Volcaniclastic Deposit Analysis Using Grain Size, Digital and Stereological Techniques

This study undertook a comprehensive sedimentological and grain-size analysis of two previously uncharacterized volcanoclastic deposits exposed in the northwestern sector of Chihuahua City, Mexico. The primary objective was to propose a systematic genetic classification for these deposits, employing traditional sedimentological techniques and an advanced computerized granulometric analysis technique based on orthogonal images to discern their grain size distribution. Through these studies, evidence was sought to classify them genetically, presenting arguments to define them either as a lahar or a volcanic debris avalanche. Results were critically compared against existing literature data pertaining to lahars and debris avalanches, yielding moderate success. The analysis identified one of the deposits as a non-eruptive or post-eruptive lahar. This identification was substantiated by the delineation of distinct overbank and transition facies within the deposit, providing compelling evidence for its genetic classification.

Petrological characteristics of the sedimentary volcaniclastic rocks of the Fossil Hill Formation （eocene） in King George Island， West Antarctica

The Fossil Hill Formation of the type section composed chiefly of the sedimentary-volcaniclastic breccia and tuffites can be divided into two cycles of sedimentation. The thermal fluid was active in the coarse volcaniclastic deposits of the lower cy-cle, it led to the formation of laumontite,analcite,albite and regularly hybrid mineral of interlayered chlorite and montmorillonite .which are absent from the upper cycle, and to the transportation and concentration of some of trace elements between the coarser tuffites and the overlying fine tuffite bed at the upper part of this cycle. So-called 'rainprint' and 'mud crack' actually are non-sedimentary originally, they were formed respectively by sheddillg of the small zeolitized concretions on the bedding plane and tectonic pressed stress. The evidences indicate that the Fossil Hill Formation of the Fossil Hill section was deposited in an intermontane lake affected by both volcanic action andseasonal flail under the condition of worm and moist climate.

Field, Mega- and Microscopic Description of the Volcaniclastic Red Beds and the Associated Scoriaceous Basalt of Wadi Al Roaian, Ablah Area, Assir Terrain

The study area is located in the entrance of Wadi Girshah in Ablah area, Assir terrain, southwestern Saudi Arabia. The present study aims to shed light on the field, mega- and microscopic description of the volcaniclastic red beds and the associated scoriaceous basalts of Wadi Al Roaian. It is based mainly up on the field works augmented by petrographic description. The present study revealed that, the succession of the upper part of Girshah Formation comprises three main horizons: 1) lower unit of epidotized and silicified basaltic and andesitic tuffs;2) middle unit of volcaniclastic red beds-scoriaceous basalts of successive cycles (each of these cycles begins by reddish tuffaceous mudstone and sandstone and is terminated by the calcite-bearing scoriaceous basalt). This unit indicated the deposition in lacustrine environments and the red iron oxyhydroxides minerals were formed either by the direct hematitization of the deposited tuffs or by the diagenetic hematitization of the green clays formed instead of the precursor tuffaceous materials;3) upper scoriaceous basalt unit composed from hematitized and calcitized basalt. The unit was formed by basic volcanic eruptions in subaerial condition which was predominated by the formation of calcium carbonate lakes associated with the progressive and subsequent calcitization of the Ca-plagioclase minerals of the basalt and the associated glassy tuffaceous material. The scoriaceous basalts of Wadi Al Roaian area represent subaerial basic volcanic eruption in continental situation and are associated with subsequent events of mineral alteration and formation of secondary minerals i.e. calcite, hematite and goethite.

The discovery of eclogite dikes in low-greenschist facies volcaniclastic rocks of the Dabie Mountains

ECLOGITE occurs in different metamorphic rocks in the Dabie Mountains. Some dike-likeeclogite and garnet amphibolite were discovered when we investigated the newly founded low-greenschist facies volcaniclastic rocks in Changpu, Yuexi County and Siqian, Taihu County(fig.1). Coesite and quartz pseudomorphs exist in garnet and omphacite. By studying the oc-currence and petrography-mineralogy characteristic, we believe that the eclogite is of

Stratigraphic Definition and Correlation of Middle Triassic Volcaniclastic Facies in the External Dinarides： Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Middle Triassic volcaniclastic depositsin the External Dinarides of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are related to the rifting of the Tethyan Ocean. Three localities in the External Dinarides： Donje Pazariste, Bosansko Grahovo and Zelovo were biostratigraphically analysed in this study. The Middle Triassic carbonate deposits with volcaniclastic interlayers in Donje Pazariste were defined by means of conodonts. Rare ammonoid specimens were collected.Recovered conodont and ammonoid taxa suggest these sections are of Early Illyrian to Early Fassanian Age. The section studied in Bosansko Grahovo is dominantly composed of volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks. Limestone peperites were collected for conodont analysis. Two conodont zones were defined, suggesting volcanic activity in the same, from Lower Illyrian to Fassanian, time interval. The Zelovo Section was biostratigraphically investigated by several authors. The pietra verde deposits from Zelovo are referred as late Fassanian to Early Longobardian Age. Biostratigraphic correlation from mentioned three localities imply that the magmatic activity in the External Dinarides, and formation of different volcaniclastic facies lasted from Illyrian to Longobardian, similar as in the surrounding western Tethyan territories.

