bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Superposed structures in the Mona Complex at Rhoscolyi Ynys Gybi, North Wales
Authors: Roper H.
Published: May 2009

The Bedded Series of the Mona Complex at Rhoscolyn comprises two groups of clastic metasediments: the Holy Island Group, consistingof quartzites, impure psammites and pelites, with well-preserved bedding, is overlain conformably by the New Harbour Group, which is for the most parthomogeneously semi-pelitic without surviving bedding. Both groups have undergone the same two major tectono-metamorphic episodes, but with differing response. In the Holy Island Group the first episode (Dx) produced nearly upright and upward-facing folds (Fx) with an axial planar foliation (Sx), which varies from an anastomosing or rough-spaced cleavage in quartzites to a penetrative phyllitic schistosity in pelites. In the New Harbour Group Dxhas generally obliterated original bedding surfaces, replacing them with a composite foliation (Sx) of fine compositional banding and a penetrative schistosity, together with a stretching lineation (Lx), the latter being at a high angle to the Fxaxial direction. The Dxstructures are attributed to a major episode of compressional tectonics.

The structures attributed to the second deformation (Dy) includestrata-bound sets of quartz-filled tension fractures (attributed by most previous authors to an earlier episode), abundant NNW-verging asymmetric folds (Fy) of Sx, and a sporadically developed set of shear fractures which constitute a crenulation cleavage (Sy) axial planar to the folds. It is suggested that all these structures were produced by a single agency. One interpretation is that the observed shear fractures and folded tension fractures correspond fairly closely to and provide a natural analogy of those obtained in the classical simple shear experimentsof Riedel. In this case all the Dystructures can be accounted for by the action of a large-scale simple shear couple (Cy), whose vergence and shallow dip were both towards the NNW. Such a mechanism may imply a gravity-dominated regime of net horizontal extension in a NNW-SSE direction, with extension being less constrained to the north than to the south. J. W. Cosgrove has suggested an alternative interpretation, that all the Dystructures can be explained as reverse kink bands; the simple shear interpretation is here preferred because the angle between Syand the estimated direction of Pmaxduring Dywas < 45°; the kink band model would require an angle > 45°.

The fact that cleavage vergence boundaries for both Sxand Syoccur close to the hinge zone of the Rhoscolyn Antiform is consistent with either Dxor Dyage for the initiation of this fold. However, when fold limb length (or limb rotation) vergence is considered, the presence of an Fx0vergence boundary but absence of an Fxyvergence boundary (and by implication of an Fy0boundary) is consistent with a Dxage but difficult to reconcile with a Dyage.
Ammonite correlation of the uppermost Campanian of Western Europe, the U.S.Gulf Coast, Atlantic Seaboard and Western Interior, and the numerical age of the base of the Maastrichtian
Authors: Kennedy W. J. , Cobban W. A. , Scott G. R.
Published: May 2009

If the base of the Maastrichtian Stage is placed at the first appearance ofthe belemniteBelemnella lanceolatain Western Europe, the boundary between the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages in the U.S. Western Interiormay lie between the zones ofBaculites jenseniandBaculites eliasi. TheB. jenseniZone can be shown to be latest Campanian in age on the basis of the occurrence ofNostoceras (N.) hyattiStephenson andJeletzkytes nodosus(Owen), which range to the top of the Campanian in the well-dated Vistula Valley sequence in Poland, but disappear before the first appearance ofB. lanceolata. So defined the numerical age of the Maastrichtian lies between 73.2 ± 0.7 and 70.1 ±0.7 Ma, based upon dates from high temperature chronometers in bentonites in the Western Interior.
The influence of strain, lithology and stratigraphical depth on white mica (illite) crystallinity in mudrocks from the vicinity of the Corris Slate Belt, Wales: implications for the timing of metamorphism in the Welsh Basin
Authors: Roberts B. , Merriman R. J. , Pratt W.
Published: May 2009

Low and very low grade metamorphism in a mudrock-dominated succession, ranging from Upper Cambrian to Wenlock, is characterized by the white mica (illite) crystallinity technique. Kubler indices indicate that grade ranges from late diagenetic to low epizonal. The prograde reaction most easily observed by XRD study is the progressive ordering of K/Na micas; diagnostic2M1polytypic reflections become recognizable at 0.4 Δ 2θ and strengthen as grade advances. Grade generally correlates with thickness of overburden in the > 9 km thick succession. However, strain exercises additionally a profound influence on grade, and the distribution of strain was related to décollement resulting from inhomogeneities and ductility contrasts within the succession. Strain energy is seen as an additional and important variable in the development of white mica crystallinity in slates. The distribution of metamorphic grade implies that the Lower Palaeozoic succession was augmented by several kilometres of Lower Devonian (Old Red Sandstone) strata at the metamorphic culmination. The culmination was syntectonic and represents an Acadian rather than an early diastathermal event. Subsequent dextral movement on the Bala Fault displaced the regional isocryst pattern byc.4 km. Retrogressive smectite appears to be localized to the vicinity of the Bala Fault and is probably of Variscan age.
A U/Pb age for the Shetland Islands oceanic fragment, Scottish Caledonides: evidence from anatectic plagiogranites in ‘layer 3’ shear zones
Authors: Spray John G. , Dunning Gregory R.
Published: May 2009

High precision U/Pb data obtained from zircons extracted from plagiogranite within the gabbro unit of the Shetland Islands oceanic fragment of northeast Scotland yield an age of 492 ± 3 Ma. Field relations indicate that the plagiogranites were generated by the partial melting of amphibolitized gabbros within high-temperature shear zones formed due to crustal deformation and fluid infiltration occurring in proximity to a spreading centre. The U/Pb data therefore constrain the crystallization age of the Shetland complex. This age is similar to U/Pb ages obtained from the Leka (497±2 Ma), Karmoy (493+7-4 Ma) and Gulfjellet (489±3 Ma) oceanic fragments of the Norwegian Caledonides, and the Pipestone Pond (4943-2 Ma) and Betts Cove (4893-2 Ma) oceanic fragments of the Canadian Appalachians.
Geochemistry of the Start Complex greenschists: Rhenohercynian MORB?
Authors: Floyd P. A. , Holdsworth R. E. , Steele S. A.
Published: May 2009

The meta-igneous greenschists of the Start Complex, SouthDevon, are composed of a mineralogically uniform, but texturally variable, actinolite-epidote-albite assemblage with retrogressed variants containing chlorite, muscovite, sphene, carbonate and oxidized opaque minerals. Geochemically they represent a suite of relatively primitive tholeiites, exhibiting mild differentiation, depleted incompatible element abundances, and variable light rare-earth-element-depletion patterns comparable to modern basalts from normal spreading ridge segments (N-MORB). As the Start greenschistsexhibit a number of chemical similarities to the nearby Upper Palaeozoic Lizard ophiolite, and MORB-type clasts within the Rhenohercynian Zone generally, they may also represent local Variscan ocean crust, which floored smalloceanic basins that separated the Old Red Sandstone continent from the Armorican microplate to the south. The Start Complex could thus represent a previously unrecognized oceanic component to the Variscan orogenic belt (Rhenohercynian Zone) of Northwest Europe.
The timing of Ordovician magmatism in the English Lake District and Cross Fell inliers
Authors: Hughes Richard A. , Kokelaar Peter
Published: May 2009

Volcanic and hypabyssal intrusive rocks of the Lower Palaeozoic English Lake District and Cross Fell inliers are elements of the Ordovician destructive plate margin system of microcontinental Avalonia. Two igneous sheets within the marine sedimentary Skiddaw Group of these inliers, previously described as lavas, are reinterpreted as sills. Sedimentary rocks enclosing these sills are of late Tremadoc-early Arenig (c. 493 Ma) and early Llanvirn (> 476 Ma) age, and breccias along the upper contacts of both were produced by steam explosivity and fluidization ahead of theadvancing tips of the intrusions. Previous interpretation of the breccias on the older sheet, as sediment deposited on the eroded top of a lava flow, implied an early Ordovician onset of arc magmatism. Such early magmatism would have been virtually coincident with the latest Tremadoc initiation of arc magmatism in Wales, but evidence for such a near synchronous response tothe putative onset of subduction is lacking. Respective onsets of magmatismwere probably separated by at least 17 m.y., and possibly by as much as 29 m.y. The apparent contemporaneity of mid and late Ordovician volcanic episodes in England and Wales, and similarities in extensional tectonic style, suggest that the two areas then were part of the same subduction system responding similarly to plate-scale magma-generating and tectonic processes. The early Ordovician situation is uncertain, but the absence of arc volcanic rocks of this age in the English Lake District suggests that this area and Wales are not tectonically juxtaposed elements of a former simple linear arc.
Emplacement and thermal metamorphism associated with the post-orogenic Strath Ossian Pluton, Grampian Highlands, Scotland
Authors: Key R. M. , Phillips E. R. , Chacksfield B. C.
Published: May 2009

The multiphase Strath Ossian Pluton was intruded into metasedimentary rocks of the Neoproterozoic Grampian and Appin groups (Grampian Highlands, Scotland) during Silurian or early Devonian times. Emplacementfollowed the main ductile tectono-thermal history of the area and took place during post-orogenic regional uplift and cooling. Early emplacement of dioritic magma in the northern part of the pluton resulted in migmatization of its immediate country rocks with the generation of new ductile structures. The main granodiorite was then emplaced with magma migrating towards the southeast where wall-rock stoping took place. Elsewhere the pluton created its own space with little stoping or veining. Thermal metamorphism caused by granodiorite emplacement resulted in the progressive development of the assemblage quartz+ plagioclase + biotite+ cordierite +andalusite ± K-feldspar in the metapelitic country rocks. Six prograde mineral assemblage zones are identified in the aureole. Final emplacement of a marginal porphyritic microgranite was accompanied by the release of alkaline fluids into the thermal aureole. This produced sillimanite (fibrolite) in association with hydrous phases such as chlorite and white mica. The development of andalusite and cordierite-bearing assemblages is estimated to have occurred at temperatures of 650±50 °C at an estimated pressure of 3.2±0.5 kbars. An approximately isobaric temperature change of 300±50 °C across the width of the main aureole is deduced. The migmatization close to the plutons margins took place at temperatures of about 700 °C. An estimated depth of emplacement of about 11 km is obtained for the Strath Ossian Pluton. This implies considerable regional uplift both prior to, andimmediately after its emplacement. Thus it has been estimated that at the peak of regional metamorphism, probably during the Ordovician Period, the country rocks were at a depth of 15 to 18.5 km, whereas the early Devonian dykes of the Etive dyke swarm, which cut the Strath Ossian Pluton, were emplaced at, or near surface.
A new look at Belgian aeromagnetic and gravity data through image-based display and integrated modelling techniques
Authors: Chacksfield B. C. , De Vos W. , D'Hooge L. , Dusar M. , Lee M. K. , Poitevin C. , Royles C. P. , Verniers J.
Published: May 2009

