Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.3
2.4
Journals
Geosciences
Special Issues
Zircon U-Pb Geochronology Applied to Tectonics and Ore Deposits
share announcement

Zircon U-Pb Geochronology Applied to Tectonics and Ore Deposits

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 4408

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Khin Zaw

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Natural Sciences, CODES Centre of Ore Deposit and Earth Sciences, University of Tasmania, 208 Physics Building, Sandy Bay Campus, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
Interests: ore deposits; metallogeny; SE Asia; gemstones; fluid inclusions; zircon U–Pb
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Charles Makoundi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CODES Centre for Ore Deposit and Earth Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 126, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
Interests: exploring geochemistry; geochemistry; geochronology; sedimentology; isotope geochemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jillian Aira S. Gabo-Ratio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Institute of Geological Sciences, College of Science, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Interests: economic geology; igneous petrology and geochemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, titled "Zircon U-Pb Geochronology Applied to Tectonics and Ore Deposits", delves into the application of zircon U–Pb geochronology in the field of tectonics. Tectonics, the study of the Earth's crustal movements and deformation, plays a crucial role in understanding the formation and evolution of our planet's geological features. Zircon U–Pb dating techniques have emerged as a powerful tool in deciphering the timing and duration of various tectonic events, shedding light on the dynamic processes that have shaped Earth's surface.

This Special Issue presents a comprehensive collection of research articles that highlight the significance of zircon U–Pb geochronology in unraveling the mysteries of tectonic processes. The articles within this Special Issue explore the diverse applications of zircon U–Pb dating, including the determination of ages for magmatic events, metamorphic processes, and sedimentary deposition. By analyzing the isotopic composition of zircons, researchers can accurately date these geological events, providing valuable insights into the geological history of different regions.

The papers presented in this Special Issue aim to showcase the wide range of tectonic settings where zircon U–Pb geochronology has been applied, such as mountain building processes, plate tectonics, and crustal growth. The studies contained within this collection also emphasize the integration of zircon U–Pb dating with other analytical techniques, such as geochemistry and geophysics, to enhance our understanding of tectonic phenomena.

Prof. Dr. Khin Zaw
Dr. Charles Makoundi
Dr. Jillian Aira S. Gabo-Ratio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • zircon U–Pb geochronology
  • tectonics
  • magmatic events
  • geological history
  • plate tectonics
  • ore deposits
  • metallogeny

