Petrology and Geochemistry of Early Cretaceous Bimodal Continental Flood Volcanism of the NW Etendeka, Namibia. Part 1: Introduction, Mafic Lavas and Re-evaluation of Mantle Source Components

The bimodal NW Etendeka province is located at the continentalend of the Tristan plume trace in coastal Namibia. It comprisesa high-Ti (Khumib type) and three low-Ti basalt (Tafelberg,Kuidas and Esmeralda types) suites, with, at stratigraphicallyhigher level, interstratified high-Ti latites (three units)and quartz latites (five units), and one low-Ti quartz latite.Khumib basalts are enriched in high field strength elementsand light rare earth elements relative to low-Ti types and exhibittrace element affinities with Tristan da Cunha lavas. The unradiogenic²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios of Khumib basalts are distinctive, most plottingto the left of the 132 Ma Geochron, together with elevated ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pbratios, and Sr–Nd isotopic compositions plotting in thelower ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd part of mantle array (EM1-like). The low-Tibasalts have less coherent trace element patterns and variable,radiogenic initial Sr (     

U-Pb Zircon Calendar for Namaquan (Grenville) Crustal Events in the Granulite-facies Terrane of the O'okiep Copper District of South Africa

The O'okiep Copper District is underlain by voluminous 1035–1210Ma granite gneiss and granite with remnants of metamorphosedsupracrustal rocks. This assemblage was intruded by the 1030Ma copper-bearing Koperberg Suite that includes jotunite, anorthosite,biotite diorite and hypersthene-bearing rocks ranging from leuconoriteto hypersthenite. New sensitive high-resolution ion microprobeage data demonstrate the presence of 1700–2000 Ma zirconas xenocrysts in all of the intrusive rocks, and as detritalzircon in the metasediments of the Khurisberg Subgroup. Thesedata are consistent with published Sm–Nd model ages ofc. 1700 Ma (T_CHUR) and c. 2000 Ma (T_DM) of many of the intrusivesthat support a major crust-forming event in Eburnian (Hudsonian)times. In addition, U–Th–Pb analyses of zirconsfrom all major rock units define two tectono-magmatic episodesof the Namaquan Orogeny: (1) the O'okiepian Episode (1180–1210Ma), represented by regional granite plutonism, notably theNababeep and Modderfontein Granite Gneisses and the Concordiaand Kweekfontein Granites that accompanied and outlasted (e.g.Kweekfontein Granite) regional tectonism [F₂(D₂)] and granulite-faciesmetamorphism (M₂); (2) the Klondikean Episode (1020–1040Ma), which includes the intrusion of the porphyritic RietbergGranite and of the Koperberg Suite that are devoid of regionalplanar or linear fabrics. Klondikean tectonism (D₃) is reflectedby major east–west-trending open folds [F₃(D_3a)], andby localized east–west-trending near-vertical ductilefolds [‘steep structures’; F₄(D_3b)] whose formationwas broadly coeval with the intrusion of the Koperberg Suite.A regional, largely thermal, amphibolite- to granulite-faciesmetamorphism (M₃) accompanied D₃. This study demonstrates, interalia, that the complete spectrum of rock-types of the KoperbergSuite, together with the Rietberg Granite, was intruded in ashort time-interval (<10 Myr) at c. 1030 Ma, and that therewere lengthy periods of about 150 Myr of tectonic quiescencewithin the Namaquan Orogeny: (1) between the O'okiepian andKlondikean Episodes; (2) from the end of the latter to the formalend of Namaquan Orogenesis 800–850 Ma ago. KEY WORDS: U–Pb, zircon; O'okiep, Namaqualand; granite plutonism; granulite facies; Koperberg Suite; Namaquan (Grenville) Orogeny     

A Sequence of Pan-African and Hercynian Events Recorded in Zircons from an Orthogneiss from the Hercynian Belt of Western Central Iberia--an Ion Microprobe U-Pb Study

Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe U–Pb dating showsthat a biotite orthogneiss from the Hercynian belt of westerncentral Iberia contains 1000–300 Ma zircon. Older, 1000–570Ma ages within this range represent inherited, detrital materialamong which four age components may be recognized:     

U–Pb geochronology of the southern Brasília belt (SE-Brazil): sedimentary provenance, Neoproterozoic orogeny and assembly of West Gondwana

