Australian Journal of Earth Sciences

ISSN: 0812-0099 (Print) 1440-0952 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/taje20

The association boninite low‐ti andesite‐tholeiite

in the heathcote greenstone belt, Victoria;
ensimatic setting for the early lachlan fold belt

Anthony J. Crawford , W. E. Cameron & Reid R. Keays

To cite this article: Anthony J. Crawford , W. E. Cameron & Reid R. Keays (1984) The association
boninite low‐ti andesite‐tholeiite in the heathcote greenstone belt, Victoria; ensimatic
setting for the early lachlan fold belt, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 31:2, 161-175, DOI:
10.1080/08120098408729290

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08120098408729290

Published online: 03 Aug 2007.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 90

View related articles

Citing articles: 71 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=taje20

Download by: [Monash University Library] Date: 07 April 2016, At: 15:34
 Australian Journal of Earth Sciences (1984) 31, 161-175

The association boninite low-Ti andesite-tholeiite in the Heathcote

Greenstone Belt, Victoria; ensimatic setting for the early
Lachlan Fold Belt
Anthony J. Crawford1, W. E. Cameron2 and Reid R. Keays3

1Department of Geology, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Tas. 7005, Australia.

2Department of Geology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
3Department of Geology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. 3052, Australia.
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016

The Heathcote Greenstone Belt is composed mainly of Lower Cambrian metavolcanic rocks and is
one of three outcropping belts of the apparent basement to the Lachlan Fold Belt in SE Australia.
The greenstones may be assigned to two broad magma series. A younger tholeiitic series with
mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) affinities has intruded through, and been erupted upon low-Ti,
intermediate SiO2 lavas. The latter were originally boninites (both clinoenstatite-phyric and more
fractionated orthopyroxene-phyric varieties) and plagioclase-phyric, low-Ti andesites. They have
partially re-equilibrated to the lower greenschist facies and outcrop mainly in the central segment
of the Heathcote Greenstone Belt, where deeper stratigraphic levels are exposed. Tholeiitic lavas
and sills metamorphosed to the prehnite-pumpellyite facies dominate the northern and southern
segments. As the association boninite/low-Ti lavas/MORB is known only from modern West
Pacific-type settings involving island arcs and backarc basins, the early history of the Lachlan
Fold Belt is inferred to have taken place in a similar setting.

Key words: Lachlan Fold Belt, Cambrian greenstones, boninite, low-Ti andesite, tholeiite,
Heathcote Greenstone Belt

INTRODUCTION Lachlan Fold Belt, support the existence of Pro-

The Cambrian to mid-Devonian Lachlan Fold Belt
of SE Australia has been the subject of a number
of plate tectonics-based interpretations. The
greatest single point of controversy concerns the
nature of the basement and the role it has played in
the evolution of this region.
Recent studies of the tectonic development of
the Lachlan Fold Belt broadly polarize into two
groups, depending on their interpretation of the
nature of its basement. Possibly influenced by the
presence of Precambrian sialic crust in Tasmania,
and based largely on inference, Rutland (1973) and
White et al (1976) proposed that the substrate of
the Lachlan Fold Belt consists of Proterozoic
metamorphic complexes of continental character.
The Moho lies at a depth of 34 km beneath the
Melbourne Trough in the Melbourne area, and
lower crustal velocities are characteristic of conti-
nental crust (namely 6-6.5 km s~') (Gibson et al
1981; G. Gibson, pers. comm. 1982). More recent
geochemical and isotopic studies of granitoids,
mainly from the Eastern Highlands part of the
terozoic continental crust, at least beneath that
region (Compston & Chappell 1978; McCulloch &
Chappell 1982).
On the other hand, the occurrence of andesites,
possible ophiolites (Crook & Felton 1975) and the
identification of mid-ocean ridge-type basalts
(MORB) among the Victorian greenstones (Craw-
ford & Keays 1978) led to hypotheses involving
island arcs, backarc basins and subduction com-
plexes (Crawford & Keays 1978; Crook 1980). A
model between these extremes is favoured by some
Tasmanian geologists, who argue that the Cam-
brian greenstones in Tasmania are relics of narrow
oceanic troughs, which developed during rifting of
Precambrian sialic crust (Solomon & Griffiths
1974; Williams 1978; Brown et al 1980).
The oldest rocks known from the Lachlan Fold
Belt of mainland SE Australia are Cambrian
greenstones, which occur in three narrow N- to
NW-striking belts (Fig. 1) called, from W to E,
the Stavely, Heathcote and Mount Wellington
Greenstone Belts (Crawford & Keays 1978). An
understanding of the magmatic affinities of these

161
 162 A. J. CRAWFORD ET AL
9^
1 — — — Inferred trends
l! ^ \^>
^y
v
* " ' w . v " "^ ~ Limit of Palaeozoic Outcrop
\ NEW
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
Fig. 1 The distribution of Cambrian greenstones in the Lachlan Fold Belt of SE Australia.
greenstones is an important prerequisite to the
correct interpretation of the tectonic evolution of
the Lachlan Fold Belt. When plate tectonic model-
ling of fold belt development became fashionable,
and in the absence of useful published petrographic
or geochemical data, the Heathcote Greenstone
Belt was variously referred to as an island arc
(Oversby 1971), an (?) ophiolite (Solomon &
Griffiths 1972), the shoulder of a spreading ceritre
(Harrington et al 1974), and an immature island
arc aborted in the earliest stages of development
(Crook & Powell 1976).
The Stavely Greenstone Belt of western Victoria
is composed of orogenic andesites and dacites,
with minor chert, serpentinite and shale. In the
vicinity of Mount Stavely, these andesites are
intruded by high-level dykes and stocks of
tonalite-trondhjemite, also considered to be of
Cambrian age. Metamorphic assemblages are in
the prehnite-pumpellyite and lower greenschist
facies of burial metamorphism.
The Mount Wellington Greenstone Belt of
E-central Victoria consists of a number of fault-
bounded slices of diverse metavolcanic and ul-
tramafic rocks. The most complete stratigraphic
section is preserved at Howqua (Fig. 1), where
andesitic agglomerates and volcaniclastics are
overlain by approximately 500 m of intermediate-
s ' , high-Mg lavas and sills, which contain
clinoenstatite (e.g. Crawford 1980) and are best
Cambrian Greenstones
\ \
SOUTH
\
MOL0N0 ,
\
termed boninites (see definition in petrography
section). Pillowed and massive flows of MORB-
type basalt, at least 2 km thick, appear to overlie
conformably the boninites and are themselves
overlain by cherts, followed by Lower Ordovician
flysch. Similar MORB-type tholeiitic basalts and
dolerites constitute much of the greenstone sec-
tions at Dookie and Tatong in the N of the belt,
and at Cape Liptrap in the southernmost exposure
of the Mount Wellington Greenstone Belt. At the
latter locality, fault slices of gabbro and serpen-
tinized peridotite occur in the volcanic section, and
the greenstones are unconformably overlain by the
Lower Ordovician Digger Island Limestone
(Thomas et al 1976). At Dolodrook River (Fig. 1),
a diverse assemblage of cumulate ultramafics,
including harzburgites, dunites, chromitites and
orthopyroxenites, are overlain uncomformably by
late Middle Cambrian volcanogenic sediments and
limestones (Duddy 1974). Finally, the Jamieson-
Licola fault slices of greenstone (Fig. 1) are
composed of andesitic metavolcanics. The Mount
Wellington Greenstone Belt will be described in
detail in a subsequent publication.
The Heathcote Greenstone Belt of central Vic-
toria maintains a general meridional strike over
approximately 150 km, and was an important
Palaeozoic tectonic feature; it now forms the
boundary between the Cambrian to Upper Ordovi-
cian Ballarat Trough to the W, and the Lower
 14 4°40' 42' 45' 144" 46'
36° 43' I
I 36° 43'

I CornellaEast
10 km

45-h
H 45'

46'
46'

48'
48'
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016

50'
50'

511

52' 52'

53' 53'

Knowsley East Formation

volconogemc sediments, mudstones
shales, fossiliferous

54'h
54'

-L™,

55' j -
55'

561 56'

57'h 57'

36° 58' L j _ 36° 68'

