Nature of the Late Ordovician-Early Silurian Xiaohe section,Hunan-Hubei area,South China: implications for the Kwangsian Orogeny

ABSTRACT

The intraplate Kwangsian Orogeny is a key orogenic event in South China in the mid-Paleozoic. We re-examined the evidence for the Yichang Uplift, an inferred geographic feature during the Kwangsian Orogeny, to evaluate its timing and nature. Field, sedimentological, mineralogical and geochronological data were collected from the Late Ordovician-Early Silurian Xiaohe section, Hunan-Hubei area. Results suggest that the Xiaohe section is composed of the Late Ordovician Wufeng Formation black shale in the lower part and the Early Silurian Longmaxi Formation black shale in the upper part. We found that the clay layers interbedded in the Wufeng Formation are altered rhyolitic tuffs instead of parts of a subaerial wreathing crust. LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating of zircons in the top tuff layer of the Wufeng Formation yielded an age of 447.0 + 1.4/- 2.2 Ma, consistent with biostratigraphic data, providing a radiometric constraint for the sedimentary break existed between the Wufeng and Longmaxi formations and confirming the absence of the Hirnantian (latest Ordovician) Guanyinqiao Formation in the study area. Our data support that the Yichang Uplift was a submarine highland possibly initiated by the reactivation of the inherited Jianshi-Enshi Fault in the Hunan-Hubei area during the Kwangsian Orogeny.     

Evolution of the European Cenozoic Rift System: interaction of the Alpine and Pyrenean orogens with their foreland lithosphere

The evolution of the European Cenozoic Rift System (ECRIS) and the Alpine orogen is discussed on the base of a set of palaeotectonic maps and two retro-deformed lithospheric transects which extend across the Western and Central Alps and the Massif Central and the Rhenish Massif, respectively.During the Paleocene, compressional stresses exerted on continental Europe by the evolving Alps and Pyrenees caused lithospheric buckling and basin inversion up to 1700 km to the north of the Alpine and Pyrenean deformation fronts. This deformation was accompanied by the injection of melilite dykes, reflecting a plume-related increase in the temperature of the asthenosphere beneath the European foreland. At the Paleocene–Eocene transition, compressional stresses relaxed in the Alpine foreland, whereas collisional interaction of the Pyrenees with their foreland persisted. In the Alps, major Eocene north-directed lithospheric shortening was followed by mid-Eocene slab- and thrust-loaded subsidence of the Dauphinois and Helvetic shelves. During the late Eocene, north-directed compressional intraplate stresses originating in the Alpine and Pyrenean collision zones built up and activated ECRIS.At the Eocene–Oligocene transition, the subducted Central Alpine slab was detached, whereas the West-Alpine slab remained attached to the lithosphere. Subsequently, the Alpine orogenic wedge converged northwestward with its foreland. The Oligocene main rifting phase of ECRIS was controlled by north-directed compressional stresses originating in the Pyrenean and Alpine collision zones.Following early Miocene termination of crustal shortening in the Pyrenees and opening of the oceanic Provençal Basin, the evolution of ECRIS was exclusively controlled by west- and northwest-directed compressional stresses emanating from the Alps during imbrication of their external massifs. Whereas the grabens of the Massif Central and the Rhône Valley became inactive during the early Miocene, the Rhine Rift System remained active until the present. Lithospheric folding controlled mid-Miocene and Pliocene uplift of the Vosges-Black Forest Arch. Progressive uplift of the Rhenish Massif and Massif Central is mainly attributed to plume-related thermal thinning of the mantle-lithosphere.ECRIS evolved by passive rifting in response to the build-up of Pyrenean and Alpine collision-related compressional intraplate stresses. Mantle-plume-type upwelling of the asthenosphere caused thermal weakening of the foreland lithosphere, rendering it prone to deformation.     

