Foreland crustal structure of the New York recess, northeastern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Herman, G.C.; Monteverde, D.H.; Schlische, R.W.; Pitcher, D.M.

1997-01-01

A new structural model for the northeast part of the Central Appalachian foreland and fold-and-thrust belt is based on detailed field mapping, geophysical data, and balanced cross-section analysis. The model demonstrates that the region contains a multiply deformed, parautochthonous fold-and-thrust system of Paleozoic age. Our interpretations differ from previous ones in which the entire region north of the Newark basin was considered to be allochthonous. The new interpretation requires a substantial decrease in Paleozoic tectonic shortening northeastward from adjacent parts of the Central Appalachian foreland and illustrates the common occurrence of back-thrusting within the region. During early Paleozoic time northern New Jersey consisted of a Taconic orogenic foreland in which cover folds (F1) involved lower Paleozoic carbonate and flysch overlying Middle Proterozoic basement. F1 folds are open and upright in the foreland and more gently inclined to recumbent southeastward toward the trace of the Taconic allochthons. F1 structures were cut and transported by a fold-and-thrust system of the Allegheny orogeny. This thrust system mostly involves synthetic faults originating from a master decollement rooted in Proterozoic basement. Antithetic faults locally modify early synthetic overthrusts and S1 cleavage in lower Paleozoic cover and show out-of-sequence structural development. The synthetic parts of the regional thrust system are bounded in the northwestern foreland by blind antithetic faults interpreted from seismic-reflection data. This antithetic faulting probably represents Paleozoic reactivation of Late Proterozoic basement faults. Tectonic contraction in overlying cover occurred by wedge faulting where synthetic and antithetic components of the foreland fault system overlap. S2 cleavage in the Paleozoic cover stems from Alleghanian shortening and flattening and commonly occurs in the footwall of large overthrust sheets. Paleozoic structures in Proterozoic basement include fault blocks bounded by high-angle faults and low- to moderate-angle shear zones that locally produce overlying cover folds. Broad and open folds in basement probably reflect shear-zone displacement of subhorizontal foliation. Our cross-section interpretations require limited involvement of lower Paleozoic cover folds in the footwalls of major overthrust faults. Palinspastic restoration of F1 folds produces an arched passive-margin sequence. The tectonic contraction for the Valley and Ridge province and southeastern Pocono Plateau is about 25 km, and tectonic wedge angles are 8??-11??.

Tectonics of Antarctica

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hamilton, W.

1967-01-01

Antarctica consists of large and wholly continental east Antarctica and smaller west Antarctica which would form large and small islands, even after isostatic rebound, if its ice cap were melted. Most of east Antarctica is a Precambrian Shield, in much of which charnockites are characteristic. The high Transantarctic Mountains, along the Ross and Weddell Seas, largely follow a geosyncline of Upper Precambrian sedimentary rocks that were deformed, metamorphosed and intruded by granitic rocks during Late Cambrian or Early Ordovician time. The rocks of the orogen were peneplained, then covered by thin and mostly continental Devonian-Jurassic sediments, which were intruded by Jurassic diabase sheets and overlain by plateau-forming tholeiites. Late Cenozoic doming and block-faulting have raised the present high mountains. Northeastern Victoria Land, the end of the Transantarctic Mountains south of New Zealand, preserves part of a Middle Paleozoic orogen. Clastic strata laid unconformably upon the Lower Paleozoic plutonic complex were metamorphosed at low grade, highly deformed and intruded by Late Devonian or Early Carboniferous granodiorites. The overlying Triassic continental sedimentary rocks have been broadly folded and normal-faulted. Interior west Antarctica is composed of miogeosynclinal clastic and subordinate carbonate rocks which span the Paleozoic Era and which were deformed, metamorphosed at generally low grade, and intruded by granitic rocks during Early Mesozoic time and possibly during other times also. Patterns of orogenic belts, if systematic, cannot yet be defined; but fragmentation and rotation of crustal blocks by oroclinal folding and strike-slip faulting can be suggested. The Ellsworth Mountains, for example, consist of Cambrian-Permian metasedimentary rocks that strike northward toward the noncorrelative and latitudinally striking Mesozoic terrane of the Antarctic Peninsula in one direction and southward toward that of the Lower Paleozoic: terrane of the Transantarctic Mountains in the other; the three regions may be separated by great strike-slip faults. The Antarctic Peninsula in west Antarctica, south of South America, consists of metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks intruded by Late Cretaceous quartz diorite. The pre-granitic rocks are of Jurassic and Early Cretaceous ages wherever they have been dated by fossils, although some crystalline complexes may be older. The S-shape of the peninsula may represent oroclinal bending within Cenozoic time as part of a motion system in which a narrow continental bridge between South America and Antarctica was deformed and ruptured. Perhaps this bridge lagged behind as the larger continental plates drifted into the Pacific Ocean Basin. ?? 1967.

Global bioevents and the question of periodicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sepkoski, J. John

The hypothesis of periodicity in extinction is an empirical claim that extinction events, while variable in magnitude, are regular in timing and therefore are serially dependent upon some single, ultimate cause with clocklike behavior. This hypothesis is controversal, in part because of questions regarding the identity and timing of certain extinction events and because of speculations concerning possible catastrophic extraterrestrial forcing mechanisms. New data on extinctions of marine animal genera are presented that display a high degree of periodicity in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic as well as a suggestion of nonstationary periodicity in the late Paleozoic. However, no periodicity is evident among the as yet poorly documented extinction events of the early and middle Paleozoic.

Intraplate mountain building in response to continent continent collision—the Ancestral Rocky Mountains (North America) and inferences drawn from the Tien Shan (Central Asia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dickerson, Patricia Wood

2003-04-01

The intraplate Ancestral Rocky Mountains of western North America extend from British Columbia, Canada, to Chihuahua, Mexico, and formed during Early Carboniferous through Early Permian time in response to continent-continent collision of Laurentia with Gondwana—the conjoined masses of Africa and South America, including Yucatán and Florida. Uplifts and flanking basins also formed within the Laurentian Midcontinent. On the Gondwanan continent, well inboard from the marginal fold belts, a counterpart structural array developed during the same period. Intraplate deformation began when full collisional plate coupling had been achieved along the continental margin; the intervening ocean had been closed and subduction had ceased—that is, the distinction between upper versus lower plates became moot. Ancestral Rockies deformation was not accompanied by volcanism. Basement shear zones that formed during Mesoproterozoic rifting of Laurentia were reactivated and exerted significant control on the locations, orientations, and modes of displacement on late Paleozoic faults. Ancestral Rocky Mountain uplifts extend as far south as Chihuahua and west Texas (28° to 33°N, 102° to 109°W) and include the Florida-Moyotes, Placer de Guadalupe-Carrizalillo, Ojinaga-Tascotal and Hueco Mountain blocks, as well as the Diablo and Central Basin Platforms. All are cored with Laurentian Proterozoic crystalline basement rocks and host correlative Paleozoic stratigraphic successions. Pre-late Paleozoic deformational, thermal, and metamorphic histories are similar as well. Southern Ancestral Rocky Mountain structures terminate along a line that trends approximately N 40°E (present coordinates), a common orientation for Mesoproterozoic extensional structures throughout southern to central North America. Continuing Tien Shan intraplate deformation (Central Asia) has created an analogous array of uplifts and basins in response to the collision of India with Eurasia, beginning in late Miocene time when full coupling of the colliding plates had occurred. As in the Laurentia-Gondwana case, structures of similar magnitude and spacing to those in Eurasia have developed in the Indian plate. Within the present orogen two ancient suture zones have been reactivated—the early Paleozoic Terskey zone and the late Paleozoic Turkestan suture between the Siberian and East Gondwanan cratons. Inverted Proterozoic to early Paleozoic rift structures and passive-margin deposits are exposed north of the Terskey zone. In the Alay and Tarim complexes, Vendian to mid-Carboniferous passive-margin strata and the subjacent Proterozoic crystalline basement have been uplifted. Data on Tien Shan uplifts, basins, structural arrays, and deformation rates guide paleotectonic interpretations of ancient intraplate mountain belts. Similarly, exhumed deep crustal shear zones in the Ancestral Rockies offer insight into partitioning and reorientation of strain during contemporary intraplate deformation.

Late Proterozoic-Paleozoic evolution of the Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane based on U-Pb igneous and detrital zircon ages: Implications for Neoproterozoic paleogeographic reconstructions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Amato, J.M.; Toro, J.; Miller, E.L.; Gehrels, G.E.; Farmer, G.L.; Gottlieb, E.S.; Till, A.B.

2009-01-01

The Seward Peninsula of northwestern Alaska is part of the Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane, a crustal fragment exotic to western Laurentia with an uncertain origin and pre-Mesozoic evolution. U-Pb zircon geochronology on deformed igneous rocks reveals a previously unknown intermediate-felsic volcanic event at 870 Ma, coeval with rift-related magmatism associated with early breakup of eastern Rodinia. Orthogneiss bodies on Seward Peninsula yielded numerous 680 Ma U-Pb ages. The Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane has pre-Neoproterozoic basement based on Mesoproterozoic Nd model ages from both 870 Ma and 680 Ma igneous rocks, and detrital zircon ages between 2.0 and 1.0 Ga in overlying cover rocks. Small-volume magmatism occurred in Devonian time, based on U-Pb dating of granitic rocks. U-Pb dating of detrital zircons in 12 samples of metamorphosed Paleozoic siliciclastic cover rocks to this basement indicates that the dominant zircon age populations in the 934 zircons analyzed are found in the range 700-540 Ma, with prominent peaks at 720-660 Ma, 620-590 Ma, 560-510 Ma, 485 Ma, and 440-400 Ma. Devonian- and Pennsylvanian-age peaks are present in the samples with the youngest detrital zircons. These data show that the Seward Peninsula is exotic to western Laurentia because of the abundance of Neoproterozoic detrital zircons, which are rare or absent in Lower Paleozoic Cordilleran continental shelf rocks. Maximum depositional ages inferred from the youngest detrital age peaks include latest Proterozoic-Early Cambrian, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, and Pennsylvanian. These maximum depositional ages overlap with conodont ages reported from fossiliferous carbonate rocks on Seward Peninsula. The distinctive features of the Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane include Neoproterozoic felsic magmatic rocks intruding 2.0-1.1 Ga crust overlain by Paleozoic carbonate rocks and Paleozoic siliciclastic rocks with Neoproterozoic detrital zircons. The Neoproterozoic ages are similar to those in the peri-Gondwanan Avalonian-Cadomian arc system, the Timanide orogen of Baltica, and other circum-Arctic terranes that were proximal to Arctic Alaska prior to the opening of the Amerasian basin in the Early Cretaceous. Our Neoproterozoic reconstruction places the Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane in a position near Baltica, northeast of Laurentia, in an arc system along strike with the Avalonian-Cadomian arc terranes. Previously published faunal data indicate that Seward Peninsula had Siberian and Laurentian links by Early Ordovician time. The geologic links between the Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane and eastern Laurentia, Baltica, peri-Gondwanan arc terranes, and Siberia from the Paleoproterozoic to the Paleozoic help to constrain paleogeographic models from the Neoproterozoic history of Rodinia to the Mesozoic opening of the Arctic basin. ?? 2009 Geological Society of America.

Paleozoic intrusive rocks from the Dunhuang tectonic belt, NW China: Constraints on the tectonic evolution of the southernmost Central Asian Orogenic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yan; Sun, Yong; Diwu, Chunrong; Zhu, Tao; Ao, Wenhao; Zhang, Hong; Yan, Jianghao

2017-05-01

The Dunhuang tectonic belt (DTB) is of great importance for understanding the tectonic evolution of the southernmost Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). In this study, the temporal-spatial distribution, petrogenesis and tectonic setting of the Paleozoic representative intrusive rocks from the DTB were systematically investigated to discuss crustal evolution history and tectonic regime of the DTB during Paleozoic. Our results reveal that the Paleozoic magmatism within the DTB can be broadly divided into two distinct episodes of early Paleozoic and late Paleozoic. The early Paleozoic intrusive rocks, represented by a suite metaluminous-slight peraluminous and medium- to high-K calc-alkaline I-type granitoids crystallized at Silurian (ca. 430-410 Ma), are predominantly distributed along the northern part of the DTB. They were probably produced with mineral assemblage of eclogite or garnet + amphibole + rutile in the residue, and were derived from magma mixing source of depleted mantle materials with various proportions of Archean-Mesoproterozoic continental crust. The late Paleozoic intrusive rocks can be further subdivided into two stages of late Devonian stage (ca. 370-360 Ma) and middle Carboniferous stage (ca. 335-315 Ma). The former stage is predominated by metaluminous to slight peraluminous and low-K tholeiite to high-K calc-alkaline I-type granitic rocks distributed in the central part of the DTB. They were also generated with mineral assemblage of amphibolite- to eclogite-facies in the residue, and originated from magma source of depleted mantle materials mixed with different degrees of old continental crust. The later stage is represented by adakite and alkali-rich granite exposed in the southern part of the DTB. The alkali-rich granites studied in this paper were possibly produced with mineral assemblage of granulite-facies in the residue and were generated by partial melting of thickened lower continental crust. Zircon Hf isotopes and field distribution of those Paleozoic intrusive rocks reveal that both the Silurian and the late Devonian magmatic activities predominantly represent crustal growth processes in the DTB, accompanied by different degrees of reworking of pre-existing continental crust. However, the middle Carboniferous (ca. 335-315 Ma) magmatic activity reflects a crustal reworking process. The Silurian and late Devonian intrusive rocks were most likely formed in the arc-related subduction zones, whereas, the middle Carboniferous intrusive rocks were possibly formed in a transitional tectonic setting from compression to extension, representing the final stage of Paleozoic orogeny in the DTB. These Paleozoic magmatic rocks further suggest that the DTB has reactivated from a stable block to an orogen and undergone two episodes (the early Paleozoic and the late Paleozoic) of orogeny during Paleozoic. It represents a Paleozoic accretionary orogen of the southernmost margin of the CAOB between the Tarim Craton and North China Craton, and tectonically extends northward to the Beishan orogen and westward to the eastern South Tianshan Belt.

Early Paleozoic subduction initiation volcanism of the Iwatsubodani Formation, Hida Gaien belt, Southwest Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsukada, Kazuhiro; Yamamoto, Koshi; Gantumur, Onon; Nuramkhaan, Manchuk

2017-06-01

In placing Japanese tectonics in an Asian context, variation in the Paleozoic geological environment is a significant issue. This paper investigates the geochemistry of the lower Paleozoic basalt formation (Iwatsubodani Formation) in the Hida Gaien belt, Japan, to consider its tectonic setting. This formation includes the following two types of rock in ascending order: basalt A with sub-ophitic texture and basalt B with porphyritic texture. Basalt A has a high and uniform FeO*/MgO ratio, moderate TiO2, high V, and low Ti/V. The HFSE and REE are nearly the same as those in MORB, and all the data points to basalt A being the "MORB-like fore-arc tholeiitic basalt (FAB)" reported, for example, from the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc. By contrast, basalt B has a low FeO*/MgO ratio, low TiO2, and low V and Ti/V. It has an LREE-enriched trend and a distinct negative Nb anomaly in the MORB-normalized multi-element pattern and a moderately high LREE/HREE. All these factors suggest that basalt B is calc-alkaline basalt. It is known that FAB is erupted at the earliest stage of arc formation—namely, subduction initiation—and that boninitic/tholeiitic/calc-alkaline volcanism follows at the supra-subduction zone (SSZ). Thus, the occurrence of basalts A (FAB) and B (calc-alkaline rock) is strong evidence of early Paleozoic arc-formation initiation at an SSZ. Evidence for an early Paleozoic SSZ arc is also recognized from the Oeyama, Hayachine-Miyamori, and Sergeevka ophiolites. Hence, both these ophiolites and the Iwatsubodani Formation probably coexisted in a primitive SSZ system in the early Paleozoic.

Late Paleozoic magmatism in South China: Oceanic subduction or intracontinental orogeny?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Q.; Yu, J.; Zhao, G.

2013-12-01

The significant late Paleozoic magmatism has been widely recognized in the East Asian Blocks, which sheds a light on the assembly and break-up of the Pangea supercontinent. As one of major components in East Asia, however, the South China Block (SCB) does not have much late Paleozoic magmatism recognized. Here we report a gneissic granite intrusion in northeastern Fujian Province, eastern SCB. It is a S-type granite characterized by high K2O and Al2O3, and low SiO2 and Na2O with a high A/CNK ratio of 1.22. Zircons with stubby morphology from this gneissic granite yield 206Pb/238U ages ranging from 326 Ma to 301 Ma with a weighted average age of 313×4 Ma, and negative epsilonHf(t) values from -8.35 to -1.74 with two-stage Hf model ages of 1.43 to 1.84 Ga. This S-type granite was probably originated from late Paleoproterozoic crust during an intracontinental orogeny, not under oceanic subduction. Integrated with previous results on the paleogeographic reconstruction of the SCB, the nature of Paleozoic basins, Early Permian volcanism and U-Pb-Hf isotope of detrital zircons from the late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, our data support a late Paleozoic orogeny in the SCB, which may have included Late Carboniferous (340-310 Ma) compressive episode and Early Permian (287-270 Ma) post-orogenic or intraplate extensive episode. Our interpretation is consistent with the late Paleozoic orogenic events recognized in other Pangea microcontinents, and thus provides a window for the reconstruction of Pangea. Acknowledgements: NSFC (41190070, 41190075)

A model for the evolution of the Earth's mantle structure since the Early Paleozoic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Nan; Zhong, Shijie; Leng, Wei; Li, Zheng-Xiang

2010-06-01

Seismic tomography studies indicate that the Earth's mantle structure is characterized by African and Pacific seismically slow velocity anomalies (i.e., superplumes) and circum-Pacific seismically fast anomalies (i.e., a globally spherical harmonic degree 2 structure). However, the cause for and time evolution of the African and Pacific superplumes and the degree 2 mantle structure remain poorly understood with two competing proposals. First, the African and Pacific superplumes have remained largely unchanged for at least the last 300 Myr and possibly much longer. Second, the African superplume is formed sometime after the formation of Pangea (i.e., at 330 Ma) and the mantle in the African hemisphere is predominated by cold downwelling structures before and during the assembly of Pangea, while the Pacific superplume has been stable for the Pangea supercontinent cycle (i.e., globally a degree 1 structure before the Pangea formation). Here, we construct a proxy model of plate motions for the African hemisphere for the last 450 Myr since the Early Paleozoic using the paleogeographic reconstruction of continents constrained by paleomagnetic and geological observations. Coupled with assumed oceanic plate motions for the Pacific hemisphere, this proxy model for the plate motion history is used as time-dependent surface boundary condition in three-dimensional spherical models of thermochemical mantle convection to study the evolution of mantle structure, particularly the African mantle structure, since the Early Paleozoic. Our model calculations reproduce well the present-day mantle structure including the African and Pacific superplumes and generally support the second proposal with a dynamic cause for the superplume structure. Our results suggest that while the mantle in the African hemisphere before the assembly of Pangea is predominated by the cold downwelling structure resulting from plate convergence between Gondwana and Laurussia, it is unlikely that the bulk of the African superplume structure can be formed before ˜230 Ma (i.e., ˜100 Myr after the assembly of Pangea). Particularly, the last 120 Myr plate motion plays an important role in generating the African superplume. Our models have implications for understanding the global-scale magmatism, tectonics, mantle dynamics, and thermal evolution history for the Earth since the Early Paleozoic.

Late Paleozoic orogeny in Alaska's Farewell terrane

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bradley, D.C.; Dumoulin, Julie A.; Layer, P.; Sunderlin, D.; Roeske, S.; McClelland, B.; Harris, A.G.; Abbott, G.; Bundtzen, T.; Kusky, T.

2003-01-01

Evidence is presented for a previously unrecognized late Paleozoic orogeny in two parts of Alaska's Farewell terrane, an event that has not entered into published scenarios for the assembly of Alaska. The Farewell terrane was long regarded as a piece of the early Paleozoic passive margin of western Canada, but is now thought, instead, to have lain between the Siberian and Laurentian (North American) cratons during the early Paleozoic. Evidence for a late Paleozoic orogeny comes from two belts located 100-200 km apart. In the northern belt, metamorphic rocks dated at 284-285 Ma (three 40Ar/39Ar white-mica plateau ages) provide the main evidence for orogeny. The metamorphic rocks are interpreted as part of the hinterland of a late Paleozoic mountain belt, which we name the Browns Fork orogen. In the southern belt, thick accumulations of Pennsylvanian-Permian conglomerate and sandstone provide the main evidence for orogeny. These strata are interpreted as the eroded and deformed remnants of a late Paleozoic foreland basin, which we name the Dall Basin. We suggest that the Browns Fork orogen and Dall Basin comprise a matched pair formed during collision between the Farewell terrane and rocks to the west. The colliding object is largely buried beneath Late Cretaceous flysch to the west of the Farewell terrane, but may have included parts of the so-called Innoko terrane. The late Paleozoic convergent plate boundary represented by the Browns Fork orogen likely connected with other zones of plate convergence now located in Russia, elsewhere in Alaska, and in western Canada. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Early Paleozoic tectonics for the New Siberian Islands terrane (Eastern Arctic)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metelkin, D. V.; Chernova, A. I.; Vernikovsky, V. A.; Matushkin, N. Yu.

2017-11-01

The New Siberian Islands archipelago is one of the few research objects accessible for direct study on the eastern Arctic shelf. There are several models that have different interpretations of the Paleozoic tectonic history and the structural affinity of the New Siberian Islands terrane. Some infer a direct relationship with the passive continental margin of the Siberian paleocontinent. Others connect it with the marginal basins of Baltica and Laurentia, or the Chukotka-Alaska microplate. Our paleomagnetic investigation led us to create an apparent polar wander path for the early Paleozoic interval of geological history. Based on it we can conclude that the New Siberian Islands terrane could not have been a part of these continental plates. This study considers the possible tectonic scenarios of the Paleozoic history of the Earth, presents and discusses the corresponding global reconstructions describing the paleogeography and probable mutual kinematics of the terranes of the Eastern Arctic.

On the temporal evolution of long-wavelength mantle structure of the Earth since the early Paleozoic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Shijie; Rudolph, Maxwell L.

2015-05-01

The seismic structure of the Earth's lower mantle is characterized by a dominantly degree-2 pattern with the African and Pacific large low shear velocity provinces (i.e., LLSVP) that are separated by circum-Pacific seismically fast anomalies. It is important to understand the origin of such a degree-2 mantle structure and its temporal evolution. In this study, we investigated the effects of plate motion history and mantle viscosity on the temporal evolution of the lower mantle structure since the early Paleozoic by formulating 3-D spherical shell models of thermochemical convection. For convection models with realistic mantle viscosity and no initial structure, it takes about ˜50 Myr to develop dominantly degree-2 lower mantle structure using the published plate motion models for the last either 120 Ma or 250 Ma. However, it takes longer time to develop the mantle structure for more viscous mantle. While the circum-Pangea subduction in plate motion history models promotes the formation of degree-2 mantle structure, the published pre-Pangea plate motions before 330 Ma produce relatively cold lower mantle in the African hemisphere and significant degree-1 structure in the early Pangea (˜300 Ma) or later times, even if the lower mantle has an initially degree-2 structure and a viscosity as high as 1023 Pas. This suggests that the African LLSVP may not be stationary since the early Paleozoic. With the published plate motion models and lower mantle viscosity of 1022 Pas, our mantle convection models suggest that the present-day degree-2 mantle structure may have largely been formed by ˜200 Ma.

Geochronology and geochemistry of early Paleozoic igneous rocks of the Lesser Xing'an Range, NE China: Implications for the tectonic evolution of the eastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhi-wei; Xu, Wen-liang; Pei, Fu-ping; Wang, Feng; Guo, Peng

2016-09-01

This paper presents new zircon U-Pb, Hf isotope, and whole-rock major and trace element data for early Paleozoic igneous rocks of the Lesser Xing'an Range, NE China, in order to constrain the early Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the eastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Zircon U-Pb dating indicates that early Paleozoic magmatic events within the northern Songnen-Zhangguangcai Range Massif (SZM) can be subdivided into four stages: Middle Cambrian ( 505 Ma), Late Cambrian ( 490 Ma), Early-Middle Ordovician ( 470 Ma), and Late Ordovician (460-450 Ma). The Middle Cambrian monzogranites are K-rich, weakly to strongly peraluminous, and characterized by pronounced heavy rare earth element (HREE) depletions, high Sr/Y ratios, low Y concentrations, low primary zircon εHf(t) values (- 6.79 to - 1.09), and ancient two-stage model (TDM2) ages (1901-1534 Ma). These results indicate derivation from partial melting of thickened ancient crustal materials that formed during the amalgamation of the northern SZM and the northern Jiamusi Massif (JM). The Late Cambrian monzonite, quartz monzonite, and monzogranite units are chemically similar to A-type granites, and contain zircons with εHf(t) values of - 2.59 to + 1.78 and TDM2 ages of 1625-1348 Ma. We infer that these rocks formed from primary magmas generated by partial melting of Mesoproterozoic accreted lower crustal materials in a post-collisional extensional environment. The Early-Middle Ordovician quartz monzodiorite, quartz monzonite, monzogranite, and rhyolite units are calc-alkaline, relatively enriched in light REEs (LREEs) and large ion lithophile elements (LILEs; e.g., Rb, Th, and U), depleted in HREEs and high field strength elements (HFSEs; e.g., Nb, Ta, and Ti), and contain zircons with εHf(t) values of - 7.33 to + 4.98, indicative of formation in an active continental margin setting. The Late Ordovician alkali-feldspar granite and rhyolite units have A-type granite affinities that suggest they formed in an extensional environment. A comparison of early Paleozoic magmatic events and Hf isotopic model ages between the northern SZM and the JM indicates that these two massifs have similar histories of Mesoproterozoic and early Paleozoic crustal accretion and reworking, although the SZM contains much older crustal materials than the JM.

Paleozoic and Lower Mesozoic magmas from the eastern Klamath Mountains (North California) and the geodynamic evolution of northwestern America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lapierre, H.; Brouxel, M.; Albarede, F.; Coulin, C.; Lecuyer, C.; Martin, P.; Mascle, G.; Rouer, O.

1987-09-01

The Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic geology of the eastern Klamath Mountains (N California) is characterized by three major magmatic events of Ordovician, Late Ordovician to Early Devonian, and Permo-Triassic ages. The Ordovician event is represented by a calc-alkalic island-arc sequence (Lovers Leap Butte sequence) developed in the vicinity of a continental margin. The Late Ordovician to Early Devonian event consists of the 430-480 Ma old Trinity ophiolite formed during the early development of a marginal basin, and a series of low-K tholeiitic volcanic suites (Lovers Leap Basalt—Keratophyre unit, Copley and Balaklala Formations) belonging to intraoceanic island-arcs. Finally, the Permo-Triassic event gave rise to three successives phases of volcanic activity (Nosoni, Dekkas and Bully Hill) represented by the highly differentiated basalt-to-rhyolite low-K tholeiitic series of mature island-arcs. The Permo-Triassic sediments are indicative of shallow to moderate depth in an open, warm sea. The geodynamic evolution of the eastern Klamath Mountains during Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic times is therefore constrained by the geological, petrological and geochemical features of its island-arcs and related marginal basin. A consistent plate-tectonic model is proposed for the area, consisting of six main stages: (1) development during Ordovician times of a calc-alkalic island-arc in the vicinity of a continental margin; (2) extrusion during Late Ordovician to Silurian times of a primitive basalt-andesite intraoceanic island-arc suite, which terminated with boninites, the latter suggest rifting in the fore-arc, followed by the breakup of the arc; (3) opening and development of the Trinity back-arc basin around 430-480 Ma ago; (4) eruption of the Balaklala Rhyolite either in the arc or in the fore-arc, ending in Early Devonian time with intrusion of the 400 Ma Mule Mountain stock; (5) break in volcanic activity from the Early Devonian to the Early Permian; and (6) development of a mature island-arc from the Early Permian to the Late Triassic. The eastern Klamath Mountains island-arc formations and ophiolitic suite are part of the "Cordilleran suspect terranes", considered to be Gondwana margin fragments, that have undergone large northward translations before final collision with the North American craton during Late Mesozoic or Cenozoic times. These eastern Klamath Mountains island-arcs could be associated with the paleo-Pacific oceanic plate that led to accretion of these allochthonous terranes to the American margin.

Redescription of Bellerophon asiaticus Wirth (Early Triassic: Gastropoda) from China, and a survey of Triassic Bellerophontacea.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yochelson, E.Y.; Yin, Hongfu

1985-01-01

The bilaterally symmetrical gastropod Bellerophon asiaticus Wirth is redescribed from specimens collected in Guizhou Province, PRC. The species is reassigned to Retispira, a common late Paleozoic taxon. Retispira is another example of a Paleozoic gastropod genus that crossed the era boundary. Associated pelecypods that date these Guizhou occurrences as Early Triassic are well known species in PRC and are illustrated. Both Bellerophon and Euphemites probably occur in the Early Triassic, though the quality of illustrations leaves some uncertainty; the existence of Stachella in the Triassic is more problematic. There was no dramatic reduction of the Bellerophontacea from their abundance and diversity in the Permian. It may be a general phenomenon that most late Paleozoic family-level and many generic-level taxa of gastropods were unaffected by the late Permian 'crisis'. from Authors

Structure and Evolution of the Central Andes of Peru

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez, L.; Pfiffner, O. A.

2009-04-01

Three major units make up the Andes in Peru: (1) The Western Cordillera consists of the Cretaceous Coastal Batholith intruding Jurassic to Cretaceous volcaniclastics (Casma group) in the west, and a fold-and-thrust belt of Mesozoic sediments in the east. Eocene and Miocene volcanics (Calipuy group and equivalents) overly all of these rock types. (2) The Central Highland contains a folded Paleozoic-Mesozoic sedimentary sequence overlain by thick Quaternary deposits. A major fault puts Neoproterozoic basement rocks of the Eastern Cordillera next to these units. (3) In the Eastern Cordillera, Late Paleozoic clastic successions unconformably overly folded Early Paleozoic sediments and a Neoproterozoic basement in the east. Permian (locally Triassic) granitoids intruded these units and were affected by folding and thrusting. In the core of the Eastern Cordillera, Early Cretaceous overly Early or Late Paleozoic strata. To the west, a thrust belt of Paleozoic to Cenozoic strata forms the transition to the foreland of the Brasilian shield. The most external part of this thrust belt involves Pliocene sediments and is referred to as Subandine zone. The Coastal Batholith is internally undeformed. The adjacent fold-and-thrust belt to the east is characterized by tight, nearly isoclinal upright folds with amplitudes of up to 1000 m. At the surface only Cretaceous rocks are observed. Using balancing techniques, a detachment horizon at the base of the Lowermost Cretaceous (Goyallarisquizga group - Oyon Formation) can be proposed. Further east, folds are more open, asymmetric and east verging, Jurassic sediments appear in the cores of the anticlines. The abrupt change in style from upright tight folding in the west to more open folding in the east is explained by a primary difference in the depositional sequence, most probably associated with synsedimentary faulting. The overlying volcanics of the Calipuy group and equivalents are, in turn, only slightly folded. In the Northern part of the Western Cordillera, near Huaraz, a vertical fault puts a Late Miocene to Early Pliocene batholith (Cordillera Blanca) in direct contact to Miocene volcanics (Calipuy group, Cordillera Negra). The structure of the Central Highlands is characterized by relatively open folds in the Paleozoic to Mesozoic strata. Overlying Quaternary deposits are tilted and locally even folded. Eocene to Miocene undeformed granitoids intrude these structures. A swarm of NNW-SSE striking and steeply dipping faults separate the Eastern Cordillera from the Highlands. Some of these faults suggest block faulting. However, near Huancayo a clear indication of strike-slip motion could be found. The Neoproterozoic basement rocks and the Early Paleozoic sediments are unconformably overlain by Late Paleozoic sediments which in turn are folded. Within the Subandine zone, the structural style is characterized by east directed imbricate thrusting. The thrust faults cut down into the crystalline basement going west, suggesting a detachment within upper crustal crystalline basement rocks. In the Central Peruvian Andes, compressional deformation events progressed from west to east. Early Cretaceous plutons of the coast batholith intruded folded Jurassic to Early Cretaceous volcaniclastic rocks of the Casma group and suggest an Early Cretaceous phase of shortening in the Pacific coastal area of the Western Cordillera (referred to as Mochica phase in the literature). Within the Western Cordillera, a major phase of pre-Eocene erosion removed a substantial amount of the tight upright folds. The youngest strata folded are of Late Cretaceous to Early Paleocene age (Red Beds). The overlying volcanics are slightly younger (middle Eocene) and bracket the tight folding, referred to as Inca phase, to Late Paleocene to Early Eocene times. This is corroborated by Eocene to Miocene granitic intrusions in the adjacent fold-and-thrust belt. Still younger deformations, referred to as Quechua Phase, produced gentle folds within the Eocene volcanics. Vertical motions in the Cordillera Blanca juxtaposed a Late Miocene-Pliocene batholith to Late Miocene volcanics. These movements are post-Pleistonce in age and still active. In the Central High Zone, even Pleistocene deposits were tilted and locally folded. Timing of the steeply dipping faults bordering the Eastern Cordillera is more difficult to assess. Cretaceous strata in tectonic contact with Neoproterozoic basement indicate a Cenozoic age. But within the fold-and-thrust belt of the Subandine zone in the east, youngest strata affected by thrusting are progressively younger toward the east. They suggest thrust propagation ranging from Oligocene to Pliocene age. These young thrust faults were responsible for the uplift of the Central Highland to their present elevation.

Devonian post-orogenic extension-related volcano-sedimentary rocks in the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, NW China: Implications for the Paleozoic tectonic transition in the North Qaidam Orogen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Yu; Feng, Qiao; Chen, Gang; Chen, Yan; Zou, Kaizhen; Liu, Qian; Jiao, Qianqian; Zhou, Dingwu; Pan, Lihui; Gao, Jindong

2018-05-01

The Maoniushan Formation in the northern part of the North Qaidam Orogen (NQO), NW China, contains key information on a Paleozoic change in tectonic setting of the NQO from compression to extension. Here, new zircon U-Pb, petrological, and sedimentological data for the lower molasse sequence of the Maoniushan Formation are used to constrain the timing of this tectonic transition. Detrital zircons yield U-Pb ages of 3.3-0.4 Ga with major populations at 0.53-0.4, 1.0-0.56, 2.5-1.0, and 3.3-2.5 Ga. The maximum depositional age of the Maoniushan Formation is well constrained by a youngest detrital zircon age of ∼409 Ma. Comparing these dates with geochronological data for the region indicates that Proterozoic-Paleozoic zircons were derived mainly from the NQO as well as the Oulongbuluk and Qaidam blocks, whereas Archean zircons were probably derived from the Oulongbuluk Block and the Tarim Craton. The ∼924, ∼463, and ∼439 Ma tectonothermal events recorded in this region indicate that the NQO was involved in the early Neoproterozoic assembly of Rodinia and early Paleozoic microcontinental convergence. A regional angular unconformity between Devonian and pre-Devonian strata within the NQO suggests a period of strong mountain building between the Oulongbuluk and Qaidam blocks during the Silurian, whereas an Early Devonian post-orogenic molasse, evidence of extensional collapse, and Middle to Late Devonian bimodal volcanic rocks and Carboniferous marine carbonate rocks clearly reflect long-lived tectonic extension. Based on these results and the regional geology, we suggest that the Devonian volcano-sedimentary rocks within the NQO were formed in a post-orogenic extensional setting similar to that of the East Kunlun Orogen, indicating that a major tectonic transition from compression to extension in these two orogens probably commenced in the Early Devonian.

Paleozoic strata of the Dyckman Mountain area, northeastern Medfra quadrangle, Alaska: A section in Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1998

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dumoulin, Julie A.; Bradley, Dwight C.; Harris, Anita G.

2000-01-01

Paleozoic rocks in the Dyckman Mountain area (northeastern Medfra quadrangle; Farewell terrane) include both shallowand deep-water lithologies deposited on and adjacent to a carbonate platform. Shallow-water strata, which were recognized by earlier workers but not previously studied in detail, consist of algal-laminated micrite and skeletal-peloidal wackestone, packstone, and lesser grainstone. These rocks are, at least in part, of Early and (or) Middle Devonian age but locally could be as old as Silurian; they accumulated in shallow subtidal to intertidal settings with periodically restricted water circulation. Deepwater facies, reported here for the first time, are thin, locally graded beds of micrite and calcisiltite and subordinate thick to massive beds of lime grainstone and conglomerate. Conodonts indicate an age of Silurian to Middle Devonian; the most tightly dated intervals are early Late Silurian (early to middle Ludlow). These strata formed as hemipelagic deposits, turbidites, and debris flows derived from shallow-water lithologies of the Nixon Fork subterrane. Rocks in the Dyckman Mountain area are part of a broader facies belt that is transitional between the Nixon Fork carbonate platform to the west and deeper water, basinal lithologies (Minchumina “terrane”) to the east. Transitional facies patterns are complex because of Paleozoic shifts in the position of the platform margin, Mesozoic shortening, and Late Cretaceous-Tertiary disruption by strike-slip faulting.

Unfolding the arc: The use of pre-orogenic constraints to assess the evolution of the Variscan belt in Western Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casas, Josep M.; Brendan Murphy, J.

2018-06-01

We present a pre-orogenic, early Paleozoic, palinspastic reconstruction of the northern Gondwana margin that was subsequently involved in the Late Paleozoic Variscan orogeny in central and Western Europe. Our reconstruction is based on two pre-orogenic data sets, the age and distribution of Cambrian-Ordovician magmatism and the detrital zircon age signature of late Neoproterozoic-early Paleozoic clastic rocks. We obtain this reconstruction by unfolding the Ibero-Armorican arc and by restoring the movement of the large-scale dextral strike-slip faults that transect the different tectono-stratigraphic units. Our results favour an irregular shape for this part of the northern Gondwana margin with a N-S central segment linking two E-W oriented segments. The proposed reconstruction and the structural restoration of the main features of Variscan deformation is in accordance with some aspects of previously proposed structural models, such as the curved geometry of the Gondwanan margin required by the indentor model for continental collision, the role played by the large strike-slip faults in dispersing formerly juxtaposed units, and the regional-scale oroclinal folding of part of this margin during late Carboniferous-Early Permian times. The combined use of the pre-orogenic geological constraints and palinspastic restoration is a useful approach that may provide a foundation for continual refinement of reconstructions as more data become available.

Timing of tectonic evolution of the East Kunlun Orogen, Northern Tibet Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Yunpeng

2017-04-01

The East Kunlun Orogen, located at the northern Tibet Plateau, represents the western segment of the Central China Orogenic Belt which was formed by amalgamation of the North China blocks and South China blocks. It is a key to understanding the formation of Eastern Asian continent as well as the evolution of the Pangea supercontinent. Based on detailed geological mapping, geochemical and geochronological investigations, the orogen is divided into three main tectonic belts, from north to south, including the Northern Qimantagh, Central Kunlun and Southern Kunlun Belts by the Qimantagh suture, Central Kunlun suture and South Kunlun fault. The Qimantagh suture is marked by the Early Paleozoic ophiolites outcropped in the Yangziquan, Wutumeiren, and Tatuo areas, which consist mainly of peridotites, gabbros, diabases and basalts. Besides, the ophiolite in the Wutumeiren is characterized by occurring anorthosite while the ophiolite in the Tatuo occurring chert. The basalts and diabases from both Yaziquan and Tatuo areas display depletion of Nb, Ta, P and Ti, and enrichment of LILE, suggesting a subduction related tectonic setting. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb age of 421 Ma for the diabase represents the formation age of the Yaziquan ophiolite, while the U-Pb ages of 490 Ma and 505 Ma for gabbro and anorthosite, respectively, constrain the formation age of the Tatuo ophiolite. The basaltic rocks in the Wutumeiren area display flat distribution of HFSEs (such as Nb, Ta, K, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Zr, Sm, Eu, Ti, Dy, Y, Yb and Lu) and slightly enrichment in LREEs, while the peridotites showing depletion in MREEs. The LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb age of 431 Ma for the gabbro represents the formation age of the Wutumeiren ophiolite. Together with regional geology, we suggest herewith a back-arc basin tectonic setting during ca. 505-421 Ma at least for the Qimantagh suture. The Central Kunlun suture is represented by the ophiolite in the Wutuo area, which is characterized by depletion of Nb, Ta, P and Ti, and enrichment of LILEs, LREEs, K, Pb, Sr and Nd, accounting for a subduction relation setting. The gabbro yields a LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb age of 243 Ma, representing the formation age of the ophiolite. Taking into account of evidence from the Early Paleozoic ophiolites in the Buqinshan ( Bian Qiantao et al., 2001, 2007; Li Zuochen et al., 2013; Li Ruibao et al., 2014; Liu Zhanqing et al., 2011) and the Derni areas (Chen Liang et al., 2001, 2003), the Central Kunlun ocean might be existed from Early Paleozoic to Middle Triassic time. The Northern Qimantagh tectonic belt, to the north of the Qimantagh suture, exposes a large volume of Early Paleozoic granitic plutons and volcanic rocks. Geochemistry of the granites suggests an arc setting. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb ages ranging from ca. 440 to 402 Ma constrain the time of the subduction and arc setting. The Central Kunlun tectonic belt is characterized by occurring of Paleo-Proterozoic basement which was intruded by large amounts of Triassic granitoids. The basement represented by the Jinshuikou Group including gneisses, amphibolites and marbles, yields a protolith formation age of 2.2 Ga which was overprinted by Neoproterozoic tectono-thermal event. The plutonic intrusions display LA-ICP-MS zircon ages mainly of 260-200 Ma with minor ages of 470-400 Ma, revealing a long-lived subduction from Early Paleozoic to Late Triassic. Taken into together all above evidence, trench-arc-back arc basin tectonics were suggested here accounting for the tectonic evolution of the East Kunlun Orogeny during Early Paleozoic to Triassic time.

The Myszkow porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit, Poland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chaffee, M.A.; Eppinger, R.G.; Lason, K.; Slosarz, J.; Podemski, M.

1994-01-01

The porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit at Myszkow, south-central Poland, lies in the Cracow-Silesian orogenic belt, in the vicinity of a Paleozoic boundary between two tectonic plates. The deposit is hosted in a complex that includes early Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks intruded in the late Paleozoic by a predominantly granodioritic pluton. This deposit exhibits many features that are typical of porphyry copper deposits associated with calc-alkaline intrusive rocks, including ore- and alteration-mineral suites, zoning of ore and alteration minerals, fluid-inclusion chemistry, tectonic setting, and structural style of veining. Unusual features of the Myszkow deposit include high concentrations of tungsten and the late Paleozoic (Variscan) age. -Authors

Tectonic transition associated with Kazakhstan Orocline in the Late Paleozoic: magmatic archives of western Chinese Tianshan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Keda

2016-04-01

Kazakhstan accretionary system was a principle component of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) that is one of the largest accretionary orogens on earth. The Kazakhstan composite continent could have been established in the Early Paleozoic by the Kazakhstan accretionary system in the form of progressively amalgamations of diverse tectonic units, such as continental ribbon, accretionary prim, oceanic remnant and arc material. Subsequently, the composite continent was bended to form a spectacular U-shaped architecture that probably occurred in the Late Paleozoic. The western Chinese Tianshan is situated on the south wing of the Kazakhstan Orocline, featured by extensive magmatim, intense deformation and voluminous mineralization. Our new geochronological and geochemical data suggest a noticeable magmatic gap between Late Devonian and Early carboniferous and contrasting magma sources of these magmatic rocks. The significant shifts correspond to the tectonic transition from terrane amalgamation to mountain bending in the Early Paleozoic. This study was financially supported by the Major Basic Research Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2014CB448000), Xinjiang outstanding youth scientific grant (2013711003) and the Talent Awards to KDC from the China Government under the 1000 Talent Plan.

Early Paleozoic tectonic reactivation of the Shaoxing-Jiangshan fault zone: Structural and geochronological constraints from the Chencai domain, South China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Hanshen; Li, Jianhua; Zhang, Yueqiao; Dong, Shuwen; Xin, Yujia; Yu, Yingqi

2018-05-01

The Shaoxing-Jiangshan fault zone (SJFZ), as a fundamental Neoproterozoic block boundary that separates the Yangtze Block from the Cathaysia Block, is the key to understanding the evolution of South China from Neoproterozoic block amalgamation to early Paleozoic crustal reworking. New structural observations coupled with geochronological ages from the Chencai domain indicate that intense ductile deformation and metamorphism along the SJFZ occurred at ∼460-420 Ma, in response to the early Paleozoic orogeny in South China. To the east of the SJFZ, the deformation involves widespread generations of NE-striking foliation, intrafolial folds, and local development of sinistral-oblique shear zones. The shearing deformation occurred under amphibolite facies conditions at temperatures of >550 °C (locally even >650 °C). To the west of the SJFZ, the deformation corresponds to sinistral-oblique shearing along NE-striking, steep-dipping zones under greenschist facies conditions at temperatures of 400-500 °C. These deformation styles, as typical mid-crustal expressions of continental reworking, reflect tectonic reactivation of the pre-existing, deeply rooted Neoproterozoic block boundary in the early Paleozoic. We infer that the tectonic reactivation, possibly induced by oblique underthrusting of north Cathaysia, facilitated ductile shearing and burial metamorphic reactions, giving rise to the high-strain zones and high-grade metamorphic rocks. With respect to pre-existing mechanical weakness, our work highlights the role of tectonic reactivation of early structures in localizing later deformation before it propagates into yet undeformed domains.

Tethyan evolution of central Asia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sengor, A.M.C.

1990-05-01

The study area extends from the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea in the west to the Helan Shan and Longmen Shan in the east and from about 40{degree}N parallel in the north to the neo-Tethyan sutures in the south, thus including what is called Middle Asia in the Soviet literature. In the region thus delineated lies the boundary between the largely late Paleozoic core of Asia (Altaids) and the Tethyside superorogenic complex. This boundary passes through continental objects that collided with nuclear Asia in the late Paleozoic to terminate its Altaid evolution. Subduction to the south of some ofmore » these had commenced before they collided (e.g., Tarim in the Kuen-Lun), in others later (e.g., South Ghissar area west of Pamirs). This subduction 1ed, in the late Paleozoic, to the opening of marginal basins, at least one of which may be partly extant (Tarim). Giant subduction accretion complexes of Paleozoic to earliest Triassic age dominate farther south in the basement of Turan (mainly in Turkmenian SSR) and in the Kuen-Lun/Nan Shan ranges. No discrete continental collisions or any continental basement in these regions could be unequivocally recognized contrary to most current interpretations. Magmatic arcs that developed along the southern margin of Asia in the late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic grew atop these subduction-accretion complexes and record a gradual southerly migration of magmatism through time. Subduction also dominated the northern margin of Gondwanaland between Iran and China in late Paleozoic time, although the record in Afghanistan and northwest Tibet is scrappy. It led to back-arc basin formation, which in Iran and Oman became neo-Tethys and, in at least parts of central Asia, the Waser-Mushan-Pshart/Banggong Co-Nu Jiang ocean. This ocean was probably connected with the Omani part of the neo-Tethys via the Sistan region.« less

Collision of the Tacheng block with the Mayile-Barleik-Tangbale accretionary complex in Western Junggar, NW China: Implication for Early-Middle Paleozoic architecture of the western Altaids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Ji'en; Xiao, Wenjiao; Luo, Jun; Chen, Yichao; Windley, Brian F.; Song, Dongfang; Han, Chunming; Safonova, Inna

2018-06-01

Western Junggar in NW China, located to the southeast of the Boshchekul-Chingiz (BC) Range and to the north of the Chu-Balkhash-Yili microcontinent (CBY), played a key role in the architectural development of the western Altaids. However, the mutual tectonic relationships have been poorly constrained. In this paper, we present detailed mapping, field structural geology, and geochemical data from the Barleik-Mayile-Tangbale Complex (BMTC) in Western Junggar. The Complex is divisible into Zones I, II and III, which are mainly composed of Cambrian-Silurian rocks. Zone I contains pillow lava, siliceous shale, chert, coral-bearing limestone, sandstone and purple mudstone. Zone II consists of basaltic lava, siliceous shale, chert, sandstone and mudstone. Zone III is characterized by basalt, chert, sandstone and mudstone. These rocks represent imbricated ocean plate stratigraphy, which have been either tectonically juxtaposed by thrusting or form a mélange with a block-in-matrix structure. All these relationships suggest that the BMTC is an Early-Middle Paleozoic accretionary complex in the eastern extension of the BC Range. These Early Paleozoic oceanic rocks were thrust onto Silurian sediments forming imbricate thrust stacks that are unconformably overlain by Devonian limestone, conglomerate and sandstone containing fossils of brachiopoda, crinoidea, bryozoa, and plant stems and leaves. The tectonic vergence of overturned folds in cherts, drag-related curved cleavages and σ-type structures on the main thrust surface suggests top-to-the-NW transport. Moreover, the positive εNd(t) values of volcanic rocks from the Tacan-1 drill-core, and the positive εHf(t) values and post-Cambrian ages of detrital zircons from Silurian and Devonian strata to the south of the Tacheng block indicate that its basement is a depleted and juvenile lithosphere. And there was a radial outward transition from coral-bearing shallow marine (shelf) to deep ocean (pelagic) environments, and from OIB/E-MORB to N-MORB lava geochemistry away from the Tacheng block. Comparisons with published data suggest that these positive isotopic values, stratigraphic, structural and geochemical relationships can be best understood as an analogue of the relationships between the Ontong Java oceanic plateau and the Pacific oceanic crust. Therefore we propose that the basement of the Tacheng block was an Early Paleozoic oceanic plateau. The southern part of the Tacheng block was an accretionary complex and the northern part was an oceanic basin in the Early Paleozoic, the configuration of which is similar to that of the present Ontong Java oceanic plateau situated on the Pacific oceanic crust, and its accretion into the Solomon accretionary complex. The presence of Ordovician SSZ-type ophiolites, early Paleozoic blueschist and Silurian SSZ-type intrusions in the BMTC, and Early-Middle Paleozoic continental arc-related intrusive rocks in the northern margin of the CBY provide further corroboration of a former subduction zone between the southern West Junggar and the northern margin of the CBY. Furthermore, consideration of the fact that the Kokchetav-North Tianshan range was collaged to the southern margin of the CBY in the Ordovician-Devonian indicates that both ranges were amalgamated synchronously with the CBY constructing the Early-Middle Paleozoic architecture of western Altaids.

Reconciling Paleomagnetism and Pangea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domeier, M. M.; Van Der Voo, R.; Torsvik, T. H.

2011-12-01

Outside of the realm of paleomagnetic studies, it has been a long held tenet that Pangea amalgamated into and disseminated from essentially the same paleogeography, the conventional Pangea reconstruction of Alfred Wegener. There is widespread geologic and geophysical support for this re-assembly during the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic, but global paleomagnetic data have been repeatedly shown to be incompatible with this reconstruction for pre-Late Triassic time. This discrepancy, which has endured from the late 1950's to the present day, has developed into a fundamental enigma of late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic paleomagnetism. The problem stems from a large disparity in the apparent polar wander paths (APWPs) of Laurussia and Gondwana when the landmasses are restored to the conventional paleogeography. If the APWPs are made to coincide while the conventional fit is maintained, a substantial crustal misfit results; a continental overlap of approximately 10° latitude (1000+ km) occurs between Laurussia and Gondwana. To resolve this problem, alternative Pangea reconstructions have been built to accommodate the late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic paleomagnetic data, but these invariably require large-scale shearing between Laurussia and Gondwana to reach the conventional Pangea re-assembly, from which it is unanimously agreed that the Atlantic Ocean opened in the Jurassic. Evidence for a megashear between these landmasses is critically lacking. Another proposed solution invokes time-dependent non-dipole fields, but challenges the working assumption that the geomagnetic field has effectively been a geocentric axial dipole through the Phanerozoic. The final alternative is that the problem is a manifestation of artifacts/contamination in the paleomagnetic data. Previous investigations of this last hypothesis have demonstrated its theoretical plausibility, but lacked the exhaustive analysis of global paleomagnetic data necessary to assuredly dispel the problem as an enduring data-artifact. Using the most recent late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic paleomagnetic data, we examine the influence of data-quality, refined continental fits, and theoretical inclination shallowing corrections, and demonstrate that the paleomagnetic data can be reconciled with Pangea without invoking alternative reconstructions or non-dipole fields.

Geology of the Harpers Ferry Quadrangle, Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Southworth, Scott; Brezinski, David K.

1996-01-01

The Harpers Ferry quadrangle covers a portion of the northeast-plunging Blue Ridge-South Mountain anticlinorium, a west-verging allochthonous fold complex of the late Paleozoic Alleghanian orogeny. The core of the anticlinorium consists of high-grade paragneisses and granitic gneisses that are related to the Grenville orogeny. These rocks are intruded by Late Proterozoic metadiabase and metarhyolite dikes and are unconformably overlain by Late Proterozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Swift Run Formation and metavolcanic rocks of the Catoctin Formation, which accumulated during continental rifting of Laurentia (native North America) that resulted in the opening of the Iapetus Ocean. Lower Cambrian metasedimentary rocks of the Loudoun, Weverton, Harpers, and Antietam Formations and carbonate rocks of the Tomstown Formation were deposited in the rift-to-drift transition as the early Paleozoic passive continental margin evolved. The Short Hill fault is an early Paleozoic normal fault that was contractionally reactivated as a thrust fault and folded in the late Paleozoic. The Keedysville detachment is a folded thrust fault at the contact of the Antietam and Tomstown Formations. Late Paleozoic shear zones and thrust faults are common. These rocks were deformed and metamorphosed to greenschist-facies during the formation of the anticlinorium. The Alleghanian deformation was accompanied by a main fold phase and a regional penetrative axial plane cleavage, which was followed by a minor fold phase with crenulation cleavage. Early Jurassic diabase dikes transected the anticlinorium during Mesozoic continental rifting that resulted in the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. Cenozoic deposits that overlie the bedrock include bedrock landslides, terraces, colluvium, and alluvium.

Phanerozoic polyphase orogenies recorded in the northeastern Okcheon Belt, Korea from SHRIMP U-Pb detrital zircon and K-Ar illite geochronologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Yirang; Kwon, Sanghoon; Song, Yungoo; Kim, Sung Won; Kwon, Yi Kyun; Yi, Keewook

2018-05-01

We present the SHRIMP U-Pb detrital zircon and K-Ar illite 1Md/1M and 2M1 ages, suggesting new insight into the Phanerozoic polyphase orogenies preserved in the northeastern Okcheon Belt, Korea since the initial basin formation during Neoproterozoic rifting through several successive contractional orogens. The U-Pb detrital zircon ages from the Early Paleozoic strata of the Taebaeksan Zone suggest a Cambrian maximum deposition age, and are supported by trilobite and conodont biostratigraphy. Although the age spectra from two sedimentary groups, the Yeongwol and Taebaek Groups, show similar continuous distributions from the Late Paleoproterozoic to Early Paleozoic ages, a Grenville-age hiatus (1.3-0.9 Ga) in the continuous stratigraphic sequence from the Taebaek Group suggests the existence of different peripheral clastic sources along rifted continental margin(s). In addition, we present the K-Ar illite 1Md/1M ages of the fault gouges, which confirm fault formation/reactivation during the Late Cretaceous to Early Paleogene (ca. 82-62 Ma) and the Early Miocene (ca. 20-18 Ma). The 2M1 illite ages, at least those younger than the host rock ages, provide episodes of deformation, metamorphism and hydrothermal effects related to the tectonic events during the Devonian (ca.410 Ma) and Permo-Triassic (ca. 285-240 Ma). These results indicate that the northeastern Okcheon Belt experienced polyphase orogenic events, namely the Okcheon (Middle Paleozoic), Songrim (Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic), Daebo (Middle Mesozoic) and Bulguksa (Late Mesozoic to Early Cenozoic) Orogenies, reflecting the Phanerozoic tectonic evolution of the Korean Peninsula along the East Asian continental margin.

Early Paleozoic development of the Maine-Quebec boundary Mountains region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gerbi, C.C.; Johnson, S.E.; Aleinikoff, J.N.; Bedard, J.H.; Dunning, G.R.; Fanning, C.M.

2006-01-01

Pre-Silurian bedrock units played key roles in the early Paleozoic history of the Maine-Quebec Appalachians. These units represent peri-Laurentian material whose collision with the craton deformed the Neoproteozoic passive margin and initiated the Appalachian mountain-building cycle. We present new field, petrological, geochronological, and geochemical data to support the following interpretations related to these units. (1) The Boil Mountain Complex and Jim Pond Formation do not represent part of a coherent ophiolite. (2) Gabbro and tonalite of the Boil Mountain Complex intruded the Chain Lakes massif at ca. 477 Ma. (3) The Skinner pluton, an arc-related granodiorite, intruded the Chain Lakes massif at ca. 472 Ma. (4) The Attean pluton, with a reconfirmed age of ca. 443 Ma, is unrelated to Early Ordovician orogenesis. (5) The most likely timing for the juxtaposition of the Jim Pond Formation and the Boil Mountain Complex was during regional Devonian deformation. These interpretations suggest that the Boundary Mountains were once part of a series of arcs extending at least from central New England through Newfoundland. ?? 2006 NRC Canada.

Shifting locus of carbonate sedimentation and the trajectory of Paleozoic pCO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husson, J. M.; Peters, S. E.

2016-12-01

The burial of calcium carbonate is a determinant of planetary habitability, dictated by CO2 input to the surface environment and rates of chemical weathering. An important source of CO2 is the metamorphism of carbon-bearing sediments, which is responsive to the locus of sedimentation. For example, deep sea sediments are prone to recycling as sea floor is consumed at convergent margins; by contrast, sediments deposited on continental crust can be stable for billions of years.The predominant feature in the empirical sedimentary rock record, as measured by Macrostrat (https://macrostrat.org) and global geological syntheses, is a step-wise increase in continental sedimentation at the Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic transition. Although early Paleozoic carbonate volumes are sufficient to account for a CO2 flux 5x greater than present, Proterozoic continental burial fluxes were likely below the modern estimate. This observation implies that most carbonate sedimentation in the Proterozoic took place on the deep sea floor. The establishment of persistent, widespread continental flooding during the Paleozoic shifted the locus of carbonate sedimentation to continental interiors. A major implication of this shift is that CO2 flux declined during the Paleozoic as carbonate-laden Precambrian seafloor was metamorphosed and recycled. This prediction is consistent with independent proxy records and our model for Phanerozoic carbonate burial. An important corollary is that as carbonate-rich Precambrian seafloor was progressively destroyed, the carbonate content of deep sea sediments decreased concordantly because Paleozoic continents effectively captured global alkalinity fluxes. This process culminated near the Permian/Triassic, with metamorphic CO2 flux at a Phanerozoic minimum and the global ocean uniquely unbuffered against acidification. Such a condition could enhance the environmental effects of transient CO2 injections. Because the mid-Mesozoic appearance of pelagic calcifiers and Cenozoic fall in continental flooding reestablished a deep sea carbonate sink, the Paleozoic was a unique time in Earth history when the continents were the only major, quantitatively important locus of carbonate burial.

Carboniferous - Early Permian magmatic evolution of the Bogda Range (Xinjiang, NW China): Implications for the Late Paleozoic accretionary tectonics of the SW Central Asian Orogenic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wali, Guzalnur; Wang, Bo; Cluzel, Dominique; Zhong, Linglin

2018-03-01

The Late Paleozoic magmatic evolution of the Bogda Range (Chinese North Tianshan) is important for understanding the accretionary history of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. We investigated the Carboniferous and Lower Permian volcanic and sedimentary sequences of the Daheyan section, southern Bogda Range, and present new zircon U-Pb ages and whole-rock geochemical data for the volcanic rocks. One Carboniferous rhyolite is dated at 298 ± 8 Ma; a Permian basalt yielded many Proterozoic zircon xenocrysts, and its maximum age (∼297 Ma) is constrained by the detrital zircon ages of the sandstone that stratigraphically underlies it. These volcanic rocks belong to calc-alkaline series. We further synthesize previous geochronological, geochemical and isotopic data of magmatic and sedimentary rocks in the Bogda Range. The available data indicate that the magmatism occurred continuously from 350 Ma to 280 Ma. A comprehensive analysis allows us to propose that: (1) the Carboniferous to Early Permian magmatic rocks of the Bogda Range generally show consistent arc-type features; (2) increasing mantle input through time suggests intra-arc extension in a supra-subduction zone; (3) the localized occurrence of Early Permian alkaline pillow basalts and deep water sediments close to the major shear zone advocate a transtensional crustal thinning during the transition from Carboniferous convergence to Early Permian transcurrent tectonics; (4) occurrence of a large number of Proterozoic zircon xenocrysts in the Late Paleozoic magmatic rocks, and Proterozoic detrital zircons in the coeval clastic sediments suggest a continental or transitional basement of the Bogda Arc; (5) subduction in the Bogda area terminated prior to the deposition of Middle Permian terrestrial sediments.

Temperature evolution and the oxygen isotope composition of Phanerozoic oceans from carbonate clumped isotope thermometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henkes, Gregory A.; Passey, Benjamin H.; Grossman, Ethan L.; Shenton, Brock J.; Yancey, Thomas E.; Pérez-Huerta, Alberto

2018-05-01

Surface temperature is among the most important parameters describing planetary climate and habitability, and yet there remains considerable debate about the temperature evolution of the Earth's oceans during the Phanerozoic Eon (541 million years ago to present), the time during which complex metazoan life radiated on Earth. Here we critically assess the emerging record of Phanerozoic ocean temperatures based on carbonate clumped isotope thermometry of fossil brachiopod and mollusk shells, and we present new data that fill important gaps in the Late Paleozoic record. We evaluate and reject the hypothesis that solid-state reordering of 13C-18O bonds has destroyed the primary clumped isotope temperature signal of most fossils during sedimentary burial at elevated temperatures. The resulting Phanerozoic record, which shows a general coupling between tropical seawater temperatures and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels since the Paleozoic, indicates that tropical temperatures during the icehouse climate of the Carboniferous period were broadly similar to present (∼25-30 °C), and suggests that benthic metazoans were able to thrive at temperatures of 35-40 °C during intervals of the early and possibly the latest Paleozoic when CO2 levels were likely 5-10× higher than present-day values. Equally important, there is no resolvable trend in seawater oxygen isotope ratios (δ18 O) over the past ∼500 million years, indicating that the average temperature of oxygen exchange between seawater and the oceanic crust has been high (∼270 °C) since at least the early Paleozoic, which points to mid-ocean ridges as the dominant locus of water-rock interaction over the past half-billion years.

Paleozoic carbonate buildup (reef) inventory, central and southeastern Idaho

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Isaacson, P.E.

1987-08-01

Knowledge of central and southeastern Idaho's Paleozoic rocks to date suggest that three styles of buildup (reef) complexes occur in Late Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian-Permian time. The Late Devonian Jefferson Formation has stromatoporoid and coral (both rugosan and tabulate) organisms effecting a buildup in the Grandview Canyon vicinity; Early Mississippian Waulsortian-type mud mounds occur in the Lodgepole formation of southeastern Idaho; there are Late Mississippian Waulsortian-type mounds in the Surrett Canyon Formation of the Lost River Range; and cyclic Pennsylvanian-Permian algal and hydrozoan buildups occur in the Juniper gulch Member of the Snaky Canyon Formation in the Arco Hills andmore » Lemhi Range. Late Devonian (Frasnian) carbonates of the Jefferson formation show buildup development on deep ramp sediments.« less

Testing the limits of Paleozoic chronostratigraphic correlation via high-resolution (13Ccarb) biochemostratigraphy across the Llandovery–Wenlock (Silurian) boundary: Is a unified Phanerozoic time scale achievable?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cramer, Bradley D.; Loydell, David K.; Samtleben, Christian; Munnecke, Axel; Kaljo, Dimitri; Mannik, Peep; Martma, Tonu; Jeppsson, Lennart; Kleffner, Mark A.; Barrick, James E.; Johnson, Craig A.; Emsbo, Poul; Joachimski, Michael M.; Bickert, Torsten; Saltzman, Matthew R.

2010-01-01

The resolution and fidelity of global chronostratigraphic correlation are direct functions of the time period under consideration. By virtue of deep-ocean cores and astrochronology, the Cenozoic and Mesozoic time scales carry error bars of a few thousand years (k.y.) to a few hundred k.y. In contrast, most of the Paleozoic time scale carries error bars of plus or minus a few million years (m.y.), and chronostratigraphic control better than ??1 m.y. is considered "high resolution." The general lack of Paleozoic abyssal sediments and paucity of orbitally tuned Paleozoic data series combined with the relative incompleteness of the Paleozoic stratigraphic record have proven historically to be such an obstacle to intercontinental chronostratigraphic correlation that resolving the Paleozoic time scale to the level achieved during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic was viewed as impractical, impossible, or both. Here, we utilize integrated graptolite, conodont, and carbonate carbon isotope (??13Ccarb) data from three paleocontinents (Baltica, Avalonia, and Laurentia) to demonstrate chronostratigraphic control for upper Llando very through middle Wenlock (Telychian-Sheinwoodian, ~436-426 Ma) strata with a resolution of a few hundred k.y. The interval surrounding the base of the Wenlock Series can now be correlated globally with precision approaching 100 k.y., but some intervals (e.g., uppermost Telychian and upper Shein-woodian) are either yet to be studied in sufficient detail or do not show sufficient biologic speciation and/or extinction or carbon isotopic features to delineate such small time slices. Although producing such resolution during the Paleozoic presents an array of challenges unique to the era, we have begun to demonstrate that erecting a Paleozoic time scale comparable to that of younger eras is achievable. ?? 2010 Geological Society of America.

Coping with cyclic oxygen availability: evolutionary aspects.

PubMed

Flück, Martin; Webster, Keith A; Graham, Jeffrey; Giomi, Folco; Gerlach, Frank; Schmitz, Anke

2007-10-01

Both the gradual rise in atmospheric oxygen over the Proterozoic Eon as well as episodic fluctuations in oxygen over several million-year time spans during the Phanerozoic Era, have arguably exerted strong selective forces on cellular and organismic respiratory specialization and evolution. The rise in atmospheric oxygen, some 2 billion years after the origin of life, dramatically altered cell biology and set the stage for the appearance of multicelluar life forms in the Vendian (Ediacaran) Period of the Neoproterozoic Era. Over much of the Paleozoic, the level of oxygen in the atmosphere was near the present atmospheric level (21%). In the Late Paleozoic, however, there were extended times during which the level of atmospheric oxygen was either markedly lower or markedly higher than 21%. That these Paleozoic shifts in atmospheric oxygen affected the biota is suggested by the correlations between: (1) Reduced oxygen and the occurrences of extinctions, a lowered biodiversity and shifts in phyletic succession, and (2) During hyperoxia, the corresponding occurrence of phenomena such as arthropod gigantism, the origin of insect flight, and the evolution of vertebrate terrestriality. Basic similarities in features of adaptation to hyopoxia, manifest in living organisms at levels ranging from genetic and cellular to physiological and behavioral, suggest the common and early origin of a suite of adaptive mechanisms responsive to fluctuations in ambient oxygen. Comparative integrative approaches addressing the molecular bases of phenotypic adjustments to cyclic oxygen fluctuation provide broad insight into the incremental steps leading to the early evolution of homeostatic respiratory mechanisms and to the specialization of organismic respiratory function.

Tectonics of the North American Cordillera near the Fortieth Parallel

USGS Publications Warehouse

King, P.B.

1978-01-01

The North American Cordillera near the Fortieth Parallel consists of the following tectonic units: 1. (A) To the east is a reactivated cratonic area, in the Southern Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau, in which the supracrustal rocks (Cambrian to Cretaceous) were broadly deformed during the late Cretaceous-Paleocene Laramide orogeny, and the Precambrian basement was raised in folds of wide amplitude. 2. (B) West of it is a miogeosynclinal belt, in the eastern Great Basin, in which a thick sequence of Paleozoic carbonates and related deposits was thrust eastward along low-angle faults during the middle to late Cretaceous Sevier orogeny. The miogeosyncline is the downwarped western margin of the original North American continent, and its rocks accumulated on Precambrian basement. 3. (C) Beyond is a eugeosynclinal belt, in the western Great Basin, in which Paleozoic graywackes, cherts, and volcanics were thrust easteastward along low-angle faults during several Paleozoic orogenies - the mid-Paleozoic Antler orogeny which produced the Roberts thrust on the east, and the end-Paleozoic Sonoma orogeny which produced the Golconda thrust farther west. The Paleozoic eugeosynclinal rocks accumulated on oceanic basement. They are overlapped from the west by Triassic and Jurassic shelf deposits, which pass westward into eugeosynclinal deposits. 4. (D) A volcanic island-arc belt existed on the sites of the Sierra Nevada in Paleozoic and early Mesozoic time, which produced thick bodies of sediments and volcanics. During the mid-Mesozoic Nevadan orogeny these were steeply deformed and thrust westward over subduction zones, and were intruded by granitic rocks that rose from the upper mantle to form great batholiths. 5. (E) West of the Sierra Nevada, in the Great Valley, is a great sedimentary embankment of later Mesozoic flysch or turbidite, largely younger than the supracrustal rocks of the Sierra Nevada and the Nevadan orogeny. It was formed of the erosional products of the supracrustal and granitic rocks of the Sierra Nevada. 6. (F) This sequence is, in turn, thrust westward over the Mesozoic Franciscan terrane of the Coast Ranges, which forms the westernmost belt of the Cordillera, and which is being treated in other papers in this symposium. The net effect of the prolonged events that produced the Cordillera in this segment has been the addition of successive tectonic belts to the North American continent at the expense of the Pacific Ocean basin during Phanerozoic time. ?? 1978.

Late Paleozoic transpression in Buenos Aires and northeast Patagonia ranges, Argentina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossello, E. A.; Massabie, A. C.; López-Gamundí, O. R.; Cobbold, P. R.; Gapais, D.

1997-12-01

Paleozoic sediments are present in three regions in eastern central Argentina: (1) the Sierras Australes of Buenos Aires, (2) Sierras Septentrionales of Buenos Aires and (3) Northeast Patagonia. All of these deposits share a common deformational imprint imparted by late Paleozoic Gondwanan deformation. Exposures of these rocks are scattered, variably deformed, and isolated by younger sediments deposited in basins related to the Mesozoic through Tertiary opening of the South Atlantic such as the offshore Colorado Basin. The Sierras Australes of Buenos Aires outcrops are the best preserved. They are mostly located along the Sierras Australes foldbelt, with minor outliers distributed in the adjacent Claromec-basin. The Tunas Formation (early-early late? Permian) is the uppermost unit of the Pillahuincó Group (late Carboniferous-Permian) and is crucial to the understanding of the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the region during the late Paleozoic. The underlying units of the Pillahuincó Group (Sauce Grande, Piedra Azul and Bonete Formations) exhibit a depositional and compositional history characterized by glaciomarine sedimentation and postglacial transgression. They are also characterized by rather uniform quartz-rich compositions indicative of a cratonic provenance from the La Plata craton to the NE. In contrast, the sandstone-rich Tunas Formation has low quartz contents, and abundant volcanic and metasedimentary fragments; paleocurrents are consistently from the SW. Glassrich tuffs are interbedded with sandstone in the upper half of the Tunas Formation. The age of the deformation in the Sierras Australes is Permian and early-middle Triassic. This is based on metamorphic events indicated by formation of illite at 282 ± 3 Ma, 273 ± 8 Ma, 265 ± 3 Ma, and 260 ± 3 Ma ( {K}/{Ar} illite) in the Silurian Curamalal Group. Evidence of syntectonic magmatism is provided by a radiometric date of 245 ± 12 Ma ( {K}/{Ar} hornblende) for the López Lecube Granite, immediately west of the Sierras Australes. In the Sierras Septentrionales of Buenos Aires, Precambrian through early Paleozoic deposits of La Tinta, Sierras Bayas, Las Aguilas and Balcarce Formations rest on Precambrian crystalline basement of the La Plata craton. These exposed rocks are affected by subordinate, right lateral wrench faulting; some thrusting indicates tectonic transport toward the NE. In northeast Patagonia (Sierra Grande region) synkinematic deformation of early Permian (261 ± 5 Ma, {Rb}/{Sr} whole rock) age has been identified in Silurian metasediments of the Sierra Grande Formation. Bands of deformation in Sierra Grande quartzites indicate right lateral wrenching in a N-S direction. Contraction in a NE-SW direction is evidenced by folding. Three stages of tectonic evolution can be discerned for the above regions: (1) Early Paleozoic platform sedimentation, punctuated by episodes of accelerated subsidence during the Silurian and early Devonian, as shown by transgressive episodes, (2) late Paleozoic sedimentation and deformation, and (3) Meso-Cenozoic extensional inversion due to the South Atlantic opening. The late Paleozoic sedimentation and deformation (stage 2) includes late Carboniferous-earliest Permian glacial deposits of the Sierras Australes and Colorado offshore basin, deposited during an initial phase of extension, and cratonward foreland subsidence triggered sedimentation of the synorogenic deposits of the Permian Tunas Formation. Tuffs are intercalated in the upper half of this unit. These tuffs are associated with the silicic volcanism along the Andes and Patagonia (Choiyoi magmatic province) that peaked between the late early Permian and late Permian. Likewise, the first widespread appearance of tuffs in the Karoo basin is in the Whitehill Formation, of late early Permian (260 Ma) age. The deformation described in this paper can be considered as part of a large scale intracontinental deformation in SW Gondwanaland inboard of an Andean-type compressive margin. This deformation is characterized by transpression (right lateral wrenching) combined with overthrusting to the NE and N-S horizontal contraction.

Geologic map of the Big Delta B-2 quadrangle, east-central Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Day, Warren C.; Aleinikoff, John N.; Roberts, Paul; Smith, Moira; Gamble, Bruce M.; Henning, Mitchell W.; Gough, Larry P.; Morath, Laurie C.

2003-01-01

New 1:63,360-scale geologic mapping of the Big Delta B-2 quadrangle provides important data on the structural setting and age of geologic units, as well as on the timing of gold mineralization plutonism within the Yukon-Tanana Upland of east-central Alaska. Gold exploration has remained active throughout the region in response to the discovery of the Pogo gold deposit, which lies within the northwestern part of the quadrangle near the south bank of the Goodpaster River. Geologic mapping and associated geochronological and geochemical studies by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mining and Water Management, provide baseline data to help understand the regional geologic framework. Teck Cominco Limited geologists have provided the geologic mapping for the area that overlies the Pogo gold deposit as well as logistical support, which has lead to a much improved and informative product. The Yukon-Tanana Upland lies within the Tintina province in Alaska and consists of Paleozoic and possibly older(?) supracrustal rocks intruded by Paleozoic (Devonian to Mississippian) and Cretaceous plutons. The oldest rocks in the Big Delta B-2 quadrangle are Paleozoic gneisses of both plutonic and sedimentary origin. Paleozoic deformation, potentially associated with plutonism, was obscured by intense Mesozoic deformation and metamorphism. At least some of the rocks in the quadrangle underwent tectonism during the Middle Jurassic (about 188 Ma), and were subsequently deformed in an Early Cretaceous contractional event between about 130 and 116 Ma. New U-Pb SHRIMP data presented here on zircons from the Paleozoic biotite gneisses record inherited cores that range from 363 Ma to about 2,130 Ma and have rims of euhedral Early Cretaceous metamorphic overgrowths (116 +/- 4 Ma), interpreted to record recrystallization during Cretaceous west-northwest-directed thrusting and folding. U-Pb SHRIMP dating of monazite from a Paleozoic gneiss sample yields an age of 112 +/- 2 Ma; the monazite presumably grew during the waning stages of the intense regional Cretaceous ductile deformation. The Cretaceous ductile deformation was followed closely by granite plutonism and gold mineralization. The main pulse of gold mineralization is temporally and spatially associated with the Cretaceous granitic dikes and plutons and occurred during regional uplift and extension.

Petrogenesis of the Pd-rich intrusion at Salt Chuck, Prince of Wales island: an early Paleozoic Alaskan-type ultramafic body

USGS Publications Warehouse

Loney, R.A.; Himmelberg, G.R.

1992-01-01

The early Paleozoic Salt Chuck intrusion has petrographic and chemical characteristics that are similar to those of Cretaceous Alaskan-type ultramafic-mafic bodies. The intrusion is markedly discordant to the structure of the early Paleozoic Descon Formation, in which it has produced a rather indistinct contact aureole a few meters wide. Mineral assemblages, sequence of crystallization, and mineral chemistry suggest that the intrusion crystallized under low pressures (~2 kbar) with oxidation conditions near those of the NNO buffer, from a hydrous, silica-saturated, orthopyroxene-normative parental magma. The Salt Chuck deposit was probably formed by a two-stage process: 1) a stage of magmatic crystallization in which the sulfides and PGE accumulated in a disseminated manner in cumulus deposits, possibly largely in the gabbro, and 2) a later magmatic-hydrothermal stage during which the sulfides and PGE were remobilized and concentrated in veins and fracture-fillings. In this model, the source of the sulfides and PGE was the magma that produced the Salt Chuck intrusion. -from Authors

Paleozoic subduction complex and Paleozoic-Mesozoic island-arc volcano-plutonic assemblages in the northern Sierra terrane

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hanson, Richard E.; Girty, Gary H.; Harwood, David S.; Schweickert, Richard A.

2000-01-01

This field trip provides an overview of the stratigraphic and structural evolution of the northern Sierra terrane, which forms a significant part of the wall rocks on the western side of the later Mesozoic Sierra Nevada batholith in California. The terrane consists of a pre-Late Devonian subduction complex (Shoo Fly Complex) overlain by submarine arc-related deposits that record the evolution of three separate island-arc systems in the Late Sevonian-Early Mississippian, Permian, and Late Triassic-Jurassic. The two Paleozoic are packages and the underlying Shoo Fly Complex have an important bearing on plate-tectonic processes affecting the convergent margin outboard of the Paleozoic Cordilleran miogeocline, although their original paleogeographic relations to North America are controversial. The third arc package represents an overlap assemblage that ties the terrane to North America by the Late Triassic and helps constrain the nature and timing of Mesozoic orogenesis. Several of the field-trip stops examine the record of pre-Late Devonian subduction contained in the Shoo Fly Complex, as well as the paleovolcanology of the overlying Devonian to Jurassic arc rocks. Excellent glaciated exposures provide the opportunity to study a cross section through a tilted Devonian volcano-plutonic association. Additional stops focus on plutonic rocks emplaced during the Middle Jurassic arc magmatism in the terrane, and during the main pulse of Cretaceous magmatism in the Sierra Nevada batholith to the east.

Dynamic evolutionary change in post-Paleozoic echinoids and the importance of scale when interpreting changes in rates of evolution.

PubMed

Hopkins, Melanie J; Smith, Andrew B

2015-03-24

How ecological and morphological diversity accrues over geological time has been much debated by paleobiologists. Evidence from the fossil record suggests that many clades reach maximal diversity early in their evolutionary history, followed by a decline in evolutionary rates as ecological space fills or due to internal constraints. Here, we apply recently developed methods for estimating rates of morphological evolution during the post-Paleozoic history of a major invertebrate clade, the Echinoidea. Contrary to expectation, rates of evolution were lowest during the initial phase of diversification following the Permo-Triassic mass extinction and increased over time. Furthermore, although several subclades show high initial rates and net decreases in rates of evolution, consistent with "early bursts" of morphological diversification, at more inclusive taxonomic levels, these bursts appear as episodic peaks. Peak rates coincided with major shifts in ecological morphology, primarily associated with innovations in feeding strategies. Despite having similar numbers of species in today's oceans, regular echinoids have accrued far less morphological diversity than irregular echinoids due to lower intrinsic rates of morphological evolution and less morphological innovation, the latter indicative of constrained or bounded evolution. These results indicate that rates of evolution are extremely heterogenous through time and their interpretation depends on the temporal and taxonomic scale of analysis.

Metamorphic facies map of Southeastern Alaska; distribution, facies, and ages of regionally metamorphosed rocks

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dusel-Bacon, Cynthia; Brew, D.A.; Douglass, S.L.

1996-01-01

Nearly all of the bedrock in Southeastern Alaska has been metamorphosed, much of it under medium-grade conditions during metamorphic episodes that were associated with widespread plutonism. The oldest metamorphisms affected probable arc rocks near southern Prince of Wales Island and occurred during early and middle Paleozoic orogenies. The predominant period of metamorphism and associated plutonism occurred during Early Cretaceous to early Tertiary time and resulted in the development of the Coast plutonic-metamorphic complex that extends along the inboard half of Southeastern Alaska. Middle Tertiary regional thermal metamorphism affected a large part of Baranof Island.

Latest Neoproterozoic basin inversion of the Beardmore Group, central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodge, John W.

1997-08-01

Structural and age relationships in Beardmore Group rocks in the central Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica indicate that they experienced a single deformation in latest Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic time. New structural data contrast with earlier suggestions that Beardmore rocks record two orogenic deformations, one of the early Paleozoic Ross orogeny and a distinct earlier tectonic event of presumed Neoproterozoic age referred to as the Beardmore orogeny. In the Nimrod Glacier area, Beardmore metasedimentary rocks contain only a single set of geometrically related regional structures associated with the development of upright, large- and small-scale flexural-slip folds. Deformation of Beardmore strata involved west directed contraction of modest regional strain at relatively high crustal levels. Existing ages of detrital zircons from the Cobham and Goldie formations constrain Beardmore Group deposition to be younger than ˜600 Ma. This is significantly younger than previous age estimates and suggests that Beardmore deposition may be closely linked to a latest Neoproterozoic East Antarctic rift margin. The lack of structural evidence for polyphase deformation and the relatively young depositional age for the Beardmore Group thus raises the question of a temporally and/or technically unique Beardmore orogeny. Here I suggest that Beardmore shortening may be related to tectonic inversion of East Antarctic marginal-basin strata because of localized compression during proto-Pacific seafloor spreading. Basin inversion is but one stage in a protracted Ross tectonic cycle of rifting, tectonic inversion, subduction initiation, and development of a mature convergent continental margin during latest Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic time. The term "Beardmore orogeny" has little meaning as an event of orogenic status, and it should be abandoned. Recognition of this latest Neoproterozoic history reinforces the view that the broader Ross orogeny was not a single event but rather was a long-lived postrifting tectonic process along the East Antarctic margin of Gondwanaland.

The Triassic reworking of the Yunkai massif (South China): EMP monazite and U-Pb zircon geochronologic evidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Cheng-Hong; Liu, Yung-Hsin; Lee, Chi-Yu; Sano, Yuji; Zhou, Han-Wen; Xiang, Hua; Takahata, Naoto

2017-01-01

Geohistory of the Yunkai massif in South China Block is important in understanding the geodynamics for the build-up of this block during the Phanerozoic orogenies. To investigate this massif, we conduct EMP monazite and U-Pb zircon geochronological determinations on mineral inclusions and separate for seventeen samples in four groups, representing metamorphic rocks from core domain, the Gaozhou Complex (amphibolite facies, NE-striking) and the Yunkai Group (greenschist facies, NW-striking) of this massif and adjacent undeformed granites. Some EMP monazite ages are consistent with the NanoSIMS results. Monazite inclusions, mostly with long axis parallel to the cleavage of platy and elongated hosts, give distinguishable age results for NW- and NE-trending deformations at 244-236 Ma and 236-233 Ma, respectively. They also yield ages of 233-230 Ma for core domain gneissic granites and 232-229 Ma for undefomed granites. Combining U-Pb zircon ages of the same group, 245 Ma and 230 Ma are suggested to constrain the time of two phases of deformation. Aside from ubiquity of Triassic ages in studied rocks, ages of detrital monazite in the meta-sandstone match the major U-Pb zircon age clusters of the metamorphic rock that are largely concentrated at Neoproterozoic (1.0-0.9 Ga) and Early Paleozoic (444-431 Ma). Based on these geochronological data, Triassic is interpreted as representing the time for recrystallization of these host minerals on the Early Paleozoic protolith, and the also popular Neoproterozoic age is probably inherited. With this context, Yunkai massif is regarded as a strongly reactivated Triassic metamorphic terrain on an Early Paleozoic basement which had incorporated sediments with Neoproterozoic provenances. Triassic tectonic evolution of the Yunkai massif is suggested to have been controlled by converging geodynamics of the South China and Indochina Blocks as well as mafic magma emplacement related to the Emeishan large igneous province (E-LIP).

Early Paleozoic tectonic reconstruction of Iran: Tales from detrital zircon geochronology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moghadam, Hadi Shafaii; Li, Xian-Hua; Griffin, William L.; Stern, Robert J.; Thomsen, Tonny B.; Meinhold, Guido; Aharipour, Reza; O'Reilly, Suzanne Y.

2017-01-01

In this study we use detrital zircons to probe the Early Paleozoic history of NE Iran and evaluate the link between sediment sources and Gondwanan pre-Cadomian, Cadomian and younger events. U-Pb zircon ages and Hf isotopic compositions are reported for detrital zircons from Ordovician and Early Devonian sedimentary rocks from NE Iran. These clastic rocks are dominated by zircons with major age populations at 2.5 Ga, 0.8-0.6 Ga, 0.5 Ga and 0.5-0.4 Ga as well as a minor broad peak at 1.0 Ga. The source of 2.5 Ga detrital zircons is enigmatic; they may have been supplied from the Saharan Metacraton (or West African Craton) to the southwest or Afghanistan-Tarim to the east. The detrital zircons with age populations at 0.8-0.6 Ga probably originated from Cryogenian-Ediacaran juvenile igneous rocks of the Arabian-Nubian Shield; this inference is supported by their juvenile Hf isotopes, although some negative εHf (t) values suggest that other sources (such as the West African Craton) were also involved. The age peak at ca 0.5 Ga correlates with Cadomian magmatism reported from Iranian basement and elsewhere in north Gondwana. The variable εHf (t) values of Cadomian detrital zircons, resembling the εHf (t) values of zircons in magmatic Cadomian rocks from Iran and Taurides (Turkey), suggest an Andean-type margin and the involvement of reworked older crust in the generation of the magmatic rocks. The youngest age population at 0.5-0.4 Ga is interpreted to represent Gondwana rifting and the opening of Paleotethys, which probably started in Late Cambrian-Ordovician time. A combination of U-Pb dating and Hf-isotope data from Iran, Turkey and North Gondwana confirms that Iran and Turkey were parts of Gondwana at least until late Paleozoic time.

Paleomagnetic and Geochronologic Data from Central Asia: Inferences for Early Paleozoic Tectonic Evolution and Timing of Worldwide Glacial Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregory, L. C.; Meert, J. G.; Levashova, N.; Grice, W. C.; Gibsher, A.; Rybanin, A.

2007-12-01

The Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic Ural-Mongol belt that runs through Central Asia is crucial for determining the enigmatic amalgamation of microcontinents that make up the Eurasian subcontinent. Two unique models have been proposed for the evolution of Ural-Mongol belt. One involves a complex assemblage of cratonic blocks that have collided and rifted apart during diachronous opening and closing of Neoproterozoic to Devonian aged ocean basins. The opposing model of Sengor and Natal"in proposes a long-standing volcanic arc system that connected Central Asian blocks with the Baltica continent. The Aktau-Mointy and Dzabkhan microcontinents in Kazakhstan and Central Mongolia make up the central section of the Ural-Mongol belt, and both contain glacial sequences characteristic of the hypothesized snowball earth event. These worldwide glaciations are currently under considerable debate, and paleomagnetic data from these microcontients are a useful contribution to the snowball controversy. We have sampled volcanic and sedimentary sequences in Central Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for paleomagnetic and geochronologic study. U-Pb data, 13C curves and abundant fossil records place age constraints on sequences that contain glacial deposits of the hypothesized snowball earth events. Carbonates in the Zavkhan Basin in Mongolia are likely remagnetized, but fossil evidence within the sequence suggests a readjusted age control on two glacial events that were previously labeled as Sturtian and Marinoan. U-Pb ages from both Kazakhstan and Mongolian volcanic sequences imply a similar evolution history of the areas as part of the Ural-Mongol fold belt, and these ages paired with paleomagnetic and 13C records have important tectonic implications. We will present these data in order to place better constraints on the Precambrian to early Paleozoic tectonic evolution of Central Asia and the timing of glacial events recorded in the area.

Abiotic and biotic responses to Milankovitch-forced megamonsoon and glacial cycles recorded in South China at the end of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Qiang; Wu, Huaichun; Hinnov, Linda A.; Tian, Wenqian; Wang, Xunlian; Yang, Tianshui; Li, Haiyan; Zhang, Shihong

2018-04-01

At the end of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) from late Early Permian to early Late Permian, the global climate was impacted by a prevailing megamonsoon and Gondwanan deglaciation. To better understand the abiotic and biotic responses to Milankovitch-forced climate changes during this time period, multi-element X-ray fluorescence (XRF) geochemistry analyses were conducted on 948 samples from the late Early-late Middle Permian Maokou Formation at Shangsi, South China. The Fe/Ti, S/Ti, Ba/Ti and Ca time series, which were calibrated with an existing "floating" astronomical time scale (ATS), show the entire suite of Milankovitch rhythms including 405 kyr long eccentricity, 128 and 95 kyr short eccentricity, 33 kyr obliquity and 20 kyr precession. Spectral coherency and cross-phase analysis reveals that chemical weathering (monitored by Fe/Ti) and upwelling (captured by S/Ti and Ba/Ti) are nearly antiphase in the precession band, which suggests a contrast between summer and winter monsoon intensities. Strong obliquity signal in the Ba/Ti series is proposed to derive from changes in thermohaline circulation intensity from glaciation dynamics in southern Gondwana. The abundance of foraminifer, brachiopod and ostracod faunas within the Maokou Formation were mainly controlled by the 1.1 Myr obliquity modulation cycle. The obliquity-forced high-nutrient and oxygen-depleted conditions generally produced a benthic foraminifer bloom, but threatened the brachiopod and ostracod faunas.

Assessment of Paleozoic terrane accretion along the southern central Andes using detrital zircon geochronology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKenzie, R.; Horton, B. K.; Fuentes, F.; Fosdick, J. C.; Capaldi, T.; Stockli, D. F.; Alvarado, P. M.

2015-12-01

Two distinct Paleozoic terranes known as Cuyania and Chilenia occupy the southern central Andes of Argentina and Chile. Because the proposed terrane boundaries coincide with major structural elements of the modern Andean system at 30-36°S, it is important to understand their origins and potential role in guiding later Andean deformation. The Cuyania terrane of western Argentina encompasses the Precordillera (PC) and a thick-skinned thrust block of the western Sierras Pampeanas, persisting southward to the San Rafael Basin (SRB). Although recently challenged, Cuyania has been long considered a piece of southern Laurentia that rifted away during the early Cambrian and collided with the Argentine margin during the Ordovician. Chilenia is situated west of Cuyania and includes the Frontal Cordillera (FC) and Andean magmatic arc. This less-studied terrane was potentially accreted during an enigmatic Devonian orogenic event. We present new detrital zircon U-Pb age data from siliciclastic sedimentary rocks that span the entire Paleozoic to Triassic from the FC, PC, and SRB. Cambrian rocks of the PC exhibit similar zircon age distributions with prominent ~1.4 and subordinate ~1.1 Ga populations, which are distinct from other Paleozoic strata. Plutonic rocks with these ages are common in southern Laurentia, whereas ~1.4 Ga zircons are uncommon in South American age distributions. This supports a Laurentian origin for Cuyania in isolation from Argentina during the Cambrian. Upper Paleozoic strata from the PC, FC, and SRB all yield similar age data suggesting shared provenance across the proposed Cuyania-Chilenia suture. Age distributions also notably lack Devonian-age grains. The regional paucity of Devonian plutonic rocks and detrital zircon casts doubt on a possible arc system between these terranes at this time, a key requisite for the mid-Paleozoic transfer and accretion of Chilenia to the Argentine margin. Collectively, these data question the precise boundaries of the Chilenia terrane.

Age and composition of the UHP garnet peridotites in the Dabie orogenic belt (central China) record complex crust-mantle interaction in continental margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Y.; Zheng, J.; Wang, B.

2017-12-01

The Dabie-Sulu UHP belt was created by the collision between the North and South China cratons in Middle Triassic time (240-225 Ma). There are lots of garnet-bearing ultramafic body occurs as a lens in the belt. Age and composition of the Maowu garnet peridotites in the Dabie orogenic belt are reported. The garnet harzburgites are main moderately refractory (Mg#Ol=92) and minor fertile (Mg#Ol=88) with high Ni (2344-2603 ppm) and low Al2O3 (0.35-0.54 wt.%), CaO (0.76-2.19 wt.%) and TiO2 (˜0.01 wt.%). Zircons in the harzburgites mainly document metamorphism at 230 ± 2 Ma, 275 ± 5 Ma, 357 ± 4 Ma, and complex minor populations of ages including: 1.8 Ga, 1.3 Ga, and Neoproterozic-early Paleozoic ages (901-420 Ma). The early Meszosic and late Paleozoic zircons have similar trace-element patterns and ranges in ɛHf(t) (+0.6 to +3.4), Th/U ratio (0.2-0.7) and Hf depleted-mantle model ages (TDM ) mainly cluster in the interval 1.2-0.9 Ga. In contrast, the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic zircons have negative ɛHf(t) (-24.9 to -2.7) and oldest Hf TDM = 3.4Ga. Zircons of Neoproterozic-early Paleozoic have a wide range of Hf depleted-mantle model ages (2.4-0.7Ga) and ɛHf(t) (-15.3 to +9.5). Above of the all, we suggest that the Maowu garnet harzburgites are interpreted as a fragment of the metasomatized ancient lithospheric mantle beneath the southern margin of the North China Craton. They experienced the Proterozoic thermal event (1.9-1.8Ga), which is coeval with the assembly of the supercontinent Columbia. And then 1.3Ga mantle metasomatism with asthenospheric materials resulted in the final breakup of the Columbia supercontinent. Neoproterozic-early Paleozoic (901-420 Ma), deep parts of the south margin of the craton were metasomatized during the assembly and breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent. Then, the southern margin of the craton occurred oceanic crust subduction ( 357 Ma), subsequent continental deep subduction and final continent-continent collision in Triassic.

Devonian paleomagnetism of the North Tien Shan: Implications for the middle-Late Paleozoic paleogeography of Eurasia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levashova, Natalia M.; Mikolaichuk, Alexander V.; McCausland, Philip J. A.; Bazhenov, Mikhail L.; Van der Voo, Rob

2007-05-01

The Ural-Mongol belt (UMB), between Siberia, Baltica and Tarim, is widely recognized as the locus of Asia's main growth during the Paleozoic, but its evolution remains highly controversial, as illustrated by the disparate paleogeographic models published in the last decade. One of the largest tectonic units of the UMB is the Kokchetav-North Tien Shan Domain (KNTD) that stretches from Tarim in the south nearly to the West Siberian Basin. The KNTD comprises several Precambrian microcontinents and numerous remnants of Early Paleozoic island arcs, marginal basins and accretionary complexes. In Late Ordovician time, all these structures had amalgamated into a single contiguous domain. Its paleogeographic position is of crucial importance for elucidating the Paleozoic evolution of the UMB in general and of the Urals in particular. The Aral Formation, located in Kyrgyzstan in the southern part of the KNTD, consists of a thick Upper Devonian (Frasnian) basalt-andesite sequence. Paleomagnetic data show a dual-polarity characteristic component (Dec/Inc = 286° / + 56°, α95 = 9°, k = 21, N = 15 sites). The primary origin of this magnetization is confirmed by a positive test on intraformational conglomerates. We combine this result with other Paleozoic data from the KNTD and show its latitudinal motion from the Late Ordovician to the end of the Paleozoic. The observed paleolatitudes are found to agree well with the values extrapolated from Baltica to a common reference point (42.5°N, 73°E) in our sampling area for the entire interval; hence coherent motion of the KNTD and Baltica is strongly indicated for most of the Paleozoic. This finding contradicts most published models of the UMB evolution, where the KNTD is separated from Baltica by a rather wide Ural Ocean containing one or more major plate boundaries. An exception is the model of Şengör and Natal'in [A.M.C. Şengör, B.A. Natal'in, Paleotectonics of Asia: fragments of a synthesis, in: A. Yin and M. Harrison (eds.), The tectonic evolution of Asia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1996) 486-640], in which coherent paleolatitudinal motion of Baltica and the KNTD is hypothesized — the latter as part of the Kipchak Arc. We suggest a parallel hypothesis, which explains coherent motion of the KNTD and Baltica. In particular, we argue that if a basin with oceanic crust ever existed between the KNTD and Baltica, it was a narrow one without (significant) active spreading in Middle to Late Paleozoic time. Notably, the paleogeographic position of Siberia during the Middle Paleozoic and hence, the width of the Khanty-Mansi Ocean between Siberia, on the one hand, and Baltica-KNTD, on the other hand, remains largely unconstrained, because of the paucity of high-quality Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous paleomagnetic results from Siberia.

Paleozoic to early Cenozoic cooling and exhumation of the basement underlying the eastern Puna plateau margin prior to plateau growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Insel, N.; Grove, M.; Haschke, M.; Barnes, J. B.; Schmitt, A. K.; Strecker, M. R.

2012-12-01

Constraining the pre-Neogene history of the Puna plateau is crucial for establishing the initial conditions that attended the early stage evolution of the southern extent of the Andean plateau. We apply high- to low-temperature thermochronology data from plutonic rocks in northwestern Argentina to quantify the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and early Tertiary cooling history of the Andean crust. U-Pb crystallization ages of zircons indicate that pluton intrusion occurred during the early mid-Ordovician (490-470 Ma) and the late Jurassic (160-150 Ma). Lower-temperature cooling histories from 40Ar/39Ar analyses of K-feldspar vary substantially. Basement rocks underlying the western Puna resided at temperatures below 200°C (<6 km depth) since the Devonian (˜400 Ma). In contrast, basement rocks underlying the southeastern Puna were hotter (˜200-300°C) throughout the Paleozoic and Jurassic and cooled to temperatures of <200°C by ˜120 Ma. The southeastern Puna basement records a rapid cooling phase coeval with active extension of the Cretaceous Salta rift at ˜160-100 Ma that we associate with tectonic faulting and lithospheric thinning. The northeastern Puna experienced protracted cooling until the late Cretaceous with temperatures <200°C during the Paleocene. Higher cooling rates between 78 and 55 Ma are associated with thermal subsidence during the postrift stage of the Salta rift and/or shortening-related flexural subsidence. Accelerated cooling and deformation during the Eocene was focused within a narrow zone along the eastern Puna/Eastern Cordillera transition that coincides with Paleozoic/Mesozoic structural and thermal boundaries. Our results constrain regional erosion-induced cooling throughout the Cenozoic to have been less than ˜150°C, which implies total Cenozoic denudation of <6-4 km.

Reworked crustal of early Paleozoic WuYi Orogen revealed by receiver function data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Y.; Duan, Y.; Tian, X.; Zhao, Y.

2017-12-01

Intraplate orogenic belt, which occurs at the rigid and undeformable plate interiors, is a distinct new type of orogen rather than an interplate or plate marginal orogenic belt, whose deformation occurs exclusively at plate margins. Therefore, intraplate orogenic belts are the most obvious exception to the plate-tectonic paradigm, they are uncommon in Earth's history. The early Paleozoic Wuyi orogen in South China is one of the few examples of intraplate orogen, and is a key to understanding the process of intraplate orogenesis and global early Paleozoic geodynamics. In this study, we select teleseismic records from 45 mobile linear seismic stations deployed in Wuyi Mountain and 58 permanent stations setting in Jiangxi and Fujian provinces, from January 2011 to December 2012, and calculate the crustal thickness and average crustal Vp/Vs ratio using the H-κ stacking method. The main results include the following: 1) the crustal average Poission's ratio shows an increase tendency from land to sea, the interior of Wuyi orogen belt with an low ration less than 0.23, and the coastline with high ration which is up to 0.28, which indicate a very heterogeneous crustal structure and composition in Wuyi orogen and coast belt. 2) the crustal thickness ranges 28-34 km and shows a tendency of thinning from inland to coast in the region of SE China margin, which maight mean the eastern Eurasia lithospheric is extension and thinning induced by the subducted paleo-Pacific slab. To conclusion, we assume that Wuyi orogen experienced upper crustal thickening, lower crust and lithosphere delamination during the early Paleozoic orogeny, and lithosphere extension in Mesozoic. This research is founded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (41174052 and 41604048).

Geochronology and geochemistry of early Paleozoic intrusive rocks from the Khanka Massif in the Russian Far East: Petrogenesis and tectonic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Ting; Xu, Wen-Liang; Wang, Feng; Ge, Wen-Chun; Sorokin, A. A.

2018-02-01

This paper presents new geochronological and geochemical data for early Paleozoic intrusive rocks from the Khanka Massif in the Russian Far East, with the aim of elucidating the Paleozoic evolution and tectonic attributes of the Khanka Massif. New U-Pb zircon data indicate that early Paleozoic magmatism within the Khanka Massif can be subdivided into at least four stages: 502, 492, 462-445, and 430 Ma. The 502 Ma pyroxene diorites contain 58.28-59.64 wt% SiO2, 2.84-3.69 wt% MgO, and relatively high Cr and Ni contents. Negative εHf(t) values (- 1.8 to - 0.4), along with other geochemical data, indicate that the primary magma was derived from partial melting of mafic lower crust with the addition of mantle material. The 492 Ma syenogranites have high SiO2 and K2O contents, and show positive Eu anomalies, indicating the primary magma was generated by partial melting of lower crust at relatively low pressure. The 445 Ma Na-rich trondhjemites display high Sr/Y ratios and positive εHf(t) values (+ 1.8 to + 3.9), indicating the primary magma was generated by partial melting of thickened hydrous mafic crust. The 430 Ma granitoids have high SiO2 and K2O contents, zircon εHf(t) values of - 5.4 to + 5.8, and two-stage model ages of 1757-1045 Ma, suggesting the primary magma was produced by partial melting of heterogeneous Proterozoic lower crustal material. The geochemistry of these early Paleozoic intrusive assemblages indicates their formation in an active continental margin setting associated with the subduction of a paleo-oceanic plate beneath the Khanka Massif. The εHf(t) values show an increasingly negative trend with increasing latitude, revealing a lateral heterogeneity of the lower crust beneath the Khanka Massif. Regional comparisons of the magmatic events indicate that the Khanka Massif in the Russian Far East has a tectonic affinity to the Songnen-Zhangguangcai Range Massif rather than the adjacent Jiamusi Massif.

Geology and neotectonism in the epicentral area of the 2011 M5.8 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burton, William C.; Spears, David B.; Harrison, Richard W.; Evans, Nicholas H.; Schindler, J. Stephen; Counts, Ronald C.

2015-01-01

arc (Ordovician Chopawamsic Formation) to Laurentia, intrusion of a granodiorite pluton (Ordovician Ellisville pluton), and formation of a post-Chopawamsic successor basin (Ordovician Quantico Formation), all accompanied by early Paleozoic regional deformation and metamorphism. Local transpressional faulting and retrograde metamorphism occurred in the late Paleozoic, followed by diabase dike intrusion and possible local normal faulting in the early Mesozoic. The overall goal of the bedrock mapping is to determine what existing geologic structures might have been reactivated during the 2011 seismic event, and surfi cial deposits along the South Anna River are being mapped in order to determine possible neotectonic uplift. In addition to bedrock and surfi cial studies, we have excavated trenches in an area that contains two late Paleozoic faults and represents the updip projection of the causative fault for the 2011 quake. The trenches reveal faulting that has offset surfi cial deposits dated as Quaternary in age, as well as numerous other brittle structures that suggest a geologically recent history of neotectonic activity.

Correlation of Late Precambrian and Paleozoic events in the East European platform and the adjacent paleooceanic domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kheraskova, T. N.; Volozh, Yu. A.; Antipov, M. P.; Bykadorov, V. A.; Sapozhnikov, R. B.

2015-01-01

The correlation of geological events and structure-forming processes occurring contemporaneously in the inner parts of cratons and the adjacent paleooceanic basins is discussed in order to understand the effects of these processes on sedimentation and structural rearrangements. For this purpose, a series of paleodynamic reconstructions of the Riphean, Vendian, and Paleozoic epicontinental basins of the East European Platform and zones of their transition to marginal basins of the same age once situated in the Ural, Timan, Caucasus, Scandinavian fold regions and in the Scythian-Turan Plate have been performed on the basis of the available original and published data combined with interpretation of seismic profiles. As a result, a set of structural-facies maps of this territory have been compiled for several time intervals from the Late Riphean to Early Permian.

Paleozoic and mesozoic evolution of East-Central California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stevens, C.H.; Stone, P.; Dunne, G.C.; Greene, D.C.; Walker, J.D.; Swanson, B.J.

1997-01-01

East-central California, which encompasses an area located on the westernmost part of sialic North America, contains a well-preserved record of Paleozoic and Mesozoic tectonic events that reflect the evolving nature of the Cordilleran plate margin to the west. After the plate margin was formed by continental rifting in the Neoproterozoic, sediments comprising the Cordilleran miogeocline began to accumulate on the subsiding passive margin. In east-central California, sedimentation did not keep pace with subsidence, resulting in backstepping of a series of successive carbonate platforms throughout the early and middle Paleozoic. This phase of miogeoclinal development was brought to a close by the Late Devonian-Early Mississippian Antler orogeny, during the final phase of which oceanic rocks were emplaced onto the continental margin. Subsequent Late Mississippian-Pennsylvanian faulting and apparent reorientation of the carbonate platform margin are interpreted to have been associated with truncation of the continental plate on a sinistral transform fault zone. In the Early Permian, contractional deformation in east-central California led to the development of a narrow, uplifted thrust belt flanked by marine basins in which thick sequences of deep-water strata accumulated. A second episode of contractional deformation in late Early Permian to earliest Triassic time widened and further uplifted the thrust belt and produced the recently identified Inyo Crest thrust, which here is correlated with the regionally significant Last Chance thrust. In the Late Permian, about the time of the second contractional episode, extensional faulting created shallow sedimentary basins in the southern Inyo Mountains. In the El Paso Mountains to the south, deformation and plutonism record the onset of subduction and arc magmatism in late Early Permian to earliest Triassic time along this part of the margin. Tectonism had ceased in most of east-central California by middle to late Early Triassic time, and marine sediment deposited on the subsiding continental shelf overlapped the previously deformed Permian rocks. Renewed contractional deformation, probably in the Middle Triassic, is interpreted to be associated with emplacement of the Golconda allochthon onto the margin of the continent. This event, which is identified with certainty in the Sierra Nevada, also may have significantly affected rocks in the White and Inyo Mountains to the east. Subduction and arc magmatism that created most of the Sierra Nevada batholith began in the Late Triassic and lasted through the remainder of the Mesozoic. During this time, the East Sierran thrust system (ESTS) developed as a narrow zone of intense, predominantly E-vergent contractional deformation along the eastern margin of the growing batholith. Activity on the ESTS took place over an extended part of Mesozoic time, both before and after intrusion of voluminous Middle Jurassic plutons, and is interpreted to have been mechanically linked to emplacement of the batholith. Deformation on the ESTS and magmatism in the Sierra Nevada both ended prior to the close of the Cretaceous.

Mesozoic and Cenozoic exhumation history of the SW Iberian Variscides inferred from low-temperature thermochronology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vázquez-Vílchez, Mercedes; Jabaloy-Sánchez, Antonio; Azor, Antonio; Stuart, Finlay; Persano, Cristina; Alonso-Chaves, Francisco M.; Martín-Parra, Luis Miguel; Matas, Jerónimo; García-Navarro, Encarnación

2015-11-01

The post-Paleozoic tectonothermal evolution of the SW Iberian Variscides is poorly known mainly due to the scarce low-temperature geochronological data available. We have obtained new apatite fission-tracks and apatite (U-Th)/He ages to constrain the Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic evolution of this portion of the Iberian Massif located just north of the Betic-Rif Alpine orogen. We have obtained nine apatite fission-track ages on samples from Variscan and pre-Variscan granitoids. These ages range from 174.4 (± 10.8) to 54.1 (± 4.9) Ma, with mean track lengths between 10.3 and 13.9 μm. We have also performed 5 (U-Th)/He datings on some of the same samples, obtaining ages between 74.6 (± 1.6) and 18.5 (± 1.4) Ma. Time-temperature path modeling of these low-temperature geochronological data leads us to envisage four post-Paleozoic tectonically controlled exhumation episodes in the SW Iberian Variscides. Three of these episodes occurred in Mesozoic times (Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic, Early Cretaceous, and Late Cretaceous) at rates of ≈ 1.1 to 2.5 °C Ma- 1, separated by periods with almost no cooling. We relate these Mesozoic cooling events to the formation of important marginal reliefs during the rifting and opening of the central and northern Atlantic realm. The fourth exhumation episode occurred in Cenozoic times at rates of ≈ 3.2 to 3.6 °C Ma- 1, being only recorded in samples next to faults with topographic escarpments. These samples cooled below 80 °C at ≈ 20 Ma at rates of 3-13 °C Ma- 1 due to roughly N-S oriented compressional stresses affecting the whole Iberian plate, which, in the particular case of SW Iberia, reactivated some of the previous Late Paleozoic thrusts.

Dynamic evolutionary change in post-Paleozoic echinoids and the importance of scale when interpreting changes in rates of evolution

PubMed Central

Hopkins, Melanie J.; Smith, Andrew B.

2015-01-01

How ecological and morphological diversity accrues over geological time has been much debated by paleobiologists. Evidence from the fossil record suggests that many clades reach maximal diversity early in their evolutionary history, followed by a decline in evolutionary rates as ecological space fills or due to internal constraints. Here, we apply recently developed methods for estimating rates of morphological evolution during the post-Paleozoic history of a major invertebrate clade, the Echinoidea. Contrary to expectation, rates of evolution were lowest during the initial phase of diversification following the Permo-Triassic mass extinction and increased over time. Furthermore, although several subclades show high initial rates and net decreases in rates of evolution, consistent with “early bursts” of morphological diversification, at more inclusive taxonomic levels, these bursts appear as episodic peaks. Peak rates coincided with major shifts in ecological morphology, primarily associated with innovations in feeding strategies. Despite having similar numbers of species in today’s oceans, regular echinoids have accrued far less morphological diversity than irregular echinoids due to lower intrinsic rates of morphological evolution and less morphological innovation, the latter indicative of constrained or bounded evolution. These results indicate that rates of evolution are extremely heterogenous through time and their interpretation depends on the temporal and taxonomic scale of analysis. PMID:25713369

The evolution of Phanerozoic seawater - Isotope paleothermometry finds consensus on Early Paleozoic warmth and constant seawater δ18O

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grossman, E. L.; Henkes, G. A.; Passey, B. H.; Shenton, B.; Yancey, T. E.; Perez-Huerta, A.

