Footprints of the Alice Springs Orogeny preserved in far northern Australia: An application of multi-kinetic thermochronology in the Pine Creek Orogen and Arnhem Province

2020 ◽  
pp. jgs2020-173
Author(s):  
Angus L. Nixon ◽  
Stijn Glorie ◽  
Alan S. Collins ◽  
Jo A. Whelan ◽  
Barry L. Reno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Regional Metamorphism ◽  
Northern Australia ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regional Deformation ◽  
Supplementary Material ◽  
Pine Creek ◽  
Thermal Perturbations

The Precambrian Pine Creek Orogen and Arnhem Province represent two of the oldest basement terrains in northern Australia and are often considered to be devoid of significant regional deformation since the cessation of regional metamorphism in the Paleoproterozoic. A major caveat in the current hypothesis of long lived structural inactivity is the absence of published low-temperature thermochronological data and thermal history models for this area. Here we report the first apatite fission track and (U–Th–Sm)/He data for crystalline samples from both the Pine Creek Orogen and Arnhem Province, complemented with apatite geochemistry data acquired by electron microprobe and laser ablation mass spectrometry methods, and present multi-kinetic low-temperature thermal history models. The thermal history models for the Pine Creek Orogen and Arnhem Province reveal a distinct phase of denudation coeval with the Paleozoic Alice Springs Orogeny. By integrating with previous studies, we suggest that this event deformed a larger area of the Australian crust than previously perceived. Localised Mesozoic thermal perturbations proximal to the Pine Creek Shear-Zone additionally record evidence for Mesozoic reheating contemporaneous with mantle induced subsidence and the onset of sedimentation in the Money Shoal Basin, while the Arnhem Province samples demonstrate no evidence of Mesozoic thermal perturbations.Supplementary material: EPMA protocol comparison, AFT plots and modelling, additional geochemistry, datasets and instrumentation parameters are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5206664

Resolving thermal histories via multi-kinetic apatite fission track data: A case study from Phanerozoic strata within the Peel Plateau NWT, Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Spalding ◽  
Jeremy Powell ◽  
David Schneider ◽  
Karen Fallas
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Apatite Fission Track ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
History Of ◽  
Thermal Histories ◽  
Peel Plateau

<p>Resolving the thermal history of sedimentary basins through geological time is essential when evaluating the maturity of source rocks within petroleum systems. Traditional methods used to estimate maximum burial temperatures in prospective sedimentary basin such as and vitrinite reflectance (%Ro) are unable to constrain the timing and duration of thermal events. In comparison, low-temperature thermochronology methods, such as apatite fission track thermochronology (AFT), can resolve detailed thermal histories within a temperature range corresponding to oil and gas generation. In the Peel Plateau of the Northwest Territories, Canada, Phanerozoic sedimentary strata exhibit oil-stained outcrops, gas seeps, and bitumen occurrences. Presently, the timing of hydrocarbon maturation events are poorly constrained, as a regional unconformity at the base of Cretaceous foreland basin strata indicates that underlying Devonian source rocks may have undergone a burial and unroofing event prior to the Cretaceous. Published organic thermal maturity values from wells within the study area range from 1.59 and 2.46 %Ro for Devonian strata and 0.54 and 1.83 %Ro within Lower Cretaceous strata. Herein, we have resolved the thermal history of the Peel Plateau through multi-kinetic AFT thermochronology. Three samples from Upper Devonian, Lower Cretaceous and Upper Cretaceous strata have pooled AFT ages of 61.0 ± 5.1 Ma, 59.5 ± 5.2 and 101.6 ± 6.7 Ma, respectively, and corresponding U-Pb ages of 497.4 ± 17.5 Ma (MSWD: 7.4), 353.5 ± 13.5 Ma (MSWD: 3.1) and 261.2 ± 8.5 Ma (MSWD: 5.9). All AFT data fail the χ<sup>2</sup> test, suggesting AFT ages do not comprise a single statistically significant population, whereas U-Pb ages reflect the pre-depositional history of the samples and are likely from various provenances. Apatite chemistry is known to control the temperature and rates at which fission tracks undergo thermal annealing. The r<sub>mro</sub> parameter uses grain specific chemistry to predict apatite’s kinetic behaviour and is used to identify kinetic populations within samples. Grain chemistry was measured via electron microprobe analysis to derive r<sub>mro</sub> values and each sample was separated into two kinetic populations that pass the χ<sup>2</sup> test: a less retentive population with ages ranging from 49.3 ± 9.3 Ma to 36.4 ± 4.7 Ma, and a more retentive population with ages ranging from 157.7 ± 19 Ma to 103.3 ± 11.8 Ma, with r<sub>mr0</sub> benchmarks ranging from 0.79 and 0.82. Thermal history models reveal Devonian strata reached maximum burial temperatures (~165°C-185°C) prior to late Paleozoic to Mesozoic unroofing, and reheated to lower temperatures (~75°C-110°C) in the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene. Both Cretaceous samples record maximum burial temperatures (75°C-95°C) also during the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene. These new data indicate that Devonian source rocks matured prior to deposition of Cretaceous strata and that subsequent burial and heating during the Cretaceous to Paleogene was limited to the low-temperature threshold of the oil window. Integrating multi-kinetic AFT data with traditional methods in petroleum geosciences can help unravel complex thermal histories of sedimentary basins. Applying these methods elsewhere can improve the characterisation of petroleum systems.</p>

