behavior of rare earth elements in a paleoweathering profile on granodiorite in the front range colorado usa abstract a paleoweathering profile on the boulder granodiorite in northern colorado provides an opportunity to trace the behavior of rees from parent rock through a weathering profile into unconformably overlying permian sediments with progressive upward weathering of the granodiorite na2o cao sio2 ta hf co th cr sc cr th zr hf la sc zr y and la th decrease al2o3 and fe2o3t increase and tio2 mgo k2o p2o5 rb zr sc cr co hf nb ta y th u ree ti nb and zr nb increase to maximum values and then either level off or decrease lree enrichment is less in the weathering profile than in the parent granodiorite and although the parent does not have an eu anomaly or only a slight positive anomaly all samples from the weathering profile and overlying sediments have significant negative eu anomalies this observation is especially important in that it shows conclusively that a negative eu anomaly can be produced during chemical weathering of granitoids we suggest these eu anomalies are due to relative enrichment of the other rees and partial loss of eu during the breakdown of plagioclase the boulder weathering profile also has a very minor negative ce anomaly that is within error of a ce anomaly in the parent in the unweathered parent 50 of the ree are contained in sphene and in the case of la also in allanite from 10 20 of the ree are contained in apatite and biotite hornblende and from 7 10 of the hrees are in zircon with exception of eu for which feldspars contribute about 8 negligible amounts of rees occur in the feldspars in weathered samples 75 of the rees are contained in clay minerals the crossover between sphene and clay control of rees occurs over a distance of 1 m near the contact with fresh rock except for their small negative eu anomalies the clay minerals have ree patterns very similar to those of the parent rock isocon plots suggest apparent enrichments of many elements in the boulder weathering profile result from losses of na ca and si during plagioclase weathering in addition variable amounts of sr eu ta nb p and ba were lost during weathering although th u zr y th sc zr hf lu hf and ti zr may have been transferred relatively unchanged from granodiorite parent to the bulk weathering profile most other element ratios and ree distributions were significantly changed during weathering this observation implies that caution needs to be exercised when using ree patterns and element ratios to trace sediment provenance the fact that most element ratios and ree distributions also differ between fountain sediments and the bulk weathering profile may be related to one or a combination of four factors listed in order of probable decreasing importance contribution of other sources to the fountain sediments sorting of minerals during sediment deposition remobilization of elements during diagenesis and leaching of elements by water flow through the upper meter of the weathering profile

petrology and geochronology of paleoproterozoic garnet bearing amphibolites from the dunhuang block eastern tarim craton abstract the dunhuang block located in the eastern margin of the tarim craton possesses a wealth of information about the geological evolution of the tarim craton in this study we conducted detailed petrological geochemical and geochronological investigations on garnet bearing amphibolites as well as granites in the dunhuang block which record important metamorphic and magmatic events that are poorly constrained based on field occurrence geochronological and geochemical characteristics the garnet bearing amphibolites can be divided into two groups group i garnet bearing amphibolite displays typical features of island arc basalts which may formed at 1 83 ga in a collisional setting during the assembly of the columbia supercontinent whereas group ii has geochemical characteristics of ocean island basalt which may formed at 1 61 ga in an ocean island setting the ca 1 83 ga amphibolite has positive hf t values 4 4 to 8 9 with tdm1 model ages of 2 02 1 83 ga indicating an important addition of juvenile mantle derived materials during the formation of its protolith the ca 1 61 ga amphibolite has hf t values ranging from 0 6 to 5 6 and corresponding tdm1 model ages varying from 2 03 ga to 1 84 ga which suggest that juvenile mantle derived materials were dominantly contributed to the formation of its protolith but were later contaminated by crustal materials the u pb ages obtained from the rims of the zircon grains in amphibolites and granites recorded a tectonothermal event at ca 400 ma which is coeval with the widespread magmatism in the beishan orogen we thus propose that these two groups of garnet bearing amphibolites were possibly not related to each other during paleoproterozoic time and a late paleozoic orogenic event brought them together during which both of them underwent metamorphism

leakage of clogged channels that partially penetrate surficial aquifers a theoretical formulation describing leakage from clogged channels that partially penetrate surficial aquifers is reported in this paper leakage characteristics are parameterized by a reach transmissivity which is defined as the volume flow rate out of the channel per unit length of the channel per unit drawdown an expression is developed to relate the reach transmissivity to the transmissivity of the formation mean channel width distance of drawdown measurement from the channel centerline ratio of drawdowns on both sides of the channel and local reach transmissivity associated with clogging this theoretical expression and associated limitations are verified using a fine scale numerical model the proposed formulation was field tested at two channels the measurements of reach transmissivity were found to vary linearly with the drawdown ratio as predicted by the theory furthermore the aquifer transmissivity obtained by fitting the theoretical formulation to the measurements is in close agreem

origin and emplacement of mariana forearc seamounts large seamounts occur on the outer half of the mariana forearc they represent a new class of seamounts consisting of horsts and diapirs of metamorphosed forearc material the degree of metamorphism in this material depends on the amount of water available and the pressure temperature regime of the forearc wedge the major source for the water involved in the metamorphism is most likely the descending slab theoretical models for thermal regimes in convergent margins suggest that the lower grade metamorphic facies will be restricted to the outermost part of a forearc zeolite and chlorite facies rocks predominate in dredge hauls from horsts on the outer 50 km of the mariana forearc thermal models indicate that higher grade greenschist facies should occur farther from the trench seamounts that were probably formed in response to diapiric emplacement of serpentinite predominate from 50 to 120 km from the trench uplift of the horsts and emplacement of the serpentinite diapirs were probably facilitated by vertical tectonic movement in response to subduction of plate seamounts and by fracturing of the mariana forearc

