Ar loss in experimentally deformed muscovite and biotite with implications for Ar/Ar geochronology of naturally deformed rocks

The effects of deformation on radiogenic argon (⁴⁰Ar^∗) retentivity in mica are described from high pressure experiments performed on rock samples of peraluminous granite containing euhedral muscovite and biotite. Cylindrical cores, ∼15 mm in length and 6.25 mm in diameter, were drilled from granite collected from the South Armorican Massif in northwestern France, loaded into gold capsules, and weld-sealed in the presence of excess water. The samples were deformed at a pressure of 10 kb and a temperature of 600 °C over a period 29 of hours within a solid medium assembly in a Griggs-type triaxial hydraulic deformation apparatus. Overall shortening in the experiments was approximately 10%. Transmitted light and secondary and backscattered electron imaging of the deformed granite samples reveals evidence of induced defects and for significant physical grain size reduction by kinking, cracking, and grain segmentation of the micas.Infrared (IR) laser (CO₂) heating of individual 1.5-2.5 mm diameter grains of muscovite and biotite separated from the undeformed granite yield well-defined ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of 311 ± 2 Ma (2σ). Identical experiments on single grains separated from the experimentally deformed granite yield results indicating ⁴⁰Ar^∗ loss of 0-35% in muscovite and 2-3% ⁴⁰Ar^∗ loss in biotite. Intragrain in situ ultraviolet (UV) laser ablation ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages (±4-10%, 1σ) of deformed muscovites range from 309 ± 13 to 264 ± 7 Ma, consistent with 0-16% ⁴⁰Ar^∗ loss relative to the undeformed muscovite. The in situ UV laser ablation ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of deformed biotite vary from 301 to 217 Ma, consistent with up to 32% ⁴⁰Ar^∗ loss. No spatial correlation is observed between in situ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age and position within individual grains. Using available argon diffusion data for muscovite the observed ⁴⁰Ar^∗ loss in the experimentally treated muscovite can be utilized to predict average ⁴⁰Ar^∗ diffusion dimensions. Maximum ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages obtained by UV laser ablation overlap those of the undeformed muscovite, indicating argon loss of <1% and an average effective grain radius for ⁴⁰Ar^∗ diffusion ?700 μm. The UV laser ablation and IR laser incremental ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages indicating ⁴⁰Ar^∗ loss of 16% and 35%, respectively, are consistent with an average diffusion radius ?100 μm. These results support a hypothesis of grain-scale ⁴⁰Ar^∗ diffusion distances in undeformed mica and a heterogeneous mechanical reduction in the intragrain effective diffusion length scale for ⁴⁰Ar^∗ in deformed mica. Reduction in the effective diffusion length scale in naturally deformed samples occurs most probably through production of mesoscopic and submicroscopic defects such as, e.g., stacking faults. A network of interconnected defects, continuously forming and annealing during dynamic deformation likely plays an important role in controlling both ⁴⁰Ar^∗ retention and intragrain distribution in deformed mica. Intragrain ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages, when combined with estimates of diffusion kinetics and distances, may provide a means of establishing thermochronological histories from individual micas.     

风化矿物黄钾铁矾40Ar/39Ar 测年的基本方法——从样品采集到年龄测试

由于40Ar/39Ar定年方法在技术上极具复杂性,目前,国内在开展干旱区研究中很少使用风化矿物定年研究手段。重点介绍黄钾铁矾矿物40Ar/39Ar定年法的基本流程,并针对该方法的技术问题初步探讨了解决办法。研究表明,科学的野外采集样品、仔细的挑选矿物并综合采用多种测试手段（X衍射、扫描电镜、电子探针）进行监测可以获得纯净的风化矿物,并结合精细的40Ar/39Ar阶段加热技术,能够获得比较可靠的风化矿物40Ar/39Ar年龄。     

Thermal history of the Ecstall pluton from Ar/Ar geochronology and thermal modeling

