Electron microprobe U–Th–Pb monazite dating of the Transamazonian metamorphic overprint on Archean rocks from the Amapá Block, southeastern Guiana Shield, Northern Brazil

The Amapá Block, southeastern Guiana Shield, represents an Archean block involved in a large Paleoproterozoic belt, with evolution related to the Transamazonian orogenic cycle (2.26 to 1.95 Ga). High spatial resolution dating using an electron-probe microanalyzer (EPMA) was employed to obtain U–Th–Pb chemical ages in monazite of seven rock samples of the Archean basement from that tectonic block, which underwent granulite- and amphibolite-facies metamorphism. Pb–Pb zircon dating was also performed on one sample.Monazite and zircon ages demonstrate that the metamorphic overprinting of the Archean basement occurred during the Transamazonian orogenesis, and two main tectono-thermal events were recorded. The first one is revealed by monazite ages of 2096 ± 6, 2093 ± 8, 2088 ± 8, 2087 ± 3 and 2086 ± 8 Ma, and by the zircon age of 2091 ± 5 Ma, obtained in granulitic rocks. These concordant ages provided a reliable estimate of the time of the granulite-facies metamorphism in the southwest of the Amapá Block and, coupled with petro-structural data, suggest that it was contemporaneous to the development of a thrusting system associated to the collisional stage of the Transamazonian orogenesis, at about 2.10–2.08 Ga.The later event, under amphibolite-facies conditions, is recorded by monazite ages of 2056 ± 7 and 2038 ± 6 Ma, and is consistent with a post-collisional stage, marked by granite emplacement and coeval migmatization of the Archean basement along strike-slip shear zones.     

Discovery of a c.370 Ma granitic gneiss clast from the Hwanggangri pebble-bearing phyllite in the Okcheon metamorphic belt, Korea

The chemical Th–U total Pb isochron method (CHIME) of dating was carried out on accessory minerals in samples from the Okcheon metamorphic belt in Korea. Dated minerals include xenotime and monazite with overgrown mantles in a granitic gneiss clast from the Hwanggangri Formation, metamorphic allanite in garnet-bearing muscovite–chlorite schist of the Munjuri Formation, and polycrase and monazite in post-tectonic granite from the Hwanggangri area. Overgrowth of mantles took place at 369 ± 10 Ma on c. 1750 Ma cores of xenotime and monazite in the granitic gneiss. Allanite, occurring in textural equilibrium with peak metamorphic minerals, yields a CHIME age of 246 ± 15 Ma that is discriminably older than the polycrase (170 ± 6 Ma) and monazite (170 ± 3 Ma) ages of the post-tectonic granite. These chronological data suggest that some of the metasedimentary rocks in the belt formed through a single stage of metamorphism at c. 250 Ma from post-370 Ma sediments. Late Permian age signatures have also been reported from the Precambrian Gyeonggi and Yeongnam massifs that border the Okcheon metamorphic belt, and indicate that parts of the basement massifs and the metamorphic belt were affected by the same regional metamorphic event.     

Single zircon ages for felsic to intermediate rocks from the Pietersburg and Giyani greenstone belts and bordering granitoid orthogneisses, northern Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa

Previous models for the temporal evolution of greenstone belts and surrounding granitoid gneisses in the northern Kaapvaal Craton can be revised on the basis of new single zircon ages, obtained by conventional U---Pb dating and Pb---Pb evaporation. In the Pietersburg greenstone belt, zircons from a metaquartz porphyry of the Ysterberg Formation yielded an age of 2949.7±0.2 Ma, while a granite intruding the greenstones, and deformed together with them, has an age of 2853 + 19/−18 Ma. These data show felsic volcanism in this belt to have been coeval with felsic volcanism in the Murchison belt farther east, and the date of 2853 Ma provides an older age limit for deformation in the region. In contrast, a meta-andesite of the Giyani greenstone belt has a zircon age of 3203.3±0.2 Ma, while a younger and cross-cutting feldspar porphyry has an emplacement age of 2874.1±0.2 Ma. The meta-andesite is intercalated with various mafic and ultramafic rocks and, therefore, the age of 3.2 Ga appears plausible for the bulk of the Giyani greenstones.Granitoid gneisses surrounding the Pietersburg and Giyani belts vary in composition from tonalite to granite and texturally from well-layered to homogeneous but strongly foliated. These rocks yielded zircon ages between 2811 and 3283 Ma. The pre-3.2 Ga gneisses are polydeformed and may have constituted a basement to the Giyani greenstone sequence, while the younger gneisses are intrusive into the older gneiss assemblage and/or into the greenstones. The Giyani and Pietersburg belts probably define two separate crustal entities that were originally close together but were later displaced by strike-slip movement.     

