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Zircon provenance analysis from Lower Paleocene pelagic limestones of the Bottaccione section at Gubbio (Umbria-Marche basin, Italy)

Aguirre-Palafox, Erick Luis ; Alvarez, Walter ; Boschi, Samuele LU ; Martin, Ellinor LU orcid and Schmitz, Birger LU (2019) In Geological Society of America. Special Papers 542.
Abstract
Dating detrital zircon grains from sands and sandstones has become an important geological technique for determining sediment provenance and dispersal patterns. Here, we report what we believe to be the first provenance study of zircon grains extracted by dissolving large samples of pelagic limestone. Our samples come from the Paleocene section of the Umbria-Marche Apennines, Italy. Recovery of these zircon grains was a fortunate by-product of a study on chromite grains aimed to determine the kinds of meteorites that have fallen on Earth through time. The zircons we recovered included both euhedral crystals interpreted as airborne ash from volcanic eruptions of the same age as the sediment in which they were found, and rounded grains... (More)
Dating detrital zircon grains from sands and sandstones has become an important geological technique for determining sediment provenance and dispersal patterns. Here, we report what we believe to be the first provenance study of zircon grains extracted by dissolving large samples of pelagic limestone. Our samples come from the Paleocene section of the Umbria-Marche Apennines, Italy. Recovery of these zircon grains was a fortunate by-product of a study on chromite grains aimed to determine the kinds of meteorites that have fallen on Earth through time. The zircons we recovered included both euhedral crystals interpreted as airborne ash from volcanic eruptions of the same age as the sediment in which they were found, and rounded grains interpreted as windblown detrital material with a history of sediment transport, probably derived from desert regions. This study focuses on the rounded grains, to provide constraints on the source region from which they came.

Samples from five levels in the 12 m immediately above the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary at Gubbio, Italy, yielded detrital zircon grains with ages clustered in eight bands extending back to the Neoarchean. A previous study of this outcrop using proxies for the noncarbonate detrital content had suggested a source region for this dust either in North Africa or in Central Asia. A comparison of our dates from the actual dust grains to geochronological studies from the literature suggests source regions in North Africa and/or the Iberian Peninsula, rather than in Central Asia. In reaching this conclusion, we considered the orogenic events that may have produced each of the eight age bands, the specific source regions that may have supplied zircons from each age group, and the implications for paleoclimate (especially aridity) and paleowind conditions for the few million years just after the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
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in
Geological Society of America. Special Papers
volume
542
publisher
Geological Society of America
external identifiers
  • scopus:85087113960
ISSN
0072-1077
DOI
10.1130/2019.2542(08)
project
Reconstruction of the micrometeorite flux during the Phanerozoic Eon
language
English
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yes
id
eb926ef7-365c-4e72-9dcb-3d524f1bd8f2
date added to LUP
2021-08-25 13:20:43
date last changed
2024-03-08 16:51:53
@article{eb926ef7-365c-4e72-9dcb-3d524f1bd8f2,
  abstract     = {{Dating detrital zircon grains from sands and sandstones has become an important geological technique for determining sediment provenance and dispersal patterns. Here, we report what we believe to be the first provenance study of zircon grains extracted by dissolving large samples of pelagic limestone. Our samples come from the Paleocene section of the Umbria-Marche Apennines, Italy. Recovery of these zircon grains was a fortunate by-product of a study on chromite grains aimed to determine the kinds of meteorites that have fallen on Earth through time. The zircons we recovered included both euhedral crystals interpreted as airborne ash from volcanic eruptions of the same age as the sediment in which they were found, and rounded grains interpreted as windblown detrital material with a history of sediment transport, probably derived from desert regions. This study focuses on the rounded grains, to provide constraints on the source region from which they came.<br/><br/>Samples from five levels in the 12 m immediately above the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary at Gubbio, Italy, yielded detrital zircon grains with ages clustered in eight bands extending back to the Neoarchean. A previous study of this outcrop using proxies for the noncarbonate detrital content had suggested a source region for this dust either in North Africa or in Central Asia. A comparison of our dates from the actual dust grains to geochronological studies from the literature suggests source regions in North Africa and/or the Iberian Peninsula, rather than in Central Asia. In reaching this conclusion, we considered the orogenic events that may have produced each of the eight age bands, the specific source regions that may have supplied zircons from each age group, and the implications for paleoclimate (especially aridity) and paleowind conditions for the few million years just after the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.}},
  author       = {{Aguirre-Palafox, Erick Luis and Alvarez, Walter and Boschi, Samuele and Martin, Ellinor and Schmitz, Birger}},
  issn         = {{0072-1077}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  publisher    = {{Geological Society of America}},
  series       = {{Geological Society of America. Special Papers}},
  title        = {{Zircon provenance analysis from Lower Paleocene pelagic limestones of the Bottaccione section at Gubbio (Umbria-Marche basin, Italy)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/2019.2542(08)}},
  doi          = {{10.1130/2019.2542(08)}},
  volume       = {{542}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}