144"40' 4V 42' 43' 45' 144"461

Fig. 2 Geological map of the central segment of the Heathcote Greenstone Belt. Sample numbers correspond to last two digits of
University of Melbourne Geology Dept sample numbers, which are listed for each sample in Table 2.
 BONINITE ASSOCIATION, HEATHCOTE, VICTORIA
Ordovician to Mid-Devonian Melbourne Trough to
the E (Fig. 1). Based on petrological affinities, the
Heathcote Greenstone Belt is divisible into three
segments: the southern segment (S of the Cobaw
batholith) and the northern segment (N of Mount
Camel) are dominated by tholeiitic metabasalts and
metadolerites with MORB affinities (Crawford &
Keays 1978), whereas the central segment, map-
ped by D. E. Thomas in 1940 and 1941, shows far
greater petrological diversity and structural com-
plexity. It became apparent after extensive exami-
nation of thin sections (including Thomas' original
thin sections housed at the Victorian Mines De-
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
partment) that the majority of meta-volcanic rocks,
although displaying greenschist facies as-
semblages, have their primary igneous textures
preserved. These rocks are referred to below in
terms of their original igneous petrology, without
the 'meta' prefix. Petrographically and chemically,
we have been able to distinguish rocks of three
magmatic associations from the central segment of
the Heathcote Greenstone Belt, namely tholeiitic
basalts, andesitic rocks and a rock-type new to
Australia, boninite.
GEOLOGY OF THE NORTHERN AND
SOUTHERN SEGMENTS OF THE
HEATHCOTE GREENSTONE BELT
The eastern boundary of the Heathcote Greenstone
Belt is delineated along its entire length by the
Mount Ida-Mclvor and Mount William Faults, a
steeply W-dipping reverse fault system that jux-
taposes Cambrian greenstones and Siluro-
Devonian sediments of the Melbourne Trough.
Extremely resistant quartz-magnesite cataclasite
outcrops intermittently along the fault trace, and
locally contains augen of serpentine and amphibo-
lite. In both the northern and southern segments,
the western boundary of the greenstone belt is a
conformable passage from greenstones through
Cambrian shales and tuffaceous rocks (generally
silicified) into the Lower Ordovician greywacke-
shale succession of the eastern edge of the Ballarat
Trough (Hamlyn 1971; Green 1972; Bradfield
1978).
The greenstones have a maximum exposed
thickness of approximately 2000 m in the northern
segment and 1500 m in the southern segment;
intercalated silicified shales constitute about
20-25% of the total thickness. Attitudes of the
sedimentary rocks within and above the
greenstones indicate that the entire Cambrian
163
succession in both segments has been tilted to a
steep westerly dip. Large-scale folding of sedimen-
tary bands is absent along strike, but small drag
folds and oblique transcurrent faults, with offsets
generally less than 50 m, are present at a number
of locations. Cleavage is uncommon in the
greenstone belt.
The stratigraphy within the greenstones is rela-
tively simple. The oldest unit, dominated by
boninitic rocks, is limited in outcrop to the eastern
slopes of the Mount Camel Range, from Cornelia
East at the southern end of the northern segment to
Mount Camel. Here, quartz-magnesite-serpentine
rocks defining the boundary fault are overlain by
sporadically outcropping talc schists and amphibo-
lites. Relict volcanic textures in the boninites are
best preserved in the Cornelia East area (Bailey
1979), where at least 500 m of boninites are
overlain by 100-200 m of silicified black shales,
which in turn are overlain by nearly 2000 m of
tholeiitic basic rocks. High-level stocks and dykes
of dolerite, commonly differentiated to
granophyric ferrodiorites, intrude the boninites to
appear to represent feeders to the tholeiitic rocks at
the top of the greenstone pile.
Elsewhere along the northern and southern
segments of the Heathcote belt, most of the
greenstones form a monotonous pile of fine- to
medium-grained tholeiitic dolerites and basalts. At
Mount William, immediately S of the Cobaw
Batholith, a 700 m thick basal unit of dolerite sills
is overlain by 800 m of basalts and interbedded
sediments. The sills range in thickness from a few
metres to well over 100 m. Hamlyn (1971)
examined drillcore from Mount Camel and con-
cluded that the tholeiitic sequence in this area
consists of a pile of basalt flows and interbedded
black shales intruded by concordant swarms of
penecontemporaneous dolerite sills. The basalts
occur as non-vesicular, largely aphyric flows,
usually more than 5 m thick, in which no pillow
structures have been observed. They are particu-
larly well-exposed in the fairly continuous section
along Deep Creek, at the very southern end of the
southern segment.
Sediments interbedded with the basalts form
narrow, low ridges up to 500 m long along strike;
the widest bands are approximately 40 m thick and
show no sedimentary features other than narrow,
variable, planar bedding (1 mm to 10 cm thick).
They are usually silicified in outcrop and display
extensive fracturing, with fracture networks filled
by silica. Occasional bands of less indurated, fine,
 164 A. J. CRAWFORD ET AL
pelagic sediments resemble dark shales and, where
baked by the Cobaw batholith, have hornfelsic
textures and contain abundant spessartine, suggest-
ing derivation from a manganiferous sediment
(Bradfield 1978). In drillcore from Mount Camel,
pelagic sediments within the greenstones are pyri-
tic black shales, rarely thicker than 3 m.
Except for the contact metamorphic aureoles
around the Crosbie and Cobaw granitic intrusions,
the metamorphic grade throughout the greenstone
pile in both the southern and northern segments is
prehnite-pumpellyite to lower greenschist facies.
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
Limited occurrences of amphibolites adjacent to
the boundary faults may have been excavated from
depth during movements along the faults. The
Upper Devonian Cobaw Batholith has produced a
thermal aureole to a distance of at least 500 m
from the contact, in which basaltic and, doleritic
rocks have recrystallized to fine- to medium-
grained amphibolite.
Conformably overlying the greenstones in both
segments is a sequence of marine sediments
around 250 m thick, including a basal unit of
graded lithic sandstones, overlain by black shales
containing a rich Middle Cambrian hydroid band
approximately 65 m from the top (Chapman &
Thomas 1938). These sediments are the lateral
equivalents of the fossiliferous Knowsley East
Formation of the central segment of the Heathcote
Greenstone Belt (Thomas & Singleton 1956). The
Knowsley East Formation equivalents are overlain
conformably by 500-1000 m of thinly-bedded,
bleached shales, the Goldie Shales. These are
always unfossiliferous and commonly silicified in
outcrop; however, by virtue of their position
stratigraphically between the underlying Middle
Cambrian Knowsley East Formation and the con-
formably overlying, graptolite-bearing earliest Or-
dovician shales and slates of the eastern Ballarat
Trough, the Goldie Shales are considered by us to
be of Upper Cambrian age.
GEOLOGY OF THE CENTRAL SEGMENT
This segment of the Heathcote Greenstone Belt lies
between the Cobaw Batholith in the S and Mount
Camel in the N (Fig. 1). Though Thomas' (1940)
outcrop mapping and geological boundaries appear
generally to be very accurate, he did not attempt to
subdivide the greenstones petrographically, refer-
ring to all igneous rocks present in the area as
dolerite or diabase. Using Thomas' (1940)
1 :31680 maps as a base, we remapped and
resampled much of the central segment, and a new
interpretation is presented in Fig. 2.
The stratigraphy mapped in the Cornelia East
area of the northern segment, namely tholeiites
separated from underlying boninites by a shale
band, continues into the northern end of the central
segment, to just S of the Crosbie Granite (Fig. 2).
Further S, both the stratigraphy and its interpreta-
tion are considerably complicated by extensive
faulting, the occurrence of a third lava suite
(mainly andesites), and very poor outcrop.
The tholeiitic series in the central segment is
largely represented by fine-grained amphibolites in
the aureole of the Crosbie Granite; these terminate
abruptly against shales along the western margin of
greenstone outcrop, at a contact thought by us to
be a fault (see below). A band of black cherty
shale separates the amphibolitized tholeiites from
underlying boninites.
Boninites occur in two outcrop areas. The more
northerly is a continuation of the boninites which
outcrop along the eastern flank of the Mount
Camel Ridge, and these extend about 3 km S of
the Crosbie Granite, where they terminate abruptly
at a NE-striking fault. In this northern outcrop
area, boninites are generally altered by extensive
shearing, quartz veining and thermal and hyd-
rothermal effects of the adjacent granite. Schistose
amphibolites and serpentinites derived mainly
from boninitic precursors are common, and small
dykes, sills and pods of amphibolitized tholeiitic
dolerite and ferrodiorite intrude the boninites here,
as at Cornelia East.
The southern area of boninite outcrop is a
fault-bounded block 5 km long by 1.5 km
(maximum width), at the base of the western
slopes of Mount Ida. The lavas vary from vesicular
to massive, are generally porphyritic, and show
excellent textural preservation. Pillows 0.5-1 m
across outcrop in She-Oak Gully, in a section in
which sedimentary interbeds are rare. Most boni-
nites are deep blue-green or brown on fresh
surfaces, with black phenocrysts 1-2 mm long in a
structureless, almost glassy matrix. Occasional
small outcrops of slightly coarser-grained, almost
doleritic-textured boninites are interpreted by us as
narrow dykes intruding the lava pile.
Andesites, with interbedded volcanogenic sedi-
ments, also outcrop in two areas. The largest and
best exposed of these extends several kilometres N
and S of Lady's Pass (Fig. 2). Flows are usually
less than 10 m thick and are occasionally separated
 BONINITE ASSOCIATION, HEATHCOTE, VICTORIA
by units of volcanogenic sandstones composed
largely of andesitic detritus. Early Cambrian fos-
sils have been found in these sediments (P. Jell,
pers. comm. 1980). In the vicinity of Lady's Pass,
one sedimentary section at least 50 m thick is
composed of 10-30 cm thick, commonly graded
beds. Crook and Powell (1976) considered these to
be of shallow-water origin, on the basis of
medium-scale cross lamination and rare scour and
fill structures. Throughout this area, sedimentary
interbeds strike around 060° and dip towards the
NW, usually at steep angles. The across-strike
thickness of the andesite-volcanogenic sediment
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
sequence here is approximately 2 km, but the
outcrop is too poor to rule out the possibility of
tectonic thickening.
Andesites reappear 5 km further S, in a gener-
ally narrow and highly-deformed belt extending S
to the Cobaw Batholith. In addition to andesitic
lavas, pyroclastic rocks (particularly agglomerates)
and highly-altered rhyolitic to dacitic lavas occur
in localized areas which may represent brecciated
plugs or lava domes. These are intruded by stocks
of microgranodiorite and occasional zoned,
coarse-grained dykes of hornblende diorite which
contain similar low greenschist facies metamorphic
assemblages to those of the host lavas and are
considered by us to be part of the greenstone
sequence, rather than satellite intrusions of the
Upper Devonian Cobaw and Crosbie batholiths.
Several small plugs of unmetamorphosed
granodiorite, and quartz porphyry dykes intrude
the greenstones and are presumably related to the
Upper Devonian intrusions.
Thomas' (1940) mapping showed that the west-
ern boundary of the central segment of the
Heathcote Greenstone Belt is everywhere faulted,
unlike further to the N or S. Along parts of the
western boundary of the central segment, the entire
Cambrian sedimentary sequence is missing, pre-
sumably faulted out. Elsewhere in the central
segment is abundant evidence of extensive fault-
ing, both within the greenstones and the Cambrian
sediments. An elongate fault block of silicified
shales, some 2.6 km long and 0.5 km wide,
outcrops immediately E of Lady's Pass. These
sediments are thinly-bedded and strongly folded,
and their age relationships remain unknown. A
northward extrapolation of the long axis of this
fault-block passes into an area of schistose boni-
nites, which are intensely quartz-veined and which
contain several narrow fault slices of Upper and
Lower Ordovician graptolite-bearing shale. Also in
165
this area is a massive quartz reef, some 400 m
long, trending parallel to the direction of shearing
(Fig. 2). It is likely that the major eastern
boundary fault of the greenstones between Mount
Camel and Lady's Pass is not a single fault, but a
scries of steeply-dipping, subparallel shears.
Good evidence is present in the central segment
for the existence of several major cross-strike
faults. The most significant of these, not recog-
nised by Thomas (1940), strikes NE between
Lady's Pass and the Crosbie Granite. It is respon-
sible for the abrupt termination of the boninites
and their juxtaposition against andesites, and the
2 km lateral offset of the N-striking Knowsley East
Formation above the greenstones. Another such
fault, striking at 330° and almost paralleling the
Mclvor Highway, separates boninites from ande-
sites in the southern part of the area of boninite
outcrop and clearly offsets the western boundary
fault (Fig. 2).
The Knowsley East Formation consists of ap-
proximately 170 m of interbedded, cleaved
mudstone and volcanogenic sandstones, with occa-
sional rudite bands containing locally derived
clasts of metavolcanics and chert. Crook and
Powell (1976) suggested relatively shallow water
deposition for this formation. Two bands of
trilobite-bearing mudstone, occurring about 30 m
apart, have yielded a Middle Cambrian trilobite
fauna (Thomas & Singleton 1956). The Goldie
Shale in the central segment (Thomas' type local-
ity for this formation is in the southern segment)
consists of unfossiliferous black shales, which are
commonly bleached and silicied in outcrop; their
exposed thickness in the vicinity of Lady's Pass is
less than 200 m. Though Thomas (1940) believed
that, in this area, the Knowsley East Formation
conformably overlies the greenstones, our evi-
dence suggests that the contact is faulted. Where
exposed in Trilobite Gully, greenstones adjacent to
the contact are strongly sheared, with a pro-
nounced schistose fabric. Also, S of Lady's Pass,
andesites and interbedded sediments strike into the
greenstone-Knowsley East Formation contact at
45°, strongly implying a faulted contact. The
contact between the Goldie Shales and the lower-
most Ordovician sediments is also faulted in this
area.
PETROGRAPHY OF THE HEATHCOTE
GREENSTONES
Boninites are unusually primitive [high Mg/
(Mg + Fe)] glassy rocks, which fall into the broad
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016

