Pressure fluctuations and the formation of the PGE-rich Merensky and chromitite reefs, Bushveld Complex

The Merensky Reef and the underlying Upper Group 2 chromitite layer, in the Critical Zone of the Bushveld Complex, host much of the world’s platinum-group element (PGE) mineralization. The genesis is still debated. A number of features of the Merensky Reef are not consistent with the hypotheses involving mixing of magmas. Uniform mixing between two magmas over an area of 150 by 300 km and a thickness of 3–30 km seems implausible. The Merensky Reef occurs at the interval where Main Zone magma is added, but the relative proportions of the PGE in the Merensky Reef are comparable to those of the Critical Zone magma. Mineral and isotopic evidence in certain profiles through the Merensky Unit suggest either mixing of minerals, not magmas, and in one case, the lack of any chemical evidence for the presence of the second magma. The absence of cumulus sulphides immediately above the Merensky Reef is not predicted by this model. An alternative model is proposed here that depends upon pressure changes, not chemical processes, to produce the mineralization in chromite-rich and sulphide-rich reefs. Magma was added at these levels, but did not mix. This addition caused a temporary increase in the pressure in the extant Critical Zone magma. Immiscible sulphide liquid and/or chromite formed. Sinking sulphide liquid and/or chromite scavenged PGE (as clusters, nanoparticles or platinum-group minerals) from the magma and accumulated at the floor. Rupturing of the roof resulted in a pressure decrease and a return to sulphur-undersaturation of the magma.     

饶河杂岩中枕状玄武岩的锆石U－Pb年代学、地球化学及其地质意义

那丹哈达增生杂岩为中国东部古太平洋板块俯冲最为可靠的地质记录之一,对限定古大洋板块的西向俯冲具有重要的理论意义.饶河杂岩位于那丹哈达增生杂岩的核心位置,发育典型的增生杂岩组合,其中玄武岩类多呈构造透镜体状产出于超镁铁质-镁铁质杂岩带,变形轻微,没有遭受变质.对饶河杂岩中枕状玄武岩样品进行的同位素年代学和地球化学研究结果表明：饶河杂岩中枕状玄武岩锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb年龄为中侏罗世（168±2 Ma）,枕状玄武岩大离子亲石元素Rb、Sr亏损,高场强元素Nb、Ta富集,Th元素丰度较高,形成于洋岛（OIB型）环境.饶河杂岩中枕状玄武岩的形成时代和成因环境,对于该区侏罗纪时期构造动力学背景研究具有意义.     

Evolution of the Western Margin of Australia during the Rodinian and Gondwanan Supercontinent Cycles

The proto-Darling Fault zone and its successor, the Darling Fault, extend for 1, 000 km along the western continental margin of Australia and appear to have been active at several periods during the geological past. Deformation commenced at 2,570 Ma and affected Late Archaean granitoids along the western margin of the Yilgarn Craton. Much of the later activity reflects events related to the accretion and breakup associated with the Rodinia and Gondwanaland supercontinent cycles.In the north, rocks of the Northampton and Mullingarra Complexes form part of a high-grade Grenvillian orogenic belt lying to the west of the Darling Fault, referred to as the Pinjarra Orogen. They underwent granulite facies metamorphism 1080 Ma ago and form part of the global collisional event that resulted in the amalgamation of Rodinia. These rocks extend southward beneath Phanerozoic sedimentary cover (the Perth Basin), where they are constrained to the east by the Darling Fault and to the west by the Dunsborough Fault, the latter marking the eastern boundary of the Leeuwin Complex.The Leeuwin Complex is a fragment of Pan-African crust that has traditionally been considered part of the Pinjarra Orogen. It is composed predominantly of upper amphibolite to granulite facies felsic orthogneisses derived from A-type, anorogenic granitoids. Conventional and SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology has established that the granitoids evolved between 780 Ma and 520 Ma and were metamorphosed at 615 Ma. These events are equated with rifting associated with the breakup of Rodinia. Sm-Nd whole rock data support the juvenile nature of the crust and provide no evidence for the involvement of pre-existing Archaean continental material.During the Phanerozoic, the Dunsborough and Darling Faults were reactivated, as normal faults defining the inner arm of a major rift system within Eastern Gondwanaland and controlling sedimentation in the Perth Basin that now overlies the Grenvillian terrane. Major normal movement on the Darling Fault ceased by the Late Jurassic and it appears that continental breakup in the Early Cretaceous occurred along fractures closely related to the western boundary of the Leeuwin Complex that defined the eastern margin of the outer arm of the rift system. Breakup between Australia and Greater India commenced at 132 Ma and was followed by eruption of the Bunbury Basalt at 130 Ma and 123 Ma. This possibly resulted from hot spot activity beneath Eastern Gondwanaland and may have been a reflection of the Kerguelen plume, though the evidence is equivocal.It is argued from the petrographic, geochemical and isotopic characteristics, together with the likely contiguity of the Eastern Gondwanaland continents since the assembly of Rodinia, that the Leeuwin Complex evolved within an intracrustal rift and is not an exotic terrane. It is distinct from adjacent portions of the Pinjarra Orogen and should be considered a separate terrane. It is recommended that use of the term ‘Pinjarra Orogen’ be confined to rocks recording the Grenvillian events, thereby excluding those rocks (the Leeuwin Complex) that evolved during the later Pan-African orogeny.     