中条山-吕梁山前寒武纪变质杂岩的独居石电子探针定年研究

中条山和吕梁山前寒武纪变质杂岩是华北克拉通中部带南段的重要组成部分,它们的变质作用及其相关的花岗质岩浆作用是我们全面认识华北克拉通中部带的性质与演化的关键,具有重要的科学意义。中条山前寒武纪变质杂岩两个样品的独居石电子探针Th-U-Pb化学法定年表明,永济和横岭关岩体变质二长花岗质岩石记录了两个主要峰年龄范围,分别为1884.7~1849.9Ma和1743.5~1738.8Ma;前者为变质年龄,后者为流体活化的年龄。吕梁山五个样品的独居石电子探针Th-U-Pb化学法定年表明,石榴石二云母片岩和花岗质片麻岩的记录了>1902Ma、1883.3~1865.6Ma和1731.3Ma。>1902Ma年龄代表早期岩浆和深熔事件,1883.3~1865.6Ma代表峰期变质事件,1731.3Ma代表晚期流体活动事件。石榴石花岗岩记录了1882.8~1850.9Ma深熔岩浆事件。未变质花岗岩脉记录的1742.6Ma和石榴石二云母片岩记录的1731.1Ma为晚期岩浆-流体活动事件。综合上述独居石电子探针定年的结果,不难看出中条山—吕梁山前寒武纪变质杂岩主期变质作用发生在1885~1849Ma,并伴生有同期的S-型花岗质岩浆活动,与恒山—五台山—阜平杂岩的变质变形作用同时发生,进一步证明华北克拉通中部带的拼合作用发生在古元古代晚期。     

U–Pb ages of Neoarchean granitoids from the Black Hills, South Dakota, USA: implications for crustal evolution in the Archean Wyoming province

Zircons in basement rocks from the eastern Wyoming province (Black Hills, South Dakota, USA) have been analyzed by ion microprobe (SHRIMP) in order to determine precise ages of Archean tectonomagmatic events. In the northern Black Hills (NBH) near Nemo, Phanerozoic and Proterozoic (meta)sedimentary rocks are nonconformably underlain by Archean biotite–feldspar gneiss (BFG) and Little Elk gneissic granite (LEG), both of which intrude older schists. The Archean granitoid gneisses exhibit a pervasive NW–SE-trending fabric, whereas an earlier NE–SW-trending fabric occurs sporadically only in the BFG, which is intruded by the somewhat younger LEG. Zircon crystals obtained from the LEG and BFG exhibit double terminations, oscillatory zoning, and Th/U ratios of 0.6±0.3—thereby confirming a magmatic origin for both lithologies. In situ analysis of the most U–Pb concordant domains yields equivalent ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages (upper intercept, U–Pb concordia) of 2559±6 and 2563±6 Ma (both ±2σ) for the LEG and BFG, respectively, which constrains a late Neoarchean age for sequential pulses of magmatism in the NBH. Unzoned (in BSE) patches of 2560 Ma zircon commonly truncate coeval zonation in the same crystals with no change in Th/U ratio, suggesting that deuteric, fluid-assisted recrystallization accompanied post-magmatic cooling. A xenocrystic core of magmatic zircon observed in one LEG zircon yields a concordant age of 2894±6 Ma (±2σ). This xenocryst represents the oldest crustal material reported thus far in the Black Hills. Whether this older zircon originated as unmelted residue of 2900 Ma crust that potentially underlies the Black Hills or as detritus derived from 2900 Ma crustal sources in the Wyoming province cannot be discerned. In the southern Black Hills (SBH), the peraluminous granite at Bear Mountain (BMG) of previously unknown age intrudes biotite–plagioclase schist. Zircon crystals from the BMG are highly metamict and altered, but locally preserve small domains suitable for in situ analysis. A U–Pb concordia upper intercept age of 2596±11 Ma (±2σ) obtained for zircon confirms both the late Neoarchean magmatic age of the BMG and a minimum age for the schist it intrudes. Taken together, these data indicate that the Neoarchean basement granitoids were emplaced at 2590–2600 Ma (SBH) and 2560 Ma (NBH), most likely in response to subduction associated with plate convergence (final assembly of supercontinent Kenorland?). In contrast, thin rims present on some LEG–BFG zircons exhibit strong U–Pb discordance, high common Pb, and low Th/U ratios—suggesting growth or modification under hydrothermal conditions, as previously suggested for similar zircons from SE Wyoming. The LEG–BFG zircon rims yield a nominal upper intercept date of 1940–2180 Ma, which may represent a composite of multiple rifting events known to have affected the Nemo area between 2480 and 1960 Ma. Together, these observations confirm the existence of a Paleoproterozoic rift margin along the easternmost Wyoming craton. Moreover, the 2480–1960 Ma time frame inferred for rifting in the Black Hills (Nemo area) corresponds closely to a 2450–2100 Ma time frame previously inferred for the fragmentation of supercontinent Kenorland.     

