Ar/Ar ages of tephras intercalated in astronomically tuned Neogene sedimentary sequences in the eastern Mediterranean

We present new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data for sanidine and biotite derived from volcanic ash layers that are intercalated in Pliocene and late Miocene astronomically dated sequences in the Mediterranean with the aim to solve existing inconsistencies in the intercalibration between the two independent absolute dating methods. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar sanidine ages are systematically younger by 0.7-2.3% than the astronomical ages for the same ash layers. The significance of the discrepancy disappears except for the upper Ptolemais ashes, which reveal the largest difference, if an improved full error propagation method is applied to calculate the absolute error in the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages. The total variance is dominated by that of the activity of the decay of ⁴⁰K to ⁴⁰Ar (∼70%) and that the amount of radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar_p in the primary standard GA1550 biotite (∼15%). If the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages are calculated relative to an astronomically dated standard, the influence of these parameters is greatly reduced, resulting in a more reliable age and in a significant reduction of the error in ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating.Astronomically calibrated ages for Taylor Creek Rhyolite (TCR) and Fish Canyon Tuff (FCT) sanidine are 28.53±0.02 and 28.21±0.04 Ma (±1 S.E.), respectively, if we start from the more reliable results of the Cretan A1 ash layer. The most likely explanation for the large discrepancy found for the younger Ptolemais ash layers (equivalent to FCT of 28.61 Ma) is an error in the tuning of this part of the sequence.     

~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar dating of shear deformation of the Xianshuihe fault zone in west Sichuan and its tectonic significance

TheNW-SEstrikingXianshuihefaultzoneslicesthesoutheasternTibetanPlateauandconnectssoutheastwardwiththeAnninghe-Zemuhe-Xiaojiangfaultzone,whichformahuge,activesinistralstrike-slipfaultzone(fig.1).ThisfaultzoneisanimportantseismicfaultineastTibet[1-5].EarthquakegeologystudiesandoffsetpatternsofyounggeologicalfeatureshaveshownthatlateQuaternarysinistralsliprateoftheXianshuihefaultzonereaches13mm/a[1,2].TheXianshuhefaultzoneconsistsoftwomainbranches,theDaofufaultbranchinthewestandtheXianshuih…     

天山山区近40a年降水变化特征与南、北疆的比较

本文分析了天山山区近40 a来年降水变化的基本特征，并与南疆、北疆进行了比较，所得的主要结果如下：(1)天山山区在年降水量干湿变化阶段上与北疆的相似性强于南疆。(2)年降水量的空间分布的同步变化性以北疆为最好，南疆最差，天山山区居中，而年降水量的空间分布的反向变化性，以天山山区为最大，北疆最小，南疆居中。(3)天山山区与南疆从60年代到90年代，年降水均表现出了持续的增加的趋势，北疆年降水从60年代到90年代，除70年代外，不断增多。     

云南北衙矿区富碱斑岩正长石和白云母的40Ar-39Ar年龄

云南北衙矿区石英正长斑岩岩体在空间上与金、铅锌矿体共生。红泥塘岩体地表岩石正长石的⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar坪年龄和等时线年龄为25.89±0.13Ma和25.72±0.7Ma,万洞山岩体地表以下382m钻孔中岩石的正长石坪年龄和等时线年龄为25.53±0.25Ma和25.50±0.07Ma,分别为两个岩体的形成年龄。但是,万洞山岩体地表团块状白云母的坪年龄和等时线年龄为32.50±0.09Ma和32.34±0.04Ma,为白云母的结晶年龄,也可能是主岩的结晶年龄     

吉林六批叶沟金矿床绢云母40Ar-39Ar 快中子活化法定年研究

在六批叶沟金矿石中,精选出与金矿物同期生成的绢云母作为样品,采用40Ar-39Ar快中子活化法测年,获得8个一致相连的平坦型绢云母年龄谱,tp=(190.28±0.30) Ma,氩同位素计算得等时线年龄为(189.98±0.58) Ma,两者完全吻合.等时线截距为(296.9±10.0) Ma,与大气氩的该值(295.5 Ma)相比较,两者完全吻合,表明该样品出自未受明显后期热力作用影响的非扰动体系.锁定六批叶沟金矿床主要成矿年龄为190 Ma左右,属早侏罗世的燕山早期.     

