东南亚巽他群岛埃达克岩的分布及斑岩型铜(金)矿成矿预测的地质准则

东南亚巽他群岛是新生代埃达克岩、类埃达克岩极其发育的地区。这些中酸性岩浆岩广泛见于几内亚岛上的中央山脉、巴布亚新几内亚的欧文-斯坦利推覆带、俾斯麦岛弧、布干维尔岛-所罗门岛弧、印度尼西亚苏拉威西、加里曼丹中部、班达岛弧,零星见于苏门答腊、爪哇等地。根据微量元素特征及REE曲线类型的特点,本区埃达克岩可以明显地划分为2种类型：第一种埃达克岩类型属于拉斑/钙-碱性系列,具有大洋岛弧的REE曲线特征（相当于O型埃达克岩）;第二种埃达克岩属于高钾钙-碱性系列,归于大陆埃达克岩（相当于C型埃达克岩）,形成于弧-陆碰撞带或碰撞后造山带。埃达克岩与浅成热液金属矿床和斑岩矿床的成矿作用有密切的关系,是世界级浅成热液和斑岩铜-金矿的容矿岩石。     

新生代埃达克岩两种成因类型的含矿性和源区:西南太平洋带与东太平洋带的对比

埃达克岩是一种新型的火成岩(Sr/Y值≥20),形成于环太平洋带的大洋岛弧、大陆边缘造山带和陆缘火山弧环境,依据REE配分模式可将其划分为两种成因类型:大洋型(O-型)埃达克岩和大陆型(C-型)埃达克岩。西南太平洋带是世界上新生代埃达克岩和类埃达克岩广泛分布的地区之一。这些中酸性岩浆岩广泛分布于东南亚地区的菲律宾群岛、苏拉威西和加里曼丹中部、印度尼西亚几内亚岛和巴布亚新几内亚至所罗门群岛一带,零星见于班达岛弧、苏门答腊和西爪哇等地。研究结果表明:不同成因类型的埃达克岩具有不同的含矿性,反映各自来源于不同的岩浆岩源区。无论在西南太平洋带还是东太平洋带(智利),C-型埃达克岩(La/Yb值≥12)是俯冲板块的部分熔融作用叠加岩浆上侵过程中MASH(熔融-混染-储存-均一化)和AFC(混染-分异-结晶)作用的产物,与世界级斑岩铜-金矿床共生;而O-型埃达克岩(La/Yb比值≤12)则与俯冲的海洋平缓板块部分熔融作用有关,在西南太平洋带主要与浅成热泉金矿带和喷气型矿床有成因联系。     

东南亚新生代两类埃达克岩的分布、成因和含矿性

东南亚的巽他群岛-巴布亚新几内亚是新生代埃达克岩和类埃达克岩发育的地区。这些中酸性岩浆岩广泛见于印度尼西亚几内亚岛、苏拉威西和巴布亚新几内亚, 零星见于苏门答腊、班达岛弧、西爪哇和中加里曼丹等地。本区埃达克岩和类埃达克岩岩石类型分别属于岛弧拉斑钙碱性系列和高钾钙碱性系列, 以重稀土元素Y, Yb含量低(分别为Y ≤19 ×10-6和Yb ≤1.8 ×10-6)和高Sr值(＞355 × 10-6)为特征。微量元素蛛网图上有明显的Ba、K、Sr正异常峰和负的Th、Nb (Ta)异常谷。大离子亲石元素(LILE)和高场强元素(HFSE)相对富集。本区埃达克岩和类埃达克岩的构造位置为新生代缝合线附近的大洋岛弧和陆缘造山带, 可划分为两种成因类型:第一种为岛弧拉斑/钙碱性系列, 其REE配分模式属于大洋岛弧型, 见于现代大洋岛弧, 称为岛弧型(O-型)埃达克岩; 另一种为高钾钙碱性系列, 其REE配分模式属于大陆型, 产于大陆板块边缘造山带, 与弧-陆碰撞和后碰撞构造环境有成因联系, 见于大陆边缘, 称为大陆型(C-型)埃达克岩。 研究结果表明:大陆型(C-型)埃达克岩和类埃达克岩分布区域与世界级斑岩铜-金矿分布相一致, 而大洋岛弧型(O-型)主要与浅成热泉金矿和喷气型有成因联系。      