166
A. J. CRAWFORD ET AL
 BONINITE ASSOCIATION, HEATHCOTE, VICTORIA 167

chemical classification of andesites (SiO2>53%) A characteristic feature of most boninites is the

but share few of their petrographic and chemical
features. Before describing the Heathcote boni-
nites, a brief review of the petrographic features of
fresh boninites is warranted. The order of crystalli-
zation in boninites (Cameron et al 1980) is
magnesiochromite, olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, cal-
cic pyroxene, + amphibole + plagioclase, which
contrasts strongly with andesites and all varieties
of basalt. A photomicrograph of a boninite from
the type locality is shown in Fig. 3a.
Magnesiochromite occurs in all boninites as
minute euhedra included in olivine and low-Ca
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
presence of abundant clear to pale brown glass,
which is charged with skeletal, acicular to prisma-
tic groundmass pyroxenes. Cores of the
groundmass pyroxenes may be hollow or consist of
bronzite or magnesian pigeonite; these zone out-
wards to rims of calcic pyroxene. Pale green
magnesio-hornblende occasionally occurs as
quench overgrowths on pyroxene or as isolated
stellate aggregates. Plagioclase is conspicuously
absent from glassy boninites; however, in boni-
nites with less than approximately 8% MgO from
feeder dykes and the interiors of thick flows,

pyroxenes, or as isolated individuals in the plagioclase appears as a late-crystallizing, intersti-

groundmass. Olivine is always subordinate to
low-Ca pyroxene and, if present, is commonly
partially resorbed or mantled by that mineral.
Low-Ca pyroxene may be clinoenstatite, ortho-
pyroxene (enstatite-bronzite), magnesian pigeon-
ite, or all three (Dallwitz et al 1966; Sharaskin et
al 1980; Komatsu 1980; Cameron et al 1979;
Natland 1981). Clinoenstatite phenocrysts have
characteristic polysynthetic twinning parallel to
(100) and are spontaneous inversion products from
the cooling of the high-temperature MgSiO3
polymorth, protoenstatite (Smyth 1974). If crys-
tallization proceeds through the protoenstatite-
orthoenstatite transition, orthoenstatite may rim
clinoenstatite, as observed in many boninites
(Komatsu 1980; Dallwitz et al 1966). Bronzite
phenocrysts become more abundant than clinoens-
tatite in less magnesian boninites and are com-
monly rimmed by more calcic pyroxene.
tial, groundmass phase intergrown with augite
(Natland 1981; Shiraki et al 1980).
Heathcote boninites
Rocks of boninitic affinity from the Heathcote
Greenstone Belt exhibit a considerable range of
MgO contents (4-16%) and show a range of
primary textural and mineralogical features, which
have been complicated by metamorphism. Despite
their once-glassy nature, they have retained origi-
nal igneous textural features remarkably well.
All Heathcote boninites contain tiny magnesio-
chromite grains, commonly with ferrichromite
rims. The most abundant phenocryst phase has
been pseudomorphed by pale green chlorite. It
forms prisms (up to 0.7 x 3 mm) with shallower-
angled terminations than normally displayed by
olivine, and constitutes 3-30 modal percent of the

