the effects of 10 to 160 gpa shock on the magnetic properties of basalt and diabase hypervelocity impacts within the solar system affect both the magnetic remanence and bulk magnetic properties of planetary materials spherical shock experiments are a novel way to simulate shock events that enable materials to reach high shock pressures with a variable pressure profile across a single sample ranging between 10 and 160 gpa here we present spherical shock experiments on basaltic lava flow and diabase dike samples from the osler volcanic group whose ferromagnetic mineralogy is dominated by pseudo single domain titano magnetite our experiments reveal shock induced changes in rock magnetic properties including a significant increase in remanent coercivity electron and magnetic force microscopy support the interpretation that this coercivity increase is the result of grain fracturing and associated domain wall pinning in multidomain grains we introduce a method to discriminate between mechanical and thermal effects of shock on magnetic properties our approach involves conducting vacuum heating experiments on untreated specimens and comparing the hysteresis properties of heated and shocked specimens first order reversal curve forc experiments on untreated heated and shocked specimens demonstrate that shock and heating effects are fundamentally different for these samples shock has a magnetic hardening effect that does not alter the intrinsic shape of forc distributions while heating alters the magnetic mineralogy as evident from significant changes in the shape of forc contours these experiments contextualize paleomagnetic and rock magnetic data of naturally shocked materials from terrestrial and extraterrestrial impact craters this article is protected by copyright all rights reserved

the mesoproterozoic copperwood sedimentary rock hosted stratiform copper deposit upper peninsula michigan copperwood is located in gogebic county upper peninsula michigan within the porcupine mountains copper district it was discovered in 1956 and in 2008 orvana minerals corp began exploration and development work with production projected in the near future stratiform copper mineralization is hosted by gray to black shales and siltstones of the basal nonesuch formation copper mineralization is overlain by laminated gray siltstones of the nonesuch formation and is underlain by red bed sandstones conglomerates and minor siltstones of the copper harbor formation these rocks are part of a thick section of clastic sedimentary rocks that comprise the upper fill of the mesoproterozoic 1 1 1 0 ga midcontinent rift the copper deposit is a tabular body that averages 2 5 m thick lacks significant basal undulations and dips 8 to 12 northward on the southwest limb of the western syncline an open fold with a shallow plunge to the northwest chalcocite is the only cu bearing mineral in the orebody and occurs as concentrations along stratigraphic laminations and as disseminated grains within the orebody there is no mineral or metal zoning cu ag and s are strongly enriched zn is very slightly enriched and pb and co lack enrichment gangue minerals in the orebody are quartz clinochore muscovite illite plagioclase k feldspar calcite and hematite which are consistent with temperatures of less than 130 c only one significant fault a shallow nw dipping reverse fault with displacement of up to 7 m has disturbed the section the mineralized zone at copperwood is stratigraphically equivalent to that at the white pine mine but copperwood lacks the structural complexity and the hydrothermal overprint manifested by the native cu mineralization at white pine reported canadian national instrument 43 101 compliant measured indicated and inferred resources are 33 million metric tonnes mt of 1 60 cu and 4 1 ppm ag for total contained cu of about 1 165 billion lb and 4 32 moz of ag the characteristics of copperwood are consistent with those of reduced facies or kupferschiefer type sedimentary rock hosted stratiform copper deposits the proposed genetic model is chalcocite replacement of pyrite in unlithified sediments during diagenesis as a result of emanating upward focused compaction driven cu bearing saline basinal waters with cu leached from the underlying red bed paleoquifer the simplicity of the mineralizing event and the undeformed nature of the deposit distinguish copperwood from most other examples of reduced facies or kupferschiefer type sedimentary rock hosted stratiform copper deposits throughout the world

u th pb zircon ages of some keweenawan supergroup rocks from the south shore of lake superior new single crystal zircon u th pb ages for plutonic and rhyolitic keweenawan supergroup rocks from the south shore of lake superior provide geochronological constraints on magmatic evolution associated with the 1 1 ga midcontinent rift analyses of a granophyric phase of the mineral lake intrusion and the mellen granite both parts of the mellen intrusive complex and a laterally extensive rhyolite from the top of the kallander creek volcanics have weighted average 207pb 206pb ages of 1102 0 2 8 ma n 2 1100 9 1 4 ma n 5 and 1098 8 1 9 ma n 4 respectively analyses of a pyroclastic rhyolite flow at the top of the porcupine volcanics result in variable 207pb 206pb ages that range from 1080 to 1137 ma this rhyolite exhibits a continuum between morphologically complex and simpler prismatic zircon crystals the latter yielding concordant analyses having a weighted average 207pb 206pb age of 1093 6 1 8 ma n 2 four prismatic zircons from an aphyric rhyolite of the chengwatana volcani

sedimentological and palyno environmental appraisal of the late quaternary sediments north eastern bornu basin abstract an integrative study has been carried out on some quaternary sediments of the chad formation in tuma 1 and sa 1 wells they are located between 11 n and 13 43 38 n 8 21 49 and 14 40 22 e sedimentological study entailed textural analysis and thin section preparation on the disaggregated samples while the palynological study involves the recovering of the age diagnostic species which gave clues to the paleoenvironmental settings for these sediments the sediments consist predominantly of terrigenous and argillaceous mudstone with thin sandstone interbeds of point bar deposits of laterally migrating moderate to high sinuosity river channels the dominant sandstones are angular to subrounded moderately poor sorted fine modal mineralogically and texturally immature the presence of botryococcus braunii freshwater algae suggests a freshwater lacustrine environment

bubble migration in a compacting crystal liquid mush recent theoretical models have suggested that bubbles are unlikely to undergo significant migration in a compaction crystal mush by capillary invasion while the system remains partly molten to test this experiments of bubble migration during compaction in a crystal liquid mush were modeled using deformable foam crystals in corn syrup in a volumetric burette compacted with rods of varying weights a bubble source was provided by sodium bicarbonate alka seltzer large bubbles several crystal sizes are pinched by the compacting matrix and become overpressured and deformed as the bubbles experience a load change from hydrostatic to lithostatic once they begin to move they move much faster than the compaction driven liquid bubbles that are about the same size as the crystals but larger than the narrower pore throats move by deformation or breaking into smaller bubbles as they are forced through pore restrictions bubbles that are less than the typical pore diameter generally move with the liquid the liquid bubble mixture behaves as a single phase with a lower density than the bubble free liquid and as a consequence it rises faster than bubble free liquid and allows for faster compaction the overpressure required to force a bubble through the matrix max grain size 5 mm is modest about 5 and it is estimated that for a grain size of 1 mm the required overpressure would be about 25 using apatite distribution in a stillwater olivine gabbro as an analog for bubble nucleation and growth it is suggested that relatively large bubbles initially nucleate and grow in liquid rich channels that develop late in the compaction history overpressure from compaction allows bubbles to rise higher into hotter parts of the crystal pile where they redissolve and increase the volatile content of the liquid over what it would have without the bubble migration leading to progressively earlier vapor saturation during crystallization of the interstitial liquid bubbles can also move rapidly by surfing on porosity waves that can develop in a compacting mush

geochemistry and origin of archaean quartz cordierite gneisses from the godthabsfjord region west greenland we report new data on the major minor and trace element compositions of metasedimentary quartzcordierite gneisses qcg an important member of the archaean malene supracrustal suite found throughout the godthabsfjord region of west greenland the analyzed qcg contain assemblages of quartz cordierite biotite garnet anthophyllite gedrite staurolite sillimanite plagioclase with abundant accessory zircon and minor rutile monazite and allanite and broadly resemble cordierite orthoamphibole rocks found in a great number of other metamorphic terrains chemically the qcg are characterized by 1 high but variable sio2 59 87 wt relative enrichments in mgo feo and al2o3 mg 0 35 0 85 and depletions in na2o k2o and especially cao 2 low concentrations of sc cr co ni and sr 3 high concentrations of y nb zr hf ta th u and ree rare earth elements with prominent negative eu anomalies in each case 5 high concentrations of ga 18 55 ppm with variable ga al ratios that are significantly higher than average crustal material low cr and ni together with enriched and fractionated ree displaying negative eu anomalies distinguish the malene qcg from published accounts of most other archaean sedimentary rocks furthermore all of the above mentioned trace element characteristics distinguish the qcg from ordinary malene clastic metasediments quartzites psammites and pelites suggesting a separate origin for the qcg these data point towards chemically evolved felsic igneous rocks being the source of the qcg consequently we propose that the malene qcg represent metamorphosed felsic volcaniclastic sediments that underwent hydrothermal alteration by heated seawater prior to metamorphism which resulted in gain of mg and fe loss of alkalis and lime and possibly eu and sr the overall trace element characteristics of the qcg elevated ga zr nb ree etc are features shared by a type granites and their volcanic equivalents such igneous rocks may represent the ultimate source material for the qcg protolith

the midcontinent rift in the lake superior region with emphasis on its geodynamic evolution abstract the midcontinent rift is a middle proterozoic continental rift which records about 15 m y of extension subsidence and voluminous volcanism in the period 1109 1094 ma in the central part of north america during that time the crust was nearly totally separated and as much as 25 km of subaerial basalts accumulated in a deep central depression following extension and volcanism a longer period of subsidence resulted in development of a post rift sedimentary basin in which as much a 8 km of fluvial and lacustrine clastic rocks were deposited partial inversion of the central depression occurred about 30 50 m y after extension to produce the current configuration of a central horst composed mostly of thick volcanic accumulations between shallower flanking basins

the sonju lake layered intrusion northeast minnesota internal structure and emplacement history inferred from magnetic fabrics abstract the sonju lake intrusion sli in northeastern minnesota is a layered mafic complex of keweenawan age 1096 1 0 8 ma related to the midcontinent rift the cumulate paragenesis of the intrusion is recognized as broadly similar to the skaergaard intrusion a classic example of closed system differentiation of a tholeiitic mafic magma the sli represents nearly closed system differentiation through bottom up fractional crystallization geochemical studies have identified the presence of a stratabound 50 100 m thick zone anomalously enriched in au pge similar to the pge reefs of the skaergaard intrusion this pge enriched zone is hosted within oxide gabbro cumulates about two third of the way up from the base of the intrusion we present a petrofabric study using the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams to investigate the emplacement and flow patterns within the sonju lake intrusion petrographic and electron microprobe studies combined with ams and hysteresis measurements indicate the primary source of the magnetic signal is pseudo single domain psd magnetite or titanomagnetite low field ams was measured at 32 sites within the sonju lake intrusion which provided information about primary igneous fabrics the magnetic fabrics in the layered series of the sonju lake intrusion are consistent with sub horizontal to inclined emplacement of the intrusion and show evidence that the cumulate layers were deposited in a dynamic environment well aligned magnetic lineations consistently plunging shallowly toward the southwest indicate the source of the magma is a vertical sill like feeder presumably located beneath the finland granite the finland granite acted as a density trap for the sonju lake magmas forcing lateral flow of magma to the northeast the strongly oblate magnetic shape fabrics indicate the shallowly dipping planar fabrics were enhanced by compaction of the crystal mush