an evaluation of elemental mobility during metamorphism of a turbidite sequence greenland group new zealand the extent of elemental mobility during lower greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphism of a uniform turbidite suite greenland group new zealand has been evaluated using data for major elements and 19 trace elements simple comparison of average compositions at 2 wt al 2 o 3 intervals in the data suites shows little contrast between lower greenschist protolith and upper greenschist and amphibolite facies equivalents except for enrichment of cao and sr and loss of ba and rb particularly in the sandier end members division into psammitic and pelitic suites using tio 2 al 2 o 3 and zr al 2 o 3 ratios allows delineation of individual residual enrichment models on ti reference element plots and both lithotypes can be used to assess potential elemental mobility these plots show that a large number of elements ti al fe mg ce cr ga la nb ni sc th v zn and zr constitute immobile reference species with abundances equal to their equivalent lithotype in the protolith and little mass loss or residual enrichment k and rb also largely conform to the residual model but in the amphibolite facies some exchange between pelite and psammite may occur a number of elements show enrichment mn cu pb u na p or depletion y in a small number of samples but the significance of these contrasts is questionable due to relatively large variation in the protolith in contrast ca and sr show progressive and marked enrichment with increasing grade and ba and as are clearly depleted in amphibolite facies psammites in the amphibolite facies some si may have been lost by psammites and gained by the pelites although there has been no mass change from the suite as a whole a large part of the ca and sr enrichment in the amphibolite facies can be accounted for by metasomatic homogenization of calcareous concretions which occur in the lower grade protolith the metamorphism of the greenland group is thus considered to be essentially isochemical

geochemical and zircon u pb and lu hf isotopic constraints on the origin of supracrustal rocks from the mid qilian terrane a comparison between supracrustal rocks on the two sides of the eastern segment of the altyn tagh fault abstract comparisons between the tectonic units on two sides of the sinistral ene striking altyn tagh fault atf are important tracers to find out the corresponding relationships among different terranes this study focuses on the tectonic units along the eastern segment of the atf the paleoproterozoic beidahe group in the mid qilian terrane south side of the eastern segment of the atf is mainly composed of metasedimentary rocks and amphibolites these rocks are petrologically and mineralogically similar to those from the dunhuang group north side of the eastern segment of the atf the detrital zircon u pb ages indicate that the protolith sediments of the beidahe metasedimentary rocks were mainly sourced from a provenance dominated by magmatic rocks in ages of 2 85 2 55 ga 1 70 1 55 ga and 1 42 1 03 ga this sedimentary sequence was deposited no earlier than 1 03 ga as passive continental margin deposits geochemical and zircon u pb and lu hf isotopic data suggest that the neoarchean mesoproterozoic basement rocks from the tarim craton most likely provide the majority of source materials for their protolith amphibolites from the beidahe group have high total fe2o3 and al2o3 contents but low mg values indicating a high degree of compositional evolution and contamination of the older crust they have flat ree patterns but positive lile and negative nb ta and ti anomalies suggesting a back arc basin basalts babbs affinity for their protolith the amphibolites have a crystallization age of 1 61 ga and zircon ehf t values ranging from 7 7 to 10 6 the zircon ehf t values and whole rock end t values indicate an involvement of juvenile and pre existing old materials in the formation of their parental magmas comparisons between the beidahe and dunhuang groups indicate that the metasedimentary rocks from these two groups are both sourced from the tarim craton but have different depositional ages and that the amphibolites have similar crystallization ages but different tectonic settings for their source rocks the field relationships and geochemical and geochronological characteristics of the metasedimentary rocks and amphibolites from the beidahe group support the interpretation that the observed recent proximity of these two rock complexes might be the result of tectonic juxtaposition rather than a primary intrusive contact

the skaergaard liquid line of descent revisited there is a fundamental conflict between the suggestion that the iron content of skaergaard liquids increases during fe ti oxide fractionation and the observation that at the same time oxygen fugacity f text o text 2 drops by two log units below the fayalite magnetite quartz oxygen buffer fmq a new petrographic study of average skaergaard gabbros shows that the total modal content of fe ti oxides is about 22 in the early lzc and markedly decreases to below 5 in the uzc forward modeling based on these modal constraints as well as experimental results on skaergaard related dikes predicts that fractionation of troctolitic lza gabbros drives the derivative liquid towards a high iron content strong iron enrichment continues together with a small decline in silica during lzb crystallization due to the appearance of augite as a fractionating phase the fractionation of fe ti oxides in the lzc initially suppresses iron enrichment and reverses the silica trend to one of slight enrichment however continued evolution into the uz produces liquids with maximum uzc feo content of 23 25 wt and sio2 content of 53 wt feo is total iron as feo the maximum in feo is dependent on several factors of which the fe ti oxide mode has the strongest effect the f text o text 2 during crystallization of the lzc is widely thought to have been at or slightly below the fayalite magnetite quartz oxygen buffer fmq under closed system evolution incorporation of ferric iron into augite during formation of the lzb restricts the increase in f text o text 2 to about 0 1 log units above fmq 0 1 fmq likewise crystallization of the lzc through the uza involving fe ti oxide minerals leads to a decline in f text o text 2 of less than 0 1 fmq crystallization of the uzb c gabbros results in oxidation to a maximum of 0 5 fmq this behavior can account for the iron rich character of the uz gabbros as well as the low modal content of fe ti oxides thus evolved skaergaard liquids are high in iron and contain a modest amount of sio2 our modeling result do not account for a strong drop in f text o text 2 through the layered series such a drop would require an unacceptably high proportion of fe ti oxides and high magnetite content in the fractionating assemblage

