experimental melting of biotite plagioclase quartz muscovite assemblages and implications for crustal melting abstract in order to understand the role of mica rich rocks as a source of granite magmas a series of melting experiments was performed on two different starting materials the first composition is a model biotite gneiss consisting of 30 wt biotite 30 wt plagioclase and 40 wt quartz the second composition is a model two mica pelites consisting of 15 wt biotite 15 wt muscovite 30 wt plagioclase and 40 wt quartz experiments were performed under vapor absent conditions at 1 0 gpa and between 750 o and 950oc with only biotite in the starting material the volume of melt is always less than 15 vol below 900oc and reaches 25 vol at 950oc in experiments that involve both biotite and muscovite in the starting material the melt proportion increases up to 28 vol at 825oc and reaches 60 vol at 950oc for the biotite plagioclase quartz bpq assemblage the solidus is located at 800oc at 1 0 gpa the melting reaction produces a metaluminous granitic liquid and leaves a residuum consisting of garnet biotite orthopyroxene plagioclase quartz in addition the experiments show that at 1 0 gpa biotite can be stable above 950oc with both micas in the starting material bpqm the solidus at 1 0 gpa is located at 750oc the melting reactions produce a peraluminous granitic liquid and leave a residuum of garnet sillimanite biotite quartz plagioclase kfeldspar in experiments below 900oc at 950oc the residuum consists of garnet orthopyroxene biotite plagioclase the melt fraction is determined by the proportions of the hydrous phases and of the amount of feldspar relative to quartz mineral modes of the source rocks particularly the amount of quartz are at least as important as the amount of available h20 in controlling the melt fraction generated during crustal anatexis

origin of the late jurassic to early cretaceous peraluminous granitoids in the northeastern hunan province middle yangtze region south china geodynamic implications for the paleo pacific subduction the late mesozoic granitic belt in the northeastern hunan province situated in the south of the middle yangtze region represents the western front of the large magmatic province of se china in order to determine their ages and petrogenesis we carried out zircon u pb dating hf isotope and whole rock geochemical analyses for four granitic plutons namely taohuashan dayunshan mufushan wangxiang and lianyunshan our sims zircon u pb ages together with previously published data reveal that the magmatic activities in this area can be roughly subdivided into three phases at 151 146 ma 132 127 ma and ca 117 ma and the dayunshan mufushan batholith therein is a composite pluton these four plutons are mainly composed of weakly to strongly peraluminous biotite or two mica monzogranites with a minor amount of biotite granodiorites their geochemical features are similar to s type as well as fractionated s type granites with enrichment in lrees and negative ba sr nb p and ti anomalies all samples show negative zircon ehf t values ranging from 12 5 to 3 6 corresponding to crustal hf model tdmc ages of 1 4 2 0 ga it is inferred that these granitoids were derived from partial melting of metasedimentary rocks analogous to the neoproterozoic lengjiaxi group predominantly with psammitic component fractional crystallization probably played an important role in the magma evolution while input of mantle derived magma was insignificant combined with other geological evidence our new data allow us to propose that the cretaceous 132 127 ma and ca 117 ma magmatism might be response to episodic slab rollback of the paleo pacific plate while the early stage 151 146 ma magmatism that overlapped the epilogue of jurassic magmatic flare up and subsequent magmatic quiescence probably foreshadowed the transformation from foundering of a subducted flat slab to slab rollback alternatively slab foundering after a se directed intracontinental subduction in the central scb cannot be ruled out for geodynamic interpretation of the jurassic magmatism in se china

the role of h 2 o in rapid emplacement and crystallization of granite pegmatites resolving the paradox of large crystals in highly undercooled melts granite pegmatite sheets in the continental crust are characterized by very large crystals there has been a shift in viewing pegmatites as products of very slow cooling of granite melts to viewing them as products of crystal growth in undercooled liquids with this shift there has been a renewed debate about the role of h2o in the petrogenesis of pegmatites based on data on nucleation of minerals and new viscosity models for hydrous granite melts it is argued that h2o is the essential component in the petrogenesis of granite pegmatites h2o is key to reducing the viscosity of granite melts which enhances their transport within the crust it also dramatically reduces the glass transition temperature which permits crystallization of melts at hundreds of degrees below the thermodynamic solidus which has been demonstrated by fluid inclusion studies and other geothermometers published experimental data show that because h2o drastically reduces the nucleation rates of silicate minerals the minerals may not be able to nucleate until melt is substantially undercooled in a rapidly cooling intrusion nucleation starts at its highly undercooled margins followed by inward crystal growth towards its slower cooling hotter core delay in nucleation may be caused by competition for crystallization by several minerals in the near eutectic melts and by the very different structures of minerals and the highly hydrated melts once a mineral nucleates however it may grow rapidly to a size that is determined by the distance between the site of nucleation and the point in the magma at which the temperature is approximately that of the mineral s liquidus assuming components necessary for mineral growth are available along the growth path granite pegmatites are apparently able to retain h2o during most of their crystallization histories within the confinement of their wall rocks pegmatitic texture is a consequence of delayed nucleation and rapid growth at large undercooling both of which are facilitated by high h2o li b f and p contents in granite pegmatite melts without retention of h2o the conditions for pegmatitic textural growth may be difficult to achieve loss of h2o due to decompression and venting leads to microcrystalline texture and potentially glass during rapid cooling as seen in rhyolites in contrast slow cooling within a large magma chamber promotes continuous exsolution of h2o from crystallizing magma growth of equant crystals and final solidification at the thermodynamic solidus these are the characteristics of normal granites that distinguish them from pegmatites

