Paleomagnetism of the Carboniferous Rouchel Block,Tamworth Belt,and pole path revision for the New England Orogen,eastern Australia

Structural, magnetic and gravity trends of the southern New England Orogen (SNEO) indicate four oroclinal structures, none conclusively confirmed paleomagnetically. Curved structures of the Tamworth Belt (TB)—a continental forearc exposed across six tectono-stratigraphic blocks with interlinked Carboniferous stratigraphies and extensive ignimbritic rocks known to retain primary magnetisations despite prevalent overprinting—are prospective to oroclinal testing through comparison of Carboniferous pole paths for individual blocks. Pole paths (a) have been established for the Rocky Creek and Werrie blocks (northwestern/western TB), (b) are described herein for the Rouchel Block (southwestern TB), and (c) are forthcoming for the Gresford and Myall blocks (southern/southeastern TB). The Rouchel path derives from detailed paleomagnetic, rock magnetic and magnetic fabric studies. Thermal, alternating field and liquid nitrogen demagnetisations show a low-temperature overprint, attributed to late Oligocene weathering, and high-temperature (HT) primary and overprint components in both magnetite and hematite carriers, showing slight, systematic, directional differences with hematite providing the better cleaned site poles. Seven primary mean-site poles of Tournaisian and mainly Visean age and three overprint poles show six positive fold tests, five at 95% or higher confidence levels. Two dispersed groupings of intermediate (IT) and HT overprint site poles of Permian and Permo-Triassic age are attributed to early and late phases in oroclinal evolution of the SNEO. HT and IT/HT overprint site poles of mid-Carboniferous age are attributed to Variscan Australia–Asia convergence. Individual pole paths for the Rocky Creek, Werrie and Rouchel blocks show no noticeable rotation between them, indicating primary curvature for the southwestern TB. Their integrated SNEO pole path establishes a reference frame for determining rotations of the southern and southeastern TB.     

History of faulting in the Northern Hastings Block,southern New England Orogen

Brittle failure is common in the Devonian to Permian rocks in the Northern Hastings Block (NHB) and is manifested by faults of different orientation and kinematic histories, but the timing of fault movement is not well defined. In this study, faults in the NHB were analysed with the map pattern of cross-cutting faults used to estimate the relative time of movement and relationship to other faults. We defined five episodes of faulting or fault reactivation that affected the NHB. The Yarras Fault System on the southwestern side of the NHB and the Parrabel Fault and related faults on the eastern side of the NHB are the two major fault systems responsible for transporting and rotating the NHB in the late Carboniferous. Faults on the eastern, northeastern and northern part of Parrabel Dome started and stopped moving after emplacement of the Hastings Block and before the intrusion of the Werrikimbe Triassic granitoids. We suggested that the movement on the major bounding faults is related to the accommodation of the NHB to the folding and cleavage development in the adjoining Nambucca Block, and is associated with the earliest part of the Hunter–Bowen Orogeny. Limited dextral movement on the extensions of the Taylors Arm Fault System caused minor displacements in the northeastern part of the NHB during the Late Triassic. Some small faults cut the Triassic granitoids or Triassic Lorne Basin sediments indicating tectonic activity continued post-Triassic.     

青藏高原拉萨地块西部念青唐古拉岩群的地球化学特征及构造意义

拉萨地块西部呈断块状沿狮泉河-申扎-嘉黎蛇绿混杂岩带附近分布的念青唐古拉岩群被认为是前寒武纪变质基底。本文对念青唐古拉岩群进行了系统的岩石学、地球化学、同位素年代学及构造地质学研究。研究结果表明片岩-片麻岩-变粒岩含十字石、石榴子石等特征变质矿物,遵循粒度分异规律,其原岩可能为来自冈瓦纳古陆核北缘中新元古代弧盆体系的活动大陆边缘浊积岩。斜长角闪岩具低硅、高铁镁、富钙的基性岩特征,其原岩为岛弧型基性火山岩。念青唐古拉岩群中的花岗伟晶岩锆石LA-ICPMS U-Pb年龄为1150±13Ma,具过铝质S型花岗岩地球化学特征,可能为中元古代(1150±13 Ma)以前就开始沉积的念青唐古拉岩群基底岩石通过部分熔融形成。与花岗伟晶岩渐变过渡接触的二云斜长片麻岩第一组变质重结晶锆石U-Pb年龄为701±15 Ma,结合十字石特征变质矿物,暗示了该地区中温高压变质作用的峰期变质,变质程度达角闪岩相;第二组热液流体锆石UPb年龄为301±8.4 Ma,可能与冈瓦纳大陆北缘古特提斯洋演化过程中的岩浆热液作用有关。     

