scholarly journals Open-system behaviour of detrital zircon during weathering: an example from the Palaeoproterozoic Pretoria Group, South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Tom Andersen ◽  
Marlina A. Elburg

Abstract Detrital zircon in six surface samples of sandstone and contact metamorphic quartzite of the Magaliesberg and Rayton formations of the Pretoria Group (depositional age c. 2.20–2.06 Ga) show a major age fraction at 2.35–2.20 Ga, and minor early Palaeoproterozoic – Neoarchaean fractions. Trace-element concentrations vary widely, with Ti, Y and light rare earth elements (LREEs) spanning over three orders of magnitude. REE distribution patterns range from typical zircon patterns (LREE depletion, heavy REE enrichment, well-developed positive Ce and negative Eu anomalies) to patterns that are flat to concave downwards, with indistinct Ce and Eu anomalies. The change in REE pattern correlates with increases in alteration-sensitive parameters such as Ti concentration and (Dy/Sm) + (Dy/Nd), U–Pb discordance and content of common lead, and with a gradual washing-out of oscillatory zoning in cathodoluminescence images. U and Th concentrations also increase, but Th/U behaves erratically. Discordant zircon scatters along lead-loss lines to zero-age lower intercepts, suggesting that the isotopic and chemical variations are the results of disturbance long after deposition. The rocks sampled have been in a surface-near position (at least) since Late Cretaceous time, and exposed to deep weathering under intermittently hot and humid conditions. In this environment, even elements commonly considered as relatively insoluble could be mobilized locally, and taken up by radiation-damaged zircon. Such secondary alteration effects on U–Pb and trace elements can be expected in zircon in any ancient sedimentary rock that has been exposed to tropical–subtropical weathering, which needs to be considered when interpreting detrital zircon data.

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 512-530
Author(s):  
Anna Vozárová ◽  
Katarína Šarinová ◽  
Dušan Laurinc ◽  
Elena Lepekhina ◽  
Jozef Vozár ◽  
...  

Abstract The Late Paleozoic sedimentary basins in the Northern Gemericum evolved gradually in time and space within the collisional tectonic regime of the Western Carpathian Variscan orogenic belt. The detrital zircon age spectra, obtained from the Mississippian, Pennsylvanian and Permian metasediments, have distinctive age distribution patterns that reflect the tectonic setting of the host sediments. An expressive unimodal zircon distribution, with an age peak at 352 Ma, is shown by the basal Mississippian metasediments. These represent a relic of the convergent trench-slope sedimentary basin fill. In comparison, the Pennsylvanian detrital zircon populations display distinct multimodal distributions, with the main age peaks at 351, 450, 565 Ma and smaller peaks at ~2.0 and ~2.7 Ga. This is consistent with derivation of clastic detritus from the collisional suture into the foreland basin. Similarly, the Permian sedimentary formations exhibit the multimodal distribution of zircon ages, with main peaks at 300, 355 and 475 Ma. The main difference, in comparison with the Pennsylvanian detrital zircon assemblages, is the sporadic occurrence of the Kasimovian– Asselian (306–294 Ma), as well as the Artinskian–Kungurian (280–276 Ma) igneous zircons. The youngest magmatic zircon ages nearly correspond to the syn-sedimentary volcanic activity with the depositional age of the Permian host sediments and clearly indicate the extensional, rift-related setting.


