新近纪南海深层水的增氧与分层

综合南海ODP1148站、1146站和1143站沉积物物性、底栖有孔虫、同位素等资料, 探讨早中新世以来南海深层水的演化特征.结果表明, 在21~17Ma、15~10Ma和1~5Ma3个时间段分别对应3个富含红褐色粘土的岩性单元, 其红色参数(a*) 增高指示南海深层水中溶解氧含量的增加.对比发现, 前两阶段的深层水增氧与南极底层水和北大西洋组合水增强有关, 说明10Ma前南海与外地的底层水基本是相互连通的.10Ma以后, 南海深层水溶解氧降低, 同时分别处于下深层水的1148站和上深层水的1146站之间的CaCO₃含量变化加大, 喜氧底栖有孔虫减少, 底栖δ13C在10Ma大幅度减轻, 说明南海当时的深层水受大洋深层水的控制减弱.推测主要是南海海盆自16~15Ma停止扩张以后, 南海逐渐关闭引起本地深层水开始形成的缘故.从6Ma左右开始出现大量的太平洋底层水和深层水的底栖有孔虫标志种, 1148站和1146站在5~3Ma期间的CaCO₃含量之差达到40%, 标志南海深层水最大分异期.除了全球气候变冷、北半球结冰引起太平洋深层水扩张的影响之外, 南海海盆由于更强烈向东俯冲而进一步下沉也可能是原因之一.3Ma以来南海深层水演化进入现代模式, 两站之间的CaCO₃含量之差稳定在10%左右, 厌氧底栖种丰度增加.太平洋底层水和深层水的标志种相继在1.2Ma和0.9Ma大量减少, 底栖δ13C也同时大幅度变轻到新近纪的最低值, 表明太平洋底层水的影响基本消失, 太平洋深层水的影响也大大减弱.因此, 标准现代模式的南海深层水, 推测主要由于“中更新世气候转型”时期巴士海峡下面的海槛抬升到接近目前~2600m的深度时, 才开始形成.      

Linking source and sink: Evaluating the balance between onshore erosion and offshore sediment accumulation since Gondwana break-up, South Africa

The geomorphic origin and evolution of the tectonically unique interior highland of southern Africa, the Kalahari Plateau, and its flanking low-lying coastal planes, remain largely unresolved because of a lack of regional quantitative analyses of its uplift and erosion history. Here we focus on the southern Cape, South Africa and link onshore denudation, based on new apatite fission track thermochronology results, to offshore sediment accumulation, using abundant well data and a seismic reflection profile. We attempt to relate source and sink in order to resolve some first order issues concerning timing of the exhumation and development of the topographic features of southern Africa. The volume of sediment accumulated off South Africa's south coast is calculated using 173 wells and a seismic reflection profile. A total, uncompacted, sediment volume of 268,500 km³ accumulated off South Africa's south coasts since  136 Ma, in the Outeniqua and Southern Outeniqua Basins. Accumulation volumes and rates were highest in the early Cretaceous (48,800 × 10⁴ km³ at  8150 km³/Ma from  136 to 130 Ma, and 57,500 × 10⁴ km³ at 5750 km³/Ma from  130 to 120 Ma) and mid–late Cretaceous (83,700 × 10⁴ km³ at 3200 km³/Ma from  93 to 67 Ma). Volumes and accumulation rates were lowest for the early–mid-Cretaceous (47,400 × 10⁴ km³ at 1750 km³/Ma from  120 to 93 Ma) and the Cenozoic (31,200 × 10⁴ km³ at 450 km³/Ma from  67 to 0 Ma). Although our analysis shows that the accumulated volume of offshore sediments does not match the calculated volume of onshore erosion, as quantified through apatite fission track thermochronology (e.g. Tinker, J.H., de Wit, M.J., Brown, R., 2008. Mesozoic exhumation of the 439 southern Cape, South Africa, quantified using apatite fission track thermochronology. Tectonophysics, doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2007.10.009), the timing of increased sediment accumulation closely matches the timing of increased onshore denudation. This suggests that the greatest volumes of material were transported from source to sink during two distinct Cretaceous episodes, and that the processes driving onshore denudation decreased by an order of magnitude during the Cenozoic.     