Fig. 3a Unaltered boninite showing larger, skeletal crystals of orthopyroxene (cruciform projections, right of
photograph) and orthopyroxene-pigeonite-augite (centre). Acicular microlites are pigeonite-augite, set in unaltered
glass. Specimen 106, Chichijima, Bonin Islands; Anal., Table 2. Plane-polarized light (PPL). Width of field 1.6 mm.
Fig. 3b Metaboninite with chlorite pseudomorphs after skeletal orthopyroxene (centre) and equant orthopyroxene (lower
left) enclosing chromite. The groundmass consists of relict augite (lower right), actinolite after augite, and albite after
glass. Specimen 26270, PPL. Width of field 1.6 mm. Fig. 3c Metaboninite with chlorite pseudomorphs after what is
interpreted to be clinoenstatite. Groundmass consists of acicular grains of actinolite, with chlorite cores after augite with
low-Ca pyroxene cores. Specimen 26268, crossed polars. Width of field 1.2 mm. Fig. 3d Metaboninite with random
spinifex texture. Actinolite has replaced augite blades, clear matrix is albite, after glass. Specimen 26277, PPL. Width
of field 1.6 mm. Fig. 3e Metaboninite. Orthopyroxene microphenocrysts are replaced by chlorite but augite rims are
relict. Similar morphology may be seen in groundmass grains. The matrix is albite with minor quartz. Specimen 26275,
PPL: Width of field 1.6 mm. Fig. 3f More slowly-cooled metaboninite probably from interior of a dyke or sill.
Orthopyroxene phenocrysts pseudomorphed by chlorite, in an intrafasciculate-textured groundmass composed of
intergrown sheaves of albitized plagioclase and actinolite after calcic pyroxene. Specimen 26282, crossed polars. Width
of field 7 mm. Fig, 3g Originally a two-pyroxene + plagioclase-phyric andesite; augite phenocryst (upper right) is
preserved, while orthopyroxene phenocrysts (below augite) are faithfully pseudomorphed by chlorite. A tabular
plagioclase phenocryst (upper left) has been almost entirely replaced by sericite. Specimen 26263, PPL. Width of field
7 mm. Fig. 3h Typical tholeiitic metabasalt from the Heathcote Greenstone Belt. Fresh augite and albitized plagioclase
define a sub-ophitic to intergranular texture. Fe-Ti oxides are conspicuous compared with other Heathcote lavas.
Specimen 27146, PPL. Width of field 1.0 mm.
 168 A. J. CRAWFORD ET Ah
rocks. The pseudomorphs are commonly rimmed
by fresh augite, and since they show no sign of
resorption or replacement by serpentine minerals,
were almost certainly orthopyroxene. Confirmation
of this comes from observations of the morphology
of skeletal orthopyroxene in modern boninites;
tiny, cruciform projections which grow inwards in
an equant, skeletal microphenocryst (now chlorite,
Fig. 3b) in a Heathcote boninite have identical
counterparts in the Bonin rock (Fig. 3a). In
contrast, skeletal olivine has lantern, chain and
blade forms (Donaldson 1976).
Heathcote boninite 26268 contains chlorite
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
pseudomorphs that do not extinguish uniformly
under crossed polars, in contrast with those in all
other Heathcote boninites. In these pseudomorphs,
narrow parallel planes with inclined extinction
(Fig. 3c) suggest the former presence of clinoens-
tatite. Significantly, Sample 26268 is the most
magnesian Heathcote boninite sample of the 20
analysed.
The formerly glassy groundmass of Heathcote
boninites is charged to varying extents with fresh
or pseudomorphed pyroxene microphenocrysts and
microlites which have variable growth habits, even
within a single thin section, due to different
cooling rates. Elongate, skeletal pyroxenes in
26277 define a texture (Fig. 3d) closely resembling
the random spinifex texture present in some
flowtops of komatiitic basalts (Arndt et al 1979).
In 26270, the groundmass is characterized by
abrupt changes from devitrified glass to fan
spherulites of quenched pyroxene, which enclose
and have crystallized around both phenocrysts and
microphenocrysts of pyroxene. The most common
habit of groundmass pyroxene is stubby to elon-
gate, strongly-zoned, sometimes hollow euhedra
(Fig. 3e). Glass has invariably crystallized to
mosaics of quartz and albite, containing patches of
chlorite and felted, locally stellate aggregates of
green ferrostilpnomelane. In places, the latter has
oxidized to flaky aggregates of red-orange ferri-
stilpnomelane.
Several coarser-grained boninites (e.g. sample
26282) have textures indicating that they were
once holocrystalline. These we interpret as feeder
dykes to overlying boninites, but field evidence is
lacking. Chloritized orthopyroxene phenocrysts
(up to 1.5 X 3 mm) lack quench overgrowths of
calcic pyroxene so common in the lavas. The
groundmass is composed of elongate sheaves of
intergrown actinolite (after calcic pyroxene) and
albitized plagioclase (Fig. 3f).
The most fractionated Heathcote boninitic lavas
(6-7% MgO, e.g. sample 26278) are almost
holycrystalline, though notably finer-grained than
the feeder dykes. These are almost aphyric and
have sparse, chloritized microphenocrysts of or-
thopyroxene in a groundmass containing elongate
(uralitized) calcic pyroxene and nearly acicular
albitized plagioclase laths which define a seriate
intersertal texture.
Andesites
Andesites occur only in the central segment of the
Heathcote Greenstone Belt, and are easily recog-
nized in the field by their abundance of plagioclase
phenocrysts and their yellow weathering rind.
They are always non-vesicular, and may be
divided into two petrographic groups: dark-
coloured pyroxene + plagioclase-phyric andesites
and lighter-coloured hornblende + plagioclase-
phyric varieties. The former probably constitute
more than 95% of the outcropping andesites.
The pyroxene + plagioclase-phyric andesites are
usually prophyritic (up to 30 modal %), with
plagioclase typically as abundant as, or more
abundant than pyroxene. In more evolved rocks,
the modal abundance of plagioclase increases
dramatically; one such sample contains sparse,
primary quartz phenocrysts. Plagioclase pheno-
crysts are large (to 5 mm across) blocky euhedra,
now albitized. Ghost zoning and twinning is
commonly preserved. Smaller (up to 1.5 mm long)
augite phenocrysts are present in all samples, but
are usually pseudomorphed by pale-green actino-
lite. Relict augite is colourless and non-pleochroic,
and contains occasional inclusions of Fe-Ti oxides.
In these samples bearing fresh augite, a second
type of pseudomorph, more elongate than augite
and consisting of very pale green chlorite, repre-
sents original orthopyroxene. Its morphology is not
characteristic of olivine. All the pyroxene +
plagioclase-phyric andesites appear to have been
two-pyroxene varieties (e.g. sample 26260;
Fig. 3g).
Hornblende + plagioclase-phyric andesites con-
tain less than 5 modal % of small (<1 mm long)
hornblende euhedra with a foxy brown to pale
brown pleochroic scheme, and 5-10 modal % of
blocky euhedra of albitized plagioclase. A few
hornblende phenocrysts are pseudomorphed by
green, strongly pleochroic actinolite. In both
petrographic groups, microlitic-textured
 BONINITE ASSOCIATION, HEATHCOTE, VICTORIA
groundmass consists of aligned laths of albitized
plagioclase and acicular to granular uralitized
clinopyroxene. Originally glassy groundmass in a
few samples has crystallized to granular albite-
quartz-chlorite mosaics.
In the absence of any diagnostic field relation-
ships, we have been able to identify only two
pieces of evidence pertinent to determining the age
of the Heathcote andesites relative to the boninites.
The first is 2 x 1 cm inclusion of boninite (11%
MgO, 0.15% TiO2) in andesite 26258. The second
concerns the compositions of some plagioclase-
free rock fragments containing chromite in an
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
andesitic agglomerate from Box Knob, and frag-
mented chromite euhedra in tuffs from S of Lady's
Pass [e.g. sample 26287 = KE28 of Thomas'
(1940) map and Thomas et al (1976)]. These
chromites are very similar to those in the boninites
(55-64% Cr2O3). Since the andesites contain only
Fe-Ti oxides, we suggest that these chromites are
derived from an earlier, underlying boninite forma-
tion, and that the stratigraphic succession is
boninite overlain by andesite.
Tholeiites
Basaltic and doleritic rocks with tholeiitic affinities
dominate the northern and southern segments of
the Heathcote Greenstone Belt, and are subordi-
nate to boninites and andesites in the central
segment. Except in the thermal aureoles of the
Cobaw and Crosbie granitic inclusions, the basalts
display sub-ophitic to intergranular textures, in
which augite is invariably fresh and plagioclase is
generally albitized, although fresh calcic plagioc-
lase is preserved in some thick flows and sills.
Olivine appears to have been absent from these
mainly aphyric lavas, and phenocrysts, where
present, are euhedral augite (<1 mm long) rarely
constituting more than 5 modal % of the rock.
Microphenocrysts of plagioclase are rare, but
many basalts contain fairly abundant Fe-Ti oxide
microphenocrysts and groundmass granules. The
dolerites are also augite-plagioclase-Fe-Ti oxide
rocks with grainsize usually less than 2 mm.
Diorite and microgranodiorite
Rocks of the diorite-granodiorite association, of
presumed Cambrian age, have intruded the ande-
sites of the central segment. The best outcrops of
hornblende diorite occur on the bank of Mclvor
Creek, close to the fault that separates the boni-
nites around She-Oak Gully from the larger area of
169
andesites to the S (Fig. 2). The outcrops show
marked textural heterogeneity, with hornblende
varying in habit from bladed crystals 2 cm long to
equidimensional grains only 2 mm across, set in a
pale matrix of feldspar and quartz. Hornblende,
pleochoric in shades of brown, constitutes 30-50%
of the rock and is partly replaced by chlorite.
Tabular plagioclase crystals (up to 5 mm long) are
almost entirely replaced by epidote-clinozoisite
except for distinct albitic rims. Large, skeletal
grains of Fe-Ti oxide, which subsequently altered
to leucoxene, have exsolved ilmenite along oc-
tahedral planes. Interstitial areas originally were
composed of minor alkali feldspar (now largely
clay minerals) and myrmekite. Primary euhedral
crystals of sphene are common, and were sepa-
rated in an attempt to date the rock by fission-track
method, but were found to contain insufficient
uranium.
Two stocks of microgranodiorite occur in the
vicinity of Heathcote township (Fig. 2). The
interiors of the intrusions consist largely of sub-
equal proportions (40-45 modal %) of quartz and
plagioclase. Quartz occurs as anhedral crystals
interstitial to larger, subhedral plagioclase, in
which unzoned cores have sharp boundaries
against wide, strongly-zoned rims. Zoning is
normal, with cores as calcic as An5<>. Small
interstitial areas of brown, highly-altered alkali
feldspar (On 5) make up less than 10 modal % of
the microgranodiorite. The sole mafic phase origi-
nally was biotite, now altered to strongly pleo-
chroic, deep green chlorite. Apatite is abundant. A
slightly finer-grained, porphyritic marginal phase
contains about 20 modal % quartz and 30 modal %
of saussuritized plagioclase phenocrysts set in a
fine-grained, equigranular groundmass of anhedral
albite and spherulitic quartz. Elongate prisms of
pleochroic, green-khaki hornblende constitute ap-
proximately 5 modal % of the rock, and are
extensively replaced by chlorite and epidote. The
extent of alteration of the mafic minerals in the
diorite and microgranodiorite contrasts strongly
with their freshness in the Upper Devonian Cobaw
and Crosbie granitoids. This is consistent with our
assumption that the diorite and microgranodiorite
form an integral part of the Heathcote Greenstone
Belt.
METAMORPHISM
Tholeiitic lavas of the Heathcote Greenstone Belt
lack penetrative deformation. Except within the
 170 A. J. CRAWFORD ET AL

