Volcanic Ash Beds Research Articles

Geological sources of boron and fluoride anomalies in Silurian–Ordovician aquifer system, Estonia

The objective of this study was to examine the possible natural sources of fluorides and boron in Silurian–Ordovician (S–O) aquifer system, as the anomaly of these elements has been distinguished in groundwater of western Estonia. Water–rock interactions, such as dissolution and leaching of the host rock, are considered to be the main source of high fluoride and boron concentrations in groundwater. Altogether 91 rock samples were analysed to determine if high F− and B levels in groundwater could be attributed to certain aquifer forming rock types. Fluorine and boron contents in limestones and dolomites vary from 100 to 500 mg/kg and 5 to 20 mg/kg, reaching up to 1,000 and 150 mg/kg in marlstones, respectively. K-bentonites, altered volcanic ash beds, are rich in fluorine (400–4,500 mg/kg) and boron (50–1,000 mg/kg). Thus, clay-rich sediments, providing ion-exchange and adsorption sites for F− and B, are the probable sources of both elements in S–O aquifer system in western Estonia.

Origin and terminal architecture of a submarine slide: a case study from the Permian Vischkuil Formation, Karoo Basin, South Africa

AbstractSubmarine mass movement deposits exposed in the Vischkuil Formation, Laingsburg Karoo Basin, South Africa, provide a rare opportunity to analyse and interpret their emplacement history and deformation processes at a scale comparable to seismic examples. An up to 80 m thick slide deposit, continuously exposed in two 2 km long sub‐parallel sections, passes from extensionally deformed material (clastic dykes and down‐dip facing low‐angle shear surfaces) down‐dip into a compressional toe zone with large (tens of metres amplitude) folds dissected by steep, up‐dip facing thrust planes. The compressional shear planes sole out onto a highly sheared décollement and cross‐cutting relationships indicate an up‐depositional dip younging in the timing of fold dissection. Lithofacies characteristics and detailed correlation of volcanic ash and other marker beds over more than 500 km2 in the bounding undeformed stratigraphy indicate a low‐gradient (<0·1°) basin floor setting. The slide is abruptly overlain by an up to 50 m thick debrite with sandy clasts supported by an argillaceous matrix. Shear loading of the debris flow is interpreted to have driven large‐scale deformation of the substrate through the generation of high shear stresses at a rheological interface due to: (i) the abrupt contact between the slide and the debrite; (ii) the coincident thickness distributions of the debrite and slide; (iii) the distribution of the most intense folding and thrusting under the thickest parts of the debrite; (iv) the preservation of fold crests with only minor erosion along fold limbs; (v) the presence of the debrite under overturned folds; (vi) the presence of laterally extensive marker beds directly above deformation units indicating minimal depositional topography; and (vii) the demonstrably local derivation of the slide as individual folded beds are mapped into undeformed strata outside the areas of deformation. The debrite is directly overlain by fine‐grained turbidite sandstone beds that show widespread vertical foundering into the debrite. This case study demonstrates that intensely deformed strata can be generated by negligible amounts of down‐dip movement in a low‐gradient, fine‐grained basin floor setting with the driver for movement and deformation being the mass imbalance resulting from emplacement of episodic debris flows. Simple interpretation of an unstable slope setting based on the presence of such deformed strata should be treated with caution.

Provenance and paleogeography of the Nama Group (Ediacaran to early Palaeozoic, Namibia): Petrography, geochemistry and U–Pb detrital zircon geochronology

