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.     

湖南芙蓉锡矿床中萤石的Sr－Nd同位素研究

芙蓉锡矿床是一个新探明的超大型锡矿床，产于湘南的骑田岭花岗岩体中。本次研究测试了该矿床中与锡石硫化物共生的萤石的Sr和Nd同位素组成。各矿脉中萤石的87Sr/86Sr比值并不相同，变化从0.70770～0.71484，反映了成矿流体的初始87Sr/86Sr比值并不均一。萤石的Sm－Nd同位素组成并没有构成很好的等时线，计算的ENd（t）值变化在－6.6～－9.8之间。萤石的Sr－Nd同位素组成并不同于花岗岩，成矿流体中的Sr和Nd有很大一部分来自围岩的碳酸盐岩地层。     

Comparison of Proterozoic and Phanerozoic rift-related basaltic-granitic magmatism

This paper compares the 1.67–1.47 Ga rapakivi granites of Finland and vicinity to the 1.70–1.68 Ga rapakivi granites of the Beijing area in China, the anorogenic 130 Ma granites of western Namibia, and the 20–15 Ma granites of the Colorado River extensional corridor in the Basin and Range Province of southern Nevada. In Finland and China, the tectonic setting was incipient, aborted rifting of Paleoproterozoic or Archean continental crust, in Namibia it was continental rifting and mantle plume activity that led to the opening of southern Atlantic at 130 Ma. The 20–15 Ma granites of southern Nevada were related to rifting that followed the Triassic–Paleogene subduction of the Farallon plate beneath the southwestern United States. In all cases, extension-related magmatism was bimodal and accompanied by swarms of diabase and rhyolite–quartz latite dikes. Rapakivi texture with plagioclase-mantled alkali feldspar megacrysts occurs in varying amounts in the granites, and the latest intrusive phases are commonly topaz-bearing granites or rhyolites that may host tin, tungsten, and beryllium mineralization. The granites are typically ferroan alkali-calcic metaluminous to slightly peraluminous rocks with A-type and within-plate geochemical and mineralogical characteristics. Isotope studies (Nd, Sr) suggest dominant crustal sources for the granites. The preferred genetic model is magmatic underplating involving dehydration melting of intermediate-felsic deep crust. Juvenile mafic magma was incorporated either via magma mingling and mixing, or by remelting of newly hybridized lower crust. In Namibia, partial melting of subcontinental lithospheric mantle was caused by the Tristan mantle plume, in the other cases the origin of the mantle magmatism is controversial. For the Fennoscandian suites, extensive long-time mantle upwelling associated with periodic, migrating melting of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, governed by heat flow and deep crustal structures, is suggested.     

河南嵩山地区新元古界何家窑组微亮晶脉特征、成因及地质意义探讨

在河南嵩山地区青白口系何家窑组中可识别出一个碳酸盐岩微亮晶脉集中的层位，笔者等结合微亮晶脉自身的特征、成分和伴生的地震引起的其他变形特征，以及通过显微镜和核磁共聚焦显微镜下的微相研究，认为嵩山地区板状微亮晶脉与华北块体东缘胶辽徐淮地区的泥晶脉特征一致，是由地震液化形成的产物，该层位代表了一个地震活跃期。同处华北块体南缘的豫西鲁山和陕西南部相对应的青白口系层位（洛峪口组和巡检司组）也发现了同期的地震记录。笔者认为嵩山地区微亮晶脉的出现应与华北块体南缘构造事件相关联。     

Sedimentary genesis and lithostratigraphy of Neoproterozoic megabreccia from Mufulira, Copperbelt of Zambia

The Lufilian arc is an orogenic belt in central Africa that extends between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and deforms the Neoproterozoic-Lower Palaeozoic metasedimentary succession of the Katanga Supergroup. The arc contains thick bodies of fragmental rocks that include blocks reaching several kilometres in size. Some megablocks contain Cu and Cu–Co-mineralised Katangan strata. These coarse clastic rocks, called the Katangan megabreccias, have traditionally been interpreted in the DRC as tectonic breccias formed during Lufilian orogenesis due to friction underneath Katangan nappes. In mid-90th, several occurrences in Zambia have been interpreted in the same manner. Prominent among them is an occurrence at Mufulira, considered by previous workers as a ≈1000 m thick tectonic friction breccia containing a Cu–Co-mineralised megablock.This paper presents new results pertaining to the lower stratigraphic interval of the Katanga Supergroup at Mufulira and represented by the Roan Group and the succeeding Mwashya Subgroup of the Guba Group. The interval interpreted in the past as tectonic Roan megabreccia appears to be an almost intact sedimentary succession, the lower part of which consists of Roan Group carbonate rocks with siliciclastic intercalations containing several interbeds of matrix-supported conglomerate. A Cu–Co-mineralised interval is not an allochthonous block but a part of the stratigraphic succession underlain and overlain by conglomerate beds, which were considered in the past as tectonic friction breccias. The overlying megabreccia is a syn-rift sedimentary olistostrome succession that rests upon the Roan strata with a subtle local unconformity. The olistostrome succession consists of three complexes typified by matrix-supported debris-flow conglomerates with Roan clasts. Some of the conglomerate beds pass upwards to normally graded turbidite layers and are accompanied by solitary slump beds. The three conglomeratic assemblages are separated by two intervals of sedimentary breccia composed of allochthonous Roan blocks interpreted as mass-wasting debris redeposited into the basin by high-volume sediment-gravity flows. Sedimentary features are the primary characteristics of the conglomerate interbeds in the Roan succession and of the overlying megabreccia (olistostrome) sequence. Both lithological associations are slightly sheared and brecciated in places, but stratigraphic continuity is retained throughout their succession. The olistostrome is deformed by an open fold, the upper limb of which is truncated by and involved in a shear zone that extends upwards into Mwashya Subgroup strata thrust above.Based on the sedimentary genesis of the megabreccia, local tectonostratigraphic relations and correlation with the succession present in the Kafue anticline to the west, the Mwashya Subgroup, formerly considered as a twofold unit, is redefined here as a three-part succession. The lower Mwashya consists of an olistostrome complex defined as the Mufulira Formation, the middle Mwashya (formerly lower Mwashya) is a mixed succession of siliciclastic and carbonate strata locally containing silicified ooids and tuff interbeds, and the term upper Mwashya is retained for a succession of black shales with varying proportions of siltstone and sandstone interlayers. The sedimentary genesis and stratigraphic relations of the megabreccia at Mufulira imply that the position and tectonostratigraphic context of the Katangan Cu and Cu–Co orebodies hosted in megablocks associated with fragmental rocks, which were in the past interpreted as tectonic friction breccias, need to be critically re-assessed in the whole Lufilian arc.     

