multichronometric evidence for an in situ origin of the ultrahigh pressure metamorphic terrane of dabieshan china abstract u pb zircon data on gneisses indicate a late proterozoic protolith at 700 ma at bixiling and a late archean to early proterozoic for the shuanghe sheet within the ultrahigh pressure metamorphic terrane of dabieshan china u pb zircon and sm nd dates on the gneisses of the shuanghe sheet constrain a metamorphic peak at 230 ma rb sr and 40ar 39ar analyses of phengite from five gneisses in the bixiling complex yield ages at 198 212 ma overlapping the 190 220 ma age on eclogites the host gneisses record a similar metamorphic evolution as the coesite bearing eclogites since both the peak and the retrograde evolution were contemporaneous this argues for an in situ tectonic relationship

tectonic evolution of the qinling orogenic belt central china new evidence from geochemical zircon u pb geochronology and hf isotopes abstract the qinling orogenic belt qob located between the north china craton ncc and the yangtze craton yzc is composed of the northern qinling belt nqb and the southern qinling belt sqb this study presents new geochemical data zircon u pb ages and hf isotopes from a suite of metamorphic rocks from the kuanping qinling danfeng douling and wuguan groups in the nqb and the sqb our results suggest that the qinling group in the nqb formed in an active continental margin related to the subduction of the songshugou ocean under the southern ncc during grenvillian period the kuanping group in the northern nqb was deposited in the within plate extension basin during late neoproterozoic to early paleozoic the detritus of sedimentary rocks of the kuanping group were mainly sourced from the nqb and subordinately from the basement rocks of the ncc the danfeng group in the southern nqb formed later than 827 ma with the sediments derived mainly from the qinling terrane the nqb witnessed multiphase tectono thermal events from mesoproterozoic to early paleozoic including several magmatic events and the early paleozoic metamorphic event the original douling group in the sqb represents the basement complex of the sqb which is composed of rocks with different formation ages the oldest rock in the complex is represented by 3 0 ga granitic gneiss which underwent at least two periods of metamorphism at 2 5 ga and 0 97 0 91 ga in this study the douling group is redefined as a suite of neoproterozoic 860 750 ma rocks formed in an extensional setting after the subduction of the songshugou ocean the wuguan group in the sqb formed in the middle late neoproterozoic later than 740 ma and was subjected to early paleozoic metamorphism our data indicate that the sqb experienced early neoproterozoic 970 865 ma and early paleozoic 444 ma metamorphism and strong middle neoproterozoic 870 730 ma magmatism the age spectra of zircons from the nqb trace major tectono thermal events at 1462 ma 927 ma and 412 ma which are different from those recorded in the southern ncc and northern yzc suggesting that the nqb had a distinct evolution during mesoproterozoic to early neoproterozoic grenvillian the hf isotopic compositions of zircons from the various rocks suggest that the nqb probably developed on the basement of the southern ncc the rocks in the sqb show zircon age spectra and hf isotope compositions similar to those in the northern yzc suggesting a close affinity we therefore interpret the sqb to have developed on the basement of the northern yzc integrating the new data in this study with those from previous works we propose a new tectonic model for the formation and evolution of the qob during late mesoproterozoic to early paleozoic involving the following major events 1 late mesoproterozoic to early neoproterozoic grenvillian northward subduction of the songshugou ocean 2 early middle neoproterozoic 870 800 ma bidirectional subduction and collision 3 middle neoproterozoic 800 710 ma post collision extension 4 middle late neoproterozoic 710 600 ma within plate extension 5 late neoproterozoic early paleozoic 600 520 ma opening of the shangdan ocean and 6 early paleozoic 520 420 ma subduction collision we thus trace at least two distinct wilson cycles in the qob

a high precision u pb age of metamorphic rutile in coesite bearing eclogite from the dabie mountains in central china a new constraint on the cooling history this paper first reports a high precision u pb age of 218 1 2 ma for rutile in coesite bearing eclogite from jinheqiao in the dabie mounteins east central china this work shows that the u pb mineral rutile omphacite isochron age of 218 2 5 ma and conventional rutile u pb concordia age of 218 1 2 ma obtained by common pb correction based on the pb isotopic composition of omphacite in the same eclogite sample are consistent proving that the omphacite with low u pb ratio 2 8 can be used for common pb correction in u pb dating of rutile oxygen isotope analysis of rutile aliquots gave the consistent 18o values of 6 1 0 1 demonstrating oxygen isotope homogenization in the rutile of different grains as inclusion in garnet and grain in matrix oxygen isotope thermometry yields temperatures of 695 35 and 460 15 c for quartz garnet and quartz rutile pairs respectively these oxygen isotopic observations suggest that the diffusion of oxygen in rutile as inclusion in garnet is not controlled by garnet according to field based thermochronological studies of rutile an estimate of the tc of about 460 c for u pb system in rutile under rapid cooling conditions 20 c ma was advised based on this u pb age as well as the reported chronological data with their corresponding metamorphic and or closure temperature an improved t t path has been constructed the t t path confirms that the uhpm rocks in south dabie experienced a rapid cooling following the peak metamorphism before 220 ma and a long isothermal stage from 213 to 180 ma around 425 c

high pressure eclogites in northern jiangsu southern shandong province eastern china abstract eclogites are distributed for more than 500 km along a major tectonic boundary between the sino korean and yangtze cratons in central and eastern china these eclogites usually have high p assemblages including omphacite kyanite and or coesite or its pseudomorph and form a high p eclogite terrane they occur as isolated lenses or blocks 10 cm to 300 m long in gneisses type i serpentinized garnet peridotites type ii and marbles type iii type i eclogites were formed by prograde metamorphism and their primary metamorphic mineral assemblage consists mainly of garnet pyrope prp 15 40 mol omphacite jadeite jd 34 64 mol pargasitic amphibole kyanite phengitic muscovite zoisite an sio2 phase apatite rutile and zircon type ii eclogites characteristically contain no sio2 phase and are divided into prograde eclogites and mantle derived eclogites the prograde eclogites of type ii are petrographically similar to type i eclogites the mantle derived eclogites have high mgo feo fe2o3 and cr2o3 compositions in bulk rock and minerals and consist mainly of pyrope rich garnet prp 48 60 mol sodic augite jd 10 27 mol and rutile type iii eclogites have an unusual mineral assemblage of grossular rich grs 57 mol garnet omphacite jd 30 34 mol pargasite rutile pargasitic and taramitic amphiboles calcic plagioclase an68 epidote zoisite k feldspar and paragonite occur as inclusions in garnet and omphacite in the prograde eclogites this suggests that the prograde eclogites were formed by recrystallization of epidote amphibolite and or amphibolite facies rocks with near isothermal compression reflecting crustal thickening during continent continent collision of late proterozoic age equilibrium conditions of the prograde eclogites range from p 26 kbar and t 500 750 c in the western part to p 28 kbar and t 810 880 c in the eastern part of the high p eclogite terrane the prograde eclogites in the eastern part are considered to have been derived from a deeper position than those in the western part subsequent reactions manifested by 1 narrow rims of sodic plagioclase or paragonite on kyanite and 2 symplectites between omphacite and quartz are interpreted as an effect of near isothermal decompression during the retrograde stage the conditions at which symplectites re equilibrated tend to increase from west p 9 kbar and t 680 c equilibrium temperatures of type ii mantle derived eclogites and type iii eclogite are 730 750 c and 680 c respectively

formation and evolution of the tancheng lujiang wrench fault system a major shear system to the northwest of the pacific ocean abstract in the northwestern peri pacific tectonic belt on the continental margin of east asia there is a series of major faults trending ne nne i e the tancheng lujiang wrench fault system this fault system extends more than 5000 km with a width of 800 1000 km in the continent and a general strike of n30 e on the basis of the results of special research on the major faults and a lot of new information about the fault system the authors discuss early mesozoic triassic jurassic period sinistral transcurrent faulting in the different regions it is suggested that in the eastern continent of east asia the e w trending tectonic pattern of the paleozoic and beginning of the mesozoic appear in the nuclei of the sino korean continent massif and the yangtze continent massif these ancient continent massifs accreted both southwards and northwards which finally led to their collision and suturing to the angura continent massif later this tectonic framework was changed greatly by the tancheng lujiang wrench fault system along which left lateral horizontal displacement of 1000 1500 km took place since the mesozoic the dislocation and deformation of horizontal displacement of the tancheng lujiang fault system produced a series of structures trending ne nne in the continental margin which have greatly transformed the ancient structures of the preceding mesozoic this is an important diktyogenese in the continent of east asia during the horizontal displacement motion of these faults the folds nappes and decollement structures pull apart basins and subductions within the continent occurred in the continent at the same time some large sinistral ductile shear zones of horizontal displacement appeared the depth of the deformed horizon of ductile shear which belongs to simple shear was controlled by the tectonic element and distance away from the continental margin whilst the ductile shear deformation occurred the fault dynamo thermal metamorphism and the fault remelting took place and magma activity appeared within the continent in the mesozoic the fault zones used to be high energy zones and recently became the seismic belts within the continent formation of the tan lu fault system was due to the collision between the southern and northern blocks its large sinistral horizontal displacement in the mesozoic was closely related to the kula plate moving northwards therefore the continent disintegrated by shearing which produced some new terranes the shear edge belt was formed between the continent and ocean the change of relative motion between the continent and pacific ocean plate transformed the tan lu fault system into first extension and then compression clarifying the characteristics of the tan lu fault system is an important key in understanding the evolution of the east asia continent since the mesozoic

uhp metamorphism and exhumation of the dabie orogen china evidence from shrimp dating of zircon and monazite from a uhp granitic gneiss cobble from the hefei basin a shrimp u pb study of zircons separated from an ultrahigh pressure uhp granitic gneiss cobble sample ds12 from the upper jurassic fenghuangtai formation of the hefei basin north of the dabie orogen has identified three different domains 1 cores some of which show straight boundaries and strong oscillatory zoning with th u ratios of 0 12 0 70 and an imprecise upper intercept age of 777 220 ma mswd 2 4 2 mantles variable in shape and cathodoluminescence cl intensity and containing many uhp mineral inclusions including coesite and omphacite and with th u ratios of 0 02 0 26 and a weighted mean 206pb 238u age of 244 5 ma mswd 4 7 and 3 rims which are more homogeneous and luminescent in cl than the mantles and contain fewer uhp mineral inclusions with th u ratios of 0 01 0 05 and a weighted mean 206pb 238u age of 226 2 ma mswd 0 65 monazites from the same sample do not contain coesite and omphacite inclusions but they do show sector zones and are composed of two contrasting domains the light domains in backscattered electron bse images have a th u ratio of 7 3 18 9 and a weighted mean 206pb 238u age of 221 2 ma mswd 0 94 the dark domains in bse have a th u ratio of 2 8 7 2 and have a weighted mean 206pb 238u age of 218 2 ma mswd 0 96 based on these data and a review of the literature it can be concluded that 1 the protolith of gneiss sample ds12 is a granitoid of neoproterozoic age 2 the ages of 244 and 226 ma for the mantle and rim domains of the zircons are time records of two discrete stages in the uhp evolution of dabieshan 3 the ages of 221 and 218 ma for the light and dark gray domains respectively of the monazites record the times of two stages of retrogressive metamorphism during exhumation of the uhp granitic gneiss to a higher crustal level 4 the exhumation rate of the gneiss is estimated to be 6 km ma and 5 the uhp metamorphic blocks of the dabie orogen provided significant detritus to the hefei basin in the jurassic

