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Dyke Swarms:Keys for Geodynamic Interpretation pp 495–507Cite as

Precise U-Pb Age for the Great Whin Dolerite Complex, N.E. England and Its Significance

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Abstract

We present a precise U-Pb age determination of 297.4±0.4 (2σ) Ma for baddeleyite separated from a gabbroic pegmatite phase within the Great Whin Dolerite Complex –a key stratigraphic marker within the Permo-Carboniferous of NE England – that is an order of magnitude more precise than previous age determinations. The age of this magmatic event allows accurate comparison with other units of the European Permo-Carboniferous Large Igneous Province. Combined with field relations this new age places the most precise minimum constraint on the absolute age of the Permo-Carboniferous stratigraphic boundary in the UK and provides a maximum age of mineralization in the North Pennine orefield. The precise age determination of this large intrusive complex also permits improved understanding of the timing of structural evolution in the Northumberland basin. The reversed paleomagnetic polarity of the GWDC is in accord with intrusion during the Kiaman reversed superchron and provides firm geochronological support for establishment of this long-lived reversed interval before 297 Ma.

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Acknowledgements

We thank G.A.L. Johnson and K. McCaffrey for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. We also thank A. Monaghan and M. Timmerman for early discussions regarding correlations with Midland Valley sills and other Permo-Carboniferous rocks in NW Europe. MAH gratefully acknowledges numerous enlightening discussions with K. Buchan, and with I. Bergelin for providing details of Scania dykes. We are indebted to Henry C. Halls for an insightful review, and to R. Srivastava for constructive editorial handling of this manuscript.

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  1. Jack Satterly Geochronology Laboratory, Department of Geology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 3B1

    M. A. Hamilton

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK

    D.G. Pearson

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Correspondence to M. A. Hamilton .

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Hamilton, M.A., Pearson, D. (2011). Precise U-Pb Age for the Great Whin Dolerite Complex, N.E. England and Its Significance. In: Dyke Swarms:Keys for Geodynamic Interpretation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12496-9_26

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