40Ar/39Ar and oxygen isotope studies of polymetamorphism from Tinos Island, Cycladic blueschist belt, Greece

Abstract Petrological, oxygen isotope and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar studies were used to constrain the Tertiary metamorphic evolution of the lower tectonic unit of the Cyclades on Tinos. Polyphase high-pressure metamorphism reached pressures in excess of 15 kbar, based on measurements of the Si content in potassic white mica. Temperatures of 450–500° C at the thermal peak of high-pressure metamorphism were estimated from critical metamorphic assemblages, the validity of which is confirmed by a quartz–magnetite oxygen isotope temperature of 470° C. Some ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar spectra of white mica give plateau ages of 44–40 Ma that are considered to represent dynamic recrystallization under peak or slightly post-peak high-pressure metamorphic conditions. Early stages in the prograde high-pressure evolution may be documented by older apparent ages in the high-temperature steps of some spectra. Eclogite to epidote blueschist facies mineralogies were partially or totally replaced by retrograde greenschist facies assemblages during exhumation. Oxygen isotope thermometry of four quartz–magnetite pairs from greenschist samples gives temperatures of 440–470° C which cannot be distinguished from those deduced for the high-pressure event. The exhumation and overprint is documented by decreasing ages of 32–28 Ma in some greenschists and late-stage blueschist rocks, and ages of 30–20 Ma in the lower temperature steps of the Ar release patterns of blueschist micas. Almost flat parts of Ar–Ar release spectra of some greenschist micas gave ages of 23–21 Ma which are assumed to represent incomplete resetting caused by a renewed prograde phase of greenschist metamorphism. Oxygen isotope compositions of blueschist and greenschist facies minerals show no evidence for the infiltration of a δ¹⁸O-enriched fluid. Rather, the compositions indicate that fluid to rock ratios were very low, the isotopic compositions being primarily controlled by those of the protolith rocks. We assume that the fundamental control catalysing the transformation of blueschists into greenschists and the associated resetting of their isotopic systems was the selective infiltration of metamorphic fluid. A quartz–magnetite sample from a contact metamorphic skarn, taken near the Miocene monzogranite of Tinos, gave an oxygen isotope temperature of 555° C and calculated water composition of 9.1%. The value of δ¹⁸O obtained from this water is consistent with a primary magmatic fluid, but is lower than that of fluids associated with the greenschist overprint, which indicates that the latter event cannot be directly related to the monozogranite intrusion.     

Exposure dating and reinterpretation of coarse debris accumulations (‘rock glaciers’) in the Cairngorm Mountains,Scotland

Relict rock glaciers have considerable potential for contributing to palaeoclimatic reconstruction, but this potential is often undermined by lack of dating control and problems of interpretation. Here we reinvestigate and date four proposed ‘rock glaciers’ in the Cairngorm Mountains and show that the morphology of only one of these appears consistent with that of a true rock glacier produced by creep of underlying ice or ice‐rich sediment. All four features comprise rockslide or rock avalanche runout debris, and the possibility that all four represent unmodified runout accumulations cannot be discounted. Surface exposure dating of the four debris accumulations using cosmogenic ¹⁰Be produced uncertainty‐weighted mean ages of 15.4 ± 0.8 ka, 16.2 ± 1.0 ka, 12.1 ± 0.6 ka and 12.7 ± 0.8 ka. All four ages imply emplacement under cold stadial conditions, two prior to the Windermere Interstade of ca. 14.5–12.9 cal. ka BP and two during the Loch Lomond Stade of ca. 12.9–11.5 cal. ka BP. The above ages indicate that paraglacial rock‐slope failure on granite rockwalls occurred within a few millennia after deglaciation. The mean exposure ages obtained for runout debris at two sites – Strath Nethy (16.2 ± 1.0 ka) and Lairig Ghru (15.4 ± 0.8 ka) – are consistent with basal radiocarbon ages from Loch Etteridge, 22 km to the southwest (mean = 15.6 ± 0.3 cal. ka BP) and imply widespread deglaciation of the Cairngorms and adjacent valleys before 15 ka and possibly 16 ka. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fast iterative solution of large undrained soil‐structure interaction problems

