Country‐rock structural fabrics as a guide to pluton emplacement depth: An example from the Hodgkinson Province,northeastern Australia

Country‐rock structures adjacent to plutons of the linear, northwest‐southeast‐trending Mt Alto Supersuite, Hodgkinson Province, northeastern Australia, are variably developed from north to south along the belt. S₃ and S₄ cleavages show close temporal relationships with pluton emplacement and are better and more widely developed around plutons in the north, whereas much weaker cleavages of the same generation are only sporadically developed to the south. Cleavage trend lines anastomose around less elongate plutons to the north but are generally truncated by more elongate plutons to the south. It is proposed that a major crustal dislocation, the Alto Fault Zone, comprises a set of subparallel structures that formed prior to granite intrusion and controlled emplacement of some plutons and their final shapes. The north‐south variation in structural relations is interpreted to reflect a corresponding variation in depth of emplacement from north to south, which resulted when post‐emplacement reactivation of the Alto Fault Zone uplifted and sinistrally displaced the northern end of the supersuite relative to the southern end. Reactivation of the fault zone after granite emplacement is supported by the truncation of some plutons.     

New evidence on the Neogene uplift of South Tianshan: constraints from the (U–Th)/He and AFT ages of borehole samples of the Tarim basin and implications for hydrocarbon generation

We identified a Neogene rapid uplift-denudation event of the South Tianshan based on apatite (U–Th)/He and apatite fission track (AFT) ages in Tertiary rocks of the Tarim basin, using borehole samples. The (U–Th)/He thermochronology can be used to reveal the tectono-thermal events with lower temperature than that of AFT thermochronology and has not been used previously to study the uplift of the Tianshan Mountain. Using these data, we show the relationship between the uplift of the South Tianshan and the subsidence/deposition of the northern Tarim basin during the Neogene. The apatite helium ages reveal the migration of uplift, erosion and deposition in the northern Tarim basin. A rapid uplift of the South Tianshan during the Miocene and a corresponding rapid subsidence in the northern Tarim basin occurred. However, in the Pliocene, the Kuqa Depression and South Tianshan uplifted and eroded at the same time and in turn provided the detrital source rocks for the Northern Uplift of the Tarim basin. In contrast to earlier studies, we arrive at the conclusion that the South Tianshan experienced rapid uplift in the Miocene based on (U–Th)/He data of apatite obtained from borehole samples collected in the Tarim basin itself, and not from the bordering mountain chain. Combined apatite (U–Th)/He and fission track thermochronometry enables reconstruction of thermal histories of sedimentary rocks between 40 and 120°C, and this has implications for the generation of liquid hydrocarbon in the 65–120°C range in the basin. Thermal and burial histories of typical samples were also modelled to show the rapid uplift in our study. Our works not only provide a new evidence for the South Tianshan uplift but also indicate that there is a coupling between uplift and subsidence in the South Tianshan and adjacent northern part of the Tarim basin, which controlled hydrocarbon accumulation in the Kuqa Depression and Northern Uplift of the Tarim basin.     

Magma mixing and the generation of isotopically juvenile silicic magma at Yellowstone caldera inferred from coupling 238U–230Th ages with trace elements and Hf and O isotopes in zircon and Pb isotopes in sanidine

The nature of compositional heterogeneity within large silicic magma bodies has important implications for how silicic reservoirs are assembled and evolve through time. We examine compositional heterogeneity in the youngest (~170 to 70 ka) post-caldera volcanism at Yellowstone caldera, the Central Plateau Member (CPM) rhyolites, as a case study. We compare ²³⁸U–²³⁰Th age, trace-element, and Hf isotopic data from zircons, and major-element, Ba, and Pb isotopic data from sanidines hosted in two CPM rhyolites (Hayden Valley and Solfatara Plateau flows) and one extracaldera rhyolite (Gibbon River flow), all of which erupted near the caldera margin ca. 100 ka. The Hayden Valley flow hosts two zircon populations and one sanidine population that are consistent with residence in the CPM reservoir. The Gibbon River flow hosts one zircon population that is compositionally distinct from Hayden Valley flow zircons. The Solfatara Plateau flow contains multiple sanidine populations and all three zircon populations found in the Hayden Valley and Gibbon River flows, demonstrating that the Solfatara Plateau flow formed by mixing extracaldera magma with the margin of the CPM reservoir. This process highlights the dynamic nature of magmatic interactions at the margins of large silicic reservoirs. More generally, Hf isotopic data from the CPM zircons provide the first direct evidence for isotopically juvenile magmas contributing mass to the youngest post-caldera magmatic system and demonstrate that the sources contributing magma to the CPM reservoir were heterogeneous in ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf at ca. 100 ka. Thus, the limited compositional variability of CPM glasses reflects homogenization occurring within the CPM reservoir, not a homogeneous source.     

