Palaeomagnetism of the Ordovician dolerites of the Crozon Peninsula (France)

Summary. In order to obtain a Lower Palaeozoic pole for the Armorican Massif and to test the origin of the Ibero-Armorican arc, the Ordovician dolerites of the Crozon peninsula have been palaeomagnetically studied. The samples show a multicomponent magnetization which has been revealed by AF and thermal demagnetization and thoroughly investigated with rock magnetic experiments, polished section examinations and K/Ar dating. Four groups of directions have been recognized, often superimposed on each other in an individual sample. One component (D) has always the lowest blocking temperatures and coercivities and is considered to be of viscous origin, acquired recently in situ or in the laboratory during storage. Two components (A and B) are interpreted to be of secondary origin and to correspond to the observed K/Ar age distribution between 300 and 190 Myr. These ages represent the time interval between two regional thermo-tectonic events, associated with the Hercynian orogeny and the intrusion of dykes related to the early opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Biscay. A fourth component (C) could be of Ordovician or younger Palaeozoic age; it is not clear whether the age of the magnetization is pre- or post-folding, but a pre-folding age would yield a direction of magnetization similar to Ordovician results from the Iberian peninsula. The latter interpretation suggests a fairly high palaeolatitude, which is in agreement with a glacio-marine postulated for sediments overlying the dolerite sills.     

Adakitic lavas in the Central Luzon back‐arc region,Philippines: lower crust partial melting products?

Abstract Volcanism in the back-arc side region of Central Luzon, Philippines, with respect to the Manila Trench is characterized by fewer and smaller volume volcanic centers compared to the adjacent forearc side-main volcanic arc igneous rocks. The back-arc side volcanic rocks which include basalts, basaltic andesites, andesites and dacites also contain more hydrous minerals (ie, hornblende and biotite). Adakite-like geochemical characteristics of these back-arc lavas, including elevated Sr, depleted heavy rare earth elements and high Sr/Y ratios, are unlikely to have formed by slab melting, be related to incipient subduction, slab window magmatism or plagioclase accumulation. Field and geochemical evidence show that these adakitic lavas were most probably formed by the partial melting of a garnet-bearing amphibolitic lower crust. Adakitic lavas are not necessarily arc–trench gap region slab melts.     

Early Miocene adakite-like volcanism in the Balkuyumcu region, central Anatolia, Turkey: Petrology and geochemistry

The Balkuyumcu region, located in the southwestern part of Ankara in the Izmir-Ankara suture zone (central Anatolia, Turkey), consists of basic andesitic, andesitic, dacitic and rhyolitic rocks extruded during the Early Miocene (20–22 Ma) as a result of post-collisional volcanism. Balkuyumcu volcanic rocks can be divided into two groups on the basis of their mineralogy and composition: The basic andesitic (BA) and andesitic, dacitic and rhyolitic (ADR) groups. The ADR and BA group of rocks have adakite-like and calc-alkaline characteristics, respectively. The ADR group has higher SiO₂ content, Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios and low MgO, Mg#, Y and Yb contents than the BA group. Both groups have nearly the same Sr, Nd isotopic compositions and display similar normalized multi-element patterns with enrichments in LILE and LREE, depletions in Nb, Ti, Zr, P and a lack of Eu anomalies. Major, trace element and Sr, Nd isotopic data indicate that both groups of rocks were derived from the same source but affected by different magmatic processes during ascent. The adakite-like rocks may have been produced by partial melting of thickened lower continental crust. Fractional crystallization also played a major role in their formation. However, the BA group rocks were derived from partial melting of lower continental crust that was probably delaminated. These rocks appear to have had limited interaction with mantle peridodite during ascent to the surface.     

