Zircon U–Pb age, trace element and Hf isotope composition of Kongling terrane in the Yangtze Craton: refining the timing of Palaeoproterozoic high-grade metamorphism

U–Pb age, trace element and Hf isotope compositions of zircon were analysed for a metasedimentary rock and two amphibolites from the Kongling terrane in the northern part of the Yangtze Craton. The zircon shows distinct morphological and chemical characteristics. Most zircon in an amphibolite shows oscillatory zoning, high Th/U and ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios, high formation temperature, high trace element contents, clear negative Eu anomaly, as well as HREE-enriched patterns, suggesting that it is igneous. The zircon yields a weighted mean ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age of 2857 ± 8 Ma, representing the age of the magmatic protolith. The zircon in the other two samples is metamorphic. It has low Th/U ratios, low trace element concentrations, variable HREE contents (33.8 ≥ Lu_N≥2213; 14.7 ≤ Lu_N/Sm_N ≤ 354) and ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios (0.000030–0.001168). The data indicate that the zircon formed in the presence of garnet and under upper amphibolite facies conditions. The metamorphic zircon yields a weighted mean ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age of 2010 ± 13 Ma. These results combined with previously obtained Palaeoproterozoic metamorphic ages suggest a c. 2.0 Ga Palaeoproterozoic collisional event in the Yangtze Craton, which may result from the assembly of the supercontinent Columbia. The zircon in two samples yields weighted mean two-stage Hf model ( T _DM2) ages of 3217 ± 110 and 2943 ± 50 Ma, respectively, indicating that their protoliths were mainly derived from Archean crust.     

Effect of metamorphism and partial melting of host rocks on zircons

Abstract Zircons have been studied from different layers of migmatites (from Arvika, western Sweden and Nelaug, southern Norway) and from a paragneiss (from Arvika) associated with one of the migmatites. The main purpose of the investigation is to establish whether or not information about zircons can help in the elucidation of the parentage and rock-forming processes of migmatites.
The elongation ratio of zircons from all layers is small and characteristic of sedimentary zircons. Further, the absence of characteristic colours and the growth trends of the zircons (indicated by the reduced major axes) observed in the various samples both support a sedimentary parentage for these rocks. The zircons of all layers exhibit secondary growth (overgrowth, outgrowth and multiple growth) due to metamorphism. Compared with the zircons from the paragneiss, those of the migmatite layers are more clouded and less rounded, some of them becoming opaque or even skeletal; this is especially true of the zircons from the leucosomes. These observations indicate an alteration of the original sedimentary zircons in the migmatite, especially in the leucosomes, in response to the migmatization process, previously interpreted as partial melting.     

Ionprobe U-Pb zircon ages from the high-pressure/low-temperature mélange of Syros, Greece: age diversity and the importance of pre-Eocene subduction

The Cycladic blueschist belt in the central Aegean Sea has experienced high‐pressure (HP) metamorphism during collisional processes between the Apulian microplate and Eurasia. The general geological and tectonometamorphic framework is well documented, but one aspect which is yet not sufficiently explored is the importance of HP mélanges which occur within volcano‐sedimentary successions. Unresolved issues concern the range in magmatic and metamorphic ages recorded by mélange blocks and the significance of eventual pre‐Eocene HP metamorphism. These aspects are here addressed in a U‐Pb zircon study focusing on the block–matrix association exposed on the island of Syros. Two gneisses from a tectonic slab of this mélange, consisting of an interlayered felsic gneiss‐glaucophanite sequence, yielded zircon ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages of 240.1 ± 4.1 and 245.3 ± 4.9 Ma, respectively, similar to Triassic ages determined on zircon in meta‐volcanic rocks from structurally coherent sequences elsewhere in the Cyclades. This strongly suggests that parts of these successions have been incorporated in the mélanges and provides the first geochronological evidence that the provenance of mélange blocks/slabs is neither restricted to a single source nor confined to fragments of oceanic lithosphere. Zircon from a jadeitite and associated alteration zones (omphacitite, glaucophanite and chlorite‐actinolite rock) all yielded identical ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages of c. 80 Ma. Similar Cretaceous U‐Pb zircon ages previously reported for mélange blocks have been interpreted by different authors to reflect magmatic or metamorphic ages. The present study adds a further argument in favour of the view that zircon formed newly in some rock types at c. 80 Ma, due to hydrothermal or metasomatic processes in a subduction zone environment, and supports the interpretation that the Cycladic blueschist belt records both Cretaceous and Eocene HP episodes and not only a single Tertiary HP event.     

Pan-African eclogite facies metamorphism of ultramafic rocks in the Shackleton Range, Antarctica

In the Shackleton Range of East Antarctica, garnet-bearing ultramafic rocks occur as lenses in supracrustal high-grade gneisses. In the presence of olivine, garnet is an unmistakable indicator of eclogite facies metamorphic conditions. The eclogite facies assemblages are only present in ultramafic rocks, particularly in pyroxenites, whereas other lithologies – including metabasites – lack such assemblages. We conclude that under high-temperature conditions, pyroxenites preserve high-pressure assemblages better than isofacial metabasites, provided the pressure is high enough to stabilize garnet–olivine assemblages (i.e. ≥18–20 kbar). The Shackleton Range ultramafic rocks experienced a clockwise P–T path and peak conditions of 800–850 °C and 23–25 kbar. These conditions correspond to ∼70 km depth of burial and a metamorphic gradient of 11–12 °C km⁻¹ that is typical of a convergent plate-margin setting. The age of metamorphism is defined by two garnet–whole-rock Sm–Nd isochrons that give ages of 525 ± 5 and 520 ± 14 Ma corresponding to the time of the Pan-African orogeny. These results are evidence of a Pan-African suture zone within the northern Shackleton Range. This suture marks the site of a palaeo-subduction zone that likely continues to the Herbert Mountains, where ophiolitic rocks of Neoproterozoic age testify to an ocean basin that was closed during Pan-African collision. The garnet-bearing ultramafic rocks in the Shackleton Range are the first known example of eclogite facies metamorphism in Antarctica that is related to the collision of East and West Gondwana and the first example of Pan-African eclogite facies ultramafic rocks worldwide. Eclogites in the Lanterman Range of the Transantarctic Mountains formed during subduction of the palaeo-Pacific beneath the East Antarctic craton.     

Detrital zircon reference for the North China block

U–Pb analyses of 250 single detrital zircons from Upper Proterozoic to Ordovician strata collected from the Zhuozi Shan in north-central China provide a detrital zircon reference for the North China block, a major crustal entity in the Asian tectonic collage. The results, which range in age from 1.72 to 2.97 Ga, shed new light on the age of the crystalline basement in North China, much of which is covered by younger sedimentary units. In addition, this detrital zircon reference can be used to help determine the provenance of clastic sedimentary units and for assessing validity of paleogeographic and regional tectonic models that include the complex history of Asian continental amalgamation, terrane accretion, and subsequent translation that is ongoing today.     

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     

安徽凤阳和张八岭地区含金石英脉的40Ar/39Ar年龄及其地质意义

用快中子活化法测定了安徽凤阳和张八岭地区朱顶、毛山和上成3个金矿床第一阶段晚期和第二阶段的含金石英脉,石英的阶段加热40Ar/39Ar坪年龄值域为(116.1±0.6～118.3±0.5)Ma,分别与其最小视年龄和等时线年龄接近.坪年龄、最小视年龄和等时线年龄3种年龄值域为(113.4±0.4～118.3±0.5)Ma,可以作为石英的形成年龄域. 根据含金石英脉和围岩的空间关系,该年龄值域作为石英脉金矿的形成年龄是合理可靠的.金矿床形成于早白垩世阿普特期,与此时郯庐断裂带略带右行走滑正断层活动一致.     

Sm-Nd ISOTOPIC AGE OF LAMPROPHYRES IN THE GEZHEN GOLD-BEARING SHEAR ZONE ON HAINAN ISLAND AND ITS GEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Sm-Nd isotopic compositions of eight lamprophyre samples, which come from the Gezhen gold-bearing shear zone on western Hainan Island, are measured. The Sm-Nd isochron age is 495.98±13.14 Ma, (143Nd/144Nd) 0=0.512094, εNd(t) ranges from +1.80 to +2.00 and TDM from 982 Ma to 1196 Ma (average: 1060 Ma). The authors point out that the whole-rock Sm-Nd isochron age (495.98 ± 13.14 Ma) really represents the petrogenetic age of lamprophyre and the time of magmatism during subsequent subduction.     

湖北黄土岭麻粒岩锆石拉曼光谱和等离子体质谱研究

对湖北黄土岭麻粒岩中锆石同时进行了激光拉曼探针、阴极发光 (CL)观察和U ,Th及Pb Pb年龄ICPMS测定 ,发现麻粒岩中部分锆石发生的不是固态重结晶作用 ,而是部分熔蚀 /沉淀再结晶过程。结合CL图像结构特征和2 0 7Pb/ 2 0 6Pb年龄初步推断 ,麻粒岩相事件发生在 2 0亿年之后。结构、化学和同位素组成的测定表明 ,大别地区广泛存在的燕山期热事件使锆石发生不同程度的变质重结晶作用 ,使锆石晶格愈合。