the latest neoarchean paleoproterozoic evolution of the dunhuang block eastern tarim craton northwestern china evidence from zircon u pb dating and hf isotopic analyses abstract the dunhuang block in the easternmost segment of the tarim craton exposes precambrian mafic granulite and felsic gneiss to better understand the poorly known formation and evolution of the tarim craton we carried out detailed field based petrological and geochronological investigations on the major lithologies of the dunhuang block u pb dating and hf isotopic analyses on the mafic granulite and felsic gneiss ttg gneiss of the dunhuang block reveal two distinct age populations the latest neoarchaean 2 5 ga and the late palaeoproterozoic 1 82 1 85 ga the zircon magmatic cores and metamorphic rims of tonalitic gneisses yield similar ages of 2 5 ga supporting the existence of archean rocks in the dunhuang block the short time interval between latest neoarchean magmatism and high grade metamorphism suggests that they were related to the same latest neoarchean tectonothermal event the 2 5 ga zircons show hf depleted mantle model ages between 2 55 ga and 2 8 ga with a peak at 2 7 ga suggesting that 2 7 ga juvenile crust of the dunhuang block was reworked during a 200 300 m y period at the end of the neoarchean the age of 1 85 ga obtained from the mafic granulites and felsic gneisses is interpreted as the age of high pressure granulite facies metamorphism combined with the hf isotopic data these data suggest that the dunhuang block experienced 2 7 ga crustal growth a 2 5 ga magmatic metamorphic event and a 1 82 1 85 ga hp granulite facies metamorphic event this sequence of events is very similar to that of the north china craton implying that the evolutionary history of the dunhuang block was consistent with that of the north china craton from the neoarchean to paleoproterozoic

constraints on the timing of uplift of the yanshan fold and thrust belt north china this paper reports in situ u pb ages and hf isotopic data on detrital zircons from paleozoic to late mesozoic strata in the xishan area near beijing that provide important constraints on the evolution and paleogeography of the northern part of the north china craton ncc zircons from carboniferous to late mesozoic sandstones are characterized by three major groups of u pb ages 2 5 2 3 ga 1 9 1 7 ga and late phanerozoic ages the neoarchean and paleoproterozoic zircons and some phanerozoic zircons have negative ehf t values similar to igneous zircons from intrusive rocks known from the ncc indicating that the source of the sandstones was locally derived however late triassic to late jurassic 205 158 ma sandstones contain a group of phanerozoic zircons with positive ehf t values distinct from known igneous zircons in the ncc suggesting an exotic source the nearest potential source is the xing meng orogenic belt xmob to the north of the ncc where considerable amounts of juvenile crustal materials exist it is concluded that there are two sudden shifts in source provenances of the xishan sediments from the ncc before the late triassic to a mixed source from the ncc and xmob during the late triassic to late jurassic and then from the ncc again during the late jurassic 158 ma the first shift in source resulted from the exhumation and denudation of rocks due to uplift of the xmob which coincided with post collisional extension in the late triassic and intraplate extension of the ncc in the middle to late jurassic the second source shift resulted from the uplift of the yanshan fold and thrust belt thus constraining the timing of this to the late jurassic