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronology results and thermal modeling support the hypothesis of Hollister et al. (2004), that reheating of the mid-Cretaceous Ecstall pluton by intrusion of the Coast Mountains Batholith (CMB) was responsible for spatially variable remagnetization of the Ecstall pluton. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages from hornblende and biotite from 12 locations along the Skeena River across the northern part of the Ecstall pluton decrease with proximity to the Quottoon plutonic complex, the nearest member of the CMB to the Ecstall pluton. The oldest ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages are found farthest from the Quottoon plutonic complex, and are 90 ± 3 Ma for hornblende, and 77.9 ± 1.2 Ma for biotite. The youngest ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages are found closest to the Quottoon plutonic complex, and are 51.6 ± 1.2 Ma for hornblende, and 45.3 ± 1.7 Ma for biotite. No obvious relationship between grain size and age is seen in the Ecstall pluton biotites. Spatial trends in ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages are consistent with model results for reheating by a thermal wall at the location of the Quottoon plutonic complex. Although no unique solution is suggested, our results indicate that the most appropriate thermal history for the Ecstall pluton includes both reheating and northeast side up tilting of the Ecstall pluton associated with intrusion of the Quottoon plutonic complex. Estimates of northward translation from shallow paleomagnetic inclinations in the western part of the Ecstall pluton are reduced to ∼3000 km, consistent with the Baja-BC hypothesis, when northeast side up tilting is accounted for.     

Zoning and recrystallization of phengitic micas: implications for metamorphic equilibration

White micas (phengites) in the metasediments of the Scottish Dalradian display a large range of compositions within single samples. The variations in the composition of these phengites are strongly controlled by their structural age, with early fabrics containing a paragonite-poor, celadonite-rich phengite whereas in later fabrics the micas are generally paragonite-rich and celadonite-poor. Retrograde phengite growth, identified using back scattered electron imaging, occurs as celadonite-rich rims on micas within all existing fabrics and appears to be preferentially developed along existing white mica-plagioclase grain boundaries. The presence of these chemically distinct phengite populations within single samples implies that chemical exchange between the individual micas was inefficient. It is proposed that diffusion-controlled exchange reactions in phengites have relatively high closure temperatures below which major element exchange is effectively impossible. This closed system behaviour of micas questions the ease with which phengites may equilibrate with other phases during prograde greenschist and lower amphibolite facies metamorphism. Many of the chemical variations preserved in phengites from such metamorphic rocks may reflect deformation/recrystallization controlled equilibria.     

Tectonometamorphic evolution of Seram and Ambon,eastern Indonesia: Insights from 40Ar/39Ar geochronology

The island of Seram, eastern Indonesia, experienced a complex Neogene history of multiple metamorphic and deformational events driven by Australia–SE Asia collision. Geological mapping, and structural and petrographic analysis has identified two main phases in the island's tectonic, metamorphic, and magmatic evolution: (1) an initial episode of extreme extension that exhumed hot lherzolites from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle and drove ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and melting of adjacent continental crust; and (2) subsequent episodes of extensional detachment faulting and strike-slip faulting that further exhumed granulites and mantle rocks across Seram and Ambon. Here we present the results of sixteen ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar furnace step heating experiments on white mica, biotite, and phlogopite for a suite of twelve rocks that were targeted to further unravel Seram's tectonic and metamorphic history. Despite a wide lithological and structural diversity among the samples, there is a remarkable degree of correlation between the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages recorded by different rock types situated in different structural settings, recording thermal events at 16 Ma, 5.7 Ma, 4.5 Ma, and 3.4 Ma. These frequently measured ages are defined, in most instances, by two or more ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages that are identical within error. At 16 Ma, a major kyanite-grade metamorphic event affected the Tehoru Formation across western and central Seram, coincident with ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and melting of granulite-facies rocks comprising the Kobipoto Complex, and the intrusion of lamprophyres. Later, at 5.7 Ma, Kobipoto Complex rocks were exhumed beneath extensional detachment faults on the Kaibobo Peninsula of western Seram, heating and shearing adjacent Tehoru Formation schists to form Taunusa Complex gneisses. Then, at 4.5 Ma, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages record deformation within the Kawa Shear Zone (central Seram) and overprinting of detachment faults in western Seram. Finally, at 3.4 Ma, Kobipoto Complex migmatites were exhumed on Ambon, at the same time as deformation within the Kawa Shear Zone and further overprinting of detachments in western Seram. These ages support there having been multiple synchronised episodes of high-temperature extension and strike-slip faulting, interpreted to be the result of Western Seram having been ripped off from SE Sulawesi, extended, and dragged east by subduction rollback of the Banda Slab.     