Cretaceous and Cenozoic cooling history across the ultrahigh pressure Tongbai–Dabie belt, central China, from apatite fission-track thermochronology

The crystalline terrane of the Tongbai–Dabie region, central China, comprising the Earth's largest ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) exposure was formed during Triassic collision between the Sino–Korean and Yangtze cratons. New apatite fission-track (AFT) data presented here from the UHP terrane, extends over a significantly greater area than reported in previous studies, and includes the (eastern) Dabie, the Hong'an (northwestern Dabie) and Tongbai regions. The new data yield ages ranging from 44 ± 3 to 142 ± 36 Ma and mean track lengths between 10 and 14.4 μm. Thermal history models based on the AFT data taken together with published ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar, K–Ar, apatite and zircon (U–Th)/He and U–Pb data, exhibit a three-stage cooling pattern that is similar across the study region, commencing with an Early Cretaceous rapid cooling event, followed by a period of relative thermal stability during which rocks remained at temperatures within the AFT partial annealing zone (60–110 °C) and ending with a possible renewed phase of accelerated cooling during Pliocene to Recent time. The first cooling phase followed large-scale transtensional deformation between 140 and 110 Ma and is related to Early Cretaceous eastward tectonic escape and Pacific back arc extension. Between this phase and the subsequent slow cooling phase, a transition period from 120 to 80 Ma (to 70 to 45 Ma along the Tan–Lu fault) was characterised by a relatively low cooling rate (3–5 °C/Ma). This transition is likely related to a tectonic response associated with the mid-Cretaceous subduction of the Izanagi–Pacific plate as well as lithospheric extension and thinning in eastern Asia. The present regional AFT age pattern is therefore basically controlled by the Early Cretaceous rapid cooling event, but finally shaped through active Cenozoic faulting. Following the transition phase the subsequent slow cooling phase pattern implies a net reduction in horizontal compressional stress corresponding to increased extension rates along the continental margin due to the decrease in plate convergence. Modelling of the AFT data suggests a possible Pliocene–Recent cooling episode, which may be supported by increased rates of sedimentation observed in adjacent basins. This cooling phase may be interpreted as a response to the far-field effects of the frontal India–Eurasia collision to the west. Approximate estimates suggest that the total amount of post 120 Ma denudation across the UHP orogen ranged from 2.4 to 13.2 km for different tectonic blocks and ranged from 0.8 to 9.7 km during the Cretaceous to between 1.7 and 3.8 km during the Cenozoic.     

Mesozoic plutons of the Yidun Arc, SW China: U/Pb geochronology and Hf isotopic signature

The Yidun Arc is a Triassic volcanic arc located between the Songpan Garzê Fold Belt and the Qiangtang Block, southwest China. To constrain the age of a number of the major granitic plutons from the Yidun Arc, laser ablation ICP-MS U/Pb analysis of zircon was conducted. Hafnium isotope data was also acquired through laser-ablation multicollector ICPMS analysis of zircon, with the aim of gaining insight into the age and nature of the source region of the plutons. Three age groups have been identified from seven granite samples: Early–Middle Triassic ( 245 to 229 Ma), Late Triassic ( 219 to 216 Ma) and Cretaceous ( 105 to 95 Ma). Hafnium analysis shows the Triassic granites to have negative and variable ε_Hf values and Mesoproterozoic ( 1.6 Ga) depleted-mantle model ages, which is interpreted to reflect derivation from an isotopically heterogeneous, largely crustal source. The Cretaceous granite shows higher and less variable ε_Hf values and slightly younger model ages ( 1.3 Ga), and is interpreted to be derived from melting of a more homogeneous crustal source. A depleted-mantle model age of  1.5 Ga is calculated from the pooled Triassic and Cretaceous samples. The source region for these magmas may be tentatively correlated with Mesoproterozoic material of the Yangtze Craton, which has been suggested to underlie the Yidun Arc; however, further work is necessary to demonstrate this suggestion.     