episodic mantle melting crustal reworking in the late neoarchean of the northwestern north china craton zircon ages of magmatic and metamorphic rocks from the yinshan block abstract the yinshan block in the northwestern north china craton comprises late neoarchean greenstones high grade metamorphic rocks granulite charnockite enderbite and amphibole gneiss diorites sanukitoid and mg adakite and granitoids predominantly trondhjemite tonalite a greenstone terrane comprises a volcanic sequence of predominant basalt and dacite with minor andesite zircons from a high mg andesite and an andesite have weighted mean 207pb 206pb ages of 2533 5 ma and 2510 7 ma respectively which reflect the timing of two distinct volcanic episodes these two either predated or postdated a major volcanic episode that formed a basalt dacite bimodal suite during 2515 10 basalt to 2516 10 ma dacite magmatic zircons from the high grade metamorphic rocks yielded weighted mean 207pb 206pb ages of 2544 5 ma for a mafic granulite 2521 6 ma for a garnetiferous gneiss 2535 5 ma for a charnockite and 2526 5 ma for an amphibole gneiss these ages reflect the minimum emplacement time of rocks that make up the protoliths of the high grade metamorphic complex the metamorphic ages of the high grade complex were determined at 2515 18 ma for mafic granulite and 2503 12 ma for garnetiferous gneiss zircons from a high mg diorite i e sanukitoid have a weighted mean age of 2520 6 ma which is significantly younger than the 2556 14 ma age of a magnesian diorite mg adakite from the same diorite massif these ages reflect distinctive magmatic pulses that generated the diorite massif a tonalite has a zircon age of 2516 7 ma indistinguishable from the 2520 9 ma age of a trondhjemite from the same trondhjemite tonalite dominated batholith a granitic compositional layer in the 2516 7 ma tonalite has zircon ages of 2515 6 ma high u zircon domains and 2512 22 ma low u zircon domains which reflect an intracrustal melting event the presence of an older crustal remnant ca 2600 ma prior to the formation of the yinshan block is indicated by a 2594 4 ma leucogranite xenolith in the diorite massif and by the widespread presence of ca 2583 3485 ma mostly ca 2700 ma zircon xenocrysts in a variety of volcanic and plutonic rocks an undeformed pegmatite dike in high mg andesite has an emplacement age of 2508 17 ma zircon an undeformed trondhjemite dike that cuts the supracrustal greenstone sequence yielded a zircon age of 2502 6 ma similar to that of the pegmatite dike and representing the latest archean magmatic event in the yinshan block these ages of undeformed granitoid dikes delimit the termination of thermo tectonic development of the yinshan block based on these new ages and published geological and geochronological data we conclude that the yinshan block is a typical neoarchean cratonic block not a segment of the so called paleoproterozoic inner mongolia north hebei orogen episodic mantle melting and resultant crustal reworking account for the thermo tectonic development of the yinshan block in a brief period ca 2556 2502 ma in the late neoarchean and based on their regional chronological correlations we argue for their craton scale significance

crustal structure across the altyn tagh range at the northern margin of the tibetan plateau and tectonic implications wepresentnewseismicrefraction wide angle reflection dataacrossthealtyntaghrangeanditsadjacentbasins wefindthatthe crustal velocity structure and by inference the composition of the crust changes abruptly beneath the cherchen fault i e 100 km north of the northern margin of the tibetan plateau north of the cherchen fault beneath the tarim basin a platform type crust is evident in contrast south the cherchen fault the crust is characterized by a missing high velocity lower crustal layer our seismic model indicates that the high topography 3 km of the altyn tagh range is supported by a wedge shaped region with a seismic velocity of 7 6 7 8 km s that we interpret as a zone of crust mantle mix we infer that the altyn tagh range formed by crustal scale strike slip motion along the north altyn tagh fault and northeast southwest contraction over the range the contraction is accommodated by 1 crustal thickening via upper crustal thrusting and lower crustal flow i e creep and 2 slip parallel swdirected underthrusting of only the lower crust and mantle of the eastern tarim basin beneath the altyn tagh range d 2005 elsevier b v all rights reserved

back arc basin basalt systematics the mariana east scotia lau and manus back arc basins babs have spreading rates that vary from slow 100 mm yr and extension axes located from 10 to 400 km behind their island arcs axial lava compositions from these babs indicate melting of mid ocean ridge basalt morb like sources in proportion to the amount added of previously depleted water rich arc like components the arc like end members are characterized by low na ti and fe and by high h2o and ba la the morb like end members have the opposite traits comparisons between basins show that the least hydrous compositions follow global morb systematics and an inverse correlation between na8 and fe8 this is interpreted as a positive correlation between the average degree and pressure of mantle melting that reflects regional variations in mantle potential temperatures lau manus hotter than mariana scotia this interpretation accords with numerical model predictions that faster subduction induced advection will maintain a hotter mantle wedge the primary compositional trends within each bab a positive correlation between fe8 na8 and ti8 and their inverse correlation with h2o 8 and ba la are controlled by variations in water content melt extraction and enrichments imposed by slab and mantle wedge processes systematic axial depth as a proxy for crustal production variations with distance from the island arc indicate that compositional controls on melting dominate over spreading rate hydrous fluxing enhances decompression melting allowing depleted mantle sources just behind the island arc to melt extensively producing shallow spreading axes flow of enriched mantle components around the ends of slabs may augment this process in transform bounded back arcs such as the east scotia basin the re circulation by mantle wedge corner flow to the spreading axes of mantle previously depleted by both arc and spreading melt extraction can explain the greater depths and thinner crust of the east lau spreading center manus southern rifts and mariana trough and the very depleted lavas of east scotia segments e8 e9 the crust becomes mid ocean ridge mor like where the spreading axes further away from the island arc and subducted slab entrain dominantly fertile mantle

