The Neoproterozoic Malani magmatism of the northwestern Indian shield: implications for crust-building processes

Malani is the largest event of anorogenic felsic magmatism (covering ∼50, 000 km²) in India. This magmatic activity took place at ∼750 Ma post-dating the Erinpura granite (850 Ma) and ended prior to Marwar Supergroup (680 Ma) sedimentation. Malani eruptions occurred mostly on land, but locally sub-aqueous conditions are shown by the presence of conglomerate, grits and pillow lava. The Malani rocks do not show any type of regional deformation effects. The Malanis are characterised by bimodal volcanism with a dominant felsic component, followed by granitic plutonism and a terminal dyke phase. An angular unconformity between Malani lavas and basement is observed, with the presence of conglomerate at Sindreth, Diri, and Kankani. This indicates that the crust was quite stable and peneplained prior to the Malani activity. Similarly, the absence of any thrust zone, tectonic mélange and tectonised contact of the Malanis with the basement goes against a plate subduction setting for their genesis. After the closure of orogenic cycles in the Aravalli craton of the northwestern shield, this anorogenic intraplate magmatic activity took place in a cratonic rift setting under an extensional tectonic regime.     

新元古代的"雪球地球"

“雪球地球”假说的提出解释了一些新元古代冰川现象，如低纬度和低海拔冰川沉积、帽碳酸盐岩、负的碳酸盐δ^13C漂移和BIF铁矿等现象。尽管有不同的假说与解释，但“雪球地球”最为流行。“雪球地球”事件被认为起因于地球系统的变化，如Rodinia超大陆的裂解、超级地幔柱的活动及古地磁真极的漂移等。“雪球地球”的极端气候环境变化，促进了生命的演化，造成了寒武纪生物大爆发。     

Comparison of Late Pleistocene and Modern Glacier Extents in Central Nepal Based on Digital Elevation Data and Satellite Imagery

Late Pleistocene and modern ice extents in central Nepal are compared to estimate equilibrium line altitude (ELA) depressions. New techniques are used for determining the former extent of glaciers based on quantitative, objective geomorphic analyses of a 90-m resolution digital elevation model (DEM). For every link of the drainage network, valley form is classified as glacial or fluvial based on cross-valley shape and slope statistics. Down-valley transitions from glacial to fluvial form indicate the former limits of glaciation in each valley. Landsat Multispectral Scanner imagery for the same region is used to map current glacier extents. For both full-glacial and modern cases, ELAs are computed from the glacier limits using the DEM and a toe-to-headwall altitude ratio of 0.5. Computed ELA depressions range from 100–900 m with a modal value of 650 m and a mean of 500 m, values consistent with previously published estimates for the central Himalaya but markedly smaller than estimates for many other regions. We suggest that this reflects reduced precipitation, rather than a small temperature depression, consistent with other evidence for a weaker monsoon under full-glacial conditions.     

Petrogenesis and tectonic implications of Neoproterozoic, highly fractionated A-type granites from Mianning, South China

The origin of Neoproterozoic intrusions (ca. 860–750 Ma) along the western part of the Yangtze Craton has been the subject of debate in recent years, with two competing models proposed. The plume model argues for an extensional setting and emphasizes the role of a superplume in the Rodinia breakup, whereas the arc model argues for the presence of a subduction zone in the Yangtze Craton. As a contribution to this animated dispute, geochronologic and geochemical analyses have been carried out on the Mianning granite, which is the largest pluton (700 km²) in the northern Kangdian rift of the western Yangtze Craton. It is shown that the Mianning granites were emplaced at ca. 780 Ma and display highly fractionated feature (i.e., SiO₂ > 75 wt%; Eu/Eu* = 0.03–0.50; enrichment of K, Rb, Th, U, Zr, Hf, Y and REEs; depletion of Nb, Ta, Ba, Sr, P, Eu and Ti). They are metaluminous to strongly peraluminous (A/CNK = 0.93–1.55) and contain abundant perthite and minor alkali riebeckite and sphene, sharing the petrological and geochemical characters of A₂-type granites. Positive _Nd (t) (2.97–5.24) and zircon _Hf (t) (9.2–12.1) values are consistent with a derivation by partial melting of a relatively young crust formed about 1000–900 Ma. Given the general absence of A-type granites in arc settings, the Mianning A-type granites are suggestive of an anorogenic, crustal extensional environment for the western Yangtze Craton during the Neoproterozoic. The data presented in this study are therefore consistent with an intracontinental rift model, but are not sufficient to identify plume involvement in the Neoproterozoic magmatism.     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene glaciation of the Fish Lake valley,northeastern Alaska Range,Alaska

We reconstructed a chronology of glaciation spanning from the Late Pleistocene through the late Holocene for Fish Lake valley in the north‐eastern Alaska Range using ¹⁰Be surface exposure dating and lichenometry. After it attained its maximum late Wisconsin extent, the Fish Lake valley glacier began to retreat ca. 16.5 ka, and then experienced a readvance or standstill at 11.6 ± 0.3 ka. Evidence of the earliest Holocene glacial activity in the valley is a moraine immediately in front of Little Ice Age (LIA) moraines and is dated to 3.3–3.0 ka. A subsequent advance culminated at ca. AD 610–900 and several LIA moraine crests date to AD 1290, 1640, 1860 and 1910. Our results indicate that ¹⁰Be dating from high‐elevation sites can be used to help constrain late Holocene glacial histories in Alaska, even when other dating techniques are unavailable. Close agreement between ¹⁰Be and lichenometric ages reveal that ¹⁰Be ages on late Holocene moraines may be as accurate as other dating methods. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Neoproterozoic continental rift magmatism of the eastern Jiangnan orogen: new evidence from the mafic sheets in northern Zhejiang Province,South China

