Significance of Devonian–Carboniferous igneous activity in Tasmania as derived from U–Pb SHRIMP dating of zircon

A series of new Sensitive High-Resolution Ion MicroProbe (SHRIMP) U – Pb ages is presented for Palaeozoic (mainly Devonian and Carboniferous) granites from Tasmania. In virtually all instances the new ages are significantly older than previously determined Rb – Sr and K – Ar ages, even though the level of emplacement had been thought to be too shallow to allow loss of radiogenic daughter products. In two extreme cases, granite bodies at South West Cape and Elliott Bay that had previously yielded Carboniferous Rb – Sr and Early Devonian K – Ar ages, respectively, are now both shown to be Late Cambrian. In northeast Tasmania, granitic activity in the Blue Tier Batholith lasted for about 22 million years, with I-type magmas being followed by S-types only toward the end of that time. The exclusively I-type granites of the Scottsdale Batholith formed about 10 million years after the initiation of igneous activity in the Blue Tier Batholith, and were emplaced over a comparatively short time interval (4 – 5 million years). The new data confirm a previously held view, based on Rb – Sr analysis, that the economically important Lottah Granite crystallised roughly 9 million years later than the nearby Poimena Granite and, therefore, could not have been derived by magmatic fractionation of the latter. A regional deformation equated with the Tabberabberan Orogeny has been dated at about 390 Ma in northeastern Tasmania, based on the presence or absence of a northwest-trending foliation in the different granite bodies. The oldest granites occur in the northeast of Tasmania, with an irregular progression of ages to the west coast. A trend of this type could have arisen in an arc-free or arc-related environment. If the latter applies, either flat subduction or processes associated with the amalgamation of eastern and western basement terranes might be the controlling mechanism. Eastern Tasmania experienced a trend from mafic I-type to progressively more felsic, largely S-type igneous activity, but the trend for western Tasmania is not as obvious. The trend for eastern Tasmania is an exception to the general rule for the Lachlan Orogen, possibly signifying that the mid-crust was relatively cool when the first I-type granites were generated. Crustal thickening during the Tabberabberan Orogeny may have been a prerequisite for the generation of later, more felsic, S- and I-types.     

Geochronological,geochemical and Pb isotopic compositions of Tasmanian granites (southeast Australia): Controls on petrogenesis,geodynamic evolution and tin mineralisation

Large volumes of Devonian-Carboniferous granites were emplaced across Tasmania in southeast Australia, which was along the easternmost boundary of mid-Palaeozoic Gondwana. Some of these granites are associated with world class Sn–W deposits. Previous studies have focused mainly on relationships between granite petrogenesis and source rocks, and rarely on geochemical controls on Sn mineralisation. New zircon U-Pb ages of 405 to 396 Ma reveal that the George River Granodiorite, Grant Point Granite and Mt. Pearson Granite from eastern Tasmania intruded prior to the Tabberabberan Orogeny. The Coles Bay Granite has a U-Pb age of 388 ± 7 Ma, implying that it was emplaced simultaneously with the Tabberabberan Orogeny in Tasmania. The western Tasmanian granites mostly intruded from 374 to 360 Ma, after the Tabberabberan Orogeny. Granites associated with Sn–W deposits are moderately to strongly fractionated, including the Housetop, Meredith, Pine Hill and Heemskirk granites. Lead isotopic compositions of K-feldspars from the analysed granites, combined with isotopic evidence from other studies, suggest that differentiated granites in Tasmania had been highly contaminated by a crustal (sedimentary) component, and that western Tasmanian granites had a crustal source with substantially different isotopic characteristics to that of eastern Tasmania, which has a character similar to the Lachlan Orogen in southeast Australia. Tin-mineralised granites in Tasmania formed in a post-collisional extensional margin, a favourable environment for the production of Sn-rich melts from the lower crust. Prolonged fractional crystallisation, low oxygen fugacity and enrichments of volatiles are crucial factors to promote Sn enrichment in magmatic-hydrothermal fluids exsolved from crystallised felsic magmas.     

