Petrological parameters of sands and sandstones from DSDP and ODP holes in arc-related areas

Detrital modes for 524 deep-marine sand and sandstone samples recovered on circum-Pacific, Caribbean, and Mediterranean legs of the Deep Sea Drilling Project and the Ocean Drilling Program form the basis for an actualistic model for arc-related provenance. This model refines the Dickinson and Suczek (1979) and Dickinson and others (1983) models and can be used to interpret the provenance/tectonic history of ancient arc-related sedimentary sequences. Four provenance groups are defined using QFL, QmKP, LmLvLs, and LvfLvmiLvl ternary plots of site means: (1) intraoceanic arc and remnant arc, (2) continental arc, (3) triple junction, and (4) strike-slip-continental arc. Intraoceanic- and remnant-arc sands are poor in quartz (mean QFL%Q < 5) and rich in lithics (QFL%L > 75); they are predominantly composed of plagioclase feldspar and volcanic lithic fragments. Continental-arc sand can be more quartzofeldspathic than the intraoceanic- and remnant-arc sand (mean QFL%Q values as much as 10, mean QFL%F values as much as 65, and mean QmKP%Qm as much as 20) and has more variable lithic populations, with minor metamorphic and sedimentary components. The triple-junction and strike-slip-continental groups compositionally overlap; both are more quartzofeldspathic than the other groups and show highly variable lithic proportions, but the strike-slip-continental group is more quartzose. Modal compositions of the triple junction group roughly correlate with the QFL transitional-arc field of Dickinson and others (1983), whereas the strike-slip-continental group approximately correlates with their dissected-arc field.

Petrology and diagenesis of sandstones at DSDP Hole 58-445

The sandstone succession in the lower 240 meters of DSDP Site 445, on the Daito Ridge, provided an opportunity to evaluate the effect of burial diagenesis of sandstones in a deep hole in a tectonic environment (remnant arc) characterized by a history of high heat flow. This report provides preliminary data concerning the petrology and diagenesis of these sandstones and records diagenetic changes which have occurred with increasing depth of burial. Methods used for this study included grain-size analysis (measured from thin sections using the method of Friedman, 1958), polarizing microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. A JEOL scanning electron microscope fitted with an energydispersive- X-ray detector was used for obtaining qualitative chemical data on certain minerals to aid in identification.

Geochemistry and structural formulas of heavy minerals from sands and sandstones of ODP Leg 126 samples

Lower Oligocene to Pleistocene volcaniclastic sands and sandstones recovered around the Izu-Bonin Arc during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 126 were derived entirely from Izu-Bonin Arc volcanism. Individual grains consist of volcanic glass, pumice, scoria, basaltic or andesitic fragments, plagioclase, pyroxene, and minor olivine and hornblende. In Pliocene-Pleistocene samples plagioclase and heavy minerals in the volcaniclastic sands and sandstones are present in the following abundances: plagioclase > orthopyroxene > clinopyroxene > pigeonite > olivine. In contrast, plagioclase and heavy minerals found in Oligocene-Miocene samples occur in the following order: plagioclase > clinopyroxene > orthopyroxene > hornblende. The low concentration of Al, Ti, and Cr in calcium-rich clinopyroxenes in Oligocene to Holocene sediments suggests that the sources of the volcaniclastic detritus were nonalkalic igneous rocks. There are, however, some distinctive differences in the chemical composition of pyroxene between the Pliocene-Pleistocene and Oligocene-Miocene volcaniclastic sands and sandstones. Orthopyroxene belongs to the hypersthene-ferrohypersthene series (Fe-rich) in Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments, and the bronzitehypersthene series (Mg-rich) in Oligocene-Miocene sediments. Clinopyroxene is characterized by augite and pigeonite in Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments, and by the diopside-augite series in Oligocene-Miocene sediments. Mineral assemblages and mineral chemistry of the volcaniclastic sands and sandstones reflect those of the volcanic source rocks. Therefore, the observed changes in mineralogy record the historical change in volcanism of the Izu-Bonin Arc. The mineralogy is consistent with the geochemistry of the volcaniclastic sands and sandstones and the geochemistry of forearc volcanic rocks of the Izu-Bonin Arc since the Oligocene.

