Late Holocene coseismic uplift on the Hua-tung coast, eastern Taiwan: Evidence from mass mortality of intertidal organisms

The evidence of coseismic uplift on the dynamic, wave-dominated Hua-tung coast fringing the active Coastal Range (eastern Taiwan) has been equivocal, due to complex controls by wave and terrestrial sediment over morphological and ecological systems of the coast. This study, by applying radiocarbon dating methods, demonstrates coseismic-uplift nature of the coast by finding synchronously killed intertidal organisms (mostly boring shell Jouannetia sp.) stranded at different sites of the coast with distinct physiographic characters. Based on these data, together with evidence from wave-cut notch sequences, two coseismic-uplift systems are recognized. One centers around the northern-middle part of the coast and yields events with uplift amounts of maximal 3–6 m and an average recurrence interval of at least several hundred years. The most recent activity of this system, influencing at least 70 km of coast, occurred at ~ 0.9 ka. The earthquake generating this event also triggered extensive landslides/debris flows in the region. Another system, exemplified by the uplift associated with the 2003 Cheng-kung earthquake, centers on the southern part of the coast and yields uplift of likely < 1 m every < 0.2 ky. Two pre-historic events of this system are identified as occurring at ~ 0.7 ka and ~ 1.1 ka. These two coseismic-uplift systems are consistent in position with two anticlinal structures defined by long-term uplift of the coast. However, the areas subjected to maximal coseismic uplift are located off where the climaxes of long-term uplift occur, implying that the latter areas have been uplifted mainly by aseismic and/or relatively frequent/small-magnitude coseismic motion.     

Fashion and phases of late Pleistocene aggradation and incision in the Alaknanda River Valley, western Himalaya, India

We study the aggradation and incision of the Alaknanda River Valley during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. The morphostratigraphy in the river valley at Deoprayag shows the active riverbed, a cut terrace, and a fill terrace. The sedimentary fabric of the fill terrace comprises four lithofacies representing 1) riverbed accretion, 2) locally derived debris fan, 3) the deposits of waning floods and 4) palaeoflood records. The sedimentation style, coupled with geochemical analysis and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating, indicate that this terrace formed in a drier climate and the river valley aggraded in two phases during 21–18 ka and 13–9 ka. During these periods, sediment supply was relatively higher. Incision began after 10 ka in response to a strengthened monsoon and aided by increase of the tectonic gradient. The cut terrace formed at ~ 5 ka during a phase of stable climate and tectonic quiescence. The palaeoflood records suggest wetter climate 200–300 yr ago when the floods originated in the upper catchment of the Higher Himalaya and in the relatively drier climate ~ 1.2 ka when locally derived sediments from the Lesser Himalaya dominated flood deposits. Maximum and minimum limits of bedrock incision rate at Deoprayag are 2.3 mm/a and 1.4 mm/a.     

Ages and geodynamic settings of Xilamulun Mo–Cu metallogenic belt in the northern part of the North China Craton

The Xilamulun belt along the northern part of the North China Craton is located in eastern segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and has great economic potential for Mo–Cu mineralization. More than ten medium to large ore deposits have been discovered in this region in the recent years. The major types of mineralization type include porphyry (Chehugou Mo–Cu, Kulitou Mo–Cu, Xiaodonggou Mo and Jiguanshan Mo), quartz vein (Nianzigou Mo, Xinjing Mo), epithermal (Hongshanzi Mo–U) and alteration assemblage (Liulingou Mo). The timing of mineralization was previously thought to be Yanshanian (208–290 Ma), however, Indosinian (260–208 Ma) ages for intrusions and mineralization have been recognized in recent years. Based on geochronologic data and regional geological evidence, it is suggested that the mineralization in the Xilamulun belt was formed during multiple events. The mineralization processes are related to a post-collisional extension stage (~ 258–210 Ma) with the generation of the porphyry molybdenum–copper deposit, a tectonic stress transformation from NS to EW (~ 185–150 Ma) that gave rise to vein or porphyry molybdenum deposit, and a lithospheric thinning stage (~ 140–110 Ma) with porphyry molybdenum deposit.     