阿拉善地块东部早古生代(约420 Ma)变质事件的发现及其地质意义:来自独居石与锆石U-Pb定年的新证据

前寒武纪变沉积岩系是阿拉善地块重要组成部分,准确测定其原岩成岩时代和变质时代,对于进一步认识阿拉善地块起源、形成、演化与亲缘性具有十分重要的科学意义.本文对阿拉善地块东部阿拉坦敖包地区德尔和通特组含蓝晶石石榴云母石英片岩开展了系统的野外地质调查、岩相学观察和同位素年代学研究.碎屑锆石U-Pb定年和野外地质调查表明,阿拉坦敖包地区德尔和通特组和祖宗毛道组碎屑锆石年龄介于3 306~1 146 Ma,并以出现中元古代锆石年龄（1 800~1 100 Ma）高频区为特征,最小一组碎屑锆石年龄约为1 123 Ma,结合区域上它们被约900 Ma花岗质片麻岩侵入的野外关系,阿拉坦敖包地区德尔和通特组与祖宗毛道组变沉积岩系的沉积时代被限定在1 123~900 Ma之间,为一套中元古代晚期?新元古代早期陆缘沉积建造,具有亲华北板块的特点.此外,变质独居石和变质锆石U-Pb定年和微量元素分析表明,阿拉坦敖包地区德尔和通特组含蓝晶石泥质片岩中发育大量变质独居石,它们具有典型变质独居石的稀土元素配分模式（轻稀土元素强烈富集而重稀土元素强烈亏损）,其加权平均年龄为419±3 Ma（MSWD=7.1,n=40）,类似地,一个锆石变质边也记录了406±7 Ma的206Pb/238U年龄.这些变质年龄被解释为阿拉善地块东部阿拉坦敖包地区德尔和通特组含蓝晶石石榴云母石英片岩遭受早古生代末角闪岩相变质?变形作用的时代,可能是阿拉善地块与周缘微陆块早古生代末碰撞造山作用的响应.      

Syntectonic crustal melting and high-grade metamorphism in a transpressional regime, Variscan Massif Central, France

Hot collisional orogens are characterized by abundant syn-kinematic granitic magmatism that profoundly affects their tectono-thermal evolutions. Voluminous granitic magmas, emplaced between 360 and 270 Ma, played a visibly important role in the evolution of the Variscan Orogen. In the Limousin region (western Massif Central, France), syntectonic granite plutons are spatially associated with major strike–slip shear zones that merge to the northwest with the South Armorican Shear Zone. This region allowed us to assess the role of magmatism in a hot transpressional orogen. Microstructural data and U/Pb zircon and monazite ages from a mylonitic leucogranite indicate synkinematic emplacement in a dextral transpressional shear zone at 313 ± 4 Ma. Leucogranites are coeval with cordierite-bearing migmatitic gneisses and vertical lenses of leucosome in strike–slip shear zones. We interpret U/Pb monazite ages of 315 ± 4 Ma for the gneisses and 316 ± 2 Ma for the leucosomes as the minimum age of high-grade metamorphism and migmatization respectively. These data suggest a spatial and temporal relationship between transpression, crustal melting, rapid exhumation and magma ascent, and cooling of high-grade metamorphic rocks.Some granites emplaced in the strike–slip shear zone are bounded at their roof by low dip normal faults that strike N–S, perpendicular to the E–W trend of the belt. The abundant crustal magmatism provided a low-viscosity zone that enhanced Variscan orogenic collapse during continued transpression, inducing the development of normal faults in the transpression zone and thrust faults at the front of the collapsed orogen.     

