Growth and Deformation of the Ladakh Batholith, Northwest Himalayas: Implications for Timing of Continental Collision and Origin of Calc-Alkaline Batholiths

The calc-alkaline Ladakh batholith (NW Himalayas) was dated to constrain the timing of continental collision and subsequent deformation. Batholith growth ended when collision disrupted subduction of the Tethyan oceanic lithosphere, and thus the youngest magmatic pulse indirectly dates the collision. Both U-Pb ages on zircons from three samples of the Ladakh batholith and K-Ar from one subvolcanic dike sample were determined. Magmatic activity near Leh (the capital of Ladakh) occurred between 70 and 50 Ma, with the last major magmatic pulse crystallizing at ca. 49.8+/-0.8 Ma (2sigma). This was followed by rapid and generalized cooling to lower greenschist facies temperatures within a few million years, and minor dike intrusion took place at 46+/-1 Ma. Field observations, the lack of inherited prebatholith zircons, and other isotopic evidence suggest that the batholith is mantle derived with negligible crustal influence, that it evolved through input of fresh magma from the mantle and remelting of previously emplaced mantle magmatic rocks. The sedmimentary record indicates that collision in NW Himalaya occurred around 52-50 Ma. If this is so, the magmatic system driven by subduction of Tethys ended immediately on collision. The thermal history of one sample from within the Thanglasgo Shear Zone (TSZ) was determined by Ar-Ar method to constrain timing of batholith internal deformation. This is a wide dextral shear zone within the batholith, parallel to the dextral, N 30 degrees W-striking crustal-scale Karakoram Fault. Internal deformation of the batholith, taken up partly by this shear zone, has caused it to deviate from it regional WNW-ESE trend to parallel the Karakoram Fault. Microstructures and cooling history of a sample from the TSZ indicate that shearing took place before 22 Ma, implying that (1) the history of dextral shearing on NW-striking planes in northern Ladakh started at least 7 m.yr. before the <15 Ma Karakoram Fault, (2) shearing was responsible for deviation of the regional trend of the Ladakh batholith, and (3) dextral shearing occured within a zone apporximately 100 km wide that includes the Ladakh batholith and portions of the younger Karakoram batholith.     

STRUCTURAL AND THERMAL EVOLUTION OF THE SOUTH ASIAN CONTINENTAL MARGIN ALONG THE KARAKORAM AND HINDU KUSH RANGES,NORTH PAKISTAN

STRUCTURAL AND THERMAL EVOLUTION OF THE SOUTH ASIAN CONTINENTAL MARGIN ALONG THE KARAKORAM AND HINDU KUSH RANGES,NORTH PAKISTAN     

Source and fractionation controls on subduction-related plutons and dike swarms in southern Patagonia (Torres del Paine area) and the low Nb/Ta of upper crustal igneous rocks

The subduction system in southern Patagonia provides direct evidence for the variability of the position of an active continental arc with respect to the subducting plate through time, but the consequences on the arc magmatic record are less well studied. Here we present a geochemical and geochronological study on small plutons and dykes from the upper crust of the southern Patagonian Andes at ~?51°S, which formed as a result of the subduction of the Nazca and Antarctic plates beneath the South American continent. In situ U–Pb geochronology on zircons and bulk rock geochemical data of plutonic and dyke rocks are used to constrain the magmatic evolution of the retro-arc over the last 30 Ma. We demonstrate that these combined U–Pb and geochemical data for magmatic rocks track the temporal and spatial migration of the active arc, and associated retro-arc magmatism. Our dataset indicates that the rear-arc area is characterized by small volumes of alkaline basaltic magmas at 29–30 Ma that are characterized by low La/Nb and Th/Nb ratios with negligible arc signatures. Subsequent progressive eastward migration of the active arc culminated with the emplacement of calc-alkaline plutons and dikes?~?17–16 Ma with elevated La/Nb and Th/Nb ratios and typical subduction signatures constraining the easternmost position of the southern Patagonian batholith at that time. Geochemical data on the post-16 Ma igneous rocks including the Torres del Paine laccolith indicate an evolution to transitional K-rich calc-alkaline magmatism at 12.5?±?0.2 Ma. We show that trace element ratios such as Nb/Ta and Dy/Yb systematically decrease with increasing SiO₂, for both the 17–16 Ma calc-alkaline and the 12–13 Ma K-rich transitional magmatism. In contrast, Th/Nb and La/Nb monitor the changes in the source composition of these magmas. We suggest that the transition from the common calc-alkaline to K-rich transitional magmatism involves a change in the source component, while the trace element ratios, such as Nb/Ta and Dy/Yb, of derivative higher silica content liquids are controlled by similar fractionating mineral assemblages. Analysis of a global compilation of Nb/Ta ratios of arc magmatic rocks and simple geochemical models indicate that amphibole and variable amounts of biotite exert a major control on the low Dy/Yb and Nb/Ta of derivative granitic liquids. Lastly, we suggest that the low Nb/Ta ratio of silica-rich magmas is a natural consequence of biotite fractionation and that alternative models such as amphibolite melting in subduction zones and diffusive fractionation are not required to explain the Nb/Ta ratio of the upper continental crust.     

TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF THE EOCENE DROSH-VOLCANO-SEDIMENTARY BASIN IN NW-KOHISTAN ISLAND ARC TERRANE, HINDUKUSH, N. PAKISTAN

In NW Himalayas, the suture zone between the collided Indian and the Karakoram plates is occupied by crust of the Cretaceous Kohistan Island\|Arc Terrane [1] . Late Cretaceous (about 90Ma) accretion with the southern margin of the Karakoram Plate at the site of the Shyok Suture Zone turned Kohistan to become an Andean\|type margin. The Neotethys was completely subducted at the southern margin of Kohistan by Early Tertiary, leading to collision between Kohistan and continental crust of the Indian plate at the site of the Main mantle thrust.More than 80% of the Kohistan terrane comprises plutonic rocks of (1) ultramafic to gabbroic composition forming the basal crust of the intra\|oceanic stage of the island arc, and (2) tonalite\|granodiorite\|granite composition belong to the Kohistan Batholith occupying much of the intermediate to shallow crust of the terrane mostly intruded in the Andean\|type margin stage [2] . Both these stages of subduction\|related magmatism were associated with volcanic and sedimentary rocks formed in Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary basins. This study addresses tectonic configuration of Early Tertiary Drosh basin exposed in NW parts of the Kohistan terrane, immediately to the south of the Shyok Suture Zone.     

Evolution of Cambrian and Early Ordovician arcs in the Kyrgyz North Tianshan: Insights from U-Pb zircon ages and geochemical data

Geochronological, geochemical, and structural studies of magmatic and metamorphic complexes within the Kyrgyz North Tianshan (NTS) revealed an extensive area of early Palaeozoic magmatism with an age range of 540–475 Ma. During the first episode at 540–510 Ma, magmatism likely occurred in an intraplate setting within the NTS microcontinent and in an oceanic arc setting within the Kyrgyz-Terskey zone in the south. During the second episode at 500–475 Ma, the entire NTS represented an arc system. These two phases of magmatism were separated by an episode of accretionary tectonics of uncertain nature, which led to obduction of ophiolites from the Kyrgyz-Terskey zone onto the microcontinent. The occurrence of zircon xenocrysts and predominantly negative whole-rock ɛ_Nd(t) values and ɛ_Hf(t) values of magmatic zircons suggest a continental setting and melting of Precambrian continental sources with minor contributions of Palaeozoic juvenile melts in the generation of the magmatic rocks. The late Cambrian to Early Ordovician 500–475 Ma arc evolved mainly on Mesoproterozoic continental crust in the north and partly on oceanic crust in the south. Arc magmatism was accompanied by spreading in a back-arc basin in the south, where supra-subduction ophiolitic gabbros yielded ages of 496 to 479 Ma. The relative position of the arc and active back-arc basin implies that the subduction zone was located north of the arc, dipping to the south. Variably intense metamorphism and deformation in the NTS reflect an Early Ordovician orogenic event at 480–475 Ma, resulting from closure of the Djalair-Naiman ophiolite trough and collision of the Djel'tau microcontinent with the northern margin of NTS. Comparison of geological patterns and episodes of arc magmatism in the NTS and Chinese Central Tianshan indicate that these crustal units constituted a single early Palaeozoic arc and were separated from the Tarim Craton by an oceanic basin since the Neoproterozoic.     

