Neoproterozoic high-pressure/low-temperature metamorphic rocks in the Avalon terrane, southern New Brunswick, Canada

High‐P/low‐T metamorphic rocks of the Hammondvale metamorphic suite (HMS) are exposed in an area of 10 km² on the NW margin of the Caledonian (Avalon) terrane in southern New Brunswick, Canada. The HMS is in faulted contact on the SE with c. 560–550 Ma volcanic and sedimentary rocks and co‐magmatic plutonic units of the Caledonian terrane. The HMS consists of albite‐ and garnet‐porphyroblastic mica schist, with minor marble, calc‐silicate rocks and quartzite. Pressure and temperature estimates from metamorphic assemblages in the mica schist and calc‐silicate rocks using TWQ indicate that peak pressure conditions were 12.4 kbar at 430 °C. Peak temperature conditions were 580 °C at 9.0 kbar. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar muscovite ages from three samples range up to 618–615 Ma, a minimum age for high‐P/low‐T metamorphism in this unit. These ages indicate that the HMS is related to the c. 625–600 Ma subduction‐generated volcanic and plutonic units exposed to the SE in the Caledonian terrane. The ages are also similar to those obtained from detrital muscovite in a Neoproterozoic‐Cambrian sedimentary sequence in the Caledonian terrane, suggesting that the HMS was exposed by latest Neoproterozoic time and supplied detritus to the sedimentary units. The HMS is interpreted to represent a fragment of an accretionary complex, similar to the Sanbagawa Belt in Japan. It confirms the presence of a major cryptic suture between the Avalon terrane sensu stricto and the now‐adjacent Brookville terrane.     

SHRIMP U–Pb ages of ultrahigh-pressure and retrograde metamorphism of gneisses, south-western Sulu terrane, eastern China

Laser Raman spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence (CL) images reveal that most zircon separated from paragneiss and orthogneiss in drillhole CCSD‐PP2 at Donghai, south‐western Sulu terrane, retain low‐P mineral‐bearing inherited cores, ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) mineral‐bearing mantles and low‐P mineral‐bearing (e.g. quartz) rims. SHRIMP U–Pb analyses of these zoned zircon identify three discrete and meaningful age groups: Proterozoic protolith ages (> 680 Ma) are recorded in the inherited cores, the UHP metamorphic event in the coesite‐bearing mantles occurred at 231 ± 4 Ma, and the late amphibolite facies retrogressive overprint in the quartz‐bearing rims was at 211 ± 4 Ma. Thus, Neoproterozoic supracrustal protoliths of the Sulu UHP rocks were subducted to mantle depths in the Middle Triassic, and exhumed to mid‐crustal levels in the Late Triassic. The exhumation rate deduced from the SHRIMP data and metamorphic P–T conditions is 5.0 km Ma^?1. Exhumation of the Sulu UHP terrane may have resulted from buoyancy forces after slab break‐off at mantle depths.     

Late Paleozoic geology of the Queensland Plateau (offshore northeastern Australia)

The southwestern Pacific region consists of segmented and translated continental fragments of the Gondwanan margin. Tectonic reconstructions of this region are challenged by the fact that many fragmented continental blocks are submerged and/or concealed under younger sedimentary cover. The Queensland Plateau (offshore northeastern Australia) is one such submerged continental block. We present detrital zircon geochronological and morphological data, complemented by petrographic observations, from samples obtained from the only two drill cores that penetrated the Paleozoic metasedimentary strata of the Queensland Plateau (Ocean Drilling Program leg 133, sites 824 and 825). Results provide maximum age constraints of 319.4 ± 3.5 and 298.9 ± 2.5 Ma for the time of deposition, which in conjunction with evidence for deformation, indicate that the metasedimentary successions are most likely upper Carboniferous to lower Permian. A comparison of our results with a larger dataset of detrital zircon ages from the Tasmanides suggests that the Paleozoic successions of the Queensland Plateau formed in a backarc basin that was part of the northern continuation of the New England Orogen and/or the East Australian Rift System. However, unlike most of the New England Orogen, a distinctive component of the detrital zircon age spectra of the Mossman Orogen is also recognised, suggesting the existence of a late Paleozoic drainage system that crossed the northern Tasmanides en route from the North Australian Craton. A distinctive shift from abraded zircon grains to grains with well-preserved morphology at ca 305 Ma reflects a direct drainage of first-cycle sediments, most likely from an outboard arc and/or backarc magmatism.     