thermal aureoles of the Cobaw and Crosbie
Batholiths, they display prehnite—pumpellyite
facies metamorphic assemblages. Plagioclase laths
are replaced by albite or tiny stout rods of strongly
pleochroic, Fe-rich pumpellyite. The latter and
green chlorite replace the mesostasis, which is
riddled with leucoxene granules after Fe-Ti oxides.
Clear and buff-coloured prehnite occurs in patches
and veins. Augite is fresh and actinolite is absent;
calcite occurs as veins near major faults. Dolerites
in the lower part of the greenstone pile have the
assemblage albite-chlorite-actinolite-epidote-
relict augite, indicative of lower greenschist facies
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
green actinolites with 0.6-0.7% Na2O (Table 1)
typical of most Heathcote metaboninites. The
sodic amphibole in the She-Oak Gully metaboni-
nite is compositionally similar to amphiboles
crystallised between 4 and 5 kb (Brown 1977);
however, the restriction of this amphibole to a
single outcrop in the proximity of more abundant
metaboninites which contain significantly less
sodic actinolite is puzzling, and perhaps reflects a
localized metasomatic event.
Thomas et al's (1976) record of a partly
serpentinized peridotite with unaltered olivine, also
requires comment. We have re-examined this

metamorphic conditions.
In the aureoles of the Upper Devonian Table 1 Representative electron-probe analyses of
granitoids, basalts and dolerites with burial Heathcote amphiboles.
metamorphic assemblages were overprinted by
Boninites Andesites
albite-epidote hornfels and hornblende hornfels
12 26277 26276 26282 26256 H33
facies contact metamorphic assemblages in the
outer and inner aureoles, respectively. Hornblende SiO2 52.47 55.01 55.36 51.71 52.76 51.73
(6-8% AI2O3) and plagioclase (An4o) composi- T1O2 0.13 0.07 0.10 0.08 0.06 0.13
tions are relatively constant within 50 m of the AI2O3 2.50 2.35 1.05 2.65 3.08 2.59
contact, but with increasing distance from the FeO* 17.22 13.23 14.34 15.30 12.05 15.79
contact become more variable compositionally. MnO 0.23 0.34 0.24 0.31 0.19 0.43
Amphiboles in metabasic rocks of the outer MgO 12.36 14.59 14.06 14.83 15.42 14.40
aureole display a considerable range of AI2O3 CaO 9.90 11.59 11.55 11.99 12.67 11.47
Na2O 1.71 0.61 0.69 0.23 0.35 0.36
contents (2-16%) even in a single thin section,
K2O 0.12 0.04 0.09 0.07 0.11 0.07
indicative of metamorphic disequilibrium. Augite Cr2O3 0.12 0.07 _ 0.16 0.11
0.08
persists in dolerites to much closer to the granite NiO 0.03 0.01 _ — - -
contact than it does in the finer-grained basaltic Total 96.75 97.93 97.55 97.17 96.85 97.08
rocks (Bradfield 1978). Cations calculated to 23 oxygens
Boninites underlying tholeiites at Cornelia East Si 7.785 7.882 8.005 7.598 7.653 7.623
in the northern segment display greenschist facies Al 0.215 0.118 - 0.402 0.347 0.377
assemblages dominated by actinolite, chlorite, Al 0.222 0.279 0.179 0.058 0.180 0.073
albite and quartz. Boninites in the central segment Ti 0.014 0.007 0.011 0.009 0.006 0.014
Fe 2.137 1.585 1.734 1.880 1.462 1.946
have similar assemblages with the addition of
Mn 0.029 0.041 0.029 0.040 0.023 0.053
ferro- and ferristilpnomelane. Epidote is absent.
Mg 2.734 3.116 3.032 3.247 3.335 3.164
Thomas et al (1976) provided a rapid wet Ca 1.573 1.775 1.789 1.887 1.970 1.811
chemical analysis of a metamorphic amphibole Na 0.492 0.170 0.194 0.066 0.102 0.104
(crossite) separated from a She-Oak Gully rock. K 0.023 0.008 0.017 0.013 0.022 0.013
We examined a thin section of this metaboninite Cr 0.009 0.013 0.009 _ 0.020 0.013
lava. Amphibole pseudomorphs after groundmass Ni 0.004 0.001 _ - - _
pyroxene show pale green to bluish-green pleo- £ 15.237 14.995 14.999 15.202 15.124 15.191
chroism; electron probe microanalysis shows that Mg 0 5fi 0.66 0.64 0.63 0.70 0.62
they have a maximum Na2O content of 1.8% Mg+2Fe
(Table 1). The high Na2O contents (5.3%) re-
"Iron calculated as FeO.
corded by Thomas et al (1976) are almost certainly
12 Blue-green actinolite replacing groundmass
attributable to the incorporation in the analysed
acicular augite. She-Oak Gully.
separate of albite, which fills the cores of former
26277 Pseudomorph after spinifex clinopyroxene
hollow pyroxene microlites in the groundmass. 26276 Pseudomorph after groundmass acicular augite
Thus, this amphibole is sodic actinolite, and 26282 Pseudomorph after groundmass augite
differs significantly from the crossitic composi- 26256^ Pseudomorphs after augite phenociysts in
tions reported in Thomas et al (1976) and the H33 ^originally two-pyroxene andesites.
 BONINITE ASSOCIATION, HEATHCOTE, VICTORIA 171