Tasman Fold Belt System in Tasmania

In western Tasmania Eocambrian and Cambrian rock sequences accumulated in narrow troughs between and within Precambrian regions which became geanticlines. The largest trough is meridional and is flanked by the Tyennan Geanticline to the east and the Rocky Cape Geanticline to the west. Within this trough ultramafic and mafic igneous masses, some of which are dismembered ophiolites, occur below a structurally conformable but erosional surface. This surface is at the base of an early-Middle Cambrian turbidite sequence, which grades upward into a probable correlate of the Owen Conglomerate that ranges into the Ordovician. Fault-bounded areas of Rocky Cape strata occur at the eastern boundary of the sedimentary trough deposits. A considerable pile of mineralized calcalkalic volcanic material, in which granite was emplaced, accumulated between the sedimentary trough deposits and the Tyennan Geanticline. Movements along Cambrian faults near and parallel to the margin of the Tyennan Geanticline caused angular unconformities. Above the unconformities occur volcaniclastic sequences that pass conformably upward into shallow marine and terrestrial Owen Conglomerate, derived from the Tyennan Geanticline.The transgressive Owen Conglomerate and its correlates are followed conformably by shallow marine limestone, of Early to Late Ordovician age. These limestone deposits covered much of western Tasmania and are succeeded conformably by Silurian to Early Devonian beds of shallow-marine quartz sandstone and mudstone.Pre-Middle Devonian rocks of western Tasmania extend to the Tamar Tertiary trough. In the northeast of Tasmania, immediately to the east of the Tamar trough, are sequences of interbedded mudstone and turbidite quartz-wacke of the Mathinna Beds, ranging in age from Early Ordovician to Early Devonian.The Cambrian to Early Devonian rocks of Tasmania are extensively deformed and show flattened parallel folds. In western Tasmania the folds are dated as late-Early to early-Middle Devonian because fragments of the deformed rocks occur in undisturbed Middle Devonian terrestrial cavern fillings. Folds of the northeastern Tasmania Mathinna Beds are probably of the same age. This widespread Devonian deformation is correlated with the Tabberabberan Orogeny of eastern Australia.In western Tasmania the geanticlines of Cambrian times behaved as relatively competent blocks during the Devonian folding, which is of two main phases. In the earlier phase the competent behaviour of the Tyennan Block determined the fold patterns. In the north the dominantly later folds resulted from movement from the northeast. During this later Devonian phase the Tyennan Block yielded in a northwesterly trending narrow zone of folding.In northeast Tasmania the Mathinna Beds exhibit folds which indicate a tectonic transportation opposite in direction to that which resulted in the folds of similar age in western Tasmania.Granitic rocks, dated 375-335 m.y., were emplaced within the folded rocks of Tasmania with usually sharp, discordant contacts. Foliations in the batholiths of northeast Tasmania suggest post-intrusion deformations involving east—west flattening. The late deformations may be related to lateral movements along a fracture zone which brought the Mathinna Beds of northeast Tasmania into juxtaposition with the rocks of contrasting stratigraphical and structural characteristics of western Tasmania.Flat-lying Late Carboniferous and younger deposits rest unconformably on the older rocks.     

Pre‐ to syn‐tectonic emplacement of early Palaeozoic granites in southeastern South Australia

Stratigraphic and structural observations indicate that the Encounter Bay Granites concordantly intruded the youngest formations of the Kanmantoo Group in the Mount Lofty Ranges metamorphic belt prior to the culmination of the first phase of folding and associated schistosity development recorded during the early Palaeozoic Delamerian Orogeny. Metamorphic textures in the metasediments of the Kanmantoo Group suggest that cordierite crystallized locally near the granites prior to and during the F ₁ folding, whereas andalusite crystallized on a regional scale during the F ₁ folding and in the post‐F ₁ and pre‐F ₂ static phase.

Rb‐Sr isotope data for total‐rock, feldspar, and muscovite samples of the meta‐sediment‐contaminated border facies and the uncontaminated inner facies of the Encounter Bay Granites indicate that the granites were emplaced between 515 ± 8 m.y. and 506 ± 6 m.y. ago in the Late Cambrian epoch. Rb‐Sr and K‐Ar data for biotite from the granites record variable radiogenic Sr loss until about 469 m.y. ago and comparatively uniform radiogenic Ar loss until 460–475 m.y. ago. Rb‐Sr data for Kanmantoo Group metasediments and a metamorphic pegmatite indicate crystallization ages between 459–463 m.y. ago. Thus the regional andalusite‐grade temperatures and pressures, which appear responsible for the leakage of radiogenic Sr and Ar from biotite in the granites and the redistribution of Rb and Sr in the metasediments, seem to have persisted for some 50 m.y. after emplacement of the granites until the Early Ordovician epoch. There is evidence for further leakage of Sr and Ar from biotite in deformed granites from the margins of the intrusion more than 50 m.y. afterwards in the Late Silurian or Early Devonian, possibly during the F ₂ folding.

Geological observations and radiometric data for other granitic rocks in southeastern South Australia, including the Palmer Granite, are consistent with this structural and metamorphic history of the Encounter Bay region.     

