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Oceanic Crust (oceanic + crust)
Selected AbstractsThe tectonic regime along the Andes: Present-day and Mesozoic regimesGEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010Victor A. Ramos Abstract The analyses of the main parameters controlling the present Chile-type and Marianas-type tectonic settings developed along the eastern Pacific region show four different tectonic regimes: (1) a nearly neutral regime in the Oregon subduction zone; (2) major extensional regimes as the Nicaragua subduction zone developed in continental crust; (3) a Marianas setting in the Sandwich subduction zone with ocean floored back-arc basin with a unique west-dipping subduction zone and (4) the classic and dominant Chile-type under compression. The magmatic, structural and sedimentary behaviours of these four settings are discussed to understand the past tectonic regimes in the Mesozoic Andes based on their present geological and tectonic characteristics. The evaluation of the different parameters that governed the past and present tectonic regimes indicates that absolute motion of the upper plate relative to the hotspot frame and the consequent trench roll-back velocity are the first order parameters that control the deformation. Locally, the influences of the trench fill, linked to the dominant climate in the forearc, and the age of the subducted oceanic crust, have secondary roles. Ridge collisions of seismic and seismic oceanic ridges as well as fracture zone collisions have also a local outcome, and may produce an increase in coupling that reinforces compressional deformation. Local strain variations in the past and present Andes are not related with changes in the relative convergence rate, which is less important than the absolute motion relative to the Pacific hotspot frame, or changes in the thermal state of the upper plate. Changes in the slab dip, mainly those linked to steepening subduction zones, produce significant variations in the thermal state, that are important to generate extreme deformation in the foreland. Copyright © 2009 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] Sedimentary and crustal structure from the Ellesmere Island and Greenland continental shelves onto the Lomonosov Ridge, Arctic OceanGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2010H. Ruth Jackson SUMMARY On the northern passive margin of Ellesmere Island and Greenland, two long wide-angle seismic reflection/refraction (WAR) profiles and a short vertical incident reflection profile were acquired. The WAR seismic source was explosives and the receivers were vertical geophones placed on the sea ice. A 440 km long North-South profile that crossed the shelf, a bathymetric trough and onto the Lomonosov Ridge was completed. In addition, a 110 km long profile along the trough was completed. P -wave velocity models were created by forward and inverse modelling. On the shelf modelling indicates a 12 km deep sedimentary basin consisting of three layers with velocities of 2.1,2.2, 3.1,3.2 and 4.3,5.2 km s,1. Between the 3.1,3.2 km s,1 and 4.3,5.2 km s,1 layers there is a velocity discontinuity that dips seaward, consistent with a regional unconformity. The 4.3,5.2 km s,1 layer is interpreted to be Palaeozoic to Mesozoic age strata, based on local and regional geological constraints. Beneath these layers, velocities of 5.4,5.9 km s,1 are correlated with metasedimentary rocks that outcrop along the coast. These four layers continue from the shelf onto the Lomonosov Ridge. On the Ridge, the bathymetric contours define a plateau 220 km across. The plateau is a basement high, confirmed by short reflection profiles and the velocities of 5.9,6.5 km s,1. Radial magnetic anomalies emanate from the plateau indicating the volcanic nature of this feature. A lower crustal velocity of 6.2,6.7 km s,1, within the range identified on the Lomonosov Ridge near the Pole and typical of rifted continental crust, is interpreted along the entire line. The Moho, based on the WAR data, has significant relief from 17 to 27 km that is confirmed by gravity modelling and consistent with the regional tectonics. In the trough, Moho shallows eastward from a maximum depth of 19,16 km. No indication of oceanic crust was found in the bathymetric trough. [source] Seismic evidence for a sharp lithospheric base persisting to the lowermost mantle beneath the CaribbeanGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2008Tadashi Kito SUMMARY Broad-band data from South American earthquakes recorded by Californian seismic networks are analysed using a newly developed seismic wave migration method,the slowness backazimuth weighted migration (SBWM). Using the SBWM, out-of-plane seismic P -wave reflections have been observed. The reflection locations extend throughout the Earth's lower mantle, down to the core,mantle boundary (CMB) and coincide with the edges of tomographically mapped high seismic velocities. Modelling using synthetic seismograms suggests that a narrow (10,15 km) low- or high-velocity lamella with about 2 per cent velocity contrast can reproduce the observed reflected waveforms, but other explanations may exist. Considering the reflection locations and synthetic modelling, the observed out-of-plane energy is well explained by underside reflections off a sharp reflector at the base of the subducted lithosphere. We also detect weaker reflections corresponding to the tomographically mapped top of the slab, which may arise from the boundary between the Nazca plate and the overlying former basaltic oceanic crust. The joint interpretation of the waveform modelling and geodynamic considerations indicate mass flux of the former oceanic lithosphere and basaltic crust across the 660 km discontinuity, linking processes and structure at the top and bottom of the Earth's mantle, supporting the idea of whole mantle convection. [source] Seamount volcanism along the Gakkel Ridge, Arctic OceanGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2008James R. Cochran SUMMARY The Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean is the slowest spreading portion of the global mid-ocean ridge system. Total spreading rates vary from 12.8 mm yr,1 near Greenland to 6.5 mm yr,1 at the Siberian margin. Melting models predict a dramatic decrease in magma production and resulting crustal thickness at these low spreading rates. At slow spreading ridges, small volcanic seamounts are a dominant morphologic feature of the rift valley floor and an important mechanism in building the oceanic crust. This study quantitatively investigates the extent, nature and distribution of seamount volcanism at the ultraslow Gakkel Ridge, the manner in which it varies along the ridge axis and the relationship of the volcanoes to the larger scale rift morphology. A numerical algorithm is used to identify and characterize isolated volcanic edifices by searching gridded swath-bathymetry data for closed concentric contours protruding above the surrounding seafloor. A maximum likelihood model is used to estimate the total number of seamounts and the characteristic height within different seamount populations. Both the number and size of constructional volcanic features is greatly reduced at the Gakkel Ridge compared with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). The density of seamounts (number/area) on the rift valley floor of the Western Volcanic Zone (WVZ) is ,55% that of the MAR. The observed volcanoes are also much smaller, so, the amount of erupted material is greatly reduced compared with the MAR. However, the WVZ is still able to maintain a MAR-like morphology with axial volcanic ridges, volcanoes scattered on the valley floor and rift valley walls consisting of high-angle faults. Seamount density at the Eastern Volcanic Zone (EVZ) is ,45% that of the WVZ (,25% that of the MAR). Seamounts are clustered at the widely spaced magmatic centres characteristic of the EVZ, although some seamounts are found between magmatic centres. These seamounts tend to be located at the edge of the rift valley or on the valley walls rather than on the valley floor. Seamounts in the Sparsely Magmatic Zone (SMZ) are located almost entirely at the 19°E magmatic centre with none observed within a 185 km-long portion of the rift valley floor. The EVZ and SMZ appear to display a mode of crustal accretion, characterized by extreme focusing of melt to the magmatic centres. Magmas erupted between the magmatic centres appear to have ascended along faults. This is very different from what is observed at the WVZ (or the MAR), and there is a threshold transition between the two modes of crustal accretion. At the Gakkel Ridge, the location of the transition appears to be localized by a boundary in mantle composition. [source] The sedimentary structure of the Lomonosov Ridge between 88°N and 80°NGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2005Wilfried Jokat SUMMARY While the origin of the 1800-km-long Lomonosov Ridge (LR) in the Central Arctic Ocean is believed to be well understood, details on the bathymetry and especially on the sediment and crustal structure of this unique feature are sparse. During two expeditions in 1991 and 1998 into the Central Arctic Ocean several high quality seismic lines were collected along the margin of the ridge and in the adjacent Makarov Basin (MB). The lines collected between 87°36,N and 80°N perpendicular to and along the LR show a sediment starved continental margin with a variety of geological structures. The different features may reflect the different geological histories of certain ridge segments and/or their different subsidence histories. The sediments in the deep MB have thicknesses up to 2.2 km (3 s TWT) close to the foot of the ridge. At least in part basement reflections characteristics suggest oceanic crust. The acoustically stratified layers are flat lying, except in areas close to the ridge. Seismic units on the LR can be divided into two units based on refraction velocity data and the internal geometry of the