Three-dimensional P-wave velocity structure beneath the Indonesian region

We present the P-wave seismic tomography image of the mantle to a depth of 1200 km beneath the Indonesian region. The inversion method is applied to a dataset of 118,203 P-wave travel times of local and teleseismic events taken from ISC bulletins. Although the resolution is sufficient for detailed discussion in only a limited part of the study region, the results clarify the general tectonic framework in this region and indicate a possible remnant seismic slab in the lower mantle.

Structures beneath the Philippine Islands and the Molucca Sea region are well resolved and high-velocity zones corresponding to the slabs of the Molucca Sea and Philippine Sea plates are well delineated. Seismic zones beneath the Manila, Negros and Cotabato trenches are characterized by high-velocity anomalies, although shallow structures were not resolved. The Molucca Sea collision zone and volcanic zones of the Sangihe and Philippine arcs are dominated by low-velocity anomalies. The Philippine Sea slab subducts beneath the Philippine Islands at least to a depth of 200 km and may reach depths of 450 km. The southern end of the slab extends at least to about 6°N near southern Mindanao. In the south, the two opposing subducting slabs of the Molucca Sea plate are clearly defined by the two opposing high-velocity zones. The eastward dipping slab can be traced about 400 km beneath the Halmahera arc and may extend as far north as about 5°N. Unfortunately, resolution is not sufficient to reveal detailed structures at the boundary region between the Halmahera and Philippine Sea slabs. The westward dipping slab may subduct to the lower mantle although its extent at depth is not well resolved. This slab trends N-S from about 10°N in the Philippine Islands to northern Sulawesi. A NE-SW-trending high-velocity zone is found in the lower mantle beneath the Molucca Sea region. This high-velocity zone may represent a remnant of the former subduction zone which formed the Sulawesi arc during the Miocene.

The blocks along the Sunda and Banda arcs are less well resolved than those in the Philippine Islands and the Molucca Sea region. Nevertheless, overall structures can be inferred. The bowl-shaped distribution of the seismicity of the Banda arc is clearly defined by a horseshoe-shaped high-velocity zone. The tomographic image shows that the Indian oceanic slab subducts to a depth deeper than 300 km i.e., deeper than its seismicity, beneath Andaman Islands and Sumatra and may be discontinuous in northern Sumatra. Along southern Sumatra, Java and the islands to the east, the slab appears to be continuous and can be traced down to at least a depth of the deepest seismicity, where it appears to penetrate into the lower mantle.     

The Krakatau islands: The geotectonic setting

The Sunda Strait is located in a transitional zone between two different modes of subduction, the Java frontal and Sumatra oblique subductions. Western Java and Sumatra are, however, geologically continuous.The Krakatau complex lies at the intersection of two graben zones and a north-south active, shallow seismic belt, which coincides with a fracture zone along this seismic belt with fissure extrusion of alkali basaltic rocks commencing at Sukadana and continuing southward as far as the Panaitan island through Rajabasa, Sebuku and Krakatau.Paleomagnetic studies suggest that the island of Sumatra has been rotating clockwise relative to Java from at least 2.0 Ma to the present at a rate of 5–10h/Ma, and therefore the opening of the Sunda Strait might have started before 2 Ma (Nishimura et al. 1986).From geomorphological and seismological studies, it is estimated that the western part of Sumatra has been moving northward along the Semangko fault and the southern part of Sunda Strait has been pulled apart.Assuming that the perpendicular component (58 mm/yr; Fitch 1972) of the oblique subduction has not changed, we can estimate that the subduction started at 7–10 Ma. Huchon and LePichon (1984) also estimated that the subduction started at 13 Ma.Recent crustal earthquakes in the Sunda Strait area are clustered into three groups: (1) beneath the Krakatau complex where they are typically of tectonic origin, (2) inside a graben in the western part of the strait, and (3) in a more diffuse zone south of Sumatra. The individual and composite focal mechanisms of the events inside the strait show an extensional regime. A stress tensor, deduced from the individual focal mechanisms of the Krakatau group shows that the tensional axis has a N 130°E orientation (Harjono et al. 1988).These studies confirm that the Sunda Strait is under a tensional tectonic regime as a result of clockwise rotation along the continental margin and northward movement of the Sumatra sliver plate along the Semangko fault zone.     

