Quantitative elemental mapping of granulite-facies monazite: Textural insights and implications for petrochronology

Texturally complex monazite grains contained in two granulite-facies pelitic migmatites from southern Baffin Island, Arctic Canada, were mapped by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (using spot sizes < 5 µm) to quantitatively determine the spatial variation in trace element chemistry (with up to 1883 analyses per grain). The maps highlight the chemical complexity of monazite grains that have experienced multiple episodes of growth, resorption and chemical modification by dissolution-precipitation during high-grade metamorphism. Following detailed chemical characterisation of monazite compositional zones, a related U-Pb dataset is re-interpreted, allowing petrologically-significant ages to be extracted from a continuum of concordant data. Synthesis of these data with pseudosection modelling of prograde and peak conditions allows for the temporal evolution of monazite trace element chemistry to be placed in the context of the evolving P-T conditions and major phase assemblage. This approach enables a critical evaluation of three commonly used petrochronological indicators: linking Y to garnet abundance, the Eu anomaly to feldspar content, and Th/U to anatectic processes. Europium anomalies and Th/U behave in a relatively systematic fashion, suggesting that they are reliable petrochronological witnesses. However, Y systematics are variable, both within domains interpreted to have grown in a single event, between grains interpreted to be part of the same age population, and between samples that experienced similar metamorphic conditions and mineral assemblages. These observations caution against generalised petrological interpretations on the basis of Y content, as it suggests Y concentrations in monazite are controlled by domainal equilibria. The results reveal a ~45 Myr interval between prograde metamorphism and retrograde melt crystallisation in the study area, emphasising the long-lived nature of heat flow in high-grade metamorphic terranes. Such long timescales of metamorphism would be assisted by the growth, retention and dominance of high-Th suprasolidus monazite, as observed in this study, contributing to the radiogenic heating budget of mid- to lower-crustal environments. Careful characterisation of monazite grains suggests that continuum-style U-Pb datasets can be decoded to provide insights into the duration of metamorphic processes.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Visiting Fellowship Isaac Newton Trust Research Grant (RG74916

New linear stability parameter to describe low-β electromagnetic microinstabilities driven by passing electrons in axisymmetric toroidal geometry

In magnetic confinement fusion devices, the ratio of the plasma pressure to the magnetic field energy, β, can become sufficiently large that electromagnetic microinstabilities become unstable, driving turbulence that distorts or reconnects the equilibrium magnetic field. In this paper, a theory is proposed for electromagnetic, electron-driven linear instabilities that have current layers localised to mode-rational surfaces and binormal wavelengths comparable to the ion gyroradius. The model retains axisymmetric toroidal geometry with arbitrary shaping, and consists of orbit-averaged equations for the mode-rational surface layer, with a ballooning space kinetic matching condition for passing electrons. The matching condition connects the current layer to the large scale electromagnetic fluctuations, and is derived in the limit that β is comparable to the square root of the electron-to-ion-mass ratio. Electromagnetic fluctuations only enter through the matching condition, allowing for the identification of an effective β that includes the effects of equilibrium flux surface shaping. The scaling predictions made by the asymptotic theory are tested with comparisons to results from linear simulations of micro-tearing and electrostatic microinstabilities in MAST discharge #6252, showing excellent agreement. In particular, it is demonstrated that the effective β can explain the dependence of the local micro-tearing mode (MTM) growth rate on the ballooning parameter θ 0-possibly providing a route to optimise local flux surfaces for reduced MTM-driven transport

"Predictability of body mass index for diabetes: Affected by the presence of metabolic syndrome?"