vector constraints on western u s deformation from space geodesy neotectonics and plate motions the rate of slip vector on the san andreas fault in central california estimated from geodetic and holocene geological data 34 3 mm yr n41 w 2 is inconsistent with the prediction of rigid plate models such as rm2 56 3 mm yr n35 w 2 this well known san andreas discrepancy is diagnostic of plate deformation distributed both east of the fault in the basin and range and west of the fault along the california continental margin we construct constraints on the integrated deformation rates across these two regions consistent with 1 the kinematical boundary conditions imposed by the rigid plate model 2 neotectonic and paleoseismic estimates of deformation rates 3 ground based geodetic measurements and 4 rates of change observed by very long baseline interferometry along seven baselines to western u s sites the space geodetic data on basin and range extension taken over a 4 year interval are compatible with geological observations averaged over the holocene the best estimate of its integrated deformation rate provided by the joint inversion of both data types is 9 7 2 1 mm yr n56 w 10 too small and in the wrong direction to account entirely for the san andreas discrepancy we therefore attribute much of it to deformation west of the sierra nevada great valley block accommodated for example on faults such as the san gregorio hosgri system of coastal california the integral of this deformation estimated by subtracting the basin and range contribution from the discrepancy vector requires significant right lateral shear parallel to the san andreas 13 5 mm yr and some compression perpendicular to it 9 3 mm yr

the diversity of flow structures in felsic dykes abstract numerous structures and textures which can be related to magma flow were observed in felsic dykes intruding late mesozoic granitoid plutons in the jiaodong peninsula in eastern shandong province eastern china these flow structures may be classified into two categories interior and peripheral the former group includes magmatic bands various types of folds e g injection sheath similar and disharmonic folds rotation of phenocrysts magmatic foliation or lineation and crenulation whereas the latter includes hot tool marks and quarrying structures magmatic banding resulted from shearing of mingled magma during magma flow in the dykes the magma seemed to flow rapidly probably triggering turbulence in some thick dykes interaction at the contact between the hot moving magma and the cold stationary wallrock sometimes produced the peripheral structures a few measurements of hot tool marks and of magmatic lineation reveal a roughly horizontal flow of magma within these dykes for the dominant ne sw striking dyke set in the laoshan granitoid pluton the felsic magma probably ascended on or to the sw of the pluton to feed the dyke swarm and then flowed laterally to drive the horizontal propagation of dykes

coesite bearing eclogites from the dabie mountains central china petrogenesis p t paths and implications for regional tectonics coesite and kyanite bearing eclogites are abundant in the southern part of the dabie mountains southern dabie terrane sdt two types of eclogites from the sdt types iii and iv were selected for detailed paragenetic study type iii eclogites most abundant in the northern part of the sdt occur as blocks in gneisses and marble and contain eclogitic assemblages of omphacite garnet phengite epidote coesite kyanite carbonate rutile ilmenite these minerals exhibit weak compositional zoning and contain few mineral inclusions type iv eclogites mostly in the southern part of the sdt occur as coherent layers interbedded with gneisses and amphibolites and have assemblages of omphacite garnet glaucophane kyanite epidote phengite quartz rutile ilmenite garnets of type iv eclogites exhibit a prograde compositional zoning and have mineral inclusions of paragonite phengite epidote quartz and rutile in the core and omphacite barroisite and mg katophorite in the rim prograd

the pyrope coesite rocks and their country rocks at parigi dora maira massif western alps detailed petrography mineral chemistry and pt path both the coarse and fine grained varieties of the partly coesite bearing pyrope quartzites their interlayered jadeite kyanite rocks and the biotite phengite gneiss country rock common to all of them were subjected to detailed petrographic and textural studies in order to determine the sequence of crystallisation of their mineral constituents which were also studied analytically by microprobe prior to pyrope and coesite growth the mg rich metapelites were talc kyanite chlorite rutile ellenbergerite schists which upon continued prograde metamorphism developed first pyrope megacrysts in silica deficient local environments at the expense of chlorite talc kyanite and subsequently the smaller pyrope crystals with coesite inclusions from reacting talc kyanite based on geobarometrically useful mineral inclusions as well as on experimentally determined phase relations a prograde pt path simplified for water activity 1 is constructed which passes through the approximate pt conditions 16 kbar and 560 c 29 kbar and 720 c and finally up to 37 kbar at about 800 c where the mg rich metapelite was a pyrope coesite rock with phengite kyanite and talc still present during the retrograde path pyrope was altered metasomatically either into phlogopite kyanite quartz or at a later stage to chlorite muscovite quartz both assemblages yield pt constraints the latter about 7 9 kbar 500 600 c the country rock gneisses have also endured high pressures of at least 15 kbar but they provide mostly constraints on the lowest portion of the uplift conditions within the greenschist facies about 5 kbar 450 c microprobe data are presented for the following minerals pyrope ellenbergerite dumortierite unusually mgti rich jadeite vermiculite formed after na phlogopite paragonite and for several generations of phengite chlorite talc phlogopite dravite and glaucophane in the high pressure rocks as well as for biotite chlorite phengites epidote garnet albite and k feldspar in the country rock gneisses an outstanding open problem identified in this study is the preservation of minerals as inclusions within kyanite and pyrope beyond their pt stability limits

palaeomagnetic constraints on the collision and rotation of north and south china the eastern half of china is dominated by the north china block ncb and south china block scb separated by a complex fold system that trends roughly east west interpretation of the geology of this fold belt has led to a variety of estimates of the age of amalgamation of these two blocks1 7 palaeomagnetic results are few and have also been subject to conflicting interpretations8 11 here we present our own palaeomagnetic results for late permian rocks for both the scb and ncb and summarize other relevant palaeomagnetic data by reinterpreting the polarity given in some previous studies we are able to synthesize the results for the widespread emeishan basalts of the scb and to suggest a new model for the collision and relative rotation of the two blocks

granulites in the tongbai area qinling belt china geochemistry petrology single zircon geochronology and implications for the tectonic evolution of eastern asia the tongbai area of the eastern qinling belt in china includes granulite grade metamorphic assemblages qinling complex which were previously regarded as archean to early proterozoic in age and belonging to the southern margin of the north china plate craton our petrological and geochemical data characterize these rocks as two pyroxene granulites and garnet granulites which formed at temperatures of 757 840 c and pressures of about 9 5 kbar and are now found as xenoliths in granodioritic gneisses the protoliths of these rocks were granodiorites and tholeiitic basalt or gabbro the 207pb 206pb ratios derived from evaporation of single zircons yield ages of 470 20 and 470 14 ma respectively for the basic granulites which we interpret to reflect the time of protolith emplacement these are intruded by a 435 14 ma granodioritic gneiss post dating granulite formation a metaquartzite sample contains detrital zircons as old as 2555 8 ma two samples of granitoid gneiss from the tongbai complex s of the qinling granulites have single zircon 207pb 206pb evaporation ages of 776 8 and 746 10 ma respectively and document late proterozoic igneous activity we suggest that the qinling granulites document an important and hitherto unknown phase of early silurian crustal thickening following subduction and continental collision and that both the qinling and tongbai complexes were part of the southern margin of the north china craton prior to this event and record late proterozoic igneous activity

geodynamic parameters derived from 7 years of laser data on lageos seven years 1984 through 1990 of laser data on lageos have been analysed to recover absolute stations velocities and j2 relative motions between stations located in stable tectonic regions agree well with the nuvel 1 model predictions within 5 mm yr rms relative motion across the san andreas fault is found to be 33 1 mm yr solution for the secular variation of j2 is 2 8 0 04 10 11 yr

diamond from the dabie shan metamorphic rocks and its implication for tectonic setting diamond occurs in ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks from dabie shan anhui province eastern china diamond bearing rocks include eclogite gamet pyroxenite and jadeitite diamond occurs in a mineral assemblage with coesite and jadeite the diamonds and diamondiferous rocks of dabie shan are interpreted to be the products of ultrahigh pressure metamorphism in the underthrust basement of the yangtze continental plate during the early mesozoic at greater than 4 0 gigapascals and 900 c this interpretation is based on the distribution of rock units the stability field of diamond and isotopic data indicating a crustal origin for the rocks most diamonds occur as euhedral inclusions in garnets and are 10 to 60 micrometers across although some are up to 700 micrometers across

neoproterozoic paleozoic and mesozoic granitoid magmatism in the qinling orogen china constraints on orogenic process abstract the qinling orogen is one of the main orogenic belts in asia and is characterized by multi stage orogenic processes and the development of voluminous magmatic intrusions the results of zircon u pb dating indicate that granitoid magmatism in the qinling orogen mainly occurred in four distinct periods the neoproterozoic 979 711 ma paleozoic 507 400 ma and early 252 185 ma and late 158 100 ma mesozoic the neoproterozoic granitic magmatism in the qinling orogen is represented by strongly deformed s type granites emplaced at 979 911 ma weakly deformed i type granites at 894 815 ma and a type granites at 759 711 ma they can be interpreted as the products of respectively syn collisional post collisional and extensional setting in response to the assembly and breakup of the rodinia supercontinent the paleozoic magmatism can be temporally classified into three stages of 507 470 ma 460 422 ma and 415 400 ma they were genetically related to the subduction of the shangdan ocean and subsequent collision of the southern north china block and the south qinling belt the 507 470 ma magmatism is spatially and temporally related to ultrahigh pressure metamorphism in the studied area the 460 422 ma magmatism with an extensive development in the north qinling belt is characterized by i type granitoids and originated from the lower crust with the involvement of mantle derived magma in a collisional setting the magmatism with the formation age of 415 400 ma only occurred in the middle part of the north qinling belt and is dominated by i type granitoid intrusions and probably formed in the late stage of a collisional setting early mesozoic magmatism in the study area occurred between 252 and 185 ma with the cluster in 225 200 ma it took place predominantly in the western part of the south qinling belt the 250 240 ma i type granitoids are of small volume and show high sr y ratios and may have been formed in a continental arc setting related to subduction of the mianlue ocean between the south qinling belt and the south china block voluminous late stage 225 185 ma magmatism evolved from early i type to later i a type granitoids associated with contemporaneous lamprophyres representative of a transition from syn to post collisional setting in response to the collision between the north china and the south china blocks late mesozoic 158 100 ma granitoids located in the southern margin of the north china block and the eastern part of the north qinling belt are characterized by i type i to a type and a type granitoids that were emplaced in a post orogenic or intraplate setting the first three of the four periods of magmatism were associated with three important orogenic processes and the last one with intracontinental process these suggest that the tectonic evolution of the qinling orogen is very complicated

origin of the xiaohekou skarn copper deposit and related granitoids in the zha shan ore cluster area south qinling china abstract the xiaohekou copper deposit is one of the few typical skarn type commercial deposits in the zha shan ore cluster area in the eastern part of south qinling the ore related granitoids in the xiaohekou mining district include a number of small plutons of granodiorite porphyry and granite porphyry as well as numerous dykes they are characterized by relatively low sio2 65 9 73 3 wt and mgo 0 26 1 72 wt contents variable mg 29 4 64 0 values high k2o 3 11 5 75 wt content and negligible eu 1 00 1 15 values the samples also exhibit depletion in cr ni nb ta and ti content and high sr y 46 6 64 7 and la yb 17 0 25 0 ratios these features are similar to those of high k calc alkaline adakite like magma formed by partial melting of thickened lower crust in continental collision zones or intracontinental settings the majority of the samples have tdm2 hf of 1 5 1 2 ga corresponding to weakly negative ehf t values 4 75 to 0 13 typical of crustal material but more than one quarter have tdm1 hf of 0 80 0 71 ga corresponding to positive ehf t values of 0 07 to 2 45 indicating that the granitoids resulted from partial melting of mesoproterozoic lower crustal rocks with significant input from enriched lithospheric mantle derived magmas zircons from the xiaohekou granitoids have fmq values concentrated around 0 62 to 5 54 most of which show the magma fo2 of fmq to hm in accordance with the widespread occurrence of magnetite hematite and specularite in the xiaohekou skarn system which is an indicator of relatively high fo2 for a magmatic hydrothermal system the granitoids exhibit similar or even higher ce4 ce3 average of 452 and eu eu average of 0 72 values in comparison with those of fertile cu deposits worldwide indicating that the xiaohekou granitoids may possess the potential to form a large magmatic hydrothermal cu deposit zircons of the granitoids show obvious positive correlations between oxidation indices ce and eu anomalies ce4 ce3 ratios and fmq values and ehf t values implying the involvement of an oxidized mantle component which might have caused the fo2 elevation and played an important role in the formation of cu deposits the zircon u pb ages 141 3 1 3 and 138 1 2 0 ma of the xiaohekou ore related granitoids obtained in this study are similar to the zircon u pb and molybdenite re os ages yielded from porphyry mo mineralization at the chigou and lengshuigou deposits in the zha shan ore district indicating that they are possibly part of a single tectonic magmatic and metallogenic event in the yanshan orogeny the ore related granitoids in the xiaohekou area were formed in a post collisional compression extension transition regime during the early cretaceous qinling intracontinental orogeny the orogeny can be attributed to the far field effect of a switch from pre mesozoic tethyan tectonics to late mesozoic pacific tectonics this triggered a stress field transition from n s to e w trending and from intracontinental subduction thickening to large scale lithospheric delamination and thinning

