U-Pb SHRIMP dating of zircons from metamorphic complexes in eastern Kamchatka

The metamorphic complexes of eastern Kamchatka exposed on the Khavyven Highland and Karaginsky Island, as well as on the Kamchatka and Ozernoi peninsulas, compose large (up to 1.5 km) elongated blocks spatially associated with ophiolitic peridotite and gabbroic rock bodies (the Khavyven Highland and Karaginsky Island) or make up isolated fragments and blocks among serpentinite melange (the Ozernoi and Kamchatka peninsulas). The degree of metamorphism of the primary rocks varies from the greenschist/amphibolite boundary facies (Karaginsky Island and the Khavyven Highland) to the high-pressure amphibolite facies (the Ozernoi and Kamchatka peninsulas).     

First results of the U-Pb isotopic (LA-ICP-MS) dating of detrital zircons from the Lower Paleozoic of Spitsbergen

This work presents the first results of dating of detrital zircons (dZr _s) from the Lower Paleozoic terrigenous-carbonate rocks of the Cambrian Blåstertoppen (samples 08-137 and 08-142, south of the Wedel Jarlsberg Land) and Ordovician Wiederfjellet (sample K06-17, north of the Land) sequences, which are widespread to the north and south of the Hornsund Fjord, on the southwestern coast of Spitsbergen Island. Against the background of sporadic values of 1–3 Ga, samples K06-17 and 08-142 showed similar spectra of the age distribution of dZr _s with dominant compact numerous age groups of ～1.8–1.9 Ga and peaks of the maximum of the probability density of 1850 and 1862 Ma, respectively. The only noticeable difference in these spectra is the presence of a young grain of 541 Ma in sample 08-142 (with a very good value of concordance), which is close to the suggested Cambrian age of formation of the Blåstertoppen sequence. The distribution of the dZr ages in sample 08-137 is significantly distinct. First, the general age range is narrower: 1.15–1.95 Ga (no Archean ages). Second, the age of 1.8–2.0 Ga dominant in the other two samples corresponds to only one grain. Thus, although samples 08-137 and 08-142 were taken from closely located levels of the section of the Cambrian Blåstertoppen sequence (in the same interception), the age spectra of dZr _s from these samples differ cardinally. The statistical Kolmogorov-Smirnov test quantitatively supports the visual similarity of age spectra of dZr _s from samples K06-17 and 08-142 (p = 0.913) and the distinction of those from samples 08-142 and 08-137 (p = 0). Thus, the provenance areas, which supplied the clastic material to the sedimentary basin, whose remnants are presently located in the southwestern part of Spitsbergen, abruptly changed in the Cambrian. The basal levels of the Cambrian section of this basin (sample 08-137) were mostly formed due to accumulation of the erosion products of the local (Spitsbergen) sources: metarocks of the Eimfjellet Group located in the south of the Wedel Jarlsberg Land and of the Smerenburgfjord Group abundant on the Albert I Land. The dZr _s age spectrum is a print of the ages of the Late Paleoproterozoic-Mesoproterozoic (pre-Grenville) basement unaffected by assemblage of Rodinia. Then the conditions changed and the basin became to accumulate the material from the remote regions, significant parts of which were the areas of ancient cratons, including Archean blocks. The general sedimentation conditions did not change considerably, because the rock type remained the same.     

First results of U/Pb dating of detrital zircons from middle Riphean sandstones of the Zigalga Formation,South Urals

The results of U/Pb dating of detrital zircons from sandstones of the Zigalga Formation, which is the base level of the Middle Yurmatu Group of the Bashkir uplift, southwestern Urals, are presented. The U/Pb ages of detrital zircons from sandstones of the Lower, Middle, and Upper Riphean are compared.     

