Abstract
A Sm&.zsbnd;Nd isotopic survey of 32 river and estuarine sediments from northern Britain has been carried out with the aims of comparing model ages for the sediments with rocks which make up the source areas and providing a data base for the mean age of the Scottish basement. Model ages for river sediments from the Northwest Highlands, Grampian Highlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland are directly comparable with the mean model ages for the various lithologies which comprise these areas. This confirms the validity of using sedimentary Sm-Nd model ages for studying variations in the mean age of the continental crust. The data illustrate southwards younging of the Scottish basement from mean ages > 2.2 Ga in the NW Highlands to ∼ 1.63 Ga in the Grampian Highlands to < 1.44 Ga in the Southern Uplands. This variation may be explained by increasing remoteness from the Archaean Lewisian shield, southwards increase in Palaeozoic magmatism and the effect of sedimentary recycling.
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