Deep marine trace fossil assemblages from the Lower Carboniferous of Menorca,Balearic Islands,western Mediterranean

Sediments of Lower Carboniferous age in eastern Menorca, Balearic Islands contain a diverse and exceptionally well preserved ichnofauna, including Neonereites biserialis, Nereites isp., Arthrophycus isp., Dictyodora liebeana, two ichnospecies of Chondrites, several ichnospecies of Lophoctenium, two ichnospecies of Phycosiphon, Syncoprulus pharmaceus, annulated burrows and a vertical burrow. The host lithologies are conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones and mudstones; most are the product of debris flows, and of high concentration [Ta(bc) intervals] to relatively dilute (Tcd/Tde intervals) turbidity currents. The rocks are interpreted as deposits of an inner- to mid-fan palaeoenvironment. Channelized deposits, sequences of overbank deposition and interchannel deposits interspersed with the deposits of unconfined debris flows and high concentration turbidity currents are present. The ichnofauna is most frequently, and best, preserved within the Td interval of turbidities, which are interpreted as interchannel deposits, produced by low concentration turbidity flows. The distribution of the ichnofauna is partly controlled by the lithologies in which they are preserved. The rarity and poor preservation of trace fossils in the coarser grained facies contrasts with the detailed preservation of very delicate traces in the finer grained lithologies. However, the ichnofauna is also partitioned between different subenvironments of the mid-fan to produce a series of palaeoichnocoenoses. Thin intervals of interchannel deposits, separated by deposits of high concentration turbidity currents, repeatedly contain only Phycosiphon incertum and small (?juvenile)Dictyodora liebeana. These traces are interpreted as the products of opportunistic colonization of near-channel environments during episodes of quiescent deposition. Thicker intervals of interchannel deposits contain diverse assemblages of trace fossils characteristic of more stable environments, in which widespread colonization occurred. Overbank deposits at Cabo de Favaritz are medium- to thick-bedded, fine-grained beds. In these, the ichnofauna occurs in a simple, two-tier profile. The upper tier is dominated by Nereites isp.; this is underlain by a partially bioturbated layer characterized by large Dictyodora liebeana and Arthrophycus isp.     

High-temperature 'clockwise'P-T paths and melting in the development of regional migmatites: an example from southern Brittany, France

The Southern Brittany Migmatite Belt (SBMB), which evolved through the metamorphic peak between c. 400 Ma and c. . 370 Ma ago, consists of a heterogeneous suite of high-grade gneisses and anatectic migmatites, both metatexites and diatexites. Rare garnet-cordierite gneiss layers record evidence of an early prograde P-T path. In these rocks, growth-zoned garnet cores and a sequence of included mineral assemblages in garnet, from core to rim, of Qtz + Ilm + Ky, Pl + Ky + St + Rt + Bt and Pl + Sil + St + Rt + Bt constrain a prograde evolution during which the reactions Ilm + Ky + Qtz→ Aim + Rt, Ms + Chl→ St + Bt + Qtz + V and St + Qtz→ Grt + Sil + V were crossed. Parts of this prograde evolution are preserved as inclusion assemblages in garnet in all other rock types. In all rock types, garnet has reverse zoned rims, and garnet replacement by cordierite and/or biotite and plagioclase suggests the following reactions have occurred: Grt + Sil + Qtz→ Crd → Hc ± Ilm, Bt + Sil + Qtz → Crd ± Hc → Ilm → Kfs + V and (Na + Ca + K + Ti) + Grt → Bt + Pl + Qtz. Microstructural analysis of reaction textures in conjunction with a petrogenetic grid has enabled the construction of a tightly constrained 'clockwise' P–T path for the SBMB. The high-temperature part of the path has a steep dT/dP slope characteristic of near isothermal decompression. It is proposed that the P-T path followed by the SBMB is the result of the inversion, by overthrusting, of a back-arc basin and that such a tectonic setting may be applicable to other high-temperature migmatite terranes. The near isothermal decompression is at least partly driven by the upward (diapiric) movement of the diatexite/anatectic granite core of the SBMB.     

