Geochronological constraints on Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution and regional correlations of the northern Outer Hebridean Lewisian complex,Scotland

Ion-microprobe U–Th–Pb geochronological data are presented for four samples from Paleoproterozoic belts in the Lewisian of the northern Outer Hebrides, north-west Scotland. Two of these samples, a tonalite sheet associated with the South Harris igneous complex, and a psammite from the Leverburgh metasupracrustal belt, South Harris, yield zircons with a dominant ca. 1.87 Ga age. These are interpreted as the igneous crystallisation age for the tonalite and the source rock for the psammite, and their age concordance suggests that the latter was developed in an arc basin sequence, derived largely from contemporaneous igneous rocks, and buried during collision, which resulted in documented >1.83 Ga high-grade metamorphism. A diorite from the Paleoproterozoic shear zone at the northern tip of Lewis has a probable 2.7–2.8 Ga protolith age, although its zircons have strongly been affected by Pb-loss during later events culminating in development of low Th/U overgrowths at ca. 1.86 Ga. Zircons from a tonalite from Berneray in the Sound of Harris yield an Archean crystallisation age of ca. 2.83 Ga, with no indication of later disturbance, thus providing a southern limit to the region affected by Paleoproterozoic tectonothermal events. The Paleoproterozoic arc in South Harris represents a major tectonic boundary (active margin) in the Lewisian of the Outer Hebrides, possibly correlated with the Laxford or Gairloch shear zones of the mainland Lewisian. Contrasts in the flanking region geology and geochronology, possibly reflecting lateral heterogeneities, may be introduced by major thrusts and/or extensional faults (e.g. the Outer Isles fault) developed between the shear zones. On a broader regional scale, evidence for a magmatic arc in the Lewisian is consistent with the tectonic style of other ca. 1.9 Ga Paleoproterozoic collisional orogens throughout Laurentia–Fennoscandia, suggesting a reappraisal of the formerly proposed intracratonic evolution of the Lewisian at this time.     

The geochemistry of Precambrian granulite facies rocks from the Lewisian complex of Tiree,Inner Hebrides,Scotland

The metamorphism and geochemistry of the major components of a small area of granulite facies rock are described and discussed, and a chemical model for the evolution of anomalous trace element distributions in such materials is suggested. The local complex was subjected to medium to high pressure granulite facies metamorphism between 2,900 and 2,600 m.y. All the analysed granulite facies rocks from Tiree; acid to intermediate gneisses, basic metamorphic rocks, and granitic rocks, have anomalous chemistries, being depleted in K, Rb, Nb, Y and Th, and have high K/Rb, Ba/Rb and Ca/Y ratios, and very low K/Ba and Rb/Sr ratios relative to normal portions of the upper continental crust. The gneisses seem to have been enriched in Ba and Sr.The chemical features of the rocks are considered to reflect their stable mineral assemblages in the granulite facies, and to be representative of deep-level crustal materials. The geochemical peculiarities of the complex may have been largely controlled by an upward intergranular diffusion, or “degassing” caused by high-grade metamorphism. It is suggested that such diffusion may have been active at the crust/upper mantle interface, some diffused material of mantle origin accounting for certain chemical oddities typical of Lewisian and some other Precambrian granulite facies rocks.     

Proterozoic anticlockwise P–T path of the Lewisian Complex of South Harris, Outer Hebrides, NW Scotland