in situ rutile u pb dating based on zircon calibration using la icp ms geological applications in the dabie orogen china abstract rutile u pb dating by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la icp ms has received increasing attention in geological applications previous natural rutile reference materials are insufficient to meet the growing demand of working standards for laser u pb dating in present study we have developed a new calibration strategy for la icp ms rutile dating using the most popular zircon as reference material the matrix dependent elemental fractionation of rutile and zircon could effectively decrease to a better level by optimized analytical parameters and with large ablation spot size 44 90 m the acceptable pb u correction coefficient between rutile and zircon could be obtained while the diameter depth ratio of the crater is above 1 after assessing elemental fractionation of different ablation size five rutile were analyzed by zircon calibration and their ages show strong agreement with those obtained by secondary ion mass spectrometry sims or thermal ionization mass spectrometry tims analysis with both precision and accuracy within 2 two rutiles of eclogitic rocks from the dabie orogen yield the ages of 207 0 2 1 ma and 205 6 2 4 ma respectively both ages are conceivably younger than that previously reported rutile ages 218 ma for eclogites the quite different u pb ages of rutile from different localities most likely indicate the different exhumation history of the subducted continental crust la icp ms rutile u pb dating using zircon as an external calibration reference material would assuage rutile reference material insufficient supply and improve its widespread application

timing of collision of the sino korean and yangtse cratons u pb zircon dating of coesite bearing eclogites the suture zone between the sino korean and yangtse cratons in central china is marked by a series of fault bounded belts composed of crustal protoliths in the dabie mountains some of these blocks contain coesite and diamond indicating subduction to minimum depths of 120 km as a result of continental collision the blocks range from the structurally lowest ultrahigh pressure metamorphic belt and decrease in metamorphic grade upsection to the structurally highest low greenschist facies belt furthermore the faults mark large contrasts in metamorphic grade these features form a structure that is similar to metamorphic core complexes indicating extension as part of the exhumation process timing of the continental collision has previously been inferred as late triassic from regional geologic relations or caledonian from 40 ar 39 ar dating of the adjacent and possibly related qinling metamorphic belt u pb dating of zircon from ultra high pressure eclogites yields a metamorphic age of 209 2 ma this age coincides with later stages of collision and is therefore a minimum estimate of the time of collision

nature age and tectonic setting of granitoid hosted orogenic gold deposits of the jiaodong peninsula eastern north china craton china the jiaodong gold province along the southeastern margin of the north china craton has combined production and resources of 900 tonnes of gold more than 95 of the gold in this province is hosted in mesozoic granitoids which intruded late archean metamorphic basement rocks episodically at ca 160 150 and 130 126 ma the deposits of the jiaodong peninsula form one of the largest provinces of granitoid hosted lode gold deposits in the world the jiaodong gold deposits occur as massive auriferous quartz veins hosted in subsidiary second or third order faults and as disseminated and stockwork style mineralization hosted in alteration zones along major regional scale faults mineralization took place during brittle reactivation d3 of pre existing d2 ductile shear zones wall rock alteration is dominated by k feldspar and sericite with also sulfide minerals and extensive silicification closest to the orebodies the alteration was accompanied by the introduction of volatiles fe mg k rb ag as au bi and sb enrichment of base metals in the gold lodes is generally low although locally significant gold deposition took place at temperatures of 250 to 350 c for most gold deposits and the ore fluids are co2 bearing and have calculated salinities of 6 13 wt nacl equiv deposits from the zhao ye xixia and muping rushan belts have similar if not identical structural controls alteration patterns ore mineral assemblages and stable isotope signatures lead isotope data indicate that the ore stage leads were buffered by their host rocks the granitoid hosted gold deposits in the zhao ye belt are most radiogenic the greenstone hosted deposits in the xixia belt is the least radiogenic and the granitoid hosted deposits in the muping rushan belt have intermediate compositions gold mineralization in the zhao ye xixia and muping rushan belts in the jiaodong gold province appears to be broadly contemporaneously at ca 130 120 ma as constrained by shrimp u pb zircon dating on host rocks and a post gold dike as well as by ar ar rb sr and k ar dating of hydrothermal alteration minerals and ores this early cretaceous age is about 100 million years younger than the peak of ultra high pressure metamorphism in the qinling dabie sulu orogen between the north china and yangtze cratons and about 500 km south of the gold province however it overlaps with the extension and exhumation stage of the collisional orogeny and the subduction of the pacific plate beneath the eurasian continental crust whereas the majority of the jiaodong gold deposits occur on the margin of the north china craton some also occur in the suture zone between the two cratons they are significantly landward relative to the subduction zone of the pacific plate compared with typical orogenic lode gold deposits globally lode gold deposits of ca 130 120 ma occurred on both sides of the tan lu fault zone available data favor a temporal link of gold mineralization with pacific plate subduction

tectonic motion and deformation from satellite laser ranging to lageos satellite laser ranging slr to lageos acquired during the period 1978 1988 has been analyzed to yield estimates of tectonic motion for 22 laser tracking stations situated on seven major plates the analysis is based on the precise modeling of the orbit dynamics of lageos and includes the determination of other geodynamic and nonconservative force model parameters involved in the orbit determination problem at the centimeter level site velocities were recovered from station positions determined each calendar quarter using a network adjustment procedure which maintains the reference frame within the stable interior of tectonic plates the recovered motions indicate good agreement with existing estimates of stress fields particularly across northern europe the eastern pacific and in the basin and range province of north america a comparison of the intersite motions for stations centrally located on separate plates between slr and those implied by the nuvel 1 geologic motion model yield a strong positive correlation of 0 989 and a 3 7 scale difference which may be attributable to recent changes in relative velocities or geologic time scale uncertainties sites located at or within 250 km of convergent plate boundaries have additional components of motion indicating a need for further tectonic modeling beyond that provided by simple rigid plate motions for lines crossing the north atlantic the san andreas fault and within the basin and range province the geodesic rates determined by slr are in good agreement with those determined by very long baseline interferometry an alternative space geodetic technique

paleomagnetic constraints on the geodynamic history of the major blocks of china from the permian to the present paleomagnetic study of china and its environs has been the center of a major international effort for the last 10 years in this paper we critically review all available paleomagnetic poles of upper permian to tertiary age from the main blocks of china with the goal of placing constraints on models of the formation and the subsequent deformation of the region after selecting reliable poles by applying objective criteria we divide our analysis into first order motions of blocks and second order deformation within blocks for first order analysis apparent polar wander paths are constructed for the major blocks we discuss the compatibilities and contradictions between the geological and paleomagnetic records a sequence of paleogeographic configurations taking into account geological constraints but remaining within paleomagnetic uncertainties is presented in general the major blocks were probably in contact throughout the permian and triassic but the jurassic was the key age during which most of the movement toward china s present configuration took place our reconstructions include certain details which are suggested by the paleomagnetic record but whose geological signatures seem to have been hidden by subsequent events during the cretaceous chinese poles agree with poles from other continents transferred onto eurasia at the second order we observe that for almost each period with sufficient data the paleomagnetic poles are streaked along a small circle centered on the sampling region indicating that much of china has been affected by small 20 differential rotations this we interpret as deformation caused in part by the extrusion of the chinese blocks away from the indian collision the complete annotated list of poles is given as an appendix

fluid melt rock interaction in mafic eclogites and coesite bearing metasediments constraints on volatile recycling during subduction the question as to whether the metasomatizing slab agent needed to form island arc magmas is an aqueous fluid or a hydrous melt requires a knowledge of fluid melt rock interaction during high pressure low temperature metamorphism in the western alps typical anhydrous mafic eclogites monviso massif and coesite bearing metasediments dora maira massif have experienced a prograde p t path characteristic of a mature cold subduction zone microstructural petrologic geochemical and fluid inclusion studies show that fluid flow was limited during eclogite and high grade blueschist facies metamorphism most of the fluids were driven off the rocks at pressures lower than 1 and 1 6 gpa respectively with increasing pressure and temperature the remaining fluid phase was released during crystal plastic flow processes or devolatilisation reactions but retain the host rocks to form veins partial melts or dense hydrous silicates tectonic erosion at modern convergent margins delivers large amounts of terrigenous sediments kmash system in subduction zones in contrast to the basalt and peridotite systems the kmash system is characterized by a wide range of pressure sensitive reactions which allow the reconstruction of dehydration hydration depths in the subducted slab independently of the thermal structure of subduction zones terrigenous sediments will begin to melt at pressures 2 gpa the melt phase can absorb tremendeous quantities of water and represent major sinks for devolatilisation fluids dense hydrous silicates will form in any subducted sediments at all depths these silicates can store significant amount of water in their structure in the subducted oceanic crust and upper mantle heterogeneous distribution of fluids inherited from hydrothermal alteration at mid ocean ridges will cause contemporaneous dehydration and hydration reactions on a local scale rather than large scale fluid infiltration in the overlying mantle wedge the situation where a cold competent and fluid rich subducted slab is bounded above by a hot relatively weak and anhydrous material is likely to act against buoyant rise of devolatilisation fluids by forcing the fluids to flow downwards at sub arc depths 50 10 to 80150 km and for any geothermal gradient continuous internal buffering of volatile activities will retain the fluid phase in the slab this is in contrast with shallow sub forearc depths 20 to 50 10 km where tectonic vein arrays localized thrust faults serpentine diapirs mud volcanoes and boninite magmas attest to the release of large volume of fluids into the overriding mantle wedge

ar ar geochronology of ultrahigh pressure metamorphism in central china the dabie shan of china contain the largest areal exposure of ultrahigh pressure regional metamorphic rock known on earth the thermal history of these unusual rocks is central to understanding the tectonic processes responsible for their creation preservation and exhumation published ages of ultrahigh pressure metamorphism and subsequent cooling range from archean to jurassic by analyzing 21 dabie hornblende phengite and biotite samples by the 40ar 39ar method we find that 1 cooling from peak metamorphic temperatures to 300 c occurred between about 206 and 178 ma 2 widespread cretaceous ages reflect reheating by a postultrahigh pressure magmatic extensional episode 3 40ar 39ar and k ar ages older than 230 ma and perhaps 210 ma are geologically meaningless due to the incorporation of excess 40ar and 4 dabie ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks are temporally related to blueschist facies rocks farther west in the suture zone

metamorphic evolution and 40ar 39ar geochronology of the wuguan complex eastern qinling area china implications for the late paleozoic tectonic evolution of the qinling orogen abstract the late paleozoic tectonic evolution of the qinling orogen is poorly constrained the wuguan complex which lies between the north qinling and south qinling tectonic belts represents a late paleozoic metamorphic belt of the qinling orogen in this contribution we report new metamorphic pressure temperature p t constraints and 40ar 39ar ages of garnet amphibolites and garnet bearing metapelites from the wuguan complex textural observations and mineral compositions especially garnets with two stages of growth indicate the wuguan complex experienced two distinct metamorphic events conventional geothermobarometry and phase equilibria modelling indicate that the earlier metamorphism had peak p t conditions of 660 725 c and 8 0 12 0 kbar with a clockwise p t path whereas the later metamorphic overprint records p t conditions of 560 610 c and 7 5 9 0 kbar hornblendes from amphibolites yield 40ar 39ar ages of 306 299 ma whereas muscovites from garnet bearing metapelites yield 40ar 39ar ages of 252 251 ma the two groups of 40ar 39ar ages correspond to the cooling time of the two distinct metamorphic events respectively combining with previously published zircon u pb ages from the wuguan complex and two groups of metamorphic ages from the guishan complex and the xiongdian eclogite belt we infer that the earlier metamorphism probably occurred at the hangingwall of a subduction zone during carboniferous subduction of oceanic crust the later metamorphic overprint might have been related to the initial collision between the sino korean and yangtze cratons during the late permain

