Table 1 shows that Ar – Ar ages from horn- blende are expected to be close to, but younger
than U – Pb titanite ages from the same area and older than U – Pb ages of rutile. Similarly, Ar – Ar
ages of biotite are expected to be close to, but younger than, U – Pb ages obtained on rutile. This
is important in the discussion of inherited or excess Ar, which appears to be very common in
biotite and hornblende of granulites from the Mozambique Belt data of Priem et al. 1979 and
Maboko et al. 1989, discussed below.
5. Results
Sample locations are illustrated and geochrono- logical results summarised in Fig. 2. Major and
trace element analyses for most of the samples are reported by Appel 1996. Descriptions of sample
locations and mineral assemblages can be found in Table 4.
Several reasons — geological and analytical — may explain discordant analyses Pb-loss, over-
growth core relations, incomplete dissolution. This study uses Pb-loss as the most likely interpre-
tation and unless specifically stated the
207
Pb
206
Pb of discordant analyses is the most likely minimum age for this mineral fraction. Reversely
discordant results are quite common with monaz- ite and often indicate excess
206
Pb from short- lived
230
Th due to preferential incorporation of Th over U during monazite growth Scha¨rer,
1984, with monazite remaining below its closure temperature. For such reversely discordant re-
sults, this study uses the
207
Pb
235
U age as the best estimate for the true age since this ratio is not
affected by excess
206
Pb. Because concordant re- sults could also be the result of a combination of
Fig. 2. Simplified geological map with the sample locations and the U – Pb geochronological results on monazite, titanite, rutile and on one zircon fraction from the Pare and Usambara Mountains, Umba Steppe and Uluguru Moutains. Map compiled from quarter
degree sheets of the Tanzanian Geological Survey. For location within Tanzania see Fig. 1.
Fig. 3. Concordia diagram for monazite from the Pare and Usambara Mountains and the Umba Steppe. The results
indicate an age difference of about 15 Ma. Two pairs of discordant and near concordant monazite from the Pare and
Usambara Mountains are shown T115, A108. For both locations, monazite with the higher U content are more discor-
dant than monazite with lower U content.
5
.
1
. Monazite and zircon Most of the monazite used in this study was
separated from metasedimentary rocks. The mon- azite occur as pale to bright yellow spheres or
ellipsoids free of inclusions and range in diameter from 100 to 600 mm.
Two monazite fractions from the Pare Moun- tains metapelites A16 and T115b plot slightly
above concordia Fig. 3. Their
207
Pb
235
U ages of 641 9 2 Ma are interpreted as the true ages of
formation. Another fraction from metapelite T115 is discordant with a similar
207
Pb
206
Pb age of 640 9 2 Ma.
Monazite from metapelite T137 and metagrani- toid T121 from the Usambara Mountains are also
reversely discordant and yield
207
Pb
235
U ages of 621 9 2 and 624 9 2 Ma, similar to the
207
Pb
206
Pb age of 624 9 2 Ma obtained from concordant
monazite fraction A108b Fig. 3. A second, dis- cordant fraction of monazite from metapelite
A108a has a slightly higher
207
Pb
206
Pb age of 629 9 2 Ma. Monazite in metapelite T137 has
been observed in thin section to occur mostly as large \ 300 mm grains attached to high-Ti gran-
ulite facies biotite and hence as part of the high grade assemblage. Backscatter electron BSE
imaging indicates strong ‘patchy’ zoning, reflect- ing zonation in Th content Fig. 4. U – Pb dating
by laser-ICP-MS yielded a
206
Pb
238
U age of 618 9 15 Ma from four analyses on two grains
Mo¨ller and Jackson, unpublished data support- ing the multi-grain-isotope dilution results of this
study. Two other analyses indicate some Pb loss, but no evidence of older growth phases within the
monazite has been found.
A fraction of monazite grains from semipelite A 144 in the Umba Steppe yields a
207
Pb
206
Pb age of 609 9 2 Ma Figs. 3 and 5, the discordance
1.5 may be attributed to recent Pb-loss, possi- bly due to weathering.
