Possible spatial variability in the Selwyn Block of Central Victoria: evidence from Late Devonian felsic igneous rocks

The Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Selwyn Block in Central Victoria forms the mainly unexposed basement to the Paleozoic metasediments, granitic rocks and felsic volcanic complexes of the Melbourne Zone of the Lachlan Orogen. The Late Devonian felsic rocks are largely products of partial melting of the Selwyn Block, and their chemistry implies that their sources were most probably arc-related andesite, dacite, volcaniclastic greywackes and some pelites. When plotted against the median longitudes of the plutons and volcanic complexes, the average values for ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_t and ?Nd_t (at 370 Ma) reveal broad trends interpreted to reflect possible compositional and/or age structure in the Selwyn Block. Assuming that the trends are real, from W to E, I-type sources are progressively less crustally evolved, probably younging eastward. The S-type sources show no trend in ?Nd_t, suggesting that there was efficient sediment mixing. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_t values, however, become more evolved eastward (opposite in sense to the apparent variation in the I-type sources). This is interpreted as the original Selwyn Block sediments having been more pelitic eastward, perhaps suggesting a deepening of the basin in this direction, as well as structurally upward in the succession. The opposite senses of variation highlights the spatial separation of the S- and I-type sources and suggest that the granitic magmas here are unlikely to represent any sort of mixing continuum.     

黑河新生地区中侏罗世花岗质岩石锆石U-Pb年龄、地球化学特征及岩石成因

黑河新生地区西古兰河以北二长花岗岩的LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb同位素测试结果表明,其形成时代为中侏罗世((163.8±1)Ma)。这些中侏罗世二长花岗岩属于弱过铝质高钾钙碱性系列的Ⅰ型花岗岩,明显富集大离子亲石元素(Rb、Ba、Th)和亏损高场强元素(Zr、Hf、Nb、Ta),元素Sr具有明显的负异常,表明其原始岩浆起源于地壳火成岩的部分熔融。结合区域资料同时代火成岩的组合特征和古太平洋板块的构造演化,认为该二长花岗岩形成于活动大陆边缘,而其形成的地球动力学背景可能为古太平洋板块向欧亚板块俯冲造山后的伸展环境。     

内蒙古中部红格尔图地区花岗岩的成因及构造背景——LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄、地球化学的制约

内蒙古察右后旗红格尔图花岗岩岩体位于索伦缝合带以南,主要为正长花岗岩和二长花岗岩,富硅(70.44%~78.80%),富碱(7.46%~10.74%),贫镁、铁、钛等,A/CNK值在0.95~1.41之间,碱铝指数AKI值在0.68~0.97之间,碱度率AR值在3.30~6.68之间,为弱过铝质-过铝质类碱性系列花岗岩;稀土元素总量变化范围大,轻稀土元素富集,重稀土元素亏损,Eu呈负异常(δEu=0.03~0.89);富集高场强元素Th、U、Hf、Ta、Y等,亏损大离子亲石元素Sr、Ba、Eu等;高场强元素和值((Zr+Nb+Ce+Y)350×10~(-6))明显偏低,该岩体属于高分异I型花岗岩,形成于后造山(后碰撞)伸展构造环境。LA-ICP-MS锆石同位素测年,获得锆石~(206)Pb/~(238)U年龄加权平均值分别为267.2±1.4Ma、269.2±1.6Ma和272.1±1.2Ma,表明该岩体形成于中二叠世,因此研究区内两大板块碰撞缝合的时间应该至少早于该岩体的形成时代,即应该至少早于267.2~272.1Ma。     

阿尔金中段大通沟花岗岩体年代学、地球化学特征及其成因

出露于阿尔金中段的大通沟花岗岩体,岩性主要为二长花岗岩,LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄为(353.7±1.1)Ma。SiO_2为74.5%~76.2%,Al_2O_3为12.62%~14.15%,(Na_2O+K_2O)为7.71%~8.29%,K_2O/Na_2O为0.9~1.22,A/CNK介于1.0~1.19之间,属高钾钙碱性系列的过铝质-强过铝质花岗岩。该岩石富集大离子亲石元素(LILE),亏损素Ba、Nb、Sr、P、Ti等高场强元素(HFSE);∑REE变化范围大(∑REE=85.7×10~(-6)~153.2×10~(-6),平均为111×10~(-6)),具有强烈的负Eu异常(δEu=0.03~0.59,平均0.33),LREE/HREE=3.52~11.9,轻稀土相对富集,轻重稀土分馏明显。微量元素地球化学特征表明,其源区物质主要来源于上地壳的变杂砂岩和变泥质岩类。锆石饱和温度计演算结果显示锆石的结晶温度为722~745℃(平均735℃),估算二长花岗岩源区的压力为0.8~1.6GPa。综合区域地质资料,阿尔金中段大通沟花岗岩体的形成与造山带根部块体的拆沉作用有关。     

The Anglo-Brabant Massif: Persistent but enigmatic palaeo-relief at the heart of western Europe

The surface geology of central England and Belgium obscures a large ‘basement’ massif with a complex history and stronger crust and lithosphere than surrounding regions. The nucleus was forged by subduction-related magmatism at the Gondwana margin in Ediacaran time. Partitioning into a platform, in the English Midlands, and a basin stretching to Belgium, in the east, was already evident in Cambrian/earliest Ordovician time. The accretion of the Monian Composite Terrane during the Penobscotian deformation phase preceded late Tremadocian rifting, and Floian separation, of the Avalonia Terrane from the Gondwana margin. Late Ordovician magmatism in a belt from the Lake District to Belgium records subduction beneath Avalonia of part of the Tornquist Sea. This ‘Western Pacific-style’ oceanic basin closed in latest Ordovician time, uniting Avalonia and Baltica. Closure of the Iapetus Ocean in early Silurian time was soon followed by closure of the Rheic Ocean, recorded by subduction along the southern margin of the massif. The causes of late Caledonian deformation are poorly understood and controversial. Partitioned behaviour of the massif persisted into late Palaeozoic time. Late Devonian and Carboniferous sequences show strong onlap onto the massif, which was little affected by crustal extension. Compressional deformation during the Variscan Orogeny also appears slight, and was focussed in the west where a wedge-shaped mountain foreland uplift was driven by orogenic indentation, splitting the massif from the Welsh Massif along the reactivated Malvern Line. Permian to Mesozoic sequences exhibit persistent but variable degrees of onlap onto the massif.     

Zircon U-Pb Geochronology,Geochemistry and Petrogenesis of Early Cretaceous A-type Granites in the Mikengshan Area,Southern Jiangxi ProvinceEI北大核心CSCD

In the Mikengshan-Yanbei area, a special region for the tin mineralization in South China, there are some Yanshanian granites and porphyries and associated porphyry tin deposits (e.g., Yanbei). Although the tin mineralization is closely associated with the granitoids magmatism, the age and petrogenesis of the granites remain controversial. The Mikengshan pluton, which intrudes into the rhyolitic tuff and pyroclastic rocks of the Upper Jurassic Jilongzhang Formation, is the largest one in Mikengshan-Yanbei area and mainly consists of K-feldspar bearing granites. In this study, we report new age and geochemical data for the Mikengshan K-feldspar bearing granites. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb age dating shows that they were generated in the Early Cretaceous (~138 Ma). They have high SiO2 (74.42% to 76.69%), low Al2O3 (12.39% to 13.49%) and Mg# (11 to 19), and negative Eu, Sr and Ba anomalies, and are rich in potassium (most K2O/Na2O=1.37 to 1.94) and high field strength elements (HFSEs), and are weakly peraluminous (A/CNK=1.03 to 1.1) with high 10000×Ga/Al ratios (3.46 to 4.96) and slightly high zircon saturation temperatures (807 ℃ to 817 ℃), showing the characteristics of the typical A-type granites. Moreover, they have high Rb contents 842×10-6 to 1295×10-6, Rb/Sr (90 to 255) ratios and show rare earth elements (REE) tetrad effect, which are similar to those of high fractionated granites. Thus, we suggested that the Mikengshan K-feldspar bearing granites are high fractionated and aluminous A-type granite. Their slightly high εNd(t) values (-3.4 to -4.6) indicate that the mantle components should have played a role during their formation. Taking into account regional igneous rocks and tectonic setting data, we suggest that the Mikengshan K-bearing granites were formed in an extensional setting, which was probably related to the roll-back of the subducted Paleo-Pacific plate. © 2018, Science Press. All right reserved.     

The Saxonian Granulites: a metamorphic core complex?

