Mineralogy, Petrology, and Magmatic Conditions from the Fish Canyon Tuff, Central San Juan Volcanic Field, Colorado

The Fish Canyon Tuff is one of the largest currently recognizedash-flow tuffs (> 3000 km³). It is a crystal-rich quartzlatite containing about 40 per cent phenocrysts of plagioclase,sanidine, biotite, hornblende, quartz, magnetite, sphene, andilmenite. Pyrrhotite occurs as inclusions in magnetite, sphene,and hornblende. The consistency of mineralogy and whole rockchemistry confirms that the Fish Canyon tuff is remarkably homogeneous.Most chemical variations can be accounted for by phenocryst-matrixfractionation, probably due to glass winnowing during eruptionand emplacement. The composition of the parent magma, correctedfor such winnowing, is very similar to that of calc-alkalinebatholiths such as the Boulder and the Sierra Nevada batholiths. Fe-Ti oxide geothermometers indicate temperatures of 800 ? 30?C for most of the outflow tuff. No evidence for a regular thermalgradient in the magma chamber could be detected. Two feldsparand Fe-Ti oxide equilibria indicate that the magma developedat depths of 25 to 30 km (about 9 kb pressure), and was eruptedwithout time for phenocryst re-equilibration. The reconstructedcomposition of the liquid in equilibrium with the phenocrystsalso suggests a deep source for this ash flow. A late, upperpackage of flow units have mineralogical characteristics whichmay reflect partial re-equilibration in a shallower environment. Oxygen fugacities are moderately high (log fO₂ = — 11.5?0.3) but are similar to those obtained from other continentalcalc-alkaline ash-flow tuffs. The water fugacity is limitedby calculations using biotite equilibria and experimental workrelating to the stability of the phenocryst assemblage. Bestestimates are that water fugacity was 2000 ? 1000 bars. Theactivities of sulphurous gases are estimated at fSO₂ = 2 to4 bars, fso₂ = 150 to 200 bars, fH₂S = 70 to 80 bars. The Fish Canyon Tuff therefore came from a deep, homogeneous,granitic magma body of batholithic proportions. Calculationsof its probable viscosity, density, and size indicate that thesystem should convect with any reasonable thermal gradient.Convective mixing may account for the homogeneity of the parentmagma body.     

Lower Temperature Terminations of the Three-phase Region Plagioclase-Alkali Feldspar-Liquid

Geological and experimental evidence indicate that the three-phasefield, plagioclase-alkalifeldspar-liquid, may terminate in severaldifferent ways. The possible terminations have been developedfrom Schreinemakers' rules governing the disappearance of three-phasefields. In igncous rocks, these different terminations may arisefrom variations in the relative amounts of additional componentsin magmas, or from changes of total pressure, or from structuralchanges that effect the extent of solid solution in feldspar. The three-phase region originates from the intersection of thesolidus and the feldspar solvus. The available evidence regardingthis intersection is reviewed, as is the evidence for the existenceand form of the boundary curve on the feldspar liquidus. Thedata are used to project a series of isobaric polythermal andisobaric isothermal diagrams for each possible termination.Subsequent discussions relate the theoretical arguments to thenatural evidence, suggest the more probable geological environmentsof some of the terminations, and indicate characteristic featuresof each termination. It may be possible to identify the type of termination involvedin the crystallization of some rocks. The necessary data arethe amounts and compositions of both kinds of coexisting feldsparsand of the feldspar components of the coexisting liquid at oneor more stages of the crystallization process. Volcanic rocksare most suitable for such studies. The terminations explain many of the compositional relationshipspossible between feldspar crystals and silicate melt under geologicaland experimental conditions. These compositional relationshipsare fundamental to understanding the crystallization of igneousrocks and the formation of melts by partial fusion. Other geologicalapplications include a simple explanation for some resorbedfeldspars, the separation, correlation, and comparison of porphyriticrock units, interpretation of compositional changes of successivezones of zoned feldspars, and mantling of one feldspar by another.With all types of termination, extensive fractionation yieldsa liquid rich in Or and Ab that may crystallize to alkali feldsparor feldspars.     

Origin of Basalt Magmas: An Experimental Study of Natural and Synthetic Rock Systems

Natural basalts and eclogites were investigated experimentallyat a series of temperatures in the pressure range 1 atm to 40kb and with water pressures 1 to 10 kb. Some runs were alsomade on related synthetic systems at 10 and 33 kb. The two principal magma types recognized by field investigators—tholeiiteand alkali basalt types-appear to be separated by equilibriumthermal divides at 1 atm. The principal divides were found byexperiment at elevated pressures to give way to a new set ofequilibrium thermal divides resulting from a new mineralogy.The change of the equilibrium thermal divides with pressureleads to the derivation of the two principal magma trends fromthe same bulk composition. The melting behavior of basalts and eclogites indicates thatboth are the partial melting products of a more primitive rock(e.g. garnet peridotite). In the region of magma generation(below 60 km) the parental material, presumed to be garnet peridotite,yields an eclogitic magma and its fractionation depends on thegarnet and omphacite of the eclogite, not on plagioclase andclinopyroxene of a basaltic magma. Increase of the garnet constituentsin the magma at high pressure by effective removal of omphaciteor shift of the garnet-omphacite boundary ‘surface’will give rise to a tholeiite-type magma at low pressure. Similarly,increase of the omphacite constituents in the magma at highpressure by physical or physicochemical means will give riseto an alkali basalt-type magma at low pressure. In general,alkali basalt-type magmas are to be expected to be generatedat greater depths than tholeiite-type magmas from the same primarysource rock. Establishment of the two major basalt series takes place inthe region of generation; additional minor diversification ofeach series may come about after emplacement in or on the crustby crystal settling, oxidation or reduction, gas fluxing, contamination,and other processes. The derivative magmas are greatly restrictedby the course of liquid thermal descent imposed at generation. Pressure-temperature limits established experimentally suggestthat the basalt-eclogite transformation may be responsible forthe Mohorovii discontinuity under the continents, but not underthe oceans. The field of stability of basalt is drastically reduced in thepresence of water, and amphibolite is produced. The meltingof amphibolite takes place over a much greater range of temperaturethan basalt. At 10 kb water pressure the beginning of meltingof amphibolite closely approaches that of granite. Partial meltingof amphibolite may yield anorthositic liquids having a relativelylow anorthite content at exceptionally low temperatures. Eclogiteitself is not stable in the presence of water and gives placeto amphibolite or pyroxene hornblendite. Magmas which crystallizeto basalt, gabbro, or eclogite must have had a low water-contentat the time of crystallization. Fifteen rock and twenty-three mineral analyses as well as numerouspartial chemical analyses of experimental products were madeby J. H. Scoon in the course of the investigation. These chemicalanalyses bear on many mineralogical and petrological problems.     

Muscovite Reactions and Partial Melting in South-eastern Connecticut

A sillimanite-orthoclase isograd mapped in south-eastern Connecticutcuts across the strike of the major Ordovician pelitic schistunit. This isograd separates a sillimanite muscovite zone froma sillimanite-orthoclase zone. Muscovite is not present in thesillimanite-orthoclase zone. Segments of all the Cambrian (?) and Ordovician units in south-easternConnecticut were affected by the reaction: muscovite_ssquartzsodicplagioclase_ss = sillimaniteorthoclase_ssless sodic plagioclase_sswater (Guidotti, 1963), and possibly by reactions such as muscovite_ssbiotite_ss3 quartz – orthoclase_ssgarnet_ssTi-rich biotite_sswater.This metamorphism was a post-Lower Devonian event. The sodiumcontent of orthoclases and data on stability boundaries formuscovite, anthophyllite, and cordierite suggest temperaturesof metamorphism in the sillimanite-orthoclase zone of more than650 C. Migmatites were formed during this metamorphic event,partly by isochemical elimination of muscovite to form 7 percent. orthoclase for every 10 per cent. modal muscovite initiallypresent. Most of the migmatites must have developed by partialmelting of rocks in which muscovite was being eliminated, andby the intrusion of melt from deeper zones in which biotitewas being eliminated. Melting in the lower-temperature partof the sillimanite-orthoclase zone must have been controlledby the amount of water released from muscovite; melting in thehigher temperature part may have been more extensive if thetemperature was sufficiently high to produce melts undersaturatedwith water.     