The Leverburgh Belt and South Harris Igneous Complex in South Harris (northwest Scotland) experienced high-pressure granulite facies metamorphism during the Palaeoproterozoic. The metamorphic history has been determined from the following mineral textures and compositions observed in samples of pelitic, quartzofeldspathic and mafic gneisses, especially in pelitic gneisses from the Leverburgh Belt: (1) some coarse-grained garnet in the pelitic gneiss includes biotite and quartz in the inner core, sillimanite in the outer core, and is overgrown by kyanite at the rims; (2) garnet in the pelitic gneiss shows a progressive increase in grossular content from outer core to rims; (3) the Al^VI/Al^IV ratio of clinopyroxene from mafic gneiss increases from core to rim; (4) retrograde reaction coronas of cordierite and hercynite+cordierite are formed between garnet and kyanite, and orthopyroxene+cordierite and orthopyroxene+plagioclase reaction coronas develop between garnet and quartz; (5) a P–T path is deduced from inclusion assemblages in garnet and from staurolite breakdown reactions to produce garnet+sillimanite and garnet+sillimanite+hercynite with increasing temperature; and (6) in sheared and foliated rocks, hydrous minerals such as biotite, muscovite and hornblende form a foliation, modifying pre-existing textures. The inferred metamorphic history of the Leverburgh Belt is divided into four stages, as follows: (M1) prograde metamorphism with increasing temperature; (M2) prograde metamorphism with increasing pressure; (M3) retrograde decompressional metamorphism with decreasing pressure and temperature; and (M4) retrograde metamorphism accompanied by shearing. Peak P–T conditions of the M2 stage are 800±30 °C, 13–14 kbar. Pressure increasing from M1 to M2 suggests thrusting of continental crust over the South Harris belt during continent–continent collision. The inferred P–T path and tectonic history of the South Harris belt are different from those of the Lewisian of the mainland.     

The vertical dimensions of Late Devensian glaciation on the mountains of Harris and southeast Lewis,Outer Hebrides,Scotland

On North Harris and southeast Lewis a weathering limit separates glacially-moulded bedrock on low ground from frost-shattered bedrock and blockfields on high plateaux. Analysis of the depths of horizontal stress-release joints demonstrates significant contrasts in bedrock weathering above and below this boundary, and the survival of gibbsite only in soils above the weathering limit indicates that it represents the upper limit of Late Devensian glacial erosion. The weathering limit declines regularly in altitude on either side of the former ice shed, and is therefore interpreted as a periglacial trimline defining the upper limit of a locally-nourished ice mass at its maximum extent, rather than a former thermal boundary between protective cold-based and erosive warm-based ice. Calculated basal shear stress values are consistent with this interpretation. The configuration of the trimline indicates that at the last glacial maximum the area supported an ice cap that achieved a maximum altitude of ca. 700 m above present sea level and declined in altitude to the west-northwest and east-southeast at an average gradient of ca. 20 m km^?1. Extrapolation of the dimensions of this ice cap suggests that it terminated ca. 7–10 km west of the present coast of Harris, and was confluent with mainland ice a short distance east of the present coastline.     

Thermochronology of the PoSen complex,northern Vietnam: Implications for tectonic evolution in SE Asia

The PoSen complex, located closely adjacent to the southwestern margin of the Red River shear zone represents the uplifted basement of north Vietnam and may record the motion of the shear zone. However, its thermochronological history has not been fully examined yet. Here we applied U–Pb and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating methods to reveal its thermochronological history. U–Pb analysis of composite zircon grains by TIMS yielded an average age of 760 ± 25 Ma, clustering on the concordia line. Twelve SHRIMP U–Pb analyses also yielded a consistent result of 751 ± 7 Ma. Along with the geochemical features, the U–Pb dating results suggest the PoSen complex was a late Proterozoic magmatic complex, which could correspond to the Chengjiang orogeny, a widespread thermal event in southwest China. Results of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of micas and K-feldspars were in the range of 36–30 Ma, revealing a rapid cooling and exhumation history of the PoSen complex during the late Paleogene. The time span of cooling and exhumation of the PoSen complex is slightly older than the main cooling phases of the Ailao Shan–Red River (ASRR) metamorphic massifs (28–17 Ma), but is synchronous with the early igneous activity stage in the eastern Indo-Asian collision zone of southeast China and north Vietnam. Owing to the ongoing debate about the initiation and offset of the ASRR shear zone, the tectonic force for the late Paleogene cooling of the PoSen complex is still inconclusive. The rapid exhumation of the PoSen complex could be in response to either the detachment of the Neo-Tethyan slab or a transpressional phase of continental subduction along the ASRR shear system in the eastern Indo-Asian collision zone.     

