Faceted garnets from sandstones of the Munising Formation (Cambrian), northern Michigan: petrographic evidence for their origin by intrastratal dissolution

Imbricate wedge marks (facets) on garnets in sandstones of the Cambrian Munising Formation of northern Michigan are associated with mouldic secondary porosity developed at the expense of garnet. Mouldic pores surrounding faceted garnets indicate that garnets in these sandstones have been affected by intrastratal dissolution (retreat of the mineral surface from its original boundaries) rather than by grain enlargement, which would be expected if garnet overgrowths had formed. The association of garnet facets with textural evidence of garnet dissolution proves that garnet facets form by intrastratal dissolution. These results confirm similar findings in other recent studies, and extend the geographic and stratigraphic range of proven occurrences of facet formation by intrastratal dissolution.     

The Scots Bay formation, Nova Scotia, Canada, a Jurassic carbonate lake with Silica-rich hydrothermal springs

During Early Jurassic time, the Scots Bay Formation accumulated in an aerobic lake on the floor of the subtropical Fundy rift valley. A diverse biota flourished in the lake as evidenced by algal stromatolites, oncolites, charophytes, ostracods, gastropods, conchostracans, fish bones, calcispheres and logs. Carbonate wackestone and packstone were deposited in the littoral zone and lime mudstone accumulated offshore on a proximal slope. Silica-rich hydrothermal springs and seeps around and on the floor of the lake precipitated siliceous tufa and silicified adjacent carbonate strata. The tufa is characterized by the progressive sequence: (1) open-framework, porous substrate of goethite spheres, (2) encrusting chalcedony spherulites where goethite inclusions decrease in size and number outwards towards the surfaces of the spherulites, (3) a fringe of quartz on the chalcedony spherulites and (4) coarsening inwards mosaics of quartz that filled the remaining voids. Carbonate diagenesis included conversion of low-Mg calcite ooze to micrite and microspar-pseudospar, and local dissolution and reprecipitation of calcite cement. At times the lake shrank in size, concentrating silica in increasingly alkaline lake water which then silicified some of the carbonate strata and logs. The latest cements were calcite, zeolites and celadonite.     

The Geochemistry and Experimental Petrology of Sodic Alkaline Basalts from Oatlands, Tasmania

Sodic basalts of Oligocene-Early Micene age occur within anEarly Tertiary graben in the Oatlands district of Tasmania.They include olivine tholeiites, alkali olivine basalts, basanites,transitional nephelinites, nepheline hawaiites, and nephelinemugearites. They have compositional characteristics in commonwith sodic alkaline basalt suites from other parts of the world.With decreasing SiO₂, concentrations of CaO, alkalis, P₂O₅,and incompatible trace elements increase. Compositional and experimental data for the basalts are consistentwith their derivation by polybaric partial melting of a garnetlherzolite source enriched in P₂O₅, light rare earths, Nb, andother incompatible trace elements. Experimental data for a primitivenepheline basanite from the Oatlands district indicate thatconcentrations of H₂O+CO₂ need not have been more than 6?5 wt.%for the original basanite magma to have derived from an amphibole-bearinggarnet lherzolite source. In the case of more SiO₂-undersaturatedolivine melilitites from the neighbouring Central Plateau, theexperimental evidence is consistent with either higher concentrationsof H₂O+CO₂ (approaching 14 wt.%), or higher pressures of origin(>35 kb). Petrographic and geochemical evidence suggeststhat the latter is the more probable of the alternatives.     

The origin and significance of groundwater-seepage gypsum from Bristol Dry Lake, California, USA

