Provenance of metasedimentary rocks of the Western Pernambuco-Alagoas Domain: Contribution to understand the crustal evolution of southern Borborema Province

The Borborema Province is a complex neoproterozoic orogen in northeastern Brazil, made of a mosaic of fault-bounded terrains and several metassedimentary sequences. In the present work, new zircon U–Pb provenance data for metasedimentary rocks in the Western Pernambuco-Alagoas Domain, southern part of the Province, are reported. Detrital zircon ages range from Archean to Neoproterozoic. Three samples of the Cabrobó Complex were investigated: (i) sillimanite-kyanite-garnet-biotite schist, which presented mostly Ediacaran and Cryogenian detrital zircon ages (youngest zircon at ca. 554 Ma) indicating erosion of neoproterozoic sources, (ii) garnet-biotite schist, which has a dominant Tonian/Stenian population, a less abundant Cryogenian (youngest zircon age at ca. 643 Ma) as well as Paleoproterozoic and Archean zircon grains, and (iii) tourmaline-muscovite quartzite, which contains detrital zircon varying in age between ca. 2.08 Ga and 1.57 Ga, and an abundant population close to the Meso/Paleoproterozoic boundary, possibly associated with the erosion of rocks formed during the Statherian taphrogenesis, known in the central part of the São Francisco Craton as well as in other areas of the Borborema Province. Two samples of the Riacho Seco Metasedimentary Complex were also investigated: (i) a biotite schist with a dominant population presenting ages mostly between 2.3 and 2.7 Ga (youngest zircon age at ca. 2023 Ma) and (ii) a magnetite-biotite-muscovite quartzite, having detrital zircon grains with ages ranging between ca. 1.9 and 2.7 Ga. The sedimentary rocks of the Riacho Seco Complex may have their origin related to the erosion of sources within the São Francisco Craton. The data for the Riacho Seco metasedimentary rocks, however, are not conclusive with respect to the depositional age of the original sedimentary rocks. The sequence might represent exposure of an old (Paleoproterozoic) sedimentary pile or, alternatively, it comprises a neoproterozoic passive margin sequence, with the original sediments derived from the erosion of the cratonic areas to the south.     

Characterization of Quartzites in the Southern Korean Peninsula

In the southern Korean Peninsula twelve quartzite strata occur in the Gyeonggi massif and Okcheon belt. Their geologic ages range from Precambrian to Upper Paleozoic. All quartzites in the Gyeonggi massif are of Precambrian in age and are characterized by high-grade metaquartzites; they are Seosan, Anyang, Yongmunsan and Uiam quartzites from west to east. Quartzite types occurring in the Okcheon belt are diverse from orthoquartzite to medium-grade metaquartzite. Orthoquartzites are all Paleozoic in age and are distributed mainly in the eastern Okcheon belt (Taebaeksan Basin) (Jangsan, Dongjeom and Jeongseon quartzites) with one in the central Okcheon belt (Mungyeong Quartzite). Low-grade metaquartzite is Hwasan quartzite in the western part and medium-grade metaquartzites are Daehyangsan and Geumsusan quatzites in the central part, and Yongamsan quartzite in the southwestern part of the Okcheon belt. Distribution of quartzite types in the southern Korean Peninsula is not related to the geologic age of quartzites. As a case study, quartzite characteristics were applied to a provenance study of quartzite clasts in the northwestern part of the Cretaceous Gyeongsang Basin. Quartzite clasts in the study area are interpreted to have been mostly derived from source quartzites in the Okcheon belt, which is consistent with the results of previous studies.     

安徽东南部二叠系龙潭组砂岩碎屑组分及物源分析

       砂岩碎屑组分分析是研究盆地沉积物源及其构造演化的重要途径。龙潭组是我国南方重要的含煤层位之一,进一步确定其沉积物来源和源区构造背景具有重要意义。安徽东南部二叠系龙潭组砂岩碎屑组分特征为：单晶石英含量为25%~40%,多晶石英含量为30%~65%,而且细砂岩中,石英多具有溶蚀的边缘;长石含量变化较大,在细砂岩中含量在5%~15%之间,在中粗粒砂岩中含量仅为1%左右;岩屑在细砂岩中的含量为15%~25%,在中粗粒砂岩中含量为10%~20%。砂岩物源分析结果显示,龙潭组砂岩来源于再旋回造山带与消减杂岩带的混合蚀源区,结合含近源砾石特征及区域大地构造背景,可推测研究区龙潭组物源区很可能来自华夏板块与扬子板块碰撞的接壤地带--江南造山带。     

