Turbidite provenance
in the Lower Palaeozoic Manx Group,
Isle of Man: implications for the tectonic setting of Eastern Avalonia
By D. J. BURNETT & D. G. QUIRK Journal of the Geological Society, London, Vol.
158, 2001, pp. 913–924. Printed in Great Britain.
The provenance of turbidites from the predominantly Arenig-aged Manx
Group has been constrained
using petrographical and geochemical techniques. Petrographical analysis
of sandstones reveals that mono- and poly-crystalline quartz grains
of cratonic origin are dominant. Major, trace and rare earth element
concentrations in both sandstones and mudstones complement the petrographical
data indicating that the source of the sediments consisted of quartzose
basement and mature sedimentary rocks.
There is little evidence of a juvenile volcanic input but a minor
palaeovolcanic component of active continental margin affinity is
present. There are indications of a more immature character in the
oldest units but, on the whole, geochemical data from the Manx Group
suggest an overall passive margin setting.
These results suggest that Eastern Avalonia was attached to Gondwana
during deposition of the
Manx Group and that Iapetus oceanic crust did not subduct beneath
the region before the end of the Arenig. To read the complete 12 page paper click here
To decompress this file, you many need to download the FREE StuffIt
Expander To view the PDF file, you may need to download the FREE Adobe
Acrobat® Reader®.
