Citation: | Peishan Sui, Weidong Sun, Nan Han, Lei Wang, Shiwen Xie, Zihang Huang, Xiaohong Wang, Hongmei Gong, Jin Liu, Jinyan Lin, Yuanyuan Xiao. Neoproterozoic Diamictite of the Luoquan Formation from the North China Block and Their Implications. Journal of Earth Science, 2023, 34(4): 1128-1139. doi: 10.1007/s12583-021-1550-8 |
Glacial diamictite may provide important information on paleoenvironment and average composition of the upper continental crust (UCC). In this study, we report sedimentary facies, petrological and geochemical characteristics of Neoproterozoic diamictite from a profile of the Luoquan Formation on the southern margin of the North China Block (NCB). Upwards the sampling profile, lithostratigraphic strata vary from massive diamictite with poorly sorted carbonate gravels to laminated diamictite with small gravels of terrestrial detrital materials. Along the profile, CaO-MgO-LOI-Sr values decrease with the increase of SiO2-Al2O3-K2O contents. All these petrological and geochemical variations indicate a change from lodgement till deposition in the proximal of ice sheet to ice-rafting deposition in glacial-marine environment with less dolomite to supply their source. Together with previous studies on diamictite from other outcrops on the NCB, the deposition of Luoquan diamictite reflects that the glaciation on the NCB vanished and the ice-rafting effect weakened with glacial transgression process. In addition, significant co-variations of various elements with La and Al2O3 confirm the significant conservation of most analyzed elements during the sedimentary processes to produce diamictite.
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