Sedimentary record of Jurassic northward subduction of the Bangong–Nujiang Ocean: insights from detrital zircons

The subduction polarity and related arc–magmatic evolutional history of the Bangong–Nujiang Ocean, which separated the South Qiangtang terrane to the north from the North Lhasa terrane to the south during the Mesozoic, remain debated. This study tries to reconstruct the subduction and evolution of the Bangong–Nujiang Ocean on the basis of U–Pb and Hf isotopic analyses of detrital zircons in samples from sedimentary rocks of the middle-western section of the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone in Gerze County, central Tibet. The Middle Jurassic Muggargangri Group in the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone was deposited in a deep-sea basin setting on an active continental margin. The Late Jurassic strata, such as the Sewa Formation, are widely distributed in the South Qiangtang terrane and represent deposition on a shelf. The Early Cretaceous Shamuluo Formation in the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone unconformably overlies the Muggargangri Group and was probably deposited in a residual marine basin setting. The detrital zircons of the Muggargangri Group contain seven U–Pb age populations: 2.6–2.4 Ga, 1.95–1.75 Ga, 950–900 Ma, 850–800 Ma, 650–550 Ma, 480–420 Ma, and 350–250 Ma, which is similar to the age populations in sedimentary rocks of the South Qiangtang terrane. In addition, the age spectra of the Shamuluo Formation are similar to those of the Muggargangri Group, indicating that both had a northern terrane provenance, which is conformed by the north-to-south palaeocurrent. This provenance indicates northward subduction of the Bangong–Nujiang oceanic crust. In contrast, two samples from the Sewa Formation yield variable age distributions: the lower sample has age populations similar to those of the South Qiangtang terrane, whereas the upper possesses only one age cluster with a peak at ca. 156 Ma. Moreover, the majority of the late Mesozoic detrital zircons are characterized by weakly positive εHf(t) values that are similar to those of magmatic zircons from arc magmatic rocks in the South Qiangtang terrane. The findings, together with information from the record of magmatism, indicate that the earliest prevalent arc magmatism occurred during the Early Jurassic (ca. 185 Ma) and that the principal arc–magmatic stage occurred during the Middle–Late Jurassic (ca. 170–150 Ma). The magmatic gap and scarcity of detrital zircons at ca. 140–130 Ma likely indicate collision between the Qiangtang and Lhasa terranes. The late Early Cretaceous (ca. 125–100 Ma) magmatism on both sides of the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone was probably related to slab break-off or lithospheric delamination after closure of the Bangong–Nujiang Ocean.     

蚌埠淮光“混合花岗闪长岩”的形成时代及源区：锆石SHRIMP U-Pb地质年代学证据

对蚌埠淮光花岗闪长岩的岩相学和锆石阴极发光图象研究表明,淮光"混合花岗闪长岩"为岩浆结晶作用的产物,岩石形成后受到了应力作用的改造.锆石SHRIMP U-Pb定年结果和岩浆锆石的SHRIMP U-Pb年龄显示淮光花岗闪长岩形成于130.0±2.0 Ma;大多数继承锆石的年龄集中在1 800～1 900 Ma、2 300～2 517 Ma和3 443 Ma,这意味着淮光花岗闪长岩的母岩浆起源于华北地块基底的部分熔融.早白垩世(130 Ma左右)的岩浆作用是引起继承锆石和碎屑锆石Pb丢失的重要原因,同时也是华北地块东部岩石圈减薄的最重要时期.130 Ma左右的岩浆作用和岩石圈减薄应与太平洋板块的俯冲相联系.     

