Palaeogeography and tectonic structure of allochthonous units in the German part of the Rheno-Hercynian Belt (Central European Variscides)

New information on palaeogeography, orogenic evolution, tectonic structure, and boundaries of allochthonous units in the Rheno-Hercynian Belt is based on provenance analyses of clastic sediments and field studies. ⁴⁰K/⁴⁰Ar dating of detrital muscovites proved to be a particularly useful method because Cadomian, Caledonian and Early Variscan provenances of detrital material can be distinguished. Cadomian muscovite cooling ages are restricted to allochthonous units whereas Caledonian ages dominate within par-autochthonous and shortly displaced allochthonous units. The largest and uppermost preserved nappe, the Gießen-Harz Nappe, is derived from an oceanic flysch basin, which was not reached by Caledonian detritus. The other allochthonous units form a duplex-like structure sandwiched between the Gießen-Harz Nappe and par-autochthonous units at its base. The thick and heterogeneous roof- and floor-thrusts of this structure were previously often misinterpreted as olistostromes. The northern margin of allochthonous units is the steeply dipping Hörre-Gommern Zone. It consists of three sub-units derived from deep-water areas between the shelf at the southern margin of the Old Red Sandstone Continent and an oceanic basin to the south. The southeastern part of the duplex-structure (Harzgerode Zone) shows close affinities to Armorican terranes.     

Détermination indirecte des limites d'Atterberg par gravimétrie dynamique

This study presents a new method for Atterberg limits measurements using dynamic drying. Indeed, for some polluted clays, or clay mixtures, classical methods cannot be used. The principle of liquid $(W_{\mathrm{L}})$ and plasticity $(W_{\mathrm{P}})$ limits determination by this method is presented. Experimental values for classical clays are close to those obtained with Casagrande's methods, allowing for larger physical mud characterisation. To cite this article: C. Proust et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

Brittle–ductile–brittle deformation during cooling of tonalite (Adamello, Southern Italian Alps)

Late- to post-magmatic deformation in slightly diachronous contiguous intrusions of the north-western Adamello batholith (Southern Alps, Italy) is recorded as, from oldest to youngest: (i) joints, (ii) solid-state ductile shear zones, (iii) faults associated with epidote-K-feldspar veins and (iv) zeolite veins and faults. Structures (ii) to (iv) are localized on the pervasive precursory network of joints (i), which developed during the earliest stages of pluton cooling. High temperature ( 500 °C), ductile overprinting of joints produced lineations, defined by aligned biotite and hornblende, on the joint surfaces and highly localized mylonites. The main phase of faulting, producing cataclasites and pseudotachylytes, occurred at  250 °C and was associated with extensive fluid infiltration. Cataclasites and pseudotachylytes are clustered along different E–W-striking dextral strike-slip fault zones correlated with the activity of the Tonale fault, a major tectonic structure that bounds the Adamello batholith to the north. Ductile deformation and cataclastic/veining episodes occurred at P = 0.25–0.3 GPa during rapid cooling of the batholith to the ambient temperatures ( 250 °C) that preceded the exhumation of the batholith. Timing of the sequence of deformation can be constrained by ³⁹Ar–⁴⁰Ar ages of  30 Ma on pseudotachylytes and various existing mineral ages. In the whole composite Adamello batholith, multiple magma pulses were intruded over the time span 42–30 Ma and each intrusive body shows the same ductile-to-brittle structural sequence localized on the early joint sets. This deformation sequence of the Adamello might be typical of intrusions undergoing cooling at depths close to the brittle–ductile transition.     

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.     

Rhinocerotid tooth enamel 18O/16O variability between 23 and 12 Ma in southwestern France

The relationship between the oxygen isotope ratio of mammal tooth enamel and that of drinking water was used to reconstruct changes in the Miocene oxygen isotope ratio of rainfall (meteoric water ${\delta }^{18}$O_MW). These, in turn, are related to climatic parameters (temperature, precipitation and evaporation rate). ${\delta }^{18}$O values of rhinocerotid teeth from the Aquitaine Basin (southwestern France) suggest a significant climatic change between 17 and 12 Ma, characterized by cooling together with precipitation increase, in agreement with other terrestrial and oceanic records. To cite this article: I. Bentaleb et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

Événements panafricains dans l'Adrar Souttouf (Sahara marocain)