Granulitic metamorphism in the Laouni terrane (Central Hoggar, Tuareg Shield, Algeria)

In the Laouni terrane, which belongs to the polycyclic Central Hoggar domain, various areas contain outcrops of formations showing granulite-facies parageneses. This high-temperature metamorphism was accompanied by migmatization and the emplacement of two types of magmatic suite, one of continental affinity (garnet pyroxenites and granulites with orthoferrossilite–fayalite–quartz), and the other of arc affinity (layered metanorites). Paragenetic, thermobarometric and fluid-inclusion studies of the migmatitic metapelites and metabasites make it possible to reconstruct the P–T–aH₂O path undergone by these formations. This path is clockwise in the three studied areas, being characterized by a major decompression (Tamanrasset: 10.5 kbar at 825 °C to 6 kbar at 700 °C; Tidjenouine: 7.5 kbar at 875 °C; to 3.5 kbar at 700 °C; Tin Begane: 13.5 kbar at 850 °C; to 5 kbar at 720 °C), followed by amphibolitization that corresponds to a fall of temperature (from 700 to 600 °C) and an increase in water activity (from 0.2–0.4 to almost 1).The main observed features are in favour of petrogenesis and exhumation related to the Eburnean orogeny. However, the lacks of good-quality dating work and a comparison with juvenile Pan-African formations having undergone high-pressure metamorphism, in some cases reaching the eclogite facies, do not rule out the possibility that high-temperature parageneses are locally due to Pan-African events.     

耿马一带古近纪花岗岩类岩浆成因及演化

从地质学、岩石学、岩石地球化学等方面，探讨耿马一带古近纪岩浆岩类成因类型和演化、形成的构造背景及其地球动力学。侵入于红色建造K1n及河湖相Em中，比三叠纪花岗岩更偏基性，地球化学特征显示同时具同碰撞及火山弧花岗岩性质。下地壳的拆沉作用，地壳加厚及陆内造山驱动力的影响，富铁超镁铁质堆晶体拆沉于地幔中。堆晶体发生部分熔融，拆沉物熔融岩浆与地壳熔融岩浆于地壳岩浆房产生完全混合作用，形成古近纪具同碰撞及弧火山属性的岩浆。这种混合岩浆上升运移，产生较强的分离结晶作用，多次脉动定位形成古近纪不同岩性单元花岗岩。结合同位素测年结果及其它地质事件，确定其于古近纪侵入于陆内，是陆内造山晚期导致拆沉作用的产物。     

Possible orogeny-parallel lower crustal flow and thickening in the Central Andes

The relatively low elevation and thick crust in the Altiplano, in comparison to the higher elevation, but thinner crust in the Puna plateau, together with geophysical data, suggests that isostatic equillibrium is achieved by cooler and denser lithospheric mantle in the Altiplano. Excess density in the Altiplano mantle could create differential horizontal stress in the order of 25 MPa between both lithospheric columns. Numerical models accounting for pressure and temperature-dependent rheology show that such stress can induce horizontal ductile flow in the lower crust, from the Puna towards the Altiplano. With a minimum viscosity of 10¹⁹ Pa s, this flow reaches 1 cm/year, displacing more than 50 km of material within 5 Ma. If the lower crust viscosity is smaller, the amount of orogeny-parallel lower crustal flow can be even greater. Such a mechanism of channel flow may explain that different amounts of crustal material have been accommodated by shortening in the Altiplano and in the Puna. Because of the strength of the elastic-brittle upper crust, this channel flow does not necessitate large amounts of surface deformation (except vertical uplift), making it difficult to detect from the geology.     

