Variable Variscan thermal rejuvenation in the St Malo region, Cadomian Orogen, France: evidence from 40Ar/39Ar mineral ages

Abstract The St Malo region in north-west France contains migmatites and anatectic granites derived by partial melting of metasedimentary protoliths during Cadomian orogenesis at c. 540 Ma. Previously reported Rb–Sr model ages for muscovite and biotite range from c. 550 to c. 300 Ma, and suggest variable resetting of mineral isotopic systems. These rocks display microscopic evidence for variably intense Cadomian intracrystalline plastic strain but record no obvious evidence of penetrative Palaeozoic regional deformation. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar mineral ages have been determined to evaluate better the extent, timing and significance of Palaeozoic overprinting. Eleven muscovite concentrates and one whole-rock phyllite have been prepared from various units exposed in the St Malo and adjacent Mancellian regions. In the Mancellian region, muscovite from two facies of the Bonnemain Granite Complex record ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of c. 527 and 521 Ma. An internally discordant ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar release spectrum characterizes muscovite from protomylonitic granite within the Cadomian Alexain-Deux Evailles-Izé Granite Complex, and probably records the effects of Variscan displacement along the North Armorican Shear Zone. Muscovite concentrates from anatectic granite and from Cadomian mylonites along ductile shear zones within the north-western sector of the St Malo region exhibit internally discordant ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar release spectra which suggest variable and partial late Palaeozoic rejuvenation. By contrast, muscovite concentrates from samples of variably mylonitic Brioverian metasedimentary rocks exposed within the south-eastern sector of the St Malo region display internally concordant apparent age spectra which define plateaux of 326–320 Ma. A whole-rock phyllite sample from Brioverian metasedimentary rocks exposed along the eastern boundary of the St Malo region displays an internally discordant argon release pattern which is interpreted to reflect the effects of a partial late Palaeozoic thermal overprint. Muscovite from the Plélan granite, part of the Variscan Plélan-Bobital Granite Complex, yields a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau age of c. 307 Ma. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar results indicate that Cadomian rocks of the St Malo region have undergone a widespread and variable Palaeozoic (Carboniferous) rejuvenation of intracrystalline argon systems which apparently did not affect the Mancellian region. This rejuvenation was not accompanied by penetrative regional deformation, and was probably of a static thermal–hydrothermal origin. The heat source for rejuvenation was probably either the result of heating during Variscan extension or advection from Variscan granites which are argued to underlie the St Malo region.     

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.     

40Ar/39Ar ages of detrital white mica from Upper Austroalpine units in the Eastern Alps, Austria: Evidence for Cadomian and contrasting Variscan sources

Five detrital white mica concentrates from very low-grade, metaclastic sequences within pre-Variscan basement and post-Variscan cover units of the Upper Austroalpine Nappe Complex (Eastern Alps) have been dated with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating techniques to constrain the age of tectonothermal events in their respective source areas. Two samples from early Palaeozoic sandstone exposed within the same Alpine nappe record slightly discordant age spectra. The maximum age recorded in one is 562.2±0.7?Ma, whereas the other yielded a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau age of 607.3±0.3?Ma. These results indicate a source area affected by Cadomian tectonothermal activity. Three detrital muscovite concentrates from post-Variscan, Late Carboniferous and Permian cover sequences exposed within three different Alpine nappes yielded ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of 359.6?±?1.1?Ma, 310.5±1.2?Ma, and 303.3±0.2?Ma. The contrasting detrital white mica ages are interpreted to reflect different source areas. Detrital muscovite from a post-Variscan Carboniferous molasse-type sequence and from a Permian Verrucano-type sequence record ages which indicate “late” Variscan (e.g. 330–300?Ma) metamorphic sources. By contrast, detrital white mica from another Permian Verrucano-type sequence suggests a source area affected by “early” Variscan (e.g. 400–360?Ma) metamorphism. These results help clarify palinspastic relationships and tectonic correlations between pre-Late Carboniferous metamorphic basement sequences and Carboniferous to Permian cover sequences.     

