U-Pb monazite, xenotime and titanite geochronological constraints on the prograde to post-peak metamorphic thermal history of Paleoproterozoic migmatites from the Grand Canyon, Arizona

The petrology and U-Pb geochronology of pelitic migmatite and calc-silicate gneiss reveal a detailed prograde to post-peak metamorphic thermal history for a single outcrop of Paleoproterozoic supracrustal rocks in the eastern part of the Grand Canyon. Metamorphic monazite from paleosomal pelitic schist grew on the prograde path beginning at about 1708 Ma and continued to grow until about 1697 Ma. The U-Pb dates for magmatic xenotime and monazite from peraluminous granite and pegmatite leucosomes indicate that partial melting, which involved the breakdown of muscovite to sillimanite, commenced at about 1702 Ma, prior to the metamorphic peak. Partial melting continued until about 1690 Ma, the youngest U-Pb date from magmatic monazite in the leucosomes. Field and petrographic evidence, as well as inheritance patterns in monazites from the leucosomes, suggest that some of the leucosomes appear to represent in situ partial melts that did not escape the source region. Between 1702 and 1690 Ma, the migmatite package heated to peak metamorphic conditions of about 720 °C and 6 kbar, cooled to about 675 °C at a cooling rate >30 °C/million years, and decompressed to about 4 kbar. The U-Pb geochronological data for metamorphic titanite from a calc-silicate gneiss exhibit a clear relationship between grain size and the ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb date indicating that the titanite crystals record cooling ages. These data, combined with the titanite Pb diffusion data of Cherniak (1993), yield a cooling rate of 5.4_−0.9 ^+1.7 °C/million years, integrated over the interval 1690 to 1676 Ma and suggest that by 1675 Ma, the cooling rate slowed to less than 2 °C/million years. The rapid decompression during the peak of metamorphism and the change in cooling rate immediately following peak metamorphism are interpreted to reflect large-scale tectonic processes associated with the accretion of juvenile crust to the margin of Laurentia. Juvenile arc crust appears to have been assembled, accreted and stabilized into Laurentian lithosphere in less than 30 million years. Received: 21 January 1998 / Accepted: 27 August 1998     

Early agriculture in the Eastern Grand Canyon of Arizona,USA

Abandoned fields in Colorado River alluvium in the eastern Grand Canyon show signs of primitive agriculture. Presence of maize pollen in association with buried soils near Comanche Creek suggests that farming began prior to 3130 yr B.P. Cotton pollen, identified in buried soils near Nankoweap Creek, dates to 1310 yr B.P., approximately 500 years earlier than previously reported anywhere on the Colorado Plateau. Farming spanned three millennia in this reach of the canyon. Entrenchment, starting approximately 700 yr B.P., making water diversion to fields infeasible, was likely responsible for field abandonment. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Kaersutite-peridotite inclusions and kindred megacrysts in basanitic lavas,Grand Canyon,Arizona

Essentially two types of ultramafic inclusions occur in the basanitic lavas and ejecta deposits of the northwestern Grand Canyon, Arizona. Abundant, olivine-rich nodules contain an emerald green, chrome-rich diopside and chrome-rich spinels. A much less common group of inclusions generally containing poikilitic kaersutite have more variable modal compositions, more variable but iron-rich and chrome-poor mineral compositions, and are characterized by the presence of a titaniferous clinopyroxene which appears black in hand specimen. The nature and petrologic significance of these black clinopyroxene-bearing inclusions, together with megacrysts of kaersutite and black clinopyroxene, are discussed in this paper.Petrographic aspects indicate an origin as cumulates of fractionating basaltic magma. Compositions of pyroxenes suggest high pressures of crystallization. The co-precipitation of orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, olivine and Mg-spinel from what in all probability was under-saturated magma, together with the total absence of feldspar as a cumulate or intercumulate phase, is compatible with crystallization near 10 kb, on the basis of quite limited experimental data on anhydrous basaltic compositions. Pressures of this sort are attained at depths close to the mantle-crust boundary in the western Grand Canyon. By way of comparison, cumulate-textured inclusions from central Nevada containing rare orthopyroxene, widespread plagioclase, and more Fe-enriched clinopyroxenes, kaersutites, olivines and spinels are postulated to have crystallized at lower temperatures (or at a more advanced stage of fractionation) and possibly at lower pressures.Numerous occurrences, worldwide, of kaersutite-bearing inclusions, always in undersaturated host rocks, have recently been reported. Compositionally, the kaersutites are quite uniform, whether coexistent with pyropic garnet-clinopyroxene (Kakanui, New Zealand), with ortho-pyroxene-clinopyroxene-olivine-Mg spinel (Grand Canyon), or with plagioclase-clinopyroxene-olivine-magnetite. The last assemblage is found in shallow-seated igneous bodies of alkalic, mafic composition, as well as in inclusions within basaltic rocks. These occurrences imply the precipitation of kaersutite amphibole over a broad range of pressures, and as high as those prevailing in the upper mantle.     