sample, which comes from the boninitic unit in the
thermal aureole of the Crosbie Granite. Porphyro-
blasts of olivine (F078-80) occur in a groundmass
composed of talc, and minor anthophyllite and
magnetite. We interpret this rock as having formed
by the contact metamorphism of an altered pyrox-
enite or serpentinite.
The andesites always show greenschist facies
assemblages, characteristically albite-chlorite-
epidote-actinolite-quartz + relict augite. The ac-
tinolites are less sodic (<0.5% Na20; Table 1)
than those in the boninites, perhaps implying lower
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
earth element data will be published in a separate
paper describing the petrogenesis of the Heathcote
low-Ti lavas.
Whole rock compositions of the Heathcote
boninites confirmed our petrographic identification
of this rock type. An analysis of an essentially
aphyric, extremely fresh boninite from the Bonin
Islands (Cameron et al 1983) is given "for
comparison in Table 2. The main compositional
difference between fresh boninites and the Heath-
cote samples lies in the higher Na2O contents of the
latter, due to albitization of glass. The Heathcote
boninites display the very low TiO2 contents

pressures of re-equilibration (shallower burial) for

the andesites, as predicted by our postulated
stratigraphic relationships.
WHOLE-ROCK CHEMISTRY
Samples which showed minimal textural alteration
and metasomatic effects were chosen for analysis
by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry at Melbourne
University, using the method of Haukka and
Thomas (1977); FeO, H2O+, H 2 O" and CO2 were
determined by standard gravimetric methods at the
Australian National University. Representative
analyses are given in Table 2; more comprehensive
whole rock chemical data including trace and rare
typical of boninites (0.1-0.5%), and their AI2O3
contents are significantly lower than those for
basalts or andesites. The SiO2 contents of both
fresh and Heathcote boninites are at least 5%
higher than in most basalts with similar MgO
contents. Original K2O and CaO contents of the
Heathcote boninites are difficult to estimate due to
the undoubted mobility of these elements during
crystallization of glass to albite-quartz-chlorite-
stilpnomelane assemblages. As expected of a magma
series produced by differentiation, Cr and Ni values
are highest in the most primitive Heathcote boninites
and decrease through to more evolved samples.

