Refining accretionary orogen models for the Tasmanides of eastern Australia

The well-known southwest-to-northeast younging of stratigraphy over a present-day cross strike distance of >1500 km in the southern Tasmanides of eastern Australia has been used to argue for models of accretionary orogenesis behind a continually eastwards-rolling paleo-Pacific plate. However, these accretionary models need modification, since the oldest (ca 530 Ma) outcrops of Cambrian supra-subduction zone rocks occur in the outboard New England Orogen, now ～900 km east of the next oldest (520–510 Ma) supra-subduction zone rocks. This is not consistent with simple, continuous easterly rollback. Instead, the southern Tasmanides contain an early history characterised by a westwards-migrating margin between ca 530 and ca 520 Ma, followed by rapid eastwards rollback of the paleo-Pacific plate from 520 to 502 Ma that opened a vast backarc basin ～2000 km across that has never been closed. From the Ordovician through to the end of the Carboniferous, the almost vertical stacking of continental margin arcs (within a hundred kilometres of each other) in the New England Orogen indicates a constant west-dipping plate boundary in a Gondwana reference frame. Although the actual position of the boundary is inferred to have undergone contraction-related advances and extension-related retreats, these movements are estimated to be ～250 km or less. Rollback in the early Permian was never completely reversed, so that late Permian–Triassic to Cretaceous arcs lie farther east, in the very eastern part of eastern Australia, with rifted fragments occurring in the Lord Howe Rise and in New Zealand. The northern Tasmanides are even more anomalous, since they missed out on the middle Cambrian plate boundary retreat seen in the south. As a result, their Cambrian-to-Devonian history is concentrated in a ～300 km wide strip immediately west of Precambrian cratonic Australia and above Precambrian basement. The presence in this narrow region of Ordovician to Carboniferous continental margin arcs and backarc basins also implies a virtually stationary plate boundary in a Gondwana frame of reference. This bipolar character of the Tasmanides suggests the presence of a segmented paleo-Pacific Plate, with major transform faults propagating into the Tasmanides as tear faults that were favourably oriented for the formation of local supra-subduction zone systems and for subsequent intraplate north–south shortening. In this interpretation of the Tasmanides, Lower–Middle Ordovician quartz-rich turbidites accumulated as submarine fan sequences, and do not represent multiple subduction complexes developed above subduction zones lying behind the plate boundary. Indeed, the Tasmanides are characterised by the general absence of material accreted from the paleo-Pacific plate and by the dominance of craton-derived, recycled sedimentary rocks.     

Two-stage collision-related extrusion of the western Dabie HP–UHP metamorphic terranes, central China: Evidence from quartz c-axis fabrics and structures

The western Dabie orogen (also known as the Hong'an block) forms the western part of the Dabie–Sulu HP–UHP belt, central China. Rocks of this orogen have been subjected to pervasive ductile deformation, and include numerous quartz schists and felsic mylonites cropping out in ductile shear zones. Quartz textures in these mylonites contain important clues for understanding the movement sense of late-collisional extrusion and exhumation of high-pressure–ultrahigh-pressure (HP–UHP) rocks from the lower crustal level to the upper crustal level during Middle Triassic and Early Jurassic. The orientation and distribution of quartz crystallographic axes were used to confirm the regional shear sense across the orogen. The asymmetry of c-axis patterns consistently indicates top-to-the-southeast thrusting across the orogen in early structural stages. Later stages of deformation show different senses of movement in northern and southern parts of the orogen, with top-to-the-northwest sinistral shearing recorded in rocks north of the Xinxian HP–UHP eclogite-facies belt, and top-to-the-southeast dextral shearing south of the same unit.Based on our study on quartz c-axis fabrics and marco- to micro-scale structures, simultaneous southeastward shearing within a large part of the orogen and normal faulting north of the Xinxian HP–UHP unit is explained by upward extrusion in early stages of deformation. The extrusion process has been attributed to syn- and late-collisional processes, accounting for some earlier deformation in the western Dabie orogen such as metamorphic sequences around the core of the Xinxian HP–UHP eclogite-facies unit. Much higher pressure of deformation is also indicated in the aligned glaucophane and omphacite from blueschist and eclogite in the field. An orogen-parallel eastward extrusion of the Xinxian HP–UHP eclogite-facies unit, however, occurred diachronously in later stages of deformation. Therefore, a tectonic model combining an early upward extrusion with a later eastward extrusion is presented. Two different stages and types of extrusion for exhumation of HP–UHP rocks are suitable to all of east central China. Geochronological data shows that the first, upward extrusion occurred during Middle Triassic, the second, eastward extrusion occurred during Late Triassic to Early Jurassic. These two extrusions are correlative with two stages of rapid exhumation of the Dabie HP–UHP rocks, respectively. These two-stage late-collisional (Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic) extrusion events bridge the gap between syn-collisional (Early to Middle Triassic) vertical extrusion and post-collisional (Cretaceous) eastward-directed lateral escape and provide vital clues to understanding the more detailed processes of exhumation of HP–UHP rocks.     

