Two-stage metamorphic evolution of the Bemarivo Belt of northern Madagascar: constraints from reaction textures and in situ monazite dating

New results on the pressure–temperature–time evolution, deduced from conventional geothermobarometry and in situ U‐Th‐total Pb dating of monazite, are presented for the Bemarivo Belt in northern Madagascar. The belt is subdivided into a northern part consisting of low‐grade metamorphic epicontinental series and a southern part made up of granulite facies metapelites. The prograde metamorphic stage of the latter unit is preserved by kyanite inclusions in garnet, which is in agreement with results of the garnet (core)‐alumosilicate‐quartz‐plagioclase (inclusions in garnet; GASP) equilibrium. The peak metamorphic stage is characterized by ultrahigh temperatures of ～900–950 °C and pressures of ～9 kbar, deduced from GASP equilibria and feldspar thermometry. In proximity to charnockite bodies, garnet‐sillimanite‐bearing metapelites contain aluminous orthopyroxene (max. 8.0 wt% Al₂O₃) pointing to even higher temperatures of ～970 °C. Peak metamorphism is followed by near‐isothermal decompression to pressures of 5–7 kbar and subsequent near‐isobaric cooling, which is demonstrated by the extensive late‐stage formation of cordierite around garnet. Internal textures and differences in chemistry of metapelitic monazite point to a polyphasic growth history. Monazite with magmatically zoned cores is rarely preserved, and gives an age of c. 737 ± 19 Ma, interpreted as the maximum age of sedimentation. Two metamorphic stages are dated: M1 monazite cores range from 563 ± 28 Ma to 532 ± 23 Ma, representing the collisional event, and M2 monazite rims (521 ± 25 Ma to 513 ± 14 Ma), interpreted as grown during peak metamorphic temperatures. These are among the youngest ages reported for high‐grade metamorphism in Madagascar, and are supposed to reflect the Pan‐African attachment of the Bemarivo Belt to the Gondwana supercontinent during its final amalgamation stage. In the course of this, the southern Bemarivo Belt was buried to a depth of >25 km. Approximately 25–30 Myr later, the rocks underwent heating, interpreted to be due to magmatic underplating, and uplift. Presumably, the northern part of the belt was also affected by this tectonism, but buried to a lower depth, and therefore metamorphosed to lower grades.     

Up-temperature flow of surface-derived fluids in the mid-crust: the role of pre-orogenic burial of hydrated fault rocks

The Walter‐Outalpa shear zone in the southern Curnamona Province of NE South Australia is an example of a shear zone that has undergone intensely focused fluid flow and alteration at mid‐crustal depths. Results from this study have demonstrated that the intense deformation and ductile shear zone reactivation, at amphibolite facies conditions of 534 ± 20 °C and 500 ± 82 MPa, that overprint the Proterozoic Willyama Supergroup occurred during the Delamerian Orogeny (c. 500 Ma) (EPMA monazite ages of 501 ± 16 and 491 ± 19 Ma). This is in contrast to the general belief that the majority of basement deformation and alteration in the southern Curnamona Province occurred during the waning stages of the Olarian Orogeny (c. 1610–1580 Ma). These shear zones contain hydrous mineral assemblages that cut wall rocks that have experienced amphibolite facies metamorphism during the Olarian Orogeny. The shear zone rock volumes have much lower δ¹⁸O values (as low as 1‰) than their unsheared counterparts (7–9‰), and calculated fluid δ¹⁸O values (5–8‰) consistent with a surface‐derived fluid source. Hydrous minerals show a decrease in δD_(H2O) from ?14 to ?22‰, for minerals outside the shear zones, to ?28 to ?40‰, for minerals within the shear zones consistent with a contribution from a meteoric source. It is unclear how near‐surface fluids initially under hydrostatic pressure penetrate into the middle crust where fluid pressures approach lithostatic, and where fluid flow is expected to be dominantly upward because of pressure gradients. We propose a mechanism whereby faulting during basin formation associated with the Adelaidean Rift Complex (c. 700 Ma) created broad hydrous zones containing mineral assemblages in equilibrium with surface waters. These panels of fault rock were subsequently buried to depths where the onset of metamorphism begins to dehydrate the fault rock volumes evolving a low δ¹⁸O fluid that is channelled through shear zones related to Delamerian Orogenic activity.     

