40Ar/39Ar ages of blueschist facies pelitic schists from Qingshuigou in the Northern Qilian Mountains, western China

Abstract   Pelitic schists from Qingshuigou in the Northern Qilian Mountains of China contain mainly glaucophane, garnet, white mica, clinozoisite, chlorite and piemontite. Isotopic age dating of these schists provides new constraints on the formation of the high-grade blueschists at Qingshuigou. White mica ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages range from 442.1 to 447.5 Ma (total fusion age of single grain) and from 445.7 to 453.9 Ma (integrated age of white mica concentrates). These ages (442.1–453.9 Ma) represent the peak metamorphic ages or cooling ages of the blueschists during exhumation shortly after peak metamorphism. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates in the present study are similar to ages previously reported for eclogites and blueschists in the area; this suggests that both the eclogites and pelitic sediments underwent high-grade metamorphism during the same subduction event. From this chronological evidence and the presence of well-developed Silurian remnant-sea flysch and Devonian molasse, it is concluded that the Northern Qilian Ocean had closed by the end of the Ordovician, and rapid orogenic uplift followed in the Devonian.     

K–Ar and 40Ar/39Ar phengite ages of Sanbagawa schist clasts from the Kuma Group, central Shikoku, southwest Japan

Conglomerates of the Kuma Group, central Shikoku, southwest Japan contain Sanbagawa schist clasts with a variety of metamorphic grades and lithologies. K–Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of phengite show all the pelitic schist clasts from low- to high-grade zones have similar phengite ages (82–84 Ma) that are significantly older than those from the in situ Sanbagawa sequence of central Shikoku. This is because the Kuma–Sanbagawa sequence was exhumed earlier than the in situ Asemi sequence with an exhumation process intermediate between those for the Kanto Mountains and the in situ Asemi sequences. ⁴⁰A/³⁹Ar plateau ages (103 and 117 Ma) of phengite in amphibolites indicate the timing of the early stage of the exhumation of the metamorphic pile, probably close to the peak metamorphic age.     

Excess argon, crustal fluids and apparent isochrons from crushing K-feldspar

Using a combination ofin-vacuo crushing and stepped heating, the⁴⁰Ar³⁹Ar technique has been applied to two K-feldspar-bearing sedimentary rocks from the Proterozoic of North China, with a view to studying ancient fluids trapped in these rocks and their chronology. Correlations between natural Ar isotopes and those produced by neutron irradiation permitted a clear distinction to be made between different components of natural argon. Crushing released Cl-correlated excess⁴⁰Ar (and palaeoatmospheric³⁶Ar) trapped in moderately saline fluid inclusions in quartz and possibly the K-feldspar. The very high⁴⁰Ar/Cl ratios of these fluids (2.7 × 10⁻⁴ and1.7 × 10⁻⁴) is interpreted as indicating a metamorphic source for the⁴⁰Ar. More surprisingly, crushing also released, from the K-feldspar, a K-correlated component with a very well defined⁴⁰Ar/K ratio, which for both samples corresponded formally to an apparent age comparable to or slightly less than the stratigraphic age. In contrast, stepped heating yielded⁴⁰Ar/K ratios corresponding to significantly younger ages which are interpreted as (low-grade) metamorphic ages. The explanation of the K-correlated component released on crushing and the significance (if any) of the distinct⁴⁰Ar/K ratio is obscure, although several effects involving microporosity and a combination of³⁹Ar recoil and diffusion are suggested. There is a contribution of this component to the stepped heating release pattern which may have implications for attempts to use K-feldspar as a⁴⁰Ar³⁹Ar thermochronometer.     