The denudation history of the Argentera Alpine External Crystalline Massif (Western Alps,France-Italy): an overview from the analysis of fission tracks in apatites and zircons

Apatite/zircon fission track (FT) records of the Argentera external crystalline massif (Western Alps) show three tectonic pulses, respectively at 22 Ma (zircons), 6 and 3.5 Ma (apatites). The first pulse is consistent with the basement exhumation and initiation of the major deformation recorded in the foreland of the belt from Middle to early Upper Miocene. The two others might be respectively local expressions of the syncollisional extension mainly controlled by a westward sedimentary cover detachment and a Plio-Quaternary uplift acceleration. Zircon ages of 50-80 Ma in a limited NW area and evidence of an uplift elsewhere show that in a large fraction of the massif, temperatures in post-Variscan times never reached 320°C. Finally, FT data show that the Argentera massif did not behave as a single block during its denudation. First, in the NW of the massif, a small fault-limited block was already separated since the Cretaceous and later on recorded the 6 Ma denudation event, the 22 Ma pulse being recorded only in the remaining part of the massif. Second, less than 3.5 Ma ago, the northeastern part of the massif overthrust the southwestern block along the Bersézio-Veillos fault zone.     

Mesozoic exhumation of the southern Cape, South Africa, quantified using apatite fission track thermochronology

Southern Africa's topography is distinctive. An inland plateau of low relief and high average elevation is separated from a coastal plane of high relief and low average elevation by a steeply dipping escarpment. The origin and evolution of this topography is poorly understood because, unlike high plateaus elsewhere, its development cannot be easily linked to present day compressional plate boundary processes. Understanding the development of this regional landscape since the break-up of Gondwana is a first order step towards resolving regional epeirogenesis. We present data that quantifies the timing and extent of exhumation across the southern Cape escarpment and coastal plane, using apatite fission track analysis (AFTA) of 25 outcrop samples and 31 samples from three deep boreholes (KW1/67, SA1/66, CR1/68). Outcrop fission track (AFT) ages are Cretaceous and are significantly younger than the stratigraphic ages of their host rocks, indicating that the samples have experienced elevated paleotemperatures. Mean track lengths vary from 11.86 to 14.23 μm. The lack of Cenozoic apatite ages suggests that major cooling was over by the end Cretaceous. The results for three boreholes, situated seaward (south) of the escarpment, indicate an episode of increased denudation in the mid-late Cretaceous (100–80 Ma). An earlier episode of increased denudation (140–120 Ma) is identified from a borehole north of the escarpment. Thermal modelling indicates a history involving 2.5–3.5 km of denudation in the mid-late Cretaceous (100–80 Ma) at a rate of 175 to 125 m/Ma. The AFT data suggest that less than 1 km of overburden has been eroded regionally since the late Cretaceous (< 80 Ma) at a rate of 10 to 15 m/Ma, but do not discount the possibility of minor (in relative amplitude) episodes of uplift and river incision through the Cenozoic. The reasons for rapid denudation in these early and mid-Cretaceous episodes are less clear, but may be related to epeirogenic uplift associated with an increase in mantle buoyancy as reflected in two punctuated episodes of alkaline intrusions (e.g. kimberlites) across southern Africa and contemporaneous formation of two large mafic igneous provinces (~ 130 and 90 Ma) flanking its continental margins. Because Cenozoic denudation rates are relatively minimal, epeirogenic uplift of southern Africa and its distinct topography cannot be primarily related to Cenozoic mantle processes, consistent with the lack of any significant igneous activity across this region during that time.     

晚新生代岷江下蚀速率及其对青藏高原东缘山脉隆升机制和形成时限的定量约束

青藏高原东缘具有青藏高原地貌、龙门山高山地貌和山前冲积平原三个一级地貌单元 ,本文以岷江作为切入点 ,研究了该地区河流下蚀速率与山脉的隆升作用之间的相互关系。在建立岷江阶地序列的基础上 ,利用阶地高程和热释光年代学测年资料分别定量计算了岷江在川西高原、龙门山和成都盆地的下蚀速率 ,结果表明岷江各河段的下蚀速率明显不同 ,分别为 1.0 7～ 1.6 1mm / a、1.81m m/ a和 0 .5 9mm / a;在龙门山地区岷江的下蚀速率最高 ,约为川西高原地区的 1.5倍 ,约为成都平原地区的 3倍 ;而同一河段不同时期岷江的下蚀速率基本是连续的 ,具有很好的线性关系 ,可作为该河段整个河谷的下蚀速率。基于龙门山的表面隆升速率 (0 .3～ 0 .4 mm / a) ,在约束局部侵蚀基准面和气候变化对阶地形成的控制作用的基础上 ,本文建立了青藏高原东缘岷江下蚀速率与龙门山表面隆升速率之间的线性关系 ,结果表明河流下蚀速率约为山脉表面隆升速率的 5倍。根据龙门山表面在隆升速率和下切速率等方面均大于川西高原 ,并结合龙门山活动构造以走滑作用为主 ,笔者认为青藏高原东缘的边缘山脉以剥蚀隆升为主 ,兼有构造隆升作用。最后 ,根据岷江最大切割深度所需的时间 (3.4 8Ma)和成都盆地最古老的岷江冲积扇大邑砾岩的时间 (3.6 Ma     