Timing and Processes of Ore Formation in the Qingchengzi Polymetallic Orefield, Northeast China: Evidence from 40Ar/39Ar Geochronology

The Qingchengzi orefield is a large polymetallic ore concentration area in the Liaodong peninsula,northeastern China,that includes twelve Pb-Zn deposits and five Au-Ag deposits along its periphery.The ore-forming age remains much disputed,which prevents the identification of the relationship between the mineralization and the associated magmatism.In this paper,we quantitatively present the feasibility of making ore mineral ~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar dating and report reliable ~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar ages of lamprophyre groundmass,K-feldspar and sphalerite from the Zhenzigou deposit.Direct and indirect methods are applied to constrain the timing of mineralization,which plays a vital role in discussing the contribution of multistage magmatism to ore formation.The low-potassium sphalerite yielded an inverse isochron age of 232.8±41.5 Ma,which features a relatively large uncertainty.Two lamprophyre groundmasses got reliable inverse isochron ages of 193.2±1.3 Ma and 152.3±1.5 Ma,respectively.K-feldspar yielded a precise inverse isochron age of 134.9±0.9 Ma.These four ages indicate that the mineralization is closely associated with Mesozoic magmatism.Consequently,regarding the cooling age of the earliest Mesozoic Shuangdinggou intrusion(224.2±1.2 Ma)as the initial time of mineralization,we can further constrain the age of the sphalerite to 224–191 Ma.These new and existing geochronological data,combined with the interaction cutting or symbiotic relationship between the lamprophyre veins and ore veins,suggest that the Pb-Zn-Au-Ag mineralization in the Qingchengzi orefield mainly occurred during three periods:the late Triassic(ca.224–193 Ma),the late Jurassic(ca.167–152 Ma)and the early Cretaceous(ca.138–134 Ma).This polymetallic deposits are shown to have been formed during multiple events coinciding with periods of the Mesozoic magmatic activity.In contrast,the Proterozoic magmatism and submarine exhalative and hydrothermal sedimentation in the Liaolaomo paleorift served mainly to transport and concentrate the ore-forming substances at the Liaohe Group with no associated Pb-Zn-Au-Ag mineralization.     

Strain partitioning and preservation of Ar/Ar ages during Variscan exhumation of a subducted crust (Malpica–Tui complex, NW Spain)

The Malpica–Tui complex (NW Iberian Massif) consists of a Lower Continental Unit of variably deformed and recrystallized granitoids, metasediments and sparse metabasites, overridden by an upper unit with rocks of oceanic affinities. Metamorphic minerals dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method record a coherent temporal history of progressive deformation during Variscan metamorphism and exhumation. The earliest stages of deformation (D1) under high-pressure conditions are recorded in phengitic white micas from eclogite-facies rocks at 365–370 Ma. Following this eclogite-facies peak-metamorphism, the continental slab became attached to the overriding plate at deep-crustal levels at ca. 340–350 Ma (D2). Exhumation was accompanied by pervasive deformation (D3) within the continental slab at ca. 330 Ma and major deformation (D4) in the underlying para-autochthon at 315–325 Ma. Final tectonothermal evolution included late folding, localized shearing and granitic intrusions at 280–310 Ma.

Dating of high-pressure rocks by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method yields ages that are synchronous with published Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd ages obtained for both the Malpica–Tui complex and its correlative, the Champtoceaux complex in the French Armorican Massif. The results indicate that phengitic white mica retains its radiogenic argon despite been subjected to relatively high temperatures (500–600 °C) for a period of 20–30 My corresponding to the time-span from the static, eclogite-facies M1 peak-metamorphism through D1-M2 eclogite-facies deformation to amphibolite-facies D2-M3. Our study provides additional evidence that under certain geological conditions (i.e., strain partitioning, fluid deficiency) argon isotope mobility is limited at high temperatures, and that ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology can be a reliable method for dating high pressure metamorphism.     