The last 30,000 years of faunal history within the Grand Canyon, Arizona

The vertebrate fauna of the last 30,000 radiocarbon years in the Grand Canyon is reviewed. Faunas accompanied with 92 ¹⁴C dates have been analyzed from nine cave sites (four systematically excavated) and 50 packrat middens. Reasonably precise chronological and environmental data of late Pleistocene and Holocene age were obtained through dung studies in Rampart, Muav, and Stanton's Caves; from the numerous packrat middens; and from a ringtail refuse deposit in Vulture Cave. The desert tortoise, 8 species of lizards, 12 species of snakes, 68 species of birds, and 33 species of mammals are identified. Extinct animals include the avian carrion feeder, Teratornis merriami, and the mammalian herbivores, Oreamnos harringtoni, Camelops cf. hesternus, Equus sp., and Nothrotheriops shastense. There is no apparent abrupt end to the late Pleistocene as observed in the Grand Canyon fossil faunal or floral record. Animal and plant taxa of the Grand Canyon responded individually to the changes in climate of the last 30,000 yr. Both animal and plant fossil assemblages indicate that a pre-full glacial, a full glacial, and a late glacial woodland community with many less dominant desert taxa were slowly replaced by a Holocene desert community. All woodland taxa were absent from the lower elevations of the Grand Canyon by 8500 yr B.P.     

Review: The distribution,flow, and quality of Grand Canyon Springs,Arizona (USA)

An understanding of the hydrogeology of Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA) in northern Arizona, USA, is critical for future resource protection. The ~750 springs in GRCA provide both perennial and seasonal flow to numerous desert streams, drinking water to wildlife and visitors in an otherwise arid environment, and habitat for rare, endemic and threatened species. Spring behavior and flow patterns represent local and regional patterns in aquifer recharge, reflect the geologic structure and stratigraphy, and are indicators of the overall biotic health of the canyon. These springs, however, are subject to pressures from water supply development, changes in recharge from forest fires and other land management activities, and potential contamination. Roaring Springs is the sole water supply for residents and visitors (>6 million/year), and all springs support valuable riparian habitats with very high species diversity. Most springs flow from the karstic Redwall-Muav aquifer and show seasonal patterns in flow and water chemistry indicative of variable aquifer porosities, including conduit flow. They have Ca/Mg-HCO₃ dominated chemistry and trace elements consistent with nearby deep wells drilled into the Redwall-Muav aquifer. Tracer techniques and water-age dating indicate a wide range of residence times for many springs, supporting the concept of multiple porosities. A perched aquifer produces small springs which issue from the contacts between sandstone and shale units, with variable groundwater residence times. Stable isotope data suggest both an elevational and seasonal difference in recharge between North and South Rim springs. This review highlights the complex nature of the groundwater system.     

Thermal history of the Permian formations from the Breccia Pipes area (Grand Canyon region,Arizona)

The thermal history of the Permian formations from the Breccia Pipes area in the Colorado Plateau has been assessed using different methods. Burial reconstruction indicates maximum temperatures between 100 and 140 °C for a 30 °C/km geothermal gradient. A temperature of 140±5 °C integrated over 10 to 50 Ma. has been deduced from fission track analysis. This range of temperatures is consistent with trapping temperatures obtained by fluid inclusions study (75–140 °C). Fission track and burial hypotheses have been introduced in a kinetic model for organic matter maturation. The computed Tmax average 445 and 421 °C respectively. A comparison with organic geochemistry data from the Permian Toroweap formation is carried out and demonstrates that the two above hypotheses constitute a thermal framework for the organic matter evolution. Main conclusions referring to beginning of oil window and regional uplift ages (Laramide orogeny) as well as maximum temperature ranges are deduced from this study.

