Provenance and tectonic setting of the Triassic clastic deposits in the Napo basin, South China: evidence from petrography, whole-rock geochemistry and detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Lei Xia ◽  
Quan-Ren Yan ◽  
Zhong-Jin Xiang ◽  
Hong-Bo Zheng ◽  
Quan-Lin Hou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Island Arc ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Clastic Rocks ◽  
Arc Setting

Abstract The provenance and tectonic setting of the Lower–Middle Triassic clastic sediments from the Napo basin, South China, have been examined here using detrital modes, whole-rock geochemistry and detrital zircon U–Pb ages. Field investigations indicate that these sediments consist of fan delta, slope and turbidity fan facies with dominantly southward palaeocurrent directions. Detrital modes and geochemical characteristics of the clastic rocks indicate that they were derived from mixed magmatic arc and Palaeozoic successions in a continental island arc setting, with no significant sediment recycling. The U–Pb age spectra of sandstone detrital zircons from different stratigraphic positions are similar, with one major group (300–230 Ma), two subordinate groups (400–320 Ma and 480–420 Ma, respectively) and two scattered groups (1200–800 Ma and 2000–1700 Ma, respectively). Thus, we consider that the north late Permian – Middle Triassic volcanic rocks and the uplifted Palaeozoic sedimentary/volcanic sequences constituted the predominant sources. The detritus derived from the late Permian Emeishan mafic rocks is subordinate and limited. The pre-Devonian zircons are likely sedimentary-recycled or magmatic-captured instead of directly derived from the early Palaeozoic orogen (e.g. Yunkai massif) and Neoproterozoic Jiangnan orogen because of the topographic barrier of a magmatic arc and carbonate platform. Considering the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of the volcanic arc and ophiolite, we suggest that the Triassic Napo basin was a fore-arc basin within a continental island arc setting, which developed in response to the northward subduction of the Babu–Cao Bang branch ocean beneath the South China Block.

Detrital zircon geochronology and geochemistry of Jurassic sandstones in the Xiongcun district, southern Lhasa subterrane, Tibet, China: implications for provenance and tectonic setting

2018 ◽  
Vol 156 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
XINGHAI LANG ◽  
DONG LIU ◽  
YULIN DENG ◽  
JUXING TANG ◽  
XUHUI WANG ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Oceanic Island ◽  
Island Arc ◽  
Igneous Rocks ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Chemical Index ◽  
Modal Abundance ◽  
Arc Setting ◽  
Detrital Zircon Ages

AbstractJurassic sandstones in the Xiongcun porphyry copper–gold district, southern Lhasa subterrane, Tibet, China were analysed for petrography, major oxides and trace elements, as well as detrital zircon U–Pb and Hf isotopes, to infer their depositional age, provenance, intensity of source-rock palaeo-weathering and depositional tectonic setting. This new information provides important evidence to constrain the tectonic evolution of the southern Lhasa subterrane during the Late Triassic – Jurassic period. The sandstones are exposed in the lower and upper sections of the Xiongcun Formation. Their average modal abundance (Q21F11L68) classifies them as lithic arenite, which is also supported by geochemical studies. The high chemical index of alteration values (77.19–85.36, mean 79.96) and chemical index of weathering values (86.19–95.59, mean 89.98) of the sandstones imply moderate to intensive weathering of the source rock. Discrimination diagrams based on modal abundance, geochemistry and certain elemental ratios indicate that felsic and intermediate igneous rocks constitute the source rocks, probably with a magmatic arc provenance. The detrital zircon ages (161–243 Ma) and εHf(t) values (+10.5 to +16.2) further constrain the sandstone provenance as subduction-related Triassic–Jurassic felsic and intermediate igneous rocks from the southern Lhasa subterrane. A tectonic discrimination method based on geochemical data of the sandstones, as well as detrital zircon ages from sandstones, reveals that the sandstones were most likely deposited in an oceanic island-arc setting. These results support the hypothesis that the tectonic background of the southern Lhasa subterrane was an oceanic island-arc setting, rather than a continental island-arc setting, during the Late Triassic – Jurassic period.

scholarly journals New detrital zircon U–Pb insights on the palaeogeographic origin of the central Sanandaj–Sirjan zone, Iran

