Zircon SHRIMP U–Pb age of Late Jurassic OIB-type volcanic rocks from the Tethyan Himalaya: constraints on the initial activity time of the Kerguelen mantle plume

This work presents zircon U–Pb age and wholerock geochemical data for the volcanic rocks from the Lakang Formation in the southeastern Tethyan Himalaya and represents the initial activity of the Kerguelen mantle plume. SHRIMP U–Pb dating of zircons from the volcanic rocks yielded a ^(206) Pb/^(238) U age of 147 ± 2 Ma that reflects the time of Late Jurassic magmatism. Whole rock analyses of major and trace elements show that the volcanic rocks are characterized by high content of Ti O_2(2.62 wt%–4.25 wt%) and P_2O_5(0.38 wt%–0.68 wt%), highly fractionated in LREE/HREE [(La/Yb)N= 5.35–8.31] with no obvious anomaly of Eu, and HFSE enrichment with no obvious anomaly of Nb and Ta, which are similar to those of ocean island basalts and tholeiitic basaltic andesites indicating a mantle plume origin. The Kerguelen mantle plume produced a massive amount of magmatic rocks from Early Cretaceous to the present, which widely dispersed from their original localities of emplacement due to the changing motions of the Antarctic, Australian, and Indian plates. However, our new geochronological and geochemical results indicate that the Kerguelen mantle plume started from the Late Jurassic. Furthermore, we suggest that the Kerguelen mantle plume may played a significant role in the breakup of eastern Gondwanaland according to the available geochronological, geochemical and paleomagnetic data.

Carboniferous Alaskan-type complex along the Sino–Mongolian boundary,southern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

We present zircon ages and geochemical data for the Hongshishan Carboniferous Alaskan-type mafic–ultramafic complex exposed in the Beishan area along the Sino–Mongolian boundary, southern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. This complex mainly consists of dunite,harzburgite, lherzolite, wehrlite, and gabbro, which intrudes Early Carboniferous volcanic rocks and reveals a zoned structure. Zircons of a gabbro sample yielded a 206Pb/238 U age of 357 ± 4 Ma, reflecting the time of Early Carboniferous magmatism. Zircon ages were also obtained for an andesite(322 ± 3 Ma) and a basaltic andesite(304 ± 2 Ma).High initial Nd isotope whole-rock values suggest that the Hongshishan gabbro [e_(Nd(t))= +9.6-+10.2] and basalt[eNd(t)= +10.0-+10.8] were derived from a depleted mantle source. Slightly lower eNd(t)values for the ultramafic rocks [eNd(t)= +8.5-+8.7] suggest some interaction of the parental magma with the continental crust. In contrast, the Late Carboniferous Quershan samples in this area represent subduction-related arc volcanic rocks with Adakite-like compositions. The early Carboniferous Hongshishan Alaskan-type complex was interpreted to represent the remnants of a magma chamber that crystallized at the base of a mature island arc, whereas the Quershan island arc volcanic rockssuggest the resurrection of the subduction process after arccontinent collision and uplift of the roots of the arc.

Constraints on sedimentary ages of the Chuanlinggou Formation in the Ming Tombs, Beijing, North China Craton: LA-ICP-MS and SHRIMP U–Pb dating of detrital zircons

Detrital zircons in five sedimentary samples, MC1 to MC5, from the bottom of the Chuanlinggou Formation in the Ming Tombs District, Beijing, were dated with the LA-ICP-MS and SHRIMP U-Pb methods. Age spectra of the five samples show a major peak at 2500 Ma and a secondary peak at 2000 Ma, suggesting their provenances were mainly from the crystalline basement of the North China Craton and the Trans-North China Orogen. The youngest zircon has an age of 1673 d： 44 Ma, indicating that the Chuanlinggou Formation was deposited after this age. From sample MC4 to MC5, lithology changed from a clastic rock （fine-grained sandstone） to a carbonate rock （fine-grained dolomite）, suggesting that the depositional basin became progressively deeper. The age spectrum of sample MC5 shows a major peak at 2500 Ma and a secondary peak at 2000 Ma. Sample MC4, which is stratigraphically lower than sample MC5, only had one peak at 2500 Ma. We conclude that there was a transgressive event when sediments represented by MC5 was deposited, and seawater carried ca. 2000 Ma clastic materials to the basin where the Chuanlinggou Formation was deposited, leading to the addition of ca. 2000 Ma detritus. Our research indicates that the source area for the sediments became more extensive with time. We conclude that the Chuanlinggou Formation in the Ming Tombs District was deposited in a low-energy mud fiat sedimentary environment in the inter-supra tidal zone because it is mainly composed of silty mudstone and fine-grained sandstone with relatively simple sedimentary structures.

Simulation design of fuze warhead system of air defense missile at very low altitude

A novel simulation method for fuze warhead system (FWS) at very low altitude flight is proposed to solve adaptability issues of the traditional one in the naval battle. Firstly, a simulation system framework is presented. Then the detailed implementation of a novel general fuze model, a novel sea echo model and a novel warhead dynamic effectiveness power field algorithm including the simulation system are presented. Finally, simulation results show good performance of the proposed method. The proposed method can simulate the echo signal when the complex fuze antennas detect target and the sea at the same time, and can truly reflect the target positions hit by the warhead fragments. The proposed method can solve the existing problems in the FWS simulation system.

Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb Ages,Geochemical,and Sr-Nd Isotopic Constraints on the Petrogenesis of the Middle Eocene Calc-Alkaline Andesitic Rocks:Implications for Continental Arc Magmatism and Slab Break-off in NE Iran

The Torbat-e-Heydariyeh andesitic rocks(THA)are part of the Cenozoic continental arc magmatic system of the northern branch of the Neotethys Ocean(NE Iran).Columnar jointing is the most significant feature of these rocks and they also show porphyritic,vitrophyric,and vitroglomeroporphyric textures.Plagioclase,clinopyroxene,±orthopyroxene are the major mineral phases.The SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating yielded an age of 41.00±0.69 Ma for the rocks(Middle Eocene,Bartonian).Geochemically,they are of medium-to high-K calc-alkaline affinity.Primitive mantle-normalized diagrams exhibit enrichment in large ion lithophile elements(LILE),such as Cs and Rb,and also depleted in high field strength elements(HFSE)and heavy rare earth elements(HREE),with prominent negative anomalies of Ti,Nb,Y,and Yb,suggesting a tectonic setting of an active continental margin.The chondrite-normalized REE diagram displays enrichment of light rare earth elements(LREE;La_(N)/Yb_(N)=5.37-6.66)and small negative Eu anomalies(Eu/Eu^(*)of 0.69-0.78).Thorium enrichment implies the reaction between the mantle wedge and the melt of subducting oceanic slab,and/or subducting sediment.The role of subducted sediments along with subducted oceanic lithosphere is evident in these magmatic rocks using Ba/La versus Th/Nd and Ba/Th versus La_(N)/Sm_(N)diagrams.Theε_(Nd)(t)and(^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr)_(i)values vary between-0.1 to+0.2 and 0.70489 to 0.70501,respectively,and are compatible with parental melts from subduction of the lithospheric mantle.We suggest that the THA rocks were produced by the partial melting of the metasomatized lithospheric mantle,which corresponds to slab break-off of the northward subducted Neotethys oceanic slab in an extensional setting.The hot asthenospheric mantle upwelling triggered by the Neotethys slab break-off would severely heat the physically mixed mantle wedge peridotite and therefore caused partial melting to produce the Middle Eocene volcanic rocks in NE Iran.