Scale and timing of Rare Earth Element redistribution in the Taconian foreland of New England

Clastic sedimentary rocks, deposited on eastern North America in response to the Taconian Orogeny, commonly have Sm/Nd isotope relationships indicating substantial isotope disturbance near or subsequent to the time of sedimentation that may be associated with severe depletion in light rare earth elements (LREE). Affected units [Normanskill Formation (Austin Glen and Pawlet Members), Frankfort Formation and Perry Mountain Formation] are widely separated both geographically (western New York to western Maine) and stratigraphically (Middle Ordovician to Silurian). A model is proposed for the most likely explanation of the observed REE and Sm/Nd isotope relationships involving a two‐stage process. In the first stage, REE are redistributed on a mineralogical scale (dissolution/precipitation on a sample scale) often with the involvement of REE‐enriched trace phases such as apatite and monazite. This stage typically takes place during diagenesis but may also take place later during metamorphism and/or recent weathering, and results in isotope re‐equilibration on a sample scale. The second stage occurs when one or more of these phases is redissolved and REE are transported on large advective scales. Where LREE‐enriched phases are involved, this gives rise to LREE depletion in whole rocks. The timing of this second stage cannot be constrained from Sm/Nd isotope data and may take place at any time subsequent to the isotope re‐equilibration. Such complex histories of REE redistribution may result in serious errors in estimating Nd model ages but not in estimating the Nd isotope composition at the age of sedimentation. Thus, Sm/Nd ratios even of unmetamorphosed sedimentary rocks have to be carefully evaluated before the calculation of depleted mantle model ages for the provenance.     

造山带汇聚板块边缘沉积盆地的鉴别与恢复

大洋俯冲和大陆碰撞是板块汇聚过程中的有机连续过程,也是造山带形成的两种基本造山作用方式。不同的造山作用过程形成不同类型的沉积盆地和填充序列,沉积盆地性质的改变和沉积物源区变化是造山作用方式和时限的最直接体现。沉积盆地是造山带重要大地构造相单元之一,完整记录了板块边缘动力学过程和构造演化以及造山作用方式和时限。沉积盆地构造原型鉴别与恢复是造山带结构-属性解剖的重要内容之一。视沉积盆地与相邻大地构造相的演化为统一整体,以填充物和沉积物源区作为链接沉积盆地和造山带的纽带,系统地精细解剖填充物组成和沉积相以及沉积物源区时空变化系列,准确鉴别并恢复造山带沉积盆地构造原型,是获取大陆碰撞方式和时限的沉积-地层判别标志的有效方法之一。     

扬子西缘泛非造山与绵阳－长宁克拉通裂陷的沉积充填过程研究

四川盆地安岳震旦—寒武系特大型气田的发现,掀起了探索四川盆地深层油气勘探新领域的热潮。然而对于川西北深层原型盆地沉积充填过程及其动力学机制的认识尚处于探索阶段。本文通过对扬子西北缘及盆内典型钻井震旦—寒武纪地层序列的综合调查与区域对比研究,基于关键事件序列的系统厘定,重建了扬子西北缘及邻区新元古代—寒武纪原型盆地沉积充填格架;对比全球冈瓦纳大陆汇聚与泛非造山过程,系统厘定了泛非运动在扬子西缘的沉积－构造－岩浆作用记录,进一步明确了华南扬子克拉通为新元古代末期冈瓦纳大陆的一部分。同时,结合盆内最新深层钻井和二维地震资料解析,研究认为绵阳－长宁克拉通边缘裂陷的成生、发展、充填与折返隆升过程主要受控于扬子西缘的泛非期弧后伸展、弧陆碰撞及陆陆碰撞造山过程,研究提出绵阳－长宁克拉通边缘裂陷经历了如下6个演化阶段：①陡山沱早期克拉通边缘裂陷开启,表现为克拉通边缘的裂陷与快速沉降;②陡山沱晚期—灯影早期为克拉通裂陷的持续沉降与克拉通碳酸盐台地的补偿性生长,区域沉积分异明显;③灯影晚期为克拉通裂陷扩展、定型与碳酸盐台地的活化与重建;④麦地坪期为克拉通边缘的差异隆升与碳酸盐台地的风化剥蚀;⑤筇竹寺期为克拉通增生陆块边缘的构造活化与克拉通边缘的挤压挠曲沉降;⑥沧浪铺期为陆陆碰撞造山与克拉通边缘裂陷的快速充填。至沧浪铺末期,绵阳－长宁克拉通裂陷沉积充填结束,并快速折返隆升为天井山－川中古隆起。因此,本文对扬子西缘克拉通边缘裂陷的盆地动力学过程重塑,不仅为华南板块在冈瓦纳古大陆重建中的构造定位提供了新资料,亦将对探索川西北乃至四川盆地深层油气勘探新领域、新方向具有重要的启示意义。     