Four fractions of monazite were analysed from three metapelite samples of the northern, north-
eastern and eastern Uluguru Mountains Fig. 6. Two monazite fractions from sample P1 show no
differences in colour or grain size and differ only slightly in their Th and U contents. Fraction P1a
is 1 discordant and has a
207
Pb
206
Pb age of
Fig. 4. Backscatter-electron image of monazite in metapelite T137 showing pronounced patchy zoning probably related to
growth inhibition at low H
2
O activity under granulite facies conditions.
reverse discordance and Pb-loss, their
207
Pb
206
Pb has also to be taken as a minimum age. For age
calculations of some mineral fractions rutile and some titanite very sensitive to corrections for Pb
blank and initial common Pb, the
206
Pb
238
U age can be regarded as the best age estimate.
669 9 3 Ma, whereas fraction P1b is 0.6 re- versely discordant with a
207
Pb
235
U age of 657 9 2 Ma. Sample P1b could have been affected by
some late disturbance, and the reverse discor- dance observed may only be the remainder of an
originally much higher discordance. The age of P1a may either indicate the presence of an inher-
ited Pb component detrital core or reflects the age of monazite growth during prograde meta-
morphism. We consider the latter case more likely and the result of fraction P1a is, therefore, not
used to calculate cooling rates for this location. However, this result may have some bearing on
the discussion of the age and duration of high grade metamorphism in this part of the Uluguru
Mountains.
Monazite from the graphite-rich metapelite P9 has a high a
208
Pb
206
Pb ratio of 31.4 and plots significantly above concordia 2 with a
207
Pb
235
U age of 646 9 2 Ma. The monazite fraction analysed from the eastern Uluguru Mountains
T28 is also slightly reversely discordant with a
207
Pb
235
U age of 653 9 2 Ma Fig. 6. The results from three metapelite samples of the northern and
eastern Uluguru Mountains thus span an age range of about 11 m.y. between 646 9 2 and
657 9 2 Ma Table 2; samples P1b, P9, T28.
Monazite and zircon were separated from a meta-qtz-diorite T46 originating from the north-
western Uluguru Mountains. This meta-qtz-dior- ite shows evidence of all three deformational
phases observed in the surrounding granulite-fa- cies rocks Appel et al., 1998. Its emplacement,
therefore, must have been pre-peak-metamor- phism and pre-deformation. Two monazite frac-
tions from the sample have different U – Th – Pb contents but a very similar age. The smaller mon-
azite grains. with a higher ThU ratio are slightly reversely discordant at a
207
Pb
235
U age of 624 9 2 Ma. The larger monazite size fraction has a lower
208
Pb
206
Pb ratio and is slightly discordant at a
207
Pb
206
Pb age of 625 9 2 Ma. The zircon frac- tion analysed from this sample consists of 19
long-prismatic, clear and euhedral grains \ l40 m
m without evidence of older cores when ob- served in transmitted light. The U – Pb result is
slightly discordant 1 with a
207
Pb
206
Pb age of 626 9 3 Ma, overlapping the age of the monazite
fractions Fig. 6.
5
.
2
. Titanite The geological map see Fig. 2 shows very few
marbles and calcsilicate rocks in the Pare and
Fig. 5. Concordia diagram for monazite, titanite and rutile from the Umba Steppe. Different fragments of the same
titanite grain from sample A141 yield similar
207
Pb
206
Pb ages close to the
207
Pb
206
Pb age of 609 9 2 Ma obtained for monazite from sample A144.
Fig. 6. Concordia diagram for monazite and a zircon fraction from the Uluguru Mountains. Note the age difference between
monazite and zircon from the granodiorite of NW Uluguru Mountains and the monazite from metapelites of the N and E
Uluguru Mountains.
A .