reflections. Velocities <3.0 km s,1 are considered to represent Cenozoic sediments deposited after the ridge subsided below sea level. Velocities >4.0 km s,1 are associated with faulted sediments at deeper levels and may represent acoustic basement, which was affected by the Late Cretaceous/Early Cenozoic rift events. Along large parts of the ridge the transition of the two units is associated with an erosional unconformity. Close to the Laptev Sea such an erosional surface may not be present, because of the initial great depths of the rocks. Here, the deeper strata are affected by tectonism, which suggests some relative motion between the LR and the Laptev Shelf. Stratigraphic correlation with the Laptev Sea Shelf suggests that the ridge has not moved as a separate plate over the past 10 Myr. The seismic and regional gravity data indicate that the ridge broadens towards the Laptev Shelf. Although the deeper structure may be heavily intruded and altered, the LR appears to extend eastwards as far as 155°E, a consequence of a long-lived Late Cretaceous rift event. The seismic data across LR support the existence of iceberg scours in the central region of the ridge as far south as 81°N. However, no evidence for a large erosional events due to a more than 1000-m-thick sea ice cover is visible from the data. South of 85°N the seismic data indicate the presence of a bottom simulating reflector along all lines. [source] Structure of Sumatra and its implications for the tectonic assembly of Southeast Asia and the destruction of PaleotethysISLAND ARC, Issue 1 2009Anthony J. Barber Abstract It is now generally accepted that Southeast Asia is composed of continental blocks which separated from Gondwana with the formation of oceanic crust during the Paleozoic, and were accreted to Asia in the Late Paleozoic or Early Mesozoic, with the subduction of the intervening oceanic crust. From east to west the Malay peninsula and Sumatra are composed of three continental blocks: East Malaya with a Cathaysian Permian flora and fauna; Sibumasu, including the western part of the Malay peninsula and East Sumatra, with Late Carboniferous,Early Permian ,pebbly mudstones' interpreted as glaciogenic diamictites; and West Sumatra, again with Cathaysian fauna and flora. A further unit, the Woyla nappe, is interpreted as an intraoceanic arc thrust over the West Sumatra block in the mid Cretaceous. There are varied opinions concerning the age of collision of Sibumasu with East Malaya and the destruction of Paleotethys. In Thailand, radiolarites have been used as evidence that Paleotethys survived until after the Middle Triassic. In the Malay peninsula, structural evidence and the ages of granitic intrusions are used to support a Middle Permian to Early Triassic age for the destruction of Paleotethys. It is suggested that the West Sumatra block was derived from Cathaysia and emplaced against the western margin of Sibumasu by dextral transcurrent faulting along a zone of high deformation, the Medial Sumatra Tectonic Zone. These structural units can be traced northwards in Southeast Asia. The East Malaya block is considered to be part of the Indochina block, Sibumasu can be traced through Thailand into southern China, the Medial Sumatra Tectonic Zone is correlated with the Mogok Belt of Myanmar, the West Burma block is the extension of the West Sumatra block, from which it was separated by the formation of the Andaman Sea in the Miocene, and the Woyla nappe is correlated with the Mawgyi nappe of Myanmar. [source] Crustal thickness and adakite occurrence in the Philippines: Is there a relationship?ISLAND ARC, Issue 4 2008Carla B. Dimalanta Abstract Adakites are increasingly being recognized worldwide in a variety of tectonic settings. Models on the formation of this geochemically distinct class of volcanic rocks have evolved from partial melting of subducted young, hot oceanic slabs to magmatism resulting from oblique subduction, low-angle or flat subduction, or even slab-tearing. Some workers have also pointed to the partial melting of thickened crust to explain the generation of adakitic melts. Rare earth element ratios from adakites and adakitic rocks in the Philippines were used in this study to obtain approximations of the levels where they were generated. These were tied to available geophysical data that defines the crustal thickness of the areas where the samples were collected. High Sm/Yb and La/Yb ratios denote the involvement of amphiboles, and in some cases garnet, in the generation of adakites and adakitic magmas. The presence of amphibole and garnet as residual phases suggests high pressures corresponding to thicker crust (,30 to 45 km). Adakites and adakitic rocks formed through processes other than melting of subducted young oceanic crust would need ,30 km to account for the heavy rare earth element signatures. If mantle fractionation is not the process involved, crustal thickness is critical to generate adakites and adakitic rocks. [source] Variation of crustal thickness in the Philippine