The Petrology of Some Vitrophyric Calc-Alkaline Volcanics from the Carboniferous of New South Wales

The paper deals with the petrography, mineralogy, chemistry,and genesis of selected calcalkaline volcanics from the Carboniferousof New South Wales. The investigated rocks, mainly vitrophyrictypes, range in composition from hypersthene basalt throughhypersthene-augite dacite and ignimbritic hypersthene-hornblendedacite to ignimbrific biotite rhyodacite. Chemical and opticaldata are provided for the principal phenocryst phases whichinclude hypersthene, augite, iron-titanium oxides (cation-deficientspinels and ilmenite), hornblende, biotite, plagioclase, and,more rarely, alkali feldspar. The available data do not favourthe derivation of the dacites from basaltic magma by low pressurefractional crystallization, sialic contamination, or mixingof magmas. The origin of these rocks, particularly the hypersthene-augitedacites, has been referred to the Green-Ring wood model of drypartial melting of high-alumina quartz ecologite in the uppermantle. The chemistry of whole rock groundmass pairs indicatesthat some of the more salic eruptives can be interpreted aslow pressure differentiates of dacitic parental melts. A characteristicfeature of the more mafic volcanics is their pronounced modaland normative excess of hypersthene over augite. The early andextensive precipitation of orthopyroxene from strongtly hypersthenenormativemafic and intermediate liquids relatively low in Fe and Mg playedan important role in maintaining the calc-alkaline characterof derivative liquids.     

A late Quaternary bio- and climatostratigraphy for marine sediments in the north-central part of the North Sea

BOREAS Harland, R., Gregory, Diane M., Hughes, M. J. & Wilkinson, I. P. 1978 06 01: A late Quaternary bio- and climatostratigraphy for marine sediments in the north-central part of the North Sea. Boreas, Vol. 7, pp. 91–96. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
Micropalaeontological studies of three boreholes in the north-central North Sea have led to the erection of a bio- and climatostratigraphy for the area. Palaeoenvironmental interpretations have depended largely upon oceanographic concepts and changes in the micropalaeontological assemblages have been related to postulated alterations in water mass regimes. The biostratigraphy can then be utilized as a climatostratigraphy since such water mass changes are most probably linked to alterations in the circulation of the North Atlantic, and in particular to the positions of the climatically important North Atlantic Current and Polar Front. The North Sea sequences are compared to similar sections in Europe and related to the commonly accepted standard chronostratigraphy.     

Upper Mantle Amphiboles and Micas and TiO2, K2O, and P2O5 Abundances and 100 Mg/(Mg+Fe2+ Ratios of Common Basalts and Andesites: Implications for Modal Mantle Metasomatism and Undepleted Mantle Compositions

