40Ar-39Ar age of carbonatite-alkaline magmatism in Sung valley, Meghalaya, India

⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar analyses of one alkali pyroxenite whole rock and two phlogopite separates of calcite carbonatites from the Sung Valley carbonatite-alkaline complex, which is believed to be a part of the Rajmahal-Bengal-Sylhet (RBS) flood basalt province, yielded indistinguishable plateau ages of 108.8 ± 2.0Ma, 106.4 ± 1.3Ma and 107.5 ± 1.4Ma, respectively. The weighted mean of these ages, 107.2 ± 0.8 Ma, is the time of emplacement of this complex. This implies that Sung Valley complex and probably other such complexes in the Assam-Meghalaya Plateau postdate the main flood basalt event (i.e., the eruption of tholeiites) in the RBS province by ∼10Ma.     

小秦岭金矿田三叠纪成矿事件的伸展构造背景:构造岩的40Ar-39Ar年代学证据

小秦岭金矿田位于华北克拉通南缘,同时也是秦岭复合型造山带的北缘组成部分.这里是我国第二大黄金产地,大规模金的成矿作用形成于早白垩世岩石圈大规模减薄的区域伸展构造背景.此外,越来越多的同位素年代学数据显示区内还存在三叠纪的成矿事件,发育钼、铅、铀、铌等与岩浆热液活动密切相关的多金属矿床,主要分布在小秦岭的南北边缘.目前,...     

大兴安岭北段龙江盆地中生代火山岩 激光全熔40Ar/39Ar测年

现龙江组与光华组作为大兴安岭北段龙江盆地中的主要地层单元,二者的时代与含义仍存有争议.通过对二者的建组剖面进行野外调查,采用最新的激光全熔40Ar/39Ar测年对剖面及周边的7件火山岩样品进行了精细的定年研究,结果显示,现龙江工组年龄为125.1Ma±1.5Ma～117.0Ma±9.0Ma;光华组为125.4Ma±1.8Ma～121.6Ma±1.4Ma;甘河组为123.1Ma±1.1Ma～82.0Ma±4.0Ma.本区晚白垩世火山岩信息揭示龙江盆地可能发育大兴安岭北段晚白垩世孤山镇期火山岩.野外地质调查结果表明,现龙江组和光华组具有基本相同的火山喷发旋回,结合2个岩组相同的年龄结果,建议合并现龙江组与光华组,恢复为原龙江组,而不再使用从原龙江组上部划分出的光华组.从火山-沉积地层出露特征分析,龙江盆地与其北部的大杨树盆地具有一定的相似性,2个盆地具有相同的地质演化历史,表明龙江盆地可能是潜在的油气调查新区.     

Pre-variscan,Variscan and Early Alpine thermo-tectonic history of the north-eastern Bohemian Massif: An 40Ar/39Ar study

The Orlica-Snieznik and Jeseník Mountains correspond to three main domes from west to east: the Snieznik, Keprnfk and Desna domes. They are composed of a basement of autochthonous gneisses, a thick series of blastomylonites and a supposed para-autochthonous or allochthonous metamorphic pre-Devonian to Devonian cover. Their broad direction is NNE-SSW. ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar radiometric measurements allow three main groups of ages to be defined. (1) 300–310 Ma, represented in the Keprník and Desná domes. This age is interpretated following the constraints on the age of the metamorphism, which is linked with the extensional process occurring during the Westphalian. (2) 320–340 Ma, represented mainly in the Snieznik Dome, but not in the Keprnfk Massif. The nappe structure of Orlik-Vysoká hole, in the northern area of the Desna Dome, also exhibits this age, which is interpretated as reflecting the period of the major Variscan Barrowian metamorphism, which accompanied the compressional process. It is only represented in the zones where the extensional process was not strong enough to result in a complete overprinting. (3) 340–440 Ma, corresponding to a very strictly defined area in the eastern rim of the Desná Dome occupied by ultramylonites and mylonites. These ages, obtained on muscovites, result from an incomplete resetting of the minerals developed during the cooling of a granitic protolith and mylonitized during the extensional process. A laser probe analysis confirms the extreme inhomogeneity of the ages of the muscovites and their different resetting from one grain to another. The Late Alpine overprinting is more discrete, but can be deciphered through the low extraction temperatures with ages between 80 and 120 Ma. These ages can be compared with Alpine ages in the close Western Carpathians.     

