Claudinei Gouveia de Oliveira

Nd, Pb and Sr isotopes in the Identidade Belt, an Archaean greenstone belt of the Rio Maria region (Carajás Province, Brazil): implications for the Archaean geodynamic evolution of the Amazonian Craton

The Rio Maria granite–greenstone terrain (RMGGT), located in the Amazonian craton at about 250 km south of the Carajas Ridge, is a well preserved Mesoarchaean domain composed of metavolcanic rocks and several suites of granitoids ranging in age from ca. 2.96 to 2.87 Ga. The metavolcanics comprise a basal unit of komatiites and low-K tholeiites overlain by sodic metadacites. A Sm–Nd whole-rock reference isochron for the metabasalts, metagabbros (tholeiites) and metadacites gives an age of 3046±32 Ma (MSWD of 1.6, 1 σ ). Nd model ages ( T DM ) of the metadacites range between 3.04 and 3.11 Ga. The e Nd calculated at 3.0 Ga varies from +1.70 to +2.60 for the tholeiites and +0.30 to +3.22 for the metadacites. A Pb–Pb whole-rock linear array for the metabasalts yielded an anomalous older age of 3.41 Ga. The Sm–Nd age is coincident, within analytical error, with a Pb–Pb whole-rock errorchron age of 2944±88 Ma (1 σ ) obtained for the metadacites. Rb–Sr systematic for the metadacites yielded an isochron age that is ca. 400 Ma youngest. The isotopic, geochemical and geological data suggest that oceanic lithosphere was the probable source of the ultramafic and mafic rocks in such a way that partial melting of the depleted mantle generated komatiites and low-K tholeiites. Partial melting of oceanic crust transformed into garnet amphibolite or eclogite generated the parental magmas of the metadacites. Isotopic and trace element characteristics of both metavolcanic rocks and associated plutonics suggest intra-oceanic island arcs as the most probable tectonic setting of the RMGGT. Two main events of crustal accretion are recognised at about 3.04–2.96 Ga and 2.87 Ga. Geological correlation indicates that the oceanic island arcs were completely amalgamated at around 2.76 Ga and acted as sources for the overlying sediments of the Rio Fresco Group.

U-Pb and Sm-Nd constraints on the nature of the Campinorte sequence and related Palaeoproterozoic juvenile orthogneisses, Tocantins Province, central Brazil

Abstract The Palaeoproterozoic era was the most important stage of crustal accretion in the South American Platform, being responsible for the development of several magmatic arcs, which represent approximately 35% of the present-day continental crust. The recently mapped Campinorte volcano-sedimentary sequence and associated plutonic rocks represent this Palaeoproterozoic history in the northern Brasilia Belt, central Brazil. The sequence consists of metapsammites and metapelites, with interbedded lenses of gondites and metacherts, as well as rhyolite and pyroclastic deposits. Tonalite, granodiorite and granite crystallized between c. 2.18 and 2.16 Ga, as indicated by U–Pb zircon analyses. Sm–Nd TDM model ages range between c. 2.1 and 2.7 Ga, with ϵNd values ranging from −2.14 to +3.36, indicating the dominantly juvenile nature of the original magmas. A LA-ICPMS provenance study of zircon grains from a quartzite sample reveals a single sediment source with Palaeoproterozoic age. The data presented here provide new information on the Palaeoproterozoic juvenile crust of central Brazil and suggest correlation with other Palaeoproterozoic provinces, especially the Birimian Belt in West African Craton and those of the Guiana Shield, thus contributing to reconstruction of the Columbia supercontinent.