Typescript (Photocopy) / Includes copies of 4 papers by the author as appendix 4 (v. 1) / Errata slip inserted / Bibliography: leaves 170-192 (v. 1) / 2 v. : ill., maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, University of Adelaide, 1992

In the Middelplaats mine area of the Kalahari manganese field, two drill holes (MP53 and MP54) intersected anomalously high-grade manganese ore sitting stratigraphically just above an igneous body (likely a dike or sill). Manganese ore located within approximate 5 meters of the contact with the underlying igneous rocks has been substantially metasomatically upgraded from 25 percent manganese, to over 40 percent whilst the dominant manganese species within the ore has been altered to hausmannite. This report demonstrates the metasomatic alteration is related to devolatilization (removal and/or remobilization of H₂O, CO₂ and CaO) due to contact metamorphism caused by the underlying igneous rocks. The Middelplaats mine is situated in the southwest corner of the Kalahari manganese field where the paleo basin shallows out and ends. Within the mine area, several stratigraphic units pinch out or are truncated by the side of the basin. This pinching out of lithological formations has led to the underlying Ongeluk Formation being in contact with the much younger units of the Hotazel Formation. Therefore, geochemical investigation into the nature and source of the igneous rocks was also undertaken to see if the rocks from the two drill holes were related to one another and/or the underlying Ongeluk Formation. Results of these geochemical studies have demonstrated that the Middelplaats igneous rocks (dolerites) from the two drill holes (MP53 and MP54) share a co-genetic source region. There is also reasonable geochemical evidence that the source region of the Middelplaats igneous rocks was substantially similar to the source region of the Ongeluk Formation. This may indicate that the source region of the Ongeluk Formation was reactivated at some later stage resulting in the emplacement of doleritic dikes or sills in the Middelplaats mine area. The Middelplaats igneous rocks were also found to have undergone a slight but pervasive potassic alteration; with most of the original plagioclase feldspar showing some level of replacement by a potassium enriched feldspar. Although no source for this potassic fluid was found, the devolatilization reaction within the manganese ore appears to have released some potassium into the surrounding rocks. This additional potassium may be responsible for some localized potassic alteration.

M.Sc. (Geology) / The Proterozoic Namaqua-Natal Mobile Belt of southern Africa represents a succession of high grade metamorphosed igneous and sedimentary rocks rimming the southern and western extents of the Kaapvaal craton. Different petrological processes associated with the onset of granulite facies metamorphism were investigated with the emphasis on the processes on anatexis and migmatitization and the influence of the fluid phase on these processes. The investigation took place in the Margate Terrane of the Southern Natal Metamorphic Province. The Umzimkulu and Louisiana Quarries near Port Shepstone formed the bulk of the field area for this investigation. The Umzimkulu and Louisiana quarries expose two s-type granitic lithologies, namely, the Glenmore Biotite Gneiss (GBGn) and the slightly younger, intrusive Margate Leucogranite (MLGn), both of which have been metamorphosed to granulite facies. Geothermobarometric calculations on the metamorphism of the Margate Terrane all indicate temperatures and pressures of peak metamorphism be 850oC+50oC at +6 kbar. The high grade metamorphic history of the lithologies is recorded by the formation of concordant, lens-shaped, prograde anatectic leucosomes. The leucosomes are concentrically surrounded by biotite selvage zones, followed by melanosomes, and lastly undisturbed host rock material. This investigation revealed that the formation of both the charnockite veins and the prograde leucosomes occurred through processes of anatexis. Field relations suggest that the charnockitic veins formed in situ, and were structurally controlled, which is evident from their linearity. Petrographic and geochemical data provide evidence for melt involvement. This is in strong contrast to theories of charnockite formation ascribed to subsolidus granulite formation by the flushing of host lithologies by a pervasive, carbonic fluid, as has been suggested to have occurred in Southern India. The so-called "incipient charnockites" of Southern India are both morphologically and geochemically similar to the charnockite veins described in the SNMP, suggesting that an anatectic origin may be common to both.

D.Phil. (Geology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

No / Mineral waters in Britain show a wide range of 87Sr/86Sr isotope compositions ranging between 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7059 from Carboniferous volcanic rock sources in Dunbartonshire, Scotland to 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7207 in the Dalradian aquifer of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The 87Sr/86Sr composition of the waters shows a general correlation with the aquifer rocks, resulting in the waters from older rocks having a more radiogenic signature than those from younger rocks. This wide range of values means that the Sr isotope composition of mineral water has applications in a number of types of studies. In the modern commercial context, it provides a way of fingerprinting the various mineral waters and hence provides a method for recognising and reducing fraud. From an environmental perspective, it provides the first spatial distribution of bio-available 87Sr/86Sr in Britain that can be used in modern, historical and archaeological studies