High iridium concentration of alkaline rocks of Deccan and implications to K/T boundary

We report here an unusually high concentration of iridium in some alkali basalts and alkaline rocks of Deccan region having an age of about 65Ma, similar to the age of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. The alkali basalts of Anjar, in the western periphery of Deccan province, have iridium concentration as high as 178pg/g whereas the alkaline rocks and basalts associated with the Amba Dongar carbonatite complex have concentrations ranging between 8 and 80 pg/g. Some of these values are more than an order of magnitude higher than the concentration in the tholeiitic basalts of Deccan, indicating the significance of alkaline magmatism in the iridium inventory at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Despite higher concentration, their contribution to the global inventory of iridium in the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary clays remains small. The concentration of iridium in fluorites from Amba Dongar was found to be <30 pg/g indicating that iridium is not incorporated during their formation in hydrothermal activity.     

自生伊利石40Ar-39Ar法年代学实验过程中一些重要环节的探讨

自生伊利石^40Ar-^39Ar年代学在油气勘探及其他领域具有重要意义,但由于自生伊利石晶体结构的特殊性,使这一方法从样品处理到数据解释都有一些需要探讨的问题。自生伊利石提纯方法主要由冷冻-加热碎样结合高速离心完成。样品粒度愈细,样品纯度愈大,结晶度愈差。通过X射线衍射可以获得样品纯度、结晶度方面的信息,用TEM可以获得XRD检测限（5％）以下的样品纯度信息。样品^39Ar核反冲丢失与样品中晶体的结晶度（2θ）、晶体沿c轴方向的层厚相关;真空包裹技术可以较合理地降低核反冲丢失,得到细粒样品有意义的年龄。真空包裹的细粒样品的“保留年龄”有重要的地质意义。     

40Ar/39Ar evidence for the timing of Paleoproterozoic gold mineralisation at the Sandpiper Deposit,Tanami region,northern Australia

At the Sandpiper gold deposit in the Tanami region of northern Australia sericite is intimately intergrown with arsenopyrite in gold-bearing quartz veins and breccias, suggesting sericite crystallisation synchronous with gold-bearing fluid flow. This ore-stage sericite yields a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau age of 1785 ± 32 Ma (2σ including both analytical and systematic uncertainties). Recalculation using revised and more precise values for the ⁴⁰K decay constants and the age of the Fish Canyon Sanidine standard shifts the age to 1794 ±12 Ma (2σ including all known uncertainties). Given the possibility of post-mineralisation isotopic resetting this age can be conservatively interpreted as a minimum constraint on the timing of gold deposition although, given local geological relationships and estimates for the argon retentivity of white mica, we consider complete isotopic resetting to be unlikely. The preferred interpretation is, therefore, that the sericite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age indicates the timing of gold mineralisation. Thesericite age accords with a limited dataset of ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb xenotime ages of ca 1800 Ma from other gold deposits in the Tanami region, interpreted as mineralisation ages. The agreement between independently derived ages from several gold deposits lends support for a widespread gold-mineralising event at ca 1800 Ma in the Tanami region.     

北山中部增生造山过程:构造变形和~(40)Ar-~(39)Ar年代学制约

北山造山带是诠释中亚造山带南缘增生构造过程的关键区域之一。北山中部变质杂岩及相关侵入岩经历了复杂变质变形作用,是解剖北山增生构造演化过程的关键。本文在详细野外观察基础上,结合显微构造变形和黑云母~(40)Ar-~(39)Ar年代学研究,厘定北山中部相关岩石的变质变形时限。北山中部岩石普遍经历了韧性剪切变形。4个样品的黑云母~(40)Ar-~(39)Ar坪年龄分别为323.1±3.6Ma、296.0±3.7Ma、261.2±3.1Ma和209.2±4.0Ma,具有自北向南逐渐变年轻的特征。结合区域上岩石大地构造单元的展布特征,这些年龄反映了北山中部地区古生代至早中生代古洋壳(牛圈子洋盆)向北俯冲、造山带往南增生的过程。北山最晚的增生造山事件可能延续到三叠纪。     