华北克拉通阜平杂岩中~2.7GaTTG片麻岩的厘定及其地质意义

通过详细的地质工作,本文从阜平杂岩中厘定出一套~2.7Ga的条带状TTG片麻岩系,其原岩主要为英云闪长岩,经历了强烈的变形和深熔改造。该片麻岩可分为岩石主体和条带,按条带形态和成分可分为三种:细小的暗色条带、深熔浅色条带和后期注入的长英质脉体。用LA-MC-ICPMS法对英云闪长岩中锆石进行了原位U-Pb年龄测试,其形成年龄为2669.2±9.7Ma。该片麻岩SiO2=64.32%~70.02%,具有高铝(Al2O3=14.00%~15.87%)富钠(Na2O=3.85%~4.22%)贫钾(K2O=1.13%~2.42%)及低K/Na比值的特点,Mg#指数为39.5~49.6。该片麻岩具有中等-强烈程度的稀土元素分异[(La/Yb)N=3.67~51.38],Eu异常不明显。其富集Sr(303×10-6~431×10-6)、Ba(191×10-6~696×10-6)等大离子亲石元素,亏损Nb(4.70×10-6~9.78×10-6)、Ta(0.19×10-6~0.75×10-6)、Ti(1378×10-6~3259×10-6)、P(174.6×10-6~960.6×10-6)等高场强元素,Cr(5.87×10-6~119.4×10-6)、Ni(6.72×10-6~45.75×10-6)等相容元素含量也较低。Yb(0.31×10-6~1.75×10-6)和Y(3.61×10-6~18.88×10-6)含量低,Sr/Y比值高(16.0~119.1),属于高铝的TTG,与高硅埃达克岩特征相似。推断是热的太古宙新生洋壳部分熔融而成。阜平地区~2.7Ga TTG片麻岩的厘定,进一步证实了华北克拉通在新太古代早期经历了强烈的陆壳增生,并为华北克拉通早期岩浆事件与世界范围的岩浆事件的对比提供了新的依据,为华北克拉通早期陆块及绿岩带的划分提供了新的限定。     

Structural and kinematic analysis of the Corredoiras detachment: evidence for early Variscan synconvergent extension in the Ordenes Complex, NW Spain

 An important detachment is described in the allochthonous Ordenes Complex, in the NW Iberian Massif, and its meaning is related to the kinematics of contemporaneous convergent structures. The Corredoiras Detachment (CD) separates a hangingwall unit, characterised by a medium-pressure metamorphic gradient, from a footwall high-pressure and high-temperature unit and an underlying ophiolitic unit. An associated ductile shear zone, nearly 2000 m thick, developed in the lower part of the hangingwall unit, where the Corredoiras Orthogneiss, a Lower Ordovician metagranite, was progressively transformed into augengneisses, mylonitic and ultramylonitic gneisses. The attitude of the stretching and mineral lineation in the mylonites varies due to late refolding at map scale, but the sense of movement can be estimated, being roughly top to the SE. According to crosscutting relationships, the CD developed subsequent to the thrusting of the high-pressure/high-temperature unit onto the ophiolitic unit, and prior to younger extensional detachments, upright folding and strike-slip tectonics. The geometric relationships of the CD with the previous structures in the footwall unit, the subtractive character of the metamorphic gap between its hangingwall and footwall, and the available isotopic data suggest that the CD is an early Variscan, ductile extensional detachment, the movement of which was roughly simultaneous with the onset of thrusting of the allochthonous complexes over their relative autochthon. Received: 17 November 1998 / Accepted: 4 April 1999     

Petrogenetic modelling of strongly residual metapelitic xenoliths within the southern Platreef,Bushveld Complex,South Africa

