Ancient Orogens Research Articles

RIDGE SUBDUCTION IN THE HISTORY OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN OROGENIC BELT: EVIDENCE AND TECTONIC IMPLICATIONS FOR THE EVOLUTION OF AN ACCRETIONARY OROGEN

Cenozoic ridge subduction and the resultant slab windows have been well documented worldwide [Sisson et al., 2003], especially along the western margins of North and South America [Thorkelson, Taylor, 1989]. The principal characteristics of ridge subduction, which can be used to recognise the process in ancient orogens, include: intrusion of ridge-generated magmas into a forearc in a near-trench position [Marshak, Karig, 1977]; this can be regarded as the hallmark of ridge subduction.

Raising the Gangdese Mountains in southern Tibet

AbstractThe surface uplift of mountain belts is in large part controlled by the effects of crustal thickening and mantle dynamic processes (e.g., lithospheric delamination or slab breakoff). Understanding the history and driving mechanism of uplift of the southern Tibetan Plateau requires accurate knowledge on crustal thickening over time. Here we determine spatial and temporal variations in crustal thickness using whole‐rock La/Yb ratios of intermediate intrusive rocks from the Gangdese arc. Our results show that the crust was likely of normal thickness prior to approximately 70 Ma (~37 km) but began to thicken locally at approximately 70–60 Ma. The crust reached (58–50) ± 10 km at 55–45 Ma extending over 400 km along the strike of the arc. This thickening was likely due to magmatic underplating as a consequence of rollback and then breakoff of the subducting Neo‐Tethyan slab. The crust attained a thickness of 68 ± 12 km at approximately 20–10 Ma, as a consequence of underthrusting of India and associated thrust faulting. The Gangdese Mountains in southern Tibet broadly attained an elevation of >4000 m at approximately 55–45 Ma as a result of isostatic surface uplift driven by crustal thickening and slab breakoff and reached their present‐day elevation by 20–10 Ma. Our paleoelevation estimates are consistent not only with the C–O isotope‐based paleoaltimetry but also with the carbonate‐clumped isotope paleothermometer, exemplifying the promise of reconstructing paleoelevation in time and space for ancient orogens through a combination of magmatic composition and Airy isostatic compensation.

Geochronological, geochemical and mineralogical constraints on the petrogenesis of appinites from the Laoniushan complex, eastern Qinling, central China

Appinites are commonly derived from a mantle source and are potentially significant in constraining the tectonic nature and evolution of ancient orogens, yet they have received little attention because of their limited outcrop. Here we investigate the newly identified appinitic rocks from the Laoniushan complex in the eastern Qinling Orogen. The appinites are composed of coarse-grained hornblendite, medium- and fine-grained hornblende-gabbro, and diorite porphyrite in the field occurrence. Winthin the appinitic rocks, the hornblendite displays features of cumulates. This study presents LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb data, mineral chemistry and whole rock geochemistry of the appinites. Zircons in the mafic to ultramafic rocks yield a U-Pb age of 152±1Ma. The geochemistry of the rocks displays: lower SiO2, higher Fe2O3T and MgO contents, relatively flat chondrite normalized REE patterns with slight enrichment in light REE and a minor negative Eu anomaly; enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements(LILE, e.g. Rb, Ba, Sr and P), and depletion in high field strength elements(HFSE, e.g. Nb, Zr, Hf and Ti). Such geochemical features, together with crust-like bulk Sr-Nd isotopic compositions(initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.7057–0.7072, εNd(t)=−17.2 to −9), suggest that the Laoniushan appinites likely originated from an ancient metasomatised mantle, followed by fractional crystallization in the petrogenetic process. The studied appinites were most likely generated in an intracontinental extensional environment in the Late Mesozoic.