tectonic history of the altyn tagh fault system in northern tibet inferred from cenozoic sedimentation the active left slip altyn tagh fault defines the northern edge of the tibetan plateau to determine its deformation history we conducted integrated research on cenozoic stratigraphic sections in the southern part of the tarim basin fission track ages of detrital apatites existing biostratigraphic data and magnetostratigraphic analysis were used to establish chronostratigraphy whereas composition of sandstone and coarse clastic sedimentary rocks was used to determine the unroofing history of the source region much of the detrital grains in our measured sections can be correlated with uplifted sides of major thrusts or transpressional faults implying a temporal link between sedimentation and deformation the results of our studies together with existing stratigraphic data from the qaidam basin and the hexi corridor suggest that crustal thickening in northern tibet began prior to 46 ma for the western kunlun shan thrust belt at ca 49 ma for the qimen tagh and north qaidam thrust systems bounding the north and south margins of the qaidam basin and prior to ca 33 ma for the nan shan thrust belt these ages suggest that deformation front reached northern tibet only 10 5 m y after the initial collision of india with asia at 65 55 ma because the aforementioned thrust systems are either termination structures or branching faults of the altyn tagh left slip system the altyn tagh fault must have been active since ca 49 ma the altyn tagh range between the tarim basin and the altyn tagh fault has been a long lived topographic high since at least the early oligocene or possibly late eocene this range has shed sediments into both the tarim and qaidam basins while being offset by the altyn tagh fault its continuous motion has made the range act as a sliding door which eventually closed the outlets of westward flowing drainages in the qaidam basin this process has caused large amounts of oligocene miocene sediments to be trapped in the qaidam basin the estimated total slip of 470 70 km and the initiation age of 49 ma yield an average slip rate along the altyn tagh fault of 9 2 mm yr remarkably similar to the rates determined by gps global positioning system surveys this result implies that geologic deformation rates are steady state over millions of years during continental collision

tectonic uplift in the northern tibetan plateau since 13 7 ma ago inferred from molasse deposits along the altyn tagh fault abstract in response to the collision of india with asia thick molasse deposits were shed off the high evolving edge of the northern tibetan plateau providing great potential for understanding the relationships between mountain building rock denudation and sediment deposition a precise knowledge of the initial accumulation of the molasse deposits is important for understanding uplift history along the northern margin of tibet field investigations indicate that thick neogene sediments in the piedmont depression zones of the altun mountains are strongly deformed in a fold and thrust system indicating crustal shortening and thickening in the late cenozoic detailed magnetostratigraphic studies of the molasse deposits along the altyn tagh fault show that the accumulation of coarse conglomerate began ca 13 7 ma ago the source material of the deposits changing at the same time together with the remarkable increase in the sedimentation rate after 13 7 ma we attribute the accumulation of the conglomerates to the tectonic uplift along the northern edge of the tibetan plateau a process that continued until at least 9 ma ago

oblique stepwise rise and growth of the tibet plateau two end member models of how the high elevations in tibet formed are i continuous thickening and widespread viscous flow of the crust and mantle of the entire plateau and ii time dependent localized shear between coherent lithospheric blocks recent studies of cenozoic deformation magmatism and seismic structure lend support to the latter since india collided with asia 55 million years ago the rise of the high tibetan plateau likely occurred in three main steps by successive growth and uplift of 300 to 500 kilometer wide crustal thrust wedges the crust thickened while the mantle decoupled beneath gently dipping shear zones did not sediment infilling bathtub like of dammed intermontane basins formed flat high plains at each step the existence of magmatic belts younging northward implies that slabs of asian mantle subducted one after another under ranges north of the himalayas subduction was oblique and accompanied by extrusion along the left lateral strike slip faults that slice tibet s east side these mechanisms akin to plate tectonics hidden by thickening crust with slip partitioning account for the dominant growth of the tibet plateau toward the east and northeast

magmatic history of the northeastern tibetan plateau 1 the northeastern margin of the tibetan plateau is underlain by the qaidam and qilian terranes which consist primarily of mid proterozoic through lower paleozoic oceanic and arc type assemblages that have been accreted to the southern margin of the tarim sino korean craton most previous models suggest that these assemblages formed along a northeast dipping subduction system constructed along the margin of the tarim sino korean craton during early paleozoic time the main components are interpreted to have formed either as an archipelago of volcanic arcs and back arc basins or as a broad expanse of accretionary complexes our geochronologic data support a model suggested by sobel and arnaud 1999 in which the qaidam and qilian terranes are separated from the tarim sino korean craton by a mid paleozoic suture that closed along a southwest dipping subduction zone the basement to these terranes consists of oceanic assemblages that were amalgamated into a coherent crustal fragment prior to emplacement of 920 930 ma granitoids early paleozoic arc type magmatism occurred between 480 and 425 ma apparently sweeping southwestward across much of the qilian and qaidam terranes accretion related magmatism along the inboard margin of the qilian terrane occurred between 423 ma and 406 ma following silurian devonian accretion the region has experienced late paleozoic and mesozoic uplift and erosion and has been severely overprinted by tertiary thrusting uplift and strike slip motion along the altyn tagh fault correlation of geologic features and magmatic histories between the altun shan and the nan shan suggests that the eastern altyn tagh fault has a total left lateral offset of 375 km

geochronology of the initiation and displacement of the altyn strike slip fault western china abstract 40ar 39ar dating studies have been carried out along the dangjin pass transect across the altyn strike slip fault assf the samples gave ages of 445 2 454 3 ma in the northern belt 164 3 178 4 ma in the mesozoic shear zone and 26 3 36 4 ma in the cenozoic shear zone using the piercing point of the bashikaogong fault and the cangma heihe fault an offset of 350 400 km along the assf has been estimated the 40ar 39ar dating of the syntectonic growth or syntectonic resetting minerals from the samples within the assf belt and offset estimations from different age piercing points suggest that the assf should be initiated in the middle jurassic 178 4 160 ma combined with previously reported ages our studies show that the assf is characterized by multi phase re activation during 85 100 25 40 and 8 10 ma following its initiation in the middle jurassic in the regional tectonic setting of convergence between the indian and eurasian continents