Mo ¨ller
et al
. Precambrian
Research
104 2000
123 –
146
Table 2 U–Pb isotope data
a
Sample, mineral Ages in Ma
Rock type Discordance
f
Wt. mg
b
Pb ppm U ppm
Isotopic ratios
206
Pb
207
Pb
c
208Pb206Pb
d
207Pb206Pb
d 206
Pb
238
U
e
207Pb235U
e 206
Pb
238
U
207
Pb
235
U
207
Pb
206
Pb Pare Mountains
21.50 0.082368
0.10473 0.88055
642 9 2 0.35
641 9 2 389
639 9 4 0.6
Metapelite A16, Mnz
185 597
0.8082 0.061064
0.09612 T115a, Mnz
0.80872 Metapelite
592 9 2 602 9 2
640 9 2 −
7.5 0.32
470 3050
58700 29.87
0.063380 0.10495
0.88088 643 9 2
641 9 2 2110
635 9 4 790
1.3 280
T115b, Mnz Metapelite
0.15 610
Calcsilicate 0.6612
0.083598 0.09663
0.80160 595 9 2
598 9 2 610 9 3
− 2.5
5.49 19.4
130 A26, Tit
167.4 Metabasite
0.9988 0.146452
0.08937 0.74589
552 9 10 566 9 9
623 9 16 −
11.4 4.52
18.2 98
T114, Tit 0.0181
0.061373 0.08635
0.69205 534 9 2
534 9 2 2140
535 9 4 A16, Rt
− 0.1
6.86 0.55
13.31 Metapelite
0.2226 0.058517
0.08517 0.68126
527 9 2 528 9 2
T115, Rt 530 9 4
Metapelite −
0.6 10.89
2.9 31.1
9750 Usambara Mountains
23.75 0.064764
0.10173 0.84275
625 9 2 0.40
621 9 2 1260
606 9 2 3.0
570 Metapelite
T137, Mnz 2640
4210 28900
3.189 0.061022
0.10041 0.84068
617 9 3 620 9 3
629 9 2 −
2.0 0.22
A108a, Mnz 1560
Metapelite 3020
22600 3.382
0.060666 0.10182
0.85021 625 9 2
625 9 1 624 9 2
0.2 0.12
A108b, Mnz 1180
Metapelite 100.3
0.061912 0.10178
0.84821 625 9 2
624 9 2 4470
619 9 2 T121, Mnz
0.9 480
4260 0.22
Charnockite 0.3119
0.178682 0.08191
0.64797 508 9 2
507 9 4 T137, Rt
506 9 17 Metapelite
0.3 4.00
4.89 39.5
118.3 0.0446
0.070951 0.08384
0.66902 519 9 2
520 9 2 830
525 9 4 T139, Rt
− 1.1
8.2 0.67
8.30 Meta-qtz-di.
A108, Rt 0.0718
Metapelite 0.059622
0.08526 0.68112
527 9 2 527 9 1
527 9 3 0.0
12.78 1.14
13.7 4050
Umba Steppe 1170
9730 5.949
0.061302 0.09740
0.80778 599 9 2
601 9 2 609 9 2
− 1.6
0.50 A144, Mnz
690 Grt-Bt gneiss
0.0181 0.061365
0.07358 0.61103
458 9 2 484 9 2
12300 612 9 2
A141a, Tit −
25.2 2540
174 2.82
Marble 0.0502
0.061741 0.09333
0.77705 575 9 2
584 9 2 A141b, Tit
617 9 2 Marble
− 6.8
2.38 111
1240 7060
0.0371 0.071373
0.08306 0.65759
514 9 2 513 9 2
928 508 9 7
A144a, Rt 1.3
36 2.9
3.70 Grt-Bt gneiss
A144b, Rt 0.0025
Grt-Bt gneiss 0.057805
0.08318 0.66102
515 9 5 515 9 4
516 9 3 −
0.2 15.52
2.4 32
16800 Uluguru Mountains
0.0810 0.062140
0.10075 0.84223
619 9 2 T46, Zrn
g
620 9 2 Meta-qtz-di.