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

39 pages, 37908 KiB  
Article
Deformation of the “Anorogenic” Wolf River Batholith, Wisconsin, USA: Understanding the Baraboo Orogeny Hinterland
by John P. Craddock, David H. Malone, Erica P. Craddock, Steven J. Baumann, John E. Malone and Ryan Porter
Geosciences 2025, 15(4), 150; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences15040150 - 16 Apr 2025
Viewed by 244
Abstract
The Mesoproterozoic (~1470 Ma) Wolf River batholith (WRB) is exposed over 6500 km2, encompassing 11 plutons that crosscut the Archean Marshfield and Proterozoic Penokean terranes. As the WRB is the classically defined anorogenic batholith, to test this hypothesis, seven igneous phases [...] Read more.
The Mesoproterozoic (~1470 Ma) Wolf River batholith (WRB) is exposed over 6500 km2, encompassing 11 plutons that crosscut the Archean Marshfield and Proterozoic Penokean terranes. As the WRB is the classically defined anorogenic batholith, to test this hypothesis, seven igneous phases were analyzed using anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), as a proxy for magmatic flow during intrusion, and the samples recorded a sub-horizontal emplacement in six different orientations. Paleopoles from six of eight igneous samples preserve a wide variety of sub-vertical orientations with two reversed and four normal polarities. The synorogenic Baldwin Conglomerate is the youngest rock (<1460 Ga) associated with WRB. Magnetic fabrics are horizontal, but multidomain and paleopole signatures, where interpretable, are sub-vertical. The North American APWP places middle Laurentia at low-latitude during Geon 14, and all our paleopoles are sub-vertical, not sub-horizontal, again suggesting post-intrusion deformation. Moreover, the McCauley gneiss (1886 Ma; U-Pb zircon), Rib Mountain Quartzite (1750 Ma MDA; U-Pb zircon, n = 150), Dells of the Eau Claire rhyolite (1483 Ma; U-Pb zircon, 1469 Ma; monazites-in-garnet), and Baldwin conglomerate (1460 Ma MDA; U-Pb zircons, n = 150) are sub-vertical inliers (xenoliths) in the igneous suite; the Proterozoic Wausau turbidite (1850 Ma MDA; U-Pb zircon, n = 150) was intruded by the WRB and dips 25°W. Here, we present a reinterpretation of the WRB as a deformed synorogenic rather than an anorogenic intrusion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zircon U-Pb Geochronology Applied to Tectonics and Ore Deposits)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 5031 KiB  
Article
Rapid India–Asia Initial Collision Between 50 and 48 Ma Along the Western Margin of the Indian Plate: Detrital Zircon Provenance Evidence
by Muhammad Qasim, Junaid Ashraf, Lin Ding, Javed Iqbal Tanoli, Fulong Cai, Iftikhar Ahmed Abbasi and Saif-Ur-Rehman Khan Jadoon
Geosciences 2024, 14(11), 289; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14110289 - 29 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1468
Abstract
Constraining the collision timing of India and Asia requires reliable information from the coeval geological record along the ~2400 km long collisional margin. This study provides insights into the India–Asia collision at the westernmost margin of the Indian Plate using combined U-Pb geochronological [...] Read more.
Constraining the collision timing of India and Asia requires reliable information from the coeval geological record along the ~2400 km long collisional margin. This study provides insights into the India–Asia collision at the westernmost margin of the Indian Plate using combined U-Pb geochronological data and sandstone petrography. The study area is situated in the vicinity of Fort Munro, Pakistan, along the western margin of the Indian Plate, and consists of the Paleocene Dunghan Formation and Eocene Ghazij Formation. The U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from the Dunghan Formation are mainly clustered between ~453 and 1100 Ma with a second minor cluster between ~1600 and 2600 Ma. These ages suggest that the major source contributing to the Dunghan Formation was likely derived from basement rocks and the cover sequence exposed mainly in Tethyan Himalaya (TH), Lesser Himalaya (LH), and Higher Himalayan (HH). Petrographic results suggest that the quartz-rich samples from the Dunghan Formation are mineralogically mature and have likely experienced log-distance transportation, which is possible in the case of an already established and well-developed river system delivering the sediments from the Craton Interior provenance. Samples of the overlying Ghazij Formation show a major detrital zircon age clustered at ~272–600 Ma in the lower part of the formation, comparable to the TH. In the middle part, the major cluster is at ~400–1100 Ma, and a minor cluster at ~1600–2600 Ma similar to the age patterns of TH, LH, and HH. However, in the uppermost part of the Ghazij Formation, ages of <100 Ma are recorded along with 110–166 Ma, ~400–1100 Ma, and ~1600–2600 Ma clusters. The <100 Ma ages were mainly attributed to the northern source, which was the Kohistan-Ladakh arc (KLA). The ~110–166 Ma ages are possibly associated with the TH volcanic rocks, ophiolitic source, and Karakoram block (KB). The Paleozoic to Archean-aged zircons in the Ghazij Formation represent an Indian source. This contrasting provenance shift from India to Asia is also reflected in the sandstone petrography, where the sample KZ-09 is plotted in a dissected arc field. By combining the U-Pb ages of the detrital zircons with sandstone petrography, we attribute this provenance change to the Asia–India collision that caused the provenance shift from the southern (Indian Craton) provenance to the northern (KLA and KB) provenance. In view of the upper age limit of the Ghazij Formation, we suggest the onset of Asian–Indian collision along its western part occurred at ca. 50–48 Ma, which is younger than the collision ages reported from central and northwestern segments of the Indian plate margin with 70–59 Ma and 56 Ma, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zircon U-Pb Geochronology Applied to Tectonics and Ore Deposits)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 7689 KiB  
Article
Development of High-Silica Adakitic Intrusions in the Northern Appalachians of New Brunswick (Canada), and Their Correlation with Slab Break-Off: Insights into the Formation of Fertile Cu-Au-Mo Porphyry Systems
by Fazilat Yousefi, David R. Lentz, James A. Walker and Kathleen G. Thorne
Geosciences 2024, 14(9), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14090241 - 7 Sep 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1227
Abstract
High-silica adakites exhibit specific compositions, as follows: SiO2 ≥ 56 wt.%, Al2O3 ≥ 15 wt.%, Y ≤ 18 ppm, Yb ≤ 1.9 ppm, K2O/Na2O ≥ 1, MgO < 3 wt.%, high Sr/Y (≥10), and La/Yb [...] Read more.
High-silica adakites exhibit specific compositions, as follows: SiO2 ≥ 56 wt.%, Al2O3 ≥ 15 wt.%, Y ≤ 18 ppm, Yb ≤ 1.9 ppm, K2O/Na2O ≥ 1, MgO < 3 wt.%, high Sr/Y (≥10), and La/Yb (>10). Devonian I-type adakitic granitoids in the northern Appalachians of New Brunswick (NB, Canada) share geochemical signatures of adakites elsewhere, i.e., SiO2 ≥ 66.46 wt.%, Al2O3 > 15.47 wt.%, Y ≤ 22 ppm, Yb ≤ 2 ppm, K2O/Na2O > 1, MgO < 3 wt.%, Sr/Y ≥ 33 to 50, and La/Yb > 10. Remarkably, adakitic intrusions in NB, including the Blue Mountain Granodiorite Suite, Nicholas Denys, Sugar Loaf, Squaw Cap, North Dungarvan River, Magaguadavic Granite, Hampstead Granite, Tower Hill, Watson Brook Granodiorite, Rivière-Verte Porphyry, Eagle Lake Granite, Evandale Granodiorite, North Pole Stream Suite, and the McKenzie Gulch porphyry dykes all have associated Cu mineralization, similar to the Middle Devonian Cu porphyry intrusions in Mines Gaspé, Québec. Trace element data support the connection between adakite formation and slab break-off, a mechanism influencing fertility and generation of porphyry Cu systems. These adakitic rocks in NB are oxidized, and are relatively enriched in large ion lithophile elements, like Cs, Rb, Ba, and Pb, and depleted in some high field strength elements, like Y, Nb, Ta, P, and Ti; they also have Sr/Y ≥ 33 to 50, Nb/Y > 0.4, Ta/Yb > 0.3, La/Yb > 10, Ta/Yb > 0.3, Sm/Yb > 2.5, Gd/Yb > 2.0, Nb + Y < 60 ppm, and Ta + Yb < 6 ppm. These geochemical indicators point to failure of a subducting oceanic slab (slab rollback to slab break-off) in the terminal stages of subduction, as the generator of post-collisional granitoid magmatism. The break-off and separation of a dense subducted oceanic plate segment leads to upwelling asthenosphere, heat advection, and selective partial melting of the descending oceanic slab (adakite) and (or) suprasubduction zone lithospheric mantle. The resulting silica-rich adakitic magmas ascend through thickened mantle lithosphere, with minimal affect from the asthenosphere. The critical roles of transpression and transtension are highlighted in facilitating the ascent and emplacement of these fertile adakitic magmas in postsubduction zone settings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zircon U-Pb Geochronology Applied to Tectonics and Ore Deposits)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