High-T, low-P metamorphism in the Palaeoproterozoic Halls Creek Orogen, northern Australia: the middle crustal response to a mantle-related transient thermal pulse

High‐T, low‐P metamorphic rocks of the Palaeoproterozoic central Halls Creek Orogen in northern Australia are characterised by low radiogenic heat production, high upper crustal thermal gradients (locally exceeding 40 °C km^?1) sustained for over 30 Myr, and a large number of layered mafic‐ultramafic intrusions with mantle‐related geochemical signatures. In order to account for this combination of geological and thermal characteristics, we model the middle crustal response to a transient mantle‐related heat pulse resulting from a temporary reduction in the thickness of the mantle lithosphere. This mechanism has the potential to raise mid‐crustal temperatures by 150–400 °C within 10–20 Myr following initiation of the mantle temperature anomaly, via conductive dissipation through the crust. The magnitude and timing of maximum temperatures attained depend strongly on the proximity, duration and lateral extent of the thermal anomaly in the mantle lithosphere, and decrease sharply in response to anomalies that are seated deeper than 50–60 km, maintained for <5 Myr in duration and/or have half‐widths <100 km. Maximum temperatures are also intimately linked to the thermal properties of the model crust, primarily due to their influence on the steady‐state (background) thermal gradient. The amplitudes of temperature increases in the crust are principally a function of depth, and are broadly independent of crustal thermal parameters. Mid‐crustal felsic and mafic plutonism is a predictable consequence of perturbed thermal regimes in the mantle and the lowermost crust, and the advection of voluminous magmas has the potential to raise temperatures in the middle crust very quickly. Although pluton‐related thermal signatures significantly dissipate within <10 Myr (even for very large, high‐temperature intrusive bodies), the interaction of pluton‐ and mantle‐related thermal effects has the potential to maintain host rock temperatures in excess of 400–450 °C for up to 30 Myr in some parts of the mid‐crust. The numerical models presented here support the notion that transient mantle‐related heat sources have the capacity to contribute significantly to the thermal budget of metamorphism in high‐T, low‐P metamorphic belts, especially in those characterised by low surface heat flow, very high peak metamorphic geothermal gradients and abundant mafic intrusions.     

CMF模式的排他性依据和造山型银矿实例：东秦岭铁炉坪银矿同位素地球化学

河南熊耳山区的铁炉坪银矿定位于高级变质基底中的NE向断裂带中,是熊耳山脉状造山型金、银、铅锌矿床的重要组成部分。成矿作用包括了早、中、晚3个阶段,分别形成石英-黄铁矿,多金属硫化物和碳酸盐脉3类矿物组合。早阶段成 矿温度大约为373℃左右,成矿流体δD=-90‰,δ~(13)C_(co_2)=2.0‰,δ~(18)O=9‰,来源较深;晚阶段流体温度<203℃,δD=70‰,δ~(13)C_(co_2)=-1.3‰,δ~(18)O=-2‰,属于浅源大气降水热液;中阶段流体均一温度210～249℃,δD=-109‰,δ~(13)C_(co_2)=0.1‰,δ~(18)O=2‰,是深源与浅源流体的混合。对比讨论表明,熊耳山区的早前寒武纪变质基底、熊耳群火山岩和燕山期花岗岩类的三者之一或它们的混合物,均无法提供具有早阶段流体D-O-c同位素组成(高δ~(18)O和δ~(13)C,低δD)的成矿流体,表明早阶段流体来自栾川群和管道口群的碳酸盐-页岩-硅质岩建造的变质脱水作用。矿石硫同位素组成较低,铅同位素比值较高,同样不可能来自熊耳山的主要地质体,更不可能来自其下伏的地幔和下地壳,指示成矿物质和流体应主要来自栾川群和管道口群。尽管栾川群和管道口群地层的同位素地球化学研究尚待补充,铁炉坪银矿的同位素地球化学特征似乎只能借助碰撞造山成岩成矿与流体作用模式才能合理解释。即华南与华     

Neoarchaean magmatism and metamorphism of the western granulites in the central domain of the Mozambique belt, Tanzania: U–Pb shrimp geochronology and PT estimates

U–Pb sensitive high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) dating of zircons from charnockitic and garnet–biotite gneisses from the central portion of the Mozambique belt, central Tanzania indicate that the protolith granitoids were emplaced in a late Archaean, ca. 2.7 Ga, magmatic event. These ages are similar to other U–Pb and Pb–Pb ages obtained for other gneisses in this part of the belt. Zircon xenocrysts dated between 2.8 and 3.0 Ga indicate the presence of an older basement. Major and trace element geochemistry of these high-grade gneisses suggests that the granitoid protoliths may have formed in an active continental margin environment. Metamorphic zircon rims and multifaceted metamorphic zircons are dated at ca. 2.6 Ga indicating that these rocks were metamorphosed some 50–100 my after their emplacement. Pressure and temperature estimates on the charnockitic and garnet–biotite gneisses were obscured by post-peak metamorphic compositional homogenisation; however, these estimates combined with mineral textures suggest that these rocks underwent isobaric cooling to 800–850 °C at 12–14 kbar. It is considered likely that the granulite facies mineral assemblage developed during the ca. 2.6 Ga event, but it must be considered that it might instead represent a pervasive Neoproterozoic, Pan African, granulite facies overprint, similar to the ubiquitous eastern granulites further to the east.     

北祁连造山带东段老虎山石英闪长岩成因及其地质意义

以北祁连造山带东段老虎山石英闪长岩体为研究对象，进行了锆石U-Pb年龄及全岩元素与Sr-Nd同位素组成的系统 测定，据此探讨了岩石的成因及其对北祁连构造演化的启示。锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb定年结果表明，石英闪长岩体的形成 年龄为440 Ma。岩石具有亚碱、准铝以及贫钙、镁、铁的特征，碱铝指数（AKI值） 均低于0.85，铝饱和指数（A/NKC 值） 多小于1.0，属钙碱性I型花岗岩类岩石。在稀土和微量元素组成上，岩石富集轻稀土和大离子亲石元素（如Rb、Cs、 Th和U），亏损高场强元素（如Nb和Ta），显示弧岩浆岩的地球化学特征。岩体具有相对均一的Sr-Nd同位素组成，初始Sr同 位素值为0.7058~0.7071，εNd(t)值为-1.06~-0.31。综合分析表明，老虎山石英闪长岩应起源于玄武质下地壳物质的部分熔 融，并在成岩过程中有少量幔源物质的混入。对区内火成岩地质地球化学特征与产出背景的全面分析，表明受北祁连洋俯 冲及随后岛弧与祁连—柴达木陆块碰撞拼贴影响，弧后盆地的北向俯冲消减作用可能是诱发民乐窑沟和老虎山弧岩浆岩以 及导致毛藏寺—老虎山花岗岩带内埃达克质岩石侵位的基本动力机制。     

Near-vertical seismic reflection image using a novel acquisition technique across the Vrancea Zone and Foscani Basin, south-eastern Carpathians (Romania)

The DACIA PLAN (Danube and Carpathian Integrated Action on Process in the Lithosphere and Neotectonics) deep seismic sounding survey was performed in August–September 2001 in south-eastern Romania, at the same time as the regional deep refraction seismic survey VRANCEA 2001. The main goal of the experiment was to obtain new information on the deep structure of the external Carpathians nappes and the architecture of Tertiary/Quaternary basins developed within and adjacent to the seismically-active Vrancea zone, including the Focsani Basin. The seismic reflection line had a WNW–ESE orientation, running from internal East Carpathians units, across the mountainous south-eastern Carpathians, and the foreland Focsani Basin towards the Danube Delta. There were 131 shot points along the profile, with about 1 km spacing, and data were recorded with stand-alone RefTek-125s (also known as “Texans”), supplied by the University Texas at El Paso and the PASSCAL Institute. The entire line was recorded in three deployments, using about 340 receivers in the first deployment and 640 receivers in each of the other two deployments. The resulting deep seismic reflection stacks, processed to 20 s along the entire profile and to 10 s in the eastern Focsani Basin, are presented here. The regional architecture of the latter, interpreted in the context of abundant independent constraint from exploration seismic and subsurface data, is well imaged. Image quality within and beneath the thrust belt is of much poorer quality. Nevertheless, there is good evidence to suggest that a thick (10 km) sedimentary basin having the structure of a graben and of indeterminate age underlies the westernmost part of the Focsani Basin, in the depth range 10–25 km. Most of the crustal depth seismicity observed in the Vrancea zone (as opposed to the more intense upper mantle seismicity) appears to be associated with this sedimentary basin. The sedimentary successions within this basin and other horizons visible further to the west, beneath the Carpathian nappes, suggest that the geometry of the Neogene and recent uplift observed in the Vrancea zone, likely coupled with contemporaneous rapid subsidence in the foreland, is detached from deeper levels of the crust at about 10 km depth. The Moho lies at a depth of about 40 km along the profile, its poor expression in the reflection stack being strengthened by independent estimates from the refraction data. Given the apparent thickness of the (meta)sedimentary supracrustal units, the crystalline crust beneath this area is quite thin (< 20 km) supporting the hypothesis that there may have been delamination of (lower) continental crust in this area involved in the evolution of the seismic Vrancea zone.     