北秦岭超高压地体折返过程中的多期次部分熔融

本文对丹凤地区秦岭岩群含柯石英超高压变质地体长英质片麻岩中的混合岩化长英质浅色体和含石榴子石暗色包体的花岗质脉体进行了详细的矿物学、地球化学和锆石U-Pb年代学以及Lu-Hf同位素研究。其中,长英质浅色体显示了近原位熔融的高硅、富钾的过铝质花岗岩地球化学特征;锆石的CL图像呈灰黑色,均匀无结构或云雾状内部结构,Th/U比值0. 008,并含有钾长石、斜长石、石英和磷灰石等包裹体,显示深熔锆石的特征;花岗质脉体暗色包体中的石榴子石显示核-边成分环带,其中核部成分与秦岭岩群长英质片麻岩中石榴子石成分一致,边部Sps含量升高,显示熔体改造或退变质扩散特征,寄主花岗质脉体显示重稀土强烈亏损的与石榴子石平衡的熔体特征,指示它们是秦岭岩群含石榴子石长英质片麻岩部分熔融的产物。锆石LA-ICP-MS定年得到长英质浅色体和花岗质脉体的结晶年龄分别为445±4Ma和420±1Ma,明显晚于本区的超高压变质时代,而与折返过程中麻粒岩相和角闪岩相退变质叠加的时代基本一致。结合区域地质和前人的研究成果,提出秦岭岩群在深俯冲板块的折返过程中,分别在445Ma和420Ma发生了两期部分熔融作用。     

Using calculated chemical potential relationships to account for replacement of kyanite by symplectite in high pressure granulites

Calculated mineral equilibria are used to account for the formation of sapphirine–plagioclase, spinel–plagioclase and corundum–plagioclase symplectites replacing kyanite in quartz–plagioclase–garnet–kyanite granulite facies gneisses from the Southern Domain of the Athabasca granulite terrane, a segment of the Snowbird tectonic zone in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Metamorphic conditions of >14 kbar and 800 °C are established for the high pressure, garnet–kyanite assemblage using constraints from P–T pseudosections and Zr‐in‐rutile thermometry. Replacement of kyanite by symplectites reflects the reaction of kyanite with the matrix following near‐isothermal decompression to <10 kbar. The chemical potential gradients developed between the kyanite and the matrix led to diffusion that attempted to flatten the gradients, kyanite persisting as a stable phase while it is consumed by symplectite from its edge. In this local equilibrium model, the mineral and mineral compositional spatial relationships are shown to correspond to paths in μ(Na₂O)–μ(CaO)–μ(K₂O)–μ(FeO)–μ(MgO) in the model chemical system, Na₂O–CaO–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ (NCKFMAS), with SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ taken to be completely immobile. The values of μ(Na₂O) and μ(CaO) are constrained by fixing P–T conditions and choosing appropriate μ(Na₂O) and μ(CaO) values that correspond to the observed plagioclase compositions. μ(FeO)–μ(MgO) diagrams show the corresponding spatial relationships with kyanite and the symplectite phases. These results demonstrate that the replacement of kyanite by sapphirine–plagioclase and spinel–plagioclase appears to be metastable with respect to replacement by corundum–plagioclase. Replacement by corundum–plagioclase does also occur, apparently overprinting pre‐existing symplectite and also kyanite. Ignoring corundum, the resulting diagrams account for the spatial relationships and compositions observed in the spinel–plagioclase and sapphirine–plagioclase symplectites. They are predicted to occur over both a wide range of P–T conditions (6–11 kbar, 650–850 °C) and plagioclase compositions (X_An = 0.5–0.9). The wide range of P–T conditions that may result in identical spatial and compositional relationships suggests that such reaction textures may be of limited use in accurately quantifying the P–T conditions of retrograde metamorphism.     

西藏嘎拉勒夕卡岩型铜金矿白云母~(40)Ar-~(39)Ar年龄及其地质意义

西藏嘎拉勒夕卡岩型铜金矿床中铜的资源量达到中型规模,金的资源量达到大型规模。在系统的野外地质调查基础上,选取矿床夕卡岩中保存极好的白云母,测得40Ar-39Ar年龄为91.48Ma±0.68Ma,代表矿床成矿年龄,表明矿床为燕山运动晚期的产物。结合区域地质资料认为,在拉萨地块中北部,成矿年龄约为90Ma的夕卡岩型—斑岩型矿床集中分布在措勤—申扎岩浆弧上;在早白垩世班公湖—怒江洋盆闭合后,狮泉河—永珠—纳木错—嘉黎蛇绿混杂带(Slainajap带)上的弧后盆地和弧间盆地演化成了一系列小洋盆,这些小洋盆的演化与中拉萨地块北部成矿年龄约为90Ma的夕卡岩—斑岩型矿床的形成有更直接的关系。今后宜加大在措勤—申扎岩浆弧上寻找成矿年龄约为90Ma的夕卡岩—斑岩型矿床的力度。     

