NATURE OF THE LATE PALEOZOIC GLACIATION IN GONDWANA AS DETERMINED FROM AN ANALYSIS OF GARNETS AND OTHER HEAVY MINERALS

Heavy mineral suites from Late Paleozoic sediments from S.Africa, Australia, and Antarctica are dominated by garnets, a high percentage of which show chattermark trails. It is concluded that these garnets have been transported over very long distances, probably as a result of having been recycled many times. As they are found in glaciogenic deposits which directly overlie bedrock, it is suggested that much of Gondwana was covered for a long period of time by glaciers of continental dimensions and that much of the record of the early part of the Late Paleozoic glaciation is missing due to glacial erosion.-from Author