Archaean granulite facies metamorphism of the Lewisian of Tiree, Inner Hebrides, north-west Scotland

The Lewisian of Tiree, north-west Scotland, underwent granulite facies metamorphism prior to 2.4 Ga. The temperatures and pressures estimated from garnet–clinopyroxene, garnet–orthopyroxene, hornblende–plagioclase and garnet–biotite geothermometers and clinopyroxene–plagioclase–garnet–quartz and orthopyroxene–plagioclase–garnet–quartz geobarometers are 810 ± 50° C and 10.5 ± 1.5 kbar. The imprecision of pressure estimates stems largely from uncertainties in garnet activity models. Calculations of blocking temperatures for Fe–Mg interdiffusion in clinopyroxene and garnet suggest that these temperatures and pressures represent only slightly reset peak-metamorphic conditions.
Down-temperature re-equilibration resulted in chemical zoning over the outer 50–100 μm of the mafic minerals. P–T paths calculated from this mineralogical zoning suggest nearly isobaric cooling. However, the growth of late sillimanite in metapelites requires that the retrograde P–T path had a significant decompression component, suggesting that the mineralogical zonation does not define the retrograde P–T path. The discrepancy between the P–T path calculated from mineralogical zonation and that implied by mineral reactions probably results from the net-transfer geobarometry reactions closing at higher temperatures than the exchange geothermometers.
The Tiree rocks have a similar history to the mainland Scourian complex. Granulite facies metamorphism accompanied by partial melting occurred prior to the intrusion of the Scourie dykes at c. 2.4 Ga, and the rocks underwent retrogression both prior to and after dyke emplacement. However, peak metamorphic temperatures and pressures on Tiree were lower than those recorded in the Scourian complex, and the Tiree rocks may have been at a different crustal level at that time.     

扬子北缘复合构造带的结构、演化和动力学

扬子北缘复合构造带位于秦岭—大别造山带南缘与扬子板块北缘之间,由桐柏—大别造山带、武汉—怀宁断褶带、九岭—江南隆起带、瑞昌—铜陵断褶带和大冶—宿松对接带等构造单元组成,是中生代不同时期构造体制叠加,不同方向构造复合、联合的结果。该复合构造带北侧的桐柏—大别山南缘构造带和武汉—怀宁前陆断褶带由北向南逆冲,主要形成于晚印支期,是特提斯构造体制作用的产物; 而南侧的九岭—江南隆起带和瑞昌—铜陵断褶带,则由南向北逆冲,主要形成于早燕山期,是太平洋构造体制作用的产物,同时北侧的大别山南缘构造带和前陆断褶带受到影响,再次活动; 位于该复合构造带中部的大冶—宿松对接带是上述不同构造体制下,不同方向应力叠加,多期构造形迹复合最终形成的复杂构造带。所以,扬子北缘复合构造带是特提斯构造体制与太平洋构造体制转换的产物,是中下扬子两大构造体系转换的经典记录。     

扬子北缘复合构造带的结构、演化和动力学

扬子北缘复合构造带位于秦岭—大别造山带南缘与扬子板块北缘之间,由桐柏—大别造山带、武汉—怀宁断褶带、九岭—江南隆起带、瑞昌—铜陵断褶带和大冶—宿松对接带等构造单元组成,是中生代不同时期构造体制叠加,不同方向构造复合、联合的结果。该复合构造带北侧的桐柏—大别山南缘构造带和武汉—怀宁前陆断褶带由北向南逆冲,主要形成于晚印支期,是特提斯构造体制作用的产物; 而南侧的九岭—江南隆起带和瑞昌—铜陵断褶带,则由南向北逆冲,主要形成于早燕山期,是太平洋构造体制作用的产物,同时北侧的大别山南缘构造带和前陆断褶带受到影响,再次活动; 位于该复合构造带中部的大冶—宿松对接带是上述不同构造体制下,不同方向应力叠加,多期构造形迹复合最终形成的复杂构造带。所以,扬子北缘复合构造带是特提斯构造体制与太平洋构造体制转换的产物,是中下扬子两大构造体系转换的经典记录。     

