Lent Flashcards
What causes the mantle to melt?
When it moves past the solidus
What are 3 ways in which the mantle can melt?
Stretching - adiabatic cooling
Hotspots- adiabatic cooling
Subduction zones- flux melting
What are the first 3 crystal to crystallise?
Olivine
Pyroxene
Plagioclase
What do volcanic and plutonic mean?
Volanic- fine grained
Plutonic- coarse grained
What is a sill?
When the intrusion is concordant with the surrounding layers
What is a dyke?
When the intrusion is discordant with the surrounding layers
What are 4 factors effecting explosivity?
Volatiles
Environment
Viscosity (Si content)
Rate of lava emission
What are the features of intraplate mechanism and an example?
Hotspot
Basaltic
Low viscosity
Lava flow
Pahoehoe- wrinkled tops, fast moving
aa- crinkle, slower moving
Hawaii, USA & Yellowstone
What are the features of underwater volcanoes?
Pillow basalts
Phreatic/ Surtseyan- evaporates water into steam
What are the features of volcanoes on destructive plate margins and an example?
Rhyolitic/ Andesitic lava
Higher amount of volatiles, from flux melting of subduction plate
Philippines, Andes
What are released by volcanoes on destructive plates?
Pyroclastic flow (Mt St Helens)
Volcanic bombs
Lahars
How old is the oldest oceanic crust?
280Ma
What are passive margins?
Where continental meets oceanic, but there is no subduction
Form in pairs
E.g. at the edge of Atlantic
What type of melting at mid-ocean ridges?
Active Upwelling- movement of mantle due density
Passive Upwelling- movement of mantle due to space, pressure gradient
What is Iherzolite?
Fertile mantle, that hasn’t been melted
What is Harzbugite?
Mantle that has been melted, only contain olivine and pyroxene
What is the avg thickness of the oceanic crust?
6.5km-8km
What are the 5 pieces of evidence for the composition and structure of the oceanic crust?
1) Magnetic stripes
2) Topographic sequences
3) Seismic profiling (P-wave)
4) Submersibles
5) Deep sea drilling
What are ophiolites?
Parts of the oceanic crust that have been thrusted onto continental crust
What are the 5 layer sequences in the ophiolites?
Sediments
Pillow lavas
Dyke complex
Intrusive rocks (gabbro)
Mantle (Ultramafic)
How much more melting does hotspot cause?
15% from 25% to 40%
What does an eclogite contain? Describe it
Garnet pink
Pyroxene green
Same composition as basalt
How does slab pull occur and what are the mineral changes?
Minerals become more dense
Olivine to ringwoodite then perovskite
Why is magma from subduction zones richer in silica?
Magma conc is higher because it includes silica from plate as well as the mantle
Where are granite batholiths found?
Found at subduction zones because melt has to be from oceanic crust and not just the mantle
What is diapirism?
Rock buoyancy
Felsic(rhyolitic) less dense so move up
Form plume-like structure
What are the features of Rhyolitic lava and where can it be found?
High silica content
Like pure glass
Found at Yellowstone
What is metamorphism?
Formation of new minerals from pre-existing rocks
Solid state change occurs, which doesn’t involve melting
Why are metamorphic rocks preserved?
Preserved in metastable rocks
Where at current conditions wouldn’t be stable, however due to a lack of water, they are unable to reverse and become fully stable
What is a protolith?
An unmetamorphosed rock
What do basalts become after metamorphism?
Metabasites (greenshist, blueschist, eclogite)
What is the sequence for metabasites starting from low T and low P?
Greenschist (LP/LT)
Amphibolite (MP/MT)
Blueschist
Eclogite (HT/HP)
What minerals can be present in greenschist?
Chlorite (green shiny)
Epidote (pistachio green)
Green amphibole (dark green)
What process is necessary for metamorphism?
Plate tectonics
Normal burial will follow geotherm, however metamorphism requries movement in PT space around the geotherm
What are 3 ways the temp can be higher than the geotherm?
