Early Silurian Wuchuan–Sihui–Shaoguan exhalative sedimentary pyrite belt, South China: constraints from zircon dating for K-bentonite of the giant Dajiangping deposit

The Wuchuan-Sihui-Shaoguan(WSS)exhalative sedimentary pyrite belt in the southwestern part of the Qinzhou-Hangzhou(Qin-Hang)belt is the most important sulfur industry base in China.However,a wide range of metallogenetic ages spanning from Ediacaran to Devonian has been reported in the literature.This age range does not support the idea that the typical character of"coeval mineralization"in an exhalative sedimentary mineralization belt in China and worldwide.Therefore,the precise determination of mineralization ages of representative deposits is necessary to provide guides for exploration and metallogenetic models.The Dajiangping pyrite deposit is a typical example of this kind of deposits and is also the largest deposit with a proven reserve of 210 Mt.This deposit was thought to have formed in Ediacaran or Devonian.In this study,2-3 layers of 10-25 cm thick 2M1-type microcrystalline muscovite slate abruptly embedded in the No.Ⅳmassive orebody of the deposit has been identified to be low-grade metamorphic K-bentonite.A Concordia zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb age of 432.5±1.3 Ma(mean standard weighted deviation of concordance and equivalence=1.2;N=11)has been yielded for the low-grade metamorphic K-bentonite.This age is distinctly different from the Rb-Sr isochron age of630.1±7.3 Ma for siliceous rock at the top of the No.Ⅲbanded orebody and the Re-Os isochron age of 389±62 Ma for pyrites from a laminated orebody.Instead,it is close to the intercept age(429 Ma)of the youngest detrital zircons from sandstone interlayers of the No.Ⅲbanded orebody.The Concordia age is also coincident with those of the Late Caledonian(400-460 Ma)magmatism-metamorphism events which are widely distributed in Cathaysia Block.Particularly,it agrees well with that of the Early Silurian extensional volcanism(434-444 Ma)which have been revealed in the Dabaoshan,Siqian-Hekou,and Nanjing volcanic basins in northern Guangdong Province and southern Jiangxi Province.Hence,the dating result in this study confirms that the sedimentary time of the ore-host Daganshan Formation is Early Silurian,and implies that the mineralization age of the Dajiangping pyrite deposit should also be Early Silurian.In combination with the Early Silurian age of Shezui pyrite deposit and the Dabaoshan volcanic basin along the WSS pyrite belt,it could be inferred that the WSS pyrite belt provides a record of the northern expanding of Qinzhou-Fangcheng trough in Early Silurian and that the exhalative pyrite mineralization was triggered by the postcollisional extension of the margin of Cathaysia Block after the intracontinental collision between Cathaysia Block and Yangtze Block during Late Caledonian stage.

U–Pb zircon age of the base of the Ediacaran System at the southern margin of the Qinling Orogen

Global abrupt climate change from Marinoan snowball Earth to greenhouse Earth, recorded as cap carbonate overlain on diamictite, had shed the first light on Cambrian bio-radiation. The most documented cap carbonate sections are typical with comprehensive d13 C negative values and ubiquitous sedimentary structures, such as tepee-like, sheet-crack etc., which are associated with successive glacial eustatic variation caused by isostatic rebound in shallow-water facies. Here we report a deepwater basinal cap carbonate section with strong negative δ^(13) C values in the southern margin of the Qinling Orogen,Heyu, Chengkou County, Chongqing in China, which consists of massive dolostone with abundant carbonaceous laminae. However, it lacks the sedimentary structure as mentioned above and is overlain by thin-bedded silicious shales and cherts. A K-bentonite bed was discovered within the base of cap carbonates, about 0.7 m above the top of the Marinoan diamictite. Magmatic zircons that were separated from the K-bentonite bed yield a SIMS concordia U–Pb age of 634.1 ± 1.9 Ma(1 r, MSWDCE= 0.31,ProbabilityCE= 1.000, n = 20). The age is in good agreement with previously reported TIMS U–Pb ages for the termination of Marinoan glaciation and provides ageochronological constraint for the Ediacaran successions in the Qinling Orogen.

Early Ordovician-Middle Silurian Subduction-Closure of the Proto-Tethys Ocean:Evidence from the Qiaerlong Pluton at the Northwestern Margin of the West Kunlun Orogenic Belt,NW China

