Tectonic history of the ophiolitic rocks of the highland border fracture zone, Scotland: Stable isotope evidence from rock-fluid interactions during obduction

The mafic and ultramafic rocks of the Highland Border Fracture Zone are ophiolitic remnants of a pre-Grampian marginal basin that opened either within, or to the north of, the Dalradian sedimentary pile. Closure of the basin was achieved through a combination of northerly-directed subduction, and obduction of ophiolitic thrust-slices onto the basin's southern margin. During the early stages of obduction, young hot peridotite slabs were thrust over the cold upper surfaces of lower thrust sheets, producing a dynamothermal metamorphic sole. Serpentinisation of these peridotites, whilst they were still cooling, occurred in a near-surface position through the interaction of meteoric waters. Subsequently, the ophiolitic thrust-sheets, which comprise lizardite serpentinites, spilitic pillow lavas, and aureole rocks, were thrust over the uppermost Dalradian nappes which were themselves being expelled southwards, thereby accommodating basement shortening. Grampian regional metamorphism of the nappe pile and overlying Highland Border Suite ophiolitic thrust sheets, produced greenschist metaspilites from the spilitic pillow lavas, induced minor retrogression in the aureole rocks, and caused the lizardite in the serpentinites to be recrystallised and replaced by antigorite. The Highland Border Suite greenschist facies metamorphic fluids were D-enriched compared with low-grade Dalradian metamorphic waters, and may have been mixtures of the latter and D-rich dehydration fluids released from the mafic rocks during dynamothermal metamorphism. Brittle fracturing and shearing in the serpentinites were responses to late deformation at different crustal levels during the final stages of emplacement, which involved gravity-sliding as well as downbending of the Dalradian nappes and ophiolitic thrust-sheets against the elevated Midland Valley block.     

内蒙古甘珠尔庙变质核杂岩

本文讨论了出露在大兴安岭主峰穹状复背斜核部的变质核杂岩。从岩石组合、变质温压条件、变形特征角度阐明了变质核杂岩的结构。从变质核杂岩各层之间的产状关系进一步探讨了变质核杂岩隆升时间以及与大兴安岭隆升的关系。最后通过核部侵位的超镁铁-镁铁质岩探讨了变质核杂岩隆升的深部背景。     

Distribution and characteristics of metamorphic belts in the south-eastern Alaska part of the North American Cordillera

The Cordilleran orogen in south-eastern Alaska includes 14 distinct metamorphic belts that make up three major metamorphic complexes, from east to west: the Coast plutonic–metamorphic complex in the Coast Mountains; the Glacier Bay–Chichagof plutonic–metamorphic complex in the central part of the Alexander Archipelago; and the Chugach plutonic–metamorphic complex in the northern outer islands. Each of these complexes is related to a major subduction event. The metamorphic history of the Coast plutonic–metamorphic complex is lengthy and is related to the Late Cretaceous collision of the Alexander and Wrangellia terranes and the Gravina overlap assemblage to the west against the Stikine terrane to the east. The metamorphic history of the Glacier Bay–Chichagof plutonic–metamorphic complex is relatively simple and is related to the roots of a Late Jurassic to late Early Cretaceous island arc. The metamorphic history of the Chugach plutonic–metamorphic complex is complicated and developed during and after the Late Cretaceous collision of the Chugach terrane with the Wrangellia and Alexander terranes. The Coast plutonic–metamorphic complex records both dynamothermal and regional contact metamorphic events related to widespread plutonism within several juxtaposed terranes. Widespread moderate-P/T dynamothermal metamorphism affected most of this complex during the early Late Cretaceous, and local high-P/T metamorphism affected some parts during the middle Late Cretaceous. These events were contemporaneous with low- to moderate-P, high-T metamorphism elsewhere in the complex. Finally, widespread high-P–T conditions affected most of the western part of the complex in a culminating late Late Cretaceous event. The eastern part of the complex contains an older, pre-Late Triassic metamorphic belt that has been locally overprinted by a widespread middle Tertiary thermal event. The Glacier Bay–Chichagof plutonic–metamorphic complex records dominantly regional contact-metamorphic events that affected rocks of the Alexander and Wrangellia terranes. Widespread low-P, high-T assemblages occur adjacent to regionally extensive foliated granitic, dioritic and gabbroic rocks. Two closely related plutonic events are recognized, one of Late Jurassic age and another of late Early and early Late Cretaceous age; the associated metamorphic events are indistinguishable. A small Late Devonian or Early Mississippian dynamothermal belt occurs just north-east of the complex. Two older low-grade regional metamorphic belts on strike with the complex to the south are related to a Cambrian to Ordovician orogeny and to a widespread Middle Silurian to Early Devonian orogeny. The Chugach plutonic–metamorphic complex records a widespread late Late Cretaceous low- to medium/high-P, moderate- T metamorphic event and a local transitional or superposed early Tertiary low-P, high-T regional metamorphic event associated with mesozonal granitic intrusions that affected regionally deformed and metamorphosed rocks of the Chugach terrane. The Chugach complex also includes a post-Late Triassic to pre-Late Jurassic belt with uncertain relations to the younger belts.     

