| 1. |
- Alwmark, Carl, et al.
(författare)
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An Early Ordovician 40Ar-39Ar age for the ∼50 km Carswell impact structure, Canada
- 2017
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Ingår i: Geological Society of America Bulletin. - 0016-7606. ; 129:11/12, s. 1442-1449
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The formation age of the large (∼50 km) Carswell impact structure, Canada, has been a matter of debate ever since its discovery five decades ago, with proposed ages ranging from Mesoproterozoic to Early Cretaceous. Here, we present new 40Ar-39Ar data for aliquots of euhedral adularia, separated from vesicles in an impact melt rock from the central uplift of the structure. The analyses of the adularia yielded a statistically robust Early Ordovician crystallization age of 481.5 ± 0.8 Ma (2σ, mean square of weighted deviates = 1.06, P = 0.30). The most plausible explanation for the formation of vesicle-filling adularia is through low-temperature mineral precipitation during residual hydrothermal circulation that followed the impact, as no other known major intrusive, extrusive, or thermal events have occurred in the Carswell region in the Phanerozoic. The new age of the Carswell impact structure overlaps within uncertainty with the most precise Ar-Ar ages proposed for the L-chondrite parent body breakup event, but not with the age of the stratigraphic sequence from which the meteorites and micrometeorites from this event were recovered. Thus, either the Carswell impact represents a separate, unrelated impact event, or the dynamic evolution of the L-chondrite parent body breakup is more complicated than presently understood, and Carswell represents one of the earliest and largest known impacts of this event on Earth.
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| 2. |
- Alwmark, Carl, et al.
(författare)
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The mid-Ordovician Osmussaar breccia in Estonia linked to the disruption of the L-chondrite parent body in the asteroid belt
- 2010
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Ingår i: Geological Society of America Bulletin. - 0016-7606. ; 122:7-8, s. 1039-1046
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Middle Ordovician (466 Ma) Osmussaar breccia, situated along the northwestern coast of Estonia, is rich in angular chromite grains of extraterrestrial origin (>13 grains kg(-1)) and shocked quartz. The angularity of the chromite grains implies that they have not been transported or reworked to any large extent, connoting that the brecciation is the result of a contemporary impactor, either as a direct consequence of the impact or as a result of an earthquake triggered by the impact, and thus is not, as previously suggested, redeposited material from the nearby similar to 70 m.y. older Neugrund impact structure. The chemical composition of the chromite indicates that the impactor was an ordinary chondrite of L-type, which concurs well with the hypothesis that the influx of large bodies to Earth increased during this period due to the breakup of the L-chondrite parent body. This in turn gives support to the recent suggestion that abundant coeval mega-breccias worldwide are impact triggered. The presence of extraterrestrial chromite also strengthens the theory that physical pieces of a large celestial body can survive upon impact with Earth.
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| 3. |
- Bedard, Jean H., et al.
(författare)
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Basaltic sills emplaced in organic-rich sedimentary rocks : Consequences for organic matter maturation and Cretaceous paleo-climate
- 2024
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Ingår i: Geological Society of America Bulletin. - : Geological Society of London. - 0016-7606 .- 1943-2674. ; 136:5-6, s. 1982-2006
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many continental large igneous provinces coincide with climate perturbations and mass extinctions. When basaltic plumbing systems traverse carbon-rich sedimentary rocks, large volumes of greenhouse gases may be generated. We document how intrusive sills of the Mesozoic High Arctic Large Igneous Province affected surrounding fine-grained, organic-rich siliciclastic rocks of the Sverdrup Basin in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Petrographic and X-ray diffraction data from samples located near sills show the presence of high-temperature metamorphic phases (diopside, andalusite, garnet, and cordierite). Raman thermometry on organic matter yields peak temperatures of 385-400 degrees C near sill contacts, tailing off to far-field temperatures of <= 230 degrees C. Samples located >20 m from sills show no systematic change in vitrinite reflectance and have a VRo eq% value of similar to 2.5%, which indicates a temperature of similar to 210 degrees C. The finite