Age constraints on felsic intrusions, metamorphism and gold mineralisation in the Palaeoproterozoic Rio Itapicuru greenstone belt, NE Bahia State, Brazil

U–Pb sensitive high resolution ion microprobe mass spectrometer (SHRIMP) ages of zircon, monazite and xenotime crystals from felsic intrusive rocks from the Rio Itapicuru greenstone belt show two development stages between 2,152 and 2,130 Ma, and between 2,130 and 2,080 Ma. The older intrusions yielded ages of 2,152±6 Ma in monazite crystals and 2,155±9 Ma in zircon crystals derived from the Trilhado granodiorite, and ages of 2,130±7 Ma and 2,128±8 Ma in zircon crystals derived from the Teofilândia tonalite. The emplacement age of the syntectonic Ambrósio dome as indicated by a 2,080±2-Ma xenotime age for a granite dyke probably marks the end of the felsic magmatism. This age shows good agreement with the Ar–Ar plateau age of 2,080±5 Ma obtained in hornblendes from an amphibolite and with a U–Pb SHRIMP age of 2,076±10 Ma in detrital zircon crystals from a quartzite, interpreted as the age of the peak of the metamorphism. The predominance of inherited zircons in the syntectonic Ambrósio dome suggests that the basement of the supracrustal rocks was composed of Archaean continental crust with components of 2,937±16, 3,111±13 and 3,162±13 Ma. Ar–Ar plateau ages of 2,050±4 Ma and 2,054±2 Ma on hydrothermal muscovite samples from the Fazenda Brasileiro gold deposit are interpreted as minimum ages for gold mineralisation and close to the true age of gold deposition. The Ar–Ar data indicate that the mineralisation must have occurred less than 30 million years after the peak of the metamorphism, or episodically between 2,080 Ma and 2,050 Ma, during uplift and exhumation of the orogen.Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available for this article at     

Further evidence for an early Carboniferous (∼340 Ma) age of high-grade metamorphism in the Saxonian granulite complex

U–Pb and Pb–Pb zircon ages for metamorphic zircons from granulites in the Saxonian granulite complex are reported, using the SHRIMP ion microprobe, conventional multigrain and single-gain techniques and the evaporation method. This is complemented by a Pb–Pb evaporation age for a post-granulite granite emplaced into the schist mantle around the granulites during uplift of the complex. We also demonstrate that zircon ages are not reset during high-grade metamorphism, as commonly argued, but have a very high closure temperature and usually preserve the isotopic composition reflecting the time of their formation. Multifaceted zircons from four granulite samples that probably grew close to the peak of high-grade metamorphism yielded identical U–Pb and Pb–Pb ages of ～340?Ma which support previously published data and unambiguously show that the granulites formed during a lower Carboniferous event and not in the early Palaeozoic or Precambrian as previously suggested. Older cores in some of the metamorphic zircons reveal early Palaeozoic components at 470–485?Ma that we interpret as ages reflecting magmatic crystallization of the granulite precursors. One sample suggests an inherited component as old as ～1700?Ma. The post-granulite granite has a Pb–Pb evaporation age of 333.1±1.0?Ma, and the short time interval between granulite metamorphism and granite intrusion implies that uplift, crustal extension and cooling of the granulite complex occurred rapidly after peak metamorphic conditions.     

Temporal relationship between granite cooling and hydrothermal uranium mineralization at Dalongshan in China: a combined radiometric and oxygen isotopic study

A combined study using multi-radiometric dating and oxygen isotopic geothermometry was carried out for Mesozoic quartz syenite, alkali-feldspar granite and associated hydrothermal uranium mineralization at Dalongshan in the Middle-Lower Yangtze valley of east-central China. Radiometric dating of the quartz syenite yields a whole-rock Rb–Sr isochron age of 135.6±4.3 Ma, a zircon U–Pb isochron age of 132.9±2.2 Ma, and K–Ar ages of 126±2, 118±3 and 94±4 Ma for hornblende, biotite and orthoclase, respectively. The alkali-feldspar granite yields a whole-rock Rb–Sr isochron age of 117.3±3.3 Ma, a zircon U–Pb isochron age of 114.7±2.1 Ma, and K–Ar ages of 112±2, 109±3 and 88±4 Ma for hornblende, biotite and orthoclase, respectively. Oxygen isotope thermometry for both granites gives temperatures of 685 to 720, 555 to 580, 435 to 460 and 320 to 330 °C, for hornblende, magnetite, biotite and orthoclase respectively, when paired with quartz. The systematic differences among the ages by the different techniques on the different minerals are used to reconstruct the cooling history of the granite. The results yield rapid cooling rates of 27.4 to 58.6 °C/Ma from 800 to 300 °C in the early stage, but slow cooling rates of 6.3 to 7.2 °C/Ma from 300 to 150 °C in the late stage. The regular sequence of oxygen isotope temperatures for the different quartz–mineral pairs demonstrates that diffusion is a dominant factor controlling the closure of both radiometric and O isotopic systems during granite cooling. Pitchblende U–Pb isochron dating yields an uranium mineralization age of 106.4±2.9 Ma, which is younger than the age of the granite emplacement and thus considerably postdates the time of magma crystallization, but is close to the closure time of the K–Ar system in the biotite. This points to a close relationship between granite cooling and ore-forming process. It appears that hydrothermal mineralization took place in the stage of slow cooling of the granite, whereas the rapid cooling of the granite was concurrent with the migration of hydrothermal fluids along fault structures. Therefore, the activity of the ore-forming hydrothermal system is temporally dictated by the cooling rates of the granite and may lag about 25 to 30 Ma behind the crystallization timing of associated granite.     

