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1. Strontium and carbon isotopic evidence for decoupling of pCO2 from continental weathering at the apex of the late Paleozoic glaciation

   https://doi.org/10.1130/G40093.1  

   Chen, Jitao; Montañez, Isabel P.; Qi, Yuping; Shen, Shuzhong; Wang, Xiangdong (March 2018, Geology)

   Earth’s penultimate icehouse (ca. 340–285 Ma) was a time of low atmospheric pCO2 and high pO2, formation of the supercontinent Pangaea, dynamic glaciation in the Southern Hemisphere, and radiation of the oldest tropical rainforests. Although it has been long appreciated that these major tectonic, climatic, and biotic events left their signature on seawater 87Sr/86Sr through their influence on Sr fluxes to the ocean, the temporal resolution and precision of the late Paleozoic seawater 87Sr/86Sr record remain relatively low. Here we present a high-temporal-resolution and high-fidelity record of Carboniferous– early Permian seawater 87Sr/86Sr based on conodont bioapatite from an open-water carbonate slope succession in south China. The new data define a rate of long-term rise in 87Sr/86Sr (0.000035/m.y.) from ca. 334–318 Ma comparable to that of the middle to late Cenozoic. The onset of the rapid decline in 87Sr/86Sr (0.000043/m.y.), following a prolonged plateau (318–303 Ma), is constrained to ca. 303 Ma. A major decoupling of 87Sr/86Sr and pCO2 during 303–297 Ma, coincident with the Paleozoic peak in pO2, widespread low-latitude aridification, and demise of the pan-tropical wetland forests, suggests a major shift in the dominant influence on pCO2 from continental weathering and organic carbon sequestration (as coals) on land to organic carbon burial in the ocean. 

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2. Mantle melting in regions of thick continental lithosphere: Examples from Late Cretaceous and younger volcanic rocks, Southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado (USA)

   https://doi.org/10.1130/Ges02749.1  

   Farmer, G Lang; Morgan, Leah; Cosca, Michael; Mize, James; Bailley, Treasure; Turner, Kenzie; Mercer, Cameron; Ellison, Eric; Bell, Aaron (September 2024, Geosphere)

   Abstract Major- and trace-element data together with Nd and Sr isotopic compositions and 40Ar/39Ar age determinations were obtained for Late Cretaceous and younger volcanic rocks from north-central Colorado, USA, in the Southern Rocky Mountains to assess the sources of mantle-derived melts in a region underlain by thick (≥150 km) continental lithosphere. Trachybasalt to trachyandesite lava flows and volcanic cobbles of the Upper Cretaceous Windy Gap Volcanic Member of the Middle Park Formation have low εNd(t) values from −3.4 to −13, 87Sr/86Sr(t) from ~0.705 to ~0.707, high large ion lithophile element/high field strength element ratios, and low Ta/Th (≤0.2) values. These characteristics are consistent with the production of mafic melts during the Late Cretaceous to early Cenozoic Laramide orogeny through flux melting of asthenosphere above shallowly subducting and dehydrating oceanic lithosphere of the Farallon plate, followed by the interaction of these melts with preexisting, low εNd(t), continental lithospheric mantle during ascent. This scenario requires that asthenospheric melting occurred beneath continental lithosphere as thick as 200 km, in accordance with mantle xenoliths entrained in localized Devonian-age kimberlites. Such depths are consistent with the abundances of heavy rare earth elements (Yb, Sc) in the Laramide volcanic rocks, which require parental melts derived from garnet-bearing mantle source rocks. New 40Ar/39Ar ages from the Rabbit Ears and Elkhead Mountains volcanic fields confirm that mafic magmatism was reestablished in this region ca. 28 Ma after a hiatus of over 30 m.y. and that the locus of volcanism migrated to the west through time. These rocks have εNd(t) and 87Sr/86Sr(t) values equivalent to their older counterparts (−3.5 to −13 and 0.7038–0.7060, respectively), but they have higher average chondrite-normalized La/Yb values (~22 vs. ~10), and, for the Rabbit Ears volcanic field, higher and more variable Ta/Th values (0.29–0.43). The latter are general characteristics of all other post–40 Ma volcanic rocks in north-central Colorado for which literature data are available. Transitions from low to intermediate Ta/Th mafic volcanism occurred diachronously across southwest North America and are interpreted to have been a consequence of melting of continental lithospheric mantle previously metasomatized by aqueous fluids derived from the underthrusted Farallon plate. Melting occurred as remnants of the Farallon plate were removed and the continental lithospheric mantle was conductively heated by upwelling asthenosphere. A similar model can be applied to post–40 Ma magmatism in north-central Colorado, with periodic, east to west, removal of stranded remnants of the Farallon plate from the base of the continental lithospheric mantle accounting for the production, and western migration, of volcanism. The estimated depth of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary in north-central Colorado (~150 km) indicates that the lithosphere remains too thick to allow widespread melting of upwelling asthenosphere even after lithospheric thinning in the Cenozoic. The preservation of thick continental lithospheric mantle may account for the absence of oceanic-island basalt–like basaltic volcanism (high Ta/Th values of ~1 and εNd[t] > 0), in contrast to areas of southwest North America that experienced larger-magnitude extension and lithosphere thinning, where oceanic-island basalt–like late Cenozoic basalts are common. 

