How reliable are maximum depositional age estimates based on detrital zircon? An example from Early Palaeozoic successions of the Trondheim Nappe Complex, Scandinavian Caledonides

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deta Gasser ◽  
Tor Grenne ◽  
Bjørgunn Dalslåen ◽  
Trond Slagstad ◽  
David Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Maximum Error ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Greenschist Facies ◽  
Scandinavian Caledonides ◽  
Nappe Complex ◽  
Active Tectonic ◽  
Depositional Age ◽  
Age Estimates

<p>U-Pb age spectra of detrital zircons are widely used to estimate maximum depositional ages (MDA) for sedimentary successions of various age. Different methods have been proposed for calculating an MDA. The most common are based on calculated ages of either the youngest single grain (YSG), the youngest grain cluster composed of three or more grains that overlap at 2σ (YGC 2σ), or the youngest graphical peak (YPP). Many of these methods produce MDAs consistent with biostratigraphic age or the radiometric age of volcanic horizons within the same unit; however, several studies have shown that MDA estimates based on detrital zircon can be younger than the true depositional age, particularly in active tectonic settings, indicating that the methods should be applied with care for successions where independent depositional age control is lacking.</p><p>In this contribution we present a compilation of 27 detrital zircon samples from Ordovician to Silurian strata from a part of the Trondheim Nappe Complex of the central Scandinavian Caledonides. The samples belong to six stratigraphically distinct units with independent age control from fossils, dated volcanic horizons or bracketing units of known age. These successions represent various marginal basins filled during the closing stages of the Iapetus Ocean in an overall active tectonic setting with detritus from both continental landmasses and Cambro-Ordovician island arcs. Shortly after deposition, the successions were folded and metamorphosed at up to greenschist facies during Taconian accretionary events and/or the Scandian continent-continent collision.</p><p>We calculated MDAs by the three methods YSG, YGC 2σ and YPP for all samples based on <sup>206</sup>Pb/<sup> 238</sup>U ages, applying a rigorous discordance filter of 5% (most studies use 10%), in order to use the most reliable analyses possible. Our analysis shows that the YSG MDA is up to 36 m.y. younger than the known depositional age for 17 of the 27 samples, with up to six individual grains giving too young age estimates in some samples. Hence, YSG MDA obviously does not provide a reliable MDA estimate. Of the YGC 2σ (weighted mean age) estimates, six are still significantly younger than known depositional age; and an additional seven are younger but overlap with the known depositional age when considering the maximum error on the YGC 2σ estimate. The only method which provides an MDA estimate within the age of known deposition or older for all samples is the YPP method.</p><p>Our results indicate that statistically robust estimates of MDA from detrital zircon data in such an active orogenic setting are provided only by the YPP method; both the YSG and the YGC 2σ methods provided unreliably young estimates even with a discordance filter of 5% (using a filter of only 10% makes the problem considerably worse). The spuriously young ages of up to six near-concordant grains in some samples is probably due to concealed lead loss, possibly caused by (fluid-assisted?) recrystallisation of zircon domains during regional greenschist-facies metamorphism shortly after deposition.</p>

scholarly journals Permo-Carboniferous conglomerates in the Trinity Peninsula Group at View Point, Antarctic Peninsula: sedimentology, geochronology and isotope evidence for provenance and tectonic setting in Gondwana

2011 ◽  
Vol 149 (4) ◽  
pp. 626-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN D. BRADSHAW ◽  
ALAN P. M. VAUGHAN ◽  
IAN L. MILLAR ◽  
MICHAEL J. FLOWERDEW ◽  
RUDOLPH A. J. TROUW ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
View Point ◽  
Transport Distance ◽  
Clastic Sedimentary ◽  
Detrital Zircon Ages ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
The Trinity