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Farzaneh Shakerardakani ◽  
Franz Neubauer ◽  
Xiaoming Liu ◽  
Yunpeng Dong ◽  
Behzad Monfaredi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
South China Block ◽  
The South ◽  
Clastic Rocks ◽  
Gondwana Margin ◽  
Metamorphic Zone ◽  
North Gondwana

Abstract New detrital U–Pb zircon ages from the Sanandaj–Sirjan metamorphic zone in the Zagros orogenic belt allow discussion of models of the late Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic plate tectonic evolution and position of the Iranian microcontinent within a global framework. A total of 194 valid age values from 362 zircon grains were obtained from three garnet-micaschist samples. The most abundant detrital zircon population included Ediacaran ages, with the main age peak at 0.60 Ga. Other significant age peaks are at c. 0.64–0.78 Ga, 0.80–0.91 Ga, 0.94–1.1 Ga, 1.8–2.0 Ga and 2.1–2.5 Ga. The various Palaeozoic zircon age peaks could be explained by sediment supply from sources within the Iranian microcontinent. However, Precambrian ages were found, implying a non-Iranian provenance or recycling of upper Ediacaran–Palaeozoic clastic rocks. Trace-element geochemical fingerprints show that most detrital zircons were sourced from continental magmatic settings. In this study, the late Grenvillian age population at c. 0.94–1.1 Ga is used to unravel the palaeogeographic origin of the Sanandaj–Sirjan metamorphic zone. This Grenvillian detrital age population relates to the ‘Gondwana superfan’ sediments, as found in many Gondwana-derived terranes within the European Variscides and Turkish terranes, but also to units further east, e.g. in the South China block. Biogeographic evidence proves that the Iranian microcontinent developed on the same North Gondwana margin extending from the South China block via Iran further to the west.

scholarly journals Precambrian Basement and Late Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic Tectonic Evolution of the SW Yangtze Block, South China: Constraints from Zircon U–Pb Dating and Hf Isotopes

Minerals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Liu ◽  
Xiaoyong Yang ◽  
Shengyuan Shu ◽  
Lei Liu ◽  
Sihua Yuan
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Precambrian Basement ◽  
Yangtze Block ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Clastic Rocks ◽  
Columbia Supercontinent ◽  
Isotopic Analyses

Zircon U–Pb dating and Hf isotopic analyses are performed on clastic rocks, sedimentary tuff of the Dongchuan Group (DCG), and a diabase, which is an intrusive body from the base of DCG in the SW Yangtze Block. The results provide new constraints on the Precambrian basement and the Late Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic tectonic evolution of the SW Yangtze Block, South China. DCG has been divided into four formations from the bottom to the top: Yinmin, Luoxue, Heishan, and Qinglongshan. The Yinmin Formation, which represents the oldest rock unit of DCG, was intruded by a diabase dyke. The oldest zircon age of the clastic rocks from the Yinmin Formation is 3654 Ma, with εHf(t) of −3.1 and a two-stage modeled age of 4081 Ma. Another zircon exhibits an age of 2406 Ma, with εHf(t) of −20.1 and a two-stage modeled age of 4152 Ma. These data provide indirect evidence for the residues of the Hadean crustal nuclei in the Yangtze Block. In combination with the published data, the ages of detrital zircons from the Yinmin Formation yielded three peak ages: 1.84, 2.30 and 2.71 Ga. The peaks of 1.84 and 2.71 Ga are global in distribution, and they are best correlated to the collisional accretion of cratons in North America. Moreover, the peak of 1.84 Ga coincides with the convergence of the global Columbia supercontinent. The youngest age of the detrital zircon from the Yinmin Formation was 1710 Ma; the age of the intrusive diabase was 1689 ± 34 Ma, whereas the weighted average age of the sedimentary tuff from the Heishan Formation was 1414 ± 25 Ma. It was presumed that the depositional age for DCG was 1.71–1.41 Ga, which was in accordance with the timing of the breakup of the Columbia supercontinent. At ~1.7 Ga, the geochemical data of the diabase were characterized by E-MORB and the region developed the same period A-type granites. Thus, 1.7 Ga should represent the time of the initial breakup of the Yangtze Block. Furthermore, the Yangtze Block continues to stretch and breakup until ~1.4 Ga, which is characterized by the emergence of oceanic island, deep-sea siliceous rock and flysch, representing the final breakup. In brief, the tectonic evolution of the Yangtze Block during the Late Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic coincided with the events caused by the convergence and breakup of the Columbia supercontinent, because of which, the Yangtze Block experienced extensive magmatic activity and sedimentary basin development during this period.