A K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar study on white micas from the Brixen Quartzphyllite,Southern Alps

The Brixen Quartzphyllite, basement of the Southern Alps (Italy), consists of metasediments which had suffered progressive deformation and low grade metamorphism (p _max4 kbar, T _max375±25° C) during the Palaeozoic. It has been excavated by pre-Permian erosion, buried again beneath a pile of Permo-mesozoic to Cainozoic sediments (estimated T _max150° C), and is now exposed anew due to late Alpine uplift and erosion. The behavior of the K-Ar system of white micas is investigated, taking advantage of the narrow constraints on their thermal history imposed by the geological/stratigraphic reference systems.The six structurally and petrographically differing samples come from a single outcrop, whose position is roughly two kilometers beneath the Permian land-surface. White mica concentrates from five grain size fractions (<2 , 2–6 , 6–20 , 20–60 , 60–75 ) of each sample have been analyzed by the conventional K-Ar method, four selected concentrates additionally by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar stepwise heating technique; furthermore, Ar content and isotopic composition of vein quartz were determined.The conventional ages of the natural grain size fractions (20–60 , 60–75) are in the range 316±8 Ma, which corresponds to the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau age of 319.0±5.5 Ma within the error limits. The finer grain size fractions yield significantly lower ages, down to 233 Ma for fractions <2 . Likewise low apparent ages (down to 83 Ma) are obtained for the low temperature ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar degassing steps.There is no correlation between microstructural generation of white mica prevailing in the sample and apparent age. This favours an interpretation of the 316±8 Ma values as cooling age; progressive deformation and metamorphism must be respectively older and their timing cannot be resolved by these methods. The data preclude any significant influence of a detrital mica component as well as of excess argon.The lower ages found for the fine grain-size fractions (respectively the low-T degassing steps) correspond to a near-surface period (p-T-minimum); the values are geologically meaningless. The effect is interpreted to result from partial Ar loss due to reheating during Mesozoic-Cainozoic reburial. A model based on diffusion parameters derived from the outgassing experiments and Dodson's (1979) equation yields a closure temperature of 284±40 °C for a cooling rate of 18° C/Ma. Furthermore, this model suggests that the observed argon loss of up to 5% may in fact have been induced by reheating to 150 °C for 50 Ma.     

40Ar/39Ar年代学数据处理软件ArArCALC简介

ArArCALC是40Ar/39Ar法数据处理专业软件,A.A.P. Koppers以Visual Basic编写的Microsoft Excel"宏",在Windows 95-Vista系统上均可运行.经过不断改进,ArArCALC已经发展成为一种功能强大且使用方便的软件,可全面进行40Ar/39Ar数据计算,包括回归时间零点值、坪年龄、全熔年龄和等时线年龄计算并自动作图,给出分析误差、内部误差和外部误差.更重要的是,ArArCALC能将原始数据、各种参数、计算结果和图件以可编辑的Excel格式给出.ArArCALC交互性强,用户可随时对有关参数进行修改,重新计算,提高了数据处理效率.鉴于上述优点,特此引荐ArArCALC.     

