Book contents
- Magmatism in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
- Magmatism in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Nature of Magmatism
- 2 The McMurdo Dry Valleys Magmatic System (Ferrar McDV)
- 3 The Ferrar Dolerite Sills
- 4 Ferrar Basic Petrologic Structure
- 5 Nature and Distribution of Individual Sills
- 6 Bull Pass Geology
- 7 Dais Layered Intrusion
- 8 Compositional Characteristics of the Ferrar McDV Magmatic System
- 9 Crystal Entrainment and Transport
- 10 Opx Provenance
- 11 Noritic Magma, Primocryst Entrainment, and Source Sampling
- 12 Regional Distribution of Ferrar Magmatic Centers
- 13 The Ferrar Magmatic Conundrum
- 14 Ferrar Magma Source Material
- References
- Index
8 - Compositional Characteristics of the Ferrar McDV Magmatic System
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 February 2023
- Magmatism in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
- Magmatism in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Nature of Magmatism
- 2 The McMurdo Dry Valleys Magmatic System (Ferrar McDV)
- 3 The Ferrar Dolerite Sills
- 4 Ferrar Basic Petrologic Structure
- 5 Nature and Distribution of Individual Sills
- 6 Bull Pass Geology
- 7 Dais Layered Intrusion
- 8 Compositional Characteristics of the Ferrar McDV Magmatic System
- 9 Crystal Entrainment and Transport
- 10 Opx Provenance
- 11 Noritic Magma, Primocryst Entrainment, and Source Sampling
- 12 Regional Distribution of Ferrar Magmatic Centers
- 13 The Ferrar Magmatic Conundrum
- 14 Ferrar Magma Source Material
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter shows the whole rock chemical compositions for all the sills in the Dry Valleys region. Harker diagrams for the major and selected trace elements clearly reflect the strong role of orthopyroxene (and subordinate clinopyroxene) as the major mineral phase controlling rock composition. These are low titanium, non-alkaline dolerites, which are common to this entire region and continuing to Tasmania and even as far as some of the Karoo system. On an AFM diagram the system almost mimics that of Skaergaard. This Opx control extends throughout the system. And upwards with the loss of Opx the upper sills overlap in composition with the Kirkpatrick Basalts. Various other diagrams, meant to discriminate between pyroxene and feldspar control, show the effects of crystal sorting locally and regionally, with the chilled margins being tholeiitic and the sill centers tending to ultramafic. A pattern persisting outwards from Bull Pass for at least 50 km north and south. Relative to the Basement Sill this appears as a large plume of crystal-laden magma, extending outward in all directions, exhibiting locally the strong effects of crystal sorting during emplacement.
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- Magmatism in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica , pp. 153 - 168Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023