Modal mantle metasomatism, involving the re-enrichment of depletedmantle by the introduction or production of new hydrous phases,apatite and other minerals, has been proposed as a criticalprecursor to alkaline volcanism. The merits of the modal metasomatismmodel are evaluated by examining whole-rock 100 Mg/(Mg+Fe²⁺)ratios and the abundances of TiO₂, K₂O and P₂O₅ in mafic volcanicsspanning the mafic alkaline-subalkaline compositional spectrum.Upper mantle amphiboles and micas are also discussed becausethey would be major donors of Ti, Fe, and K to melts duringanatexis of either modally metasomatized depleted mantle orundepleted mantle. Compared with tholeiitic and calc-alkaline basalts and andesites,basanites and alkali basalts and alkali andesites are neitherdistinctive nor unique by virtue of persistant or well-definedhigher abundances of TiO₂, K₂O, and P₂O₅ or lower 100 Mg/(Mg+Fe₂₊)ratios, features which might reflect precursor modal metasomatismof the alkaline sources. Some basanites and alkali basalts dohave higher abundances of TiO₂, K₂O, and P₂O₅ than some tholeiitesbut these abundances may be the result of lower degrees of meltingof similar undepleted mantle sources for both magma types. The most widespread mantle phases of inferred metasomatic originare interstitial amphiboles and micas in Group I spinel peridotitexenoliths. These have high 100 Mg/(Mg+Fe) ratios ({small tilde}90) and high Cr₂O₃ and low TiO₂ abundances, and the K₂O/Na₂Oratios of the amphiboles (chromian pargasites) are low, generallyless than 0?3. Interstitial amphiboles and micas developed asa result of near-isochemical hydration reactions which largelyinvolved Cr-spinel and Cr-diopside. Their formation was probablyinduced in many instances by fluids derived from crystallizingmafic magmas. Metasomatized Group I xenoliths with interstitialhydrous phases remain depleted in TiO₂, K₂O, and P₂O₅, and theyretain the high 100 Mg/(Mg+Fe) ratios characterizing depletedGroup I xenoliths. Together with the low K₂O/Na₂O ratios, thesefeatures preclude such peridotites as suitable sources of mostalkaline (and subalkaline) volcanics. It is suggested that modalmetasomatism plays an insignificant role in the genesis of mostmantle-derived mafic volcanics. Compared with the interstitial phases, kaersutitic amphibolesand titaniferous micas from vein, Group II inclusion and megacrystupper mantle parageneses have lower 100 Mg/(Mg+Fe) ratios andCr₂O₃ contents, and much higher TiO₂ abundances. K₂O/Na₂O ratiosof the Ti-amphiboles are also much more wide-ranging (0?3 togreater than 1?0). These Fe, Ti-rich amphiboles and micas areneither widespread nor pervasive phases in metasomatized mantle.They are directly related to alkaline magmatism in the uppermantle where they may be associated with incompatible elementenrichment of peridotite wallrocks in the immediate vicinityof frozen conduits of alkaline mafic magmas. The varying K₂O/Na₂O ratios of mafic volcanics (MORB constitutea major exception) indicate that the principal K-bearing phasesin undepleted mantle are kaersutitic amphibole and titaniferousmica, in varying proportions. The former is probably the majorsource of Ti and K for low K/Na volcanics (K₂O/Na₂O < 0?5)and also many medium K/Na types (0?5 < K₂O/Na₂O < 1?0),whereas mica is more likely to be the major K-bearing phasein the source regions of high K/Na extrusives (K₂O/Na₂ >1?0). Experimental data indicate that kaersutitic amphibole,mica and apatite probably coexist in undepleted spinel- andgarnet lherzolites at pressures up to 25 kb, with mica persistingto pressures as high as 50 kb. It is proposed that undepleted asthenospheric mantle is heterogeneouswith respect to its amphibole, mica, and apatite contents (andhence TiO₂, K₂O, and P₂O₅ abundances and K₂O/Na₂O ratios), andalso with respect to 100 Mg/(Mg+Fe²⁺ ) ratios which may be significantlyless than the ratios generally assigned to undepleted mantle,namely 88–90.     

The concretions of the Bearreraig Sandstone Formation: geometry and geochemistry

The sandbodies of the Bearreraig Sandstone Formation (Inner Hebrides, UK) are cemented by two generations of calcite. The first generation, an inhomogeneous ferroan calcite (0.05?3.28 mol% FeCo₃) formed during sulphate reduction (δ¹³C =?24 to ?32%o PDB) in marine porewaters (δ¹⁸O of cement from ?1 to ?4%o PDB) at very shallow burial depths (a few centimetres). These cements are rare but form millimetre-scale clusters of crystals which acted as nuclei to the later, concretionary cements. The second generation of cements are more homogeneous ferroan calcites (mean 1?58% mol% FeCo₃) which evolve to progressively higher Fe/Mg ratios. They are sourced by shell dissolution (δ¹³C of cement from +1 to ?3%o PDB) into meteoric (δ¹⁸O of cement from ?6 to ?10%o PDB) or mixed marine meteoric waters (δ¹⁸O of cement from ?4 to ?6%o SMOW). These were introduced into the formation either during Bathonian times as a freshwater lens, or, subsequent to partial inversion, by confined aquifer flow. Corroded feldspars within the concretions suggest that an interval of at least 8 Ma separated the deposition of the sediments from the onset of concretion growth. Abundant concretions are preferentially developed at certain horizons within the sandbodies, where the early generation of ferroan calcite cements provided nuclei. The latter formed close to the sediment-water interface, the concentration of cement within the sediment being related to sedimentation rate. The relatively high concentrations of the first generation of cement, upon which the concretionary horizons are nucleated, formed during periods of minimal sedimentation.     

Imbricate thrust stack model for the formation of glaciotectonic rafts: an example from the Middle Pleistocene of north Norfolk, UK

In this article, we present a glaciotectonic model for raft emplacement based on a study of large-scale and small-scale deformation structures associated with the accretion of chalk rafts at three Middle Pleistocene sites on the north Norfolk coast, eastern England. Detailed structural measurements taken from the three localities indicate an overall sense of ice movement and raft emplacement towards the south/southeast, suggesting a source area for the rafts located to the north of the present Norfolk coast in the offshore area of the North Sea. Provenancing of the chalk rafts, based on analysis of the foraminifera, also indicates a northern nearshore provenance for the chalk. Mechanisms for the detachment, transport and accretion of the rafts are explored, and it is concluded that pressurized pore water played an important role in all three phases. An imbricate thrust stack model of glaciotectonic raft generation is presented, with the structural history of raft emplacement explained by the geometric relationships between the large-scale basal shear planes and associated deformation structures within adjacent preglacial and glacial sediments.     