Provenance and geochronology of Cenozoic sandstones of northern Borneo

The Crocker Fan of Sabah was deposited during subduction of the Proto-South China Sea between the Eocene and Early Miocene. Collision of South China microcontinental blocks with Borneo in the Early Miocene terminated deep water sedimentation and resulted in the major regional Top Crocker Unconformity (TCU). Sedimentation of fluvio-deltaic and shallow marine character resumed in the late Early Miocene. The Crocker Fan sandstones were derived from nearby sources in Borneo and nearby SE Asia, rather than distant Asian and Himalayan sources. The Crocker Fan sandstones have a mature composition, but their textures and heavy mineralogy indicate they are first-cycle sandstones, mostly derived from nearby granitic source rocks, with some input of metamorphic, sedimentary and ophiolitic material. The discrepancy between compositional maturity and textural immaturity is attributed to the effects of tropical weathering. U–Pb ages of detrital zircons are predominantly Mesozoic. In the Eocene sandstones Cretaceous zircons dominate and suggest derivation from granites of the Schwaner Mountains of southern Borneo. In Oligocene sandstones Permian–Triassic and Palaeoproterozoic zircons become more important, and are interpreted to be derived from Permian–Triassic granites and Proterozoic basement of the Malay Tin Belt. Miocene fluvio-deltaic and shallow marine sandstones above the TCU were mostly recycled from the deformed Crocker Fan in the rising central mountain range of Borneo. The provenance of the Tajau Sandstone Member of the Lower Miocene Kudat Formation in north Sabah is strikingly different from other Miocene and older sandstones. Sediment was derived mainly from granitic and high-grade metamorphic source rocks. No such rocks existed in Borneo during the Early Miocene, but potential sources are present on Palawan, to the north of Borneo. They represent continental crust from South China and subduction-related metamorphic rocks which formed an elevated region in the Early Miocene which briefly supplied sediment to north Sabah.     

喜马拉雅和冈底斯弧形山系中的岩浆岩带及其成因模式

国内外广泛地认为,处于喜马拉雅和冈底斯弧形山系之间的雅鲁藏布江-噶尔河谷地是一条印度板块和欧亚板块之间的缝合线带。由于印度板块自中生代以来的向北漂移,及其与欧亚板块的接近和相互之间的碰撞,先后造成了冈底斯和喜马拉雅弧形山系。     

Crustal anatexis and formation of two types of granitic magmas in the Kontum massif, central Vietnam: Implications for magma processes in collision zones

Asia grew in the Late Permian by the collision of a number of micro-continents. Syn- to post-collisional magmatism occurred along the continental collision zones . In this study, we report two types of granitic rocks, garnet granite (Grt granite) and orthopyroxene granite (Opx granite), from the Kontum massif, central Vietnam, which is situated on the continental collision zone between the South China and Indochina cratons. These granitic rocks were formed at ca. 250 Ma when high-temperature (HT) and ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism took place in the same zone. Based on the petrological and geochemical features compared with previously reported experimental results, garnet-bearing granite is derived from pelitic gneisses by partial melting, whereas orthopyroxene-bearing granite is produced by the partial melting of garnet-bearing mafic granulites. We inferred that a significantly high-geothermal gradient is required to produce Vietnamese granitic magmatism and related HT to UHT metamorphism. This geotherm may be attributed to upwelling mantle plume beneath the Kontum massif during the Late Permian.     