Jurassic Arc: Reconstructing the Lost World of eastern Gondwana

Geology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliot K. Foley ◽  
R.A. Henderson ◽  
E.M. Roberts ◽  
A.I.S. Kemp ◽  
C.N. Todd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Continental Arc ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Igneous Activity ◽  
Competing Models ◽  
Juvenile Crust ◽  
Sedimentary Fill ◽  
Continental Magmatic Arc

The tectonic setting of the Australian sector of the eastern Gondwanan margin during the Jurassic and Cretaceous is enigmatic. Whether this involved convergent tectonism and a long-lived continental magmatic arc or rift-related extension unrelated to subduction is debated. The paucity of Australian Jurassic–Cretaceous igneous outcrops makes resolving these competing models difficult. We used the detrital zircon record of the Jurassic–Cretaceous Great Australian Superbasin (GAS) as a proxy for igneous activity. We attribute the persistent magmatism recorded in GAS sedimentary fill throughout the Mesozoic to ca. 95 Ma to continuation of the established Paleozoic continental arc system. The detrital zircon record signals short (~10 m.y.) pulses of elevated Jurassic and Cretaceous magmatic activity and strongly positive εHf values, indicating juvenile crust or mantle-derived magmatism. Margin reconstruction indicates sustained continental growth at rates of at least ~55 km3 km–1 m.y.–1, mainly to the tract now represented by submerged northern Zealandia, due to the retreat of this arc system. We posit that arc retreat was a key factor in rapid crust generation and preservation, and that continental sedimentary systems globally may host cryptic records of juvenile crustal addition that must be considered in estimating crustal growth rates along convergent plate margins.

scholarly journals Permian Triassic geologic evolution in the southern Kitakami Belt, Japan

1992 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 155-155
Author(s):  
Kotaro Kamada
Keyword(s):  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Sedimentary Basin ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Japan Sea ◽  
Passive Margin ◽  
Middle Permian ◽  
Asian Continent ◽  
Transform Faults ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
The Japan Sea

Before opening of the Japan Sea, the Japanese islands were attached to the eastern margin of the Asian continent. The Southern Kitakami Belt is regarded as a micro-continent in an accretional complex of the islands, that accreted before the Early Cretaceous. But its tectonic setting and location between the belt and the Asian continent is still an unresolved argument.Permo-Triassic sequences in the Southern Kitakami Belt are composed of shallow to off-shore deposits. These deposits are composed of clastics, carbonates with volcaniclastics. But there was no volcanic activity in the belt in the Middle to Late Permian. From the viewpoint of the sedimentary character and history, the Middle Permian to Middle Triassic sequences differ from their previous and their following successions in the belt. And the sedimentary basin of Middle Permian to Middle Triassic was bounded by transform faults. Magmatic arc was replaced by passive margin as hinterland of the Southern Kitakami Belt during the Middle Permian to Middle Triassic. It means that the sedimentary basin moved from the margin of Yangtze Platform to Sino-Korean Platform at that time.

New insights into the geologic evolution of the Grenvillian Trenton Prong inlier, Central Appalachian Piedmont, USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 840-854
Author(s):  
Richard A. Volkert
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Hanging Wall ◽  
Sediment Source ◽  
Slow Cooling ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Metamorphic History ◽  
Arc Setting ◽  
Appalachian Piedmont ◽  
Back Arc

New geochemical and 40Ar/39Ar hornblende and biotite data from the Grenvillian Trenton Prong inlier provide the first constraints for the identification of lithotectonic units, their tectonic setting, and their metamorphic to post-metamorphic history. Gneissic tonalite, diorite, and gabbro compose the Colonial Lake Suite magmatic arc that developed along eastern Laurentia prior to 1.2 Ga. Spatially associated low- and high-TiO2 amphibolites were formed from island-arc basalt proximal to the arc front and mid-ocean ridge basalt-like basalt in a back-arc setting, respectively. Supracrustal paragneisses include meta-arkose derived from a continental sediment source of Laurentian affinity and metagraywacke and metapelite from an arc-like sediment source deposited in a back-arc basin, inboard of the Colonial Lake arc. The Assunpink Creek Granite was emplaced post-tectonically as small bodies of peraluminous syenogranite produced through partial melting of a subduction-modified felsic crustal source. Prograde mineral assemblages reached granulite- to amphibolite-facies metamorphic conditions during the Ottawan phase of the Grenvillian Orogeny. Hornblende 40Ar/39Ar ages of 935–923 Ma and a biotite age of 868 Ma record slow cooling in the northern part of the inlier following the metamorphic peak. Elsewhere in the inlier, biotite 40Ar/39Ar ages of 440 Ma and 377–341 Ma record partial to complete thermal resetting or new growth during the Taconian and Acadian orogens. The results of this study are consistent with the Trenton Prong being the down-dropped continuation of the Grenvillian New Jersey Highlands on the hanging wall of a major detachment fault. The Trenton Prong therefore correlates to other central and northern Appalachian Grenvillian inliers and to parts of the Grenville Province proper.

