A study of the formation and history of a piece of continental crust by 87Rb-87Sr method: The case of the French oriental Pyrénées

Rb-Sr whole rock data for gneisses and granites from the oriental Pyrénées yield cadomian ages for the basement gneisses and hercynian ages for the granites. Granites occur in two generations. An alkaline granite dated at 335±15 m.y. is syn.—or slightly post-tectonic, and a later calcalkaline granite dated at 275±12 m.y, is clearly intrusive and marks the end of hercynian tectono-metamorphism. Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the granites put limits on the proportion of juvenile contribution from the mantle to their formation. Petrogenetic models are tested using Rb and Sr as tracers.     

The assessment of REE patterns and Nd/Nd ratios in fish remains

The REE content and isotopic composition of Sr and Nd have been determined in fish teeth ranging in age from the Trias to the present and from various localities mostly around the Atlantic. These measurements have been carried out on Selachian and Teleost remains from the same locality in Togo and show no appreciable difference, which suggests, with the help of a mass balance calculation of the Ce anomaly, that diagenetic effects are not responsible for the REE enrichment of biogenic phosphates.One group of fossil teeth has about 3 times the REE abundances of shale and a shale-normalized pattern with a minimum at Sm: it is thought to reflect deposition in the open-sea environment. A second group has REE concentration about 10 times higher than the first group with either a regular light REE enrichment or, more frequently, a maximum in the middle REE, both being probably indicative of deposition in estuarine or near-shore conditions. The shape of the REE spectra and the size of the Ce anomaly can be used semi-quantitatively to determine the depth of deposition. The results presented here on Late Cretaceous/Eocene fish teeth samples from Morocco reflect an increasing influx of deep waters with a lowLa/Yb ratio and strong negative Ce anomaly, which agrees well with the evolution of sediment chemistry and microfauna associations.In contrast, _Nd is typical of the water mass in which the fish debris decayed. Examples of nearly isolated basins identified with Nd isotopes include the South Atlantic prior to the Lutetian (_Nd ≈ −13.5), the Miocene Persian Gulf (_Nd = −3.1), and Bolivia during the Late Cretaceous (_Nd = −12.8). Togo and Guinea-Bissau results suggest that, in the South Atlantic, the meridional oceanic circulation had not started before 45 Ma ago.Combination of REE and_Nd data suggests that the assignment of Jurassic-Cretaceous samples measured so far to open-sea water masses is still ambiguous.     

The deep layers of a Paleozoic arc: geochemistry of the Copley-Balaklala series, northern California

REE, Zr, Nb concentrations and Sr, Nd isotope compositions have been measured in Copley basalts and andesites, Balaklala rhyolites, and Mule Mountain trondhjemites (northern California) which represent the deep layers of a well preserved intra-oceanic island arc of Siluro-Devonian age.⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr is shifted towards high values (up to 0.707) whereas Ce is preferentially removed from rhyolites. A large proportion of the analyzed samples including some acidic rocks shows a pronounced depletion in light REE. The ε_Nd(T) values of most Copley, Balaklala, and Mule Mountain rocks fall in the range +6 to +8 which suggests that they originated from a normal MORB-type source (ε_Nd(T) ≈ +9) contaminated with either sediments or an OIB-type component.In modern island arcs, only the shallow levels are accessible: comparison with the Copley-Balaklala-Mule Mountain Series suggests that, at depth, an immature island arc is likely to comprise thick layers of LILE-depleted tholeiites and rhyolites intensely altered by pervasive circulation of seawater. Least-square solutions of trace element models suggest that rhyolites and trondhjemites represent remelting of mafic volcanics from the arc basement rather than residual melts of basalt-andesite differentiation.     

A comparative study of Pleistocene phosphorites from the continental slope off western India

Two types of phosphorite recovered from the continental slope off western India are described. The first type, phosphorite 1, comprises a hard, grey nodule composed of carbonate fluorapatite (CFA) and calcite as major minerals. The phosphorite consists of light‐brown microcrystalline apatite containing a few skeletal fragments and planktonic foraminifera. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies show evidence of dissolution of skeletal calcite and filling of the resulting cavities by phosphate composed of ovoid to rod‐shaped apatite microparticles. Apatite also occurs as coatings on these particles. The P₂O₅ content of the phosphorite is 29%, and the CO₂ content of the CFA is about 4·5%. The rare‐earth element (REE) abundance (ΣREE=2·02 μg g^–1) is lower than in other modern phosphorites. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio and ?Nd value of this sample are 0·70921 and –9·9 respectively. The ¹⁴C age found through accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating (18 720 ± 120 years BP) is much younger than that determined by the U‐series method (100 ka). The second type, phosphorite 2, comprises a friable, light‐brown nodule consisting of CFA as the only major mineral, with a CO₂ content of the CFA of 4·5%. In thin section, the phosphate is light brown and homogeneous, and a few bone fragments are present. The P₂O₅ content is 33%, and REE contents (ΣREE = 0·18 μg g^–1) are lower than in phosphorite 1. The age of phosphorite 2 is >300 ka. Phosphorite 1 appears to have formed during the late Pleistocene through replacement of carbonate by phosphate; phosphorite 2 is also of Pleistocene age but is much older than phosphorite 1. The initial substrate for phosphorite 2 was a fish coprolite, which was subsequently phosphatized during slow sedimentation under low‐energy conditions. Microbial mediation is evident in both phosphorites. The colour, density and P₂O₅ content of the phosphorites are found to be dependent on the nature of the initial substrates and physico‐chemical conditions during phosphatization. The CO₂ content of the CFA is not related to the precursor carbonate phase. The nature of sediments, rates of sedimentation and the time spent undergoing phosphogenesis at the sediment–water interface may control REE concentrations in phosphorites.     