40Ar/39Ar ages and 40Ar* concentrations of fine-grained sediment fractions from North Atlantic Heinrich layers

New K/Ar ages based on ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating of <2- and 2–20-μm size fractions of the well-characterized, carbonate-bearing Heinrich layers of core V28-82 in the eastern North Atlantic are 846–1049 Ma, overlapping with conventional K/Ar ages from the same Heinrich layers on the Dreizack seamounts of 844–1074 Ma. This agreement suggests the equivalence of the methods in fine-grained terrigenous sediments. Additionally, Heinrich layer H2 yielded a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar-based K/Ar age of 970±4 from Orphan Knoll in the southern Labrador Sea, within the range found in eastern North Atlantic Heinrich layers. Thus, the K/Ar data are robust in their indication of a dominant Labrador Sea ice-rafted source to even the finest sediment fraction in the eastern North Atlantic during the massive detrital carbonate-bearing Heinrich events of the last glacial cycle (H1, H2, H4, H5). Close correspondence of the radiogenic argon concentration (⁴⁰Ar*) from the de-carbonated <63-μm fractions from V28-82 with the <2- and 2–16-μm fractions from the Driezack seamounts demonstrates that this measurement is a rapid and reliable method for correlating these layers within their belt of distribution.A ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar-based K/Ar age of 433±5 million years for H11 in V28-82 is within the range of published data from background sediments in the eastern North Atlantic, and is consistent with published results across this interval in the Driezack seamounts. In contrast, the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar-based K/Ar age of H11 in the western Atlantic core EW9303-JPC37 is 614±5 million years. A brick red sample from approximately the interval of H3 of core EW9303-GGC40 yielded a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar-based K/Ar age of 567±1 million years, comparable to the published range of 523–543 Ma from the 2–16-μm fractions from that interval on the Dreizack seamounts. Both JPC37 and GGC40 are located in the path of the North Atlantic Drift. The older ages from western samples of H3 and H11 may result from dilution of a Hudson Strait source or an elevated age from southeastern Laurentide sources.     

Timing of gold mineralisation in the Ballarat goldfields,central Victoria: Constraints from 40Ar/39Ar results

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data for muscovite separates and hydrothermally altered whole‐rock samples from the Ballarat West and the Ballarat East goldfields indicate that mesothermal gold mineralisation at Ballarat occurred during several episodic pulses, ranging in age from the Late Ordovician to the Early Devonian. Initial formation of auriferous structures in the Ballarat goldfields coincided with folding and thrusting associated with the development of the western Lachlan Fold Belt between 460 and 440 Ma. Subsequent fault reactivation and magmatism resulted in remobilisation and additional mineralisation between 410 and 380 Ma, and around 370 Ma. The results presented herein are in agreement with findings for other major gold deposits in central Victoria and further constrain the history of deformation, metamorphism and mineralisation in the western subprovince of the Lachlan Fold Belt.     

New U-Pb zircon and Ar/Ar muscovite age constraints on the emplacement of the Lizio syn-tectonic granite (Armorican Massif, France)

LA-ICP-MS U-Pb analyses performed on zircon grains from the Lizio granite yielded an emplacement age of 316 ± 6 Ma. Typical S-C structures show that the Lizio granite was emplaced contemporaneously with dextral shearing along the northern branch of the South Armorican Shear Zone and that it was therefore active at that time. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar analyses performed on muscovite grains yielded plateau dates ranging between 311.5 and 308.2 Ma. Muscovite chemistry is typical of primary magmatic muscovite, which precludes a late fluids-induced resetting of the K-Ar isotopic system. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates thus likely correspond to the cooling ages below the argon closure temperature. Considering the uncertainties on the measured ages, we can propose that either the Lizio granite cooled down quickly in less than a million of years or that it remained in a hot environment for several millions of years after its emplacement. This latter scenario could have been sustained by shear heating during dextral shearing along the northern branch of the South Armorican Shear Zone.     

