ALBERT

Description: The North China craton preserves the history of crustal growth and craton formation during the early Precambrian, followed by extensive lithospheric thinning in the Mesozoic associated with large-scale magmatism and metallogeny. The timing and petrogenesis of the voluminous Mesozoic magmatic rocks are important in understanding the mechanism of craton destruction. Here, we investigate a suite of volcanic rocks including basalt and trachybasalt, basaltic andesite and andesite, dacite and trachydacite, and rhyolite from the Yanshan belt in the northern part of the North China craton and provide evidence for intraplate magmatism along a paleosuture. We present bulk chemistry, zircon U-Pb geochronology and rare earth element data, and Lu-Hf isotopes from the volcanic suite and attempt to constrain the timing of magmatism and source characteristics. The zircon U-Pb data show two age peaks at 175–165 Ma and 155–145 Ma. Geochemically, the rocks are calc-alkaline with arc-related features. The andesites show adakitic affinities with high Sr contents (up to 1140 ppm), high Sr/Y (up to 76.2) and La N /Yb N ratios (up to 21.7), lack of a negative Eu anomaly, extreme depletion in Y and Yb, and relatively low MgO contents (1.3–4.4 wt%), indicating that they were likely derived from the partial melting of thickened lower continental crust. The Zr/Ba ratios indicate interaction between lower crust and primitive magma, possibly through magma underplating at the crust-mantle boundary. However, there was no arc-related tectonic setting in the study area during the Jurassic, which indicates that the elemental and isotopic compositions are possibly inherited from the basement rocks generated during the Paleoproterozoic subduction-accretion-collision process in the North China craton, subsequent to the 2.5 Ga cratonization event. Our zircon Hf isotope data also confirm the incorporation of Paleoproterozoic reworked material. The magmatism and craton destruction along a paleosuture were induced by mantle upwelling through far-field tectonics of the Pacific plate subduction. Our study presents a case where source components have strongly influenced the geochemical imprint of the magmas, with intraplate volcanics preserving a continental arc magmatic signature.

Description: In total, 1249 geophysical well logs were interpreted to map the stratigraphy and structure of the Eocene Memphis Sand in west Tennessee, northwest Mississippi, and Crittenden County, Arkansas, where it overlies the southeastern margin of the Reelfoot rift. The Memphis Sand is a 300-m-thick reworked fluvial sand deposited on a low-relief subsiding plain with limited accommodation space. The Memphis Sand has experienced syn- and postdepositional faulting of four types in the region. (1) West-trending grabens were active during Eocene Claiborne deposition. These grabens also appear to control modern drainage and thus may extend to the surface. (2) The ~N33°E Shelby faults pass through Shelby County, Tennessee, into northwest Mississippi and extend to or near the surface. They were right-lateral normal faults during Eocene Memphis Sand deposition, but they became inverted reverse faults in the late Eocene. (3) The ~N67°E-striking Gibson faults are high-angle normal and reverse faults with a component of right-lateral strike slip. These faults were active during Memphis Sand through lower Cockfield deposition north of the Hatchie graben and appear to be due to faulting above an outboard fault of the Reelfoot rift. (4) The ~N43°E-striking Lauderdale faults are high-angle normal and reverse faults that reflect right-lateral strike-slip reactivation of the southeastern margin of the Reelfoot rift. The structure and stratigraphy revealed in this mapping indicate that the geology of the Memphis Sand is more complex than previously recognized. Faulting of the Memphis Sand and overlying sediments reveals potentially seismogenic faults in western Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, and northwestern Mississippi. This study provides fundamental data for future groundwater modeling and seismic hazard analysis.

