Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, June, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-46)

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-84). Also available via the Internet.

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2005. Dept. of Earth and Environment. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 26-28).

A brief review of the various models proposed to account for the Bushveld Complex shows that there are two main hypotheses. These are the Multiple Intrusion hypothesis and the In Situ Crystallization hypothesis. The latter also allows for multiple additions to the crystallizing magma, and several variants involving the number of these inputs , their composition, volume and timing have been proposed. To facilitate description and investigation of the study section, the stratigraphic nomenclature of this part of the Rustenberg Layered Suite is revised and clarified. It is proposed that the boundary between the Critical Zone and Main Zone be placed at the base of the Merensky cyclic unit, and thus the whole of the Merensky and Bastard cyclic units are included in the Main Zone. Furthermore, the extremely confused terminology for smaller units within the Merensky and Bastard cyclic units is resolved by discarding the term Reef as a formal term and substituting lithological terms such as Merensky pegmatoid, Merensky pyroxenite, Bastard pyroxenite and Merensky mottled anorthosite etc. It is recommended that the term Reef be retained as an informal term to designate the mineralized horizon which may be mined, regardless of lithology. The term "pegmatoid" is restricted to stratiform or lensoid masses of coarse grained feldspathic pyroxenite or harzburgite which are part of the layered sequence. The transgressive vertical pipe-like, coarse-grained ultramafic "iron-rich bodies are termed "ultramafic pegmatites ". The main features of the Merensky and Bastard cyclic units are the regular chemical and mineralogical changes that occur with respect to stratigraphic height in these units. In the Merensky cyclic unit there is a smooth iron enrichment in the orthopyroxenes upward in the succession and a transition from pyroxenite at the base to mottled anorthosite at the top of the unit. The Bastard cyclic unit is broadly similar to the Merensky cyclic unit. A variety of textures and chemical features are in disequilibrium in some samples but not in others, and great complexity is evident wh en individual samples are studied in detail. The initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of plagioclase separates and whole rocks from the study section show a distinct step-like increase in the Merensky cyclic unit to .70806 at the base of the, Merensky cyclic unit to .70806 at the base of the Bastard cyclic unit. In contrast , samples from below the Merensky cyclic unit have a constant initial Sr-isotopic ratio, as do the samples from the Bastard cyclic unit. These isotopic and chemical data, and available published geologic relationships suggest that a major new influx of basic magma occurred after the Footwall unit was deposited and that this mixed with the residual magma in the chamber and then precipitated the Merensky and Bastard cyclic units. The crystal settling theory as outlined by Wager and Brown (1968) fails to account for the chemical and stratigraphic variations observed in the study section. The theory of bottom crystallization, initially proposed by Jackson (1961), more adequately explains the features observed. Applying a model outlined by Irvine (1980a & b), it has been established from chemical data, that the Merensky cyclic unit crystallized from a magma layer with a thickness roughly equivalent to the average thickness of the cyclic unit itself (±10m). A similar exercise on the Bastard unit was not possible. The formation of the Footwall unit is still enigmatic. Infiltration metasomatism and sintering can modify the petrographic and chemical characteristics of rocks and minerals after deposition at the liquidus stage. During the solidification of the crystal mush a separate vapour phase may form in the crystal mush, which could move up through the crystal pile. This process may ultimately be responsible for the generation of potholes and pegmatoidal horizons, such as the Merensky pegmatoid. The upward increase in the initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio within the Merensky cyclic unit is strong evidence that infiltration metasomatism has played an important part in the generation of the Merensky cyclic unit. This process, coupled with fluid enrichment, may also result in the formation of pegmatoid layers. Sintering appears to have been a common process in the mottled anorthosites of the study section and may have severely reduced the amount of trapped interstitial liquid in these rocks.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Adelaide, National Centre for Petroleum Geology & Geophysics, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-157).

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-157). Petrographic image analysis proved particularly useful in determining the parameters for statistical analysis for the simple mineralogies displayed in the samples from the Hutton Sandstone. Concentrates on establishing techniques for statistical study of data collected by PIA to subdivide the framework grains from the porosity or cement.

No description available.

