Isotope stratigraphy of Neoproterozoic cap carbonates in the Araras Group, Brazil

The Neoproterozoic carbonate sequence on the southeastern border of the Amazon Craton is divided into three lithostratigraphic units: a basal cap dolomite, an intermediate limestone, limestone-mudstone unit, and an upper dolarenite-dolorudite unit. Sections of the cap-carbonate were measured from the inner shelf to the outer shelf. Carbon isotope ratios (relative to PDB) vary between − 10.5 and − 1.7‰ in cap dolomite, and between − 5.4 and + 0.1‰ in laminated limestone and mud-limestone. Limestones and mud-limestones exhibit ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios ranging from 0.70740 to 0.70780. A comparative isotope stratigraphy between the inner-shelf and the middle-shelf basin shows differences in carbon isotope ratios: The cap dolomite and limestones have lower δ¹³C ratios on the border of the basin (inner shelf) than in the middle shelf of the basin. These lower values can be related to shallower environmental conditions and to a stronger influence of the continental border. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are the same in both areas, and are consistent with seawater composition at around 600 Ma.     

C-, Sr-isotope and Hg chemostratigraphy of Neoproterozoic cap carbonates of the Sergipano Belt,Northeastern Brazil

Two cap carbonates overlying glaciogenic diamictites crop out extensively in the eastern Vaza Barris Domain of the Sergipano Belt, northeastern Brazil. They are represented by carbonates of the Jacoca Formation, resting on top of diamictite of the Ribeiropolis Formation, and by the Olhos D’Agua Formation (carbonates, organic-rich towards the top), which overlies diamictite of the Palestina Formation. These two sequences were deformed and metamorphosed at sub-greenschist facies-conditions during the Brasiliano cycle (650–600 Ma).     

Organotemplate structures in sedimentary manganese carbonates of the Neoproterozoic Penganga Group, Adilabad, India

Manganese carbonates interstratified with bedded chert in the Chanda Limestone of the Neoproterozoic Penganga Group at Adilabad, south India, have been studied for possible evidence that microbiota played a role in the mediation of early diagenetic Mn-carbonate formation in Precambrian marine sedimentary successions. The manganese carbonate and chert beds occur within a below wave base, deep-water distally steepened ramp succession. High resolution SEM petrography of the manganese carbonates revealed two basic morphologies-spherical to oval-cylindrical shaped microconcretions, and tubular to irregular, elongated, film-like microstructures. Infolded filmy to hollow tubular strand-like internal morphologies of the spherical to oval-cylindrical shaped microconcretions suggest their microbial affinity. The tubular and film morphologies with mesh-like interconnections closely resemble architectures of microbial extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). Mineralization took place on these organotemplates by the process of permineralization as well as replacement in an early diagenetic pore-water environment with reduction of higher manganese oxy-hydroxides by organic matter and consequent increase in dissolved carbonate.     

下江群沉积地质特征及其对华南新元古代构造演化的约束

华南西部新元古代裂陷纪大地构造属性和原型盆地性质是一个涉及到扬子古陆在全球构造中的定位、且争议较大的基础地质问题.新元古代下江群发育于强变形变质的盐边群和弱变形变质的板溪群之间,处于以滨浅海沉积为主的板溪群向深海沉积转化的过渡带内.下江群以浊流沉积的杂砂岩为主,沉积物扩散方向指向西.下江群清水江组砂岩骨架颗粒统计分析表明,物源来自再旋回造山带.常量元素地球化学特征显示,下江群碎屑岩系形成于活动陆缘区的弧后盆地靠大陆一侧.结合盐边群、苏雄组大地构造属性及其与下江群的空间关系,推测当时的华南西部处于汇聚型板块边缘内,总体属弧后伸展型盆地.     

