Growth of the Archean sialic crust as revealed by zircon in the TTGs in eastern Finland

U–Pb age determinations on zircon from granitoids in the Archean of eastern Finland were conducted using the SIMS, LA-ICP-MS and TIMS techniques, with an emphasis on low-HREE granitoids. The oldest rocks in the Fennoscandian Shield are 3.4–3.5 Ga. Several samples were collected close to these rocks, but none of the samples were as old, indicating that the oldest rocks are only small, possibly allochthonous fragments in the Neoarchean bedrock. Some tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) samples yielded homogeneous 2.72–2.73 Ga zircon populations, and in these samples, the initial εNd was also close to the depleted mantle (DM) values. However, several granitoid samples with a main zircon population of 2.7–2.8 Ga had 2.9–3.2 Ga grains or inherited cores, and in some samples, all grains were of 2.9–3.0 Ga. In these samples, the εNd value was also close to zero or slightly negative. These features suggest that apart from the juvenile Neoarchean magmas, the abundance of reworked 2.9 Ga material is considerable in the Archean crust, which developed during successive juvenile magmatic inputs that melted and assimilated the older sialic crust. The low- HREE geochemical character of granitoids has no correlation with their age, with the low-HREE granitoids yielding an age span of 2.72–2.98 Ga.

ZIRCONS FROM ROCKS OF THE MURZINKA-ADUI METAMORPHIC COMPLEX: GEOCHEMISTRY, THERMOMETRY, POLYCHRONISM, AND GENETIC CONSEQUENCES

Transformation of the oceanic crust into the continental one in orogenic belts is an important problem in petrological studies. In the paleocontinental sector of the Urals, a key object for tracing the stages of metamorphism and investigating the origin of anatectic granites is the Murzinka-Adui metamorphic complex. We have analyzed trace elements in zircons and established their genesis, sources, crystallization conditions, and stages of metamorphic events and granite generation in this complex. Zircons compositions were determined by the LA-ICP-MS method. Temperatures were calculated from Ti contents in the zircons. We distinguish three geochemical types of zircons, which differ in the ratios of light and heavy REE, U, Th, Ti, Y and show different values of Ce- and Eu-anomalies and Zr/Hf ratios, which are indicative of different crystallization conditions, as follows. Type I: minimal total LREE content; clear negative Eu- and Ce- anomalies; features of magmatic genesis; crystallization temperatures from 629 to 782 °C. Type II: higher contents of Ti, La, and LREE; low Ce-anomaly; assumed crystallization from highly fluidized melts or solutions. Type III: low positive Eu-anomaly; high REE content; low Th/U-ratio; zircons are assumed to originate from a specific fluidized melt with a high Eu-concentration. Ancient relict zircons (2300–330 Ma) in gneisses and granites show features of magma genesis and belong to types I and II. Such grains were possibly inherited from granitoid sources with different SiO2 contents and different degrees of metamorphism. Based on the geological and petrogeochemical features and zircon geochemistry of the Murzinka-Adui complex, there are grounds to conclude that the material composing this complex was generated from the sialic crust. The main stages of metamorphism and/or granite generation, which are traceable from the changes in types and compositions of the zircons, are dated at 1639, 380–370, 330, and 276–246 Ma. Thus, transformation of the oceanic crust into the continental one was a long-term and complicated process, and, as a result, the thickness of the sialic crust is increased in the study area.

Stages in evolution of Earth's crust recorded by the Huliaipole block of the West Azov area (4.0-2.0 Ga)

The U-Pb age of zircon populations from metadacite of the Huliaipole Suite was determined using the LA-ICP-MS method as 3085-2850 and 3700-3360 Ma. In addition, two crystals of zircon were discovered with an age of more than 3800 Ma. According to geological and geochronological data, the Huliaipole Block, 30 × 50 km in size, is composed of rocks and relicts of the Hadean, Archean, and Palaeoproterozoic eons. The oldest nucleus of the Azov Domain was probably formed from 3.97 to 3.3 Ga ago. In the Mesoarchean (3.2-3.0 Ga), it became a part of the Middle Dnieper-Azov-Kursk granite-greenstone terrane. Felsic and intermediate volcanics of the Huliaipole Suite could have formed due to the melting of the sialic crust, including rocks of the Hadean and Archean age, as a result of the underplating of basic melts during the formation of the Neoarchean to Paleoproterozoic rift structures.

