Paleoproterozoic volcanic rocks in the southern margin of the North China Craton, central China:Implications for the Columbia supercontinent

The volcanic rocks of the Xiong’er Group are situated in the southern margin of the North China Craton(NCC).Research on the Xiong er Group is important to understand the tectonic evolution of the NCC and the Columbia supercontinent during the Paleoproterozoic.In this study,to constrain the age of the Xiong’er volcanic rocks and identify its tectonic environment,we report zircon LA-ICP-MS data with Hf isotope,whole-rock major and trace element compositions and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotopes of the volcanic rocks of the Xiong’er Group.The Xiong’er volcanic rocks mainly consist of basaltic andesite,andesite.dacite and rhyolite,with minor basalt.Our new sets of data combined with those from previous studies indicate that Xiong’er volcanism should have lasted from 1827 Ma to 1746 Ma as the major phase of the volcanism.These volcanics have extremely low MgO.Cr and Ni contents,are enriched in LREEs and LILEs but depleted in HFSEs(Nb,Ta,and Ti),similar to arc-related volcanic rocks.They are characterized by negative zirconεHft values of-17.4 to 8.8,whole-rock initial 87Sr/86Sr values of 0.7023 to 0.7177 andεNd(t)values of-10.9 to 6.4.and Pb isotopes(206Pb/204Pb=14.366-16.431,207Pb/204Pb=15.106-15.371,208Pb/204Pb=32.455-37.422).The available elemental and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotope data suggest that the Xiong’er volcanic rocks were sourced from a mantle contaminated by continental crust.The volcanic rocks of the Xiong’er Group might have been generated by high-degree partial melting of a lithospheric mantle that was originally modified by oceanic subduction in the Archean.Thus,we suggest that the subduction-modified lithospheric mantle occurred in an extensional setting during the breakup of the Columbia supercontinent in the Late Paleoproterozoic,rather than in an arc setting.

Chemical Compositions and Distribution Characteristics of Cements in Longmaxi Formation Shales, Southwest China

Shale gas resources have been regarded as a viable energy source, and it is of great significance to characterize the shale composition of different cements, such as quartz and dolomite. In this research, chemical analysis and the multifractal method have been used to study the mineral compositions and petrophysical structures of cements in shale samples from the Longmaxi Formation, China. X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe, field emission scanning electron microscopy, cathodoluminescence microscopy and C-O isotope analyses confirmed that cements in the Longmaxi Formation shales are mainly composed of Fe-bearing dolomite and quartz. Fe-bearing dolomite cements concentrate around dolomite as annuli, filling micron-sized inorganic primary pores. Quartz cements in the form of nanoparicles fill primary inter-crystalline pores among clay minerals. Theoretical calculation shows that the Fe-bearing dolomite cements formed slightly earlier than the quartz cements, but both were related to diagenetic illitization of smectite. Moreover, multifractal analysis reveals that the quartz cements are more irregularly distributed in pores than the Fe-bearing dolomite cements. These results suggest that the plugging effect of the quartz cements on the primary inoraganic pore structures is the dominant factor resulting in low interconnected porosity of shales, which are unfavorable for the enrichment of shale gas.

Post-VMS mineralization deformations （1880-1820 Ma） of the Skellefte district （Sweden）： insights from the spatial pattern of VMS occurrences

In the last two to three decades or so, the spatial pattern of mineral occurrences of a deposit-type has been studied to derive insights to mineralization controls and assist mineral exploration. In the Skellefte district, Fry plots of volcanogenic massive sulfide （VMS） mines/ prospects reveal patterns that are likely due to post- mineralization deformation events. The fractal dimensions of the spatial patterns of the present-day VMS mines/ prospects and that of the ＇original＇ VMS deposits support the concept that spatial patterns of mineral deposits are spatially-invariant. Therefore, analysis of the spatial pattern of mineral deposits is useful not only in research about pre- and syn-mineralization geological settings but also post-mineralization geological settings.