Early Paleozoic magmatism in the West Kunlun Orogenic Belt(WKOB)preserves important information about the tectonic evolution of the Proto-Tethys Ocean.This paper reports whole-rock compositions,zircon and apatite U-Pb dating,and zircon Hf isotopes for the Qiaerlong Pluton(QEL)at the northwestern margin of WKOB,with the aim of elucidating the petrogenesis of the pluton and shedding insights into the subduction-collision process of this oceanic slab.The QEL is mainly composed of Ordovician quartz monzodiorite(479±3 Ma),quartz monzonite(467–472 Ma),and syenogranite(463±4 Ma),and is intruded by Middle Silurian peraluminous granite(429±20 Ma)and diabase(421±4 Ma).Zirconε_(Hf)(t)values reveal that quartz monzodiorites(+2.1 to+9.9)and quartz monzonites(+0.6 to+6.8)were derived from a mixed source of juvenile crust and older lower crust,and syenogranites(−5.6 to+4.5)and peraluminous granites(−2.9 to+2.0)were generated from a mixed source of lower crust and upper crust;diabases had zirconε_(Hf)(t)values ranging from−0.3 to+4.1,and contained 463±5 Ma captured zircon and 1048±39 Ma inherited zircon,indicating they originated from enriched lithospheric mantle and were contaminated by crustal materials.The Ordovician granitoids are enriched in LILEs and light rare-earth elements,and depleted in HFSEs with negative Nb,Ta,P,and Ti anomalies,suggesting that they formed in a subduction environment.Middle Silurian peraluminous granites have the characteristics of leucogranites with high SiO_(2)contents(74.92 wt.%–75.88 wt.%)and distinctly negative Eu anomalies(δEu=0.03–0.14),indicating that they belong to highly fractionated granite and were formed in a post-collision extension setting.Comparative analysis of these results with other Early Paleozoic magmas reveals that the Proto-Tethys ocean closed before the Middle Silurian and its southward subduction resulted in the formation of QEL.

月球原位资源利用及关键科学与技术问题

月球探测已成为21世纪各航天国家深空探测竞相追逐的首要目标,在月球上建设短期有人值守,长期无人智慧运行的月球科研站或者月球基地已成为人类共同的愿景。同时,把认识月球和利用月球作为同等重要的科学目标,是新时代月球探测最为显著的特点。月球原位资源利用既是新时代月球探测的科学目标,也是保障月球基地建设和运行顺利进行的重要途径,越来越受到关注。及早开展月壤、水冰以及太阳能等地外原位资源利用背后的基础科学和技术问题的研究,是我国在新一轮月球探测中抢占先机的必由之路。本文从月球基地建设的愿景出发,开展了月球原位资源利用的需求分析,阐述了月球原位资源利用的必要性和可行性,对月球原位资源利用过程中的关键科学与技术问题进行了梳理。梳理的关键科学和技术问题包括四个方面:(1)月球关键资源勘查规范;(2)月壤综合利用;(3)月面能源高效持续利用;(4)月球资源开发利用过程中的环境危害防护和权益保护。

Timing the termination of the Doushantuo negative carbon isotope excursion: evidence from U-Pb ages from the Dengying and Liuchapo formations,South China

The Doushantuo negative carbon isotope excursion(DOUNCE) is the largest known marine inorganic carbon isotope anomaly. The origin of this pronounced negative excursion is still an enigmatic issue that attracts geologists. Time constraints on the excursion are the critical information that would provide insight into its genesis. In previous decades, the timing of its termination has been constrained by the widely cited zircon U-Pb age of 550.5 ± 0.8 Ma for the tuff at the top of the Miaohe Member at the Jiuqunao section in the Yangtze Gorges area, South China. However, results of recent studies indicate that the reliability of this time constraint needs to be re-evaluated. Here, a geochronological study was carried out using two K-bentonites from Fanglong in South China. A K-bentonite in the lower Dengying Formation yielded a U-Pb age of 557 ± 3 Ma, while a K-bentonite in the basal Liuchapo Formation yielded an age of 550 ± 3 Ma. Based on regional correlations between the Ediacaran successions in South China,the age(557 ± 3 Ma) for the K-bentonite in the lower Dengying Formation may serve as a second critical timing constraint for the ending of the DOUNCE. Combined with available estimates of the DOUNCE duration, our new data indicate that the DOUNCE has a maximum onset age ～570 Ma.

Constraints on the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary in deep-water realm in South China: Evidence from zircon CA-ID-TIMS U-Pb ages from the topmost Liuchapo Formation

The placement of the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary in deep-water realm in South China and the high-precision temporal framework for the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition in this region have not yet been completely solved. Recently, we have found two K-bentonite beds in the top of the Liuchapo Formation at the Pingyin section, Guizhou Province. It provides an opportunity for constructing the temporal framework of the transitional strata on the Yangtze Platform in South China and for determining the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary in this area. In this study, we conducted high-precision CA-ID-TIMS U-Pb dating on zircons from the two K-bentonites. The ages of the two K-bentonites were precisely constrained at 536.40±0.47/1.1/1.2 Ma(2σ, n=7, MSWD=0.92) and 541.48±0.46/1.1/1.2 Ma(2σ, n=8, MSWD=1.3). Combining the geochronological results with organic carbon isotope data of chert in the topmost Liuchapo Formation from the section, we suggest that the EdiacaranCambrian boundary should be consistent with a significant negative organic carbon isotope excursion between the two Kbentonites. The scheme of the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary in this study is of great significance for global correlation, and further for unravelling the information of the terminal Ediacaran-early Cambrian ocean.