Geochemistry of a Tertiary continental basalt suite, Red Sea coastal plain, Egypt: petrogenesis and characteristics of the mantle source region

2003 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
ABDEL-KADER M. MOGHAZI

Major and trace element data on Tertiary continental basalt flows from the Shalatein area, Red Sea coastal plain of Egypt, have been presented and used to obtain more information about their source region and the processes involved in their generation. The rocks are mainly alkali olivine basalt with MgO and Mg no. in the range of 9.8–5 wt % and 65–46, respectively. They display wide variations in incompatible element concentrations, particularly LREE, Zr, Nb, K, Y, Ba and Sr. There is no evidence of significant crustal contamination or a lithospheric mantle signature in these rocks. Normalized trace element patterns and diagnostic elemental ratios are very similar to those of modern ocean-island basalts (OIB) a feature which suggests that the mantle source region was the asthenosphere. Comparison with the different types of OIB indicates that the basalts may be derived from a high U/Pb (HIMU) source with slightly elevated K and Ba contents. The basalts show general trends of increasing incompatible elements (K2O, Nb, Y, Sr and Yb), and decreasing contents of compatible elements (Cr, Ni, Sc and Ca) with decreasing Mg no. Furthermore, TiO2, P2O5, LREE and Th define maxima at about Mg no.=56, suggesting late fractionation of Fe–Ti oxides and apatite. Although these variations are consistent with fractional crystallization processes, the wide variations in LREE contents and the incompatible trace element ratios Ce/Y (1.2–3.8), Zr/Nb (2.3–7.1) and Nb/Y (0.6–4) in the least fractionated samples (Mg no. > 56) suggest that fractional crystallization involving the observed phenocryst assemblage (olivine and clinopyroxene) cannot fully explain such compositional variations. Modelling of the mafic rocks (Mg no. > 56) using REE suggests varying degrees of partial melting of an enriched mantle source region in the garnet stability field. Partial melting is attributed to plume-related mantle upwelling beneath the Red Sea rift system.

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.D. Morrison ◽  
A. Reay

At Terra Cotta Mountain, in the Taylor Glacier region of south Victoria Land, a 237 m thick Ferrar Dolerite sill is intruded along the unconformity between basement granitoids and overlying Beacon Supergroup sedimentary rocks. Numerous Ferrar Dolerite dykes intrude the Beacon Supergroup and represent later phases of intrusion. Major and trace element data indicate variation both within and between the separate intrusions. Crystal fractionation accounts for much of the geochemical variation between the intrusive events. However, poor correlations between many trace elements require the additional involvement of open system processes. Chromium is decoupled from highly incompatible elements consistent with behaviour predicted for a periodically replenished, tapped and fractionating magma chamber. Large ion lithophile element-enrichment and depletion in Nb, Sr, P and Ti suggests the addition of a crustal component or an enriched mantle source. The trace element characteristics of the Dolerites from Terra Cotta Mountain are similar to those of other Ferrar Group rocks from the central Transantarctic Mountains and north Victoria Land, as well as with the Tasmanian Dolerites. This supports current ideas that the trace element signature of the Ferrar Group is inherited from a uniformly enriched mantle source region.


Lithos ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 204 ◽  
pp. 97-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mi-Mi Chen ◽  
Wei Tian ◽  
Katsuhiko Suzuki ◽  
M.-L.-G. Tejada ◽  
Feng-Lin Liu ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ercan Aldanmaz ◽  
Aykut Güçtekin ◽  
Özlem Yıldız-Yüksekol

<p>The Late Triassic basaltic rocks that are dispersed as several lava sheets in a number of different tectonic slices within the Antalya nappes in SW Turkey represent the remnants of widespread oceanic magmatism with strong intra-plate geochemical signatures. The largest exposures are observed around the Antalya Bay, where pillow structured or massif lava flows are interlayered with Upper Triassic pelagic or carbonate platform sediments. Based on bulk-rock geochemical characteristics, the rocks mostly classify as alkaline basalts and display distinctive OIB-type trace element distributions characterized by significant enrichments in LILE and HFSE abundances, as well as LREE/HREE ratios, with respect to average N-MORB. Quantitative modeling of trace element data suggest that the primary melts that produced the alkaline lavas are largely the products of variable proportions of mixing between melts generated by variable, but generally low (<10) degrees of partial melting of more than one compositionally distinct mantle source. The samples, as a whole, display large variations in radiogenic isotope ratios with <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr = 0.703021–0.70553, <sup>143</sup>Nd/<sup>144</sup>Nd = 0.51247–0.51279, <sup>206</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb = 18.049–20.030, <sup>207</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb = 15.544–15.723 and <sup>208</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb = 38.546–39.530. Such variations in isotopic ratios correlate with the change in incompatible trace element relative abundances and reflect the involvement of a number of compositionally distinct mantle end-members. These include EMI and EMII type enriched mantle components both having lower <sup>143</sup>Nd/<sup>144</sup>Nd than typical depleted MORB source with their contrasting low and high <sup>206</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb and <sup>20</sup><sup>7</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb ratios respectively, as well as a high time-integrated <sup>238</sup>U/<sup>204</sup>Pb component with high <sup>206</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb at relatively low <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr and εNd values. The results from trace element and radiogenic isotope data are consistent with the view that the initial melt generation was likely related to partial melting of the shallow convecting upper mantle in response to Triassic rifting events, while continued mantle upwelling resulted in progressively increased melting of mantle lithosphere that contained compositionally contrasting lithological domains with strong isotopic heterogeneities.</p>


The alkaline rocks of Carboniferous to Permian age in the Midland Valley province range in composition from hypersthene-normative, transitional basalts to strongly undersaturated basanitic and nephelinitic varieties. They were formed by varying degrees of equilibrium partial melting of a phlogopite peridotite mantle. Ba, Ce, Nb, P, Sr and Zr were strongly partitioned into the liquid during melting; K and Rb were retained by residual phlogopite for small degrees of melting only. The composition of the mantle source is inferred to have been broadly similar to that from which oceanic alkaline basalts are currently being generated. It was, however, heterogeneous as regards distribution of the incompatible trace elements, with up to fourfold variations in elemental abundances and ratios. The mantle beneath the province may be divisible into several areas, of some hundreds of square kilometres each, which retained a characteristic incompatible element chemistry for up to 50 Ma and which imparted a distinctive chemistry to all the basic magmas generated within them.


1990 ◽  
Vol 127 (4) ◽  
pp. 309-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. I. J. Mallick ◽  
I. G. Gass ◽  
K. G. Cox ◽  
B. V. W. De Vries ◽  
A. G. Tindle

AbstractPerim Island is an eroded fragment of the southwest flank of a late Miocene (10.5 ± 1.0 Ma) volcano whose centre lay on the southwesternmost tip of Arabia. The volcano is the westernmost of the E–W line of six central vent volcanoes (the Aden Line) that extends 200 km along the south coast of Arabia from Perim to Aden. Major oxide and trace element abundances are given for 35 Perim specimens and these show that the volcano has within-plate trace element characteristics and consists of a petrographically and geochemically simple suite of alumina-poor olivine basalts, andesites, and transitional andesite–trachyandesites. Six specimens, however, are markedly enriched in Al2O3 and CaO, and contain abundant (20–30 mode %) highly calcic (An77–83) plagioclase phenocrysts. Geochemical modelling suggests that the main Perim volcanic sequence was produced by the fractional crystallization (o1 + cpx + Ti-mt + plag) of a silica saturated (SiO2 c. 45%) basic melt. The high A1, high Ca, magmas appear to be mixing products of plagioclase-enriched basic magmas with more evolved melts. Perim is the oldest volcano of the Aden line, which becomes increasingly younger and alkalic eastward. It is suggested that the volcanism is related to an eastwards-propagating rift produced before the most recent stage of sea-floor spreading in the Gulf of Aden (4.5 Ma–present).


2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Guan ◽  
Zhilong Huang ◽  
Cheng Xu ◽  
Zhenliang Zhang ◽  
Zaifei Yan ◽  
...  

Geosciences ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Næraa ◽  
Thomas F. Kokfelt ◽  
Anders Scherstén ◽  
Andreas Petersson

Ferroan granitoid intrusions are rare in the Archaean rock record, but have played a large role in the evolution of the Proterozoic crust, particular in relation to anorthosite-mangerite-charnockite-granite suites. Here we discuss the petrogenesis of the ca. 2785–2805 Ma ferroan Ilivertalik Intrusive Complex, which has many geochemical similarities to Proterozoic iron rich granitoids. We present major and trace element whole rock chemistry and combined in-situ zircon U-Pb, Hf and O isotope data. The intrusive complex divides into: (i) minor tabular units of mainly diorite-tonalite compositions, which are typically situated along contacts to the host basement and (ii) interior larger, bodies of mainly granite-granodiorite composition. Geochemically these two unites display continuous to semi-continuous trends in Haker-diagrams. Whole rock REE enrichment display increases from Yb to La, from 10–25 to 80–100 times chondrite, respectively. The diorite-tonalite samples are generally more enriched in REE compared to the granite-granodiorite samples. The complex has hafnium isotope compositions from around +1.5 to −2.5 epsilon units and δ18O compositions in the range of 6.3 to 6.6‰. The complex is interpreted to be derived from partial melting in a crustal source region during anomalously high crustal temperatures.


Author(s):  
Peng Gao ◽  
Yong-Fei Zheng ◽  
Chris Yakymchuk ◽  
Zi-Fu Zhao ◽  
Zi-Yue Meng

Abstract Granites are generally the final products of crustal anatexis. The composition of the initial melts may be changed by fractional crystallization during magma evolution. Thus, it is crucial to retrieve the temperatures and pressures conditions of crustal anatexis on the basis of the composition of the initial melts rather than the evolved melts. Here we use a suite of ∼46–41 Ma granites from the Himalayan orogen to address this issue. These rocks can be divided into two groups in terms of their petrological and geochemical features. One group has high maficity (MgO + FeOt = 2–4 wt%) and mainly consists of two-mica granites, and is characterized by apparent adakite geochemical signatures, including high Sr concentrations, Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios; and low concentrations of HREE (heavy rare earth elements) and Y. The other group has low maficity (MgO + FeOt <1 wt%) and consists of subvolcanic porphyritic granites and garnet/tourmaline-bearing leucogranites. This group does not possess apparent adakite signatures. The low maficity group (LMG) has lower MgO + FeOt contents and the high maficity group (HMG) has higher Mg# compared with initial anatectic melts determined by experiment petrology and melt inclusions study. Petrological observations indicate that the HMG and the LMG can be explained as a crystal-rich cumulate and its fractionated melt, respectively, such that the initial anatectic melt is best represented by an intermediate composition. Such a cogenetic relationship is supported by the comparable Sr–Nd isotopic compositions of the two coeval groups. However, these compositions are also highly variable, pointing to a mixed source that was composed of amphibolite and metapelite with contrasting isotope compositions. We model the major and trace element compositions of anatectic melts generated by partial melting of the mixed source at four apparent thermobaric ratios of 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 °C/GPa. Modeling results indicate that melt produced at 1000 °C/GPa best matches the major and trace element compositions of the inferred initial melt compositions. In particular, a binary mixture generated from 10 vol% partial melting of amphibolite and 30 vol% melting of metapelite at 850 ± 50 °C and 8.5 ± 0.5 kbar gives the best match. Therefore, this study highlights that high thermobaric ratios and subsequent fractional crystallization are responsible for the generation of the apparent adakitic geochemical signatures, rather than melting at the base of the thickened crust as previously proposed. The thermal anomaly responsible for the Eocene magmatism in the Himalayan orogen was probably related to asthenosphere upwelling in response to rollback of the subducting Neo-Tethyan oceanic slab at the terminal stage of continental collision between India and Asia. As such, a transition in dynamic regime from compression to extension is necessary for the generation of high thermobaric ratios in the continental collision zone. Therefore, on the basis of evaluating the potential role of fractional crystallization in altering the composition of the initial melt, granite geochemistry coupled with thermodynamic modeling can better elucidate the petrogenesis of granites and the geodynamic mechanisms associated with anatexis at convergent plate boundaries.


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