Precursor Sediments Research Articles

Influence of Precursor Sediments on Coal Distribution and Quality, Barakar Formation, Sohagpur Coalfield, Madhya Pradesh

Abstract The Barakar Formation of Sohagpur Coalfield is an alluvial succession consisting principally of channel sandstones with subordinate amounts of overbank deposits comprising finer clastics and coal. The major factor controlling peat accumulation is the physical characteristic of sub-peat sediments. Coal is thin and high in ash in sand-rich areas which compacted least and produced elevated surfaces where peat was sub-aerially exposed and oxidised. Two modes of accumulation of thicker and relatively low-ash peat operated in the study area. First, relatively sand-deficient areas compacted easily and yielded morphologically low surfaces where peat could accumulate in greater quantity and the water table was sufficiently maintained to prevent peat destruction. Secondly, an optimal sand concentration in the substrate created intermediate topographic sites where a delicate balance between the water table and the depositional interface favoured concentration of thicker and better quality coals.

Tektites in Cretaceous‐Tertiary boundary rocks on Haiti and their bearing on the Alvarez Impact Extinction Hypothesis

Relic tektites are associated with a Pt‐group metal abundance anomaly and shocked minerals in a thin marl bed that marks the K‐T boundary on Haiti. The presence of these three impact‐produced materials at the precise K‐T boundary enormously strengthens the Alvarez impact extinction hypothesis. The tektites occur in smectite spherules that have external shapes typical of tektites. Their chemical and physical properties are broadly similar to those of other tektite groups, except that the Haitian tektites have lower Si and higher Fe, Ca, and Na. On average, they contain more Sc, V, Cu, Zn, Ga, Sr, Sn, and Ba and less Cr, Ni, Co, B, Mn, and Hf than Other tektite groups. Amounts of rare earth elements (REE) in the tektites indicate that their progenitor materials were not melted mafic or ultramafic oceanic crust; rather they were sedimentary deposits having a bulk composition of andesite. Rare tektites contain unusually high amounts of CaO (∼20%) and S (0.4%), and these data suggest that some target materials consisted of CaSO4. Anhydrite beds occur in the subsurface at two candidate impact sites (Chicxulub and Manson). Sm‐Nd isotopic data for the tektites indicate that the melted precursor sediments were most likely deposited less than −400 m.y. between the Late Cretaceous and Silurian periods. Major chemical changes accompanied the diagenetic change of glass to smectite. The Haitian tektites are the first datable impact products in K‐T boundary rocks, and 40Ar‐39Ar ages of the glass show that the K‐T boundary and impact event are coeval at 64.5±0.1 Ma.

Nodular chert from the Arbuckle Group, Slick Hills, SW Oklahoma: a combined field, petrographic and isotopic study

ABSTRACTNodular chert from the middle and upper Arbuckle Group (Early Ordovician) in the Slick Hills, SW Oklahoma, was formed by selective replacement of grainstones, burrow fillings, algal structures, and evaporite nodules. Chert nodules are dominantly microquartz with minor fibrous quartz (both quartzine and chalcedony), megaquartz, and microflamboyant quartz. Lepisphere textures of an opal‐CT precursor are preserved in many (especially in finely‐crystalline) chert nodules. The δ18O values of microquartz chert range from +23.4 to + 28.80/00 (SMOW), significantly lower than those of Cenozoic and Mesozoic microquartz chert formed both in the deep sea and from near‐surface sea water. The δ18O values of chert decrease with increasing quartz crystal size.Silicification in the Arbuckle Group occurred during early diagenesis, with the timing constrained by the relative temporal relationships among silicification, burial compaction, and early dolomite stabilization. Silica for initial chert nucleation may have been derived from both dissolution of sponge spicules and silica‐enriched sea water. Chert nucleation appears to have been controlled by the porosity, permeability, and organic matter content of precursor sediments. This conclusion is based on the fact that chert selectively replaced both porous grainstones and burrows and algal structures enriched in organic matter. Growth of chert probably occurred by a maturation process from opal‐A(?), to opal‐CT, to quartz, as indicated by the presence of opal‐CT precursor textures in many chert nodules. Although field and petrographic evidence argues for an early marine origin for chert in the Arbuckle Group, the light δ18O values are inconsistent with this origin. Meteoric resetting of the δ18O values of the chert during exposure of the carbonate platform best explains the light δ18O values because: (i) the δ18O values of chert nodules decrease with decreasing δ18O values of host limestones, and (ii) chert nodules from early dolomite, which underwent more extensive meteoric modification than associated limestones, have lighter δ18O values than chert nodules from limestones. Increasing recrystallization of chert nodules by meteoric water resulted in progressive 18O depletion and (quartz) crystal enlargement.

