Metasomatism and the crystallization of zircon megacrysts in Archaean peridotites from the Lewisian complex,NW Scotland

Zircon megacrysts are locally abundant in 1–40 cm-thick orthopyroxenite veins within peridotite host rocks in the Archaean Lewisian gneiss complex from NW Scotland. The veins formed by metasomatic interaction between the ultramafic host and Si-rich melts are derived from partial melting of the adjacent granulite-facies orthogneisses. The interaction produced abundant orthopyroxene and, within the thicker veins, phlogopite, pargasite and feldspathic bearing assemblages. Two generations of zircon are present with up to 1 cm megacrystic zircon and a later smaller equant population located around the megacryst margins. Patterns of zoning, rare earth element abundance and oxygen isotopic compositions indicate that the megacrysts crystallized from crustal melts, whereas the equant zircon represents new neocryst growth and partial replacement of the megacryst zircon within the ultramafic host. Both zircon types have U–Pb ages of ca. 2464 Ma, broadly contemporaneous with granulite-facies events in the adjacent gneisses. Zircon megacrysts locally form?>?10% of the assemblage and may be associated to zones of localized nucleation or physically concentrated during movement of the siliceous melts. Their unusual size is linked to the suppression of zircon nucleation and increased Zr solubility in the Si-undersaturated melts. The metasomatism between crustal melts and peridotite may represent an analog for processes in the mantle wedge above subducting slabs. As such, the crystallization of abundant zircon in ultramafic host rocks has implications for geochemistry of melts generated in the mantle and the widely reported depletion of high field strength elements in arc magmas.     

U–Pb isotopic dating of titanite microstructures: potential implications for the chronology and identification of large impact structures

Identifying and dating large impact structures is challenging, as many of the traditional shock indicator phases can be modified by post-impact processes. Refractory accessory phases, such as zircon, while faithful recorders of shock wave passage, commonly respond with partial U–Pb age resetting during impact events. Titanite is an accessory phase with lower Pb closure temperature than many other robust chronometers, but its potential as indicator and chronometer of impact-related processes remains poorly constrained. In this study, we examined titanite grains from the Sudbury (Ontario, Canada) and Vredefort (South Africa) impact structures, combining quantitative microstructural and U–Pb dating techniques. Titanite grains from both craters host planar microstructures and microtwins that show a common twin–host disorientation relationship of 74° about <102>. In the Vredefort impact structure, the microtwins deformed internally and developed high- and low-angle grain boundaries that resulted in the growth of neoblastic crystallites. U–Pb isotopic dating of magmatic titanite grains with deformation microtwins from the Sudbury impact structure yielded a ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age of 1851?±?12 Ma that records either the shock heating or the crater modification stage of the impact event. The titanite grains from the Vredefort impact structure yielded primarily pre-impact ages recording the cooling of the ultra-high-temperature Ventersdorp event, but domains with microtwins or planar microstructures show evidence of U–Pb isotopic disturbance. Despite that the identified microtwins are not diagnostic of shock-metamorphic processes, our contribution demonstrates that titanite has great potential to inform studies of the terrestrial impact crater record.     

Zircon record of fractionation,hydrous partial melting and thermal gradients at different depths in oceanic crust (ODP Site 735B,South-West Indian Ocean)

Felsic veins (plagiogranites) are distributed throughout the whole oceanic crust section and offer insight into late-magmatic/high temperature hydrothermal processes within the oceanic crust. Despite constituting only 0.5% of the oceanic crust section drilled in IODP Site 735B, they carry a significant budget of incompatible elements, which they redistribute within the crust. Such melts are saturated in accessory minerals, such as zircon, titanite and apatite, and often zircon is the only remaining phase that preserves magmatic composition and records processes of felsic melt formation and evolution. In this study, we analysed zircon from four depths in IODP Site 735B; they come from the oxide gabbro (depth approximately 250 m below sea floor) and plagiogranite (depths c. 500, 860, 940 m below sea floor). All zircons have similar εHf composition of c. 15 units indicating an isotopically homogenous source for the mafic magmas forming IODP Site 735B gabbro. Zircons from oxide gabbro are scarce and variable in composition consistent with their crystallization from melts formed by both fractionation of mafic magmas and hydrous remelting of gabbro cumulate. On the other hand, zircon from plagiogranite is abundant and each sample is characterized by compositional trends consistent with crystallization of zircon in an evolving melt. However, the trends are different between the plagiogranite at 500 m bsf and the deeper sections, which are interpreted as the record of plagiogranite formation by two processes: remelting of gabbro cumulate at 500 m bsf and fractionation at deeper sections. Zircon from both oxide gabbro and plagiogranite has δ¹⁸O from 3.5 to 6.0‰. Values of δ¹⁸O are best explained by redistribution of δ¹⁸O in a thermal gradient and not by remelting of hydrothermally altered crust. Tentatively, it is suggested that fractionation could be an older episode contemporaneous with gabbro crystallization and remelting could be a younger one, triggered by deformation and uplift of the crustal pile.     

