Economic and Environmental Geology (자원환경지질)

The Korean Society of Economic and Environmental Geology (대한자원환경지질학회)
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Alice Springs Orogeny (ASO) Footprints Tracing in Fresh Rocks in Arunta Region, Central Australia, Using Uranium/Lead (U-Pb) Geochronology

  • Kouame Yao (Macquarie University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering) ;
  • Mohammed O. Idrees (Department of Surveying and Geoinformatics, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Abuja) ;
  • Abdul-Lateef Balogun (Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)) ;
  • Mohamed Barakat A. Gibril (GIS and Remote Sensing Center, Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah)
  • Received : 2023.03.13
  • Accepted : 2023.11.07
  • Published : 2023.12.29
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Abstract

This study investigates the age of the surficial rocks in the Arunta region using Uranium-Lead (U-Pb) geochronological dating. Rock samples were collected at four locations, Cattle-Water Pass (CP 1610), Gough Dam (GD 1622 and GD 1610), and London-Eye (LE 1601), within the Strangways Metamorphic Complex and crushed by selFragging. Subsequently, the zircon grains were imaged using Cathodoluminescence (CL) analysis and the U-Pb (uranium and lead) isotope ratios and the chrono-stratigraphy were measured. The imaged zircon revealed an anomalous heterogeneous crystal structure. Ellipses of the samples at locations GD1601, CP1610, and GD1622 fall below the intercept indicating the ages produced discordant patterns, whereas LE1601 intersects the Concordia curve at two points, implying the occurrence of an event of significant impact. For the rock sample at CP1610, the estimated mean age is 1742.2 ± 9.2 Ma with mean squared weighted deviation (MSWD) = 0.49 and probability of equivalence of 0.90; 1748 ± 15 Ma - MSWD = 1.02 and probability of equivalence of 0.40 for GD1622; and 1784.4 ± 9.1 Ma with MSWD of 1.09 and probability of equivalence of 0.37 for LE1601. But for samples at GD1601, two different age groups with different means occurred: 1) below the global mean (1792.2 ± 32 Ma) estimated at 1738.2 ± 14 Ma with MSWD of 0.109 and probability of equivalence of 0.95 and 2) above it with mean of 1838.22 ± 14 Ma, MSWD of 1.6 and probability of equivalence of 0.95. Analysis of the zircon grains has shown a discrepancy in the age range between 1700 Ma and 1800 Ma compared to the ASO dated to have occurred between 440 and 300 Ma. Moreover, apparent similarity in age of the core and rim means that the mineral crystallized relatively quickly without significant interruptions and effect on the isotopic system. This may have constraint the timing and extent of geological events that might have affected the mineral, such as metamorphism or hydrothermal alteration.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the CSIRO Veteran Dr Steve Craven, the Lab analytical instrumentation expert, Dr Timothy Murphy and the Metamorphic Petrologist, Assoc. Prof. Dr Nathan Daczko, all from Macquarie University, North Ryde, and members of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems (ARCC) and the Centre for Geochemical Evolution and Metallogeny of Continents (GEMOC).

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