2015-12-01

Evolution of metazoan life is closely linked to the Phanerozoic evolution of ocean temperatures and chemistry. Oxygen isotopic evidence for early Phanerozoic paleotemperatures has been equivocal, with decreasing δ18O values with age being interpreted as warmer early oceans, decreasing seawater δ18O with age, or increasing diagenetic alteration in older samples. Here we compare an updated compilation of oxygen isotope data for carbonate and phosphate fossils and microfossils (Grossman, 2012, Geol. Time Scale, Elsevier, 195-220) with a compilation of new and existing clumped isotope data. Importantly, these data are curated based on sample preservation with special consideration given to screening techniques, and tectonic and burial history. Burial history is critical in the preservation of carbonate clumped isotope temperatures in particular, which can undergo reordering in the solid state. We use a model derived for reordering kinetics (Henkes et al., 2014, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 139:362-382) to screen clumped isotope data for the effects of solid-state burial alteration. With minor but significant exceptions (Late Cretaceous, Early Triassic), average δ18O values (4 m.y. window, 2 m.y. steps) for post-Devonian brachiopods, belemnites, and foraminifera, representing tropical-subtropical surface ocean conditions, yield average isotopic temperatures below 30°C (assuming a seawater δ18O value [ -1‰ VSMOW] of an "ice-free" world). In contrast, Ordovician to Devonian data show sustained temperatures of 35-40°C. Likewise, isotopic paleotemperatures from conodont apatite, known to be resistant to isotopic exchange, follow the same pattern. Clumped isotope data derived from Paleozoic brachiopod shells that experienced minimal burial (< 100 °C) and <1% reordering according to the taxon-specific clumped isotope reordering model yield typical temperatures of 25-30°C for the Carboniferous, and 35-40°C for the Ordovician-Silurian. Inserting clumped temperatures and δ18O values into the oxygen isotopic paleotemperature equation yields a mean seawater δ18O of -0.7 ± 1.4‰ for the Phanerozoic. Collectively, these findings argue for extremely warm early Paleozoic oceans, and constant seawater δ18O throughout the last ~450 million years.

A New Paleozoic Symmoriiformes (Chondrichthyes) from the Late Carboniferous of Kansas (USA) and Cladistic Analysis of Early Chondrichthyans

PubMed Central

Pradel, Alan; Tafforeau, Paul; Maisey, John G.; Janvier, Philippe

2011-01-01

Background The relationships of cartilaginous fishes are discussed in the light of well preserved three-dimensional Paleozoic specimens. There is no consensus to date on the interrelationship of Paleozoic chondrichthyans, although three main phylogenetic hypotheses exist in the current literature: 1. the Paleozoic shark-like chondrichthyans, such as the Symmoriiformes, are grouped along with the modern sharks (neoselachians) into a clade which is sister group of holocephalans; 2. the Symmoriiformes are related to holocephalans, whereas the other Paleozoic shark-like chondrichthyans are related to neoselachians; 3. many Paleozoic shark-like chondrichthyans, such as the Symmoriiformes, are stem chondrichthyans, whereas stem and crown holocephalans are sister group to the stem and crown neoselachians in a crown-chondrichthyan clade. This third hypothesis was proposed recently, based mainly on dental characters. Methodology/Principal Findings On the basis of two well preserved chondrichthyan neurocrania from the Late Carboniferous of Kansas, USA, we describe here a new species of Symmoriiformes, Kawichthys moodiei gen. et sp. nov., which was investigated by means of computerized X-ray synchrotron microtomography. We present a new phylogenetic analysis based on neurocranial characters, which supports the third hypothesis and corroborates the hypothesis that crown-group chondrichthyans (Holocephali+Neoselachii) form a tightly-knit group within the chondrichthyan total group, by providing additional, non dental characters. Conclusions/Significance Our results highlight the importance of new well preserved Paleozoic fossils and new techniques of observation, and suggest that a new look at the synapomorphies of the crown-group chondrichthyans would be worthwhile in terms of understanding the adaptive significance of phylogenetically important characters. PMID:21980367

A new paleozoic Symmoriiformes (Chondrichthyes) from the late Carboniferous of Kansas (USA) and cladistic analysis of early chondrichthyans.

PubMed

Pradel, Alan; Tafforeau, Paul; Maisey, John G; Janvier, Philippe

2011-01-01

The relationships of cartilaginous fishes are discussed in the light of well preserved three-dimensional Paleozoic specimens. There is no consensus to date on the interrelationship of Paleozoic chondrichthyans, although three main phylogenetic hypotheses exist in the current literature: 1. the Paleozoic shark-like chondrichthyans, such as the Symmoriiformes, are grouped along with the modern sharks (neoselachians) into a clade which is sister group of holocephalans; 2. the Symmoriiformes are related to holocephalans, whereas the other Paleozoic shark-like chondrichthyans are related to neoselachians; 3. many Paleozoic shark-like chondrichthyans, such as the Symmoriiformes, are stem chondrichthyans, whereas stem and crown holocephalans are sister group to the stem and crown neoselachians in a crown-chondrichthyan clade. This third hypothesis was proposed recently, based mainly on dental characters. On the basis of two well preserved chondrichthyan neurocrania from the Late Carboniferous of Kansas, USA, we describe here a new species of Symmoriiformes, Kawichthys moodiei gen. et sp. nov., which was investigated by means of computerized X-ray synchrotron microtomography. We present a new phylogenetic analysis based on neurocranial characters, which supports the third hypothesis and corroborates the hypothesis that crown-group chondrichthyans (Holocephali+Neoselachii) form a tightly-knit group within the chondrichthyan total group, by providing additional, non dental characters. Our results highlight the importance of new well preserved Paleozoic fossils and new techniques of observation, and suggest that a new look at the synapomorphies of the crown-group chondrichthyans would be worthwhile in terms of understanding the adaptive significance of phylogenetically important characters.

The Pennsylvanian-early permian bird spring carbonate shelf, Southeastern California: Fusulinid biostratigraphy, paleogeographic evolution, and tectonic implications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stevens, C.H.; Stone, P.

2007-01-01

The Bird Spring Shelf in southeastern California, along with coeval turbidite basins to the west, records a complex history of late Paleozoic sedimentation, sea-level changes, and deformation along the western North American continental margin. We herein establish detailed correlations between deposits of the shelf and the flanking basins, which we then use to reconstruct the depositional history, paleogeography, and deformational history, including Early Permian emplacement of the regionally significant Last Chance allochthon. These correlations are based on fusulinid faunas, which are numerous both on the shelf and in the adjoining basins. Study of 69 fusulinid species representing all major fusulinid-bearing Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian limestone outcrops of the Bird Spring Shelf in southeastern California, including ten new species of the genera Triticites, Leptotriticites, Stewartina, Pseudochusenella, and Cuniculinella, forms the basis for our correlations. We group these species into six fusulinid zones that we correlate with fusulinid-bearing strata in east-central and southern Nevada, Kansas, and West Texas, and we propose some regional correlations not previously suggested. In addition, we utilize recent conodont data from these areas to correlate our Early Permian fusulinid zones with the standard Global Permian Stages, strengthening their chronostratigraphic value. Our detailed correlations between the fusulinid-bearing rocks of the Bird Spring Shelf and deep-water deposits to the northwest reveal relationships between the history of shelf sedimentation and evolution of basins closer to the continental margin. In Virgilian to early Asselian (early Wolfcampian) time (Fusulinid Zones 1 and 2), the Bird Spring Shelf was flanked on the west by the deep-water Keeler Basin in which calcareous turbidites derived from the shelf were deposited. In early Sakmarian (early middle Wolfcampian) time (Fusulinid Zone 3), the Keeler Basin deposits were uplifted and transported eastward on the Last Chance thrust. By middle Sakmarian (middle middle Wolfcampian) time (within Fusulinid Zone 4), emplacement of the Last Chance allochthon was complete, and subsidence caused by thrust loading had resulted in development of a new turbidite basin (Darwin Basin) along the former western part of the Bird Spring Shelf. At the same time, farther east into the craton, paralic facies began prograding westward, so that the youngest fusulinid-bearing limestones on the shelf in this area become progressively younger to the west. Eventually, in Artinskian to Kungurian (late Wolfcampian to Leonardian) time (Fusulinid Zones 5 and 6), deposition of fusulinid-bearing limestone on the shelf was restricted to a marginal belt between the prograding paralic facies to the east and the Darwin Basin to the west. Development of the Keeler Basin in Pennsylvanian to earliest Permian time was approximately coeval with collision between South America-Africa (Gondwana) and North America (Laurentia) on the Ouachita-Marathon orogenic belt. This basin developed inboard of a northwest-trending, sinistral fault zone that truncated the continental margin. Later, in the Early Permian, the Last Chance allochthon, which was part of a northeast-trending belt of deformation that extended into northeastern Nevada, was emplaced. This orogenic belt probably was driven by convergence at the continental margin to the northwest. This work adds significant detail to existing interpretations of the late Paleozoic as a time of major tectonic instability on the continental margin of southeastern California as it changed from a relatively passive margin that had characterized most of the Paleozoic to an active convergent margin that would characterize the Mesozoic. ?? 2007 The Geological Society of America. All rights reserved.

A comparative study of diversification events: the early Paleozoic versus the Mesozoic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erwin, D. H.; Valentine, J. W.; Sepkoski, J. J. Jr; Sepkoski JJ, J. r. (Principal Investigator)

1987-01-01

We compare two major long-term diversifications of marine animal families that began during periods of low diversity but produced strikingly different numbers of phyla, classes, and orders. The first is the early-Paleozoic diversification (late Vendian-Ordovician; 182 MY duration) and the other the Mesozoic phase of the post-Paleozoic diversification (183 MY duration). The earlier diversification was associated with a great burst of morphological invention producing many phyla, classes, and orders and displaying high per taxon rates of family origination. The later diversification lacked novel morphologies recognized as phyla and classes, produced fewer orders, and displayed lower per taxon rates of family appearances. The chief difference between the diversifications appears to be that the earlier one proceeded from relatively narrow portions of adaptive space, whereas the latter proceeded from species widely scattered among adaptive zones and representing a variety of body plans. This difference is believed to explain the major differences in the products of these great radiations. Our data support those models that hold that evolutionary opportunity is a major factor in the outcome of evolutionary processes.

Geologic Map of Baranof Island, southeastern Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Karl, Susan M.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Himmelberg, Glen R.; Zumsteg, Cathy L.; Layer, Paul W.; Friedman, Richard M.; Roeske, Sarah M.; Snee, Lawrence W.

2015-01-01

This map updates the geology of Baranof Island based on fieldwork, petrographic analyses, paleontologic ages, and isotopic ages. These new data provide constraints on depositional and metamorphic ages of lithostratigraphic rock units and the timing of structures that separate them. Kinematic analyses and thermobarometric calculations provide insights on the regional tectonic processes that affected the rocks on Baranof Island. The rocks on Baranof Island are components of a Paleozoic to Early Tertiary oceanic volcanic arc complex, including sedimentary and volcanic rocks that were deposited on and adjacent to the arc complex, deformed, and accreted. The arc complex consists of greenschist to amphibolite facies Paleozoic metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks overlain by lower-grade Triassic metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks and intruded by Jurassic calc-alkaline plutons. The Paleozoic rocks correlate well in age and lithology with rocks of the Sicker and Buttle Lake Groups of the Wrangellia terrane on Vancouver Island and differ from rocks of the Skolai Group that constitute basement to type-Wrangellia in the Wrangell Mountains. The Jurassic intrusive rocks are correlative with plutons that intrude the Wrangellia terrane on Vancouver Island but are lacking in the Wrangell Mountains. The rocks accreted beneath the arc complex are referred to as the Baranof Accretionary Complex in this report and are correlated with the Chugach Accretionary Complex of southern and southeastern Alaska and with the Pacific Rim Complex on Vancouver Island. Stratigraphic correlations between upper- and lower-plate rocks on Baranof Island and western Chichagof Island with rocks on Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island, in addition to correlative ages of intrusive rocks and restorations of the Fairweather-Queen Charlotte, Chatham Strait, and Peril Strait Faults that define the Baranof-Chichagof block, suggest Baranof Island was near Vancouver Island at the time of initiation of arc magmatism in the Early Jurassic. Early Eocene plutons that intruded the accretionary complex outboard of the arc on Baranof Island are attributed to anatectic melting of trench sediments resulting from subduction of a spreading center. Oligocene intrusive rocks on Baranof Island correlate in age and composition with intrusive rocks in the Kano Plutonic Suite on Haida Gwaii, and similar magmatic sources are inferred.

Reconstruction of an early Paleozoic continental margin based on the nature of protoliths in the Nome Complex, Seward Peninsula, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Till, Alison B.; Dumoulin, Julie A.; Ayuso, Robert A.; Aleinikoff, John N.; Amato, Jeffrey M.; Slack, John F.; Shanks, W.C. Pat

2014-01-01

The Nome Complex is a large metamorphic unit that sits along the southern boundary of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka terrane, the largest of several micro continental fragments of uncertain origin located between the Siberian and Laurentian cratons. The Arctic Alaska–Chukotka terrane moved into its present position during the Mesozoic; its Mesozoic and older movements are central to reconstruction of Arctic tectonic history. Accurate representation of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka terrane in reconstructions of Late Proterozoic and early Paleozoic paleogeography is hampered by the paucity of information available. Most of the Late Proterozoic to Paleozoic rocks in the Alaska–Chukotka terrane were penetratively deformed and recrystallized during the Mesozoic deformational events; primary features and relationships have been obliterated, and age control is sparse. We use a variety of geochemical, geochronologic, paleontologic, and geologic tools to read through penetrative deformation and reconstruct the protolith sequence of part of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka terrane, the Nome Complex. We confirm that the protoliths of the Nome Complex were part of the same Late Proterozoic to Devonian continental margin as weakly deformed rocks in the southern and central part of the terrane, the Brooks Range. We show that the protoliths of the Nome Complex represent a carbonate platform (and related rocks) that underwent incipient rifting, probably during the Ordovician, and that the carbonate platform was overrun by an influx of siliciclastic detritus during the Devonian. During early phases of the transition to siliciclastic deposition, restricted basins formed that were the site of sedimentary exhalative base-metal sulfide deposition. Finally, we propose that most of the basement on which the largely Paleozoic sedimentary protolith was deposited was subducted during the Mesozoic.

Continental crust melting induced by subduction initiation of the South Tianshan Ocean: Insight from the Latest Devonian granitic magmatism in the southern Yili Block, NW China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bao, Zihe; Cai, Keda; Sun, Min; Xiao, Wenjiao; Wan, Bo; Wang, Yannan; Wang, Xiangsong; Xia, Xiaoping

2018-03-01

The Tianshan belt of the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt was generated by Paleozoic multi-stage subduction and final closure of several extinct oceans, including the South Tianshan Ocean between the Kazakhstan-Yili and Tarim blocks. However, the subduction initiation and polarity of the South Tianshan Ocean remain issues of highly debated. This study presents new zircon U-Pb ages, geochemical compositions and Sr-Nd isotopes, as well as zircon Hf isotopic data of the Latest Devonian to Early Carboniferous granitic rocks in the Wusun Mountain of the Yili Paleozoic convergent margin, which, together with the spatial-temporal distributions of regional magmatic rocks, are applied to elucidate their petrogenesis and tectonic linkage to the northward subduction initiation of the South Tianshan Ocean. Our zircon U-Pb dating results reveal that these granites were emplaced at the time interval of 362.0 ± 1.2-360.3 ± 1.9 Ma, suggesting a marked partial melting event of the continental crust in the Latest Devonian to Early Carboniferous. These granites, based on their mineral compositions and textures, can be categorized as monzogranites and K-feldspar granites. Geochemically, both monzogranites and K-feldspar granites have characters of I-type granites with high K2O contents (4.64-4.83 wt.%), and the K-feldspar granites are highly fractionated I-type granites, while the monzogranites have features of unfractionated I-type granites. Whole-rock Sr-Nd isotopic modeling results suggest that ca. 20-40% mantle-derived magmas may be involved in magma mixing with continental crust partial melts to generate the parental magmas of the granites. The mantle-derived basaltic magmas was inferred not only to be a major component of magma mixture but also as an important heat source to fuse the continental crust in an extensional setting, which is evidenced by the high zircon saturation temperatures (713-727 °C and 760-782 °C) of the studied granites. The Latest Devonian to Early Carboniferous extensional setting in the Wusun Mountain region of the Yili Paleozoic convergent margin is addressed by the subduction initiation of the South Tianshan Ocean and constituted a late Paleozoic nascent arc- back-arc system in the southwestern CAOB.

Late Paleozoic paleolatitude and paleogeography of the Midland basin, Texas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Walker, D.A.; Golonka, J.; Reid, A.M.

1992-04-01

During the Late Pennsylvanian through Early Permian, the Midland basin was located in the low latitudes. In the Desmoinesian (Strawn), the basin was astride the equator; during the Missourian (Canyon), the center of the basin had migrated northward so it was located at 1-2N latitude. In the Virgilian (Cisco), the basin center was located around 2-4N latitude, and by the Wolfcampian, it was positioned at around 4-6N latitude. From the Desmoinesian (312 Ma) through the Missourian (306 Ma), the relative motion of the basin was 63NE. Later during the Virgilian (298 Ma) to Wolfcampian (280 Ma), the direction of motionmore » was 24NE. This change in motion reflects a major tectonic event, occurring between the Missourian and Virgilian, that greatly modifed the movement of the Laurentian (North American) plate. At that time, Laurentia had collided with Gondwana and become part of the supercontinent Pangea. Throughout the late Paleozoic, Laurentia was rotated so the Midland basin was oriented 43{degree} northeast from its current setting. Late Paleozoic paleogeography and paleolatitude controlled the direction of prevailing winds and ocean currents, thereby influencing the distribution of carbonate facies in the Midland basin. Present prevailing winds and ocean currents have been shown to have a major impact on modern carbonate sedimentation and facies distribution in Belize, the Bahamas and Turks, and Caicos. A clearer understanding of how late Paleozoic latitude and geography affected sedimentation helps explain and predict the distribution of carbonates throughout the Midland basin.« less

Accretionary history of the Altai-Mongolian terrane: perspectives from granitic zircon U-Pb and Hf-isotope data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Keda; Sun, Min; Xiao, Wenjiao

2014-05-01

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) consists of many tectonic terranes with distinct origin and complicated evolutionary history. Understanding of individual block is crucial to reconstruct the geodynamic history of the gigantic accetionary collage. This study presents zircon U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes for the granitoid rocks in the Russian Altai mountain range (including Gorny Altai, Altai-Mongolian terrane and CTUS suture zone between them), in order to clarify the timing of granitic magmatism, source nature, continental crustal growth and tectonic evolution. Our dating results suggest that granitic magmatism of the Russian Altai mountain range occurred in three major episodes including 445~429 Ma, 410~360 Ma and ~241 Ma. Most of the zircons within the Paleozoic granitoids present comparable positive ɛHf(t) values and Neoproterozoic crustal model ages, which favor the interpretation that the juvenile crustal materials produced in the early stage of CAOB were probably dominant sources for the Paleozoic magmatism in the region. The inference is also supported by widespread occurrence of short-lived juvenile materials including ophiolites, seamount relics and arc assemblages in the north CAOB. Consequently, the Paleozoic massive granitic rocks maybe not represent continental crustal growth at the time when they were emplaced, but rather record reworking of relatively juvenile Proterozoic crustal rocks although mantle-derived mafic magma was possibly involved to sever as heat engine during granitic magma generation. The Early Triassic granitic intrusion may be product in an intra-plate environment, as the case of same type rocks in the adjacent areas. The positive ɛHf(t) values (1.81~7.47) and corresponding Hf model ages (0.80~1.16 Ga) together with evidence of petrology are consistent with the interpretation that the parental magma of the Triassic granitic intrusion was produced from enriched mantle-derived sources under an usually high temperature condition which is likely due to basaltic magma that underplated the lower crust. Our data combined with evidence of the regional geology enable us to conclude that the Gorny Altai and Altai-Mongolian terranes possibly have similar tectonic natures, but represent two separate accretionary systems before Devonian collision. The accretion and amalgamation processes resulted in the Paleozoic granitoid magmatism and caused the two terranes to merge as a composite tectonic domain at the Siberian continental margin.

Geological constraints on continental arc activity since 720 Ma: implications for the link between long-term climate variability and episodicity of continental arcs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, W.; Lee, C. T.

2016-12-01

Continental arc volcanoes have been suggested to release more CO2 than island arc volcanoes due to decarbonation of wallrock carbonates in the continental upper plate through which the magmas traverse (Lee et al., 2013). Continental arcs may thus play an important role in long-term climate. To test this hypothesis, we compiled geological maps to reconstruct the surface distribution of granitoid plutons and the lengths of ancient continental arcs. These results were then compiled into a GIS framework and incorporated into GPlates plate reconstructions. Our results show an episodic nature of global continental arc activity since 720 Ma. The lengths of continental arcs were at minimums during most of the Cryogenian ( 720-670 Ma), the middle Paleozoic ( 460-300 Ma) and the Cenozoic ( 50-0 Ma). Arc lengths were highest during the Ediacaran ( 640-570 Ma), the early Paleozoic ( 550-430 Ma) and the entire Mesozoic with peaks in the Early Triassic ( 250-240 Ma), Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous ( 160-130 Ma), and Late Cretaceous ( 90-65 Ma). The extensive continental arcs in the Ediacaran and early Paleozoic reflect the Pan-African events and circum-Gondwana subduction during the assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent. The Early Triassic peak is coincident with the final closure of the paleo-Asian oceans and the onset of circum-Pacific subduction associated with the assembly of the Pangea supercontinent. The Jurassic-Cretaceous peaks reflect the extensive continental arcs established in the western Pacific, North and South American Cordillera, coincident with the initial dispersal of the Pangea. Continental arcs are favored during the final assembly and the early-stage dispersal of a supercontinent. Our compilation shows a temporal match between continental arc activity and long-term climate at least since 720 Ma. For example, continental arc activity was reduced during the Cryogenian icehouse event, and enhanced during the Early Paleozoic and Jurassic-Cretaceous greenhouse events. This coherence provides further evidence that continental arcs may play an important role in controlling long-term climate evolution. CO2 degassing fluxes from continental arcs should be incorporated into global, long-term climate models. Our work provides a quantitative framework for estimating these fluxes.

Stratigraphy and Mesozoic–Cenozoic tectonic history of northern Sierra Los Ajos and adjacent areas, Sonora, Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Page, William R.; Gray, Floyd; Iriondo, Alexander; Miggins, Daniel P.; Blodgett, Robert B.; Maldonado, Florian; Miller, Robert J.

2010-01-01

Geologic mapping in the northern Sierra Los Ajos reveals new stratigraphic and structural data relevant to deciphering the Mesozoic–Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the range. The northern Sierra Los Ajos is cored by Proterozoic, Cambrian, Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian strata, equivalent respectively to the Pinal Schist, Bolsa Quartzite and Abrigo Limestone, Martin Formation, Escabrosa Limestone, and Horquilla Limestone. The Proterozoic–Paleozoic sequence is mantled by Upper Cretaceous rocks partly equivalent to the Fort Crittenden and Salero Formations in Arizona, and the Cabullona Group in Sonora, Mexico.Absence of the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous Bisbee Group below the Upper Cretaceous rocks and above the Proterozoic–Paleozoic rocks indicates that the Sierra Los Ajos was part of the Cananea high, a topographic highland during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Deposition of Upper Cretaceous rocks directly on Paleozoic and Proterozoic rocks indicates that the Sierra Los Ajos area had subsided as part of the Laramide Cabullona basin during Late Cretaceous time. Basal beds of the Upper Cretaceous sequence are clast-supported conglomerate composed locally of basement (Paleozoic) clasts. The conglomerate represents erosion of Paleozoic basement in the Sierra Los Ajos area coincident with development of the Cabullona basin.The present-day Sierra Los Ajos reaches elevations of greater than 2600 m, and was uplifted during Tertiary basin-and-range extension. Upper Cretaceous rocks are exposed at higher elevations in the northern Sierra Los Ajos and represent an uplifted part of the inverted Cabullona basin. Tertiary uplift of the Sierra Los Ajos was largely accommodated by vertical movement along the north-to-northwest-striking Sierra Los Ajos fault zone flanking the west side of the range. This fault zone structurally controls the configuration of the headwaters of the San Pedro River basin, an important bi-national water resource in the US-Mexico border region.

Deformation of the Roberts Mountains Allochthon in north-central Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Evans, James George; Theodore, Ted G.

1978-01-01

During the Antler orogeny in Late Devonian and Early Mississippian time, early and middle Paleozoic siliceous rocks, largely chert and sha1e, were thrust eastward for 90 to 160 km over coexisting carbonate rocks. Minor and major structures of two small areas of the allochthon at Battle Mountain and in the southern Tuscarora Mountains were studied in order to characterize the deformation and test the consistency of the movement plan with respect to the large eastward displacement. In the Battle Mountain area, the lower Paleozoic Scott Canyon and Valmy Formations were deformed in the Antler orogeny but were unaffected by later tectonism during late Paleozoic or early Mesozoic. In the southern Tuscarora Mountains area, the Ordovician and Silurian siliceous rocks deformed in the Antler Orogeny were deformed by later, possibly Mesozoic, folding and thrusting. Most of the minor folding visible in the allochthon is in the cheret, but proportionally more of the strain was taken up in the shale and argillite, both poorly exposed but predominant rock types. Most minor folds, concentric in form, plunge at small angles to the north-northeast and south-southwest with steeply dipping or vertical axial planes. The b-fabric axis, parallel to these folds, is identical apparently to the B-kinematic axis. The horizontal component of tectonic shortening of the allochthon, N. 70?-75? W. both in the Battle Mountain area and in the southern Tuscarora Mountains area, is therefore consistent with an eastward direction of movement of the allochthon. Folds with west- northwest trends locally present in the allochthon, may have formed in the direction of tectonic transport. In the southern Tuscarora Mountains, local strain in and below the allochthon was different from the prevailing strain in the allochthon, and tectonic shortening was locally at large angles to the accepted direction of movement of the allochthon.

The global record of local iron geochemical data from Proterozoic through Paleozoic basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sperling, E. A.; Wolock, C.; Johnston, D. T.; Knoll, A. H.

2013-12-01

Iron-based redox proxies represent one of the most mature tools available to sedimentary geochemists. These techniques, which benefit from decades of refinement, are based on the fact that rocks deposited under anoxic conditions tend to be enriched in highly-reactive iron. However, there are myriad local controls on the development of anoxia, and no local section is an exemplar for the global ocean. The global signal must thus be determined using techniques like those developed to solve an analogous problem in paleobiology: the inference of global diversity patterns through time from faunas seen in local stratigraphic sections. Here we analyze a dataset of over 4000 iron speciation measurements (including over 600 de novo analyses) to better understand redox changes from the Proterozoic through the Paleozoic Era. Preliminary database analyses yield interesting observations. We find that although anoxic water columns in the middle Proterozoic were dominantly ferruginous, there was a statistical tendency towards euxinia not seen in early Neoproterozoic or Ediacaran data. Also, we find that in the Neoproterozoic oceans, oxic depositional environments-the likely home for early animals-have exceptionally low pyrite contents, and by inference low levels of porewater sulfide. This runs contrary to notions of sulfide stress on early metazoans. Finally, the current database of iron speciation data does not support an Ediacaran or Cambrian oxygenation event. This conclusion is of course only as sharp as the ability of the Fe-proxy database to track dissolved oxygen and does not rule out the possibility of a small-magnitude change in oxygen. It does suggest, however, that if changing pO2 facilitated animal diversification it did so by a limited rise past critical ecological thresholds, such as seen in the modern Oxygen Minimum Zones benthos. Oxygen increase to modern levels thus becomes a Paleozoic problem, and one in need of better sampling if a database approach is to be employed.

A- and I-type metagranites from the North Shahrekord Metamorphic Complex, Iran: Evidence for Early Paleozoic post-collisional magmatism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Badr, Afsaneh; Davoudian, Ali Reza; Shabanian, Nahid; Azizi, Hossein; Asahara, Yoshihiro; Neubauer, Franz; Dong, Yunpeng; Yamamoto, Koshi

2018-02-01

The North Shahrekord Metamorphic Complex (NSMC) of the central Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone (SaSZ) consists of metagranitoid bodies, which were metamorphosed within high pressure-low temperature conditions. Whole rock chemistry shows relatively high amounts of SiO2 (65-77 wt%) and Al2O3 (12-15 wt%), low amounts of Nb, P, Sr, Ti, a high ratio of Ga/Al (4-9) and a negative Eu anomaly. The chemical compositions of metagranites are reasonably similar to A- and I-type granites. U-Pb zircon ages of three samples of metagranites indicate that crystallization of the granites occurred at 521.6 ± 9.1 to 513.5 ± 8.5 Ma, Middle Cambrian. The initial 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd ratios of samples vary from 0.7057-0.7239 and 0.511801-0.511890, respectively. High initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios and low εNd(t) values (- 3.39 to - 1.07) associated with high ratios of 206Pb/204Pb(t) = 17.8557-18.8045, 207Pb/204Pb(t) = 15.6721-15.7220, and 208Pb/204Pb(t) = 37.7490-38.4468 infer a significant contribution of continental crust in generating the source magma of the metagranite bodies. The results reveal that the metagranites were mainly produced through mixing of basaltic melts with components similar to metasedimentary sources. The new results show that crystallization of the metagranites occurred in Early Paleozoic times and much earlier than break-up and drifting of the SaSZ from the Arabian plate, suggesting that the metagranites were mainly produced in the western Iran after the closure of the Proto-Tethys Ocean. This model is consistent with the previously suggested models for formation of an Early Paleozoic granitoid belt along the northern rim of Gondwana.

Chondrites isp. Indicating Late Paleozoic Atmospheric Anoxia in Eastern Peninsular India

PubMed Central

Bhattacharya, Biplab; Banerjee, Sudipto

2014-01-01

Rhythmic sandstone-mudstone-coal succession of the Barakar Formation (early Permian) manifests a transition from lower braided-fluvial to upper tide-wave influenced, estuarine setting. Monospecific assemblage of marine trace fossil Chondrites isp. in contemporaneous claystone beds in the upper Barakar succession from two Gondwana basins (namely, the Raniganj Basin and the Talchir Basin) in eastern peninsular India signifies predominant marine incursion during end early Permian. Monospecific Chondrites ichnoassemblage in different sedimentary horizons in geographically wide apart (~400 km) areas demarcates multiple short-spanned phases of anoxia in eastern India. Such anoxia is interpreted as intermittent falls in oxygen level in an overall decreasing atmospheric oxygenation within the late Paleozoic global oxygen-carbon dioxide fluctuations. PMID:24616628

A problematic early tetrapod from the Mississippian of Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thomson, K.S.; Shubin, N.S.; Poole, F.G.

1998-01-01

We report here the discovery of a new taxon of Paleozoic tetrapod from the Late Mississippian of Nevada (330-340 Ma). It has a unique vertebral column with principal centra having vertical anterior and posterior faces, ventrally incomplete accessory centra located antero-dorsally in each centrum, and enlarged presacral/sacral vertebrae. The head and pectoral girdle were not preserved but the large femur, robust pelvic girdle and enlarged sacral vertebrae possibly indicate a terrestrial mode of life. This new form significantly extends the western geographic range of known Mississippian tetrapods. It presents a mosaic of primitive and derived features, indicating that continued revision of traditional accounts of vertebral homology and the early diversifications of Paleozoic tetrapods will be necessary.

Tectonics and hydrocarbon potential of the Barents Megatrough

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baturin, D.; Vinogradov, A.; Yunov, A.

1991-08-01

Interpretation of geophysical data shows that the geological structure of the Eastern Barents Shelf, named Barents Megatrough (BM), extends sublongitudinally almost from the Baltic shield to the Franz Josef Land archipelago. The earth crust within the axis part of the BM is attenuated up to 28-30 km, whereas in adjacent areas its thickness exceeds 35 km. The depression is filled with of more than 15 km of Upper Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic sediments overlying a folded basement of probable Caledonian age. Paleozoic sediments, with exception of the Upper Permian, are composed mainly of carbonates and evaporites. Mesozoic-Cenozoic sediments are mostlymore » terrigenous. The major force in the development of the BM was due to extensional tectonics. Three rifting phases are recognizable: Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous, Early Triassic, and Jurassic-Early Cretaceous. The principal features of the geologic structure and evolution of the BM during the late Paleozoic-Mesozoic correlate well with those of the Sverdup basin, Canadian Arctic. Significant quantity of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous basaltic dikes and sills were intruded within Triassic sequence during the third rifting phase. This was probably the main reason for trap disruption and hydrocarbon loss from Triassic structures. Lower Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous reservoir sandstones are most probably the main future objects for oil and gas discoveries within the BM. Upper Jurassic black shales are probably the main source rocks of the BM basin, as well as excellent structural traps for hydrocarbon fluids from the underlying sediments.« less

Modes of Brachiopod Body Size Evolution throughout the Phanerozoic Eon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Z.; Payne, J.

2012-12-01

Body size correlates with numerous physiological and behavioral traits and is therefore one of the most important influences on the survival prospects of individuals and species. Patterns of body size evolution across taxa can therefore complement taxonomic diversity and geochemical proxy data in quantifying controls on long-term trends in the history of life. In contrast to widely available and synoptic taxonomic diversity data for fossil animal families and genera, however, no comprehensive size dataset exists, even for a single fossil animal phylum. For this study, we compiled a comprehensive, genus-level dataset of body sizes spanning the entire Phanerozoic for the phylum Brachiopoda. We use this dataset to examine statistical support for several possible modes of size evolution, in addition to environmental covariates: CO2, O2, and sea level. Brachiopod body size in the Phanerozoic followed two evolutionary modes: directional trend in the Early Paleozoic (Cambrian - Mississippian), and unbiased random walk from the Mississippian to the modern. We find no convincing correlation between trends in any single environmental parameter and brachiopod body size over time. The Paleozoic size increase follows Cope's Rule, and has been documented in many other marine invertebrates, while the Mesozoic size plateau has not been. This interval of size stability correlates with increased competition for resources from bivalves beginning during the Mesozoic Marine Revolution, and may be causally linked. The Late Mesozoic decline in size is an artifact of the improved sampling of smaller genera, many of which are less abundant than their Paleozoic ancestors. The Cenozoic brachiopod dataset is similarly incomplete. Biodiversity is decoupled from size dynamics even within the Paleozoic when brachiopods are on average becoming larger and more abundant, suggesting the presence of different controls. Our findings reveal that the dynamics of body size evolution changed over time in brachiopods, indicating that no single, simple model is likely to capture the true complexity of their evolutionary dynamics.

Plutonism in the central part of the Sierra Nevada Batholith, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bateman, Paul C.

1992-01-01

The Sierra Nevada batholith comprises the plutonic rocks of Mesozoic age that underlie most of the Sierra Nevada, a magnificent mountain range that originated in the Cenozoic by the westward tilting of a huge block of the Earth's crust. Scattered intrusions west of the batholith in the western metamorphic belt of the Sierra Nevada and east of the Sierra Nevada in the Benton Range and the White and Inyo Mountains are satellitic to but not strictly parts of the Sierra Nevada batholith. Nevertheless, all the plutonic rocks are related in origin. The batholith lies along the west edge of the Paleozoic North American craton, and Paleozoic and early Mesozoic oceanic crust underlies its western margin. It was emplaced in strongly deformed but weakly metamorphosed strata ranging in age from Proterozoic to Cretaceous. Sedimentary rocks of Proterozoic and Paleozoic age crop out east of the batholith in the White and Inyo Mountains, and metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks of Paleozoic and Mesozoic age crop out west of the batholith in the western metamorphic belt. A few large and many small, generally elongate remnants of metamorphic rocks lie within the batholith. Sparse fossils from metasedimentary rocks and isotopic ages for metavolcanic rocks indicate that the metamorphic rocks in the remnants range in age from Early Cambrian to Early Cretaceous. Within the map area (the Mariposa 1 0 by 2 0 quadrangle), the bedding, cleavage, and axial surfaces of folds generally trend about N. 35 0 W., parallel to the long axis of the Sierra Nevada. The country rocks comprise strongly deformed but generally coherent sequences; however, some units in the western metamorphic belt may partly consist of melanges. Most sequences are in contact with other sequences, at least for short distances, but some sequences within the batholith are bounded on one or more sides by plutonic rocks. Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata east of the Sierra Nevada and Paleozoic strata in remnants of country rocks within the eastern part of the batholith, although strongly deformed, are autochthonous or have been displaced only short distances, whereas some Mesozoic strata in the western metamorphic belt may be allochthonous. Probably the strata in the western metamorphic belt were deposited in marginal basins and island arcs, but the possibility that they were transported from distant places has not been disproved. All the country rocks have been strongly deformed, most of them more than once. Tectonic disturbances occurred during the Devonian and Mississippian (Antler? orogeny), the Permian and (or) Early Triassic (Sonoman? orogeny), the Late Jurassic (Nevadan orogeny), and at various other times during emplacement of the batholith and uplift that accompanied and followed its emplacement. The strata in the western metamorphic belt probably were deformed in an early Mesozoic subduction complex. The plutonic rocks range in composition from gabbro to leucogranite, but tonalite, granodiorite, and granite are the most common rock types. Most are medium to coarse grained, but some small rock masses are fine grained. Most have hypidiomorphic-granular textures and are equigranular, but some having compositions close to the boundary between granite and granodiorite contain large crystals of alkali feldspar. Serpentinized ultramafic rocks are present locally in the western metamorphic belt within and adjacent to the Melones fault zone. Except for serpentinized ultramafic rocks, trondhjemite, and most granites, all the plutonic rocks contain significant amounts of hornblende. Most of the granitoids are metaluminous or weakly peraluminous; strongly peraluminous granites are present only in the White Mountains. Most of the granitoids are assigned to units of lithodemic rank, and most of these units are assigned to intrusive suites. Plutons assigned to the same lithodeme are composed of rock of similar composition, fabric, and age and are presumed to h

Pennsylvanian and Early Permian paleogeography of east-central California: Implications for the shape of the continental margin and the timing of continental truncation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stone, Paul; Stevens, Calvin H.

1988-04-01

Pennsylvanian and Early Permian paleogeographic features in east-central California include a southeast-trending carbonate shelf edge and turbidite basin that we infer paralleled a segment of the western margin of the North American continent. This segment of the continental margin was oblique to an adjoining segment on the north that trended southwestward across Nevada into easternmost California. We propose that the southeast-trending segment of the margin originated by tectonic truncation of the originally longer southwest-trending segment in Early or Middle Pennsylvanian to late Early Permian time, significantly earlier than a previously hypothesized Late Permian or Early Triassic continental truncation event. We interpret the truncating structure to have been a sinistral transform fault zone along which a continental fragment was removed and carried southeastward into the Caborca-Hermosillo region of northern Mexico, where it is now represented by exposures of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic miogeoclinal rocks.

Pre-breakup geology of the Gulf of Mexico-Caribbean: Its relation to Triassic and Jurassic rift systems of the region

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bartok, P.

1993-02-01

A review of the pre-breakup geology of west-central Pangea, comprised of northern South America, Gulf of Mexico and West Africa, combined with a study of the Mesozoic rift trends of the region confirms a relation between the rift systems and the underlying older grain of deformation. The pre-breakup analysis focuses attention on the Precambrian, Early Paleozoic and Late Paleozoic tectonic events affecting the region and assumes a Pindell fit. Two Late Precambrian orogenic belts are observed in the west central Pangea. Along the northern South American margin and Yucatan a paleo northeast trending Pan-African aged fold belt is documented. Amore » second system is observed along West Africa extending from the High Atlas to the Mauritanides and Rockelides. During the Late Paleozoic, renewed orogenic activity, associated with the Gondwana/Laurentia suture, affected large segments of west central Pangea. The general trend of the system is northeast-southwest and essentially parallels the Gyayana Shield, West African, and eastern North American cratons. Mesozoic rifting closely followed either the Precambrian trends or the Late Paleozoic orogenic belt. The Triassic component focuses along the western portions of the Gulf of Mexico continuing into eastern Mexico and western South America. The Jurassic rift trend followed along the separation between Yucatan and northern South America. At Lake Maracaibo the Jurassic rift system eventually overlaps the Triassic rifts. The Jurassic rift resulted in the [open quotes]Hispanic Corridor[close quotes] that permitted Tethyan and Pacific marine faunas to mix at a time when the Gulf of Mexico underwent continental sedimentation.« less

Linking the southern West Junggar terrane to the Yili Block: Insights from the oldest accretionary complexes in West Junggar, NW China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Rong; Han, Bao-Fu; Guan, Shu-Wei; Liu, Bo; Wang, Zeng-Zhen

2018-06-01

West Junggar is known to tectonically correlate with East Kazakhstan; however, the tectonic link of the southern West Junggar terrane to adjacent regions still remains uncertain. Here, we examined the oldest accretionary complexes, thus constraining its tectonic evolution and link during the Early-Middle Paleozoic. They have contrasting lithologic, geochemical, and geochronological features and thus, provenances and tectonic settings. The Laba Unit was derived from the Late Ordovician-Early Devonian continental arc system (peaking at 450-420 Ma) with Precambrian substrate, which formed as early as the Early Devonian and metamorphosed during the Permian; however, the Kekeshayi Unit was accumulated in an intra-oceanic arc setting, and includes the pre-Late Silurian and Late Silurian subunits with or without Precambrian sources. Integrated with the regional data, the southern West Junggar terrane revealed a tectonic link to the northern Yili Block during the Late Silurian to Early Devonian, as suggested by the comparable Precambrian zircon age spectra between the southern West Junggar terrane and the micro-continents in the southern Kazakhstan Orocline, the proximal accumulation of the Laba Unit in the continental arc atop the Yili Block, and the sudden appearance of Precambrian zircons in the Kekeshayi Unit during the Late Silurian. This link rejects the proposals of the southern West Junggar terrane as an extension of the northern Kazakhstan Orocline and the Middle Paleozoic amalgamation of West Junggar. A new linking model is thus proposed, in which the southern West Junggar terrane first evolved individually, and then collided with the Yili Block to constitute the Kazakhstan continent during the Late Silurian. The independent and contrasting intra-oceanic and continental arcs also support the Paleozoic archipelago-type evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt.

Geology, distribution, and classification of gold deposits in the western Qinling belt, central China

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mao, J.; Qiu, Yumin; Goldfarb, R.J.; Zhang, Z.; Garwin, S.; Fengshou, R.

2002-01-01

Gold deposits of the western Qinling belt occur within the western part of the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu orogen, which is located between the Precambrian North China and Yangtze cratons and east of the Songpan-Ganzi basin. The early Paleozoic to early Mesozoic orogen can be divided into northern, central, and southern zones, separated by the Shangdan and Lixian-Shanyang thrust fault systems. The northern zone consists of an early Paleozoic arc accreted to the North China craton by ca. 450 Ma. The central zone, which contains numerous orogenic gold deposits, is dominated by clastic rocks formed in a late Paleozoic basin between the converging cratonic blocks. The southern zone is characterized by the easternmost exposure of Triassic sedimentary rocks of the Songpan-Ganzi basin. These Early to Late Triassic turbidities, in part calcareous, of the immense Songpan-Ganzi basin also border the western Qinling belt to the west. Carlinlike gold deposits are abundant (1) along a westward extension of the southern zone defined by a window of early Paleozoic clastic rocks extending into the basin, and (2) within the easternmost margin of the basinal rocks to the south of the extension, and in adjacent cover rocks of the Yangtze craton. Triassic and Early Jurassic synkinematic granitoids are widespread across the western Qinling belt, as well as in the Songpan-Ganzi basin. Orogenic lode gold deposits along brittle-ductile shear zones occur within greenschist-facies, highly deformed, Devonian and younger clastic rocks of the central zone. Mainly coarse-grained gold, along with pyrite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, and minor base metal sulfides, occur in networks of quartz veinlets, brecciated wall rock, and are dissminated in altered wall rock. Isotopic dates suggest that the deposits formed during the Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic as the leading edge of the Yangtze craton was thrust beneath rocks of the western Qinling belt. Many gold-bearing placers are distributed along the river systems that flow south from the lode-bearing central zone. Carlin-like gold deposits have only been identified during the last decade in the southern zone of the western Qinling and in the northeastern corner of the Songpan-Ganzi basin. The deposits mainly contain micron-diameter gold in arsenical pyrite; are characterized by the common occurence of cinnabar, stibnite, realgar, and orpiment; exhibit strong silicification, carbonatization, pyritization, and decalcification dissolution textures; and are structurally controlled. The lack of reactive host lithologies may have prevented development of large (> 100 tones of gold), stratigraphically-controlled orebodies, which are typical of the Carlin deposits in the western USA. These deposits are hosted by Triassic turbidities and shallow-water carbonates, and an early Paleozoic inlier in the Songpan-Ganzi basin that extends in an east-west belt for about 300 km. Rather than true "Carlin" deposits, these Carlin-like deposits may be some type of shallow-crustal (i.e., epithermal) hybrid with features intermediate to Nevada-style Carlin deposits and the orogenic gold deposits to the immediate north. These Carlin-like deposits also overlap in age with the early Mesozoic orogenic gold deposits and, therefore, also formed during the final stages of collision between the cratons and intermediate basin closure.

Variscan orogeny in the Black Sea region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okay, Aral I.; Topuz, Gültekin

2017-03-01

Two Gondwana-derived Paleozoic belts rim the Archean/Paleoproterozoic nucleus of the East European Platform in the Black Sea region. In the north is a belt of Paleozoic passive-margin-type sedimentary rocks, which extends from Moesia to the Istanbul Zone and to parts of the Scythian Platform (the MOIS Block). This belt constituted the south-facing continental margin of the Laurussia during the Late Paleozoic. This margin was deformed during the Carboniferous by folding and thrusting and forms the Variscan foreland. In the south is a belt of metamorphic and granitic rocks, which extends from the Balkanides through Strandja, Sakarya to the Caucasus (BASSAC Block). The protoliths of the metamorphic rocks are predominantly late Neoproterozoic granites and Paleozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks, which were deformed and metamorphosed during the Early Carboniferous. There are also minor eclogites and serpentinites, mostly confined to the northern margin of the BASSAC Block. Typical metamorphism is of low pressure-high temperature type and occurred during the Early Carboniferous (Visean, 340-330 Ma) coevally with that observed in the Central Europe. Volumetrically, more than half of the crystalline belt is made up of Carboniferous-earliest Permian (335-294 Ma) granites. The type of metamorphism, its concurrent nature over 1800 km length of the BASSAC Block and voluminous acidic magmatism suggest that the thermal event probably occurred in the deep levels of a continental magmatic arc. The BASSAC arc collided with Laurussia in the mid-Carboniferous leading to the foreland deformation. The ensuing uplift in the Permian resulted in the deposition of continental red beds, which are associated with acidic magmatic rocks observed over the foreland as well as over the BASSAC Block. In the Black Sea region, there was no terminal collision of Laurussia with Gondwana during the Late Paleozoic and the Laurussia margin continued to face the Paleo-Tethyan ocean in the south.

Paleozoic and Mesozoic deformations in the central Sierra Nevada, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nokleberg, Warren J.; Kistler, Ronald Wayne

1980-01-01

Analysis of structural and stratigraphic data indicates that several periods of regional deformation, consisting of combined folding, faulting, cataclasis, and regional metamorphism, occurred throughout the central Sierra Nevada during Paleozoic and Mesozoic time. The oldest regional deformation occurred alono northward trends during the Devonian and Mississippian periods in most roof pendants containing lower Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks at the center and along the crest of the range. This deformation is expressed in some roof pendants by an angular unconformity separating older thrice-deformed from younger twice-deformed Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks. The first Mesozoic deformation, which consisted of uplift and erosion and was accompanied by the onset of Andean-type volcanism during the Permian and Triassic, is expressed by an angular unconformity in several roof pendants from the Saddlebag Lake to the Mount Morrison areas. This unconformity is defined by Permian and Triassic andesitic to rhyolitic metavolcanic rocks unconformably overlying more intensely deformed Pennsylvanian, Permian(?), and older metasedimentary rocks. A later regional deformation occurred during the Triassic along N. 20?_30? W. trends in Permian and Triassic metavolcanic rocks of the Saddlebag Lake and Mount Dana roof pendants, in upper Paleozoic rocks of the Pine Creek roof pendant, and in the Calaveras Formation of the western metamorphic belt; the roof pendants are crosscut by Upper Triassic granitic rocks of the Lee Vining intrusive epoch. A still later period of Early and Middle Jurassic regional deformation occurred along N. 30?-60? E. trends in upper Paleozoic rocks of the Calaveras Formation of the western metamorphic belt. A further period of deformation was the Late Jurassic Nevadan orogeny, which occurred along N. 20?_40? W. trends in Upper Jurassic rocks of the western metamorphic belt that are crosscut by Upper Jurassic granitic rocks of the Yosemite intrusive epoch. Structures of similar age occur in intensely deformed oceanic-lithospheric and syntectonic plutonic rocks of the lower Kings River area, in Jurassic metavolcanic rocks of the Ritter Range roof pendant, and in Triassic metasedimentary rocks of the Mineral King roof pendant. The final Mesozoic deformation occurred along N. 50?-80? W. trends in both high-country roof pendants and the lower Kings River area; structures of this generation are crosscut by relatively undeformed Upper Cretaceous granitic rocks of the Cathedral Range intrusive epoch.

Clastic rocks associated with the Midcontinent rift system in Iowa

USGS Publications Warehouse

Anderson, Raymond R.; McKay, Robert M.

1997-01-01

The Middle Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of North America is a failed rift that formed in response to region-wide stresses about 1,100 Ma. In Iowa, the MRS is buried beneath 2,200?3,500 ft of Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and Quaternary glaciogenic deposits. An extremely large volume of sediments was deposited within basins associated with the rift at several stages during its development. Although the uplift of a rift-axial horst resulted in the erosional removal of most of these clastic rocks from the central region of the MRS in Iowa, thick sequences are preserved in a series of horst-bounding basins. Recent studies incorporating petrographic analysis, geophysical modeling, and other analytical procedures have led to the establishment of a preliminary stratigraphy for these clastic rocks and interpretations of basin geometries. This information has allowed the refinement of existing theories and history of MRS formation in Iowa. Additionally, drill samples previously interpreted as indicating the existence of early Paleozoic basins overlying the Proterozoic MRS basins were re-examined. Samples previously interpreted as deep-lying Paleozoic rocks are now known to have caved from upper levels of the drillhole and were out of stratigraphic position. No deep Paleozoic basins exist in this area. These investigations led to the development of petrographic parameters useful in differentiating the Proterozoic MRS Red clastics from Paleozoic clastic rocks having similar lithologies.

Widespread effects of middle Mississippian deformation in the Great Basin of western North America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Trexler, J.H.; Cashman, P.H.; Cole, J.C.; Snyder, W.S.; Tosdal, R.M.; Davydov, V.I.

2003-01-01

Stratigraphic analyses in central and eastern Nevada reveal the importance of a deformation event in middle Mississippian time that caused widespread deformation, uplift, and erosion. It occurred between middle Osagean and late Meramecian time and resulted in deposition of both synorogenic and postorogenic sediments. The deformation resulted in east-west shortening, expressed as east-vergent folding and east-directed thrusting; it involved sedimentary rocks of the Antler foredeep as well as strata associated with the Roberts Mountains allochthon. A latest Meramecian to early Chesterian unconformity, with correlative conformable lithofacies changes, postdates this deformation and occurs throughout Nevada. A tectonic highland-created in the middle Mississippian and lasting into the Pennsylvanian and centered in the area west and southwest of Carlin, Nevada- shed sediments eastward across the Antler foreland, burying the unconformity. Postorogenic strata are late Meramecian to early Chesterian at the base and are widespread throughout the Great Basin. The tectonism therefore occurred 20 to 30 m.y. after inception of the Late Devonian Antler orogeny, significantly extending the time span of this orogeny or representing a generally unrecognized orogenic event in the Paleozoic evolution of western North America. We propose a revised stratigraphic nomenclature for Mississippian strata in Nevada, based on detailed age control and the recognition of unconformities. This approach resolves the ambiguity of some stratigraphic names and emphasizes genetic relationships within the upper Paleozoic section. We take advantage of better stratigraphic understanding to propose two new stratigraphic units for southern and eastern Nevada: the middle Mississippian Gap Wash and Late Mississippian Captain Jack Formations.

Linking craton stability and deep earth processes using thermochronology; a case study in the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sturrock, C. P.; Flowers, R. M.; Zhong, S.; Metcalf, J. R.; Kohn, B. P.

2017-12-01

Ancient, cratonic continental interiors are often presumed to be stable in the long term, neither accumulating nor shedding significant amounts of overlying sediment. However, recent low-temperature thermochronologic work suggests that such long term stability is an overly simplistic view and that forces besides plate tectonics, such as dynamic topography, may play a significant role. New apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) and apatite fission track (AFT) data from Archean-Proterozoic basement rocks along a 1400km NW-SE transect in the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield record a spatially variable thermal history for the craton in Paleozoic through the end of Mesozoic time. Dates range from 600­­­­­­±60 Ma (AHe) and 529­±48 Ma (AFT) in the west to 184±14 Ma (AHe) and 174±9 Ma (AFT) in the east. Tectonic activity within the Superior Province ceased by 1.8 Ga, with the latest activity at the margins ending at 1 Ga. Widespread resetting of both AHe and AFT systems post 1 Ga is most likely due to regional scale burial at one or more times since the Cambrian. The temperature sensitivity of the AHe and AFT systems (30-90°C and 60-120°C, respectively) require at least a few km of burial across the craton that has since been stripped away. Preliminary inverse thermal history models, utilizing geologic constraints and radiation damage effects on He diffusion in apatite, indicate significant reheating in the Paleozoic-early Mesozoic (37 to >120°C) and a possible lesser reheating event since the mid Mesozoic (<100°C). Making the simplified assumption of a 25°C/km geothermal gradient and 0°C surface temperature, burial in some areas must have been at least 2-5km in the Paleozoic and was <4km in the Mesozoic. These burial and denudation patterns do not correlate with global sea level changes, making dynamic topography a good candidate for a driving mechanism. New AHe data from kimberlites emplaced in the early to mid-Jurassic will provide an important new constraint on the post-Jurassic thermal history of the Superior Province and result in better temperature/burial estimates for the earlier history. Ongoing work will compare these histories with dynamic topography predictions from geodynamic models back into the Paleozoic.

Accretion of Grenvillian terranes to the southwestern border of the Río de la Plata craton, western Argentina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varela, Ricardo; Basei, Miguel A. S.; González, Pablo D.; Sato, Ana M.; Naipauer, Maximiliano; Campos Neto, Mario; Cingolani, Carlos A.; Meira, Vinicius T.

2011-04-01

A comprehensive review of the geological, geochronological, and isotopic features of the Mesoproterozoic Grenvillian terranes attached to the southwest of the Río de la Plata craton in Early Paleozoic times is presented in this paper. They are grouped into the northern (sierras de Umango, Maz and del Espinal and surroundings), central (Sierra de Pie de Palo, southern Precordillera and Frontal Cordillera), and southern (San Rafael and Las Matras Blocks) segments. The Mesoproterozoic basement consists mainly of arc related, intermediate to acidic and mafic-ultramafic rocks of 1,244-1,027 Ma, with juvenile, Laurentian affinity. Exception to it is the Maz Group, with a protracted history and reworked character. They are affected by 846-570 Ma, extensional magmatism in the northern and central segments, which represents the Neoproterozoic breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent. Successive passive margin sedimentation is registered in Late Neoproterozoic (~640-580 Ma) and Cambro-Ordovician (~550-470 Ma) times. The southern segment is noted for the younger sedimentation alone, and for showing the exclusive primary unconformable relationship between the Mesoproterozoic basement and Early Ordovician cover. The effects of Early Paleozoic Famatinian orogeny, associated with the collisions of Cuyania and Chilenia terranes, are recorded as main phase (480-450 Ma), late phase (440-420 Ma), and Chanic phase (400-360 Ma). Among them, the tectonothermal climax is the Ordovician main phase, to which klippe and nappe structures typical of collisional orogens are related in the northern and central segments. Preliminary data allow us to suggest a set of paired metamorphic belts, with an outboard high-P/T belt, and an inboard Barrowian P/T belt.

A superarmored lobopodian from the Cambrian of China and early disparity in the evolution of Onychophora

PubMed Central

Yang, Jie; Ortega-Hernández, Javier; Gerber, Sylvain; Butterfield, Nicholas J.; Hou, Jin-bo; Lan, Tian; Zhang, Xi-guang

2015-01-01

We describe Collinsium ciliosum from the early Cambrian Xiaoshiba Lagerstätte in South China, an armored lobopodian with a remarkable degree of limb differentiation including a pair of antenna-like appendages, six pairs of elongate setiferous limbs for suspension feeding, and nine pairs of clawed annulated legs with an anchoring function. Collinsium belongs to a highly derived clade of lobopodians within stem group Onychophora, distinguished by a substantial dorsal armature of supernumerary and biomineralized spines (Family Luolishaniidae). As demonstrated here, luolishaniids display the highest degree of limb specialization among Paleozoic lobopodians, constitute more than one-third of the overall morphological disparity of stem group Onychophora, and are substantially more disparate than crown group representatives. Despite having higher disparity and appendage complexity than other lobopodians and extant velvet worms, the specialized mode of life embodied by luolishaniids became extinct during the Early Paleozoic. Collinsium and other superarmored lobopodians exploited a unique paleoecological niche during the Cambrian explosion. PMID:26124122

The Boundary of Tectonic Units of the South China Continent in the Meso-Neoproterozoic - Early Paleozoic: Insights from Integrated Geophysical Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, L.; Gao, R.; Meng, X.; Zhang, J.; Wang, H.; Liu, Y.

2013-12-01

The South China continent (SCC), located in the transition zone of the Eurasia, India and Pacific plates, formed in the Meso-Neoproterozoic by collision of the Yangtze block and the Cathaysia block. However, the boundaries of the two blocks before the late Paleozoic (from Meso-Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic) remain debated in the literature due to strong and complex tectonic and magmatic activities since then. The south of Jiangnan archicontinent is covered mostly by the thick strata since the late Paleozoic, the surface of which is widely covered by the vegetation. And the regional tectonic deformation is extremely complicated with few basal outcrops. For decades, a variety of geophysical detections have been performed in the SCC for understanding the deep structure and tectonic evolution, including deep seismic sounding (DSS) profiles, magnetotelluric sounding (MT) profiles, gravity and magnetic surveys and a small amount of deep seismic reflection profiles. However, due to the limitations of resolution and accuracy of the observed geophysical data in the past, especially short of the deep seismic reflection profiles to reveal fine lithosphere structure, different scientists presented various views on the division of tectonic units in the SCC. In quite recent years, the SinoProbe-02 project launched a long profile of geophysical detections across the two blocks in the SCC, including deep seismic reflection, DSS, MT, and broadband seismic observation, the resolution and accuracy of which had been improved greatly. These newly data will benefit better understanding the deep structure and tectonic evolution of the SCC. Here, we assembled high-resolution Bouguer gravity anomalies and aeromagnetic anomalies data in the SCC. The magnetic data were reduced to the pole by used a varying magnetic inclinations algorithm. We then performed anomaly separation and multi-scales lineation structure analysis on the gravity and RTP magnetic data, and then did 3D fusion analysis on them. Seismic reflection profiles focus on fine lithosphere structure vertically along the profile, while gravity and magnetic methods are beneficial to reveal regional tectonic features laterally. The integrate study of seismic, gravity and magnetic data will play the advantages of various methods and constraint and confirm each other. Hence, we did the interpretation of gravity and magnetic data with constraints of the newly seismic reflection profile. Based on the above studies, we traced the boundaries of tectonic units in the SCC from Meso-Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic, and formed a certain understanding of the tectonic evolution in the SCC before the late Paleozoic. Acknowledgment: We acknowledge the financial support of the SinoProbe-02-01 and SinoProbe-01-05 projects, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

Stratigraphy and paleogeographic significance of a Late Pennsylvanian to Early Permian channeled slope sequence in the Darwin Basin, southern Darwin Hills, east-central California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stevens, Calvin H.; Stone, Paul; Magginetti, Robert T.; Ritter, Scott M.

2015-01-01

The complex stratigraphy of late Paleozoic rocks in the southern Darwin Hills consists of regionally extensive Mississippian and Early to Middle Pennsylvanian rocks overlain by latest Pennsylvanian to Early Permian rocks, herein called the Darwin Hills sequence. Deposition of this latter sequence marked the beginning of the Darwin Basin. In Mississippian time, a carbonate platform prograded westward over slightly older slope deposits. In the Late Mississippian this platform was exposed to erosion and siliciclastic sediments were deposited. In Early to Middle Pennsylvanian time the area subsided, forming a west-facing ramp that was subjected to deformation and erosion in Middle or early Late Pennsylvanian time. Later this area was tilted westward and deep-water sediments were deposited on this slope. In latest Pennsylvanian to earliest Permian time, a major channel was cut through the older Pennsylvanian rocks and into the Upper Mississippian strata. This channel was gradually filled with increasingly finer grained, deep-water sediment as the area evolved into a basin floor by Early Permian (Sakmarian) time. Expansion of the Darwin Basin in Artinskian time led to a second phase of deposition represented by strata of the regionally extensive Darwin Canyon Formation. The geology in this small area thus documents tectonic events occurring during the early development of the Darwin Basin.

Geochemical Characteristics of Granitoids in southwest Tianshan: Four Stages for Geodynamic Evolution of the Southwest Tianshan Orogenic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Y.

2016-12-01

Paleozoic intrusive rocks widely exposed in the west Tianshan orogenic belt provides key to understand the geodynamic evolution of the central Asian orogenic belt. A synthesis involving the data for Chinese Yili-central Tianshan and southwest Tianshan and comparison of Kyrgyz Tianshan with a broader dataset including zircon U-Pb ages, zircon Hf isotopic composition, major and trace elements for Paleozoic intrusions are presented to classify the Paleozoic intrusive rocks in four categories which corresponding to subduction of the Terskey Ocean, initial subduction stage of South Tianshan Ocean (STO), major subduction stage of the STO, and collisional to post-collisional stages. The subduction of the Terskey Oceanic crust finally caused the closure of the Terskey Ocean and the opening of the South Tianshan back-arc basin. The development of the Southwest Tianshan back-arc basin formed the STO, which subducted under the Yili-central Tianshan during early Silurian to early Carboniferous, and consequently formed huge arc magmatic rocks. Both the Silurian and early Carboniferous intrusions showing arc geochemical characteristics were derived from partial melting of juvenile arc-derived rocks with involvement of old continental crust. The STO finally closed by the end of early Carboniferous. Afterwards, geodynamic setting changed from convergence to extensional during late Carboniferous to early Permian periods. There is a significant geodynamic change from convergence to extension during late Carboniferous to early Permian, which may be resulted from breakoff of the subducted slab (Fig. 1). Such processes caused upwelling of asthenosphere and triggered partial melting of continental crust, as evidenced by emplacement of voluminous granitic rocks. References: An F, et al, 2013. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 78: 100-113; Zhu YF, 2011. Ore Geology Reviews, 40: 108-121; Zhu YF, et al, 2009. Geological Society, London, 166: 1085-1099; Zhu YF et al, 2016. Journal of Earth Science 27: 491-506

Neoproterozoic-Early Paleozoic Peri-Pacific Accretionary Evolution of the Mongolian Collage System: Insights From Geochemical and U-Pb Zircon Data From the Ordovician Sedimentary Wedge in the Mongolian Altai

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Y. D.; Schulmann, K.; Kröner, A.; Sun, M.; Lexa, O.; Janoušek, V.; Buriánek, D.; Yuan, C.; Hanžl, P.

2017-11-01

Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic accretionary processes of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt have been evaluated so far mainly using the geology of ophiolites and/or magmatic arcs. Thus, the knowledge of the nature and evolution of associated sedimentary prisms remains fragmentary. We carried out an integrated geological, geochemical, and zircon U-Pb geochronological study on a giant Ordovician metasedimentary succession of the Mongolian Altai Mountains. This succession is characterized by dominant terrigenous components mixed with volcanogenic material. It is chemically immature, compositionally analogous to graywacke, and marked by significant input of felsic to intermediate arc components, pointing to an active continental margin depositional setting. Detrital zircon U-Pb ages suggest a source dominated by products of early Paleozoic magmatism prevailing during the Cambrian-Ordovician and culminating at circa 500 Ma. We propose that the Ordovician succession forms an "Altai sedimentary wedge," the evolution of which can be linked to the geodynamics of the margins of the Mongolian Precambrian Zavhan-Baydrag blocks. This involved subduction reversal from southward subduction of a passive continental margin (Early Cambrian) to the development of the "Ikh-Mongol Magmatic Arc System" and the giant Altai sedimentary wedge above a north dipping subduction zone (Late Cambrian-Ordovician). Such a dynamic process resembles the tectonic evolution of the peri-Pacific accretionary Terra Australis Orogen. A new model reconciling the Baikalian metamorphic belt along the southern Siberian Craton with peri-Pacific Altai accretionary systems fringing the Mongolian microcontinents is proposed to explain the Cambro-Ordovician geodynamic evolution of the Mongolian collage system.

The petrogenesis of sodic granites in the Niujuanzi area and constraints on the Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the Beishan region, NW China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Jiyuan; Guo, Lin; Li, Jianxing; Li, Yanguang; Smithies, Robert H.; Wingate, Michael T. D.; Meng, Yong; Chen, Shefa

2016-07-01

Ordovician to Devonian sodic granites dominate the newly recognized Luotuojuan composite granite in the Lebaquan-Luotuojuan-Niujuanzi region of Beishan, along the southern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt in NW China. The granites include sodic (K2O/Na2O > 0.5) tonalites with low Y (< 7 ppm), Yb (< 0.7 ppm), high Sr/Y (> 68) that formed during at least two events at c. 435 and c. 370-360 Ma. Their compositions are consistent with high-pressure melting of basaltic crust, although relatively non-radiogenic Nd isotope compositions (εNd(t) + 0.9) require some crustal assimilation. The interpretation that these granites reflect melts of a subducted slab (i.e. adakite) is supported by independent local and regional geological evidence for an oceanic subduction-accretion setting, including a long history of calc-alkaline magmatism and the identification of a series of early Paleozoic ophiolite belts. Other sodic granites forming the Luotuojuan composite granite are mainly quartz-diorite and granodiorite formed between c. 391 and c. 360 Ma. These rocks are not adakites, having Sr concentrations and Sr/Y ratios too low and Y and Yb concentrations too high. They are low- to medium-K calc-alkaline rocks more typical of magmas derived through melting in a subduction modified mantle wedge. Compositional changes from sodic to potassic granites, over time frames consistent with subduction processes, suggest at least two separate cycles, or pulses, of hot subduction in the Lebaquan-Luotuojuan-Niujuanzi region. Although early Paleozoic adakites have been inferred to exist elsewhere in the Beishan region, many of the reported adakitic rocks have compositions inconsistent with melting of subducted oceanic lithosphere and so tectonic interpretation of hot subduction might not be valid in these cases. A study of regional granite data also shows not only that adakite magmatism does not extend into the Permian but that if subduction-accretion processes extended into the late Paleozoic, no typical subduction-related magmatism was preserved. New and published Nd isotope data from regional granites also requires at least the local presence of Proterozoic basement, or microcontinental slivers, in the evolution of the Beishan region.

Heating, cooling, and uplift during Tertiary time, northern Sangre de Cristo Range, Colorado ( USA).

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindsay, D.A.; Andriessen, P.A.M.; Wardlaw, B.R.

1986-01-01

Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in a wide area of the northern Sangre de Cristo Range show effects of heating during Tertiary time. Heating is tentatively interpreted as a response to burial during Laramide folding and thrusting and also to high heat flow during Rio Grande rifting. Fission-track ages of apatite across a section of the range show that rocks cooled abruptly below 120oC, the blocking temperature for apatite, approx 19 Ma ago. Cooling was probably in response to rapid uplift and erosion of the northern Sangre de Cristo Range during early Rio Grande rifting.-from Authors

The Cottage Grove fault system (Illinois Basin): Late Paleozoic transpression along a Precambrian crustal boundary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Duchek, A.B.; McBride, J.H.; Nelson, W.J.; Leetaru, H.E.

2004-01-01

The Cottage Grove fault system in southern Illinois has long been interpreted as an intracratonic dextral strike-slip fault system. We investigated its structural geometry and kinematics in detail using (1) outcrop data, (2) extensive exposures in underground coal mines, (3) abundant borehole data, and (4) a network of industry seismic reflection profiles, including data reprocessed by us. Structural contour mapping delineates distinct monoclines, broad anticlines, and synclines that express Paleozoic-age deformation associated with strike slip along the fault system. As shown on seismic reflection profiles, prominent near-vertical faults that cut the entire Paleozoic section and basement-cover contact branch upward into outward-splaying, high-angle reverse faults. The master fault, sinuous along strike, is characterized along its length by an elongate anticline, ???3 km wide, that parallels the southern side of the master fault. These features signify that the overall kinematic regime was transpressional. Due to the absence of suitable piercing points, the amount of slip cannot be measured, but is constrained at less than 300 m near the ground surface. The Cottage Grove fault system apparently follows a Precambrian terrane boundary, as suggested by magnetic intensity data, the distribution of ultramafic igneous intrusions, and patterns of earthquake activity. The fault system was primarily active during the Alleghanian orogeny of Late Pennsylvanian and Early Permian time, when ultramatic igneous magma intruded along en echelon tensional fractures. ?? 2004 Geological Society of America.

Phanerozoic geological evolution of Northern and Central Africa: An overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guiraud, R.; Bosworth, W.; Thierry, J.; Delplanque, A.

2005-10-01

The principal paleogeographic characteristics of North and Central Africa during the Paleozoic were the permanency of large exposed lands over central Africa, surrounded by northerly and northwesterly dipping pediplanes episodically flooded by epicontinental seas related to the Paleotethys Ocean. The intra-continental Congo-Zaire Basin was also a long-lived feature, as well as the Somali Basin from Late Carboniferous times, in conjunction with the development of the Karoo basins of southern Africa. This configuration, in combination with eustatic sea-level fluctuations, had a strong influence on facies distributions. Significant transgressions occurred during the Early Cambrian, Tremadocian, Llandovery, Middle to Late Devonian, Early Carboniferous, and Moscovian. The Paleozoic tectonic history shows an alternation of long periods of predominantly gentle basin subsidence and short periods of gentle folding and occasionally basin inversion. Some local rift basins developed episodically, located mainly along the northern African-Arabian plate margin and near the West African Craton/Pan-African Belt suture. Several arches or spurs, mainly N-S to NE-SW trending and inherited from late Pan-African fault swarms, played an important role. The Nubia Province was the site of numerous alkaline anorogenic intrusions, starting in Ordovician times, and subsequently formed a large swell. Paleozoic compressional events occurred in the latest Early Cambrian ("Iskelian"), Medial Ordovician to earliest Silurian ("pre-Caradoc" and "Taconian"), the end Silurian ("Early Acadian" or "Ardennian"), mid-Devonian ("Mid-Acadian"), the end Devonian ("Late Acadian" or "Bretonnian"), the earliest Serpukhovian ("Sudetic"), and the latest Carboniferous-earliest Permian ("Alleghanian" or "Asturian"). The strongest deformations, including folding, thrusting, and active strike-slip faulting, were registered in Northwestern Africa during the last stage of the Pan-African Belt development around the West African Craton (end Early Cambrian) and during the polyphased Hercynian-Variscan Orogeny that extended the final closure of the Paleotethys Ocean and resulted in the formation of the Maghrebian and Mauritanides belts. Only gentle deformation affected central and northeastern African during the Paleozoic, the latter remaining a passive margin of the Paleotethys Ocean up to the Early Permian when the development of the Neotethys initiated along the Eastern Mediterranean Basins. The Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary sequence similarly consists of a succession of eustatically and tectonically controlled depositional cycles. Through time, progressive southwards shift of the basin margins occurred, related to the opening of the Neotethys Ocean and to the transgressions resulting from warming of the global climate and associated rise of the global sea level. The Guinean-Nigerian Shield, the Hoggar, Tibesti-Central Cyrenaica, Nubia, western Saudi Arabia, Central African Republic, and other long-lived arches delimited the principal basins. The main tectonic events were the polyphased extension, inversion, and folding of the northern African-Arabian shelf margin resulting in the development of the Alpine Maghrebian and Syrian Arc belts, rifting and drifting along the Central Atlantic, Somali Basins, and Gulf of Aden-Red Sea domains, inversion of the Murzuq-Djado Basin, and rifting and partial inversion along the Central African Rift System. Two major compressional events occurred in the Late Santonian and early Late Eocene. The former entailed folding and strike-slip faulting along the northeastern African-northern Arabian margin (Syrian Arc) and the Central African Fold Belt System (from Benue to Ogaden), and thrusting in Oman. The latter ("Pyrenean-Atlasic") resulted in folding, thrusting, and local metamorphism of the northern African-Arabian plate margin, and rejuvenation of intra-plate fault zones. Minor or more localized compressional deformations took place in the end Cretaceous, the Burdigalian, the Tortonian and Early Quaternary. Recent tectonic activity is mainly concentrated along the Maghrebian Alpine Belt, the offshore Nile Delta, the Red Sea-East African Rifts Province, the Aqaba-Dead Sea-Bekaa sinistral strike-slip fault zone, and some major intra-plate fault zones including the Guinean-Nubian, Aswa, and central Sinai lineaments. Large, long-lived magmatic provinces developed in the Egypt-Sudan confines (Nubia), in the Hoggar-Air massifs, along the Cameroon Line and Nigerian Jos Plateau, and along the Levant margin, resulting in uplifts that influenced the paleogeography. Extensive tholeiitic basaltic magmatism at ˜200 Ma preceded continental break-up in the Central Atlantic domain, while extensive alkaline to transitional basaltic magmatism accompanied the Oligocene to Recent rifting along the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden-East African rift province.

The Paleozoic ichthyofauna of the Amazonas and Parnaíba basins, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Figueroa, Rodrigo Tinoco; Machado, Deusana Maria da Costa

2018-03-01

The Brazilian Paleozoic ichthyofauna from the Parnaíba and Amazonas basins regard a sparsely known diversity, including chondrichthyans and acanthodians, besides some osteichthyan remains. This work proposes a revision of the fossil material from these two sedimentary basins and synthesizes the morphological aspect of such material trying to understand the influences of those fossils to the paleontology of the region, comparing the Brazilian fossils with other gondwanan faunas. The Brazilian Paleozoic fish fauna shows great resemblance to those of Bolivia, especially during the Devonian. Many of the Acanthodian spines from the Manacapuru Formation (Amazonas Basin), and the Pimenteira Formation (Parnaíba Basin), are comparable to the taxa found in Bolivia. The lack of more Placoderm remains in the Brazilian outcrops is similar to the low diversity of this group in Bolivia, when compared to other South American and Euramerican localities. The most diverse Brazilian ichthyofauna is encountered in the Permian Pedra de Fogo Formation where numerous chondrichthyans and 'paleopterygians' remains are found, together with dipnoans and actinistians. Despite the apparent lack of more representative Paleozoic ichthyofaunas in Brazil, the available material that ranges from Lower Devonian to early Permian from Brazil bears important taxa that could address valuable taxonomic and biogeographic informations.

Depositional environments and tectonic significance of the Wajid Sandstone of southern Saudi Arabia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dabbagh, Mohamed E.; Rogers, John J. W.

The Wajid Sandstone, of probable Early Paleozoic age, rests disconformably on crystalline rocks of the southern part of the Arabian shield. Scattered outcrops extend over an area about 450 km north-south and 300 km east-west. The southern part of the formation, near the Yemen border, consists of fluvial sandstones and very minor siltstones and silty shales. The fluvial origin is demonstrated by the presence of fining-upward cycles, channels, trough cross bedding, and absence of all organic traces. The northern part of the outcrop area consists of internally homogeneous, tabular cross-bedded, horizontally bedded sandstones apparently formed in a shallow marine environment. These marine rocks contain trace fossils broadly similar to Skolithos. Abundant cross bedding in both facies of the Wajid indicates a northward transport direction, toward what is now the center of the Arabian shield. The southern part of the Arabian shield, which was cratonized about 500 to 600 Ma ago (Pan-African age), was apparently still a depositional area receiving sediments from a southern source in Early Paleozoic time. Other, older, shields also show a tendency to be areas of deposition shortly after their apparent age of stabilization, becoming sources of clastic sediments only after several hundreds of millions of years. The conversion from basin to uplifted source may indicate a prolonged process of shield maturation after initial stabilization.

New age constraints on the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the late Paleozoic back-arc basin along the western Gondwana margin of southern Peru

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boekhout, F.; Reitsma, M. J.; Spikings, R.; Rodriguez, R.; Ulianov, A.; Gerdes, A.; Schaltegger, U.

2018-03-01

The tectonic evolution of the western Gondwana margin during Pangaea amalgation is recorded in variations in the Permo-Carboniferous back-arc basin sedimentation of Peru. This study provides the first radiometric age constraints on the volcanic and sedimentary sequences of south-central eastern Peru up to the western-most tip of Bolivia, and now permits the correlation of lateral facies variations to the late Paleozoic pre-Andean orogenic cycle. The two phases of Gondwanide magmatism and metamorphism at c. 315 Ma and c. 260 Ma are reflected in two major changes in this sedimentary environment. Our detrital U-Pb zircon ages demonstrate that the timing of Ambo Formation deposition corroborates the Late Mississipian age estimates. The transition from the Ambo to the Tarma Formation around the Middle Pennsylvanian Early Gondwanide Orogeny (c. 315 Ma) represents a relative deepening of the basin. Throughout the shallow marine deposits of the Tarma Formation evidence for contemporaneous volcanism becomes gradually more pronounced and culminates around 312 - 309 Ma. Continuous basin subsidence resulted in a buildup of platform carbonates of the Copacabana Formation. Our data highlights the presence of a previously unrecognized phase of deposition of mainly fluvial sandstones and localized volcanism (281-270 Ma), which we named ´Oqoruro Formation'. This sedimentary succession was previously miss-assigned to the so-called Mitu Group, which has recently been dated to start deposition in the Middle Triassic (∼245-240 Ma). The emersion of this marine basin coincides with the onset of a major plutonic pulse related to the Late Gondwanide Orogeny (c. 260). Exhumation lead to the consequent retreat of the epeiric sea to the present-day sub-Andean region, and the coeval accumulation of the fluvial Oqoruro Formation in south eastern Peru. These late Paleozoic palaeoenvironmental changes in the back-arc basins along the western Gondwana margin of southern reflect changes in tectonic plate reorganization in a long-lived Paleozoic accretionary orogeny.

Global Diversity and Phylogeny of the Asteroidea (Echinodermata)

PubMed Central

Mah, Christopher L.; Blake, Daniel B.

2012-01-01

Members of the Asteroidea (phylum Echinodermata), popularly known as starfish or sea stars, are ecologically important and diverse members of marine ecosystems in all of the world's oceans. We present a comprehensive overview of diversity and phylogeny as they have figured into the evolution of the Asteroidea from Paleozoic to the living fauna. Living post-Paleozoic asteroids, the Neoasteroidea, are morphologically separate from those in the Paleozoic. Early Paleozoic asteroid faunas were diverse and displayed morphology that foreshadowed later living taxa. Preservation presents significant difficulties, but fossil occurrence and current accounts suggests a diverse Paleozoic fauna, which underwent extinction around the Permian-Triassic interval was followed by re-diversification of at least one surviving lineage. Ongoing phylogenetic classification debates include the status of the Paxillosida and the Concentricycloidea. Fossil and molecular evidence has been and continues to be part of the ongoing evolution of asteroid phylogenetic research. The modern lineages of asteroids include the Valvatacea, the Forcipulatacea, the Spinlosida, and the Velatida. We present an overview of diversity in these taxa, as well as brief notes on broader significance, ecology, and functional morphology of each. Although much asteroid taxonomy is stable, many new taxa remain to be discovered with many new species currently awaiting description. The Goniasteridae is currently one of the most diverse families within the Asteroidea. New data from molecular phylogenetics and the advent of global biodiversity databases, such as the World Asteroidea Database (http://www.marinespecies.org/Asteroidea/) present important new springboards for understanding the global biodiversity and evolution of asteroids. PMID:22563389

Lithostratigraphic, conodont, and other faunal links between lower Paleozoic strata in northern and central Alaska and northeastern Russia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dumoulin, Julie A.; Harris, Anita G.; Gagiev, Mussa; Bradley, Dwight C.; Repetski, John E.

2002-01-01

Lower Paleozoic platform carbonate strata in northern Alaska (parts of the Arctic Alaska, York, and Seward terranes; herein called the North Alaska carbonate platform) and central Alaska (Farewell terrane) share distinctive lithologic and faunal features, and may have formed on a single continental fragment situated between Siberia and Laurentia. Sedimentary successions in northern and central Alaska overlie Late Proterozoic metamorphosed basement; contain Late Proterozoic ooid-rich dolostones, Middle Cambrian outer shelf deposits, and Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian shallow-water platform facies, and include fossils of both Siberian and Laurentian biotic provinces. The presence in the Alaskan terranes of Siberian forms not seen in wellstudied cratonal margin sequences of western Laurentia implies that the Alaskan rocks were not attached to Laurentia during the early Paleozoic.The Siberian cratonal succession includes Archean basement, Ordovician shallow-water siliciclastic rocks, and Upper Silurian–Devonian evaporites, none of which have counterparts in the Alaskan successions, and contains only a few of the Laurentian conodonts that occur in Alaska. Thus we conclude that the lower Paleozoic platform successions of northern and central Alaska were not part of the Siberian craton during their deposition, but may have formed on a crustal fragment rifted away from Siberia during the Late Proterozoic. The Alaskan strata have more similarities to coeval rocks in some peri-Siberian terranes of northeastern Russia (Kotelny, Chukotka, and Omulevka). Lithologic ties between northern Alaska, the Farewell terrane, and the peri-Siberian terranes diminish after the Middle Devonian, but Siberian afµnities in northern and central Alaskan biotas persist into the late Paleozoic.

Paleozoic Assemblage of the Northern Sierra Terrane: New Geochronology And Geochemical Data From the Stitching Late Devonian - Early Carboniferous Bowman Lake Batholith, and Associated Rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powerman, V.; Hanson, R. E.; Girty, G.; Tretiakov, A.

2016-12-01

Previous study (Grove et al., 2008) of detrital zircon ages and the timing of magmatism within the Northern Sierra terrane (NST) suggest that it is exotic relative to western Laurentia, and link it to the Paleozoic Arctic Realm, Baltica and Caledonides. NST is a composite terrane in the North America Cordillera, consisting of four distinct allochthons, thrusted upon each other. As a first step towards the understanding of the origin and tectonic development of the NST we have undertaken the SHRIMP-RG U-Pb zircon dating of the rocks from granites, granodiorites, trondhjemites, tonalites and hypabyssal intrusions, composing the Bowman Lake batholith. The batholith stitches the allochthons of the NST and its crystallization age signifies the timing of juxtaposition SHRIMP-RG analyses from 14 samples yielded an age range of ca. 352-369 Ma, which overlaps the Devonian-Mississipian boundary and constrains the minimum age for amalgamation. Additionally, we have acquired multiple XRF data, favoring the island arc provenance of the Bowman Lake batholith Batholith. Previously proposed ties between NST and Robert Mountains allochthon seem unlikely because the latter was accreted onto the western miogeocline of Laurentia during the Late Dev.-Early Miss. while the NST was most probably still situated within the Arctic Realm. This work has been supported by the grant #14.Z50.31.0017 of the Government of the Russian Federation and by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research grant #15-55-10055. We are grateful to Stanford-USGS SHRIMP-RG center, and personally to Marty Grove and Elizabeth Miller.

Late paleozoic base and precious metal deposits, East Tianshan, Xinjiang, China: Characteristics and geodynamic setting

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mao, J.; Goldfarb, R.J.; Wang, Y.; Hart, C.J.; Wang, Z.; Yang, J.

2005-01-01

The East Tianshan is a remote Gobi area located in eastern Xinjiang, northwestern China. In the past several years, a number of gold, porphyry copper, and Fe(-Cu) and Cu-Ag-Pb-Zn skarn deposits have been discovered there and are attracting exploration interest. The East Tianshan is located between the Junggar block to the north and early Paleozoic terranes of the Middle Tianshan to the south. It is part of a Hercynian orogen with three distinct E-W-trending tectonic belts: the Devonian-Early Carboniferous Tousuquan-Dananhu island arc on the north and the Carboniferous Aqishan - Yamansu rift basin to the south, which are separated by rocks of the Kanggurtag shear zone. The porphyry deposits, dated at 322 Ma, are related to the late evolutionary stages of a subduction-related oceanic or continental margin arc. In contrast, the skarn, gold, and magmatic Ni-Cu deposits are associated with post-collisional tectonics at ca. 290-270 Ma. These Late Carboniferous - Early Permian deposits are associated with large-scale emplacement and eruption of magmas possibly caused by lithosphere delamination and rifting within the East Tianshan.

Two possibilities for New Siberian Islands terrane tectonic history during the Early Paleozoic based on paleomagnetic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metelkin, Dmitry V.; Chernova, Anna I.; Vernikovsky, Valery A.; Matushkin, Nikolay Yu.

2017-04-01

The New Siberian Islands (NSI), located in the East Siberian Sea in the junction region of various structural elements, are a key target for deciphering the tectonic evolution of the Eastern Arctic. In recent years, we went on several expeditions and gathered an extensive geological material for this territory. Among other things, we could prove that the basement of the De Long and Anjou archipelagos structures is Precambrian and the overlying Paleozoic sections formed within the same terrane. The form of the boundaries of the NSI terrane are actively debated and are probably continued from the Lyakhovsky islands in the south-west to the southern parts of the submerged Mendeleev Ridge, for which there is increasing evidence of continental crust. Today there are several models that interpret the Paleozoic-Mesozoic tectonic history and structural affiliation of the NSI terrane. Some propose that the Paleozoic sedimentary section formed in a passive margin setting of the Siberian paleocontinent. Others compare its history with marginal basins of the Baltica and Laurentia continents or consider the NSI terrane as an element of the Chukotka-Alaska microplate. These models are mainly based on results of paleobiogeographical and lithological-facies analyses, including explanations of probable sources for detrital zircons. Our paleomagnetic research on sedimentary, volcanogenic-sedimentary and igneous rocks of the Anjou (Kotelny and Bel'kovsky islands) and De Long (Bennett, Jeannette and Henrietta islands) archipelagos let us calculate an apparent polar wander path for the early Paleozoic interval of geological history, which allows us to conclude that the NSI terrane could not have been a part of the continental plates listed above, but rather had active tectonic boundaries with them. Our paleomagnetic data indicate that the NSI terrane drifted slowly and steadily in the tropical and subtropical regions no higher than 40 degrees. However, the main uncertainty for the tectonic interpretation of these data is related to not knowing the true polarity and therefore the geographic hemisphere in which the terrane was located during the recording of the paleomagnetic signal. Consequently, we presented two possible tectonic histories for the Paleozoic of the NSI terrane, calculated and discussed the appropriate global reconstructions describing the paleogeography as well as probable mutual position and drift kinematics of the Eastern Arctic terranes. This study is supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant No. 14-37-00030 and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, grant No. 15-05-01428.

Underpressure in Mesozoic and Paleozoic rock units in the Midcontinent of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelson, Philip H.; Gianoutsos, Nicholas J.; Drake, Ronald

2015-01-01

Potentiometric surfaces for Paleozoic strata, based on water well levels and selected drill-stem tests, reveal the control on hydraulic head exerted by outcrops in eastern Kansas and Oklahoma. From outcrop in the east, the westward climb of hydraulic head is much less than that of the land surface, with heads falling so far below land surface that the pressure:depth ratio in eastern Colorado is less than 5.7 kPa/m (0.25 psi/ft). Permian evaporites separate the Paleozoic hydrogeologic units from a Lower Cretaceous (Dakota Group) aquifer, and a highly saline brine plume pervading Paleozoic units in central Kansas and Oklahoma is attributed to dissolution of Permian halite. Underpressure also exists in the Lower Cretaceous hydrogeologic unit in the Denver Basin, which is hydrologically separate from the Paleozoic units. The data used to construct the seven potentiometric surfaces were also used to construct seven maps of pressure:depth ratio. These latter maps are a function of the differences among hydraulic head, land-surface elevation, and formation elevation. As a consequence, maps of pressure:depth ratio reflect the interplay of three topologies that evolved independently with time. As underpressure developed, gas migrated in response to the changing pressure regime, most notably filling the Hugoton gas field in southwestern Kansas. The timing of underpressure development was determined by the timing of outcrop exposure and tilting of the Great Plains. Explorationists in western Kansas and eastern Colorado should not be surprised if a reservoir is underpressured; rather, they should be surprised if it is not.

Early Forest Soils and Their Role in Devonian Global Change

PubMed

Retallack

1997-04-25

A paleosol in the Middle Devonian Aztec Siltstone of Victoria Land, Antarctica, is the most ancient known soil of well-drained forest ecosystems. Clay enrichment and chemical weathering of subsurface horizons in this and other Devonian forested paleosols culminate a long-term increase initiated during the Silurian. From Silurian into Devonian time, red clayey calcareous paleosols show a greater volume of roots and a concomitant decline in the density of animal burrows. These trends parallel the decline in atmospheric carbon dioxide determined from isotopic records of pedogenic carbonate in these same paleosols. The drawdown of carbon dioxide began well before the Devonian appearance of coals, large logs, and diverse terrestrial plants and animals, and it did not correlate with temporal variation in volcanic or metamorphic activity. The early Paleozoic greenhouse may have been curbed by the evolution of rhizospheres with an increased ratio of primary to secondary production and by more effective silicate weathering during Silurian time.

The post-Paleozoic chronology and mechanism of 13C depletion in primary marine organic matter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Popp, B. N.; Takigiku, R.; Hayes, J. M.; Louda, J. W.; Baker, E. W.

1989-01-01

Carbon-isotopic compositions of geoporphyrins have been measured from marine sediments of Mesozoic and Cenozoic age in order to elucidate the timing and extent of depletion of 13C in marine primary producers. These results indicate that the difference in isotopic composition of coeval marine carbonates and marine primary photosynthate was approximately 5 to 7 permil greater during the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic than at present. In contrast to the isotopic record of marine primary producers, isotopic compositions of terrestrial organic materials have remained approximately constant for this same interval of time. This difference in the isotopic records of marine and terrestrial organic matter is considered in terms of the mechanisms controlling the isotopic fractionation associated with photosynthetic fixation of carbon. We show that the decreased isotopic fractionation between marine carbonates and organic matter from the Early to mid-Cenozoic may record variations in the abundance of atmospheric CO2.

New Geochronology and Radiometric Age Dates Improve the Definition and Continuity of Accreted Tectonic Terranes of Northern Venezuela and the Lesser Antilles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baquero, M.; Mann, P.; Audemard, F. A.

2017-12-01

We use new and compiled geochronology and radiometric dates from the area of Venezuela to Tobago to define the following crustal provinces: 1) Guyana shield forms a sub-circular area of Pan-African rocks against which all younger terranes have collided and partially assumed its rounded shape: ages for the Guyana Shield range from >3.4 Ga to 1.8 Ga; 2) accreted Paleozoic rocks form a sub-circular, largely buried province that surround the Guiana Shield to the north and west; the El Pilar strike-slip fault forms the abrupt, northern limit of the Precambrian-Paleozoic craton in Venezuela characterized by crustal thicknesses of 40-50 km; 3) the Early to Late Cretaceous Great Arc of the Caribbean forms a continuous basement high that can be traced from northern Colombia, through the ABC Islands to La Blanquilla Island, and north along the Aves Ridge to the Greater Antilles; ages of the GAC generally are in the range of Late Cretaceous to early Eocene and have geochemistry consistent with intra-oceanic island arcs or oceanic plateau rocks with the exception of La Orchila Island with a Paleozoic intrusive age; the GAC collided from west to east with the passive margin of South America from Paleocene in western Venezuela to Plio-Pleistocene in the Trinidad area and marks the west to east passage of the Caribbean plate past the South American plate; 4) a post-GAC rifting event affected the GAC-South America suture from late Eocene to middle Miocene time in the Falcón Basin of western Venezuela with ages on intrusive and volcanic from 34 to 15.4 Ma; these ages are coeval with intrusive ages from the southernmost Lesser Antilles on Los Frailes and Los Testigos Islands and range from 35.7±2.6 to 36.4±0.5 Ma; the age of the intervening basin, the Bonaire basin, is poorly known but may be coeval with the Oligocene-Miocene extension that extended the suture zone in western Venezuela and extended the Lesser Antilles arc in early Middle Miocene time to form the Lesser Antilles arc and flanking Aves ridge to the west and Tobago-Barbados ridge to the east. Previous models to explain the extension along the GAC-South America suture in western Venezuela invoke slab breakoff following the collision. In the Lesser Antilles the purposed model is slab rollback that led to abandonment of the Aves Ridge as a remnant arc and formation of the modern Lesser Antilles arc.

Petrogenesis of granitoids and associated xenoliths in the early Paleozoic Baoxu and Enping plutons, South China: Implications for the evolution of the Wuyi-Yunkai intracontinental orogen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Yang; Huang, Xiao-Long; Sun, Min; He, Peng-Li

2018-05-01

The early Paleozoic Wuyi-Yunkai orogen was associated with extensive felsic magmatic activities and the orogenic core was mainly distributed in the Yunkai and Wugong domains located in the western Cathaysia block and in the Wuyi domain located in the central part of the Cathaysia block. In order to investigate the evolution of the Wuyi-Yunkai orogen, elemental and Sr-Nd isotopic analyses were performed for granites from the Baoxu pluton in the Yunkai domain and from the Enping pluton in the central part of the Cathaysia block. The Baoxu pluton consists of biotite granite with abundant xenoliths of gneissic granite, granodiorite and diorite, and the Enping pluton is mainly composed of massive granodiorite. Biotite granites (441 ± 5 Ma) and gneissic granite xenolith (443 ± 4 Ma) of the Baoxu pluton are all weakly peraluminous (A/CNK = 1.05-1.10). They show high Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios and have negative bulk-rock εNd(t) values (-7.0 to -4.4), which are similar to coeval gneissic S-type granites in the Yunkai domain and were probably derived from dehydration melting of a sedimentary source with garnet residue in the source. Granodiorites (429 ± 3 Ma) from Enping and granodiorite xenolith (442 ± 4 Ma) from Baoxu are metaluminous and have REE patterns with enriched light REE and flat middle to heavy REE, possibly generated by the dehydration melting of an igneous basement at middle to lower crustal level. Diorite xenolith from Baoxu is ultrapotassic (K2O = 4.9 wt%), has high contents of MgO (7.0 wt%), Cr (379 ppm) and Ni (171 ppm) and shows pronounced negative Nb, Ta and Ti anomalies. This xenolith also has negative εNd(t) value (-3.6) and low Rb/Ba and high Ba/Sr ratios, and is thus interpreted to be derived from an enriched lithospheric mantle with the breakdown of phlogopite. Early Paleozoic I- and S-type granites in the Wuyi-Yunkai orogen mostly have negative εNd(t) values and do not have juvenile components, consistent with genesis by an intracontinental orogenic event. These early Paleozoic granites occur near the ancient suture zone between the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks and have high La/Yb and Sr/Y ratios, likely due to the existence of residual garnet in the source, suggesting the thickened crust at ca. 440 Ma. The 450-440 Ma gneissic S-type granites near the suture zone are earlier than those in the central part of the Cathaysia block (∼430 Ma). The crustal thickening along the ancient suture zone at 440 Ma propagated into the central part of the Cathaysia block as evidenced by the 430 Ma granites. Early Paleozoic I-type granites near the suture zone clearly show involvement of significant mantle-derived materials, in contrast to granites in the central part of the Cathaysia block. The ancient suture zone may have acted as channels for the emplacement of mafic magmas during the collapse of an intracontinental orogen.

Lithospheric mantle structure beneath Northern Scotland: Pre-plume remnant or syn-plume signature?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knapp, J.

2003-04-01

Upper mantle reflectors (Flannan and W) beneath the northwestern British Isles are some of the best-known and most-studied examples of preserved structure within the continental mantle lithosphere, and are spatially coincident with the surface location of early Iceland plume volcanism in the British Tertiary Province. First observed on BIRPS (British Institutions Reflection Profiling Syndicate) marine deep seismic reflection profiles in the early 1980's, these reflectors have subsequently been imaged and correlated on additional reflection and refraction profiles in the offshore area of northern and western Scotland. The age and tectonic significance of these reflectors remains a subject of wide debate, due in part to the absence of robust characterization of the upper mantle velocity structure in this tectonically complex area. Interpretations advanced over the past two decades for the dipping Flannan reflector range from fossilized subduction complex to large-scale extensional shear zone, and span ages from Proterozoic to early Mesozoic. Crustal geology of the region records early Paleozoic continental collision and late Paleozoic to Mesozoic extension. Significant modification of the British lithosphere in early Tertiary time, including dramatic thinning and extensive basaltic intrusion associated with initiation and development of the Iceland plume, suggests either (1) an early Tertiary age for the Flannan reflector or (2) preservation of ancient features within the mantle lithosphere despite such pervasive modification. Exisitng constraints are consistent with a model for early Tertiary origin of the Flannan reflector as the downdip continuation of the Rockall Trough extensional system of latest Cretaceous to earliest Tertiary age during opening of the northern Atlantic Ocean and initiation of the Iceland plume. Lithopsheric thinning beneath present-day northern Scotland could have served to focus the early expression of plume volcanism (British Tertiary Province), despite the inferred distant locus of the initial plume head. Alternatively, preservation of large-scale pre-plume fabric in the Scottish mantle would imply long-lived tectonic heredity in the continental lithospheric mantle, and place important constraints on the plume-related effects (or lack thereof) in the mantle lithosphere.

The pre-Mesozoic tectonic unit division of the Xing-Meng orogenic belt (XMOB)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Bei; Zhao, Pan

2014-05-01

According to the viewpoint that the paleo-Asian ocean closed by the end of early Paleozoic and extended during the late Paleozoic, a pre-Mesozoic tectonic unit division has been suggested. Five blocks and four sutures have been recognized in the pre-Devonia stage, the five blocks are called Erguna (EB), Xing'an (XB), Airgin Sum-Xilinhot (AXB), Songliao-Hunshandak (SHB) and Jiamusi (JB) blocks and four sutures, Xinlin-Xiguitu (XXS), Airgin Sum-Xilinhot-Heihe (AXHS), Ondor Sum-Jizhong-Yanji (OJYS) and Mudanjiang (MS) sutures. The EB contains the Precambrian base with the ages of 720-850Ma and ɛHf(T)=+2.5to +8.1. The XB is characterized by the Paleoproterozoic granitic gneiss with ɛHf(T)=-3.9 to -8.9. Several ages from 1150 to 1500 Ma bave been acquired in the AXB, proving presence of old block that links with Hutag Uul block in Mongolia to the west. The Paleoproterozoic (1.8-1.9Ga) and Neoproterozoic (750-850Ma) ages have been reported from southern and eastern parts of the SHB, respectively. As a small block in east margin of the XMOB, the JB outcrops magmatite and granitic gneiss bases with ages of 800-1000Ma. The XXS is marked by blueschists with zircon ages of 490-500Ma in Toudaoqiao village, ophiolites in Xiguitu County and granite with ages of about 500Ma along the northern segment of XXS. The AXHS is characterized by the early Paleozoic arc magmatic rocks with ages from 430Ma to 490Ma, mélange and the late Devonia molass basins, which indicates a northward subduction of the SHB beneath the AXB during the early-middle Paleozoic. The OJYS is composed of the early Paleozoic volcanic rocks, diorites and granites with ages of 425-475Ma, blueschists, ophiolitic mélange, the late Silurian flysch and Early-Middle Devonian molasses in western segment, granites (420-450Ma) in middle segment, and plagiogranites (443Ma) and the late Silurian molasses in eastern segment. This suture was caused by a southward subduction of the SHB beneath the North China block. The MS is between the SHB and JB, marked by the three phase granites of 485, 450 and 425Ma in the SHB. Tectonic units of the middle Devonian-Carboniferous tectonic stage include the middle-late Devonian continental basin, Carboniferious continental and epeiric sea basin, intrusive and irruptive igneous rock belt with ages from 300Ma to 330Ma containing granites, diorites, gabbros and biomodal volcanic rocks, and early Carboniferious ophiolites of 330-350Ma in Hegenshan and Erenhot. The Permian tectonic units can be divided into continental rift belt, ophiolite belt, alkaline rock belt and "red sea"-like ocean basin, which indicates an continuous extension environment during the Permian. The continental rift belt is composed of thick continental sedimentary rocks containing plant fossils, biomodal volcanic rocks (270-290Ma). The alkaline rocks can be divided into north and south belts by their distribution. The Solonker ophiolite is a thrust sheet that is inserted in a thrust stack containing the Upper Carboniferious epeiric sea clastic rocks and carbornates. The "red sea"-like ocean basin is characterized by basalt sequences with ages of 246-260Ma, which shows an affinity to E-MORB and a tendency towards OIB.

Architecture and mineral deposit settings of the Altaid orogenic collage: a revised model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yakubchuk, Alexander

2004-09-01

The Altaids are an orogenic collage of Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic rocks located in the center of Eurasia. This collage consists of only three oroclinally bent Neoproterozoic-Early Paleozoic magmatic arcs (Kipchak, Tuva-Mongol, and Mugodzhar-Rudny Altai), separated by sutures of their former backarc basins, which were stitched by new generations of overlapping magmatic arcs. In addition, the Altaids host accreted fragments of the Neoproterozoic to Early Paleozoic oceanic island chains and Neoproterozoic to Cenozoic plume-related magmatic rocks superimposed on the accreted fragments. All these assemblages host important, many world-class, Late Proterozoic to Early Mesozoic gold, copper-molybdenum, lead-zinc, nickel and other deposits of various types. In the Late Proterozoic, during breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia, the Kipchak and Tuva-Mongol magmatic arcs were rifted off Eastern Europe-Siberia and Laurentia to produce oceanic backarc basins. In the Late Ordovician, the Siberian craton began its clockwise rotation with respect to Eastern Europe and this coincides with the beginning of formation of the Mugodzhar-Rudny Altai arc behind the Kipchak arc. These earlier arcs produced mostly Cu-Pb-Zn VMS deposits, although some important intrusion-related orogenic Au deposits formed during arc-arc collision events in the Middle Cambrian and Late Ordovician. The clockwise rotation of Siberia continued through the Paleozoic until the Early Permian producing several episodes of oroclinal bending, strike-slip duplication and reorganization of the magmatic arcs to produce the overlapping Kazakh-Mongol and Zharma-Saur-Valerianov-Beltau-Kurama arcs that welded the extinct Kipchak and Tuva-Mongol arcs. This resulted in amalgamation of the western portion of the Altaid orogenic collage in the Late Paleozoic. Its eastern portion amalgamated only in the early Mesozoic and was overlapped by the Transbaikal magmatic arc, which developed in response to subduction of the oceanic crust of the Paleo-Pacific Ocean. Several world-class Cu-(Mo)-porphyry, Cu-Pb-Zn VMS and intrusion-related Au mineral camps, which formed in the Altaids at this stage, coincided with the episodes of plate reorganization and oroclinal bending of magmatic arcs. Major Pb-Zn and Cu sedimentary rock-hosted deposits of Kazakhstan and Central Asia formed in backarc rifts, which developed on the earlier amalgamated fragments. Major orogenic gold deposits are intrusion-related deposits, often occurring within black shale-bearing sutured backarc basins with oceanic crust. After amalgamation of the western Altaids, this part of the collage and adjacent cratons were affected by the Siberian superplume, which ascended at the Permian-Triassic transition. This plume-related magmatism produced various deposits, such as famous Ni-Cu-PGE deposits of Norilsk in the northwest of the Siberian craton. In the early Mesozoic, the eastern Altaids were oroclinally bent together with the overlapping Transbaikal magmatic arc in response to the northward migration and anti-clockwise rotation of the North China craton. The following collision of the eastern portion of the Altaid collage with the Siberian craton formed the Mongol-Okhotsk suture zone, which still links the accretionary wedges of central Mongolia and Circum-Pacific belts. In the late Mesozoic, a system of continent-scale conjugate northwest-trending and northeast-trending strike-slip faults developed in response to the southward propagation of the Siberian craton with subsequent post-mineral offset of some metallogenic belts for as much as 70-400 km, possibly in response to spreading in the Canadian basin. India-Asia collision rejuvenated some of these faults and generated a system of impact rifts.

Plutons and accretionary episodes of the Klamath Mountains, California and Oregon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Irwin, William P.; Wooden, Joseph L.

1999-01-01

The Klamath Mountains consist of various accreted terranes and include many plutons that range in composition from gabbro to granodiorite. Some of the plutons (preaccretionary plutons) were parts of terranes before the terranes accreted; others (accretionary plutons) intruded during or after the accretion of their host terrane(s). This report attempts to (1) graphically illustrate how the Klamath Mountains grew by the accretion of allochthonous oceanic terranes during early Paleozoic to Cretaceous times, (2) identify the plutons as either preaccretionary or accretionary, and (3) genetically relate the plutonic intrusions to specific accretionary episodes. The eight accretionary episodes portrayed in this report are similar to those shown by Irwin and Mankinen (1998) who briefly described the basis for the timing of the episodes and who illustrated the ~110 degrees of clockwise rotation of the Klamath Mountains since Early Devonian time. Each episode is named for the accreting terrane. In all episodes (Figs. 1-8), the heavy black line represents a fault that separates the accreting oceanic rocks on the left from earlier accreted terranes on the right. The preaccretionary plutons are shown within the accreting oceanic crustal rocks to the left of the heavy black line, and the accretionary plutons in most instances are shown intruding previously accreted terranes to the right. Episodes earlier than the Central Metamorphic episode (Fig. 1), and that may have been important in the formation of the early Paleozoic nucleous of the province (the Eastern Klamath terrane), are not known. The 'Present Time' distribution of the accreted terranes and plutons is shown at a large scale in Figure 9. The schematic vertical section (Fig. 10) depicts the terranes as a stack of horizontal slabs that include or are intruded by vertical plutons. Note that at their base the ~170 Ma preaccretionary plutons of the Western Hayfork subterrane are truncated by the ~164 Ma Salt Creek accretionary fault, the ~160 Ma accretionary plutons are truncated by the ~150 Ma Bear Wallow accretionary fault, and the ~150 Ma accretionary plutons (and questionably the Grants Pass ~139 Ma accretionary pluton) are truncated by the ~120 Ma South Fork fault.

The problem of the age and structural position of the Blyb metamorphic complex (Fore Range zone, Great Caucasus) granitoids.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamzolkin, Vladimir; Latyshev, Anton; Ivanov, Stanislav

2016-04-01

The Blyb metamorphic complex (BMC) of the Fore Range zone is one of the most high-grade metamorphosed element of the Great Caucasus fold belt. Determination of the timing and the mechanism of formation of the Fore Range fold-thrust structures are not possible without investigation of the BMC located at the basement of its section. At the same time, the conceptions about its structure and age are outdated and need revision. Somin (2011) determined the age of the protolith and metamorphism of the Blyb complex as the Late Devonian - Early Carboniferous. We have recently shown that the BMC has not the dome, as previously thought, but nappe structure (Vidjapin, Kamzolkin, 2015), and is metamorphically coherent with the peak metamorphism pressures up to 22 kbar (Kamzolkin et al., 2015; Konilov et al., 2013). Considering the age and structure of the Blyb complex it is necessary to revise the age of granitoid intrusions and their relations with gneisses and schists, which constitute the main part of the section of the complex. Most authors (Gamkrelidze, Shengelia, 2007; Lavrischev, 2002; Baranov, 1967) adheres to Early Paleozoic age of intrusives, which is doubtful, considering the younger age of metamorphic rocks. We suppose, that the intrusive bodies broke through a BMC nappe structure during the exhumation of the complex (Perchuk, 1991) at the Devonian - Carboniferous boundary. Seemingly, the massive monzodiorites body (Lavrischev, 2002), intruding garnet-muscovite schists and amphibolite gneisses of the Blyb complex and cut by the Main Caucasian fault (MCF), are younger. Given the timing of termination of the MCF movement activity as the Middle Jurassic (Greater Caucasus..., 2005), their age should be in the Early Carboniferous - Middle Jurassic interval. At the same time, on the modern geological map (Lavrischev, 2002) monzodiorites body is assigned to the Middle Paleozoic. The study of the BMC granitoids and monzodiorites will help in determining of the mechanism and age of exhumation of the Blyb metamorphic complex high-pressure rocks. The reported study was partially supported by RFBR, research projects No. 16-35-00571mol_a; 16-05-01012a

Stratigraphy of Slick Rock district and vicinity, San Miguel and Dolores Counties, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shawe, Daniel R.; Simmons, George C.; Archbold, Norbert L.

1968-01-01

The Slick Rock district covers about 570 square miles in western San Miguel and Dolores Counties, in southwestern Colorado. It is at the south edge of the salt-anticline region of southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah and of the Uravan mineral belt.Deposition of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the district and vicinity was principally controlled by development of the Paradox Basin, and of Mesozoic rocks by development of a depositional basin farther west. The Paleozoic rocks generally are thickest at the northeast side of the Paradox Basin in a northwest- trending trough which seems to be a wide graben in Precambrian igneous and metamorphic basement rocks; Mesozoic rocks generally thicken westward and southwestward from the district.Sedimentary rocks rest on a Precambrian basement consisting of a variety of rocks, including granite and amphibolite. The surface of the Precambrian rocks is irregular and generally more than 2,000 feet below sea level and 7,000-11,000 feet below the ground surface. In the northern part of the district the Precambrian surface plunges abruptly northeastward into the trough occupying the northeast side of the Paradox Basin, and in the southern part it sags in a narrow northeasterly oriented trough. Deepening of both troughs, or crustal deformation in their vicinity, influenced sedimentation during much of late Paleozoic and Mesozoic time.The maximum total thickness of sedimentary rocks underlying the district is 13,000 feet, and prior to extensive erosion in the late Tertiary and the Quaternary it may have been as much as about 18,000 feet. The lower 5,000 feet or more of the sequence of sedimentary rocks consists of arenaceous strata of early Paleozoic age overlain by dominantly marine carbonate rocks and evaporite beds interbedded with lesser amounts of clastic sediments of late Paleozoic age. Overlying these rocks is about 4,500 feet of terrestrial clastic sediments, dominantly sandstone with lesser amounts of shale, mudstone, siltstone, and conglomerate, of late Paleozoic and Mesozoic age. Above these rocks is as much as 2,300 feet of marine shale of late Mesozoic age. Perhaps about 5,000 feet of clastic sedimentary rocks, dominantly sandstone and in part shale, of late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic age, overlay the older rocks of the district prior to late Cenozoic erosion...Outside the Slick Rock district the Mancos Shale is overlain by dominantly terrestrial sandstone, mudstone, and coaly beds of the Mesaverde Group of Late Cretaceous age, and younger units such as the Wasatch and Green River Formations of Tertiary age, which once may have extended across the district. These units, totaling possibly 5,000 feet in thickness, were removed by erosion following middle Tertiary uplift of the Colorado Plateau.Igneous rocks of Tertiary age crop out in only one small area in the district, but they are intruded extensively in the Mancos Shale east of the district, and, as shown by deep oil test wells, appear to be intruded widely in the Paradox Member of the Hermosa Formation in the southern part of the district and southeast of the district. Andesite porphyry occurs in a dike on Glade Mountain, microgranogabbro and microgranodiorite occur in thin sills east of the district, and rocks of similar composition form thick sills in the subsurface. All are similar chemically to igneous rocks in the San Juan Mountains southeast of the district and probably were the result of a specific igneous episode. They were intruded most likely during the Miocene.Surficial deposits of Quaternary age include glacial till, terrace gravels, alluvial fans, landslide debris, loess, other soil, alluvium, colluvium, and talus. On Glade Mountain, glacial till of probable early Pleistocene age merges westward with terrace gravels that are correlative with terrace gravels which lie on an old weathered surface of Mancos Shale farther west on the rim of the Dolores River Canyon.

Reevaluating the age of the Walden Creek Group and the kinematic evolution of the western Blue Ridge, southern Appalachians

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thigpen, J. Ryan; Hatcher, Robert D.; Kah, Linda C.; Repetski, John E.