Metallogeny and tectonic development of the tasman fold belt system in tasmania

In western Tasmania, Precambrian sedimentary sequences form the basement for narrow trough accumulations of Eocambrian and younger sequences. The main trough, the meridional Dundas Trough, is flanked to the west by the Rocky Cape region of Precambrian rocks within which major, apparently stratiform, exhalative magnetite-pyrite deposits are intercalated with metabasaltic volcanics and ultramafic bodies.The Eocambrian-Cambrian troughs apparently developed during extension of Precambrian continental crust. Early shallow-water deposition includes thick dolomite units in some troughs. Deepening of the troughs was accompanied by turbidite sedimentation, with minor limestone, and submarine basaltic volcanism with associated minor disseminated native copper. Ultramafic and related igneous rocks were tectonically emplaced in some troughs during a mild compressional phase. They contain only minor platinoids, copper-nickel sulphides and asbestos, but are source rocks for Tertiary secondary deposits of platinoids, chromite and lateritic nickel.In the Dundas Trough, Eocambrian-Early Cambrian rocks are separated by an inferred erosional surface from structurally conformable overlying Middle to Late Cambrian fossiliferous turbidite sequences. The structural conformity continues through overlying Ordovician to Early Devonian terrestrial and shallow-marine stable shelf deposits.A considerable pile of probable Middle Cambrian felsic volcanics accumulated between the sedimentary deposits of the Dundas Trough and the Tyennan region of Precambrian rocks to the east. A lava-dominated belt within the volcanics hosts major volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, including those of the exhalative type, which in the south are enriched in copper, gold and silver, whereas in the north they are rich in zine, lead, copper, gold and silver. Cambrian movements along faults near the margin of the Tyennan region resulted in erosion of the mineralized volcanics, locally exposing sub-volcanic granitoids. Above the local unconformities occur unmineralized volcaniclastic sequences that pass conformably into Ordovician to Early Devonian shelf deposits. Ordovician limestone locally hosts stratabound disseminated and veined base metal sulphide deposits.Pre-Middle Devonian rocks of western Tasmania differ, for most part, from those in the northeast where deeper marine turbidite quartz-wacke sequences were deposited during the Ordovician and Early Devonian.The Eocambrian to Early Devonian rocks of Tasmania were extensively deformed in the mid-Devonian. The Precambrian regions of western Tasmania behaved as relatively competent blocks controlling early fold patterns. In northeastern Tasmania, folding is of similar age but resulted from movements inconsistent with those affecting rocks of equivalent age in western Tasmania.The final metallogenic event is associated with high-level granitoid masses emplaced throughout Tasmania during the Middle to Late Devonian. In northeastern Tasmania, extensive I-type granodiorite and S-type granite, with alkali-feldspar granites, are associated with mainly endogranitic stanniferous grelsens and wolframite ± cassiterite vein deposits. In contrast, scheelite-bearing skarns and cassiterite stannite pyrrhotite carbonate replacement deposits are dominant in western Tasmania, associated mainly with S-type granites. Several argentiferous lead-zinc vein deposits occur in haloes around tin-tungsten deposits. A number of gold deposits are apparently associated with I-type granodiorite, but some have uncertain genesis.The contrasting regions of western and northeastern Tasmania have probably been brought together by lateral movement along an inferred fracture. Flat-lying, Late Carboniferous and younger deposits rest on the older rocks, and the only known post-Devonian primary mineralization is gold associated with Creta ceous syenite.     

Controls on Devonian–Carboniferous magmatism in Tasmania,based on inherited zircon age patterns,Sr, Nd and Pb isotopes,and major and trace element geochemistry

Devonian–Carboniferous granites are widespread in Tasmania. In eastern Tasmania, Devonian granites intrude Ordovician–Early Devonian quartz-rich turbidites of the Mathinna Supergroup. The earliest (～400 Ma) I-type granodiorites may be arc-related. Following the Tabberabberan Orogeny (～389 Ma), more felsic and, finally, strongly fractionated I- and S-type granites were emplaced until ～373 Ma. In contrast, western Tasmania granites intrude a more diverse terrane of predominantly marine shelf successions, with depositional ages as old as Late Mesoproterozoic. They are mostly felsic and fractionated I- and S-types emplaced from ～374–351 Ma, possibly in response to post-collisional crustal extension following juxtaposition of the eastern and western Tasmanian terranes. Granites from the two terranes are readily distinguishable by the age spectra of their inherited zircon, which are noticeably similar to those of the detrital zircon from sedimentary successions in their respective terranes. Furthermore, within each terrane, both I and S-types yield similar inheritance patterns. This suggests a pivotal role for the sedimentary successions in the petrogenesis of both types. Western Tasmanian granites are also enriched in ～1600 Ma zircon, which is essentially unrepresented in the exposed supracrustal succession. Subtle differences between the inheritance and detrital age spectra in eastern Tasmania probably relate to unrepresentative sampling of the supracrustal rocks. Nd, Sr and Pb isotopic characteristics of the granites are consistent with their derivation by mixing of magmas derived from the mantle, possibly the lower crust, and from supracrustal rocks. Systematic isotopic trends in some eastern Tasmanian I-types, particularly in the Scottsdale Batholith, correlate well with major and trace element geochemistry and age. The isotopes are inconsistent with simple restite unmixing or crystal fractionation in a closed magma chamber, and indicate progressive contamination by the Mathinna Supergroup, or similar rocks. The isotopic characteristics of late, strongly fractionated granites, although sometimes obscured by hydrothermal alteration, are also consistent with concurrent assimilation-fractional crystallisation processes. Together with the close association of some strongly fractionated I- and S-types, this suggests that such granites were generated directly in the lower crust, and were not derived from unfractionated parental granite magmas.     