Lithic grain and mineral composition of sand and sandstones from the Japan and Mariana forearc and backarc (Table 3)

One hundred and twenty point counts of Oligocene to Recent sands and sandstones from DSDP sites in the Japan and Mariana intraoceanic forearc and backarc basins demonstrate that there is a clear compositional difference between the continentally influenced Japan forearc and backarc sediments, and the totally oceanic Mariana forearc and backarc sediments. Japan forearc sediments average 10 QFL%Q, 0.82 P/F, 2 Framework%Mica, 74 LmLvLst%Lv, and 19 LmLvLst%Lst. In contrast, the Mariana forearc and backarc sediments average 0 QFL%Q, 1.00 P/F, 0 Framework%Mica, 98 LmLvLst%Lv, and 1 LmLvLst%Lst. Sediment compositions in the Japan region are variable. The Honshu forearc sediments average 5 QFL%Q, 0.94 P/F, 1 Framework%Mica, 82 LmLvLst%Lv, and 15 LmLvLst%Lst. The Yamato Basin sediments (DSDP Site 299) average 13 QFL%Q, 0.70 P/F, 3 Framework%Mica, 78 LmLvLst%Lv, and 14 LmLvLst%Lst. The Japan Basin sediments (DSDP Site 301) average 24 QFL%Q, 0.54 P/F, 9 Framework%Mica, 58 LmLvLst%Lv, and 21 LmLvLst%Lst. P/F and Framework%Mica are higher in the Yamato Basin sediments than in the forearc sediments due to an increase in modal potassium content of volcanic rocks from east to west, on the island of Honshu. Site 301 possesses a higher QFL%Q and LmLvLst%Lst, and lower LmLvLst%Lv than Site 299 because it receives sediment from the Asian mainland as well as the island of Honshu. DSDP Site 293 sediments, in the Mariana region, average 0.97 P/F, 1 Framework%Mica, 13 LmLvLst%Lm and 83 LmLvLst%Lv, due to their proximity to the island of Luzon. The remaining Mariana forearc and backarc sediments show a uniform composition.

Composition of Carnian to Norian sandstones from the Wombat Plateau (Table 1)

The Carnian to Norian sediments, as much as 600 m in total thickness, recovered from ODP Sites 759 and 760 on the Wombat Plateau, are generally represented by fluvial-dominated deltaic successions. In general, the Carnian to Norian sandstones are quartzose. The average ratio of monocrystalline quartz grains, total feldspar grains, and total lithic fragments (i.e., Qm:F:Lt ratio) is 71:22:7. This indicates that they were derived mainly from the transitional continental and cratonic interior provenance terranes, such as the Pilbara Precambrian block to the south of the Wombat Plateau. The upper Carnian sediments, however, are characterized by more feldspathic sandstone petrofacies. They typically contain some volcanic rock fragments with trachytic texture and indicate the onset of the incipient rift-related tectonic movement, such as uplift and subsequent abrupt basin subsidence, together with volcanism in the Gondwana continental block. Mixed siliciclastic and carbonate cycles are typically intercalated in the prodelta to delta front deposits that developed mainly in a lagoon-like, restricted marine environment. The restricted marine environment developed during transgressions as the outflow of shallow water was restricted by depositional barriers. Around the barriers and/or delta lobes, carbonate shoals/banks were probably developed and the allochemical components of the neritic limestones may have been transported into the restricted marine environment by overwash processes and/or storm waves. Siliciclastic detritus, on the other hand, was mainly derived accompanied by delta progradation dominated by fluvial processes in the restricted marine environment. Therefore, we interpret the mixed siliciclastic and carbonate cycles in the deltaic successions to be a result of transgression-regression cycles in a deltaic system during the Late Triassic.

Composition of Lower Cretaceous sandstones of the Galicia margin

The composition of 31 samples of Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian to Aptian) sandstone from ODP Sites 638 through 641 was analyzed using the Gazzi-Dickinson point-counting method. The results show that the source of the Valanginian to Hauterivian sand was a continental block, dominated by granitic and/or high-grade-metamorphic rocks. Although these petrologic results do not allow discrimination between various potential continental block provinces, they suggest, in conjunction with seismic profiles and regional considerations, that the source was the Galicia margin or western Iberia. In contrast, the Barremian and Aptian sand is dominated by carbonate grains that were derived from a carbonate platform, probably on Galicia Bank.