Age of Jurassic continental tholeiites of French Guyana, Surinam and Guinea: Implications for the initial opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean

A detailed ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar study, of mineral separates from the Jurassic Atlantic Continental Tholeiites (JACT) of Guyana (French Guyana and Surinam, South America), and Guinea (West Africa) related to the initial opening of the Central Atlantic, has been carried out. In French Guyana, plateau ages of 196.0 ± 5.7 Ma and 196.1 ± 7.5 Ma were obtained on single, small amphibole grains from NNW—SSE trending dykes. In Guinea, single biotite grains from intrusive formations from the Kakoulima and Fouta Djalon areas yielded plateau ages of 200.4 ± 0.2 Ma and 194.8 ± 0.5 Ma, concordant with high temperature apparent ages on other biotites. The bulk plagioclase samples display disturbed age spectra due to alteration and excess argon. However, intermediate temperature, weighted mean plagioclase ages are similar in both regions of Guyana and Guinea, ranging from 200.2 ± 2.4 Ma to 188.7 ± 1.9 Ma, partly in agreement with the amphibole and biotite data.

These data, combined with previous ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and U/Pb results from the northern part of the Central Atlantic margins, indicate intense magmatic activity distributed over a large area from Iberia to Liberia (ca. 4500 km long) for a short period of time (204-195 Ma, perhaps less for the bulk of the magmatism) during the initial break-up of Pangea continent. These data do not support an initiation of the magmatism from a radial volcano-tectonic system centred in the south of the region, as suggested by May [1], and the initial break-up seems to affect the whole Central Atlantic during a period of 9 Ma.     

Emerald dating through Ar/Ar step-heating and laser spot analysis of syngenetic phlogopite

Emerald, occurring in K-metasomatic rocks developed at the contact of the Carnaíba leucogranite with serpentinite (Bahia State, Brazil), has been dated using an original ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar procedure. It combines step heating and spot fusion experiments on two types of phlogopite crystals: (1) bulk samples and individual grains extracted from the enclosing K-metasomatic host rocks; and (2) syngenetic solid inclusions precipitated along growing zones of the emerald host crystals. The second procedure uses in situ laser probe experiments on rock sections. In spite of the huge amounts of excess ⁴⁰Ar detected in adjacent emerald, we could measure reliable ages of 1951 ± 8 Ma and 1934 ± 8 Ma for the Trecho Velho and Braulia occurrences, respectively. Spot fusion data had higher discrepancy than the step heating data, but minute crystals of phlogopite included in emeralds bearing excess argon do not reveal excess argon. A muscovite belonging to the same granite hydrothermal complex gave a plateau age of 1976 ± 8 Ma, which may correspond to a higher closure temperature of the KAr system during the cooling of the whole pluton and associated hydrothermal halo.

These accurate measurements lead to the following conclusions: (1) direct emerald dating is possible; (2) in spite of a polyphase history during the Transamazonian orogenesis (2 Ga), combined step heating and spot fusion experiments give a better precision for granite-related emerald mineralization than the scattered ages obtained by Rb-Sr and K-Ar methods; (3) the late-Transamazonian tectonothermal retrograde event which probably caused the dispersion of previous Rb-Sr and K-Ar data is not revealed by our procedure; (4) the emerald mineralization and K-metamorphism appear to be linked with the thermal history of the leucogranite; (5) in addition to its use in polyphase crustal domains, accurate ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating is of major interest in the field of metallogenic models, even, for instance, for mineralizations characterized by disturbed isotopic systems, which record effects as excess argon.     

A metamorphic history from micron-scale Pb/Pb chronometry of Archean monazite

Ion microprobe measurements of Pb isotope ratios in monazites have been obtained, in situ, from thin sections using the Cambridge ISOLAB 120. Molecular interferences are sufficiently resolved at an RP of 6500 to allow ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb dating of monazite with precisions as low as 4–5 Ma (2σ). The results presented here provide important information on the chronological history of the Late Archean metamorphism of the Wind River Range, Wyoming (USA).

Matrix monazites and monazite inclusions in garnets from a metapelite from the northern Wind River Range have been analysed by SIMS. In a previous study peak metamorphic conditions (T = 800°C; P = 8 ± 1 kb^*) were estimated using inclusion assemblages in garnets from this same sample. Isolated monazite inclusions in garnet yield ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age estimates of 2781 ± 6 to 2809 ± 10 Ma. Those along fractures yield lower ages (2603–2687 Ma) which are similar to TIMS and SIMS ages of matrix monazites. A single large (500 μm) monazite grain locally preserves growth zoning, but has a recrystallised core and a resorbed (recrystallised?) rim. Age estimates for these three regions are 2788 ± 9 Ma, 2663 ± 4 and 2523 ± 6 Ma, respectively. Thus the inclusion assemblages of Sharp and Essene^* may record peak metamorphic conditions at ca. 2.8 Ga, and indicate a phase of metamorphism that predates by over 100 Ma the emplacement of the Bridger Batholith, the major lithologic component of the northern Wind River Range.