通化地区光华岩群变质岩锆石U-Pb定年及其地质意义

吉林通化地区光华岩群出露于太古宙TTG片麻岩之中,其形成时代一直存在争议.利用SHRIMP与LA-ICPMS技术,对其代表性岩石样品开展了锆石U-Pb定年分析,包括石榴黑云片岩、黑云二长片麻岩、石榴角闪片岩和侵入光华岩群底部的钾长花岗岩.结果显示,光华岩群4件变质岩石样品尽管位置不同,但碎屑锆石年龄非常接近,207Pb/206Pb谐和年龄集中在2.6~2.5 Ga之间,加权平均值分别为2 529±7 Ma、2 568±4 Ma、2 526±11 Ma和2 530±6 Ma,表明其成岩物质来源于新太古代地体.部分变质岩石记录了2 525±10 Ma、1 926±40 Ma和1 878±16 Ma的变质锆石年龄,表明其既经历了太古代末期的构造热事件改造,又遭受了古元古代晚期碰撞造山事件的扰动.确定侵入光华岩群底部的钾长花岗岩的侵位年龄为2 154±7 Ma,岩石未遭受变形改造,其成因可能与陆内裂谷发育过程有关.      

Time constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Eastern Sierras Pampeanas (Central Argentina)

The application of the SHRIMP U/Pb dating technique to zircon and monazite of different rock types of the Sierras de Córdoba provides an important insight into the metamorphic history of the basement domains. Additional constraints on the Pampean metamorphic episode were gained by Pb/Pb stepwise leaching (PbSL) experiments on two titanite and garnet separates. Results indicate that the metamorphic history recorded by Crd-free gneisses (M2) started in the latest Neoproterozoic/earliest Cambrian (553 and 543 Ma) followed by the M4 metamorphism at ~530 Ma that is documented in the diatexites. Zircon ages of 492 Ma in the San Carlos Massif correlate partly with rather low Th/U ratios (<0.1) suggesting their growth by metamorphic fluids. This age is even younger than the PbSL titanite ages of 506 Ma. It is suggested that the fluid alteration relates to the beginning of the Famatinien metamorphic cycle in the neighbouring Sierra de San Luis and has not affected the titanite ages. The PTt evolution can be correlated with the plate tectonic processes responsible for the formation of the Pampean orogene, i.e., the accretion of the Pampean basement to the Río de La Plata craton (M2) and the later collision of the Western Pampean basement with the Pampean basement.     

Single zircon ages of migmatitic gneisses and granulites in the Obudu Plateau: Timing of granulite-facies metamorphism in southeastern Nigeria

A single zircon geochronological study of gneisses from the Obudu Plateau of southeastern Nigeria, using the evaporation technique, indicates that zircons recorded several Precambrian high-grade metamorphic events (Eburnean and Pan-African). Igneous and multifaceted metamorphic zircons yielded ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages of 2062.4 ± 0.4 Ma, 1803.8 ± 0.4 Ma and 574 ± 10 Ma, respectively and confirm for the first time that granulite-facies metamorphism affected the basement of southeastern Nigeria, resulting in the formation of charnockites and granulitic gneisses. The Pan-African high-grade event was coeval with the formation of granulites in Cameroon, Togo and Ghana and resulted from collisional processes during continental amalgamation to form the Gondwana supercontinent. The sources of the sediments, which were deposited at ≈605 Ma and metamorphosed at 574 Ma, comprise older igneous and metamorphic protoliths (including inherited xenocrystic zircons up to 2.5 Ga in age). The Palaeoproterozoic zircons seem to have survived Pan-African melting.     