A provenance study using petrography, geochemistry and U–Pb zircon dating was carried out on selected siliciclastic units of the Nama Group, a major lithostratigraphic unit in southwestern Gondwana which crops out in southern Namibia and adjacent north-western South Africa. Petrographic and geochemical results from the Nama Group indicate a homogenous recycled upper crust composition characterized mainly by metamorphic and granitic sources, with minor input from mafic rock sources that have not undergone significant weathering. Previous works based on facies and palaeocurrent analyses, and silicified volcanic ash beds and chromian spinel bearing sandstones of the Nama Basin points to a syn-tectonic volcanic island arc source located in the adjacent Damara Belt. U–Pb detrital zircon geochronology of the Nama Group rocks displays major peaks at Neoproterozoic (Pan-African orogeny) and Mesoproterozoic (Namaqua-Natal orogeny) indicating a foreland geotectonic setting for Nama deposition, confirming facies and palaeocurrents analyses. A paleocurrent shift from the north to the west in the upper “molassic” Nama Group is associated with a switch to an influx of Neoproterozoic–Cambrian detrital zircons (76%). These ages probably indicate exhumation (after 531 ± 9 Ma) of a felsic volcanic arc (Arachania) root, which is presently attached to the Río de la Plata Craton. The provenance of the Nama foreland basin suggests that continent–continent collision of the Kalahari/Congo Cratons and the Cuchilla Dionisio Pelotas Terrane (Arachania Arc) with the Río de la Plata Craton most likely occurred due to strike-slip accretion related to a component of N–S shortening in the period between 530 and 495 Ma.

Geochemistry and correlation of volcanic ash beds from the Rootsiküla Stage (Wenlock–Ludlow) in the eastern Baltic

Nine altered volcanic ash samples from the shoal and lagoonal sediments of the Rootsikula Stage (Wenlock-Ludlow boundary interval, Estonia) were analysed, compared and correlated with five samples of deep sea environments from Latvia. Volcanic ash correlations indicate that the Wenlock-Ludlow boundary correlates with the boundary of the Viita and Kuusnomme beds, i.e., it is significantly lower than proposed earlier. The distribution of chitinozoans supports this new correlation. Geochemical data indicate subalkaline source magma of volcanic ashes with potassium dominating over sodium.

Composition and correlation of volcanic ash beds of Silurian age from the eastern Baltic

AbstractSanidine composition and bulk geochemistry of volcanic ash beds from the East Baltic indicate the subalkaline nature of the volcanism near the margins of the Baltica plate during the Silurian. Several bentonites in the Wenlock include a previously unknown sanidine with 48 to 58 mol % of the Na+Ca component. In contrast to the earlier Telychian volcanism, sodium-rich sanidine occurs in ash beds which originate from relatively moderately evolved dacitic magma. The studied material from two drill cores integrated with previous research enables production of a more complete list of 49 volcanic eruption layers for the lower to middle Wenlock in the East Baltic. This updated list of bentonites characterized by their sanidine compositions forms a good basis for future integrated bio- and chemostratigraphic correlations in northern Europe.

福井県，三方湖および中山低地の地下地質と三方断層帯の活動解明

The Lake Mikata and Nakayama lowlands are situated along the central coast of Wakasa Bay, at the center of the Japan Sea side of Honshu Island, and fringed by the Mikata fault zone at the east side. The 1662 Kanbun Great Earthquake (estimated magnitude of 7.2 to 7.6) occurred there with vertical crustal movements up to 3 to 4 meters. Submerged topography with thick alluvial deposits in the lowlands might have been caused by Late Quaternary crustal movements of the Mikata fault zone. We analyzed the subsurface geology of the lowlands using many drilling cores recently obtained for scientific purpose such as the 60-m long MK09 core and highway construction (represented by NEXCO core). The main results are summarized below. (1) Subsurface geology beneath the eastern basin and eastern coast of Lake Mikata is clarified by detailed investigations of many drilling cores up to 100 m deep including the NEXCO core. Many radiocarbon (14C) dating and tephrochronological correlations have elucidated the standard chronostratigraphy during the Late Quaternary in this area. At least 100-m thick sediments have deposited continuously for about 130 kyr, recording climatic and seismic events etc. during the last glacial period. (2) The MK09 core is composed of a repeated coarsening-upward sequence with rapid facies changes at unit boundaries. We infer that these units reflect the rapid rise of a relative level of a paleo-lake and subsequent progradation of alluvial fans. The mean interval of individual units is estimated to be about 7.7 kyr from the sedimentary age of each unit, and is considered to be an upper limit of the recurrence interval of the Mikata fault zone. (3) The Mikata fault is recognized for observations of new outcrops and core inspections at the northeastern part of the Nakayama lowland. The vertical displacement across the Mikata fault is inferred to be 30-35 m, and probably reached further after formation of a higher terrace. (4) The concealed Mikata fault extending N-S parallel to the Mikata fault on the east, is estimated from our drilling data. On the basis of the displacements of tephra horizons such as the Aira-Tn volcanic ash beds (AT) in deposits of the Nakayama lowland, it is possible that activity of this fault is equivalent to or larger than that of the Mikata fault. Further detailed studies by deeper drilling cores and seismic refraction surveys are required to clarify the E-W direction underground structure across the Mikata fault zone. They will unravel major development histories of this lowland with many datable materials.