Structure and geochronology of the southern Xainza-Dinggye rift and its relationship to the south Tibetan detachment system

The Xainza-Dinggye rift is one of several north-south trending rifts in central and southern Tibet created by Cenozoic east-west extension during Indo-Asian convergence. The southern part of the rift cuts through the Tethyan and High Himalayas. In the Tethyan Himalaya, this rift consists of an early domal structure and a late normal fault developed during the progressive deformation. The dome is cored by leucogranitic plutons that intruded during extension. Muscovite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of the mylonitic leucogranite indicate that extension in the Tethyan Himalaya began at 8 Ma or before. In the High Himalaya, the rift is controlled by a normal fault dipping to the southeast. This fault has a structural constitution similar to a detachment fault. Its lower block is made up of mylonitic High Himalayan gneiss, intruded by early mylonitic leucogranite sills and late less-deformed biotite-bearing leucogranite dikes. Mica ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of these leucogranites and the retrograded metamorphosed gneiss of the lower block range from 13 to 10 Ma. In the study area, the south Tibetan detachment system (STDS) is a ductile shear zone composed of mylonitic leucogranite that is intruded by less-deformed leucogranite and overlain by low grade metamorphic rocks. Mica ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of leucogranites in the shear zone and schist from the detachment hanging wall indicate a protracted deformation history of the STDS from 19 to 13 Ma. The Xainza-Dinggye rift is younger than the STDS because it offsets the STDS; this north-south trending rift belongs to a different tectonic system from the east-west striking STDS, and may be caused by geological process related to India–Asia convergence. This temporal and spatial relationship of the STDS to the rift may indicate an important change in tectonic regime at 13 Ma in the building of the plateau.     

Neoproterozoic adakitic plutons in the northern margin of the Yangtze Block, China: Partial melting of a thickened lower crust and implications for secular crustal evolution

Numerous Neoproterozoic felsic and mafic–ultramafic intrusions occur in the Hannan region at the northern margin of the Yangtze Block. Among these, the Wudumen and Erliba plutons consist of granodiorites and have SHRIMP zircon U–Pb ages of  735 Ma. The rocks have high K₂O (0.8–3.6 wt.%) and Na₂O (4.4–6.4 wt.%) and low MgO (0.4–1.7 wt.%). They also have high Sr/Y (32–209) and (La/Yb)_n ratios (4.4–38.6). Their εNd values range from − 0.41 to − 0.92 and zircon initial ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios from 0.282353 to 0.282581. These geochemical features are similar to those of adakitic rocks produced by partial melting of a thickened lower crust. Our new analytical results, combined with the occurrence of voluminous arc-related mafic–ultramafic intrusions emplaced before 740 Ma, lead us to propose that the crustal evolution in the northern margin of the Yangtze Block during Neoproterozoic involved: (1) rapid crustal growth and thickening by underplating of mafic magmas from the mantle which was modified by materials coming from the subducting oceanic slab from  1.0 to  0.74 Ga, and (2) partial melting of the thickened lower crust due to a thermal anomaly induced by upwelling of asthenosphere through an oceanic slab window, producing the  735 Ma adakitic Wudumen and Erliba plutons. Our model suggests that the crustal thickness was more than 50 km at the northern margin of the Yangtze Block at  735 Ma, and rule out the possibility of a mantle plume impact causing the > 735 Ma magmatism in the region.     

Geochronological constraints on Paleoarchean thrust-nappe and Neoarchean accretionary tectonics in southern West Greenland