Massive mafic sheets were recently recognized intruding the Neoproterozoic strata in Fuyang area, eastern Jiangnan orogen. Geochronological, geochemical, and isotopic studies were carried out to understand their mantle source, crust–mantle interaction, and tectonic setting. LA-ICP-MS U-Pb zircon data indicate that the sheets were generated at 808 ± 7 Ma. The mafic sheets consist of two groups: high Ti and low Ti. They are enriched in light rare earth elements (LREE; 3.3–5.3 ppm) and show negligible Eu anomalies (δEu = 0.77–1.12). They also have strong large-ion lithophile element (LILE; Sr, K, Rb, Ba) enrichment, moderately strong high-field-strength element (HFSE) enrichment (except for Nb-Ta depletion), and positive εNd(t) (5.1–9.1). Geochemical and isotopic data indicate that the mafic sheets were generated from a depleted asthenospheric mantle source. The high-Ti mafic sheets have higher HFSE contents and less Nb-Ta depletion than the low Ti series, indicating a lower degree of partial melting and crustal contamination. The mafic sheets grew in a within-plate setting, concurrent with the ~820–750 Ma rifting events in the eastern Jiangnan orogen. They are likely related to the breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent.     

秦岭勉略构造混杂带康县-勉县段蛇绿岩块-铁镁质岩块的SHRIMP年代及其意义

本文对秦岭勉略（勉县—略阳）构造混杂带康县—勉县段的铁镁质岩块或蛇绿岩块进行了系统的锆石SHRIMP UPb年代学研究。测年结果表明,勉略构造混杂带康县—勉县段铁镁质岩块的形成时代为841±16~812±11Ma,蛇绿混杂岩中的辉长岩和辉绿岩块的形成时代为827±14~808±10Ma。从西向东,勉略构造混杂带不同地段蛇绿岩块或铁镁质岩块的锆石UPb同位素年龄在误差范围内相同,表明勉略混杂岩带中的蛇绿岩块所代表的是新元古代古洋壳残片。中部三岔子斜长花岗岩的形成年龄（923Ma±13）大于其他铁镁质岩块和蛇绿岩。     

The metamorphic complex of Beloretzk, SW Urals, Russia — a terrane with a polyphase Meso- to Neoproterozoic thermo-dynamic evolution

An integrated geological study of the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the metamorphic complex of Beloretzk (MCB) which is part of the eastern Bashkirian mega-anticlinorium (BMA), SW Urals, Russia shows that the main lithological units are Neoproterozoic (Riphean and Vendian age) siliciclastic to carbonate successions. Granitic, syenitic and mafic intrusions together with subaerial equivalents comprise the Neo- and Mesoproterozoic magmatic rocks. The metamorphic grade ranges from diagenetic and very low grade in the western BMA to high-grade in the MCB. The N–S trending Zuratkul fault marks the change in metamorphic grade and structural evolution between the central and eastern BMA. Structural data, Pb/Pb-single zircon ages, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar cooling ages and the provenance signature of Riphean and Vendian siliciclastic rocks in the western BMA give evidence of Mesoproterozoic (Grenvillian) rifting, deformation and eclogite-facies metamorphism in the MCB and a Neoproterozoic (Cadomian) orogenic event in the SW Urals. Three pre-Ordovician deformation phases can be identified in the MCB. The first SSE-vergent, isoclinal folding phase (D₁) is younger than the intrusion of mafic dykes (Pb/Pb-single zircon: 1350 Ma) and older than the eclogite-facies metamorphism. High P/low T eclogite-facies metamorphism is bracketed by D₁ and the intrusion of the Achmerovo granite (Pb/Pb-single zircon: ≤970 Ma). An extensional, sinistral, top-down-to-NW directed shearing (D₂) is correlated with the first exhumation of the MCB. E-vergent folding and thrusting (D₃) occurred at retrograde greenschist-facies metamorphic conditions. The tremolite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar cooling age (718±5 Ma) of amphibolitic eclogite and muscovite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar cooling ages (about 550 Ma) of mica schists indicate that a maximum temperature of 500±50 °C was not reached during the Neoproterozoic orogeny. The style and timing of the Neoproterozoic orogeny show similarities to the Cadomian-aged Timan Range NW of the Polar Urals. Geochronological and thermochronological data together with the abrupt change in structural style and metamorphism east of the Zuratkul fault, suggest that the MCB is exotic with respect to the SE-margin of the East European Platform. Thus, the MCB is named the ‘Beloretzk Terrane’. Recognition of the ‘Beloretzk Terrane’ and the Neoproterozoic orogeny at the eastern margin of Baltica has important implications for Neoproterozoic plate reconstruction and suggests that the eastern margin of Baltica might have lain close to the Avalonian–Cadomian belt.