中蒙边境及邻区铀矿床产出环境、地质特征、形成作用和找矿标志

中蒙边境及邻区位于西伯利亚板块、塔里木板块和华北克拉通的结合部位,是全球范围内重要的铀多金属成矿带之一。受多期次构造岩浆活动影响,该区前侏罗纪变质岩块体和中新生代火山-沉积岩分布广泛,深大断裂纵横交错,各类铀矿床(矿化区)星罗棋布。根据围岩类型,结构构造及成矿过程可将该区铀矿床划分为6种类型:(1)火山岩型;(2)砂岩型;(3)岩脉型;(4)褐煤型;(5)交代岩型;(6)磷灰盐型。其中火山岩型和砂岩型铀矿床具有重要经济意义。区域矿产地质研究表明,中蒙边境产出的大部分铀矿床(矿化区)与前侏罗纪变质岩块体具有密切时空分布关系。前侏罗纪变质块体可划分为2部分:(1)前寒武纪高级变质岩;(2)古生代中、低级变质岩。铀的亲石元素特性致使其在壳-幔物质发生分异时富集于地壳的硅铝层。鉴于在地壳长期演化历史中,古老变质岩已具备有较高的铀含量,那么它们在显生宙构造-岩浆活动中就为铀的富集成矿提供有利的物质条件。显生宙构造运动的形式除了断裂活化外,也包括陆相沉积盆地的上隆和下陷。铀在地壳硅铝层中的富集是通过2种方式实现的:(1)陆壳的深熔和岩浆的分异作用;(2)富铀岩体(层)的风化剥蚀和再沉积活动。研究结果表明,铀的富集过程十分缓慢,其中火山岩型铀矿床的形成作用就是长英质岩浆活动的组成部分。火山型铀矿床主要出现在中蒙边境最东端蒙古国境内,它们是中蒙古—额尔古纳地块伸展构造环境(裂陷槽为大量高钾长英质火山岩所充填)中构造-岩浆作用及相关流体活动的产物。长英质火山杂岩体内产出的若干处大型铀矿床(区)和铅-锌-银-铀矿床即是很好的佐证。一般来讲,具有强烈分异特点的富碱性火山岩及相关铀矿床大都在侏罗纪—白垩纪构造-岩浆作用对前侏罗纪岩体(层)发生强烈叠加改造部位产出,其形成作用可能与晚侏罗世—早白垩世构造-岩浆活动有关。同位素年代学(铀矿床铀-铅同位素测年)研究结果表明,铀矿体的形成时间为153~136 Ma,该时间段与其所在的多尔诺德组安山-玄武岩和流纹岩的形成时间基本一致,同时,与俄罗斯远东地区斯特尔特苏维卡(Streltsovsk)超大型铀矿床的形成时代(136~134 Ma)相吻合。矿区范围内富钾流纹岩铀含量较高(300×10~(-6)左右),暗示了这套火山岩可能为铀矿床的矿源层。另外,流纹岩中熔融包裹体铀含量(14~25)×10~(-6)进一步印证了上述推论的可靠性。与富钾长英质岩浆作用有关的热液活动对早期含铀岩体(层)的叠加改造可导致铀的进一步富集,进而形成大规模和高品位铀矿体。大量黄铁矿、方铅矿、闪锌矿和白铁矿等硫化物的存在暗示了成矿作用是在还原条件下形成的。大多数砂岩型铀矿床分布在中新生代断陷盆地内,这些盆地一般为各类沉积岩(物)所充填,其中河流相、三角洲相和浅海沉积相(物)为铀矿床的容矿围岩。在所有上述沉积岩(物)中,辫状河流相沉积岩(物)是最重要的含矿层位。砂岩型铀矿床大都是断陷和凹陷带构造运动最后阶段构造-沉积联合作用的产物。盆地周缘前侏罗纪富铀岩体(层)的风化剥蚀,为砂岩型铀矿床的形成提供了丰富的物质来源。早期构造运动(176~156 Ma)为古潜水面氧化提供了有利条件并且形成了低品位铀矿化区。在晚白垩世(96 Ma)到渐新世(35Ma)时期,古陆块体抬升与沉降活动期间为氧化作用的发生创造了有利条件,并且为主要砂岩型铀矿床的形成奠定了基础。中蒙边境火山型和砂岩型铀矿床独特的地质、地球化学特征受到国内外地质学家的广泛关注。对于这些矿床的地质环境,地质和地球化学特征以及其容矿围岩的系统研究将极大地提高人们对于铀矿床成矿作用的理解。与此同时,对这些铀矿床的成因类型和勘查标志的研究也将在中蒙边境及其邻区开展隐伏铀矿床的综合评价中发挥重要作用。     

Early Mesozoic metamorphism and tectonic significance of the eastern segment of the Lhasa terrane,south Tibet