Digital processing and image-based display techniques have been used to generate contour and shaded-relief maps of Belgian aeromagnetic data at a scale of 1:300000 for the whole of Belgium. These highlight the important anomalies and structural trends, particularly over the Brabant Massif. North and vertically illuminated shaded-relief plots, enhanced structural belts trending west–east to northwest–southeast in the Brabant Massif and west–east to southwest–northeast in the core of the Ardennes. The principal magnetic lineaments have been identified from the shaded-relief plots and tentatively correlated to basement structures. Most short lineaments are correlated with individual folds while the more extensive lineaments are correlated with large scale fault structures. Magnetic highs within the Brabant Massif are attributed to folded sediments of the Tubize Group. The magnetic basement in the east of Belgium is sinistrally displaced to the north by an inferred deep NNW–SSE crustal fracture. The Bouguer anomaly map of Belgium identifies the Ardennes as a negative area, and the Brabant Massif as a positive area, with the exception of a WNW–trending gravity low in its western part. The southern margin of the Brabant Massif is defined by a steep gravity gradient coincident with the Faille Bordiere (Border Fault). Trial modelling of the gravity and magnetic data, carried out along profiles across the Brabant and Stavelot massifs, has identified probable acid igneous intrusions in the western part of the Brabant Massif, and a deep magnetic lower density body underlying the whole Ardennes region, which is thought to be a distinctive Precambrian crustal block.
The Rügen Caledonides, northeast Germany
Authors: Katzung G. , Giese U. , Walter R. , Von Winterfeld C.
Published: May 2009

Borehole evidence from the Isle of Rügen, and geophysical data from the adjacent Baltic Sea suggest a Caledonian deformation front that caused NNE-directed thrusting on the East European Platform. It is thought to mark a Caledonian suture zone which was reactivated in syn- to post-Variscan events to form the Rømiø-Møn Fault Zone.
Problems interpreting deep crustal reflectors beneath the Moine thrust between Shetland and the Scottish Highlands
Authors: McBride J. H. , England R. W.
Published: May 2009

Offshore seismic reflection profiles crossing the Caledonian orogenic front (locally, ?Moine thrust) between Shetland and the Scottish Highlands show a singular coherent east-dipping reflection underlain by a highly reflective dipping zone in the middle crust extending down to the Moho discontinuity. This reflector pattern varies spatially with respect to the eastern edge of the Precambrian Lewisian foreland as well as to previously mapped locations of the Moine thrust. Southwest of Shetland, the reflector pattern coincides with the offshore projection of the Moine thrust, but further south, toward the Highlands, the reflector diverges to the west of the thrust and actually underlies autochthonous Lewisian foreland basement. Where this reflector pattern diverges from the Moine thrust, two interpretations are possible: the prominent reflector is part of a basement imbricate thrust duplex within the footwall (or ‘lower plate’) of the Moine thrust that merges with the thrust zone further north and/or it was originally a Proterozoic normal fault which, further north around Shetland, was reactivated or over-printed by the Moine thrust. The latter interpretation supports the importance of pre-existing crustal structure in controlling Caledonian compressional deformation.
The Siluro-Devonian evolution of the southern Midland Valley of Scotland
Authors: Smith R. A.
Published: May 2009

Geological studies along the southern margin of the Midland Valley of Scotland, together with previously published work, suggest a strike-slip model for its evolution during Silurian and Devonian times. The data emphasize the ‘older Caledonian’ influence and persistent, albeit intermittent, transcurrent activity along the Southern Upland Fault which is the boundary between the Midland Valley and Southern Upland terranes. A comparison of the geological characteristics of the Silurian and Devonian rocks in the southern Midland Valley with characteristics from strike-slip basins elsewhere suggests that the Midland Valley rocks were deposited and locally deformed under sinistral strike-slip regimes with two main episodes of transtension — the first acting in Llandovery—Wenlock times and the second in Lower Old Red Sandstone times. A strike-slip model involving transpression may explain why there is a strong unconformity between the Llandovery—Wenlock and the Lower Old Red Sandstone strata in the Pentland Hills and Girvan inliers but only a marked change in sedimentary facies at the equivalent horizon in the inliers of the central Midland Valley. The Lower Old Red Sandstone was probably deposited in a transtensional regime, but the succession is complicated by the widespread Lower Old Red Sandstone calc-alkaline magmatic event. The mid- Devonian deformation is also variable in its effects and the more easterly trend of theen echelonfold axes relative to the Southern Upland Fault trend is indicative of sinistral transpression. Carboniferous and older rocks were affected by smaller dextral movements on the Southern Upland Fault and related faults which started during Namurian times when a change to an overall dextral regime took place.
The Orlock Bridge Fault in the Southern Uplands of southwestern Scotland: a terrane boundary?
Authors: Barnes R. P. , Phillips E. R. , Boland M. P.
Published: May 2009