南海北部新生代构造演化序列

本文从构造地质学的基本理论出发,在综合分析板块作用、壳幔作用、岩浆热事件、构造变形、沉积作用等地质作用特点及其相互印证与制约关系的基础上,梳理了南海北部新生代主要构造事件和构造演化序列,提出受欧亚、印澳、太平洋3大板块的共同影响,南海北部新生代主要构造运动划分为礼乐运动、西卫运动一幕、西卫运动二幕、南海运动、南沙运动5次较为合适。其中礼乐运动使南海北部进入裂陷发展阶段,并产生NE走向小型断陷;西卫运动一幕使断陷进一步扩展;西卫运动二幕使南海北部由断陷向断坳转变,断陷走向向NEE向转变;南海运动使南海北部进入坳陷发展阶段;南沙运动使南海北部进入差异性区域沉降阶段,构造格局基本形成。南海北部这种构造演化序列造就了前古近系、古近系、新近系3层含油气结构层系及始新统湖相、渐新统湖相—湖沼相及海陆过渡相和中新统海相3套烃源岩,围绕3套烃源岩可形成"上生下储上盖"、"自生自储自盖"与"下生上储上盖"3类成藏组合和背斜、古潜山、地层-岩性等多种类型的油气藏及其复式油气聚集带。     

The tectonic evolution of the Qiongdongnan Basin in the northern margin of the South China Sea

Qiongdongnan Basin is a Cenozoic rift basin located on the northern passive continental margin of the South China Sea. Due to a lack of geologic observations, its evolution was not clear in the past. However, recently acquired 2-D seismic reflection data provide an opportunity to investigate its tectonic evolution. It shows that the Qiongdongnan Basin comprises a main rift zone which is 50–100 km wide and more than 400 km long. The main rift zone is arcuate in map view and its orientation changes from ENE–WSW in the west to nearly E–W in the east. It can be divided into three major segments. The generally linear fault trace shown by many border faults in map view implies that the eastern and middle segments were controlled by faults reactivated from NE to ENE trending and nearly E–W trending pre-existing fabrics, respectively. The western segment was controlled by a left-lateral strike-slip fault. The fault patterns shown by the central and eastern segments indicate that the extension direction for the opening of the rift basin was dominantly NW–SE. A semi-quantitative analysis of the fault cut-offs identifies three stages of rifting evolution: (1) 40.4–33.9 Ma, sparsely distributed NE-trending faults formed mainly in the western and the central part of the study area; (2) 33.9–28.4 Ma, the main rift zone formed and the area influenced by faulting was extended into the eastern part of the study area and (3) 28.4–20.4 Ma, the subsidence area was further enlarged but mainly extended into the flanking area of the main rift zone. In addition, Estimates of extensional strain along NW–SE-trending seismic profiles, which cross the main rift zone, vary between 15 and 39 km, which are generally comparable to the sinistral displacement on the Red River Fault Zone offshore, implying that this fault zone, in terms of sinistral motion, terminated at a location near the southern end of the Yinggehai Basin. Finally, these observations let us to favour a hybrid model for the opening of the South China Sea and probably the Qiongdongnan Basin.     

A Sm-Nd isotopic study of the South Harris Igneous Complex,the Outer Hebrides

Sm-Nd geochronology may be used to bracket the age of metamorphism in rocks which are difficult to date by other methods. By coupling whole rock Sm-Nd analyses of the principal members of the South Harris Igneous Complex, with Sm-Nd mineral isochrons on two anothositic gabbros, the age of granulite facios metamorphism has been defined. Whole rock analyses of three pairs of closely spaced samples of the anorthosite give consistent ages averaging 2.18±0.06 Gyr, but in general the data from the anorthosite do not define an isochron as a result of variable contamination of the evolving magma chamber. Whole rock data on the tonalite indicate that it is younger than 2.06 Gyr; its mean T_CHUR age is 1.86±0.05 Gyr. Garnet-pyroxene-amphibole-plagioclase mineral isochrons on two anorthosite samples give identical 1.87±0.04 Gyr ages which date cooling after the high pressure granulite facies metamorphism. Together with the tonalite whole rock data this defines the age of that metamorphism and confirms Dearnley's original assignment of an early Laxfordian age.     