mixed siliciclastic carbonate systems and their impact for the development of deep water turbidites in continental margins a case study from the late jurassic to early cretaceous shelburne subbasin in offshore nova scotia progradation of deltaic systems that reach the shelf edge is considered a primary mechanism to deliver sand to continental margins sediment bypass processes can dominate the outer shelf to upper slope transition causing poor preservation of reservoir quality sandstones turbidites can carry the bulk of the coarse fraction downdip where a thicker sand pile can be deposited once the channel to lobe transition is reached predicting this lateral and vertical variability along the slope is challenging this configuration can be further complicated when mixed siliciclastic carbonate systems are present the roseway missisauga case study from nova scotia is used here to explore potential implications associated with the development of deep water turbidites that are time equivalent to outer shelf mixed siliciclastic carbonate units two scenarios are possible 1 the carbonate factory is dominant and the development of carbonate reefs and pinnacles on the outer shelf prevents the passage of siliciclastic systems beyond the shelf break in this case the siliciclastic component is sequestered within the inner outer shelf 2 favorable conditions for carbonate production gradually deteriorate by the activation of fluviodeltaic systems that prograde outboard reaching the slope region in this last scenario low relief and lateral discontinuous carbonate shoals are ubiquitous in the outer shelf representing the last outboard remnants of the carbonate factory shelf edge deltas circumvent or breach these carbonate shoals establishing sedimentary pathways on the shelf break region that connect with deep water turbidites observations suggest that this last scenario is the most likely in this part of the scotian margin during the late jurassic to early cretaceous

shrimp and la icp ms zircon geochronology of the xiong er volcanic rocks implications for the paleo mesoproterozoic evolution of the southern margin of the north china craton the paleo mesoproterozoic xiong er volcanic rocks along the southern margin of the north china craton are lithologically and geochemically similar to those formed in subduction related continental margin volcanic arcs the volcanic rocks are primarily composed of basaltic andesites and andesites with minor dacites and dacitic rhyolites traditionally the xiong er volcanic rocks have been divided from lower to upper into the xushan jidanping and majiahe formations but the ages of volcanic rocks in these formations have not been well constrained which has hindered further understanding the tectonic significance of the xiong er volcanic belt at the southern margin of the north china craton shrimp and la icp ms u pb zircon analyses combined with cathodeluminescence cl images have enabled resolution of xenocrystic and magmatic zircons that can be directed toward determination of the ages of the xiong er volcanic rocks shrimp and la icp ms u pb analyses on magmatic zircons from two basaltic andesite samples one dacite sample and one rhyolite sample of the xushan formation known as the lowest sequence of the xiong er volcanic rocks indicate that the volcanic eruption of this formation occurred at 1 78 ga but most xenocrystic inherited zircons in these samples yielded 207pb 206pb ages ranging from 2 55 ga to 1 91 ga of three samples collected from the jidanping formation two rhyolite samples 05xe015 and 05xe100 yielded weighted mean 207pb 206pb ages of 1778 5 5 ma and 1751 14 ma respectively similar to the ages of the volcanic rocks in the xushan formation whereas one dacite sample 05xe066 gave a weighted mean 207 pb

slowing extrusion tectonics lowered estimate of post early miocene slip rate for the altyn tagh fault abstract determination of long term slip rate for the altyn tagh fault is essential for testing whether asian tectonics is dominated by lateral extrusion or distributed crustal shortening previous slip history studies focused on either quaternary slip rate measurements or pre early miocene total offset estimates and do not allow a clear distinction between rates based on the two the magmatic and metamorphic history revealed by shrimp zircon dating of clasts from miocene conglomerate in the xorkol basin north of the altyn tagh fault strikingly matches that of basement in the southern qilian shan and northern qaidam regions south of the fault this match requires that the post early miocene long term slip rate along the altyn tagh fault cannot exceed 10 mm year supporting the hypothesis of distributed crustal thickening for post early miocene times this low long term slip rate and recently documented large pre early miocene cumulative offset across the fault support a two stage evolution wherein asian tectonics was dominated by lateral extrusion before the end of early miocene and since then has been dominated by distributed crustal thickening and rapid plateau uplift