The Orlock Bridge Fault separates the Ordovician and Silurian turbidite sequences within the Southern Uplands thrust belt. A large biostratigraphical break and the 1 km wide sinistral Slieve Glah Shear Zone associated with the fault in northern Ireland led to previous interpretation as a major regional structure, possibly a terrane boundary. In Scotland, however, the stratigraphical break is much less and an association with inliers of the Moffat Shale Group suggests that the fault is essentially similar to the other tract-bounding faults which originated as syn-D1 thrusts within the imbricate stack. Localized sinistral deformation apparent along the trace of the Orlock Bridge Fault in southwestern Scotland, associated with post-1 reactivation, is comparable to that seen at Slieve Glah. Further east, a broad zone (up to 8 km) of sinistral ductile deformation, the Moniaive Shear Zone, is recognized adjacent to the Orlock Bridge Fault over a strike length of about 100 km. However, this zone differs from the Slieve Glah Shear Zone in its width and its location relative to the fault, suggesting that it is not simply related to the fault but represents a more regional deformation. Sinistral reactivation of the Orlock Bridge Fault was possibly initiated in the Wenlock during the peak of sinistral shear at the thrust front, although it may have developed over a long time contemporaneously with, but locally post-dating, the Moniaive Shear Zone. The latter deforms porphyroblasts with the thermal aureole of the c. 392 Ma Cairnsmore of Fleet granite pluton, which was emplaced into and largely post-dates the shear zone, but is deformed by the Orlock Bridge Fault. Major dip-slip reactivation of the fault post-dates the Moniaive Shear Zone and regional metamorphism and probably occurred in the Carboniferous or Permian. There is some evidence for a deep crustal feature coincident with the Orlock Bridge Fault, possibly the boundary between different crustal blocks in the collage of terrane fragments accreted during the final closure of Iapetus, which may explain the unusual extent of the reactivation of the Orlock Bridge Fault within the allochthonous Southern Uplands thrust stack. However, the situation of the fault within the Southern Uplands terrane and, in Scotland, the biostratigraphical evidence of no major stratigraphical break across the fault and the lack of any clear relationship between the Orlock Bridge Fault and the Moniaive Shear Zone indicate that the fault should not be regarded as a terrane boundary.
Deep resistivity imaging across the Northern and Central belts of the Southern Uplands
Authors: Beamish David
Published: May 2009

Magnetotelluric data from 16 soundings have provided a northwest-southeast traverse across the Northern and Central belts of the Southern Uplands. The 34 km profile extends from the Ordovician Portpatrick Formation (northwest of the Thornhill Basin) across the Silurian Gala Group onto the Permian Lochmaben Basin in the southeast. The survey traverses, and has particular relevance to, the Ordovician/Silurian boundary (Orlock Bridge Fault), the associated Moniaive Shear Zone, and the Moffat Valley Lineament. The data obtained have been successfully modelled (inverted) to provide a crustal-scale resistivity cross-section. The two Upper Palaeozoic basins are resolved as relatively conducting features. Basin depths are about 200 m (Thornhill) and 1100 m (Lochmaben). Elsewhere, through the upper crustal interval, resistivities over 500 ohm m are associated with the Lower Palaeozoic greywackes. The Silurian formations appear more resistive (and slightly thicker) than their Ordovician counterparts. Depth to basement (base Lower Palaeozoic) is not a well-resolved characteristic but resistivity gradients observed below 5 km suggest a depth of this order. Concealed beneath the Thornhill Basin lie two narrow, vertical, conductive zones. The more substantial feature lies towards the northwest margin of the basin, and is probably associated with the Orlock Bridge Fault. The second zone lies towards the southeast margin of the basin. The conductivity minima, in both cases, are located in the depth range 2 to 3 km; they are separate and distinct from the overlying basin sediments. If the two anomalies, some 5 to 6 km apart, can be considered an expression of the Moniaive Shear Zone, then the major conductive constituents are concentrated at the margins. Two dipping, resistive features in the upper kilometre are imaged in the vicinity of the Moffat Valley Lineament.
Turbidite geochemistry and provenance studies in the Southern Uplands of Scotland
Authors: Duller P. R. , Floyd J. D.
Published: May 2009

Regional lithogeochemical data from the Southern Uplands have been used to characterize a distinctive stratigraphy across this region. A suite of 840 point-counted and petrographically classified greywacke samples were used to establish chemical fingerprints for a series of greywacke-dominated lithostratigraphical units. These fingerprints were then used to evaluate a further 1455 greywacke samples collected throughout the Southern Uplands and Longford Down and enabled a series of strike-parallel geochemical tracts to be defined.

Four principal geochemical groups are recognized, relating to cratonic- and volcanic-derived greywacke provenances and both carbonate-rich and hydrothermally altered greywackes. Volcanic-derived units display higher Ti, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, Mn, Cr, Ga, Ni, Sr, V and Zn values than their cratonic counterparts, which, with the exception of the carbonate-rich Hawick Group, display higher Si, K, La, Nb, Rb, Th and Zr. Volcaniclastic greywackes display REE patterns dissimilar to typical post-Archean upper crust, but similar to their andesitic components, whereas cratonic groups have REE patterns close to that of upper crust. Systematic strike-parallel geochemical variation in the Southern Uplands is controlled by petrographical differences which directly reflect provenance, with individual lithostratigraphical units derived from variable mixtures of ophiolitic, calc-alkaline, acid-igneous, low-grade metamorphic and carbonate-rich detritus.
On the Antarctic Peninsula batholith
Authors: Leat P. T. , Scarrow J. H. , Millar I. L.
Published: May 2009

