Sediment dispersal patterns in a deep marine back-arc basin: evidence from heavy mineral provenance studies

Heavy mineral provenance studies can aid reservoir description in deep marine depositional systems by providing a clearer understanding of the lateral extent of discrete sediment bodies. In this study the lower Gustav Group (Lagrelius Point, Kotick Point and Whisky Bay formations) of James Ross Isla...

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Published in:Geological Society, London, Special Publications
Main Authors: Browne, J. R., Pirrie, D.
Other Authors: Hartley, A.J., Prosser, D.J.
Format: Book Part
Language:unknown
Published: Geological Society of London 1995
Subjects:
Online Access:http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/515445/
https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1995.094.01.11
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spelling ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:515445 2023-05-15T13:49:33+02:00 Sediment dispersal patterns in a deep marine back-arc basin: evidence from heavy mineral provenance studies Browne, J. R. Pirrie, D. Hartley, A.J. Prosser, D.J. 1995 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/515445/ https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1995.094.01.11 unknown Geological Society of London Browne, J. R.; Pirrie, D. 1995 Sediment dispersal patterns in a deep marine back-arc basin: evidence from heavy mineral provenance studies. In: Hartley, A.J.; Prosser, D.J., (eds.) Characterization of deep marine clastic systems. London, Geological Society of London, 137-154. (Geological Society special publication, 94, 94). Publication - Book Section PeerReviewed 1995 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1995.094.01.11 2023-02-04T19:44:02Z Heavy mineral provenance studies can aid reservoir description in deep marine depositional systems by providing a clearer understanding of the lateral extent of discrete sediment bodies. In this study the lower Gustav Group (Lagrelius Point, Kotick Point and Whisky Bay formations) of James Ross Island, Antarctica, which was deposited in a deep marine slope-apron-submarine fan complex has been investigated. The Kotick Point and Whisky Bay formations crop out in two separate areas on the west coast of James Ross Island. The provenance of the group has been studied by both standard sandstone petrography and electron microprobe analysis of the heavy minerals’ garnet, pyroxene and Fe-Ti oxides. The sandstones are lithic to arkosic arenites derived from the adjacent Antarctic Peninsula magmatic arc. Although the general source area can be recognized, individual stratigraphical or depositional units cannot be distinguished on the basis of sandstone petrography. However, electron microprobe analyses of the detrital heavy minerals allows a more detailed discrimination of sediment provenance. In particular, analyses of the detrital Fe-Ti oxide minerals show that in the Whisky Bay Formation, the southern outcrop area, contains ilmenite, whilst the northern outcrop area contains titanomagnetite. In conjunction with the available biostratigraphical and palaeocurrent evidence, this can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, if the two outcrop areas are direct age equivalents then they were derived from separate point sources, and deposited as discrete sediment lobes. Alternatively, if they are not directly time-equivalent, the depositional system may have switched laterally with time, with sediment derived from source rocks of varying composition. Either interpretation has implications for the understanding of the deep marine depositional system. Detrital opaque minerals are commonly source specific and should not be ignored during provenance studies. Book Part Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica James Ross Island Ross Island Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ross Island Whisky Bay ENVELOPE(-58.134,-58.134,-63.889,-63.889) Kotick ENVELOPE(-58.325,-58.325,-63.989,-63.989) Kotick Point ENVELOPE(-58.367,-58.367,-64.000,-64.000) Lagrelius ENVELOPE(-58.297,-58.297,-63.908,-63.908) Lagrelius Point ENVELOPE(-58.300,-58.300,-63.917,-63.917) Geological Society, London, Special Publications 94 1 137 154
institution Open Polar
collection Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive
op_collection_id ftnerc
language unknown
