Paleomagnetic study of NeoArchean–Paleoproterozoic dykes in the Kaapvaal Craton

431 oriented samples were collected from 27 dolerite dykes at 17 sites, belonging to 2.95, 2.65, and 1.90 Ga swarms, that trend SE, E and NE, respectively from the Bushveld Igneous Complex into the eastern Kaapvaal Craton (ages determined by Olsson et al., 2010; Olsson in Söderlund et al., 2010). Samples were analyzed for paleomagnetism and also anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS). For the 2.95 Ga SE-trending dykes high temperature/coercivity ‘P’ component has unblocking temperatures up to 590 °C and coercivity 40–90 mT and demonstrate SSW declination and intermediate positive inclination. Based on positive contact and conglomerate tests we argue for a primary origin of this component. The paleopole (BAD), calculated from ‘P’ component, does not correspond to any of the previously obtained Archean–Paleoproterozoic paleopoles for the Kaapvaal Craton, and represents a new key pole for 2.95 Ga. The high-coercivity ‘H’ component for the 2.65 Ga-old E-trending dykes has a SSW declination and steep positive inclination. Paleomagnetic pole (RYK), recalculated from this component, is close to the paleopoles, obtained by Wingate (1998) and Strik et al. (2007) for 2.78 Ga Ventersdorp volcanics. The third group, NE-trending dykes of the 1.90 Ga Black Hill swarm demonstrate an ‘M’ component with dual polarity high-coercivity component with SSE-declination and negative intermediate inclination. The paleopole (BHD), calculated from this component is close to the 1.87 Ga pole of the Kaapvaal Craton obtained by Hanson et al. (2004). Overprint directions include a very well developed thermo-chemical overprint (Dec = 329° Inc = −36°), which is believed to be associated with a ∼0.18 Ga regional ‘Karoo’ thermal event.     

Paleomagnetism of the Fort Knox Stock, Alaska, and rotation of the Yukon–Tanana terrane after 92.5 Ma

The 92.5 Ma Fort Knox granodiorite stock, near the western end of the Fairbanks Belt in the Yukon–Tanana terrane (YTT) of central Alaska, hosts a world-class gold mine. The stock has been analysed paleomagnetically using thermal and alternating-field step demagnetization and isothermal remanence methods. This pluton retains a primary thermoremanent magnetization at 18 sites (232 specimens) that resides mainly in single-to pseudosingle-domain magnetite with a direction of D = 228.8°, I = 84.3° (N = 18, k = 130, α₉₅ = 3.0°), giving a paleopole at 56.5°N, 197.1°E (dp = 5.9°, dm = 5.8°). The pluton's host rock, the Fairbanks schist, does not retain a stable coherent remanence. Relative to the North American craton, the stock's paleoinclination indicates that the Fairbanks Belt has undergone nonsignificant poleward (northwesterly) translation of 25 ± 750 km only. Analysed in concert with the few available paleoinclinations available for the YTT in Yukon, the paleoinclination suggests further that the YTT has undergone only  250 to 450 km of dextral displacement along the Tintina fault in the past  100 Ma and, therefore, is parautocthonous since the mid-Cretaceous. The stock's paleodeclination records 121 ± 35° of counterclockwise rotation relative to the North American craton. Consideration of models published for Alaska's tectonic evolution suggests that this paleodeclination discordance is caused by rotations associated with the opening of the Canada Basin, with dextral displacement on the Tintina fault, and with development of the western Alaskan orocline. Thus the paleomagnetic results for the Fort Knox stock support a thin-skin tectonic model for the accretion of the YTT and Intermontane Belt terranes to the northern Cordillera.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S167498711000040X

The Eastern Pontides orogenic belt in the Black Sea region of Turkey offers a critical window to plate kinematics and subduction polarity during the closure of the Paleotethys. Here we provide a brief synthesis on recent information from this belt. We infer a southward subduction for the origin of the Eastern Pontides orogenic belt and its associated late Mesozoic–Cenozoic magmatism based on clear spatial and temporal variations in Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic arc magmatism, together with the existence of a prominent south-dipping reverse fault system along the entire southern coast of the Black Sea. Our model is at variance with some recent proposals favoring a northward subduction polarity, and illustrates the importance of arc magmatism in evaluating the geodynamic milieu associated with convergent margin processes.     

