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    U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology of the lower Danube and its tributaries; implications for the geology of the Carpathians

    Ducea, M.N. and Giosan, L. and Carter, Andrew and Stoica, A.M. and Relu, D.R. and Balica, C. and Balintoni, I. and Filip, F. and Petrescu, L. (2018) U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology of the lower Danube and its tributaries; implications for the geology of the Carpathians. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 19 , pp. 3208-3223. ISSN 1525-2027.

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    Abstract

    We performed a detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb geochronologic survey of the lower parts of the Danube River approaching its Danube Delta- Black Sea sink, and a few large tributaries (Tisza, Jiu, Olt and Siret) originating in the nearby Carpathian Mountains. Samples are modern sediments. DZ age spectra reflect the geology and specifically the crustal age formation of the source area, which in this case is primarily the Romanian Carpathians and their foreland with contributions from the Balkan Mountains to the south of Danube and the East European Craton. The zircon cargo of these rivers suggests a source area that formed during the latest Proterozoic and mostly into the Cambrian and Ordovician as island arcs and backarc basins in a Peri-Gondwanan subduction setting (~600 -440 Ma). The Inner Carpathian units are dominated by a U-Pb DZ peak in the Ordovician (460-470 Ma) and little inheritance from the nearby continental masses, whereas the Outer Carpathian units and the foreland has two main peaks, one Ediacaran (570-610 Ma) and one in the earliest Permian (290-300 Ma), corresponding to granitic rocks known regionally. A prominent igneous Variscan peak (320-350 Ma) in the Danube’s and tributaries DZ zircon record is difficult to explain and points out to either an extra Carpathian source or major unknown gaps in our understanding of Carpathian geology. Younger peaks corresponding to arc magmatism during the Alpine period make up as much as about 10% of the DZ archive, consistent with the magnitude and surface exposure of Mesozoic and Cenozoic arcs.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the article, which has been published in final form at the link above. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): Danube, Carpathians, detrital zircon, U‐Pb geochronology, continental crust
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Natural Sciences
    Research Centres and Institutes: Earth and Planetary Sciences, Institute of
    Depositing User: Andy Carter
    Date Deposited: 29 Oct 2018 10:05
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:43
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/23610

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