Matuyama-Brunhes reversal and Kamikatsura event on Maui: paleomagnetic directions, Ar/Ar ages and implications

Eighty-nine basaltic lava flows from the northwest wall of Haleakala caldera preserve a concatenated paleomagnetic record of portions of the Matuyama-Brunhes (M-B) reversal and the preceding Kamikatsura event as well as secular variation of the full-polarity reversed and normal geomagnetic field. They provide the most detailed volcanic record to date of the M-B transition. The 24 flows in the transition zone show for the first time transitional virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) that move from reverse to normal along the Americas, concluding with an oscillation in the Pacific Ocean to a cluster of VGPs east of New Zealand and back finally to stable polarity in the north polar region. All but one of the 16 Kamikatsura VGPs cluster in central South America. The full-polarity flows, with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages spanning a total of 680 kyr, pass a reversal test and give an average VGP insignificantly different from the rotation axis, with standard deviation consistent with that for other 0-5 Ma lava flows of similar latitude. Precise ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating consisting of 31 incremental heating experiments on 12 transitional flows yields weighted mean ages of 775.6±1.9 and 900.3±4.7 ka for the M-B and Kamikatsura transitional flows, respectively. This Matuyama-Brunhes age is ∼16 kyr younger than ages for M-B flows from the Canary Islands, Tahiti and Chile that were dated using exactly the same techniques and standards, suggesting that this polarity transition may have taken considerably longer to complete and been more complex than is generally believed for reversals.     

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…     

赣南中侏罗世流纹岩地球化学及成因研究：上地壳成因的的微量元素和Pb-Nd-Sr同位素地球化学制约

江西南部龙南-寻邬地区余田群菖蒲组的流纹岩形成于中侏罗世(164．8．1Ma～174．9Ma)，为双峰式火山岩组合的酸性端元，属弱过铝质(ACNK平均为1．04)钙碱性系列(σ平均为1．90)。稀土元素含量高(平均为278．9μg/g)，轻稀土富集(IMH平均为7．94)，Eu亏损中等(δEu平均为0．41)。微量元素以富集Rb，Ba，Th，U，Zr，Y，Pb，而亏损Sr，Nb为特征。Pb，Nd，Sr同位素组成为：(^206Pb/^204Pb)t=17．89～18．58，(^207Pb/^204Pb)t=15．58～15．70，(^208Pb/^204Pb)t=37．94～38．82；εNd(t)=-7．44～-11．9；ISr=0．71126～0．71228。对赣南流纹岩微量元素采用蛛网图和模糊聚类分析方法进行对比研究的结果及Pb-Nd-Sr同位素相关特征为其上地壳成因提供了地球化学佐证。赣南流纹岩是由进入上地壳内高位岩浆房的石英拉斑玄武岩浆的底侵作用直接使上地壳部分熔融形成的产物。     

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.     

西天山艾肯达坂组火山岩系同位素定年及其构造意义

西天山艾肯达坂地区较好发育了艾肯达坂纽红色陆相火山岩建造．它不整合在下石炭统大哈拉军山组之上,未经变形和变质，属于陆陆碰撞晚期的橄榄安粗岩系，其年龄确定是厘定从碰撞造山向陆内构造演化的关键。因此,通过16件新获得的钾氩年龄测值，确定艾肯达坂组火山岩系形成在260Ma～270Ma之间，属早二叠世，而不是过去认为的石炭纪；西天山的陆陆碰撞应在二叠纪末结束,此后进入陆内造山阶段。     

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。     

西秦岭三个典型金矿床稳定同位素地球化学特征

据八卦庙金矿、李坝金矿、小沟里金矿稳定同位素研究,金矿床δ34S比正常沉积岩变化范围窄,比岩浆-火山岩型矿床宽,硫源是海水硫酸盐还原硫与深部热液来源硫所组成的混合硫。石英包裹体流体氢、氧同位素分布于岩浆水、大气降水的重叠过渡区,更靠近岩浆水区,岩浆水的同位素特征更明显。八卦庙金矿石英脉3He/4He高于地壳3He/4He值(n×10-8),低于地幔3He/4He值(n×10-5),为壳-幔混合源。上述同位素地球化学证据表明,金成矿与岩浆岩有一定的成因关系。岩浆岩与金矿床空间关系密切,矿区内脉岩发育,脉岩为矿体的上下盘。含矿岩石中发育斑点构造,斑点为黄铁矿、磁黄铁矿、毒砂、绿泥石、石英、绢云母、黑云母、堇青石、红柱石、电气石、碳酸盐等热变质矿物和热液交代矿物,表明花岗岩为成矿提供热动力。据八卦庙金矿、李坝金矿、小沟里金矿稳定同位素地球化学研究,结合成矿地质背景分析和区域成矿地质特征对比,认为凤太、西成、礼岷地区金矿与微细浸染型(卡林型)金矿有明显的差别,该区金矿类似于岩浆热液矿床。