Petrogenesis of Middle Triassic Volcaniclastic Rocks from Balochistan,Pakistan:Implications for the Break-Up of Gondwanaland

Basaltic volcanic conglomerates near the Wulgai village in Balochistan occur in the undivided sedimentary rock unit of the Bagh complex which is the mélange zone beneath the Muslim Bagh ophiolite. The presence of Middle Triassic grey radiolarian chert within the upper and lower horizon of the conglomerates suggests that the lavas, from which these conglomerates were principally derived, were eroded and re-deposited in the Middle Triassic. The Wulgai conglomerate contains several textural and mineralogical varieties of volcanic rocks, such as porphyritic, glomerophyric, intersertal and vitrophyric basalts. The main minerals identified in these samples are augite, olivine, plagioclase（An35–78） leucite and nosean, with apatite ilmenite, magnetite and hematite occurring as accessory minerals. These rocks are mildly to strongly-alkaline with low Mg~# and low Cr, Ni and Co contents suggesting that their parent magma had undergone considerable fractionation prior to eruption. Trace element-enriched mantle-normalized patterns with marked positive Nb anomalies are consistent with 10%–15% melting of an enriched mantle source in a within-plate tectonic setting. It is proposed that this Middle Triassic intra-plate volcanism may represent mantle plume-derived melts related to the Late Triassic rifting of micro-continental blocks（including Afghan, Iran, Karakorum and Lhasa） from the northern margin of Gondwana.

Formation mechanism of high-quality reservoirs of Lower Cretaceous volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks in Songliao Basin

High abundance gas reservoirs were discovered in the volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks of Wangfu faulted depression in Songliao Basin,but the distribution pattern and formation mechanism of this type of high-quality reservoirs were not clear.In the Shahezi Formation of Well Block CS6 in Wangfu faulted depression,the void space type,reservoir property,pore throat and pore diameters were studied by means of the casting thin section,helium intrusion porosimetry,mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP)and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)methods,moreover,formation mechanism and main controlling factors of the high-quality reservoirs were discussed.Results showed that lithology of high-quality reservoirs consisted of the volcaniclastic sedimentary agglomerate and the volcaniclastic sedimentary breccia,and exhibited the coarsening-upward characteristics.Furthermore,three types(seven subtypes)of void spaces were identified,among which the intragranular vesicles with primary abundant pores were uniquely developed in the high-quality reservoirs of volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks,indicating this high-quality reservoir belonged to the large-pore and small-throat reservoir;porosity and permeability of volcaniclastic sedimentary agglomerate were slightly higher than those of volcaniclastic sedimentary breccia,and both were significantly higher than those of sedimentary rock in the Shahezi Formation,the porosity was closely related with the burial depth.Formation mechanisms of reservoirs in the volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks were release of volatile matters in parent rocks,grain support,dissolution and tectonic modification,among which the former two were the main controlling factors.The high-quality reservoirs over the study area were mainly distributed in the central part of the fan of volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks,among which the grain-supported,coarse-grained volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks with high content of intragranular vesicular detritus and burial depth less than 3000 m were the most favorable area for development of the high-quality reservoirs.

Provenance and drainage system of the Early Cretaceous volcanic detritus in the Himalaya as constrained by detrital zircon geochronology

The age range of the major intra-plate volcanic event that affected the northern Indian margin in the Early Cretaceous is here defined precisely by detrital zircon geochronology. U-Pb ages of Early Cretaceous detrital zircons found in the Cretaceous to the Paleocene sandstones cluster mainly between 142 Ma and 123 Ma in the northern Tethys Himalayan unit, and between 140 Ma and 116 Ma in the southern Tethys Himalayan unit. The youngest and oldest detrital zircons within this group indicate that volcanism in the source areas started in the latest Jurassic and ended by the early Albian. Stratigraphic data indicate that volcaniclastic sedimentation began significantly earlier in southern Tibet （Tithonian） than in Nepal （Valangin- ian）, and considerably later in Spiti and Zanskar （Aptian/AIbian） to the west. This apparent westward migration of magmatism was explained with progressive westward propagation of extensional/transtensional tectonic activity and development of fractures cutting deeply across the Indian continental margin crust. However, detrital zircon geochronology provides no indication of heterochroneity in magmatic activity in the source areas from east to west, and thus lends little support to such a scenario. Westward migration of volcaniclastic sedimentation may thus reflect instead the westward progradation of major drainage systems supplying volcanic detritus sourced from the same volcanic centers in the east. Development of multiple radial drainage away from the domal surface uplift associated with magmatic upwelling, as observed for most large igneous provinces around the world, may also explain why U-Pb ages of detrital zircons tend to cluster around 133-132 Ma （the age of the Cornel igneous province） in Tethys Himalayan units, but around 118-117 Ma （the age of the Rajmahal igneous province） in Lesser Himalayan units.