Variations in crustal level and geothermal gradient during the evolution of the Lewisian complex of northwest Scotland

The metamorphic reactions observed in the polycyclic Precambrian gneisses of parts of western Sutherland and the Outer Hebrides are discussed in the light of other evidence bearing on the tectonic and metamorphic evolution of the Lewisian complex. The evidence that early granulite facies assemblages were transformed into successively lower-pressure assemblages seems consistent with the views expressed by several authors that the complex remained continuously at deep crustal levels for nearly a thousand million years after the earliest dated metamorphic event and that it began to rise towards the earth's surface during the Laxfordian metamorphic stage. The Scourie dyke swarm appears to have been emplaced under deep-seated conditions. The Laxfordian tectonic patterns record the effects of regional uplift and the associated metamorphic assemblages suggest local steepening of the geothermal gradient.     

新疆北部古生代构造演化的几点认识

最近的地质调查和研究资料揭示,新疆北部古生代存在"三块两带"的构造格局,并经历了复杂的洋陆转换过程。地质、地球物理和碎屑锆石年龄结果显示,准噶尔盆地南部应存在一个至少发育前震旦系的古老陆块;初步认为东准噶尔北自额尔齐斯构造带东南的玛依鄂博地区至南部的卡拉麦里构造带南界,整体为一增生杂岩体,西准噶尔自额尔齐斯构造带南缘至谢米斯台南缘亦为一增生杂岩体。提出新疆北部加里东运动表现为准噶尔-吐哈陆块、中天山陆块群、伊犁地块等拼合形成哈萨克斯坦板块的一部分。从新疆北部泥盆系建造组合和沉积环境演变视角,探讨了早古生代形成的哈萨克板块北部洋盆从早泥盆世开始,至晚泥盆世拼合,洋盆经历了逐渐变浅直至消亡的演化过程。结合区域地质调查资料,提出南天山为一巨大的增生杂岩体,代表了哈萨克斯坦板块与塔里木板块最后增生拼合的位置,亦是古亚洲洋在中国境内最后闭合的位置,闭合的时限为早石炭末期。在以上认识的基础上,提出新疆北部晚古生代构造演化的"三块两带"基本框架:即在统一哈萨克斯坦板块形成后,自北而南依次存在西伯利亚板块、哈萨克斯坦板块、塔里木板块及其间的准噶尔洋盆和南天山洋盆。晚泥盆世哈萨克斯坦板块与西伯利亚板块完成增生拼贴;早石炭世末,塔里木板块与西伯利亚-哈萨克斯坦联合板块完成增生拼贴,古亚洲洋结束洋陆转换;晚石炭世至早二叠世,新疆北部进入后碰撞伸展至大陆裂谷演化阶段。     

西秦岭北缘花岗质岩浆作用及构造演化

西秦岭北部江里沟、阿夷山、德乌鲁、温泉和中川5个花岗质岩体岩石学、地球化学和LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年代学研究结果表明,花岗岩体的岩性主体为花岗闪长岩-二长花岗岩,属高钾钙碱系列,少数为钙碱系列;形成时代为264~216Ma。江里沟、阿夷山和中川岩体属弱过铝质花岗岩(ACNK1.05),温泉岩体和德乌鲁岩体属准铝和弱过铝质花岗岩(ACNK=0.95~1.05);花岗岩具有埃达克岩(Sr400×10-6,Yb2×10-6)或喜马拉雅型花岗岩(Sr400×10-6,Yb2×10-6)的地球化学特征,或两者兼而有之。花岗岩浆起源于下地壳的部分熔融,源岩最有可能是古老的玄武质岩石。西秦岭北部存在埃达克岩和喜马拉雅型花岗岩,说明三叠纪时期存在陆陆碰撞或陆陆俯冲导致的地壳加厚,加厚的下地壳的部分熔融以及部分熔融发生深度的不同,形成本区具有埃达克或喜马拉雅型地球化学特点的花岗岩侵入体。埃达克岩和喜马拉雅型花岗岩对寻找金铜矿产具有一定的指导意义。     

The origin of reversed geochemical zoning in the northern New Hebrides volcanic arc

