Pb, Sr, and Nd isotopic and chemical evidence for a primitive island arc emplacement of the El Arco porphyry copper deposit (Baja California, Mexico)

The El Arco porphyry copper deposit is located in central Baja California and is a resource containing >600 Mt of ore with ∼0.6% copper. It was emplaced within a relatively primitive Jurassic island arc and it was subsequently metamorphosed and intruded by the Cretaceous Peninsular Ranges batholith. The porphyritic stock intrusion and ore formation at El Arco has recently been dated at ∼165 Ma [Valencia et al. GEOS 24:189 (2004)]. This age is much older than Aptian-Albian K–Ar ages previously reported from El Arco [Barthelmy, Geology of El Arco-Calmallí area, Baja California, México. MSc Thesis, San Diego State University, CA (1975); Baja California Geology. San Diego State University, CA, pp 127–138 (1979)]. The copper mineralization at El Arco is concentrated in a core of potassic alteration in a dioritic porphyritic stock surrounded by propylitic alteration in andesitic lavas. Mafic dikes that intruded the deposit are not mineralized, but they are affected by post-ore low-grade metamorphism. The dikes are compositionally the most primitive rocks, while host rock andesites and the porphyry stock display typical volcanic arc characteristics. The Pb isotope data from sulfides, feldspars, quartz, and whole-rock samples indicate that: (1) the copper-bearing porphyry stock and the surrounding andesites evolved from a similar source with an average μ-value of 9.43; (2) no external Pb was added during mineralization; (3) some Pb isotope compositions were slightly disturbed by a later metamorphic event. Strontium and Nd isotopes show that the magmas evolved from a depleted mantle reservoir with no involvement of older continental crust. Our data favor a model for the formation of the El Arco deposit linked to a Triassic to Jurassic intra-oceanic arc system, cropping out at the western margin of central Baja California in the Cedros-Vizcaíno region. The intra-oceanic arc together with the El Arco deposit was accreted to the active continental margin of North America and metamorphosed during the Early Cretaceous. This model is in disagreement to earlier models that favor the El Arco deposit formation being linked to the Cretaceous continental margin.     

Prospect for UV observations from the Moon

Space astronomy in the last 40 years has largely been done from spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) for which the technology is proven and delivery mechanisms are readily available. However, new opportunities are arising with the surge in commercial aerospace missions. We describe here one such possibility: deploying a small instrument on the Moon. This can be accomplished by flying onboard the Indian entry to the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, Team Indus mission, which is expected to deliver a nearly 30 kgs of payloads to the Moon, with a rover as its primary payload. We propose to mount a wide-field far-UV (130–180 nm) imaging telescope as a payload on the Team Indus lander. Our baseline operation is a fixed zenith pointing but with the option of a mechanism to allow observations of different attitudes. Pointing towards intermediate ecliptic latitude (50^° or above) ensures that the Sun is at least 40^° off the line of sight at all times. In this position, the telescope can cover higher galactic latitudes as well as parts of Galactic plane. The scientific objectives of such a prospective are delineated and discussed.     

Detrital provenance of the Grenvillian Oaxacan Complex,southern Mexico: a zircon perspective

The Oaxacan Complex is the largest exposure of Grenvillian-age rocks in Mexico, constituting the backbone of the Oaxaquia microcontinent. Whereas the main rock-forming events were previously established at 1,150–1,200 Ma (charnockite–syenite–gabbros), 1,020 Ma (AMCG suite), 990 Ma (granulite-facies metamorphism), and ca. 970 Ma post-tectonic pegmatites, no data are yet available to establish provenance links with other Grenville-age terranes. In this work, we studied detrital zircons belonging to 12 samples, all metamorphosed under granulite facies but variably affected by retrogression. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry U–Pb geochronology was employed on selected zircons to determine their crystallization age and geochemistry. The results of the analysis of about 100 crystals per sample show that the studied zircons range between ca. 940 and 1,400 Ma, with only three samples having zircons between 1,400 and 1,600 Ma, and only one showing older zircons up to ca. 1,775 Ma. Whereas some of the slightly discordant (1–5 %) zircons in several samples show ages younger than the granulite metamorphism (probably as a result of Pb loss), and thus a disturbed geochemical pattern (abnormal enrichment in LREE, decreasing HREE), a few metamorphic zircons show flat and depleted HREE patterns, contrasting with the igneous pattern of older zircons (positive Ce anomaly, negative Eu anomaly, enriched HREE pattern). The main distributions observed using the kernel density estimator diagrams fall in the range 975–995 Ma (six samples), 1,100 Ma (four samples) and 1,120–1,170 Ma (six samples). Only the southernmost sample shows a marked peak at ca. 1,400 Ma. The application of the Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K–S) statistical test to the studied samples and particularly the comparison of obtained P values yield interesting similarities. Overall, two sample groups show internal similarities, i.e., they may belong to the same source area, whereas only one sample is dissimilar, failing to pass the K–S test. Comparison of these data with the timing of comparable events in the Sveconorwegian orogens, the Sunsas and Rondonia-San Ignacio belts of Amazonia, and some of the Precambrian massifs cropping out in the Andes help to constrain possible Mesoproterozoic conjugate margins of Oaxaquia.