The Upper Triassic flysch sediments(Nieru Formation and Langjiexue Group)exposed in the Eastern Tethyan Himalayan Sequence are crucial for unraveling the controversial paleogeography and paleotectonics of the Himalaya...The Upper Triassic flysch sediments(Nieru Formation and Langjiexue Group)exposed in the Eastern Tethyan Himalayan Sequence are crucial for unraveling the controversial paleogeography and paleotectonics of the Himalayan orogen.This work reports new detrital zircon U-Pb ages and whole-rock geochemical data for clastic rocks from flysch strata in the Shannan area.The mineral modal composition data suggest that these units were mainly sourced from recycled orogen provenances.The chemical compositions of the sandstones in the strata are similar to the chemical composition of upper continental crust.These rocks have relatively low Chemical Index of Alteration values(with an average of 62)and Index of Compositional Variability values(0.69),indicating that they experienced weak weathering and were mainly derived from a mature source.The geochemical compositions of the Upper Triassic strata are similar to those of graywackes from continental island arcs and are indicative of an acidicintermediate igneous source.Furthermore,hornblende and feldspar experienced decomposition in the provenance,and the sediment became enriched in zircon and monazite during sediment transport.The detrital zircons in the strata feature two main age peaks at 225-275 Ma and 500-600 Ma,nearly continuous Paleoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic ages,and a broad inconspicuous cluster in the Tonian-Stenian(800-1200 Ma).The detrital zircons from the Upper Triassic sandstones in the study area lack peaks at 300-325 Ma(characteristic of the Lhasa block)and 1150-1200 Ma(characteristic of the Lhasa and West Australia blocks).Therefore,neither the Lhasa block nor the West Australia blocks likely acted as the main provenance of the Upper Triassic strata.Newly discovered Permian-Triassic basalt and mafic dikes in the Himalayas could have provided the 225-275 Ma detrital zircons.Therefore,Indian and Himalayan units were the main provenances of the flysch strata.The Tethyan Himalaya was part of the northern passive margin and was not an exotic terrane separated from 展开更多
The origin, age and evolution of the Precambrian metamorphic basement of southern China provide useful insights into early crustal development. Here, we present new laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spect...The origin, age and evolution of the Precambrian metamorphic basement of southern China provide useful insights into early crustal development. Here, we present new laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U-Pb age data for detrital zircons from five samples of the Precambrian metamorphic basement of the Xiangshan uranium orefield. Two of these samples, from the northern Xiangshan volcanic basin, yielded a total of 140 U-Pb ages that cluster within the Neoproterozoic (773-963 Ma; 79.3% of data points), with the rest being scattered through the Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic, along with a single Archean age. These ages indicate that this basement material is associated with the Cathaysia Block. In comparison, the 172 concordant ages from the other three samples from the southern part of the Xiangshan volcanic basin cluster within the Neoproterozoic (767-944 Ma; 59.8%) as well as the Proterozoic (37.8%) and the Archean (2502-2712 Ma; 14.5%). These samples are also free of zircons with Grenvillian ages, indicating that these units are associated with the southeastern Yangtze Block. Combining these data with the geochemistry of these units, which suggests that the metamorphosed sedimentary rocks within the northern and southern parts of the Xiangshan basin have a common component from a magmatic island arc that formed during the early Neoproterozoic, we infer that the basin was located along the boundary between the Cathaysian and Yangtze blocks. In addition, the zircons within the samples from the southern and northern parts of the Xiangshan basin show different pre-Neoproterozoic (963 Ma) age populations but similar post- Neoproterozoic zircon populations, indicating that the amalgamation of the Cathaysian and Yangtze blocks occurred after the Neoproterozoic (960 Ma), with magmatism peaking at 830 Ma and rifting starting at -770 Ma, leading to the subsequent deposition (from bottom to top) of the Shenshan, Kuli, and Shangshi formations.展开更多
