ERTH3104 Virtual Field Trip to New England Orogen

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Stop name: Moonbi Lookout

Location: Moonbi Lookout place along the New England Highway between Bendemeer and Tamworth

Coordinates: 30°58'35.08"S, 151° 5'57.50"E

What to see: At this outcrop, you will have a chance to observe a classic I-type granite in eastern Australia, the Late Permian I-type Moonbi supersuite. Construction materials used in this location are all locally sourced and they are all fresh rocks from the Moonbi supersuite. This location is very useful for having an overview across the granite country.

Additional data: A petrographic thinsection from a sample at Moonbi Lookout, an I-type granite (19D01 at Thin section collection). Hint on what to do: perform a good petrographic thinsection observation and compare the difference between I-type and S-type granites.

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(Above) View from the Moonbi Lookout towards the south. Click here to enter 360 view.

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A close-up look at rocks at the Moonbi Lookout

(Photo taken by D. Monteiro)

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Mafic enclaves

The present of mafic enclaves in these rocks implies that these granites may have formed from an igneous source.

Lampropyre dykes in the Moonbi Monzogranite exposed along the New England Highway. The larger dyke to the left of centre in the image is ~2.5 metres wide. More detailed models from the vicinity of the ‘4’ tag can be found here.

Early leucocratic dykes intrude the Moonbi Monzogranite and have in turn been intruded by later lamprophyre dykes. The larger dyke is ~40 cm thick. Several mafic magmatic enclaves are also visible in the model.

(Above two models) 3D outcrop scans next to the Moonbi Outlook. There are notes labelled for further information.

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