Age assignment of the Upper Carboniferous Arbasay Formation in Shichang Region,North Tianshan(NW China)

The North Tianshan Orogenic Belt contains the youngest ophiolites in the Tianshan and provides some information on timing of the last closure of the Junggar-Balkhash Ocean. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating was conducted to define the formation age of the Arbasay Formation in the Shichang Region of North Tianshan, which is exposed near the suture zone but its age remains debated. The Arbasay Formation is mainly composed of volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks with tuft interlayers. The zircons from the tufts yield two age populations of 315 ± 3 Ma and 304 ± 2 Ma, constraining the commencement and demise timings of volcanism, respectively. Furthermore, zircon U-Pb age spectra of the tuffaceous sandstones display the youngest peak age at 308 Ma, indicating a 〈 308 Ma age for the depositional age of volcaniclastic rocks. The volcaniclastic rocks therefore were likely to deposit together with the syn-sedimentary volcanism during Late Carboniferous. This means that the Arbasay Formation in Shichang Region should be re-assigned to Late Carboniferous in age. Given that the Arbasay Formation was likely to be formed during the tectonic transition from compression to extension, the Junggar-Balkhash Ocean possibly closed during Late Carboniferous.

The use of mineral interfaces in sand-sized volcanic rock fragments to infer mechanical durability

The use of mineral interfaces, in sand-sized rock fragments, to infer the influence exerted by mechanical durability on the generation of siliciclastic sediments, has been determined for plutoniclastic sand. Conversely, for volcaniclastic sand, it has received much less attention, and, to our knowledge, this is the first attempt to make use of the volcaniclastic interfacial modal mineralogy of epiclastic sandy fragments, to infer mechanical durability control at a modern beach environment. Volcaniclastic sand was collected along five beaches developed on five islands, of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea(Alicudi, Filicudi, Salina, Panarea and Stromboli) from the Aeolian Archipelago, and one sample was collected near the Stromboli Island volcanic crater. Each sample was sieved and thin sectioned for petrographic analysis. The modal mineralogy of the very coarse, coarse and medium sand fractions was determined by point-counting of the interfacial boundaries discriminating 36 types of interfaces categories, both no-isomineralic and/or no iso-structural(e.g., phenocrystal/glassy groundmass or phenocrystal/microlitic groundmass boundaries) and iso-mineralic interfaces, inside volcanic lithic grains with lathwork and porphyric textures. A total of 47,386 interfacial boundaries have been counted and, the most representative series of interfaces, from the highest to the lowest preservation, can be grouped as: a) ultrastable interfaces, categorized as Pl(Plagioclase)/Glgr(Glassy groundmass) > > Px(Pyroxene)/Glgr > > Ol(Olivine)/Glgr > > Op(Opaque)/Glgr > > Hbl(Hornblende)/Glgr> > Bt(Biotite)/Glgr > > Idd(Iddingsite)/Glgr > > Rt(Rutile)/Glgr;b) stable interfaces, categorized as Pl/Migr(Microlitic groundmass) > > Op/Migr > > Px/Migr > > Ol/Migr;c) moderately stable interfaces, categorized as Op/Px > > Op/Hbl > > Px/P > > Ol/Pl> > Bt/Op;and d) unstable interfaces, categorized as Pl/Pl > > Px/Px > > Ol/Ol > >Op/Op > > Hbl/Hbl > > Bt/Bt. Grains, eroded from the volcanic bedrock, if affected solely by abrasion, developed a rounded and smoothed form, with prevailing no-isostructural interfaces such as Plagioclase/Glassy groundmass,Pyroxene/Glassy groundmass and Olivine/Glassy groundmass interfaces. Grains that during transport suffered fracturing and percussion have a sharp and angular form: these combined transport mechanisms produce mainly volcanic sandy grains with iso-structural interfaces, such as Pl/Pl, Px/Px, Hbl/Hbl, and, to a lesser extent, Bt/Op and Bt/Glgr interfaces.