滇西金满脉状铜矿床的40Ar-39Ar快中子活化年龄

金满铜矿床是滇西兰坪——思茅盆地中-新生代砂页岩中相当典型的脉状矿床。关于该矿床的成矿时代,多年来一直沿用铅同位素模式年龄,缺乏更为可靠的同位素年龄数据,因而对该矿床乃至盆地内同类矿床成矿作用的认识带来了很大困难。为探讨该矿床的形成时代,作者选取含铜石英脉状矿石中的石英进行⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar快中子活化年龄分析。     

宁芜盆地凹山和东山铁矿床中阳起石的激光39Ar-40Ar年代学研究

文章通过对凹山和东山铁矿床中特征的组合矿物之一伟晶状阳起石进行激光39Ar-40Ar法定年,精确测定了玢岩铁矿的成矿时代。其中东山铁矿中新鲜阳起石(黑绿色)的39Ar-40Ar等时线年龄在126～129Ma之间,与赋矿围岩大王山组火山岩中角闪石的等时线年龄(127Ma)一致,证明成矿与成岩密切相关,成矿与成岩是同时期的产物。而凹山铁矿中蚀变阳起石(灰绿色)的39Ar-40Ar等时线年龄为(114±16)Ma。2种阳起石分别形成于成矿作用的不同阶段,黑绿色新鲜阳起石与磷灰石、磁铁矿同期形成,形成于岩浆向热液演化的高温阶段,在成岩和成矿之后的冷却过程中,矿体和潜火山岩体具有相同的闪石封闭温度(500℃±);而灰绿色蚀变阳起石形成于中期阳起石(透辉石)-钠长石-磷灰石-磁铁矿化矿体围岩蚀变阶段。     

秦岭造山带的差异隆升特征--花岗岩40Ar/39Ar年代学研究的证据

分别出露于东、西秦岭的曹坪和沙河湾岩体、老君山和秦岭梁岩体 ,是秦岭全面碰撞后于三叠纪末 (T3 )侵入的花岗岩体 ,其冷却历史记录了秦岭陆内造山阶段的初期隆升过程。通过对角闪石、黑云母和钾长石的40 Ar/ 3 9Ar年龄测定 ,以及对钾长石40 Ar/ 3 9Ar年龄谱进行的多重扩散域模拟计算 ,发现东、西秦岭经历了完全不同的冷却历史 :从晚三叠世末至早侏罗世 ,东、西秦岭同时由 5 0 0℃开始快速冷却 ,之后东秦岭经过一个短暂的稳定期 (约 2 0Ma)后又持续快速冷却 ,至中侏罗世末即已通过 15 0℃等温线 (约地表下 3～ 5km) ;而西秦岭在早侏罗世至晚白垩世初的近 10 0Ma中一直处于稳定平缓的状态 ,至晚白垩世中期才快速冷却至 15 0℃。这种不同的冷却历史可能反映了东、西秦岭的差异隆升过程。     

Precise 40Ar/39Ar dating of volcanic tuffs within the upper Messinian sequences in the Melilla carbonate complex (NE Morocco): implications for the Messinian Salinity Crisis

The Melilla carbonate complex (NE Morocco) is the only area of the Paleo-Mediterranean Sea where volcanic activity was present throughout most of the Messinian. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of volcanic tuffs interbedded within the upper Messinian sedimentary deposits, known as the Terminal Carbonate Complex (TCC), yields accurate ages of paleoenvironmental and sea-level changes related to the Messinian Salinity Crisis. The new chronologic data (1) provide an average of 5.95–5.99 Ma for the base of the TCC, thus being synchronous with the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis, (2) demonstrate for the first time that the basal unconformity of the TCC does not represent a hiatus of long duration, (3) define a precise time line at 5.87±0.02 Ma (2σ) corresponding to sedimentary rocks exhibiting a lateral transition between continental and marine deposits typical of the TCC and (4) yield evidence that emersion of the Melilla platform during deposition of the TCC is partly related to tectono-magmatic activity. An erosional surface, capping the TCC deposits in the Melilla basin, is related to the major Messinian Mediterranean drawdown. The duration of the hiatus, associated with this surface, is estimated to be at most 450 kyr, but is probably shorter.     