Geochemical and Isotopic Evolution of Loihi Volcano, Hawaii

A 680m thick section from the deeply dissected east flank ofLoihi Volcano was sampled using the Pisces V submersible toevaluate the volcano's geochemical evolution. Three types oflavas were recovered: tholeiitic, weakly alkalic and stronglyalkalic. The ratio of alkalic to tholeiitic lavas varies systematicallywith depth, from predominantly alkalic at the base of the sectionto tholeiitic at the top. Glasses from these rocks have similarratios of highly incompatible elements and Pb, Sr and Nd isotopes,but distinct ratios of highly to moderately incompatible elements.Partial melting modeling indicates that these tholeiitic andalkalic lavas could be derived by variable degrees of partialmelting of a slightly heterogeneous source. Many distinct parentalmagmas were generated for each rock type during the 100–150k.y. that the east flank section was formed. Crystal fractionationand olivine accumulation were the dominant processes controllingcompositional variation among lavas of the same rock type. Magmamixing features were observed in only a few of the lavas collected. Loihi typifies the preshield stage of Hawaiian volcanism whenthe volcano drifts closer to the focus of the hotspot. The compositionalvariation in Loihi's east flank section, which may represent40% of the volcano's extrusive history, is consistent with thepredicted increase in partial melting during this drift. Thetransition from dominantly alkalic to tholeiitic volcanism onLoihi was fitful but relatively rapid and is now nearly complete.This transition is the opposite of that which occurs duringthe post-shield stage of Hawaiian volcanism as the volcano migratesaway from the hotspot focus. Loihi's tholeiitic lavas overlap in ratios of incompatible traceelements and Pb, Sr and Nd isotopes with lavas from its moreactive neighbor, Kilauea. The small differences in major elementcontents between lavas from these adjacent volcanoes can beexplained by high-pressure orthopyroxene fractionation of Loihimagmas, which may be a consequence of a low magma-supply rate,or by slightly shallower depths of melt segregation for Kilaueamagmas. KEY WORDS: Loihi volcano; Hawaii; geochemistry; Sr-Nd-Pb isotopes     

Petrogenesis of Migmatites in Maine, USA: Possible Source of Peraluminous Leucogranite in Plutons?

In Maine, Siluro-Devonian turbidites were metamorphosed underhigh-T–low-P facies series conditions during deformationwithin a Devonian crustal-scale shear zone system, defined bykilometer-scale straight belts of apparent flattening strainthat anastomose around lozenges of apparent constrictional strain.At upper amphibolite facies grade, metapelites are partiallymelted, the onset of which is recorded by a migmatite front.The resulting migmatites are stromatic or heterogeneous, andsmaller-volume granites form sheets or cylinders according tothe structural zone in which they occur, suggesting that migmatitesand granites record syntectonic melt flow through the deformingcrust. Common leucogranite of the nearby coeval Phillips pluton,which was emplaced syntectonically, was sourced from crustalrocks with geochemical characteristics similar to those of thehost Siluro-Devonian succession. Migmatites have melt-depletedcompositions relative to metapelites. Leucosomes are peraluminousand represent the cumulate products of fractional crystallizationand variable loss of evolved fractionated liquid. Among theheterogeneous migmatites are schlieric granites, the geochemistryof which suggests melt accumulation before fractional crystallizationand loss of the evolved liquid. Smaller-volume granites areperaluminous with a range of chemistries that reflect variableentrainment of residual plagioclase and biotite, accumulationof products of fractional crystallization and loss of most ofthe evolved liquid. Common leucogranite of the Phillips plutonand larger granites in the migmatites have compositions thatsuggest crystallization of evolved liquids derived by fractionalcrystallization of primary muscovite dehydration melts. We inferthat the leucogranite represents the crystallized fugitive liquidfrom a migmatite source similar to that exposed nearby. Watertransported through the shear zone system dissolved in meltwas exsolved at the wet solidus to cause retrogression in sub-solidusrocks and retrograde muscovite growth in migmatites. KEY WORDS: anatexis of pelite; Maine; migmatite; peraluminous granite; plutons     

Melting Behavior of Simplified Lherzolite in the System CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-Na2O from 7 to 35 kbar