Field work and mapping with the aid of aerial photographs have shown the north Gap Dyke to be a vertical intrusion 93½ miles long . It extends from a point about 4½ miles south of Cathcart to the coast where it enters the sea about 100 yards north of the Ngadla R lver mouth. It is composed of several rock types including dolerite pegmatite, granophyric dolerite, subophitic dolerite, and it has a more or less central core of mobilized sediment at the western end. The essential minerals of the dolerite types include zoned plagioclase, which is described in some detail, and augite. Less important are hornblende and micropegmatite. Accessories include apatite, ilmenite, magnetite, quartz, actinolite, prehnite, calcite and epidote. Iddingsite (?), saussurite and chlorite occur as alteration products. The mode of origin of the Gap Dyke magma remains an open question: it may have arisen as a result of normal crystal fractionation or as the result of hybridization in depth followed by differentiation.

Microstructures and quartz crystallographic fabrics of conglomerate lenses from the Tyson Formation, which composes the basal portion of the authochthonous Paleozoic cover sequence in central Vermont, were analyzed to investigate the complex deformational history associated with a polydefonned area. Microstructural observations and crystallographic fabric techniques were used for kinematic analysis, and to relate the development of microstructures and lattice preferred orientations to the local and regional structural settings. Additionally, the study compares the development of microstructures and lattice preferred orientations, and investigates strain heterogeneity that develops within deformed conglomerate. Recrystallization textures within quartz-rich pebbles suggest dynamic recrystallization via subgrain rotation and grain boundary migration. Dynamically recrystallized quartz grains have a grain shape preferred orientation, which is parallel to a series of intracrystalline strain features including undulatory extinction, deformation bands, and subgrains. These features are believed to be a manifestation of shearing along a conjugate set of intracrystalline shear planes that appear as deformation lamellae (Brace, 1955). Plastic deformation along these shear planes has developed a grain shape preferred orientation that forms at high angles (45° to 60°) to the foliation plane, rather than parallel to the XY plane of the incremental strain ellipsoid. Although the Tyson Formation contains more than one tectonic fabric, lattice preferred orientations within quartz-rich domains appear to have formed in response to the second Taconian deformational event of Stanley and Ratcliffe (1985). The crystallographic fabrics show considerable variation on many scales. The distribution of the fabrics relative to local structures show no consistent or predictable relationship. Fabric variation between the matrix and pebbles is believed to be a manifestation of strain heterogeneity. Shear strain within the matrix is accommodated by grain boundary sliding, therefore only coaxial portions of the strain are recorded by the matrix quartz lattice preferred orientation. Furthermore, strain partitioning, and possibly the lack of extensive recrystallization, has precluded the development of strong lattice preferred orientations in the matrix. Within quartz pebbles, conflicting kinematic indicators, microstructures, and c-axis fabrics indicate strain path partitioning due to rheological variability within a flowing rock mass, which deformed under predominantly coaxial conditions. The asymmetric crystal fabrics in this study are approximately 50% top-to-the- west and 50% top-to-the-east. Additionally, porphyroclasts and mica fish locally suggest either non-coaxial or coaxial deformation, as well as conflicting shear senses. Deformation probably occurred within the constrictional field, and was locally accommodated by shearing. Kinematic indicators such as mica fish, asymmetric porphyroclast tails, and c-axis fabrics suggest that partitioning occurred not only between pebbles, but within individual pebbles as well. / Master of Science