AbstractField observations from the Trinity Peninsula Group at View Point on the Antarctic Peninsula indicate that thick, southward-younging and overturned clastic sedimentary rocks, comprising unusually coarse conglomeratic lenses within a succession of fine-grained sandstone–mudstone couplets, are the deposits of debris and turbidity flows on or at the foot of a submarine slope. Three detrital zircons from the sandstone–mudstone couplets date deposition at 302 ± 3 Ma, at or shortly after the Carboniferous–Permian boundary. Conglomerates predominantly consist of quartzite and granite and contain boulders exceeding 500 mm in diameter. Zircons from granitoid clasts and a silicic volcanic clast yield U–Pb ages of 466 ± 3 Ma, 373 ± 5 Ma and 487 ± 4 Ma, respectively and have corresponding average εHft values between +0.3 and +7.6. A quartzite clast, conglomerate matrix and sandstone interbedded with the conglomerate units have broadly similar detrital zircon age distributions and Hf isotope compositions. The clast and detrital zircon ages match well with sources within Patagonia; however, the age of one granite clast and the εHf characteristics of some detrital zircons point to a lesser South Africa or Ellsworth Mountain-like contribution, and the quartzite and granite-dominated composition of the conglomerates is similar to upper Palaeozoic diamictites in the Ellsworth Mountains. Unlike detrital zircons, large conglomerate clasts limit possible transport distance, and suggest sedimentation took place on or near the edge of continental crust. Comparison with other upper Palaeozoic to Mesozoic sediments in the Antarctic Peninsula and Patagonia, including detrital zircon composition and the style of deformation, suggests deposition of the Trinity Peninsula Group in an upper plate basin on an active margin, rather than a subduction-related accretionary setting, with slow extension and rifting punctuated by short periods of compression.

Late Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic paleogeographic position of the Yangtze block and the change of tectonic setting in its northwestern margin: Evidence from detrital zircon U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes of sedimentary rocks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingshuang Zhao ◽  
Xiaoping Long ◽  
Jin Luo ◽  
Yunpeng Dong ◽  
Caiyun Lan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Hf Isotopes ◽  
Early Paleozoic ◽  
Yangtze Block ◽  
Sedimentary Provenance ◽  
Northwestern Margin ◽  
Late Neoproterozoic

The crustal evolution of the Yangtze block and its tectonic affinity to other continents of Rodinia and subsequent Gondwana have not been well constrained. Here, we present new U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes of detrital zircons from the late Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the northwestern margin of the Yangtze block to provide critical constraints on their provenance and tectonic settings. The detrital zircons of two late Neoproterozoic samples have a small range of ages (0.87−0.67 Ga) with a dominant age peak at 0.73 Ga, which were likely derived from the Hannan-Micangshan arc in the northwestern margin of the Yangtze block. In addition, the cumulative distribution curves from the difference between the depositional age and the crystalline age (CA−DA) together with the mostly positive εHf(t) values of these zircon crystals (−6.8 to +10.7, ∼90% zircon grains with εHf[t] > 0) suggest these samples were deposited in a convergent setting during the late Neoproterozoic. In contrast, the Cambrian−Silurian sediments share a similar detrital zircon age spectrum that is dominated by Grenvillian ages (1.11−0.72 Ga), with minor late Paleoproterozoic (ca. 2.31−1.71 Ga), Mesoarchean to Neoarchean (3.16−2.69 Ga), and latest Archean to early Paleoproterozoic (2.57−2.38 Ga) populations, suggesting a significant change in the sedimentary provenance and tectonic setting from a convergent setting after the breakup of Rodinia to an extensional setting during the assembly of Gondwana. However, the presence of abundant Grenvillian and Neoarchean ages, along with their moderately to highly rounded shapes, indicates a possible sedimentary provenance from exotic continental terrane(s). Considering the potential source areas around the Yangtze block when it was a part of Rodinia or Gondwana, we suggest that the source of these early Paleozoic sediments had typical Gondwana affinities, such as the Himalaya, north India, and Tarim, which is also supported by their stratigraphic similarity, newly published paleomagnetic data, and tectono-thermal events in the northern fragments of Gondwana. This implies that after prolonged subduction in the Neoproterozoic, the northwestern margin of the Yangtze block began to be incorporated into the assembly of Gondwana and then accept sediments from the northern margin of Gondwanaland in a passive continental margin setting.