geochronology and isotopic character of ultrahigh pressure metamorphism with implications for collision of the sino korean and yangtze cratons central china the collision zone between the sino korean and yangtze cratons in central china is marked by subduction related metamorphic rocks composed of crustal protoliths these range in metamorphic grade from ultrahigh pressure eclogite to low greenschist facies the paragenesis of the ultrahigh pressure rocks coesite and diamond bearing indicates subduction to depths greater than 120 km as a result of continental collision despite extreme metamorphic conditions zircons have not undergone pb loss but rather illustrate two periods of growth crystallization between 700 and 800 ma and ultrahigh pressure metamorphism at 218 2 5 ma previous studies have predicted a time transgressive collision but age data presented in this study indicate that the collision was approximately coeval along the length of the suture u pb zircon ages of these ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks are 218 4 2 5 ma and 217 1 8 7 ma for the dabie mountains and shandong peninsula respectively the similar ages imply that the tan lu fault which offsets the ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks is a secondary feature not related to collision or subduction whole rock isotopic data show that both rb sr and u pb were open systems during metamorphism but that sm nd probably remained closed nd initial isotopes display crustal signatures indicating that the crust subducted as a coherent slab rather than becoming intercalated with mantle material at depth sm nd data in conjunction with u pb zircon dating indicate that the ultrahigh pressure rocks are not typical yangtze craton basement 2 9 ga but that they originally crystallized in a rift environment between 700 and 800 ma discrepancies between 40ar 39ar plateaus sm nd isochrons and u pb zircon ages render calculation of a p t t path unrealistic

and mg fe si al2 compositional control on argon behaviour in high pressure white micas a continuous laser probe study from the dora maira nappe of the internal western alps italy abstract high pressure white micas from a restricted area in the dora maira nappe of the western alps italy were analyzed by the conventional 40 ar 39 ar bulk sample step heating method and by the step heating and the spot fusion 40 ar 39 ar continuous laser probe techniques on single grains high si ferich phengites from fine grained gneisses display homogeneous 35 40 ma plateau and spot fusion ages consistent with the upper eocene 40 ar 39 ar phengite ages documented over the whole internal western alps in contrast phengite separates and single grains of high si and mg rich to intermediate composition selected from metapelitic and mg rich mica schist samples yield older discordant apparent ages even when sampled in the same outcrop as the fine grained gneisses these local age variations are interpreted to reflect primarily an increasing ar retentivity with increasing mg content in phengites in metapelite derived white micas the isotopic discordance is marked by 1 1 a characteristic bulk sample upward convex spectrum shape 2 2 single grain disturbed age spectra 3 3 a systematic radially outward decrease in spot ages across individual mica cleavage planes and 4 4 strong grain to grain spot age variations in rock sections 1 1 in mg rich mica schists the isotopic discordance is observed as a reproducible upward convex bulk sample age spectrum with high 140 ma intermediate apparent ages 2 2 upward convex single grain age spectra and 3 3 irregular intra and intergrain age gradients on geochemical grounds it is argued that the isotopic discordance occurring in the metapelites is mainly controlled by the compositional changes introduced by the mg fe si al2 celadonitic re equilibration of the high pressure phengites during greenschist overprinting in mg rich phengites this chemical re equilibration may induce ar loss below their presumed higher blocking temperature a model of ar behaviour in high pressure white micas is proposed which explains the age variations recorded throughout the different lithologies in terms of a simple interaction between the mg fe compositional control on ar retentivity and the mg fe si al2 modifications occurring in phengites during progressive overprinting

zircon u pb dating of water rock interaction during neoproterozoic rift magmatism in south china abstract a combined study of zircon u pb dating and mineral o isotope analysis was carried out for neoproterozoic granite gabbro and gabbrodiorite from the beihuaiyang zone that marks a rifted margin between the south china block and the supercontinent rodinia the results provide precise constraints on timing of water rock interaction resulting in unusual 18 o depletion in igneous minerals cl imaging reveals that zircons mostly show clear oscillatory and or sector zoning with or without thin alteration rims no metamorphic zircon occurs in the igneous intrusives although they suffered greenschist facies metamorphism during triassic continental collision la icpms zircon u pb dating yields consistent ages of 739 8 to 754 5 ma which are interpreted as timing of magma crystallization mineral separates have highly variable 18 o values of 0 6 to 6 8 for zircon 1 2 to 12 5 for quartz and 0 3 to 8 4 for plagioclase oxygen isotope heterogeneities exist within single intrusions and between different intrusions magmatic zircons with low 18 o values and a weighted mean u pb age of 748 6 ma crystallized from low 18 o magmas that were derived from melting of hydrothermally altered low 18 o rocks both low and normal 18 o intrusives in the beihuaiyang zone are shown to form at the same time contemporaneous with the rodinia breakup thus tectonic evolution from supercontinental rift to breakup is proposed to create conditions for alternating processes of high t hydrothermal alteration and low 18 o magmatism such processes are a characteristic feature of high t water rock interaction in volcanic rift margins associated with localized water saturated melting while the occurrence of low 18 o magmas demonstrates penetration of meteoric water into the rift tectonic zone of crustal melting the existence of normal 18 o magmas indicates that their emplacement may serve as a thermal engine to drive the second stage of meteoric water rock interaction resulting in the unusual 18 o depletion in adjacent rocks the concurrent occurrence of both low and normal 18 o magmas appears to indicate highly heterogeneous high t water rock interaction during rift magmatism

regional ultrahigh pressure coesite bearing eclogitic terrane in central china evidence from country rocks gneiss marble and metapelite the dabie mountains represent a fault bounded coesite bearing eclogite gneissic terrane within the collisional belt between the sino korean and yangtze cratons the following geologic evidence indicates that this terrane has been subjected to regional ultrahigh pressure metamorphism 1 the country rocks have a metamorphic pressure temperature evolution compatible with that of the eclogites on the basis of the occurrence of quartz pseudomorphs after coesite calcite pseudomorphs after aragonite relict high pressure assemblages in different rock types of the country rocks and consistent comparable compositional zonations of garnets in both country rocks and eclogites 2 peak metamorphic pressure temperature conditions consistently decrease both from east to west in the collisional belt and from north to south in the dabie mountains and clockwise pressure temperature paths are common for eclogites over the region 3 layered eclogites interbedded with gneisses and amphibolites contain omphacite kyanite and garnet indicating a minimum pressure of 20 kbar at 600 c for formation of these rocks

stable isotopic and trace element evidence for restricted fluid migration in 2 gpa eclogites mineral stable isotopic and trace element studies in 2 gpa banded eclogites of the tauern window eastern alps record mm to cm scale heterogeneities that reflect compositional variations in the accompanying metamorphic fluids a close correlation between dolomite mode and dolomite 18o is consistent with equilibrium partitioning among coexisting minerals and fluids small variations in dolomite 13c values correspond with 18o variations but an overall decrease in dolomite 13c by c 1 o across a 12 cm sample is a relict feature that pre dates eclogite equilibration garnet omphacite and clinozoisite rims show little systematic mineral mineral partitioning behaviour for ti v cr y sr or zr major elements however are well equilibrated among these same minerals despite the apparent lack of mineral mineral trace element equilibration most of the trace elements vary systematically with water activity calculated in each layer trace element behaviour during the eclogite metamorphism thus appears to have been controlled largely by mineral fluid interactions along grain boundaries shallow structural levels in other subduction complexes c 10 45 km typically exhibit fracture controlled permeability and extensive metasomatism but there is no field or geochemical evidence for extensive fluid advection during high pressure metamorphism in the tauern eclogites because most dewatering and devolatilization during tectonic burial occurs prior to eclogite conditions the volumetric fluid rock ratio in eclogites should generally be low low fluid rock ratios coupled with the possible non wetting nature of the fluids permits the production and preservation of fine scale chemical heterogeneities in deeply subducted eclogites and associated fluids however the eventual breakdown at greater depth of volatile bearing dolomite phengite clinozoisite zoisite or amphibole could lead to renewed fracture controlled fluid release from the subducted rocks to regions appropriate for arc magma generation

high temperature geochronology constraints on the tectonic history and architecture of the ultrahigh pressure dabie sulu orogen 1 new u pb zircon and th pb monazite ages are presented from the giant sulu ultrahigh pressure uhp terrane combined with sm nd ages rb sr ages inclusion relationships and geologic relationships they help define the timing of peak recrystallization the timing of subsequent amphibolite facies metamorphism and the architecture of the dabie sulu suture zone between the collided sino korean and yangtze cratons the data indicate a 15 myr record of uhp recrystallization the first clearly documented for a giant uhp terrane this requires that continental subduction in the dabie sulu orogen involved multiple uhp tectonic or recrystallization events a 244 236 ma precursor uhp event seen only in the dabie shan was followed by a second 230 220 ma main uhp event which was itself terminated by a 220 205 ma amphibolite facies overprint older eclogite facies events seen in the qinling segment of this orogenic belt raise the possibility that these rocks have undergone u hp metamorphism three or four times but at present there is no geochronological evidence in the dabie sulu area to support this the subduction of the lower yangtze plate did not proceed in a simple fashion the ages of inherited zircon cores demonstrate that a ribbon continent of yangtze affinity escaped subduction and became wedged against the sino korean plate hanging wall

contemporary global horizontal crustal motion summary an analysis of satellite laser ranging slr data to the lageos satellite has yielded improved estimates of the horizontal motion for a subset of 34 tracking sites within the global tracking network the analysis called sl8 3 utilized data acquired between 1980 january and 1993 june by the global network composed of 71 sites the solution design provides for the simultaneous estimation of site positions and their velocities within a pre defined kinematic frame the solution is statistically rigorous and retains the full correlation information content least squares estimates of relative poles of rotation which are used to model the motion of one plate relative to another were made based on the slr estimated velocities for sites known to be well away from deformation zones the resulting slr based relative rotation poles differ slightly from those of nuvel 1 but in general indicate that the magnitude of the slr implied velocities is slower than those implied by nuvel 1 consistent with the 4 5 per cent slowing in relative spherical rates noted in earlier comparisons spherical rates between sites in western north america support models of extension in the basin and range province and the rotation of the sierra nevada microplate an analysis of the spherical rates crossing the north atlantic shows that sl8 3 estimated extension between north america eurasia sites is generally smaller than those implied by nuvel 1 meanwhile sl8 3 rates between north america africa sites are in better agreement with nuvel 1 although they are not so well determined the maintenance and ongoing monitoring of global slr site kinematics provides a well defined global reference which will aid in combination global kinematic solutions where information from other technologies are merged e g very long baseline interferometry and global positioning system and in providing the context for densification studies of regional kinematics derived from terrestrial and global positioning system observations

