40Ar/39Ar and K–Ar age constraints on the timing of regional deformation,south coast of New South Wales,Lachlan Fold Belt: Problems and implications

Four slate samples from subduction complex rocks exposed on the south coast of New South Wales, south of Batemans Bay, were analysed by K–Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar step‐heating methods. One sample contains relatively abundant detrital muscovite flakes that are locally oblique to the regional cleavage in the rock, whereas the remaining samples appear to contain sparse detrital muscovite. Separates of detrital muscovite yielded plateau ages of 505 ± 3 Ma and 513 ± 3 Ma indicating that inheritance has not been eliminated by metamorphism and recrystallisation. Step‐heating analyses of whole‐rock chips from all four slate samples produced discordant apparent age spectra with ‘saddle shapes’ following young apparent ages at the lowest temperature increments. Elevated apparent ages associated with the highest temperature steps are attributed to the presence of variable quantities of detrital muscovite (<1–5%). Two whole‐rock slate samples yielded similar ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar integrated ages of ca 455 Ma, which are some 15–30 million years older than K–Ar ages for the same samples. These discrepancies suggest that the slates have also been affected by recoil loss/redistribution of ³⁹Ar, leading to anomalously old ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages. Two other samples, from slaty tectonic mélange and intensely cleaved slate, yielded average ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar integrated ages of ca 424 Ma, which are closer to associated mean K–Ar ages of 423 ± 4 Ma and 409 ± 16 Ma, respectively. Taking into account the potential influences of recoil loss/redistribution of ³⁹Ar and inheritance, the results from the latter samples suggest a maximum age of ca 440 Ma for deformation/metamorphism. The current results indicate that recoil and inheritance problems may also have affected whole‐rock ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data reported from other regions of the Lachlan Fold Belt. Therefore, until these effects are adequately quantified, models for the evolution of the Lachlan Fold Belt, that are based on such whole‐rock ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data, should be treated with caution.     

40Ar/39Ar Geochronology of Volcanic and Intrusive Rocks in the Papandayan Metallic Prospect Area,West Java,Indonesia

This study presents new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages on the volcanic and intrusive rocks from the Papandayan metallic district in West Java, Indonesia. The vein system in the Arinem area, one of the prospective areas in the district, has been considered as an epithermal gold–silver–base metal deposit, however, no published age results are available for the host volcanic rocks in the district. The ages of these rocks are critical in terms of their association with mineralization and are important to understand the evolution of volcanism in the region, which has implications for mineral exploration in the district. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of two typical basalt and one andesite samples of the Jampang Formation volcanic rocks yielded ages of 11.65 ± 0.52 Ma, 18.15 ± 0.46 Ma and 7.69 ± 0.05 Ma, respectively. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of three intrusive rock samples from Gunung Halang diorite, Gunung Lingga diorite, and Gunung Buligir fine‐grained quartz diorite yielded ages of 12.98 ± 0.20 Ma, 10.81 ± 0.15 Ma, and 7.37 ± 0.05 Ma, respectively. The age of the youngest fine‐grained diorite (Gunung Wayang dike) is 3.95 ± 0.03 Ma. An ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age obtained from adularia in the Arinem mineralized vein (18.30 ± 0.20 Ma) is older than the age of altered basalt sample of this study (11.65 ± 0.52 Ma) and the K–Ar illite ages of the Arinem vein (9.4 ± 0.3 Ma and 8.8 ± 0.3 Ma) which resulted from a previous study. The age results suggest that the Papandayan district may have experienced multiple hydrothermal and mineralization events. This study, therefore, provides crucial age data to support future mineral exploration in the district.     

Single‐Grain Luminescence Dating of Sediment Surrounding a Possible Late Pleistocene Artifact from the Wenas Creek Mammoth Site,Pacific Northwest,USA

Excavations at the Wenas Creek Mammoth Site yielded mammoth, bison, and two possible artifacts in a single colluvial stratum, with radiocarbon bone dates ∼17 ka. Eight infrared‐stimulated luminescence (IRSL) samples were collected to establish general ages of site strata, returning multi‐grain estimates consistent with stratigraphic integrity and the radiocarbon dates. Four additional IRSL samples were collected to estimate the depositional age of one artifact found in place. These produced a pooled total of 94 single‐grain estimates from near the artifact, 80% averaging 16.8 ± 0.9 ka, and 20% averaging 5.1 ± 0.5 ka. These results could be interpreted to demonstrate pre‐Clovis age artifact deposition consistent with the bone dates, or a mid to late Holocene intrusion into older deposits, possibly by bioturbation. The single‐grain IRSL dates do not provide proof of pre‐Clovis presence beyond reasonable doubt at this site, but do show that this technique is valuable in assessing the stratigraphic integrity needed for any such claim.     