40Ar/39Ar ages and geochemical characterization of Cretaceous bentonites in the Nanushuk,Seabee, Tuluvak,and Schrader Bluff formations,North Slope,Alaska

Diagenetically altered volcanic ash deposits (bentonites) found in Cretaceous terrestrial and marine foreland basin sediments have the potential to be used for chronostratigraphy and subsurface correlation across Alaska's North Slope. Detailed age and geochemical studies of these volcanogenic deposits may also shed light on the tectonic evolution of the Arctic. Though these bentonites have been previously studied, there are few published results for regional bentonite ages and geochemistry due to challenges of dating weathered volcanic ash. We analyzed mineral separates from cored bentonites recovered from wells in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska. The analyses confirm that an intense period of volcanic ash deposition on Alaska's North Slope began by the late Albian and persisted throughout the Cenomanian, an interval of rapid progradation and aggradation in the Colville basin. These results also add to a sparse record of radioisotopic ages from the Nanushuk Formation. A bentonite preserved in delta plain sediments in the upper Nanushuk Formation dates to 102.6 ± 1.5 Ma (late Albian), while a bentonite near the base of the overlying Seabee Formation was deposited at 98.2 ± 0.8 Ma, in the early Cenomanian. The two ages bracket a major flooding surface at the base of the Seabee Formation near Umiat, Alaska, placing it near the Albian-Cenomanian boundary (100.5 Ma). Several hundred feet up-section, the non-marine Tuluvak Formation contains bentonites with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 96.7 ± 0.7 to 94.2 ± 0.9 Ma (Cenomanian), several million years older than previously published K–Ar ages and biostratigraphic constraints suggest.Major and trace element geochemistry of a sub-sample of six bentonites from petroleum exploration wells at Umiat show a range in composition from andesite to rhyolite, with a continental arc source. The bentonites become more felsic from the late Albian (∼102 Ma) to late Cenomanian (∼94 Ma). A likely source for the bentonites is the Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt (OCVB) of eastern Siberia, a continental arc which became active in the Albian and experienced episodes of effusivity throughout the Late Cretaceous. Chronostratigraphically anomalous ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages coincide with peaks of magmatic activity in the OCVB, suggesting that these anomalously old ages may be due to magmatic contribution of xenocrysts or recycling of detrital minerals from older volcanic events. An alternative explanation for the chronostratigraphically anomalous ages is mixing of bentonites with detrital sediment derived from unroofing and erosion of metamorphic rocks in the Brooks Range, Herald Arch, and Chukotka throughout the mid to Late Cretaceous.     

风化壳40Ar/39Ar年代学研究意义：进展、问题与展望

风化壳是不同地质历史时期风化作用的环境和物质记录,其组成、厚度、成熟度、保存程度等是古气候条件、区域构造活动性及地貌演化的直接反映。风化壳的形成年代是风化壳研究的关键内容,精确的风化壳年龄数据是查明一系列区域甚至全球事件的重要途径。风化壳中次生矿物（主要是钡硬锰矿族矿物和明矾石族矿物）的40Ar/39Ar年代学研究首次实现了对风化壳和风化作用的直接和精确定年,所获得的年龄数据为风化壳的形成演化、区域古气候古环境恢复、化学风化历史与矿床次生富集过程及新构造运动和山脉隆升历史等一系列重大地质问题的解决提供了重要途径。然而,风化壳中次生矿物定年存在的潜在问题及风化壳剖面取样的不完整性,有可能使风化壳的年龄分布变得相当复杂,导致对化学风化历史、风化壳形成过程和形成环境等的认识出现困难。为此,必须开展对风化壳的详细野外地质研究和精细取样,并综合采用多种先进测试手段,才能获得可靠的风化壳年龄数据。在对风化壳年龄数据进行解释时,还需要系统分析多种地质、环境资料（如古生物、盆地沉积物等）,才可能获得有意义的地貌、构造和古气候信息。我国华南地区广泛分布的红色风化壳中含有丰富的钡硬锰矿族矿物,是研究该区新生代以来化学风化、大规模次生富集成矿及古气候古环境演变的理想对象。     

Emplacement depths and radiometric ages of Paleozoic plutons of the Neukirchen–Kdyn massif: differential uplift and exhumation of Cadomian basement due to Carboniferous orogenic collapse (Bohemian Massif)