The analysed monazite grains appear to preserve ca. 300 Ma history, even within a single grain. Monazite inclusions in garnet that are fully armoured may provide estimates for the time of garnet growth, even in high grade terranes where most chronometers are reset. The age pattern preserved by the large monazite grain cannot be simply related to diffusion controlled closure. Instead, a chronology is preserved which can be related to the petrographic setting of indicidual grains through in situ analysis.     

Phengite K-Ar ages of schists from the Sanbagawa southern marginal belt, central Shikoku, southwest Japan: Influence of detrital mica and deformation on age

Abstract K–Ar age determinations were carried out on phengite separates from pelitic schists collected systematically from the Sanbagawa southern marginal belt and the associated area. The petrography and phengite chemistry by electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) revealed the existence of detrital white micas in the schist that have an extremely older age (108 Ma) in comparison with the neighboring schists (88 Ma) without any detrital mica. The ages become gradually older from the north ( ca 78 Ma) to the south ( ca 90 Ma) except for some samples that contain detrital micas and/or have been reactivated thermally by intrusives. The age is interpreted as an exhumation-cooling age that has been controlled by the ductile deformation of the host rocks that have never experienced a culmination temperature higher than 350°C which corresponds to the closure temperature of the K–Ar phengite system. The southward aging of the recorded ages in the extensive chlorite zone of the central Shikoku, from the Dozan river area of the north ( ca 65 Ma) to the study area of the south ( ca 85 Ma) through the Asemi river area ( ca 75 Ma), is explained in terms of increasing exhumation/cooling rates of the host rocks from north to south. The phengite K–Ar ages in the pelitic schists from the Kyomizu tectonic zone, which is classically considered as a remarkable thrusting shear zone, have no significant difference in comparison with that of the neighboring schists. This fact suggests that the latest stage of brittle deformation during exhumation/uplift has not significantly affected the ages of phengite in the schists.     

Dating mylonitic deformation by the Ar-Ar method: An example from the Norumbega Fault Zone, Maine

Strongly mylonitic rocks associated with the regionally extensive Norumbega fault zone in south-central Maine provide an excellent opportunity for testing the effects of mylonitization on argon isotopic systems in muscovite. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar muscovite age spectra from samples outside the zone of mylonitization are relatively undisturbed and have well defined Early Carboniferous plateau ages. In contrast to these nonmylonitized samples, all age spectra for muscovite from the mylonites are highly discordant. They are characterized by young ages at low extraction temperatures, which systematically increase to ages that equal the plateau ages for muscovite collected outside the mylonite zone. Detailed petrographic observations suggest that these systematic discordances reflect a mixing of argon components from older, relict, muscovite porphyroclasts and fine-grained white mica aggregates that recrystallized during mylonitic deformation.

Total gas ages of five different grain size fractions separated from the same mylonite sample become progressively younger with decreasing grain size; indicating a larger component of the recrystallized grains in the finer grain size fractions. Although the three finest grain size fractions give different total gas ages and do not overlap in age for most of their release spectra, their initial increments do coincide, at approximately 290 Ma. This indicates a minimal older age contribution from the relict porphyroclasts in the initial increments and suggests the 290 Ma age provides a good estimate for the time of mineral growth associated with mylonitic deformation. These data, combined with kinematic analysis, reveal that the segment of the Norumbega fault zone studied, the Sandhill Corner fault, is a Late Carboniferous-Early Permian dextral strike-slip fault. A lack of significant offset in regional Early Carboniferous mineral age patterns across the fault suggests that displacement was probably less than 30 km.

