Search results for "Zircon"

Single zircon ages for granitoid gneisses in the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt, Southern Africa and geodynamic significance

1999

Abstract Ion microprobe, evaporation and vapour digestion single zircon emplacement ages for granitoid rocks throughout the Central Zone (CZ) of the Limpopo mobile belt, South Africa define three broad age groups, namely at 3188–3314, 2637–2734 and ca 2500 Ma, respectively. All these granitoids, including the youngest group, display polydeformational features suggesting that much of the tectonic history of the CZ occurred in the late Archaean and early Proterozoic. The oldest group of predominantly tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioritic gneisses was found in relatively small domains from the extreme W to the E of the CZ and probably represents remnants of a once more widespread early Archaea…

Zirconium, Hafnium and Rare Earths behaviour during the transport in volcanic fluids. Geochemical effects throughout the sublimation and after intera…

This research indicates the fate of Zr, Hf and Rare Earths during their sublimation from the high-temperature gas phase (100° - 420 °C), in volcanic systems associated with different geodynamic regimes, and processes associated with volcanic sublimation representing the last natural “inorganic” interface where a detailed investigation into the behaviour of Rare Earths had never been conducted. The research was carried out in active volcanic systems at Vulcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy), Santorini (Cyclades Islands, Greece), Phlegrean Fields (Italy), Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) and Fogo Island (Cape Verde) where both fumaroles and thermal waters from submarine springs and inland wells wer…

New zircon ages and regional significance for the evolution of the Pan-African orogen in Madagascar

1999

New 207 Pb/ 206 Pb single zircon evaporation ages for granulites, gneisses and granites in southern and central Madagascar record a widespread Pan-African metamorphic and magmatic event in the period c. 650–556 Ma, but also earlier ages in the range 1890–1710 Ma, inherited from protolith material and reflecting heterogeneous crustal sources. South of the Ranotsara shear zone, metasedimentary gneisses and granulites contain an early population of detrital zircons with ages in the range 1890–1740 Ma; a detrital grain with an age of 899 ± 2 Ma suggests that some sedimentary protoliths were deposited later than c. 900 Ma. Metamorphic zircons have a mean age of 564.2 ± 0.9 Ma. North of the Ranot…

Evolution of the Mayo Kebbi region as revealed by zircon dating: An early (ca. 740Ma) Pan-African magmatic arc in southwestern Chad

2006

Abstract The Mayo Kebbi region in SW Chad is part of the NNE-SSW trending Neoproterozoic Central African Fold Belt (CAFB) and is made up of three calc-alkaline granitoid suites emplaced into a metavolcanic–metasedimentary sequence. The first suite is represented by mafic to intermediate rocks (gabbro-diorite and metadiorite) emplaced between 737 and 723 Ma during early Pan-African convergence. The second consists of the Mayo Kebbi batholith and includes tonalites, trondhjemites and granodiorites, emplaced during several magmatic pulses between 665 and 640 Ma. The third suite includes porphyritic granodiorite and hypersthene monzodiorite dated at ca. 570 Ma. The Mayo Kebbi domain extends sou…

Metamorphic petrology and zircon geochronology of high-grade rocks from the central Mozambique Belt of Tanzania: crustal recycling of Archean and Pal…

2003

New data on the metamorphic petrology and zircon geochronology of high-grade rocks in the central Mozambique Belt (MB) of Tanzania show that this part of the orogen consists of Archean and Palaeoproterozoic material that was structurally reworked during the Pan-African event. The metamorphic rocks are characterized by a clockwise P–T path, followed by strong decompression, and the time of peak granulite facies metamorphism is similar to other granulite terranes in Tanzania. The predominant rock types are mafic to intermediate granulites, migmatites, granitoid orthogneisses and kyanite/sillimanite-bearing metapelites. The meta-granitoid rocks are of calc-alkaline composition, range in age fr…

Carbon isotope geochemistry and geochronological constraints of the Neoproterozoic Sirohi Group from northwest India

2012

a b s t r a c t The early Neoproterozoic carbonates of the Sirohi Group, northwestern India, were studied for geochronology as well as for oxygen and carbon isotopes across three different sections to understand their relationship with contemporaneous global events. New single zircon Pb-Pb evaporation data con- strain the age of the Sirohi Group between ca. 920 and ca. 820 Ma, though actual span for deposition of the carbonates may be little shorter taking into allowance the time for peneplanation. Narrow range in variation of 18O values is generally observed in the carbonate which is consistent with generally well-preserved original compositions. Two sections (SA and SS) out of the three t…

Chronology of early Archaean granite-greenstone evolution in the Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa, based on precise dating by single zircon evap…

1991

We report precise 207Pb/206Pb single zircon evaporation ages for low-grade felsic metavolcanic rocks within the Onverwacht and Fig Tree Groups of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB), South Africa, and from granitoid plutons bordering the belt. Dacitic tuffs of the Hooggenoeg Formation in the upper part of the Onverwacht Group yield ages between 3445 +/- 3 and 3416 +/- 5 Ma and contain older crustal components represented by a 3504 +/- 4 Ma old zircon xenocryst. Fig Tree dacitic tuffs and agglomerates have euhedral zircons between 3259 +/- 5 and 3225 +/- 3 Ma in age which we interpret to reflect the time of crystallization. A surprisingly complex xenocryst population in one sample documents …

Mechanism and time of deformation and metamorphism of mylonitic orthogneisses from the Shagou Shear Zone, Qinling Belt, China

1990

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 co…

Time of formation and peak of Variscan HP-HT metamorphism of quartz-feldspar rocks in the central Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany

1998

The Variscan Erzgebirge represents an antiform with a core of gneisses and mica schists, surrounded by a phyllitic mantle. The Gneiss-Eclogite Unit (GEU), in the central part, is a composite tectonometamorphic assemblage characterized by a HP-HT imprint and comprises migmatitic para- and orthogneisses, HT mylonites, HP granulites, eclogites and garnet peridotites. It is tectonically sandwiched between two major units with distinctly lower PT histories. The GEU experienced a characteristic “kinked” retrograde PT path after HP-HT equilibration with: (1) strong near-isothermal decompression at high temperatures; (2) extensive re-equilibration at medium pressures, followed (3) by rapid cooling …

Metamorphic evolution and zircon geochronology of early Proterozoic granulites in the Aravalli Mountains of northwestern India

2005

Granulites including a charnockite suite, mafic granulites, pelitic granulites, metanorite dykes and their retrograde varieties occur as discontinuous shear zone-bounded bodies within the Archaean basement comprising a granite gneiss–amphibolite–metasedimentary rock association in the central part of the Aravalli Mountains, northwest India. The entire suite, named the Sandmata Complex, preserves a complex history of tectonothermal evolution. Except for their strongly foliated margins, the granulite bodies are largely massive. Partial melting in the ‘country rocks’ led to the development of migmatite gneisses close to the contact of the granulite, a feature not as common in the rocks further…