Trondhjemitic, 1.35–1.31 Ga gneisses of the Mount Holly Complex of Vermont: evidence for an Elzevirian event in the Grenville Basement of the United States Appalachians

A newly recognized suite of trondhjemite–tonalite and dacitic gneiss forms a 10 km wide belt of rocks within the Mount Holly Complex in the central part of the Green Mountain massif of Vermont. Field relationships and chemistry indicate that these gneisses are calc-alkaline, volcanic, and hypabyssal plutonic rocks older than the Middle Proterozoic regional deformation that affected the Mount Holly Complex. U–Pb zircon dates indicate ages as great as 1.35 Ga for crystallization of the volcanic protoliths and for intrusion of crosscutting trondhjemite. Tonalitic plutonism continued until 1.31 Ga.Map-scale contacts between the trondhjemitic–tonalitic–dacitic gneisses and the paragneiss sequence of the Mount Holly Complex are sharp, suggesting that the volcanic rocks of the trondhjemite–tonalite suite underlie the paragneiss units and do not intrude them. These relationships suggest that the trondhjemite–tonalite suite is either considerably older than, and unconformable beneath, the paragneiss cover rocks or represents a volcanic edifice slightly older than the deposition of the sedimentary precursor to the paragneiss units. The paragneiss and tonalite–trondhjemite gneisses are both intruded by younger granitoids that were intruded at about 1.25 Ga during strong dynamothermal metamorphism.The trondhjemitic gneisses of the Mount Holly Complex of Vermont have high Al2O3 and low Yb contents and light rare-earth element enrichment patterns that are more characteristic of continental than oceanic volcanic arcs. The Mount Holly intrusives and volcanics may have formed during 1.35–1.31 Ga ensialic volcanic-arc activity, contemporaneous with ensimatic arc activity during the early part of the Elzevirian phase of the Grenville orogeny. In Vermont, later deformation and granite intrusion at about 1.25 Ga coincide with the major pulse of the Elzevirian orogeny and associated trondhjemitic plutonism in the Central Metasedimentary Belt of eastern Canada.

A dolomitized shelfedge hardground in the northern Gulf of Mexico—reply

Abstract An elongated calcareous hardground occurs on the shelfedge northeast of the Mississippi Trough. High-resolution seismic reflection profiles show that the hardground is in 90–110 m of water, is 70–250 m wide, at least 2.3 km long, and of low relief (5–10 m). The hardground is composed of dolostone and coquinoid limestone, and exhibits a dead biofacies of nodular and encrusting calcium carbonate-secreting organisms that are significantly different from those forms living in the adjacent unconsolidated sediments. Cementation of the hardground substrate by primary dolomite was initiated during early diagenesis close to the sea floor and progressed by concretionary growth under an interstitial environment partially open to marine molecular fluxes. The bicarbonate necessary to form the dolomite came from an admixture of isotopically light thermogenic and sedimentary organic carbon sources and an isotopically heavier marine source. Exposed surfaces of the dolostone, which have been heavily bioeroded, are covered by an oxidized, goethite-rich, reddish-brown rind. The coquina is primarily composed of whole and fragmented mollusk shells and was deposited in a higher-energy environment than the precursor sediments of the dolostone. The hardground was preserved during the Holocene transgression because of its lithified nature and the top has been intermittently swept free of finer detritus by current action.

