scholarly journals Early Neoproterozoic (870–820 Ma) amalgamation of the Tarim craton (northwestern China) and the final assembly of Rodinia

Geology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pan Zhao ◽  
Jinyou He ◽  
Chenglong Deng ◽  
Yan Chen ◽  
Ross N. Mitchell

In the paleogeographic configuration of the Neoproterozoic supercontinent of Rodinia, the Tarim craton (northwestern China), traditionally seen as a single block, is placed either on the periphery near northern Australia or India or in a central position between Australia and Laurentia. To distinguish between these possibilities, we present here new primary paleomagnetic results from ca. 900 Ma volcanics in the Aksu region of the northwestern Tarim craton. The data reveal a ~28° latitudinal difference between the North Tarim and South Tarim blocks at ca. 900 Ma and constrain the age of amalgamation of the Tarim craton to between 870 and 820 Ma. Combining paleomagnetic poles from Tarim and major cratons of Rodinia with geological evidence, a two-stage orogenic model is proposed for the assembly of Rodinia. Late Mesoproterozoic orogenesis (1.3–1.0 Ga) led to the assembly of Australia–East Antarctica, Baltica, Umkondia, South Tarim, and Cathaysia with Laurentia, forming the core of Rodinia. Thereafter, the Jiangnan–Central Tarim Ocean separating North Tarim and Yangtze from South Tarim and Cathaysia was closed before ca. 820 Ma. This second Jiangnan–Central Tarim orogeny caused nearly coeval amalgamation of the peripheral Tarim and South China cratons by the welding of North Tarim and Yangtze to South Tarim and Cathaysia, respectively. The supercontinent of Rodinia was thus assembled by two orogenic phases separated by ~200 m.y.

2019 ◽  
Vol 131 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 1723-1743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Wang ◽  
Stephen T. Johnston ◽  
Nengsong Chen

Abstract The Qilian block, one of the Precambrian terranes in the Qinling-Qilian-Kunlun orogenic system, is a critical region for reconstruction of the overall architecture and tectonic evolution of NW China. This investigation of zircon U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopes and whole-rock geochemistry of a metasupracrustal sequence in the North Wulan terrane provides new insights into the Qilian block. A Statherian–Calymmian unit (ca. 1.67–1.5 Ga), dominated by Al- and Si-rich gneisses, arkosites, quartzites, and amphibolites with minor calc-silicate rocks and marbles, is interpreted to have been deposited during continental rifting. Detrital zircons show two main age populations of 2685–2276 and 2098–1761 Ma with mostly negative εHf(t) values (–14.0 to +3.6). The sources are characterized by mixed felsic to intermediate igneous rocks as well as recycled components and are interpreted as being derived from the Tarim craton because of the age distribution of their detrital zircons. A Stenian–Tonian unit (ca. 1.1–0.9 Ga) consists mainly of felsic gneisses, quartzites, calc-silicate rocks, marbles, metavolcanic rocks, and amphibolites. The metasedimentary rocks yielded detrital zircon ages clustering at ca. 1.64, 1.43, 1.3–1.2, 1.1, and 0.94 Ga with predominantly positive εHf(t) values (–7.1 to +9.7). One metavolcanic rock has an age of ca. 1110 Ma and εHf(t) values of +6.5 to +9.1. The provenance is dominated by local syndepositional arc-related igneous rocks with older detritus possibly from Laurentia, again based on the age distribution of the detrital zircons. The Central Qilian and Hualong terranes show strong affinities with the North Wulan terrane and together constituted a single coherent Qilian block prior to their involvement in the Qilian–North Qaidam orogen. The Qilian block was probably once part of the Tarim craton and had a strong linkage to South Tarim, which drifted from North Tarim during the breakup of Columbia in the early Mesoproterozoic. We suggest that, from the late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic, the South Tarim–Qilian formed an active continental margin located close to Laurentia during the assembly of Rodinia. The final collision occurred in the early Neoproterozoic with the formation of a significant continent that included the reunified Tarim-Qilian as well as Qaidam-Kunlun and Qinling terranes, Alxa block, Kyrgyz-Chinese Tianshan, and Yili block.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-13
Author(s):  
Husni Mubarok

The center of the earth and the shape of the earth have a very close relationship, theories have been widely discussed about the concept of both things. Starting from the earth shapes are flat globe and elliptical, besides that the center of the earth in the North Pole, Mecca, the core of the earth even in the archipelago (Indonesia). This study used a qualitative research method was considered in helping the researcher to comprehend better the process of constructing meaning. The study used an interview and a written questionnaire. There are fifty participants in this study, the participants from Islamic student of Jagad Alimussirry Islamic boarding school. The result of this study shown that the majority of Islamic students have a strong understanding of the earth shape and the position of the earth center, which is viewed from the perspective of science and Islam. Most of respondents have an understanding that the shape of the earth is globe with its central position in the city of Mecca.


2019 ◽  
Vol 132 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 739-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanqing Zhao ◽  
Shihong Zhang ◽  
Jikai Ding ◽  
Linxi Chang ◽  
Qiang Ren ◽  
...  

Abstract The interval from the late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic is generally considered as a critical time for the amalgamation of Rodinia. The location of the North China Craton (NCC) in Rodinia remains contentious and demands greater paleomagnetic constraints. A combined geochronologic and paleomagnetic study was conducted on the late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic rocks in the eastern NCC. Three sills were dated at ca. 945 Ma and one at ca. 920 Ma through use of the zircon U-Pb secondary ion mass spectroscopy method. Paleomagnetic investigation revealed no significant discrepancy between these sills. A positive baked-contact test, secular variation test and presence of reversals together support the primary origin interpretation for the remnant magnetization. A high-quality pole at (28.2 °S, 141.9 °E, A95 = 10.4°) was thus obtained by averaging our new results and a virtual geomagnetic pole previously reported for a ca. 920 Ma sill in the region. These Neoproterozoic sills intruded the successions that contain correlative strata that are named Nanfen, Xinxing, and Liulaobei formations in Liaoning, Jiangsu, and Anhui provinces, respectively. The Nanfen Formation and its equivalents are constrained between ca. 1120 and ca. 945 Ma by detrital zircons and the well-dated mafic sills. The paleomagnetic inclinations observed from the lower parts of the Nanfen, Xinxing, and Liulaobei formations are notably steep. The corresponding poles from these rock units are consistent and averaged at 38.6 °N, 136.7 °E (A95 = 3.2°). The quality of this pole is strengthened by a positive reversal test and its distinctiveness from the younger poles of the NCC. In the middle part of the Nanfen Formation, however, the paleomagnetic directions are characterized by moderate inclinations, being significantly different from those in the lower part of the Nanfen Formation and its equivalents. The calculated pole for the upper part of the Lower Member of the Nanfen Formation is at 8.0 °N, 128.5 °E (A95 = 7.9°). Another pole obtained from the Middle Member of the Nanfen Formation is at 11.2 °S, 127.7 °E (A95 = 8.5°). These two poles also differ from the younger poles of the NCC and likely represent the primary remanences. Our new results, together with the existing global paleomagnetic data and geological evidence, aided by the “right-way-up” connection model between Laurentia and Baltica in Rodinia, support a NCC–NW Laurentia connection between ca. 1120 and 890 Ma.


Author(s):  
Dries Tys

The origin, rise, and dynamics of coastal trade and landing places in the North Sea area between the sixth and eighth centuries must be understood in relation to how coastal regions and seascapes acted as arenas of contact, dialogue, and transition. Although the free coastal societies of the early medieval period were involved in regional to interregional or long-distance trade networks, their economic agency must be understood from a bottom-up perspective. That is, their reproduction strategies must be studied in their own right, independent from any teleological construction about the development of trade, markets, or towns for that matter. This means that the early medieval coastal networks of exchange were much more complex and diverse than advocated by the simple emporium network model, which connected the major archaeological sites along the North Sea coast. Instead, coastal and riverine dwellers often possessed some form of free status and large degrees of autonomy, in part due to the specific environmental conditions of the landscapes in which they dwelled. The wide estuarine region of the Low Countries, between coastal Flanders in the south and Friesland in the north, a region with vast hinterlands and a central position in northwestern Europe, makes these developments particularly clear. This chapter thus pushes back against longstanding assumptions in scholarly research, which include overemphasis of the influence of large landowners over peasant economies, and on the prioritization of easily retrievable luxuries over less visible indicators of bulk trade (such as wood, wool, and more), gift exchange, and market trade. The approach used here demonstrates that well-known emporia or larger ports of trade were embedded in the economic activities and networks of their respective hinterlands. Early medieval coastal societies and their dynamics are thus better understood from the perspective of integrated governance and economy (“new institutional economics”) in a regional setting.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Edwards ◽  
Pierre Hélaouët ◽  
Eric Goberville ◽  
Alistair Lindley ◽  
Geraint A. Tarling ◽  
...  