triassic diorites and granitoids in the foping area constraints on the conversion from subduction to collision in the qinling orogen china abstract the western qinling is characterized by triassic granitic plutons which are keys to constrain the timing of subduction and collisional processes between the north china and south china blocks this paper presents a set of new la icpms u pb zircon geochronology major and trace element geochemistry for several representative diorite and granitoid plutons in the foping area the diorites are characterized by high mgo al2o3 y and yb contents but low sio2 sr y and la yb ratios as well as depletion of nb ta p and ti suggesting derived from a subduction related setting la icpms zircon u pb age of 216 9 1 5 ma mswd 0 69 from the diorite constrains the time of the subduction event the medium and fine grained monzogranites as well as the biotite granites exhibit relative high sio2 mgo and rb low y and yb contents and low sr y and la yb ratios as well as various depletions of nb ta p and ti these features indicate a derivation from lower continental crust but had been influenced by slab released fluids in a syn collisional setting the medium grained monzogranite and biotite granite yield la icpms zircon u pb ages of 207 3 2 1 ma mswd 1 8 and 201 6 1 2 ma mswd 1 04 respectively proposing the syn collision during ca 207 201 ma geochemical and geological evidences suggest that the granodiorites intruding in the syn collisional monzogranites were related to the post orogenic collapse after the collision between the north china and south china blocks the la icpms u pb zircon age of 189 3 2 9 ma mswd 5 6 for the granodiorite constrains the time of the post orogenic collapse our geochronological and geochemical data provide important constraints on the triassic evolution from subduction to collision then up to post collisional collapse along the qinling orogen

a reassessment of the stress and natural fracture orientations from analysis of image logs in the chinese continental scientific drilling program borehole at donghai county jiangsu province china abstract the chinese continental scientific drilling ccsd project has drilled a 5100 m deep research borehole in the sulu ultra high pressure uhp metamorphic belt eastern china the uhp metamorphic belt is thought to be a product of continent continent collision and has consequently experienced very intensive structural deformation based on a more complete well log data set of ccsd borehole we can have a more detailed and reliable study on the structure features of borehole wall and other rock physical properties than a previous study published in 2009 abundant data related to borehole breakouts bos drilling induced tensile fractures ditfs and natural fractures were collected from the image logs the bo and ditf data indicate that the average direction of the maximum horizontal principal stress sh of the ccsd borehole site is about 79 2 which is consistent with the convergent direction e w of the pacific sea plate with respect to the eurasian plate analysis of ditfs indicated that in the case of the ccsd borehole axial drilling induced tensile fractures aditfs occur occasionally in the upper section 0 2300 m of the borehole with low dipping angle 0 10 while transverse drilling induced tensile fractures tditfs occur significantly in the lower section 3800 5000 m with high dipping angle 10 30 the natural fracture distribution at depth in the metamorphic rocks of the ccsd borehole indicates that 1 the failure strength of rocks and borehole depth are two factors that affects natural fracture frequency 2 most of the dip azimuth of natural fractures is consistent with the dip azimuth of foliations observed in the core 3 the development of most of the natural fractures probably was dominated by the development of foliations and both the natural fractures and foliations developed in response to the subduction and exhumation of the sulu terrene

oxygen and hydrogen isotope geochemistry of gneisses associated with ultrahigh pressure eclogites at shuanghe in the dabie mountains the oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of minerals and whole rock were determined for two types of gneiss biotite gneiss and granitic gneiss associated with ultrahigh pressure uhp eclogites in the shuanghe district of the eastern dabie mountains there are significant differences in 18o between the two gneisses the uhp biotite gneiss varying from 4 3 to 10 6 similar to the associated eclogites whereas the non uhp granitic gneiss ranges only from 3 8 to 1 2 the d values are similar in the two gneisses with 37 to 64 for epidote zoisite 92 to 83 for amphibole and 63 to 109 for biotite phengite hydrogen isotope disequilibrium among the coexisting hydroxyl bearing minerals is ascribed to retrograde exchange subsequent to amphibolite facies metamorphism oxygen isotopic equilibrium has been preserved among various minerals in both gneisses regardless of the large variation in rock 18o oxygen isotopic geothermometers yield different but regular temperatures corresponding to the closure temperatures of oxygen diffusion in the minerals the metamorphic temperatures of both eclogite facies and amphibolite facies have been recovered in mineral pairs from the biotite gneiss the isotopic temperatures for the granitic gneiss are mostly in accordance with amphibolite facies metamorphism however high temperatures of 550 to 650 c are obtained from those minerals resistant to retrograde oxygen isotope exchange implying that the granitic gneiss may have experienced higher temperature metamorphism than expected from petrologic thermometers the 18o depletion of both gneisses is interpreted to result from meteoric hydrothermal exchange before during plate subduction therefore the measured 18o values of the gneisses reflect the oxygen isotope compositions of their protoliths prior to the uhp metamorphism it is inferred that the uhp unit is in foreign contact with the non uhp unit like a tectonic melange but both of them experienced the two common stages of geodynamic evolution 1 18o depletion prior to the uhp metamorphism 2 uplifting since the amphibolite facies metamorphism

geochronology and petrogenesis of shoshonitic igneous rocks luzong volcanic basin middle and lower yangtze river reaches china abstract the luzong volcanic basin has a unique tectonic background being located at the northeastern margin of the yangtze craton and the foreland of the dabie sulu orogen near the intersection of the renowned tanlu and yangtze river faults the volcanic and subvolcanic rocks in the basin are characterized by high potassium contents and are rich in alkali elements and belong to a typical shoshonite series geochemically these rocks are depleted in high field strength elements such as nb and ta and enriched in highly incompatible elements such as rb th u k and light rare earth elements nd and sr isotope compositions combined with elemental geochemical characteristics indicate that the parental magmas were formed mainly by partial melting of enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle the magmas underwent minor or negligible contamination by upper crustal rocks or fractional crystallization at low pressures i e 1 5 gpa dominated by the removal of clinopyroxene and fe ti oxides the volcanic rocks of the luzong basin can be divided into four formations which from early to late are the longmenyuan zhuanqiao shuangmiao and fushan formations each separated by clear gaps in eruptive activity in this study we obtained zircon u pb shrimp ages from two subvolcanic samples from the longmenyuan and zhuanqiao formations which yield emplacement ages of 132 1 ma and 131 1 ma these data combined with ages reported by other workers show that the duration of volcanism in the luzong basin and the whole middle and lower yangtze river reaches was very short 8 ma we consider that in the early cretaceous the foreland area of the dabie orogenic belt was under extension influenced by the relative motion of the pacific and eurasian plates and by sinistral displacement along the tanlu fault at this time rapid mechanical delamination of thickened lithosphere caused lithospheric thinning and resultant asthenospheric upwelling in the middle and lower yangtze river region and the dabie orogenic belt these deep geological and tectonic events in turn produced the shoshonite volcanic rocks in the luzong basin

40ar 39ar geochronology and exhumation of high pressure to ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks in east central china new 40 ar 39 ar ages from rocks in the high pressure and ultra high pressure hp uhp metamorphic complex in the hong9an and dabie mountains areas east central china document a two phase cooling and exhumation history following triassic continental collision and metamorphism phengite ages from blueschist through kyanite bearing eclogite facies rocks in hong9an record initial exhumation from the collision zone between 230 and 195 ma biotite and hornblende ages from migmatites and eclogite bearing gneisses from the dabie mountains record a cooling event between 128 and 117 ma corresponding to a regional episode of crustal anatexis and emplacement of granitic plutons the triassic through early jurassic 40 ar 39 ar cooling ages corroborate u pb and sm nd metamorphic ages from previous studies and suggest that initial exhumation of these rocks was rapid emplacement of granitic melts within the hp uhp sequences 80 m y after metamorphism suggests that the metamorphic rocks were either exhumed at slower rates or became arrested at depth subsequent to the initial rapid exhumation episode

application of ti in zircon and zr in rutile thermometers to constrain high temperature metamorphism in eclogites from the dabie orogen central china abstract ultrahigh pressure uhp eclogites from the northern dabie orogen central china underwent a complex metamorphic evolution during triassic continental deep subduction and subsequent exhumation the eclogites were strongly affected by multiple decompression and re crystallization processes during exhumation thus making the determination of peak metamorphic conditions particularly challenging the recently calibrated ti in zircon and zr in rutile thermometers provide new tools to estimate the peak and post peak temperatures rutiles within uhp mineral bearing domains of zircon have zr contents of 1030 4310 ppm and record a temperature range of 880 1080 c with a peak at 970 c rutiles within high pressure hp mineral bearing domains contain zr contents of 800 5800 ppm and define a temperature range of 780 1030 c with an average value of 873 c rutiles in granulite facies mineral bearing rims of zircon yield a temperature of 845 c in contrast rutile inclusions within garnet have lower zr contents of 100 800 ppm yielding lower temperatures of 600 850 c the uhp and hp mineral bearing mantle domains of zircon have ti contents of 2 15 97 8 ppm yielding ti in zircon temperatures of 620 1020 c ti contents in the rim domains of zircon are low 900 c for the uhp and hp domains of zircon therefore this study combined with the previously published data suggests that the eclogites in the region experienced a protracted high temperature ht metamorphic evolution from uhp eclogite facies to hp granulite facies metamorphic stages this long lived ht evolution coupled with slow cooling and partial melting may explain the rare preservation of uhp traces in the area hp uhp mineral inclusions in garnet and zircon experienced variable degrees of decompression breakdown or retrogression therefore also ti concentrations in zircons and zr concentrations in rutiles within garnet and zircon may have been strongly modified by re crystallization or partial melting as a result only few zircons record their actual crystallization temperatures in comparison the rutile inclusions in zircon generally define higher temperatures we therefore suggest that rutile inclusions in zircon are the most suitable candidates for ht estimates especially in strongly retrogressed eclogites

early mesozoic mo mineralization in the qinling orogen an overview abstract as one of the most important mo provinces in the world the qinling orogen is host to mainly late mesozoic late jurassic early cretaceous porphyry mo systems recently additional early mesozoic mainly triassic plus minor early jurassic mo deposits have been identified which occur as fault controlled quartz veins or as carbonatite veins and as such they are fundamentally different from the commonly observed porphyry systems furthermore early mesozoic porphyry systems are also present but they are different from those of late mesozoic age thus early mesozoic mo systems not only offer a new and comprehensive view of the mo metallogenesis but also provide unique insight into the tectonic evolution of the qinling orogen taking into consideration the role of mineral deposits as ideal probes of the geodynamic evolution the known early mesozoic mo deposits in qinling can be classified into three types based on their geological and geochemical features porphyry carbonatite and orogenic systems porphyry mo systems including porphyry porphyry skarn and intrusion related veins are spatially and genetically associated with granitic porphyries they display typical porphyry type alterations and are formed by magmatic water carbonatites are considered as mantle derived igneous rocks and mo mineralization is associated with magmatic fluids orogenic mo systems occur as fault controlled quartz lodes and the ore forming fluids are medium high temperature co2 rich metamorphic fluids spatially early mesozoic porphyry mo systems are concentrated in the western and middle part of the qinling orogen whereas carbonatite veins and orogenic mo systems are located in the northeastern part temporally orogenic mo deposits were the earliest mainly between 220 and 250 ma followed by carbonatite veins mainly between 205 and 225 ma and porphyry mo systems mainly between 190 and 205 ma with some exceptions there is generally a trend of decreasing deposit ages toward the western part of the orogen detailed comparison reveals that the early mesozoic porphyry mo systems in the qinling orogen are different from the late mesozoic ones in terms of their economic importance spatial distribution ore causative intrusions hydrothermal alteration and the ore forming fluids to explain the above geological and geochemical features the triassic qinling is considered as an active continental margin caused by the northward subduction of the mian lue oceanic plate a transition from continental arc to back arc basin is suggested for the formation of triassic orogenic and carbonatite vein mo deposits whereas continental arc is host to the early mesozoic porphyry mo systems

