西藏念青唐古拉山闪长质片麻岩锆石U-Pb年龄

采用高精度离子探针(SHRIMP)测年方法对西藏念青唐古拉山英云闪长质和石英闪长质正片麻岩中锆石的成因和形成时代进行了研究.在阴极发光图像中,片麻岩中的锆石具有较好的晶形,并显示出清晰的岩浆锆石韵律环带结构.离子探针分析表明,片麻岩中的锆石具有高的Th/U比值.对2颗片麻岩中的锆石进行了离子探针U-Pb测年,测得英云闪长质和石英闪长质片麻岩中的锆石206Pb/238U结晶年龄分别为58.5Ma±0.7Ma和63.5Ma±0.8Ma.这一结果意味着念青唐古拉山正片麻岩形成于安第斯型的冈底斯岩浆作用期间.     

Potassium-argon ages from the Ceneri Zone,Southern Swiss Alps

The Ceneri Zone is a unit of the crystalline basement of the Southern Alps. Its northern boundary is the Tonale Line segment of the Periadriatic Line, an important tectonic lineament separating the Oligocene and younger features of the Central Alps from the older metamorphic and structural trends of the Southern Alps. Unmetamorphosed Permian and younger sedimentary units lap onto the Southern Alpine basement from the south.Potassium-argon results from the Ceneri Zone define a Hercynian age pattern typical for the basement of continental Europe. This pattern extends to within at least 100 meters of the Tonale Line. Thus, amphibolite facies metamorphism in this region occurred around 325 m.y. ago. The geochronologic similarity of the Southern Alps to many other European regions must be taken into account in megatectonic theories.In detail, the Hercynian age pattern of the Ceneri Zone is complicated. Some hornblendes have apparent ages between the Hercynian and a Caledonian value (430 m.y.). They probably retained some radiogenic argon during the Hercynian upper amphibolite facies metamorphism. In addition, mica results between 200 and 300 m.y. have a strong geographic correlation. Apparently, the northwestern portion of the Ceneri Zone was reheated or mildly metamorphosed during the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic. A relationship between these ages and 170–180 m.y. ages from the neighboring Ivrea-Verbano Zone seems likely. No geologic evidence for any post-Hercynian event has been noted as yet in the Ceneri Zone.     

北祁连边麻沟粉砂岩碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄及Hf同位素特征

北祁连走廊南山边麻沟-大岔大坂一带保存了记录新元古代-晚古生代地质演化的众多构造-岩石单元。在边麻沟柴达诺岛弧花岗岩体之上, 不整合覆盖了一套由硅泥质岩、粉砂岩、杂砂岩、砾岩共同组成的浊流沉积组合, 其沉积时代缺乏可靠证据, 沉积物源区和构造属性也缺乏研究。粉砂岩中碎屑锆石具有典型岩浆锆石结构特征, 主要集中于529~484 Ma和466~442 Ma两个年龄群, 最年轻碎屑锆石为425 Ma。结合锆石Hf同位素特征和区域已有同位素年代学资料, 认为这些粉砂岩中的碎屑锆石主要来自柴达诺花岗岩体(516~505 Ma), 其次来自北祁连奥陶-志留纪岛弧中酸性岩浆岩, 少数来自寒武纪蛇绿岩及中元古代基底岩石。综合研究分析认为, 边麻沟浊积岩可能形成于志留纪弧前残余海盆环境。     

Association of tepees and palaeokarst in the Ladinian Calcare Rosso (Southern Alps, Italy)