3-D geomechanical restoration and paleomagnetic analysis of fault-related folds: An example from the Yanjinggou anticline,southern Sichuan Basin

We examine the development of the Yanjinggou anticline, a fault-propagation-fold in the southern Longmen Shan, through an integrated study of structural geometry, strain, and paleomagnetism. The 3-D structural and strain restoration models generated in our analysis reveal that the NE-trending Yanjinggou fold has a curved map trace that is convex to the southeast. The fold has three distinct regions characterized by different strain patterns: contraction in the core of the fold, extension in the outer arc, and a forelimb with distributed shear. To further understand the kinematics of the Yanjinggou anticline, we performed paleomagnetic analysis on 184 oriented samples collected across the structure. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) measurements and stepwise thermal demagnetization were conducted. A strike test was applied to the high temperature component (HTC) in order to identify rotation around the arc. The result indicates that the Yanjinggou anticline is a progressive arc, with a minor initial curvature and a dominant secondary curvature related to vertical-axis rotation synchronous with thrusting. The primary curvature and initial development of the structure correlates with the growth of the southern Longmen Shan in Late Miocene. The secondary curvature correlates with displacement extending since Late Pleistocene toward the southeast into the central basin along the detachments that underlie the structure. Lateral gradients in displacement along this underlying detachment provide a mechanism for producing the vertical rotation of the anticline. AMS results and historical earthquake analysis imply that the fault-propagation fold, along with other NE trending structures in the southern Sichuan basin, are tectonically active and accommodate east-west crustal shortening in the basin. By integrating 3-D structural and strain restoration modeling with systematic AMS and paleomagnetic methods using statistical analysis, we closely constrain how the Yanjinggou anticline developed, and provide insights into the formation of fault-related folds with curved shapes in map view, which are common in other fold-and-thrust belts around the world.     

Paleomagnetism of the Late Cretaceous ignimbrite from the Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt,Kolyma-Omolon Composite Terrane: Tectonic implications

New Late Cretaceous paleomagnetic results from the Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt in the Kolyma-Omolon Composite Terrane yield stable and consistent remanent directions. The Late Cretaceous (86–81 Ma) ignimbrites from the Kholchan and Ola suites were sampled at 19 sites in the Magadan area (60.4° N, 151.0° E). We isolated the characteristic paleomagnetic directions from 16 sampled sites using an alternating field demagnetization procedure. The primary nature of these directions is ascertained by dual polarities and positive fold tests. A tilt-corrected mean direction (D = 42.8°, I = 84.7°, k = 46.0, α₉₅ = 10.0°) yields a paleomagnetic pole of 66.7° N, 168.5° E (A₉₅ = 18.8°) which appears almost identical to the 90–67 Ma pole reported from the Lake El’gygytgyn area of the Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt (Chukotka Terrane). This consistency suggests that the Kolyma-Omolon Composite Terrane and Chukotka Terrane has acted as a single tectonic unit since 80 Ma without any significant internal deformation. Accordingly, we calculate a combined 80 Ma characteristic paleomagnetic pole (Long. = 164.7° E, Lat. = 68.0°, A₉₅ = 10.9°, N = 12) for the Kolyma-Omolon-Chukotka Block which falls 16.5–17.5° south of the same age poles from Europe and East Asia. We ascribe this discrepancy in pole positions to tectonic activity in the area and infer a southward displacement of 1640 ± 1380 km for the Kolyma-Omolon-Chukotka Block with respect to the North American and Eurasian blocks since 80 Ma; more than 260 km of it is attributed to tectonic displacement in the Arctic Ocean due to the opening of the Canadian Basin.     

青藏高原东缘新生代早期古应力环境:来自四川盆地西南缘磁组构的记录

四川盆地西南缘紧邻龙门山褶皱冲断带(青藏高原东边界)南段.该地区的新生代早期红层沉积记录了青藏高原东缘的隆升历史及构造演变.本研究选取四川盆地西南缘芦山地区古新统—下渐新统名山组—芦山组地层剖面为研究对象,利用磁组构方法,结合前人对研究区古地磁及构造变形的研究,恢复了该地区新生代早期的古应力方向.本研究获取了548块样品的磁组构数据,这些磁组构的磁面理与层面平行,产状校正后磁线理呈NE-SW方向(39°/219°),K₃主轴方向相对集中(为120.9°±1.3°),为弱应变背景下平行层缩短之前初始变形磁组构类型,主要形成于地层成岩阶段,未受到后期褶皱等构造变形的强烈改造.本研究认为芦山剖面磁组构结果记录了研究区新生代早期的构造变形信息:新生代早期龙门山褶皱冲断带南段及川西南盆地受NW-SE向的最大主应力控制.该地区新生代晚期及现今应力场与新生代早期一致,可能继承了新生代早期的应力体制,暗示龙门山作为青藏高原的东边界可能在新生代早期已经形成.     