The Weixi High-silica Granitoids in the Central Sanjiang Orogenic Belt, Southwest China: Implications for Growth of the Continental Crust

High-silica granitoids record the formation and evolution of the continental crust. A new intrusive complex has been recognized among silicic volcanic rocks of the Weixi arc, Southwest China. The intrusions consist of granites, granitic porphyries, and granodiorites. Zircon U-Pb age data indicate that the Weixi granitoids formed at 248–240 Ma and were coeval with silicic volcanic rocks of the Weixi arc. The Weixi granitoids are enriched in Rb, Th, and U, depleted in Ba, Sr, Nb, Ta, and Ti, and have high light/heavy rare earth element ratios and slightly negative Eu anomalies. The Weixi granitoids have negative εNd(t) values (?9.8 to ?7.8) and negative zircon εHf(t) values (?12.02 to ?5.11). The geochemical and isotopic features suggest the Weixi granitoids were derived by partial melting of ancient crustal material. The Weixi granitoids and silicic volcanic rocks were derived from the same magma by crystal accumulation and melt extraction, respectively, and they record the formation of a continental arc in the central Sanjiang orogenic belt.     

一条Rodinia山脉——震旦纪的喜马拉雅山

笔者首次将海拔高度的概念及现代冰川理论 ,并结合古地磁资料 ,提出罗圈冰期时古天山 -秦岭山脉是一条大约位于赤道 -北回归线之间、由众多高山组成的 ,且许多山峰至少在 4 0 0 0m以上 ,已形成冰川、或许局部地区存在冰原的山脉 ,总的地理特征类似于今天的喜马拉雅山脉。而华北地块和库鲁克塔格地块是高原或平原 ,此二地块的南边是海域。古秦岭的南坡是现代秦岭的北坡。冰川融化时冰水携带的冰碛物向南流入海 ,所以华北地块上无冰碛物存在大地构造上 ,晋宁期以前 ,上述各地块相互独立。震旦纪时它们开始发生作用 ,秦岭地块和阿克苏—乌什地块分别向华北地块与库鲁克塔格地块汇聚 ,引起后者上升 ,逐渐发展成为山脉。至震旦纪末期 ,山脉上升到 4 0 0 0m以上 ,形成冰川。此后 ,山脉被剥蚀夷平 ,至寒武纪初 ,华北、库鲁克塔格两地块又降到海平面之下接受沉积 ,该山脉消亡。由此我们恢复了新元古代超大陆一条造山带 ,并推测新元古宙末期华北、华南、塔里木三大地块曾经汇聚在一起     

Linking gold mineralization to regional-scale drivers of mineral systems using in situ U–Pb geochronology and pyrite LA-ICP-MS element mapping

Proterozoic orogens commonly host a range of hydrothermal ores that form in diverse tectonic settings at different times. However, the link between mineralization and the regional-scale tectonothermal evolution of orogens is usually not well understood, especially in areas subject to multiple hydrothermal events.Regional-scale drivers for mineral systems vary between the different classes of hydrothermal ore, but all involve an energy source and a fluid pathway to focus mineralizing fluids into the upper crust. The Mount Olympus gold deposit in the Proterozoic Capricorn Orogen of Western Australia, was regarded as an orogenic gold deposit that formed at ca. 1738 Ma during the assembly of Proterozoic Australia. However,the trace element chemistry of the pyrite crystals closely resembles those of the Carlin deposits of Nevada,with rims that display solid solution gold accompanied by elevated As, Cu, Sb, Hg, and Tl, surrounding gold-poor cores. New SHRIMP UeP b dating of xenotime intergrown with auriferous pyrite and ore-stage alteration minerals provided a weighted mean~(207) Pb*/~(206) Pb* date of 1769 ± 5 Ma, interpreted as the age of gold mineralization. This was followed by two discrete episodes of hydrothermal alteration at 1727 ± 7 Ma and 1673 ± 8 Ma. The three ages are linked to multiple reactivation of the crustal-scale Nanjilgardy Fault during repeated episodes of intracratonic reworking. The regional-scale drivers for Carlin-like gold mineralization at Mount Olympus are related to a change in tectonic regime during the final stages of the intracratonic 1820 -1770 Ma Capricorn Orogeny. Our results suggest that substantial sized Carlin-like gold deposits can form in an intracratonic setting during regional-scale crustal reworking.     

