Geochemistry of the Mt Wright Volcanics from the Wonominta Block, northwestern New South Wales
Titel:
Geochemistry of the Mt Wright Volcanics from the Wonominta Block, northwestern New South Wales
Auteur:
Zhou, B. Whitford, D. J.
Verschenen in:
Australian journal of earth sciences
Paginering:
Jaargang 41 (1994) nr. 4 pagina's 331-340
Jaar:
1994-08
Inhoud:
The Mt Wright Volcanics are located in the Wonominta Block of northwestern New South Wales. Detailed regional mapping has shown that the block is a composite tectonic unit and that the metavolcanic rocks described as the Mt Wright Volcanics may have been emplaced at different time from Late Proterozoic (northern section: Packsaddle, Nundora) to Early Cambrian (southern section: Mt Wright). Geochemical investigations, including major and trace elements, as well as analyses of relic clinopyroxene, show that the rocks have affinities with alkali basalt with light-rare-earth-element-enriched compositions. An intra-plate extensional environment (such as rift- and/or plume-related) is considered most likely for the formation of the rocks. Though metamorphosed to various degrees, the rocks apparently retain much of their primary Sr isotopic character (initial 87Sr/86Sr about 0.7032) and, apart from their age, resemble the Tertiary intraplate volcanism in eastern Australia. The Nd isotope analyses yield remarkably similar results between the two sections of the Mt Wright Volcanics, with 143Nd/144Nd between 0.51260 to 0.51271 and εNd(T) 4.7 ±0.4 (calculated to 525 Ma). A kaersutite-bearing xenolith found in the northern section of the volcanic sequence has a Nd isotope composition more depleted than its hosts with εNd(T) of 7.7. The isotope results suggest that the Mt Wright Volcanics were derived from a depleted mantle source without significant crustal contribution. It is proposed that the Mt Wright Volcanics possibly represent the products of a rifting event that led to the breakup of the Proterozoic supercontinent during Early Cambrian in eastern Australia.
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