Geochronology and geochemistry of the Devonian Gumbardo Formation (Adavale Basin): evidence for cratonisation of the Central Thomson Orogen by the Early Devonian

Abstract

The Devonian subsurface Adavale Basin occupies a central position in the Paleozoic central Thomson Orogen of eastern Australia and records its tectonic setting during this time interval. Here, we have focussed on the basal volcanics of the Gumbardo Formation to clarify the tectonic setting of the basin. The approach has been to undertake stratigraphic logging, LA-ICP-MS U–Pb zircon geochronology and whole-rock geochemical analysis. The data indicate that basin initiation was rapid occurring at ca 401?Ma. The volcanic rocks are dominated by K-feldspar phyric rhyodacitic ignimbrites. The whole-rock geochemical data indicate little evidence for extensive fractional crystallisation, with the volcanic suite resembling the composition of the upper continental crust and exhibiting transitional I- to A-type tectonomagmatic affinities. One new U–Pb zircon age revealed an Early Ordovician emplacement age for a volcanic rock previously interpreted to be part of the Early Devonian Gumbardo Formation, and older basement age is consistent with seismic interpretations of uplifted basement in this region of the western Adavale Basin. Five ignimbrites dated from different stratigraphic levels within the formation yield similar emplacement ages with a pooled weighted age of 398.2?±?1.9?Ma (mean square weighted deviation?=?0.94, n?=?93). Significant zircon inheritance in the volcanic rocks records reworking of Ordovician and Silurian silicic igneous basement from the Thomson Orogen and provides insight into the crustal make-up of the Thomson Orogen. Collectively, the new data presented here suggest the Adavale Basin is a cover-type basin that developed on a stabilised Thomson Orogen after the major Bindian deformation event in the late Silurian.     

High-pressure neutron diffraction study on H–D isotope effects in brucite

A neutron powder diffraction study of hydrogenated and deuterated brucite was conducted at ambient temperature and at pressures up to 9 GPa, using a Paris–Edinburgh high-pressure cell at the WAND instrument of the ORNL High Flux Isotope Reactor. The two materials were synthesized by the same method and companion measurements of neutron diffraction were conducted under the same conditions. Our refinement results show that the lattice-parameters of the a axis, parallel to the sheets of Mg–O octahedra, decrease only slightly with pressure with no effect of H–D substitution. However, the c axis of Mg(OD)₂ is shorter and may exhibit greater compressibility with pressure than that of Mg(OH)₂. Consequently, the unit-cell volume of deuterated brucite is slightly, but systematically smaller than that of hydrogenated brucite. When fitted to a third-order Birch–Murnaghan equation in terms of the normalized unit-cell volume, values of the bulk modulus for hydrogenated and deuterated brucite (K ₀ = 39.0 ± 2.8 and 40.4 ± 1.3 GPa, respectively) are, however, indistinguishable from each other within the experimental errors. The measured effect of H–D substitution on the unit-cell volume also demonstrates that brucite (and other hydrous minerals) preferentially incorporate deuterium over hydrogen under pressure, suggesting that the distribution of hydrogen isotopes in deep-earth conditions may differ significantly from that in near-surface environments.     

Extension and magmatism in the Cerocahui basin,northern Sierra Madre Occidental,western Chihuahua,Mexico

The Sierra Madre Occidental of northwestern Mexico is the biggest silicic large igneous province of the Cenozoic, yet very little is known about its geology due to difficulties of access to much of this region. This study presents geologic maps and two new U-Pb zircon laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry ages from the Cerocahui basin, a previously unmapped and undated ~25 km-long by ~12 km-wide half-graben along the western edge of the relatively unextended core of the northern Sierra Madre Occidental silicic large igneous province. Five stratigraphic units are defined in the study area: (1) undated welded to non-welded silicic ignimbrites that underlie the rocks of the Cerocahui basin, likely correlative to Oligocene-age ignimbrites to the east and west; (2) the ca. 27.5–26 Ma Bahuichivo volcanics, comprising mafic-intermediate lavas and subvolcanic intrusions in the Cerocahui basin; (3) alluvial fan deposits and interbedded distal non-welded silicic ignimbrites of the Cerocahui clastic unit; (4) basalt lavas erupted into the Cerocahui basin following alluvial deposition; and (5) silicic hypabyssal intrusions emplaced along the eastern margin of the basin and to a lesser degree within the basin deposits.

The main geologic structures in the Cerocahui basin and surrounding region are NNW-trending normal faults, with the basin bounded on the east by the syndepositional W-dipping Bahuichivo–Bachamichi and Pañales faults. Evidence of syndepositional extension in the half-graben (e.g. fanning dips, unconformities, coarsening of clastic deposits toward basin-bounding faults) indicates that normal faulting was active during deposition in the Cerocahui basin (Bahuichivo volcanics, Cerocahui clastic unit, and basalt lavas), and may have been active earlier based on regional correlations.

The rocks in the Cerocahui basin and adjacent areas record: (1) the eruption of silicic outflow ignimbrite sheets, likely erupted from caldera sources to the east during the early Oligocene pulse of the mid-Cenozoic ignimbrite flare-up, mostly prior to synextensional deposition in the Cerocahui basin (pre-27.5 Ma); (2) synextensional late Oligocene mafic-intermediate composition magmatism and alluvial fan sedimentation (ca. 27.5–24.5 Ma), which occurred during the lull between the Early Oligocene and early Miocene pulses of the ignimbrite flare-up; and (3) post-extensional emplacement of silicic hypabyssal intrusions along pre-existing normal faults, likely during the early Miocene pulse of the ignimbrite flare-up (younger than ca. 24.5 Ma). The timing of extensional faulting and magmatism in the Cerocahui basin and surrounding area generally coincides with previous models of regional-scale middle Eocene to early Miocene southwestward migration of active volcanism and crustal extension in the northern Sierra Madre Occidental controlled by post-late Eocene (ca. 40 Ma) rollback/fallback of the subducted Farallon slab.     

An investigation of salt marsh dieback in Georgia using field transplants

In 2001 and 2002, Georgia salt marshes experienced a dieback event that, affected more than 800 ha throughout the coastal zone. The dieback event was unprecedented in the state and affected bothSpartina alterniflora andJuncus roemerianus. A transplant study was conducted from May to October 2003 to determine if healthy plants could survive in dieback areas. Transplants were carried out at two locations on the Georgia coast in areas ofS. alterniflora dieback along the banks of tidal creeks, an area ofS. alterniflora dieback in the mid marsh, and aJ. roemerianus dieback, area in the mid marsh. Transplant survival was nearly 100% and growth (measured as increases in the height of the 5 tallest stems and the number of stems per experimental pot) was observed in both healthy (control) and dieback areas.J. roemerianus grew more slowly thanS. alterniflora, with no, observed increase in stem height and an average 38% increase in stem density as compared to an average 57% increase in stem height and 137% increase in stem density inS. alterniflora. Differences in growth were inconsistent but in most cases no significant differences were observed between healthy and dieback areas. Soil characteristics measured over the course of the experiment were generally comparable between healthy and dieback areas (redox potential averaged 69±123 [SD] across all observations at all sites, pH averaged 6.7 ± 0.3 and salinity averaged 24.9±4.4), but porewater ammonium (NH₄) concentration was often higher in dieback areas (overall mean NH₄ concentration, was 138±127 μM in dieback areas versus 33±40 μM in healthy areas). These results suggest that the cause of dieback was no, longer present at the time of this study and that transplants are a possibility for restoring affected areas.