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Asthenospheric Mantle (asthenospheric + mantle)
Selected AbstractsPre-Variscan metagabbro from NW Sardinia, Italy: evidence of an enriched asthenospheric mantle source for continental alkali basaltsGEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2003Marcello Franceschelli Abstract Small metagabbro bodies are enclosed in the metasedimentary sequence of NW Sardinia. The metagabbros represent the last magmatic episode before the continent,continent collision that built up the Variscan chain of north Sardinia. The metagabbros are composed of variable proportions of plagioclase and pyroxene igneous relics and metamorphic minerals. Major and trace element data, specifically high TiO2 and P2O5 and low K and Rb contents, as well as light rare-earth elements, Nb and Ta enrichment, suggest an alkaline affinity for the gabbro and emplacement in a within-plate tectonic setting. The gabbro was derived from an ocean island alkali basalt-like asthenospheric mantle source enriched with incompatible elements and uncontaminated by crustal or subducted materials. Non-modal modelling indicates a 5,7% partial melting of the asthenospheric mantle. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Uplift at lithospheric swells,I: seismic and gravity constraints on the crust and uppermost mantle structure of the Cape Verde mid-plate swellGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2010D. J. Wilson SUMMARY Wide-angle seismic data have been used to determine the velocity and density structure of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the Cape Verdes mid-plate swell. Seismic modelling reveals a ,standard' oceanic crust, ,8 km in thickness, with no direct evidence for low-density bodies at the base of the crust. Gravity anomaly modelling within the constraints and resolution provided by the seismic model, does not preclude, however, a layer of crustal underplate up to 3 km thick beneath the swell crest. The modelling shows that while the seismically constrained crustal structure accounts for the short-wavelength free-air gravity anomaly, it fails to fully explain the long-wavelength anomaly. The main discrepancy is over the swell crest where the gravity anomaly, after correcting for crustal structure, is higher by about 30 mGal than it is over its flanks. The higher gravity can be explained if the top 100 km of the mantle beneath the swell crest is less dense than its surroundings by 30 kg m,3. The lack of evidence for low densities and velocities in the uppermost mantle, and high densities and velocities in the lower crust, suggests that neither a depleted swell root or crustal underplate are the origin of the observed shallower-than-predicted bathymetry and that, instead, the swell is most likely supported by dynamic uplift associated with an anomalously low density asthenospheric mantle. [source] An unconformity in the early Miocene syn-rifting succession, northern Noto Peninsula, Japan: Evidence for short-term uplifting precedent to the rapid opening of the Japan SeaISLAND ARC, Issue 3 2002Kazuhiko Kano Abstract The present paper describes the newly discovered early Miocene unconformity in the northern Noto Peninsula, on the Japan Sea side, central Japan. The unconformity marks the boundary between an early Miocene non-marine to marine succession and a more extensive, late early to early middle Miocene marine succession, and contains a time gap of an order of 1 million years or less from 18 Ma or earlier to 17 Ma. The early Miocene succession likely represents an early phase of marine transgression and initial slow rifting. The overlying early to early middle Miocene succession records the climax of the opening of the Japan Sea at ca 16 Ma with widespread, rapid subsidence of the Japan Arc. The unconformity between the two transgressive successions may represent a global sealevel fall or, more likely, crustal uplifting because no upward-shallowing or regressive facies remains between the two successions. Early Miocene unconformities that are thought to be correlative with this unconformity in the northern Noto Peninsula occur in places along the Japan Sea coast of Sakhalin and Japan. They are likely to have been produced during rifting in response to upwelling of asthenospheric mantle, although more accurate age constraints are necessary to evaluate this idea. [source] Refining the P,T records of UHT crustal metamorphismJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2008S. L. HARLEY Abstract Ultra-high-temperature (UHT) metamorphism occurs when the continental crust is subjected to temperatures of greater than 900 °C at depths of 20,40 km. UHT metamorphism provides evidence that major tectonic processes may operate under thermal conditions more extreme than those generally produced in numerical models of orogenesis. Evidence for UHT metamorphism is recorded in mineral assemblages formed in magnesian pelites, supported by high-temperature indicators including mesoperthitic feldspar, aluminous orthopyroxene and high Zr contents in rutile. Recent theoretical, experimental and thermodynamic data set constraints on metamorphic phase equilibria in FMAS, KFMASH and more complex chemical systems have greatly improved quantification of the P,T conditions and paths of UHT metamorphic belts. However, despite these advances key issues that remain to be addressed include improving experimental constraints on the thermodynamic properties of sapphirine, quantifying the effects of oxidation state on sapphirine, orthopyroxene and spinel stabilities and quantifying the effects of H2O,CO2 in cordierite on phase equilibria and reaction texture analysis. These areas of uncertainty mean that UHT mineral assemblages must still be examined using theoretical and semi-quantitative approaches, such as P(,T),, sections, and conventional thermobarometry in concert with calculated phase equilibrium methods. In the cases of UHT terranes that preserve microtextural and mineral assemblage evidence for steep or ,near-isothermal' decompression P,T paths, the presence of H2O and CO2 in cordierite is critical to estimates of the P,T path slopes, the pressures at which reaction textures have formed and the impact of fluid infiltration. Many UHT terranes have evolved from peak P,T conditions of 8,11 kbar and 900,1030 °C to lower pressure conditions of 8 to 6 kbar whilst still at temperature in the range of 950 to 800 °C. These decompressional P,T paths, with characteristic dP/dT gradients of ,25 ± 10 bar °C,1, are similar in broad shape to those generated in deep-crustal channel flow