Description: Several tectonic models have been proposed for the Neoproterozoic amalgamation of the South China block during the assembly of Rodinia. However, the timing of the end of arc magmatism between the two subblocks in the South China block (i.e., the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks) remains controversial because it is unclear whether the 860–820 Ma magmatic rocks and coeval sedimentary basins in this area are related to subduction or plume activity. Here, we present new detrital zircon U-Pb and Hf isotopic data for the sediments directly overlying early Neoproterozoic arc volcanic rocks in this region. These data reveal a rhythmic change in source coincident with a progressive increase in the amount of juvenile and old crustal detritus within these sediments. This result, combined with the presence of a fining-upward grain-size trend and horizontal bedding within these sediments, provides evidence of bidirectional sources that are consistent with a backarc setting. The juvenile crustal material within these sediments was sourced from adjacent arc terranes to the east, whereas the old crustal detritus was derived from the Yangtze block to the west. In addition, sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe zircon U-Pb dating of mafic rocks within equivalent sedimentary sequences yielded ages of ca. 860–840 Ma, and these mafic rocks have arc- or mid-ocean-ridge basalt–like geochemical features that indicate the initiation of backarc spreading associated with Neoproterozoic NW-directed subduction. The data from the sediments and mafic rocks suggest the presence of a backarc basin system at ca. 860–820 Ma within the southeastern margin of the Yangtze block. This in turn indicates that Rodinia assembly was not completed until ca. 820 Ma, with the South China block possibly acting as a connection between a Neoproterozoic Andean-type active continental margin and Grenvillian belts on the paleo–western margin of the Rodinia supercontinent.

Description: The Greater Himalayan Sequence and leucogranite forming the core of the Himalayan orogen provide an excellent natural laboratory in which to study processes related to crustal melting, granitoid formation, and the tectonic evolution of mountain belts. In contrast to most previous studies, which considered the Himalaya-aged granitoids as leucogranites, here we report a Miocene orbicular diorite from the Greater Himalayan Sequence in the east-central Himalaya. The diorite consists of ellipsoidal orbicules in a diorite matrix. The orbicules have a diorite core with or without garnet-sillimanite-biotite schist enclaves, an inner shell of tangentially oriented biotite laths, and an outer shell of radial or plumose plagioclase crystals. The diorite is aluminous and calcic, shows a fractionated rare earth element pattern with a strongly positive Eu anomaly, and has elevated Sr concentration. The schist enclaves underwent high-temperature metamorphism and partial melting under conditions of 9.2–12 kbar and 765–900 °C, followed by a retrograde pressure-temperature path of decompression and cooling. The inherited magmatic cores, metamorphic mantles, and magmatic rims of zircon from the diorite yield a protolith age of ca. 494 Ma, metamorphic ages ranging from ca. 26 Ma to 22 Ma, and melt crystallization ages of ca. 18–14 Ma. The inherited magmatic cores of zircon show variable but mostly negative Hf ( t ) values, whereas the metamorphic mantles and the magmatic rims of zircon yield variable and lower Hf ( t ) values. Our study shows that the orbicular diorite is a plagioclase + biotite + cordierite cumulate rock that formed by the fractional crystallization of peraluminous melt, which was generated by mixing of melts derived from the partial melting of both early Paleozoic granitoids and old pelitic rocks. The orbicular diorite and the trapped metapelitic schist have a prolonged high-temperature metamorphic, anatectic, and crystallization history that was initiated at ca. 26 Ma and lasted until ca. 14 Ma. The formation of orbicular structures was probably related to decompression during the ascent of anatectic melt, and subsequent rapid cooling. Melt mixing was also a key factor that aided in the formation of the orbicular structure of the diorite.

