Geochemistry of an ENE–WSW to NE–SW trending ∼2.37 Ga mafic dyke swarm of the eastern Dharwar craton,India: Does it represent a single magmatic event?

A vast tract of ENE–WSW to NE–SW trending mafic dyke swarm transects Archaean basement rocks within the eastern Dharwar craton. Petrographic data reveal their dolerite/olivine dolerite or gabbro/olivine gabbro composition. Geochemical characteristics, particularly HFSEs, indicate that not all these dykes are co-genetic but are probably derived from more than one magma batch and different crystallization trends. In most samples the La^N/Lu^N ratio is at ∼2, whereas others have a La^N/Lu^N ratio >2 and show higher concentrations of high-field strength elements (HFSEs) than the former group. As a consequence, we assume that the ENE–WSW to NE–SE trending mafic dykes of the eastern Dharwar craton do not represent one single magmatic event but were emplaced in two different episodes; one of them dated at about 2.37 Ga and another probably at about 1.89 Ga. Trace element modelling also supports this inference: older mafic dykes are derived from a melt generated through ∼25% melting of a depleted mantle, whereas the younger set of dykes shows its derivation through a lower degree of melting (∼15%) of a comparatively enriched mantle source.     

遥感技术在喀喇昆仑区域地层对比中的应用

喀喇昆仑地区康西瓦断裂以南被划为晚三叠世的变质杂岩,由两套影像特征迥然不同的岩石组成,其中一套与塔里木板块的结晶基底非常相似,野外实勘证实这是一套深变质岩,其岩性组合及变形变质特征与塔里木板块的元古界一致;另一套为晚三叠世地层。两套地层间为一条在遥感图像上具有明显的线性特征但还未曾识别的大型断裂,根据对两侧地质环境的分析,认为它可能是一条重要的地质界线。     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112000059

A lirst report on tuff beds from the Owk Shale in the Proterozoic Kurnool sub-basin in southern India is presented.The rhvolitic lo ihodacitic tuffs,overlying shclfal limestones formed at depths below storm wave base,have rheomorphic features indicative of viscoplaslic flow.and geochemical signatures of rhvolitic to rhyodacitic unwekled to welded tuffs,similar to those described from other Proterozoic intracratonie basins like Vindhvan and Chhattisgarh basins in India.Fragmentary naiure of altered glass with perlitic cracks and local admixture with intrabasinal sediments suggest phreatomagmatic reactions.The widespread and repealed occurrences of felsic luffs in these basins.possibly derived from low degree melting of continental crust.suggest intermittent(ectonothermal instability which likely intluenced hasinal topography and cyclic development of the carbonate platforms.     

建议在我国统一使用全球通用的正式年代地层单位——埃迪卡拉系（纪）

震旦系（纪）的涵义屡屡变更,争论不断,出现过许多问题。系名Sinian（震旦系）和系的“层型剖面”都是在选取“末元古系”的正式名称和“金钉子”的国际竞争中没有得到多数国际学者支持的候选名称和候选剖面。我国最新正式修订的“震旦系（纪）”与全球年代地层（地质年代）单位埃迪卡拉系（纪）的概念完全相当。系一级的全球单位一旦正式...     

The origin of bornhardts

Some bornhardts are of lithological origin, others are tectonic (horsts), but most are not susceptible of explanation in either of these terms. They are developed in granite or gneiss that apparently is mineralogically similar to that underlying the adjacent plains, and they are not obviously defined by fault dislocations. For these bornhardts two major hypotheses have been advanced. According to many workers bornhardts are the last residuals surviving after long distance scarp retreat. For others they are structural forms developed on massive compartments that stand in marked contrast with the well‐jointed rocks that have been weathered and worn down to form the plains.

Both of these hypotheses are theoretically feasible, but the field evidence (in particular the observed contrasts in fracture density between the granite of hill and plain; the evidence of subsurface initiation of both major and minor forms; the occurrence of bornhardts in narrow valleys within upland complexes and at all levels within the landscape, not just on divides; the fracture‐delineated outlines of the residuals; the association of bornhardts and multicyclic landscapes; the evidence of phased exposure; and the antiquity of the forms) are all consistent with the two‐stage concept. On the other hand, there is no evidence of long‐distance scarp retreat, and much of the field evidence is difficult to explain in such terms.     

Petrogenesis of ca 1.50 Ga granitic gneiss of the Coompana Block: filling the ‘magmatic gap’ of Mesoproterozoic Australia

The Coompana Block is an essentially unknown basement province that separates the Gawler Craton of South Australia from the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia. Previously unstudied granitic gneiss intersected by deep drilling in the Coompana Block represents an important period of within-plate magmatism during a time of relative magmatic quiescence in the Australian Proterozoic. Granitic gneiss intersected at ～1500 m depth in Mallabie 1 diamond drillhole is metaluminous and dominantly granodioritic in composition. The granodiorites have distinctive A-type chemistry characterised by high contents of Zr, Nb, Y, Ga, LREE with low Mg#, Sr, CaO and HREE. U – Pb LA-ICPMS dating of magmatic zircons provides an age of 1505 ± 7 Ma, interpreted as the crystallisation age of the granite protolith. ? _Nd values are high with respect to exposed crust of the Musgrave Province and Gawler Craton, and range from +1.2 to +3.3 at 1.5 Ga. The granitic gneiss is interpreted to be a fractionated melt of a mantle-derived parental melt. The tectonic environment into which the precursor granite was emplaced is not clear. One possibility is emplacement within an extensional environment. Regardless, the granitic gneiss intersected in Mallabie 1 represents magmatic activity during the ‘Australian Mesoproterozoic magmatic gap’ of ca 1.50 – 1.35 Ga, and is a possible source for ca 1.50 detrital zircons found in sedimentary rocks of Tasmania and Antarctica, and metasedimentary rocks of the eastern Musgrave Province.     