classification and mineralization potential of the pegmatites of the eastern brazilian pegmatite province the potential for nb ta li sn mineralization as well as for precious stones for the eastern brazilian pegmatite province ebpp has been evaluated on the basis of 530 k feldspar and 550 muscovite major and trace element analyses the ebpp is situated mainly in the state of minas gerais but encompasses also parts of the states of bahia espirito santo and rio de janeiro the ebpp is the largest pegmatite province of south america it was divided into the pegmatite districts of itambe aracuai safira nova era aimores and espera feliz this was done to test whether the pegmatites of these districts differ in their mineralization potential and how geotectonic setting influences mineralization potential the fractionation diagrams such as cs zn li be ba versus k rb cs versus ta ta nb and u na2o versus k cs for the pegmatite districts of aracuai and safira show the widest range in fractionation these pegmatite districts are leaders in the production of gem quality tourmaline aquamarine morganite and contain abundant spodumene tantalite and columbite in contrast the espera feliz and aimores pegmatite districts are the most primitive districts examined and have a corresponding lack of rare element mineralization literature data indicate that all studied pegmatites are of brasiliano age i e formed between 600 and 480 ma the pegmatites of transamazonic age 1 9 ga found rarely in the study area are of economic importance in the context of emerald mineralization but seem to be of less importance for rare metal and other gemstone mineralization

melt inclusions in pegmatite quartz complete miscibility between silicate melts and hydrous fluids at low pressure fluorine boron and phosphorus rich pegmatites of the variscan ehrenfriedersdorf complex crystallized over a temperature range from about 700 to 500 c at a pressure of about 1 kbar pegmatite quartz crystals continuously trapped two different types of melt inclusions during cooling and growth a silicate rich h2o poor melt and a silicate poor h2o rich melt both melts were simultaneously trapped on the solvus boundaries of the silicate fluorine boron phosphorus water system the partially crystallized melt inclusions were rehomogenized at 1 kbar between 500 and 712 c in steps of 50 c by conventional rapid quench hydrothermal experiments glasses of completely rehomogenized inclusions were analyzed for h2o by raman spectroscopy and for major and some trace elements by emp electron microprobe both types of melt inclusions define a solvus boundary in an xh2o t pseudobinary system at 500 c the silicate rich melt contains about 2 5 wt h2o and the conjugate water rich melt about 47 wt h2o the solvus closes rapidly with increasing temperature at 650 c the water contents are about 10 and 32 wt respectively complete miscibility is attained at the critical point 712 c and 21 5 wt h2o many pegmatites show high concentrations of f b and p this is particularly true for those pegmatites associated with highly evolved peraluminous granites the presence of these elements dramatically reduces the critical pressure for fluid melt systems at shallow intrusion levels at t 720 c water is infinitely soluble in a f b and p rich melt simple cooling induces a separation into two coexisting melts accompanied with strong element fractionation on the water rich side of the solvus very volatile rich melts are produced that have vastly different physical properties as compared to normal silicate melts the density viscosity diffusivity and mobility of such hyper aqueous melts under these conditions are more comparable to an aqueous fluid

an experimental study of element partitioning among biotite muscovite and coexisting peraluminous silicic melt at 200 mpa h2o

tracking magmatic and hydrothermal nb ta w sn fractionation using mineral textures and composition a case study from the late cretaceous jiepailing ore district in the nanling range in south china abstract the jiepailing mining district in the nanling range in south china is well known for its granite related sn be f mineralization recently drill holes have exposed an nb ta w sn mineralized granitic porphyry and topaz bearing granite greisen at depth which we have studied here using mineral columbite rutile wolframite cassiterite zircon and mica major and trace element compositional data mineral textures and zircon and columbite u pb geochronology our age data shows that the porphyry and the granite and their mineralization formed at 91 89 1 ma in the late cretaceous and thus subsequent to the main ore forming events of the region continuous mineral compositional trends indicate that the studied granitoids are related by progressive fractionation we propose that 1 subhedral euhedral low ta columbite crystallized from melt 2 euhedral subhedral rutile and wolframite and subhedral and subhedral cassiterite up to 30 m in size formed at the magmatic hydrothermal transition of the system and 3 high ta columbite and subhedral cassiterite up to 10 m in size formed from subsolidus hydrothermal fluids in combination with the nb ta w and sn compositions of zircon and mica their textures and compositional variation allow us to track the magmatic to hydrothermal rare metal fractionation concentration mobilization and deposition of the system in detail despite our limited access to it through only two exploration drill cores using the nb ta w and sn concentrations in zircon refractory early crystallized and in micas late equilibrated respectively was particularly useful for tracing the partial loss of sn and w ore components from the intrusion and to constrain the information which is crucial for any rigorous ore exploration

alpha recoil in u pb geochronology effective sample size matters displacement of the daughter isotope by recoil results in an open system on the nanoscale for a heterogeneous distribution of u and th this redistribution of intermediate and stable daughter isotopes results in subvolumes with a deficit of pb and others with an excess of pb whether such heterogeneities affect the analyzed u pb system depends on 1 the volume of the analyzed sample 2 the degree and scale of heterogeneity in the u and th distribution and 3 the analytical procedure spatial separation of parent and daughter through recoil affects the u pb systematics of leached samples where leaching gives access to domains less than 1 m wide anomalous data patterns originating from recoil induced parent to daughter fractionation are more important if there are strong heterogeneities in the u and th distribution whereby pb excess appears more pronounced than pb deficit fractionation of parent and daughter elements through selective dissolution of u ree rich growth zones in zircon and u inclusions in columbite as well as the presence of u th rich micro inclusions in silicates dated using a step leaching scheme may result in anomalous 207pbrad 206pbrad scattered 206pbrad 238u and 207pbrad 235u and reverse discordance the accumulated structural damage controls the leaching and dissolution behavior but may also influence the non stoichiometric element mobilization during sputtering or ablation in the analysis of u rich samples by shrimp and la mc icp ms

palaeozoic accretionary and convergent tectonics of the southern altaids implications for the growth of central asia the southern altaids present a unidirectional section from mongolia to china through an accretionary orogen that youngs progressively from neoproterozoic in the north to permian in the south the orogen formed by forearc accretion of island arcs accretionary wedges ophiolites and precambrian microcontinents this regularity was upset by early growth within the ocean of arcs that later collided at the accreting continental margin by imbrication of old ophiolites with young arcs and by himalayan style thrust nappe tectonics when an arc collided into a microcontinent lateral growth of the southern altaids represents a massive addition of juvenile material to the palaeozoic crust

neoproterozoic to paleozoic geology of the altai orogen nw china new zircon age data and tectonic evolution abstract we present a synthesis and a new account of the geological and tectonic history of the terranes of the chinese paleozoic altai orogen together with new single zircon ages for granitic and rhyodacitic rocks a central terrane consists of neoproterozoic to silurian amphibolite facies metasedimentary rocks and abundant devonian carboniferous granites the presence of precambrian basement is indicated by sinian fossils our xenocryst ages and published nd mean crustal residence ages of granites felsic arc type lavas on the southern margin of the terrane have a mean 207pb 206pb zircon age of 505 ma reflecting the time of arc volcanism and the presence of xenocysts with ages between 614 and 921 ma suggests derivation by intracrustal melting accordingly we suggest that a cambro ordovician continental magmatic arc was built on the southern margin of the central terrane by northward subduction a low grade ordovician andean type arc with a continental basement is situated above a normal fault on

jiangnan orogen in south china developing from divergent double subduction abstract the jiangnan orogen is considered as a continent continent collisional belt resulting from the closure of a meso neoproterozoic ocean separating the southeastern margin of the yangtze block from the northwestern margin of the cathaysia block recent data indicate the existence of early neoproterozoic 1000 825 ma volcanic arc assemblages on both sides of the orogen suggesting that the ocean lithosphere between the yangtze and cathaysia blocks must have undergone divergent double sided subduction during the period of 1000 825 ma the divergent double subduction eventually resulted in the closure of the ocean basin at 825 ma leading to the soft collision of the yangtze and cathaysia blocks to form the jiangnan orogen without involvement of continental deep subduction high grade metamorphism of continental crust and uplift exhumation of high grade metamorphic rocks shortly after the collision the initial detachment of the ocean lithosphere from the overlying crust and sedimentary sections induced underplating of mantle magmas triggering partial melting of accretionary wedge strata to form some peraluminous s type granites in the period 825 815 ma finally the sinking of the oceanic slab pulled down the overlying strata to form some basins in which the banxi group and its equivalent strata including bimodal volcanic rocks were formed in the period 815 750 ma

structural development of the lower paleozoic belt of south china genesis of an intracontinental orogen abstract an extensive structural study of wuyishan and surrounding areas south china brings data on the structures formed prior to the devonian unconformity building the lower paleozoic belt an ordovician tectonic event was responsible for i south directed structures in the wuyishan proper and its southern border related to both thin and thick skinned tectonics accompanied by metamorphism and crustal thickening ii north directed structures to the west of ganjiang fault and north of jiangshan shaoxing fault where only thin skinned tectonics is visible the southward deformation accommodating the shortening includes emplacement of thrust sheets involving deep crustal material and some mantle peridotite and likely repetition of continental material both responsible for crustal thickening the orogeny was due to the underthrusting of the southern part of the south china block beneath the northern part of this block closing the pre existing nanhua rift created at around 850 800 ma and involving the rift sedimentary fill in the southward thrusting the syn metamorphic tectonic piling was followed by anatexis and granite emplacement at around 440 390 ma our new u th pb epma monazite dating gives ages of 433 9 ma and 437 5 ma early silurian for the main anatectic event and a younger age of 412 5 ma late silurian early devonian for a late re heating process the lower paleozoic belt is an intracontinental orogen without oceanic suture record it shows some similarities with the cenozoic european pyrenees chain with a strong asymmetry