tectonics of an ultrahigh pressure metamorphic terrane the dabie shan tongbai shan orogen china ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks with coesite and diamond form a tectonic slice over 20 km thick called the eclogite zone within the dabie shan complex in the qinling orogen in central china the orogen separates the sino korean block in the north from the yangtze block in the south the dabie shan complex is a composite terrane made up of eclogite facies and amphibolite facies gneiss slices and represents fragments of the lower continental crust of the yangtze block the dabie shan complex is bounded in the south by a triassic foreland fold thrust belt and in the north by a greenschist facies metaclastic unit the foziling group which probably represents the passive continental apron deposits of the yangtze block farther north is a granulite facies gneiss complex the qinling group which has ultramafic slivers and includes the remnants of an island arc with two bounding suture zones north of the qinling group are early paleozoic active margin deposits of the sino korean block the eclogite zone in the dabie shan complex is sandwiched between amphibolite facies gneiss slices dating by sm nd rb sr and ar ar of two eclogite samples from the eclogite zone gives early to middle triassic ages 236 246 ma the initial end values indicate reworking of a 2 11 and 1 55 ga continental crust a himalayan type tectonic evolution is envisaged for the qinling orogen with the creation of a 100 km thick crustal thrust wedge through continuous underplating during the subduction of the yangtze continental lithosphere exhumation of the ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks was chiefly achieved by the southward propagation of the thrust planes thereby isostatically uplifting and eroding the earlier deeply subducted parts of the orogen a total of 680 km of southward thrusting in front of dabie shan is inferred based on the abrupt termination of the tanlu fault normal faulting possibly caused by gravitational collapse probably also had a role in the exhumation process

conrad deep a new northern red sea deep origin and implications for continental rifting a previously unknown deep here called conrad deep was discovered during an extensive geophysical survey of the northern red sea in june 1984 conrad deep is located at 27 03 n 34 43 e only 90 km south of the gulf of suez and is the most northern deep yet discovered in the red sea it is located within a well developed axial depression which also contains charcot deep 100 km to the south the axial depression is associated with abundant recent deformation and is situated at the peak of a regional heat flow high extending across the rift conrad deep is typical of the small northern type red sea deep it is 10 km long 2 km wide and has a maximum depth of 1460 m it is associated with high and variable heat flow values and large magnetic anomalies there is no evidence of a dense brine layer detailed analysis of the geophysical data implies that the deep probably results from a very recent

excess argon in phengite from eclogite evidence from dating of eclogite minerals by smnd rbsr and 40ar39ar methods the existence of excess ar in phengites from coesite bearing ultrahigh pressure eclogites of the dabie mountains and su lu terrain china has been confirmed by dating of minerals using sm nd rb sr and 40ar39ar methods 40ar39ar ages of phengites for two samples studied are much older than the sm nd and rb sr mineral isochron ages sample ql 1 has rb sr age of 219 5 0 5 ma sm nd age of 226 3 4 5 ma and phengite 40ar39ar age of 877 5 15 9 ma the corresponding ages for sample zb 4 are 223 9 0 9 ma rb sr 228 4 6 0 ma sm nd and 943 3 12 4 ma 40ar39ar phengite an age of 225 ma based on the sm nd and rb sr mineral isochron ages is consistent with the time inferred from paleomagnetic and geological data for collision of the north china and yangtse blocks and formation of these eclogites we call for greater caution in 40ar39ar dating of phengites from other occurrences of ultrahigh pressure environments

field occurrences and petrology of eclogites from the dabie mountains anhui central china four distinct types of eclogites are recognized according to their field occurrences and mineral parageneses in a gneiss terrane of the dabie mountains a collision zone between the sino korean and yangtze cratons in central china some eclogites contain coesite and its quartz pseudomorphs enclosed in garnet and omphacite type i eclogites occur as layers in serpentinites and contain garnet clinopyroxene orthopyroxene phengite rutile and coesite pseudomorph type ii eclogites occur as lenticular bodies inside serpentinites and contain garnet clinopyroxene quartz rutile and edenitic hornblende type iii eclogites occur as blocks of 2 cm to 20 m in size in a matrix of hornblende gneiss and biotite gneiss and type iv eclogites occur as thin layers interbedded with amphibolites p t estimates for these different eclogites indicate that they were formed under different physical conditions all the eclogites were affected by later regional metamorphism for which the p t conditions are estimated this paper provides an introduction to the abundant eclogites from central china which have not been reported previously in western literature specifically the mode of field occurrence petrography mineral chemistry and formation conditions of the four types of eclogites are described the paper is thus designed to establish a petrological framework for future detailed studies of the eclogites and their country rocks in an ancient zone of collision

unusual hf contents in metamorphic zircon from coesite bearing eclogites of the dabie mountains east central china implications for the dating of ultrahigh pressure metamorphism metamorphic zircon from coesite bearing eclogites in the dabie mountains encloses high p phases and may have formed at the peak of ultrahigh pressure uhp metamorphism morphologically the metamorphic zircon typically occurs as small multi faceted near spherical grains with homogeneous internal structure and weak backscattered electron bse luminescence geochemically it is characterized by extremely high and relatively constant contents of hafnium hf and very low contents of y u and th reflecting the contraction of the zircon lattice under the uhp conditions high contents of hf may be characteristic of zircon formed during uhp metamorphism which has important consequences for interpretation of geochronological results we propose that the metamorphic zircon extremely enriched in hf may be used to date the peak of uhp metamorphism that produced the coesite bearing eclogites in the dabie mountains and potentially in other uhp terranes

zircon response to diamond pressure metamorphism in the kokchetav massif ussr ultrahigh pressure metamorphism of the diamond bearing gneisses in the kokchetav massif ussr has been dated at 530 7 ma 2 sgr by shrimp ion microprobe analysis of metamorphic zircons zircon xenocrysts as old as 2000 ma have retained original isotopic compositions through the extreme metamorphic conditions and indicate that the protolith that was buried to diamond forming pressures included early proterozoic components highly variable reset ting of u pb isotopic systems in zircon xenocrysts at the time of metamorphism suggests that diffusive lead loss had commenced but was incomplete a disequilibrium observation consistent with relatively transient exposure of the rocks to extreme crustal depths

structural geometry of an exhumed uhp terrane in the eastern sulu orogen china implications for continental collisional processes high precision 1 200 1 1000 mapping of yangkou bay eastern sulu orogen defines the structural geometry and history of one of the world s most significant uhp ultrahigh pressure belts at least four stages of folds are recognized in uhp eclogites and associated quartzo feldspathic gneiss uhp eclogite facies rootless f1 and isoclinal f2 folds are preserved locally in coesite eclogite mylonitic to ultramylonitic quartzo feldspathic and coesite eclogite shear zones separate small scale 5 10 m thick nappes of ultramafic mafic uhp rocks from banded quartzo feldspathic gneiss these shear zones are folded and progressively overprinted by amphibolite greenschist facies shear zones the prograde to retrograde d1 d5 deformation sequence is explained by deep subduction of offscraped thrust slices of lower continental or oceanic crust from the down going plate caught between the colliding north and south china cratons in the mesozoic after these slices were structurally isolated along the plate interface they were rolled in the subduction channel during exhumation and structural juxtaposition with quartzo feldspathic gneisses forming several generations of folds sequentially lower grade foliations and lineations and intruded by in situ and exotically derived melts shear zones formed during different deformation generations are wider with lower grades suggesting that deep crustal upper mantle deformation operates more efficiently perhaps with more active crystallographic slip systems than deformation at mid upper crustal levels

metamorphism and tectonic evolution of the lancang paired metamorphic belts south western china the lancang metamorphic terrane consists of an eastern low p t belt and a western high p t belt divided by a n s trending fault protoliths of both units are mid late proterozoic basement and its cover the low p t belt includes the permian lincang batholith related amphibolite facies rocks of the damenglong and chongshan groups and permo triassic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks most whole rock rb sr isochron and u pb zircon ages of the lincang batholith are in the range 290 279 and 254 212 ma respectively metamorphism of the low p t belt reaches upper amphibolite with local granulite facies 735 c at 5 kbar subsequently retrogressed at 450 500 c during post triassic time the high p t rocks grade from west to east from blueschist through transitional blueschist greenschist to epidote amphibolite facies estimated p t conditions follow the high p intermediate facies series up to about 550 600 c at which oligoclase is stable the 40ar 39ar plateau age of sodic amphibole in blueschist is 279 ma the paired metamorphic belts combined with the spatial and temporal distribution of other blueschist belts lead us to propose a tentative tectonic history of south east asia since the latest precambrian tectonic juxtaposition of paired belts with contrasting p t conditions perhaps during collision of the baoshan block with south east asia suggests that an intervening oceanic zone existed that has been removed the baoshan block is a microcontinent rifted from the northern periphery of gondwana successive collision and amalgamation of microcontinents from either gondwana or the panthalassan ocean resulted in rapid southward continental growth of c 500 km during the last 200 ma hence the lancang region in south east asia represents a suture zone between two contrasting microcontinents

high pressure low temperature metamorphism in northern hubei province central china the qinling dabie accretionary fold belt in east central china represents the e w trending suture zone between the sino korean and yangtze cratons a portion of the accretionary complex exposed in northern hubei province contains a high pressure low temperature metamorphic sequence progressively metamorphosed from the blueschist through greenschist to epidote amphibolite eclogite facies the hongan metamorphic belt can be divided into three metamorphic zones based on progressive changes in mineral assemblages zone in the south is characterized by transitional blueschist greenschist facies zone is characterized by greenschist facies zone in the northern most portion of the belt is characterized by eclogite and epidote amphibolite facies sequences changes in amphibole compositions from south to north as well as the appearance of increasingly higher pressure mineral assemblages toward the north document differences in metamorphic p t conditions during formation of this belt preliminary p t estimates for zone i metamorphism are 5 7 kbar 350 450 estimates for zone iii eclogites are 10 22 kbar 500 50 the petrographic chemical and structural characteristics of this metamorphic belt indicate its evolutionin a northward dipping subduction zone and subsequent uplift prior to and during the final collisionbetween the sino korean and yangtze cratons

plate interior polyphase fault systems and sedimentary basin evolution a case study of the east gobi basin and east gobi fault zone southeastern mongolia abstract structural interpretation of 2 d seismic reflection data and subsurface outcrop correlations reveal six distinct phases of deformation recorded in the paleozoic basement rocks and mesozoic cenozoic basin fill of the east gobi basin egb southeastern mongolia these phases include arc accretion and arc continent collision in late paleozoic time late triassic sinistral shear zone development early jurassic fold and thrust belt style shortening middle jurassic lower cretaceous extension and rift basin development middle cretaceous shortening with basin inversion and regional unconformity development and late cretaceous oligocene thermal subsidence with renewed paleogene left lateral strike slip faulting across the fault zone the five post amalgamation deformation phases are localized along the east gobi fault zone suggesting that preexisting structures and boundary conditions exert fundamental controls on the long term evolution of intracontinental basins such as the egb subsurface geophysical data and outcrop correlations demonstrate that the main subbasins of the egb contain major differences in basement metamorphic and structural fabrics basin fill patterns and distinct mesozoic cenozoic fault generations potential causes related to far field boundary conditions and other driving factors are suggested for each of the major deformation phases

observing tectonic plate motions and deformations from satellite laser ranging for the first time satellite laser ranging slr measurements from lageos are revealing changes in geodetic station positions suggestive of predicted global tectonic plate motions a detailed discussion of the latest slr results is given herein since the accuracy of tectonic plate velocities increases with the repetition rate and accuracy in the measurement of interplate distances activities are also described for increasing the temporal resolution and precision of baseline determinations the lageos laser data for the period january 1979 to the end of 1982 have been reanalyzed the results of this analysis are now approaching the useful accuracies required by geophysics for the better annually determined stations they include consistencies of 2 3 cm in station heights and 2 cm in annual baselines the slr results show overall agreement with the geologic tectonic rate model of minster and jordan with a linear cross correlation of 0 61 for 34 observed interstation rates improved temporal resolution was obtained in the measurement of specific baselines of moderate length through the large number of simultaneously observed passes

evidence for intracontinental thrust related exhumation of the ultra high pressure rocks in china coesite and diamond bearing ultra high pressure metamorphic rocks produced during the triassic continental collision between the sino korean and yangtze plates are offset by about 530 km along the sinistral tanlu fault in eastern china the tanlu fault terminates abruptly south of the ultra high pressure metamorphic terrain in dabie shan and does not extend into the foreland fold belt along the yangtze river this suggests that in this region the mesozoic major sinistral displacement along the tanlu fault was transferred to southward directed thrusting which led to the exhumation of the ultra high pressure metamorphic rocks formed earlier postcollisional himalayan type intracontinental thrusting and concomitant erosion appear to be the main agents in the exhumation of the very high pressure metamorphic rocks in china

