Indonesian Journal on Geoscience

9

Authors: D. Z. Herman

Either fossils of the hominid or vertebrate have long been known from terraces along the Solo River in Central and East Java. Most terraces consist of andesitic sand to andesitic tuffaceous sand with either gravelpebble or conglomerate and some of them contain vertebrate fossils. It is in this place, an ancient elephant fossil named Elephas hysudrindicus was discovered in 2009. This fossil was discovered at an abandoned sand quarry of Sunggun area, Medalem Village, Kradenan Subregency, Blora Regency which and can be mentioned as a great event for the Geological Museum. It was said as a phenomenal discovery, because the fossil was found within the terrace with condition of nearly complete skeleton of an individual elephant. Some bone fragments of Elephas hysudrindicus fossil is treated as rock specimens because a number of minerals fill in either pore spaces or cavities or cracks within bones, and such infilling minerals can be observed in cut sections of the bones. Main goals of the study are to determine the distribution and type of minerals within the bones, interpret environment of deposition, and identify fossilization type. The methodology used in this study consists of petrographic and Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) analyses. Based on the petrographical observation, some bone specimens of Elephas hysudrindicus fossil are characterized by fibrous and porous feature with cracks occuring locally. Whilst, examination with SEM shows that the bone specimens are apparently composed of collophane or massive cryptocrystalline variety of apatite as the principal component of fossil bone, having physical characteristic of spheroidal structure and cavities of 100 to 1500 micron (μ)in diameter. Most cavities and pore spaces are predominantly filled in by either authigenic crystals of rhombohedral calcite and lesser pseudohexagonal kaolinite with either slightly minerals of manganese oxide or iron oxide or ilmenite, including oxidized kaolinite and calcium iron silicate. Impregnation during diagenesis may be the most appropriate expression for fossilization process of the Elephas hysudrindicus. It is indicated by the existing authigenic minerals within the bones cavities, pore spaces, and cracks which are possibly due to precipitation of mineralized fluids originated from groundwater within the terrace. Keywords: Sunggun terrace, Elephas hysudrindicus, authigenic minerals, fossilization

12

Authors: B.H. Harahap

Volcanic rocks in Kabanjahe region, Karo Regency, North Sumatra Province, are products of old Toba Caldera, Sibayak Volcano, and Sipiso-piso Volcano. Rhyolitic tuff is the main lithology distributed over a large area in this region. Others are basaltic, basaltic andesitic, andesitic, dacitic, and rhyolitic lavas. Data show that the rock was originated from magma of a continental origin formed at a subduction zone environment. Petrogenetic modelling suggests that the range in composition was mainly controlled by a fractional crystallization of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, hornblende, and biotite. Harker’s variation diagram of major and trace elements show a continuous range that indicates they are cognate. The lava in this area belongs to a high-K, calc-alkaline series, with particular high Nb concentrations. The composition of these high-Nb lavas is more similar to those of intra plate basalts rather than those of calc-alkaline or arc-tholeiitic basalt. The high anomaly of Nb which is accompanied by high Th, Rb, and normative corundum suggests that the source may also be enriched in incompatible elements, a characteristic feature of alkali magmatism. The similarity of the trace element of volcanic rocks to the within-plate basalts indicates that the convecting mantle wedge above subducted slabs contains variable proportions of MORB-source and OIB-source components; fluids added were derived from the subducted slab. Hence, it is interpreted that the high Nb concentration of volcanic rocks from Kabanjahe region were generated from subduction modified OIB source components. Alternatively, a deep seated faulting conduit magma from the lower mantle resulted in the alkaline enrichment of the volcanics. This article performs a petrological aspect, especially based on geochemical analysis including major elements, trace elements, and rare earth elements. The results are plotted into a general and specific classification used in petrology. Keywords: petrology, geochemistry, Kabanjahe, continental margin arc, tectonic