---

Zusammenfassung Die thermal bedingte Entwicklung permischer Schichten in der »Breccia Pipes« Region der Colorado-Hochebene wurde mittels dreier Geothermometer rekonstruiert. Die Rekonstruktion der Ablagerungsgeschichte deutet auf maximale Temperaturen zwischen 100 ° und 140 °C hin. Eine Spaltspuren-Analyse erbrachte als Ergebnis eine maximale Temperatur von 137 °C, die über 50 Ma. integriert wurde. Diese Ergebnisse stimmen mit der Minimum-Temperatur überein, die mit Hilfe von Flüssigkeitseinschlüssen (75°–140 °C) errechnet wurden. Die Hypothesen der Spaltspuren-Analyse und der Ablagerungsgeschichte wurden in ein kinetisches Modell der Reifung von organischen Substanzen miteinbezogen. Die errechneten Durchschnitts-temperaturen liegen bei 445° und 421 °C. Ein Vergleich mit Daten der organischen Geochemie aus der permischen »Toroweap« Formation zeigt, daß die zwei oben genannten Hypothesen es erlauben, thermale Rahmenbedingungen für die Entwicklung organischer Substanzen festzusetzen. Die wichtigsten Schlüsse, die aus dieser Studie gezogen werden können sind das Alter des Beginns der Ölbildungsphase und der regionalen Hebungsphase (Laramid-Orogenese) sowie die Spannweite der maximalen Temperaturen.

---

Résumé L'histoire thermique des formations permiennes de la région des Breccia Pipes dans le plateau du Colorado a été reconstituée grâce à l'utilisation de méthodes différentes. Les modélisations géologiques indiquent des températures maximales comprises entre 100 et 140 °C pour un gradient géothermique de 30 °C/km. Une température de 140±5 °C intégrée sur une période comprise entre 10 et 50 Ma est déduite de l'analyse des traces de fission. Ces résultats sont compatibles avec les températures de piégeage obtenues lors de l'étude de inclusions fluides (75–140 °C). Les histoires thermiques découlant de l'analyse des traces de fission et des reconstitutions géologiques ont été introduites dans un modèle cinétique d'évolution de la matière organique. Les Tmax calculées sont, respectivement, de 445 et 421 °C. Une comparaison avec les caractéristiques des kérogènes de la formation du Toroweap (Permien) démontre que ces hypothèses fixent les limites inférieure et supérieure de la maturation de la matière organique. Les conclusions principales de cette étude permettent de déterminer les âges correspondant au début de la fenêtre à huile et à la principale phase orogénique régionale (Laramienne) ainsi que les différentes températures associées.

---

«Breccia Pipes» . 100140°. 137°, 50 . , , 75–140°. . , , 445 421 °?. «Toroweap» , , , . , — Laramid' — .

     

Volatiles in amphiboles from xenoliths,Vulcan's Throne,Grand Canyon,Arizona, USA

Analyses of major element and volatile components of amphiboles from Vulcan's Throne, a Recent volcano on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, have been performed by using the electron microprobe and high temperature mass spectrometry. The amphiboles occur as megacrysts, as oikocrysts in peridotite and pyroxenite xenoliths, in amphibole-rich selvages on lherzolite xenoliths, and as grains in hornblendite xenoliths. Total volatiles range from 1.27 to 1.75 wt.%. In all samples, H₂O is the principal volatile species. Lesser amounts of structurally bound fluorine, chlorine, and oxygen were also released. The amphiboles studied are hydroxyl-deficient. The O(3) site is probably partially occupied by O^2?, which was detected as O₂ during degassing of the amphibole. Ti shows a strong positive correlation with the amount of hydroxyl deficiency in the amphiboles except for one oxidized sample. Thus, Ti probably is significant in charge balancing the substitution of O^2? for OH^? and the substitution probably occurred during crystallization rather than by dehydrogenation. Small amounts of both oxidized and reduced carbon and sulfur-bearing volatile species (e.g., CO₂, CO, CH₄, SO₂, H₂S) were detected in all samples. The observation of reduced carbon species supports the hypothesis that the oxygen fugacity of at least portions of the upper mantle is probably less than the quartz-fayalite-magnetite buffer.     