Pan-African reworked early/middle Proterozoic crust in NE Africa west of the Nile: Sr and Nd isotope evidence

Whole-rock Rb-Sr studies on six suites of highly metamorphosed basement rocks from southern Egypt and northern Sudan, west of the River Nile, yield Pan-African ages (562–918 Ma): these ages are interpreted as reset. Orthogneisses give Nd model ages of 1600 to 2600 Ma for their calc-alkaline plutonic precursors. A gneiss derived from sedimentary precursors gave a mean crustal residence age of 2200 Ma. A series of I-type, late-tectonic, granitoids were intruded during a period of uplift, erosion, and wrench faulting at 560–620 Ma. Geochemical characteristics and Nd model ages (1200–1700 Ma) indicate that these rocks were derived from a mixed source of juvenile Pan-African mantle material and older continental crust of mainly early/middle Proterozoic age. Negative ɛNd t , values for granitoid samples (–18.9 to –5.3) show that the Pan-African episode in NE Africa, west of the Nile, involved considerable reworking of pre-existing crust.

Petrogenesis of metemorphosed manganese deposits and the nature of the precursor sediments

This paper reviews the current concepts on petrogenesis of metamorphosed manganese-rich sedimentary rocks with the aim to identify the processes, their various controls and the possible progenitors. On the basis of mineralogical composition, five distinct rock types have been identified which show 21 mineral assemblages in total. Mineralogical, textural and chemical data on naturally occurring phases of these five rock types are also presented. These data, together with the results of experimental studies are used to interpret the metamorphic evolution of the different rock types. Finally, an attempt has been made to determine the possible precursor sediment types.

A geological reconnaissance of the Radok Lake area, Amery Oasis, Prince Charles Mountains

At Radok Lake, northern Prince Charles Mountains, more than 2500 m of Permian Amery Group strata in the Beaver Lake graben are downfaulted against a Proterozoic metamorphic basement. An irregular blanket of late Cenozoic Pagodroma Tillite, up to 100 m thick, overlies the Permian strata and Proterozoic basement. The metamorphic basement comprises repeatedly deformed, high-grade felsic, mafic, aluminous and minor calc-silicate rocks derived from igneous and sedimentary precursors. Low- to medium-pressure granulite-facies metamorphism, assumed to be the ~1000 Ma event widely recorded in the East Antarctic Shield, was followed by incipient to moderate amphibolite-facies retrogression. Three folding events are recognized. Sporadic occurrences of pseudotachylite in the basement represent seismic faulting after substantial uplift and erosion. At the southern end of Radok Lake the Permian coarse alluvial fan facies, the Radok Conglomerate, is overlain disconformably by the Dart Fields Conglomerate, a basal member of the Bainmedart Coal Measures. Five kilometres along strike the deltaic Panorama Point beds, containing sideritic ironstone strata, are overlain conformably by arkosic sandstones of the basal Bainmedart Coal Measures. The Amery Group is intruded by two alnöite sills and at least five altered alkaline mafic dykes. The Pagodroma Tillite contains reworked marine microfossils and records the erosion of higher latitude Cenozoic marine sequences by an expanding ancestral Lambert Glacier.

A dolomitized shelfedge hardground in the northern Gulf of Mexico

An elongated calcareous hardground occurs on the shelfedge northeast of the Mississippi Trough. High-resolution seismic reflection profiles show that the hardground is in 90–110 m of water, is 70–250 m wide, at least 2.3 km long, and of low relief (5–10 m). The hardground is composed of dolostone and coquinoid limestone, and exhibits a dead biofacies of nodular and encrusting calcium carbonate-secreting organisms that are significantly different from those forms living in the adjacent unconsolidated sediments. Cementation of the hardground substrate by primary dolomite was initiated during early diagenesis close to the sea floor and progressed by concretionary growth under an interstitial environment partially open to marine molecular fluxes. The bicarbonate necessary to form the dolomite came from an admixture of isotopically light thermogenic and sedimentary organic carbon sources and an isotopically heavier marine source. Exposed surfaces of the dolostone, which have been heavily bioeroded, are covered by an oxidized, goethite-rich, reddish-brown rind. The coquina is primarily composed of whole and fragmented mollusk shells and was deposited in a higher-energy environment than the precursor sediments of the dolostone. The hardground was preserved during the Holocene transgression because of its lithified nature and the top has been intermittently swept free of finer detritus by current action.

