Hyaloclastite of DVDP 3, Hut Point Peninsula, Antarctica
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ages are possible, but no other fossils were found to date the sequence more precisely. Paleocurrent directions measured in approximately 30 lo- calities indicate that all turbidites were deposited from south to north. Flute casts (figure 2), crossbeds, tool marks, and ripple-mark orientations were used for paleocurrent deter- minations and were corrected for present dip of the beds. Preliminary thin section petrography of the coarser rocks collected indicates sedimentary and metamorphic source areas for the Robertson Bay Group, but unlike previous studies, a minor mafic volcanic rock fragment component was observed consistently (figure 3). The Robertson Bay Group rocks have been metamor- phosed to corderite/biotite/hornblende hornfels by De- vonian intrusives. The mechanism of emplacement seems to be by stoping. We saw no evidence for major forcible Figure 3. Photomicrograph of coarse-grained Robertson Bay injection. This, plus the absence of sediments derived from Group turbidite. Note sedimentary (a) and igneous (b) rock uplifts normally associated with orogeny, limits this event fragments. Fragments are approximately 2 millimeters in to granitic intrusives. Thus, the "Borchgrevink" Orogeny, a diameter. proposed mountain-building event, does not seem to be a true orogeny, at least in north Victoria Land. USARP Mountains (Wilson Group in the Daniels Range) These preliminary findings will be augmented by further and the Bowers Graben (Bowers Supergroup between the research on the samples. Relationships to rocks in the Leap Year and Rennick Glaciers) were also investigated by GANOVEX. The new data may shed more light on Pre- cambrian events that helped form this rock group. AMP This work was supported in part by National Science S . 0 Foundation grant EAR 78-23645 and in part by the BGR of West Germany. References ::- - Crowder, D. F. 1968. Geology of a part of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 600-D, 95-107. Harrington, H. J., Wood, B. L., McKellar, I. C., and Lensen, G. J. 1967. Topography and geology of the Cape Hallette District, e Victoria Land, Antarctica. New Zealand Geological Survey Bulletin, -a.. 80, 100 pp. r LeCouteur, P. C., and Leitch, E. C. 1964. Preliminary report on the geology of an area south-east of the Upper Tucker Glacier, north- ern Victoria Land. In R. J . Adie (Ed.), Antarctic Geology. Amster- dam: North-Holland Publishing Co. Mutti, E., and Ricci Lucchi, F. 1972. Turbidites of the northern Apennines: Introduction to facies analysis. International Geology a Review, 20, 125-166. Rastall, R. H., and Priestley. R. E. 1921. The slate-graywacke forma- tion of Robertson Bay: British Antarctica (Terra Nova) expedi- tion, 1910, natural history report. Geology, 1, 121-129. Sturm, A. G., and Carryer, S. 1970. Geology of the region between Matusevich and Tucker Glaciers, northern Victoria Land. Figure 2. Flute casts on bottom of a turbidite bed. Hammer is Antarctica. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 13, used for scale. Robertson Bay, northern Victoria Land. 408-435. DVDP Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP) was drilled 3 meters Hyaloclastite of 3, Hut Point north of DVDP 2 (77050 59.59"S 166 040 26.68"E) at the base Peninsula, Antarctica of Observation Hill during WINFLY of the 1973-74 field sea- son (Kyle and Treves 1974). Drilling produced about 380 meters of core. The rocks penetrated consist of 10 flows and SAMUEL B. TREVES 5 fragmental units. The oldest unit is a hyaloclastite and is 214 meters thick. It is the subject of this report. Department of Geology University of Nebraska From top to bottom the hyaloclastite consists of 21 me- Lincoln, Nebraska 68588 ters of mixed volcanic breccia that is primarily a blocky ANTARCTIC JOURNAL palagonitic lapilli tuff. Some basaltic units as much as 6 that a break in the volcanism occurred. During this break meters thick occur in this interval. It is difficult to deter- lapilli from another volcanic center were transported to this mine whether these units are flows, pillows, or large blocks. site, perhaps by ice. The remainder of the hyaloclastite, that Most of these units exhibit shattered bases and some have above 218 meters, accumulated in a fresh or brackish water chilled margins. The remainder of the hyaloclastite consists environment, perhaps under and in contact with an ice primarily of lapilli tuff and blocky lapilli tuff with minor shelf or an ice sheet. mixed tuff and black vitric tuff. Radiometric dates (Kyle, Sutter, and Treves 1978) of a Petrographic examination of 120 thin sections of this unit basaltic clast from the upper part of the hyaloclastite, of indicate that almost all of the lapilli and blocks are glassy other