The Brasília belt borders the western margin of the São Francisco Craton and records the history of ocean opening and closing related to the formation of West Gondwana. This study reports new U–Pb data from the southern sector of the belt in order to provide temporal limits for the deposition and ages of provenance of sediments accumulated in passive margin successions around the south and southwestern margins of the São Francisco Craton, and date the orogenic events leading to the amalgamation of West Gondwana.Ages of detrital zircons (by ID–TIMS and LA-MC-ICPMS) were obtained from metasedimentary units of the passive margin of the São Francisco Craton from the main tectonic domains of the belt: the internal allochthons (Araxá Group in the Áraxá and Passos Nappes), the external allochthons (Canastra Group, Serra da Boa Esperança Metasedimentary Sequence and Andrelândia Group) and the autochthonous or Cratonic Domain (Andrelândia Group). The patterns of provenance ages for these units are uniform and are characterised as follows: Archean–Paleoproterozoic ages (3.4–3.3, 3.1–2.7, and 2.5–2.4 Ga); Paleoproterozoic ages attributed to the Transamazonian event (2.3–1.9 Ga, with a peak at ca. 2.15 Ga) and to the ca. 1.75 Ga Espinhaço rifting of the São Francisco Craton; ages between 1.6 and 1.2 Ga, with a peak at 1.3 Ga, revealing an unexpected variety of Mesoproterozoic sources, still undetected in the São Francisco Craton; and ages between 0.9 and 1.0 Ga related to the rifting event that led to the individualisation of the São Francisco paleo-continent and formation of its passive margins. An amphibolite intercalation in the Araxá Group yields a rutile age of ca. 0.9 Ga and documents the occurrence of mafic magmatism coeval with sedimentation in the marginal basin.Detrital zircons from the autochthonous and parautochthonous Andrelândia Group, deposited on the southern margin of the São Francisco Craton, yielded a provenance pattern similar to that of the allochthonous units. This result implies that 1.6–1.2 Ga source rocks must be present in the São Francisco Craton. They could be located either in the cratonic area, which is mostly covered by the Neoproterozoic epicontinental deposits of the Bambuí Group, or in the outer paleo-continental margin, buried under the allochthonous units of the Brasília belt.Crustal melting and generation of syntectonic crustal granites and migmatisation at ca. 630 Ma mark the orogenic event that started with westward subduction of the São Francisco plate and ended with continental collision against the Paraná block (and Goiás terrane). Continuing collision led to the exhumation and cooling of the Araxá and Passos metamorphic nappes, as indicated by monazite ages of ca. 605 Ma and mark the final stages of tectonometamorphic activity in the southern Brasília belt.Whilst continent–continent collision was proceeding on the western margin of the São Francisco Craton along the southern Brasília belt, eastward subduction in the East was generating the 634–599 Ma Rio Negro magmatic arc which collided with the eastern São Francisco margin at 595–560 Ma, much later than in the Brasília belt. Thus, the tectonic effects of the Ribeira belt reached the southernmost sector of the Brasília belt creating a zone of superposition. The thermal front of this event affected the proximal Andrelândia Group at ca. 588 Ma, as indicated by monazite age.The participation of the Amazonian craton in the assembly of western Gondwana occurred at 545–500 Ma in the Paraguay belt and ca. 500 Ma in the Araguaia belt. This, together with the results presented in this work lead to the conclusion that the collision between the Paraná block and Goiás terrane with the São Francisco Craton along the Brasília belt preceded the accretion of the Amazonian craton by 50–100 million years.     

U–Pb ages of Neoarchean granitoids from the Black Hills, South Dakota, USA: implications for crustal evolution in the Archean Wyoming province

