Ophiolite origin investigated by discriminant analysis using Ti, Zr and Y

Pearce, Julian A. and Cann, J. R. 1971. Ophiolite origin investigated by discriminant analysis using Ti, Zr and Y. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 12 (3) , pp. 339-349. 10.1016/0012-821X(71)90220-2

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Abstract

Samples of rocks from four known or suspected ophiolite complexes were compared with five groups of Cenozoic volcanic rocks using their contents of Ti, Zr and Y. Triangular plots of Ti-Zr-Y and plots of Ti-Zr were constructed, and the problem was also approached using discriminant analysis. The elements Ti, Zr and Y were chosen because of their apparent invariance with respect to such secondary processes as weathering and metamorphism which have often affected ophiolitic rocks. The five groups of volcanic rocks nominated as standards were a group of ocean-floor basalts, one of Hawaiian tholeiites, one of alkali olivine basalts from Flores, Azores, one of island-arc andesites, and one of island-arc tholeiites from Japan. These could all be well discriminated using the three elements chosen. The four ophiolites selected included two, Troodos and Oman, which have been postulated on structural grounds to be fragments of ocean crust, and two others, from the Grossglockner region, Austria, and from the Othrys region, Greece, which were less well-defined. Most of the samples from all four ophiolites showed the greatest affinity with the ocean-floor basalt group, except for seven andesites from Greece. It is thus very probable that most of the samples measured were generated as ocean crust at spreading plate boundaries, and have been thrust into their present positions during continental collision.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Subjects:	Q Science > QE Geology
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0012821X
Last Modified:	04 Jun 2017 02:04
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/8495

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