Refinement of Eocene lapse rates, fossil-leaf altimetry, and North American Cordilleran surface elevation estimates

Estimates of continental paleoelevation using proxy methods are essential for understanding the geodynamic, climatic, and geomorphoric evolution of ancient orogens. Fossil-leaf paleoaltimetry, one of the few quantitative proxy approaches, uses fossil-leaf traits to quantify differences in temperature or moist enthalpy between coeval coastal and inland sites along latitudes. These environmental differences are converted to elevation differences using their rates of change with elevation (lapse rate). Here, we evaluate the uncertainty associated with this method using the Eocene North American Cordillera as a case study. To do so, we develop a series of paleoclimate simulations for the Early (∼55–49 Ma) and Middle Eocene (49–40 Ma) period using a range of elevation scenarios for the western North American Cordillera.Simulated Eocene lapse rates over western North America are ∼5 °C/km and 9.8 kJ/km, close to moist adiabatic rates but significantly different from modern rates. Further, using linear lapse rates underestimates high-altitude (>3 km) temperature variability and loss of moist enthalpy induced by non-linear circulation changes in response to increasing surface elevation. Ignoring these changes leads to kilometer-scale biases in elevation estimates. In addition to these biases, we demonstrate that previous elevation estimates of the western Cordillera are affected by local climate variability at coastal fossil-leaf sites of up to ∼8 °C in temperature and ∼20 kJ in moist enthalpy, a factor which further contributes to elevation overestimates of ∼1 km for Early Eocene floras located in the Laramide foreland basins and underestimates of ∼1 km for late Middle Eocene floras in the southern Cordillera.We suggest a new approach for estimating past elevations by comparing proxy reconstructions directly with simulated distributions of temperature and moist enthalpy under a range of elevation scenarios. Using this method, we estimate mean elevations for the North American Cordillera of ∼2 km using proxy temperatures and ∼3 km using proxy moist enthalpy. This discrepancy is likely related to an inconsistency between the proxy data for temperature and moist enthalpy. The combination of temperature and moist enthalpy estimates implies a warm and dry environment, which is inconsistent with geological evidence for humid conditions. Our study emphasizes that lapse rates in warm climate were likely much different than today's, and highlights the advantages of using climate models to understand past climate states and regional circulation patterns to derive more accurate paleoelevation estimates using proxy temperature and moist enthalpy.

Quantifying crustal thickness over time in magmatic arcs.

We present global and regional correlations between whole-rock values of Sr/Y and La/Yb and crustal thickness for intermediate rocks from modern subduction-related magmatic arcs formed around the Pacific. These correlations bolster earlier ideas that various geochemical parameters can be used to track changes of crustal thickness through time in ancient subduction systems. Inferred crustal thicknesses using our proposed empirical fits are consistent with independent geologic constraints for the Cenozoic evolution of the central Andes, as well as various Mesozoic magmatic arc segments currently exposed in the Coast Mountains, British Columbia, and the Sierra Nevada and Mojave-Transverse Range regions of California. We propose that these geochemical parameters can be used, when averaged over the typical lifetimes and spatial footprints of composite volcanoes and their intrusive equivalents to infer crustal thickness changes over time in ancient orogens.

Paleomagnetic data from the New England Orogen (eastern Australia) and implications for oroclinal bending

Orogenic curvatures (oroclines) are common in modern and ancient orogens, but the geodynamic driving forces of many oroclines remain controversial. Here we focus on the New England oroclines of eastern Australia, the formation of which had been previously broadly constrained to the Early–Middle Permian. This time interval encompasses periods of both back-arc extension (at ~300–280Ma) and subsequent contractional deformation (Hunter–Bowen Orogeny) that commenced at ~270Ma along the paleo-Pacific and Gondwanan subduction plate boundary. We present new paleomagnetic data from volcanic rocks that were extruded during the transition from extension to contraction (at ~272Ma), and we show that the oroclinal structure must have formed prior to the emplacement of the volcanic rocks. Our results thus indicate that oroclinal bending in the southernmost New England Orogen has been completed prior to the onset of Middle Permian contractional deformation. It is therefore concluded that the oroclines have likely formed during back-arc extension, and that a major contribution to the orogenic curvature was driven by trench retreat.