A Rapid Method for Determining Boron Concentration (ID‐ICP‐MS) and δ11B (MC‐ICP‐MS) in Vegetation Samples after Microwave Digestion and Cation Exchange Chemical Purification

We present in this article a rapid method for B extraction, purification and accurate B concentration and δ¹¹B measurements by ID‐ICP‐MS and MC‐ICP‐MS, respectively, in different vegetation samples (bark, wood and tree leaves). We developed a rapid three‐step procedure including (1) microwave digestion, (2) cation exchange chromatography and (3) microsublimation. The entire procedure can be performed in a single working day and has shown to allow full B recovery yield and a measurement repeatability as low as 0.36‰ (± 2s) for isotope ratios. Uncertainties mostly originate from the cation exchange step but are independent of the nature of the vegetation sample. For δ¹¹B determination by MC‐ICP‐MS, the effect of chemical impurities in the loading sample solution has shown to be critical if the dissolved load exceeds 5 μg g^?1 of total salts or 25 μg g^?1 of DOC. Our results also demonstrate that the acid concentration in the sample loading solution can also induce critical isotopic bias by MC‐ICP‐MS if chemistry of the rinsing‐, bracketing calibrator‐ and sample solutions is not thoroughly adjusted. We applied this method to provide a series of δ¹¹B values of vegetal reference materials (NIST SRM 1570a = 25.74 ± 0.21‰; NIST 1547 = 40.12 ± 0.21‰; B2273 = 4.56 ± 0.15‰; BCR 060 = ?8.72 ± 0.16‰; NCS DC73349 = 16.43 ± 0.12‰).     

Late Cretaceous porphyry copper mineralization in Sonora,Mexico: Implications for the evolution of the Southwest North America porphyry copper province

Two porphyry Cu-Mo prospects in northern Sonora, Mexico (Fortuna del Cobre and Los Humos) located within the southwestern North American porphyry province have been dated in order to constrain the timing of crystallization and mineralization of these ore deposits. In Fortuna del Cobre, the pre-mineralization granodiorite porphyry yielded an U-Pb zircon age of 76.5?±?2.3 Ma, whereas two samples from the ore-bearing quartz feldespathic porphyry were dated at 74.6?±?1.3 and 75.0?±?1.4 Ma. Four molybdenite samples from Los Humos porphyry Cu prospect yielded a weighted average Re-Os age of 73.5?±?0.2 Ma, whereas two samples from the ore-bearing quartz monzonite porphyry gave U-Pb zircon ages of 74.4?±?1.1 and 74.5?±?1.3 Ma, showing a Late Cretaceous age for the emplacement of this ore deposit. The results indicate that Laramide porphyry Cu mineralization of Late Cretaceous age is not restricted to northern Arizona as previously thought and provide evidence for the definition of NS trending metallogenic belts that are parallel to the paleo-trench. Porphyry copper mineralization follows the inland migration trend of the magmatic arc as a result of the Farallon slab flattening during the Laramide orogeny.     

Late Mesozoic‐Cenozoic exhumation history of the Lesser Hinggan Mountains,NE China,revealed by fission track thermochronology

This study uses zircon and apatite fission‐track (FT) analyses to reveal the exhumation history of the granitoid samples collected from the Lesser Hinggan Mountains, northeast China. A southeast to northwest transect across the Lesser Hinggan Mountains yielded zircon FT ages between 89.8 ± 5.7 and 100.4 ± 8.6 Ma, and apatite FT ages between 50.6 ± 13.8 and 74.3 ± 4.5 Ma with mean track lengths between 11.7 ± 2.0 and 12.8 ± 1.7 µm. FT results and modelling identify three stages in sample cooling history spanning the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Stage one records rapid cooling from the closure temperature of zircon FT to the high temperature part of the apatite FT partial annealing zone (∼210–110 °C) during ca. 95 to 65 Ma. Stage two records a period of relative slow cooling (∼110–60 °C) taking place between ca. 65 and 20 Ma, suggesting that the granitoids had been exhumed to the depth of ∼1−2 km. Final stage cooling (60–20 °C) occurred since the Miocene at an accelerated rate bringing the sampled rocks to the Earth's surface. The maximum exhumation is more than 5 km under a steady‐state geothermal gradient of 35 °C/km. Integrated with the tectonic setting, this exhumation is possibly led by the Pacific Plate subduction combined with intracontinental orogeny associated with asthenospheric upwelling. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Block coals from Indiana: inferences on changing depositional environment

