Differential exhumation in response to episodic thrusting along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Thermochronological data from the Songpan-Ganze˛Fold Belt and Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt, on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau in central China, reveal several phases of differential cooling across major listric thrust faults since Early Cretaceous times. Differential cooling, indicated by distinct breaks in age data across discrete compressional structures, was superimposed upon a regional cooling pattern following the Late Triassic Indosinian Orogeny. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data from muscovite from the central and southern Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt suggest a phase of differential cooling across the Wenchuan-Maouwen Shear Zone during the Early Cretaceous. The zircon fission track data also indicate differential cooling across a zone of brittle re-activation on the eastern margin of the Wenchuan-Maouwen Shear Zone during the mid-Tertiary, between 38 and 10 Ma. Apatite fission track data from the central and southern Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt reveal differential cooling across the Yingxiu-Beichuan and Erwangmiao faults during the Miocene. Forward modelling of apatite fission track data from the northern Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt suggests relatively slow regional cooling through the Mesozoic and early Tertiary, followed by accelerated cooling during the Miocene, beginning at ca. 20 Ma, to present day.

Regional cooling is attributed to erosion during exhumation of the evolving Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt (LMTNB) following the Indosinian Orogeny. Differential cooling across the Wenchuan-Maouwen Shear Zone and the Yingxiu-Beichuan and Erwangmiao faults is attributed to exhumation of the hanging walls of active listric thrust faults. Thermochronological data from the Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt reveal a greater amount of differential exhumation across thrust faults from north to south. This observation is in accord with the prevalence of Proterozoic and Sinian basement in the hanging walls of thrust faults in the central and southern Longmen Mountains. The two most recent phases of reactivation occurred following the initial collision of India with Eurasia, suggesting that lateral extrusion of crustal material in response to this collision was focused along discrete structures in the LMTNB.     

Cretaceous and Cenozoic cooling history of the eastern Qilian Shan,north‐eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: evidence from apatite fission‐track analysis

The exhumation history and tectonic evolution of the Qilian Shan at the north‐eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau has been widely debated. Here, we present apatite fission‐track (AFT) data for 12 Ordovician granodiorite samples along a vertical transect in the eastern Qilian Shan. These thermochronometry data indicate that the eastern Qilian Shan experienced a three‐stage cooling history, including: (i) rapid initial cooling in the late Cretaceous; (ii) a stage of quasi isothermal quiescence from ~ 80 to 24 Ma; and (iii) rapid subsequent cooling beginning in the early Miocene. The inferred cooling rates for the three stages are 6.8 ± 4.9 °C Ma^?1, 0.6 ± 0.2 °C Ma^?1 and 2.7 ± 0.9 °C Ma^?1 respectively (±1 σ). Assuming a geothermal gradient of 25 °C km^?1, the exhumation rates for the three stages are 0.27 ± 0.20 mm a^?1, 0.017 ± 0.007 mm a^?1 and 0.11 ± 0.04 mm a^?1 respectively (±1 σ). We suggest that the late Cretaceous cooling records collision of the Lhasa block with the Eurasian continent and that the Miocene cooling represents uplift/exhumation of the Qilian Shan.     

Evolution,architecture and hierarchy of distributary deep‐water deposits: a high‐resolution outcrop investigation from the Permian Karoo Basin,South Africa

