ALBERT

Description: The Belt–Purcell Supergroup, northern Idaho, western Montana, and southern British Columbia, is a thick succession of Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks with an age range of about 1470–1400 Ma. Stratigraphic layers within several sedimentary units were sampled to apply the new technique of U–Pb dating of xenotime that sometimes forms as rims on detrital zircon during burial diagenesis; xenotime also can form epitaxial overgrowths on zircon during hydrothermal and metamorphic events. Belt Supergroup units sampled are the Prichard and Revett Formations in the lower Belt, and the McNamara and Garnet Range Formations and Pilcher Quartzite in the upper Belt. Additionally, all samples that yielded xenotime were also processed for detrital zircon to provide maximum age constraints for the time of deposition and information about provenances; the sample of Prichard Formation yielded monazite that was also analyzed. Ten xenotime overgrowths from the Prichard Formation yielded a U–Pb age of 1458 ± 4 Ma. However, because scanning electron microscope – backscattered electrons (SEM–BSE) imagery suggests complications due to possible analysis of multiple age zones, we prefer a slightly older age of 1462 ± 6 Ma derived from the three oldest samples, within error of a previous U–Pb zircon age on the syn-sedimentary Plains sill. We interpret the Prichard xenotime as diagenetic in origin. Monazite from the Prichard Formation, originally thought to be detrital, yielded Cretaceous metamorphic ages. Xenotime from the McNamara and Garnet Range Formations and Pilcher Quartzite formed at about 1160–1050 Ma, several hundred million years after deposition, and probably also experienced Early Cretaceous growth. These xenotime overgrowths are interpreted as metamorphic–diagenetic in origin (i.e., derived during greenschist facies metamorphism elsewhere in the basin, but deposited in sub-greenschist facies rocks). Several xenotime grains are older detrital grains of igneous derivation. A previous study on the Revett Formation at the Spar Lake Ag–Cu deposit provides data for xenotime overgrowths in several ore zones formed by hydrothermal processes; herein, those results are compared with data from newly analyzed diagenetic, metamorphic, and magmatic xenotime overgrowths. The origin of a xenotime overgrowth is reflected in its rare-earth element (REE) pattern. Detrital (i.e., igneous) xenotime has a large negative Eu anomaly and is heavy rare-earth element (HREE)-enriched (similar to REE in igneous zircon). Diagenetic xenotime has a small negative Eu anomaly and flat HREE (Tb to Lu). Hydrothermal xenotime is depleted in light rare-earth element (LREE), has a small negative Eu anomaly, and decreasing HREE. Metamorphic xenotime is very LREE-depleted, has a very small negative Eu anomaly, and is strongly depleted in HREE (from Gd to Lu). Because these characteristics seem to be process related, they may be useful for interpretation of xenotime of unknown origin. The occurrence of 1.16–1.05 Ga metamorphic xenotime, in the apparent absence of pervasive deformation structures, suggests that the heating may be related to poorly understood regional heating due to broad regional underplating of mafic magma. These results may be additional evidence (together with published ages from metamorphic titanite, zircon, monazite, and garnet) for an enigmatic, Grenville-age metamorphic event that is more widely recognized in the southwestern and eastern United States.

