Gold- and diamond-bearing White Hills Gravel,St Arnaud district,Victoria: age and provenance based on U – Pb dating of zircon and rutile     

W. D. Birch  L. M. Barron  C. Magee  F. L. Sutherland 《Australian Journal of Earth Sciences》2013,60(4):609-628

Investigation of coarse (>2 mm) heavy-mineral concentrates from the White Hills Gravel near St Arnaud in western Victoria provides new evidence for the age and provenance of this widespread palaeoplacer formation. A prominent zircon – sapphire – spinel assemblage is characteristic of Cenozoic basaltic-derived gemfields in eastern Australia, while a single diamond shows similar features to others found in alluvial deposits in northeastern Victoria and New South Wales. Dating of two suites of zircons by fission track and U – Pb (SHRIMP) methods gave overlapping ages between 67.4 ± 5.2 and 74.5 ± 6.3 Ma, indicating a maximum age of Late Cretaceous for the formation. Another suite of minerals includes tourmaline (schorl – dravite), andalusite, rutile and anatase, which are probably locally derived from contact metamorphic aureoles in Cambro-Ordovician basement metapelites intruded by Early Devonian granites. U – Pb dating of rutile grains by laser ablation ICPMS gave an age of 393 ± 10 Ma, confirming an Early Devonian age for the regional granites and associated contact metamorphism. Other phases present include pseudorutile, metamorphic corundum of various types, maghemite and hematite, which have more equivocal source rocks. A model to explain the diverse sources of these minerals invokes recycling and mixing of the far-travelled basalt-derived suite with the less mature, locally derived metamorphic suite. Some minerals have probably been recycled from Mesozoic gravels through Early Cenozoic (Paleocene – Eocene) drainage systems during various episodes of weathering, ferruginisation and erosion. Comparison between heavy-mineral assemblages in occurrences of the White Hills Gravel may allow distinction between depositional models advocating either separate drainage networks or coalescing sheets. Such assemblages may also provide evidence for the present-day divide in the Western Uplands being the youngest expression of an old (Late Mesozoic – Early Cenozoic) stable divide separating north- and south-flowing streams or a much younger feature (ca 10 Ma) which disrupted mainly south-flowing drainage.  相似文献   

Sedimentology of the New Hampshire Inner Continental Shelf Based on Subbottom Seismics,Side-Scan Sonar,Bathymetry, and Bottom Samples     

Larry G. Ward  Francis S. Birch 《Marine Georesources & Geotechnology》2013,31(2-3):165-172

Typical of glaciated environments, the inner continental shelf of New Hampshire is composed of bedrock outcrops, remnants of glacial deposits (for example, drumlins), sand and gravel deposits, as well as muddier sediments farther offshore. A number of previous studies have defined the general trends of the New Hampshire inner shelf from the coarser deposits nearer the shore to the muddier outer basins. Most recently, a seismic survey (150 km of side-scan sonar and subbottom seismic profiles), as well as bottom sediment sampling (74 stations), has provided a detailed bottom map of the southern New Hampshire shelf area (landward of the 30-m contour). The surficial sediments within this area range from very fine sand to gravel. Bedrock outcrops are common. The seismic survey indicated several large sand deposits exceeding 6-8 m in thickness that occur relatively close to the coast. These sedimentary units, which are within 3 km of the shoreline, are composed of fine to medium sands. Examination of the general morphology and depositional setting indicates at least some of these features are probably relic ebb tidal delta shoals. However, a large eroding drumlin occurs between two of the sand bodies and may represent the source of these deposits. Additional work is needed to verify the origin of these sediment bodies.  相似文献   

Imaging the Water Table by Filtering Self-Potential Profiles   总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4  

F.S. Birch 《Ground water》1998,36(5):779-782

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Lake-level fluctuations and paleovegetation during the Houghton phase of glacial Lake Minong     

Boyd  Matthew  Pennanen  Kelsey  Garvie  Monica  Polcyn  Marek  Birch  Kira 《Journal of Paleolimnology》2022,67(3):307-326

Journal of Paleolimnology - The Houghton phase was a brief period of low water in the glacial Lake Minong (ancestral Lake Superior) basin during the early-mid Holocene. Previous lake-level...  相似文献   

Modeling the Subsurface Structure of Sunspots     

H. Moradi  C. Baldner  A. C. Birch  D. C. Braun  R. H. Cameron  T. L. Duvall Jr.  L. Gizon  D. Haber  S. M. Hanasoge  B. W. Hindman  J. Jackiewicz  E. Khomenko  R. Komm  P. Rajaguru  M. Rempel  M. Roth  R. Schlichenmaier  H. Schunker  H. C. Spruit  K. G. Strassmeier  M. J. Thompson  S. Zharkov 《Solar physics》2010,267(1):1-62

While sunspots are easily observed at the solar surface, determining their subsurface structure is not trivial. There are two main hypotheses for the subsurface structure of sunspots: the monolithic model and the cluster model. Local helioseismology is the only means by which we can investigate subphotospheric structure. However, as current linear inversion techniques do not yet allow helioseismology to probe the internal structure with sufficient confidence to distinguish between the monolith and cluster models, the development of physically realistic sunspot models are a priority for helioseismologists. This is because they are not only important indicators of the variety of physical effects that may influence helioseismic inferences in active regions, but they also enable detailed assessments of the validity of helioseismic interpretations through numerical forward modeling. In this article, we provide a critical review of the existing sunspot models and an overview of numerical methods employed to model wave propagation through model sunspots. We then carry out a helioseismic analysis of the sunspot in Active Region 9787 and address the serious inconsistencies uncovered by Gizon et al. (2009a, 2009b). We find that this sunspot is most probably associated with a shallow, positive wave-speed perturbation (unlike the traditional two-layer model) and that travel-time measurements are consistent with a horizontal outflow in the surrounding moat.  相似文献   