Groundwater response to tidal fluctuations in a leaky confined coastal aquifer with a finite length

The study on the hydraulic properties of coastal aquifers has significant implications both in hydrological sciences and environmental engineering. Although many analytical solutions are available, most of them are based on the same basic assumption that assumes aquifers extend landward semi‐infinitely, which does not necessarily reflect the reality. In this study, the general solutions for a leaky confined coastal aquifer have been developed that consider both finitely landward constant‐head and no‐flow boundaries. The newly developed solutions were then used to examine theoretically the joint effects of leakage and aquifer length on hydraulic head fluctuations within the leaky confined aquifer, and the validity of using the simplified solution, which assumes the aquifer is semi‐infinite. The results illustrated that the use of the simplified solution may cause significant errors, depending on joint effects of leakage and aquifer length. A dimensionless characteristic parameter was then proposed as an index for judging the applicability of the simplified solution. In addition, practical application of the general solution for the constant‐head inland boundary was used to characterize the hydraulic properties of a leaky confined aquifer using the data collected from a field site at the Seine River estuary, France, and the versatility of the general solution was further justified.     

Rb/Sr ages of rocks from the Chilean metamorphic basement

Eleven whole rock Rb/Sr age determinations from the Chilean metamorphic basement — formerly considered as Precambrian — define two limiting reference isochrons of 342 and 273 my. Analized rocks are phyllites and schists of sedimentary origin with mineralogical assemblages mainly corresponding to the greenschist facies.Two metamorphic series characterize the Chilean metamorphic basement: an eastern low P/T series, and a western high P/T series. Four of the analyzed samples belong to the former and seven to the latter.The obtained age is interpreted as the age of a main metamorphic episode of the basement. This episode would have taken place in the Upper Paleozoic.     

Un modèle dynamique nouveau en contexte basaltique: passage d’une coulée lavique à un écoulement pyroclastique. Exemples du Cantal (Massif Central Français)

The basaltic volcanism which finishes the eruptive activity of the Cantal volcano shows various patterns of the continuous transition from a lava flow to a pyroclastic flow. These sub-aerial deposits can exibit either a laminar or turbulent aspect. The affected lavas show neither mineralogical nor chemical differences from other basalts which did not present this behaviour. The outpouring was along fissures, in the central area of the volcano, as well as the margins; in this last case, it may have involved phreatomagmatic events. Study of the conditions of fragmentation is possible in the case of these basic lavas, because it was delayed until the magma reached the surface. It leads to a better understanding of a phenomenon that, for acid lavas, usually takes place in the feeding channel.     

Geology and Hydrothermal Alteration of the Low Sulfidation

Abstract. The Pantingan Gold System (PGS) is a vein-type epithermal prospect exposed within the summit caldera of Mount Mariveles, Bagac, Bataan (Luzon), Philippines. It consists of nine major veins, eight of which trend NW-WNW and distributed in an en echelon array. The eastern tips of these veins appear to terminate near the NE-NNE trending Vein 1, which is located in the easternmost portion of the prospect. Metal assay results on vein and wall rock samples indicate concentrations of 0.01 to 1.1 g/ton Au, trace to 34 g/ton Ag and 0.003 to 0.02 % Cu. Andesite lava flow deposits host the PGS. Potassium-Argon isotopic dating of these andesites yields anarrow age range of 0.88± 0.13 to 1.13 ± 0.17 Ma. The surface exposures of the veins (up to 5 m wide) are encountered at different levels between 590–740 masl. These commonly display a massive texture although banding prominently occurs in Vein 1. The veins consist of gray to cream-colored crystalline and chalcedonic quartz and amorphous silica. Pyrite is the most ubiquitous sulfide mineral. It occurs either as fine-grained disseminations and aggregates in quartz or as infillings in vugs. Calcite, marcasite and bornite are also occasionally noted in the deposit. The prospect shows silicic, argillic, propylitic and advanced argillic alteration zones. Silicic and argillic alterations are confined in the immediate wall rocks of the quartz veins. Argillic alteration grades to a propylitic zone farther away from the veins. The advanced argillic alteration zone, indicated by a suite of acidic clay minerals that include kaolin-ite, dickite, pyrophyllite and alunite, might have been imprinted during the late stages of gold deposition. As a whole, the PGS displays geological and mineralogical features typical of gold mineralization in a low sulfidation, epithermal environment. It is also representative of a young, tectonically undisturbed gold deposit.