07.12.2012 Views

50thKaikoura05 -1- Kaikoura 2005 CHARACTERISATION OF NEW ...

50thKaikoura05 -1- Kaikoura 2005 CHARACTERISATION OF NEW ...

50thKaikoura05 -1- Kaikoura 2005 CHARACTERISATION OF NEW ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

hydrovolcanic eruptions then took place to form the<br />

Mt Bradley Volcaniclastic Member, a low angle<br />

tuff ring formed by both ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ base<br />

surges. ‘Wet’ base surges occurred when there was<br />

excess water supplied at the vent, whereas ‘dry’<br />

base surges occurred when water was limited, or<br />

used in previous eruptions. Magma / water<br />

interaction was shallow, promoting rapid chilling<br />

and fragmentation. Eruption through a shallow<br />

standing body of water is supported by the presence<br />

of middle mud deposits, the majority of blocks over<br />

bombs, preservation of delicate cuspate edges on<br />

glass fragments, large U-shaped channels, and<br />

fluvial deposits and erosion surfaces between<br />

eruptive packages. Hawaiian style eruptive activity<br />

marked the cessation of phreatomagmatic activity,<br />

and formed a thin lava flow. This flow blocked<br />

drainage, allowing the development of a lake, and<br />

formed the upper mud deposits.<br />

A second phase of effusive and phreatomagmatic<br />

activity then occurred, producing the interfingering<br />

Packhorse Lava Member (new name) flows and<br />

Tablelands Volcaniclastic Member. Packhorse Lava<br />

Member flows overcame the topographic controlled<br />

upper sector collapse and flowed further to the<br />

southeast. On exiting the steep sided collapse flows<br />

fanned out, but were constrained to the east by the<br />

growing edifice of Akaroa Volcano. The succession<br />

was then capped by Mt Herbert and flank-fed<br />

Akaroa lava flows.<br />

POSTER<br />

EVOLUTION <strong>OF</strong> THE PALEO-PACIFIC<br />

GONDWANA MARGIN: ISOTOPIC<br />

CONSTRAINTS FROM WEST ANTARCTIC<br />

XENOLITHS<br />

M.R. Handler 1 , R.J. Wysoczanski 1 ,<br />

J.A. Gamble 2 ,V.C.Bennett 3 & J.H. Berg 4<br />

1 Institute for Research on Earth Evolution,<br />

JAMSTEC, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan<br />

2 Dept of Geology, University College Cork,<br />

Ireland.<br />

3 RSES, Australian National University, Canberra<br />

0200, Australia.<br />

4 Geology & Environmental Geosciences, Northern<br />

Illinois University, USA.<br />

(monica*jamstec.go.jp)<br />

West Antarctica and eastern Australia formed part<br />

of the contiguous Paleo-Pacific Gondwana margin<br />

during Late Proterozoic to Mesozoic times. Key<br />

aspects of the regional evolution of this margin,<br />

including the nature and age of the component<br />

terranes, remain contentious due to the poor<br />

exposure of crustal sequences resulting from the<br />

extensive ice and sedimentary basin cover in West<br />

Antarctica and eastern Australia, respectively.<br />

Samples of the deep crust and lithospheric mantle<br />

are restricted to xenoliths incorporated in the<br />

Cenozoic lavas that have been emplaced along<br />

much of the length of this margin, and which can<br />

preserve unique age and process information that<br />

may be valuable in interpreting continent evolution.<br />

Earlier work in southeastern Australia in particular,<br />

has demonstrated the potential of the Re-Os<br />

isotopic system for constraining the timing of<br />

events recorded in the lithospheric mantle of the<br />

Paleo-Pacific Gondwana margin, with implications<br />

for continent structure and evolution (Handler and<br />

Bennett, 2001).<br />

We will present new Os and Nd isotopic data for<br />

lithospheric xenoliths from Marie Byrd Land and<br />

Victoria Land, Antarctica, together with previously<br />

published Re-Os data and model ages from along<br />

the PaleoPacific Gondwana margin in southeastern<br />

Australia and central Marie Byrd Land (McBride et<br />

al., 1996; Handler and Bennett, 2001; Handler et<br />

al., 2003), and discuss their implications for the<br />

development of the margin. The results suggest<br />

preservation of Proterozoic lithospheric mantle<br />

along the sampled length of the margin. Striking<br />

observations include: the similarity of the oldest<br />

PaleoProterozoic Os model ages found beneath the<br />

Delamerian Fold Belt of southeastern Australia and<br />

beneath West Antarctica; preservation of a ca. 500<br />

Ma age from central Marie Byrd Land; and the<br />

suggestion that a significant melting event may<br />

have affected the mantle beneath both southeast<br />

Australia and Marie Byrd Land ca. 900 – 1100 Ma.<br />

The timing of this speculated MesoProterozoic<br />

mantle event(s) coincides with the age of a<br />

significant peak in the U-Pb detrital zircon age<br />

spectra of the vast turbidite deposits of the Paleo-<br />

Pacific Gondwana margin (Wysoczanski and<br />

Allibone, 2004).<br />

Handler MR and Bennett VC (2001) Tectonics 20: 177-<br />

188.<br />

Handler MR, Wysoczanski RJ and Gamble JA (2003)<br />

Chemical Geology 196: 131-145.<br />

McBride JS, Lambert DD, Greig A and Nicholls IA<br />

(1996) Geology 24: 631-634.<br />

Wysoczanski RJ and Allibone, AH (2004) Journal of<br />

Geology 112: 401-416.<br />

ORAL<br />

50 th <strong>Kaikoura</strong>05 -33- <strong>Kaikoura</strong> <strong>2005</strong>

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!