the north american midcontinent rift beneath lake superior from glimpce seismic reflection profiling the midcontinent rift system is a 1 1 b y old structure extending from kansas through the lake superior region and into southern michigan the rift is filled with thick sequences of basaltic volcanic rocks and clastic sediments for most of its extent it is buried beneath paleozoic rocks but can be traced by its strong gravity and magnetic anomalies the rocks of the rift system are exposed only in the lake superior region and comprise the keweenawan supergroup much of the geology of the keweenawan is beneath lake superior and has only been inferred from potential field studies and seismic refraction studies and extrapolation from on shore geology seismic reflection surveys by the great lakes international multidisciplinary program on crustal evolution in 1986 imaged much of the deep structure of the rift beneath the lake in detail the reflection profiles across the rift reveal a deep asymmetrical central graben whose existence and magnitude was not previously documented they show that in addition to crustal sagging documented by previous investigations normal faulting played a major role in subsidence of the axial region of the rift a sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks in places greater than 30 km thick fills the graben thinner volcanic and sedimentary units lie on broad flanks of the rift outside of the graben near the axis the prerift crust is thinned to about one fourth of its original thickness apparently by a combination of low angle extensional faulting and ductile stretching or distributed shear the sense of asymmetry of the central graben changes along the trend of the rift documenting the segmented nature of the structure and suggesting the existence of accommodation zones between the segments the location of the accommodation zones is inferred from abrupt disruptions in the bouguer gravity signature of the rift uplift of the central graben occurred when the original graben bounding normal faults were reactivated as high angle reverse faults with throws of 5 km or more in places the midcontinent rift has some striking similarities to some younger passive continental margins we propose that it preserves a record of nearly complete continental separation which had it not been arrested would have created a middle proterozoic ocean basin

arsenic and lead concentrations in the pond creek and fire clay coal beds eastern kentucky coal field abstract the middle pennsylvanian breathitt formation westphalian b pond creek and fire clay coal beds are the 2 largest producing coal beds in eastern kentucky single channel samples from 22 localities in the pond creek coal bed were obtained from active coal mines in pike and martin countries kentucky and a total of 18 fire clay coal bed channel samples were collected from localities in the central portion of the coal field the overall objective of this study was to investigate the concentration and distribution of potentially hazardous elements in the fire clay and pond creek coal beds with particular emphasis on as and pb 2 elements that are included in the 1990 clean air act amendments as potential air toxics the 2 coals are discussed individually as the depositional histories are distinct the fire clay coal bed having more sites where relatively high s lithologies are encountered in an effort to characterize these coals 40 whole channel samples excluding 1 cm partings were analyzed for major minor and trace elements by x ray fluorescence and proton induced x ray emission spectroscopy previously analyzed samples were added to provide additional geographic coverage and lithotype samples from one site were analyzed in order to provide detail of vertical elemental trends the as and pb levels in the fire clay coal bed tend to be higher than in the pond creek coal bed one whole channel sample of the fire clay coal bed contains 1156 ppm as ash basis with a single lithotype containing 4000 ppm as ash basis most of the as and pb appears to be associated with pyrite which potentially can be removed in beneficiation particularly coarser pyrite disseminated finer pyrite may not be completely removable by cleaning in the examination of pyrite conducted in this study it does not appear that significant concentration of as or pb occurs in the finer pyrite forms the biggest potential problem of as or pb enriched pyrite is therefore one of refuse disposal

mineral deposits of the mesoproterozoic midcontinent rift system in the lake superior region a space and time classification abstract the mesoproterozoic midcontinent rift system mrs of north america hosts a diverse suite of magmatic and hydrothermal mineral deposits in the lake superior region where rift rocks are exposed at or near the surface historically hydrothermal deposits such as michigan s native copper deposits and the white pine sediment hosted stratiform copper deposit were major mrs metal producers on going exploration for and potential development of copper nickel sulfide deposits hosted by the duluth complex of minnesota and the opening of the eagle nickel mine in michigan indicate an expanding interest in mrs magmatic deposits mrs hydrothermal and magmatic mineral deposits many of which are significant past present and likely future providers of critical minerals here are placed into a space and time metallogenic framework to construct this framework regional mrs mineral deposits extracted from the u s geological survey mineral resources data system mrds and the ontario ministry of energy northern development and mines mineral deposit inventory mdi were supplemented by other known and recently recognized mineral deposits described in the literature all mineral deposits were classified by deposit type host rock age and type and estimated timing of mineralization deposits were then put into a tectonic evolutionary framework stages for the mrs which shows that deposits formed within discrete spatial and temporal stages of rift evolution each stage of rift evolution is characterized by specific mineral deposit types that are largely confined both by their physical location in rift rocks and type and timing of mineralization examples include mrs nickel rich conduit type magmatic sulfide deposits which are restricted to an early magmatic stage mrs history when magma compositions were characterized by ni rich picrites and high mg basalts in contrast contact type magmatic sulfide deposits with cu ni were derived from more evolved al rich tholeiitic magmas that dominated a later time of voluminous magmatic activity hydrothermal sediment hosted stratiform chalcocite mineralization along the margins of western lake superior in michigan is economic only where fluid flow through red beds was concentrated by structures along the margins of a post volcanic mrs sedimentary basin widespread native cu and native ag mineralization occurred about 40 million years after formation of host basalt lava flows and interflow sedimentary rocks these descriptions of the diverse mineral deposits in the lake superior region cataloged within the space of the local and regional geology and over the more than 60 million year mineralizing history of the mrs are indicative of the complex and at times overlapping magmatic and hydrothermal mineral systems that operated within this major large igneous province

the igneous petrology and magmatic evolution of the midcontinent rift system klewin k w and shirey s b 1992 the igneous petrology and magmatic evolution of the midcontinent rift system in p a ziegler editor geodynamics of rifting volume ii case history studies on rifts north and south america and africa tectonophysics 213 33 40 the 1100 ma midcontinent rift system of north america is one of the world s great igneous provinces containing over one million km3 of mafic volcanic and plutonic rocks volcanic rocks range from picrite to rhyolite although tholeiitic basalt predominates plutonic rocks range from peridotite to granite with plagioclase rich gabbros and troctolites being most abundant the igneous history of the rift can be divided into early and late stages flows of the early stage form a trend having low alumina high magnesia picrite as the primitive endmember whereas flows from the late stage form a trend having high alumina olivine tholeiite as the primitive endmember the early basalts have enriched nd isotopic compositions and were derived largely from old heterogeneous subcontinental lithosphere the late basalts have chondritic to depleted nd isotopic compositions and were derived from large degree partial melts of a mantle plume that had mixed with isotopically depleted asthenospheric mantle apparently melting began initially in the subcontinental lithosphere as it was stretched subsequently a lower mantle plume which had entrained asthenospheric mantle during its ascent rose beneath the rift and melted at large degrees to yield the voluminous later basalts

stable isotopic studies of mafic sills and proterozoic metasedimentary rocks located beneath the duluth complex minnesota abstract thin 3 20 m picritic to noritic sills are found in the proterozoic metasedimentary footwall rocks of the duluth complex minnesota the sills were emplaced prior to the major intrusions that comprise the duluth complex and underwent contact metamorphism along with the country rocks oxygen hydrogen and sulfur isotopic compositions of the sills indicate a varied history of isotopic exchange between minerals melts and hydrothermal fluids in the high temperature environment below the major plutonic bodies of the midcontinent rift system the pre duluth complex sills exhibit a range in 18o values from 4 9 to 14 8 with values between 6 and 7 generally found in sill interiors high 18o values near sill contacts with high 18o metasedimentary rocks of the pelitic virginia formation or biwabik iron formation coupled with a smooth sigmoidal isotopic profile centered at the contact suggest that oxygen diffusion was an important exchange mechanism the elevated 18o values near the center of the thickest sills are thought to reflect the emplacement of isotopically contaminated basaltic magma dehydration reactions in the pelitic rocks of the contact aureole liberated high 18o fluids that enhanced subsolidus diffusive exchange advective displacement of the diffusion profiles toward the sill interior is less than 40 cm and suggests that layer parallel flow dominated in the dehydration of the contact aureole elevated but uniform 18o values 9 7 to 10 5 in thinner sills suggests that oxygen diffusivity was increased relative to country rocks due to enhanced porosity perhaps related to extensive development of microcracks although d values of the pelitic country rocks record a history of dehydration systematic variations of d 64 to 143 and h2o 0 15 to 5 40 wt content are not found in the sills 18o values of coexisting plagioclase and pyroxene from the sills indicate a close approach to isotopic equilibrium and are consistent with a diffusion dominant exchange process at temperatures near 500 c results of diffusion modelling suggest a duration of isotopic exchange that may have extended from tens of thousands of years to 1 4 ma depending on local controls of porosity and permeability as well as rates of fluid production in the contact aureole localized areas of 18o and d depletion in the sills values as low as 4 9 and 143 respectively denote exchange with meteoric water after interaction with the high 18o metamorphic fluids in the contact aureole although all of the elevated 18o samples in the contact environment may have suffered 18o depletion most exchange with meteoric water appears to be spatially localized and is thought to reflect highly channelized fracture controlled fluid flow sulfur isotopic values of the sills are variable 2 7 to 11 2 and indicative of an evolution involving pre emplacement contamination of basaltic magma and sub solidus exchange with an h2s bearing metamorphic fluid sulfur contents exceed 3 0 wt only within troctolitic to melatroctolitic sills and 34s values of 7 8 to 8 3 are strongly suggestive of pre emplacement contamination by sulfur derived from a proterozoic sedimentary unit high 18o and 34s rocks particularly at sill margins are consistent with either hydrothermal precipitation of fine grained sulfide minerals or isotopic exchange between magmatic sulfides and an h2s bearing metamorphic fluid

petrology of the keweenawan mamainse point lavas ontario petrogenesis and continental rift evolution the mamainse point formation forms a 5250 m thick sequence of flood basalts ranging from high mgo picrites and basalts to basaltic andesites that formed in the keweenawan 1100 ma midcontinent rift of north america this section is the most continuous and complete sequence of keweenawan lavas and records almost the entire igneous history of the rift the section consists of numerous stratigraphic groups of lavas that have distinct chemical characteristics a variety of petrogenetic processes including partial melting of different sources at decreasing depth periodically replenished tapped and fractionated magma chambers crustal contamination and polybaric fractionation were responsible for the evolution of the magmas the dominant petrogenetic process changes with stratigraphy which suggests that the physical evolution of the rift controlled which process operated at any time the initial fracturing of the crust presumably allowed high mgo liquids generated at depth to be erupted the early stage of rifting was apparently slow and allowed the formation of long lived magma chambers in which complex processes such replenishment mixing and assimilation contamination could occur the late stage of rifting however was apparently vigorous and allowed voluminous magmas from throughout the crust to be erupted these conclusions from the chemostratigraphy agree with the physical stratigraphy which indicates a change in tectonic style from an early stage of broad subsidence to a late stage of active graben formation