This study demonstrates that ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating methods can be used to date deformational events effectively, as long as several important criteria are met. First and foremost, samples must be well characterized prior to analysis. Dynamic recrystallization must have occurred at or below the closure temperature of the mineral to be analyzed. Regional cooling patterns must also be established through detailed thermochronology so that mineral ages and age spectra from the deformed rocks can be compared to regional cooling ages of the same mineral. Finally, the effects of excess argon must be negligible.     

Ar/Ar illite dating of Late Caledonian (Acadian) metamorphism and cooling of K-bentonites and slates from the Welsh Basin, U.K.

The vacuum-encapsulation laser ⁴⁰Ar³⁹Ar technique allows extremely small (10⁻⁶ g) samples of fine-grained materials such as diagenetic clays to be dated. Here we show that the method can be extended to higher-grade clay minerals. The integration of transmission electron microscopic (TEM) characterization with ⁴⁰Ar³⁹Ar dating of vacuum encapsulated samples permits the resolution of the timing of metamorphic growth/cooling from the time of diagenesis. We have applied this technique to well characterized Lower Paleozoic slates and K-bentonites from the Welsh Basin, which span the transition from anchizonal to epizonal grade, which had been previously studied using RbSr and SmNd dating.

TEM observations of epizonal K-bentonites and slate showed that illite in these samples is of 2M₁ polytype, of muscovite-like composition, and oriented parallel to cleavage, suggesting that they are of metamorphic origin. Total gas ages (equivalent to conventional KAr ages) for encapsulated epizonal K-bentonites and slate (340–408 Ma) are considerably variable. The Ar retention ages (calculated from ³⁹Ar and ⁴⁰Ar atoms retained in the sample after irradiation) are more consistent (383–411 Ma). The ³⁹Ar recoil losses are minor for illites from whole rock samples of epizonal K-bentonites but very significant for clay separates of epizonal slate. Plateaus in age spectra were observed in epizonal K-bentonites and slate. The plateau ages (414–421 Ma) and retention ages (383–411 Ma) can be correlated with the onset of Acadian metamorphism and culmination of uplift and inversion of the Welsh Basin, respectively. These ages are significantly younger than the 450 Ma ages previously reported for diagenetic clays using the same method, suggesting that diagenetic history has been lost in these epizonal K-bentonites and slate.

TEM observations of anchizonal slates showed that there are two modes of illite. The first mode is similar to that observed in epizonal samples, suggesting a metamorphic origin. The second mode consists of the 1M_d polytype, has typical diagenetic illite composition, and is oriented parallel to bedding, suggesting a diagenetic origin. Total gas ages for encapsulated anchizonal slates vary considerably (361–422 Ma). The retention ages are more consistent (413–432 Ma) than the total gas ages. The ³⁹Ar recoil losses are more significant than those for epizonal K-bentonites and slate. Plateaus in age spectra are generally not observed. However, the consistent retention ages for the anchizonal slates correspond to the plateau ages for the epizonal samples, and are inferred to represent the onset of Acadian metamorphism.

These data, when combined with our previously published results for diagenetic shales, suggest that thermal conditions near the boundary of anchizonal and epizonal grades are necessary to completely reset Ar systems in shales and slates.     

Ar/Ar ages and paleomagnetism of São Miguel lavas, Azores

We present new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages and paleomagnetic data for São Miguel island, Azores. Paleomagnetic samples were obtained for 34 flows and one dike; successful mean paleomagnetic directions were obtained for 28 of these 35 sites. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations on 12 flows from the Nordeste complex were attempted successfully: ages obtained are between 0.78 Ma and 0.88 Ma, in contrast to published K–Ar ages of 1 Ma to 4 Ma. Our radiometric ages are consistent with the reverse polarity paleomagnetic field directions, and indicate that the entire exposed part of the Nordeste complex is of a late Matuyama age. The duration of volcanism across São Miguel is significantly less than previously believed, which has important implications for regional melt generation processes, and temporal sampling of the geomagnetic field. Observed stable isotope and trace element trends across the island can be explained, at least in part, by communication between different magma source regions at depth. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages indicate that our normal polarity paleomagnetic data sample at least 0.1 Myr (0–0.1 Ma) and up to 0.78 Myr (0–0.78 Ma) of paleosecular variation and our reverse polarity data sample approximately 0.1 Myr (0.78–0.88 Ma) of paleosecular variation. Our results demonstrate that precise radiometric dating of numerous flows sampled is essential to accurate inferences of long-term geomagnetic field behavior. Negative inclination anomalies are observed for both the normal and reverse polarity time-averaged field. Within the data uncertainties, normal and reverse polarity field directions are antipodal, but the reverse polarity field shows a significant deviation from a geocentric axial dipole direction.     