The igneous complex of Neukirchen–Kdyn is located in the southwestern part of the Teplá–Barrandian unit (TBU) in the Bohemian Massif. The TBU forms the most extensive surface exposure of Cadomian basement in central Europe. Cambrian plutons show significant changes in composition, emplacement depth, isotopic cooling ages, and tectonometamorphic overprint from NE to SW. In the NE, the V epadly granodiorite and the Smr ovice diorite intruded at shallow crustal levels (<ca. 7 km depth) as was indicated by geobarometric data. K–Ar age data yield 547±7 and 549±7 for hornblende and 495±6 Ma for biotite of the Smr ovice diorite, suggesting that this pluton has remained at shallow crustal levels (T<ca. 350 °C) since its Cambrian emplacement. A similar history is indicated for the V epadly granodiorite and the Stod granite. In the SW, intermediate to mafic plutons of the Neukirchen–Kdyn massif (V eruby and Neukirchen gabbro, Hoher–Bogen metagabbro), which yield Cambrian ages, either intruded or were metamorphosed at considerably deeper structural levels (>20 km). The Teufelsberg ( ert v kámen) diorite, on the other hand, forms an unusual intrusion dated at 359±2 Ma (concordant U–Pb zircon age). K–Ar dating of biotite of the Teufelsberg diorite yields 342±4 Ma. These ages, together with published cooling ages of hornblende and mica in adjacent plutons, are compatible with widespread medium to high-grade metamorphism and strong deformation fabrics, suggesting a strong Variscan impact under elevated temperatures at deeper structural levels. The plutons of the Neukirchen area are cut by the steeply NE dipping Hoher–Bogen shear zone (HBSZ), which forms the boundary with the adjacent Moldanubian unit. The HBSZ is characterized by top-to-the-NE normal movements, which were particularly active during the Lower Carboniferous. A geodynamic model is presented that explains the lateral gradients in Cambrian pluton composition and emplacement depth by differential uplift and exhumation, the latter being probably related to long-lasting movements along the HBSZ as a consequence of Lower Carboniferous orogenic collapse.     

新疆阿尔泰萨尔朔克金多金属矿区岩浆活动—剪切变形时限——锆石U-Pb和绢云母~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar测年证据

萨尔朔克金多金属矿位于新疆阿尔泰南缘阿舍勒盆地,矿体赋存于沿火山通道充填的潜火山岩(流纹斑岩)中,矿化类型较为多样,主要呈浸染状、脉状和细脉状产出,矿床的形成与潜火山热液密切相关。该矿区外围广泛发育无明显矿化的流纹斑岩,且普遍发育韧性剪切变形现象,流纹斑岩和韧性剪切变形的时限都不明确,严重制约着外围找矿勘查工作的进展。本文在详细的野外地质调查和室内镜下鉴定的基础上,应用LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb和绢云母~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar测年方法对外围的流纹斑岩和韧性剪切带中的糜棱岩进行了年代学研究。获得无明显矿化的流纹斑岩的年龄为371.3±1.2 Ma,结合课题组对矿化流纹斑岩的年代学研究成果,表明流纹斑岩形成于382~371 Ma之间,但主成矿作用只发生在中泥盆世晚期,371 Ma可能代表了阿舍勒组最晚期岩浆侵入活动事件,但没有伴随矿化作用。绢云母在糜棱岩中沿剪切面理分布,属于韧性剪切变形的新生矿物,其坪年龄为254.4±1.8 Ma,与等时线年龄(254.0±3.7 Ma)在误差范围内一致,代表了新生绢云母的形成年龄,暗示该韧性剪切带形成时间为晚二叠世末期,为额尔齐斯区域大规模剪切—走滑活动之后的局部剪切活动;该韧性剪切作用只对矿化进行了改造,并没有富集成矿。     

40Ar/39Ar ages of Precambrian manganese ore minerals from Sweden,India and Morocco