Sea floor and shallow seismic data sets of terminal submarine fan lobes can provide excellent planform timeslices of distributive deep‐water systems but commonly only limited information on cross‐sectional architecture. Extensive outcrops in the Tanqua depocentre, south‐west Karoo Basin, provide these three‐dimensional constraints on lithofacies distributions, stacking patterns, depositional geometries and the stratigraphic evolution of submarine lobe deposits at a scale comparable with modern lobe systems. Detailed study (bed‐scale) of a single‐lobe complex (Fan 3) over a 15 km by 8 km area has helped to define a four‐fold hierarchy of depositional elements from bed through to lobe element, lobe and lobe complex. The Fan 3 lobe complex comprises six distinct fine‐grained sandstone packages, interpreted as lobes, which display compensational stacking patterns on a 5 km scale. Between successive lobes are thin‐bedded, very fine‐grained sandstones and siltstones that do not change lithofacies over several kilometres and therefore are identified as a different architectural element. Each lobe is built by many lobe elements, which also display compensational stacking patterns over a kilometre scale. Thickness variations of lobe elements can be extremely abrupt without erosion, particularly in distal areas where isopach maps reveal a finger‐like distal fringe to lobes. Lobe deposits, therefore, are not simple radial sheet‐dominated systems as commonly envisaged.     

青藏高原东缘龙门-锦屏造山带的崛起——大型拆离断层和挤出机制

龙门-锦屏山的东缘发育一系列逆冲断裂和飞来峰构造,逆冲作用使山体向东叠置在四川盆地之上。新的野外调查、显微构造分析和糜棱岩石英组构的EBSD测量表明,在龙门-锦屏山的前震旦纪变质杂岩体西缘(即青藏高原东缘)发育一条近NS向的大型韧性拆离断裂,被20Ma以来形成的NW—SE向鲜水河韧性走滑剪切带[1]左行错位80km。青藏高原东缘韧性拆离断裂中黑云母40Ar-39Ar测年获得112～120Ma的年龄,表明龙门-锦屏山的崛起可能与白垩纪开始的垂向挤出机制密切关联。结合四川前陆盆地的沉积及演化特征,认为晚三叠世时期羌塘/东昆仑/扬子陆块的碰撞形成松潘-甘孜造山带,晚三叠世—侏罗纪在其东南缘形成四川前陆盆地沉积;早白垩世龙门-锦屏山开始抬升,晚白垩世快速崛起,在四川前陆盆地沉积之上叠置白垩纪—第四纪再生前陆盆地的沉积。龙门-锦屏山的崛起与白垩纪以来扬子板块岩石圈对于松潘-甘孜地体的陆内俯冲作用有关,使位于中下地壳的变质基底岩石在挤出机制下隆起。     

The influence of turbidity currents and contour currents on the distribution of deep‐water sediment waves offshore eastern Canada

Sediment waves are commonly observed on the sea floor and often vary in morphology and geometry according to factors such as seabed slope, density and discharge of turbidity currents, and the presence of persistent contour currents. This paper documents the morphology, internal geometry and distribution of deep‐water (4000 to 5000 m) bedforms observed on the sea floor offshore eastern Canada using high‐resolution multibeam bathymetry data and seismic stratigraphy. The bedforms have wavelengths of >1 km but fundamentally vary in terms of morphology and internal stratigraphy, and are distinguished into three main types. The first type, characterized by their long‐wavelength crescentic shape, is interpreted as net‐erosional cyclic steps. These cyclic steps were formed by turbidity currents flowing through canyons and overtopping and breaching levées. The second type, characterized by their linear shape and presence on levées, is interpreted as net‐depositional cyclic steps. These upslope migrating bedforms are strongly aggradational, indicating high sediment deposition from turbidity currents. The third type, characterized by their obliqueness to canyons, is observed on an open slope and is interpreted as antidunes. These antidunes were formed by the deflection of the upper dilute, low‐density parts of turbidity currents by contour currents. The modelling of the behaviour of these different types of turbidity currents reveals that fast‐flowing flows form cyclic steps while their upper parts overspill and are entrained westward by contour currents. The interaction between turbidity currents and contour currents results in flow thickening and reduced sediment concentration, which leads to lower flow velocities. Lower velocities, in turn, allow the formation of antidunes instead of cyclic steps because the densiometric Froude number (Fr′) decreases. Therefore, this study shows that both net‐erosional and net‐depositional cyclic steps are distributed along channels where turbidity currents prevail whereas antidunes form on open slopes, in a mixed turbidite/contourite system. This study provides insights into the influence of turbidity currents versus contour currents on the morphology, geometry and distribution of bedforms in a mixed turbidite–contourite system.     