Geochemistry, zircon U–Pb ages and Sr–Nd–Hf isotopes of an Ordovician appinitic pluton in the East Kunlun orogen: New evidence for Proto-Tethyan subduction

Appinite is commonly derived from a mantle source in subduction zones and thus holds a key to constrain the tectonic evolution of ancient orogens. This study presents chronological, mineralogical and geochemical data for one appinitic pluton from the south Tethyan suture zone in the East Kunlun orogen, Northern Tibetan Plateau. The pluton is predominantly composed of hornblende-rich mafic appinites, with minor amounts of granodiorite. Zircon U–Pb age of the granodiorite (466Ma) is identical to the mafic appinites (447–450Ma). The mafic appinites are commonly hornblende diorites, which comprise large amounts of magnesio-hornblende [Mg/(Fe+Mg)=0.61–0.68] and andesine (An43–54). The hornblende diorites have low contents of SiO2 (48.62–54.95wt.%), high contents of total FeO (7.90–12.84wt.%) and MgO (4.32–11.89wt.%) and moderate values of Mg# [Mg#=molar 100∗Mg/(Mg+Fe); 49–69]. Their geochemistry displays: slight enrichment of light rare earth elements ((La/Yb)N=1.89–6.84) and flat heavy rare earth elements ((Ga/Yb)N=1.49–2.22); enrichment in large ion lithophile elements and depletion in high field strength elements; less-enriched isotopic compositions with initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.70536–0.70617, εNd(t) of 0.79–3.02 and zircon εHf(t) of 8.73–12.82. The associated granodiorites comprise plagioclase (45–50vol.%, An=26–39), quartz (15–20vol.%), K-feldspar (5–10vol.%), ferrohornblende [2–5vol.%, (Mg/(Fe+Mg)=0.45–0.49] and epidote (1–5vol.%). The epidotes have pistacite components ranging from 23 to 28. The granodiorites exhibit calc-alkaline character, and have rare earth and trace element patterns similar to the hornblende diorites. The geochemical compositions and simulations suggest that the parental magma of the mafic appinites was generated by partial melting of one depleted mantle source which was metasomatised by subducted sediment-derived felsic melts (ca. 20–25%). Fractional crystallization of clinopyroxene, hornblende, magnetite and titanite has driven the appinitic magma to cogenetic granodiorite. The Late Ordovician mafic appinites indicate that there did exist Proto-Tethyan subduction along the South Kunlun suture zone, and the subduction would add significant volumes of sediment-derived melts into the depleted mantle wedge, resulting into metasomatism and melting with the formation of appinitic magma.

Fingerprints of late Neoproterozoic ridge subduction in the Pan-African Damara belt, Namibia

Subduction of mid-ocean ridges is a common feature in recent convergent margins, but is rarely documented in Proterozoic to Paleozoic orogenic belts. Here we describe evidence for ridge-trench interaction in the deeply eroded late Neoproterozoic Damara orogenic belt, central Namibia. The earliest interaction is indicated by primary intrusive contacts between amphibolite facies mid-ocean ridge metabasalts and trench metasediments. U-Pb zircon ages of 550–540 Ma from syntectonic granites in the forearc indicate the timing of partial melting and mafic underplating of the prism in response to ridge subduction. The thermal peak in the Damara belt, associated widespread granitic and alkalic plutonism, and hydrothermal activity coincide with the waning stages of tectonism at 530–520 Ma and are interpreted to indicate slab window widening and slab delamination. We suggest that the proposed two-stage thermal evolution of the Damara belt, comprising latest Neoproterozoic ridge subduction and early Cambrian slab delamination, represents a fingerprint of ridge subduction in ancient orogens.

Rejuvenation of Appalachian topography caused by subsidence-induced differential erosion