This study shows how the composition of gases released from a single magmatic source may be modified during their ascending path. The main processes that influence the composition of the gases in these high temperature fumarolic environments, are: 1) interactions with wallrocks during gas ascent, which change the fugacities of the metal volatile species and affect the equilibrium between major species (fH2S/fSO2; fH2/fH2O); 2) mixing with meteoric water with consequent Cl adsorption, which may account for the Cl depletion of the gases; 3) remobilisation of previously formed sublimates and/or incrustation deposits. Comparison between the thermochemical models and the mineralogical composition of the silica tubes at Kudryavy and Satsuma-Iwojima volcanoes suggests that high fO2 due to the mixing of the gases with air during their injection into the atmosphere significantly reduces the volatility of several trace elements (As, Sb, Sn, Na, K, Tl, Te, Se and Cd). Comparisons between the enriched metals in aerosols and in the gases suggest that Mo, Pb, Bi, Na, K, Cu, Zn or Fe, which are enriched in the gases, are preferentially deposited in the gas conduits and vents whereas the highly volatile metals (Te, Tl, Sb, As and Se) and Cd condense in the plume.<p>This study determines the reactions that may occur during the alteration of rocks in high temperature fumarolic environments. Three different processes of alteration prevail: <p>(1) Acidic alteration which is characterized by the complete absence of clays, because the constant supply of gases to these systems allows for the pH values of the acidic fluids to be maintained low enough to prevent the precipitation of clay minerals. Complete leaching of all cations, except Si, from the primary silicates leads to important "silicification" of the wall rock. The primary mineral cations are leached in the following order: K, Na > Ca > Fe, Mg > Al > Si, Ti. The fluids enriched in these cations circulate in microcracks at different temperatures and different redox conditions and lead to the precipitation of secondary incrustations. At Kudryavy the incrustations are mainly sulfates. At Usu the lower sulfur/fluoride ratio of the gases allows the occurrence of aluminum fluoride incrustations. The order of primary minerals dissolution (olivine > plagioclase > pyroxene > matrix glass > Fe-Ti oxides) is established for both sites studied. <p>(2) Alteration by an oxidized volcanic gas, resulting from mixing with the atmosphere (500 to 300°C). At Kudryavy, thermochemical modeling suggests that anhydrite and anhydrous sulfates, which occur at intermediate temperatures, are formed by interactions of the rock with oxidized gas. <p>(3) The most important outcome of this work is the identification of the features of alteration by the volcanic gas that directly reacts with the rock at high temperatures (T > 500°C). The Kudryavy rocks show evidences for mineral transformations, which occur in the presence of the volcanic gas phase. Volcanic gas directly reacts with rocks at high temperatures (T > 500°C). The gas destabilizes the primary minerals, remobilizes the rock-bearing cations, and leads to the formation of second mineral assemblages. These transformations occur in situ, without significant mobility (gain or loss) of the cations. The high temperature secondary associations are characterized by the presence of andradite, hedenbergite, hercynite, tridymite/cristobalite. Anhydrite and anhydrous Al sulfate may occur within these mineral assemblages if the gas is oxidized.<p> / Doctorat en sciences, Spécialisation géologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

L’objectif principal de cette thèse est de décrire et interpréter la mise en place des différents types de minéralisations présents dans le district minier de Nefza (NO de la Tunisie), qui constitue une région complexe et particulière du point de vue géologique dans ce pays.<p>En effet, outre la présence de diapirs triasiques (commune à tout le Nord de la Tunisie), le district minier de Nefza est caractérisé par :(1) la mise en place d’épaisses nappes au Néogène qui forment le substratum sédimentaire régional, et (2) la présence d’une grande variété de roches magmatiques tant plutoniques que volcaniques, d’âge miocène (12,9 à 6,4 Ma),<p>-\ / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Isolated granitic rock bodies (granites, granodiorites, quartz monzonites) in the vicinity of Benson in southeastern Arizona were studied to trace the behavior of rock weathering. Thin sections of fresh granites were examined to characterize the original mineralogy which consisted mainly of quartz, feldspars, and micas. The weathering products show up on the granites as grus and soil profiles as well as down slope in the basin deposits. X -ray diffraction studies of the < 2 micrometers fraction of the weathering products proved illite, smectite, illite-smectite mixed layer, and kaolinite to be the dominant clays; quartz and feldspar also persisted into this size fraction. Silt sized material produced similar results. The quartz monzonite of Texas Canyon afforded a special study of the initial weathering stages of feldspars and micas. In the < 2 micrometers fraction obtained from granitic material placed in an ultra sonic bath, the feldspars weathered to a Na-montmorillinite while biotite weathered to vermiculite.

The Pantano Formation comprises 1,250 m of alluvial, fluvial, lacustrine, and volcanic rocks deposited in a basin formed in response to regional extension during mid- Tertiary time in southeastern Arizona. During deposition, the locations and composition of sediment source areas varied as contemporaneous uplift occurred adjacent to the basin. The lower half of the formation was deposited as alluvial fans that prograded northward, westward, and southward; the upper half was deposited during southwestward retreat of alluvial fan deposition and the onset of lacustrine deposition. An andesite flow separates the two depositional regimes. Radiometric dates of 24.4 ± 2.6 m.y. B.P. for the andesite and 36.7 ± 1.1 m.y. B.P. for a rhyolitic tuff disconformably underlying the formation indicate that deposition occurred during Oligocene to early Miocene time. Proper stratigraphic sequencing and description, paleocurrent analysis, and gravel provenance study aided in understanding the depositional history of the formation.

Paleomagnetic data from 25 sites (5 samples per site) in andesite flows of the Gringo Gulch Volcanics in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, were analyzed to determine a lower Paleocene paleomagnetic pole. Alternating-field demagnetization to 500 oe peak field was sufficient to erase secondary viscous components. The mean direction of magnetization (inclination = -58.8°, declination = 167.5 °) was obtained by averaging the site mean directions of the 25 sites, which are all reversed. The resultant lower Paleocene pole position is at lat. 77.0 °N, 1on. 201.0 °E (dp = 1.2 °, dm = 1.7 °).