Textural and geochemical alternations in Late Cenozoic Bahamian dolomites

ABSTRACTDolomitized intervals of a core from San Salvador Island, Bahamas, exhibit variations of two texturally and geochemically distinct end‐members. In the Pliocene section of the dolomitized interval, the two end‐members alternate in a pattern that may reflect originally and/or diagenetically modified depositional facies. Formerly mud‐free intervals, locally capped by exposure surfaces are massive crystalline, mimetic dolomites (CM). Muddier sediments are replaced by friable microsucrosic dolomites (MS). CM and MS dolomites also differ in porosity (< 10% vs > 30%), permeability (< 10 md vs > 100 md), mol% MgCO3 (44–9 vs 47–7) mol%), oxygen isotopic composition (1–7 vs 2–7‰) and strontium content (241 vs 106 ppm).These data indicate that depositional and diagenetic fabric are the principal controls governing the distribution of dolomite types. Differences in texture and geochemistry are suggested as arising through differential rates of crystallization produced as a result of variations in permeability and reactivity of the precursor sediments and rocks.

Paleolimnology of Lake Tubutulik, an iron-meromictic Eocene Lake, eastern Seward Peninsula, Alaska

Sideritic lacustrine mudstone was found in drill core from a uranium deposit in the Death Valley area in the eastern part of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. The precursor sediments for this rock were deposited in an unusual “iron-meromictic” Eocene lake, herein named Lake Tubutulik, which occupied part of the Boulder Creek basin, a structural graben that is probably a southern extension of the larger Death Valley basin. The Boulder Creek basin is bounded on the west by granite of the Late Cretaceous Darby Pluton, on the east by Precambrian to Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks. The lake basin was formed by basaltic flows that dammed the river valley of the ancestral Tubutulik River in early Eocene time. Lake Tubutulik contained a nearshore facies of fine-grained organic mud and an offshore facies of laminated sideritic mud. The offshore (profundal) laminated mudstone consists of alternating layers of authigenic siderite and detrital layers containing mostly quartz and clay minerals. Both lacustrine facies contain turbidities. The lacustrine sediments graded laterally into an onshore facies of colluvial and fluvial sandstone, paludal mudstone, and coal. The ancient lake apparently occupied a small deep basin in a tectonically active area of high relief. Meromixus was probably stabilized by reduced iron and bicarbonate dissolved in the monimolimnion. The intensity of meromixus decreased as the lake became shallower from sediment filling. The source of the iron, abundant in the monimolimnion of Lake Tubutulik, was probably the Eocene basalt. Based on carbon isotope analysis of the siderite, the dissolved bicarbonate in the profundal facies was largely inorganic. Sideritic carbon in one sample from the onshore paludal facies has an isotopic signature ( δ 13C = +16.9) consistent with residual carbon formed during methanogenic fermentation.