22 pages, 10150 KiB  
Review
A Review of Carboniferous-Triassic Tectonic-Magmatic Evolution of Luang Prabang–Loei Metallogenic Belt in Laos and Thailand and Implications for Gold–Copper Mineralization
by Linnan Guo, Khin Zaw, Shusheng Liu, Yongfei Yang, Fei Nie, Songyang Wu, Meifeng Shi, Chunmei Huang, Xiangfei Zhang, Huimin Liang, Xiangting Zeng and Siwei Xu
Geosciences 2025, 15(2), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences15020068 - 16 Feb 2025
Viewed by 596
Abstract
The Luang Prabang (Laos)–Loei (Thailand) metallogenic belt is located on the northwestern margin of the Indochina Block. It is one of the most important gold–copper metallogenic belts in Southeast Asia. This region underwent tectonic and magmatic evolution in the late Paleozoic-Mesozoic period within [...] Read more.
The Luang Prabang (Laos)–Loei (Thailand) metallogenic belt is located on the northwestern margin of the Indochina Block. It is one of the most important gold–copper metallogenic belts in Southeast Asia. This region underwent tectonic and magmatic evolution in the late Paleozoic-Mesozoic period within the Paleo-Tethys realm, resulting in complex metallogenic processes. Consequently, epithermal Au-Ag, porphyry-skarn Au-Cu, and hydrothermal vein-type gold deposits were formed. However, the genetic type of the vein-type gold deposits is still not fully understood. The relationship between the three types of gold deposits and the regional tectonic evolution has not been summarized up until today. We summarize the previous mineralization characteristics and exploration data of commonly known deposits and combine them with new evidence and ore deposit insights from our recent studies on the source and evolution of ore-forming fluids in the region. We confirm that the hydrothermal vein-type gold deposits in the belt are typical orogenic gold deposits. Based on previous regional tectonic-magmatic-metallogenic studies, metallogenic characteristics, and temporal and spatial distribution of three types of typical gold–copper deposits in the belt, we synthesize and establish a regional metallogenic model related to the subduction-closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean and subsequent continental–continental collision process, resulting in the formation of epithermal Au-Ag during the late Permian-early Triassic subduction, porphyry-skarn Au-Cu in the early–middle Triassic period during the closure of the ocean, and orogenic Au during the late Triassic collision. Since there are few reports on the geochemical characteristics of gold–copper deposits and their related magmatic rocks, the potential for gold–copper mineralization and their links to the magmatic rocks in the belt still needs further study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zircon U-Pb Geochronology Applied to Tectonics and Ore Deposits)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop