Chew David M.

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Chew
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David M.
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  • Article
    Laurentian crustal recycling in the Ordovician Grampian Orogeny : Nd isotopic evidence from western Ireland
    (Cambridge University Press, 2004-04-21) Draut, Amy E. ; Clift, Peter D. ; Chew, David M. ; Cooper, Matthew J. ; Taylor, Rex N. ; Hannigan, Robyn E.
    Because magmatism associated with subduction is thought to be the principal source for continental crust generation, assessing the relative contribution of pre-existing (subducted and assimilated) continental material to arc magmatism in accreted arcs is important to understanding the origin of continental crust. We present a detailed Nd isotopic stratigraphy for volcanic and volcaniclastic formations from the South Mayo Trough, an accreted oceanic arc exposed in the western Irish Caledonides. These units span an arc–continent collision event, the Grampian (Taconic) Orogeny, in which an intra-oceanic island arc was accreted onto the passive continental margin of Laurentia starting at [similar] 475 Ma (Arenig). The stratigraphy corresponding to pre-, syn- and post-collisional volcanism reveals a progression of [varepsilon]Nd(t) from strongly positive values, consistent with melt derivation almost exclusively from oceanic mantle beneath the arc, to strongly negative values, indicating incorporation of continental material into the melt. Using [varepsilon]Nd(t) values of meta-sediments that represent the Laurentian passive margin and accretionary prism, we are able to quantify the relative proportions of continent-derived melt at various stages of arc formation and accretion. Mass balance calculations show that mantle-derived magmatism contributes substantially to melt production during all stages of arc–continent collision, never accounting for less than 21% of the total. This implies that a significant addition of new, rather than recycled, continental crust can accompany arc–continent collision and continental arc magmatism.
  • Preprint
    Detrital U–Pb zircon dating of lower Ordovician syn-arc-continent collision conglomerates in the Irish Caledonides
    ( 2008-04-15) Clift, Peter D. ; Carter, Andrew ; Draut, Amy E. ; Long, Hoang Van ; Chew, David M. ; Schouten, Hans A.
    The Early Ordovician Grampian Orogeny in the British Isles represents a classic example of collision between an oceanic island arc and a passive continental margin, starting around 480 Ma. The South Mayo Trough in western Ireland preserves a complete and well-dated sedimentary record of arc collision. We sampled sandstones and conglomerates from the Rosroe, Maumtrasna and Derryveeny Formations in order to assess erosion rates and patterns during and after arc collision. U-Pb dating of zircons reveals a provenance dominated by erosion from the upper levels of the Dalradian Supergroup (Southern Highland and Argyll Groups), with up to 20% influx from the colliding arc into the Rosroe Formation, but only 6% in the Maumtrasna Formation (~465 Ma). The 24 dominant source regions lay to the northeast (e.g. in the vicinity of the Ox Mountains, 50 km distant, along strike). The older portions of the North Mayo Dalradian and its depositional basement (the Annagh Gneiss Complex) do not appear to have been important sources, while the Connemara Dalradian only plays a part after 460 Ma, when it supplies the Derryveeny Formation. By this time all erosion from the arc had effectively ceased and exhumation rates had slowed greatly. The Irish Grampian Orogeny parallels the modern Taiwan collision in showing little role for the colliding arc in the production of sediment. Negligible volumes of arc crust are lost because of erosion during accretion to the continental margin.