geodynamics of rifting and implications for hydrocarbon habitat abstract rifting activity is probably mainly governed by frictional forces exerted on the base of the lithosphere by the convecting sub lithospheric upper mantle combined with deviatoric tensional stresses developing over upwelling branches of the asthenospheric convection system and by far filed stresses controlling the interaction of lithospheric plates moving relative to each other mantle plumes rising from the deep mantle do not appear to be a major driving force of rifting therefore it is questioned whether a distinction between active and passive rifts is still justified lithospheric extension triggers by decompression partial melting of the lower lithosphere and upper asthenosphere magmatic processes contribute materially to thinning of the subcrustal lithosphere and probably also of the lower crust this could explain the frequently observed discrepancy between upper crustal extension by faulting and lower crustal attenuation as defined by refraction and deep reflection seismic data the duration of the rifting stage of palaeorifts and passive margins is highly variable depending on plate interaction crustal separation can be achieved after as little as 7 ma and as much as 280 ma of rifting activity the availability of crustal discontinuities does not appear to play a significant role in the time required for crustal separation to be achieved the structural style of rifts is controlled by the physical state of the lithosphere the mode and amount of its extension and the lithological composition of pre and syn rift sediments subsidence of rift basins is controlled by the balance between isostatic adjustment of the crust to lithospheric stretching and uplift induced by mechanical and thermal attenuation of the subcrustal lithosphere post rift basin subsidence is mainly governed by the decay of rift induced thermal anomalies densification of the lower crust and intra plate stresses provide overprinting effects in view of this it is unlikely that quantitative analyses of post rift basin subsidence give a direct measure of lithospheric extension tectonically active rifts palaeorifts and passive margin basins contain major hydrocarbon provinces their hydrocarbon charge can rely exclusively on pre rift syn rift or post rift sedimentary sequences or a combination thereof maturation of source rocks can be achieved during the syn and or post rift stage of basin evolution during rifting conductive and convective heat transfer accounts for elevated geothermal gradients these play an important role in the maturation of pre and syn rift source rocks thermal gradients decrease asymptotically during the post rift stage

the chengwatana volcanics wisconsin and minnesota petrogenesis of the southernmost volcanic rocks exposed in the midcontinent rift the southernmost exposed rocks of the north american midcontinent rift system 1100 ma consist of 3000 m of mafic volcanic flows and minor interflow sediment exposed along the st croix river in minnesota and wisconsin the flows are mostly high fe tholeiitic basalt with plagioclase phenocrysts and ophitic to subophitic clinopyroxene abundant secondary chlorite epidote and actinolite indicate the group was metamorphosed to greenschist facies 350 c low sodium m4 site and tetrahedral aluminum aliv contents of actinolite indicate low pressure metamorphism 0 25 gpa and imply a geothermal gradient of 45 50 c km low magnesium mg 0 37 0 58 and ni contents 36 185 ppm indicate the basalts have undergone significant fractionation and are not primary mantle melts incompatible element abundances are inversely correlated with mg and most samples plot within either high or low trace element groups e g ti p zr the basalts are enriched in the light rare earth elements and th and are v

the mesoproterozoic midcontinent rift system lake superior region usa abstract exposures in the lake superior region and associated geophysical evidence show that a 2000 km long rift system developed within the north american craton 1109 1087 ma the age span of most of the volcanic rocks this system is characterized by immense volumes of mafic igneous rocks mostly subaerial plateau basalts generated in two major pulses largely by a hot mantle plume a new ocean basin was nearly formed before rifting ceased perhaps due to the remote effect of the grenville continental collision to the east broad sagging subsidence combined with a system of axial half grabens separated along the length of the rift by accommodation zones provided conditions for the accumulation of as much as 20 km of volcanic rocks and as much as 10 km of post rift clastic sediments both along the rift axis and in basins flanking a central post volcanic horst pre rift mature quartzose sandstones imply little or no uplift prior to the onset of rift volcanism early post rift red bed sediments consist almost entirely of intrabasinally derived volcanic sediment deposited in alluvial fan to fluvial settings the exception is one gray to black carbon bearing lacustrine unit this early sedimentation phase was followed by broad crustal sagging and deposition of progressively more mature red bed fluvial sediments with an extra basinal provenance

coal rank trends in the central appalachian coalfield virginia west virginia and kentucky abstract coal rank determined from vitrinite maximum reflectance and from chemical rank parameters increases from high volatile c bituminous in portions of the eastern kentucky coalfield to low volatile bituminous in buchanan county virginia and mcdowell county west virginia and then decreases significantly to the dry fork anticline 20 km to the southeast the latter rank decrease as noted when rank data from individual coals is used across the fold 400 500 m structural relief can be accounted for by post tectonic coalification at a paleogeothermal gradient of about 40 45 c km reflectance gradients decrease from about 0 09 rmax 100 m in central buchanan county virginia to 0 06 rmax 100 min southeastern pike county kentucky to 0 03 max 100 m and less among the high volatile a and b coals to the nortwest of pike county the reflectance gradients are likely an indication of a decrease in paleogeothermal gradient to the northwest depth of burial may have also decreased to the northwest northward trending rank anomalies superimposed on the regional trend in kentucky may have been caused by subtle changes in the geothermal gradients associated with basement discontinuities or alternately by a depth of burial not accounted for at present perhaps under now eroded thrust sheets

chemostratigraphy of the neoproterozoic alona bay lavas ontario a basal sequence of flood basalt lavas associated with the neoproterozoic midcontinent rift system crops out in alona bay along the southeastern shore of lake superior in ontario the alona bay lava succession is about 1200 m thick and lies just north of the well studied contemporaneous mamainse point formation detailed chemostratigraphy of the alona bay lavas suggests they are grossly correlative with the basal portion of the mamainse point formation for instance like the basal part of mamainse point formation the alona bay section contains numerous high mgo lavas and can be subdivided into 4 5 groups with distinct chemical characteristics chemical variations within the alona bay groups are largely the result of fractional crystallization likely at moderate pressures one small group of alona bay lavas also carries the compositional imprint of crustal contamination the remaining inter group chemical distinctions at alona bay are the consequence of temporal changes in partial melting and source ch

displacement transfer from borders to interior of a plate a crustal transect of iberia abstract a n s crustal transect of the whole iberian plate is presented the displacement transfer during the alpine deformation from the border ranges cantabrian and betic chains toward the interior ones was analyzed by means of balanced crustal sections inconsistencies in shortening values between upper and middle lower crust in the cantabrian mountains basque cantabrian zone imply a mid crustal detachment transferring orogenic shortening southward toward the spanish central system depending on the shortening value attributed to the central system this mid crustal detachment could involve the entire iberian plate connecting the cantabrian mountains and the betic chain the very small crustal root in the central system can be explained as a result of the tectonic load caused by the upper crustal shortening that was transferred from the border ranges we conclude that a simple shear model rather than a pure shear with lithospheric folding better explains the whole iberia deformation finally the total alpine shortening of the iberian plate is estimated between 267 and 292 km

reviewing the configuration and extent of the midcontinent rift system abstract uncertainty exists in the configuration and extent of the midcontinent rift system mrs because of deficiencies in geophysical data and limited information from outcrops and basement drill holes additional ambiguity is caused by misunderstanding the definition of continental rifts six principal problematic regions in mapping the mrs are described gravity and magnetic data supported by drill hole and seismic reflection data show that the eastern lake superior rift segment of the mrs continues south from lake superior and connects to a much narrower rift in northern lake michigan the eastern margin of this transition is ill defined because of the lack of definitive anomalies and supporting seismic and drill hole data but is interpreted to occur near the u s canada border the rift segment in southeastern michigan intersects the grenville front and likely continues eastwards in modified form to near the boundary with canada cross cutting gravity and magnetic signatures may reflect grenvillian overthrusts near the terminus of the mrs in michigan the proposed southerly extensions of both branches of the rift system into oklahoma and ohio are based primarily on positive gravity anomalies but neither postulated extension appears to be associated with rifted troughs rather the gravity anomalies of the western branch are related to intrusive mafic rocks and those of the eastern branch are most likely related to deep crustal metamorphic rocks thrust into juxtaposition with less dense crust by grenville orogenesis recent paleomagnetic investigations in conjunction with high resolution radiometric dating imply that the mrs developed during the rapid southward movement of laurentia during a quiescent period along its eastern continental margin massive magmatic activity accompanying the rifting was likely due to rising mantle material that was displaced by subducted lithosphere along the southern margin the heated crust was made more ductile fostering rifting due to extensional stresses the nipigon embayment remains as a possible candidate for an early third branch of the mrs but current evidence is insufficient to include the fort wayne rift as part of the mrs future studies of the mrs would be well served by new age dating and high resolution seismic studies of the lithosphere

distinct crustal structure of the north american midcontinent rift from p wave receiver functions eighty two broadband seismic stations of the superior province rifting earthscope experiment spree collected 2 5 years of continuous seismic data in the area of the high gravity anomaly associated with the midcontinent rift mcr over 100 high quality teleseismic earthquakes were used for crustal p wave receiver function analysis our analysis reveals that the base of the sedimentary layer is shallow outside the mcr thickens near the flanks where gravity anomalies are low and shallows again in the mcr s center where the gravity anomalies peak this pattern is similar to that found from local geophysical studies and is consistent with reverse faulting having accompanied the cessation of rifting at 1 1 ga intermittent intracrustal boundaries imaged by our analysis might represent the bottom of the mcr s mostly buried dense volcanic layers outside the mcr the moho is strong sharp and relatively flat both beneath the archean superior province and the proterozoic terranes to its south inside the mcr two weaker candidate mohos are found at depths up to 25 km apart in the rift s center the intermediate layer between these discontinuities tapers toward the edges of the mcr the presence of this transitional layer is remarkably consistent along the strike of the mcr including beneath its jog in southern minnesota near the belle plaine fault we interpret these results as evidence for extensive underplating as a defining characteristic of the rift which remains continuous along the minnesota jog where due to its orientation it is minimally affected by the reverse faulting that characterizes the nne striking parts of the rift

geochemistry of the pond creek coal bed eastern kentucky coalfield the pond creek coal bed middle pennsylvanian breathitt formation is an important low sulfur resource in pike and martin countries in the eastern kentucky coalfield the mined area is crossed by the n20 e trending belfry anticline the pond creek coal bed has a higher sulfur content on the west side of the anticline the vertical trends in the ash geochemistry also vary across the anticline the sites to the east of the anticline represent deposition of peat through periods of relative stability with slow deposition bright lithotypes interspersed with periods of relatively rapid clastic deposition dull lithotypes both generally removed from marine influence comparison of elemental trends between the lowest bright lithotype and the second bright lithotype suggest that the swamp became less acidic with time an upward decrease in minor element concentration may be related to the influx of clays and other silicates present in the bone lithotype this bone may have acted as a relatively low nutrient soil for the growth of the plants which contributed to the overlying bright lithotype the sites to the west of the anticline were subjected to a greater marine influence than the eastern sites high k2o al2o3 ratios at the bottom and top of the coal bed and a high tio2 zr dull clarain near the bottom of the coal point to clastic influences on the geochemistry the relatively high cao percentages in the middle third of the coal bed suggest deposition at near neutral ph the upper third of the coal bed was dominated by syngenetic and epigenetic pyrite emplacement

reversed experiments on biotite quartz feldspar melting in the system kmash implications for crustal anatexis melting temperatures of biotite quartz and biotite quartz feldspar assemblages in the system k 2 o mgo al 2 o 3 sio 2 h 2 o have been determined in the pressure range 0 5 18 kbar the subsolidus dehydration of biotite quartz also has been investigated from 300 to 500 bars the melting equilibria studied are phlogopite quartz sanidine vapor liquid o phlogopite quartz vapor enstatite liquid k phlogopite quartz enstatite liquid k v and phlogopite quartz sanidine enstatite liquid v at 10 kbar the o reaction occurs at 700 720 c the k reaction at 780 790 c the k v reaction at 815 850 c and the v reaction at 800 850 c vapor saturated reactions were reversed isobarically in two stage experiments in which the starting assemblage was held at a temperature 10 above the temperature of previously observed melting for a duration equivalent to an initial melting experiment followed by lowering of the temperature below the temperature of initial mel