Possible spatial variability in the Selwyn Block of Central Victoria: evidence from Late Devonian felsic igneous rocks

The Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Selwyn Block in Central Victoria forms the mainly unexposed basement to the Paleozoic metasediments, granitic rocks and felsic volcanic complexes of the Melbourne Zone of the Lachlan Orogen. The Late Devonian felsic rocks are largely products of partial melting of the Selwyn Block, and their chemistry implies that their sources were most probably arc-related andesite, dacite, volcaniclastic greywackes and some pelites. When plotted against the median longitudes of the plutons and volcanic complexes, the average values for ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_t and ?Nd_t (at 370 Ma) reveal broad trends interpreted to reflect possible compositional and/or age structure in the Selwyn Block. Assuming that the trends are real, from W to E, I-type sources are progressively less crustally evolved, probably younging eastward. The S-type sources show no trend in ?Nd_t, suggesting that there was efficient sediment mixing. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_t values, however, become more evolved eastward (opposite in sense to the apparent variation in the I-type sources). This is interpreted as the original Selwyn Block sediments having been more pelitic eastward, perhaps suggesting a deepening of the basin in this direction, as well as structurally upward in the succession. The opposite senses of variation highlights the spatial separation of the S- and I-type sources and suggest that the granitic magmas here are unlikely to represent any sort of mixing continuum.     

Magnetic properties of the remagnetized Middle-Ordovician limestones of the Ponón Trehué Formation (San Rafael Block,central-western Argentina): Insights into the Permian widespread Sanrafaelic overprint

The widespread Sanrafaelic remagnetization reset most of the early Cambrian to mid-Ordovician carbonate platform of the Argentine Precordillera and the calcareous units of the San Rafael Block. We conducted a detailed rock-magnetic study on the Middle-Ordovician limestones of the Ponón Trehué Formation at both limbs of a tight anticline exposed in the San Rafael Block (Mendoza province, central-western Argentina) that are carriers of a syntectonic magnetization of Permian age. We found that the magnetic overprint in the Ponón Trehué Formation is carried by both pyrrhotite and magnetite, with goethite and subordinate haematite likely related to weathering. Hysteresis parameters, frequency dependence of magnetic susceptibility, Cisowski and modified Lowrie-Fuller tests suggest the presence of ultrafine particles of chemical origin. Demagnetization of natural remanent magnetization and of three-axis isothermal remanence confirm pyrrhotite and magnetite as important contributors to the remanence. Both minerals carry the same magnetic syntectonic component suggesting a coeval or nearly coeval remanence acquisition and therefore mineral formation. This and the results of the magnetic fabric analyses indicate an authigenic origin of the magnetic minerals during folding associated with the Sanrafaelic tectonic phase (ca. 280 Ma). Although the chemically active (oxidizing?) fluids expelled from the orogen as it developed in the early Permian is a viable explanation for the Sanrafaelic remagnetization, the role of the nearly coeval magmatism in Precordillera and the San Rafael Block remains to be properly evaluated.     