Ar / Ar dating of high-pressure rocks from the Ligurian Alps: Evidence for a continuous subduction–exhumation cycle

We present ³⁹Ar–⁴⁰Ar dating of phengite, muscovite and paragonite from a set of mafic and metasedimentary rocks sampled from the high-pressure (HP) metaophiolites of the Voltri Group (Western Alps) and from clasts in the basal layer conglomerates from the Tertiary molasse which overlie the high-pressure basement. The white mica-bearing rocks display peak eclogitic and blueschist-facies parageneses, locally showing complex greenschist-facies replacement textures. The internal discordance of age spectra is proportional to the chemical complexity of the micas. High-Si phengites from eclogite clasts record a ³⁹Ar–⁴⁰Ar age of ca. 49 Ma for the eclogite stage and ca. 43 Ma for the blueschist retrogression; phengites from a blueschist basement sample yield an age of ca. 40 Ma; low-Si muscovite from a metasediment dates the formation of the greenschist paragenesis at ca. 33 Ma. Our data indicate that the analyzed samples reached high-pressure conditions at different times over a time-span of c.a. 10 Ma. Subduction was continuing during exhumation and blueschist retrograde re-equilibration of higher-pressure, eclogite-facies rocks. This process kept the isotherms depressed, allowing the older HP-rocks to escape thermal re-equilibration. Our results, added to literature data, fit a tectonic model of a subduction–exhumation cycle, with different tectonic slices subducted at different times from Early Eocene until the Eocene–Oligocene boundary.     

Link between SSZ ophiolite formation, emplacement and arc inception, Northland, New Zealand: U–Pb SHRIMP constraints; Cenozoic SW Pacific tectonic implications

New U–Pb age-data from zircons separated from a Northland ophiolite gabbro yield a mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 31.6 ± 0.2 Ma, providing support for a recently determined 28.3 ± 0.2 Ma SHRIMP age of an associated plagiogranite and  29–26 Ma ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages (n = 9) of basalts of the ophiolite. Elsewhere, Miocene arc-related calc-alkaline andesite dikes which intrude the ophiolitic rocks contain zircons which yield mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages of 20.1 ± 0.2 and 19.8 ± 0.2 Ma. The ophiolite gabbro and the andesites both contain rare inherited zircons ranging from 122–104 Ma. The Early Cretaceous zircons in the arc andesites are interpreted as xenocrysts from the Mt. Camel basement terrane through which magmas of the Northland Miocene arc lavas erupted. The inherited zircons in the ophiolite gabbros suggest that a small fraction of this basement was introduced into the suboceanic mantle by subduction and mixed with mantle melts during ophiolite formation.

We postulate that the tholeiitic suite of the ophiolite represents the crustal segment of SSZ lithosphere (SSZL) generated in the southern South Fiji Basin (SFB) at a northeast-dipping subduction zone that was initiated at about 35 Ma. The subduction zone nucleated along a pre-existing transform boundary separating circa 45–20 Ma oceanic lithosphere to the north and west of the Northland Peninsula from nascent back arc basin lithosphere of the SFB. Construction of the SSZL propagated southward along the transform boundary as the SFB continued to unzip to the southeast. After subduction of a large portion of oceanic lithosphere by about 26 Ma and collision of the SSZL with New Zealand, compression between the Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate was taken up along a new southwest-dipping subduction zone behind the SSZL. Renewed volcanism began in the oceanic forearc at 25 Ma producing boninitic-like, SSZ and within-plate alkalic and calc-alkaline rocks. Rocks of these types temporally overlap ophiolite emplacement and subsequent Miocene continental arc construction.     

A critical evaluation of young (near-zero) K–Ar ages

An evaluation of the precision and resolution of the unspiked K–Ar dating method is presented with particular regard to the statistical significance of ages that are measured near or at the detection limit of the technique. Near-zero (historical) ages can be measured by the unspiked K–Ar technique with a precision that is essentially controlled by the precision with which the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar of the sample can be resolved from the present-day atmospheric value of 295.5. The best analytical precision on the isotopic ratio is ±0.05% (1σ) by this technique, which currently limits the lower detection limit of unspiked K–Ar ages to samples featuring at least 0.14% of radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar. The corresponding youngest resolvable K–Ar age depends on the K content and atmospheric contamination of the sample. Total-fusion analysis of high-K refractory minerals like sanidine is not practicable via K–Ar, and the lowest resolvable age for medium-K samples more amenable to complete fusion is around 1.5 ka (on a single-run basis). It is argued that near-zero age measured with a probability density straddling or narrowing the time-origin cannot be handled without accounting for the non-negativity constraint imposed by the physical requirement of a positive age. The pertinent equations are derived both for the single-run case and for the case of independent replicates made on a single sample. We show that pooled K–Ar replicates can theoretically reduce the nominal uncertainty of individual unspiked ages (typically ±1.5 ka, 2σ) to a value that is close to the smallest ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar isochron age uncertainty achievable on sanidine in the 0–2 ka range (±0.2 ka, 2σ). However, this performance is obtained at the cost of prohibitively large-sample statistics (n≥15) for medium-K feldspars datable via K–Ar. Coupled with the inability of the K–Ar approach to obviate the problems of excess/fractionated ⁴⁰Ar and/or xenocrystic contamination, this makes the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar technique the method of choice for dating historical events by the K–Ar scheme.     

Uranium-lead zircon and titanite ages from the northern portion of the Western Gneiss Region, south-central Norway

The geochronologic history of the northern portion of the Western Gneiss Region, south-central Norway has been investigated by UPb analyses of zircon and titanite from various basement units and one supracrustal gneiss. A six-point (four zircon and two titanite) discordia line from a migmatite melt-pod and its host-gneiss (Åstfjord migmatite gneiss) defines upper- and lower-intercept ages of 1659.1 ± 1.8 Ma and 393.6 ± 3.6 Ma, respectively. The upper-intercept age is interpreted as a time of tonalite emplacement and migmatite formation in the region.A seven-point (three zircon and four titanite) discordia line from the Ingdal granite gneiss has similar upper- and lower-intercept ages (1652.9 ± 1.7 Ma and 396.1 ± 4.9 Ma, respectively) and the upper-intercept age is interpreted as the time of granite crystallization. The lower-intercept age from both theÅstfjord migmatite gneiss and the Ingdal granite gneiss is interpreted as the time of regional metamorphic resetting and is evidence for Caledonian influence in the region.Titanite from these two gneiss units, as well as from other tonalite, granite, and supracrustal gneisses throughout the Western Gneiss Region displays a remarkably uniform pattern of discordance. Titanite discordance is variable from 6% to 100% and, in general, the degree of discordance is proportional to the Caledonian metamorphic grade of nearby supracrustal schists. Episodic, diffusional lead loss from titanite during Caledonian metamorphism probably caused the discordance pattern, but a combined mechanism of mixing and diffusional lead loss cannot be ruled out. In any case, the seventeen-point titanite and zircon discordia line clearly indicates that: (1) the bulk of the granitoid terrane in this portion of the Western Gneiss Region was emplaced, migmatized, and cooled in a short time interval about 1657 Ma ago; (2) a second, short-lived thermal event that exceeded the blocking temperature of titanite occurred about 395 Ma ago; and (3) titanite and zircon in the region were not isotopically disturbed by comparable geologic events in the period from 1657 to 395 Ma, or at any time after 395 Ma.     