Major regional deformation and metamorphic events in the Godthåbsfjord region, southern West Greenland, occurred at 3650 and 2820–2720 Ma (e.g. Precambrian Res. 78 (1996) 1). New geochronological constraints (U–Pb zircon, Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe [SHRIMP] and thermal ionisation mass spectrometry [TIMS]) have been obtained from a stack of mylonitic, crystalline thrust-nappes in the footwall of the western part of the Paleoarchean (3.8–3.7 Ga) Isua Greenstone Belt, Isukasia. A mylonitic tonalite sheet, interpreted to have intruded synkinematically with respect to mylonitisation, yields a magmatic crystallisation age of 3640±3 Ma. A cross-cutting pegmatite and a post-kinematic tonalite pluton yield magmatic crystallisation ages of 2948±8 and 2991±2 Ma, respectively. Accordingly, we interpret the thrust-nappe stack to have formed during the Paleoarchean (3640 Ma), making it the oldest example known on Earth. The similarity of this structural regime to that of modern mountain belts suggests that Paleoarchean and modern continental crust were comparable in terms of mechanical strength and constitution.Southern West Greenland has been interpreted in terms of Neoarchean accretion, comparable with modern plate tectonics (e.g. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 142 (1996) 353). Isukasia lies just east of a purported Neoarchean accretionary boundary between the Akia terrane to the Northwest and the Akulleq terrane to the Southeast. The Akia terrane was previously considered to overthrust the Akulleq terrane at 2820–2720 Ma. Our geochronological and geological data indicate (i) that the two “terranes”, as presently defined, were stitched at 2991±2 Ma and (ii) that thrusting across the boundary was directed toward the Akia terrane. Therefore, we suggest that the Akia–Akulleq interface was not a fundamental tectonic structure during the Neoarchean, and we question its identification as an accretionary boundary.     

Age constraints on the formation and emplacement of Neoproterozoic ophiolites along the Allaqi–Heiani Suture, South Eastern Desert of Egypt

Ophiolites are key components of the Neoproterozoic Arabian–Nubian Shield (ANS). Understanding when they formed and were emplaced is crucial for understanding the evolution of the ANS because their ages tell when seafloor spreading and terrane accretion occurred. The Yanbu–Onib–Sol Hamed–Gerf–Allaqi–Heiani (YOSHGAH) suture and ophiolite belt can be traced  600 km across the Nubian and Arabian shields. We report five new SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages from igneous rocks along the Allaqi segment of the YOSHGAH suture in southernmost Egypt and use these data in conjunction with other age constraints to evaluate YOSHGAH suture evolution. Ophiolitic layered gabbro gave a concordia age of 730 ± 6 Ma, and a metadacite from overlying arc-type metavolcanic rocks yielded a weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 733 ± 7 Ma, indicating ophiolite formation at  730 Ma. Ophiolite emplacement is also constrained by intrusive bodies: a gabbro yielded a concordia age of 697 ± 5 Ma, and a quartz-diorite yielded a concordia age of 709 ± 4 Ma. Cessation of deformation is constrained by syn- to post-tectonic granite with a concordia age of 629 ± 5 Ma. These new data, combined with published zircon ages for ophiolites and stitching plutons from the YOSHGAH suture zone, suggest a 2-stage evolution for the YOSHGAH ophiolite belt ( 810–780 Ma and  730–750 Ma) and indicate that accretion between the Gabgaba–Gebeit–Hijaz terranes to the south and the SE Desert–Midyan terranes to the north occurred as early as 730 Ma and no later than 709 ± 4 Ma.     

Probing fault zone heterogeneity on the Nojima fault: Constraints from zircon fission-track analysis of borehole samples

Fission-track (FT) thermochronologic analysis was performed on zircon separates from rocks in and around the Nojima fault, which was activated during the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Samples were collected from the University Group 500 m (UG-500) borehole and nearby outcrops. FT lengths in zircons from localities > 25 m away from the fault plane as well as one 0.1 m away from the fault in the footwall are characterized by concordant mean values of  10–11 μm and unimodal distributions with negative skewness, which showed no signs of appreciable reduction in FT length. In contrast, those adjacent (< 3 m) to the fault at depths on the hanging wall side showed significantly reduced mean track lengths of  6–8 μm and distributions having a peak around 6–7 μm with rather positive skewness. The former pattern is interpreted to reflect cooling through the zircon partial annealing zone (ZPAZ), without later, partial thermal overprints. The latter indicates substantial track shortening due probably to secondary heating by a thermal event(s) that locally perturbed the geothermal structure. Modeled zircon FT length and age data of partially annealed samples from the UG-500 borehole revealed a cooling episode in the ZPAZ that started at  4 Ma within  3 m from the fault plane, whereas those from the Geological Survey of Japan 750 m borehole record cooling started at  31–38 Ma within  25 m from the fault. On the basis of one-dimensional heat conduction modeling as well as the consistency between the degree of FT annealing and the degree of deformation/alteration of borehole rocks, these cooling ages in both boreholes are interpreted as consequences of ancient thermal overprints by heat transfer or dispersion via fluids in the fault zone. Together with the zircon FT data of a pseudotachylyte layer recently analyzed, it is suggested that the present Nojima fault system was reactivated in the Middle Quaternary from an ancient fault initiated at  56 Ma at mid-crustal depths. Also shown is a temporal/spatial variation in terms of the thermal anomalies recorded in the fault rocks, implying heterogeneity of hot fluid flows in the fault zone.     