Description: The Mesozoic magmatic history of the North American margin records the evolution from a more segmented assemblage of parautochthonous and allochthonous terranes to the more cohesive northern Cordilleran orogenic belt. We characterize the setting of magmatism, tectonism, and epigenetic mineralization in the western Fortymile mining district, east-central Alaska, where parautochthonous and allochthonous Paleozoic tectonic assemblages are juxtaposed, using sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb zircon geochronology, whole-rock geochemistry, and feldspar Pb isotopes of Mesozoic intrusions and spatially associated mineral prospects. New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages and published U-Pb and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages indicate four episodes of plutonism in the western Fortymile district: Late Triassic (216–208 Ma), Early Jurassic (199–181 Ma), mid-Cretaceous (112–94 Ma), and Late Cretaceous (70–66 Ma). All age groups have calc-alkalic arc compositions that became more evolved through time. Pb isotope compositions of feldspars from Late Triassic, Early Jurassic, and Late Cretaceous igneous rocks similarly became more radiogenic with time and are consistent with the magmas being mantle derived but extensively contaminated by upper crustal components with evolving Pb isotopic compositions. Feldspar Pb isotopes from mid-Cretaceous rocks have isotopic ratios that indicate magma derivation from upper crustal sources, probably thickened mid-Paleozoic basement. The origin of the mantle component in Late Cretaceous granitoids suggested by Pb isotopic ratios is uncertain, but we propose that it reflects asthenospheric upwelling following slab breakoff and sinking of an inactive inner subduction zone that delivered the previously accreted Wrangellia composite terrane to the North American continental margin, after the outer Farallon subduction zone was established. Epigenetic Pb-Zn-Ag ± Cu prospects in the western Fortymile district are spatially associated with splays of the northeast-trending Kechumstuk sinistral-normal fault zone and with ca. 68–66 Ma felsic intrusions and dikes. The similarity between Pb isotope compositions of feldspars from the Late Cretaceous igneous bodies and sulfides from the epithermal prospects suggests a Late Cretaceous age for most of the mineralization. Fluid flow along the faults undoubtedly played a major role in mineralization. We interpret displacement on the northeast-trending faults to be a far-field effect of dextral translation along Late Cretaceous plate-scale boundaries and faults that were roughly parallel to the subsequently developed Denali and Tintina fault systems, which currently bound the region.

Description: New data for zircon (external morphology, cathodoluminescence zoning, and sensitive high resolution ion microprobe [SHRIMP] U-Pb ages) from the Carvers Gap granulite gneiss of the Mars Hill terrane (Tennessee and North Carolina, United States) require reevaluation of interpretations of the age and origin of this rock. The new results indicate that the zircon is detrital and that the sedimentary protolith of this gneiss (and related Cloudland gneiss) was deposited no earlier than ca. 1.02 Ga and was metamorphosed at ca. 0.98 Ga. Tectonic models that included the gneiss as a piece of 1.8 Ga Amazonian crust (perhaps as part of the hypothetical Columbia supercontinent) are now untenable. The remarkably fast cycle of exhumation, erosion, deposition, and deep burial also is characteristic of other late Grenvillian (post-Ottawan) Mesoproterozoic paragneisses that occur throughout the Appalachians. These rocks provide new evidence for the duration of the formation of the Rodinia supercontinent lasting until at least 0.98 Ma.

Description: Dissected caldera structures expose thick intracaldera tuff and, uncommonly, cogenetic shallow plutons, while remnants of correlative outflow tuffs deposited on the pre-eruption ground surface record elements of ancient landscapes. The Middle Fork caldera encompasses a 10 km x 20 km area of rhyolite welded tuff and granite porphyry in east-central Alaska, ~100 km west of the Yukon border. Intracaldera tuff is at least 850 m thick. The K-feldspar megacrystic granite porphyry is exposed over much of a 7 km x 12 km area having 650 m of relief within the western part of the caldera fill. Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe with reverse geometry (SHRIMP-RG) analyses of zircon from intracaldera tuff, granite porphyry, and outflow tuff yield U-Pb ages of 70.0 ± 1.2, 69.7 ± 1.2, and 71.1 ± 0.5 Ma (95% confidence), respectively. An aeromagnetic survey indicates that the tuff is reversely magnetized, and, therefore, that the caldera-forming eruption occurred in the C31r geomagnetic polarity chron. The tuff and porphyry have arc geochemical signatures and a limited range in SiO 2 of 69 to 72 wt%. Although their phenocrysts differ in size and abundance, similar quartz + K-feldspar + plagioclase + biotite mineralogy, whole-rock geochemistry, and analytically indistinguishable ages indicate that the tuff and porphyry were comagmatic. Resorption of phenocrysts in tuff and porphyry suggests that these magmas formed by thermal rejuvenation of near-solidus or solidified crystal mush. A rare magmatic enclave (54% SiO 2 , arc geochemical signature) in the porphyry may be similar to parental magma and provides evidence of mafic magma and thermal input. The Middle Fork is a relatively well preserved caldera within a broad region of Paleozoic metamorphic rocks and Mesozoic plutons bounded by northeast-trending faults. In the relatively downdropped and less deeply exhumed crustal blocks, Cretaceous–Early Tertiary silicic volcanic rocks attest to long-term stability of the landscape. Within the Middle Fork caldera, the granite porphyry is interpreted to have been exposed by erosion of thick intracaldera tuff from an asymmetric resurgent dome. The Middle Fork of the North Fork of the Fortymile River incised an arcuate valley into and around the caldera fill on the west and north and may have cut down from within an original caldera moat. The 70 Ma land surface is preserved beneath proximal outflow tuff at the west margin of the caldera structure and beneath welded outflow tuff 16–23 km east-southeast of the caldera in a paleovalley. Within ~50 km of the Middle Fork caldera are 14 examples of Late Cretaceous (?)–Tertiary felsic volcanic and hypabyssal intrusive rocks that range in area from 〈1 km 2 to ~100 km 2 . Rhyolite dome clusters north and northwest of the caldera occupy tectonic basins associated with northeast-trending faults and are relatively little eroded. Lava of a latite complex, 12–19 km northeast of the caldera, apparently flowed into the paleovalley of the Middle Fork of the North Fork of the Fortymile River. To the northwest of the Middle Fork caldera, in the Mount Harper crustal block, mid-Cretaceous plutonic rocks are widely exposed, indicating greater total exhumation. To the southeast of the Middle Fork block, the Mount Veta block has been uplifted sufficiently to expose a ca. 68–66 Ma equigranular granitic pluton. Farther to the southeast, in the Kechumstuk block, the flat-lying outflow tuff remnant in Gold Creek and a regionally extensive high terrace indicate that the landscape there has been little modified since 70 Ma other than entrenchment of tributaries in response to post–2.7 Ma lowering of base level of the Yukon River associated with advance of the Cordilleran ice sheet.