The brachyanticlinal structure of the Saxonian Granulite Complex was formed, or at least overprinted, by large-scale crustal extension, which is documented in an extreme reduction of the metamorphic profile and a pressure-temperature path with nearly isothermal decompression. the granulite is situated within a south-west-northeast trending belt characterized by basaltic volcanism and an intrabasinal, sediment-producing rise, both active in Frasnian times. These features are taken to reflect at least part of the extension which has exhumed the high grade rocks; however, Cambro-Ordovician rifting possibly initiated the process. The Frasnian palaeogeography and geophysical data suggest that the axis of the granulite dome extends at least 150 km towards the south-west. The overall setting strongly resembles the metamorphic core complexes of the western USA, but the exhumation of rocks preserving evidence of metamorphic pressures of 10–12 kbar requires much higher extensional strain, possibly due to the longer period of stretching. Early Carboniferous compression and minor post-collisional extension (Late Carboniferous to Permian) have not significantly modified the earlier geometry. U-Pb and Sm-Nd data ranging between 380 and 340 Ma are interpreted to record retrogression during uplift rather than peak metamorphism.     

Southern margin of the Variscan belt: the north-western Gondwana mobile zone (eastern Morocco and Northern Algeria)

Stratigraphic and structural correlations between the Palaeozoic massifs of eastern Morocco and northern Algeria allow three tectonic domains to be distinguished: (1) The cratonic zone, i.e. the West African platform which remained outside the Variscan chain and its peripherical margin (Moroccan Anti-Atlas and Algerian Ougarta); (2) a WSW-ENE trending zone, over 1500 km from Marrakech to Kabylia and Calabria (in their assumed Palaeozoic location). — This zone was characterized during the Late Palaeozoic by a continuous instability indicated by the development of successive turbiditic basins and a major orogeny at the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary; and (3) central and western Morocco, which corresponds to the external zones of the European Hercynides.The Marrakech-Kabylia zone separates the Variscan domain from the stable and undeformed West African craton. During Early Palaeozoic times it began as an extensive or transtensive zone. It has been deformed by the Late Devonian orogeny and by Carboniferous and Permian reactivation. The zone represents the southern limit of the Hercynian chain and is distinguished by its transcurrent regime throughout the Late Palaeozoic. Correspondence to: A. Piqué     

内蒙古中部二叠纪碱性花岗岩及其地球动力学意义

西伯利亚板块南缘白音乌拉－东乌珠穆沁旗带的碱性花岗岩（Ｒｂ－Ｓｒ年龄２７６－２８６Ｍａ）生成于张性的构造环境，较西伯亚板块同中朝板块之间晚泥盆世－早石炭世的碰撞事件晚约６０Ｍａ，属于造山后的Ａ型花岗岩，可作为造山作用结束的标志。但在中朝板块北缘晚石炭世－二叠纪只发育钙碱性的晚造山花岗岩，直到三叠纪才出现碱性正长岩。相邻两大板块边缘之间岩浆活动的非对称性可能是受板块间面积和质量差别的制约。     

Numerical Modelling of Melting Processes and Induced Diapirism In the Lower Crust

The processes of partial melting and magmatic diapirism within the lower crust are evaluated using a numerical underplating model. Fully molten basalt ( T = 1200°C) is emplaced at the Moho beneath a solid granite ( T = 750°C) in order that a melt front grows into the granite. If diapirism does not occur, this melt front in the granite reaches a minimal depth in the crust before (like in the molten basalt) crystallization takes place. the density contrast between the partially molten granite layer and the overlying solid granite can lead to a Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) which results in diapiric rise of the partially molten granite. Assuming a binary eutectic system for both the granite and the underplating basalt and a temperature- and stress-dependent rheology for the granite, we numerically solve the governing equations and find (a) that diapirism occurs only within a certain but possibly realistic range of parameters, and (b) that if diapirs occur, they do not rise to levels shallower than 15 or perhaps 12km. the growth rate depends on the degree of melting and the thickness of the partially molten layer, as well as the viscosity of the solid and the partially molten granite. From a comparison of the growth rate with the velocity of a Stefan front it is possible to predict whether a melt front will become unstable and result in diapiric ascent or whether a partially molten layer is created, which remains at depth. We carry out such a comparison using our thermodynamically and thermomechanically consistent model of melting and diapirism.