Peak discharge of a Pleistocene lava-dam outburst flood in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

The failure of a lava dam 165,000 yr ago produced the largest known flood on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. The Hyaloclastite Dam was up to 366 m high, and geochemical evidence linked this structure to outburst-flood deposits that occurred for 32 km downstream. Using the Hyaloclastite outburst-flood deposits as paleostage indicators, we used dam-failure and unsteady flow modeling to estimate a peak discharge and flow hydrograph. Failure of the Hyaloclastite Dam released a maximum 11 × 10⁹ m³ of water in 31 h. Peak discharges, estimated from uncertainty in channel geometry, dam height, and hydraulic characteristics, ranged from 2.3 to 5.3 × 10⁵ m³ s⁻¹ for the Hyaloclastite outburst flood. This discharge is an order of magnitude greater than the largest known discharge on the Colorado River (1.4 × 10⁴ m³ s⁻¹) and the largest peak discharge resulting from failure of a constructed dam in the USA (6.5 × 10⁴ m³ s⁻¹). Moreover, the Hyaloclastite outburst flood is the oldest documented Quaternary flood and one of the largest to have occurred in the continental USA. The peak discharge for this flood ranks in the top 30 floods (>10⁵ m³ s⁻¹) known worldwide and in the top ten largest floods in North America.     

Interaction of rhyolite melts with monazite,xenotime, and zircon surfaces

The interfacial contact region between a rhyolite melt and the accessory minerals monazite, xenotime, and zircon is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. On all surfaces, major structural rearrangement extends about 1 nm into the melt from the interface. As evidenced by the structural perturbations in the ion distribution profiles, the affinity of the melt for the surface increases in going from monazite to xenotime to zircon. Alkali ions are enriched in the melt in contact with an inert wall, as well as at the mineral surfaces. Melt in contact with zircon has a particularly strong level of aluminum enrichment. In xenotime, the enrichment of aluminum is less than that in zircon, but still notable. In monazite, the aluminum enrichment in the contact layer is much less. It is expected that the relative surface energies of these accessory minerals will be a strong function of the aluminum content of the melt and that nucleation of zircon, in particular, would be easier for melts with higher aluminum concentration. The crystal growth rate for zircon is expected to be slower at a higher aluminum concentration because of the effectiveness of aluminum in solvating the zircon surface. The variable interfacial concentration profiles across the series of accessory minerals will likely affect the kinetics of trace element incorporation, as the trace elements must compete with the major elements for surface sites on the growing accessory minerals.     

Neoproterozoic metamorphic evolution in the Transangarian Yenisei Ridge: Evidence from monazite and xenotime geochronology

Chemical mapping and in situ dating of U-Th-rich minerals in zoned garnets from gneisses of the Garevka metamorphic complex were used to constrain multiple metamorphic events in the Transangarian Yenisei Ridge. The data provide supporting evidence for three distinct metamorphic stages. The first episode occurred as a result of the Grenville orogeny during the Late Mesozoic and Early Neoproterozoic (1050–850 Ma) and was marked by low-pressure zoned metamorphism and a metamorphic field gradient with dT/dH = 20?30°C/km typical of orogenic belts. At the second stage, the rocks experienced Late Riphean (801–793 Ma) syn-collisional medium-pressure metamorphism with a low metamorphic field gradient (dT/dH ≤ 10°C/km). The final stage evolved as a synexhumation dynamic metamorphism (785–776 Ma) with dT/dH ≤ 12°C/km and reflected rapid exhumation of rocks in shear zones. The sequence of collisional events within the western margin of the Siberian craton affected by the Valhalla orogen suggests that Siberia and cratons of the North Atlantic region were in close proximity to one another at about 800 Ma, which is supported by recent paleomagnetic reconstructions.     

Genesis and evolution of low-Al orthopyroxene in spinel peridotite xenoliths, Grand Canyon field, Arizona, USA

Orthopyroxene porphyroblasts zoned to interiors abnormally low in Al and Cr and containing numerous inclusions of olivine occur in some spinel peridotite xenoliths from the Colorado Plateau. Rims of these orthopyroxene grains contain 2.5–3.0 wt% Al₂O₃, consistent with equilibration in spinel peridotite at temperatures near 850 °C, but interiors contain as little as 0.20 wt% Al₂O₃ and 0.04 wt% Cr₂O₃. The Al-poor compositions are inferred to have equilibrated in chlorite peridotite, before porphyroblast growth during heating and consequent reactions that eliminated talc, tremolite, and chlorite. The distinctive orthopyroxene textures are inferred to have formed during reaction of talc and olivine. Rare intergrowths of orthopyroxene plus diopside are attributed to olivine-tremolite reaction. Al and Cr have gradients at grain rims that appear little modified by diffusion, but divalent elements are almost homogeneous throughout the porphyroblasts. Judging from the relative gradients, diffusion of Ca was at least 100 times faster than that of Al and Cr at the temperatures near and below 850 °C. Diffusion of Al and Cr was most effective along subgrain boundaries, and along these boundaries it appears to have been at least ten times faster than within the lattice: diffusion along such boundaries may be a dominant mechanism for re-equilibration of orthopyroxene at low mantle temperatures. Orthopyroxene with similar low Al and Cr occurs in chlorite peridotite xenoliths from the Navajo field, 300 km east of the Grand Canyon localities, and in spinel peridotite xenoliths from the Sierra Nevada, 500 km west across the extended Basin and Range province. Chlorite peridotite may therefore have been a significant minor component in much of the mantle lithosphere of western North America, although evidence for it would be erased at the higher temperatures recorded by xenoliths from the Basin and Range. Chemical changes during hydration may have been important in the evolution of these mantle volumes, and the case for addition of Sr is particularly strong. Dehydration reactions during heating could have influenced patterns of extension and crustal magmatism. Received: 1 July 1996 / Accepted: 2 December 1996     

小秦岭华阳川地区古元古代和三叠纪铀成矿作用: 来自含铀伟晶岩锆石独居石U-Pb年代学的证据

华阳川铀矿位于小秦岭构造带西部, 是一个以铀铌共生为主, 并伴生铅、稀土的多金属矿床。华阳川铀矿发现于20世纪50年代, 长期以含铌钛铀矿的碳酸岩型铀矿而知名, 已往研究工作也大量聚焦于碳酸岩型铀矿。近年来, 新的地质工作在华阳川地区发现了大量的含铀伟(细)晶岩、花岗岩脉。本文对位于华阳川铀矿区西部及外围黄家沟一带的含铀伟晶岩进行了岩相学、矿物学、锆石及独居石U-Pb年代学等方面研究。研究发现含铀伟晶岩中的锆石基本为岩浆成因, 锆石的U-Pb年代数据集中在1842±11Ma~1829±12Ma。结合锆石与含铀矿物铌钛铀矿共生的特征, 表明存在成岩期成矿的现象, 反映了古元古代(约2.0~1.8Ga)华北克拉通南缘基底克拉通化过程中花岗质岩浆活动的铀成矿效应。含铀伟晶岩中同时也产出较多热液成因的独居石, 其U-Pb同位素年龄测定得到二组数据, 分别为268.7±5.9Ma~259±4.6Ma、232.5±4.7Ma~228.2±9.2Ma, 反映了晚古生代-早中生代华阳川地区的二期构造热事件。其中, 晚古生代年代数据(268.7±5.9Ma~259±4.6Ma)表明扬子板块向华北板块南缘(+南秦岭微地块)的深部板块俯冲、碰撞机制的远程构造热效应在华阳川地区已经开始; 而早中生代年代数据(232.5±4.7Ma~228.2±9.2Ma), 与华阳川地区已有的三叠纪碳酸岩型铀、钼矿床的成矿年代数据十分接近, 为华阳川地区乃至东秦岭早中生代三叠纪铀钼多金属成矿作用提供了新的证据。

     