element thermal modeling tool SUTRAHEAT was applied to the 17-m-thick Hare Sill, emplaced at 3 km depth at 1105 degrees C. SUTRAHEAT results show that contact-proximal rocks attain temperatures of >700 degrees C for a brief period (similar to 1 year). By 5 years, the Hare Sill is completely solidified (<730 degrees C), and the temperature anomaly collapses rapidly thereafter as the thermal pulse propagates outward. By 10 years, all rocks within 10 m of the Hare Sill are between 450 degrees C and 400 degrees C, rocks at 20 m from the contact attain 200 degrees C, yet far-field temperatures (>50 m) have barely changed. When multiple sills are emplaced between 4 km and 6 km depth, all rocks between sills reach similar to 250 degrees C after 100 years, showing that it is possible to raise regional-scale background temperatures by similar to 150 degrees C for the observed High Arctic Large Igneous Province sill density. Vitrinite reflectance data and pyrolysis results, together with SILLi thermal modeling, indicate that much of the hydrocarbon-generating potential was eliminated by High Arctic Large Igneous Province intrusions. The SILLi model yields similar to 20 tonnes/m(2) of organic equivalent CO2 (all carbon gas is reported as CO2) from the Hare Sill alone when emplaced into Murray Harbour Formation rocks with 5.7 wt% organic carbon, and similar to 226 tonnes/m(2) by emplacement of multiple sills throughout the 2-km-thick Blaa Mountain Group with 3 wt% organic carbon. On a basin scale, this yields a total of similar to 2550 Gt CO2 from the Hare Sill, with similar to 13,000 Gt CO2 being generated by the multiple sill scenario, similar to estimates from other large igneous provinces. Much of the Blaa Mountain Group rocks now have organic carbon contents of <1 wt%, which is consistent with large volumes of carbon-species gas having been generated, likely a mixture of CO2, CH4, and other species. However, organic-rich Murray Harbour Formation rocks show no obvious reduction in organic carbon content toward the Hare Sill intrusive contacts, which suggests that not all of the carbon was lost from the sedimentary package hosting High Arctic Large Igneous Province magmas. We suggest that some of the gas generated by contact metamorphism failed to drain out for lack of high-permeability conduits, and then back-reacted to form calcite cements and pyrobitumen during cooling.
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| 4. |
- Beranek, Luke P., et al.
(författare)
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Detrital zircon U-Pb-Hf isotope signatures of Old Red Sandstone strata constrain the Silurian to Devonian paleogeography, tectonics, and crustal evolution of the Svalbard Caledonides
- 2020
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Ingår i: Geological Society of America Bulletin. - : Geological Society of America. - 0016-7606 .- 1943-2674. ; 132:9-10, s. 1987-2003
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Detrital zircon provenance studies of Mesoproterozoic basement and overlying Old Red Sandstone strata in northwestern Svalbard, Arctic Norway, were conducted to test competing models for Caledonian paleogeography and tectonics and constrain the magnitude of orogen-parallel, Silurian to Devonian strike-slip faulting following the Laurentia-Baltica collision. Mesoproterozoic basement strata, cut by earliest Tonian orthogneiss units, mostly yielded 1640-1050 Ma detrital zircon populations that are consistent with pre-Caledonian locations near northeast Greenland. Basal Old Red Sandstone deposits that filled pull-apart basins showed basement-derived signatures but also contained 530-450 Ma and 670-570 Ma populations with slightly subchondritic (epsilon(Hf[t]) = -4 to -2) Hf isotope compositions. These results are consistent with late Silurian-Early Devonian proximity to the northeast Greenland Caledonides and Pearya, which indicates limited (<200 km) strike-slip displacement of Svalbard's Caledonian allochthons after the Laurentia-Baltica collision. Previously interpreted connections between the Svalbard Old Red Sandstone and British Caledonides are incompatible with these detrital zircon results. Lochkovian Old Red Sandstone strata were deposited after a second episode of strike-slip faulting and show recycled basement signatures. The lack of 530-450 Ma and 670-570 Ma populations suggests that the second deformation episode reorganized local drainages. Pragian-Givetian strata have provenance from local Old Red Sandstone sources that were uplifted during a third and final episode of strike-slip deformation. The results indicate that northern Caledonian (Svalbard, Pearya) crustal evolution was characterized by the reworking of Mesoproterozoic-Paleoproterozoic sources and mostly <600 m.y. crustal residence times, whereas the southern Caledonides (UK, Ireland) show evidence for the reworking of older basement and mostly >600 m.y. crustal residence times.
