Re–Os isotope geochronology of the Shangbao pyrite–flourite deposit in southeastern Hunan, South China: Evidence for multiple mineralization events and the role of crust–mantle interaction in polymetallic deposits

In South China, both crustal reworking and crust–mantle interaction were important geological processes during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. However, the relationships between these two processes and metal mineralization are still unknown. Here we report rhenium and osmium isotopic data for pyrite grains from a pyrite deposit associated with a granite intrusion in the Shangbao area, southeastern Hunan Province (South China). Two pyrite samples, both containing many euhedral pyrite grains, were collected from the same locality, but the samples yield distinct ages. Six euhedral pyrite grains from one sample yield an isochronal age of 279 ± 12 Ma, with an initial 187Os/188Os ratio of 0.39 ± 0.71, and Re and Os concentrations of 0.12–63.5 ppb and 2.14–185 ppt, respectively. This Early Permian age is in good agreement with the age of the strata that host the pyrite deposit. Five euhedral pyrite grains from the other sample yield an isochronal age of 75.2 ± 4.3 Ma, with an initial 187Os/188Os ratio of 0.141 ± 0.030 and Re and Os concentrations of 0.15–0.43 ppb and 1.0–39.9 ppt, respectively. If one pyrite grain with the highest 187Re/188Os and 187Os/188Os ratios is excluded, other four pyrite grains give an isochronal age of 85 ± 13 Ma. The Late Cretaceous age (75–85 Ma) is consistent with the zircon U–Pb age of the Shangbao granites (80.1 ± 0.3 Ma) to within uncertainties. Considering also the relatively lower radiogenic initial 187Os/188Os ratio of this sample, we suggest that the later stage pyrite ore was probably formed through crystallization from the magmatic hydrothermal fluids. Combined with other geological and associated magmatic data, we propose a skarn-related fluid–ore interaction process to explain the second stage of metallogenesis in the Shangbao pyrite deposit. The Early Permian pyrite ore was deposited in a brine basin with evaporites during the Early Permian. Later magmatic hydrothermal fluids originating from the Shangbao granites, which included mantle components, interacted with the strata and the Early Permian pyrite ore during the Late Cretaceous and precipitated a later stage pyrite ore. During the Late Mesozoic, the roll-back of subducted Paleo-Pacific plate caused lithospheric extension in South China, triggering the upwelling and partial melting of the asthenosphere. The resulting underplating of mantle-derived magmas provided a vast amount of heat and materials for the formation of the granites and polymetallic deposits in South China. Given that the multiple mineralization events were spatially and temporally associated with the Paleozoic–Mesozoic magmatism, the Re–Os isotopic dating of euhedral pyrite grains has been shown to be a viable method for unveiling the evolutionary history of ore-deposits. Skarn development caused by granite and mafic dike emplacement resulting from crust–mantle interaction explains the occurrence of two mineralization episodes at the same locality

SHORT EPISODES OF CRUST GENERATION DURING PROTRACTED ACCRETIONARY PROCESSES: EVIDENCE FROM CENTRAL ASIAN OROGENIC BELT, NW CHINA

continental crust but the spatial and temporal distribution of crust generation within individual orogens remains poorly constrained. Paleozoic (~540–270 Ma) granitic rocks from the Alati, Junggar and Chinese Tianshan segments of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) have markedly bimodal age frequency distributions with peaks of ages at ~400 Ma and 280 Ma for the Altai segment, and ~430 Ma and 300 Ma for the Junggar and Chinese Tianshan segments. Most of the magma was generated in short time intervals (~20–40 Ma), and variations in magma volumes and in Nd–Hf isotope ratios are taken to reflect variable rates of new crust generation within a long-lived convergent plate setting.Accretionary orogens are major sites of generation of continental crust but the spatial and temporal distribution of crust generation within individual orogens remains poorly constrained. Paleozoic (~540–270 Ma) granitic rocks from the Alati, Junggar and Chinese Tianshan segments of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) have markedly bimodal age frequency distributions with peaks of ages at ~400 Ma and 280 Ma for the Altai segment, and ~430 Ma and 300 Ma for the Junggar and Chinese Tianshan segments. Most of the magma was generated in short time intervals (~20–40 Ma), and variations in magma volumes and in Nd–Hf isotope ratios are taken to reflect variable rates of new crust generation within a long-lived convergent plate setting