2016-01-01

An integrated synthesis of existing datasets (detailed geologic mapping, geochronologic, paleontologic, geophysical) with new paleontologic and geochemical investigations of rocks previously interpreted as part of the Neoproterozoic Walden Creek Group in southeastern Tennessee suggest a necessary reevaluation of the kinematics and structural architecture of the Blue Ridge Foothills. The western Blue Ridge of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia is composed of numerous northwest-directed early and late Paleozoic thrust sheets, which record pronounced variation in stratigraphic/structural architecture and timing of metamorphism. The detailed spatial, temporal, and kinematic relationships of these rocks have remained controversial. Two fault blocks that are structurally isolated between the Great Smoky and Miller Cove-Greenbrier thrust sheets, here designated the Maggies Mill and Citico thrust sheets, contain Late Ordovician-Devonian conodonts and stable isotope chemostratigraphic signatures consistent with a mid-Paleozoic age. Geochemical and paleontological analyses of Walden Creek Group rocks northwest and southeast of these two thrust sheets, however, are more consistent with a Late Neoproterozoic (550–545 Ma) depositional age. Consequently, the structural juxtaposition of mid-Paleozoic rocks within a demonstrably Neoproterozoic-Cambrian succession between the Great Smoky and Miller Cove-Greenbrier thrust sheets suggests that a simple foreland-propagating thrust sequence model is not applicable in the Blue Ridge Foothills. We propose that these younger rocks were deposited landward of the Ocoee Supergroup, and were subsequently plucked from the Great Smoky fault footwall as a horse, and breached through the Great Smoky thrust sheet during Alleghanian emplacement of that structure.

Paleozoic tectonics of the Ouachita Orogen through Nd isotopes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gleason, J.D.; Patchett, P.J.; Dickinson, W.R.

1992-01-01

A combined isotopic and trace-element study of the Late Paleozoic Ouachita Orogenic belt has the following goals: (1) define changing provenance of Ouachita sedimentary systems throughout the Paleozoic; (2) constrain sources feeding into the Ouachita flysch trough during the Late Paleozoic; (3) isolate the geochemical signature of proposed colliding terranes to the south; (4) build a data base to compare with possible Ouachita System equivalents in Mexico. The ultimate aim is to constrain the tectonic setting of the southern margin of North America during the Paleozoic, with particular emphasis on collisional events leading to the final suturing of Pangea. Ndmore » isotopic data identify 3 distinct groups: (1) Ordovician passive margin sequence; (2) Carboniferous proto-flysch (Stanley Fm.), main flysch (Jackfork and Atoka Fms.) and molasse (foreland Atoka Fm.); (3) Mississippian ash-flow tuffs. The authors interpret the Ordovician signature to be essentially all craton-derived, whereas the Carboniferous signature reflects mixed sources from the craton plus orogenic sources to the east and possibly the south, including the evolving Appalachian Orogen. The proposed southern source is revealed by the tuffs to be too old and evolved to be a juvenile island arc terrane. They interpret the tuffs to have been erupted in a continental margin arc-type setting. Surprisingly, the foreland molasse sequence is indistinguishable from the main trough flysch sequence, suggesting the Ouachita trough and the craton were both inundated with sediment of a single homogenized isotopic signature during the Late Carboniferous. The possibility that Carboniferous-type sedimentary dispersal patterns began as early as the Silurian has important implications for the tectonics and paleogeography of the evolving Appalachian-Ouachita Orogenic System.« less

Late Paleozoic tectonic evolution and concentrated mineralization in Balkhash and West Junggar, western part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Shuwen; Chen, Xuanhua; Chen, Zhengle

2016-04-01

The Central Asia Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is an important area with significant growth of the crust and metallogeny in the Late Paleozoic. The Balkhash-Junggar tectono-metallogenic belt consists of the Balkhash, the West Junggar, and the East Junggar tectono-metallogenic belts in western part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). According to the structural geological relationship, the East Junggar, the West Junggar, and the Balkhash belts are considered to be once a continuous E-W-trending tectono-metallogenic belt in Late Carboniferous. The West Junggar belt is featured with NE-trending left-lateral strike-slip faulting tectonic system (WJTS), while the left-lateral strike-slip faults are E-W-trending in the Balkhash belt. The WJTS consists of the Darabut, the Mayile, and the Baerluke faults, and the blocks among them. All these left-lateral strike-slip faults are forming due to the transition of tectonic settings from syn-collisional orogeny to post-collisional extension during the closure of the ocean (the Junggar Sea) in Late Carboniferous, with significant intrusion of batholiths and crust growth occurred in this period. These faults are truncated by the right-lateral strike-slip faults, such as the Chingiz-Junggar fault, and the Central Balkhash fault in Mesozoic. The Balkhash-Junggar tectono-metallogenic belt is important for the occurrence of many well-known super-large and large porphyry Cu-Mo deposits (such as the Kounrad, the Aktogai, the Borly, and the Baogutu deposits), large skarn Cu deposits (in the Sayak ore-filed), large rare metal deposits (such as the East Kounrad, the Zhanet, and the Akshatau deposits), and large gold deposits (such as the Hatu deposit). Zircon U-Pb ages, Re-Os isotopic dating of molybdenites, 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of hornblendes, muscovites, biotites, and K-feldspars, and zircon and apatite fission track (FT) and (U-Th)/He dating and thermal history modeling, provide a multidisciplinary approach to constrain the whole course thermo-history of the minearl deposits from their formation in the deep to the exhumation in the surface. It reveals the arc-related granitic magmatism and the metallogeneses of skarn Cu, porphyry Cu-Mo, quartz-vein/greisen W-Mo, and orogenic Au in Late Paleozoic, the medium-temperature regional cooling in Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic, and the low-temperature exhumation of the deposits in Mesozoic. The timing, combined with geochemistry of granitoids, suggests a transition of tectonic environment from syn-collision and volcanic arc in Late Carboniferous to post-collision extension in Early Permian, and the concentrated mineralization of Cu, Mo, rare metals, and Au during this tectonic transition. The complete metallogenic series for the concentrated mineralization are from skarn and porphyry Cu-Mo deposits to rare metal and gold deposits. Key words: Late Paleozoic; Tectonic evolution; Concentrated mineralization; Balkhash-Junggar tectono-metallogenic belt; Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Unexpected Early Triassic marine ecosystem and the rise of the Modern evolutionary fauna.

PubMed

Brayard, Arnaud; Krumenacker, L J; Botting, Joseph P; Jenks, James F; Bylund, Kevin G; Fara, Emmanuel; Vennin, Emmanuelle; Olivier, Nicolas; Goudemand, Nicolas; Saucède, Thomas; Charbonnier, Sylvain; Romano, Carlo; Doguzhaeva, Larisa; Thuy, Ben; Hautmann, Michael; Stephen, Daniel A; Thomazo, Christophe; Escarguel, Gilles

2017-02-01

In the wake of the end-Permian mass extinction, the Early Triassic (~251.9 to 247 million years ago) is portrayed as an environmentally unstable interval characterized by several biotic crises and heavily depauperate marine benthic ecosystems. We describe a new fossil assemblage-the Paris Biota-from the earliest Spathian (middle Olenekian, ~250.6 million years ago) of the Bear Lake area, southeastern Idaho, USA. This highly diversified assemblage documents a remarkably complex marine ecosystem including at least seven phyla and 20 distinct metazoan orders, along with algae. Most unexpectedly, it combines early Paleozoic and middle Mesozoic taxa previously unknown from the Triassic strata, among which are primitive Cambrian-Ordovician leptomitid sponges (a 200-million year Lazarus taxon) and gladius-bearing coleoid cephalopods, a poorly documented group before the Jurassic (~50 million years after the Early Triassic). Additionally, the crinoid and ophiuroid specimens show derived anatomical characters that were thought to have evolved much later. Unlike previous works that suggested a sluggish postcrisis recovery and a low diversity for the Early Triassic benthic organisms, the unexpected composition of this exceptional assemblage points toward an early and rapid post-Permian diversification for these clades. Overall, it illustrates a phylogenetically diverse, functionally complex, and trophically multileveled marine ecosystem, from primary producers up to top predators and potential scavengers. Hence, the Paris Biota highlights the key evolutionary position of Early Triassic fossil ecosystems in the transition from the Paleozoic to the Modern marine evolutionary fauna at the dawn of the Mesozoic era.

Evolution of the Arctic-North Atlantic and the Western Tethys

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ziegler, P.A.

1988-01-01

This volume provides an overview of the late Paleozoic to recent geological evolution of the continents and shelves bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, the Norwegian-Greenland Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea. The evolution of these seas has been the subject of many studies and compilations, which discuss the evolution of oceanic basins on the basis of their magnetic sea-floor anomalies. The volume presented combines this information with geological data from the adjacent shelf and onshore areas. It retraces the evolution of sedimentary basins developed during the rifting phases that preceded the opening of these oceans and highlights themore » scope of the associated intra-plate phenomena. The author presents a reconstruction of the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic development of Europe, northernmost Africa and northeastern North America-Greenland and discusses the different orogenic cycles that accompanied the stepwise assembly of Pangea and the early rifting phases heralding its break-up.« less

Exotic island arc Paleozoic terranes on the eastern margin of Gondwana: Geochemical whole rock and zircon U-Pb-Hf isotope evidence from Barry Station, New South Wales, Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manton, Ryan J.; Buckman, Solomon; Nutman, Allen P.; Bennett, Vickie C.

2017-08-01

Early Paleozoic intra-oceanic terranes crop out along the Peel-Manning Fault System, in the southern New England Orogen, NSW Australia. These are the Cambrian ophiolitic Weraerai terrane and the Siluro-Devonian island arc Gamilaroi terrane. There has been debate whether these terranes formed at the Gondwana margin or if they are intra-oceanic, and were accreted to Gondwana later in the Paleozoic. Major-trace-REE elemental data indicate Weraerai terrane formed in a supra-subduction environment. Rare zircons extracted from Weraerai terrane gabbro-plagiogranite suites at Barry Station yield a U-Pb zircon date of 504.9 ± 3.5 Ma with initial εHf values of + 11.1 indicating a juvenile source. Amphibole-bearing felsic dykes and net-vein complexes are also found within the gabbro with a U-Pb zircon date of 503.2 ± 5.7 Ma and initial εHf values of + 11.6. These are coeval in age with their host rocks and we propose they represent partial melts of the mafic crust during the circulation of seawater. The Gamilaroi trondhjemites of prehnite-pumpellyite-greenschist metamorphic grade terrane yielded very few zircons with an age of 413 ± 8.7 Ma. Zircon initial εHf values range from + 5.0 to + 2.9, indicating an input from an evolved crustal source, unlike the purely oceanic Weraerai terrane. Gamilaroi terrane trondhjemites are enriched in LREE have low K2O and K2O/Na2O ratios and strong negative Nb anomalies consistent with supra-subduction zone environments. Multiple subduction zones may well have existed within the Panthalassa Ocean during the early-mid Paleozoic with the Weraerai-Gamilaroi being accreted onto the Gondwanan margin during the latest Devonian.

Paleomagnetism of Devonian dykes in the northern Kola Peninsula and its bearing on the apparent polar wander path of Baltica in the Precambrian

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veselovskiy, Roman V.; Bazhenov, Mikhail L.; Arzamastsev, Andrey A.

2016-04-01

Mafic dykes and large alkaline and carbonatite intrusions of Middle-Late Devonian age are widespread on the Kola Peninsula in NE Fennoscandia. These magmatic rocks are well characterized with petrographic, geochemical and geochronological data but no paleomagnetic results have been reported yet. We studied dolerite dykes from the northern part of the Peninsula and isolated three paleomagnetic components in these rocks. A low-temperature component is aligned along the present-day field, while a major constituent of natural remanent magnetization is an intermediate-temperature component (Decl. = 79.6°, Inc. = 78.5°, α95 = 5,9°, N = 17 sites) that is present in most Devonian dykes but is found in some baked metamorphic rocks and Proterozoic dykes too. Finally, a primary Devonian component could be reliably isolated from two dykes only. Rock-magnetic studies point to presumably primary low-Ti titanomagnetite and/or pure magnetite as the main remanence carriers but also reveal alteration of the primary minerals and the formation of new magnetic phases. The directions of a major component differ from the Middle Paleozoic reference data for Baltica but closely match those for the 190 ± 10 Ma interval recalculated from the apparent polar wander path of the craton. We assume that this Early Jurassic component is a low-temperature overprint of chemical origin. The main impact of the new results is not to mid-Paleozoic or Early Mesozoic times but to much older epochs. Analysis of paleomagnetic data shows that the directionally similar remanences are present in objects with the ages ranging from 500 Ma to 2 Ga over entire Fennoscandia. Hence we argue that an Early Jurassic remagnetization is of regional extent but cannot link it to a certain process and a certain tectonic event. If true, this hypothesis necessitates a major revision of the APWP for Baltica over a wide time interval.

Preliminary Geologic Map of the Little Piute Mountains, California; a Digital Database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Howard, Keith A.; Dennis, Michael L.; Karlstrom, Karl; Phelps, Geoffrey A.

1997-01-01

Introduction The Little Piute Mountains in the eastern Mojave Desert expose a series of folds and thrust faults involving metamorphosed Paleozoic strata (Miller and others, 1982; Stone and others, 1983). Detailed mapping of these structures was undertaken to help elucidate regional Mesozoic structural evolution. Earlier geologic maps were prepared by Cooksley (1960a,b,c,d, generalized by Bishop, 1964) and Stone and others (1983). Deformed and metamorphosed Paleozoic and Triassic rocks form a stratal succession that was originally deposited in shallow seas on the North American craton. Based on lithologic sequence the units are correlated with unmetamorphosed equivalents 200 km to the northeast in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, and 35-50 km to the west in the Marble, Ship, and Providence Mountains, California (Stone and others, 1983). The Paleozoic sequence rests nonconformably on a heterogeneous basement of polydeformed Early Proterozoic gneiss (Miller and others, 1982; Wooden and Miller, 1990). Triassic and older rocks were deformed, metamorphosed to staurolite or andalusite grade, and intruded concordantly at their base by Late Cretaceous granodiorite (Miller and others, 1982).

Preliminary Geologic Map of the the Little Piute Mountains, San Bernardino County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Howard, Keith A.; Dennis, Michael L.; Karlstrom, Karl E.; Phelps, Geoffrey A.

1995-01-01

Introduction The Little Piute Mountains in the eastern Mojave Desert expose a series of folds and thrust faults involving metamorphosed Paleozoic strata (Miller and others, 1982; Stone and others, 1983). Detailed mapping of these structures was undertaken to help elucidate regional Mesozoic structural evolution. Earlier geologic maps were prepared by Cooksley (1960a,b,c,d, generalized by Bishop, 1964) and Stone and others (1983). Deformed and metamorphosed Paleozoic and Triassic rocks form a stratal succession that was originally deposited in shallow seas on the North American craton. Based on lithologic sequence the units are correlated with unmetamorphosed equivalents 200 km to the northeast in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, and 35-50 km to the west in the Marble, Ship, and Providence Mountains, California (Stone and others, 1983). The Paleozoic sequence rests nonconformably on a heterogeneous basement of polydeformed Early Proterozoic gneiss (Miller and others, 1982; Wooden and Miller, 1990). Triassic and older rocks were deformed, metamorphosed to staurolite or andalusite grade, and intruded concordantly at their base by Late Cretaceous granodiorite (Miller and others, 1982).

Spatial and temporal variation of residence time and storage volume of subsurface water evaluated by multi-tracers approach in mountainous headwater catchments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsujimura, Maki; Yano, Shinjiro; Abe, Yutaka; Matsumoto, Takehiro; Yoshizawa, Ayumi; Watanabe, Ysuhito; Ikeda, Koichi

2015-04-01

Headwater catchments in mountainous region are the most important recharge area for surface and subsurface waters, additionally time and stock information of the water is principal to understand hydrological processes in the catchments. However, there have been few researches to evaluate variation of residence time and storage volume of subsurface water in time and space at the mountainous headwaters especially with steep slope. We performed an investigation on age dating and estimation of storage volume using simple water budget model in subsurface water with tracing of hydrological flow processes in mountainous catchments underlain by granite, Paleozoic and Tertiary, Yamanashi and Tsukuba, central Japan. We conducted hydrometric measurements and sampling of spring, stream and ground waters in high-flow and low-flow seasons from 2008 through 2012 in the catchments, and CFCs, stable isotopic ratios of oxygen-18 and deuterium, inorganic solute constituent concentrations were determined on all water samples. Residence time of subsurface water ranged from 11 to 60 years in the granite catchments, from 17 to 32 years in the Paleozoic catchments, from 13 to 26 years in the Tertiary catchments, and showed a younger age during the high-flow season, whereas it showed an older age in the low-flow season. Storage volume of subsurface water was estimated to be ranging from 10 ^ 4 to 10 ^ 6 m3 in the granite catchments, from 10 ^ 5 to 10 ^ 7 m3 in the Paleozoic catchments, from 10 ^ 4 to 10 ^ 6 m3 in the Tertiary catchments. In addition, seasonal change of storage volume in the granite catchments was the highest as compared with those of the Paleozoic and the Tertiary catchments. The results suggest that dynamic change of hydrological process seems to cause a larger variation of the residence time and storage volume of subsurface water in time and space in the granite catchments, whereas higher groundwater recharge rate due to frequent fissures or cracks seems to cause larger storage volume of the subsurface water in the Paleozoic catchments though the variation is not so considerable. Also, numerical simulation results support these findings.

Zircon U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes for the Diablillos Intrusive Complex, Southern Puna, Argentina: Crustal evolution of the Lower Paleozoic Orogen, Southwestern Gondwana margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortiz, Agustín; Hauser, Natalia; Becchio, Raúl; Suzaño, Néstor; Nieves, Alexis; Sola, Alfonso; Pimentel, Marcio; Reimold, Wolf

2017-12-01

The evolution of the rocks of the Lower Paleozoic Orogen in Puna, at the Southwestern Gondwana margin, has been widely debated. In particular, the scarce amount of geological and geochemical data available for the Diablillos Intrusive Complex, Eastern Magmatic Belt, Southern Puna, require a further study for new evidence towards the understanding of sources, magmatic processes and emplacement of magmas, in order to better comprehend the crustal evolution in this setting. We present new combined U-Pb and Hf isotope analyses on zircon by LA-MC-ICP-MS from monzogranite, granodiorite and diorite rocks of the Diablillos Intrusive Complex. We obtained 206Pb/238U concordant weighted average ages of 517 ± 3 Ma and 515 ± 6 Ma for the monzogranite and diorite, respectively, and a concordant age of 521 ± 4 Ma for the granodiorite. These ages permit to constrain the climax of magmatic activity in the Diablillos Complex around ∼515-520 Ma, while the emplacement of the complex took place between ∼540 Ma and 490 Ma (representing a ca. 50 Ma magmatic event). Major and trace element data, initial 87Sr/86Sr values varying from 0.70446 to 0.71278, positive and negative ɛNd(t) values between +2.5 and -4, as well as ɛHf(t) for zircon data between + 3 and -3 indicate that the analyzed samples represent contaminated magmas. The ɛHf(t) and the ɛNd(t) values for this complex specify that these rocks are derived from interaction of a dominant Mesoproterozoic crystalline and/or a metasedimentary source and juvenile mantle-derived magmas, with a TDM model age range of ∼1.2-1.5 Ga, with later reworking during lower Paleozoic times. The combined data obtained in this contribution together with previous data, allow us to suggest that the formation of the Eastern Magmatic Belt of the Puna was part of a long-lived magmatic event during Early Paleozoic times. Whereby the granitoids of the Eastern Magmatic Belt formed through intra-crustal recycling at an active continental margin, with minor contributions from juvenile material in the back-arc setting.

Lithospheric structure, composition, and thermal regime of the East European Craton: Implications for the subsidence of the Russian platform

USGS Publications Warehouse

Artemieva, I.M.

2003-01-01

A new mechanism for Paleozoic subsidence of the Russian, or East European, platform is suggested, since a model of lithosphere tilting during the Uralian subduction does not explain the post-Uralian sedimentation record. Alternatively, I propose that the Proterozoic and Paleozoic rifting (when a platform-scale Central Russia rift system and a set of Paleozoic rifts were formed) modified the structure and composition of cratonic lithosphere, and these tectono-magmatic events are responsible for the post-Uralian subsidence of the Russian platform. To support this hypothesis, (a) the thermal regime and the thickness of the lithosphere are analyzed, and (b) lithospheric density variations of non-thermal origin are calculated from free-board constraints. The results indicate that Proterozoic and Paleozoic rifting had different effects on the lithospheric structure and composition. (1) Proterozoic rifting is not reflected in the present thermal regime and did not cause significant lithosphere thinning (most of the Russian platform has lithospheric thickness of 150-180 km and the lithosphere of the NE Baltic Shield is 250-300 km thick). Paleozoic rifting resulted in pronounced lithospheric thinning (to 120-140 km) in the southern parts of the Russian platform. (2) Lithospheric density anomalies suggest that Proterozoic-Paleozoic rifting played an important role in the platform subsidence. The lithospheric mantle of the Archean-early Proterozoic part of the Baltic Shield is ??? 1.4 ?? 0.2% less dense than the typical Phanerozoic upper mantle. However, the density deficit in the subcrustal lithosphere of most of the Russian platform is only about (0.4-0.8) ?? 0.2% and decreases southwards to ???0%. Increased densities (likely associated with low depletion values) in the Russian platform suggest strong metasomatism of the cratonic lithosphere during rifting events, which led to its subsidence. It is proposed that only the lower part of the cratonic lithosphere was metasomatized as a result of Proterozoic rifting; the boundary between a depleted upper and more fertile lower layers can be at ca. 90-150 km depth and can produce a seismic pattern similar to the top of a seismic low-velocity zone. Paleozoic rifting has modified the entire lithospheric column and the regions affected are still subsiding. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Cambrian ophiolite complexes in the Beishan area, China, southern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Yuruo; Zhang, Wei; Kröner, Alfred; Li, Linlin; Jian, Ping

2018-03-01

We present zircon ages and geochemical data for Cambrian ophiolite complexes exposed in the Beishan area at the southern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The complexes consist of the Xichangjing-Xiaohuangshan and Hongliuhe-Yushishan ophiolites, which both exhibit complete ophiolite stratigraphy: chert, basalt, sheeted dikes, gabbro, mafic and ultramafic cumulates and serpentinized mantle peridotites. Zircon grains of gabbro samples yielded 206Pb/238U ages of 516 ± 8, 521 ± 4, 528 ± 3 and 535 ± 6 Ma that reflect the timing of gabbro emplacement. The geochemical data of the basaltic rocks show enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements and depletion in the high field strength elements relative to normal mid-oceanic ridge basalt (NMORB) in response to aqueous fluids or melts expelled from the subducting slab. The gabbro samples have higher whole-rock initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios and lower positive εNd(t) values than NMORB. These geochemical signatures resulted from processes or conditions that are unique to subduction zones, and the ophiolites are therefore likely to have formed within a supra-subduction zone (SSZ) environment. We suggest that the Cambrian ophiolite complexes in the Beishan area formed within a SSZ setting, reflecting an early Paleozoic subduction of components of the Paleo-Central Asian Ocean and recording an early Paleozoic southward subduction event in the southern CAOB along the northern margin of the Tarim and North China Cratons.

Thermal maturation and petroleum source rocks in Forest City and Salina basins, mid-continent, U. S. A

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Newell, K.D.; Watney, W.L.; Hatch, J.R.

1986-05-01

Shales in the Middle Ordovician Simpson Group are probably the source rocks for a geochemically distinct group of lower pristane and low phytane oils produced along the axis of the Forest City basin, a shallow cratonic Paleozoic basin. These oils, termed Ordovician-type oils, occur in some fields in the southern portion of the adjacent Salina basin. Maturation modeling by time-temperature index (TTI) calculations indicate that maturation of both basins was minimal during the early Paleozoic. The rate of maturation significantly increased during the Pennsylvanian because of rapid regional subsidence in response to the downwarping of the nearby Anadarko basin. Whenmore » estimated thicknesses of eroded Pennsylvanian, Permian, and Cretaceous strata are considered, both basins remain relatively shallow, with maximum basement burial probably not exceeding 2 km. According to maturation modeling and regional structure mapping, the axes of both basins should contain Simpson rocks in the early stages of oil generation. The probability of finding commercial accumulations of Ordovician-type oil along the northwest-southeast trending axis of the Salina basin will decrease in a northwestward direction because of (1) westward thinning of the Simpson Group, and (2) lesser maturation due to lower geothermal gradients and shallower paleoburial depths. The optimum localities for finding fields of Ordovician-type oil in the southern Salina basin will be in down-plunge closures on anticlines that have drainage areas near the basin axis.« less

Tracking the multi-stage exhumation history of the western Chinese Tianshan by Apatite Fission Track (AFT) dating - Implications for the preservation of epithermal deposits in ancient orogenic belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yannan; Cai, Keda

2017-04-01

The western Chinese Tianshan, located in the southern domain of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), was originally constructed by multiple accretion-collision processes in the Paleozoic, and was superimposed by complex intracontinental tectonic evolution in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic. Understanding the timing and mechanism of the latter geological processes is critical to unravel the preservation conditions of the epithermal deposits in the western Chinese Tianshan. This work presents new apatite fission track (AFT) data for three mountain ranges of the western Chinese Tianshan to track their exhumation history. Our AFT data gave a wide range of ages from 76.8 ± 5.5 Ma to 182.3 ± 9.9 Ma, and the mean confined fission track lengths are between 9.8 ± 0.5 μm and 12.3 ± 0.2 μm. The new data, in combination with the thermal history modeling，enable us to attribute the exhumation history to three primary stages, including Early Permian (300-280 Ma), Late Triassic-Early Cretaceous (230-130 Ma), and Late Oligocene-Early Miocene (30-20 Ma). The first stage may be caused by the terrane accretion-collision in the late Paleozoic. The second stage was likely related to the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean during the Mesozoic. The last one is regarded as the result of the collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasia Plate in the Cenozoic. The extraordinary exhumation processes of these three major mountain ranges might have been responsible for sediment supply to the corresponding intra-mountain basins in the western Chinese Tianshan, and the particularly mountain-basin coupling evolution is ascribed to an essential condition for the preservation of epithermal deposits in ancient orogenic belt.

Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous convergent margins of Northeastern Asia with Northwestern Pacific and Proto-Arctic oceans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokolov, Sergey; Luchitskaya, Marina; Tuchkova, Marianna; Moiseev, Artem; Ledneva, Galina

2013-04-01

Continental margin of Northeastern Asia includes many island arc terranes that differ in age and tectonic position. Two convergent margins are reconstructed for Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous time: Uda-Murgal and Alazeya - Oloy island arc systems. A long tectonic zone composed of Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous volcanic and sedimentary rocks is recognized along the Asian continent margin from the Mongol-Okhotsk thrust-fold belt on the south to the Chukotka Peninsula on the north. This belt represents the Uda-Murgal arc, which was developed along the convergent margin between Northeastern Asia and Northwestern Meso-Pacific. Several segments are identified in this arc based upon the volcanic and sedimentary rock assemblages, their respective compositions and basement structures. The southern and central parts of the Uda-Murgal island arc system were a continental margin belt with heterogeneous basement represented by metamorphic rocks of the Siberian craton, the Verkhoyansk terrigenous complex of Siberian passive margin and the Koni-Taigonos late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic island arc with accreted oceanic terranes. At the present day latitude of the Pekulney and Chukotka segments there was an ensimatic island arc with relicts of the South Anyui oceanic basin in backarc basin. Alazeya-Oloy island arc systems consists of Paleozoic and Mesozoic complexes that belong to the convergent margin between Northeastern Asia and Proto-Artic Ocean. It separated structures of the North American and Siberian continents. The Siberian margin was active whereas the North American margin was passive. The Late Jurassic was characterized by termination of a spreading in the Proto-Arctic Ocean and transformation of the latter into the closing South Anyui turbidite basin. In the beginning the oceanic lithosphere and then the Chukotka microcontinent had been subducted beneath the Alazeya-Oloy volcanic belt

Tectonic history of the Illinois basin

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kolata, D.R.; Nelson, J.W.

1990-05-01

The Illinois basin began as a failed rift that developed during breakup of a supercontinent approximately 550 Ma. A rift basin in the southernmost part of the present Illinois basin subsided rapidly and filled with about 3,000 m of probable Early and Middle Cambrian sediments. By the Late Cambrian, the rift-bounding faults became inactive and a broad relatively slowly subsiding embayment, extending well beyond the rift and open to the Iapetus Ocean, persisted through most of the Paleozoic Era. Widespread deformation swept through the proto-Illinois basin beginning in the latest Mississippian, continuing to the end of the Paleozoic Era. Upliftmore » of basement fault blocks resulted in the formation of many major folds and faults. The timing of deformation and location of these structures in the forelands of the Ouachita and Alleghanian orogenic belts suggest that much of the deformation resulted from continental collision between North America and Gondwana. The associated compressional stress reactivated the ancient rift-bounding faults, upthrusting the northern edge of a crustal block approximately 1,000 m within the rift. Concurrently, dikes (radiometrically dated as Early Permian), sills, and explosion breccias formed in or adjacent to the reactivated rift. Subsequent extensional stress, probably associated with breakup of Pangea, caused the crustal block within the rift to sink back to near its original position. High-angle, northeast- to east-west-trending normal faults, with as much as 1,000 m of displacement, formed in the southern part of the basin. These faults displace some of the northwest trending Early Permian dikes. Structural closure of the southern end of the Illinois basin was caused by uplift of the Pascola arch sometime between the Late Pennsylvanian and Late Cretaceous.« less

Erosional history of the Appalachians as recordeed in detrital zircon fission-track ages and lithic detritus in Atlantic Coastal Plain sediments

USGS Publications Warehouse

Naeser, C.W.; Naeser, N.D.; Edwards, Lucy E.; Weems, Robert E.; Southworth, C. Scott; Newell, Wayne L.

2016-01-01

Comparison of fission-track (FT) ages of detrital zircons recovered from Atlantic Coastal Plain sediments to FT ages of zircons from bedrock in source terranes in the Appalachians provides a key to understanding the provenance of the sediments and, in turn, the erosional and depositional history of the Atlantic passive margin.In Appalachian source terranes, the oldest zircon fission-track (ZFT) ages from bedrock in the western Appalachians (defined for this paper as the Appalachian Plateau, Valley and Ridge, and far western Blue Ridge) are notably older than the oldest ages from bedrock in the eastern Appalachians (Piedmont and main part of the Blue Ridge). The age difference is seen both in ZFT sample ages and in individual zircon grain ages and reflects differences in the thermotectonic history of the rocks. In the east, ZFT data indicate that the rocks cooled from temperatures high enough to partially or totally reset ZFT ages during the Paleozoic and (or) Mesozoic. The majority of the rocks are interpreted to have cooled through the ZFT closure temperature (∼235 °C) at various times during the late Paleozoic Alleghanian orogeny. In contrast, most of the rocks sampled in the western Appalachians have never been heated to temperatures high enough to totally reset their ZFT ages. Reflecting their contrasting thermotectonic histories, nearly 80 percent of the sampled western rocks yield one or more zircon grains with very old FT ages, in excess of 800 Ma; zircon grains yielding FT ages this old have not been found in rocks in the Piedmont and main part of the Blue Ridge. The ZFT data suggest that the asymmetry of zircon ages of exposed bedrock in the eastern and western Appalachians was in evidence by no later than the Early Cretaceous and probably by the Late Triassic.Detrital zircon suites from sands collected in the Atlantic Coastal Plain provide a record of detritus eroded from source terranes in the Appalachians during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. In Virginia and Maryland, sands of Early Cretaceous through late early Oligocene age do not yield any old zircons comparable in age to the old zircons found in bedrock in the western Appalachians. Very old zircons yielding FT ages >800 Ma are only encountered in Coastal Plain sands of middle early Miocene and younger age.Miocene and younger fluvial-deltaic deposits associated with the major mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain rivers that now head in the western Appalachians (the Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna, Potomac, James, and Roanoke) contain abundant clasts of fossiliferous chert and quartzite and other distinctive rock types derived from Paleozoic rocks of the western Appalachians. These distinctive clasts have not been reported in older Coastal Plain sediments.The ZFT and lithic detritus data indicate that the drainage divide for one or more east-flowing mid-Atlantic rivers migrated west into the western Appalachians, and the river(s) began transporting western Appalachian detritus to the Atlantic Coastal Plain, sometime between the late early Oligocene and middle early Miocene. By no later than late middle Miocene most if not all of the major rivers that now head west of the Blue Ridge were transporting western Appalachian detritus to the Coastal Plain. Prior to the drainage divide migrating into the western Appalachians, the ZFT data are consistent with the dominant source of Atlantic Coastal Plain sediments being detritus from the Piedmont and main part of the Blue Ridge, with possible input from distant volcanic sources.The ZFT data suggest that the rapid increase in the rate of siliciclastic sediment accumulation in middle Atlantic margin offshore basins that peaked in the middle Miocene and produced almost 30 percent of the total volume of post-rift siliciclastic sediments in the offshore basins began in the early Miocene when Atlantic river(s) gained access to the relatively easily eroded Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of the western Appalachians.

Late Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Constraints from multiple arc-basin systems in Altai-Junggar area, NW China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, D.

2015-12-01

In this study, we report results from integrated geological, geophysical and geochemical investigations on the Wulungu Depression of the Junggar Basin to understand the Late Paleozoic continental growth of the Junggar area and its amalgamation history with the Altai terrane, within the broad tectonic evolution of the Altai-Junggar area. Based on seismic and borehole data, the Wulungu Depression can be divided into two NW-trending tectonic units by southward thrust faults. The Suosuoquan Sag is composed of gray basaltic andesite, andesite, tuff, tuffaceous sandstone and tuffite, and the overlying Early Carboniferous volcano-sedimentary sequence with lava gushes and marine sediments from a proximal juvenile provenance, compared to the andesite in the Hongyan High. The SIMS Zircon U-Pb ages for andesites from Late Paleozoic strata indicate that these volcanics in Suosuoquan Sag and Hongyan High erupted at 376.3Ma and 313.4Ma, respectively. Most of the intermediate-mafic volcanic rocks exhibit calc-alkaline affinity, low initial 87Sr/86Sr and positive ɛNd(t) and ɛHf(t) values. Furthermore, these rocks have high Th/Yb and low Ce/Pb and La/Yb ratios as well as variable Ba/Th and Ba/La ratios. These features imply that the rocks were derived from partial melting of a mantle wedge metasomatized by subduction-related components in an island arc setting. The basin filling pattern and the distribution of island arc-type volcanics and their zircon Hf model ages with the eruptive time suggest that the Wulungu Depression represents an island arc-basin system with the development of a Carboniferous retro-arc basin. The gravity and magnetic anomaly data suggest that Altai-Junggar area incorporates three arc-basin belts from north to south: the Karamaili-Luliang-Darbut, Yemaquan-Wulungu, and Dulate-Fuhai-Saur. The recognition of the Wulungu arc-basin system demonstrates that the northern Junggar area is built by amalgamation of multiple Paleozoic linear arcs and accretionary complexes and has important implications for continental crustal growth in Altai-Junggar in particular, and the world's largest Phanerozoic accretionary orogen-the CAOB-in general.

Unexpected Early Triassic marine ecosystem and the rise of the Modern evolutionary fauna

PubMed Central

Brayard, Arnaud; Krumenacker, L. J.; Botting, Joseph P.; Jenks, James F.; Bylund, Kevin G.; Fara, Emmanuel; Vennin, Emmanuelle; Olivier, Nicolas; Goudemand, Nicolas; Saucède, Thomas; Charbonnier, Sylvain; Romano, Carlo; Doguzhaeva, Larisa; Thuy, Ben; Hautmann, Michael; Stephen, Daniel A.; Thomazo, Christophe; Escarguel, Gilles

2017-01-01

In the wake of the end-Permian mass extinction, the Early Triassic (~251.9 to 247 million years ago) is portrayed as an environmentally unstable interval characterized by several biotic crises and heavily depauperate marine benthic ecosystems. We describe a new fossil assemblage—the Paris Biota—from the earliest Spathian (middle Olenekian, ~250.6 million years ago) of the Bear Lake area, southeastern Idaho, USA. This highly diversified assemblage documents a remarkably complex marine ecosystem including at least seven phyla and 20 distinct metazoan orders, along with algae. Most unexpectedly, it combines early Paleozoic and middle Mesozoic taxa previously unknown from the Triassic strata, among which are primitive Cambrian-Ordovician leptomitid sponges (a 200–million year Lazarus taxon) and gladius-bearing coleoid cephalopods, a poorly documented group before the Jurassic (~50 million years after the Early Triassic). Additionally, the crinoid and ophiuroid specimens show derived anatomical characters that were thought to have evolved much later. Unlike previous works that suggested a sluggish postcrisis recovery and a low diversity for the Early Triassic benthic organisms, the unexpected composition of this exceptional assemblage points toward an early and rapid post-Permian diversification for these clades. Overall, it illustrates a phylogenetically diverse, functionally complex, and trophically multileveled marine ecosystem, from primary producers up to top predators and potential scavengers. Hence, the Paris Biota highlights the key evolutionary position of Early Triassic fossil ecosystems in the transition from the Paleozoic to the Modern marine evolutionary fauna at the dawn of the Mesozoic era. PMID:28246643

Accretion and exhumation at a Variscan active margin, recorded in the Saxothuringian flysch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schäfer, J.; Neuroth, H.; Ahrendt, H.; Dörr, W.; Franke, W.

The Saxothuringian flysch basin, on the north flank of the Central European Variscides, was fed and eventually overthrust by the northwestern, active margin of the Tepla-Barrandian terrane. Clast spectra, mineral composition and isotopic ages of detrital mica and zircon have been analyzed in order to constrain accretion and exhumation of rocks in the orogenic wedge. The earliest clastic sediments preserved are of early Famennian age (ca. 370Ma). They are exposed immediately to the NW of the suture, and belong to the par-autochthon of the foreland. Besides ultramafic (?ophiolite) material, these rocks contain clasts derived from Early Paleozoic continental slope sediments, originally deposited at the NW margin of the Saxothuringian basin. These findings, together with the paleogeographic position of the Famennian clastics debris on the northwestern passive margin, indicate that the Saxothuringian narrow ocean had been closed by that time. Microprobe analyses of detrital hornblendes suggest derivation from the ``Randamphibolit'' unit, now present in the middle part of the Saxothuringian allochthon (Münchberg nappes). Detrital zircons of metamorphic rocks formed a little earlier (ca. 380Ma) indicate rapid recycling at the tectonic front. The middle part of the flysch sequence (ca. early to middle Viséan), both in the par-autochthon and in the allochthon, contains abundant clasts of Paleozoic rocks derived from the northwestern slope and rise, together with debris of Cadomian basement, 500-Ma granitoids and 380Ma (early Variscan) crystalline rocks. All of these source rocks were still available in the youngest part of the flysch (c. middle to late Viséan), but some clasts record, in addition, accretion of the northwestern shelf. Our findings permit deduction of minimum rates of tectonic shortening well in excess of 10-30mm per year, and rates of exhumation of ca. 3mm/a, and possibly more.

Strontium Isotopic Composition of Paleozoic Carbonate Rocks in the Nevada Test Site Vicinity, Clark, Lincoln, and Nye Counties, Nevada and Inyo County, California.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

James B. Paces; Zell E. Peterman; Kiyoto Futa

2007-08-07

Ground water moving through permeable Paleozoic carbonate rocks represents the most likely pathway for migration of radioactive contaminants from nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada. The strontium isotopic composition (87Sr/86Sr) of ground water offers a useful means of testing hydrochemical models of regional flow involving advection and reaction. However, reaction models require knowledge of 87Sr/86Sr data for carbonate rock in the Nevada Test Site vicinity, which is scarce. To fill this data gap, samples of core or cuttings were selected from 22 boreholes at depth intervals from which water samples had been obtained previously aroundmore » the Nevada Test Site at Yucca Flat, Frenchman Flat, Rainier Mesa, and Mercury Valley. Dilute acid leachates of these samples were analyzed for a suite of major- and trace-element concentrations (MgO, CaO, SiO2, Al2O3, MnO, Rb, Sr, Th, and U) as well as for 87Sr/86Sr. Also presented are unpublished analyses of 114 Paleozoic carbonate samples from outcrops, road cuts, or underground sites in the Funeral Mountains, Bare Mountain, Striped Hills, Specter Range, Spring Mountains, and ranges east of the Nevada Test Site measured in the early 1990's. These data originally were collected to evaluate the potential for economic mineral deposition at the potential high-level radioactive waste repository site at Yucca Mountain and adjacent areas (Peterman and others, 1994). Samples were analyzed for a suite of trace elements (Rb, Sr, Zr, Ba, La, and Ce) in bulk-rock powders, and 87Sr/86Sr in partial digestions of carbonate rock using dilute acid or total digestions of silicate-rich rocks. Pre-Tertiary core samples from two boreholes in the central or western part of the Nevada Test Site also were analyzed. Data are presented in tables and summarized in graphs; however, no attempt is made to interpret results with respect to ground-water flow paths in this report. Present-day 87Sr/86Sr values are compared to values for Paleozoic seawater present at the time of deposition. Many of the samples have 87Sr/86Sr compositions that remain relatively unmodified from expected seawater values. However, rocks underlying the northern Nevada Test Site as well as rocks exposed at Bare Mountain commonly have elevated 87Sr/86Sr values derived from post-depositional addition of radiogenic Sr most likely from fluids circulating through rubidium-rich Paleozoic strata or Precambrian basement rocks.« less

Strontium Isotopic Composition of Paleozoic Carbonate Rocks in the Nevada Test Site Vicinity, Clark, Lincoln, and Nye Counties, Nevada, and Inyo County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Paces, James B.; Peterman, Zell E.; Futo, Kiyoto; Oliver, Thomas A.; Marshall, Brian D.

2007-01-01

Ground water moving through permeable Paleozoic carbonate rocks represents the most likely pathway for migration of radioactive contaminants from nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada. The strontium isotopic composition (87Sr/86Sr) of ground water offers a useful means of testing hydrochemical models of regional flow involving advection and reaction. However, reaction models require knowledge of 87Sr/86Sr data for carbonate rock in the Nevada Test Site vicinity, which is scarce. To fill this data gap, samples of core or cuttings were selected from 22 boreholes at depth intervals from which water samples had been obtained previously around the Nevada Test Site at Yucca Flat, Frenchman Flat, Rainier Mesa, and Mercury Valley. Dilute acid leachates of these samples were analyzed for a suite of major- and trace-element concentrations (MgO, CaO, SiO2, Al2O3, MnO, Rb, Sr, Th, and U) as well as for 87Sr/86Sr. Also presented are unpublished analyses of 114 Paleozoic carbonate samples from outcrops, road cuts, or underground sites in the Funeral Mountains, Bare Mountain, Striped Hills, Specter Range, Spring Mountains, and ranges east of the Nevada Test Site measured in the early 1990's. These data originally were collected to evaluate the potential for economic mineral deposition at the potential high-level radioactive waste repository site at Yucca Mountain and adjacent areas (Peterman and others, 1994). Samples were analyzed for a suite of trace elements (Rb, Sr, Zr, Ba, La, and Ce) in bulk-rock powders, and 87Sr/86Sr in partial digestions of carbonate rock using dilute acid or total digestions of silicate-rich rocks. Pre-Tertiary core samples from two boreholes in the central or western part of the Nevada Test Site also were analyzed. Data are presented in tables and summarized in graphs; however, no attempt is made to interpret results with respect to ground-water flow paths in this report. Present-day 87Sr/86Sr values are compared to values for Paleozoic seawater present at the time of deposition. Many of the samples have 87Sr/86Sr compositions that remain relatively unmodified from expected seawater values. However, rocks underlying the northern Nevada Test Site as well as rocks exposed at Bare Mountain commonly have elevated 87Sr/86Sr values derived from post-depositional addition of radiogenic Sr most likely from fluids circulating through rubidium-rich Paleozoic strata or Precambrian basement rocks.

Unroofing history of Late Paleozoic magmatic arcs within the ``Turan Plate'' (Tuarkyr, Turkmenistan)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garzanti, E.; Gaetani, M.

2002-07-01

Stratigraphic, sedimentologic and petrographic data collected on the Kizilkaya sedimentary succession (Western Turkmenistan) demonstrate that the "Turan Plate" consists in fact of an amalgamation of Late Paleozoic to Triassic continental microblocks separated by ocean sutures. In the Kizilkaya area, an ophiolitic sequence including pyroxenite, gabbro, pillow basalt and chert, interpreted as the oceanic crust of a back-arc or intra-arc basin, is tectonically juxtaposed against volcaniclastic redbeds documenting penecontemporaneous felsic arc magmatism (Amanbulak Group). A collisional event took place around ?mid-Carboniferous times, when oceanic rocks underwent greenschist-facies metamorphism and a thick volcaniclastic wedge, with pyroclastic rocks interbedded in the lower part, accumulated (Kizilkaya Formation). The climax of orogenic activity is testified by arid fanglomerates shed from the rapid unroofing of a continental arc sequence, including Middle-Upper Devonian back-reef carbonates and cherts, and the underlying metamorphic and granitoid basement rocks (Yashmu Formation). After a short period of relative quiescence, renewed tectonic activity is indicated by a conglomeratic sequence documenting erosion of a sedimentary and metasedimentary succession including chert, sandstone, slate and a few carbonates. A final stage of rhyolitic magmatism took place during rapid unroofing of granitoid basement rocks (Kizildag Formation). Such a complex sequence of events recorded by the Kizilkaya episutural basin succession documents the stepwise assemblage of magmatic arcs and continental fragments to form the Turan microblock collage during the Late Paleozoic. Evolution of detrital modes is compatible with that predicted for juvenile to accreted and unroofed crustal blocks. The deposition of braidplain lithic arkoses in earliest Triassic time indicates that strong subsidence continued after the end of the volcanic activity, possibly in retroarc foreland basin settings. The occurrence of transgressive coquinas yielding endemic ammonoids ( Dorikranites) characteristic of the whole Caspian area suggests proximity to the southern margin of the newly formed Eurasian continent in the late Early Triassic. The Late Triassic Eo-Cimmerian Orogeny caused only mild tilting and rejuvenation of the underlying succession in the study area. Only at this time were the Turan blocks, a series of Indonesian-type terranes comprised between the Mashad Paleo-Tethys Suture in the south and the Mangyshlak belt in the north, finally incorporated into the Eurasian landmass.

Structural evidence for slip partitioning and inclined dextral transpression along the SE Sanandaj-Sirjan zone, Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shafiei Bafti, Shahram; Mohajjel, Mohammad

2015-04-01

The structural evolution of the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone is the result of the convergence of the Iranian microcontinent and the Afro-Arabian continent. The study area at Khabr in the SE Sanandaj-Sirjan zone, in the hinterland of the Zagros orogen, consists of Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks. In this area, deformation phases were distinguished in different rock units based on structural and stratigraphical evidence, and the deformational events are divided into two stages: (1) a Late Triassic event and (2) a Late Cretaceous to Miocene event. The Late Triassic deformation event caused regional metamorphism in the Paleozoic units. These units are overlain by unmetamorphosed Jurassic clastic sequences. Fabrics and structural evidence confirm that the F1 folding recumbent and refolded folds were synchronous with the metamorphism of the Paleozoic units and terminated in the Early Jurassic. The time table of the orogenic phases shows that this deformation event is related to the Cimmerian orogenic phase. From a geodynamic point of view, the early Cimmerian deformation in the southeastern Iranian margin suggests that the SE Sanandaj-Sirjan zone was an active margin at that time. The early Cimmerian discordance recorded the onset of a contractional component related to the oblique subduction of Neo-Tethys beneath the central Iranian microcontinent. Structures related to the Late Cretaceous to Miocene deformation phase are observed in Jurassic to Oligocene units, which contain moderately inclined and plunging folds. Comparing these folds with domains of deformation generated in models of transpression shows that the folding was caused by a combination of contractional and dip-slip components of movement, eventually resulting in the formation of a thrust system. The Khabr thrust systems consist of five sheets of oblique thrusts, duplex structures and shear zones. The shear zones generally strike E-W and dip moderately N (30°-40°). The occurrence of asymmetric folds with hinges that are either parallel to strike or plunge down dip demonstrates an oblique-slip component in these thrust shear zones. The stretching lineation in the mylonites within the shear zones is defined by the long axes of ellipsoidal grains of quartz, calcite, plagioclase and garnet. In general, stretching lineations trend from N40°W to N80°W with an intermediate (35°) plunge. The geometry of foliation and lineation within these shear zones shows the effect of dip- and oblique-slip shearing. Deformation continued with strike-slip faulting becoming important during the last stages of deformation from the Miocene to the present day. The results of this study demonstrate that the evolution of the SE Sanandaj-Sirjan zone, from Late Triassic to Miocene, is compatible with an inclined dextral transpression along this zone.

The diversification of Paleozoic fire systems and fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen concentration

PubMed Central

Scott, Andrew C.; Glasspool, Ian J.

2006-01-01

By comparing Silurian through end Permian [≈250 million years (Myr)] charcoal abundance with contemporaneous macroecological changes in vegetation and climate we aim to demonstrate that long-term variations in fire occurrence and fire system diversification are related to fluctuations in Late Paleozoic atmospheric oxygen concentration. Charcoal, a proxy for fire, occurs in the fossil record from the Late Silurian (≈420 Myr) to the present. Its presence at any interval in the fossil record is already taken to constrain atmospheric oxygen within the range of 13% to 35% (the “fire window”). Herein, we observe that, as predicted, atmospheric oxygen levels rise from ≈13% in the Late Devonian to ≈30% in the Late Permian so, too, fires progressively occur in an increasing diversity of ecosystems. Sequentially, data of note include: the occurrence of charcoal in the Late Silurian/Early Devonian, indicating the burning of a diminutive, dominantly rhyniophytoid vegetation; an apparent paucity of charcoal in the Middle to Late Devonian that coincides with a predicted atmospheric oxygen low; and the subsequent diversification of fire systems throughout the remainder of the Late Paleozoic. First, fires become widespread during the Early Mississippian, they then become commonplace in mire systems in the Middle Mississippian; in the Pennsylvanian they are first recorded in upland settings and finally, based on coal petrology, become extremely important in many Permian mire settings. These trends conform well to changes in atmospheric oxygen concentration, as predicted by modeling, and indicate oxygen levels are a significant control on long-term fire occurrence. PMID:16832054

Bedrock geologic and joint trend map of the Pinardville quadrangle, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burton, William C.; Armstrong, Thomas R.

2013-01-01

The bedrock geology of the Pinardville quadrangle includes the Massabesic Gneiss Complex, exposed in the core of a regional northeast-trending anticlinorium, and highly deformed metasedimentary rocks of the Rangeley Formation, exposed along the northwest limb of the anticlinorium. Both formations were subjected to high-grade metamorphism and partial melting: the Rangeley during the middle Paleozoic Acadian orogeny, and the Massabesic Gneiss Complex during both the Acadian and the late Paleozoic Alleghanian orogeny. Granitoids produced during these orogenies range in age from Devonian (Spaulding Tonalite) to Permian (granite at Damon Pond), each with associated pegmatite. In the latest Paleozoic the Massabesic Gneiss Complex was uplifted with respect to the Rangeley Formation along the ductile Powder Hill fault, which also had a left-lateral component. Uplift continued into the early Mesozoic, producing the 2-kilometer-wide Campbell Hill fault zone, which is marked by northwest-dipping normal faults and dilational map-scale quartz bodies. Rare, undeformed Jurassic diabase dikes cut all older lithologies and structures. A second map is a compilation of joint orientations measured at all outcrops in the quadrangle. There is a great diversity of strike trends, with northeast perhaps being the most predominant.

Evidence for a Battle Mountain-Eureka crustal fault zone, north-central Nevada, and its relation to Neoproterozoic-Early Paleozoic continental breakup

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grauch, V.J.S.; Rodriguez, B.D.; Bankey, V.; Wooden, J.L.

2003-01-01

Combined evidence from gravity, radiogenic isotope, and magnetotelluric (MT) data indicates a crustal fault zone that coincides with the northwest-trending Battle Mountain-Eureka (BME) mineral trend in north-central Nevada, USA. The BME crustal fault zone likely originated during Neoproterozoic-Early Paleozoic rifting of the continent and had a large influence on subsequent tectonic events, such as emplacement of allochthons and episodic deformation, magmatism, and mineralization throughout the Phanerozoic. MT models show the fault zone is about 10 km wide, 130-km long, and extends from 1 to 5 km below the surface to deep crustal levels. Isotope data and gravity models imply the fault zone separates crust of fundamentally different character. Geophysical evidence for such a long-lived structure, likely inherited from continental breakup, defies conventional wisdom that structures this old have been destroyed by Cenozoic extensional processes. Moreover, the coincidence with the alignment of mineral deposits supports the assertion by many economic geologists that these alignments are indicators of buried regional structures.

Deformation events in the Andean orogenic cycle in the Altiplano and Western Cordillera, southern Peru

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellison, R. A.; Klinck, B. A.; Hawkins, M. P.

A regional mapping program associated with radiometric age dating has provided evidence of seven deformation pulses in the Andean orogenic cycle in part of southern Peru. These are the Peruvian (Late Cretaceous), Incaic (Eocene), and five Quechua phases defined as D1 to D5. The D1 phase (early Oligocene) folded molasse deposits in the Western Cordillera; the D2 phase (late Oligocene to early Miocene) folded volcanics of the Western Cordillera; the D3 phase (middle Miocene) folded the molasse deposits in the Altiplano; the D4 (late Miocene) folded lacustrine sediments in the central part of the Western Cordillera; and the D5 phase was a major gravity slide in the Altiplano. Several faults and fault zones, known as the Chupa, Calapuja, Lagunillas, and Laraqueri Faults, are identified. They form the boundaries to Paleozoic basement blocks which appear to have acted as buttresses or barriers to the penetration of some deformation events. In the case of the D5 phase, the gravity slide was preceded by uplift and tilting of a Paleozoic block.

Late Mesozoic and possible early Tertiary accretion in western Washington State: the Helena-Haystack melange and the Darrington- Devils Mountain fault zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tabor, R.W.

1994-01-01

The Helena-Haystack melange (HH melange) and coincident Darrington-Devils Mountain fault zone (DDMFZ) in northwestern Washington separate two terranes, the northwest Cascade System (NWCS) and the western and eastern melange belts (WEMB). The two terranes of Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks superficially resemble each other but record considerable differences in structural and metamorphic history. The HH melange is a serpentinite-matrix melange containing blocks of adjacent terranes but also exotic blocks. The HH melange must have formed between early Cretaceous and late middle Eocene time, because it contains tectonic clasts of early Cretaceous Shuksan Greenschist and is overlain by late middle Eocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The possible continuation of the DDMFZ to the northwest as the San Juan and the West Coast faults on Vancouver Island suggests that the structure has had a major role in the emplacement of all the westernmost terranes in the Pacific Northwest. -from Author

Granitoids of different geodynamic settings of Baikal region (Russia) their geochemical evolution and origin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antipin, Viktor; Sheptyakova, Natalia

2016-04-01

In the southern folded framing of the Siberian craton the granitoid magmatism of different ages involves batholiths, small low-depth intrusions and intrusion-dyke belts with diverse mineral and geochemical characteristics of rocks. Granitoid formation could be related to the Early Paleozoic collision stage and intra-plate magmatism of the Late Paleozoic age of the geologic development of Baikal area. The Early Paleozoic granitoids of Khamar-Daban Ridge and Olkhon region revealed their closeness in age and composition. They were referred to syncollision S-type formations derived from gneiss-schistose substratum of metamorphic sequences. The magmatic rocks were classified into various geochemical types comprising formations of normal Na-alkalinity (migmatites and plagiogranites), calc-alkaline and subalkaline (K-Na granitoids, granosyenites and quartz syenites) series. It is significant, that plagiomigmatites and plagiogranites in all elements repeat the shape of the chart of normalized contents marked for trend of K-Na granitoids, but at considerably lower level of concentrations of all elements. This general pattern of element distribution might indicate similar anatectic origin of both granitoid types, but from crustal substrata distinguished by composition and geochemical features. Comparative geochemical analysis pointed out that the source of melts of the Early Paleozoic granitoids of the Olkhon (505-477 Ma) and Khamar-Daban (516-490 Ma) complexes of the Baikal region could be the crustal substratum, which is obviously the criterion for their formation in the collisional geodynamic setting. Using the Late Paleozoic subalkaline magmatism proceeding at the Khamar-Daban Range (Khonzurtay pluton, 331 Ma) as an example, it was found that the formation of monzodiorite-syenite-leucogranite series was considerably contributed by the processes of hybridism and assimilation through mixing of the upper mantle basaltoid magma derived melts of granitic composition. The involvement of the deep source is indicated by low Rb/Sr ratios and 87Sr/86Sr ratio (0.70592±0.00021) in rocks (Kazimirovskiy, 2006). The intra-plate biotite granites and leucogranites are represented by rare-metal geochemical type of rocks (311-321 Ma). Geochemical evolution promoted an increase of F, Li, Rb, Cs, Sn, Be, Ta, and Pb and a decrease of Ba, Sr, Zn, Zr, Th, and U contents in rare-metal granites, that reflects their formation from deeply differentiated residual magma. The substance of the lower crust could have the composition of biotite-bearing granulites rich in lithophyle rare elements. It is noteworthy, that the composition and isotope-geochemical features of the supposed magma-forming substratum correspond to the characteristics of the ancient Precambrian continental crust of the Southern Baikal region. These conclusions agree with the results of preceding studies of rare-metal granites in the other regions of Central Asia (Kovalenko et al, 1999). Research has been supported by RNF grant № 15-17-10010.

Atmospheric oxygen levels affect mudskipper terrestrial performance: implications for early tetrapods.

PubMed

Jew, Corey J; Wegner, Nicholas C; Yanagitsuru, Yuzo; Tresguerres, Martin; Graham, Jeffrey B

2013-08-01

The Japanese mudskipper (Periophthalmus modestus), an amphibious fish that possesses many respiratory and locomotive specializations for sojourns onto land, was used as a model to study how changing atmospheric oxygen concentrations during the middle and late Paleozoic Era (400-250 million years ago) may have influenced the emergence and subsequent radiation of the first tetrapods. The effects of different atmospheric oxygen concentrations (hyperoxia = 35%, normoxia = 21%, and hypoxia = 7% O2) on terrestrial performance were tested during exercise on a terrestrial treadmill and during recovery from exhaustive exercise. Endurance and elevated post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC; the immediate O2 debt repaid post-exercise) correlated with atmospheric oxygen concentration indicating that when additional oxygen is available P. modestus can increase oxygen utilization both during and following exercise. The time required post-exercise for mudskippers to return to a resting metabolic rate did not differ between treatments. However, in normoxia, oxygen consumption increased above hyperoxic values 13-20 h post-exercise suggesting a delayed repayment of the incurred oxygen debt. Finally, following exercise, ventilatory movements associated with buccopharyngeal aerial respiration returned to their rest-like pattern more quickly at higher concentrations of oxygen. Taken together, the results of this study show that P. modestus can exercise longer and recover quicker under higher oxygen concentrations. Similarities between P. modestus and early tetrapods suggest that increasing atmospheric oxygen levels during the middle and late Paleozoic allowed for elevated aerobic capacity and improved terrestrial performance, and likely led to an accelerated diversification and expansion of vertebrate life into the terrestrial biosphere.

Exploration in Ordovician of central Michigan Basin

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fisher, J.H.; Barratt, M.W.

1985-12-01

Deep wells in the central Michigan basin have provided sufficient data to define two new mappable formations - the Foster Formation and the Bruggers Formation. Recent conodont studies have corrected the age assignments of the strata containing these formations. Previously, the lower section (Foster) was classified as mostly Cambrian, and the upper unit (Bruggers) was identified as Early Ordovician. Conodont identifications indicate an Early and Middle Ordovician age for the Foster Formation and a Middle Ordovician age for the Bruggers Formation. The Michigan basin existed in embryonic form in the Late Cambrian, but the full outline of the present-day basinmore » did not develop until Early Ordovician. Gas and condensate are produced from the Bruggers Formation as deep as 11,252 ft (3429 m). Geothermal investigations suggest that gas production is possible to the base of the Paleozoic section in the central basin (17,000 ft or 5181 m). Paleotemperatures were higher during the Paleozoic owing to 3000-4000 ft (914-1291 m) of additional sedimentary cover. Five wells are producing from the Bruggers Formation. All are deeper tests in anticlines producing from Devonian reservoirs discovered earlier. The structures are the result of vertical movements of basement fault blocks activated by regional stresses. 12 figures, 2 tables.« less

The distribution, geochronology and geochemistry of early Paleozoic granitoid plutons in the North Altun orogenic belt, NW China: Implications for the petrogenesis and tectonic evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Ling-Tong; Chen, Bai-Lin; Zhao, Ni-Na; Wu, Yu; Zhang, Wen-Gao; He, Jiang-Tao; Wang, Bin; Han, Mei-Mei

2017-01-01

Abundant early Paleozoic granitoid plutons are widely distributed in the North Altun orogenic belt. These rocks provide clues to the tectonic evolution of the North Altun orogenic belt and adjacent areas. In this paper, we report an integrated study of petrological features, U-Pb zircon dating, in situ zircon Hf isotope and whole-rock geochemical compositions for the Abei, 4337 Highland and Kaladawan Plutons from north to south in the North Altun orogenic belt. The dating yielded magma crystallization ages of 514 Ma for the Abei Pluton, 494 Ma for the 4337 Highland Pluton and 480-460 Ma for the Kaladawan Pluton, suggesting that they are all products of oceanic slab subduction because of the age constraint. The Abei monzogranites derived from the recycle of Paleoproterozoic continental crust under low-pressure and high-temperature conditions are products of subduction initiation. The 4337 Highland granodiorites have some adakitic geochemical signatures and are sourced from partial melting of thickened mafic lower continental crust. The Kaladawan quartz diorites are produced by partial melting of mantle wedge according to the positive εHf(t) values, and the Kaladawan monzogranite-syenogranite are derived from partial melting of Neoproterozoic continental crust mixing the juvenile underplated mafic material from the depleted mantle. These results, together with existing data, provide significant information about the evolution history of oceanic crust subduction during the 520-460 Ma. The initiation of subduction occurred during 520-500 Ma with formation of Abei Pluton; subsequent transition from steep-angle to flat-slab subduction at ca.500 Ma due to the arrival of buoyant oceanic plateaus, which induces the formation of 4337 Highland Pluton. With ongoing subduction, the steep-angle subduction system is reestablished to cause the formation of 480-460 Ma Kaladawan Pluton. Meanwhile, it is this model that account for the temporal-spatial distribution of these early Paleozoic magmatic rocks in the North Altun orogenic belt.

Detrital zircon age distribution from Devonian and Carboniferous sandstone in the Southern Variscan Fold-and-Thrust belt (Montagne Noire, French Massif Central), and their bearings on the Variscan belt evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Wei; Faure, Michel; Li, Xian-hua; Chu, Yang; Ji, Wenbin; Xue, Zhenhua

2016-05-01

In the Southern French Massif Central, the Late Paleozoic sedimentary sequences of the Montagne Noire area provide clues to decipher the successive tectonic events that occurred during the evolution of the Variscan belt. Previous sedimentological studies already demonstrated that the siliciclastic deposits were supplied from the northern part of the Massif Central. In this study, detrital zircon provenance analysis has been investigated in Early Devonian (Lochkovian) conglomerate and sandstone, and in Carboniferous (Visean to Early Serpukhovian) sandstone from the recumbent folds and the foreland basin of the Variscan Southern Massif Central in Montagne Noire. The zircon grains from all of the samples yielded U-Pb age spectra ranging from Neoarchean to Late Paleozoic with several age population peaks at 2700 Ma, 2000 Ma, 980 Ma, 750 Ma, 620 Ma, 590 Ma, 560 Ma, 480 Ma, 450 Ma, and 350 Ma. The dominant age populations concentrate on the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic. The dominant concordant detrital zircon age populations in the Lochkovian samples, the 480-445 Ma with a statistical peak around 450 Ma, are interpreted as reflecting the rifting event that separated several continental stripes, such as Armorica, Mid-German Crystalline Rise, and Avalonia from the northern part of Gondwana. However, Ediacaran and Cambrian secondary peaks are also observed. The detrital zircons with ages at 352 - 340 Ma, with a statistical peak around 350 Ma, came from the Early Carboniferous volcanic and plutonic rocks similar to those exposed in the NE part of the French Massif Central. Moreover, some Precambrian grains recorded a more complex itinerary and may have experienced a multi-recycling history: the Archean and Proterozoic grains have been firstly deposited in Cambrian or Ordovician terrigenous rocks, and secondly re-sedimented in Devonian and/or Carboniferous formations. Another possibility is that ancient grains would be inherited grains, scavenged from an underlying but not exposed Precambrian basement.

Early Paleozoic dioritic and granitic plutons in the Eastern Tianshan Orogenic Belt, NW China: Constraints on the initiation of a magmatic arc in the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Long; Long, Xiaoping; Yuan, Chao; Zhang, Yunying; Huang, Zongying; Sun, Min; Zhao, Guochun; Xiao, Wenjiao

2018-03-01

Early Paleozoic dioritic and granitic plutons in the Eastern Tianshan Orogenic Belt (ETOB) have been studied in order to constraint the initiation of a magmatic arc formed in this region. Zircon U-Pb dating indicates that two dioritic plutons in the northern ETOB were generated in the Late Ordovician (452 ± 4 Ma) and the Early Silurian (442 ± 3 Ma), respectively. Diorites from the two plutons are characterized by enrichments in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) and highly incompatible elements, with depletions in high field strength elements (HSFE) displaying typical geochemical features of a subduction-related origin. They have positive εNd(t) values (+5.08-+6.58), relatively young Nd model ages (TDM = 0.71-1.08 Ga), with Ta/Yb (0.05-0.09) and Nb/Ta ratios (12.06-15.19) similar to those of depleted mantle, suggesting a juvenile mantle origin. Their high Ba/La (13.3-35.9), low Th/Yb (0.72-2.02), and relatively low Ce/Th (4.57-14.7) and Ba/Th (47.8-235) ratios indicate that these diorites were probably produced by partial melting of a depleted mantle wedge metasomatized by both subducted sediment-derived melts and slab-derived aqueous fluids. Zircon U-Pb dating of a granitic pluton in the northern ETOB yielded a Late Ordovician intrusion age of 447 ± 5 Ma. Granites from this pluton show calc-alkaline compositions with geochemical characteristics of I-type granites. They also show positive εNd(t) values (+6.49-+6.95) and young Nd model ages (TDM = 0.69-0.87 Ga), indicating that the granites were most likely derived from juvenile lower crust. Our new dating results on the dioritic and granitic plutons suggest that arc-type magmatism in the northern ETOB began prior to or at the Late Ordovician (452-442 Ma). In addition, north-dipping subduction of the Kangguertage oceanic lithosphere may account for the arc-type magmatism and the geodynamic process of the ETOB in the Early Paleozoic.

Paleozoic Hydrocarbon-Seep Limestones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peckmann, J.

2007-12-01

To date, five Paleozoic hydrocarbon-seep limestones have been recognized based on carbonate fabrics, associated fauna, and stable carbon isotopes. These are the Middle Devonian Hollard Mound from the Antiatlas of Morocco [1], Late Devonian limestone lenses with the dimerelloid brachiopod Dzieduszyckia from the Western Meseta of Morocco [2], Middle Mississippian limestones with the dimerelloid brachiopod Ibergirhynchia from the Harz Mountains of Germany [3], Early Pennsylvanian limestones from the Tantes Mound in the High Pyrenees of France [4], and Late Pennsylvanian limestone lenses from the Ganigobis Shale Member of southern Namibia [5]. Among these examples, the composition of seepage fluids varied substantially as inferred from delta C-13 values of early diagenetic carbonate phases. Delta C-13 values as low as -50 per mil from the Tantes Mound and -51 per mil from the Ganigobis limestones reveal seepage of biogenic methane, whereas values of -12 per mil from limestones with Dzieduszyckia associated with abundant pyrobitumen agree with oil seepage. Intermediate delta C-13 values of carbonate cements from the Hollard Mound and Ibergirhynchia deposits probably reflect seepage of thermogenic methane. It is presently very difficult to assess the faunal evolution at seeps in the Paleozoic based on the limited number of examples. Two of the known seeps were typified by extremely abundant rhynchonellide brachiopods of the superfamily Dimerelloidea. Bivalve mollusks and tubeworms were abundant at two of the known Paleozoic seep sites; one was dominated by bivalve mollusks (Hollard Mound, Middle Devonian), another was dominated by tubeworms (Ganigobis Shale Member, Late Pennsylvanian). The tubeworms from these two deposits are interpreted to represent vestimentiferan worms, based on studies of the taphonomy of modern vestimentiferans. However, this interpretation is in conflict with the estimated evolutionary age of vestimentiferans based on molecular clock methods, which suggest a maximal age of 126 million years for this group. 1. Peckmann et al. (1999) Facies 40, 281. 2. Peckmann et al. (2007) Palaios 22, 114. 3. Peckmann et al. (2001) Geology 29, 271. 4. Buggisch and Krumm (2005) Facies 51, 566. 5. Himmler et al. (submitted) Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol.

Deformational history of part of the Acatlán Complex: Late Ordovician Early Silurian and Early Permian orogenesis in southern Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malone, J. R.; Nance, R. D.; Keppie, J. D.; Dostal, J.

2002-10-01

The Paleozoic Acatlán Complex of southern Mexico comprises polydeformed metasedimentary, granitoid, and mafic-ultramafic rocks variously interpreted as recording the closure of the Iapetus, Rheic, and Ouachitan Oceans. The complex is tectonically juxtaposed on its eastern margin against Grenville-age gneisses (Oaxacan Complex) that are unconformably overlain by Lower Paleozoic strata containing fossils of Gondwanan affinity. A thick siliciclastic unit (Chazumba and Cosoltepec Formations) at the base of the complex is considered part of a Lower Paleozoic accretionary prism with a provenance that isotopically resembles the Oaxacan Complex. This unit is tectonically overridden by a locally eclogitic mafic-ultramafic unit interpreted as a westward-obducted ophiolite, the emplacement of which was synchronous with mylonitic granitoid intrusion at ca. 440 Ma. Both units are unconformably overlain by a deformed volcano-sedimentary sequence (Tecomate Formation) attributed to a volcanic arc of presumed Devonian age. Deformed granitoids in contact with this sequence have been dated at ca. 371 (La Noria granite) and 287 Ma (Totoltepec pluton). Three phases of penetrative deformation (D 1-3) affect the Cosoltepec Formation; the last two correlate with two penetrative deformational phases that affect the Tecomate Formation. D 1 is of unknown kinematics but predates deposition of the Tecomate Formation and likely records obduction at ca. 440 Ma (Acatecan orogeny). A folded foliation in the Totoltepec pluton appears to record both deformational phases in the Tecomate Formation, bracketing D 2 and D 3 between 287 Ma and the deposition of the nonconformably overlying Leonardian Matzitzi Formation. D 2 records north-south dextral transpression and south-vergent thrusting and is attributed to the collision of Gondwana and southern Laurentia (Ouachitan orogeny) at ca. 290 Ma, the kinematics being consistent with the northward motion of Mexico that is required by most continental reconstructions for the final assembly of Pangea. D 3, which produced broadly north-south, upright folds, is also attributed to this collision and likely followed D 2 closely in the latest Paleozoic.

Origin of a classic cratonic sheet sandstone: Stratigraphy across the Sauk II-Sauk III boundary in the Upper Mississippi Valley

USGS Publications Warehouse

Runkel, Anthony C.; McKay, R.M.; Palmer, A.R.

1998-01-01

The origin of cratonic sheet sandstones of Proterozoic and early Paleozoic age has been a long-standing problem for sedimentologists. Lower Paleozoic strata in the Upper Mississippi Valley are best known for several such sandstone bodies, the regional depositional histories of which are poorly understood. We have combined outcrop and subsurface data from six states to place the Upper Cambrian Wonewoc (Ironton and Galesville) Sandstone in a well-constrained stratigraphic framework across thousands of square kilometers. This framework makes it possible for the first time to construct a regional-scale depositional model that explains the origin of this and other cratonic sheet sandstones. The Wonewoc Sandstone, although mapped as a single contiguous sheet, is a stratigraphically complex unit that was deposited during three distinct conditions of relative sea level that span parts of four trilobite zones. During a relative highstand of sea level in Crepicephalus Zone time, quartzose sandstone lithofacies aggraded more or less vertically in nearshore-marine and terrestrial environments across much of the present-day out-crop belt around the Wisconsin arch. At the same time, finer grained, feldspathic sandstone, siltstone, and shale aggraded in deeper water immediately seaward of the quartzose sand, and shale and carbonate sediment accumulated in the most distal areas. During Aphelaspis and Dunderbergia Zones time a relative fall in sea level led to the dispersal of quartzose sand into a basinward-tapering, sheet-like body across much of the Upper Mississippi Valley. During early Elvinia Zone time a major transgression led to deposition of a second sheet sandstone that is generally similar to the underlying regressive sheet. The results of this investigation also demonstrate how subtle sequence-bounding unconformities may be recognized in mature, cratonic siliciclastics. We place the Sauk II-Sauk III subsequence boundary at the base of the coarsest bed in the Wonewoc Sandstone, a lag developed through erosion that occurred during the regional regressive-transgressive event that spanned Aphelaspis to early Elvinia Zones time. Such sequence-bounding unconformities are difficult to recognize where they are contained within coarse siliciclastics of the Upper Mississippi Valley, because they separate strata that are texturally and mineralogically similar, and because erosion occurred on a loose, sandy substrate along a low, uniform gradient, and in a nonvegetated terrestrial environment. Furthermore, the ultramature mineral composition of the exposed substrate is resistant to the development of a recognizable weathering profile. The well-known sheet geometry of the Wonewoc and other units of lower Paleozoic sandstone of this area is not dependent on atypical terrestrial depositional conditions conducive to the widespread distribution of sand, as commonly believed. Sand was spread into a sheet dominantly within the marine realm in a manner similar to that inferred for many better-known sandstone bodies deposited in the North American Cretaceous Western Interior seaway and Tertiary Gulf of Mexico. The laterally extensive, thin character of the Upper Mississippi Valley sandstone bodies compared to these other sandstone bodies simply reflects deposition of a continuously abundant supply of sand on a relatively stable, nearly flat basin of slow, uniform subsidence during changes in sea level. The dearth of shale in this and other cratonic sandstones can be indirectly attributed to the same controls, which led to an uncommonly low preservation potential for fairweather deposits on the shoreface.

Closure Time of the Junggar-Balkhash Ocean: Constraints From Late Paleozoic Volcano-Sedimentary Sequences in the Barleik Mountains, West Junggar, NW China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Bo; Han, Bao-Fu; Chen, Jia-Fu; Ren, Rong; Zheng, Bo; Wang, Zeng-Zhen; Feng, Li-Xia

2017-12-01

The Junggar-Balkhash Ocean was a major branch of the southern Paleo-Asian Ocean. The timing of its closure is important for understanding the history of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. New sedimentological and geochronological data from the Late Paleozoic volcano-sedimentary sequences in the Barleik Mountains of West Junggar, NW China, help to constrain the closure time of the Junggar-Balkhash Ocean. Tielieketi Formation (Fm) is dominated by littoral sediments, but its upper glauconite-bearing sandstone is interpreted to deposit rapidly in a shallow-water shelf setting. By contrast, Heishantou Fm consists chiefly of volcanic rocks, conformably overlying or in fault contact with Tielieketi Fm. Molaoba Fm is composed of parallel-stratified fine sandstone and sandy conglomerate with graded bedding, typical of nonmarine, fluvial deposition. This formation unconformably overlies the Tielieketi and Heishantou formations and is conformably covered by Kalagang Fm characterized by a continental bimodal volcanic association. The youngest U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from sandstones and zircon U-Pb ages from volcanic rocks suggest that the Tielieketi, Heishantou, Molaoba, and Kalagang formations were deposited during the Famennian-Tournaisian, Tournaisian-early Bashkirian, Gzhelian, and Asselian-Sakmarian, respectively. The absence of upper Bashkirian to Kasimovian was likely caused by tectonic uplifting of the West Junggar terrane. This is compatible with the occurrence of coeval stitching plutons in the West Junggar and adjacent areas. The Junggar-Balkhash Ocean should be finally closed before the Gzhelian, slightly later or concurrent with that of other ocean domains of the southern Paleo-Asian Ocean.

Geochemistry, geochronology, and Sr-Nd isotopic compositions of Permian volcanic rocks in the northern margin of the North China Block: implications for the tectonic setting of the southeastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Zejia; Zhang, Zhicheng; Chen, Yan; Li, Ke; Yang, Jinfu; Qian, Xiaoyan

2018-02-01

The southeastern part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), which records the collision of the North China Block (NCB) with the South Mongolian microcontinent, is a key area for reconstructing the tectonic history of the CAOB. Controversy persists regarding the timing of the final structural amalgamation of the region; therefore, it remains unclear whether the Late Paleozoic thick volcanic successions were generated in a subduction or post-orogenic environment. Redefining the age of the formation and analyzing the geochemical compositions of these volcanic rocks can provide clues regarding the regional tectonic evolution during the Late Paleozoic and place constraints on the closure time of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. In this study, we present geochemical, geochronologic, and Sr-Nd isotopic data for 29 volcanic rock samples from the Elitu Formation in Xianghuangqi, central Inner Mongolia. The Elitu volcanic rocks have latest early-to-middle Permian ages between 272 and 268 Ma. Most of the mafic-intermediate and felsic rocks show K-normal and high-K calc-alkaline characteristics. Melting is considered to be due to large scale upwelling of the metasomatic lithospheric mantle and different degrees of melting of the thickened lower crust. The northern margin of the NCB, which represents the southeastern boundary of the CAOB, records transtensional and, subsequently, extensional tectonics associated with late Carboniferous to middle Permian volcanic activity.

Sapphirine-bearing granulites from the Tongbai orogen, China: Petrology, phase equilibria, zircon U-Pb geochronology and implications for Paleozoic ultrahigh temperature metamorphism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiang, Hua; Zhong, Zeng-Qiu; Li, Ye; Qi, Min; Zhou, Han-Wen; Zhang, Li; Zhang, Ze-Ming; Santosh, M.

2014-11-01

We report here for the first time the occurrence of sapphirine-bearing granulites within the Qinling Group of the Qinling-Tongbai orogen and provide robust evidence for extreme crustal metamorphism at ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) conditions. We document the UHT indicator of sapphirine and spinel in a mafic granulite consisting of orthopyroxene, biotite, plagioclase, amphibole and rutile/ilmenite. The ferromagnesian minerals in the sapphirine-bearing granulite have high XMg [Mg/(Mg + Fe)] (orthopyroxene XMg = 0.84-0.95; biotite XMg = 0.81; amphibole XMg = 0.87-0.96). The phase equilibria modeling demonstrates that the early spinel-bearing assemblage is stable at 923-950 °C and 6.7-8.9 kbar, and the peak assemblage of Opx + Pl + Spr/Spl + Amp + Bt + Ilm (+ melt) defines a field at 922-947 °C and 8.4-10.2 kbar. Rutiles have variable Zr concentrations but mostly cluster at ca. 1,500 and 3400 ppm. Zr-in-rutile geothermometry yielded high temperatures of up to 890-940 °C. Zircon U-Pb dating of the granulite constrains the timing of the immediate post-peak and retrograde metamorphic stages as 429 ± 7 Ma and 412 ± 4 Ma, respectively. The UHT metamorphism, together with extensive occurrence of coeval magmatic suites suggests that the Tongbai orogen experienced a Paleozoic Andean-type orogeny probably derived from mid-oceanic ridge subduction of the Qinling Ocean.

Possible Significance of Early Paleozoic Fluctuations in Bottom Current Intensity, Northwest Iapetus Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lash, Gary G.

1986-06-01

Sedimentologic and geochemical characteristics of red and green deep water mudstone exposed in the central Appalachian orogen define climatically-induced fluctuations in bottom current intensity along the northwest flank of the Iapetus Ocean in Early and Middle Ordovician time. Red mudstone accumulated under the influence of moderate to vigorous bottom current velocities in oxygenated bottom water produced during climatically cool periods. Interbedded green mudstone accumulated at greater sedimentation rates, probably from turbidity currents, under the influence of reduced thermohaline circulation during global warming periods. The close association of green mudstone and carbonate turbidites of Early Ordovician (late Tremadocian to early Arenigian) age suggests that a major warming phase occurred at this time. Increasing temperatures reduced bottom current velocities and resulted in increased production of carbonate sediment and organic carbon on the carbonate platform of eastern North America. Much of the excess carbonate sediment and organic carbon was transported into deep water by turbidity currents. Although conclusive evidence is lacking, this eustatic event may reflect a climatic warming phase that followed the postulated glacio-eustatic Black Mountain event. Subsequent Middle Ordovician fluctuations in bottom current intensity recorded by thin red-green mudstone couplets probably reflect periodic growth and shrinkage of an ice cap rather than major glacial episodes.

Provenance and detrital zircon geochronologic evolution of lower Brookian foreland basin deposits of the western Brooks Range, Alaska, and implications for early Brookian tectonism

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Thomas; O'Sullivan, Paul B.; Potter, Christopher J.; Donelick, Raymond A.

2015-01-01

The Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous part of the Brookian sequence of northern Alaska consists of syntectonic deposits shed from the north-directed, early Brookian orogenic belt. We employ sandstone petrography, detrital zircon U-Pb age analysis, and zircon fission-track double-dating methods to investigate these deposits in a succession of thin regional thrust sheets in the western Brooks Range and in the adjacent Colville foreland basin to determine sediment provenance, sedimentary dispersal patterns, and to reconstruct the evolution of the Brookian orogen. The oldest and structurally highest deposits are allochthonous Upper Jurassic volcanic arc–derived sandstones that rest on accreted ophiolitic and/or subduction assemblage mafic igneous rocks. These strata contain a nearly unimodal Late Jurassic zircon population and are interpreted to be a fragment of a forearc basin that was emplaced onto the Brooks Range during arc-continent collision. Synorogenic deposits found at structurally lower levels contain decreasing amounts of ophiolite and arc debris, Jurassic zircons, and increasing amounts of continentally derived sedimentary detritus accompanied by broadly distributed late Paleozoic and Triassic (359–200 Ma), early Paleozoic (542–359 Ma), and Paleoproterozoic (2000–1750 Ma) zircon populations. The zircon populations display fission-track evidence of cooling during the Brookian event and evidence of an earlier episode of cooling in the late Paleozoic and Triassic. Surprisingly, there is little evidence for erosion of the continental basement of Arctic Alaska, its Paleozoic sedimentary cover, or its hinterland metamorphic rocks in early foreland basin strata at any structural and/or stratigraphic level in the western Brooks Range. Detritus from exhumation of these sources did not arrive in the foreland basin until the middle or late Albian in the central part of the Colville Basin.These observations indicate that two primary provenance areas provided detritus to the early Brookian foreland basin of the western Brooks Range: (1) local sources in the oceanic Angayucham terrane, which forms the upper plate of the orogen, and (2) a sedimentary source region outside of northern Alaska. Pre-Jurassic zircons and continental grain types suggest the latter detritus was derived from a thick succession of Triassic turbidites in the Russian Far East that were originally shed from source areas in the Uralian-Taimyr orogen and deposited in the South Anyui Ocean, interpreted here as an early Mesozoic remnant basin. Structural thickening and northward emplacement onto the continental margin of Chukotka during the Brookian structural event are proposed to have led to development of a highland source area located in eastern Chukotka, Wrangel Island, and Herald Arch region. The abundance of detritus from this source area in most of the samples argues that the Colville Basin and ancestral foreland basins were supplied by longitudinal sediment dispersal systems that extended eastward along the Brooks Range orogen and were tectonically recycled into the active foredeep as the thrust front propagated toward the foreland. Movement of clastic sedimentary material from eastern Chukotka, Wrangel Island, and Herald Arch into Brookian foreland basins in northern Alaska confirms the interpretations of previous workers that the Brookian deformational belt extends into the Russian Far East and demonstrates that the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate was a unified geologic entity by the Early Cretaceous.

Geology and Ore Deposits of the Uncompahgre (Ouray) Mining District, Southwestern Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burbank, Wilbur Swett; Luedke, Robert G.

2008-01-01

The Uncompahgre mining district, part of the Ouray mining district, includes an area of about 15 square miles (mi2) on the northwestern flank of the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado from which ores of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc have had a gross value of $14 to 15 million. Bedrock within the district ranges in age from Proterozoic to Cenozoic. The oldest or basement rocks, the Uncompahgre Formation of Proterozoic age, consist of metamorphic quartzite and slate and are exposed in a small erosional window in the southern part of the district. Overlying those rocks with a profound angular unconformity are Paleozoic marine sedimentary rocks consisting mostly of limestones and dolomites and some shale and sandstone that are assigned to the Elbert Formation and Ouray Limestone, both of Devonian age, and the Leadville Limestone of Mississippian age. These units are, in turn, overlain by rocks of marine transitional to continental origin that are assigned to the Molas and Hermosa Formations of Pennsylvanian age and the Cutler Formation of Permian age; these three formations are composed predominantly of conglomerates, sandstones, and shales that contain interbedded fossiliferous limestones within the lower two-thirds of the sequence. The overlying Mesozoic strata rest also on a pronounced angular unconformity upon the Paleozoic section. This thick Mesozoic section, of which much of the upper part was eroded before the region was covered by rocks of Tertiary age, consists of the Dolores Formation of Triassic age, the Entrada Sandstone, Wanakah Formation, and Morrison Formation all of Jurassic age, and the Dakota Sandstone and Mancos Shale of Cretaceous age. These strata dominantly consist of shales, mudstones, and sandstones and minor limestones, breccias, and conglomerates. In early Tertiary time the region was beveled by erosion and then covered by a thick deposit of volcanic rocks of mid-Tertiary age. These volcanic rocks, assigned to the San Juan Formation, are chiefly tuff breccias of intermediate composition, which were deposited as extensive volcaniclastic aprons around volcanic centers to the east and south of the area. The Ouray area, in general, exhibits the typical effects of a minimum of three major uplifts of the ancestral San Juan Mountains. The earliest of these uplifts, with accompanying deformation and erosion, occurred within the Proterozoic, and the other two occurred at the close, respectively, of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic. The last event, known as the Laramide orogeny, locally was accompanied by extensive intrusion of igneous rocks of dominantly intermediate composition. Domal uplifts of the ancestral mountains resulted in peripheral monoclinal folds, plunging anticlines radial to the central core of the mountain mass, faults, and minor folds. The principal ore deposits of the Uncompahgre district were associated with crosscutting and laccolithic intrusions of porphyritic granodiorite formed during the Laramide (Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary) orogeny. The ores were deposited chiefly in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary strata having an aggregate thickness of about 4,500 feet (ft) and occur beneath the early Tertiary unconformity, which in places truncated some of the uppermost deposits. A few ore deposits of late Tertiary age occur also in the sedimentary rocks near the southern margin of the district, but are restricted mostly to the overlying volcanic rocks. Ore deposits in the Uncompahgre district range from low-grade, contact-metamorphic through pyritic base-metal bodies containing silver and gold tellurides and native gold to silver-bearing lead-zinc deposits, and are zoned about the center of intrusive activity, a stock in an area referred to as The Blowout. Ore deposition within the Uncompahgre district was largely controlled by structural trends and axes of uplift established mainly in the late Paleozoic phase of deformation, but also in part by structural lin

Alpha, beta, or gamma: where does all the diversity go?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepkoski, J. J. Jr; Sepkoski JJ, J. r. (Principal Investigator)

1988-01-01

Global taxonomic richness is affected by variation in three components: within-community, or alpha, diversity, between-community, or beta, diversity; and between-region, or gamma, diversity. A data set consisting of 505 faunal lists distributed among 40 stratigraphic intervals and six environmental zones was used to investigate how variation of alpha and beta diversity influenced global diversity through the Paleozoic, and especially during the Ordovician radiations. As first shown by Bambach (1977), alpha diversity increased by 50 to 70 percent in offshore marine environments during the Ordovician and then remained essentially constant of the remainder of the Paleozoic. The increase is insufficient, however, to account for the 300 percent rise observed in global generic diversity. It is shown that beta diversity among level, soft-bottom communities also increased significantly during the early Paleozoic. This change is related to enhanced habitat selection, and presumably increased overall specialization, among diversifying taxa during the Ordovician radiations. Combined with alpha diversity, the measured change in beta diversity still accounts for only about half of the increase in global diversity. Other sources of increase are probably not related to variation in gamma diversity but rather to appearance and/or expansion of organic reefs, hardground communities, bryozoan thickets, and crinoid gardens during the Ordovician.

The impact of fire on the Late Paleozoic Earth system

PubMed Central

Glasspool, Ian J.; Scott, Andrew C.; Waltham, David; Pronina, Natalia; Shao, Longyi

2015-01-01

Analyses of bulk petrographic data indicate that during the Late Paleozoic wildfires were more prevalent than at present. We propose that the development of fire systems through this interval was controlled predominantly by the elevated atmospheric oxygen concentration (p(O2)) that mass balance models predict prevailed. At higher levels of p(O2), increased fire activity would have rendered vegetation with high-moisture contents more susceptible to ignition and would have facilitated continued combustion. We argue that coal petrographic data indicate that p(O2) rather than global temperatures or climate, resulted in the increased levels of wildfire activity observed during the Late Paleozoic and can, therefore, be used to predict it. These findings are based upon analyses of charcoal volumes in multiple coals distributed across the globe and deposited during this time period, and that were then compared with similarly diverse modern peats and Cenozoic lignites and coals. Herein, we examine the environmental and ecological factors that would have impacted fire activity and we conclude that of these factors p(O2) played the largest role in promoting fires in Late Paleozoic peat-forming environments and, by inference, ecosystems generally, when compared with their prevalence in the modern world. PMID:26442069

The impact of fire on the Late Paleozoic Earth system.

PubMed

Glasspool, Ian J; Scott, Andrew C; Waltham, David; Pronina, Natalia; Shao, Longyi

2015-01-01

Analyses of bulk petrographic data indicate that during the Late Paleozoic wildfires were more prevalent than at present. We propose that the development of fire systems through this interval was controlled predominantly by the elevated atmospheric oxygen concentration (p(O2)) that mass balance models predict prevailed. At higher levels of p(O2), increased fire activity would have rendered vegetation with high-moisture contents more susceptible to ignition and would have facilitated continued combustion. We argue that coal petrographic data indicate that p(O2) rather than global temperatures or climate, resulted in the increased levels of wildfire activity observed during the Late Paleozoic and can, therefore, be used to predict it. These findings are based upon analyses of charcoal volumes in multiple coals distributed across the globe and deposited during this time period, and that were then compared with similarly diverse modern peats and Cenozoic lignites and coals. Herein, we examine the environmental and ecological factors that would have impacted fire activity and we conclude that of these factors p(O2) played the largest role in promoting fires in Late Paleozoic peat-forming environments and, by inference, ecosystems generally, when compared with their prevalence in the modern world.

The potential of paleozoic nonmarine trace fossils for paleoecological interpretations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Maples, C.G.; Archer, A.W.

1989-01-01

Many Late Paleozoic environments have been interpreted as marine because of the co-occurrence of supposedly exclusively marine trace fossils. Beginning in the Late Ordovician, however, nonmarine trace-fossil diversity increased throughout the Paleozoic. This diversification of nonmarine organisms and nonmarine trace fossils was especially prevalent in Devonian and later times. Diversification of freshwater organisms is indicated by the large number of freshwater fish, arthropods, annelids and molluscs that had developed by the Carboniferous. In addition to diverse freshwater assemblages, entirely terrestrial vertebrate and invertebrate ecosystems had developed by the Devonian. This rapid diversification of freshwater and terrestrial organisms is inherently linked to development and diversification of land plants and subsequent shedding of large quantities of organic detritus in nonmarine and marginal-marine areas. Nearshore marine organisms and their larvae that are able to tolerate relatively short periods of lowered salinities will follow salt-water wedges inland during times of reduced freshwater discharge. Similarly, amphidromous marine organisms will migrate periodically inland into nonmarine environments. Undoubtedly, both of these processes were active in the Paleozoic. However, both processes are restricted to stream/distributary channels, interdistributary bays, or estuaries. Therefore, the presence of diverse trace-fossil assemblages in association with floodplain deposits is interpreted to reflect true nonmarine adaptation and diversity. Conversely, diverse trace-fossil assemblages in association with stream/distributary channel deposits, interdistributary-bay deposits, or estuarine deposits may reflect migration of salt-water wedges inland, or migration of marine organisms into freshwater environments (amphidromy), or both. ?? 1989.

New Fossil Evidence on the Sister-Group of Mammals and Early Mesozoic Faunal Distributions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shubin, Neil H.; Crompton, A. W.; Sues, Hans-Dieter; Olsen, Paul E.

1991-03-01

Newly discovered remains of highly advanced mammal-like reptiles (Cynodontia: Tritheledontidae) from the Early Jurassic of Nova Scotia, Canada, have revealed that aspects of the characteristic mammalian occlusal pattern are primitive. Mammals and tritheledontids share an homologous pattern of occlusion that is not seen in other cynodonts. The new tritheledontids represent the first definite record of this family from North America. The extreme similarity of North American and African tritheledontids supports the hypothesis that the global distribution of terrestrial tetrapods was homogeneous in the Early Jurassic. This Early Jurassic cosmopolitanism represents the continuation of a trend toward increased global homogeneity among terrestrial tetrapod communities that began in the late Paleozoic.

Geochronological framework of the early Paleozoic Bainaimiao Cu-Mo-Au deposit, NE China, and its tectonic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Zhen-Hua; Mao, Jing-Wen; Ma, Xing-Hua; Che, He-Wei; Ou'yang, He-Gen; Gao, Xu

2017-08-01

The Bainaimiao Cu-Mo-Au deposit of NE China is an important ore deposit in the middle section of the northern margin of the North China Craton. The early Paleozoic Bainaimiao Group is the main ore-hosting rock. The mineralization at the deposit shows features of porphyry alteration and late-stage orogenesis and transformation. Zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb age data indicate that the ages of the Third and Fifth formations of the Bainaimiao Group are 492.7 ± 2.9 Ma (MSWD = 0.53) and 488.9 ± 3.1 Ma (MSWD = 0.92), respectively. The age of quartz diorite that intrudes the Bainaimiao Group is 459.3 ± 6.4 Ma (MSWD = 2.20). Molybdenite samples from massive Cu-Mo-bearing ores and quartz veins in the southern ore belt yield a Re-Os isochron age of 438.2 ± 2.7 Ma (MSWD = 0.16), which is consistent with the Re-Os isochron age of molybdenite in the northern ore belt, implying that the two ore belts belong to the same mineralization system. Muscovite from a post-magmatic Cu-Mo-bearing quartz-calcite vein yields an Ar-Ar isochron age of 422.5 ± 3.9 Ma (MSWD = 0.64) with an initial 40Ar/36Ar ratio of 286 ± 21. The well-defined plateau age of the muscovite is 422.4 ± 2.6 Ma (MSWD = 0.05), which represents the time of the post-magmatic orogenic transformation event. Based on our new age data and previous findings, we propose that the Bainaimiao Cu-Mo-Au deposit formed in an active continental margin setting and experienced four stages of ore mineralization: (1) a Late Cambrian-Middle Ordovician volcanic-sedimentary stage; (2) a Late Ordovician porphyry mineralization stage; (3) a Late Silurian regional metamorphism stage; and (4) an orogenic transformation stage. Subhedral and euhedral Paleoproterozoic (2402-1810 Ma) inherited zircons indicate that the Bainaimiao Group has a tectonic affinity with the North China Craton. The Central Asian Orogenic Belt, which is closely related to the complex closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean, is favorable for prospecting for Paleozoic porphyry Cu-Mo or Cu-Au mineralization and associated epithermal Au deposits.

U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronologic Constraints on Depositional Age and Sediment Source Terrains of the Late Paleozoic Tepuel-Genoa Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffis, N. P.; Montanez, I. P.; Isbell, J.; Gulbranson, E. L.; Wimpenny, J.; Yin, Q. Z.; Cúneo, N. R.; Pagani, M. A.; Taboada, A. C.

2014-12-01

The late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) is the longest-lived icehouse of the Phanerozoic and the only time a metazoan dominated and vegetated world transitioned from an icehouse climate into a greenhouse. Despite several decades of research, the timing, extent of glaciation and the location of ice centers remain unresolved, which prohibits reconstruction of ice volume. The Permo-Carboniferous sediments in the Tepuel-Genoa Basin, Patagonia contains a near complete record of sedimentation from the lower Carboniferous through lower Permian. Outsized clasts, thin pebble-rich diamictites and slumps represent the last of the late Paleozoic glacially influenced deep-water marine sediments in the Mojón de Hierro Fm. and the Paleozoic of Patagonia. U-Pb analysis of detrital zircons separated from slope sediments reveal groupings (20 myr bins, n≥5 zircons) with peak depositional ages of 420, 540 to 660 and 1040 Ma. Zircon age populations recovered from the Mojón de Hierro Fm. compare well with bedrock ages of the Deseado Massif of SE Patagonia, suggesting this may be a potential source of sediments. The maximum depositional age of the sediments is 306.05 ± 3.7 Ma (2σ) as determined by the median age of the two youngest concordant zircons that overlap in error. The youngest zircon from the analysis yields a 238U/206Pb age of 301.3 ± 4.5 Ma (2σ; MSWD = 2.3). Younger zircons from the analysis compare well with the age of granite bedrock exposed along the basin margin to the E-NE suggesting they may reflect a more proximal source. These data, which indicate a maximum age of late Carboniferous for the Mojón de Hierro Fm, provide the first geochemical constraints for the timing of final deposition of glaciomarine sediments in the Tepuel-Genoa Basin, and contributes to the biostratigraphic correlation of the late Paleozoic succession in Patagonia with other key LPIA basins that has thus far been hindered by faunal provincialism.

Geologic?l History of E?st Siberi?n Se? Shelf

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Safronov, Aleksandr F.

2016-01-01

In our study we discuss the traditional and novel concepts of East Siberian Shelf origin with regards to the structure and composition of the Paleozoic and early Mesozoic sediments, coming to the surface on the Siberian Islands ?rchipel?go. The core idea is to summarize the existing concepts of East Siberian Shelf formation and to draw up the…

Saline-water resources of Texas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Winslow, Allen George; Kister, Lester Ray

1956-01-01

Most of the aquifers in Texas contain saline water in some parts, and a few are capable of producing large quantities of saline water. Of the early Paleozoic formations, the Hickory sandstone member of the Riley formation of Cambrian age and the Ellenburger group of Ordovician age are potential sources of small to moderate supplies of saline water in parts of central and west-central Texas.

Paleomagnetic data for Siberia and Baltica in the context of testing some geodynamic models of the formation of the Central Asian Mobile Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shatsillo, A. V.; Kuznetsov, N. B.; Dronov, A. V.

2017-09-01

The synthesis of the paleomagnetic data for the Siberian (Siberia) and East European (Baltica) platforms shows that since the Early Paleozoic they could have experienced coherent movements as a part of consolidated continental agglomeration (a composite continent), which also includes the Arctida continent. Based on the paleomagnetic data, the relative positions of the Siberia and Baltica during the Ordovician is reconstructed, and a series of paleogeographical reconstructions describing the drift of the composite continent is suggested. The results of the lithologic-facial analysis of the sedimentation settings within the Ordovician basins of the Siberian and East European platforms and paleoclimatic markers are consistent with the suggested configuration and paleogeographical position of the composite continent. The suggested reconstructions and the ages of detrital zircons from the Early Paleozoic complexes of the platform margins and some objects of the Central Asian Mobile Belt (CAMB) reasonably well agree with the hypothesis (Sengör et al., 1993) which interprets the formation of the structure of CAMB Paleozoides as a result of the evolution of the island arc stretching along the margins of Siberia and Baltica.

Summary mineral resource appraisal of the Richfield 1 degree x 2 degrees Quadrangle, west-central Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Steven, Thomas August; Morris, Hal T.

1987-01-01

The mineral resource potential of the Richfield 1? x 2? quadrangle, Utah, has been appraised using geological, geophysical, geochemical, and remote-sensing techniques. These studies have led to many publications giving basic data and interpretations; of these, a series of 18 maps at 1:250,000 and 1:500,000 scales summarizing aspects of the geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and remote sensing is designated the CUSMAP (Conterminous United States Mineral Appraisal Program) folio. This circular uses the data shown on these maps to appraise the mineral resource potential of the quadrangle. The oldest rocks exposed in the Richfield quadrangle are small patches of Early Proterozoic (1.7 billion years old) gneiss and schist on the west side of the Mineral Mountains. These rocks presumably formed the basement on which many thousands of meters of Late Proterozoic, Paleozoic, and lower Mesozoic sedimentary strata were deposited. These rocks were deformed during the Late Cretaceous Sevier orogeny when Precambrian and Paleozoic strata in the western part of the quadrangle were thrust relatively eastward across Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata in the eastern part of the quadrangle. Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary highlands above the overthrust belt were eroded and much of the debris was deposited in broad basins east of the belt. Volcanism in Oligocene and earliest Miocene time formed an east-northeast-trending belt of calcalkalic volcanoes across the southern half of the quadrangle. In early Miocene time, the composition of the volcanic rocks changed to a bimodal assemblage of mafic rocks and high-silica alkali rhyolite that has been erupted episodically ever since. Syngenetic mineral resources developed during formation of both sedimentary and volcanic rocks. These include limestone and dolomite, silica-rich sandstone, metalliferous black shale, evaporite deposits, zeolite deposits, pumice, cinders and scoria, and evaporitic or diagenetic deposits in playa environments. Most of these deposits need to have markets established, or extraction and fabrication techniques developed, for them to be utilized. Most epigenetic deposits are of volcanogenic-hydrothermal origin. Deposits associated with calc-alkalic igneous activity largely contain Cu, Pb, Zn, Au, and Ag, and occur in a variety of types zoned around core intrusions. Younger deposits are mostly associated with silicic igneous centers belonging to the bimodal mafic-silicic igneous association. Resources associated with this latter group are likely to contain one or more of the elements Mo, W, U, Sn, Be, and F, as well as Pb, Zn, Au, and Ag. Alunite and kaolinite deposits are found at many mineralized centers. Most epigenetically mineralized areas expose only the upper, near-surface parts of the different hydrothermal systems; most of whatever mineral deposits formed in these systems probably still exist at depth, awaiting discovery. Our conclusion is that many mineralized areas have excellent possibilities for the occurrence of mineral resources. Each of the many identified centers of mineralization is discussed briefly in this report and an estimate made of its resource potential.

An early bird from Gondwana: Paleomagnetism of Lower Permian lavas from northern Qiangtang (Tibet) and the geography of the Paleo-Tethys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Peiping; Ding, Lin; Li, Zhenyu; Lippert, Peter C.; Yue, Yahui

2017-10-01

The origin of the northern Qiangtang block and its Late Paleozoic-Early Mesozoic drift history remain controversial, largely because paleomagnetic constraints from pre-Mesozoic units are sparse and of poor quality. In this paper, we provide a robust and well-dated paleomagnetic pole from the Lower Permian Kaixinling Group lavas on the northern Qiangtang block. This pole suggests that the northern Qiangtang block had a paleolatitude of 21.9 ± 4.7 °S at ca. 296.9 ± 1.9 Ma. These are the first volcanic-based paleomagnetic results from pre-Mesozoic rocks of the Qiangtang block that appear to average secular variation accurately enough to yield a well-determined paleolatitude estimate. This new pole corroborates the hypothesis, first noted on the basis of less rigorous paleomagnetic data, the presence of diamictites, detrital zircon provenance records, and faunal assemblages, that the northern Qiangtang block rifted away from Gondwana prior to the Permian. Previous studies have documented that the northern Qiangtang block accreted to the Tarim-North China continent by Norian time. We calculate a total northward drift of ca. 7000 km over ca. 100 myr, which corresponds to an average south-north plate velocities of ∼7.0 cm/yr. Our results do not support the conclusion that northern Qiangtang has a Laurasian affinity, nor that the central Qiangtang metamorphic belt is an in situ Paleo-Tethys suture. Our analysis, however, does not preclude paleogeographies that interpret the central Qiangtang metamorphic belt as an intra-Qiangtang suture that developed at southernly latitudes outboard of the Gondwanan margin. We emphasize that rigorous paleomagnetic data from Carboniferous units of northern Qiangtang and especially upper Paleozoic units from southern Qiangtang can test and further refine these paleogeographic interpretations.

Moroccan crustal response to continental drift.

PubMed

Kanes, W H; Saadi, M; Ehrlich, E; Alem, A

1973-06-01

The formation and development of a zone of spreading beneath the continental crust resulted in the breakup of Pangea and formation of the Atlantic Ocean. The crust of Morocco bears an extremely complete record of the crustal response to this episode of mantle dynamics. Structural and related depositional patterns indicate that the African margin had stabilized by the Middle Jurassic as a marine carbonate environment; that it was dominated by tensile stresses in the early Mesozoic, resulting in two fault systems paralleling the Atlantic and Mediterranean margins and a basin and range structural-depositional style; and that it was affected by late Paleozoic metamorphism and intrusion. Mesozoic events record the latter portion of African involvement in the spreading episode; late Paleozoic thermal orogenesis might reflect the earlier events in the initiation of the spreading center and its development beneath significant continental crust. In that case, more than 100 million years were required for mantle dynamics to break up Pangea.

Evidence for local and global redox conditions at an Early Ordovician (Tremadocian) mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edwards, Cole T.; Fike, David A.; Saltzman, Matthew R.; Lu, Wanyi; Lu, Zunli

2018-01-01

Profound changes in environmental conditions, particularly atmospheric oxygen levels, are thought to be important drivers of several major biotic events (e.g. mass extinctions and diversifications). The early Paleozoic represents a key interval in the oxygenation of the ocean-atmosphere system and evolution of the biosphere. Global proxies (e.g. carbon (δ13C) and sulfur (δ34S) isotopes) are used to diagnose potential changes in oxygenation and infer causes of environmental change and biotic turnover. The Cambrian-Ordovician contains several trilobite extinctions (some are apparently local, but others are globally correlative) that are attributed to anoxia based on coeval positive δ13C and δ34S excursions. These extinction and excursion events have yet to be coupled with more recently developed proxies thought to be more reflective of local redox conditions in the water column (e.g. I/Ca) to confirm whether these extinctions were associated with oxygen crises over a regional or global scale. Here we examine an Early Ordovician (Tremadocian Stage) extinction event previously interpreted to reflect a continuation of recurrent early Paleozoic anoxic events that expanded into nearshore environments. δ13C, δ34S, and I/Ca trends were measured from three sections in the Great Basin region to test whether I/Ca trends support the notion that anoxia was locally present in the water column along the Laurentian margin. Evidence for anoxia is based on coincident, but not always synchronous, positive δ13C and δ34S excursions (mainly from carbonate-associated sulfate and less so from pyrite data), a 30% extinction of standing generic diversity, and near-zero I/Ca values. Although evidence for local water column anoxia from the I/Ca proxy broadly agrees with intervals of global anoxia inferred from δ13C and δ34S trends, a more complex picture is evident where spatially and temporally variable local trends are superimposed on time-averaged global trends. Stratigraphic sections from the distal and deeper part of the basin (Shingle Pass and Meiklejohn Peak) preserve synchronous global (δ13C and δ34S) and water column (I/Ca) evidence for anoxia, but not at the more proximal section (Ibex, UT). Although geochemical and paleontological evidence point toward anoxia as the driver of this Early Ordovician extinction event, differences between I/Ca and δ13C-δ34S signals suggest regional variation in the timing, extent, and persistence of anoxia.

The Cannery Formation--Devonian to Early Permian arc-marginal deposits within the Alexander Terrane, Southeastern Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Karl, Susan M.; Layer, Paul W.; Harris, Anita G.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Murchey, Benita L.

2011-01-01

The Cannery Formation consists of green, red, and gray ribbon chert, siliceous siltstone, graywacke-chert turbidites, and volcaniclastic sandstone. Because it contains early Permian fossils at and near its type area in Cannery Cove, on Admiralty Island in southeastern Alaska, the formation was originally defined as a Permian stratigraphic unit. Similar rocks exposed in Windfall Harbor on Admiralty Island contain early Permian bryozoans and brachiopods, as well as Mississippian through Permian radiolarians. Black and green bedded chert with subordinate lenses of limestone, basalt, and graywacke near Kake on Kupreanof Island was initially correlated with the Cannery Formation on the basis of similar lithology but was later determined to contain Late Devonian conodonts. Permian conglomerate in Keku Strait contains chert cobbles inferred to be derived from the Cannery Formation that yielded Devonian and Mississippian radiolarians. On the basis of fossils recovered from a limestone lens near Kake and chert cobbles in the Keku Strait area, the age of the Cannery Formation was revised to Devonian and Mississippian, but this revision excludes rocks in the type locality, in addition to excluding bedded chert on Kupreanof Island east of Kake that contains radiolarians of Late Pennsylvanian and early Permian age. The black chert near Kake that yielded Late Devonian conodonts is nearly contemporaneous with black chert interbedded with limestone that also contains Late Devonian conodonts in the Saginaw Bay Formation on Kuiu Island. The chert cobbles in the conglomerate in Keku Strait may be derived from either the Cannery Formation or the Saginaw Bay Formation and need not restrict the age of the Cannery Formation, regardless of their source. The minimum age of the Cannery Formation on both Admiralty Island and Kupreanof Island is constrained by the stratigraphically overlying fossiliferous Pybus Formation, of late early and early late Permian age. Because bedded radiolarian cherts on both Admiralty and Kupreanof Islands contain radiolarians as young as Permian, the age of the Cannery Formation is herein extended to Late Devonian through early Permian, to include the early Permian rocks exposed in its type locality. The Cannery Formation is folded and faulted, and its stratigraphic thickness is unknown but inferred to be several hundred meters. The Cannery Formation represents an extended period of marine deposition in moderately deep water, with slow rates of deposition and limited clastic input during Devonian through Pennsylvanian time and increasing argillaceous, volcaniclastic, and bioclastic input during the Permian. The Cannery Formation comprises upper Paleozoic rocks in the Alexander terrane of southeastern Alaska. In the pre-Permian upper Paleozoic, the tectonic setting of the Alexander terrane consisted of two or more evolved oceanic arcs. The lower Permian section is represented by a distinctive suite of rocks in the Alexander terrane, which includes sedimentary and volcanic rocks containing early Permian fossils, metamorphosed rocks with early Permian cooling ages, and intrusive rocks with early Permian cooling ages, that form discrete northwest-trending belts. After restoration of 180 km of dextral displacement of the Chilkat-Chichagof block on the Chatham Strait Fault, these belts consist, from northeast to southwest, of (1) bedded chert, siliceous argillite, volcaniclastic turbidites, pillow basalt, and limestone of the Cannery Formation and the Porcupine Slate of Gilbert and others (1987); (2) greenschist-facies Paleozoic metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks that have Permian cooling ages; (3) silty limestone and calcareous argillite interbedded with pillow basalt and volcaniclastic rocks of the Halleck Formation and the William Henry Bay area; and (4) intermediate-composition and syenitic plutons. These belts correspond to components of an accretionary complex, contemporary metamorphic rocks, forearc-basin deposits,

Paleozoic–early Mesozoic gold deposits of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, northwestern China

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rui, Zongyao; Goldfarb, Richard J.; Qiu, Yumin; Zhou, T.; Chen, R.; Pirajno, Franco; Yun, Grace

2002-01-01

The late Paleozoic–early Mesozoic tectonic evolution of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, northwestern China provided a favorable geological setting for the formation of lode gold deposits along the sutures between a number of the major Eastern Asia cratonic blocks. These sutures are now represented by the Altay Shan, Tian Shan, and Kunlun Shan ranges, with the former two separated by the Junggar basin and the latter two by the immense Tarim basin. In northernmost Xinjiang, final growth of the Altaid orogen, southward from the Angara craton, is now recorded in the remote mid- to late Paleozoic Altay Shan. Accreted Early to Middle Devonian oceanic rock sequences contain typically small, precious-metal bearing Fe–Cu–Zn VMS deposits (e.g. Ashele). Orogenic gold deposits are widespread along the major Irtysh (e.g. Duyolanasayi, Saidi, Taerde, Kabenbulake, Akexike, Shaerbulake) and Tuergen–Hongshanzui (e.g. Hongshanzui) fault systems, as well as in structurally displaced terrane slivers of the western Junggar (e.g. Hatu) and eastern Junggar areas. Geological and geochronological constraints indicate a generally Late Carboniferous to Early Permian episode of gold deposition, which was coeval with the final stages of Altaid magmatism and large-scale, right-lateral translation along older terrane-bounding faults. The Tian Shan, an exceptionally gold-rich mountain range to the west in the Central Asian republics, is only beginning to be recognized for its gold potential in Xinjiang. In this easternmost part to the range, northerly- and southerly-directed subduction/accretion of early to mid-Paleozoic and mid- to late Paleozoic oceanic terranes, respectively, to the Precambrian Yili block (central Tian Shan) was associated with 400 to 250 Ma arc magmatism and Carboniferous through Early Permian gold-forming hydrothermal events. The more significant resulting deposits in the terranes of the southern Tian Shan include the Sawayaerdun orogenic deposit along the Kyrgyzstan border and the epithermal and replacement deposits of the Kanggurtag belt to the east in the Chol Tagh range. Gold deposits of approximately the same age in the Yili block include the Axi hot springs/epithermal deposit near the Kazakhstan border and a series of small orogenic gold deposits south of Urumqi (e.g. Wangfeng). Gold-rich porphyry copper deposits (e.g. Tuwu) define important new exploration targets in the northern Tian Shan of Xinjiang. The northern foothills of the Kunlun Shan of southern Xinjiang host scattered, small placer gold deposits. Sources for the gold have not been identified, but are hypothesized to be orogenic gold veins beneath the icefields to the south. They are predicted to have formed in the Tianshuihai terrane during its early Mesozoic accretion to the amalgamated Tarim–Qaidam–Kunlun cratonic block.