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and body mass index (BMI, kg.m^-2) are established independent risk factors in the development of diabetes; we prospectively examined their relative contributions and joint relationship with incident diabetes in a Middle Eastern cohort.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>participants of the ongoing Tehran lipid and glucose study are followed on a triennial basis. Among non-diabetic participants aged≥ 20 years at baseline (8,121) those with at least one follow-up examination (5,250) were included for the current study. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate sex-specific adjusted odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of baseline BMI-MetS categories (normal weight without MetS as reference group) for incident diabetes among 2186 men and 3064 women, aged ≥ 20 years, free of diabetes at baseline.</p> <p>Result</p> <p>During follow up (median 6.5 years); there were 369 incident diabetes (147 in men). In women without MetS, the multivariate adjusted ORs (95% CIs) for overweight (BMI 25-30 kg/m2) and obese (BMI≥30) participants were 2.3 (1.2-4.3) and 2.2 (1.0-4.7), respectively. The corresponding ORs for men without MetS were 1.6 (0.9-2.9) and 3.6 (1.5-8.4) respectively. As compared to the normal-weight/without MetS, normal-weight women and men with MetS, had a multivariate-adjusted ORs for incident diabetes of 8.8 (3.7-21.2) and 3.1 (1.3-7.0), respectively. The corresponding ORs for overweight and obese women with MetS reached to 7.7 (4.0-14.9) and 12.6 (6.9-23.2) and for men reached to 3.4(2.0-5.8) and 5.7(3.9-9.9), respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study highlights the importance of screening for MetS in normal weight individuals. Obesity increases diabetes risk in the absence of MetS, underscores the need for more stringent criteria to define healthy metabolic state among obese individuals. Weight reduction measures, thus, should be encouraged in conjunction with achieving metabolic targets not addressed by current definition of MetS, both in every day encounter and public health setting.</p

The topographic evolution of the Tibetan Region as revealed by palaeontology

The Tibetan Plateau was built through a succession of Gondwanan terranes colliding with Asia during the Mesozoic. These accretions produced a complex Paleogene topography of several predominantly east–west trending mountain ranges separated by deep valleys. Despite this piecemeal assembly and resultant complex relief, Tibet has traditionally been thought of as a coherent entity rising as one unit. This has led to the widely used phrase ‘the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau’, which is a false concept borne of simplistic modelling and confounds understanding the complex interactions between topography climate and biodiversity. Here, using the rich palaeontological record of the Tibetan region, we review what is known about the past topography of the Tibetan region using a combination of quantitative isotope and fossil palaeoaltimetric proxies, and present a new synthesis of the orography of Tibet throughout the Paleogene. We show why ‘the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau’ never occurred, and quantify a new pattern of topographic and landscape evolution that contributed to the development of today’s extraordinary Asian biodiversity

Trans-Hudson Orogen of North America and Himalaya-Karakoram-Tibetan Orogen of Asia: Structural and thermal characteristics of the lower and upper plates

The Trans-Hudson Orogen (THO) of North America and the Himalaya-Karakoram- Tibetan Orogen (HKTO) of Asia preserve a Paleoproterozoic and Cenozoic record, respectively, of continent-continent collision that is notably similar in scale, duration and character. In THO, the tectonothermal evolution of the lower plate involves (1) early thin-skinned thrusting and Harrovian metamorphism, (2) out-of-sequence thrusting and high-T metamorphism, and (3) fluid-localized reequilibration, anatexis, and leucogranite formation. The crustal evolution of the Indian lower plate in HKTO involves (1) early subduction of continental crust to ultrahigh pressure (UHP) eclogite depths, (2) regional Barrovian metamorphism, and (3) widespread high-T metamorphism, anatexis, and leucogranite formation. The shallow depths of the high-T metamorphism in HKTO are consistent with early to mid-Miocene ductile flow of an Indian lower plate midcrustal channel, from beneath the southern Tibetan Plateau to the Greater Himalaya. Melt weakening of the lower plate in THO is not observed at a similar scale probably due to the paucity of pelitic lithologies. Tectonothermal events in the upper plate of both orogens include precollisional accretion of crustal blocks, emplacement of Andean-type plutonic suites, and high-T metamorphism. Syncollisional to postcollisional events include emplacement of garnet-biotite-muscovite leucogranites, anatectic granites, and sporadic metamorphism (up to 90 Myr following the onset of collision in THO). Comparing the type and duration of tectonothermal events for THO and HKTO supports the notion of tectonic uniformitarianism for at least the later half of dated Earth history and highlights the complementary nature of the rock record in an older "exhumed" orogen compared to one undergoing present-day orogenesis. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union

Zircon age determinations for the Ladakh batholith at Chumathang (Northwest India): Implications for the age of the India-Asia collision in the Ladakh Himalaya

