Two-pyroxene thermometry of Precambrian granulites from Cape Riche, Albany-Fraser Province, Western Australia

Coexisting Ca-poor and Ca-rich pyroxenes in granulites at Cape Riche, in the Precambrian Albany-Fraser Province, Western Australia, are dominantly chemically homogeneous within individual samples, suggesting a major episode of equilibration. However, occasional grains in a few samples contain exsolved domains interpreted as relics of an earlier, higher-T assemblage. Pyroxene pairs in ten, presumably isothermal, samples from a restricted area are used to (i) assess the suitability of several versions of the two-pyroxene thermometer for application to metamorphic rocks, and (ii) determine the thermal history of the Cape Riche pyroxenes. The various versions of the two-pyroxene thermometer applied to the well-equilibrated homogeneous pyroxene grains show poor to good precision and yield mean temperatures varying widely from 683° to 893°C, in the following order of increasing T: Lindsley (1983; opx version), 683°± 11°C; Kretz (1982; K_D version), 705°± 19°C; Ross & Huebner (1975), 709°± 30°C; Kretz (1982; solvus version), 735°± 24°C; Fonarev & Graphchikov (1982; opx version), <750°C; Lindsley (1983; cpx version), 784°± 40°C; Fonarev & Graphchikov (1982; cpx version), ~820°± 30°C; Wood & Banno (1973), 849°± 16°C; Powell (1978), 854°± 23°C; Wells (1977), 893°± 10°C. Independent T estimates, based on mafic assemblages and garnet-biotite thermometry, suggest that the major episode of metamorphism occurred at 700-800°C (P ~ 5 kbar). Therefore the Wells, Powell, Wood & Banno and Fonarev & Graphchikov (cpx) temperatures are almost certainly too high. In the absence of a more precise independent T estimate it is difficult to assess the relative merits of the results obtained from the remaining versions of the two-pyroxene thermometer, none of which can be unequivocally demonstrated to be seriously in error, though the Lindsley (opx) T is probably too low. Other significant shortcomings evident in the results include the relatively poor precision obtained from the three methods based on purely graphical representation of the augite limb of the solvus (i.e., the Ross & Huebner, Fonarev & Graphchikov (cpx) and Lindsley (cpx) versions), and the apparent dependence of derived T on Mg/Fe²⁺ ratio for the Powell, Wood & Banno and Lindsley (cpx) methods. For the bulk compositions of exsolved domains, the different versions of the two-pyroxene thermometer yield mean temperatures 23° to 82°C (overall mean, 65°C) higher than for homogeneous grains in the same samples. These exsolved domains are interpreted as relics of a higher-T (peak?) metamorphic assemblage, rather than an igneous precursor.     

Channel geometry,bed material,and inferred flow conditions in ephemeral stream systems,barrier range,western N.S.W. Australia

Streams draining the Barrier Range uplands in arid western N.S.W. are ephemeral and undergo rapid channel contraction away from the uplands as a consequence of transmission loss. These processes are documented on the basis of surveys of channel form and bed material at sequential sites located along the contracting lowland reaches of two representative streams. Channel width and depth display considerable fluctuation downstream, but cross-sectional area and maximum bed surface grain size decline in a very regular manner. Flood discharge, estimated from the channel capacity and predicted critical and mean flow velocities, also declines regularly. the trends are well fitted by log-linear models, and are reported in terms of a half-distance, the channel length in km over which the value of a morphometric parameter declines by 50 per cent. Rates of channel contraction and transmission loss are inferred to be inversely proportional to the volume of flow delivered from the upland section of the drainage basin. Unusual channel characteristics, including extensive tree growth in the bed, make application of ordinary flow equations difficult, because friction factors cannot be estimated with confidence. Systematic changes in the nature of the bed surface in contracting streams such as those studied here also have implications for the application of critical velocity equations, and highlight a need for further study of desert channels.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: Marine Resources of Kuwait: Their Role in the Development of Non-oil Resources . Fatimah H. Y. al -Abdul -Razzak Recollections of a Revolution: Geography as Spatial Science . Mark Billinge , Derek Gregory and Ron Martin Entre l'Eden et l'Utopie . Luc Bureau Developments in Political Geography . M. A. Busteed The Elements of Graphing Data . William S. Cleveland Rural Resource Management . Paul J. Cloke and Chris C. Park Third World Atlas . Ben Crow and Alan Thomas Exploitation, Conservation, Preservation: A Geographic Perspective on Natural Resource Use . Susan L. Cutter , Hilary Lambert Renwick, and William H. Renwick . Wine Regions of the Southern Hemisphere . Harm Jan de Blij Regional Development: Problems and Policies in Eastern and Western Europe . George Demko The Geographer at Work . Peter R. Gould Change in the Amazon Basin . John Hemming Geography Since the Second World War . R. J. Johnston and P. Claval Urbanization in China: Town and Countryside in a Developing Economy 1949–2000 A.D. , R. J. R. Kirkby Transport and Communications for Pacific Microstates: Issues in Organisation and Management . Christopher C. Kissling Fluvial Forms and Processes . David Knighton The Urban Millennium . Josef W. Konvitz Technological Transition in Cartography . Mark Stephen Monmonier Field Guide to Soils and the Environment: Applications of Soil Surveys . Gerald W. Olson Northern Australia: The Arenas of Life and Ecosystems on Half a Continent . Don Parkes A Killing Rain: The Global Threat of Acid Rain . Thomas Pawlick From the Family Farm to Agribusiness: The Irrigation Crusade in California and the West, 1850–1931 . Donald J. Pisani Hybrid Maize Diffusion in Kenya . Franz -Michael Rundquist Warning and Response to the Mount St. Helens Eruption . Thomas F. Saarinen and James L. Sell Coastal Geomorphology in Australia . B. G. Thom Tropical Rain Forests of the Far East , 2nd ed . T. C. Whitmore The Dark Side of the Earth . Robert Muir Wood Categorical Data Analysis for Geographers and Environmental Scientists , Neil Wrigley     