The Eocene unconformity of the Briançonnais domain in the French—Italian Alps,revisited (Marguareis massif,Cuneo); a hint for a Late Cretaceous—Middle Eocene frontal bulge setting

Abstract

The tectonic significance of the Eocene unconformity in the Briançonnais domain, classically regarded as recording a compressional event, is re-evaluated, based on field studies in the Marguareis massif, Maritime-Ligurian Alps. In this external, weakly metamorphic Briançonnais unit, we describe N-trending, folded paleo-normal faults. These paleofaults operated during the Late Cretaceous-Late Eocene, and control both the thickness of the Senonian-Paleocene calcschists and the distribution of the disconformable Middle Eocene-Early Priabonian formations, i.e. the channelised, resedimented Nummulitic limestones, associated with sandy turbidites, and the sandy- calcareous Lower Flysch Noir. The chaotic Upper Flysch Noir (Priabonian), which includes olistoliths from the Helminthoid Flysch nappes, disconformably overlies the Late Cretaceous-Middle/Late Eocene levels. At the scale of the whole Briançonnais domain of the French-Italian Alps, the superimposed Senonian-Eocene disconformities would indicate extensional faulting and block tilting, associated with a regional uplift which caused emersion of part of the domain (most internal Briançonnais, Corsica). Extension and coeval uplift would record the crossing of the frontal flexure (external bulge) of the European/Briançonnais lower plate situated west of the Alpine subduction zone between 80–70 Ma and ～40 Ma, i.e. before the subduction of the Briançonnais plateau around 38–35 Ma. © 2002 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.     

Saghro Group in the Ougnat Massif (Morocco), an evidence for a continuous Cadomian basin along the northern West African Craton

The Saghro Group (SG) is a folded, low-grade volcano-sedimentary series up to 8 km thick that crops out within and to the north of the Pan-African suture zone in the central and eastern Anti-Atlas. Here we describe the SG of the Ougnat inliers that are exposed in the easternmost Anti-Atlas beneath the unconformable, Late Ediacaran Ouarzazate Group (OZG) volcanic rocks. The Ougnat SG mostly consists of volcaniclastic greywackes accumulated in a peritidal-to-shallow basin. The basin infilling was deformed by NNE-trending, mostly upright folds with axial-planar slaty cleavage and low-grade metamorphism. The deformed SG rocks were intruded by the ～550 Ma Mellab hypovolcanic granodiorite. The latter also crosscuts the lowest OZG rocks that are dated to 574–571 Ma in the western Saghro region. The SG rocks that form the Siroua and Saghro inliers have an oldest age of 620–610 Ma and were folded at ～610–580 Ma at the onset of the Cadomian orogenic events. We show that the SG rocks are similar to the “Série verte” (SV) rocks that are exposed in the Ougarta and western Hoggar east of the Pan-African suture. We infer that the SG and SV rocks accumulated in a same, continuous basin that was bounding the West African Craton to the north and the east. This strongly subsiding basin formed close to a volcanic arc and was folded during the last Pan-African synmetamorphic events. Fold orientation and age of folding differ however along the edge of the West African Craton. The orogenic greywackes that form the remnants of the SG-SV basin thus constitute a precious record of the diachronic Cadomian event s.l. along the West African Craton northern margin.     

Late Cretaceous exhumation of the Oman blueschists and eclogites: a two-stage extensional mechanism

The continental material of the Saih Hatat window has been affected by a Late Cretaceous, obduction-related, HP-LT metamorphism below the Oman ophiolite. A high-rate exhumation process is witnessed by the Maastrichtian-Palaeocene onlap onto the blueschist-facies rocks. Drastic metamorphic omissions are documented between the lowest, eclogitic units and the overlying, blueschist-facies ones. Widespread late-metamorphic shear structures point to a top-to-the-NNE detachment, in opposition to the sense of the Late Cretaceous obduction. The inversion of the shearing sense occurred under similar, low temperature conditions in both the blueschist and eclogite-facies units. Admitting that these HP-LT metamorphic rocks formed progressively at various depth in the subducting Arabian margin, a two-stage extensional mechanism of exhumation is suggested: (i) early uplift of the eclogitic rocks up to the blueschists depth by ductile thinning or squeezing of a 'blind extensional allochthon'; (ii) exhumation of the whole HP-LT metamorphic core complex by inversion of the obduction sole-thrust and isostatic rebound of the lower plate.     

Une méthode de simulation de l'évolution des profils d'altération

Calculations of transfer of elements between minerals and aqueous solutions can be extended to water open systems. With this method, we can obtain steady state for water composition. Furthermore, evolution in space and time of a weathering profile can be computed.     

Etude de l'uranium,du thorium et de leurs isotopes dans quelques carottes du Bassin angolais (Atlantique Sud-Est)

Uranium and thorium distributions are studied in top-oxidized, bottom-reduced cores. In sediments uranium is more abundant in the reducing zones than in the oxidized ones. In pore water also, uranium is more abundant in the reducing zones. In the cores studied, the Io/U chronology is completely disturbed.The general model of steady-state diagenesis cannot be applied to the uranium pattern.