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.     

Indian Continental Crust Recovered from Elan Bank, Kerguelen Plateau (ODP Leg 183, Site 1137)

At Site 1137 on Elan Bank of the Kerguelen Plateau, a largeigneous province in the southern Indian Ocean, a fluvial, volcaniclastic,polymict conglomerate and a fluvial sandstone are intercalatedwith subaerially erupted tholeiitic basalt flows. Clasts recoveredfrom the conglomerate have highly variable lithologies, includingalkali basalt, rhyolite, trachyte, granitoid and gneiss. Majorand trace element abundances and whole-rock isotopic data forthe sandstones, the conglomerate matrix and representative clastsfrom the conglomerate are used to infer the origin of thesediverse rock types. The gneiss clasts show an affinity to crustalrocks from India, particularly those of the Eastern Ghats Beltand its possible East Antarctic corollary, the Rayner Complex.The felsic volcanic clasts are not genetically related to theintercalated basalt flows, despite being erupted contemporaneouslywith these basaltic magmas. These felsic volcanic clasts probablyformed from partial melting of evolved upper continental crust.The granitoid also probably formed by partial melting of continentalcrust and could be an intrusive equivalent of the felsic volcanicrocks. In contrast, the alkali basalt clasts have isotopic compositionsthat are more similar to those of the tholeiitic basalt flowsrecovered at Site 1137; however, these clasts are highly alkalic(tephrite to phonotephrite) and have a distinct petrogenesisfrom the tholeiitic basalt flow units. KEY WORDS: geochemistry; Indian Ocean; Kerguelen Plateau; large igneous provinces; Ocean Drilling Program