南海西部晚中生代岩浆弧:KP1-1-1井碎屑锆石约束

晚中生代是古太平洋板块俯冲和南海北部岩浆弧发育时期,开展珠江口盆地KP1-1-1井钻遇的浅变质砂岩的近源沉积研究有助于揭示岩浆弧源区的构造特点.根据LA-ICPMS碎屑锆石分析,KP1-1-1浅变质砂岩中存在129~155 Ma、155~172 Ma和172~196 Ma三个年龄组分,这一特点与区域上构造岩浆事件一致.碎屑岩浆锆石流体活动性元素富集（如U和Th）,高场强元素亏损（如Nb、Hf和Ti）;元素组成U/Yb（0.34~3.92）、Sc/Yb（0.48~2.28）、Hf/Th（14.4~186.6）和Th/Nb（24.3~462.7）具有大陆岩浆弧特点;计算的锆石Ti温度为551~786℃,表明属于低温弧岩浆作用.碎屑岩中172~196 Ma锆石组分记录了东沙-大仑-雁荡岩浆弧向西南的进一步延伸,与侏罗纪早期古太平洋斜向俯冲到华南陆块之下有关.155~172 Ma岩浆锆石与古板块强烈俯冲有关,对应于华南165~150 Ma大规模花岗质岩浆活动.129~155 Ma时期板块俯冲减弱或俯冲带后撤,可与浙闽同时期板内强烈火山活动对比.碎屑岩中测得最年轻年龄为128.8 Ma,表明KP1-1-1钻遇浅变质砂岩形成时代晚于128 Ma,应属于白垩系,不是传统上认为的下古生界岩系.      

新疆南天山克孜尔河沉积物碎屑锆石U‐Pb年代学研究及其地质意义

新疆克孜尔河流经南天山造山带南缘,其河流沉积物中记录了流域内地质体的重要信息。为进一步约束南天山造山带的构造演化历史,探讨该造山带古生代地壳生长与演化,对克孜尔河沉积物中的碎屑锆石进行U‐Pb定年。结果表明锆石年龄主要集中分布在460~390 Ma和310~260 Ma,少量分布在前寒武纪,暗示南天山造山带在古生代期间发生了强烈的岩浆活动。物源分析表明克孜尔河沉积物中的碎屑锆石主要源于南天山造山带和塔里木克拉通北部,年龄为460~390 Ma的碎屑锆石很可能记录了南天山洋在晚奥陶—早泥盆世期间向南俯冲到塔里木克拉通之下的弧岩浆作用。南天山洋闭合以及塔里木克拉通与伊犁—中天山地块的最终碰撞可能发生在晚石炭世,随后发生同碰撞和后碰撞岩浆作用,以样品中大量310~260 Ma的碎屑锆石为代表。结合南天山造山带内已有的古生代岩浆岩锆石的Hf同位素数据分析表明,晚奥陶—早泥盆世南天山造山带的大陆地壳演化主要以古老地壳的再造和部分新生地幔物质的加入为主,晚石炭—早二叠世该造山带地壳演化则以前寒武纪古老基底岩石的改造为主,仅有限的新生组分加入到岩浆的形成过程中。     

Multiple mantle sources during island arc magmatism: U–Pb and Hf isotopic evidence from the Kohistan arc complex, Pakistan

ABSTRACT This paper presents high-precision U–Pb ages and initial Hf isotopic compositions of zircon from mafic to felsic rocks of the Kohistan Arc Complex, Pakistan. Three magmatic pulses tapping geochemically different reservoirs are distinguished. Partial melting of mantle with MORB-type isotopic characteristics generated 99–92-Ma-old magmas. Plutonism around 85 Ma tapped a more fertile mantle source, most likely consisting of a >600-Ma-old metasomatically enriched mantle, or of mantle contaminated by an old sedimentary component; 82-Ma-old felsic peraluminous dykes have MORB-type isotopic compositions considered to be inherited from remelting earlier magmas in the deep base of the arc. The isotopic results demonstrate several and rather rapid changes in melt source region during arc development. They also show that there was subordinate continental influence and negligible importance of slab components for the Hf budget during the generation of the Kohistan Arc Complex.     

大陆弧岩浆幕式作用与地壳加厚:以藏南冈底斯弧为例

大陆弧岩浆带位于汇聚板块的前缘,记录了洋陆俯冲过程和大陆地壳生长过程,是研究壳幔相互作用的天然实验室.越来越多的研究发现,大陆弧岩浆的生长与侵位并不是均一的、连续的过程,而是呈现阶段性、峰期性特征,即幕式岩浆作用.弧岩浆峰期与岩浆平静期相比,岩浆增生速率显著增强,易于发生岩浆聚集,继而形成大的岩基,如北美西部科迪勒拉造...     