桂北融水地区钾镁煌斑岩Ar- Ar年代学、地球化学特征及其构造意义

桂北地区发育较多的钾镁煌斑岩脉,可能为该区近源金刚石重砂矿的母岩,对于其形成时代一直是长期争议悬而未决的重要地质问题。本文研究表明,融水地区金云钾镁煌斑岩的金云母(斑晶、基质) 40 Ar- 39 Ar冷却封闭年龄为203~204 Ma,表明其形成于晚三叠世。岩石SiO 2为55. 68%~56. 85%,高钾(K 2O/Na 2O=1. 87~3. 06)、高Mg # (71. 90~73. 20)、轻稀土富集、重稀土相对亏损,轻重稀土分异明显,Eu略亏损,富集大离子亲石元素,亏损高场强元素,地球化学特征表明其来源于俯冲流体交代的富集地幔特征。上述研究表明,扬子克拉通东南缘桂北地区中生代岩石圈地幔为经历俯冲流体交代的富集地幔,并于晚三叠世经历了重要的岩石圈伸展减薄构造事件,其形成可能与古太平洋板块平板式俯冲有关。     

Formation, subduction, and exhumation of Penninic oceanic crust in the Eastern Alps: time constraints from Ar/Ar geochronology

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology places time constraints on several stages of the evolution of the Penninic realm in the Eastern Alps. A 186±2 Ma age for seafloor hydrothermal metamorphic biotite from the Reckner Ophiolite Complex of the Pennine–Austroalpine transition suggests that Penninic ocean spreading occurred in the Eastern Alps as early as the Toarcian (late Early Jurassic). A 57±3 Ma amphibole from the Penninic subduction–accretion Rechnitz Complex dates high-pressure metamorphism and records a snapshot in the evolution of the Penninic accretionary wedge. High-pressure amphibole, phengite, and phengite+paragonite mixtures from the Penninic Eclogite Zone of the Tauern Window document exhumation through ≤15 kbar and >500 °C at 42 Ma to 10 kbar and 400 °C at 39 Ma. The Tauern Eclogite Zone pressure–temperature path shows isothermal decompression at mantle depths and rapid cooling in the crust, suggesting rapid exhumation. Assuming exhumation rates slower or equal to high-pressure–ultrahigh-pressure terrains in the Western Alps, Tauern Eclogite Zone peak pressures were reached not long before our high-pressure amphibole age, probably at ≤45 Ma, in accordance with dates from the Western Alps. A late-stage thermal overprint, common to the entire Penninic thrust system, occurred within the Tauern Eclogite Zone rocks at 35 Ma. The high-pressure peak and switch from burial to exhumation of the Tauern Eclogite Zone is likely to date slab breakoff in the Alpine orogen. This is in contrast to the long-lasting and foreland-propagating Franciscan-style subduction–accretion processes that are recorded in the Rechnitz Complex.     

拉萨地体中的印支造山事件及年代学证据

通过拉萨地体中松多群变质岩系的变形构造、韧性剪切带的研究,剪切带中石英组构的EBSD测定,韧性剪切带中白云母40At-39Ar测年结果(220～230Ma),以及晚三叠世花岗闪长岩和二长花岗岩岩体侵入松多群的证据,提出拉萨地体松多群经历了印支期造山事件的认识,这一事件为二叠纪古特提斯洋盆深俯冲(代表标志为拉萨榴辉岩带)之后南、北拉萨地体碰撞的结果.拉萨地体中印支造山带的确定,使青藏高原印支山链的范围从过去认为的羌塘地体南界向南扩大到拉萨地体之中,对于研究古特提斯构造域的形成有重要意义.     

Dating incipient metamorphism using 40Ar/39Ar geochronology and XRD modeling: a case study from the Swiss Alps

Six samples of a single carbonate-rich unit of the Swiss Préalpes, progressively metamorphosed from diagenesis to deep anchizone, yield ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar spectra with variably developed staircase patterns, consistent with mixtures of detrital mica and neocrystallized mixed-layer illite/smectite. The lowest temperature heating steps for different size fractions (2–6?μm and 6–20?μm) converge to ～40?Ma providing an imprecise, maximum age of regional metamorphism. A method is described for distinguishing and quantifying the amount of pre-existing detrital mica versus neoformed illite layer in the illite/smectite formed during Tertiary Alpine metamorphism by comparison of X-ray diffraction patterns with Newmod^© simulations. In the least metamorphosed samples the illite/smectite contains ～65% neoformed illite, and this illite accounts for approximately 17% of all dioctahedral phyllosilicate minerals in the rock (e.g., detrital mica and illite/smectite). In contrast, the illite/smectite from the more strongly metamorphosed samples contains >97% neoformed illite, which accounts for ～70% to >90% of all dioctahedral phyllosilicate minerals. Phyllosilicate morphologies viewed by scanning electron microscopy are consistent with these estimates. A process of dissolution/reprecipitation is inferred as a mechanism for the growth of the neoformed phyllosilicates. A plot of neoformed illite content versus ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar total fusion age yields a near-linear curve with an extrapolated age of 27?Ma for 100% neoformed dioctahedral phyllosilicates. This age is interpreted as the time of incipient metamorphism and is consistent with independent biostratigraphic constraints. Model ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectra constructed with the XRD simulation results correspond well to the experimental data and illustrate the changes in degassing properties of progressively metamorphosed mixtures of detrital mica and neoformed illite.     

