Complex ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectra from low metamorphic grade rocks: resolving the input of detrital and metamorphic components in a case study from the Delamerian Orogen

Low metamorphic grade rocks contain both detrital minerals and minerals newly grown or partly recrystallised during diagenesis and metamorphism. However, rocks such as these typically yield complex 40Ar/39Ar age spectra that can be difficult to interpret. In this study, we have analysed a suite of variably deformed rocks from a region of low metamorphic grade within the c. 514–490 Ma Delamerian Orogen, South Australia. The samples analysed range from siltstone and shale to phyllite and all contain either muscovite or phengite determined by hyperspectral mineralogical characterisation. Furnace step heating 40Ar/39Ar analysis produced complex apparent age spectra with multiple age components. Using the concept of asymptotes that define minimum and maximum ages for different components, we interpret the age spectra to preserve a range of detrital mineral ages, along with younger components related to either cooling or deformation- induced recrystallisation. Two samples contain Mesoproterozoic detrital age components, up to c. 1170 Ma, while the c. 515 Ma Heatherdale Shale which has both c. 566 Ma and c. 530 Ma detrital components. All samples contain younger lower (younger) asymptotes in the age spectra defined from multiple heating steps that range from c. 476 to c. 460 Ma. One interpretation of these younger ages is that they are caused by post-metamorphic cooling. However, the shape of the age spectra and the degree of deformation in the phyllites suggest the ages may record recrystallisation of detrital minerals and/or new mica growth during deformation. Potentially these c. 476 to c. 460 Ma ages suggest deformation in the upper portion of the orogen was facilitated by movement along regional faults and shear zones up to around 20 million years after the cessation of deformation in the high-metamorphic grade regions of the Delamerian Orogen.

Provenance of the Sawa Formation Sandstones, Vindhyan Super Group, Southeast Rajasthan, India

Integrated petrographical and geochemical analysis of Sawa Formation sandstones was analyzed to reconstruct their source area weathering, paleoclimate, tectonic setting and provenance conditions. Petrographically, quartz is dominant detrital mineral followed by feldspar, mica, rock fragments and heavy minerals. Sawa Formation sandstones have been classified as quartzarenite with subordinate sub-arkose and sub-litharenite type. Major oxide element abundances revealed the sandstones have high SiO2 concentration, high K2O/ Na2O ratio, which is consistent with the petrographic data. These sandstones were derived mainly from stable cratonic with minor collision suture and fold thrust belt source and deposited in rifted continental margin basin setting, reflecting high maturity of sediments and high stability of the source area. The CIA, CIW and PIA values of these sandstones indicate high intensity of weathering condition in the source area under warm and humid climate.

Foreland basin sediment archives: highlighting their use in documenting deformation of the orogenic hinterland and foreland.

<p>Interrogation of sediment archives allows for documentation of both hinterland and foreland deformation. Examples of their use as an archive of Himalayan foreland deformation include the work of Govin et al. (Geology, 2018) in which determination of the timing of drainage rerouting of the palaeo-Brahmaputra has allowed us to date the timing of surface uplift of the Shillong Plateau, and the work of Najman et al (Tectonics, 2018) in which the presence of the major Paleogene unconformity previously recognised in the Himalayan foreland basin, was shown to extend much further south into the foreland, allowing for a broader range of possible causal mechanisms to be discussed. There are numerous examples of the use of the Himalayan foreland basin sediment record to determine orogenic tectonics, this being a complementary approach to bedrock studies of the orogen. For example, Govin et al. (in review) and Lang et al (GSAB 2016), used detrital mineral lag time studies targeted to the Siwalik Himalayan foreland sediment archive, to demonstrate when the rapid exhumation of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis commenced. Comparison with a similar dataset derived from a more distal sediment archive of the Bengal Fan (Najman et al. GSAB 2019), shows the advantages (as well as disadvantages) in the use of proximal sediment archives.</p>

Detrital mineral composition and provenance of the Camp Century basal ice sediments

<p>The Camp Century Ice core, NW Greenland, recovered a 4.5 m basal section consisting of frozen sediments and debris-rich ice. This material was recently re-discovered in Danish ice core storage and visually logged. As part of a multi-disciplinary effort to unlock the climatic and paleo-environmental signal of this unique record, we have analysed detrital mineral composition and metamorphic ages. Bulk mineral analyses were performed at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland on grain mounts from 2 core intervals using a SEM automated quantitative mineralogy (AQM) approach coupled to laser ablation ICP-MS analyses. This setup allows us to gain a full mineral description together with single-grain U-Pb dates for a large population of metamorphic components, e.g. apatite, rutile, titanite and zircon. In addition, amphibole grains were picked for <sup>40</sup>Ar-<sup>39</sup>Ar dating performed at the LDEO Argon Isotope Lab. Mineralogical characterization was completed by X-Ray diffraction analysis of the fine fraction to determine the presence and nature of potential clay weathering products, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction was utilized to characterize the atomic arrangements of minerals that occur in solid solutions. The AQM results indicate that metamorphic minerals are present in sufficient amounts (100’s) for gaining statistically valid provenance data. Preliminary results show ages in the 1900 – 1700 Ma range (amphibole, rutile) and around 2700 Ma (zircon). This, along with the presence of swelling clays in the sediments, is consistent with weathering of the local bedrock, and/or sediments transported from the Inglefield orogenic belt north of the site. To gain information on the youngest thermal events of sediment sources, potentially revealing deep glacial incision, (U-Th-Sm)/He dating of single apatite grains is underway. Preliminary work on the 125-250 µm size fraction yield abundant subhedral-to-subrounded, euhedral apatite suitable for thermochronology. Here we report the results from the different methods and discuss the implications for understanding erosional processes and potential transport pathways of the Camp Century basal ice sediments. </p>

Zircons to the front: accretionary history of the Rheno-Hercynian active margin (Variscides, Germany)

Our paper reports the detrital zircon record from Late Devonian to late Carboniferous foreland basin deposits in the Rheno-Hercynian (RH) Variscides of Germany. Together with a review of petrography and detrital mineral ages from the literature, the data permit to reconstruct accretion and exhumation along the RH active margin. From Frasnian to latest Carboniferous, the main source (now eroded) was a north-Armorican microcontinent (Franconia) with magmatic rocks representing late Neoproterozoic arc or back-arc, Cambro-Ordovician rift and Silurian–Early Devonian subduction of the Rheic ocean and (or) RH rifting. At ca. 380 Ma, detrital magmatic zircons combined with high- to medium-pressure mica and detrital glaucophane suggest the existence of a paired metamorphic belt at the RH tectonic front. From the Viséan onwards, zircons reveal younging of granitoid debris from ca. 380–360 Ma in Late Devonian sediments to ca. 320–300 Ma in the Westphalian C–D and Stephanian. Greywackes of the Namurian A record a change from dominant magmatic clasts toward meta-arenites associated with Baltoscandian zircons, which document accretion to and exhumation from the base of the orogenic wedge. Their source must be sought in metamorphosed Devonian sandstones of the type presently encountered in parts of the active margin crystallines (Mid-German Crystalline High), but in eroded higher units. Basal accretion implies heating of the lower plate beyond the brittle–ductile boundary and supports the model of a high-temperature regime before and during Variscan collision. Palinspastic restoration of the estimated volume of recycled material yields >100 km of distal shelf deposits lost in the process, which adds to the known shortening of the RH basin. The Variscan geology of southwestern England and southern Portugal and provenance studies in those areas are compatible with a geodynamic evolution similar to that in Germany.