Origin of sandplains in Western Australia: A review of the debate and some recent findings

Views on the origin of sandplains in Western Australia remain controversial with debate focusing around three different models of formation. These are in situ, aeolian and in situ formation with local remobilisation by wind or colluvial transport. The only recent work on the subject to date espouses a dominantly aeolian origin. New work from a detailed study on the Victoria Plateau is described and demonstrates the applicability of utilising a range of evidence in understanding the origin of sandplains in Western Australia. Field investigations show a strong association of sandplain with sandstone and an absence of sand on non‐arenaceous geology in similar and adjacent topographic settings. Grainsize, mineral magnetic analysis and heavy‐mineral spectra show the Victoria Plateau to be a heterogeneous body of sand. These findings coupled with a lack of internal sedimentary structures are not consistent with an aeolian origin for the sandplain. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy, grainsize and heavy minerals also demonstrate a clear link between bedrock and overlying sandplain. These data support the hypothesis that Western Australian sandplains are mostly the product of in situ weathering. Such findings question whether the origin of sandplains can be satisfactorily deduced without such a range of data.     

Trace‐element signatures of apatites in granitoids from the Mt Isa Inlier,northwestern Queensland

The concentrations of trace elements in apatite from granitoid rocks of the Mt Isa Inlier have been investigated using the laser‐ablation inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) microprobe. The results indicate that the distribution of trace elements (especially rare‐earth elements (REE), Sr, Y, Mn and Th) in apatite strongly reflects the chemical characteristics of the parental rock. The variations in the trace‐element concentrations of apatite are correlated with parameters such as the SiO₂ content, oxidation state of iron, total alkalis and the aluminium saturation index (ASI). The relative enrichment of Y, HREE and Mn and the relative depletion of Sr in the apatites studied reflect the degree of fractionation of the host granite. Apatites from strongly oxidised plutons tend to have higher concentrations of LREE relative to MREE. Manganese concentrations are higher in apatite from reduced granitoids because Mn²⁺substitutes directly for Ca²⁺. The La/Ce ratio of apatite is well‐correlated with the whole‐rock K²O and Na²O contents, as well as with the oxidation state and ASI. Because apatite trace‐element composition reflects the chemistry of the whole rock, it can be a useful indicator mineral for the recognition of mineralised granite suites, where particular mineralisation styles are associated with granitoids that have specific geochemical fingerprints.     

Silurian and Devonian systems

The Ediacara mineral field is situated 30 km W of Beltana on the western margins of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, and consists of silver‐lead and copper deposits in lower Cambrian carbonate rocks that contain anomalous base‐metal contents throughout the Adelaide Geosyncline. The lower Cambrian rocks, which consist of the basal Parachilna Formation and overlying Ajax Limestone, rest disconformably on the Precambrian, and at Ediacara occupy a shallow N‐S elongate syncline near the hinge zone of the Adelaide Geosyncline. The main primary ore minerals of the silver‐lead mineralization are galena and pyrite, with very minor chalcopyrite and sphalerite, and rare tetrahedrite and pearceite. The gangue consists mainly of silica (both chalcedony and quartz), with minor dolomite and rare barite. The mineralization is stratabound and occurs in conformable zones, the lowest of which commences about 30–50 m above the base of the Cambrian sequence. The host to the silver‐lead mineralization, the Ajax Limestone, can be subdivided into three units which represent a set of lithologies, structures and organic traces indicative of a shallow near‐shore carbonate environment. The silver‐lead mineralization is mainly present in sandy and laminated dolomites which were deposited in an environment ranging from sub‐tidal to bar and channel and tidal flat, respectively. Four types of mineralization have been recognized; disseminated sulphides of syngenetic and/or diagenetic origin and epigenetic concentrations along stylolites, in veins and as breccia fillings. Post‐depositional solution activity has affected a large proportion of the carbonate sequence. The effects of this activity range from stylolites through stylobreccias to solution collapse breccias. The epigenetic concentrations of mineralizations have apparently been formed by the remobilization of the disseminated sulphides during solution activity. The ore and gangue minerals of the epigenetic mineralization display both euhedral forms and distinct colloform banding, and framboidal textures have also been observed in both pyrite and galena. There is evidence of repeated episodic precipitation and no simple paragenetic sequence can be recognized. Fluid inclusions in silica and dolomite associated with the epigenetic mineralization have homogenization temperatures of 159 to 199°C and freezing temperatures that indicate the fluids to be saline brines containing NaCl with CaCl₂ and/or MgCl₂. Sulphur isotope analyses show a range of 8³⁴S values from ‐12.5 to +8.6 per mil, with no evidence of significant differences between the four types of mineralization. The data suggest deposition of the disseminated sulphides as a result of biological reduction of seawater sulphate in a system partially open with respect to sulphate supply. Subsequent remobilization of sulphides apparently involved little or no sulphur isotope fractionation. The Ediacara silver‐lead deposits have many features in common with Mississippi Valley‐type lead‐zinc deposits and appear to have similarities in terms of genesis, in that the epigenetic mineralization has been formed as a result of post‐depositional solution activity during diagenesis in a sedimentary basin. The scale of transport of the metals deposited as the epigenetic mineralization at Ediacara appears, however, to have been very much less than that of the metals in other Mississippi Valley‐type deposits.     