configuration of the late paleoproterozoic supercontinent columbia insights from radiating mafic dyke swarms abstract remnants of 2 1 1 8 ga orogens can be recognized in nearly every craton assembled within reconstructions of the rodinia supercontinent although no particular pattern of laterally extensive orogenic belts emerges these cratons may be the fragments of an older supercontinent formed in response to the collision and accretion of even older cratons during the early earth history paleomagnetic constraints have played a limited role in many previous reconstructions of the early precambrian supercontinent mainly because of the poor age control and a large scatter of the paleomagnetic poles the geometry of giant radiating dyke swarms and orogenic belts provide important constraints for the reconstruction of the pre rodinian supercontinent some early unmetamorphosed and undeformed mafic dyke swarms in north china southern peninsular india and north america share coeval age of 1 85 ga if these continents are assembled the overall pattern exhibited by the mafic dyke swarms appears to constitute a giant radiating swarm with a piercing point between the cuddapah rift in south india and the xiong er aulacogen in north china this suggests that the north china craton indian craton and canadian shield may be fragmented from the same landmass the reconstruction of 1 85 ga giant radiating dyke swarm attempted in this paper suggests that the north china craton india craton and canadian shield were united together to form a landmass within the columbia supercontinent before its extension and break up the 1 90 1 85 ga andean style north orogenic belt suggests that a subduction zone existed on the northern margin of the north china craton wopmay orogenic belt developed in a 1 88 1 84 ga continental volcano plutonic arc which is interpreted as the product of eastward subduction of oceanic lithosphere the transantarctica orogenic belt in east antarctica may be another candidate to be linked with the subduction zone the north orogenic wopmay orogenic and transantarctica orogenic belts could be connected to form a continuous subduction zone the orogenic comparison strengthens the configuration of the columbia supercontinent proposed by the reconstruction of the giant radiating dyke swarm the laurentia west australia and east antarctica were relatively stable from 1 85 ga to 1 20 ga as inferred from the data on dyke swarms magmatism and the paleomagnetism these continents constituted the core of the columbia supercontinent in the late paleoproterozoic time the north china craton and indian craton were however separated from the columbia supercontinent during the mesoproterozoic time

evolution of the mariana convergent plate margin system the mariana convergent plate margin system of the western pacific provides opportunities for studying the tectonic and geochemical processes of intraoceanic plate subduction without the added complexities of continental geology the system s relative geologic simplicity and the well exposed sections of lithosphere in each of its tectonic provinces permit in situ examination of processes critical to understanding subduction tectonics its general history provides analogs to ancient convergent margin terranes exposed on land and helps to explain the chemical mass balance in convergent plate margins the mariana convergent margin s long history of sequential formation of volcanic arcs and extensional back arc basins has created a series of volcanic arcs at the eastern edge of the philippine sea plate the trenchward edge of the overriding plate has a relatively sparse sediment cover rocks outcropping on the trench s inner slope are typical of the early formed suprasubduction zone s lithosphere and have been subjected to various processes related to its tectonic history pervasive forearc faulting has exposed crust and upper mantle lithosphere many large serpentinized peridotite seamounts are within 100 km of the trench axis from these we can learn the history of regional metamorphism and observe and sample active venting of slab fluids ocean drilling recovered suprasubduction zone lava sequences erupted since the eocene that suggest that the forearc region remains volcanologically dynamic seismic studies and seafloor mapping show evidence of deformation throughout forearc evolution large portions of uplifted southern forearc are exposed at the larger islands active volcanoes at the base of the eastern boundary fault of the mariana trough vary in size and composition along strike and record regional differences in source composition their locations along strike of the arc are controlled in part by cross arc structures that also facilitate formation of submarine volcano chains extending from the base of the fault westward into the back arc basin the western boundary is the west mariana ridge the western portion of the volcanic arc active prior to formation of the mariana trough the trough evolved in a two stage extension process of rifting and subsequent seafloor spreading the back arc basin varies along strike from rifted arc lithosphere with scattered volcanoes but no real spreading center in the north to a complex mid ocean type spreading center south of 20 n the change from initial rifting to true seafloor spreading is also evident across the mariana trough from rifted topography near the west mariana ridge to spreading ridges in the central to eastern basin south of 20 n this morphologic change indicates an early stage of extension with basin and range type topography predominant and volcanism restricted to fissure eruptions along fault block boundaries the spreading ridges and abyssal hill morphology evolved later as new lithosphere was generated at elongate volcanic ridges located in the center of rift valleys the center of extension intersects the active volcanic front differently at either end of the mariana trough in the north extension is by rifting of arc lithosphere where it intersects the arc in the south a major strike slip fault extends from the trench axis across the forearc through the volcanic arc and into the back arc basin arc magmas apparently leak along this fault zone into the forearc and the back arc spreading center the complexity of interrelated tectonism and magmatism in this convergent margin is daunting but studies of arc systems such as this provide the best hope of interpreting many of the exposed terranes accreted to continents comparison of subaerial terranes with recent studies of intraoceanic convergent margins will add to our understanding of plate interactions and of the evolution of the volcanic arcs and extensional back arc basins generated within such environments

paleoproterozoic crustal evolution of the tarim craton constrained by zircon u pb and hf isotopes of meta igneous rocks from korla and dunhuang abstract the tarim craton is one of three large cratons in china presently there is only scant information concerning its crustal evolutionary history because most of the existing geochronological studies have lacked a combined isotopic analysis especially an in situ lu hf isotope analysis of zircon in this study precambrian basement rocks from the kuluketage and dunhuang blocks in the northeastern portion of the tarim craton have been analyzed for combined in situ laser ablation icp mc ms zircon u pb and lu hf isotopic analyses as well as whole rock elements to constrain their protoliths forming ages and magma sources two magmatic events from the kuluketage block at 2 4 ga and 1 85 ga are revealed and three stages of magmatic events are detected in the dunhuang block i e 2 0 ga 1 85 ga and 1 75 ga the 1 85 ga magmatic rocks from both areas were derived from an isotopically similar crustal source under the same tectonic settings suggesting that the kuluketage and dunhuang blocks are part of the uniform precambrian basement of the tarim craton zircon hf model ages of the 2 4 ga magmatism indicate that the crust of the tarim craton may have been formed as early as the paleoarchean period the 2 0 ga mafic rock from the dunhuang block was formed in an active continental margin setting representing an important crustal growth event of the tarim craton in the mid paleoproterozoic that coincides with the global episode of crust formation during the assembly of the columbia supercontinent the 1 85 ga event in the kuluketage and dunhuang blocks primarily involved the reworking of the old crust and most likely related to the collisional event associated with the assembly of the columbia supercontinent while the 1 75 ga magmatism in the dunhuang block resulted from a mixture of the reworked archean crust with juvenile magmas and was most likely related to a post collisional episode

