Recent and Pleistocene beach/dune sequences,western Australia

Wave-dominated sandy shores occur along much of the coast of Western Australia. Despite local variations there is a characteristic distribution of lithofacies (corresponding to different geomorphic zones). Five lithofacies are recognised: (1) trough-bedded sand/gravel; (2) laminated sand; (3) laminated/bubble sand; (4) laminated/disrupted sand; and (5) aeolian cross-stratified sand.The trough-bedded sand/gravel lithofacies is being deposited in the shallow shoreface below LWL. The laminated sand and laminated/bubble sand lithofacies are sands with gravel layers being deposited on the foreshore swash zone; extensive bubble (or vesicular) sand is common towards HWL especially in berms. The laminated/disrupted sand lithofacies is being deposited on the backshore between HWL and storm water levels and consists of horizontally layered to homogeneous sands with storm debris, especially wood, weed and floatable skeletons (e.g. Sepla and Spirula). The aeolian cross-stratified sand lithofacies is forming in beach ridge/dune areas and consists of fine sands with large-scale, generally landward-dipping forests; soils and rootlets are common.Recognition of these lithofacies within a sedimentary sequence enables reconstruction of gross shoreline conditions in terms of wave and eolian environments, tidal and storm heights, and palaeogeography. Each of these lithofacies with their characteristic features is recognised in Pleistocene sequences in Perth Basin. The Pleistocene sequences fit a model of coastal progradation with the trough-bedded sand/gravel lithofacies at the base and the aeolian sand lithofacies at the top. The value of such a stratigraphic sequence, however, extends beyond the Pleistocene.     

Australien C. Teichert,Stratigraphy of Western Australia

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

P-T-X (CO2) conditions in mafic and calc-silicate hornfelses from Oberon, New South Wales, Australia

Abstract The Rockley Volcanics from near Oberon, New South Wales occur within the aureole of the Carboniferous Bathurst Batholith and have been contact metamorphosed at P ∼ 100 ± 50MPa (10.5kbar) and a maximum T ∼ 565°C in the presence of a C–O–H fluid. Prior to contact metamorphism the volcanics were regionally metamorphosed and altered with the extensive development of actinolite, chlorite, plagioclase, quartz and calcite. The contact metamorphosed equivalents of these rocks have been subdivided into: Ca-poor (cordierite + gedrite), Mg-rich (amphibole + olivine + spinel), mafic (amphibole + plagioclase) and Ca-rich (amphibole + garnet + diopside; diopside + plagioclase; garnet + diopside + wollastonite) rocks.
The chemistry of the minerals in the hornfelses was controlled by the bulk rock chemistry and fluid composition. Pargasites and hastingsites as well as an unusual phlogopite with blue green pleochroism, are found in Ca-rich hornfelses. A comparison of the assemblages with experimentally derived equilibria suggests that the fluid phase associated with the Ca-rich hornfelses was water-rich (X_co2= 0.1 to 0.3) while that associated with the Mg-rich hornfelses was enriched in CO₂ (X_co2 > 0.7). The different hornfels types have reacted to contact metamorphism independently in both their solid and fluid chemistries.     

Uranium/daughter disequilibrium in the Koongarra uranium deposit,Australia

Fifty five samples from the Koongarra uranium deposit have been analysed for radiometric disequilibrium. The deposit is situated in the Northern Territory, Australia and consists primarily of steeply dipping pitchblende veins overlain by a dispersion fan of weathered ore. The disequilibrium ratios, which assess the degree to which the emitted gamma radiation represents the uranium content of a sample, show the pitchblende ore to be at, or close to, equilibrium. The host wall rocks, which have a low uranium grade, and some samples from the dispersion fan have low ratios indicating radium enrichment. Analysis of Variance of the data was performed to determine if significant disequilibrium trends were associated with sample location, grade, rock type or grouping by ore type. A significant trend was found in samples from the dispersion fan where the disequilibrium ratio increases in the direction of the groundwater flow, indicating movement of uranium in these waters. No conclusive evidence was found for movement of uranium from depth to the dispersion fan and the fan is apparently a result of weathering processes on a previous upward extension of the primary pitchblende veins. Redistribution of both uranium and radium has occurred at depth within primary ore zones and host wall rocks.     

Genesis of the Weipa Bauxite deposits,N. E. Australia

Mineralogical variations both in vertical profile and bulk sized samples at Weipa are similar in broad outline, but show significant variations in detail. Surface planation has been limited and confined mainly to the limbs of a broad synclinal warp at Andoom and Pera Head. Whereas the proportional increase in boehmite within the upper levels of the pisolitic bauxite may in part be correlated with the degree of subsequent surface planation, other factors such as thickness of profile, size fraction distribution, and quartz sand content also play an essential role. The significance of underlying rock porosity is emphasised together with the special geomorphic conditions induced by warping here. It is concluded that leaching conditions were less dynamic than at Gove and that this accounts in large part for both the high boehmite content and lithological relationships of the Weipa bauxite.

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Zusammenfassung Die Bauxite von Weipa sind sowohl im senkrechten Profil, wie auch in großen gesiebten Proben generell ähnlich, weisen aber im Detail wichtige Unterschiede auf. Die Oberflächen-Erosion hat sich hauptsächlich auf die breiten Muldenflügel der synklinalen Mulde in Andoom und Pera Head ausgewirkt. Während die Zunahme von Boehmit in den oberen Schichten des pisolitischen Bauxits teilweise mit dem der Oberflächen-Erosion verknüpft sein kann, können andere Faktoren, wid die Mächtigkeit des Profils, große Bruchverteilung und der Quarz-Sand-Gehalt ebenfalls eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Die Bedeutung der Fels-Porosität wird hervorgehoben, zusammen mit den speziellen geomorphologischen Bedingungen, die durch Einmuldung herbeigeführt werden. Es ergibt sich, daß die Auslaugevorgänge weniger dynamisch waren, als in Gove und zum großen Teil sowohl den hohen Boehmit-Gehalt, wie auch die lithologische Verwandtschaft der Weipa-Bauxite erklären.

     

Partially Fused Granite Blocks from Mt. Elephant, Victoria, Australia

Petrological and chemical evidence is presented to show thatsmall patches of brown glass found in blocks of granite eruptedin basaltic scoria at Mt. Elephant are the result of the partialfusion of biotite and quartz. The glass has moderate SiO₂ (63–66per cent), high AI₂O₃ (17.5–19 per cent), high FeO (3.8–5.2per cent) and very high K₂O (7.0–7.8 per cent) relativeto Na₂O (3.3–3.7 per cent) and is similar in compositionto many high K alkali syenites and trachytes.     

Cauldron subsidences,granitic rocks,and crustal fracturing in S. E. Australia

The structure and history of several Devonian cauldron-subsidences and related granitic intrusions showing evidence of sub-surface ring-fracturing in South Eastern Australia are discussed. The Marysville Igneous Complex includes fish and plant bearing beds in the Acheron Cauldron, which has a diameter of 15 miles, and contains 6000 ft. of acid lavas, with subordinate andesites and basalts. Most of the occurrences are consanguineous. The parent magma is intermediate, close to the hypersthene dacites of the region, and is believed to have been injected as a magma wedge from the east.