Response of U‐Pb Zircon and Rb‐Sr total‐rock and mineral systems to low‐grade regional metamorphism in proterozoic igneous rocks,mount Isa,Australia

A detailed Rb‐Sr total‐rock and mineral and U‐Pb zircon study has been made on suites of Proterozoic silicic volcanic rocks and granitic intrusions, from near Mt Isa, northwest Queensland. Stratigraphically consistent U‐Pb zircon ages within the basement igneous succession show that the oldest recognized crustal development was the outpouring of acid volcanics (Leichhardt Metamorphics) 1865 ± 3 m.y. ago, which are intruded by coeval, epizonal granites and granodiorites (Kalkadoon Granite) whose pooled U‐Pb age is 1862 ⁺²⁷ _‐21 m.y. A younger rhyolitic suite (Argylla Formation) within the basement succession has an age of 1777 ± 7 m.y., and a third acid volcanic unit (Carters Bore Rhyolite), much higher again in the sequence, crystallized 1678 ± 1 m.y. ago.

All of these rocks are altered in various degrees by low‐grade metamorphic events, and in at least one area, these events were accompanied by, and can be partly related to, emplacement of a syntectonic, foliated granitic batholith (Wonga Granite) between 1670 and 1625 m.y. ago. Rocks that significantly predate this earliest recognized metamorphism, have had their primary Rb‐Sr total‐rock systematics profoundly disturbed, as evidenced by 10 to 15% lowering of most Rb‐Sr isochron ages, and a general grouping of many of the lowered ages (some of which are in conflict with unequivocal geological relationships) within the 1600–1700 m.y. interval. Such isochrons possess anomalously high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios, and some have a slightly curved array of isotopic data points. Disturbance of the Rb‐Sr total‐rock ages is attributed primarily to mild hydrothermal leaching, which resulted in the loss of Sr (relatively enriched in ⁸⁷Sr in the Sr‐poor (high Rb/Sr) rocks as compared with the Sr‐rich rocks).     

The rubidium‐strontium ages of some Tasmanian igneous rocks

Rb‐Sr isotopic age measurements relate emplacement of the Pieman and Meredith Granites (356 ± 9 and 353 ± 7 m.y., respectively), and the Bischoff and Renison Bell Porphyries (349 ±4 and 355 ± 4 m.y., respectively) to the Tabberabberan Orogeny. The genetic relationship of the Bischoff Porphyry to mineralization and the agreement between the age of this porphyry and the age of the adjacent Meredith Granite, strongly suggests that the Bischoff mineralization resulted from granite intrusion.

The Pieman Granite is closely similar to the white Heemskirk Granite in displaying a high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio (0.7354 ± 0.0018), feldspar discordance patterns and open system total‐rock behaviour. The high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio is attributed to contamination during intrusion by Precambrian metasediments containing appreciable radiogenic strontium.

A basic intrusion (McIvors Hill Gabbro) gave a pre‐Tabberabberan age (518 ±133 m.y.) and a high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio (0.7132 ± 0.0031).     

Thermal history of granitic rocks from western Victoria: A fission‐track dating study

Fission‐track ages have been determined on sphene and apatite from 28 granitic intrusions across the western half of Victoria. The sphene ages compare closely with independent K‐Ar biotite ages for the same intrusions, where these are available, and are invariably older than apatite ages by 35 to 135 m.y. This is in accord with the effective geological track annealing temperatures for these two minerals which are estimated to be 260 ± 20°C and 80 ± 10°C respectively. Both sphene and apatite ages decrease from west to east across western Victoria, the sphenes ranging from 470 ± 28 to 355 ± 19 m.y. The Wando Vale granodiorite and Dergholm granite from the Dundas Tableland of far‐western Victoria have sphene ages of 470 ± 28 m.y. and 452 ±16 m.y. respectively, clearly suggesting a relationship to the Ordo‐vician granitic rocks of southeastern South Australia. Fission‐track ages from the numerous post‐tectonic granites in the Ballarat Trough fall into two distinct groups. Rocks from the western area have sphene ages in the relatively narrow range 393 ± 14 m.y. suggesting emplacement in the Early Devonian time whereas those in the east have sphene ages of 362 ± 7 m.y. (near the Devonian‐Carboniferous boundary). Over the temperature interval recorded by sphene‐apatite pairs, cooling of the granitic rocks was very slow ranging from 0.8 to 5.3°C/m.y. Cooling in this range was probably controlled by uplift and erosion of overburden during a long period of post‐tectonic relaxation. Corresponding uplift rates are estimated to be 0.03 to 0.18 km/ m.y. assuming a normal continental geothermal gradient of 30°C/km. Below 80°C average cooling and uplift rates were probably about l°C/m.y. and 0.03 km/m.y. respectively so that cooling was essentially complete within about 80 m.y. of the apatite ages.     