The origin of the Woyla Terranes in Sumatra and the Late Mesozoic evolution of the Sundaland margin

The Jurassic–Cretaceous Woyla Group of northern Sumatra includes fragments of volcanic arcs and an imbricated oceanic assemblage. The arc rocks are intruded by a granitic batholith and are separated from the original continental margin of Sundaland by the oceanic assemblage. Rocks of the arc assemblage are considered to be underlain by a continental basement because of the occurrence of the intrusive granite and of tin anomalies identified in stream sediments. Quartzose sediments associated with the granite have been correlated with units in the Palaeozoic basement of Sumatra. From these relationships a model has been proposed in which a continental sliver was separated from the margin of Sundaland in the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in an extensional strike-slip faulting regime, producing a short-lived marginal basin. The separated continental fragments have been designated the Sikuleh and Natal microcontinents. In the mid-Cretaceous the extensional regime was succeeded by compression, crushing the continental fragments back against the Sundaland margin, with the destruction of the marginal basin, now represented only by the imbricated oceanic assemblage. Modifications of this scenario are required by subsequent studies. Age-dating of the volcanic assemblage and intrusive granites in the Natal area showed that they formed part of an Eocene–Oligocene volcanic arc and are not relevant to the model. Thick-bedded radiolarian chert and palaeontological studies in the oceanic Woyla Group rocks of the Natal and Padang areas showed that they formed part of a more extensive and long-lived ocean basin which lasted from at least Triassic until mid-Cretaceous. This raised the possibility that the Sikuleh microcontinent might be allochthonous to Sumatra and encouraged plate tectonic reconstructions in which the Sikuleh microcontinent originated on the northern margin of Gondwanaland and migrated northwards across Tethys before colliding with Sundaland. Since these models were proposed, the whole of Sumatra has been mapped and units correlated with the Woyla Group have been recognised throughout western Sumatra. These units are reviewed and the validity of their correlation with the Woyla Group of northern Sumatra is assessed. From this review a revised synthesis for the Late Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the southwestern margin of Sundaland is proposed.     

Variation of Cl and SO3 Contents of Microphenocrystic Apatite in Intermediate to Silicic Igneous Rocks of Cenozoic Japanese Island Arcs: Implications for Porphyry Cu Metallogenesis in the Western Pacific Island Arcs

