The Proterozoic Chotanagpur Granite Gneiss Complex (CGGC) at the northern boundary of the Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ) of the eastern Indian shield preserves relics of fossilized oceanic back-arc crust. We describe the field, petrographical and geochemical characteristics of the mafic rocks comprising pillow basalts and dolerites from the Bathani area of the northern fringe of the CGGC, eastern India. The basalts consist of plagioclase feldspar, hornblende, opaque minerals (Fe–Ti oxide) and chlorite, and the dolerite consists of plagioclase, hornblende and opaque minerals. Our data indicate that the Bathani mafic rocks have tholeiitic to transitional composition and are overprinted by greenschist facies metamorphic conditions; however, REE and fluid immobile elements preserve their primary geochemical signatures. The (La/Sm)N ratios (1.38–2.15) and chondrite-normalized REE patterns point to an enriched mid-ocean ridge basalt (E-MORB) mantle source. Geochemical characteristics indicate a mixed signature of MORB and arc tholeiite with enrichment of Ba, Th, Eu and Sr, similar to that of back-arc supra-subduction zone ophiolites. These mafic rocks are the product of MORB-like magma derived from a depleted mantle corresponding to < 2% partial melting of spinel lherzolite, enriched by subduction-induced slab metasomatism and melting. The Bathani mafic rocks are representative of the upper part of a supra-subduction zone columnar ophiolite section, which was emplaced onto the present-day northern margin of the CGGC during suturing of the northern and southern Indian block at c. 1.9 Ga during the Nuna amalgamation.

The Upper Triassic Xujiahe Formation is a typical tight gas reservoir in which natural fractures determine the migration, accumulation and production capacity of tight gas. In this study, we focused on the influences of natural fractures on the tight gas migration and production. We clarified characteristics and attributes (i.e. dips, apertures, filling degree and cross-cutting relationships) of the fractures based on image logging interpretations and core descriptions. Previous studies of electron spin resonance, carbon and oxygen isotopes, homogenization temperature of fluid inclusions analysis and basin simulation were considered. This study also analysed the fracture sequences, source of fracture fillings, diagenetic sequences and tight gas enrichment stages. We obtained insight into the relationship between fracture evolution and hydrocarbon charging, particularly the effect of the apertures and intensity of natural fractures on tight gas production. We reveal that the bedding fractures are short horizontal migration channels of tight gas. The tectonic fractures with middle, high and nearly vertical angles are beneficial to tight gas vertical migration. The apertures of fractures are controlled by the direction of maximum principal stress and fracture angle. The initial gas production of the vertical wells presents a positive correlation with the fracture abundance, and the intensity and aperture of fractures are the fundamental factors that determine the tight gas production. With these findings, this study is expected to guide the future exploration and development of tight gas with similar geological backgrounds.

Serpentinization of ultramafic rocks in the sea and on land leads to the generation of alkaline fluids rich in molecular hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4) that favour the formation of carbonate mineralization, such as veins in the sub-seafloor, seafloor carbonate chimneys and terrestrial hyperalkaline spring deposits. Examples of this type of seawater–rock interaction and the formation of serpentinization-derived carbonates in a shallow-marine environment are scarce, and almost entirely lacking in the geological record. Here we present evidence for serpentinization-induced fluid seepage in shallow-marine sedimentary rocks from the Upper Cretaceous (upper Campanian to lower Maastrichtian) Qahlah Formation at Jebel Huwayyah, United Arab Emirates. The research object is a metre-scale structure (the Jebel Huwayyah Mound) formed of calcite-cemented sand grains, which formed a positive seafloor feature. The Jebel Huwayyah Mound contains numerous vertically orientated fluid conduits containing two main phases of calcite cement. We use C and O stable isotopes and elemental composition to reconstruct the fluids from which these cements precipitated and infer that the fluids consisted of variable mixtures of seawater and fluids derived from serpentinization of the underlying Semail Ophiolite. Based on their negative δ13C values, hardgrounds in the same section as the Jebel Huwayyah Mound may also have had a similar origin. The Jebel Huwayyah Mound shows that serpentinization of the Semail Ophiolite by seawater occurred very soon after obduction and marine transgression, a process that continued through to the Miocene, and, with interaction of meteoric water, up to the present day.

