ERTH3104 Virtual Field Trip to New England Orogen

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Stop name: Flynns Beach

Location: North of the Flynns Beach (Port Macquarie) along the coast. Need to watch out for tides - outcrops are best accessible when the tide is low.

Coordinates: 31°26'13.51"S, 152°55'31.97"E

What to see: Following what we see at the Lighthouse Beach, at Flynns Beach you will see a more diverse range of blocks within this melange. Large blocks of pillow basalt (blocks of tens of metres in size), chert, high-pressure metamorphic rocks.

Additional Data:

  • A petrographic thin-section of blueschist/eclogite taken from the Flynns Beach (PM-01 at Thin section collection).

  • Zircon U-Pb geochronologic results from an eclogite sample (Click to download the Excel data file). Hints on what to do: calculate a concordant age and/or a weighted mean age with IsoplotR and preliminarily discuss what this age means.

(Above) Pillow basalt (photo taken facing south). (Photo by R. Zhou)

(Above) Pillow basalt (photo taken facing south). (Photo by R. Zhou)

(Above) Pillow basalt. Could you tell the original upside direction? (Photo by C. Fu)

(Above) Pillow basalt. Could you tell the original upside direction? (Photo by C. Fu)

(Above) Pillow basalt (surface morphology). (Photo by C. Fu)

(Above) Pillow basalt (surface morphology). (Photo by C. Fu)

(Above) Hydrothermal red chert (called ‘Jasper‘) infilling between pillows. Would you expect to find any radiolarians in these cherts? (Photo by C. Fu)

(Above) Hydrothermal red chert (called ‘Jasper‘) infilling between pillows. Would you expect to find any radiolarians in these cherts? (Photo by C. Fu)

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(Above) Serpentinite matrix melange with smaller blocks. Blocks are mostly serpentinized ultramafic rocks.

(Above) Serpentinite matrix melange with smaller blocks. Blocks are mostly serpentinized ultramafic rocks.

(Above) Serpentinite matrix melange with smaller blocks. Blocks are mostly serpentinized ultramafic rocks.

(Above) A gabbro block in the melange. (Photo by Y. Chen)

(Above) A gabbro block in the melange. (Photo by Y. Chen)

(Above) A chert block in the melange. (Photo by Y. Chen)

(Above) A chert block in the melange. (Photo by Y. Chen)

(Above) A chert block (an isoclinal fold) in the melange. (Photo by R. Zhou)

(Above) A chert block (an isoclinal fold) in the melange. (Photo by R. Zhou)

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Melange matrix

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Folded chert block within this melange

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Minor fault plane coated with secondary minerals (slickenline)

(Photo by R. Zhou)

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Minor fault plane coated with secondary minerals (slickenline)

(Photo by R. Zhou)

Detail of garnets in an exotic eclogite block from within the Cambrian Port Macquarie Serpentinite melange Location: Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, (-31.43724, 152.92532). For more information see www.ausgeol.org - PtMacquarie19 - Download Free 3D model by AusGeol.org (@AusGeol) [fbaeacf]

(Above) 3D model for the eclogite outcrop. This is a block within this melange. Additonal data (thin section PM-01 and zircon U-Pb ages) are from this outcrop.

Detail of deformation within an eclogite exotic block within the Port Macquarie Serpentinite melange Location: Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, (-31.43724, 152.92532). For more information see www.ausgeol.org - PtMacquarie18 - Download Free 3D model by AusGeol.org (@AusGeol) [bfd541f]

Large exotic block of folded eclogite within the Cambrian Port Macquarie Serpentinite melange Location: Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, (-31.43724, 152.92532). For more information see www.ausgeol.org - PtMacquarie17 - Download Free 3D model by AusGeol.org (@AusGeol) [7154d77]

(Above two models) 3D outcrop scans at the Flynns Beach showing the blueschist block.

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There is a geological walk developed along the coast of Port Macquarie. Check it out next time you’re there! Here is a guide.