Magmatism in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

A unique and detailed examination of the Ferrar Magmatic System of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica.

Bruce Marsh (Author)

9781009177085, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 March 2023

290 pages
25.1 x 17.8 x 2 cm, 0.85 kg

The mechanisms of magma movement, chemical differentiation and physical development, are derived from the geochemistry of igneous rocks, and from studying exposures of deep magmatic systems that have since solidified and been uplifted and exposed at the Earth's surface. The Ferrar Magmatic System of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica provides an unparalleled example of a complete magmatic-volcanic system exposed in unprecedented detail. This book provides a unique and usual three-dimensional detailed examination of this system, providing insight into many magmatic processes normally unobservable, in particular how basaltic magma moves upwards through the crust, how it entrains, carries and deposits loads of crystals from great depths, and how this all contributes to Earth's evolution. Providing an explanation of how magmatic systems operate and how igneous rocks form, this is an invaluable resource ideal for researchers and graduate students in magma physics, igneous petrology, volcanology, and geochemistry.

1. The Nature of Magmatism
2. The McMurdo Dry Valleys Magmatic System (Ferrar McDV)
3. The Ferrar Dolerite Sills
4. Ferrar Basic Petrologic Structure
5. Nature and Distribution of Individual Sills
6. Bull Pass Geology
7. Dais Layered Intrusion
8. Compositional Characteristics of the Ferrar McDV Magmatic System
9. Crystal Entrainment and Transport
10. Opx Provenance
11. Noritic Magma, Primocryst Entrainment, and Source Sampling
12. Regional distribution of Ferrar magmatic centers
13. The Ferrar Magmatic Conundrum
14. Ferrar Magma Source Material
Appendices
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Rocks, minerals & fossils [WNR], Geochemistry [RBGK], Petrology [RBGG], Volcanology & seismology [RBC]