Cryptalgal-metazoan bioherms of early Ordovician age in the St George Group, western Newfoundland

Bioherms are common in the St George Group, a sequence of shallow-water carbonate rocks deposited on the western continental shelf of Iapetus Ocean. They range from small heads and metre-sized mounds to extensive banks and complexes many metres thick and hundreds of metres in lateral extent. The cores of these bioherms are principally composed of thrombolites (unlaminated, branching, columnar stromatolites), structures quite distinct from laminated stromatolites which are common in intertidal beds. Associated with thrombolites is a diverse fauna of burrowing invertebrates, trilobites, nautiloids, pelmatozoans, brachiopods, gastropods, rostroconchs and archaeoscyphiid sponges. On the basis of framework-building components, three main bioherm types are distinguished: (1) thrombolite mounds, (2) thrombolite-Lichenaria or -sponge mounds and (3) thrombolite-Lichenaria-Renalcis reef complexes. The framework of the last is the most complex, with abundant cavities and a demonstrably uneven growth surface of thrombolites, corals and free-standing Renalcis heads, walls and roofs. Some cavities were active sediment conduits while others were protected, their roofs draped with Renalcis and their walls coated by cryptalgal laminites. These bioherms possess the attributes of shallow-water ecologic reefs. They span a critical time gap in the development of reefs, the transition period from algal-dominated bioherms of the Precambrian and Cambrian to the metazoan-dominated bioherms of the Middle Ordovician and remaining Phanerozoic.     

The Four Plutonic Belts of the Transhimalaya-Himalaya: a Chemical, Mineralogical, Isotopic, and Chronological Synthesis along a Tibet-Nepal Section

The geochemistry (major, trace element, O- and Sr-isotope ratios)and petrology of the Transhimalaya, North Himalaya, High Himalayaand ‘Lesser Himalaya’ plutonic belts are comparedbased on the analyses of up to 492 samples. The composite Transhimalaya batholith is subalkaline or monzoniticin character rather than calc-alkaline. Its genesis was probablyclosely related to subduction processes associated with strike-slipmovement. It was emplaced on both sides of the boundary betweenan earlier metavolcanic arc and a continental margin. Two principalperiods of magmatic activity occurred: Upper Cretaceous and,particularly in this region, Eocene at the time of the India-Eurasiacollision when sediments may have become involved in the subductionprocess. Magmatic differentiation, characterized by two superimposedstages of evolution, and hybridization processes, involvingboth basic and acidic magmas, can account for the genesis ofthe different plutonic units. Although a continental contributionis implied, the isotopic data (6.8 < ¹⁸O < 9?2; 0?704< ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, < 0?707) preclude a significant contributionfrom either old crust or surface derived sediments. The North, High and ‘Lesser’ Himalaya plutonic beltsare fundamentally different and correspond to aluminous associationsof two groups of ages (Lower Palaeozoic for the ‘LesserHimalaya’ and part of the North Himalaya; Upper Cenozoicfor the High Himalaya and part of the North Himalaya). Theyare all high-¹⁸O (9 < ¹⁸O < 14) granites and adamelliteswith high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, ratios (0?709 to < 0?740). TheLower Palaeozoic group was generated within the Gondwana continentalcrust, independent of any true orogenesis, with a probable butlimited contribution from the mantle. High Himalaya and NorthHimalaya Cenozoic plutons are directly linked to the activityof the Main Central Thrust. They were derived by similar anatecticprocesses of the same continental source rocks. The small butdistinct chemical and mineralogical differences among the plutonsare related to the increase in the intensity of anatexis ongoing towards the north and the east.     