Significant differences in coal petrography, palynology and coal quality were found between the Lower Block and Upper Block Coal Members (Brazil Formation, Pennsylvanian) in Daviess County, Indiana. The Lower Block Coal Member ranges in thickness from 51 to 74 cm and the Upper Block Coal Member ranges from 20 to 65 cm. Average sulfur content and ash yield of the Lower Block coal (0.98%, 7.65%) are lower than in the Upper Block coal. Megascopically, the coals show distinct differences. The Lower Block is a banded coal with numerous thin fusain horizons and a thin clay parting in the lower third of the seam. The Upper Block coal has a dulling-upward trend, with a bright clarain found at the base that grades into a clarain and then into a durain in the upper portion of the seam. Vitrinite content of the Lower Block coal ranges from 63% to 78%, with the highest vitrinite content found in the middle portion of the seam. In the Upper Block coal, vitrinite content ranges from 40% to 83%, with the highest values found in the lower part of the seam. Ash yield is higher in the upper part of the Upper Block coal, reaching up to 40%. The Lower Block coal is dominated by lycopod trees and tree ferns. The Upper Block coal shows marked differences in spore assemblages between lower and upper parts of the seam. The lower half is dominated by large lycopod trees and tree ferns, similar to the Lower Block coal. The upper half is dominated by small lycopods, mainly Densosporites and Radiizonates. These differences between the Lower Block and Upper Block Coal Members are significant correlation tools applicable to mining exploration and chronostratigraphy.     

Palaeocene faulting in SE Sweden from U–Pb dating of slickenfibre calcite

Estimating the timing of faulting is crucial to modelling tectonics, palaeoseismicity, landscape evolution and fault mechanics. Four slickenfibre calcite samples from a conjugate strike‐slip fault set in a platformal limestone, SE Sweden, were dated using U–Pb. Three of the samples yielded an average age of 64.8 ± 6.5 Ma, while the fourth yielded a marginally younger age of 54.7 ± 5.5 Ma. Precipitation of the fibres is interpreted as syn‐deformational. Age uncertainty and dispersion reflect incorporation of common Pb and tiny host‐rock components into the dated calcite and/or possible fault reactivation through ca. 55 Ma. We infer from crystal characteristics, stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) and rare‐earth elements that fibres formed in an environment rich in deep‐seated fluids, at temperatures of 40–200°C, with shear stresses exceeding 10 MPa and at a maximum burial depth of c. 4 km. This Palaeocene faulting may reflect far‐field stresses from shortening in the Alps.     

LOW TEMPERATURE DATING OF HIGH MOUNTAIN ROCKS:(U-Th)/He AGES FROM HIGHER HIMALAYAN SAMPLES, EASTERN NEPAL

LOW TEMPERATURE DATING OF HIGH MOUNTAIN ROCKS:(U-Th)/He AGES FROM HIGHER HIMALAYAN SAMPLES, EASTERN NEPAL1　HouseMA ,WernickeBP ,FarleyKA .DatingtopographyoftheSierraNevada ,California ,usingapatite (U Th) /Heages[J].Nature,1998,396 (5 ) :6 6～ 6 9. 2　HubbardMS ,Harrison .4 0 Ar/ 3 9ArageconstraintsondeformationandmetamorphismintheMainCentralThrustzoneandTibetanSlab ,EasternNepalHimalaya[J].Tectonics,1989,8(4) :86 5～ 880 . 3　HubbardMS …     

Initial Characterisation of SK01 Sanidine: A Candidate 40Ar/39Ar Reference Material