Sea deduced from three-dimensional gravity modelingISLAND ARC, Issue 3 2007Takemi Ishihara Abstract Crustal thickness of the northern to central Philippine Sea was gravimetrically determined on the simple assumption of four layers: seawater, sediments, crust and lithospheric mantle, with densities of 1030, 2300, 2800 and 3300 kg/m3, respectively. As for the correction of the regional gravity variation, a 15 km difference of the lithospheric thickness with a density difference of 50 kg/m3 against the asthenosphere below between both sides of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge was taken into consideration. Mantle Bouguer anomalies were calculated on the assumption of constant crustal thickness of 6 km, and then the crustal thickness was obtained by three-dimensional gravity inversion method. The results show occurrence of thin crust areas with a thickness of approximately 5 km in the southern part and at the western margin of the Shikoku Basin and also of thick crust areas in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the Parece Vela Basin. We suggest that these are because of the variation of magma supply at the time of sea floor spreading in the Shikoku and Parece Vela Basins, which is possibly related to the variation of spreading rate and enhanced magmatism near the past arc volcanic fronts. The results further show the occurrence of crust thinner than 5 km in the northeastern part of the West Philippine Basin, of crust thicker than 15 km in the Amami Plateau, the Daito and Oki-Daito Ridges, and also in the northern part of Kyushu-Palau Ridge, whereas the southern part of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge the crust is thicker than 10 km. It was also inferred that small basins in the Daito Ridge province have the thinnest oceanic crust of less than 5 km in the Kita-Daito Basin. [source] Tectonic control of bioalteration in modern and ancient oceanic crust as evidenced by carbon isotopesISLAND ARC, Issue 1 2006Harald Furnes Abstract We review the carbon-isotope data for finely disseminated carbonates from bioaltered, glassy pillow rims of basaltic lava flows from in situ slow- and intermediate-spreading oceanic crust of the central Atlantic Ocean (CAO) and the Costa Rica Rift (CRR). The ,13C values of the bioaltered glassy samples from the CAO show a large range, between ,17 and +3, (Vienna Peedee belemnite standard), whereas those from the CRR define a much narrower range, between ,17, and ,7,. This variation can be interpreted as the product of different microbial metabolisms during microbial alteration of the glass. In the present study, the generally low ,13C values (less than ,7,) are attributed to carbonate precipitated from microbially produced CO2 during oxidation of organic matter. Positive ,13C values >0, likely result from lithotrophic utilization of CO2 by methanogenic Archaea that produce CH4 from H2 and CO2. High production of H2 at the slow-spreading CAO crust may be a consequence of fault-bounded, high-level serpentinized peridotites near or on the sea floor, in contrast to the CRR crust, which exhibits a layer-cake pseudostratigraphy with much less faulting and supposedly less H2 production. A comparison of the ,13C data from glassy pillow margins in two ophiolites interpreted to have formed at different spreading rates supports this interpretation. The Jurassic Mirdita ophiolite complex in Albania shows a structural architecture similar to that of the slow-spreading CAO crust, with a similar range in ,13C values of biogenic carbonates. The Late Ordvician Solund,Stavfjord ophiolite complex in western Norway exhibits structural and geochemical evidence for evolution at an intermediate-spreading mid-ocean ridge and displays ,13C signatures in biogenic carbonates similar to those of the CRR. Based on the results of this comparative study, it is tentatively concluded that the spreading rate-dependent tectonic evolution of oceanic lithosphere has a significant control on the evolution of microbial life and hence on the ,13C biosignatures preserved in disseminated biogenic carbonates in glassy, bioaltered lavas. [source] Tectonic accretion of a subducted intraoceanic remnant arc in Cretaceous Hokkaido, Japan, and implications for evolution of the Pacific northwestISLAND ARC, Issue 4 2005Hayato Ueda Abstract An accretionary complex, which contains fragments of a remnant island arc, was newly recognized in the Cretaceous accretionary terranes in Hokkaido, Japan. It consists of volcanics, volcanic conglomerate, intermediate to ultramafic intrusive rocks with island-arc affinity including boninitic rocks, accompanied by chert and deformed terrigenous turbidites. Compared with the results of modern oceanic surveys, the preserved sequence from island-arc volcanics to chert, via reworked volcanics, is indicative of intraoceanic remnant arc, because the sequence suggests an inactive arc isolated within a pelagic environment before its accretion. The age of a subducting oceanic crust can be discontinuous