Conflicting structural and geochronological data from the Ibituruna quartz-syenite (SE Brazil): Effect of protracted “hot” orogeny and slow cooling rate?

The Ibituruna quartz-syenite was emplaced as a sill in the Ribeira-Araçuaí Neoproterozoic belt (Southeastern Brazil) during the last stages of the Gondwana supercontinent amalgamation. We have measured the Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS) in samples from the Ibituruna sill to unravel its magnetic fabric that is regarded as a proxy for its magmatic fabric. A large magnetic anisotropy, dominantly due to magnetite, and a consistent magnetic fabric have been determined over the entire Ibituruna massif. The magmatic foliation and lineation are strikingly parallel to the solid-state mylonitic foliation and lineation measured in the country-rock. Altogether, these observations suggest that the Ibituruna sill was emplaced during the high temperature (~ 750 °C) regional deformation and was deformed before full solidification coherently with its country-rock. Unexpectedly, geochronological data suggest a rather different conclusion. LA-ICP-MS and SHRIMP ages of zircons from the Ibituruna quartz-syenite are in the range 530–535 Ma and LA-ICP-MS ages of zircons and monazites from synkinematic leucocratic veins in the country-rocks suggest a crystallization at ~ 570–580 Ma, i.e., an HT deformation > 35My older than the emplacement of the Ibituruna quartz-syenite. Conclusions from the structural and the geochronological studies are therefore conflicting. A possible explanation arises from ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar thermochronology. We have dated amphiboles from the quartz-syenite, and amphiboles and biotites from the country-rock. Together with the ages of monazites and zircons in the country-rock, ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar mineral ages suggest a very low cooling rate: < 3 °C/My between 570 and ~ 500 Ma and ~ 5 °C/My between 500 and 460 Ma. Assuming a protracted regional deformation consistent over tens of My, under such stable thermal conditions the fabric and microstructure of deformed rocks may remain almost unchanged even if they underwent and recorded strain pulses separated by long periods of time. This may be a characteristic of slow cooling “hot orogens” that rocks deformed at significantly different periods during the orogeny, but under roughly unchanged temperature conditions, may display almost indiscernible microstructure and fabric.     

The Paleoproterozoic North Hebei Orogen: North China craton's collisional suture with the Columbia supercontinent

Understanding the geologic history and position of the North China craton in the Paleoproterozoic Columbia supercontinent has proven elusive. Paleoproterozoic orogenic episodes (2.00–1.85 Ga) are temporally associated with ultimate stabilization of the North China craton (NCC), followed by the development of extensive craton-wide rift systems at 1.85–1.80 Ga. The age difference between the sedimentary cover and the metamorphic basement is up to 500–700 Ma, suggesting that uplift and doming of cratonic basement occurred in the latest Paleoproterozoic. Mafic dike swarms (1.80–1.77 Ga) and anorogenic magmatism (1.80–1.70 Ga) record the extensional breakup and dispersal of the North China craton during this stage. The late Paleoproterozoic tectonic framework and geological events documented provide important constraints for reconstruction of the NCC within the Late Paleoproterozoic supercontinent of Columbia.An east-west striking thousand kilometer long belt of khondalites (granulite facies metapelites) stretches along the northern margin of the North China craton, on the cratonward side of the Northern Hebei orogenic belt. This granulite belt includes Mg–Al (sapphirine bearing) granulites that reached ultrahigh-temperature “peak” metamorphic conditions of  1000 °C at 10 kbars at 1927 ± 11 Ma. Following peak ultrahigh-temperature conditions, the rocks underwent initial isobaric cooling and subsequent isothermal decompression, and these trajectories are interpreted to be part of an overall anti-clockwise P-T evolution indicating that the northern margin of the craton experienced continental collision at 1.93–1.92 Ga. The position of the khondalite belt south of the Northern Hebei orogenic belt makes it analogous to Tibet, a continental collision-related plateau characterized by double crustal thicknesses and granulite facies metamorphism at depth. We suggest that the tectonic evolution of the NCC during this period was closely related to the assembly and break-up of the Columbia supercontinent, and that the NCC was adjacent to the Baltic and Amazonian cratons in the period 2.00–1.70 Ga. Craton-wide extension occurred within 100–150 Ma of collision along the northern margin of the craton at 1.93–1.92 Ga. It is concluded that mantle upwellings are chiefly responsible for the breakup of the NCC from the Paleoproterozoic supercontinent.     