Neoarchaean high-grade metamorphism in the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt (South Africa): Combined petrological and geochronological evidence from the Bulai pluton

The Bulai pluton represents a calc-alkaline magmatic complex of variable deformed charnockites, enderbites and granites, and contains xenoliths of highly deformed metamorphic country rocks. Petrological investigations show that these xenoliths underwent a high-grade metamorphic overprint at peak P–T conditions of 830–860 °C/8–9 kbar followed by a pressure–temperature decrease to 750 °C/5–6 kbar. This P–T path is inferred from the application of P–T pseudosections to six rock samples of distinct bulk composition: three metapelitic garnet–biotite–sillimanite–cordierite–plagioclase–(K-feldspar)–quartz gneisses, two charnoenderbitic garnet–orthopyroxene–biotite–K-feldspar–plagioclase–quartz gneisses and an enderbitic orthopyroxene–biotite–plagioclase–quartz gneiss. The petrological data show that the metapelitic and charnoenderbitic gneisses underwent uplift, cooling and deformation before they were intruded by the Bulai Granite. This relationship is supported by geochronological results obtained by in situ LA-ICP-MS age dating. U–Pb analyses of monazite enclosed in garnet of a charnoenderbite gneiss provide evidence for a high-grade structural-metamorphic–magmatic event at 2644 ± 8 Ma. This age is significantly older than an U–Pb zircon crystallisation age of 2612 ± 7 Ma previously obtained from the surrounding, late-tectonic Bulai Granite. The new dataset indicates that parts of the Limpopo's Central Zone were affected by a Neoarchaean high-grade metamorphic overprint, which was caused by magmatic heat transfer into the lower crust in a ‘dynamic regional contact metamorphic milieu’, which perhaps took place in a magmatic arc setting.     

粤北长江铀矿田花岗岩独居石U-Pb同位素定年及其地质意义

长江铀矿田位于诸广山复式岩体中南部,是典型的花岗岩型铀矿田.前人采用锆石U-Pb定年方法对赋矿花岗岩进行了年代学研究,但由于全岩和锆石铀含量较高,锆石往往发生了蜕晶化,可能导致锆石U-Pb定年数据散乱,影响锆石U-Pb年龄的可靠性.独居石是花岗岩中广泛存在的含铀副矿物,铀和钍含量均较高,可达10000×10-6,普通铅...     

Contrasting ages between isotopic chronometers in granulites: monazite dating and metamorphism in the Higo Complex, Japan

The Higo Complex of west-central Kyushu, western Japan is a 25 km long body of metasedimentary and metabasic lithologies that increase in metamorphic grade from schist in the north to migmatitic granulite in the south, where granitoids are emplaced along the southern margin. The timing of granulite metamorphism has been extensively investigated and debated. Previously published Sm–Nd mineral isochrons for garnet-bearing metapelite yielded ca.220–280 Ma ages, suggesting high-grade equilibration older than the lower grade schist to the north, which yielded ca.180 Ma K–Ar muscovite ages. Ion and electron microprobe analyses on zircon have yielded detrital grains with rim ages of ca.250 Ma and ca.110 Ma. Electron microprobe ages from monazite and xenotime are consistently 110–130 Ma. Two models have been proposed: 1) high-grade metamorphism and tectonism at ca.115 Ma, with older ages attributed to inheritance; and 2) high-grade metamorphism at ca.250 Ma, with resetting of isotopic systems by contact metamorphism at ca.105 Ma during the intrusion of granodiorite. These models are evaluated through petrographic investigation and electron microprobe Th–U–total Pb dating of monazite in metapelitic migmatites and associated lithologies. In-situ investigation of monazite reveals growth and dissolution features associated with prograde and retrograde stages of progressive metamorphism and deformation. Monazite Th–U–Pb isochrons from metapelite, diatexite and late-deformational felsic dykes consistently yield ca.110–120 Ma ages. Earlier and later stages of monazite growth cannot be temporally resolved. The preservation of petrogenetic relationships, coupled with the low diffusion rate of Pb at < 900 °C in monazite, is strong evidence for timing high-temperature metamorphism and deformation at ca.115 Ma. Older ages from a variety of chronometers are attributed to isotopic disequilibrium between mineral phases and the preservation of inherited and detrital age components. Tentative support is given to tectonic models that correlate the Higo terrane with exotic terranes between the Inner and Outer tectonic Zones of southwest Japan, possibly derived from the active continental margin of the South China Block. These terranes were dismembered and translated northeastwards by transcurrent shearing and faulting from the beginning to the end of the Cretaceous Period.     