contact metamorphic effects of the stillwater complex montana the concordant iron formation a reply to the role of buffering in metamorphism of iron formation

age of native copper mineralization keweenaw peninsula michigan amygdaloidal flood basalts and conglomerates are the host for substantial deposits of native copper within the portage lake volcanics in the keweenaw peninsula of michigan a wide variety of gangue minerals are associated with the regional hydrothermal alteration mineralization event application of the rb sr method to amygdule filling microcline calcite epidote and chlorite suggests an age of mineralization between 1 060 and 1 047 m y or asymp 20 m y these results are supported by a fission track age on epidote of 1 044 or 169 m y the age of native copper mineralization determined in this study is consistent with geologic evidence which suggests that mineralization postdated the deposition of most or all of the overlying freda sandstone variable initial 87 sr 86 sr ratios between the low rb sr phases suggest mixing of isotopically distinct sources of sr during the generation and equilibration of the hydrothermal solutions

a test for the analogy of tropical domed peat deposits to dulling up sequences in coal beds preliminary results abstract megascopic and microscopic characteristics of a domed peat deposit in sarawak malaysia were examined to test their analogy to dulling up sequences in low ash coal beds preliminary petrographic results show high concentrations 95 of vitrinite precursor material for all peat types but that fibrous peats in the upper central portion of the deposit contain more preserved plant material than peats toward the base and margins which although more decomposed contain large fragments 5 150 cm of wood these results present contradictory evidence in support of a dulling up model and suggests that modern tropical peat domes are perhaps poor petrographic analogues for dulling up sequences this deposit would produce an all bright coal seam with bright vitrain bands of variable thickness and amount set in bright high vitrinite matrix

arsenic bearing pyrite and marcasite in the fire clay coal bed middle pennsylvanian breathitt formation eastern kentucky abstract arsenic concentrations determined on 11 lithotype samples from the middle pennsylvanian breathitt group fire clay coal bed leslie county ky range from 1 to 418 ppm whole coal basis the 11 lithotype samples which vary in thickness from 4 to 18 cm were sampled from a continuous 1 38 m channel sample and were selected based on megascopic appearance vitrain rich versus attrital rich a lithotype that contains 418 ppm as is located near the top of the coal bed and is composed of 10 5 cm of bright clarain bands containing fusain that within short distances grade laterally into fe sulfide bands to determine the mode of occurrence of as in this lithotype the coal was examined with scanning electron microscopy and analyzed by energy dispersive x ray fluorescence massive framboidal cell filling cell wall replacement and radiating forms of fe sulfide were observed in the high as lithotype many of the radiating fe sulfide forms and one of the cell wall replacements contained as examination of the grains with optical light microscopy shows that the majority of radiating morphologies are pyrite the remainder are marcasite selected fe sulfide grains were also analyzed by electron microprobe microscopy arsenic concentrations within individual grains range from 0 0 wt to approximately 3 5 wt on the basis of morphology these fe sulfides are presumed to be of syngenetic origin and would probably be removed from the coal during physical coal cleaning thus eliminating a potential source of as from the coal combustion process however because the grains are radiating and have high surface area dissolution and release of as could occur if the pyrite is oxidized in refuse ponds

entropies of kyanite andalusite and sillimanite additional constraints on the pressure and temperature of the al2sio5 triple point the low temperature heat capacities of kyanite minas gerais brazil andalusite espirito santo brazil and sillimanite reinbolt hills antarctica were measured with an automatic adiabatically shielded calorimeter between approximately l0 and 380 k at 29e 15 k the entropies are e2 30 r0 13 91 39 0 14 and 95 79 ro l4 j mol k for kyanite andalusite and sillimanite respectively our values are 1 8 2 0 and0 4vo smaller than those of todd 1950 our calculated slope for the andalusite sillimanite phase boundary is in significantly better agreement with the phase boundaries of holdaway 1971 than with those of richardson gilbert and bell 1969 and strongly suggest that al and si are ordered in sillimanite to at least ll00 k the thermal debye temperatures d calculated from our heat capacity data in the range 18 k are 1lfi e55 and 730 k for kyanite andalusite and sillimanite respectively for andalusite and sillimanite our values for ofi are in moderate agreement with those calculated from the room temperature adiabatic elastic stifness constants ofvaughan and weidner 1978 838 and 800 k respectively

tectono stratigraphic evolution of the early proterozoic wisconsin magmatic terranes of the penokean orogen the early proterozoic penokean orogen developed along the southern margin of the archean superior craton the orogen consists of a northern deformed continental margin prism overlying an archean basement and a southern assemblage of oceanic arcs the wisconsin magmatic terranes the south dipping niagara fault suture zone separates the south facing continental margin from the accreted arc terranes the suture zone contains a dismembered ophiolite the wisconsin magmatic terranes consist of two terranes that are distinguished on the basis of lithology and structure the northern pembine wausau terrane contains a major succession of tholeiitic and calc alkaline volcanic rocks deposited in the interval 1860 1889 ma and a more restricted succession of calc alkaline volcanic rocks deposited about 1835 1845 ma granitoid rocks ranging in age from about 1870 to 1760 ma intrude the volcanic rocks the older succession was generated as island arcs and or closed back arc basins above the south dipping subducti

estimation of lava extrusion and magma production rates for two flood basalt provinces utilizing the statistical approach of cox and dairymple 1967 it is shown that the geomagnetic polarity time scale of harland et al 1982 may contain errors of 0 85 1 0 m y for middle late miocene times a revised time scale based on the work of mcdougall et al 1984 is correlated with the magnetostratigarphic units of the columbia river basalts united states lava extrusion rates reached a peak of 275 km3 kyr for a period of 0 5 m y around 15 8 ma during the columbia volcanic episode it is suggested that even higher rates of lava extrusion may have occurred in the deccan province central india 65 ma a simple energy budget calculation indicates that the reunion hotspot could provide enough heat to melt the total volume of rock needed to produce the deccan traps during the 5 m y it would have taken the subcontinent to traverse the hotspot

tectonic setting of the midcontinent rift system abstract the continental lithosphere which hosts the midcontinent rift mcr system comprises a crustal assemblage ranging in age from 3 6 to 1 5 ga the most voluminous igneous activity along the mcr occurred within late archean 2 7 ga crust presumably due to magmatism associated with a rising mantle plume two major arms of the rift extend to the southeast and the southwest where rifting magmatism and sedimentation were confined to a 2000 km long rift that cuts through the various crustal provinces ranging in age from 3 6 to 1 5 ga tensional reactivation of pre existing crustal discontinuities may have influenced the location of parts of the mcr however direct cause and effect are difficult to distinguish for want of sufficient exposures the most active phases of magmatism and rifting occurred between 1109 and 1087 ma a u pb age of 1097 ma for the southern end of the mcr shows that magmatic activity was synchronous throughout its length there is evidence of rifting and magmatism prior to 1109 ma but there is little evidence of magmatism after 1087 ma rifting may have effectively ceased by that time rifting may have ceased as a result of compressional forces being exerted on the foreland during the grenville collisional event spanning 1030 970 ma and compressional reactivation of normal faults may have resulted in partial inversion of the mcr chemical data and u pb and sm nd isotopic data for igneous rocks along the rift are similar to those for mcr rocks in the lake superior area which are best explained in terms of a mantle plume model however since the distal arms of the mcr were developed in proterozoic lithosphere and did not involve nearly as much magmatism as in the lake superior area mantle plume sources may not have been as important in formation of the distal magmas data from the buried arms are also consistent with the mafic magmas being derived by decompression melting of proterozoic lithosphere during rifting

seismic imaging of the north american midcontinent rift using s to p receiver functions north america s 1 1 ga failed midcontinent rift mcr is a striking feature of gravity and magnetic anomaly maps across the continent however how the rift affected the underlying lithosphere is not well understood with data from the superior province rifting earthscope experiment and the usarray transportable array we constrain three dimensional seismic velocity discontinuity structure in the lithosphere beneath the southwestward arm of the mcr using s to p receiver functions we image a velocity increase with depth associated with the moho at depths of 33 40 4 km generally deepening toward the east the moho amplitude decreases beneath the rift axis in minnesota and wisconsin where the velocity gradient is more gradual possibly due to crustal underplating we see hints of a deeper velocity increase at 61 4 km depth that may be the base of underplating beneath the rift axis further south in iowa we image two distinct positive phases at 34 39 4 and 62 65 4 km likely related to an altered moho and an underplated layer we image velocity decreases with depth at depths of 90 190 7 km in some locations that do not geographically correlate with the rift these include a discontinuity at depths of 90 120 7 km with a northerly dip in the south that abruptly deepens to 150 190 7 km across the spirit lake tectonic zone provincial suture the negative phases may represent a patchy frozen in midlithosphere discontinuity feature that likely predates the mcr and or be related to lithospheric thickness

mantle temperature and lithospheric thinning beneath the midcontinent rift system evidence from magmatism and subsidence the tectono magmatic history of the midcontinent rift system can be explained by the presence of a mantle plume bringing elevated temperature mantle beneath the rift system at about 1110 ma huge volumes of extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks were generated as abnormally hot mantle decompressed beneath the lithospheric rift geochemical and isotopic data from the keweenawan volcanics show that the earliest melts were derived from small degree melting of primitive plume mantle coupled with enriched metasomatic melts derived from the continental lithosphere as rifting progressed the main bulk of the volcanics was generated primarily from the plume mantle with the melting starting at depths of about 120 km and extending to as shallow as the base of the stretched lithosphere at 45 km depth elevated mantle temperatures of 1500 1560 c approximately 150 200 c above normal are inferred from the rare earth element concentrations in the volcanic rocks further constraints on the mantle temperature come f

relationship between petrographic and chemical properties and coal seam geometry hance seam breathitt formation southeastern kentucky the upper hance coal seam in southeastern kentucy was used as a template to examine the spatial distribution of ash yield sulfur content and petrographic constituents relative to the geometry of the deposit geometric characteristics include thinning and splitting of the two main benches leaders and riders analytical data showed the thick non split portions of the coal body to be low in ash and sulfur as well as vitrinite content whereas the thinned and split margins were higher in ash sulfur and vitrinite content these relationships suggest that thick non split portions of the upper hance peat accumulated in areas isolated from detrital influx while thinner marginal peat was subject to intermittent flooding from adjacent channels marginal peat was derived from larger trees which flourished at the mire s edge in the presence of adequate nutrients whereas only stunted vegetation subsisting in the nutrient depleted center contributed to interior peat accumulation ponds formed on the sparsely vegetated mature surface of the bog s interior the petrographic and chemical character of the hance coal body is analogous to ombrogenous domed peats which characteristically contain higher concentrations of inorganics at the periphery of the deposit

