Cambrian enigmas

Bizarre soft-bodied animals from the Cambrian, principally the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, are throwing new light on the major diversification of early metazoans. A distinctive range of new body-plans hint at explosive rates of evolution, but the underlying mechanisms are still a matter for conjecture. Whether these unusual fossils suffered extinction because of bad design or bad luck is uncertain, but some evidence suggests that chance factors played an important role.     

Geology and jungle fieldwork in eastern Indonesia

Collecting geological information from the jungles and islands of eastern Indonesia depends largely on traditional fieldwork methods involving much footwork and messing about in boats. Coupled with modern laboratory and computing techniques, information gained on the ground is being used to interpret the tectonic development of east Indonesia, the Philippine Sea and the western Pacific.     

Mineralogy and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy of opaque phases in the Neuschwanstein EL6 chondrite

Abstract— This study presents compositional data and ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra, taken at 295 K and 85 K, of two fragments of the enstatite (EL6) chondrite Neuschwanstein that fell near the famous Neuschwanstein castle (Bavaria, southern Germany) on April 6, 2002. Main silicate minerals are enstatite (Fs 2) and plagioclase (An 20), the main opaque minerals are kamacite and troilite. Small amounts of oldhamite, daubreelite, and schreibersite have been found. The presented Mössbauer data are the first data gathered for an EL6 chondrite. The dominant parts of each Mössbauer spectrum consist of two six‐line patterns due to the presence of ferromagnetic phases kamacite and troilite. In contrast to other chondrites, peaks of other iron species in the central parts of the spectra are missing due to an extremely low content of Fe‐bearing paramagnetic components. The hyperfine interaction parameters for kamacite are internal magnetic hyperfine field H_hf = 333.2 kOe, isomer shift (relative to a metallic Fe foil) IS = 0.01 mm/s, quadrupole splitting QS = 0 mm/s, line width W = 0.41 mm/s. The data for troilite are H_hf = 305.5 kOe, IS = 0.75 mm/s, QS = ?0.85 mm/s, W = 0.34 mm/s.     

Evidence of across-shelf transport of fine-grained sediments: turbidite-filled shelf channels in the Campanian Aberdeen Member, Book Cliffs, Utah, USA

The shore‐normal transport of fine‐grained sediments by shelf turbidity currents has been the focus of intense debate over the last 20 years. Many have argued that turbidity currents are unlikely to be a major depositional agent on the shelf. However, sedimentological, architectural, stratigraphic and palaeogeographic data from the Campanian Aberdeen Member, Book Cliffs, eastern Utah suggests otherwise and clearly demonstrates that storm‐generated and river flood‐generated underflows can transport a significant volume of fine‐grained sediments across the shelf. These across‐shelf flowing turbidity currents cut large subaqueous channel complexes up to 7 m deep, tens of kilometres basinward of their time‐equivalent shoreface. The shelf channels were filled with organic‐rich siltstones, mudstones and very fine‐ to fine‐grained Bouma‐like sandstone beds, including wave‐modified turbidites, hyperpycnites and classical turbidites. Deposition was above storm wave base. Palaeocurrent data reveal an overwhelmingly dominant across‐shelf (east–south‐east), offshore‐directed transport trend. Tectonic activity and/or concomitant palaeogeographic reorganization of the basin may favour the generation of these turbidite‐rich shelf deposits by altering the relative balance of wave versus fluvial energy. Increased erosion and sediment supply rates, because of tectonic uplift of the hinterland, may have increased the probability of fluvial dominance along the coastline and, hence, the possibility of submarine channelization in front of the river mouths. Additionally, the coastline may have become more sheltered from direct wave energy, thus allowing the fluvial processes to dominate. Seasonal increases in rainfall and storm activity may also favour the generation of across‐shelf underflows. On wave‐dominated shorelines, isolated shelf channels and lobes are most likely to be found down‐dip of fluvial‐feeder systems in relatively high sediment supply settings. These features are also most likely to occur in systems tracts that straddle a sequence boundary, especially those which are tectonically generated, as these would enhance the potential for altering basin morphology and, hence, the balance of fluvial and wave energy. Isolated shelf channels are recognized in older and younger strata in the Book Cliffs region, implying that wave‐supported gravity flows were a recurrent phenomena in the Campanian of Utah. It is probable that isolated shelf bodies are preserved in other stratigraphic intervals in the Cretaceous Western Interior of North America, and other basins worldwide, and are currently being overlooked or misidentified. Shoreface‐to‐shelf facies models should be revised to incorporate turbidite‐rich shelf deposits in some shelf settings.     

