The Palaeozoic tectono-metallogenic evolution of the northern Tasman Fold Belt System, Australia: Interplay of subduction rollback and accretion

The Tasman Fold Belt System in eastern Australia provides a record of the Palaeozoic geological history and growth of the Australian continent along the proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana inboard of an extensive and long-lived subduction system. The Hodgkinson and Broken River provinces represent prominent geological elements of this system and together form the northern Tasman Fold Belt System. Geochronological age dating of the timing of gold formation in the Amanda Bel Goldfield in the Broken River Province and the Hodgkinson Goldfield in the Hodgkinson Province provides constraints on the occurrence of a deformation and mineralisation episode in the Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous. Integration of these newly-obtained data with petrogenetic constraints and a time–space evaluation of the geological evolution of the Hodgkinson and Broken River provinces, as well as other terranes in the northern Tasman Fold Belt System, allows for the development of a geodynamic model for the Palaeozoic evolution of the northern Tasman Fold Belt System. Our model indicates that three cycles of extension–contraction occurred during the Palaeozoic evolution of the northern Tasman Fold Belt System. Episodes of extension were controlled by rollback of the subduction system along the proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana, whereas episodes of contraction resulted from accretion following the arrival of positively buoyant segments (i.e., micro-continental blocks/oceanic plateaus) at the subducting trench.Our composite interpretative model on the geodynamic evolution of the northern Tasman Fold Belt System integrates the timing of the development of mineral deposits throughout this part of the system and provides a significant advancement in the understanding of Palaeozoic geodynamics along the margin of Gondwana in northeast Australia and allows comparison with the southern part of the Tasman Fold Belt System.     

Ar/Ar thermochronology of the Kampa Dome, southern Tibet: Implications for tectonic evolution of the North Himalayan gneiss domes

Structural and thermochronological studies of the Kampa Dome provide constraints on timing and mechanisms of gneiss dome formation in southern Tibet. The core of Kampa Dome contains the Kampa Granite, a Cambrian orthogneiss that was deformed under high temperature (sub-solidus) conditions during Himalayan orogenesis. The Kampa Granite is intruded by syn-tectonic leucogranite dikes and sills of probable Oligocene to Miocene age. Overlying Paleozoic to Mesozoic metasedimentary rocks decrease in peak metamorphic grade from kyanite + staurolite grade at the base of the sequence to unmetamorphosed at the top. The Kampa Shear Zone traverses the Kampa Granite — metasediment contact and contains evidence for high-temperature to low-temperature ductile deformation and brittle faulting. The shear zone is interpreted to represent an exhumed portion of the South Tibetan Detachment System. Biotite and muscovite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronology from the metasedimentary sequence yields disturbed spectra with 14.22 ± 0.18 to 15.54 ± 0.39 Ma cooling ages and concordant spectra with 14.64 ± 0.15 to 14.68 ± 0.07 Ma cooling ages. Petrographic investigations suggest disturbed samples are associated with excess argon, intracrystalline deformation, mineral and fluid inclusions and/or chloritization that led to variations in argon systematics. We conclude that the entire metasedimentary sequence cooled rapidly through mica closure temperatures at  14.6 Ma. The Kampa Granite yields the youngest biotite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of  13.7 Ma immediately below the granite–metasediment contact. We suggest that this age variation reflects either varying mica closure temperatures, re-heating of the Kampa Granite biotites above closure temperatures between 14.6 Ma and 13.7 Ma, or juxtaposition of rocks with different thermal histories. Our data do not corroborate the “inverse” mica cooling gradient observed in adjacent North Himalayan gneiss domes. Instead, we infer that mica cooling occurred in response to exhumation and conduction related to top-to-north normal faulting in the overlying sequence, top-to-south thrusting at depth, and coeval surface denudation.     