Xenoliths of quartz‐absent Fe‐rich aluminous metapelite are common within the platinum group element‐rich mafic/ultramafic magmatic rocks of the Platreef. Relative to well‐characterized protoliths, the xenoliths are strongly depleted in K₂O and H₂O, and have lost a substantial amount of melt (>50 vol.%). Mineral equilibria calculations in the NCKFMASHTO system yield results that are consistent with observations in natural samples. Lower‐grade rocks that lack staurolite constrain peak pressures to ～2.5 kbar in the southern Platreef. Smaller xenoliths and the margins of larger xenoliths comprise micro‐diatexite rich in coarse acicular corundum and spinel, which record evidence for the metastable persistence of lower‐grade hydrous phases and rapid melting consequent on a temperature overstep of several hundred degrees following their incorporation in the mafic/ultramafic magmas. In the cores of larger xenoliths, temperatures increased more slowly enabling progressive metamorphism by continuous prograde equilibration and the loss of H₂O by subsolidus dehydration; the H₂O migrated to xenolith margins where it may have promoted increased melting. According to variations in the original compositional layering, layers became aluminosilicate‐ and/or cordierite‐rich, commonly with spinel but only rarely with corundum. The differing mineralogical and microstructural evolution of the xenoliths depends on heating rates (governed by their size and, therefore, proximity to the Platreef magmas) and the pre‐intrusive metamorphic grade of the protoliths. The presence or absence of certain phases, particularly corundum, is strongly influenced by the degree of metastable retention of lower‐grade hydrates in otherwise identical protolith bulk compositions. The preservation of fine‐scale compositional layering that is inferred to be relict bedding in xenolith cores implies that melt loss by compaction was extremely efficient.     

Wavefield continuation datuming using a near surface model

When topography and low velocity zone differences vary greatly, conventional vertical static time shifts will cause wavefield distortion and influence wave equation seismic imaging for seismic data acquired on a complex near surface. In this paper, we propose an approach to datum correction that combines a joint tomography inversion with wavefield continuation to solve the static problem for seismic data on rugged acquisition topography. First, the near surface model is obtained by refracted wave tomography inversion. Second, the wavefield of sources and receivers are continued downward and upward to accomplish datum correction starting from a flat surface and locating the datum above topography. Based on the reciprocal theorem, Huygens＇ and Fresnel principles, the location of sources and receivers, and regarding the recorded data on the surface as a secondary emission, the sources and receivers are upward-continued to the datum above topography respectively. Thus, the datum correction using joint tomography inversion and wavefield continuation with the condition of a complex near surface is accomplished.     

非洲"铜带"铜钴工业地域综合体初步研究

非洲“铜带”是世界上最大的铜钴工业综合体之一。通过实地调查和资料分析,揭示了“铜带”铜钴工业的地域组合特征及空间布局的内在联系规律;剖析了“铜带”铜钴工业地域综合体形成的主要地理条件,尤其是制约冶金工业生产布局的矿物资源、电力和交通运输条件;探讨了主导工业部门在工业地域综合形体形成和区域经济社会发展过程中“联动”和“极化”作用。这对我国在矿山开发过程澡,充分发挥矿业的主导作用带动区域经济社会发展,     

Proximity and complexity in the emergence of high technology industry: The oxbridge comparison

This paper examines similarities and differences in the emergence of high-tech enterprise and the growth of associated industry in Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire since the 1960s. These cases are viewed as instances of a generic phenomenon: the emergence and growth of the science-based ‘innovative milieu’. A conceptual scheme drawn from complexity studies is used to introduce explanatory coherence into the apparently scattered and disconnected factors relevant to the genesis of high-tech milieux.     

滇西澜沧岩群碎屑锆石U-Pb定年及其地质意义

虽然前人对澜沧岩群做了大量的研究,但缺乏同位素年代学方面的研究。此次研究针对澜沧江南段菖蒲塘-大田山地区澜沧岩群绢白云母石英片岩进行碎屑锆石U-Pb定年,为澜沧岩群的形成时代增添年代学证据。极大多数(129粒)锆石阴极发光(CL)图像显示其有明显的结晶振荡环带,指示其为岩浆成因的碎屑锆石,129粒碎屑锆石具有多组峰值年龄,最年轻一组年龄加权平均值为452±26Ma,表明澜沧岩群最早沉积时限不早于452±26Ma;极少数(1粒)锆石具弱阴极发光,缺乏内部结构特点,认为其为变质重结晶锆石,变质结晶锆石U-Pb年龄为255±3Ma,与前人研究所得澜沧岩群变质时代基本吻合。综合分析,澜沧岩群的沉积时限不早于452±26Ma,在二叠纪末期可能发生变质作用。