The passive margin of northern Gondwana during Early Paleozoic: Evidence from the central Tibet Plateau

The central–south domain of the Tibet Plateau represents an important part of the northern segment of Gondwana during the early Paleozoic. Here we present zircon U–Pb, Lu–Hf isotope, and whole–rock geochemical data from a suite of early Paleozoic magmatic rocks from the central Tibet Plateau, with a view to gain insights into the nature and geotectonic evolution of the northern margin of Gondwana. Zircon grains in four granitic rocks yielded ages of 532−496 Ma with negative ε_Hf(t) values (−13.7 to −0.6). Zircon grains in meta–basalt and mafic gneiss yielded ages of 512 ± 5 Ma and 496 ± 6 Ma, respectively. Geochemically, the granitic rocks belong to high–K calc–alkaline and shoshonitic S–type granite suite, with the protolith derived from the partial melting of ancient crustal components. The mafic gneiss and meta–basalt geochemically resemble OIB (Oceanic Island Basalt) and E–MORB (Enriched Mid–Ocean Ridge Basalt), respectively. They were derived from low degree (∼5–10%) partial melting of an enriched mantle (garnet and spinel lherzolite) that was contaminated by upper crustal components. The parental magmas experienced orthopyroxene–dominated fractional crystallization. Sedimentological features of the Cambrian–Ordovician formations indicate that the depositional cycle transformed from marine regression to transgression leading to the formation of parallel/angular unconformities between the Cambrian and Ordovician strata. The hiatus associated with these unconformities are coupled with the peak of the early Paleozoic magmatism in Tibet Plateau, indicating a tectonic control. We conclude that the Cambrian–Ordovician magmatic suite and sedimentary rocks formed in an extensional setting, and we correlate this with the post–peak stage of the Pan–African orogeny. The post–collision setting associated with delamination, orogenic collapse or lithospheric extension along the northern margin of Gondwana, can account for the Cambrian–Ordovician magmatism and sedimentation, rather than oceanic subduction along the external margin. We thus infer a passive margin setting for the northern Gondwana during the Early Paleozoic.     

Postglacial changes in the Asian summer monsoon system: a pollen record from the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Zhou, W., Yu, S.‐Y., Burr, G. S., Kukla, G. J., Jull, A. J. T., Xian, F., Xiao, J., Colman, S. M., Yu, H., Liu, Z. & Kong, X. 2010: Postglacial changes in the Asian summer monsoon system: a pollen record from the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Boreas, Vol. 39, pp. 528–539. 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00150.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. A new pollen record constrained by 32 AMS radiocarbon dates from the Hongyuan peatland in the Zoige Basin reveals the long‐term dynamics of an alpine wetland ecosystem on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau over the last 13 500 years. Changes in pollen assemblages and influxes suggest that local vegetation has experienced three distinct stages, from alpine coniferous forest–meadow (13 500–11 500 cal. a BP), through alpine coniferous forest (11 500–3000 cal. a BP), back to alpine coniferous forest–meadow (3000 cal. a BP–present). This record reflects an ecosystem response along a transition zone where the South Asian and East Asian monsoon systems may have had different palaeoclimatic influences. A comparison of this record with other pollen records across the Tibetan Plateau shows common features with regard to large‐scale Holocene climatic changes, but highlights a pattern of regional temporal and spatial variability that depends on the topography and position relative to the South Asian and East Asian monsoon fronts.     