U and Th zonation in Fish Canyon Tuff zircons: Implications for a zircon (U-Th)/He standard

The inability to accurately determine the distribution of U and Th in zircon crystals analysed using (U-Th)/He is a major source of error, and limits the confidence in subsequent data interpretation. The Fish Canyon Tuff (FCT) zircon standard shows (U-Th)/He age reproducibility in excess of ±10%. We have tested the extent to which this is due to U and Th zonation using a combination of cathodoluminescence and ion probe analysis of a population of FCT zircons. Primarily we find that FCT zircons exhibit extreme U and Th zonation, and the population has large inter-crystalline variability. Furthermore, the net cathodoluminescence intensity from the FCT zircons is negatively correlated with U and Th concentration, allowing cathodoluminescence emission to be used as a proxy for U and Th zonation. This correlation was exploited to constrain the U and Th zonation within the crystal population, and to show that the poor age reproducibility of the FCT zircons is consistent with the observed zonation.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114001583

Detrital zircons from modern sediments display an episodic temporal distribution of U-Pb crystallization ages forming a series of 'peaks' and 'troughs'.The peaks are interpreted to represent either periods of enhanced generation of granitic magma perhaps associated with mantle overturn and superplume events,or preferential preservation of continental crust during global collisional orogenesis.The close association of those peaks with the assembly of supercontinents implies a causal relationship between collisional orogenesis and the presence of zircon age peaks.Here these two end-member models(episodic periodicity of increased magmatism versus selective preservation during collisional orogenesis) are assessed using U-Pb,Hf,and O analysis of detrital zircons from sedimentary successions deposited during the ~ 1.3-1.1Ca accretionary.~1.1-0.9 Ga collisional,and 0.9 Ga extensional collapse phases of the Grenville orogenic cycle in Labrador and Scotland.The pre-collisional,accretionary stage provides a baseline of continental crust present prior to orogenesis and is dominated by Archean and Paleoproterozoic age peaks associated with pre-1300 Ma Laurentian geology.Strata deposited during the Grenville Orogeny display similar Archean and Paleoproterozoic detrital populations along with a series of broad muted peaks from~ 1500 to 1100 Ma.However,post-collisional sedimentary successions display a dominant age peak between 1085 and 985 Ma,similar to that observed in modern North American river sediments.Zircons within the post-orogenic sedimentary successions have progressively lower εHf and higherδ~(18)O values from ~ 1800 to ~ 1200 Ma whereupon they have higher εHf and δ~(18) within the dominant1085-985 Ma age peak.Furthermore,the Lu-Hf isotopic profile of the Grenville-related age peak is consistent with significant assimilation and contamination by older crustal material.The timing of this dominant age peak coincides with the peak of metamorphism and magmatism associated with the Crenville Orogeny,which is a typical collisional orogenic belt.The change from broad muted age peaks in the syn-orogenic strata to a single peak in the post-orogenic sedimentary successions and in the modern river sediments implies a significant shift in provenance following continental collision.This temporal change in provenance highlights that the source(s),from which detrital zircons within syn-orogenic strata were derived,was no longer available during the later stages of the accretionary and collisional stages of the orogenic cycle.This may reflect some combination of tectonic burial,erosion,or possibly recycling into the mantle by tectonic erosion of the source(s).During continental collision,the incorporated continental crust is isolated from crustal recycling processes operative at subduction margins.This tectonic isolation combined with sedimentaiy recycling likely controls the presence of the isotopic signature associated with the Grenville Orogeny in the modern Mississippi and Appalachian river sediments.These results imply that zircon age peaks,which developed in conjunction with supercontinents,are the product of selective crustal preservation resulting from collisional orogenesis.     

Origin of sub-lithospheric diamonds from the Juina-5 kimberlite (Brazil): constraints from carbon isotopes and inclusion compositions

Forty-one diamonds sourced from the Juina-5 kimberlite pipe in Southern Brazil, which contain optically identifiable inclusions, have been studied using an integrated approach. The diamonds contain <20 ppm nitrogen (N) that is fully aggregated as B centres. Internal structures in several diamonds revealed using cathodoluminescence (CL) are unlike those normally observed in lithospheric samples. The majority of the diamonds are composed of isotopically light carbon, and the collection has a unimodal distribution heavily skewed towards δ¹³C ~ ?25 ‰. Individual diamonds can display large carbon isotope heterogeneity of up to ~15 ‰ and predominantly have isotopically lighter cores displaying blue CL, and heavier rims with green CL. The light carbon isotopic compositions are interpreted as evidence of diamond growth from abiotic organic carbon added to the oceanic crust during hydrothermal alteration. The bulk isotopic composition of the oceanic crust, carbonates plus organics, is equal to the composition of mantle carbon (?5 ‰), and we suggest that recycling/mixing of subducted material will replenish this reservoir over geological time. Several exposed, syngenetic inclusions have bulk compositions consistent with former eclogitic magnesium silicate perovskite, calcium silicate perovskite and NAL or CF phases that have re-equilibrated during their exhumation to the surface. There are multiple occurrences of majoritic garnet with pyroxene exsolution, coesite with and without kyanite exsolution, clinopyroxene, Fe or Fe-carbide and sulphide minerals alongside single occurrences of olivine and ferropericlase. As a group, the inclusions have eclogitic affinity and provide evidence for diamond formation at pressures extending to Earth’s deep transition zone and possibly the lower mantle. It is observed that the major element composition of inclusions and isotopic compositions of host Juina-5 diamonds are not correlated. The diamond and inclusion compositions are intimately related to subducted material and record a polybaric growth history across a depth interval stretching from the lower mantle to the base of the lithosphere. It is suggested that the interaction of slab-derived melts and mantle material combined with subsequent upward transport in channelised networks or a buoyant diapir explains the formation of Juina-5 diamonds. We conclude that these samples, despite originating at great mantle depths, do not provide direct information about the ambient mantle, instead, providing a snapshot of the Earth’s deep carbon cycle.