A Study of Mesoproterozoic Iron Cosmic Micro-spherules from 1.8 Ga and 1.6 Ga Old Strata in the Ming Tombs District, Beijing

Numerous iron cosmic micro-spherules have been discovered from Mesoproterozoic strata including the Changzhougou Formation(1.8 Ga) and the Dahongyu Formation(1.6 Ga) of the Ming Tombs district,Beijing.There are 1 to 30 grains of cosmic spherules per 2 kg of a sandstone sample taken from the bottom of a coarse sandstone bed of the Changzhougou Formation and 56 grains per 3.69 kg of a rock sample from silicified carbonate rocks of the Dahongyu Formation.The surface textures of cosmic spherules analyzed by means of the secondary electron imagery are identical with those reported from references either domestic or abroad.So far the geo-ages of 1.8 Ga and 1.6 Ga of cosmic spherules from the Changzhougou and Dahongyu formations might be older than those reported in the world.Table 1 gives the electron probe analysis data of cosmic spherules for 30 spherule grains and 44 testing points as follows(%):FeO,80-95;Cr_2O_3;0-9.56;NiO,0-0.78;CoO,0-0.46; indicating that the Cr_2O_3 content is higher and FeO content lower in the Changzhougou Formation than in the Dahongyu Formation.The helium isotopic data of cosmic spherules as well as their host rocks vary greatly between the Changzhougou and the Dahongyu formations as shown in Table 2.The data of cosmic spherules of the Changzhougou Formation vs the Dahongyu Formation are 57.5/1.23 in ~3He/~4He(10~(-8));and 55.54/809.60 in ~4He(10~(-6)cm~3STP/g);those of coarse sandstone of the Changzhougou Formation vs silicified carbonate of the Dahongyu Formation are 3.39/2.59 in ~3He/~4He(10~(-8)) and 4.56/2.34 in ~3He(10~(-6)cm~3STP/g).The ratio of analytic data of helium isotopes are different for cosmic spherules and their host rocks;for example,the ~3He/~4He(10~(-8)) values are 16.96 and 0.48,and the ~4He (10~(-6)cm~3STP/g) are 12.18 and 345.98 for the Changzhougou and Dahongyu formations respectively.It was reported that the world's oldest micrometeorites had been found in the Meso-Proterozoic Satakunta Formation,Finland.However,the cosmic spherules from the Meso-Proterozoic Changzhougou and Dahongyu formations are 200 to 400 Ma older than those from the Satakunta Formation.Besides,one carbonaceous chondrite grain was discovered for the first time as the earliest remain formed in the solar nebula from the Dahongyu Formation.     

Polymetamorphism and isobaric cooling of pelitic schists from the Annex sulphide deposit, Gordonia Belt, South Africa

Abstract Muscovite-poor pelitic schists in the wallrocks of the Proterozoic Annex sulphide deposit, near Prieska, South Africa, contain peak metamorphic assemblages including Crd + Bt + Sil, St + Sil + Bt, Crd + St + Bt and, rarely, Ky + St ° Crd. All rocks include oligoclase, quartz and commonly Fe–Mn garnet, with or without muscovite. Peak assemblages, assigned to M2 regional metamorphism in the Gordonia Belt (Namaqua Province), are syn- to post-kinematic with respect to the main S2 fabric although larger staurolite grains contain S1 inclusion trails. Garnet–biotite thermometry, utilizing corrections for Fe³⁺, Mn, Al^VI and Ti, yields peak temperatures of 571–624°C at pressures of 4.5–6.0 kbar. Consideration of the sympathetic variation of X_Mn in garnet with X_Mg in biotite and the preserved zoning patterns in prograde garnets, together with the inferred prograde transition from kyanite to sillimanite, indicates that heating occurred during mild decompression to the M2 metamorphic peak. Sillimanite and cordierite grew last in the prograde sequence, possibly related to a pulse of thermal metamorphism (M3) that is found along the margin of the Keimoes Suite batholith to the north. Retrograde assemblages, including Ms + Ky + Chl + Qtz (after Crd + Bt), Ky + Ms (after Sil) and Chl + Ms (after St) indicate a period of isobaric cooling (M4a) terminated by rehydration in the kyanite stability field at about 500°C. The size difference between prograde (1–2-mm) and retrograde (0.05–0.1-mm) mineral grains indicates substantial undercooling below equilibrium positions of relevant retrograde reactions prior to rehydration, and explains why cordierite that grew during M2 is almost completely destroyed. Post-M4a regrowth of staurolite and garnet (M4b) is spatially linked to sites of M4a rehydration. It reached temperatures of 510–530°C, remaining within the stability field of kyanite. A best fit of the observed textural history to the Namaqua orogenic cycle involves collision and heating (M2/D2) followed by granite intrusion (M3), rifting (M4a) and renewed heating due to crustal loading during volcanism (M4b). The P–T path for the Annex region is consistent with those derived from elsewhere in the Gordonia Belt and, with modification, to that published already for the nearby Prieska Copper Mines.     