造山带岩石圈化学结构平面图的编制——以秦岭—大别造山带为例

国内外岩石圈化学组成的编图研究还处于探索阶段。笔者从岩石圈化学结构的思路出发 ,提出了编图的 3个地球化学指标 (铅同位素组成、T2DM 和同位素年代学 )和表示方法。以秦岭—大别造山带为例 ,同位素组成图可以反映构造分区和地壳生长历史 ,对造山过程和深部壳幔相互作用也有明确的显示 ;结合地质年代学的资料 ,化学结构平面图具有反映时空演化四维信息的能力。     

青岛连三岛地区“荆山岩群”高压变质岩的变质时代和变质演化特征

青岛连三岛地区原划为古元古界荆山岩群中出露各类片岩、片麻岩。本文在前人研究的基础上,对连三岛地区出露的含榴黑云母斜长片麻岩、含榴云母片岩和含榴黑云母钾长片麻岩,进行详细的岩相学和矿物化学研究,确定其变质温压条件及其P-T演化轨迹,并采用LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年,获得了3个样品的原岩时代和变质时代,为全面深入认识其变质属性提供了进一步的重要依据。根据岩相学和矿物化学成分可以识别出两期矿物组合：第一期（峰期变质阶段）为Grt1+Kfs+Aln+Ph+Qtz;第二期（退变质阶段）为Grt2+Pl+Ep+Bt+Qtz;依据多硅白云母Si压力计、锆石Ti温度计以及GB-GBPQ矿物温压计,确定其峰期变质和退变质的温压条件分别为T=600~817℃、P=2.4~2.6GPa和T=431~456℃、P=0.48~0.82GPa。结合白云母部分熔融现象,上述两个变质阶段构成了一个折返早期升温降压,后穿过多硅白云母熔融反应线,最后降温降压的顺时针型演化的P-T轨迹。CL图像显示3个样品的锆石均具有典型的岩浆核-变质边结构;结合LA-ICP-MS锆石原位微区U-Pb定年和微量元素分析,3个样品分别获得了769~756Ma、~223Ma和213~216Ma三组年龄,分别与苏鲁造山带其他高压-超高压变质岩的新元古代原岩时代（700~800Ma）、峰期变质时代（240~225Ma）和角闪岩相退变质时代（215~205Ma）一致。对样品含榴黑云母斜长片麻岩（17LSD-1）和含榴云母片岩（18LSD-2）进行锆石Hf同位素分析,获得样品17LSD-1的εHf（t）=-23.2~2.8、tDM2C（Hf）=1712~2845Ma,表明其原岩主要来源于古元古代陆壳重熔;样品18LSD-2的εHf（t）=-13.9~8.6、tDM2C（Hf）=1113~2358Ma,表明样品形成时壳源物质成分占主导地位,同时部分幔源或新生地壳物质的加入,导致少部分εHf（t）偏正值。Hf同位素结果表明连三岛变质岩原岩的形成与扬子板块新太古代-早古元古代的陆壳重熔有关。对比前人的相关数据,无论是原岩时代、变质年龄还是变质演化特征,本文研究的连三岛地区片岩/片麻岩与苏鲁造山带的部分变质岩均具有相似的原岩属性和变质属性,因此推断其应归属为苏鲁超高压变质带的一部分,是三叠纪扬子板块向华北板块俯冲碰撞引发的高压-超高压变质事件的产物,不应再作为岩石地层单元划归为"荆山岩群"。     

陕西凤太矿集区多金属成矿作用的构造控制

陕西凤县-太白(简称凤太)矿集区铅、锌、金、银、铜多金属资源丰富,已发现二十余个大中小型矿床。在大地构造位置上,凤太矿集区位于南秦岭造山带北缘,紧邻商丹缝合带。以往的工作缺乏对矿集区整体的构造研究,本次工作通过比较系统的构造测量和解析,提出在南秦岭晚三叠世碰撞造山过程中,凤太矿集区南北两条边界断裂带的左行走滑运动导致在区内衍生了NNE向主压应力场,从而形成了NWW向复式褶皱、脆韧性剪切带、断裂和节理(纵向破裂)、B型线理,以及NNE向断裂和节理(横向破裂)、劈理、张裂隙等一系列构造组合,所有构造形迹都是在统一构造应力场下随着构造层次不断抬升,脆韧性和脆性递进变形叠加的产物,共同构成了一个大型压扭性走滑双重构造变形系统。在构造几何学上,凤太矿集区整体上表现为一个隔档式复式褶皱,由一组NWW向紧闭复背斜和一组相对宽缓复向斜组成。区内的多金属成矿作用、岩浆活动、动力变质变形作用的同位素年龄数据集中于230~190Ma。综合地质演化和成矿作用的研究成果,提出在南秦岭碰撞造山过程中引发的动力变质变形作用和岩浆活动提供了成矿元素和成矿流体,在温压梯度以及浮力效应的驱动下向上运移至走滑双重构造变形系统中的有利扩容空间中发生充填型和交代型矿化,即凤太矿集区多金属矿床是区域大规模变形变质-岩浆活动-流体作用的产物,是在构造作用这一主导因素控制下形成的一个多金属后生热液成矿系统。     