The plutonic rocks of the Antarctic Peninsula magmatic arc form one of the major batholiths of the circum-Pacific rim. The Antarctic Peninsula batholith is a 1350 km long by < 210 km wide structure which was emplaced over the period ˜240 to 10 Ma, with a Cretaceous peak of activity that started at 142 Ma and waned during the Late Cretaceous. Early Jurassic and Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous gaps in intrusive activity probably correspond to episodes of arc compression. In a northern zone of the Antarctic Peninsula, the batholith intrudes Palaeozoic–Mesozoic low-grade meta-sedimentary rocks, and in a central zone it intrudes schists and ortho- and paragneisses which have Late Proterozoic Nd model ages and were deformed during Triassic to Early Jurassic compression. In a southern zone the oldest exposed rocks are Permian sedimentary rocks and deformed Jurassic volcanic and sedimentary rocks. All these pre-batholith rocks formed a belt of relatively immature crust along the Gondwana margin. With few exceptions, Jurassic plutons crop out only within the central zone: many are peraluminous, having ‘S-like’ mineralogies and relatively high 87sr/86sri. They are considered to consist largely of partial melts of upper crust schists and gneisses and components of mafic magmas that caused the partial fusion. By contrast, Early Cretaceous plutons crop out along the length of the batholith. Few magma compositions appear to have been affected by upper crust, the bulk being compositionally independent of the type of country rock they intrude. They are dominated by metaluminous, calcic, Si-oversaturated, 1-type granitoid rocks with relatively low 87sr/86sri intermediate-silicic compositions (< 5% MgO). We interpret these to represent partial melts of basic to intermediate, igneous, locally garnet-bearing, lower crust. Contemporaneous mafic magmas (e.g. syn-plutonic dykes) form a more alkaline, Si-saturated series having higher 143Nd/144Nd at the same87sr/86sr than the intermediate-silicic series, to which they are not petrogenetically related. The change from limited partial fusion of upper crust in Jurassic times to widespread partial fusion of lower crust in Early Cretaceous times is considered to be a result of an increasing volume of basaltic intrusion into the crust with time.
Transition from alluvial to coastal deposits (Permian–Triassic) on the Island of Mallorca, western Mediterranean
Authors: Ramos Amparo
Published: May 2009

Non-marine redbeds (Permian and Triassic) in the island of Mallorca consist of a 0.4 km-thick alluvial succession that passes upwards into siliciclastic–carbonate coastal deposits. Tectonics and sealevel changes have been the main influences in their evolution. Low in this succession (the ‘Areniscas y lutitas de Port des Canonge’ unit) sandstone sheets with lateral accretion surfaces (macroscale inclined strata) and mudstones with frequent exposure structures are interpreted as the products of a sinuous alluvial system and floodplain. Climatic fluctuations are considered to be responsible for some significant up-section changes in the evolution of the alluvial deposits. Low-angle or horizontally stratified sandy units, interpreted as the result of flash floods, alternate upwards with point-bar deposits in the ‘Areniscas de Asá’. The hydrological response to minor climatic changes was evidently nearly instantaneous due to the lack of significant vegetation cover.

During accumulation of mudstones and sandstones of the overlying ‘Lutitas y Areniscas de Son Serralta’ unit, the interpreted environment of deposition changed from a distal braidplain, mainly constructed by superposition of sandy bedforms with straight or linguoid crestlines in low sinuosity river channels, into a coastal plain with evidence of both continental and marine influences. The overlying carbonate platform (Muschelkalk) marks the development of a more homogeneous marine environment resulting from the Tethyan transgressive event that affected the whole peri-Mediterranean realm during the Anisian (middle Triassic).
Some constraints on the form of the Welsh Basin from regional gravity and aeromagnetic data, with particular reference to Central Wales
Authors: Carruthers R. M. , Fletcher C. J. N. , McDonald A. J. W. , Evans R. B.
Published: May 2009

Gravity and aeromagnetic data sets provide systematic coverage over the whole of the Welsh Basin. Physical property information shows considerable overlap in densities within the Lower Palaeozoic and Precambrian formations, with relatively few units of the exposed succession being strongly magnetic. While the geophysical anomalies cannot be interpreted unambiguously in terms of these sources, the data can still be used to test different geological models and to indicate the range of possible solutions. The major fault zones are seen to influence the anomaly patterns in a variety of ways, reflecting a combination of differing near-surface contrasts and effects within the underlying basement. The general increase in gravity values towards Cardigan Bay may originate from the lower crust, and the large amplitude aeromagnetic low seen over Cardigan Bay indicates that a distinctive change in the character of the crust occurs here. Two-dimensional modelling in central Wales shows that a westward thickening of the Welsh Basin, to a maximum of about 10 km, may also be significant. It is necessary to postulate a separation of the base of denser, Lower Palaeozoic rocks from the underlying, more magnetic basement in order to account for offsets in anomaly source locations. This implies the presence of less dense Cambrian sediments and/or non-magnetic components of the Precambrian basement.
Cambrian and early Tremadoc rocks of the Llangynog Inlier, Dyfed, South Wales
Authors: Cope J. C. W. , Rushton A. W. A.
Published: May 2009