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3. Metamorphic ages constrain the timing and nature of heat flow into the lower crust of a magmatic arc, Fiordland, New Zealand

   Stowell, H. H.; Schwartz, J.; Klepeis, K.A.; Odom-Parker, K.; Hout, C.; Bollen, E.; Yelverton, J. (December 2017, Transactions - American Geophysical Union)

   Garnet ages for eclogite and granulite from the Western Fiordland Orthogneiss (WFO) provide a precise age for high-grade metamorphism and partial melting of the lower crust in a Cretaceous magmatic arc currently exposed in Fiordland, New Zealand. U/Pb zircon ages and pluton areas indicate that a high magmatic flux event between 118 and 115 Ma added >3,000 km2 of mid- to lower-crustal plutons. The high flux event was followed by high temperature metamorphism and partial melting which resulted in pervasive leucosomes, and trondhjemite layers and veins. At least 1,800 km2 of the newly added crust was metamorphosed to garnet granulite facies orthogneiss. Thermobarometry and phase diagram models indicate that garnet grew at 850 to 1,000°C and 12 to 14 kbar in this monzodiorite and diorite gneiss of the Misty, Malaspina, and Breaksea plutons. Sm-Nd garnet-rock isochrons for these three plutons of the WFO (>700 km2of lower crust) indicate that peak temperatures were reached at 111.7±1.0 Ma (N=16). The isotopic and chemical composition of zircon indicate that the Cretaceous arc flare-up was most likely triggered by partial melting and hybridization of subducted oceanic crust and enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle directly prior to cessation of arc magmatism. The driving mechanism for the terminal magmatic surge is inferred to be propagation of a discontinuous slab tear beneath the arc, or a ridge-trench collision event between 136 and 128 Ma. The lack of ca. 112 Ma plutons in the western part of Fiordland negates a magmatic heat source for garnet granulite metamorphism. Therefore, we infer that high heat flow associated with mantle advection at the base of the arc after the magmatic surge continued for several m.y., heating the lower crust to granulite facies temperatures 

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4. Reconstructing the depositional environment and diagenetic modification of global phosphate deposits through integration of uranium and strontium isotopes

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.122214  

   Hill, Robert C; Wang, Zhen; Williams, Gordon DZ; Polyak, Victor; Singh, Anjali; Kipp, Michael A; Asmerom, Yemane; Vengosh, Avner (September 2024, Chemical Geology)