AbstractIn the North Atlantic, euphausiids (krill) form a major link between primary production and predators including commercially exploited fish. This basin is warming very rapidly, with species expected to shift northwards following their thermal tolerances. Here we show, however, that there has been a 50% decline in surface krill abundance over the last 60 years that occurred in situ, with no associated range shift. While we relate these changes to the warming climate, our study is the first to document an in situ squeeze on living space within this system. The warmer isotherms are shifting measurably northwards but cooler isotherms have remained relatively static, stalled by the subpolar fronts in the NW Atlantic. Consequently the two temperatures defining the core of krill distribution (7–13 °C) were 8° of latitude apart 60 years ago but are presently only 4° apart. Over the 60 year period the core latitudinal distribution of euphausiids has remained relatively stable so a ‘habitat squeeze’, with loss of 4° of latitude in living space, could explain the decline in krill. This highlights that, as the temperature warms, not all species can track isotherms and shift northward at the same rate with both losers and winners emerging under the ‘Atlantification’ of the sub-Arctic.


2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Cifelli ◽  
Cynthia L. Gordon ◽  
Thomas R. Lipka

Multituberculates, though among the most commonly encountered mammalian fossils of the Mesozoic, are poorly known from the North American Early Cretaceous, with only one taxon named to date. Herein we describe Argillomys marylandensis, gen. et sp. nov., from the Early Cretaceous of Maryland, based on an isolated M2. Argillomys represents the second mammal known from the Arundel Clay facies of the Patuxent Formation (Lower Cretaceous: Aptian). Though distinctive in its combination of characters (e.g., enamel ornamentation consisting of ribs and grooves only, cusp formula 2:4, presence of distinct cusp on anterobuccal ridge, enlargement of second cusp on buccal row, central position of ultimate cusp in lingual row, great relative length), the broader affinities of Argillomys cannot be established because of non-representation of the antemolar dentition. Based on lack of apomorphies commonly seen among Cimolodonta (e.g., three or more cusps present in buccal row, fusion of cusps in lingual row, cusps strongly pyramidal and separated by narrow grooves), we provisionally regard Argillomys as a multituberculate of “plagiaulacidan” grade. Intriguingly, it is comparable in certain respects to some unnamed Paulchoffatiidae, a family otherwise known from the Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula.


2016 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 81 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Ganas ◽  
E. Lekkas ◽  
M. Kolligri ◽  
A. Moshou ◽  
K. Makropoulos

The Upper Messinia basin (Peloponnese, Greece) hosted a seismic swarm during the second half of 2011. The geological evidence (surface breaks striking N160°E), the seismological data (distribution of relocated earthquakes and T-axis orientation) and severe damage distribution are aligned along the eastern margin of the basin, so as they are attributed to reactivation of the bordering NNW-SSE normal fault. In particular, the rupture of the 14 August 2011 M=4.8 event is associated to the surface breaks inside the village Siamo. The length of the reactivated fault is estimated as 7 ±1 km based on the longest dimension (NW-SE) of the swarm epicentres (June to October 2011). The mode of rupture of the Siamo fault is probably related to a) the change in stress field orientation from south to north inside the basin (from E-W extension in the Siamo – Katsaro area to N-S extension in the north of Oichalia area) and/or b) to the occurrence of magmatic fluids due to the proximity of Messinia to the Hellenic subduction.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Xu ◽  
Shichang Kang ◽  
Jiazhen Li

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission provides measurements of Earth’s static and time-variable gravity fields with monthly resolution. In this study, changes of water storage in northwestern China were determined by GRACE monthly gravity field data obtained from 2003 to 2010. Comparisons of water storage change (WSC) simulated by a four-dimensional assimilation model (Noah) and observed by GRACE revealed similar patterns of change and a correlation coefficient of 0.71(P<0.05). Trend analysis indicated significant changes in the spatiotemporal variation of WSC in northwestern China during the 8-year study period, which were stronger in the east than in the west and more pronounced in the south than in the north. The most pronounced increase in water storage occurred in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, but, overall, water storage increased by 0.61 mm/a over northwestern China during the study period. Clear seasonal variations of WSC and precipitation were found, because glacial meltwater and precipitation are the main sources of water in the hydrosphere; meanwhile, the distributions of glaciers and permafrost also affect the spatial distribution of WSC.


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