Chemical versus Temporal Controls on the Evolution of Tholeiitic and Calc-alkaline Magmas at Two Volcanoes in the Alaska-Aleutian Arc

The Alaska–Aleutian island arc is well known for eruptingboth tholeiitic and calc-alkaline magmas. To investigate therelative roles of chemical and temporal controls in generatingthese contrasting liquid lines of descent we have undertakena detailed study of tholeiitic lavas from Akutan volcano inthe oceanic Aleutian arc and calc-alkaline products from Aniakchakvolcano on the continental Alaskan Peninsula. The differencesdo not appear to be linked to parental magma composition. TheAkutan lavas can be explained by closed-system magmatic evolution,whereas curvilinear trace element trends and a large range in⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios in the Aniakchak data appear to requirethe combined effects of fractional crystallization, assimilationand magma mixing. Both magmatic suites preserve a similar rangein ²²⁶Ra–²³⁰Th disequilibria, which suggests that thetime scale of crustal residence of magmas beneath both thesevolcanoes was similar, and of the order of several thousandyears. This is consistent with numerical estimates of the timescales for crystallization caused by cooling in convecting crustalmagma chambers. During that time interval the tholeiitic Akutanmagmas underwent restricted, closed-system, compositional evolution.In contrast, the calc-alkaline magmas beneath Aniakchak volcanounderwent significant open-system compositional evolution. Combiningthese results with data from other studies we suggest that differentiationis faster in calc-alkaline and potassic magma series than intholeiitic series, owing to a combination of greater extentsof assimilation, magma mixing and cooling. KEY WORDS: uranium-series; Aleutian arc; magma differentiation; time scales     

Rates and Processes of Potassic Magma Evolution beneath Sangeang Api Volcano, East Sunda Arc, Indonesia

U-series isotopes can provide unique insights into the physicalprocesses of magma evolution by constraining the time scalesover which they operate. This, however, requires rock suitesthat provide a clear and complete record of the liquid lineof descent. Sangeang Api volcano, in the east Sunda arc, providessuch an opportunity because it erupts potassic lavas (SiO₂     

Fluid Evolution during HP and UHP Metamorphism in Dabie Shan, China: Constraints from Mineral Chemistry, Fluid Inclusions and Stable Isotopes

The Dabie Shan ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic terraneis located in the eastern part of the east–west-strikingQinling–Dabie orogenic belt in China. A major mylonitizedcontact zone of 200–300 m width divides Dabie Shan intothe South Dabie Terrane (SDT) and the North Dabie Complex (NDC).Combined investigation of major and trace element geochemistry,fluid inclusions, and oxygen and hydrogen isotopes constrainsthe fluid history during the metamorphic evolution of the twometamorphic belts, which differ in their fluid and metamorphicevolution. Fluid inclusions in rocks from the SDT are mainlyaqueous with varying salinities, whereas those from the NDCare dominated by CO₂. Low     

High-Pressure Granulites (Retrograded Eclogites) from the Hengshan Complex, North China Craton: Petrology and Tectonic Implications

Both high- and medium-pressure granulites have been found asenclaves and boudins in tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioriticgneisses in the Hengshan Complex. Petrological evidence fromthese rocks indicates four distinct metamorphic assemblages.The early prograde assemblage (M₁) is preserved only in thehigh-pressure granulites and represented by quartz and rutileinclusions within the cores of garnet porphyroblasts, and omphacitepseudomorphs that are indicated by clinopyroxene + sodic plagioclasesymplectic intergrowths. The peak assemblage (M₂) consists ofclinopyroxene + garnet + sodic plagioclase + quartz ±hornblende in the high-pressure granulites and orthopyroxene+ clinopyroxene + garnet + plagioclase + quartz in the medium-pressuregranulites. Peak metamorphism was followed by near-isothermaldecompression (M₃), which resulted in the development of orthopyroxene+ clinopyroxene + plagioclase symplectites and coronas surroundingembayed garnet grains, and decompression-cooling (M₄), representedby hornblende + plagioclase symplectites on garnet. The THERMOCALCprogram yielded peak (M₂) P–T conditions of 13·4–15·5kbar and 770–840°C for the high-pressure granulitesand 9–11 kbar and 820–870°C for the medium-pressuregranulites, based on the core compositions of garnet, matrixpyroxene and plagioclase. The P–T conditions of pyroxene+ plagioclase symplectite and corona (M₃) were estimated at