The Pan-African continental margin in northeastern Africa: evidence from a geochronological study of granulites at Sabaloka, Sudan

Ion microprobe zircon ages, a Nd model age and Rb Sr whole-rock dates are reported from the high-grade gneiss terrain at Sabaloka on the River Nile north of Khartoum, formally considered to be part of the Archaean/early Proterozoic Nile craton. The granulites, which are of both sedimentary and igneous derivation, occur as remnants in migmatites. Detrital zircon ages range from ≈ 1000 to ≈ 2650 Ma and prove the existence of Archaean to late Proterozoic continental crust in the sedimentary source region. The Nd model age for one sedimentary granulite is between 1.26 ( T CHUR ) and 1.70 ( T DM ) Ga and provides a mean crustal residence age for the sedimentary precursor. Igneous zircons in enderbitic gneiss crystallized at 719 ± 81 Ma ago, an age that also corresponds to severe Pb loss in the detrital zircons and which probably reflects the granulite event at Sabaloka. The Rb Sr data indicate isotopic homogenization at about 700 Ma ago in the granulites and severe post-granulite disturbance at ≈ 570 Ma in the migmatites. We associate this disturbance with hydration, retrograde metamorphism and anatexis that produced undeformed granites ≈ 540 Ma ago. The ≈ 700 Ma granulite event at Sabaloka suggests that this part of the Sudan belongs to the Pan-African Mozambique belt while the ancient Nile craton lay farther west. The gneisses studied here may represent the infrastructure of the ancient African continental margin onto which the juvenile arc assemblage of the Arabian-Nubian shield was accreted during intense horizontal shortening and crustal interstacking of a major collision event.

Early Silica Cementation and Subsequent Diagenesis in Arenites from Four Early Proterozoic Iron Formations of North America

ABSTRACT In four unmetamorphosed, North American iron formations that display arenitic (granular) textures, much of the chert and megaquartz occupies former intergranular pore space and exhibits textures typical of cements. Iron-bearing phases are very rare in these cements, excluding replacive crystals. Cracks and more irregular cavities that formed in these arenites soon after deposition (probably via the shrinkage of gelatinous silica) are filled with similar chert and megaquartz cements. Silica-cemented intraclastic pebbles of arenite, local occurrences of cross-stratified, cherty internal sediments resting on the cements, and numerous zones where the abundance of cement equals the porosity of comparable modern sands indicate the cementation commenced near the sediment-water interface. Opa ine silica, fibrous silica polymorphs, and megaquartz druses are inferred to have been the most voluminous initial precipitates, and they are very inhomogeneously distributed. Silica concentrations in the pore waters of newly deposited iron-formation sands must therefore have been high but variable. The lack of evidence for subaerial desiccation or normal saline deposits renders an evaporative origin for either the cements, or iron formations as a whole, highly unlikely. Steeper geothermal gradients are suggested as a more likely cause of rapid silica cementation, and silica cements from geothermal areas show very similar textures. Most of the cements in iron-formation arenites were affected by neomorphism, replacement, mechanical compaction, and/or pressure solution. Regardless of their origin, the cements are noteworthy for the following reasons: they indicate that modern iron formations are enriched in silica relative to their precursor sediments; they provide new evidence that iron formations are not replaced limestones or dolomites; and the iron minerals they are associated with are probably the closest approaches to primary ferruginous phases in iron-formation arenites. Early silica cements also appear to be widespread in lutitic or banded iron formations in the form of chert pods.

Carbon in Archean rocks of the Abitibi belt (Ontario–Quebec) and its relation to gold distribution

In the Abitibi belt of Ontario and Quebec, sedimentary black argillites with carbon contents of up to 5% C contain up to 0.5 ppm gold. Sheared black argillites, now graphitic schists, reflect the values of the sedimentary precursors, although their appearance is very different. Gold values of 15 ppm and more are found in graphitic schists only where alteration, shown by quartz veins and increased carbonate content, gives independent evidence of a later hydrothermal event. Gold-rich graphitic schists are characterized by veining; raised gold values closely follow vein margins. As mass balancing shows gold leaching and redeposition to be unlikely, gold enrichment is interpreted to reflect introduction of gold and its preferential deposition in carbonaceous rocks by reduction at vein margins. Natural carbons in these rocks may have been surface activated by both shearing and hydrothermal fluids.