Cenozoic uplift and subsidence in the North Atlantic region: Geological evidence revisited

The topographic evolution of the “passive” margins of the North Atlantic during the last 65 Myr is the subject of extensive debate due to inherent limitations of the geological, geomorphological and geophysical methods used for studies of uplift and subsidence. We have compiled a database of sign, time and amplitude (where possible) of topographic changes in the North Atlantic region during the Cenozoic (65–0 Ma). Our compilation is based on published results from reflection seismic studies, AFT (apatite fission track) studies, VR (vitrinite reflectance) trends, maximum burial, sediment supply studies, mass balance calculations and extrapolation of seismic profiles to onshore geomorphological features. The integration of about 200 published results reveal a clear pattern of topographic changes in the North Atlantic region during the Cenozoic: (1) The first major phase of Cenozoic regional uplift occurred in the late Palaeocene–early Eocene (ca 60–50 Ma), probably related to the break-up of the North Atlantic between Europe and Greenland, as indicated by the northward propagation of uplift. It was preceded by middle Palaeocene uplift and over-deepening of some basins of the North Sea and the surrounding areas. (2) A regional increase in subsidence in the offshore marginal areas of Norway, the northern North Sea, the northern British Isles and west Greenland took place in the Eocene (ca 57–35 Ma). (3) The Oligocene and Miocene (35–5 Ma) were characterized by regional tectonic quiescence, with only localised uplift, probably related to changes in plate dynamics. (4) The second major phase of regional uplift that affected all marginal areas of the North Atlantic occurred in the Plio-Pleistocene (5–0 Ma). Its amplitude was enhanced by erosion-driven glacio-isostatic compensation. Despite inconclusive evidence, this phase is likely to be ongoing at present.     

Geochronological problems related to polymetamorphism in the Limpopo Complex, South Africa

The integration of new and published geochronologic data with structural, magmatic/anatectic and pressure–temperature (P–T) process information allow the recognition of high-grade polymetamorphic granulites and associated high-grade shear zones in the Central Zone (CZ) of the Limpopo high-grade terrain in South Africa. Together, these two important features reflect a major high-grade D₃/M₃ event at ~ 2.02 Ga that overprinted the > 2.63 Ga high-grade Neoarchaean D₂/M₂ event, characterized by SW-plunging sheath folds. These major D₂/M₂ folds developed before ~ 2.63 Ga based on U–Pb zircon age data for precursors to leucocratic anatectic gneisses that cut the high-grade gneissic fabric. The D₃/M₃ shear event is accurately dated by U–Pb monazite (2017.1 ± 2.8 Ma) and PbSL garnet (2023 ± 11 Ma) age data obtained from syntectonic anatectic material, and from sheared metapelitic gneisses that were completely reworked during the high-grade shear event. The shear event was preceded by isobaric heating (P = ~ 6 kbar and T = ~ 670–780 °C), which resulted in the widespread formation of polymetamorphic granulites. Many efforts to date high-grade gneisses from the CZ using PbSL garnet dating resulted in a large spread of ages (~ 2.0–2.6 Ga) that reflect the polymetamorphic nature of these complexly deformed high-grade rocks.     

Fission track analysis and thermotectonic history of the main borehole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling project

The Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling (CCSD) project, part of the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP), has completed drilling a 5158 m hole in the eastern part of the Dabie-Sulu ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic belt. This study reports on an apatite fission track analysis of core samples from 0 to 4000 m depth in the CCSD main hole (CCSD-MH). We determined the fission track ages of 38 apatite samples from different depths. The ages range between 98.6 ± 17.0 and 3.2 ± 1.3 Ma, showing a general decreasing trend with depth, from 87.1 ± 11.2 Ma at the surface to 3.2 ± 1.3 Ma at 3899 m depth. As a first approximation, an average uplift rate of ~ 35 m/Ma is calculated for the period 90-30 Ma. The trend in ages within the borehole shows some fluctuations, and indicates movements along major faults. It is inferred that the highest-level major normal fault occurs at a depth of ~ 350 m, recording a vertical displacement of ~ 400 m. Movement along another prominent normal fault at a depth of ~ 2150 m occurred subsequent to ~ 25 Ma. Three major reverse faults occur at about 2450, 3050 and 3250 m depth. Testing geological constrains against the fission track data set indicated an agreement with a reheating of the area during the late Cretaceous and Eocene, followed by cooling to ~ 80 °C during the Eocene and a low cooling until the samples reached their present-day position in the Donghai area.     

Thermal impact of the break-up of Pangea on the Iberian Peninsula, assessed by thermochronological dating and numerical modelling

Thermochronological studies of Variscan basement in Iberia yield cooling ages typically younger than ~ 200 Ma. In this paper, we explore the regional implications of this recurrent age maximum by examination of low and high temperature thermochronological datasets from all over Iberia. Based on these results, we show that in general the lack of cooling ages older than 200 Ma is the result of several important regional periods of thermal resetting. Resetting took place in areas of extension and burial during the Mesozoic break-up of Pangea. Evidence for large scale magmatism and mineralisation is found in Iberia during the Mesozoic, since at that time Iberia formed part of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province and a large mineralization province extending from North Africa to Western Europe. Numerical modelling allows us to assess the conditions under which rocks in the upper crust may have been thermally reset and the mechanisms likely involved. Results show that active rifting combined with shallow magmatism, and to a lesser extent deep sedimentary burial, could have led to an increase of the geothermal gradient up to ~ 73 °C/km and the reset of thermochronometers with closure temperatures up to 200 °C. Yet, we suggest that also hydrothermal activity, associated to extensional basins, played an important role to the increase of temperatures of some basement rocks above 300 °C.     

四川攀西地区晚新生代构造变形历史与隆升过程初步研究

基于TM遥感图像解译和野外调研，分析了攀西地区大渡河、安宁河深切河谷地貌特征和断裂带构造变形特征，建立了安宁河断裂带晚新生代5阶段变形历史。研究表明，中新世晚期—上新世早期，安宁河断裂以挤压走滑活动为主；上新世晚期至早更新世时期，断裂以斜张走滑活动为主，活动强度较弱；早中更新世之间发生的元谋运动使昔格达组湖相地层褶皱变形；中晚更新世时期发生断陷作用，形成安宁河两堑夹—垒的构造格局；晚更新世—全新世时期又以左旋走滑活动为主。综合安宁河、大渡河河谷地貌和晚新生代地层记录和变形特征，提出了攀西高原晚新生代4阶段隆升模式：中新世早中期(12Ma之前)以缓慢隆升与区域夷平化作用为主，中新世晚期—上新世早期(12～3．4Ma)是高原快速隆升与河流强烈下切的时期，上新世晚期—早更新世(3．4～1.1Ma)为昔格达湖盆发育时期，中晚更新世—全新世(1．1Ma以来)是高原快速隆升与河谷阶地发育时期。最后指出，至上新世晚期(3．4Ma以前)，攀西高原海拔高度可能超过了3000m。     

A fission-track and (U–Th)/He thermochronometric study of the northern margin of the South China Sea: An example of a complex passive margin

