Indo-Antarctic derived detritus on the northern margin of Gondwana: evidence for continental-scale sediment transport

Provenance studies from Cambro-Ordovician sediments of the North Gondwana passive margin typically ascribe a North African source, a conclusion that cannot be reconciled with all observations. We present new U-Pb ages from detrital rutile and zircon from Late Ordovician sediments from Saxo-Thuringia, Germany. Detrital zircons yield age populations of 500–800 Ma, 900–1050 Ma and 1800–2600 Ma. The detrital rutile age spectra are unimodal with ages between 500 and 650 Ma and likely represent, together with the 500–800 Ma and 1800–2600 Ma zircon populations, detritus sourced predominantly from North Africa. In contrast, the c. 950 Ma zircons, which are persistently found in Cambro-Ordovician se…

The demir kapija ophiolite, Macedonia (FYROM): A Snapshot of subduction initiation within a back-arc

The Demir Kapija ophiolitic complex in southern Macedonia–FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) represents the southernmost exposure of the Tethyan Eastern Vardar ophiolitic unit in the Eastern Mediterranean. It consists of a mafic volcanic sequence (pillow basalts, sheeted dyke diabases and gabbros) that was subsequently intruded by island arc magmas with and without adakitic affinity. The mafic volcanic sequence is characterized by slightly increased ratios of large ion lithophile elements to high field strength elements (LILE/HFSE), flat rare earth element (REE) patterns, radiogenic 143Nd/144Nd (up to 0·51272) and high TiO2 contents (which reflect Pl + Ol + Cpx fractionation). Th…

Os isotope and PGE systematics of peridotites from the Othris Opiolite, Greece

The volatile inventory (F, Cl, Br, S, C) of magmatic apatite: An integrated analytical approach

Abstract Apatite is ubiquitous in a wide range of magmatic rocks and its F–Cl–Br–S systematics can be used to decipher e.g., mixing processes within a magmatic complex and may give insights into fluid un-mixing and degassing processes during the emplacement and cooling of plutonic rocks. In this study, we analyzed a F-apatite (Durango, Mexico), a Cl-apatite (Odegarden, Norway) and apatites from five plutonic samples from the alkaline Mt. Saint Hilaire Complex (Canada) by means of Electron Microprobe Analysis (EPMA), Laser Ablation ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS), Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), pyrohydrolysis combined with ion chromatography, Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Ins…

Fluid migration above a subducted slab - Thermodynamic and trace element modelling of fluid-rock interaction in partially overprinted eclogite-facies rocks (Sesia Zone, Western Alps)

Abstract The amount and composition of subduction zone fluids and the effect of fluid–rock interaction at a slab–mantle interface have been constrained by thermodynamic and trace element modelling of partially overprinted blueschist-facies rocks from the Sesia Zone (Western Alps). Deformation-induced differences in fluid flux led to a partial preservation of pristine mineral cores in weakly deformed samples that were used to quantify Li, B, Sr and Pb distribution during mineral growth, -breakdown and modification induced by fluid–rock interaction. Our results show that Li and B budgets are fluid-controlled, thus acting as tracers for fluid–rock interaction processes, whereas Sr and Pb budge…

Age, Nd–Hf isotopes, and geochemistry of the Vijayan Complex of eastern and southern Sri Lanka: A Grenville-age magmatic arc of unknown derivation

Abstract The ca. 1.0–1.1 Ga Vijayan Complex (VC) of eastern and southeastern Sri Lanka is one of three high-grade metamorphic terranes making up the basement of the island and is in tectonic contact with the adjacent, older Highland Complex. It consists predominantly of granitoid gneisses ranging in composition from diorite to leucogranite, with a distinct calc-alkaline geochemical signature, and is interpreted as a magmatic arc. Strong ductile deformation has obliterated almost all original intrusive relationships. High-grade metamorphism during the Pan-African event at ca. 610–520 Ma has produced widespread granulite-facies assemblages that are now largely retrogressed and were affected b…

Direct dating of gold by radiogenic helium: Testing the method on gold from Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil

New analytical developments have made radiogenic helium ( 4 He) applicable to archeological gold artifacts for age determinations. Here we report the application of the U/Th– 4 He method to the direct dating of gold from the historically important gold deposit in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The U/Th– 4 He age of 515 ± 55 Ma for the Diamantina gold is corroborated by a new U/Pb age of 524 ± 16 Ma for rutile recovered from auriferous pockets. These ages tie the Diamantina gold mineralization to the Brasiliano orogenic event, in the context of the Gondwana amalgamation. Our results indicate that U/Th– 4 He dating of gold is possible, opening new perspectives for the dating of gold deposi…

Zircon ages for a felsic volcanic rock and arc-related early Palaeozoic sediments on the margin of the Baydrag microcontinent, central Asian orogenic belt, Mongolia

Abstract Magmatic zircons from the basal part of an arc terrane in the accretionary complex NE of the Baydrag microcontinental block in central Mongolia were dated at 544 ± 7 Ma and reflect arc magmatism at the Ediacaran/Cambrian boundary. Detrital zircon ages for clastic metasediments of the adjacent Dzag zone suggest a depositional age

Metamorphic reaction rates at ∼650–800°C from diffusion of niobium in rutile

Abstract The ability to quantify the rates at which metamorphic reactions occur is critical to assessing the extent to which equilibrium is achieved and maintained in a variety of dynamic settings. Here we investigate the kinetics of rutile replacement by titanite during amphibolite-facies overprinting of eclogite, garnet amphibolite and anorthosite from Catalina Island, CA, the Tromso Nappe, Norway, the North Qaidam terrane, China, and the Guichicovi Complex, Mexico. Trace element concentration profiles across rutile rimmed by titanite, as determined by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), reveal Nb zoning in rutile that we interpret as the result of Nb …

Os-isotope constraints on the dynamics of orogenic mantle: The case of the Central Balkans

Abstract We used Os isotopic systematics to assess the geochemical relationship between the lithospheric mantle beneath the Balkans (Mediterranean), ophiolitic peridotites and lavas derived from the lithospheric mantle. In our holistic approach we studied samples of Tertiary post-collisional ultrapotassic lavas sourced within the lithospheric mantle, placer Pt alloys from Vardar ophiolites, peridotites from nearby Othris ophiolites, as well as four mantle xenoliths representative for the composition of the local mantle lithosphere. Our ultimate aim was to monitor lithospheric mantle evolution under the Balkan part of the Alpine-Himalayan belt. The observations made on Os isotope and highly …

Coupled silicon-oxygen isotope fractionation traces Archaean silicification

International audience; Silica alteration zones and cherts are a conspicuous feature of Archaean greenstone belts worldwide and provide evidence of extensive mobilisation of silica in the marine environment of the early Earth. In order to understand the process(es) of silicification we measured the silicon and oxygen isotope composition of sections of variably silicified basalts and overlying bedded cherts from the Theespruit, Hooggenoeg and Kromberg Formations of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa.The δ30Si and δ18O values of bulk rock increase with increasing amount of silicification from unsilicified basalts (-0.64‰ 30Si 18O 30Si and δ18O values as high as + 0.81‰ and + 15.6‰, r…

Trace element systematics of tourmaline in pegmatitic and hydrothermal systems from the Variscan Schwarzwald (Germany): The importance of major element composition, sector zoning, and fluid or melt composition

article An extensive data set on the compositional variation of tourmaline from granitic pegmatites, from migmatitic gneisses and from various types of hydrothermal veins from the Schwarzwald, Germany, is provided. The investigated tourmalines are members of the alkali and X-vacant groups representing mostly dravite- schorl solid solutions with some analyses belonging to the foitite-Mg-foitite series. Oxygen isotope data on quartz-tourmaline pairs indicate formation temperatures between 550 and 350 °C for most of the quartz-tourmaline veins. Most of the tourmalines show strong sector zonation, fractionating certain major (e.g., Na, Mg), minor (e.g., Ti, Ca) and trace elements (e.g., Sr, Pb,…