Petrologic significance of rare earths distribution in granites

Granitic rocks of various ages and composition are found in the Schwarzwald region of West Germany. These granites range in age from Upper Devonian to Upper Carboniferous (370-280 m.y.) and in composition from granodiorites to alkali feldspar granites. 14 representative samples of twelve different types were analysed for their La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy, Yb, Lu by instrumental neutron activation. The studies reveal that there are characteristic differences between the different types of granitic rocks both as regards to their total REE content as well as the distribution pattern of these elements. These differences can not be directly related to the variations in the major element chemistry or the mineralogy of the granites. On the other hand, a relationship is found between the age of the granitic rocks and the total REE as well as their distribution pattern. In general the ΣREE varies from 22 to 215 ppm in different types. The ΣLa-Lu increases gradually in the direction Upper Devonian→Lower Carboniferous, however, in the granitic rocks of the Upper Carboniferous this trend is reversed and there is again a marked depletion in the content of REE. The chondrite normalised patterns of all the older types give a smooth concave curve with decrease of concentration from La to Lu. All the Upper Carboniferous granites on the other hand are characterised by a progressive pronounced negative Eu anomaly. The gradual increase of the ΣREE in the older granites is related to their evolution by progressive anatexis, whereas, the decrease in the total REE content in case of the younger Upper Carboniferous granites is due to processes of magmatic differentiation. The depletion of Eu in these K-feldspar rich types of granite is probably related to the breakdown of biotite in the anatectic starting material.     

Dating of Neoproterozoic and Cambrian orogenies in Tasmania*

A coherent set of timing constraints is produced for Tasmania's Proterozoic and Cambrian geology when only mineral ages are considered and whole‐rock ages excluded. The oldest recognised event is the formation of sedimentary deposits which contain detrital zircons that indirectly indicate a depositional age younger than 1180 Ma. Partial melts of these sedimentary rocks were incorporated in Neoproterozoic, Devonian and probably Cambrian felsic magmas. Neoproterozoic granite on King Island has an age of 760 ± 12 Ma and is part of a high‐level intrusive episode that accompanied the Wickham Orogeny, an event with regionally varied strain that is represented in northwestern Tasmania by a low‐angle unconformity, by altered granitoid with a magmatic age of 777 ± 7 Ma, and by the thick turbidite pile of the Burnie and Oonah Formations with its syndepositional intrusions of Cooee Dolerite. The late Neoproterozoic was relatively quiet tectonically but by early in the Middle Cambrian a crustal collision which marked the early phase of the Tyennan Orogeny brought about high‐level emplacement of ultramafic‐bearing allochthons and deep‐seated metamorphism of quartzose sedimentary and basaltic rocks. The ultramafic allochthons carried tonalite that had crystallised only shortly before at 510 ± 6 Ma, while the deep‐seated metamorphism produced eclogite at 502 ± 8 Ma. By middle Middle Cambrian times the metamorphic rocks had been uplifted and they experienced repeated uplift during the period of Mt Read volcanism and onward to the close of the Tyennan Orogeny in the Early Ordovician, an overall period of some 20 million years from the early Middle Cambrian. Regionally varied strain was again a feature during the Tyennan Orogeny, with the Smithton area in northwestern Tasmania and King Island occupying relatively undeformed cratonic positions.     