Zircon fission track (ZFT), apatite fission track (AFT) and (U–Th)/He thermochronometric data are used to reconstruct the Cenozoic exhumation history of the South China continental margin. A south to north sample transect from coast to continental interior yielded ZFT ages between 116.6 ± 4.7 Ma and 87.3 ± 4.0, indicating that by the Late Cretaceous samples were at depths of 5–6 km in the upper crust. Apatite FT ages range between 60.9 ± 3.6 and 37.3 ± 2.3 Ma with mean track lengths between 13.26 ± 0.16 µm and 13.95 ± 0.19 µm whilst AHe ages are marginally younger 47.5 ± 1.9–15.3 ± 0.5 Ma. These results show the sampled rocks resided in the top 1–1.5 km of the crust for most of the Cenozoic. Thermal history modeling of the combined FT and (U–Th)/He datasets reveal a common three stage cooling history which differed systematically in timing inland away from the rifted margin. 1) Initial phase of rapid cooling that youngs to the north, 2) a period of relative (but not perfect) thermal stasis at ~ 70–60 °C which increases in duration from the south to the north; 3) final-stage cooling to surface temperatures that initiated in all samples between 15 and 10 Ma. The timing and pattern of rock uplift and erosion does not fit with conventional passive margin landscape models that require youngest exhumation ages to be concentrated at or close to the rifted margin. The history of South China margin is more complex aided by weakened crust from the active margin period that immediately preceded rifting and opening of the South China Sea. This rheological inheritance created a transition zone of steeply thinned crust that served as a flexural filter disconnecting the northern margin of the South China block and site of active rifting to the south. Consequently whilst the South China margin displays many features of a rifted continental margin its exhumation history does not conform to conventional images of a passive margin.     

Late Miocene–Quaternary rapid stepwise uplift of the NE Tibetan Plateau and its effects on climatic and environmental changes

The way in which the NE Tibetan Plateau uplifted and its impact on climatic change are crucial to understanding the evolution of the Tibetan Plateau and the development of the present geomorphology and climate of Central and East Asia. This paper is not a comprehensive review of current thinking but instead synthesises our past decades of work together with a number of new findings. The dating of Late Cenozoic basin sediments and the tectonic geomorphology of the NE Tibetan Plateau demonstrates that the rapid persistent rise of this plateau began ~ 8 ± 1 Ma followed by stepwise accelerated rise at ~ 3.6 Ma, 2.6 Ma, 1.8–1.7 Ma, 1.2–0.6 Ma and 0.15 Ma. The Yellow River basin developed at ~ 1.7 Ma and evolved to its present pattern through stepwise backward-expansion toward its source area in response to the stepwise uplift of the plateau. High-resolution multi-climatic proxy records from the basins and terrace sediments indicate a persistent stepwise accelerated enhancement of the East Asian winter monsoon and drying of the Asian interior coupled with the episodic tectonic uplift since ~ 8 Ma and later also with the global cooling since ~ 3.2 Ma, suggesting a major role for tectonic forcing of the cooling.     

Late Paleozoic–Early Triassic magmatism on the western margin of Gondwana: Collahuasi area, Northern Chile

The basement in the ‘Altiplano’ high plateau of the Andes of northern Chile mostly consists of late Paleozoic to Early Triassic felsic igneous rocks (Collahuasi Group) that were emplaced and extruded along the western margin of the Gondwana supercontinent. This igneous suite crops out in the Collahuasi area and forms the backbone of most of the high Andes from latitude 20° to 22°S. Rocks of the Collahuasi Group and correlative formations form an extensive belt of volcanic and subvolcanic rocks throughout the main Andes of Chile, the Frontal Cordillera of Argentina (Choiyoi Group or Choiyoi Granite-Rhyolite Province), and the Eastern Cordillera of Peru.Thirteen new SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages from the Collahuasi area document a bimodal timing for magmatism, with a dominant peak at about 300 Ma and a less significant one at 244 Ma. Copper–Mo porphyry mineralization is related to the younger igneous event.Initial Hf isotopic ratios for the ~ 300 Ma zircons range from about − 2 to + 6 indicating that the magmas incorporated components with a significant crustal residence time. The 244 Ma magmas were derived from a less enriched source, with the initial Hf values ranging from + 2 to + 6, suggestive of a mixture with a more depleted component. Limited whole rock ¹⁴⁴Nd/¹⁴³Nd and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotopic ratios further support the likelihood that the Collahuasi Group magmatism incorporated significant older crustal components, or at least a mixture of crustal sources with more and less evolved isotopic signatures.     