滇南新元古代的岩浆作用：来自瑶山群深变质岩SHRIMP锆石 U-Pb年代学证据

滇南瑶山—哀牢山地区出露一套呈NW—SE向狭长条带状展布的深变质岩系——下元古界瑶山群和哀牢山群,并认为存在前寒武纪的结晶基底。本文选取瑶山群眼球状花岗质糜棱岩和金平阿得博的片麻状花岗岩作为研究对象,进行SHRIMP锆石U-Pb定年。结合阴极发光图像,获得岩浆锆石的结晶年龄为828±6.2Ma(N=11,MSWD=1.8)和748～801Ma。同时,作者在墨江-元江剖面的哀牢山群黑云母花岗闪长质片麻岩中获得SHRIMP锆石核部U-Pb年龄为769～893Ma。研究揭示滇南的瑶山和哀牢山地区存在新元古代岩浆作用。瑶山群中古老残余锆石核部的984Ma年龄和哀牢山群中古老残余锆石核部年龄1104～1353Ma及2655Ma,表明该区存在中元古代或太古代的结晶基底,研究区很可能位于南华裂谷与康滇裂谷的交汇部位,新元古代的岩浆活动可能与Rodinia超大陆聚合——裂解过程有关。这为构筑Rodinia超大陆聚散过程和揭示华南大地构造演化史提供年代学方面证据。     

Geochemical Correlation Between Metasediments of the Mfongosi Group of the Natal Sector of the Namaqua-Natal Metamorphic Province, South Africa and the Ahlmannryggen Group of the Grunehogna Province, Antarctica

The whole-rock geochemistry of metamorphosed greywackes, arenites and arkoses within the Mesoproterozoic Namaqua-Natal-Maudheim Province is interpreted with the aim of establishing geochemical correlations and defining common sediment source terrains. Metasediments of the Mfongosi Group of the Natal Sector of the Namaqua-Natal Metamorphic Province were sampled from their type area in the Mfongosi Valley. Metagreywackes from the northern limits of the Mfongosi Valley, directly adjacent to the Kaapvaal Craton, show ocean island arc signatures while metagreywackes from the southern limits of the Mfongosi Valley, near the contact with the Madidima Thrust of the Natal nappe zone, show mainly active continental margin signatures. Interleaved, geochemically distinct low-Ca+Na, high-K metamorphosed arkoses to lithic arkoses indicate a minor passive margin sediment component. Geochemical classification of low-grade Ahlmannryggen Group greywackes, arenites and arkoses of the Grunehogna Province, Antarctica, indicates both active and passive continental margin sediment sources. An oceanic island arc signature is not evident in Ahlmannryggen Group data. The active continental margin signature in both Natal Sector and Grunehogna Province metasediments potentially provides for a common link between these terranes. Discriminant Function Analysis, using three pre-defined provenance sub-sets within the Mfongosi Group and two pre-defined provenance sub-sets within the Ahlmannryggen Group, indicate that metasediments with active continental margin signatures from both groups are geochemically identical, implying that the active continental margin of the Grunehogna Province shed immature sediments westwards (African azimuths) into the developing, narrow or restricted Mesoproterozoic ‘Mfongosi Basin.’ This was accompanied by minor sediment influx from a stable continental platform, potentially the Kaapvaal Craton. Oblique and diachronous collision, initiated in the southwestern portions of the combined Natal Sector/Grunehogna Province system produced a laterally variable Mfongosi Group, which formed in the ‘Mfongosi Basin’. Coarse-grained sediments dominated in its eastern portions while basalts with thin sapropelite units dominated in its western portions.     

Temnospondyls from the Beaufort Group (Karoo Basin) of South Africa and Their Biostratigraphy

The Permo-Triassic Beaufort Group (Karoo Basin) of South Africa is biostratigraphically subdivided into eight, temporally successive assemblage zones based on therapsids (‘mammal-like reptiles’). The Temnospondyli, fossil tetrapods usually regarded as extinct amphibians, are second only to therapsids in terms of diversity and abundance in these strata, with nine higher-level taxa (‘families’) known. Temnospondyls are also playing an increasingly important role in biostratigraphy and correlation of the Beaufort strata. The lower Beaufort Group (Late Permian) contains six of the eight biozones, but only one temnospondyl ‘family’, the Rhinesuchidae, whose record in the Karoo is the richest in the world. However, rhinesuchid taxonomy remains in flux and the group is thus of limited biostratigraphic utility. The Early Triassic Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone (middle Beaufort Group) contains the Rhinesuchidae, Amphibamidae, Lydekkerinidae, Tupilakosauridae, Rhytidosteidae, Mastodonsauridae and Trematosauridae, although the biostratigraphy of temnospondyls within this biozone is poorly constrained. The uppermost reaches of the Lystrosaurus biozone contain a paucity of fossils but includes ‘Kestrosaurus’ (Mastodonsauridae) and ?Trematosuchus (Trematosauridae), taxa previously thought to pertain to the lower part of the overlying Cynognathus biozone. The late Early to Middle Triassic Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (upper Beaufort Group) hosts the Mastodonsauridae, Trematosauridae, Brachyopidae, Laidleriidae and, possibly, the Rhytidosteidae. Based largely on the spatial and temporal distribution of mastodonsaurids, this biozone has been biostratigraphically subdivided into a lower A, middle B and upper C subzones, characterised by differing ages and faunas.     