U–Pb isotopic ages from a granulite-facies xenolith from Partan Craig in the Midland Valley of Scotland

ABSTRACTU–Pb isotopie data for zircons from a granulite-facies xenolith from a volcanic vent at Partan Craig in the southeastern part of the Midland Valley of Scotland display evidence of an early Proterozoic (>2·0 Ga) component. The xenolith is probably relict metasediment and the data therefore indicate old detritus in the sedimentary precursor. The exact ages of sedimentation and metamorphism are uncertain but these must be compatible with Sm–Nd data on similar xenolithic fragments from the same locality which constrain the ages to c. 1–0 Ga or younger.

Thickness and Quality of Springfield Coal Member, Gibson County, Indiana, as a Function of Differential Compaction of Precursor Sediments: ABSTRACT

The Springfield Coal Member is a time transgressive coal that formed during the Pennsylvanian on a delta platform within the slowly subsiding Illinois basin. In Gibson County, Indiana, the locations of the major Galatia channel and the minor Leslie Cemetery channel were determined by differential compaction of precursor sediments beneath this platform. The Springfield coal is thick proximal to both channels, but proximal to the Galatia channel it is either a low-sulfur or a high-sulfur coal. It is a low-sulfur coal where it is underlain by a thin to moderately thick platform of shale with some sandstone and overlain by nonmarine shale. It is a high-sulfur coal where it is underlain by a thick platform of fluvial sandstone and overlain by brackish to marine rocks. Distal to both channels the coal is thin and high in sulfur. At distal locations the Springfield is underlain by a platform of either thick bay-fill sandstone or fluvial sandstone and overlain by brackish to marine shale and limestone. Compaction of pre-Springfield delta sediments allowed for accumulation of thicker peat along the axis of more rapid local subsidence. Compaction of muddy parts of the delta platform proximal to the Galatia channel resulted in rapid subsidence and the deposition of nonmarine shale over the peat. In the areas underlain by bay-fill and fluvial sandstone where compaction was less, the peat became a relatively thin and high-sulfur coal. Differences in coal thickness and quality in this 500 mi2 (1,300 km2) area of Gibson County can be explained largely by differential compaction and deltaic sedimentation. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1455------------

Beryllium-10 in Australasian Tektites: Evidence for a Sedimentary Precursor

Each of seven Australasian tektites contains about 1 x l0(8) atoms of beryllium-10 (half-life, 1.53 x 10(6) years) per gram. Cosmic-ray bombardment of the australites cannot have produced the measured amounts of beryllium-10 either at the earth's surface or in space. The beryllium-10 contents of these australites are consistent with a sedimentary precursor that adsorbed from precipitation beryllium-10 produced in the atmosphere. The sediments must have spent several thousand years at the earth's surface within a few million years of the tektite-producing event.

Sapphirine, Kornerupine, and Sillimanite + Orthopyroxene in the Charnockitic Region of South India

Abstract Sapphirine, kornerupine, and the associations sillimanite-orthopyroxene and sillimanite-gedrite are reported from 23 localities (or areas of closely spaced localities) in Fermor's (1936) charnockitic region and in transitional zones to Fermor's non-charnockitic region in south India (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and southern Karnataka). The rocks containing these minerals and mineral associations are believed to have a pelitic sedimentary precursor. They are in general closely associated with khondalite (garnet-sillimanite gneiss), quartzite, and calc-silicate rocks, and less commonly with metabasites of presumed metavolcanic origin. However, the sapphirine occurrences in the Sittampundi anorthosite complex, where sapphirine and sillimanite-gedrite are found in reaction zones between anorthosite and chromite layers, are an exception. Assemblages of sapphirine with garnet and sillimanite are not rare, but sapphirine in direct contact with quartz, which has not previously been reported from south India, was found at Paderu, Vishakhapatnam District, A. P. Kornerupine occurs with sillimanite at three localities but with orthopyroxene only at Ganguvarpatti, a new locality for kornerupine. Temperatures and pressures calculated from pyroxenes, garnets, and feldspars in associated rocks suggest that sapphirine, kornerupine, and sillimanite-orthopyroxene crystallized at 800-850°C and 6-10 kbar in the charnockitic region and sapphirine at 780°C in a transition zone between the granulite and amphibolite-facies near Sargur. Water partial pressure during the metamorphism was significantly less than total pressure. Regional differences in pressure are reflected in the distribution of mineral assemblages: sillimanite-orthopyroxene is found in Madras and Andhra Pradesh, but is conspicuously absent in the Palni Hills, where spinel-cordierite is an important assemblage. Sapphirine and sillimanite-orthopyroxene (and sillimanite-gedrite) are restricted to rocks relatively rich in Al2O3 with high Mg/Fe ratios relative to khondalite. Kornerupine appears to be confined to rocks containing boron. These special rock compositions (except Sittampundi) are believed to reflect unusual compositions of the precursor pelitic sediments rather than changes in chemistry during metamorphism.