Some Tholeiites from the Inverell Area, New South Wales, and their Bearing on LowPressure Tholeiite Fractionation

Olivine tholeiites and tholeiites from the Inverell area, NewSouth Wales, consist of the assemblages olivine-calcic plagioclase-groundmass,(olivine-) plagioclase-clinopyroxene groundmass, and (olivine-)plagioclase-clinopyroxene-glass.The residual glass can be equated in composition with tholeiiticrhyolite. Compared with their hosts the groundmass compositionsdisplay increased saturation levels, increased Fe/Mg ratios,and a more sodic normative plagioclase, and thus are appropriateto tholeiitic andesite compositions. The data indicate the capacityof tholeiitic liquids to yield andesitic derivatives by lowpressure fractional crystallization. The compositions of themore mafic groundmasses were controlled primarily by the earlyseparation of olivine and plagioclase which, when associatedwith clinopyroxene as a significant near liquids phase, yieldeda more evolved andesitic derivative.     

Carbonate deposition and facies distribution in a central Michigan marl lake

Relatively pure lacustrine carbonates referred to as marl are being deposited in Littlefield Lake, central Michigan, a hard-water lake with little terrigenous clastic influx. Thick accumulations of marl form both progradational marl benches along lake margins, and islands or lakemounts in the lake centre. Marl benches develop flat platforms up to 20 m wide in very shallow water and steeply inclined slopes, up to 30°, extending into deep water. The flat landward platform is frequently covered by algal pisoliths while the upper portion of the lakeward-sloping bottom is overgrown by Chara which in the summertime becomes thickly encrusted with low-magnesian calcite. Marl islands are flat-topped features that formed over relict highs on Pleistocene drift which underlies the lake basin. These are fringed by marl benches identical to those found along lake margins. Marl benches are composed of four units: two thin facies deposited on the shallow-water bench platform and two thicker faces deposited on the bench slope developed in moderate water depths. These in turn overlie a fifth facies deposited in deep water. A coarsening-upward sequence is developed in these sediments as a result of both mechanical sorting, and primary production of carbonate sand and gravel in shallow water. In addition to facies sequences and size grading, trends upsection of increasing carbonate content and decreasing insoluble content may serve to identify temperate-region lacustrine carbonate deposits in the rock record.     

Lateglacial–Holocene shoreface progradation offshore eastern Scotland: a response to climatic and coastal hydrographic change

Seismic facies, provenance and marine faunal associations of a nearshore prograding sediment wedge offshore eastern Scotland are studied to investigate environmental changes in the adjacent North Sea during Lateglacial–Holocene time. The sediments form part of the St. Andrews Bay Member (Forth Formation), which is divided into four lithozones (L1–L4) that represent distinct pulses of sedimentation during the sequential growth of the sediment wedge. Radiocarbon dates, combined with the local curve of relative sea level change, indicate that progradation was initiated as a fluvio-deltaic deposit (L1) during the Younger Dryas Stadial. Further construction of the sediment package took place during the mid- to late Holocene by sublittoral tidal processes that deposited three discrete, highstand shoreface wedges (L2–L4), which display both progradation and longshore migration (to the NE), and may have experienced episodic brackish marine conditions. A depositional cyclicity of about 1000 years is proposed for lithozones L2–L4, separated by hiatuses of 1000–2000 years. We tentatively suggest that the Holocene development of the prograding wedge offshore eastern Scotland was a response to phases of strong westerly winds driving an enhanced influx of Atlantic Water into the North Sea. A concomitant increase in rainfall may account for the freshening of the coastal zone at this time. However, correlation with the recently postulated global periods of Holocene rapid climate change remains unclear.     

Mineralogical, Geochemical, and Petrogenetic Aspects of an Analcite-Basalt from the New England District of New South Wales

The paper discuses the petrography, mineralogy, and petrogenesisof an analcite-basalt, composed dominantly of the assemblageanalcite-clinopyroxene-olivine. The lava contains large phenocrystsof kaersutite, titanbiotite, and anorthoclase. Evidence is presentedto indicate and quartzo-feldspathic xenoliths are described.It is concluded that the analcite-basalt respresents a comparativelyadvanced alkali olivine-basaltr differentiate, and that quenchingto enable crystallization to occur under reduaced P/T conditionsis an essential factor in its genesis. Other analcite-rich igneousassemblages are briefly discussed.