Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Taylor & Francis
Résumé : Modern geochronology has moved beyond the acquisition of dates: the goal is to understand the significance of these numbers for the geodynamic evolution of Earth at all scales. The coupling of the laser-ablation microprobe (LAM) to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers (ICPMS, multicollector (MC)-ICPMS) has revolutionised geochronology and geochemistry over the last 10 years. These systems enable the rapid and precise in situ analysis of trace-element patterns and isotopic systems, while adding information related to microstructural context and major-element composition. The integration of these multiple sources of data is crucial in constraining the origin of the sample and the processes leading to its formation, so that we can understand the meaning of a date in terms of geological events. LAM-ICPMS measurement of U-Pb ages and trace-element patterns in zircon, coupled with LAM-MC-ICPMS analysis of Hf isotopes in the same grains, gives new insights into the processes of magma genesis. Applied to detrital zircons from modern drainages or sedimentary rocks (the TerraneChron approach), it becomes a powerful tool to investigate problems of crustal evolution on scales ranging from single terranes to continents. The in situ analysis (LAM-MC-ICPMS) of Re-Os systematics in single grains of sulfides in mantle-derived peridotites has demonstrated that most mantle rocks contain several generations of Os-bearing sulfides; whole-rock analyses are mixtures reflecting multiple melting and metasomatic events in the lithospheric mantle. These deep-seated events are commonly mirrored in the crust; Os model-age spectra from xenolith suites show age 'peaks' that correspond to the ages of thermal/tectonic events in the overlying crust, suggesting strong linkages between crust and mantle. Integrated studies of the timing and nature of crustal and mantle events, using these techniques, will be important for understanding the large-scale dynamics of the Earth.
ISSN: 0812-0099

hal-00411328
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411328
DOI : 10.1080/08120090802097450

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Orogenic lherzolites exhibit a specific (although reproducible) platinum-group element signature characterized by slight positive deviations of Pd/Ir, Rh/Ir and Ru/Ir ratios from the canonical chondritic model. Such a signature was alternatively considered to be a compositional feature of the primitive upper mantle or resulting from sulfide melt addition by refertilisation reactions in the continental lithosphere. To shed additional light on this conundrum, the distribution of PGE in FON B 93, an unserpentinized, fertile (3.24% Al2O3) orogenic lherzolite (French Pyrenees) used as in-house standard by our group, has been studied to different scales, from the bulk rock to trace minerals. In addition to new ICPMS analyses after separation into Nis and Te coprecipitation, its whole-rock PGE concentrations were redetermined by three different laboratories using very precise ID-ICP-MS methods after digestion of the sample in Carius tube at T=250 degrees C and 320 degrees C or in high-pressure asher (HPA-S). The four methods produce reproducible Ru, Rh and Pd contents (7.1 +/- 0.18 ppb; 1.43 +/- 0.05 ppb; 7.1 +/- 0.30 ppb) whereas the non-ID NiS-fire assay method underestimates the Os and Ir concentrations by c.a. 10 and 15% compared to ID-ICP-MS analyses (4.40 +/- 0.07 and 4.00 +/- 0.17 ppb, respectively). Platinum was the most difficult to analyse. If performed on powder aliquots smaller than 3 g, the ID-ICP-MS analyses generate strong nugget effects while the non-ID NiS-fire assay method yields statistically lower (but highly reproducible) Pt concentrations (6.92 +/- 0.26 ppb). These features reflect the strong partitioning of Pt into trace phases that SEM and laser ablation-ICP-MS analyses on thin sections identify as both high-temperature Pt-Ir-Os alloys and Pt-(Pd) tellurides of likely subsolidus origin; ten to fifteen grains ranging in maximum dimension from a few micrometres to a few hundreds of nanometers, were identified by standard polished thin section. LA-ICP-MS data on base metal sulfides (25 grains analysed), coupled with the whole-rock S concentration (277 +/- 10 ppm) and modal composition of the BMS (90% pentlandite+accessory pyrite and secondary pyrrhotite + 10% chalcopyrite) allowed the contribution of the BMS phase to the PGE budget of FON B 93 to be estimated. Except Pt that exhibits a 95% deficit in the BMS phase, the PGE concentrations measured by ID-ICP-MS can be balanced by BMS while Al-spinel is a negligible contributor, accounting for less than 0.5% of the Ru budget. The occurrence of Pt in trace phases may bias the whole-rock Pt concentrations because 1) mechanical collection of Pt-rich trace phases remains problematic with the Nis button, and 2) Pt-Ir-Os alloys may be prone to digestion problems in conventional Carius tube procedures. Since they could be stable at mantle depth, such refractory alloys that contain Os and Ir may also have enhanced the heavy PGEs/light PGEs fractionation. Our observations likely pertain to orogenic lherzolites as a whole because BMS assemblages in these mantle rocks record evolution at low sulfur fugacity, which prevents Pt-Ir-Os alloy from entering the Mss in the mantle; moreover, at subsolidus temperature, pentlandite, the major BMS, cannot accommodate 0 valence state Pt.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-00411486
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411486
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2007.06.030

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Geochronological studies of samples from continuous crustal sections of fossil intra-oceanic arcs are paramount for determining the precise timing of major processes that took place during the building of an oceanic island-arc crust. In this study, laser ablation ICP-MS U-Pb zircon (and conventional Rb-Sr) analyses pinpoint the timing of major events responsible for crustal growth of the Kohistan paleo-island arc (Northern Pakistan). Inheritance in magmatic rocks is evidence for recycling of intra-arc material and indicates that the Kohistan arc may have formed as early as 135 +/- 4 Ma. One older inherited grain indicates that the arc developed on a young oceanic lithosphere whose remnants include a c. 175 Ma old component. An interesting consequence is that intra-oceanic arc magmas can yield inherited zircons, which can be much older than the arc system itself without requiring recycling back into the mantle by subduction processes. In the case of the Kohistan arc, ante-arc Neotethys oceanic lithosphere was tapped by arc magmas during their way upward into the arc crust. The oldest magmatic ages measured in this study fall in the range 101-102 Ma (100.9 +/- 0.6 and 102.1 +/- 0.4 Ma). This period corresponds to arc build-up and thickening of the arc crust. Leucogranitic melts dated at 89.9 +/- 0.4 Ma and 90.9 +/- 1.0 Ma are considered as produced by dehydration/melting reaction accompanying granulitisation of the thickened lower arc crust. A maximum age for this event is 97.7 +/- 0.7 Ma, the age of emplacement of a garnet meta-tonalite affected by granulite facies metamorphism. Magmatic activity was still ongoing during and after the granulitisation as testified by emplacement of a diorite and a gabbro dated at 89.1 +/- 0.6 and 88.2 +/- 0.9 Ma respectively. The upper part of the metaplutonic sequence contains diorite samples dated at 84.6 +/- 0.5 Ma and 84.3 +/- 0.5 Ma and as young as 81.1 +/- 0.7 Ma. During this period, and based on the present day outcropping sequences, the mean crustal growth rate varied from 32 to 65 km(3)/km/Ma (volume per unit width along the strike of the arc) which is comparable to the range for present day arcs of the Western Pacific region. The correspondence of crustal growth rates observed for present-day island arcs and the good preservation of the crustal section in the Kohistan arc, make this area an exceptional natural laboratory to study arc related processes and to check models of continental crust formation by arc accretion.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00644555
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00644555
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.07.016