桂北地区丹洲群锆石U-Pb年代学及对华南新元古代裂谷作用期次的启示

桂北地区丹洲群是南华裂谷盆地南段的一套连续裂谷充填沉积,厘定各组沉积时限及区域地层关系,对理解华南新元古代裂谷作用期次具有重要意义。本文利用LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb同位素测年,获得丹洲群合桐组二段和拱洞组底部凝灰岩夹层形成年龄分别为801±4 Ma和781±5 Ma。研究表明,丹洲群白竹组和合桐组一段与下江群甲路组和乌叶组、板溪群沧水铺组和马底驿组、西乡群孙家河组及陆良组一段相当,沉积时限为820~800 Ma;合桐组二段与下江群番召组相当,沉积时限为800~780 Ma;拱洞组可与下江群清水江组、平略组和隆里组,板溪群五强溪组中上部和牛牯坪组,西乡群大石沟组中上部和三郎铺组,陆良组二段及澄江组、开建桥组、莲沱组、虹赤村组和上墅组的中上部直接对比,沉积时限为780~725 Ma。华南新元古代裂谷盆地系统的典型地层锆石年龄存在5组高峰,峰值年龄分别为818±2 Ma、802±1 Ma、780±4 Ma、756±4 Ma及728±5 Ma。综合华南新元古代岩浆活动特征及盆地沉积演化过程,确定华南新元古代裂谷作用可分为两期:820~800 Ma和800~725 Ma。此外,华南新元古代岩浆活动与裂谷作用之间存在明显的耦合关系,但各期岩浆活动对各裂谷盆地的影响程度存在差异。     

华南双桥山群和河上镇群凝灰岩中的锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年龄—对江南新元古代造山带演化的制约

通过西澳科庭大学离子探针中心的远程测试,在双桥山群横涌组和安乐林组斑脱岩中获得大量锆石,其SHRIMP U-Pb加权平均年龄为831Ma±5Ma(横涌组)、829Ma±5Ma(安乐林组),在河上镇群上墅组中获得加权平均年龄767Ma±5Ma.锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年龄表明华南地区广为发育的双桥山群应归入新元古界,该年龄为标定双桥山群在地层柱中的位置提供了准确的年代学依据.     

南祁连化隆岩群LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄及其地质意义

侵入于化隆岩群中的基性-超基性岩中因产有拉水峡、裕龙沟小型铜镍矿床和一大批铜镍矿点,而备受关注。其化隆岩群形成时代的确定直接影响着祁连山地区铜镍矿找矿方向和找矿工作布署。近年来,随着同位素年代测试技术的不断发展,高精度数据出现,对化隆岩群形成时代的认识逐步明朗化。通过高精度的LA-ICP-MS锆石微区原位U-Pb同位素测年,获得青海省化隆县拉水峡铜镍矿区含矿基性-超基性岩体围岩化隆岩群黑云斜长片麻岩的形成时代为(910±7)Ma,代表着化隆岩群形成时代的下限,结合前人研究成果,进一步确定化隆岩群的形成时代为新元古代。并认为该区有与金川铜镍矿相似的成矿地质背景,含矿基性-超基性岩均为Rodinia超大陆裂解的产物,具有良好的找矿前景。     