Intracratonic exhumation and uplift: Insight from low-temperature thermochronology and geomorphic analysis of the Ozark Plateau, Missouri

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeLucia, M. S.; Marshak, S.; Guenthner, W.; Anders, A. M.; Thomson, S. N.

2016-12-01

The Ozark Plateau is an uplift in the cratonic platform of Midcontinent United States. In the northeast corner of the plateau (the St. Francois Mountains), Precambrian basement of 1.47 Ga granite and rhyolite crops out. These rocks are overlain, at the Great Unconformity, by Paleozoic strata, defining the map pattern of the Ozark Dome. Strata thicken substantially eastward into the Illinois Basin, so that there is over 7 km of structural relief across the boundary between the Illinois Basin and the Ozark Dome at the level of the Great Unconformity. Multiple unconformities in the Paleozoic section indicates that the crest of the Ozark Dome was at or above sea level several times during the Paleozoic. Key questions about the Plateau remain. For example: (1) Did the 1.47 Ga basement remain at upper-crustal depths since its formation, or was it buried deeply and later exhumed? (2) Has the plateau remained high since the Paleozoic or has it undergone post-Paleozoic uplift? Results from new zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology indicate that the 1.47 Ga granites were exhumed significantly in the Neoproterozoic (about 750Ma), after the Rodinia supercontinent assembly. Fission-track dates (Brown, 2005) and (U-Th)/He apatite dates (Flowers and Kelley, 2011; Zhang et al., 2012; and new results) hint that some post-Paleozoic exhumation has occurred. Analysis of a high-resolution DEM of the Ozark Plateau supports this proposal; bedrock-incising streams occur throughout the plateau (locally producing incised meanders), and strath terraces can be identified. The rate of uplift, however, must be relatively slow, for drainages do not display knick points, and drainage networks display mature profiles. Given these constraints, we propose that the lithospheric architecture that distinguished the Ozark Dome from the Illinois Basin became established in the Neoproterozoic, and that the Ozark Plateau has been maintained isostatically by subsequent slow exhumation.

Polygenetic Karsted Hardground Omission Surfaces in Lower Silurian Neritic Limestones: a Signature of Early Paleozoic Calcite Seas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

James, Noel P.; Desrochers, André; Kyser, Kurt T.

2015-04-01

Exquisitely preserved and well-exposed rocky paleoshoreline omission surfaces in Lower Silurian Chicotte Formation limestones on Anticosti Island, Quebec, are interpreted to be the product of combined marine and meteoric diagenesis. The different omission features include; 1) planar erosional bedding tops, 2) scalloped erosional surfaces, 3) knobs, ridges, and swales at bedding contacts, and 4) paleoscarps. An interpretation is proposed that relates specific omission surface styles to different diagenetic-depositional processes that took place in separate terrestrial-peritidal-shallow neritic zones. Such processes were linked to fluctuations in relative sea level with specific zones of diagenesis such as; 1) karst corrosion, 2) peritidal erosion, 3) subtidal seawater flushing and cementation, and 4) shallow subtidal deposition. Most surfaces are interpreted to have been the result of initial extensive shallow-water synsedimentary lithification that were, as sea level fell, altered by exposure and subaerial corrosion, only to be buried by sediments as sea level rose again. This succession was repeated several times resulting in a suite of recurring polyphase omission surfaces through many meters of stratigraphic section. Synsedimentary cloudy marine cements are well preserved and are thus interpreted to have been calcitic originally. Aragonite components are rare and thought to have to have been dissolved just below the Silurian seafloor. Large molluscs that survived such seafloor removal were nonetheless leached and the resultant megamoulds were filled with synsedimentary calcite cement. These Silurian inner neritic-strandline omission surfaces are temporally unique. They are part of a suite of marine omission surfaces that are mostly found in early Paleozoic neritic carbonate sedimentary rocks. These karsted hardgrounds formed during a calcite-sea time of elevated marine carbonate saturation and extensive marine cement precipitation. The contemporaneous greenhouse atmosphere was supercharged with CO2 leading to profound surface karst under strongly acid rain. Younger peritidal omission surfaces, although potentially formed during aragonite or calcite sea times, would have been subject to very different terrestrial diagenetic process with lower atmospheric pCO2 values but increasingly complex biogenic soils producing dissimilar alteration features.

Paleogeography of the upper Paleozoic basins of southern South America: An overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Limarino, Carlos O.; Spalletti, Luis A.

2006-12-01

The paleogeographic evolution of Late Paleozoic basins located in southern South America is addressed. Three major types of basins are recognized: infracratonic or intraplate, arc-related, and retroarc. Intraplate basins (i.e., Paraná, Chaco-Paraná, Sauce Grande-Colorado, and La Golondrina) are floored by continental or quasi-continental crust, with low or moderate subsidence rates and limited magmatic and tectonic activity. Arc-related basins (northern and central Chile, Navidad-Arizaro, Río Blanco, and Calingasta-Uspallata basins and depocenters along Chilean Patagonia) show a very complex tectonic history, widespread magmatic activity, high subsidence rates, and in some cases metamorphism of Late Paleozoic sediments. An intermediate situation corresponds to the retroarc basins (eastern Madre de Dios, Tarija, Paganzo, and Tepuel-Genoa), which lack extensive magmatism and metamorphism but in which coeval tectonism and sedimentation rates were likely more important than those in the intraplate region. According to the stratigraphic distribution of Late Paleozoic sediments, regional-scale discontinuities, and sedimentation pattern changes, five major paleogeographic stages are proposed. The lowermost is restricted to the proto-Pacific and retroarc basins, corresponds to the Mississippian (stage 1), and is characterized by shallow marine and transitional siliciclastic sediments. During stage 2 (Early Pennsylvanian), glacial-postglacial sequences dominated the infracratonic (or intraplate) and retroarc basins, and terrigenous shallow marine sediments prevailed in arc-related basins. Stage 3 (Late Pennsylvanian-Early Cisuralian) shows the maximum extension of glacial-postglacial sediments in the Paraná and Sauce Grande-Colorado basins (intraplate region), whereas fluvial deposits interfingering with thin intervals of shallow marine sediments prevailed in the retroarc basins. To the west, arc-related basins were dominated by coastal to deep marine conditions (including turbiditic successions). In the Late Cisuralian (stage 4), important differences in sedimentation patterns are registered for the western arc-related basins and eastern intraplate basins. The former were locally dominated by volcaniclastic sediments or marine deposits, and the intraplate basins are characterized by shallow marine conditions punctuated by several episodes of deltaic progradation. Finally, in the Late Permian (stage 5), volcanism and volcaniclastic sedimentation dominated in basins located along the western South American margin. The intraplate basins in turn were characterized by T-R cycles composed of shallow marine, deltaic, and fluvial siliciclastic deposits.

Graphite in the Bishop Tuff and its effect on postcaldera oxygen fugacity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hildreth, Edward; Ryan-Davis, Juliet; Harlow, Benjamin

2017-01-01

Several cubic kilometers of Paleozoic graphite-bearing argillitic country rocks are present as lithic fragments in Bishop Tuff ignimbrite and fallout. The lithics were entrained by the 650 km3 of rhyolite magma that vented during the 5- to 6-day-long, caldera-forming eruption at Long Valley, California. The caldera is floored by a 350 km2 roof plate that collapsed during the eruption and consists in large part of the Paleozoic strata that provided the abundant hornfelsed metapelitic lithic clasts in the tuff. Graphite has been identified by Raman spectroscopy, electron-dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction as an irregularly dispersed component in the small fraction of Bishop Tuff pumice that is dark-colored. Carbon concentration has been determined in pumice, lithics, and wall rocks. Values of δ13C range from –21‰ to –29‰ Vienna Peedee Belemnite (VPDB) for pumice, lithics, and argillitic wall rocks, reflecting the biogenic origin of the reduced carbon in oxygen-limited black Paleozoic marine mudrocks. Carbonate contents, measured separately, are negligible in fresh pumice and lithics. Microprobe analyses of titanomagnetite-ilmenite pairs show that oxygen-fugacity values of numerous batches of postcaldera Early Rhyolite (750–640 ka; ~100 km3) are up to one log unit more reduced than those of the temperature–oxygen fugacity (T-fO2) array of the Bishop Tuff (767 ka), despite similar major-element compositions and Fe-Ti–oxide temperature ranges. All of the many batches of Early Rhyolite, which erupted episodically over an interval of ~125,000 years, yield the reduced fO2 values, indicating that reaction with graphite lowered magmatic fO2 after the caldera-forming eruption but before the first eruption of Early Rhyolite. It is inferred that reaction of postcaldera rhyolite magma with the reduced carbon in a great mass of subsided roof rocks lowered its fO2. It is suggested that comparable effects could have attended caldera collapse of other magma chambers hosted in continental sedimentary rocks.

Provenance of the exotic Northern Sierra terrane (North American Cordillera) based on U-Pb detrital zircon data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powerman, V.; Girty, G.; Hanson, R. E.; Grove, M.; Miller, E. L.; Hourigan, J. K.

2017-12-01

Ages of detrital zircons from the Northern Sierra terrane (NST) suggest an exotic provenance with respect to NW Laurentia. We have acquired U-Pb LA-ICPMS dz ages from 16 samples collected from the uppermost NST allochthon, the Sierra City mélange, and 1 sample from the lower Culbertson Lake allochthon. Age distributions can be divided into 3 partly intersecting groups: (a) 6 mélange samples and the 1 Culbertson Lake allochthon sample are dominated by >1 Ga grains; (b)5 samples are characterized by the additional presence of Early Paleozoic and Neoproterozoic grains (520-640;680-800;840-1000Ma); (c) 9 samples, 8 feldspathic, 1—qtz-rich, can be also characterized by the presence of 360-520Ma grains. These results strengthen the non Laurentian nature of detrital sources:(1)most of the detrital age distributions possess ages in the 1.49-1.61Ga interval, the "N.American magmatic gap";(2) Ediacaran zircons cannot be linked to any igneous event within West Laurentia. Most samples possess detrital age distributions that include the 1.0-2.0 Ga peak, characteristic of Baltica rather than Laurentia. These data, supplemented by SHRIMP-RG data (353-368Ma) from stitching igneous units suggest the following model: parts of NST were located at the NE margin of Baltica in the early Paleozoic, receiving "Baltica" (1.0-2.0 Ga) and "Timanide"(Late Vendian — Early Cambrian) zircons. This crustal block was later rifted away from Baltica and by mid-Paleozoic was juxtaposed with allochthons of presumably NW Laurentia provenance. The assembled terrane was involved in a subduction zone, resulting in the emplacement of 353-368Ma igneous rocks. The U-Pb detrital zircon age distributions presented here are similar to signatures of strata in along strike exotic terranes of the North American Cordillera (such as the Yreka terrane of the Klamath Mts., the Alexander terrane of S.Alaska and the Arctic Chukotka-Alaska terrane) by having Timanian, Baltica, and Caledonian signatures. Hence, it is likely that these blocks once shared a similar geologic history and have subsequently been displaced to their current positions.

Geochemistry of Early Paleozoic boninites from the Central Qilian block, Northwest China: Constraints on petrogenesis and back-arc basin development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Zhong; Zhang, Hong-Fei; Yang, He; Luo, Bi-Ji; Guo, Liang; Xu, Wang-Chun; Pan, Fa-Bin

2018-06-01

Early Paleozoic boninites occur in the Central Qilian orogenic belt, Northwest China. Their petrogenesis provides insights into lithosphere process and tectonic evolution of the Qilian block. In this paper, we carry out a study of geochronological, geochemical and Sr-Nd isotopic compositions for the Early Paleozoic boninites in the Lajishan area of the Central Qilian block. The Lajishan boninites (∼483 Ma) have high Al2O3/TiO2 (36.7-64.7) and CaO/TiO2 (31.1-49.6) ratios, and high MgO (7.86-10.47 wt%), Cr (439-599 ppm) and Ni (104-130 ppm) contents, indicating that the boninites result from a refractory mantle source. They are depleted in high field-strength elements (HFSE) and enriched in large ion lithophile elements (LILE), coupled with slightly high initial 87Sr/86Sr values of 0.7059-0.7074 and low εNd(t) values of -1.05 to +2.66, indicating that the mantle source was metasomatized by subducted slab-derived components. We found that an assemblage of low-Ca group and high-Ca group boninites occurred in the Lajishan belt. The high-Ca group boninites were derived from relatively fertile mantle with slightly higher melting degree, whereas the low-Ca group boninites were generated by partial melting of more refractory mantle wedge peridotites with slightly lower melting degree. The assemblage of low-Ca group and high-Ca group boninites reveals that the low-Ca group boninites were generated by the further melting of the more refractory mantle source after the segregation of the high-Ca group boninitic magmas in response to the back-arc basin opening. In the light of reported boninites worldwide, a diagram of Zr/Y vs. CaO/Al2O3 is used to identify boninites in fore-arc and back-arc regions. We suggest that the Lajishan boninites represent the products of back-arc basin development in response to the northward subduction of the Qaidam-West Qinling ocean slab.

Climate and vegetational regime shifts in the late Paleozoic ice age earth.

PubMed

DiMichele, W A; Montañez, I P; Poulsen, C J; Tabor, N J

2009-03-01

The late Paleozoic earth experienced alternation between glacial and non-glacial climates at multiple temporal scales, accompanied by atmospheric CO2 fluctuations and global warming intervals, often attended by significant vegetational changes in equatorial latitudes of Pangaea. We assess the nature of climate-vegetation interaction during two time intervals: middle-late Pennsylvanian transition and Pennsylvanian-Permian transition, each marked by tropical warming and drying. In case study 1, there is a catastrophic intra-biomic reorganization of dominance and diversity in wetland, evergreen vegetation growing under humid climates. This represents a threshold-type change, possibly a regime shift to an alternative stable state. Case study 2 is an inter-biome dominance change in western and central Pangaea from humid wetland and seasonally dry to semi-arid vegetation. Shifts between these vegetation types had been occurring in Euramerican portions of the equatorial region throughout the late middle and late Pennsylvanian, the drier vegetation reaching persistent dominance by Early Permian. The oscillatory transition between humid and seasonally dry vegetation appears to demonstrate a threshold-like behavior but probably not repeated transitions between alternative stable states. Rather, changes in dominance in lowland equatorial regions were driven by long-term, repetitive climatic oscillations, occurring with increasing intensity, within overall shift to seasonal dryness through time. In neither case study are there clear biotic or abiotic warning signs of looming changes in vegetational composition or geographic distribution, nor is it clear that there are specific, absolute values or rates of environmental change in temperature, rainfall distribution and amount, or atmospheric composition, approach to which might indicate proximity to a terrestrial biotic-change threshold.

North America as an exotic terrane'' and the origin of the Appalachian--Andean Mountain system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dalziel, I.W.D; Gahagan, L.M.; Dalla Salda, L.H.

1992-01-01

North America was sutured to Gondwana in the terminal Alleghanian event of Appalachian orogenesis, thus completing the late Paleozoic assembly of Pangea. The suggestion that the Pacific margins of East Antarctica-Australia and Laurentia may have been juxtaposed during the Neoproterozoic prompts reevaluation of the widely held assumptions that the ancestral Appalachian margin rifted from northwestern Africa during the earliest Paleozoic opening of Iapetus, and remained juxtaposed to that margin, even though widely separated from it at times, until the assembly of Pangea. The lower Paleozoic carbonate platform of northwestern Argentina has been known for a long time to contain Olenellidmore » trilobites of the Pacific or Columbian realm. Although normally regarded as some kind of far-travelled terrane that originated along the Appalachian margin of Laurentia, it has recently been interpreted as a fragment detached from the Ouachita embayment of Laurentia following Taconic-Famatinian collision with Gondwana during the Ordovician. The Oaxaca terrane of Mexico, on the other hand, contains a Tremadocian trilobite fauna of Argentine-Bolivian affinities, and appears to have been detached from Gondwana following the same collision. The Wilson cycle'' of Iapetus ocean basin opening and closing along the Appalachian and Andean orogens may have involved more than one such continental collision during clockwise drift of Laurentia around South America following late Neoproterozoic to earliest Cambrian separation. Together with the collisions of baltic and smaller terranes with Laurentia, this could explain the protracted Paleozoic orogenic history of both the Appalachian and proto-Andean orogens.« less

Sequential development of structural heterogeneity in the Granny Creek oil field of West Virginia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilson, T.H.; Zheng, L.; Shumaker, R.C.

1993-08-01

Analysis of Vibroseis and weight-drop seismic data over the Granny Creek oil field in the Appalachian foreland of West Virginia indicates that the field's development has been effected by episodic Paleozoic reactivation of fault blocks rooted in the Precambrian crystalline basement. The imprint of structures associated with the Rome trough penetrates the overlying Paleozoic sedimentary cover. Reactivation histories of individual fault blocks vary considerably throughout the Paleozoic. In general, the relative displacement of these basement fault blocks decrease exponentially during the Paleozoic; however, this pattern is interrupted by periods of increased tectonic activity and relative inversion of offsets along somemore » faults. The distribution of late-stage detached structures during the Alleghenian orogeny also appears, in part, to be controlled by mechanical anisotrophy within the detached section related to the reactivation of deeper structures in the crystalline basement. The net effect is a complex time-variable pattern of structures that partly controls the location of the reservoir and heterogeneity within the geometric framework of the reservoir. Structural heterogeneity in the Granny Creek area is subdivided on the basis of scale into structures associated with variations of oil production within the reservoir. Variations of production within the field are related, in part, to small detached structures and reactivated basement faults.« less

Early cretaceous topographic growth of the Lhasaplano, Tibetan plateau: Constraints from the Damxung conglomerate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jian-Gang; Hu, Xiumian; Garzanti, Eduardo; Ji, Wei-Qiang; Liu, Zhi-Chao; Liu, Xiao-Chi; Wu, Fu-Yuan

2017-07-01

Constraining the timing of early topographic growth on the Tibetan plateau is critical for any models of India-Asia collision, Himalayan orogeny and subsequent plateau development in the Cenozoic. Stratigraphic, sedimentological and provenance analysis of the Lower Cretaceous red-beds of the Damxung Conglomerate provide new key information to reconstruct the paleogeography and the tectonic evolution of the Lhasa terrane at the time. The over 700-m-thick Damxung Conglomerate documents distal alluvial fan to braidplain sedimentation passing upward to proximal alluvial fan sedimentation. Deposition began near sea level, as documented by limestone beds occurring at the base of the unit. Zircon U-Pb dating of interbedded tuff layers constrain deposition age at ca. 111 Ma. Abundance of volcanic clasts, Cretaceous U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes of detrital zircons yielding mainly negative ɛHf(t) values together with paleocurrent data indicate an active volcanic source located in the North Lhasa subterrane. Pre-Mesozoic-aged zircon, recycled quartz and (meta) sedimentary rock fragments increase up-section, indicating progressive erosional exhumation of the Paleozoic sedimentary/metasedimentary basement. The Damxung Conglomerate thus records a significant uplift and unroofing stage in the source region, implying initial topographic growth on the Lhasa terrane at early Albian time. Early Cretaceous topographic growth on the Lhasa terrane is supported by the stratigraphic record in the Linzhou basin, the Xigaze forearc basin and the southern Nima basin. In contrast, marine strata in the central-western Lhasa terrane lasted until the early Cenomanian (ca. 96 Ma), indicating diachronous marine regression on the Lhasa terrane from east to west.

Eclogite-facies metamorphism in impure marble from north Qaidam orogenic belt: Geodynamic implications for early Paleozoic continental-arc collision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xin; Xu, Rongke; Schertl, Hans-Peter; Zheng, Youye

2018-06-01

In the North Qaidam ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic belt, impure marble and interbedded eclogite represent a particular sedimentary provenance and tectonic setting, which have important implications for a controversial problem - the dynamic evolution of early Paleozoic subduction-collision complexes. In this contribution, detailed field work, mineral chemistry, and whole-rock geochemistry are presented for impure marble to provide the first direct evidence for the recycling of carbonate sediments under ultrahigh-pressures during subduction and collision in the Yuka terrane, in the North Qaidam UHP metamorphic belt. According to conventional geothermobarometry, pre-peak subduction to 0.8-1.3 GPa/485-569 °C was followed by peak UHP metamorphism at 2.5-3.3 GPa/567-754 °C and cooling to amphibolite facies conditions at 0.6-0.7 GPa/571-589 °C. U-Pb dating of zircons from impure marble reveals a large group with ages ranging from 441 to 458 Ma (peak at 450 Ma), a smaller group ranging from 770 to 1000 Ma (peak at 780 Ma), and minor >1.8 Ga zircon aged ca. 430 Ma UHP metamorphism. The youngest detrital zircons suggest a maximum depositional age of ca. 442 Ma and a burial rate of ca. 1.0-1.1 cm/yr when combined with P-T conditions and UHP metamorphic age. The REE and trace element patterns of impure marble with positive Sr and U anomalies, negative high field strength elements (Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, and Ti), and Ce anomalies imply that the marble had a marine limestone precursor. Impure marble intercalated with micaschist and eclogite was similar to limestone and siltstone protoliths deposited in continental fore-arc or arc setting with basic volcanic activity. Therefore, the Yuka terrane most likely evolved in a continental island arc setting during the Paleozoic. These data suggest that metasediments were derived from a mixture of Proterozoic continental crust and juvenile early Paleozoic oceanic and/or island arc crust. In addition, their protoliths were likely deposited in a terrigenous-dominated forearc marine basin rather than an intracontinental basin environment, further evidence that some continental arc volcanic rock may have been the source of eclogite in the North Qaidam. These sediments, formed in a forearc basin close to the Qaidam Block to the north, were transported in the subduction zone to 100-110 km depth with UHP metamorphism prior to exhumation. Meanwhile, the new results suggest that subduction erosion occurred along the active continental margin during the Qaidam Block with north-dipping subduction, indicating that the North Qaidam UHP metamorphic belt may have formed during continental-arc collision.

Paleomagnetism and the evolution of Pangea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morel, P.; Irving, E.

1981-03-01

We present new apparent polar wandering (APW) paths for the latest Carboniferous to Middle Jurassic of Europe-northern Asia, North America, and Gondwana. The paths have been constructed by ordering the paleopoles into a time sequence and calculating running averages. Globally, this statistical analysis cannot be carried back before the latest Carboniferous, because the paleomagnetic record becomes inadequate. The polar paths have all been rotated along with the land masses from which they have been observed into the classical configuration of Wegener (Pangea A) as quantified by later workers. The mean paleopoles agree in the Early Jurassic but disagree in the latest Carboniferous, Permian, and Early Triassic. This result is insensitive to reasonable choices made regarding the arrangement of the continents within Gondwana; it is true either for results from Gondwana as a whole or from Africa and South America alone. This disagreement in APW paths suggests (but does not prove) that Pangea A lasted for only a short interval of time in the Early to Middle Jurassic (190-170 m.y.) and perhaps the latest Triassic (200 m.y.). Alternatively, we may say either that the paleomagnetic record is biassed by sampling inadequacies or by systematically incorrect age assignments, or that the earth's field has been non-dipolar. We regard these explanations as less likely, although they cannot be discounted. The polar paths can be reconciled by rotating Gondwana anticlockwise by about 35° relative to Laurasia, placing Africa beneath Europe, and South America beneath eastern North America. This configuration is called Pangea B. Pangea B could be a valid reconstruction for the latest Carboniferous and Early Permian (approximately 290-260 m.y.). Pangea B provides a statistically satisfactory resolution of the paleomagnetic problem. It also provides a symmetrical arrangement of the continents bordering the Appalachian-Hercynian fold belt for the Late Paleozoic (which Pangea A does not), it provides a satisfactory framework for the early evolution of the Gulf of Mexico, and it provides an explanation of the absence of geological evidence for a Tethys ocean in the Paleozoic. The transition between B and A cannot be accurately reconstructed from the paleomagnetic data, because the resolution of the record is as yet inadequate, but it presumably occurred by a 3500-km minimum dextral megashear between Laurasia and Gondwana during the late Permian and Triassic (approximately 250-200 m.y.), without the formation of ocean between them, and was accompanied by lesser motions between North America and Europe. The sense of megashear is the same as that invoked by Arthaud and Matte (1977) on geological grounds, but the magnitude and timing are different. Our interpretation favors the idea that continental drift is a continuous process, not confined to Jurassic and later times, but extending backwards into the Triassic and Permian. We suggest that Pangea was not an immobile configuration as envisaged by Wegener and most subsequent workers but that it evolved more or less continuously.

The Implementation of 2-D Resistivity Method in Verifying Paleozoic Aquifer Properties at Bukit Chondong, Perlis (Malaysia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maslinda, Umi; Nordiana, M. M.; Bery, A. A.; Afiq Saharudin, Muhamad; Hisham, Hazrul; Taqiuddin, Z. M.; Sulaiman, Nabila; Nur Amalina, M. K. A.; Nordiana, A. N.

2017-04-01

The research was conducted using 2-D resistivity in verifying Paleozoic aquifer. Since most geologic materials behave as electrical insulators, surface measurements of earth resistivity are controlled by the electrolytic ability of interstitial water. The subsurface distribution of water is controlled by the porosity of the formations. The study area is at Bukit Chondong, Beseri, Perlis. Bukit Chondong is made of sedimentary rock which mostly is sandstone. Bukit Chondong is from uppermost of the Kubang Pasu Formation that represented by a thick unit of grey mudstone interbedded with sandstone. The Kubang Pasu Formation was influenced by shallow marine during the early age. Paleocurrent and fossils traces were found on the mudstone at the study area. The area is suspected to be a Paleozoic aquifer because the sandstone can be a productive aquifer with diffuse flow. The water movement in sandstone is through the fractures and joints. Most of the water stores and transmits in sandstone. The interbedded sandstone and mudstone is one of the aquifer characteristic. Sandstone and mudstone are water-bearing rocks and low-permeable rocks respectively. The data was processed according to the geological information of the study area since there was an outcrop. The study area have low resistivity value which both sandstone and mudstone give less than 800 Ohm-m due to the water content (Sulphide and clay).

The armoured dissorophid Cacops from the Early Permian of Oklahoma and the exploitation of the terrestrial realm by amphibians.

PubMed

Reisz, Robert R; Schoch, Rainer R; Anderson, Jason S

2009-07-01

Cacops, one of the most distinctive Paleozoic amphibians, is part of a clade of dissorophoid temnospondyls that diversified in the equatorial region of Pangea during the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian, persisting into the Late Permian in Central Russia and China. Dissorophids were a successful group of fully terrestrial, often spectacularly armoured predators, the only amphibians apparently able to coexist with amniotes when the latter started to dominate terrestrial ecosystems. In this paper, we describe excellent new skulls from the Early Permian of Oklahoma attributed to Cacops, Cacops morrisi sp. nov. and provide for the first time detailed information about this iconic dissorophid. These specimens show anatomical and ontogenetic features that will impact on future studies on the evolution of terrestriality in tetrapods. For example, the large, posteriorly closed tympanic embayment has fine striations on an otherwise smooth surface, documenting the oldest known clear evidence for the presence of a tympanic membrane in the fossil record, a structure that is used for hearing airborne sound in extant tetrapods. The skull of C. morrisi also has several features associated with predatory behaviour, indicating that this dissorophid may have been one of the top terrestrial predators of its time.

Geology of the Deep Creek area, Washington, and its regional significance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yates, Robert Giertz

1976-01-01

This report, although primarily concerned with the stratigraphy and structure of a lead-zinc mining district in northern Stevens County, Washington, discusses and integrates the geology of the region about the Deep Creek area. Although the study centers in an area of about 200 square miles immediately south of the International Boundary, the regional background comes from: (1)the previously undescribed Northport quadrangle to the west, (2) published reports and reconnaissance of the Metaline quadrangle to the east, and (3) from published reports and maps of a 16 mile wide area that lies to the north adjacent to these three quadrangles in British Columbia. The report is divided into three parts: (1) descriptions of rocks and structures of the Deep Creek area, (2) descriptions of the regional setting of the Deep Creek area, and (3) an analysis and interpretation of the depositional and tectonic events that produced the geologic features exposed today. In the Deep Creek area surficial deposits of sand and gravel of glacial origin cover much of the consolidated rocks, which range in age from greenschist of the late Precambrlan to albite granite of the Eocene. Three broad divisions of depositional history are represented: (1) Precambrian, (2) lower Paleozoic and (3) upper Paleozoic; the record of the Mesozoic and Eocene is fragmentary. The lower Paleozoic division is the only fossil-controlled sequence; the age of the other two divisions were established by less direct methods. Both Precambrian and upper Paleozoic sequences are dominated by fine-grained detrital sediments, the Precambrian tending towards the alumina-rich and the upper Paleozoic tending towards the black shale facies with high silica. Neither sequence has more than trivial amounts of coarse clastics. Both include limestones, but in minor abundance. The lower Paleozoic sequence, on the other hand, represents a progressive change in deposition. The sequence began during the very late Precambrian with the deposition of clean quartz sand. This was followed by the accumulation of a comparatively thin limestone unit succeeded by a thick shale. The shale grades into a thick carbonate unit which in turn is overlain by black graptolitic slates (Ordovician). This general order of deposition holds for the Cambro-Ordovician throughout the area. Precambrian rocks indigenous to the Deep Creek area, have undergone at least six tectonic events of greatly different intensities. The first three of these events are epeirogentic, the fourth involves intense folding, the fifth, crossfolding, and the sixth, block faulting without folding. These events are dated with varying degrees of precision. The two epeirogentic events of the Precambrian, one gentle folding at the beginning of Windermere time and the other high angle faulting and volcanism in mid-Windermere time, did little to deform or metamorphose the rocks. The third event consists of uplift of northern Idaho and adjacent Montana and westward decollement thrusting of essentially unfolded lower Paleozoic rocks. The decollement faulting is inferred to explain anomalous rock distribution and cannot be accurately dated. It occurred sometime after the Devonian and before the Jurassic. A late Paleozoic age is favored.

From Texas to the Northwest Territories: Low temperature history of the North American craton using a radiation damage model for apatite He diffusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flowers, R. M.; Ault, A. K.; Wolin, E.; Kelley, S.; Bowring, S. A.

2009-12-01

The radiation damage accumulation and annealing model (RDAAM) for apatite He diffusion helps resolve previously enigmatic characteristics of apatite (U-Th)/He data in cratonic regions. First, nonlinear positive date-eU correlations are predicted for many T-t paths, thus explaining excessive scatter in some (U-Th)/He datasets. Second, under common circumstances, the RDAAM predicts (U-Th)/He dates that are older than corresponding apatite fission-track (AFT) dates, helping reconcile previous data in which (U-Th)/He dates were older than expected using Durango He diffusion kinetics. We present five apatite (U-Th)/He datasets, three with co-existing AFT data, from the North American craton that can quantitatively be explained by the RDAAM. These datasets include three from the Canadian shield (Trans-Hudson Orogen, Lake Athabasca region, Slave Craton) and two from the U.S. midcontinent (Kansas, Texas panhandle). All samples are Precambrian (4.0-1.6 Ga) basement, except for Triassic-Jurassic sandstones analyzed in the Texas study. We use the results of these studies to evaluate broad thermal history patterns across the North American craton. Although each dataset yields a distinct thermal history, all can be accounted for by varying the magnitudes of two well-documented episodes of burial and unroofing in Paleozoic-Mesozoic and Cretaceous-Tertiary times. The oldest consistent (U-Th)/He and AFT dates of these studies are early Paleozoic and are preserved in the Trans-Hudson Orogen. Together with a strong (U-Th)/He date-eU correlation and dates as young as Jurassic in the Lake Athabasca region, as well as widespread Permo-Triassic dates from the Slave craton, the three Canadian shield datasets are most simply explained by increased magnitudes of burial toward the northwest in Paleozoic-Mesozoic time, with less significant burial in the Cretaceous. In contrast, (U-Th)/He data from Kansas yield a date-eU correlation and a cluster of Cretaceous dates, (U-Th)/He dates from the Texas panhandle are Cretaceous-Tertiary, and AFT dates from both areas are Permo-Triassic. Thus, the U.S. midcontinent datasets preserve a significant Cretaceous-Tertiary signal, requiring more substantial burial and unroofing during this time than the Canadian results. These younger dates in Texas and Kansas are likely related to flat slab evolution beneath the western U.S. in Cretaceous-Tertiary time, while the absence of this strong signal in the Canadian shield data is consistent with the lack of a flat slab beneath that region. The NW-SE trend in Paleozoic-Mesozoic thermal histories in the Canadian shield may be related to earlier spatial variability in plate margin subduction processes. The ability of the RDAAM to account for otherwise inexplicable aspects of the data presented here suggests that we can now reliably couple (U-Th)/He and AFT techniques to decipher low temperature cratonic histories in unprecedented detail, permitting insight into how cratons respond to external tectonic forces in the billions of years following their stabilization.

First data on age of metarhyolites from the Turan Group of the Bureya Terrane, eastern part of the Central Asian Foldbelt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorokin, A. A.; Smirnov, Yu. V.; Smirnova, Yu. N.; Kudryashov, N. M.

2011-07-01

The U-Pb geochronological studies showed that metarhyolites from the Turan Group of the Bureya (Turan) Terrane to the east of the Central Asian Foldbelt are Middle Cambrian (504 ± 8 Ma), not Neoproterozoic in age, as was suggested before. Metarhyolites are younger than the Early Cambrian terrigenous-carbonate sediments from this terrane characterized by the Atdabanian archaeochyatid. Considering that volcanic rocks have features of intraplate origin, it may be assumed that their formation corresponds to the breakup of the Early Paleozoic passive continental margin.

Structure, stratigraphy, and petroleum geology of the Little Plain basin, northwestern Hungary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mattick, R.E.; Teleki, P.G.; Phillips, R.L.; Clayton, J.L.; David, G.; Pogcsas, G.; Bardocz, B.; Simon, E.

1996-01-01

The basement of the Little Plain (Kisalfo??ld) basin is composed of two parts: an eastern part comprised of folded and overthrusted Triassic and Paleozoic rocks of the Pelso block (Transdanubian Central Range) compressed in the Early Cretaceous, and a western part consisting of stacked nappes of the Austroalpine zone of Paleozoic rocks, significantly metamorphosed during Cretaceous and later compression, overriding Jurassic oceanic rift-zone rocks of the Penninic zone. The evolution of the basin began in the late Karpatian-early Badenian (middle Miocene) when the eastern part of the basin began to open along conjugate sets of northeast- and northwest-trending normal faults. Neogene rocks in the study area, on the average, contain less than 0.5 wt. % total organic carbon (TOC) and, therefore, are not considered effective source rocks. Locally, however, where TOC values are as high as 3 wt. %, significant amounts of gas may have been generated and expelled. Although potential stratigraphic traps are numerous in the Neogene section, these potential traps must be downgraded because of the small amount of hydrocarbons discovered in structural traps to date. With the exception of the Cretaceous, the Mesozoic section has not been actively explored. Large anticlinal and overthrust structures involving pre-Cretaceous strata remain undrilled.

Sedimentary facies of the upper Cambrian (Furongian; Jiangshanian and Sunwaptan) Tunnel City Group, Upper Mississippi Valley: new insight on the old stormy debate

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eoff, Jennifer D.

2014-01-01

New data from detailed measured sections permit a comprehensive revision of the sedimentary facies of the Furongian (upper Cambrian; Jiangshanian and Sunwaptan stages) Tunnel City Group (Lone Rock Formation and Mazomanie Formation) of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Heterogeneous sandstones, comprising seven lithofacies along a depositional transect from shoreface to transitional-offshore environments, record sedimentation in a storm-dominated, shallow-marine epicontinental sea. The origin of glauconite in the Birkmose Member and Reno Member of the Lone Rock Formation was unclear, but its formation and preserved distribution are linked to inferred depositional energy rather than just net sedimentation rate. Flat-pebble conglomerate, abundant in lower Paleozoic strata, was associated with the formation of a condensed section during cratonic flooding. Hummocky cross-stratification was a valuable tool used to infer depositional settings and relative paleobathymetry, and the model describing formation of this bedform is expanded to address flow types dominant during its genesis, in particular the importance of an early unidirectional component of combined flow. The depositional model developed here for the Lone Rock Formation and Mazomanie Formation is broadly applicable to other strata common to the early Paleozoic that document sedimentation along flooded cratonic interiors or shallow shelves.

Jurassic cooling ages in Paleozoic to early Mesozoic granitoids of northeastern Patagonia: 40Ar/39Ar, 40K-40Ar mica and U-Pb zircon evidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez Dopico, Carmen I.; Tohver, Eric; López de Luchi, Mónica G.; Wemmer, Klaus; Rapalini, Augusto E.; Cawood, Peter A.

2017-10-01

U-Pb SHRIMP zircon crystallization ages and Ar-Ar and K-Ar mica cooling ages for basement rocks of the Yaminué and Nahuel Niyeu areas in northeastern Patagonia are presented. Granitoids that cover the time span from Ordovician to Early Triassic constitute the main outcrops of the western sector of the Yaminué block. The southern Yaminué Metaigneous Complex comprises highly deformed Ordovician and Permian granitoids crosscut by undeformed leucogranite dikes (U-Pb SHRIMP zircon age of 254 ± 2 Ma). Mica separates from highly deformed granitoids from the southern sector yielded an Ar-Ar muscovite age of 182 ± 3 Ma and a K-Ar biotite age of 186 ± 2 Ma. Moderately to highly deformed Permian to Early Triassic granitoids made up the northern Yaminué Complex. The Late Permian to Early Triassic (U-Pb SHRIMP zircon age of 252 ± 6 Ma) Cabeza de Vaca Granite of the Yaminué block yielded Jurassic mica K-Ar cooling ages (198 ± 2, 191 ± 1, and 190 ± 2 Ma). At the boundary between the Yaminué and Nahuel Niyeu blocks, K-Ar muscovite ages of 188 ± 3 and 193 ± 5 Ma were calculated for the Flores Granite, whereas the Early Permian Navarrete granodiorite, located in the Nahuel Niyeu block, yielded a K-Ar biotite age of 274 ± 4 Ma. The Jurassic thermal history is not regionally uniform. In the supracrustal exposures of the Nahuel Niyeu block, the Early Permian granitoids of its western sector as well as other Permian plutons and Ordovician leucogranites located further east show no evidence of cooling age reset since mica ages suggest cooling in the wake of crystallization of these intrusive rocks. In contrast, deeper crustal levels are inferred for Permian-Early Triassic granitoids in the Yaminué block since cooling ages for these rocks are of Jurassic age (198-182 Ma). Jurassic resetting is contemporaneous with the massive Lower Jurassic Flores Granite, and the Marifil and Chon Aike volcanic provinces. This intraplate deformational pulse that affected northeastern Patagonia during the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian-Pliensbachian) was responsible for the partial (re)exhumation of the mid-crustal Paleozoic basement along reactivated discrete NE-SW to ENE-WSW lineaments and the resetting of isotopic systems. These new thermochronological data indicate that Early Permian magmatic rocks of the Nahuel Niyeu block were below 300 °C for ca. 20 Ma prior to the onset of the main magmatic episode of the Late Permian to Triassic igneous and metaigneous rocks of the Yaminué block.

Evidence for Late-Paleozoic brine migration in Cambrian carbonate rocks of the central and southern Appalachians: Implications for Mississippi Valley-type sulfide mineralization

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hearn, P.P.; Sutter, J.F.; Belkin, H.E.

1987-01-01

Many Lower Paleozoic limestones and dolostones in the Valley and Ridge province of the central and southern Appalachians contain 10 to 25 weight percent authigenic potassium feldspar. This was considered to be a product of early diagenesis, however, 40Ar 39Ar analyses of overgrowths on detrital K-feldspar in Cambrian carbonate rocks from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee yield Late Carboniferous-Early Permian ages (278-322 Ma). Simple mass balance calculations suggest that the feldspar could not have formed isochemically, but required the flux of multiple pore volumes of fluid through the rocks, reflecting regional fluid migration events during the Late-Paleozoic Alleghanian orogeny. Microthermometric measurements of fluid inclusions in overgrowths on detrital K-feldspar and quartz grains from unmineralized rocks throughout the study area indicate homogenization temperatures from 100?? to 200??C and freezing point depressions of -14?? to -18.5??C (18-21 wt.% NaCl equiv). The apparent similarity of these fluids to fluid inclusions in ore and gangue minerals of nearby Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits suggests that the regional occurrences of authigenic K-feldspar and MVT mineralization may be genetically related. This hypothesis is supported by the discovery of authigenic K-feldspar intergrown with sphalerite in several mines of the Mascot-Jefferson City District, E. Tennessee. Regional potassic alteration in unmineralized carbonate rocks and localized occurrences of MVT mineralization are both explainable by a gravity-driven flow model, in which deep brines migrate towards the basin margin under a hydraulic gradient established during the Alleghanian orogeny. The authigenic K-feldspar may reflect the loss of K during disequilibrium cooling of the ascending brines. MVT deposits are probably localized manifestations of the same migrating fluids, occurring where the necessary physical and chemical traps are present. ?? 1987.

Reconstructing the role of South China in Pangea and earlier supercontinents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cawood, Peter; Zhao, Guochun; Yao, Jinlong; Wang, Wei; Xu, Yajun; Wang, Yuejun

2017-04-01

The history of the South China Craton and the constituent Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks is directly linked to Earth's Phanerozoic and Precambrian record of supercontinent assembly and dispersal. Exposed Archean rocks are limited to isolated fragments in the Yangtze Block and preserve a record of Meso- to Neo-Archean igneous activity, sedimentation and metamorphism associated with a period of global craton formation and stabilization that corresponds with assembly of the Kenor supercontinent/supercraton. However, there is insufficient data to link its history with other similar aged cratons. The tectonostratigraphic record in South China in the Paleoproterozoic, corresponding with assembly of Nuna, suggests that rock units in the Yangtze Block were spatially linked with northwestern Laurentia and possibly Siberia, whereas Cathaysia was joined to northern India. From the formation of Rodinia at the end of the Mesoproterozoic through to that of Pangea in the mid-Paleozoic, Cathaysia remained joined to northern India. Early Neoproterozoic supra-subduction zone magmatic arc-back arc assemblages ranging in age from 1000 Ma to 810 Ma occur within Cathaysia, along its northwestern margin, and along the southeastern margin of the Yangtze Block. These rocks provide a record of convergent plate interaction along the periphery of Rodinia, which continued along the western margin of the Yangtze Block until around 700 Ma and correlates with similar along strike subduction zone magmatism in northwest India, Seychelles and Madagascar. During final assembly of Gondwana in the early Paleozoic suturing of India-South China with the Western Australia-Mawson blocks along the Kuunga Orogen resulted in the accretion of the Sanya Block of Hainan Island with the rest of Cathaysia. The accretion of Laurussia to Gondwana in the mid-Paleozoic to form Pangea corresponds with the initiation of lithospheric extension along the northern margin of Gondwana and the separation of a number of continental blocks, including South China, which then drifted northward across the Paleo-Tethys to collide with the Asian segment of Pangea in the Permo-Triassic.

Deep mantle structure as a reference frame for movements in and on the Earth

PubMed Central

Torsvik, Trond H.; van der Voo, Rob; Doubrovine, Pavel V.; Burke, Kevin; Steinberger, Bernhard; Ashwal, Lewis D.; Trønnes, Reidar G.; Webb, Susan J.; Bull, Abigail L.

2014-01-01

Earth’s residual geoid is dominated by a degree-2 mode, with elevated regions above large low shear-wave velocity provinces on the core–mantle boundary beneath Africa and the Pacific. The edges of these deep mantle bodies, when projected radially to the Earth’s surface, correlate with the reconstructed positions of large igneous provinces and kimberlites since Pangea formed about 320 million years ago. Using this surface-to-core–mantle boundary correlation to locate continents in longitude and a novel iterative approach for defining a paleomagnetic reference frame corrected for true polar wander, we have developed a model for absolute plate motion back to earliest Paleozoic time (540 Ma). For the Paleozoic, we have identified six phases of slow, oscillatory true polar wander during which the Earth’s axis of minimum moment of inertia was similar to that of Mesozoic times. The rates of Paleozoic true polar wander (<1°/My) are compatible with those in the Mesozoic, but absolute plate velocities are, on average, twice as high. Our reconstructions generate geologically plausible scenarios, with large igneous provinces and kimberlites sourced from the margins of the large low shear-wave velocity provinces, as in Mesozoic and Cenozoic times. This absolute kinematic model suggests that a degree-2 convection mode within the Earth’s mantle may have operated throughout the entire Phanerozoic. PMID:24889632

Deep mantle structure as a reference frame for movements in and on the Earth.

PubMed

Torsvik, Trond H; van der Voo, Rob; Doubrovine, Pavel V; Burke, Kevin; Steinberger, Bernhard; Ashwal, Lewis D; Trønnes, Reidar G; Webb, Susan J; Bull, Abigail L

2014-06-17

Earth's residual geoid is dominated by a degree-2 mode, with elevated regions above large low shear-wave velocity provinces on the core-mantle boundary beneath Africa and the Pacific. The edges of these deep mantle bodies, when projected radially to the Earth's surface, correlate with the reconstructed positions of large igneous provinces and kimberlites since Pangea formed about 320 million years ago. Using this surface-to-core-mantle boundary correlation to locate continents in longitude and a novel iterative approach for defining a paleomagnetic reference frame corrected for true polar wander, we have developed a model for absolute plate motion back to earliest Paleozoic time (540 Ma). For the Paleozoic, we have identified six phases of slow, oscillatory true polar wander during which the Earth's axis of minimum moment of inertia was similar to that of Mesozoic times. The rates of Paleozoic true polar wander (<1°/My) are compatible with those in the Mesozoic, but absolute plate velocities are, on average, twice as high. Our reconstructions generate geologically plausible scenarios, with large igneous provinces and kimberlites sourced from the margins of the large low shear-wave velocity provinces, as in Mesozoic and Cenozoic times. This absolute kinematic model suggests that a degree-2 convection mode within the Earth's mantle may have operated throughout the entire Phanerozoic.

Global plate boundary evolution and kinematics since the late Paleozoic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matthews, Kara J.; Maloney, Kayla T.; Zahirovic, Sabin; Williams, Simon E.; Seton, Maria; Müller, R. Dietmar

2016-11-01

Many aspects of deep-time Earth System models, including mantle convection, paleoclimatology, paleobiogeography and the deep Earth carbon cycle, require high-resolution plate motion models that include the evolution of the mosaic of plate boundaries through time. We present the first continuous late Paleozoic to present-day global plate model with evolving plate boundaries, building on and extending two previously published models for the late Paleozoic (410-250 Ma) and Mesozoic-Cenozoic (230-0 Ma). We ensure continuity during the 250-230 Ma transition period between the two models, update the absolute reference frame of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic model and add a new Paleozoic reconstruction for the Baltica-derived Alexander Terrane, now accreted to western North America. This 410-0 Ma open access model provides a framework for deep-time whole Earth modelling and acts as a base for future extensions and refinement. We analyse the model in terms of the number of plates, predicted plate size distribution, plate and continental root mean square (RMS) speeds, plate velocities and trench migration through time. Overall model trends share many similarities to those for recent times, which we use as a first order benchmark against which to compare the model and identify targets for future model refinement. Except for during the period 260-160 Ma, the number of plates (16-46) and ratio of "large" plates (≥ 107.5 km2) to smaller plates ( 2.7-6.6) are fairly similar to present-day values (46 and 6.6, respectively), with lower values occurring during late Paleozoic assembly and growth of Pangea. This temporal pattern may also reflect difficulties in reconstructing small, now subducted oceanic plates further back in time, as well as whether a supercontinent is assembling or breaking up. During the 260-160 Ma timeframe the model reaches a minima in the number of plates, in contrast to what we would expect during initial Pangea breakup and thus highlighting the need for refinement of the relative plate motion model. Continental and plate RMS speeds show an overall increase backwards through time from 200 to 365 Ma, reaching a peak at 365 Ma of > 14 and > 16 cm/yr, respectively, compared to 3 and 5 cm/yr, respectively, at present-day. The median value of trench motion remains close to, yet above 0 cm/yr for most of the model timeframe, with a dominance in positive values reflecting a prevalence of trench retreat over advance. Trench advance speeds are excessive during the 370-160 Ma period, reaching more than four times that observed at present-day. Extended periods of trench advance and global continental and plate RMS speeds that far exceed present-day values warrant further investigation. Future work should test whether alternative absolute reference frames or relative motions would mitigate these high speeds, while still being consistent with geologic and geophysical observations, or alternatively focus on identifying potential driving mechanisms to account for such rapid motions.

A new reconstruction of the Paleozoic continental margin of southwestern North America: Implications for the nature and timing of continental truncation and the possible role of the Mojave-Sonora megashear

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stevens, C.H.; Stone, P.; Miller, J.S.

2005-01-01

Data bearing on interpretations of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic paleogeography of southwestern North America are important for testing the hypothesis that the Paleozoic miogeocline in this region has been tectonically truncated, and if so, for ascertaining the time of the event and the possible role of the Mojave-Sonora megashear. Here, we present an analysis of existing and new data permitting reconstruction of the Paleozoic continental margin of southwestern North America. Significant new and recent information incorporated into this reconstruction includes (1) spatial distribution of Middle to Upper Devonian continental-margin facies belts, (2) positions of other paleogeographically significant sedimentary boundaries on the Paleozoic continental shelf, (3) distribution of Upper Permian through Upper Triassic plutonic rocks, and (4) evidence that the southern Sierra Nevada and western Mojave Desert are underlain by continental crust. After restoring the geology of western Nevada and California along known and inferred strike-slip faults, we find that the Devonian facies belts and pre-Pennsylvanian sedimentary boundaries define an arcuate, generally south-trending continental margin that appears to be truncated on the southwest. A Pennsylvanian basin, a Permian coral belt, and a belt of Upper Permian to Upper Triassic plutons stretching from Sonora, Mexico, into westernmost central Nevada, cut across the older facies belts, suggesting that truncation of the continental margin occurred in the Pennsylvanian. We postulate that the main truncating structure was a left-lateral transform fault zone that extended from the Mojave-Sonora megashear in northwestern Mexico to the Foothills Suture in California. The Caborca block of northwestern Mexico, where Devonian facies belts and pre-Pennsylvanian sedimentary boundaries like those in California have been identified, is interpreted to represent a missing fragment of the continental margin that underwent ???400 km of left-lateral displacement along this fault zone. If this model is correct, the Mojave-Sonora megashear played a direct role in the Pennsylvanian truncation of the continental margin, and any younger displacement on this fault has been relatively small. ?? 2005 Geological Society of America.

Maps showing geology, structure, and geophysics of the central Black Hills, South Dakota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Redden, Jack A.; DeWitt, Ed

2008-01-01

This 1:100,000-scale digital geologic map details the complex Early Proterozoic granitic rocks, Early Proterozoic supracrustal metamorphic rocks, and Archean crystalline basement of the Black Hills. The granitic rocks host pegmatite deposits renowned for their feldspar, mica, spodumene, and beryl. The supracrustal rocks host the Homestake gold mine, which produced more than 40 million ounces of gold over a 125-year lifetime. The map documents the Laramide deformation of Paleozoic and Mesozoic cover rocks; and shows the distribution of Laramide plutonic rocks associated with precious-metals deposits. Four 1:300,000-scale maps summarize Laramide structures; Early Proterozoic structures; aeromagnetic anomalies; and gravity anomalies. Three 1:500,000-scale maps show geophysical interpretations of buried Early Proterozoic to Archean rocks in western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming.

From success to persistence: Identifying an evolutionary regime shift in the diverse Paleozoic aquatic arthropod group Eurypterida, driven by the Devonian biotic crisis.

PubMed

Lamsdell, James C; Selden, Paul A

2017-01-01

Mass extinctions have altered the trajectory of evolution a number of times over the Phanerozoic. During these periods of biotic upheaval a different selective regime appears to operate, although it is still unclear whether consistent survivorship rules apply across different extinction events. We compare variations in diversity and disparity across the evolutionary history of a major Paleozoic arthropod group, the Eurypterida. Using these data, we explore the group's transition from a successful, dynamic clade to a stagnant persistent lineage, pinpointing the Devonian as the period during which this evolutionary regime shift occurred. The late Devonian biotic crisis is potentially unique among the "Big Five" mass extinctions in exhibiting a drop in speciation rates rather than an increase in extinction. Our study reveals eurypterids show depressed speciation rates throughout the Devonian but no abnormal peaks in extinction. Loss of morphospace occupation is random across all Paleozoic extinction events; however, differential origination during the Devonian results in a migration and subsequent stagnation of occupied morphospace. This shift appears linked to an ecological transition from euryhaline taxa to freshwater species with low morphological diversity alongside a decrease in endemism. These results demonstrate the importance of the Devonian biotic crisis in reshaping Paleozoic ecosystems. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Paleozoic oil/gas shale reservoirs in southern Tunisia: An overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soua, Mohamed

2014-12-01

During these last years, considerable attention has been given to unconventional oil and gas shale in northern Africa where the most productive Paleozoic basins are located (e.g. Berkine, Illizi, Kufra, Murzuk, Tindouf, Ahnet, Oued Mya, Mouydir, etc.). In most petroleum systems, which characterize these basins, the Silurian played the main role in hydrocarbon generation with two main 'hot' shale levels distributed in different locations (basins) and their deposition was restricted to the Rhuddanian (Lllandovery: early Silurian) and the Ludlow-Pridoli (late Silurian). A third major hot shale level had been identified in the Frasnian (Upper Devonian). Southern Tunisia is characterized by three main Paleozoic sedimentary basins, which are from North to South, the southern Chotts, Jeffara and Berkine Basin. They are separated by a major roughly E-W trending lower Paleozoic structural high, which encompass the Mehrez-Oued Hamous uplift to the West (Algeria) and the Nefusa uplift to the East (Libya), passing by the Touggourt-Talemzane-PGA-Bou Namcha (TTPB) structure close to southern Tunisia. The forementioned major source rocks in southern Tunisia are defined by hot shales with elevated Gamma ray values often exceeding 1400 API (in Hayatt-1 well), deposited in deep water environments during short lived (c. 2 Ma) periods of anoxia. In the course of this review, thickness, distribution and maturity maps have been established for each hot shale level using data for more than 70 wells located in both Tunisia and Algeria. Mineralogical modeling was achieved using Spectral Gamma Ray data (U, Th, K), SopectroLith logs (to acquire data for Fe, Si and Ti) and Elemental Capture Spectroscopy (ECS). The latter technique provided data for quartz, pyrite, carbonate, clay and Sulfur. In addition to this, the Gamma Ray (GR), Neutron Porosity (ΦN), deep Resistivity (Rt) and Bulk Density (ρb) logs were used to model bulk mineralogy and lithology. Biostratigraphic and complete geochemical review has been undertaken from published papers and unpublished internal reports to better assess these important source intervals.

Age and provenance constraints on seismically-determined crustal layers beneath the Paleozoic southern Central Asian Orogen, Inner Mongolia, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jian, Ping; Kröner, Alfred; Shi, Yuruo; Zhang, Wei; Liu, Yaran; Windley, Brian F.; Jahn, Bor-ming; Zhang, Liqao; Liu, Dunyi

2016-06-01

We present 110 ages and 51 in-situ δ18O values for zircon xenocrysts from a post-99 Ma intraplate basaltic rock suite hosted in a subduction-accretion complex of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt in order to constrain a seismic profile across the Paleozoic Southern Orogen of Inner Mongolia and the northern margin of the North China Craton. Two zircon populations are recognized, namely a Phanerozoic group of 70 zircons comprising granitoid-derived (ca. 431-99 Ma; n = 31; peak at 256 Ma), meta-granitoid-derived (ca. 449-113 Ma; n = 24; peak at 251 Ma) and gabbro-derived (436-242 Ma; n = 15; peaks at 264 and 244 Ma) grains. Each textural type is characterized by a distinct zircon oxygen isotope composition and is thus endowed with a genetic connotation. The Precambrian population (2605-741 Ma; n = 40) exhibits a prominent age peak at 2520 Ma (granulite-facies metamorphism) and four small peaks at ca. 1900, 1600, and 800 Ma. Our new data, together with literature zircon ages, significantly constrain models of three seismically-determined deep crustal layers beneath the fossil subduction zone-forearc along the active northern margin of the North China Craton, namely: (1) an upper arc crust of early to mid-Paleozoic age, intruded by a major Permian-Triassic composite granitoid-gabbroic pluton (8-20 km depth); (2) a middle crust, predominantly consisting of mid-Meso- to Neoproterozoic felsic and mafic gneisses; and (3) a lower crust composed predominantly of late Archean granulite-facies rocks. We conclude that the Paleozoic orogenic crust is limited to the upper crustal level, and the middle to lower crust has a North China Craton affinity. Furthermore, integrating our data with surface geological, petrological and geochronological constraints, we present a new conceptual model of orogenic uplift, lithospheric delamination and crustal underthrusting for this key ocean-continent convergent margin.

Remnant colloform pyrite at the haile gold deposit, South Carolina: A textural key to genesis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Foley, N.; Ayuso, R.A.; Seal, R.R.

2001-01-01

Auriferous iron sulfide-bearing deposits of the Carolina slate belt have distinctive mineralogical and textural features-traits that provide a basis to construct models of ore deposition. Our identification of paragenetically early types of pyrite, especially remnant colloform, crustiform, and layered growth textures of pyrite containing electrum and pyrrhotite, establishes unequivocally that gold mineralization was coeval with deposition of host rocks and not solely related to Paleozoic tectonic events. Ore horizons at the Haile deposit, South Carolina, contain many remnants of early pyrite: (1) fine-grained cubic pyrite disseminated along bedding; (2) fine- grained spongy, rounded masses of pyrite that may envelop or drape over pyrite cubes; (3) fragments of botryoidally and crustiform layered pyrite, and (4) pyritic infilling of vesicles and pumice. Detailed mineral chemistry by petrography, microprobe, SEM, and EDS analysis of replaced pumice and colloform structures containing both arsenic compositional banding and electrum points to coeval deposition of gold and the volcanic host rocks and, thus, confirms a syngenetic origin for the gold deposits. Early pyrite textures are present in other major deposits of the Carolina slate belt, such as Ridgeway and Barite Hill, and these provide strong evidence for models whereby the sulfide ores formed prior to tectonism. The role of Paleozoic metamorphism was to remobilize and concentrate gold and other minerals in structurally prepared sites. Recognizing the significance of paragenetically early pyrite and gold textures can play an important role in distinguishing sulfide ores that form in volcanic and sedimentary environments from those formed solely by metamorphic processes. Exploration strategies applied to the Carolina slate belt and correlative rocks in the eastern United States in the Avalonian basement will benefit from using syngenetic models for gold mineralization.

A Cambrian mixed carbonate-siliciclastic platform in SW Gondwana: evidence from the Western Sierras Pampeanas (Argentina) and implications for the early Paleozoic paleogeography of the proto-Andean margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramacciotti, Carlos D.; Casquet, César; Baldo, Edgardo G.; Galindo, Carmen; Pankhurst, Robert J.; Verdecchia, Sebastián O.; Rapela, Carlos W.; Fanning, Mark

2018-05-01

The Western Sierras Pampeanas (WSP) of Argentina record a protracted geological history from the Mesoproterozoic assembly of the Rodinia supercontinent to the early Paleozoic tectonic evolution of SW Gondwana. Two well-known orogenies took place at the proto-Andean margin of Gondwana in the Cambrian and the Ordovician, i.e., the Pampean (545-520 Ma) and Famatinian (490-440 Ma) orogenies, respectively. Between them, an extensive continental platform was developed, where mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sedimentation occurred. This platform was later involved in the Famatinian orogeny when it underwent penetrative deformation and metamorphism. The platform apparently extended from Patagonia to northwestern Argentina and the Eastern Sierras Pampeanas, and has probable equivalents in SW Africa, Peru, and Bolivia. The WSP record the outer (deepest) part of the platform, where carbonates were deposited in addition to siliciclastic sediments. Detrital zircon U-Pb SHRIMP ages from clastic metasedimentary successions and Sr-isotope compositions of marbles from the WSP suggest depositional ages between ca. 525 and 490 Ma. The detrital zircon age patterns further suggest that clastic sedimentation took place in two stages. The first was sourced mainly from re-working of the underlying Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks and the uplifted core of the early Cambrian Pampean orogen, without input from the Paleoproterozoic Río de la Plata craton. Sediments of the second stage resulted from the erosion of the still emerged Pampean belt and the Neoproterozoic Brasiliano orogen in the NE with some contribution from the Río de la Plata craton. An important conclusion is that the WSP basement was already part of SW Gondwana in the early Cambrian, and not part of the exotic Precordillera/Cuyania terrane, as was previously thought.

Shallow seismic reflection profiles and geological structure in the Benton Hills, southeast Missouri

USGS Publications Warehouse

Palmer, J.R.; Hoffman, D.; Stephenson, W.J.; Odum, J.K.; Williams, R.A.

1997-01-01

During late May and early June of 1993, we conducted two shallow, high-resolution seismic reflection surveys (Mini-Sosie method) across the southern escarpment of the Benton Hills segment of Crowleys Ridge. The reflection profiles imaged numerous post-late Cretaceous faults and folds. We believe these faults may represent a significant earthquake source zone. The stratigraphy of the Benton Hills consists of a thin, less than about 130 m, sequence of mostly unconsolidated Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary sediments which unconformably overlie a much thicker section of Paleozoic carbonate rocks. The survey did not resolve reflectors within the upper 75-100 ms of two-way travel time (about 60-100 m), which would include all of the Tertiary and Quaternary and most of the Cretaceous. However, the Paleozoic-Cretaceous unconformity (Pz) produced an excellent reflection, and, locally a shallower reflector within the Cretaceous (K) was resolved. No coherent reflections below about 200 ms of two-way travel time were identified. Numerous faults and folds, which clearly offset the Paleozoic-Cretaceous unconformity reflector, were imaged on both seismic reflection profiles. Many structures imaged by the reflection data are coincident with the surface mapped locations of faults within the Cretaceous and Tertiary succession. Two locations show important structures that are clearly complex fault zones. The English Hill fault zone, striking N30??-35??E, is present along Line 1 and is important because earlier workers indicated it has Pleistocene Loess faulted against Eocene sands. The Commerce fault zone striking N50??E, overlies a major regional basement geophysical lineament, and is present on both seismic lines at the southern margin of the escarpment. The fault zones imaged by these surveys are 30 km from the area of intense microseismicity in the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ). If these are northeast and north-northeast oriented fault zones like those at Thebes Gap they are favorably oriented in the modern stress field to be reactivated as right-lateral strike slip faults. Currently, earthquake hazards assessments are most dependent upon historical seismicity, and there are little geological data available to evaluate the earthquake potential of fault zones outside of the NMSZ. We anticipate that future studies will provide evidence that seismicity has migrated between fault zones well beyond the middle Mississippi Valley. The potential earthquake hazards represented by faults outside the NMSZ may be significant.

Geologic map and upper Paleozoic stratigraphy of the Marble Canyon area, Cottonwood Canyon quadrangle, Death Valley National Park, Inyo County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stone, Paul; Stevens, Calvin H.; Belasky, Paul; Montañez, Isabel P.; Martin, Lauren G.; Wardlaw, Bruce R.; Sandberg, Charles A.; Wan, Elmira; Olson, Holly A.; Priest, Susan S.

2014-01-01

This geologic map and pamphlet focus on the stratigraphy, depositional history, and paleogeographic significance of upper Paleozoic rocks exposed in the Marble Canyon area in Death Valley National Park, California. Bedrock exposed in this area is composed of Mississippian to lower Permian (Cisuralian) marine sedimentary rocks and the Jurassic Hunter Mountain Quartz Monzonite. These units are overlain by Tertiary and Quaternary nonmarine sedimentary deposits that include a previously unrecognized tuff to which we tentatively assign an age of late middle Miocene (~12 Ma) based on tephrochronologic analysis, in addition to the previously recognized Pliocene tuff of Mesquite Spring. Mississippian and Pennsylvanian rocks in the Marble Canyon area represent deposition on the western continental shelf of North America. Mississippian limestone units in the area (Tin Mountain, Stone Canyon, and Santa Rosa Hills Limestones) accumulated on the outer part of a broad carbonate platform that extended southwest across Nevada into east-central California. Carbonate sedimentation was interrupted by a major eustatic sea-level fall that has been interpreted to record the onset of late Paleozoic glaciation in southern Gondwana. Following a brief period of Late Mississippian clastic sedimentation (Indian Springs Formation), a rise in eustatic sea level led to establishment of a new carbonate platform that covered most of the area previously occupied by the Mississippian platform. The Pennsylvanian Bird Spring Formation at Marble Canyon makes up the outer platform component of ten third-order (1 to 5 m.y. duration) stratigraphic sequences recently defined for the regional platform succession. The regional paleogeography was fundamentally changed by major tectonic activity along the continental margin beginning in middle early Permian time. As a result, the Pennsylvanian carbonate shelf at Marble Canyon subsided and was disconformably overlain by lower Permian units (Osborne Canyon and Darwin Canyon Formations) representing part of a deep-water turbidite basin filled primarily by fine-grained siliciclastic sediment derived from cratonal sources to the east. Deformation and sedimentation along the western part of this basin continued into late Permian time. The culminating phase was part of a regionally extensive late Permian thrust system that included the Marble Canyon thrust fault just west of the present map area.

Late orogenic processes between Baltica and Siberia cratons during the building of Pangea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puchkov, V.

2003-04-01

Since the Middle Carboniferous, the territory between the Baltica, Kazakhstania and Siberia plates have been part of the continental crust, the last oceanic crust having by then been subducted. At this time continent-continent collision started and proceeded until the latest epochs of the Paleozoic, forming the Uralide orogen. Two features of this collision standout: 1) The northward movement of the Kazakhstanian block between the Baltica and Siberia plates resulted in a large-scale oroclinal bend of structures in West Siberia, which is well expressed in the magnetic field, as well as in the exposed Kazakhstanian structures, and 2) The orogenic event affected the whole territory between the Baltica and Siberia cratons, including the Kazakhstanian continent. A series of intermontane molasse basins are distributed throughout the orogen and in some places, like Bolshoi Karatau, are affected by Late Paleozoic deformation. Continent-continent collision had ceased by the end of the Permian, and in many places Triassic sediments unconformably overly the orogen. Triassic sedimentary sequences are typically coarse-grained (eventually proluvial), evidencing a new stage of mountain building, though many researchers have attributed this to a superplume event. The reason being the widespread flood basalt eruptions that took place not only between, but also on the cratons under discussion. There is a point of view that the break-up of the supercontinents (e.g., Pangea and Rodinia) was preceded by such a superplume event, passing to formation of linear graben systems and then to oceanic spreading. In the case under discussion, the process was arrested (the West Siberian basin with its grabens is often called a "failed ocean"). There is reason to suspect that the Paleozoic collision that led to formation of the Uralides left an enclosed ocean basin in the North, between the Baltica and Siberia plates. Only in the Early Jurassic, with the advent of the Old Kimmerian collision did it finally close, creating the Paykhoy-Novaya Zemlya foldbelt and reworking the Taymyr system. Paleomagnetic data support the conclusion that this event resulted from a rotation of the Siberian craton and high-amplitude strike-slip movements. Elsewhere in Pangea, the processes leading to its break-up had started by the time of the Old Kimmerian event.

An Extended Paleozoic Apparent Polar Wander Path for Baltica: new Permo-Carboniferous Paleopoles From the Donbas Region (Ukraine)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamers, M. F.; Meijers, M. J.; van Hinsbergen, D. J.; van der Meer, D. G.; Langereis, C. G.; Stephenson, R. A.

2007-12-01

An improved Paleozoic apparent polar wander (APW) path for Baltica is presented here on the basis of six new paleopoles that have been determined from samples collected in the Donbas region in the Dniepr-Donets basin in south-eastern Ukraine. Constructing APW paths allows improving paleogeographic reconstructions that reach further back in time than 200 Ma, where the use of oceanic isochrons and hotspot track has limited applicability. The absence of penetrative regional deformation and the subparallel trending bedding attitudes across the basin suggest that our sites did not suffer from local rotations and their results are interpreted as representative for Baltica. The data presented here improve the paleogeographic reconstruction of Baltica within the collage of the supercontinent Pangea. The six new paleopoles cover a time span from earliest Carboniferous (~356 Ma) to early Permian (~295 Ma). In our reconstruction, Baltica was located at a constant latitude of ~5°N during a major part of the Carboniferous, while at ~310 Ma it started to move gradually northward, reaching a paleolatitude of ~13°N at 295 Ma. From ~355 Ma to 295 Ma Baltica experienced a net ~20° clockwise rotation. Our new data differ with the APW path from Torsvik et al. (submitted) in the time span from ~320-300 Ma, wherein they propose a northward movement from more southerly latitudes. From 300 Ma onwards, our path fits the reference path from Torsvik et al. A possible Permian remagnetization of our sites is not likely, considering the rotational differences in the various time spans, and rockmagnetic analyses that have been performed. We also discuss the usage of the TK03 model (Tauxe and Kent (2004), Geoph. Mon. 145, pp 101-116) that allows for the correction of inclination error caused by compaction during burial, which is insignificant for most sites. This suggest that the NRM has been acquired after compaction.

Pan-African granulites of central Dronning Maud Land and Mozambique: A comparison within the East-African-Antarctic orogen

USGS Publications Warehouse

Engvik, A.K.; Elevevold, S.; Jacobs, J.; Tveten, E.; de Azevedo, S.; Njange, F.

2007-01-01

Granulite-facies metamorphism is extensively reported in Late Neoproterozoic/Early Palaeozoic time during formation of the East-African-Antarctic orogen (EAAO). Metamorphic data acquired from the Pan-African orogen of central Dronning Maud Land (cDML) are compared with data from northern Mozambique. The metamorphic rocks of cDML are characterised by Opx±Grt-bearing gneisses and Sil+Kfs-bearing metapelites which indicate medium-P granulite-facies metamorphism. Peak conditions, which are estimated to 800-900ºC at pressures up to 1.0 GPa, were followed by near-isothermal decompression during late Pan-African extension and exhumation. Granulite-facies lithologies are widespread in northern Mozambique, and Grt+Cpx-bearing assemblages show that high-P granulite-facies conditions with PT reaching 1.55 GPa and 900ºC were reached during the Pan-African orogeny. Garnet is replaced by symplectites of Pl+Opx+Mag indicating isothermal decompression, and the subsequent formation of Pl+amphibole-coronas suggests cooling into amphibolite facies. It is concluded that high-T metamorphism was pervasive in EAAO in Late Neoproterozoic/Early Paleozoic time, strongly overprinting evidences of earlier metamorphic assemblages.

Linking Tengchong Terrane in SW Yunnan with Lhasa Terrane in southern Tibet through magmatic correlation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Jincheng; Zhu, Dicheng; Dong, Guochen; Zhao, Zhidan; Wang, Qing

2016-04-01

New zircon U-Pb data, along with the data reported in the literature, reveal five phases of magmatic activity in the Tengchong Terrane since the Early Paleozoic with spatial and temporal variations summarized as: Cambrian-Ordovician (500-460 Ma) to the eastern, minor Triassic (245-206 Ma) in the eastern and western, abundant Early Cretaceous (131-114 Ma) in the eastern, extensive Late Cretaceous (77-65 Ma) in the central, and Paleocene-Eocene (65-49 Ma) in the central and western Tengchong Terrane, in which the Cretaceous-Eocene magmatism was migrated from east to west (Xu et al., 2012). The increased zircon eHf(t) of the Early Cretaceous granitoids from -12.3 to -1.4 at ca. 131-122 Ma to -4.6 to +7.1 at ca. 122-114 Ma identified for the first time in this study and the magmatic flare-up at ca. 53 Ma in the central and western Tengchong Terrane (Wang et al., 2014, Ma et al., 2015) indicate the increased contributions from mantle- or juvenile crust-derived components. The spatial and temporal variations and changing magmatic compositions with time in the Tengchong Terrane closely resemble the Lhasa Terrane in southern Tibet. Such similarities, together with the data of stratigraphy and paleobiogeography (Zhang et al., 2013), enable us to propose that the Tengchong Terrane in SW Yunnan is most likely linked with the Lhasa Terrane in southern Tibet, both of which experience similar tectonomagmatic histories since the Early Paleozoic. References Ma, L.Y., Wang, Y.J., Fan, W.M., Geng, H.Y., Cai, Y.F., Zhong, H., Liu, H.C., Xing, X.W., 2014. Petrogenesis of the early Eocene I-type granites in west Yingjiang (SW Yunnan) and its implication for the eastern extension of the Gangdese batholiths. Gondwana Research 25, 401-419. Wang, Y.J., Zhang, L.M., Cawood, P.A., Ma, L.Y., Fan, W.M., Zhang, A.M., Zhang, Y.Z., Bi, X.W., 2014. Eocene supra-subduction zone mafic magmatism in the Sibumasu Block of SW Yunnan: Implications for Neotethyan subduction and India-Asia collision. Lithos 206-207, 384-399. Xu, Y.G., Yang, Q.J., Lan, J.B., Luo, Z.Y., Huang, X.L., Shi, Y.R., Xie, L.W., 2012. Temporal-spatial distribution and tectonic implications of the batholiths in the Gaoligong-Tengliang-Yingjiang area, western Yunnan: Constraints from zircon U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 53, 151-175. Zhang, Y.C., Shi, G.R., Shen, S.Z., 2013. A review of Permian stratigraphy, paleobiogeography and palaeogeography of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Gondwana Research 24, 55-76.

Late Paleozoic closure of the Ob-Zaisan Ocean along the Irtysh/Chara shear zone and implications for arc amalgamation and oroclinal bending in the western Central Asian Orogenic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Pengfei; Sun, Min; Rosenbaum, Gideon

2016-04-01

The Irtysh/Chara Shear Zone is one of the largest strike-slip systems in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). It records collisional processes of the peri-Siberian orogenic system with the West Junggar-Kazakhstan-Tianshan orogenic system following the closure of the Ob-Zaisan Ocean, but the exact timing of these events remains enigmatic. We conducted detailed structural analysis along the Irtysh Shear Zone (NW China), which together with new geochronological data allows us to reconstruct the tectonic evolution during the final closure of the Ob-Zaisan Ocean. Our results showed that subduction-accretion processes lasted at least until the Late Carboniferous in the Chinese Altai and the East/West Junggar. The subsequent arc amalgamation is characterized by a cycle of crustal thickening, orogenic collapse and transpressional thickening. On a larger scale, the West Junggar- Kazakhstan -Tianshan orogenic system defines a U-shape oroclinal structure (e.g. Xiao et al., 2010). A major phase of oroclinal bending that involved ~110° rotation may have occurred during the Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous (Levashova et al., 2012). Previous authors have linked oroclinal bending with the late Paleozoic amalgamation of the western CAOB, and proposed that a quasi-linear West Junggar- Kazakhstan -Tianshan orogenic system was buckled during the convergence of the Siberian and Tarim cratons following the closure of the Ob-Zaisan Ocean (in the north) and the South Tianshan Ocean (in the south) (e.g. Abrajevitch et al., 2008). This model, however, is not supported by our new data that constrain the closure of the Ob-Zaisan Ocean to the Late Carboniferous. Alternatively, we propose that oroclinal bending may have involved two phases of bending, with the ~110° rotation in the Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous possibly associated with trench retreat. Further tightening may have occurred in response to the convergence of the Siberian and Tarim cratons during the Late Carboniferous to Permian. References: Abrajevitch, A., Van der Voo, R., Bazhenov, M.L., Levashova, N.M., McCausland, P.J.A., 2008. The role of the Kazakhstan orocline in the late Paleozoic amalgamation of Eurasia. Tectonophysics 455, 61-76. Levashova, N., Degtyarev, K., Bazhenov, M., 2012. Oroclinal bending of the Middle and Late Paleozoic volcanic belts in Kazakhstan: Paleomagnetic evidence and geological implications. Geotectonics 46, 285-302. Xiao, W., Huang, B., Han, C., Sun, S., Li, J., 2010. A review of the western part of the Altaids: A key to understanding the architecture of accretionary orogens. Gondwana Research 18, 253-273. Acknowledgements: This study was financially supported by the Major Basic Research Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant: 2014CB448000 and 2014CB440801), Hong Kong Research Grant Council (HKU705311P, HKU704712P and HKU17303415), National Science Foundation of China (41273048), HKU seed funding (201111159137) and HKU CRCG grants. This work is a contribution of the Joint Laboratory of Chemical Geodynamics between HKU and CAS (Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry), IGCP 592 and PROCORE France/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme.

Tectonic assembly of Gondwana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogers, John J. W.; Unrug, Raphael; Sultan, Mohamed

1995-01-01

The Paleozoic assembly of Pangea, with Gondwana as its southern half, completed the last full cycle of growth and dispersal of supercontinents during earth history. This assembly apparently resulted from reorganization of a preceding supercontinent (Rodinia) that existed at ˜1000 Ma. In addition to Laurentia and fragments that formed nuclei for Europe and Asia, the rifting of Rodinia produced: (1) East Gondwana, consisting largely of Western Australia, India, East Antarctica, and possibly part of southern Africa; and (2) various smaller fragments that converged to form West Gondwana, consisting of most of Africa and South America. East Gondwana appears to have been a stable block at a time no younger than ˜1000 Ma and possibly older. West Gondwana accreted largely in the latest Proterozoic and early Paleozoic by closure of the Pharusian Ocean in the north, the Adamaster Ocean in the south, and the ANEKT/Mozambique Ocean between West and East Gondwana. The assembly process was diachronous along numerous mobile belts, accompanied by syn- and post-collisional shearing and magmatism, and led to development of successor basins and rifts. Uncertainties in the timing and mechanism of assembly of Gondwana greatly limit our understanding of the supercontinent cycle. Thus, we propose investigations of Gondwana to determine more precisely the nature and age of apparent cratonic blocks, the locations and ages of orogenic belts, the configuration of former ocean basins, the significance of transcontinental shears, the extent of reactivation of older terranes, and the relationship of Gondwana to North America. Detailed knowledge of the assembly of Gondwana should also provide information on its relationship to other major processes such as mantle evolution and atmospheric, oceanic, and biologic changes.

Ages and origin of felsic rocks from the Eastern Erenhot ophiolitic complex, southeastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Inner Mongolia China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jinfu; Zhang, Zhicheng; Chen, Yan; Yu, Haifei; Qian, Xiaoyan

2017-08-01

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is known for its massive Phanerozoic generation of juvenile crust. The tectonic evolution of the CAOB during the late Paleozoic era is still debated. The Eastern Erenhot ophiolite complex (EOC) has been recognized as one of the numerous late Paleozoic ophiolitic blocks in the southeastern part of the CAOB. Zircon U-Pb dating on rhyolite and plagiogranite from the EOC yielded a tight range of ages from 360 to 348 Ma, indicating that the complex formed in the early Carboniferous. The primitive mantle-normalized spider diagram of rhyolites (εNd(t) values of +6.8 and +7) and basalts almost overlaps. Such rhyolites may have been derived from partial melting of juvenile basaltic rocks during the initial opening of the Erenhot-Hegenshan oceanic basin. All of the plagiogranites exhibit similar trace element behaviours of High Field-Strength Elements, such as U, Zr and Hf, and Large Ion Lithophile Elements, such as Ba and Rb, to these of gabbros. These plagiogranites were considered products of episodes of partial melting of hydrous gabbros during ocean floor spreading. We conclude that the northern subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean stopped before 360 Ma and the southeastern CAOB experienced extension during the late Paleozoic era. The Erenhot-Hegenshan Ocean, which is comparable to the present Red Sea, originated from syn-collisional crustal thickening, subsequent lithosphere extension, and upwelling of the asthenosphere during orogenic quiescence with an age of 20 Ma.

The impact of deep-tier burrow systems in sediment mixing and ecosystem engineering in early Cambrian carbonate settings

PubMed Central

Zhang, Li-Jun; Qi, Yong-An; Buatois, Luis A.; Mángano, M. Gabriela; Meng, Yao; Li, Da

2017-01-01

Bioturbation plays a substantial role in sediment oxygen concentration, chemical cycling, regeneration of nutrients, microbial activity, and the rate of organic matter decomposition in modern oceans. In addition, bioturbators are ecosystem engineers which promote the presence of some organisms, while precluding others. However, the impact of bioturbation in deep time remains controversial and limited sediment mixing has been indicated for early Paleozoic seas. Our understanding of the actual impact of bioturbation early in the Phanerozoic has been hampered by the lack of detailed analysis of the functional significance of specific burrow architectures. Integration of ichnologic and sedimentologic evidence from North China shows that deep-tier Thalassinoides mazes occur in lower Cambrian nearshore carbonate sediments, leading to intense disruption of the primary fabric. Comparison with modern studies suggest that some of the effects of this style of Cambrian bioturbation may have included promotion of nitrogen and ammonium fluxes across the sediment-water interface, average deepening of the redox discontinuity surface, expansion of aerobic bacteria, and increase in the rate of organic matter decomposition and the regeneration of nutrients. Our study suggests that early Cambrian sediment mixing in carbonate settings may have been more significant than assumed in previous models. PMID:28374857

Petroleum geology and resources of the North Ustyurt Basin, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ulmishek, Gregory F.

2001-01-01

The triangular-shaped North Ustyurt basin is located between the Caspian Sea and the Aral Lake in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and extends offshore both on the west and east. Along all its sides, the basin is bounded by the late Paleozoic and Triassic foldbelts that are partially overlain by Jurassic and younger rocks. The basin formed on a cratonic microcontinental block that was accreted northward to the Russian craton in Visean or Early Permian time. Continental collision and deformation along the southern and eastern basin margins occurred in Early Permian time. In Late Triassic time, the basin was subjected to strong compression that resulted in intrabasinal thrusting and faulting. Jurassic-Tertiary, mostly clastic rocks several hundred meters to 5 km thick overlie an older sequence of Devonian?Middle Carboniferous carbonates, Upper Precambrian massifs and deformed Caledonian foldbelts. The Carboniferous?Lower Permian clastics, carbonates, and volca-basement is at depths from 5.5 km on the highest uplifts to 11 nics, and Upper Permian?Triassic continental clastic rocks, pri-km in the deepest depressions. marily red beds. Paleogeographic conditions of sedimentation, Three total petroleum systems are identified in the basin. the distribution of rock types, and the thicknesses of pre-Triassic Combined volumes of discovered hydrocarbons in these sysstratigraphic units are poorly known because the rocks have been tems are nearly 2.4 billion barrels of oil and 2.4 trillion cubic penetrated by only a few wells in the western and eastern basin feet of gas. Almost all of the oil reserves are in the Buzachi Arch areas. The basement probably is heterogeneous; it includes and Surrounding Areas Composite Total Petroleum System in 2 Petroleum Geology, Resources?North Ustyurt Basin, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan the western part of the basin. Oil pools are in shallow Jurassic and Neocomian sandstone reservoirs, in structural traps. Source rocks are absent in the total petroleum system area; therefore, the oil could have migrated from the adjacent North Caspian basin. The North Ustyurt Jurassic Total Petroleum System encompasses the rest of the basin area and includes Jurassic and younger rocks. Several oil and gas fields have been discovered in this total petroleum system. Oil accumulations are in Jurassic clastic reservoirs, in structural traps at depths of 2.5?3 km. Source rocks for the oil are lacustrine beds and coals in the continental Jurassic sequence. Gas fields are in shallow Eocene sandstones in the northern part of the total petroleum system. The origin of the gas is unknown. The North Ustyurt Paleozoic Total Petroleum System stratigraphically underlies the North Ustyurt Jurassic system and occupies the same geographic area. The total petroleum system is almost unexplored. Two commercial flows of gas and several oil and gas shows have been tested in Carboniferous shelf carbonates in the eastern part of the total petroleum system. Source rocks probably are adjacent Carboniferous deep-water facies interpreted from seismic data. The western extent of the total petroleum system is conjectural. Almost all exploration drilling in the North Ustyurt basin has been limited to Jurassic and younger targets. The underlying Paleozoic-Triassic sequence is poorly known and completely unexplored. No wells have been drilled in offshore parts of the basin. Each of three total petroleum systems was assessed as a single assessment unit. Undiscovered resources of the basin are small to moderate. Most of the undiscovered oil probably will be discovered in Jurassic and Neocomian stratigraphic and structural traps on the Buzachi arch, especially on its undrilled off-shore extension. Most of the gas discoveries are expected to be in Paleozoic carbonate reservoirs in the eastern part of the basin.

Geochemical survey of the Devil's Den Roadless Area, Rutland and Windsor counties, Vermont

USGS Publications Warehouse

Slack, J.F.; Atelsek, P.J.; Grosz, A.E.

1985-01-01

The Devils Den area is named for a large undercut cliff (Dale, 1915, p. 21) developed in Precambrian basement rocks. This undercut cliff forms a broad natural cave immediately west of and below Forest Service Road 10, at the head of Mt. Tabor Brook. Another much smaller cave is present in dolomite of probable Paleozoic (Early Cambrian) age on the east side of the same road. This smaller cave apparently is of artificial origin, having been made during early mining of the dolomite (Dale, 1915, p. 21). This man-made cave is the only evidence of previous mining activity within the study area.

Closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean as Constrained by Late Permian to Early Cretaceous Paleomagnetic Data from the Suture Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cogne, J.; Kravchinsky, V.; Gilder, S.; Hankard, F.

2005-12-01

The Paleozoic Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean separated the Siberian craton to the north from a landmass composed of Amuria, Tarim, Qaidam, Tibet and the North and South China blocks to the south. Based on a comparison of paleomagnetic data from the NCB with the Eurasian apparent polar wander path, this ocean closed by the beginning of the Cretaceous. We present here a review of recent paleomagnetic studies of Late Permian to Early Cretaceous formations from the Transbaikal area of south Siberia, coming from localities situated on both sides of the Mongol-Okhotsk suture zone. The main conclusions that we draw from these studies are as follows. (1) A Late Permian ~4500 km latitude difference indeed existed between Amuria and the Siberia blocks at 110°E longitude. (2) In Middle-Late Jurassic times, a 1700 to 2700 km paleolatitudinal gap still existed between the two blocks. This contradicts geological interpretations of a Middle Jurassic closure of the ocean at this longitude. (3) Consistency of Early Cretaceous paleolatitudes from both sides of the suture demonstrates the closure of the ocean at that time. Altogether, these suggest a quite fast closure between the Middle Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous, at about 15±11 cm/yr. Finally, all pre-Late Cretaceous paleomagnetic poles appear to be distributed along small-circles centered on site localities. We think this is due to continued deformation acting in the Mongol-Okhotsk suture region related to suturing. Conversely, the post-Early Cretaceous rotations may be related to Tertiary deformation under the effect of the India-Asia collision.

Blueschist metamorphism and its tectonic implication of Late Paleozoic-Early Mesozoic metabasites in the mélange zones, central Inner Mongolia, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jinrui; Wei, Chunjing; Chu, Hang

2015-01-01

Blueschists in central Inner Mongolia are distributed as layers and blocks in mélanges including the southern zone in Ondor Sum area and the northern zone in Manghete and Naomuhunni areas. They have been attributed to the subduction of Early Paleozoic oceanic crust. Blueschists from Ondor Sum and Naomuhunni are characterized by occurrence of sodic amphibole coexisting with epidote, albite, chlorite, calcic amphibole (in Ondor Sum) and muscovite (in Naomuhunni). Blueschists in Manghete contain porphyroblastic albite with inclusions of garnet and epidote in a matrix dominated by calcic-sodic amphibole, epidote, chlorite, albite and muscovite. Phase equilibria modeling for three blueschist samples using pseudosection suggest that the AlM2 contents in sodic amphibole can be used as a good barometer in the limited assemblage involving sodic amphibole + actinolite + epidote + chlorite + albite + quartz under pressures <4-6 kbar, while this barometer is largely influenced by temperature and bulk Fe2O3 contents in the actinolite-absent assemblage sodic amphibole + epidote + chlorite + albite + quartz of higher pressure and the AlM2 contents are not pressure-controlled in the albite-absent assemblage sodic amphibole + epidote + chlorite + quartz under pressures > 7-10 kbar. In the sodic amphibole-bearing assemblages, the NaM4 contents in sodic amphibole mainly decrease as temperature rises, being a potential thermometry. The calculated pseudosections constrain the P-T conditions of blueschists to be 3.2-4.2 kbar/355-415 °C in Ondor Sum, 8.2-9.0 kbar/455 °C-495 °C in Manghete and 6.6-8.1 kbar/420-470 °C in Naomuhunni. These P-T estimates indicate a rather high geothermal gradient of 18-25 °C/km for the blueschist metamorphism, being of intermediate P/T facies series. Available zircon U-Pb age data suggests that the protoliths of blueschists were formed later than Late Paleozoic-Early Mesozoic and metamorphosed soon afterwards. An alternative interpretation for the tectonic implication of blueschists in central Inner Mongolia is that they may be a new type attributed to closure of limited ocean basins and do not represent a tectonic regime occurred in conventional subduction setting.

An exhumed Late Paleozoic canyon in the rocky mountains

USGS Publications Warehouse

Soreghan, G.S.; Sweet, D.E.; Marra, K.R.; Eble, C.F.; Soreghan, M.J.; Elmore, R.D.; Kaplan, S.A.; Blum, M.D.

2007-01-01

Landscapes are thought to be youthful, particularly those of active orogenic belts. Unaweep Canyon in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, a large gorge drained by two opposite-flowing creeks, is an exception. Its origin has long been enigmatic, but new data indicate that it is an exhumed late Paleozoic landform. Its survival within a region of profound late Paleozoic orogenesis demands a reassessment of tectonic models for the Ancestral Rocky Mountains, and its form and genesis have significant implications for understanding late Paleozoic equatorial climate. This discovery highlights the utility of paleogeomorphology as a tectonic and climatic indicator. ?? 2007 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nyagah, K.; Cloeter, J.J.; Maende, A.

The Lamu basin occupies the coastal onshore and offshore areas of south-east Kenya. This fault bounded basin formed as a result of the Paleozoic-early Mesozoic phase of rifting that developed at the onset of Gondwana dismemberment. The resultant graben was filled by Karroo (Permian-Early Jurassic) continental siliciclastic sediments. Carbonate deposits associated with the Tethyan sea invasion, dominate the Middle to Late Jurassic basin fill. Cessation of the relative motion between Madagascar and Africa in the Early Cretaceous, heralded passive margin development and deltaic sediment progradation until the Paleogene. Shallow seas transgressed the basin in the Miocene when another carbonate regimemore » prevailed. The basin depositional history is characterized by pulses of transgressive and regressive cycles, bounded by tectonically enhanced unconformities dividing the total sedimentary succession into discrete megasequences. Source rock strata occur within Megasequence III (Paleogene) depositional cycle and were lowered into the oil window in Miocene time, when the coastal parts of the basin experienced the greatest amount of subsidence. The tectono-eustatic pulses of the Tertiary brought about source and reservoir strata into a spatial relationship in which hydrocarbons could be entrapped. A basement high on the continental shelf has potential for Karroo sandstone and Jurassic limestone reservoirs. Halokinesis of Middle Jurassic salt in Miocene time provides additional prospects in the offshore area. Paleogene deltaic sands occur in rotated listric fault blacks. A Miocene reef Play coincides with an Eocene source rock kitchen.« less

A model of onshore-offshore change in faunal diversity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepkoski, J. J. Jr; Sepkoski JJ, J. r. (Principal Investigator)

1991-01-01

Onshore-offshore patterns of faunal change occurred at many taxonomic scales during the Paleozoic Era, ranging from replacement of the Cambrian evolutionary fauna by the Paleozoic fauna to the environmental expansion of many orders and classes. A simple mathematical model is constructed to investigate such change. The environmental gradient across the marine shelf-slope is treated as a linear array of discrete habitats, each of which holds a set number of species, as observed in the fossil record. During any interval of time, some portion of the species in each habitat becomes extinct by background processes, with rates of extinction varying among both clades and habitats, as also observed in the record. After extinction, species are replaced from within the habitat and from immediately adjacent habitats, with proportions dependent on surviving species. This model leads to the prediction that extinction-resistant clades will always diversify at the expense of extinction-prone clades. But if extinction intensity is highest in nearshore habitats, extinction-resistant clades will expand preferentially in the onshore direction, build up diversity there, and then diversify outward toward the offshore. Thus, onshore-offshore patterns of diversification may be the expectation for faunal change quite independently of whether or not clades originate onshore. When the model is parameterized for Paleozoic trilobites and brachiopods, numerical solutions exhibit both a pattern of faunal change and a time span for diversification similar to that seen in the fossil record. They also generate structure similar to that seen in global diversification, including logistic patterns of growth, declining origination but constant extinction within clades through time, and declining overall extinction across clades through time.

Late Laramide thrust-related and evaporite-domed anticlines in the southern Piceance Basin, northeastern Colorado Plateau

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grout, M.A.; Abrams, G.A.; Tang, R.L.; Hainsworth, T.J.; Verbeek, E.R.

1991-01-01

New seismic and gravity data across the hydrocarbon-producing Divide Creek and Wolf Creek anticlines in the southern Piceance basin reveal contrasting styles of deformation within two widely separated time frames. Seismic data indicate that prebasin Paleozoic deformation resulted in block faulting of the Precambrian crystalline basement rocks and overlying Cambrian through Middle Pennsylvanian strata. Movement along these block faults throughout much of Pennsylvanian time, during northeast-southwest crustal extension, likely influenced distribution of the Middle Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) evaporite-rich facies. Younger rocks, including the thick succession of Cenozoic basin strata, then buried the Paleozoic structures. Gravity data confirm that excess material of relatively low density exists beneath the Wolf Creek structure, whereas material of relatively higher density (overthickened shale) is found beneath the Divide Creek Anticline. -from Authors

Early Mesozoic paleogeography and tectonic evolution of the western United States: Insights from detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology, Blue Mountains Province, northeastern Oregon

USGS Publications Warehouse

LaMaskin, Todd A.; Vervoort, J.D.; Dorsey, R.J.; Wright, J.E.

2011-01-01

This study assesses early Mesozoic provenance linkages and paleogeographic-tectonic models for the western United States based on new petrographic and detrital zircon data from Triassic and Jurassic sandstones of the "Izee" and Olds Ferry terranes of the Blue Mountains Province, northeastern Oregon. Triassic sediments were likely derived from the Baker terrane offshore accretionary subduction complex and are dominated by Late Archean (ca. 2.7-2.5 Ga), Late Paleoproterozoic (ca. 2.2-1.6 Ga), and Paleozoic (ca. 380-255 Ma) detrital zircon grains. These detrital ages suggest that portions of the Baker terrane have a genetic affinity with other Cordilleran accretionary subduction complexes of the western United States, including those in the Northern Sierra and Eastern Klamath terranes. The abundance of Precambrian grains in detritus derived from an offshore complex highlights the importance of sediment reworking. Jurassic sediments are dominated by Mesozoic detrital ages (ca. 230-160 Ma), contain significant amounts of Paleozoic (ca. 290, 380-350, 480-415 Ma), Neoproterozoic (ca. 675-575 Ma), and Mesoproterozoic grains (ca. 1.4-1.0 Ga), and have lesser quantities of Late Paleoproterozoic grains (ca. 2.1-1.7 Ga). Detrital zircon ages in Jurassic sediments closely resemble well-documented age distributions in transcontinental sands of Ouachita-Appalachian provenance that were transported across the southwestern United States and modified by input from cratonal, miogeoclinal, and Cordilleran-arc sources during Triassic and Jurassic time. Jurassic sediments likely were derived from the Cordilleran arc and an orogenic highland in Nevada that yielded recycled sand from uplifted Triassic backarc basin deposits. Our data suggest that numerous Jurassic Cordilleran basins formed close to the Cordilleran margin and support a model for moderate post-Jurassic translation (~400 km) of the Blue Mountains Province. ?? 2011 Geological Society of America.

Paleozoic-Mesozoic boundary in the Berry Creek Quadrangle, northwestern Sierra Nevada, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hietanen, Anna Martta

1977-01-01

Structural and petrologic studies in the Berry Creek quadrangle at the north end of the western metamorphic belt of the Sierra Nevada have yielded new information that helps in distinguishing between the chemically similar Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks. The distinguishing features are structural and textural and result from different degrees of deformation. Most Paleozoic rocks are strongly deformed and thoroughly recrystallized. Phenocrysts in meta volcanic rocks are granulated and drawn out into lenses that have sutured outlines. In contrast, the phenocrysts in the Mesozoic metavolcanic rocks show well-preserved straight crystal faces, are only slightly or not at all granulated, and contain fewer mineral inclusions than do those in the Paleozoic rocks. The groundmass in the Paleozoic rocks is recrystallized to a fairly coarse grained albite-epidote-amphibole-chlorite rock, whereas in the Mesozoic rocks the groundmass is a very fine grained feltlike mesh with only spotty occurrence of well-recrystallized finegrained albite-epidote-chlorite-actinolite rock. Primary minerals, such as augite, are locally preserved in the Mesozoic rocks but are altered to a mixture of amphibole, chlorite, and epidote in the Paleozoic rocks. In the contact aureoles of the plutons, and within the Big Bend fault zone, which crosses the area parallel to the structural trends, all rocks are thoroughly recrystallized and strongly deformed. Identification of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks in these parts of the area was based on the continuity of the rock units in the field and on gradual changes in microscopic textures toward the plutons.

The Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic Arctic Margins: early stages of geodynamic evolution and plate reconstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vernikovsky, V. A.; Metelkin, D. V.; Vernikovskaya, A. E.; Matushkin, N. Yu.; Lobkovsky, L. I.; Shipilov, E. V.

2012-04-01

Available data on the existence of Precambrian metamorphic complexes among the main structures of the Arctic led to the suggestion that a large continental mass existed between Laurentia, Baltica and Siberia - an Arctic continent, more often called Arctida (Zonenshain, Natapov, 1987). It is inferred that as an independent continental mass Arctida was formed after the breakup of Rodinia, and in general it can have a pre-Grenvillian (including Grenvillian) basement age. The breakup of this mass and the collision of its fragments with adjacent cratons led to the formation of heterochronous collisional systems. Arctida probably included the Kara, Novosibirsk, Alaska-Chukotka blocks, the blocks of northern Alaska and the submerged Lomonosov Ridge, small fragments of the Inuit fold belt in the north of Greenland and the Canadian archipelago, the structures of the Svalbard and maybe the Timan-Pechora plates. However the inner structure of this paleocontinent, the mutual configuration of the blocks and its evolution in the Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic is still a matter of discussion. The most accurate way of solving these issues is by using paleomagnetic data, but those are nonexistent for most of the defined blocks. Reliable paleomagnetic determinations for the Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic time interval we are concerned with are available only for fragments of an island arc from Central Taimyr, which are 960 m.y. old (Vernikovsky et al., 2011) and for which the paleomagnetic pole is very close to the pole of Siberia from (Pavlov et al., 2002), and of the Kara microcontinent. This includes three paleomagnetic poles for 500, 450 and 420 Ma (Metelkin et al., 2000; Metelkin et al., 2005). It is those data that made up the basis of the presented paleotectonic reconstructions along with an extensive paleomagnetic database for the cratons of Laurentia, Baltica, Siberia and Gondwana. The paleogeographic position of the cratons is corrected (within the confidence levels for the paleomagnetic poles) according to the general model and the available global reconstructions that include the structures of the Arctic (Scotese, 1997; Lawyer et al., 2002; Golonka et al., 2003, 2006; Cocks, Torsvik, 2002, 2007). The position of those Arctida blocks that lack paleomagnetic data is reconstructed based on geological data.

The Links Between the Formation of the Gulf of Mexico and the Late Proterozoic to Mesozoic Tectonic Evolution of Southern North America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, G. R.; Mickus, K. L.; Gurrola, H.; Harry, D. L.; Pulliam, J.

2016-12-01

A full understanding of the Gulf of Mexico's geologic history depends on understanding the tectonic framework along the southern margin of North America. The first step in establishing this framework was the breakup of Laurentia during the Early Paleozoic. At least one tectonic block rifted away from Laurentia's southern margin at this time, and is interpreted to be presently located in Argentina. Rifting resulted in a sinuous margin consisting of alternating ridge and transform segments extending from the southeastern U.S. across Texas into northern Mexico. The Paleozoic margin is associated with a clearly defined gravity high, and ends in the trend of this high are associated with intersections of ridge and transform segments along the margin. By the end of the Paleozoic, continental assembly via the Appalachian-Ouachita orogeny added new terranes to the eastern and southern margins of Laurentia and the assembly of the supercontinent Pangea was complete. Triassic through Late Jurassic opening of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) created a complex margin, initially mobilizing several crustal blocks that were eventually left behind on the North American margin as seafloor spreading developed within the Gulf and the Yucatan block separated and rotated into its current position. Recent deep seismic reflection profiles along the northern margin of the GOM show that rifted continental crust extends offshore for 250 km before the oceanic crust of the Gulf of Mexico is encountered. Our group has worked to produce four integrated models of the lithospheric structure based upon reflection, refraction, and teleseismic data acquired across this margin integrated with gravity, magnetic, geologic and drilling data. These models define a complex zone of crustal thinning along the Gulf Coastal plain of Texas that is covered by up to 10km of primarily Cretaceous and younger sedimentary rocks. To the east along the coastal plain region, we have defined two large crustal blocks that were essentially left behind by the opening of the Gulf of Mexico.

Paleomagnetism and tectonics of the Southern Tarim Basin, northwestern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilder, Stuart; Zhao, Xixi; Coe, Robert; Meng, Zifang; Courtillot, Vincent; Besse, Jean

1996-10-01

We report Late Carboniferous, Permian, and early Tertiary paleomagnetic data from the southern Tarim basin. Prefolding magnetizations were isolated in each case. The Late Carboniferous-Permian and early Tertiary poles lie at 64.6°N, 166.5°E, A95 = 6.3° and 58.1°N, 202.0°E, A95 = 12.7°, respectively. The Late Jurassic to early Tertiary (J3-E1) paleolatitudes of Tarim and several basins throughout central Asia are similar, yet significantly (10° to 20°) shallower than those predicted by the Eurasian apparent polar wander path. Resolving this discrepancy remains a major problem in Asian paleomagnetism. Discordance of the late Paleozoic poles from Tarim and Siberia suggest that Tarim has rotated about 30° counterclockwise with respect to Siberia since the Permian. Where paleomagnetic samples of both Late Carboniferous to Early Triassic (C3-T1) and J3-E1 ages were collected from the same area of Tarim, a great circle passes through the means of the poles and the sampling locality. This suggests that (1) only a difference in inclination (and not declination) distinguishes the two data sets, and (2) vertical axis block rotations of the C3-E1 strata occurred after E1. Although based on data of lesser quality, the mean Early to Middle Jurassic (J1-2) pole from Tarim differs significantly from the Eurasian reference pole, requiring radical tectonic solutions to resolve them. The Tarim J1-2 pole is indistinguishable from both the mean J3-E1 and C3-T1 poles. The similarity of all the poles and the analogous tectonic setting of present-day central Asia to that of the late Paleozoic in eastern North America raises the question whether all the data from Tarim are overprinted.

Geochronology and geochemistry of late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic igneous rocks of the Erguna Massif, NE China: Implications for the early evolution of the Mongol-Okhotsk tectonic regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yu; Xu, Wen-Liang; Wang, Feng; Tang, Jie; Zhao, Shuo; Guo, Peng

2017-08-01

We undertook geochemical and geochronological studies on late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic igneous rocks from the Erguna Massif with the aim of constraining the early evolution of the Mongol-Okhotsk tectonic regime. Zircon crystals from nine representative samples are euhedral-subhedral, display oscillatory growth zoning, and have Th/U values of 0.14-6.48, indicating a magmatic origin. U-Pb dating of zircon using SIMS and LA-ICP-MS indicates that these igneous rocks formed during the Late Devonian (∼365 Ma), late Carboniferous (∼303 Ma), late Permian (∼256 Ma), and Early-Middle Triassic (246-238 Ma). The Late Devonian rhyolites, together with coeval A-type granites, formed in an extensional environment related to the northwestwards subduction of the Heihe-Nenjiang oceanic plate. Their positive εHf(t) values (+8.4 to +14.4) and Hf two-stage model ages (TDM2 = 444-827 Ma) indicate they were derived from a newly accreted continental crustal source. The late Carboniferous granodiorites are geochemically similar to adakites, and their εHf(t) values (+10.4 to +12.3) and Hf two-stage model ages (TDM2 = 500-607 Ma) suggest they were sourced from thickened juvenile lower crustal material, this thickening may be related to the amalgamation of the Erguna-Xing'an and Songnen-Zhangguangcai Range massifs. Rocks of the late Permian to Middle Triassic suite comprise high-K calc-alkaline monzonites, quartz monzonites, granodiorites, and monzogranites. These rocks are relatively enriched in light rare earth elements and large ion lithophile elements, and depleted in heavy rare earth elements and high field strength elements. They were emplaced, together with coeval porphyry-type ore deposits, along an active continental margin where the Mongol-Okhotsk oceanic plate was subducting beneath the Erguna Massif.

The case for metamorphic base metal mineralization: pyrite chemical, Cu and S isotope data from the Cu-Zn deposit at Kupferberg in Bavaria, Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Höhn, S.; Frimmel, H. E.; Debaille, V.; Pašava, J.; Kuulmann, L.; Debouge, W.

2017-12-01

The stratiform Cu-Zn sulfide deposit at Kupferberg in Germany represents Bavaria's largest historic base metal producer. The deposit is hosted by Early Paleozoic volcano-sedimentary strata at the margin of a high-grade allochthonous metamorphic complex. The present paper reports on the first Cu and S isotope data as well as trace element analyses of pyrite from this unusual deposit. The new data point to syn-orogenic mineralization that was driven by metamorphic fluids during nappe emplacement. Primary Cu ore occurs as texturally late chalcopyrite within stratiform laminated pyrite in black shale in two different tectonostratigraphic units of very low and low metamorphic grade, respectively, that were juxtaposed during the Variscan orogeny. Trace element contents of different pyrite types suggest the presence of at least one hydrothermal pyrite generation (mean Co/Ni = 35), with the other pyrite types being syn-sedimentary/early diagenetic (mean Co/Ni = 3.7). Copper isotope analyses yielded a narrow δ65Cu range of -0.26 to 0.36‰ for all ore types suggesting a hypogene origin for the principal chalcopyrite mineralization. The ore lenses in the two different tectonostratigraphic units differ with regard to their δ34S values, but little difference exists between poorly and strongly mineralized domains within a given locality. A genetic model is proposed in which syn-sedimentary/early diagenetic pyrite with subordinate chalcopyrite and sphalerite formed in black shale beds in the two different stratigraphic units, followed by late-tectonic strata-internal, hydrothermal mobilization of Fe, Cu, and Zn during syn-orogenic thrusting, which concentrated especially Cu to ore grade. In agreement with this model, Cu distribution in stream sediments in this region shows distinct enrichments bound to the margin of the allochthonous complex. Thus, Kupferberg can be considered a rare example of a syn-orogenic Cu deposit with the Cu probably being derived from syn-sedimentary/early diagenetic pyrite contained in Early Paleozoic shale units.

High-pressure/low-temperature metamorphism in the collision zone between the Chilenia and Cuyania microcontinents (western Precordillera, Argentina)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boedo, F. L.; Willner, A. P.; Vujovich, G. I.; Massonne, H.-J.

2016-12-01

In central-western Argentina, an Early Paleozoic belt including mafic-ultramafic bodies, marine metasedimentary rocks and high-pressure rocks occur along the western margin of the Precordillera and in the Frontal Cordillera. First pressure-temperature estimates are presented here for low-grade rocks of the southern sector of this belt based on two metasedimentary and one metabasaltic sample from the Peñasco Formation. Peak metamorphic conditions resulted within the range of 345-395 °C and 7.0-9.3 kbar within the high-pressure greenschist facies. The corresponding low metamorphic gradient of 13 °C/km is comparable with subduction related geothermal gradients. Comparison between these results and data from other localities of the same collision zone (Guarguaraz and Colohuincul complexes) confirms a collision between Chilenia and the composite margin of western Gondwana and suggests a stronger crustal thickening in the south of the belt, causing exhumation of more deeply buried sequences. During the Early Paleozoic a long-lived marine sedimentation coupled with the intrusion of MORB-like basalts occurred along a stable margin before the collision event. This contrasts with the almost contemporaneous sedimentation registered during accretion in accretionary prism settings and additionally proves the development of a collision zone along western Precordillera and the eastern Frontal Cordillera as well as the existence of Chilenia as a separate microcontinent.

Carboniferous paleogeographic and paleoclimatic reconstructions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scotese, C.R.; Raymond, A.