The Ladinian Calcare Rosso of the Southern Alps provides a rare opportunity to examine the temporal relationships between tepees and palaeokarst. This unit comprises peritidal strata pervasively deformed into tepees, repeatedly capped by palaeokarst surfaces mantled by terra rossa. Palaeokarsts, characterized by a regional distribution across the Southern Alps, occur at the base and at the top of the unit. Local palaeokarsts, confined to this part of the platform, occur within the Calcare Rosso and strongly affected depositional facies. Tepee deformation ranges from simple antiformal structures (peritidal tepees) to composite breccias floating in synsedimentary cements and internal sediments (senile tepees). Peritidal tepees commonly occur at the top of one peritidal cycle, in association with subaerial exposure at the cycle top, while senile tepees affect several peritidal cycles, and are always capped by a palaeokarst surface. Cements and internal sediments form up to 80% of the total rock volume of senile tepees. The paragenesis of senile tepees is extremely complex and records several, superimposed episodes of dissolution, cement precipitation (fibrous cements, laminated crusts, mega-rays) and deposition of internal sediments (marine sediment and terra rossa). Petrographical observations and stable isotope geochemistry indicate that cements associated with senile tepees precipitated in a coastal karstic environment under frequently changing conditions, ranging from marine to meteoric, and were altered soon after precipitation in the presence of either meteoric or mixed marine/meteoric waters. Stable isotope data for the cements and the host rock show the influence of meteoric water (average δ¹⁸O= - 5·8‰), while strontium isotopes (average ⁸⁷Sr/86Sr=0·707891) indicate that cements were precipitated and altered in the presence of marine Triassic waters. Field relationships, sedimentological associations and paragenetic sequences document that formation of senile tepees was coeval with karsting. Senile tepees formed in a karst-dominated environment in the presence of extensive meteoric water circulation, in contrast to previous interpretations that tepees formed in arid environments, under the influence of vadose diagenesis. Tepees initiated in a peritidal setting when subaerial exposure led to the formation of sheet cracks and up-buckling of strata. This porosity acted as a later conduit for either meteoric or mixed marine/meteoric fluids, when a karst system developed in association with prolonged subaerial exposure. Relative sea level variations, inducing changes in the water table, played a key role in exposing the peritidal cycles to marine, mixed marine/meteoric and meteoric diagenetic environments leading to the formation of senile tepees. The formation and preservation in the stratigraphic record of vertically stacked senile tepees implies that they formed during an overall period of transgression, punctuated by different orders of sea level variations, which allowed formation and later freezing of the cave infills.     

Permian continental basins in the Southern Alps (Italy) and peri-mediterranean correlations

The Late Carboniferous to Permian continental successions of the Southern Alps can be subdivided into two main tectono-sedimentary Cycles, separated by a marked unconformity sealing a Middle Permian time gap, generally estimated at over 10 Ma. The lower cycle (1), between the Variscan crystalline basement and the Early Permian, is mainly characterised by fluvio-lacustrine and volcanic deposits of calc-alkaline acidic-to-intermediate composition, which range up to a maximum thickness of more than 2,000 m. The upper cycle (2), which is devoid of volcanics, is mostly dominated through the Mid?–Late Permian by alluvial sedimentation which covered the previous basins and the surrounding highs, giving rise to the subaerial Verrucano Lombardo-Val Gardena (Gröden) red-beds, up to about 800 m thick. The palaeontological record from the terrigenous deposits of both the above cycles consists mainly of macro- and microfloras and tetrapod footprints. The age of the continental deposits is widely discussed because of the poor chronological significance of a large number of fossils which do not allow reliable datings; however, some sections are also controlled by radiometric calibrations. The comparison with some selected continental successions in southern Europe allows to determine their evolution and set up correlations. A marked stratigraphic gap shows everywhere between the above-mentioned Cycles 1 and 2. As in the Southern Alps, the gap reaches the greatest extent during the Mid-Permian, near the Illawarra Reversal geomagnetic event (265 Ma). In western Europe, however, such as in Provence and Sardinia, the discussed gap persists upwardly to Late Permian and Early Triassic or slightly younger times, i.e. to the onset of the “Alpine sedimentary Cycle”, even though in northeastern Spain (Iberian Ranges, Balearic Islands) this gap results clearly interrupted by late Guadalupian–Lopingian deposits. The above two major tectonosedimentary cycles reflect, in our view, two main geodynamic events that affected the southern Europe after the Variscan orogenesis: the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian transformation of the Gondwana–Eurasia collisional margin into a diffuse dextral transform margin and the Middle–Late Permian opening of the Neotethys Ocean, with the onset of a generalised extensional tectonic regime and the progressive westward marine ingression.     

Quantitative compositional analysis of a Triassic carbonate platform (Southern Alps,Italy)

We have estimated abundance and distribution of automicrite, marine cements and skeletal grains in the Triassic Sella massif, an isolated platform flanked by steep (25–35°) clinoforms. 108 samples were taken at constant intervals from measured sections of the major zones of the platform edifice: the platform top, margin–upper slope, and lower slope. In a first step, carried out in the field and on hand specimen, purely detrital deposits were separated from automicrite facies, i.e. beds with automicrite, cement-filled, primary vugs and admixtures of skeletal carbonate and lithoclasts. In the second step, samples with automicrite facies were thin-sectioned and point counted. The categories used for point counting were (a) automicrite, (b) vugs and cement, (c) microspar or neomorphic spar, (d) skeletal grains and (e) internal sediments. At the platform top 46% of samples are pure detrital deposits, 27% consist of automicrite facies and 27% are too strongly altered by dolomitization to allow classification. At the margin–upper slope 68% of samples consist of automicrite facies, 22% are pure detrital sediments and 10% are strongly altered. At the lower slope 63% are detrital deposits, 10% automicrite facies and 27% are extensively dolomitized. The most important contributors to the automicrite facies are automicrite (41% on the platform top, 29% on the margin–upper slope, 28% on the lower slope) and early marine cement (35% on the platform top, 48% on the margin–upper slope, 27% on the lower slope). The amount of skeletal grains is less than 10%.The automicrite facies stabilized the platform margin and upper slope. Automicrite, abundant early marine cements and micro-organisms such as Tubiphytes, formed a rigid framework, thus substituting for the lack of a metazoan reef. On the upper slopes, the framework of automicrite facies stabilized the slope but intermittently. The automicrite layers are frequently dissected by sediment-filled fractures or are broken into clasts. We assume that they slid on the layers of loose detritus. Bigger slides turned into rubbly debris flows that formed metre-thick breccias at the lower slope and the proximal basin floor. The planar shape and steep angle of the clinoforms indicate that the large-scale geometry of the slope was not controlled by the automicrite but rather by non-cohesive layers of sand and rubble piled up to the angle of repose.The production mode of the Sella is comparable of that of a (mud) mound factory. This factory was highly productive: in 1 Ma, the platform aggraded over 300 m and prograded over 2000 m in all directions.     

Inherited structures in the hangingwall of the Valsugana Overthrust (Southern Alps,Northern Italy)

In the hangingwall of the Valsugana Line (north side), the most important Neogene overthrust of the Venetian Alps, two major palaeostructural pre-thrusting elements are recognizable, the Atesina Platform to the west and the Carnico-Bellunese Basin to the east. These palaeostructures, which are oblique to the overthrust, are demonstrated by variations in thickness of the sedimentary cover. The present structural framework of the hangingwall of the Valsugana Line, with the crystalline basement more uplifted toward the west, is genetically related to these pre-thrusting Permo-Mesozoic structural elements. The apparent variation in throw along the Valsugana Line is mainly a result of these palaeostructural geometries, and was not, for example, produced by a lateral hangingwall ramp.     

Cyclostratigraphic calibration of cretaceous magnetic polarity events (Cismon, Southern Alps, Italy)

In an introductory section the problems of constructing a geologic time scale and the role of magnetic reversals and Milankovitch cycles in geochronology are outlined. Results of a detailed cyclostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic study of the Valanginian/Hauterivian part of the pelagic limestone section at Cismon in the Southern Alps are presented and used in conjunction to estimate the duration of magnetic subchrons between CM10N and CM8. The new estimates are shorter than in most published time scales by a factor of two to three. More research along these lines may make a revision of the Early Cretaceous time scale necessary.     

青藏高原拉萨地块松多榴辉岩的锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年龄及锆石中的包裹体

拉萨地块榴辉岩样品中的锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年龄值为(242.4±15.2)～(291.9±12.8)Ma,平均261.7Ma±5.3Ma。所有锆石均含有大量的包裹体,主要分布在锆石核部。最常见的矿物包裹体是石榴子石,其次为石英、磷灰石、金红石和绿辉石,可见角闪石、榍石、多硅白云母和钠长石。包裹体具3种组合:榴辉岩相(Grt Omp Rt Phe)、角闪岩相(Amp Spn Ab)和不确定相(Qtz Ap)。锆石中的矿物包裹体与岩石中对应矿物的成分相同。包裹体集中在锆石核部和榴辉岩相矿物的大量出现表明锆石生长发生于变质峰期或峰期之后不久。锆石的Th/U比值均很低,具变质成因锆石的典型特征。区域地质资料对比表明,榴辉岩的原岩可能形成于石炭纪—二叠纪早期,是古特提斯洋盆裂解的产物。     

Low VS crustal zones in the Campanian Plain (Southern Italy)

Shear wave velocities of the lithospheric structure to 73 km depth have been defined along three profiles crossing the Campanian Plain (Southern Italy) from the simultaneous non linear inversion of the local and regional dispersion data. The former consist of group velocity dispersion data obtained from some seismic events which occurred at the borders of the Campanian Plain and recorded at Napoli, and the latter of group and phase dispersion data obtained in previous studies. The main features of the representative V_S models are a carbonate basement deepening to ～5 km in the central part of the Plain and a low velocity zone at a depth of ～15 km, rising to 7 km in the southern part, close to Somma-Vesuvio. The low velocity layer can be correlated with that found at ～10 km of depth below Campi Flegrei and the Neapolitan area, and at 5 km below the Somma-Vesuvio caldera area. Such regional velocity reduction can be associated to the presence of a zone with less than 5% partial melting that can be interpreted as magmatic reservoir of the Campanian volcanism.     

Polyphase thrusting and dyke emplacement in the central Southern Alps (Northern Italy)

The Triassic succession of the central Southern Alps (Italy) is stacked into several units bounded by south-verging low-angle thrust faults, which are related to two successive steps of crustal shortening. The thrust surfaces are cut by high-angle extensional and strike-slip faults, which controlled the emplacement of hypabissal magmatic intrusions that post-date thrusts motions. Intrusion ages based on SHRIMP U–Pb zircon dating span between 42 ± 1 and 39 ± 1 Ma, suggesting close time relationships with the earliest Adamello intrusion stages and, more in general, with the widespread calc-alkaline magmatism described in the Southern Alps. Fission-track ages of magmatic apatites are indistinguishable from U–Pb crystallization ages of zircons, suggesting that the intrusion occurred in country rocks already exhumed above the partial annealing zone of apatite (depth < 2–4 km). These data indicate that the central Southern Alps were already structured and largely exhumed in the Middle Eocene. Although we describe minor faults affecting magmatic bodies and local reactivations of older structures, no major internal deformations have occurred in the area after the Bartonian. Neogene deformations were instead concentrated farther south, along the frontal part of the belt.     

新疆北部卡拉麦里蛇绿岩中辉长岩的锆石U-Pb年龄及其构造意义

新疆东准噶尔卡拉麦里蛇绿岩是一套由以镁铁-超镁铁岩为主的构造岩块和不同岩性的基质组成的蛇绿混杂带, 被认为是哈萨克斯坦板块和西伯利亚板块之间的缝合带.由于其特殊的大地构造位置, 该蛇绿岩对恢复区域构造演化具有重要意义.然而, 在过去20多年里, 有关其形成及就位时代的争议一直很大, 其原因在于不同学者采用来自化石资料和同位素年龄方面的不同证据.本文选择该蛇绿岩套中保存相对完整的辉长岩进行了LA-ICP-MS 锆石U-Pb 年龄测定, 获得了3个峰值年龄: 406±1.8 Ma, 514±5.1 Ma和332±6.4 Ma.结合该区野外地质特征和前人资料分析, 本文认为除514±5.1 Ma的年龄可能来自古老围岩中的残余锆石之外, 另外两组年龄分别与蛇绿岩的形成和就位有关, 前者代表卡拉麦里蛇绿岩的形成时间, 后者则代表卡拉麦里蛇绿岩的构造侵位时间, 即卡拉麦里洋盆形成于泥盆纪初期, 最终闭合于早石炭世早期.     

Direct measurement of 3D elastic anisotropy on rocks from the Ivrea zone (Southern Alps, NW Italy)

Lower crustal and upper mantle rocks exposed at the earth's surface present direct possibility to measure their physical properties that must be, in other cases, interpreted using indirect methods. The results of these direct measurements can be then used for the corrections of models based on the indirect data. Elastic properties are among the most important parameters studied in geophysics and employed in many fields of earth sciences. In laboratory, dynamic elastic properties are commonly tested in three mutually perpendicular directions. The spatial distribution of P- and S-wave velocities are then computed using textural data, modal composition, density and elastic constants. During such computation, it is virtually impossible to involve all microfabric parameters like different types of microcracking, micropores, mineral alteration or quality of grain boundaries.

In this study, complete 3D ultrasonic transmission of spherical samples in 132 independent directions at several levels of confining pressure up to 400 MPa has been employed for study of selected mafic and ultrabasic rocks sampled in and nearby Balmuccia ultrabasic massif (Ivrea zone, Southern Alps, NW Italy). This method revealed large directional variance of maximum P-wave velocity and different symmetries (orthorhombic vs. transversal isotropic) of elastic waves 3D distribution that has not been recorded on these rocks before. Moreover, one dunite sample exhibits P-wave velocity approaching to that of olivine single crystal being interpreted as influence of CPO.     

Internal morphology, habit and U-Th-Pb microanalysis of amphibolite-to-granulite facies zircons: geochronology of the Ivrea Zone (Southern Alps)

Several types of growth morphologies and alteration mechanisms of zircon crystals in the high-grade metamorphic Ivrea Zone (IZ) are distinguished and attributed to magmatic, metamorphic and fluid-related events. Anatexis of pelitic metasediments in the IZ produced prograde zircon overgrowths on detrital cores in the restites and new crystallization of magmatic zircons in the associated leucosomes. The primary morphology and Th-U chemistry of the zircon overgrowth in the restites show a systematic variation apparently corresponding to the metamorphic grade: prismatic (prism-blocked) low-Th/U types in the upper amphibolite facies, stubby (fir-tree zoned) medium-Th/U types in the transitional facies and isometric (roundly zoned) high-Th/U types in the granulite facies. The primary crystallization ages of prograde zircons in the restites and magmatic zircons in the leucosomes cannot be resolved from each other, indicating that anatexis in large parts of the IZ was a single and short lived event at 299 ± 5 Ma (95% c. l.). Identical U/Pb ages of magmatic zircons from a metagabbro (293 ± 6 Ma) and a metaperidotite (300 ± 6 Ma) from the Mafic Formation confirm the genetic context of magmatic underplating and granulite facies anatexis in the IZ. The U-Pb age of 299 ± 5 Ma from prograde zircon overgrowths in the metasediments also shows that high-grade metamorphic (anatectic) conditions in the IZ did not start earlier than 20 Ma after the Variscan amphibolite facies metamorphism in the adjacent Strona–Ceneri Zone (SCZ). This makes it clear that the SCZ cannot represent the middle to upper crustal continuation of the IZ. Most parts of zircon crystals that have grown during the granulite facies metamorphism became affected by alteration and Pb-loss. Two types of alteration and Pb-loss mechanisms can be distinguished by cathodoluminescence imaging: zoning-controlled alteration (ZCA) and surface-controlled alteration (SCA). The ZCA is attributed to thermal and/or decompression pulses during extensional unroofing in the Permian, at or earlier than 249 ± 7 Ma. The SCA is attributed to the ingression of fluids at 210 ± 12 Ma, related to hydrothermal activity during the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent in the Upper Triassic/Lower Jurassic. Received: 7 July 1998 / Accepted: 4 November 1998     

秦岭岩群副变质岩碎屑锆石年龄谱及其地质意义探讨

报道了北秦岭地块中秦岭岩群夕线黑云石英片岩61个碎屑锆石测点的207Pb/206Pb年龄测试结果,其中15个测点在SHRIMPⅡ上进行,46个测点来自LA-ICPMS的测定结果。61个年龄值显示锆石主要来源为1·5~1·9Ga(共51个测点,占所有测点的83·6%)的古元古代末至中元古代早期的大陆地壳,1粒碎屑锆石来自新太古代岩石,5粒来自中元古代晚期的蚀源区,4个测点为0·9~1·0Ga。由于秦岭岩群被新元古代早期960~900Ma的花岗岩体侵入,新的碎屑锆石测年结果表明秦岭岩群副变质岩的沉积时代至少介于1500~960Ma之间,亦可能为中元古代末期。秦岭岩群在早古生代造山过程中受到强烈改造,但本次测定未从夕线黑云石英片岩中获得这次变质作用的年代学信息。     

中国西秦岭碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄及其构造意义

西秦岭是北接华北克拉通、西接祁连与柴达木、南接松潘—甘孜地块的东秦岭造山带的西延。文中研究了该区从前寒武纪到三叠纪的碎屑沉积岩。这些碎屑沉积岩中分离出的锆石由LA-ICPMS(激光剥蚀等离子体质谱)进行了U-Pb定年。全岩Nd亏损地幔模式年龄类似于扬子克拉通年龄,主要分布于1.55~1.98Ga,峰值为1.81Ga,而与华北克拉通主要为古元古代与太古宙的模式年龄形成明显的对比。泥盆系中的碎屑锆石930~730Ma的U-Pb年龄指示其与扬子克拉通具亲缘性。930~730Ma是源区地壳的强烈增长阶段。二叠系—三叠系的碎屑沉积岩主体以含老于1600Ma的碎屑锆石为特征。碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄与Sm-Nd同位素组成指示此时华北克拉通南缘的基底岩石成为二叠系—三叠系碎屑沉积岩的重要物源。扬子克拉通在三叠纪时与华北克拉通拼接。西秦岭二叠系—三叠系碎屑沉积岩含有高达50%的华北克拉通南缘的基底岩石。     

Origin of Triassic magmatism of the Southern Alps (Italy): Constraints from geochemistry and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic ratios

During Middle-early Late Triassic (∼243–235?Ma) a diffuse igneous activity developed in the Southern Alps (Italy). Sparse lava flow and pyroclastic succession remnants of such Southern Alps Triassic Igneous Rocks (SATIR) crop out in the Brescian Prealps, the Vicentinian Alps (Recoaro-Schio-Posina), Non Valley, Dolomites and Julian Alps. Plutonic rocks are found in two main plutonic complexes (Monzoni and Predazzo) and a small stock (Cima di Pape). Coeval igneous products can be traced eastward to Austria and Dinarides, for a total length of ∼450?km.The coeval formation of major late Anisian-late Ladinian carbonate platforms in the subsiding eastern Dolomites, and significant uplift and subaerial erosion in the western Dolomites suggest, for these areas, the occurrence of large-scale strike-slip and extensional tectonics with the development of horst-and-graben structures.This study reports the first complete review of the SATIR activity, including new mineral chemical data on 14 samples, 61 major and trace element whole rock analyses and 7 Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic ratios for volcanic and plutonic samples from Dolomites (lavas plus Monzoni and Predazzo plutonic rocks) and Vicentinian Alps lavas. Despite the variable post-magmatic modifications, the large areal distribution of the products and their wide spectrum of chemical compositions, these samples show rather common geochemical and mineralogical characteristics and define major and trace element trends that can be associated with nearly close-system magmatic evolution. Minor upper crustal contaminations can be observed in specific cases, mostly in the most differentiated products (SiO₂ >70?wt%).A specific characteristic of SATIR is their calcalkaline to shoshonitic affinity, resembling the derivation from subduction-modified mantle sources, a feature at odds with the coeval strike-slip and extensional tectonics. Geochemical modelling, petrological considerations and geological constraints allow us to propose a model in which the SATIR mantle sources reflect previous subduction metasomatism (likely occurred during Variscan times). These metasomatised mantle sources were reactivated ∼90–100 Myr after the end of the subduction, when continental rifting caused a raise of the geotherms and passive upwelling of asthenospheric mantle.     

