『Abstract
Deep weathering profiles and associated supergene Mn-oxides deposits
are widely distributed in South China. However, data on their
ages are not available until most recently. 40Ar/39Ar
laser incremental heating analysis of potassium-bearing supergene
Mn-oxides collected from four weathering profiles in the Qinzhou-Fangcheng
Mn belt, Guangxi Province, South China, provides, for the first
time, numerical constraints on timing of weathering and supergene
Mn enrichment. Thirty-eight of 42 cryptomelane grains yield well-defined
plateau (36 grains) or pseudo plateau (2 grains) ages from 1.6±0.5
Ma to 4.7±0.08 Ma (2σ). The results, when combined with data from
Mn-oxides deposits from the adjacent Guangdong and Hunan Provinces,
document a protracted history of weathering and supergene Mn enrichment,
spanning from the earliest Miocene to the latest Pliocene in South
China. This indicates that warm and humid climatic conditions
conductive to intense weathering and secondary mineralization
prevailed across South China during the whole Neogene. The climatic
conditions inferred from weathering geochronology are consistent
with sedimentary records and fossil floral and fauna associations
from Cenozoic inland and marginal sea basins of South China. The
weathering geochronology data also provide temporal constraints
on the initiation and intensification of the East Asian monsoon
that has been the cause for the South China's humid climate.
Keywords: weathering; 40Ar/39Ar; cryptomelane;
Miocene; East Asian monsoon; South China』
1. Introduction
2. Geological setting
3. Sampling and analytical procedures
4. Results
4.1. Mineralogy
4.2. 40Ar/39Ar geochronology
4.2.1. The Tanying profile
4.2.2. The Liaolian profile
4.2.3. The Dadong profile
4.2.4. The Dikuang profile
5. Discussion
5.1. The Neogene weathering of South China
5.2. Implications for Neogene climates of South China
5.3. Temporal link to the East Asian monsoon
6. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Appendix A. Supplementary data
References