Origins of Mafic Enclaves in the Dinkey Creek Pluton, Central Sierra Nevada Batholith, California

Jade Star Lackey

University of Wisconsin

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Initial Publication Date: June 6, 2008 | Reviewed: October 19, 2012 (see revision history: 2 events)

Summary

Elements, Geochemical Analysis, Geochemistry, Igneous Processes, ...(more) | College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16)

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Context

Audience

This activity would be used in an undergraduate (sophomore or junior level) required course in petrology.

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

Some familiarity with Excel is assumed. I've included a handout introducing the problem and discussing mafic enclaves in the Sierra Nevada batholith.

How the activity is situated in the course

This is a stand-alone exercise.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

The utility of the exercise is to familiarize students with major and trace element discrimination diagrams and spreadsheet databases as tools to consider if magma mixing can explain the origin of the mafic enclaves in this pluton.

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

This activity involves data analysis.

Other skills goals for this activity

Description of the activity/assignment

In this lab exercise, students use and substantial spreadsheet of major, minor and trace element data compiled from studies of the Dinkey Creek pluton (Sierra Nevada batholith) and its microgranular mafic enclaves. The use of the Excel Add-in Petroplot is a must for this exercise to save time. The Petroplot Add-in and its instructions can be found at the following web site: Petroplot Add-in

Some familiarity with Excel is assumed. I've included a handout introducing the problem and discussing mafic enclaves in the Sierra Nevada batholith. Pictures of typical enclaves are provided and can be dumped into Powerpoint for lecture purposes. Several questions [and answers] about to the student-produced graphs are included, but certainly are not exhaustive. The utility of the exercise is to familiarize students with major and trace element discrimination diagrams and spreadsheet databases as tools to consider if magma mixing can explain the origin of the mafic enclaves in this pluton.