Contrasting styles of Taconian, Eastern Acadian and Western Acadian metamorphism, central and western New England

The two major Early to Middle Palaeozoic tectonic/metamorphic events in the northern Appalachians were the Taconian (Middle to Late Ordovician) in central to western areas and the Acadian (Late Silurian to early Middle Devonian) in eastern to west-central areas. This paper presents a model for the Acadian orogenic event which separates the Acadian metamorphic realm into eastern and western belts based on distinctively different styles. We propose that the Acadian metamorphism in the east was the delayed consequence of Taconian back-arc lithospheric modification. East of the Taconian island arc, thick accumulations of Late Ordovician and Silurian sediments, coupled with plutons rising along a magmatic arc, produced crustal thermal conditions appropriate for anomalously high-T, low-P metamorphism accompanied by major crustal anatexis. In this zone, upward melt migration was coupled with subsequent E-W crustal shortening (possibly due to outboard collision with the Avalon terrane) to produce mechanical conditions that favoured formation of fold and thrust nappes and resultant tectonic thickening to the west (and probably to the east as well). The basis for the distinction between the Eastern and Western Acadian events lies in the contrasting styles of metamorphism accompanying each. Evidence for contrasting metamorphic styles consists of (1) estimated metamorphic field gradients (MFGs) based on thermobarometric studies, and (2) petrological evidence for contrasting P–T trajectories. West of the Acadian metamorphic front, the Taconian zone has an MFG in which peak temperatures of 400-600° C were reached at pressures of about 4–6 kbar, with both P and T increasing to the east. Near its western edge, the Western Acadian metamorphic overprint has a similar MFG to the Taconian, and is mainly discriminated by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating and microtextural evidence. East of this narrow zone, the Western Acadian overprint is characterized by progressively higher temperatures (600–725° C) and pressures (6.5–10 kbar, or more) to the east, yielding an overall MFG that lies along, or slightly above, the kyanite–sillimanite boundary on a P–T diagram. There is little or no plutonism accompanying Western Acadian metamorphism. In contrast, thermobarometry in the Eastern Acadian, east of the Bronson Hill Belt, yields high-T, intermediate-P conditions for the highest grade rocks known in New England: T= 650–750° C, P= 4.5–6.5 kbar for granulite facies assemblages which apparently formed along an ‘anticlockwise’P–T path. The Bronson Hill Belt lies geographically between the Eastern and Western Acadian zones and shows transitional petrological behaviour: anomalously high temperatures at intermediate pressures, but a ‘clockwise’ path with decompression cooling. Radiometric dating indicates peak Taconian conditions may have been achieved as early as 475 Ma in the Taconian hinterland and as late as 445 Ma in the Taconian foreland (including the Taconic allochthons). Eastern Acadian magmatism may have started as early as 425 Ma, and most nappe-stage deformation and metamorphism in the Eastern Acadian zone appears to have ended by about 410 Ma. Tectonic thickening in the Western Acadian (including the western counterparts of the nappe-stage deformation documented in the Eastern Acadian) must pre-date attainment of peak metamorphic conditions dated at 395–385 Ma. Dome-stage deformation clearly post-dates peak metamorphism and deforms metamorphic isograds. The end of Western Acadian deformation is well constrained by 370-375 Ma radiometric ages of late pegmatites and granitoids which cross-cut all structures.     