Ce travail retrace l’évolution varisque des Massifs d’Almǎj (Roumanie), de Deli Jovan (Serbie) et de la Stara Planina Occidentale (Bulgarie), à travers une étude pétrostructurale effectuée sur les différentes unités lithologiques de la Nappe alpine du Danubien supérieur. Cette nappe possède la particularité de contenir un marqueur de convergence de toute première importance sous la forme de 4 massifs ophiolitiques démembrés lors de l’orogenèse alpine :Tisoviţa Iuţi (TI, Roumanie), Deli Jovan (DJ, Serbie), Zaglavak (Z, Serbie) et Tcherni Vrah (TV, Bulgarie). Les études pétrologiques de terrain effectuées dans ces trois pays ont permis de confirmer la continuité entre ces 4 massifs, qui, séparément, comprennent chacun une portion de croûte océanique différente (TI :section mantélique et cumulats inférieurs, DJ :cumulats inférieurs et supérieurs, Z :cumulats supérieurs, TV :cumulats supérieurs et section effusive), mais considérés ensemble, forment une pile ophiolitique classique complète. De nouvelles datations par la méthode 147Sm-143Nd confirment un âge d’accrétion pour cette croûte océanique au Dévonien inférieur (~ 400 Ma). Cependant, l’essentiel de ce mémoire concerne les Monts Almǎj, notamment les roches encaissantes du massif de Tisoviţa Iuţi. La partie sud de ce massif ophiolitique représente la section inférieure d’une croûte océanique classique, alors que sa partie orientale est caractérisée par des roches de la croûte océanique supérieure, fortement déformées et transformées (métagabbros à zoïsite et fuchsite). Ces roches font partie de la Zone Mylonitique de Corbu (CMZ), qui comporte également des métasédiments à Gt ± St ± And et des serpentinites. Les conditions PT de formation de ces métagabbros, datés à 380-360 Ma par la méthode 40Ar-39Ar, ont été estimées à des températures comprises entre 450°C et 300°C. Leur contexte de formation peut être assimilé à une semelle ophiolitique ‘froide’, développée lors d’une obduction intra-océanique initiée probablement le long d’une faille transformante. Si le pic de métamorphisme des roches de Corbu a été estimé à 585°C/ 5.5 kbar, leur exhumation pourrait s’effectuer au sein d’un anticlinal en régime transpressif sénestre, en relation avec la formation de la CMZ, interprétée comme une ancienne zone plissée qui évolue en zone de cisaillement sénestre. Au Carbonifère, le granite syntectonique de Cherbelezu se met en place le long de la CMZ et enregistre les dernières phases de cette déformation lors de son refroidissement. Les études préliminaires sur les roches encaissantes des massifs ophiolitiques en Serbie et Bulgarie permettent de préciser une vergence d’obduction du lambeau ophiolitique vers le paléo-NW et d’établir un modèle de reconstitution paléogéodynamique au Varisque pour l’ensemble de la région étudiée./ This study provides new information on the Variscan evolution of the Almǎj Mountains (Romania), Deli Jovan Massif (Serbia) and Western Stara Planina (Bulgaria), throughout a petrostructural investigation conducted on the various lithological units of the Upper Danubian Alpine Nappe. This nappe displays an important convergence tectonic marker in the form of four ophiolitic massifs dismembered during the Alpine orogeny: Tisoviţa Iuţi (TI, Romania), Deli Jovan (DJ, Serbia), Zaglavak (Z, Serbia) and Tcherni Vrah (TV, Bulgaria). Our petrological studies in these three countries have confirmed the continuity between these four massifs, each of which showing, separately, a different portion of the oceanic crust (TI: mantle section and lower cumulates, DJ: lower and upper cumulates, Z: upper cumulates, TV: upper cumulates and effusive section), but taken together, forming a complete classical ophiolitic pile. New dating using the 147Sm-143Nd method has confirmed an accretion age for this oceanic crust at around 400 Ma (Early Devonian). However, the main part of this study has been focused in the Almǎj Mountains, particularly the Tisoviţa Iuţi ophiolitic massif and its enclosing rocks. The Southern part of this ophiolitic massif represents the lower section of a classical oceanic crust whereas its eastern part is characterized by upper crustal oceanic rocks that are highly deformed and transformed (zoïsite and fuchsite-bearing metagabbros). These rocks belong to the Corbu Mylonitic zone (CMZ), which also comprises Gt ± St ± And metasediments and serpentinites. Temperature estimates for the formation of the metagabbros are bracketed between 450°C and 300°C and these rocks have been dated at 380-360 Ma using the 40Ar-39Ar method on fuchiste. The geodynamic context for their formation can be viewed as a ‘cold’ ophiolitic sole, developed during an intra-oceanic obduction probably initiated along transform fault. If the metamorphic peak for the Corbu rocks has been estimated at 585°C/5.5kbar, their rapid exhumation could be realized via an anticline under a transpressive sinistral regime, connected with the formation of the CMZ that is interpreted as an ancient fold zone evolving in a sinistral shear zone. Finally, the Carboniferous syntectonic Cherbelezu granite intrudes along the CMZ and records the final stages of this deformation during its cooling. Preliminary investigations on the enclosing rocks of the ophiolitic massifs in Serbia and Bulgaria allow us to define a top to the NW obduction vergence for the ophiolite and to propose a paleogeodynamic reconstitution model for the Carpathian/Balkans terrains in the Variscan times. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished