The Ujaragssuit Nunat layered(UNL)unit in the Itsaq Gneiss Complex,west Greenland,has been consid-ered to contain one of the oldest chromitites on Earth based on~ca.4.1 Ga Hadean whole rock Pt-Os model ages and ca.3.8...The Ujaragssuit Nunat layered(UNL)unit in the Itsaq Gneiss Complex,west Greenland,has been consid-ered to contain one of the oldest chromitites on Earth based on~ca.4.1 Ga Hadean whole rock Pt-Os model ages and ca.3.81 Ga zircon U-Pb age of the surrounding orthogneiss.This study obtained zircon from the chromitite within this unit as well as granitoid sheets that intruded into the UNL unit.In-situ U-Pb-Hf-O isotope measurements were made on the zircons.Zircons from both the chromitite and the intrusive granitoids show concordant U-Pb ages of ca.2.97-2.95 Ga.In contrast,Hf and 0 isotopic anal-yses indicate that zircons in the chromitites have a different origin from those in the intrusive granitoids.Zircons from granitoids yielded Th/U ratios higher than 0.2,initial Hf isotope ratios of 0.2805-0.2807(i.e,initial:Hf value of-11 to-5),andδ^(18)O values of mostly 6.0‰-7.0‰,which are typical for felsic igneous rocks in Archean continental crust.The least altered zircons from a chromitite exhibited initial Hf isotope ratios of 0.28078-0.28084(i.e.,initial:Hf value of-1.1 to-0.4),close the chondritic value at ca.3.0 Ga and the depleted mantle at ca.3.2 Ga.These zircons also haveδ^(18)O values of 4.2‰6.1‰which correspond to typical mantle values.The other chromitite zircons yielded Th/U ratios lower than 0.1,and Hf and 0 isotopic compositions ranging between the least altered zircons and the intrusive granitoid zir-cons.These results indicate that the zircons in the chromitites crystallized before or during the 2.97-2.95 Ga granitoid intrusion and most of the zircons were altered by subsequent metasomatism.Furthermore,the present results suggest that zircons in the chromitites originally had depleted Hf iso-topic compositions at ca.3.2-3.0 Ga.This can be explained by two different models of the evolution of the UNL unit.One is that if the UNL unit was formed at>3.81 Ga as previously thought,with the zircons in the chromitites subsequently being precipitated by ca.3.2-2.95 Ga during metamorphism or metaso-matism.The other model is that the UNL unit itself was actually formed at ca.3.2-3.0 Ga,with zircon in the chromitite representing the crystallisation age of the unit,which was then tectonically incorporated into the ca.3.81 Ga orthogneiss prior to the 2.97-2.95 Ga granitoid intrusion event.In either case,our zircon analyses reveal significant evolutionary history prior to depleted mantle Hf model ages of 3.2-2.95 Ga.Revision of the geotectonic evolution of the UNL unit and the Itsaq Gneiss Complex is therefore required.展开更多
基金supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 16H05741,19KK0092Kana-zawa SAKIGAKE 2018 to T.M.,and 20 K14571 to H.S..K.S.thanks the Carlsberg Foundation for support via grant CF18-0090.
文摘The Ujaragssuit Nunat layered(UNL)unit in the Itsaq Gneiss Complex,west Greenland,has been consid-ered to contain one of the oldest chromitites on Earth based on~ca.4.1 Ga Hadean whole rock Pt-Os model ages and ca.3.81 Ga zircon U-Pb age of the surrounding orthogneiss.This study obtained zircon from the chromitite within this unit as well as granitoid sheets that intruded into the UNL unit.In-situ U-Pb-Hf-O isotope measurements were made on the zircons.Zircons from both the chromitite and the intrusive granitoids show concordant U-Pb ages of ca.2.97-2.95 Ga.In contrast,Hf and 0 isotopic anal-yses indicate that zircons in the chromitites have a different origin from those in the intrusive granitoids.Zircons from granitoids yielded Th/U ratios higher than 0.2,initial Hf isotope ratios of 0.2805-0.2807(i.e,initial:Hf value of-11 to-5),andδ^(18)O values of mostly 6.0‰-7.0‰,which are typical for felsic igneous rocks in Archean continental crust.The least altered zircons from a chromitite exhibited initial Hf isotope ratios of 0.28078-0.28084(i.e.,initial:Hf value of-1.1 to-0.4),close the chondritic value at ca.3.0 Ga and the depleted mantle at ca.3.2 Ga.These zircons also haveδ^(18)O values of 4.2‰6.1‰which correspond to typical mantle values.The other chromitite zircons yielded Th/U ratios lower than 0.1,and Hf and 0 isotopic compositions ranging between the least altered zircons and the intrusive granitoid zir-cons.These results indicate that the zircons in the chromitites crystallized before or during the 2.97-2.95 Ga granitoid intrusion and most of the zircons were altered by subsequent metasomatism.Furthermore,the present results suggest that zircons in the chromitites originally had depleted Hf iso-topic compositions at ca.3.2-3.0 Ga.This can be explained by two different models of the evolution of the UNL unit.One is that if the UNL unit was formed at>3.81 Ga as previously thought,with the zircons in the chromitites subsequently being precipitated by ca.3.2-2.95 Ga during metamorphism or metaso-matism.The other model is that the UNL unit itself was actually formed at ca.3.2-3.0 Ga,with zircon in the chromitite representing the crystallisation age of the unit,which was then tectonically incorporated into the ca.3.81 Ga orthogneiss prior to the 2.97-2.95 Ga granitoid intrusion event.In either case,our zircon analyses reveal significant evolutionary history prior to depleted mantle Hf model ages of 3.2-2.95 Ga.Revision of the geotectonic evolution of the UNL unit and the Itsaq Gneiss Complex is therefore required.