Paleozoic Accretion-Collision Events and Kinematics of Ductile Deformation in the Eastern Part of the Southern-Central Tianshan Belt, China

The Tianshan range could have been built by both late Early Paleozoic accretion and Late Paleozoic collision events. The late Early Paleozoic Aqqikkudug-Weiya suture is marked by Ordovician ophiolitic melange and a Silurian flysch sequence, high-pressure metamorphic relics, and mylonitized rocks. The Central Tianshan belt could principally be an Ordovician volcanic arc; whereas the South Tianshan belt, a back-arc basin. Macro- and microstructures, along with unconformities, provide some kinematic and chronological constraints on 2-phase ductile deformation. The earlier ductile deformation occurring at ca. 400 Ma was marked by north-verging ductile shearing, yielding granulite-bearing ophiolitic melange blocks and garnet-pyroxene-facies ductile deformation, and the later deformation, a dextral strike-slip tectonic process, occurred during the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian. Early Carboniferous molasses were deposited unconformably on pre-Carboniferous metamorphic and ductilely sheared rocks, implying t     

Cambrian to Devonian Geologic Evolution of the Sierra de Comechingones, Eastern Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina: Evidence for the Development and Exhumation of Continental Crust on the Proto-Pacific Margin of Gondwana

Crystalline rocks from the Sierra de Comechingones, eastern Sierras Pampeanas, evolved through three distinct orogenic cycles during the Eopalaeozoic: (1) the first tectono-thermal event named Pampean orogeny (550 to 505 Ma), which peaked in the Early Cambrian, was responsible for extensive metamorphism, partial melting, juvenile magmatism, rapid decompression, and persistent tectonic activity. Large part of the crustal section that was residing at middle levels (c. 27 km) was heated above 800 °C during the thermal peak stage of the Pampean orogeny; decompression of the Pampean orogen's core took place at this high temperature. The exhumation mechanism that assisted rapid uplifting combined the effects of ongoing tectonic forces with a buoyant instability created by a large amount of anatectic magmas in the middle to lower crust. (2) Beginning at the Early Ordovician, the Famatinian orogeny produced an overall shortening, causing pervasive textural reworking of the Cambrian metamorphic sequences under a high-strain regime. By being adjacent to the Famatinian magmatic arc, the western border of the Cambrian crystalline package absorbed imposed deformation along a crustal scale ductile shear zone. Within this zone, the high-grade metamorphic rocks were reworked and re-hydrated to lower temperature assemblages (<600°C and 3–6 kbar). Early Ordovician subduction-related igneous activity, even though manifested as small plutons, intruded Cambrian crystalline sequences, and experienced textural reworking during Late Famatinian tectonic exhumation. Late Famatinian convergence resulted in west-vergent ductile shear zones that placed Cambrian onto Ordovician crystalline sequences. (3) During post-Famatinian times (360–400 Ma) enduring crustal perturbation produced intra-crustal-derived granitic magmatism. West- to northwest-directed thrusting was concentrated in belts nucleated along crustal-scale tectonic boundaries formed between older tectono-stratigraphic units. As a result, Devonian anatectic granites were formed and tectonically extruded among Pampean and Famatinian crystalline sequences. The post-Famatinian event is also characterised by the intrusion of batholith-scale monzogranites into Pampean and Famatinian crystalline sequences residing in the upper crust.

Crystalline rocks currently exposed in the Sierra de Comechingones show that they crystallised and were exhumed in a setting where tectono-thermal activity lasted, even though it might have waned, until the Middle Palaeozoic. From the latest Neoproterozoic (c. 550 Ma) until the Late Devonian (c. 360 Ma) tectonic activity was intermittently acting, indicating continuous convergence along the proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana.     