1992-01-01

The Carboniferous was an important transitional period in earth history. The Paleozoic oceans separating the continents of Gondwana, Laurentia, Baltica, Kazakhstan, and Siberia had closed by the late Carboniferous forming the late Paleozoic supercontinent of Pangea. Plate motions which appear to have been rapid during the Early Carboniferous (6--10 cm/yr), slowed to a temperature gradient increased as the Earth's climate changed from hot-house to ice-house conditions. Sea level, which stood high during the Early Carboniferous, fell as a result of continental collision and mountain-building, and then began to rise and fall rhythmically as the South Polar ice-cap waxed and waned.more » These environmental changes intersected important evolutionary events, namely, the explosive colonization of the emergent land areas by plants and the rise of terrestrial vertebrates. In this paper the authors present paleogeographic reconstructions for 6 intervals during the Carboniferous. These maps illustrate the latitudinal position of the continents deduced from paleomagnetic data and the distribution of climatically restricted lithofacies (coal, bauxite, evaporite, calcrete, and tillite), the inferred location of active plate boundaries, and the changing configuration of mountains, land, shallow seas, and deep ocean basins. For each of these paleogeographic maps a climatic simulation was run using the Parametric Climate Model. These simulations predict the distribution of high and low pressure cells, prevailing wind directions, pole-to-equator temperature gradient, relative wetness/dryness, as well as zones of coastal upwelling.« less

Global deglaciation and the re-appearance of microbial matground-dominated ecosystems in the late Paleozoic of Gondwana.

PubMed

Buatois, L A; Netto, R G; Gabriela Mángano, M; Carmona, N B

2013-07-01

The extensive matgrounds in Carboniferous-Permian open-marine deposits of western Argentina constitute an anachronistic facies, because with the onset of penetrative bioturbation during the early Paleozoic microbial mats essentially disappeared from these settings. Abundant microbially induced sedimentary structures in the Argentinean deposits are coincident with the disappearance of trace and body fossils in the succession and with a landward facies shift indicative of transgressive conditions. Deposits of the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian glacial event are well developed in adjacent basins in eastern Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Antarctica, but do not occur in the western Andean basins of Argentina. However, the deglaciation phase is indirectly recorded in the studied region by a rapid rise in sea level referred to as the Stephanian-Asselian transgression. We suggest that an unusual release of meltwater during the final deglaciation episode of the Gondwana Ice Age may have dramatically freshened peri-Gondwanan seas, impacting negatively on coastal and shallow-marine benthic faunas. Suppression of bioturbation was therefore conducive to a brief re-appearance of matground-dominated ecosystems, reminiscent of those in the precambrian. Bioturbation is essential for ecosystem performance and plays a major role in ocean and sediment geochemistry. Accordingly, the decimation of the mixed layer during deglaciation in the Gondwana basins may have altered ecosystem functioning and geochemical cycling. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Timing and Nature of Events Leading to the Formation of the Albion-Raft River-Grouse Creek (ARG) Metamorphic Core complex, Northern Great Basin, W. U.S.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, E. L.; Konstantinou, A.; Sheu, D.; Strickland, A.; Grove, M.

2016-12-01

Interpretations of the geodynamic significance of metamorphic core complexes in the northern Basin and Range are intimately tied to a combination of P-T data, geochronology and mica thermochronology used to infer episodes of deformation and uplift related to syn-shortening gravitational collapse of the crust in the latest Cretaceous-early Cenozoic. The ARG is no exception and we bring new geologic mapping, microstructural analysis, geochronology and 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology to bear on these questions. The petrogenesis of Eocene-Miocene magmas, the structural fabrics and metamorphism developed in wall rocks of plutons and the history of flanking basins outline a three-part Cenozoic story of this complex: Part 1: Mantle-derived heat input into the crust in the Eocene (42-36 Ma), related to Farallon slab removal, produced volcanism, plutonism, but little regional extension. Part 2: Heat input led to increased crustal melting as surface volcanism ceased. Diapiric rise of granite-cored gneiss domes sheathed by high grade, high strain metamorphic fabrics and mylonites took place over a protracted time, 32-25 Ma, stalling at depths > 10 km. Transitions upward from penetrative stretching fabrics to brittle crust were complex damage zones of multiply deformed and faulted Paleozoic strata overlain by a more intact 7-8 km thick section of Late Paleozoic and Triassic. Extension was localized and no sedimentary basins formed during this time. Part 3: Metamorphic and igneous rocks were brought to near surface conditions during Miocene extension, between 14-8 Ma ago. Structures accommodating E-W extension are high-angle, rotational normal faults that currently bound both sides of the ARG complex with linked sedimentary basins in their hanging wall. New 40Ar/39Ar data show that country rocks near the Oligocene Almo pluton share the pluton's cooling history. Further from the pluton, where pre-Oligocene fabrics are variably preserved, white mica total gas and plateau ages increase up structural section. Ages in the 40-50 Ma range are likely the result of incomplete argon loss from Mesozoic (Jurassic and or Cretaceous?) micas in the Oligocene and/or partial retention zone residence prior to final Miocene uplift rather than the result of proposed latest Cretaceous-early Cenozoic tectonic or deformational events.

Compositional changes in the UCC through time revealed by tungsten isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mundl, A.; Walker, R. J.; Reimink, J. R.; Rudnick, R. L.; Gaschnig, R. M.

2017-12-01

During periods of glaciation, ice scrapes off large areas of Earth's surface. The resulting sediments, termed glacial diamictites, are typically little affected by chemical alteration during their accumulation and lithification. The fine-grained matrix of a diamictite can therefore provide important information about the average composition of a portion of the upper continental crust (UCC) preceding the time of its deposition. Major and trace element studies of diamictites have reported compositional changes in the UCC through Earth's history, documenting changes in its average lithology. Short-lived radiogenic isotope systems are useful tools to further study crustal evolution via diamictites, as small-scale 182W (182Hf → 182W, t½ = 8.9 Ma) and 142Nd (146Nd → 142Nd, t½= 103 Ma) anomalies may reflect mantle or crustal processes that occurred very early in Earth history. We have investigated 182W/184W ratios in thirteen glacial diamictite composites from four different continents. These rocks were deposited during the Archean (3.0 Ga), Proterozoic (2.4, 2.3, 2.2, 0.6 Ga) and Paleozoic (0.3 Ga) in South Africa, as well as during the Proterozoic (2.4, 0.7, 0.6 Ga) in North America, and the Paleozoic (0.3 Ga) in South America. Individual glacial diamictites sample multiple crustal sources, so the isotopic compositions of the diamictites are more representative of the UCC at the time of deposition, than the komatiites and early Archean supracrustal rocks, which have been the focus of most prior studies. Tungsten isotope compositions reveal well-resolved deficits in 182W/184W of as much as 14 ppm in three of the four Archean samples from South Africa. By contrast, there are no clearly resolved deficits in Paleoproterozoic diamictites from the same area, although results for multiple analyses of the same samples suggest that a small deficit of 6 ppm may be present. No anomalies are present in younger diamictites. The Archean diamictites provide additional evidence for considerable heterogeneity in 182W in Archean crustal rocks, consistent with prior studies of individual rock units. The lack of anomalies in younger diamictites suggests that the isotopically heterogeneous nature of 182W in the Archean crust had disappeared by the beginning of the Proterozoic, as with 142Nd. Reasons for the transition remain unclear.

A New Noncalcified Dasycladalean Alga from the Silurian of Wisconsin

USGS Publications Warehouse

LoDuca, S.T.; Kluessendorf, Joanne; Mikulic, Donald G.

2003-01-01

Noncalcified thalli, consisting of a narrow main axis with numerous branched hairlike laterals in whorls and a subapical array of undivided clavate laterals, from the Silurian (Llandovery) Brandon Bridge Formation of southeastern Wisconsin, constitute the basis for a new genus and species of dasycladalean alga, Heterocladus waukeshaensis. A relationship within the family Triploporellaceae is indicated by the whorled arrangement of the laterals and the absence of gametophores on mature specimens. A compilation of occurrence data suggests that noncalcified dasyclads, as a whole, were more abundant and diverse during the Ordovician and Silurian than at any other time in their history. The heterocladous thallus architecture of this alga adds to a wide range of morphological variation documented among Ordovician and Silurian dasyclads, the sum of which indicates that Dasycladales underwent a significant evolutionary radiation during the early Paleozoic.

The origin and development of plains-type folds during the cretaceous in Central and western Kansas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Merriam, D.F.; Forster, A.

2000-01-01

Kansas is part of the Central Stable Region of North America. Structural movement on this part of the craton has been mainly the result of tectonism in nearby areas. Response to the outside tectonic forces, transmitted through the rigid Precambrian basement, has been vertical adjustment. Differential movement along an indigenous fault/fracture pattern in the basement created displaced blocks over which the later sediments were draped by differential compaction. After initial formation of this structural regimen in late Mississippian-early Pennsylvanian time, continued movement of the basement blocks gave rise to the plains-type folds so prevalent in the U.S. Midcontinent. The incremental movement continues through the late Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Tertiary until today. This paper demonstrates the Cretaceous development of some of these structures in central and western Kansas.

Shoshonitic- and adakitic magmatism of the Early Paleozoic age in the Western Kunlun orogenic belt, NW China: Implications for the early evolution of the northwestern Tibetan plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jian; Hattori, Keiko; Liu, Jianguo; Song, Yue; Gao, Yongbao; Zhang, Han

2017-08-01

The Western Kunlun orogenic belt in the northwestern margin of the Tibetan plateau contains two magmatic belts; early Paleozoic belt in the northern part of Western Kunlun Terrane (WKT), and early Mesozoic belt in the southern part of WKT. Both formed from northward subduction of the Paleo-Tethys. The early Paleozoic belt contains large Datong and Qiukesu igneous complexes and many smaller plutons. The Datong complex is mainly composed of dark-colored porphyritic syenite and monzonite with minor light-colored dykes of granite and monzonite. The dark-colored rocks are characterized by moderate SiO2 (58.2-69.3 wt.%), and high Al2O3 (15.3-17.1 wt.%), total alkali (Na2O + K2O = 8.07-10.2 wt.%) and ratios of K2O/Na2O (0.77-1.83). They plot in "shoshonite" field, and show high abundances of LILE including LREE ((La/Yb)n = 15.4-26.2; mean 20.2) with pronounced negative anomalies of Nb-Ta-P-Ti in normalized trace elemental patterns and weak negative anomalies of Eu (δEu = 2Eun/(Smn + Gdn) = 0.68-0.80). The light-colored rocks contain slightly higher concentrations of SiO2 (60.3-72.0 wt.%), similar Al2O3 (14.7-17.6 wt.%), and slightly lower total alkalis (6.57-9.14 wt.%) than dark-colored rocks. They show adakitic geochemical signatures with low Y (5.80-17.2 ppm) and Yb (0.63-1.59 ppm), and high Sr/Y (> 40). U-Pb zircon dating indicates that shoshonitic rocks and adakitic dykes formed at 444 Ma to 443 Ma, and a separate small adakitic plug at 462 Ma. The mean εHf(t) values of zircon range from - 1.6 to - 0.94 (n = 14) with TDM2 of 1.5 Ga for shoshonitic rocks and εHf(t) values from - 1.8 to + 0.72 (n = 12) with TDM2 of 1.4 to 1.5 Ga for adakitic rocks. Shoshonitic rocks show initial 87Sr/86Sr and εNd(t) of 0.7092-0.7100 and - 3.9 to - 3.2, respectively, and adakitic rocks yield initial 87Sr/86Sr and εNd(t) of 0.7099-0.7134 and - 3.6 to - 3.1, respectively. Similar Sr, Nd, and Hf isotope compositions for the shoshonitic and adakitic rocks suggest similar ancient rocks as their sources. Combined with the geological development of the area, we propose that a local extension in the WKT over the subducting Paleo-Tethys has induced the upwelling of asthenospheric mantle and partial melting in the lower crust during mid-Ordovician to early Silurian. The primary shoshonitic melt evolved into the parental magmas for the shoshonitic rocks and adakitic rocks through fractional crystallization of hornblende.

Field evidences for a Mesozoic palaeo-relief through the northern Tianshan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gumiaux, Charles; Chen, Ke; Augier, Romain; Chen, Yan; Wang, Qingchen

2010-05-01

The modern Tianshan mountain belt, located in Central Asia, offers a natural laboratory to study orogenic processes linked with convergent geodynamical settings. Most of the previous studies either focused on the Paleozoic evolution of the range - subductions, arc accretions and continental collision - or on its Cenozoic intra-continental evolution linked with the India-Asia collision. At first order, the finite structure of this range obviously displays a remarkable uprising of Paleozoic "basement" rocks - as a crustal-scale ‘pop-up' - surrounded by two Cenozoic foreland basins. The present-day topography of the Tianshan is traditionally related to the latest intra-continental reactivation of the range. In contrast, the present field study of the northern Tianshan brings new and clear evidences for the existence of a significant relief, in this area, during Mesozoic times. The investigation zone is about 250 km long, from Wusu to Urumqi, along the northern flank of the Tianshan where the rivers deeply incised the topography. In such valleys, lithologies and structural relationships between Paleozoic basement rocks, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary series are particularly well exposed along several sections. Jurassic series are mostly characterized by coal-bearing, coarse-grained continental deposits. Within intra-mountain basins, sedimentary breccias, with clasts of Carboniferous basement rocks, have been locally found at the base of the series. This argues for the presence of a rather proximal palaeo-relief of basement rocks along the range front and the occurrence of proximal intra-mountain basins, during the Jurassic. Moreover, while a major thrust is mostly evoked between Jurassic deposits and the Paleozoic units, some of the studied sections show that the Triassic to Jurassic sedimentary series can be followed from the basin to the range. In these cases, the unconformity of the Mesozoic series on top of the Carboniferous basement has been locally clearly identified quite high in the mountain range or even, surprisingly, directly along the northern Tianshan "front" itself. Combining available information from geological maps, field investigations and numerous drilling wells, regional-scale cross-sections have been built. Some of them show "onlap" type deposit of the Triassic to Jurassic clastic sediments on top of the Paleozoic basement that was thus significantly sloping down to the North at that time. Our study clearly evidences, at different scales, the existence of a major palaeo-relief along the northern Tianshan range during Mesozoic, and particularly during Jurassic times. Such results are compatible with previous fission tracks and sedimentology studies. From this, the Tianshan's uplift and the movements associated with along its northern front structures, which are traditionally assigned to its Cenozoic reactivation, must be reduced. These new results question on the mode and timing of reactivation of structures and on the link between topography and intra-continental collisional settings.

Extensive crustal melting during craton destruction: Evidence from the Mesozoic magmatic suite of Junan, eastern North China Craton

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Fan; Santosh, M.; Tang, Li

2018-05-01

The cratonic destruction associated with the Pacific plate subduction beneath the eastern North China Craton (NCC) shows a close relationship with the widespread magmatism during the Late Mesozoic. Here we investigate a suite of intrusive and extrusive magmatic rocks from the Junan region of the eastern NCC in order to evaluate the role of extensive crustal melting related to decratonization. We present petrological, geochemical, zircon U-Pb geochronological and Lu-Hf isotopic data to evaluate the petrogenesis, timing and tectonic significance of the Early Cretaceous magmatism. Zircon grains in the basalt from the extrusive suite of Junan show multiple populations with Neoproterozoic and Early Paleozoic xenocrystic grains ranging in age from 764 Ma to 495 Ma as well as Jurassic grains with an age range of 189-165 Ma. The dominant population of magmatic zircon grains in the syenite defines three major age peaks of 772 Ma, 132 Ma and 126 Ma. Zircons in the granitoids including alkali syenite, monzonite and granodiorite yield a tightly restricted age range of 124-130 Ma representing their emplacement ages. The Neoproterozoic (841-547 Ma) zircon grains from the basalt and the syenite possess εHf(t) values of -22.9 to -8.4 and from -18.8 to -17.3, respectively. The Early Paleozoic (523-494 Ma) zircons from the basalt and the syenite also show markedly negative εHf(t) values of -22.7 to -18.0. The dominant population of Early Cretaceous (134-121 Ma) zircon grains presented in all the samples also displays negative εHf(t) values range from -31.7 to -21.1, with TDM of 1653-2017 Ma and TDMC in the range of 2193-3187 Ma. Accordingly, the Lu-Hf data suggest that the parent magma was sourced through melting of Mesoarchean to Paleoproterozoic basement rocks. Geochemical data on the Junan magmatic suite display features similar to those associated with the arc magmatic rocks involving subduction-related components, with interaction of fluids and melts in the suprasubduction mantle wedge. From the data presented, we propose that the Late Mesozoic intrusive and extrusive suites of Junan represent extensive lower and middle crustal melting, possibly triggered by mantle upwelling during the back-arc spreading associated with the Pacific plate subduction beneath the NCC. Intense asthenospheric upwelling resulted in lithospheric thinning and partial delamination during the Early Cretaceous, marking one of the peak decratonization stages of the NCC.

The ichnologic record of the continental invertebrate invasion: evolutionary trends in environmental expansion, ecospace utilization, and behavioral complexity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Buatois, L.A.; Mangano, M.G.; Genise, Jorge F.; Taylor, T.N.

1998-01-01

The combined study of continental trace fossils and associated sedimentary facies provides valuable evidence of colonization trends and events throughout the Phanerozoic. Colonization of continental environments was linked to the exploitation of empty or under-utilized ecospace. Although the nonmarine trace fossil record probably begins during the Late Ordovician, significant invasion of nonmarine biotopes began close to the Silurian-Devonian transition with the establishment of a mobile arthropod epifauna (Diplichnites ichnoguild) in coastal marine to alluvial plain settings. Additionally, the presence of vertical burrows in Devonian high-energy fluvial deposits reflects the establishment of a stationary, deep suspension-feeding infauna of the Skolithos ichnoguild. The earliest evidence of plant-arthropod interaction occurred close to the Silurian-Devonian boundary, but widespread and varied feeding patterns are known from the Carboniferous. During the Carboniferous, permanent subaqueous lacustrine settings were colonized by a diverse, mobile detritus-feeding epifauna of the Mermia ichnoguild, which reflects a significant palaeoenvironmental expansion of trace fossils. Paleozoic ichnologic evidence supports direct routes to the land from marginal marine environments, and migration to lakes from land settings. All nonmarine sedimentary environments were colonized by the Carboniferous, and subsequent patterns indicate an increase in ecospace utilization within already colonized depositional settings. During the Permian, back-filled traces of the Scoyenia ichnoguild record the establishment of a mobile, intermediate-depth, deposit-feeding in-fauna in alluvial and transitional alluvial-lacustrine sediment. Diversification of land plants and the establishment of ecologically diverse plant communities through time provided new niches to be exploited by arthropods. Nevertheless, most ot the evolutionary feeding innovations took place relatively early, during the Late Palaeozoic or early Mesozoic. A stationary deep unfauna, the Camborygma ichnoguild, was developed in Triassic transitional alluvial-lacustrinbe deposits. Terrestrial environments hosted the rise of complex social behavioral patterns, as suggested by the probable presence of hymenopteran and isopteran nests in Triassic paleosols. An increase in diversity of trace fossils is detected in Triassic-Jurassic eolian deposits, where the ichnofauna displays more varied behavioral patterns than their Paleozoic counterparts. Also, a mobile, intermediate-depth, deposit-feeding infauna, the Vagorichnus ichnoguild, was established in deep lake environments during the Jurassic. In contrast to Paleozoic permanent subaqueous assemblages typified by surface trails, Jurassic ichnocoenoses are dominated by infaunal burrows. High density of infaunal deposit-feeding traces of the Planolites ichnoguild caused major disruption of lacustrine sedimentary fabrics during the Cretaceous. Most insect mouthpart classes, functional feeding groups, and dietary guilds were established by the end of the Cretaceous. Diversification of modern insects is recorded by the abundance and complexity of structures produced by wasps, bees, dung-beetles, and termites in Cretaceous-Tertiary paleosols. The increase in bioturbation migrated from fluvial and lake-margin settings to permanent subaqueous lacustrine environments through time.

Where's the Beaverhead beef?. [meteorite impact structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hargraves, R. B.

1992-01-01

Only rare quartz grains with single-set planar (1013) deformation features (PDF's) are present in breccia dikes found in association with uniformly oriented shatter cones that occur over an area 8 x 25 km. This suggests that the Beaverhead shocked rocks come from only the outer part of the central uplift of what must have been a large (greater than 100 km diameter) complex impact structure. An impact event of this magnitude on continental crust (thought to have occurred in late Precambrian or ealy Paleozoic time) could be expected to punctuate local geologic history. Furthermore, although it may now be covered, its scar should remain despite all the considerable subsequent erosion/deposition and tectonism since the impact. The following are three large-scale singularities or anomalies that may reflect the event and mark its source. (1) The Lemhi Arch is a major structural uplift that occurred in late Proterozoic-early Paleozoic time in East Central Idaho and caused the erosion of at least 4 km of sedimentary cover. This may be directly related to the impact. (2) Of the many thrust sheets comprising the Cordilleran belt, the Cabin plate that carries the shocked rocks is unique in that it alone intersected the crystalline basement. It also now marks the apex of the Southwest Montana Recess in the Sevier front. The basement uplift remaining from the impact may have constituted a mechanical obstacle to the advancing thrust sheets in Cretaceous time, causing the recess. (3) What could be interpreted as a roughly circular aeromagnetic anomaly approx. 70 km in diameter can be discerned in the state aeromagnetic map centered about 20 km southeast of Challis, Idaho, in the Lost River range. It is in approximately the right place, and ignoring the possibility that the anomalies have diverse causes and the circular pattern is coincidental, it may mark what remains of the buried central uplift structure.

Where's the Beaverhead beef?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hargraves, R. B.

Only rare quartz grains with single-set planar (1013) deformation features (PDF's) are present in breccia dikes found in association with uniformly oriented shatter cones that occur over an area 8 x 25 km. This suggests that the Beaverhead shocked rocks come from only the outer part of the central uplift of what must have been a large (greater than 100 km diameter) complex impact structure. An impact event of this magnitude on continental crust (thought to have occurred in late Precambrian or ealy Paleozoic time) could be expected to punctuate local geologic history. Furthermore, although it may now be covered, its scar should remain despite all the considerable subsequent erosion/deposition and tectonism since the impact. The following are three large-scale singularities or anomalies that may reflect the event and mark its source. (1) The Lemhi Arch is a major structural uplift that occurred in late Proterozoic-early Paleozoic time in East Central Idaho and caused the erosion of at least 4 km of sedimentary cover. This may be directly related to the impact. (2) Of the many thrust sheets comprising the Cordilleran belt, the Cabin plate that carries the shocked rocks is unique in that it alone intersected the crystalline basement. It also now marks the apex of the Southwest Montana Recess in the Sevier front. The basement uplift remaining from the impact may have constituted a mechanical obstacle to the advancing thrust sheets in Cretaceous time, causing the recess. (3) What could be interpreted as a roughly circular aeromagnetic anomaly approx. 70 km in diameter can be discerned in the state aeromagnetic map centered about 20 km southeast of Challis, Idaho, in the Lost River range. It is in approximately the right place, and ignoring the possibility that the anomalies have diverse causes and the circular pattern is coincidental, it may mark what remains of the buried central uplift structure.

Geologic map of the Winslow 30’ × 60’ quadrangle, Coconino and Navajo Counties, northern Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Billingsley, George H.; Block, Debra L.; Redsteer, Margaret Hiza

2013-01-01

The Winslow 30’ × 60’ quadrangle encompasses approximately 5,018 km2 (1,960 mi2) within Coconino and Navajo Counties of northern Arizona. It is characterized by gently dipping Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata that dip 1° to 2° northeastward in the southwestern part of the quadrangle and become nearly flat-lying in the northeastern part of the quadrangle. In the northeastern part, a shallow Cenozoic erosional basin developed about 20 million years ago, which subsequently was filled with flat-lying Miocene and Pliocene lacustrine sediments of the Bidahochi Formation, as well as associated volcanic rocks of the Hopi Buttes Volcanic Field. The lacustrine sediments and volcanic rocks unconformably overlie Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous strata. Beginning about early Pliocene time, the Little Colorado River and its tributaries began to remove large volumes of Paleozoic and Mesozoic bedrock from the map area. This erosional development has continued through Pleistocene and Holocene time. Fluvial sediments accumulated episodically throughout this erosional cycle, as indicated by isolated Pliocene(?) and Pleistocene Little Colorado River terrace-gravel deposits on Tucker Mesa and Toltec Divide west of Winslow and younger terrace-gravel deposits along the margins of the Little Colorado River Valley. These gravel deposits suggest that the ancestral Little Colorado River and its valley has eroded and migrated northeastward toward its present location and largely parallels the strike of the Chinle Formation. Today, the Little Colorado River meanders within a 5-km (3-mi) wide valley between Winslow and Leupp, where soft strata of the Chinle Formation is mostly covered by an unknown thickness of Holocene flood-plain deposits. In modern times, the Little Colorado River channel has changed its position as much as a 1.5 km (1 mi) during flood events, but for much of the year the channel is a dry river bed. Surficial alluvial and eolian deposits cover extensive parts of the bedrock outcrops over the entire Winslow quadrangle.

Carbonate rocks of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Their correlation and paleogeographic significance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dumoulin, Julie A.; Harris, Alta; Repetski, John E.

2014-01-01

Paleozoic carbonate strata deposited in shallow platform to off-platform settings occur across the Seward Peninsula and range from unmetamorphosed Ordovician–Devonian(?) rocks of the York succession in the west to highly deformed and metamorphosed Cambrian–Devonian units of the Nome Complex in the east. Faunal and lithologic correlations indicate that early Paleozoic strata in the two areas formed as part of a single carbonate platform. The York succession makes up part of the York terrane and consists of Ordovician, lesser Silurian, and limited, possibly Devonian rocks. Shallow-water facies predominate, but subordinate graptolitic shale and calcareous turbidites accumulated in deeper water, intraplatform basin environments, chiefly during the Middle Ordovician. Lower Ordovician strata are mainly lime mudstone and peloid-intraclast grainstone deposited in a deepening upward regime; noncarbonate detritus is abundant in lower parts of the section. Upper Ordovician and Silurian rocks include carbonate mudstone, skeletal wackestone, and coral-stromatoporoid biostromes that are commonly dolomitic and accumulated in warm, shallow to very shallow settings with locally restricted circulation. The rest of the York terrane is mainly Ordovician and older, variously deformed and metamorphosed carbonate and siliciclastic rocks intruded by early Cambrian (and younger?) metagabbros. Older (Neoproterozoic–Cambrian) parts of these units are chiefly turbidites and may have been basement for the carbonate platform facies of the York succession; younger, shallow- and deep-water strata likely represent previously unrecognized parts of the York succession and its offshore equivalents. Intensely deformed and altered Mississippian carbonate strata crop out in a small area at the western edge of the terrane. Metacarbonate rocks form all or part of several units within the blueschist- and greenschist-facies Nome Complex. The Layered sequence includes mafic meta¬igneous rocks and associated calcareous metaturbidites of Ordovician age as well as shallow-water Silurian dolostones. Scattered metacarbonate rocks are chiefly Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian dolostones that formed in shallow, warm-water settings with locally restricted circulation and marbles of less constrained Paleozoic age. Carbonate metaturbidites occur on the northeast and southeast coasts and yield mainly Silurian and lesser Ordovician and Devonian conodonts; the northern succession also includes debris flows with meter-scale clasts and an argillite interval with Late Ordovician graptolites and lenses of radiolarian chert. Mafic igneous rocks at least partly of Early Devonian age are common in the southern succession. Carbonate rocks on Seward Peninsula experienced a range of deformational and thermal histories equivalent to those documented in the Brooks Range. Conodont color alteration indices (CAIs) from Seward Peninsula, like those from the Brooks Range, define distinct thermal provinces that likely reflect structural burial. Penetratively deformed high-pressure metamorphic rocks of the Nome Complex (CAIs ≥5) correspond to rocks of the Schist belt in the southern Brooks Range; both record subduction during early stages of the Jurassic–Cretaceous Brooks Range orogeny. Weakly metamorphosed to unmetamorphosed strata of the York terrane (CAIs mainly 2–5), like Brooks Range rocks in the Central belt and structural allochthons to the north, experienced moderate to shallow burial during the main phase of the Brooks Range orogeny. The nature of the contact between the York terrane and the Nome Complex is uncertain; it may be a thrust fault, an extensional surface, or a thrust fault later reactivated as an extensional fault. Lithofacies and biofacies data indicate that, in spite of their divergent Mesozoic histories, rocks of the York terrane and protoliths of the Nome Complex formed as part of the same lower Paleozoic carbonate platform. Stratigraphies in both

New Postcranial Material of the Early Caseid Casea broilii Williston, 1910 (Synapsida: Caseidae) with a Review of the Evolution of the Sacrum in Paleozoic Non-Mammalian Synapsids

PubMed Central

LeBlanc, Aaron R. H.; Reisz, Robert R.

2014-01-01

Here we use the description of a new specimen of the small caseid synapsid Casea broilii that preserves the sacral, pelvic and hind limb regions in great detail and in three dimensions, as a unique opportunity to reevaluate the early stages in the evolution of the sacrum in the lineage that led to mammals. We place this new material in the context of sacral evolution in early caseid synapsids and conclude that the transition from two to three sacral vertebrae occurred in small-bodied species, suggesting that it was not an adaptation to heavy weight bearing. Furthermore, we compare descriptions of sacral anatomy among known early synapsids, including caseids, ophiacodontids, edaphosaurids, varanopids, and sphenacodontians and review sacral evolution in early synapsids. Based on the descriptions of new species of caseids, edaphosaurids, and varanopids over the past several decades, it is clear that a sacrum consisting of three vertebrae evolved independently at least four times in synapsids during the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian. Furthermore, similarities in the morphologies of the sacral vertebrae and ribs of these early synapsids lead us to conclude that an anterior caudal vertebra had been incorporated into the sacral series convergently in these groups. Given the repeated acquisition of a three-vertebra sacrum in early synapsids and no apparent link to body size, we argue that this sacral anatomy was related to more efficient terrestrial locomotion than to increased weight bearing. PMID:25545624

Textural and Rb-Sr isotopic evidence for late Paleozoic mylonitization within the Honey Hill fault zone southeastern Connecticut

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O'Hara, K.D.; Gromet, L.P.

A petrographic and Rb-Sr isotopic study of rocks within and near the Honey Hill fault zone places important constraints on its history of movement. Rb-Sr apparent ages for micas and plagioclase from these rocks have been reset and range from Permian to Triassic, considerably younger than the minimum stratigraphic age (Ordovician) of the rocks studied or of Acadian (Devonian) regional metamorphism. Permian Rb-Sr ages of dynamically recrystallized muscovite date the development of mylonite fabric. An older age is precluded by the excellent preservation of unrecovered quartz, which indicates that these rocks did not experience temperatures high enough to anneal quartzmore » or thermally reset Rb-Sr isotopic systems in muscovite since the time of mylonitization. Metamorphic mineral assemblages and mineral apparent ages in rocks north of the fault zone indicate recrystallization under similar upper greenschist-lower amphibolite grade conditions during Permian to Triassic time. Collectively these results indicate that the Honey Hill fault zone was active during the Late Paleozoic and that ductile deformation and metamorphism associated with the Alleghanian orogeny extend well into southern Connecticut. An Alleghanian age for mylonitization within the Honey Hill fault zone suggests it should be considered as a possible site for the major Late Paleozoic strike-slip displacements inferred from paleomagnetic studies for parts of coastal New England and maritime Canada.« less

Thin and layered subcontinental crust of the great Basin western north America inherited from Paleozoic marginal ocean basins?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Churkin, M.; McKee, E.H.

1974-01-01

The seismic profile of the crust of the northern part of the Basin and Range province by its thinness and layering is intermediate between typical continental and oceanic crust and resembles that of marginal ocean basins, especially those with thick sedimentary fill. The geologic history of the Great Basin indicates that it was the site of a succession of marginal ocean basins opening and closing behind volcanic arcs during much of Paleozoic time. A long process of sedimentation and deformation followed throughout the Mesozoic modifying, but possibly not completely transforming the originally oceanic crust to continental crust. In the Cenozoic, after at least 40 m.y. of quiescence and stable conditions, substantial crustal and upper-mantle changes are recorded by elevation of the entire region in isostatic equilibrium, crustal extension resulting in Basin and Range faulting, extensive volcanism, high heat flow and a low-velocity mantle. These phenomena, apparently the result of plate tectonics, are superimposed on the inherited subcontinental crust that developed from an oceanic origin in Paleozoic time and possibly retained some of its thin and layered characteristics. The present anomalous crust in the Great Basin represents an accretion of oceanic geosynclinal material to a Precambrian continental nucleus apparently as an intermediate step in the process of conversion of oceanic crust into a stable continental landmass or craton. ?? 1974.

Mesozoic evolution of the northeast African shelf margin, Libya and Egypt

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aadland, R.K.; Schamel, S.

1988-08-01

The present tectonic features of the northeast African shelf margin between the Nile delta and the Gulf of Sirte are products of (1) precursory late Paleozoic basement arches, (2) early Mesozoic rifting and plate separation, and (3) Late Cretaceous structural inversion. Isopach and structural maps, cross sections, and sediment accumulation (geohistory) curves constructed from 89 wells in the Western Desert and 27 wells in northeastern Libya depict the structural and stratigraphic development of the northeast African shelf margin.

Transverse tectonic zonation of Cuba and its significance for oil exploration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Levchenko, V.A.

The Laramide structures of Cuba and its continental shelf, which are oriented sublatitudinally, are divided into variously elevated blocks by transverse faults of submeridional strike, movements along which have occurred since the end of the Paleozoic. This division, inherited from the region's pre-Mesozoic stage of development, has determined the heterogeneous composition of the Cuban geosyncline's folded basement, which may be characterized by an alternation of areas of Paleozoic uplifts and intervening grabens filled with metamorphosed deposits of Early and Middle Jurassic and Triassic age, and also areas of oceanic crust. In the concluding phase of the Laramide orogeny, there weremore » northward strike-slip movements of individual blocks in the central part of Cuba. The oil potential of Cuba is associated mainly with the depressed blocks, above which the section through the Mesozoic deposits may be presumed to be more complete. The best potential for finding oil exists in the zones of the transverse regional faults along which there may have been both lateral and vertical migration of oil hydrocarbons in the stages of crustal upwarp and extension.« less

A new captorhinid reptile, Gansurhinus qingtoushanensis, gen. et sp. nov., from the Permian of China.

PubMed

Reisz, Robert R; Liu, Jun; Li, Jin-Ling; Müller, Johannes

2011-05-01

Captorhinids, a clade of Paleozoic reptiles, are represented by a rich fossil record that extends from the Late Carboniferous into the Late Permian. Representatives of this clade dispersed from the equatorial regions of Laurasia into the temperate regions of Pangea during the Middle and Late Permian. This rich fossil record shows that there was an evolutionary trend from faunivorous to omnivorous and herbivorous feeding habits within this clade. The discovery of well-preserved captorhinid materials in the Middle Permian of China allows us to determine that the new taxon, Gansurhinus qingtoushanensis, gen. et sp. nov, is a member of Moradisaurinae, a clade of captorhinids with multiple tooth rows arranged in parallel. The presence of this moradisaurine in the Middle Permian of south central Asia leads us to suggest that paleogeographic changes during the Permian, with part of what is today China becoming a large peninsula of Pangea, allowed these early reptiles as well as other terrestrial vertebrates to extend their geographic ranges to this region of the Late Paleozoic supercontinent.

Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the Red Dog Zn-Pb-Ag district and vicinity, western Brooks Range, Alaska: provenance, deposition, and metallogenic significance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Slack, John F.; Dumoulin, Julie A.; Schmidt, J.M.; Young, L.E.; Rombach, Cameron

2004-01-01

The distribution and composition of Paleozoic strata in the western Brooks Range may have played a fundamental role in Zn-Pb mineralization of the Red Dog district. In our model, deposition and early lithification of biogenic chert and bedded siliceous rocks in the upper part of the Kuna Formation served as a regional hydrologic seal, acting as a cap rock to heat and hydrothermal fluids during Late Mississippian base-metal mineralization. Equally important was the iron-poor composition of black shales of the Kuna Formation (i.e., low Fe/Ti ratios), which limited synsedimentary pyrite formation in precursor sediments, resulting in significant H2S production in pore waters through the interaction of aqueous sulfate with abundant organic matter. This H2S may have been critical to the subsurface deposition of the huge quantities of Zn and Pb in the district. On the basis of this model, we propose that low Fe/Ti and S/C ratios in black shale sequences are potential basin-scale exploration guides for giant sediment-hosted, stratiform Zn-Pb-Ag deposits.

CONSTRAINTS ON EXHUMATION AND SEDIMENTS PROVENANCE DURING PALEOGENE IN THE NORTHERN PYRENEES (FRANCE) USING DETRITAL AFT, ZHe AND Z(U/Pb) THERMOCHRONOLOGY

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filleaudeau, P.; Mouthereau, F.; Fellin, M.; Pik, R.; Lacombe, O.

2009-12-01

The Pyrenees are a doubly vergent orogenic wedge built by the convergence between the subducting Iberian microplate and the European plate lasting from late Cretaceous to early Miocene. The backbone of the Pyrenean belt (Axial Zone) consists in a stack of thrusts units composed of Paleozoic series intruded by late-Variscan granitoids. Both pro- and retro-wedge sides of the Pyrenees are fold-and-thrust belts made of Meso-Cenozoic sediments thrusted onto the Ebro and Aquitaine foreland basins. The deep structure, highlighted by the ECORS profile, shows a strong asymmetry caused by the southward migration of deformation associated with the development of a Paleogene antiformal stack emplaced during wedge growth in the Iberian plate. The present study focuses on the synorogenic deposits of the retro-foreland basin in the northern part of the belt. To examine the source rocks and quantify the exhumation rates, we combine fission track thermochronometry on detrital apatites with Helium diffusion and U/Pb thermochronometry on zircons. Due to the very high closure temperature of the U/Pb system and the wide range of age distribution, the U/Pb method, that provides zircon crystallisation ages, is a powerful tool to distinguish the various eroded sources feeding the North Pyrenean basin. Thus, we can separate grains coming from Variscan intrusive basement with ages around 310 Ma from younger grains coming from Permian or Triassic to lower Jurassic volcanics. Zircon ages of 220 Ma found in the Paleocene sandstones point to the Triassic volcanic rocks (the so-called “ophites”) as the main source of detrital grains. We infer that Paleozoic units of the Axial Zone were not outcropping in the Paleocene catchments. Exhumation rates are estimated through apatite fission track grain-age distributions and (U-Th)/He dating for two Lutetian and Bartonian synorogenic sandstone samples of the North Pyenean foreland basin. The first results obtained with AFT dating show two main grain populations, with ages ranging from Albian (around 100 Ma) to Paleocene-Eocene (50-60 Ma). These cooling ages are interpreted as related to the Albian post-rift exhumation and the syn-collisional exhumation, respectively. We finally estimate constant exhumation rates of 0.3-0.4km/Ma of the Paleozoic granitoides of the Axial Zone during the Lutetian. Since Paleocene Z(U/Pb) in the sandstones are essentially younger than in situ basement ages, we conclude that the Paleozoic basement of the Axial Zone was not exhumed at the surface before the Lutetian. This brings us new constraints on the timing of Pyrenean wedge growth along ECORS profile.

Paleomagnetic study of the Eastern Klamath terrane, California, and implications for the tectonic history of the Klamath Mountains Province

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mankinen, Edward A.; Irwin, William P.; Gromme, C. Sherman

1989-01-01

Paleomagnetic study of Permian through Jurassic volcanic and sedimentary strata of the Eastern Klamath terrane has shown the remanent magnetization of many of these rocks to be prefolding and most likely primary. Similarities in magnetic declinations recorded by coeval strata over a broad area are consistent with the hypothesis that the terrane, in general, has behaved as a single rigid block. Paleomagnetic data indicate that the volcanic island arc represented by this terrane, the nucleus of the province, was facing toward the present southwest during late Paleozoic time, although its orientation during earlier periods is unknown. Whether the arc was separated from the North American craton by a small marginal basin or originated far offshore cannot be determined from paleomagnetic data. The declination anomalies for both Permian and Triassic strata are similar (average = 106° ± 12°), so we infer that clockwise rotation of the late Paleozoic arc did not begin until latest Triassic or earliest Jurassic time. The arc may have completed its initial rotation with respect to stable North America by Middle Jurassic time. After some retrograde motion, the arc was again facing west by the Late Jurassic, by which time some of the more westerly terranes of the province had become attached to the Eastern Klamath terrane. The composite Klamath Mountains terranes continued to rotate until the final 60° of clockwise rotation was nearly complete by the Early Cretaceous. Coincidence of the waning stages of rotation, at about 136 Ma, with the beginning of deposition of the basal Great Valley sequence onto the Klamath basement probably represents the completion of accretion of the Klamath Mountains terranes to the North American continent. Nearly all the rotation occurred while the Klamath Mountains terranes were part of a converging oceanic plate, with only about 20° of rotation in mid‐Tertiary time during Basin and Range extension. No data currently available show evidence for any significant latitudinal displacement of any Klamath Mountains terranes relative to cratonic North America.

Diagenetic comparisons between non-tropical Cenozoic limestones of New Zealand and tropical Mississippian limestones from Indiana, USA: Is the non-tropical model better than the tropical model?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dodd, J. Robert; Nelson, Campbell S.

1998-10-01

Mississippian limestones exposed in Indiana, U.S.A., were deposited in a shallow tropical ocean. However, many properties of these limestones are more like those of modern and Cenozoic non-tropical limestones such as those found in New Zealand. The dominant skeletal grains in the Indiana limestones are calcitic echinoderms, bryozoans, and brachiopods. The dominant skeletal grains in most Cenozoic limestones of New Zealand are calcitic bryozoans, echinoderms, bivalve molluscs, and foraminifera. In contrast, modern and Cenozoic tropical limestones contain an abundance of aragonitic green algae, corals, and molluscs. Early in diagenesis the metastable aragonite dissolves and reprecipitates as calcite, causing early cementation of the sediments. Originally aragonitic fossils that have dissolved can be identified as molds that are commonly filled with secondary calcite. Because they contained little aragonite, most of the Indiana and New Zealand limestones did not have an abundant source of early cement. Except for local cases in which grains were cemented in contact with carbonate supersaturated seawater, grainstones were relatively deeply buried with little cement between the grains. This resulted in mechanical and chemical compaction of skeletal grains, producing a `fitted fabric' with greatly reduced pore space, either open or filled with cement between the grains. Cement in these aragonite-poor grainstones comes largely from pressure dissolution between grains and along stylolitic seams in the rock, features that are common only after burial beyond a few hundred meters. The final product of deeply buried (up to 2000 m) Cenozoic New Zealand grainstones is similar to the Mississippian grainstones of Indiana. In the Indiana limestones we have only the final product of this extensive burial diagenesis. However, the New Zealand sediments and rocks reveal all steps of formation of the final deeply buried limestone. The reason for the scarcity of originally aragonitic fossil grains in Paleozoic rocks worldwide is unknown. Organisms with aragonitic skeletons such as some molluscan groups and calcareous green algae were present, but seldom in much abundance. The aragonitic scleractinian corals had not yet evolved. Previous researchers have noted that non-skeletal precipitates such as ooids and cements have at times during the Paleozoic been predominantly aragonite and at other times calcite. They have attributed this difference to secular variation in seawater chemistry (icehouse vs. greenhouse seas). Abundance of aragonitic and calcitic skeletal grains does not follow this pattern.

Geologic map of the Mount Sherman 7.5' quadrangle, Lake and Park Counties, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bohannon, Robert G.; Ruleman, Chester A.

2013-01-01

The Mount Sherman 7.5- minute quadrangle is located along the crest of the Mosquito Range in between Leadville and Fairplay, Colorado. There are eleven 13,000-foot peaks and one fourteener, Mount Sherman, within the quadrangle. General elevations range from 10,400–14,036 feet (3,200–4,278 meters). The western half of the quadrangle primarily consists of Proterozoic granitic rocks reverse faulted over Paleozoic sedimentary rocks during the Laramide orogeny of late Cretaceous and Paleocene time. Coeval to this contractional event, sills and laccoliths of the White porphyry group (which probably includes rocks equivalent to the Pando Porphyry) were emplaced in the surrounding country rocks. Igneous activity continued into the Late Eocene with the emplacement of the Sacramento Porphyry (about 43.9 Ma) and the Gray porphyry group (about 36.7 Ma), and as young as 29 Ma to the north within the Climax quadrangle. With the inception of the Rio Grande rift within the region, the Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and Late Cretaceous to early Oligocene igneous rocks were extensionally faulted and tilted to the east. This resulted in the present 20–30 degree dip-slope of these rocks on top of Proterozoic basement rocks within the eastern half of the quadrangle. This extensional regime has continued well into the Pliocene. Within the southwestern quadrant, suspicious lineaments, alignment of springs, and continuous, measureable escarpments provide reasonable evidence for Quaternary tectonic activity along the western flank of the range. Pleistocene glaciers have dramatically sculpted the region, providing exceptional exposure of the region’s bedrock and structure.

"Taconic" arc magmatism in the central Brooks Range, Alaska: New U-Pb zircon geochronology and Hf isotopic data from the lower Paleozoic Apoon assemblage of the Doonerak fenster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strauss, J. V.; Hoiland, C. W.; Ward, W.; Johnson, B.; McClelland, W.

2015-12-01

The Doonerak fenster in the central Brooks Range, AK, exposes an important package of early Paleozoic volcanic and sedimentary rocks called the Apoon assemblage, which are generally interpreted as para-autochthonous basement to the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Brookian fold-thrust belt. Recognition in the 1970's of a major pre-Mississippian unconformity within the window led to correlations between Doonerak and the North Slope (sub-) terrane of the Arctic Alaska Chukotka microplate (AACM); however, the presence of arc-affinity volcanism and the apparent lack of pre-Mississippian deformation in the Apoon assemblage makes this link tenuous and complicates Paleozoic tectonic reconstructions of the AACM. Previous age constraints on the Apoon assemblage are limited to a handful of Middle Cambrian-Silurian paleontological collections and five K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar hornblende ages from mafic dikes ranging from ~380-520 Ma. We conducted U-Pb geochronologic and Hf isotopic analyses on igneous and sedimentary zircon from the Apoon assemblage to test Paleozoic links with the North Slope and to assess the tectonic and paleogeographic setting of the Doonerak region. U-Pb analyses on detrital zircon from Apoon rocks yield a spectrum of unimodal and polymodal age populations, including prominent age groups of ca. 420-490, 960-1250, 1380­-1500, 1750-1945, and 2650-2830 Ma. Hf isotopic data from the ca. 410-490 Ma age population are generally juvenile (~7-10 ɛHf), implying a distinct lack of crustal assimilation during Ordovician-Silurian Doonerak arc magmatism despite its proximity to a cratonic source terrane as indicated by an abundance of Archean and Proterozoic zircon in the interbedded siliciclastic strata. These data are in stark contrast to geochronological data from the non-Laurentian portions of the AACM, highlighting a prominent tectonic boundary between Laurentian- and Baltic-affinity rocks at the Doonerak window and implying a link to "Taconic"-age arc magmatism documented along the NE Laurentian margin.

A-type granitoid in Hasansalaran complex, northwestern Iran: Evidence for extensional tectonic regime in northern Gondwana in the Late Paleozoic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azizi, Hossein; Kazemi, Tahmineh; Asahara, Yoshihiro

2017-07-01

The Hasansalaran plutonic complex is one of the main intrusive bodies with a wide range of granite, monzonite, diorite and syenite that crop out in northwest Iran. This body includes Paleozoic granitoids that are surrounded and cut by Cretaceous granitoids. Zircon U-Pb age dating shows that the crystallization of this body occurred at 360 Ma ago in the Early Carboniferous. Whole rock compositions of the investigated intrusive body, show high contents of Ga (11.1-76.3 ppm), Zr (73.5-1280 ppm), Zn (43.7-358 ppm), Y(17.9-177 ppm), enrichment of rare earth elements (REEs) together with high Ga/Al ratios and a strong Eu negative anomaly, fairly consistent with typical A-type signature. The low εNd(t = 360 Ma) value (< + 3) and high variation of 87Sr/86Sr(initial) ratios are evidence of the role of the continental component for the evolution of A-type granitoids in the Hasansalaran area. Because of the high contents of Ta, Yb, Nb and Y, all samples are plotted in the within-plate tectonic regime without interfering oceanic released fluids in the subduction zone. These high Nb content rocks (37.2-342 ppm without one sample) are classified as A1-type granitoids. Based on the distribution of A1- and A2-type granitoids in the Late Paleozoic in northwest Iran, the existence of some gabbroic rocks with tholeiitic to alkali composition and a long gap for magmatic activities in the area from 550 to 360 Ma (approximately 180 my.a.) between the Zagros and Tabriz faults, we suggest a new thematic model for evolution of northwest Iran in the Late Paleozoic. Based on our model, the upwelling of a mantle plume, probably due to the proto-Tethys oceanic rollback activity beneath northern Gondwana, had a crucial role in the uplifting of the continental crust and resulted in the crystallization of A-type granitoids with some gabbroic rocks in northwest Iran.

Oxygen and Early Animal Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, S.

2012-12-01

It is often hypothesized that the rise of animals was triggered by an increase in O2 levels in the atmosphere and oceans. However, this hypothesis is remarkably difficult to test, because the timing of animal divergences is poorly resolved, the physiology of early animals is often unknown, estimates of past pO2 levels come with large error bars, and causal relationships between oxygenation and animal evolution are difficult to establish. Nonetheless, existing phylogenetic, paleontological, and geochemical data indicate that the evolution of macroscopic animals and motile macrometazoans with energetically expensive lifestyles may be temporally coupled with ocean oxygenation events in the Ediacaran Period. Thus, it is plausible that ocean oxygenation may have been a limiting factor in the early evolution of macroscopic, complex, and metabolically aggressive animals (particularly bilaterian animals). However, ocean oxygenation and animal evolution were likely engaged in two-way interactions: Ediacaran oxygenation may have initially lifted a physiological barrier for the evolution of animal size, motility, and active lifestyles, but subsequent animal diversification in the Paleozoic may have also changed oceanic redox structures. Viewed in a broader context, the early evolutionary history of animals was contingent upon a series of events, including genetic preparation (developmental genetics), environmental facilitation (oceanic oxygenation), and ecological escalation (Cambrian explosion), but the rise of animals to ecological importance also had important geobiological impacts on oceanic redox structures, sedimentary fabrics, and global geochemical cycles.

The development of floristic provinciality during the Middle and Late Paleozoic

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wnuk, C.

1996-01-01

Phytogeographic reconstructions have been published for most Paleozoic series since the Pr??i??doli??, but there have been few attempts to synthesize this data into a comprehensive review of the characteristics and causes of the changing phytogeographic patterns for the whole Paleozoic history of the vascular flora. Existing floristic analyses have been compiled in this manuscript and the resulting data are used to reconstruct the evolution of floristic provinces since the Silurian. The earliest plant fossil records indicate that provinciality was characteristic of terrestrial vascular plant distributions right from the beginning of terrestrial colonization by vascular plants. This interpretation differs markedly from the views of many workers who still maintain that pre-Upper Carboniferous floras were uniform and cosmopolitan in distribution. Three of the four major phytogeographic units, i.e. Angara, Euramerica, and Gondwana, can be recognized in the earliest fossil floras. The fourth unit, Cathaysia, differentiated from Euramerica during the late Upper Carboniferous. Phytogeographic differentiation occurs in direct response to climatic gradients and physiographic barriers. As these gradients and barriers change, provincial boundaries expand and contract, fragment, reassemble and reassort. Phytogeographic units are dynamic through time. ?? 1996 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Late Mesozoic tectonics of the Southern-Thai Peninsula: from transpression to basins opening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sautter, Benjamin; Pubellier, Manuel; Menier, David

2015-04-01

The petroleum basins of the Southern Thailand Peninsula are poorly known and their final geometry is controlled by the Tertiary stress variations applied on pre-existing Paleozoic and Mesozoic basement structures. From the end of Mesozoic times, the arrival of Indian plate was accomodated by transpressionnal deformation along the Western Margin of Sunda Plate. Evidences of this strain are the motions along several regional strike Slip Faults (Sagaing, Three Pagodas, Mae Ping, Red River, Ranong and Klong Marui Faults) as well as compressional features (folds and thrusts) evidenced onshore. Due to changes in the boundary forces, these structures were reactivated during the Tertiary, leading to the opening of basins in this part of Sundaland. We present a structural analysis based on geomorphology, fieldwork and seismic interpretation of the Southern Thai Peninsula with emphasis on the deformation's style onshore from Ranong to Satun and offshore from Eastern Mergui to Songhkla. By analyzing morphostructures and drainage anomalies from Digital Elevation Model (SRTM and ASTER), we highlight a predominance of N-S structures in the Southern Thai Peninsula: both in the granitic belt and in the sedimentary cover. The Triassic-Jurassic (Indosinian) post-collision granitic belt is intensely fractured, with 2 penetrative directions: N140 and N50. On both sides, the sedimentary units appear folded at a large wavelength (~20km). On most of the studied outcrops, Triassic to Early Cretaceous series are gently tilted and weakly fractured whereas the Paleozoic ones shows intense fracturation and steep dipping beds. Moreover, all the Paleozoic stratas display a constant N-S S1 which does not appear in the Mezosoic sediments. Althought most of the post-Mesozoic sediments do not crop out due to thick vegetal cover, several Tertiary basins can be easily seen from seismic data both onshore and offshore. These data suggest that rifting started in the Eocene and was accommodated by large crust-scale Low Angle Normal Faults reactivating basement fabrics including intrusive edges and folds hinges. We propose a tectonic scenario for the southern Thai Peninsula according to which the northward motion of giant morphostructures (the Wharton Ridge followed by the Indian Plate) induced first right-lateral transpressionnal tectonics at the End of the Mesozoics. This system is illustrated by the 2 sets of fractures of the Indosinian Belt, the large-scale folds of Early Cretaceous Strata and the strike slip motions of the Ranong and Klong Marui Faults. Following the path of Indian Plate, a collapse of this hot and thin crust occurred accommodated via LANF's along the granitic belts and the sedimentary basement morpho-structures.

Gravity, lignification, and land plant evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siegel, S. M.; Siegel, B. Z.; Chen, J.

1981-01-01

Vascular plants began their occupation of the wetlands interfacing both terrestrial and marine environments at some point in early Paleozoic time. Chemical differences between green algae and vascular land plants are mainly related to an abundance of lignins in the land plants. Answers to questions relating to the phylogeny and adaptive significance of the lignins must depend on experiments and observations using contemporary plant material. A summary is provided of a series of such observations. It is found that the differences between modern Chlorophyta and vascular land plants cannot be explained in full on the basis of lignification alone. Nevertheless, the data point to the emergence of the primitive land populations into an oxygen-rich terrestrial world where the need for mechanical support and water conservation could be met by a single aerobic biochemical process connected to essential aromatic amino acids likely to be found in every cell

Evidence for hot Mississippi Valley-type brines in the Reelfoot Rift complex, south-central United States, in Late Pennsylvanian-Early Permian

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leach, D.L.; Apodaca, L.E.; Repetski, J.E.; Powell, J.W.; Rowan, E.L.

1997-01-01

Petrographic and fluid inclusion studies of sparry dolomite cement from Upper Cambrian to Lower Ordovician rocks and conodont thermal-alteration indices provide evidence that hot mississippi valley-type brines were once present in the Reelfoot Rift complex. The cathodoluminescent microstratigraphy of sparry dolomite cement in the Reelfoot Rift resembles that of sparry dolomite cement associated with widespread mississippi valley-type deposition in the Ozark region. If correlative cathodoluminescent zones in the sparry dolomite from the Ozark and Reelfoot Rift regions indicate broadly contemporaneous dolomite deposition, then the results show that the Ozark MVT-type hydrothermal system extended into the Reelfoot region and onto the western flank of the Nashville Dome. Independent evidence supports migration of MVT-type brines into the Ozark region from the Reelfoot Rift complex in late Paleozoic time.

A bibliography of Paleozoic Crustacea from 1698 to 1889, including a list of North American species and a systematic arrangement of genera

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vogdes, Anthony Wayne

1890-01-01

The sole object of this bulletin is to give a general view of the literature on the Paleozoic Crustacea and to aid students and paleontologists in their researches. It is the result of more or less constant work during the past ten years.In its compilation I have examined almost every reference before recording it; those not so examined are indicated by a star (*) following the title.For convenience, the subject-matter has been arranged as follows:Part I. List of authors, including a brief index of the genera described in each work. Part II. A catalogue of the North American Paleozoic trilobites. Part III. The non-trilobitic Paleozoic Crustacea, with a list of the species.

Mesozoic architecture of a tract of the European-Iberian continental margin: Insights from preserved submarine palaeotopography in the Longobucco Basin (Calabria, Southern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santantonio, Massimo; Fabbi, Simone; Aldega, Luca

2016-01-01

The sedimentary successions exposed in northeast Calabria document the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous tectonic-sedimentary evolution of a former segment of the European-Iberian continental margin. They are juxtaposed today to units representing the deformation of the African and Adriatic plates margins as a product of Apenninic crustal shortening. A complex pattern of unconformities reveals a multi-stage tectonic evolution during the Early Jurassic, which affected the facies and geometries of siliciclastic and carbonate successions deposited in syn- and post-rift environments ranging from fluvial to deep marine. Late Sinemurian/Early Pliensbachian normal faulting resulted in exposure of the Hercynian basement at the sea-floor, which was onlapped by marine basin-fill units. Shallow-water carbonate aprons and reefs developed in response to the production of new accommodation space, fringing the newborn islands which represent structural highs made of Paleozoic crystalline and metamorphic rock. Their drowning and fragmentation in the Toarcian led to the development of thin caps of Rosso Ammonitico facies. Coeval to these deposits, a thick (> 1 km) hemipelagic/siliciclastic succession was sedimented in neighboring hanging wall basins, which would ultimately merge with the structural high successions. Footwall blocks of the Early Jurassic rift, made of Paleozoic basement and basin-margin border faults with their onlapping basin-fill formations, are found today at the hanging wall of Miocene thrusts, overlying younger (Middle/Late Jurassic to Late Paleogene) folded basinal sediments. This paper makes use of selected case examples to describe the richly diverse set of features, ranging from paleontology to sedimentology, to structural geology, which are associated with the field identification of basin-margin unconformities. Our data provide key constraints for restoring the pre-orogenic architecture of a continental margin facing a branch of the Liguria-Piedmont ocean in the Western Tethys, and for estimating displacements and slip rates along synsedimentary faults.

Geology of Seward Peninsula and Saint Lawrence Island

USGS Publications Warehouse

Till, Alison B.; Dumoulin, Julie A.

1994-01-01

Seward Peninsula (Fig. 1) may be divided into two geologic terranes (Fig. 2) on the basis of stratigraphy, structure, and metamorphic history. The Seward terrane, an area 150 by 150 km in the central and eastern peninsula, is dominated by Precambrian(?) and early Paleozoic blueschist-, greenschist-, and amphibolite-facies schist and marble, and intruded by three suites of granitic rocks. The York terrane, roughly 100 by 75 km, occupies western Seward Peninsula and the Bering Straits region; it is composed of Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, and possibly older limestone, argillaceous limestone, dolostone, and phyllite, which are cut by a suite of Late Cretaceous tin-bearing granites. The boundary between the Seward and York terranes is poorly exposed but is thought to be a major thrust fault because of its sinuous map trace, a discontinuity in metamorphic grade, and differences in stratigraphy across the boundary (Travis Hudson, oral communication, 1984). The boundary between the Seward terrane and the Yukon-Koyukuk province to the east is complicated by vertical faults (the Kugruk fault Zone of Sainsbury, 1974) and obscured by Cretaceous and Tertiary cover.The Seward Peninsula heretofore was thought to consist largely of rocks of Precambrian age (Sainsbury, 1972, 1974, 1975; Hudson, 1977), Microfossil data, however, indicate that many of the rocks considered to be Precambrian are early Paleozoic in age (Till and others, 1986; Dumoulin and Harris, 1984; Dumoulin and Till, 1985; Till and others, 1983; Wandervoort, 1985). It is likely that Precambrian rocks are a minor part of the stratigraphy of the Seward Peninsula.

Geology and hydrocarbon potential in the state of Qatar, Arabian Gulf

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alsharhan, A.S.; Nairn, A.E.M.

The state of Qatar is situated in the southern Arabian Gulf and covers an area of 12,000 km{sup 2}. It is formed by a large, broad anticline, which is part of the regional south-southwest-north-northeast-trending Qatar-South Fars arch. The arch separates the two Infracambrian salt basins. The Dukhan field was the first discovery, made in 1939, in the Upper Jurassic limestones. Since then, a series of discoveries have been made so that Qatar has become one of the leading OPEC oil states. Hydrocarbon accumulations are widely dispersed throughout the stratigraphic column from upper Paleozoic to Cretaceous producing strata. The most prolificmore » reservoirs are the Permian and Mesozoic shelf carbonate sequences. Minor clastic reservoirs occur in the Albian and Paleozoic sequences. Seals, mainly anhydrite and shale. occur both intraformationally and regionally. Several stratigraphic intervals contain source rocks or potential source rocks. The Silurian shales arc the most likely source of the hydrocarbon stored in the upper Paleozoic clastics and carbonates. The upper Oxfordian-middle Kimmeridgian rocks formed in the extensive starved basin during the Mesozoic period of sea level rise. Total organic carbon ranges between 1 and 6%, with the sulfur content approximately 9%. The source material consists of sapropelic liptodetrinite and algae. The geological background of the sedimentary facies through geologic time, stratigraphy, and structural evolution which control source, and the subsequent timing and migration of large-scale hydrocarbon generation are presented in detail.« less

Mountain building processes during continent continent collision in the Uralides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, D.; Juhlin, C.; Ayala, C.; Tryggvason, A.; Bea, F.; Alvarez-Marron, J.; Carbonell, R.; Seward, D.; Glasmacher, U.; Puchkov, V.; Perez-Estaun, A.

2008-08-01

Since the early 1990's the Paleozoic Uralide Orogen of Russia has been the target of a significant research initiative as part of EUROPROBE and GEODE, both European Science Foundation programmes. One of the main objectives of these research programmes was the determination of the tectonic processes that went into the formation of the orogen. In this review paper we focus on the Late Paleozoic continent-continent collision that took place between Laurussia and Kazakhstania. Research in the Uralides was concentrated around two deep seismic profiles crossing the orogen. These were accompanied by geological, geophysical, geochronological, geochemical, and low-temperature thermochronological studies. The seismic profiles demonstrate that the Uralides has an overall bivergent structural architecture, but with significantly different reflectivity characteristics from one tectonic zone to another. The integration of other types of data sets with the seismic data allows us to interpret what tectonic processes where responsible for the formation of the structural architecture, and when they were active. On the basis of these data, we suggest that the changes in the crustal-scale structural architecture indicate that there was significant partitioning of tectonothermal conditions and deformation from zone to zone across major fault systems, and between the lower and upper crust. Also, a number of the structural features revealed in the bivergent architecture of the orogen formed either in the Neoproterozoic or in the Paleozoic, prior to continent-continent collision. From the end of continent-continent collision to the present, low-temperature thermochronology suggests that the evolution of the Uralides has been dominated by erosion and slow exhumation. Despite some evidence for more recent topographic uplift, it has so far proven difficult to quantify it.

Reported middle Paleozoic fossils and new geochronological data from the southern and central Appalachians: Disposable outrageous hypothesis or justification for major revision of tectonic history

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hatcher, R.D. Jr.

Recently published interpretations of fossil fragments from the Walden Creek Group (Ocoee Supergroup) suggesting that these rocks are middle Paleozoic (Devonian to Early Carboniferous), and new geochronological data that yield late Paleozoic age dates on rocks and major faults in the Blue Ridge and piedmont, if taken alone, would permit speculation that most of the deformation and metamorphism affecting this part of the orogen is Alleghanian. The two Ordovician clastic wedges (Sevier, Llanvirn, and Martinsburg, Caradoc-Ashgill) and the Carboniferous-Permian wedge(s), along with many radiometric ages on plutons, indicate uplift and sediment dispersal from the interior of the southern and centralmore » Appalachians (SCA) that may have resulted from Taconian and Alleghanian deformation. Combining the reproducible fossil evidence, including that from Alabama and a recently discovered crinoid fragment from the upper part of the Murphy belt sequence, with the most current geochronological data requires that peak metamorphism and penetrative deformation be at least Devonian or younger at the southwestern end of the orogen, and Late Ordovician or younger in the Carolinas and northern Georgia. Zircon ages reported from large thrust and dextral strike-slip faults bounding the Pine Mountain window indicate all of the faults there may be Alleghanian, except the younger sinistral Mesozoic faults, and requires that both metamorphism and penetrative deformation there also be Alleghanian. As in New England, the southern Appalachian Alleghanian metamorphic core is now known to be much more extensive. The older data require that the Taconian and perhaps the Acadian orogenies were significant events in the SCA, but these new data reconfirm the dominance of Alleghanian continent-continent collision processes here.« less

The distribution and tectonic framework of Late Paleozoic volcanoes in the Junggar basin and its adjacent area, NW China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, X.; Li, J. H.

2012-04-01

We analyse the distribution and characteristics of 145 late Paleozoic volcanoes in north Xinjiang, NW China, including 32 volcanoes on the edge of the Junggar basin. These volcanoes are clustered and can be divided into calderas, volcanic domes, and volcanic necks. There are also 85 volcanoes inside the Junggar basin, which are dominantly distributed in the Ke-Bai fractured zone of the northwestern margin of Junggar Basin, 4 depressions (Dongdaohaizi Depression, Dishuiquan Depression, Sannan Depression and Wucaiwan Depression) and 7 uplifts (Baijiahai uplift, Beisantai uplift, Dibei uplift, Dinan uplift, Sangequan uplift, Shixi uplift and Xiayan uplift). The volcanoes inside the basin are principally controlled by Hercynian Fault Systems, along NE and nearly EW trending faults and most developed in the interjunctions of the faults. The long modification by late-stage weathering and leaching made the volcanoes difficult to identify. Remaining volcanic landforms, changing trends of the volcanic lithofacies and the typical volcanic rock, such as the crypto- explosive breccia, are the typical marks of the late Paleozoic volcanoes in the field; and the concealed volcanic edifices are identified by the techniques of seismic identification, such as seismic slicing, analysis of the attribute and tectonic trend plane. The ages of the volcanic rocks are focused on from 340 Ma to 320Ma and from 300 Ma to 295 Ma, corresponding to the subducting periods of West Junggar and East Junggar. From early Carboniferous to late Carboniferous, the volcanic activities in Junggar Basin and its adjacent areas show a variation trend from undersea to continental, from deep water to shallow water and from continental margin to intracontinental.

The Juchatengo complex: an upper-level ophiolite assemblage of late Paleozoic age in Oaxaca, southern Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grajales-Nishimura, José Manuel; Ramos-Arias, Mario Alfredo; Solari, Luigi; Murillo-Muñetón, Gustavo; Centeno-García, Elena; Schaaf, Peter; Torres-Vargas, Ricardo

2018-04-01

The Juchatengo complex (JC) suite is located between the Proterozoic Oaxacan complex to the north and the Xolapa complex to the south, and was amalgamated by late Paleozoic magmatism. It consists of mafic and sedimentary rocks that have oceanic affinities, with internal pseudostratigraphic, structural and metamorphic characteristics, which resemble a typical upper-level ophiolite assemblage. New U-Pb zircon and previous hornblende K-Ar analyses yield ages of ca. 291-313 Ma (U-Pb) for plagiogranites and ca. 282-277 Ma for tonalites intruding the entire sequence, including pelagic sediments at the top, with a maximum deposition age of ca. 278 Ma and noteworthy local provenance. These data constrain the age of the JC to the Late Pennsylvanian-Early Permian period. Hf isotopic analyses obtained from zircons in the JC plagiogranite and tonalite show that they come from a similar primitive mantle source (176Hf/177Hf: 0.282539-0.283091; ƐHf(t): + 3.2 to + 15.0). ƐHf(t) values from near 0 to - 2.8 in the tonalites indicate a contribution from the continental crust. Trace elements and REE patterns in whole rock and zircons point to a primitive mantle source for differentiated mafic, plagiogranite dykes and tonalitic plutons. Geochronological and geochemical data address the generation of new oceanic crust above the subduction zone, probably in a backarc setting. In this tectonic scenario, the JC ophiolite originated due to the convergence of the paleo-Pacific plate below the already integrated Oaxacan and Acatlán complexes in western Pangea. The dextral displacement places the deformation in a transtensional regime during the late Paleozoic age.

The 2011 Virginia M5.8 earthquake: Insights from seismic reflection imaging into the influence of older structures on eastern U.S. seismicity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pratt, Thomas L.; Horton, J. Wright; Spear, D.B.; Gilmer, A.K.; McNamara, Daniel E.

2015-01-01

The Mineral, Virginia (USA), earthquake of 23 August 2011 occurred at 6– 8 km depth within the allochthonous terranes of the Appalachian Piedmont Province, rupturing an ~N36°E striking reverse fault dipping ~50° southeast. This study used the Interstate Highway 64 seismic refl ection profi le acquired ~6 km southwest of the hypocenter to examine the structural setting of the earthquake. The profi le shows that the 2011 earthquake and its aftershocks are almost entirely within the early Paleozoic Chopawamsic volcanic arc terrane, which is bounded by listric thrust faults dipping 30°–40° southeast that sole out into an ~2-km-thick, strongly refl ective zone at 7– 12 km depth. Refl ectors above and below the southward projection of the 2011 earthquake focal plane do not show evidence for large displacement, and the updip projection of the fault plane does not match either the location or trend of a previously mapped fault or lithologic boundary. The 2011 earthquake thus does not appear to be a simple reactivation of a known Paleozoic thrust fault or a major Mesozoic rift basin-boundary fault. The fault that ruptured appears to be a new fault, a fault with only minor displacement, or to not extend the ~3 km from the aftershock zone to the seismic profi le. Although the Paleozoic structures appear to infl uence the general distribution of seismicity in the area, Central Virginia seismic zone earthquakes have yet to be tied directly to specifi c fault systems mapped at the surface or imaged on seismic profiles.

Geologic framework and evidence for neotectonism in the epicentral area of the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burton, William C.; Harrison, Richard W.; Spears, David B.; Evans, Nicholas H.; Mahan, Shannon

2015-01-01

The epicenters of the main shock and associated aftershocks of the 2011 moment magnitude, Mw 5.8 Mineral, Virginia (USA), earthquake, and the updip projection of the possible fault plane that triggered the quakes, are contained in the areas of 2 adjoining 7.5′ quadrangles in the central Virginia Piedmont. These quadrangles have therefore been the focus of concentrated geologic study in the form of bedrock and surficial mapping and near-surface trenching in order to identify potential seismogenic structures. Bedrock mapping has outlined a series of northeast-southwest–trending lithologic belts that include the Ordovician Chopawamsic and Quantico Formations, the narrow neck of the Late Ordovician Ellisville pluton, and mélange zone III of the Mine Run Complex. The region was affected by at least two ductile deformational events, one in the early Paleozoic that was broadly synchronous with the intrusion of the pluton, and one later in the Paleozoic. The earlier deformation produced the Quantico synclinorium and other regional folds, and the later deformation produced faults with associated high-strain zones. Two of these faults have been trenched at their intersection along the east-dipping eastern contact of the Ellisville neck, near where the causative fault for the earthquake projects to the surface. The trenches have exposed abundant evidence of post-Paleozoic fracturing and faulting, including brecciated quartz-tourmaline veins, slickensided thrust and strike-slip faults, and clay-filled fractures. Fluvial and colluvial gravels that overlie these brittle structures have yielded optically stimulated luminescence ages ranging from ca. 27 to 10 ka. These structures are likely representative of surface features associated with Quaternary earthquakes in the Central Virginia seismic zone.

Late Paleozoic onset of subduction and exhumation at the western margin of Gondwana (Chilenia Terrane): Counterclockwise P-T paths and timing of metamorphism of deep-seated garnet-mica schist and amphibolite of Punta Sirena, Coastal Accretionary Complex, central Chile (34° S)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hyppolito, T.; García-Casco, A.; Juliani, C.; Meira, V. T.; Hall, C.

2014-10-01

In this study, the Paleozoic albite-epidote-amphibolite occurring as meter-sized intercalations within garnet-mica schist at Punta Sirena beach (Pichilemu region, central Chile) is characterized for the first time. These rocks constitute an unusual exposure of subduction-related rocks within the Paleozoic Coastal Accretionary Complex of central Chile. Whereas high pressure (HP) greenschist and cofacial metasediments are the predominant rocks forming the regional metamorphic basement, the garnet-mica schist and amphibolite yield higher P-T conditions (albite-epidote amphibolite facies) and an older metamorphic age. Combining detailed mineral chemistry and textural information, P-T calculations and Ar-Ar ages, including previously published material from the Paleozoic Accretionary Complex of central Chile, we show that the garnet-mica schist and associated amphibolite (locally retrograded to greenschist) are vestiges of the earliest subducted material now forming exotic bodies within the younger HP units of the paleo-accretionary wedge. These rocks are interpreted as having been formed during the onset of subduction at the southwestern margin of Gondwana. However, we show that the garnet-mica schist formed at a slightly greater depth (ca. 40 km) than the amphibolite (ca. 30 km) along the same hot-subduction gradient developed during the onset of subduction. Both lithotypes reached their peak-P conditions at ca. 335-330 Ma and underwent near-isobaric cooling followed by cooling and decompression (i.e., counterclockwise P-T paths). The forced return flow of the garnet-mica schist from the subduction channel started at ca. 320 Ma and triggered the exhumation of fragments of shallower accreted oceanic crust (amphibolite). Cores of phengite (garnet-mica schist) and amphibole (amphibolite) grains have similar chemical compositions in both the S1 and S2 domains, indicating rotation of these grains during the transposition of the burial-related (prograde peak-T) foliation S1 by the non-coaxial exhumation-related foliation S2. During exhumation and retrograde D2 deformation, the garnet-mica schist and amphibolite were tectonically mingled at a depth of ca. 30 km at ca. 315 Ma. We propose that the Punta Sirena unit comprises a “pseudo”-coherent sequence formed by heterogeneous lithologies that followed non-chaotic exhumation mingling, now representing the remnants of the fossil subduction channel developed at the onset of the Late Paleozoic subduction at central Chile.

Gravity study of Libya;Evaluation and Integration with Geological Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ben Suleman, abdunnur; Saheel, Ahmed

2016-04-01

Libya is located on the Mediterranean foreland of the African Shield and covers an area of approximately 1.8 million square kilometers. Since Early Paleozoic time, Libya has been a site of deposition of large sheets of continental clastics and several transgressions and regressions by the seas with consequent accumulations of a wide variety of sedimentary rocks. Several tectonic cycles affected the area and shaped the geological setting of the country. However, the regional geology and the structural framework have been highly influenced by the Caledonian, Hercynian, and Alpine tectonic events. As a result, a total of seven sedimentary basins, namely Ghadames, Murzuq, Al Kufra, Al Butnan, Sirt, and the Offshore Pelagian Basin, were developed and were separated by intervening uplifts and platforms ( Gargaf, Tibesti, Nafusah and Cyrenaica platform). Apart from Sirt and the offshore basins, all the above mentioned basins are active since Early Paleozoic time and received several thousand feet of sediments. The capability of providing regional information on the structure of sedimentary basins makes gravity mapping, in conjunction with geological information, potentially powerful tools. In this study we used gravity mapping as our primary tool of investigation however, we also used all available geological information to better understand the regional tectonics. The gravity dataset that were used in the Gravity compilation project of Libya is not homogenous. As a result, some irregularities, apparent spikes or misties, and large shifts were obtained and were taken into consideration. Evaluation of gravity Maps of Libya and their integration with geological data provide a better understanding of the role that gravity mapping plays in the geological exploration of sedimentary basins. Results confirm the known Sirt Basin regional tectonic elements and the possible presence of NW-SE lateral wrench tectonics, crossing Ajdabiya Trough at the center of Sirt Basin. The residual gravity map supports new interpretation of the Sirwal Trough in Northern Cyrenaica. Results also indicate shallow crust along the present day coast line of Al Jabal Al Akhdar, steeply dipping toward the offshore. The depo-center of Ghadames Basin cannot be precisely defined due to the lack of gravity coverage. However, Murzuq Basin is well defined regionally, in spite of gravity gaps which make the overall coverage in the southern basins inadequate for precise interpretation.

Variable deep structure of a midcontinent fault and fold zone from seismic reflection: La Salle deformation belt, Illinois basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

McBride, J.H.

1997-01-01

Deformation within the United States mid-continent is frequently expressed as quasilinear zones of faulting and folding, such as the La Salle deformation belt, a northwest-trending series of folds cutting through the center of the Illinois basin. Seismic reflection profiles over the southern La Salle deformation belt reveal the three-dimensional structural style of deformation in the lower Paleozoic section and uppermost Precambrian(?) basement. Individual profiles and structural contour maps show for the first time that the folds of the La Salle deformation belt are underlain at depth by reverse faults that disrupt and offset intrabasement structure, offset the top of interpreted Precambrian basement, and accommodate folding of overlying Paleozoic strata. The folds do not represent development of initial dips by strata deposited over a preexisting basement high. Rather, the structures resemble subdued "Laramide-style" forced folds, in that Paleozoic stratal reflectors appear to be flexed over a fault-bounded basement uplift with the basement-cover contact folded concordantly with overlying strata. For about 40 km along strike, the dominant faults reverse their dip direction, alternating between east and west. Less well expressed antithetic or back thrusts appear to be associated with the dominant faults and could together describe a positive flower structure. The overall trend of this part of the La Salle deformation belt is disrupted by along-strike discontinuities that separate distinct fold culminations. Observations of dual vergence and along-strike discontinuities suggest an original deformation regime possibly involving limited transpression associated with distant late Paleozoic Appalachian-Ouachita mountain building. Moderate-magnitude earthquakes located west of the western flank of the La Salle deformation belt have reverse and strike-slip mechanisms at upper trustai depths, which might be reactivating deep basement faults such as observed in this study. The La Salle deformation belt is not necessarily typical of other well-known major midcontinent fault and fold zones, such as the Nemaha ridge, over which Paleozoic and younger sediments appear to simply be draped.

Geophysical modeling of the structural relationships between the Precambrian Reading Prong rocks and the Paleozoic sedimentary sequence, Easton quadrangle, PA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thomas, D.M.; Malinconico, L.L. Jr.

1993-03-01

This project involves the geophysical modeling of the structural relationships between the Precambrian Reading Prong rocks and the Paleozoic sedimentary cover rocks near Easton, Pennsylvania. The Precambrian rocks have generally been assumed to have been emplaced on the Paleozoic sequence along a shallow thrust fault. However, at present time the attitude of the faults bordering the Precambrian terranes are all very steeply dipping. This was explained by the subsequent folding of the whole sequence during later orogenic activity. The objective of this work is to determine the attitude and depth of the fault contact between the Precambrian crystalline rocks andmore » the Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. A series of traverses (each separated by approximately one mile) were established perpendicular to the strike of the Precambrian rocks. Along each traverse both gravity and magnetic readings were taken at 0.2 kilometer intervals. The data were reduced and presented as profiles and contour maps. Both the magnetic and gravity data show positive anomalies that correlate spatially with the location of the Precambrian rocks. The gravity data have a long wavelength regional trend increasing to the north with a shorter wavelength anomaly of 2 milligals which coincides with the Precambrian rocks. The magnetic data have a single positive anomaly of almost 1,000 gammas which also coincides with the Precambrian terrane. These data will now be used to develop two dimensional density and susceptibility models of the area. From these models, the thickness of each formation and the structural relationships between them, as well as the attitude and depth of the fault contact will be determined.« less

Relations between extensional tectonics and magmatism within the Southern Oklahoma aulacogen

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcconnell, D. A.; Gilbert, M. C.

1985-01-01

Variations in the geometry, distribution and thickness of Cambrian igneous and sedimentary units within southwest Oklahoma are related to a late Proterozoic - early Paleozoic rifting event which formed the Southern Oklahoma aulacogen. These rock units are exposed in the Wichita Mountains, southwest Olkahoma, located on the northern margin of a Proterozoic basin, identified in the subsurface by COCORP reflection data. Overprinting of the Cambrian extensional event by Pennyslvanian tectonism obsured the influence of pre-existing basement structures and contrasting basement lithologies upon the initial development of the aulacogen.

The beginning of the Buntsandstein cycle (Early-Middle Triassic) in the Catalan Ranges, NE Spain: Sedimentary and palaeogeographic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galán-Abellán, Belén; López-Gómez, José; Barrenechea, José F.; Marzo, Mariano; De la Horra, Raúl; Arche, Alfredo

2013-10-01

The Early-Middle Triassic siliciclastic deposits of the Catalan Ranges, NE Spain, are dominated by aeolian sediments indicating a predominance of arid climate during this time span, in sharp contrast with the coeval fluvial sediments found in the Castilian Branch of the Iberian Ranges, 300 km to the SW. The NE-SW-oriented Catalan Basin evolved during the Middle-Late Permian as the result of widespread extension in the Iberian plate. This rift basin was bounded by the Pyrenees, Ebro and Montalbán-Oropesa highs. The Permian-Early Triassic-age sediments of the Catalan Basin were deposited in three isolated subbasins (Montseny, Garraf, Prades), separated by intrabasinal highs, but linked by transversal NW-SE oriented faults. The three subbasins show evidence of diachronic evolution with different subsidence rates and differences in their sedimentary records. The Buntsandstein sedimentary cycle started in the late Early Triassic (Smithian-Spathian) in the central and southern domains (Garraf and Prades), with conglomerates of alluvial fan origin followed by fluvial and aeolian sandstones. Source area of the fluvial sediments was nearby Paleozoic highs to the north and west, in contrast with the far-away source areas of the fluvial sediments in the Iberian Ranges, to the SW. These fluvial systems were interacting with migrating aeolian dune fields located towards the S, which developed in the shadow areas behind the barriers formed by the Paleozoic highs. These highs were separating the subbasins under arid and semi-arid climate conditions. The dominating winds came from the east where the westernmost coast of the Tethys Sea was located, and periods of water run-off and fields of aeolian dunes development alternated. Some of the fluvial systems were probably evaporating as they were mixed into the interdune areas, never reaching the sea. From the end of the Smithian to the Spathian, the Catalan Basin and neighbour peri-Tethys basins of the present-day southern France, Sardinia and Minorca islands constituted a geographical arch where arid and semi-arid conditions represented an extension of the prevailed arid and hyper-arid conditions in surrounding areas of the Variscan Belt. Harsh climatic conditions in this area prevented the life recovery in the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic extinction event until the early Anisian, when more humid climate allowed for the colonisation of the area by plants, amphibians and reptiles. The boundary between desert areas and semi-arid and/or seasonal climate domains during the Smithian-Spathian in SW Europe can be precisely established in NE Iberia, between the Catalan-Ebro region and the Castilian Branch of the Iberian Ranges, to the SW.

Archean inheritance in zircon from late Paleozoic granites from the Avalon zone of southeastern New England: an African connection

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zartman, R.E.; Don, Hermes O.

1987-01-01

In southeastern New England the Narragansett Pier Granite locally intrudes Carboniferous metasedimentary rocks of the Narragansett basin, and yields a monazite UPb Permian emplacement age of 273 ?? 2 Ma. Zircon from the Narragansett Pier Granite contains a minor but detectable amount of an older, inherited component, and shows modern loss of lead. Zircon from the late-stage, aplitic Westerly Granite exhibits a more pronounced lead inheritance -permitting the inherited component to be identified as Late Archean. Such old relict zircon has not been previously recognized in Proterozoic to Paleozoic igneous rocks in New England, and may be restricted to late Paleozoic rocks of the Avalon zone. We suggest that the Archean crustal component reflects an African connection, in which old Archean crust was underplated to the Avalon zone microplate in the late Paleozoic during collision of Gondwanaland with Avalonia. ?? 1987.

Sources of variation in extinction rates, turnover, and diversity of marine invertebrate families during the Paleozoic

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nichols, J.D.; Morris, R.W.; Brownie, C.; Pollock, K.H.

1986-01-01

The authors present a new method that can be used to estimate taxonomic turnover in conjunction with stratigraphic range data for families in five phyla of Paleozoic marine invertebrates. Encounter probabilities varied among taxa and showed evidence of a decrease over time for the geologic series examined. The number of families varied substantially among the five phyla and showed some evidence of an increase over the series examined. There was no evidence of variation in extinction probabilities among the phyla. Although there was evidence of temporal variation in extinction probabilities within phyla, there was no evidence of a linear decrease in extinction probabilities over time, as has been reported by others. The authors did find evidence of high extinction probabilities for the two intervals that had been identified by others as periods of mass extinction. They found no evidence of variation in turnover among the five phyla. There was evidence of temporal variation in turnover, with greater turnover occurring in the older series.

Late Carboniferous porphyry copper mineralization at La Voluntad, Neuquén, Argentina: Constraints from Re-Os molybdenite dating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garrido, Mirta; Barra, Fernando; Domínguez, Eduardo; Ruiz, Joaquin; Valencia, Victor A.

2008-07-01

The La Voluntad porphyry Cu-Mo deposit in Neuquén, Argentina, is one of several poorly known porphyry-type deposits of Paleozoic to Early Jurassic age in the central and southern Andes. Mineralization at La Voluntad is related to a tonalite porphyry from the Chachil Plutonic Complex that intruded metasedimentary units of the Piedra Santa Complex. Five new Re-Os molybdenite ages from four samples representing three different vein types (i.e., quartz-molybdenite, quartz-sericite-molybdenite and quartz-sericite-molybdenite ± chalcopyrite-pyrite) are identical within error and were formed between ~312 to ~316 Ma. Rhenium and Os concentrations range between 34 to 183 ppm and 112 to 599 ppb, respectively. The new Re-Os ages indicate that the main mineralization event at La Voluntad, associated to sericitic alteration, was emplaced during a time span of 1.7 ± 3.2 Ma and that the deposit is Carboniferous in age, not Permian as previously thought. La Voluntad is the oldest porphyry copper deposit so far recognized in the Andes and indicates the presence of an active magmatic arc, with associated porphyry style mineralization, at the proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana during the Early Pennsylvanian.

Dzhida Ore District: Geology, Structural and Metallogenic Regionalization, Genetic Types of Ore Deposits, Geodynamic Conditions of Their Formation, Forecast, and Outlook for Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordienko, I. V.; Gorokhovsky, D. V.; Smirnova, O. K.; Lantseva, V. S.; Badmatsyrenova, R. A.; Orsoev, D. A.

2018-01-01

Based on complex structural, rheological, and metallogenic studies, taking into account the results of earlier subject-specific, prospecting, mapping, and exploration works, it has been established that the geological structure of the district was caused by the ensimatic evolution of the Vendian-Early Paleozoic Dzhida island-arc system, in which oceanic and island-arc complexes served as a melanocratic basement for Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic active within-plate (riftogenic) processes, which gave rise to the formation of ore deposits and occurrences of strategic mineral commodities (Mo, W, Au, Pt, Ag, and rare elements, including REE). Mantle plumes and flows of deep-seated transmagmatic solutions (ore-forming fluids) played a critical role in these processes, the significance of which increases in upper crustal swarms of dikes and fault systems. The forecasts and development prospects of the Dzhida ore district envisage the expansion of geological prospecting and exploration, scientific research, and technological testing of ore for insight into strategic mineral commodities, as well as reanimation of mining within the areas of the Dzhida's large territorial and industrial complex (TIC) in eastern Siberia.

Discovery of the fossiliferous Cu Brei Formation (Lower Devonian) in the Kon Tum Block (South Viet Nam)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thanh, Tong-Dzuy; Duyen, Than Duc; Hung, Nguyen Huu; My, Bui Phu

2007-01-01

Lower Devonian corals and stromatoporoids have recently been discovered in limestones among low grade metamorphic rocks on the western margin of the Kon Tum Block (South Viet Nam). This unit has been identified as the Cu Brei Formation. Coral and stromatoporoid species have been described including Squameofavosites aff. spongiosus, Parallelostroma cf. multicolumnum, Amphipora cf. rasilis, A. cf. raritalis, Simplexodictyon cf. artyschtense, Stromatopora cf. boriarchinovi and Stromatopora sp. indet. The Cu Brei Formation is exposed in a small area 6 km in length and 3 km wide at the foot of Cu Brei Mountain (Sa Thay District, Kon Tum Province). As this formation is in marine shelf facies it is probable that further exposures of Lower Devonian sediments may be discovered in the Kon Tum Block. This discovery raises the question of the tectonic history of the metamorphic Kon Tum Block. It is possible that the block was not an area of positive uplift from the beginning of Paleozoic as has been supposed, but was submerged in a marine environment, at least on its outer margins, in the Devonian, and possibly even earlier, in Early Paleozoic.

Integrated interpretation of geophysical data of the Paleozoic structure in the northwestern part of the Siljan Ring impact crater, central Sweden

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muhamad, Harbe; Juhlin, Christopher; Malehmir, Alireza; Sopher, Daniel

2018-01-01

The Siljan Ring impact structure is the largest known impact structure in Europe and is Late Devonian in age. It contains a central uplift that is about 20-30 km in diameter and is surrounded by a ring-shaped depression. The Siljan area is one of the few areas in Sweden where the Paleozoic sequence has not been completely eroded, making it an important location for investigation of the geological and tectonic history of Baltica during the Paleozoic. The Paleozoic strata in this area also provide insight into the complex deformation processes associated with the impact. In this study we focus on the northwestern part of the Siljan Ring, close to the town of Orsa, with the main objective of characterizing the subsurface Paleozoic succession and uppermost Precambrian crystalline rocks along a series of seismic reflection profiles, some of which have not previously been published. We combine these seismic data with gravity and magnetic data and seismic traveltime tomography results to produce an integrated interpretation of the subsurface in the area. Our interpretation shows that the Paleozoic sequence in this area is of a relatively constant thickness, with a total thickness typically between 300 and 500 m. Faulting appears to be predominantly extensional, which we interpret to have occurred during the modification stage of the impact. Furthermore, based on the geophysical data in this area, we interpret that the impact related deformation to differ in magnitude and style from other parts of the Siljan Ring.

The Lewis thrust fault and related structures in the Disturbed Belt, northwestern Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mudge, Melville Rhodes; Earhart, Robert L.

1980-01-01

The classical Lewis thrust fault in Glacier National Park has now been mapped 125 km south of the park to Steamboat Mountain, where the trace dies out in folded middle Paleozoic rocks. The known length of the fault is 452 km, extending northward from Steamboat Mountain to a point 225 km into Canada, where the fault also dies out in Paleozoic rocks. At the south end, the surface expression of the Lewis thrust begins in a shear zone in folded Mississippian rocks. To the north, the thrust progressively cuts downsection into Proterozoic Y (Belt) rocks near Glacier National Park. Displacement on the Lewis plate increases northward from approximately 3 km on an easterly trending hinge line at the West Fork of the Sun River to a postulated 65 km at the southern edge of the park, where the stratigraphic throw is about 6,500 m. Present data indicate the thrust formed during very late Paleocene to very early Eocene time. The Lewis thrust and related structures, the Hoadley thrust and the Continental Divide syncline, probably formed concurrently under the same stress field. The northern limit of the trace of the Hoadley thrust is within the lower portion of the Lewis plate, about 28 km north of where the Lewis thrust develops, and the Hoadley extends for at least 125 km to the south. Displacement of the Hoadley increases southward from about 1 km at the hinge line to an inferred 70 km near its known southern extent. If our inference is correct, the Hoadley is nearly the southern mirror image of the Lewis to the north. The Continental Divide syncline, a doubly plunging, broad, northerly trending open fold that is about 120 km long, is a major fold within the Lewis plate.

Geochemistry and geochronology of the blueschist in the Heilongjiang Complex and its implications in the late Paleozoic tectonics of eastern NE China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ge, Mao-hui; Zhang, Jin-jiang; Liu, Kai; Ling, Yi-yun; Wang, Meng; Wang, Jia-min

2016-09-01

The Paleozoic to early Mesozoic tectonic framework and evolution of Northeast China, especially the Jiamusi block and its related structural belts, are highly debated. In this paper, geochemical, geochronological and isotopic analyses were carried out on the blueschist in the Heilongjiang Complex to address these issues. The Heilongjiang Complex defines the suture belt between the Jiamusi block and the Songliao block in NE China, and the blueschist is a major composition for this complex, coexisting with mafic-ultramafic rocks, greenschist, quartzite and mica schist. The blueschist has a mineral association of sodic amphibole, epidote, chlorite, phengite, albite and quartz with accessory phases of apatite, titanite, zircon and ilmenite. Together with the lithological association, the major and trace element compositions present that the protoliths of the blueschist can be divided into the alkaline and tholeiitic basalts and have OIB affinities, formed in an ocean island setting, indicated by the (La/Yb) N values of 3.57 - 11.54, and the (La/Sm) N values of 0.69 - 3.64. The high and positive εNd (t) values of + 3.7 to + 9.0, and relative enrichment in Nb (vs. Th) and Ta (vs. U) show that both the alkaline and tholeiitic basalts may be derived from the asthenospheric mantle with insignificant crustal contamination. Magmatic zircons from the blueschist in Yilan area yield a 206Pb/238U age of 281 ± 3 Ma, interpreted as its protolithic age. The youngest ages of 200 Ma of the detrital zircons in the associated mica schist from Mudanjiang area place constraints on the timing of metamorphism for the blueschist. These indicate that a big ocean existed between the Jiamusi and Songliao blocks at least since the early Permian, and the blueschist formed since the late Triassic to late Jurassic by the subduction of this ocean. Such an ocean during the Permian - Jurassic is difficult to be interpreted by the tectonic evolution of the Paleo-Asian Ocean.

An Intracratonic Record of North American Tectonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lovell, Thomas Rudolph

Investigating how continents change throughout geologic time provides insight into the underlying plate tectonic process that shapes our world. Researchers aiming to understand plate tectonics typically investigate records exposed at plate margins, as these areas contain direct structural and stratigraphic information relating to tectonic plate interaction. However, these margins are also susceptible to destruction, as orogenic processes tend to punctuate records of plate tectonics. In contrast, intracratonic basins are long-lived depressions located inside cratons, shielded from the destructive forces associated with the plate tectonic process. The ability of cratonic basins to preserve sedimentological records for extended periods of geologic time makes them candidates for recording long term changes in continents driven by tectonics and eustacy. This research utilizes an intracratonic basin to better understand how the North American continent has changed throughout Phanerozoic time. This research resolves geochronologic, thermochronologic, and sedimentologic changes throughout Phanerozoic time (>500 Ma) within the intracratonic Illinois Basin detrital record. Core and outcrop sampling provide the bulk of material upon which detrital zircon geochronologic, detrital apatite thermochronologic, and thin section petrographic analyses were performed. Geochronologic evidence presented in Chapters 2 and 3 reveal the Precambrian - Cretaceous strata of the intracratonic Illinois Basin yield three detrital zircon U-Pb age assemblages. Lower Paleozoic strata yield ages corresponding to predominantly cratonic sources (Archean - Mesoproterozoic). In contrast, Middle - Upper Paleozoic strata have a dominant Appalachian orogen (Neoproterozoic - Paleozoic) signal. Cretaceous strata yield similar ages to underlying Upper Paleozoic strata. We conclude that changes in the provenance of Illinois Basin strata result from eustatic events and tectonic forcings. This evidence demonstrates that changes in the detrital record of the Illinois Basin coincide with well-documented, major tectonic and eustatic events that altered and shaped North American plate margins. Chapter 4 presents 24 apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) ages (3 - 423 Ma) taken from subsurface Cambrian and Pennsylvanian sandstones in the Illinois Basin. Time-temperature simulations used to reproduce these ages predict a basin thermal history with a maximum temperature of 170°C in post-Pennsylvanian time followed by Mesozoic cooling at 0.3°C/Myr. These thermal simulations suggest 3 km of additional post-Pennsylvanian burial (assuming 30°C/km geotherm) followed by subsequent Mesozoic - Cenozoic removal. This burial-exhumation history is concurrent with Late Mesozoic tectoniceustatic fluctuations, including Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico opening, rejuvenation of the Appalachian region, and Gulf of Mexico sediment influx, and the Cretaceous high sea level stand. The Geochronologic and thermochronologic evidence presented in the following chapters suggests the Illinois Basin potentially contains a more robust record of North American tectonics than previously thought. These observations provide a new perspective on the utility of intracratonic basins in understanding long term changes to continental bodies.

Assessment of Paleozoic shale gas resources in the Sichuan Basin of China, 2015

USGS Publications Warehouse

Potter, Christopher J.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Charpentier, Ronald R.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Klett, Timothy R.; Leathers, Heidi M.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Pitman, Janet K.

2015-10-14

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 23.9 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas resources in Paleozoic formations in the Sichuan Basin of China.

Tracking the Archean-Proterozoic suture zone in the northeastern Great Basin, Nevada and Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rodriguez, B.D.; Williams, J.M.

2008-01-01

It is important to know whether major mining districts in north-central Nevada are underlain by crust of the Archean Wyoming craton, known to contain major orogenic gold deposits or, alternatively, by accreted crust of the Paleoproterozoic Mojave province. Determining the location and orientation of the Archean-Proterozoic suture zone between these provinces is also important because it may influence subsequent patterns of sedimentation, deformation, magmatism, and hydrothermal activity. The suture zone is exposed in northeastern Utah and south-western Wyoming and exhibits a southwest strike. In the Great Basin, the suture zone strike is poorly constrained because it is largely concealed below a Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic miogeocline and Cenozoic basin fill. Two-dimensional resistivity modeling of three regional north-south magnetotelluric sounding profiles in western Utah, north-central Nevada, and northeastern Nevada, and one east-west profile in northeastern Nevada, reveals a deeply penetrating (>10 km depth), broad (tens of kilometers) conductor (1-20 ohm-meters) that may be the Archean-Proterozoic suture zone, which formed during Early Proterozoic rifting of the continent and subsequent Proterozoic accretion. This major crustal conductor changes strike direction from southwest in Utah to northwest in eastern Nevada, where it broadens to ???100 km width that correlates with early Paleozoic rifting of the continent. Our results suggest that the major gold belts may be over-isolated blocks of Archean crust, so Phanerozoic mineral deposits in this region may be produced, at least in part, from recycled Archean gold. Future mineral exploration to the east may yield large gold tonnages. ?? 2008 Geological Society of America.

The ancient evolutionary origins of Scleractinia revealed by azooxanthellate corals

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Scleractinian corals are currently a focus of major interest because of their ecological importance and the uncertain fate of coral reefs in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressure. Despite this, remarkably little is known about the evolutionary origins of corals. The Scleractinia suddenly appear in the fossil record about 240 Ma, but the range of morphological variation seen in these Middle Triassic fossils is comparable to that of modern scleractinians, implying much earlier origins that have so far remained elusive. A significant weakness in reconstruction(s) of early coral evolution is that deep-sea corals have been poorly represented in molecular phylogenetic analyses. Results By adding new data from a large and representative range of deep-water species to existing molecular datasets and applying a relaxed molecular clock, we show that two exclusively deep-sea families, the Gardineriidae and Micrabaciidae, diverged prior to the Complexa/Robusta coral split around 425 Ma, thereby pushing the evolutionary origin of scleractinian corals deep into the Paleozoic. Conclusions The early divergence and distinctive morphologies of the extant gardineriid and micrabaciid corals suggest a link with Ordovician "scleractiniamorph" fossils that were previously assumed to represent extinct anthozoan skeletonized lineages. Therefore, scleractinian corals most likely evolved from Paleozoic soft-bodied ancestors. Modern shallow-water Scleractinia, which are dependent on symbionts, appear to have had several independent origins from solitary, non-symbiotic precursors. The Scleractinia have survived periods of massive climate change in the past, suggesting that as a lineage they may be less vulnerable to future changes than often assumed. PMID:22034946

Hierarchy of sedimentary discontinuity surfaces and condensed beds from the middle Paleozoic of eastern North America: Implications for cratonic sequence stratigraphy

USGS Publications Warehouse

McLaughlin, P.I.; Brett, Carlton E.; Wilson, M.A.

2008-01-01

Sedimentological analyses of middle Paleozoic epeiric sea successions in North America suggest a hierarchy of discontinuity surfaces and condensed beds of increasing complexity. Simple firmgrounds and hardgrounds, which are comparatively ephemeral features, form the base of the hierarchy. Composite hardgrounds, reworked concretions, authigenic mineral crusts and monomictic intraformational conglomerates indicate more complex histories. Polymictic intraformational conglomerates, ironstones and phosphorites form the most complex discontinuity surfaces and condensed beds. Complexity of discontinuities is closely linked to depositional environments duration of sediment starvation and degree of reworking which in turn show a relationship to stratigraphic cyclicity. A model of cratonic sequence stratigraphy is generated by combining data on the complexity and lateral distribution of discontinuities in the context of facies successions. Lowstand, early transgressive and late transgressive systems tracts are representative of sea-level rise. Early and late transgressive systems tracts are separated by the maximum starvation surface (typically a polymictic intraformational conglomerate or condensed phosphorite), deposited during the peak rate of sea-level rise. Conversely the maximum flooding surface, representing the highest stand of sea level, is marked by little to no break in sedimentation. The highstand and falling stage systems tracts are deposited during relative sea-level fall. They are separated by the forced-regression surface, a thin discontinuity surface or condensed bed developed during the most rapid rate of sea-level fall. The lowest stand of sea level is marked by the sequence boundary. In subaerially exposed areas it is occasionally modified as a rockground or composite hardground.

Geochronological and sedimentological evidences of Panyangshan foreland basin for tectonic control on the Late Paleozoic plate marginal orogenic belt along the northern margin of the North China Craton

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jialiang; Zhou, Zhiguang; He, Yingfu; Wang, Guosheng; Wu, Chen; Liu, Changfeng; Yao, Guang; Xu, Wentao; Zhao, Xiaoqi; Dai, Pengfei

2017-08-01

There is a wide support that the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift on the northern margin of the North China Craton has undergone an uplifting history. However, when and how did the uplift occurred keeps controversial. Extensive field-based structural, metamorphic, geochemical, geochronological and geophysical investigations on the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift, which suggested that the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift was an uplifted region since the Early Precambrian or range from Late Carboniferous-Early Jurassic. The geochemical characteristics of the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic intrusive rocks indicated that the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift was an Andean-type continental margin that is the extensional tectonic setting. To address the spatial and temporal development of the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift, we have carried out provenance analysis of Permian sedimentary rocks which collected from the Panyangshan basin along the northern margin of the North China Craton. The QFL diagram revealed a dissected arc-recycled orogenic tectonic setting. Moreover, the framework grains are abundant with feldspar (36-50%), indicating the short transport distance and unstable tectonic setting. Detrital zircon U-Pb analysis ascertained possible provenance information: the Precambrian basement ( 2490 and 1840 Ma) and continental arc magmatic action ( 279 and 295 Ma) along the northern margin of the North China Craton. The projection in rose diagrams of the mean palaeocurrent direction, revealing the SSW and SSE palaeoflow direction, also shows the provenance of the Panyangshan basin sources mainly from the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift. The andesite overlying the Naobaogou Formation has yielded U-Pb age of 277.3 ± 1.4 Ma. The additional dioritic porphyry dike intruded the Naobaogou and Laowopu Formations, which has an emplacement age of 236 ± 1 Ma. The above data identify that the basin formed ranges from Early Permian to Middle Triassic (277-236 Ma). Accordingly, the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift also was developed in the Early Permian to Middle Triassic (277-236 Ma), related to the final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. Furthermore, we advocate that the tectonic setting of Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift probably belonged to the plate marginal orogenic belt during Early Permian-Middle Triassic.

Geochronological and sedimentological evidences of Panyangshan foreland basin for tectonic control on the Late Paleozoic plate marginal orogenic belt along the northern margin of the North China Craton

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jialiang; Zhou, Zhiguang; He, Yingfu; Wang, Guosheng; Wu, Chen; Liu, Changfeng; Yao, Guang; Xu, Wentao; Zhao, Xiaoqi; Dai, Pengfei

2018-06-01

There is a wide support that the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift on the northern margin of the North China Craton has undergone an uplifting history. However, when and how did the uplift occurred keeps controversial. Extensive field-based structural, metamorphic, geochemical, geochronological and geophysical investigations on the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift, which suggested that the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift was an uplifted region since the Early Precambrian or range from Late Carboniferous-Early Jurassic. The geochemical characteristics of the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic intrusive rocks indicated that the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift was an Andean-type continental margin that is the extensional tectonic setting. To address the spatial and temporal development of the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift, we have carried out provenance analysis of Permian sedimentary rocks which collected from the Panyangshan basin along the northern margin of the North China Craton. The QFL diagram revealed a dissected arc-recycled orogenic tectonic setting. Moreover, the framework grains are abundant with feldspar (36-50%), indicating the short transport distance and unstable tectonic setting. Detrital zircon U-Pb analysis ascertained possible provenance information: the Precambrian basement ( 2490 and 1840 Ma) and continental arc magmatic action ( 279 and 295 Ma) along the northern margin of the North China Craton. The projection in rose diagrams of the mean palaeocurrent direction, revealing the SSW and SSE palaeoflow direction, also shows the provenance of the Panyangshan basin sources mainly from the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift. The andesite overlying the Naobaogou Formation has yielded U-Pb age of 277.3 ± 1.4 Ma. The additional dioritic porphyry dike intruded the Naobaogou and Laowopu Formations, which has an emplacement age of 236 ± 1 Ma. The above data identify that the basin formed ranges from Early Permian to Middle Triassic (277-236 Ma). Accordingly, the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift also was developed in the Early Permian to Middle Triassic (277-236 Ma), related to the final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. Furthermore, we advocate that the tectonic setting of Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift probably belonged to the plate marginal orogenic belt during Early Permian-Middle Triassic.

Atlantic continental margin of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grow, John A.; Sheridan, Robert E.; Palmer, A.R.

1982-01-01

The objective of this Decade of North American Geology (D-NAG) volume will be to focus on the Mesozoic and Cenozoic evolution of the U.S. Atlantic continental margin, including the onshore coastal plain, related onshore Triassic-Jurassic rift grabens, and the offshore basins and platforms. Following multiple compressional tectonic episodes between Africa and North America during the Paleozoic Era that formed the Appalachian Mountains, the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras were dominated by tensional tectonic processes that separated Africa and North America. Extensional rifting during Triassic and Early Jurassic times resulted in numerous tensional grabens both onshore and offshore, which filled with nonmarine continental red beds, lacustrine deposits, and volcanic flows and debris. The final stage of this breakup between Africa and North America occurred beneath the present outer continental shelf and continental slope during Early or Middle Jurassic time when sea-floor spreading began to form new oceanic crust and lithosophere between the two continents as they drifted apart. Postrift subsidence of the marginal basins continued in response to cooling of the lithosphere and sedimentary loading.Geophysical surveys and oil-exploration drilling along the U.S. Atlantic continental margin during the past 5 years are beginning to answer many questions concerning its deep structure and stratigraphy and how it evolved during the rifting and early sea-floor-spreading stages of the separation of this region from Africa. Earlier geophysical studies of the U.S. continental margin used marine refraction and submarine gravity measurements. Single-channel seismic-reflection, marine magnetic, aeromagnetic, and continuous gravity measurements became available during the 1960s.

Geologic map of the Vail East quadrangle, Eagle County, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kellogg, Karl S.; Bryant, Bruce; Redsteer, Margaret H.

2003-01-01

New 1:24,000-scale geologic mapping along the Interstate-70 urban corridor in western Colorado, in support of the State/USGS Cooperative Geologic Mapping Project, is contributing to a more complete understanding of the stratigraphy, structure, tectonic evolution, and hazard potential of this rapidly developing region. The 1:24,000-scale Vail East quadrangle straddles the Gore fault system, the western structural boundary of the Gore Range. The Gore fault system is a contractional structure that has been recurrently active since at least the early Paleozoic and marks the approximate eastern boundary of the Central Colorado trough, a thick late Paleozoic depocenter into which thousands of meters of clastic sediment were deposited from several uplifts, including the ancestral Front Range. The Gore fault was active during both the late Paleozoic and Upper Cretaceous-lower Tertiary (Laramide) deformations. In addition, numerous north-northwest faults that cut the crystalline rocks of the Gore Range were active during at least 5 periods, the last of which was related to Neogene uplift of the Gore Range and formation of the northern Rio Grande rift. Early Proterozoic crystalline rocks underlie the high Gore Range, north and east of the Gore fault system. These rocks consist predominantly of migmatitic biotite gneiss intruded by mostly granitic rocks of the 1.667-1.750 Ma Cross Creek batholith, part of the 1,667-1,750 Ma Routt Plutonic Suite (Tweto, 1987). Southwest of the Gore fault, a mostly gently south-dipping sequence of Pennsylvanian Mimturn Formation, as thick as 1,900 m, and the Permian and Pennsylvanian Maroon Formation (only the basal several hundred meters are exposed in the quadrangle)were shed from the ancestral Front Range and overlie a thin sequence of Devonian and Cambrian rocks. The Minturn Formation is a sequence of interlayered pink, maroon, and gray conglomerate, sandstone, shale, and marine limestone. The Maroon Formation is mostly reddish conglomerate and sandstone. Glacial till of both the middle Pleistocene Bull Lake and late Pleistocene Pinedale glaciations are well exposed along parts of the Gore Creek valley and its tributaries, although human development has profoundly altered the outcrop patterns along the Gore Creek valley bottom. Landslides, some of which are currently active, are also mapped.

Detrital Zircon Signature of Proterozoic Metasedimentary Rocks of the Pearya Terrane, Northern Ellesmere Island: Implications for Terrane Stratigraphy and Circum-Arctic Terrane Correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malone, S. J.; McClelland, W.

2012-12-01

The Pearya Terrane, currently recognized as the only exotic terrane in the Canadian Arctic margin, includes early Tonian metaigneous rocks and a sequence of sedimentary rocks ranging from Proterozoic shallow marine to Silurian arc-accretionary units. Succession II (Trettin, 1987) of the Pearya Terrane represents variably metamorphosed metasedimentary rocks of presumed Neoproterozoic to early Ordocician age. These units are structurally juxtaposed with earliest Neoproterozoic orthogneiss of Succession I and the overlaying sedimentary rocks of the Paleozoic section. Detrital zircon age spectra from seven samples of Neoproterozoic meta-sedimentary rocks define three groups on the basis of dominant age peaks and the age of the youngest peaks. Group I, representing three quartzite samples, contains young zircon age peaks at c. 1050 Ma with numerous c. 1100 Ma to 1800 Ma peaks. Detrital zircon spectra from Group I correlate closely with data from the latest Mesoproterozoic Brennevinsfjorden Group of Northeastern Svalbard, suggesting that the base of Succession II may be older than the Succession I orthogneiss, and that the contact between them is tectonic. Group II is defined by a dominant c. 970 Ma age peak that overlaps with ages determined for basement orthogneiss units and indicates that local sedimentary sources, possibly relating to Tonian igneous activity, dominated. Group III displays a similar pattern of c. 1000 Ma to 1800 Ma age peaks to Group I, but contains a small population of c. 600 Ma to 700 Ma grains that are likely sourced from elements of the Timanide orogen and/or the Arctic Alaska-Chukotka (AAC) microplate. The ubiquitous Mesoproterozoic ages suggest extensive sediment input from the Grenville-Svegonorwegian domains of Laurentia and Baltica, either directly or by sediment recycling. This is consistent with detrital zircon datasets from other North Atlantic-Arctic Caledonide terranes, reinforcing stratigraphic links between the Pearya Terrane, Svalbard, and the Caledonides of Norway and Greenland. In addition, the Succession II dataset provides a Neoproterozoic background for terranes originating in the northern Caledonides. Similar detrital zircon age peaks appear in Paleozoic sediments of AAC and the Alexander Terrane. The Pearya Terrane represents a critical link between the Arctic Caledonides and terranes translated into the Panthalassic realm during the Paleozoic.

