前人资料,根据沉积岩性、不整合面、所含化石、固结程度和岩相变化,初步将这套水平产出、原顶底及接触关系不明的新近纪上新世—第四纪早更新世河湖相地层,划分为1个群、3个组、2次构造运动(不整合)。从新到老为下更新统香孜组(Qp1x)和上新统古格群(N2gg),其中后者又细分为上新统札达组(N22z)和上新统托林组(N12t)。河湖相沉积中香孜组与札达组、札达组与托林组之间2个不整合面的发现和象泉运动与古格运动2次构造运动的确定,为研究青藏高原隆升过程、该区新近纪以来湖泊与河流演化、气候变化、古地理变迁和环境演化,以及新近系、第四系地层划分等提供了新资料。     

Late Middle Pleistocene deposits at Norton Farm on the West Sussex coastal plain,southern England

The coastal plain of West Sussex, southern England, is internationally important because of the sequence of discrete high‐sea‐level events preserved at various elevations across it. New evidence is presented from a site at Norton Farm, near Chichester, on the Lower Coastal Plain, where Pleistocene marine sands, fining upwards into silts, occur between 5.3 m and 9.1 m OD. The sequence reflects a regressive tendency at the transition from an interglacial to a cold stage. The marine sands have yielded foraminifera, ostracods and molluscs that indicate a declining marine influence through the sequence, culminating in a tidal mudflat, strongly weathered in places. Cool‐climate foraminifera (including Elphidium clavatum, Cassidulina reniformis and Elphidium albiumbilicatum) and ostracods have been recovered from the marine sands. Some species with an apparent preference for warmer water conditions, however, are also present. Freshwater taxa washed into the terminal marine sediments include some cold climate indicators, such as Pisidium stewarti and P. obtusale lapponicum. Additional evidence for cool climatic conditions during the deposition of the upper part of the marine sequence is provided by the lack of tree taxa in the pollen record and by features of the micromorphology. The marine sediments probably began accumulating during OIS 7, a conclusion based on their elevation, on amino acid ratios from shells, but especially on vertebrate evidence, particularly the presence of a small form of horse, together with a large, distinctive, form of northern vole (Microtus oeconomus). The occurrence of cool climate indicators in these marine sediments may demonstrate a lag between the climatic deterioration and the expected glacio‐eustatic fall in relative sea‐level. This evidence appears to support the conclusions drawn from the study of coral terraces in Barbados. Such a scenario would provide the conditions necessary for the emplacement of the large erratic boulders reported from the Lower Coastal Plain of West Sussex. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

西藏阿里札达盆地上新世-早更新世河湖相沉积中两个不整合面的发现及意义

通过札达盆地河湖相地层的野外实测剖面和地质调查,结合前人资料,根据沉积岩性、不整合面、所含化石、固结程度和岩相变化,初步将这套水平产出、原顶底及接触关系不明的新近纪上新世-第四纪早更新世河湖相地层,划分为1个群、3个组、2次构造运动(不整合).从新到老为下更新统香孜组(Qp1x)和上新统古格群(N2gg),其中后者又细分为上新统札达组(N2 2z)和上新统托林组(N 1 2t).河湖相沉积中香孜组与札达组、札达组与托林组之间2个不整合面的发现和象泉运动与古格运动2次构造运动的确定,为研究青藏高原隆升过程、该区新近纪以来湖泊与河流演化、气候变化、古地理变迁和环境演化,以及新近系、第四系地层划分等提供了新资料.     

Effects of pH on arsenic mineralogy and stability in Poldice Valley,Cornwall, United Kingdom

Many abandoned mine sites in Cornwall, UK, are characterised by elevated concentrations of arsenic (As), which can cause contamination of surrounding soil and water resources. These sites have important historical value that requires access to be maintained, despite exposure of humans to toxins that may lead to health issues including hyperpigmentation keratosis (including skin cancers) and liver fibrosis. The abandoned mine tailings at Wheal Maid has been assessed for As-bearing mineralogy and stability taking into account the public footpaths made by the local council to areas of potential contamination.To assess the potential risk associated with these mine sites, the As concentration in waters along the tailings dam and Carnon River have been measured and range up to 3.6 ppm, which is 2 orders of magnitude above the WHO guideline value of 0.01 ppm for drinking water. Samples of water, rocks and soils from the mine tailings ponds and the Carnon River were analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma – Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine the concentration of individual elements in each sample followed by mineral identification using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Mineralogical evaluation indicated that the majority of mine tailings consist of clay-rich rocks, with few associated As-bearing minerals. Scorodite (FeAsO₄·2H₂O) is observed in the mine tailings pond and appears critical to the As distribution and storage in this surface environment. Using the analysed water chemistry, a modified version of PHREEQC is used to calculate the saturation index of scorodite as a function of pH conditions. The strong variation of the solubility of this mineral with pH and oxidation state highlights potential risks for using scorodite for As fixation and storage.