晚新生代以来青藏高原东缘的剥蚀过程:来自裂变径迹的证据

本文以青藏高原东缘的三级地貌(川西高原、龙门山和四川盆地)单元为基础,利用裂变径迹定年数据分区块研究了该地区的晚新生代以来的剥蚀速率。研究结果表明,晚白垩世以来青藏高原东缘经历了一个由平缓到突然加速的剥蚀过程,其转折点为中新世。在整个时间段内的平均剥蚀速率,川西高原为0.26mm/yr,龙门山为0.72mm/yr,四川盆地为0.20mm/yr。龙门山的剥蚀速率大约是川西高原的2.8倍,间接反映边缘山脉的隆升并不等同于高原内部的隆升,边缘山脉的隆升可能是构造隆升和剥蚀隆升相叠加的结果。     

Eocene Basins on the SE Tibetan Plateau: Markers of Minor Offset along the Xuelongshan–Diancangshan–Ailaoshan Structural System

The offset of geological bodies provides robust evidence of displacement along a fault or ductile shear zone. The amount of displacement along the Xuelongshan–Diancangshan–Ailaoshan structural system, southeastern Tibetan Plateau, is uncertain because of the lack of offset geological markers. This NNW–SSE-trending system is developed in three isolated metamorphic complexes and interjacent nonmetamorphosed rocks. They are expected to record similar post-Eocene strain, although their structural pa...     

Geochemical modeling of sedimentary rocks in the central Hokkaido,Japan: Episodic deformation and subsequent confined basin-formation along the eastern Eurasian margin since the Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous to Paleogene tectonic episodes around the eastern Eurasian margin are described utilizing one-dimensional (1D) basin modeling technique on the basis of organic maturation; vitrinite reflectance and T_max parameter values of the Rock-Eval pyrolysis. Fine-grained marine sediment of the Yezo Supergroup in central Hokkaido is one of the most extensive Cretaceous constituents along the plate margin. To evaluate organic maturation within the Yezo Supergroup, a surface section (Hakkin-zawa) and a deep borehole (MITI Yubari) were selected, from which quite different maturation trends were obtained. Notably low and constant maturation was suggested throughout the thick Hakkin-zawa section, and it was confirmed on the basis of various biomarker analyses. It requires anomalously rapid burial, probably related to thrust-stacking or large-scale slumping, followed by prompt tilting/exhumation event. In sharp contrast, Late Cretaceous strata in the MITI Yubari do not indicate coeval tectonic disturbances in a short period. A wider view of the ancient convergent margin suggests that deformation of the forearc propagated westward during the Cretaceous. High maturation levels in the uppermost thrust sheet around the MITI Yubari are optimized in 1D geochemical modeling on the assumption that a thick missing Paleogene unit has been eroded out as a result of thrust-forming contraction scheme emerged during the Neogene. A similar Cenozoic burial pattern is adopted for the once tilted and exhumed Hakkin-zawa section in order to match the present maturation levels. Although such an active subsidence of a ‘forearc’ is generally interpreted as an effect of the subduction erosion, heavy mineral composition of the shallow marine to fluvial Paleogene implies uplift and exhumation of ultramafic rocks to the east (trench-side). Thus the confined basin-formation in central Hokkaido is to be understood in a different tectonic framework that may reflect transcurrent motions on the plate margin.     

Down‐slope facies variability within deep‐water channel systems: Insights from the Upper Cretaceous Cerro Toro Formation,southern Patagonia