specimens of the core of DVDP 1 and 2, and of surface olivine basalt. Experience and some preliminary chemical samples (Armstrong 1978) indicate that these volcanic rocks work indicate that the rocks are basanites or nepheline accumulated quickly about a million years ago. basanites. This research was supported by National Science Foun- Detailed examination of the core revealed a petrographic dation grant DPP 72-05800. The hyaloclastite of DVDP 3 was anomaly at a depth of 218 meters. At this point a tuff moved from Northern Illinois University to the University contains lapilli, such as trachyte and nepheline hawaiite of Nebraska-Lincoln. It is our intention to relog the core that do not occur in the hyaloclastite below this depth. This carefully and to investigate it in detail. suggests that the lapilli do not come from the immediate area. Rocks of this type do occur to the north, south, east, References and southwest of DVDP 3. Kyle and Price (1975) also note Armstrong, R. L. 1978. K/Ar dating: Late Cenozoic McMurdo Vol- that rhOnite occurs in the basaltic clasts of the hyaloclastite canic Group and dry valley glacial history, Victoria Land, Ant- above this horizon and, further, that it does not occur in arctica. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 21(6), clasts below this horizon. 685-698. Morelli (1973) found diatoms in core from the upper Brady, H. 1976. Personal communication. reaches of the hyaloclastite. Brady (1976) studied the Mor- Kyle, P. R., and Price, R. C. 1975. Occurrences of rhOnite in alkalic elli slides and reported that the diatoms were freshwater lavas of the McMurdo volcanic group, Antarctica and Dunedin types. volcano, New Zealand. American Mineralogist, 60, 722-725. Kyle, P. R., Sutter, J. F., and Treves, Additional information about the origin and environ- S. B. 1978. K/Ar age deter- minations on DVDP 1 and 2 core samples. Dry Valley Drilling ment of depositions of the hyaloclastite may be gleaned Project, 8, 46-47. from the data of Nakai, Mizutani, and Tanizawa (1978) and Kyle, P. R., and Treves, S. B. 1973. Review of the geology of Hut Lyon (1974), which may be interpreted to indicate that the Point Peninsula, Ross Island, Antarctica. Dry Valley Drilling lower reaches of the core, below 218 meters, erupted into Project, 2, 1-10. seawater and that the upper part erupted into fresh or Kyle, P. R., and Treves, S. B. 1974. Geology of DVDP 3, Hut Point brackish water and subaerially. Peninsula, Ross Island, Antarctica. Dry Valley Drilling Project, 3, The data presented above allow a reconstruction of the 13-48. geologic history. It seems reasonable in light of all of this Lyon, G. L. 1974. Stable isotope analyses of ice from DVDP 3. Dry data and the geologic history of Hut Point Peninsula (Kyle Valley Drilling Project, 3, 160-170. Morelli, and Treves 1973) to suggest that the rocks of F. A. 1973. Personal communication. DVDP 3 record Nakai, N., Mizutani, Y., and Tanizawa, K. a period of submarine volcanism in McMurdo Sound that 1978. Stable isotope studies: Past volcanic events deduced from H, 0, S and C isotopic produced a volcanic pedestal upon which the flows now composition of ice and salts from DVDP 3. Dry Valley Drilling exposed at the surface accumulated. The data also indicate Project, 8, 66-67. Paleomagnetic investigation of Sediment and Tectonic Study (MssTs) drill hole 1. Objectives of this work are (1) to provide an improved assessment of Cenozoic glaciogenic sediments, the ages of the glaciogenic sediments by correlation of mag- Taylor Valley and netic polarity and polarity zonations with the polarity time scale, and (2) to see if correlations exist with polarity zona- McMurdo Sound tions already developed from core of Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP) holes 8, 10, 11, and 12 drilled in Taylor Valley. DONALD P. ELSTON and STEPHEN L. BRESSLER Field work in Taylor Valley was conducted 15-22 Novem- U.S. Geological Survey ber 1979. Outcrops of stratified glacial deposits were sam- Flagstaff, Arizona 86001 pled adjacent to the terminus of Lacroix Glacier in central Taylor Valley (site 1, figure) and adjacent to Commonwealth This work is part of an international multidisciplinary Stream between New Harbor and Commonwealth Glacier investigation of the Cenozoic glacial history of the Dry (site 2). These sites mark the best exposures of stratified Valleys and McMurdo Sound region. During November deposits in Taylor Valley. Hendy, Healy, Rayner, and Wil- 1979, we collected for paleomagnetic analysis 48 oriented son (1979) have reported Uranium-thorium (U-Th) ages of samples from surficial deposits in Taylor Dry Valley and 350,000 to 74,000 years from carbonate in the Lacroix Gla- 173 samples from core of New Zealands McMurdo Sound cier section. All 29 oriented samples from approximately 1980 REVIEW 9.