before and after a remnant-arc subduction, resulting in abrupt changes in accretion style and metamorphism, as seen in Cretaceous Hokkaido. Subduction of such an intraoceanic remnant arc suggests that the subducted oceanic plate in the Cretaceous was not an extensive oceanic plate like the Izanagi and/or Kula Plates as previously believed by many authors, but a marginal basin plate having an arc,back-arc system like the present-day Philippine Sea Plate. [source] Debris flow and slide deposits at the top of the Internal Liguride ophiolitic sequence, Northern Apennines, Italy: A record of frontal tectonic erosion in a fossil accretionary wedgeISLAND ARC, Issue 1 2001Michele Marroni Abstract In the Northern Apennines, the Internal Liguride units are characterized by an ophiolite sequence that represents the stratigraphic base of a late Jurassic,early Paleocene sedimentary cover. The Bocco Shale represents the youngest deposit recognized in the sedimentary cover of the ophiolite and can be subdivided into two different groups of deep sea sediments. The first group is represented by slide, debris flow and high density turbidity current-derived deposits, whereas the second group consists of thin-bedded turbidites. Facies analysis and provenance studies indicate, for the former group, small and scarcely evoluted flows that rework an oceanic lithosphere and its sedimentary cover. We interpret the Bocco Shale as an ancient example of a deposit related to the frontal tectonic erosion of the accretionary wedge slope. The frontal tectonic erosion resulted in a large removal of materials, from the accretionary wedge front, that was reworked as debris flows and slide deposits sedimented on the lower plate above the trench deposits. The frontal tectonic erosion was probably connected with subduction of oceanic crust characterized by positive topographic relief. This interpretation can be also applied for the origin of analogous deposits of Western Alps and Corsica. [source] Garnet,chloritoid,kyanite assemblages: eclogite facies indicators of subduction constraints in orogenic beltsJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 7 2010A. J. SMYE Abstract The assemblage garnet,chloritoid,kyanite is shown to be quite common in high-pressure eclogite facies metapelites from orogenic belts around the world, and occurs over a narrowly restricted range of temperature ,550,600 °C, between 20 and 25 kbar. This assemblage is favoured particularly by large Al2O3:K2O ratios allowing the development of kyanite in addition to garnet and chloritoid. Additionally, ferric iron and manganese also help stabilize chloritoid in this assemblage. Pseudosections for several bulk compositions illustrate these high-pressure assemblages, and a new thermodynamic model for white mica to include calcium and ferric iron was required to complete the calculations. It is extraordinary that so many orogenic eclogite facies rocks, both mafic eclogites sensu stricto as well as metapelites with the above assemblage, all yield temperatures within the range of 520,600 °C and peak pressures ,23±3 kbar. Subduction of oceanic crust and its entrained associated sedimentary material must involve the top of the slab, where mafic and pelitic rocks may easily coexist, passing through these P,T conditions, such that rocks, if they proceed to further depths, are generally not returned to the surface. This, together with the tightly constrained range in peak temperatures which such eclogites experience, suggests thermal weakening being a major control on the depths at which crustal material is decoupled from the downgoing slab. [source] Middle Archean ocean ridge hydrothermal metamorphism and alteration recorded in the Cleaverville area, Pilbara Craton, Western AustraliaJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 7 2007T. SHIBUYA Abstract A hydrothermally metamorphosed greenstone complex, capped by bedded cherts and banded iron formations (BIFs), is exposed in the Cleaverville area, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. It has been interpreted as an accretionary complex characterized by both a duplex structure and an oceanic plate stratigraphy, and is shown to represent a 3.2 Ga upper oceanic crust. Three metamorphic zones are identified in the basaltic greenstones. The metamorphic grade increases from sub-greenschist facies (zones A and B) to greenschist facies (zone C) under low-pressure conditions. The boundaries between three mineral zones are subparallel to the bedding plane of overlying chert/BIF, and metamorphic temperature increases stratigraphically downward. The zones correspond to the thermal structure of ocean-floor metamorphism, at a mid-ocean ridge. The uppermost greenstone in the study area is more pervasively altered and carbonatized than the modern upper oceanic crust. This indicates the enrichment of CO2 in the metamorphic fluid by which widespread formation of carbonate occurred, compared with a narrow stability region of Ca-Al silicates. It is, therefore, suggested that