Structures,uplift, and magmatism of the Western Myanmar Arc: Constraints to mid-Cretaceous-Paleogene tectonic evolution of the western Myanmar continental margin

Knowledge of Trans-Himalayan tectono-magmatic evolution is critical to understanding the complex pre-collisional history of southern Eurasia active continental margin. It has been proposed that magmatic rocks of the Trans-Himalayan batholith, extending from southern Tibet to Southeast Asia, are now exposed as the Western Myanmar Arc and Central Granite Belt in Myanmar, yet origin, emplacement, and relationships of the two juxtaposed belts remain poorly constrained. In this study, 2D seismic and drilling data for the Western Myanmar Arc, zircon U-Pb age and Hf isotope and whole-rock geochemical data for magmatic rocks from the arc have been applied. Our seismic profiles, borehole stratigraphic sequences and zircon U-Pb data show that a typical arc-basin system was well developed along the western Myanmar continental margin. The magmatic arc has experienced at least three igneous events in the mid-Cretaceous (110–90 Ma), latest Cretaceous-Early Paleocene (69–64.5 Ma) and Eocene (53–38 Ma), as well as three associated uplift processes in the Late Cretaceous, Eocene and Late Oligocene. Whole-rock geochemical characteristics and zircons showing variable but predominately positive ε_Hf(t) values, suggest a significant juvenile mantle source involving a proportion of ancient subducted sediments and juvenile crustal materials for these typical arc-related magmatic rocks. The identification of mid-Cretaceous to Paleogene magmatic rocks having positive ε_Hf(t) values from the Western Myanmar Arc: 1) indicates that the magmatism can be correlated with the Gangdese arc within the Lhasa terrane of the southern Tibetan Plateau; 2) provides evidence for the proximal-derived model that Paleogene sediments in the Central Myanmar Basin were from the Western Myanmar Arc, but were not delivered by the paleo-Yarlung Tsangpo-Irrawaddy river system from the Gangdese arc; and 3) enables a model of eastward subduction of the Neo-Tethyan/Indian oceanic crust to reflect onset of the magmatism at the mid-Cretaceous and a long-existed back-arc extension in western Myanmar.     

Timing of juvenile arc crust formation and evolution in the Sapat Complex (Kohistan–Pakistan)

The combination of age determination and geochemical tracers allows understanding the source evolution during magmatism. We studied the Sapat Complex, in the exhumed Cretaceous Kohistan Paleo-Island Arc, to reconstruct the formation of the juvenile lower arc crust and the evolution of the mantle source during arc magmatism. High precision ID-TIMS U/Pb dating on zircon, shows that a protracted period of magmatic accretion formed the Sapat Complex between 105 and 99 Ma. Since continued melt percolation processes that formed the lower crust obscured the original bulk rock Nd–Pb–Sr isotopic composition, we rely on the Hf isotopic composition of zircons of different ages to unravel the source evolution. Nd and Pb bulk isotopic compositions coupled with Hf isotopic composition on zircons allow reconstructing a geodynamical scenario for the Sapat Complex, and the Cretaceous history of the Arc. We suggest that trenchward migration of the hot mantle source at 105 Ma explains the small heterogeneous εHf signal between + 14 and + 16. This heterogeneity vanished within ca. 2 million years, and the εHf of the source evolved from + 16 to + 14 at 99 Ma. Integrated to the Kohistan Cretaceous history, which has a baseline of εHf ≈ 14, these data pinpoint two geodynamical events, with slab retreat and the formation of the Sapat Complex followed by splitting of the Kohistan island arc at 85 Ma.     

