David H. Ritcey
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MacEachern - Ponsford Memorial Award - 1987
David imparting wisdom and insight to a
second year Simon Fraser University field school.
Surveying a drill hole in the Yukon wilderness.
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B. Sc. Honours Thesis
(PDF - 14.7 Mb)
Spilitized basalt flows constitute the largest portion of the Late Carboniferous Audhild Formation exposed on Kleybolte Peninsula, northwestern Ellesmere island. The flows were erupted subaerially and are commonly separated by weathering horizons (paleosols), clastic sediments, and volcaniclastic or pyroclastic units. Stable trace element ratios show within-plate alkali affinities for the basalts, and regional stratigraphy indicates that Carboniferous volcanic activity was related to the early rift stage that led to development of the Sverdrup Basin. There is no geochemical evidence for fractional crystallization within the basalt suite. The volcanic rocks of the Audhild Formation probably represent primary magma derived by ~10% partial melting of a fertile mantle source. A series of basaltic dykes intruding the Audhild volcanic and sedimentary sequence shows no evidence of a genetic link to the flows, and is probably related to later Cretaceous magmatism.
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Pages: 99
Supervisor: Gunter Muecke