The precision and accuracy of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates are ultimately linked to co-irradiated reference materials of known age. Here we provide new data from the SK01 sanidine, which was analysed in three different laboratories to evaluate it as a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar reference material. Aliquots of 5 mg, incrementally heated in two laboratories, yielded indistinguishable results with a weighted mean age of 27.58 ± 0.06 Ma (95% confidence level). Single-crystal step heating and single-crystal total fusion analyses of SK01 sanidine were undertaken in the third laboratory to further test the intracrystalline homogeneity. For the seven step-heating analyses, six crystals yielded nearly concordant age spectra with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages ranging from 26.853 ± 0.094 Ma to 26.963 ± 0.067 Ma, whereas one crystal gave an older age of 27.774 ± 0.071 Ma with a slightly discordant age spectrum. Twenty-three single-crystal total fusion analyses yielded ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages ranging from 27.070 ± 0.108 Ma to 27.736 ± 0.062 Ma with a dispersion of ~ 3.8%. The older ages from single-crystal total fusion dates are interpreted to reflect an inherited or excess argon component in some crystals. This is an initial characterisation of the SK01 sanidine, and additional work needs to be conducted to further evaluate the age dispersion so that it can be utilised as a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar reference material.     

Contact metamorphism adjacent to a teschenite intrusion

Late Permian (early Tatarian, 258 Ma) palaeosols exposed near Kiama and Dapto on the south coast of New South Wales can be recognised from their red colour, clayey and massive texture, and clay‐filled root traces. Harvey pedotype palaeosols are within the upper Jamberoo Sandstone Member of the Broughton Formation. Loveleigh pedotype palaeosols are within the basal Kiama Sandstone overlying columnar jointed flows of the Blow Hole Latite Member of the Broughton Formation. Both kinds of palaeosols are strongly ferruginised with little relict bedding, yet they are little weathered and have surprisingly high amounts of feldspar and pyroxene. Both also show deformation of subsurface layers comparable to the active layer of permafrosted soils. Root traces in these palaeosols are sparse and comparable to those of woody gymnosperms, not chambered like the known roots of Glossopteris. Plausible components of the taiga woodland represented by the palaeosols include Gangamopteris, cordaites, seed ferns, and equisetaleans. Frigid palaeoclimatic indications from the palaeosols are compatible with a palaeomagnetically determined palaeolatitude of 57–85°S, and thus indicate an equator‐pole climatic gradient in the Late Permian generally similar to that of today.     

Offshore granulites from the Bay of Biscay margins: fission tracks constrain a Proterozoic to Tertiary thermal history

Zircon and apatite fission track ages were determined on granulites dredged along the Bay of Biscay margins. A sample from Ortegal Spur (Iberia margin) yielded 725 ± 67 Ma (zircon). A sample from Le Danois Bank (Iberia margin) yielded 284 ± 58 Ma (zircon), indicating post‐Variscan cooling. Apatite from this sample gave 52 ± 2 Ma, interpreted as final cooling after ‘Pyrenean’ thrust imbrication. Two other samples from Le Danois Bank have Early Cretaceous apatite ages (138 ± 7 and 120 ± 8 Ma), interpreted to result from exhumation during rifting. Finally, a granulite from Goban Spur (Armorican margin) gave 212 ± 10 Ma (apatite), coinciding with a precursory rifting phase. Together with published radiometric results, these data indicate a Precambrian high‐grade terrane at the site of the current margins. The distribution of the granulites on the seafloor reflects tectonic and erosional processes related to (a) Mesozoic rifting and (b) Early Tertiary incipient subduction of the Bay of Biscay beneath Iberia.     

K-Ar age of Ukra glauconites from the Kutch Basin, India

The present paper reports the K-Ar ages determined on glauconitic samples collected from the Ukra Member of the Mesozoic Bhuj Formation in two different sections, one located on the Ghuneri-Ghaduli road near Katesar Mahadeo temple and the other at the base of the Ukra hill in the northwestern part of the Kutch Mainland area. Three glauconite samples viz., Ukra_KT-1, Ukra_KT-4 and Ukra_UH-3 have yielded K-Ar ages of 107.9 ± 3.4 Ma, 105.5 ± 3.3 Ma and 103.5 ± 3.4 Ma, respectively. The sample Ukra_KT-l treated with 0.5N HC1 and analysed in duplicate has yielded a mean age of 104 ± 2.3 Ma while the sample Ukra_KT-4 treated with 0.1N HCl has given an age of 106.5 ± 3.3 Ma. The ages of the treated and untreated glauconites are indistinguishable within 2σ uncertainty with a mean of 105.2 ± 1.3 Ma, which has been interpreted as the depositional age of the Ukra Member of the Mesozoic Bhuj Formation. The study has further indicated that mild acid treatment (up to 0.5N HCl) does not lead to any loss of radiogenic argon in the glauconites and can be helpful in purification of the samples.     