Provenance of Carboniferous sedimentary rocks in the northern margin of Dabie Mountains, central China and the tectonic significance: constraints from trace elements, mineral chemistry and SHRIMP dating of zircons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Renwei; Li, Shuangying; Jin, Fuquan; Wan, Yusheng; Zhang, Shukun

2004-04-01

A suite of slightly metamorphosed Carboniferous sedimentary strata occurs in the northern margin of the Dabie Mountains, central China. It consists, in ascending order, of the upper Huayuanqiang Formation (C 1), the Yangshan Formation (C 1), the Daorenchong Formation (C 1-2), the most widely distributed Huyoufang Formation (C 2) and the Yangxiaozhuang Formation (C 2). The provenance of the Carboniferous sedimentary rocks is constrained by the integration of trace elements, detrital mineral chemistry and sensitive high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) dating of detrital zircons, which can help to understand the connection between the provenance and the Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the Qinling-Dabie Orogen. The trace element compositions indicate that the source terrain was probably a continental island arc. Detrital tourmalines were mainly derived from aluminous and Al-poor metapelites and metapsammites, and some are sourced from Li-poor granitoids, pegmatites and aplites. Detrital garnets, found only in the uppermost Huyoufang Formation, are almandine and Mn-almandine garnets, indicating probable sources mainly from garnetiferous schists, and partly from granitoid rocks. The detrital white K-micas are muscovitic in the Huayuanqiang, Daorenchong and Huyoufang Formations, and phengitic with Si contents (p.f.u.) from 3.20 up to max. 3.47-3.53 in the uppermost Huyoufang and the Yangxiaozhuang Formations, a meta-sedimentary source. Major components in the detrital zircon age structure for the Huyoufang Formation range from 506 to 363 Ma, centering on ˜400 and ˜480 Ma, which is characteristic of the Qinling and Erlangping Groups in the Qinling and Tongbai Mountains, central China. Evidently, the major source of the Carboniferous sedimentary rocks in the northern margin of Dabie Mountains was from the southern margin of the Sino-Korean Craton represented by the Qinling and Erlangping Groups. The source area was an island-arc system during the Early Paleozoic that collided with the Sino-Korea plate towards the end of the Early Paleozoic or during the Devonian. A prominent feature in the detrital zircon age structure of the Huyoufang Formation is the Neoproterozoic detritus, which could be derived only from the Yangtze Craton. Reasonable interpretation of the two distinct source materials for the Huyoufang Formation is that the two plates were juxtaposed through collision before the late Carboniferous.

Ages of the Xinghuadukou Group in the Erguna Block, NE China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, X.; Hou, W.

2016-12-01

The Xinghuadukou group is outcropped in the Erguna block (EB) of NE China, which is an important component of the eastern segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). This group was previously classified as Paleoproterozoic in age. However, recent studies reported Paleozoic ages from the meta-volcanic rocks, Paleoproterozoic to Neoarchean detrital zircon ages from the meta-sedimentary rocks and Neoproterozoic ages from the granitoids. The tectonic affinity of the EB is still debated. In order to clarify the aforementioned issues, 19 samples were collected from the Xinghuadukou group from the Mohe region in NE China. All samples underwent gneiss facies metamorphism, including two-mica granitic gneiss and quartz biotite gneiss. Based on the protolith discrimination diagram of Si—(al+fm)-(c+alk) system, 7 samples originated from sedimentary rocks and the other 12 of igneous origin. The orthogneiss samples were plotted as diorite, granodiorite and granite respectively in TAS, showing felsic character (SiO2 57% - 74%). One orthogneiss and one paragneiss samples were chosen to conduct the LA-ICP-MS U-Pb zircon age analysis. Apart from one zircon with the age of 742 Ma shows evident metamorphic rim, all zircons from the orthogneiss show euhedral to subhedral prismatic shape and typical concentric or oscillatory structure indicating the igneous origin. The concordant age of 2478±26 Ma was generated, indicating the existence of the near Archean basement of the EB. The detrital zircons from the paragneiss produced age populations cluster at 0.6, 0.8, 1.9, 2.6 and 2.7 Ga, lacking of the Grenville event age. The youngest zircon age is 395 Ma, taken as the maximum depositional age of the sedimentary protolith. According to the new data obtained, it is suggested that the Xinghuadukou group comprises the early Paleoproterozoic granite-gneiss, which proves the granitic basement of the Erguna block. The sedimentary rocks formed overlying the basement during the early Paleozoic and underwent metamorphism afterward. Compared with the detrital zircon ages profile of S. Siberia, NCC, Tarim, Mongolia and NE Gondwana, the EB is suggested most likely affiliated with NE Gondwana. Therefore, this study prefers a tectonic scenario that the EB drifted from the NE Gondwana and joined the CAOB tectonic domain during the Paleozoic.

Extinctions of life

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepkoski, J. J. Jr; Sepkoski JJ, J. r. (Principal Investigator)

1988-01-01

This meeting presentation examines mass extinctions through earth's history. Extinctions are charted for marine families and marine genera. Timing of marine genera extinctions is discussed. Periodicity in extinctions during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras is plotted and compared with Paleozoic extinction peaks. The role of extinction in evolution and mankind's role in present extinctions are examined.

Paleobiogeography, high-resolution stratigraphy, and the future of Paleozoic biostratigraphy: Fine-scale diachroneity of the Wenlock (Silurian) conodont Kockelella walliseri

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cramer, Bradley D.; Kleffner, Mark A.; Brett, Carlton E.; McLaughlin, P.I.; Jeppsson, Lennart; Munnecke, Axel; Samtleben, Christian

2010-01-01

The Wenlock Epoch of the Silurian Period has become one of the chronostratigraphically best-constrained intervals of the Paleozoic. The integration of multiple chronostratigraphic tools, such as conodont and graptolite biostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, and ??13Ccarb chemostratigraphy, has greatly improved global chronostratigraphic correlation and portions of the Wenlock can now be correlated with precision better than ??100kyr. Additionally, such detailed and integrated chronostratigraphy provides an opportunity to evaluate the fidelity of individual chronostratigraphic tools. Here, we use conodont biostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy and carbon isotope (??13Ccarb) chemostratigraphy to demonstrate that the conodont Kockelella walliseri, an important guide fossil for middle and upper Sheinwoodian strata (lower stage of the Wenlock Series), first appears at least one full stratigraphic sequence lower in Laurentia than in Baltica. Rather than serving as a demonstration of the unreliability of conodont biostratigraphy, this example serves to demonstrate the promise of high-resolution Paleozoic stratigraphy. The temporal difference between the two first occurrences was likely less than 1million years, and although it is conceptually understood that speciation and colonization must have been non-instantaneous events, Paleozoic paleobiogeographic variability on such short timescales (tens to hundreds of kyr) traditionally has been ignored or considered to be of little practical importance. The expansion of high-resolution Paleozoic stratigraphy in the future will require robust biostratigraphic zonations that embrace the integration of multiple chronostratigraphic tools as well as the paleobiogeographic variability in ranges that they will inevitably demonstrate. In addition, a better understanding of the paleobiogeographic migration histories of marine organisms will provide a unique tool for future Paleozoic paleoceanography and paleobiology research. ?? 2010 Elsevier B.V.

The main features of the Uralian Paleozoic magmatism and the epioceanic nature of the orogen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fershtater, G. B.

2013-02-01

The 2000 km Uralian Paleozoic orogen is situated on the western flank of the Uralo-Mongolian folded belt. It is characterized by an abundant variety of magmatic rocks and related ore deposits. Uralian Paleozoic magmatism is entirely subduction-related. It is proposed that the Uralian orogen represents a cold mobile belt in which the mantle temperature was 200 to 500 °C cooler than in the adjacent areas; a situation which is similar to the modern West Pacific Triangle Zone including Indonesia, the Philippine Islands, and southern Asia. During the course of the geological evolution of the Uralian orogen, the nature of the magmatism has changed from basic rocks of indisputable mantle origin (460-390 Ma) to mantle-crust gabbro-granitic complexes (370-315 Ma) followed by pure crustal granite magmatism (290-250 Ma). This order in rock type and age reflects the evolution of Paleozoic magmatic complexes from the beginning of subduction to the final stages of the orogen development.

Burning experiments and late Paleozoic high O2 levels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wildman, R.; Essenhigh, R.; Berner, R.; Hickey, L.; Wildman, C.

2003-04-01

The Paleozoic rise of land plants brought about increased burial of organic matter and a resulting increase in atmospheric oxygen concentrations. Levels as high as 30-35% O2 may have been reached during the Permo-Carboniferous (Berner and Canfield, 1989; Berner, 2001). However, burning experiments based solely on paper (Watson, 1978) have challenged these results, the claim being that if the oxygen made up more than 25% of the atmosphere, the frequency and intensity of forest fires would increase sufficiently to prevent the continued existence of plant life. Thus, since plants have persisted, it is possible that fires served as a negative feedback against excessive oxygen levels. An initial study of Paleozoic wildfire behavior via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was conducted under ambient and enriched oxygen conditions to simulate present and ancient atmospheres. The tests focused on natural fuels, specifically tree leaves and wood, tree fern fibers, and sphagnum peat-moss, simulating Permo-Carboniferous upland and swampland ecosystems, respectively. Three conclusions are: (1) enriched oxygen increases the rate of mass loss during burning; (2) fuel chemistry (cellulose vs. lignin) influences burning patterns; and (3) in geometrically heterogeneous fuels, geometry affects burning rate significantly. Both geometrically and chemically, paper resists fire poorly; thus, we found that it loses its mass at lower temperatures than forest materials and is therefore a poor proxy for Paleozoic ecosystems. Further study of Paleozoic wildfire spread behavior is currently being conducted. Fires are lit using pine dowels, which allow for reproducible fuel density. Steady-state, one-dimensional flame-spread is measured with thermocouples anchored two inches above the fuel bed. Both oxygen concentration of the air supply to the fire and moisture content of the fuels are varied, as we suspect that these are two main controls of wildfire spread. Burning fuels of varying moisture contents is central to this study, for fuel moisture is a fire retardant that may offset the fire-enhancing effects of high oxygen conditions. Earliest preliminary results at low moisture show that, as expected, increasing oxygen concentration significantly increases the rate of fuel consumption. This is expressed as both an increase in the speed of the flame spread and the temperature of the flames. It was found that a 35% oxygen (balance nitrogen) gas mixture caused fire to spread at about five times the rate of a fire in ambient air. The fire in the high-oxygen gas mixture was roughly 1.3 times the temperature of the fire in ambient air. The current work is not intended to exactly represent forest ecosystems; rather, it is intended to establish an understanding of flame-spread behavior in natural fuels and future work will include fuels that better represent natural ecosystems such as those used in the TGA experimentation.

Geophysical modeling of the northern Appalachian Brompton-Cameron, Central Maine, and Avalon terranes under the New Jersey Coastal Plain

USGS Publications Warehouse

Maguire, T.J.; Sheridan, R.E.; Volkert, R.A.

2004-01-01

A regional terrane map of the New Jersey Coastal Plain basement was constructed using seismic, drilling, gravity and magnetic data. The Brompton-Cameron and Central Maine terranes were coalesced as one volcanic island arc terrane before obducting onto Laurentian, Grenville age, continental crust in the Taconian orogeny [Rankin, D.W., 1994. Continental margin of the eastern United States: past and present. In: Speed, R.C., (Ed.), Phanerozoic Evolution of North American Continent-Ocean Transitions. DNAG Continent-Ocean Transect Volume. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 129-218]. Volcanic island-arc rocks of the Avalon terrane are in contact with Central Maine terrane rocks in southern Connecticut where the latter are overthrust onto the Brompton-Cameron terrane, which is thrust over Laurentian basement. Similarities of these allochthonous island arc terranes (Brompton-Cameron, Central Maine, Avalon) in lithology, fauna and age suggest that they are faulted segments of the margin of one major late Precambrian to early Paleozoic, high latitude peri-Gondwana island arc designated as "Avalonia", which collided with Laurentia in the early to middle Paleozoic. The Brompton Cameron, Central Maine, and Avalon terranes are projected as the basement under the eastern New Jersey Coastal Plain based on drill core samples of metamorphic rocks of active margin/magmatic arc origin. A seismic reflection profile across the New York Bight traces the gentle dipping (approximately 20 degrees) Cameron's Line Taconian suture southeast beneath allochthonous Avalon and other terranes to a 4 sec TWTT depth (approximately 9 km) where the Avalonian rocks are over Laurentian crust. Gentle up-plunge (approximately 5 degrees) projections to the southwest bring the Laurentian Grenville age basement and the drift-stage early Paleozoic cover rocks to windows in Burlington Co. at approximately 1 km depth and Cape May Co. at approximately 2 km depths. The antiformal Shellburne Falls and Chester domes and Chain Lakes-Pelham dome-Bronson Hill structural trends, and the synformal Connecticut Valley-Gaspe structural trend can be traced southwest into the New Jersey Coastal Plain basement. A Mesozoic rift basin, the "Sandy Hook basin", and associated eastern boundary fault is identified, based upon gravity modeling, in the vicinity of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The thickness of the rift-basin sedimentary rocks contained within the "Sandy Hook basin" is approximately 4.7 km, with the basin extending offshore to the east of the New Jersey coast. Gravity modeling indicates a deep rift basin and the magnetic data indicates a shallow magnetic basement caused by magnetic diabase sills and/or basalt flows contained within the rift-basin sedimentary rocks. The igneous sills and/or flows may be the eastward continuation of the Watchung and Palisades bodies. ?? 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Geometry and kinematics of Majiatan Fold-and-thrust Belt, Western Ordos Basin: implication for Tectonic Evolution of North-South Tectonic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, D.

2017-12-01

The Helan-Chuandian North-South Tectonic Belt crossed the central Chinese mainland. It is a boundary of geological, geophysical, and geographic system of Chinese continent tectonics from shallow to deep, and a key zone for tectonic and geomorphologic inversion during Mesozoic to Cenozoic. It is superimposed by the southeastward and northeastward propagation of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in late Cenozoic. It is thus the critical division for West and East China since Mesozoic. The Majiatan fold-and-thrust belt (MFTB), locating at the central part of HCNSTB and the western margin of Ordos Basin, is formed by the tectonic evolution of the Helan-Liupanshan Mountains. Based on the newly-acquired high-resolution seismic profiles, deep boreholes, and surface geology, the paper discusses the geometry, kinematics, and geodynamic evolution of MFTB. With the Upper Carboniferous coal measures and the pre-Sinian ductile zone as the detachments, MFTB is a multi-level detached thrust system. The thrusting was mainly during latest Jurassic to Late Cretaceous, breaking-forward in the foreland, and resulting in a shortening rate of 25-29%. By structural restoration, this area underwent extension in Middle Proterozoic to Paleozoic, which can be divided into three phases of rifting such as Middle to Late Proterozoic, Cambiran to Ordovician, and Caboniferous to early Permian. It underwent compression since Late Triassic, including such periods as Latest Triassic, Late Jurassic to early Cretaceous, Late Cretaceous to early Paleogene, and Pliocene to Quaternary, with the largest shortening around Late Jurassic to early Cretaceous period (i.e. the mid-Yanshanian movement by the local name). However, trans-extension since Eocene around the Ordos Basin got rise to the formation the Yingchuan, Hetao, and Weihe grabens. It is concluded that MFTB is the leading edge of the intra-continental Helan orogenic belt, and formed by multi-phase breaking-forward thrusting during Late Jurassic to Cretaceous. During Cenozoic, MFTB is moderately modified by the northeastward compression due to the NE propagation of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and distinctly superimposed by the Yingchuan half-graben. North-South Tectonic Belt underwent a full cycle from extension during Middle Proterozoic to Paleozoic to compression since late Triassic.

SEM/STEM observations of magnetite in carbonates of eastern North America: Evidence for chemical remagnettzation during the Alleghenian Orogeny

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suk, Dongwoo; Van der Voo, Rob; Peacor, Donald R.

Early to middle Paleozoic carbonates of eastern North America have been pervasively remagnetized. In order to determine the process of remagnetization, scanning and scanning transmission electron microscopy have been used to characterize magnetite in thin sections and in concentrated separates. Samples included Ordovician Knox carbonates from east Tennessee, Ordovician Trenton limestone and Devonian Onondaga and Helderberg limestones from New York, and Ordovician Trenton carbonates from Michigan. Inclusions of authigenic minerals within magnetite grains, lack of cations other than iron, and a variety of textural relations all imply that the magnetite is authigenic. These data are consistent with estimates that paleotemperatures never exceeded values that would reset magnetic directions. The remagnetization is thus a chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) rather than viscous remanent magnetization (VRM). As the timing of remagnetization corresponds to the Alleghenian orogeny, the observed relations imply stress-induced crystallization of magnetite that was mediated by fluids, consistent with but not requiring fluid flow on a regional basis.

Aridification across the Carboniferous-Permian transition in central equatorial Pangea: The Catalan Pyrenean succession (NE Iberian Peninsula)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mujal, Eudald; Fortuny, Josep; Marmi, Josep; Dinarès-Turell, Jaume; Bolet, Arnau; Oms, Oriol

2018-01-01

The Carboniferous-Permian terrestrial successions record a global climatic shift from icehouse to hothouse conditions. Our multidisciplinary study documents an aridification trend throughout the 1000 m thick composite terrestrial succession of the western Catalan Pyrenees (NE Iberian Peninsula), representing this time period. The detailed stratigraphic framework integrates sedimentology, paleopedology, biochronology (plant fossils and tetrapod footprints) and geochronology (paleomagnetism). Additional absolute age correlation is also carried out. The new and reviewed data show that the late Carboniferous wet environments (with short drought periods) progressively changed to a strong seasonal semi-arid and arid climate (with short humid periods) through the early Permian. This paleoclimatic trend supports the previously suggested aridification of the Pangean pan-tropical belt, and supports the hypothesis of the influence of the recurrent climatic fluctuations in Central Pangea, being tentatively correlated to the Southern Gondwanan glaciation-deglaciation periods. Therefore, the Carboniferous-Permian terrestrial succession from the Catalan Pyrenees emerges as a continuous record that can help to constrain late Paleozoic paleoenvironmental events.

Geology, Murzuk oil development could boost S. W. Libya prospects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thomas, D.

1995-03-06

With the recent involvement of Repsol, Total, and OMV in developing the 2 billion bbl oil-in-place Murzuk field complex, an infrastructure will be finally constructed in western Libya which will act as a precursor to more exploration activity and development projects in the Murzuk and Ghadames basins. Murzuk, an intra-cratonic sag basin, is a huge ladle-shaped structural basin covering more than 400,000 sq km and extending beyond the borders of southern Libya. The structure of the area is quite simple. The sub-horizontal or gently dipping strata are faulted and the faults are most frequently parallel to the anticlinal axis. Tectonicmore » movements affected the basin to a greater or lesser degree from early Paleozoic (Caledonian) to post-Eocene (Alpine) times. The paper describes the exploration history; stratigraphy; the Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian, and Carboniferous reservoirs; source rocks; oil gravity and gas content; hydrogeologic constraints; aquifer influence on hydrocarbon accumulation; geologic structures; Murzuk field development; and acreage availability.« less

A field trip guidebook to the type localities of Marland Billings' 1935 Paleozoic bedrock stratigraphy near Littleton, New Hampshire

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rankin, Douglas W.; Rankin, Mary B.

2014-01-01

Marland Billings' classic paper published in 1937 in the Geological Society of America Bulletin established a succession of six stratigraphic units in rocks of low metamorphic grade near Littleton, New Hampshire. The two youngest units are fossiliferous in the area, with ages established at the time as “middle” Silurian and Early Devonian. Billings and students mapped the same stratigraphic section in adjacent areas of progressively higher regional metamorphic grade. This work laid the foundation upon which a major part of subsequent work in New England has been directly or indirectly built. This guidebook was written for a field trip held in March 2013 to visit roadcuts that are as close as possible in March to the type localities or areas of Billings’ six-fold stratigraphic succession. Ten stops are in rocks of chlorite grade of Acadian(?) metamorphism; the final stop visits amphibolite of the Ammonoosuc Volcanics. Fieldwork by the authors over the past 20 years confirms Billings’ broad conclusions.

A Remaining Open Paleogeography of Paleo-Asian Ocean by Early Permian, Paleomagnetic Constraints from Eastern CAOB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Donghai; Huang, Baochun; Zhao, Jie; Meert, Joseph; Zhang, Ye; Liang, Yalun; Bai, Qianhui; Zhao, Qian; Zhou, Tinghong

2017-04-01

We carry out a combined paleomagnetic and U-Pb geochronologic study on Paleozoic strata ranging from Lower Devonian to Upper Permian in mid-eastern Inner Mongolia, NE China with the purpose of puzzling out the timing and location of the final closure of Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO), and thus provides further implications for the evolution of eastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Inside North Margin of North China Block (NMNCB), 20 sites from Middle Permian Elitu formation and 9 sites from Lower Permian Sanmianjing formation yields a high temperature Characteristic Remanent Magnetism (ChRM) of Dg=330.9, Ig=54.3, Kg=4.9, a95g=14.9 N= 24 before and Ds=347.4, Is=38.1, Ks=28.6, a95s=5.6, N=24 after tilt correction. 13 sites from Songliao-Xilinhot Block (SXB) isolate a ChRM of Dg=196.6, Ig=36.4, Kg=18.0, a95g=11.1, N=13; Ds=222.9, Is=20.5, Ks=15.7 a95s=11.9, N=13 with a positive fold test, which suggests a likely primary magnetization. Inside of Khingan-Airgin Sum Block (KAB), 2 different component is extracted from Lower Devonian Niqiuhe formation, Upper Carboniferous Baoligaomiao formation and Lower Permian Dashizhai formation. A high temperature Component A (Dg=28.3, Ig=29.7, Kg=24.4, a95g=6.6, N= 21; Ds=49.8, Is=62.1, Ks=57.4, a95s=4.2, N=21) with a synfolding origin is derived from 21 sites of Baoligaomiao formation in west KAB, which is traditionally named as Uliastai passive continental margin, whilst 11 sites from Lower Devonian Niqiuhe formation in east KAB generate a post-folding Component B (Dg=196.6, Ig=36.4, Kg=18.0, a95g=11.1, N=11; Ds=222.9, Is=20.5, Ks=15.7, a95s=11.9, N=11) with a possible remagnetization in early Permian suggested by widely exposed granitic intrusion of 299 Ma in adjacent areas. Accordingly, 4 paleomagnetic poles are calculated as early-middle Permian of NMNCB (Plat=67.9°N, Plong=326.7°E, A95=4.2°), early Permian of SXB (Plat=45.3°N, Plong=250.3°E, A95=5.8°), late Carboniferous of west KAB (Plat=55.1°N, Plong=187.8°E, A95=6.2°) and early Permian of (Plat=-16.3°N, Plong=109.1°E, A95=8.4°). The early Permian paleomagnetic pole of SXB and NMNCB are located at a common small circle centered around the reference site (43° N, 114° E), whilst late Carboniferous pole of west KAB and early Permian pole of east KAB share a similar paleolatitude, about 17.8° higher than that of SXB and NMNCB, with a huge 85° longitudinal difference in between. These data indicate the final closure of PAO happened at the northern Hegenshan-Heihe Suture Zone (HHSZ) after early Permian instead of the pre-assumed southern Solonker-Xar Moron Suture Zone (SXMSZ) with a remaining open paleogeography of Paleo-Asian Ocean between SXB and KAB by early Permian. Keywords: Paleo-Asian Ocean, Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Paleomagnetism, Paleolatitude, Late Paleozoic, XMOB.

Age, distribution and style of deformation in Alaska north of 60°N: Implications for assembly of Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Thomas; Box, Stephen E.

2016-01-01

The structural architecture of Alaska is the product of a complex history of deformation along both the Cordilleran and Arctic margins of North America involving oceanic plates, subduction zones and strike-slip faults and with continental elements of Laurentia, Baltica, and Siberia. We use geological constraints to assign regions of deformation to 14 time intervals and to map their distributions in Alaska. Alaska can be divided into three domains with differing deformational histories. Each domain includes a crustal fragment that originated near Early Paleozoic Baltica. The Northern domain experienced the Early Cretaceous Brookian orogeny, an oceanic arc-continent collision, followed by mid-Cretaceous extension. Early Cretaceous opening of the oceanic Canada Basin rifted the orogen from the Canadian Arctic margin, producing the bent trends of the orogen. The second (Southern) domain consists of Neoproterozoic and younger crust of the amalgamated Peninsular-Wrangellia-Alexander arc terrane and its paired Mesozoic accretionary prism facing the Pacific Ocean basin. The third (Interior) domain, situated between the first two domains and roughly bounded by the Cenozoic dextral Denali and Tintina faults, includes the large continental Yukon Composite and Farewell terranes having different Permian deformational episodes. Although a shared deformation that might mark their juxtaposition by collisional processes is unrecognized, sedimentary linkage between the two terranes and depositional overlap of the boundary with the Northern domain occurred by early Late Cretaceous. Late Late Cretaceous deformation is the first deformation shared by all three domains and correlates temporally with emplacement of the Southern domain against the remainder of Alaska. Early Cenozoic shortening is mild across interior Alaska but is significant in the Brooks Range, and correlates in time with dextral faulting, ridge subduction and counter-clockwise rotation of southern Alaska. Late Cenozoic shortening is significant in southern Alaska inboard of the underthrusting Yakutat terrane at the Pacific margin and in northeastern Alaska.

Regional hydrogeology of the Navajo and Hopi Indian reservations, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, with a section on vegetation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cooley, M.E.; Harshbarger, J.W.; Akers, J.P.; Hardt, W.F.; Hicks, O.N.

1969-01-01

The Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations have an area of about 25,000 square miles and are in the south-central part of the Colorado Plateaus physiographic province. The reservations are underlain by sedimentary rocks that range in age from Cambrian to Tertiary, but Permian and younger rocks are exposed in about 95 percent of the area. Igneous and metamorphic basement rocks of Precambrian age underlie the sedimentary rocks at depths ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 feet. Much of the area is mantled by thin alluvial, eolian, and terrace deposits, which mainly are 10 to 50 feet thick.The Navajo country was a part of the eastern shelf area of the Cordilleran geosyncline during Paleozoic and Early Triassic time and part of the southwestern shelf area of the Rocky Mountain geosyncline in Cretaceous time. The shelf areas were inundated frequently by seas that extended from the central parts of the geosynclines. As a result, complex intertonguing and rapid facies changes are prevalent in the sedimentary rocks and form some of the principal controls on the ground-water hydrology. Regional uplift beginning in Late Cretaceous time , destroyed. the Rocky Mountain geosyncline and formed the structural basius that influenced sedimentation and erosion throughout Cenozoic time.

Late Paleozoic to Cenozoic reconstruction of the Arctic

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, D.G.

1985-04-01

The plate tectonic evolution of the Arctic is reassessed in the context of the known histories of the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, and of the tectono-stratigraphic development of the lands around the Arctic Ocean. Computer map-drawing facilities were used to provide geometrical constraints on the reconstructions, which are presented to in the form of eight palinispatic maps. Stratigraphic similarities among presently dispersed continental areas identify fragments of a former Barents plate. Collision of this plate with the Euramerican plate was the cause of the Late Devonian Ellesmerian orogeny. In later Paleozoic time, the Siberian continent also joined Pangeamore » by collision with the combined Barents and Euramerican plates along the Ural-Taymyr suture. The Mesozoic-Cenozoic history of the Arctic is concerned with the fragmentation and dispersal of the former Barents plate, as well as the accretion of new continental fragments from the Pacific.« less

A global cyclostratigraphic framework constrains the timing and pacing of environmental changes over the Late Devonian (Frasnian - Famennian) mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Vleeschouwer, David; Da Silva, Anne-Christine; Day, James E.; Whalen, Michael; Claeys, Philippe

2016-04-01

Milankovitch cycles (obliquity, eccentricity and precession) result in changes in the distribution of solar energy over seasons, as well as over latitudes, on time scales of ten thousands of years to millions of years. These changing patterns in insolation have induced significant variations in Earth's past climate over the last 4.5 billion years. Cyclostratigraphy and astrochronology utilize the geologic imprint of such quasi-cyclic climatic variations to measure geologic time. In recent years, major improvements of the Geologic Time Scale have been proposed through the application of cyclostratigraphy, mostly for the Mesozoic and Cenozoic (Gradstein et al., 2012). However, the field of Paleozoic cyclostratigraphy and astrochronology is still in its infancy and the application of cyclostratigraphic techniques in the Paleozoic allows for a whole new range of research questions. For example, unraveling the timing and pacing of environmental changes over the Late Devonian mass extinction on a 105-year time-scale concerns such a novel research question. Here, we present a global cyclostratigraphic framework for late Frasnian to early Famennian climatic and environmental change, through the integration of globally distributed sections. The backbone of this relative time scale consists of previously published cyclostratigraphies for western Canada and Poland (De Vleeschouwer et al., 2012; De Vleeschouwer et al., 2013). We elaborate this Euramerican base by integrating new proxy data -interpreted in terms of astronomical climate forcing- from the Iowa basin (USA, magnetic susceptibility and carbon isotope data) and Belgium (XRF and carbon isotope data). Next, we expand this well-established cyclostratigraphic framework towards the Paleo-Tethys Ocean, using magnetic susceptibility and carbon isotope records from the Fuhe section in South China (Whalen et al., 2015). The resulting global cyclostratigraphic framework implies an important refinement of the late Frasnian to early Famennian stratigraphy, but also allows for an evaluation of the role of astronomical forcing in perturbing the global carbon cycle and pacing anoxic conditions throughout the Late Devonian mass extinction event. The late Frasnian anoxic Kellwasser events, for example, each represent only a portion of a 405-kyr eccentricity cycle, with the onset of both events separated by 500-600 kyr. References: De Vleeschouwer, D., Whalen, M. T., Day, J. E., and Claeys, P., 2012, Cyclostratigraphic calibration of the Frasnian (Late Devonian) time scale (western Alberta, Canada): Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 124, no. 5-6, p. 928-942. De Vleeschouwer, D., Rakociński, M., Racki, G., Bond, D. P., Sobień, K., and Claeys, P., 2013, The astronomical rhythm of Late-Devonian climate change (Kowala section, Holy Cross Mountains, Poland): Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 365, p. 25-37. Gradstein, F. M., Ogg, J. G., Schmitz, M., and Ogg, G., 2012, The Geologic Time Scale 2012 2-Volume Set, Elsevier. Whalen, M. T., Śliwiński, M. G., Payne, J. H., Day, J. E., Chen, D., and da Silva, A.-C., 2015, Chemostratigraphy and magnetic susceptibility of the Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian transition in western Canada and southern China: implications for carbon and nutrient cycling and mass extinction: Geological Society, London, Special Publications, v. 414.

Quantitative Hydraulic Models Of Early Land Plants Provide Insight Into Middle Paleozoic Terrestrial Paleoenvironmental Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, J. P.; Fischer, W. W.

2010-12-01

Fossil plants provide useful proxies of Earth’s climate because plants are closely connected, through physiology and morphology, to the environments in which they lived. Recent advances in quantitative hydraulic models of plant water transport provide new insight into the history of climate by allowing fossils to speak directly to environmental conditions based on preserved internal anatomy. We report results of a quantitative hydraulic model applied to one of the earliest terrestrial plants preserved in three dimensions, the ~396 million-year-old vascular plant Asteroxylon mackei. This model combines equations describing the rate of fluid flow through plant tissues with detailed observations of plant anatomy; this allows quantitative estimates of two critical aspects of plant function. First and foremost, results from these models quantify the supply of water to evaporative surfaces; second, results describe the ability of plant vascular systems to resist tensile damage from extreme environmental events, such as drought or frost. This approach permits quantitative comparisons of functional aspects of Asteroxylon with other extinct and extant plants, informs the quality of plant-based environmental proxies, and provides concrete data that can be input into climate models. Results indicate that despite their small size, water transport cells in Asteroxylon could supply a large volume of water to the plant's leaves--even greater than cells from some later-evolved seed plants. The smallest Asteroxylon tracheids have conductivities exceeding 0.015 m^2 / MPa * s, whereas Paleozoic conifer tracheids do not reach this threshold until they are three times wider. However, this increase in conductivity came at the cost of little to no adaptations for transport safety, placing the plant’s vegetative organs in jeopardy during drought events. Analysis of the thickness-to-span ratio of Asteroxylon’s tracheids suggests that environmental conditions of reduced relative humidity (<20%) combined with elevated temperatures (>25°C) could cause sufficient cavitation to reduce hydraulic conductivity by 50%. This suggests that the Early Devonian environments that supported the earliest vascular plants were not subject to prolonged midseason droughts, or, alternatively, that the growing season was short. This places minimum constraints on water availability (e.g., groundwater hydration, relative humidity) in locations where Asteroxylon fossils are found; these environments must have had high relative humidities, comparable to tropical riparian environments. Given these constraints, biome-scale paleovegetation models that place early vascular plants distal to water sources can be revised to account for reduced drought tolerance. Paleoclimate proxies that treat early terrestrial plants as functionally interchangeable can incorporate physiological differences in a quantitatively meaningful way. Application of hydraulic models to fossil plants provides an additional perspective on the 475 million-year history of terrestrial photosynthetic environments and has potential to corroborate other plant-based paleoclimate proxies.

The Anarak, Jandaq and Posht-e-Badam metamorphic complexes in central Iran: New geological data, relationships and tectonic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagheri, Sasan; Stampfli, Gérard M.

2008-04-01

The Anarak, Jandaq and Posht-e-Badam metamorphic complexes occupy the NW part of the Central-East Iranian Microcontinent and are juxtaposed with the Great Kavir block and Sanandaj-Sirjan zone. Our recent findings redefine the origin of these complexes, so far attributed to the Precambrian-Early Paleozoic orogenic episodes, and now directly related to the tectonic evolution of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. This tectonic evolution was initiated by Late Ordovician-Early Devonian rifting events and terminated in the Triassic by the Eocimmerian collision event due to the docking of the Cimmerian blocks with the Asiatic Turan block. The "Variscan accretionary complex" is a new name we proposed for the most widely distributed metamorphic rocks connected to the Anarak and Jandaq complexes. This accretionary complex exposed from SW of Jandaq to the Anarak and Kabudan areas is a thick and fine grain siliciclastic sequence accompanied by marginal-sea ophiolitic remnants, including gabbro-basalts with a supra-subduction-geochemical signature. New 40Ar/ 39Ar ages are obtained as 333-320 Ma for the metamorphism of this sequence under greenschist to amphibolite facies. Moreover, the limy intercalations in the volcano-sedimentary part of this complex in Godar-e-Siah yielded Upper Devonian-Tournaisian conodonts. The northeastern part of this complex in the Jandaq area was intruded by 215 ± 15 Ma arc to collisional granite and pegmatites dated by ID-TIMS and its metamorphic rocks are characterized by some 40Ar/ 39Ar radiometric ages of 163-156 Ma. The "Variscan" accretionary complex was northwardly accreted to the Airekan granitic terrane dated at 549 ± 15 Ma. Later, from the Late Carboniferous to Triassic, huge amounts of oceanic material were accreted to its southern side and penetrated by several seamounts such as the Anarak and Kabudan. This new period of accretion is supported by the 280-230 Ma 40Ar/ 39Ar ages for the Anarak mild high-pressure metamorphic rocks and a 262 Ma U-Pb age for the trondhjemite-rhyolite association of that area. The Triassic Bayazeh flysch filled the foreland basin during the final closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean and was partly deposited and/or thrusted onto the Cimmerian Yazd block. The Paleo-Tethys magmatic arc products have been well-preserved in the Late Devonian-Carboniferous Godar-e-Siah intra-arc deposits and the Triassic Nakhlak fore-arc succession. On the passive margin of the Cimmerian block, in the Yazd region, the nearly continuous Upper Paleozoic platform-type deposition was totally interrupted during the Middle to Late Triassic. Local erosion, down to Lower Paleozoic levels, may be related to flexural bulge erosion. The platform was finally unconformably covered by Liassic continental molassic deposits of the Shemshak. One of the extensional periods related to Neo-Tethyan back-arc rifting in Late Cretaceous time finally separated parts of the Eocimmerian collisional domain from the Eurasian Turan domain. The opening and closing of this new ocean, characterized by the Nain and Sabzevar ophiolitic mélanges, finally transported the Anarak-Jandaq composite terrane to Central Iran, accompanied by large scale rotation of the Central-East Iranian Microcontinent (CEIM). Due to many similarities between the Posht-e-Badam metamorphic complex and the Anarak-Jandaq composite terrane, the former could be part of the latter, if it was transported further south during Tertiary time.

Permian U-Pb (CA-TIMS) zircon ages from Australia and China: Constraining the time scale of environmental and biotic change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Denyszyn, S. W.; Mundil, R.; Metcalfe, I.; He, B.

2010-12-01

In eastern Australia, the interconnected Bowen and Sydney Basins are filled with terrestrial sediments of late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic age. These sedimentary units record significant evolutionary events of eastern Gondwana during the time interval between two major mass extinctions (end Middle Permian and Permian-Triassic), and also provide lithological evidence for the Carboniferous-Permian Late Paleozoic Ice Age of southern Pangea, considered to be divisible into up to seven discrete glaciation events in Australia [e.g., 1]. These glaciations are currently assigned ages that indicate that the last of the glaciations predate the end Middle Permian mass extinction at ca. 260 Ma. However, the estimates for the time and durations are largely based on biostratigraphy and lithostratigraphy that, in the absence of robust and precise radioisotopic ages, are unacceptably fragile for providing an accurate high-resolution framework. Interbedded with the sediments are numerous tuff layers that contain zircon, many of which are associated with extensive coal measures in the Sydney and Bowen Basins. Published SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages [2, 3] have been shown to be less precise and inaccurate when compared to ages applying the CA-TIMS method to the same horizons. Also within the late Middle Permian, the eruption of the Emeishan flood basalts in SW China has been proposed to have caused the end Middle Permian mass extinction [e.g., 4], though a causal link between these events demands a rigorous test that can only be provided by high-resolution geochronology. We present new U-Pb (CA-TIMS) zircon ages on tuff layers from the Sydney and Bowen Basins, with the purpose of generating a timescale for the Upper Permian of Australia to allow correlation with different parts of the world. Initial results, with permil precision, date a tuff layer within the uppermost Bandanna Fm. to ca. 252 Ma, a tuff within the Moranbah Coal Measures to ca. 256 Ma, and a tuff within the Ingelara Fm. to ca. 257 Ma, the latter two units lying stratigraphically below the latest identified glacial deposits. U-Pb (CA-TIMS) results on zircons from the Emeishan flood basalts and related volcanic products confirm the end-Guadalupian age (ca. 260 Ma) of the magmatism, and based on present data, place the Emeishan volcanic event (and its possibly associated mass extinction) within the occurrence of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age. This study’s primary goal is the establishment of a chronostratigraphic framework that would allow the integration of calibrated records from both terrestrial and marine units from different parts of the world in order to constrain the timing and rates of extinctions and recoveries in different locations and physical environments. [1] Fielding et al. (2008), J. Geol Soc. Lon., v. 165, pp. 129-140 [2] Michaelsen et al. (2001), Aus. J. Earth Sci., v. 48, pp. 183-192 [3] Roberts et al. (1996), Aus. J. Earth Sci., v. 43, pp. 401-421 [4] He et al. (2007), EPSL, v. 255, pp. 306-323

National Uranium Resource Evaluation: Newcastle Quadrangle, Wyoming and South Dakota

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Santos, E S; Robinson, K; Geer, K A

1982-09-01

Uranium resources of the Newcastle 1/sup 0/x2/sup 0/ Quadrangle, Wyoming and South Dakota were evaluated to a depth of 1500 m (5000 ft) using available surface and subsurface geologic information. Many of the uranium occurrences reported in the literature and in reports of the US Atomic Energy Commission were located, sampled and described. Areas of anomalous radioactivity, interpreted from an aerial radiometric survey, were outlined. Areas favorable for uranium deposits in the subsurface were evaluated using gamma-ray logs. Based on surface and subsurface data, two areas have been delineated which are underlain by rocks deemed favorable as hosts for uraniummore » deposits. One of these is underlain by rocks that contain fluvial arkosic facies in the Wasatch and Fort Union Formations of Tertiary age; the other is underlain by rocks containing fluvial quartzose sandstone facies of the Inyan Kara Group of Early Cretaceous age. Unfavorable environments characterize all rock units of Tertiary age above the Wasatch Formation, all rock units of Cretaceous age above the Inyan Kara Group, and most rock units of Mesozoic and Paleozoic age below the Inyan Kara Group. Unfavorable environments characterize all rock units of Cretaceous age above the Inyan Kara Group, and all rock units of Mesozoic and Paleozoic age below the Inyan Kara Group.« less

North American Paleozoic land snails with a summary of other Paleozoic nonmarine snails

USGS Publications Warehouse

Solem, Alan; Yochelson, Ellis Leon

1979-01-01

Land snails from the Paleozoic of North America are known from the coal fields of eastern Canada, from the Dunkard basin west of the Allegheny Mountains, and from the western margin of the Illinois basin. The earliest finds were made about 125 years ago; essentially no new information has been recorded for a century. Large collections of Anthracopupa from the Dunkard basin sparked inquiry into the land snails from the other two areas. Studies using the SEM (scanning electron microscope) have provided considerable insight into microdetails of shell structure, which allow systematic assignment of these gastropods. All may be assigned to extant families, except one, for which insufficient material allows only superfamily assignment. The prosobranch Dawsonella is confirmed as being a terrestrial neritacean gastropod. To date, it is known only from the upper Middle Pennsylvanian of Illinois and Indiana. All the other Paleozoic land snails are stylommatophoran pulmonates; their current classification as nonmarine cyclophoraceans is not correct. Restudy of material from the Joggins section of Nova Scotia indicates that representatives of two ordinal groups of pulmonates appeared simultaneously in upper Lower Pennsylvanian strata; the oldest land prosobranch is found in only very slightly younger rocks. Zonites (Conulus) priscus is reassigned to the new genus Protodiscus in the extant family Discidae. Dendropupa is placed within the family Enidae, Anthraaopupa is placed in the family Tornatellinidae, and 'Pupa' bigsbii is assigned to the superfamily Pupillacea. All four of these family-level taxa are diverse and belong to two orders within the superorder Stylommatophora, heretofore considered a derived rather than an ancestral stock. Anthracopupa ohioensis Whitfield is a highly variable species, and two other species Naticopsis (?) diminuta and A.(?) dunkardona, both named by Stauffer and Schroyer, are placed in synonymy with it. To obtain taxonomic data to support the family placement of Anthracopupa, growth forms of modern pupillid and tornatellinid snails have been distinguished. The apertural barriers in Anthracopupa are identical in placement and growth pattern with those of living Tornatellinidae and independently confirm the family placement derived from study of the general form. One new species, A. sturgeoni, has been named. Anthracopupa is found most commonly in thin limestones interpreted as having been deposited in pools into which the small shells floated. Dendropupa is most commonly found in erect tree stumps that were covered by rapid sedimentation. Both environments are similar to those in which the shells of allied living species may be found today, and the fossils support environmental interpretations made entirely from lithology. A survey of the few European occurrences of Paleozoic land snails indicates that both Anthracopupa and Dendropupa occur in Lower Permian strata; Anthracopupa is known from beds as old as Westphalian B. These genera cannot be used for determining the Carboniferous-Permian boundary. Both the long local stratigraphic range of A. brittanica and D. vetusta reported in the literature and the moderately long range and great variability of A. ohioensis suggest that the land snails have little stratigraphic utility. On the other hand, the occurrence of these land snails in the late Paleozoic of the Northern Hemisphere provides further fossil evidence suggestive of a closed Atlantic Ocean at that time. A comparison of the Paleozoic and the present distributions of land -snail families on both sides of the Atlantic provides some interesting data on geographic shifts of organisms. Finally, the assignment of the earliest land snails to extant taxa at the family level indicates that the subclass Pulmonata has been very conservative in its evolution after initial radiation. A few notes on Paleozoic freshwater snails complete this survey.

Paleozoic evolution of active margin basins in the southern Central Andes (northwestern Argentina and northern Chile)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahlburg, H.; Breitkreuz, C.

The geodynamic evolution of the Paleozoic continental margin of Gondwana in the region of the southern Central Andes is characterized by the westward progression of orogenic basin formation through time. The Ordovician basin in the northwest Argentinian Cordillera Oriental and Puna originated as an Early Ordovician back-arc basin. The contemporaneous magmatic arc of an east-dipping subduction zone was presumably located in northern Chile. In the back-arc basin, a ca. 3500 meter, fining-up volcaniclastic apron connected to the arc formed during the Arenigian. Increased subsidence in the late Arenigian allowed for the accomodation of large volumes of volcaniclastic turbidites during the Middle Ordovician. Subsidence and sedimentation were caused by the onset of collision between the para-autochthonous Arequipa Massif Terrane (AMT) and the South American margin at the Arenigian-Llanvirnian transition. This led to eastward thrusting of the arc complex over its back-arc basin and, consequently, to its transformation into a marine foreland basin. As a result of thrusting in the west, a flexural bulge formed in the east, leading to uplift and emergence of the Cordillera Oriental shelf during the Guandacol Event at the Arenigian-Llanvirnian transition. The basin fill was folded during the terminal collision of the AMT during the Oclóyic Orogeny (Ashgillian). The folded strata were intruded post-tectonically by the presumably Silurian granitoids of the "Faja Eruptiva de la Puna Oriental." The orogeny led to the formation of the positive area of the Arco Puneño. West of the Arco Puneño, a further marine basin developed during the Early Devonian, the eastern shelf of which occupied the area of the Cordillera Occidental, Depresión Preandina, and Precordillera. The corresponding deep marine turbidite basin was located in the region of the Cordillera de la Costa. Deposition continued until the basin fill was folded in the early Late Carboniferous Toco Orogeny. The basin originated as an extensional structure at the continental margin of Gondwana. Independent lines of evidence imply that basin evolution was not connected to subduction. Thus, the basin could not have been in a fore-arc position as previously postulated. Above the folded Devonian-Early Carboniferous strata, a continental volcanic arc developed from the Late Carboniferous to the Middle Triassic. It represents the link between the Choiyoi Province in central Chile and Argentina, and the Mitu Group rift in southern Peru. The volcanic arc succession is characterized by the prevalence of silicic lavas and tuffs and volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks. During the latest Carboniferous, a thick ostracod-bearing lacustrine unit formed in an extended lake in the area of the Depresión Preandina. This lake basin originated in an intra-arc tensional setting. During the Early Permian, marine limestones were deposited on a marine platform west and east of the volcanic arc, connected to the depositional area of the Copacabana Formation in southern Peru.

The Potential for Prophyry Copper-Molybdenum Deposits in the Eastern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schmidt, Robert Gordon

1978-01-01

Several significant porphyry-type deposits of Paleozoic age are known in New England and eastern Canada. Disseminated copper-molybdenum deposits of Paleozoic age are in the Southeastern United States, and copper is produced from porphyry-type deposits of both Precambrian and Paleozoic age in eastern Canada. Although these old deposits are surely less abundant than those in Cenozoic and Tertiary porphyry belts, the known Precrambrian and Paleozoic deposits in Eastern North America appear to be valid exploration targets. The difficult of 'prospecting in drift-covered and saprolite-mantled terrains suggests that all such deposits probably have not been discovered. Although such deposits are more costly to discover in this region than a massive sulfide deposit, the total amount of copper in even a medium-sized porphyry copper deposit is much greater than in most massive sulfide deposits. This report summarizes current knowledge of porphyry copper-molybdenum-type deposits in the Eastern United States and suggests more favorable areas for mineral exploration. Selected Canadian deposits are discussed because of their bearing on planning exploration in this country.

Formation of modern and Paleozoic stratiform barite at cold methane seeps on continental margins

USGS Publications Warehouse

Torres, M.E.; Bohrmann, G.; Dube, T.E.; Poole, F.G.

2003-01-01

Stratiform (bedded) Paleozoic barite occurs as large conformable beds within organic- and chert-rich sediments; the beds lack major sulfide minerals and are the largest and most economically significant barite deposits in the geologic record. Existing models for the origin of bedded barite fail to explain all their characteristics: the deposits display properties consistent with an exhalative origin involving fluid ascent to the seafloor, but they lack appreciable polymetallic sulfide minerals and the corresponding strontium isotopic composition to support a hydrothermal vent source. A new mechanism of barite formation, along structurally controlled sites of cold fluid seepage in continental margins, involves barite remobilization in organic-rich, highly reducing sediments, transport of barium-rich fluids, and barite precipitation at cold methane seeps. The lithologic and depositional framework of Paleozoic and cold seep barite, as well as morphological, textural, and chemical characteristics of the deposits, and associations with chemosymbiotic fauna, all support a cold seep origin for stratiform Paleozoic barite. This understanding is highly relevant to paleoceanographic and paleotectonic studies, as well as to economic geology.

Geology and uranium deposits of the Cochetopa and Marshall Pass districts, Saguache and Gunnison counties, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Olson, Jerry C.

1988-01-01

The Cochetopa and Marshall Pass uranium districts are in Saguache and Gunnison Counties, south-central Colorado. Geologic mapping of both districts has shown that their structural history and geologic relationships have a bearing on the distribution and origin of their uranium deposits. In both districts, the principal uranium deposits are situated at the intersection of major faults with Tertiary erosion surfaces. These surfaces were buried by early Tertiary siliceous tuffs-- a likely source of the uranium. That uranium deposits are related to such unconformities in various parts of the world has been suggested by many other authors. The purpose of this study is to understand the geology of the two districts and to define a genetic model for uranium deposits that may be useful in the discovery and evaluation of uranium deposits in these and other similar geologic settings. The Cochetopa and Marshall Pass uranium districts produced nearly 1,200 metric tons of uranium oxide from 1956 to 1963. Several workings at the Los Ochos mine in the Cochetopa district, and the Pitch mine in the Marshall Pass district, accounted for about 97 percent of this production, but numerous other occurrences of uranium are known in the two districts. As a result of exploration of the Pitch deposit in the 1970's, a large open-pit mining operation began in 1978. Proterozoic rocks in both districts comprise metavolcanic, metasedimentary, and igneous units. Granitic rocks, predominantly quartz monzonitic in composition, occupy large areas. In the northwestern part of the Cochetopa district, metavolcanic and related metasedimentary rocks are of low grade (lower amphibolite facies). In the Marshall Pass district, layered metamorphic rocks are predominantly metasedimentary and are of higher (sillimanite subfacies) grade than the Cochetopa rocks. Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the Marshall Pass district range from Late Cambrian to Pennsylvanian in age and are 700 m thick. The Paleozoic rocks include, from oldest to youngest, the Sawatch Quartzite, Manitou Dolomite, Harding Quartzite, Fremont Dolomite, Parting Formation and Dyer Dolomite of the Chaffee Group, Leadville Dolomite, and Belden Formation. In the Cochetopa district, Paleozoic rocks are absent. Mesozoic sedimentary rocks overlie the Precambrian rocks in the Cochetopa district and comprise the Junction Creek Sandstone, Morrison Formation, Dakota Sandstone, and Mancos Shale. In the Marshall Pass district, Mesozoic rocks are absent and were presumably removed by pre-Tertiary erosion. Tertiary volcanic rocks were deposited on an irregular surface of unconformity; they blanketed both districts but have been eroded, away from much of the area. They include silicic ash flows as well as andesitic lava flows and breccias. In the Marshall Pass district, a 20to 20D-m thickness of waterlaid tuff of early Tertiary age indicates the former presence of a lake over much of the district. In the Cochetopa district, faults have a predominantly east-west trend, and the major Los Ochos fault shows displacement during Laramide time. In the Marshall Pass district, the Chester fault is a major north-trending reverse fault along which Proterozoic rocks have been thrust westward over Paleozoic and Proterozoic rocks. Displacement on the Chester fault was almost entirely of Laramide age. Both faults and old erosion surfaces or unconformities are important in the origin of uranium deposits because of their influence on the movement and localization of ore-forming solutions. In the Cochetopa district, all the known uranium occurrences crop out within 100 m of the inferred position of the unconformity surface beneath the Tertiary volcanic rocks. Much of the district was part of the drainage of an ancestral Cochetopa Creek. The principal uranium deposit, at the Los Ochos mine, is localized along the Los Ochos fault and is near the bottom of the paleovalley where the paleovalley crosses the fault. This

Geophysical evidence of pre-sag rifting and post-rifting fault reactivation in the Parnaíba basin, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopes de Castro, David; Hilário Bezerra, Francisco; Adolfo Fuck, Reinhardt; Vidotti, Roberta Mary

2016-04-01

This study investigated the rifting mechanism that preceded the prolonged subsidence of the Paleozoic Parnaíba basin in Brazil and shed light on the tectonic evolution of this large cratonic basin in the South American platform. From the analysis of aeromagnetic, aerogravity, seismic reflection and borehole data, we concluded the following: (1) large pseudo-gravity and gravity lows mimic graben structures but are associated with linear supracrustal strips in the basement. (2) Seismic data indicate that 120-200 km wide and up to 300 km long rift zones occur in other parts of the basins. These rift zones mark the early stage of the 3.5 km thick sag basin. (3) The rifting phase occurred in the early Paleozoic and had a subsidence rate of 47 m Myr-1. (4) This rifting phase was followed by a long period of sag basin subsidence at a rate of 9.5 m Myr-1 between the Silurian and the late Cretaceous, during which rift faults propagated and influenced deposition. These data interpretations support the following succession of events: (1) after the Brasiliano orogeny (740-580 Ma), brittle reactivation of ductile basement shear zones led to normal and dextral oblique-slip faulting concentrated along the Transbrasiliano Lineament, a continental-scale shear zone that marks the boundary between basement crustal blocks. (2) The post-orogenic tectonic brittle reactivation of the ductile basement shear zones led to normal faulting associated with dextral oblique-slip crustal extension. In the west, pure-shear extension induced the formation of rift zones that crosscut metamorphic foliations and shear zones within the Parnaíba block. (3) The rift faults experienced multiple reactivation phases. (4) Similar processes may have occurred in coeval basins in the Laurentia and Central African blocks of Gondwana.

Silurian trace fossils in carbonate turbidites from the Alexander Arc of southeastern Alaska

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Soja, C.M.

Early to Late Silurian (Wenlock-Ludlow) body and trace fossils from the Heceta Formation are preserved in the oldest widespread carbonates in the Alexander terrane of southeastern Alaska. They represent the earliest shelly benthos to inhabit a diversity of marine environments and are important indicators of the early stages in benthic community development within this ancient island arc. The trace fossils are significant because they add to a small but growing body of knowledge about ichnofaunas in deep-water Paleozoic carbonates. Proximal to medial carbonate turbidites yield a low-diversity suite of trace fossils that comprises five distinct types of biogenic structures. Beddingmore » planes reveal simple epichnial burrows (Planolites), cross-cutting burrows (Fucusopsis), and tiny cylindrical burrows. These and other casts, including chondrites( )-like burrow clusters, represent the feeding activities (fodinichnia) of preturbidite animals. Hypichnial burrows and rare endichnial traces reflect the activities of postturbidite animals. Broken and offset traces indicate that infaunal biota commenced burrowing before slumping and subsequent soft-sediment deformation. The abundance and density of trace fossils increases offshore in the medial turbidites associated with a decrease in the size and amount of coarse particles and with an increase in mud and preserved organic material. Although diversity levels are similar in the proximal and medial turbidite facies, they are much lower than in Paleozoic siliciclastic turbidites. This may reflect unfavorable environmental conditions for infaunal biota or paleobiogeographic isolation of the Alexander terrane during the Silurian. A greater use of trace fossils in terrane analysis will help to resolve this issue and should provide new data for reconstructing the paleogeography of circum-Pacific terranes.« less

Late Paleozoic tectonics of the Solonker Zone in the Wuliji area, Inner Mongolia, China: Insights from stratigraphic sequence, chronology, and sandstone geochemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Guanzhong; Song, Guangzeng; Wang, Hua; Huang, Chuanyan; Zhang, Lidong; Tang, Jianrong

2016-09-01

The geology in the Wuliji area (including the Enger Us and Quagan Qulu areas) is important for understanding the Late Paleozoic tectonics of the Solonker Zone. Ultramafic/mafic rocks in the Enger Us area, previously interpreted as an ophiolitic suture, are actually lava flows and sills in a Permian turbiditic sequence and a small body of fault breccia containing serpentinite. Subduction zone features, such as accretionary complexes, magmatic arc volcanics or LP/HP metamorphism are absent. Early Permian N-MORB mafic rocks and Late Permian radiolarian cherts accompanied by turbidites and tuffeous rocks indicate a deep water setting. In the Quagan Qulu area, outcrops of the Late Carboniferous to Permian Amushan Formation are composed of volcano-sedimenary rocks and guyot-like reef limestone along with a Late Permian volcano-sedimentary unit. A dacite lava in the Late Permian volcano-sedimentary unit yields a zircon U-Pb age of 254 Ma. The gabbros in the Quagan Qulu area are intruded into the Amushan Formation and caused contact metamorphism of country rocks. Sandstones in the Upper Member of the Amushan Formation contain detrital clasts of volcanic fragments and mineral clasts of crystalline basement rocks (i.e. biotite, muscovite and garnet). Geochemical analysis of volcaniclastic sandstones shows a magmatic affinity to both continental island arc (CIA) and active continental margin (ACM) tectonic settings. A Late Permian incipient rift setting is suggested by analyzing the lithostratigraphic sequence and related magmatism in the Wuliji area. The volcano-sedimentary rocks in the Wuliji area experienced a nearly N-S shortening that was probably related to the Early Mesozoic nearly N-S compression well developed in other areas close to the Wuliji area.

Bedrock geologic map of the northern Alaska Peninsula area, southwestern Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Frederic H.; Blodgett, Robert B.; Blome, Charles D.; Mohadjer, Solmaz; Preller, Cindi C.; Klimasauskas, Edward P.; Gamble, Bruce M.; Coonrad, Warren L.

2017-03-03

The northern Alaska Peninsula is a region of transition from the classic magmatic arc geology of the Alaska Peninsula to a Proterozoic and early Paleozoic carbonate platform and then to the poorly understood, tectonically complex sedimentary basins of southwestern Alaska. Physiographically, the region ranges from the high glaciated mountains of the Alaska-Aleutian Range to the coastal lowlands of Cook Inlet on the east and Bristol Bay on the southwest. The lower Ahklun Mountains and finger lakes on the west side of the map area show strong effects from glaciation. Structurally, a number of major faults cut the map area. Most important of these are the Bruin Bay Fault that parallels the coast of Cook Inlet, the Lake Clark Fault that cuts diagonally northeast to southwest across the eastern part of the map area, and the presently active Holitna Fault to the northwest that cuts surficial deposits.Distinctive rock packages assigned to three provinces are overlain by younger sedimentary rocks and intruded by widely dispersed latest Cretaceous and (or) early Tertiary granitic rocks. Much of the east half of the map area lies in the Alaska-Aleutian Range province; the Jurassic to Tertiary Alaska-Aleutian Range batholith and derivative Jurassic sedimentary rocks form the core of this province, which is intruded and overlain by the Aleutian magmatic arc. The Lime Hills province, the carbonate platform, occurs in the north-central part of the map area. The Paleozoic and Mesozoic Ahklun Mountains province in the western part of the map area includes abundant chert, argillite, and graywacke and lesser limestone, basalt, and tectonic mélange. The Kuskokwim Group, an Upper Cretaceous turbidite sequence, is extensively exposed and bounds all three provinces in the west-central part of the map area.

Ogaden Basin subsidence history: Another key to the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden tectonic puzzle

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pigott, J.D.; Neese, D.; Carsten, G.

1995-08-01

Previous work has attempted to understand the tectonic evolution of the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden region through a focus upon plate kinematics and reconstruction of plate interactions in a two dimensional sense. A significant complement to the three dimensional puzzle can be derived from a critical examination of the vertical component, tectonic subsidence analysis. By removing the isostatic contributions of sediment loading and unloading, and fluctuations in sea level, the remaining thermal-mechanical contribution to a basin`s subsidence can be determined. Such an analysis of several Ogaden Basin wells reveals multiple pulses of tectonic subsidence and uplift which correspond to far-fieldmore » tectonic activities in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. One of the more dramatic is a Jurassic tectonic pulse circa 145-130 m.a., and a later extensional event which correlates to a major subsidence event ubiquitous through-out the Gulf of Aden, related to Gondwana Land breakup activities. Tectonic uplift during the Tertiary coincides with early Red Sea rifting episodes. Such activities suggest the Ogaden Basin has been a relatively stable East African cratonic basin, but with heating-extension events related to nearby plate interactions. In terms of hydrocarbon generation, the use of steady state present day geothermal gradients, coupled with subsidence analysis shows that potential Paleozoic and Mesozoic source rocks initiated generation as early as the Jurassic. The generating potential of Paleozoic source rocks would only be exacerbated by later heating events. Furthermore, cooling and tectonic uplift during the Tertiary would tend to arrest on-going hydrocarbon generation for Jurassic source rocks in the Ogaden area.« less

A Temnospondyl Trackway from the Early Mesozoic of Western Gondwana and Its Implications for Basal Tetrapod Locomotion

PubMed Central

Marsicano, Claudia A.; Wilson, Jeffrey A.; Smith, Roger M. H.

2014-01-01

Background Temnospondyls are one of the earliest radiations of limbed vertebrates. Skeletal remains of more than 190 genera have been identified from late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic rocks. Paleozoic temnospondyls comprise mainly small to medium sized forms of diverse habits ranging from fully aquatic to fully terrestrial. Accordingly, their ichnological record includes tracks described from many Laurasian localities. Mesozoic temnospondyls, in contrast, include mostly medium to large aquatic or semi-aquatic forms. Exceedingly few fossil tracks or trackways have been attributed to Mesozoic temnospondyls, and as a consequence very little is known of their locomotor capabilities on land. Methodology/Principal Findings We report a ca. 200 Ma trackway, Episcopopus ventrosus, from Lesotho, southern Africa that was made by a 3.5 m-long animal. This relatively long trackway records the trackmaker dragging its body along a wet substrate using only the tips of its digits, which in the manus left characteristic drag marks. Based on detailed mapping, casting, and laser scanning of the best-preserved part of the trackway, we identified synapomorphies (e.g., tetradactyl manus, pentadactyl pes) and symplesiomorphies (e.g., absence of claws) in the Episcopopus trackway that indicate a temnospondyl trackmaker. Conclusions/Significance Our analysis shows that the Episcopopus trackmaker progressed with a sprawling posture, using a lateral-sequence walk. Its forelimbs were the major propulsive elements and there was little lateral bending of the trunk. We suggest this locomotor style, which differs dramatically from the hindlimb-driven locomotion of salamanders and other extant terrestrial tetrapods can be explained by the forwardly shifted center of mass resulting from the relatively large heads and heavily pectoral girdles of temnospondyls. PMID:25099971

Ages and Nd, Sr isotopic systematics in the Sierran foothills ophiolite belt, CA: the Smartville and Feather River complexes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shaw, H.F.; Niemeyer, S.

1985-01-01

Sm-Nd dating has shown the Kings-Kaweah ophiolite to be approx. 480 My old. Its Nd, Sr, and Pb isotopic compositions require an unusually old depleted mantle source. Samples from the Smartville and Feather River complexes have been analyzed in a search for similar highly depleted, early Paleozoic ophiolites in the northern foothills ophiolite belt. Six whole rocks from Smartville, encompassing representative lithologies, plus plagioclase and pyroxene mineral separates define a 183 +/- 22 My Sm-Nd isochron. This age, interpreted as the igneous age, is older than, but within error of, approx. 160 My U-Pb ages previously obtained from plagiogranite zirconmore » analyses. One diabase with unusually high Rb/Sr yields a depleted mantle Sr model age of 200 +/- 25 My, consistent with the Sm-ND age. These compositions are clearly oceanic in character but do not discriminate among possible tectonic settings for the formation of the Smartville complex. Sm-Nd data for flaser gabbros and related rocks from Feather River scatter about an approx. 230 My errorchron with element of/sub Nd/(T) = +6.3 to +8.7. Initial /sup 87/Sr//sup 86/Sr ranges from 0.7028 to 0.7031. These results indicate a complex history with initial isotopic heterogeneities and/or disturbances of the isotopic systems. If primary, the element of/sub Nd/ (T) values are somewhat low, suggesting a possible arc origin for these rocks. Neither the Smartville nor Feather R. complexes appear to be related to the Kings-Kaweah ophiolite which, so far, is unique among foothill ophiolites in having an early Paleozoic age and a clear MORB, as opposed to arc or marginal basin, isotopic signature.« less

Proterozoic to Mesozoic evolution of North-West Africa and Peri-Gondwana microplates: Detrital zircon ages from Morocco and Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marzoli, Andrea; Davies, Joshua H. F. L.; Youbi, Nasrrddine; Merle, Renaud; Dal Corso, Jacopo; Dunkley, Daniel J.; Fioretti, Anna Maria; Bellieni, Giuliano; Medina, Fida; Wotzlaw, Jörn-Frederik; McHone, Greg; Font, Eric; Bensalah, Mohamed Khalil

2017-05-01

The complex history of assemblage and disruption of continental plates surrounding the Atlantic Ocean is in part recorded by the distribution of detrital zircon ages entrained in continental sedimentary strata from Morocco (Central High Atlas and Argana basins) and Canada (Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick). Here we investigate detrital zircon from the latest Triassic (ca. 202 Ma) sedimentary strata directly underlying lava flows of the Central Atlantic magmatic province or interlayered within them. SHRIMP (Sensitive High-Resolution Ion MicroProbe) and LA-ICP-MS (Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry) U-Pb ages for zircon range from Paleozoic to Archean with a dominant Neoproterozoic peak, and significant amounts of ca. 2 Ga zircon. These ages suggest a prevailing West African (Gondwanan) provenance at all sampling sites. Notably, the Paleoproterozoic zircon population is particularly abundant in central Morocco, north of the High Atlas chain, suggesting the presence of Eburnean-aged rocks in this part of the country, which is consistent with recent geochronologic data from outcropping rocks. Minor amounts of late Mesoproterozoic and early Neoproterozoic zircon ages (ca. 1.1-0.9 Ga) in Moroccan samples are more difficult to interpret. A provenance from Avalonia or Amazonia, as proposed by previous studies is not supported by the age distributions observed here. An involvement of more distal source regions, possibly located in north-eastern Africa (Arabian Nubian Shield) would instead be possible. Paleozoic zircon ages are abundant in the Canadian sample, pointing to a significant contribution from Hercynian aged source rocks. Such a signal is nearly absent in the Moroccan samples, suggesting that zircon-bearing Hercynian granitic rocks of the Moroccan Meseta block were not yet outcropping at ca. 200 Ma. The only Moroccan samples that yield Paleozoic zircon ages are those interlayered within the CAMP lavas, suggesting an increased dismantling (i.e. uplift) of the Hercynian chain during emplacement of CAMP lava flows, combined with subsidence of the volcanic grabens.

Thick-skinned tectonics in a Late Cretaceous-Neogene intracontinental belt (High Atlas Mountains, Morocco): The flat-ramp fault control on basement shortening and cover folding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fekkak, A.; Ouanaimi, H.; Michard, A.; Soulaimani, A.; Ettachfini, E. M.; Berrada, I.; El Arabi, H.; Lagnaoui, A.; Saddiqi, O.

2018-04-01

Most of the structural studies of the intracontinental High Atlas belt of Morocco have dealt with the central part of the belt, whose basement does not crop out. Here we study the Alpine deformation of the North Subatlas Zone, which is the part of the Western High Atlas (WHA) Paleozoic Massif that involves both Paleozoic basement units and remnants of their Mesozoic-Cenozoic cover formations. Our aim is to better constrain the geometry and kinematics of the basement faults during the Alpine shortening. Based on detail mapping, satellite imagery and field observations, we describe an array of sub-equatorial, transverse and oblique faults between the WHA Axial Zone and the Haouz Neogene basin. They define a mosaic of basement blocks pushed upon one another and upon the Haouz basement along the North Atlas Fault (NAF). The Axial Zone makes up the hanging-wall of the Adassil-Medinet Fault (AMF) south of this mosaic. The faults generally presents flat-ramp-flat geometry linked to the activation of multiple décollement levels, either within the basement where its foliation is subhorizontal or within favourable cover formations (Jurassic evaporites, Lower Cretaceous silty red beds, Upper Cretaceous evaporitic marls, Neogene basal argillites). The occurrence of the North Atlas detachment (NAD) allowed folded pop-up units to develop in front of the propagating NAF. Shortening began as early as the Campanian-Maastrichtian along the AMF. The direction of the maximum horizontal stress rotated from NNE-SSW to NNW-SSE from the Maastrichtian-Paleocene to the Neogene. The amount of shortening reaches 20% in the Azegour transect. This compares with the shortening amount published for the central-eastern High Atlas, suggesting that similar structures characterize the Paleozoic basement all along the belt. The WHA thick-skinned tectonics evokes that of the frontal Sevier belt and of the external Western Alps, although with a much minor pre-inversion burial.

The rise and fall of late Paleozoic trilobites of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brezinski, D.K.

1999-01-01

Based on range data and generic composition, four stages of evolution are recognized for late Paleozoic trilobites of the contiguous United States. Stage 1 occurs in the Lower Mississippian (Kinderhookian-Osagean) and is characterized by a generically diverse association of short-ranging, stenotopic species that are strongly provincial. Stage 2 species are present in the Upper Mississippian and consist of a single, eurytopic, pandemic genus, Paladin. Species of Stage 2 are much longer-ranging than those of Stage 1, and some species may have persisted for as long as 12 m.y. Stage 3 is present within Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian strata and consists initially of the eurytopic, endemic genera Sevillia and Ameura as well as the pandemic genus Ditomopyge. During the middle Pennsylvanian the very long-ranging species Ameura missouriensis and Ditomopyge scitula survived for more than 20 m.y. During the late Pennsylvanian and early Permian, a number of pandemic genera appear to have immigrated into what is now North America. Stage 4 is restricted to the Upper Permian (late Leonardian-Guadalupian) strata and is characterized by short-ranging, stenotopic, provincial genera. The main causal factor controlling the four-stage evolution of late Paleozoic trilobites of the United States is interpreted to be eustacy. Whereas Stage 1 represents an adaptive radiation developed during the Lower Mississippian inundation of North America by the Kaskaskia Sequence, Stage 2 is present in strata deposited during the regression of the Kaskaskia sea. Stage 3 was formed during the transgression and stillstand of the Absaroka Sequence and, although initially endemic, Stage 3 faunas are strongly pandemic in the end when oceanic circulation patterns were at a maximum. A mid-Leonardian sea-level drop caused the extinction of Stage 3 fauna. Sea-level rise near the end of the Leonardian and into the Guadalupian created an adaptive radiation of stentopic species of Stage 4 that quickly became extinct with the latest Permian regression.

Towards a High-resolution Time Scale for the Early Devonian

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dekkers, M. J.; da Silva, A. C.

2017-12-01

High-resolution time scales are crucial to understand Earth's history in detail. The construction of a robust geological time scale, however, inevitably becomes increasingly harder further back in time. Uncertainties associated with anchor radiometric ages increase in size, not speaking of the mere presence of suitable datable strata. However, durations of stages can be tightly constrained by making use of cyclic expressions in sediments, an approach that revolutionized the Cenozoic time scale. When precisely determined durations are stitched together, ultimately, a very precise time scale is the result. For the Mesozoic and Paleozoic an astronomical solution as a tuning target is not available but the dominant periods of eccentricity, obliquity and precession are reasonably well constrained for the entire Phanerozoic which enables their detection by means of spectral analysis. Eccentricity is time-invariant and is used as the prime building block. Here we focus on the Early Devonian, on its lowermost three stages: the Lochkovian, Pragian and Emsian. The uncertainties on the Devonian stage boundaries are currently in the order of several millions of years. The preservation of climatic cycles in diagenetically or even anchimetamorphically affected successions, however, is essential. The fit of spectral peak ratios with those calculated for orbital cycles, is classically used as a strong argument for a preserved climatic signal. Here we use primarily the low field magnetic susceptibility (MS) as proxy parameter, supported by gamma-ray spectrometry to test for consistency. Continuous Wavelet Transform, Evolutive Harmonic Analysis, Multitaper Method, and Average Spectral Misfit are used to reach an optimal astronomical interpretation. We report on classic Early Devonian sections from the Czech Republic: the Pozar-CS (Lochkovian and Pragian), Pod Barrandovem (Pragian and Lower Emsian), and Zlichov (Middle-Upper Emsian). Also a Middle-Upper Emsian section from the US (Road 199 section, Kingston, New York) will be targeted. Strata display Milankovitch cycles to a varying visible degree but spectral analysis of MS with supporting magnetic property tests enables to constrain durations up to an order of magnitude more precise than in the current (2012) Geological Time Scale.

Paleozoic shale gas resources in the Sichuan Basin, China

USGS Publications Warehouse

Potter, Christopher J.

2018-01-01

The Sichuan Basin, China, is commonly considered to contain the world’s most abundant shale gas resources. Although its Paleozoic marine shales share many basic characteristics with successful United States gas shales, numerous geologic uncertainties exist, and Sichuan Basin shale gas production is nascent. Gas retention was likely compromised by the age of the shale reservoirs, multiple uplifts and orogenies, and migration pathways along unconformities. High thermal maturities raise questions about gas storage potential in lower Paleozoic shales. Given these uncertainties, a new look at Sichuan Basin shale gas resources is advantageous. As part of a systematic effort to quantitatively assess continuous oil and gas resources in priority basins worldwide, the US Geological Survey (USGS) completed an assessment of Paleozoic shale gas in the Sichuan Basin in 2015. Three organic-rich marine Paleozoic shale intervals meet the USGS geologic criteria for quantitative assessment of shale gas resources: the lower Cambrian Qiongzhusi Formation, the uppermost Ordovician Wufeng through lowermost Silurian Longmaxi Formations (currently producing shale gas), and the upper Permian Longtan and Dalong Formations. This study defined geologically based assessment units and calculated probabilistic distributions of technically recoverable shale gas resources using the USGS well productivity–based method. For six assessment units evaluated in 2015, the USGS estimated a mean value of 23.9 tcf (677 billion cubic meters) of undiscovered, technically recoverable shale gas. This result is considerably lower than volumes calculated in previous shale gas assessments of the Sichuan Basin, highlighting a need for caution in this geologically challenging setting.

New porcellioidean gastropods from early Devonian of Royal Creek area, Yukon Territory, Canada, with notes on their early phylogeny

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fryda, J.; Blodgett, R.B.; Lenz, A.C.; Manda, S.

2008-01-01

This paper presents a description of new gastropods belonging to the superfamily Porcellioidea (Vetigastropoda) from the richly diverse Lower Devonian gastropod fauna of the Road River Formation in the Royal Creek area, Yukon Territory. This fauna belongs to Western Canada Province of the Old World Realm. The Pragian species Porcellia (Porcellia) yukonensis n. sp. and Porcellia (Paraporcellia) sp. represent the oldest presently known members of subgenera Porcellia (Porcellia) and Porcellia (Paraporcellia). Their simple shell ornamentation fits well with an earlier described evolutionary trend in shell morphology of the Porcellinae. Late Pragian to early Emsian Perryconcha pulchra n. gen. and n. sp. is the first member of the Porcellioidea bearing a row of tremata on adult teleoconch whorls. The occurrence of this shell feature in the Porcellioidea is additional evidence that the evolution of the apertural slit was much more complicated than has been proposed in classical models of Paleozoic gastropod evolution. Copyright ?? 2008, The Paleontological Society.

Lower Cambrian polychaete from China sheds light on early annelid evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jianni; Ou, Qiang; Han, Jian; Li, Jinshu; Wu, Yichen; Jiao, Guoxiang; He, Tongjiang

2015-06-01

We herein report a fossilized polychaete annelid, Guanshanchaeta felicia gen. et sp. nov., from the Lower Cambrian Guanshan Biota (Cambrian Series 2, stage 4). The new taxon has a generalized polychaete morphology, with biramous parapodia (most of which preserve the evidence of chaetae), an inferred prostomium bearing a pair of appendages, and a bifid pygidium. G. felicia is the first unequivocal annelid reported from the Lower Cambrian of China. It represents one of the oldest annelids among those from other early Paleozoic Lagerstätten including Sirius Passet from Greenland (Vinther et al., Nature 451: 185-188, 2008) and Emu Bay from Kangaroo island (Parry et al., Palaeontology 57: 1091-1103, 2014), and adds to our increasing roll of present-day animal phyla recognized in the early Cambrian Guanshan Biota. This finding expands the panorama of the Cambrian `explosion' exemplified by the Guanshan Biota, suggesting the presence of many more fossil annelids in the Chengjiang Lagerstätte and the Kaili Biota. In addition, this new taxon increases our knowledge of early polychaete morphology, which suggests that polychaete annelids considerably diversified in the Cambrian.

Estimation of divergence times in litostomatean ciliates (Ciliophora: Intramacronucleata), using Bayesian relaxed clock and 18S rRNA gene.

PubMed

Vďačný, Peter

2015-08-01

The class Litostomatea comprises a diverse assemblage of free-living and endosymbiotic ciliates. To understand diversification dynamic of litostomateans, divergence times of their main groups were estimated with the Bayesian molecular dating, a technique allowing relaxation of molecular clock and incorporation of flexible calibration points. The class Litostomatea very likely emerged during the Cryogenian around 680 Mya. The origin of the subclass Rhynchostomatia is dated to about 415 Mya, while that of the subclass Haptoria to about 654 Mya. The order Pleurostomatida, emerging about 556 Mya, was recognized as the oldest group within the subclass Haptoria. The order Spathidiida appeared in the Paleozoic about 442 Mya. The three remaining haptorian orders evolved in the Paleozoic/Mesozoic periods: Didiniida about 419 Mya, Lacrymariida about 269 Mya, and Haptorida about 194 Mya. The subclass Trichostomatia originated from a spathidiid ancestor in the Mesozoic about 260 Mya. A further goal of this study was to investigate the impact of various settings on posterior divergence time estimates. The root placement and tree topology as well as the priors of the rate-drift model, birth-death process and nucleotide substitution rate, had no significant effect on calculation of posterior divergence time estimates. However, removal of calibration points could significantly change time estimates at some nodes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Thermal history of Bakken shale in Williston basin

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gosnold, W.D. Jr.; Lefever, R.D.; Crashell, J.J.

1989-12-01

Stratigraphic and thermal conductivity data were combined to analyze the thermostratigraphy of the Williston basin. The present thermostratigraphy is characterized by geothermal gradients of the order of 60 mK/m in the Cenozoic and Mesozoic units, and 30 mK/m in the Paleozoic units. The differences in geothermal gradients are due to differences in thermal conductivities between the shale-dominated Mesozoic and Cenozoic units and the carbonate-dominated Paleozoic units. Subsidence and compaction rates were calculated for the basin and were used to determine models for time vs. depth and time vs. thermal conductivity relationships for the basin. The time/depth and time/conductivity relationships includemore » factors accounting for thermal conductivity changes due to compaction, cementation, and temperature. The thermal history of the Bakken shale, a primary oil source rock in the Williston basin, was determined using four different models, and values for Lopatin's time-temperature index (TTI) were calculated for each model. The first model uses a geothermal gradient calculated from bottom-hole temperature data, the second uses present-day thermostratigraphy, the third uses the thermostratigraphic relationship determined in this analysis, and the fourth modifies the third by including assumed variations in continental heat flow. The thermal histories and the calculated TTI values differ markedly among the models with TTI values differing by a factor of about two between some models.« less

Geological history of the Cretaceous ophiolitic complexes of northwestern South America (Colombian Andes)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourgois, Jacques; Toussaint, Jean-François; Gonzalez, Humberto; Azema, Jacques; Calle, Bernardo; Desmet, Alain; Murcia, Luis A.; Acevedo, Alvaro P.; Parra, Eduardo; Tournon, Jean

1987-12-01

The Western Cordillera of Colombia was formed by intense alpine-type nappe-forming folding and thrusting. The Cretaceous (80-120 Ma B.P.) tholeiitic material of the Western Cordilleran nappes has been obducted onto the Paleozoic and Precambrian polymetamorphic micaschists and gneiss of the Central Cordillera. Near Yarumal, the Antioquia batholith (60-80 Ma B.P.) intrudes both obducted Cretaceous oceanic material and the polymetamorphic basement rock of the Central Cordillera. Therefore, nappe emplacement and obduction onto the Central Cordillera occurred during Late Senonian to Early Paleocene. The nappes travelled from northwest to southeast so that the highest unit, the Rio Calima nappe therefore has the most northwestern source, whereas the lowest units originated from a more southeastward direction. Sedimentological analysis of the volcanoclastic and sandy turbidite material from each unit suggests a marginal marine environment. During Cretaceous times the opening of this marginal sea, from now on called the "Colombia marginal basin", probably originated by detachment of a block from the South American continent related to the Farallon-South America plate convergence. In the Popayan area (southern Colombia), the Central Cordilleran basement exhibits glaucophane schist facies metamorphism. This high pressure low temperature metamorphism is of Early Cretaceous (125 Ma B.P.) age and is related to an undated metaophiolitic complex. The ophiolitic material originating from the Western Cordilleran is thrust over both the blueschist belt and the metaophiolitic complex. These data suggest that the "Occidente Colombiano" suffered at least two phases of ophiolitic obduction during Mesozoic time.

Carboniferous paleogeographic, phytogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rowley, D.B.; Raymond, A.; Parrish, Judith T.; Lottes, A.L.; Scotese, C.R.; Ziegler, A.M.

1985-01-01

Two revised paleogeographic reconstructions of the Visean and Westphalian C-D stages are presented based on recent paleomagnetic, phytogeographic, stratigraphic, and tectonic data. These data change the positions of some continental blocks, and allow the definition of several new ones. The most important modifications that have been incorporated in these reconstructions are: (1) a proposed isthmus linking North America and Siberia across the Bering Strait; and (2) the separation of China and Southeast Asia in six major blocks, including South China, North China, Shan Thai-Malaya, Indochina, Qangtang, and Tarim blocks. Evidence is presented that suggests that at least the South China, Shan Thai-Malaya, and Qangtang blocks were derived from the northern margin of Gondwana. Multivariate statistical analysis of phytogeographic data from the middle and late Paleozoic allow definition of a number of different phytogeographic units for four time intervals: (1) the Early Devonian, (2) Tournaisian-early Visean, (3) Visean, and (4) late Visean-early Namurian A. Pre-late Visean-early Namurian A floral assemblages from South China show affinities with northern Gondwana floras suggesting a southerly position and provides additional support for our reconstruction of South China against the northern margin of Gondwana. There is a marked decrease in the diversity of phytogeographic units in the Namurian and younger Carboniferous. This correlates closely with the time of assembly of most of Pangaea. The general pattern of Carboniferous phytogeographic units corresponds well with global distribution of continents shown on our paleogeographic reconstructions. In addition, we have constructed paleoclimatic maps for the two Carboniferous time intervals. These maps stress the distribution of rainfall, as this should be strongly correlated with the floras. There is marked change in the rainfall patterns between the Visean and Westphalian C-D. This change corresponds with the closing of the Appalachian-Ouachita ocean between Laurussia and Gondwana, and reflects the removal of a low-latitude moisture source that probably gave rise to monsoonal conditions along the northern margin of Gondwana in the Visean and earlier times. As well, the presence of a substantial heat source at high elevation in the Late Carboniferous significantly influenced the distribution of climatic belts. ?? 1986.

Reinterpretation of the stratigraphy and structure of the Rancho Las Norias area, central Sonora, Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Page, W.R.; Harris, A.G.; Poole, F.G.; Repetski, J.E.

2003-01-01

New geologic mapping and fossil data in the vicinity of Rancho Las Norias, 30 km east of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, show that rocks previously mapped as Precambrian instead are Paleozoic. Previous geologic maps of the Rancho Las Norias area show northeast-directed, southwest-dipping reverse or thrust faults deforming both Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks. The revised stratigraphy requires reinterpretation of some of these faults as high-angle normal or oblique-slip faults and the elimination of other faults. We agree with earlier geologic map interpretations that compressional structures have affected the Paleozoic rocks in the area, but our mapping suggests that the direction of compression is from southeast to northwest. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Preliminary geologic map of the Bowen Mountain quadrangle, Grand and Jackson Counties, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cole, James C.; Braddock, William A.; Brandt, Theodore R.

2011-01-01

The map shows the geology of an alpine region in the southern Never Summer Mountains, including parts of the Never Summer Wilderness Area, the Bowen Gulch Protection Area, and the Arapaho National Forest. The area includes Proterozoic crystalline rocks in fault contact with folded and overturned Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and Upper Cretaceous(?) and Paleocene Middle Park Formation. The folding and faulting appears to reflect a singular contractional deformation (post-Middle Park, so probably younger than early Eocene) that produced en echelon structural uplift of the Proterozoic basement of the Front Range. The geologic map indicates there is no through-going \\"Never Summer thrust\\" fault in this area. The middle Tertiary structural complex was intruded in late Oligocene time by basalt, quartz latite, and rhyolite porphyry plugs that also produced minor volcanic deposits; these igneous rocks are collectively referred to informally as the Braddock Peak intrusive-volcanic complex whose type area is located in the Mount Richthofen quadrangle immediately north (Cole and others, 2008; Cole and Braddock, 2009). Miocene boulder gravel deposits are preserved along high-altitude ridges that probably represent former gravel channels that developed during uplift and erosion in middle Tertiary time.

Far-travelled permian chert of the North Fork terrane, Klamath mountains, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mankinen, E.A.; Irwin, W.P.; Blome, C.D.

1996-01-01

Permian chert in the North Fork terrane and correlative rocks of the Klamath Mountains province has a remanent magnetization that is prefolding and presumably primary. Paleomagnetic results indicate that the chert formed at a paleolatitude of 8.6?? ?? 2.5?? but in which hemisphere remains uncertain. This finding requires that these rocks have undergone at least 8.6?? ?? 4.4?? of northward transport relative to Permian North America since their deposition. Paleontological evidence suggests that the Permian limestone of the Eastern Klamath terrane originated thousands of kilometers distant from North America. The limestone of the North Fork terrane may have formed at a similar or even greater distance as suggested by its faunal affinity to the Eastern Klamath terrane and more westerly position. Available evidence indicates that convergence of the North Fork and composite Central Metamorphic-Eastern Klamath terranes occurred during Triassic or Early Jurassic time and that their joining together was a Middle Jurassic event. Primary and secondary magnetizations indicate that the new composite terrane containing these and other rocks of the Western Paleozoic and Triassic belt behaved as a single rigid block that has been latitudinally concordant with the North American craton since Middle Jurassic time.

Structural and lithologic study of northern California Coast Range and Sacramento Valley, California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rich, E. I. (Principal Investigator); Steele, W. C.

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Photgeologic examination of repetitive multispectral ERTS-1 imagery of Northern California has disclosed several systems of linear features which may be important for the interpretation of the structural history of California. They are separated from an orthogonal system of linears in the Klamath Mts. by a set of discontinuous southeast-trending linear features (the Mendocino system) which is traceable from the Pacific Coast, at Cape Mendocino, into the eastern foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Within the Sierra Nevada, the Mendocino system separates the north-trending Sierran system from a set of linears characteristic of the Modoc Plateau. With minor exception, little overlap exists among the systems which suggests a decipherable chronology and evolutionary history for the region. The San Andres system of linears appears to truncate or co-exist with most of the other systems in the northern Coast Ranges. The Mendocino system truncates the Klamath, Sierran, and Modoc systems. The Sierran system may represent fundamental and long-persisting pre-late Paleozoic zones of crustal weakness which have been reactivated from time to time. The Mendocino system was possibly developed in early Mesozoic and is important to the structural framework of Northern California.

Late cretaceous extensional tectonics and associated igneous activity on the northern margin of the Gulf of Mexico Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowen, R. L.; Sundeen, D. A.

1985-01-01

Major, dominantly compressional, orogenic episodes (Taconic, Acadian, Alleghenian) affected eastern North America during the Paleozoic. During the Mesozoic, in contrast, this same region was principally affected by epeirogenic and extensional tectonism; one episode of comparatively more intense tectonic activity involving extensive faulting, uplift, sedimentation, intrusion and effusion produced the Newark Series of eposits and fault block phenomena. This event, termed the Palisades Disturbance, took place during the Late Triassic - Earliest Jurassic. The authors document a comparable extensional tectonic-igneous event occurring during the Late Cretaceous (Early Gulfian; Cenomanian-Santonian) along the southern margin of the cratonic platform from Arkansas to Georgia.

Deciphering the post-cratonization history of the Kaapvaal craton, South Africa from titanite and zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baughman, J. S.; Flowers, R. M.

2017-12-01

Cratons are the most stable portions of continents, but the degree to which they are affected by post-cratonization tectonic and magmatic processes is unclear. Complete time-temperature (t-T) histories are necessary to understand the timing, extent, and characteristics of post-cratonization events that disrupted these regions. However, deciphering extended cratonic t-T records is difficult owing to the incomplete stratigraphic records of continental interior settings, and the challenge of accessing the appropriate thermal history range with conventional thermochronometers. The Kaapvaal craton in South Africa is an archetypal craton that initially stabilized in the Archean and was subsequently affected by magmatic and marginal accretionary events. Here we exploit titanite and zircon (U-Th)/He (THe, ZHe) thermochronology to better decipher the somewhat cryptic Proterozoic through early Paleozoic history of the craton. Radiation damage effects on the He diffusivity of these two minerals provides the potential to access a wide temperature window from 200°C to near surface conditions. Existing low-temperature apatite (U-Th)/He and fission-track results constrain Late Paleozoic to Mesozoic burial of the Karoo basin and subsequent Cretaceous unroofing, while 40Ar/39Ar and Rb-Sr data document cooling through temperatures of 300°C by 2 Ga. We obtained THe and ZHe dates from across the northern Kaapvaal craton to fill in the thermal history gap between these constraints. THe and ZHe dates range from 1200 to 200 Ma, and 1000 to 30 Ma, respectively. Both sets of dates are negatively correlated with effective uranium concentration (eU), manifesting the effect of radiation damage on the He retentivity, and therefore closure temperature, of these minerals. The results allow us to assess the Mesoproterozoic through present day thermal history of the northern Kaapvaal craton. The THe data suggest that Mesoproterozoic exhumation and large-scale reheating associated with Namaqua-Natal orogenesis affected the region. While, the ZHe data constrain maximum burial temperatures during Mesozoic Karoo burial. Together the results show the power of exploiting thermochronologic advances to access new information about long-term continental evolution.

Stratigraphy of the Oliocene Sullivan Buttes Latite constrains transition zone development in Chino Valley, Arizona

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ward, S.A.; Riggs, N.R.

The 26.7--23.4 Ma Sullivan Buttes Latite of Chino Valley, Yavapai County, Arizona, erupted during the development of the Transition Zone between the Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau provinces. Detailed mapping and stratigraphic analysis of a portion of the volcanic field indicate volcanism began with the eruption of a shoshonite lava flow and associated cinder cone. Amphibole latite domes then erupted fallouts, surges, and mass flow breccias and culminated activity with a lava flow. Extrusive units from a biotite oxidized latite center to the east interfinger with the older amphibole lattice volcaniclastics. Sullivan Buttes Latite units erupted onto Precambrian andmore » lower Paleozoic strata and Tertiary gravels; the scarp of upper Paleozoic strata equivalent to the paleo' Mogollon Rim had retreated from the area by the time of emplacement of the oldest Sullivan Buttes Latite unit. Subsequent 15--10 Ma Hickey Formation basalts flowed onto an erosion surface cut into Sullivan Buttes deposits, and the nearby Verde River downcut through younger 4.62 Ma Perkinsville Formation basalt. Both situations demonstrate erosion and degradation post Sullivan Buttes activity. Normal faults offsetting Hickey Formation basalts and all older units constrain Basin and Range structural activity to 15 Ma or younger. These stratigraphic relationships of the Sullivan Buttes Latite in the context of Transition Zone development concur with 65--18 Ma retreat of the upper Paleozoic scarp and below-scarp aggradation, 18--12 Ma Basin and Range faulting, and subsequent degradation.« less

A New Model of the Early Paleozoic Tectonics and Evolutionary History in the Northern Qinling, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Yunpeng; Zhang, Guowei; Yang, Zhao; Qu, Hongjun; Liu, Xiaoming

2010-05-01

The Qinling Orogenic Belt extends from the Qinling Mountains in the west to the Dabie Mountains in the east. It lies between the North China and South China Blocks, and is bounded on the north by the Lushan fault and on the south by the Mianlue-Bashan-Xiangguang fault (Zhang et al., 2000). The Qinling Orogenic Belt itself is divided into the North and South Qinling Terranes by the Shangdan suture zone. Although the Shangdan zone is thought to represent the major suture separating the two blocks, there still exists debate about the timing and mechanism of convergence between these two blocks. For instance, some authors suggested an Early Paleozoic collision between the North China Block and South China Block (Ren et al., 1991; Kroner et al., 1993; Zhai et al., 1998). Others postulated left-lateral strike-slip faulting along the Shangdan suture at ca. 315 Ma and inferred a pre-Devonian collision between the two blocks (Mattauer et al., 1985; Xu et al., 1988). Geochemistry of fine-grained sediments in the Qinling Mountains was used to argue for a Silurian-Devonian collision (Gao et al., 1995). A Late Triassic collision has also been proposed (Sengor, 1985; Hsu et al., 1987; Wang et al., 1989), based on the formation of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks in the easternmost part of the Qinling Orogenic Belt at ~230 Ma (e.g., Li et al., 1993; Ames et al., 1996). Paleomagnetic data favor a Late Triassic-Middle Jurassic amalgamation of the North China and South China Blocks (Zhao and Coe, 1987; Enkin et al., 1992). It is clear that most authors thought that the Qinling Mountains are a collisional orogen, even they have different methods about the timing of the orogeny. Based on new detailed investigations, we propose a new model of the Early Paleozoic Tectonics and Evolutionary History between the North China and South China Blocks along the Shangdan Suture. The Shangdan suture is marked by a great number of ophiolites, island-arc volcanic rocks and other related rock assemblages. Our new geological and geochemical data revealed a lot of ophiolitic mélanges along the Shangdan suture, such as the Guojiagou, Ziyu, Xiaowangjian, Yanwan, Tangzang, Guanzizhen and Wushan areas from east to west. The ophiolite assemblage in Guojiagou, Ziyu area consists mainly of some blocks of E-MORB type and IAB-type basalts, while the pillow lavas from Xiaowangjian are IAB-type basalts. The basalts from the ophiolite assemblages in Yanwan, Tangzang and Wushan areas possess E-MORB geochemical compositions. The zircons of gabbro from Yanwan ophiolite mélange yield an U-Pb age of 516±3.8 Ma, which represents the formation age of the Yanwan ophiolite. Meanwhile, the basalts in the Guanzizhen ophiolite mélange show N-MORB type geochemical signature, and the zircons from gabbro yield a U-Pb age of 471±1.4 Ma, which constraints the formation age of the mature oceanic crust. Additionally, there also exists a U-Pb age of 523±26 Ma (Lu et al.,2003) and Cambrian-Ordovician radiolarites from the interlayed silicarites within the volcanic rock in the Guojiagou ophiolite mélange (Cui et al., 1995). All these geochemical and geochronological evidences indicate that there existed an oceanic basin and its subduction, which separated the Northern China Block from the Southern China Block during 523 -471 Ma. Accordant with this ocean and its subduction, there had been existed an active continental margin, island-arc setting on the north side of the Shangdan ophiolite mélange which were marked by a series of moderate-basic intrude igneous mass along the Sifangtai-Lajimiao area (Li et al., 1993) and the Fushui area (Dong et al., 1997). In addition to, there also exist a great number of subduction-collisional granites intruding into island-arc basement along the active continental margin. Zircons from the Fushui intrusion yield a U-Pb age of 514±1.3 Ma (Chen et al., 2004), which constraints the time of the subduction. Above all, more and more data suggest that there exists a back-arc basin on the northern side of the island-arc terrain. To the east, it is presented by the Erlangping group in Xixia area, which consists mainly of clastic sediments, carbonatites and basic volcanic rocks. The geochemistry of the basalts show that they were formed in a back-arc basin setting (Sun et al.,1996), and the radiolarites from the interlayed silicalites show the Orovician-Silurian age (Wang et al., 1995). Our new investigation reveals some new tectonic assemblages exposed in the Yinggerzui area, Qinghusi area to the west. The detailed geochemical studies indicate that they were formed in a back-arc basin. All above evidences suggest that there had existed an Early Paleozoic subduction system, which consists of a subduction trench, island-Arc and back-arc basin along the northern Qinling zone. It is also indicated that the Paleo-ocean had been evolved into a complete evolutionary process including initial spreading (E-MORB ophiolite), maturated extension (N-MORB ophiolite) and subduction (Island-arc volcanic rocks). However, it is notable that there are large scale of Devonian clastic sediments distributing on the south of the Shangdan suture, and the pre-Mesozoic rocks in the South Qinling without any metamorphism or just underwent the low-greenschist facies metamorphism in some places, which are very different from the North Qinling Terrane consisting mainly of Precambrian rocks and evolving into an amphibolite facies metamorphism at ~1.0 Ga and greenschist facies metamorphism at ~400 Ma (Liu et al., 1993; Zhang et al., 1994). Accordingly, it is prefer that there only occurred a subduction of the Shangdan oceanic crust from south to north along the Shangdan suture on the south of the Northern Qinling Terrane. However, the Piaochi and the Anjiping granites possessing the sym-collisional type granite geochemistry and formation age of 450-486 (Chen et al., 1991; zhang et al., 1996) indicate that there occurred a collisional event between the North Qinling Island-arc Terrane and the Northern China Block caused by closing of the Early Paleozoic back-arc basin. Additionally, the studies of the metamorphism show that there are two zones of high / ultra-high pressure metamorphic rocks outcropping along the both side of the Northern Qingling island-arc terrane. On the north, it is characterized by eclogite and coesite outcropping in the Guanpo area, and the metamorphic zircon U-Pb age of 507±38 Ma and 509±12 Ma by means of SHRIM (Yang et al., 2002). Meanwhile, there also exist some high pressure basic granulite (Liu et al., 1995) and felsic granulite (Liu et al., 1996) distributing in the Xigou fault on the south margin of the Northern Qingling island-arc terrane. Zircon U-Pb ages of 485±3.3 Ma by means of LA－ICP－MS method (Chen et al., 2004) and 518±12 Ma by means of SHRIM (Liu et al., 2003) constrain the time of the metamorphism. All these metamorphic data suggest the Northern Qingling island-arc terrane had been evolved into a deep subduction event during 485-518 Ma. Based on all above evidences, we infer a new model about the tectonics and evolutionary history of the Norhtern Qinling Terrane. It is emphasized that the Early Paleozoic tectonics between the North China and Southern China Blocks had existed an ocean, island-arc and back-arc basin, and evolved into four stages of evolutionary stages: 1) initial spreading along the Shangdan zone during 516-523 Ma; 2) maturated ocean along the Shangdan zone during 516-471 Ma; 3) subduction along the south side of the Northern Qinling Terrane and formation of the Back-arc basin along the north side of the Northern Qinling Terrane during518-514; 4) closing of the back-arc basin, collision between the Northern Qingling island-arc terrane and the Northern China Block, and deep subduction of the Northern Qingling island-arc terrane during 518-485Ma. This work was supported by NSFC (40772140 & 40972140)

Upper Paleozoic Marine Shale Characteristics and Exploration Prospects in the Northwestern Guizhong Depression, South China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Zhenhong; Yao, Genshun; Lou, Zhanghua; Jin, Aimin; Zhu, Rong; Jin, Chong; Chen, Chao

2018-05-01

Multiple sets of organic-rich shales developed in the Upper Paleozoic of the northwestern Guizhong Depression in South China. However, the exploration of these shales is presently at a relatively immature stage. The Upper Paleozoic shales in the northwestern Guizhong Depression, including the Middle Devonian Luofu shale, the Nabiao shale, and the Lower Carboniferous Yanguan shale, were investigated in this study. Mineral composition analysis, organic matter analysis (including total organic carbon (TOC) content, maceral of kerogen and the vitrinite reflection (Ro)), pore characteristic analysis (including porosity and permeability, pore type identification by SEM, and pore size distribution by nitrogen sorption), methane isothermal sorption test were conducted, and the distribution and thickness of the shales were determined, Then the characteristics of the two target shales were illustrated and compared. The results show that the Upper Paleozoic shales have favorable organic matter conditions (mainly moderate to high TOC content, type I and II1 kerogen and high to over maturity), good fracability potential (brittleness index (BI) > 40%), multiple pore types, stable distribution and effective thickness, and good methane sorption capacity. Therefore, the Upper Paleozoic shales in the northern Guizhong Depression have good shale gas potential and exploration prospects. Moreover, the average TOC content, average BI, thickness of the organic-rich shale (TOC > 2.0 wt%) and the shale gas resources of the Middle Devonian shales are better than those of the Lower Carboniferous shale. The Middle Devonian shales have better shale gas potential and exploration prospects than the Lower Carboniferous shales.

Repeated kimberlite magmatism beneath Yakutia and its relationship to Siberian flood volcanism: Insights from in situ U-Pb and Sr-Nd perovskite isotope analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Jing; Liu, Chuan-Zhou; Tappe, Sebastian; Kostrovitsky, Sergey I.; Wu, Fu-Yuan; Yakovlev, Dmitry; Yang, Yue-Heng; Yang, Jin-Hui

2014-10-01

We report combined U-Pb ages and Sr-Nd isotope compositions of perovskites from 50 kimberlite occurrences, sampled from 9 fields across the Yakutian kimberlite province on the Siberian craton. The new U-Pb ages, together with previously reported geochronological constraints, suggest that kimberlite magmas formed repeatedly during at least 4 episodes: Late Silurian-Early Devonian (419-410 Ma), Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous (376-347 Ma), Late Triassic (231-215 Ma), and Middle/Late Jurassic (171-156 Ma). Recurrent kimberlite melt production beneath the Siberian craton - before and after flood basalt volcanism at 250 Ma - provides a unique opportunity to test existing models for the origin of global kimberlite magmatism. The internally consistent Sr and Nd isotope dataset for perovskites reveals that the Paleozoic and Mesozoic kimberlites of Yakutia have distinctly different initial radiogenic isotope compositions. There exists a notable increase in the initial 143Nd/144Nd ratios through time, with an apparent isotopic evolution that is intermediate between that of Bulk Earth and Depleted MORB Mantle. While the Paleozoic samples range between initial 87Sr/86Sr of 0.7028-0.7034 and 143Nd/144Nd of 0.51229-0.51241, the Mesozoic samples show values between 0.7032-0.7038 and 0.51245-0.51271, respectively. Importantly, perovskites from all studied Yakutian kimberlite fields and age groups have moderately depleted initial εNd values that fall within a relatively narrow range between +1.8 and +5.5. The perovskite isotope systematics of the Yakutian kimberlites are interpreted to reflect magma derivation from the convecting upper mantle, which appears to have a record of continuous melt depletion and crustal recycling throughout the Phanerozoic. The analyzed perovskites neither record highly depleted nor highly enriched isotopic components, which had been previously identified in likely plume-related Siberian Trap basalts. The Siberian craton has frequently been suggested to represent a type example of an association between kimberlite eruptions and flood basaltic volcanism within a single large igneous province (LIP), but our new extensive age and isotopic tracer constraints do not support a genetic link between these contrasting types of mantle-derived magmatism.

The African and Pacific Superplume Structures Constrained by Assembly and Breakup of Pangea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, N.; Zhong, S.; Leng, W.; Li, Z.

2009-12-01

Seismic tomography studies indicate that the Earth’s mantle structure is characterized by African and Pacific seismically slow velocity anomalies (i.e., superplumes) and circum-Pacific seismically fast anomalies (i.e., a globally spherical harmonic degree-2 structure). McNamara and Zhong (2005) have demonstrated that the African and Pacific superplume structures result from dynamic interaction between mantle convection and surface plate motion history in the last 120 Ma. However, their models produce slightly stronger degree 3 structure than degree 2 near the CMB. Here, we construct a proxy model of plate motions for the African hemisphere for the last 450 Ma since the Early Paleozoic using the paleogeographic reconstruction of continents constrained by paleomagnetic and geological observations. Using this proxy model for plate motion history as the time-dependent surface boundary conditions for a 3-dimensional spherical model of thermochemical mantle convection, we calculate the present-day mantle structure and explore the evolution of mantle structures since the Early Paleozoic. Our model calculations reproduce well the present-day mantle structure including the African and Pacific superplumes. The power spectra of our calculated present-day temperature field shows that the strongest power occurs at degree 2 in the lower mantle while in the upper mantle the strongest power is at degree 3. The degree correlation between tomography model S20RTS and our calculated temperature field shows a high correlation at the degree 1 and degree 2 in the lower mantle while the upper mantle and the short wavelength structures do not correlate well. The summed degree correlation for the lower mantle shows a relatively good correlation for the bottom 300 km of the mantle but the correlation is significantly reduced at depth 600 km above the CMB. For the evolution of mantle structures, we focus on the evolution of the African superplume. Our results suggest that the mantle in the African hemisphere before the assembly of Pangea is predominated by the cold downwelling structure resulting from plate convergence between Gondwana and Laurussia and the cold Africa hemisphere changes to hot due to the return flows from the circum-Pangea subduction after Pangea formation. Based on our results, we suggest that the African superplume structure may be formed no earlier than ~230 Ma ago (i.e., ~100 Ma after the assembly of Pangea).

Merging seismic and MT in Garden Valley, Nevada

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Telleen, K.E.

1986-04-01

In the northern part of Garden Valley, Nevada, a 1978 regional seismic program encountered a large area of poor to no-reflection data. Surface geology suggested that a large high structure might underlie the valley floor, and that shallowly buried basalts were causing the poor data. The implied strongly layered structure of electrical resistivity - resistive basalt on conductive Tertiary clastics on resistive paleozoic carbonates - formed an ideal theater for the magnetotelluric method. In 1984, Conoco acquired 48 magnetotelluric sites on about a half-mile grid. These data supported the presence of a buried high block in the Paleozoic rocks andmore » allowed confident mapping of its outlines. In addition, the magnetotelluric survey showed a thin, shallowly buried resistor coextensive with the seismic no-reflection area. In 1985, a high-effort repeat of the earlier no-reflection seismic line confirmed the high block, improved the fault interpretation, and provided weak guidance on the depth of the targeted Paleozoic rocks. Because Garden Valley's Paleozoic stratigraphy differs negligibly from that at nearby Grant Canyon field, the high block constitutes an attractive prospect - possibly the first one found in Nevada due largely to magnetotelluric surveying.« less

Stomatal innovation and the rise of seed plants.

PubMed

McAdam, Scott A M; Brodribb, Timothy J

2012-01-01

Stomatal valves on the leaves of vascular plants not only prevent desiccation but also dynamically regulate water loss to maintain efficient daytime water use. This latter process involves sophisticated active control of stomatal aperture that may be absent from early-branching plant clades. To test this hypothesis, we compare the stomatal response to light intensity in 13 species of ferns and lycophytes with a diverse sample of seed plants to determine whether the capacity to optimise water use is an ancestral or derived feature of stomatal physiology. We found that in seed plants, the ratio of photosynthesis to water use remained high and constant at different light intensities, but fern and lycophyte stomata were incapable of sustaining homeostatic water use efficiency. We conclude that efficient water use in early seed plants provided them with a competitive advantage that contributed to the decline of fern and lycophyte dominated-ecosystems in the late Paleozoic. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Stratigraphy, depositional environments, and carbonate petrology of the Toroweap and Kaibab Formations (lower Permian), Grand Canyon region, Arizona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, R. A.

Sediments deposited in northwestern Arizona during Late Leonardian and Early Guadalupian (Permian) were controlled chiefly by an arid climate and the tectonic setting. Eastward thrusting of eugeosynclinal rocks onto miogeosynclinal deposits during Middle Devonian to Early Mississippian had a major influence on shelf sedimentation. The Toroweap and Kaibab formations represent two such platform sequences of northwestern Arizona and southern Utah deposited during this phase of sedimentation. The Toroweap Formation is subdivided into three members and represents sediments deposited during initial transgression, maximum extent of the sea, and regression (Seligman, Brady Canyon, and Woods Ranch members respectively). The Fossil Mountain Member of the Kaibab Formation documents the most extensive phase of sedimentation for all members of the Toroweap and Kaibab formations. The Harrisburg Member documents the final phase of sedimentation at the close of the Paleozoic Era.

Neoproterozoic, Paleozoic, and Mesozoic granitoid magmatism in the Qinling Orogen, China: Constraints on orogenic process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaoxia; Wang, Tao; Zhang, Chengli

2013-08-01

The Qinling Orogen is one of the main orogenic belts in Asia and is characterized by multi-stage orogenic processes and the development of voluminous magmatic intrusions. The results of zircon U-Pb dating indicate that granitoid magmatism in the Qinling Orogen mainly occurred in four distinct periods: the Neoproterozoic (979-711 Ma), Paleozoic (507-400 Ma), and Early (252-185 Ma) and Late (158-100 Ma) Mesozoic. The Neoproterozoic granitic magmatism in the Qinling Orogen is represented by strongly deformed S-type granites emplaced at 979-911 Ma, weakly deformed I-type granites at 894-815 Ma, and A-type granites at 759-711 Ma. They can be interpreted as the products of respectively syn-collisional, post-collisional and extensional setting, in response to the assembly and breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent. The Paleozoic magmatism can be temporally classified into three stages of 507-470 Ma, 460-422 Ma and ˜415-400 Ma. They were genetically related to the subduction of the Shangdan Ocean and subsequent collision of the southern North China Block and the South Qinling Belt. The 507-470 Ma magmatism is spatially and temporally related to ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism in the studied area. The 460-422 Ma magmatism with an extensive development in the North Qinling Belt is characterized by I-type granitoids and originated from the lower crust with the involvement of mantle-derived magma in a collisional setting. The magmatism with the formation age of ˜415-400 Ma only occurred in the middle part of the North Qinling Belt and is dominated by I-type granitoid intrusions, and probably formed in the late-stage of a collisional setting. Early Mesozoic magmatism in the study area occurred between 252 and 185 Ma, with the cluster in 225-200 Ma. It took place predominantly in the western part of the South Qinling Belt. The 250-240 Ma I-type granitoids are of small volume and show high Sr/Y ratios, and may have been formed in a continental arc setting related to subduction of the Mianlue Ocean between the South Qinling Belt and the South China Block. Voluminous late-stage (225-185 Ma) magmatism evolved from early I-type to later I-A-type granitoids associated with contemporaneous lamprophyres, representative of a transition from syn- to post-collisional setting in response to the collision between the North China and the South China blocks. Late Mesozoic (158-100 Ma) granitoids, located in the southern margin of the North China Block and the eastern part of the North Qinling Belt, are characterized by I-type, I- to A-type, and A-type granitoids that were emplaced in a post-orogenic or intraplate setting. The first three of the four periods of magmatism were associated with three important orogenic processes and the last one with intracontinental process. These suggest that the tectonic evolution of the Qinling Orogen is very complicated.

Assessment of Appalachian Basin Oil and Gas Resources: Utica-Lower Paleozoic Total Petroleum System

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ryder, Robert T.