Description: Th/U values in zircon are commonly used to discriminate between metamorphic (Th/U 〈 0.1) and magmatic (Th/U 〉 0.1) origin for zircon overgrowths. We test this hypothesis in the San Ciprián massif, a late orogenic granitic intrusion in the hinterland of the Variscan orogeny. Zircon grains from this granite have cores with inherited Ediacaran ages and Th/U 〉 0.1, whereas zircon mantles yield an age of about 287 Ma, interpreted as the time of crystallization of the granite, and have Th/U 〈 0.1. Hence, the San Ciprián massif presents an uncommon but unambiguous example of magmatic zircon mantles with Th/U values typical of metamorphic zircon. The most likely causes for the unusually low-Th/U zircon values in the San Ciprián massif are a combination of a U-rich magma composition (owing to a fractionation process) and the absence of other U-enriched accessory minerals. Our work in determining Th/U ratios substantiates the warning previously made by some researchers and precludes the use of Th/U values in zircon as an unequivocal indicator of metamorphic origin in the absence of other chemical, zircon morphology or field-based independent criteria. Supplementary materials: Code and data to generate Figures 1 and 5 are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18885 .

Description: Xenotime occurs as epitaxial overgrowths on detrital zircons in the Mesoproterozoic Revett Formation (Belt Supergroup) at the Spar Lake red bed-associated Cu-Ag deposit, western Montana. The deposit formed during diagenesis of Revett strata, where oxidizing metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids encountered a reducing zone. Samples for geochronology were collected from several mineral zones. Xenotime overgrowths (1–30 μm wide) were found in polished thin sections from five ore and near-ore zones (chalcocite-chlorite, bornite-calcite, galena-calcite, chalcopyrite-ankerite, and pyrite-calcite), but not in more distant zones across the region. Thirty-two in situ SHRIMP U-Pb analyses on xenotime overgrowths yield a weighted average of 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages of 1409 ± 8 Ma, interpreted as the time of mineralization. This age is about 40 to 60 m.y. after deposition of the Revett Formation. Six other xenotime overgrowths formed during a younger event at 1304 ± 19 Ma. Several isolated grains of xenotime have 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages in the range of 1.67 to 1.51 Ga, and thus are considered detrital in origin. Trace element data can distinguish Spar Lake xenotimes of different origins. Based on in situ SHRIMP analysis, detrital xenotime has heavy rare earth elements-enriched patterns similar to those of igneous xenotime, whereas xenotime overgrowths of inferred hydrothermal origin have hump-shaped (i.e., middle rare earth elements-enriched) patterns. The two ages of hydrothermal xenotime can be distinguished by slightly different rare earth elements patterns. In addition, 1409 Ma xenotime overgrowths have higher Eu and Gd contents than the 1304 Ma overgrowths. Most xenotime overgrowths from the Spar Lake deposit have elevated As concentrations, further suggesting a genetic relationship between the xenotime formation and Cu-Ag mineralization.

