Geochronology of Pliocene volcanism in the Dzhavakheti Highland (the Lesser Caucasus). Part 1: Western part of the Dzhavakheti Highland

Isotopic-geochronological study of the Pliocene magmatic activity in western part of the Dzhavakheti Highland (northwestern region of the Lesser Caucasus) is carried out. The results obtained imply that the Pliocene magmatic activity lasted in this part of the highland approximately 2 million years from 3.75 to 1.75–1.55 Ma. As is established, the studied volcanic rocks correspond in composition mostly to K-Na subalkaline and more abundant normal basalts. Time constraints of main phases in development of basic volcanism within the study region are figured out. We assume that individual pulses of silicic to moderately silicic volcanism presumably took place in the Dzhavakheti Highland about 3.2 and 2.5 Ma ago.     

Peace Parks and jaguar trails: transboundary conservation in a globalizing world

An increasingly utilized strategy for expanding conservation in the developing world has been the promotion of protected areas that supersede national borders. Alternatively known as transfrontier biosphere reserves, transfrontier or transboundary conservation areas, or Peace Parks, these protected areas are aggressively advanced by conservation agencies for their purported ecological and economic benefits. This article provides a comparative assessment of two case studies to understand the various impacts of transboundary conservation. The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which unites protected areas in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, is contrasted with efforts to protect jaguars along the United States–Mexico border. We argue that while these cases are promising for the purposes of biodiversity protection, they demonstrate that transboundary conservation can minimize political context, contributes to the hegemony of international conservation agendas, and remains closely linked to economic neoliberalism and decentralization in the developing world.

Pervasive wetland flooding in the glacial drift prairie of North Dakota (USA)

This article describes a unique flood hazard, produced by the dramatic expansion of wetlands in Nelson County, located within the North American Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, USA. There has been an unprecedented increase in the number, average size, and permanence of prairie wetlands, and a significant increase in the size of a closed lake (Stump Lake) due to a decade-long wet spell that began in 1993 following a prolonged drying trend. Base-line land cover information from the 1992 USGS National Land Cover Characterization dataset, and a Landsat TM scene acquired 9 July 2001 are used to assess the growth of the closed lake and wetland pond surface areas, and to analyze the type and area of various land cover classes inundated between 1992 and 2001. The open water profile in Nelson County changed from one marked by relatively comparable coverage of closed lake and wetland pond areas in 1992, to one in which wetland open water accounted for the vast majority of total open water in 2001. The bulk of the wetland pond area expansion occurred by displacing existing wetland vegetation and agricultural cropland. Producers responded to the flood hazard by filing Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) claims and enrolling cropland in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a federal land retirement program. Land taken out of agricultural production has had an enormous impact upon the agricultural sector that forms the economic base of the rural economy. In 2001 the land taken out of production due to CRP enrollment and preventive planting claims represented nearly 42% of Nelson County’s 205.2 K ha base agricultural land. The patterns obtained from this detailed study of Nelson County are likely to be the representative of the more publicized flood disaster occurring within the Devils Lake Basin of North Dakota.     

东天山黄山-镜儿泉过铝花岗岩矿物学、地球化学及年代学研究

对东天山黄山-镜儿泉一带黄山南、镜儿泉、图拉尔根沟三个过铝花岗岩作了岩相学、矿物学、地球化学、sr-Nd同位素和锆石U-Pb年代学研究.锆石U-Pb LA-ICP-MS原位定年测得黄山南岩体结晶年龄为259.9±1.4Ma(MSWD=0.86),图拉尔根沟岩体结晶年龄为275.4±8.3Ma(MSWD=29),均侵位于二叠纪碰撞后伸展环境.三个过铝花岗岩均具有低锶同位素初始比值(Isr=0.6969～0.70396)、高εNd(t)值( 5.5～ 7.2)以及年轻的亏损地幔单阶段模式年龄(tDM=0.48～0.56Ga),表明其岩浆源区均为来源于亏损地幔的新生地壳岩石.这种新生地壳岩石可能为偏酸性的火山岩.三个岩体的矿物学和地球化学可分为两类:一类以黄山南白云母花岗岩为代表,为强过铝花岗岩(A/CNK>1.1),强烈亏损Ba、sr和Ti而富集Cs、Rb和K,具有高的Rb/sr(2.03～14.5)和Al2O3/TiO2(110～1592),低的Nb/Ta(3.24～6.76)比值,其稀土元素配分曲线呈"V"字形,显示强烈铕亏损(Eu/Eu*=0.04～0.55),表明这类岩体的直接源岩以泥质岩为主.另一类以图拉尔根沟二云母花岗岩为代表,为弱过铝(1   

四川大陆槽稀土矿床碳酸岩-英碱正长岩锆石U-Pb年代学和Hf同位素性质及其地质意义

川西冕宁-德昌稀土成矿带是中国最重要的稀土成矿带之一,所有稀土矿床均与碳酸岩-正长岩杂岩体有关.前人研究表明,牦牛坪、木落寨和里庄碳酸岩-碱性杂岩体成岩年龄与其相应矿床的成矿年龄基本一致,而大陆槽正长岩年龄与REE矿床的成矿年龄相差甚远.本文对大陆槽碳酸岩、英碱正长岩进行了SHRIMP U-Pb锆石年代学和LA-MC-ICPMS锆石Hf同位素原位测量,它们的形成年龄分别为12.99±0.94Ma、14.53±0.31Ma,表明两者是同时形成的,且与其成矿年龄基本一致.碳酸岩和正长岩的εHf(t)值、Hf模式年龄与它们的εNd(t)值、Nd模式年龄所展现出来的特征一致,说明在其形成过程中有地壳物质的加入.     