Until recently no Cambrian rocks were known in the Llangynog area. Detailed mapping has now revealed a succession of ?Lower and Upper Cambrian rocks overlain by Tremadoc rocks. The Allt y Shed Sandstones (new) rest unconformably on the Precambrian, but have yielded no diagnostic fossils and are tentatively assigned to the Comley Series. Succeeding with faulted or unconformable contact is an Upper Cambrian Merioneth Series succession which includes in ascending order: conglomerates, sandstones and siltstones with olenid trilobites and resembling the Treffgarne Bridge Beds of the Haverfordwest area; micaceous shales and siltstones referred to the Ffestiniog Flags Formation; and black mudstones with calcareous concretions and a rich olenid fauna referred to the Dolgellau Formation. Succeeding the latter with possible disconformity is a succession belonging to the lower part of the Tremadoc Series and earlier than any rocks of that series hitherto recorded from the area.
Geochemical discrimination of Silurian mudstones according to depositional process and provenance within the Southern Welsh Basin
Authors: Ball T. K. , Davies J. R. , Waters R. A. , Zalasiewicz J. A.
Published: May 2009

A preliminary geochemical investigation of Silurian (Llandovery) basinal mudstones (turbidites and hemipelagites) from the Southern Welsh Basin is described. Turbidite mudstones show higher concentrations of Fe2O3, MgO, TiO2, MnO, LOI, Zn and Zr than laminated hemipelagites. This is consistent with the observed higher concentrations of chlorite and Ti-bearing minerals in turbidite mudstones. Laminated hemipelagites show higher values of REEs (Ce and La), concentrated within authigenic monazites, and Ni, As, Cu and Pb within sulphide minerals (pyrite and galena) reflecting the influence of primary organic carbon levels and anoxic bottom waters on early diagenesis. Deposition of hemipelagites under oxidizing conditions is reflected in lower concentrations of authigenic sulphide mineral hosted elements compared with laminated hemipelagic lithologies. There is a distinct geochemical difference between mudstones of easterly and southerly provenance in the Southern Welsh Basin. This is shown for both turbidites and hemipelagites. The differences are due to the increased input of illite and the chemical elements associated with this mineral (K2O, A12O3, Rb and Ba). Turbidite mudstones sourced from the south show increased levels of heavy minerals, especially those associated with Ti-rich minerals. There is also an increase in elements associated with detrital monazites: Th and Y. The hemipelagites show higher values of REE and chalcophile elements consistent with their more reduced nature.
Welsh Basin ‘contourites’ reinterpreted as fine-grained turbidites: the Grogal Sandstones
Authors: Smith R. D. A. , Anketell J. M.
Published: May 2009

Since 1976 the Lower Silurian Grogal Sandstones of the Welsh Basin have been interpreted as contourites. Here we show that they are in fact fine-grained turbidites, frequently with pale-coloured oxidized top layers which enable distinction of individual event deposits. As reported previously, palaeocurrent directions derived from ripple cross-lamination are typically at a high angle, often close to perpendicular, to those measured from sole structures. The favoured explanation is that ripples migrated under transverse internal waves generated at an intrabasinal slope to the east. Evidence for the lateral confinement of the overlying Aberystwyth Grits by such a slope provides support for this explanation.
Cryptic Sr and Nd isotopic variation across the Leinster Granite, southeast Ireland
Authors: Mohr Peter
Published: May 2009

Rb–Sr isotope whole-rock data from the end-Caledonian Leinster Batholith define an errorchron age of 464±26 Ma, appreciably older than the accepted emplacement age of c. 405 Ma. This anomalously old age is the consequence of a highly variable initial Sr isotopic composition. Initial Nd ratios and TDM model ages also show a wide range of values. However, these isotopic variations are neither randomly distributed nor related to petrographic changes but instead reflect, in a simple way, geographic position about the axis of the batholith. The isotopic pattern revealed in the Leinster Batholith means that isochron ages obtained from S-type granites may be largely dependent on the sampling scheme adopted. The variable isotopic composition of the granite most likely resulted from either a heterogeneous metasedimentary source or hybridization of coeval, dominantly crustal melts.
Sm–Nd isotope characteristics of late Cadomian granite magmatism in northern France and the Channel Islands
Authors: d'Lemos R. S. , Brown M.
Published: May 2009

Sm–Nd isotopic studies of granites within the late Precambrian, Cadomian, orogenic belt of the North Armorican Massif (northwestern France) and Channel Islands reveal differences between arc-related granite magmatism in outboard terranes and intracrustal granite magmatism in inboard terranes. Late Cadomian (c. 570 Ma), arc-related granitoids exhibit a range of εnd( - 2 to - 6) and Nd model ages (TDM1.0–1.3 Ga) reflecting variable contamination between late Precambrian mantle derived magmas and ancient (c. 2.0 Ga?) continental crust. The contamination did not involve exposed granitic Icartian basement to anygreat degree, a more likely contaminant being unexposed lower crust of intermediate to acidic granulitic composition, or early Cadomian plutons which were themselves contaminated by lower crust. Voluminous granites of the Mancellian region (c. 550–540 Ma) share common isotopic characteristics (εNd-4 to -7, TDM1.5–1.7 Ga) with migmatites and anatectic granites produced by partial melting of metasedimentary sequences within the St Malo region consistent with a common source.
A new discovery of early Cretaceous (Wealden) amber from the Isle of Wight
Authors: Nicholas Christopher J. , Henwood Alison A. , Simpson Martin
Published: May 2009