Hummocky cross-stratification in the surf zone: flow parameters and bedding genesis

Primary sedimentary structures exhibiting the diagnostic criteria for single sets of hummocky cross-stratification (Harms et al.) have been found in the surf zone of a storm-wave dominated coastline in the Canadian Great Lakes. Epoxy peels of box cores (0.45 m × 0.30 m) reveal hummocky stratification in well-sorted, fine-grained sands in water depths less than 2 m under conditions of wave breaking and strong longshore currents. The wavelengths of the hummocks (0.3–0.6 m) are somewhat smaller than the norm for their ancient analogues, but the ratios of length to height (8–12) are comparable. Depth of activity rods have been used to identify those hummocks that formed during sediment transport events when the near-bed currents were recorded directly using electromagnetic flowmeters. Results from such experiments clearly identify the hummocky stratification as being produced by an actively growing bedform with little or no lateral migration. Hummocks occur under conditions close to that expected for the upper flat bed. In one vertical sequence, the hummocky cross-stratification is underlain by subhorizontal, planar lamination and overlain by undulatory lamination which grades upward into small-scale, trough cross-lamination of wave ripple origin. This sequence was associated with a single storm and would appear to represent a combined-flow regime sequence with the hummocky structure representing a post-vortex (?) ripple bedform. At the inferred time of hummock formation, near-bed oscillatory flows were dominant and reached maxima of 1.1 m s ^?1 with a superimposed longshore current of 0.27 m s^?1. Rapid sedimentation associated with vertical growth of the hummocky bedform was triggered by a significant reduction in the orbital currents (by 19%) and'steady'currents (by 67%) while the total bed shear remained high.     

The St George Group (Lower Ordovician) of western Newfoundland: tidal flat island model for carbonate sedimentation in shallow epeiric seas

The St George Group consists of peritidal carbonate rocks deposited on the continental shelf of North America bordering the ancient Iapetus Ocean. These Lower Ordovician rocks are similar to other lower Palaeozoic limestones and dolostones that accumulated in epeiric seas and veneer cratonic areas worldwide. A wide variety of facies in the St George is grouped into seven lithotopes, interpreted to represent supratidal, intertidal and shallow, high- and low-energy subtidal environments. Rapid lateral facies changes can be observed in some field exposures, and demonstrated by correlation of closely spaced sections. The stratigraphic array of these lithotopes, although too irregular to be simplified into shallowing-upward cycles, suggests that they were deposited as small tidal flat islands and banks. Shallow subtidal areas around islands generated sediment and permitted tidal exchange. Tidal flat islands were somewhat variable in character at any one time, and evolved with changing regional hydrographic conditions. The St George rocks suggest an alternative theory of carbonate sedimentation in large, shallow epeiric seas, namely as small islands and banks built by processes that operated in a tidal regime. Furthermore, this island model provides a framework for a mechanism of cyclic carbonate sedimentation, by which small-scale, peritidal cycles represent tidal flat islands that accreted vertically and migrated laterally as local sediment supply from neighbouring subtidal areas waxed and waned during relatively constant subsidence.     

Nepheloid and suspended particulate matter in south-eastern Lake Michigan*

A persistent benthic nepheloid layer with high total suspended matter (TSM) and high total particulate surface area was observed in south-eastern Lake Michigan. The layer thickens from a few metres near the shelf-slope boundary to greater than 10 m at the base of the slope. When compared to the hypolimnion, TSM increases by a factor of 2-20 at 1 m above the bottom, the greatest increase detected at the slope-basin boundary. Sediment trap profiles within the nepheloid layer show that the particulate flux increases exponentially from about 10 m above the bottom to 1 m above the bottom, suggesting that a large fraction of the collected material came from resuspension. A nepheloid layer is created during the formation of the thermal bar and maintained during the stratified period, apparently through the action of weak but persistent currents. This layer is supplemented by lakeward transport of fine particles resuspended near the shelf-slope boundary due to impingement of the thermocline on the bottom, or during higher energy events.     