In order to test their chronometric potential, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar stepheating- (and ⁴He-) analyses have been carried out on five manganese ore minerals of the hollandite-cryptomelane series from three Precambrian manganese deposits (Ultevis/Sweden, Sitapar/India, Bachkoun/Morocco). Samples from the metamorphic occurrences Ultevis and Sitapar yielded Ar ages of 1.8 Ga and 0.95 Ga, interpreted as the age of postmetamorphic cooling (Hollandites/Ultevis) and of an early, K-introducing alteration process subsequent to amphibolite facies metamorphism (cryptomelanes/Sitapar). Both data are consistent with known chronologies of the Svecokarelian and Satpura orogenic cycles. A date of 670 Ma obtained for a hollandite from a volcanogenic vein deposit (Bachkoun), however, contrasts with published extrusion ages of 580–560 Ma for the volcanic host rocks (Ouarzazate Series), probably due to incorporation of excess argon. The use of the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar technique, together with multiple isotope systematics, made it nevertheless possible to establish a reasonable estimate of a mineralization age close to 580 Ma. Measurement of fractional Ar losses during vacuum step heating (500–1600 °C), although indicating good Ar retentivities, failed to define model diffusion parameters because of non-linear Arrhenius arrays. Helium diffusion results (200–1200 °C) indicated retention of radiogenic ⁴He by the samples, corroborated by U/He mineral dates between 0.96 and 0.31 Ga. Potassium-bearing manganese oxides are therefore able to retain argon (possibly also ⁴He) through geological times and may thus provide ages of ore-forming processes (and perhaps later cooling and alteration stages).     

Simultaneous horst-basin formation and magmatism during Late Variscan transtension: evidence from 40Ar/39Ar and 207Pb/206Pb geochronology in the Ruhla Crystalline Complex

40 Ar/³⁹Ar–mica and ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb–zircon dates are presented and combined with existing P–T data and the sedimentary record. These data indicate that the RCC was faulted into three segments which underwent different exhumation histories during the Late Carboniferous/Early Permian. The eastern segment shows ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar–biotite data of336 ±4 and 323±3 Ma. Furthermore, it is intruded by the Thuringian Hauptgranite dated at 337±4 Ma by the ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb single zircon method. At approximately 300 Ma rocks of the eastern segment were finally exposed and, subsequently, subsided as part of the Oberhof pull-apart basin, filled by Late Carboniferous/Early Permian molasse sediments and volcanic rocks (296–285 Ma; Goll 1996). A similar Late Carboniferous evolution is inferred for the western segment, since it is also overlain by Upper Carboniferous volcanic rocks. In contrast to the eastern and western segments, distinctly younger intrusion and cooling ages were recorded for the central segment of the RCC (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar muscovite: 311±3 Ma; ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar biotite: 293–288±3 Ma) that was intruded by the Trusetal Granite, the Ruhla Granite and Brotterode Diorite (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb single zircon: 298±2, 295±3, 289±4 Ma, respectively). These young data are unique in the MGCR and testify that plutonic activity and cooling of basement rocks took place simultaneously with basin formation and volcanism in the eastern and western segments. Overlying Upper Permian (Zechstein) and Triassic sediments indicate final exposure of the central segment by approximately 260 Ma, as a part of the Ruhla-Schleusingen Horst. Combination of these results with P–T data from the contact aureole of the Trusetal granite indicate that the central segment was unroofed by at least 8.5 km during the Late Carboniferous. The Late Carboniferous/Early Permian horst-basin formation, documented in the RCC, is due to dextral transtensional movements along the NW-trending Franconian fault system. It may have been enhanced by mantle upwelling widespread in Central Europe during the Early Permian that also caused intensive magmatism in the Thuringian Forest region. Received: 2 February 1999 / Accepted: 15 November 1999     

中亚-蒙古造山带东段的锡林郭勒杂岩：早华力西期造山作用的产物而非古老陆块？ —— 锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年代学证据