In southern Patagonia, outcrops of the Upper Cretaceous Cerro Toro Formation preserve a >150 km long deep‐water axial channel belt in the Magallanes–Austral Basin, providing a unique opportunity to investigate longitudinal variations in the depositional characteristics of a deep‐water channel system. This study documents sedimentological, stratigraphical and geochronological data from the Cerro Toro Formation in the Argentine sector of the basin. New results are integrated with previous work from the Chilean basin sector to conduct a basin‐scale comparison of the timing of deposition, provenance and lithofacies proportions. The Cerro Toro channel belt includes a nearly 1000 m thick section characterized by high‐density turbidites and mass‐wasting deposits. Two ash beds from the base of the section yield U–Pb zircon ages of 90·4 ± 2 Ma and 88·0 ± 3 Ma, indicating similar initiation ages as documented in the Chilean sector. The U–Pb detrital zircon age spectra from samples in the study area reveal similar provenance trends to samples from the Chilean basin sector, with peak age populations at 310 to 260 Ma, 160 to 135 Ma and 110 to 82 Ma. The maximum depositional age of the channel belt in the Argentine sector is 87·8 ± 1·5 Ma and all new geochronology data corroborate an 86 to 80 Ma depositional age for the main Cerro Toro channel belt. Statistical analyses of 7370 beds from nearly 8000 m of new and previously published stratigraphic sections along the entire outcrop belt suggest progressive variations in the down‐system proportion of lithofacies. In the up‐slope region, lithofacies representing mass wasting processes (for example, debris‐flow and mass‐transport deposits) account for ca 29% of the stratigraphic thickness, as opposed to 5% in the down‐slope region of the channel belt, where turbidity current deposits are more prevalent. The proportion of beds >1 m thick also decreases systematically down slope, particularly for conglomeratic turbidite deposits. This work highlights that: (i) the proportion of thick beds and distribution of lithofacies are key down‐system changes in the stratigraphic fill of this deep‐water channel belt; (ii) detrital zircon trends suggest a relatively well‐mixed longitudinal depositional system; and (iii) geochronology of the main Cerro Toro outcrop belt supports but does not necessitate the model of a single, roughly age‐equivalent, channel system. This study has implications for understanding the downslope variability in depositional processes, stratigraphic architecture and reservoir quality of submarine channel systems.     

Ichnofabric characterization of a deep‐marine clastic system: a subsurface study of the Middle Eocene Ainsa System,Spanish Pyrenees

This paper documents a subsurface trace fossil and ichnofabric study of the proximal parts of a structurally confined and channelized sand‐rich, lower slope and proximal basin‐floor deep‐marine system in the Middle Eocene Ainsa basin, Spanish Pyrenees. Five depositional environments are recognized based on sedimentary facies associations, depositional architecture and stratigraphic context (channel axis, channel off‐axis, channel margin, leveé‐overbank and interfan), as well as a channel abandonment phase. Each environment is characterized by distinct and recurring ichnofabrics. Ichnological measurements and observations were recorded from six cores recovered from six wells drilled at a spacing of between 400 m and 500 m at outcrop, and totalling 1213 m in length. From channel axis to levée‐overbank environments, there is a trend of increasing bioturbation intensity and ichnodiversity. Ichnofabrics in channel axis and channel off‐axis environments are characterized by low bioturbation intensity and low ichnodiversity. Thalassinoides‐dominated firmground ichnofabrics associated with erosive sediment gravity flows are common in these environments. In contrast, channel margin and levée‐overbank environments are characterized by ichnofabrics associated with high bioturbation intensity and ichnodiversity. Sediments of the interfan are characterized by the highest bioturbation intensity, associated with burrow mottling and an absence of primary sedimentary structures. This paper demonstrates that in core‐based studies, ichnofabric analysis is an important and valuable tool in discriminating between different environments in channelized deep‐marine siliciclastic systems. The results of this study should find wide applicability in reservoir characterization studies in the petroleum industry, in field‐based analogue ichnofabric studies and other core‐based studies in deep‐water siliciclastic systems worldwide such as the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.     