Taconic Orogeny in Pennsylvania: A 15 –20 m.y. Apennine-style Ordovician event viewed from its Martic hinterland

In Pennsylvania, the Taconic Orogeny lasted from 461 to 443 Ma as Cambro-Ordovician slope deposits were deformed into mountains edging the Laurentian craton at the same time that materials from an adjacent deep-water basin were being transported 50 –70 km across a carbonate platform into foreland basins. This paper focuses on shelf-edge hinterland features, mostly the Martic Zone as a folded, stack of imbricate thrust sheets of slope materials that corresponds to Vermont's Taconic Mountains and Southern Quebec's zone of Taconic allochthons. Work of the last century is summarized, corrected, and combined with a new 450 Ma radiometric date and fluid inclusion data from the Pequea Mine within the Martic Zone. These and abundant new graptolite and conodont dates in the foreland paint a revised Pennsylvania picture differing from the northern Taconic areas. Differences are: (1) transport of very large allochthonous masses of deep-water material, the Dauphin Formation, far across the carbonate platform, and (2) deformation migrating progressively across that platform during a 15 –20 m.y. period, incorporating it and its foreland cover into alpine-scale, recumbent folds and thrusts. The scenario has many analogies to Italy's modern Apennine Mountains minus the Latian volcanics.     

Differential Late Paleozoic active margin evolution in South-Central Chile (37°S–40°S) – the Lanalhue Fault Zone

The N–S oriented Coastal Cordillera of South Central Chile shows marked lithological contrasts along strike at 38°S. Here, the sinistral NW–SE-striking Lanalhue Fault Zone (nomen novum) juxtaposes Permo-Carboniferous magmatic arc granitoids and associated, frontally accreted metasediments (Eastern Series) in the northeast with a Late Carboniferous to Triassic basal-accretionary forearc wedge complex (Western Series) in the southwest. The fault is interpreted as an initially ductile deformation zone with divergent character, located in the eastern flank of the basally growing, upwarping, and exhuming Western Series. It was later transformed and reactivated as a semiductile to brittle sinistral transform fault. Rb–Sr data and fluid inclusion studies of late-stage fault-related mineralizations revealed Early Permian ages between 280 and 270 Ma for fault activity, with subsequent minor erosion. Regionally, crystallization of arc intrusives and related metamorphism occurred between 306 and 286 Ma, preceded by early increments of convergence-related deformation. Basal Western Series accretion started at >290 Ma and lasted to 250 Ma. North of the Lanalhue fault, Late Paleozoic magmatic arc granitoids are nearly 100 km closer to the present day Andean trench than further south. We hypothesize that this marked difference in paleo-forearc width is due to an Early Permian period of subduction erosion north of 38°S, contrasting with ongoing accretion further south, which kinematically triggered the evolution of the Lanalhue Fault Zone. Permo-Triassic margin segmentation was due to differential forearc accretion and denudation characteristics, and is now expressed in contrasting lithologies and metamorphic signatures in todays Andean forearc region north and south of the Lanalhue Fault Zone.     