models for the later stages of orogenic collapse, but lie at significantly higher temperatures for any specified pressure. This thermal gap presents a key challenge in the tectonic modelling of UHT metamorphism, with implications for the evolution of the crust, sub-crustal lithosphere and asthenospheric mantle during the development of hot orogens. [source] Neoproterozoic Mafic Dykes and Basalts in the Southern Margin of Tarim, Northwest China: Age, Geochemistry and Geodynamic ImplicationsACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 3 2010Chuanlin ZHANG Abstract: Neoproterozoic rifting-related mafic igneous rocks are widely distributed both in the northern and southern margins of the Tarim Block, NW China. Here we report the geochronology and systematic whole-rock geochemistry of the Neoproterozoic mafic dykes and basalts along the southern margin of Tarim. Our zircon U-Pb age, in combination with stratigraphic constraint on their emplacement ages, indicates that the mafic dykes were crystallized at ca. 802 Ma, and the basalt, possibly coeval with the ca. 740 Ma volcanic rocks in Quruqtagh in the northern margin of Tarim. Elemental and Nd isotope geochemistry of the mafic dykes and basalts suggest that their primitive magma was derived from asthenospheric mantle (OIB-like) and lithospheric mantle respectively, with variable assimilation of crustal materials. Integrating the data supplied in the present study and that reported previously in the northern margin of Tarim, we recognize two types of mantle sources of the Neoproterozoic mafic igneous rocks in Tarim, namely the matasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) in the northern margin and the long-term enriched lithospheric mantle and asthenospheric mantle in the southern margin. A comprehensive synthesis of the Neoproterozoic igneous rocks throughout the Tarim Block led to the recognition of two major episodes of Neoproterozoic igneous activities at ca. 820,800 Ma and ca. 780,740 Ma, respectively. These two episodes of igneous activities were concurrent with those in many other Rodinian continents and were most likely related to mantle plume activities during the break-up of the Rodinia. [source] Geochronology and Geochemistry of Mafic Dikes from Hainan Island and Tectonic ImplicationsACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 6 2009CAO Jianjin Abstract: In the present study, the major and trace element compositions, as well as Sr, Nd isotopic compositions and K-Ar age data in mafic dikes from Hainan Island, China, have been analyzed. Whole-rock K-Ar dating yielded a magmatic duration of 61,98 Ma for mafic dikes. Mafic dikes have a very high concentration of incompatible elements, for example, Ba, Rb, Sr, K, rare earth elements, and especially light rare earth elements (LREE), and negative anomalies of Nb, Ta, and Ti in the normalized trace element patterns. The initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios and ,Sr(t) of the mafic dikes are 0.70634,0.71193 and +27.7 to +112.2, respectively. In the 87Sr/86Sr versus ,Nd(t) diagram, the Hainan Island mafic dikes plot between fields for depleted mantle and enriched mantle type 2. All these characteristics show that the mantle (source region) of mafic dikes in this area experienced metasomatism by fluids relatively enriched in LREE and large ion lithophile elements. The genesis of Hainan Island mafic dikes is explained as a result of the mixing of asthenospheric mantle with lithospheric mantle that experienced metasomatism by the subduction of the Pacific Plate. This is different from the Hainan Island Cenozoic basalts mainly derived from depleted asthenospheric mantle, and possibly, minor metasomatised lithospheric mantle. This study suggests that the Mesozoic and Cenozoic lithospheric revolutions in Hainan Island can be divided into three stages: (1) the compression orogenesis stage before 98 Ma. The dominant factor during this stage is the subduction of the ancient Pacific Plate beneath this area. The lithospheric mantle changed into enriched mantle type 2 by metasomatism; (2) the thinning and extension stage during 61,98 Ma. The dominant factor during this stage is that the asthenospheric mantle invaded and corroded the lithospheric mantle; and (3) the large-scale thinning and extension stage after 61 Ma. The large-scale asthenospheric upwelling results in the strong erupting of Cenozoic basalts, large-scale thinning of the lithosphere, the southward translating and counterclockwise rotating of Hainan Island, and the opening of the South China Sea. [source] Geochemistry of the Cenozoic Potassic Volcanic Rocks in the West Kunlun Mountains and Constraints on Their SourcesACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 4 2004ZHANG Zhaochong Abstract, The geochemical characteristics of the Cenozoic volcanic rocks from the north Pulu, east Pulu and Dahongliutan regions in the west Kunlun Mountains are somewhat similar as a whole. However, the volcanic rocks from the Dahongliutan region in the south belt are geochemically distinguished from those in the Pulu region; Nd, 207Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb. Their trace elements and isotopic data suggest that they were derived from lithospheric mantle, consisting of biotite- and hornblende-bearing garnet lherzolite, which had undertaken metasomatism and enrichment. On the primitive mantle-normalized patterns, they display remarkably negative Nb and Ta anomalies, indicating the presence of early-stage subducted oceanic crust. The metasomatism and enrichment resulted from the fluid released from the crustal materials enclosed in the source region in response to the uplift of asthenospheric mantle. Based on the previous experiments it can be inferred that the thickness of the lithosphere ranges from 75 to 100 km prior to the generation of the magmas. However, the south belt differs from the north one by its thicker lithosphere and lower degree of partial melting. The different thickness of the lithosphere gives rise to corresponding variation of the degree of crustal contamination. The volcanic rocks in the south belt are much more influenced by crustal contamination. In view of the tectonic setting, the generation of potassic magmas is linked with the uplift of asthenosphere resulted from large-scale thinning of the lithosphere after the collision of Indian and Eurasian plates, whereas the thinning of the lithosphere may result from delamination. The potassic magmas mainly resulted from partial melting of lithosphere mantle caused by the uplift of asthenosphere. [source] | ||||||||||