Table 2 Representative chemical compositions of rocks from the Heathcote Greenstone Belt, and a typical Bonin Is
boninite.
Boninites Andesites Basalts Diorite Grano-
diorite
Loc. Bonin 26268 26270 26282 26277 26278 26258 26289 27146 27148 26292 26291
SiO2 56.2 57.9 52.1 54.0 56.2 53.9 62.5 60.0 48.3 48.8 50.2 71.4
TiO2 0.13 0.07 0.25 0.14 0.33 0.30 0.27 0.22 1.21 1.14 1.4 0.30
AI2O3 10.6 4.8 10.0 9.5 10.6 12.9 12.1 13.5 13.9 12.8 14.8 13.9
FeaOa 2.0 2.9 1.9 3.7 2.9 n.d. 2.3 n.d. 1.2 1.9 n.d. n.d.
FeO 6.2 7.1 9.2 9.5 6.4 10.1 4.1 6.5 8.5 9.9 10.7 2.8
MnO 0.16 0.24 0.18 0.17 0.15 0.12 0.10 0.13 0.38 0.24 0.14 0.06
MgO 11.2 15.1 12.2 10.2 7.2 7.2 6.9 3.6 7.4 7.4 8.4 0.76
CaO 7.4 6.1 6.5 5.2 5.9 5.3 4.2 2.4 10.9 10.1 8.1 2.2
Na 2 O 1.5 1.2 3.4 2.6 5.1 5.2 3.5 6.8 3.9 3.7 2.4 3.8
K2O 0.40 0.02 0.15 0.59 1.3 1.4 1.2 0.7 0.13 0.17 1.3 2.6
P2O5 0.02 0.02 0.05 0.07 0.08 0.05 0.08 0.11 0.09 0.09 0.14 0.09
H2O+ 3.0 4.6 3.6 3.9 2.3 3.4 2.9 5.4 3.3 3.0' 1.9 1.3
H2O- 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.5 0.6 n.d. 0.1 n.d. 0.2 0.2 n.d. n.d.
CO2 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 n.d. <0.1 n.d. <0.1 0.2 n.d. n.d.
Total 99.8 100.8 100.3 100.1 99.0 99.9 100.3 99.3 99.4 99.6 99.5 99.2
Cr 695 2580 1240 684 147 191 275 67 204 192 429 6
Ni 19.4 460 243 156 69 72 83 40 102 85 87 2
Mg 0.71 0.73 0.67 0.59 0.59 0.56 0.64 0.50 0.58 0.53 0.58 0.33
Mg + 2Fe
n.d. = not determined. For these samples, loss on ignition is reported as H2O"1" and total Fe as FeO.
Sample numbers are those of the Melbourne University Geology Department Collection.
 172 A. J. CRAWFORD ET AL
Analyses of a two-pyroxene andesite (26258)
and a hornblende-phyric andesite (26289) from
Heathcote are given in Table 2. The majority of
Heathcote andesites are compositionally similar to
Sample 26258, which has a most unusual composi-
tion compared with modern orogenic andesites
(Gill 1981). Ignoring contents of elements likely to
have been significantly mobile during metamor-
phic modification of these lavas (Na, K, Ca and
perhaps Si), characteristic features of the Heath-
cote andesites are their extremely low TiCh con-
tents, their low FeO* and AI2O3 contents, and their
generally high MgO, Cr and Ni contents. Petro-
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
graphically these andesites appear to be normal
two-pyroxene andesites, but chemically they have
no match in modern island arc settings. Their
closest modern analogues are the low-Ti andesites
from DSDP Hole 458 in the Mariana forearc
(Wood et al 1981), which Meijer (1981) and
Natland (1981) believed to be the differentiates of
boninitic magmas. However, even these magne-
sian, low-Ti andesites from the Mariana forearc
lack the plagioclase phenocrysts that dominate the
Heathcote andesites. Major and trace element
features of the Heathcote low-Ti andesites clearly
indicate that these lavas are not differentiates
produced by advanced fractionation of a boninitic
magma (Crawford & Cameron, in prep.) The close
association of boninites and low-Ti andesites in the
Heathcote Greenstone Belt requires unusual
physicochemical conditions for their petrogenesis
(Crawford & Cameron, in prep.), with three
prerequisites: refractory mantle at fairly shallow
levels (<50 km), a supply of hydrous fluid to
lower the melting point of this depleted mantle,
and a supply of more heat than is normally present
in subduction zones.
Preliminary geochemical data for the tholeiites
in the Heathcote Greenstone Belt are given in
Crawford and Keays (1978), and two representa-
tive basalt analyses are given in Table 2. Petro-
graphically and geochemically, the Heathcote
tholeiites closely resemble medium- to strongly-
fractionated mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) and
correspond to the pyroxene tholeiite MORB group
of Bougault and Hekinian (1974). The petrography
and geochemistry of these lavas which are believed
to be crust of a Middle Cambrian backarc basin,
will be detailed in a separate paper (Crawford &
Keays, in prep.).
The diorite compositionally approaches gabbro,
and its chemical features reflect the modal abun-
dance of low-Si, high-Ti hornblende. Neither the
diorite nor the microgranodiorite (which is the
most evolved rock in the Heathcote Greenstone
Belt) have any obvious chemical features in
common with the andesites, boninites or tholeiites.
They appear to represent a later magmatic episode,
but in the absence of fresher samples and geo-
chronological data, any interpretation of the
petrogenesis and significance of these rocks is
premature.
TECTONIC IMPLICATIONS
The single most important implication for the
origin of the Lachlan Fold Belt from the data
presented herein derives from the application of
actualism. The low-Ti lava/MORB association in
the Heathcote Greenstone Belt is known only from
modern West Pacific-type, subduction-related set-
tings (e.g. Mariana arc, Crawford et al 1981; New
Caledonia, Cameron et al 1983; Bonin arc, Shiraki
et al 1980). As it is generally agreed that hydrous
fluids thought to be necessary for low-Ti magma
generation are most likely derived from dehydra-
tion of subducted oceanic crust, the low-Ti lava/
MORB association is unknown from intraplate
settings and continental rifts. Considering the lava
associations present in the three Victorian Cam-
brian greenstone belts, namely orogenic andesites,
orogenic low-Ti lavas and MORB, there can be
little doubt at least this part of the Lachlan Fold
Belt developed in a subduction-related arc-
-backarc basin setting.
Crawford (1982) has presented a model that
attempts to reconcile this conclusion with evidence
from granitoids and crustal structure in SE New
South Wales and suggests that the Lachlan Fold
Belt developed on Proterozoic continental crust
(e.g. Compston & Chappell 1979; Finlayson et al
1980). This model proposed that an attenuated
block of Proterozoic continental crust rifted from
the Australian craton in the Late Precambrian and
a major ocean basin opened between the two
blocks of continental crust. Westward subduction
of this oceanic crust at the western margin of the
ocean basin commenced close to the
Precambrian-Cambrian boundary and led to de-
velopment of a typical West Pacific-type island
arc-backarc basin setting across the area now
represented by SE Australia. Subduction of the
spreading centre of the ocean basin provided the
heat source responsible for the widespread occur-
rence of low-Ti lavas in the Victorian Cambrian
greenstone belts; these are postulated to have
 BONINITE ASSOCIATION, HEATHCOTE, VICTORIA
erupted onto backarc basin crust. When the sub-
ducted spreading centre reached approximately
40-50 km depth, diapirs feeding the spreading
centre ascended into the over riding plate and
MORB magmas generated from partial melting of
these diapirs were erupted upon low-Ti lavas in the
Middle Cambrian, thus explaining the stratigraphic
sequence of metavolcanics observed in the Heath-
cote Greenstone Belt.
Continued subduction of oceanic crust after
subduction of the spreading centre led to consump-
tion of the remaining oceanic crust. As a result,
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
the microcontinental block, which had rifted from
the Australian craton in the Late Precambrian,
collided with the arc-backarc basin setting that had
developed during the very latest Precambrian to
Late Ordovician interval along the SE margin of
the Australian continent. The collision is inferred
to have occurred in the latest Ordovician, and is
recorded in the geological record of the region by
the Benambran deformation. It is proposed that
subsequent convergent motion between the collid-
ing plates was taken up by the over-riding plate
passively thrusting over the sialic microcontinental
block at a very low angle, for several hundred
kilometres. This underthrust sialic block was
responsible for the thickening of the crust across
SE Australia and for the presence of lower crust
with typical upper crustal P wave velocities at
20-30 km beneath central Victoria, and it was the
source of the extensive S-type granites across the
Lachlan Fold Belt. The upper part of the Lachlan
Fold Belt is therefore considered to be a mega-
allochthon, and the geological evolution of this
segment of continental crust is very reminiscent of
the Late Precambrian to Late Devonian history of
the Appalachian Fold Belt (Taylor & Toksoz
1982).
CONCLUSIONS
The northern and southern segments of the Heath-
cote Greenstone Belt are composed of a 1500-
2000 m thickness of MORB-type tholeiitic basalts
and dolerite sills. Substantial amounts of pelagic,
locally manganiferous sediments are interbedded
with the lavas. In the vicinity of Mount Camel,
these tholeiites intrude and overlie an unknown
thickness of boninitic lavas which are charac-
terized by an absence of plagioclase in all but the
most evolved, slowly-cooled representatives. The
central segment of the Heathcote Greenstone Belt
173
consists of boninites and unusual low-Ti andesites;
indirect evidence suggests that the andesites are