626 9 3 −
1.2 0.59
37.1 370
6100 18.52
0.064354 0.10180
0.84866 625 9 2
624 9 2 2140
620 9 3 Diorite
0.7 T46a, Mnz sm
770 1340
0.08 8300
Diorite 11.88
0.061860 0.10106
0.84457 621 9 2
622 9 2 625 9 2
− 0.8
0.18 2460
2170 T46b, Mnz la
1040 6110
7.995 0.063559
0.10828 0.92330
663 9 2 664 9 2
669 9 3 −
0.9 0.25
P1a, Mnz 880
Metapelite 8.514
0.063433 0.10740
0.90936 658 9 2
657 9 2 5060
654 9 2 910
0.6 1020
P1b, Mnz Metapelite
0.20 2190
Metapelite 31.37
0.065035 0.10612
0.88956 650 9 2
646 9 2 632 9 3
2.9 0.23
960 320
P9, Mnz 7370
Metapelite 4.621
0.062217 0.10683
0.90205 654 9 2
653 9 2 648 9 2
1.0 0.19
510 980
T28, Mnz 0.9208
0.092502 0.09415
0.78521 580 9 6
588 9 7 453
621 9 22 P8a, Tit
− 6.6
260 43.6
4.71 Calcsilicate
280 553
0.7989 0.086545
0.10183 0.84817
625 9 11 624 9 8
618 9 4 1.1
P8b, Tit Calcsilicate
2.79 48.1
0.4862 0.081095
0.09893 0.82422
608 9 5 610 9 5
681 619 9 7
Marble −
1.7 T25a, Tit
115 15.8
5.78 630
Marble 0.0504
0.082931 0.09638
0.80358 593 9 4
599 9 3 621 9 4
− 4.4
4.76 10.8
112 T25b, Tit
831 Marble
0.5163 0.077363
0.09989 0.83277
614 9 7 615 9 5
620 9 3 −
1.0 4.74
17 121
T25c, Tit 0.0479
0.105575 0.09956
0.82986 612 9 6
614 9 5 317.5
620 9 6 P88a, Tit
− 1.3
116 12.2
4.43 Calcsilicate
0.4831 0.100277
0.09992 P88b, Tit
0.83243 Calcsilicate
614 9 3 615 9 2
621 9 5 −
1.1 3.83
19.5 136
359.1 0.0314
0.063062 0.08853
0.71904 547 9 2
550 9 1 2740
564 9 2 2.1
− 3.0
25.3 P1, Rt
Metapelite 10.27
1910 Metapelite
0.2263 0.064848
0.08909 0.71589
550 9 4 548 9 3
540 9 3 1.8
12.02 2.5
25.5 P9, Rt
25.3 2120
0.0976 0.062982
0.08065 0.63767
500 9 5 501 9 4
505 9 5 −
0.9 T28, Rt
12.2 Metapelite
2.0
a
Ages and errors 2s are calculated with Pbdat and ISOPLOT for Excel 2.0.6 software, after Ludwig Ludwig, 1980, 1994; Zrn, zircon; Mnz, monazite; Tit, titanite; Rt, rutile; sm, small; la, large.
b
Most Mnz weights estimated from size, error about 10–20, other samples weighed toB1 error.
c
Measured ratio.
d
Measured ratio, corrected for spike, 80 pg Pb blank, 0. 1 mass fractionation per a.m.u.
e
Corrected for spike, 80 pg Pb blank, 0. 1 mass fractionation per a.m.u. and common Pb composition determined from leached coexisting K-feldspar or plagioclase Mo¨ller et al., 1998.
f
Discordance of result expressed as deviation of the
207
Pb
206
Pb age from the
206
Pb
238
U age = [
207
Pb
206
Pb age
206
Pb
238
U age100]−100.
g
Ninteen clear, pink, euhedral, prismatic grains, \140 mm mesh size, length to width ratio \6.
Fig. 7. Concordia diagrams for titanite.
isotope composition of A26 as no analysis of coexisting plagioclase was available. The possible
error associated with the correction is small con- sidering the narrow range of common Pb compo-
sition of feldspars from the Pare and Usambara Mountains Mo¨ller et al., 1998. The result sug-
gests that cooling through the closure temperature of titanite in the South Pare Mountains occurred
in the same age range as in the North Pare Mountains.
In the Umba Steppe interlayered calcsilicate rocks and marbles were found at the Umba river.
A coarse-grained sample A141 yielded an opaque to very dark brown titanite grain of more
than 0.5 cm diameter. Two fragments from the core of the grain have variable U and Pb concen-
trations and degree of discordance Table 2, Fig. 5 but similar
207
Pb
206
Pb ages of 612 9 2 and 617 9 2 Ma. The high U content of the titanite
fragments may have caused structural damage and Pb-loss. It can be concluded that the
207
Pb
206
Pb ages record the age of peak metamorphism and the effective closure temperature of this titan-
ite grain is higher than the ca. 730°C calculated for grains with 0.5 cm diffusion radius by Cher-
niak 1993 or alternatively that metamorphic temperatures did not exceed T
c
after titanite growth.