scholarly journals U–Pb Age and Hf Isotope Geochemistry of Detrital Zircons from Cambrian Sandstones of the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago and Northern Taimyr (Russian High Arctic)

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria B. Ershova ◽  
Andrei V. Prokopiev ◽  
Andrey K. Khudoley ◽  
Tom Andersen ◽  
Kåre Kullerud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Isotope Geochemistry ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Hf Isotope ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
Late Neoproterozoic ◽  
Severnaya Zemlya ◽  
Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago

U–Pb and Lu–Hf isotope analyses of detrital zircons collected from metasedimentary rocks from the southern part of Kara Terrane (northern Taimyr and Severnaya Zemlya archipelago) provide vital information about the paleogeographic and tectonic evolution of the Russian High Arctic. The detrital zircon signatures of the seven dated samples are very similar, suggesting a common provenance for the clastic detritus. The majority of the dated grains belong to the late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian ages, which suggests the maximum depositional age of the enclosing sedimentary units to be Cambrian. The εHf(t) values indicate that juvenile magma mixed with evolved continental crust and the zircons crystallized within a continental magmatic arc setting. Our data strongly suggest that the main provenance for the studied clastics was located within the Timanian Orogen. A review of the available detrital zircon ages from late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian strata across the wider Arctic strongly suggests that Kara Terrane, Novaya Zemlya, Seward Peninsula (Arctic Alaska), Alexander Terrane, De Long Islands, and Scandinavian Caledonides all formed a single tectonic domain during the Cambrian age, with clastics predominantly sourced from the Timanian Orogen.

scholarly journals Detrital Zircon U-Pb-Hf Isotopes of Middle Neoproterozoic Sedimentary Rocks in the Altyn Tagh Orogen, Southeastern Tarim: Insights for a Tarim-South China-North India Connection in the Periphery of Rodinia

Lithosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Qian Liu ◽  
Guochun Zhao ◽  
Jianhua Li ◽  
Jinlong Yao ◽  
Yigui Han ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
North India ◽  
Hf Isotopes ◽  
Altyn Tagh ◽  
Tarim Craton ◽  
Rodinia Supercontinent ◽  
New Perspective

Abstract The location of the Tarim craton during the assembly and breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent remains enigmatic, with some models advocating a Tarim-Australia connection and others a location at the heart of the unified Rodinia supercontinent between Australia and Laurentia. In this study, our new zircon U-Pb dating results suggest that middle Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks in the Altyn Tagh orogen of the southeastern Tarim craton were deposited between ca. 880 and 760 Ma in a rifting-related setting slightly prior to the breakup of Rodinia at ca. 750 Ma. A compilation of existing Neoproterozoic geological records also indicates that the Altyn Tagh orogen of the southeastern Tarim craton underwent collision at ca. 1.0-0.9 Ga and rifting at ca. 850-600 Ma related to the assembly and breakup of Rodinia. Furthermore, in order to establish the paleoposition of the Tarim craton with respect to Rodinia, available detrital zircon U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes from Meso- to Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks were compiled. Comparable detrital zircon ages (at ca. 0.9, 1.3-1.1, and 1.7 Ga) and Hf isotopes indicate a close linkage among rocks of the southeastern Tarim craton, Cathaysia, and North India but exclude a northern or western Australian affinity. In addition, detrital zircons from the northern Tarim craton exhibit a prominent age peak at ca. 830 Ma with minor spectra at ca. 1.9 and 2.5 Ga but lack Mesoproterozoic ages, comparable to the northern and western Yangtze block. Together with comparable geological responses to the assembly and breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent, we offer a new perspective of the location of the Tarim craton between South China and North India in the periphery of Rodinia.

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