40Ar/39Ar geochronology constraints on the Middle Tertiary basement extensional exhumation,and its relation to ore-forming and magmatic processes in the Eastern Rhodope (Bulgaria)

The interaction of distinct geologic processes involved during late orogenic extensional exhumation history of the metamorphic units in the Eastern Rhodope is refined by new and reviewing ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological and structural data. Minerals with different closure temperatures from metamorphic rocks investigated in this study are combined with those from magmatic and ore-forming hydrothermal rocks in two late stage metamorphic domes – the Kesebir-Kardamos and the Biala reka-Kehros domes. The 38-37 Ma muscovite and biotite cooling ages below 350°-300°C characterize basement metamorphic rocks that typified core of the Kesebir-Kardamos dome, constraining their exhumation at shallow crustal levels in the footwall of detachment. These ages are interpreted as reflecting last stage of ductile activity on shear zone below detachment, which continued to operate under low-temperature conditions within the semi-ductile to brittle field. They are close to and overlap with existing cooling ages in southern Bulgaria and northern Greece, indicating supportively that the basement rocks regionally cooled between 42-36 Ma below temperatures 350°-300°C. The spatial distribution of ages shows a southward gradual increase up structural section, suggesting an asymmetrical mode of extension, cooling and exhumation from south to the north at latitude of the Kesebir-Kardamos dome. The slightly younger 36.5-35 Ma crystallization ages of adularia in altered rocks from the ore deposits in the immediate hanging-wall of detachments are attributed to brittle deformation on high-angle normal faults, which further contributed to upper crustal extension, and thus constraining the time when alteration took place and deformation continued at brittle crustal levels. Silicic dykes yielded ages between 32-33 Ma, typically coinciding with the main phase of Palaeogene magmatic activity, which started in Eastern Rhodope region in Late Eocene (Priabonian) times. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages from the above distinct rock types span time interval lasting approximately ca. 6 Ma. Consequently, our geochronologic results consistently indicate that extensional tectonics and related exhumation and doming, epithermal mineralizations and volcanic activity are closely spaced in time. These new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age results further contribute to temporal constraints on the timing of tectonic, relative to ore-forming and magmatic events, suggesting in addition that all above mentioned processes interfered during the late orogenic extensional collapse in the Eastern Rhodope region.     

超高压变质岩多硅白云母的外来40Ar探讨

采用激光阶段加热 40Ar-39Ar定年技术, 测定了碧溪岭榴辉岩 6个多硅白云母的 Ar同位素组成.02BX030MS形成基本平坦的 40Ar-39Ar年龄谱, 数据点构成很好的正等时线, 加权平均年龄和等时线年龄均为 697 Ma, 这一年龄可能接近原岩年龄.DB-1MS、02BX018MS和 02BX019MS之 40Ar-39Ar年龄谱起伏较大, 表观年龄范围为～ 400 Ma至～ 680 Ma.在 40Ar/36Ar-39Ar/36Ar正等时线图解上, 这 3个样品数据点落在下拟合线 Reg-Ⅰ和上拟合线 Reg-Ⅲ之间.Reg-Ⅰ对应的年龄为 436～ 463 Ma, 与榴辉岩石榴子石原生流体包裹体年龄基本一致, 可能代表了榴辉岩超高压变质作用峰期的年龄;Reg-Ⅲ对应的年龄为 541～ 659 Ma, 最高年龄值小于 02BX030MS的年龄, 表明超高压变质作用使多硅白云母产生了不同程度的放射成因 40Ar部分丢失.继承 40Ar模型可以合理解释高压-超高压变质岩石之多硅白云母 40Ar-39Ar年龄明显偏老等地质现象.     