Granite generation and rapid unroofing related to strike-slip faulting, Aysén, Chile

A stock of biotite-muscovite-garnet leucogranite crops out in the lower course of Río Cisnes as an unusual minor lithology within the predominantly dioritic to tonalitic North Patagonian Batholith. Foliated and unfoliated varieties are present—the former are nearer to the main lineament of the Liquin˜e-Ofqui Fault Zone (LOFZ). Two-feldspar thermometry indicates equilibration temperatures above 600°C, for pressures probably not over 3 kbar, as suggested by the Mn-rich garnet composition. A Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron age of 9.6 ± 0.4 Ma (1σ error) probably indicates the time of magma crystallization. ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar ages of 6.6 ± 0.3 Ma on muscovite and 5.5 ± 0.4 Ma on biotite are cooling ages from which a moderate average uplift/denudation rate ( 1 mm/yr) may be calculated. Paucity of occurrence, distribution close to the LOFZ and a near minimum-melt composition all suggest that the leucogranite magma was derived by partial melting of the lower crust, perhaps by decompression melting at a time when uplift/denudation rates were high (4 mm/yr or more are required). Regional evidence for rapid Holocene uplift in the immediate vicinity of the LOFZ substantiates the feasibility of the proposed petrogenetic model, which may be valid in other strike-slip orogenic environments.     

Systematics of xenocrystic contamination: preservation of discrete feldspar populations at McCullough Pass Caldera revealed by Ar/Ar dating

Single crystal ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of K-feldspars from silicic volcanic rocks containing xenocrysts often yields a spectrum of ages slightly older than those of juvenile sanidine phenocrysts. In contrast, feldspars from thin, low-volume units of the Tertiary (14 Ma) McCullough Pass Tuff define discrete age populations at 14 Ma, 15 Ma, and 1.3 Ga, reflecting the time of eruption, xenocrysts from an older ignimbrite exposed in the caldera wall, and Proterozoic basement K-feldspars, respectively. Conductive cooling and diffusion modelling suggests preservation of such discrete populations is likely only when xenocrystic material is incorporated into the magma very near or at the surface, or is engulfed in thin, rapidly cooled pyroclastic flows during emplacement. Incorporation of xenocrysts into the subvolcanic magma chamber, into thick rhyolite domes or lava flows, or into large, welded ignimbrite sheets will result in partial or total resetting of the K/Ar isotopic system. Similarly, petrographic evidence such as exsolution lamellae may be homogenized under these conditions but not in thin ignimbrites. Extremely low diffusion rates for disordering of the Al–Si tetrahedral siting of basement feldspars suggests that they will retain their ordered structural state given rhyolitic magma temperatures. Thus, even when petrographic and K/Ar isotopic evidence for xenocrystic contamination is obscured, it may be preserved in the form of Al–Si ordering.     

K–Ar age–chemistry–fabric relations of phengite from the Sanbagawa high-pressure schists, Japan

The Sanbagawa high-pressure schists from central Shikoku in Southwest Japan have experienced high-strain ductile deformation during exhumation and cooling. This study examines the effects of high-strain ductile deformation on K–Ar ages of phengites on the basis of fabric, chemistry and K–Ar ages of phengites from the pelitic, psammitic and quartzose (or albitic) schists collected from the same outcrop in the albite–biotite zone. Phengites in the pelitic and psammitic schists generally occur forming aggregates consisting of fine-grained phengite crystals and are extremely fine-grained in domains close to relatively rigid garnet and albite porphyroblasts, indicating that deformation-induced grain-size reduction had taken place in phengite during the ductile deformation accompanying the exhumation of host schists. We suggest that the grain-size reduction of phengite is due to strain-induced recrystallization or dynamic recrystallization. The matrix phengites in schists are chemically heterogeneous on the thin-section scale but the phengites from pelitic and psammitic schists from the same outcrop have similar chemical range. Phengite included in garnet has a high Si value and its Na/(Na + K) and Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratios are significantly low in comparison with those in matrix. The phengite included in garnet records the chemistry in equilibrium with other major silicate phases during the higher pressure stage of the P–T–t history of the schists. In contrast, the matrix phengites having low Si values are likely to have been formed during retrograde metamorphism in extremely restricted equilibrium domains. The two or three different types of schists from the same outcrop, which have a similar grain size of phengite, have similar K–Ar ages, suggesting that the closure temperature does not depend on chemistry. However, the hematite-rich quartzose schist with strong grain-size reduction of both phengite and quartz has a significantly younger K–Ar phengite age than the pelitic and quartzose schists in the same outcrop that do not show grain-size reduction. We suggest that the exhumation tectonics of the schists, which have experienced strong ductile deformation at temperatures less than ~350°C, played an important role resulting in the observed variation in age.     