中祁连东段什川杂岩基的岩石化学特征及年代学研究

祁连造山带被托菜南山-了高山构造带及宗务隆山-贵得构造带分为北祁连、中祁连及南祁连构造带。什川岩基位于中祁连构造带东部,由闪长岩、斜长花岗岩、二长花岗岩组成;对二长花岗岩进行U-Pb单颗粒锆石微区LA-ICP-MS同位素测定,获得444.6Ma及414.3Ma两组加权平均年龄,前者代表岩石的形成年龄,后者代表构造热事件年龄。二长花岗岩主量元素W(SiO_2)=68.66%～80.77%,w(K_2O)/w(Na_2O)>1和A/CNK介于0.95～1.21间,总体为钾质钙碱性过铝质花岗岩。岩石富集LILE元素(K、Th、Rb、Ba等),亏损HFSE元素(Ta、Nb、Y等);稀土元素总量较高(∑REE多介于109.05×10~(-6)～322.66×10~(-6)),轻重稀土强烈分馏(∑LREE/∑HREE介于7.92～31.68),稀土元素分配模式为轻稀土富集型,具中等-强Eu负异常(δEu=0.26～0.58)。岩石矿物组合及岩石地球化学特征共同表明,什川岩基为中上地壳泥砂质岩石部分熔融而成,形成温度较低,为加厚地壳拆沉熔融成因。这为祁连造山带构造演化及其深部动力学机制研究提供了新的资料。     

滇西点苍山—哀牢山变质岩系锆石SHRIMP定年及其地质意义

滇西点苍山和哀牢山主体分别由下元古界苍山群和哀牢山群深变质岩系组成,被认为是前寒武纪结晶基底。选取点苍山的花岗闪长质糜棱岩(DCS-1)和哀牢山元江段黑云母花岗闪长质片麻岩(SM07-1)之中的锆石进行U-Pb SHRIMP定年。样品DCS-1和SM07-1测年结果分别为233±2.6Ma和239.8±2.8Ma。结合前人对滇西地区花岗质岩类所做的研究,揭示滇西地区在三叠纪经历一期在空间上广泛分布的岩浆事件,点苍山花岗质糜棱岩和哀牢山花岗质片麻岩的原岩为三叠纪侵位的花岗岩,其构造环境属于大陆裂谷,反映了滇西地区在三叠纪地壳物质的重新调整,而该变质岩系不是前寒武纪的结晶基底,其变质作用与山体出露地表过程和新生代构造作用有关。     

橄榄岩—熔体相互作用过程中Re-Os体系的变化趋势: 对华北新生代地幔橄榄岩Re-Os年龄含义的启示

橄榄岩的Re-Os同位素体系作为探讨岩石圈地幔形成年龄的重要手段已受到人们越来越多的重视。然而,Re-Os体系是否会受到橄榄岩的低温蚀变如蛇纹石化和地幔交代作用或橄榄岩—熔体相互作用的影响并不十分清楚。本文在总结国际上典型造山带橄榄岩剖面研究和地幔橄榄岩捕虏体研究的基础上,发现橄榄岩的Re-Os同位素体系基本不受蛇纹石化等低温蚀变作用的影响; 但橄榄岩—熔体相互作用会造成橄榄岩的Re-Os体系的变化即Re或Os的带入。当熔体/岩石比例较小时(≤1),橄榄岩—熔体相互作用会造成橄榄岩的Re含量显著增加,而放射成因的Os同位素即¹⁸⁷Os增量有限。但当熔体/岩石比例很大时(≥1),会造成¹⁸⁷Os同位素显著增加。同时,橄榄岩的Re含量与中等程度不相容主、微量元素如Al、Ti、Yb的正相关关系可以通过橄榄岩的两阶段演化模式来解释,即早期的部分熔融残留和后期的橄榄岩—熔体相互作用共同影响的结果。橄榄岩的Re含量与Cr含量的正相关关系进一步说明了这一问题。上述结果对华北东部岩石圈地幔的演化过程有重要的启示作用。因为华北东部古生代时期的确存在太古宙岩石圈地幔,然而新生代时期地幔橄榄岩捕虏体普遍具有元古宙而非太古宙的事实证明橄榄岩—熔体的相互作用的确广泛存在,从而造成岩石圈地幔橄榄岩变年轻。因此,新生代地幔捕虏体的Re-Os同位素年龄并不是岩石圈地幔的形成年龄,而是混合作用的结果。汉诺坝地幔橄榄岩的Re含量和Sr、Nd同位素组成符合橄榄岩—多元熔体相互作用的混合趋势,其橄榄岩的全岩Al₂O₃含量和橄榄石Fo的反相关性能够通过橄榄岩—熔体相互作用来解释。     

西藏普兰地区拉昂错蛇绿岩中辉绿岩的锆石SHRIMP U—Pb年龄及其地质意义

蛇绿岩中的辉绿岩岩墙是洋脊扩张的产物．其形成年龄代表了扩张事件的时间,也代表了蛇绿岩的形成时代？对雅鲁藏布江缝合带西段拉昂错蛇绿岩中的辉绿岩岩墙进行锆石SHRIMPU—Pb定年,得出加权平均年龄为120．2Ma±2．3Ma,代表辉绿岩的结晶年龄。结合已有的关于雅鲁藏布江蛇绿岩的形成年龄（西段休古嘎布122．3Ma±2．4Ma,中段大竹卡126．0Ma±1．5Ma、吉定123．0Ma＋_1．8Ma,东段罗布莎162．9Ma±2．8Ma）的报道,表明拉昂错地区特提斯洋海底扩张的时代与体古嘎布地区一致．雅鲁藏布江西段与中段地区洋盆的形成时代一致,但晚于东段的发育时代。这意味着整个东提斯洋盆的发育时代存在东早西晚的特点。