苏皖北部上元古界地球化学特征及其波浪式演化

本文应用多种数学地质方法研究苏皖北部上元古界的地球化学特征,并探讨了地球化学演化的波浪式特征及其与构造运动波动性的关系。作者认为,化学波浪是普遍存在的客观事实,其时空演化特征可以在一定范围内用来进行地层的划分和对比。     

Emplacement and deformation of the ca. 1.45 Ga Karlshamn granitoid pluton,southeastern Sweden,during ENE-WSW Danopolonian shortening

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and structural geology of the ca. 1.45 Ga Karlshamn pluton (southern Sweden) are used to study its emplacement and structural evolution. The Karlshamn pluton is one of the largest metaluminous A-type granitoid intrusions in southern Sweden. It is a multiphase body made up of two suites that differ in composition but which have similar crystallization ages. The magmatic foliation, ductile shear zones and granite–pegmatite filled fractures were mapped as well as the metamorphic foliation and extension lineation in the metamorphic host rocks. The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility was used to map the magnetite petrofabric of the pluton, providing a larger data set for both the magmatic foliations and lineations, which could not be mapped in the field. The fabrics within the pluton are continuous with the metamorphic fabrics in the country rocks. Both the pluton and the country rock fabrics were folded during ENE–WSW compression, while the pluton was still a magma mush. The stress field orientation during cooling of the pluton is determined on the basis of magmatic, ductile and brittle structures in the Karlshamn pluton that formed successively as the pluton cooled. The compressional event is referred to as the Danopolonian orogeny and therefore the Karlshamn granitoids, and other plutons of similar composition and age in central and southern Sweden, on the Danish Island of Bornholm, and in Lithuania, may be considered as syntectonic intrusions and not as anorogenic, as was previously thought.     

Single zircon ages of migmatitic gneisses and granulites in the Obudu Plateau: Timing of granulite-facies metamorphism in southeastern Nigeria

A single zircon geochronological study of gneisses from the Obudu Plateau of southeastern Nigeria, using the evaporation technique, indicates that zircons recorded several Precambrian high-grade metamorphic events (Eburnean and Pan-African). Igneous and multifaceted metamorphic zircons yielded ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages of 2062.4 ± 0.4 Ma, 1803.8 ± 0.4 Ma and 574 ± 10 Ma, respectively and confirm for the first time that granulite-facies metamorphism affected the basement of southeastern Nigeria, resulting in the formation of charnockites and granulitic gneisses. The Pan-African high-grade event was coeval with the formation of granulites in Cameroon, Togo and Ghana and resulted from collisional processes during continental amalgamation to form the Gondwana supercontinent. The sources of the sediments, which were deposited at ≈605 Ma and metamorphosed at 574 Ma, comprise older igneous and metamorphic protoliths (including inherited xenocrystic zircons up to 2.5 Ga in age). The Palaeoproterozoic zircons seem to have survived Pan-African melting.     

Regional-scale Proterozoic IOCG-mineralized breccia systems: examples from the Wernecke Mountains, Yukon, Canada

A large scale Proterozoic breccia system consisting of numerous individual breccia bodies, collectively known as Wernecke Breccia, occurs in north-central Yukon Territory, Canada. Breccias cut Early Proterozoic Wernecke Supergroup sedimentary rocks and occur throughout the approximately 13 km thick deformed and weakly metamorphosed sequence. Iron oxide–copper–gold ± uranium ± cobalt mineralization is associated with the breccia bodies and occurs as veins and disseminations within breccia and surrounding rocks and locally forms the breccia matrix. Extensive sodic and potassic metasomatic alteration occurs within and around breccia bodies and is overprinted by pervasive calcite and dolomite/ankerite, and locally siderite, alteration, respectively. Multiple phases of brecciation, alteration and mineralization are evident. Breccia bodies are spatially associated with regional-scale faults and breccia emplacement made use of pre-existing crustal weaknesses and permeable zones. New evidence indicates the presence of metaevaporitic rocks in lower WSG that may be intimately related to breccia formation. No evidence of breccia-age magmatism has been found to date.

地史早期岩石中的铅锌演化--狼山-渣尔泰山中元古代铅锌成矿的物质基础

以中国内蒙古狼山一渣尔泰山中元古代SEDEX型铅．锌成矿带为例，研究了该区从太古代到中元古代地壳岩石的铅锌含量和变化关系以及与成矿的关系。研究发现，从早到晚，岩石SiO2和K2O含量升高，铅含量也与二者同步增加；FeO、MgO、CaO及Na20含量呈下降趋势，锌含量也同步降低。在太古代时，岩石的Zn／Pb比值一般〉8，中元古代时这一比值降低为2～4。矿石的Zn／Pb比值与基底岩石Zn／Pb比值具有很好的一致性。铅锌这种随时间的变化与中元古代铅的暴发性成矿及大规模铅锌共生矿床的形成是同步的，说明基底岩石中的铅和锌是该成矿带SEDEX矿床成矿的物质基础。     

Geochronology and petrogenesis of Pan-African, syn-tectonic, S-type and post-tectonic A-type granite (Namibia): products of melting of crustal sources, fractional crystallization and wall rock entrainment

The Oetmoed Granite–Migmatite Complex (OGMC), Central Damara Orogen, Namibia, consists mainly of 526 to 516 Ma garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite and subordinate 488 to 494 Ma hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite in the form of planar sheets and dykes. Additionally, a slightly elongated granite body occurs in the center of the complex. The garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite has major- and trace-element characteristics of S-type granite but the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite has higher HFSE and REE contents similar to A-type granite. Whereas the garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite contains numerous restitic xenoliths, the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite is xenolith-free. The country rocks are cordierite–sillimanite–K-feldspar–garnet-bearing metasedimentary rocks and migmatite. Cordierite- and garnet-rich xenoliths in the S-type granite do not represent primary restite, their depleted chemical composition is best explained by varying and large degrees of partial melting of incorporated country rocks. Most chemical variations among the garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite can be explained by processes linked with fractional crystallization of plagioclase, biotite and accessory phases, mostly monazite and zircon. Major and trace element data and high δ ¹⁸O values suggest that the least evolved members of the garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite were derived from metapelitic rocks at ca. 800°C as inferred from monazite and apatite dissolution thermometry. Higher CaO and Na₂O but lower SiO₂ contents and lower Rb/Sr ratios as well as lower δ ¹⁸O values of the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite suggest that they are more likely generated by partial melting of non-pelitic sources (metagranitoids?) at temperatures in excess of 900°C. Decreasing TiO₂, Na₂O, FeO_tot., MgO, CaO, total REE content but increasing Al₂O₃ and K₂O indicate fractionation of mainly hornblende and titanite in the case of the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite. The differing compositions of the garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite and the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite are attributed to different source rocks (metapelite instead of metagranitoid) and different temperatures during melting as inferred from accessory phase dissolution thermometry. Furthermore, significant entrainment of country rock in some samples played a major role during petrogenesis of the garnet- and cordierite-bearing granite but was not important during the evolution of the hornblende- and titanite-bearing granite. Intrusion of such hot, felsic magmas close to the inferred peak of metamorphism has probably caused, in part, the high temperature metamorphism and anatexis of the country rocks at relatively low pressures.     

Petrogenesis of graphitic cherts in the Armorican segment of the Cadomian orogenic belt (NW France)

Graphitic cherts are interbedded within terrigenous sediments in the Cadomian orogenic belt of end-Proterozoic age. In the Armorican Massif (NW France), the graphitic cherts are of two types: massive cherts essentially composed of quartz (SiO₂ > 96%) and with rare sedimentary structures; laminated cherts containing up to 3·4% Al₂O₃ and 92–98% SiO₂. Sedimentary structures observed in the laminated cherts are indicative of a restricted hypersaline tidal or supratidal environment. The origins of both types of chert are to be found in the diagenetic processes of silification of terrigenous and mixed terrigenous-evaporitic facies. These processes, which could be mediated by the presence of organic matter, were controlled by the migration of the freshwater/saltwater mixing zone during periods of relative sea-level change. The proposed diagenetic origin for the cherts places a number of constraints on their use in the establishment of stratigraphic correlations.     

安徽宿松群的甄别及时代归属

通过对原宿松群的深入研究 ,将其解体为蒲河片麻岩套与宿松岩群。宿松岩群与大别群在南部经历了先侵入 ,后韧性剪切变形 ,再构造破碎的复杂过程 ,并非不整合接触 ;在北部为过渡或构造叠置关系。重新厘定宿松岩群的构造地层序列自下而上由甘田坳岩组 (新建 ) ,柳坪岩组、大新屋岩组、梓树坞岩组 (新建 )所组成 ,并从地层序列、微古组合、地质年代等方面论证了宿松岩群属新元古代 ,为重新认识大别造山带的形成演化提供了新的基础资料