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Evolution of the Median Batholith, Fiordland, New Zealand

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posted on 2022-03-28, 22:00 authored by Eileen Dunkley
The Median Batholith is the remains of a Mesozoic magmatic arc now exposed in Fiordland, New Zealand. There are three groups of plutonic rocks found in the area; the Triassic-Cretaceous Darran Suite; the Cretaceous Separation Point and Western Fiordland Orthogneiss suites. The Darran Suite rocks are LoSY, whilst the younger rocks are HiSY. During fieldwork samples were collected which were subsequently identified largely on the basis of their High Sr and low Y concentrations. The suites have distinctive rare earth element patterns, with the Separation Point Suite being depleted in HREE relative to the other suites. This is interpreted as being due to partial melting at a depth where garnet was stable, but plagioclase was not. Geochemically the Western Fiordland Orthogneiss occupies an intermediary position between the Darran and Separation Point Suites. Some of the Western Fiordland Orthogneiss rocks were depleted in Rb, Th, U and K and this has been interpreted as partial melting in a region that has already experienced melt depletion. Initial isotope ratios indicate that the suites have not all come from a single source from which they have all fractionated. Sr-Nd modelling reveals that the isotopic signatures of the rocks could be produced by the mixing of depleted mantle with a very small amount of metasediment from the area. Whilst this is possible, it is not the only or most likely mechanism in the genesis of these rocks.

History

Table of Contents

1. Introduction -- 2. Regional geology and geological history -- 3. Fieldwork and sample selection -- 4. Methods -- 5. Petrography -- 6. Major and minor element geochemistry -- 7. Trace and rare earth elements -- 8. Isotope analysis -- 9. Discussion and conclusion -- References.

Notes

"GEMOC" -- title page. Empirical thesis. Bibliography: pages 186-189

Awarding Institution

Macquarie University

Degree Type

Thesis bachelor honours

Degree

BSc (Hons), Macquarie University, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Department, Centre or School

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Year of Award

2010

Principal Supervisor

Nathan Daczko

Rights

Copyright Eileen Dunkley 2010. Copyright disclaimer: http://mq.edu.au/library/copyright

Language

English

Jurisdiction

New Zealand

Extent

1 online resource (xi, 189 pages colour illustrations, colour maps)

Former Identifiers

mq:70473 http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/1264594

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