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Glacial diamictite may provide important information on paleoenvironment and average composition of the upper continental crust (UCC). In this study, we report sedimentary facies, petrological and geochemical characteristics of Neoproterozoic diamictite from a profile of the Luoquan Formation on the southern margin of the North China Block (NCB). Upwards the sampling profile, lithostratigraphic strata vary from massive diamictite with poorly sorted carbonate gravels to laminated diamictite with small gravels of terrestrial detrital materials. Along the profile, CaO-MgO-LOI-Sr values decrease with the increase of SiO2-Al2O3-K2O contents. All these petrological and geochemical variations indicate a change from lodgement till deposition in the proximal of ice sheet to ice-rafting deposition in glacial-marine environment with less dolomite to supply their source. Together with previous studies on diamictite from other outcrops on the NCB, the deposition of Luoquan diamictite reflects that the glaciation on the NCB vanished and the ice-rafting effect weakened with glacial transgression process. In addition, significant co-variations of various elements with La and Al2O3 confirm the significant conservation of most analyzed elements during the sedimentary processes to produce diamictite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel three-layer coordinating optimization and control strategy involving fuzzy neural networks (FNNs) is proposed for industrial plant-wide control. This strategy includes a coordinator (top layer), local optimizers (middle layer), and local controllers (bottom layer). The coordinator determines and coordinates set-points of production indices for each process in the plant, aiming to achieve plant-wide optimal control. The local optimizers optimize individual unit and deliver the information to the coordinator. The controllers calculate optimal control inputs for the processes according to the set-points. Model predictive control (MPC) is used in this layer. Also used are FNNs with a gradient-based learning algorithm, which are trained to represent the models of the processes that are controlled by MPC. By constructing a Lyapunov function, convergence of the FNNs is established. Experiments are carried out in the largest zinc hydrometallurgy plant in China. The results demonstrate performance of our strategy in tracking the set-points and saving processing costs. Moreover, the strategy achieves a more optimal overall plant operation when compared to the same FNN-based MPC scheme that does not use the coordinator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Dabie–Sulu orogen in east-central China is the largest UHP belt in the world. Many studies have dealt with detrital minerals from sedimentary basins surrounding the Dabie belt in order to constrain the tectonic unroofing of this terrane. On the other hand, still few are the works focused on detritals from the basins associated with the Sulu belt. The Jiaolai basin, adjacent to the Sulu belt, is made of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. Two sandstone samples collected from the Early Cretaceous Laiyang Group in the northern and southern margins of the Jiaolai basin were selected for zircon U–Pb dating and trace element analysis. The zircons show main U–Pb age clusters at ca. 2500–2400, 2000–1700, 850–700, and 330–130Ma, with a minor peak at ca. 1100Ma and a few Archean ages. Most zircons show texture features reflecting a magmatic origin, whereas several late Paleoproterozoic and Triassic zircons show homogeneous CL images and low Th/U ratios, indicating a metamorphic origin. The Neoproterozoic ages are consistent with the protolith ages of the metamorphic rocks in the Sulu terrane, implying that the Sulu tarrane may be a major source for this component. Whereas most Neoproterozoic zircons are euhedral to subhedral or angular in shape and are not surrounded by overgrowths, this implies that low-grade metamorphic Neoproterozoic metaigneous rocks ocurring along the northern margin of the Sulu terrane or metasediments overlying the HP–UHP rocks in the Sulu terrane might provide source materials to these detrital zircons. The late and early Paleoproterozoic age peaks are consistent with the thermal events occurred in the Jiaobei terrane, slightly younger than those in the Yangtze Block. These suggest that the Jiaobei terrane was a potential source for the Paleoproterozoic to Archean detrital zircon components. Only two early Paleozoic zircon grains were found in the studied samples, indicating the early Paleozoic arc did not extend into the Sulu terrane. According to the distribution of different kinds of rock adjacent to the Sulu terrane, the Early Cretaceous detrital zircons may be potentially derived from Cretaceous plutons from the Sulu belt. Eight detrital zircons including six metamorphic grians and two metamorphic overgrowth rims yield the Triassic ages, which might be derived from HP–UHP rocks from the Sulu terrane. A metamorphic overgrowth rim yields a metamorphic age of 246±3Ma, probably recording the timing of the prograde metamorphism of the Sulu terrane. One metamorphic grain yields an age of 212±2Ma, which is interpreted to record a retrograde metamorphic event. Based on the REE patterns, the remaining six Triassic analyses can be subdivided into two groups. Four of them record a weighted mean age of 230±6Ma and show nearly flat HREE patterns and slight negative or positive Eu anomalies. The last two grains are enriched HREE; considering their ages and the REE patterns, it is suggested that they may originate from other diverse UHP rocks. The Triassic metamorphic zircons were detected in the Laiyang Group, indicating that the Sulu UHP rocks were exposed to the surface before the Early Cretaceous. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Late Paleozoic to Mesozoic strata, which were deposited in the Western Hills of Beijing, North China, recorded the contemporary tectonic evolution of the northern part of the North China Craton (NCC). Fine-grained sandstones and siltstones of these strata were analyzed for their major and trace element concentrations and Sr–Nd isotope compositions. Their La/Sc, Th/Sc, La/Co, Th/Co and Cr/Th ratios are similar to those of sediments derived from felsic source rocks, indicating that the original source materials were mostly intermediate to acidic rocks. Their εNd(0) values show dramatic shifts, implying changes in provenances from the Late Paleozoic to the Early Cretaceous. The εNd(0) values of the Late Paleozoic and the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous formations are very low. Whereas, the εNd(0) values of the Xingshikou and the Xiaoyaopo formations are much higher, indicating that a juvenile component has been added into their sources. Based on the Sr–Nd isotope compositions, the Late Paleozoic and the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous samples fall in the Paleozoic to Mesozoic magmatic rocks distributed in the northern part of the NCC. However, the Sr–Nd isotope compositions of the Xingshikou and the Xiayaopo formations vary between the Xing-Meng Orogenic Belt (XMOB) and the north part of the NCC components. These changes can be interpreted by the complex uplift and exhumation history of the northern NCC from the Late Paleozoic to the Early Cretaceous. During the Late Carboniferous, the uplift of the Inner Mongolia Paleo-uplift (IMPU), which probably commenced at the Late Carboniferous, might supply detrital materials to the Late Paleozoic strata. In the Late Triassic, the uplift of the XMOB and IMPU was responsible for the mixing source of the Xingshikou Formation. After that, the northern XMOB became the main source of the Xiayaopo Formation, resulting from the uplift of the XMOB due to the collision of Siberia and North China–Mongolia plates during the Middle to Late Jurassic. Finally, the uplift of the YFTB, which occurred from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, provided the source materials and blocked the input of the XMOB components. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Antimony flotation is a complicated industrial process with an unknown system structure. Manual manipulation is still widely used by observing the froth appearance, which relies on operators' experience. Therefore, this paper proposes a reagent predictive control strategy for the antimony flotation process based on machine vision, which is an optional replacement of manual control. Froth image is a good indicator to reflect the working conditions of the process. A shape-weighted bubble size distribution (SWBSD) is developed to characterize the froth image feature. The SWBSD combines the bubble size and bubble shape, which differs from the separate use of froth features. Since lots of the froth images can be obtained, a random selection of an image from a froth video as the indicator of the working conditions is not advisable. A typical froth image selection method is proposed to choose the froth image which can best characterize the current working conditions. Due to the unknown system model, multi-output least square support vector regressor (LS-SVR) is used to predict the future image feature according to the current image feature and reagent dosages. Based on the above methods, predictive control technique is employed to calculate the optimal control inputs of the reagents. Simulations using the real-world production data verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. In further, industrial experiments in the antimony flotation plant of China demonstrate that our control strategy improved the tracking performance and decreased the tailing grade, compared with the manual manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are different viewpoints on metamorphic and anatectic zircons recording ages of 2.45–2.48 Ga or even younger in some areas of the North China Craton where both late Neoarchean and late Paleoproterozoic tectono-thermal events are well developed. These are: 1) partial resetting of the U-Pb isotopic system in the late Neoarchean zircons, 2) metamorphism lasting from the late Neoarchean to the earliest Paleoproterozoic, and 3) earliest Paleoproterozoic metamorphism as separate different event. Western Shandong Province is an area where the late Neoarchean tectono-thermal event is widely developed but the late Paleoproterozoic event has not been identified. This provides an opportunity to understand the geological processes around the Archean-Proterozoic boundary. Based on a field study, we carried out SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating on seventeen samples of ∼2.5 Ga old metamorphic and anatectic rocks, including tonalite, trondhjemite, granodiorite, gabbro, quartz diorite, granite and paragneiss with primary emplacement or depositional ages of 2.52–2.68 Ga. Anatectic zircons show some textural and compositional features: a) Homogenous or blurred oscillatory zoning, b) high U contents and low in Th/U ratios (commonly <0.3), c) rare idiomorphic morphologies, and d) commonly containing inherited (xenocrystic) cores. We conclude that the strong late Neoarchean event is widespread in western Shandong and is limited between ∼2.50 and 2.54 Ga. In contrast, apparent 2.45–2.48 Ga metamorphic zircon ages in some other areas of the North China Craton may be the result of overprinting and partial recrystallization of Neoarchean metamorphic zircons during the late Paleoproterozoic event. The Archaean rocks of western Shandong can be divided into three belts, namely Belts A, B and C from the northeast to the southwest. The difference between Belts A and B in ∼2.5 Ga metamorphic and anatectic intensity may indicate that the former was elevated to a higher crustal level compared with the latter at the end of the Neoarchean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western Shandong Province is a typical area of the North China Craton (NCC) where Neoarchean plutonic and supracrustal rocks are widely distributed. Early studies documented that ∼2.7 Ga and ∼2.5 Ga magmato-tectono-thermal events are well developed in the area. Here we report SHRIMP U–Pb ages and Hf-in-zircon isotopic data from ten samples of different magmatic rock types including hornblendite, gneissic tonalite, gneissic trondhjemite and gneissic granite. Magmatic zircon grains have 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages ranging from 2667 to 2598 Ma. Some rocks contain ∼2.5 Ga metamorphic rims and ∼2.7 Ga zircon cores. The magmatic zircon grains have ɛ Hf ( t ) values and Hf crustal model ages of −1.1 to +11.3 and 3.02–2.4 Ga, respectively. Combined with an earlier study, our main conclusions are that the middle Neoarchean rocks mainly occur together with early Neoarchean rocks in the northeastern portion of the central belt. Juvenile additions to continental crust and crustal recycling played important roles in the middle Neoarchean of western Shandong Province, and the entire Neoarchean tectonic evolution can be divided into middle to early Neoarchean (2.75–2.6 Ga) and late Neoarchean (2.6–2.5 Ga) events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]