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| 5. |
- Burchardt, Steffi, et al.
(författare)
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The Slaufrudar pluton, southeast Iceland : An example of shallow magma emplacement by coupled cauldron subsidence and magmatic stoping
- 2011
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Ingår i: Geological Society of America Bulletin. - 0016-7606 .- 1943-2674. ; 124:1-2, s. 213-227
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Tertiary Slaufrudalur pluton is the largest granitic intrusion exposed in Iceland. Five glacial valleys cut through the uppermost 900 m of the pluton, exposing spectacular sections through its roof, walls, and interior. The wall contacts are subvertical and sharp. Only in the northeast and southwest is the wall contact characterized by brittle faulting. The pluton roof is smooth at map scale, so that the overall cross-sectional shape of the pluton and its internal layering indicate emplacement by incremental floor sinking through cauldron subsidence. A pronounced elongation of the pluton, parallel to the trend of regional fissure swarms, and its angular shape in map view indicate strong tectonic control on horizontal ring-fault propagation, whereas faulted wall contacts represent step-over structures between the earlier-formed ring faults. On outcrop scale, the roof contact exhibits numerous steps, faults, and apophyses associated with conjugate fracture sets that are parallel and perpendicular to the strike of the length of the pluton. These structures were presumably formed by sequential inflation and deflation of the pluton during episodic magma intrusion and therefore are closely coupled to cauldron subsidence. As a result of roof fracturing and magma injection along the fractures, roof material is found partly or completely detached within the granite. The Slaufrudalur pluton therefore provides new insight into the coupling of the emplacement mechanisms of cauldron subsidence and magmatic stoping in the upper crust.
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| 6. |
- Carracedo, J. C., et al.
(författare)
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Evolution of ocean-island rifts : The northeast rift zone of Tenerife, Canary Islands
- 2011
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Ingår i: Geological Society of America Bulletin. - 0016-7606 .- 1943-2674. ; 123:3-4, s. 562-584
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The northeast rift zone of Tenerife presents a superb opportunity to study the entire cycle of activity of an oceanic rift zone. Field geology, isotopic dating, and magnetic stratigraphy provide a reliable temporal and spatial framework for the evolution of the NE rift zone, which includes a period of very fast growth toward instability (between ca. 1.1 and 0.83 Ma) followed by three successive large landslides: the Micheque and Guimar collapses, which occurred approximately contemporaneously at ca. 830 ka and on either side of the rift, and the La Orotava landslide (between 690 +/- 10 and 566 +/- 13 ka). Our observations suggest that Canarian rift zones show similar patterns of development, which often includes overgrowth, instability, and lateral collapses. Collapses of the rift flanks disrupt established fissural feeding systems, favoring magma ascent and shallow emplacement, which in turn leads to magma differentiation and intermediate to felsic nested eruptions. Rifts and their collapses may therefore act as an important factor in providing architectural and petrological variability to oceanic volcanoes. Conversely, the presence of substantial felsic volcanism in rift settings may indicate the presence of earlier landslide scars, even if concealed by postcollapse volcanism. Comparative analysis of the main rifts in the Canary Islands outlines this general evolutionary pattern: (1) growth of an increasingly high and steep ridge by concentrated basaltic fissure eruptions; (2) flank collapse and catastrophic disruption of the established feeder system of the rift; (3) postcollapse centralized nested volcanism, commonly evolving from initially ultramafic-mafic to terminal felsic compositions (trachytes, phonolites); and (4) progressive decline of nested eruptive activity.
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| 7. |
- Cawood, Peter A., et al.