Crystal chemistry of volcanic allanites indicative of naturally induced oxidation-dehydrogenation

The crystal chemistry of volcanic allanites from both the Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT), Sumatra, Indonesia and SK100 volcanic ash beds (SK100-VAB), Niigata, Japan has been examined by electron microprobe analysis (EMPA), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic analysis (FTIR), and single-crystal structure analysis. In the FTIR study, based on the Diamond ATR accessory, YTT and SK100- VAB allanites were observed to have different OH contents, respectively: the former has 0.64 wt% H2O (OH: 0.40 apfu.), while the latter has 1.65 wt% H2O (OH: 1.00 apfu.). The crystal structures of these two allanites have been refined to individual R indices (3.64 and 4.25) based on 1350 observed reflections (|Fo| > 4sig|Fo|) measured using a single-crystal diffractometer with MoKα X-radiation. The OH-poor YTT allanite has a shorter b axis, a longer c axis, and larger β value than the relatively OH-rich SK100-VAB one. The bond valence sums of O4 (accepter oxygen for H atom) and O10 (donor oxygen for H atom) are 1.962 and 1.709 v.u. for YTT allanite (valence sum: 3.671 v.u.) and 1.754 and 1.271 v.u. for SK100-VAB one (valence sum: 3.025 v.u.). The difference from the ideal total bond valence value (4.00 v.u.) of O4 and O10 in YTT allanite (0.33 v.u.) is smaller than that in SK100-VAB (0.98 v.u.). These difference values are also broadly consistent with the corresponding differences in OH content between the YTT (OH: 0.40 apfu.) and SK100-VAB allanites (OH: 1.00 apfu.) determined by FTIR- ATR. Chemical analyses, FTIR-ATR and crystal structure refinement of YTT and SK100-VAB allanites yielded the following crystal chemical formula: YTT: (Ca0.83Mn2+ 0.06Fe2+ 0.11)(La0.24Ce0.32Pr0.04Nd0.11Sm0.02Th0.04Ca0.21)(Al0.73Fe3+ 0.19Ti0.08)(Al0.89Fe3+ 0.11)(Fe2+ 0.22Fe3+ 0.62Mg0.16)(SiO4)Si2O7O1.6(OH)0.4, SK100-VAB: (Ca0.81Fe2+ 0.13Mn2+ 0.06)(La0.22Ce0.34Pr0.05Nd0.13Sm0.02Th0.02Ca0.22)(Al0.76Fe3+ 0.19Ti0.05)Al1.00(Fe2+ 0.73Fe3+ 0.17Mg0.10)(Si0.96Al0.04O4)Si2O7O(OH). Therefore, it is concluded that welding of the Youngest Toba Tuff caused the following post-crystallization changes to occur in YTT allanite: oxidation of Fe2+ to Fe3+, release of H2, and the concomitant replacement of OH− by O2−. These oxidation and dehydrogenation processes advanced during the welding to thereby produce oxyallanite. Oxyallanite had been reported only in laboratory studies where it was produced by heating natural allanite. Our report on natural oxyallanite suggests that it may be present in other welded silicic volcanic rocks as well.

