The Mineralogy and Chemistry of the Anorogenic Tertiary Silicic Volcanics
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 86, NO. Bll, PAGES 10242-10256, NOVEMBER 10, 1981 The Mineralogyand Chemistryof the AnorogenicTertiary SilicicVolcanics of S.E. Queenslandand N.E. New South Wales, Australia A. EWART Departmentof Geology& Mineralogy,University of Queensland,St. Lucia,Brisbane, Queensland 4067 The Late Oligocene-EarlyMiocene volcanismof this regionis chemicallystrongly bimodal; the mafic lavas(volmetrically dominant) comprise basalts, hawaiites, and tholeiiticandesites, while the silicic eruptivesare mainly comendites,potassic trachytes, and potassic,high-silica rhyolites.The comendites and rhyoliteshave distinctivetrace element abundancepatterns, notably the extreme depletionsof Sr, Ba, Mg, Mn, P, Cr, V, and Eu, and the variable em'ichraentof suchelements as Rb, Zr, Pb, Nb, Zn, U, and Th. The trachytesexhibit thesecharacteristics to lesserdegrees. The comenditesare distinguished from the rhyolitesby their overall relative enrichmentof the more highly chargedcations (e.g., LREE, Nb, Y, and especiallyZr) and Zn. The phenocrystmineralogy of the trachytesand rhyolitescomprises various combinationsof the following phases:sodic plagioclase(albite-andesine), calcic anorthoclase, sanidine, quartz, ferroaugite-ferrohedenbergite,ferrohypersthene, fayalitic olivine, ilmenite, titano- magnetite,and rarely biotite (near annite) and Fe-hastingsiticamphibole. Accessories include apatite, zircon, chevkinite (ferrohedenbergite-bearingrhyolites only), and allanite (amphibole and botite rhyo- lites only). The comenditesgenerally contain
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