Tectonic and magmatic evolution of the eastern Karakoram,India

Abstract

The Shyok suture zone separates the Ladakh terrane to the SW from the Karakoram terrane to the NE. Six tectonic units have been distinguished. From south to north these are; 1. Saltoro formation; 2. Shyok volcanites; 3. Saltoro molasse; 4. Ophiolitic melange; 5. Tirit granitoids; 6. Karakoram terrane including the Karakoram batholith. Albian—Aptian Orbitolina-bearing lime-stones and turbidites of the Saltoro formation tectonically overlie high-Mg-tholeiites similar to the tectonically overlying Shyok volcanites. The high-Mg tholeiitic basalts and calcalkaline andesites of the Shyok volcanites show an active margin signature. The Saltoro molasse is an apron-like, moderately folded association of redgreen shales and sandstones that are interbedded with ~ 50 m porphyritic andesite. Desiccation cracks and rain-drop imprints indicate deposition in a subaerial fluvial environment. Rudist fragments from a polygenic conglomerate of the Saltoro molasse document a post-Middle Cretaceous age. The calcalkaline andesites of the Shyok volcanites are intruded by the Tirit granitoids, which are located immediately south of the Ophiolitic melange and belong to a weakly deformed trondhjemite-tonalite-granodiorite-granite suite. These granitoids are subalkaline, I-type and were emplaced in a volcanic arc setting. The subalkaline to calcalkaline granitoids of the Karakoram batholith are I-and S-type granitoid. The I-type granitoids represent a typical calcalkaline magmatism of a subduction zone environment whereas the S-type granitoids are crustderived, anatectic peraluminous granites. New data suggest that the volcano-plutonic and sedimentary successions of the Shyok suture zone exposed in northern Ladakh are equivalent to the successions exposed along the Northern suture in Kohistan. It is likely that the o istan and Ladakh blocks evolved as one single tectonic domain uring the Cretaceous-Palaeogene. Subsequently, collision, suturing and accretion of the Indian plate along the Indus suture (50–60 Ma) together with tectonic activity along the Nanga Parbataramosh divided Kohistan and Ladakh into two arealy distinct magmatic arc terranes. The activity and a dextral offset along the Karakoram fault (Holocene-Recent) disrupted the original tectonic relationships. © 1999 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS     

Zircon U‐Pb Dating on Granitoids from the Northern South China Sea and its Geotectonic Relevance

Zircon U-Pb ages of 163.8–100.4 Ma and 146.6–134.5?Ma are obtained for the granitoids from the Pearl River mouth basin, and from southern Guangdong Province, respectively. These new dating data accord well with the crystallization ages of Yanshanian granitoids broadly in the Nanling. The active continental margin of South China, as revealed by a combination of zircon U-Pb data, underwent a key granitoid-dominated magmatism in 165–100?Ma. Its evolution varied temporally, and spatially, registering under control of the paleo-Pacific slab subduction. The granitoids that occurred in 165–150?Ma broadly from the South China Sea to the Nanling are preferably related to two settings from volcanic-arc to back-arc extension, respectively. The activities of Cretaceous granitoids migrated from the southeastern Guangdong (148–130?Ma) to the Pearl River Mouth basin (127–112?Ma), corresponding to the model of a retreating subduction. The subduction-related granitoid magmatism in South China continued until 108–97?Ma. A tectonic transformation from slab-subduction to extension should occur at ~100?Ma.     

Detrital zircon U–Pb ages along the Yarlung-Tsangpo suture zone, Tibet: Implications for oblique convergence and collision between India and Asia

Age-dating of detrital zircons from 22 samples collected along, and adjacent to, the Yarlung-Tsangpo suture zone, southern Tibet provides distinctive age-spectra that characterize important tectonostratigraphic units. Comparisons with data from Nepal, northern India and the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes of central Tibet constrain possible sources of sediment, and the history of tectonic interactions.Sedimentary rocks in the Cretaceous–Paleogene Xigaze terrane exhibit strong Mesozoic detrital zircon peaks (120 and 170 Ma) together with considerable older inheritance in conglomeratic units. This forearc basin succession developed in association with a continental volcanic arc hinterland in response to Neotethyan subduction under the southern edge of the Eurasia. Conspicuous sediment/source hinterland mismatches suggest that plate convergence along this continental margin was oblique during the Late Cretaceous. The forearc region may have been translated > 500 km dextrally from an original location nearer to Myanmar.Tethyan Himalayan sediments on the other side of the Yarlung-Tsangpo suture zone reveal similar older inheritance and although Cretaceous sediments formed 1000s of km and across at least one plate boundary from those in the Xigaze terrane they too contain an appreciable mid-Early Cretaceous (123 Ma) component. In this case it is attributed to volcanism associated with Gondwana breakup.Sedimentary overlap assemblages reveal interactions between colliding terranes. Paleocene Liuqu conglomerates contain a cryptic record of Late Jurassic and Cretaceous rock units that appear to have foundered during a Paleocene collision event prior the main India–Asia collision. Detrital zircons as young as 37 Ma from the upper Oligocene post-collisional Gangrinboche conglomerates indicate that subduction-related convergent margin magmatism continued through until at least Middle and probably Late Eocene along the southern margin of Eurasia (Lhasa terrane).Although the ages of detrital zircons in some units appear compatible with more than one potential source with care other geological relationships can be used to further constrain some linkages and eliminate others. The results document various ocean closure and collision events and when combined with other geological information this new dataset permits a more refined understanding of the time–space evolution of the Cenozoic India–Asia collision system.     