华南双桥山群和河上镇群凝灰岩中的锆石SHRIMP U—Pb年龄——对江南新元古代造山带演化的制约

通过西澳科庭大学离子探针中心的远程测试,在双桥山群横涌组和安乐林组斑脱岩中获得大量锆石,其SHRIMP U—Pb加权平均年龄为831Ma±5Ma（横涌组）、829Ma＋5Ma（安乐林组）,在河上镇群上墅组中获得加权平均年龄767Ma±5Ma。锆石SHRIMP U—Pb年龄表明华南地区广为发育的双桥山群应归入新元古界,该年龄为标定双桥山群在地层柱中的位置提供了准确的年代学依据。     

贵州锦屏地区新元古代下江群地球化学特征及构造环境研究

对贵州锦屏新元古代下江群地层剖面常量元素及稀土元素系统分析结果表明,该区下江群地层常量元素具有中等Si O2含量,介于57.54%~88.91%之间,平均68.32%,较低的Ca O含量(一般1%),较高的K2O/Na2O,Al2O3/Ti O2比值及较低的TFe2O3+Mg O含量。稀土总量ΣREE介于46.5×10-6~306.3×10-6之间,平均值为152.5×10-6,ΣLREE/ΣHREE为8.73~21.6,平均12.96,表明轻稀土相对富集,重稀土相对亏损;下江群各组段δEu在0.7~0.8之间,为弱负异常。稀土配分模式总体为右倾,而轻稀土分馏中等,重稀土分馏较低,表现在稀土配分曲线为轻稀土斜率较大,重稀土趋于平坦。通过各组段地球化学特征参数与参数投点可得:番召组与清水江组、平略组与隆里组具有相似地球化学特征,表明其构造环境相似且呈过渡变化,初步认为番召组与清水江组形成于活动大陆边缘的弧后盆地沉积,而平略组与隆里组为大陆边缘的边缘海沉积。     

Hybridity emergent: Geo-history, learning, and land restitution in South Africa

Market-Led Agrarian Reform (MLAR), which is advocated by the World Bank and is being implemented in various contexts around the world, is a more neo-liberal approach to land reform than that we have seen implemented in the past. MLAR principles have underpinned South Africa’s land reform programme, being based on the ‘willing-seller, willing-buyer’ principle, which guarantees market-related prices to sellers. Evidence presented in this paper, however, raises serious questions about the extent to which the South African government has held on to MLAR principles. Specifically, the paper argues that South Africa’s peculiar geo-historical context has in some instances led the government to fuse market-led approaches with more authoritarian interventions that dictate to land reform beneficiaries how the land will be used. A case in point is the government’s approach to the restitution of land rights to communities dispossessed from the Levubu area of Limpopo province. As the paper illustrates, the government has imposed on the intended beneficiaries a so-called ‘strategic partnership’ between them and agribusinesses. Although the government touts the approach as a way to protect the commercial viability of the land and to transfer skills from white farmers to the beneficiaries, the terms of the Levubu solution may turn out to be less than favourable for the beneficiaries.     

华南地区新元古代年代地层标定及地层对比

华南地区新元古代地层区域上涉及中国上、下扬子地区,包括中国地层表中的青白口系、南华系和震旦系,时代上分别对应国际地层年代表中拉伸系、成冰系和埃迪卡拉系。传统划分是以晋宁运动(四堡运动)为标志划分为中元古界和新元古界,近年来,通过地层中凝灰岩锆石SHRIMP U-Pb的测定,华南地区新元古代年代表已进行了有效年代学标定,突出了地层对比的可靠性和新的构造观点解译。华南古陆构造演化研究需要以构造为纲,明确了古陆周缘地层发育了中元古代晚期相关沉积记录,而华南古陆内部,特别是江南造山带为武陵运动的构造运动产物。本文将报道桂西地区青白口系拱洞组底部SHRIMP锆石U-Pb年代学测定数据(799.8±5.5)Ma,江西与湖南交界长安组底部获得凝灰岩锆石年龄(770±10)Ma,湘西北长安组底部获得凝灰岩锆石年龄(758.6±5.4)Ma和湾溪口村长安组冰碛岩距底部十多米处获得凝灰岩锆石年龄(743.8±4.1)Ma。上述年龄进一步提供华南地区冰碛岩地层的年代学依据。     

Fluvial braidplain to shallow marine transition in the early Neoproterozoic Morar Group,Fannich Mountains,northern Scotland