拉萨地块林芝杂岩体石榴角闪岩的地球化学特征和年代学研究

本文对位于青藏高原拉萨地体东南缘林芝杂岩中的两类石榴角闪岩进行了详细的地球化学和锆石U-Pb年代学研究。这两类石榴角闪岩分别为硅不饱和的含十字石石榴角闪岩和硅饱和的含石英石榴角闪岩。含十字石石榴角闪岩矿物组合为十字石、石榴子石、角闪石、钠云母、绿泥石、斜长石。石英石榴角闪岩矿物组合为石榴子石、角闪石、石英、斜长石、黑云母。岩石学及变质相平衡研究表明两类石榴角闪岩均经历了高压角闪岩相变质作用。含十字石石榴角闪岩和石英石榴角闪岩具有MORB的地球化学特征,锆石U-Pb年代学分析获得了800~200 Ma的206Pb/238U年龄范围,出现了~430 Ma、~268 Ma和~216 Ma年龄峰值。~430 Ma年龄可能和拉萨地体岩浆活动有关,~268 Ma变质年龄和~216 Ma变质年龄和拉萨地块经历的高压变质作用有关。其中~268 Ma年龄和拉萨地块内部松多高压带榴辉岩的峰期变质年龄一致,而~216 Ma年龄和榴辉岩的围岩含石榴子石片岩年龄一致。对比该区域的年代学研究成果,这表明林芝杂岩体不仅经历了中新生代的变质和岩浆再造活动,还经历了古特提斯洋闭合,南北拉萨地块发生碰撞的晚二叠世的高压变质作用和三叠纪的中压变质作用。     

阴山陆块武川石榴基性麻粒岩P-T条件及其变质时代:来自相平衡模拟与锆石U-Pb定年的约束

武川高级片麻岩地体中石榴基性麻粒岩的变质用与同位素年代学研究对于揭示阴山陆块新太古代构造演化过程具有十分重要的研究意义。它们主要以不规则透镜体或变形岩墙/岩脉群的形式赋存于新太古代晚期英云闪长质片麻岩或变质表壳岩系之中,并切割近南-北向的区域性片麻理。岩相学观察、矿物相转变分析与矿物化学研究表明,武川石榴基性麻粒岩保留了十分典型的高压麻粒岩相矿物:石榴石+单斜辉石+斜长石+角闪石+石英+铁-钛氧化物。其中,粗粒石榴石边部常发育微弱的扩散环带,表现为从幔部至边部,镁铝榴石组分不断减少,相应地铁铝榴石组分不断增加,而钙铝榴石与锰铝榴石组分基本不变,指示晚期冷却降温作用对石榴石成分产生一定影响。斜长石具有细粒包体型与粗粒基质型两种不同的类型,它们具有十分相似化学成分,均为An=35~45的中长石。在NCFMASHTO(Na_2O-CaO-FeO-MgO-Al_2O_3-SiO_2-H_2O-TiO_2-Fe_2O_3)体系下,利用THERM OCA LC 3.33软件,对两件石榴基性麻粒岩样品进行了相平衡模拟,模拟的峰期矿物组合为:石榴石+单斜辉石+斜长石+角闪石+石英+铁-钛氧化物,与岩相学观察十分一致。采用石榴石中最小x(g)Fe~(2 +)/(Fe~(2 +)+Mg))与斜长石是中最小ca(pl)(Ca/(Ca+Na))等值线,将本区石榴基性麻粒岩峰期高压麻粒岩相的温压条件限定在P=1.31~1.40GPa,T=770~840℃的范围内。LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年结果表明,两件石榴基性麻粒岩麻粒岩中发育的变质锆石分别记录了2517±6Ma(BT58-1,MSWD=0.66,n=21)与2512±16Ma(LH66-1,MSWD=0.26,n=42)的加权平均年龄,与阴山陆块其它新太古代岩石记录的约2500Ma变质年龄一致,被解释为本区石榴基性麻粒岩遭受高压麻粒岩相变质时代。结合本区其它新的研究资料,本文认为武川石榴基性麻粒岩形成可能与区内新太古代晚期造山作用有关。     

Episodic crustal growth in the Tanzania Craton: evidence from Nd isotope compositions