crustal scale thrusting and origin of the montreal river monocline a 35 km thick cross section of the midcontinent rift in northern michigan and wisconsin a structurally simple 35 km thick north facing stratigraphic succession of late archean to middle proterozoic rocks is exposed near the montreal river which forms the border between northern wisconsin and michigan this structure the montreal river monocline is composed of steeply dipping to vertical sedimentary rocks and flood basalts of the keweenawan supergroup middle proterozoic along the south limb of the midcontinent rift and disconformably underlying sedimentary rocks of the marquette range supergroup early proterozoic these rocks lie on an archean granite greenstone complex about 10 km of which is included in the monocline this remarkable thickness of rocks appears to be essentially structurally intact and lacks evidence of tectonic thickening or repetition tilting to form the monocline resulted from southward thrusting on listric faults of crustal dimension the faults responsible for the monocline are newly recognized components of a well known regional fault system that partly closed and inverted the midcontinent rift system resetting of biotite ages on the upper plate of the faults indicates that faulting and uplift occurred at about 1060 20 ma and followed very shortly after extension that formed the midcontinent rift system

petrogenesis of the contact metamorphic rocks beneath the stillwater complex montana the stillwater gabbroic complex was emplaced at about 2700 ma in a metasedimentary section consisting of pelitic schist iron formation and quartzite contact metamorphism resulted in the development of a 500 1000 m hypersthene hornfels zone at the contact and a 500 1500 m cordierite cummingtonite hornfels zone farther from the contact weakly foliated biotite schist occurs beyond the hornfels pelitic rocks are poor in potassium generally lack muscovite and typically contain the assemblage garnet staurolite gedrite chlorite cordierite biotite plagioclase ilmenite quartz the diagnostic hornfels assemblage is cordierite cummingtonite biotite plagioclase ilmenite quartz cummingtonite is replaced by hypersthene near the contact the assemblages in the biotite schist formed during a low pressure regional metamorphism temperature ranged from 450 625 c in biotite schist to 650 800 c in hypersthene hornfels pressure estimates range from 100 250 mpa in biotite schist to 50 300 mpa in hypersthene hornfels the alpha h 2 o in the hypersthene zone is estimated to have been 0 27 orthoamphibole in the biotite schist has compositions that fall on a well defined linear trend from fe 3 5 mg 3 5 si 8 o 22 oh 2 to na 0 7 fe 3 5 mg 1 4 al 2 0 al 2 5 si 5 5 o 22 oh 2 there is no evidence for any immiscibility between anthophyllite and gedrite at the pressure of metamorphism orthoamphibole was replaced by clinoamphibole with increasing grade the petrogenetic grid calculated from estimates of thermodynamic data for the observed compositions of minerals indicates that most reactions in biotite schist occur in the temperature range 525 550 c at 200 mpa the formation of the assemblage cordierite cummingtonite occurs at 600 c and hypersthene is stable above 700 c the net reaction during formation of cordierite cummingtonite hornfels from biotite schist indicates little loss of h 2 o and a small increase in solid volume the pressure and temperature of metamorphism are consistent with subvolcanic emplacement of the complex at a depth of 6 7 km in metasedimentary country rock following a period of regional metamorphism

crustal structure of the midcontinent rift system results from glimpce deep seismic reflection profiles interpretation of great lakes international multidisciplinary program on crustal evolution glimpce seismic reflection profiles indicates that the midcontinent keweenawan 1100 ma rift system of volcanic rocks and postvolcanic and interbedded sedimentary rocks extends to depths as great as 32 km about 10 5 s reflection time along profiles crossing western central and eastern lake superior and the northern end of lake michigan this area may overlie the greatest thickness of intracratonic rift deposits on earth times to moho reflections vary along strike from 11 5 to 14 s about 37 46 km depth in the west to 17 s about 55 km in the center and 13 to 15 s about 42 49 km in the eastern end of lake superior the prerift crust however was thinned 25 30 km beneath the central rift compared with its flanks providing evidence for crustal extension by factors of about 3 4 the midcontinent rift system differs from phanerozoic rifts in having total crustal thicknesses equal to or greater than the surrounding presumably unextended regions

constraints on melting and magma production in the crust major intrusions of granitic rocks are found in several tectonic settings and in all cases crustal melts may contribute to the volumes of granitic magma high grade metamorphism and partial melting of the crust take place predominantly under fluid absent conditions we present a model for calculating the amounts of melt that may be formed by fluid absent breakdown of micas and amphiboles in common crustal rock types pelitic quartzofeldspathic intermediate and mafic melt proportions depend mainly on the kind of source rock the pressure at which melting takes place the temperature and the hydrous mineral h2o content of the source as a consequence of the pressure dependence of water solubility in silicate melts any given source rock will produce more melt by a given fluid absent reaction at lower pressure at a given pressure higher temperature reactions can produce more melt from a given source rock based on a survey of the compositions of common rock types we show that the amounts of melt can vary from 50vol thus crustal rocks vary widely in their fertility as magma sources depending on the types and amounts of hydrous phases they contain in general muscovite breakdown in pelites will yield only small quantities of melt and lead to migmatite formation biotite breakdown in pelites occurs at higher temperature and because most high grade pelites below granulite grade are biotite rich can yield up to about 50 vol of granitoid melt rocks of intermediate composition and hornblende rich mafic rocks are potentially highly fertile magma sources also provided that the high temperatures necessary for biotite and hornblende breakdown are realized pyroxene rich mafic rocks and quartzofeldspathic rocks are much less potentially fertile data suggest that mechanisms exist for the efficient segregation of melt and restite in systems with 30and probably 20vol melt the pressure temperature history of a region can greatly influence crustal source fertility through its control over the occurrence of subsolidus dehydration and melting equilibria

mechanisms of coal metamorphism case studies from paleozoic coalfields controls on coal metamorphism can be complex in this paper we examine four paleozoic coalfields the western kentucky portion of the illinois basin the pennsylvania anthracite fields the south wales coalfield and the bowen basin an increase in temperature with depth of burial is certainly a factor in coal metamorphism in many coalfields however including the coalfields reviewed here it has become apparent that such a simple mechanism does not explain the coal rank patterns observed the flow of hydrothermal fluids through the coals has been proposed as a cause of coal metamorphism evidence includes inverted rank gradients elevated cfl as an indicator of brine fluids isotopic evidence for hydrothermal fluids and vein and cleat mineral assemblages in any case multiple hypotheses must often be evaluated in the examination of any coalfield since the simple paradigm of coal rank increases with a simple increase in temperature with increasing depth does not fit the evidence observed in many cases

mapping the 3d extent of the stillwater complex montana implications for potential platinum group element exploration and development abstract geophysical models characterize the exposed and interpreted buried extent of the stillwater complex critical for understanding the origin of the layered mafic intrusion and its associated high grade platinum group element resources the 3d models constrained by gravity magnetic xenolith seismic borehole and rock property data indicate that the likely maximum extent of the stillwater complex beneath phanerozoic cover is 10 times greater than its outcrop 2240 km2 the thickness values are poorly constrained but vary from 7000 to 12 000 m depending on crustal and mantle density variations and depths to the top of the lower crust and mantle this thickness may include dense metasedimentary units of the basin into which the stillwater complex intruded using the modeled thickness results in a volume estimate of 24 700 km3 albeit poorly constrained new analyses of xenoliths from the cretaceous sliderock and suzie peak intrusions produce ages of 2706 2716 ma corresponding to the age of the stillwater complex and 2813 ma corresponding to the age of archean gneissic basement seismic reflectors in inferred archean crystalline basement possibly including the stillwater complex dip 25 30 north with segments dipping as much as 70 north layered reflectors beneath the phanerozoic sedimentary section and above the inferred archean crystalline basement may represent metasedimentary units perhaps a southern extension of the mesoproterozoic belt basin the potential field models and the seismic reflection data suggest that the stillwater complex was dipping northward prior to deposition of cambrian strata perhaps uplifted in the late archean or proterozoic as previously proposed and that during laramide times faulting and intrusions highly disrupted the complex temperature measurements from boreholes help constrain the depths of feasible mining of the complex

paleointensity record from the 2 7 ga stillwater complex montana 1 the record of geomagnetic intensity captured in the 2 7 ga stillwater complex montana usa provides a statistical description of the archean geodynamo we present results of modified thellier paleointensity experiments on 441 core specimens 114 of which pass strict reliability criteria the specimens are from 53 sites spanning most of the banded series rocks in the stillwater complex on the basis of thermochronologic and petrologic evidence we interpret the highest temperature component of remanence to be a late archean thermoremanence though the possibility remains that it is a thermochemical remanence thermal models indicate that the highest temperature magnetization component at each of the sites averages 20 200 ka of geomagnetic secular variation the suite of sites as distributed through the banded series samples a roughly a 1 ma time interval the average of the most reliable paleointensity measurements uncorrected for the effects of anisotropy or cooling rate is 38 2 11 3 t 1 remanence anisotropy cooling rate and the nonlinear relationship between applied field and thermoremanence have a significant effect on paleointensity results a corrected average of 30 6 8 8 t is likely a more appropriate value earth s average dipole moment during the late archean 5 05 1 46 1022 am2 pmag 44 5 was well within the range of estimates from phanerozoic rocks the distribution of site mean paleointensities around the mean is consistent with that expected from slow cooling over timescales expected from thermal models and with secular variation comparable to that of the phanerozoic field

magmatic activity and plate motion during the latent stage of midcontinent rift development the keweenawan midcontinent rift of north america records signifi cant continental rifting between ca 1110 and 1085 ma and preserves the most detailed paleomagnetic record of plate motion of any continent in precambrian time u pb dates from extrusive and intrusive rocks of the western lake superior basin suggest a latent stage of reduced magmatic activity from ca 1106 to 1100 ma that places constraints on the dynamics of rift development and the record of plate motion however it has remained unclear whether this stage is a feature of the entire 2500 km long rift the succession of picritic and basaltic lava fl ows at mamainse point in the eastern lake superior basin may be the most continuous and best exposed record of rift related volcanism and magnetic reversals but its age and duration relative to the latent stage has been uncertain due to a lack of radioisotopic dates we present a weighted mean 206 pb 238 u date of 1100 36 0 25 ma on zircon crystals isolated from a newly discovered tuff within the upper reversed polarity portion of the stratigraphy below the great conglomerate this date indicates that eruptive activity at mamainse point continued during the interval of diminished magmatic activity in the western lake superior basin this result strengthens the chronostratigraphic framework of rift development while explaining the preservation of additional geomagnetic reversals at mamainse point and the record of progressively decreasing paleomagnetic inclination that is indicative of rapid paleogeographic change

stress development in heterogenetic lithosphere insights into earthquake processes in the new madrid seismic zone abstract the new madrid seismic zone nmsz in the midwestern united states was the site of several major m 6 8 8 earthquakes in 1811 1812 and remains seismically active although this region has been investigated extensively the ultimate controls on earthquake initiation and the duration of the seismicity remain unclear in this study we develop a finite element model for the central united states to conduct a series of numerical experiments with the goal of determining the impact of heterogeneity in the upper crust the lower crust and the mantle on earthquake nucleation and rupture processes regional seismic tomography data cite are utilized to infer the viscosity structure of the lithosphere which provide an important input to the numerical models results indicate that when differential stresses build in the central united states the stresses accumulating beneath the reelfoot rift in the nmsz are highly concentrated whereas the stresses below the geologically similar midcontinent rift system are comparatively low the numerical observations coincide with the observed distribution of seismicity throughout the region by comparing the numerical results with three reference models we argue that an extensive mantle low velocity zone beneath the nmsz produces differential stress localization in the layers above furthermore the relatively strong crust in this region exhibited by high seismic velocities enables the elevated stress to extend to the base of the ancient rift system reactivating fossil rifting faults and therefore triggering earthquakes these results show that if boundary displacements are significant the nmsz is able to localize tectonic stresses which may be released when faults close to failure are triggered by external processes such as melting of the laurentide ice sheet or rapid river incision