Heavy mineral analysis is a long-standing and valuable tool for sedimentary provenance analysis. Many studies have indicated that heavy mineral data can also be significantly affected by hydraulic sorting, weathering and reworking or recycling, leading to incomplete or erroneous provenance interpretations if they are used in isolation. By combining zircon U–Pb geochronology with heavy mineral data for the southern North Sea Basin, this study shows that the classic model of sediment mixing between a northern and a southern source throughout the Neogene is more complex. In contrast to the strongly variable heavy mineral composition, the zircon U–Pb age spectra are mostly constant for the studied samples. This provides a strong indication that most zircons had an initial similar northern source, yet the sediment has undergone intense chemical weathering on top of the Brabant Massif and Ardennes in the south. This weathered sediment was later recycled into the southern North Sea Basin through local rivers and the Meuse, leading to a weathered southern heavy mineral signature and a fresh northern heavy mineral signature, yet exhibiting a constant zircon U–Pb age signature. Thus, this study highlights the necessity of combining multiple provenance proxies to correctly account for weathering, reworking and recycling.

Delimiting the Aravalli mountain range in the east, the Great Boundary Fault (GBF) occurs as a crustal-scale tectonic lineament in the NW Indian Shield. The structural and tectonic characteristics of the GBF are, as yet, not well-understood. We attempt to fill this gap by using a combination of satellite image processing, high-resolution outcrop mapping and structural analysis around Chittaurgarh. The study area exposes the core and damage zone of the GBF. Three successive phases of folding, F1, F2 and F3, are associated with deformation in the GBF. The large-scale structural characteristics of the GBF core are: (i) a non-coaxial refolding of F1 folds by F2 folds; and (ii) the parallelism between the GBF and F2 axial traces. In addition, numerous metre-scale ductile shear zones cut through the rocks in the GBF core. The damage zone is characterized by the large-scale F1 folds and the mesoscopic-scale strike-slip faults, thrusts and brittle-ductile shear zones. Several lines of evidence, such as the inconsistent overprinting relationship between the strike-slip faults and thrusts, the occurrence of en échelon folds and the palaeostress directions suggest that the GBF is a dextral transpression fault zone. Structural geometry and kinematic indicators imply a wrench- and contraction-dominated deformation in the core and damage zone, respectively. We infer that the GBF is a strain-partitioned dextral transpression zone.

The recently developed fluorite (U–Th)/He thermochronology (FHe) technique was applied to date fluorite mineralization and elucidate the exhumation history of the Mazandaran Fluorspar Mining District (MFMD) located in the east Central Alborz Mountains, Iran. A total of 32 fluorite single-crystal samples from four Middle Triassic carbonate-hosted fluorite deposits were dated. The presented FHe ages range between c. 85 Ma (age of fluorite mineralization) and c. 20 Ma (erosional cooling during the exhumation of the Alborz Mountains). The Late Cretaceous FHe ages (i.e. 84.5 ± 3.6, 78.8 ± 4.4 and 72.3 ± 3.5 Ma) are interpreted as the age of mineralization and confirm an epigenetic origin for ore mineralization in the MFMD, likely a result of prolonged hydrothermal circulation of basinal brines through potential source rocks. Most FHe ages scatter around the Eocene Epoch (55.4 ± 3.9 to 33.1 ± 1.7 Ma), recording an important cooling event after heating by regional magmatism in an extensional tectonic regime. Cooling of the heated fluorites, as a result of thermal relaxation in response to geothermal gradient re-equilibration after the end of magmatism, or exhumation cooling during extensional tectonics characterized by lower amount of erosion are most probably the causes of the recorded Eocene FHe cooling ages. Oligocene–Miocene FHe ages (i.e. 27.6 ± 1.4 to 19.5 ± 1.1 Ma) are related to the accelerated uplift of the whole Alborz Mountains, possibly as a result of the initial collision between the Afro-Arabian and Eurasian plates further to the south.

