Temporal variations in Sr and 87Sr/86Sr of the Ganga headwaters: estimates of dissolved Sr flux to the mainstream

The headwaters of the Ganga (the Alaknanda, Bhagirathi and the Ganga) were analysed for their dissolved major ions, Sr and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr on a biweekly to monthly basis over a period of one year to determine their temporal variations and the factors contributing to them. The concentrations of major ions and Sr show significant seasonal variation with lower values during monsoon period in all the three rivers. A similar trend is also observed for ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and Na*/Ca (Na* = Na_r? Cl_r) suggesting relatively lower contribution of Sr and Na from silicates (which are more radiogenic in Sr) during monsoon. Budget calculations show that silicate derived dissolved Sr (Sr_s) in the river Ganga, Alaknanda and the Bhagirathi varied from 10 ± 4 to 27 ± 11, 7 ± 3 to 30 ± 12, 16 ± 6 to 57 ± 23% of measured Sr respectively with lower values during monsoon. The relative decrease in silicate erosion compared to carbonate during monsoon can result from several factors, these include higher dissolution kinetics of the carbonates, lower water–rock interaction time and availability of larger area for weathering. The annual discharge weighted Sr flux derived from the time series data is higher by ～20% from that based on peak flow Sr, and lower by ～40% compared to that derived from lean flow Sr concentration. The area‐normalized annual flux of dissolved Sr from the Ganga at Rishikesh is about five times its flux at Rajshahi (Bangladesh) and a few other major global rivers, such as the Amazon, indicating higher erosion rate over the Himalaya. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strontium in rivers of the Baltic Basin

The rivers in the Baltic Basin drain a mixture of bedrocks ranging from Mesozoic-Paleozoic sediments in the south to Proterozoic-Archean intrusives in the north. The rivers in the sedimentary basin in the south have high concentrations of Sr, in the interval 100–500 µg l^–1 while the⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio is close to that of seawater, i.e. 0.71. The northern rivers in the Precambrian shield area on the other hand have low Sr concentrations of 15–50 µg l^–1 with high⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of about to 0.73 (0.721–0.745). The riverine input of dissolved Sr to the brackish Baltic Sea approaches 60 tons year^–1, with a weighted mean concentration approaching 130 µg l^–1 and a weighted mean⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio close to 0.712. Although the sedimentary area in the south supplies only about 43% of the total river discharge, it gives about 88% of the total Sr input. Because of this and the strong regional riverine variation in⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio, Sr and its isotopes seem to be a convenient tool to unveil mixing relations of water masses in the northern Baltic Sea, provided high resolution analyses are applied. For an overall characterization of water mixing in the Baltic Sea, the Nd system will be superior to that of Sr.     

<Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar dating of the eruptive history of Mount Erebus,Antarctica: volcano evolution

Mt. Erebus, a 3,794-meter-high active polygenetic stratovolcano, is composed of voluminous anorthoclase-phyric tephriphonolite and phonolite lavas overlying unknown volumes of poorly exposed, less differentiated lavas. The older basanite to phonotephrite lavas crop out on Fang Ridge, an eroded remnant of a proto-Erebus volcano and at other isolated locations on the flanks of the Mt. Erebus edifice. Anorthoclase feldspars in the phonolitic lavas are large (~10 cm), abundant (~30–40%) and contain numerous melt inclusions. Although excess argon is known to exist within the melt inclusions, rigorous sample preparation was used to remove the majority of the contaminant. Twenty-five sample sites were dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method (using 20 anorthoclase, 5 plagioclase and 9 groundmass concentrates) to examine the eruptive history of the volcano. Cape Barne, the oldest site, is 1,311±16 ka and represents the first of three stages of eruptive activity on the Mt. Erebus edifice. It shows a transition from sub-aqueous to sub-aerial volcanism that may mark the initiation of proto-Erebus eruptive activity. It is inferred that a further ~300 ky of basanitic/phonotephritic volcanism built a low, broad platform shield volcano. Cessation of the shield-building phase is marked by eruptions at Fang Ridge at ~1,000 ka. The termination of proto-Erebus eruptive activity is marked by the stratigraphically highest flow at Fang Ridge (758±20 ka). Younger lavas (~550–250 ka) on a modern-Erebus edifice are characterized by phonotephrites, tephriphonolites and trachytes. Plagioclase-phyric phonotephrite from coastal and flank flows yield ages between 531±38 and 368±18 ka. The initiation of anorthoclase tephriphonolite occurred in the southwest sector of the volcano at and around Turks Head (243±10 ka). A short pulse of effusive activity marked by crustal contamination occurred ~160 ka as indicated by at least two trachytic flows (157±6 and 166±10 ka). Most anorthoclase-phyric lavas, characteristic of Mt. Erebus, are less than 250 ka. All Mt. Erebus flows between about 250 and 90 ka are anorthoclase tephriphonolite in composition.Editorial responsibility: J. Donelly-Nolan     

<Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar geochronology of the Faku tectonites: Implications for the tectonothermal evolution of the Faku block,northern Liaoning

For lack of reliable isotopic chronological data, the metamorphic rock series in the Faku region of northern Liaoning has long been regarded as the platform basement. Recent studies reveal that these deformed and metamorphosed rocks, with a variety of protoliths of plutonic intrusions and supracrustal volcanic and sedimentary rocks, were genetically related to later ductile shearing events, and they, together with the syntectonic intrusions, constituted the large-scale Faku tectonites. In this paper, we report new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data on hornblende, biotite, and K-feldspar from typical granitic mylonites in this suite of tectonites. The plateau age 256 Ma of FK53 hornblende and the high-temperature plateau age 262 Ma of Fk51-1 biotite should represent the cooling ages when the granites, formed as a result of Paleozoic oceanic crustal subduction beneath the continental crust or collision of multiple micro-continental blocks, were exhumed into shallow crustal levels. The plateau age 231 Ma of FK51-1 boitite and the apparent age 227 Ma of Fk51-2 K-feldspar are interpreted to record the time of ductile deformation occurring under greenschist facies conditions, i.e. the formation age of the Faku tectonites, while the age gradient from 197 Ma to 220 Ma of Fk51-2 K-feldspar probably record the subsequent stable uplift-cooling process. The tectonic exhumation event indicated by the plateau age 180 Ma of Fk51-2 K-feldspar may be associated with the onset of paleo-Pacific subduction beneath the North China plate. In addition, the U-Pb dating of FK54 zircon from later-intruded granite yields the age of crystallization of this super-unit intrusion at 159 Ma, thus establishing an upper limit for the formation age of the Faku tectonites, while the plateau age 125 Ma of Fk54 K-feldspar most likely corresponds to the rapid cooling and tectonic denudation event associated with the final collision between the Siberian plate and the North China plate. These isotopic ages provide important geochronological constraints for re-evaluating the tectonic essence of the Faku Faulted Convex and ascertaining the suturing boundary between the North China Platform and the Xingmeng Fold System.     

<Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar chronology and geochemistry of high-K volcanic rocks in the Mangkang basin,Tibet

Our two newly obtained high-quality ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages suggest that the high-K volcanic rocks of the Lawuxiang Formation in the Mangkang basin, Tibet were formed at 33.5 ± 0.2 Ma. The tracing of elemental and Pb-Sr-Nd isotopic geochemistry indicates that they were derived from an EM2 enriched mantle in continental subduction caused by transpression. Their evidently negative anomalies in HFSEs such as Nb and Ta make clear that there is an input of continental material into the mantle source. The high-K rocks at 33.5 ± 0.2 Ma in the Mangkang basin may temporally, spatially and compositionally compare with the early one of two-pulse high-K rocks in eastern Tibet distinguished by Wang J. H. et al., implying that they were formed in the same tectonic setting.     

The <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar geochronology constraint and geological significance of mylonites in Shangyi-Chicheng fault belt on the north of North China Craton

A dating of two biotite samples taken from the meso- and low-temperature mylonites within the Shangyi-Chicheng fault belt on the north of the North China Craton yields ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar isotopic ages of (399 ± 1) Ma and (263 ± 2) Ma, respectively. These data reflect an Early Devonian deformation and a Late Carboniferous retrograde metamorphism event along the fault, suggesting that the tectonic activities of the North China Craton in Paleozoic should be reconsidered.     