geochemical stratigraphy of the keweenawan midcontinent rift volcanic rocks with regional implications for the genesis of associated ni cu co and platinum group element sulfide mineralization the development of the north american midcontinent rift can be understood in the context of a tectonic and magmatic event in which the far field effects of continental drift influenced magmatism produced by a mantle plume we report and interpret new data for samples collected from stratigraphically controlled sequences of basaltic rocks in the osler volcanic group and the mamainse point volcanic group in ontario canada we confirm that the earliest phase of rift development involved primitive melts that produced basalts in the lower formation of the osler volcanic group with fo74 80 olivine 1 490 2 280 ppm ni the earliest basalts are primitive in both the mamainse point volcanic group and osler volcanic group sections with elevated mgo cr and ni these rocks also have high tio2 and high gd yb which are features that indicate low degrees of melting of a garnet bearing lherzolite mantle the central formation a and b basalts of the osler volcanic group that overlie the lower formation lavas record an upward increase and then decrease in the degree of contamination of basaltic rocks with normal ni and platinum group element pge abundance levels that require no sulfide saturation event to accompany contamination the upper formation of the osler volcanic group is characterized by a limited number of pge depleted flows although these basalts are highly fractionated and typically develop textures with stellate to laminated plagioclase feldspar they are usually not significantly contaminated the lower and upper formations of the mamainse point volcanic group show a diversity in geochemistry consistent with contributions from different mantle sources but contamination is restricted to a small number of flows with normal ni and pge abundance levels there is no indication of a regional metal depletion signature on the scale of the nadezhdinsky formation at noril sk but there is evidence that local s saturation events were triggered in the unexposed conduits feeding some of the upper sequence flows in response to fractionation of the magma massive to heavy disseminated ni cu pge sulfide mineralization in the midcontinent rift is hosted by small primitive intrusions that were formed early in the evolution of the rift and are typically associated with transtensional structures in the cratonic blocks adjacent to the main rift examples include the eagle deposit in michigan the tamarack mineralization in minnesota and the current lake complex in ontario the american examples are associated with splays of the great lakes tectonic zone and the canadian example is associated with the quetico fault zone the intrusions share the geochemical fingerprints of the more primitive lowermost volcanic rocks of the midcontinent rift and they are broadly contemporaneous with the development of the lower stratigraphy of the osler volcanic group and mamainse point volcanic group although the low grade but large tonnage cu ni pge deposits of the duluth were formed significantly later than the small primitive intrusions their host rocks share the same lithophile trace element signature as these early intrusions the parental magmas that produced all of these intrusions were derived from deeper mantle depths where garnet was a stable phase than the magmas that produced the central formation basalts and some of the upper formation basalts investigated in this study

keweenaw hot spot geophysical evidence for a 1 1 ga mantle plume beneath the midcontinent rift system the proterozoic midcontinent rift system of north america is remarkably similar to phanerozoic rifted continental margins and flood basalt provinces like the younger analogues the volcanism within this older rift can be explained by decompression melting and rapid extrusion of igneous material during lithospheric extension above a broad asthenospheric thermal anomaly which the authors call the keweenaw hot spot great lakes international multidisciplinary program on crustal evolution seismic reflection profiles constrain end member models of melt thickness and stretching factors which yield an inferred mantle potential temperature of 1 500 1 570c during rifting combined gravity modeling and subsidence calculations are consistent with stretching factors that reached 3 or 4 before rifting ceased and much of the lower crust beneath the rift consists of relatively high density intruded or underplated synrift igneous material the isotopic signature of keweenawan volcanic rocks presented in a companion paper by nicholson and shirey this issue is consistent with the model of passive rifting above an asthenospheric mantle plume

paleomagnetism and upb geochronology of volcanic rocks from michipicoten island lake superior canada precise calibration of the keweenawan polar wander track abstract paleomagnetic poles have been determined for normally magnetized samples of late proterozoic volcanic rocks from 23 sites on michipicoten island lake superior canada the results are in general accord with an earlier less precise study by one of the authors and indicate a small polar shift between rocks of the mamainse point formation 186 e 38 n and the michipicoten island formation 175 e 26 n a quartz feldspar porphyry intruding the lower mamainse point formation but unconformably overlain by the michipicoten island formation was sampled for u pb zircon dating the zircons define an age of emplacement of 1086 5 1 3 3 0 ma this age and the pole positions are consistent with and supplement ages previously determined for the keweenawan paleomagnetic polar wander curve these data define an apparent polar wander rate of 14 cm a 1 this age combined with previously published u pb ages indicates a time span of 22 ma for most keweenawan igneous activity in addition the time of the keweenawan paleomagnetic reversal is constrained to be between 1086 5 1 3 3 0 and 1097 6 3 6 ma the age of the upper part of the reversely magnetized osler group the zircon population contained an inherited component from a source 1403 50 ma old this suggests that the porphyry magma was at least partly derived by melting of an anorogenic pluton emplaced during the mid proterozoic

latent thermal effects from porcupine volcanics calderas underlying the white pine presque isle stratiform copper mineralization northern michigan economic stratiform copper mineralization in the fine grained carbonaceous basal nonesuch formation of the 50 km wide white pine presque isle mining district northern michigan has long been explained by the essentially vertical infiltration of cupriferous brine across the full width of basal nonesuch strata from the underlying copper harbor conglomerate aquifer followed by copper precipitation mainly by reactions with in situ iron sulfide based on that model why do lesser amounts of total copper measured in vertical sections occur in coarser grained presumably more permeable basal nonesuch strata situated laterally to the east and west of the mining district the answer may lie in increased infiltration rates for copper harbor hosted ore forming brine warmed locally by latent volcanic heat from a resurgent caldera or calderas located within the large porcupine volcanics dome underlying the mine district not only would caldera heat have warmed the brine and lowered its density but more importantly it would have produced a remarkable decrease in the brine viscosity an increase in temperature from 15 to 100 c could have increased the brine infiltration rate by more than four times in very early diagenetic time when the sediments were poorly compacted and highly porous because progressive compaction would have opposed the temperature effect a very early diagenetic timing is suggested for main stage copper mineralization over the porcupine volcanics caldera textural evidence has also long supported an early mineralization event at the rift basin scale the exceptionally rapid upward flux of warmed brine into fine grained nonesuch over the caldera would have required equivalent volumes of replacement brine which would in turn have required a lateral convergence of brine within the footwall copper harbor conglomerate aquifer toward the white pine presque isle district this lateral focus of brine toward the warm caldera area would have created a more efficient basin scale ore forming system than that resulting from a linear hydrogeologic flow most concepts described here deserve further evaluation through quantitative hydrogeologic modeling thermal effects on ore brine viscosities and densities developed here for the sediment hosted stratiform copper mineralization of the white pine presque isle district could be considered in genetic models for other deposits and deposit types the effects are especially strong for solutions warmed from low temperatures e g 20 c or lower to 100 c and could also be important to ore fluid flow for ores involving much higher hydrothermal temperatures if solutions with initially low temperatures played a role in their genesis

tracking mercury from the mine to the power plant geochemistry of the manchester coal bed clay county kentucky abstract the high volatile a bituminous manchester coal bed was sampled at five mine sites in central clay county southeastern kentucky the coal bed has a high mercury concentration at certain sites particularly in the high sulfur uppermost lithology whole coal hg contents range up to 0 52 ppm in a sample with 3 36 pyritic sulfur hg is enriched in the upper lithotype at several of the sites arsenic content exceeds 700 ppm ash basis for all of the whole channel samples and exceeds 1000 ppm for several of the lithotype samples regional geochemical trends from an area of approximately 75 60 km were determined using data from this study in combination with data published by the u s geological survey hg as pb and cl contents exhibit highs in the northwestern portion of the region within the smaller area covered by the detailed mine study the two western sites both have a high sulfur upper lithotype containing high levels of as and hg basement structures previously described in the study area could have influenced the regional coal rank and geochemistry possibly acting as conduits for mineralizing fluids

early history of the midcontinent rift inferred from geochemistry and sedimentology of the mesoproterozoic osler group northwestern ontario the mesoproterozoic 1108 1105 ma osler group a3k m thick succession of basaltic flows and sedimentary units on the north shore of lake superior is among the oldest expressions of the midcontinent rift basal sediments of the simpson island formation new name deposited by braided fluvial systems record westward transport of debris eroded from local archean and proterozoic rock units strata deposited by this fluvial system are intercalated with and overlain by ocean island basalt oib like basalts which become increasingly contaminated up section end 1100ma 0 3 to 5 3 the light rare earth element lree enriched la smn 1 5 3 9 and heavy ree hree fractionated gd ybn 1 5 3 7 subaerial flows are divisible into two units that correlate with other sections of the osler group to the east but simple correlations with more distant sequences are difficult the volcanic rock dominated portion of the succession is overlain by a thin 25 m thick conglomerate sandstone assemblage representing southeast progradation of an alluvial fan in a semi arid climatic setting clast lithologies and geochemistry indicate no extra rift detritus was delivered from the hinterland of the fan various lines of evidence in both volcanic and sedimentary rocks support a scenario where early pre 1108 ma subsidence along a north south axis from the western arm of the rift to the nipigon embayment was replaced by subsidence along the east west rift axis between 1108 and 1105 ma resume le groupe d osler mesoproterozoique 1108 1105 ma une succession de coulees basaltiques et d unites sedimentaires d une epaisseur de 3 km sur la rive nord du lac superieur est l une des plus anciennes expressions du rift mi continental les sediments a la base de la formation simpson island nouveau nom deposes par un systeme fluvial anastomose enregistrent le transport vers l ouest de debris erodes des unites rocheuses locales archeennes et proterozoiques des basaltes de points chauds recouvrent et sont intercales avec les strates deposees par ce systeme fluvial ces basaltes sont de plus en plus contamines en remontant la section end 1100ma 0 3 to 5 3 les ecoule ments sub aeriens de terres rares legeres enrichies la smn 1 5 3 9 et de terres rares lourdes enrichies fractionnees gd ybn 1 5 3 7 peuvent etre divises en deux unites qui correspondent a d autres sections du groupe d osler vers lst mais de simples correlations avec des sequences plus eloignees sont difficiles la portion de la succession dominee par des roches volcaniques est recouverte d un mince 25 m assemblage conglomerat gres qui represente la prograda tion vers le sud est d un delta alluvionnaire dans un environnement climatique semi aride la lithologie des clastes et la geochimie indiquent qu aucun detritus hors du rift ne provient de l arriere pays du delta diverses preuves a la fois dans les roches sedimentaires et les roches volcaniques soutiennent un scenario selon lequel une subsidence precoce avant 1108 ma le long d un axe nord sud a partir du bras ouest du rift vers la baie nipigon a ete remplacee par de la subsidence le long de l axe est ouest du rift entre 1108 et 1105 ma