Paleomagnetic constraints on Zn–Pb ore genesis of the Pillara Mine, Lennard Shelf, Western Australia

The Pillara Zn–Pb deposit is the largest of several known Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits in the Lennard Shelf of the Canning Basin. Paleomagnetic and rock magnetic measurements are reported for 294 specimens from 23 sites in mineralization and its carbonate host rocks from the deposit as well as on 15 artificial specimens of zinc and lead concentrate and of tailings. Pyrrhotite carries the characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) in nearly all specimens. The ChRM postdates most faulting as shown by breccia tests and most minor regional tilting as shown by the degraded fit on tilt correction. The mean ChRM direction for all sites is D=20.6°, I=–27.5° (N=23, ₉₅=5.3°, k=34.1), yielding an age of 358±5 Ma (2) that is similar to the comparable age of 354±8 Ma (2) for the Kapok MVT deposit. Host rock diagenesis with attendant secondary remagnetization yields an age of 361±5 Ma (1) and the MVT mineralization with a primary chemical remanent magnetization gives an age of 356±3 Ma (1), co-eval with a published Rb–Sr sphalerite age of 357±3 Ma. Interpretation of this temporal data suggests that the MVT deposits of the southeastern Lennard Shelf originated during extension, probably in response to rift-related topography-driven fluid flow.Editorial handling: C. Brauhart     

Earthquake-controlled event deposits and its tectonic significance from the Middle Permian Wandrawandian Siltstone in the Sydney Basin,Australia

Earthquake is a disaster event resulting from rapid and intensive crustal vibration caused by fault activity, volcanic eruption, or block dilapidation. Heezen and Ewing[1] and Heezen and Dyke[2] were the first to note earthquake-related mass movement and associated deposits in connection to the turbidity currents and submarine slumps triggered by the Grand Bank Earthquake in 1929. Seilacher[3] defined redeposited sedimentary beds, disturbed and modified by earth- quakes, as seismite. Since t…     

造山带金矿研究现状与存在的问题

造山带金矿是当前矿床学和大地构造学研究热点,Groves等(1998)、Goldfarb等(2001)基于太古"地壳连续模式"(Groves,1993)的研究工作以涉及资料量大、应用成果新、考虑地质因素多而居于这一领域前沿.但是,目前众多研究对前寒武地质与显生宙地质的宏观差异、世界金矿一些总体规律及若干具体大地构造背景等尚认识不足.显生宙缺乏太古代大规模火成活动,已知金矿中很少同变质深成型(hypozonal),以浅变质岩为围岩的金矿区中没有相当的中-深变质岩为围岩的金矿."太古绿岩带"金矿区同样也缺乏浅变质岩为围岩的金矿.华北地块周边金矿主要形成在侏罗-白垩纪,明显晚于大兴安岭造山带和秦岭-大别山造山带,而与欧亚陆缘近南北向燕山期岩浆弧有关.距俯冲带较远、缺乏蛇绿混杂岩与大规模变质作用、发育大量中-新生代盆地及广泛地壳减薄等表明,中国东部与北美科迪勒拉(Cordillera)造山带晚中生代地质存在宏观差异,燕山期岩浆弧可能形成于一个以伸展为主导的环境,大量以花岗岩为围岩或相对太古变质围岩后生成因金矿及其成矿的大地构造背景值得深入研究,弄清各类显生宙金矿与造山带的关系是推进造山带金矿研究的关键.     