Planktonic foraminiferal turnover across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the Vajont valley (Southern Alps, northern Italy)

Planktonic foraminiferal analysis of the Erto section in the Vajont valley (Southern Alps, northern Italy) reveals a relatively complete succession across the Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) boundary. The turnover of planktonic foraminiferal fauna was studied for a stratigraphic interval spanning theAbathomphalus mayaroensisZonep.p., Pseudotextularia deformisZone,Guembelitria cretaceaZone,Parvularugoglobigerina eugubinaZone,Eglobigerina eobullioidesSubzone, andParasubbotina pseudobulloidesZonep. p.The extinction of most large, ornate, late Maastrichtian species occurs below a black ‘boundary clay’ (2–4 cm thick); however, part of the Late Cretaceous species, mainly heterohelicidids and hedbergellids, were found over an interval of more than 100 cm above the boundary. Although a relatively high number of species occur for the last time in the main extinction phase, the abundance of these outgoing species is less than 20% of the total population; unkeeled or weakly keeled, simple-shaped forms (heterohelicids, globotruncanellids, hedbergellids) constitute the bulk of the planktonic foraminiferal population both in uppermost Maastrichtian and lowermost Danian beds. The first Tertiary species (‘Globigerina’minutulaand ‘Globigerina’fringa) appear just above the ‘boundary clay’;Parvularuglobigerina eugubinaoccurs a few centimeters above. A marked increase in abundance and diversity in the Tertiary planktonic foraminiferal population occurs at the base of theEoglobigerina eobulloidesSubzone.     

Cr-rich magnesiochloritoid eclogites from the Monviso ophiolites (Western Alps, Italy)

Cr-rich magnesiochloritoid in the eclogitized ophiolites of the Monviso massif occurs in the least differentiated rocks of the gabbroic sequence (troctolites to melatroctolites). Chloritoid ( X _Mg=0.63–0.85; Cr≤0.55, atoms) co-exists with omphacite, talc and garnet. Minor, syn-eclogitic minerals are chromite, rutile and sometimes magnesite and Cr–Ti oxides.
Coronitic textures, indicative of a static recrystallization, characterize the analysed samples. Layers of variable mineral composition develop among igneous plagioclase, olivine, clinopyroxene and spinel. The minerals in the coronitic layers display sharp compositional zonings. The igneous minerals are commonly not preserved; their presence in the original assemblage is inferred from the mineralogical composition of the pseudomorphs.
Syn-eclogitic volatile components are indicated by the development of OH-bearing minerals (e.g. chloritoid & talc) and carbonates (e.g. magnesite), and supported by the presence of coarse-grained and fibrous mineral growths. The complex pseudomorphic replacements of igneous minerals suggest that these rocks changed their mineralogical composition prior to the eclogite facies recrystallization, most likely during ocean-floor metamorphism. It is suggested that syn-eclogitic fluids formed by breakdown reactions of pre-eclogitic volatile-bearing minerals.
Geothermobarometry indicates that the investigated rocks recrystallized at a depth corresponding to 2.4  GPa and temperatures of 620±50  °C. The attainment of high-pressure conditions is supported by the presence of magnesiochloritoid, magnesite and garnet with high pyrope content (up to 58  mol%). P–T  estimates point to a very low thermal gradient (about 9  °C km⁻¹), comparable to that deduced in the adjacent Dora-Maira ultra-high pressure unit.