藏北羌塘中部绒玛地区蓝片岩岩石学、矿物学和40Ar/39Ar年代学

藏北羌塘中部沿龙木错-双湖-线出露一条低温高压变质带,目前已有多处蓝片岩的报道.然而,除冈玛错地区产有典型的蓝闪石外,多数地区并没有典型蓝闪石的报道.绒玛蓝片岩位于羌塘中部高压变质带的中段,是该带中规模最大、保存最好的蓝片岩,对蓝片岩进行了详细的岩石学和矿物学研究,钠质角闪石主要为蓝闪石、青铝闪石、钠闪石和镁钠闪石.对蓝片岩中蓝闪石和多硅白云母进行了40Ar/39Ar定年,获得了227.3±3.8Ma和215±1.5Ma的坪年龄,分别代表蓝片岩快速俯冲消减和俯冲作用结束开始折返抬升的时代.绒玛蓝片岩岩石学、矿物学和40Ar/39Ar年代学研究为羌塘中部高压变质带的研究提供了新的资料.     

赣南崇义—大余—上犹矿集区不同类型含矿石英中白云母40Ar/39Ar年龄及其地质意义

崇义—大余—上犹矿集区是世界著名的黑钨矿床集中区,本文选择钨锡多金属硫化物石英脉型（柯树岭和漂塘矿床）和锡钨石英脉型（仙鹅塘矿床）3个矿床石英中的白云母开展40Ar/39Ar年代学研究,测得坪年龄分别是：钨锡多金属硫化物石英脉型是 158.9 ± 1.4 Ma（漂塘）、158.8 ± 1.2 Ma（柯树岭）;钨锡石英脉型的是231.4 ± 2.4 Ma（仙鹅塘）,在反等时线图上,其对应的截距年龄分别是158.8 ± 1.6 Ma、158.7 ± 1.9Ma和232.5 ± 2.4 Ma。由此表明,在崇余犹矿集区内存在两个不同成矿时期,即以黑钨矿为主的多金属硫化物石英脉型矿床形成于中侏罗世,集中于160~150Ma之间,与南岭地区钨锡矿床的主成矿期是一致的;而以锡石为主的,并含有大量白钨矿的石英脉型矿床可形成于印支期     

Dating deformation using crushed alkali feldspar: 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of shear zones in the Wyangala Batholith,NSW, Australia

Diffusion parameters have been estimated for K-feldspar in and adjacent to mylonite shear zones in the Wyangala Batholith. The parameters obtained suggest that deformation during mylonitisation would have caused argon systematics to reset because diffusion distances were reduced by cataclasis, deformation and/or recrystallisation. However, the mineral lattice remained sufficiently retentive to allow subsequently produced radiogenic argon to be retained. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology is thus able to constrain operation of these biotite-grade ductile shear zones to the period from ca 380 Ma to ca 360 Ma, at the end of the Tabberabberan Orogeny.     

Two–stage Cretaceous Exhumation of Hengshan Complex in Hunan Province,SE China: Constraints Arising from ~(40)Ar–~(39)Ar Geochronology and Cretaceous Tectonic Implications

The Hengshan complex is located in the central part of SE China, which underwent rapid tectonic uplift in the Cretaceous just like many other complexes on the continent. (40)~Ar–(39)~Ar geochronological data from the Hengshan complex suggest that two episodes of crustal cooling/extension took place in this part of the continent during the Cretaceous time. The first stage of exhumation was active during ca. 136–125 Ma, with a cooling rate of 10 °C/Ma. The second stage of exhumation happened at ca. 98–93 Ma, with a cooling rate of 10 °C/Ma. Considering the folding in the Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rocks and the regional unconformity underneath the Upper Cretaceous red beds, it is believed that the Cretaceous crustal extension in SE China was interrupted by a compressional event. The reversion to extension, shortly after this middle Cretaceous compression, led to the rapid cooling/exhumation of the Hengshan complex at ca. 98–93 Ma. The Cretaceous tectonic processes in the hinterland of SE China could be controlled by interactions between the continental margin and the Paleo–pacific plate.     