Dynamics and facies model of a macrotidal sand-bar complex, Cobequid Bay—Salmon River Estuary (Bay of Fundy)

The 40-km-long, Cobequid Bay—Salmon River estuary has a maximum tidal range of 16·3 m and experiences limited wave action. Sediment, which is derived primarily from areas seaward of the estuary, is accumulating faster than the high-tide elevation is rising, and the system is progradational. The deposits consist of an axial belt of sands, which is flanked by mudflats and salt marshes in the inner half of the estuary where a funnel-shaped geometry is developed, and by erosional or non-depositional foreshores in the outer half where the system is confined by the valley walls. The axial sands are divisible into three facies zones: zone 1—elongate, tidal sand bars at the seaward end; zone 2—sand flats with a braided channel pattern; zone 3—the inner, single-channel, tidal—fluvial transition. Tidal current speeds reach a maximum in zone 2, but grain sizes decrease headward (from medium and coarse sand in zone 1, to fine and very fine sand in zones 2 and 3) because the headward termination of the major flood channels prevents the coarse, traction population from entering the inner part of the estuary. Longitudinal progradation will produce a 20-m-thick, upward-fining succession, the lower 1/2–2/3 of which will consist of cross-bedded, medium to coarse sand deposited on the zone 1 sand bars. The ebb-dominated portion of this unit will be finer grained than the flood-dominated part, and will contain trough crossbedding produced by 3-D megaripples; the flood-dominated areas, by contrast, will consist mainly of compound cross-bedding created by sandwaves with superimposed megaripples. Headward migration of swatchways (oblique channels that link the ebb- and flood-dominated areas) will create packages of ebb cross-bedding that is orientated at a high angle to the long axis of the estuary and that contains headwardinclined, lateral-accretion surfaces. The overlying fine and very fine sands of zones 2 and 3 will be composed mainly of upper-flow-regime parallel lamination. The succession will be capped by a 4-m-thick unit of mixed flat, mudflat and salt marsh sediments. A review of other macrotidal estuaries with tidal ranges greater than 10 m suggests that the major elements of the model have general applicability.     

Flow properties of turbidity currents in Bute Inlet, British Columbia

Bute Inlet, a fiord along the southwestern coast of British Columbia, Canada, includes a sea-floor sedimentation system 70 km in length which resembles those developed on some large submarine fans. Turbidity currents originate at the head of the flord on the submerged delta fronts of the Homathko and Southgate rivers. They move downslope for about 30 km within a single large incised channel, spill onto a depositional area termed the channel lobe complex, and finally spread out over a low-relief distal splay area that passes 55 km downslope into a flat basin floor. During the present study, turbidity currents in Bute Inlet were studied using sea-floor morphology, bottom sediment distribution, and in-situ instrument packages. The mean velocities of the most recent flows, estimated from surface sediment grain size, has varied between 100–120 cm s^–1 in the incised channel, 20–50 cms^–1 in the channel lobe complex, and < 5 cm s^–1 on the basin floor. Velocities based on channel morphology are poorly constrained but are in the range of 160-425 cm s^–1 in the upper part of the incised channel and 66 cm s^–1 in the lower channel. Calculated flow densities range from 1.049 to 1.028g cm^–3. Turbidity flows monitored in 1986 using submerged instrument packages exceeded 32 m in thickness in the upper part of the incised channel, where the maximum measured velocity was 330 cm s^–1. At the head of the channel lobe complex the maximum velocity had declined to 75 cm s^–1. The density of the monitored flows is estimated at 1.025-1.03g cm^–3. The cored sediments and channel morphology yield estimates of mean flow velocities that are generally greater than those measured by the in-situ instrument packages and estimated from modern surface sediments. The former suggest past flow velocities up to 500 cm s^–1 in the incised channel, about 20 cm s^–1 in spillover deposits along the lower part of the incised channel, and 100-140 cm s^–1 in the distal splay. The contrast between the velocities of modern and past flows suggests that past flows may have been considerably larger and more energetic than those presently occurring in Bute Inlet. The size properties of sediments in the monitored turbidity flows suggest a strong vertical size gradient in the suspended load during transport. The surface and cored sediments fine downslope from the channel lobe complex to distal splay area. Distinctive sedimentary sequences are recognized in cores from the spillover lobes, channel lobe complex, distal splay, and basin floor depositional areas. Many individual turbidites grade downslope from massive T_a divisions in the channel lobe complex and probably in the incised channel to T_a divisions overlain by slurried divisions on the distal splay and largely slurried beds on the basin floor. These facies suggest that individual currents commonly evolve from largely cohesionless suspensions in the incised channel and channel lobe complex to dilute cohesive slurries downslope on the distal splay and basin floor. Many flows in Bute Inlet fail to develop a traction state of sedimentation and the resulting turbidites lack well-developed T_b. T_c, and T_d divisions.     