The Late Cretaceous source-to-sink system at the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: Insights from the provenance of the Lanping Basin

The surface uplift of the Tibetan Plateau(TP) and its geomorphology evolution has triggered aridification of Asia's interior and drainage development at the eastern margin of the plateau.However, how the pre-Cenozoic early growth histories of the TP impact the drainage system and climate is poorly constrained.The Late Mesozoic Lacustrine evaporite-bearing basins on the eastern margin of the TP record significant information on the uplift of the source terranes, source-to-sink system development and climate change.In this study, we presented detrital zircon U–Pb ages from the Upper Cretaceous Yunlong Formation in the Lanping Basin, as well as Hf isotopic, petrographic, direct statistical, and multidimensional scaling analyses, and use them to characterize the provenance and reconstruct the drainage system.All of the samples have five major age peaks at 200–290 Ma, 400–490 Ma,750–1000 Ma, 1750–1950 Ma, and 2400–2600 Ma with mostly negative ε_(Hf)(t) values(81%).We infer the sediments are primarily derived from recycled sediments of the Songpan-Garze terrane, and partly from the Sichuan Basin and the Southern Qiangtang terrane, as well as the exposed magmatic rocks of the Yidun Arc and SongpanGarze terrane.The provenance features of the contemporaneous sediments from the Sichuan, Xichang, Chuxiong,and Simao basins indicate a complex hierarchical drainage pattern on the eastern margin of the TP during the Late Cretaceous.The hierarchical drainage system exhibits a complete gradational cycle of lake-basin types from overfilled freshwater Sichuan Basin through balanced fill saline Xichang Basin and underfilled hypersaline Chuxiong, Lanping, Simao, and Khorat Plateau basins from proximal to distal.The early growth of the TP primarily controlled the drainage and lake-basin evolution by not only causing the uplift and exhumation of the source areas and providing large amounts of clastic material to the proximal sub-drainage areas but also intensifying the aridity and deposition of evaporites.     

The preservation potential of ash layers in the deep‐sea: the example of the 1991‐Pinatubo ash in the South China Sea

Following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo on 15 June 1991, volcanic ash was transported westward to the South China Sea in an atmospheric plume, falling out and settling to the sea floor within days and forming an up to 10 cm thick layer on an area >400 000 km². Immediately after deposition, surviving deep‐burrowing animals re‐opened their connection to the sea floor to obtain water for respiration and/or food take‐up. Later, small‐sized meiofauna and then macrofauna re‐colonized the sea floor, mixing newly deposited organic fluff with the underlying ash. Consequently, ash deposits thinner than 1 mm have not often been observed as a continuous layer when cored six years after the eruption, while ash about 2 mm thick is now patchily bioturbated. In areas covered by ash thicker than 5 mm, mixing by benthic animals is controlled mainly by the adaptation of the burrowing fauna to variations in grain‐size, the rate of background sedimentation, the availability of benthic food on and within the sediment and pore water oxygen levels. With respect to these factors, four provinces can be distinguished: (i) Along the Philippines margin run‐off from land fuels primary production that, in turn, leads to a high benthic food content. The benthic fauna is adapted to a variable grain‐size and rapid sedimentation. Therefore, mixing is intense and the preservation potential of the ash layer is low. (ii) In areas affected by deposition of hyperpycnites and turbidites, i.e. in canyons in front of river mouths and in the Manila Trench, the ash layer is preserved due to rapid burial. (iii) The area to the west to about 116° E receives low amounts of benthic food, benthic mixing is less intense and the preservation potential of the ash is high. (iv) The central South China Sea, where the ash is thinner than 3 cm, is affected by intense wind mixing and upwelling and the benthic food content is high; thus, the chance that the ash will be preserved as a sharp‐based layer is low. Consequently, the style of ash preservation has palaeo‐environmental significance. Older buried and burrowed event layers provide further information to elucidate the fate of the 1991 Pinatubo ash layer; in general their appearance fits with observations in the Recent.     

Earliest Eocene (53 Ma) convergence in the Southwest Pacific: evidence from pre‐obduction dikes in the ophiolite of New Caledonia

Uncertainty about the timing and location of the initiation of convergence in the western and south‐western Pacific greatly hinders accurate plate tectonic reconstructions of subduction systems in that area. The chemistry and age of dikes intruding mantle peridotite in the ophiolite of New Caledonia infer that subduction‐related magmatism began before 53 Ma. These new results infer that obduction in the south‐west Pacific is unrelated to the reorientation of the Pacific plate motion that occurred c. 43 Ma and confirm new interpretations showing that changes in mantle flow, hotspot and plate motion may have occurred as soon as late Paleocene or early Eocene.     