Neoproterozoic Jiangnan Orogeny in southeast Guizhou, South China: evidence from U–Pb ages for detrital zircons from the Sibao Group and Xiajiang Group

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Ma ◽  
Kunguang Yang ◽  
Xuegang Li ◽  
Chuangu Dai ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
North India ◽  
Yangtze Block ◽  
Inductively Coupled ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Southeastern Margin ◽  
Depositional Age

The Jiangnan Orogeny generated regional angular unconformities between the Xiajiang Group and the underlying Sibao Group in the western Jiangnan Orogen along the southeastern margin of the Yangtze Block in southeast Guizhou, South China. Laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS) U–Pb zircon dating of two samples of the Motianling granitic pluton yielded U–Pb zircon ages of 826.2 ± 3.4 and 825.5 ± 6.1 Ma, with an average age of 825.6 ± 3.0 Ma, which is considered the minimum depositional age of the Sibao Group. The U–Pb ages of the youngest detrital zircon grains from the Sibao Group and the Xiajiang Group yielded average ages of 834.9 ± 3.8 and 794.6 ± 4.2 Ma, respectively. The depositional age of the Sibao Group can be constrained at 825–835 Ma, and deposition of the Xiajiang Group did not begin before ca. 800 Ma. These results suggest that the Jiangnan Orogeny, which led to the assembly of the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks, ended at 795–835 Ma on the western segment of the Jiangnan Orogen. The detrital zircon distribution spectrums of the Sibao and Xiajiang groups suggest a provenance from Neoproterozoic basement sedimentary sequences along with a mixture of local Neoproterozoic subduction-related felsic granitoids, distant plutons from the western Yangtze Block and eastern Jiangnan Orogen, and recycled materials from the interior of the Yangtze Block. By comparing the basin evolution histories and magmatic and metamorphic events along the continental margins of the Rodinia supercontinent, it is proposed that the South China Block might have been located at the periphery, adjacent to North India and East Antarctica, rather than in the interior of Rodinia in Neoproterozoic time.

scholarly journals Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology of a metasomatic calc-silicate in the Tsäkkok Lens, Scandinavian Caledonides

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-31
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Barnes ◽  
Jarosław Majka ◽  
Michał Bukała ◽  
Erika Nääs ◽  
Sabine Rousku
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Oscillatory Zoning ◽  
Similar Time ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Tectonic Events ◽  
Scandinavian Caledonides ◽  
Iapetus Ocean ◽  
Nappe Complex ◽  
Seve Nappe Complex ◽  
Time Frames

The Tsäkkok Lens of the Seve Nappe Complex in the Scandinavian Caledonides comprises eclogite bodies hosted within metasedimentary rocks. These rocks are thought to be derived from the outermost margin of Baltica along the periphery of the Iapetus Ocean, but detrital records from the sedimentary rocks are lacking.Many metasedimentary outcrops within the lens expose both well-foliated metapelitic rocks and massive calc-silicates. The contacts between these two lithologies are irregular and are observed to trend at all angles to the high-pressure foliation in the metapelites. Where folding is present in the metapelites, the calc-silicate rocks are also locally folded. These relationships suggest metasomatism of the metapelites during the Caledonian orogenesis. Zircon U-Pb geochronology was conducted on sixty-one zircon grains from a calc-silicate sample to investigate if they recorded the metasomatic event and to assess the detrital zircon populations. Zircon grains predominantly show oscillatory zoning, sometimes with thin, homogeneous rims that have embayed contacts with the oscillatory-zoned cores. The zircon cores yielded prominent early Stenian, Calymmian, and Statherian populations with a subordinate number of Tonian grains. The zircon rims exhibit dissolution-reprecipitation of the cores or new growth and provide ages that span similar time frames, indicating overprinting of successive tectonic events. Altogether, the zircon record of the calc-silicate suggests that the Tsäkkok Lens may be correlated to Neoproterozoic basins that are preserved in allochthonous positions within the northern extents of the Caledonian Orogen.