The role of mafic microgranular enclaves in the generation of Early Cretaceous granitic rocks of SE China: evidence from zircon U–Pb geochronology,geochemistry, and Hf isotopic data for the Liangnong pluton,eastern Zhejiang Province

In order to constrain the timing and petrogenesis of both the hosting rocks and the inner mafic microgranular enclaves (MMEs) of the Liangnong pluton, SE China, we have performed a series of bulk-rock geochemistry, zircon U–Pb, and Hf isotopic analysis, respectively. Zircon laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry U–Pb isotopic analysis yielded ages of 106.3 ± 1.1 Ma for the granodiorite and 103.9 ± 1.6 to 105 ± 1.8 Ma for monzogranite phases within the hosting pluton, as well as an age of 104.7 ± 0.8 Ma for the associated MMEs. The host rocks are metaluminous, have A/CNK values of 0.91–1.09, contain relatively high concentrations of SiO₂ and K₂O, are enriched in Rb, Th, Ba, Zr, and Hf, are depleted of Sr, P, Ti, Nd, and Ta, contain high concentrations of the rare earth elements (REE) and the light REE, and have moderately negative Eu anomalies (Eu*/Eu = 0.6–0.8). In comparison, the MMEs contain high concentrations of Al₂O₃, FeO, MgO, and TiO₂, are relatively enriched in Ba, U, and Sr, and are depleted in Th, Nd, and Zr. They have lower total REE concentrations and higher Eu*/Eu values than the hosting granites. The zircons within the hosting granites have Hf crustal model ages (T_DM^C) that show a peak at 1.29–1.85 Ga. Zircons within the MMEs have different εHf(t) values (–3.7 to +4.9) than the zircons within the hosting granites (–10.8 to –1.9). The results indicate that the MMEs and the hosting granites crystallized from magmas with different sources, thereby showing that the Early Cretaceous magmatism in the coastal areas of SE China was generated by the widespread injection of mantle-derived magmas caused by rollback of the subducting palaeo-Pacific Plate.     

Do carbonate liquids become denser than silicate liquids at pressure? Constraints from the fusion curve of K<Subscript>2</Subscript>CO<Subscript>3</Subscript> to 3.2 GPa

Brackets on the melting temperature of K₂CO₃ were experimentally determined at 1.86 ± 0.02 GPa (1,163–1,167°C), 2.79 ± 0.03 GPa (1,187–1,195°C), and 3.16 ± 0.04 GPa (1,183–1,189°C) in a piston-cylinder apparatus. These new data, in combination with published experiments at low pressure (<0.5 GPa), establish the K₂CO₃ fusion curve to 3.2 GPa. On the basis of these experiments and published thermodynamic data for crystalline and liquid K₂CO₃, the high-pressure density and compressibility of K₂CO₃ liquid were derived from the fusion curve. The pressure dependence of the liquid compressibility (K′₀ = dK ₀/dP, where K ₀ = 1/β₀) is between 16.2 and 11.6, with a best estimate of 13.7, in a third-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state (EOS). This liquid K′₀ leads to a density of 2,175 ± 36 kg/m³ at 4 GPa and 1,500°C, which is ∼30% lower than that reported in the literature on the basis of the falling-sphere method at the same conditions. The uncertainty in the liquid K′₀ leads to an error in melt density of ± 2% at 4 GPa; the error decreases with decreasing pressure. With a K′₀ of 13.7, the compressibility of K₂CO₃ at 1,500°C and 1 bar (K ₀ = 3.8 GPa) drops rapidly with increasing pressure ( ), which prevents a density crossover with silicate melts, such as CaAlSi₂O₈ and CaMgSi₂O₆, at upper mantle depths.