A transitioning Arctic surface energy budget: the impacts of solar zenith angle, surface albedo and cloud radiative forcing     

Joseph Sedlar  Michael Tjernström  Thorsten Mauritsen  Matthew D. Shupe  Ian M. Brooks  P. Ola G. Persson  Cathryn E. Birch  Caroline Leck  Anders Sirevaag  Marcel Nicolaus 《Climate Dynamics》2011,37(7-8):1643-1660

Snow surface and sea-ice energy budgets were measured near 87.5°N during the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS), from August to early September 2008. Surface temperature indicated four distinct temperature regimes, characterized by varying cloud, thermodynamic and solar properties. An initial warm, melt-season regime was interrupted by a 3-day cold regime where temperatures dropped from near zero to ?7°C. Subsequently mean energy budget residuals remained small and near zero for 1 week until once again temperatures dropped rapidly and the energy budget residuals became negative. Energy budget transitions were dominated by the net radiative fluxes, largely controlled by the cloudiness. Variable heat, moisture and cloud distributions were associated with changing air-masses. Surface cloud radiative forcing, the net radiative effect of clouds on the surface relative to clear skies, is estimated. Shortwave cloud forcing ranged between ?50 W m^?2 and zero and varied significantly with surface albedo, solar zenith angle and cloud liquid water. Longwave cloud forcing was larger and generally ranged between 65 and 85 W m^?2, except when the cloud fraction was tenuous or contained little liquid water; thus the net effect of the clouds was to warm the surface. Both cold periods occurred under tenuous, or altogether absent, low-level clouds containing little liquid water, effectively reducing the cloud greenhouse effect. Freeze-up progression was enhanced by a combination of increasing solar zenith angles and surface albedo, while inhibited by a large, positive surface cloud forcing until a new air-mass with considerably less cloudiness advected over the experiment area.  相似文献   

Erratum to: S-type ignimbrites with polybaric crystallisation histories: the Tolmie Igneous Complex,Central Victoria,Australia     

J. D. Clemens  W. D. Birch  R. J. Dudley 《Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology》2011,162(6):1339-1339

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S-type ignimbrites with polybaric crystallisation histories: the Tolmie Igneous Complex,Central Victoria,Australia   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0  

J. D. Clemens  W. D. Birch  R. A. Dudley 《Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology》2011,162(6):1315-1337

The Late Devonian Tolmie Igneous Complex (in north-eastern Victoria, Australia) contains S-type, intracaldera, rhyolitic ignimbrites with multiple generations of phenocrysts of biotite, garnet, cordierite and orthopyroxene; one unit also contains fayalitic olivine. Geothermometry and calculated phase relations indicate high-T deep- to mid-crustal origins for the magmas, with crystallisation at several levels. At least four separate magma groups make up the complex. Compositional variations within and between ignimbrites are adequately modelled by selective entrainment of peritectic garnet, ilmenite, orthopyroxene and plagioclase into the magmas. Neither crystal fractionation nor mafic-felsic magma mixing played a role. Chemical and isotope data suggest that the magma sources were once variably Ba-enriched arc greywackes with different proportions of clay. The deep origin of some of the Tolmie Complex magmas means that supracrustal rocks underlie parts of north-eastern Victoria at depths of around 35 km. This has important implications for understanding the region’s tectonic development.  相似文献   

Zincian dolomite from broken hill,New South Wales     

W. D. Birch 《Australian Journal of Earth Sciences》2013,60(1-2):85-87

Many Broken Hill (New South Wales) specimens labelled ‘zinco‐calcite’ in museum and private collections are snow‐white, globular forms with a sparkling appearance, on a coronadite or limonite matrix. X‐ray diffraction and microprobe analyses show the globules have a core of nearly pure calcite, overlain by colourless, drusy zincian dolomite with up to 4 mol % ZnCO₃ and up to 7 mol % excess CaCO₃. Although Zn is abundant in the Broken Hill orebody, it apparently entered carbonate, mainly as smithsonite, only during formation of the oxidised zone.  相似文献   

Quartz-topaz-loellingite rocks near Eldorado,Victoria     

W.D. Birch 《Australian Journal of Earth Sciences》2013,60(3):269-278

Two small dykes consisting of a quartz-topaz-loellingite rock type have recently been discovered within the aplitic phase of the Pilot Range granite, near Eldorado, in NE Victoria. Minor biotite, muscovite, chlorite, kaolinite, anatase and pharmacosiderite are associated. Apart from the loellingite, the dykes are similar mineralogically to the ‘topazites’ from New England, NSW. These were considered to be magmatic in origin, based on field relationships and high homogenization temperatures for fluid inclusions in topaz (Eadington & Nashar 1978, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 67, 433–438). Although experimental evidence on F-enriched ‘granitic’ systems is inconclusive, the emplacement of the Eldorado topazite dykes most likely involved both magmatic and hydrothermal components operating essentially simultaneously. The topazite melt represented a F-rich residual granitic magma, from which aqueous alkali halide-rich solutions separated during high level intrusion. Separation of these aqueous solutions was responsible for miarolitic cavities into which topaz crystals grew. F-OH equilibration calculations for coexisting topaz-biotite pairs suggest the minerals equilibrated in the presence of hydrothermal solutions of variable composition (in terms of the HF/H₂O fugacity ratio), at temperatures around 550°C. Alteration of topaz to muscovite, the precipitation of loellingite and the formation of clay and fluorite in the cavities occurred at progressively lower temperatures. The widespread alluvial topaz in the Beechworth-Eldorado area may be derived from similar quartz-topaz dykes.  相似文献