The metamorphic belt in the Basongco area, the eastern segment of Lhasa terrane, south Tibet, occurs as the tectonic blocks in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. The Basongco metamorphic rocks are mainly composed of paragneiss and schist, with minor marble and orthogneiss, and considered previously to be the Precambrian basement of the Lhasa terrane. This study shows that the Basongco metamorphic belt experienced medium-pressure amphibolite-facies metamorphism under the conditions of T = 640–705 °C and P = 6.0–8.0 kbar. The inherited detrital zircon of the metasedimentary rocks yielded widely variable ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages ranging from 3105 Ma to 500 Ma, with two main age populations at 1150 Ma and 580 Ma. The magmatic cores of zircons from the orthogneiss constrain the protolith age as ca. 203 Ma. The metamorphic zircons from all rocks yielded the consistent metamorphic ages of 192–204 Ma. The magmatic cores of zircons in the orthogneiss yielded old Hf model ages (T_DM2 = 1.5–2.1 Ga). The magmatic zircons from the mylonitized granite yielded a crystallization age of ca. 198 Ma. These results indicate that the high-grade metamorphic rocks from the Basongco area were formed at early Jurassic and associated with coeval magmatism derived from the thickening crust. The Basongco metamorphic belt, together with the western and coeval Sumdo and Nyainqentanglha metamorphic belts, formed a 400-km-long tectonic unit, indicating that the central segment of the Lhasa terrane experienced the late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic collisional orogeny.     

祁连山北阿拉善地体特征及其大地构造演化

祁连山北阿拉善地块在大地构造位置上处于中亚造山带、塔里木板块、祁连山-秦岭造山带和华北板块之间.阿拉善地体在太古代-元古代作为一个相对独立的小地体发育, 其结晶基底岩性与塔里木板块、华北板块存在一定程度差异.受加里东构造运动影响, 板块与地体表现为南聚北散特点; 在中奥陶世早期阿拉善地体与华北板块拼为一体, 进入板块整体演化阶段.中海西构造运动期, 北部早二叠世古亚洲洋关闭, 发育新增地壳, 形成北缘沟弧盆体系; 晚海西构造运动期, 阿拉善地体向南俯冲, 祁连山洋关闭, 地壳增生, 阿拉善地体与塔里木板块、华北板块焊接在一起.新特提斯构造运动对其影响巨大, 南缘表现为"左旋"走滑, 北缘表现为"右旋"走滑, 古生代所形成构造带均受到新生代北东向构造的强烈改造.阿拉善地体频繁的构造运动, 致使其南北部相对稳定的燕山期所形成的煤系中小盆地群(阿拉善-银额盆地群、北山盆地群、河西走廊盆地群、祁连山东部盆地群、祁连山西部盆地群、阿尔金盆地群、柴达木周缘盆地群), 也相应发生快速沉降与快速抬升过程, 后期均遭受强烈改造与破坏, 不仅造就烃源岩欠发育, 就是造成储集层致密, 总体不利于油气的生成、运移、聚集成藏, 油气勘探前景欠佳.     

晚古生代冈瓦纳的演化长逾13500 km的基墨利超级地体的裂离及其向亚洲的漂移

The Cimmerian terrane forms an almost unbroken chain stretching >13,500 km, from central southern Europe to western Indonesia, via SE Europe, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Tibet, SW China and Myanmar. Ar-guably, it is Earth’s most spectacular example of a “sliver” terrane, dwarfing in size more recently devel-oped examples, for instance the Palawan Block in the western Philippines, and the Lord Howe Rise in the Tasman Sea. The presentation will first outline the in-triguing geological features associated with this unique tectonic entity. Following that, recently obtained results following paleomagnetic investigations of two lower Permian rift-related basalt suites will be summarized (Abor Volcanics in northeastern India and Woniusi Ba-salts in Yunnan, China). The two studies are part of a larger programme of ongoing research aimed at deducing (I) the geodynamic configuration that generated the un-usual rifting system, and (II) exactly how Cimmeria fit-ted against Gondwana prior to its dispersal in the Early Permian. The critical unit is Baoshan, which we fit against Gondwana within a narrow longitudinal belt close to where northern India and northwestern Australia were once in close proximity (Fig. 1). Furthermore, we suggest that Sibumasu lay to directly the east, offshore of Australia; Qiangtang and Lhasa almost certainly sat to the west (off northern Greater India-SE Arabia), but we are uncertain as to their exact configuration. Our findings will be compared with several rather different models that have been published in recent years. The new pa-leomagnetic constraint highlights the flexibility authors currently have in reconstructing the region, principally because of the overall lack of similar high-quality data from the various blocks. We explain how new data could resolve these ambiguities, thereby offering more robust explanations for eastern Gondwana’s late Paleozoic de-velopment.