Datos geocronológicos preliminares de la colisión entre el Gran Arco-Isla Caribeño y la Plataforma Continental de Bahamas en el Segmento de La Española

In parallel to structural and metamorphlc studies, geochronologlcal Investigations have been initiated in eclogites and blueschists from the Samaná Peninsula complex, northern Hispaniola, using Sm-Nd, UPb, Rb-Sr and 40Ar/39Ar methods, to constraint subduction, collision and exhumation processes in the Caribbean-North America plate boundary zone. A garnet-omphacite- whole rock Sm-Nd isochron from eclogite yields an age of 86±47 Ma (l43Nd/l44Ndinitial= 0,512894±0,000057; MSWD=0,00036). Although imprecise, we interpret this age as dating the peak of eclogitic metamorphism and allows us to calculate an initial eNd value of +7,2, which suggests a relatively depleted source for the protolith and that the rock formed in an intra-oceanic island-arc setting without significant influence from continental crust. Whole rock trace elements and REE data and preliminary Pb and Rb-Sr analyses also support this interpretation. The 40Ar/39Ar analyses of phengite mineral separates from eclogite and blueschist were made to record the cooling age during retrograde metamorphism (Tc»325-3009C). Phengites of eclogite and blueschist yields average plateau ages of 36,30±0,l 3 Ma and 33,85±0,12 Ma, respectively. These Late Eocene to Early Oligocène ages are related to the regional exhumation of the high-P basement complex and are attributed to the initial oblique collision of the Bahama Platform beneath the Hispaniola arc

SHRIMP-RG U-Pb isotopic systematics of zircon from the Angel Lake orthogneiss, East Humboldt Range, Nevada: Is this really Archean crust?

New SHRIMP-RG (sensitive high- resolution ion microprobe–reverse geometry) data confirm the existence of Archean components within zircon grains of a sample from the orthogneiss of Angel Lake, Nevada, United States, previously interpreted as a nappe of Archean crust. However, the combined evidence strongly suggests that this orthogneiss is a highly deformed, Late Cretaceous monzogranite derived from melting of a sedimentary source dominated by Archean detritus. Zircon grains from the same sample used previously for isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) isotopic work were analyzed using the SHRIMP-RG to better defi ne the age and origin of the orthogneiss. Prior to analysis, imaging revealed a morphological variability and intragrain, polyphase nature of the zircon population. The SHRIMP-RG yielded 207Pb/206Pb ages between ca. 2430 and 2580 Ma (a best-fi t mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 2531 ± 19 Ma; 95% confi dence) from mostly rounded to subrounded zircons and zircon components (cores). In addition, several analyses from rounded to subrounded cores or grains yielded discordant 207Pb/206Pb ages between ca. 1460 and ca. 2170 Ma, consistent with known regional magmatic events. All cores of Proterozoic to latest Archean age were encased within clear, typically low Th/U (<0.015), oscillatory zoned, mostly euhedral, Late Cretaceous zircon. The younger zircon yielded essentially concordant 206Pb/238U ages between 72 and 91 Ma, consistent with magmatic ages from Lamoille Canyon to the south. An age of ca. 90 Ma is suggested, the younger 206Pb/238U ages resulting from Pb loss. The Cretaceous and Precambrian zircon components also have distinct trace element characteristics, indicating that these age groups are not related to the same igneous source. These results support recent geophysical interpretations and egate the contention that the Archean-Proterozoic boundary extends into the central Great Basin area. They further suggest that the world-class gold deposits along the Carlin Trend are not underlain by Archean cratonal crust, but rather by the Proterozoic Mojave province and Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic metasedimentary sequences dominated by detritus derived from Late Archean sources rather than Proterozoic sources, as is evident farther to the south in the Ruby Mountains

SHRIMP-RG U-Pb isotopic systematics of zircon from the Angel Lake orthogneiss, East Humboldt Range, Nevada: Is this really Archean crust? REPLY

Depto. de Mineralogía y PetrologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEpu