A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF A SEQUENCE OF COAL-BEARING CYCLES IN THE NAMURIAN OF CENTRAL SCOTLAND, 1

Electronic computers have enabled the quantitative relationships between stratigraphic variables to be calculated for a sequence of Namurian (E1 zone) cycles deposited in a differentially subsiding basin east of Stirling. Despite their limitations, coefficients of correlation and linear regression equations provide a relatively simple means of expressing the relationships between critical variables and so provide a useful way in which various cyclically deposited sequences can be compared. All possible pairs chosen from eleven variables are investigated, including the total number and average thickness of cycles, total number of coals and total thicknesses of coal, sandstone and shale. These six variables all tend to show a linear relationship with total thickness of strata and hence net subsidence. A second part of this paper, to be published later, will examine the relationships between variables in more detail, using the technique of factor analysis.     

The influence of river discharge on the thawing of sea ice, Mackenzie River Delta: albedo and temperature analyses

Multi-temporal satellite images, field observations and field measurements were used to investigate the mechanisms by which sea ice melts offshore from the Mackenzie River Delta. Satellite data recorded between April and August 1986 were corrected to a map projection and calibrated such that albedo and temperature values could be compared. Three stages in the melting of sea ice were identified: flooding (overflows), insolation and melting by warm river water. The albedo values of overflows were as much as 1/7 that of ice values while the albedo of ice decreased by 1/3 over the summer. Approximately two weeks after the overflows develop, sea surface temperatures rise as the river-discharge peaks and becomes the dominant source of energy. By this process, ice removal in the delta regime is initiated two months earlier than adjacent coasts with minimal runoff. However, the net result is only a two-week acceleration of ice removal in the delta region.     

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.     

Petrogenesis of Ultramafic Xenoliths from the 1800 Kaupulehu Flow, Hualalai Volcano, Hawaii

The 1800 Kaupulehu flow on Hualalai Volcano, Hawaii, containsabundant xcnoliths of dunitc, wehrlite, and olivine clinopyroxenitewith minor gabbro, troctolite, anorthosite, and wcbstcrite.The petrography and mineral compositions of 41 dunite, wehrlite,and olivine clinopyroxenite xenoliths have been studied, andclinopyroxene separates from eight of these have been analyzedfor Ba, K, Rb, Sr, rare earth elements, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd.Temperatures of equilibration obtained by olivine-spinel andpyroxene geothermometry range from 1000 to 1200 C. Mineralogicaldata combined with published fluid inclusion data indicate depthsof origin in the range of 8–30 km. The rarity of orthopyroxene, the presence of Fe-rich olivine(Fo⁸¹–⁸⁹) and clinopyroxene (Fs⁵–¹²), and the occurrenceof high TiO² in spinel (0.9–2.8 wt.%) and clinopyroxene(035–1.33 wt%) all indicate that the xenoliths are cumulates,not residues from partial fusion. The separated clinopyrox-eneshave ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0-70348.0-70367) and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.51293–0.51299)values that are different from Sr and Nd isotope ratios of Pacificabyssal basalts (>0.7032 and >0-5130, respectively). Also,clinopyroxenes and spinels in the xenoliths have generally higherTiO₂ contents (>O.35 and >0.91 wt.%, respectively) thantheir counterparts in abyssal cumulates (<0.40 and <0.70wt%,respectively). These differences indicate that the xenolithsare not a normal component of oceanic crust. Because the xenoliths and alkalic to transitional Hualalai lavashave similar values for Cr/(Cr + Al) and Cr/(Cr + Al + Fe³⁺)of spinels, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of clinopyroxenes, and whole-rock ³He/⁴He,we conclude that the xenoliths are cumulates from such magmas.Multiple parental magmas for the xenoliths are indicated byslightly heterogeneous ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of clinopyroxene separates.Depths of formation of the xenoliths are estimated to be {smalltilde}8–30 km. Extensive crystallization of olivine in the absence of pyroxenesand plagioclase is a characteristic and prominent feature ofHawaiian tholeiitic magmatism. Dunite xenoliths crystallizedfrom alkalic magmas have previously been reported from MaunaKea Volcano (Atwill & Garcia, 1985) and Loihi Seamount (Clague,1988). Our finding of an alkalic signature for dunite xenolithsfrom a third Hawaiian volcano, Hualalai, shows that early olivinecrystallization should be considered a characteristic not justof Hawaiian tholeiitic magmatism but also of Hawaiian alkalicmagmatism.