Crystal-Chemical Changes of Mixed-Layer Kaolinite-Smectite with Progressive Kaolinization, as Investigated by TEM-AEM and HRTEM

AbstractThe mechanism for the kaolinization of smectite is extremely complex. The purpose of this study was to explore this mechanism by providing more microscopic information about kaolinite-smectite (K-S) intermediate phases. Crystal-chemical changes were investigated and integrated in a model of the transformation mechanism. Eight K-S samples from three localities, derived from volcanic ash beds, were studied using transmission and analytical electron microscopy (TEM, AEM) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM). The study completes a previous investigation, using several analytical techniques. The samples cover the range of K-S composition available from the previously studied sample set. Analysis by TEM indicated the preservation of particle morphology throughout the process. Most K-S particles had anhedral, smectite-like morphology, and only the most kaolinitic specimen revealed the coexistence of anhedral and euhedral, hexagonal particles. Analytical electron microscopy showed large chemical variations within samples, corresponding to various degrees of smectite kaolinization. Comparison of chemical results (Si/Al) and d060 values (proxy for octahedral composition) with the extent of kaolinization from thermogravimetry (TG) indicates that chemical changes in the octahedral sheet occur mainly when the proportion of kaolinite is 40–70%. The results above are consistent with kaolinization occurring via layer-by-layer transformation through the progressive loss of individual tetrahedral sheets in smectite layers and subsequent chemical changes in the octahedral sheet. Such a mechanism would produce the results observed in this study: (1) most particles preserve their original morphology; (2) significant variation in terms of the extent of transformation of particles within samples, and (3) formation of crystal structures intermediate between those of smectite and kaolinite, with parts of the tetrahedral sheets missing (kaolinite-like patches). Such structures become least stable at kaolinite ∼50%, when the perimeter of the kaolinite-like patches is largest and chemical changes in the octahedral sheet can occur more easily. Kaolinite layers could not be resolved by HRTEM in most cases and showed lattice fringes corresponding to superstructures. A model was established to quantify kaolinite and smectite layers in the HRTEM images with results which matched TG-derived values.

The lower Silurian (Llandovery) Osmundsberg K-bentonite in Baltoscandia and the British Isles: Chemical fingerprinting and regional correlation

The lower Silurian Osmundsberg K-bentonite is a widespread altered volcanic ash bed that occurs throughout Baltoscandia and other parts of northern Europe. K-bentonite samples from sections containing the Osmundsberg K-bentonite bed were investigated to determine whether the chemical composition of this bed is sufficiently unique and diagnostic that it can serve as a basis for high-resolution chemostratigraphic correlation on a regional scale. Eleven known and five suspected Osmundsberg K-bentonite samples along with 26 samples of accompanying ash beds from 13 different localities were analyzed for major and trace elements. The data were statistically treated using discriminant function analysis to determine if the trace element data provide a unique chemical fingerprint for the Osmundsberg K-bentonite bed. Comparison with the correlation model of Bergström et al. [Bergström, S.M., Huff, W.D. & Kolata, D.R., 1998b: The lower Silurian Osmundsberg K-bentonite. Part I: Stratigraphic position, distribution, and palaeogeographic significance. Geological Magazine 135, 1–13.] based on biostratigraphic evidence shows that results from two independent techniques are in general agreement with the exception of five samples whose presumed Osmundsberg affinity is rejected. The results demonstrate that the unique and identifiable chemical fingerprint of the Osmundsberg K-bentonite bed can provide an additional stratigraphic tool for local and regional correlation of these K-bentonites.