Late Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Felsic Magmatism Along Transcrustal Shear Zones in Southern India: U-Pb Electron Microprobe Ages and Implications for the Amalgamation of the Gondwana Supercontinent

We report U-Pb electron microprobe ages for zircon and monazite from two granitic plutons from southern India, the Vattamalai granite within the Palghat-Cauvery Shear Zone system and the Pathanapuram granite within the Achankovil Shear Zone. A zircon grain from the Vattamalai granite has a core age of 693±132 Ma and is surrounded by a thick overgrowth with an age of 504±104 Ma. Monazites from the Vattamalai granite show a small range of ages between 500-520 Ma. PbO vs. ThO₂* plots of the monazites define a precise isochron age of 517±6.7 Ma (MSWD = 0.25). The oldest zircons in the Pathanapuram pluton are in the range 961-1149 Ma, with younger overgrowths at ~540-560 Ma. Monazite cores from the granite lie in the range of 526-574 Ma, whereas rims and bright overgrowths range from 506-539 Ma. These monazites define two linear arrays in PbO vs. ThO₂* plots with cores yielding an isochron age of 550±25 Ma (MSWD = 0.58) and the rims defining an age of 515±15 Ma (MSWD = 0.68).The age data from the granite plutons indicate multiple thermal imprints in southern India with the latest orogeny during the Late Neoproterozoic-Cambrian (Pan-African). The older zircon cores up to 1149 Ma from the Pathanapuram pluton suggest inherited components of late Mesoproterozoic age, caught up within the granite magma. However, the dominant 570-520 Ma ages obtained from both zircons and monazites closely compare with similar ages for magmatism and metamorphism from throughout the East African Orogen. Late Neoproterozoic-Cambrian felsic magmatism occurred along both the Palghat-Cauvery Shear System and the Achankovil Shear Zone, indicating that these shears were active at this time and may have served as pathways for the emplacement of magmas generated at depth. The magmatism represents part of the various collisional-extensional episodes that marked the final amalgamation of the Gondwana supercontinent.     

Crustal architecture above the high-pressure belt of the Grenville Province in the Manicouagan area: new structural, petrologic and U–Pb age constraints

Recent U–Pb age determinations and P–T estimates allow us to characterize the different levels of a formerly thickened crust, and provide further constraints on the make up and tectono-thermal evolution of the Grenville Province in the Manicouagan area. An important tectonic element, the Manicouagan Imbricate zone (MIZ), consists of mainly 1.65, 1.48 and 1.17 Ga igneous rocks metamorphosed under 1400–1800 MPa and 800–900 °C at 1.05–1.03 Ga, during the Ottawan episode of the Grenvillian orogenic cycle, coevally with intrusion of gabbro dykes in shear zones. The MIZ has been interpreted as representing thermally weakened deep levels of thickened crust extruded towards the NW over a parautochthonous crustal-scale ramp. Mantle-derived melts are considered as in part responsible for the high metamorphic temperatures that were registered.New data show that mid-crustal levels structurally above the MIZ are represented by the Gabriel Complex of the Berthé terrane, that consists of migmatite with boudins of 1136±15 Ma gabbro and rafts of anatectic metapelite with an inherited monazite age at 1478±30 Ma. These rocks were metamorphosed at about the same time as the MIZ (metamorphic zircon in gabbro: 1046±2 Ma; single grains of monazite in anatectic metapelite: 1053±2 Ma) and under the same T range (800–900 °C) but at lower P conditions (1000–1100 MPa). They are mainly exposed in an antiformal culmination above a high-strain zone, which has tectonic lenses of high P–T rocks from the MIZ and is intruded by synmetamorphic gabbroic rocks. This zone is interpreted as part of the hangingwall of the MIZ during extrusion. A gap of 400 MPa in metamorphic pressures between the tectonic lenses and the country rocks, together with the broad similarity in metamorphic ages, are consistent with rapid tectonic transport of the high P–T rocks over a ramp prior to the incorporation of the mafic lenses in the hangingwall.Between the antiformal culmination of the Gabriel Complex and the MIZ 1.48 Ga old granulites of the Hart Jaune terrane are exposed. They are intruded by unmetamorphosed 1228±3 Ma gabbro sills and 1166±1 Ma anorthosite. Hart Jaune Terrane represents relatively high crustal levels that truncate the MIZ-Gabriel Complex contact and are preserved in a synformal structure.Farther south, the Gabriel Complex is overlain by the Banded Complex, a composite unit including 1403+32/−25 Ma granodiorite and 1238+16/−13−1202+40/−25 Ma granite. This unit has been metamorphosed under relatively low-P (800 MPa) granulite-facies conditions. Metamorphic U–Pb data, limited to zircon lower intercept ages (971±38 Ma and 996±27 Ma) and a titanite (990±5 Ma) age, are interpreted to postdate the metamorphic peak.The general configuration of units along the section is consistent with extrusion of the MIZ during shortening and, finally, normal displacement along discrete shear zones.     

