scholarly journals Heat- and melt-fluxed melting of lower continental crust: Insights from two types of subduction-related granitoids in northeastern China and the implications for crustal reworking and growth

Lithosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 488-506
Author(s):  
Xing-Hua Ma ◽  
Shi-Lei Qiao ◽  
Peng Xiang ◽  
Andrei V. Grebennikov ◽  
Renjie Zhou

AbstractConvergent plate boundaries are the primary location for the formation of continental crust by the intrusion of arc batholiths that contain essentially mantle-derived magmas. This paper presents two types of arc granitoids (enclave-free monzogranites and enclave-bearing granodiorites) in northeastern (NE) China to understand crustal evolution and growth in the eastern Asian continental margin. The monzogranites (189 Ma) show characteristics typical of upper continental crust, with high SiO2 contents and enrichment of K, Rb, and Pb. These monzogranites have low ISr (87Sr/86Sr) ratios (0.70378–0.70413) and positive εNd (t) (+2.2 to +2.3) and εHf (t) (+7.3 to +10.2) values. These features, combined with high zircon saturation temperatures (TZr > 800 °C), suggest that the monzogranites were generated by the heat-fluxed melting of juvenile lower crust. In contrast, the granodiorites (171 Ma) contain abundant coeval mafic enclaves and show relatively low silica contents, low TZr (748–799 °C), and particularly wide variation in εHf (t) (−3.5 to +5.6), implying a hybrid origin involving both mantle- and crust-derived components. Isotopic modeling indicates that mantle material accounts for around 60%–70% of the hybrid magmas by volume. The granodiorites have adakite-like signatures (e.g., Sr/Y > 21 and [La/Yb]N > 15), which may have been primarily caused by a process of magma mixing and hornblende-dominated fractional fractionation, rather than through melting of a subducting slab or thickened lower crust. The two distinct granitoids (monzogranites and granodiorites) represent continental crustal reworking and growth, respectively, related to the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate beneath the eastern Asian continental margin during the Jurassic.

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alba Patrizia Santo

The Tuscany Magmatic Province consists of a Miocene to Pleistocene association of a wide variety of rock types, including peraluminous crustal anatectic granites and rhyolites, calcalkaline and shoshonitic suites and ultrapotassic lamproites. In addition to the magma types already recognised, the occurrence of a new, distinct magma type at Capraia and Elba islands and in mafic enclaves in the San Vincenzo rhyolites has been suggested by recent studies. This particular type of magma, represented by intermediate to acidic calcalkaline rocks showing high Sr, Ba, and LREE, is restricted to the northwestern sector of the province and to a time interval of about 8 to 4.5 Ma. New data obtained on rocks from Capraia Island have allowed for the verification of the occurrence of this new magma type, the exploration of its origin and a discussion of its possible geodynamic significance. The high-Sr-Ba andesite-dacite rocks occurring in the Laghetto area at Capraia display a composition that is intermediate between adakitic and calcalkaline rocks. It is suggested that they represent a distinct type of magma that originated at mantle pressure by melting of the lower continental crust, followed by mixing with other Capraia magmas. The geodynamic model that best explains the composition of the studied rocks is the thickening of the continental crust during continental collision, followed by extension that favoured melting of the lower crust.


2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Milena V Schoenhofen ◽  
Karsten M Haase ◽  
Christoph Beier ◽  
Dominic Woelki ◽  
Marcel Regelous