攀西地区铁钛氧化物矿物的显微结构

本文用矿石显微镜及单晶X射线分析方法,研究了攀枝花—西昌地区铁钛氧化物矿物的显微结构共生组合特点、各出溶相间的关系和分布方位以及不同岩石和矿石显微结构共生组合上的差异。业已查明它们受岩浆旋回和岩石类型所控制。本文指出了磁铁矿-钛铁晶石固溶体显微出溶结构可能是拐点分解经调制结构后的终期产物。     

自然金—银类质同象系列矿物晶胞参数变化规律及其表述方程

本文提出了自然金-银类质同象系列矿物的晶胞参数与金、银原子数百分比成二次函数关系,推导出了表示二者之间函数关系的方程式。利用该方程式,可以用金原子数百分比计算出晶胞参数,反之亦然。并且从金、银二者的电负性出发,对a值的变化作了解释。     

An introduction to ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism

Abstract Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism refers to mineralogical and structural readjustment of supracrustal protoliths and associated mafic-ultramafic rocks at mantle pressures greater than ∼ 25 kbar (80-90 km). Typical products include metapelite, quartzite, marble, granulite, eclogite, paragneiss and orthogneiss; minor mafic and ultramafic rocks occur as eclogitic-ultramafic layers or blocks of various dimensions within the supracrustal rocks. For appropriate bulk compositions, metamorphism at great depths produces coesite, microdiamond and other characteristic UHP minerals with unusual compositions. Thus far, at least seven coesite-bearing eclogitic terranes and three diamond-bearing UHP regions have been documented. All lie within major continental collision belts in Eurasia, have similar supracrustal protoliths and metamorphic assemblages, occur in long, discontinuous belts that may extend several hundred kilometers or more, and typically are associated with contemporaneous high-P blueschist belts. This paper defines the P-T regimes of UHP metamorphism and describes mineralogical, petrological and tectonic characteristics for a few representative UHP terranes including the western gneiss region of Norway, the Dora Maira massif of the western Alps, the Dabie Mountains and the Su-Lu region of east-central China, and the Kokchetav massif of the former USSR. Prograde P-T paths for coesite-bearing eclogites require abnormally low geothermal gradients (approximately 7°C/km) that can be accomplished only by subduction of cold, oceanic crust-capped lithosphere ± pelagic sediments or an old, cold continent. The preservation of coesite inclusions in garnet, zircon, omphacite, kyanite and epidote, and microdiamond inclusions in garnet and zircon during exhumation of an UHP terrane requires either an extraordinarily fast rate of denudation (up to 10 cm/year) or continuous refrigeration in an extensional regime (retreating subduction zone).     

岩石颗粒解离试验研究

试验确定，在用HCI和NaOH试剂解离硅质胶结的沉积岩时，浓度5％的试剂即可达到解离度95％以上，且颗粒表面特征、重矿物数量和重矿物标型特征较浓度10％的试剂处理的样品保存得更好。     

某些铀酰矿物加热后的荧光特征

本文描述了11个铀酰矿物加热后的显微荧光特征,并对实验结果进行了初步探讨。随着温度的升高,其相对荧光强度均有不同程度的衰减直至猝灭,但衰减的速度和猝灭的温度是各不相同的。热至200℃时测量的荧光光谱和常温下的荧光光谱相比,不同矿物变化也各不相同。本文根据实验结果绘制了荧光和温度关系曲线及加热至200℃时的荧光光谱曲线。这种荧光变化可能与加热后矿物失水和晶体结构变化有关。对鉴定铀酰矿物具有重要的意义。