In view of rapid developments in iterative solvers, it is timely to re‐examine the merits of using mixed formulation for incompressible problems. This paper presents extensive numerical studies to compare the accuracy of undrained solutions resulting from the standard displacement formulation with a penalty term and the two‐field mixed formulation. The standard displacement and two‐field mixed formulations are solved using both direct and iterative approaches to assess if it is cost‐effective to achieve more accurate solutions. Numerical studies of a simple footing problem show that the mixed formulation is able to solve the incompressible problem ‘exactly’, does not create pressure and stress instabilities, and obviate the need for an ad hoc penalty number. In addition, for large‐scale problems where it is not possible to perform direct solutions entirely within available random access memory, it turns out that the larger system of equations from mixed formulation also can be solved much more efficiently than the smaller system of equations arising from standard formulation by using the symmetric quasi‐minimal residual (SQMR) method with the generalized Jacobi (GJ) preconditioner. Iterative solution by SQMR with GJ preconditioning also is more elegant, faster, and more accurate than the popular Uzawa method. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detailed <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar dating of geologic events associated with the Mantos Blancos copper deposit,northern Chile

The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological method was applied to date magmatic and hydrothermal alteration events in the Mantos Blancos mining district in the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile, allowing the distinction of two separate mineralization events. The Late Jurassic Mantos Blancos orebody, hosted in Jurassic volcanic rocks, is a magmatic-hydrothermal breccia-style Cu deposit. Two superimposed mineralization events have been recently proposed. The first event is accompanied by a phyllic hydrothermal alteration affecting a rhyolitic dome. The second mineralization event is related to the intrusion of bimodal stocks and sills inside the deposit. Because of the superposition of several magmatic and hydrothermal events, the obtained ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age data are complex; however, with a careful interpretation of the age spectra, it is possible to detect complex histories of successive emplacement, alteration, mineralization, and thermal resetting. The extrusion of Jurassic basic to intermediate volcanic rocks of the La Negra Formation is dated at 156.3 ± 1.4 Ma (2σ) using plagioclase from an andesitic lava flow. The first mineralization event and associated phyllic alteration affecting the rhyolitic dome occurred around 155–156 Ma. A younger bimodal intrusive event, supposed to be equivalent to the bimodal stock and sill system inside the deposit, is probably responsible for the second mineralization event dated at ca. 142 Ma. Other low-temperature alteration events have been dated on sericitized plagioclase at ca. 145–146, 125, and 101 Ma. This is the first time that two distinct mineralization events have been documented from radiometric data for a copper deposit in the metallogenic belt of the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

赣南淘锡坑钨多金属矿床花岗岩和云英岩岩石特征及云英岩中白云母40Ar/39Ar定年

赣南崇义县淘锡坑钨矿位于南岭东西向构造带东段,属于以黑钨矿石英脉型为主的钨多金属矿床。矿床形成与燕山期中酸性岩浆作用有密切关系,石英矿脉受一组北西向断裂控制,穿切新元古界。本文在淘锡坑钨矿区3个揭露到花岗岩体顶部的中段（206、106、56中段）采集到岩体顶部云英岩样品,利用40Ar/39Ar同位素定年测得云英岩中的白云母的坪年龄分别为152.7 ± 1.5 Ma（206中段）,153.4 ± 1.3 Ma（106中段）,155.0 ± 1.4 Ma（56中段）。与前人用其他方法测定的花岗岩成岩和成矿年龄几乎一致。花岗岩和云英岩全岩稀土元素均具有M型四分组效应和强烈的Eu亏损特征,反映出花岗质岩浆经历了高度分异演化及其岩体结晶晚期流体/熔体相互作用。综合前人在南岭地区同类矿床的研究资料,可知南岭地区160～150Ma成岩成矿作用主要分布于南岭中-东段,可能为大陆边缘弧后岩石圈伸展的构造动力学背景的产物。     