Abstract. Determinations of SO₃ and Cl contents of igneous accessory apatite were carried out on Late Cenozoic intermediate to silicic intrusive and volcanic rocks in the Japanese island arcs of the western Pacific rim including the southwestern Kuril arc (eastern Hokkaido), Northeast Japan arc (southwestern Hokkaido through northeastern Honshu to central Honshu), Izu‐Bonin arc, Kyushu‐Palau ridge, Southwest Japan arc (northern Kyushu) and northern Ryukyu arc (southern Kyushu). These were compared to those from the Western Luzon arc, Philippines, to better understand the metallogenesis of porphyry Cu deposits in the western Pacific island arcs. In addition, SO₃ and Cl contents of accessory apatite in the Cretaceous magnetite‐series granitic rocks in the Kitakami belt (northeastern Honshu) and the Miocene ilmenite‐series granitic rocks in the Outer Zone of Southwest Japan (southern Kyushu) were also examined. Microphenocrystic apatites in shallow intrusions associated with porphyry Cu deposits in the Western Luzon arc contain >0.1 wt% S as SO₃. Such high SO₃ contents of microphenocrystic apatite are a common characteristic of hydrous mag‐matism in the Western Luzon arc, from 15 Ma old tonalitic plutonic rocks of the Luzon Central Cordillera to present‐day volcanism at Mount Pinatubo. The accessory apatite in intrusive rocks associated with porphyry Cu deposits, especially those at the Santo Tomas II deposit, show significantly high Cl contents (>2 wt%). The SO₃ contents of microphenocrystic apatite in most of the hydrous silicic rocks along the volcanic front, in andesites related to native sulfur deposits, and in Miocene and younger shallow granitic intrusions in northeastern Honshu, are generally <0.1 wt%. On the other hand, the SO₃ contents of apatite in such rocks from eastern Hokkaido, southwestern Hokkaido, Izu, northern Kyushu and southern Kyushu are similar to those from the Western Luzon arc. The SO₃ contents of accessory apatite in the Cretaceous magnetite‐series granitic rocks in the Kitakami belt are variable, whereas those of the Miocene ilmenite‐series granitic rocks in southern Kyushu are extremely low. The Cl contents of accessory apatite in some rocks of the Northeast Japan arc, Izu‐Bonin arc and Southwest Japan arc are significantly high. In terms of the Cl and SO₃ contents of microphenocrystic apatite, Cenozoic Japanese arc magmatism show similarities with arc magmatism associated elsewhere with porphyry Cu mineralization, except for the most of northeastern Honshu of the Northeast Japan arc. Apatite commonly occurs as inclusions in other phenocrystic phases. Thus the variation in SO₃ contents of apatite is a feature of early stage magmatic differentiation. The SO₃ contents of microphenocrystic apatite are considered to reflect the redox state of the magma source region or fluids encountered during magma generation.     

Earthquake foci distribution in the Sunda Arc and the rotation of the backarc area

Earthquake foci suggest that the India plate has been underthrust in the Sunda Arc to depths increasing from little more than 200 km beneath central Sumatra to well over 600 km beneath the Java Sea. Geological differences between Sumatra and Java do not fully account for the anomaly. The explanation would appear to lie with an oblique India-Eurasia convergence caused by the rotation, relative to Eurasia, of the Sunda backarc area. Sinistral movements on several southeast-trending wrench faults in the region between Yunnan and Java appear to have been responsible. Backarc rotation also explains the pattern of Cenozoic volcanicity in Sumatra, and resolves controversy over the nature of the Andaman Basin, which may be interpreted as a rhombochasm forming behind a locally divergent plate margin.     

The Mesozoic tectono-magmatic evolution at the Paleo-Pacific subduction zone in West Borneo

Metamorphic and magmatic rocks are present in the northwestern part of the Schwaner Mountains of West Kalimantan. This area was previously assigned to SW Borneo (SWB) and interpreted as an Australian-origin block. Predominantly Cretaceous U-Pb zircon ages (c. 80–130 Ma) have been obtained from metapelites and I-type granitoids in the North Schwaner Zone of the SWB but a Triassic metatonalite discovered in West Kalimantan near Pontianak is inconsistent with a SWB origin. The distribution and significance of Triassic rocks was not known so the few exposures in the Pontianak area were sampled and geochemical analyses and zircon U-Pb ages were obtained from two meta-igneous rocks and three granitoids and diorites. Triassic and Jurassic magmatic and metamorphic zircons obtained from the meta-igneous rocks are interpreted to have formed at the Mesozoic Paleo-Pacific margin where there was subduction beneath the Indochina–East Malaya block. Geochemically similar rocks of Triassic age exposed in the Embuoi Complex to the north and the Jagoi Granodiorite in West Sarawak are suggested to have formed part of the southeastern margin of Triassic Sundaland. One granitoid (118.6 ± 1.1 Ma) has an S-type character and contains inherited Carboniferous, Triassic and Jurassic zircons which indicate that it intruded Sundaland basement. Two I-type granitoids and diorites yielded latest Early and Late Cretaceous weighted mean ages of 101.5 ± 0.6 and 81.1 ± 1.1 Ma. All three magmatic rocks are in close proximity to the meta-igneous rocks and are interpreted to record Cretaceous magmatism at the Paleo-Pacific subduction margin. Cretaceous zircons of metamorphic origin indicate recrystallisation at c. 90 Ma possibly related to the collision of the Argo block with Sundaland. Subduction ceased at that time, followed by post-collisional magmatism in the Pueh (77.2 ± 0.8 Ma) and Gading Intrusions (79.7 ± 1.0 Ma) of West Sarawak.     