(författare)
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Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic extensional and compressional history of East Laurentian margin sequences : The Moine Supergroup, Scottish Caledonides
- 2015
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Ingår i: Geological Society of America Bulletin. - 0016-7606 .- 1943-2674. ; 127:3-4, s. 349-371
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Neoproterozoic siliciclastic-dominated sequences are widespread along the eastern margin of Laurentia and are related to rifting associated with the breakout of Laurentia from the supercontinent Rodinia. Detrital zircons from the Moine Supergroup, NW Scotland, yield Archean to early Neoproterozoic U-Pb ages, consistent with derivation from the Grenville-Sveconorwegian orogen and environs and accumulation post–1000 Ma. U-Pb zircon ages for felsic and associated mafic intrusions confirm a widespread pulse of extension-related magmatism at around 870 Ma. Pegmatites yielding U-Pb zircon ages between 830 Ma and 745 Ma constrain a series of deformation and metamorphic pulses related to Knoydartian orogenesis of the host Moine rocks. Additional U-Pb zircon and monazite data, and 40Ar/39Ar ages for pegmatites and host gneisses indicate high-grade metamorphic events at ca. 458–446 Ma and ca. 426 Ma during the Caledonian orogenic cycle.The presence of early Neoproterozoic siliciclastic sedimentation and deformation in the Moine and equivalent successions around the North Atlantic and their absence along strike in eastern North America reflect contrasting Laurentian paleogeography during the breakup of Rodinia. The North Atlantic realm occupied an external location on the margin of Laurentia, and this region acted as a locus for accumulation of detritus (Moine Supergroup and equivalents) derived from the Grenville-Sveconorwegian orogenic welt, which developed as a consequence of collisional assembly of Rodinia. Neoproterozoic orogenic activity corresponds with the inferred development of convergent plate-margin activity along the periphery of the supercontinent. In contrast in eastern North America, which lay within the internal parts of Rodinia, sedimentation did not commence until the mid-Neoproterozoic (ca. 760 Ma) during initial stages of supercontinent fragmentation. In the North Atlantic region, this time frame corresponds to a second pulse of extension represented by units such as the Dalradian Supergroup, which unconformably overlies the predeformed Moine succession.
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| 8. |
- Cawood, P. A., et al.
(författare)
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Orogenesis without collision : Stabilizing the Terra Australis accretionary orogen, eastern Australia
- 2011
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Ingår i: Geological Society of America Bulletin. - 0016-7606 .- 1943-2674. ; 123:11-12, s. 2240-2255
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Neoproterozoic to end-Paleozoic Terra Australis orogen extended along the Gondwana margin of the paleo–Pacific Ocean, and it now provides a detailed record of orogenic activity and continental stabilization within an ongoing convergent, accretionary plate margin. New geochronological data from end-Paleozoic plutonic and volcanic rocks associated with the Gondwanide orogeny in the New England region of eastern Australia, integrated with information on the nature and timing of associated sedimentation, deformation, and metamorphism, allow resolution of a high-fidelity record of orogenesis.At the end of the Carboniferous, around 305 Ma, convergent margin magmatism, which had been active along the western margin of the New England region, terminated and was followed by a short pulse of regional compressional deformation and metamorphism, marking the commencement of the Tablelands phase of Gondwanide orogenesis. Deformation was almost immediately followed by the onset of clastic sedimentation and local calc-alkaline volcanism, dated at 293 Ma, in the extensional Barnard Basin. Emplacement of the two New England S-type granitic suites, the Bundarra and the Hillgrove suites, along with localized high-temperature, low-pressure metamorphism, was essentially contemporaneous, ranging in age from 296 to 288 Ma, and overlapped in time with I-type magmatism and the switch from regional compression to extension and Barnard Basin rifting.The Hunter-Bowen phase of the Gondwanide orogeny commenced with contractional deformation, resulting in termination of sedimentation in the Barnard Basin and regional deformation and metamorphism across New England and into the Sydney and Gunnedah basins to the west at around 265–260 Ma. Contractional loading of the Sydney and Gunnedah basins resulted in their conversion from extensional to foreland basins, which received ongoing pulses of sediment from the New England orogenic welt until 230 Ma. The Hunter-Bowen phase was associated with widespread I-type plutonism and volcanic activity in New England that ceased around 230 Ma, marking the termination of Gondwanide orogenesis.Orogenesis occurred in an evolving convergent plate-margin setting. S- and I-type magmatic activity ranging in age from ca. 300 to 230 Ma represents a stepping out of arc magmatism from the western margin of New England (prior to 305 Ma) into the preexisting arc-trench gap. There is no evidence that deformation was related to the collision of the convergent margin with a major lithospheric mass, and the widespread development of extensional basins in the eastern third of Australia in the Early Permian indicates control by phenomena acting on a continental scale, probably changing plate kinematics associated with the amalgamation of Pangea.