detrital zircon geochronology of the northeastern tibetan plateau u pb geochronologic analyses have been conducted on 413 detrital zircon grains collected from 16 samples in the altun shan nan shan and qilian shan the samples come primarily from quartz arenites and metaturbidites of middle to late proterozoic age and from feldspathic and volcanic clast rich sandstones of early paleozoic age zircon grains in proterozoic strata resting on tarim basement yielded mainly 2 0 1 9 ga ages whereas proterozoic strata of the qaidam and qilian terranes yielded mainly ca 930 820 ma and ca 1 9 1 1 ga ages the younger grains were apparently shed from local igneous rocks whereas the grains older than 1 1 ga were shed from an undetermined continental source grains in the lower paleozoic strata are mainly ca 500 430 ma and were shed from nearby plutonic and possibly volcanic rocks that formed in a magmatic arc setting our detrital zircon ages are consistent with a model first proposed by e r sobel and n arnaud in which early paleozoic magmatism occurred within a single northeast facing magmatic arc that was constructed across an assemblage of middle to late proterozoic accretionary complexes remnants of magmatic arcs and shallow marine strata this arc system was accreted to the tarim and sino korean cratons during silurian devonian time the resulting suture has been reactivated as tertiary thrust faults that currently define the structural and topographic margin of the tibetan plateau our data also provide two new estimates for the offset along the eastern altyn tagh fault a belt of middle proterozoic shallow marine strata is offset by 400 km whereas a belt of 490 480 ma magmatic arc rocks is offset by 370 km these values are generally similar to the 350 400 km offset reported in most previous studies

unraveling sedimentary provenance and tectonothermal history of high temperature metapelites using zircon and monazite chemistry a case study from the eastern ghats belt india abstract the geochemical behavior of detrital zircon and monazite during granulite facies anatexis in metapelites from the eastern ghats belt egb india is explored using u pb geochronology hf isotopes and trace elements in a metapelite from the ongole domain detrital zircon reequilibrated by coupled dissolution reprecipitation and diffusion reaction during ultrahigh temperature metamorphism at 1 63 ga the event completely reset the u pb systems but hf isotopes and trace elements were only partially reequilibrated overgrowths on the altered cores date migmatization at 1 61 ga monazite yields metamorphic ages similar to those of zircon in metapelites from the eastern ghats province egp detrital zircon grains give 2 44 1 40 ga ages and metamorphic ones 1 2 0 5 ga ages metamorphic components include detrital grains reequilibrated by coupled dissolution reprecipitation in the presence of anatectic melt and newly crystallized overgrowths and grains in reequilibrated domains the u pb system wa

combined rutile zircon thermometry and u pb geochronology new constraints on early paleozoic hp uht granulite in the south altyn tagh north tibet china abstract hp granulite and garnet peridotite constitute a hp metamorphic unit in the south altyn tagh northern tibet previous data suggest that hp granulites experienced high pressure ultrahigh temperature metamorphism 870 1050 c 19 25 kbar followed by a medium pressure granulite facies overprint 780 820 c 9 5 12 kbar previous zircon u pb geochronology of hp granulites gave an age of ca 500 ma but it is unclear if this age reflects the metamorphic peak or the post peak overprint in this contribution new shrimp analyses indicate that the zircons associated with the peak metamorphic assemblage in hp felsic granulite are characterized by flat heavy ree patterns and 30 62 ppm ti yielding a temperature of 892 1002 c by ti in zircon thermometry suggesting that the growth of the zircons occurred under or close to peak ultrahigh temperature conditions rather than under post peak conditions these zircons gave a shrimp u pb age of 495 4 ma representing the age of peak metamorphism in contrast oscillatory zoned zircon cores yield magmatic ree patterns ti in zircon temperatures of 720 820 c and neoproterozoic u pb ages 936 22 ma this indicates that the protoliths of the felsic granulites were formed in the early neoproterozoic and were taken to extreme temperatures and pressures during the early paleozoic orogenic event in situ la icpms and emp analyses indicate that rutiles are characterized by broad scatter and bimodal distribution in both zr concentration and u pb age which are interpreted as a result of recrystallization or growth rather than volume diffusion the first rutile u pb age cluster is at ca 485 ma with a zr concentration of ca 3000 ppm yielding ca 950 c at 20 kbar implying that they grew at or near the peak metamorphic conditions the second rutile u pb age cluster is at ca 450 ma with a zr concentration of ca 1000 ppm corresponding to a temperature around 780 c at 10 kbar which is related to post peak reheating under medium pressure medium temperature granulite facies conditions these results demonstrate that hp granulites in the south altyn tagh experienced a peak ultrahigh temperature and high pressure metamorphism at ca 495 ma followed by medium pressure medium temperature granulite facies overprint before ca 450 ma