Topographic relief continued to develop in the Appalachian Mountains, eastern USA, long after the tectonic forces that created the range had become inactive. Numerical modelling and reconstructions of sediment deposition in the Gulf of Mexico suggest that the topographic relief was rejuvenated by subsidence-induced differential erosion caused by sinking of the subducted Farallon slab in the underlying mantle. In ancient orogens, such as the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States, the difference between the high and low points—topographic relief—can continue to increase long after the tectonic forces that created the range have become inactive. Climatic forcing1 and mantle-induced dynamic uplift2,3 could drive formation of relief, but clear evidence is lacking in the Appalachian Mountains. Here I use a numerical simulation of dynamic topography in North America, combined with reconstructions of the sedimentation history from the Gulf of Mexico4, to show that rejuvenation of topographic relief in the Appalachian Mountains since the Palaeogene period could have been caused by mantle-induced dynamic subsidence associated with sinking of the subducted Farallon slab. Specifically, I show that patterns of continental erosion and the eastward migration of sediment deposition centres in the Gulf of Mexico closely follow the locus of predicted dynamic subsidence. Furthermore, pulses of rapid sediment deposition in the Gulf of Mexico4 and western Atlantic5 correlate with enhanced erosion in the Appalachian Mountains during the Miocene epoch, caused by dynamic tilting of the continent. The model predicts that such subsidence-induced differential erosion caused flexural-isostatic adjustments of Appalachian topography that led to the development of 400 m of relief and more than 200 m of elevation. I propose that dynamically induced continental tilting may provide a mechanism for topographic rejuvenation in ancient orogens.

How many sutures in the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Insights from East Xinjiang–West Gansu (NW China)?

How ophiolitic mélanges can be defined as sutures is controversial with regard to accretionary orogenesis and continental growth. The Chinese Altay, East Junggar, Tianshan, and Beishan belts of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) in Northwest China, offer a special natural laboratory to resolve this puzzle. In the Chinese Altay, the Erqis unit consists of ophiolitic mélanges and coherent assemblages, forming a Paleozoic accretionary complex. At least two ophiolitic mélanges (Armantai, and Kelameili) in East Junggar, characterized by imbricated ophiolitic mélanges, Nb-enriched basalts, adakitic rocks and volcanic rocks, belong to a Devonian–Carboniferous intra-oceanic island arc with some Paleozoic ophiolites, superimposed by Permian arc volcanism. In the Tianshan, ophiolitic mélanges like Kanggurtag, North Tianshan, and South Tianshan occur as part of some Paleozoic accretionary complexes related to amalgamation of arc terranes. In the Beishan there are also several ophiolitic mélanges, including the Hongshishan, Xingxingxia–Shibangjing, Hongliuhe–Xichangjing, and Liuyuan ophiolitic units. Most ophiolitic mélanges in the study area are characterized by ultramafic, mafic and other components, which are juxtaposed, or even emplaced as lenses and knockers in a matrix of some coherent units. The tectonic settings of various components are different, and some adjacent units in the same mélange show contrasting different tectonic settings. The formation ages of these various components are in a wide spectrum, varying from Neoproterozoic to Permian. Therefore we cannot assume that these ophiolitic mélanges always form in linear sutures as a result of the closure of specific oceans. Often the ophiolitic components formed either as the substrate of intra-oceanic arcs, or were accreted as lenses or knockers in subduction-accretion complexes. Using published age and paleogeographic constraints, we propose the presence of (1) a major early Paleozoic tectonic boundary that separates the Chinese Altay–East Junggar multiple subduction systems of the southern Siberian active margin from those of the northern Tarim; and (2) a major Permian suture zone that separates the Tianshan–Beishan from the northern active margin of the Tarim Craton. These new observations and interpretations have broad implications for the architecture and crustal growth of central Asia and other ancient orogens as well.

Earth’s youngest known ultrahigh-temperature granulites discovered on Seram, eastern Indonesia

Episodes of ultrahigh-temperature (UHT, ≥900 °C) granulite metamorphism have been recorded in mountain belts since the Neoarchean. However, evidence for the tectonic mechanisms responsible for the generation of such extreme thermal conditions is rarely preserved. Here we report the discovery of 16 Ma UHT granulites—the youngest identified at the Earth’s surface—from the Kobipoto Mountains of Seram in eastern Indonesia. UHT conditions were produced by a modern tectonic system in which slab rollback–driven lithospheric extension caused core complex–style exhumation of hot subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Overlying continental crust, heated and metamorphosed by exhumed lherzolites, developed spinel + quartz and sapphirine-bearing residual assemblages, shown by phase equilibria modeling to have required temperatures of ∼950 °C at ∼8 kbar pressure. Seram is therefore a possible modern analogue for ancient orogens that incorporate UHT granulites.