Strontium and oxygen isotopic evidence for strike/slip movement of accreted terranes in the Idaho Batholith

The oxygen and strontium isotope compositions of granitic rocks of the Idaho Batholith provide insight into the magma source, assimilation processes, and nature of the suture zone between the Precambrian craton and accreted arc terranes. Granitic rocks of the Idaho Batholith intrude basement rocks of different age: Triassic/Jurassic accreted terranes to the west of the Salmon River suture zone and the Precambrian craton to the east. The age difference in the host rocks is reflected in the abrupt increase in the initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of granitic rocks in the batholith across the previously defined 0.706 line. Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of granitic rocks along Slate Creek on the western edge of the batholith jump from less than 0.704 to greater than 0.707 along an approximately 700 m transect normal to the Salmon River suture. Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios along the Slate Creek transect do not identify a transition zone between accreted arcs and the craton and suggest a unique tectonic history during or after suturing that is not documented along other transects on the west side of the Idaho Batholith. The lack of transition zone along Slate Creek may be a primary structure due to transcurrent/transpressional movement rather than by contractional thrust faulting during suturing or be the result of post-imbrication modification.     

大别山北大别杂岩的大地构造属性

北大别杂岩主要由花岗质片麻岩及斜长角闪岩组成 ,含有不同类型、大小不等的麻粒岩岩块和变质超镁铁质岩块 ,侵入有大量白垩纪花岗岩和辉石 -辉长岩类。其中的花岗质片麻岩、斜长角闪岩具有岛弧环境的岩石地球化学特征 ,代表拼贴于扬子陆块北缘的新元古代古岛弧。北大别杂岩北可与庐镇关群相连 ,南俯于超高压变质岩之下 ,在三叠纪扬子陆块与华北陆块的碰撞过程中 ,曾与超高压变质岩一起俯冲到地幔深度并经受榴辉岩相变质作用 ,然后在折返过程中叠加了麻粒岩相及角闪岩相变质作用 ,是扬子陆块北缘陆壳俯冲基底的一部分     

Rock relationships in the Mogok metamorphic belt, Tatkon to Mandalay, central Myanmar

The Mogok metamorphic belt (MMB), over 1450 km long and up to 40 km wide, consists of regionally metamorphosed rocks including kyanite and sillimanite schists and granites lying along the Western margin of the Shan Plateau in central Myanmar and continuing northwards to the eastern Himalayan syntaxis. Exposures in quarries allow correlation of Palaeozoic meta-sedimentary, early Mesozoic meta-igneous and late Mesozoic intrusive rocks within a 230 km long northerly-trending segment of the MMB, from Tatkon to Kyanigan north of Mandalay, and with the Mogok gemstone district 100 km to the northeast. Relationships among the metamorphic and intrusive rocks, with sparse published radiometric age controls, indicate at least two metamorphic events, one before and one after the intrusion of Late Jurassic to early Cretaceous calc-alkaline rocks. These relationships can be explained by either of two possible tectonic histories. One, constrained by correlation of mid-Permian limestones across Myanmar, requires early Permian and early Jurassic regional metamorphic events, prior to an early Tertiary metamorphism, in the western part of but within a Shan-Thai – western Myanmar block. The second, not compatible with a single laterally continuous Permian limestone, requires pre-Upper Jurassic regional metamorphism and orogenic gold mineralization in the Mergui Group and western Myanmar, early Cretaceous collision of an east-facing Mergui-western Myanmar island arc with the Shan Plateau, and early Tertiary metamorphism in the MMB related to reversal in tectonic polarity following the arc-Plateau collision.     

The Bentong–Raub Suture Zone

It is proposed that the Bentong–Raub Suture Zone represents a segment of the main Devonian to Middle Triassic Palaeo-Tethys ocean, and forms the boundary between the Gondwana-derived Sibumasu and Indochina terranes. Palaeo-Tethyan oceanic ribbon-bedded cherts preserved in the suture zone range in age from Middle Devonian to Middle Permian, and mélange includes chert and limestone clasts that range in age from Lower Carboniferous to Lower Permian. This indicates that the Palaeo-Tethys opened in the Devonian, when Indochina and other Chinese blocks separated from Gondwana, and closed in the Late Triassic (Peninsular Malaysia segment). The suture zone is the result of northwards subduction of the Palaeo-Tethys ocean beneath Indochina in the Late Palaeozoic and the Triassic collision of the Sibumasu terrane with, and the underthrusting of, Indochina. Tectonostratigraphic, palaeobiogeographic and palaeomagnetic data indicate that the Sibumasu Terrane separated from Gondwana in the late Sakmarian, and then drifted rapidly northwards during the Permian–Triassic. During the Permian subduction phase, the East Malaya volcano-plutonic arc, with I-Type granitoids and intermediate to acidic volcanism, was developed on the margin of Indochina. The main structural discontinuity in Peninsular Malaysia occurs between Palaeozoic and Triassic rocks, and orogenic deformation appears to have been initiated in the Upper Permian to Lower Triassic, when Sibumasu began to collide with Indochina. During the Early to Middle Triassic, A-Type subduction and crustal thickening generated the Main Range syn- to post-orogenic granites, which were emplaced in the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic. A foredeep basin developed on the depressed margin of Sibumasu in front of the uplifted accretionary complex in which the Semanggol “Formation” rocks accumulated. The suture zone is covered by a latest Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, mainly continental, red bed overlap sequence.     

Crystalline rocks of the Spinatizha area, Pakistan

During the Cretaceous an andesitic arc developed across south Asia facing the Tethys Ocean. Remnants of this arc are preserved in Iran, Afghanistan, and the Chagai Hills and Kohistan, Pakistan. West of the Chaman fault near Spinatizha, Pakistan (33° 33′N, 66° 23′E) a terrain of crystalline rocks is exposed that links the Chagai Hills portion of this arc with the Kandahar portion of it in Afghanistan. Four units are present. (1) The Spinatizha Metamorphic Complex includes orthogneiss, greenschist, amphibolite, metavolcanics, marble and foliated muscovite granite. Extreme variation in rock type and degree of metamorphism characterises the entire complex. It is the oldest unit west of the Chaman fault in Pakistan. (2) The Bazai Ghar Volcanics consist of weakly deformed tuffs, flow breccias, and other coarse-grained pyroclastics of andesitic-arc type. Andesite flows and at least one silicic welded tuff are also present. The Bazai Ghar Volcanics are everywhere separated from the Spinatizha Metamorphic unit by granitic intrusions and a major fault. (3) Both the above units are intruded by a series of calc-alkaline granitic plutons ranging from diorite to granite. The silicic plutons generally intrude the more mafic ones. The Bazai Ghar Volcanics and related intrusions are probably equivalent to the Cretaceous (?) Sinjrani volcanics and the Cretaceous and younger intrusions of the Chagai Hills. (4) Along the fault zone between the volcanic and metamorphic rocks is a small area of previously unknown clastic sedimentary rocks: conglomerates and slates. The unit is of Palaeogene age but cannot yet be correlated with known units. The Spinatizha crystalline terrain extends south along the Chaman fault into Afghanistan and is covered by the Helmund desert to the west. It is the eastern continuation of the calc-alkaline arc terrain of the Chagai Hills dragged by oroclinal flexing into the Chaman transform zone. To the north it connects with the Kandahar volcanic arc. The metamorphic complex may represent the basement on which the arc terrain rests, only exposed due to strong vertical uplift near the Chaman fault.     