Heated from surrounding hotter basalt
Rapid erosion, bring hotter rocks to surface faster
Breakdown of radioactive isotopes
What process is present for metamorphism at High T and Low P?
Contact metamorphism
Igneous intrusion causing metamorphism
What process is present for metamorphism at High T and High P?
Regional Metamorphism
Occurs at collision plate boundaries
e.g. Himalayas
What process is present for metamorphism at Low T and High P?
Subduction of plate
Pushed down rapidly before equilibrium can be reached
What is diagenesis in rocks?
Chemical and physical processes that occur to sediments after deposition and before metamorphism
What kind of Temp/Depth profile does regional metamorphism at collision boundaries cause?
Saw-tooth profle
Because collision causes doubling of crust thickness
What is prograde metamorphism?
Metamorphism due to increased pressure leading to more shear stress
What is lineation and foliation?
Lineation- alignment of minerals
Foliation- formation of planes in rocks
How can relative time of mineral growth be seen?
Pre- fabric wraps around mineral
Syn- some incorporation, but also some wrapping
Post- Complete continuity of fabric
What are porphyroblasts?
Large crystal in metamorphic rocks, like phenocrysts in igneous rocks
How is granite formed?
Made at subducted plates
Si rich
Formed during mountain building
What is the contact Aureole?
Zone where contact metamorphism occurs
What are the 6 steps of the Wilson Cycle and what does it show?
Show formation of ocean, then closure, overall plate tectonics
1) Embryonic -separation of continental= rift valley
2) Young - formation of sea basin = red sea
3) Mature - formation of ocean = atlantic ocean
4) Subduction - Oceanic plates old, subduct= pacific ocean
5) Terminal - ocean contracts = Mediterranean
6) End - collision boundary = Himalayas
What is evidence for the Wilson Cycle?
Ophiolites
Magnetic stripes
Flood basalts
Fossils
Paired metamorphic belts
Granite plutons
What are fossils used for?
Biostratigraphy
Palaeoclimate
Palaeoenvironment
What are 3 types of fossils?
Trace fossils
Body fossils
Chemical fossils
What 4 minerals can organisms biomineralize into?
Calcium phosphate- bones, teeth
Calcium carbonate- (aragonite, calcite)
Silica
Magnetite
What are the 5 ways skeletons can form?
Accretion- addition of new materials
Agglutination- glue together
Addition- adding bits
Moulting- dispose of old skeleton
Remodelling- remodelling mineralized components
When do large multicellular eukaryotes begin to appear?
570Ma
What is the crown group?
Smallest group to contain all living members and their LCA
What is the stem group?
Group of organisms that are extinct and most closely related to a crown group than any other crown group
What is the molecular clock?
Idea that mutations occur at a certain rate
This is then used to estimate and reconstruct ancestor-descendant relationships
What is taphonomy?
Study of processes that happen from death to fossilization
What are ways in which biological information can be lost?
Weathering
Erosion
Disarticulation
Predation
Recrystallisation
Decay
Plate tectonics
What are the 2 steps in the taphonomic sequence?
Biostratinomy- death to burial
Diagenesis- after burial, alteration, fossilization
Why are marine organisms more likely to be preserved?
Less erosion in marine environments, compared to land environments
Commonly more deposition so faster burial
What are environments in which extraordinary fossils can be preserved?
Env where quickly removed from TAZ
Peat bog
Ice
Anoxic conditions
Rapid sedimentation (burial)
Burgess Shale, Canada
What are 3 processes that can occur during diagenesis organisms?
Recrystallisation- no longer stable
Dissolution- organism forms mould but no longer present
Perminerilization- infill of secondary minerals, eg petrified wood
How can rocks suggest the environment?
Silica permineralization- hot springs, acid volcanism
Cabonate permineralization- seawater
Pyrite- anaerobic degradation by bacteria
What is special about the Burgess Shale, Canada?
Excellent biostratinomy
Minimal bioturbation
Low O2 conc
Rapid burial
What is an intrusive igneous rock?
Lava that forms a feature which doesn’t erupt at the surface, e.g. dyke and sill formatin