Tectonostratigraphy of the Southernmost Scandinavian Caledonides: testing the Shetland correlation and the Laurentian/Renlandian link

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Bingen ◽  
Espen Torgersen ◽  
Morgan Ganerød
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
White Mica ◽  
Geological Mapping ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Mica Schist ◽  
Upper Ordovician ◽  
Scandinavian Caledonides ◽  
Metavolcanic Rocks ◽  
Hp Metamorphism ◽  
Augen Gneiss

<p>Geological mapping, zircon U–Pb dating of 28 samples, and mica <sup>40</sup>Ar–<sup>39</sup>Ar dating of 7 samples in the Stavanger–Ryfylke region (Stavanger, Suldal, Nedstrand, Randøy) characterizes the tectonostratigraphy of the southernmost nappes in the Scandinavian Caledonides. Four main tectonostratigraphic levels are described. (1) The lowest phyllite/mica schist nappes –Buadalen, Holmasjø, Lower Finse, Synnfjell– represent the Cambro–Ordovician sediment cover of the Baltic margin. (2) The overlying nappes –Madla, Storheia, Dyrskard, Hallingskarvet– consist of felsic metaigneous rocks with a consistent age between c.1525 and 1493 Ma. They host c.1040 Ma intrusives and c.1025 Ma Sveconorwegian metamorphism. They likely represent transported Baltican (Sveconorwegian) basement, widely exposed in S Norway. (3) The overlying nappes –Sola, Boknafjord, Kvitenut, Revseggi– are more diverse and lack counterparts in the exposed Baltican crust. The Sola nappe, near Stavanger, comprises a marine succession –Kolnes succession– of mica schist, metasandstone, marble, amphibolite and felsic metavolcanic rocks. The metavolcanic rocks –Snøda metadacite–rhyolite– are fine-grained mica gneisses, with calc-alkaline composition. Their extrusion age of c.941–934 Ma date deposition of the sequence. Detrital zircons in a metasandstone sample (n=138) yield main age modes at c.1040, 1150 and 1395 Ma, as well as significant Paleoproterozoic and Archaean modes. The Kolnes succession was affected by Taconian/Grampian metamorphism peaking in eclogite-facies conditions between c.471 and 458 Ma (Smit et al., 2010), followed by regional cooling around 445–435 Ma. Leucogranite bodies (c.429 Ma) cut the Grampian fabric. Several <sup>40</sup>Ar–<sup>39</sup>Ar white mica and biotite plateau ages constrain the timing of Scandian top-to-the SE nappe stacking at c.420 Ma. The Boknafjord nappe in Nedstrand comprises a c.932 Ma augen gneiss, overlain successively by amphibolite and mica schist units. Preliminary detrital zircon data (n=11) imply an Ordovician (<459 Ma) deposition for the mica schist. (4) The highest nappes –Karmsund and Hardangerfjord– host the Karmøy and Bømlo ophiolite complexes. These complexes comprise a c.493 Ma supra subduction zone ophiolite, intruded by c.485–466 Ma volcanic arc plutonic rocks, and unconformably overlain by fossiliferous upper Ordovician (<c.445 Ma) clastic sediments (Pedersen and Dunning, 1997).</p><p>We propose that the Iapetan Karmøy–Bømlo ophiolite complexes were accreted onto the Kolnes succession on the Laurentian side of the Iapetus realm, during the Grampian orogeny, before integration of both in the Scandian nappe pile. The age of HP metamorphism in the Kolnes succession (471–458 Ma) matches the inferred timing for obduction of the Karmøy–Bømlo complexes (485–448 Ma). The evidence for a Laurentian margin obduction stems from a conspicuous similarity with Shetland. On Shetland, the c.492 Ma Unst–Fetlar ophiolite complex was obducted during the Grampian orogeny onto Neoproterozoic Laurentian marine sequences (psammite-marble-mica gneiss) of the Westing, Yell Sound and East Mainland successions. The Westing and Yell Sound successions are characterized by a c. 944–925 Ma, Renlandian, high-grade metamorphism, a dominant detrital zircon mode at 1030 Ma, and common Archean detrital zircons. They correlate well with the Kolnes succession and suggest an ancestry along the Neoproterozoic Renlandian active margin of Laurentia and Rodinia, before opening of Iapetus. </p>