Amphibole-bearing Cumulate Inclusions, Grand Canyon, Arizona and their bearing on Silica-Undersaturated Hydrous Magmas in the Upper Mantle

Rare inclusions in Holocene basanite within the western GrandCanyon are comprised of poikilitic titaniferous amphibole togetherwith variable proportions of relatively Fe-rich clinopyroxene,orthopyroxene, olivine, Cr-poor spinel, and pyropic garnet,magnesian ilmenite, and titaniferous phlogopite. No feldsparhas been found in the 219 inclusions investigated. Availableexperimental data suggest crystallization at approximately 20kb (65 km depth) in a region where the crust is 30–40km thick. On the basis of their fabric, the inclusions appear to representcumulates, but other modes of origin cannot be completely ruledout. Anhydrous grains, including some considered to be postcumulusprecipitates, experienced extensive resorption into the interstitialhydrous melt before it ultimately crystallized, perhaps 100?C below liquidus temperatures, as the poikilitic amphibole.In spite of these crystal-melt reactions, and some probablesubsolidus recrystallization as well, systematic variationsin cumulus phase compositions exist and indicate one main precipitationsequence was ol+sp, ol+sp+cpx, cpx+cpx+sp, cpx+sp, cpx+sp+ilm.The local pyropic garnet appears postcumulus in the last threecumulus assemblages. The igneous bodies represented by the inclusions comprised arelatively small portion of the upper mantle sampled by theascending basanitic magma. But in contrast to the thin amphibole-bearingveins in the mantle-derived massif at Etang de Lherz, the igneousbodies beneath the Grand Canyon are considered to be substantiallylarger in dimension, on the order of at least meters ratherthan a few centimeters. Primary nephelinite-basanite melts produced by variable butsmall degrees of partial melting of hydrous upper mantle arenot represented by the poikilitic amphiboles because of complexprocesses at the site of emplacement, including reactions betweenmelt and chromian-spinel peridotite wall rocks.     

Experimental metasomatism of monazite and xenotime: mineral stability, REE mobility and fluid composition

In this study a Th-bearing monazite from a Brazil beach sand, a low Th monazite from a Malawi carbonatite, and a xenotime from a pegmatite in northern Pakistan were experimentally metasomatised in a series of common metamorphic and igneous fluids at 600°C/500 MPa and 900°C/1000 MPa. Fluids included H₂O, NaCl, and KCl brines, CaF₂?+?H₂O, 1m and 2m HCl, 1m and 2m H₂SO₄, 1m NaOH, and Na₂Si₂O₅?+?H₂O. The monazite show a variety of responses to the fluids ranging from no reaction (KCl?+?H₂O) to small compositional changes and partial replacement of the monazite grain rim by Th-enriched monazite in the NaOH and (Na₂Si₂O₅?+?H₂O) experiments respectively. The other acid and brine fluids induced varying degrees of partial dissolution in the monazite and xenotime, but no compositional alteration. Partial replacement of monazite grain rims by Th-enriched monazite occurred only in the alkaline fluids as the result of a coupled dissolution-reprecipitation process.     

Paleomagnetism of Middle Proterozoic mafic intrusions and Upper Proterozoic (Nankoweap) red beds from the Lower Grand Canyon Supergroup, Arizona

Paleomagnetic data from lavas and dikes of the Unkar igneous suite (16 sites) and sedimentary rocks of the Nankoweap Formation (7 sites), Grand Canyon Supergroup (GCSG), Arizona, provide two primary paleomagnetic poles for Laurentia for the latest Middle Proterozoic (ca. 1090 Ma) at 32°N, 185°E (dp=6.8°, DM=9.3°) and early Late Proterozoic (ca. 850–900 Ma) at 10°S, 163°E (dp=3.5°, DM=7.0°). A new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determination from an Unkar dike gives an interpreted intrusion age of about 1090 Ma, similar to previously reported geochronologic data for the Cardenas Basalts and associated intrusions. The paleomagnetic data show no evidence of any younger, middle Late Proterozoic tectonothermal event such as has been revealed in previous geochronologic studies of the Unkar igneous suite. The pole position for the Unkar Group Cardenas Basalts and related intrusions is in good agreement with other ca. 1100 Ma paleomagnetic poles from the Keweenawan midcontinent rift deposits and other SW Laurentia diabase intrusions. The close agreement in age and position of the Unkar intrusion (UI) pole with poles derived from rift related rocks from elsewhere in Laurentia indicates that mafic magmatism was essentially synchronous and widespread throughout Laurentia at ca. 1100 Ma, suggesting a large-scale continental magmatic event. The pole position for the Nankoweap Formation, which plots south of the Unkar mafic rocks, is consistent with a younger age of deposition, at about 900 to 850 Ma, than had previously been proposed. Consequently, the inferred 200 Ma difference in age between the Cardenas Basalts and overlying Nankoweap Formation provides evidence for a third major unconformity within the Grand Canyon sequence.     

U-Pb zircon,monazite and Rb-Sr whole rock systematics of granitic gneiss and psammitic to semi-pelitic host gneiss from Glenfinnan,Northwestern Scotland

New U-Pb zircon data from a segregation pegmatite in the granitic gneiss at Glenfinnan yield discordant points which appear to be aligned along a chord on a concordia diagram with upper and lower intersection ages of 1,517±30 Ma and 556±8 Ma, respectively. The results are similar to published U-Pb zircon data from the granitic gneiss but the lower intersection age does not correspond to concordant ages of 455±3 Ma obtained for monazites from the segregation pegmatite and from paragneiss which hosts the granitic gneiss. The apparent U-Pb zircon chord also gives no indication of a 1,030±50 Ma (large sample) Rb-Sr whole rock isochron age for the granitic gneiss (Brook et al. 1976). A traverse of adjacent 5–8 cm thick slabs in the paragneiss yields a Rb-Sr errochron of 455±60 Ma which also does not agree with the U-Pb zircon lower intersection age. The scale of this Sr whole rock diffusion (ca. 10 cm) is not at variance with existing thermal, temporal and experimental constraints.A two episodic loss model has been applied to the zircon data from the segregation pegmatite, to the previously published zircon data on the granitic gneiss and to new U-Pb zircon data on the host paragneiss. The first lead loss event, if assumed to be in Grenville time, was computed to be strongest in the granitic gneiss and segregation pegmatite. For the three suites of zircon considered, primary ages converge in the 1,700–1,800 Ma range with a final disturbance event at ca. 490 Ma, i.e., close to a plausible prograde stage of Caledonian metamorphism.The zircons in both the granitic gneiss and the paragneiss are believed to have been derived from the ubiquitous early Proterozoic shields bordering the North Atlantic. Furthermore the above model is consistent with the hypothesis that the zircons in the granitic gneiss were largely derived from the paragneiss. However, the U-Pb zircon data are not inconsistent with new Sr-isotopic evidence which suggests an additional, possibly deeper source with lower ⁸⁷Sr/ ⁸⁶Sr ratios.     

Rb-Sr and U-Pb systematics of metasedimentary carbonate rocks: The Paleoproterozoic Kuetsjarvi Formation of the Pechenga Greenstone Belt, Kola Peninsula

The Rb-Sr and U-Pb systematics have been studied in the metasedimentary carbonate rocks from the Paleoproterozoic Kuetsjarvi Formation. Samples were taken from the borehole drilled in the northern zone of the Pechenga Greenstone Belt in the northwestern Kola Peninsula. The carbonate section of the formation is made up of three units (from the bottom to top): (I) dolomite (68 m), (II) calcareous-dolomite (9 m), and (III) clayey calcareous (1 m) ones. Dolomites (Mg/Ca = 0.55–0.61) from the lowermost unit I contain 70.3–111 ppm Sr. Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio in them varies within 0.70560–0.70623 and characterizes the primary continental-lacustrine carbonate sediments. Calcareous dolomites (Mg/Ca = 0.39–0.59) and dolomitic limestones of units II and III (Mg/Ca = 0.02–0.36) are enriched in Sr (285–745 and 550–1750 ppm, respectively). Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in these rocks (0.70406–0.70486 and 0.70407–0.70431, respectively) fall within the range typical of the Jatulian seawater, which indicates that the carbonate sediments of two upper units were formed in an open marine basin. Study of dolomites from unit I showed that the Svecofennian metamorphism more significantly affected the U-Pb systems of carbonate rocks as compared to their Rb-Sr systems. In the ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb-²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb diagram, most data points corresponding to the carbonate constituent of dolomites define isochron with an age of 1900 ± 25 Ma (MSWD = 0.5). The same samples define a positive correlation in the ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb-²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb plot. Since sedimentary carbonates usually do not contain Th, this correlation points to secondary enrichment of the studied dolomites in Th or thorogenic ²⁰⁸Pb. Hence, the obtained Pb-Pb dating can be regarded as the age of the Svecofennian metamorphic event. Three samples from dolomites of unit I lack any disturbance of the initial U-Th-Pb systematics, but their trend in the ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb-²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb diagram deviates from the 1900 Ma isochron. Based on these samples, the model U-Pb premetamorphic age of the Kuetsjarvi carbonate sediments is 2075–2100 Ma. This interval is consistent with the age range of the Lomagundi-Jatulian event, which was responsible for the formation of carbonate sediments with high positive δ¹³C values.     

