Opal and chalcedony speleothems on quartz sandstones in the Sydney region, southeastern Australia

Australian Journal of Earth Sciences

Volumn 46, Issue 4, 1999, Pages 623-632

  Wray, R A L ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG   (Australia)

Author keywords

Chalcedony; Diagenesis; Opal A; Quartz; Sandstone; Silica; Speleothems; Stalacti tes; Stalagmites

Indexed keywords

CHALCEDONY; OPAL; SANDSTONE; SILICA; SPELEOTHEM;

AUSTRALIA;

EID: 0033177982     PISSN: 08120099     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1046/j.1440-0952.1999.00732.x     Document Type: Article

References (51)

1. ASTON S. R. 1983. Natural water and atmospheric chemistry of silicon. In: Aston S. R. ed. Silicon Geochemistry and Biogeochemistry, pp. 77-100. Academic Press, London.
2. BAI G. P., HAMILTON P. J., KEENE J. B. & EADINGTON P. J. 1992. Fluid flow history in the Narrabeen Group sandstones, southern Sydney Basin. In: Carr P. E ed. Centre for Isotope Studies, Research Report 1991-1992, pp. 90-97. Centre for Isotope Studies CSIRO Mineral Research Laboratories, North Ryde.
3. BAYLISS P., LOUGHNAN F. C. & STANDARD J. C. 1965. Dickite in the Hawkesbury Sandstone of the Sydney Basin, Australia. The American Mineralogist 50, 418-426.
4. BRICE. NO H. O. & SCHUBERT C. 1990. Geomorphology of the Gran Sabana, Guyana Shield, southeastern Venezuela. Geomorphology 3, 125-141.
5. CHALCRAFT D. & PYE K. 1984. Humid tropical weathering of quartzite in southeastern Venezuela. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie 28, 321-332.
6. DAMES & MOORE. 1981. Statement of Environmental Baseline Conditions: Koongarra Uranium Project Koongarra, NT. Dames & Moore Pty. Ltd.
7. DOLANSKI J. 1978. Silcrete skins-their significance in rock art weathering. In: Pearson C. ed. Conservation of Rock Art, pp. 32-35. Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material, Sydney
8. DREES L. R., WILDING L. P., SMECK N. E. & SENKAYI A. L. 1989. Silica in soils: quartz and disordered silica polymorphs, In: Dixon J. B. & Weed S. B. eds. Minerals in Soil Environments (2nd edition), pp. 913-974. Soil Science Society of America, Madison.
9. DREVER J. I. 1997. The Geochemistry of Natural Waters: Surface and Groundwater Environments (3rd edition). Prentice-Hall, New Jersey
10. ERNST W. G. & CALVERT S. E. 1969. An experimental study of the recrystallization of porcelanite and its bearing on the origin of some bedded cherts. American Journal of Science 267A, 114-133.
11. FINLAYSON B. L. & WEDB J. A. 1985. Amorphous speleothems. Cave Science 12, 3-8.
12. HERBERT C. & HELBY R. (Editors) 1980. A Guide to the Sydney Basin. Geological Survey of New South Wales, Sydney
13. HEIN J. R., SCHOLL D. W, ALEXANDER E. & YEH H. W. 1978. Diagenesis of late Cenozoic diatomaceous deposits and formation of the bottom simulating reflector in the southern Bering Sea. Sedimentology 25, 144-181.
14. HILL C. A. & FORTI P. 1997. Cave Minerals of the World. National Speleological Society, Huntsville, Alabama.
15. HINMAN N. 1998. Sequences of silica phase transitions: effects of Na, Mg, K, AI and Fe ions. Marine Geology 147, 13-24.
16. JENNINGS J. N. 1979. Arnhem Land city that never was. Geographical Magazine 60, 822-827.
17. JOHNSON M. 1984. Analysis of surface waters from the DaptoKiama-Robertson Region of the Sydney Basin. Mineral Resources Development Laboratory, Department of Mineral Resources, New South Wales (unpubl. ).
18. JOHNSON M. & JOHNSON W D. 1972. Occurrence of silica in the natural waters of the Huntley-Robertson District, southern New South Wales. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Resources 23, 105-19.
19. JONES J. B. & SEGNIT E. R. 1971. The nature of opal: 1. Nomenclature and constituent phases. Journal of the Geological Society of Australia 18, 57-68.
20. LANGFORD-SMITH T. (Editor) 1978. Silcrete in Australia. Department of Geography, University of New England.
21. KRAUSKOPF K. B. 1956. Dissolution and precipitation of silica at low temperatures. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 10, 1-26.
22. LASSAK E. V. 1970. A note on some non-calcareous stalactites from sandstones of the Sydney Basin, N. S. W. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 103, 11-14.
