Internal structures and U–Pb ages of zircons from a tuff layer in the Meishucunian formation, Yunnan Province, South China

The Precambrian/Cambrian (PC/C) boundary is one of the most important intervals for the evolution of life, represented by prominent biological evolution from the first appearance of soft-bodied animals from the late Neoproterozoic to the sudden diversification of animals with mineralized skeletons in the Cambrian. In South China several areas contain many fossils and are well exposed, suitable for the investigation of PC/C boundary. However, geochronological relationships are still poorly known because of lack of combined detailed investigations of internal structures of zircons and in-situ U–Pb dating.We focus on the internal structure of zircons from a tuff layer within Bed 5 in the Meishucun section on which we undertook cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging and in-situ U–Pb dating with LA-ICP-MS and nano-SIMS. Over 600 zircons from the tuff layer were classified into three types based on their CL images: oscillatory rims, inherited cores and dull structures. U–Pb dating of the internal structure of the zircons by LA-ICP-MS clearly shows a distinct unimodal age population dependent on the structure: 531 ± 17 Ma for the oscillatory rims and 515 Ma for the dull structures. The clear oscillatory zonation, the prismatic morphology, and their occurrence indicate that the oscillatory rims were formed from felsic magmatism, and that the U–Pb nano-SIMS age of 536.5 ± 2.5 Ma records the depositional age of the tuff. Our results indicate that the PC/C boundary is situated below Bed 5, and therefore the bottom of Zone 1 (Marker A) is more appropriate for the PC/C boundary than is the top of Zone 1 (Marker B). The age of a positive anomaly (P2) in the early Cambrian is estimated to be ca. 536 Ma.     

Sr isotope excursion across the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary in the Three Gorges area, South China

The Precambrian/Cambrian (PC/C) boundary is one of the most important intervals for the evolution of life. However, the scarcity of well-preserved outcrops across the boundary leaves an obstacle in decoding surface environmental changes and patterns of biological evolution.In south China, strata through the PC/C boundary are almost continuously exposed and contain many fossils, suitable for study of environmental and biological change across the PC/C boundary. We undertook deep drilling at four sites in the Three Gorges area to obtain continuous and fresh samples without surface alteration and oxidation. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the fresh carbonate rocks, selected based on microscopic observation and geochemical signatures of Mn/Sr and Rb/Sr ratios, aluminum and silica contents, and δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values, were measured with multiple collector-inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometric techniques.The chemostratigraphy of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the drilled samples displays a smooth curve and a large positive anomaly just below the PC/C boundary between the upper part of Baimatuo Member of the Dengying Formation and the lower part of the Yanjiahe Formation. The combination of chemostratigraphies of δ¹³C and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr indicates that the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr excursions preceded the δ¹³C negative excursion, and suggests that global regression or formation of the Gondwana supercontinent, possibly together with a high atmospheric pCO₂, caused biological depression.     

Uneven Distribution of Pseudotormentus De Wever et Caridroit (Radiolaria, Protozoa): Provincialism of a Permian Planktonic Microorganism

The Permian planktonic distribution is not well known, in contrast to other fossil distributions of nekton and benthos. Radiolaria are representative microfossils of plankton in the Permian palaeocean. This study compares both correlated radiolarian occurrences (Pseudotormentus De Wever et Caridroit and Quadriremis Nazarov et Ormiston) in literature data from the Pacific Rim and quantitative data from the Liuhuang and Gujingling sections in South China. Pseudotormentus distributions are concentrated in the Panthalassa, whereas Quadriremis occurrences are distributed over both the Panthalassa and the Palaeotethys. The uneven distribution of Pseudotormentus seems to have been controlled by a difference in the oceanic basins, indicating the presence of faunal differences in Permian planktonic microorganisms between the Panthalassa and the Palaeotethys. In other words, this study infers the provincialism of Permian planktonic microorganisms. The uneven distribution is explainable by a hypothesis that Pseudotormentus was strongly affected by a Panthalassan equatorial current.     

Geochemistry of the oldest MORB and OIB in the Isua Supracrustal Belt, southern West Greenland: Implications for the composition and temperature of early Archean upper mantle

