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In central Victoria, inherited zircon in Devonian igneous rocks and detrital zircon in metasedimentary country rocks and an amphibolite-facies xenolith show that Mesoproterozoic parts of the underlying Selwyn Block cannot be the source for all the silicic magmas. Zircon inheritance in S-type samples reveals significant thermal events at 525–425 Ma and 1200–1100 Ma. Both S- and I-type samples have prominent zircon age peaks at 420–410 Ma, which record high-grade metamorphism of the deep crust during the terminal phases of the Benambran and Bindian orogenies. All I-type rocks have 650–500 Ma peaks, suggesting derivation from an arc-related metavolcanic source in the upper Selwyn Block. Protoliths of the greenschist-facies Ordovician metasediments and the amphibolite-facies Cambrian metasedimentary xenolith were deposited in distal backarc settings. Most inherited zircon cores are metamorphic, and the strongest zircon inheritance occurs in hornblende-bearing I-type rocks, highlighting their largely crustal origin. Zircon populations at ca 1400 Ma, thought to signal sediment derivation from East Antarctica and Rodinia-Nuna, are mostly absent in I-type samples and some S-types. The ca 1400 Ma signal probably applies to the upper, metasedimentary Selwyn Block, so Devonian S-type magmas were sourced mainly in the deeper sections. Zircon inheritance in the Devonian igneous rocks was not influenced by the exposed metasedimentary country rocks. Two samples from one of the smaller plutons have contrasting patterns of zircon inheritance, suggesting relatively small-scale source heterogeneity. Many rounded and corroded cores in zircon crystals yield the same ages as the crystallisation dates for the rocks, and thus are antecrysts. Higher whole-rock Zr contents generally correlate with higher proportions of inherited zircon, and differentiation does not affect this relationship. The degree of partial melting of a magma source and the efficiency of crystal entrainment are critical in governing zircon inheritance. Mesoproterozoic sections of the Selwyn Block cannot be the sources for all the Devonian silicic magmas in central Victoria. I-type rocks have 650–500 Ma zircon age peaks, suggesting derivation from arc-related metavolcanic rocks in the upper Selwyn Block. Hornblende-bearing I-type rocks have the strongest zircon inheritance patterns, indicating the largely crustal origins of I-type magmas. Exposed metasedimentary country rocks were not involved in magma genesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We applied SHRIMP zircon U-Pb age dating to ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) sapphirine-bearing orthopyroxene garnet (SOG) granulite and biotite-hornblende (Bt-Hbl) gneiss in the Schirmacher Hills, East Antarctica. In the Bt-Hbl gneiss, concordant ages of 657 ± 7.1 and 807 ± 9.1 Ma were obtained from zircon overgrowth rims and zircon cores, with oscillatory and irregular zoning, respectively. The zircon overgrowth rims (657 ± 7.1 Ma) with low Th/U ratios from the Bt-Hbl gneiss are interpreted as having a metamorphic origin. Oscillatory-zoned and/or irregularly zoned zircon cores may have crystallized during an igneous event at 807 ± 9.1 Ma; 800-Ma igneous events have not previously been recognized in central Dronning Maud Land (DML) inland nunatak. Zircons in the SOG granulite yielded a concordant age of 643 ± 6.5 Ma, using analyses of sector-zoned and simple-zoned grains. These zircons have relatively high Th/U ratios with a narrow range, and they occur in association with garnet breaking down to form cordierite. The 643 ± 6.5-Ma age obtained from these zircons is interpreted as the timing of crystallization from a high-Th/U partial melt soon after peak metamorphism. The combination of a ca. 800-Ma igneous age and 660-640-Ma metamorphic ages obtained from Schirmacher Hills is different from that of other neighboring parts of central DML. In addition, a metamorphic PT path involving ultrahigh temperatures at early and subsequent isobaric cooling (IBC) stages at around 650 Ma has not previously been known in the central DML nunatak region. The Ca. 650-Ma UHT metamorphic event probably occurred in a back-arc tectonic setting and predates the main collisional event of central DML (ca. 550-500 Ma). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the age determination of the rare earth element (REE) distribution in Zircon from a granitoid sample from the Southern Prince Charles Mountains in Eastern Antarctica. It states that the presence of Ruker granite in the area indicates a series of felsic orthogneiss, metasedimentary and volcanic events. The researchers used a titanium geothermometer to estimate the crystallization temperature of zircon in the area. It concludes that the Sodruzhestva Series in the area was formed in the post-Archean time because signs of Archean - Paleoproterozoic tectonothermal processes are absent in the samples.

Ion microprobe U–Pb zircon geochronology of an orthopyroxene-bearing felsic orthogneiss from central Tonagh Island, Enderby Land, East Antarctica provides insight into the chronological-metamorphic evolution of the Archaean Napier Complex, the details of which have been the source of debate for over two decades. The orthogneiss crystallised at 2626±28 Ma, predating peak, ultra-high temperature (UHT) metamorphism and development of an intense regional S1 gneissosity. Two subsequent episodes of zircon growth/resetting can be identified. A minor period of zircon growth occurred at 2546±13 Ma, the regional significance and geological nature of which is unclear. This was followed by an episode of abundant zircon growth, as mantles on ∼2626 Ma cores and as anhedral grains, partly characterised by high Th/U (>1.2), at ∼2450–2480 Ma. This age coincides with both lower and upper concordia intercept ages from other U–Pb zircon studies, and several Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd whole-rock isochron ages from the Napier Complex. We conclude that UHT metamorphism occurred at ∼2450–2480 Ma, and find no compelling evidence that UHT occurred much earlier as has been postulated. The zircon U–Pb data from this study also indicates a lower intercept age of ∼500 Ma, which coincides with the emplacement of Early Palaeozoic pegmatite swarms and synchronous infiltration of aqueous fluids into the southwestern regions of the Napier Complex. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]