Tectonic evolution of Early Paleozoic island-arc systems and continental crust formation in the Caledonides of Kazakhstan and the North Tien Shan

The extended Saryarka and Shyngyz-North Tien Shan volcanic belts that underwent secondary deformation are traced in the Caledonides of Kazakhstan and the North Tien Shan. These belts are composed of igneous rocks pertaining to Early Paleozoic island-arc systems of various types and the conjugated basins with oceanic crust. The Saryarka volcanic belt has a complex fold-nappe structure formed in the middle Arenigian-middle Llanvirnian as a result of the tectonic juxtaposition of Early-Middle Cambrian and Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician complexes of ensimatic island arcs and basins with oceanic crust. The Shyngyz-North Tien Shan volcanic belt is characterized by a rather simple fold structure and consists of Middle-Late Ordovician volcanic and plutonic associations of ensialic island arcs developing on heterogeneous basement, which is composed of complexes belonging to the Saryarka belt and Precambrian sialic massifs. The structure and isotopic composition of the Paleozoic igneous complexes provide evidence for the heterogeneous structure of the continental crust in various segments of the Kazakh Caledonides. The upper crust of the Shyngyz segment consists of Early Paleozoic island-arc complexes and basins with oceanic crust related to the Saryarka and Shyngyz-North Tien Shan volcanic belts in combination with Middle and Late Paleozoic continental igneous rocks. The deep crustal units of this segment are dominated by mafic rocks of Early Paleozoic suprasubduction complexes. The upper continental crust of the Stepnyak segment is composed of Middle-Late Ordovician island-arc complexes of the Shyngyz-North Tien Shan volcanic belt and Early Ordovician rift-related volcanics. The middle crustal units are composed of Riphean, Paleoproterozoic, and probably Archean sialic rocks, whereas the lower crustal units are composed of Neoproterozoic mafic rocks.     

湖北枣阳大阜山镁铁/超镁铁杂岩体与金红石矿床成因

湖北省北部枣阳市境内的大阜山镁铁/超镁铁杂岩体主要由未变质的纯橄岩和橄长岩组成,伴生变质的石榴石角闪石岩、石榴石钠黝帘石角闪石岩和角闪石钠黝帘石岩.杂岩体的围岩为大理岩.该岩体中的金红石矿床产于变质的石榴石角闪石岩或蚀变的石榴石角闪石岩中.橄长岩中锆石SHRIMP U-Pb同位素定年结果表明镁铁/超镁铁质岩体的成岩年龄约为600Ma.变质的岩石和未变质的岩石几乎具有完全相同的地球化学特征,表明前者的原岩应为橄长岩,整个岩体是一个分异的镁铁/超镁铁侵入体.金红石赋存于角闪石解理中等岩相特征表明矿床的含矿岩石就是石榴石角闪石岩,不是由石榴石辉石岩退变质形成的;且其中的石榴石为钙铁榴石,不是富镁、富铝的与高压/超高压作用有关的石榴石.金红石矿床的形成和岩体的局部变质应该与由北向南的近水平推覆构造有关,动力变质作用提供的热和流体,结合推覆过程中的变形作用,导致围岩大理岩和镁铁质岩体发生交代作用,形成石榴石角闪石岩和金红石矿床.     

Geochemistry and SHRIMP U‐Pb Zircon Dating of Mafic Rocks North of Zunhua City,Eastern Hebei,North China Craton: Paleoproterozoic Gabbro rather than Neoarchean Ophiolite

Abundant mafic-ultramafic blocks and dikes occur in the area north of Zunhua City, eastern Hebei Province, and were previously suggested to be part of a late Archean ophiolitic assemblage. We employed SHRIMP zircon dating and a geochemical study on these mafic and surrounding rocks to test the ophiolite hypothesis. The SHRIMP data suggest that three metagabbro samples were metamorphosed at ～1.8 Ga. Numerous ～2.5 Ga zircons display strong oscillatory zoning, characteristic of zircons from granitoid rocks but not from gabbro, so we suggest that these are xenocrystic grains. The age of these xenocrystic zircons and their metamorpbic rims suggests that these mafic blocks formed in Paleoproterozoic. The surrounding gneiss of intermediate composition also contains 2.5 Ga zircons with oscillatory zoning and 1.8 Ga metamorphic rims. Fractionated REE patterns and Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf negative anomalies to variable extent were observed in the mafic blocks and surrounding rocks, also supporting a significant difference in the chemistry of ophiolitic rocks. Our data suggest that many mafic blocks in northern Zunhua are not part of a late Archean ophiolite complex but part of a tectonically dismembered Paleoproterozoic intrusive gabbro complex. This study shows that late Paleoproterozoic metamorphism occurred in the western part of eastern Hebei Province.     