slightly younger than the boninites. Several stocks
and dykes of (?) Cambrian diorite-
microgranodiorite have intruded the andesites.
Fossiliferous Middle Cambrian sediments overlie
the tholeiitic lavas of the northern and southern
segments, and are faulted against andesites in the
central segment. Tholeiitic volcanism is thus
presumed to have ceased in the late Lower
Cambrian or early Middle Cambrian.
The association of low-Ti lavas and MORB in
the Heathcote Greenstone Belt is known only from
intra-oceanic, subduction-related settings as-
sociated with the construction of island arcs and
backarc basins. The central Victorian section of
the Lachlan Fold Belt is envisaged to have begun
life in such a setting, and only later was it
incorporated in continental crust, when
subduction-initiated under-thrusting of attenuated
Proterozoic continental crust occurred during a
Late Ordovician arc-continent collision.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The contributions to the study and understanding
of the Heathcote Greenstone Belt by BSc(Hon)
students in the Geology Department at the Univer-
sity of Melbourne, especially P.R. Hamlyn, A.H.
Green and J.E. Bradfield, are gratefully acknow-
ledged, as are discussions with Drs I.A. Nicholls,
O.P. Singleton, P. Jell and Phonse Vandenberg.
Freeport of Australia Ltd, largely through the
much-appreciated efforts of Ken Apthorpe, helped
greatly with the production of the map. Maunu
Haukka and Jack Wasik assisted with the chemical
analyses.
REFERENCES
ARNDT N. T., FRANCIS D. & HYNES A. J. 1979. The
field characteristics and petrology of Archaean and
Proterozoic komatiites. Can. Mineral. 17, 147-163.
BAILEY D. 1979. Some aspects of the geology of the
Colbinabbin Range. BSc(Hons) report, Monash
University (unpubl.).
BOUOAULT H. & HEKINIAN R. 1974. Rift valley in the
Atlantic Ocean near 36°50'N: petrology and
geochemistry of basaltic rocks. Earth Planet. Sci.
Lett. 24, 249-261.
 174 A. J. CRAWFORD ET AL
BRADFIELD J. E. 1978. The Mount William greenstones.
BSc(Hons) report, University of Melbourne (un-
publ.).
BROWN A. V., RUBENACH M. J. & VARNE R. 1980.
Geological environment, petrology and tectonic
significance of the Tasmanian Cambrian ophiolitic
and ultramafic complexes. Proc. Int. Ophiolite
Symp., Nicosa, Cyprus, pp. 649-659.
BROWN E. H. 1977. The crossite extent of Ca-amphibole
as a guide to pressure of metamorphism. J. Petrol.
18, 53-72.
CAMERON W. E., NISBET E. G. & DIETRICH V. J. 1979.
Boninites, komatiites and ophiolitic basalts. Nature
280, 550-553.
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
CAMERON W. E., NISBET E. C. & DIETRICH V. J. 1980.
Petrographic dissimilarities between ophiolitic and
ocean-floor basalts. Proc. Int. Ophiolite Symp.,
Nicosia, Cyprus, pp. 182-192.
CAMERON W. E., MCCULLOCH, M. T. & WALKER D. A.
1983. Boninite petrogenesis: chemical and Nd-Sr
isotopic constraints. Earth Planet Sci. Lett. 65,
75-89.
CHAPMAN F. & THOMAS D. E. 1938. The Cambrian
Hydroidea of the Heathcote and Montegeeta dis-
tricts. R. Soc. Vic. Proc. 48, 193-219.
COMPSTON W. & CHAPPELL B. W. 1979. Sr-isotope
evolution of granitoid source rocks. In McElhinny
M. W. ed., The Earth: Its Origin, Structure and
Evolution. 377-426. Academic Press, London.
CRAWFORD A. J. 1980. A clinoenstatite-bearing cumulate
olivine pyroxenite from Howqua, Victoria. Contrib.
Mineral. Petrol, 75, 353-367.
CRAWFORD A. J. 1982. The geology, petrology and
geochemistry of the Victorian Cambrian
greenstones, and their implications for the tectonic
evolution of the Lachlan Foldbelt. PhD thesis,
University of Melbourne (unpubl.).
CRAWFORD A. J. & KEAYS R. R. 1978. Cambrian
greenstone belts in Victoria: marginal sea-crust
slices in the Lachlan Fold Belt of southeastern
Australia. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 41, 197-208.
CRAWFORD A. J., BECCALUVA A. L. & SERRI G. 1981.
Tectono-magmatic evolution of the West
Philippine-Mariana region and the origin of boni-
nites. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 54, 346-356.
CROOK K. A. W. 1980. Forearc evolution in the Tasman
Geosyncline: the origin of the southeast Australian
continental crust. Geol. Soc. Aust. J. 27, 215-232.
CROOK K. A. W. & FELTON E. A. 1975. Tasman
Geosyncline greenstones and ophiolites. Geol. Soc.
Aust. J. 22, 117-231.
CROOK K. A. W. & POWELL C.MCA. 1976. The
evolution of the southeastern part of the Tasman
Geosyncline. 25th Int. Geol. Cong. Field Guide,
17a.
DALLWITZ W. B., GREEN D. H. & THOMPSON J. E. 1966.
Clinoenstatite in a volcanic rock from the Cape
Vogel area, Papua. J. Petrol. 7, 375-403.
DONALDSON C. H. 1976. An experimental investigation
of olivine morphology. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol.
57, 187-213.
DUDDY I. R. 1974. The geology of the Dolodrook River
Greenstone Inlier. BSc(Hons) report, University of
Melbourne (unpubl.).
FINLAYSON D., COLLINS C. D. N. & DENHAM D. 1980.
Crustal structure under the Lachlan Foldbelt, south-
eastern Australia. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 2 1 ,
321-342.
GIBSON G., WESSON V. & CUTHBERTSON R. 1981.
Seismicity of Victoria to 1980. Geol. Soc. Aust. J.
28, 341-356.
GILL J. B. 1981. Orogenic Andesites and Plate Tec-
tonics. Springer, Berlin.
GREEN A. H. 1972. Geology of the Mount Camel Range
and Woods Point Dyke Swarm. BSc(Hons) report,
University of Melbourne (unpub.).
HAMLYN P. R. 1971. Geology of the Colbinabbin Range
greenstones axis. BSc(Hons) report, University of
Melbourne (unpubl.).
HARRINGTON H. J. BURNS K. L., THOMPSON B. R. &
OZALINS A. P. 1974. Regional geology of Victoria
in relation to satellite imagery — a preparatory
study. CSIRO Aust. Miner. Res. Lab. & Vic. Geol.
Surv. Viet., Invest. Rep. 106.
HAUKKA M. T. & THOMAS I. L. 1977. Total X-ray
fluorescence analysis of geological samples using a
low-dilution metaborate fusion method. X-ray Spec-
trom, 6 204-211.
JENNER G. A. 1981. Geochemistry of high-Mg andesites
from Cape Vogel, Papua New Guinea. Chem. Geol.
33, 307-332.
KOMATSU M. 1980. Clinoenstatite in volcanic rocks from
the Bonin Islands. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 74,
329-338.
MCCULLOCH M. T. & CHAPPELL B. W. 1982. Nd isotope
characteristics of S- and I-type granites. Earth
Planet. Sci. Lett. 58, 51-64.
MEUER A. 1980. Primitive arc volcanism and a boninite
series: examples from Western Pacific island arcs.
In Hayes D. E. ed., The Tectonics and Geologic
Evolution of southeast Asian Seas and Islands. Am.
Geophys. Union Geophys. Monogr., Vol. 23, pp.
271-282.
NATLAND J. H. 1981. Crystal morphologies and pyroxene
compositions in boninites and tholeiitic basalts from
DSDP Holes 458 and 459B in the Mariana forearc
region. Deep Sea Drilling Proj., Initial Rep. 60,
681-707.
OVERSBY B. 1971. Palaeozoic plate tectonics in the
southern Tasman Geosyncline. Nature (Phys. Sci.)
234, 45-48.
RUTLAND R. W. R. 1973. Tectonic evolution of the
continental crust of Australia. In Tarling. D. H. &
Runcorn S. K. eds., Implications of Continental
Drift to the Earth Sciences, Vol. 2, pp. 1011-1032.
Academic Press, London.
 BONINITE ASSOCIATION, HEATHCOTE, VICTORIA
SHARASKIN A. Y., DOBRETSOV N. L. & SOBOLEV.N. V.
1980. Marianites; the clinoestatite-bearing pillow
lavas associated with the ophiolite assemblage of the
Mariana Trench. Proc. Int. Ophiolite Symp.,
Nicosia, Cyprus, pp. 473-479.
SHIRAKI K., KURODA N., URANO H. & MARUYAMA S.
1980. Clinoenstatite in boninites from the Bonin
Islands, Japan. Nature 285, 31-32.
SMYTH J. R. 1974. Experimental study of the polymorph-
ism of enstatite. Am. Mineral., 59, 345-352.
SOLOMON M. & GRIFFITHS J. R. 1972. Tectonic evolution
of the Tasman Orogenic Zone, eastern Australia.
Nature Phys. Sci. 237, 3-6.
SOLOMON M. & GRIFFITHS J. R. 1974. Aspects of the
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 15:34 07 April 2016
early history of the southern Tasman Orogenic
Zone. In Denmead A. K., Tweedale G. W. &
Wilson A. F. eds., The Tasman Geosyncline — A
Symposium, pp. 19-44. Geol. Soc. Aust. Qld.
Divn.
TAYLOR S. R. & TOKSOZ M. N. 1982. Crust and upper
mantle velocity structure in the Appalachian
orogenic belt: implications for tectonic evolution.
Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 93, 315-329.
175
THOMAS D. E. & SINGLETON O. P. 1956. The Cambrian
stratigraphy of Victoria. In El Sistemo Cambrio.
25th Int. Geol. Congr., Vol. 2, pp. 149-163.
THOMAS D. E., SPENCER-JONES D. & TATTAM C. M.
1976. Geology of Victoria, Chapter 2; Cambrian.
Geol. Soc. Aust., Spec. Publ., No. 5, pp. 11-24.
WHITE A. J. R., WILLIAMS I. S. & CHAPPELL B. W.
1976. The Jindabyne Thrust and its tectonic,
physiographic and petrogenetic significance. Geol.
Soc. Aust. J. 23, 105-112.
WILLIAMS E. 1978. Tasman foldbelt system in Tasmania.
Tectonophysics 48, 159-206.
WOOD D. A., MARSH N. G., TARNEY J., JORON J-L.,
FRYER P. & TREUIL M. 1981. Geochemistry of
igneous rocks recovered from a transect across the
Mariana Trough, Arc, Fore-arc, and Trench, Sites
453 through 461, DSDP Leg 60. Deep Sea Drill.
Proj., lnit. Rep. 60, 611-645.