Packrat middens from Canyon de Chelly,northeastern Arizona: Paleoecological and archaeological implications

In western North America, pollen data from highland lakes are often used to reconstruct vegetation on the adjacent lowlands. Plant macrofossils and pollen from packrat middens now provide a means to evaluate such reconstructions. On the basis of pollen diagrams from the Chuska Mountains, H. E. Wright, Jr., A. M. Bent, B. S. Hansen, and L. J. Maher, Jr., ((1973), Geological Society of America Bulletin, 84, 1155–1180) arrived at conservative estimates for late Pleistocene depression of highland conifers. In their interpretation, a proposed slight depression of 500 m for lower tree line precluded expansion of Pinus ponderosa into elevations now in desertscrub. Instead, it was suggested that pinyon pine and Artemisia occupied the lowland plateaus. Packrat midden records on either side of the Chuskas fail to verify this model. Early Holocene middens from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, and a terminal Pleistocene midden from Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, show that blue spruce, limber pine, Douglas fir, dwarf juniper, and Rocky Mountain juniper expanded at least down to 1770 m elevation Neither Colorado pinyon nor ponderosa pine was found as macrofossils in the middens. Artemisia pollen percentages are high in the terminal Pleistocene midden, as they are in the Chuska Mountain pollen sequence, suggesting regional dominance by sagebrush steppe. Of 38 taxa identified, only 3 are shared by middens dated 11,900 and 3120 yr B.P. from Canyon de Chelly, indicating a nearly complete turnover in the flora between the late Pleistocene and late Holocene. Although corn was previously thought to have been introduced to the Colorado plateaus after 2200 yr B.P., the midden dated 3120 yr B.P. contains pollen of corn and other indicators of incipient agriculture.     

Oxygen isotope composition of annually banded modern and mid-Holocene travertine and evidence of paleomonsoon floods, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

Holocene and modern travertine formed in spring-fed Havasu Creek of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, was studied to determine the factors governing its oxygen-isotope composition. Analysis of substrate-grown travertine indicates that calculated calcite-formation temperatures compare favorably with measured water temperatures, and include silt-rich laminae deposited by monsoon-driven floods. Ancient spring-pool travertine is dated by U-series at 7380 ± 110 yr and consists of 14 travertine-silt couplets of probable annual deposition. One hundred eighty high-resolution δ¹⁸O analyses of this mid-Holocene sample average −11.0‰ PDB. The average value for modern travertine is 0.5‰ lower, perhaps because mid-Holocene temperature was higher or there was proportionally greater summer recharge. δ¹⁸O cyclicity in the mid-Holocene travertine has average amplitude of 1.9 ± 0.5‰ PDB, slightly less than the inferred modern-day annual temperature range of Havasu Creek. The annual temperature range might have been reduced during the 14-yr interval compared to present, although other non-temperature factors could account for the muted annual variation. Silt-rich laminae within isotopically lower calcite in the modern and mid-Holocene travertine verifies the seasonal resolution of both samples, and suggests that similar temperature-precipitation conditions, as well as monsoon-generated summer floods, prevailed in the mid-Holocene as they do throughout the Grand Canyon region today.