The South East Regional Marine Plan: Implementing Australia's Oceans Policy

In 1998, the Australian Government released Australia's Oceans Policy (AOP), a world first policy initiative focused on providing a framework for integrated ecosystem-based management of Australia's vast marine domain. The South East Regional Marine Plan, the first regional marine plan to be implemented under AOP, was released on 21 May 2004. This paper argues that although full integration across sectors and jurisdictions has not occurred, new AOP initiatives, institutions and governance processes have considerably increased sectoral and jurisdictional coordination in the South East region.     

<Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar-<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar dating of lamprophyre dykes in the Baimazhai nickel deposit,Yunnan Province,China, and its geological significance

The Baimazhai nickel deposit, Yunnan Province, China, is located in the southern part of the Sanjiang （Tri-river） alkali-rich intrusive rock belt （Sanjiang ARIR）. In this paper was conducted ^40Ar-^39Ar dating of two phlogopites in lamprophyres which are, as dikes, widely distributed in the orefield, and two plateau ages were acquired, i.e., 32.46±0.62 Ma and 32.01±0.60 Ma, respectively （averaging 32.23±0.60 Ma）. The ages are obviously younger than those of the ore-hosted complex and mineralization of the Baimazhai nickel deposit. In combination with the characteristics, it is indicated that lamprophyres in the orefield and those in the Sanjiang ARIR are similar in tectonic setting, mineral assemblage and geochemistry. It is considered that lamprophyres in the orefield are the important component of the Sanjiang ARIR, and the lamprophyres and ore-hosted complex in the orefield represent the products of two times of different magmatic activity from different mantle sources. On the other hand, the age of lamprophyres in the orefield is older than that of the strike-slip shearing of the Ailaoshan-Honghe fault belt, suggesting that the strike-slip shearing of the Ailaoshan-Honghe fault belt is not the factor leading to magmatic activity of lamprophyres in the orefield, while it is more possible that magmatic activity of the Sanjiang ARIR promoted strike-slip shearing of the fault belt.     

Late Cenozoic Stratigraphy and Paleomagnetic Chronology of the Zanda Basin, Tibet, and Records of the Uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The characteristics of Late Cenozoic tectonic uplift of the southern margin of the Qinghai- Tibet Plateau may be inferred from fluvio-lacustrine strata in the Zanda basin, Ngari, Tibet. Magnetostratigraphic study shows that the very thick fluvio-lacustrine strata in the basin are 5.89- 0.78 Ma old and that their deposition persisted for 5.11 Ma, i.e. starting at the end of the Miocene and ending at the end of the early Pleistocene, with the Quaternary glacial stage starting in the area no later than 1.58 Ma. Analysis of the sedimentary environment indicates that the Zanda basin on the southern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau began uplift at -5.89 Ma, later than the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Presence of gravel beds in the Guge and Qangze Formations reflects that strong uplift took place at -5.15 and -2.71 Ma, with the uplift peaking at -2.71 Ma.     

内蒙古兴安盟杜尔基岩体特征研究

内蒙古兴安盟杜尔基岩体位于大兴安岭中南段,岩性主要为中—细粒二长花岗（斑）岩、中—粗粒二长花岗岩、细粒二长花岗岩。岩石化学分析结果属于碱性岩系列,具有高硅、高钾、富碱、过铝、贫铁、镁、钙特征。稀土元素总量平均值为112．43μg／g,球粒陨石标准化曲线整体平缓右倾,具有Eu负异常;微量元素蛛网图解表现为“W”型形态．具有明显的Sr、Ba、Ti负异常,反映了强烈的分离结晶作用存在。4个样品K-Ar全岩法测年结果为100．15-120．29Ma,说明岩体形成于早白垩世。反映杜尔基地区在早自垩世可能处于相对稳定的拉张环境。