冈瓦纳大陆北缘早期的洋壳信息──来自青藏高原羌塘中部早古生代蛇绿岩的依据

普遍认为冈瓦纳大陆北缘裂解发生在泥盆纪,形成了古特提斯洋并持续演化到晚三叠世.最近在羌塘中部的桃形湖一果干加年山-带发现了完整的蛇绿岩组合,蛇绿岩中的堆晶辉长岩具有洋中脊玄武岩的地球化学特征,在堆晶辉长岩中获得467-431Ma的锆石SHRIMP U-pb年龄,这是龙木错-双湖缝合带首次发现早古生代蛇绿岩,应记录了冈瓦纳北缘早期的洋壳演化信息,冈瓦纳大陆北缘的裂解可能发生于早古生代.     

南海北部陆缘大陆架科学钻探选址：珠江口盆地沉积源汇启示

南海海盆自1998年始开展了一系列大洋科学钻探，取得了重大成就，但揭开南海海盆打开过程的关键记录在南海北部陆缘大陆架。因此，开展南海北部陆缘科学钻探非常必要。珠一坳陷位于南海北部珠江口盆地，不仅具有巨大的油气资源潜力，而且记录了南海海盆打开前的地质背景。该地区的物源特征分析对于揭示物质源汇过程、重建盆地构造演化过程、预测优质储层具有重要指示作用，一直是当前研究的热点，也可从沉积学角度为论证南海大陆架科学钻探选址提供依据。本文采用锆石LA- ICP- MS U- Pb定年技术，结合锆石CL图像及稀土元素配分特征，对珠一坳陷东西两侧典型地区的样品锆石进行了物源示踪、沉积源汇分析，并探讨其物源变化的构造成因。结果表明，下始新统下文昌组沉积期到上始新统上文昌组- 下恩平组沉积期，坳陷物源由盆内转换为盆外供应为主。其中，恩平凹陷部分洼陷由于没有文昌组沉积地层，下恩平组仍以盆地内物源供给为主；惠州凹陷和陆丰凹陷则从上文昌组开始转为盆外物源供给。惠州和陆丰地区上始新统恩平组、渐新统珠海组、下中新统珠江组地层锆石自形程度较低，磨圆度较高，边缘破坏较为严重，年龄分布较为分散，稀土元素配分特征与基底不同，说明上文昌组- 恩平组地层沉积之后，坳陷主要接受盆外华南板块物源供给。该物源转换与~43 Ma时珠一坳陷裂陷作用自南向北的转换密切相关。     

Early Mesoproterozoic metamorphism in the Barossa Complex,South Australia: links with the eastern margin of Proterozoic Australia

LA-ICP-MS U–Pb geochronological data from metamorphic monazite in granulite-facies metapelites in the Barossa Complex, southern Australia, yield ages in the range 1580–1550 Ma. Metapelitic rocks from the Myponga and Houghton Inliers contain early biotite–sillimanite-bearing assemblages that underwent partial melting to produce peak metamorphic garnet–sillimanite-bearing anatectic assemblages. Phase equilibrium modelling suggests a clockwise P–T evolution with peak temperatures between 800 and 870°C and peak pressures of 8–9 kbar, followed by decompression to pressures of ～6 kbar. In combination with existing age data, the monazite U–Pb ages indicate that the early Mesoproterozoic evolution of the Barossa Complex is contemporaneous with other high geothermal gradient metamorphic terranes in eastern Proterozoic Australia. The areal extent of early Mesoproterozoic metamorphism in eastern Australia suggests that any proposed continental reconstructions involving eastern Proterozoic Australia should share a similar tectonothermal history.