introduction to tectonics of china abstract the continental crust of china is a mosaic of cratonic blocks and orogenic belts containing small cratons and terranes with various tectonic settings they have diverse origins and complex histories of amalgamation and often suffered repeated reworking after multiple episodes of amalgamation in the last three decades extensive geological geochemical and geophysical investigations have been carried out on these cratonic blocks and intervening orogenic belts producing an abundant amount of new data and competing interpretations this provides important insights into understanding the formation and evolution of the chinese continents the papers assembled in this volume present a timely and comprehensive overview on major advancements and controversial issues related to the formation and evolution of continental crust in china complex tectonic histories were experienced not only by the large scale cratonic blocks and orogenic belts but also by small scale terranes and orogens between and inside these blocks nevertheless our understanding of lithotectonic units and geological processes has been greatly advanced by recent studies of zirconology and geochemistry for various rock types from major petrotectonic units in china it has been further advanced from integrated interpretations of geochemical and petrological data for petrogenesis of magmatic rocks an overview of these observations and interpretations provides new insights into understanding the continental plate tectonics and the chemical geodynamics of subduction zones

are strongly peraluminous magmas derived from pelitic sedimentary sources igneous compositions that require the presence of a phase more aluminous than biotite are here designated as strongly peraluminous ps such compositions are common but subordinate in felsic rocks and exceedingly rare in more mafic rocks the term s type has been applied to many igneous rocks based largely or even solely upon their ps compositions neglecting or placing less emphasis on other criteria for sedimentary parentage in chappell and white s i and s type classification system the s type designation was in fact initially restricted to granites which were thought to have been derived from a chemically mature strongly weathered pelitic shaly source application of chappell s and white s criteria together with others based upon isotopic and phase equilibria considerations leads to the following conclusions about ps igneous rocks worldwide 1 very few ps rocks are derived entirely from pelitic sources 2 a majority are derived largely from intermediate to felsic crustal sources including

mineral leucosome trace element partitioning in a peraluminous migmatite a laser ablation icp ms study abstract low pressure peraluminous migmatites from the pena negra complex central spain stayed partially molten for 5 10 ma until the latest hercynian deformations allowed the segregation of melt as discordant leucosome veins due to long residence within its source the melt had time enough to equilibrate with residual phases other than accessories included within major refractory minerals we estimated crystal melt partition coefficients as the concentration ratios between leucosome samples appearing to be pure melts and mesosome minerals which were analyzed for trace elements with a laser probe coupled to an icp mass spectrometer our data reveal that when biotite is stable li rb cs tl sc v cr ni nb and ta become strongly compatible the role of biotite in fractionating y th u and the ree is insignificant cordierite strongly fractionates li and be and also has some effect on the hree and u garnet produces extreme fractionation of sc y and the hree the ree partition coefficients for ferromagnesian silicates increase with the atomic number this effect being progressively more important through biotite cordierite and garnet k feldspar strongly fractionates ba and pb but plays a secondary role to biotite for rb and cs k feldspar fractionation does not change the lree hree ratio but plagioclase fractionation produces a significant decrease in the lree hree ratio both feldspars greatly fractionate sr and eu monazite fractionation produces a dramatic depletion in ree th and u as well as a decrease in the lree hree and th u ratios apatite also fractionates the ree although in contrast with monazite it increases the lree hree ratio and does not affect the th u ratio zircon fractionation like apatite and garnet produces a strong depletion in the hree and a concomitant increase in the lree hree ratio in contrast with monazite zircon fractionation causes the th u ratio to increase

dating multiply overprinted sn mineralized granites examples from the erzgebirge germany granites and primary tin mineralization in the erzgebirge were dated using 1 conventional u pb dating of uraninite inclusions in mica 2 rb sr dating of inclusions in quartz that represent highly evolved melts 3 re os dating of magmatic hydrothermal molybdenite and 4 chemical th u pb dating of uraninite conventional isotope dilution and thermal ion mass spectrometry and chemical th u pb dating of uraninite in granites from the ehrenfriedersdorf mining district provide ages of 323 9 3 5 ma 2 greifenstein granite and 320 6 1 9 and 319 7 3 4 ma 2 both sauberg mine in agreement with u pb apatite ages of 323 9 2 9 and 317 3 1 6 ms 2 both sauberg mine rb sr analysis of melt inclusions from zinnwald gives highly radiogenic sr isotopic compositions that with an assumed initial sr isotopic composition permit calculation of precise ages from single inclusions the scatter of the data indicates that some quartz hosted melt inclusions have been affected by partial loss of fluid exsolved from the melt inclusion re os dating of two molybdenite samples from altenberg provides ages of 323 9 2 5 and 317 9 2 4 ma 2 together with age data from the literature our new ages demonstrate that primary tin mineralization and the emplacement of the large sn specialized granites in the erzgebirge fall in a narrow range between 318 and 323 ma primary sn mineralization occurred within a short interval during post collisional collapse of the variscan orogen and was essentially synchronous over the entire erzgebirge in contrast to earlier claims no systematic age difference between granites of the eastern and western erzgebirge was established furthermore our data do not support a large age range for late variscan granites of the erzgebirge 330 290 ma as has been previously suggested