The Ladakh batholith is part of the &gt; 2500 km long Trans-himalayan batholith that forms the southern margin of the Asian plate and is unconformably overlain by the post-collision Indus Molasse Group sedimentary rocks. We present new U-Pb ID-TIMS zircon ages from a host hornblende-bearing granodiorite (57.7 ± 0.2 Ma) and a later intrusive leucocratic granite dyke (47.1 ± 0.1 Ma) from the Ladakh batholith at Chumathang in northeast Ladakh, India. Subduction-related granodioritic magmatism in eastern Ladakh is dominantly of late Paleocene-early Eocene age. The age of the Chumathang dyke gives a maximum age constraint on Indus Molasse Group basin formation along the northern margin of the Indus Suture Zone and a minimum age constraint on the India-Asia collision. Together with the age of youngest marine sedimentary rocks in the suture zone (Nummulitic Limestone; 50.5. Ma) we propose that by late Ypresian-early Lutetian (early Eocene) time, the two continents had collided, sedimentation in the suture zone became purely continental and subduction-related igneous intrusions had ceased. © 2010

Integrated pressure-temperature-time constraints for the Tso Morari dome (Northwest India): implications for the burial and exhumation path of UHP units in the western Himalaya

Northward subduction of the leading edge of the Indian continental margin to depths greater than 100 km during the early Eocene resulted in high-pressure (HP) quartz-eclogite to ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) coesite-eclogite metamorphism at Tso Morari, Ladakh Himalaya, India. Integrated pressure-temperature-time determinations within petrographically well-constrained settings for zircon- and/or monazite-bearing assemblages in mafic eclogite boudins and host aluminous gneisses at Tso Morari uniquely document segments of both the prograde burial and retrograde exhumation path for HP/UHP units in this portion of the western Himalaya. Poikiloblastic cores and inclusion-poor rims of compositionally zoned garnet in mafic eclogite were utilized with entrapped inclusions and matrix minerals for thermobarometric calculations and isochemical phase diagram construction, the latter thermodynamic modelling performed with and without the consideration of cation fractionation into garnet during prograde metamorphism. Analysis of the garnet cores document (M1) conditions of 21.5 ± 1.5 kbar and 535 ± 15 °C during early garnet growth and re-equilibration. Sensitive high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb analysis of zircon inclusions in garnet cores yields a maximum age determination of 58.0 ± 2.2 Ma for M1. Peak HP/UHP (M2) conditions are constrained at 25.5-27.5 kbar and 630-645 °C using the assemblage garnet rim-omphacite-rutile-phengite-lawsonite-talc-quartz (coesite), with mineral compositional data and regional considerations consistent with the upper P-T bracket. A SHRIMP U-Pb age determination of 50.8 ± 1.4 Ma for HP/UHP metamorphism is given by M2 zircons analysed in the eclogitic matrix and that are encased in the garnet rim. Two garnet-bearing assemblages from the Puga gneiss (host to the mafic eclogites) were utilized to constrain the subsequent decompression path. A non-fractionated isochemical phase diagram for the assemblage phengite-garnet-biotite-plagioclase-quartz-melt documents a restricted (M3) P-T stability field centred on 12.5 ± 0.5 kbar and 690 ± 25 °C. A second non-fractionated isochemical phase diagram calculated for the lower pressure assemblage garnet-cordierite-sillimanite-biotite-plagioclase-quartz-melt (M4) documents a narrow P-T stability field ranging between 7-8.4 kbar and 705-755 °C, which is consistent with independent multiequilibria P-T determinations. Th-Pb SHRIMP dating of monazite cores surrounded by allanite rims is interpreted to constrain the timing of the M4 equilibration to 45.3 ± 1.1 Ma. Coherently linking metamorphic conditions with petrographically constrained ages at Tso Morari provides an integrated context within which previously published petrological or geochronological results can be evaluated. The new composite path is similar to those published for the Kaghan UHP locality in northern Pakistan, although the calculated 12-mm a-1 rate of post-pressure peak decompression at Tso Morari would appear less extreme. © 2012 John Wiley and Sons Ltd