Sequence stratigraphy of an argillaceous, deepwater basin-plain succession: Vischkuil Formation (Permian), Karoo Basin, South Africa

The 380 m thick fine-grained Vischkuil Formation comprises laterally extensive hemipelagic mudstones, separated by packages of graded sandstone and siltstone turbidites, and volcanic ash beds, and is an argillaceous precursor to a 1 km thick sand-prone basin floor fan to shelf succession. The Vischkuil Formation provides an insight into the process by which regional sand supply is initiated and for testing sequence stratigraphic principles in a basin plain setting. Regionally mapped 1–2 m thick hemipelagic mudstone units are interpreted as condensed drapes that represent the starved basin plain equivalents of transgressive systems tracts and maximum flooding surface on the coeval shelf (now removed during later uplift). The section above each mudstone drape comprises siltstone turbidites interpreted as highstand systems tract deposits and a surface of regional extent, marked by an abrupt grain size shift to fine sandstone. These surfaces are interpreted as sequence boundaries, related to abrupt increases in flow volume and delivery of sand grade material to the basin-plain. The interpreted lowstand systems tract comprises sandstone-dominated turbidites and is overlain by another hemipelagic mudstone drape. The upper Vischkuil Formation is marked by three 20–45 m thick debrites, with intraformational sandstone clasts up to 20 cm in diameter that can be mapped over 3000 km 2. In each case, debrite emplacement resulted in widespread deformation of the immediately underlying 3–10 m of silty turbidites. A sequence boundary is interpreted at the base of each deformation/debrite package. Six depositional sequences are recognised and the interfered energy shift across each successive sequence boundary and LSTs include a larger volume of sandstone increases up section. The lower two sequences thin to the NW and show NW-directed palaeocurrents. The four overlying sequences show a polarity switch in palaeocurrent directions and thinning, to the E and SE. Sequence 6 is overlain sharply by the 300 m thick sandstone dominated Fan A of the Laingsburg Formation. The LST debrites may indicate gradual development of major routing conduits that subsequently fed Fan A. The polarity shift from westward flowing turbidity currents to an eastward prograding deepwater to shelf system represents establishment of a long term feeder system from the west. Sand supply to the Karoo basin floor was established in an incremental, stepwise manner. Given the early post-glacial setting in an icehouse climate, glacio-eustatic sea-level changes are considered to have been the main control on sequence development.

Non-uniform across-shelf variations in thickness, grain size, and frequency of turbidites in a transgressive outer-shelf, the Middle Pleistocene Kakinokidai Formation, Boso Peninsula, Japan

Across-shelf variations in thickness, grain size, and frequency of sandstone beds in a transgressive outer-shelf succession were investigated from the Middle Pleistocene (ca. 0.7 Ma) Kakinokidai Formation on the Boso Peninsula, Japan. The transgressive deposits are generally muddy and contain slumps and slump scars. The intercalated sandstone beds are interpreted to have been formed from turbidity currents as a response to erosion and resuspension of sandridge-complex deposits in the southwestern upslope area during storm events. Mapping of volcanic ash beds and a transgressive surface in the base of the formation permits detailed bed-by-bed correlation of the outer-shelf sandstone beds. Although, overall, thickness, grain size, and frequency of sandstone beds decrease in the downslope direction, some sandstone beds locally thin out and coarsen in association with slump scars in the surrounding muddy deposits. These sandstone beds subsequently thicken and fine, and finally thin out in the farther downslope area. In addition to the local thinning of sandstone beds, the frequency of sandstone beds first decreases and then increases in the farther offshore direction. From this evidence, we concluded that these non-uniform patterns of across-outer-shelf variations in thickness, grain size, and frequency of sandstone beds were caused by the local increases in flow speeds and subsequent expansion and reduced speeds of turbidity currents, along with a local increase in the seafloor gradient that was induced by the development of slump scars in the transgressive outer-shelf floor. These physiographic features in the outer shelf are interpreted not to have permitted monotonous downslope thinning and fining of sandstone beds, compared with the bed-shape models of depletive turbidity currents and with the proximality trend of shelf sandstones from modern and ancient highstand-stage shelf systems.