Formation and exhumation of blueschists and eclogites from NE Oman: new perspectives from Rb–Sr and 40Ar/39Ar dating

Seven eclogite facies samples from lithologically different units which structurally underlie the Semail ophiolite were dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and Rb–Sr methods. Despite extensive efforts, phengite dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method yielded saddle, hump or irregularly shaped spectra with uninterpretable isochrons. The total gas ages for the phengite ranged from 136 to 85 Ma. Clinopyroxene–phengite, epidote–phengite and whole‐rock–phengite Rb–Sr isochrons for the same samples yielded ages of 78 ± 2 Ma. We therefore conclude that the eclogite facies rocks cooled through 500 °C at c. 78 ± 2 Ma, and that the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates can only constrain maximum ages due to the occurrence of excess Ar inhomogeneously distributed in different sites. Our new results lead us to conclude that high‐pressure metamorphism of the Oman margin took place in the Late Cretaceous, contemporaneous with ophiolite emplacement. Previously published structural and petrological data lead us to suggest that this metamorphism resulted from intracontinental subduction and crustal thickening along a NE‐dipping zone. Choking of this subduction zone followed by ductile thinning of a crustal mass wedged between deeply subducted continental material and overthrust shelf and slope units facilitated the exhumation of the eclogite facies rocks from depths of c. 50 km to 10–15 km within c. 10 Ma, and led to their juxtaposition against overlying lower grade rocks. Final exhumation of all high‐pressure rocks was driven primarily by erosion and assisted by normal faulting in the upper plate.     

青海湖全新世稳定暖湿期的古水量平衡估算

各种地貌学、沉积学等证据揭示了青海湖流域在全新世大暖期是一个温暖湿润的环境,特别是距今6000～7200a.B.P.的稳定暖湿期,湖水位远高于现代.利用内陆湖泊的水热平衡原理,构造了青海湖古水量平衡计算模型.计算结果表明,在全新世稳定暖湿期,流域内的降水量、蒸发量及径流量分别比现代高32.0%、14.0%及67.0%.     

A massif‐type (~1.86 Ga) anorthosite complex in the Yeongnam Massif,Korea: late‐orogenic emplacement associated with the mantle delamination in the North China Craton

To unravel the petrogenesis of a massif‐type anorthosite in terms of the crust‐mantle geodynamics, we dated zircons separated from six samples from the Sancheong‐Hadong (SH) complex, Korea, using a sensitive high‐resolution ion microprobe. The weighted mean ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age of two anorthosites is 1862 ± 2 Ma, whereas the ages of the hornblende gabbro and granitic gneiss are 1873 ± 4 Ma and 1875 ± 5 Ma respectively. Zircon rims from mafic granulite and migmatitic gneiss yielded ages of 1860 ± 5 Ma and 1858 ± 4 Ma, respectively, implying that the granulite facies metamorphism and anatexis are associated with anorthosite emplacement. Our results, together with available Re–Os data, are compatible with the ~1.9–1.86 Ga collisional orogeny prevalent in the North China Craton and the Korean Peninsula, and suggest that orogenesis was accompanied by mantle delamination beneath the craton. It is thus likely that the SH anorthositic rocks are a product of late‐orogenic magmatism during the post‐collisional extension‐dominated phase of orogeny.     

Stratigraphy,sedimentology, structure and tectonics of Lower Ordovician and Devonian strata of South Mootwingee,Darling Basin,western New South Wales

K‐Ar age measurements using the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar total fusion technique on nephrite from two occurrences in the Great Serpentine Belt southeast of Tamworth yielded ages of 273 ± 5.8 and 280 ± 5.6 m.y. The K‐Ar ages indicate that tectonic emplacement, during which the nephrite was produced as a reaction product between ultra‐mafic rock and country rock, occurred early in the Permian about 275–280 m.y. ago.     

The Westphalian D fossil lepidodendrid forest at Table Head, Sydney Basin, Nova Scotia: Sedimentology, paleoecology and floral response to changing edaphic conditions

Strata of Westphalian D age on the western coast of the Sydney Basin expose a fossil forest of approximately 30 lepidodendrid trees within one of several clastic splits of the Harbour Seam. A multidisciplinary approach was employed to interpret the origins of the coat bed, the depositional history of the site and the response of the fossil forest to changing edaphic conditions. The megaspore and miospore records indicate that the mire vegetation was dominated by arboreous lycopsids, especially Paralycopodites, with subdominant tree ferns. Petrographic, palynological and geochemical evidence suggest that the Harbour coal bed at Table Head originated as a rheotrophic (cf. planar) mire (eutric histosol). The mire forest is interpreted to have been engulfed by prograding distributary-channel sediments; sparse protist assemblages are suggestive of a freshwater delta-plain lake environment occasionally in contact with brackish waters. Lepidodendrids persisted as site colonizers of clastic substrates even after burial of the rheotrophic peatland and influenced the morphology of deposited sediment, but apparently were unable to colonize distributary channels. Equivocal taxonomic data (compression fossils) show the fossil forest to have been composed of both monocarpic (Lepidodendron) and polycarpic (Diaphorodendron, Paralycopodites, ?Sigillaria) lycopsids, genera recorded in the palynology of the uppermost ply of the underlying coal bed. Comparatively rare within the clastic beds of the fossil forest, however, is the stem compression of Paralycopodites, whose dispersed megapores and miospores dominate the underlying coal bed. Tree diameter data recorded equivalent to breast height indicate a forest of mixed age. These data would appear to suggest that some lepidodendrids employing a polycarpic reproductive strategy were better able to cross the ecological barrier imposed between peat and clastic substrates. Foliar compressions indicate that an understory or stand of Psaronius type tree ferns co-existed with the lepidodendrids on clastic substrates, which developed as incipient gleysol soils. The entombment of the forest can be ascribed to its distributary coastal setting, local subsidence and a seasonal climate that fostered wildfire and increased sedimentation.     

基于主成分分析的青藏高原多年冻土区高寒草地土壤质量评价

土壤质量评价是提高对土壤质量理解的关键环节。为了了解青藏高原多年冻土区高寒草地土壤质量的基本情况,在青藏高原腹地西大滩至安多地区,根据不同海拔梯度和植被盖度共采集了154个土壤样品。通过主成分分析（PCA）法确定了影响青藏高原多年冻土区高寒草地土壤质量的最小数据集（MDS）：全氮、全磷、全钾。根据影响土壤质量的最小数据集对青藏高原多年冻土区高寒草地土壤质量进行评价,得出了不同海拔、不同植被盖度下的土壤质量指数（SQI）。通过对不同海拔、不同植被盖度的土壤质量指数进行对比研究表明：随着海拔的升高,SQI呈增加的趋势,即海拔4 300～4 600 m（0.270±0.043） < 海拔4 600～4 900 m（0.326±0.061） < 海拔4 900～5 200 m（0.410±0.075）;随着植被盖度的增加,SQI也呈现增加的变化趋势,即植被盖度小于50%（0.262～0.265） < 植被盖度大于50%（0.336～0.344）。在分别考虑了有机质、盐分、土壤水分对土壤质量的影响下得出的土壤质量指数值与基于最小数据集得到的土壤质量指数相一致,说明基于主成分分析的最小数据集可以对青藏高原多年冻土区高寒草地土壤质量做出较准确的评价。     

U-Pb Zircon Dating of the Yeniutan Granitic Intrusion in the Western Sector of the North Qilian Mountains

Zircons from granodiorite and biotite granite in the Yeniutan granitic intrusion in the western North Qilian Mountains yielded a weighted mean 206Pb/238U apparent age of 460±3 Ma, suggesting that the intrusion originated during the late stage of plate subduction. Its related Ta'ergou and Xiaoliugou deposits are two of the few large tungsten deposits formed in the plate subduction environment in the world. The U-Pb dating of the zircons from the biotite granite gave a discordant lower intercept age of 183±4 Ma, which implies that the Yanshanian event was probably superimposed on the North Qilian region.