A newly defined Late Ordovician magmatic‐thermal event in the Mt Painter Province,northern Flinders Ranges,South Australia

Magmatism,metamorphism and metasomatism in the Palaeoproterozoic‐Mesoproterozoic Mt Painter Inlier and overlying Neoproterozoic Adelaidean rocks in the northern Flinders Ranges (South Australia) have previously been interpreted as resulting from the ca 500 Ma Delamerian Orogeny. New Rb–Sr, Sm–Nd and U–Pb data, as well as structural analysis,indicate that the area also experienced a second thermal event in the Late Ordovician (ca 440 Ma). The Delamerian Orogeny resulted in large‐scale folding, prograde metamorphism and minor magmatic activity in the form of a small volume of pegmatites and leucogranites. The Late Ordovician event produced larger volumes of granite (the British Empire Granite in the core of the inlier) and these show Nd isotopic evidence for a mantle component. The high‐temperature stage of this magmatic‐hydrothermal event also gave rise to unusual diopside‐titanite veins and the primary uranium mineralisation in the basement, of which the remobilisation was younger than 3.5 Ma. It is possible that parts of the Mt Gee quartz‐hematite epithermal system developed during the waning stages of the Late Ordovician event. We suggest that the Ordovician hydrothermal system was also the cause of the commonly observed retrogression of Delamerian metamorphic minerals (cordierite, andalusite) and the widespread development of actinolite, scapolite, tremolite and magnetite in the cover sequences. Deformation during the Late Ordovician was brittle. The recognition of the Late Ordovician magmatic‐hydrothermal event in the Mt Painter Province might help to link the tectonic evolution of central Australia and the southeast Australian Lachlan Fold Belt.     

Structural geometry and controls on basement‐involved deformation in the northern Flinders Ranges,Adelaide Fold Belt,South Australia

In the northern Flinders Ranges, Neoproterozoic and Cambrian sedimentary rocks were deformed and variably metamorphosed during the ca 500 Ma Cambro‐Ordovician Delamerian Orogeny. Balanced and restored structural sections across the northern Flinders Ranges show shortening of about 10–20%. Despite the presence of suitable evaporitic detachment horizons at the basement‐cover interface, the structural style is best interpreted to be thick‐skinned involving basement with only a minor proportion of the overall shortening accommodated along stratigraphically controlled detachments. Much of the contractional deformation was localised by the inversion of former extensional faults such as the Norwest and Paralana Faults, which both controlled the deposition of Neoproterozoic cover successions. As such, both faults represent major, long‐lived structures which effectively define the present boundaries of the northern Flinders Ranges with the Gawler Craton to the west and the Curnamona Craton to the east. The most intense deformation, which resulted in exhumation of the basement along the Paralana Fault to form the Mt Painter and Babbage Inliers, coincides with extremely high heat flows related to extraordinarily high heat‐production rates in the basement rocks. High heat flow in the northern Flinders Ranges suggests that the structural style not only reflects the pre‐Delamerian basin architecture but is also a consequence of the reactivation of thermally perturbed, weakened basement.     

Paleomagnetism of the Carboniferous Rouchel Block,Tamworth Belt,and pole path revision for the New England Orogen,eastern Australia

Structural, magnetic and gravity trends of the southern New England Orogen (SNEO) indicate four oroclinal structures, none conclusively confirmed paleomagnetically. Curved structures of the Tamworth Belt (TB)—a continental forearc exposed across six tectono-stratigraphic blocks with interlinked Carboniferous stratigraphies and extensive ignimbritic rocks known to retain primary magnetisations despite prevalent overprinting—are prospective to oroclinal testing through comparison of Carboniferous pole paths for individual blocks. Pole paths (a) have been established for the Rocky Creek and Werrie blocks (northwestern/western TB), (b) are described herein for the Rouchel Block (southwestern TB), and (c) are forthcoming for the Gresford and Myall blocks (southern/southeastern TB). The Rouchel path derives from detailed paleomagnetic, rock magnetic and magnetic fabric studies. Thermal, alternating field and liquid nitrogen demagnetisations show a low-temperature overprint, attributed to late Oligocene weathering, and high-temperature (HT) primary and overprint components in both magnetite and hematite carriers, showing slight, systematic, directional differences with hematite providing the better cleaned site poles. Seven primary mean-site poles of Tournaisian and mainly Visean age and three overprint poles show six positive fold tests, five at 95% or higher confidence levels. Two dispersed groupings of intermediate (IT) and HT overprint site poles of Permian and Permo-Triassic age are attributed to early and late phases in oroclinal evolution of the SNEO. HT and IT/HT overprint site poles of mid-Carboniferous age are attributed to Variscan Australia–Asia convergence. Individual pole paths for the Rocky Creek, Werrie and Rouchel blocks show no noticeable rotation between them, indicating primary curvature for the southwestern TB. Their integrated SNEO pole path establishes a reference frame for determining rotations of the southern and southeastern TB.