u pb isotope and trace element analysis of columbite mn and zircon by laser ablation icp ms implications for geochronology of pegmatite and associated ore deposits u pb isotopes and trace elements of columbite mn and zircon from an early cretaceous pegmatite dike in the xiaoqinling district north china craton were analyzed using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la icp ms to better understand the suitability of these minerals for u pb geochronology when they contain unusually high u and th columbite mn grains have high w ti u th and ree contents and yield concordant u pb age of 143 1 ma 2 n 10 that is interpreted as the emplacement age of the pegmatite dike in contrast zircon grains from the same dike show three distinct u pb age populations nine out of seventeen zircon grains analyzed have textural features typical of magmatic zircons and yield a weighted mean 206pb 238u age of 143 1 ma 2 n 9 identical to that of columbite mn and thus constrain the timing of pegmatitic magmatism the second population of zircon is characterized by corroded and zoned textures with the geochemical affinities of magmatic zircon these zircon grains have a weighted mean 207pb 206pb age of 1879 19 ma 2 n 5 and are considered to be inherited components derived from paleoproterozoic basement rocks that are widely distributed in the xiaoqinling district a third zircon population is characterized by high porosity and abundant th u rich mineral inclusions e g thorite uranium oxides and yield a younger u pb age of 127 3 ma 2 n 3 these younger zircon grains have elevated hf ca p nb ta and ti contents and much higher th u lree mree and lree hree ratios compared to the 143 ma zircon the textural and geochemical data for the 127 ma zircon grains indicate that they were formed by the hydrothermal alteration of precursor zircon crystallized from the pegmatitic magmas presumably associated with pervasive hydrothermal flow that led to the formation of numerous early cretaceous gold deposits in the xiaoqinling district results from this study demonstrate that columbite mn from the pegmatite dike in the xiaoqinling district has been resistant to post magmatic hydrothermal alteration that however have disturbed the u pb isotopes in some zircon grains from the same dike consequently we propose that columbite mn is an ideal target for u pb dating of pegmatite and associated ore deposits

middle to late jurassic felsic and mafic magmatism in southern hunan province southeast china implications for a continental arc to rifting abstract extensive middle to late jurassic felsic and mafic magmatism occurred in the southern hunan province southeast china shrimp zircon u pb dating mineral chemical element geochemical and sr nd hf isotopic data have been determined for these rocks the results indicate that the middle jurassic 178 170 ma changchengling and ningyuan basaltic rocks belong to tholeiitic series and alkaline series respectively and were formed by fractional crystallization of the parent magmas that were derived from partial melting of asthenospheric mantle triggered by the slab released fluids of the subducted paleo pacific plate the late jurassic 152 146 ma daoxian basalts and guiyang lamprophyre dikes are low ti high mg potassic rocks they were derived directly by partial melting of shallower 60 100 km lithospheric mantle composed of amphibole and phlogopite bearing lherzolite in response to thermal perturbations associated with the rifting of continental arc the middle jurassic 164 ma tongshanling granitic rocks belong to calc alkaline series and are strongly peraluminous they were formed by partial melting of palaeoproterozoic metasedimentary basement in the lower crust plus additional input from coeval basaltic magma the late jurassic 156 ma jinjiling and xishan granitic rocks show a2 subtype affinity they were generated by partial melting of granulitized palaeoproterozoic metamorphic basement in the lower crust in response to injection of coeval low ti high mg potassic magmas a moderate degree 56 58 of fractionation of these pure crustal melts could account for more felsic end member of granitic rocks detailed petrologic and geochemical data for the middle to late jurassic felsic and mafic rocks from the southern hunan imply that during the middle jurassic time se china on the southeast of the shi hang zone was a continental arc coupled with the subduction of the palaeo pacific plate and since the beginning of late jurassic time an intra arc rift has been formed along the shi hang zone as a consequence of slab roll back

episodic nb ta mineralisation in south china constraints from in situ la icp ms columbite tantalite u pb dating abstract south china hosts many nb ta deposits that show evidence for episodic mineralization which were generated during the emplacement of composite granites to constrain the spatio temporal distribution of nb ta mineralisation in the region and to identify future targets for mineral exploration we used in situ laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy to date 23 columbite tantalite group mineral cgm samples from 14 nb ta deposits our cgm u pb data supplemented by previous results reveal five distinct nb ta mineralisation events in south china as follows 1 late silurian middle devonian ca 424 391 ma e g the xigang and nanping deposits in eastern jiangxi and western fujian provinces 2 triassic ca 248 204 ma e g the houxi cunxin dongtounan shenkeng limu and gaoling deposits in western guangdong province and northeastern guangxi zhuang autonomous region 3 late jurassic ca 160 150 ma e g the gedongping yichun laiziling jianfengling and jinzhulong deposits in guangxi jiangxi and hunan provinces 4 early cretaceous ca 130 ma e g the huangshan and songshugang deposits in northeastern jiangxi province and 5 late cretaceous ca 90 ma e g the jiepailing deposit located along the boundary between hunan and jiangxi provinces we show that nb ta mineralisation in south china was controlled by multiple tectono magmatic events our cgm samples yielded caledonian ca 424 391 ma early indosinian ca 248 ma and late yanshanian ca 130 ma ages indicating that nb ta mineralisation was abundant during these times and should form the focus for future studies of mineralisation in the region early triassic granite in the guangning nb ta metallogenic district in western guangdong province indosinian and early yanshannian granites in the miao ershan yuechengling batholith in northeastern guangxi and the late cretaceous lingshan batholith in northern jiangxi province are identified as targets for future nb ta exploration