Late Miocene thermal history of the Hengchun Peninsula, Southern Taiwan: Apatite Fission-Track data from the Lilungshan Formation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shao-I Kao ◽  
Wen-Shan Chen ◽  
Tong Hin Chan
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Closure Temperature ◽  
Radiometric Dating ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Apatite Fission Track ◽  
Fission Tracks ◽  
Southern Taiwan

<p>This study aims to investigate the thermal history regarding the Late Miocene Formation of the Hengchun Peninsula with low-temperature thermal chronometry. The samples used in our study were from Lilungshan Formation, which included quartzite (conglomerates) and sandstones (matrix). Lilungshan Formation was an upper fan or feeder channel deposits in shelf environments. Measurements of paleocurrent indicate that these rocks were transported from the NW to the SE, which may represent its source area is a low-grade metamorphic orogenic belt (Yuli belt). In the Late Miocene, outcrops of Yuli belt were low-grade metamorphic rocks with low metamorphic temperatures. To do so, low-temperature thermal chronometry was applied to measure the time since the Lilungshan Formation cooling below the closure temperature. Apatite Fission-track thermochronology is used in this study, which is a radiometric dating method that refers to thermal histories of rocks within the closure temperature range of 110–135°C.</p><p>Our study indicates that the pooled age of apatite fission tracks of conglomerates is 3.3–5 Ma and the grain ages of sandstones are below 5 Ma. Those ages are lower than the formation age of Lilungshan Formation (NN11, > 5.6 Ma). In addition, the grain ages spectrum of sandstones is partial annealing, which implies that the conglomerate has suffered from the thermal event and rapidly brought to the earth’s surface within 4 Ma. This study also compares data of previous studies with regard to the fission tracks of conglomerates in Southern Taiwan and confirms the existence of thermal events. With the assumption that the thermal gradient of the accretionary prism is 40–45°C/km, we can suggest that Lilungshan Formation was located 3 km below the earth's surface in roughly 4 Ma.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Hengchun Peninsula, Lilungshan Formation, Apatite Fission Track, thermal history, chronometry, Late Miocene</p>

Thermal history of the Mackenzie Plain, Northwest Territories, Canada: Insights from low-temperature thermochronology of the Devonian Imperial Formation

2019 ◽  
Vol 132 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 767-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy W. Powell ◽  
Dale R. Issler ◽  
David A. Schneider ◽  
Karen M. Fallas ◽  
Daniel F. Stockli
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Length Distribution ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Track Length ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Burial History ◽  
Cooling History ◽  
History Of

Abstract Devonian strata from the Mackenzie Plain, Northern Canadian Cordillera, have undergone two major burial and unroofing events since deposition, providing an excellent natural laboratory to assess the effects of protracted cooling history on low-temperature thermochronometers in sedimentary basins. Apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He (AHe, ZHe) and apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology data were collected from seven samples across the Mackenzie Plain. AFT single grain ages from six samples span the Cambrian to Miocene with few Neoproterozoic dates. Although there are no correlations between Dpar and AFT date or track length distribution, a relationship exists between grain chemistry and age. We calculate the parameter rmr0 from apatite chemistry and distinguish up to three discrete kinetic populations per sample, with consistent Cambrian–Carboniferous, Triassic–Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Cenozoic pooled ages. Fifteen ZHe dates range from 415 ± 33 Ma to 40 ± 3 Ma, and AHe dates from 53 analyses vary from 225 ± 14 Ma to 3 ± 0.2 Ma. Whereas several samples exhibit correlations between date and radiation damage (eU), all samples demonstrate varying degrees of intra-sample date dispersion. We use chemistry-dependent fission track annealing kinetics to explain dispersion in both our AFT and AHe data sets and detail the thermal history of strata that have experienced a protracted cooling history through the uppermost crust. Thermal history modeling of AFT and AHe samples reveals that the Devonian strata across the Mackenzie Plain reached maximum burial temperatures (∼90 °C–190 °C) prior to Paleozoic to Mesozoic unroofing. Strata were reheated to lower temperatures in the Cretaceous to Paleogene (∼65 °C–110 °C), and have a protracted Cenozoic cooling history, with Paleogene and Neogene cooling pulses. This thermal information is compared with borehole organic thermal maturity profiles to assess the regional burial history. Ultimately, these data reflect the complications, and possibilities, of low-temperature thermochronology in sedimentary rocks where detrital variance results in a broad range of diffusion and annealing kinetics.

scholarly journals Preliminary report of fission track studies in the Jameson Land basin, East Greenland

1988 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 85-89
Author(s):  
K Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Preliminary Report ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Track Length ◽  
Terrigenous Material ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Eastern Margin ◽  
Mountain Belt ◽  
History Of

Fission track (FT) analysis is especially suited to reveal and date low temperature events. The closure temperature of apatite (100 ± 30°C) and its annealing characteristics in the interval of 70-125°C are especially relevant to the study of the maturation of hydrocarbons (Gleadow et al., 1983). FT analyses were made on Permian to Cretaceous, quartzose sandstones and arkoses from the Jameson Land basin. Both FT ages and track length distributions for apatites were obtained for samples taken along the western and eastern margin of the basin (fig. land Table 1) in order to sttidy the tectonic and thermal history of the area. The investigation takes advantage of earlier FT work in the neighbouring Caledonian mountain belt which is believed to be the source of the terrigenous material, including the apatites, which make up the sediments (Hansen, 1985). A report of further Investigations in this area is in preparation.

New age data on the low-temperature regional metamorphism of Mt. Medvednica (Croatia)

2006 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katalin Judik ◽  
Kadosa Balogh ◽  
Darko Tibljaš ◽  
Péter Árkai
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Regional Metamorphism ◽  
New Age
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