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| 9. |
- Chew, David M., et al.
(författare)
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Timing of ophiolite obduction in the Grampian orogen
- 2010
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Ingår i: Geological Society of America Bulletin. - 0016-7606. ; 122:11-12, s. 1787-1799
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study addresses the timing and pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions of ophiolite obduction, one of the proposed causes of the ca. 470 Ma Grampian orogeny of Scotland and Ireland. This event gave rise to the main structural and metamorphic characteristics of the Grampian terrane-the type area for Barrovian metamorphism, the cause of which remains enigmatic despite a century of research. Zircons from the Highland Border ophiolite, Scotland, define a 499 +/- 8 Ma U-Pb concordia age, which is interpreted as dating magmatism. Its metamorphism is dated by a 490 +/- 4 Ma Ar-40-Ar-39 hornblende age, and a 488 +/- 1 Ma Ar-40-Ar-39 muscovite age from a metasedimentary xenolith within it, from which P-T estimates of 5.3 kbar and 580 degrees C relate to ophiolite obduction. Metamorphism of the Deerpark complex ophiolitic melange (Irish correlative of the Highland Border ophiolite) is constrained by a 514 +/- 3 Ma Ar-40-Ar-39 hornblende age, while mica schist slivers within it yield detrital zircon U-Pb ages consistent with Laurentian provenance and Rb-Sr and Ar-40-Ar-39 muscovite ages of ca. 482 Ma. P-T values of 3.3 kbar and 580 degrees C for the mica schist constrain the conditions of ophiolite obduction. Metamorphic mineral ages from the Grampian terrane (Dalradian Supergroup) are substantially younger (ca. 475-465 Ma) than those from the ophiolites. If conductive heating in overthickened crust was the cause of Barrovian metamorphism, then collisional thickening must have started soon after ophiolite obduction at ca. 490 Ma in order to generate the ca. 470 Ma metamorphic peak in the Grampian terrane.
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| 10. |
- Cramer, Bradley D., et al.
(författare)
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Testing the limits of Paleozoic chronostratigraphic correlation via high-resolution (<500 k.y.) integrated conodont, graptolite, and carbon isotope (delta C-13(carb)) biochemostratigraphy across the Llandovery-Wenlock (Silurian) boundary: Is a unified Phanerozoic time scale achievable?
- 2010
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Ingår i: Geological Society of America Bulletin. - 0016-7606. ; 122:9-10, s. 1700-1716
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The resolution and fidelity of global chronostratigraphic correlation are direct functions of the time period under consideration. By virtue of deep-ocean cores and astrochronology, the Cenozoic and Mesozoic time scales carry error bars of a few thousand years (k.y.) to a few hundred k. y. In contrast, most of the Paleozoic time scale carries error bars of plus or minus a few million years (m. y.), and chronostratigraphic control better than +/- 1 m. y. is considered "high resolution." The general lack of Paleozoic abyssal sediments and paucity of orbitally tuned Paleozoic data series combined with the relative incompleteness of the Paleozoic stratigraphic record have proven historically to be such an obstacle to intercontinental chronostratigraphic correlation that resolving the Paleozoic time scale to the level achieved during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic was viewed as impractical, impossible, or both. Here, we utilize integrated graptolite, conodont, and carbonate carbon isotope (delta C-13 carb) data from three paleocontinents (Baltica, Avalonia, and Laurentia) to demonstrate chronostratigraphic control for upper Llandovery through middle Wenlock (TelychianSheinwoodian, similar to 436-426 Ma) strata with a resolution of a few hundred k.y. The interval surrounding the base of the Wenlock Series can now be correlated globally with precision approaching 100 k.y., but some intervals (e. g., uppermost Telychian and upper Shein-woodian) are either yet to be studied in sufficient detail or do not show sufficient biologic speciation and/or extinction or carbon isotopic features to delineate such small time slices. Although producing such resolution during the Paleozoic presents an array of challenges unique to the era, we have begun to demonstrate that erecting a Paleozoic time scale comparable to that of younger eras is achievable.
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