江西相山火山-侵入杂岩体锆石SHRIMP定年及其地质意义

采用锆石SHRIMP微区U-Pb测年技术,测定了江西相山铀矿田火山-侵入杂岩的时代。采自于相山西北部的石马山和西部南陂的鹅湖岭组碎斑熔岩的SHRIMP锆石206Pb/238U表面年龄加权平均值分别为(134.6±1.0)Ma(MSWD=1.5)和(134.1±1.0)Ma(MSWD=0.65),可以限定相山第二火山喷发旋回的结束时代为134 Ma;采自于相山北部巴泉和南部浯漳的似斑状花岗岩的SHRIMP锆石206Pb/238U表面年龄加权平均值为(133.3±0.8)Ma(MSWD=0.82)和(134.7±0.9)Ma(MSWD=1.08),与碎斑熔岩的年龄在误差范围内基本一致,结合野外地质事实和前人的地球化学测试分析结果,确认碎斑熔岩和似斑状花岗岩属于同期、同来源的火山喷发-侵入的产物,形成于134～133 Ma。书堂钻孔ZK111A-1中打鼓顶组顶部流纹英安岩的锆石206Pb/238U表面年龄加权平均值为(141.6±1.7)Ma(MSWD=0.9),表明第一旋回火山喷发的时代应结束于142 Ma,大部分属于晚侏罗世火山活动。岗上英钻孔岩心中石英二长花岗斑岩的锆石206Pb/238U表面年龄加权平均值为(136.4±1.0)Ma(MSWD=1.7),如意亭剖面第二采石场流纹质英安斑岩的锆石206Pb/238U表面年龄加权平均值为(137.4±1.7)Ma(MSWD=1.11);推测这两者应属于早晚两期火山喷发旋回间隔期的次火山-侵入岩,进而限定136～137 Ma为相山两期火山喷发旋回的间隔时期。综合前人资料和本文测试分析结果,可将相山火山喷发第二旋回鹅湖岭组的时代限定为136～133 Ma,应属于早白垩世的火山活动,进而认为将相山地区"鹅湖岭组"的地层时代划归为早白垩世较为合适。     

First data on U-Pb SHRIMP-II isotopic dating based on zircons of ash sediments from Cenozoic depressions in Southwest of Primorie

U-Pb (SHRIMP-II) isotopic dating has been conducted for zircons of the ash sediments of the Ust’-Suifun Suite, which was the final stage of Late Cenozoic explosive volcanism in Southwest Primorskii krai. These pyroclastic units are widespread within sediments that fill in Cenozoic depressions including large coalfields. The concordant dates (23.7–24.6 Ma) are in line with the results of the K-Ar determinations for volcanic tephra (23.6–27.1 Ma) and correspond to the beginning of the active phase of spreading and taphrogenesis in the neighboring Trench of the Sea of Japan. These processes started as early as the Eocene and are reflected in the continental vicinity with the formation of riftogenic depressions and the occurrence of a peculiar gas volcanism.     

冈底斯中段厅宫地区比马组碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄

桑日群广泛分布于冈底斯火山岩浆弧的中东段,是新特提斯洋俯冲作用的代表性记录。本文对冈底斯中段厅宫地区桑日群比马组开展了碎屑锆石U-Pb同位素测年和地球化学特征研究,结果表明：比马组所含的碎屑锆石具有85.7~143.5Ma、160.2~191.2Ma、334.4~364.1Ma和904Ma四个年龄段,其中最年轻的碎屑锆石年龄为85.7±1.9Ma,结合古生物资料,认为比马组形成于早—晚白垩世,其物源主要来自于拉萨地块,尤其是冈底斯岩基剥蚀源区;岩石地球化学特征显示,比马组沉积主要来源于长英质岩石,是上地壳源区物质经风化剥蚀后搬运沉积形成。     

The First Mesozoic Heterodactyl Bird from China

1 Introduction Enantiornithines were the dominant birds nearly worldwide throughout the entire span of the Cretaceous (Chiappe, 1995; Feduccia, 1996). The adaptive radiation of opposite birds is little known besides the disparity of rostral morphology in Boluochia (Zhou, 1995), Longipteryx (Zhang et al., 2001), Longirostravis ( Hou et al., 2004), and the presence of stomach contents that reflect a diversity of diets. Like the structure of rostrum, differentiation of the locomotor apparatu…     

中新生代南北天山差异性抬升历史的磷灰石裂变径迹证据

堆积于天山山前坳陷内部的巨厚新生代地层不仅记录所在沉积区的热历史信息,还记录了物源区的信息。本文选择天山南北两侧山前坳陷中3条地质剖面进行了大量的磷灰石裂变径迹测试和部分样品的热历史模拟分析,来揭示上新世以来天山在南北方向上隆升过程的差异性。采样剖面的选取较前人更加靠近前陆盆地方向,样品所在地层年代更新。结果显示,东秋里塔格背斜剖面中的样品记录了中天山、南天山和背斜区分别在55~65Ma、20~25Ma和5Ma经历了构造隆升。玛纳斯背斜剖面中的样品记录了北天山的三次构造隆升事件分别发生于55~65Ma、20~25Ma和5Ma,其中距今5Ma为玛纳斯背斜带起始隆升的时代。结合前人在相同区域的研究成果,分析得出天山的不同部分经历了不同的构造演化历史,自150Ma以来经历了三期差异性隆升。中生代时期(150~125Ma)表现为山体整体抬升,中生代晚期-新生代早期(100~50Ma)北天山明显早于南天山开始构造隆升,新生代以来(~50Ma)的构造运动以向前陆盆地方向扩展为特征,而隆升起始时间南北差异变小。虽然在南北方向上天山山体隆起时间上存在明显的差异,但是中新生代以来山体物源区的剥蚀速率大体相同。因此,隆升起始时间与隆升量之间并不存在必然的定量关系。天山的不同块体具有不同的构造演化历史的事实提示在研究大范围构造隆升作用时,应将构造作用作为一个过程来对待。变形在传递的过程中,在时间和空间上存在一定的滞后现象。     

Differential uplift of the Chinese Tianshan since the Cretaceous: constraints from sedimentary petrography and apatite fission-track dating

The Chinese Tianshan is one of the important international natural laboratories for studying continental geodynamics, but its uplift time, kinematics and mechanism of formation are key unresolved questions. In order to constrain the timing, kinematics and mechanism of uplift of the Chinese Tianshan, we applied sedimentary petrography and apatite fission-track dating to Cretaceous-Tertiary series from the northern Tarim Basin and the Tianshan Mountains. We collected and analyzed 79 sandstone samples and 75 detrital heavy mineral samples from the Kezilenuer-Kuqa profile (northern Tarim Basin) with a well-defined magnetostratigraphy. Our data indicate that detrital mineral maturity abruptly decreased at the disconformity between the Upper and Lower Cretaceous, and decreased again after 15(−12) Ma. The sediments in the northern Tarim Basin changed their provenance at 124 Ma, 26(−24) Ma and 15(−12) Ma, respectively. In addition, we collected and analyzed 36 primary apatite samples from the South, Central and North Tianshan. Our results show that the Chinese Tianshan underwent three phases of differential uplift. The first phase of uplift started at the southern Central Tianshan during the Early Cretaceous and propagated southward. The second phase of uplift started at the northern Central Tianshan during the Late Cretaceous and propagated also southward. The third phase of uplift started at the northern Central Tianshan during the Eocene and propagated both northward and southward. These differential uplifts have caused development of disconformity and drops in mineral maturity of detrital sediments in the northern Tarim Basin. Such a differential and heterogeneous uplift process might have been trigged by collisions of different microcontinents (i.e., Lhasa, Kohistan-Dras and India) at the southern margin of Asia. These collisions reactivated the South Tianshan Fault and then the North Tianshan Suture, and uplifted the Chinese Tianshan step by step.     

北大别黄土岭麻粒岩锆石U—Pb离子探针定年

阴极发光显微结构分析表明 ,北大别黄土岭麻粒岩中存在三种类型的锆石 :原岩锆石、麻粒岩相锆石和残留锆石。对它们分别进行离子探针定年 ,得到黄土岭麻粒岩的原岩年龄约为 2 70 0 Ma、麻粒岩相变质事件的年龄为 2 0 5 2± 10 0 Ma、残留锆石的年龄为约 3.4 Ga。以上研究表明黄土岭麻粒岩为残存的扬子板块的结晶基底 ,而约 3.4 Ga残留锆石的发现 ,则首次证明大别山地区存在古太古代的陆壳物质     

U-Pb dating and provenance of detrital zircons from the Upper Precambrian deposits of North Timan

Timan comprises the southwest edge of the Pechora Plate. The plate basement is composed of variably metamorphosed sedimentary, mainly terrigenous, and igneous rocks of the Late Precambrian age that are generally overlain by Ordovician-Cenozoic platform cover. Poor exposition and discontinuous distribution of the Upper Precambrian outcrops of dominantly fossil-free sedimentary rocks cause considerable disagreements in stratigraphic correlation. This applies equally to North Timan, which represents an uplifted block of basement, in which sedimentary-metamorphic rocks form the Barminskaya Group (～5000 m thick), previously dated as Early Riphean to Vendian. Earlier Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd isotope dating of schist and cross-cutting gabbro-dolerite and dolerite established the timing of greenschist facies metamorphism at 700 Ma. Thus, Late Riphean age of the Barminskaya Group has been suggested. Results of local U-Pb dating of detrital zircon from silty sandstones of the Malochernoretskaya Formation, which constitutes the middle part of the outcropping section of the Barminskaya Group, confirm this conclusion. Age data for 95 zircon grains cover the range of 1035–2883 Ma with age peaks at 1150, 1350, 1550, 1780, and 1885 Ma. The minimum age of zircons, considered as the lower age constraint on sediment deposition, provides grounds to date the Barminskaya Group as Late Riphean and indicates eroded rock complexes of the Fennoscandian Shield as the possible provenance areas.     