Phase equilibrium data have been collected for isobaricallyunivariant melting of simplified Iherzolite compositions inthe system CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃ SiO₂-Na₂O over a pressure range of7–35 kbar. These data permit the melting behavior of awide variety of model lherzolite compositions to be determinedquantitatively by algebraic methods. Two P-T univariant meltingreactions, corresponding to plagioclase to spinel lherzoliteand spinel to garnet lherzolite, are identified as peritectic-typetransitions and have positive Clapeyron slopes. The univariantcurves move to higher pressures and temperatures with increasingNa₂O in the liquid. The effect of the univariant curves on meltingis to produce low-temperature regions and isobarically invariantmelting intervals along lherzolite solidi. In the plagioclaselherzolite stability field, melting of four-phase model lherzoliteis pseudo-invariant, occurring over small temperature intervals(5C) and producing liquids that are quartz tholeiites at <8kbar and olivine tholeiites at >8 kbar. Calculated equilibriumconstants for plagioclase-liquid equilibria show both temperatureand pressure dependence. Plagioclase with anorthite content(AN) >90 mol%, as observed in some oceanic basalts, can crystallizefrom liquids with <1% Na₂O. Melting of spinel lherzoliteis not pseudo-invariant but occurs over large temperature intervals(15–60 C), producing a wide range in liquid compositions,from alkali basalts and alkali picrites at low to moderate degreesof melting (<1–10%) to olivine tholeiites and picritesat higher degrees of melting (>10%). On the basis of limiteddata in the garnet Iherzolite field, melts from garnet lherzoliteare more silica rich for a given degree of melting than meltsfrom spinel lherzolite, and liquid compositions trend towardenstatite with increase in pressure. Source fertility (especiallyNa₂O content) has a strong control on the temperature of meltingand liquid composition. Less fertile sources produce smalleramounts of liquids richer in normative silica. For certain bulkcompositions (high SiO₂ and low Al₂O₃), spinel is not a stablephase along the lherzolite solidus.     

Eruptive Stratigraphy of the Tatara-San Pedro Complex, 36{degrees}S, Southern Volcanic Zone, Chilean Andes: Reconstruction Method and Implications for Magma Evolution at Long-lived Arc Volcanic Centers

The Quaternary Tatara–San Pedro volcanic complex (36°S,Chilean Andes) comprises eight or more unconformity-bound volcanicsequences, representing variably preserved erosional remnantsof volcanic centers generated during     

Petrography and provenance of silicified early Archaean volcaniclastic sandstones, eastern Pilbara Block, Western Australia

Intense post-depositional alteration has profoundly affected sandstones in the volcanic portions of Early Archaean (3·5–3·3 Ga) greenstone belts. The mineralogy and bulk compositions of most grains have been completely destroyed by pervasive metasomatism, but grain textures are commonly well preserved. Consequently, microtextural information coupled with present alteration compositions as determined petrographically can be used to estimate original framework modes. Silicified Early Archaean volcaniclastic sandstones assigned to the Panorama Formation and Duffer Formation, Warrawoona Group, eastern Pilbara Block, Western Australia, were originally composed of volcanic (VRF) and sedimentary (SRF) rock fragments, volcanic quartz, feldspar, traces of ferromagnesian minerals and pumice. Only volcanic megaquartz remained stable during alteration. All other primary components were replaced by granular microcrystalline quartz (GMC) and sericite. In most areas, the sandstones were composed of dacitic to rhyolitic VRFs, now totally replaced by sericite-poor GMC and recognized by preserved microporphyritic textures. In a few areas, quartz-poor dacitic to andesitic(?) VRFs dominated the detrital assemblage. Minor SRFs and mafic VRFs, now replaced by GMC, are recognized on the basis of colour, internal structures, and internal textures, including skeletal, possible spinifex textures. Detrital feldspar is represented by blocky, sericite-rich grain pseudomorphs. A semi-quantitative point-count scheme, developed for the analysis of heavily altered sandstones, indicates the following primary detrital-mode ranges for Panorama arenites: quartz, 0–28%; feldspar, 0–28%, VRFs, 58–86%, and SRFs 0–25%. In about half the point-counted samples, feldspar could not be distinguished from rock fragments. In such cases, both were counted as one grain type, Lv', which makes up from 84 to 100% of the framework modes of these rocks. These sands were derived from a terrane composed largely of fresh felsic volcanic rocks and sediments, but locally including minor mafic, ultramafic, and sedimentary rocks. Much, but not all, of the felsic volcaniclastic sand represents reworked pyroclastic debris. There is no evidence for contributions from plutonic or metamorphic sources. The Panorama modal assemblage represents a provenance that is lithologically more restricted than that of Archaean greywackes and other siliciclastic units common in the sedimentary portions of these same Early Archaean greenstone belts and younger greenstone belts (3·0–2·7 Ga).