Early Cambrian ocean anoxia in South China

The cause of the most marked changes in the evolution of life, which define the first-order stratigraphic boundary between the Precambrian and the Phanerozoic eon, remains enigmatic and a highly topical subject of debate. A global ocean anoxic event, triggered by large-scale hydrogen sulphide (H(2)S) release to surface waters, has been suggested by Wille et al., on the basis of two data sets from South China and Oman, to explain the fundamental biological changes across the Precambrian/Cambrian (PC/C) boundary. Here we report a new precise SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of 532.3 +/- 0.7 million years (Myr) ago (Fig. 1) for a volcanic ash bed in the critical unit that reflects the ocean anoxic event, the lowermost black shale sequence of the Niutitang Formation in the Guizhou Province, South China. This age is significantly younger than the precise PC/C boundary age of 542.0 +/- 0.3 Myr ago, approximately 10 Myr younger than the extinction of the Ediacaran fauna, and thus challenging the view of a major ocean anoxic event having been responsible for the major changes in the direction of evolution at the PC/C boundary.

High-resolution, early Paleozoic (Ordovician-Silurian) time scales

For much of the geologic time scale, resolving power appears to be limited by the duration of biostratigraphic zones and subzones. Yet these zones exploit the appearance and disappearance events of only a small fraction of the species they span. Computer algorithms can sequence an order of magnitude more events and make explicit the uncertainties that arise when calibrating the resulting time line. An illustrative case history builds an Ordovician and Silurian time scale from the geologic record of the entire graptolite clade—over 1900 species from more than 400 localities and sections worldwide. The same approach can be applied to any stratigraphic interval with detailed biostratigraphic observations. It provides the foundation for time scales and paleobiologic time lines. Using logic similar to graphic correlation, optimizing algorithms search for a composite sequence of species first- and last-appearance events that minimizes the implied shortcomings of all the field observations. The algorithms minimize the number of species coexistences that are implied, but never observed, and the net adjustments needed to bring local range charts into agreement with a single composite sequence of events. After total section thicknesses have been rescaled to help normalize for variation in depositional rate, mean stratigraphic thicknesses are used to scale the intervals between adjacent events in the composite sequence. The resulting scaled composite sequence is converted to a relative geologic time scale by identifying stage and zone boundaries within the sequence of graptolite events. This relative scale is, in turn, calibrated by dated volcanic ash beds that were incorporated in the search for the optimal sequence. These dated events are also used to test for linearity of the scaled composite. The final time scale has a potential resolving power of 0.02–0.1 m.y., more than ten times better than can be achieved by traditional zones. Graptolite zones vary widely in duration from as short as 0.1 m.y. to nearly 5.0 m.y. The mean duration of zones or zonal groupings calibrated here is 1.44 m.y. in the Ordovician and 0.91 m.y. in the Silurian. The average uncertainty in locating zone boundaries in a single composite sequence is about one-fourth of the mean zone duration. The variance resulting from differences in time scales developed from differing numbers of field observations and in response to changes in the optimization criteria gives a very conservative measure of the overall robustness of the method. These differences indicate an average uncertainty in the age of graptolite zone boundaries that is more nearly equal to the mean zone duration. For zone duration, the mean uncertainty amounts to about one-half of the length of an average zone.

Bentonite chemical features as proxy of late Cretaceous provenance changes: A case study from the Western Interior Basin of Canada

