~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar and Rb-Sr isochron dating of the gold deposits on northern margin of the Jiaolai Basin,Shandong,China

The Shandong Peninsula (Jiaodong) is a very important gold producer of China. Over ten large and super-large quartz-vein type and shear zone-type gold deposits related to Yanshannian granite intrusions have been exploited in the northern part of the Jiaod…     

Geophysical exploration for interlayer slip breccia gold deposits: example from Pengjiakuang gold deposit, Shandong Province, China

Interlayer slipping breccia‐type gold deposit – a new type of gold deposit, defined recently in the northern margin of the Jiaolai Basin, Shandong Province, China – occurs in interlayer slip faults distributed along the basin margin. It has the features of large orebody thickness (ranging from 14 m to 46 m, with an average thickness of 30 m), shallow embedding (0–50 m thickness of cover), low tenor of gold ore (ranging from 3 g/t to 5 g/t), easy mining and ore dressing. This type of gold deposit has promising metallogenic forecasting and potential for economic exploitation. A ground gamma‐ray survey in the Pengjiakuang gold‐ore district indicates that the potassium/thorium ratio is closely related to the mineralization intensity, i.e. the larger the potassium/thorium ratio, the higher the mineralization. The gold mineralized alteration zone was defined by a potassium/thorium ratio of 0.35. A seismic survey confirms the location of the top and bottom boundaries and images various features within the Pengjiakuang gold mineralization belt. The gold‐bearing shovel slipped belt dips to the south at an angle of 50–55° at the surface and 15–20° at depth. The seismic profile is interpreted in terms of a structural band on the seismic section characterized by a three‐layered model. The upper layer is represented by weakly discontinuous reflections that represent the overlying conglomerates. A zone of stronger reflections representing the interlayer slip fault (gold‐bearing mineralized zone) is imaged within the middle of the section, while the strongest reflections are in the lower part of the section and represent metamorphic rocks at depth. At the same time, the seismic reflection survey confirms the existence of a granite body at depth, indicating that ore‐forming fluids may be related to the granite. A CSAMT survey showed that the gold‐bearing mineralized zone is a conductive layer and contains a low‐resistivity anomaly ranging from 2 Ωm to 200 Ωm.     

Emplacement age and PGE geochemistry of lamprophyres in the Laowangzhai gold deposit,Yunnan, SW China

Widely-distributed lamprophyres in the Laowangzhai gold deposit were associated closely with gold ores. Phlogopite⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating suggests that the emplacement age of lamprophyric magma ranges from (30.8±0.4) to (34.3±0.2) Ma, and gold mineralization took place at (26.4±0.2) Ma. PGE geochemical tracing indicates that gold in the gold deposit did not come from the primitive lamprophyric magma. The tempo-spatial paragenesis between lamprophyres and mesothermal gold deposits along the Jinsha-Red River belt may be attributed to the fact that they formed in the same tectonic setting.

     

Geological and geochemical character and genesis of the Jinlongshan-Qiuling gold deposits in Qinling orogen: Metallogenic mechanism of the Qinling-pattern Carlin-type gold deposits

The Qinling Carlin-type gold deposit belt is the second largest Carlin-type gold ore concentrated area in the world and occurs in Mesozoic intracontinental collisional orogen, contrasting to the Carlin-type gold deposits in the Basin and Range province in Cenozoic active continental margin of West America. With ore-forming ages focussed at the range of 197.45–129.45 Ma, its metallogenic geodynamic background was the decompression-pyrogenation regime at the transition stage from collisional compression to extension, indicating that gold mineralization synchronized with the Mesozoic continental collision. Geochemical studies discover that ore fluids and materials mainly came from the Hercynian-Indosinian tectonic layer. Mesozoic intracontinental subduction of Hercynian-Indosinian association along the Shuanghe-Gongguan fault led to the formation of Jinlongshan-Qiuling gold deposits. Accordingly, the tectonic metallogenic model is established for Qinling-pattern Carlin-type gold deposits.     

40Ar/39Ar incremental-release ages of biotite from a progressively remetamorphosed Archean basement terrane in southwestern Labrador

Gneisses within an Archean basement terrane adjacent to the southwestern portion of the Labrador Trough were variably retrograded during a regional metamorphism of Grenville age (ca. 1000 Ma). Biotites from non-retrograded segments of the gneiss terrane record⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau and isochron ages which date times of cooling following an episode of the Kenoran orogeny (2376–2391 Ma). A suite of gneiss samples displaying varying degrees of retrograde alteration was collected across the Grenville metamorphic gradient. Biotites in these samples show no petrographic evidence of retrograde alteration, however they do record internally discordant⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectra. Although the extent of internal discordance is variable, the overall character of the release patterns is similar with younger apparent ages recorded in intermediate-temperature gas fractions. The total-gas dates range from 2257±27 Ma (northwest) to 1751±23 Ma (southeast), suggesting that variable quantities of radiogenic argon were lost from the Archean biotites during Grenville metamorphism. The “saddle-shaped” nature of the discordant spectra indicates that argon loss was not accomplished through single-stage, volume diffusion processes.Biotites in portions of the gneiss terrane which were completely recrystallized during Grenville metamorphism are petrographically and texturally distinct. A representative of this phase records a⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau age of 2674±28 Ma. This date is markedly inconsistent with regional constraints on the timing of Grenville metamorphism, and indicates the presence of extraneous argon components. Both the extraneous and radiogenic argon components must have been liberated in constant proportions during experimental heating because the argon isotopic data yield a well-defined⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar vs.³⁹Ar/³⁶Ar isochron corresponding to an age (2658±23 Ma) similar to that defined by the plateau portion of the spectrum.The⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar biotite dates suggest that the effects of Grenville metamorphism extent 15–20 km northward into the Superior Province. The limit of this overprint is approximately coincident with the northernmost development of Grenville age thrust faults in the Archean terrane. Therefore, it is proposed that the northern margin of the Grenville Province in southwestern Labrador should be located along the northernmost Grenville thrust fault because this represents both a structural and a thermal discontinuity.     

Gold mineralization age of the Anjiayingzi gold deposit in Chifeng County,Inner Mongolia and implications for Mesozoic metallogenic explosion in North China

The Anjiayingzi gold deposit in Chifeng County, Inner Mongolia is located in the central part of the gold mineralization belt of the northern margin of the North China Craton (NCC), and is adjacent to the Paleozoic Inner Mongolia-Da Hinggan Mountains orogenic belt in the north. The Chifeng-Kaiyuan fault, which separates the NCC from this orogenic belt, is considered to be a regional ore-controlling structure. The Anjiayingzi gold deposit is a mediate-size quartz lode-gold deposit and is hosted by the Anjiayingzi quartz monzonite that was emplaced into the basement composed of early Precambrian gneisses. Rhyolitic and porphyritic dikes are generally associated with the gold mineralization. Zircon U-Pb analyses suggest that the Anjiayingzi granite was emplaced from 132 Ma to 138 Ma, while the rhyolitic dikes that occupy the same fracture system as the gold-bearing quartz veins and locally crosscut the gold lodes crystallized from 125 Ma to 127 Ma. These results constrain the mineralization age between 126     

Intercalibration of international and domestic 40Ar/39Ar dating standards

Four international standards, Ga1550, MMhb-1, Lp-6, Bem 4M, and one domestic standard BT-1 have been intercalibrated. The repeated measurements on MMhb-1 with different mass demonstrate that MMhb-1 is inhomogeneous in age and its average age is 519.8 Ma. The results of Bern 4M and Lp-6 reflect that they have an invariable value of ⁴⁰Ar*/³⁹Ar_k (F) and the ages we obtained are consensus with their K-Ar age: Lp-6=127.7Ma; Bern 4M=18.2 Ma. Analyses of BT-1 age spectra, Ca/K and Cl/K spectra as well as inverse isochrons indicate that the sample is homogeneous and invariable and keeps close chemically, with its trapped argon isotope composition close to the atmosphere. The dating results show that age values are reproducible and steady, total fusion age, step-heating age, plateau age and isochron age are in accord with each other within the error range (2σ). Therefore, we recommend 28.7 Ma as the calibrated age of BT-1. We also discuss the variation in neutron flux gradients of Beijing 49-2 reactor. It was found that the neutron flux gradient varies considerably, and more monitors (standard samples) are needed to fix the trend of variation. The coefficient of the 49-2 reactor that transfers the ratio of production rate of ³⁷Ar_Ca/³⁹Ar_K into Ca/K ratio is 1.78. This is different from that reported earlier, 2.0, which may be caused by the reconstruction of the reactor.     

40Ar/39Ar dating of the long range dikes,Newfoundland

Stepwise outgassing experiments were performed on eleven whole rock samples from a sequence of diabase dikes from the Great Northern Peninsula. Gas released at high temperatures (> ? 925–950°C) was consistently characterized by anomalously high apparent ages. These are attributed to the release of excess radiogenic argon, gas which probably resides in the mineral augite. At temperatures below ? 700°C, a wide range in apparent age was observed. On the other hand, the medium temperature region (? 700–950°C) is characterized by a relatively small range in apparent age. Data points corresponding to this region are rather well correlated in an isochron-type diagram; the slope of the best-fitting straight line corresponds to an aget = 605 ± 10m.y. We suggest that the outgassing of unaltered plagioclase is dominating the age spectra in this temperature interval. Consequently, we take 605 ± 10 m.y. as the time of emplacement of the Long Range dike swarm. This event may have marked the opening of a proto-Atlantic Ocean. The Acadian Orogeny (perhaps the ocean-closing event ? 380 m.y. ago) appears to be recorded in the low-medium temperature regions in the cases of two rather extensively altered samples.     

40Ar/39Ar dating on volcanic rocks of the Deccan Traps,India

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating results on seven volcanic rocks from four areas of the Deccan Traps, India, suggest that volcanic activity more than 70 Ma ago might have occurred at least in limited areas.In the Igat Puri area, the uppermost flow shows an⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 63 Ma, whereas a lower flow has an age of around 82–84 Ma.⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of samples from the Bombay area also seem to favor the occurrence of volcanic activity more than 70 Ma ago. One rhyolite dyke from the Osam Hill in the Girnar Hill area shows a well-defined plateau age of 68 Ma, whereas two tholeiitic basalts from the Mahabaleshwar area indicate a total⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of around 63–64 Ma, though they show the effect of secondary disturbance in the age spectra.The volcanic activity(ies) more than 70 Ma ago may correspond to precursory one(s) for the main volcanic activity around 65 Ma ago in the Deccan Traps.     

Studies on40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of strike-slip time of the Tan-Lu fault zone and their tectonic implications

Samples of mylonite, ultramylonite and phyllonite were collected from 5 localities in the Anhui part of the Tan-Lu fault zone for⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar chronological studies. Among them 4 samples from 3 localities on the eastern margin of the Dabie orogenic belt yielded⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of 128 —132 Ma; and 2 samples from the western margin of the Zhangbalin uplift and eastern margin of the Bengbu uplift gave the same⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of 120 Ma. Isochron analyses and other lines of evidence suggest that the data are reliable. The data are interpreted as cooling ages of sinistral strike-slip deformation of the Tan-Lu fault zone. The younger ages from the north might be related to slower strike-slip rising. These results indicate that the large-scale left-lateral displacement in the Tan-Lu fault zone took place in the Early Cretaceous, rather than in Late Triassic (Indosinian) as proposed by some geologists. Therefore, this fault zone is an intracontinental wrench fault rather than a transform fault or suture line developed during formation of the Dabie orogenic belt.     

Re-Os isotope dating of molybdenites in the Huang-shaping Pb-Zn-W-Mo polymetallic deposit, Hunan Province, South China and its geological significance

The large-scale Huangshaping Pb-Zn-W-Mo polymetallic deposit is located in the central Nanling min- eralization zone, South China. Six molybdenite samples from the Huangshaping deposit were selected for Re-Os isotope measurement in order to define the mineralization age of the deposit. It yields a Re-Os isochron age of 154.8±1.9 Ma (2σ ), which is in accordance with the Re-Os model ages of 150.9― 156.9 Ma. This age is about 7 Ma younger than their host granite porphyry, which was dated as 161.6±1.1 Ma by zircon U-Pb method using LA-ICPMS. All these ages demonstrate that the Huang- shaping granite and related Pb-Zn-W-Mo deposit occurred in the middle Yanshanian period, when many other granitoid and related ore deposits emplaced and formed, e.g. the Qitianling granite and Furong tin deposit, the Qianlishan granite and giant Shizhuyuan W-Sn-Mo-Bi deposit and Jinchuantang Sn-Bi deposit in the nearby area. They constitute the main part of the magmatic-metallogenic belt of southern Hunan, and represent the large-scale metallogeny in middle Yanshanian in the area. The lower rhenium content in molybdenite of Huangshaping deposit suggests that the ore-forming material was mainly of crust origin.     

40Ar/39Ar ages for the alkaline volcanism and the basement of Gorringe Bank,North Atlantic ocean

Gorringe Bank is situated on the Europe-Africa plate boundary at the eastern end of the Azores-Gibraltar fracture zone. It has two summits, Gettysburg Bank to the Southwest and Ormonde Bank to the northeast.We applied the⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar stepwise heating method to date six samples of the alkaline volcanic rocks, two gabbros from the Ormonde Bank and a dolerite from the Gettysburg Bank. The results that the alkaline volcanism lasted probably for less than 6 Ma(66-60 Ma).Although the nature of this volcanism precludes any subduction feature during its setting, the alkaline volcanism of Ormonde is probably linked to Upper Cretaceous/Eocene compressive tectonic events.The basement rocks of Gorringe Bank reveal distrubed⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectra. One plagioclase and one biotite from a gabbro give evidence for a thermic event whose age is tentatively estimated at about 75 Ma, and related to a variation in the direction of the relative movement between Europe and Africa. The more probable age given by a plagioclase of another gabbro and by a dolerite (110 Ma) corresponds to tilting northeastward of the Gorringe massif.     

Excess40Ar in metamorphic rocks from Broken Hill,New South Wales: implications for40Ar/39Ar age spectra and the thermal history of the region

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectrum analyses of samples from Broken Hill, New South Wales, indicate that the region has experienced a complex thermal history following high-grade metamorphism, 1660 Ma ago. The terrain cooled slowly (～3°C Ma^?1) until about 1570 Ma ago, when the temperature fell below about 500°C. Following granitoid emplacement ～1500 Ma ago, the region remained relatively cold until affected by a thermal pulse 520±40Ma ago, causing temperatures to rise to～350°C in some places. During this event, accumulated⁴⁰Ar was released from minerals causing a significant Ar partial pressure to develop. Laboratory Ar solubility data combined with the⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectra gives a local estimate of this partial pressure of ～10^?4atm. The region finally cooled below 100°C about 280 Ma ago.⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectrum analyses of hornblende, plagioclase and clinopyroxene containing excess⁴⁰Ar are characterized by saddle-shaped age spectra. Detailed analysis of plagioclase samples reveals a complex diffusion behaviour, which is controlled by exsolution structures. This effect, in conjunction with the presumed different lattice occupancy of excess⁴⁰Ar with respect to radiogenic⁴⁰Ar, appears to be responsible for the saddle-shaped age spectra.     

The vegetation and climate change during Neocene and Early Quaternary in Jiuxi Basin,China

Desertification and aridification in the inland of Asia are the important scientific issues pertaining to the existing environment of mankind and the sustain-able development of society in western China. The onset and evolution sequence, development and proc-ess of history and the mechanism of this transition are thought to be one of the most attractive hot objects of research on climatic changes in the Northern Hemi-sphere during the Cenozoic, which may have involved glaciation in the North…     

Bashikaogong-Shimierbulake granitic complex, north Altun, NW China:Geochemistry and zircon SHRIMP ages

The Bashikaogong-Shimierbulake granitoid complex is about 30 km long and 2―6 km wide, with an area of 140 km2, located at the north margin of the Bashikaogong Basin in the north Altun terrain. It intruded into schist, metapelite and metatuff of Precambrian ages. This granitoid complex consists of darkish quartz diorite, grey granite, pink granite and pegmatite. Geochemically, the quartz diorite has I-type granite affinity and belongs to Calc-alkaline sereies, and the other gran- ites have S-type affinity and to high-K calc-alkaline series. Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating shows that the quartz diorite has a bigger age than those of other granites, which is 481.6±5.6 Ma for quartz diorite, 437.0±3.0 Ma―433.1±3.4 Ma for grey granite and 443±11 Ma―434.6±1.6 Ma for pink granite, re- spectively. Combined with regional geology, we think that the quartz diorite formed in tectonic envi- ronment related to oceanic crust subduction and the granites in post-collision.     

Age studies on slates: Applicability of the40Ar/39Ar stepwise outgassing method

Results of⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar stepwise outgassing experiments are reported for six slates, one hornfels and one metasilt-stone from the Lower Paleozoic Meguma Group of Nova Scotia, Canada. The age spectrum of the hornfels and of one slate collected from the vicinity of a granite contact have both been completely reset by the thermal effects of the intrusion. The latter, however, has not produced any recognizable mineralogical modification of the slate. Two samples in the collection contain potassium feldspar, possibly of detrital origin, and both have yielded discordant age spectra which cannot be unambiguously interpreted.Three apparently “clean” slates collected from localities well removed from the effects of the granite batholith have yielded quite well-defined age plateaus at ?415 Ma (revised decay and isotopic constants). The mean total gas⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age or, equivalently, the mean K-Ar age is ?400 Ma. From these data we suggest a minimum value ?400–415 Ma for the time of initiation of the Acadian Orogeny in Nova Scotia which culminated with post-deformational “granitic” intrusion ?370–380 Ma ago.     

Metallogenic geodynamic background of Mesozoic gold deposits in granite-greenstone terrains of North China Craton

The spatial distribution map of 65 mid-large gold-deposits hosted in the granite-greenstone terrains of the North China Craton is first drawn. These gold deposits mainly concentrate in the Mesozoic remobilized Yinshan-Yan-shan-Liaoning-Jilin intracontinental collisional orogenic belt, the northern Qinling and the Jiaodong Mesozoic collisional orogenic belts, and the Mesozoic intracontinental fault-magmatic belts developed along the Taihangshan and the Tan-Lu faults; their mineralizing time is predominantly Jurassic-Cretaceous, i. e. the Yanshanian. The metallogenic geodynamic background is exactly the compression-to-extension transition regime during continental collision. The results are partly from the project entitled “The main types of gold mineralizations in China and their metallogenic model” (89-El) supported by the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry of China, and projects “Geology and metallogenesis of the main type gold deposits in East Chinaⁿ” (Grant No. 9488010) and “Study on ore-forming fluids of the Wangfeng gold deposit, Xinjiang” supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 49672119).     

Tectonothermal evolution of the Lesser Himalaya, Nepal: Constraints from 40Ar/39Ar ages from the Kathmandu Nappe

Abstract The Himalaya is a fold-and-thrust wedge formed along the northern margin of the Indian continent, and consists of three thrust-bounded lithotectonic units; the Sub-Himalaya, the Lesser Himalaya, and the Higher Himalaya with the overlying Tethys Himalaya from south to north, respectively. The orogen-scale, intracrustal thrusts which bound the above lithotectonic units are splays off an underlying subhorizontal dkcollement, and show a southward propagating piggy-back sequence with an out-of-sequence thrust. Among these thrusts, the Main Central Thrust zone (MCT zone) has played a major role in Himalayan tectonics. The MCT zone represents a shear zone which has accommodated southward thrusting of the Higher Himalayan crystalline thrust sheet over the Lesser Himalayan sequence for ～140 km. The Kathmandu Nappe in central Nepal has been transported over the Lesser Himalayan metasediments along the MCT zone, and is locally separated from the Higher Himalayan thrust sheet in the north by an out-of-sequence thrust. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages have been determined for one whole-rock phyllite and six muscovite concentrates from metasedimenta-ry rocks and variably deformed granites in the Kathmandu Nappe. These ages range from 44 Ma to 14 Ma, and suggest a record of both Eo-Himalayan (Eocene) and Neo-Himalayan (Miocene) tectonothermal events in the Tertiary Himalayan orogeny. The Miocene event was associated with translation along the MCT zone. No tectonothermal event of the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene ages have been reported near the MCT zone in southern Lesser Himalayan crystalline nappe or klippe, although such events have been documented within and around the MCT zone in the northern root zone of the Higher Himalaya. This suggests that out-of-sequence thrusting may have occurred between 14 Ma and 5 Ma, probably during the period 10-7.5 Ma. Since then the frontal MCT zone below the Kathmandu Nappe has been inactive, but the MCT zone in the northern root zone has remained active. The rapid increase in denudation rates of the Higher Himalaya since the Late Miocene may have been caused by ramping along the out-of-sequence thrust at depth.     

40Ar-39Ar chronology of isolated phases from Bununu and Malvern howardites

High resolution⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar age spectra have been measured on plagioclase and glass from two howardites. Both the plagioclase and glass from the gas-rich Bununu howardite show well-defined age plateaux, yielding distinct ages of 4.42 ± 0.04 and 4.24 ± 0.05 AE, respectively. These age patterns are rather well behaved and are interpreted as representing the distinct times of formation of plagioclase from igneous processes and of glass fragments produced by impact on the meteorite body. The release pattern for the glass from the heavily shocked Malvern howardite is undulating at low and intermediate temperatures but does have a high-temperature plateau. Its age spectrum indicates little apparent diffusion loss, but rather an extensive redistribution of either⁴⁰Ar during the shock event or of³⁹Ar during the neutron irradiation or both. The total K-Ar age of Malvern glass is 3.64 ± 0.04 AE and the high-temperature plateau is 3.73 ± 0.05 AE. The age spectrum of the Malvern plagioclase has an intermediate temperature “plateau” at 3.80 AE that represents 20% of the total⁴⁰Ar content and increases towards a high-temperature plateau at 4.29 ± 0.04 AE containing 26% of the total gas release. It seems likely that the event which formed the Malvern glass also reset part of the plagioclase. The distinct histories observed for the different phases of these howardites are consistent with their formation from a regolith. The present results along with similar young ages for igneous clasts from Kapoeta clearly show that the regoliths were extant on the parent bodies of howardites and that they were subjected to violent impact events at least as recently as 3.7 AE ago.     

The 982 Ma Re-Os age of copper-nickel sulfide ores in the Baotan area, Guangxi and its geological significance

Re-Os dating on copper-nickel sulfide ores from the Baotan area, Guangxi, yielded an ore-forming age of 982 ± 21 Ma (2σ), which demonstrates that copper-nickel sulfide deposits and their related mafic-ultramafic rocks occurred in the same period of time with the ophiolites in northeastern Jiangxi. Both of them are the products of collision-convergence between the Cathaysian plate and Yangtze plate and the subsequent extensional environment. Calculation of the γ_Os of the 982 Ma copper-nickel sulfide ores and its correlation with Re/Os indicate that injection-type massive ores display lower γ_Os values (-15.6 to -8.2) and lower Re/Os ratios (0.32 to 0.43), while basal liquation-type ores have γ_Os-27.9 to -7.3 and Re/Os=5.36 to 11.24. This suggests that these copper-nickel sulfide ores and their related mafic-ultramafic rocks were derived from a Re-depleted mantle source and that contamination with some crustal material occurred during their intrusion.