Paleomagnetism,magnetic fabric,and <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar dating of Pliocene and Quaternary ignimbrites in the Arequipa area,southern Peru

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages and paleomagnetic correlations using characteristic remanent magnetizations (ChRM) show that two main ignimbrite sheets were deposited at 4.86 ± 0.07 Ma (La Joya Ignimbrite: LJI) and at 1.63 ± 0.07 Ma (Arequipa Airport Ignimbrite: AAI) in the Arequipa area, southern Peru. The AAI is a 20–100 m-thick ignimbrite that fills in the Arequipa depression to the west of the city of Arequipa. The AAI is made up of two cooling units: an underlying white unit and an overlying weakly consolidated pink unit. Radiometric data provide the same age for the two units. As both units record exactly the same well-defined paleomagnetic direction (16 sites in the white unit of AAI: Dec = 173.7; Inc = 31.2; α95 = 0.7; k = 2749; and 10 sites in the pink unit of AAI; Dec = 173.6; Inc = 30.3; α95 = 1.2; k = 1634), showing no evidence of secular variation, the time gap between emplacement of the two units is unlikely to exceed a few years. The >50 m thick well-consolidated white underlying unit of the Arequipa airport ignimbrite provides a very specific magnetic zonation with low magnetic susceptibilities, high coercivities and unblocking temperatures of NRM above 580°C indicating a Ti-poor titanohematite signature. The Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS) is strongly enhanced in this layer with anisotropy values up to 1.25. The fabric delineated by AMS was not recognized neither in the field nor in thin sections, because most of the AAI consists in a massive and isotrope deposit with no visible textural fabric. Pumices deformation due to welding is only observed at the base of the thickest sections. AMS within the AAI ignimbrite show a very well defined pattern of apparent imbrications correlated to the paleotopography, with planes of foliation and lineation dipping often at more than 20° toward the expected vent, buried beneath the Nevado Chachani volcanic complex. In contrast with the relatively small extent of the thick AAI, the La Joya ignimbrite covers large areas from the Altipano down the Piedmont. Ti-poor titanomagnetites are the dominant magnetic carriers and AMS values are generally lower than 1.05. Magnetic foliations are sub horizontal and lineations directions are scattered in the LJI. The AMS fabrics are probably controlled by post-depositional compaction and welding of the deposit rather than transport dynamics. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

<Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar dating of the eruptive history of Mount Erebus,Antarctica: summit flows,tephra, and caldera collapse

Eruptive activity has occurred in the summit region of Mount Erebus over the last 95 ky, and has included numerous lava flows and small explosive eruptions, at least one plinian eruption, and at least one and probably two caldera-forming events. Furnace and laser step-heating ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages have been determined for 16 summit lava flows and three englacial tephra layers erupted from Mount Erebus. The summit region is composed of at least one or possibly two superimposed calderas that have been filled by post-caldera lava flows ranging in age from 17 ± 8 to 1 ± 5 ka. Dated pre-caldera summit flows display two age populations at 95 ± 9 to 76 ± 4 ka and 27 ± 3 to 21 ± 4 ka of samples with tephriphonolite and phonolite compositions, respectively. A caldera-collapse event occurred between 25 and 11 ka. An older caldera-collapse event is likely to have occurred between 80 and 24 ka. Two englacial tephra layers from the flanks of Mount Erebus have been dated at 71 ± 5 and 15 ± 4 ka. These layers stratigraphically bracket 14 undated tephra layers, and predate 19 undated tephra layers, indicating that small-scale explosive activity has occurred throughout the late Pleistocene and Holocene eruptive history of Mount Erebus. A distal, englacial plinian-fall tephra sample has an age of 39 ± 6 ka and may have been associated with the older of the two caldera-collapse events. A shift in magma composition from tephriphonolite to phonolite occurred at around 36 ka.Editorial responsibility: Julie Donnelly-Nolan