Suitable titanite-bearing samples were only found in the eastern part of the Uluguru Moun-
tains P8 and T25 close to the locations of the monazite and rutile samples. An additional sam-
ple was taken from the southeast Uluguru Moun- tains P88. To evaluate the reproducibility of
U – Pb ages of titanite from the eastern Uluguru Mountains, several fractions of grains were
analysed for each sample. Their
207
Pb
206
Pb ages overlap within error at 618 – 621 Ma. The variably
discordant titanite fractions can be fitted on a single regression line Fig. 7b despite being taken
form localities about 60 km apart. The combined intercept of titanite in the eastern Uluguru Moun-
tains at 619 9 2 Ma is interpreted as the age at which at least this part of the Uluguru Mountains
the crystalline limestone group of Sampson and Wright 1964 cooled through the closure temper-
ature of titanite at ca. 650°C. Usambara Mountains. Only two suitable samples
of titanite-bearing rocks could be collected A26, T114 from the Pare Mountains. Sample A26
from the North Pare Mountains is a calcsilicate gneiss with the metamorphic assemblage Grt+
Cpx+Hbl+Pl+Qtz+Cc+Scp+Tit9Kfs.
The titanite is reddish-brown and does not exhibit
colour zonation. The
207
Pb
206
Pb age of 610 9 3 Ma Fig. 7a is interpreted as the minimum age
for closure at ca. 650°C. Titanite in metabasite T114 from the South Pare Mountains is pale
brown and only 150 to 200 mm in diameter. It has a low
206
Pb
204
Pb ratio of 167.4 and yields an imprecise
207
Pb
206
Pb age of 623 9 16 Ma. Com- mon Pb correction was carried out with the Pb
5
.
3
. Rutile The rutile fractions used for U – Pb age determi-
nations were obtained from metapelitic samples that also yielded monazite A16, T115, T137,
A108, A144,
P1, P9,
T28. Rutile
in the
metapelitic samples were mostly elongate grains aspect ratio higher than 4 or fragments thereof.
In all of these samples rutile is part of the high- pressure granulite-facies assemblage together with
garnet, sillimanitekyanite, plagioclase, quartz 9 ilmenite. An exception is qtz-dioritic enderbite
T139 from the western Usambara Mountains which contains large, dark, short rutile grains
with an average diameter \ 250 mm. Rutile from a single sample often spans a range of colours
from translucent reddish brown to almost opaque and dark-brown to black. Care was taken to pick
grains of similar size and colour for each rutile fraction 4 – 16 mg to avoid mixing of different
chemical compositions and possibly different dif- fusion behaviours.
Concordant rutile fractions yield
207
Pb
206
Pb ages of 535 9 4 and 530 9 4 Ma for the North and
South Pare Mountains, respectively Fig. 8a. Re- sults of two rutile fractions from meta-qtz-diorite
T139 and metapelite A108 from the Usambara Mountains have indistinguishable
207
Pb
206
Pb ages of 525 9 4 and 527 9 3 Ma, respectively but sig-
nificantly different
206
Pb
238
U ages of 5 19 9 2 and 527 9 2 Ma. Rutile from sample T137 is still
younger with a
206
Pb
238
U age of 508 9 2 Ma, but it is slightly discordant and has a large uncer-
tainty in
207
Pb
206
Pb 506 9 17 Ma due to its low proportion of radiogenic Pb. Sample T139 was
collected just 10 km from metapelite T137 and belongs to a suite of meta-qtz-diorites, some of
which cross-cut the foliation of the surrounding granulites. Its rutile age is 11 Ma older than that
of rutile from sample T137 and could possibly be explained by the larger diffusion radius of the
stubby rutile grains from the meta-qtz-diorite.
Two rutile fractions from the Umba Steppe were picked from the same sample of semipelitic
gneiss as the monazite A144 and yield similar
206
Pb
238
U ages of 515 9 5 and 514 9 2 Ma Fig. 5. The two rutile fractions from metapelite sam-
ples P1 and P9 of the northern Uluguru Moun- tains are normally and reversely discordant,
respectively. There is no reason to assume that rutile could be affected by excess
206
Pb since rutile generally has extremely low Th contents. Unless
other geological problems are responsible for the discordance, the best estimate of the ‘true’ age is
probably the
206
Pb
238
U age see discussion above. The
206
Pb
238
U ages are indistinguishable within error at 550 9 4 and 547 9 2 Ma. They are
interpreted to date the time the rocks cooled below T
c
. Rutile from metapelite T28 is concor- dant and has a
206
Pb
238
U age of 500 9 5 Ma Fig. 8b. The slightly discordant ages at ca. 550 Ma
from the northern Uluguru Mountains are also about 15 Ma older than the oldest rutile age
Fig. 8. Concordia diagrams for rutile.
obtained in the Pare and Usambara Mountains, a similar age difference as observed with the
monazite.
6. Discussion