U-Pb evidence for late Neoarchean crustal reworking in the Southern São Francisco Craton (Minas Gerais, Brazil)

The Passa Tempo Metamorphic Complex is one of several metamorphic complexes that form the Archean sialic crust of the southern São Francisco Craton. It encompasses hypersthene-bearing gneissic rocks, with subordinateNW- or EW-trending mafic-ultramafic bodies and granodioritic to alkali-granitic, weakly foliated, and light-colored granitoids. These granitoids are the product of generalized migmatization that followed granulite-facies metamorphism. To determine the ages of the granulite-facies metamorphism and granitoid genesis, we obtained U-Pb ages on zircon extracted from the mesosome and leucosome of the migmatitic gneisses. For the mesosome, a discordia that intercepts Concordia at 2622 ± 18 Ma is interpreted as a minimum age for granulite-facies metamorphism. For the leucosome, the upper intercept of discordia at 2599 ± 45 Ma corresponds to migmatization and granitoid genesis. Contemporaneous metamorphism and magmatism have been documented elsewhere in the São Francisco Craton, especially in the southern portion, demonstrating vast and vigorous reworking of sialic crust by the end of the Neoarchean.

Shrimp and conventional U-Pb age, Sm-Nd isotopic characteristics and tectonic significance of the K-rich Itapuranga suite in Goiás, Central Brazil

The Itapuranga alkali granite and Uruana quartz syenite are large K-rich EW-elongated intrusions, in the central part of the Neoproterozoic Brasília Belt, central Brazil. They are associated with Pireneus lineaments, which cut the regional NNW-SSE structures of the southern part of the belt. SHRIMP and conventional U-Pb data for the Itapuranga and Uruana intrusions indicate crystallization ages of 624 ± 10 Ma and 618 ± 4 Ma, respectively. Three zircon cores from the Itapuranga granite yielded U-Pb ages between 1.79 and 1.49 Ga. Sm-Nd T DM ages for both intrusions are 1.44 Ga and epsilonNd(T) values are -5.1 and -5.7, suggesting the input of material derived from older (Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic) sialic crust in the origin of the parental magmas. Magma mixing structures indicate co-existence of mafic and felsic end-members. The felsic end-member of the intrusions is dominantly represented by crust-derived melts, formed in response to the invasion of Paleo/Mesoproterozoic sialic crust by alkali-rich mafic magmas at ca. 620 Ma. These intrusions are roughly contemporaneous with, or perhaps slightly younger than, the peak of regional metamorphism in the southern Brasília Belt. Their emplacement along the Pireneus lineament suggest a syn-tectonic origin for them, most probably in transtensional settings along these faults.

Sr and Nd isotopic characteristics of 1.77-1.58 Ga rift-related granites and volcanics of the Goiás tin province, central Brazil

Supracrustal rocks of the Araí Group, together with coeval A-type granites represent a ca. 1.77-1.58 Ga old continental rift in Brazil. Two granite families are identified: the older (1.77 Ga) group forms small undeformed plutons, and the younger granites (ca. 1.58 Ga) constitute larger, deformed plutons. Sr-Nd isotopic data for these rocks indicate that the magmatism is mostly product of re-melting of Paleoproterozoic sialic crust. Initial Sr ratios for both granite families are ca 0.726 and 0.720. Most TDM model ages are between 2.58 and 1.80 Ga. epsilonND(T) values are between +3.6 and -11.9. Araí volcanics are bimodal, with basalts and dacites/rhyolites interlayered with continental sediments. The felsic volcanics show Nd isotopic characteristics which are very similar to the granites, and are also interpreted as reworking of Paleoproterozoic crust. Detrital sediments of the Araí Group revealed T DM model ages between 2.4 and 2.16 Ga, indicating that they are the product of erosion of Paleoproterozoic crust. The data indicate that the Araí rift system was established on crust that had just become stable after the Paleoproterozoic orogeny.

Metabentonites in the Moffat Shale Group, Southern Uplands of Scotland: Geochemical evidence of ensialic marginal basin volcanism

Metabentonites occur extensively in the Moffat Shale Group of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. At Dob's Linn 135 metabentonite beds, 1–50 cm thick, occur in Ashgill to Llandovery strata, representing an aggregate thickness of 6 m of compacted ash accumulated over approximately 25 Ma. The metabentonites are characterized by relatively high concentrations of trace elements, including Ba, Cs, Hf, Nb, Rb, Ta, Th, U, Y, Zr and REEs, which were inherited from evolved vitric ash. Immobile trace element data indicate that a spectrum of silicic ash compositions accumulated, ranging from subalkaline to mildly peralkaline. In the late Ordovician N. gracilis to G. persculptus biozones, subalkaline ash falls predominated, whereas peralkaline ash falls predominated in the Llandovery (Silurian) P. acuminatus to M. convolutes biozones, giving way to predominantly subalkaline ash falls during accumulation of the M. sedgwickii to R. maximus biozones. Changeovers in the dominant ash types are marked by increased proportions of ash. The magmas from which the ash types evolved were generated in an ensialic arc transitional to a back-arc setting, and involved attenuated sialic crust and mantle characterized by variable depletion in HFS elements. Lithological, petrological and REE characteristics suggest that the Moffat Shale Group is not exclusively pelagic in origin and probably accumulated in a back-arc basin bordering an ensialic arc terrane.