Tracking the birth and growth of Cimmeria: Geochronology and origins of intrusive rocks from NW Iran

New geochronological and geochemical data for Late Neoproterozoic to Mesozoic intrusive rocks from NW Iran define major regional magmatic episodes and track the birth and growth of one of the Cimmerian microcontinents: the Persian block.After the final accretion of the Gondwanan terranes, the subduction of the Prototethyan Ocean beneath NW Gondwana during the Late Neoproterozoic was the trigger for high magmatic fluxes and the emplacement of isotopically diverse arc-related intrusions in NW Gondwana. The Late Neoproterozoic rocks of NW Iran belong to this magmatic event which includes intrusions with highly variable εHf(t) values. This magmatism continued until a magmatic lull during the Ordovician, which led to the erosion of the Neoproterozoic arc, and then was followed by a rifting event which controlled the opening of Paleotethys. In addition, it is supposed that a prolonged pulse of rift magmatism in Persia lasted from Devonian-Carboniferous to Early Permian time. These magmatic events are geographically restricted and are mostly recorded from NW Iran, although there is some evidence for these magmatic events in other segments of Iran. The Jurassic rocks of NW Iran are interpreted to be the along-strike equivalents of a Mesozoic magmatic belt (the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone; SaSZ) toward the NW. Magmatic rocks from the SaSZ show pulsed magmatism, with high-flux events at both ~176–160 Ma and ~130 Ma. The SaSZ magmatic rocks are suggested to be formed along a continental arc but a rift setting is also considered for the formation of the SaSZ rocks based on the plume-related geochemical signatures. The arc signatures are represented by Nb-Ta depletion in the highly contaminated (by upper continental crust) plutonic rocks whereas the plume-related signature of less-contaminated melts is manifested by enrichment in Nb-Ta and high εHf(t) values, with peaks at +0.6 and +11.2. All these magmatic pulses led to pre-Cimmerian continental growth and reworking during the Late Neoproterozoic, rifting and detachment of the Cimmerian blocks from Gondwana in Mid-Late Paleozoic time and further crustal growth and reworking of Cimmeria during the Mesozoic.     

滇西桃花花岗斑岩中新太古代-古元古代锆石年龄信息:对扬子板块西缘基底时代的约束

扬子板块西缘滇西地区是否存在古老基底一直存在争议。本文对滇西桃花地区花岗斑岩进行了岩石学、地球化学和锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年代学研究。形成于晚造山-后碰撞背景的桃花花岗斑岩具岛弧花岗岩地球化学特征,其成因可能与:1)俯冲拆离的洋壳俯冲拆离的洋壳或富集地幔重熔作用;2)加厚的地壳部分熔融。花岗斑岩中的继承锆石有两种类型:一类是发育具有密集振荡环带的岩浆锆石;另一类是次浑圆状锆石。测年结果显示,花岗斑岩的岩浆锆石年龄为36.35±0.35Ma,环带发育的继承锆石年龄介于167~891Ma之间;而次浑圆状继承锆石可以分为两组,其207Pb/206Pb加权平均年龄分别为1851±22Ma与2499±32Ma。新的锆石测年结果表明着滇西桃花地区不仅存在古金沙江洋东向俯冲形成的晚古生代弧岩浆记录,还发现新元古代岩浆活动信息,及早古元古代和新太古代的锆石记录。推测1.8Ga与2.5Ga锆石可能是捕获自地壳或围岩(石鼓片岩),表明滇西地区可能存在古老基底。     

Granites of western Karakorum and northern Kohistan (Pakistan): A composite mid-cretaceous to upper cenozoic magmatism

