Limited Contribution of Preferential Dissolution to Radiogenic Uranium Isotope Disequilibrium Observed in Weathered Moraines

Radiogenic uranium isotope disequilibrium(^(234)U/^(238)U) has been used to trace a variety of Earth surface processes,and is usually attributed to direct recoil of ^(234)Th and preferential dissolution of radioactively damaged lattices at the mineral surface.However,the relative contribution of these two mechanisms in the natural environment remains unresolved,making it hard to use the extent of disequilibrium to quantify processes such as weathering.This study tests the contribution of preferential dissolution using well-characterized weathered moraines and river sediments from the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.The observations show that weathering of recent moraines where the contribution from direct recoil is negligible and is not associated with depletion of ^(234)U at the mineral surface.It suggests a limited role for preferential dissolution in this setting.We attribute this lack of preferential dissolution to a near-to-equilibrium dissolution at the weathering interfaces,with little development of etch pits associated with radioactively damaged energetic sites.

Archean (about 2500 Ma) anatexis in eastern North China Block

Two Neoarchean alkaline feldspar-rich granites sourced from partially melted granulite-facies granodioritic orthogneiss have been here recognised in the eastern part of the North China Block(NCB).These poorly foliated granites have previously been assumed to be Mesozoic in age and never dated,and so their significance has not been recognised until now.The first granite(AG1)is a porphyritic syenogranite with megacrystic K-feldspar,and the second(AG2)is a quartz syenite with perthitic megacryst.Zircons from the granites yield LA-ICP-MS U-Pb ages of 2499±10 Ma(AG1),and 2492±28 Ma(AG2),which are slightly younger than the granodioritic orthogneiss that they intrude with a crystallisation U-Pb age of 2537±34 Ma.The younger granites have higher assays for SiO_(2)(71.91%for AG1 and 73.22%for AG2)and K_(2)O(7.52%for AG1 and 8.37%for AG2),and much lower assays for their other major element than the granodioritic orthogneiss.All of the granodioritic orthogneiss and granite samples have similar trace element patterns,with depletion in Th,U,Nb,and Ti and enrichment in Rb,Ba,K,La,Ce,and P.This indicates that the granites are derived from the orthogneiss as partial melts.Although they exhibit a similar REE pattern,the granites have much lower total REE contents(30.97×10^(−6) for AG1,and 25.93×10^(−6) for AG2),but pronounced positive Eu anomalies(Eu/Eu^(*)=8.57 for AG1 and 27.04 for AG2).The granodioritic orthogneiss has an initial ^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr ratio of 0.70144,εNd(t)value of 3.5,and εHf(t)values ranging from−3.2 to+2.9.The orthogneiss is a product of fractional crystallisation from a dioritic magma,which was derived from a mantle source contaminated by melts derived from a felsic slab.By contrast,the AG1 sample has an initial ^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr ratio of 0.6926 that is considered too low in value,εNd(t)value of 0.3,andεHf(t)values between+0.57 and+3.82;whereas the AG2 sample has an initial ^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr ratio of 0.70152,εNd(t)value of 1.3,andεHf(t)values between+0.5 and+14.08.These assays indicate that a Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic disequilibrium exists between the granite and granodioritic orthogneiss.The elevatedεHf(t)values of the granites can be explained by the involvement of Hf-bearing minerals,such as orthopyroxene,amphibole,and biotite,in anatectic reactions in the granodioritic orthogneiss.Based on the transitional relationship between the granites and granodioritic orthogneiss and the geochemical characteristics mentioned above,it is concluded that the granites are the product of rapid partial-melting of the granodioritic orthogneiss after granulite-facies metamorphism,and their crystallisation age of about 2500 Ma provides the minimum age of the metamorphism.This about 2500 Ma tectonic-metamorphic event in NCB is similar to the other cratons in India,Antarctica,northern and southern Australia,indicating a possible connection between these cratons during the Neoarchean.