A 100 km-long paleomagnetic traverse radial to the Sudbury Structure, Canada and its bearing on Proterozoic deformation and metamorphism of the surrounding basement

The 1850 Ma Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC), considered to be a composite melt sheet of a major meteorite impact, has been deformed into an oval-shaped basin known as the Sudbury Structure. This paper explores to what extent this deformation has been communicated to the surrounding Archean basement around the northern margin of the SIC.Paleomagnetism of 2450 Ma Matachewan dykes and 1850 Ma impact breccia along a traverse, about 100 km-long and normal to strike of the contact between the SIC and the basement, suggests that the basement beneath the NW corner of the Sudbury Structure has been tilted to the SE within about 10 km of the contact. At this distance a possible fault separates the tilted region from one that shows no evidence of tilting. Petrographically the dykes out to a distance of about 50 km distant from the SIC are altered to upper greenschist facies of metamorphism with a fibrous amphibole replacing pyroxene and with loss of primary texture that characterizes less altered Matachewan dykes at distances greater than 50 km. The direction of magnetization found in the altered Matachewan dykes is an overprint which is probably associated with regional metamorphism related to orogenesis, or possibly with thermo-chemical alteration associated with SIC emplacement. The direction of the component is compatible with an age of about 1.8 to 1.9 Ga suggesting that the Penokean orogen is the most likely cause, if not the impact event. The paleomagnetism of the breccias, together with shatter cone orientation data, suggests that within 10 km of the SIC/basement contact, basement tilting to the southeast increases towards the SIC.     

Geochronology and paleomagnetism of mafic igneous rocks in the Olenek Uplift, northern Siberia: Implications for Mesoproterozoic supercontinents and paleogeography

We present a new, reliably dated Mesoproterozoic paleopole for Siberia, based on a combined geochronological and paleomagnetic study of mafic rocks within the Mesoproterozoic Sololi Group of the Olenek Uplift in northern Siberia. Ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb analysis yields crystallisation ages of 2036 ± 11 Ma for zircon from a basement granite and 1473 ± 24 Ma for baddeleyite from a large dolerite sill within the Kyutingde Formation. The baddeleyite result indicates that the lower Sololi Group is significantly older than was suggested by previous K–Ar results. Paleomagnetic analysis of the dolerite sill and related mafic intrusive rocks yields a paleopole at 33.6°N, 253.1°E, A₉₅ = 10.4°. A positive baked-contact test between the Kyutingde sill and sedimentary country rocks shows that the magnetisation is primary. Comparison of this paleopole with coeval results for Laurentia provides a revised reconstruction between Siberia and Laurentia, and implies that these two continents were parts of a single Mesoproterozoic supercontinent since at least 1473 Ma. We argue that Siberia, Laurentia, and Baltica belonged to the same supercontinent between 1473 Ma and mid-Neoproterozoic time.     

拉萨地块北缘尼玛地区晚白垩世古地磁结果及其构造意义

通过对青藏高原拉萨地块北缘尼玛县城附近晚白垩世红层8个采点的系统古地磁测定,获得了研究区晚白垩世可靠的古地磁数据。通过系统热退磁获得了采样剖面高温特征剩磁方向平均值为:Dg=9.9°,Ig=5.5°,κg=30.3,α95=10.2°,N=8(地理坐标下);D_s=8.2°,I_s=27.4°,κs=37.6,α_(95)=9.2°,N=8(层面坐标下);对应古地磁极为:71.2°N,241.9°E,dp/dm=5.5°/10.0°。该高温剩磁分量在地理坐标下与现代地磁场方向有显著差别,具有正、反极性,并通过了倒转检验,由此认为其很可能代表岩石形成时的原生剩磁。本次研究结果表明拉萨地块北缘在晚白垩世位于~14.5°N的古纬度位置(参考点:31.8°N,87.2°E)。对比稳定亚洲大陆参考极显示晚白垩世以来拉萨地块北缘与稳定亚洲大陆之间发生了1200±630km(10.9°±5.7°)的南北向构造缩短,但并未发生明显的相对旋转作用(0.8°±5.9°)。综合地质证据提出印度与亚洲大陆碰撞所造成的亚洲大陆内部南北向构造缩短主要集中在拉萨地块以北的区域。     

塔里木地块库车坳陷早白垩世古地磁结果及磁倾角偏低的成因探讨

运用主成分分离及线性区段等方法 ,使早白垩世样品明显分离出二组磁组分 .叠加剩磁为喜山期重磁化 ,特征剩磁明显偏离现代地磁场方向 ,经倾斜校正后 ,有很好的一致性并通过了倒转检验 ,给出塔里木地块库车坳陷早白垩世巴西盖组古地磁新数据 .综合已有的古地磁结果 ,获得了塔里木地块早白垩世平均剩磁方向及平均古地磁极 ,阐明了塔里木地块早白垩世磁倾角明显偏低这一现象 .分析导致磁倾角偏低的诸多因素 ,认为压实作用可能是导致磁倾角偏低的重要因素之一 .