2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-44

The supracrustal rocks of the Loch Maree Group (LMG) consist of a variety of metasedimentary rocks interbanded with amphibolites considered to be of volcanic origin. The metasedimentary rocks fall into two distinct categories: a) schistose semipelites, which form the main part of the outcrop; and b) narrow bands of different rock types, including siliceous, carbonate-bearing and graphitic rocks, occurring in close association with the metavolcanic amphibolites. Both the compositional banding and the dominant foliation throughout the LMG outcrop are steeply dipping and trend uniformly NW-SE.The sequence of lithotectonic rock units from SW to NE (structurally upwards) is shown in the cross-section (Fig. 4.1) and briefly described in Table 4.1. The original names of the lithotectonic units (Park 1964) are retained for convenience. The depositional age of the LMG is presumed to be around 2.0 Ga, based on a Sm-Nd model age (O'Nions et al. 1983) and detrital zircon dates (Whitehouse et al. 1991 a, 2001) (see below).Semipelites form several distinct NW-trending belts separated by amphibolite sheets. The most prominent belt comprises the Flowerdale schist unit (see map) which occupies a broad belt about 700 m in width, extending in a northwesterly direction across the Gairloch district, but ending north of the mapped area, where the two amphibolites from either side converge, 3.5 km north of the Gairloch-Poolewe road. This belt is offset in the centre of the area by the Flowerdale fault, and has a total exposed length of about 15 km. Southwest of this belt is the


Geofluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Jiaxuan Song ◽  
Hujun Gong ◽  
Jingli Yao ◽  
Huitao Zhao ◽  
Xiaohui Zhao ◽  
...  

The Paleozoic strata are widely distributed in the northwest of the Ordos Basin, and the provenance attributes of the basin sediments during this period are still controversial. In this paper, the detrital zircon LA-MC-ICPMS U-Pb age test was conducted on the drilling core samples of the Shanxi Formation of the Upper Paleozoic in the Otuokeqi area of the Ordos Basin, and the provenance age and the characteristic of the Shanxi formation in the Otuokeqi area in the northwest were discussed. The cathodoluminescence image shows that the detrital zircon has a clear core-edge structure, and most of the cores have clear oscillatory zonings, which suggests that they are magmatic in origin. Zircons have no oscillatory zoning structure that shows the cause of metamorphism. The age of detrital zircon is dominated by Paleoproterozoic and can be divided into four groups, which are 2500~2300 Ma, 2100~1600 Ma, 470~400 Ma, and 360~260 Ma. The first two groups are the specific manifestations of the Precambrian Fuping Movement (2.5 billion years) and the Luliang Movement (1.8 billion years) of the North China Craton. The third and fourth groups of detrital zircons mainly come from Paleozoic magmatic rocks formed by the subduction and collision of the Siberian plate and the North China plate. The ε Hf t value of zircon ranges from -18.36 to 4.33, and the age of the second-order Hf model T DM 2 ranges from 2491 to 1175 Ma. The source rock reflecting the provenance of the sediments comes from the material recycling of the Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic in the crust, combined with the Meso-Neoproterozoic detrital zircons discovered this time, indicating that the provenance area has experienced Greenwellian orogeny.


2013 ◽  
Vol 150 (6) ◽  
pp. 1103-1126 ◽  
Author(s):  
DETA GASSER ◽  
ARILD ANDRESEN

AbstractThe tectonic origin of pre-Devonian rocks of Svalbard has long been a matter of debate. In particular, the origin and assemblage of pre-Devonian rocks of western Spitsbergen, including a blueschist-eclogite complex in Oscar II Land, are enigmatic. We present detrital zircon U–Pb LA-ICP-MS data from six Mesoproterozoic to Carboniferous samples and one U–Pb TIMS zircon age from an orthogneiss from Oscar II Land in order to discuss tectonic models for this region. Variable proportions of Palaeo- to Neoproterozoic detritus dominate the metasedimentary samples. The orthogneiss has an intrusion age of 927 ± 3 Ma. Comparison with detrital zircon age spectra from other units of similar depositional age within the North Atlantic region indicates that Oscar II Land experienced the following tectonic history: (1) the latest Mesoproterozoic sequence was part of a successor basin which originated close to the Grenvillian–Sveconorwegian orogen, and which was intruded byc. 980–920 Ma plutons; (2) the Neoproterozoic sediments were deposited in a large-scale basin which stretched along the Baltoscandian margin; (3) the eclogite-blueschist complex and the overlying Ordovician–Silurian sediments probably formed to the north of the Grampian/Taconian arc; (4) strike-slip movements assembled the western coast of Spitsbergen outside of, and prior to, the main Scandian collision; and (5) the remaining parts of Svalbard were assembled by strike-slip movements during the Devonian. Our study confirms previous models of complex Caledonian terrane amalgamation with contrasting tectonic histories for the different pre-Devonian terranes of Svalbard and particularly highlights the non-Laurentian origin of Oscar II Land.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Bo Hui ◽  
Yunpeng Dong ◽  
Feifei Zhang ◽  
Shengsi Sun ◽  
Shuai He

