0000000000131821
AUTHOR
Alexander A. Nemchin
Single zircon ages, PT evolution and Nd isotopic systematics of high-grade gneisses in southern Malawi and their bearing on the evolution of the Mozambique belt in southeastern Africa
Abstract The high grade gneiss assemblage of central and southern Malawi belongs to the Neoproterozoic Mozambique belt of East Africa, and reached peak metamorphic conditions at 900±70°C and 9.5±1.5 kbar, followed by an isobaric cooling path. We report single zircon U–Pb and Pb–Pb ages and Nd isotopic data for orthogneisses and metapelites collected around Lilongwe and farther south in the region around Blantyre and Zomba. The ages document three distinct events, (1) a Kibaran-age period of intrusion of calc-alkaline granitoids around 1040–929 Ma; Nd isotope data indicate overall juvenile compositions consistent with a magmatic arc environment, or emplacement into thinned continental crust …
Archaean to Neoproterozoic magmatic events in the Kaoko belt of NW Namibia and their geodynamic significance
Abstract Age relationships in the N–S trending Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) Kaoko belt of northwestern Namibia are still poorly constrained. U–Pb and Pb–Pb zircon age determinations by single grain evaporation, conventional multigrain fraction analyses and ion microprobe (SHRIMP) from a profile along the E–W Hoanib River reveal various episodes of zircon growth, ranging from late Archaean to late Neoproterozoic. From the eastern part of the profile we report crystallization ages of gneiss protoliths from 2645 to 2585 Ma, the oldest ages so far found in Namibia. Sm–Nd isotope data suggest the involvement of still older crustal material in the generation of these gneisses. A thermal event at …
single zircon ages and Sm-Nd systematics for precambrian rocks from Madagascar: Significance for correlations in East Gondwana
Zircon ages for high pressure granulites from South Bohemia, Czech Republic, and their connection to Carboniferous high temperature processes
Petrological and isotopic investigations were undertaken on high pressure granulites of granitic to mafic composition from the Prachatice and Blanský les granulite complexes of southern Bohemia, Czech Republic. The predominant felsic granulites are quartz + ternary feldspar (now mesoperthite)-rich rocks containing minor garnet, kyanite and rutile, and most show a characteristic mylonitic fabric formed during retrogression along the exhumation path. Three high temperature reaction stages at distinctly different pressures are recognized. Rare layers of intermediate to mafic composition, containing clinopyroxene, best record a primary high pressure–high temperature stage (>15 kbar, >900 °C), a…
Zircon isotopic ages from magnetite quartzites of the Jianping metamorphic complex, western Liaoning Province
Using the zircon Pb evaporation method and high precise ion microprobe analyses, zircon isotopic ages in supracrustal magnetite quartzites from Jianping metamorphic complex have been obtained. The results show that the deposition of the supracrustal rocks occurred around 2 552–2 520 Ma and the peak of granulite facies metamorphism reached at about 2 487 Ma; about (1 806±16) Ma, i.e. Mid-Proterozoic, the other possible metamorphic event with relatively low intensity happened in the study area. It is speculated that a likely tectonic setting where the Jianping metamorphic complex formed is an active continental margin that is involved in continental collision and crustal thickening shortly af…
Single zircon ages from high-grade rocks of the Jianping Complex, Liaoning Province, NE China
Abstract The high-grade rocks of the Jianping Complex in Liaoning Provi nce, NE China, belong to the late Archaean to earliest Proterozoic granulite belt of the North China craton. Single zircon ages obtained by the Pb–Pb evaporation method and SHRIMP analyses document an evolutionary history that began with deposition of a cratonic supracrustal sequence some 2522–2551 Ma ago, followed by intrusion of granitoid rocks beginning at 2522 Ma and reaching a peak at about 2500 Ma. This was followed by high-grade metamorphism, transforming the existing rocks into granulites, charnockites and enderbites some 2485–2490 Ma ago. The intrusion of post-tectonic granites at 2472 Ma is associated with wid…
Petrology of mafic lavas within the Onega plateau, central Karelia: evidence for 2.0 Ga plume-related continental crustal growth in the Baltic Shield
The Onega plateau constitutes part of a vast continental flood basalt province in the SE Baltic Shield. It consists of Jatulian-Ludikovian submarine volcanic, volcaniclastic and sedimentary sequences attaining in places 4.5 km in thickness. The parental magmas of the lavas contained ∼10% MgO and were derived from melts generated in the garnet stability field at depths 80–100 km. The Sm-Nd mineral and Pb-Pb whole-rock isochron ages of 1975 ± 24 and 1980 ± 57 Ma for the upper part of the plateau and a SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of 1976 ± 9 Ma for its lower part imply the formation of the entire sequence within a short time span. These ages coincide with those of picrites in the Pechenga-Imandra b…