Brigantian and Middle Triassic remagnetizations in Lower Carboniferous carbonates, Northern Ireland: Role of diagenesis and fluid flow

Paleomagnetism (18 sites, 231 specimens) of Lower Carboniferous carbonates in Northern Ireland reveals three characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) components. Six sites from Brigantian limestones have a Middle Triassic (239 ± 7 Ma) secondary chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) in hematite, likely from alteration of the limestones by oxidizing meteoric fluids when continental red beds were deposited immediately above. Twelve sites from early Asbian limestones retain ChRM directions residing in pyrrhotite and magnetite. Their paleopoles are statistically indistinct, but suggest that the pyrrhotite remanence (326 ± 4 Ma) is about a million years younger than the magnetite remanence (327 ± 3 Ma). More importantly, the primary ChRM in these limestones was reset 3 or 4 Ma after deposition, probably by fluids involved in their diagenesis, giving secondary CRMs that are 8 Ma younger than those observed in the Lower Carboniferous carbonates that host the Navan Zn–Pb deposit in the Irish Midlands, suggesting two unrelated fluid histories.     

The age and petrology of the Chimbadzi Hill Intrusion, NW Zimbabwe: first evidence for early Paleoproterozoic magmatism in Zimbabwe

The mafic-ultramafic Chimbadzi Hill intrusion in the NW of the Zimbabwe craton is a dyke with inward-dipping margins comprising magnetite peridotite, troctolite and magnetite melatroctolite. The magnetite peridotite is composed of about equal amounts of V- and Ti-bearing magnetite and olivine (Fo₆₀). The troctolite is composed of about 50% olivine (Fo_50-54), 40% plagioclase (An_53-58), 7% clinopyroxene and minor apatite and magnetite with ilmenite lamellae. Geochemical trends suggest that the Chimbadzi Hill Intrusion formed by fractional crystallisation from a single initial magma. However, the more primitive magnetite peridotite overlies the more evolved troctolite in the intrusion. This ‘apparent’ inverted stratigraphy may be due to emptying of a fractionated magma chamber from the top, or to floor subsidence during intrusion.U–Pb dating on baddeleyite reveals that the age of the Chimbadzi Hill Intrusion is 2262 ± 2 Ma. This age does not correspond to any known tectono-thermal event in the Zimbabwe Craton or adjacent metamorphic belts. It is 300 Ma younger than the late Archean Great Dyke, and 230 Ma older than other Paleoproterozoic events in and around the craton. Therefore, it may represent a so far undocumented very early Proterozoic igneous event in the Zimbabwe Craton. The intrusion represents a vanadium resource for Zimbabwe, with titanium potentially being mined as by-product.     

Neoproterozoic crustal growth: The solid Earth system during a critical episode of Earth history

The behavior of the solid Earth system is often overlooked when the causes of major Neoproteozoic (1000–542 Ma) climate and biosphere events are discussed although  20% of the present continental crust formed or was remobilized during this time. Processes responsible for forming and deforming the continental crust during Neoproterozoic time were similar to those of the modern Earth and took place mostly but not entirely at convergent margin settings. Crustal growth and reworking occurred within the context of a supercontinent cycle, from breakup of Rodinia beginning  830 Ma to formation of a new supercontinent Greater Gondwana or Pannotia,  600 Ma. Neoproterozoic crust formation and deformation was heterogeneous in space and time, and was concentrated in Africa, Eurasia, and South America during the last 300 million years of Neoproterozoic time. In contrast, the solid Earth system was relatively quiescent during the Tonian period (1000–850 Ma). The vigor of Cryogenian and Ediacaran tectonic and magmatic processes and the similar timing of these events and development of Neoproterozoic glaciations and metazoa suggest that climate change and perhaps increasing biological complexity was strongly affected by the solid Earth system.     