40Ar/39Ar evidence for the timing of Paleoproterozoic gold mineralisation at the Sandpiper Deposit,Tanami region,northern Australia

At the Sandpiper gold deposit in the Tanami region of northern Australia sericite is intimately intergrown with arsenopyrite in gold-bearing quartz veins and breccias, suggesting sericite crystallisation synchronous with gold-bearing fluid flow. This ore-stage sericite yields a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau age of 1785 ± 32 Ma (2σ including both analytical and systematic uncertainties). Recalculation using revised and more precise values for the ⁴⁰K decay constants and the age of the Fish Canyon Sanidine standard shifts the age to 1794 ±12 Ma (2σ including all known uncertainties). Given the possibility of post-mineralisation isotopic resetting this age can be conservatively interpreted as a minimum constraint on the timing of gold deposition although, given local geological relationships and estimates for the argon retentivity of white mica, we consider complete isotopic resetting to be unlikely. The preferred interpretation is, therefore, that the sericite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age indicates the timing of gold mineralisation. Thesericite age accords with a limited dataset of ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb xenotime ages of ca 1800 Ma from other gold deposits in the Tanami region, interpreted as mineralisation ages. The agreement between independently derived ages from several gold deposits lends support for a widespread gold-mineralising event at ca 1800 Ma in the Tanami region.     

Stratigraphy and tectonics of the Early to Middle Proterozoic transition,Katherine‐El Sherana area,Northern Territory

Abstract

Two unconformity‐bound groups of volcanic rocks and associated sediments (El Sherana and Edith River Groups) separate the older Pine Creek Geosyncline metasediments from platform cover of the McArthur Basin. Dominated by intersecting NW and ENE rift systems, the volcanics are genetically related to an extensional tectonic system which was also active during deposition of the Pine Creek Geosyncline sequence. In contrast, the younger platform cover was deposited in a relatively stable environment. The rift valleys were filled with rhyolite flows, ignimbrite and ill‐sorted arenite and rudite, and flyschoid sediments spread onto adjacent lands. Following tight upright folding, granite intrusion and erosion, an extensive ignimbrite sheet (=6000 km²) spread from a centre probably at the intercept of the two rifts. Microgranite at this intersection was possibly emplaced in the evacuated magma chamber. The volcanic sequences were deeply eroded and weathered before platform cover deposition began. The platform sediments, represented in the area by the Kombolgie Formation, were deposited from about 1690 Ma to 1650 Ma, and their base is taken as the closest stratigraphic indicator of the boundary between the Early and Middle Proterozoic.     

吉林省集安市苇沙河金矿床地质特征及成因初步分析

通过对苇沙河金矿床地质特征、成矿条件研究,认为苇沙河金矿床产于早元古代集安群荒岔沟组变质火山岩及中元古代老岭群板房沟组浅变质碎屑岩中,区内发育石英闪长岩,矿化受NE向断裂带控制。矿体形态为脉状、似层状及透镜状,矿体厚度及品位变化较大。金矿围岩蚀变发育,包括硅化、黄铁矿化、褐铁矿化、绢云母化、绿泥石化。金矿（化）带的形成与闪长岩体有密切关系。中酸性岩浆活动与断裂构造是矿床形成的关键因素。地质特征表明,板房沟金矿为叠加改造型金矿床。     

40Ar‐39Ar and K‐Ar age constraints on the Early Proterozoic Tennant Creek Block,northern Australia,and the age of its gold deposits∗

⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar age spectra on minerals from granitic, metamorphic and hydrothermal rocks confirm that the Early Proterozoic Tennant Creek Block was affected by two thermal events during its evolution. Although extensive alteration of biotite and feldspar within the granites precludes the direct determination of their cooling history, ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar analyses for hydrothermal muscovite from several nearby gold‐copper deposits indicate that regional cooling to below ～ 300°C was not prolonged. Flat, uniform muscovite age spectra were obtained from gold deposits east of the Tennant Creek town site and indicate a minimum age of 1825–1830 Ma for their formation. These ages are within error of those for the felsic volcanism of the Flynn Subgroup, and a genetic relationship between the two may exist. Samples from gold deposits elsewhere in the area indicate disturbance of the K‐Ar isotope system. The second thermal event to affect the region occurred at around 1700 Ma, and is confirmed by the ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar muscovite ages for the ‘Warrego’ granite (1677 ± 4 Ma) and for the metamorphism of the Wundirgi Formation (1696 ± 4 Ma).