Zircons in basement rocks from the eastern Wyoming province (Black Hills, South Dakota, USA) have been analyzed by ion microprobe (SHRIMP) in order to determine precise ages of Archean tectonomagmatic events. In the northern Black Hills (NBH) near Nemo, Phanerozoic and Proterozoic (meta)sedimentary rocks are nonconformably underlain by Archean biotite–feldspar gneiss (BFG) and Little Elk gneissic granite (LEG), both of which intrude older schists. The Archean granitoid gneisses exhibit a pervasive NW–SE-trending fabric, whereas an earlier NE–SW-trending fabric occurs sporadically only in the BFG, which is intruded by the somewhat younger LEG. Zircon crystals obtained from the LEG and BFG exhibit double terminations, oscillatory zoning, and Th/U ratios of 0.6±0.3—thereby confirming a magmatic origin for both lithologies. In situ analysis of the most U–Pb concordant domains yields equivalent ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages (upper intercept, U–Pb concordia) of 2559±6 and 2563±6 Ma (both ±2σ) for the LEG and BFG, respectively, which constrains a late Neoarchean age for sequential pulses of magmatism in the NBH. Unzoned (in BSE) patches of 2560 Ma zircon commonly truncate coeval zonation in the same crystals with no change in Th/U ratio, suggesting that deuteric, fluid-assisted recrystallization accompanied post-magmatic cooling. A xenocrystic core of magmatic zircon observed in one LEG zircon yields a concordant age of 2894±6 Ma (±2σ). This xenocryst represents the oldest crustal material reported thus far in the Black Hills. Whether this older zircon originated as unmelted residue of 2900 Ma crust that potentially underlies the Black Hills or as detritus derived from 2900 Ma crustal sources in the Wyoming province cannot be discerned. In the southern Black Hills (SBH), the peraluminous granite at Bear Mountain (BMG) of previously unknown age intrudes biotite–plagioclase schist. Zircon crystals from the BMG are highly metamict and altered, but locally preserve small domains suitable for in situ analysis. A U–Pb concordia upper intercept age of 2596±11 Ma (±2σ) obtained for zircon confirms both the late Neoarchean magmatic age of the BMG and a minimum age for the schist it intrudes. Taken together, these data indicate that the Neoarchean basement granitoids were emplaced at 2590–2600 Ma (SBH) and 2560 Ma (NBH), most likely in response to subduction associated with plate convergence (final assembly of supercontinent Kenorland?). In contrast, thin rims present on some LEG–BFG zircons exhibit strong U–Pb discordance, high common Pb, and low Th/U ratios—suggesting growth or modification under hydrothermal conditions, as previously suggested for similar zircons from SE Wyoming. The LEG–BFG zircon rims yield a nominal upper intercept date of 1940–2180 Ma, which may represent a composite of multiple rifting events known to have affected the Nemo area between 2480 and 1960 Ma. Together, these observations confirm the existence of a Paleoproterozoic rift margin along the easternmost Wyoming craton. Moreover, the 2480–1960 Ma time frame inferred for rifting in the Black Hills (Nemo area) corresponds closely to a 2450–2100 Ma time frame previously inferred for the fragmentation of supercontinent Kenorland.     

Tracing the protolith, UHP metamorphism, and exhumation ages of orthogneiss from the SW Sulu terrane (eastern China): SHRIMP U–Pb dating of mineral inclusion-bearing zircons

Orthogneisses are the major country rocks hosting eclogites in the Sulu UHP terrane, eastern China. All of the analyzed orthogneiss cores from the main drilling hole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project (CCSD-MH) have similar major and trace element compositions and a granite protolith. These rocks have relatively high LREE/HREE ratios, strong negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu*=0.20–0.39), and negative Ba anomalies (Ba/Ba*=0.25–0.64). Coesite and coesite-bearing UHP mineral assemblages are common inclusions in zircons separated from orthogneiss, paragneiss, amphibolite, and (retrograded) eclogite of the CCSD-MH. This suggests that the eclogite, together with its country rocks, experienced in situ ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism. Laser Raman spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence (CL) images show that zircons from the orthogneisses are zoned and that they have distinct mineral inclusions in the different zones. Most zircons retain early magmatic cores with abundant low-pressure mineral inclusions, which are mantled with metamorphic zircon-containing inclusions of coesite and other UHP minerals. The outermost rims on these grains contain low-pressure mineral inclusions, such as quartz and albite. SHRIMP U–Pb dating of the zoned zircons gives three discrete and meaningful groups of ages: Proterozoic ages for the protolith, 227±2 Ma for the coesite-bearing mantles, and 209±3 Ma for the amphibolite facies retrograde rims. The widespread occurrence of UHP mineral inclusions in zircons from the Sulu metamorphic belt dated at about 227 Ma suggests that voluminous continental crust experienced late Triassic subduction to depths of at least 120 km and perhaps more than 200 km. Eighteen million years later, the terrane was rapidly exhumed to midcrustal levels, and the UHP rocks were overprinted by amphibolite facies metamorphism. The exhumation rate deduced from the zircon age data and previously obtained metamorphic P–T data is estimated to be 5.6–11.0 km/Ma. Such rapid exhumation of the Sulu UHP terrane may be due to the buoyancy forces produced by subduction of low-density continental material into the deep mantle.     