Monazite chemical composition: some implications for monazite geochronology

An investigation of the chemical composition of monazite from a number of localities has been carried out. Samples used include monazites from metamorphic rocks, granitic rocks and a hydrothermal ore deposit. The REE distribution pattern of monazite varies greatly in accordance with its geological environment. A remarkable feature of the monazites studied is that their chondrite-normalised REE distribution patterns are mostly uniform between grains within the same sample, but differ significantly from sample to sample. This characteristic apparently indicates that there is an important effect on the REE distribution of monazite exerted by the host rock or source material from which monazite crystallised. Another important feature shown by the monazites studied is that monazites in rocks containing garnet as a major mineral show extreme depletion of HREE, whereas monazites in rocks without garnet or monazite that formed after the garnet breakdown contain significantly higher amounts of Y and HREE. This suggests that the phase assemblage, especially garnet, plays an important role in the REE distribution of monazites in these rocks. The value of REE distribution in monazite is exemplified with regard to the origin of monazite in the Lewisian metamorphic rocks, which is a fundamental issue in monazite geochronology. Received: 17 March 1999 / Accepted: 16 July 1999     

Geochemistry and Ar/Ar geochronology of pseudotachylyte associated with UHP whiteschists from the Dora Maira massif, Italy

In situ UV-laser ablation ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological and geochemical data, together with rock and mineral compositional data, have been determined from pseudotachylyte and surrounding mylonitic gneiss associated with the UHP whiteschists of the Dora Maira Massif, Italy. Several generations of fresh pseudotachylyte occur as irregular veins up to a few cm thick both parallel and at high angles to the foliation. Whole rock XRF data collected from representative lithologies of mylonitic gneiss are uniformly consistent with a mildly alkalic granitic protolith. Minimal compositional variation is observed between the pseudotachylyte and its surrounding mylonitic gneiss. The pseudotachylyte contains newly crystallized grains of biotite and K-feldspar in a matrix of glass with partially fused grains of quartz, zircon, apatite, and titanite. Electron microprobe analyses of the glass show significant compositional variation that is probably strongly influenced by micrometer-scale changes in mineralogy. UV-laser ablation ICP-MS traverses across the mylonitic gneiss–pseudotachylyte contact are consistent with cataclastic communition of REE carriers such as epidote, monazite, allanite, zircon, and apatite before melting as an efficient mechanism of REE homogenization in the pseudotachylyte. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data from one band of pseudotachylyte indicate formation at 20.1 ± 0.5 Ma, when the mylonitic gneisses were already in a near surface position. The variable effects of top-to-the-west shear deformation within outcrops of the coesite-bearing unit are reflected in localized zones of protomylonite, cataclasite, ultracataclasite, and pseudotachylyte. Preservation of several generations of pseudotachylyte suggests that seismic events may have played a significant role in triggering late unroofing of the UHP rocks. It is speculated that deeper crustal seismic events potentially played a role in the unroofing of the UHP rocks at earlier stages in their exhumation history.     