Detrital zircon geochronology of pre-Cretaceous strata: tectonic implications for the Jiangnan Orogen, South China

AbstractFifteen sandstone samples taken from pre-Cretaceous strata of the Yangtze Block are analysed to constrain the evolution of the South China Block, especially the assembly between the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks. The results show that the maximum depositional age of the Neoproterozoic Lengjiaxi Group adjacent to the Cathaysia Block isc. 830 Ma, differing from that of the Kunyang and Dahongshan groups (> 960 Ma) on the southwestern margin of the Yangtze Block. The detrital zircons from Palaeozoic samples from the Yangtze Block have similar age populations to those in the Cathaysia Block, and they may originate from the Cathaysia Block according to palaeogeographic, palaeocurrent and former research data. The detrital zircons of Middle–Upper Jurassic sandstones in the southwestern and central Yangtze Block yield dominant age populations at 2.0–1.7 Ga and subordinate groups of 2.6–2.4 Ga, 0.8–0.7 Ga and 0.6–0.4 Ga. The Upper Triassic strata may be derived from the southern Yangtze and North China blocks due to the collisions between the Indosina, South China and North China blocks, whereas the Jurassic sediments may be partly derived from uplift and erosion of the Jiangnan Orogen due to an intracontinental orogeny induced by Pacific subduction towards the Eurasia Plate. The detrital age spectra and provenance data for basement in the South China Block are analysed and compared with each other. The South China Block has affinity with Australia not only in the Columbia supercontinent but also in the Rodinia supercontinent. We infer the existence of an ancient orogen under the western Jiangnan Orogen, which may have occurred during the Columbia age, earlier than the Sibao orogeny. This is supported by seismic profile proof from the SinoProbe.

Provenance of Passive-Margin Sand (Southern Africa)

AbstractThis study investigates the petrographic, mineralogical, geochronological, and geochemical signatures of river sands across southern Africa. We single out the several factors that control sand generation, including weathering and recycling, and monitor the compositional changes caused by chemical and physical processes during fluvial transport from cratonic sources to passive-margin sinks. Passive-margin sands have two first-cycle sources. Quartz and feldspars with amphibole, epidote, garnet, staurolite, and kyanite are derived from crystalline basements exposed at the core of ancient orogens and cratonic blocks (dissected continental block provenance). Volcanic rock fragments, plagioclase, and clinopyroxene are derived from flood basalts erupted during the initial phases of rifting (volcanic rift provenance). First-cycle detritus mixes invariably with quartzose detritus recycled from ancient sedimentary successions (undissected continental block provenance) or recent siliciclastic deposits (e.g.,...

Mantle roots of major Precambrian shear zones inferred from structure of the Great Slave Lake shear zone, northwest Canada

Preserved, ancient orogens provide important perspective on modern continental convergent zones. Relatively deep levels of these systems are exposed at the surface, and these crystalline rocks promote the recording of seismic signals from great depths. In this study, multiazimuthal teleseismic observations reveal gently dipping discontinuities and wedge-shaped structures beneath the Great Slave Lake shear zone, Canada, which formed the Paleoproterozoic convergent boundary between the Archean Slave and Rae cratons during assembly of the Nuna supercontinent. This ancient shear zone experienced two distinct tectonic phases. An early convergence phase involved intracontinental underthrusting of the Slave craton beneath the Rae margin with little evidence of subduction. A later phase was characterized by brittle strike-slip faulting. Receiver functions exhibit discontinuities that imply the latter faults to be listric in the crust. A high-velocity layer below the Moho may mark eclogitic residues of melts that formed “calc-alkaline” granitoids within the crust of the shear zone, without invoking subduction-induced melting within the mantle. Uppermost mantle discontinuities and xenolith suites from nearby kimberlite pipes together defi ne lithological and structural geometries interpreted as two phases of wedging by the central Slave craton lithosphere, associated with either Slave craton construction or early Slave-Rae convergence. The new teleseismic data contain no direct or indirect evidence of faulting along near-vertical suturing structures within the crust or the mantle. The observed wedge-shaped cratonic margins imply that lithospheric blocks grew primarily by lateral accretion of similar blocks, with the strongest layer at 100–150 km depths. In the study area, the diamondbearing Slave lithospheric mantle wedge underlies the entire shear zone at depths where diamonds are stable, and data indicate that the Slave craton’s lithospheric mantle was intact and strong at these depths as early as 2.0–1.9 Ga, when this tectonic boundary was active.