Description: The Blackbird district, east-central Idaho, contains the largest known Co reserves in the United States. The origin of strata-hosted Co-Cu ± Au mineralization at Blackbird has been a matter of controversy for decades. In order to differentiate among possible genetic models for the deposits, including various combinations of volcanic, sedimentary, magmatic, and metamorphic processes, we used U-Pb geochronology of xenotime, monazite, and zircon to establish time constraints for ore formation. New age data reported here were obtained using sensitive high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) microanalysis of (1) detrital zircons from a sample of Mesoproterozoic siliciclastic metasedimentary country rock in the Blackbird district, (2) igneous zircons from Mesoproterozoic intrusions, and (3) xenotime and monazite from the Merle and Sunshine prospects at Blackbird. Detrital zircon from metasandstone of the biotite phyllite-schist unit has ages mostly in the range of 1900 to 1600 Ma, plus a few Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic grains. Age data for the six youngest grains form a coherent group at 1409 ± 10 Ma, regarded as the maximum age of deposition of metasedimentary country rocks of the central structural domain. Igneous zircons from nine samples of megacrystic granite, granite augen gneiss, and granodiorite augen gneiss that crop out north and east of the Blackbird district yield ages between 1383 ± 4 and 1359 ± 7 Ma. Emplacement of the Big Deer Creek megacrystic granite (1377 ± 4 Ma), structurally juxtaposed with host rocks in the Late Cretaceous ca. 5 km north of Blackbird, may have been involved in initial deposition of rare earth elements (REE) minerals and, possibly, sulfides. In situ SHRIMP ages of xenotime and monazite in Co-rich samples from the Merle and Sunshine prospects, plus backscattered electron imagery and SHRIMP analyses of trace elements, indicate a complex sequence of Mesoproterozoic and Cretaceous events. On the basis of textural relationships observed in thin section, xeno-time and cobaltite formed during multiple episodes. The oldest age for xenotime (1370 ± 4 Ma), determined on oscillatory-zoned cores, may date the time of initial cobaltite formation, and provides a minimum age for the host metasedimentary rocks. Additional Proterozoic xenotime growth events occurred at 1315 to 1270 Ma and ca. 1050 Ma. Other xenotime grains and rims grew in conjunction with cobaltite during Cretaceous metamorphism. However, ages of these growth episodes cannot be precisely determined due to matrix effects on 206 Pb/ 238 U data for xenotime. Monazite, some of which encloses cobaltite, uniformly has Cretaceous ages that mainly are 110 ± 3 and 92 ± 5 Ma. These data indicate that xenotime, monazite, and cobaltite were extensively mobilized and precipitated during Middle to Late Cretaceous metamorphic events.

Description: Th/U values in zircon are commonly used to discriminate between metamorphic (Th/U 〈 0.1) and magmatic (Th/U 〉 0.1) origin for zircon overgrowths. We test this hypothesis in the San Ciprián massif, a late orogenic granitic intrusion in the hinterland of the Variscan orogeny. Zircon grains from this granite have cores with inherited Ediacaran ages and Th/U 〉 0.1, whereas zircon mantles yield an age of about 287 Ma, interpreted as the time of crystallization of the granite, and have Th/U 〈 0.1. Hence, the San Ciprián massif presents an uncommon but unambiguous example of magmatic zircon mantles with Th/U values typical of metamorphic zircon. The most likely causes for the unusually low-Th/U zircon values in the San Ciprián massif are a combination of a U-rich magma composition (owing to a fractionation process) and the absence of other U-enriched accessory minerals. Our work in determining Th/U ratios substantiates the warning previously made by some researchers and precludes the use of Th/U values in zircon as an unequivocal indicator of metamorphic origin in the absence of other chemical, zircon morphology or field-based independent criteria. Supplementary materials: Code and data to generate Figures 1 and 5 are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18885 .