物源分析的一个误区:砂粒在河流搬运过程中的变化*

长期以来,中国沉积学界存在一个认识误区,认为“碎屑物质在流水搬运过程中,其不稳定成分逐渐变少,粒度逐渐变小,圆度逐渐变好”,并把这一认识错误地运用到对砂岩的物源分析中。作者基于文献调研和现代河流砂研究成果,评述了关于砂粒的不稳定矿物含量、磨圆度、粒度这3个重要参数的研究进展,认为河流搬运过程中砂粒并没有向下游出现明显的不稳定矿物丢失,粒度和磨圆度也没有明显变化,这3个参数与搬运距离并无必然关系。因此,根据长石、岩屑、不稳定重矿物的多寡以及粒度大小、磨圆度好坏来推测砂岩物源区的距离远近是缺乏科学依据的。     

黔西南晚二叠世龙潭组物源分析及区域沉积古地理重建

黔西南上二叠统龙潭组为一套以海陆交互相细屑岩为主的沉积地层,与下伏茅口组平行不整合接触。龙潭组砂岩碎屑组分以板片状—微晶状的玄武—安山质火山岩岩屑为主,并含少量霏细晶—隐晶质的酸性火山岩岩屑。泥质岩全岩主量元素以低SiO_2(28.3%~51.9%)、高TiO_2(1.0%~4.1%)和低Al_2O_3/TiO_2比值(3.9~6.9)为特征,与峨眉山高Ti玄武岩的Al_2O_3/TiO_2比值(集中在2.5~5.0之间)较为接近。龙潭组的碎屑锆石显示峰期年龄为~260Ma,与峨眉山大火成岩省的火山喷发期(258~263Ma)相吻合。锆石微量元素指示其与板内/非造山环境的岩浆活动有关,结合同时期北部陆相和南部深水盆地相的沉积物源研究,该结果表明龙潭组碎屑岩的源岩为峨眉山玄武质和长英质火山岩。基于此,本文对晚二叠世滇黔桂地区峨眉山源区—河流—滨岸—右江深水盆地的沉积古地理格局进行重建。     

鄂尔多斯盆地西南部上古生界碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄及其构造意义

通过对鄂尔多斯盆地西南部晚古生代山西组1段和下石盒子组8段碎屑锆石进行LA-ICP-MS U-Pb测年分析,结合周缘地层年龄结构和地质历史事件,进而追寻盆地沉积物物源,推断盆地与造山带的盆山耦合过程。研究表明105个岩浆成因的碎屑锆石可分为4个年龄组段:(1)260~340 Ma,占总数的21.9%,推断物源主要来自北秦岭和西秦岭构造带;(2)370~470 Ma,占总数的24.8%,反映物源主要来自北秦岭、西秦岭构造带和北祁连造山带;(3)1600~2000 Ma,占总数的32.4%,指示物源来自北秦岭造山带、北祁造山带和华北板块;(4)2300~2600 Ma,占总数的15.2%,物源分别来自华北板块基底结晶岩系、北祁连构造带、北秦岭构造带和西秦岭构造带。研究区总体上具有来自北秦岭造山带、西秦岭造山带、北祁连造山带、兴蒙造山带及华北板块基底五个物源区,其中兴蒙造山带、北秦岭造山带和北祁连造山带为主要物源区。古生代碎屑锆石年龄证实了鄂尔多斯盆地西南部奥陶纪被动大陆边缘形成,志留纪—泥盆纪转化为陆-陆碰撞造山带,石炭纪—二叠纪逐渐由造山带转化为沉积盆地。     

临沧地体亲缘性及南段组物源——来自泥盆纪—石炭纪南段组碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄的证据

对临沧地体泥盆纪—石炭纪南段组的沉积岩开展碎屑锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb定年研究结果表明,所有样品的U-Pb年龄谱存在3个主要峰值:泛非期(530~680Ma)、晚格林威尔期(900~980Ma)和早格林威尔期(1100~1300Ma)。次要峰值年龄为1550~1730Ma和2350~2630Ma,反映了物源区构造-岩浆事件的复杂性。南段组碎屑岩锆石年龄图谱明显区别于思茅地块泥盆纪—石炭纪碎屑锆石年龄图谱,临沧地块南段组碎屑锆石的年龄表明其物源来自东冈瓦纳超大陆,临沧地体应该是来自东冈瓦纳北缘的微地块,这也与其生物特征相吻合。     