Integration of petrographic and geochemical data on each island in the Banks Group, northern Vanuatu (New Hebrides) has revealed a decrease in K₂O (and related incompatible elements) across the islands, away from the New Hebrides trench. The correlation with depth to the Benioff zone is therefore the reverse of that typically found in island arcs. REE evidence and source modelling indicates that this variation represents a progressive depletion in LREE/HREE in the upper mantle, laterally away from the trench and a progressive increase in partial melting of the source, in the same direction. These variations in chemistry are attributed to an earlier west-dipping Miocene subduction system, and the variation in degree of partial melting to the location of the islands with respect to the active back-arc basin. An enrichment of the upper mantle in the Miocene is ascribed to the ascent of hydrous fluids enriched in incompatible elements, from the west-dipping Benioff zone, and subsequent reaction with the overlying upper mantle. The model thus envisages approximately contemporaneous development of the Central Chain volcanoes and the backarc basin in the late Pliocene, with partial melting of hydrous, laterally zoned upper mantle resulting from the convective thermal regime associated with the rifting apart of the back-arc basin. The role of the present subduction regime in magma generation is considered to be very limited.     

Palaeomagnetic,geochronological and geological constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Mejillones Peninsula,northern Chile

Palaeomagnetic and geochronological data from an Early Palaeozoic high grade metamorphic complex (Jorgina Formation) and Jurassic layered basic intrusion (Moreno Complex) are reported from the Mejillones Peninsula of northern Chile (23–23°30'S). ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar dates from the Lower Palaeozoic Jorgina Formation and the Moreno Complex are between 170 and 158 Ma, coincident with a phase of emplacement of the north Chilean coastal batholith. This suggests that intrusion and magnetization of the Moreno Complex and the metamorphism and remagnetization of the Jorgina Formation were related to batholith emplacement. Extracted stable components of magnetization from all units (17 sites) define site-mean directions with a scattered distribution. The scatter in site-mean directions is interpreted as being due to minor, localized, non-uniform, block-fault related (normal or strike-slip, or both) rotation after 158 Ma. The palaeomagnetic and geochronological data indicate that no significant large-scale latitudinal translation of crustal blocks has taken place in this part of northern Chile since the Late Jurassic. In addition, they indicate that the uniform clockwise rotation after the mid-Cretaceous which affected the adjacent Cordillera de la Costa either did not extend into the Mejillones Peninsula or took the form of localized block-fault rotations. The restriction of palaeomagnetically defined styles of rotation to discrete areas within the north Chilean forearc indicates that forearc wide block-fault rotation models are not applicable to the Pacific margin of northern Chile.     

Structural setting and tectonic evolution of the Apennine Units of northern Calabria

A new structural–stratigraphic synthesis of the Apennine units of northern Calabria is presented. The Meso-Cenozoic successions are grouped into two tectonic units, named Pollino–Ciagola Unit (PCU) and Lungro–Verbicaro Unit (LVU), comprising terrains formerly attributed to five different tectonic units. FeMg carpholite and blue amphibole record HP–LT metamorphism in the LVU, followed by progressive decompression leading to final greenschist facies re-equilibration during dominantly extensional deformation. Final tectonic emplacement of the LVU over the PCU post-dated the metamorphism of the LVU and was accompanied by intense ductile deformation along zones of strain localisation in footwall rocks. All of the units were later affected by folding and minor thrusting during subsequent Apennine tectonics. To cite this article: A. Iannace et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Holocene relative sea‐level changes in Harris,Outer Hebrides,Scotland, UK