Abstract The Yangtze Block in South China constitutes an important Precambrian landmass in the present East Asian continent. The Neoproterozoic sedimentary successions of the Hengdan Group in the NW Yangtze Block record essential information for deciphering the Neoproterozoic tectonics along the NW margin. However, its depositional age, provenance and tectonic properties remain uncertain. Here, a combined analysis of detrital zircon U–Pb dating and geochemistry is performed on representative samples from the Hengdan Group. Concordant dating results of samples from the bottom and upper parts constrain the maximum depositional age at c. 720 Ma. Detrital zircon age patterns of samples reveal a uniformly pronounced age peak at c. 915–720 Ma, which is consistent with the magmatic pulses in domains at the NW end of the Yangtze Block. In addition, these samples display left-sloping post-Archaean Australian shale (PAAS)-normalized rare-earth element patterns and variable trace element patterns, resembling sediments accumulated in a basin related to an active continental margin geodynamic setting. Provenance analysis reveals that the main sources featured intermediate to felsic components, which experienced rapid erosion and sedimentation. These integrated new investigations, along with previous compilations, indicate that the Hengdan Group might have been deposited in a fore-arc basin controlled by subduction beneath the Bikou Terrane. Thus, such interpretation further supports proposals for subduction-related tectonics along the western margin of the Yangtze Block during the early Neoproterozoic.


2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 571-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela A Vallini ◽  
William F Cannon ◽  
Klaus J Schulz

A geochronological study of the Chocolay Group at the base of the Paleoproterozoic Marquette Range Supergroup in Michigan, Lake Superior Region, is attempted for the first time. Age data from detrital zircon grains and hydrothermal xenotime from the basal glaciogenic formation, the Enchantment Lake Formation, and the stratigraphically higher Sturgeon Quartzite and its equivalent, the Sunday Quartzite, provide maximum and minimum age constraints for the Chocolay Group. The youngest detrital zircon population in the Enchantment Lake Formation is 2317 ± 6 Ma; in the Sturgeon Quartzite, it is 2306 ± 9 Ma, and in the Sunday Quartzite, it is 2647 ± 5 Ma. The oldest hydrothermal xenotime age in the Enchantment Lake Formation is 2133 ± 11 Ma; in the Sturgeon Quartzite, it is 2115 ± 5 Ma, and in the Sunday Quartzite, it is 2207 ± 5 Ma. The radiometric age data in this study implies the depositional age of the Chocolay Group is constrained to ~2.3–2.2 Ga, which proves its correlation with part of the Huronian Supergroup in the Lake Huron Region, Ontario, and reveals the unconformity that separates the Chocolay Group from the overlying Menominee Group is up to 325 million years in duration. The source(s) of the ~ 2.3 Ga detrital zircon populations in the Enchantment Lake Formation and Sturgeon Quartzite remains an enigma because no known rock units of this age are known in the Michigan area. It is speculated that once widespread volcano-sedimentary cover sequences in Michigan were removed or concealed prior to Chocolay Group deposition. The hydrothermal xenotime ages probably reflect basinal hydrothermal fluid flow associated with the period of extension, involving rifting and major dyke formation, that affected the North American provinces between 2.2 and 2.1 Ga.


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