基金sponsored by National Program on Key Basic Research Project(973 Program, Grant No. 2016YFC0600308)the China Geological Survey(Grant No. DD20160015)
文摘The Upper Triassic flysch sediments(Nieru Formation and Langjiexue Group)exposed in the Eastern Tethyan Himalayan Sequence are crucial for unraveling the controversial paleogeography and paleotectonics of the Himalayan orogen.This work reports new detrital zircon U-Pb ages and whole-rock geochemical data for clastic rocks from flysch strata in the Shannan area.The mineral modal composition data suggest that these units were mainly sourced from recycled orogen provenances.The chemical compositions of the sandstones in the strata are similar to the chemical composition of upper continental crust.These rocks have relatively low Chemical Index of Alteration values(with an average of 62)and Index of Compositional Variability values(0.69),indicating that they experienced weak weathering and were mainly derived from a mature source.The geochemical compositions of the Upper Triassic strata are similar to those of graywackes from continental island arcs and are indicative of an acidicintermediate igneous source.Furthermore,hornblende and feldspar experienced decomposition in the provenance,and the sediment became enriched in zircon and monazite during sediment transport.The detrital zircons in the strata feature two main age peaks at 225-275 Ma and 500-600 Ma,nearly continuous Paleoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic ages,and a broad inconspicuous cluster in the Tonian-Stenian(800-1200 Ma).The detrital zircons from the Upper Triassic sandstones in the study area lack peaks at 300-325 Ma(characteristic of the Lhasa block)and 1150-1200 Ma(characteristic of the Lhasa and West Australia blocks).Therefore,neither the Lhasa block nor the West Australia blocks likely acted as the main provenance of the Upper Triassic strata.Newly discovered Permian-Triassic basalt and mafic dikes in the Himalayas could have provided the 225-275 Ma detrital zircons.Therefore,Indian and Himalayan units were the main provenances of the flysch strata.The Tethyan Himalaya was part of the northern passive margin and was not an exotic terrane separated from
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.41602069 and 41572185)the Fundamental Science on Radioactive Geology and Exploration Technology Laboratory(Grant No.RGET1402)+1 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province(Grant No.20171BAB213026)Science and technology research projectfrom the Education Department of Jiangxi Province(Grant No.GJJ150554)
文摘The origin, age and evolution of the Precambrian metamorphic basement of southern China provide useful insights into early crustal development. Here, we present new laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U-Pb age data for detrital zircons from five samples of the Precambrian metamorphic basement of the Xiangshan uranium orefield. Two of these samples, from the northern Xiangshan volcanic basin, yielded a total of 140 U-Pb ages that cluster within the Neoproterozoic (773-963 Ma; 79.3% of data points), with the rest being scattered through the Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic, along with a single Archean age. These ages indicate that this basement material is associated with the Cathaysia Block. In comparison, the 172 concordant ages from the other three samples from the southern part of the Xiangshan volcanic basin cluster within the Neoproterozoic (767-944 Ma; 59.8%) as well as the Proterozoic (37.8%) and the Archean (2502-2712 Ma; 14.5%). These samples are also free of zircons with Grenvillian ages, indicating that these units are associated with the southeastern Yangtze Block. Combining these data with the geochemistry of these units, which suggests that the metamorphosed sedimentary rocks within the northern and southern parts of the Xiangshan basin have a common component from a magmatic island arc that formed during the early Neoproterozoic, we infer that the basin was located along the boundary between the Cathaysian and Yangtze blocks. In addition, the zircons within the samples from the southern and northern parts of the Xiangshan basin show different pre-Neoproterozoic (963 Ma) age populations but similar post- Neoproterozoic zircon populations, indicating that the amalgamation of the Cathaysian and Yangtze blocks occurred after the Neoproterozoic (960 Ma), with magmatism peaking at 830 Ma and rifting starting at -770 Ma, leading to the subsequent deposition (from bottom to top) of the Shenshan, Kuli, and Shangshi formations.