The early Neoproterozoic Morar Group in northern Scotland forms the lower part of the Moine Supergroup, deformed and metamorphosed within the Precambrian Knoydartian and Lower Palaeozoic orogenies. It has remained uncertain whether it was deposited in a shallow-marine ‘failed rift’ basin within Rodinia or a foreland basin on the margin of the Grenville orogen, which is important to determine for tectonic reconstructions. In that context, we assess the sedimentology, depositional environment and tectonic setting of the middle part of the Morar Group in the Fannich Mountains. A ca. 4–6 km thick fining-upward facies succession contains three psammite dominated lithofacies (LF): LF1, at the base, contains amalgamated and multi-storey sets of trough and tabular cross beds, which passes upwards into LF2 consisting of trough and tabular cross-bedded units arranged in coarsening and fining-upward sequences with minor pelitic rocks. The stratigraphically highest lithofacies, LF3, contains finer and more complex coarsening-upward packages of rhythmically interbedded pelite and psammite. Palaeoflow develops from broadly unimodal NW–NE flow in LF1, to weakly bimodal NW–SE flow in LF3. The data indicate that this part of the Morar Group records deposition in a distal fluvial braidplain to tidally influenced shallow-marine setting. All facies and palaeocurrent transitions are gradual and occur systematically over many hundreds of metres vertically; such characteristics are incompatible with a rift-basin setting. We suggest that, instead, deposition occurred in a transition between a foreland basin to the Grenville orogen and a marine basin associated with the Asgard Sea between Baltica and Laurentia.     

Neoproterozoic Chingasan Group in the Yenisei Ridge: new data on age and deposition environments

Trachybasalt-alkali trachyte volcanism in the Yenisei Ridge was found out to be synchronous with deposition of coarse tilloids and flysch of the Chivida Formation of the Neoproterozoic Chingasan Group. New 703±4 Ma ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar biotite and titan-augite ages of subalkaline basalts in the Chivida Formation indicated that they erupted in the Late Neoproterozoic. According to microfossil evidence, the Chingasan sediments correlate with Late Neoproterozoic strata in the type sections of the southern Siberian craton. The Chingasan deposition apparently lasted no longer than 30 Myr judging by the isotope ages obtained for the underlying Upper Vorogovka Group and subalkaline basalts in the Chivida Formation. The fault-parallel position of grabens and coarse grain sizes and variable thicknesses of their lithological complexes, as well as syndepositional trachybasalt-alkali trachyte volcanism provided evidence that the volcanosedimentary rocks of the Chingasan Group formed in an environment of active rifting.     

宿松群、红安群、海州群的时代归属与讨论

系统介绍了分布于大别山—苏鲁造山带南部的原红安群、原宿松群、原肥东群、原海州群的最新研究进展,在将其分别解体为变形变质侵入体及含磷变质火山沉积岩系的基础上,对有关地层时代及其中磷矿层位归属提出了新的论证。     

华南新元古代宏体化石特征及生物地层序列

华南的新元古代地层(780~542 Ma)保存有许多经典的地层剖面和丰富的宏体化石记录, 一直是我国新元古代, 特别是南华系和震旦(伊迪卡拉)系地层对比的标准区域。本项研究重新考察了部分重要的标准剖面和化石点, 重点采集了近年来开始研究的云南“江川生物群”, 贵州江口“翁会生物群”的宏体化石, 在总结了前人研究成果的基础上, 集成了最新的研究进展, 综合记录了华南晚新元古代地层中的宏体化石特征, 组合面貌, 据此提出了华南晚新元古代生物地层序列。宏体化石的记录表明在这一时期伴随着显著的气候和环境变化, 发生了一系列重要的生物演化事件, 多细胞的宏观后生动、植物普遍出现了组织分化, 器官形成和发育创新, 以及生物结构和功能的进一步复杂多样化。这种多样化的发展大体可以划分为三个阶段, 分别以震旦(伊迪卡拉)纪的三个宏体化石组合为代表: (1) Anhuiphyton—Thallophyca—Paramecia 宏体藻类化石组合, (2) Enteromorphites—Doushantuophyton—Eoandromeda—Sinospongia 宏体化石组合, (3) Paracharnia—Gaojiashania—Cloudina—Longfengshania 宏体化石组合。由于华南震旦纪宏体化石具有较为独特的组合面貌, 与国外末次冰期后大量出现的伊迪卡拉型生物群(阿瓦隆生物群, 庞德/白海生物群和纳马生物群)如何对比, 还有待深入的研究。本文还重点讨论了华南地区新元古代宏体化石的南、北方对比问题。     