Bentonite beds are fairly common in both marine and terrestrial Upper Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) deposits of the Western Interior Basin of western Canada and northwestern United States. A detailed stratigraphic, sedimentologic, geochemical (X-ray fluorescence), and mineralogical (X-ray diffraction) study of twenty-one bentonites from the Puskwaskau and Wapiti formations in the Grande Prairie area (west-central Alberta, Canada) is here presented. Major and trace-element concentrations from altered volcanic ashes document the presence in the study area of predominantly trachyandesitic and rhyolitic volcanogenic products, resulted from intense volcanic arc to within-plate pyroclastic activity. Concentration values of high field strength elements (HFSE) and selected large ion lithophile elements (LILE) (e.g. Nb, Zr, Th, and Y) obtained by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy strongly support the presence of multiple volcanic sources. Integrated paleoenvironmental and geochemical criteria for provenance determination indicate a bimodal occurrence of basic and acid volcanic products interpreted as reflection of source areas characterized by different tectonic setting and magmatic composition. A comparative analysis of geochemical compositions between Grande Prairie bentonites and 30 known volcanic beds from central and southern Alberta, Manitoba and Montana 1. documents a trend toward more acidic and alkali-depleted volcanic products during the late Campanian–early Maastrichtian interval, and 2. suggests a well constrained stratigraphic and geographic subdivision of the non-marine successions of the foreland basin on the basis of geochemical characteristic of volcanic ash beds. Furthermore, geochemical “fingerprints” of several decimeter to meter thick bentonite beds have been coupled with volcanic ash subsurface signature in order to investigate their role as marker beds. This multiple-approach provides a reliable tool for basin-scale identification and correlation of non-marine sedimentary successions.

New carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary interval from SW China: implications for global correlation

AbstractThe Yangtze Platform preserves relatively thick carbonate successions and excellent fossil records across the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary interval. The intensely studied Meishucun section in East Yunnan was one of the Global Stratotype Section candidates for the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary. However, depositional breaks were suspected in the section and the first appearance of small shelly fossils could not be verified. The Laolin section located in NE Yunnan is more continuous and shows great potential for global correlation of carbon isotope features across the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary. However, the stratigraphic framework and correlations were controversial. We studied and systematically sampled the Laolin section and present here new carbon isotope data for this section. The Laolin section consists of, in ascending order, the Baiyanshao dolostone of the Dengying Formation, the Daibu siliceous dolostone, Zhongyicun dolomitic phosphorite, lower Dahai dolostone and upper Dahai limestone of the Zhujiaqing Formation, and the black siltstone of the Shiyantou Formation. Our data reveal a large negative δ13C excursion (−7.2‰, L1′) in the Daibu Member, which matches the previously published data for the Laolin section, and a large positive excursion (+3.5‰, L4) in the Dahai Member, which was not shown in the published data. The excursion L1′ correlates well with the similarly large negative excursion near the first appearance of small shelly fossils in Siberia and Mongolia. Similar magnitude excursions are also known from Morocco and Oman, for which there are no robust fossil constraints but from where volcanic ash beds have been dated precisely at 542 Ma, thus confirming a global biogeochemical event near the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary. Our data also indicate that deposition was more continuous at the Laolin section compared with the Meishucun section, where there are no records of a comparable negative excursion near the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary, nor any comparable positive excursion in the Dahai Member. Therefore, the Laolin section has proven potential to be a supplementary Global Stratotype Section for the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary on the Yangtze Platform.

Corroded hydrothermal quartz in Ordovician altered volcanic ash beds of the Baltoscandian Region

Partly dissolved prismatic quartz crystals have been found in an Upper Ordovician volcanic ash bed of the Vasagard section on Bornholm, Denmark. Similar crystals occur also in a volcanic ash in the Adze Formation of the Aizpute core, Latvia. Although biostratigraphic data are insufficient for the correlation of these findings, the abundant occurrence of this rare form of quartz at Vasagard indicates that it can be reliably used as a correlation criterion in future studies. Partly dissolved prismatic quartz crystals were most likely formed during hydrothermal processes in the volcanic source area.