The Thomson Orogen of the Tasman Orogenic Zone

The Thomson Orogen forms the northwestern segment of the Tasman Orogenic Zone. It was a tectonically active area with several episodes of deposition, deformation and plutonism from Cambrian to Carboniferous time.Only the northeastern part of the orogen is exposed; the remainder is covered by gently folded Permian and Mesozoic sediments of the Galilee, Cooper and Great Artesian Basins. Information on the concealed Thomson Orogen is available from geophysical surveys and petroleum exploration wells which have penetrated the Permian and Mesozoic cover.The boundaries of the Thomson Orogen with other tectonic units are concealed, but discordant trends suggest that they are abrupt. To the west, the orogen is bordered by Proterozoic structural blocks which form basement west of the northeast-trending Diamantina River Lineament. The most appropriate boundary with the Lachlan and Kanmantoo Orogens to the south is an arcuate line marking a distinct change in the direction of gravity trends. The north-northwest orientation of the northern part of the New England Orogen to the east cuts strongly across the dominant northeast trend of the Thomson Orogen.The Thomson Orogen developed as a tectonic entity in latest Proterozoic or Early Cambrian time when the former northern extension of the Adelaide Orogen * was truncated along the Muloorinna Ridge. Early Palaeozoic deposition was dominated by finegrained, quartz-rich clastic sediments. Cambrian carbonates accumulated in the southwest and a Cambro-Ordovician island arc was active in the north. Along the western margin of the orogen, sediments were probably laid down on downfaulted blocks of deformed Proterozoic rocks, with oceanic crust further to the east.A mid- to Late Ordovician orogeny which affected the whole of the Thomson Orogen marked the climax of its precratonic (orogenic) stage. The northeast structural trend of the orogen (parallel to its western boundary with the Precambrian craton) was imposed at this time and has controlled the orientation of later folding and faulting. Up to three generations of folding have been recognized and fine-grained metasediments exhibit a prominent slaty cleavage. Metamorphism was to the greenschist and amphibolite facies, the highest grade rocks being associated with synorogenic granodiorite batholiths in the north. Following deposition of Late Ordovician marine sediments at the eastern margin, emplacement of post-tectonic Late Silurian or Early Devonian batholiths ended the precratonic history of the Thomson Orogen.The subsequent transitional tectonic regime was characterized by deposition of Devonian to Early Carboniferous shallow marine and continental sediments including widespread red-beds and andesitic volcanics. The maximum marine transgression occurred in the early Middle Devonian. Localized folding affected the easternmost part of the Thomson Orogen at the end of Middle Devonian time and was followed by intrusion of Devono-Carboniferous granitic plutons. However, the terminal orogeny which deformed all Devonian to Early Carboniferous rocks of the orogen was of mid-Carboniferous age. It produced northeast-trending open folds and normal and high-angle reverse faults which are considered to reflect basement structures. The cratonization of the Thomson Orogen was completed with the emplacement of Late Carboniferous granites and the eruption of comagmatic volcanics in the northeast, permian and Mesozoic sediments accumulated in broad, relatively shallow down warps which covered most of the former orogen.     

Regional thermal history of the Lennard shelf,Canning Basin,from apatite fission track analysis: Implications for the formation of Pb‐Zn ore deposits

Zinc mineralization in Devonian carbonates of the Lennard Shelf, northern Canning Basin is similar in many respects to that of the Mississippi Valley‐type including estimated minimum temperatures of sulphide precipitation between 70 and 110°C. Apparent apatite fission track ages for Precambrian granitic basement and for detrital apatites in Devonian carbonates in and near Pb‐Zn mineralization generally range between 260 and 340 Ma, with Precambrian samples tending to have slightly older apatite fission track ages than the Devonian carbonates. These apparent ages are younger than the stratigraphic age of the material analysed, indicating that appreciable annealing of fission tracks in apatite has occurred in post‐Devonian times. Mean horizontal confined track lengths are 12–13 μm for most samples and preclude attaching any ‘event’ significance to the fission track ages. Studies of well sequences (Grevillea 1 and Kennedia 1) indicate a period of rapid uplift in the area during the Late Triassic/Early Jurassic. Assuming a constant geothermal gradient of 30°C/km, approximately 1.5 km of uplift and erosion is estimated. Immediate thermal effects related to Miocene lamproite intrusion into Precambrian basement appear to be restricted to within 200 m of the contact zone.

For outcropping Devonian carbonates, a thermal history is proposed involving burial in the Late Palaeozoic/Early Mesozoic, followed by uplift and cooling from peak temperatures around 70–80°C in mid‐Mesozoic times. With reference to this period of burial, Pb‐Zn occurrences represent thermal anomalies when reported fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures are compared with the estimated peak temperatures. However the possibility of a phase of higher temperatures during the Late Devonian/ Early Carboniferous is suggested by the apatite fission track results, in which case sulphide mineralization may reflect ambient regional temperatures if it formed at that time. The absence of enhanced annealing effects in detrital apatites proximal to Pb‐Zn deposits suggests that either sulphide mineralization preceded or accompanied peak regional temperatures suspected during the Late Devonian/Early Carboniferous, or that the mineralizing episodes were of too short a duration to significantly anneal fission tracks in apatite.     