Magnetic anomalies over the Andaman Islands and their geological significance

The Andaman Islands form part of the outer-arc accretionary sedimentary complex belonging to the Andaman–Sumatra active subduction zone. The islands are characterized by thick cover of Neogene sediments along with exposed ophiolite rocks at few places. A regional magnetic survey was carried out for the first time over the Andaman Islands with a view to understand the correlation of anomaly signatures with surface geology of the islands. The residual total field magnetic anomaly maps have revealed distinct magnetic anomalies having intermediate to high amplitude magnetic signatures and correlate with the areas over/close to the exposed ophiolite rocks along the east coast of north, middle and the south Andaman Islands. The 2D modelling of magnetic anomalies along selected E–W profiles across the islands indicate that the ophiolite bodies extend to a depth of about 5–8 km and spatially correlate with the mapped fault/thrust zones.     

Provenance of the Cretaceous–Eocene Rajang Group submarine fan,Sarawak, Malaysia from light and heavy mineral assemblages and U-Pb zircon geochronology

The Rajang Group sediments in central Borneo form a very thick deep-water sequence which was deposited in one of the world's largest ancient submarine fans. In Sarawak, the Lupar and Belaga Formations form the Rajang Group, characterised by turbidites and large debris flows, deposited in an interval of at least 30 Ma between the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) and late Middle Eocene. Borneo is one of the few places in SE Asia where sediments of this age are preserved. Heavy mineral assemblages and detrital zircon U-Pb dating permit the Rajang Group to be divided into three units. The Schwaner Mountains area in SW Borneo, and West Borneo and the Malay Tin Belt were the main source regions and the contribution from these source areas varied with time. Unit 1, of Late Cretaceous to Early Eocene age, is characterised by zircon-tourmaline-dominated heavy mineral assemblages derived from both source areas. Unit 2, of Early to Middle Eocene age, has zircon-dominated heavy mineral assemblages, abundant Cretaceous zircons and few Precambrian zircons derived primarily from the Schwaner Mountains. Unit 3, of Middle Eocene age, has zircon-tourmaline-dominated heavy mineral assemblages derived from both sources and reworked sedimentary rocks. There was limited contemporaneous magmatism during deposition of the Rajang Group inconsistent with a subduction arc setting. We suggest the Rajang Group was deposited north of the shelf edge formed by the Lupar Line which was a significant strike-slip fault.     

Isotope geochronological study of Late Palaeozoic granitic rocks in the Nanling Region,South China

Fourty-four isotopic ages have been determined by K-Ar and U-Th-Pb methods for Late Palaeozoic granitic rocks in the Nanling Region, South China. All dating values vary within the range of 231–348 m.y. From the obtained dates, further evidence has been found that there do exist Late Palaeozoic granitic rocks, which can be subdivided into Late Devonian and Permian granitic rocks. Within a Late Devonian terrain, there is a granitic pluton, namely granodiorite with a zircon U-Th-Pb age of 348 m.y., while ten granitic plutons have been recognized within a Permian terrain where granites are predominant, yielding biotite K-Ar ages of 236–289 m.y. (λ _β =4.72×10^?10yr.^?1,λ _K=5.57×10^?11yr.^?1) and zircon U-Th-Pb ages ranging from 231 to 280 m.y., respectively. It is obvious from the dates that intrusive activity of granitic magma extensively took place in the Nanling Region during Late Palaeozoic, although no records of orogenie movements have been found, indicating that the faults are the main factor controlling the activity of granitic magma, whereas the orogenic movements are not the only prerequisite for the formation of granitic magma and the intrusive activity.