The magmatic–hydrothermal transition—evidence from quartz phenocryst textures and endoskarn abundance in Cu–Zn skarns at the Empire Mine, Idaho, USA

Information about the magmatic to hydrothermal transition is preserved in late-stage features of quartz phenocrysts and endoskarn alteration in some Cu–Zn skarn deposits such as the Empire Mine in Idaho. Important features include: (1) quartz phenocrysts with strong resorption textures such as vermicular zones of igneous groundmass cutting primary quartz cathodoluminescence banding, (2) anomalous amounts of endoskarn (more than 50% of mineralized rock), (3) high F activities as evidenced by fluorite as an accessory mineral in igneous rocks, in alteration assemblages, and in fluid inclusions and by high F in hydroxyl sites in igneous biotite and amphibole, and (4) direct association of Zn, which normally is deposited distally at low temperature, with Cu in proximal locations and in endoskarn. These features are explained by the following model: (1) F lowers the solidus temperature of the magma, thus changing the timing, temperature, and duration of hydrothermal fluid exsolution. (2) Upon magmatic vapor saturation the F-rich hydrothermal fluids form bubbles that adhere to quartz phenocrysts and chemically corrode/tunnel into the quartz forming vermicular resorption textures. (3) F-rich hydrothermal fluids also promote the formation of endoskarn; silicic rocks are attacked by F-rich fluids in the same sense that carbonate wall rocks are dissolved by weakly to moderately acidic hydrothermal fluids. (4) Low fluid exsolution temperature facilitated by high F activity promotes high Zn/Cu ratios in proximal locations due to the solubility of Zn relative to Cu at lower temperatures. This model may be applicable at other localities such as the world-class Cu–Zn skarn Antamina mine, as well as some tin and rapakivi granites.     

Lu–Hf and U–Pb isotope systematics of zircons from the Storgangen intrusion, Rogaland Intrusive Complex, SW Norway: implications for the composition and evolution of Precambrian lower crust in the Baltic Shield

The Storgangen orebody is a concordantly layered, sill-like body of ilmenite-rich norite, intruding anorthosites of the Rogaland Intrusive Complex (RIC), SW Norway. 17 zircon grains were separated from ca. 5 kg of sand-size flotation waste collected from the on-site repository from ilmenite mining. These zircons were analysed for major and trace elements by electron microprobe, and for U–Pb and Lu–Hf isotopes by laser ablation microprobe plasma source mass spectrometry. Eight of the zircons define a well-constrained (MSWD=0.37) concordant population with an age of 949±7 Ma, which is significantly older than the 920–930 Ma ages previously reported for zircon inclusions in orthopyroxene megacrysts from the RIC. The remaining zircons, interpreted as inherited grains, show a range of ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages up to 1407±14 Ma, with an upper intercept age at ca. 1520 Ma. The concordant zircons have similar trace element patterns, and a mean initial Hf isotope composition of ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf_{949 Ma}=0.28223±5 (_Hf=+2±2). This is similar to the Hf-isotope composition of zircons in a range of post-tectonic Sveconorwegian granites from South Norway, and slightly more radiogenic than expected for mid-Proterozoic juvenile crust. The older, inherited zircons show Lu–Hf crustal residence ages in the range 1.85–2.04 Ga. One (undated) zircon plots well within the field of Hf isotope evolution of Paleoproterozoic rocks of the Baltic Shield. These findings indicate the presence of Paleoproterozoic components in the deep crust of the Rogaland area, but do not demonstrate that such rocks, or a Sveconorwegian mantle-derived component, contributed significantly to the petrogenesis of the RIC. If the parent magma was derived from a homogeneous, lower crustal mafic granulite source, the lower crustal protolith must be at least 1.5 Ga old, and it must have an elevated Rb/Sr ratio. This component would be indistinguishable in Sr, Nd and Hf isotopes from some intermediate mixtures between Sveconorwegian mantle and Paleoprotoerzoic felsic crust, but it cannot account for the initial ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd of the most primitive, late Sveconorwegian granite in the region, without the addition of mantle-derived material.     