Ultramafic Xenoliths from the Bearpaw Mountains, Montana, USA: Evidence for Multiple Metasomatic Events in the Lithospheric Mantle beneath the Wyoming Craton

Ultramafic xenoliths in Eocene minettes of the Bearpaw Mountainsvolcanic field (Montana, USA), derived from the lower lithosphereof the Wyoming craton, can be divided based on textural criteriainto tectonite and cumulate groups. The tectonites consist ofstrongly depleted spinel lherzolites, harzburgites and dunites.Although their mineralogical compositions are generally similarto those of spinel peridotites in off-craton settings, somecontain pyroxenes and spinels that have unusually low Al₂O₃contents more akin to those found in cratonic spinel peridotites.Furthermore, the tectonite peridotites have whole-rock majorelement compositions that tend to be significantly more depletedthan non-cratonic mantle spinel peridotites (high MgO, low CaO,Al₂O₃ and TiO₂) and resemble those of cratonic mantle. Thesecompositions could have been generated by up to 30% partialmelting of an undepleted mantle source. Petrographic evidencesuggests that the mantle beneath the Wyoming craton was re-enrichedin three ways: (1) by silicate melts that formed mica websteriteand clinopyroxenite veins; (2) by growth of phlogopite fromK-rich hydrous fluids; (3) by interaction with aqueous fluidsto form orthopyroxene porphyroblasts and orthopyroxenite veins.In contrast to their depleted major element compositions, thetectonite peridotites are mostly light rare earth element (LREE)-enrichedand show enrichment in fluid-mobile elements such as Cs, Rb,U and Pb on mantle-normalized diagrams. Lack of enrichment inhigh field strength elements (HFSE; e.g. Nb, Ta, Zr and Hf)suggests that the tectonite peridotites have been metasomatizedby a subduction-related fluid. Clinopyroxenes from the tectoniteperidotites have distinct U-shaped REE patterns with strongLREE enrichment. They have ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd values that range from0·5121 (close to the host minette values) to 0·5107,similar to those of xenoliths from the nearby Highwood Mountains.Foliated mica websterites also have low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd values (0·5113)and extremely high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in their constituent phlogopite,indicating an ancient (probably mid-Proterozoic) enrichment.This enriched mantle lithosphere later contributed to the formationof the high-K Eocene host magmas. The cumulate group rangesfrom clinopyroxene-rich mica peridotites (including abundantmica wehrlites) to mica clinopyroxenites. Most contain >30%phlogopite. Their mineral compositions are similar to thoseof phenocrysts in the host minettes. Their whole-rock compositionsare generally poorer in MgO but richer in incompatible traceelements than those of the tectonite peridotites. Whole-rocktrace element patterns are enriched in large ion lithophileelements (LILE; Rb, Cs, U and Pb) and depleted in HFSE (Nb,Ta Zr and Hf) as in the host minettes, and their Sr–Ndisotopic compositions are also identical to those of the minettes.Their clinopyroxenes are LREE-enriched and formed in equilibriumwith a LREE-enriched melt closely resembling the minettes. Thecumulates therefore represent a much younger magmatic event,related to crystallization at mantle depths of minette magmasin Eocene times, that caused further metasomatic enrichmentof the lithosphere. KEY WORDS: ultramafic xenoliths; Montana; Wyoming craton; metasomatism; cumulates; minette