Gypsum and anhydrite fabrics observed in trenches and deep (500 m) cores from Bristol Dry Lake, California, USA, exhibit a vertical alignment of crystals similar to the fabric seen in bottom-nucleated brine pond gypsum. However, geochemical and sedimentological evidence indicate that the gypsum formed in Bristol Dry Lake precipitated displacively within the sediment where groundwater saturated with respect to gypsum recharges around the playa margin (groundwater-seepage gypsum). Evidence for displacive growth of gypsum is: (i) the geometry of the deposit, (ii) stable isotopic data and the water chemistry of the brine, and (iii) inclusions of matrix which follow twin planes and completely surround crystals as they grow. The bulk of the gypsum precipitated in the playa occurs around the edges of the playa in the playamargin facies and completely rings the lake. Sulphate concentrations in the groundwater increase toward the gypsum zone in the playa margin. Basinward of this zone, sulphate concentrations decrease sharply to trace element levels in the basin centre brine. Authigenic gypsum is rare in the centre of the playa. Stable (δ¹⁸O values measured for gypsum waters of crystallization (GWC) are similar to the values calculated for groundwater in the playa margin and alluvial fan sediments (?– 6%0), whereas measured brine δ¹⁸O values range from + 0·5 to + 3·7%0. Deuterium values measured for groundwater are ?– 70%0, GWC are ?– 60 to – 65%0 and brine values are ?– 57%0. The geometry of the deposit and the chemical data suggest that the water precipitating the gypsum is more closely associated with the groundwater than the brine. However, some mixing between groundwater and brine is likely. Within 100 m of the surface, the gypsum dehydrates to anhydrite, although the same vertically aligned fabric is retained through the diagenetic process. The similarity of displacive vertically aligned gypsum and anhydrite fabrics seen in Bristol Dry Lake to subaqueously deposited gypsum in modern brine ponds indicates that the criteria used to define subaqueous fabrics must be better constrained.     

华北强震断层面解和震源深度特征

本文利用远震P波及SH波和区域地震P_(nl)波波形反演方法,测定了华北9次强震的断层面解、震源深度及地震矩.结合其他作者测定的7次地震的结果,分析了华北16次强震断层面解及华北地震震源深度特征.结果表明,华北多数强震为走滑型地震,也有个别正断层型及逆断层型地震;16次地震多数发生在地壳中部10-25km深度范围内.     

Thermoluminescence dating of Dimlington Stadial deposits in eastern England

The loess component of a solifluction deposit of the Dimlington Stadial exposed at the inland site of Eppleworth in eastern England gave a thermoluminescence date of 17.5 ± 1.6 × 10³ years. The solifluction deposit is overlain by a slightly weathered till correlated with the Skipsea Till of coastal exposures. which lies between organic horizons with radiocarbon dates of 18,500–18,240 B.P. and 13,045 B.P. Although the till must have been deposited during the Dimlington Stadial (after 18,240 B.P. at Dimlington and after 17,500 B.P. at Epplcworth), it gave apparent TL dates of 42.1 ± 3.6 × 10³ years at Eppleworth and 102 ± 9 × 10³ years at Dimlington, indicating that the components of the till were not exposed to light immediately before deposition.     

Large-scale glacial thrusting and related processes in North Dakota

Large-scale thrusting by the glacial ice occurred in many parts of the Interior Plains of North Dakota, Alberta, and Saskatchewan in late Wisconsinan time. Thrust features are especially prominent in parts of North Dakota. Many of the topographic features of the glaciated landscape of North Dakota formed, either entirely or in part, by the thrusting mechanism, and many individual ice-thrust features have been recognized. The ice-thrusting process was also related to fluting by the glacier, and, as a result, drumlins and other types of fluted features are commonly closely associated with ice-thrust topography. Thrusting by the glacier was dependent primarily on groundwater conditions beneath the ice; thrusting occurred only where hydrologic conditions were appropriate. Most of the individual ice-thrust features that have been recognized are located over discrete aquifers, and the sizes and shapes of the thrust features are dependent upon the sizes and shapes of the aquifers.     

Age and Geochemical Characteristics of a Mafic Dyke Swarm in the Archaean Vestfold Block, Antarctica: Inferences about Proterozoic Dyke Emplacement in Gondwana

