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A low - δ 18 O intrusive breccia from the Koegel Fontein complex, South Africa

Includes bibliographical references

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Main Author: Olianti, Camille Andrea Elisa
Other Authors: Harris, Chris
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Geological Sciences 2016
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access_status_str Open Access
author Olianti, Camille Andrea Elisa
author2 Harris, Chris
author_browse Harris, Chris
Olianti, Camille Andrea Elisa
author_facet Harris, Chris
Olianti, Camille Andrea Elisa
author_sort Olianti, Camille Andrea Elisa
collection Thesis
description Includes bibliographical references
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20270
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:34:08.683Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher Department of Geological Sciences
publisherStr Department of Geological Sciences
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20270 A low - δ 18 O intrusive breccia from the Koegel Fontein complex, South Africa Olianti, Camille Andrea Elisa Harris, Chris Geological Sciences Includes bibliographical references The ~135 Ma Koegel Fontein complex, 350 km north of Cape Town, has rocks with abnormally low δ 18 O values, as low as - 5.2 ‰. The rocks with the lowest δ 18 O values belong to an intrusive breccia and have a fine - grained, black matrix. The silica content of these breccia rocks ranges between 44 - 68 wt %, their whole - rock δ 18 O values vary between - 5.2 ‰ and +1.8 ‰ , and their water content is between 0.2 - 1.1 wt %. The major and trace element composition of the breccia rocks is consistent with them containing variable proportions of bentonite, alkali basalt, gneiss, and epidote - and xenolith - rich material. Mapping indicates that the initial intrusion was an alkali basalt dyke and a bostonite dyke that were then intruded by two breccia plugs that extended along the planes of weakness created by the pre - existing dykes, forming two sub - parallel breccia dykes. The water content of the breccia rocks is low (average <1.0 wt %) and is consistent with interaction with fluids at a relatively high temperature (> 300°C). These fluids interacted with the rocks from both dykes and are responsible for their 18 O - depletion. On the basis of the O - and H - isotope composition of the breccia rocks, the δ 18 O value calculated for the fluids in equilibrium with the breccia rock s is approximately - 10.8 ± 0.2 ‰. This low δ 18 O value of the meteoric fluids is too low for the low latitude and warm climate at ~135 Ma and indicates that 18 O - depletion at Koegel Fontein predates the intrusion of the complex in the Cretaceous. It is possible that low - δ 18 O fluids circulated through the country rock during the Pan African when crustal reworking enabled deep circulation of surface water. This period of crustal reworking coincides with a 'Snowball Earth' event and would have been accompanied by 18 O - depleted meteoric water. In the Cretaceous, it is assumed that a mantle plume heated the crust, causing dehydration before partial melting of the crust. The initial low - δ 18 O fluids are effectively metamorphic fluids in equilibrium with the rock. It i s proposed that the initial loss of these fluids became explosive. These fluids migrated along the pre - existing alkali basalt and bentonite dykes, incorporating fragments of alkali basalt, bostonite, and country rock gneiss. This xenolith - rich fluidised material was then emplaced rapidly into the crust 2016-07-08T11:45:03Z 2016-07-08T11:45:03Z 2016 Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20270 eng application/pdf Department of Geological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Geological Sciences
Olianti, Camille Andrea Elisa
A low - δ 18 O intrusive breccia from the Koegel Fontein complex, South Africa
thesis_degree_str Master's
title A low - δ 18 O intrusive breccia from the Koegel Fontein complex, South Africa
title_full A low - δ 18 O intrusive breccia from the Koegel Fontein complex, South Africa
title_fullStr A low - δ 18 O intrusive breccia from the Koegel Fontein complex, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed A low - δ 18 O intrusive breccia from the Koegel Fontein complex, South Africa
title_short A low - δ 18 O intrusive breccia from the Koegel Fontein complex, South Africa
title_sort low δ 18 o intrusive breccia from the koegel fontein complex south africa
topic Geological Sciences
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20270
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