Effect of melt composition on basalt and peridotite interaction: laboratory dissolution experiments with applications to mineral compositional variations in mantle xenoliths from the North China Craton

Interaction between basaltic melts and peridotites has played an important role in modifying the lithospheric and asthenospheric mantle during magma genesis in a number of tectonic settings. Compositions of basaltic melts vary considerably and may play an important role in controlling the kinetics of melt–peridotite interaction. To better understand the effect of melt composition on melt–peridotite interaction, we conducted spinel lherzolite dissolution experiments at 2 GPa and 1,425 °C using the dissolution couple method. The reacting melts include a basaltic andesite, a ferro-basalt, and an alkali basalt. Dissolution of lherzolite in the basaltic andesite and the ferro-basalt produced harzburgite–lherzolite sequences with a thin orthopyroxenite layer at the melt–harzburgite interface, whereas dissolution of lherzolite in the alkali basalt produced a dunite–harzburgite–lherzolite sequence. Systematic variations in mineral compositions across the lithological units are observed. These mineral compositional variations are attributed to grain-scale processes that involve dissolution, precipitation, and reprecipitation and depend strongly on reacting melt composition. Comparison of mineral compositional variations across the dissolution couples with those observed in mantle xenoliths from the North China Craton (NCC) helps to assess the spatial and temporal variations in the extent of siliceous melt and peridotite interaction in modifying the lithospheric mantle beneath the NCC. We found that such melt–rock interaction mainly took place in Early Cretaceous, and is responsible for the enrichment of pyroxene in the lithospheric mantle. Spatially, siliceous melt–peridotite interaction took place in the ancient orogens with thickened lower crust.

Extension and gold mineralisation in the hanging walls of active convergent continental shear zones

Orogenic gold-bearing quartz veins form in mountain belts adjacent to convergent tectonic boundaries. The vein systems, hosted in extensional structures within compressively deformed rocks, are a widespread feature of these orogens. In many cases the extensional structures that host gold-bearing veins have been superimposed on, and locally controlled by, compressional structures formed within the convergent orogen. Exploring these observations within the context of a three-dimensional mechanical model allows prediction of mechanisms and locations of extensional zones within convergent orogens. Our models explore the effect of convergence angle and mid-crustal strength on stress states and compare them to the Southern Alps and Taiwan. The dilatation zones coincide with the highest mountains, in the hanging walls of major plate boundary faults, and can extend as deep as the brittle–ductile transition. Extensional deformation is favoured in the topographic divide region of oblique orogens with mid-lower crustal rheology that promotes localisation rather than diffuse deformation. In the near surface, topography influences the stress state to a depth approximately equal to the topographic relief, bringing the rock closer to failure and rotating σ1 to near vertical. The distribution of gold-bearing extensional veins may indicate the general position of the topographic divide within exhumed ancient orogens.

The Namuskluft and Dreigratberg sections in southern Namibia (Kalahari Craton, Gariep Belt): a geological history of Neoproterozoic rifting and recycling of cratonic crust during the dispersal of Rodinia until the amalgamation of Gondwana