Winter daily precipitation variability over the South West Peninsula of England

Summary Daily precipitation totals for five consecutive winters (1995–99) were obtained for 127 stations in Devon and Cornwall to explore spatial variations in rainfall. This dataset was assembled with the explicit aim of assessing the appropriateness of current arrangements for daily rainfall forecasts in the SW Peninsula of England. Firstly, the extent to which fundamental geographic variables determine precipitation was investigated by correlating each station’s mean wet day amount (WDA) and percentage of wet days (PERWET) with altitude, latitude, longitude and distance from the coast. Altitude emerged as the most important control on precipitation, with a two-variable multiple linear regression model containing altitude and latitude being able to explain 39.3% (29.8%) of the variance in WDA (PERWET) values. The main spatial modes of variability in the region’s precipitation field were identified by using S mode principal components analysis (PCA). Six PCs were statistically significant and explained 83.4% of the geographic variance in precipitation over Devon and Cornwall. The components were interpreted physically by examining the synoptic flow environment (pressure and wind anomalies) on days with high positive and negative PC scores. Explaining 25.1% of the variance, the most important pattern (PC1) depicts a location’s degree of exposure or shelter in a moist, unstable W–NW airflow. The higher PCs describe modes of variability that accentuate rainfall in East Devon (PC2), Cornwall (PC3), Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor (PC4), South Devon (PC5), and North Cornwall and NW Devon (PC6) relative to other areas of the Peninsula. Finally, a winter precipitation regionalisation was derived by applying agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis to the PC loadings of the significant components. In most cases, the six coherent precipitation regions do not reflect the familiar administrative or topographic areas used for forecasting, suggesting that forecasts issued on such a basis are likely to be insufficiently detailed and misleading.     

The excitation of the iron Kα feature in solar flares

We evaluate the relationship between the hard X-ray photon spectrum and the flux of iron K emission in a thick-target electron bombardment model. Results are presented for various power-law hard X-ray spectra. We then apply these results to two events observed with the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer and the K channel of the X-Ray Polychromator Bent Crystal Spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission satellite. For one of the events, on 29 March, 1980, at 09:18 UT, the K flux predicted for a thick-target non-thermal process is significant compared to the background fluorescent component, and the data are indeed consistent with an enhancement of the predicted amount. For the other event, on 14 October, 1980 at 06:09 UT, the hard X-ray spectrum is so steep that no significant Ka flux is predicted for this process, and no enhancement is seen. We conclude that the agreement between the predicted K flux and the observed magnitude of the K enhancement above the fluorescent background at the time of the large hard X-ray bursts lends support to a thick-target non-thermal interpretation of impulsive hard X-ray emission in solar flares.     

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Evolutionary creativity in landscapes

In biological evolution, creativity occurs in the appearance of new entities by evolutionary dynamics. This is linked to mutations and genetic drift, which cannot occur in geophysical phenomena. Biota can exhibit evolutionary creativity that influences landforms, but how does creativity (defined here as the capacity for emergence of new entities that increase the adjustedness of the landscape to environmental conditions) occur in landforms and landscapes as entities independent of biota? Creativity in geomorphic evolution does not require any sort of goal functions or purposeful innovation – just that geomorphic development is capable of producing novelties that may be better adapted (more efficient or durable) than predecessors. Independently of biota, evidence exists that landforms may develop to become more or less ‘fit' in terms of efficiency and/or durability. Thus, emergence of novel features may lead to their persistence. Emergence of novel forms is illustrated for the case of karst sinkholes (dolines), which indicates increasing geomorphic diversity over Ma and Ga timescales. A case study of fluviokarst chronosequences in Kentucky demonstrates emergence and elimination of landforms as landscapes evolve. Some of these may represent generally (as opposed to locally) novel landforms. While this article is more suggestive than demonstrative, results strongly suggest evolutionary creativity in geomorphology both tied to, and independent of, biological evolution. This occurs due to emergence of geomorphic entities that are subject to selection that tends to increase efficiency and durability. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interpretation of migrated seismic reflection profiles across the northern Appalachians in Maine

Summary. A simple line-migration technique has been developed and applied to deep crustal reflection data collected in the northern Appalachians of Quebec and central Maine. Preliminary interpretation of these data, combined with the results of gravity and refraction studies, shows thinning of the crust in two distinct steps beneath the Silurian-Devonian Merrimack synclinorium and shows evidence for Mesozoic crustal stretching and dike intrusion.     

A population analysis for Be and B oxyanions

Mulliken bond overlap populations calculated for beryllium and boron oxyanions isolated from a number of minerals and synthetic compounds correlate with observed bond lengths with shorter bonds tending to involve larger overlap populations. As the populations were calculated assuming constant bond lengths and observed valence angles, the correlations are asserted to reflect the angular geometry impressed on the oxyanions by neighboring cations. Extended Hückel theory shows that the dependence of overlap population upon valence angles is greater for boron than for beryllium oxyanions. This is consistent with the observation that bond length variations in boron oxyanions are greater than those in corresponding beryllium oxyanions. As expected, observed bond lengths correlate with valence angles with the shorter bonds tending to be involved in wider angles.Now at Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USANow at Geochemistry Branch, Phillips Petroleum Co., Bartlesville, Oklahoma 74004, USANow at Department of Geology, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio 43606, USA