40Ar–39Ar analysis of phlogopite in the Horoman Peridotite Complex, Hokkaido, Japan and implications for its origin

Abstract ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar analysis of phlogopite separated from a plagioclase lherzolite of the Horoman Peridotite Complex, Hokkaido, Japan, has yielded a plateau age of 20.6 ± 0.5 Ma in an environment where the metamorphic fluid was characterized by an almost atmospheric Ar isotopic ratio. The age spectrum is slightly saddle-shaped, implying some incorporation of excess ⁴⁰Ar during the formation of the phlogopite at a depth. As the phlogopite has been inferred to have formed in veins and/or interstitials during exhumation of the peridotite body, metasomatic fluids, to which ground- and sea water might have contributed, were probably involved in the formation of phlogopite in the crustal environment. A total ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar age of 129 Ma of a whole rock sample of the plagioclase lherzolite, from which the phlogopite was separated and is representative of the main lithology of the Horoman Peridotite Complex, indicates the occurrence of excess ⁴⁰Ar. Hence, the age has no geological meaning.     

Dating earthquakes with high-precision thorium-230 ages of very young corals

Mass spectrometric techniques have recently yielded significant increases in precision and sensitivity over previous methods for measuring²³⁰Th abundance in corals. To assess the accuracy of²³⁰Th ages, three corals from Vanuatu, whose ages were known from counting annual growth bands, were analyzed. For each sample, the date of growth determined by²³⁰Th analysis (A.D.1969 ± 3, 1932 ± 5,and1806 ± 5; 2σ uncertainties based on analytical error) was indistinguishable from the date determined by counting bands (A.D. 1971–1973, 1935–1937, and 1804–1810), indicating that the²³⁰Th dates are accurate.²³⁰Th dates were also determined for two adjacent emerged heads from Santo Is., Vanuatu, which were thought to have died when they were raised above sea level during coseismic uplift. The dates (A.D.1864 ± 4, 1866 ± 4) were the same, indicating that the heads died at the same time and consistent with the idea that they were killed by coseismic emergence around A.D. 1865. The difference between this date and the date of the only major historically documented earthquake that caused uplift (A.D. 1973,M_s = 7.5), suggests a seismic recurrence interval of108 ± 4y for Santo. Analogous emerged corals from Malekula Is., Vanuatu yielded²³⁰Th dates that were similar to each other (A.D.1729 ± 3, 1718 ± 5) and are inferred to have died during coseismic emergence around A.D. 1729. In conjunction with the date of the only large historically documented earthquake that caused uplift (A.D. 1965,M_s = 7.5), the recurrence interval for Malekula is236 ± 3y. If similar emerged corals can be found, this appraoch may be extended back in time and to other localities because it appears that such features can now be dated both accurately and precisely.     

Timing of rotational motion of Southwest Japan inferred from paleomagnetism

Paleomagnetic field directions for the period younger than 35 Ma are obtained from igneous rocks distributed in the San'in district, Inner Zone of Southwest Japan. The remanent magnetization of samples between 30 and 35 Ma old are fairly well grouped with a mean direction of D = 65.9°, I = 48.6°, and ₉₅ = 6.5°. This result establishes that Southwest Japan rotated clockwise 56 ± 12° during the past 30 m.y. A declination value of about 60° is observed in the rocks of 28 Ma ( D = 52.2°, I = 33.5°) and 21 Ma (D = 69.9°, I = 49.5°). Comparing this with results from dacitic rocks with an age of 15 Ma in other areas of Southwest Japan suggests that rotational motion did not occur possibly until 15 Ma. These results require that the rotation of Southwest Japan occurred just after the Shikoku Basin had been created.