Archaean gneisses in the Vestfold Block, Antarctica are cutby abundant tholeiite and rare alkaline dykes. At least fivegenerations of dykes have been recognized on the basis of intrusiverelationships, petrography and geochemistry. Rb-Sr isotopicdata indicate that intrusion of the tholeiites occurred overa period of c. 1000 Ma, during three clearly defined events(viz. c. 2400, 1800, and 1400 Ma). Dykes in the southwesternpart of the Vestfold Block were recrystallized during a lateProterozoic (c. 1000-1100 Ma) high-grade event. Mineral-wholerock Rb-Sr isotopic data show that the terrain was also variablyaffected by an even younger thermal event c. 500 Ma ago whichis correlated with the Pan-African Orogeny. Isotopic, major element and trace element data suggest thatthe tholeiite dyke suites were derived by varying degrees ofpartial melting of compositionally distinct, in some cases ratherheterogeneous subcontinental mantle source regions, combinedwith variations in the extent and nature of crystal fractionation.Extensive crustal contamination does not appear to have playeda significant role in determining compositional trends withinthe different suites, although minor contamination cannot bediscounted. The oldest dykes, a diverse group of high-Mg tholeiites,and the youngest, c. 1400 Ma tholeiites, appear to have beenderived from isotopically similar source regions, which werenevertheless characterized by quite different abundances ofhighly incompatible elements (Pb, Rb, Ba, Th, K, La, and Ce).1800 Ma tholeiites were derived from a more radiogenic mantlesource region, characterized by long-term enrichment in incompatibleelements. Such enrichment is interpreted to be a consequenceof metasomatism of their mantle source region. 2400 Ma high-Mg dykes in Enderby Land have virtually identicalchemical and isotopic compositions to those in the VestfoldBlock, indicating generation from a similar source region; however,1200 Ma tholeiites were apparently derived from a more radiogenicsource region like that of the c. 1800 Ma Vestfold Block dykes.Hence, both Sr isotopic and geochemical data indicate that theancient subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath Gondwanawas extremely heterogeneous.     

Petrogenesis of the Kinsman Intrusive Suite: Peraluminous Granitoids of Western New Hampshire

The Kinsman Intrusive Suite occurs in six major plutons of westernNew Hampshire, covering a total area of 2240 km². It is an Acadian-agesyntectonic gneissic S-type peraluminous granitoid, rangingin composition from quartz diorite to granite. Much of the Kinsmanis characterized by very large (up to 120 mm in maximum dimension)megacrysts of alkali feldspar, but the bulk chemistry of therocks indicates that these cannot be phenocrysts crystallizedfrom initially homogeneous melts. Locally, there is abundant(20 per cent) almandine-rich garnet, and graphite is a commonaccessory.In contrast to the unannealed orthoclase in surroundingmetapelites, the alkali feldspar of the Kinsman has, for themost part, inverted to maximum microcline. The garnets havecore temperatures in the range of 800 to 900 ?C, and are pseudomorphedby, or show reaction rims to, biotite. Plagioclase commonlyshows zoning, some of it oscillatory. These features are magmaticin nature, and argue against the conclusions of previous investigatorsthat the mineralogy and textures of the rock are due to regionalmetamorphism of a previously-crystallized two-mica granitoidwhich has undergone prograde reactions such as:muse + bio +3 qtz 2 Kfs + gar + 2H₂O.The intrusives have also producedrecognizable contact-metamorphic features in the wallrocks andare probably coeval with the dominant M2 Acadian metamorphism.Majorelement analytical data for the Kinsman suite has been examinedby least squares mixing-model and extended Q-mode factor analysis.These calculations, supported by consideration of REE data,suggest that the most likely origin for the Kinsman magmas isby deep-crustal anatexis of slightly calcareous metapelites,and involves a reaction such as:bio + Al₂SiO₅ + qtz + feldspars gar + cord + Kfs + plag + melt.In non-calcareous pelites thisreaction produces a water-undersaturated peraluminous melt attemperatures above 700 ?C, and allows for the early crystallizationor recrystallization of K-feldspar, plagioclase, and garnetin a crystal-liquid mush or migma. Geochemically, garnet + plagioclaseare treated as restite, and a minimum-melt granite as the magmain the Q-mode and mixing-model calculations. The variabilityin chemistry of the Kinsman Intrusive Suite is best explainedon the basis of mixing of leucogranitic anatectic melts withgarnet-plagioclase restitic material and a quartz-feldspar-sillimanite-biotiterock, but only very slightly affected by crystal settling.     

An early Holocene caribou antler from northern Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago

During the last glaciation of northern Ellesmere Island many areas remained ice-free. A caribou antler from deglacial-marine sediments in Clements Markham Inlet dates 8,415 ± 135 B.P. (S-2501). If locally derived it places caribou at the northern limit of their contemporary range at the onset of deglaciation in this area. Immediately to the south, on the Hazen Plateau, ice remained at its limit until c . 8,000 B.P. Therefore, this antler may indicate the presence of caribou during full glacial time.