   The geochemistry of phosphate rocks can provide valuable information on their depositional environment and the redox condition of global oceans through time. Here we examine trace metal concentrations and uranium (δ238U, δ234U) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope variations of marine sedimentary phosphate rocks and the phosphate-bearing carbonate fluorapatite (CFA) mineral phase, originating from Precambrian to mid-Miocene aged major global phosphate deposits. We find elevated concentrations of several trace elements (Al, V, Cr, Cd, U, Mn, Co, Cu, As, and Rb) in the CFA mineral phase of young phosphate rocks (Miocene to Late Cretaceous) relative to those of older (Devonian to Precambrian) rocks. The δ238U of phosphate rocks of Mid-Miocene to Permian age range from −0.311‰ to 0.070‰, exhibiting a positive fractionation relative to modern seawater (−0.38‰). This is similar to the isotope fractionation reported for carbonate and shale sediments, likely resulting from the reduction of uranium in porewaters during CFA precipitation. Cambrian to Precambrian phosphate rocks have lower δ238U of −0.583‰ to −0.363‰, indicating different depositional redox conditions likely resulting from seafloor anoxia and/or diagenetic modification. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios of phosphate rocks of Cretaceous to Mid-Miocene age generally follow the secular 87Sr/86Sr seawater curve. Phosphate rocks with 87Sr/86Sr that deviate from this curve have characteristic trace metal trends, such as lower Sr/Ca and Sr concentrations, suggesting later diagenetic modification. Older phosphate rocks of Precambrian age are systematically more radiogenic than the expected secular Sr seawater composition at the time of deposition, possibly due to the greater influence of terrestrial input in peritidal zones and/or more pervasive diagenetic modification. Overall, our study reveals connections between U and Sr isotope variations for reconstructing the depositional and diagenetic conditions of global phosphate rock formation through Earth history and the transition to an oxic ocean following the Paleozoic Oxygenation Event. 

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5. Detrital zircon record of Phanerozoic magmatism in the southern Central Andes

   https://doi.org/10.1130/GES02346.1  

   Capaldi, T.N.; McKenzie, N.R.; Horton, B.K.; Mackaman-Lofland, C.; Colleps, C.L.; Stockli, D.F. (May 2021, Geosphere)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract The spatial and temporal distribution of arc magmatism and associated isotopic variations provide insights into the Phanerozoic history of the western margin of South America during major shifts in Andean and pre-Andean plate interactions. We integrated detrital zircon U-Th-Pb and Hf isotopic results across continental magmatic arc systems of Chile and western Argentina (28°S–33°S) with igneous bedrock geochronologic and zircon Hf isotope results to define isotopic signatures linked to changes in continental margin processes. Key tectonic phases included: Paleozoic terrane accretion and Carboniferous subduction initiation during Gondwanide orogenesis, Permian–Triassic extensional collapse, Jurassic–Paleogene continental arc magmatism, and Neogene flat slab subduction during Andean shortening. The ~550 m.y. record of magmatic activity records spatial trends in magma composition associated with terrane boundaries. East of 69°W, radiogenic isotopic signatures indicate reworked continental lithosphere with enriched (evolved) εHf values and low (<0.65) zircon Th/U ratios during phases of early Paleozoic and Miocene shortening and lithospheric thickening. In contrast, the magmatic record west of 69°W displays depleted (juvenile) εHf values and high (>0.7) zircon Th/U values consistent with increased asthenospheric contributions during lithospheric thinning. Spatial constraints on Mesozoic to Cenozoic arc width provide a rough approximation of relative subduction angle, such that an increase in arc width reflects shallower slab dip. Comparisons among slab dip calculations with time-averaged εHf and Th/U zircon results exhibit a clear trend of decreasing (enriched) magma compositions with increasing arc width and decreasing slab dip. Collectively, these data sets demonstrate the influence of subduction angle on the position of upper-plate magmatism (including inboard arc advance and outboard arc retreat), changes in isotopic signatures, and overall composition of crustal and mantle material along the western edge of South America. 

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