This paper presents combined U/Pb, Th/U and Hf isotope analyses on detrital and magmatic zircon grains together with whole-rock geochemical analyses of two basement and eight sedimentary rock samples from the Namuskluft and the Dreigratberg in southern Namibia (Gariep Belt). The sedimentary sections evolved during the Cryogenian on the SW part of the Kalahari Craton and where therefore deposited in an active rift setting during the break-up of Rodinia. Due to insufficient palaeomagnetic data, the position of the Kalahari Craton within Rodinia is still under discussion. There are possibilities to locate Kalahari along the western side of Australia/Mawsonland (Pisarevski et al. in Proterozoic East Gondwana: supercontinent assembly and break-up, Geological Society, London, 2003; Evans in Ancient Orogens and modern analogues. Geological Society, London, 2009; and others) or together with the Congo-Sao Francisco and Rio de la Plata Cratons (Li et al. in Prec Res 45: 203–2014, 2008; Frimmel et al. in Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 100: 323–354, 2011; and others). It is sill unclear which craton rifted away from the Kalahari Craton during the Cryogenian. Although Middle to Upper Cryogenian magmatic activity is known for the SE Kalahari Craton (our working area) (Richtersveld Suite, Rosh Pinah Fm), all the presented samples show no U/Pb zircon ages younger than ca. 1.0 Ga and non-older than 2.06 Ga. The obtained U/Pb ages fit very well to the exposed basement of the Kalahari Craton (1.0–1.4 Ga Namaqua Province, 1.7–2.0 Ga Vioolsdrif Granite Suite and Orange River Group) and allow no correlation with a foreign craton such as the Rio de la Plata or Australia/Mawsonland. Lu–Hf isotopic signatures of detrital zircon point to the recycling of mainly Palaeoproterozoic and to a smaller amount of Archean crust in the source areas. eHf(t) signatures range between −24 and +14.8, which relate to TDM model ages between 1.05 and 3.1 Ga. Only few detrital zircon grains derived from magmas generated from Mesoproterozoic crustal material show more juvenile eHf(t) signatures of +14, +8 to +4 with TDM model ages of 1.05–1.6 Ga. During Neoproterozoic deposition, only old cratonic crust with an inherited continental arc signature was available in the source area clearly demonstrated by Hf isotope composition of detrital zircon and geochemical bulk analysis of sedimentary rocks. The granodiorites of the Palaeoproterozoic basement underlying Namuskluft section are ca. 1.9 Ga old and show eHf(t) signatures of −3 to −5.5 with TDM model ages of 2.4–2.7 Ga. These basement rocks demonstrate the extreme uplift and deep erosion of the underlying Kalahari Craton at its western margin before general subsidence during Cryogenian and Ediacaran time. The sedimentary sequence of the two examined sections (Namuskluft and Dreigratberg) proposes the presence of a basin and an increasing subsidence at the SW part of the Kalahari Craton during the Cryogenian. Therefore, we propose the initial formation of an intra-cratonic sag basin during the Lower Cryogenian that evolved later to a rift basin at the cratonic margin due to increasing crustal tension and rifting together with the opening of the Adamastor Ocean. As the zircons of the sedimentary rocks filling this basin show neither rift-related U/Pb ages nor an exotic craton as a possible source area, the only plausible sedimentary transport direction providing the found U/Pb ages would be from the E or the SE, directly from the heart of the Kalahari Craton. Due to subsidence and ongoing sedimentation from E/SE directions, the rift-related magmatic rocks were simply covered by the input of old intra-cratonic material that explains the absence of Neoproterozoic zircon grains in our samples. The geochemical analyses show the erosion of a continental arc and related sedimentary rocks with an overall felsic provenance. The source area was a deeply eroded and incised magmatic arc that evolved on continental crust, without any evidence for a passive margin. All of this can be explained by the erosion of rocks related to the Namaqua Belt, which represents one of the two major peaks of zircon U–Pb ages in all analysed samples. Therefore, the Namaqua Belt was well exposed during the Cryogenian, available to erosion and apart from the also well-exposed Palaeoproterozoic basement of the Kalahari Craton one potential source area for the sedimentary rocks in the investigated areas.

The structure of Circum-Tibetan Plateau Basin-Range System and the large gas provinces

Northward subduction of the Cenozoic Tethys ocean caused the convergence and collision of Eurasia-Indian Plates, resulting in the lower crust thickening, the upper crust thrusting, and the Qinghai-Tibet uplifting, and forming the plateau landscape. In company with uplifting and northward extruding of the Tibetan plateau, the contractional tectonic deformations persistently spread outward, building a gigantic basin-range system around the Tibetan plateau. This system is herein termed as the Circum-Tibetan Plateau Basin-Range System, in which the global largest diffuse and the most energetic intra-continental deformations were involved, and populations of inheritance foreland basins or thrust belts were developed along the margins of ancient cratonic plates due to the effects of the cratonic amalgamation, crust differentiation, orogen rejuvenation, and basin subsidence. There are three primary tectonic units in the Circum-Tibet Plateau Basin-Range System, which are the reactivated ancient orogens, the foreland thrust belts, and the miniature cratonic basins. The Circum-Tibetan Plateau Basin-Range System is a gigantic deformation system and particular Himalayan tectonic domain in central-western China and is comparable to the Tibetan Plateau. In this system, northward and eastward developments of thrust deformations exhibit an arc-shaped area along the Kunlun-Altyn-Qilian-Longmenshan mountain belts, and further expand outward to the Altai-Yinshan-Luliangshan-Huayingshan mountain belts during the Late Cenozoic sustained collision of Indo-Asia. Intense intra-continental deformations lead ancient orogens to rejuvenate, young foreland basins to form in-between orogens and cratons, and thrusts to propagate from orogens to cratons in successive order. Driven by the Eurasia-Indian collision and its far field effects, both deformation and basin-range couplings in the arc-shaped area decrease from south to north. When a single basin-range unit is focused on, deformations become younger and younger together with more and more simple structural styles from piedmonts to craton interiors. In the Circum-Tibetan Plateau Basin-Range System, it presents three segmented tectonic deformational patterns: propagating in the west, growth-overthrusting in the middle, and slip-uplifting in the east. For natural gas exploration, two tectonic units, both the Paleozoic cratonic basins and the Cenozoic foreland thrust belts, are important because hydrocarbon in central-western China is preserved mainly in the Paleozoic cratonic paleo-highs and the Meso-Cenozoic foreland thrust belts, together with characteristics of multiphrase hydrocarbon generation but late accumulation and enrichment.

Is orogenesis a net sink or source of atmospheric CO2?

In global carbon cycle models, orogenesis is often viewed as a sink for atmospheric CO2, acting on tectonic timescales. However, recent attempts to quantify fluxes for CO2 produced by metamorphic reactions and released to the atmosphere suggest that these are an order‐of‐magnitude greater than CO2 uptake by chemical weathering of silicate minerals, and that metamorphic CO2 is released on millennial timescales. These hypotheses have gained support from both measurements of CO2 emissions from present‐day orogenic hot springs and chromatographic modelling of carbonation reactions in metamorphic rocks from ancient orogens. In this article I review research that attempts to quantify metamorphic CO2 release fluxes, focussing specifically on studies conducted in the SW Scottish Highlands.

Neogene rejuvenation of central Appalachian topography: Evidence for differential rock uplift from stream profiles and erosion rates

The persistence of topography within ancient orogens remains one of the outstanding questions in landscape evolution. In the eastern North American Appalachians, this question is manifest in the outstanding problem of whether topographic relief is in a quasi-equilibrium state, decaying slowly over many millennia, or whether relief has increased during the late Cenozoic. Here we present quantitative geomorphic data from the nonglaciated portion of the Susquehanna River drainage basin that provide insight into these end-member models. Analysis of channel profiles draining upland catchments in the northern Valley and Ridge, Appalachian Plateau, Blue Ridge, and Piedmont provinces reveals that a large number of streams have well defined knickpoints clustered at 300–600m elevation but not systematically associated with transitions from weak to resistant substrate. Cosmogenic 10Be inventories of modern stream sediment indicate that erosion rates are spatially variable, ranging from ~5–30m/Myr above knickpoints to ~50–100m/Myr below knickpoints. Overall, channel gradients, normalized for drainage area, scale linearly with catchment-averaged erosion rates. Collectively, regionally consistent spatial relationships among erosion rate, channel steepness, and knickpoints reveal an ongoing wave of transient channel adjustment to a change in relative base level. Reconstructions of relict channel profiles above knickpoints suggest that higher rates of incision are associated with ~100–150m of relative base level fall that accompanied epierogenic rock uplift rather than a change to a more erosive climate or drainage reorganization. Channel response timescales imply that the onset of relative base level change predates ~3.5Ma and may have begun as early as ~15Ma. We suggest that adjustment of the channel network was likely driven by changes in mantle dynamics along the eastern seaboard of North America during the Neogene.