Dating slate belts using 40Ar/39Ar geochronology and zircon ages from crosscutting plutons: A case study from east-central Maine,USA

We report the ages of cleavage development in a normally intractable lower greenschist facies slate belt, the Central Maine-Aroostook-Matapedia belt in east-central Maine. We have attacked this problem by identifying the minimum ages of muscovite in a regional Acadian cleavage (S₁) and in a local ductile fault zone cleavage (S₂) using ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology and the ages of crosscutting plutons. Our success stems from the regional low-grade metamorphism of the rocks in which each crystallization event preserves a⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar crystallization age and not a cooling age. Evidence for recrystallization via a pressure solution mechanism comes from truncations of detrital, authigenic, and in some rocks S₁ muscovite and chlorite grains by new cleavage-forming muscovite and chlorite grains. Low-blank furnace age spectra from meta-arkosic and slaty rocks climb from moderate temperature Devonian age-steps dominated by cleavage-forming muscovite to Ordovician age-steps dominated by a detrital muscovite component. S₁- and S₂-cleaved rocks were hornfelsed by granitoids of ∼407 and 377 Ma, respectively. The combination of these minimum ages with the maximum metamorphic crystallization ages establishes narrow constraints on the timing of these two cleavage-forming events, ∼410 Ma (S₁) and ∼380 Ma (S₂). These two events coincide in time with a change in the plate convergence kinematics from the arrival of the Avalon terrane (Acadian orogeny), to a right-lateral transpression arrival of the Meguma terrane in the Neoacadian orogeny.     

Red micas from basal ignimbrites of Mt. Vulture (Italy): interlayer content appraisal by a multi-methodic approach

The crystal chemistry of red phlogopites from Mt. Vulture (Italy) ignimbrites has been studied by electron microprobe, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), single crystal structural investigation and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The analysed phlogopite has Fe/(Fe + Mg) ∼ 0.35, TiO₂ (wt%): 2.8–5.0 and H₂O (wt%): 1.24–3.37. Infrared spectra revealed the presence of bands due to the NH₄⁺ and H₂O stretching and bending vibrations. The samples belong to the 1M polytype. The bimodal behaviour of several structural parameters allows red micas to be clustered into two distinct groups: K⁺ ↔ NH₄⁺, H₂O and M³⁺-vacancy substitutions dominate in the first group; M^3+,4+-oxy, in the second group. It has to be pointed out that quantitative analysis of hydrogen (via SIMS) together with the characterization of the local environment of the anionic site (via FTIR) are fundamental in assessing the correct structural formula and the substitution mechanisms in micas. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Effects of progressive mylonitization on Ar retention in biotites from the Santa Rosa mylonite zone,California, and thermochronologic implications

The Santa Rosa mylonite zone developed predominantly from a granodiorite protolith in the eastern margin of the Peninsular Ranges batholith. A wide variation in K−Ar biotite dates within the zone is shown to reflect the times of cooling through closure temperatures whose variability is chiefly a result of deformation-induced reduction in grain size. We suggest that such variation generally may be exploited to place constraints on the timing of deformation episodes. Previous workers have shown that deformation in the Santa Rosa mylonite zone involved the formation of mylonites and an imbricate series of low-angle faults which divide the area into structural units. Field work, petrographic studies, and TEM analysis of deformation mechanisms in biotite show that the granodiorite mylonite, the lowermost structural unit, formed below the granodiorite solidus. The granodiorite mylonite varies from protomylonite to ultramylonite, with regions of high strain distributed heterogeneously within the zone. Previously reported biotite and hornblende K−Ar dates from the granodiorite protolith below (82–89 Ma) and the Asbestos Mountain granodiorite above (61–68 Ma) the mylonite zone indicate dramatically dissimilar thermal histories for the lowermost and uppermost structural units. Other workers' fission track dates on sphene, zircon, and apatite from the granodiorite mylonite and the Asbestos Mountain granodiorite suggest thermal homogenization and rapid cooling to ∼100° C by ca 60 Ma. Within and adjacent to the mylonite zone, K−Ar dates on 5 samples of biotite from variably deformed granodiorite range from 62–76 Ma; dates are not correlated with structural depth but clearly decrease with degree of deformation and concomitant grain size reduction. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating analyses of biotite from the granodiorite protolith reveals no evidence of excess argon and produces a relatively flat age spectrum. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating analysis of biotite from the granodiorite mylonite discloses discordance consistent with ³⁹Ar recoil loss. K analysis of samples, allowing K−Ar dates to be calculated, is therefore recommended as an adjunct to ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar step heating analysis in rocks that have experienced similar deformation. During mylonitization, biotite grain size reduction through intracrystalline cataclasis results in estimated grain dimensions as small as 0.05 μm locally within porphyroclasts as large as 1 mm. Because biotite compositions are relatively Uniform (Fe/[Fe+Mg+Mn+Ti+Al^VI]=0.47–0.52) and show no systematic variation with grain size, compositional dependence of activation energy and diffusivity can be eliminated as sources of variation in Ar retention. Ar closure temperatures, calculated with appropriate diffusion parameters for the observed grain sizes, are in the range ∼220–280° C and define a cooling curve consistent with a thermal history intermediate between those of the granodiorite protolith below and the Asbestos Mountain granodiorite above the mylonite zone. Changes in the slope of the cooling curve indicate that the main deformation episode initiated at or above ca 330° C (∼80 Ma), above the closure temperature for thermally activated diffusion of argon in biotite, and continued to a minimum of ca 220–260° C (∼62 Ma).     