A new discovery ofin situamber is reported from the southwest coast of the Isle of Wight. The productive site is located within the Wealden Marls (Wessex Formation), generally regarded to be of earliest Barremian (early Cretaceous) age; also making this amber amongst some of the oldest known occurrences in the world. Amber globules can be found within two thin, black lignite horizons which form a channel-lag deposit exposed in the cliffssoutheast of Chilton Chine. Examination of plant material above and below this site by other workers, combined with infrared spectra of the amber in this study, implies a coniferous (possibly taxodiaceous) origin for this resin. Palaeoenviron-mental interpretation of the Chilton Chine site suggests that the amber was exuded locally, and in some cases the globules have beenpartly replaced by iron pyrite.
Syn-depositional deformation in a Cretaceous succession, James Ross Island, Antarctica. Evidence from vitrinite reflectivity
Authors: Whitham A. G. , Marshall J. E. A.
Published: May 2009

A detailed vitrinite reflectivity study has been made through the Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of northwest James Ross Island, Antarctica. The results show that a progressive increase in reflectivity does not occur with depth and that values (0.45 %) from the base of the succession are lower than expected for the sequence as described by previous authors. Using a synthesis of sedimentological and stratigraphic information, the sequence is reinterpreted as an apparent monoclinal syncline, strongly influenced by syndepositional tectonics, with a thickness appreciably less than previously described.
The structural age and possible origin of the Vagastie Bridge granite and associated intrusions, central Sutherland
Authors: Holdsworth R. E. , Strachan R. A.
Published: May 2009

The Vagastie Bridge granite, central Sutherland, belongs to a regional suite of igneous intrusions within Moine psammites adjacent to the base of the east Sutherland migmatite complex. An isotopic date of 405 ± 11 Ma, obtained using U–Pb determinations on zircon and sphene taken from the granite, has previously been interpreted as an intrusion age. However, a reassessment of the field relationships demonstrates that intrusion was syn-tectonic with respect to the later stages of ductile Caledonian deformation affecting the Moine rocks. It is suggested that the granite suite magmas originated at depth and that they were channelled into the still active Caledonian ductile thrust zone (the Naver Thrust) which forms the tectonic base of the Naver Nappe. On regional grounds, the interpretation of the c. 405 Ma date as an intrusion age is untenable, which implies that the isotope systematics of the Vagastie Bridge granite require re-investigation.
Beaches and beach-related facies, Holocene barrier islands of Georgia
Authors: Frey R. W. , Howard J. D.
Published: May 2009

The mesotidal coast of Georgia encompasses diverse sedimentary features and depositional environments, most of which typify major facies of the entire Georgia Bight – a broad embayment on the southeastern U.S. shelf. Barrier island strandline environments especially include tidal inlets and shoals, the beach shoreface, foreshore, and backshore, and dunes and washover fans. Low energy beach segments may grade directly into small seaside tidal flats. Relict salt marsh deposits crop out on erosional beaches. All deposits are in dynamic equilibrium with fluctuating coastal conditions and a gradual rise in sea level.

Most of these facies are important in interpreting ancient epeiric transgressive/regressive coastal sequences. Pronounced local variations in the overall sequence result from complex latero-vertical relationships between (1) the shoreface, foreshore, and shoals, and (2) the shoals, low energy beaches, and beach-related tidal flats. Washover fans and relict deposits on erosional beaches cause perturbations within present day lateral relationships but are normal in transgressive facies tracts along such coasts. Close stratigraphic control of outcrops or cores would be necessary for detailed reconstructions of, or correlations among, ancient analogs.
The origin of Variscan kink bands: a study from the Dungarvan Syncline, southern Ireland
Authors: Murphy F. X.
Published: May 2009

Kink bands formed due to the rotation of cleavage are very common within the Irish Variscides. A detailed examination of those within the Dungarvan Syncline has enabled the recognition of three categories based on kink fold axis orientation; the subvertical, those parallel to first or second order fold axes and those with subhorizontal randomly trending axes. The subvertical variety were formed by strike-parallel compression within a hinge depression in the Dungarvan Syncline and modified by later north–south dextral shear stresses to produce cataclasis of the kink-band boundaries, tension-gashes within the kinked segment and over-rotation. Those, whose axes are parallel to major or minor fold axes, formed as accommodation structures during folding due to extension in the be plane. Those, with subhorizontal randomly trending axes formed due to a relaxation in the northward compression which allowed a reorientation of the principal stress directions, σ1 became vertical and kink bands were generated as a consequence of the increased overburden due to fold tightening and thrusting. It is considered that kink bands throughout the Irish Variscides may be divisible into similar categories.
An initial continental margin plutonism — Cretaceous Older Ryoke granitoids, southwest Japan
Authors: Kutsukake Toshio
Published: May 2009

The emplacement of the Older Ryoke granitoids took place in the Mid-Cretaceous Period in the outermost side of the Inner Zone of southwest Japan, which was located at the eastern margin of the Eurasian Continent before the opening of the Japan Sea. The Ryoke Belt constitutes a long segment of the Cretaceous to Palaeogene felsic magmatic belt of Pacific Asia. The Older Ryoke granitoids represent its initial magmatism, related to the subduction of an oceanic plate underneath the Eurasian plate in that time. Their magmas were generated in the lower to middle crust beneath the Ryoke Belt in the subduction regime. They were emplaced during the Ryoke regional metamorphism and converted to orthogneisses.
Biostratigraphy of the Vendian-Cambrian beds and the lower Cambrian boundary in Siberia
Authors: Khomentovsky V. V. , Karlova G. A.
Published: May 2009