scholarly journals Supplemental Material: Late Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic paleogeographic position of the Yangtze block and the change of tectonic setting in its northwestern margin: Evidence from detrital zircon U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes of sedimentary rocks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingshuang Zhao ◽  
Xiaoping Long ◽  
et al.
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Early Paleozoic ◽  
Yangtze Block ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Northwestern Margin ◽  
Late Neoproterozoic

Supplementary Figure S1: Representative cathodoluminescence images of zircons from the northwestern Yangtze block samples; Supplementary Table S1: U–Pb dating results and in situ Lu–Hf isotopic data for detrital zircons from the northwestern Yangtze block samples.

scholarly journals Exhumation history of the Variscan suture: Constrains on the detrital zircon geochronology from Carboniferous–Permian sandstones (Northern Gemericum; Western Carpathians)

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 512-530
Author(s):  
Anna Vozárová ◽  
Katarína Šarinová ◽  
Dušan Laurinc ◽  
Elena Lepekhina ◽  
Jozef Vozár ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Magmatic Zircon ◽  
Detrital Zircon Geochronology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Depositional Age

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.

Detrital zircon constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Gravina belt, southeastern Alaska

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A Kapp ◽  
George E Gehrels
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
The West ◽  
Gravina Belt ◽  
Cordilleran Margin

Upper Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous marine clastic strata and mafic to intermediate volcanic rocks of the Gravina belt are part of a complex suture zone separating the Alexander and Wrangellia terranes on the west from the Yukon-Tanana and Stikine terranes to the east. U-Pb ages have been determined on 118 single detrital zircon grains from Gravina strata in an effort to determine the tectonic setting of the Gravina belt and the paleoposition of outboard terranes prior to their Late Cretaceous juxtaposition against inboard terranes. Samples from five stratigraphic units yield ages of 105-120 (n = 5), 140-165 (n = 56), 310-380 (n = 17), 400-450 (n = 19), 520-560 (n = 5), 920-1310 (n = 5), and 1755-1955 Ma (n = 5). The 105-120 and 140-165 Ma grains were shed primarily from arc-related plutons that lie outboard of the Gravina belt. The lack of 120-140 Ma ages coincides with a lull in magmatism in the outboard arc and in the western United States, which suggests that Gravina strata accumulated during major changes in plate motion along the Cordilleran margin. The 400-560 Ma zircons were derived from rocks of the Alexander terrane which also lie to the west. In contrast, the 310-380 and >900 Ma grains were apparently shed from inboard regions. Likely sources include the Yukon-Tanana and Stikine terranes in the northern Cordillera and assemblages in the northern California region which contain igneous rocks and detrital zircons of the appropriate ages. Our data accordingly support models in which the Gravina basin formed in narrow rift or transtensional basins, whereas the outboard Alexander and Wrangellia terranes were located along the California - Oregon - Washington - British Columbia - Alaska margin. Our data are less supportive of models in which the Gravina strata and underlying Alexander and Wrangellia terranes were separated from western North America by a large ocean basin, or were located along the coast of Mexico.

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