Evidence for relative sea‐level changes during the middle and late Holocene is examined from two locations on the Atlantic coast of Harris, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, using morphological mapping and survey, stratigraphical, grain size and diatom analysis, and radiocarbon dating. The earliest event identified is a marine flood, which occurred after 7982–8348 cal. a (7370 ± 80 ¹⁴C a) BP, when the sea crossed a threshold lying at ?0.08 m Ordnance Datum Newlyn (OD) (?2.17 m mean high water springs (MHWS)) before withdrawing. This could have been due to a storm or to the Holocene Storegga Slide tsunami. By 6407–6122 cal. a (5500 ± 60 ¹⁴C a) BP, relative sea levels had begun to fall from a sandflat surface with an indicated MHWS level of between 0.08 and ?1.96 m (?2.01 to ?4.05 m). This fall reached between ?0.30 and ?2.35 m (?2.39 to ?4.44 m) after 5841–5050 cal. a (4760 ± 130 ¹⁴C a) BP, but was succeeded by a relative sea‐level rise which reached between 0.54 and ?1.57 m (?1.55 to ?3.66 m) by 5450–4861 cal. a (4500 ± 100 ¹⁴C a) BP. This rise continued, possibly with an interruption, until a second sandflat surface was reached between 2.34 and ?0.26 m (0.25 to ?2.35 m) between 2952–3375 cal. a (3000 ± 80 ¹⁴C a) and 1948–2325 cal. a (2130 ± 70 ¹⁴C a) BP, before present levels were reached. The regressive episode from the earliest sandflat is correlated with the abandonment of the Main Postglacial Shoreline. It is maintained that the fluctuations in relative sea level recorded can be correlated with similar events elsewhere on the periphery of the glacio‐isostatic centre and may therefore reflect secular changes in nearshore sea surface levels. Despite published evidence from trim lines of differential ice sheet loading across the area, no evidence of variations in uplift between the locations concerned could be found. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

祁连山北阿拉善地体特征及其大地构造演化

祁连山北阿拉善地块在大地构造位置上处于中亚造山带、塔里木板块、祁连山-秦岭造山带和华北板块之间.阿拉善地体在太古代-元古代作为一个相对独立的小地体发育, 其结晶基底岩性与塔里木板块、华北板块存在一定程度差异.受加里东构造运动影响, 板块与地体表现为南聚北散特点; 在中奥陶世早期阿拉善地体与华北板块拼为一体, 进入板块整体演化阶段.中海西构造运动期, 北部早二叠世古亚洲洋关闭, 发育新增地壳, 形成北缘沟弧盆体系; 晚海西构造运动期, 阿拉善地体向南俯冲, 祁连山洋关闭, 地壳增生, 阿拉善地体与塔里木板块、华北板块焊接在一起.新特提斯构造运动对其影响巨大, 南缘表现为"左旋"走滑, 北缘表现为"右旋"走滑, 古生代所形成构造带均受到新生代北东向构造的强烈改造.阿拉善地体频繁的构造运动, 致使其南北部相对稳定的燕山期所形成的煤系中小盆地群(阿拉善-银额盆地群、北山盆地群、河西走廊盆地群、祁连山东部盆地群、祁连山西部盆地群、阿尔金盆地群、柴达木周缘盆地群), 也相应发生快速沉降与快速抬升过程, 后期均遭受强烈改造与破坏, 不仅造就烃源岩欠发育, 就是造成储集层致密, 总体不利于油气的生成、运移、聚集成藏, 油气勘探前景欠佳.     

Polymetamorphic evolution of the Lewisian complex,NW Scotland,as recorded by U-Pb isotopic compositions of zircon,titanite and rutile

U-Pb isotopic relations in zircon and titanite of granulite and amphibolite gneisses in the Lewisian complex and bordering Laxford Front reveal complex discordance patterns indicating multiple Late Archean and Early Proterozoic crystallization, overgrowth and Pb-loss events. The earliest stages in the evolution of the complex remain poorly resolved. Zircon ages of 2710 Ma date high-grade metamorphism and magmatism probably related to tectonic and magmatic accretion in a continental arc setting. A distinct event at 2490–2480 Ma, possibly initiated by metamorphism and deformation at high-grade conditions, caused amphibolitization of the granulites and emplacement of granitic pegmatites. This event can be correlated with development of Inverian shear zones and formation of granitoid layers along the Laxford Front. The emplacement of a younger generation of granitoid sheets during the Laxfordian event fromed hydrothermal titanite at 1754 Ma in gneisses south of the Laxford Bridge and partially reset older titanite at Scourie. Growth of secondary titanite and rutile also occurred during subsequent low-grade metamorphism at 1690–1670 Ma.