description Heavy mineral provenance studies can aid reservoir description in deep marine depositional systems by providing a clearer understanding of the lateral extent of discrete sediment bodies. In this study the lower Gustav Group (Lagrelius Point, Kotick Point and Whisky Bay formations) of James Ross Island, Antarctica, which was deposited in a deep marine slope-apron-submarine fan complex has been investigated. The Kotick Point and Whisky Bay formations crop out in two separate areas on the west coast of James Ross Island. The provenance of the group has been studied by both standard sandstone petrography and electron microprobe analysis of the heavy minerals’ garnet, pyroxene and Fe-Ti oxides. The sandstones are lithic to arkosic arenites derived from the adjacent Antarctic Peninsula magmatic arc. Although the general source area can be recognized, individual stratigraphical or depositional units cannot be distinguished on the basis of sandstone petrography. However, electron microprobe analyses of the detrital heavy minerals allows a more detailed discrimination of sediment provenance. In particular, analyses of the detrital Fe-Ti oxide minerals show that in the Whisky Bay Formation, the southern outcrop area, contains ilmenite, whilst the northern outcrop area contains titanomagnetite. In conjunction with the available biostratigraphical and palaeocurrent evidence, this can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, if the two outcrop areas are direct age equivalents then they were derived from separate point sources, and deposited as discrete sediment lobes. Alternatively, if they are not directly time-equivalent, the depositional system may have switched laterally with time, with sediment derived from source rocks of varying composition. Either interpretation has implications for the understanding of the deep marine depositional system. Detrital opaque minerals are commonly source specific and should not be ignored during provenance studies.
author2 Hartley, A.J.
Prosser, D.J.
format Book Part
author Browne, J. R.
Pirrie, D.
spellingShingle Browne, J. R.
Pirrie, D.
Sediment dispersal patterns in a deep marine back-arc basin: evidence from heavy mineral provenance studies
author_facet Browne, J. R.
Pirrie, D.
author_sort Browne, J. R.
title Sediment dispersal patterns in a deep marine back-arc basin: evidence from heavy mineral provenance studies
title_short Sediment dispersal patterns in a deep marine back-arc basin: evidence from heavy mineral provenance studies
title_full Sediment dispersal patterns in a deep marine back-arc basin: evidence from heavy mineral provenance studies
title_fullStr Sediment dispersal patterns in a deep marine back-arc basin: evidence from heavy mineral provenance studies
title_full_unstemmed Sediment dispersal patterns in a deep marine back-arc basin: evidence from heavy mineral provenance studies
title_sort sediment dispersal patterns in a deep marine back-arc basin: evidence from heavy mineral provenance studies
publisher Geological Society of London
publishDate 1995
url http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/515445/
https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1995.094.01.11
long_lat ENVELOPE(-58.134,-58.134,-63.889,-63.889)
ENVELOPE(-58.325,-58.325,-63.989,-63.989)
ENVELOPE(-58.367,-58.367,-64.000,-64.000)
ENVELOPE(-58.297,-58.297,-63.908,-63.908)
ENVELOPE(-58.300,-58.300,-63.917,-63.917)
geographic Antarctic
Antarctic Peninsula
Ross Island
Whisky Bay
Kotick
Kotick Point
Lagrelius
Lagrelius Point
geographic_facet Antarctic
Antarctic Peninsula
Ross Island
Whisky Bay
Kotick
Kotick Point
Lagrelius
Lagrelius Point
genre Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctic Peninsula
Antarctica
James Ross Island
Ross Island
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctic Peninsula
Antarctica
James Ross Island
Ross Island
op_relation Browne, J. R.; Pirrie, D. 1995 Sediment dispersal patterns in a deep marine back-arc basin: evidence from heavy mineral provenance studies. In: Hartley, A.J.; Prosser, D.J., (eds.) Characterization of deep marine clastic systems. London, Geological Society of London, 137-154. (Geological Society special publication, 94, 94).
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1995.094.01.11
container_title Geological Society, London, Special Publications
container_volume 94
container_issue 1
container_start_page 137
op_container_end_page 154
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