The Adrar Souttouf belt (Western Sahara) lies in the northern part of the Mauritanide belt and was considered as a part of the Hercynian Mauritanian-Appalachian belt. Recently the presence of a Panafrican protolith (595 Ma) was evidenced by the age of inherited zircons from an eclogitic unit and led to consider complex Panafrican events included in the Hercynian belt, as in the central and southern Mauritanide belt. Our new field survey completed by ten KAr dating (whole rocks and separate minerals) confirmed that multiphased Panafrican formations outcrop within the center of the Adrar Souttouf massif. Diverse events ranged from ca. 1000 to 500 Ma, some of them being indicative of an oceanic type environment and metamorphism. The 1000 Ma metamorphic event is recorded for the first time in the West African craton. A large Hercynian remobilisation is also evidenced. To cite this article: M. Villeneuve et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

Field Trips as Valuable Learning Experiences in Geography Courses

Abstract

Field trips have been acknowledged as valuable learning experiences in geography. This article uses Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning model to discuss how students learn and how field trips can help enhance learning. Using Kolb’s experiential learning theory as a guide in the design of field trips helps ensure that field trips contribute to internalizing relevant geographical theory and concepts. Three types of field trips are presented: an informal survey of a neighborhood, a more formal scavenger hunt, and a virtual field trip using Google Earth.

Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.

—Kolb (1984)     

四川省九龙县黑牛洞富铜矿矿床黑云母40Ar-39Ar测年及其地质意义

四川省九龙县黑牛洞铜矿床为近期新发现的一个规模在中型以上,产于江浪变质核杂岩中的富铜矿床。本文测试了黑牛洞铜矿床中与成矿密切相关的黑云母的40Ar/39Ar年龄为136.43±0.77 Ma,说明黑牛洞矿床形成于燕山中期。结合矿区附近李伍富铜床矿床地质特征及成矿年龄,表明黑牛洞铜矿床与李伍铜矿床为同一时期形成的矿床,两者成矿与松潘－甘孜造山带大规模岩浆热事件有关,这对于重新认识李伍铜矿床外围找矿潜力和进一步指导找矿工作具有重要意义。     

川西北花岗岩的冷却过程及其对区域成矿的制约

川西北地区位于松潘-甘孜造山带北部,产出众多的中生代花岗岩和卡林型金矿,金成矿作用与区域构造运动和岩浆活动有密切的内在联系。本文拟从花岗岩的角度分析这种内在联系,故测定了川西北的羊拱海黑云母二长花岗岩、达盖寨黑云母二长花岗岩和可尔因二云母二长花岗岩的黑云母或白云母Ar-Ar年龄,分别得到坪年龄158.7±1.4Ma、185.2±1.4Ma、和157.6±1.2Ma,并参考积累的川西北花岗岩体的年代学数据,绘制了造山带北部、中部、东缘中部几个主要花岗岩体的冷却轨迹。不同构造位置花岗岩体的冷却轨迹表明,从造山带北部到造山带东缘中部,各花岗岩体的侵位年龄依次变新,冷却速率依次变缓,在区域构造运动相对较弱期间,各花岗岩的冷却速率明显降低。由以上特征,本文推断在中生代陆内造山过程中,构造应力自松潘-甘孜造山带北部向造山带东缘中部传递,各区域先后由造山相对活跃期进入造山相对宁静期。在造山宁静期,构造运动较弱,花岗岩体缓慢冷却,地壳较长时间保持低温状态,利于金的成矿作用。因而,川西北的金矿主要形成于区域花岗岩的缓慢冷却阶段,这可能是金矿与花岗岩时空耦合的原因之一。     

西秦岭北缘新阳—元龙韧性剪切带中花岗质糜棱岩黑云母40Ar 39Ar年龄及地质意义

西秦岭北缘新阳-元龙大型韧性剪切带是分划西秦岭造山带与祁连造山带的区域主构造边界,通过对其物质组成和构造特征的研究,结合两侧不同(洋-陆)构造环境下各类地质体的研究成果,重点对剪切带内花岗质糜棱岩中黑云母单矿物进行了~(40)Ar-~(39)Ar定年研究.在新阳镇和元龙北剪切带中分别获得(347.95±2.17)Ma (MSWD＝1.89)和(351.70±1.72)Ma (MSWD＝0.80)的坪年龄,分析确定其应为黑云母的冷却年龄,表明变形时代应在早石炭世早期之前;反映了最晚在早石炭世早期,该剪切带已横切秦岭与祁连造山带并发生强烈的右行走滑构造拼贴作用.