2008-01-01

The Utica-Lower Paleozoic Total Petroleum System (TPS) is an important TPS identified in the 2002 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in the Appalachian basin province (Milici and others, 2003). The TPS is named for the Upper Ordovician Utica Shale, which is the primary source rock, and for multiple lower Paleozoic sandstone and carbonate units that are the important reservoirs. Upper Cambrian through Upper Silurian petroleum-bearing strata that constitute the Utica-Lower Paleozoic TPS thicken eastward from about 2,700 ft at the western margin of the Appalachian basin to about 12,000 ft at the thrust-faulted eastern margin of the Appalachian basin. The Utica-Lower Paleozoic TPS covers approximately 170,000 mi2 of the Appalachian basin from northeastern Tennessee to southeastern New York and from central Ohio to eastern West Virginia. The boundary of the TPS is defined by the following geologic features: (1) the northern boundary (from central Ontario to northeastern New York) extends along the outcrop limit of the Utica Shale-Trenton Limestone; (2) the northeastern boundary (from southeastern New York, through southeastern Pennsylvania-western Maryland-easternmost West Virginia, to northern Virginia) extends along the eastern limit of the Utica Shale-Trenton Limestone in the thrust-faulted eastern margin of the Appalachian basin; (3) the southeastern boundary (from west-central and southwestern Virginia to eastern Tennessee) extends along the eastern limit of the Trenton Limestone in the thrust-faulted eastern margin of the Appalachian basin; (4) the southwestern boundary (from eastern Tennessee, through eastern Kentucky, to southwestern Ohio) extends along the approximate facies change from the Trenton Limestone with thin black shale interbeds (on the east) to the equivalent Lexington Limestone without black shale interbeds (on the west); (5) the northern part of the boundary in southwestern Ohio to the Indiana border extends along an arbitrary boundary between the Utica Shale of the Appalachian basin and the Utica Shale of the Sebree trough (Kolata and others, 2001); and (6) the northwestern boundary (from east-central Indiana, through northwesternmost Ohio and southeasternmost Michigan, to central Ontario) extends along the approximate southeastern boundary of the Michigan Basin. Although the Utica-Lower Paleozoic TPS extends into northwestern Ohio, southeastern Michigan, and northeastern Indiana, these areas have been assigned to the Michigan Basin (Swezey and others, 2005) and are outside the scope of this report. Furthermore, although the northern part of the Utica-Lower Paleozoic TPS extends across the Great Lakes (Lake Erie and Lake Ontario) into southern Ontario, Canada, only the undiscovered oil and gas resources in the U.S. waters of the Great Lakes have been included in the USGS assessment of the Utica-Lower Paleozoic TPS. This TPS is similar to the Point Pleasant-Brassfield petroleum system previously identified by Drozd and Cole (1994) in the Ohio part of the Appalachian basin.

Fracture overprinting history using Markov chain analysis: Windsor-Kennetcook subbasin, Maritimes Basin, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snyder, Morgan E.; Waldron, John W. F.

2018-03-01

The deformation history of the Upper Paleozoic Maritimes Basin, Atlantic Canada, can be partially unraveled by examining fractures (joints, veins, and faults) that are well exposed on the shorelines of the macrotidal Bay of Fundy, in subsurface core, and on image logs. Data were collected from coastal outcrops and well core across the Windsor-Kennetcook subbasin, a subbasin in the Maritimes Basin, using the circular scan-line and vertical scan-line methods in outcrop, and FMI Image log analysis of core. We use cross-cutting and abutting relationships between fractures to understand relative timing of fracturing, followed by a statistical test (Markov chain analysis) to separate groups of fractures. This analysis, previously used in sedimentology, was modified to statistically test the randomness of fracture timing relationships. The results of the Markov chain analysis suggest that fracture initiation can be attributed to movement along the Minas Fault Zone, an E-W fault system that bounds the Windsor-Kennetcook subbasin to the north. Four sets of fractures are related to dextral strike slip along the Minas Fault Zone in the late Paleozoic, and four sets are related to sinistral reactivation of the same boundary in the Mesozoic.

Detrital zircon geochronology of the Adams Argillite and Nation River Formation, east-central Alaska, U.S.A

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gehrels, G.E.; Johnsson, M.J.; Howell, D.G.

1999-01-01

The Cambrian Adams Argillite and the Devonian Nation River Formation are two sandstone-bearing units within a remarkably complete Paleozoic stratigraphic section in east-central Alaska. These strata, now foreshortened and fault-bounded, were originally contiguous with miogeoclinal strata to the east that formed as a passive-margin sequence along the northwestern margin of the North American continent. Seventy-five detrital zircon grains from the Adams Argillite and the Nation River Formation were analyzed in an effort to provide constraints on the original sources of the grains, and to generate a detrital zircon reference for miogeoclinal strata in the northern Cordillera. Thirty-five single zircon grains from a quartzite in the Adams Argillite yield dominant age clusters of 1047-1094 (n = 6), 1801-1868 (n = 10), and 2564-2687 (n = 5) Ma. Forty zircons extracted from a sandstone in the Nation River Formation yield clusters primarily of 424-434 (n = 6), 1815-1838 (n = 6), 1874-1921 (n = 7), and 2653-2771 (n = 4) Ma. The Early Proterozoic and Archean grains in both units probably originated in basement rocks in a broad region of the Canadian Shield. In contrast, the original igneous sources for mid-Protcrozoic grains in the Adams Argillite and ??? 430 Ma grains in the Nation River Formation are more difficult to identify. Possible original sources for the mid-Proterozoic grains include: (1) the Grenville Province of eastern Laurentia, (2) the Pearya terrane along the Arctic margin, and (3) mid-Proterozoic igneous rocks that may have been widespread along or outboard of the Cordilleran margin. The ??? 430 Ma grains may have originated in: (1) arc-type sources along the Cordilleran margin, (2) the Caledonian orogen, or (3) a landmass, such as Pearya, Siberia, or crustal fragments now in northern Asia, that resided outboard of the Innuitian orogen during mid-Paleozoic time. Copyright ?? 1999, SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology).

Mesozoic contractile and extensional structures in the Boyer Gap area, northern Dome Rock Mountains, Arizona

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boettcher, S.S.

1993-04-01

Mesozoic polyphase contractile and superposed ductile extensional structures affect Proterozoic augen gneiss, Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks, and Jurassic granitoids in the Boyer Gap area of the northern Dome Rock Mtns, W-central Arizona. The nappe-style contractile structures are preserved in the footwall of the Tyson Thrust shear zone, which is one of the structurally lowest thrust faults in the E-trending Jurassic and Cretaceous Maria fold and thrust belt. Contractile deformation preceded emplacement of Late Cretaceous granite (ca 80 Ma, U-Pb zircon) and some may be older than variably deformed Late Jurassic leucogranite. Specifically, detailed structural mapping reveals the presence of a km-scalemore » antiformal syncline that apparently formed as a result of superposition of tight to isoclinal, south-facing folds on an earlier, north-facing recumbent fold. The stratigraphic sequence of metamorphosed Paleozoic cratonal strata is largely intact in the northern Dome Rock Mtns, such that overturned and upright stratigraphic units can be distinguished. A third phase of folding in the Boyer Gap area is distinguished by intersection lineations that are folded obliquely across the hinges of open to tight, sheath folds. The axial planes of the sheet folds are subparallel to the mylonitic foliation in top-to-the-northeast extensional shear zones. The timing of ductile extensional structures in the northern Dome Rock is constrained by [sup 40]Ar/[sup 39]Ar isochron ages of 56 Ma and 48 Ma on biotite from mylonitic rocks in both the hanging wall and footwall of the Tyson Thrust shear zone. The two early phases of folding are the dominant mechanism by which shortening was accommodated in the Boyer Gap area, as opposed to deformation along discrete thrust faults with large offset. All of the ductile extensional structures are spectacularly displayed at an outcrop scale but are not of sufficient magnitude to obliterate the km-scale Mesozoic polyphase contractile structures.« less

Contrasting cratonal provenances for upper Cretaceous Valle Group quartzite clasts, Baja California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kimbrough, D.L.; Abbott, G.; Smith, D.P.; Mahoney, J.B.; Moore, Thomas E.; Gehrels, G.E.; Girty, G.H.; Cooper, John D.

2006-01-01

Late Cretaceous Valle Group forearcbasin deposits on the Vizcaino Peninsula of Baja California Sur are dominated by firstcycle arc-derived volcanic-plutonic detritus derived from the adjacent Peninsular Ranges batholith. Craton-derived quartzite clasts are a minor but ubiquitous component in Valle Group conglomerates. The source of these clasts has implications for tectonic reconstructions and sediment-dispersal paths along the paleo-North American margin. Three strongly contrasting types of quartzite are recognized based on petrology and detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology. The first type is ultramature quartz arenite with well-rounded, highly spherical zircon grains. Detrital zircon ages from this type are nearly all >1.8 Ga with age distributions that closely match the distinctive Middle-Late Ordovician Peace River arch detrital signature of the Cordilleran margin. This type has been previously recognized from prebatholithic rocks in northeast Baja California (San Felipe quartzite). A second quartzite type is subarkosic sandstone with strong affinity to southwestern North America; important features of the age spectra are ~1.0-1.2 Ga, 1.42 and 1.66 Ga peaks representing cratonal basement, 500-300 Ma grains interpreted as recycled Appalachian-derived grains, and 284- 232 Ma zircon potentially derived from the Early Permian-Middle Triassic east Mexico arc. This quartzite type could have been carried to the continental margin during Jurassic time as outboard equivalents of Colorado Plateau eolianites. The third quartzite type is quartz pebble conglomerate with significant ~900- 1400 Ma and ~450-650 Ma zircon components, as well as mid- and late Paleozoic grains. The source of this type of quartzite is more problematic but could match either upper Paleozoic strata in the Oaxaca terrane of southern Mexico or a southwestern North America source. The similarity of detrital 98 zircon spectra in all three Valle Group quartzite types to rocks of the adjacent Cordilleran margin support previous interpretations that Valle Group forearc basin sediments were deposited in proximity to rocks on the mainland of northwest Mexico and southwestern United States.

Preliminary Depositional and Provenance Records of Mesozoic Basin Evolution and Cenozoic Shortening in the High Andes, La Ramada Fold-Thrust Belt, Southern-Central Andes (32-33°S)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mackaman-Lofland, C.; Horton, B. K.; Fuentes, F.; Constenius, K. N.; McKenzie, R.; Alvarado, P. M.

2015-12-01

The Argentinian Andes define key examples of retroarc shortening and basin evolution above a zone of active subduction. The La Ramada fold-thrust belt (RFTB) in the High Andes provides insights into the relative influence and temporal records of diverse convergent margin processes (e.g. flat-slab subduction, convergent wedge dynamics, structural inversion). The RFTB contains Mesozoic extensional basin strata deformed by later Andean shortening. New detrital zircon U-Pb analyses of Mesozoic rift sediments reveal: (1) a dominant Permo-Triassic age signature (220-280 Ma) associated with proximal sources of effective basement (Choiyoi Group) during Triassic synrift deposition; (2) upsection younging of maximum depositional ages from Late Triassic through Early Cretaceous (230 to 100 Ma) with the increasing influence of western Andean arc sources; and (3) a significant Late Cretaceous influx of Paleozoic (~350-550 Ma) and Proterozoic (~650-1300 Ma) populations during the earliest shift from back-arc post-extensional subsidence to upper-plate shortening. The Cenozoic detrital record of the Manantiales foreland basin (between the Frontal Cordillera and Precordillera) records RFTB deformation prior to flat-slab subduction. A Permo-Triassic Choiyoi age signature dominates the Miocene succession, consistent with sources in the proximal Espinacito range. Subordinate Mesozoic (~80-250 Ma) to Proterozoic (~850-1800 Ma) U-Pb populations record exhumation of the Andean magmatic arc and recycling of different structural levels in the RFTB during thrusting/inversion of Mesozoic rift basin strata and subjacent Paleozoic units. Whereas maximum depositional ages of sampled Manantiales units cluster at 18-20 Ma, the Estancia Uspallata basin (~50 km to the south) shows consistent upsection younging of Cenozoic populations attributed to proximal volcanic centers. Ongoing work will apply low-temperature thermochronology to pinpoint basin accumulation histories and thrust timing.

Seaweed morphology and ecology during the great animal diversification events of the early Paleozoic: A tale of two floras.

PubMed

LoDuca, S T; Bykova, N; Wu, M; Xiao, S; Zhao, Y

2017-07-01

Non-calcified marine macroalgae ("seaweeds") play a variety of key roles in the modern Earth system, and it is likely that they were also important players in the geological past, particularly during critical transitions such as the Cambrian Explosion (CE) and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE). To investigate the morphology and ecology of seaweeds spanning the time frame from the CE through the GOBE, a carefully vetted database was constructed that includes taxonomic and morphometric information for non-calcified macroalgae from 69 fossil deposits. Analysis of the database shows a pattern of seaweed history that can be explained in terms of two floras: the Cambrian Flora and the Ordovician Flora. The Cambrian Flora was dominated by rather simple morphogroups, whereas the Ordovician Flora, which replaced the Cambrian Flora in the Ordovician and extended through the Silurian, mainly comprised comparatively complex morphogroups. In addition to morphogroup representation, the two floras show marked differences in taxonomic composition, morphospace occupation, functional-form group representation, and life habit, thereby pointing to significant morphological and ecological changes for seaweeds roughly concomitant with the GOBE and the transition from the Cambrian to Paleozoic Evolutionary Faunas. Macroalgal changes of a similar nature and magnitude, however, are not evident in concert with the CE, as the Cambrian Flora consists largely of forms established during the Ediacaran. The cause of such a lag in macroalgal morphological diversification remains unclear, but an intriguing possibility is that it signals a previously unknown difference between the CE and GOBE with regard to the introduction of novel grazing pressures. The consequences of the establishment of the Ordovician Flora for shallow marine ecosystems and Earth system dynamics remain to be explored in detail but could have been multifaceted and potentially include impacts on the global carbon cycle. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Precambrian Skeletonized Microbial Eukaryotes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipps, Jere H.

2017-04-01

Skeletal heterotrophic eukaryotes are mostly absent from the Precambrian, although algal eukaryotes appear about 2.2 billion years ago. Tintinnids, radiolaria and foraminifera have molecular origins well back into the Precambrian yet no representatives of these groups are known with certainty in that time. These data infer times of the last common ancestors, not the appearance of true representatives of these groups which may well have diversified or not been preserved since those splits. Previous reports of these groups in the Precambrian are misinterpretations of other objects in the fossil record. Reported tintinnids at 1600 mya from China are metamorphic shards or mineral artifacts, the many specimens from 635-715 mya in Mongolia may be eukaryotes but they are not tintinnids, and the putative tintinnids at 580 mya in the Doushantou formation of China are diagenetic alterations of well-known acritarchs. The oldest supposed foraminiferan is Titanotheca from 550 to 565 mya rocks in South America and Africa is based on the occurrence of rutile in the tests and in a few modern agglutinated foraminifera, as well as the agglutinated tests. Neither of these nor the morphology are characteristic of foraminifera; hence these fossils remain as indeterminate microfossils. Platysolenites, an agglutinated tube identical to the modern foraminiferan Bathysiphon, occurs in the latest Neoproterozoic in Russia, Canada, and the USA (California). Some of the larger fossils occurring in typical Ediacaran (late Neoproterozoic) assemblages may be xenophyophorids (very large foraminifera), but the comparison is disputed and flawed. Radiolaria, on occasion, have been reported in the Precambrian, but the earliest known clearly identifiable ones are in the Cambrian. The only certain Precambrian heterotrophic skeletal eukaryotes (thecamoebians) occur in fresh-water rocks at about 750 mya. Skeletonized radiolaria and foraminifera appear sparsely in the Cambrian and radiate in the Ordovician. Tintinnids first appear in the mid-Mesozoic, like other modern planktic groups, including planktic foraminifera, new types of radiolarians, and a host of skeletal micro-algae. Microbial eukaryotes track algal eukaryote and metazoan evolution—none or very few in the Precambrian, some in the early Paleozoic with radiations in the later Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic, with extinctions ( 30) reducing their biodiversity at particular times in the fossil record—thus indicating strong environmental selection on all marine groups.

Timing of crust formation and recycling in accretionary orogens: Insights learned from the western margin of South America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahlburg, Heinrich; Vervoort, Jeffrey D.; Du Frane, S. Andrew; Bock, Barbara; Augustsson, Carita; Reimann, Cornelia

2009-12-01

Accretionary orogens are considered major sites of formation of juvenile continental crust. In the central and southern Andes this is contradicted by two observations: siliciclastic fills of Paleozoic basins in the central Andean segment of the accretionary Terra Australis Orogen consist almost exclusively of shales and mature sandstones; and magmatic rocks connected to the Famatinian (Ordovician) and Late Paleozoic magmatic arcs are predominantly felsic and characterized by significant crustal contamination and strongly unradiogenic Nd isotope compositions. Evidence of juvenile crustal additions is scarce. We present laser ablation (LA)-ICPMS U-Pb ages and LA-MC-ICPMS Hf isotope data of detrital zircons from seven Devonian to Permian turbidite sandstones incorporated into a Late Paleozoic accretionary wedge at the western margin of Gondwana in northern Chile. The combination with Nd whole-rock isotope data permits us to trace the evolution of the South American continental crust through several Proterozoic and Paleozoic orogenic cycles. The analyzed detrital zircon spectra reflect all Proterozoic orogenic cycles representing the step-wise evolution of the accretionary SW Amazonia Orogenic System between 2.0 and 0.9 Ga, followed by the Terra Australis Orogen between 0.9 and 0.25 Ga. The zircon populations are characterized by two prominent maxima reflecting input from Sunsas (Grenville) age magmatic rocks (1.2-0.9 Ga) and from the Ordovician to Silurian Famatinian magmatic arc (0.52-0.42 Ga). Grains of Devonian age are scarce or absent from the analyzed zircon populations. The Hf isotopic compositions of selected dated zircons at the time of their crystallization ( ɛHf ( T) ; T = 3.3-0.25 Ga) vary between - 18 and + 11. All sandstones have a significant juvenile component; between 20 and 50% of the zircons from each sedimentary rock have positive ɛHf ( T) and can be considered juvenile. The majority of the juvenile grains have Hf-depleted mantle model ages (Hf TDM) between 1.55 and 0.8 Ga, the time of the Rondonia-San Ignacio and Sunsas orogenic events on the Amazonia craton. The corresponding whole-rock ɛNd ( T) values fot these same rocks are between - 8 and - 3 indicating a mixture of older evolved and juvenile sources. Nd-depleted mantle model ages (Nd TDM*) are between 1.5 and 1.2 Ga and coincide broadly with the zircon Hf model ages. Our data indicate that the Paleo- and Mesoproterozoic SW Amazonia Orogenic System, and the subsequent Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic Terra Australis Orogen in the region of the central and southern Andes, developed following two markedly different patterns of accretionary orogenic crustal evolution. The SW Amazonia Orogenic System developed by southwestward growth over approximately 1.1 Ga through a combination of accretion of juvenile material and crustal recycling typical of the extensional or retreating mode of accretionary orogens. In contrast, the central Andean segment of the Terra Australis Orogen evolved from 0.9 to 0.25 Ga in the compressional or advancing mode in a relatively fixed position without the accretion of oceanic crustal units or large scale input of juvenile material to the orogenic crust. Here, recycling mainly of Mesoproterozoic continental crust has been the dominant process of crustal evolution.

Basin evolution and structural reconstruction of northeastern Morocco and northwestern Algeria

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scott, S.

1995-08-01

The high plateau region of Morocco and northwestern Algeria contains a Permo-Triassic rift basin with over 8,000 meters of Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Tertiary sediments. The area exhibits many similarities to the prolific Triassic basins of neighboring Algeria. Previous impediments to exploration in the high plateau area focused on the inability to seismically image sub-salt, pre-Jurassic block faulted structures and the perceived lack of adequate source rocks. This study combined seismic and basin modelling techniques to decipher the pre-salt structures, interpret basin evolution, and access source rock potential. Large structural and stratigraphic features can now be discerned where Permo-Triassic block faultedmore » structures are overlain by thick Triassic-Jurassic mobile evaporate seals and sourced by underlying Paleozoic shales. Contrary to the last published reports, over 20 years ago, oil and gas generation appears to have been continuous in the Carboniferous since 350 ma. Migration directly from the Carboniferous shales to Triassic conglomerates is envisaged with adequate seals provided by the overlying Triassic-Jurassic evaporate sequence. An earlier rapid pulse of oil and gas generation between 300-340 ma from the Silurian source rocks was probably too early to have resulted in hydrocarbon accumulation in the primary Triassic targets but if reservoir is present in the Carboniferous section, then those strata may have been sourced by the Silurian shales.« less

Detrital Zircons Split Sibumasu in East Gondwana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X.; Chung, S. L.

2017-12-01

It is widely accepted that Sibumasu developed as a united terrane and originated from NW Australian margin in East Gondwana. Here we report new detrital zircon U-Pb-Hf isotopic data from Sumatra that, in combination with literature data, challenge and refute the above long-held view. In particular, the East and West Sumatra terranes share nearly identical Precambrian to Paleozoic detrital zircon age distributions and Hf isotopes, indicating a common provenance/origin for them. The Sumatra detrital zircons exhibit a prominent population of ca. 1170-1070 Ma, indistinguishable from those of the Lhasa and West Burma terranes, with detritus most probably sourcing from western Australia. By contrast, Sibuma (Sibumasu excluding Sumatra) detrital zircons display a prevailing population of ca. 980-935 Ma, strongly resembling those of the western Qiangtang terrane, with detrital materials most likely derived from Greater India and Himalayas. Such markedly distinct detrital zircon age profiles between Sumatra and Sibuma require disparate sources/origin for them, provoking disintegration of the widely-adopted, but outdated, term Sibumasu and thus inviting a new configuration of East Gondwana in the early Paleozoic, with Sumatra and West Burma lying outboard the Lhasa terrane in the NW Australian margin and Sibuma situated in the northern Greater Indian margin. More future investigations are needed to establish the precise rifting and drifting histories of Sumatra and Sibuma, as two separated terranes, during the breakup of Gondwana.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bird, P.R.; Johns, C.C.; Clark-Lowes, D.D.

Western Turkey consists of a number of tectonic terranes joined together by a network of suture zones. The terranes originated as microcontinental plates that rifted away from the continental margins forming the northern and southern boundaries of the Tethyan sea. These micro-continents were united by a series of collisions beginning in the Late Triassic and ending in the Miocene, with the final closure of the Tethyan sea. The sedimentary cover of the microcontinents consists of Paleozoic and Mesozoic passive margin and rift basin sequences containing numerous potential source and reservoir intervals. Most of these sequences show affinities with Gondwanaland, withmore » the notable exception of the Istanbul nappe, which is strongly Laurasian in character. Forearc basin sequences were also deposited on the margins of the microcontinents during early Tertiary plate convergence. Ensuing continental collisions resulted in compressional deformation of sedimentary cover sequences. The intensity of deformation ranged from basin inversion producing numerous potential hydrocarbon traps, to large-scale overthrusting. Following continental suturing, continued compression in eastern Turkey has been accommodated since the Miocene by westward escape of continental lithosphere between the North and South Anatolian transform faults. Neotectonic pull-apart basins formed in response to these movements, accumulating large thicknesses of Miocene-Pliocene carbonates and clastic sediments. Potential reservoirs in the Neotectonic basins may be sourced either in situ or from underlying Paleozoic and Mesozoic source rocks that remain within the hydrocarbon generating window today.« less

Mantle contribution and tectonic transition in the Aqishan-Yamansu Belt, Eastern Tianshan, NW China: Insights from geochronology and geochemistry of Early Carboniferous to Early Permian felsic intrusions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Long; Long, Xiaoping; Yuan, Chao; Zhang, Yunying; Huang, Zongying; Wang, Xinyu; Yang, Yueheng

2018-04-01

Late Paleozoic is a key period for the accretion and collision of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Here, we present new zircon U-Pb ages, whole-rock geochemistry and Sr-Nd isotopic compositions for four Late Paleozoic felsic plutons in Eastern Tianshan (or Tienshan in some literatures) in order to constrain the tectonic evolution of the southern CAOB. The granodioritic pluton and its dioritic enclaves were synchronously formed in the Early Carboniferous (336 ± 3 Ma and 335 ± 2 Ma, respectively). These rocks are depleted in Nb, Ta and Ti, and enriched in Rb, Ba, Th and U related to the primitive mantle, which show typical features of arc rocks. They both have similar Sr-Nd isotopic ratios to those granitic rocks from the eastern Central Tianshan Block and have the latest Mesoproterozoic two stage Nd model ages (TDM2) (1111-1195 Ma for the granodioritic pluton and 1104-1108 Ma for the enclaves, respectively), indicating that their source magmas may have been derived from the Mesoproterozoic crust. The albitophyric pluton was also emplaced in the Early Carboniferous (333 ± 3 Ma). Rocks of this pluton have similar εNd(t) values (-0.69 to -0.37) and TDM2 ages (1135-1161 Ma) to those of the granodioritic rocks, suggest similar crustal source for both types of rocks. In contrast, the K-feldspar granitic and monzonitic plutons were emplaced in the Early Permian (292 ± 3 Ma and 281 ± 2 Ma, respectively). Samples of the K-feldspar granitic pluton have high K2O + Na2O, FeO/MgO, Ga/Al, HFSE (e.g., Zr and Hf) and low CaO, Sr and Ba, exhibiting characteristics of A2-type granites, which probably emplaced in a post-collisional extension environment. They have higher εNd(t) values (+2.77 to +3.27) and more juvenile TDM2 ages (799-841 Ma) than the Early Carboniferous plutons, suggesting that they were derived from relatively younger crustal sources. The monzonitic granites are metaluminous to weakly peraluminous with A/CNK ranging from 0.93 to 1.05, and have very low P2O5, indicating characteristics of I-type granites. They also have positive εNd(t) values (+2.22 to +2.34) and juvenile TDM2 ages (868-878 Ma), suggesting this pluton was also produced by partial melting of relatively young crustal source. Based on an isotopic mixing simulation, significant mantle contributions were added to the magma source of both the Early Carboniferous and the Early Permian felsic rocks. The mantle contribution changes from 60% in the Early Carboniferous to 75% in the Early Permian. The remarkably increasing of mantle materials in the magma source of the felsic rocks in the Aqishan-Yamansu belt was most likely induced by the tectonic transition from an Early Carboniferous continental arc to an Early Permian post-collisional extension environment.

Paleomagnetism of Early Paleozoic Rocks from the de Long Archipelago and Tectonics of the New Siberian Islands Terrane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metelkin, D. V.; Chernova, A. I.; Matushkin, N. Y.; Vernikovskiy, V. A.

2017-12-01

The De Long archipelago is located to the north of the Anjou archipelago as a part of a large group between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea - the New Siberian Islands and consists of Jeannette Island, Bennett Island and Henrietta Island. These islands have been shown to be part of a single continental terrane, whose tectonic history was independent of other continental masses at least since the Ordovician. Paleomagnetic and precise geological data for the De Long archipelago were absent until recently. Only in 2013 special international field trips to the De Long Islands could be organized and geological, isotope-geochronological and paleomagnetic studies were carried out.On Jeannette Island a volcanic-sedimentary sequence intruded by mafic dikes was described. The age of these dikes is more likely Early Ordovician, close to 480 Ma, as evidenced by the results of our 40Ar/39Ar and paleomagnetic investigations of the dolerites as well as the result from detrital zircons in the host rocks published before. On Bennett Island, there are widespread Cambrian-Ordovician mainly terrigenous rocks. Paleomagnetic results from these rocks characterize the paleogeographic position of the De Long archipelago at 465 Ma and perhaps at 530 Ma, although there is no evidence for the primary origin of magnetization for the latter. On Henrietta Island the Early Cambrian volcanic-sedimentary section was investigated. A paleomagnetic pole for 520 Ma was obtained and confirmed by new 40Ar/39Ar results. Adding to our previous paleomagnetic data for the Anjou archipelago the extended variant of the apparent polar wander path for the New Siberian Island terrane was created. The established paleolatitudes define its location in the equatorial and subtropical zone no higher than 40 degrees during the Early Paleozoic. Because there are no good confirmations for true polarity and related geographic hemisphere we present two possibilities for tectonic reconstruction. But both these solutions demonstrate a very close paleogeographic position between the New Siberian Island and the Siberian continent. The study was supported by Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (grant No 5.2324.2017), RSF (grant No 14-37-00030), RFBR (grant No 15-05-01428).

Dronning Maud Lands (East Antarctica) significance for Late Mesoproterozoic/Early Neoproterozoic supercontinent reconstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobs, Joachim; Elburg, Marlina; Laeufer, Andreas; Kleinhanns, Ilka C.; Henjes-Kunst, Friedhelm; Estrada, Solveig; Ruppel, Antonia; Damaske, Detlef; Montero, Pilar; Bea, Fernando

2015-04-01

The recent study of a so far white spot on the geological map of Dronning Maud Land (DML) during the international GEA expeditions sheds new light on the significance of major tectono-metamorphic provinces of Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The western part of eastern DML allows the characterization and ground-truthing of a large and mostly ice-covered area, that is geophysically distinct and which was previously interpreted as a potentially older cratonic block south of a Late Neoproterozoic/EarlyPaleozoic mobile belt, which is exposed in the Sør Rondane Mts. (SRM). SHRIMP/SIMS zircon analyses of 20 samples together with new geochemistry indicate that the exposed basement consists of a ca. 1000-900 Ma juvenile terrane that is very similar to the juvenile rocks of the SW-Terrane of the SRM, a characteristic gabbro-trondhjemite-tonalite-granite suite. However, in contrast to the southern part of the SW-Terrane, our study area shows intense crustal reworking at medium to high-grade conditions between ca. 630-520 Ma, associated with significant felsic melt production, including A-type granitoid magmatism. Therefore, the study area, and thereby the aeromagnetically distinct SE DML province does neither represent the foreland of a Late Neoproterozoic/EarlyPaleozoic mobile belt, nor a craton, as has previously been speculated. It more likely represents the westward continuation of Rayner-age crust (1000-900 Ma) that has undergone additional protracted LN/EP overprinting. We interpret the southern part of the only weakly overprinted SW-Terrane as a mega-boudin within a broad, rheologically weaker, NW-SE trending LN/EP mobile belt. Rayner-type crust likely continues further west, where it abuts along the SW-trending Forster Magnetic Anomaly. The latter is interpreted as a suture, which separates typical Grenville-age crust of the Maud Belt to the W from Rayner-age crust to the E. The study area has therefore clearly Indian affinities. Its juvenile character with a lack of metamorphic overprint at the end of crust formation could point to an accretionary history along this part of the Indian segment of Rodinia, immediately following final Rodinia assembly.

Petrogenesis and tectonic implications of the Early Paleozoic granites in the western segment of the North Qilian orogenic belt, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Nan; Wu, Cai-Lai; Lei, Min; Chen, Hong-Jie

2018-07-01

Early Paleozoic granitic magmatism in the North Qilian orogenic belt records a complete Wilson cycle and provides critical geological clues for unraveling the regional tectonic history. In this study, we report the results of zircon U-Pb ages, Hf isotopic analysis and systematic whole-rock geochemical data for the Late Ordovician Hongliuhe granite and Early Silurian Qingshan monzogranite in the western segment of the North Qilian orogenic belt to constrain their emplacement ages, petrogenesis, and regional evolution history. U-Pb dating reveals that the Hongliuhe granite was emplaced around 453-452 Ma, and the Qingshan monzogranite was emplaced about 440-438 Ma. A geochemical study shows that the two granites belong to the calc-alkaline to high-K calc-alkaline series. The Hongliuhe granite shows adakitic and peraluminous features, while the Qingshan monzogranite belongs to metaluminous to weak peraluminous granites. Zircons in the Hongliuhe granite show εHf(t) values ranging from -15.1 to +11.7 with two-stage Hf model ages (tDM2) of 687-2398 Ma, whereas zircons in the Qingshan monzogranite show εHf(t) values ranging from +5.7 to +11.0 with two-stage Hf model ages from 814 to 1057 Ma. The geochemical characteristics indicate that the Hongliuhe granite was a transitional I/S-type granite and was generated from a thickened lower crust with the addition of minor Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic crustal materials, which left a rutile + garnet + pyroxene ± plagioclase residue. The Qingshan monzogranite formed from the partial melting of mafic crust with minor mantle-derived materials, and the fractionation of Ti-bearing phases, apatite and pyroxene occurred during the magma's evolution, which left an amphibole and plagioclase residue. We infer that the Hongliuhe granite formed during the northward subduction of the North Qilian Ocean, while the Qingshan monzogranite was generated during the post-collision stage between the Qilian and Alxa blocks. This observation indicates that syn-collision stage of the North Qilian orogenic belt began before 453 Ma, and that the extension regime began prior to 444 Ma.

Thermochronologic constraints on post-Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fitzgerald, Paul G.

1994-08-01

Built upon the roots of a compressive orogenic belt of late Proterozoic-early Paleozoic age and once adjacent to North America, the present-day Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) represent a rift flank, resulting from episodic uplift in the Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Fault blocks are discernible in present-day topography and subglacial morphology. Fission track results give information on differential block movement (uplift and denudation) and are important in constraining models for the uplift of the range. Apatite fission track thermochronology on samples collected from the central TAM record a complex thermotectonic history for this region over the past 350 m.y. Apatite ages in the Miller Range vary from ˜250 to ˜350 Ma and are from an exhumed apatite partial annealing zone formed following cooling of Cambro-Ordovician granitoids. A period of Cretaceous denudation (≲2 km), beginning at ˜115 Ma, is recorded at Moody Nunatak on the inland side of the TAM. Near the coast, samples along the Beardmore Glacier record rapid cooling indicative of denudation initiated in the early Cenozoic (˜50 Ma). The amount of uplift ˜70 km inland of the coast in the Queen Alexandra Range since the early Cenozoic is ˜7 km, with the likelihood of an additional ˜3 km at the coast. Eastward facing topographic escarpments in the Queen Alexandra Range mark the likely position of steeply dipping normal faults, which offset the apatite ages. Apatite ages on the east side of the Beardmore Glacier mouth are generally younger (average 27 Ma) than on the west side (average 33 Ma), reflecting greater denudation. Assumptions made regarding the use of an assumed paleogeothermal gradient are tested with available geologic evidence. The fission track data neither conflict with nor confirm paleobotanical evidence from the Sirius Group in the central TAM which suggests significant surface uplift (2-3 km) of the TAM since the Pliocene. Results build upon the available fission track database along the TAM and emphasize the subtle variability of uplift along the TAM due to episodic uplift involving differential block movements.

Bedrock geology of the Mount Carmel and Southington quadrangles, Connecticut

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fritts, Crawford Ellswroth

1962-01-01

New data concerning the geologic structure, stratigraphy, petrography, origin, and ages of bedrock formations in an area of approximately 111 square miles in south-central Connecticut were obtained in the course of detailed geologic mapping from 1957 to 1960. Mapping was done at a scale of 1:24,000 on topographic base maps having a 10-foot contour interval. Bedrock formations are classified in two principal categories. The first includes metasedimentary, meta-igneous, and igneous rocks of Precambrian to Devonian age, which crop out in the western parts of both quadrangles. The second includes sedimentary and igneous rocks of the Newark Group of Late Triassic age, which crop out in the eastern parts of the quadrangles. Diabase dikes, which are Late Triassic or younger in age, intruded rocks in both the western and eastern parts of the map area. Rocks in the western part of the area underwent progressive regional metamorphism in Middle to Late Devonian time. The arrangement of the chlorite, garnet, biotite, staurolite, and kyanite zones here is approximately the mirror-image of metamorphic zones in Dutchess County, New York. However, garnet appeared before biotite in politic rocks in the map area, because the ration MgO/FeO is low. Waterbury Gneiss and the intrusive Woodtick Gneiss are parts of a basement complex of Precambrian age, which forms the core of the Waterbury dome. This structure is near the southern end of a line of similar domes that lie along the crest of a geanticline east of the Green Mountain anticlinorium. The Waterbury Gneiss is believed to have been metamorphosed in Precambrian time as well as in Paleozoic time. The Woodtick Gneiss also may have been metamorphosed more than once. In Paleozoic time, sediments were deposited in geosynclines during two main cycles of sedimentation. The Straits, Southington Mountain, and Derby Hill Schists, which range in age from Cambrian to Ordovician, reflect a transition from relatively clean politic sediments to thinly layered sediments that contained rather high percentages of fine-grained volcanic debris. Metadiabase and metabasalt extrusives above Derby Hill Schist south of the map area represent more intense volcanic activity before or during the early stages of the Taconic disturbance in Late Ordovician time. Impure argillaceous, siliceous, and minor calcareous sediments of the Wepawaug Schist, which is Silurian and Devonian in age, were deposited unconformably on older rocks during renewed subsidence of a geosyncline. The Wepawaug now occupies the trough of a tight syncline, which formed before and during progressive regional metamorphism at the time of the Acadian orogeny in middle to Late Devonian time. Felsic igneous rocks were intruded into the metasedimentary formations of Paleozoic age before the climax of the latest progressive regional metamorphism. Intrusives that gave rise to the Prospect and Ansonia Gneisses were emplaced mainly in the Southington Mountain Schist, and the igneous rocks as well as the host rocks were metamorphosed in the staurolite zone. Although it is possible that these two intrusives were emplaced during the Taconic disturbance, the writer believes it more likely that the igneous rocks from which the Prospect and Ansonia Gneisses formed were emplaced during the Acadian orogeny. Woodbridge Granite, which intruded the Wepawaug Schist, is Devonian in age and undoubtedly was emplaced during the Acadian orogeny. In this area the granite is essentially unmetamorphosed, because it is in the chlorite, garnet, and biotite zones. Southwest of the map area, however, metamorphic equivalents of the Woodbridge are found in Wepawaug Schist in the staurolite zone. The Ansonia Gneiss, therefore, may be a metamorphic equivalent of the Woodbridge Granite. Rocks of Late Triassic age formerly covered the entire map area, but were eroded from the western part after tilting and faulting in Late Triassic time. The New Haven Arkose of the Newark

Executive summary--2002 assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the San Juan Basin Province, exclusive of Paleozoic rocks, New Mexico and Colorado: Chapter 1 in Total petroleum systems and geologic assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the San Juan Basin Province, exclusive of Paleozoic rocks, New Mexico and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2013-01-01

In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated undiscovered oil and gas resources that have the potential for additions to reserves in the San Juan Basin Province (5022), New Mexico and Colorado (fig. 1). Paleozoic rocks were not appraised. The last oil and gas assessment for the province was in 1995 (Gautier and others, 1996). There are several important differences between the 1995 and 2002 assessments. The area assessed is smaller than that in the 1995 assessment. This assessment of undiscovered hydrocarbon resources in the San Juan Basin Province also used a slightly different approach in the assessment, and hence a number of the plays defined in the 1995 assessment are addressed differently in this report. After 1995, the USGS has applied a total petroleum system (TPS) concept to oil and gas basin assessments. The TPS approach incorporates knowledge of the source rocks, reservoir rocks, migration pathways, and time of generation and expulsion of hydrocarbons; thus the assessments are geologically based. Each TPS is subdivided into one or more assessment units, usually defined by a unique set of reservoir rocks, but which have in common the same source rock. Four TPSs and 14 assessment units were geologically evaluated, and for 13 units, the undiscovered oil and gas resources were quantitatively assessed.

The Waqf as Suwwan crater, Eastern Desert of Jordan: aspects of the deep structure of an oblique impact from reflection seismic and gravity data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinrichs, Till; Salameh, Elias; Khouri, Hani

2014-01-01

The deeply eroded Waqf as Suwwan ring structure was recently discovered to be a large impact, the first identified in the near east. Large-scale reflection seismic structure shows the impact situated high on the northeastern flank of the Jordan Uplift sloping into Wadi Sirhan Basin. If exhumation is linked to the Arabia-Eurasia collision, a likely time window for the impact event may be latest Eocene to Late Oligocene. Impact into a shallow sea seems an optional scenario. Old reflection seismic lines offer limited insight into the deep structure of the rim and part of the central uplift of the complex crater. An important structural clue is provided by a well-resolved seismic horizon of a yet tentative correlation with a Paleozoic black shale. The central gravity high is compatible with a mass surplus by the uplift of denser Paleozoic basement below the central uplift. The gravity model further indicates a ring of dense Paleozoic sediments rising from below into the ring syncline. Seismics show presumably radial synclines in the central uplift which are interpreted by centripetal constrictional flow during crater collapse. Beneath the final crater's outer boundary, a shallow-dip normal fault zone, subtle seismic structure in uncollapsed footwall segments reveal an asymmetry of strain. The asymmetry is attributed to the cratering flow by an oblique impact directed toward NE. The finding provides independent support to an earlier suggestion of impact obliquity based on vergency of folds exposed on the central uplift.

Highly differentiated magmas linked with polymetallic mineralization: A case study from the Cuihongshan granitic intrusions, Lesser Xing'an Range, NE China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fei, Xianghui; Zhang, Zhaochong; Cheng, Zhiguo; Santosh, M.; Jin, Ziliang; Wen, Bingbing; Li, Zixi; Xu, Lijuan

2018-03-01

The genetic link between granitoids and polymetallic skarn mineralization has remained equivocal. The Cuihongshan skarn-porphyry W-Mo-Pb-Zn-(Fe-Cu) deposit in the eastern part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt provides a unique example to address this issue. The major rock types in the mine area are Early Paleozoic intrusions composed of biotite syenogranite and biotite porphyritic granite and Early Mesozoic intrusions represented by porphyritic quartz monzonite, biotite monzogranite, and porphyritic granite. The diagnostic mineralogical and geochemical features indicate that the rocks belong to A2-type granites. The Early Paleozoic suite shows zircon U-Pb ages of 501 Ma, and εHf(t) values of - 4.4 to + 2.7 and + 2.4 to + 7.6, respectively. In combination with their coherent geochemical trends, these rocks are inferred to be products of in-situ differentiation. Although the Mesozoic suite shows crystallization ages of 194-196 Ma, εHf(t) values are in the range of - 2.5 to + 7.5 for the porphyritic quartz monzonite, the - 1.8 to + 4.5 values for the monzogranite and the + 2.3 to + 8.0 range for the porphyritic granite. The porphyritic quartz monzonite displays distinct mineral assemblage and shows significant compositional gap with the other two lithofacies. In contrast, the monzogranite and porphyritic granite have similar geochemical features, and are thus inferred to be co-magmatic. Considering the high SiO2 contents, variable εHf(t) (- 4.4 to + 8.0) and εNd(t) values (- 8.4 to + 0.28) for the two suites, we infer that both episodes of granitoid magmatism resulted from partial melting of crustal materials with a mixed source containing varying proportions of juvenile and Precambrian crustal components. The Early Mesozoic porphyritic granite shows a highly evolved F-rich geochemical affinity, and experienced magma-fluid interaction. Cassiterite from the calcic skarn and the magnesian skarn that coexists with magnetite orebodies shows a mean U-Pb age of 195.4 ± 1.9 Ma and 191.2 ± 7.5 Ma respectively, indicating that the mineralization is genetically related to the Mesozoic granitic rocks. We infer that halogen-rich magmatic-hydrothermal fluids were derived from the Early Mesozoic highly fractionated magma, and the spatial association of the metallic elements with different geochemical behavior in the Cuihongshan deposit is correlated to multiple stages of evolution of halogen-rich magmatic-hydrothermal fluids.

Paleozoic and Mesozoic silica-rich seawater: Evidence from hematitic chert (jasper) deposits

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grenne, Tor; Slack, J.F.

2003-01-01

Laterally extensive beds of highly siliceous, hematitic chert (jasper) are associated with many volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits of Late Cambrian to Early Cretaceous age, yet are unknown in analogous younger (including modern) settings. Textural studies suggest that VMS-related jaspers in the Ordovician Løkken ophiolite of Norway were originally deposited as Si- and Fe-rich gels that precipitated from hydrothermal plumes as colloidal silica and iron-oxyhydroxide particles. Rare earth element patterns and Ge/Si ratios of the jaspers reflect precipitation from plumes having seawater dilution factors of 103 to 104, similar to modern examples. We propose that silica in the ancient jaspers is not derived from submarine hydrothermal fluids-as suggested by previous workers-but instead was deposited from silic-rich sea-water. Flocculation and precipitation of the silica were triggered inorganically by the bridging effect of positively charged iron oxyhydroxides in the hydrothermal plume. A model involving amorphous silica (opal-A) precursors to the jaspers suggests that silica contents of Cambrian-Early Cretaceous oceans were at least 110 mg/L SiO2, compared to values of 40-60 mg/L SiO2 estimated in other studies. The evolution of ancient silica-rich to modern Fe-rich precipitates in submarine-hydrothermal plumes reflects a changeover from silica-saturated to silica-depleted seawater through Phanerozoic time, due mainly to ocean-wide emergence of diatoms in the Cretaceous.

Low-angle faulting in strike-slip dominated settings: Seismic evidence from the Maritimes Basin, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinet, Nicolas; Dietrich, Jim; Duchesne, Mathieu J.; Hinds, Steve J.; Brake, Virginia

2018-07-01

The Maritimes Basin is an upper Paleozoic sedimentary basin centered in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada). Early phases of basin formation included the development of partly connected sub-basins bounded by high-angle faults, in an overall strike-slip setting. Interpretation of reprocessed seismic reflection data indicates that a low-angle detachment contributed to the formation of a highly asymmetric sub-basin. This detachment was rotated toward a lower angle and succeeded by high-angle faults that sole into the detachment or cut it. This model bears similarities to other highly extended terranes and appears to be applicable to strike-slip and/or transtensional settings.

Hydrocarbon provinces and productive trends in Libya and adjacent areas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Missallati, A.A.

1988-08-01

According to the age of major reservoirs, hydrocarbon occurrences in Libya and adjacent areas can be grouped into six major systems which, according to their geographic locations, can be classified into two major hydrocarbon provinces: (1) Sirte-Pelagian basins province, with major reservoirs ranging from middle-late Mesozoic to early Tertiary, and (2) Murzog-Ghadames basins province, with major reservoirs ranging from early Paleozoic to early Mesozoic. In the Sirte-Pelagian basins province, hydrocarbons have been trapped in structural highs or in stratigraphic wedge-out against structural highs and in carbonate buildups. Here, hydrocarbon generation is characterized by the combined effect of abundant structural reliefmore » and reservoir development in the same hydrocarbon systems of the same age, providing an excellent example of hydrocarbon traps in sedimentary basins that have undergone extensive tensional fracturing in a shallow marine environment. In the Murzog-Ghadames basins province, hydrocarbons have been trapped mainly in structural highs controlled by paleostructural trends as basement arches which acted as focal points for oil migration and accumulation.« less

Inventory of Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic strata in Sonora, Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stewart, John H.; Poole, Forrest G.

2002-01-01

This compilation is an inventory of all known outcrops of Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic strata in Sonora, Mexico. We have not attempted an interpretation of the regional stratigraphic or structural setting of the strata. Brief summaries of the stratigraphic setting of the Sonora rocks are given in Poole and Hayes (1971), Rangin (1978), Stewart and others (1984, 1990), and Poole and Madrid (1986; 1988b). More specific information on the setting of strata of specific ages are given by Stewart and others (2002) for the Neoproterozoic and Cambrian; by Poole and others (1995a) for Ordovician shelf strata; by Poole and others (1995b) for Ordovician deep-water openbasin strata; by Poole and others (1997, 1998, 2000a) for Silurian strata; and by Poole and others (2000a) for Mississippian strata. Other reports that discuss regional aspects of Paleozoic stratigraphy include López-Ramos (1982), Peiffer-Rangin, (1979, 1988), Pérez-Ramos (1992), and Stewart and others (1997, 1999a). Structurally, the major Paleozoic feature of Sonora is the Sonora allochthon, consisting of deep-water (eugeoclinal) strata emplaced in the Permian over shelf (miogeoclinal) deposits (Poole and others, 1995a,b; Poole and Perry, 1997; 1998). The emplacement structure is generally considered to be a major Permian continental margin thrust fault that emplaced the deep-water rocks northward over shelf (miogeoclinal) deposits. An alternate interpretation has been presented by Stewart and others (2002). He proposed that the emplacement of the Sonora allochthon was along a major Permian transpressional structure that was primarily a strike-slip fault with only a minor thrust component . The Mojave-Sonora megashear has been proposed to disrupt Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic trends in Sonora. This feature is a hypothetical, left-lateral, northwest-striking fault extending across northern Sonora and the southwestern United States (Silver and Anderson, 1974; Anderson and Schmidt, 1983). It is proposed to have Jurassic displacements of about 700-800 km. Current opinion is mixed concerning whether the Mojave-Sonora megashear exists (see discussions and references in Stewart and others, 1990; 1999a). The inventory presented here is the product of a search of the literature for described Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic localities and our examination of a large number of the outcrops in the field. The individual localities are described by reference letters and numbers, locality name, latitude and longitude, a brief text on the stratigraphy of the strata, and references. Figure 1 is an index showing the location of Sonora and the location of figure 2. The location of a few localites that are outside of figure 2 are also shown on figure 1. We also include a separate description of localities that have been erroneously reported, on the based of our field examinations, to contain Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic rocks. We include a brief description of problematic strata in southern Sonora that have been described as Paleozoic, but may be at least in part Mesozoic. Figures 3-11 show the distribution of Neoproterozoic, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Permian strata in Sonora.

Ophiolites of Iran: Keys to understanding the tectonic evolution of SW Asia: (II) Mesozoic ophiolites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moghadam, Hadi Shafaii; Stern, Robert J.

2015-03-01

Iran is a mosaic of continental terranes of Cadomian (520-600 Ma) age, stitched together along sutures decorated by Paleozoic and Mesozoic ophiolites. Here we present the current understanding of the Mesozoic (and rare Cenozoic) ophiolites of Iran for the international geoscientific audience. We summarize field, chemical and geochronological data from the literature and our own unpublished data. Mesozoic ophiolites of Iran are mostly Cretaceous in age and are related to the Neotethys and associated backarc basins on the S flank of Eurasia. These ophiolites can be subdivided into five belts: 1. Late Cretaceous Zagros outer belt ophiolites (ZOB) along the Main Zagros Thrust including Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene Maku-Khoy-Salmas ophiolites in NW Iran as well as Kermanshah-Kurdistan, Neyriz and Esfandagheh (Haji Abad) ophiolites, also Late Cretaceous-Eocene ophiolites along the Iraq-Iran border; 2. Late Cretaceous Zagros inner belt ophiolites (ZIB) including Nain, Dehshir, Shahr-e-Babak and Balvard-Baft ophiolites along the southern periphery of the Central Iranian block and bending north into it; 3. Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene Sabzevar-Torbat-e-Heydarieh ophiolites of NE Iran; 4. Early to Late Cretaceous Birjand-Nehbandan-Tchehel-Kureh ophiolites in eastern Iran between the Lut and Afghan blocks; and 5. Late Jurassic-Cretaceous Makran ophiolites of SE Iran including Kahnuj ophiolites. Most Mesozoic ophiolites of Iran show supra-subduction zone (SSZ) geochemical signatures, indicating that SW Asia was a site of plate convergence during Late Mesozoic time, but also include a significant proportion showing ocean-island basalt affinities, perhaps indicating the involvement of subcontinental lithospheric mantle.

The Earliest Post-Paleozoic Freshwater Bivalves Preserved in Coprolites from the Karoo Basin, South Africa

PubMed Central

Yates, Adam M.; Neumann, Frank H.; Hancox, P. John

2012-01-01

Background Several clades of bivalve molluscs have invaded freshwaters at various times throughout Phanerozoic history. The most successful freshwater clade in the modern world is the Unionoida. Unionoids arose in the Triassic Period, sometime after the major extinction event at the End-Permian boundary and are now widely distributed across all continents except Antarctica. Until now, no freshwater bivalves of any kind were known to exist in the Early Triassic. Principal Findings Here we report on a faunule of two small freshwater bivalve species preserved in vertebrate coprolites from the Olenekian (Lower Triassic) of the Burgersdorp Formation of the Karoo Basin, South Africa. Positive identification of these bivalves is not possible due to the limited material. Nevertheless they do show similarities with Unionoida although they fall below the size range of extant unionoids. Phylogenetic analysis is not possible with such limited material and consequently the assignment remains somewhat speculative. Conclusions Bivalve molluscs re-invaded freshwaters soon after the End-Permian extinction event, during the earliest part of the recovery phase during the Olenekian Stage of the Early Triassic. If the specimens do represent unionoids then these Early Triassic examples may be an example of the Lilliput effect. Since the oldest incontrovertible freshwater unionoids are also from sub-Saharan Africa, it is possible that this subcontinent hosted the initial freshwater radiation of the Unionoida. This find also demonstrates the importance of coprolites as microenvironments of exceptional preservation that contain fossils of organisms that would otherwise have left no trace. PMID:22319562

Placoderms (Armored Fish): Dominant Vertebrates of the Devonian Period

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, Gavin C.

2010-05-01

Placoderms, the most diverse group of Devonian fishes, were globally distributed in all habitable freshwater and marine environments, like teleost fishes in the modern fauna. Their known evolutionary history (Early Silurian-Late Devonian) spanned at least 70 million years. Known diversity (335 genera) will increase when diverse assemblages from new areas are described. Placoderms first occur in the Early Silurian of China, but their diversity remained low until their main evolutionary radiation in the Early Devonian, after which they became the dominant vertebrates of Devonian seas. Most current placoderm data are derived from the second half of the group's evolutionary history, and recent claims that they form a paraphyletic group are based on highly derived Late Devonian forms; 16 shared derived characters are proposed here to support placoderm monophyly. Interrelationships of seven placoderm orders are unresolved because Silurian forms from China are still poorly known. The relationship of placoderms to the two major extant groups of jawed fishes—osteichthyans (bony fishes) and chondrichthyans (cartilaginous sharks, rays, and chimaeras)—remains uncertain, but the detailed preservation of placoderm internal braincase structures provides insights into the ancestral gnathostome (jawed vertebrate) condition. Placoderms provide the most complex morphological and biogeographic data set for the Middle Paleozoic; marked discrepancies in stratigraphic occurrence between different continental regions indicate strongly endemic faunas that were probably constrained by marine barriers until changes in paleogeography permitted range enlargement into new areas. Placoderm distributions in time and space indicate major faunal interchange between Gondwana and Laurussia near the Frasnian-Famennian boundary; closure of the Devonian equatorial ocean is a possible explanation.

Geology of Paleozoic Rocks in the Upper Colorado River Basin in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, Excluding the San Juan Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Geldon, Arthur L.

2003-01-01

The geology of the Paleozoic rocks in the Upper Colorado River Basin in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, was studied as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Regional Aquifer-System Analysis Program to provide support for hydrogeological interpretations. The study area is segmented by numerous uplifts and basins caused by folding and faulting that have recurred repeatedly from Precambrian to Cenozoic time. Paleozoic rocks in the study area are 0-18,000 feet thick. They are underlain by Precambrian igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks and are overlain in most of the area by Triassic formations composed mostly of shale. The overlying Mesozoic and Tertiary rocks are 0-27,000 feet thick. All Paleozoic systems except the Silurian are represented in the region. The Paleozoic rocks are divisible into 11 hydrogeologic units. The basal hydrogeologic unit consisting of Paleozoic rocks, the Flathead aquifer, predominantly is composed of Lower to Upper Cambrian sandstone and quartzite. The aquifer is 0-800 feet thick and is overlain gradationally to unconformably by formations of Cambrian to Mississippian age. The Gros Ventre confining unit consists of Middle to Upper Cambrian shale with subordinate carbonate rocks and sandstone. The confining unit is 0-1,100 feet thick and is overlain gradationally to unconformably by formations of Cambrian to Mississippian age. The Bighom aquifer consists of Middle Cambrian to Upper Ordovician limestone and dolomite with subordinate shale and sandstone. The aquifer is 0-3,000 feet thick and is overlain unconformably by Devonian and Mississipplan rocks. The Elbert-Parting confining unit consists of Lower Devonian to Lower Mississippian limestone, dolomite, sandstone, quartzite, shale, and anhydrite. It is 0-700 feet thick and is overlain conformably to unconformably by Upper Devonian and Mississippian rocks. The Madison aquifer consists of two zones of distinctly different lithology. The lower (Redwall-Leadville) zone is 0-2,500 feet thick and is composed almost entirely of Upper Devonian to Upper Mississippian limestone, dolomite, and chert. The overlying (Darwin-Humbug) zone is 0-800 feet thick and consists of Upper Mississippian limestone, dolomite, sandstone, shale, gypsum, and solution breccia. The Madison aquifer is overlain conformably by Upper Mississippian and Pennsylvanian rocks. The Madison aquifer in most areas is overlain by Upper Mississippian to Middle Pennsylvanian rocks of the Four Comers confining unit. The lower part of this confining unit, the Belden-Molas subunit, consists of as much as 4,300 feet of shale with subordinate carbonate rocks, sandstone, and minor gypsum. The upper part of the confining unit, the Paradox-Eagle Valley subunit, in most places consists of as much as 9,700 feet of interbedded limestone, dolomite, shale, sandstone, gypsum, anhydrite, and halite. Locally, the evaporitic rocks are deformed into diapirs as much as 15,000 feet thick. The Four Corners confining unit is overlain gradationally to disconformably by Pennsylvanian rocks. The uppermost Paleozoic rocks comprise the Canyonlands aquifer, which is composed of three zones with distinctly different lithologies. The basal (Cutler-Maroon) zone consists of as much as 16,500 feet of Lower Pennsylvanian to Lower Permian sandstone, conglomerate, shale, limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. The middle (Weber-De Chelly) zone consists of as much as 4,000 feet of Middle Pennsylvanian to Lower Permian quartz sandstone with minor carbonate rocks and shale. The upper (Park City-State Bridge) zone consists of as much as 800 feet of Lower to Upper Permian limestone, dolomite, shale, sandstone, phosphorite, chert, and gypsum. The Canyonlands aquifer is overlain disconformably to unconformably by formations of Triassic and Jurassic age.

Criteria for the recognition and correlation of sandstone units in the Precambrian and Paleozoic-Mesozoic clastic sequence in the near east

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weissbrod, T.; Perath, I.

A systematic study of the Precambrian and Paleozoic-Mesozoic clastic sequences (Nubian Sandstone) in Israel and Sinai, and a comparative analysis of its stratigraphy in neighbouring countries, has shown that besides the conventional criteria of subdivision (lithology, field appearance, photogeological features, fossil content), additional criteria can be applied, which singly or in mutual conjuction enable the recognition of widespread units and boundaries. These criteria show lateral constancy, and recurrence of a similar vertical sequence over great distances, and are therefore acceptable for the identification of synchronous, region-wide sedimentary units (and consequently, major unconformities). They also enable, once the units are established, to identify detached (not in situ) samples, samples from isolated or discontinous outcrops, borehole material or archive material. The following rock properties were tested and found to be usefuls in stratigraphic interpretation, throughout large distribution areas of the clastic sequence: Landscape, which is basically the response of a particular textural-chemic al aggregate to atmospheric weathering. Characteristic outcrop feature — styles of roundness or massivity, fissuring or fliatin, slope profile, bedding — express a basic uniformity of these platform-type clastics. Colors are often stratigraphically constant over hundreds of kilometers, through various climates and topographies, and express some intrinsic unity of the rock bodies. Grain size and sorting, when cross-plotted, enable to differentiate existing unit. The method requires the analysis of representative numbers of samples. Vertical trends of median grain size and sorting show reversals, typically across unconformities. Feldstar content diminishes from 15-50% in Precambrian-Paleozoic rocks to a mere 5% or less in Mesozoic sandstones — a distinctive regionwide time trend. Dominance of certain feldstar types characterizes Precambrian and Paleozoic units. Clay minerals, though subordinate, characterize certain units. Illite is usually the dominant clay mineral in the Precambrain-Paleozoic sediments, showing different degress of crystallization in different units. Kaolinite is the main, often the only clay mineral in Mesozoic units. Heavy minerals, whose species spectra reflect on parent rock and provenance terrain and whose differential response to degradation points to the sedimentary history of the deposit, show certain vertical regularities, such as the abrupt disappearance of species or whole assemblages at certain levels, indicating unconformities. Trace metals, which in places reach ore concentrations (e.g. copper), are often extensive, though of well-defined vertical distribution. They express adsorptive capacity of specific widespread lithologies, enabling the discrimination of units. Even though each of these criteria is not always by itself diagnostic, they may in conjuction with one or more other criteria amount to a petrographic fingerprint that enables fairly accurate identification of the age interval of the unit, and its relation both to the regional and the local stratigraphic sequence.

High-resolution sequence stratigraphy of lower Paleozoic sheet sandstones in central North America: The role of special conditions of cratonic interiors in development of stratal architecture

USGS Publications Warehouse

Runkel, Anthony C.; Miller, J.F.; McKay, R.M.; Palmer, A.R.; Taylor, John F.

2007-01-01

Well-known difficulties in applying sequence stratigraphic concepts to deposits that accumulated across slowly subsiding cratonic interior regions have limited our ability to interpret the history of continental-scale tectonism, oceanographic dynamics of epeiric seas, and eustasy. We used a multi-disciplinary approach to construct a high-resolution stratigraphic framework for lower Paleozoic strata in the cratonic interior of North America. Within this framework, these strata proved readily amenable to modern sequence stratigraphic techniques that were formulated based on successions along passive margins and in foreland basins, settings markedly different from the cratonic interior. Parasequences, parasequence stacking patterns, systems tracts, maximum flooding intervals, and sequence-bounding unconformities can be confidently recognized in the cratonic interior using mostly standard criteria for identification. The similarity of cratonic interior and foreland basin successions in size, geometry, constituent facies, and local stacking patterns of nearshore parasequences is especially striking. This similarity indicates that the fundamental processes that establish shoreface morphology and determine the stratal expression of retreat and progradation were likewise generally the same, despite marked differences in tectonism, physiography, and bathymetry between the two settings. Our results do not support the widespread perception that Paleozoic cratonic interior successions are so anomalous in stratal geometries, and constitute such a poor record of time, that they are poorly suited for modern sequence stratigraphic analyses. The particular arrangement of stratal elements in the cratonic interior succession we studied is no more anomalous or enigmatic than the variability in architecture that sets all sedimentary successions apart from one another. Thus, Paleozoic strata of the cratonic interior are most appropriately considered as a package that belongs in a continuum of variable stratigraphic packages reflecting variable controls such as subsidence and shelf physiography. Special conditions of exceptionally slow subsidence rate, shallow bathymetry, and nearly flat regional shelf gradient are manifest mostly by the presence of individual systems tracts of relatively long duration that extend for much greater distances across depositional strike than those that characterize successions deposited in more dynamic tectonic and physiographic settings. These results suggest that if other cratonic interior successions are as anomalous as reported, a low sediment supply may have played a primary role in development of their apparently condensed stratal architecture. The results also lead us to suggest that a nonvegetated lower Paleozoic landscape played a relatively insignificant role in the development of what are commonly perceived to be enigmatic stratigraphic features of sheet sandstones, particularly their widespread yet thin geometry, and a scarcity of shale and siltstone. ?? 2007 Geological Society of America.

Persistent and widespread occurrence of bioactive quinone pigments during post-Paleozoic crinoid diversification

PubMed Central

Wolkenstein, Klaus

2015-01-01

Secondary metabolites often play an important role in the adaptation of organisms to their environment. However, little is known about the secondary metabolites of ancient organisms and their evolutionary history. Chemical analysis of exceptionally well-preserved colored fossil crinoids and modern crinoids from the deep sea suggests that bioactive polycyclic quinones related to hypericin were, and still are, globally widespread in post-Paleozoic crinoids. The discovery of hypericinoid pigments both in fossil and in present-day representatives of the order Isocrinida indicates that the pigments remained almost unchanged since the Mesozoic, also suggesting that the original color of hypericinoid-containing ancient crinoids may have been analogous to that of their modern relatives. The persistent and widespread occurrence, spatially as well as taxonomically, of hypericinoid pigments in various orders during the adaptive radiation of post-Paleozoic crinoids suggests a general functional importance of the pigments, contributing to the evolutionary success of the Crinoidea. PMID:25730856

Depositional systems and stratigraphy of Paleozoic and Lower Mesozoic rocks in outcrop, Tassili region, southwest Algeria

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hertig, S.P.; Tye, R.S.; Coffield, D.Q.

1991-08-01

Paleozoic to Lower Mesozoic strata of the southeastern Algerian Tassili are traditionally subdivided by regionally extensive unconformities such as the Pan African, Taconic, Caledonian, and Hercynian. Using outcrop data from southeastern Algeria, this classic approach is modified by reinterpreting the genesis of these unconformities and rock sequences. Five prominent sequences, defined within the Paleozoic and lower Mesozoic section, usually consist of a succession of lowstand, transgressive, and highstand system tracts separated by sequence boundaries or transgressive surfaces. The Pan-African, Taconic, Caledonian, and Hercynian unconformities are sequence boundaries. Important sequence boundaries also occur within the Ordovician and Silurian sections. These sequencesmore » correlate with subsurface data in the Illizi basin and provide a framework for renewed exploration in the subsurface of the Algerian Sahara, where more than 30 billion bbl of recoverable oil and oil equivalent have been generated and trapped.« less

The Chara-Sina dyke swarm in the structure of the Middle Paleozoic Vilyui rift system (Siberian Craton)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiselev, A. I.; Konstantinov, K. M.; Yarmolyuk, V. V.; Ivanov, A. V.

2016-11-01

The formation of the Vilyui rift system in the eastern Siberian Craton was finished with breakdown of the continent and formation of its eastern margin. A characteristic feature of this rift system is the radial distribution of dyke swarms of basic rocks. This peculiarity allows us to relate it to the breaking processes above the mantle plume, the center of which was located in the region overlain in the modern structure by the foreland of the Verkhoyan folded-thrust belt. The Chara-Sina dyke swarm is the southern part of a large area of Middle Paleozoic basaltic magmatism in the eastern Siberian Craton. The OIB-like geochemical characteristics of dolerite allow us to suggest that the melting substrate for Middle Paleozoic basaltic magmatism was represented by a relatively homogeneous, mid-depleted mantle of the plume with geochemical parameters similar to those of OIB.

Detrital zircon provenance from three turbidite depocenters of the Middle-Upper Triassic Songpan-Ganzi complex, central China: Record of collisional tectonics, erosional exhumation, and sediment production

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weislogel, A.L.; Graham, S.A.; Chang, E.Z.; Wooden, J.L.; Gehrels, G.E.

2010-01-01

To test the idea that the voluminous upper Middle to Upper Triassic turbidite strata in the Songpan-Ganzi complex of central China archive a detrital record of Dabie ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane unroofing, we report 2080 single detrital U-Pb zircon ages by sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe-reverse geometry (SHRIMP-RG) and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis from 29 eastern Songpan-Ganzi complex sandstone samples. Low (<0.07) Th/U zircons, consistent with crystallization under UHP conditions, are rare in eastern Songpan-Ganzi complex zircon, and U-Pb ages of low Th/U zircons are incompatible with a Dabie terrane source. An unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean nearest-neighbor analysis of Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample test results reveals that the eastern Songpan-Ganzi complex is not a single contiguous turbidite system but is instead composed of three subsidiary depocenters, each associated with distinct sediment sources. The northeastern depocenter contains zircon ages characterized by Paleozoic and bimodally distributed Precambrian zircon populations, which, together with south-to southeast-directed paleocurrent data, indicate derivation from the retro-side of the Qinling-Dabie (Q-D) collisional orogen wedge. In the central depocenter, the dominantly Paleozoic detrital zircon signature and south-to southwest-oriented paleocurrent indicators reflect a profusion of Paleozoic zircon grains. These data are interpreted to reflect an influx of material derived from erosion of Paleozoic supra-UHP rocks of the Dabie terrane in the eastern Qinling-Dabie orogen, which we speculate may have been enhanced by development of a monsoonal climate. This suggests that erosional unroofing played a significant role in the initial phase of UHP exhumation and likely influenced the petrotectonic and structural evolution of the Qinling-Dabie orogen, as evidenced by compressed Triassic isotherms/grads reported in the Huwan shear zone that bounds the Dabie terrane to the north. The central depocenter deposits reflect a later influx of bimodally distributed Precambrian zircon, signifying either a decrease in the influx of Paleozoic zircon grains due to stalled UHP exhumation and/or dilution of the same influx of Paleozoic zircons by spilling of Precambrian zircon from the northeastern depocenter into the central depocenter basin, perhaps due to infilling and bypass of sediment from the northern depocenter or due to initial collapse and constriction of the eastern Songpan-Ganzi complex basin. The southeastern depocenter of the eastern Songpan-Ganzi complex bears significant Paleozoic, Neoproterozoic, and Paleoproterozoic zircon populations derived from the South China block and Yidun arc complex, likely recording nascent uplift of the Longmenshan deformation belt due to impingement of the Yidun arc complex upon the western margin of the South China block. ?? 2010 Geological Society of America.

Constraining the reversing and non-reversing modes of the geodynamo. New insights from magnetostratigraphy.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallet, Y.; Pavlov, V.; Shatsillo, A.; Hulot, G.

2015-12-01

Constraining the evolution in the geomagnetic reversal frequency over hundreds of million years is not a trivial matter. Beyond the fact that there are long periods without reversals, known as superchrons, and periods with many reversals, the way the reversal frequency changes through time during reversing periods is still debated. A smooth evolution or a succession of stationary segments have both been suggested to account for the geomagnetic polarity time scale since the Middle-Late Jurassic. Sudden changes from a reversing mode to a non-reversing mode of the geodynamo may also well have happened, the switch between the two modes having then possibly been controlled by the thermal conditions at the core-mantle boundary. There is, nevertheless, a growing set of magnetostratigraphic data, which could help decipher a proper interpretation of the reversal history, in particular in the early Paleozoic and even during the Precambrian. Although yielding a fragmentary record, these data reveal the occurrence of both additional superchrons and periods characterized by extremely high, not to say extraordinary, magnetic reversal frequencies. In this talk, we will present a synthesis of these data, mainly obtained from Siberia, and discuss their implication for the magnetic reversal behavior over the past billion years.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bocharova, N.Yu.; Scotese, C.R.; Pristavakina, E.I.

A digital geographic database for the former USSR was compiled using published geologic and geodynamic maps and the unpublished suture map of Lev Zonenshain (1991). The database includes more than 900 tectonic features: strike-slip faults, sutures, thrusts, fossil and active rifts, fossil and active subduction zones, boundaries of the major and minor Precambrian blocks, ophiolites, and various volcanic complexes. The attributes of each structural unit include type of structure, name, age, tectonic setting and geographical coordinates. Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic reconstructions of the former USSR and adjacent regions were constructed using this tectonic database together with paleomagnetic data and themore » motions of continent over fixed hot spots. Global apparent polar wander paths in European and Siberian coordinates were calculated back to Cambrian time, using the paleomagnetic pole summaries of Van der Voo (1992) and Khramov (1992) and the global plate tectonic model of the Paleomap Project (Scotese and Becker, 1992). Trajectories of intraplate volcanics in South Siberia, Mongolia, Scandinavia and data on the White Mountain plutons and Karoo flood basalts were also taken into account. Using new data, the authors recalculated the stage and finite poles for the rotation of the Siberia and Europe with respect to the hot spot reference frame for the time interval 160 to 450 Ma.« less

The Early Warning System(EWS) as First Stage to Generate and Develop Shake Map for Bucharest to Deep Vrancea Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marmureanu, G.; Ionescu, C.; Marmureanu, A.; Grecu, B.; Cioflan, C.

2007-12-01

EWS made by NIEP is the first European system for real-time early detection and warning of the seismic waves in case of strong deep earthquakes. EWS uses the time interval (28-32 seconds) between the moment when earthquake is detected by the borehole and surface local accelerometers network installed in the epicenter area (Vrancea) and the arrival time of the seismic waves in the protected area, to deliver timely integrated information in order to enable actions to be taken before a main destructive shaking takes place. Early warning system is viewed as part of an real-time information system that provide rapid information, about an earthquake impeding hazard, to the public and disaster relief organizations before (early warning) and after a strong earthquake (shake map).This product is fitting in with other new product on way of National Institute for Earth Physics, that is, the shake map which is a representation of ground shaking produced by an event and it will be generated automatically following large Vrancea earthquakes. Bucharest City is located in the central part of the Moesian platform (age: Precambrian and Paleozoic) in the Romanian Plain, at about 140 km far from Vrancea area. Above a Cretaceous and a Miocene deposit (with the bottom at roundly 1,400 m of depth), a Pliocene shallow water deposit (~ 700m thick) was settled. The surface geology consists mainly of Quaternary alluvial deposits. Later loess covered these deposits and the two rivers crossing the city (Dambovita and Colentina) carved the present landscape. During the last century Bucharest suffered heavy damage and casualties due to 1940 (Mw = 7.7) and 1977 (Mw = 7.4) Vrancea earthquakes. For example, 32 high tall buildings collapsed and more then 1500 people died during the 1977 event. The innovation with comparable or related systems worldwide is that NIEP will use the EWS to generate a virtual shake map for Bucharest (140 km away of epicentre) immediately after the magnitude is estimated (in 3-4 seconds after the detection in epicentre) and later make corrections by using real time dataflow from each K2 accelerometers installed in Bucharest area, inclusively nonlinear effects. Thus, developing of a near real-time shake map for Bucharest urban area is of highest interest, providing valuable information to the civil defense, decision makers and general public on the area where the ground motion is most severe. EWS made by NIEP can be considered the first stage to generate and develop the shake map for Bucharest to deep Vrancea earthquakes.

Paleozoic Orogens of Mexico and the Laurentia-Gondwana Connections: an Update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortega-Gutierrez, F.

2009-05-01

The present position of Mexico in North America and the fixist tectonic models that prevailed prior to the seventies of the past century, have considered the main Paleozoic tectonic systems of Mexico as natural extensions of the orogens that fringed the eastern and southern sides of the Laurentian craton. Well known examples of pre-Mesozoic orogens in Mexico are the Oaxacan, Acatlan, and Chiapas polymetamorphic terranes, which have been correlated respectively with the Grenville and Appalachian-Ouachitan orogens of eastern North America. Nonetheless, several studies conducted during the last decade in these Mexican orogenic belts, have questioned their Laurentian connections, regarding northwestern Gondwana instead as the most plausible place for their birth and further tectonic evolution. This work pretends to approach the problem by briefly integrating the massive amount of new geological information, commonly generated through powerful dating methods such as LA-ICPM-MS on detrital zircon of sedimentary and metasedimentary units in the Paleozoic crustal blocks, which are widely exposed in southern and southeastern Mexico. The Acatlan Complex bears the closest relationships to the Appalachian orogenic system because it shows thermotectonic evidence for opening and closure of the two main oceans involved in building the Appalachian mountains in eastern Laurentia, whereas two other Paleozoic terranes in NW and SE Mexico, until recently rather geologically unknown, may constitute fundamental links between the Americas for the last-stage suturing and consolidation of western Pangea. The buried basement of the Yucatan platform (400,000 squared km) on the other hand, remains as one of the most relevant problems of tectonostratigraphic correlations across the Americas, because basement clasts from the Chicxulub impact ejecta reveal absolute and Nd-model ages that suggest close Gondwanan affinities. Major changes in the comprehension of the Paleozoic orogens in Mexico include the swift of the Acatlan Complex from Iapetus to Rheic scenarios, and the apparent continuation of the Ouachita belt across northern Mexico into south central Sonora, rather than displaced eastwards along the legendary Mojave-Sonora megashear. And yet, poorly known suture-related lithotectonic associations of Paleozoic metamorphic rocks and arc granitoids that underlie the eastern margin of Mexico, have not been explained by existing models dealing with the Appalachian-Mexico-Gondwanan connections.

Palinspastic reconstruction of Lower Mesozoic stratigraphic sequences near the latitude of Las Vegas: Implications for the entire Great Basin

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marzolf, J.E.

1993-04-01

On the Colorado Plateau, lower Mesozoic stratigraphy is subdivided by regional unconformities into the Lower Triassic Moenkopi, Upper Triassic Chinle, Lower and Middle( ) Jurassic Glen Canyon, and Middle Jurassic lower San Rafael tectonosequences. Palinspastic reconstruction for Cenozoic extensional and mesozoic compressional deformations near the latitude of Las Vegas indicates the Moenkopi tectono-sequence constructed a passive-margin-like architecture of modest width overlapping folded. Thrust-faulted, and intruded Permian strata, with state boundaries fixed relative to the Colorado Plateau, comparison of the location of the Early Triassic shelf-slope break near latitude 36[degree] with the palinspastically restored location of the shelf-slope break in southeasternmore » Idaho implies strata of the Moenkopi tectonosequence in the Mesozoic marine province of northwest NV lay in western utah in the Early Triassic. This reconstruction: suggests that the Galconda and Last Chance faults are part of the same thrust system; aligns late Carnian paleovalleys of the chinle tectonosequence on the Colorado Plateau with a coeval northwest-trending paleovalley cut across the Star Pea, and the Norian Cottonwood paleovalley with the coeval Grass Valley delta; defines a narrow, northward deepening back-arc basin in which the Glen Canyon tectonosequence was deposited; aligns east-facing half grabens along the back side of the arc from the Cowhole Mountains to the Clan Alpine Range; projects the volcan-arc/back-arc transition from northwest Arizona to the east side of the Idaho batholith; and predicts the abrupt facies change from silicic volcanics to marine strata of the lower San Rafael sequence lay in western Utah. The paleogeographic was altered in the late Bathonian to Callovian by back-arc extension north of a line extending from Cedar City, UT to Mina, NV. The palinspastic reconstruction implies the Paleozoic was tectonically stacked at the close of the Paleozoic.« less

Tectono-thermal evolution of the southwestern Alxa Tectonic Belt, NW China: Constrained by apatite U-Pb and fission track thermochronology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Dongfang; Glorie, Stijn; Xiao, Wenjiao; Collins, Alan S.; Gillespie, Jack; Jepson, Gilby; Li, Yongchen

2018-01-01

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is regarded to have undergone multiple phases of intracontinental deformation during the Meso-Cenozoic. Located in a key position along the southern CAOB, the Alxa Tectonic Belt (ATB) connects the northernmost Tibetan Plateau with the Mongolian Plateau. In this paper we apply apatite U-Pb and fission track thermochronological studies on varieties of samples from the southwestern ATB, in order to constrain its thermal evolution. Precambrian bedrock samples yield late Ordovician-early Silurian ( 430-450 Ma) and late Permian ( 257 Ma) apatite U-Pb ages; the late Paleozoic magmatic-sedimentary samples yield relatively consistent early Permian ages from 276 to 290 Ma. These data reveal that the ATB experienced multiple Paleozoic tectono-thermal events, as the samples passed through the apatite U-Pb closure temperature ( 350-550 °C). We interpret these tectonic events to record the long-lived subduction-accretion processes of the Paleo-Asian Ocean during the formation of the southern CAOB, with possible thermal influence of the Permian Tarim mantle plume. Apatite fission track (AFT) data and thermal history modelling reveal discrete low-temperature thermal events for the ATB, inducing cooling/reheating through the AFT partial annealing zone ( 120-60 °C). During the Permian, the samples underwent rapid cooling via exhumation or denudation from deep crustal levels to temperatures < 200 °C. Subsequent thermal events in the Triassic were thought to be associated with the final amalgamation of the CAOB or the closure of the Paleotethys. During the Jurassic-Cretaceous the study area experienced heating by burial, followed by renewed cooling, which may be related with the construction and subsequent collapse of the Mongol-Okhotsk Orogeny, or the Lhasa-Eurasia collision and subsequent slab break-off. These results indicate that the ATB may have been stable after late Cretaceous in contrast to the Qilian Shan and Tianshan. Finally, our results indicate differential exhumation scenario occurred across the southwestern ATB during the Cretaceous.

Sedimentary record of late Paleozoic to Recent tectonism in central Asia — analysis of subsurface data from the Turan and south Kazak domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, J. C.; Cobbold, P. R.; Shein, V. S.; Le Douaran, S.

1999-11-01

The Turan and south Kazak domains (TSK) are in central Asia, between the Caspian Sea and the Tien Shan. The area is covered by sediments, deposited since the Late Permian during a series of tectonic events closely related to the history of two oceanic domains, Paleotethys and Neotethys. Sedimentary basins on the TSK therefore provide constraints on the tectonic development of the southern margin of Eurasia since the Late Permian. Our study is based on structure-contour maps and isopach maps of five key stratigraphic markers, of Late Permian to Tertiary age. Isopach maps help locate major faults and delimit sedimentary basins, providing information on vertical motions and, in some instances, horizontal motions. Subsidence associated with extension appears to have dominated the TSK, from the Late Permian to the Eocene. The extension may have been of back-arc type in southern Eurasia, next to the active margin, where the Paleotethys and Neotethys successively subducted toward the north. Here, sedimentary basins are both wide and deep (up to 15 km). During the Mesozoic, two compressional events of regional significance occurred in association with accretion of continental blocks at the southern margin of Eurasia. The first one, at the end of the Triassic, led to strong selective inversion of basins over the Turan domain. The second one, during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, had weaker effects. Since the Oligocene, following collision of both India and Arabia with Eurasia, inversion has become more generalized and compressional basins have formed on the TSK. Throughout the entire history of development of the TSK, from the Late Permian to the Tertiary, structures of Paleozoic and early Mesozoic age have exerted a strong control on sedimentation and especially on the location of depocenters. The south Kazak domain has registered little subsidence, in comparison with the Turan domain, where some basins have become very deep.

Hydrologic properties and ground-water flow systems of the Paleozoic rocks in the upper Colorado River basin in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, excluding the San Juan Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Geldon, Arthur L.

2003-01-01

The hydrologic properties and ground-water flow systems of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the Upper Colorado River Basin were investigated under the Regional Aquifer-System Analysis (RASA) program of the U.S. Geological Survey in anticipation of the development of water supplies from bedrock aquifers to fulfill the region's growing water demands. The study area, in parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, covers about 100,000 square miles. It includes parts of four physiographic provinces--the Middle Rocky Mountains, Wyoming Basin, Southern Rocky Mountains, and Colorado Plateaus. A variety of landforms, including mountains, plateaus, mesas, cuestas, plains, badlands, and canyons, are present. Altitudes range from 3,100 to 14,500 feet. Precipitation is distributed orographically and ranges from less than 6 inches per year at lower altitudes to more than 60 inches per year in some mountainous areas. Most of the infrequent precipitation at altitudes of less than 6,000 feet is consumed by evapotranspiration. The Colorado and Green Rivers are the principal streams: the 1964-82 average discharge of the Colorado River where it leaves the Upper Colorado River Basin is 12,170 cubic feet per second (a decrease of 5,680 cubic feet per second since construction of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963). On the basis of their predominant lithologic and hydrologic properties, the Paleozoic rocks are classified into four aquifers and three confining units. The Flathead aquifer, Gros Ventre confining unit, Bighorn aquifer, Elbert-Parting confining unit, and Madison aquifer (Redwall-Leadville and Darwin-Humbug zones) make up the Four Corners aquifer system. A thick sequence, composed mostly of Mississippian and Pennsylvanian shale, anhydrite, halite, and carbonate rocks--the Four Corners confining unit (Belden-Molas and Paradox-Eagle Valley subunits)--overlies the Four Corners aquifer system in most areas and inhibits vertical ground-water flow between the Four Corners aquifer system and the overlying Canyonlands aquifer. Composed of the uppermost Paleozoic rocks, the Canyonlands aquifer consists, in ascending order, of the Cutler-Maroon, Weber-De Chelly, and Park City-State Bridge zones. The Paleozoic rocks are underlain by a basal confining unit consisting of Precambrian sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks and overlain throughout most of the Upper Colorado River Basin by the Chinle-Moenkopi confining unit, which consists of Triassic formations composed mostly of shale. The largest values of porosity, permeability, hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity, and artesian yield are exhibited by the Redwall-Leadville zone of the Madison aquifer and the Weber-De Chelly zone of the Canyonlands aquifer. The former consists almost entirely of Devonian and Mississippian carbonate rocks: the latter consists mostly of Pennsylvanian and Permian quartz sandstone. Unit-averaged porosity in hydrogeologic units composed of Paleozoic rocks ranges from less than 1 to 28 percent. Permeability ranges from less than 0.0001 to 3,460 millidarcies. Unit-averaged hydraulic conductivity ranges from 0.000005 to 200 feet per day. The composite transmissivity of Paleozoic rocks ranges from 0.0005 to 47,000 feet squared per day. Artesian yields to wells and springs (excluding atypical springflows) from these hydrogeologic units range from less than 1 to 10,000 gallons per minute. The permeability and watersupply capabilities of all hydrogeologic units progressively decrease from uplifted areas to structural basins. Recharge to the Paleozoic rocks is provided by direct infiltration of precipitation, leakage from streams, and ground-water inflows from structurally continuous areas west and north of the Upper Colorado River Basin. The total recharge available flom ground-water systems in the basin from direct precipitation and stream leakage is estimated to be 6,600,000 acre-feet per year. However, little of this recharge directly enters the Paleozoic rocks

Sr-isotopic composition of marbles from the Puerto Galera area (Mindoro, Philippines): additional evidence for a Paleozoic age of a metamorphic complex in the Philippine island arc

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Knittel, U.; Daniels, U.

1987-02-01

The Sr-isotopic composition of marbles from the Puerto Galera area (Mindoro, Philippines) is compatible with either a Tertiary or a Paleozoic age. The former is considered as unlikely because nonmetamorphic sediments of that age overlie the metamorphic complex. This implies that the metamorphic complex does not represent the basement of the Philippine arc but is an accreted terrane.

Quantitative models for aggregate: some types and examples from Oklahoma carbonate rocks

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bliss, James D.

1999-01-01

Evaluation of data for three engineering variable--absorption, bulk specific gravity, and freeze-thaw durability (350 cycles)--was made for quarries in carbonate rocks in Oklahoma that supply aggregate. It was found that lower Palrozoic carbonate rocks (Cambrian through Devonian) are likely to make a better quality aggregate than upper Paleozoic (Mississippian to Permian) carbonate rocks. In addition, freeze-thaw durability can be forecast from absorption and is exemplary for lower Paleozoic carbonate rocks.

Detrital zircon ages in Korean mid-Paleozoic meta-sandstones (Imjingang Belt and Taean Formation): Constraints on tectonic and depositional setting, source regions and possible affinity with Chinese terranes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Seokyoung; de Jong, Koen; Yi, Keewook

2017-08-01

Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Th-Pb isotopic data of detrital zircons from mature, quartz-rich meta-sandstones are used to constrain possible tectonic affinities and source regions of the rhythmically layered and graded-bedded series in the Yeoncheon Complex (Imjingang Belt) and the correlative Taean Formation. These metamorphic marine turbidite sequences presently occur along the Paleoproterozoic (1.93-1.83 Ga) Gyeonggi Massif, central Korea's main high-grade metamorphic gneiss terrane. Yet, detrital zircons yielded highly similar multimodal age spectra with peaks that do not match the age repartition in these basement rocks, as late (1.9-1.8 Ga) and earliest (∼ 2.5 Ga) Paleoproterozoic detrital modes are subordinate but, in contrast, Paleozoic (440-425 Ma) and Neoproterozoic (980-920 Ma) spikes are prominent, yet the basement essentially lacks lithologies with such ages. The youngest concordant zircon ages in each sample are: 378, 394 and 423 Ma. The maturity of the meta-sandstones and the general roundness of zircons of magmatic signature, irrespective of their age, suggest that sediments underwent considerable transport from source to sink, and possibly important weathering and recycling, which may have filtered out irradiation-weakened metamorphic zircon grains. In combination with these isotopic data, presence of a low-angle ductile fault contact between the Yeoncheon Complex and the Taean Formation and the underlying mylonitized Precambrian basement implies that they are in tectonic contact and do not have a stratigraphic relationship, as often assumed. Consequently, in all likelihood, both meta-sedimentary formations: (1) are at least of early Late Devonian age, (2) received much of their detritus from distant (reworked) Silurian-Devonian and Early Neoproterozoic magmatic sources, not present in the Gyeonggi Massif, (3) and not from Paleoproterozoic crystalline rocks of this massif, or other Korean Precambrian basement terranes, and (4) should be viewed as independent tectonic units that had sources not exposed in Korea. A thorough literature review reveals that the Yeoncheon Complex and the Taean Formation were potentially sourced from the Liuling, Nanwan and Foziling groups in the Qinling-Dabie Belt, which all show very similar detrital zircon age spectra. These immature middle-late Devonian sandstones were deposited in a pro-foreland basin formed as a result of the aborted subduction of the South Qinling Terrane below the North Qinling Terrane, which was uplifted and eroded during post-collision isostatic rebound. The submarine fans where the mature distal turbiditic Yeoncheon and Taean sandstones were deposited may have constituted the eastern terminal part of a routing system originating in the uplifted and eroded middle Paleozoic Qinling Belt and adjacent part of the foreland basin.

Crustal structure of central Syria: The intracontinental Palmyride mountain belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Saad, Damen; Sawaf, Tarif; Gebran, Ali; Barazangi, Muawia; Best, John A.; Chaimov, Thomas A.

1992-07-01

Along a 450-km transect across central Syria seismic reflection data, borehole information, potential field data and surface geologic mapping have been combined to examine the crustal structure of the northern Arabian platform beneath Syria. The transect is surrounded by the major plate boundaries of the Middle East, including the Dead Sea transform fault system along the Levantine margin to the west, the Bitlis suture and East Anatolian fault to the north, and the Zagros collisional belt to the northeast and east. Three main tectonic provinces of the northern Arabian platform in Syria are crossed by this transect from south to north: the Rutbah uplift, the Palmyra fold-thrust belt, and the Aleppo plateau. The Rutbah uplift in southern Syria is a broad, domal basement-cored structure with a thick Phanerozoic (mostly Paleozoic) cover of 6-7 km. Isopachs based on well and seismic reflection data indicate that this region was an early Paleozoic depocenter. The Palmyra fold-thrust belt, the northeastern arm of the Syrian Arc, is a northeast-southwest-trending intracontinental mountain belt that acts as a mobile tectonic zone between the relatively stable Rutbah uplift to the south and the less stable Aleppo plateau to the north. Short-wavelength en-echelon folds characterized by relatively steep, faulted southeast flanks dominate in the southwest, most strongly deformed segment of the belt, while a complex system of deeply rooted faults and broad folds characterize the northeastern region, described in this study. The Aleppo plateau lies immediately north of the Palmyride belt, with a combined Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary section that averages 4-5 km in thickness. Although this region appears relatively undeformed on seismic reflection data when compared to Palmyride deformation, a system of near-vertical, probable strike-slip faults crosscut the region in a dominantly northeasterly direction. Gravity and magnetic modeling constrains the deep crustal structure along the transect. The crustal thickness is estimated to be approximately 38 km. Interpretation of the gravity data indicates two different crustal blocks beneath the Rutbah uplift and the Aleppo plateau, and the presence of a crustal-penetrating, high-density body beneath the northeast Palmyrides. The two distinct crustal blocks suggest that they were accreted possibly along a suture zone and/or a major strike-slip fault zone located approximately in the present-day position of the Palmyrides. The age of the accretion is estimated to be Proterozoic or Early Cambrian, based on the observation of a pervasive reflection (interpreted as the Middle Cambrian Burj limestone) in the Rutbah uplift and in the Aleppo plateau and by analogy with the well-mapped Proterozoic sutures of the Arabian shield to the south.

Structural styles of Paleozoic intracratonic fault reactivation: A case study of the Grays Point fault zone in southeastern Missouri, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clendenin, C.W.; Diehl, S.F.

1999-01-01

A pronounced, subparallel set of northeast-striking faults occurs in southeastern Missouri, but little is known about these faults because of poor exposure. The Commerce fault system is the southernmost exposed fault system in this set and has an ancestry related to Reelfoot rift extension. Recent published work indicates that this fault system has a long history of reactivation. The northeast-striking Grays Point fault zone is a segment of the Commerce fault system and is well exposed along the southeast rim of an inactive quarry. Our mapping shows that the Grays Point fault zone also has a complex history of polyphase reactivation, involving three periods of Paleozoic reactivation that occurred in Late Ordovician, Devonian, and post-Mississippian. Each period is characterized by divergent, right-lateral oblique-slip faulting. Petrographic examination of sidwall rip-out clasts in calcite-filled faults associated with the Grays Point fault zone supports a minimum of three periods of right-lateral oblique-slip. The reported observations imply that a genetic link exists between intracratonic fault reactivation and strain produced by Paleozoic orogenies affecting the eastern margin of Laurentia (North America). Interpretation of this link indicate that right-lateral oblique-slip has occurred on all of the northeast-striking faults in southeastern Missouri as a result of strain influenced by the convergence directions of the different Paleozoic orogenies.

Assessment of Appalachian basin oil and gas resources: Utica-Lower Paleozoic Total Petroleum System: Chapter G.10 in Coal and petroleum resources in the Appalachian basin: distribution, geologic framework, and geochemical character

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ryder, Robert T.; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Ryder, Robert T.

2014-01-01

Both conventional oil and gas resources and continuous (unconventional) gas resources are present in the UticaLower Paleozoic TPS. Conventional oil and gas resources in the Utica-Lower Paleozoic TPS were assessed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2002 in the following assessment units (AU): (1) the Lower Paleozoic Carbonates in Thrust Belt AU, (2) the Knox Unconformity AU, (3) the Black River-Trenton Hydrothermal Dolomite AU, and (4) the Lockport Dolomite AU. The total estimated undiscovered oil and gas resources for these four AUs, at a mean value, was about 46 million barrels of oil (MMBO) and about 3 trillion cubic feet of gas (TCFG), respectively. In contrast, continuous (unconventional) gas resources in the TPS were assessed by the USGS in 2002 in four AUs associated with the “Clinton” sandstone, Medina sandstone, Medina Group sandstones, Tuscarora Sandstone, and sandstones in the Queenston Shale. The total estimated undiscovered gas for these four AUs, at a mean value, was about 26.8 TCFG. A hypothetical Utica Shale AU for oil(?) and continuous gas is identified in this report. In 2012, the Utica Shale was recognized by the USGS as a continuous AU and was assessed by Kirschbaum and others (2012).

Geology of the Northern Part of the Harcuvar Complex, West-Central Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bryant, Bruce; Wooden, J.L.

2008-01-01

In west-central Arizona near the northeast margin of the Basin and Range Province, the Rawhide detachment fault separates Tertiary and older rocks lacking significant effects of Tertiary metamorphism from Precambrian, Paleozoic, and Mesozoic rocks in the Harcuvar metamorphic core complex below. Much of the northern part of the Harcuvar complex in the Buckskin and eastern Harcuvar Mountains is layered granitic gneiss, biotite gneiss, amphibolite, and minor pelitic schist that was probably deformed and metamorphosed in Early Proterozoic time. In the eastern Buckskin Mountains, Early and Middle Proterozoic plutons having U-Pb zircon ages of 1,683?6.4 mega-annum (Ma) and 1,388?2.3 Ma, respectively, intruded the layered gneiss. Small plutons of alkaline gabbro and diorite intruded in Late Jurassic time. A sample of mylonitized diorite from this unit has a U-Pb zircon age of 149?2.8 Ma. In the Early Cretaceous, amphibolite facies regional metamorphism was accompanied by partial melting and formation of migmatite. Zircon from a granitic layer in migmatitic gneiss in the eastern Harcuvar Mountains has a U-Pb age of 110?3.7 Ma. In the Late Cretaceous, sills and plutons of the granite of Tank Pass were emplaced in both the Buckskin and eastern Harcuvar Mountains. In the Buckskin Mountains those intrusions are locally numerous enough to form an injection migmatite. A pluton of this granite crops out over almost half the area of the eastern Harcuvar Mountains. Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks were caught as slices along south-vergent Cretaceous thrusts related to the Maria fold and thrust belt and were metamorphosed beneath a thick sheet of Proterozoic crustal rocks. Inception of volcanism and basin formation in upper-plate rocks indicates that regional extension started at about 26 Ma, in late Oligocene. The Swansea Plutonic Suite, composed of rocks ranging from gabbro to granite, intruded the lower-plate rocks in the Miocene and Oligocene(?). Granite and a gabbro from the suite have a U-Pb zircon age of 21.86?0.60 Ma. Previously published 40Ar/39Ar ages of hornblende suggest that some of the Swansea Suite is Oligocene. The felsic rocks contain numerous inclusions ranging from porphyritic granite to porphyritic granodiorite. A sample from one inclusion has a U-Pb zircon age of 1,409?6.3 Ma. A discordia line for the U-Pb zircon data from the Swansea Plutonic Suite has an upper intercept at 1,408?3.4 Ma. The Swansea Plutonic Suite probably formed by interaction between mantle material and plutonic rocks at least as old as Middle Proterozoic. An irregular layer in the middle crust, which is thickest under and adjacent to the Buckskin Mountains, may be the level where that interaction took place. During extensional deformation these rocks and all the older rocks were displaced southwest from beneath the rocks of the Colorado Plateau transition zone below an area extending 50?80 kilometers northeast of the Buckskin Mountains as far as Bagdad, Arizona, or beyond. At that time the rocks were variably mylonitized, and a northeast-trending lineation formed. Much of the evidence for the complex sequence of structural events preserved in these rocks in the western Harcuvar Mountains has been obliterated in the northern Harcuvar complex by Miocene deformation.

Oxygen and evolutionary patterns in the sea: onshore/offshore trends and recent recruitment of deep-sea faunas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacobs, D. K.; Lindberg, D. R.

1998-01-01

Over the last 15 years a striking pattern of diversification has been documented in the fossil record of benthic marine invertebrates. Higher taxa (orders) tend to originate onshore, diversify offshore, and retreat into deep-water environments. Previous studies attribute this macroevolutionary pattern to a variety of causes, foremost among them the role of nearshore disturbance in providing opportunities for the evolution of novel forms accorded ordinal rank. Our analysis of the post-Paleozoic record of ordinal first appearances indicates that the onshore preference of ordinal origination occurred only in the Mesozoic prior to the Turonian stage of the Cretaceous, a period characterized by relatively frequent anoxic/dysoxic bottom conditions in deeper marine environments. Later, in the Cretaceous and Cenozoic, ordinal origination of benthic organisms did not occur exclusively, or even preferentially, in onshore environments. This change in environmental pattern of ordinal origination roughly correlates with Late Cretaceous: (i) decline in anoxia/dysoxia in offshore benthic environments; (ii) extinction of faunas associated with dysoxic conditions; (iii) increase in bioturbation with the expansion of deep burrowing forms into offshore environments; and (iv) offshore expansion of bryozoan diversity. We also advance a separate argument that the Cenomanian/Turonian and latest Paleocene global events eliminated much of the deep-water benthos. This requires a more recent origin of modern vent and deep-sea faunas, from shallower water refugia, than the Paleozoic or early Mesozoic origin of these faunas suggested by other workers.

Significance of "tethyan" fossils in the american cordillera.

PubMed

Newton, C R

1988-10-21

Equatorial faunas of the ancient Tethyan seaway, which extended from western Europe to southeastern Asia, comprise some of the most diverse marine taxa in the fossil record. Comparable or identical "Tethyan" species that occur far from the Tethyan seaway in Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks of the North and South American Cordillera have long been considered as a major biogeographic anomaly. Two leading theories to account for the occurrence of these anomalous "Tethyan" faunas in the Cordillera are that they were transported long distances to the east on tectonic blocks(suspect terranes that originated near the Tethys) or that they migrated westward via undiscovered marine corridors through continental areas of Pangea. An alternative model is that these "Tethyan" fauna were pantropic species that extended with attenuated diversities into the eastern proto-Pacific Ocean. This pantropic model can better account for the distribution patterns of many Paleozoic and early Mesozoic "Tethyan" species in the American Cordillera and provides a steady state hypothesis against which the other models can be tested. The distribution of pre-Cretaceous "Tethyan" faunas is similar to the known pantropic distribution of many Cretaceous and Cenozoic tropical biotas. During the Cenozoic, taxa were most diverse in the Tethys and Indo-West Pacific regions but extended with attenuated diversity to many parts of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, including the west coasts of North and South America. The eastern Pacific occurrence of many Indo-West Pacific species provides a modern analog for the occurrence of many anomalous "Tethyan" fossils in the American Cordillera.

Geologic map of Lake Mead and surrounding regions, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and northwestern Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Felger, Tracey J.; Beard, Sue

2010-01-01

Regional stratigraphic units and structural features of the Lake Mead region are presented as a 1:250,000 scale map, and as a Geographic Information System database. The map, which was compiled from existing geologic maps of various scales, depicts geologic units, bedding and foliation attitudes, faults and folds. Units and structural features were generalized to highlight the regional stratigraphic and tectonic aspects of the geology of the Lake Mead region. This map was prepared in support of the papers presented in this volume, Special Paper 463, as well as to facilitate future investigations in the region. Stratigraphic units exposed within the area record 1800 million years of geologic history and include Proterozoic crystalline rocks, Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, Mesozoic plutonic rocks, Cenozoic volcanic and intrusive rocks, sedimentary rocks and surfi cial deposits. Following passive margin sedimentation in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, late Mesozoic (Sevier) thrusting and Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary compression produced major folding, reverse faulting, and thrust faulting in the Basin and Range, and resulted in regional uplift and monoclinal folding in the Colorado Plateau. Cenozoic extensional deformation, accompanied by sedimentation and volcanism, resulted in large-magnitude high- and low-angle normal faulting and strike-slip faulting in the Basin and Range; on the Colorado Plateau, extension produced north-trending high-angle normal faults. The latest history includes integration of the Colorado River system, dissection, development of alluvial fans, extensive pediment surfaces, and young faulting.

The crustal structures from Wuyi-Yunkai orogen to Taiwan orogen: the onshore-offshore wide-angle seismic experiment of TAIGER and ATSEE projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuochen, H.; Kuo, N. Y. W.; Wang, C. Y.; Jin, X.; Cai, H. T.; Lin, J. Y.; Wu, F. T.; Yen, H. Y.; Huang, B. S.; Liang, W. T.; Okaya, D. A.; Brown, L. D.

2015-12-01

The crustal structure is key information for understanding the tectonic framework and geological evolution in the southeastern China and its adjacent area. In this study, we integrated the data sets from the TAIGER and ATSEE projects to resolve onshore-offshore deep crustal seismic profiles from the Wuyi-Yunkai orogen to the Taiwan orogen in southeastern China. Totally, there are three seismic profiles resolved and the longest profile is 850 km. Unlike 2D and 3D first arrival travel-time tomography from previous studies, we used both refracted and reflected phases (Pg, Pn, PcP, and PmP) to model the crustal structures and the crustal reflectors. 40 shots, 2 earthquakes, and about 1,950 stations were used and 15,319 arrivals were picked among three transects. As a result, the complex crustal evolution since Paleozoic era are shown, which involved the closed Paleozoic rifted basin in central Fujian, the Cenozoic extension due to South China sea opening beneath the coastline of southern Fujian, and the on-going collision of the Taiwan orogen.

Sequential filling of a late paleozoic foreland basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mars', J. C.; Thomas, W.A.

1999-01-01

Through the use of an extensive data base of geophysical well logs, parasequence-scale subdivisions within a late Paleozoic synorogenic clastic wedge resolve cycles of sequential subsidence of a foreland basin, sediment progradation, subsidence of a carbonate shelf edge, diachronously subsiding discrete depositional centers, and basinwide transgression. Although temporal resolution of biostratigraphic markers is less precise in Paleozoic successions than in younger basins, parasequence-scale subdivisions provide more detailed resolution within marker-defined units in Paleozoic strata. As an example, the late Paleozoic Black Warrior basin in the foreland of the Ouachita thrust belt is filled with a synorogenic clastic wedge, the lower part of which intertongues with the fringe of a cratonic carbonate facie??s in the distal part of the basin. The stratal geometry of one tongue of the carbonate facie??s (lower tongue of Bangor Limestone) defines a ramp that grades basinward into a thin black shale. An overlying tongue of the synorogenic clastic wedge (lower tongue of Parkwood Formation) consists of cyclic delta and delta-front deposits, in which parasequences are defined by marine-flooding surfaces above coarsening- and shallow ing-upward successions of mudstone and sandstone. Within the lower Parkwood tongue, two genetic stratigraphie sequences (A and B) are defined by parasequence offlap and downlap patterns and are bounded at the tops by basinwide maximum-flooding surfaces. The distribution of parasequences within sequences A and B indicates two cycles of sequential subsidence (deepening) and progradation, suggesting subsidence during thrust advance and progradation during thrust quiescence. Parasequence stacking in sequences A and B also indicates diachronous differential tectonic subsidence of two discrete depositional centers within the basin. The uppermost sequence (C) includes reworked sandstones and an overlying shallow-marine limestone, a vertical succession that reflects no tectonic subsidence, a very minor or null sediment supply, and basinwide transgression. The temporal resolution at parasequence scale significantly improves the resolution of the tectonic history of the thrust belt-foreland basin system. Copyright ?? 1999, SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology).

Evidence for large-magnitude, post-Eocene extension in the northern Shoshone Range, Nevada, and its implications for Carlin-type gold deposits in the lower plate of the Roberts Mountains allochthon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Colgan, Joseph P.; Henry, Christopher D.; John, David A.

2014-01-01

The northern Shoshone and Toiyabe Ranges in north-central Nevada expose numerous areas of mineralized Paleozoic rock, including major Carlin-type gold deposits at Pipeline and Cortez. Paleozoic rocks in these areas were previously interpreted to have undergone negligible postmineralization extension and tilting, but here we present new data that suggest major post-Eocene extension along west-dipping normal faults. Tertiary rocks in the northern Shoshone Range crop out in two W-NW–trending belts that locally overlie and intrude highly deformed Lower Paleozoic rocks of the Roberts Mountains allochthon. Tertiary exposures in the more extensive, northern belt were interpreted as subvertical breccia pipes (intrusions), but new field data indicate that these “pipes” consist of a 35.8 Ma densely welded dacitic ash flow tuff (informally named the tuff of Mount Lewis) interbedded with sandstones and coarse volcaniclastic deposits. Both tuff and sedimentary rocks strike N-S and dip 30° to 70° E; the steeply dipping compaction foliation in the tuffs was interpreted as subvertical flow foliation in breccia pipes. The southern belt along Mill Creek, previously mapped as undivided welded tuff, includes the tuff of Cove mine (34.4 Ma) and unit B of the Bates Mountain Tuff (30.6 Ma). These tuffs dip 30° to 50° east, suggesting that their west-dipping contacts with underlying Paleozoic rocks (previously mapped as depositional) are normal faults. Tertiary rocks in both belts were deposited on Paleozoic basement and none appear to be breccia pipes. We infer that their present east tilt is due to extension on west-dipping normal faults. Some of these faults may be the northern strands of middle Miocene (ca. 16 Ma) faults that cut and tilted the 34.0 Ma Caetano caldera ~40° east in the central Shoshone Range (

A hypothesis for Proterozoic-Phanerozoic supercontinent cyclicity, with implications for mantle convection, plate tectonics and Earth system evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grenholm, Mikael; Scherstén, Anders

2015-11-01

We present a conceptual model for supercontinent cycles in the Proterozoic-Phanerozoic Eons. It is based on the repetitive behavior of C and Sr isotopes in marine carbonates and U-Pb ages and εHf of detrital zircons seen during the Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic and Paleoproterozoic Eras, respectively. These records are considered to reflect secular changes in global tectonics, and it is hypothesized that the repetitive pattern is caused by the same type of changes in global tectonics. The fundamental premise of this paper is that such repetitive changes should also be recorded in orogenic belts worldwide. This carries the implication that Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic orogenic belts should have Paleoproterozoic equivalents. It is proposed that this is the case for the East African, Uralides and Ouachita-Alleghanian orogens, which have Paleoproterozoic analogs in the West African-Amazon, Laurentian and East European cratons, respectively. The Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic orogenic belts are not isolated features but occur in a specific global context, which correspond to the relatively well-constrained Neoproterozoic break-up of Rodinia, and the subsequent Late Paleozoic assembly of Pangea. The existence of Paleoproterozoic equivalents to Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic orogens requires that the same cycle defined the Paleoproterozoic. We therefore hypothesize that there were Paleoproterozoic supercontinents equivalent to Rodinia and Pangea, and that Proterozoic-Phanerozoic supercontinents are comprised of two basic types of configurations, equivalent to Rodinia (R-type) and Pangea (P-type). The Paleoproterozoic equivalent of Rodinia is likely the first supercontinent to have formed, and Proterozoic-Phanerozoic supercontinent cycles are therefore defined by R- to R-type cycles, each lasting approximately 1.5 Gyr. We use this cyclic pattern as a framework to develop a conceptual model that predicts the configuration and cycles of Proterozoic-Phanerozoic supercontinents, and their relation to mantle convection and Earth system evolution.

Geology and geophysics of the West Nubian Paleolake and the Northern Darfur Megalake (WNPL-NDML): Implication for groundwater resources in Darfur, northwestern Sudan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elsheikh, Ahmed; Abdelsalam, Mohamed G.; Mickus, Kevin

2011-08-01

The recent delineation of a vastly expanded Holocene paleo-lake (the Northern Darfur Megalake which was originally mapped as the West Nubian Paleolake and here will be referred to as WNPL-NDML) in Darfur in northwestern Sudan has renewed hopes for the presence of an appreciable groundwater resource in this hyper-arid region of Eastern Sahara. This paleolake which existed within a closed basin paleo-drainage system might have allowed for the collection of surface water which was subsequently infiltrated to recharge the Paleozoic-Mesozoic Nubian Aquifer. However, the presence of surface exposures of Precambrian crystalline rocks in the vicinity of the paleolake has been taken as indicating the absence of a thick Paleozoic-Mesozoic sedimentary section capable of holding any meaningful quantity of groundwater. This work integrates surface geology and gravity data to show that WNPL-NDML is underlain by NE-trending grabens forming potential local Paleozoic-Mesozoic aquifers that can hold as much as 1120 km 3 of groundwater if the sedimentary rocks are completely saturated. Nevertheless, it is advised here that recharge of the Nubian aquifer under WNPL-NDML is insignificant and that much of the groundwater is fossil water which was accumulated during different geological times much wetter than today's hyper-arid climate in Eastern Sahara. Excessive extraction will lead to quick depletion of this groundwater resource. This will result in lowering of the water table which in turn might lead to the drying out of the oases in the region which provide important habitats for humans, animals and plants in northern Darfur.

The Red Sea Basin Province: Sudr-Nubia(!) and Maqna(!) Petroleum Systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindquist, Sandra J.

1999-01-01

The Sudr-Nubia(!) oil-prone total petroleum system dominates the densely explored Gulf of Suez part of the rifted Red Sea Basin Province. Upper Cretaceous to Eocene source rocks, primarily the Senonian Sudr Formation, are organic-rich, areally uniform marine carbonates that have generated known ultimate recoverable reserves exceeding 11 BBOE. The name Nubia is used for sandstone reservoirs with a wide range of poorly constrained, pre-rift geologic ages ranging from Early Paleozoic to Early Cretaceous. Syn- and post-rift Tertiary reservoirs, especially the Kareem Formation, also contain significant reserves. Partly overlapping Sudr-Nubia(!) is the areally larger and geochemically distinct, oil-and-gas-prone Maqna(!) total petroleum system within the southern Gulf of Suez basin and the sparsely explored remaining Red Sea basin. Known ultimate recoverable reserves are 50-100 MMBOE and more than 900 MMBOE, respectively, in those areas. Both the source and reservoir rocks in this petroleum system are Tertiary, dominantly Miocene, in age. Maqna(!) has the greater potential for future resource development.