primary and secondary red bed magnetization constrained by fluvial intraclasts author s swanson hysell nl fairchild lm slotznick sp abstract 2019 american geophysical union all rights reserved the magnetization of hematite bearing sedimentary rocks provides critical records of geomagnetic reversals and paleogeography however the timing of hematite remanent magnetization acquisition is typically difficult to constrain while detrital hematite in sediment can lead to a primary depositional remanent magnetization alteration of minerals through interaction with oxygen can lead to the postdepositional formation of hematite in this study we use exceptionally preserved fluvial sediments within the 1 1 billion year old freda formation to gain insight into the timing of hematite remanence acquisition and its magnetic properties this deposit contains siltstone intraclasts that were eroded from a coexisting lithofacies and redeposited within channel sandstone thermal demagnetization petrography and rock magnetic experiments on these clasts reveal two generations of hematite one population of hematite demagnetized at the highest unblocking temperatures and records directions that rotated along with the clasts this component is a primary detrital remanent magnetization the other component is removed at lower unblocking temperatures and has a consistent direction throughout the intraclasts this component is held by finer grained hematite that grew and acquired a chemical remanent magnetization following deposition resulting in a population that includes superparamagnetic nanoparticles in addition to remanence carrying grains the data support the interpretation that magnetizations of hematite bearing sedimentary rocks held by g400 nm grains that unblock close to the neel temperature are more likely to record magnetization from the time of deposition this primary magnetization can be successfully isolated from cooccurring authigenic hematite through high resolution thermal demagnetization

magnetization age from paleomagnetism of the copper harbor red beds northern michigan usa and its keweenawan geologic consequences the copper harbor formation on lake superior s keweenaw peninsula records the transition from volcanic to sedimentary infilling of north america s 1 1 ga keweenawan rift radiometric dating shows t

speculations on the origin of the north american midcontinent rift cannon w f and hinze w j 1992 speculations on the origin of the north american midcontinent rift in p a ziegler editor geodynamics of rifting volume ii case history studies on rifts north and south america and africa tectonophysics 213 49 55 the midcontinent rift is an example of lithospheric extension and flood basalt volcanism induced when a new mantle plume arrived near the base of the lithosphere very large volumes of basaltic magma were generated and partly erupted before substantial lithospheric extension began volcanism continued along with extension and deep rift subsidence for the ensuing 15 m y much of the basaltic magma including some of the earliest flows was formed by partial melting of isotopically primitive asthenosphere contained in the plume head the intense but relatively short duration of rifting and magmatism is a result of the dissipation of thermal and mechanical energy in the plume head as the plume head spread beneath the lithosphere it stretched the overlying lithosphere radially away from the lake superior region the triple junction of the rift system and partially melted to form the great volume of basalt and related intrusive rocks of the region the plume arrived beneath a continent that was under compression as a result of the ongoing grenville orogeny that affected a large region east of the rift that compression prevented full continental separation and eventually returned the region to compressional tectonics as the energy of the plume head waned

geologic framework for the coal bearing rocks of the central appalachian basin abstract coal production has been an important economic factor in the central appalachian basin however regional stratigraphic and structural relationships of the coal bearing rocks of the basin have been poorly understood due to numerous separate nomenclatural schemes employed by various states in order to estimate coal resources and understand mechanisms controlling the distribution of coal within the basin a reliable geologic framework is necessary seven detailed cross sections across the central appalachian basin were constructed in order to examine the stratigraphic and structural framework of the coal bearing rocks in the basin the cross sections were based on more than 1000 oil and gas well logs measured sections and borehole information from kentucky ohio tennessee virginia and west virginia the cross sections revealed three main points discussed here southeast thickening of the pennsylvanian strata uncomfortable northwestward onlapping relationship of lower pennsylvanian strata over underlying lower pennsylvanian and mississippian strata and regional continuity of beds the cross sections geologic mapping coal resource studies extensive new highway exposures and the occurrence of tonstein beds indicate that many coal beds and marine strata are laterally extensive albeit locally variable across the basin certain quartzose sandstone bodies are also extensive over large areas of the basin existing stratigraphic nomenclature schemes obscured the geologic framework of the basin so a new unified nomenclature scheme was devised to better describe stratigraphic features of the basin the new stratigraphic nomenclature now only formalized for kentucky was based on key stratigraphic units that proved to be extensive across the basin lower and middle pennsylvanian rocks are now recognized as the breathitt group the breathitt formation was elevated to group rank the breathitt group was subdivided into eight coal bearing formations by relatively thick marine strata and in the lower part of the breathitt group by quartzose sandstone formations the new coal bearing units are formally ranked as formations and in ascending order are the pocahontas bottom creek alvy creek grundy pikeville hyden four corners and princess formations the quartzose sandstone units are also formally ranked as formations and are in ascending order the warren point sewanee bee rock and corbin sandstones the sandstone formations were previously recognized units in some states but have been extended formally in kentucky across the basin the key stratigraphic marine units are formally ranked as members and are in ascending order the betsie shale member the kendrick shale member magoffin member and stoney fork member

rift wide correlation of 1 1 ga midcontinent rift system basalts implications for multiple mantle sources during rift development magmatism that accompanied the 1 1 ga midcontinent rift system mrs is attributed to the upwelling and decompression melting of a mantle plume beneath north america five distinctive flood basalt compositions are recognized in the rift related basalt succession along the south shore of western lake superior based on stratigraphically correlated major element trace element and nd isotopic analyses these distinctive compositions can be correlated with equivalent basalt types in comparable stratigraphic positions in other mrs localities around western lake superior four of these compositions are also recognized at mamainse point more than 200 km away in eastern lake superior these regionally correlative basalt compositions provide the basis for determining the sequential contribution of various mantle sources to flood basalt magmatism during rift development extending a model originally developed for eastern lake superior in this refined model the earliest basalts were derived from small degrees of partial melting at great depth of an enriched ocean island type plume mantle source e value of about 0 followed by magmas representing melts from this plume source and interaction with another mantle source most likely continental lithospheric mantle e 0 the

was the midcontinent rift part of a successful seafloor spreading episode the 1 1 ga midcontinent rift mcr the 3000 km long largely buried feature causing the largest gravity and magnetic anomaly within the north american craton is traditionally considered a failed rift formed by isolated midplate volcanism and extension we propose instead that the mcr formed as part of the rifting of amazonia precambrian northeast south america from laurentia precambrian north america and became inactive once seafloor spreading was established a cusp in laurentia s apparent polar wander path near the onset of mcr volcanism recorded by the mcr s volcanic rocks likely reflects the rifting this scenario is suggested by analogy with younger rifts elsewhere and consistent with the mcr s extension to northwest alabama along the east continent gravity high southern appalachian rocks having amazonian affinities and recent identification of contemporaneous large igneous provinces in amazonia

p wave teleseismic traveltime tomography of the north american midcontinent the remains of the 1 1 ga midcontinent rift mcr lie in the middle of the tectonically stable portion of north america previous and ongoing studies have imaged strong heterogeneity associated with the mcr in the crust but have not imaged such within the mantle it is unclear whether this is due to the absence of rift related mantle structures or these studies had insufficient resolution to image them to address this issue we measured 46 374 teleseismic p wave delay times from seismograms recorded by the usarray transportable array superior province rifting earthscope experiment and surrounding permanent stations we included these and 54 866 delay times from prior studies in our tomographic inversion we find that high velocity anomalies are widespread in our study area but there are also prominent low velocity anomalies two of these are coincident with high bouguer gravity anomalies associated with the mcr in iowa and the minnesota wisconsin border at 50 to 150 km depth extensive resolution testing shows that these anomalies could be the result of downward vertical smearing of relatively low velocities from rift related material that underplated the crust although we cannot exclude that the subcrustal mantle lithosphere beneath the mcr is anomalously enriched hydrated or warm other anomalies occur at syntaxes of the penokean orogen one with the superior province and marshfield terrane in southern minnesota and another with the yavapai and mazatzal terranes both at 100 to 250 km depth in the midmantle we image two linear high velocity anomalies interpreted as subducted fragments of the farallon and kula plates

further refinement to the timing of mesoproterozoic magmatism lake nipigon region ontario the midcontinent rift in the lake superior region of north america is one of the best preserved examples of an aborted precambrian intercontinental rift one that hosts a diverse suite of rock types in addition to the well studied and voluminous rift fill flood basalts although there is a growing database of high precision age information for the main volcanic packages and the largest mafic intrusions there is relatively little information available on the absolute timing of mafic ultramafic intrusions dyke swarms and alkaline complexes especially in the ontario portion of the rift we report new high precision u pb ages for 29 samples primarily collected in the lake nipigon area ontario from these new age results it is now possible to expand the known distribution of geon 15 magmatism in the region confirm an early stage of midcontinent rift mafic magmatism between 1150 and 1130 ma provide evidence that significant mafic ultramafic magmatism occurred in the lake nipigon region slightly earlier

flexural modeling of the midcontinent rift a basement profile obtained from seismic reflection data has been used to constrain a two dimensional flexural model of basin formation for the midcontinent rift at a latitude of 45 sup 0 25 n model parameters included the thickness of the elastic plate the basin width and the maximum basin thickness modeling suggests that flexure produced a deep narrow basin along the rift axis and that the crust was thinned at the time of basin formation to an elastic thickness of 9 6 km for a plate ruptured by rifting or 5 7 km for an unbroken plate with corresponding maximum basin thicknesses of 14 km and 16 km respectively the plate thickness depends most strongly on the basin width and is well constrained by the seismic data although erosion may have narrowed the basin the maximum basin thickness is poorly constrained because of the lack of seismic data for depths greater than about 10 km and because the strata at the center of the rift have been disturbed by a postrift compressional event which produced the st croix horst despite uncertainty about the basin thickness the load required to flex the crust to produce the midcontinent rift basin is too large to be attributed tomore the weight of the central flood basalts unless the basin subsided into a fluid less dense than the solidified basalts on the basis of seismic refraction data and by analogy with other rifts we hypothesize that a magnetic rift pillow intruded in the lower crust the basaltic pillow subsequently solidified to produce a large high velocity region in the lower crust centered under the rift axis as determined from deep seismic refraction this crystallization and cooling may be responsible for the sag phase of rift evolution as evidenced by laterally widespread occurrence of postvolcanic sediments copyright american geophysical union 1988 less