Petrology of the Jurassic Shah-Kuh granite (eastern Iran), with reference to tin mineralization

The Shah-Kuh granitic pluton of eastern Central Iran was emplaced 165 Ma ago, in an active continental margin setting. It is made of two main units: a granodioritic unit (SiO₂=63–71 wt%) to the north–west and a syenogranitic unit (SiO₂=73–77 wt%) to the south–east. The former unit displays seriate medium-grained textures and contains locally abundant mafic enclaves. The latter unit is medium- to coarse-grained and porphyritic, with 0.5–3 cm long K-feldspar megacrysts. Fine-grained granitic bodies are present in both units. The rocks are metaluminous to slightly peraluminous (I-type) and peraluminous (S-type) and belong to the ilmenite-series granites. Fractional crystallization appears to have been a very effective differentiation process in both units, and the fractionated mineral assemblages are determined by mass balance calculations. Isotopic data (Sr_i=0.7065 and εNdt=−2.5) are consistent with a young upper crustal protolith. Tin mineralization in sheeted quartz-tourmaline (-cassiterite) veins is spatially associated with the granodioritic unit. The veins formed by hydraulic fracturing when the granodioritic to monzogranitic magma became water-saturated and exsolved a fluid phase during crystallization. The reduced nature of this magma is responsible for the incompatible behaviour of Sn, likely to favour Sn concentration in the residual melt and then in the exsolved fluid. Another fluid phase was exsolved by the syenogranitic magma and was responsible for local greisenized granites, characterized by high Y and HREE-contents and non-fractionated REE distribution patterns. Field and mineralogical data show that the (B, Sn) vein-forming fluid was different from the (F, Li) greisen-forming fluid.     

Episodic granite accumulation and extraction from the mid‐crust

The processes of long‐range granitic magma transfer from mid‐ and lower crustal anatectic zones to upper crustal pluton emplacement sites remain controversial in the literature. This is partly because feeder networks that could have accommodated this large‐scale magma transport remain elusive in the field. Existing granite ascent models are based largely on numerical and theoretical studies that seek to demonstrate the viability of fracture‐controlled magma transport through dykes or self‐propagating hydrofractures. In most cases, the models present very little supporting field evidence, such as sufficiently voluminous near‐ or within‐source magma accumulations, to support their basic premises. We document large (deca‐ to hectometre‐scale), steeply dipping and largely homogeneous granite lenses in suprasolidus (~5 kbar, ~750 °C) mid‐crustal rocks in the Damara Belt in Namibia. The lenses are surrounded by and connected to shallowly dipping networks of stromatic leucogranites in the well‐layered gneisses of the deeply incised Husab Gorge. The outcrops define a four‐stage process from (i) the initial formation and growth of large, subvertical magma‐filled lenses as extension fractures developed at high angles to the subhorizontal regional extension in relatively competent wall‐rock layers. This stage is followed by (ii) the simultaneous lateral inflation and (iii) subcritical vertical growth of the lenses to a critical length that (iv) promotes fracture destabilization, buoyancy‐driven upward fracture mobilization and, consequently, vertical magma transport. These field observations are compared with existing numerical models and are used to constrain, by referring to the dimensions of the largest preserved inflated leucogranite lens, an estimate of the minimum fracture length (~100 m) and volume (~2.4 × 10⁵ m³) required to initiate buoyancy‐driven brittle fracture propagation in this particular mid‐crustal section. The critical values and field relationships compare favourably with theoretical models of magma ascent along vertical self‐propagating hydrofractures which close at their tails during propagation. This process leaves behind subtle wake‐like structures and thin leucogranite trails that mark the path of magma ascent. Reutilization of such conduits by repeated inflation and drainage is consistent with the episodic accumulation and removal of magma from the mid‐crust and is reflected in the sheeted nature of many upper crustal granitoid plutons.     

EXPLORATION ENGINEERING

正20141864 Deng Mengchun(Institute of Exploration Technology,CAGS,Chengdu 611734,China);Huang Shenghui Rock Sample Collection and Division Technologies for Air Reverse Circulation Sampling Drilling(Exploration Engineering,ISSN1672-7428,CN11-5063/TD,40(7),2013,p.73-76,80,16 illus.,5 refs.)