Structural and stratigraphical constraints on the kinematics history of the Southern Tan–Lu Fault Zone during the Mesozoic Anhui Province, China

The Tan–Lu Fault Zone (TLFZ) extends in a NNE–SSW direction for more than 2000 km in Eastern China. It has been considered either as a major sinistral strike-slip fault, as a suture zone or as a normal fault. We have conducted a structural analysis of the southern segment of this fault zone (STLFZ) in the Anhui Province. The ages (Triassic to Palaeocene) of the formations affected by the faults have been re-appraised taking into account recent stratigraphical studies to better constraint the ages of the successive stages of the kinematics of the STLFZ. Subsequently, the kinematics of the faults is presented in terms of strain/stress fields by inversion of the striated fault set data. Finally, the data are discussed in the light of the results obtained by previous workers.We propose the following history of the STLFZ kinematics during the Mesozoic. At the time of collision, a  NNE orientated Tan–Lu margin probably connected two margins located north of the Dabie and Sulu collision belts. During the Middle–Late Triassic, the SCB has been obliquely subducted below the NCB along this margin which has acted as a compressional transfer zone between the Dabie and Sulu continental subduction zones. The STLFZ has been initiated during the Early Jurassic and has acted as a sinistral transform fault during the Jurassic, following which the NCB/SCB collision stopped. A  NW-trending extension related to metamorphic domes was active during the basal Early Cretaceous ( 135–130 Ma); it has been followed by a NW–SE compression and a NE–SW tension during the middle–late Early Cretaceous ( 127 to  105 Ma, possibly  95 Ma); at that time the TLFZ was a sinistral transcurrent fault within the eastern part of the Asian continent. During the Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene, the STLFZ was a normal fault zone under a WNW–ESE tension.     

The Magnitude and Proximate Cause of Ice-Sheet Growth Since 35,000 yr B.P.

The magnitude of late Wisconsinan (post-35,000 yr B.P.) ice-sheet growth in the Northern Hemisphere is not well known. Ice volume at 35,000 yr B.P. may have been as little as 20% or as much as 70% of the volume present at the last glacial maximum (LGM). A conservative evaluation of glacial–geologic, sea level, and benthic δ¹⁸O data indicates that ice volume at 35,000 yr B.P. was approximately 50% of that extant at the LGM (20,000 yr B.P.); that is, it doubled in about 15,000 yr. On the basis of literature for the North Atlantic and a sea-surface temperature (SST) data compilation, it appears that this rapid growth may have been forced by low-to-mid-latitude SST warming in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with attendant increased moisture transport to high latitudes. The SST ice-sheet growth notion also explains the apparent synchroneity of late Wisconsinan mountain glaciation in both hemispheres.     

Cretaceous–Tertiary geology of the Gangdese Arc in the Linzhou area, southern Tibet

Knowledge of the Cretaceous–Tertiary history of upper crustal shortening and magmatism in Tibet is fundamental to placing constraints on when and how the Tibetan plateau formed. In the Lhasa terrane of southern Tibet, the widely exposed angular unconformity beneath uppermost Cretaceous–lower Tertiary volcanic-bearing strata of the Linzizong Formation provides an excellent geologic and time marker to distinguish between deformation that occurred before vs. during the Indo-Asian collision. In the Linzhou area, located  30 km north of the city of Lhasa, a > 3-km-thick section of the Linzizong Formation lies unconformably on Cretaceous and older rocks that were shortened by both northward- and southward-verging structures during the Late Cretaceous. The Linzizong Formation dips northward in the footwall of a north-dipping thrust system that involves Triassic–Jurassic strata and a granite intrusion in the hanging wall. U–Pb zircon geochronologic studies show that the Linzizong Formation ranges in age from 69 Ma to at least 47 Ma and that the hanging wall granite intrusion crystallized at  52 Ma, coeval with dike emplacement into footwall Cretaceous strata. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronologic studies suggest slow cooling of the granite between 49 and 42 Ma, followed by an episode of accelerated cooling to upper crustal levels beginning at  42 Ma. The onset of rapid cooling was coeval with the cessation of voluminous arc magmatism in southern Tibet and is interpreted be a consequence of either (1) Tertiary thrusting in this region or (2) regional rock uplift and erosion following removal of overthickened Gangdese arc lower crust and upper mantle or break-off of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic slab.     