Pre‐Tabberabberan deformation in eastern Tasmania: A southern extension of the Benambran Orogeny

Recumbent folding in eastern Tasmania affected turbidites containing Lower to Middle Ordovician (Bendigonian Be1 to Darriwilian Da3) fossils, but not stratigraphically overlying turbidites containing Silurian (Ludlow) graptolites, and is of a timing consistent with Ordovician to Silurian Benambran orogenesis on the Australian mainland. Two subsequent phases of upright folding post‐date deposition of turbidites containing Devonian plant fossils but pre‐date intrusion of Middle Devonian granitoids, and are of Tabberabberan age. A closely spaced disjunctive cleavage (S₂), associated with the first phase of Tabberabberan folding, everywhere cuts a slaty cleavage (S₁) associated with the earlier formed recumbent folds. However, refolding associated with development of S₂ is not always clear in outcrop and it is proposed that coincident tectonic vergence between the two events has resulted in reactivation of recumbent D₁ structures during the D₂ event. The transition to rocks not affected by recumbent folding coincides with a marked change in sedimentology from shale‐ to sand‐dominated successions. This contact does not outcrop but, from seismic data, appears to dip moderately to the east, and can only be explained as an unconformity. The current grouping of all pre‐Middle Devonian turbidites in eastern Tasmania into the one Mathinna Group is misleading in that the turbidite sequence can be subdivided into two distinct sedimentary packages separated by an orogenic event. It is proposed that the Mathinna Group be given supergroup status and existing formations placed into two new groups: an older Early to Middle Ordovician Tippogoree Group and a younger Silurian to Devonian Panama Group.     

U–Pb zircon geochronology of Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous extension‐related silicic volcanism in the northern New England Fold Belt

Laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) analysis of zircons confirm a Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous age (ca 360–350 Ma) for silicic volcanic rocks of the Campwyn Volcanics and Yarrol terrane of the northern New England Fold Belt (Queensland). These rocks are coeval with silicic volcanism recorded elsewhere in the fold belt at this time (Connors Arch, Drummond Basin). The new U–Pb zircon ages, in combination with those from previous studies, show that silicic magmatism was both widespread across the northern New England Fold Belt (>250 000 km² and ≥500 km inboard of plate margin) and protracted, occurring over a period of ～15 million years. Zircon inheritance is commonplace in the Late Devonian — Early Carboniferous volcanics, reflecting anatectic melting and considerable reworking of continental crust. Inherited zircon components range from ca 370 to ca 2050 Ma, with Middle Devonian (385–370 Ma) zircons being common to almost all dated units. Precambrian zircon components record either Precambrian crystalline crust or sedimentary accumulations that were present above or within the zone of magma formation. This contrasts with a lack of significant zircon inheritance in younger Permo‐Carboniferous igneous rocks intruded through, and emplaced on top of, the Devonian‐Carboniferous successions. The inheritance data and location of these volcanic rocks at the eastern margins of the northern New England Fold Belt, coupled with Sr–Nd, Pb isotopic data and depleted mantle model ages for Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic magmatism, imply that Precambrian mafic and felsic crustal materials (potentially as old as 2050 Ma), or at the very least Lower Palaeozoic rocks derived from the reworking of Precambrian rocks, comprise basement to the eastern parts of the fold belt. This crustal basement architecture may be a relict from the Late Proterozoic breakup of the Rodinian supercontinent.     

Polyphase late Palaeozoic deformation in the southeastern foreland and northwestern Piedmont of the Alabama Appalachians

Late Palaeozoic deformation in the southern Appalachians is believed to be related to the collisional events that formed Pangaea. The Appalachian foreland fold and thrust belt in Alabama is a region of thin-skinned deformed Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks ranging in age from Early Cambrian to Late Carboniferous, bounded to the northwest by relatively undeformed rocks of the Appalachian Plateau and to the southeast by crystalline thrust sheets containing metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks ranging in age from late Precambrian to Early Devonian. A late Palaeozoic kinematic sequence derived for a part of this region indicates complex spatial and temporal relationships between folding, thrusting, and tectonic level of décollement. Earliest recognized (Carboniferous(?) or younger) compressional deformation in the foreland, observable within the southernmost thrust sheets in the foreland, is a set of large-scale, tight to isoclinal upright folds which preceded thrafing, and may represent the initial wave of compression in the foreland. Stage 2 involved emplacement of low-angle far-traveled thrust sheets which cut Lower Carboniferous rocks and cut progressively to lower tectonic levels to the southwest, terminating with arrival onto the foreland rocks of a low-grade crystalline nappe. Stage 3 involved redeformation of the stage 2 nappe pile by large-scale upright folds oriented approximately parallel to the former thrusts and believed to be related to ramping or imbrication from a deeper décollement in the foreland rocks below. Stage 4 involved renewed low-angle thrusting within the Piedmont rocks, emplacement of a high-grade metamorphic thrust sheet, and decapitation of stage 3 folds. Stage 5 is represented by large-scale cross-folding at a high angle to previous thrust boundaries and fold phases, and may be related to ramping or imbrication on deep décollements within the now mostly buried Ouachita orogen thrust belt to the southwest. Superposed upon these folds are stage 6 high-angle thrust faults with Appalachian trends representing the youngest (Late Carboniferous or younger, structures in the kinematic sequence.     