geochronology and source of the rare metal pegmatite in the mufushan area of the jiangnan orogenic belt a case study of the giant renli nb ta deposit in hunan china abstract the jiangnan orogenic belt hosts many rare metal deposits that exhibit close ore forming ages and similar geological backgrounds and is an important li be nb ta concentration belt located in eastern china however the metallogenic mechanism and regularity of these rare metal deposits have not yet been reported in detail because of the lack of accurate geochronological data and systematic studies on the sources of metallogenic materials the giant renli rare metal deposit located at the south margin of the mufushan batholith in the central jiangnan orogenic belt is one of the few high grade granitic pegmatite type nb ta deposits in china columbite tantalite u pb dating has been developed as a more robust method when compared with the traditional dating methods to constrain the timing of rare metal mineralization six columbite grains obtained from the microcline albite pegmatite of the renli deposit exhibit a concordant laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la icp ms u pb age of 133 0 2 6 ma which denotes the nb ta mineralization age the zircon grains from the columbite bearing microcline albite pegmatite subjected to different degrees of alteration by the hydrothermal fluids yield a concordant la icp ms u pb age of 131 2 2 4 ma which can be considered to be the age of newly magmatic hydrothermal growth and recrystallization under the transitional magmatic hydrothermal conditions observed in case of the renli deposit furthermore the zircon grains from the host biotite monzogranite yield concordant la icp ms u pb ages of 140 7 0 7 and 140 3 0 7 ma whereas the zircon grains from the host two mica monzogranite yield a concordant la icp ms u pb age of 138 3 0 3 ma denoting the intrusion timing of two types of host mufushan granites of the pegmatite dykes finally the zircon grains from two schist samples of the lengjiaxi group yield concordant la icp ms u pb ages of 825 9 5 6 and 834 4 5 3 ma constraining the maximum age for the termination of deposition these ages constitute a clear intrusion cooling hydrothermal time series with respect to the renli deposit zircon can retain the original magmatic isotopic composition and is extensively used to trace the petrogenetic processes because it is quickly crystallized from magma the mufushan granite and rare metal pegmatite exhibit consistent negative ehf t values mean ehf t values of 7 2 and 7 3 respectively and their two stage model ages exhibit similar distribution patterns when compared with that exhibited by the lengjiaxi group furthermore the mufushan granite shows the typical geochemical characteristics of the crustal derived granite thus the rare metal pegmatite and host granite of the renli deposit were concluded to be sourced from the partial melting of the lengjiaxi group metasedimentary strata the compressive torsional nature of the gajiang fault zone widespread occurrence of the s type granite and absence of basaltic rocks suggest that the central to eastern part of the jiangnan orogenic belt was in a subduction setting during the early cretaceous thus this economically important early cretaceous ca 133 129 ma rare metal metallogenic belt was formed owing to the development of the jiangnan orogenic belt and the thick lengjiaxi group metasedimentary strata provided the metallogenic material source

zircons from syros cyclades greece recrystallization and mobilization of zircon during high pressure metamorphism zircons were studied from high pressure low temperature metamorphosed meta igneous lithologies from syros these rocks carry several zircon generations related to each other by dissolution reprecipitation processes one generation is pristine zircon that shows growth zoning relatively elevated contents of trivalent cations and high th u ratios the other end member is a skeletal zircon generation with negligible trivalent cation contents and low th u ratios 0 1 texturally between these two there is a range of zircon crystals with complex inclusion populations of y hree th phases and fluid inclusions showing variable progress of replacement recrystallization both end members yield distinct sensitive high resolution ion microprobe shrimp u pb ages the pristine generation has an age of 80 2 1 6ma from a metagabbro and 76 4 2 1ma from a meta plagiogranite dyke the skeletal low th u zircon generation yields an age of 52 4 0 8ma the older late cretaceous zircons are interpreted to date emplacement of the magmatic protoliths in a small segment of oceanic crust the younger eocene age however dates a zircon recrystallization event which possibly coincides with high solubility and mobility of high field strength elements in a high pressure aqueous fluid phase intergrowth relations between zircon and peak metamorphic garnet and excellent agreement of the u pb ages with white mica ar ar ages for the same samples support the conclusion that eocene is the true age of high pressure metamorphism on syros

grain scale variations in trace element composition of fluid altered zircon acasta gneiss complex northwestern canada sem back scattered electron images of zircon separates from a 2 9 ga granitic dyke from the acasta gneiss complex slave province reveal primary igneous oscillatory zoning which is transgressively overprinted by irregular alteration domains electron microprobe analyses show that altered zircon domains are depleted in zr and si relative to unaltered zircon while retaining a constant zr si ratio sims trace element analyses indicate that lree are preferentially enriched in the altered domains altered zircon contains elevated concentrations of ba up to 580 ppm ca up to 2 weight of the element and common pb 50 ppb the presence of lree ca ba and common pb in the zircons is interpreted to be the result of secondary alteration by an aqueous fluid and not by primary incorporation during crystallization we propose that the alteration related elements are located in amorphous zircon domains

cassiterite u pb geochronology constrains magmatic hydrothermal evolution in complex evolved granite systems the classic erzgebirge tin province saxony and bohemia

evolution of the darling range batholith yilgarn craton western australia a shrimp zircon study ma and slow cooling indicated by marginal recrystallization and primary and secondary internal structures observed in zircons from continued pb loss from the zircons until 2628 2616 ma granites from the late archaean darling range batholith record stages in the evolutionary history of the granites and provide a basis for a shrimp u pb study on the timing of granite evolution many granite zircons contain cores a few low u cores retain concordant to slightly discordant u pb ages of 2 8 ga some show discordant intermediate ages but most have nearly concordant