40Ar/39Ar and K–Ar geochronology of magmatic and hydrothermal events in a classic low-suphidation epithermal bonanza deposit: El Peñon, northern Chile

The epithermal El Peñon gold–silver deposit consists of quartz–adularia veins emplaced within a late Upper Paleocene rhyolitic dome complex, located in the Paleocene–Lower Eocene Au–Ag belt of northern Chile. Detailed K–Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology on volcano–plutonic rocks and hydrothermal minerals were carried out to constrain magmatic and hydrothermal events. The Paleocene to Lower Eocene magmatism in the El Peñon area is confined to a rhomb-shaped basin, which was controlled by N–S trending normal faults and both NE- and NW-trending transtensional fault systems. The earliest products of the basin-filling sequences comprise of Middle to Upper Paleocene (～59–55 Ma) welded rhyolitic ignimbrites and andesitic to dacitic lavas, with occasional dacitic dome complexes. Later, rhyolitic and dacitic dome complexes (～55–52 Ma) represent the waning stages of volcanism during the latest Upper Paleocene and the earliest Eocene. Lower Eocene porphyry intrusives (～48–43 Ma) mark the end of the magmatism in the basin and a change to a compressive tectonomagmatic regime. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology of hydrothermal adularia from the El Peñon deposit yields ages between 51.0±0.6 and 53.1±0.5 Ma. These results suggest that mineralization occurred slightly after the emplacement of the El Peñon rhyolitic dome at 54.5±0.6 Ma (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age) and was closely tied to later dacitic–rhyodacitic bodies of 52 to 53 Ma (K–Ar ages), probably as short-lived pulses related to single volcanic events.     

Integrated stratigraphy and <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar chronology of the Early to Middle Miocene Upper Freshwater Molasse in eastern Bavaria (Germany)

A detailed integrated stratigraphic study was carried out on middle Miocene fluvial successions of the Upper Freshwater Molasse (OSM) from the North Alpine Foreland Basin, in eastern Bavaria, Germany. The biostratigraphic investigations yielded six new localities thereby refining the OSM biostratigraphy for units C to E (sensu; Heissig, Actes du Congres BiochroM’97. Mem Trav EPHE, Inst Montpellier 21, 1997) and further improving biostratigraphic correlations between the different sections throughout eastern Bavaria. Radioisotopic ages of 14.55 ± 0.19 and 14.88 ± 0.11 Ma have been obtained for glass shards from the main bentonite horizon and the Ries impactite: two important stratigraphic marker beds used for confirming our magnetostratigraphic calibration to the Astronomical Tuned Neogene Time Scale (ATNTS04; Lourens et al. in Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press, 2004). Paleomagnetic analysis was performed using alternating field (AF) and thermal (TH) demagnetization methods. The AF method revealed both normal and reverse polarities but proofs to yield unreliable ChRM directions for the Puttenhausen section. Using the biostratigraphic information and radioisotopic ages, the magnetostratigraphic records of the different sections are tentatively correlated to the Astronomical Tuned Neogene Time Scale (ATNTS04; Lourens et al. in Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press, 2004). This correlation implies that the main bentonite horizon coincides to chron C5ADn, which is corroborated by its radioisotopic age of 14.55 Ma, whereas the new fossil locality Furth 460, belonging to OSM unit E, probably correlates to chron C5Bn.1r. The latter correlation agrees well with the Swiss Molasse locality Frohberg. Correlations of the older sections are not straightforward. The Brock horizon, which comprises limestone ejecta from the Ries impact, possibly correlates to C5ADr (14.581–14.784 Ma), implying that, although within error, the radioisotopic age of 14.88 ± 0.11 Ma is somewhat too old. The fossil localities in Puttenhausen, belonging to the older part of OSM unit C, probably coincide with chron C5Cn.2n or older, which is older than the correlations established for the Swiss Molasse. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi: ) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.