Late Mesozoic igneous rocks are important for deciphering the Mesozoic tectonic setting of NE China. In this paper, we present whole-rock geochemical data, zircon U–Pb ages and Lu–Hf isotope data for Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks from the Tulihe area of the northern Great Xing’an Range (GXR), with the aim of evaluating the petrogenesis and genetic relationships of these rocks, inferring crust–mantle interactions and better constraining extension-related geodynamic processes in the GXR. Zircon U–Pb ages indicate that the rhyolites and trachytic volcanic rocks formed during late Early Cretaceous time (c. 130–126 Ma). Geochemically, the highly fractionated I-type rhyolites exhibit high-K calc-alkaline, metaluminous to weakly peraluminous characteristics. They are enriched in light rare earth elements (LREEs) and large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs) but depleted in high-field-strength elements (HFSEs), with their magmatic zircons ϵHf(t) values ranging from +4.1 to +9.0. These features suggest that the rhyolites were derived from the partial melting of a dominantly juvenile, K-rich basaltic lower crust. The trachytic volcanic rocks are high-K calc-alkaline series and exhibit metaluminous characteristics. They have a wide range of zircon ϵHf(t) values (−17.8 to +12.9), indicating that these trachytic volcanic rocks originated from a dominantly lithospheric-mantle source with the involvement of asthenospheric mantle materials, and subsequently underwent extensive assimilation and fractional crystallization processes. Combining our results and the spatiotemporal migration of the late Early Cretaceous magmatic events, we propose that intense Early Cretaceous crust–mantle interaction took place within the northern GXR, and possibly the whole of NE China, and that it was related to the upwelling of asthenospheric mantle induced by rollback of the Palaeo-Pacific flat-subducting slab.

The Arabian Shield of Saudi Arabia represents part of the Arabian–Nubian Shield and forms an exposure of juvenile continental crust on the eastern side of the Red Sea rift. Gabbroic intrusions in Saudi Arabia constitute a significant part of the mafic magmatism in the Neoproterozoic Arabian Shield. This study records the first detailed geological, mineralogical and geochemical data for gabbroic intrusions located in the Gabal Samra and Gabal Abd areas of the Hail region in the Arabian Shield of Saudi Arabia. Geological field relations and investigations, supported by mineralogical and geochemical data, indicate that the gabbroic intrusions are generally unmetamorphosed and undeformed, and argue for their post-collisional emplacement. Their mineralogical and geochemical features reveal crystallization from hydrous, mainly tholeiitic, mafic magmas with arc-like signatures, which were probably inherited from the previous subduction event in the Arabian–Nubian Shield. The gabbroic rocks exhibit sub-chondritic Nb/U, Nb/Ta and Zr/Hf ratios, revealing depletion of their mantle source. Moreover, the high ratios of (Gd/Yb)N and (Dy/Yb)N indicate that their parental mafic melts were derived from a garnet-peridotite source with a garnet signature in the mantle residue. This implication suggests that the melting region was at a depth exceeding ∼70–80 km at the garnet stability field. They have geochemical characteristics similar to other post-collisional gabbros of the Arabian–Nubian Shield. Their origin could be explained by adiabatic decompression melting of depleted asthenosphere that interacted during ascent with metasomatized lithospheric mantle in an extensional regime, likely related to the activity of the Najd Fault System, at the end of the Pan-African Orogeny.

An extensive dataset of major- and trace-element and B-isotope composition related to the compositional variation of the tourmalines from the S-type granite and pegmatite from the Upper Bonai and Gangpur Group granitoids, eastern India, is provided. The Gangpur Schist Belt, consisting of the Upper Bonai and Gangpur Group, lies at the eastern end of the Proterozoic Central Indian Tectonic Zone. An attempt to constrain the source of the boron isotope and describe the magmatic–hydrothermal evolution of the granite–pegmatite system is made. The tourmalines record generally low trace-element concentrations, with the exception of some elements such as Zn, Li, Ga, Mn and Ti. The Zn and Li concentration increases from the tourmalines in the granites to the tourmalines in the pegmatite. Trace-element compositions also vary slightly from the core tourmaline to the rim tourmaline. Tourmalines in granites/pegmatites are mostly Fe-rich schorl, and have S-type B-isotopic signature (δ11B = −10‰ to −12‰). Their chemistries reflect changing salinities of the granitic melts as well as vapour exsolution during progressive crystallization. This study indicates that the tourmalines in the pegmatites crystallized from evolved flux-element-rich (F, B, Li) melt, probably after the crystallization of granite-forming melt.