鄂尔多斯盆地西缘晚三叠世构造—沉积环境分析

鄂尔多斯盆地西缘长期以来是地质学家所关注的热点,特别是晚三叠世的物源和形成构造—沉积环境颇具争议。砂岩碎屑组成、碎屑重矿物、地球化学成分、砾岩组成、古水流以及构造变形研究表明,晚三叠世西缘不同地区的物源和构造—沉积环境具有一定的差异性。北部贺兰山地区晚三叠世沉积主要形成于克拉通边缘,巴彦浩特地区为其主要物源区,阿拉善地块为次一级物源区,古流向以由西向东为主,沉积环境由扇三角洲向湖泊环境过渡,该时期为区域挤压背景下的裂谷盆地发育阶段;中部石沟驿地区上三叠统延长组沉积厚度达3 000 m左右,砂岩以长石岩屑砂岩为主,物源区以阿拉善地块为主,古流向由北西向南东,沉积环境为辫状河三角洲沉积环境,构造背景较为复杂,为整体挤压背景下的断陷盆地;南部平凉地区物源主要来自下伏地层和秦祁造山带,古水流主体由南西向北东方向,主体为冲积扇沉积环境,为前陆盆地发育阶段。可见,盆地西缘晚三叠世不同地区具有不同物源属性与构造—沉积环境,并非统一的“类”前陆盆地发育阶段。     

Provenance of the Ordovician–lower Silurian Tumblagooda Sandstone,Western Australia

Detrital zircon U–Pb ages and heavy mineral assemblages provide conflicting evidence of the provenance of the Ordovician–lower Silurian Tumblagooda Sandstone, a fluvial to shallow marine, red-bed succession over 2000 m thick, within the northern Perth and Southern Carnarvon basins in Western Australia. Tourmaline composition indicates a main provenance from interior continental terranes dominated by ‘Li-poor granitoids, pegmatites and aplites’ and ‘Ca-poor metapelites, metapsammites and quartz-tourmaline rocks,’ akin to the Yilgarn Craton to the east of outcrop of the Tumblagooda Sandstone. Other possible source areas include orogens mostly to the south but lack tourmaline analyses for comparison. Taking into account the lack of garnets—a conspicuous component of the adjacent Proterozoic Northampton Inlier—the limited zircon data are compatible with the Albany–Fraser and Pinjarra orogens along the southern and western margins of Australia and/or terranes in or adjacent to East Africa and/or Antarctica, as ultimate source regions with a minor contribution from the Yilgarn Craton, as with other Phanerozoic strata in Western Australia. Whereas the textural and mineralogical maturity of the sandstone could be explained by derivation from such regions, it is more likely that the source was relatively local and that the sediment passed through several phases of reworking. The main source of ilmenite and hematite, by comparison, may have been mafic–ultramafic rocks and/or banded iron formations within the Archean Yilgarn Craton to the east or the Pilbara Craton to the northeast, mobilised by acidic meteoric waters. Iron oxides forming the earliest cements may have been derived from the oxidation of detrital hematite and ilmenite grains concentrated along some bedding laminae or transported in solution from beyond the zone of deposition. Whereas the detrital iron oxides most likely come from the craton to the east of outcrop of the Tumblagooda Sandstone, the sand grains appear to have originally come from a relatively local orogenic source.     

Pliocene export production and terrigenous provenance of the Southern Cape Basin, southwest African margin

We have analyzed 33 Pliocene bulk sediment samples from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1085 in the Cape Basin, located offshore of western Africa in the Angola–Benguela Current system, for 17 major and trace elements, and interpreted their associations and temporal variations in the context of an allied data set of CaCO₃, opal, and C_org. We base our interpretations on elemental ratios, accumulation rates, inter-element correlations, and several multi-element statistical techniques. On the basis of qualitative assessment of downhole changes in the distributions of P and Ba, utilized as proxies of export production, we conclude that highs in bulk and biogenic accumulation that occur at 3.2 Ma, 3.0 Ma, 2.4 Ma, and 2.25 Ma were caused by increases in export production as well as terrigenous flux, and record a greater sequestering of organic matter during these time periods. Studies of refractory elements and other indicator proxies (SiO₂, Al₂O₃, TiO₂, Fe₂O₃, MgO, V, Cr, Sr, and Zr) strongly suggest that the terrigenous component of the bulk sediment is composed of two compositional end-members, one being ‘basaltic’ in composition and the other similar to an ‘average shale’. The basaltic end-member comprises approximately 10–15% of the total bulk sediment and its presence is consistent with the local geology of source material in the drainage basin of the nearby Orange River. The increase in bulk accumulation at 2.4 Ma appears to reflect a greater relative increase in basaltic input than the relative increase in shale-type input. Although studies such as this cannot precisely identify the transport mechanisms of the different terrigenous components, these results are most consistent with variations in sea level (and associated changes in shelf geometry and fluvial input) being responsible for the changing depositional conditions along the Angolan Margin during this time period.