Abstract Quaternary calc-alkaline andesitic to dacitic lavas effusively erupted on top of about 30 km thick accreted continental crust at Methana peninsula in the western Aegean arc. We present new data of major and trace element concentrations as well as of Sr–Nd–Pb isotope ratios along with mineral compositions of Methana lavas and their mafic enclaves. The enclaves imply a parental basaltic magma and fractional crystallization processes with relatively little crustal assimilation in the deep part of the Methana magma system. The composition of amphibole in some mafic enclaves and lavas indicates deeper crystallization at ∼25 km depth close to the Moho compared with the evolved lavas that formed at <15 km depth. The presence of amphibole and low Ca contents in olivine suggest high water contents of ∼4 wt% in the primitive magmas at Methana. The compositions of andesitic and dacitic lavas reflect fractional crystallization, assimilation of sedimentary material, and magma mixing in the upper 15 km of the crust. The Methana magmas have fO2 of FMQ + 1 to FMQ + 2 (where FMQ is the fayalite–magnetite–quartz buffer) at temperatures of 1200 to 750 °C and the fO2 does not vary systematically from mafic to felsic compositions, suggesting that the mantle wedge was oxidized by sediment subduction. Amphibole is an important fractionating phase in the more evolved Methana magmas and causes significant changes in incompatible element ratios. Although xenocrysts and mineral compositions indicate magma mixing, the major and trace element variation implies only limited mixing between dacitic and basaltic melts.


Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenheng Liu ◽  
Xiaodong Liu ◽  
Jiayong Pan ◽  
Kaixing Wang ◽  
Gang Wang ◽  
...  

The Qingshanbao complex, part of the uranium metallogenic belt of the Longshou-Qilian mountains, is located in the center of the Longshou Mountain next to the Jiling complex that hosts a number of U deposits. However, little research has been conducted in this area. In order to investigate the origin and formation of mafic enclaves observed in the Qingshanbao body and the implications for magmatic-tectonic dynamics, we systematically studied the mineralogy, petrography, and geochemistry of these enclaves. Our results showed that the enclaves contain plagioclase enwrapped by early dark minerals. These enclaves also showed round quartz crystals and acicular apatite in association with the plagioclase. Electron probe analyses showed that the plagioclase in the host rocks (such as K-feldspar granite, adamellite, granodiorite, etc.) show normal zoning, while the plagioclase in the mafic enclaves has a discontinuous rim composition and shows instances of reverse zoning. Major elemental geochemistry revealed that the mafic enclaves belong to the calc-alkaline rocks that are rich in titanium, iron, aluminum, and depleted in silica, while the host rocks are calc-alkaline to alkaline rocks with enrichment in silica. On Harker diagrams, SiO2 contents are negatively correlated with all major oxides but K2O. Both the mafic enclaves and host rock are rich in large ion lithophile elements such as Rb and K, as well as elements such as La, Nd, and Sm, and relatively poor in high field strength elements such as Nb, Ta, P, Ti, and U. Element ratios of Nb/La, Rb/Sr, and Nb/Ta indicate that the mafic enclaves were formed by the mixing of mafic and felsic magma. In terms of rare earth elements, both the mafic enclaves and the host rock show right-inclined trends with similar weak to medium degrees of negative Eu anomaly and with no obvious Ce anomaly. Zircon LA-ICP-MS (Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) U-Pb concordant ages of the mafic enclaves and host rock were determined to be 431.8 5.2 Ma (MSWD (mean standard weighted deviation)= 1.5, n = 14) and 432.8 4.2 Ma (MSWD = 1.7, n = 16), respectively, consistent with that for the zircon U-Pb ages of the granite and medium-coarse grained K-feldspar granites of the Qingshanbao complex. The estimated ages coincide with the timing of the late Caledonian collision of the Alashan Block. This comprehensive analysis allowed us to conclude that the mafic enclaves in the Qingshanbao complex were formed by the mixing of crust-mantle magma with mantle-derived magma due to underplating, which caused partial melting of the ancient basement crust during the collisional orogenesis between the Alashan Block and Qilian rock mass in the early Silurian Period.