Contrasting ages between isotopic chronometers in granulites: monazite dating and metamorphism in the Higo Complex,Japan

The Higo Complex of west-central Kyushu, western Japan is a 25 km long body of metasedimentary and metabasic lithologies that increase in metamorphic grade from schist in the north to migmatitic granulite in the south, where granitoids are emplaced along the southern margin. The timing of granulite metamorphism has been extensively investigated and debated. Previously published Sm–Nd mineral isochrons for garnet-bearing metapelite yielded ca.220–280 Ma ages, suggesting high-grade equilibration older than the lower grade schist to the north, which yielded ca.180 Ma K–Ar muscovite ages. Ion and electron microprobe analyses on zircon have yielded detrital grains with rim ages of ca.250 Ma and ca.110 Ma. Electron microprobe ages from monazite and xenotime are consistently 110–130 Ma. Two models have been proposed: 1) high-grade metamorphism and tectonism at ca.115 Ma, with older ages attributed to inheritance; and 2) high-grade metamorphism at ca.250 Ma, with resetting of isotopic systems by contact metamorphism at ca.105 Ma during the intrusion of granodiorite. These models are evaluated through petrographic investigation and electron microprobe Th–U–total Pb dating of monazite in metapelitic migmatites and associated lithologies. In-situ investigation of monazite reveals growth and dissolution features associated with prograde and retrograde stages of progressive metamorphism and deformation. Monazite Th–U–Pb isochrons from metapelite, diatexite and late-deformational felsic dykes consistently yield ca.110–120 Ma ages. Earlier and later stages of monazite growth cannot be temporally resolved. The preservation of petrogenetic relationships, coupled with the low diffusion rate of Pb at < 900 °C in monazite, is strong evidence for timing high-temperature metamorphism and deformation at ca.115 Ma. Older ages from a variety of chronometers are attributed to isotopic disequilibrium between mineral phases and the preservation of inherited and detrital age components. Tentative support is given to tectonic models that correlate the Higo terrane with exotic terranes between the Inner and Outer tectonic Zones of southwest Japan, possibly derived from the active continental margin of the South China Block. These terranes were dismembered and translated northeastwards by transcurrent shearing and faulting from the beginning to the end of the Cretaceous Period.     

东喜马拉雅构造结泥质高压麻粒岩的锆石和独居石定年与地质意义

东喜马拉雅构造结的南迦巴瓦杂岩含有广泛分布的高压麻粒岩,但由于以前获得了许多不同的年龄,对这些麻粒岩的变质与深熔时代、持续时间和成因存在不同认识。本文对泥质高压麻粒岩（蓝晶石榴黑云片岩）中的锆石和独居石进行了系统的内部结构、U-（Th）-Pb定年和微量元素分析,以求揭示这些岩石是否具有相同的演化过程。所研究的6个蓝晶石榴黑云片岩由石榴石、蓝晶石、黑云母、石英、钾长石、斜长石、夕线石、白云母、石墨和副矿物金红石、钛铁矿、锆石和独居石组成,峰期矿物组合是石榴石+蓝晶石+斜长石+钾长石+黑云母+石英+金红石。6个样品中的锆石均由继承碎屑核+变质（深熔）幔+变质（深熔）边组成。其中3个样品中的锆石幔和边较宽,均可进行原位定年,幔部给出了类似的较老年龄范围（39.6~31.6Ma、40.8~32.0Ma和38.1~31.3Ma）,而边部给出了类似的较年轻年龄范围（26.8~17.3Ma、28.3~18.6Ma和28.4~18.8Ma）。另外3个样品的锆石幔部较窄,不能进行分析,其边部给出了与前3个样品锆石边部类似的年轻年龄范围（22.0~17.0Ma、20.9~16.9Ma和22.2~16.6Ma）。一个片岩样品中的独居石给出了与其锆石幔部+边部年龄类似的较宽年龄范围（38.1~17.5Ma）,而另外3个样品中的独居石获得了与其锆石边部年龄相似的年轻年龄范围（26.0~18.8Ma、22.3~16.9Ma和26.4~19.4Ma）。随着年龄的减小,锆石和独居石的Th/U比值增大,Eu/Eu^*减小,独居石的HREE和Y含量减小。基于这些分析结果,笔者认为所研究的6个片岩记录了相同的、从~41Ma持续到~17Ma的进变质与深熔过程。但是,由于某些样品中的锆石和独居石在早期变质和深熔过程中形成的结晶域（锆石幔部）很窄,无法定年,导致不同的样品获得了不同的年龄范围。结合现有研究成果,笔者推测南迦巴瓦杂岩中的高压麻粒岩经历了相似的长期进变质与深熔过程。