23. LIVINGSTONE D. A. 1963. Chemical composition of rivers and lakes. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 440-G.
24. MARTINI J. E. J. 1979. Karst in Black Reef Quartzite near Kaapsehoop, Eastern Transvaal. Annals of the South African Geological Survey 13, 115-128.
25. MCDONALD J., OFFICER K., JULL T., DONAHUE D., HEAD J. & FORD B. 1990. Investigating C AMS: dating prehistoric rock art in the Sydney Sandstone Basin, Australia. Rock Art Research 7, 83-92.
26. MIZUTANI S. 1970. Silica minerals in the early stage of diagenesis. Sedimentology 15, 419-436.
27. MORSE J. W. & CASEY W H. 1988. Ostwald processes and mineral paragenesis in sediments. American Journal of Science 288, 537-560.
28. NORANDA LTD 1978. Koongarra Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement Appendices-Volume 1. Noranda Australia Ltd.
29. OEHLER J. H. 1976. Hydrothermal crystallization of silica gel. Geological Society of America Bulletin 87, 1143-1152.
30. PELLS P. J. N. 1977. Measurement of engineering properties of Hawkesbury Sandstone. Australian Geomechanics Journal G7. 10-20.
31. PORTER W. P. 1979. Opaline outgrowths on Lee Formation sandstones in Wise County, Virginia. Rocks and Minerals 54, 97-100.
32. SUMMERFIELD M. A. 1983. Petrography and diagenesis of silcrete from the Kalahari Basin and Cape coastal zone, Southern Africa. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 53, 895-909.
33. SWARTZLOW C. L. & KELLER W. D. 1937. Coralloidal opal. Journal of Geology 45, 101-108.
34. THIRY M., AYRAULT M. B. & GRISONT J. C. 1988. Ground-water silicification and leaching of sands: example of the Fontainebleau Sand (Oligocène) in the Paris Basin. Geological Society of America Bulletin 100, 1283-1290.
35. URBANI F. 1976. Opalo, Calcedonia y Calcita en la Cueva del Cerro Autano (Am 11), Territorio Federal Amazonas, Venezuela. Boletin Sociedad Venezuela Espeleologia 7, 129-145.
36. WATCHMAN A. 1985. Mineralogical analysis of silica skins covering rock art. In: Jones R. ed. Archaeological Research in Kakadu National Park, pp. 281-289. Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra.
37. WATCHMAN A. 1990. What are silica skins and how are they important in rock art conservation? Australian Aboriginal Studies 1, 21-29.
38. WATCHMAN A. 1992. Composition, formation and age of some Australian silica skins. Australian Aboriginal Studies 1, 61-66.
39. WATCHMAN A. 1994. Radiocarbon dating fatty acids in Holocene siliceous rock surface accretions. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 41, 179-180.
40. WEBB J. A. & FINLAYSON B. L. 1984. Allophane and opal speleothems from granite caves in south-east Queensland. Australian Journal of Earth Science 31, 341-349.
41. WHITE W D., JEFFERSON G. L. & HAMAN J. F. I960. Quartzite karst in southeastern Venezuela. International Journal of Speleology 2, 309-314.
42. WILLIAMS L. A., PARKS G. A. & CRERAR D. A. 1985. Silica diagenesis. 1. Solubility controls, Journalof Sedimentary Petrology, 55, 301-311.
43. WRAY R. A. L. 1995. Solutional landforms in quartz sandstones of the Sydney Basin. PhD thesis, University of Wollongong, Wollongong (unpubl. ).
44. WRAY R. A. L. 1997a. A global review of solutional weathering forms on quartz sandstones. Earth Science Reviews 42, 137-160.
45. WRAY R. A. L. 1997b. The formation and significance of coralline silica speleothems in the Sydney Basin, southeastern Australia. Physical Geography 18, 1-16.
46. WRAY R. A. L. 1997c. Quartzite dissolution: karst or pseudokarst? Cave and Karst Science 24, 81-86.
47. YARIV S. & CROSS H. 1979. Geochemistry of Colloid Systems for Earth Scientists. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
48. YOUNG A. R. M. 1987. Salt as an agent in the development of cavernous weathering. Geology 15, 962-966.
49. YOUNG R. W. 1983. The tempo of geomorphological change: evidence from southeastern Australia. Journal of Geology 91, 221-230.
50. YOUNG R. W & YOUNG A. R. M. 1992. Sandstone Landforms. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
51. ZAWIDZKI P., URBANI F. & Koisar B. 1976. Preliminary notes on the geology of the Sarisarinama Plateau, and the origin of its caves. Boletin Sociedad Venezuela Espeleologia 7, 29-37.