京北琉璃庙地区变质杂岩变质变形特征

琉璃庙地区变质杂岩主要由变质上壳岩、变质深成侵入杂岩及其脉岩群组成.它们多数经韧性变形改造形成各种类型糜棱岩和构造片岩.研究表明,变质上壳岩原岩主要以钙碱性火山(熔)岩为主.本区变质杂岩经历了三期变质变形作用,即高角闪岩相区域变质作用形成大型复式同斜紧闭褶皱;绿帘角闪岩相动力变质作用及强烈的韧性变形,形成了以蓝闪石为特征的不同强度的糜棱岩带;绿片岩相动力变质作用和韧脆性变形作用.     

桐柏造山带中龟山杂岩的白云母40Ar/39Ar年龄及其地质意义

出露于桐柏造山带松扒-龟梅断裂带南侧的龟山杂岩经历了两阶段变质及多期变形作用,但其变质变形时代及其与秦岭造山带中产于相同构造部位的武关杂岩的构造关系尚缺乏深入研究.为此,对取自于龟山杂岩中的4件变质沉积岩和2件变质火山岩样品中的白云母进行了40Ar/39Ar同位素定年.结果表明,白云母的40Ar/39Ar坪年龄从306.7±1.7 Ma（保存最好的白云母斑晶）延续到279.2±2.6 Ma（经历后期变形改造的白云母）.结合前期锆石U-Pb定年结果推测龟山杂岩的两阶段变质及主期逆冲推覆变形均发生在石炭纪,并在二叠纪遭受到左行走滑剪切作用的改造.龟山杂岩与武关杂岩具有类似的岩石组成和变质变形演化历史,二者共同构成一条>500 km的晚古生代中级变质带,是华北-华南陆块最终碰撞之前大洋俯冲-增生的产物.      

Terrane sutures in the Maine Appalachians,USA and adjacent areas

Terrane sutures in the Maine Appalachians and adjacent areas are recognized as melange dominated, deformed accretionary prisms of Ordovician age, and as a broad synmetamorphic transcurrent fault zone of probable Late Silurian-Early Devonian age. Although the accretionary prisms are associated with present day aeromagnetic and Bouguer gravity anomalies, they are probably not associated with present day crustal penetrating boundaries. The geology of the accretionary prisms indicates subduction-obduction dominated regimes during which (1) the Gander and Boundary Mountain (Dunnage) terranes amalgamated and (2) the composite Boundary Mountain-Gander terrane accreted to the Laurentian margin. The Penobscottian orogeny produced and deformed the older of the two accretionary prisms. This accretionary prism indicates that the Penobscottian was a continuous or perhaps diachronous event which spanned the late Cambrian to early Late Ordovician. The younger accretionary prism was produced and deformed during the Taconian orogeny during late Middle to early Late Ordovician. Initial deformation of this accretionary prism may have overlapped the waning stages of the Penobscottian. Portions of the Taconian arc locally overlie the Penobscottian accretionary prism. A synmetamorphic fault zone lies within Precambrian(?) to Ordovician(?) bimodal metavolcanic and metapelitic rocks assigned here to the Avalon terrane. This zone is several kilometres wide and is interpreted to be the postsubduction suture between the Avalon and Gander terranes, and may, in part, represent a fossil transform fault system. The fault zone contains phyllonites as well as shear zones which generally record dextral motion. The phyllonites were previously interpreted as a stratigraphic unit, whereas the shear zones span or are contained within mappable compositional units. Formation of and movement along these phyllonites and shear zones ceased before the intrusion of Early Devonian plutons. Not all faults in south-western Maine are related to the suture. Younger dip and/or strike-slip and thrust faults are approximately parallel to, or may lie within, the older shear zones and they complicate the recognition of the older faults.     

Geochemical Features of the Two Early Paleozoic Ophiolitic Zones and Volcanic Rocks in the Central —Southern Tianshan Region ,Xinjiang

This paper deals with the geochemical features of the two Early Paleozoic ophiolite zones in the central-southem Tianshan region and the central Tianshan igneous rock belt between them.Study results suggest that the central Tianshan belt was an Ordovician volcanic arc with an affinity of continental crust, and the Kumux-Hongluhe ophiolitic zone that is located on the southern margin of central Tianshan has a crustal affinity to back-arc marginal sea.The Aqqikkudug-Weiya ophiolitic zone is an accretionary boundary between the Tuha continental block and the central Tianshan volcanic arc during Late Silurian to Devoniann;Ordovician ophi-olitic blocks,Silurian flysch sequence and HP metamorphic rock relics are distributed along the Aqqikkudug-Weiya zone.Geochemically,ophiolitic rocks in the Aqqikkudug-Weiya zone have an affinity to oceanic crust,reflecting a tectonic setting of paleo-trench or subduction zone .The Early Carboniferous red molasses were deposited unconformably on the pre-Carboniferous meta-mrophosed and ductile sheared volcanic and flysch rocks,providing an upper limit age of the central and southern Tianshan belts.     

Fluid flow,metasomatism and amphibole deformation in an imbricated ophiolite,North Cascades,Washington

Metasomatic tremolite-rich mylonites are widespread in imbricate thrust slices of ultramafic rocks of the ophiolitic Ingalls Complex in Washington State. Protoliths for these amphibolite-facies mylonites were peridotite and serpentinite. Abundant syntectonic tremolite veins in the ultramafites record narrowly channelized flow of infiltrating fluids, whereas metasomatic mylonite zones record more pervasive flow. Fluids were probably released mainly by prograde devolatization reactions within serpentinite and mafic ophiolitic rocks that experienced earlier hydrothermal metamorphism.Olivine apparently deformed by dislocation creep in the mylonites. In the tremolite-rich rocks, locally preserved amphibole porphyroclasts deformed mainly by microfracturing. Acicular tremolites, which dominate the mylonites, form syntectonic overgrowths on porphyroclasts and probably record diffusive mass transfer which may have accompanied cataclasis. Acicular tremolites subsequently were folded and define both post-crystalline crenulations and polygonal arcs.Fluid flow, deformation and metamorphism were apparently complexly interrelated in the imbricate zone. Thrusts juxtaposed contrasting rock types that were sources and sinks for fluids, and shear zones focused fluid flow. Metamorphism probably facilitated deformation through the release of fluids during dehydration reactions. High fluid pressure may have led to hydraulic fracturing and may have controlled strain softening in the tremolitic mylonite zones as it favored microcracking and diffusive mass transfer over dislocation creep. Infiltrating metasomatic fluids probably play an important role in the evolution of shear zones in many ultramafic bodies during medium-grade metamorphism.     

Eo-alpine metamorphism in the uppermost unit of the Cretan nappe system — Petrology and geochronology

The uppermost unit of the Cretan nappe system consists of ophiolites on the top, and an ophiolitic mélange at the base.Among the various constituents of the mélange, there are slices of low-P/high-T metamorphics. They form a variegated series consisting of tholeiitic ortho-amphibolites, para-amphibolites, andalusite and sillimanite-cordierite-garnet bearing mica schists, calcsilicate rocks, and marbles. The metamorphic sequence is locally intruded by early tectonic magmatites of gabbroic, dioritic and granitic composition. Critical mineral assemblages lead to a maximum temperature of about 700° C reached during metamorphism, at a total pressure of 4–5 kilobars. K — Ar dating on 6 hornblendes, 7 biotites and 1 muscovite yielded cooling ages of 75–66 m.y. and confirmed earlier results according to which the metamorphism and related magmatism took place in Late Cretaceous times.In order to evaluate the age relationships between the hightemperature metamorphics within the ophiolitic mélange and the ophiolites, hornblendes from ultramafic and mafic rocks of the ophiolite complex were dated by the K — Ar method. Hornblende from one schistose hornblendite forming a constituent of the ophiolites proper yielded 156 m.y. and thus provides a middle Jurassic minimum age for the formation of this piece of oceanic lithosphere. Four hornblendes of calc-alkaline gabbrodiorite dikes within the ophiolite complex gave distinctly lower K — Ar dates of about 140 m.y.. The dikes probably intruded after the detachment of the ophiolites in an island-arc or continental-margin environment.As a consequence, the high-temperature metamorphics and related intrusives in the ophiolitic mélange of Crete are genetically unrelated to the overlying ophiolites. The paleogeographic position of the crystalline terrane, slices of which are now incorporated into the ophiolitic mélange is still open to discussion.     