The petrography, the chemical-mineralogical typology and the ages of six plutonic units, four from the Karakorum axial batholith (Darkot Pass, Ghamu Bar, Batura and Hunza units) and two of northern Kohistan (Gindai and Nomal plutons) are defined and compared based on field data and analyses of up to 78 samples (major elements, REE, Rb-S.sbnd;Sr and KAr isotopes). The Karakorum axial batholith is a composite body. Three major intrusive stages occurred: (1) around Mid-Cretaceous times (ca. 110-95 Ma) with the emplacement of subalkaline, i.e. monzonitic (Darkot Pass) and calc-alkaline (Hunza, ?Ghamu Bar) units; (2) during Palaeogene, maybe up to 43 Ma (Batura subalkaline unit). A strong tectonommetamorphic event, recorded in the gneissification of the Cretaceous intrusives, occurred between these two stages; it may be of Palaeocene age. P-T estimates of the highest metamorphic grade rocks of the Hunza unit have yielded values of 580–640°C and 5 ± 0.5 kbar; and (3) during Upper Miocene (ca. 9 Ma; Baltoro subalkaline unit; Debon et al., 1986c). In addition, a conspicuous network of aplo-pegmatitic dykes emplaced into the Hunza area, possibly from the Eocene up to the Upper Cenozoic with a maximum during the Middle Miocene (ca. 15 Ma). Most of these major magmatic stages are met again among the acidic intrusives and dykes of northern Kohistan: the first one as blastomylonitic tholeiitic plutons (Nomal; ca. 102 Ma; Petterson and Windley, 1985), the second one as subalkaline plutons (Gindai; ca. 59 Ma), and a third one as leucocratic dykes, of Oligocene age (ca. 30 Ma; Petterson and Windley, 1985).These data may be related to the geodynamic evolution of the NW part of the India-Eurasia suture zone, thus allowing better constraints on the major steps of this evolution. The partly synchronous closures, by N-dipping subduction, of the two Tethys branches which are assumed to have encircled the Kohistan arc in Upper Mesozoic times, may have generated both the Karakorum and the Kohistan intrusives of Cretaceous and Palaeogene ages. The northern branch very likely closed before the southern one. At the time of the second intrusive stage (Palaeogene): (a) Kohistan and Karakorum had already collided, were welded and had suffered the same major tectonometamorphic event; (b) subduction of the southern Tethys floor beneath the welded Kohistan-Karakorum was still active; (c) however, collision between India and Kohistan-Karakorum may have already begun, particularly at the level of the Nanga Parbat promontory. Finally, it is emphasized that the intrusive processes continued in the Karakorum long after the collision (e.g., Baltoro granite).     

西南极岩浆作用及构造演化

西南极主要由哈格冰原岛峰群、南极半岛、瑟斯顿岛、玛丽·伯德地和埃尔斯沃思-惠特莫尔山脉五个各具特色的地壳块体组成。通过综述上述各块体主要的岩浆事件及其构造意义,旨在了解西南极的地质演化过程。西南极最古老的岩石为哈格冰原岛峰群地块的前寒武纪正片麻岩,时代为1238 Ma,记录了中元古代弧岩浆作用,其余四个地块记录了~500 Ma以来的地质演化过程。古生代时期,埃尔斯沃思-惠特莫尔山脉地块处于快速沉降的陆相断陷盆地环境,岩浆活动稀少,与罗斯造山运动形成的弧后伸展有关;玛丽·伯德地地块中—晚古生代发育一套与板块汇聚有关的岩浆作用,形成于活动大陆边缘环境;而南极半岛-瑟斯顿岛地块记录了石炭纪—二叠纪时期弧的发育。各地块的构造背景从侏罗纪开始明显分化,埃尔斯沃思-惠特莫尔山脉地块记录了侏罗纪板内岩浆作用,可能与大火成岩省有关;玛丽·伯德地地块发育的侏罗纪—早白垩世Ⅰ型弧岩浆岩随时间转变为白垩纪中期的A型碱性岩浆岩,经历了由俯冲向裂解机制的转变;南极半岛-瑟斯顿岛地块侏罗纪—白垩纪为弧岩浆活动活跃期,同时也有大火成岩省火山活动的记录,是持续俯冲和裂解相互作用的产物。新生代岩浆作用以南极半岛地块为代表,弧岩浆作用持续到始新世,其时空分布特征与左行错断扩张脊的分段俯冲和碰撞有关。