The analysis of available Nd isotope data from the Tanzania Craton places important constraints on the crust-mantle separation ages, and events marking juvenile crustal addition and crustal recycling. Nd model ages date the oldest crust extraction to 3.16 Ga in the Tanzania Craton, although a rock record of such antiquity is yet to be found there. The most significant period of juvenile crustal addition as well as crustal recycling is 2.7–2.6 Ga. The Nd isotopes of mafic samples show that chemical heterogeneity existed in the mantle beneath the Tanzania Craton, with some samples originating from significantly depleted mantle, and most samples originating from the mixture of primitive mantle and depleted mantle. The Nd isotope section reveals significant differences in Nd isotopes between the north craton and central craton; compared to the north craton, the central craton yields a Nd model age that is approximately 100 Ma older, and its ε_Nd(t) values are more negative, indicating that the two parts of the craton have different mantle source regions. Different types of granitoids are distributed in the Tanzania Craton, such as high-K and low-Al granite, calc-alkaline granite, peraluminous granite and transitional types of tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorites (TTGs). Most of the granitoids formed later than the mafic rocks in syn-collision and post-collision events.     

Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating of the Neogene coral reefs,Xisha Islands,South China Sea: implications for tectonic evolution

The Xisha Block is a minor one in the South China Sea and an important tectonic unit in the northwestern part of the region. Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb ages for three volcanic intrusive core samples from Xike-1, an exploratory well penetrating the bioherms of the Xisha Islands. The core samples are from the Miocene reef carbonate bedrock and are recognized as dark-gray biotite-hornblende gabbro, gray fine-grained biotite diorite, and gray fine-grained granite, respectively. Zircon cathodoluminescence (CL) images and trace Th, U and Pb compositions of the zircons show that these rocks are of volcanic intrusive origin. Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating yielded six groups of ages, ranging from 2451-1857 Ma to early Cretaceous, which indicate that the formation and evolution of the Xisha Block was affected by the evolution and closure of Neotethys Ocean, probably within its eastern extension into South China Sea. Both old, deep-sourced material, including fragments from Rodina supercontinent, and recent mantle-derived magma products contributed to the emergence and formation of the Xisha block. The SHRIMP U-Pb results also proved that this process differed from that of the Kontum massif, the Hainan Block, and the South China Block, but is similar to that of the Nansha and Zhongsha blocks. The process was associated with the effects of Yanshanian magmatism induced by subduction mechanisms of the Paleo-Pacific Plate or the reworking of the multiple magmatisms since the Early to mid-Yanshanian, possibly jointly experienced by the Xisha-Zhongsha-Nansha Block.     

华夏陆块钠质高镁玄武岩地球化学特征及地质意义

赣州盆地位于钦杭(钦州—杭州)结合带南侧华夏陆块西部,由晚白垩世早期红色碎屑沉积岩系组成,其底部夹有一套玄武岩,全岩Si O_2含量为46.50%~48.13%,具有钠质高镁特征(Mg O=15.47%~18.24%,Mg~#=74~77,K_2O/Na_2O=0.22~0.39)。稀土元素配分型式表现出轻稀土富集右倾,没有明显的Eu异常的特点,表明岩浆没有明显的斜长石分离结晶作用;微量元素上富集大离子亲石元素,高场强元素特别是Ta、Nb、Ti亏损不明显,Cr、Ni的含量分别为235×10~(-6)~617×10~(-6)、157×10~(-6)~493×10~(-6),与原生岩浆的Cr、Ni含量接近,Ba/Nb值(13.51~23.18)和La/Nb值(0.82~1.03)表明源区有富集地幔组分;Sr—Nd—Pb—O同位素显示出源区性质具有EMⅡ型富集地幔特征。岩石学和地球化学特征表明,玄武岩具有原生岩浆性质,是富集地幔部分熔融的产物。同时为中生代华夏陆块EMⅡ型岩石圈地幔提供了准确的证据。由赣州盆地晚白垩世构造背景和构造环境判别图解可知,本区玄武岩形成于板内拉张环境,可能与古太平洋俯冲条件的转变有关。