Description: Dramatic global climate change in the Early Cretaceous suggests that numerous boreal cool events perturbed otherwise warm conditions. Abundant glendonites in Valanginian and Aptian strata are thought to be key markers of cold conditions; however, their use as climate indicators has been questioned. Therefore, a detailed study of glendonites in the context of host-rock geochemistry was conducted on Cretaceous strata exposed on Ellef Ringnes Island, Sverdrup Basin, Canadian High Arctic, to elucidate paleoenvironment controls on periodic glendonite occurrence throughout the Early Cretaceous. Two prominent glendonite zones were identified in Valanginian and Aptian strata. Data for carbon stable isotopes show 13 C carb values of –29.5 to –10.5, consistent with a carbon source from organic matter within the surrounding shale. Trace metal data suggest deposition occurred under an overall oxidizing water column in a setting with higher than average phosphorus and highly degraded organic matter. There is no variation in the geochemical parameters of the mudstones with or without glendonites. Glendonite-bearing zones are coincident, however, with regional evidence for brief periods of colder climate conditions within the otherwise warm Early Cretaceous. We conclude that while the overall conditions for glendonite formation were prevalent throughout the Cretaceous, it was the brief cold periods that provided the final range of stability for their preservation in discrete zones of Valanginian and Aptian strata. These results support the model of an overall warm Early Cretaceous climate being punctuate by several "cold snaps" of as-yet uncertain origin.

Description: During field mapping of Ellef Ringnes Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, 139 isolated Early Cretaceous methane seep deposits were found from 75 field sites. Stable isotopes of the carbonates have values of 13 C = –47 to –35 and 18 O = –4.0 to +0.7. Isoprenoids in organics from one of the seeps are significantly depleted in 13 C, with the most negative 13 C value of –118 and –113 for 2,6,10,15,19-pentamethylicosane (PMI) and phytane/crocetane, respectively. These values indicate an origin through methane oxidation, consistent with biomarkers that are characteristic for anaerobic methanotrophic archaea within the seep deposits, accompanied by terminally branched fatty acids showing similar 13 C values (–92) sourced from sulfate-reducing bacteria. The seep deposits contain a moderate-diversity macrofaunal assemblage comprising ammonites, bivalves, gastropods, scaphopods, "vestimentiferan" worm tubes, and brachiopods. The assemblage is dominated numerically by species that probably had chemosymbionts. The seep deposits formed in the subsurface within strong redox zones, in an otherwise normal marine setting, characterized by oxic waters at high paleolatitudes. While geographically widespread over an area of ~10,000 km 2 , seep deposits on Ellef Ringnes Island occur in a narrow stratigraphic horizon, suggesting a large release of biogenic methane occurred over a brief period of time. This gas release was coincident with a transition from a cold to warm climate during the latest early Albian, and we hypothesize that this may have been related to gas hydrate release.

Description: Erosion is a key step in the destruction and recycling of the continental crust, yet its primary drivers continue to be debated. The relative balance between climatic and solid Earth forces in determining erosion patterns and rates, and in turn orogenic architecture, is unresolved. The monsoon-dominated frontal Himalaya is a classic example of how surface processes may drive focused denudation and potentially control structural evolution. We investigate whether there is a clear relationship between climate and erosion in the drier Himalayan rain shadow on the periphery of the Tibetan Plateau, where a coupled climate-erosion relationship is less clear. We present a new integrated data set combining bulk petrography, geomorphometric analysis, detrital U-Pb zircon geochronology, and bulk Nd and Sr isotope geochemistry from modern river sediments that provides constraints on spatial patterns of sediment production and transport in the Zanskar River. Zanskar River sands are dominated by Greater Himalayan detritus sourced from the glaciated Stod River catchment, which represents only 13% of the total basin area. Prevalent zircon peaks from Cambrian–Ordovician (440–500 Ma) and Mississippian–Permian (245–380 Ma) units indicate more abundant pre-Himalayan granitoids in the northwest Indian Himalaya than in the central and eastern Himalaya. Erosion from the widely exposed Tethyan Himalaya, however, appears modest. Spatial patterns of erosion do not correlate with highest channel steepness. Our data demonstrate that Zanskar differs from the monsoon-soaked frontal Himalaya and the arid, extremely slow-eroding Tibetan orogenic interior in that focused erosion and sediment production are driven by glaciers. Subsequent remobilization of glacially derived sediments is likely controlled by monsoonal rainfall, and we suggest sediment reworking plays an important role. These data support a strong climatic control on modern orogenic erosion in the Himalayan rain shadow on the periphery of the Tibetan Plateau.