General agreement exists that the position of the base of the Cambrian (Precambrian–Cambrian boundary) should coincide with a biostratigraphic marker that can be widely traced and is linked to the evolution of the small shelly fauna. On the Siberian platform the presence of distinct facies during the Vendian–Cambrian interval has made biostratigraphic correlation based on palaeontological data highly contentious. A solution to this problem appears to exist with the recognition of an almost uninterrupted profile in the Aldan–Uchur watershed where key sections expose the eastern and transitional facial region. On this basis we present a general biostratigraphic scheme for the Vendian–Cambrian across the southern Siberian platform that connects separate facies. Further correlation with key sections in northern Siberia leads to the recognition of three biostratigraphic zones for the Vendian–Cambrian interval. These are: Anabarites trisulcatus Zone; Purella antiqua Zone; Aldanocyathus sunnaginicus Zone. The abundance of Chinese-type small shelly fossils in the region of the eastern facies suggest correlation of the A. sunnaginicus Zone with the Siphogonuchites–Paragloborilus Zone of China, and the P. antiqua Zone with the Circotheca–Anabarites–Protohertzina Zone. In places, at the base of the Circotheca–Anabarites–Protohertzina Zone in China, analogies to the A. trisulcatus Zone can be identified. It is proposed that in Siberia the base of the A. sunnaginicus Zone (= base of Tommotian Stage) be taken as the base of the Cambrian. This would correspond with Marker B of the Meishucunian in China
Flow direction and groundmass shear zones in dykes, Shimane Peninsula, Japan
Authors: Smith J. V. , Miyake Y. , Yamauchi S.
Published: May 2009

The groundmass of andesitic dykes at Sezaki, southwest Japan, has trachytic texture and contains microscopic shear zones. The shear zones comprise a conjugate pair formed by flattening of the solidifying dyke rock, probably caused by the magma pressure of the still molten part of the dyke. This pressure shortened the solidifying rock perpendicular to the dyke margins and caused it to extrude parallel to the magma flow direction. The groundmass shears indicate that locally the magma flowed 60° upward in the dykes. It is concluded that while groundmass shears are a useful indicator of flow direction in dykes, phenocryst alignment in dykes is strongly influenced by magma-pressure flattening and thus may be a poor indicator of flow direction
The petrogenetic significance of chemically related plutonic and volcanic rock units
Authors: Wyborn D. , Chappell B. W.
Published: May 2009

Comagmatic granitic and volcanic rocks are divided into two types depending on whether or not the primary magma contains restite crystals. Examples of both of these types are discussed from the Lachlan Fold Belt of southeastern Australia.

Volcanic rocks containing restite phenocrysts are chemically identical to the associated plutonic rocks containing the same amount of restite. The more mafic granitic rocks correspond in composition to the most phenocryst-rich volcanics (up to 60% phenocrysts), and thus cannot be cumulate rocks produced by fractional crystallization, but must represent true magma compositions. These restite-bearing magmas result from partial melting in a source region up to the rheological critical melt percentage, which we estimate to be about 40% in the S-type Hawkins Suite of volcanics.

Melts which escape their restite at the source, before the critical melt percentage is reached, are able to undergo fractional crystallization in high level magma chambers by heterogeneous crystallization on chamber walls. In this case volcanic products from the top of the chamber are more felsic than the plutonic products, the plutonics are crystal cumulates and the volcanics are composed of the complementary fractionated liquid. Those phenocrysts present in the volcanics were probably eroded from the chamber walls and are less abundant (< 20%) than in the restite-retentive volcanic products.
Ordovician volcanism in the Welsh Borderland
Authors: Leat P. T. , Thorpe R. S.
Published: May 2009

Basaltic, andesitic and rhyodacitic/rhyolitic volcanism was widespread during Ordovician time in the Welsh Basin. New chemical data are presented for Llanvirn to Caradoc lavas and tuffs from the Welsh Borderland which, during Ordovician time, formed the southeastern margin of the Welsh Basin. In view of the observed chemical alteration, immobile elements are used in the interpretation of the original geochemical character. The data indicate that the Llanvirn Stapeley volcanic group of the Shelve inlier was a bimodal basalt/basaltic andesite – rhyodacite/rhyolite association. The basalts have trace element contents of tholeiitic associations with a subduction-related character. The Caradoc Whittery and Hagley volcanic groups of the Shelve inlier comprise lavas and tuffs of calc-alkaline andesite. Blocks sampled from the Breidden Hills show that these were also derived from a calc-alkaline volcano. Associated Caradoc pumice- and ash-flow deposits from the Breidden Hills are probably of altered calc-alkaline rhyodacite/rhyolite composition. The Sibdon Carwood basalt flow, the only known example of Ordovician volcanism east of the Pontesford–Linley and Church Stretton lineaments, has transitional tholeiitic to alkaline character, with trace element contents influenced by subduction-related processes. The overall tholeiitic to calc-alkaline nature of the magmatism is consistent with the view that, during Llanvirn to Caradoc time, the Welsh Basin was an ensialic marginal basin.