SHRIMP U-Pb dating of diagenetic xenotime from sedimentary rocks has provided age constraints for sedimentary diagenesis(Mc Naughton et al.,1999;Fletcher et al.,2000;England et al.,2001;Rasmussen et al.,2004;Vallini et al.,2007).Xenotime(YPO4)may grow during early diagenesis,typically being present as a trace constituent in siliciclastic sedimentary rocks(Rasmussen,2005),in the form of syntaxial outgrowths on detrital zircon grains.Diagenetic xenotime occurs in
SHI YuruoKennedy ALLENAleinikoff JOHNSONG TianruiLI LinlinSUN Huiyi
This study covers cosmic spherules derived from the Mesoproterozoic Dahongyu Formation in the Ming Tombs area, Beijing. The cosmic spherules include iron oxide cosmic spherules, carbonaceous chondrites, and atomic iron "steely bead"-shaped cosmic spherules. The mineral assemblage of silicon carbide, forsterite, zircon, and glass spherules and fragments were picked from melt-silicified carbonate of the Mesoproterozoic Dahongyu Formation(ca. 1625 Ma). Cosmic spherule assemblages are solely discovered from sedimentary rocks in China. Platinum group elements(PGE) were determined for the first time in cosmic spherules and associated minerals. PGE comparative observation between meteorite and cosmic spherules is presented in this study. It is recognized that an extraterrestrial meteorite impact event might have occurred in the Dahongyu Stage. The main evidence is a large number of iron cosmic spherules in silicified oncolitic limestone, and associated cosmic silicon carbide, glass spherules, and fragments, as well as the presence of forsterite. The impact-volcanic crater is characteristic of a big black shale block dropped into the bended silicified limestone.
Detrital zircons in five sedimentary samples,MC1 to MC5, from the bottom of the Chuanlinggou Formation in the Ming Tombs District, Beijing, were dated with the LA-ICP-MS and SHRIMP U–Pb methods. Age spectra of the five samples show a major peak at 2500 Ma and a secondary peak at 2000 Ma, suggesting their provenances were mainly from the crystalline basement of the North China Craton and the Trans-North China Orogen.The youngest zircon has an age of 1673 ± 44 Ma, indicating that the Chuanlinggou Formation was deposited after this age. From sample MC4 to MC5, lithology changed from a clastic rock(fine-grained sandstone) to a carbonate rock(fine-grained dolomite), suggesting that the depositional basin became progressively deeper. The age spectrum of sample MC5 shows a major peak at 2500 Ma and a secondary peak at 2000 Ma. Sample MC4, which is stratigraphically lower than sample MC5, only had one peak at 2500 Ma. We conclude that there was a transgressive event when sediments represented by MC5 was deposited, and seawater carried ca. 2000 Ma clastic materials to the basin where the Chuanlinggou Formation was deposited, leading to the addition of ca. 2000 Ma detritus.Our research indicates that the source area for the sediments became more extensive with time. We conclude thatthe Chuanlinggou Formation in the Ming Tombs District was deposited in a low-energy mud flat sedimentary environment in the inter-supra tidal zone because it is mainly composed of silty mudstone and fine-grained sandstone with relatively simple sedimentary structures.
Jing DingYuruo ShiAlfred KronerJ. Lawford Anderson
Xiong’er volcanic rocks cover an area of more than6×104 km2 along the southern margin of North China Craton.The Xiong’er group has been divided,from bottom to top,into the Dagushi,Xushan,Jidanping