Abstract Recent geological investigations of the Isua Supracrustal Belt (3.8 Ga), southern West Greenland, have suggested that it is the oldest accretionary complex on earth, defined by an oceanic plate‐type stratigraphy and a duplex structure. Plate history from mid‐oceanic ridge through plume magmatism to subduction zone has been postulated from analysis of the reconstructed oceanic plate stratigraphy in the accretionary complex. Comparison between field occurrence of greenstones in modern and ancient accretionary complexes reveals that two types of tholeiitic basalt from different tectonic settings, mid‐oceanic ridge basalt (MORB) and oceanic island basalt (OIB), occur. This work presents major, trace and rare earth element (REE) compositions of greenstones derived from Isua MORB and OIB, and of extremely rare relict igneous clinopyroxene in Isua MORB. The Isua clinopyroxenes (Cpx) have compositional variations equivalent to those of Cpx in modern MORB; in particular, low TiO₂ and Na₂O contents. The Isua Cpx show slightly light (L)REE‐depleted REE patterns, and the calculated REE pattern of the host magma is in agreement with that of Isua MORB. Analyses of 49 least‐altered greenstones carefully selected from approximately 1200 samples indicate that Isua MORB are enriched in Al₂O₃, and depleted in TiO₂, FeO*, Y and Zr at the given MgO content, compared with Isua OIB. In addition, Isua MORB show an LREE‐depleted pattern, whereas Isua OIB forms a flat REE pattern. Such differences suggest that the Early Archean mantle had already become heterogeneous, depending on the tectonic environment. Isua MORB are enriched in FeO compared with modern MORB. Comparison of Isua MORB with recent melting experiments shows that the source mantle had 85–87 in Mg? and was enriched in FeO. Potential mantle temperature is estimated to be approximately 1480°C, indicating that the Early Archean mantle was hotter by at most approximately 150°C than the modern mantle.     

Redox history of the Three Gorges region during the Ediacaran and Early Cambrian as indicated by the Fe isotope

The Ediacaran-Cambrian transition is characterized by numerous events such as the emergence of large multi-cellular metazoans and surface environmental disturbances.Based on geological evidence,it has been proposed that this transition coincided with the increase in the atmospheric oxygen level that was key to the evolution of life.Even though ancient redox conditions can be inferred from the composition of sedimentary iron mineral species,this method is not necessarily applicable to all rocks.In the Earth system,the cycling of iron is of considerable interest owing to its sensitivity to redox conditions.Information regarding the paleo-oceanic iron cycle is revealed in the iron isotopic composition of ironbearing minerals.Unfortunately,only limited iron isotopic data exists for Ediacaran-to Cambrianperiod oceans.To circumvent this deficiency,we drilled a fossiliferous Ediacaran to Early Cambrian sedimentary succession in the Three Gorges region,South China.We analyzed the iron isotope ratios(δ~(56/54)Fe)of pyrite grains in the drill cores using laser ablation multi collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.The results demonstrate large variations inδ~(56/54)Fe,from-1.6 to 1.6‰,and positive iron isotope ratios are observed in many successions.The presence of positiveδ~(56/54)Fe in pyrite indicates that the ferrous iron in the seawater was partially oxidized,suggesting that seawater at Three Gorges was ferruginous during the Ediacaran and Early Cambrian periods.However,aggregated pyrite grains in organic carbon-rich black shales at Member 4 of the Doushantuo Formation and the base of the Shuijingtuo Formation yield near-zeroδ~(56/54)Fe values;this suggests that the ocean was transiently dominated by sulfidic conditions during these periods.Notably negativeδ~(56/54)Fe values,lower than-1‰,can be interpreted as a signature of DIR.The DIR also might contribute in part to the re-mineralization of organic matter during the largest negative carbon isotope anomaly in the Ediacaran.     

Metamorphic P-T conditions and variation of REE between two garnet generations from granulites in the Sør-Rondane mountains,East Antarctica

Mineralogy and Petrology - In this paper, we describe the metamorphic conditions of Fe-rich granulite and variations in rare earth elements (REE) between peak garnet porphyroblasts and secondary...     

Indicator of paleosalinity: Sedimentary sulfur and organic carbon in the Jurassic–Cretaceous Tetori Group,central Japan

A simple geochemical technique using the ratio of total sulfur (TS) to total organic carbon (TOC) was successfully used to reconstruct paleoenvironments in the Jurassic–Cretaceous Tetori Group, central Japan. The TS to TOC ratio is often employed as an effective parameter to separate modern marine or brackish sediments from freshwater deposits. To test the TS/TOC method for paleoenvironmental interpretation of the Tetori Group, we first analyzed TS/TOC for samples for which depositional conditions (i.e. marine, brackish or freshwater) had been recognized paleontologically. The results indicate that the method can effectively separate sedimentary rocks deposited under freshwater from marine and brackish settings. Once we had established the effectiveness of this method, we applied it to three sections of the Tetori Group, central Japan. Stratigraphic fluctuations in TS/TOC values revealed episodic incursions of marine or brackish conditions in the dominantly freshwater depositional sequence in the middle of the Jobu Formation of the Itoshiro Subgroup at the Izumi section, Fukui Prefecture. The same paleoenvironment is also suggested to occur at the top of the Tetori Group in the Tateyama section, Toyama Prefecture. This research provides important information to paleogeographers who currently lack evidence from facies fossils to indicate if the uppermost part of the Tetori Group represents marine or brackish settings. A chemostratigraphy of TS/TOC parameters potentially could provide a correlation among Jurassic–Cretaceous sequences along continental margins over East Asia.     