Differential effects of salinity and soil saturation on native and exotic plants of a coastal salt marsh

In many southern California salt marshes, increased freshwater inflows have promoted the establishment of exotic plant species. A comparative study showed that a native, perennial, high marsh dominant,Salicornia subterminalis, and an invasive, exotic annual grass,Polypogon monspeliensis, responded differently to soil salinity and saturation.Salicornia subterminalis seeds and young plants were more salt tolerant, and the native grew best at high salinities (23 g 1^?1 and 34 g 1^?1) in greenhouse experiments. In contrast, the exotic had reduced growth at high salinities relative to nonsaline controls. The native,S. subterminalis, grew poorly as the duration of soil saturation increased from 2 wk to 32 wk, butP. monspeliensis grew equally well for all durations tested. The response ofS. subterminalis andP. monspeliensis to increased salinity indicated that salt applications might be used to protect native vegetation in salt marshes where salt-sensitive exotics are a problem. A field experiment verified that a salt application of 850 g m^?2 mo^?1 for 3 mo was sufficient to control the exotic, while not noticeably affecting the native. Thus, salt applications may be a practical method for controllingP. monspeliensis invasions in areas receiving urban runoff or other unwanted freshwater inflows.     

Climatic and limnological changes at Lake Karakul (Tajikistan) during the last ~29 cal ka

We present results of analyses on a sediment core from Lake Karakul, located in the eastern Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan. The core spans the last ~29 cal ka. We investigated and assessed processes internal and external to the lake to infer changes in past moisture availability. Among the variables used to infer lake-external processes, high values of grain-size end-member (EM) 3 (wide grain-size distribution that reflects fluvial input) and high Sr/Rb and Zr/Rb ratios (coinciding with coarse grain sizes), are indicative of moister conditions. High values in EM1, EM2 (peaks of small grain sizes that reflect long-distance dust transport or fine, glacially derived clastic input) and TiO₂ (terrigenous input) are thought to reflect greater influence of dry air masses, most likely of Westerly origin. High input of dust from distant sources, beginning before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and continuing to the late glacial, reflects the influence of dry Westerlies, whereas peaks in fluvial input suggest increased moisture availability. The early to early-middle Holocene is characterised by coarse mean grain sizes, indicating constant, high fluvial input and moister conditions in the region. A steady increase in terrigenous dust and a decrease in fluvial input from 6.6 cal ka BP onwards points to the Westerlies as the predominant atmospheric circulation through to present, and marks a return to drier and even arid conditions in the area. Proxies for productivity (TOC, TOC/TN, TOC _Br ), redox potential (Fe/Mn) and changes in the endogenic carbonate precipitation (TIC, δ¹⁸O _Carb ) indicate changes within the lake. Low productivity characterised the lake from the late Pleistocene until 6.6 cal ka BP, and increased rapidly afterwards. Lake level remained low until the LGM, but water depth increased to a maximum during the late glacial and remained high into the early Holocene. Subsequently, the water level decreased to its present stage. Today the lake system is mainly climatically controlled, but the depositional regime is also driven by internal limnogeological processes.     

The Rio Dell Formation: a Plio-Pleistocene basin slope deposit in Northern California

The Rio Dell Formation (Pleistocene and Pliocene), exposed south of Eureka, California, is a prograded sequence of basinal turbidites overlain by basin slope and shelf deposits. The slope deposits studied in the Centerville Beach section accumulated in a steadily shallowing environment delineated by analysis of palaeobathymetrically significant benthonic foraminiferal biofacies in turn suggesting deposition at depths of 1000–100 m. Lower slope deposits interfinger with basinal turbidites derived from the Eel River delta to the north. Slumped blocks of silty mudstone, and associated silt and mud beds, are common. The middle slope deposits are mudstones; coarser sediments bypassed this zone. Mudstones and muddy siltstones alternate on the upper slope. Shallow depressions, probably slump scars, that have been rapidly filled by upper slope sediment are common. The transition to shelf deposits is marked by an increase in sediment grain size, in the degree of oxidation, and in the abundance of megafossils. High percentages of benthonic foraminifera displaced from shelf depths indicate that resedimentation processes are most important on the upper slope.