Constraining models of the tectonic setting of the giant Olympic Dam iron oxide–copper–gold deposit, South Australia, using deep seismic reflection data

In the Gawler Craton, the completeness of cover concealing the crystalline basement in the region of the giant Olympic Dam Cu–Au deposit has impeded any sufficient understanding of the crustal architecture and tectonic setting of its IOCG mineral-system. To circumvent this problem, deep seismic reflection data were recently acquired from  250 line-km of two intersecting traverses, centered on the Olympic Dam deposit. The data were recorded to 18 s TWT ( 55 km). The crust consists of Neoproterozoic cover, in places more than 5 km thick, over crystalline basement with the Moho at depths of 13–14 s TWT ( 40–42 km). The Olympic Dam deposit lies on the boundary between two distinct pieces of crust, one interpreted as the Archean–Paleoproterozoic core to the craton, the other as a Meso–Neoproterozoic mobile belt. The host to the deposit, a member of the  1590 Ma Hiltaba Suite of granites, is situated above a zone of reduced impedance contrast in the lower crust, which we interpret to be source-region for its  1000 °C magma. The crystalline basement is dominated by thrusts. This contrasts with widely held models for the tectonic setting of Olympic Dam, which predict extension associated with heat from the mantle producing the high temperatures required to generate the Hiltaba Suite granites implicated in mineralization. We use the seismic data to test four hypotheses for this heat-source: mantle underplating, a mantle-plume, lithospheric extension, and radioactive heating in the lower crust. We reject the first three hypotheses. The data cannot be used to reject or confirm the fourth hypothesis.     

SHRIMP zircon U–Pb geochronological and whole-rock geochemical evidence for an early Neoproterozoic Sibaoan magmatic arc along the southeastern margin of the Yangtze Block

It has been generally accepted that the South China Block was formed through amalgamation of the Yangtze and Cathaysia Blocks during the Proterozoic Sibaoan orogenesis, but the timing and kinematics of the Sibao orogeny are still not well constrained. We report here SHRIMP U–Pb zircon geochronological and geochemical data for the Taohong and Xiqiu tonalite–granodiorite stocks from northeastern Zhejiang, southeastern margin of the Yangtze Block. Our data demonstrate that these rocks, dated at 913 ± 15 Ma and 905 ± 14 Ma, are typical amphibole-rich calc-alkaline granitoids formed in an active continental margin. Combined with previously reported isotopic dates for the  1.0 Ga ophiolites and  0.97 Ga adakitic rocks from northeastern Jiangxi, the timing of the Sibao orogenesis is thus believed to be between  1.0 and  0.9 Ga in its eastern segment. It is noted that the Sibao orogeny in South China is in general contemporaneous with some other early Neoproterozoic (1.0–0.9 Ga) orogenic belts such as the Eastern Ghats Belt of India and the Rayner Province in East Antarctica, indicating that the assembly of Rodinia was not finally completed until  0.9 Ga.     

Age and origin of middle Neoproterozoic mafic magmatism in southern Yangtze Block and relevance to the break-up of Rodinia

SHRIMP U–Pb zircon age, geochemical and Sm–Nd isotopic data are reported for mid-Neoproterozoic volcanic rocks and mafic intrusions in northern Guangxi (Guibei) and western Hunan (Xiangxi) Provinces along the southern margin of the Yangtze Block. The mafic igneous rocks studied are generally synchronous, dated at  765 Ma. The least-contaminated dolerite samples from Xiangxi are characterized by high εNd(T) value of 3.3 to 5.3 and OIB-type geochemical features, indicating that they were derived from an OIB-like mantle source in a continental rift setting. The spilites and gabbros in Guibei show basaltic compositions transitional between the tholeiitic and calc-alkaline series. Despite depletion in Nb and Ta relative to La and Th, they have Zr/Sm = 27–35 and Ti/V = 30–40, affinitive to intraplate basalts. Their εNd(T) values are variable, ranging from − 1.2 to 3.2 for the spilites and from − 1.7 to 2.9 for the gabbros, suggesting that these spilites and gabbros crystallized from crustal-contaminated mafic magmas derived from a metasomatised subcontinental lithospheric mantle source. We conclude that the  765 Ma mafic magmatic rocks in Guibei and Xiangxi were formed in a single continental rift setting as part of the broadly concurrent  780–750 Ma rift magmatism over much of South China, which may be related to the plume activities during the breakup of Rodinia.