The Sargur Group has been considered to be the oldest group (>3.0 Ga) in the Archaean sequence of the Dharwar Craton in south India, whereas the rocks of the Dharwar Supergroup are younger (between 3.0 and 2.55 Ga). The supracrustal units of the Sargur Group were deposited during the Archaean period. The Banavara quartzite forms part of the supracrustal Sargur Group and contains significant amounts of chromian spinel (Cr-spinel). Here, U–Pb and Hf isotopes of detrital zircons are integrated with compositional data and X-ray refinement parameters for Cr-spinels to decipher the provenance of the metasediments. Zircons show an age spectrum from 3.15 to 2.50 Ga, and juvenile Hf isotopic compositions (ϵHf = +0.8 to +6.4) with model ages between 3.3 and 3.0 Ga. Major- and trace-element contents of the Cr-spinels do not resemble those in the Sargur ultramafic rocks, but resemble well-characterized Archaean anorthosite-hosted chromites. Cr-spinel trace-element signatures indicate that they have undergone secondary alteration or metamorphism. X-ray refinement parameters for the Cr-spinels also resemble the anorthosite-hosted chromites. We conclude that the detrital minerals were probably derived from gneissic and anorthositic rocks of the Western Dharwar Craton, and that the Sargur Group sequences have experienced a younger (2.5 Ga) metamorphic overprint.

Oceanic red beds (ORBs) are present in Upper Cretaceous and Danian deep-marine deposits in the Basque–Cantabrian Basin of northern Spain. The presence and regularity of the succession of marl–limestone couplets is exceptional based on the macroscopic, microscopic and geochemical evidence collected. Five types of marl–limestone couplets are identified based on the colour, and a high maximum sedimentation rate (3.6 cm ka–1 ) is noted. The oxidizing activity of deep, cold-water masses is indicated by the oxygen isotope signal in the lower–upper Maastrichtian and Danian sections and the presence of the boreal inoceramid Spyridoceramus tegulatus. In theory, the variation in colour from grey to greenish-yellow, purple and pink up to red tones correlates with the Fe2+/(Fe2++Fe3+) ratio. It is interpreted as the possible palaeoenvironmental transit of particles that sediment out slowly in oxic environments when they circulate through cooler, oxidizing water masses. The colour is considered to be a depositional feature, and hematite, detected by X-ray diffraction, is the main staining agent, without discarding the possible redistribution of previous oxyhydroxides passing to hematite as a final product. The cell filling of the foraminifer shells does not incorporate appreciable amounts of Fe and Mg during diagenesis. Bacterial activity is detected using scanning electron microscopy images, both in the coccolith debris and in the detrital micas, although there is uncertainty as to its importance in the staining process.

The recent proliferation of deformable plate tectonic modelling techniques has provided a new direction in the study of plate tectonics with substantial implications for our understanding of plate deformation and past kinematics. Such models account for intraplate deformation, yet are highly variable in their inputs, capabilities and applications. The aim of this commentary is to review recent contributions to this topic, and to consider future directions and major omissions. Through this review it is apparent that the current published deformable models can be subdivided into those that as an input either: (1) solely use plate motions to drive deformation, or (2) require stretching or beta factor. Deformable models are resolving some outstanding issues with plate reconstructions, but major simplifications and modelling assumptions remain. Primarily, obtaining model constraints on the spatio-temporal evolution of deformation is an outstanding problem. Deformable plate models likely work best when the kinematics of smaller plates are included. However, questions remain regarding how to define such blocks, and their kinematic histories, whilst some work suggests that inclusion of such entities is negated through quantitative restorations.

The episode of widespread organic carbon deposition marked by peak black shale sedimentation during the Palaeoproterozoic is also reflected in exceptionally abundant graphite deposits of this age. Worldwide anoxic/euxinic sediments were preserved as a deep crustal reservoir of both organic carbon, and sulphur in accompanying pyrite, both commonly >1 wt %. The carbon- and sulphur-rich Palaeoproterozoic crust interacted with mafic magma to cause Ni–Co–Cu–PGE mineralization over the next billion years, and much uranium currently produced is from Mesoproterozoic deposits nucleated upon older Palaeoproterozoic graphite. Palaeoproterozoic carbon deposition has thus left a unique legacy of both graphite deposits and long-term ore deposition.