relict proterozoic basement in the nanling mountains se china and its tectonothermal overprinting 1 the basement beneath the caledonian belt in se china has been overprinted by indosinian and yanshanian events and is poorly known in situ u pb and hf isotope analysis of zircons from granites and surrounding rocks in the nanling mountains area of the fold belt reveal that the lanhe felsic gneiss is an outcrop of mesoproterozoic basement probably with a partly late archean protolith this is consistent with nd model ages of granites in this region and exposures of cathaysia basement in the coastal area of se china in the nanling mountains this basement was reactivated to generate granitoid rocks during the caledonian indosinian and yanshanian tectonothermal events the caledonian overprint is documented in extensive exposures of the zhuguang migmatites 425 470 ma and by previous u pb zircon dating of adjacent granites the jiangnan granite may be of similar age but strongly reworked the indosinian overprint resulted in the formation of granites such as the luxi and xiazhuang bodies 233 246 ma in the guidong complex the yanshanian overprint produced the most widely distributed granites circa 160 ma such as the jiufeng and fogang bodies and parts of the guidong complex hf isotope data show that all of the phanerozoic magmatic rocks were derived from the mesoproterozoic basement and minor archean components without obvious contributions from juvenile sources the presence of zircons with archean age 2 5 2 7 ga in both the lanhe gneiss and devonian sediments indicates that the badu and mayuan groups may not be the oldest basement of the cathaysia block some archean basement circa 2 5 2 7 ga may still be exposed but unrecognized in this region and cathaysia may include archean microcontinental fragments

mechanism and time of deformation and metamorphism of mylonitic orthogneisses from the shagou shear zone qinling belt china abstract the shagou shear zone south of xian shaanxi province is a branch of the shangdan fault zone in the qinling belt and documents ductile deformation that affected granitoid rocks mylonitization took place under conditions of the lower amphibolite facies at temperatures of ca 530 c followed by a phase of stagnation still under the same metamorphic conditions the last deformation was a weak event during retrogressive greenschist metamorphism the emplacement of the granitoid precursors of the mylonite is dated at 211 8 ma by the u pb zircon method much younger than nd model ages of 1 2 1 3 ga which indicates the involvement of older continental crust probably in an active continental margin environment the end of mylonitic deformation is given by a sm nd garnet whole rock age of 126 9 ma which is interpreted as a minimum age for the main deformation these geochronological data provide age brackets for the main deformation which must have occurred between the late triassic and the early cretaceous

the formation of foliated garnet bearing granites in the tongbai dabie orogenic belt partial melting of subducted continental crust during exhumation foliated garnet bearing fgb granites are associated closely with and are usually the major wall rocks of the high pressure hp and ultrahigh pressure uhp metamorphic rocks in the tongbai dabie region the mid segment of the qinling dabie sulu orogenic belt in central china these granites appear either as small plutons or as veins which commonly intrude into or surround the hp and uhp metamorphic eclogites or gneisses the veins of fgb granites usually penetrate into the retrograded eclogites or gneisses along the foliations condensation rims can occasionally be found along the margins of granite veins these granites are rich in si and alkali with high ga al ratios and depleted in ca mg al ti sc v ni co cr and sr which are similar to a type granites in a chondrite normalized diagram the samples are light rare earth elements enriched with different extent of negative eu anomaly moreover rb nb ta sr p and ti show different degrees of negative anomalies whereas ba k la zr and hf show positive anomalies in the primitive mantle normalized diagram negative anomalies of eu and sr indicate strong influence of plagioclase in conventional discrimination diagrams these fgb granites belong to the a type granite with geochemical characteristics affinitive to post collisional granites the end 230 ma values 15 80 to 2 52 and tdm values 1 02 2 07 ga suggest that magma for the fgb granites were derived from a heterogeneous crustal source therefore the fgb granites may provide clues for deciphering the formation of post collisional granites it is proposed that the magma of the fgb granites both in the hp and uhp units was formed in an extensional tectonic setting slightly post dating the hp and uhp metamorphism most likely as a result of decompressional partial melting of uhp retrograded eclogites during exhumation

tectonics of the qinling belt build up and evolution of eastern asia the structure and history of the qinling range which separates the north and south china cratons are a key to the tectonic evolution of eastern asia the mountain range is composed of a northern palaeozoic belt and a southern mesozoic belt the palaeozoic orogeny probably involved the closure of an oceanic basin along a north dipping subduction zone followed by south vergent obduction of ophiolites and intracontinental thrusting during the devonian the mesozoic belt appears to be the product of purely intracontinental shallow crustal deformation over a large decollement with at least 100 km of horizontal transport since the devonian both belts have been sliced by huge east west sinistral strike slip faults

crustal structure and continental dynamics of central china a receiver function study and implications for ultrahigh pressure metamorphism abstract the qinling tongbai hong an dabie sulu orogenic belt records the tectonic history of paleozoic convergence between the south china and north china blocks in this study the distribution of crustal thickness and p and s wave velocity ratio vp vs is obtained by using the h k stacking technique from the dabie sulu belt in central china our results show marked differences in the crustal structure between the dabie and sulu segments of the ultrahigh pressure uhp orogen the lower crust in the dabie orogenic belt is dominantly of felsic intermediate composition whereas the crust beneath the sulu segment is largely intermediate mafic the crust of the dabie orogenic belt is thicker by ca 3 5 km as compared to that of the surrounding region with the presence of an orogenic root the crustal thickness is nearly uniform in the dabie orogenic belt with a generally smooth crust mantle boundary a symmetrically thickened crust in the absence of any deep structural features similar to that of the yangtze block suggests no supportive evidence for the proposed northward subduction of the yangtze continental block beneath the north china block we propose that the collision between the yangtze and north china blocks and extrusion caused crustal shortening and thickening as well as delamination of the lower crust resulting in asthenospheric upwelling and lower crustal uhp metamorphism along the dabie orogen our results also reveal the presence of a se to nw dipping moho in the north china block beneath the tran north china orogen and eastern block suggesting the fossil architecture of the northwestward subduction of the kula plate

carboniferous and triassic eclogites in the western dabie mountains east central china evidence for protracted convergence of the north and south china blocks shrimp u pb dating and laser ablation icp ms trace element analyses of zircon from four eclogite samples from the north western dabie mountains central china provide evidence for two eclogite facies metamorphic events three samples from the huwan shear zone yield indistinguishable late carboniferous metamorphic ages of 312 5 307 4 and 311 17 ma with a mean age of 309 3 ma one sample from the hong an group 1 km south of the shear zone yields a late triassic age of 232 10 ma similar to the age of ultra high pressure uhp metamorphism in the east qinling dabie orogenic belt ree and other trace element compositions of the zircon from two of the huwan samples indicate metamorphic zircon growth in the presence of garnet but not plagioclase namely in the eclogite facies an interpretation supported by the presence of garnet omphacite and phengite inclusions zircon also grew during later retrogression zircon cores from the huwan shear zone have ordovician to devonian 440 350 ma ages flat to steep heavy ree patterns negative eu anomalies and in some cases plagioclase inclusions indicative of derivation from north china block igneous and low pressure metamorphic source rocks cores from hong an group zircon are neoproterozoic 780 610 ma consistent with derivation from the south china block in the western dabie mountains the first stage of the collision between the north and south china blocks took place in the carboniferous along a suture north of the huwan shear zone the major triassic continent continent collision occurred along a suture at the southern boundary of the shear zone the first collision produced local eclogite facies metamorphism in the huwan shear zone the second produced widespread eclogite facies metamorphism throughout the dabie mountains sulu terrane and a lower grade overprint in the shear zone

a coherent lithostratigraphic unit in the coesite eclogite complex of dabie shan china geologic and petrologic evidence abstract as a contribution to the discussion about the in situ vs exotic origin of the ultrahigh pressure metamorphic uhpm rocks and to the real size of the exhumed tectonic units the wuhe pailou unit wpu in eastern dabie shan was studied the wpu typically consists of two micas epidote gneiss marble with minor eclogite and jadeite bearing granofels with rare garnetite and eclogite nodules these lithologies are enclosed within leucocratic granitic gneiss jadeite bearing granofels is the most peculiar lithology of the wpu being the only felsic rock in dabie shan still preserving extensive relics of the uhpm mineral assemblage the uhp peak assemblage is coesite jadeite garnet epidote phengite kyanite with accessory rutile apatite and zircon all eclogites consist of garnet omphacite quartz coesite rutile or high al titanite phengite clinozoisite kyanite two micas epidote gneiss associated with the jadeite bearing granofels typically consists of epidote muscovite biotite plagioclase k feldspar rare garnet and accessory rutile titanite apatite and zircon locally the wpu paragneiss contains garnet with inclusions of phengite kyanite rutile and amphibole na plagioclase symplectite after omphacite a clockwise p t path was inferred for the wpu which consists of an early prograde part up to coesite eclogite facies conditions p 3 3 gpa and t 720 c an early decompression stage and a late part characterised by a near adiabatic decompression down to medium pressure p 1 1 gpa t 670 c and to low pressure amphibolite facies conditions followed by a final cooling to greenschist facies conditions both field and laboratory data consistently suggest that the wpu characterised by the close association of paragneiss marble eclogite and granofels is a supracrustal metasedimentary sequence which underwent subduction uhpm and exhumation as a coherent tectonic unit therefore within collisional orogens large coherent slices of continental crust may be subducted at depths greater than 100 km

early cretaceous low mg adakitic granites from the dabie orogen eastern china petrogenesis and implications for destruction of the over thickened lower continental crust it is generally accepted that the low mg adakitic rocks were derived from the partial melting of metabasalts eclogites in this study we demonstrate that the early cretaceous low mg adakitic granites in the north dabie complex ndc were generated by the partial melting of the ndc orthogneisses here we present in situ u pb and lu hf isotopes in zircon with whole rock geochemical and sr nd isotopic compositions were carried out for the tiantangzhai porphyritic monzogranites from the dabie orogen eastern china the monzogranites are characterized by high sr 576 988 ppm low y 7 3 19 0 ppm and depletion in hree yb 0 50 1 78 ppm thus resulting in high sr y 34 3 135 2 and la yb n 17 0 105 2 ratios without a negative eu anomaly they also exhibit high sio2 66 5 73 5 wt and k2o 2 7 4 7 wt and low mgo 0 4 1 6 wt or mg 28 2 45 3 mostly 40 values whole rock geochemical compositions suggest that the monzogranites represent low mg adakitic rock with high si and rich k features equilibrated with residues rich in garnet sr nd isotopic compositions end t 16 2 to 20 3 87sr 86sr i 0 707798 0 708804 tdm2 nd 2 3 2 6 ga of the monzogranites are distinct from that of the eclogites and amphibolites in the dabie orogen but similar to that of the neoproterozoic 700 800 ma gneisses in the ndc u pb dating of zircons gives a consistent age of 130 0 3 4 ma with discordia upper intercept age of 716 34 ma for inherited cores identified by cl imaging correspondingly in situ lu hf analyses of early cretaceous young age spots from zircons yield initial 176hf 177hf ratios from 0 281898 to 0 282361 ehf t values from 28 1 to 17 6 and two stage crust hf model ages tdm2 from 2293 89 to 2949 108 ma which are generally in agreement with values of 0 281891 to 0 282218 28 2 to 11 7 and 1927 87 to 2963 92 ma for the pre mesozoic inherited cores respectively as for individual core rim pairs in zircon th u ratios increase from the inherited cores to the young growth rims possibly due to variable degrees of partial melting whereas 176lu 177hf ratios greatly decrease because of the garnet effect in residues thus we suggest that the early cretaceous low mg adakitic granites were derived from the partial melting of the ndc neoproterozoic 700 800 ma gneisses and the foundering of the garnet bearing residues could have caused the destruction of the over thickened lower continental crust