There are well established differences in the chemical and isotopic characteristics of the calc-alkaline basalt—andesite-dacite-rhyolite association of the northern (n.v.z.), central (c.v.z.) and southern volcanic zones (s.v.z.) of the South American Andes. Volcanic rocks of the alkaline basalt-trachyte association occur within and to the east of these active volcanic zones. The chemical and isotopic characteristics of the n.v.z. basaltic andesites and andesites and the s.v.z. basalts, basaltic andesites and andesites are consistent with derivation by fractional crystallization of basaltic parent magmas formed by partial melting of the asthenospheric mantle wedge containing components from subducted oceanic lithosphere. Conversely, the alkaline lavas are derived from basaltic parent magmas formed from mantle of ‘within-plate’ character. Recent basaltic andesites from the Cerro Galan volcanic centre to the SE of the c.v.z. are derived from mantle containing both subduction zone and within-plate components, and have experienced assimilation and fractional crystallization (a.f.c.) during uprise through the continental crust. The c.v.z. basaltic andesites are derived from mantle containing subduction-zone components, probably accompanied by a.f.c. within the continental crust. Some c.v.z. lavas and pyroclastic rocks show petrological and geochemical evidence for magma mixing. The petrogenesis of the c.v.z. lavas is therefore a complex process in which magmas derived from heterogeneous mantle experience assimilation, fractional crystallization, and magma mixing during uprise through the continental crust.


Author(s):  
A.V. Grebennikov ◽  
◽  
A.I. Khanchuk ◽  

Transform margins represent lithospheric plate boundaries with horizontal sliding of oceanic plate, which in time and space replaced the subduction related convergent margins. This happened due to: spreading ridge–trench intersection (California; Queen Charlotte–Northern Cordilleran, West of the Antarctic Peninsula, and probably the Late Miocene–Pleistocene Southernmost South America) or ridge death along continental margin (Baja California); change in the direction of oceanic plate movement (Western Aleutian–Komandorsk; Southernmost tip of the Andes); and island arc-continent collision (New Guinea Island). Post-subduction magmatism is related to a slab window that resulted either from the spreading ridge collision (subduction) with a continental margin or slab tear formation, or slab break-off after subduction cessation due to other reasons. Igneous magmatic series formed in consequence of these events show diversity of tholeiitic (sub-alkaline), alkaline or calc-alkaline, high-alumina and adakitic rocks. The comprehensive geochemical dataset (more than 2400 analyses) on igneous rocks of the model transform and convergent geodynamic settings allowed to substantiate the most informative triple diagrams for the petrogenic oxides TiO2 × 10 – Fe2O3Tot – MgO and trace elements Nb – La– Yb. Mostly approved for the rock compositions with SiO2 < 63 wt. %, the new plots are capable of distinguishing igneous rocks formed above zones of subduction at an island arc and continental margin (related to convergent margins), from those formed in the tectonic setting of transform margins along continents or island arcs.


2012 ◽  
Vol 183 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Špela Goričan ◽  
Jernej Pavšič ◽  
Boštjan Rošič

Abstract The Tolmin basin is a typical example of a deep-water Mesozoic basin that developed on the rifted south Tethyan continental margin. Remnants of this basin are preserved at the intersection of the Dinarides and the southern Alps in northwestern Slovenia. The Jurassic successions consist of carbonate gravity-flow deposits, radiolarian cherts and shales, and are overlain by pelagic Biancone limestone. A distinctive chert-dominated interval (the upper member of the Tolmin Formation) was dated with radiolarians. The base of this interval was assigned to the late Bajocian in the distal part of the basin and to the middle Callovian-early Oxfordian in the more proximal part of the basin. The topmost radiolarian cherts are early Tithonian in age. The mid-Tithonian transition from chert to the Biancone limestone was also determined with nannoplankton. The beginning of highly siliceous sedimentation in the Bajocian correlates well over the entire western Tethys and was linked to two factors: an increase in water depth due to regional subsidence and an increase in plankton productivity. The pronounced silica enrichment coincided with the opening of the Alpine Tethys and with the intraoceanic subduction that occurred in the Meliata-Maliac-Vardar Ocean. Reorganization of the plate boundaries may have induced substantial changes in the circulation of water masses that, in turn, had a long-term effect on surface productivity. On the basin scale, radiolarian dating revealed considerable lateral and vertical variations in the thickness of chert successions. This distributional pattern implies that, in narrow continental-margin basins, sedimentation rates were primarily determined by the redeposition of pelagic sediments. Important stratigraphic gaps occur even in the distal basinal setting.


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