Mesozoic thermal history of the Prebetic continental margin (southern Spain): Constraints from apatite fission-track analysis

Apatite fission-track analysis was applied to Triassic and Cretaceous sediments from the South-Iberian Continental Margin to unravel its thermal history. Apatite fission-track age populations from Triassic samples indicate partial annealing and point to a maximum temperature of around 100–110 °C during their post-depositional evolution. In certain apatites from Cretaceous samples, two different fission-track age populations of 93–99 and around 180 Ma can be distinguished. Track lengths associated with these two populations enabled thermal modelling based on experimental annealing and mathematical algorithms. These thermal models indicate that the post-depositional thermal evolution attained temperatures ≤ 70 °C, which is consistent with available vitrinite-reflectance data. Thermal modelling for the Cretaceous samples makes it possible to decipher a succession of cooling and heating periods, consisting of (a) a late Carboniferous–Permian cooling followed by (b) a progressive heating episode that ended approximately 120 Ma at a maximum T of around 110 °C. The first cooling episode resulted from a combination of factors such as: the relaxation of the thermal anomaly related to the termination of the Hercynian cycle; the progressive exhumation of the Hercynian basement and the thermal subsidence related to the rifting of the Bay of Biscay, reactivated during the Late Permian. Jurassic thermal evolution deduced from the inherited thermal signal in the Cretaceous sediments is characterized by progressive heating that ended around 120 Ma. This heating episode is related to thermal subsidence during Jurassic rifting, in agreement with the presence of abundant mantle-derived tholeiitic magmas interbedded in the Jurassic rocks. The end of the Jurassic rifting is well marked by a cooling episode apparently starting during Neocomiam times and ending at surface conditions by Albian times.     

松潘-甘孜地体内花岗岩锆石SHRIMP U-Pb定年及其构造意义

松潘-甘孜地体总体上是一个三角状褶皱带,其北侧、东南侧及东侧分别与东昆仑-西秦岭构造带、金沙江构造带及龙门山构造带相邻。地体内几乎全部被三叠系浊积岩所覆盖,其中侵位了很多花岗岩体。显然,这些花岗岩的岩浆特征、来源与侵位时代,对研究松潘-甘孜地体基底性质、构造演化等问题具有重要意义。本文报道利用SHRIMP定年技术对一些花岗岩岩体锆石所进行的精确测年数据。测试结果表明:(1)松潘-甘孜地体内的花岗岩体主要形成于晚三叠世,但岩浆活动可延续到早侏罗世晚期;(2)早期花岗岩浆活动与三叠纪系褶皱变形大致同期,指示这一时期的花岗岩浆的形成可能与三叠系下部大型拆离滑脱构造相关;(3)花岗岩结晶锆石普遍具有浑圆状或不规则状较老的继承锆石核,这些核部继承锆石可能代表花岗岩浆在上升过程中从不同地层内捕获的碎屑锆石,或者是下地壳岩石深熔残留锆石。根据SHRING U-Pb定年,这些继承锆石的年龄分别为二叠纪、加里东期、晚元古代和早元古代。元古代碎屑锆石的存在也可能指示松潘-甘孜地体具前寒武系基底。     

First results of U/Pb dating of detrital zircons from Early Paleozoic and Devonian sandstones of the Baltic-Ladoga region (south Ladoga Area)

The first results of U/Pb isotopic dating (LA ICP MS) of detrital zircons from sands from the Middle Cambrian Sablinka Formation, Upper Cambrian Ladoga Formation, Low Ordovician Tosna Formation, and calcareous sands from Syas’ Formation (Sargaevskii horizon of the Upper Frasnian) from Baltica-Ladoga Glint (BLG) of the Southern Ladoga area are presented. The obtained ages of detrital zircons span the intervals 492.7 ± 5.1-3196.4 ± 5.1 Ma (Sablino Formation); 577.9 ± 7–2972.6 ± 13.4 Ma (Ladoga Formation); 509.4 ± 8.5–3247.6 ± 10.1 Ma (Tosna Formation); 451.1 ± 14.7–2442.2 ± 6.9 Ma (Syas’ Formation). A comparison of the obtained isotopic ages of detrital zircons to ages of crystalline complexes composing the Kola-Karelian, Svecofennian, and Sveconorwegian domains of Baltic Shield and Pre-Uralian-Timanian structures of Subpolar and Polar Urals and basement of Pechora Basin was carried out. It is proposed that the Middle Paleozoic sedimentary basin accumulated Upper Frasnian rocks of Syas’ Formation. The basin ranged northward from the present-day BLG and occupied the eastern part of the Baltic Shield.