drifting buoy observations of a loop current anticyclonic eddy the loop current penetrated deep into the gulf of mexico in early 1989 after several eddy formation and reattachment cycles a southwestward propagating anticyclonic eddy was formed during the summer the loop current and subsequent eddy produced strong currents over widespread areas on the louisiana continental slope prompting a series of current measurement programs because of the lack of satellite infrared coverage in the gulf of mexico during the summer the trajectories of 53 argos tracked drifting buoys deployed in the gulf of mexico in 1989 were assembled to determine the synoptic history of the loop current and anticyclonic eddy during this event ten of the most critical summertime buoy trajectories are discussed here in addition the trajectories of three of the buoys simultaneously deployed at different radii in the eddy were chosen for analysis with a kinematic feature model the model assumes the looping buoy motion is generated by an elliptical orbit around a translating eddy center the buoy trajectories were used to determine time series of the feature model parameters including eddy center shape and circulation characteristics the time series results indicate that the eddy actually propagated in a series of short sprints separated by longer stalls during the sprints the eddy propagated as an elliptical but otherwise symmetric solid body during the stalls significant asymmetries developed the asymmetries are consistent with attachment to the loop current during the first stall the effects of topographic rossby wave dispersion during the second and the effects of planetary rossby wave dispersion during the third the results provide both a framework for the interpretation of in situ observations and a detailed evolutionary history for numerical modelers

preferential dissolution of 234u and radiogenic pb from α recoil damaged lattice sites in zircon implications for thermal histories and pb isotopic fractionation in the near surface environment abstract zircons from two archean samples a 2732 ma trondhjemite and a 2728 ma dacite both from the western superior province were washed in hydrofluoric acid hf at moderate temperatures zircon residues and hf wash solutions were analyzed for u pb isotope systematics and 234u 238u ratios in an attempt to study the effect of hf washing on selective dissolution of radiogenic isotopes in areas damaged by recoil on a conventional concordia diagram the datum from one analyzed wash solution plots below concordia near the array of discordant data from magnetic unabraded zircon fractions which record a lower concordia intersection of about 230 ma data points from hf wash residues of two different zircon fractions from the trondhjemite are also discordant and collinear with near concordant data from abraded unleached fractions which record the true age of crystallization however this array has a negative lower concordia intercept of 749 ma the residue and wash from hf treatment of a single zircon fraction from the dacite are collinear with the crystallization age of the sample as defined by near concordant data from unleached fractions this line has a lower concordia intersection of 1388 ma also negative but distinct from the trondhjemite residue line the discordance of strongly washed residues is proportional to the calculated recoil dosage of the grains leach residues show negative 234u 238u anomalies while the leaches themselves show 234u excess on the order of 10 these results can be explained by the bulk dissolution of altered and metamict crystal domains during the hf wash accompanied by leaching of 234u and radiogenic pb from recoil damaged lattice sites in alteration free zircon residues studies were also carried out on zircons washed in nitric acid these show small ca 0 5 negative 234u anomalies this suggests that small amounts of radiogenic pb can be leached from damaged lattice sites by nitric acid the negative age lower concordia intercepts of pb loss lines defined by hf leach residues can be explained if early radiation damage has been annealed so that only more recently formed radiogenic pb atoms are in damaged crystal lattice sites and are susceptible to leaching since this pb fraction is relatively young the residue pb is biased toward anomalously old values a model is proposed for early burial and heating of the rocks above the annealing temperature for recoil damage followed by uplift and cooling several hundred million years after crystallization this model predicts a cooling time of 2500 20 ma for the trondhjemite and 2295 35 ma for the rhyolite comparison with metamorphic and cooling histories from ar ar studies suggest that the long term annealing temperature for low levels of recoil damage in zircon is in the range 250 300 c approximately the same as for fission tracks these results demonstrate that hf and possibly to a small extent hno3 can preferentially leach radioactive daughter elements from damaged zircon lattice sites in addition to dissolving metamict domains the threshold recoil dosage for dissolution of damaged zircon appears to be slightly in excess of 1 5 1015 decay events mg the isotopic composition of the leached pb is sensitive to the annealing history of the zircon thus in addition to supplying the magmatic crystallization age of the sample the hf leaching of zircon might be useful for constraining its later low temperature thermal history leaching from recoil damaged sites also occurs in the natural environment and this may lead to significant enhancement of 206pb 204pb in groundwater