Non-stoichiometry of interlayer cations in micas from low- to middle-grade metamorphic rocks in the Ryoke and the Sanbagawa belts,Japan

Micas in 17 pelitic (K-feldspar-free) and 8 psammitic (K-feldspar-bearing) rocks from the Wazuka and the Asemi-gawa areas in the Ryoke and the Sanbagawa metamorphic terrains, respectively, were analyzed on an electron-probe microanalyzer. The deficiency of alkali cations in the low- to middle-grade metamorphic micas is ascribed to the illite substitution, K^XII+Al^IV=^XII (vacancy)+Si^IV.At the same metamorphic grade, the deficiency of interlayer cations in micas from the pelitic rocks is greater than that from the psammitic rocks. However, it decreases with rising temperature in both rock-types, irrespective of the pressure of metamorphism.K-feldspar and biotite buffer the illite substitution. Two reactions are proposed to explain the decrease of the alkali-cation deficiency in both muscovite and biotite.     

东喜马拉雅构造结气候构造作用下热史演化的40Ar/39 Ar年代学记录

以喜马拉雅山系为典型实例,究竟是气候作用还是构造作用引起山体隆升的问题已经成为地球系统科学研究中的重要前沿问题.无论是气候因素还是构造因素引起山体隆升,二者都与一个共同的地表过程--剥蚀作用相关,剥蚀作用对山体中地质体的影响可以用岩石矿物经历的热史演化来描述,所以,在造山作用研究中,山体或山脉的热史演化是揭开地质体经历地质过程、山体隆升研究的重要途径.利用河砂组成矿物来研究流域的地质过程和构造演化已经成为现代地质科学的重要手段.本文采集了雅鲁藏布江下游墨脱县以南约50 km处地东河段内的现代河砂,对其中的角闪石、白云母、黑云母及钾长石等四种矿物进行了高精度单颗粒激光40Ar/39Ar年代学测试,并进行了概率统计.地东河段河砂中富钾矿物40Ar/39Ar年代学统计结果显示,大峡谷流域的热史演化可以确定有多个阶段,分别可以识别出70～69、61～60、43～42、35～34、26～25、25～23、22～20、20～18、17～14、12～11、8～6、5～4及＜2Ma等13个热史演化阶段.通过将上述热史信息与印度大陆与欧亚大陆碰撞角度和碰撞速率变化曲线的对比,可以确定70～69、61～60、43～42、35～34、22～20和12～11Ma等6个阶段的年代学信息是两大陆碰撞角度和碰撞速率变化事件在东喜马拉雅构造结热史上的记录;通过与全球深海氧、碳同位素记录曲线的对比,可以认为26～25、25～23、17～14、8～6、5～4和＜2Ma等6个阶段的年代学信息是气候变化在东喜马拉雅构造结热史上的记录.东喜马拉雅构造结地质体热史演化是构造与气候相互作用的结果.