Origin and age of ultramafic rocks and gabbros in the southern Puna of Argentina: an alleged Ordovician suture revisited

Ultramafic rocks and gabbros are exposed in the southern Puna (NW Argentina) in tectonic association with continental arc-related Ordovician (volcano) sedimentary successions and granitoids. The origin of this mafic rock suite has been debated for three decades as either representing an Ordovician terrane suture, primitive Ordovician arc-related rocks or relics of the pre-Ordovician basement in tectonic contact with the Ordovician retro-arc basin successions. We present the first U–Pb ages of primary and inherited zircon from gabbros of this mafic–ultramafic assemblage. LA-ICP-MS analyses on cores and rims of these zircon grains yielded a concordia age of 543.4 ± 7.2 Ma for the gabbroic rocks. Other analysed zircons have Mesoproterozoic, and Early Ediacaran core and rim ages indicating that the magmas also assimilated Meso- and Neoproterozoic crustal material prior to final crystallization. The mafic rocks witnessed higher metamorphic grade than associated Ordovician rocks, which are unmetamorphosed or only affected by anchimetamorphism. The gabbros are mostly tholeiitic and enriched in Zr, Th, as well as other incompatible elements and have εNd _t=540Ma ranging from 1.3 to 7.4 with most of the values between 5 and 7. ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios show evidence of weak crustal contamination. The mafic rocks do not reveal any affinity to mid-ocean ridge basalts in their geochemistry but point instead to an emplacement in an active plate margin arc environment. Chromites from ultramafic rocks show typical Ti, Al, Cr#, Fe³⁺ abundances found in magmatic arc rocks. The formation of the gabbros and the associated ultramafic rocks in the southern Argentine Puna is related to the evolution of the margin of the Pampia terrane, including the Puncoviscana basin, during the Late Neoproterozoic and earliest Cambrian. In contrast to previous interpretations, the rocks predate the Ordovician evolution of the Central proto-Andean active margin. Consequently, interpretations assuming these rocks to represent an oceanic terrane suture of Ordovician age have to be dismissed as much as all palaeotectonic models that define Ordovician terranes in the Central Andes based on assumption that the ultramafic rocks and gabbros exposed in the southern Puna mark plate boundaries.     

金沙江缝合带弯岛湖蛇绿混杂岩带的岩石地球化学特征及其构造背景

弯岛湖蛇绿混杂岩带是金沙江缝合带西段的重要组成部分。蛇绿岩混杂于上三叠统变质碎屑岩夹变质火山岩中,成份主要为镁铁质-超镁铁质杂岩,岩石类型有变质橄榄岩、变质堆晶质辉长岩及其伴生的岛弧型花岗岩系。岩石化学及地球化学特征表明:蛇绿岩主要为低Ti(岛弧-弧后)型、富集型洋中脊(E-MORB)拉斑玄武岩;与之共(伴)生的基性喷出岩、辉绿岩脉属板内洋岛型裂谷型碱性玄武岩及其过渡类型系列。在变质辉长岩获得全岩Sm-Nd等时线年龄值为232±11Ma,代表了镁铁质-超镁铁质杂岩的形成年龄,可能为洋壳初始俯冲变质的时间。在蛇绿岩上覆的硅质岩中发现有中三叠世拉丁晚期至晚三叠世卡宁早期的放射虫化石,表明弯岛湖镁铁质-超镁铁质杂岩可能形成于中三叠世多岛洋盆或弧后盆地构造环境。     

The evolution of Archaean greenstone terrains,Eastern Goldfields Province,Western Australia