Geology and geochemistry of the Changba SEDEX Pb-Zn deposit,Qinling orogenic belt,China

The Changba Pb-Zn SEDEX deposit occurs in the Middle Devonian sequence of the Anjiaca Formation of the Western Qinling Hercynian Orogen in the Gansu Province, China. The Changba-II orebody is hosted in biotite quartz schist and is the largest of 143 stratiform orebodies that are hosted either in biotite quartz schist or marble. The Changba-II comprises two types of mineralization: a bedded facies and an underlying breccia lens. The bedded section exhibits three sulfide sub-facies zoned from bottom to top: 1) banded sphalerite intercalated with quartz albitite; 2) interbedded massive pyrite and sphalerite ore; and 3) banded sphalerite ore intercalated with banded baritite. Major metallic minerals are sphalerite, pyrite, galena, with minor arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, boulangerite, and rare chalcopyrite. The bedded sulfides are underlain by a lens of brecciated and albitized biotite-quartz schists cemented by sulfides and tourmaline.Massive and bedded sulfide ³⁴S values range from 8.1 to 29.3, whereas barite ³⁴S values range from 20.8 to 31.5. Disseminated pyrite in footwall schists has ³⁴S values ranging from 8.1 to 10.6, and increase to values ranging from 11.1 to 14.7 in the hangingwall. The lower ³⁴S values for massive and bedded sulfides are interpreted to be derived from progressive bacterial sulfate reduction (BSR) of Devonian seawater in a sulfate-restricted sub-basin. The higher ³⁴S values for massive and bedded sulfides could be a product of quantitative BSR but this is incompatible with barite being more abundant above the bedded sulfides. Instead, it is more likely that thermochemical sulfate reduction of seawater sulfate or of evaporite was the source of heavy hydrothermal sulfur. Heavy hydrothermal sulfur was injected into a sulfate-restricted sub-basin where it mixed with low ³⁴S BSR sulfide to form the massive and bedded sulfides. The REE patterns of sulfide layers and associated quartz albitite and baritite are similar to those of the host biotite quartz schists, suggesting that the hydrothermal fluids leached REE from the underlying rocks. Pb isotope ratios in galena form an array between the Upper Crust and the Mantle reservoir curves, which indicates that the lead is derived from upper crustal rocks comprising mafic igneous units. The Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratio of 0.7101 for carbonate within the sulfide layers also suggests that Sr is derived from the mixing of Sr leached from upper crustal rocks with Middle Devonian seawater Sr. A Rb-Sr isochron age of 389.4 ± 6.4 Ma for sulfide layers and the interbedded hydrothermal sediments is consistent with the age of host Mid-Devonian strata. Ar³⁹/Ar⁴⁰ plateau age at 352.8 ± 3.5 Ma and Ar³⁹-Ar⁴⁰ isochron age of 346.6 ± 6.4 Ma for albite in the quartz albitite intercalated with sulfide layers indicate either albite formation after the sulfides or thermal resetting of the Rb-Sr system at about 350 Ma, the age of collision between the North China and Yangtze cratons.Editorial handling: E. Frimmel     

江南造山带仙霞复式岩体的成因研究

仙霞复式岩体位于江南造山带东北部,是该区出露面积最大的复式岩体之一。本文在野外地质调查的基础上,对仙霞复式岩体不同期次岩浆岩开展了锆石U-Pb年代学和全岩地球化学分析,结果显示该复式岩体侵位分为早、中、晚三阶段,岩性分别为二长花岗岩(143.0±3.5Ma)、花岗闪长岩(140.0±2.0Ma)和钾长花岗岩(138.6±3.5Ma),是江南造山带燕山期早期(146～135Ma)岩浆作用的产物。仙霞复式岩体三阶段岩浆岩均为高碱、弱过铝质岩石,具有相似的稀土元素配分模式,微量元素均呈Rb、Ba、U、K、Pb等大离子亲石元素(LILE)富集, Nb、Ta、P、Ti等高场强元素(HFSE)亏损的特征,锆石εHf(t)同位素为负值(–15.54～–1.03)。综合分析显示,仙霞复式岩体的岩浆起源于下地壳物质为主的壳幔混合源区,在岩浆上升演化过程中经历了显著的结晶分异作用,形成于早白垩世(146～135 Ma)古太平洋板块向西俯冲的背景下。