锡林郭勒杂岩是华北板块北缘古生代褶皱带内出露面积最大的变质岩系,以前多被当着前寒武纪的古老地块.本文通过对该杂岩中副片麻岩和正片麻岩的锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年代学研究发现,副片麻岩中的锆石多为岩浆锆石,其206Pb/238U加权平均年龄为406±7Ma,指示它们的原岩主要是由近同期(略早些)的岩浆岩风化后就近沉积的产物,该年龄应代表源区(岛弧型?)花岗岩的形成时间,同时也是副片麻岩原岩沉积的下限年龄.正片麻岩中岩浆锆石的206Pb/238U加权平均年龄为382±2Ma,代表花岗片麻岩原岩的侵位年龄.岩石中锆石的变质增生边的形成年龄为337±6Ma,代表锡林郭勒杂岩发生变质和变形的时间,该变质事件可能与贺根山缝合带内所发生的一次主要的碰撞造山作用有关.这些年龄资料充分说明,锡林郭勒杂岩并非古老地块,而是华力西早期岩浆作用、沉积作用和变质作用事件的产物.整个事件是在较短的时间范围内(～70Ma)完成的,推测该杂岩发育在碰撞造山带的弧前环境.中亚-蒙古造山带东南部(内蒙古的中、东部)碰撞前的构造格局可能不是典型的多岛洋体制,由于缺少古老的陆块,造山过程更多的表现为大洋的大陆化过程,即洋内俯冲形成岛弧,岛弧在被动大陆边缘拼贴聚合转化为新的大陆.     

柴北缘锡铁山韧性剪切带的基本特征及其形成时代

在柴北缘锡铁山地区元古宇达肯大坂群与奥陶系滩涧山群之间发育一条呈NW向展布的基底韧性剪切带。本文对该韧性剪切带中的宏观构造(鞘褶皱、不对称褶皱、塑性流变组构、S-C组构、旋转碎斑系、构造透镜体、粘滞型石香肠构造)和糜棱岩微观构造(云母鱼构造、压力影构造、动态重结晶、雪球状旋转构造、波状消光和云母扭折)特征作了详细的研究。对锡铁山基底韧性剪切带中花岗质糜棱岩进行白云母Ar-Ar同位素测年,获得坪年龄为398±4 Ma,等时线年龄为399±4 Ma,二者基本一致,代表了锡铁山基底韧性剪切带的形成时间。综合上述特征判断,锡铁山韧性剪切带是一条由元古宇达肯大坂群向SW斜向逆冲所形成的右行逆冲韧性剪切带,该韧性剪切带与早古生代柴达木地块向NE斜向俯冲碰撞造山作用有关,并可能导致了超高压变质体折返到浅部地壳层次。同样,该韧性剪切带的存在,也对锡铁山铅锌矿起到了十分重要的后期构造控制作用。     

40Ar/39Ar geochronology and palynology of the Cerro Negro Formation,South Shetland Islands,Antarctica: A new radiometric tie for Cretaceous terrestrial biostratigraphy in the Southern Hemisphere

The upper part of the Jurassic‐Cretaceous Byers Group, exposed on Byers Peninsula in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, consists of 1.4 km of non‐marine strata assigned to the Cerro Negro Formation. Silicic pyroclastic units close to the base of the formation have yielded new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 120.3 ± 2.2 Ma on plagioclase from one horizon, and 119.4 ± 0.6 and 119.1 ± 0.8 Ma on biotite and plagioclase from a second horizon. Plagioclase from a welded ignimbrite close to the topmost exposed part of the formation has given an ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 119 ± 3.0 Ma. These ages indicate that the Cerro Negro Formation was deposited during a relatively short period in early Aptian times. The identification of palynomorph taxa has enabled us to propose correlations for the Cerro Negro Formation with spore/pollen zonations of South America and Australia. The presence of Interulobites pseudoreticulatus, Appendicisporites and F. wonthaggiensis in the Cerro Negro Formation supports correlation with the Interulobites‐Foraminisporis and the lower part of the tectifera‐corrugatus zones in southern South America. The presence of Foraminisporis asymmetricus and other palynomorphs suggests correlation with the Cyclosporites hughesii Interval Zone of early to late Aptian age in Australia. These data represent a valuable addition to the few radiometric ties available for Mesozoic terrestrial palynostratigraphy in the Southern Hemisphere.     