multiple s isotope studies of the stillwater complex and country rocks an assessment of the role of crustal s in the origin of pge enrichment found in the j m reef and related rocks abstract the j m reef in the stillwater complex of montana is the highest grade pd deposit in the world averaging approximately 14 ppm pd one suggestion for the origin of the enrichment centers on the sequestration of metals in staging chambers via immiscible sulfide liquids that formed in response to the addition of crustal s because 34s values alone are often insufficient to document in igneous rocks the assimilation of s from archean sedimentary rocks a combined study of both 33s and 34s values and computed 33s values was undertaken 34s and 33s values of cordierite bearing hornfels as well as massive sulfides in the metasedimentary rocks of the contact aureole can be divided into two populations one is characterized by anomalous positive 33s values from 0 to 0 32 and 34s values from 0 5 to 1 6 whereas the other is characterized by anomalous negative 33s values from 0 to 0 22 and 34s values from 1 5 to 5 8 34s and 33s values for rocks from the basal series of the complex range from 0 9 to 3 0 and 0 01 to 0 18 respectively the anomalous s isotope ratios indicate that for some samples at least 50 of the their s was of crustal origin in contrast most of the rocks from the j m reef are characterized by 34s and 33s values between 1 3 and 1 8 and 0 06 to 0 06 respectively these values deviate only slightly if at all from those thought to be representative of mantle s and suggest that i contamination was not an important process for pge enrichment in the complex ii the contaminant was also characterized by near 0 33s values or iii s isotopic exchange in the staging chambers was an important process upgrading of pge values via reaction between sulfide in the chamber and uncontaminated mantle derived magma may also have resulted in the conversion of s isotopic ratios that may have been indicative of crustal s addition to mantle like values rare 34s values up to 7 2 in the j m reef and 8 2 in chromitite from the ultramafic series provide strong evidence for localized assimilation of crustal s which did not experience isotopic homogenization the s isotopic ratios of the j m reef are non unique in terms of a specific genesis as they may be interpreted in either a downward sulfide collection model or an upward fluid transport model

polybaric fractionation in an evolving continental rift evidence from the keweenawan mid continent rift evaluation of magma compositions in the keweenawan mid continent rift shows that major element chemistry and variations in lava flow composition with stratigraphy were controlled by the physical evolution of the rift in particular evidence from the north shore volcanic group of minnesota reveals that primitive high al olivine tholeiite magmas saturated with olivine clinopyroxene and plagioclase at high pressure near the base of the crust were emplaced throughout the crust where they underwent lower pressure fractionation of olivine and plagioclase to again become triply saturated as the rift evolved tectonically magmas from successively deeper chambers were erupted until finally the deep seated voluminous primitive high al magmas were able to reach the surface thereby explaining the predominance of high al basalt in the upper volcanic sequences and plutonic rocks

dynamic processes controlling evolution of rifted basins abstract the extension of the lithosphere controlling the development of rifted basins is driven by a combination of plate boundary forces frictional forces exerted on the base of the lithosphere by the convecting asthenosphere and deviatoric tensional stresses developing over upwelling branches of the asthenospheric convection system although mantle plumes are not a primary driving force of rifting they play an important secondary role by weakening the lithosphere and by controlling the level of rift related volcanic activity a distinction between active and passive rifting is only conditionally justified the extension of the lithosphere depending on its rate and magnitude and the potential temperature of the asthenosphere can cause by adiabatic decompression partial melting of the lower lithosphere and upper asthenosphere in rift systems the level and timing of volcanic activity is highly variable the lack of volcanic activity implies passive rifting an initial passive rifting stage can be followed by a more active one during which magmatism plays an increasingly important role magmatic destabilization of the moho may account for the frequently observed discrepancy between upper and lower crustal extension factors combined with evidence for thermal thinning of the mantle lithosphere this suggest that the volume of the lithosphere is not necessarily preserved during rifting as advocated by conventional stretching models the structural style of rifts is controlled by the rheological structure of the lithosphere the availability of crustal discontinuities that can be tensionally reactivated the mode orthogonal or oblique and amount of extension and the lithological composition of pre and syn rift sediments simple shear extension prevails in rifts that subparallel the structural grain of the basement pure shear extension is typical for rifts cross cutting the basement grain pre existing crustal and mantle lithospheric discontinuities contribute to the localization of rift systems the duration of the rifting stage of extensional basins is highly variable stress field changes can cause abrupt termination of rifting in major rift systems progressive strain concentration on the zone of future crustal separation entails abandonment of lateral rifts depending on constraints on lateral block movements crustal separation can be achieved after as little as 9 my and as much as 280 my of rifting activity syn rift basin subsidence is controlled by isostatic adjustment of the crust to mechanical stretching of the lithosphere its magmatic inflation and thermal attenuation of the mantle lithosphere post rift basin subsidence is governed by thermal reequilibration of the lithosphere asthenosphere system deep seated thermal anomalies related to syn rift pull up of the asthenosphere lithosphere boundary have decayed after 60 my by about 65 and after 180 my by about 95 the magnitude of post rift subsidence is a function of the rift induced thermal anomaly and crustal density changes the potential temperature of the asthenosphere and initial water depths intraplate stresses can have an overprinting effect on post rift subsidence stretching factors derived from post rift subsidence analyses must be corrected for such effects

transpressive tectonism in the eastern penokean orogen canada consequences for proterozoic crustal kinematics and continental fragmentation abstract results of a structural analysis of archean basement huronian cover and various igneous rocks in the sudbury area ontario and regional tectonometamorphic correlations suggest that structures in the eastern penokean orogen formed dominantly by dextral transpression bulk horizontal shortening started with the ca 2 4 to 2 2 ga blezardian orogeny and was accompanied by peak metamorphism and local granitoid magmatism during the 1 89 to 1 83 ga penokean orogeny horizontal dextral shear parallel to the curved axis of the eastern penokean orogen gained in importance and is most likely related to docking of proterozoic magmatic arc terranes to the superior province margin this tectonic activity led to distributed heterogeneous deformation of archean basement rocks and exhumation of deep crustal rocks in the sudbury area and the kapuskasing structural zone but may have failed to accrete paleoproterozoic terranes in the lake huron area the lack of evidence for horizontal extension following blezardian and penokean contraction suggests that crustal fragmentation of the archean supercontinent started at 2 45 ga finally the great lakes tectonic zone and the murray fault master dislocations in the penokean orogen may have acted as crustal weakness zones which influenced the orientation and development of 1 1 ga midcontinent rift segments

a geophysical profile of the southern margin of the midcontinent rift system in western lake superior a 70 km long seismic reflection profile in western michigan provides new insight into the nature distribution and structure of the keweenawan supergroup volcanic and overlying sedimentary rocks and the controversial keweenaw fault along the southern boundary of the midcontinent rift system in the lake superior basin interpretation of the 5 s reflection data constrained by surface geology magnetics and gravity modeling shows that volcanic rocks which cropout north of the keweenaw fault dip northerly to depths of the order of 17 km south of the fault volcanic rocks overlain by 2 km of clastic sedimentary rocks thin gradually to the south as they dip upward at a shallow angle to the outcrop in the south range the volcanic pile within the basin thickens rapidly to the north of the keweenaw fault suggesting that the volcanics were deposted in an extensional fault bounded basin clear evidence of normal faulting is not present in the seismic reflection data because of a later compressional event the thickness of the volcanic filled basin implies that the upper crust was almost completely broken during the rifting event the available evidence is interpreted to show the keweenaw fault as a moderate to high angle reverse fault that occurs within the volcanic pile and breaks through to the surface along the abrupt change in thickness of the volcanic sequence there is no evidence from the seismic profiling for major faulting except for the keweenaw fault intrusions or folding of the keweenawan supergroup in this region

a study of the trace sulfide mineral assemblages in the stillwater complex montana usa the sulfide assemblages of the stillwater complex away from the well studied ore zones are composed mainly of variable proportions of pyrrhotite chalcopyrite pentlandite and pyrite excluding vein assemblages and those affected by greenschist and lower temperature alteration the majority can be classified into two broad assemblages defined here as pristine multiphase often globular in shape or volatile bearing multiphase high temperature volatile rich minerals such as biotite hornblende or an unmixed calcite dolomite assemblage the volatile bearing assemblages are mainly found within and below the j m reef where native copper and sphalerite are also locally present pristine sulfides are found throughout the stratigraphy both groups can be affected by apparent s loss in the form of pyrite being converted to magnetite and chalcopyrite to a cu fe oxide delafossite with little to no silicate alteration an upward trend from pentlandite rich to pyrrhotite rich to pyrite rich assemblages is observed in the footwall rocks in upper gn i and the same trend repeats from just below the reef and continues into the overlying n ii and gn ii modeling suggests that the sulfide ni in the peridotite zone is largely controlled by silicate ni when taken together observations are most readily explained by the remobilization of selected elements by a high temperature fluid with the apparent loss of s cu ni this could concentrate ore metals by vapor refining eventually producing a platinum group element enriched sulfide ore zone such as the j m reef

palynologic petrographic and geochemical characteristics of the manchester coal bed in eastern kentucky the manchester coal bed in eastern kentucky is the stratigraphically lowest coal in kentucky that is both laterally continuous and of consistent mineable thickness the manchester coal bed occurs in the lower part of the breathitt formation in an interval between the underlying corbin sandstone and the overlying betsie shale both of which are also aerially widespread units the manchester is early middle pennsylvanian in age and is equivalent with the middle morrowan of the eastern interior basin and the late westphalian a of western europe increment samples were collected from the western and eastern outcrop and mining areas of the eastern kentucky coal field and were analyzed palynologically petrographically and geochemically to compare and contrast the two areas in the western part of the eastern kentucky coal field the manchester coal bed is uniform in occurrence and composition the bed is consistently 0 61 0 92 m 2 3 ft thick and generally is devoid of inorganic partings palynologically the coal in this area is largely dominated by lycospora the dispersed spore of many of the large lycopsid trees e g lepidodendron and lepidophloios and to a lesser extent granasporites medius representing diaphorodendron and synchysidendron petrographically the coal contains high percentages of vitrinite macerals and correspondingly low percentages of liptinite and inertinite macerals most of the increments from this area studied are generally low in ash yield 5 and sulfur content 10 and occasionally sulfur 1 in the eastern part of the coal field the manchester coal bed is typically thicker 3 ft 1 m but usually occurs as a coal zone with intercalated coal beds and clastic units palynologically the coal in this area contains increased percentages of small lycopsid small seed ferns calamites and cordaites petrographically the coal is higher overall in liptinite and inertinite macerals ash yields in the eastern sample area are generally low 10 an exception being some high ash durain bands overall sulfur contents also are low typically 1 the western samples are interpreted as having formed in a well protected generally flooded mire a consistent water cover would provide a favorable environment for arboreous lycopsid growth and proliferation and also inhibit oxidation of the peat surface thus promoting the formation of a high vitrinite content coal the eastern samples are also interpreted as having formed in a mire that was well protected most of the time giving rise to thick sequences of low ash low sulfur coal intermittent inundation by extra swamp waters carrying sediment in this area resulted in the development of a multiple coal zone i e several peat forming events with intervening clastic deposition in contrast to a single peat forming event in the western area surficial peat exposure was more frequent in the eastern area which allowed for increased microbial degradation of the peat and subsequent formation of inertinite macerals upon conversion to bituminous coal this condition might also accelerate charring of the peat surface by wildfire

geochemistry of north shore hypabyssal dikes and sills in the midcontinent rift of minnesota an example the 47th avenue sill this study presents geochemical data for several of the numerous small to large dikes and sills including the 47th avenue sill exposed along the shore of lake superior in and north of duluth minnesota these intrusions are late magmatic features of the proterozoic midcontinent rift system and together form the north shore hypabyssal group the dikes are geochemically distinct from the sills and when the two are exposed together the younger dike intrudes the older sill dikes are primitive with mg up to 68 have positive end values and are oriented approximately north south with steep westerly or near vertical dips the older sills are more evolved usually have end values near or below 0 and have the same gentle easterly dip as the thick sequence of north shore volcanic group flows they intrude dike compositions correlate best with a mixture of widespread basalt compositions types 4 and 5 with primitive geochemistry and positive end values whereas sill compositions are similar to widespread ba