Some aspects of the genesis of heavy mineral assemblages in Lower Proterozoic uranium-gold conglomerates

AbstractSome genetic models for Lower Proterozoic gold- and uranium-bearing pyritic conglomerates favour a modified placer origin in which low levels of atmospheric oxygen are used to account for the survival of uraninite and pyrite. There are many difficulties with such models—for example magnetite is absent in the ore-bearing horizons although it is stable in anoxic conditions, while it is abundant in over- and under-lying strata. Compact and porous pyrite grains are not in hydraulic equivalence and the deposits lack a normal detrital heavy-mineral assemblage. Moreover uranium and gold show evidence of diagenetic remobilization, the uranium becoming associated with secondary titaniferous phases and uranium and gold being enriched in reduzate facies sediments.New evidence concerning the genesis of the deposits is derived from a clast of ferric iron clay thought to represent a precursor sediment of the Witwatersrand Basin. Reworking of such clays and transport of a magnetite and ferric clay assemblage with subsequent sulphidation, could account for the porous pyrites, the absence of magnetite and the lack of hydraulic equivalence of the mineral grains in the conglomerates. The presence of oxygen, as indicated by the ferric iron clasts, would account for the evidence of mobility of uranium and of gold and would enhance their extraction from source rocks; particularly the release of gold from a precursor auriferous iron formation source. It is suggested that some aspects of the genesis of uranium deposits of the Witswatersrand and Elliot Lake may be similar to those of the Phanerozoic ‘Roll Front’ ores involving interaction between oxidizing uraniferous groundwaters and previously sulphidized and reduzate facies sediments.

Debris flow (olistostromes) and slumping on a distal passive continental margin: the Palombini limestone–shale sequence of the northern Apennines

ABSTRACTAn olistostrome accumulation up to 530 m thick occurs in the Casanova area of the northern Apennines. It lies within or above the calciturbiditic Palombini limestone‐shale sequence, and is part of the allochthonous Vara Complex—sediments originally deposited on oceanic crust. The olistostromes are poorly sorted, monomict, matrix‐supported, submarine debris flow deposits with rigid plugs. They have a compactional foliation and a compaction‐modified, planar clast fabric created during flow. Although diachronous in the main part of the area, the olistostromes have a vertical gradational contact with the overlying slumped Palombini, in which recumbent asymmetric fold hinges and trains and slump boudins are present. Many criteria indicate soft‐sediment deformation. Fold asymmetry indicates a uniformly SW‐dipping palaeoslope. The textural gradation from slumps to olistostrome beds, plus slump folds and boudins as olistostrome clasts show that the olistostromes are dismembered slumps. In vertical sections, variations in limestone petrography, volume percentage and size of clasts confirm that the olistostromes were derived from the Palombini as a series of bed‐by‐bed slumps keeping pace with sedimentation of the Palombini. From olistostrome clast sizes and bed thicknesses, a depositional slope of ∼ 4° is estimated. The olistostromes are not precursor sediments shed from advancing nappes, as in the Bracco ridge model of some authors; rather, they were formed at the foot of a distal, block‐faulted passive continental margin, long before nappe emplacement.