Late Palaeozoic arc flank and fore‐arc basin sequence of the New England fold belt in the stanage bay region,central Queensland

Devonian and Carboniferous (Yarrol terrane) rocks, Early Permian strata, and Permian‐(?)Triassic plutons outcrop in the Stanage Bay region of the northern New England Fold Belt. The Early‐(?)Middle Devonian Mt Holly Formation consists mainly of coarse volcaniclastic rocks of intermediate‐silicic provenance, and mafic, intermediate and silicic volcanics. Limestone is abundant in the Duke Island, along with a significant component of quartz sandstone on Hunter Island. Most Carboniferous rocks can be placed in two units, the late Tournaisian‐Namurian Campwyn Volcanics, composed of coarse volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, silicic ash flow tuff and widespread oolitic limestone, and the conformably overlying Neerkol Formation dominated by volcaniclastic sandstone and siltstone with uncommon pebble conglomerate and scattered silicic ash fall tuff. Strata of uncertain stratigraphic affinity are mapped as ‘undifferentiated Carboniferous’. The Early Permian Youlambie Conglomerate unconformably overlies Carboniferous rocks. It consists of mudstone, sandstone and conglomerate, the last containing clasts of Carboniferous sedimentary rocks, diverse volcanics and rare granitic rocks. Intrusive bodies include the altered and variably strained Tynemouth Diorite of possible Devonian age, and a quartz monzonite mass of likely Late Permian or Triassic age.

The rocks of the Yarrol terrane accumulated in shallow (Mt Holly, Campwyn) and deeper (Neerkol) marine conditions proximal to an active magmatic arc which was probably of continental margin type. The Youlambie Conglomerate was deposited unconformably above the Yarrol terrane in a rift basin. Late Permian regional deformation, which involved east‐west horizontal shortening achieved by folding, cleavage formation and east‐over‐west thrusting, increases in intensity towards the east.     

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.     

Towards understanding the early Gondwanan margin in southeastern Australia

This review synthesizes the Proterozoic and early Paleozoic geology of Tasmania, Bass Strait and western and central Victoria. We examine the many different conflicting hypotheses that have been proposed to solve the paradoxical relationships between Tasmanian geology and that of mainland Australia, most notably the prevalence of Proterozoic basement of western and central Tasmania, while immediately across Bass Strait evidence of Proterozoic rocks is much more cryptic. We conclude that the Selwyn block model is the most satisfactory hypothesis to date, since it fits best with the obvious patterns in the magnetic and gravity data. This model proposes that the central Victorian Melbourne Zone is underlain by the northern extension of thin Tasmanian Proterozoic and Cambrian crust under Bass Strait, and that the Silurian to Middle Devonian Melbourne Zone was shortened along a décollement during the Tabberabberan Orogeny. The Ordovician rocks of eastern Tasmania correlate more closely with the Tabberabbera Zone than the Melbourne Zone in Victoria; however the Silurian and Devonian correlations are less certain. Major unresolved issues are the origins of the Proterozoic and Early Cambrian lithostratigraphic packages, tectonic models for their assembly during the Tyennan Orogeny, and how these models fit with those for mainland Australia.     

内蒙古锡林郭勒杂岩中泥盆纪地层的发现及地质意义

分布在锡林浩特—达青牧场一带的锡林郭勒杂岩主要由变质表壳岩、变质基性-超基性岩、花岗质片麻岩等组成,其中部分为前寒武纪地层和岩石,构成前寒武纪微陆块。本文对锡林浩特西部呼热木台敖包和白音陶勒盖一带锡林郭勒杂岩中副变质岩锆石LA-MC-ICP-MS U-Pb年代学进行了研究,原岩碎屑锆石年龄介于403~3077 Ma,其中~(206)Pb/~(238)U最年轻一组的年龄在403~420 Ma,代表了该变质岩原岩的沉积下限。结合其变质时代(337 Ma)及被早石炭世—晚石炭世早期岛弧侵入岩侵入的事实,该套地层主要形成在早泥盆世中期—早石炭世早期,不是前寒武纪地层。其原岩主要为一套正常沉积碎屑岩,缺少火山岩,不具弧前沉积建造特征。它是沉积在前寒武纪锡林浩特微陆块之上的一套地层,为早古生代造山后伸展背景下晚古生代贺根山洋盆南缘初始的沉积记录。