fertile granites of precambrian rare element pegmatite fields is geochemistry controlled by tectonic setting or source lithologies abstract a total of twenty fertile granites and their rare element pegmatite aureoles was examined to correlate their tectonic position relative to the preceding orogenic event with their geochemical signature namely li rb cs be ga sn nb ta y ree sc ti zr be th u f nyf the range of t time difference between metamorphism and or deformation and granite intrusion is 20 to 465 ma for the examined cases there is some tendency toward syn to late orogenic origin of lct s as opposed to post to anorogenic timing of nyf s but the correlation is poor compared to the previously accepted stereotype similarly both metaluminous and peraluminous fertile granites are about equally spread among syn late and anorogenic environments lct systems are largely associated with peraluminous granites whereas all metaluminous to peralkaline plutons bear the nyf signature tectonic control on geochemistry of granite pegmatite suites is poor and secondary to the fundamental influence of the source lithologies yielding granitic melts the lct type suites are derived from undepleted upper crustal lithologies suffering their first anatectic event which mobilizes the most volatile components into low temperature low percentage melts supracrustal sequences as well as ortho and para lithologies of their basement serve as protoliths with variable degrees of involvement the nyf type suites whose plutons have the geochemical signature of a granites may be derived by melting of depleted lower crustal sources residual after preceding anatectic events or possibly by melting of juvenile lithologies with short crustal residence differentiation from mantle derived magmas is highly improbable volatile extraction of nyf elements from the mantle and their pre enrichment in protoliths or melts seems to be required the few mixed systems with variable expressions of a nyf lct signature are derived basically as nyf suites but contaminated by the lct elements from undepleted upper crust via several possible mechanisms

zircon u pb and hf isotopic study of mesozoic felsic rocks from eastern zhejiang south china geochemical contrast between the yangtze and cathaysia blocks abstract the jiangshan shaoxing fault zone jsfz in zhejiang province has been proposed to represent a suture between the yangtze and cathaysia blocks in south china in this study in situ zircon u pb and hf isotopic analysis and whole rock major and trace element measurement of early to middle cretaceous felsic rocks across the fault zone were conducted to constrain the nature of the fault zone twelve cretaceous granitoid bodies were sampled from the nw and se sides of the fault zone respectively with composition ranging from diorite to granite sio2 56 2 76 6 wt these granitoids yielded u pb ages ranging from 135 100 ma with a systematic variation in zircon hf isotopic compositions ehf t 6 9 to 7 0 in the nw side vs 1 9 to 12 9 in the se side the tdm2 values for the granitoids from the nw side are 0 34 to 1 33 ga with two peaks at ca 876 and 1170 ma respectively whereas those from the se side are 0 70 to 1 62 ga with a single peak at ca 1126 ma the hf isotopic disparity for the two sides may indicate a fundamental difference in the lower crustal compositions of the yangtze and cathaysia blocks supporting that the jsfz is possibly a suture zone between the two blocks our results together with the available geological data suggest that the mesoproterozoic materials are important for both the yangtze and cathaysia basement and the neoproterozoic magmatic activities were important in the yangtze block possibly related to the break up of the rodinia supercontinent but less significant in the cathaysia block this may imply that the two blocks have not completely juxtaposed in the neoproterozoic

hf isotopic compositions of the standard zircons and baddeleyites used in u pb geochronology abstract zircon and baddeleyite u pb geochronological dating is widely used in solid earth sciences and the advent of rapid in situ methods of analysis such sims and icp ms has re emphasized the importance of having uniform standards recently it has been shown that hf isotopic data can provide important information on these minerals since they contain high concentrations of hf but have low lu hf ratios which results in negligible age correction however the complex internal structures that result from multiple thermal events such as inherited cores and metamorphic overgrowths require that the hf isotopic data be measured with high spatial resolution however the isobaric interferences of 176 yb and 176 lu on 176 hf hamper the precise determination of the 176 hf 177 hf ratio during in situ laser ablation mc icpms analysis it is shown here that mass biases of yb yb and hf hf change with time during analyses and behave differently for solutions and solid material therefore it is suggested that the mean yb value of the individual spot be used to obtain the precise isotopic composition for in situ zircon and baddeleyite hf isotopic analyses for low yb hf 176 yb 177 hf yb value have little effect on the accuracy of the hf isotopic composition however the appropriate yb isotopic abundance is necessary for high yb hf 176 yb 177 hf 0 001 zircons and baddeleyites since the interference of 176 yb on 176 hf is significant using the mean yb value of the individual spot and newly published yb isotopic abundance data six standard zircons and two standard baddeleyites have been investigated using a neptune mc icpms with 193 nm laser for zircons the obtained 176 hf 177 hf ratios are 0 282307 31 2sd for 91500 0 282680 31 2sd for temora 0 281729 21 2sd for cz3 282177 17 2sd for cn92 1 0 282983 17 2sd for fm0411 and 281234 11 2sd for phalaborwa the baddeleyites from phalaborwa and sk10 2 have 176 hf 177 hf ratios of 0 281238 12 and 0 282738 13 2sd these results agree well with the values obtained by the solution method and indicate that these standards have different hf isotopic compositions in which the extremely low 176 lu 177 hf and 176 yb 177 hf values of cz3 zircon and phalaborwa baddeleyite make them excellent standards for machine calibration during in situ zircon hf isotopic measurement with the other standards being more suitable for the development of the correction method

the key role of mica during igneous concentration of tantalum igneous rocks with high ta concentrations share a number of similarities such as high ta nb low ti lree and zr concentrations and granitic compositions these features can be traced through fractionated granitic series formation of ta rich melts begins with anatexis in the presence of residual biotite followed by magmatic crystallization of biotite and muscovite crystallization of biotite and muscovite increases ta nb and reduces the ti content of the melt titanium bearing oxides such as rutile and titanite are enriched in ta and have the potential to deplete ta at early stages of fractionation however mica crystallization suppresses their saturation and allows ta to increase in the melt saturation with respect to ta and nb minerals occurs at the latest stages of magmatic crystallization and columbite can originate from recrystallization of mica we propose a model for prediction of intrusion fertility for ta