云南武定迤腊厂铜矿含矿石英脉40 Ar-39Ar年龄及其意义

对武定迤腊厂铜矿成矿期石英进行了40Ar-39Ar同位素年龄测定,得到马鞍形年龄谱,坪年龄为(784.25±0.95)Ma,等时线年龄为(783.93±8.59)Ma.地质特征研究表明该矿床后期改造作用明显,并非同生沉积或成岩作用早期成矿,而与晋宁期Rodina大陆裂解有关.武定迤腊厂铜矿的形成可能是在Rodinia大陆裂解时,从深部带来大量成矿物质,改造成岩时期初始的矿化,形成矿床的叠加富集和最终定位,晋宁-澄江期是该矿床的主成矿期.     

东川桃园式铜矿Ar-Ar同位素年龄及意义

通过对东川桃园铜矿与铜矿共生石英的40Ar/39Ar同位素年龄的测定,得到马鞍形年龄谱,其坪年龄为768.43Ma±0.58Ma,等时线年龄为770.00Ma±5.44Ma。该矿床后期改造作用明显,并非同生沉积或成岩作用早期成矿,而与晋宁期Rodina大陆裂解有关。东川铜矿的形成可能是在Rodinia大陆裂解时,从深部带来大量成矿物质改造成岩时期初始的矿化,形成矿床的叠加富集和最终定位,因此,晋宁-澄江期是东川铜矿的主成矿期。     

The Relationship between Tectono-metamorphic Evolution and Argon Isotope Records in White Mica: Constraints from in situ 40Ar-39Ar Laser Analysis of the Variscan Basement of Sardinia

The basement of Sardinia represents a nearly complete sectionof a segment of the Variscan belt that experienced a polyphasetectono-metamorphic evolution and Barrovian metamorphism. Thisbasement is well suited to investigate the relationship betweentectono-metamorphic evolution and argon isotope records in whitemica. Micaschists from the garnet zone (maximum T of up to 520–560°C)contain two texturally and chemically resolvable generationsof white mica: (1) deformed celadonite-rich flakes, defininga relict S₁ foliation preserved within the main S₂ foliationor enclosed in rotated albite porphyroblasts; (2) celadonite-poorwhite micas aligned along the main S₂ foliation. The S₁ foliationdeveloped earlier and at a deeper crustal level with respectto that at which the thermal peak was reached. From the staurolitezone (T of up to 590–625°C) to the sillimanite + K-feldsparzone, white mica is nearly uniform in composition (muscovite)and is predominantly aligned along the S₂ foliation or is oflater crystallization. In situ ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar laser analysesof white mica yielded ages of     

(40)~Ar/(39)~Ar chronology and geochemistry of high-K volcanic rocks in the Mangkang basin, Tibet

Our two newly obtained high-quality 40Ar/39Ar ages suggest that the high-K volcanic rocks of the Lawuxiang Formation in the Mangkang basin, Tibet were formed at 33.5±0.2 Ma. The tracing of elemental and Pb-Sr-Nd isotopic geochemistry indicates that they were derived from an EM2 enriched mantle in continental subduction caused by transpression. Their evidently negative anomalies in HFSEs such as Nb and Ta make clear that there is an input of continental material into the mantle source. The high-K rocks at 33.5±0.2 Ma in the Mangkang basin may temporally, spatially and compositionally compare with the early one of two-pulse high-K rocks in eastern Tibet distinguished by Wang J. H. et al., implying that they were formed in the same tectonic setting.     

Ar / Ar dating of high-pressure rocks from the Ligurian Alps: Evidence for a continuous subduction–exhumation cycle

We present ³⁹Ar–⁴⁰Ar dating of phengite, muscovite and paragonite from a set of mafic and metasedimentary rocks sampled from the high-pressure (HP) metaophiolites of the Voltri Group (Western Alps) and from clasts in the basal layer conglomerates from the Tertiary molasse which overlie the high-pressure basement. The white mica-bearing rocks display peak eclogitic and blueschist-facies parageneses, locally showing complex greenschist-facies replacement textures. The internal discordance of age spectra is proportional to the chemical complexity of the micas. High-Si phengites from eclogite clasts record a ³⁹Ar–⁴⁰Ar age of ca. 49 Ma for the eclogite stage and ca. 43 Ma for the blueschist retrogression; phengites from a blueschist basement sample yield an age of ca. 40 Ma; low-Si muscovite from a metasediment dates the formation of the greenschist paragenesis at ca. 33 Ma. Our data indicate that the analyzed samples reached high-pressure conditions at different times over a time-span of c.a. 10 Ma. Subduction was continuing during exhumation and blueschist retrograde re-equilibration of higher-pressure, eclogite-facies rocks. This process kept the isotherms depressed, allowing the older HP-rocks to escape thermal re-equilibration. Our results, added to literature data, fit a tectonic model of a subduction–exhumation cycle, with different tectonic slices subducted at different times from Early Eocene until the Eocene–Oligocene boundary.