Multiphase Silurian bentonites in the Baltic Palaeobasin

The mineral composition of altered volcanic ash beds, bentonites, deposited in marine environments is typically characterized by smectite or illite–smectite type clay minerals. Silurian bentonites from an unmetamorphosed normal marine sedimentary sequence in the eastern Baltic Palaeobasin, however, show a complex and varied mineral composition with illite–smectite, K-feldspar and kaolinite as the dominant authigenic phases. The whole-rock XRD study of 52 bentonite beds from two drill-cores — Ruhnu and Ohesaare, southwestern Estonia, reveals a range of compositions varying between different beds as well as laterally within a single bed. The observed variations are found to reflect the bentonite development and diversification during initial stages of volcanic ash transformation and diagenesis that was probably overprinted by a later K-metasomatic event.

Palaeogene diatomite deposits in Denmark: geological investigations and applied aspects

The Danish term ‘moler’ is the name for a special and unique marine deposit of Lower Eocene age found in the northern part of Denmark and the Danish North Sea. In the literature it is often referred to as mo-clay, the English translation of ‘moler’ – a whitish, powdery sediment that lithologically is a clayey diatomite. The deposit, which is defined as the Fur Formation, is also well known for its 180 volcanic ash beds, increasing in number towards the top of the formation (Pedersen & Surlyk 1983). Due to Pleistocene glaciotectonic deformations the diatomite deposits crop out at the surface in the Limfjorden area (Gry 1940; Klint & Pedersen 1995; Pedersen 1996, 2000). Prior to the deformations the Fur Formation was situated at about 50–100 m below sea level, but during the deformations the diatomite was displaced upwards into glaciotectonic complexes. The complexes form elongate parallel hills up to 80 m a.s.l. in the western Lim fjord region (Fig. 1). The clayey diatomite attracts attention because it is a valuable raw material for production of insulation bricks and absorbing granulates, which are mainly used as cat litter. In addition, the exposed Fur Formation is a unique reference for investigations of the Palaeogene stratigraphy in the North Sea, where mudstones and shales with ash layers are known as the Sele and Balder Formations (Schiøler et al. 2007). In a tectonic framework the ash layers provide a unique addition to the understanding of the development of the North Atlantic igneous province at the time when Greenland and Norway began to drift away from each other (Larsen et al. 2003). Moreover, the Fur Formation is especially noted for its rich fossil fauna, which comprises remarkably well-preserved specimens of birds, fish and insects. Due to the public interest two museum exhibitions have been established, on Mors and Fur, and the geological features are so evident that numerous geological field trips have benefited from the success of well-displayed geology seen in exposures along the coastal cliffs and in the mo-clay pits. At present a Norwegian drilling company is planning to use the Fur Formation outcrops at Skarrehage for testing before applying their new drilling method offshore. In 2007, GEUS has continued many years of mo-clay investigations, and this paper presents some results from the 2007 activities, in addition to a review on the geology of the mo-clay.

Pacific offshore record of plinian arc volcanism in Central America: 1. Along‐arc correlations

We collected 56 marine gravity cores from the Pacific seafloor offshore Central America which contain a total of 213 volcanic ash beds. Ash‐layer correlations between cores and with their parental tephras on land use stratigraphic, lithologic, and compositional criteria. In particular, we make use of our newly built database of bulk‐rock, mineral, and glass major and trace element compositions of plinian and similarly widespread tephras erupted since the Pleistocene along the Central American Volcanic Arc. We thus identify the distal ashes of 11 Nicaraguan, 8 El Salvadorian, 6 Guatemalan, and 1 Costa Rican eruptions. Relatively uniform pelagic sedimentation rates allow us to determine ages of 10 previously undated tephras by their relative position between ash layers of known age. Linking the marine and terrestrial records yields a tephrostratigraphic framework for the Central American volcanic arc from Costa Rica to Guatemala. This is a useful tool and prerequisite to understand the evolution of volcanism at a whole‐arc scale.

石川-富山県地域，鮮新―更新統大桑層下部における火山灰層と貝化石密集層を鍵層とした高精度層序の試み

石川-富山県地域，鮮新―更新統大桑層下部における火山灰層と貝化石密集層を鍵層とした高精度層序の試み