Short episodes of crust generation during protracted accretionary processes

This study was supported by funding from the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant nos. XDB03010600 and XDB18020204), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 41202041, 41630208 and 41673033), the Key Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (QYZDJ-SSW-DQC026), the DREAM Program of China (No. 2016YFC0600407), talent project of Guangdong Province (2014TX01Z079), and GIG–CAS 135 project 135TP201601. PAC and CJH acknowledge support from the Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/J021822/1). The senior author thanks the grant from the NSC, Taiwan, which supported his one-year academic visit at the NTU. This is contribution no. IS-2352 from GIG–CAS.Accretionary orogens are major sites of generation of continental crust but the spatial and temporal distribution of crust generation within individual orogens remains poorly constrained. Paleozoic (∼540–270 Ma) granitic rocks from the Alati, Junggar and Chinese Tianshan segments of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) have markedly bimodal age frequency distributions with peaks of ages at ∼400 Ma and 280 Ma for the Altai segment, and ∼430 Ma and 300 Ma for the Junggar and Chinese Tianshan segments. Most of the magma was generated in short time intervals (∼20–40 Ma), and variations in magma volumes and in Nd–Hf isotope ratios are taken to reflect variable rates of new crust generation within a long-lived convergent plate setting. The Junggar segment is characterized by high and uniform Nd–Hf isotope ratios (εNd(t) = +5  to  +8; zircon εHf(t) = +10  to  +16) and it appears to have formed in an intra-oceanic arc system. In the Altai and Chinese Tianshan segments, the Nd–Hf isotope ratios (εNd(t) = −7  to  +8; zircon εHf(t) = −16  to  +16) are lower, although they increase with decreasing age of the rock units. The introduction of a juvenile component into the Chinese Tianshan and Altai granitic rocks appears to have occurred in continental arc settings and it reflects a progressive reduction in the contributions from old continental lower crust and lithospheric mantle. Within the long-lived convergent margin setting (over ∼200 Ma), higher volumes of magma, and greater contributions of juvenile material, were typically emplaced over short time intervals of ∼20–40 Ma. These intervals were associated with higher Nb/La ratios, coupled with lower La/Yb ratios, in both the mafic and granitic rocks, and these episodes of increased magmatism from intraplate-like sources are therefore thought to have been in response to lithospheric extension. The trace element and Nd–Hf isotope data, in combination with estimates of granitic magma volumes, highlight that crust generation rates are strongly non-uniform within long-lived accretionary orogens. The estimated crust generation rates range from ∼0.1 to ∼40 km3/km/Ma for the Paleozoic record of the CAOB, and only comparatively short (20–40 Ma) periods of elevated magmatic activity had rates similar to those for modern intra-oceanic and continental arcs.PostprintPeer reviewe

Tibetan Plateau insights into >1100℃ crustal melting in the Quaternary

Partial melting during high-temperature to ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism facilitates crustal differentiation, element transfer, and the evolution of topography in orogens, however the mechanisms that drive heating of Earth’s crust remain controversial. We provide new evidence from ca. 2.3 Ma dacites in the Tibetan Plateau, representing the youngest known UHT metamorphic event. Our results show that these dacites were mainly generated by fluid-absent melting of metasedimentary rocks and minor mafic rocks at peak temperatures of 1100–1150 °C and pressures of 0.8–0.9 GPa. The dacites represent mixtures of UHT melts and granulite residues and are geochemically similar to A-type granites with extremely high heat-production values (5.33–5.99 μW m–3). Compared with the geological and geophysical observations, numerical modeling indicates that the key factor determining the thermal evolution of Tibet is the thickness of the radioactive layer. Orogens dominated by rocks of felsic composition, like Tibet, could easily reach UHT conditions within a short period of time (20–40 m.y.) after crustal thickening by radioactive heating, without the need for an additional tectonic mechanism

Bapineuzumab for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease in two global, randomized, phase 3 trials

Background Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy (clinical and biomarker) and safety of intravenous bapineuzumab in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods Two of four phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 18-month trials were conducted globally: one in apolipoprotein E ε4 carriers and another in noncarriers. Patients received bapineuzumab 0.5 mg/kg (both trials) or 1.0 mg/kg (noncarrier trial) or placebo every 13 weeks. Coprimary endpoints were change from baseline to week 78 on the 11-item Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale–Cognitive subscale and the Disability Assessment for Dementia. Results A total of 683 and 329 patients completed the current carrier and noncarrier trials, respectively, which were terminated prematurely owing to lack of efficacy in the two other phase 3 trials of bapineuzumab in AD. The current trials showed no significant difference between bapineuzumab and placebo for the coprimary endpoints and no effect of bapineuzumab on amyloid load or cerebrospinal fluid phosphorylated tau. (Both measures were stable over time in the placebo group.) Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities with edema or effusion were confirmed as the most notable adverse event. Conclusions These phase 3 global trials confirmed lack of efficacy of bapineuzumab at tested doses on clinical endpoints in patients with mild to moderate AD. Some differences in the biomarker results were seen compared with the other phase 3 bapineuzumab trials. No unexpected adverse events were observed. Trial registration Noncarriers (3000) ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00667810; registered 24 Apr 2008. Carriers (3001) ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00676143; registered 2 May 2008

The Impact of Calculators on Student\u27s Test Scores

This paper looks at how calculators impact students\u27 understanding of mathematics. There has been several research studies done on this topic, but this paper provides a specific response to when and how calculators should be utilized in certain grades

Do cratons preserve evidence of stagnant lid tectonics?

Evidence for episodic crustal growth extending back to the Hadean has recently prompted a number of numerically based geodynamic models that incorporate cyclic changes from stagnant lid to mobile lid tectonics. A large part of the geologic record is missing for the times at which several of these cycles are inferred to have taken place. The cratons, however, are likely to retain important clues relating to similar cycles developed in the Mesoarchean and Neoarchean. Widespread acceptance of a form of plate tectonics by ∼3.2 Ga is not at odds with the sporadic occurrence of stagnant lid tectonics after this time. The concept of scale as applied to cratons, mantle plumes and Neoarchean volcanic arcs are likely to provide important constraints on future models of Earth's geodynamic evolution. The Superior Province will provide some of the most concrete evidence in this regard given that its constituent blocks may have been locked into a stagnant lid relatively soon after their formation and then assembled in the next global plate tectonic interval. Perceived complexities associated with inferred mantle plume – volcanic arc associations in the Superior Province and other cratons may be related to an over estimation of plume size. A possible stagnant lid episode between ∼2.9 Ga and ∼2.8 Ga is identified by previously unexplained lapses in volcanism on cratons, including the Kaapvaal, Yilgarn and Superior Province cratons. If real, then mantle dynamics associated with this episode likely eliminated any contemporaneous mantle plume incubation sites, which has important implications for widespread plumes developed at ∼2.7 Ga and favours a shallow mantle source in the transition zone. The Superior Province provides a uniquely preserved local proxy for this global event and could serve as the basis for detailed numerical models in the future