the Archean hydrothermal alteration played a more important role in fixation of CO2 than present-day ocean-ridge hydrothermal alteration, as an interaction between sea water and oceanic crust. [source] A general model for the intrusion and evolution of ,mantle' garnet peridotites in high-pressure and ultra-high-pressure metamorphic terranesJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2000Brueckner Garnet-bearing peridotite lenses are minor but significant components of most metamorphic terranes characterized by high-temperature eclogite facies assemblages. Most peridotite intrudes when slabs of continental crust are subducted deeply (60,120 km) into the mantle, usually by following oceanic lithosphere down an established subduction zone. Peridotite is transferred from the resulting mantle wedge into the crustal footwall through brittle and/or ductile mechanisms. These ,mantle' peridotites vary petrographically, chemically, isotopically, chronologically and thermobarometrically from orogen to orogen, within orogens and even within individual terranes. The variations reflect: (1) derivation from different mantle sources (oceanic or continental lithosphere, asthenosphere); (2) perturbations while the mantle wedges were above subducting oceanic lithosphere; and (3) changes within the host crustal slabs during intrusion, subduction and exhumation. Peridotite caught within mantle wedges above oceanic subduction zones will tend to recrystallize and be contaminated by fluids derived from the subducting oceanic crust. These ,subduction zone peridotites' intrude during the subsequent subduction of continental crust. Low-pressure protoliths introduced at shallow (serpentinite, plagioclase peridotite) and intermediate (spinel peridotite) mantle depths (20,50 km) may be carried to deeper levels within the host slab and undergo high-pressure metamorphism along with the enclosing rocks. If subducted deeply enough, the peridotites will develop garnet-bearing assemblages that are isofacial with, and give the same recrystallization ages as, the eclogite facies country rocks. Peridotites introduced at deeper levels (50,120 km) may already contain garnet when they intrude and will not necessarily be isofacial or isochronous with the enclosing crustal rocks. Some garnet peridotites recrystallize from spinel peridotite precursors at very high temperatures (c. 1200 °C) and may derive ultimately from the asthenosphere. Other peridotites are from old (>1 Ga), cold (c. 850 °C), subcontinental mantle (,relict peridotites') and seem to require the development of major intra-cratonic faults to effect their intrusion. [source] Geo,tectonic Position of Tin Polymetallic Mineralization Zone in the Southern Da Hinggan Mountains Area, Inner Mongolia, China: An Introduction to This Special IssueRESOURCE GEOLOGY, Issue 4 2001Shihua SUN Abstract: As a part of the main activities of Japan-China technical cooperation project, a test survey area, approximately 5,000 km2, was established for the implement of its geological and geochemical research program. A major mineralization zone called Huanggang,Ganzhuermiao,Wulanhaote Sn-Cu polymetallic mineralization zone is recognized in the southern Da Hinggan Mountains area. The southern half of this zone is known as the sole Sn-mineralization zone in North China. The survey area lies in this prominent zone. As the most of the papers presented in this issue have concerns to the geology and mineralization in this survey area, this report was prepared to introduce geo-tectonic situation of the Sn-Cu polymetallic mineralization zone in the Inner Mongolia orogenic belt. The belt is divided into four tectonic facies (from NW to SE); I: Wuliyasitai volcano-plutonic zone, II: Hegenshan ophiolite mélange zone, III: Sunitezuoqi volcano-plutonic zone, IV: Wenduermiao ophiolite mélange zone. The subject Sn-Cu polymetallic mineralization zone is situated in the southeastern part of the Sunitezuoqi magmatic zone. About this Sunitezuoqi magmatic zone, three geo-tectonic characteristics are pointed out. In late Carboniferous to early Permian period, subduction of Hegenshan oceanic crust occurred, which accelerated volcano-plutonic activities and brought about basic to intermediate volcanic rocks of tholeiitic to calc-alkaline series represented by Dashizhai Group in the Sunitezuoqi magmatic zone. Late Jurassic to early Cretaceous acidic rocks representing the most culminated volcanism and plutonism in Mesozoic era in the Da Hinggan Moutains area are distributed very extensively in and around the Sn-Cu polymetallic mineralization zone. The Proterozoic metamorphic basement rocks called Xilinhaote complex are distributed close to the mineralized area in the Sunitezuoqi magmatic zone. Although the real mineralization was known associated with Mesozoic acidic to intermediate volcano-plutonic activities, it is thought that the lower Permian Dashizhai volcanic rocks and pre-Cambrian basement rocks might have played certain significant role in the process respectively of