Comparison of conceptual landscape metrics to define hillslope-scale sediment delivery ratio

The aim of this study was to evaluate four metrics to define the spatially variable (regionalised) hillslope sediment delivery ratio (HSDR). A catchment model that accounted for gully and streambank erosion and floodplain deposition was used to isolate the effects of hillslope gross erosion and hillslope delivery from other landscape processes. The analysis was carried out at the subcatchment (~ 40 km²) and the cell scale (400 m²) in the Avon-Richardson catchment (3300 km²), south-east Australia. The four landscape metrics selected for the study were based on sediment travel time, sediment transport capacity, flux connectivity, and residence time. Model configurations with spatially-constant or regionalised HSDR were calibrated against sediment yield measured at five gauging stations. The impact of using regionalised HSDR was evaluated in terms of improved model performance against measured sediment yields in a nested monitoring network, the complexity and data requirements of the metric, and the resulting spatial relationship between hillslope erosion and landscape factors in the catchment and along hillslope transects. The introduction of a regionalised HSDR generally improved model predictions of specific sediment yields at the subcatchment scale, increasing model efficiency from 0.48 to > 0.6 in the best cases. However, the introduction of regionalised HSDR metrics at the cell scale did not improve model performance. The flux connectivity was the most promising metric because it showed the largest improvement in predicting specific sediment yields, was easy to implement, was scale-independent and its formulation was consistent with sedimentological connectivity concepts. These properties make the flux connectivity metric preferable for applications to catchments where climatic conditions can be considered homogeneous, i.e. in small-medium sized basins (up to approximately 3000 km² for Australian conditions, with the Avon-Richardson catchment being at the upper boundary). The residence time metric improved model assessment of sediment yields and enabled accounting for climatic variability on sediment delivery, but at the cost of greater complexity and data requirements; this metric might be more suitable for application in catchments with important climatic gradients, i.e. large basins and at the regional scale. The application of a regionalised HSDR metric did not increase data or computational requirements substantially, and is recommended to improve assessment of hillslope erosion in empirical, semi-lumped erosion modelling applications. However, more research is needed to assess the quality of spatial patterns of erosion depicted by the different landscape metrics.     

Interdecadal modulation of the relationship between ENSO,IPO and precipitation: insights from tree rings in Australia

Australian climate-proxy reconstructions based on tree rings from tropical and subtropical forests have not been achieved so far due to the rarity of species producing anatomically distinct annual growth rings. Our study identifies the Australian Red Cedar (Toona ciliata) as one of the most promising tree species for tree-ring research in Australasia because this species exhibits distinct annual tree rings, a prerequisite for high quality tropical dendroclimatology. Based on these preliminary studies, we were able, for the first time in subtropical and tropical Australia, to develop a statistically robust, precisely dated and annually resolved chronology back to AD1854. We show that the variability in ring widths of T. ciliata is mainly dependent on annual precipitation. The developed proxy data series contains both high- and low-frequency climate signals which can be associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO). A comparison of different data sets (Brisbane precipitation, tree rings, coral luminescence record from the Great Barrier Reef, ENSO and IPO) revealed non-stationary correlation patterns throughout the twentieth century but little instability between the new tree-ring chronology and Brisbane precipitation.     

Finding common ground? Spaces of dialogue and the negotiation of Indigenous interests in environmental campaigns in Australia

Critiquing the usefulness of cosmopolitanism this paper argues that we need a more nuanced and subtle understanding of how commonalities are found, created and maintained across difference. This paper uses two juxtapositions of perspective (around place and environment) to explore how such boundaries of difference can be negotiated. It uses an examination of the ways in which environmental groups in Australia have sought to negotiate Indigenous interests through creating spaces of dialogue and changing working practices. It is based on 30 interviews with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists across two case regions; Cape York (Queensland) and Barmah-Millewa (Victoria/New South Wales). Four issues were identified that have proved particularly contentious in negotiations to build collaborative campaigns: language; power and ownership; scale and timeframes; and economics. There are examples of both successes and ongoing problematic practices across these tensions. However there is also a growing mutual ownership of the issues. Moving beyond a colonial paternal sense of responsibility, to a dynamic and engaged mutuality of concern for both processes and outcomes has resulted in gradual, small, and progressive steps forward in Indigenous/non-Indigenous collaborative environmental campaigning.