Geochemical Evaluation of the Permian Ecca Shale in Eastern Cape Province,South Africa: Implications for Shale Gas Potential

Shale gas has been the exploration focus for future energy supply in South Africa in recent time. Specifically, the Permian black shales of the Prince Albert, Whitehill, Collingham, Ripon and Fort Brown Formations are considered to be most prospective rocks for shale gas exploration. In this study,outcrop and core samples from the Ecca Group were analyzed to assess their total organic carbon(TOC), organic matter type, thermal maturity and hydrocarbon generation potential. These rocks have TOC ranging from 0.11 to 7.35 wt%. The genetic potential values vary from 0.09 to 0.53 mg HC/g,suggesting poor hydrocarbon generative potential. Most of the samples have Hydrogen Index(HI) values of less than 50 mg HC/g TOC, thus suggesting Type-Ⅳ kerogen. Tmax values range from 318℃ to601℃, perhaps indicating immature to over-maturity of the samples. The vitrinite reflectance values range from 2.22% to 3.93%, indicating over-maturity of samples. Binary plots of HI against Oxygen Index(OI), and HI versus Tmax show that the shales are of Type II and mixed Type Ⅱ-Ⅲ kerogen.Based on the geochemical data, the potential source rocks are inferred as immature to over-matured and having present-day potential to produce gas.     

Sedimentary Facies,Provenance and Geochronology of the Heshangzhen Group: Implications for the Tectonic Evolution of the Eastern Jiangnan Orogen,South China

The Neoproterozoic Jiangnan orogen plays an important role in the study of the Precambrian tectonic evolution of South China. The tectonic nature of the Neoproterozoic sedimentary basins is still controversial, due to poor understanding of the sedimentary sequences and the lack of geochronological data. Here, we present sedimentological, provenance and geochronological data from the Heshangzhen Group in the eastern Jiangnan orogen. Sedimentological analysis shows that the Luojiamen Formation was deposited in a submarine fan, and the overlying Hongchicun Formation was deposited in front of a fan delta. The youngest detrital zircons constrain the lower Luojiamen and Hongchicun formations with ages of 827.3 ± 8.4 Ma and 825 ± 12 Ma, respectively. The sandstones of the Luojiamen Formation are characterized by a large number of intermediate to felsic volcanic grains, suggesting a volcanic arc source. In contrast, quartz and sedimentary lithic grains increase in the Hongchicun Formation, showing a new input from a collisional orogenic source. Detrital zircon from six sandstone samples in the Luojiamen and Hongchicun formations yield similar age spectra of 930–820 Ma with a peak at ca. 845–860 Ma, with one main cluster at 930–820 Ma. Detrital zircons of 930–845 Ma show a positive value of εHf(t)(+2.4 to +11, mean +7.6), which is similar to the volcanic arc of the nearby Shuangxiwu Group. There are a minor group of zircons with U-Pb ages ranging from 820 Ma to 845 Ma from the middle part of the Luojiamen Formation and Hongchicun Formation, with εHf(t) values between-20 to +2.4, which are consistent with the characteristics of the Shuangqiaoshan Group. within light of the bidirectional paleocurrents in the Luojiamen Formation, it is speculated that the zircons of 820–845 Ma were recycled from the Shuangqiaoshan Group, which is derived from a continental arc to the northwest. Our data suggests that the Luojiamen Formation was formed in an inter-arc basin, while the Hongchicun Formation was formed in an accretionary wedge-top basin. When juxtaposed with the conglomeratic characteristics at the bottom of the Luojiamen Formation, it is believed that the unconformity represented by the ‘Shen Gong Movement' reflects the rapid erosion and accumulation process of island arc volcanic material. The disconformity between the Luojiamen and Hongchicun formations is the imprint of transition from inter-arc basin to accretionary wedge-top basin,which represents the collision between the Shuangxiwu arc and the Yangtze Plate.