Preliminary health risk assessment for polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans in seafood from Guangzhou and Zhoushan, China

Dietary intake is one of the important routes of human exposure to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The use of PBDEs may also result in exposure to polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDDs/DFs), as these compounds are impurities in technical mixtures of BFRs and can also be formed unintentionally by the same processes that generate chlorinated dioxins. This study determined the concentrations of polybrominated compounds in common seafood in Guangzhou and Zhoushan, and assessed the health risks of these chemicals via consumption of contaminated seafood. Seafood samples (fish, bivalves, shrimp, crab, and cephalopods) purchased from local markets in 2003 and 2004 were analyzed for PBDEs and PBDDs/DFs. The highest concentration of total PBDEs (46.3 ng g⁻¹ lipid wt.) was detected in fish from Guangzhou, in which BDEs 47 and 209 were the two predominant congeners. The total daily intakes of PBDEs, PBDDs, and PBDFs were, 946, 6.39, and 6.54 pg kg⁻¹ body weight (bw) in Guangzhou, and 489, 4.99, and 7.65 pg kg⁻¹ bw in Zhoushan, respectively. The hazard ratios for PBDDs and PBDFs were both greater than unity, indicating that these compounds may pose some health risks to the local population.     

Chemostratigraphy of the Ediacaran basinal setting on the Yangtze platform,South China: Oceanographic and diagenetic aspects of the carbon isotopic depth gradient

The Ediacaran Yangtze platform in South China, which represents depositional settings ranging from coastal to basinal, provides valuable information for understanding climate changes and animal evolution during the Ediacaran Period. Although the shallower settings have been investigated, research on the basinal sections has been limited. This has hampered efforts to establish stratigraphic correlations and understand the oceanographic setting of the Yangtze platform. In this paper, the chemostratigraphy of a basinal section at Fengtan, Hunan Province, is reported based on analyses of stable carbon isotope profiles in carbonates (δ¹³C_carb), organic matter (δ¹³C_org), total organic carbon, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios, and Mn, Rb, and Sr concentrations. The basinal section of the Doushantuo Formation, which is represented at Fengtan, provides data supporting regional correlations and oceanography. Three intervals in the Doushantuo Formation are correlated with the Three Gorges: (i) a negative δ¹³C_carb anomaly with stable δ¹³C_org values and altered ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in the lower section can be correlated to the boundary between Doushantuo Members 2 and 3 (Interval A); (ii) a relatively high δ¹³C_carb anomaly with unaltered ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (up to 0.7086) in the middle section corresponding to the lower part of Doushantuo Member 3 (Interval B); and (iii) a negative δ¹³C_carb anomaly with lowered δ values in the upper section can be correlated to the long interval of negative δ¹³C_carb (Interval C). The Gaskiers glaciation is likely represented in Interval A, and Interval C corresponds to the Shuram excursion reported for other Ediacaran localities. Our correlations confirm the depth gradient of δ¹³C_carb in the Yangtze platform and imply that reductive conditions prevailed in the basinal section from the Early to Middle Ediacaran. Under such conditions, anaerobic degradation of organic carbon or methane perturbed the inorganic carbon isotopic compositions and was at least partly responsible for the depth gradient of δ¹³C_carb.     

Inferred ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism of amphibolitized olivine granulite from the Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica

This paper reports the first evidence of ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism from the Sør Rondane Mountains, eastern Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, which is evident as orthopyroxene + spinel symplectite in an amphibolitized mafic granulite. The granulite consists of olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, pargasitic amphibole, plagioclase, and ilmenite, and it possesses a within-plate alkali basalt signature. The local bulk chemical composition of symplectite, major and trace element compositions, and thermodynamic calculations for the symplectite, suggest the presence of garnet at the high-pressure stage and that the symplectite formed from garnet, olivine, and primary orthopyroxene by decompression from more than 12 kbar at 1000 °C. The granulite records a subsequent amphibolite-facies overprint (<700 °C at <6 kbar) that involved the chemical re-equilibration of several phases. The obtained pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions and P–T path are different from the UHT metamorphism from the Schirmacher Hills, central Dronning Maud Land, which is considered to have occurred in a back-arc tectonic setting. The relatively high-P conditions and the decompression path reconstructed in the present study are similar to those reported for southern India, Sri Lanka, and part of northeastern Mozambique, possibly reflecting continental thickening and exhumation during the main collision event between East and West Gondwana.