Hydrothermal zebra dolomite in the Great Basin, Nevada--attributes and relation to Paleozoic stratigraphy, tectonics, and ore deposits

USGS Publications Warehouse

Diehl, S.F.; Hofstra, A.H.; Koenig, A.E.; Emsbo, P.; Christiansen, W.; Johnson, Chad

2010-01-01

In other parts of the world, previous workers have shown that sparry dolomite in carbonate rocks may be produced by the generation and movement of hot basinal brines in response to arid paleoclimates and tectonism, and that some of these brines served as the transport medium for metals fixed in Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) and sedimentary exhalative (Sedex) deposits of Zn, Pb, Ag, Au, or barite. Numerous occurrences of hydrothermal zebra dolomite (HZD), comprised of alternating layers of dark replacement and light void-filling sparry or saddle dolomite, are present in Paleozoic platform and slope carbonate rocks on the eastern side of the Great Basin physiographic province. Locally, it is associated with mineral deposits of barite, Ag-Pb-Zn, and Au. In this paper the spatial distribution of HZD occurrences, their stratigraphic position, morphological characteristics, textures and zoning, and chemical and stable isotopic compositions were determined to improve understanding of their age, origin, and relation to dolostone, ore deposits, and the tectonic evolution of the Great Basin. In northern and central Nevada, HZD is coeval and cogenetic with Late Devonian and Early Mississippian Sedex Au, Zn, and barite deposits and may be related to Late Ordovician Sedex barite deposits. In southern Nevada and southwest California, it is cogenetic with small MVT Ag-Pb-Zn deposits in rocks as young as Early Mississippian. Over Paleozoic time, the Great Basin was at equatorial paleolatitudes with episodes of arid paleoclimates. Several occurrences of HZD are crosscut by Mesozoic or Cenozoic intrusions, and some host younger pluton-related polymetallic replacement and Carlin-type gold deposits. The distribution of HZD in space (carbonate platform, margin, and slope) and stratigraphy (Late Neoproterozoic Ediacaran-Mississippian) roughly parallels that of dolostone and both are prevalent in Devonian strata. Stratabound HZD is best developed in Ediacaran and Cambrian units, whereas discordant HZD is proximal to high-angle structures at the carbonate platform margin, such as strike-slip and growth faults and dilational jogs. Fabric-selective replacement and dissolution features (e.g., collapse breccias, voids with geopetal textures) are common, with remaining void space lined with light-colored dolomite crystals that exhibit zoning under cathodoluminescence. Zoned crystals usually contain tiny ( ~70 degrees C. The oxygen isotopic compositions of HZD are consistent with formation temperatures of 50-150 degrees C requiring brine circulation to depths of 2-5 km, or more. The few HZD occurrences with the highest concentrations of metals (especially Fe, Mn, and Zn) and the largest isotopic shifts are closely associated with Sedex or MVT deposits known to have formed from hotter brines (e.g., Th > 150-250 degrees C). These relationships permit that HZD formed at about the same time as dolostone, from brines produced by the evaporation of seawater during arid paleoclimates at equatorial paleolatitudes. Both dolostone and HZD may have formed as basinal brines, which migrated seaward from evaporative pans on the platform, with dolostone forming at low temperatures along shallow migration pathways through permeable limestones, and HZD forming at high temperatures along deeper migration pathways through basal aquifers and dilatant high-angle faults. The small MVT deposits were chemical traps where hot brines encountered rocks or fluids containing reduced sulfur. The abundant Sedex deposits mark sites where hot brine discharged at the seafloor in adjacent basins. Thus the distribution of HZD may map deep migration pathways and upflow zones between eastern shallow marine facies, where evaporative brine could have been generated, and western Sedex deposits, where heated brines discharged along faults into platform margin, slope, and basin facies. The small size and scarcity of Pb-Zn depos

Tertiary volcanic rocks and uranium in the Thomas Range and northern Drum Mountains, Juab County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindsey, David A.

1982-01-01

The Thomas Range and northern Drum Mountains have a history of volcanism, faulting, and mineralization that began about 42 m.y. (million years) ago. Volcanic activity and mineralization in the area can be divided into three stages according to the time-related occurrence of rock types, trace-element associations, and chemical composition of mineral deposits. Compositions of volcanic rocks changed abruptly from rhyodacite-quartz latite (42-39 m.y. ago) to rhyolite (38-32 m.y. ago) to alkali rhyolite (21 and 6-7 m.y. ago); these stages correspond to periods of chalcophile and siderophile metal mineralization, no mineralization(?), and lithophile metal mineralization, respectively. Angular unconformities record episodes of cauldron collapse and block faulting between the stages of volcanic activity and mineralization. The youngest angular unconformity formed between 21 and 7 m.y. ago during basin-and-range faulting. Early rhyodacite-quartz latite volcanism from composite volcanoes and fissures produced flows, breccias, and ash-flow tuff of the Drum Mountains Rhyodacite and Mt. Laird Tuff. Eruption of the Mt. Laird Tuff about 39 m.y. ago from an area north of Joy townsite was accompanied by collapse of the Thomas caldera. Part of the roof of the magma chamber did not collapse, or the magma was resurgent, as is indicated by porphyry dikes and plugs in the Drum Mountains. Chalcophile and siderophile metal mineralization, resulting in deposits of copper, gold, and manganese, accompanied early volcanism. Te middle stage of volcanic activity was characterized by explosive eruption of rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs and collapse of the Dugway Valley cauldron. Eruption of the Joy Tuff 38 m.y. ago was accompanied by subsidence of this cauldron and was followed by collapse and sliding of Paleozoic rocks from the west wall of the cauldron. Landslides in The Dell were covered by the Dell Tuff, erupted 32 m.y. ago from an unknown source to the east. An ash flow of the Needles Range(?) Formation was erupted 30-31 m.y. ago from an unknown source. Mineralization probably did not occur during the rhyolitic stage of volcanism. The last stage of volcanism was contemporaneous with basin-and-range faulting and was characterized by explosive eruption of ash and pumice, forming stratified tuff, and by quiet eruption of alkali rhyolite as viscous flows and domes. The first episode of alkali rhyolite volcanism deposited the beryllium tuff and porphyritic rhyolite members of the Spor Mountain Formation 21 m.y. ago. After a period of block faulting, the stratified tuff and alkali rhyolite of the Topaz Mountain Rhyolite were erupted 6-7 m.y. ago along faults and fault intersections. Erosion of Spor Mountain, as well as explosive eruptions through dolomite, provided abundant dolomite detritus to the beryllium tuff member. The alkali rhyolite of both formations is fluorine rich, as is evident from abundant topaz, and contains anomalous amounts of lithophile metals. Alkali rhyolite volcanism was accompanied by lithophile metal mineralization which deposited fluorite, beryllium, and uranium. The structure of the area is dominated by the Thomas caldera and the younger Dugway Valley cauldron, which is nested within the Thomas caldera; the Thomas caldera is surrounded by a rim of Paleozoic rocks at Spor Mountain and Paleozoic to Precambrian rocks in the Drum Mountains. The Joy fault and Dell fault system mark the ring-fracture zone of the Thomas caldera. These structural features began to form about 39 m.y. ago during eruption of the Mt. Laird Tuff and caldera subsidence. The Dugway Valley cauldron sank along a series of steplike normal faults southeast of Topaz Mountain in response to collapse of the magma chamber of the Joy Tuff. Caldera structure was modified by block faulting between 21 and 7 m.y. ago, the time of widespread extensional faulting in the Basin and Range Province. Vents erupted alkali rhyolite 6-7 m.y. ago along basin-and-range faults.

A Three-Component Seismic Refraction Survey in Northwestern Arizona

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-01-31

the Pacific Plate-North American Plate boundary. The area of investigation (see Figure 1) stretches 900 kin across the Pacific Ocean , southern...50 32. Speed, R.C. (1979) Collided Paleozoic Microplate in the Western United States, J. of Geol. 87:279-292. 33. Schweichert. R.A. and Cowan, D.S...72:1-50 32. Speed, R.C. (1979) Coilided Paleozoic Microplate in the Western United States, J. of Geol. 87:279-292. 33. Schweichert, R.A. and Cowan, D.S

A paleozoic pangaea.

PubMed

Boucot, A J; Gray, J

1983-11-11

Paleozoic paleogeographies should be consistent with all available, reliable data. However, comparison of three different Devonian paleogeographies that are based largely or wholly on the data of remanent magnetism show them to be inconsistent in many regards. When these three paleogeographies are provided with possible ocean surface current circulation patterns, and have added to them lithofacies and biogeographic data, they also are shown to be inconsistent with such data. A pangaeic reconstruction positioned in the Southern Hemisphere permits the lithofacies and biogeographical data to be reconciled in a plausible manner.

Environmental trends in extinction during the Paleozoic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepkoski, J. John, Jr.

1987-01-01

Extinction intensities calculated from 505 Paleozoic marine assemblages divided among six environmental zones and 40 stratigraphic intervals indicate that whole communities exhibit increasing extinction offshore but that genera within individual taxonomic classes tend to have their highest extinction onshore. The offshore trend at the community level results from a concentration of genera in classes with low characteristic extinction rates in nearshore environments. This finding is consistent with the ecologic expectation that organisms inhabiting unpredictably fluctuating environments should suffer more extinction than counterparts living under more predictably equitable conditions.

Pre-mesozoic palinspastic reconstruction of the eastern great basin (Western United States).

PubMed

Levy, M; Christie-Blick, N

1989-09-29

The Great Basin of the western United States has proven important for studies of Proterozoic and Paleozoic geology [2500 to 245 million years ago (Ma)] and has been central to the development of ideas about the mechanics of crustal shortening and extension. An understanding of the deformational history of this region during Mesozoic and Cenozoic time (245 Ma to the present) is required for palinspastic reconstruction of now isolated exposures of older geology in order to place these in an appropriate regional geographic context. Considerable advances in unraveling both the crustal shortening that took place during Mesozoic to early Cenozoic time (especially from about 150 to 50 Ma) and the extension of the past 37 million years have shown that earlier reconstructions need to be revised significantly. A new reconstruction is developed for rocks of middle Proterozoic to Early Cambrian age based on evidence that total shortening by generally east-vergent thrusts and folds was at least 104 to 135 kilometers and that the Great Basin as a whole accommodated approximately 250 kilometers of extension in the direction 287 degrees +/- 12 degrees between the Colorado Plateau and the Sierra Nevada. Extension is assumed to be equivalent at all latitudes because available paleomagnetic evidence suggests that the Sierra Nevada experienced little or no rotation with respect to the extension direction since the late Mesozoic. An estimate of the uncertainty in the amount of extension obtained from geological and paleomagnetic uncertainties increases northward from +/-56 kilometers at 36 degrees 30N to (-87)(+108) kilometers at 40 degrees N. On the basis of the reconstruction, the original width of the preserved part of the late Proterozoic and Early Cambrian basin was about 150 to 300 kilometers, about 60 percent of the present width, and the basin was oriented slightly more north-south with respect to present-day coordinates.

Initiation and evolution of the Arabia-Eurasia collision in the Caucasus region constrained by detrital zircon geochronology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tye, A. R.; Niemi, N. A.

2016-12-01

The Greater Caucasus (GC) mountain range is composed of thrust sheets of Paleozoic (Pz) - Mesozoic (Mz) flysch. Crystalline basement is exposed in the western part of the range, but not in the eastern. Detrital zircon ages from Eocene - recent foreland strata to the south of the western GC in Georgia suggest sediment sourcing from GC basement or Pz strata since Eocene time, requiring significant exhumation prior to or coincident with the onset of Arabia-Eurasia collision 30 Ma. We sampled foreland basin sedimentary rocks and modern river sands whose catchment areas together span the potential source rocks exposed in the western Greater Caucasus (GC) in Georgia. We find that GC basement rocks and lower Pz strata contain a diagnostic 450 Ma zircon population that is absent from the upper Pz and Mz sedimentary strata that are exposed throughout most of the range. These 450 Ma zircons are from an unknown source with an age distinct from the Hercynian ( 300 Ma) and Pan-African ( 600 Ma) orogens. Despite their absence in late Pz and Mz strata, the 450 Ma zircons are prevalent in Eocene - recent foreland basin deposits, whose ages were determined biostratigraphically [1]. Paleocurrent directions also indicate a GC source for Eocene strata [2], necessitating early Cenozoic exposure of GC basement or Pz strata. Exposing GC basement or Pz strata during Eocene time requires erosional removal of >3500 m of Mesozoic and late Paleozoic strata [1]. The detrital zircon age observations suggest that erosional removal of these strata took place prior to the initiation of the Arabia-Eurasia collision at 30 Ma and well before the ongoing episode of rapid GC exhumation and erosion from 5 Ma - present. Foreland basin detrital zircon ages also reveal a lack of input from Late Cretaceous to Paleogene volcanism of the Adjara-Trialet zone. This finding is consistent with the existence of a Paleogene ocean basin between the Greater Caucasus and Lesser Caucasus wide enough to prevent transport of sand sized sediments from one side to the other. References[1] Gamkrelidze, P. D., & I. R. Kakhazdze (1959), K-38-VII, Min. Geol. Min. Prot. USSR. [2] Vincent, S. J., et al. (2007). Terra Nova, 19(2), 160-166. [3] Avdeev, B., & Niemi, N. A. (2011). Tectonics, 30(2), TC2009[4] Nalivkin, D. V. (1976). Geologic Map of the Caucasus, 1:500000.

Ground water in Tooele Valley, Tooele County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thomas, H.E.

1946-01-01

Tooele Valley is a typical basin of the Basin and Range Province located about 30 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. It is roughly 15 miles long and 10 miles wide and has a population of about 7,000. Bordered on the west by the Stansbury Range, on the east by the Oquirrh Range, and on the south by South Mountain, it opens northward to Great Salt Lake. The bordering mountain ranges are formed by Paleozoic rocks ranging in age from Lower Cambrian to Pennsylvanian but with the Ordovician and Silurian periods unrepresented. There is no sedimentary record of the interval between Pennsylvanian and Tertiary times, and the Tertiary, Quaternary, and Recent sediments are of continental origin. These continental deposits play the dominant role in the ground-water hydrology of the basin, and were mapped and studied in detail. Pleistocene sediments are of major importance because they form the surface rock over most of the area, and give rise to conditions which yield water by artesian flow in the lower part of the valley.The development of the present land forms in this area began with the folding of Paleozoic and probably Mesozoic sediments during the Laramide revolution. The cycle of highland erosion and lowland deposition thus initiated has continued through recurrent uplift along Basin-Range faults to the present day. The principal physiographic subdivisions of the valley were developed as a result of the Basin-Range faulting, which began early in the Tertiary and has continued to Recent times.There are about 1,100 wells in Tooele Valley, about 90 per cent of which yield or have yielded water by artesian flow. Most of them are located in the lower part of the valley below an altitude of 4,400 feet. These wells and many of the springs derive their water from the unconsolidated Quaternary sediments, which include discontinuous, lenticular and commonly elongated bodies of sand, clay, gravel, and boulders of alluvial origin alternating and inter-fingered with lacustrine beds of the same materials which are more regularly stratified and better assorted. The larger springs are intimately related to the bedding planes and faults in the bedrock and alluvial formations. The well assorted sands and gravels deposited along the shore lines of Lake Bonneville are important as recharge areas for the artesian reservoir.

A Model for Earth's Mantle Dynamic History for The Last 500 Ma and Its Implications for Continental Vertical Motions and Geomagnetism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, S.; Olson, P.; Zhang, N.

2012-12-01

Seismic tomography studies indicate that the Earth's mantle structure is characterized by African and Pacific seismically slow velocity anomalies (i.e., thermochemical piles) and circum Pacific seismically fast anomalies (i.e., degree 2) in the lower mantle. Mantle convection calculations including plate motion history for the last 120 Ma suggest that these degree 2 thermochemical structures result from plate subduction history (e.g., McNamara and Zhong, 2005). Given the important controls of mantle structure and dynamics on surface tectonics and volcanism and geodynamo in the core, an important question is the long-term evolution of mantle structures, for example, was the mantle structure in the past similar to the present-day's degree 2 structure, or significantly different from the present day? To address this question, we constructed a proxy model of plate motions for the African hemisphere for the last 450 Ma using the paleogeographic reconstruction of continents constrained by paleomagnetic and geological observations (e.g., Pangea assembly and breakup). Coupled with assumed oceanic plate motions for the Pacific hemisphere before 120 Ma, this proxy model for the plate motion history is used in three dimensional spherical models of mantle convection to study the evolution of mantle structure since the Early Paleozoic. Our model calculations reproduce well the present day degree 2 mantle structure including the African and Pacific thermochemical piles, and present-day surface heat flux, bathymetry and dynamic topography. Our results suggest that while the mantle in the African hemisphere before the assembly of Pangea is dominated by the cold downwelling structure resulting from plate convergence between Gondwana and Laurussia, it is unlikely that the bulk of the African superplume structure can be formed before ˜230 Ma. Particularly, the last 120 Ma plate motion plays an important role in generating the African thermochemical pile. We reconstruct temporal evolution of the surface and CMB heat fluxes and continental vertical motions since the Paleozoic. The predicted vertical motion histories for the Slave and Kaapvaal cratons are consistent with those inferred from thermochronology studies. The predicted CMB heat fluxes were used as time-dependent boundary conditions for geodynamo simulations. And the geodynamo modelling shows that the time-dependent CMB heat fluxes may explain to the first order the frequencies of geomagnetic polarity reversals (e.g., superchrons).

Geologic map of the west half of the Blythe 30' by 60' quadrangle, Riverside County, California and La Paz County, Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stone, Paul

2006-01-01

The Blythe 30' by 60' quadrangle is located along the Colorado River between southeastern California and western Arizona. This map depicts the geology of the west half of the Blythe quadrangle, which is mostly in California. The map area is a desert terrain consisting of mountain ranges surrounded by extensive alluvial fans and plains, including the flood plain of the Colorado River which covers the easternmost part of the area. Mountainous parts of the area, including the Big Maria, Little Maria, Riverside, McCoy, and Mule Mountains, consist of structurally complex rocks that range in age from Proterozoic to Miocene. Proterozoic gneiss and granite are overlain by Paleozoic to Early Jurassic metasedimentary rocks (mostly marble, quartzite, and schist) that are lithostratigraphically similar to coeval formations of the Colorado Plateau region to the east. The Paleozoic to Jurassic strata were deposited on the tectonically stable North American craton. These rocks are overlain by metamorphosed Jurassic volcanic rocks and are intruded by Jurassic plutonic rocks that represent part of a regionally extensive, northwest-trending magmatic arc. The overlying McCoy Mountains Formation, a very thick sequence of weakly metamorphosed sandstone and conglomerate of Jurassic(?) and Cretaceous age, accumulated in a rapidly subsiding depositional basin south of an east-trending belt of deformation and east of the north-trending Cretaceous Cordilleran magmatic arc. The McCoy Mountains Formation and older rocks were deformed, metamorphosed, and locally intruded by plutonic rocks in the Late Cretaceous. In Oligocene(?) to Miocene time, sedimentary and minor volcanic deposits accumulated locally, and the area was deformed by faulting. Tertiary rocks and their Proterozoic basement in the Riverside and northeastern Big Maria Mountains are in the upper plate of a low-angle normal (detachment) fault that lies within a region of major Early to Middle Miocene crustal extension. Surficial deposits of the flanking alluvial fans and plains range in age from late Miocene to Holocene. Among the oldest of these deposits are limestone and fine-grained clastic sediments of the late Miocene and (or) Pliocene Bouse Formation, which is commonly interpreted to represent an estuary or marine embayment connected to the proto-Gulf of California. Most of the surficial deposits younger than the Bouse Formation are composed of alluvium either derived from local mountain ranges or transported into the area by the Colorado River. Large parts of the area, particularly near the northern margin, are covered by eolian sand, and small parts are covered by playa sediments.

Plume type ophiolites in Japan, East Russia and Mongolia: Peculiarity of the Late Jurassic examples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishiwatari, Akira; Ichiyama, Yuji; Ganbat, Erdenesaikhan

2013-04-01

Dilek and Furnes (2011; GSAB) provided a new comprehensive classification of ophiolites. In addition to the mid-ocean ridge (MOR) and supra-subduction zone (SSZ) types that are known for decades, they introduced rift-zone (passive margin) type, volcanic arc (active margin) type, and plume type. The last type is thought to be originated in oceanic large igneous provinces (LIPs; oceanic plateaus), and is preserved in the subduction-accretion complexes in the Pacific margins. The LIP-origin greenstones occur in the Middle Paleozoic (Devonian) accretionary complex (AC) in central Mongolia (Ganbat et al. 2012; AGU abst.). The Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic plume-type ophiolites are abundant in Japan. They are Carboniferous greenstones covered by thick limestone in the Akiyoshi belt (Permian AC, SW Japan; Tatsumi et al., 2000; Geology), Permian greenstones in the Mino-Tamba belt (Jurassic AC, SW Japan; Ichiyama et al. 2008; Lithos), and Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous greenstone in the Sorachi (Hokkaido; Ichiyama et al, 2012; Geology) and Mikabu (SW Japan; this study) belts. The LIP origin of these greenstones is indicated by abundance of picrite (partly komatiite and meimechite), geochemical features resembling HIMU basalts (e.g. high Nb/Y and Zr/Y) and Mg-rich (up to Fo93) picritic olivines following the "mantle array", suggesting very high (>1600oC) temperature of the source mantle plume. The Sorachi-Mikabu greenstones are characterized by the shorter time interval between magmatism and accretion than the previous ones, and are coeval with the meimechite lavas and Alaskan-type ultramafic intrusions in the Jurassic AC in Sikhote-Alin Mountains of Primorye (E. Russia), that suggest a superplume activity in the subduction zone (Ishiwatari and Ichiyama, 2004; IGR). The Mikabu greenstones extend for 800 km along the Pacific coast of SW Japan, and are characterized by the fragmented "olistostrome" occurrence of the basalts, gabbros and ultramafic cumulate rocks (but no mantle peridotite), suggesting tectonism in a sediment-starved subduction zone or a transform fault zone that transected the thick oceanic LIP crust. The Sorachi greenstones are associated with depleted mantle peridotite, and are covered by the thick Cretaceous turbidite formation (Yezo Group), and Takashima et al. (2002; JAES) concluded the marginal basin origin for the "Sorachi ophiolite". We know that some oceanic LIPs were developed into marginal basins (e.g. Caribbean basin). The Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous greenstone belts of Japan and eastern Russia may represent relics of a 2000 km-size superplume activity that hit the subduction zone and the adjacent ocean floor in NW Pacific.

Cierco Pb-Zn-Ag vein deposits: Isotopic and fluid inclusion evidence for formation during the mesozoic extension in the pyrenees of Spain

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, C.A.; Cardellach, E.; Tritlla, J.; Hanan, B.B.

1996-01-01

The Cierco Pb-Zn-Ag vein deposits, located in the central Pyrenees of Spain, crosscut Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks and are in close proximity to Hercynian granodiorite dikes and plutons. Galena and sphalerite in the deposits have average ??34S values of -4.3 and -0.8 per mil (CDT), respectively. Coexisting mineral pairs give an isotopic equilibration temperature range of 89?? to 163??C which overlaps with the 112?? to 198??C range obtained from primary fluid inclusions. Coexisting quartz has a ??18O value of 19 ?? 1 per mil (VSMOW). The fluid which deposited these minerals is inferred to have had ??18OH2o and ??34SH2s values of 5 ?? 1 and -1 ?? 1 per mil, respectively. Chemical and microthermometric analyses of fluid inclusions in quartz and sphalerite indicate salinities of 3 to 29 wt percent NaCl equiv with Na+ and Ca2+ as the dominant cations in solution. The Br/Cl and I/Cl ratios differ from those characteristic of magmatic waters and pristine seawater, but show some similarity to those observed in deep ground waters in crystalline terranes, basinal brines, and evaporated seawater, Barite, which postdates the sulfides, spans isotopic ranges of 13 to 21 per mil, 10 to 15 per mil, and 0.7109 to 0.7123 for ??34S, ??18O, and 87Sr/86Sr, respectively. The three parameters are correlated providing strong evidence that the barites are products of fluid mixing. We propose that the Cierco deposits formed along an extensional fault system at the margin of a marine basin during the breakup of Pangea at some time between the Early Triassic and Early Cretaceous. Sulfide deposition corresponded to an upwelling of hydrothermal fluid from the Paleozoic basement and was limited by the amount of metals carried by the fluid. Barite deposition corresponded to the waning of upward flow and the collapse of sulfate-rich surface waters onto the retreating hydrothermal plume. Calcite precipitated late in the paragenesis as meteoric or marine waters descended into the fault system, possibly during a regression in the overlying basin. There are other deposits resembling Cierco elsewhere in the Iberian peninsula. Taken as a group, they are evidence that hydrothermal circulation systems were widespread during Mesozoic extension. Differences among the deposits can be related to the fact that H2S and other solutes had local and variable sources.

Global Analysis of the Shallow Geology of Large-Scale Ocean Slopes.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-05-01

nannoplankton. Ben- thonic forams are common in lesser amounts and pteropods may occur in warm climates at depths less than 3000 m. Siliceous...Foraminifera and nannoplankton dominate. In warm waters, carbo- nate reefs may grow in shallow depths on the tops of subsiding volcanoes (Menard...Paleozoic E Eocene A A Horizon O Oligocene Where two labels ore hyphenated (ie. M-E), the time boundary dates between the two ages. - Acoustic Basement

Paleomagnetic study of the northern Ford Ranges, western Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica: Motion between West and East Antarctica

USGS Publications Warehouse

Luyendyk, B.; Cisowski, S.; Smith, C.; Richard, S.; Kimbrough, D.

1996-01-01

A paleomagnetic study of Paleozoic and Mesozoic crystalline rocks in the northern Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, has determined a middle Cretaceous (circa 100 Ma) paleomagnetic pole and provided constraints on possible clockwise rotation of these ranges and on the rifting of east Gondwana. The 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology data from the Fosdick Mountains record a period of rapid cooling from ???700??C beginning at ???100 Ma. We relate this to extension, intrusion, and uplift associated with the beginning of rifting between Campbell Plateau and Marie Byrd Land. All rocks from the Fosdick and Chester Mountains are normally polarized. We interpret thermochronology and paleomagnetic data to infer that the region was extensively remagnetized in middle Cretaceous time. Inclinations in samples from the Chester Mountains are less steep than those from the Fosdick Mountains, which we interpret as ???25?? of south tilting of the Chesters. We interpret cooling age data for the time of magnetization to infer that the tilting began after 105 Ma and ended prior to 103 Ma. We further interpret this as constraining the beginning of extension between the Campbell Plateau and western Marie Byrd Land to the interval 105 to 103 Ma. Virtual geomagnetic poles from samples of Early Carboniferous age granodiorite from the western Phillips Mountains lie on the late Paleozoic apparent polar wander path for Australia transferred to Antarctica. Directions from 29 sites in the central and eastern Phillips and Fosdick Mountains give a Middle Cretaceous paleomagnetic pole at 222.3?? E, 70.5?? S (A95 6.1??, KAPPA 20.0). This pole is indistinguishable from other Middle Cretaceous poles for studies further east in Marie Byrd Land. Combining middle Cretaceous poles determined for three other studies of the Antarctic Peninsula. Thurston Island, and the Ruppert-Hobbs coasts with ours gives a Pacific West Antarctic pole at 215.2?? E, 73.5?? S (A95 4.0??, KAPPA 528.9). This pole is discordant by 5?? to 10?? from synthetic mid-Cretaceous East Antarctic reference poles, but the degree of discordance is very sensitive to the choice of the specific reference pole. The lack of native East Antarctic reference poles leaves this analysis inconclusive. Accepting 10?? of discordance, we favor an interpretation where Pacific West Antarctic crustal domains or microplates have rotated clockwise 40?? to 90?? and translated a few degrees away from East Antarctica during Late Cretaceous time.

Crustal structure in the Elko-Carlin Region, Nevada, during Eocene gold mineralization: Ruby-East Humboldt metamorphic core complex as a guide to the deep crust

USGS Publications Warehouse

Howard, K.A.

2003-01-01

The deep crustal rocks exposed in the Ruby-East Humboldt metamorphic core complex, northeastern Nevada, provide a guide for reconstructing Eocene crustal structure ~50 km to the west near the Carlin trend of gold deposits. The deep crustal rocks, in the footwall of a west-dipping normal-sense shear system, may have underlain the Pinon and Adobe Ranges about 50 km to the west before Tertiary extension, close to or under part of the Carlin trend. Eocene lakes formed on the hanging wall of the fault system during an early phase of extension and may have been linked to a fluid reservoir for hydrothermal circulation. The magnitude and timing of Paleogene extension remain indistinct, but dikes and tilt axes in the upper crust indicate that spreading was east-west to northwest-southeast, perpendicular to a Paleozoic and Mesozoic orogen that the spreading overprinted. High geothermal gradients associated with Eocene or older crustal thinning may have contributed to hydrothermal circulation in the upper crust. Late Eocene eruptions, upper crustal dike intrusion, and gold mineralization approximately coincided temporally with deep intrusion of Eocene sills of granite and quartz diorite and shallower intrusion of the Harrison Pass pluton into the core-complex rocks. Stacked Mesozoic nappes of metamorphosed Paleozoic and Precambrian rocks in the core complex lay at least 13 to 20 km deep in Eocene time, on the basis of geobarometry studies. In the northern part of the complex, the presently exposed rocks had been even deeper in the late Mesozoic, to >30 km depths, before losing part of their cover by Eocene time. Nappes in the core plunge northward beneath the originally thicker Mesozoic tectonic cover in the north part of the core complex. Mesozoic nappes and tectonic wedging likely occupied the thickened midlevel crustal section between the deep crustal core-complex intrusions and nappes and the overlying upper crust. These structures, as well as the subsequent large-displacement Cenozoic extensional faulting and flow in the deep crust, would be expected to blur the expression of any regional structural roots that could correlate with mineral belts. Structural mismatch of the mineralized upper crust and the tectonically complex middle crust suggests that the Carlin trend relates not to subjacent deeply penetrating rooted structures but to favorable upper crustal host rocks aligned within a relatively coherent regional block of upper crust.

Revisions to the original extent of the Devonian Shale-Middle and Upper Paleozoic Total Petroleum System

USGS Publications Warehouse

Enomoto, Catherine B.; Rouse, William A.; Trippi, Michael H.; Higley, Debra K.

2016-04-11

Technically recoverable undiscovered hydrocarbon resources in continuous accumulations are present in Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian strata in the Appalachian Basin Petroleum Province. The province includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. The Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian strata are part of the previously defined Devonian Shale-Middle and Upper Paleozoic Total Petroleum System (TPS) that extends from New York to Tennessee. This publication presents a revision to the extent of the Devonian Shale-Middle and Upper Paleozoic TPS. The most significant modification to the maximum extent of the Devonian Shale-Middle and Upper Paleozoic TPS is to the south and southwest, adding areas in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi where Devonian strata, including potential petroleum source rocks, are present in the subsurface up to the outcrop. The Middle to Upper Devonian Chattanooga Shale extends from southeastern Kentucky to Alabama and eastern Mississippi. Production from Devonian shale has been established in the Appalachian fold and thrust belt of northeastern Alabama. Exploratory drilling has encountered Middle to Upper Devonian strata containing organic-rich shale in west-central Alabama. The areas added to the TPS are located in the Valley and Ridge, Interior Low Plateaus, and Appalachian Plateaus physiographic provinces, including the portion of the Appalachian fold and thrust belt buried beneath Cretaceous and younger sediments that were deposited on the U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain.

Lower paleozoic of Baltic Area

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Haselton, T.M.; Surlyk, F.

The Baltic Sea offers a new and exciting petroleum play in northwestern Europe. The Kaliningrad province in the Soviet Union, which borders the Baltic Sea to the east, contains an estimated 3.5 billion bbl of recoverable oil from lower Paleozoic sandstones. To the south, in Poland, oil and gas fields are present along a trend that projects offshore into the Baltic. Two recent Petrobaltic wells in the southern Baltic have tested hydrocarbons from lower Paleozoic sandstone. Minor production comes from Ordovician reefs on the Swedish island of Gotland in the western Baltic. The Baltic synclise, which began subsiding in themore » late Precambrian, is a depression in the East European platform. Strate dip gently to the south where the Baltic Synclise terminates against a structurally complex border zone. Depth to the metamorphosed Precambrian basement is up to 4,000 m. Overlying basement is 200-300 m of upper Precambrian arkosic sandstone. The Lower Cambrian consists of shallow marine quartzites. During Middle and Late Camnbrian, restricted circulation resulted in anoxic conditions and the deposition of Alum shale. The Lower Ordovician consists of quartzites and shale. The Upper Ordovician includes sandstones and algal reefs. The Silurian contains marginal carbonates and shales. For the last 25 years, exploration in northwest Europe has concentrated on well-known Permian sandstone, Jurassic sandstone, and Cretaceous chalk plays. Extrapolation of trends known and exploited in eastern Europe could open an entirely new oil province in the lower Paleozoic in the Baltic.« less

Spatial heterogeneity in sulfur isotopes: implications for modern environments and paleoenvironmental reconstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fike, D. A.; Jones, D. S.; Fischer, W. W.

2011-12-01

Sulfur isotope ratio data have been used to provide significant insights into global biogeochemical cycling over Earth history. In addition to providing a framework for the construction of global redox budgets, these observations also provide the primary constraints on the advent and environmental importance of particular microbial metabolisms. As the chemostratigraphic record has become better resolved in space and time, however, reports of coeval discordant data are increasingly common - both within and between individual sedimentary basins. If accurate, this variability challenges our understanding of the first order behavior of the 'global' sulfur biogeochemical cycle. Some of this discordance may be due to spatial gradients in important oceanographic parameters; however, we think that a more likely culprit is ongoing microbial metabolic activity (that impacts the isotopic composition recorded by geological samples) during both syndepositional sediment reworking and early diagenetic lithification. Modern studies have recently highlighted the efficacy with which microbial activity during sediment remobilization can dramatically alter isotopic profiles. Further, the magnitude of local, microbially driven variations in S isotopes in modern sediments is sufficiently large that uneven incorporation of these signatures during deposition and lithification can explain much of the observed discordance in chemostratigraphic reconstructions of sulfur cycling. Here we attempt to link spatial variability in the sedimentary rock record with understanding of modern microbial systems operating in marine sediments. To that end we examine chemostratigraphic records of sulfur isotope (δ34S) data spanning the terminal Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic eras and assess their scales of spatial reproducibility. We can gain insight into interpreting the observed patterns in these records by examining modern (bio)sedimentary environments. This understanding also allows us to reflect on and refine time series isotope ratio data that constrain the behavior of the sulfur cycle over long timescales.

The Case for Pangea B: Paleomagnetic Contributions from Adria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muttoni, G.

2004-12-01

The pre-drift Wegenerian model of Pangea is almost universally accepted, but debate exists on its pre-Jurassic configuration since Ted Irving introduced Pangea B. We review Permian and recently acquired Jurassic-Cretaceous paleomagnetic data from para-autochthonous regions of Adria such as the Southern Alps, which we show to be broadly consistent with "African" APWPs. Paleomagnetic data from para-autochthonous Adria can therefore be used to bolster the Gondwana APWP in the poorly known Late Permian-Triassic time interval. Adria paleopoles are integrated with the Gondwana and Laurasia APWPs and used to generate a tectonic model for the evolution of Pangea. The Early Permian paleopole of Adria from radiometrically dated igneous rocks, in conjunction with the coeval Gondwana and Laurasia paleopoles again from igneous rocks, support Pangea B. The use of paleomagnetic data strictly from igneous rocks excludes artifacts from sedimentary inclination error as a contributing explanation for Pangea B. The ultimate option to reject Pangea B is to introduce a significant zonal octupole component in the Late Paleozoic time-averaged geomagnetic field. Our dataset consisting entirely of paleomagnetic directions with low inclinations from sampling sites confined to one hemisphere show that the effects of a zonal octupole field contribution cannot explain away the paleomagnetic evidence for Pangea B. We therefore regard the paleomagnetic evidence for an Early Permian Pangea B as robust. Because the Late Permian/Early Triassic and the Middle/early Late Triassic paleopoles from Adria and Laurussia support Pangea A, the phase of transcurrent motion between Laurasia and Gondwana that caused the Pangea B to A transition occurred essentially in the Permian. It took place after the cooling of the Variscan mega-suture and lasted ~20 m.y., with an average relative plate velocity of approximately 15 cm/yr. Finally, we review geological and paleomagnetic evidence in support of an intra-Pangea dextral megashear system. In particular, we present paleomagnetic data from Corsica and Sardinia that, during the Permian, were presumably caught into the transcurrent plate boundaries between Gondwana and Laurasia and dissected away in variably rotated crustal blocks.

Time-slice maps showing age, distribution, and style of deformation in Alaska north of 60° N.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Thomas E.; Box, Stephen E.

2016-08-29

The structural architecture of Alaska is the product of a complex history of tectonism that occurred along the Cordilleran and Arctic margins of North America through interactions with ancient and modern ocean plates and with continental elements derived from Laurentia, Siberia, and Baltica. To unravel the tectonic history of Alaska, we constructed maps showing the age, distribution, structural style, and kinematics of contractional and penetrative extensional deformation in Alaska north of latitude 60° N. at a scale of 1:5,000,000. These maps use the Geologic Map of the Arctic (Harrison and others, 2011) as a base map and follow the guidelines in the Tectonic Map of the Arctic project (Petrov and others, 2013) for construction, including use of the International Commission on Stratigraphy time scale (Cohen and others, 2013) divided into 20 time intervals. We find evidence for deformation in 14 of the 20 time intervals and present maps showing the known or probable extent of deformation for each time interval. Maps and descriptions of deformational style, age constraints, kinematics, and information sources for each deformational episode are discussed in the text and are reported in tabular form. This report also contains maps showing the lithologies and structural geology of Alaska, a terrane map, and the distribution of tectonically important units including post-tectonic sedimentary basins, accretionary complexes, ophiolites, metamorphic rocks.These new maps show that most deformational belts in Alaska are relatively young features, having developed during the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The oldest episode of deformation recognized anywhere in Alaska is found in the basement of the Farewell terrane (~1.75 Ga). Paleozoic and early Mesozoic deformational events, including Devonian deformation in the Arctic Alaska terrane, Pennsylvanian deformation in the Alexander terrane, Permian deformation in the Yukon Composite (Klondike orogeny) and Farewell terranes (Browns Fork orogeny), Early and Late Jurassic deformation in the Peninsular-Wrangellia terranes, and Early Cretaceous deformation in northern Alaska (early Brookian orogeny) show that within-terrane amalgamation events occurred prior to assembly of Alaska. Widespread episodes of deformation in the Late Cretaceous and early Cenozoic, in contrast, affected multiple terranes, indicating they occurred during or following the time of assembly of most of Alaska.The primary deformational event in northern Alaska was the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous (early) Brookian orogeny, which affected most terranes north and west of the early Cenozoic Tintina, Victoria Creek, Kaltag, and Poorman dextral-slip faults in central Alaska. In southern Alaska, formation of the southern Alaska accretionary complex (Chugach, Prince William, Yakutat terranes) and associated magmatism in the Peninsular-Wrangellia terrane began near the Triassic-Jurassic boundary and continued episodically throughout the remainder of the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic. The collision of these terranes with the Farewell and Yukon Composite terranes in central Alaska is recorded by contractional deformation that emanated from the intervening basins in the Late Cretaceous. The boundary between northern and central Alaska is constrained to late Early Cretaceous but is enigmatic and not obviously marked by contractional deformation. Early Cenozoic shortening and transpressional deformation is the most widespread event recorded in Alaska and produced the widespread late Brookian orogenic event in northern Alaska. Middle and late Cenozoic shortening and transpression is significant in southern Alaska inboard of the underthrusting Yakutat terrane at the Pacific margin subduction zone as well as in northeastern Alaska.

Evolution of the Sibişel Shear Zone (South Carpathians): A study of its type locality near Răşinari (Romania) and tectonic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ducea, Mihai N.; Negulescu, Elena; Profeta, Lucia; Sǎbǎu, Gavril; Jianu, Denisa; Petrescu, Lucian; Hoffman, Derek

2016-09-01

The Sibişel Shear Zone is a 1-3 km wide, ductile shear zone located in the South Carpathian Mountains, Romania. In the Rășinari area, the ductile shear zone juxtaposes amphibolite facies rocks of the Lotru Metamorphic Suite against greenschist facies rocks of the Râuşorul Cisnădioarei Formation. The first represents the eroded remnants of Peri-Gondwanan arcs formed between the Neoproterozoic-Silurian (650-430 Ma), regionally metamorphosed to amphibolite facies during the Variscan orogeny (350-320 Ma). The second is composed of metasedimentary and metavolcanic Neoproterozoic-Ordovician (700-497 Ma) assemblages of mafic to intermediate bulk composition also resembling an island arc metamorphosed during the Ordovician (prior to 463 Ma). Between these lie the epidote amphibolite facies mylonitic and ultramylonitic rocks of the Sibișel Formation, a tectonic mélange dominated by mafic actinolite schists attenuated into a high strain ductile shear zone. Mineral Rb-Sr isochrons document the time of juxtaposition of the three domains during the Permian to Early Triassic ( 290-240 Ma). Ductile shear sense indicators suggest a right lateral transpressive mechanism of juxtaposition; the Sibişel shear zone is a remnant Permo-Triassic suture between two Early Paleozoic Gondwanan terranes. A zircon and apatite U-Th/He age transect across the shear zone yields Alpine ages (54-90 Ma apatite and 98-122 Ma zircon); these data demonstrate that the exposed rocks were not subjected to Alpine ductile deformation. Our results have significant implications for the assembly of Gondwanan terranes and their docking to Baltica during Pangea's formation. Arc terranes free of Variscan metamorphism existed until the Early Triassic, emphasizing the complex tectonics of terrane amalgamation during the closure of Paleotethys.

Distribution and character of upper mesozoic subduction complexes along the west coast of North America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jones, D.L.; Blake, M.C.; Bailey, E.H.; McLaughlin, R.J.

1978-01-01

Structurally complex sequences of sedimentary, volcanic, and intrusive igneous rocks characterize a nearly continuous narrow band along the Pacific coast of North America from Baja California, Mexico to southern Alaska. They occur in two modes: (1) as complexly folded but coherent sequences of graywacke and argillite that locally exhibit blueschist-grade metamorphism, and (2) as melanges containing large blocks of graywacke, chert, volcanic and plutonic rocks, high-grade schist, and limestone in a highly sheared pelitic, cherty, or sandstone matrix. Fossils from the coherent graywacke sequences range in age from late Jurassic to Eocene; fossils from limestone blocks in the melanges range in age from mid-Paleozoic to middle Cretaceous. Fossils from the matrix surrounding the blocks, however, are of Jurassic, Cretaceous, and rarely, Tertiary age, indicating that fossils from the blocks cannot be used to date the time of formation of the melanges. Both the deformation of the graywacke, with accompanying blueschist metamorphism, as well as the formation of the melanges, are believed to be the result of late Mesozoic and early Tertiary subduction. The origin of the melanges, particularly the emplacement of exotic tectonic blocks, is not understood. ?? 1978.

The oldest iocrinid crinoids from the Early/Middle Ordovician of China: Possible paleogeographic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Jih-Pai; Ausich, William I.; Balinski, Andrzej; Bergström, Stig M.; Sun, Yuanlin

2018-01-01

This study reports new crinoid material, which is identified as Muicrinus dawanensis new genus and new species from South China, representing the oldest known iocrinid in the world. These new fossils, which are characterized by bearing simple primibrachials and a helically coiled column, are from the lower-middle part of the Dawan Formation, which ranges from the upper Floian (Lower Ordovician) to the lower Dapingian (Middle Ordovician) (∼470 Ma). A total of 11 related taxa with 80 characters were selected to conduct phylogenetic analyses. Our results indicated that South China specimens are closely related to ones that are endemic to Laurentia. Synapomorphies shared between species in those two cratons include elongate supraradial plates and isotomous arm branching. Furthermore, the phylogenetic closeness of endemic taxa that only occurred in two cratons leads us to suggest a geographic connection between those regions during deep time. Combining biogeographic evidence reported from Cambrian studies, this study supports the "missing-link" configuration of Rodinia during the breakup phase. Based on the crinoid global biodiversity pattern updated here, the potential for discovery of new Paleozoic crinoid faunas in China is very high.

SHRIMP U-Pb evidence for a Late Silurian age of metasedimentary rocks in the Merrimack and Putnam-Nashoba terranes, eastern New England

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wintsch, R.P.; Aleinikoff, J.N.; Walsh, G.J.; Bothner, Wallace A.; Hussey, A.M.; Fanning, C.M.

2007-01-01

U-Pb ages of detrital, metamorphic, and magmatic zircon and metamorphic monazite and titanite provide evidence for the ages of deposition and metamorphism of metasedimentary rocks from the Merrimack and Putnam-Nashoba terranes of eastern New England. Rocks from these terranes are interpreted here as having been deposited in the middle Paleozoic above Neoproterozoic basement of the Gander terrane and juxtaposed by Late Paleozoic thrusting in thin, fault-bounded slices. The correlative Hebron and Berwick formations (Merrimack terrane) and Tatnic Hill Formation (Putnam-Nashoba terrane), contain detrital zircons with Mesoproterozoic, Ordovician, and Silurian age populations. On the basis of the age of the youngest detrital zircon population (???425 Ma), the Hebron, Berwick and Tatnic Hill formations are no older than Late Silurian (Wenlockian). The minimum deposition ages of the Hebron and Berwick are constrained by ages of cross-cutting plutons (414 ?? 3 and 418 ?? 2 Ma, respectively). The Tatnic Hill Formation must be older than the oldest metamorphic monazite and zircon (???407 Ma). Thus, all three of these units were deposited between ???425 and 418 Ma, probably in the Ludlovian. Age populations of detrital zircons suggest Laurentian and Ordovician arc provenance to the west. High grade metamorphism of the Tatnic Hill Formation soon after deposition probably requires that sedimentation and burial occurred in a fore-arc environment, whereas time-equivalent calcareous sediments of the Hebron and Berwick formations probably originated in a back-arc setting. In contrast to age data from the Berwick Formation, the Kittery Formation contains primarily Mesoproterozoic detrital zircons; only 2 younger grains were identified. The absence of a significant Ordovician population, in addition to paleocurrent directions from the east and structural data indicating thrusting, suggest that the Kittery was derived from peri-Gondwanan sources and deposited in the Fredericton Sea. Thus, the Kittery should not be considered part of the Laurentian-derived Merrimack terrane; it more likely correlates with the early Silurian Fredericton terrane of northeastern New England and Maritime Canada.

Did the Basement-Involved Main Caucasus Thrust Form during the Cenozoic Arabia-Eurasia Collision?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vasey, D. A.; Cowgill, E.; Niemi, N. A.; Godoladze, T.; Javakhishvili, Z.; Skhirtladze, I.; Boichenko, G.

2017-12-01

The Greater Caucasus Mountains lie between the Black and Caspian Seas at the northern margin of the active Arabia-Eurasia collision zone. The north-dipping Main Caucasus Thrust (MCT) is commonly assumed to be a first-order structure within the range that places Paleozoic crystalline basement to the north over metasedimentary cover of inferred Mesozoic age to the south. Although most workers assume this juxtaposition occurred during Cenozoic growth of the range, the timing of ductile (quartz-plastic) shearing along the MCT remains to be established. Here, we present data to discriminate between two competing models of quartz-plastic deformation along the proposed MCT location at the basement-cover contact. In the first model, quartz-plastic deformation occurred during the Cenozoic Arabia-Eurasia collision, whereas in the second, this deformation took place during an older orogenic event, such as the Paleozoic Variscan orogeny. To test these models, we are combining field observations, microstructural investigations, and thermochronologic analyses on two 10 km-long traverses in the Republic of Georgia, separated by 200 km along strike, across the MCT. Our fieldwork and microstructural analyses along the basement-cover contact document north-dipping zones of high strain that are 100 m thick and show quartz-plastic deformation, top-to-the-south shear sense, and greenschist-facies metamorphism. Zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) analyses along the eastern traverse near Stepantsminda yielded latest Miocene ( 7-8 Ma) ages in both the MCT shear zone and 150 m structurally above the MCT. In contrast, along the western traverse near Nakra, a sample 300 m structurally below the MCT yielded an early Oligocene ( 31 Ma) ZHe age. These data require Cenozoic exhumation from temperatures >180° and are compatible with recent ductile shear along the MCT. However, results from biotite and muscovite 40Ar/39Ar analyses in progress are needed to confirm this hypothesis. The MCT appears to have exhumed rocks from crustal depths of at least 6 km since the Oligocene and may be a key first-order structure in the Arabia-Eurasia collision.

Early Carboniferous (˜357 Ma) crust beneath northern Arabia: Tales from Tell Thannoun (southern Syria)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stern, Robert J.; Ren, Minghua; Ali, Kamal; Förster, Hans-Jürgen; Al Safarjalani, Abdulrahman; Nasir, Sobhi; Whitehouse, Martin J.; Leybourne, Matthew I.; Romer, Rolf L.

2014-05-01

Continental crust beneath northern Arabia is deeply buried and poorly known. To advance our knowledge of this crust, we studied 8 xenoliths brought to the surface by Neogene eruptions of Tell Thannoun, S. Syria. The xenolith suite consists of two peridotites, one pyroxenite, four mafic granulites, and one charnockite. The four mafic granulites and charnockite are probably samples of the lower crust, and two mafic granulites gave 2-pyroxene equilibration temperatures of 780-800 °C, which we take to reflect temperatures at the time of formation. Peridotite and pyroxenite gave significantly higher temperatures of ∼900 °C, consistent with derivation from the underlying lithospheric mantle. Fe-rich peridotite yielded T∼800 °C, perhaps representing a cumulate layer in the crust. Three samples spanning the lithologic range of the suite (pyroxenite, mafic granulite, and charnockite) yielded indistinguishable concordant U-Pb zircon ages of ∼357 Ma, interpreted to approximate when these magmas crystallized. These igneous rocks are mostly juvenile additions from the mantle, as indicated by low initial 87Sr/86Sr (0.70312 to 0.70510) and strongly positive initial εNd(357 Ma) (+4 to +9.5). Nd model ages range from 0.55 to 0.71 Ga. We were unable to unequivocally infer a tectonic setting where these melts formed: convergent margin, rift, or hotspot. These xenoliths differ from those of Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the south in four principal ways: 1) age, being least 200 Ma younger than the presumed Neoproterozoic (533-1000 Ma) crust beneath Jordan and Saudi Arabia; 2) the presence of charnockite; 3) abundance of Fe-rich mafic and ultramafic lithologies; and 4) the presence of sapphirine. Our studies indicate that northern Arabian plate lithosphere contains a significant proportion of juvenile Late Paleozoic crust, the extent of which remains to be elucidated. This discovery helps explain fission track resetting documented for rocks from Israel and provides insights into the nature of Late Paleozoic (Hercynian) deformation that affected Arabia near the Persian Gulf.

Paleogeothermal gradients and timing of oil generation in the Belden Formation, Eagle Basin, northwestern Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nuccio, V.F.; Johnson, S.Y.; Schenk, C.J.

1989-01-01

Paleogeothermal gradients and timing of oil generation for the Lower and Middle Pennsylvanian Belden Formation have been estimated for four locations in the Eagle Basin of northwestern Colorado, by comparing measured vitrinite reflectance with maturity modeling. Two thermal models were made for each location: one assumes a constant paleogeothermal gradient through time while the other is a two-stage model with changing paleogeothermal gradients. The two-stage paleogeothermal gradient scenario is considered more geologically realistic and is used to estimate the timing of oil generation throughout the Eagle basin. From the data and interpretations, one would expect Belden oil to be found in either upper Paleozoic or Mesozoic reservoir rocks. -Authors

Aerial gamma ray and magnetic survey: Mississippi and Florida airborne survey, Russellville quadrangle, Arkansas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1980-09-01

The Russellville quadrangle in north central Arkansas overlies thick Paleozoic sediments of the Arkoma Basin. These Paleozoics dominate surface exposure except where covered by Quaternary alluvial materials. Examination of available literature shows no known uranium deposits (or occurrences) within the quadrangle. Eighty-eight groups of uranium samples were defined as anomalies and are discussed briefly. None were considered significant, and most appeared to be of cultural origin. Magnetic data show character that suggest structural and/or lithologic complexity, but imply relatively deep-seated sources.

Water table in rocks of Cenozoic and Paleozoic age, 1980, Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site, Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Doty, G.C.; Thordarson, William

1983-01-01

The water table at Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site, Nevada, occurs in rocks of Paleozoic age and in tuffs and alluvium of Cenozoic age and ranges in altitude from about 2,425 feet to about 3,500 feet. The configuration of the water table is depicted by contours with intervals of 25 to 500 feet. Control for the map consists of water-level information from 61 drill holes, whose locations and age of geologic units penetrated are shown by symbols on the map. (USGS)

Broadband Seismic Recordings of Mining Explosions and Earthquakes in South America.

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-02-04

mineralization in Chile are closely linked to the development of the Andean cordillera since late Paleozoic time. The porphyry copper deposits occupy a...sinuous belt over 2000 km long and 30 km wide that overlap with parts of the present day active volcanic arc. The porphyry copper deposits are... porphyry copper mine. The Pliocene age Disputada stock has a mineralized area covering about 12km2 (Bernstein, 1990). The Andina mines Sur-Sur (open

Larval adaptations and patterns of brachiopod diversity in space and time

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valentine, J. W.; Jablonski, D.

1983-01-01

Modern biodistributional patterns suggest that modes of larval development are a factor in determining the patterns of diversity in benthic invertebrates. Paleozoic brachiopods had diversity patterns suggesting that they possessed both planktotrophic and nonplanktotrophic modes. It is presently hypothesized that the planktotrophic lineages were lost to extinction, largely or entirely during the Permian-Triassic event, and that the failure of the articulate brachiopods to regain their former importance is substantially due to their nonplanktotrophic developmental mode.

An Exceptionally Preserved Transitional Lungfish from the Lower Permian of Nebraska, USA, and the Origin of Modern Lungfishes

PubMed Central

Pardo, Jason D.; Huttenlocker, Adam K.; Small, Bryan J.

2014-01-01

Complete, exceptionally-preserved skulls of the Permian lungfish Persephonichthys chthonica gen. et sp. nov. are described. Persephonichthys chthonica is unique among post-Devonian lungfishes in preserving portions of the neurocranium, permitting description of the braincase of a stem-ceratodontiform for the first time. The completeness of P. chthonica permits robust phylogenetic analysis of the relationships of the extant lungfish lineage within the Devonian lungfish diversification for the first time. New analyses of the relationships of this new species within two published matrices using both maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference robustly place P. chthonica and modern lungfishes within dipterid-grade dipnoans rather than within a clade containing Late Devonian ‘phaneropleurids’ and common Late Paleozoic lungfishes such as Sagenodus. Monophyly of post-Devonian lungfishes is not supported and the Carboniferous-Permian taxon Sagenodus is found to be incidental to the origins of modern lungfishes, suggesting widespread convergence in Late Paleozoic lungfishes. Morphology of the skull, hyoid arch, and pectoral girdle suggests a deviation in feeding mechanics from that of Devonian lungfishes towards the more dynamic gape cycle and more effective buccal pumping seen in modern lungfishes. Similar anatomy observed previously in ‘Rhinodipterus’ kimberyensis likely represents an intermediate state between the strict durophagy observed in most Devonian lungfishes and the more dynamic buccal pump seen in Persephonichthys and modern lungfishes, rather than adaptation to air-breathing exclusively. PMID:25265394

Mesozoic evolution of the Amu Darya basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brunet, Marie-Françoise; Ershov, Andrey; Korotaev, Maxim; Mordvintsev, Dmitriy; Barrier, Eric; Sidorova, Irina

2014-05-01

This study, granted by the Darius Programme, aims at proposing a model of tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Amu Darya basin since the Late Palaeozoic and to understand the relationship with the nearby basins. The Amu Darya basin, as its close eastern neighbour, the Afghan-Tajik basin, lies on the Turan platform, after the closure of the Turkestan Ocean during the Late Paleozoic. These two basins, spread on mainly lowlands of Turkmenistan, southwest Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and northern Afghanistan, are separated from one another by the South-Western Gissar meganticline, where series of the northern Amu Darya margin are outcropping. The evolution is closely controlled by several periods of crustal thinning (post-collision rifting and back-arc extension), with some marine incursions, coming in between accretions of continental blocks and collisions that succeeded from the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic (Eo-Cimmerian orogeny) to the Cenozoic times. These orogenies controlled the deposition of thick clastics sequences, and the collision of the Indian Plate with Eurasia strongly deformed the sedimentary cover of the Afghan-Tajik basin. The more than 7 km thick Meso-Cenozoic sedimentary succession of the Amu Darya basin, lies on a complex system of rifts and blocks. Their orientation and age (late Permian, Triassic?) are not well known because of deep burial. The north-eastern margin, with the Bukhara (upper margin) and Chardzhou steps, is NW oriented, parallel to the Paleozoic Turkestan suture. The orientation bends to W-E, in the part of the Gissar situated to the North of the Afghan-Tajik basin. This EW trending orientation prevails also in the south(-eastern) margin of the basin (series of North Afghanistan highs) and in the Murgab depression, the south-eastern deepest portion of the Amu Darya basin. It is in this area and in the eastern part of the Amu Darya basin that the Jurassic as well as the lower Cretaceous sediments are the thickest. The south-western part of the basin is occupied by the Pre-Kopet Dagh Cenozoic foreland basin NW oriented, possibly underlain by an earlier extensional trough. The main elements of the sedimentary pile, which can be partly observed in the South-Western Gissar are: Lower to Middle Jurassic continental to paralic clastic rocks; upper Middle to Upper Jurassic marine carbonate then thick Tithonian evaporite rocks, sealing the reservoirs in the Jurassic carbonates; continental Neocomian clastic rocks and red beds, Aptian to Paleogene marine carbonate and clastic rocks. To reconstruct the geodynamic evolution of the Amu Darya Basin, we analysed the subsidence by backstripping of some wells/pseudo-wells and of three cross-sections with some examples of thermal modelling on the periods of maturation of the potential source rocks. The crustal thinning events take place in the Permo-Triassic? (depending on the age of the rifts underlying the basin), in Early-Middle Jurassic and during the Early Cretaceous, resulting in increases of the tectonic subsidence rates.

Floral responses to the Late Paleozoic deglaciation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Looy, C. V.; DiMichele, W. A.

2011-12-01

The current human-induced thawing of ice house Earth prompts the careful examination of similar earlier events and their biotic consequences. The most recent full transition from a cool earth to a warm world took place in the Early to Middle Permian. Against a background of global warming, plant communities were affected globally resulting in migrations, extinctions and changed evolutionary patterns as a response to the environmental changes. The collapse of the southern hemisphere ice-sheets resulted in significant changes, not just at higher latitudes, but also in the tropics where the rainfall regime changed from seasonally dry to seasonally wet. In the Early Permian tropics - in areas where net sedimentation facilitates fossilization, to be more specific - vegetation rich in walchian conifers began to replace the spore plants and seed ferns that previously dominated the Late Pennsylvanian wetlands. The replacing drier floras probably lived in the basinal lowlands as well, but episodically at the drier times of climate cycles. New finds within the tropics of latest Early to Middle Permian-age, in particular from north-central Texas, indicate the existence of floras which were adapted to even more extended periods of drought. These were populated by the more derived voltzian conifers and other seed plants, such as cycads. Surprisingly, the clades in these floras were until recently only known from the tens-of-millions-of-years younger Late Permian and Early Mesozoic, where they were the dominant forms. These occurrences demonstrate that even more derived groups were already in existence and well differentiated by the Early Permian, outside the window of preservation. This pattern of change in conifers and their communities from north-central Texas is unique in that it represents the best documented record in the Phanerozoic of terrestrial ecosystem response to a change from a global cool-mode to warm-mode Earth. Conifers serve as "marker plants" for the progressively more derived and more xeric floras that appear during the advancing deglaciation. This record has the potential to serve as a model for the early evolution of conifers and their communities; and the impact of prolonged climate change on the evolution of such land plants.

Sedimentary records on the subduction-accretion history of the Russian Altai, northwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ming; Sun, Min

2017-04-01

The Russian Altai, comprising the northern segment of the Altai-Mongolian terrane (AM) in the south, the Gorny Altai terrane (GA) in the north and the intervening Charysh-Terekta-Ulagan-Sayan suture zone, is a key area of the northwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). A combined geochemical and detrital zircon study was conducted on the (meta-)sedimentary sequences from the Russian Altai to reveal the tectono-magmatic history of these two terranes and their amalgamation history, which in turn place constraints on the accretionary orogenesis and crustal growth in the CAOB. The Cambrian-Ordovician meta-sedimentary rocks from the northern AM are dominated by immature sediments possibly sourced from intermediate-felsic igneous rocks. Geochemical data show that the sediments were likely deposited in a continental arc-related setting. Zircons separated from these rocks are mainly 566-475 Ma and 1015-600 Ma old, comparable to the magmatic records of the Tuva-Mongolian terrane and surrounding island arcs in the western Mongolia. The similar source nature, provenance and depositional setting of these rocks to the counterparts from the Chinese Altai (i.e., the southern AM) imply that the whole AM possibly represents a coherent accretionary prism of the western Mongolia in the early Paleozoic rather than a Precambrian continental block with passive marginal deposition as previously thought. In contrast, the Cambrian to Silurian (meta-)sedimentary rocks from the GA are characterized by a unitary zircon population with ages of 640-470 Ma, which were potentially sourced from the Kuznetsk-Altai intra-oceanic island arc in the east of this terrane. The low abundance of 640-540 Ma zircons (5%) may attest that this arc was under a primitive stage in the late Neoproterozoic, when mafic igneous rocks dominated. However, the voluminous 530-470 Ma zircons (95%) suggest that this arc possibly evolved toward a mature one in the Cambrian to early Ordovician with increasing amount of intermediate-felsic igneous rocks, highlighting both crustal growth and recycling. Importantly, a significant amount of additional 2431-772 Ma zircons occur in the early Devonian sedimentary sequence of the GA. These detrital zircons possibly have the same source as their counterpart from the AM. This implies that the two terranes with countrary evolutionary history, i.e. the GA and AM, amalgamated before the early Devonian. To summary, the AM and GA represented two separated subduction-accretion systems in the early Paleozoic and subsequently amalgamated prior to the early Devonian, documenting complicated accretionary orogenesis and significant lateral crustal growth in the CAOB. Acknowledgement This study is financially supported by the Major Research Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2014CB44801 and 2014CB448000), Hong Kong Research Grant Council (HKU705313P and HKU17303415), National Science Foundation of China (41273048) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) (162301132731).

Modeling Variable Phanerozoic Oxygen Effects on Physiology and Evolution.

PubMed

Graham, Jeffrey B; Jew, Corey J; Wegner, Nicholas C

2016-01-01

Geochemical approximation of Earth's atmospheric O2 level over geologic time prompts hypotheses linking hyper- and hypoxic atmospheres to transformative events in the evolutionary history of the biosphere. Such correlations, however, remain problematic due to the relative imprecision of the timing and scope of oxygen change and the looseness of its overlay on the chronology of key biotic events such as radiations, evolutionary innovation, and extinctions. There are nevertheless general attributions of atmospheric oxygen concentration to key evolutionary changes among groups having a primary dependence upon oxygen diffusion for respiration. These include the occurrence of Devonian hypoxia and the accentuation of air-breathing dependence leading to the origin of vertebrate terrestriality, the occurrence of Carboniferous-Permian hyperoxia and the major radiation of early tetrapods and the origins of insect flight and gigantism, and the Mid-Late Permian oxygen decline accompanying the Permian extinction. However, because of variability between and error within different atmospheric models, there is little basis for postulating correlations outside the Late Paleozoic. Other problems arising in the correlation of paleo-oxygen with significant biological events include tendencies to ignore the role of blood pigment affinity modulation in maintaining homeostasis, the slow rates of O2 change that would have allowed for adaptation, and significant respiratory and circulatory modifications that can and do occur without changes in atmospheric oxygen. The purpose of this paper is thus to refocus thinking about basic questions central to the biological and physiological implications of O2 change over geological time.

Paleozoic-involving thrust array in the central Sierras Interiores (South Pyrenean Zone, Central Pyrenees): regional implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez, L.; Cuevas, J.; Tubía, J. M.

2012-04-01

This work deals with the structural evolution of the Sierras Interiores between the Tena and Aragon valleys. The Sierras Interiores is a WNW-trending mountain range that bounds the South Pyrenean Zone to the north and that is characterized by a thrust-fold system with a strong lithological control that places preferably decollements in Triassic evaporites. In the studied area of the Sierras Interiores Cenomanian limestones cover discordantly the Paleozoic rocks of the Axial Zone because there is a stratigraphic lacuna developed from Triassic to Late Cretaceous times. A simple lithostratigraphy of the study area is made up of Late Cenomanian to Early Campanian limestones with grey colour and massive aspect in landscape (170 m, Lower calcareous section), Campanian to Maastrichtian brown coloured sandstones (400-600 m, Marboré sandstones) and, finally, Paleocene light-coloured massive limestones (130-230 m), that often generate the higher topographic levels of the Sierras Interiores due to their greater resistance to erosion. Above the sedimentary sequence of the Sierras Interiores, the Jaca Basin flysch succession crops out discordantly. Based on a detailed mapping of the studied area of the Sierras Interiores, together with well and structural data of the Jaca Basin (Lanaja, 1987; Rodríguez and Cuevas, 2008) we have constructed a 12 km long NS cross section, approximately parallel to the movement direction deduced for this region (Rodríguez et al., 2011). The main structure is a thrust array made up of at least four Paleozoic-involving thrusts (the deeper thrust system) of similar thickness in a probably piggyback sequence, some of which are blind thrusts that generate fold-propagation-folds in upper levels. The higher thrust of the thrust array crops out duplicating the lower calcareous section all over the Sierras Interiores. The emplacement of the deeper thrust system generated the tightness of previous structures: south directed piggyback duplexes (the upper thrust system) affecting the Marboré sandstones and the Paleocene limestones, deformed by angular south-vergent folds and their related axial plane foliation. The transect explained above clearly summarizes the alpine evolution of northern part of the Sierras Interiores. Moreover, well data available indicate the presence of two thrust soled in the lower calcareous section covering Triassic evaporites at 5 km depth and 8 km to the south of the Sierras Interiores. Because the Triassic evaporites constitute a main decollement level in the South Pyrenean Zone, the deeper thrust system is associated to the emplacement of the Gavarnie nappe. Lanaja, J.M., 1987, Contribución de la exploración petrolífera al conocimiento de la Geología de España, IGME, Madrid, 465 p. Rodríguez, L., Cuevas, J., 2008. Geogaceta 44, 51-54. Rodríguez, L., Cuevas, J., Tubia, J.M., 2011. Geophysical Research Abstracts 13, 2273.

Two contrasting late Paleozoic magmatic episodes in the northwestern Chinese Tianshan Belt, NW China: Implication for tectonic transition from plate convergence to intra-plate adjustment during accretionary orogenesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiangsong; Cai, Keda; Sun, Min; Xiao, Wenjiao; Xia, Xiaoping; Wan, Bo; Bao, Zihe; Wang, Yannan

2018-03-01

Late Carboniferous to Early Permian is a critical period for the final amalgamation of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). However, as most of the accreted terranes of the CAOB are unclear in tectonic nature and origin, the timing and processes of their mutual amalgamation have been poorly constrained. To understand assembly of the West Junggar Terrane with the Yili Block, a suite of the late Paleozoic magmatic rocks, including ignimbrite, rhyolite and granite, in northwestern Chinese Tianshan Belt were studied for their petrogenesis and tectonic implications. Our new results of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) zircon U-Pb dating reveal two separate magmatic episodes, ca. 300 Ma volcanism (ignimbrite and rhyolite) and ca. 288 Ma plutonsim (biotite granite). Geochemically, for the ca. 300 Ma volcanism, the ignimbrites have low SiO2 (65.8-71.5 wt.%) and Mg# (6-13) values, and exhibit arc affinity with significantly enriched in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) and depleted in high field strength elements (HFSE) such as Nb, Ta and Ti. The whole-rock εNd(t) and zircon εHf(t) values range from +6.9 to +7.0 and +9.9 to +14.1 respectively, indicating a juvenile basaltic lower crustal origin. Rhyolites have slightly high SiO2 (72.7-74.0 wt.%) and K2O (3.86-4.53 wt.%) contents, high zircon δ18O (11.67-13.23‰) values, and low whole-rock εNd(t) (+2.9 to +3.8) and zircon εHf(t) (+2.8 to +10.0) values, which may suggest sediment involvements during magma generation. In contrast, for the ca. 288 Ma plutonism, the biotite granites have obviously higher SiO2 (74.7-75.5 wt.%) contents and whole-rock εNd(t) (+7.7 to +8.8), zircon εHf(t) (+9.8 to +12.7), and lower zircon δ18O (5.99-6.84‰) values, than those of the ca. 300 Ma volcanic rocks, which are consistent with signatures of juvenile magma source. According to our estimates of zircon saturation temperatures, together with their contrasting genesis, we attribute the formation of ca. 300 Ma high temperature (815-938 °C) volcanism to oceanic slab break-off during assembly of the West Junggar Terrane with the Yili Block, and relate the generation of ca. 288 Ma low temperature (723-735 °C) plutonism to subsequent strike-slipping of North Tianshan Fault that facilitated introduction of water-fluxes triggering hydrous partial melting of juvenile lower crust. The sequential magmatic episodes in the northwestern Chinese Tianshan Belt may provide a crucial clue to a tectonic transition from plate convergence to intra-plate adjustment during the formation of the Kazakhstan Orocline in the late Paleozoic.

Sedimentological controls on gold in a late Pleistocene glacial placer deposit, Cariboo Mining District, British Columbia, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eyles, Nicholas; Kocsis, Stephen P.

1989-11-01

It is a widely perceived notion that glaciation results in dispersal of mineralized bedrock and that sedimentary concentrates of economic minerals (placers) rarely occur in glaciated basins. This paper describes economic gold placers within late Pleistocene glacial and related fluvial sediments of the Cariboo Mining District in central British Columbia, Canada. The area has been defined as a "giant" gold placer; total production since 1858 is over 93,000 kg. The oldest and volumetrically largest placers occur in fluvial gravels and valley-side fan deposits deposited during a long non-glacial interval from as early as 125,000 to 30,000years B.P. The richest placers are found along bedrock "gutters" in the deepest parts of valleys, indicating repeated fluvial reworking of the valley infills. Braided and "wandering gravel bed" fluvial facies can be identified. Glacial placers, that overlie the fluvial placers, occur within lodgement till complexes deposited below the late Wisconsin Cordilleran ice sheet after 30,000 years B.P. The basal portions of lodgement tills are commonly enriched in gold as a result of incorporation from older gravels. Subglacial meltwaters created a highly effective sluicing system and left lucrative pay zones along meltwater-cut channels on bedrock benches, within intraformational gravels in lodgement till and within "lee-side" deposits down-ice of bedrock highs. "Lee-side" deposits are essentially water-worked talus slopes that accumulated in subglacial cavities. Finally, postglacial "wandering gravel-bed rivers" have repeatedly reworked older placers resulting in rich pay zones at the base of extensive bar platform deposits. Similar sedimentological controls on gold distribution can be identified in other glacial placers of late Cenozoic and Paleozoic age in North America, southern Africa and Australia. A distinction is drawn between these placers, all characterized by coarse-grained, nuggety gold, and the more well-known Precambrian and Paleozoic placers where finely-comminuted gold is dispersed through large thicknesses of rock. Episodes of glaciation typically occur after long periods of tropical and subtropical weathering when supergene processes were active and glaciers were able to remove and concentrate coarse gold. In contrast, gold in non-glacial placers of Precambrian and Paleozoic age has been through many cycles of erosion and transport and coarse gold is uncommon.

Interpreting the Marine Calcium Isotope Record: Influence of Reef Builders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boehm, F.; Eisenhauer, A.; Farkas, J.; Kiessling, W.; Veizer, J.; Wallmann, K.

2008-12-01

The calcium isotopic composition of seawater as recorded in brachiopod shells varied substantially during the Paleozoic (Farkas et al. 2007, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 71, 5117-5134). The most prominent feature of the record is an excursion to higher 44Ca/40Ca values that started during the Early Carboniferous and lasted until the Permian. The shift occurred shortly after the transition from a calcite-sea to an aragonite-sea (Sandberg 1983, Nature 305, 19-22; Stanley and Hardie 1998, Pal3, 144, 3-19). It therefore has been interpreted to reflect a change in the average calcium isotope fractionation of carbonates produced in the oceans. Aragonite is depleted by about 0.6 permil in 44Ca/40Ca compared to calcite (Gussone et al. 2005, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 69, 4485-4494). Consequently a transient shift from calcite dominated to an aragonite dominated calcium carbonate sedimentation could have caused the observed 0.5 permil isotope shift. We compare the marine calcium isotope record with a new compilation of the Phanerozoic trends in the skeletal mineralogy of marine invertebrates (Kiessling et al. 2008, Nature Geoscience, 1, 527-530). The compilation is based on data collected in the PaleoReef database and the Paleobiology Database, which include information on Phanerozoic reef complexes and taxonomic collection data of Phanerozoic biota, respectively. We find a strong positive correlation between the calcium isotope ratios and the abundance of aragonitic reef builders from the Silurian until the Permian at a sample resolution of about 10 million years. The two records, however, diverge in the Triassic, when reefs were dominated by aragonite but the calcium isotope values remained at a relatively low level. We also find a good correlation between calcium isotopes and the proportion of aragonite in the general record of Phanerozoic biota. However, in this case the records start to diverge already in the latest Carboniferous. The observations suggest that the Paleozoic calcium isotope record was indeed strongly controlled by the skeletal mineralogy of the major carbonate producers. The collapse of the correlation in the late Paleozoic points to the evolution of new biocalcification mechanisms that allowed a more strict biological control of the calcium fluxes in the calcifying biota (sensu Gussone et al. 2006, Geology, 34, 625-628).

Tectonic evolution of the NE section of the Pamir Plateau: New evidence from field observations and zircon U-Pb geochronology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chuan-Lin; Zou, Hai-Bo; Ye, Xian-Tao; Chen, Xiang-Yan

2018-01-01

The Pamir Plateau at the western end of the India-Asia collision zone underwent long-term terrane drifting, accretion and collision between early Paleozoic and Mesozoic. However, the detailed evolution of this plateau, in particular, the timing of the Proto- and Palaeo-Tethys ocean subduction and closure, remains enigmatic. Here we report new field observations and zircon U-Pb ages and Hf isotopic compositions of the representative rocks from the so-called Precambrian basement in the northeastern Pamir, i.e., the Bulunkuole Group. The rock associations of the Bulunkuole Group indicate volcano-sedimentary sequences with arc affinities. Geochronological data demonstrate that the deposition age of the Bulunkuole Group in the NE section of the Pamir was Middle to Late Cambrian (530-508 Ma) rather than Paleoproterozoic. The deposition age became progressively younger from south to north. The amphibolite- to granulite facies metamorphism of the Bulunkuole Group took place at ca. 200-180 Ma. Unlike the scenario in the Southern Kunlun terrane (SKT) in the eastern section of the West Kunlun Orogenic Belt (WKOB), early Paleozoic metamorphism (ca. 440 Ma) was absent in this area. Two phases of magmatic intrusions, composed of granites and minor gabbros with arc geochemical signatures, emplaced at 510-480 Ma and 240-200 Ma. The amphibolite (meta mafic sheet? 519 Ma) and the meta-rhyolite (508 Ma) have zircon εHf(t) values of 1.6 to 5.9 and - 1.5 to 1.4, respectively. The 511 Ma gneissic granite sheet and the 486 Ma gabbro have zircon εHf(t) values of - 0.1 to 2.4 and 1.3 to 3.6, respectively. Zircon εHf(t) of the 245 Ma augen gneissic granite sheet varies from - 2.2 to 2.0 whereas the metamorphic zircons from the amphibolite (193 Ma) and high-pressure mafic granulite sample (187 Ma) have negative εHf(t) values of - 5.3 to - 2 and - 15 to - 12, respectively. In line with rock association and the deposition age of the Bulunkuole Group and the Saitula Group in the eastern section of WKOB, we propose that both of them were accretionary wedge between the Tarim and Tianshuihai terrane formed during the Proto-Tethys ocean south- southwestward subduction (present orientation). The timing of deposition and metamorphism documents two distinct phases of arc magmatism and sedimentary basin evolution. This indicates that the Proto-Tethys ocean closed at ca. 440 Ma in the eastern section of WKOB whereas in the western section, a remnant of the Proto-Tethys ocean between the Tarim and the NE Pamir did not close till Late Triassic. This remnant ocean was filled by the Ordovician-Triassic sequences. The accretion between NE Pamir and the Central Pamir was completed by ca. 180 Ma as demonstrated by the metamorphic zircon U-Pb age of the high pressure mafic granulite in the NE Pamir.

Rapid middle Miocene extension and unroofing of the southern Ruby Mountains, Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Colgan, Joseph P.; Howard, Keith A.; Fleck, Robert J.; Wooden, Joseph L.

2010-01-01

Paleozoic rocks in the northern Ruby Mountains were metamorphosed during Mesozoic crustal shortening and Cenozoic magmatism, but equivalent strata in the southern Ruby Mountains were never buried deeper than stratigraphic depths prior to exhumation in the footwall of a west dipping brittle normal fault. In the southern Ruby Mountains, Miocene sedimentary rocks in the hanging wall of this fault date from 15.2 to 11.6 Ma and contain abundant detritus from the Paleozoic section. Apatite fission track and (U-Th)/He samples of the Eocene Harrison Pass pluton record rapid cooling that peaked ca. 17–15 Ma, while apatite fission track data from Jurassic plutons east and west of the southern Ruby Mountains indicate near-surface temperatures (<60°C) since the Cretaceous. We interpret these data to record rapid unroofing of the southern Ruby Mountains during slip on the west dipping brittle detachment between 17–16 and 10–12 Ma, followed by minor high-angle faulting. We interpret published Oligocene to early Miocene K-Ar biotite and zircon fission track dates from the Harrison Pass pluton to be partially reset rather than to directly record fault slip. Our new data, together with published data on the distribution and composition of Miocene basin fill, suggest that rapid middle Miocene slip took place on the west dipping brittle detachment that bounds the Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range for 150 km along strike. This fault was thus active during a period of rapid extension (ca. 17–15 to 12–10 Ma) documented widely across the northern Basin and Range Province.

The Las Matras tonalitic trondhjemitic pluton, central Argentina: Grenvillian-age constraints, geochemical characteristics, and regional implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, A. M.; Tickyj, H.; Llambías, E. J.; Sato, K.

2000-12-01

The N-S trending belt with Grenvillian-age rocks developed in central western Argentina represents the basement of an allochthonous terrane derived from Laurentia during the Early Paleozoic. The Las Matras pluton (36°46‧S, 67°07‧W) is located at the southern extension of this belt in the Las Matras Block. It consists of a low-Al tonalitic to trondhjemitic facies characteristic of an arc magmatism. Isotopic studies yielded Grenvillian Rb-Sr (1212±47 Ma) and Sm-Nd (1188±47 Ma) ages which, due to the undeformed and non-metamorphosed character of the pluton, are interpreted to represent a crystallization age of around 1200 Ma. Although this age is slightly older than available dates from other exposures of the same belt, and the undeformed feature is also distinctive for Las Matras, the depleted Sr and Nd isotopic signatures of the pluton agree with those from other magmatic rocks involved in that belt. The differences found between Las Matras and the northern exposures indicate that this belt with Grenvillian-age rocks comprises regions of non-homogeneous evolution. Although the correlation of the Lower Paleozoic platform carbonates from the sedimentary cover of the Grenvillian-age basement rocks suggests the surroundings of the Southern Grenville Province (Texas and northern Mexico) as the probable detachment site for the Argentine belt, comparison of magmatic and tectonic processes involved in these basement rocks does not indicate similar evolutions. This fact can suggest an independent evolution of the Argentine belt prior to amalgamation to the Laurentian Grenville orogen.

The first paleomagnetic data on dolerites from Jeannette Island (New Siberian Islands, Arctic)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhdanova, A. I.; Metelkin, D. V.; Vernikovsky, V. A.; Matushkin, N. Yu.

2016-06-01

The first paleomagnetic data on dolerite dikes from the volcanogenic-sedimentary section of Jeannette Island (De Long Archipelago, New Siberian Islands) are discussed. The petromagnetic data and results of the baked contact and fold tests are used to substantiate the nature of the characteristic magnetization component, which in combination with the 40Ar/39Ar dates implies its likely Late Precambrian-Early Paleozoic age. The calculated paleomagnetic pole makes it possible to extend the trajectory of the apparent polar movement for the New Siberian Islands block and confirms the assumption that this structural element of the Arctic shelf evolved as a terrane. Two variants of paleotectonic interpretation of the obtained data and their consistency with the available data on the geology and tectonics of the New Siberian Islands are considered.

The first direct evidence of a Late Devonian coelacanth fish feeding on conodont animals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zatoń, Michał; Broda, Krzysztof; Qvarnström, Martin; Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz; Ahlberg, Per Erik

2017-04-01

We describe the first known occurrence of a Devonian coelacanth specimen from the lower Famennian of the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland, with a conodont element preserved in its digestive tract. A small spiral and phosphatic coprolite (fossil excrement) containing numerous conodont elements and other unrecognized remains was also found in the same deposits. The coprolite is tentatively attributed to the coelacanth. Although it is unclear whether the Late Devonian coelacanth from Poland was an active predator or a scavenger, these finds provide the first direct evidence of feeding on conodont animals by early coelacanth fish, and one of the few evidences of feeding on these animals known to date. It also expands our knowledge about the diet and trophic relations between the Paleozoic marine animals in general.

Structural and kinematic evolution of the Yukon-Tanana upland tectonites, east-central Alaska: A record of late Paleozoic to Mesozoic crustal assembly

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hansen, V.L.; Dusel-Bacon, C.

1998-01-01

The Yukon-Tanana terrane, the largest tectonostratigraphic terrane in the northern North American Cordillera, is polygenetic and not a single terrane. Lineated and foliated (L-S) tectonites, which characterize the Yukon-Tanana terrane, record multiple deformations and formed at different times. We document the polyphase history recorded by L-S tectonites within the Yukon-Tanana upland, east-central Alaska. These upland tectonites compose a heterogeneous assemblage of deformed igneous and metamorphic rocks that form the Alaskan part of what has been called the Yukon-Tanana composite terrane. We build on previous kinematic data and establish the three-dimensional architecture of the upland tectonites through kinematic and structural analysis of more than 250 oriented samples, including quartz c-axis fabric analysis of 39 samples. Through this study we distinguish allochthonous tectonites from parautochthonous tectonites within the Yukon-Tanana upland. The upland tectonites define a regionally coherent stacking order: from bottom to top, they are lower plate North American parautochthonous attenuated continental margin; continentally derived marginal-basin strata; and upper plate ocean-basin and island-arc rocks, including some continental basement rocks. We delineate three major deformation events in time, space, and structural level across the upland from the United States-Canada border to Fairbanks, Alaska: (1) pre-Early Jurassic (>212 Ma) northeast-directed, apparent margin-normal contraction that affected oceanic rocks; (2) late Early to early Middle Jurassic (>188-185 Ma) northwest-directed, apparent margin-parallel contraction and imbrication that resulted in juxtaposition of the allochthonous tectonites with parautochthonous continental rocks; and (3) Early Cretaceous (135-110 Ma) southeast-directed crustal extension that resulted in exposure of the structurally deepest, parautochthonous continental rocks. The oldest event represents deformation within a west-dipping (present coordinates) Permian-Triassic subduction zone. The second event records Early to Middle Jurassic collision of the arc and subduction complex with North American crust, and the third event reflects mid-Cretaceous southeast-directed crustal extension. Events one and two can be recognized and correlated through southern Yukon, even though this region was affected by mid-Cretaceous dextral shear along steep northwest-striking faults. Our data support a model of crustal assembly originally proposed by D. Tempelman-Kluit in which previously deformed allochthonous rocks were thrust over parautochthonous rocks of the attenuated North American margin in Middle Jurassic time. Approximately 50 m.y. after tectonic accretion, east-central Alaska was dissected by crustal extension, exposing overthrust parautochthonous strata.

Intrusive rocks of the Holden and Lucerne quadrangles, Washington; the relation of depth zones, composition, textures, and emplacement of plutons

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cater, Fred W.

1982-01-01

The core of the northern Cascade Range in Washington consists of Precambrian and upper Paleozoic metamorphic rocks cut by numerous plutons, ranging in age from early Triassic to Miocene. The older plutons have been eroded to catazonal depths, whereas subvolcanic rocks are exposed in the youngest plutons. The Holden and Lucerne quadrangles span a -sizeable and representative part of this core. The oldest of the formations mapped in these quadrangles is the Swakane Biotite Gneiss, which was shown on the quadrangle maps as Cretaceous and older in age. The Swakane has yielded a middle Paleozoic metamorphic age, and also contains evidence of zircon inherited from some parent material more than 1,650 m.y. old. In this report, the Swakane is assigned an early Paleozoic or older age. It consists mostly of biotite gneiss, but interlayered with it are scattered layers and lenses of hornblende schist and gneiss, clinozoisite-epidote gneiss, and quartzite. Thickness of the Swakane is many thousands of meters, and the base is not exposed. The biotite gneiss is probably derived from a pile of siliceous volcanic rocks containing scattered sedimentary beds and basalt flows. Overlying the Swakane is a thick sequence of eugeosynclinal upper Paleozoic rocks metamorphosed to amphibolite grade. The sequence includes quartzite and thin layers of marble, hornblende schist and gneiss, graphitic schist, and smaller amounts of schist and gneiss of widely varying compositions. The layers have been tightly and complexly folded, and, in places, probably had been thrust over the overlying Swakane prior to metamorphism. Youngest of the supracrustal rocks in the area are shale, arkosic sandstone, and conglomerate of the Paleocene Swauk Formation. These rocks are preserved in the Chiwaukum graben, a major structural element of the region. Of uncertain age, but possibly as old as any of the intrusive rocks in the area, are small masses of ultramafic rocks, now almost completely altered to serpentine. These occur either as included irregular masses in later intrusives or as tectonically emplaced lenses in metamorphic rocks. Also of uncertain age but probably much younger, perhaps as young as Eocene, are larger masses of hornblendite and hornblende periodotite that grade into hornblende gabbro. These are exposed on the surface and in the underground workings of the Holden mine. Oldest of the granitoid intrusives are the narrow, nearly concordant Dumbell Mountain plutons, having a radiometric age of about 220 m.y. They consist of gneissic hornblende-quartz diorite and quartz diorite gneiss. Most contacts consist of lit-par-lit zones, but some are gradational or more rarely sharp. The plutons are typically catazonal. Closely resembling the Dumbell Mountain plutons in outcrop appearance, but differing considerably in composition, are the Bearcat Ridge plutons. These consist of gneissic quartz diorite and granodiorite. The Bearcat Ridge plutons are not in contact with older dated plutons, but because their textural and structural characteristics so closely resemble those of the Dumbell Mountain plutons, they are considered to be the same age. Their composition, however, is suggestive of a much younger age. Cutting the Dumbell Mountain plutons is the Leroy Creek pluton, consisting of gneissic biotite-quartz diorite and trondjhemite. The gneissic foliation in the Leroy Creek is characterized by a strong and pervasive swirling. Cutting both the Dumbell Mountain and Leroy Creek plutons are the almost dikelike Seven-fingered Jack plutons. These range in composition from gabbro to quartz diorite; associated with them are contact complexes of highly varied rocks characterized by gabbro and coarse-grained hornblendite. Most of the rocks are gneissic, but some are massive and structureless. Radiometric ages by various methods range from 100 to 193 m.y. Dikes, sills, small stocks, and irregular clots of leucocratic quartz diorite and granodiorite are abundant in t

Late Leonardian plants from West Texas: The youngest Paleozoic plant megafossils in North America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mamay, S.H.; Miller, J.M.; Rohr, D.M.

1984-01-01

Abundant Permian plant megafossils were discovered in the Del Norte Mountains of Brewster County, Trans-Pecos Texas. The flora is dominated by a new and distinctive type of gigantopteroid leaves. Marine invertebrates are closely associated, and this admixture of continental and marine fossils indicates a deltaic depositional setting, probably on the southern margin of the Permian Basin. Conodonts indicate correlation with the uppermost Leonardian Road Canyon Formation in the Glass Mountains. These are the youngest Paleozoic plant megafossils known in North America; they add an important paleontological element to the classic Permian area of this Continent.

Timing, petrogenesis and tectonic setting of the Late Paleozoic gabbro-granodiorite-granite intrusions in the Shalazhashan of northern Alxa: Constraints on the southernmost boundary of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Xingjun; Wang, Tao; Zhang, Lei; Castro, Antonio; Xiao, XuChang; Tong, Ying; Zhang, Jianjun; Guo, Lei; Yang, Qidi

2014-11-01

The Late Paleozoic tectonic setting and location of the southernmost boundary of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) with respect to the Alxa Block or Alxa-North China Craton (ANCC) are debated. This paper presents new geochronological, petrological, geochemical and zircon Hf isotopic data of the Late Paleozoic intrusions from the Shalazhashan in northern Alxa and discusses the tectonic setting and boundary between the CAOB and ANCC. Using zircon U-Pb dating, intrusions can be broadly grouped as Late Carboniferous granodiorites (~ 301 Ma), Middle Permian gabbros (~ 264 Ma) and granites (~ 266 Ma) and Late Permian granodiorites, monzogranites and quartz monzodiorites (254-250 Ma). The Late Carboniferous granodiorites are slightly peraluminous and calcic. The remarkably high zircon Hf isotopes (εHf(t) = + 6-+ 10) and characteristics of high silica adakites suggest that these granodiorites were mainly derived from "hot" basaltic slab-melts of the subducted oceanic crust. The Middle Permian gabbros exhibited typical cumulate textures and were derived from the partial melting of depleted mantle. The Middle Permian granites are slightly peraluminous with high-K calc-alkaline and low εHf(t) values from - 0.9 to + 2.9. These granites were most likely derived from juvenile materials mixed with old crustal materials. The Late Permian granodiorites, monzogranites and quartz monzodiorites are characterized as metaluminous to slightly peraluminous, with variable Peacock alkali-lime index values from calc-alkalic to alkali-calcic. These rocks were mainly derived from juvenile crustal materials, as evidenced by their high εHf(t) values (+ 3.3 to + 8.9). The juvenile sources of the above intrusions in the Shalazhashan are similar to those of the granitoids from the CAOB but distinct from the granitoids within the Alxa Block. These findings suggest that the Shalazhashan Zone belongs to the CAOB rather than the Alxa Block and that its boundary with the Alxa block can be regarded as the southernmost boundary of the CAOB. The recognition of Late Carboniferous typical adakite magmatism in the region provides evidence for the subduction of the oceanic crust of the CAOB. The Middle-Late Permian magmatisms (266-250 Ma) display a bimodal association with high-K calc-alkaline features and are interpreted as forming in a post-collision setting. These studies, by interaction of regional geology, provide new constraints on the tectonic evolution of the southern CAOB during the Late Paleozoic and the location of the southernmost margin of the CAOB.

Detrital-zircon geochronology of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the Hangay Hentey basin, north-central Mongolia: Implications for the tectonic evolution of the Mongol Okhotsk Ocean in central Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelty, Thomas K.; Yin, An; Dash, Batulzii; Gehrels, George E.; Ribeiro, Angela E.

2008-04-01

Understanding the development of the Central Asian Orogenic System (CAOS), which is the largest Phanerozoic accretionary orogen in the world, is critical to the determination of continental growth mechanisms and geological history of central Asia. A key to unraveling its geological history is to ascertain the origin and tectonic setting of the large flysch complexes that dominate the CAOS. These complexes have been variably interpreted as deep-marine deposits that were accreted onto a long-evolving arc against large continents to form a mega-accretionary complex or sediments trapped in back-arc to fore-arc basins within oceanic island-arc systems far from continents. To differentiate the above models we conducted U-Pb geochronological analyses of detrital-zircon grains from turbidites in the composite Hangay-Hentey basin of central Mongolia. This basin was divided by a Cenozoic fault system into the western and eastern sub-basins: the Hangay Basin in the west and Hentey basin in the east. This study focuses on the Hentey basin and indicates two groups of samples within this basin: (1) a southern group that were deposited after the earliest Carboniferous (˜ 339 Ma to 354 Ma) and a northern group that were deposited after the Cambrian to Neoproterozoic (˜ 504 Ma to 605 Ma). The samples from the northern part of the basin consistently contain Paleoproterozoic and Archean zircon grains that may have been derived from the Tuva-Mongol massif and/or the Siberian craton. In contrast, samples from the southern part of the basin contain only a minor component of early Paleozoic to Neoproterozoic zircon grains, which were derived from the crystalline basement bounding the Hangay-Hentey basin. Integrating all the age results from this study, we suggest that the Hangay-Hentey basin was developed between an island-arc system with a Neoproterozoic basement in the south and an Andean continental-margin arc in the north. The initiation of the southern arc occurred at or after the early Carboniferous, allowing accumulation of a flysch complex in a long-evolving accretionary complex.

Back-arc basin development: Constraints on geochronology and geochemistry of arc-like and OIB-like basalts in the Central Qilian block (Northwest China)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Zhong; Zhang, Hong-Fei; Yang, He; Pan, Fa-Bin; Luo, Bi-Ji; Guo, Liang; Xu, Wang-Chun; Tao, Lu; Zhang, Li-Qi; Wu, Jing

2018-06-01

The Lajishan belt of the Central Qilian block was a back-arc basin during Early Paleozoic. The basaltic magmatism and temporal evolution in this basin provide an opportunity to study the development of back-arc basin in an active continental margin. In this study, we carry out an integrated study of geochronological, geochemical and Sr-Nd isotopic compositions for the Early Paleozoic arc-like and OIB-like basalts. The Lajishan arc-like basalts are enriched in large ion lithophile element (LILE) and show negative Nb and Ta anomalies whereas the OIB-like basalts have high LILE abundances and show positive Nb and Ta anomalies. The arc-like basalts have initial 87Sr/86Sr values of 0.7050-0.7054 and εNd(t) values of +0.51-+2.63, and the OIB-like basalts have initial 87Sr/86Sr values of 0.7049-0.7050 and εNd(t) values of +0.66-+1.57. The geochemical and Sr-Nd isotopic compositions suggest that the arc-like basalts are derived from partial melting of a depleted mantle source metasomatized by slab-derived components at shallow depth levels, and the OIB-like basalts also originated from a metasomatized mantle wedge source. U-Pb zircon dating yielded the ages of 494 ± 4 Ma for the arc-like basalts and 468 ± 6 Ma for the OIB-like basalts. We argue that the arc-like basalts are products of back-arc extension before the back-arc rifting initiated in earlier stage, resulting from the northward subduction of the Qaidam-West Qinling oceanic slab, while the OIB-like basalts represent products of further back-arc spreading in response to rollback of the Qaidam-West Qinling oceanic lithospheric slab. The association of arc-like and OIB-like basalts in the Lajishan belt records the development of back-arc basin from initial rifting to subsequent spreading, offering insight into how basaltic magmatism generates in the formation of back-arc basin in subduction zone setting.

Three stages in the Late Paleozoic to Triassic magmatism of southwestern Gondwana, and the relationships with the volcanogenic events in coeval basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Ana María; Llambías, Eduardo J.; Basei, Miguel A. S.; Castro, Carlos E.

2015-11-01

The intermediate to acid Choiyoi Magmatic Province is the most conspicuous feature along the Late Paleozic continental margin of southwestern Gondwana, and is generally regarded as the possible source for the widespread ash fall deposits interlayered with sedimentary sequences in the adjacent Gondwana basins. The Choiyoi magmatism is geologically constrained between the early Permian San Rafael orogenic phase and the Triassic extensional Huarpica phase in the region of Argentine Frontal Cordillera, Precordillera and San Rafael Block. In order to better assess the Choiyoi magmatism in Argentine Frontal Cordillera, we obtained 6 new LA-ICPMS U-Pb ages between 278.8 ± 3.4 Ma and 252.5 ± 1.9 Ma from plutonic rocks of the Colangüil Batholith and an associated volcanic rock. The global analysis of age data compiled from Chilean and Argentine Late Paleozoic to Triassic outcrops allows us to identify three stages of magmatism: (1) pre-Choiyoi orogenic magmatism, (2) Choiyoi magmatism (286-247 Ma), and (3) post-Choiyoi magmatism related to extensional tectonics. In the Choiyoi stage is there an eastward shift and expansion of the magmatism to the southeast, covering an extensive region that defines the Choiyoi magmatic province. On the basis of comparison with the ages from volcanogenic levels identified in the coeval Gondwana basins, we propose: (a) The pre-Choiyoi volcanism from the Paganzo basin (320-296 Ma) probably has a local source in addition to the Frontal Cordillera region. (b) The pre-Choiyoi and Choiyoi events identified in the Paraná basin (304-275 Ma) are likely to have their source in the Chilean Precordillera. (c) The early stage of the Choiyoi magmatism found in the Sauce Grande basin (284-281 Ma) may have come from the adjacent Las Matras to Chadileuvú blocks. (d) The pre-Choiyoi and Choiyoi events in the Karoo basins (302-253 Ma) include the longest Choiyoi interval, and as a whole bear the best resemblance to the age records along the Chilean and Argentine Frontal Cordillera.

Permian (Leonardian) brachiopods from Paso Hondo Formation, Chiapas, southern Mexico. Paleobiogeographical implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres-Martínez, Miguel A.; Sour-Tovar, Francisco; Barragán, Ricardo

2016-11-01

One of the most important marine sequences of calcareous rocks from the Paleozoic of Mexico outcrops in southern Chiapas. It is composed by different units from Early Permian, being the Paso Hondo Formation the youngest with a Leonardian age. Different groups of marine invertebrates as corals, bivalves, gastropods, bryozoans, brachiopods and crinoids have been previously reported of this unit. Five brachiopod species of the orders Productida, Athyridida, Spiriferida and Spiriferinida from the Barrio Allende section of this unit are herein described. The new species Dyoros (Lissosia) maya and Hustedia shumardi are proposed. Sedimentology and paleoecology of the Paso Hondo Formation, suggest a well-lighted shallow lagoon environment with continuous terrigenous input. The subgenus Dyoros (Lissosia), the genus Paucispinifera and the species Hustedia shumardi, Spiriferella propria and Spiriferellina tricosa are typical taxa from Permian localities of Texas, New Mexico and Coahuila. Their presence in the studied area suggests that during Early Permian there was a geographic connection between the different localities of the biotic Grandian Province (southern USA, northern Mexico and Venezuela) and southeastern Chiapas.

The age of the Tunas formation in the Sauce Grande basin-Ventana foldbelt (Argentina): Implications for the Permian evolution of the southwestern margin of Gondwana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López-Gamundí, Oscar; Fildani, Andrea; Weislogel, Amy; Rossello, Eduardo

2013-08-01

New SHRIMP radiogenic isotope dating on zircons in tuffs (280.8 ± 1.9 Ma) confirms the Early Permian (Artinskian) age of the uppermost section of the Tunas Formation. Tuff-rich levels in the Tunas Formation are exposed in the Ventana foldbelt of central Argentina; they are part of a deltaic to fluvial section corresponding to the late overfilled stage of the Late Paleozoic Sauce Grande foreland basin. Recent SHRIMP dating of zircons from the basal Choiyoi volcanics exposed in western Argentina yielded an age of 281.4 ± 2.5 Ma (Rocha-Campos et al., 2011). The new data for the Tunas tuffs suggest that the volcanism present in the Sauce Grande basin can be considered as the distal equivalent of the earliest episodes of the Choiyoi volcanism of western Argentina. From the palaeoclimatic viewpoint the new Tunas SHRIMP age confirms that by early Artinskian glacial conditions ceased in the Sauce Grande basin and, probably, in adajacent basins in western Gondwana.

Mesozoic evolution of northeast African shelf margin, Libya and Egypt

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aadland, R.K.; Schamel, S.

1989-03-01

The present tectonic features of the northeast African shelf margin between the Nile delta and the Gulf of Sirte are products of (1) precursory late Paleozoic basement arches, (2) early Mesozoic rifting and plate separation, and (3) Late Cretaceous structural inversion. The 250 km-wide and highly differentiated Mesozoic passive margin in the Western Desert region of Egypt is developed above a broad northwest-trending Late Carboniferous basement arch. In northeastern Libya, in contrast, the passive margin is restricted to just the northernmost Cyrenaica platform, where subsidence was extremely rapid in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. The boundary between the Western Desertmore » basin and the Cyrenaica platform is controlled by the western flank of the basement arch. In the middle Cretaceous (100-90 Ma), subsidence accelerated over large areas of the Western desert, further enhancing a pattern of east-west-trending subbasins. This phase of rapid subsidence was abruptly ended about 80 Ma by the onset of structural inversion that uplifted the northern Cyrenaica shelf margin and further differentiated the Western Desert subbasin along a northeasterly trend.« less

Bedded Barite Deposits from Sonora (nw Mexico): a Paleozoic Analog for Modern Cold Seeps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Canet, C.; Anadón, P.; González-Partida, E.; Alfonso, P.; Rajabi, A.; Pérez-Segura, E.; Alba-Aldave, L. A.

2013-05-01

The Mazatán barite deposits represent an outstanding example of Paleozoic bedded barite, a poorly understood type of mineral deposit of major economic interest. The largest barite bodies of Mazatán are hosted within an Upper Carboniferous flysch succession, which formed part of an accretionary wedge related to the subduction of the Rheic Ocean beneath Gondwana. As well, a few barite occurrences are hosted in Upper Devonian, pre-orogenic turbidites. A variety of mineralized structures is displayed by barite, including: septaria nodules, enterolitic structures, rosettes and debris-flow conglomerates. Barite is accompanied by chalcedony, pyrite (framboids) and berthierine. Gas-rich fluid inclusions in barite were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and methane was identified, suggesting the occurrence of light hydrocarbons in the environment within which barite precipitated. 13C-depleted carbonates (δ13C: -24.3 to -18.8‰) were found in the barite deposits; they formed through anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled to sulfate reduction, and yield negative δ18O values (-11.9 to -5.2‰) reflecting the isotopic composition of Devonian-Carboniferous seawater. Methane-derived carbonates occur in modern hydrocarbon seeps and have been reported from Mesozoic and Cenozoic seep sediments, but they have never before been described in Paleozoic bedded barite deposits. δ34S of barite varies from +17.6 to +64.1‰, with the lowest values overlapping the range for coeval seawater sulfate; this distribution indicates a process of sulfate reduction. Barite precipitation can be explained by mixing of methane- and barium-rich fluids with pore-water (seawater) containing sulfate residual from microbial reduction. Two analyses from barite gave an 87Sr/86Sr within and slightly above the range for seawater at the time of deposition, with 0.708130 and 0.708588, which would preclude the involvement of hydrothermal fluids in the mineralization process.

Hydrogeologic Framework and Occurrence and Movement of Ground Water in the Upper Humboldt River Basin, Northeastern Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Plume, Russell W.

2009-01-01

The upper Humboldt River basin encompasses 4,364 square miles in northeastern Nevada, and it comprises the headwaters area of the Humboldt River. Nearly all flow of the river originates in this area. The upper Humboldt River basin consists of several structural basins, in places greater than 5,000 feet deep, in which basin-fill deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age and volcanic rocks of Tertiary age have accumulated. The bedrock of each structural basin and adjacent mountains is composed of carbonate and clastic sedimentary rocks of Paleozoic age and crystalline rocks of Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic age. The permeability of bedrock generally is very low except for carbonate rocks, which can be very permeable where circulating ground water has widened fractures through geologic time. The principal aquifers in the upper Humboldt River basin occur within the water-bearing strata of the extensive older basin-fill deposits and the thinner, younger basin-fill deposits that underlie stream flood plains. Ground water in these aquifers moves from recharge areas along mountain fronts to discharge areas along stream flood plains, the largest of which is the Humboldt River flood plain. The river gains flow from ground-water seepage to its channel from a few miles west of Wells, Nevada, to the west boundary of the study area. Water levels in the upper Humboldt River basin fluctuate annually in response to the spring snowmelt and to the distribution of streamflow diverted for irrigation of crops and meadows. Water levels also have responded to extended periods (several years) of above or below average precipitation. As a result of infiltration from the South Fork Reservoir during the past 20 years, ground-water levels in basin-fill deposits have risen over an area as much as one mile beyond the reservoir and possibly even farther away in Paleozoic bedrock.

Structural features of northern Tarim basin: Implications for regional tectonics and petroleum traps

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dong Jia; Juafu Lu; Dongsheng Cai

1998-01-01

The rhombus-shaped Tarim basin in northwestern China is controlled mainly by two left-lateral strike-slip systems: the northeast-trending Altun fault zone along its southeastern side and the northeast-trending Aheqi fault zone along its northwestern side. In this paper, we discuss the northern Tarim basin`s structural features, which include three main tectonic units: the Kalpin uplift, the Kuqa depression, and the North Tarim uplift along the northern margin of the Tarim basin. Structural mapping in the Kalpin uplift shows that a series of imbricated thrust sheets have been overprinted by strike-slip faulting. The amount of strike-slip displacement is estimated to be 148more » km by restoration of strike-slip structures in the uplift. The Kuqa depression is a Mesozoic-Cenozoic foredeep depression with well-developed flat-ramp structures and fault-related folds. The Baicheng basin, a Quaternary pull-apart basin, developed at the center of the Kuqa depression. Subsurface structures in the North Tarim uplift can be divided into the Mesozoic-Cenozoic and the Paleozoic lithotectonic sequences in seismic profiles. The Paleozoic litho-tectonic sequence exhibits the interference of earlier left-lateral and later right-lateral strike-slip structures. Many normal faults in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic litho-tectonic sequence form the negative flower structures in the North Tarim uplift; these structures commonly directly overlie the positive flower structures in the Paleozoic litho-tectonic sequence. The interference regions of the northwest-trending and northeast-trending folds in the Paleozoic tectonic sequence have been identified to have the best trap structures. Our structural analysis indicates that the Tarim basin is a transpressional foreland basin rejuvenated during the Cenozoic.« less

Oxygenation history of the Neoproterozoic to early Phanerozoic and the rise of land plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, Malcolm W.; Hood, Ashleigh vS.; Shuster, Alice; Greig, Alan; Planavsky, Noah J.; Reed, Christopher P.

2017-05-01

There has been extensive debate about the history of Earth's oxygenation and the role that land plant evolution played in shaping Earth's ocean-atmosphere system. Here we use the rare earth element patterns in marine carbonates to monitor the structure of the marine redox landscape through the rise and diversification of animals and early land plants. In particular, we use the relative abundance of cerium (Ceanom), the only redox-sensitive rare earth element, in well-preserved marine cements and other marine precipitates to track seawater oxygen levels. Our results indicate that there was only a moderate increase in oceanic oxygenation during the Ediacaran (average Cryogenian Ceanom = 1.1, average Ediacaran Ceanom = 0.62), followed by a decrease in oxygen levels during the early Cambrian (average Cryogenian Ceanom = 0.90), with significant ocean anoxia persisting through the early and mid Paleozoic (average Early Cambrian-Early Devonian Ceanom = 0.84). It was not until the Late Devonian that oxygenation levels are comparable to the modern (average of all post-middle Devonian Ceanom = 0.55). Therefore, this work confirms growing evidence that the oxygenation of the Earth was neither unidirectional nor a simple two-stage process. Further, we provide evidence that it was not until the Late Devonian, when large land plants and forests first evolved, that oxygen levels reached those comparable to the modern world. This is recorded with the first modern-like negative Ceanom (values <0.6) occurring at around 380 Ma (Frasnian). This suggests that land plants, rather than animals, are the 'engineers' responsible for the modern fully oxygenated Earth system.

Paleogeographic changes across the Pennsylvanian-Permian boundary within the Mid-Continent (USA) inferred from detrital zircon geochronology of continental deposits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soreghan, M. J.; Soreghan, G. S.

2017-12-01

The Permo-Pennsylvanian was characterized by intense orogenesis associated with Pangaean assembly, and profound climate shifts as earth transitioned from full icehouse conditions in the Pennsylvanian-early Permian to collapse into greenhouse conditions by latest Permian time. The modern U.S. Midcontinent was part of equatorial western Pangaea (North America) sandwiched between a continental-scale orogenic zone to the east and south (Appalachian-Ouachita-Marathon orogenic belt) and a series of basement-cored, intra-plate uplifts along western Pangaea (Ancestral Rocky Mountains). Here, we present a compilation of detrital zircon geochronology data from the Permo-Pennsylvanian of the Midcontinent as well as coeval strata of the east and west to explore sediment dispersal and potential tectonic and climatic influences on these provenance signatures. Zircon provenance data come from mostly eolian and fluvial silt- and sandstones of Early Pennsylvanian through Mid Permian age, although some data include marine sandstones. Our new data were acquired by LA-ICPMS at the University of Arizona Laserchron, and predominant age groups include >2500 Ma (Archean), 1600-1800 Ma (Yavapai-Matzatzal), 1300-900 Ma (Grenville), 790-570 Ma (Neoproterozoic), and 480-360 (E-M Paleozoic). However, the relative distributions of these populations exhibit distinctive temporal differences, especially across the Pennsylvanian-Permian boundary, but also spatially in comparison to published data from the Appalachian-Ouachita-Marathon basin, Ancestral Rocky Mountain basins, and the western Pangaean margin. Although the Central Pangaean Mountains, and in particular the Grenville-age basement rocks, were a dominant source of sediment to the Midcontinent, the data suggest an abrupt introduction of Neoproterozoic zircons in the early Permian. This signature also appears within the Ancestral Rocky Mountains region, but is rare along the western margin and the Appalachian basin in the early Permian. This suggests that dispersal remained segmented in the early Permian and not dominated by a simple east-west integrated paleodisperal system. Temporal change in paleoclimatic conditions across the boundary also likely complicated these provenance signatures through the Permian.

Early Permian Pangea `B' to Late Permian Pangea `A'

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muttoni, Giovanni; Kent, Dennis V.; Garzanti, Eduardo; Brack, Peter; Abrahamsen, Niels; Gaetani, Maurizio

2003-10-01

The pre-drift Wegenerian model of Pangea is almost universally accepted, but debate exists on its pre-Jurassic configuration since Ted Irving introduced Pangea 'B' by placing Gondwana farther to the east by ˜3000 km with respect to Laurasia on the basis of paleomagnetic data. New paleomagnetic data from radiometrically dated Early Permian volcanic rocks from parts of Adria that are tectonically coherent with Africa (Gondwana), integrated with published coeval data from Gondwana and Laurasia, again only from igneous rocks, fully support a Pangea 'B' configuration in the Early Permian. The use of paleomagnetic data strictly from igneous rocks excludes artifacts from sedimentary inclination error as a contributing explanation for Pangea 'B'. The ultimate option to reject Pangea 'B' is to abandon the geocentric axial dipole hypothesis by introducing a significant non-dipole (zonal octupole) component in the Late Paleozoic time-averaged geomagnetic field. We demonstrate, however, by using a dataset consisting entirely of paleomagnetic directions with low inclinations from sampling sites confined to one hemisphere from Gondwana as well as Laurasia that the effects of a zonal octupole field contribution would not explain away the paleomagnetic evidence for Pangea 'B' in the Early Permian. We therefore regard the paleomagnetic evidence for an Early Permian Pangea 'B' as robust. The transformation from Pangea 'B' to Pangea 'A' took place during the Permian because Late Permian paleomagnetic data allow a Pangea 'A' configuration. We therefore review geological evidence from the literature in support of an intra-Pangea dextral megashear system. The transformation occurred after the cooling of the Variscan mega-suture and lasted ˜20 Myr. In this interval, the Neotethys Ocean opened between India/Arabia and the Cimmerian microcontinents in the east, while widespread lithospheric wrenching and magmatism took place in the west around the Adriatic promontory. The general distribution of plate boundaries and resulting driving forces are qualitatively consistent with a right-lateral shear couple between Gondwana and Laurasia during the Permian. Transcurrent plate boundaries associated with the Pangea transformation reactivated Variscan shear zones and were subsequently exploited by the opening of western Neotethyan seaways in the Jurassic.