High-pressure experimental growth of diamond using C–K2CO3–KCl as an analogue for Cl-bearing carbonate fluid

High-pressure, high-temperature diamond growth experiments have been conducted in the system C–K₂CO₃–KCl at 1050–1420 °C, 7.0–7.7 GPa. KCl is of interest because of the strong effect of halogens on the phase relations of carbonate-rich systems [Geophys. Res. Lett. 30 (2003) 1022] and because of the occurrence of KCl coexisting with alkali silicate–carbonate fluids in natural-coated diamond [Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 64 (2000) 717]. We have used system C–K₂CO₃–KCl as an analogue for these mantle fluids in diamond growth experiments. The presence of KCl reduces the potassium carbonate liquidus to ≤1000 °C at 7.7 GPa, allowing it to act as a solvent catalyst for diamond growth at temperatures below the continental geotherm. This is a reduction on the minimum diamond growth temperature reported in the alkali-carbonate–C–O–H system [Lithos 60 (2002) 145]. Diamond growth using carbonate solvent catalysts is characterised by a relatively long induction period. However, the addition of KCl also reduced the period for diamond growth in carbonate to 5 min; no such induction period appears to be necessary. It is suggested that KCl destabilises carbonate, allowing greater solubility and diffusion of carbon.     

Indicator mineralogy of kimberlite boulders from eskers in the Kirkland Lake and Lake Timiskaming areas, Ontario, Canada

Sixteen kimberlite boulders were collected from three sites on the Munro and Misema River Eskers in the Kirkland Lake kimberlite field and one site on the Sharp Lake esker in the Lake Timiskaming kimberlite field. The boulders were processed for heavy-mineral concentrates from which grains of Mg-ilmenite, chromite, garnet, clinopyroxene and olivine were picked, counted and analyzed by electron microprobe. Based on relative abundances and composition of these mineral phases, the boulders could be assigned to six mineralogically different groups, five for the Kirkland Lake area and one for the Lake Timiskaming area. Their indicator mineral composition and abundances are compared to existing data for known kimberlites in both the Kirkland Lake and Lake Timiskaming areas. Six boulders from the Munro Esker form a compositionally homogeneous group (I) in which the Mg-ilmenite population is very similar to that of the A1 kimberlite, located 7–12 km N (up-ice), directly adjacent to the Munro esker in the Kirkland Lake kimberlite field. U–Pb perovskite ages of three of the group I boulders overlap with that of the A1 kimberlite. Three other boulders recovered from the same localities in the Munro Esker also show some broad similarities in Mg-ilmenite composition and age to the A1 kimberlite. However, they are sufficiently different in mineral abundances and composition from each other and from the A1 kimberlite to assign them to different groups (II–IV). Their sources could be different phases of the same kimberlite or—more likely—three different, hitherto unknown kimberlites up-ice of the sample localities along the Munro Esker in the Kirkland Lake kimberlite field. A single boulder from the Misema River esker, Kirkland Lake, has mineral compositions that do not match any of the known kimberlites from the Kirkland Lake field. This suggests another unknown kimberlite exists in the area up-ice of the Larder Lake pit along the Misema River esker. Six boulders from the Sharp Lake esker, within the Lake Timiskaming field, form a homogeneous group with distinct mineral compositions unmatched by any of the known kimberlites in the Lake Timiskaming field. U–Pb perovskite age determinations on two of these boulders support this notion. These boulders are likely derived from an unknown kimberlite source up-ice from the Seed kimberlite, 4 km NW of the Sharp Lake pit, since indicator minerals with identical compositions to those of the Sharp Lake boulders have been found in till samples collected down-ice from Seed. Based on abundance and composition of indicator minerals, most importantly Mg-ilmenite, and supported by U–Pb age dating of perovskite, we conclude that the sources of 10 of the 16 boulders must be several hitherto unknown kimberlite bodies in the Kirkland Lake and Lake Timiskaming kimberlite fields.