Geochemistry and SHRIMP geochronology of alkaline rocks of the Zijinshan massif in the eastern Ordos basin, China

Characteristics of geology, petrology, and geochemistry of the Zijinshan massif were studied in the eastern part of the Ordos basin. Geochemical analysis shows that the massif is characterized by high alkali, relatively high Fe, and low Mg and Ca contents. The rocks are undersaturated in SiO₂, rich in REE (with no Eu anomaly) and belong to the alkaline-peralkaline series. The geologic history of the Zijinshan massif consists of several stages of magmatism. The obtained isotope-geochronological (U-Pb SHRIMP) data show that the magmatic activity climaxed in the interval 150–110 Ma, while the age of 16 zircon grains fitted a narrower interval, 132–125 Ma, i.e., the Early Cretaceous. The younger age corresponds to the middle and late stages of the evolution of the Ordos basin and agrees with a large Early Cretaceous tectonothermal event in North China. This event led to the large-scale uplift of the eastern flank of the Ordos basin, rise of the Lüliang asthenosphere, and to the formation of a large west-sloping monocline. The U-Pb SHRIMP studies have also revealed magmatic zircons of Carboniferous–Permian age, which evidences the multistage character of the thermal process.     

阿尔金山北段阿克塞—当金山口一带新生代山体抬升和剥蚀的裂变径迹证据

阿尔金山北段阿克塞—当金山口一带的裂变径迹测年证据表明,该地区于9～7 Ma以来发生过快速抬升和剥蚀,并且一直持续形成了现今所见的阿尔金山。新生代以来至少经历了三次抬升:早期43.6～24.3Ma、中期19.6～13.6 Ma、晚期9～7 Ma。抬升速率先缓慢、后相对快速,9～7 Ma以来的抬升速率为0.94 mm/a。晚期的构造拾升可能与阿尔金断裂带左行走滑活动有关,而与相邻的柴达木盆地北缘地区的构造抬升并不一致。     

Late- and post-Variscan cooling and exhumation history of the northern Rhenish massif and the southern Ruhr Basin: new constraints from fission-track analysis

Apatite fission-track analyses were carried out on outcrop and core samples from the Rhenish massif and the Carboniferous Ruhr Basin/Germany in order to study the late- and post-Variscan thermal and exhumation history. Apatite fission-track ages range from 291±15 Ma (lower Permian) to 136±7 Ma (lower Cretaceous) and mean track lengths vary between 11.6 m and 13.9 m, mostly displaying unimodal distributions with narrow standard deviations. All apatite fission-track ages are younger than the corresponding sample stratigraphic age, indicating substantial post-depositional annealing of the apatite fission-tracks. This agrees with results from maturity modelling, which indicates 3500–7000 m eroded Devonian and Carboniferous sedimentary cover. Numerical modelling of apatite fission-track data predicts onset of exhumation and cooling not earlier than 320 Ma in the Rhenish massif and 300 Ma in the Ruhr Basin, generally followed by late Carboniferous–Triassic cooling to below 50–60°C. Rapid late Variscan cooling was followed by moderate Mesozoic cooling rates of 0.1–0.2°C/Ma, converting into denudation rates of <1 mm/a (assuming a stable geothermal gradient of 30°C/km). Modelling results also give evidence for some late Triassic and early Jurassic heating and/or burial, which is supported by sedimentary rocks of the same age preserved at the rim of the lower Rhine Basin and in the subsurface of the Central and Northern Ruhr Basin. Cenozoic exhumation and cooling of the Rhenish massif is interpreted as an isostatic response to former erosion and major base-level fall caused by the subsidence in the lower Rhine Basin.     

西昆仑山前晚新生代构造活动与青藏高原西北缘的隆升

西昆仑山前晚新生代地貌与沉积特征记录了西昆仑山及青藏高原西北缘的隆升过程。利用沉积学、地貌学、古地磁研究结果,对西昆仑晚新生代构造活动进行了探讨。约25Ma,西昆仑山前沉积面貌发生显著变化,反映西昆仑山整体开始隆升;约5Ma时,西昆仑山前磨拉石发育,表明西昆仑山开始快速隆升。古地磁结果表明:始新世—中新世西昆仑有显著的旋转运动,而第四纪以来水平挤压造成的垂直运动为主,没有明显的旋转运动。河流阶地发育显示,西昆仑地区约在1.2Ma时河流下切开始形成阶地,第四纪中晚期以来西昆仑地区构造抬升幅度与频率加快,全新世中期(约5kaB.P.)有一次快速隆升过程。