Reconstruction of the mid-Devonian HP-HT metamorphic event in the Bohemian Massif (European Variscan belt)

Mid-Devonian high-pressure (HP) and high-temperature (HT) metamorphism represents an enigmatic early phase in the evolution of the Variscan Orogeny. Within the Bohemian Massif this metamorphism is recorded mostly in allochthonous complexes with uncertain relationship to the major tectonic units. In this regard, the Mariánské Lázně Complex (MLC) is unique in its position at the base of its original upper plate (Teplá-Barrandian Zone). The MLC is composed of diverse, but predominantly mafic, magmatic-metamorphic rocks with late Ediacaran to mid-Devonian protolith ages. Mid-Devonian HP eclogite-facies metamorphism was swiftly followed by a HT granulite-facies overprint contemporaneous with the emplacement of magmatic rocks with apparent supra-subduction affinity. New Hf in zircon isotopic measurements combined with a review of whole-rock isotopic and geochemical data reveals that the magmatic protoliths of the MLC, as well as in the upper plate Teplá-Barrandian Zone, developed above a relatively unaltered Neoproterozoic lithospheric mantle. They remained coupled with this lithospheric mantle throughout a geological timeframe that encompasses separate Ediacaran and Cambrian age arc magmatism, protracted early Paleozoic rifting, and the earliest phases of the Variscan Orogeny. These results are presented in the context of reconstructing the original architecture of the Variscan terranes up to and including the mid-Devonian HP-HT event.     

Hunter–Bowen deformation in South Percy Island,northeastern Australia

South Percy Island is located approximately 50 km off the central Queensland coast and comprises a disrupted ophiolite mass alongside a diverse array of metamorphosed felsic and mafic rocks that record several episodes of magmatism, volcanism and deformation from the Permian to Early Cretaceous. This paper aims to constrain the age, affinity and deformation history of these units, as well as to establish the tectonic significance of the terrane. The trace-element compositions of mafic and felsic meta-igneous rocks record a change from MORB-like prior to ca 277 Ma to subduction-related by ca 258 Ma. Overprinting relationships between intrusive phases and deformation features reveal a relative chronology for the tectonothermal evolution of the area, while U–Pb and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology provides absolute age constraints. Deformation is localised around a NNE-striking tectonic contact that separates serpentinised ultramafic rocks from metamorphosed pillow lavas. Early formed ductile fabrics associated with the main episode of deformation (D₁) preserve bulk flattening strains at greenschist-facies conditions. Emplacement and post-kinematic cooling ages of a pre-D₁ quartz-monzonite dyke constrain the age of D₁/M₁ deformation and metamorphism to the period between ca 258 and ca 248 Ma. Minor brittle deformation (D₂) occurred at ca 230 Ma, based on U–Pb dating of a syn-D₂ diorite dyke (ca 231 ± 10 Ma) and several ca 230 Ma ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar cooling ages. The deformation, metamorphism, and supra-subduction zone magmatism preserved on South Percy Island is correlated with the nearby Marlborough Terrane and more broadly with the second pulse of the Hunter–Bowen Orogeny, which affected much of the central and northern parts of eastern Australia in the late Permian and Early Triassic. Our results support previous suggestions that the second pulse of the Hunter–Bowen Orogeny involved coeval thrust systems in both the inboard and outboard parts of the orogen.