Initial tectonothermal evolution within the Scandinavian Caledonide Accretionary Prism: constraints from 40Ar/39Ar mineral ages within the Seve Nappe Complex, Sarek Mountains, Sweden

In the Caledonide orogen of northern Sweden, the Seve Nappe Complex is dominated by rift facies sedimentary and mafic rocks derived from the Late Proterozoic Baltoscandian miogeocline and offshore-continent–Iapetus transition. Metamorphic breaks and structural inversions characterize the nappe complex. Within the Sarek Mountains, the Sarektjåkkå Nappe is composed of c. 600-Ma-old dolerites with subordinate screens of sedimentary rocks. These lithological elements preserve parageneses which record contact metamorphism at shallow crustal levels. The Sarektjåkkå Nappe is situated between eclogite-bearing nappes (Mikka and Tsäkkok nappes) which underwent high-P metamorphism at c. 500 Ma during westward subduction of the Baltoscandian margin. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar mineral ages of c. 520–500 Ma are recorded by hornblende within variably foliated amphibolite derived from mafic dyke protoliths within the Sarektjåkkå Nappe. Plateau ages of 500 Ma are displayed by muscovite within the basal thrust of the nappe and are consistent with metamorphic evidence which indicates that the nappe escaped crustal depression as a result of detachment at an early stage of subduction. Cooling ages recorded by hornblende from variably retrogressed eclogites in the entire region are in the range of c. 510–490 Ma and suggest that imbrication of the subducting miogeocline was followed by differential exhumation of the various imbricate sheets. Hornblende cooling ages of 470–460 Ma are recorded from massive dyke protoliths within the Sarektjåkkå Nappe. These are similar to ages reported from the Seve Nappe Complex in the central Scandinavian Caledonides. Probably these date imbrication and uplift related to Early Ordovician arrival of outboard terranes (e.g. island-arc sequences represented by structurally lower horizons of the Köli Nappes). Metamorphic contrasts and the distinct grouping of mineral cooling ages suggest that the various Seve structural units are themselves internally imbricated, and were individually tectonically uplifted through argon closure temperatures during assembly of the Seve Nappe Complex. The cooling ages of 520–500 Ma recorded within Seve terranes and along terrane boundaries of the Sarek Mountains provide evidence of significant accretionary activity in the northern Scandinavian Caledonides in the Late Cambrian–Early Ordovician.     

UPb emplacement and 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages of the eastern Mont-Louis granite massif (Eastern Pyrenees,France)

Zircon UPb dating by SIMS of the Mont-Louis granite yields an age of 305±5 Ma, intrepreted to reflect the igneous emplacement age of the massif. It is in agreement with the Hercynian syntectonic character of Pyrenees granite. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar on hornblende, biotite and K-feldspar permit, to estimate the massif cooling. A rapid temperature decrease (≈30 °C/Ma) is revealed from Westphalian to Late Stephanian, coeval with the emplacement of a laccolithe in the upper crust. Then, the cooling rate decreases to ≈1 °C/Ma. This would be consistent with a long time residence for the pluton from the Late Palaeozoic to the Early Cainozoic at 6–8 km depth. To cite this article: O. Maurel et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

藏北双湖鄂柔地区变质岩和玄武岩的40Ar/39Ar年龄及其意义

在藏北龙木错—双湖缝合带东段双湖鄂柔地区,获得绿泥阳起石片岩中阳起石矿物的40Ar/39Ar坪年龄为(235·9±2·6)Ma和枕状玄武岩中蚀变辉石斑晶的40Ar/39Ar坪年龄为(232·5±2·4)Ma,两个年龄具有极好的一致性,记录了中三叠世晚期—晚三叠世早期沿龙木错—双湖缝合带发生俯冲碰撞作用的构造-热事件。羌塘地区中三叠世晚期—晚三叠世早期的俯冲碰撞造山事件使得龙木错—双湖缝合带及其以北的大部分地区(即北羌塘盆地)转变为前陆盆地,区域上三叠统底部不整合面和底砾岩的发育是碰撞造山作用地质记录的重要标志。绿泥阳起石片岩的原岩主要为富含玄武岩的火山-沉积岩系,绿泥阳起石片岩和蚀变枕状玄武岩具有Ti O2、P2O5、MgO含量较高和LREE富集型、无Eu异常,以及“大隆起”微量元素配分模式和富集Nb、Ta、Ti元素等地球化学特征,显示为较典型的洋岛型碱性玄武岩性质。