The timing of ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism in Southern India: U–Th–Pb electron microprobe ages from zircon and monazite in sapphirine-bearing granulites

We report here U–Pb electron microprobe ages from zircon and monazite associated with corundum- and sapphirine-bearing granulite facies rocks of Lachmanapatti, Sengal, Sakkarakkottai and Mettanganam in the Palghat–Cauvery shear zone system and Ganguvarpatti in the northern Madurai Block of southern India. Mineral assemblages and petrologic characteristics of granulite facies assemblages in all these localities indicate extreme crustal metamorphism under ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) conditions. Zircon cores from Lachmanapatti range from 3200 to 2300 Ma with a peak at 2420 Ma, while those from Mettanganam show 2300 Ma peak. Younger zircons with peak ages of 2100 and 830 Ma are displayed by the UHT granulites of Sengal and Ganguvarpatti, although detrital grains with 2000 Ma ages are also present. The Late Archaean-aged cores are mantled by variable rims of Palaeo- to Mesoproterozoic ages in most cases. Zircon cores from Ganguvarpatti range from 2279 to 749 Ma and are interpreted to reflect multiple age sources. The oldest cores are surrounded by Palaeoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic rims, and finally mantled by Neoproterozoic overgrowths. In contrast, monazites from these localities define peak ages of between 550 and 520 Ma, with an exception of a peak at 590 Ma for the Lachmanapatti rocks. The outermost rims of monazite grains show spot ages in the range of 510–450 Ma.While the zircon populations in these rocks suggest multiple sources of Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic age, the monazite data are interpreted to date the timing of ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism in southern India as latest Neoproterozoic to Cambrian in both the Palghat–Cauvery shear zone system and the northern Madurai Block. The data illustrate the extent of Neoproterozoic/Cambrian metamorphism as India joined the Gondwana amalgam at the dawn of the Cambrian.     

Evolution from Oceanic Subduction to Continental Collision: a Case Study from the Northern Tibetan Plateau Based on Geochemical and Geochronological Data

Two apparently distinct, sub-parallel, paleo-subduction zonescan be recognized along the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau:the North Qilian Suture Zone (oceanic-type) with ophioliticmélanges and high-pressure eclogites and blueschistsin the north, and the North Qaidam Belt (continental-type) inthe south, an ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane comprisingpelitic and granitic gneisses, eclogites and garnet peridotites.Eclogites from both belts have protoliths broadly similar tomid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) or oceanic island basalts (OIB)in composition with overlapping metamorphic ages (480–440Ma, with weighted mean ages of 464 ± 6 Ma for North Qilianand 457 ± 7 Ma for North Qaidam), determined by zirconU–Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe dating.Coesite-bearing zircon grains in pelitic gneisses from the NorthQaidam UHP Belt yield a peak metamorphic age of 423 ±6 Ma, 40 Myr younger than the age of eclogite formation, anda retrograde age of 403 ± 9 Ma. These data, combinedwith regional relationships, allow us to infer that these twoparallel belts may represent an evolutionary sequence from oceanicsubduction to continental collision, and continental underthrusting,to final exhumation. The Qilian–Qaidam Craton was probablya fragment of the Rodinia supercontinent with a passive marginand extended oceanic lithosphere in the north, which was subductedbeneath the North China Craton to depths >100 km at c. 423Ma and exhumed at c. 403 Ma (zircon rim ages in pelitic gneiss). KEY WORDS: HP and UHP rocks; subduction belts; zircon SHRIMP ages; Northern Tibetan Plateau     

内蒙古宝音图岩群变质基性火山岩锆石U-Pb年龄及意义

内蒙古达茂旗宝音图岩群是在达茂旗、查干呼绍地区 1:5万区调和白云鄂博幅 1:2 5万区调过程中从过去的巴特敖包群和白云鄂博群未分岩组解体出来的中级变质岩系。通过对宝音图岩群中阳起钠长片岩、二云片岩 (原岩均为基性火山岩 )进行单颗粒锆石U -Pb法年龄测定 ,获得了两条不一致线上交点年龄 (2 486± 42 )Ma、(2 496± 2 6 )Ma ,代表了宝音图岩群基性火山岩及宝音图岩群的形成时代 ;在不一致线之外不同成因的锆石的2 0 7Pb/ 2 0 6Pb表面年龄 (2 2 2 7± 15 )Ma ,寓示着 2 2 0 0Ma左右发生了一次区域性变质热事件 ;下交点年龄 (319±486 )Ma和 (40 6± 46 )Ma ,代表了 2 5 0～ 480Ma时期该区大面积岩浆侵位及宝音图岩群后期变形变质改造的时期 ,两个年龄样的获得为研究古元古代古陆的裂解及白云鄂博海槽的形成提供了直接依据。     

SHRIMP Age and Geochemistry of the Bikou Volcanic Terrane: Implications for Neoproterozoic Tectonics on the Northern Margin of the Yangtze Craton

The Bikou volcanic terrane is predominated by subalkaline tholeiitic lavas. Rock samples display lower initial ratios of Sr and Nd, 0.701248-0.704413 and 0.511080-0.512341 respectively. 207Pb and 208Pb are significantly enriched in the lavas. Most samples have positive εNd, which indicates that the magma was derived from EM-type mantle source, while a few samples with negative εNd indicate that there was contamination in the magma evolution. Magma differentiation is demonstrated by variations of LREE and LILE from depletion to enrichment. Additionally, normalized REE patterns and trace elements showed that lavas from the Bikou volcanic terrane have similar characteristics to those of basalts in arc settings caused by subduction and collision. Analyses showed that the Bikou volcanic terrane is a volcanic arc. New evidence proved that the Hengdan Group, north of the Bikou arc, is a turbidite terrane filling a forearc basin. Consequently, the Bikou volcanic terrane and the Hengdan turbidite terrane const     

New unspiked K–Ar ages of volcanic rocks of the central and western sector of the Aeolian Islands: reconstruction of the volcanic stages

A geochronological study of the Filicudi, Salina, Lipari and Vulcano Islands (Aeolian Archipelago) using the unspiked potassium–argon technique provides new age data which, combined with stratigraphic correlation, better constrain the temporal evolution of volcanism. The unspiked K–Ar age of the oldest exposed lavas on Filicudi, 219±5 ka, is significantly younger than the previous estimation of 1.02 Ma. In the general context of Aeolian volcanism, this new date suggests that the volcanism of the western sector of the Aeolian Archipelago is younger than previously thought. Geochronological data point out on the rapid transition from calc–alkaline to potassic volcanism. The distribution of the K–Ar ages within the Salina–Lipari–Vulcano group shows that the volcanism started on Lipari and propagated over time northward on Salina and southward on Vulcano. Geochronological and geophysical data suggest that the onset of volcanism in the central sector of the Aeolian Arc may be due to a mantle upwelling structure located below Lipari. A change in the style of the eruptions occurred in the Salina–Lipari–Vulcano system at about 100 ka from the present. Low-energy magmatic eruptions occurred between 188 and about 100 ka. From about 100 ka to the present, higher-energy eruptions and low-energy events due to magma–water interaction also occurred. This change in the style of activity, together with the appearance of evolved products (i.e. rhyolites) during the last 50 ka, is consistent with the formation of magmatic reservoirs located at shallower depth with respect to those of the 188–100-ka period. The new geochronological data and available petrological models reveal that a change in the deep source of the primary magmas occurred in a relatively short time interval.     

湖南涟源凹陷构造演化与油气成藏研究

涟源凹陷经历了2个主要构造演化阶段:晚古生代海相碳酸盐岩夹碎屑岩盖层建造和中生代陆相沉积,现今的逆掩冲断构造样式和构造格局基本定型于燕山期。油气藏的形成经历了早、晚两期,早期形成于印支运动主幕,燕山运动主幕遭到破坏,部分经重新分配后形成次生气藏;晚期形成于燕山运动主幕以后,属原生油气藏。涟源凹陷中部褶断带的紧闭背斜是寻找次生气藏的首选区域,而宽缓向斜中的隐伏隆起则是寻找晚期原生油气藏的靶区。     

试论碳酸盐岩上覆红土的形成模式及演化趋势

据长期对岩溶及红土化作用等的研究成果,本文全面系统地分析了碳酸盐岩上覆红土的形成及演化规律,提出了一个新的碳酸盐岩上覆红土的形成模式,进而深入阐明了碳酸盐岩上覆红土的演化规律及其在现代气候条件下的演化趋势等,在解决岩溶及红土学术界存在的碳酸盐岩上覆红土的形成、碳酸盐岩与上覆红土之间的相互关系及其发展演化规律等一系列重大疑难问题上向前迈进了一步,对相关学科的发展将产生积极的推动作用.     

Petrology, geochemistry and isotopic ages of eclogites from the Dulan UHPM Terrane, the North Qaidam, NW China

The Dulan eclogite–gneiss region is located in the eastern part of the North Qaidam eclogite belt, NW China. Widespread evidence demonstrates that this region is a typical ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane. Eclogites occur as lenses or layers in both granitic and pelitic gneisses. Two distinguished sub-belts can be recognized and differ in mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry. The North Dulan Belt (NDB) has tholeiitic protoliths with high TiO₂ and lower Al₂O₃ and MgO contents. REE patterns and trace element contents resemble those of N-type and E-type MORB. In contrast, eclogites in the South Dulan Belt (SDB) are of island arc protoliths with low TiO₂, high Al₂O₃ and show LREE-enriched and HFSE-depleted patterns. Sm–Nd isotope analyses give isochron ages of 458–497 Ma for eclogite-facies metamorphism for the two sub-belts. The ages are similar to those of Yuka and Altun eclogites in the western extension of the North Qaidam-Altun eclogite belt. The Dulan UHP metamorphic terrane, together with several other recently recognized eclogite-bearing terrenes within the North Qaidam-Altun HP-UHP belt, constitute the key to the understanding of the tectonic evolution of the northern Tibetan Plateau. The entire UHP belt extends for more than 1000 km from the Dulan UHP terrane in the southeast to the Altun eclogite–gneiss terrane in the west. This super-belt marks an early Paleozoic continental collision zone between the Qaidam Massif and the Qilian Massif.     

辽东地区连山关岩体锆石U-Pb一致线年龄特征及其意义

本文以连山关花岗岩体为例，指出该区古老花岗岩体2种锆石可以作出3组U-Pb一致线交点年龄，分析了这3组年龄间的相互关系及其所代表的意义，并提出一种可能求出岩体上限年龄的方法。     

Rapid Variscan exhumation and the role of magma in core complex formation: southern Brittany metamorphic belt, France

ABSTRACT The high-grade migmatitic core to the southern Brittany metamorphic belt has mineralogical and textural features that suggest high-temperature decompression. The chronology of this decompression and subsequent cooling history have been constrained with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹ Ar ages determined for multigrain concentrates of hornblende and muscovite prepared from amphibolite and late-orogenic granite sheets within the migmatitic core, and from amphibolite of the structurally overlying unit. Three hornblende concentrates yield plateau isotope correlation ages of c. 303–298 Ma. Two muscovite concentrates record well-defined plateau ages of c. 306–305 Ma. These ages are geologically significant and date the last cooling through temperatures required for intracrystalline retention of radiogenic argon. The concordancy of the hornblende and muscovite ages suggest rapid post-metamorphic cooling. Extant geochronology and the new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data suggest a minimum time-integrated average cooling rate between c. 725 °C and c. 125 °C of c. 14 ± 4°C Ma^-1, although below 600 °C the data permit an infinitely fast rate of cooling. Mineral assemblages and reaction textures in diatexite migmatites suggest c. 4 kbar decompression at 800–750 °C. This must have pre-dated the rapid cooling. Emplacement of two-mica granites into the metamorphic belt occurred between 345 and 300 Ma. The youngest plutons were emplaced synkinematically along shallow-dipping normal faults interpreted to be reactivated Eo-Variscan thrusts. A penetrative, west-plunging stretching lineation developed in these granites suggests that extension was orogen-parallel. Extension was probably related to regional uplift and gravitational collapse of thermally weakened crust during constrictional (escape) tectonics in this narrow part of the Variscan orogen. This followed slab breakoff during the terminal stages of convergence between Gondwana and Laurasia; detachment may have been consequent upon a change in kinematics leading to dextral displacement within the orogen. Dextral ductile strike-slip displacement was concentrated in granites emplaced synkinematically along the South Armorican Shear Zone. Rapid cooling is interpreted to have resulted from tectonic unroofing with emplacement of granite along decollement surfaces. The high-grade migmatitic core of the southern Brittany metamorphic belt represents a type of metamorphic core complex formed during orogen-parallel extensional unroofing and regional-scale ductile flow.