extraction of elements and formation of the magma favorable for such mineralization in the Sunitezuoqi magmatic zone. It would be necessary to give further considerations to these three geological units in relation to the Sn-Cu polymetallic mineralization. [source] Petrogenesis of Volcanic Rocks in the Khabr-Marvast Tectonized Ophiolite: Evidence for Subduction Processes in the South-Western Margin of Central Iranian MicrocontinentACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 5 2009Azam SOLTANMOHAMMADI Abstract: The Late Cretaceous Khabr,Marvast tectonized ophiolite is located in the middle part of the Nain,Baft ophiolite belt, at the south-western edge of the central Iranian microcontinent. Although all the volcanic rocks in the study area indicate subduction-related magmatism (e.g. high LILE (large ion lithophile elements) / HFSE (high field strenght elements) ratios and negative anomalies in Nb and Ta), geological and geochemical data clearly distinguish two distinct groups of volcanic rocks in the tectonized association: (1) group 1 is comprised of hyaloclastic breccias, basaltic pillow lavas, and andesite sheet flows. These rocks represent the Nain,Baft oceanic crust; and (2) group 2 is alkaline lavas from the top section of the ophiolite suite. These lavas show shoshonite affinity, but do not support the propensity of ophiolite. [source] Modern-style Subduction Processes in the Archean: Evidence from the Shangyi Complex in North China CratonACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 3 2009Renmin WANG Abstract: Three fragments of the Archean oceanic crust have been found between the Archean granulite belt and the Paleo-Proterozoic Hongqiyingzi group in North China craton, which spread along the Shangyi-Chicheng ancient fault. This paper presents integrated field, petrology, geochemistry and geochronology evidence of the ancient oceanic fragments. The magma crystallizing age of the tonalite in the Shangyi complex is 2512±19 Ma and the geochemical characteristics suggest that the Nb-enriched basalts may be related to crustal contamination and formed in the intra-oceanic arc of the supra subduction zone setting. [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] Two-dimensional Numerical Modeling Research on Continent Subduction DynamicsACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 1 2004WANG Zhimin Abstract Continent subduction is one of the hot research problems in geoscience. New models presented here have been set up and two-dimensional numerical modeling research on the possibility of continental subduction has been made with the finite element software, ANSYS, based on documentary evidence and reasonable assumptions that the subduction of oceanic crust has occurred, the subduction of continental crust can take place and the process can be simplified to a discontinuous plane strain theory model. The modeling results show that it is completely possible for continental crust to be subducted to a depth of 120 km under certain circumstances and conditions. At the same time, the simulations of continental subduction under a single dynamical factor have also been made, including the pull force of the subducted oceanic lithosphere, the drag force connected with mantle convection and the push force of the mid-ocean ridge. These experiments show that the drag force connected with mantle convection is critical for continent subduction. [source] Geochemical Cycles of Bio-essential Elements on the Early Earth and Their Relationships to Origin of LifeRESOURCE GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2002Takeshi KAKEGAWA Abstract: The bio-essential elements are demanded for the metabolic action of all living organisms. These elements are continuously supplied to biosphere through the elemental cycle on the surface Earth. The geochemical cycle of bio-essential elements was most likely different in the pre-biotic era (ca. 4.4 to 4.0 Ga) compared to the modern Earth. The difference was probably made by the absence of continents and biological mediation in the pre-biotic environments. Geochemical cycle models of bio-essential elements (P, B and Mo) on the pre-biotic Earth are proposed in this study, and these models are examined using available geochemical data. The input flux of phosphorous in pre-biotic oceans was probably dominated by submarine hydrothermal activities associated with carbonatized oceanic crusts. Such input flux by submarine hydrothermal activities is not known in the present-day oceans, and probably a unique flux in the pre-biotic oceans. Boron chemistry of pre-biotic oceans was also controlled by submarine hydrothermal input flux. The Mo exchange between the pre-biotic ocean and lithosphere may have restricted only at the submarine hydrothermal areas. These suggest that the submarine hydrothermal discharging areas were only locations to obtain bio-essential elements for the earliest life. This model is consistent with the previously proposed model for hydrothermal origin of life. [source] | ||||||||||