rate of change of the quincy monument peak baseline from a translocation analysis of lageos laser range data translocation studies of lageos laser range data from quincy and monument peak in california observed during 1984 1987 suggest that plate tectonic motion across the san andreas fault system in the direction of the baseline between the two stations is uniform at a rate of minus 30 plus minus 3 mm a changes in the components of the baseline vector were inferred from repeat determinations using the solutions from successive 0 5 year intervals the changes in the vertical and transverse components of the quincy monument peak baseline are minus 0 4 plus minus 5 mm a and 14 plus minus 5 mm a respectively the vertical component determinations attest to the height stability of the laser ranging method lageos measurements made from quincy and monument peak before 1984 are inaccurate enough to limit their usefulness for plate tectonic studies

a review of structural patterns and melting processes in the archean craton of west greenland evidence for crustal growth at convergent plate margins as opposed to non uniformitarian models abstract the archean craton of west greenland consists of many fault bounded eoarchean to neoarchean tectonic terranes crustal blocks these tectonic terranes are composed mainly of tonalite trondhjemite granodiorite ttg gneisses granitic gneisses metavolcanic dominated supracrustal belts layered anorthositic complexes and late to post tectonic granites rock assemblages and geochemical signatures in these terranes suggest that they represent fragments of dismembered oceanic island arcs consisting mainly of ttg plutons tholeiitic to calc alkaline basalts boninites picrites and cumulate layers of ultramafic rocks gabbros leucogabbros and anorthosites with minor sedimentary rocks the structural characteristics of the terrane boundaries are consistent with the assembly of these island arcs through modern style of horizontal tectonics suggesting that the archean craton of west greenland grew at convergent plate margins several supracrustal belts that occur at or near the terrane boundaries are interpreted as relict accretionary prisms the terranes display fold and thrust structures and contain numerous 10 cm to 20 m wide bifurcating ductile shear zones that are characterized by a variety of structures including transposed and redistributed isoclinal folds geometrically these structures are similar to those occurring on regional scales suggesting that the archean craton of west greenland can be interpreted as a continental scale accretionary complex such as the paleozoic altaids melting of metavolcanic rocks during tectonic thickening in the arcs played an important role in the generation of ttgs non uniformitarian models proposed for the origin of archean terranes have no analogs in the geologic record and are inconsistent with structural lithological petrological and geochemical data collected from archean terranes over the last four decades the style of deformation and generation of felsic rocks on outcrop scales in the archean craton of west greenland and the mesozoic sulu orogenic belt of eastern china are similar consistent with the formation of archean continental crust by subduction zone processes

fragmentation of asia in the permian asia is a composite continent formed by the accretion of crustal blocks1 3 a likely sequence of events is that siberia collided with a kazakhstan block which together then collided with europe along the urals in permo triassic times2 this was followed by the sucessive accretion of various blocks of south and east asia to siberia culminating in the collision of india with asia during the cenozoic palaeomagnetic data have already demonstrated that the kolyma and sikhote alin blocks of eastern asia collided with the main continent along the late mesozoic fold belts of verkhoyansk and sikhote alin4 furthermore results from the malay peninsula5 and japan6 suggest that south east asia and japan were situated near the equator in permian times and were therefore separated from the asian continent we report here some palaeomagnetic results from the permian of the sino korean and yangtze blocks of china that show they were also situated near the equator were not in their present relationship to one another and were widely separated from siberia

tectonic plate motions derived from lageos abstract five years of laser data 1984 1988 between the lageos satellite and the ground station network have been analysed to recover tectonic motions affecting the stations precise orbit computations of the lageos satellite have been carried out on a monthly basis then a global inversion over the five year period has been performed to obtain solutions for absolute velocities in latitude and longitude of a selected subset of fourteen stations relative horizontal velocities have been derived between couples of stations located on different tectonic plates and compared to predictions of the nuvel 1 geological model for stations located far enough from plate boundaries the agreement between the lageos solution and the model is quite satisfactory for some stations close to plate boundaries the satellite solution shows discrepancies with the model as expected this is the case in particular for quincy california simosato japan and arequipa peru the relative motion between quincy and mt peak across the san andreas fault is found to be 33 3 mm yr reducing the discrepancy with nuvel 1 to only 12 mm yr the motion of matera italy agrees well with nuvel 1 if the station is assumed on the african plate finally no significant intraplate motions have been found over the five year period

pb sr nd isotopic behavior of deeply subducted crustal rocks from the dora maira massif western alps italy ii what is the age of the ultrahigh pressure metamorphism pb nd and sr isotope data are reported from two localities on mineral separates from mg rich metapelites and associated rocks that have been subducted to depths of at least 100 km for which metamorphic conditions are estimated at 28 33 kilobars pressure and 700 800 c and then returned to the surface initial isotope ratio data from the granitoid country rock are similar to those found in the metapelites the initial ratios indicate predominantly recycled aged granitic crustal materials for the sources of all of the samples five zircon samples 4 from pyrope megacrysts and 1 from fine grained pyrope quartzite lenses in the metapelites accurately define a chord yielding intercept ages of 304 10 and 38 0 1 4 ma in a concordia diagram zircon from the country rock also plots along the chord the zircon data together with initial nd and sr data indicate that the sedimentary sources of the rocks were derived mainly or entirely from sialic hercynian rocks ellenbergerite from pyrope megacrysts and monazite from the fine grained ground mass yield slightly younger ages of 30 34 ma apparently reflecting lower blocking temperatures than that of zircon sm nd data from a pyrope megacryst give an errorchron corresponding to an age of 38 ma in agreement with the zircon date a major question concerns the timing of the ultrahigh pressure metamorphism experimental data suggest that pyrope and quartz coesite as well as ellenbergerite formed by various metamorphic reactions if as generally assumed the ultrahigh pressure metamorphism occurred ca 100 ma ago our data require that the zircon did not experience measurable lead loss at that time but lost major amounts of lead 38 ma ago during late alpine metamorphism estimates of diffusion rates for nd in pyrope further suggest that the apparent sm nd age of 38 ma for the megacryst is not consistent with that model those problems are resolved if the ultrahigh pressure metamorphism occurred 38 40 ma ago but problems remain from ar ar dates of 100 ma on phengite an inferred 120 ma age for zircon lead loss from another study and possibly by the very rapid uplift required if the metamorphism is that young

ages of ultrahigh pressure metamorphism and protolith orthogneisses from the eastern dabie shan u pb zircon geochronology the dabie shan contains two rare geologic features one the occurrence of ultra high pressure metamorphic rocks peak p 2 7 gpa uhp in the east central part of this belt and two some of these uhp rocks are characterized by anomalously 18o depleted oxygen isotopic compositions geochronological data are presented that constrain the age of the uhp metamorphism the ages of protoliths and potentially the age of hydrothermal alteration believed to be responsible for the anomalous oxygen isotopic compositions the age of uhp metamorphism in the eastern dabie shan is dated at 218 5 1 7 ma using u pb in zircon separated from host gneisses this age is identical within uncertainty with a less precise age using u pb in zircon separated from uhp eclogite 225 5 3 6 ma and with previously published ages from uhp eclogites of the dabie shan map relationships strongly support an in situ as opposed to exotic orgin of the uhp eclogites in this region the identical ages of uhp metamorphism in the gneisses and eclogites provides additional support for this interpretation the age of the protolith gneisses is dated as 772 5 9 5 ma based on the upper intercept of the zircons which accords well with other dates of granitic gneisses in the qinling belt the association of mafic and felsic magmatism is interpreted to reflect rifting along the northern margin of the yangtze block at this time these upper intercept ages may date the hydrothermal circulation of 18o depleted meteoric water which gave rise to the anomalously 18o depleted uhp protoliths of the dabie shan and sulu region the coincidence of these protolith ages with the early sinian glaciation of south china is consonant with the suggestion that the highly anomalous oxygen isotopic compositions in this region date from this time the upper intercept age of the eclogite is imprecisely determined at 447 82 79 ma but is younger than the host gneisses and is not characterized by anomalous oxygen isotopic compositions

tectonic plate motion and deformation inferred from very long baseline interferometry we inverted 76 rates of change of baseline lengths measured with very long baseline interferometry vlbi during the period 1979 1989 to estimate the parameters of motions of the north american noam and eurasian eura plates relative to the pacific pcfc plate we considered two types of plate motion models namely rigid and non rigid models in the non rigid models we simultaneously determined the non rigid motions of several stations near plate boundaries due to intraplate deformation intraplate deformation in the regions far away from plate boundaries is assumed to be negligible among several models considered a non rigid model called m2 is found to fit most closely to the observed data in this model six stations are assumed to be capable of the non rigid motion those are goldvenu hatcreek mojave12 ovro 130 and vndnberg in the southwestern united states and kashima in japan m2 gives parameter sets of 0 827 0 035 m y about 50 5 1 2 n 78 5 5 3 w and 0 889 0 049 m y about 59 7 1 9 n 85 1 7 4 w representing the noam pcfc and eura pcfc relative motions the plate motion parameters of m2 are nearly identical to those of the newest global scale plate motion model nuvel 1 the noam pcfc and eura pcfc rotation rates of m2 respectively deviate only 0 044 m y and 0 010 m y from those of nuvel 1 these deviations are only about 6 and 1 respectively of the rotation rates themselves the noam pcfc and eura pcfc poles of m2 both lie only 2 from those of nuvel 1 within a 2 error ellipse of each pole nuvel 1 is determined from spreading rates at mid ocean ridges azimuths of transform faults and earthquake slip vectors since the spreading rates are estimated from marine magnetic anomalies integrated over a geological timescale nuvel 1 gives the plate motions averaged over this timescale thus we may conclude that there is no appreciable difference between the plate motions averaged over a geological timescale millions of years and those in a recent short period 10 yr m2 also gives the horizontal non rigid motions of vlbi stations in the southwestern united states at rates of 6 9 mm yr and roughly in opposite direction to the rigid motion of each station associated with plate motion hatcreek located near the northern part of the basin and range province b r also shows additional westward motion of about 9 mm yr suggesting crustal stretching in the northern b r the us vlbi stations show subsidence at rates of about 5 7 mm yr except for goldvenu and ovro 130 whose subsidence is negligible the japanese vlbi station kashima has a horizontal non rigid motion of about 20 mm yr in the west northwest direction roughly opposite to the direction of the rigid motion kashima also shows subsidence at a rate of about 12 mm yr which is larger than that deduced from geodetic data but consistent with the result from gps

large scale tectonic plate motions measured with the doris space geodesy system we have analysed approximately 3 years of doppler tracking measurements of the doris system on the spot2 and topex poseidon satellites absolute velocities of 19 stations of the doris network have been computed through a dynamic orbit computation method these stations are located on 9 major tectonic plates for 14 stations relative velocities across 28 plate boundaries involving 8 different plates agree quite well with the nuvel 1 geological estimates with a correlation coefficient of 0 982 and a slope of 1 00 0 02 this study provides the first space geodesy derived motion of the african plate which is based on data taken at 4 stations computed rotation vectors for the relative motions between the eurasian pacific and african plates show a good agreement with nuvel 1 vectors for the remaining sites which are typically located close to plate boundaries measured motions depart significantly from the ones predicted by nuvel 1 the site of fairbanks alaska appears to move anomalously compared to earlier vlbi results

compatible p t conditions for eclogites and surrounding gneisses in the kristiansund area western norway analyses of coexisting garnets clinopyroxenes and plagioclases from eclogites and high pressure granulitic gneisses in the kristiansund area within the west norwegian basal gneiss region are used to establish the p t conditions for the metamorphic peak for these rocks based on the distribution of fe and mg between coexisting garnet and clinopyroxene in both eclogite and granulites equilibrium temperatures are estimated to 750 50 c pressures are derived from the absence of orthopyroxenes in the granulites and from the assemblage clinopyroxene plagioclase quartz present in the gneisses equilibrium pressures are estimated to 18 5 3 0 kilobars and these equilibrium conditions are thus compatible with equilibrium conditions derived for both orthopyroxene free and most orthopyroxene bearing country rock eclogites from adjacent areas