Available petrological, structural and geochronological data suggest that metamorphism and deformation of greenstone sequences and the evolution of intrusive granitoids in the Eastern Goldfields Province, Yilgarn Block, were related to a widespread and integrated tectonic event in the time interval 2700-2600 m.y.Polyphase deformation of the greenstone sequences involved the superimposition of a series of upright folds and related subvertical foliations on earlier macroscopic recumbent folds. Metamorphism was imposed rapidly on these previously deformed but relatively unaltered greenstone sequences, synchronously with a third phase of deformation. Static-style metamorphic recrystallization at very low to medium grades occurred over most of the province, but contemporaneous high grade recrystallization of dynamic style was restricted to elongate narrow zones which were also the sites of synkinematic granitoid diapirism. These zones commonly mark the present margins of greenstone belts.The extensive areas between greenstone belts are dominated by outcrops of post-kinematic granitoids whose abundance may be overestimated because of the limited exposure. Their emplacement caused only minor contact metamorphic overprinting on the pre-existing metamorphic patterns. Also present are banded gneisses interpreted as modified basement to the greenstone sequences. These gneisses are enclosed in post-kinematic granitoid batholiths or occur as remnants in synkinematic diapirs within the dynamic domains. All major granitoid groups, including gneisses, are geochemically similar and show parallel but limited variations. Both field and chemical evidence points to the gneisses being parental to intrusive granitoids derived by both anatectic and solid-state processes.The data provide important constraints on any model for greenstone belt evolution. Our preferred model involves a widespread disturbance resembling the kind currently referred to as a “mantle plume”, which initially led to extrusion of mafic and ultramafic magmas via tensional fractures in a sialic crust, then subsequently caused their deformation and metamorphism and generated the intrusive granitoids by widespread reactivation of the basement. The dynamic metamorphic domains may reflect pre-greenstone crustal lineaments that controlled the initial vulcanism. The evolution of Archean greenstone terrains proposed here appears distinct from that of subsequent Proterozoic and Phanerozoic tectonic belts.     

北祁连山俯冲杂岩带的构造演化

北祁连位位于华北克拉西部阿拉善地块与中祁连－柴达木泛地块之间是我国最具特色的大陆造山带之一。带内发育有震旦纪－中寒武世的裂谷火山岩，晚寒武世－奥陶纪蛇绿岩，中晚奥陶世岛弧火山岩，晚奥陶世弧后拉张盆地火山－沉积岩，志留纪残余海盆相复理石和泥盆纪山间磨粒石等，中间夹两条变质和变形特征不同的加里东期俯冲杂岩带；南带为深层俯冲，北带为浅层俯冲杂岩；这两条杂岩石可能形成于同一俯冲带的不同深度，俯冲杂岩带中岩     

Formation and emplacement of the Dolodrook serpentinite body,Lachlan Orogen,Victoria

Serpentinised peridotite and ultramafic breccia make up an approximately 5 km‐long, 1 km‐wide fault slice within turbidites in the Dolodrook River region of the central Lachlan Orogen. The serpentinite body is surrounded by juvenile, mafic‐ultramafic sedimentary rocks with Cambrian limestone olistoliths representative of locally derived debris flows, and Middle to Upper Ordovician black shale, chert, sandstone and mudstone. The antiformal geometry and nature of the ultramafic breccia and mafic‐ultramafic sedimentary rocks (Garvey Gully Formation) indicate that the serpentinite body may have been either a former oceanic transform fault zone, a Marianas‐style serpentine seamount or a combination of these. Observations of modern‐day forearc regions show that faulting processes have led to the exposure of serpentinised peridotite horst blocks and serpentine mud volcanoes that have intruded along fault conduits (e.g. Marianas and Izu‐Bonin forearcs). At Dolodrook, the structural and metamorphic relationships with the surrounding rocks, and the lithological associations, have much in common with these observations and indicate that Dolodrook may be an ancient, on‐land example of an accreted seamount or oceanic topographic high. Structural relationships, the very low metamorphic grade of all rocks at Dolodrook, and the presence of broken formation developed in not‐fully lithified Middle to Upper Ordovician sandstone and mudstone indicate that the serpentinite body was emplaced at shallow crustal levels within the turbidite wedge (Tabberabbera Zone), possibly as an offscraped topographic high during marginal basin closure. The Dolodrook serpentinite has previously been inferred as part of the Cambrian igneous sequence (‘greenstones’) exposed in the Governor, Mt Wellington and Heathcote Fault Zones, but structural and metamorphic relationships with surrounding rocks, and the Cambrian tectonic setting in which it formed, have remained speculative.